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There is an irresistible spell, which urges the reader or hearer onward; he exclaims with William Tell

"Since I have tasted,

I will e'en feed on."

And this power of concentrating ideas, of placing them. to the best advantage, not only in the beauty of the materials but in the grandeur of the workmanship, is peculiarly his own. Let us select a man unacquainted with the craft of a goldsmith; he may have his house crowded with the material, but it can be of little use to him until he has become accomplished in the art of working that gold into forms of varied beauty and taste. So it is a great peculiarity of Mr. Webster, that while he is working with the same materials as others, yet the facility with which he moulds them to his purposes, and stamps upon them the images of his great mind, giving the unformed marble shape and expression, places him. in a position incomparably distant from every competitor. Nor is it known how far the elevated, moral stand which Webster takes, operates upon this power; he derives dignity from the greatness of his subject-he becomes elevated in proportion to its grandeur; like the eagle, whose eye, it is said, is formed to command a wider field of view in proportion to its height. The man who oc cupies the highest situation, will feel the sunbeams more warm, and behold the sun more brightly. And it is this prominence, this high station, which Webster assumes above the jealousies of party strife, standing on the rock of imperishable principle, which leads him, as a natural consequence of his situation, to command that extensive view of men and things which is his peculiar characteristic. It is from the exercise of sound principle, and a healthful tone of feeling, that man borrows energy and

greatness, for occasions of doubt and difficulty, that attachment to principle operates on the mind as the free air of heaven on the body; it invigorates and strength. ens, exhilarates and influences, till it becomes a necessary element of its existence. If we regard the peculiarities of Mr. Webster as a statesman, we shall find him distinguished by a far-sightedness, a power of men. tal vision, which scans, like an experienced mariner, the skirts of the horizon, taking in every object the most minute in the circle of events; there is a combination of the past, the present, and the future;-the experience of the past, the enlightened action of the present, and the effect in the future, are drawn together to form a connected whole, in which every atom depends more or less on its neighbor for support. The common grade of politicians see little beyond present influences; their political actions resemble their private feelings, selfish; but the true devotion of the patriot's heart leads him to sacrifice himself, if it be necessary, for the good of others; and the enlightened statesman looks not only to the effects of the present, but the influences of the future. And it is, we contend, in this point of view that Mr. Webster stands alone; it is in this power to see the effects of causes, and the will to render them most universally useful, combining the elements of moral greatness with the power of intellectual strength, rearing a temple, not for beauty, but for use.

Carrying out our remarks on Mr. Webster as a statesman, we shall find that he is distinguished by extensive knowledge of the history and governments of other nations. It is here that the accomplished statesman rises superior to all other men-in the knowledge of those weak points in other nations and other govern.

ments, which warn him from the same quicksands, which lead him to know evil by the experience of others, and lend him the power to direct his steps in the pathways of truth. With a quickness of perception unequalled, he is enabled to lend that knowledge to the consideration of present difficulties; and therefore his views of political science are more extensive, more general, and more correct than any other living man.

But not as a statesman alone must we regard Mr. Webster; he lays distinguished and undisputed claims to the title of an accomplished Orator. Now, were we to inquire in what true Oratory consists, there can be little doubt that the correct answer would be, That power by which we enlist the sympathies and reason of our audience, in that equal degree which allows neither to predominate over the other. This power is exclusively Mr. Webster's own. We can safely hazard the assertion, that no man recorded amongst the living or the dead exhibits it more fully than does Mr. Webster. If the excitement of passion should bias for a moment, its influence is as short-lived as that excitement; if the mind is left alone to reason, it becomes wearied, and forsakes its occupation; but let them both be combined, the reason awakened, the sympathies excited, and the result will necessarily be useful and permanent. We have before made some few remarks on the power which he possesses of combining all the parts of a subject; if this is apparent in him as a Statesman, it is equally so as an Orator; perhaps one of the finest specimens of this power may be traced in his address at Plymouth. The picture is admirably complete. There is scarcely a probable event which escaped his attention; all the local associations, all the patient fortitude, all the inspiring confidence of

the Pilgrims, are described with the genius of a poet and the skill of a painter. The whole is before the mindwe seem, even in reading this great effort, to be carried back to the scenes and period of its action, and become fascinated with the view as the mighty panorama rolls around us.

There are circumstances, in every man's life, which call for the exercise of severity. And although sarcasm is not a natural element of Webster's mind, because it is a sentiment which his high moral feeling cannot indulge, yet when necessity calls for the operation, the materials are always at his command. Pope says,

"Satire should, like a polished razor keen,

Wound with a touch that's scarcely felt or seen."

And the power of Mr. Webster's satire consists in displaying the weakness of its object-he draws the ele ments of contempt from the thing itself. We do not behold the power of the master inflicting the blow, but we wonder at the weakness of the object, which flies into a thousand shattered particles beneath its force.

As a writer and speaker of the English language, Mr. Webster must be admitted to be the first. And this power of using the English language is the result, to a certain extent, of the conformation of his mind. It is that keen-sighted vision which detects discrepancy in facts and statements, that leads to the choice of the most perfect mode of adapting his sentences to the expression of the meaning which he wishes to convey. He never uses a sentence which can admit of a doubtful meaning; all is clear, distinct, intelligible. The figures which tend to explain his sentiments are always fitly chosen in accordance with those sentiments. In the power of imagi nation and the brilliancy of metaphor, abundant proofs are

exhibited of Mr. Webster's pre-eminent accomplishment. There is a judgment, too, exhibited in the choice of those metaphors, which is extremely rare. We have offered these observations with a view of pointing out the dis. tinguished characteristics of this great man. They stand out like the prominent figures of a picture. They are individual, distinct, original. They are suited to the man, and the man to them.

There can be little doubt that the efforts of Mr. Web. ster are calculated to endure, incorporated with the history of the Constitution. Every succeeding effort adds to his fame and the value of his works. We have read that the monks of La Trappe are accustomed to dig a certain portion of their graves every day. We may reverse the picture, and say that Mr. Webster adds every day some new material to the monument of his greatness and his fame. That monument is to be found in his works, in their enduring usefulness, and their extensive application; and here it must stand alone-in solitary grandeur, “towering in the van of all this congregated world ;" and if slander should attempt to malign, or party bitterness condemn-should the birds of prey be let loose to destroy those trophies, they can but wound their blunted beaks against its firm and imperishable structure.

A mistaken view has obtained with regard to the claims of a nation for its great men. We think, how. ever, that men of genius are the property of the world; and if other nations cannot claim them as their sons, they can at least benefit by their talents. We do not look at Mr. Webster, alone, with regard to his acquaintance with and defence of the American Constitution. We believe that his general views will do much to extend a knowledge of men and things in the world-to purify

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