e state in full his own
intimate connection with the movement.

Webster's federalism was something more than a partisan sentiment. In
following his political thought, it is easily perceived that his creed
of party was subordinate to his larger belief in the American Republic.
His writings upon public affairs, which are very considerable,
constantly reveal this dominant thought. The very vagaries--which, as we
have seen, and shall see again, rendered some of his ideas amusing and
vain-glorious--were but the disorderly and ill-regulated whims of a
sincere patriotism. Americanism in literature and language may become
fantastic, but in politics there is pretty sure to be room for the most
ardent love of country to expand itself without becoming a bubble, and
it is certain that Webster's political writings were marked by a
largeness of conception and a clear understanding of national lines
which redeem them from insignificance. They had their influence upon his
contemporaries, yet they were, after all, ephemeral. Had he concentrated
his powers upon political themes, it is not impossible that he should
have been a journalist, for instance, of influence and even celebrity.
But there was a weakness on this side. He did not bring to the
discussion of great public questions that weight of learning and breadth
of argument which will sustain political writings when the immediate
occasion has passed. Whether writing pamphlets or newspaper articles, he
was essentially a writer of the day, of importance in pressing home
arguments calling for immediate results, but lacking the art of
literature and the commanding thought of a statesman. He had a true
sentiment in politics, and he was able also to see practical issues
clearly; but his mind was analytical rather than constructive, and his
restlessness of life was indicative of a certain instability of temper
which kept him uneasily employed about many things rather than
steadfast and single-minded. It would be too much to say that he failed
as a political writer, and fell back on his philological and
school-master studies; yet it is very likely that, in the various
excursions which he made into politics and general literature, he
discovered by successive trials that there was one pursuit more than all
which really belonged to him, and the constancy with which he followed
it is in singular contrast with the multitudinous experiments which
seemed to occupy the period of his life between 17