"At Eton we were most hospitably entertained by Dr. Hawtrey, the head-master, now Provost of Eton. Webster, I found, had nurtured for himself as strong a sympathy with Eton as with Oxford or Westminster Abbey, and was very desirous of seeing all the boys-probably between six and seven hundred-little and big-called together. It was accordingly fixed that we should be there the next morning, to see them go into school. I rather feared the adventure, expecting that we might have a little quizzing from the boys, more especially when I learned from Miss Hawtrey, who kindly accompanied us, that she had never done such a thing before. But not one look of unseemly curiosity, much less of the quizzing which I had rather anticipated, had we to undergo. Webster was not merely gratified, he was visibly touched by the sight. You remember that Charles Lamb said at Eton-I do not pretend to quote his exact words-'What a pity that these fine youths should grow up into paltry members of Parliament !' For myself, when I saw them so cheerful, and yet so civilized and well-conditioned, I remember thinking to myself at the moment: 'Well, if I had a boy, I should send him to Eton.' 1 "While at Windsor he kindly wrote two or three autographs for friends of mine, who had sought, through my interest, to get them. I said: 'Mr. Webster, I do not myself collect autographs, but, now you are about it, will you give me one also to keep as a recollection of this pleasant tour?' I have kept it, and now it has a pensive value for me; to which the stanza which he chose for the autograph seems to lend itself. I transcribe it : "When you and I are dead and gone, This busy world will still jog on, And laugh and sing, and be as hearty "WINDSOR, CASTLE INN, July 19, 1839.' "JOHN KENYON. "You will recognize here, my dear Ticknor, the geniality, qualified always, as seemed to me, by a certain pensiveness, which was so attaching a part of his fine nature. "Let me add two lines more, which will be characteristic too. Our journey being ended, and Webster having acted as paymaster during the latter part of it, I wished to know what I owed him, but could not get any statement from him whatsoever. He plainly meant to shove it off. At last, after repeated pressings, he said: 'Give me a five-pound note and we are quits.' And with this under-payment I was finally obliged to content my conscience as best I might. At the end of this letter Mr. Kenyon adds: "J. KENYON.” "DEAR TICKNOR: I do not send these trifling memoranda to the requesting executors, but to you personally. They will give you pleasure, 1 Mr. Kenyon was childless. who first made me known to Webster-as it has given me a pensive pleasure to look at my notes-a dozen lines at most-and thence to recall those happy hours I passed with him and his family. I wish I had something to give you for his life; but though he wrote me two or three letters, probably they were hurried ones, and, even if I have kept them, I do not know where to put hands on them. 'Of our common friends I have little to tell you, except that I saw Rogers-now very near ninety-a few days ago, and am to breakfast with him next Sunday. His apprehension and power of remark seem tolerably perfect, though his voice is less distinct. But his memory of late things fails daily, more and more. His sister speaks now most indistinctly, but enjoys to hear, and drives out every day. Love, beginning with dear Mrs. Ticknor, to all your womankind. Will you put the note for Jared Sparks into the post, and let Miss Wormley have hers? God bless you! "J. KENYON. "I enclose some verses from Landor, which he sent me, just written a fortnight ago, he being now seventy-eight. I think them very beautiful. They are his autograph. I see that the 'Spanish Literature' is being translated into German as well as Spanish. Just acknowledge the receipt of this unwonted effort of penmanship of mine.” The following is Miss Mitford's account of the visit to her, referred to by Mr. Kenyon: "I owe to his kindness, and that of my admirable friend, Mr. Kenyon, who accompanied him, the honor and pleasure of a visit from Mr. Webster and his amiable family, in their transit from Oxford to Windsor-my local position between these two points of attraction has often procured for me the gratification of seeing my American friends when making that journey— but during this visit a little circumstance occurred, so characteristic, so graceful, and so gracious, that I cannot resist the temptation of relating it : "Walking in my cottage garden, we talked naturally of the roses and pinks that surrounded us, and of the different indigenous flowers of our island and of the United States. I had myself had the satisfaction of sending to my friend, Theodore Sedgwick, a hamper containing roots of many English plants familiar to our poetry; the common ivy-how could they want ivy who had had no time for ruins ?