The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1882-02-14
HE YET SPEAKETH.
Daniel Webster and the Lessons
to be Drawn from His
Life.

A crowded auditorium greeted Mr.
Van Wagner last night, and the rev
erend gentleman spoke with his wontet
iervor and incisiveness. The concludin,
clause OF the fourth verse of the eleventh
chapter OF Hebrews was selected as tn,
text. The subject of the sermon was tn.
LIE OF Daniel Webster, and the lessons 70
he drawn therefrom. The text "He being
dead yet speaketh," formed a happy pro.
logue to the imperial theme, and Mr.. Van
Wagner spoke with even more than his
usual earnestness.
The greatest glory of nation, said the
preacher, Is her great and good men, her
statesmen, orators, poets and divines. And
In proportion to the manner i'm which she
remembers and honOrs her great
men is country great and
prosperous. When country forgets
her great and good mer, that moment
1T begins to go down.
We have been reading of late, in the
magazines and in the press, of perhaps the
greatest man this country has ever pro-
duced. / refer TO Daniel Webster. | do
not suppose that there is a person present
to whom his history is entirely unknown.
Tie was born i'll the New Hampshire hills.
In poverty, but struggled ON through eyery
adversely and against every obstacle. till
he grew up, and then went ON until he stood
upon the highest pinnacle of greatness.
For, though he was never honored with the
office OF president, there was no summit
above HIM. The greatest OF men in this
country have never been elected to that
Office, while some of the weakest have been
chosen president. Therefore / say that
although Webster was never honored with
the highest office in the land, there was no
further heights for him to climb. He
stood alone and unapproachable in his
greatness.
Power, the sculptor, executed a
bust Of Webster. Another great scuIptor
visited his studio, and, upon seeing the |
bust of Webster, said, "Why, YOU have
given to man the head of Joyep ' And
Power said, "No, that is the head of Dan
ei Webster" He was perhaps the grand
ISL man In BIS presence that this Country |
nas ever had. The noble overhanging
brow, the deep set flashing eye, awed
thousands into silence when he rose to
peak to them. And after he was dead
md laid in the coffin, still his god-like
eatures occasiOned awe and respect in those
Who gazed upon them. Col. Fletcher Web
ter was killed In the war of the rebellion.
md when his body was brought home for
'urial in the same grave with the great
tatesman, ten years after the death of
)aniei Webster, several prominent men re-
uested that the coffin of the statesman be
pened. Ii was done, and the same mai
sly, the same dignity, the same awe.in-
piring look, was upon the face. Web
ters history is familiar to all, and /
eed not dwell upon it. The press
nd the current literature of the dav
ave been full of his biography the past
w weeks. Oliver Wendell Holmes has
lng of him, and Robert c. Winthrop has
ooken of him.
Webster owed much of his greatness to
Is parents. They cherished his gifts, and
leir influence was felt by him throughout
10 life. His father fired his heart with 4
Dries OF the old French war, in which he
ught, the Indian wars, in which he 9
ught, and the Revolution, in which he
ught. He told him the story of Plymouth
ock and of Bunker Hill and when.
'ars afterwards, the great statesman de- d
Vered his great orations 1t these places t
8 great soul overlooked in eIoquence.
Parents should draw the lesson of the Y
ssibilities Of their children from the life
Webster. When We stand over the n
IDLE We have many hopes and fears. We 81
gard the little child with many doubts of v
future. We do not know what il il to b
what it Is to become. But parents pl
ould remember the possibility that th
Fry child has of becoming great ri
useful in this world. Remember that Al
that cradle lies possible great singer, ST
tor, statesman, poet, philosopher, man @
business. There may lie the future TO
It'll, Webster, Clay, Wesley, great phil vi
'pher or merchant. Fire your children's ia
'rts, as they are growing up, with stories an
the heroes, the great and good men of Ii,
world. So train them that they will TO
imbued with the ambition to excel in TO,
race OF life, and to be great and good pr
q Themselves. Undue them with the
mt of our American history, furnish
m the example of the men who have
e before them, so that they themselves On
= be fired with the ambition to initiate or
10. -. fac
Vebster's life also teaches that only by he,
severest labor and discipline is per- Sal
lent success to be achieved. Webster He
avs studied hard, and with q will. He ~,
at four o'clock in the morning, in
r that he might have time for
", and time for work, so that !
night support himself and fight his oey
way through college. He worked wh
taught school and fought his wsy lac
ugh. He was labourous student all mo
life. When. he was sixty years old he ano
sed to address crowd for Q few minutes Ma
be ground that he was not prepared. app
n he was much older and was called =!
, to take part in the great Goodyear SKI,
er case, he spent two weeks of labor
before he entered the court
/.
,nor and affection for parents is r
her lesson to be drawn from the life of flle
ster. All through his life he MEN
every virtue in his father, dignity and FOR
y, and saw the same virtues shining
endent in his mother. When his :.
r died, and the son had been honored "A
. seat in legislative halls, and was cas-.
ing his way upwards, the fathers dying soid