CHAPTER VIII.

1816-1819.

CONGRESS IN 1816-'17-DEATH OF LITTLE GRACE- RETIRES FROM PUBLIC LIFE-BIRTH OF HIS DAUGHTER JULIA-POSITION AT THE BOSTON BAR-SOCIAL LIFE-DARTMOUTH COLLEGE CASEROBBERY OF MAJOR GOODRIDGE.

AT

T the time when Mr. Webster took up his residence in Boston, he had numerous engagements in the Supreme Court of the United States, and, as the full term for which he had been reëlected as a member of Congress from New Hampshire had not expired, he went again to Washington, in December, 1816, accompanied by Mrs. Webster. He took some part in the proceedings of the session until the first week in January, when the illness of their daughter again brought the parents home. This child, always precocious and always delicate, was now to be taken from them. She had been declining for some time, and was at length pronounced by the physicians to be in a consumption. I borrow the words of Mrs. Lee, who was rarely absent when sorrow came near to those whom she so loved and honored:'

"I can hardly trust myself to speak of this child, so little to be relied on are the reports of precocious children. But as I recall some of the Deculiarities of this little girl, she certainly appears, at three and four

The death of this child occurred in January, 1817. A singular fatality seemed to attend the name of Grace Webster. A daughter of Mr. Everett, to whom this name was given, a precocious child, like

Mr. Webster's, died in 1836. Mr. Webster's eldest grand-daughter, the second child of his son Fletcher, also bore the name of Grace, and died in 1844, at nearly the same age with the first one of the name

years old, wonderfully intelligent, and a most agreeable companion. There was no one so much in demand as the little Grace-her mother's friends constantly sending for her, and delighting themselves with her sweet simplicity; and, if such an expression can be allowed, her infantile sagacity. Her young soul seemed to dwell very near the Author of her being. Her mother once said to a friend, 'I wish I could feel the presence of God as little Grace seems to feel it.' Not only did 'heaven lie about her in her infancy,' but she knew that God was always near her. Another peculiarity was the tenderness she felt for the poor and unhappy. Beggars were frequent at this time. There were few relief societies, and begging from door to door was not forbidden. Grace would never consent that an asker of charity should be sent away empty. She would bring them herself into the house, see that their wants were supplied, comfort them with the ministration of her own little hands, and the tender compassion of her large eyes. If her mother ever refused, those eyes would fill with tears, and she would urge their requests so perseveringly, that there was no resisting her.

"But God's hand soon beckoned her away. Her parents had left Portsmouth for their residence in Boston, and Mr. Webster had gone the second time from New Hampshire to serve a session in Congress, when that insidious disease, to which delicate organizations so often become a prey, began to impair the health of the little Grace. The progress of the disease was so rapid, that her parents had only time to hasten from Washington to their house in Boston, where their child, whose short life had been lived, as it were, on the threshold of heaven, passed with gentle and painless steps within the veil which hides from us the great mysteries of the future. Grace woke from a sweet sleep, and asked for her father. He was instantly called, and, placing his arm beneath her, he drew her toward him, when a singular smile of love and sweetness passed over her countenance, and her life was gone. Mr. Webster turned away from the bed, and great tears coursed down his cheeks. I have three times seen this great man weep convulsively. Another time was when death deprived him of that brother, so tenderly loved, with whom, as we learn from the Autobiography, and from his own lips, there was so close a union, that, till both of them had families, which drew them from each other, there had been between them but one aim, one purse, one welfare, and one hope."

Mr. Webster went again to Washington, immediately after the burial of his child, and confined himself almost exclusively to his duties in the Supreme Court.

At this session, Mr. Calhoun brought forward his plan, which was intended to lay the foundation for a general system of" internal improvements," by setting apart the bonus and dividends to be derived from the United States Bank, as a perma

nent fund for that purpose; and, at the same time, he argued elaborately in support of the constitutional power of Congress to make appropriations for such objects. Mr. Webster voted for the bill on its passage. It was returned by President Madison without his approval; the ground of the "veto" being that the power is not expressly given in the Constitution, and cannot be deduced from any part of it without an inadmissible latitude of construction, and a reliance on insufficient precedents. Mr. Webster examined the whole subject with care, for the purpose of forming his own opinions upon it, although he does not appear to have taken any part in its public discussion at this time. He reached the conclusion that Congress has power to accomplish or to aid in accomplishing the objects which have been commonly designated in our legislative history as "internal improvements;" a conclusion which was sufficiently manifested by his final vote sustaining Mr. Calhoun's bill against the "veto" of the President. The measure failed to receive the requisite constitutional vote.'

The session of Congress was terminated on the 3d of March, 1817; and with it ended Mr. Webster's connection, for the present, with public affairs. As soon as the Supreme Court had risen, he returned to Boston.

Released from all public cares, he now began a career of great professional distinction. Business of the most important character flowed in upon him, from the natural influence of his high reputation, of his diligence and learning, of his great powers as an advocate, and his many personal accomplishments. The position which he at once occupied at the Boston bar was that of an equal and a competitor with the oldest and most eminent of its members. In a short time he was in the receipt of a very large professional income.'

See the account given by Mr. Webster, in his second speech on Foot's resolution, of the formation of his opinions and the shaping of his political course, on this and other constitutional questions, in 1816, "Teucro duce."-Works, iii., 297.)

2 Mr. Webster's fee-book from August, 1818, to August, 1819, foots up $15,181. But as he is known not to have been very careful in keeping accounts,

Of his domestic and so

and as nearly all lawyers, who practise much as advocates and counsellors, receive more than finds its way into their account - books, unless they are kept with great accuracy, I am satisfied that his income, from 1818 until he again entered Congress in 1823, could not have been, on an average, much less than $20,000 a year. The customary fees of such counsel at that time were about one-half of what they are now.

cial life, during this period of his retirement from Congress, there are some interesting sketches by Mrs. Lee and Mr. Ticknor, which will find their appropriate place here, before I commence the description of the intellectual labors with which this period was filled. Mrs. Lee writes:

"Mr. Webster says in his Autobiography, that after he had finished his session in Congress from New Hampshire, he came to Boston and gave himself with diligence to the business of his profession.

"He was now thirty-five years old, and certainly in the perfection of all the powers of body and mind. The majestic beauty of his countenance was never more striking than at this period. There is a miniature taken at this time, which gives a most agreeable impression of his features, but which those who knew him in the later years of his life would hardly accept as a perfect likeness. The noble expansive brow and deep-set, melancholy eyes do justice to those features; but the tender, flexible lips, although expressing the sweetness of his character at that period of his life, have not the expression of intense firmness which afterward gave such character to his countenance.

"As I had the privilege of being often a visitor in his family, a recapitulation of the course of his every-day life may be more interesting to you than any thing else.

"Mr. Webster was always an early riser. There is an eloquent letter which expresses his true feeling upon the influence of the morning hours. Like most of the great and good people we read of, the hours of the early morning were [to him] the most cheerful of the day. The drowsy in his own house were awoke by his joyous voice singing some cheerful carol, such as,

The east is bright with morning light,

Uprose the king of men with speed,' etc.

"At breakfast, before the cares of business began, he was cheerful but thoughtful, courteous and genial toward every one; listening to the prattle of the children, and kindly attentive to all their little requests. When he returned, at two or three o'clock, weary from the courts, or from his office, the promptly ready service of Hannah, a woman who had been in his family many years, was always welcome. She knew the sound of the door when opened by Mr. Webster, and it was scarcely closed before she was at his side. He was dependent upon services prompted by affection, and loved those spontaneous offerings which came from the heart.

"After dinner, Mr. Webster would throw himself upon the sofa, and then was seen the truly electrical attraction of his character. Every person in the room was drawn immediately into his sphere. The children squeezing themselves into all possible places and postures upon the sofa, in order to be close to him; Mrs. Webster sitting by his side, and the friend in the house or social visitor, only too happy to join in the circle. All this

was not from invitation to the children, he did nothing to amuse them, he told them no stories; it was the irresistible attraction of his character, the charm of his illumined countenance, from which beamed indulgence and kindness to every one of his family. In the evening, if visitors came in, Mr. Webster was too much exhausted to take a very active part in conversation. He had done a large amount of work before others were awake in the morning, and in the evening he was ready for that sweet sleep which 'God gives to His beloved.""

In January, 1818, Julia, the only daughter of Mr. Webster who lived to the age of womanhood, was born in Boston, in the house on Mt. Vernon Street which he first occupied in that town. Of his life at this time, Mr. Ticknor observes:

"Soon after I returned from Washington, in 1815, I went to Europe, and did not come back till 1819. Mr. Webster was then living in Boston in Mt. Vernon Street. Two days after I arrived, I met him at dinner at Mr. Isaac P. Davis's, who then lived in the Wheeler House in Boylston Street. Judge Story, Mr. George Blake, Mr. Willian Sullivan, and a few others, made the party. Such a party could not have sat down together at a private table when I left home. It was what was called 'the era of good feelings.' Mr. Webster had been very instrumental in producing this state of things in the country. Mr. John Lowell, in the summer of 1817, told me, in Paris, that Mr. Webster, in a private visit to Mr. Monroe, just before leaving Washington, when he ceased to be a member of Congress, asked the President to make a visit to the North. The President objected. on the ground that a person of his political opinions would be very unwelcome there. Mr. Webster replied that he thought it would be better if party feeling were diminished in the United States, and that this was a favorable opportunity to diminish it-he believed that the President would be kindly received without distinction of party, and that such a circumstance would tend much to allay all political bitterness. The country,' he said, 'was much too busy and too eager in its prosperity, to give much time to quarrelling about things chiefly bygone.' They had much conversation on the subject. Mr. Webster told the President that he thought he could venture to speak freely, as he had already left Congress, and should in future give his attention to his profession and private affairs. Mr. Monroe thanked him, and said he would consider the matter. The result was, President Monroe's well-known journey to the North.

"On relating the conversation with Mr. Lowell to Mr. Mason some years afterward, he told me that he was aware at the time of Mr. Webster's course and influence in the matter, and that at his (Mr. Webster's) instance he had personally invited Mr. Monroe to visit him at Portsmouth, and did what he could to make his tour agreeable and useful.

"At the dinner at Mr. Davis's, Mr. Webster talked a good deal about Europe-all I remember of his conversation is, that he had a very accu