Omaha daily bee., 1895-11-10
AMERICAS MIGHTY DANIEL
The Great Webster as He Appeared in
Public and to Friends.
MONEY MATTERS HIS CHIEF WEAKNESS
The Result OF the baltimore Con,cn-
tiou and Its Eject ON Web
ster's TccIinEs-itis Won
dcrfui EIouucncc.
Money MATTERS HIS CHIEF WEAKNESS

Daniel Webstcr's feelings toward General
Scott in the spring Of 1852, says a writer
in the Philadelphia Times, must have been
closely akin to the sentiment with which
that old warrior inspires the people OF Mex
leo even to this day. a young woman who
had been reading Prescott's Conquest Of
Mexico" forgetting that a Mexican of today
is as much Spanish as Indian, said not long
ago to a fair faced Mexican youth who had
taken her in to dinner, Il should think the
Mexican people would just hate Cortez.'
"No,' said the youth, minus his usual
suavity, him that we hate is General Scott"
If Webster had been given to indulgence
in personalities 1t might possibly have been
a momentary relief to a mind overburdened
with the weight Of a crushing disappoint-
ment to have so expressed himself in re-
gard to the man who had carried off his last
hope of the presidency.
That greatest gift Of the American people
that hung just beyond his grasp for twenty
years. falling three times within that period
to military heroes, idols Of an accidental
hour, passed finally beyond the reach of
the greatest statesman America ever pro-
duced when the Baltimore convention on the
fifty-third ballot nominated General Scott.
1t was a hctly contested battle, for the
result of which Webster seems to have
been wholly unprepared. ChOate, who led
the Websterian forces and fought the val
liant fight with an eloquence the more pas
%sionate, perhaps, because he realized its
utter %futility, had endeavored to prepare
Webster for what he feared must be the
outcome of the convention. He had called
upon him in his home in Washington, and
had read in those %deep-set, melancholy
eyes the secret of a confident success. That
awful reserve and dignity of the great
giant, that placed him beyond the ken of
the masses of the American people, had
made no pretense Of concealing from the
sacred eyes Of friendship, not only the
longing Of his soIl, but the blind and stead
fast belief that that longing was about to be
gratiied.
Webster had been building a new dining
room to his home in Washington and he
proposed there to dine the delegates at the
close of the convention. As their host he
would thank them with an eloquence that
would amply repay the individual efforts of
each delegate-though | believe successful
delegates do sometimes have the bad grace
to ask for more than eloquence.
There seems to have been one trivial point
Of similarity in the composition of those two
formidable rivals of that Baltimore convan.
ton, Scott and Webster, whose fame rests
on achievements so widely different. 1t wa
their total inability to cope with the financial
phase of existence. In the case of Scott !
do not know that the popularity endured
throughout his life. There is an anecdotu
eXtant, however, that reveals the repute il
had gained for him in his youth, especially
with the family into which he was about to
marry.
lie was a connoisseur of horse flesh and
drove out one day behind a pair of particu-
larly fine animals to call upon the young
lady to whom he was betrothed. When h
was about to depart, according to the custom
of those hospitable days, the entire family
gathered about him and followed him to his
carriage. Eyeing his spanking team with
evident pride he SIppnEfgl That gp,,a on.
9lould hazard a guess as to what he had
given for 1t. Said his prospective father-ln-
law, dryly, "You probably gave your note"
With Webster, alas, the illustrations are too
numerous. He received loans and gifts with a
graciousness of one to the manner born"
and to whom it was the donors happy priv
legs to contribute. There are evidence
moreover, notwithstanding the extreme fru-
gality Of his childhood's home, of his having
p%ract!ced as a boy the art of the graceful
recipient which he carried to such perfection
as a man
There is a tradition still floating about Bos-
ton of an expedition Daniel made as a child
to a fair near his home, accompanied by that
most devoted of his brothers, Ezekiel Web
strr. From the shallow home purse a small
sum was allowed to each boy for his further
enjoyment. They returned home, Daniel in
high spirits and Ezekiel cOrrespondingly de
pressed. To each was put the question.
What did you do with your money p" Re
plioi Daniel triumphantly, Spent it," and
Ezekiel, gravely, Lent it to Daniel"
New England being a seat of wisdom and
learning, It's people seem to have regarded
Daniel Webster as an institution TO be
proudly and amply maintained. Hence
throughout his brilliant career, the words Of
Ezekiel had many an echo, and Webster's
acknowledgment Of "princely favors" was
frequent.
As a child, tears testified his appreciation
of the stupendous sacrifice his father was
making to send him to school. There was no
rremonition in the minds Of the democratic
American youth that populated Phillips Exc
ter academy of the coming greatness Of the
extremely rustic little mortal from the back
woods of New Hampshire, at whom they
poked all manner of fun and laughed so bois-
terously that his divine gift Of oratOry, which
had already begun to put forth on his native
heath, seemed irretrievab'y nipped in the bud
The turning point in Daniel Webster's life.
the moment when his career which means
so much to his country hung in the balance.
came at the close of the year 1904. when
he was offered a clerkship IN the court where
his father was one Of the presiding judges.
The salary Of 81 800 per annum meant com
fort and even luxury to the parents, who
had sacrificed themselves throughout a life
of labor and anxiety to the advancement Of
their children.
Christopher Gore, to whom Webster owed
many a minor obligation as we'll, at this
critical moment gave his w%avering mind the
proper direction. He declined the clsrkship
and the following year began the practice
Of law, which brought him in that early
period between $500 and 5000 a year. He
had dealt his to,ling old father a blow, how
ever, that must have cost his own heart
many a pang. But history has proved the
wisdom that lay in the keen foresight Of
that clever man OF the world, christopher
Gore, when he advised the meager independ-
ence OF the moment in preference to the
opulent mediocrity of perhaps a lifetime.
II gave to the American union. at a time
when it was most needed, the devotion of her
most loyal and loving son. The man In
whose politics there were no Alleghenies.
and who, as a child, had learned the c|onstltu-
ton from a printed handkerchief. and who.
says Mr.. Lodge, could scarcely speak in pub
lie without an allusiOn to grandeur of Amer
lean nationality and a fervent appeal 10 keen
1t sacred and intact" was the one best fitted
by nature and training to bring US through
that trying hour when, having cast of the
shackles Of a colonial, we were merging into
the dignity of a national government. That
the noblest efforts Of the most gifted Of
modern orators should have been expended
In so glorious a cause must ever be a matter
Of pride to the American people.
Webster's elOquence belongs to the DAYS Of
real oratory, when the man who rose from his
seat on the floor Of the senate to read his
speech would have emptied the galleries.
One OF the early examples Of this modus
operandi was Allen OF Ohio, a man of ability
whose statue now adorns Statue hall, In the
capitol, as a contribution from his native