I have just been reading--not for the first time--Peter Harvey's account of his visit, with Daniel Webster, to John Colby. You will find it in Harvey's _Reminiscences of Webster_; and if you have not read it, it is worth your reading. Colby had married Webster's oldest sister when Webster was a mere boy. It was in some respects a strange marriage. She was a godly, Christian woman, while Colby was a wild, reckless, ungodly man--"the wickedest man in the neighborhood," Webster believed, "as far as swearing and impiety went." He seems to have been the terror of Webster's boyhood. Singularly enough for New England, though a man of strong natural powers, he never learned to read till he was over eighty years of age. His wife died early, and the families drifted apart. Webster had not seen Colby for over forty years, but he heard that a great change had taken place with him, and he visited him to judge for himself. I should mar the story of the interview if I undertook to condense it. Let me give the essential parts of it in Mr. Harvey's own words. Long as it is, I think you would be sorry to have it shorter. Webster and Harvey had driven to Andover, and were directed to Mr. Colby's house. "The door was open.... Sitting in the middle of the room was a striking figure who proved to be John Colby. He sat facing the door, in a very comfortably furnished farmhouse room, with a little table--or what perhaps would be called a light-stand--before him. Upon it was a large, old-fashioned Scott's Family Bible in very large print, and, of course, a heavy volume. It lay open, and he had evidently been reading it attentively. As we entered he took off his spectacles and laid them upon the page of the book, and looked up at us as we approached, Mr. Webster in front. He was a man, I should think, over six feet in height, and he retained in a wonderful degree his erect and manly form, although he was eighty-five or six years old. His frame was that of a once powerful, athletic man. His head was covered with very heavy, thick, bushy hair, and it was as white as wool, which added very much to the picturesqueness of his appearance. As I looked in at the door I thought I never saw a more striking figure. He straightened himself up, but said nothing till just as we appeared at the door, when he greeted us with-- "'Walk in, gentlemen.' "Mr. Webster's first salutation was-- "'This is Mr. Colby--Mr. John Colby--is it not?' "'That is my name, sir,' was the reply. "'I suppose you don't know me?' said Mr. Webster. "'No, sir, I don't know you; and I should like to know how you know me.' "'I have seen you before, Mr. Colby,' replied Mr. Webster. "'Seen me before!' said he; 'pray, when and where?' "'Have you no recollection of me?' asked Mr. Webster. "'No, sir, not the slightest;' and he looked by Mr. Webster toward me, as if trying to remember if he had seen me. "Mr. Webster remarked, "'I think you never saw this gentleman before, but you have seen me.'