In January, 1817, came the first bereavement4. His daughter, Grace, always precocious5 and delicate, developed lung trouble and wasted away. She seems to have been a remarkably6 bright and attractive child. Her heart was easily touched by sorrow or destitution7, and she would never consent that applicants8 for relief should be sent from the door unsatisfied. “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 compassion9 of her large eyes. If her mother ever refused, those eyes would fill with tears, and she would urge their requests so perseveringly10 that there was no resisting her.”
The death of this sweet child touched Mr. Webster nearly, and it was with a saddened heart that he returned to Washington to devote himself to his duties in the Supreme11 Court.
On the 18th of December, 1824, death once more appeared in the little household, this time removing the youngest boy, Charles, then nearing his second birthday. This child, young as he was, is said to have borne a closer resemblance to his father than any of his other children. Both parents were devoted12 to him. Mrs. Webster writes to her husband just after the little boy’s death: “It was an inexpressible consolation14 to me, when I contemplated15 him in his sickness, that he had not one regret for the past, nor one dread16 for the future; he was as patient as a lamb during all his sufferings, and they were at last so great I was happy when they were ended. I shall always reflect on his brief life with mournful pleasure, and, I hope, remember with gratitude17 all the joy he gave me, and it has been great. And, oh, how fondly did I flatter myself it would be lasting18!
“’It was but yesterday, my child, thy little heart beat high;
And I had scorned the warning voice that told me thou must die.’”
When Mr. Webster received the intelligence of his loss, he, for the first time in years, indulged in his early fondness for verse, and wrote a few stanzas19 which have been preserved, though they were intended to be seen only by those near and dear to him. The prevailing20 thought is a striking one. Here are the verses:
“The staff on which my years should lean
Is broken ere those years come’ o’er me;
My funeral rites13 thou shouldst have seen,
But thou art in the tomb before me.
“Thou rear’st to me no filial stone,
No parent’s grave with tears beholdest;
Thou art my ancestor—my son!
And stand’st in Heaven’s account the oldest.
“On earth my lot was soonest cast,
Thy generation after mine;
Thou hast thy predecessor21 passed,
Earlier eternity22 is thine.
“I should have set before thine eyes
The road to Heaven, and showed it clear;
But thou, untaught, spring’st to the skies,
And leav’st thy teacher lingering here.
“Sweet seraph23, I would learn of thee,
And hasten to partake thy bliss24!
And, oh! to thy world welcome me,
As first I welcomed thee to this.”
But a still heavier bereavement was in store, though it was delayed for some years. In the summer of 1827 the health of Mrs. Webster began to fail, and from that time she steadily25 declined until on the 21st of January, in the following year she died. Of Mr. Webster’s bearing at the funeral, Mr. Ticknor writes: “Mr. Webster came to Mr. George Blake’s in Summer Street, where we saw him both before and after the funeral. He seemed completely broken-hearted. At the funeral, when, with Mr. Paige, I was making some arrangements for the ceremonies, we noticed that Mr. Webster was wearing shoes that were not fit for the wet walking of the day, and I went to him and asked him if he would not ride in one of the carriages. ‘No,’ he said, ‘my children and I must follow their mother to the grave on foot. I could swim to Charlestown.’ A few minutes afterwards he took Nelson and Daniel in either hand, and walked close to the hearse through the streets to the church in whose crypt the interment took place. It was a touching26 and solemn sight. He was excessively pale.”
It is a striking commentary upon the emptiness of human honors where the heart is concerned that this great affliction came very soon after Mr. Webster’s election to the United State Senate, where he achieved his highest fame and gathered his choicest laurels27. We can well imagine that he carried a sad heart to the halls of legislation, and realized how poorly the world’s honors compensate28 the heart for the wounds of bereavement. But Daniel Webster was not a man to suffer sorrow to get the mastery of him. He labored29 the harder in the service of his country, and found in the discharge of duty his best consolation. If I had room I would like to quote the tribute of Judge Storey to the character of Mr. Webster. I confine myself to one sentence: “Few persons have been more deservedly or more universally beloved; few have possessed30 qualities more attractive, more valuable or more elevating.”
A little over a year later there was a fresh sorrow. Ezekiel Webster, the older brother, between whom and Daniel such warm and affectionate relations had always existed, died suddenly under striking circumstances. He was addressing a jury in the court-house at Concord31, N. H., speaking with full force, when, without a moment’s warning, “he fell backward, without bending a joint32, and, so far as appeared, was dead before his head reached the floor.”
He was a man of large ability, though necessarily overshadowed by the colossal33 genius of his younger brother. It would be too much to expect two Daniel Websters in one family. His death had a depressing effect upon Daniel, for the two had been one in sympathy, and each had rejoiced in the success of the other. Together they had struggled up from poverty, achieved an education and professional distinction, and though laboring34 in different spheres, for Ezekiel kept aloof35 from politics, they continued to exchange views upon all subjects that interested either. It is not surprising, in view of his desolate36 household, and the loss of his favorite brother, that Daniel should write: “I confess the world, at present, has an aspect for me anything but cheerful. With a multitude of acquaintances I have few friends; my nearest intimacies37 are broken, and a sad void is made in the objects of affection.” Yet he was constrained38 to acknowledge that his life, on the whole, had been “fortunate and happy beyond the common lot, and it would be now ungrateful, as well as unavailing, to repine at calamities39, of which, as they are human, I must expect to partake.”
I have taken pains to speak of Mr. Webster’s home affections, because many, but only those who did not know him, have looked upon him as coldly intellectual, with a grand genius, but deficient40 in human emotions, when, as a fact, his heart was unusually warm and overflowing41 with tender sympathy.
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1
orator
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| n.演说者，演讲者，雄辩家 | |
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chiding
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| v.责骂，责备( chide的现在分词 ) | |
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rebuking
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| 责难或指责( rebuke的现在分词 ) | |
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bereavement
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| n.亲人丧亡，丧失亲人，丧亲之痛 | |
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precocious
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| adj.早熟的；较早显出的 | |
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remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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destitution
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| n.穷困，缺乏，贫穷 | |
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applicants
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| 申请人，求职人( applicant的名词复数 ) | |
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compassion
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| n.同情，怜悯 | |
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perseveringly
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| 坚定地 | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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rites
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| 仪式，典礼( rite的名词复数 ) | |
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consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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lasting
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| adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持 | |
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stanzas
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| 节，段( stanza的名词复数 ) | |
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prevailing
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| adj.盛行的；占优势的；主要的 | |
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predecessor
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| n.前辈，前任 | |
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eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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seraph
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| n.六翼天使 | |
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bliss
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| n.狂喜，福佑，天赐的福 | |
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steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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laurels
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| n.桂冠，荣誉 | |
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compensate
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| vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消 | |
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labored
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| adj.吃力的，谨慎的v.努力争取(for)( labor的过去式和过去分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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concord
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| n.和谐；协调 | |
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joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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colossal
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| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
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laboring
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| n.劳动，操劳v.努力争取(for)( labor的现在分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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aloof
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| adj.远离的；冷淡的，漠不关心的 | |
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desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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intimacies
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| 亲密( intimacy的名词复数 )； 密切； 亲昵的言行； 性行为 | |
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constrained
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| adj.束缚的,节制的 | |
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calamities
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| n.灾祸，灾难( calamity的名词复数 )；不幸之事 | |
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deficient
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| adj.不足的，不充份的，有缺陷的 | |
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overflowing
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| n. 溢出物,溢流 adj. 充沛的，充满的 动词overflow的现在分词形式 | |
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