14
��THE GRANITE MONTHLY.
��where, relieved from the cares of busi- ness, in the full gayety of his disposi- tion, he gave himself up to relaxation."
In due time a daughter was born to them, the little Grace Webster, who was so wonderfully precocious and agreeable. Unhappily, she inherited her mother's delicate constitution, and she died in childhood. Three times in his life, it is said. Daniel Webster wept conx'ulsively. One of these oc- casions was when he laid upon the bed this darling girl, who had died in his arms, and turned away from the sight of her lifeless body. All the four children of Mrs. ^Vebster, except her son Fletcher, appear to have inherited their mother's weakness.
Charles, a lovely child, both in mind and person, died in infancy. Her daughter Julia, who lived to marry the son of a distinguished family in Bos- ton, died in her thirtieth year. Ed- ward, her third son, served as a major in the Mexican war, and died in Mex- ico, aged twenty-eight. Pletcher, the most robust of her children, com- manded a regiment of the army of the Potomac, and died in one of its disas- trous conflicts.
Beyond the general impressions of her friends, we know little of the life of this estimable woman. She lived retired from the public gaze, and the incidents of her life were of that domestic and ordinary nature which are seldom re- corded. In this dearth of information, the reader will certainly be interested in reading one of her letters to her husband, written soon after the death of their little son Charles. It shows her affectionate nature, and is ex- pressed with all the tender eloquence of a bereaved but resigned mother. The following is the letter :
" I have a great desire to write to you, my beloved husband, but I doubt if I can write legibly. I have received your letter in answer to William, which told you dear little Charley was no more. I have dreaded the hour which should destroy hopes, but trust you will not let this event afflict you too much, and that we both shall be able
��to resign him without a murmur, happy in the reflection that he has returned to his Heavenly Father, pure as I re- ceived him. It was an inexpressible consolation to me, when I contem- plated him in his sickness, that he had not one regret for the past, nor one dread for the future ; he was patient as a lamb during all his sufferings, and they were at last so great I was happy when they were ended. I shall always reflect on his brief life with mournful pleasure, and, I hope, remember with gratitude all the joy he gave me — and it has been great. And oh ! how fondly did I flatter myself it would be lasting.
'It was but yesterday, ni}' child, thy
little heart Ijeat high ; And I had scorned the warning voice
that told uie tliou must die.'
"Dear litde Charles! He sleeps alone under St. Paul's. Oh ! do not, my dear husband, talk of your own final abode : that is a subject I never can dwell on for a moment. With you here, my dear, I can never be deso- late ! O, may Heaven in its mercy long preserve you ! And that we may ever wisely improve every event, and yet rejoice together in this life, prays your ever affectionate
G. W."
Mrs. W^ebster lived but forty-six years. In December, 1827, Mr. Web- ster being then a member of Congress, he started with his wife for the city of Washington. She had been suffering for some time from a tumor of a some- what unusual character, which had much lowered the tone of her sj'stem. On reaching New York she was so sick that her husband left her there and proceeded to Washington alone. Having litde hope of her recovery, he had serious thoughts of resigning his seat, in order to devote himself exclu- sively to the care of his wife, espe- cially as he thought it probable that she would linger for many months ; but he had scarcely reached Washington when he was summoned back to New York by the intelligence that her disease had taken a dangerous turn. He
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