Daniel Webster | Page 7

begin in a low voice and almost
sleepy manner, and would then gradually rouse himself like a lion, and
pour forth his words until he had his hearers completely under his
control, and glowing with enthusiasm.
We see too, at this time, the first evidence of that other great gift of

bountiful nature in his commanding presence. He was then tall and thin,
with high cheek bones and dark skin, but he was still impressive. The
boys about him never forgot the look of his deep-set eyes, or the sound
of the solemn tones of his voice, his dignity of mien, and his absorption
in his subject. Above all they were conscious of something indefinable
which conveyed a sense of greatness. It is not usual to dwell so much
upon mere physical attributes and appearance, but we must recur to
them again and again, for Mr. Webster's personal presence was one of
the great elements of his success; it was the fit companion and even a
part of his genius, and was the cause of his influence, and of the
wonder and admiration which followed him, as much almost as
anything he ever said or did.
To Mr. Webster's college career belong the first fruits of his intellect.
He edited, during one year, a small weekly journal, and thus eked out
his slender means. Besides his strictly editorial labors, he printed some
short pieces of his own, which have vanished, and he also indulged in
poetical effusions, which he was fond of sending to absent friends. His
rhymes are without any especial character, neither much better nor
much worse than most college verses, and they have no intrinsic value
beyond showing that their author, whatever else he might be, was no
poet. But in his own field something of this time, having a real
importance, has come down to us. The fame of his youthful eloquence,
so far beyond anything ever known in the college, was noised abroad,
and in the year 1800 the citizens of Hanover, the college town, asked
him to deliver the Fourth of July oration. In this production, which was
thought of sufficient merit to deserve printing, Mr. Webster sketched
rapidly and exultingly the course of the Revolution, threw in a little
Federal politics, and eulogized the happy system of the new
Constitution. Of this and his other early orations he always spoke with
a good deal of contempt, as examples of bad taste, which he wished to
have buried and forgotten. Accordingly his wholesale admirers and
supporters who have done most of the writing about him, and who
always sneezed when Mr. Webster took snuff, have echoed his
opinions about these youthful productions, and beyond allowing to
them the value which everything Websterian has for the ardent
worshipper, have been disposed to hurry them over as of no moment.

Compared to the reply to Hayne or the Plymouth oration, the Hanover
speech is, of course, a poor and trivial thing. Considered, as it ought to
be, by itself and in itself, it is not only of great interest as Mr. Webster's
first utterance on public questions, but it is something of which he had
no cause to feel ashamed. The sentiments are honest, elevated, and
manly, and the political doctrine is sound. Mr. Webster was then a boy
of eighteen, and he therefore took his politics from his father and his
father's friends. For the same reason he was imitative in style and mode
of thought. All boys of that age, whether geniuses or not, are imitative,
and Mr. Webster, who was never profoundly original in thought, was
no exception to the rule. He used the style of the eighteenth century,
then in its decadence, and very florid, inflated, and heavy it was. Yet
his work was far better and his style simpler and more direct than that
which was in fashion. He indulged in a good deal of patriotic
glorification. We smile at his boyish Federalism describing Napoleon
as "the gasconading pilgrim of Egypt," and Columbia as "seated in the
forum of nations, and the empires of the world amazed at the bright
effulgence of her glory." These sentences are the acme of fine writing,
very boyish and very poor; but they are not fair examples of the whole,
which is much simpler and more direct than might have been expected.
Moreover, the thought is the really important thing. We see plainly that
the speaker belongs to the new era and the new generation of national
measures and nationally-minded men. There is no colonialism about
him. He is in full sympathy with the Washingtonian policy of
independence in our foreign relations and of complete separation from
the affairs of Europe. But the main theme and the moving spirit of this
oration are most important of all.