Daniel Webster – “Defender of the Constitution”…

August 27, 2021 by  
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Daniel Webster, “Defender of the Constitution,” needs no introduction to the collectors of Rare & Early Newspapers.  A search of his name on the Rare & Early Newspapers website brings up over 25 active listings (select “view details” to see the Webster content), including an illustration of his residence, the text of his, “Liberty and Union, now and for ever, one and inseparable!“ speech, and the black-bordered notice of his death.

Among these, however, there is no mention of the six page biography contained in the August 1867 Harper’s New Monthly Magazine.  Prompted by the publication of The Private Correspondence of Daniel Webster, this unsigned submission reflects on the character of the great man.  Of greatest impact to me is the refrain that Webster was the same refined, organized, gentleman in private as he was in public.  And, it seems it was his self-proclaimed standard.  “So rigidly had he adhered to the rule he frequently avowed in his lifetime–never to write anything which he would not be willing to see in print the next morning — that scarcely was there a letter which even delicacy could withhold from the public eye.”

I was fortunate to read this account firsthand, to fill in many details in this larger-than-life figure of American history.  His impact covered three presidencies, and his correspondence –saturated with wisdom and reason– was prolific.  That said, I feel compelled to share a larger than usual portion from the actual text.

No view of this man is at all complete unless regard be had to his love of the grand and beautiful in nature…It has been said: “his face warmed to a fine tree as to the face of a friend.”  The most noticeable feature, it may be, of the Correspondence is the general silence that pervades it concerning the author’s own efforts.  While all other tongues are sounding of his exploits, his is still. Or if he breaks the silence, he does so with such moderation and modesty that refinement even could not torture the allusion into a ray of vanity.

Note: Many of his speeches were printed within contemporary newspapers and are often available upon request.

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