WEBSTER. 393 WEBSTER. tarift measure of 1824. In 1827 lie was elected to the United States Senate, lie now al)andoned iiis o|i|iiisition to ])rotoctive tariffs and became a supporter of t)ie measure of 1H2H known as the tariff of 'abominations.' In IS.'iO liis fame as an orator readied its enlinination in his rejdy to the speech of Kolicrt Y. Hayne (q.v.), Senator from South Carolina, on the nature of the Union and riylit of nullification. In tliis cpoeh-niaUing oration Webster successfully combated the theory of nullification and ably vindicated the na- tionalist view of the I'nion. His argument was later supplemented and reenforced in debate with Calhoun. In the controversy over the re- newal of the charter of the United States Bank, Webster advocated renewal and opposed .Jack- son's financial policy in t^eiieral. Upon the or- ganization of the hig Party, Webster became one of its leaders, and in 1S3H received the elec- toral vote of Jlassachusetts for President. In the Presidential campaign of 1S40 he took an active part, and upon the election of Harrison was appointed Secretary of State, a position which he retained under Tyler. In this capacity he managed, with tact, the eases growing out of the McLeod and Creole affairs (q.v. ), and brought to a successful conclusion the negotia- tions with Lord Ashhurton chielly for the settle- ment of the northeast boundary dispute with Great Britain. (See Weoster-Ashburton Tkeaty. ) He now retired from the Cabinet, eliiefly on account of President Tyler's break ith the Whigs, declined a reelection to the Sen- ate, and resumed his law practice in Boston. In 1844 he was again suggested for the Presi- dency, but his following was small, and in the succeeding year he reentered the Senate as the successor of Rufus Clioate, in which capacity he opposed the annexation of Texas and the war with Mexico. Webster greatly desired the Whig nomi- nation for the Presidency in 1848, and was sorely disappointed at the nomination of Taylor, pro- nouncing it as 'one not fit to be made.' He at first declined to support Taylor's candidacy, but later ably defended the Whig Administration. His last years in the Senate were devoted to efforts to preserve the Union and maintain peace be- tween the North and the South by means of compromise. His last great speech and one of the most notable of his life, was that delivered in the Senate, March 7, 1850. on the Compromise Measures of 18.50, in which he rebuked the North for agitating the slavery question and for violating the Fugitive Slave Law, and advocated concessions to the South. The speech aroused indignation at the North, where it was said that lie was truckling to the South in order to gain support in his candidacy for President. Upon the succession of Fillmore to the Presidency in 1850, Webster became Secretary of State. Again in 1852 he was disappointed in not receiving the Whig nomination for the Presidency, refused to support the candidacy of General Scott, and took I'o part in the campaign. He returned to Marsh- field in September, and there, after a brief ill- ness, he died on October 24th. His only sur- ^ iving son, Fletcher, was killed at the battle of Bull Run in 18fi2. Webster's private correspondence in two vol- umes was published at Boston in 1857. A standard Life is that of George T. Curtis (Bos- ton, 1870). Other biographies were prepared by Lodge (ib., 1883), Scudder (ib., 1882), and McMaster (New York, 1!)02). WEBSTER, .loiiN (C.1580-C.IC25). One of (he gicjitc^t of I'higlish dramatists, best known for liis tragedy Tlic Duchess of Malfi. Of his life little has come down to us. As early as about KiOl lie' began to write for the stage, col- labornting with th« group of writers which in- cluded Drayton, ilunday, and others. His al- terations to Marston's pbiy of Thi' Mnlroiitcnt appeared in 1004. With Dekker he eollaliorated in the two comedies Westiv/iril Hoc and yorth- tvard Hoe, which were produced in the winter of 1604-05, and printed in 1007. Much of his early work, however, is irrecoverably mingled with that of inferior men. His ow-n peculiar powers were first fully revealed in the tragedy of The White Devil, or Viltoria Coromhona, which was printed in 1012, having been acted some time before. This is one of his two master- pieces. Appiusi and Virf/inia. which was acted a few years later, is a tragedy based upon the familiar Roman story, and was well received, but is comparatively commonplace. The 'tragi-come- dy' of The Devil's Law Case is not only in parts excessively coarse, but is inferior in construc- tion. In the same year with this (1023) was first printed The Duchess of Malfi. which had been played in 1010. The accumulation of hor- rors which gather about the end of the unhappy lady of Amalfi produces an intensity of im- [iression that amply justifies Charles Lamb's well-known comment: "To move a horror skill- fully, to touch a soul to the quick, to la_y upon fear as much as it can bear, to wean and weary a life till it is ready to drop, and then step in with mortal instruments to take its last forfeit; this only a Webster can do." Of his more recent critics, Swinburne unhesitatingly places him next to Shakespeare among English dramatists. Gosse gives him a slightly lower place. In 1024 Webster wrote a Lord ilayor's pageant. He has been identified, doubtless erroneously, with a man of the same name who afterwards wrote works of a quite different character, but this is the latest date that can be positively given in his life. His death has been variously set, from 1625 to 1652. Consult: Dyce, ed.'. The Works of John Welster, now First Collected, trilh Some Account of the Author, and yotes (London, 1830; new ed., rev., ib.. 1859) ; Haz- litt, ed.. The Dramatic TT'or/,-.s of .John Weh- ster. with an introduction (ib., 1857) ; Sy- monds, ed., The Best Plays of Webster and Tourneur, with an Introduction and Xotes (Lon- don, 1888) ; Vopel, John Webster: Researches on His Life and Plays (Bremen. 1887) ; Hazlitt, Lectures on the Dramatic Literature of the Age of Elizabeth (3d ed., London, 1840) ; Gosse, Seventeenth Century Studies (ib., 1883) ; Swinburne, Studies in Prose and Poetry (ib., 1894). WEBSTER, .TiLiA Augusta (1837-94). An English poet, known as Augusta Webster, born at Poole, in Dorsetshire. Her father. Vice- Admiral George Davies (1800-70), settled at Cambridge (1851), and she attended classes there in the school of art and read extensively. In 1863 she married Thomas Wclister. Fellow of Trinity College. In 1870 they settled in London, where Mrs. Webster took an active part in educational affairs, being twice elected
