Peter Harvey, "Reminiscences and Anecdotes of Daniel Webster"

This is a reproduction of a library book that was digitized by Google as part of an ongoing effort to preserve the information in books and make it universally accessible. https://books.google.com ReminiscencesandAnecdotesofDanielWebster PeterHarvey,GeorgeMakepeaceTowle STANFORD LAW LIBRARY IN MEMORY OF HENRY VROOMAN A/V e .- AN £ ' (z " REM IN ISvM.Nf. :.S AN Kt.'JM. I t DAN1KL WI.BSTFK i!»- VI: ' .!>' ii--.; B O -'ION LI'I ri,K BKi.HVN, ANi) COMPANY 1877 • REMINISCENCES AND ANECDOTES DANIEL WEBSTER BY PETER HARVEY BOSTON LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY 1877 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1877, by LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY, In the Oflice of the Librarian nf Congress, at Washington. Press of Jchn Wilson &-' Sen. PREFACE. It is now a quarter of a century — almost the life of an entire generation — since Daniel Webster died. During this period new issues have come to the front, the fires of by-gone contests have become harmless ashes, and the reunited Nation can look at such a life as this great man presents, with a calmer and wiser gaze than was possible in the nearer view of days that were fraught with war ring convictions, now at last hushed to rest. Through a friendship which is one of my happiest and most grateful recollections, it was my privilege to be intimate with this man in life, and to receive his last messages upon the bed of death.1 And now, as I feel myself drawing near to the end of this earthly existence, I desire to give to the world, and especially to the rising generation, a true insight into the structure of his character, which 1 In a recent letter, addressed to the editor, Mr. C. A. Stetson give* the following interesting incident, showing Mr. Webster's implicit confi dence in and strong affection for Mr. Harvey : " During the negotiations in 1842, Mr. Curtis and myself were sitting in Mr. Webster's study, in Washington, when the mail-bag was brought in. With other letters, one from Mr. Peter Harvey was opened. Mr. Curtis read it. Mr. Webster had asked a fnvor : it was granted. Mr. Curtis said : ' By Jove, he is St Peter!' 'No,' quickly replied Mr. Webster, ' Peter Harvey never denied his friend ! ' It seemed to me that a more loving compliment never had been paid to one who reverenced Mr. Webster." VI PREFACE. cannot be fully appreciated in simply reading the written records of his public career. His sweetness of temper, his kindness of heart, the depth of his friendships, his firm hold upon the facts of the Christian religion (as illustrated by the Colby and Benton stories related in the following pages), the pathos and humor of his home life, — these ought to be known and understood by the world. The greater part of the matter contained in these pages is derived from my own personal recollections of Mr. Webster, as the result of my long and familiar associa tion with him. These recollections were dictated by me, from time to time, to a stenographer, from whose written-out notes they have been prepared for this book. Some of the papers and books from which these memora bilia are taken were deposited with me, several years after Mr. Webster's death, by his son, Fletcher Webster ; and from that time to this they have been a precious legacy, which I now feel the country at large ought to share with me. I do not, in these pages, propose to write a Life of Daniel Webster. I am contend to act only as the frail but necessary thread which binds these gathered leaves together. Mr. Webster has written his own biography in the strong and unmistakable impress he has made upon the country's history. I believe that the writings of no man, in the short but eventful history of the American Republic, are so destined for immortal fame as those of him whom it is my last wish to " delight to honor." Let me here state a fact about his memory, which, to my mind, is in every way worthy of the attention of the reader. It is this. I cannot but feel that the man who did the most to set forth Mr. Webster's life and genius PREFACE. VU was Edward Everett. I see this fact in Mr. Everett's whole career ; in the depth of his sincerity and regard ; in his lifelong devotion, and in the uniformly affection ate manner in which Mr. Webster always spoke of him. I well remember, in the year 1847, when riding with Mr. Webster to the Dedham Agricultural Fair-ground, on a pleasant September day, he said : " I have been thinking over what I propose to say, if called upon to make a speech. Mr. Everett was born in the county of Norfolk ; and, although it is not always wise to say com plimentary things to a man's face, still I may never have a better opportunity, and I shall tell the Norfolk County people to-day what I think of their distinguished son. When I was appointed Secretary of State the first time, by General Harrison, one of the very first things I did, in the way of foreign appointments, was to select Mr. Everett to represent the Government at the Court of St. James. In such appointments, it has always seemed to me that we should choose men of character, who would represent the country at large, rather than be influenced by the bias of party ; for foreign nations judge of our people by the representative men whom we send out to them. Since that time I have had many letters from eminent statesmen abroad, thanking me for sending Mr. Everett ; for, in choosing him to represent us in the pres ence of the English people, I sent them a man as well versed in their own history as any man living, with the exception of Macaulay. I am going to tell these people to-day just what I think, of Mr. Everett, for I honor him and love him." In the address which he delivered upon this occasion, he carried out his intention formed in the carriage ; and, greatly to the surprise of every one, and to the aston ishment of Mr. Everett himself, pronounced a noble Vlll PREFACE. eulogy upon his friend. Though he was to come in town in the afternoon, and the carriage was at hand, he waited, saying: "Let us stop a moment, and see what Mr. Everett says." Mr. Everett, unconsciously flushed, rose and said : " It would not be becoming in me to bandy compliments with my illustrious friend. He has seen fit to compli ment me upon my attainments in international law. I should not dare to say here how much personal friend ship may have had to do with the picture he has drawn ; but this I will say, take from that knowledge of inter national law what I have learned at his feet, and there would be nothing left worth mentioning." The strong friendship between these two men was never marred by a breath of suspicion or jealousy ; and, if I could have selected one man from the list of his many and distinguished friends to have written his Life, I should have had no hesitation in choosing Mr. Everett. I have often heard Mr. Webster say : " In the turmoil and confusion of party lines, when political friends might be forgetful of every thing save their own prospects, I never had a doubt or misgiving about two distinguished friends who were by my side, however public opinion might vary. One was Edward Everett ; the other was Rufus Choate." There were others, then, who could have written his Life more worthily than I. It is not my purpose, at this eleventh hour, to write it. I only wish to disclose to the public some of the inner traits of his character, to do his great memory full justice, and to paint him as he really was, to a new generation who know him not. And I feel that, unless I string together a few of these sacred and long-cherished reminiscences, they will be lost for ever in the hurry of the new generation. How many PREFACE. IX are the relationships this man sustained to the public whom he served, and to the private few to whom he was *a delight ! How true was his fidelity to the network of responsibilities that rested upon him ! There comes to my mind, as I write, the remembrance of his address at Saratoga during the Harrison campaign, when, as it may be remembered, the Whigs were much given to glorifying the humble birth of their candi date for the Presidency. In this address he made the following allusion to the circumstances of his own birth : " It did not happen to me, gentlemen, to be born in a log-cabin ; but my elder brothers and sisters were born in a log-cabin, raised amid the snow-drifts of New Hampshire, at a period so early that, when the smoke first rose from its rude chimney and curled over the frozen hills, there was no similar evidence of a white man's habitation between it and the settlements on the rivers of Canada. Its remains still exist. I make to it an annual visit ; I carry my children to it, to teach them the hardships en dured by the generations which have gone before them. I love to dwell on the tender recollections, the kindred ties, the early affections, and the touching narratives and incidents which mingle with all I know of this primitive family abode.

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