the son of a humble hawker of fish through
the streets of Burlington, who had afterward become a respectable though
not a first-class wheelwright. By probity, industry, and enterprise he
had finally risen to wealth and position. The maternal grandmother of
the author had, according to this same story, for more than twenty years
occupied a stall and sold fresh vegetables in the Philadelphia market,
and was remarkable for the superior quality of the articles she kept.
Webb praised the father at the expense of the son. The former had never
been ashamed of his humble origin. On the contrary, he was justly proud
of the intelligence and ability which, unaided by any mere external
advantages, had raised him to a station in life so much higher than he
at first held. Of such a career any child had a right to be proud. These
were statements that could not well be resented, conceding that they
were injurious, nor could they well be corrected, conceding that they
were untrue. Webb, who had recently returned from Europe, asserted,
moreover, that he had been present at a dinner-party in London, where
"Home as Found" came under discussion. On that occasion he had fallen
into a conversation about it with "a nobleman of distinction." The
latter informed him that Cooper's attack upon English society had
materially injured the sale of his works in that country, and it was
evident that he was now seeking to regain the ground and the (p. 189)
market he had lost, by praising everything English at the expense of
everything American; but as his base motives were now fully understood,
no one was led astray. The reported conversation carries internal
evidence of its authenticity. It required a very noble lord to impute to
a well-known writer motives so very noble; and none but an Englishman
could have appreciated so fully the eternal conditions of success in the
English market. These remarks of Webb's are, however, merely incidental.
His direct personal attack on Cooper rivaled that of the British
periodicals in ferocity. "We may and do know him," said he in the only
extract for which there is room, "as a base-minded caitiff who has
traduced his country for filthy lucre and low-born spleen; but time only
can render harmless abroad the envenomed barb of the slanderer who is in
fact a traitor to national pride and national character."

For this article Webb was indicted by the grand jury of Otsego County,
in February, 1839. In June of the sa