DEATH OF ME. WEBSTER.

Lyttelton Times, Volume III, Issue 118, 9 April 1853, Page 10

DEATH OF ME. WEBSTER.

[From the " Times."] The American Union has sustained a heavy loss in the death of Daniel Webster. Though he had reached the age of seventy, he still occupied so large a space in the attention of his countrymen, and so prominent a position in the service of the Republic, that his demise will be felt throughout the Union as a public calamity. The newspapers are filled with expressions of grief, and at all the towns which the sad news had reached, meetings had been held and measures adopted to evince the sorrow which such a loss had inspired. On the previous Tuesday not the slightest danger had been apprehended from Mr. Webster's illness, and his physicians anticipated that lie would be able to resume the duties of his office in a few days, but on that afternoon his disorder unexpectedly assumed a more menacing aspect, and he gradually grew worse and worse*. He was fully sensible of his approaching end, but looked forward to it with magnanimous resignation, and among all the sorrowstricken friends, relatives, and admirers who surrounded his couch, and with whom he conversed freely, he was the most placid, serene, and unaffected. Nor in this last scene and preparation for eternity was the great man unmindful of his duties to his farnilily, his household, and his country. On Thursday forenoon he received his mail as usual, and gave the directions for answers to his letters, many of which were sent to the post-office at Boston by express the same evening. To his workmenbn his farm-he also gave directions as to their operations for the day, and in the course of the evening he proceeded to complete various matters of business which he conceived to be of importance. On Thursday evening he executed his last will and testament, which had been previously prepared, and to the details of which he gave particular attention. On Friday afternoon he had the people employed in his family and upon his farm called in, and, alter giving them much earnest advice upon matters temporal and spiritual, bade them a last farewell. On receiving the announcement of his approaching end, he requested that the female members of his family might be called in ; and to each, calling them individually by name, he addressed a few words of farewell and religious consolation. Next he called in the male members of his family, and the personal friends who had been with him for the last few days. Addressing each by name, he referred to his past relations with them respectively, and, one by one, he bade them an affectionate farewell. He now had Mr. Peter Harvey called in, and said to him—" Harvey, lam not so sick but that I know you. lam well enough to love you, and well enough to call down the richest of Heaven^ blessings upon you and yours. Harvey, don't leave me till I am dead—don't leave Marshfield till lam a dead man." Then, as if speaking to himself, he said, " On the 24th of October all that is mortal of Daniel Webster will be no more." He now prayed in his natural usual voice—strong, full, and clear—ending with—" Heavenly Father, forgive my sins, and receive me to Thyself, through Christ Jesus." Conversing with great exactness, he seemed to be anxious to be able to mark to himself the final period of his dissolution. He was told that it might occur in one, two, or three hours, but that the time could not be definitely calculated. " Then," said he, " I suppose I must lie here quietly till it comes." Dr. Jeffries offered hi in something which he hoped ■might give him ease. The dying statesman remarked— " Something more Doctor—more. I want restoration." Between 10 and 11 o'clock he repeated somewhat indistinctly the words, "Poet, poetry—Gray, Gray." Mr. Fletcher Webster repeated the first line of the elegy, " The. curfew tolls the knell of parting day." " That's it, that's it," said Mr. Webster; and the book was brought, and some stanzas read to him, which seemed to give him pleasure. From 12 o'clock till two there was much restlessness, but

not much suffering; the physicians were quite confident that there was no actual pain. A. faintness occurred, which led him to think that his death was at hand. While in this condition some expressions fell from him indicating the hope that his mind would remain to him completely until the last. He spoke of the difficulty of the process of flying, when Dr. Jeffries repeated the verse, " Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me; Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me." Mr. Webster said immediately, " The fact, the fact! That is what I want! Thy rod—thy rod! Thy staff—% staff!" These were his last words, and he died at 22 minutes before 3 o'clock on Sunday morning, in perfect tranquillity.