saw this popular tendency toward General Taylor, as a candidate for the presidency, with great concern. He thought that it betokened the same weakness which had led other nations to the same error; and he never, at any time, was willing that the presidency should be regarded as a reward for mere military achievements, or that it should be bestowed on public men who were not trained for it in civil and political life. Writing from Washington to his son, Mr. Fletcher Webster, April 25, 1847, he said: "The probability now is, that General Taylor will come in President with a general rush. He would, certainly, were the election now to come on. It is in the nature of mankind to carry their favor toward military achievement. No people yet have ever been found to resist that tendency. The great pensionary John De Witt established it by a 'perpetual law' in the Dutch republic, that the supreme civil authority should never be placed in military hands. But this perpetual law was soon broken down, in order to place the chief authority in the hands of the military princes of the house of Orange. Here is a chapter of history worth studying." Mr. Webster reached Marshfield, on his return from the South, on the 8th of June. The state of affairs in his " gunroom" was pathetically described a few days afterward as follows: "Fish-baskets all gone, great and small; every rod not gone is broken to pieces, so that I cannot take a fish; book of flies and hooks, belonging to the Edgar rod, gone, etc., etc., to the end of the list." This was a melancholy state of things for so great a sportsman. But, on opening a box, which had arrived before him, from some unknown giver, he found a very splendid and complete angling apparatus. Nothing indicated the source of this superb gift but the name of the maker of the articles. To him, therefore, Mr. Webster addressed the following characteristic letter: [MR. WEBSTER TO MR. WELCH.] MARSHFIELD, June 10, 1847. "DEAR SIR: On my arrival here, on the 8th instant, I found an unknown and unopened box, whose contents no one knew, nor could I ascertain whence it came, nor, with any accuracy, the date of its reception. You know what the box contained, and can therefore well judge of my surprise, as I found no explanation and no clew except your card and a short memorandum in writing. Such a rich and elegant apparatus for angling I am sure I never saw, either at home or abroad. "The rods and reels are certainly of exquisite workmanship, and richly mounted; the flies truly beautiful, and the contents of the books ample, abundant, and well selected. Poor Izaak Walton! Little did he think, when moving along by the banks of the rivers and brooks of Staffordshire, with his cumbrous equipments, that any unworthy disciple of his would ever be so gorgeously fitted out, with all that art and taste can accomplish, for the pursuit of his favorite sport! Among his followers are thousands of better anglers than myself; but I may challenge them, one and all, to show that a disciple can be found who goes to the field better prepared for creditable performances. "My responsibility, I fear, is the greater. A fly thrown clumsily, with such implements, or a fish struck unadroitly, or played without skill, or suffered to escape, except into the basket, would justly affect the operator with lasting disgrace. How could he hope to justify himself before the Girards of New York, or the Eckleys of Boston? Henry Grinnell! I should be ashamed to meet him after such a misadventure. If he should hear of it, he would pause though he were just throwing a fly at a salmon in the rivers of Ireland! If I again shall see Islip or Smith's Pond, or the Fireplace, even if I shall wet a line, quite alone, at Waquoit or Sampson's Narrow, my hand, I am sure, will tremble, especially when I shall, for the first time, throw a May-fly to a trout by this beautiful gear. “I do not know, my dear sir, that I ought to ask any questions of you. If my warmest thanks may be made acceptable to the source to which I owe this most extraordinary and elegant outfit for angling, I pray you to present them with cordiality and earnestness. "For yourself, as the maker, you will allow me to express very high respect. I have never seen any thing to compare with your work; and I conclude by offering you my regards and hearty good wishes. “Yours, etc., "DANIEL WEBSTER.' "" The summer passed away in the rural delights of Marshfield, from which he was absent but once; when, in the month of July, he was obliged to be in the city of New York, where, by the efficient aid of his friend, Mr. Blatchford, he accomplished a settlement respecting the affairs of certain property at Hoboken, which had given him much trouble and embarrassment. In the autumn, he was at Franklin, where "John Taylor was in a fright" concerning a railway that had been laid out through the farm, and in close proximity to the house.' In 1 1 At the opening of the Northern Railroad, November 17, 1847, Mr. Webster was present, and made a short speech. Works, ii., 414. the