"Mr. Granger died, April 15, 1776, while administering the sacrament, of an apoplectic fit.
More happy end what saint e'er knew!
To whom like mercy shown!
His Saviour's death in rapturous view,
And unperceived his own.
Vide Annual Register for 1776.
D. W."
The poetry is not original, but is taken from the "Register."
Mr. Webster's scrupulous care of his dress is well known. On each of the occasions I saw him, his dress—which, as is well known, was the blue coat with the buff or white vest and brass buttons, and, at least on one occasion in the summer, white trousers—seemed to have been nearly new. I was told by a lady who heard the eulogy on Adams and Jefferson in 1826, in Faneuil Hall that on that occasion he wore a gown.
There are in literature a few biographies in which the hand of a master has, in a brief compass, given a portraiture of an illustrious subject, which, like the faces portrayed by the great painters of the Middle Ages, leaves nothing wanting and which no fulness of detail could improve. Of these, Tacitus's "Life of Agricola" is probably the most perfect example. Kirkland's "Fisher Ames" is of the same class. So, also, unless I am greatly deceived, is the "Life of Daniel Webster," by Edward Everett, published with Webster's Works in 1852. This admirable biography, partly, perhaps, by reason of its place in a voluminous publication, has attracted far less attention than its own excellence and the fame of its author would lead us to expect. It will be worth all the pains taken in preparing these articles if it shall lead the youth of the country to study carefully this masterly portrait by one great statesman and orator of another who was his teacher, leader, and friend. I extract from it one passage which gives the key to Webster's great success and to the success of every great orator who has stirred the feeling or convinced the understanding of the people by the power of eloquent speech: