AND THE SENTIMENT OF UNION 409 



gain support for him in the South ; and his resolute 

 adoption of a policy that he regarded as national 

 rather than sectional was really an instance of high 

 moral courage. It was, however, a concession that 

 did violence to his sentiments of humanity, and the 

 pain and uneasiness it occasioned is visible in some of 

 his latest utterances. 



On President Taylor's death, July 9, 1850, Mr. 

 Webster became President Fillmore's Secretary of 

 State. An earnest attempt was made, on the part 

 of his friends, to secure his nomination for the presi- 

 dency in 1852; but on the first ballot in the conven- 

 tion he received only 29 votes, while there were 131 

 for General Scott, and 133 for Mr. Fillmore. The 

 efforts of Mr. Webster's adherents succeeded only in 

 giving the nomination to Scott. The result was a 

 grave disappointment to Mr. Webster. He refused to 

 support the nomination, and took no part in the cam- 

 paign. His health was now rapidly failing. He left 

 Washington, September 8, for the last time, and re- 

 turned to Marshfield, which he never left again, except 

 on September 20, for a brief call upon his physician 

 in Boston. 



On the 24th of October, 1852, he died, and on the next 

 day flags in all towns that had caught the sad news 

 were at half-mast. I was a little boy then, and had 

 never been in Boston or seen Mr. Webster; but I 

 could not forget that day if I were to live a thousand 

 years. Daniel Webster was dead. A godlike pres- 

 ence had gone from us. Life seemed smaller, lonelier, 

 and meaner. I well remember catching myself won- 

 dering how the sun could rise and the daily events of 

 life go on without Daniel Webster. 



