Mr.Webster stands between the two classes.

He viewed the present with a strong perception of the future, and shaped his policy not merely for the daily exigency, but with a keen eye to subsequent effects.

At the same time he never put forward and defended single-handed a great principle or idea which, neglected then, was gradually to win its way and reign supreme among a succeeding generation.
His speeches have a heat and glow which we can still feel, and a depth and reality of thought which have secured them a place in literature.

He had not a fiery nature, although there is often so much warmth in what he said.
He was neither high tempered nor quick to anger, but he could be fierce, and, when adulation had warped him in those later years, he was capable of striking ugly blows which sometimes wounded friends as well as enemies.
There remains one marked quality to be noticed in Mr.Webster, which was of immense negative service to him.

This was his sense of humor.