The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-12-14
LTTERATURH.
OF VIEW B0OKs.

Iryn OF DANIEL, WEBSTER, by George Tiekuor
Curtis. Volume I. Published by d. AppleE
ton 4 Go. Philadelphia Agent George
Gebbie, No. $50 eansom street. For sale
by subscription only.
Daniel Webster died on the 9th of October,
1852, and within less than ten years from that
time the great national crisis that he foresaw
and endeavored to avert overlook the nation,
and with the firing of the first gun upon Fort
Sumter new era was inaugurated. The
four years of civil war as effectually divided
the times of Webster, Clay, and Calhoun from
to-day as if a century had intervened. These
men are as much historical figures as Wash
ington, Adams, and Jefferson; and it would
seem at the first glance that the present is as
good time as any for giving to the world a
standard biography of the great orator and
statesman who for SO many years held fore
most place in the Senate, and who enjoyed n
personal popularity not surpassed by any
public man of his times. The ideas on the
slavery question, however, have changed SO
radically since the Rebellion, and the feelings
engendered by the great conflict are so strong,
that il is doubtful whether the American
people are vet in a fit frame of mind to
review with judicial impartiality the political
career of such man as Daniel Webster. We
read the story of the great anti-slavery strug-
gle by the lurid light of an overwhelming
national calamity, and there is q strong dis
position in some quarters to deal harshly with
the memories of statesmen like Daniel
Webster, who labored to avert the evil day
that they clearly saw was coming on, instead
of advancing to meet it.
To us the various compromises with the
pro-slavery party appear to have been at once
eowardly and impolitic Whether the record
viii be SO read hundred years hence is a
question. The anti-slavery faction was weak
and unpopular and the slave-owners strong,
arrogant, and with the law upon their side.
Time was required for the development of
public opinion in the direction of freedom,
and it was reserved for the pro-slavery
men to precipitate the conflict that resulted
in their destruction.
Among the great changes wrought by the
Rebellion, none is more remarkable than the
loss of prestige sustained by Daniel Webster
and Henry Clay. Before the war their names
were cited on every OCCASION and were always
received with shouts of applause: now they
are seldom mentioned, and seldom even
thought of. Their fame has been obscured
by the mighty events and the new men that
have come before the public since their day;
and with regard to Mr.. Webster, especially,
there is a strong disposition to disparage his
genius and to represent him as vain, shallow,
and insincere. We are convinced that such
a view as this of Mr.. Webster's character is
unfair, and that the time will come when his
career as statesman will receive impartial
iudpm,.nt at the hands of the American
people. without undue laudation and without
preiudiced di.sparagement. Before the Re-
bellion he was 7ort of demi-god, and since
then he has been as harshly deprecated as he
was previously too highly exalted. With all
his faults, he was a g--eat man, great states
man. and an orator that ia entitled to rank
with the greatest the world has produced.
Mr. George Ticknor Curtis is l,Srticuiarly
fitted for the position of biographer of Nr.
Webster He is the last of his literary execu-
tors, and he has been able to command amass
of materials such as would not be accessible
to any other writer. The volume before us
comes down to 1888, when the question of the
annexation of Texas was beginning to be
matter of serious contention. 1t covers the
most active and interesting period Of lis
career, when he was commanding figure in
the Senate, and when he did more than at
any subsequent period to establish the repu-
tation that made him, next to Henry Clay, the
most popular man in the country. Mr.. Curtis
has executed his task with discretion, and
with an evident desire to be as impartial as
possible The work is illustrated by num-
Der of interesting letters and documents
never before published, and it is valuable not
only as the most perfect biography of Mr..
Webster yet written, but as giving at least a
partial inside view of our national politics
during the period when the anti-slavery
struggle was becoming the all-absorbing topic.
The book is handsomely printed and bound,
and it is embellished with fine steel portrait
of Mr.. Webster, from the portrait by Healy,
and with number of yignette wood-cuts,