d been divorced
from Mr. Robards, were, with many other scandals, paraded before
the public.

Daniel Webster had been recognized in advance as the leader of the
House by his appointment as chairman of the committee to inform
Mr. Adams that he had been elected President. This Mr. Webster
did verbally, but Mr. Adams had prepared a written reply, which
had been copied by a clerk and bore his autograph signature.

Mr. Webster was at that period of his life the embodiment of health
and good spirits. His stalwart frame, his massive head, crowned
with a wealth of black hair, his heavy eye-brows, overhanging his
great, expressive, and cavernous eyes, all distinguished him as
one of the powers of the realm of the intellect--one of the few to
whom Divinity has accorded a royal share of the Promethian fire of
genius. His department was ceremonious, and he made a decided
impression on strangers. When Jenny Lind first saw him, she was
much impressed by his majestic appearance, and afterward exclaimed,
"I have seen a man!"

His swarthy complexion gained him the epithet of "Black Dan." He
was very proud of his complexion, which he inherited from his
grandmother, Susannah Bachelder (from whom the poet Whittier also
claimed descent), and he used to quote the compliment paid by
General Stark, the hero of Bennington, to his father, Colonel
Ebenezer Webster: "He has the black Bachelder complexion, which
burnt gunpowder will not change." Although majestic in appearance,
Mr. Webster was not really a very large man; in height he was only
about five feet ten inches. His head looked very large, but he
wore a seven and five-eighth hat, as did Mr. Clay, whose head
appeared much smaller. His shoulders were very broad and his chest
was very full, but his hips and lower limbs were small.

Mr. Webster had his first great sorrow then. His eldest, and at
that time his only, daughter died at Washington, and the next year
her mother followed her to the grave. This estimable lady, whose
maiden name was Grace Fletcher, was one year older than Mr. Webster,
and was the daughter of a New Hampshire clergyman. While on her
way to Washington with her husband, the December after he had been
re-elected United States Senator by a nearly two-thirds vote in
each branch of the "General Court" of Massachusetts, she was taken
fatally ill at the house of Mr. Webster's friend, Dr. Perkins,
where they were guests.

Mr. Webster had begun at that time to