New-York tribune., 1872-08-02
OLD COLONY LETTERS.
IV.-MARSHFIELD.

ESTATE. - 49, - - ,
lyRoM AN OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRfBUNBl
SrAypIsH HOUSE, SOUTH DUxBuRr July 20.
Ny ruorimaee 20 Marshfeld, tho narration OF which
was left unfinished In preceding letter, was made upon
the only day of week which the family reserve Tor
their retrement and the society of private guests Tho
early afternoon was hushed and still as HewEngland
sabhatn. The webster mansion is secluded from the
nearest farmhouses like the lonely moated grange;
and while the lady of the manor showed
room after room the apartments cool and tran
oul. tho blue fly sang the fame" and was graft
fed for the absence Of the throng that often buste in
and out from beginning TO end Of the secular week The
right for years yielded to the public OF visiting this his
torio is steadily exercised by the curious and
patriotic and this imposes upon the family surrender
of privacy the as OF constantly putting things to or
der and no small amount Of petty expenses fee is
accepted from strangers for exhibition OF the and
relics Complaint has been made Of tbisyet, under the
condition OF the estate. 1t is not only proper put
necessary Besides the visitor ia thus freed from sense
OF intrusion and the charge is nothing compared with
the interest OF what is here to be never have
been in an American mansion so filed with the rellquary
personal memorials and famous pictures OF one
great man. complete in suggestions OF its founder Vi
better worth lingering observation than was aoo
to give It, 1t was pleasure. even, to lead my poy
through those oldashioned rooms and TO show MN no"
a grand orator and hearty gentleman built up MS noe,
and 10 let him stamp upon Ills utUoiJ 'AN
an order now changing and yielding 10 INC uon
On the right Of the quaint yet spacious nan Is tne
breakfast room, with CHEEKY open hre-piace Oh tne
left the reception parOr beyond the later ano.her
parlor music and, still further ana OF most III
terest lofty library at the western END OF te mousse
Here with all his volumes still upon their shelves
books not nearly so varied and comprehensive IN assor
ment as one might look to fnd-and amid hundred
other mementoes Of his sudious hours the saesmsns
wrting chair and table at attract the eye. Upon
the latter regstration-bOok lies Open where Ylsltors
may inscube their names. The first leaf TO when
/ turned bore the signature, Jefferson DAVIS,
boldly and fairly wrten-under the date of his North
ern tour but two before the breaking out
of the Rebellion The parlor, MUSHROOM and library
form stately suite. opening through Wlnuo"s tha'
reach from floor to ceiling, upon the long Southern
piazza. From the middle passage leads into the
boast of the mansion-and what its founder could not
be Without spacious hospitable dining-hal' w.
those walls had language what memories OF days ana
nights of the generous banquetngs OF Wits anu au'o
Gates and statesmen; Of the pride OF blood the JOY o
beauty the strength of fame, here brought together
anon and anen-and more than once an ophe'toh ~
some dazzled, pethoric burgher thousand times re
paid by his one admission to that legendary Doard!
Portraits of Mr. Webster-Of his wives, children, ana
other kith and kin. some in crayon, some III oi-ahu
many exquisite miniatures upon ivory done in that
ethereal manner which not the feebeness OF the Miss
La Crews could bring into disrepute and when
nothing but the introduction of the photograph could
render lost art these pictures scattered upon the
walls OF nearly every The standard life-size
paintings of Webster and Lord Ashburton, by
Hea,ey, still hang opposite sides OF library
window. But | was most interested in an un-
finished fullengh picture Of Webster In rough hunting
costume-hat slOuched ana rife I'm hand-which stands
above the mante in the dnnghal His bust In plaster
of heroic size was in the corner OF another room, and
d,,{ra Ia of WHY the
bust Of Plus TX, in MARBLE should have been given
place of honor in statesmans library is more than
can surmise Against engraving rack was standing
Col Fletcher Websters sword presented 10 hlm as COM
mauder of the 18th Massachusetts Regiment; some
rapacious visitor has stolen five large amethysts
from the jeweled hilt. OF the rare old furni-
ture noticeable here and there made close exam
nation yet was struck with the elaborate richness of
tall cabinet the work of monastic handsand said to
have required century for its competon-whch is en-
rey covered with spirited pictures and designs labor
ousy carved from the hardest and blacklist Of woods
In striking contrast by, plain round table,
the piece OF American furniture made from the black
walnut OF the West and presented-so reads the In
scrption-tO Mr. Webster many years ago. by the cii-
zens OF Buffalo recognition Of his efforts sin
behalf OF protection TO American industry" 1
passed rapidly through the chambers on the
second floor. These tastefully varied and
adorned and all Of them command beautiful prospects
of the surrounding country; but the simplest and
plainest of all the in which the master died
the square, unpretendng bedstead standing in the
middle of the apartment 1t stood throughout his i'll
and at the closing scene.
Just twenty years have elapsed since his death, and
the country. severed meanwhile and reunited. is now
entering upon the fourth Presidential election from that
of 52for which he denied the surages Of his party
and whose cOnsummation he never lived TO see. The
career Of a great who has passed away, like the
outline Of a receding cliff, assumes different shapes
from time TO time, we look at 1t through
new atmospheres and reach further points OF obserya
ton Here where the curtain fell upon the dramatic
ending OF Websters life ones thoughts insensby seek
for fair estimation OF the Future historians,
judging him by his period, will arrive
correctly this but things already very clear
His character and achievements went through years Of
laudation and fulsOme aduatOn: he the god-like
Titan among men. the Joun OF his race. Then followed
his decline and failure and the years OF censure OF
dervaluaton. But, looking back, 1t seems 10 that
his large, enduring patriotism, whose expression has
become elementary fact OF both our poit
cal and schooltext literature, outmeasured all
personal losses from his standard When he for
sook liberty for Union his very fall In the whirligg OF
time the excitant of that great reaction by which
the that nearly threatened shater the fact
and constitution of which he the Defender, was
utterly swept away Estimating his genius must re-
member that nOuflsnen III, ana adapted ltSeH TO-
primary rudimenta period of national growth; its
planness and Dorc simplicity 1t TO be moderated
in complex, metaphysical when everything is
stated by Innuendo and suggestion. 10 must be con-
fessed however, that the period suited TO
his genius, and that, were he living now. he
would have little in connection with thinkers
OF The Saturday Reuiei1 school, whose straining after
ubtilty, aud horror OF direct statement curiousy
reflected in the weekly productions Of certain literary
and political critics ourselves He was an orator.
to DO heard rather than read not who dazzed by
gtteringfschoarly paradox and epgram but who went
honestly at his work. and made trite political truths
grand and orcbe TO his hearers when their conception
first entered the human mind Nor is there any