The tri-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1866-1868, 1867-02-02
Daniel Webster.

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land is thus sketched by Mr.. Parton in
a recent article in the North -Amaerico,,
Price,:
Webster's leading trait, Mr.. Parton
asserts, was his enormous physical
magnetism. His presence overwhelm-
ed criticism. His intimacy fascinated
it. Fidgety men were quoted by his
majestic calm. Women were spell
bound by it. 1t gave the public a sense
OF repose. When he passed up or down
State st., with an arm behind his back,
business was brought to stand still.
Webster was never student. He alb
sorbed knowledge, but did not work
ior 1t. In Latin, he was excelled bv
some ofhis own class. Greek he never
enjoyed. For mathematics, he had not
the slightest taste. At college, he was
only an omnivorous reader. He barely
passed muster in the recitation room as
astudent. His whole college life shows
that he was found to use the product of
other mems toll, not to add to the com
mon fund. AT the same time. he was
an innocent young man. His wild oats
We're not sown in the days of his youth.
lie was always under the influence of
others. Nature made him not to lead.
but to follow. In the early flush and
Tlgor of his life, he gave thousand
evidences ola good heart and of yirtu-
GUS habits, but not one of a superior I'M
Outstanding. The total absence of the
skeptical spirit betrayed his want of
boldness and originality. In & period
OF transition, no young man Of a truly
eminent intellect accepts his fathers
creeds without first calling them in
question. But no new light ever illu-
mined the mind of Daniel Webster. AS
soon as he came of age, he joined the
Congregational Church. The candor of
his judgment was impaired by religious
prejudice. In this respect, he never
lost his narrowneSs and ignorance. In
the time of his celebrity he preferred
the Episcopal as the most genteel reli-
gion. His political prejudices were
equally strong. He was ofslow growth.
His powers did not reach their full de-
velopment till he was nearly fifty years
of age. He had no practical wisdom.
From the year 1882 to the end of his
life, he was suffering the process OF
moral and mental deterioration. His
material part gained upon his spiritual.
He had an enormous capacity for phys
lcal enjoyment, and became q great
hunter, fisherman, and farmer, a lover
of good wine, and good dinners, and a
most jovial companion. But his mind
was fed chiefly upon past acquisitions.
There IS nothing in his later efforts
which shows any intellectual advance
He never browsed in forests before I'M
trodden, or fed in pastures new. For
the last ten years of his life, though he
spent many thousand dollars on his IL
brary, he had almost ceased to be an
intellectual being. His pecuniary hab-
its demoraiized him. He was not one
of those who find in the happiness and
prosperity oftheir country, and in the
esteem of their fellow-citizens, their
own sufficient and abundant reward for
serving her. He pinned for something
MISUNDERSTANDING personal and
vulgar. He had no religion-not the
least tincture of it and he seemed at
last, in his dealings with individuals,
:: LIZ. = :. ne conscience. What he called
Ills rehglon had no effect whatever
upon the conduct of his life it made
church, talk piously, puff the
clergy, and" patronize Providence-no
more He was one of those who fell
before the seductions of his place.
He would accept retaining fees and
never look into the bundles of papers
which accompanied them, in which
were closed the hopes and the fortune
of anxious households. He would re-
ceive gifts of money and toss into waste
paper basket the list of the givers,
without having glanced at it's contents =;
thus deirauding them Of the only rec
ompense i'll his power to grant, and the
only one they wished.
In surveying the life and works of
this eminent and gifted man, we are
continually struck with the evidences
of his magnitude. He was, as we have
said, q very large person. His brain
was within title Of being one-third
larger than the average, and it was one
Of the largest three on record. His
bodily frame, in all its parts, was on a
majestic scale, and his presence was
immense. He liked large things-moun-
tains, elms, great oaks, mighty bulls
and oxen, wide fields, the ocean, the
Union, and all things of magnitude
He liked great Rome far better thar
refined Greece, and reveled in the i'm
mense things Of literature, such as Par
adise Lost and the Book of Job, Burke
DR.. Johnson, and the Sixth Book O
Eneid. Homer he never cared mucf
for-nor, indeed, anything Greek. HI
hated, he loathed the act of writing
Billiards, ten-pins, chess, draughts
whist he never relished, though fond
to excess Of outdoor pleasures, like
hunting, fishing, yachting. He ikec
to be alone with great nature alone in
the giant woods or on the shores of the
resounding sea-alone all day with hi
gun, his dog, and his thoughts-alont
in the morning before any one was
astir but himself, looking out upon the
sea and the glorious sunrise. What &
delicious picture of this large, healthy
Son Of Earth Mr.. Lanman gives us
shere he describes his coming into hi
bedroom before sunrise, and starting
him out Of a deep by shouting, A
wake, sluggard and look upon thi:
glorious scene, for the sky and the
ocean are enveloped in flames % He
was akin to all large, slow things in
nature. A herd of the cattle gave a
keen and inexhaustible endowment: but