We can see it plainly in the correspondence of the Western Whigs, who were not, perhaps, wholly impartial.

But it existed, nevertheless.

There was a vague, ill-defined feeling of doubt in the public mind; a suspicion that the spirit of the advocate was the ruling spirit in Mr.Webster, and that he did not believe with absolute and fervent faith in one side of any question.

There was just enough correctness, just a sufficient grain of truth in this idea, when united with the coldness and dignity of his manner and with his greatness itself, to render impossible that popularity which, to be real and lasting in a democracy, must come from the heart and not from the head of the people, which must be instinctive and emotional, and not the offspring of reason.
There is no occasion to discuss, or hold up to reprobation, Mr.Webster's failings.

He was a splendid animal as well as a great man, and he had strong passions and appetites, which he indulged at times to the detriment of his health and reputation.