AMERICAN CRISIS BIOGRAPHIES DANIEL WEBSTER · by FREDERIC AUSTIN OGG, Ph.D. Associate Professor of History in Simmons College, Boston, PHILADELPHIA PUBLISHERS E340 COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY All rights reserved PREFACE ALTHOUGH in truth one of the most human of men, Daniel Webster is, and must remain, for students of American history primarily the orator, jurist, and statesman; and while in this brief biography an attempt has been made to convey some impression of the personal characteristics of the man, and especially of the conditions surrounding his earlier life, space has been devoted principally to the multifold public activities by which his ultimate distinction was attained. The subject is old, and yet ever fresh. The shelves of our libraries groan under the masses of books relating to it. Yet neglected or largely unused materials are still being brought to light; and so intricately do the life and work of the man enter into the very texture of the nation's history that they are very nearly as incapable of full and final interpretation as is that history itself. In the preparation of the present sketch liberal use has been made of the earlier biographies, especially of the two excellent ones by Curtis and Lodge, of the standard histories, and of monographs. The very abundant source materials, however,-chiefly the writings of Webster and of his contemporaries,-have been the principal reliance. Since the publication, in 1902, of Professor Van Tyne's "Letters of Daniel Webster," and, in 1903, of the eighteen-volume "National Edition" of Webster's "Writings and Speeches," these sources have been almost entirely available in print. In the bibliography which is appended there is an enu 30291 meration of the most useful materials of various kinds. In the foot-notes the title "Works of Webster" is employed to denote the six-volume edition published originally in 1851, that of "Writings and Speeches " to denote the more recent and complete edition. The smaller set is likely to be found in many places where the larger one is not available, and for this reason it has been deemed desirable to give references to both. To Professor Van Tyne, who, according to original plans, was to have written this volume, I am indebted for a number of helpful suggestions and for the use of transcripts and other materials gathered by him during the preparation of his admirable collection of the "Letters." My thanks should be expressed, also, for courtesies received from the authorities of the Library of Congress, the New Hampshire Historical Society, the Massachusetts Historical Society, and the Boston Athenæum. FREDERIC AUSTIN OGG. Cambridge, Mass., |