Wherever he went men felt in the depths of their being the amazing force of his personal presence.

He could control an audience by a look, and could extort applause from hostile listeners by a mere glance.

On one occasion, after the 7th of March speech, there is a story that a noted abolitionist leader was present in the crowd gathered to hear Mr.Webster, and this bitter opponent is reported to have said afterwards, "When Webster, speaking of secession, asked 'what is to become of me,' I was thrilled with a sense of some awful impending calamity." The story may be apocryphal, but there can be no doubt of its essential truth so far as the effect of Mr.Webster's personal presence goes.

People looked at him, and that was enough.

Mr.Parton in his essay speaks of seeing Webster at a public dinner, sitting at the head of the table with a bottle of Madeira under his yellow waistcoat, and looking like Jove.