—the primrose and the cowslip, immortalized by Shakespeare and Milton, and the sweet-scented violets, both white and purple, of our hedgerows and lanes, that known as the violet in America (Mr. Bryant somewhere speaks of it as the yellow violet) being, I suspect, the little wild pansy (Viola tricolor), renowned as the love-in-idleness of Shakespeare's famous compliment to Queen Elizabeth. Of these we spoke, and I expressed an interest in two flowers known to me only by the vivid description of Miss Martineau, the scarlet lily of New York and of the Canada woods, and the fringed gentian of Niagara. I observed that our illustrious guest made some remark to one of the ladies of his party; but I had little expected that, as soon after his return as seeds of these plants could be procured, I should receive a package of each, signed and directed by his own hand. How much pleasure these little kindnesses give! And how many such have come to me from over the same wide ocean!" Mr. Hallam, the historian, writing to Mrs. Ticknor, under late of January 21, 1840, said: “I have had more than one opportunity of hearing of you, especially from your very distinguished countryman Mr. Webster, with whom I had the pleasure of becoming acquainted last summer. It is but an echo of the common voice here, to say that I was extremely struck by his appearance, deportment, and conversation. Mr. Webster approaches as nearly to the beau ideal of a republican Senator as any man that I have ever seen in the course of my life; worthy of Rome or Venice, rather than of our noisy and wrangling generation. I wish that some of our public men here would take example from his grave and prudent manner of speaking on political subjects, which seemed to me neither too incautious nor too strikingly reserved." Mr. Denison has recently written to me concerning his last interviews with Mr. Webster in England, saying: "He visited me at Ossington, my country-house in the county of Nottingham, in the course of the autumn. Indeed, his last days in England he passed with me, on his way from London to Liverpool. While he was with me he talked continually of his intention to quit public life, both professional and political, and to withdraw to a property he had purchased in the Western country. He spoke of this as a settled resolve. With these words on his lips, he embarked at Liverpool. While on his passage, General Harrison was nominated for the presidency. You know how he threw himself into the stream-little thought then of waving prairies and oak openings.” CHAPTER XXVI. 1839-1840. -AR NOMINATION OF GENERAL HARRISON FOR THE PRESIDENCY- G ENERAL HARRISON was nominated by the Whigs as their candidate for the presidency, at a national convention which assembled at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on the 4th of December, 1839. The news of this event met Mr. Webster as the ship approached the harbor of New York, when the pilot came on board. He landed on the 29th. It would be useless to endeavor to trace all the influences which scattered the dreams of retirement that haunted him when he was embarking for his own country. He arrived in a time of great political excitement, and was again drawn into the stream. He was the Hercules on whom his party always called in their extremities, and he again listened to their call. He proceeded immediately to Boston, to arrange his private affairs. The Legislature of Massachusetts assembled in January, and its members consisted, as usual, of a large proportion of farmers. All were desirous to hear from Mr. Webster an account of his agricultural observations in England. He met them in the evening of the 13th of January, in the hall of the House of Representatives, which was filled with a great audience of persons interested in agricultural pursuits. He was in his usual evening dress, and wore the fashionable broadcloth cloak of that period, which hung gracefully from his shoulders, in loose folds, to the floor, as he stood by the side of the Speaker's desk, leaning on it with his elbow; and his imposing form never appeared more majestic and impressive than it did, when, in this easy attitude, he talked in a conversational tone to his brother farmers, about English farming. The address, which was entirely informal, is contained in the first volume of his Works. It shows how completely he had studied the peculiarities of English husbandry, in its details as well as in its great general methods, and how wisely he could bring this knowledge to bear upon the improvement of our own agriculture. It appears to have been one result of his observations, that, while the English were in advance of us in the treatment of the soil, by a careful attention to the rotation of crops, our agricultural implements were, even then, superior to theirs, with the exception of those used in drill husbandry, which, at that time, had not begun to be much practised in this country. Perhaps there is no better statement anywhere of what may be called the philosophy of English tillage, than was given by Mr. Webster in illustrating the methods through which crop after crop is taken from the land, and the land is made to grow better and better, instead of deteriorating under the cultivation. Mr. Webster had been reëlected to the Senate in January, 1839, for the new term of six years, which would commence on the 4th of the ensuing March. He now took his seat under this new election, at the first session of the Twenty-sixth Congress, on the 29th of January, 1840. Among the debates which took place in the Senate at this session, a discussion occurred which is now little noticed, but which exhibited different phases of opinion upon a topic that will not for a long time cease to be of great practical importance. A majority of the Senate still continued to avoid any action upon the petitions for the abolition of slavery, by laying the question of their reception upon the table. On one of these occasions,' Mr. Clay, referring to some recent Northern pamFebruary 13, 1840. |