In an age of revolution and scepticism he showed no trace of the questioning spirit which then prevailed.

Even in his earliest years he was a firm believer in existing institutions, in what was fixed and established.

He had a little of the disposition of Lord Thurlow, who, when asked by a dissenter why, being a notorious free-thinker, he so ardently supported the Established Church, replied: "I support the Church of England because it is established.
Establish your religion, and I'll support that." But if Mr.Webster took his religion and politics from his father in an unquestioning spirit, he accepted them in a mild form.

He was a liberal Federalist because he had a wide mental vision, and by nature took broad views of everything.

His father, on the other hand, was a rigid, intolerant Federalist of a thorough-going Puritan type.