Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/552

 532 WEBSTER ster, foreseeing that the territory acquired by the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) would prove a Pandora's box of evil to the country, voted againat its confirmation. The great pop- ularity of Gen. Taylor led to his nomination as the candidate of the whig party at the en- suing presidential election. The friends of Mr. "Webster had calculated, with some confidence, that the choice of the nominating convention would full upon him ; but nothing occurred to prevent him and his friends from giving a cor- dial support to Taylor's administration. The controversies relative to slavery had become violent beyond former example, in consequence of the recent territorial acquisitions. Cali- fornia, having without previous congressional sanction adopted a constitution by which sla- very was prohibited, was applying for admis- sion to the Union ; New Mexico was to be organized as a territory; a claim was set up by Texas to an extensive region on her bor- der; while at this inauspicious season a more stringent law for the extradition of fugitive slaves was demanded by the south. The ex- citement in congress and through the country had reached a dangerous height, and a nation- al crisis seemed to be impending. A series of compromise measures was at length adopted in congress, by which the threatened catastrophe was for the time averted. In the progress of the senatorial debates on these subjects, Mr. Webster delivered his much criticised speech of the 7th of March, 1850, in which he aban- doned the Wilmot proviso and justified the fugitive slave law. In making this concession for the sake of conciliation, he was not with- out melancholy forebodings of its failure to unite even the unanimous suffrage of his po- litical friends. While the compromise mea- sures were still before congress, about mid- summer of 1850, President Taylor died. In the reorganization of the cabinet by President Fillmore, Mr. Webster was called to the de- partment of state. The movements of the fili- busters against Cuba, successful attempts in different parts of the country to resist the exe- cution of the fugitive slave law, the arrival in America of Kossuth and the other Hungarian exiles, the apprehensions of a collision with the British cruisers on the fishing grounds, the affair of the Crescent City at Havana, the mis- understanding with Peru relative to the Lobos islands, the Japanese expeditions, the proposed tripartite guaranty of Cuba, the reciprocity treaty relative to the Canadian provinces, and the affairs of Central America were the sub- jects which engaged the attention of Mr. Fill- more's administration while Mr. Webster re- mained in charge of that department. On July 4, 1851, he delivered an address at the laying of the corner stone of the extension of the capitol, which was his last discourse of this kind. In January, 1852, he argued the im- portant India-rubber patent cause at Trenton. This was his last great forensic effort. In the spring of that year the whig presidential convention assembled at Baltimore. Sanguine hopes were entertained by the friends of Mr. Webster, but the choice of the convention fell upon Gen. Scott. Early in May Mr. Webster was seriously injured by being thrown from his carriage near his farm in Marshfield. In June he went back for a short time to Wash- ington, but his health required, in addition to a cooler climate, the repose which he could only find at home. He made another short visit to Washington in August. The few closing months of his life were passed at Marshfield. The last matter of public business which en- gaged much of his attention was the affair of the American fisheries off the coasts of the British provinces. After his final return from Wash- ington chronic complaints gained rapidly upon him. Sensible that his failing health did not admit the punctual discharge of the duties of his office, he tendered his resignation, which was declined by Mr. Fillmore. His funeral was at- tended at Marshfield in the presence of a great part of the population of that place and the neighboring towns, of a large number of per- sons from Boston and other parts of Massachu- setts, and of deputations from New York, Al- bany, and Philadelphia. Funeral orations, dis- courses, and sermons were delivered throughout the country, in great numbers. Mr. Webster's person was imposing, of commanding height and well proportioned ; his head of great size ; his eyes deep-seated, large, and lustrous; his voice powerful, sonorous, and flexible ; his ac- tion, without being remarkably graceful, was appropriate and impressive. He went to bed and rose early, and despatched the business of the day as much as possible during the morn- ing hours. He was extremely fond of field sports, particularly fishing, and was a remark- ably good shot. His social tastes were very strong, and his conversational powers have rarely been equalled. His happiest days were passed upon his farms. He understood agri- culture theoretically and practically, and took great pride in his fine stock and large crops. He was a regular attendant on public worship. Portraits at different periods of his life by the most distinguished artists of the day, and his bust by Powers, will convey to posterity no inadequate idea of his countenance and form. Mr. Webster was married in early life to Grace Fletcher of Ilopkinton, N. II. Of this marriage were born Charles, Julia, Ed- ward, and Fletcher, of whom the last, the only one who survived him, fell as colonel of the 12th Massachusetts volunteers in the bat- tle of Aug. 29, 1862, near Bull Run. Mr. Webster's first wife died in January, 1828, and in December, 1829, he married Caroline Bayard Le Roy, daughter of an eminent mer- chant in New York, who survives him. Seve- ral editions of his collective works were pub- lished during his lifetime, the most complete in 6 vols. 8vo (1851). Two volumes of his pri- vate correspondence were published by his son in 1858. His biography has been written by