autumn, he was much occupied with professional engagements in different parts of New England. During this season, he had occasion to consult the eminent physician, Dr. Samuel Jackson, of Philadelphia, with respect to his catarrh. This complaint, recurring at a regular period in the summer of every year, was considered by Dr. Jackson, who had great experience in treating it, as a nervous affection, although it simulates an inflammatory disease. Dr. Jackson's opinion was, that a depleting, debilitating treatment aggravated and prolonged, it; that the diet should be as generous and substantial as the digestive organs will bear; that a tonic and alterative treatment should for two or three weeks precede the access of the disorder; and that, during its continuance, the inhalation of pure sulphuric ether affords the best relief. He did not regard change of climate as having much influence. Mr. Webster pursued this system for a time, and occasionally resorted to it for the residue of his life. I think that he found it beneficial, but he never succeeded in conquering the disorder, and never wholly avoided its sufferings. 1 1 It is a fact, however, that Mr. Webster often found relief by passing from an inland to an ocean atmosphere, or the re verse. CHAPTER XXXIV. 1847-1848. FAREWELL TO MARSHFIELD FOR THE WINTER-ILLNESS OF MRS. APPLETON-DEATH OF MAJOR EDWARD WEBSTER SKETCH OF HIS LIFE AND CHARACTER BY HIS BROTHER-MR. WEBSTER DE- THE HE following letter, written by Mr. Webster before his departure from Marshfield, at the close of the year 1847, describes his last visit to that place before leaving it for the labors of the winter: [TO MR. BLATCHFORD.] “MARSHFIELD, Tuesday Morning, Five o'clock, December 7, 1847. "MY DEAR SIR: It is a beautiful, clear, cold, still morning. "I rose at four o'clock, and have looked forth. The firmament is glorious. Jupiter and Venus are magnificent; and stars unnumbered gild the glowing pole.' I wish I could once see the constellations of the South, though I do not think they can excel the heavens which are over our heads. An hour or two hence we shall have a fine sunrise. The long twilights of this season of the year make the sun's rising a slow and beautiful progress. About an hour hence, these lesser lights will begin to pale their ineffectual fires.' Meantime, Mr. Baker and his men are already milking and feeding the cows, and his wife has a warm breakfast for them all ready, before a bright fire. Such is country-life, and such is the price paid for manly strength, and female health, and red cheeks. "I hear the sea, very strong and loud at the North, which is not unusual after violent atmospheric agitations, and when the wind has lulled. They call this the 'rote,' or 'rut,' of the sea. Either expression is correct. The Latin rota is the root of both words. The 'ruts' in the road are the result of rolling, or the repeated and successive pressure of blows of the wheel. Rotation means repetition as well as succession. To learn a thing by rote, is to possess the mind of it by repeated readings or hearings. The rote or rut of the sea, therefore, means only the noise produced by the action of the surf, the successive breaking of wave after wave on the shore; and the beach means precisely the smooth shore, beaten by this eternal restlessness of the ocean. There is another expression for the same thing, sometimes used instead of 'rut' or 'rote;' I hear our people speak of the 'cry of the sea,' not an unapt phrase to signify the deep, hollow-sounding, half-groaning, or loud wailing voice of the ocean, uttered as if in resentment of its violent disturbance by the winds. As an indication of wind and weather, the rote of the sea is generally understood to signify either that the wind has recently left the quarter whence the rote is heard, or else is soon to spring up in that quarter. The moon changes to-day, the tides are high, and, at eleven o'clock, the sea will cover all the meadows, and reach the wall of our garden. I found the trees leafless, of course. The old elm shows nothing but bare limbs and sprays. But the ground is not yet frozen, and the fields are not without their green spots. Our harvest accounts are good. We think we have a thousand bushels of corn, three thousand of turnips, and seven or eight hundred of beets. The barns are full of hay. Six or eight oxen are eating turnips by way of preparation for the Brighton market, in March. We are in snug winter quarters, with only men enough to take care of the cattle, get the wood, and look out for kelp. To-day I shall try to look over accounts, count the cattle and sheep, see to the curing of the pork and hams, etc.; and to-morrow try to get back to Boston. Nobody is with me but George. "Yours truly, "D. WEBSTER. The “P. S.—I went down to the mouth of the river at high water. marshes are all covered, there was not a breath of wind, but the sea looked cold and blue. Our port was deserted, and the lobster-houses are all vacated. Half a dozen great wild geese were in the river, just below the boat-house; |