13 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill http://www.archive.org/details/greatexpounderyofros UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 10003058423 OLD ROUGH AND READY SERIES. 1. OLD ROUGH AND READY. YOUNG FOLKS' LIFE OF GEN. ZACHARY TAYLOR. 2. OLD HICKORY. YOUNG FOLKS' LIFE OF GEN. ANDREW JACKSON. 3. THE MILL BOY OF THE SLASHES. YOUNG FOLKS' LIFE OF HENRY CLAY. 4. THE GREAT EXPOUNDER. YOUNG FOLKS' LIFE OF DANIEL WEBSTER. 5. THE SWAMP FOX. YOUNG FOLKS' LIFE OF GEN. FRANCIS MARION. 6. THE LITTLE CORPORAL. YOUNG FOLKS' LIFE OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. LEE AND SHEPARD, Publishers, BOSTON. Webster on His Fa km. OLD ROUGH AND READY SERIES THE GREAT EXPOUNDER YOUNG FOLKS' LIFE DANIEL WEBSTER By JOHN FROST ILLUSTRATED BOSTON LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS NEW YORK CHARLES T. DILLINGHAM 1887 Copyright, 1887, Bv LEE AND SHEPARD. All rights reserved. Old Rough and Ready Series. PREFACE. This Life of Daniel Webster is written for the young ; and for that reason, as is elsewhere said, the events of his boyhood and college-days are dwelt upon with more minuteness than those of his after life. For a man occupying the high place which he held in the eye of the nation, his private charac- ter was little known. He had not the winning address which draws the great multitude. People did not call him by the familiar terms with which popular idols are designated. He was not covet- ous of parade and personal attentions. He never courted the fashion, or appealed to the prejudice, of the hour. He never threw himself upon the (iii) IV PREFACE. wave of popular feeling, to be borne on to distinc- tion, lie was not calculated to win u Golden opinions from all sorts of people." He was ambitious. But his was not that ambition which desires to make an impression, and thus obtain preferment and honor. It was that proud ambition which knew his own strength, and waited for the world to recognize it. The greatest "special pleader" of his day, he was no " special pleader" for himself; for he felt his own superiority, and his own integrity of motive. He could take care of his own honor; and disdained to explain, to excuse, or to apologize, even when his friends and constituents saw things from a different point of view than that on which he stood. He waited for the hour when his own country- men should do him justice. The hour has come; but now — u Him nor carketh care nor slander, Nothing but the small cold worm Fretteth his enshrouded form." PREFACE. V The voice of eulogy falls unheeded on " the dull cold ear of death." It is due to ourselves that, as a nation, we should know the man who, more than any of his contemporaries, raised this people in the esteem of the world. It is propei that our young men should know him. If they would learn the history of their land, they must read his life, and study his writings. This little volume is intended to place him before them in those aspects of his life and character which, in works of higher merit, may be overlooked. Free use is made of the many biographical, and other notices, which have already been published ; and to the respective authors we here make our acknowledgments. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Opening Remarks — The "Webster Family — Birth of Daniel — Hia Parents, Brothers and Sisters — His Early Years — Remarks of Mr. Hillard — Mr. Webster's Reference to his Birthplace — Daniel Webster's first Teachers — Mr. Thomas Chase — Mr. James Tappan — Letters of Mr. Webster to Mr. Tappan — The old School- master's Recollections of his Pupils — Mr. Webster's generous Presents to his old Instructor — Mr. William Hoyt — Daniel Webster's first Copy of the Constitution of the United States — Long Walks to School — Daniel Webster's Father a natural Elocutionist — The Son taught by the Father — Little Dan's Reading — Anecdote Page 13 CHAPTER II. Daniel Webster's Habits as a Boy — His Employments and In- dustry — The Saw-mill — Reading while the Saw moved — The Bible, Shakspeare, and Pope's Essay on Man — Watt's Hymns — ■ Too much Light — The Social Library — Chevy Chase — Webster 8 manner of Reading — Anecdotes of his Boyhood — Daniel as an Office Boy — Latin Grammar — His first intimation that he was to go to School — The Journey to Exeter — His Examination by the Principal of Phillips Academy — His Diffidence and Application — Daniel's marked Success — Returns to Salisbury, and com- mences as Schoolmaster — He is placed with Dr. Wood, of Bos- cawen — His Emotion upon hearing that he was to be sent to College 35 (vii) Vlll CONTENTS. CHAPTER III. Virgil and Cicero — Don Quixote — Grotius and Puffendorf — A long Recitation — Daniel a poor Harvester — A new Impetus to his Studies — Advantages of Education in the Olden Time — The Journey to Hanover — The true-blue Suit — Storm and Delay — Arrival at Hanover — Making Toilet in Fast Colors — Manly Appearance, in Spite of Disadvantages — Daniel enters as Fresh- man — His Habits while at Dartmouth — His Manner of Compo. sition — Fondness for Out-door Exercise — Apostrophes to the Cod and the Trout — Mr. Webster and the Farmer — Mr. Webster and the Quails — His First Trout 59 CHAPTER IV. Studies of the first two Years at Dartmouth — Young Webster a Schoolmaster in the Vacations — His Fondness for a Scholar's Life — His desire that his Brother Ezekiel should share his Pur- suits — Difficulties in the Way — The Young Men pass a Night in considering them — Importance of Ezekiel's aid to his Father — Daniel introduces the Subject to the Old Gentleman — The Mother called in to advise — Her prompt Decision — Ezekiel enters upon a Course of Preparation, and Daniel returns to College — Change in his Costume — His Attention, through Life, to Personal Neatness — Third Year in College — Mr. Webster takes high Rank — Fourth of July Oration in 1800 — Anecdote of General Stark 81 CHAPTER V. Specimens of Daniel Webster's College Composition — The Dart- mouth Gazette — Man — Essay on Peace — Eulogy on a Classmate — Washington — Later Poetry — "The Memory of the Heart" — Mr. Webster an Improvisator — Mr. Webster and the Child — Commencement Exercises — Mr. Webster's Disappointment — Professor Woodward's Opinion of Mr. Webster — The Pupii'a kind Recollections — Lessons of Daniel Webster's Childhood, 109 CONTENTS. IX CHAPTER VI. Mr. Webster at Fryeburg — His Labors as Assistant Recorder of Deeds — His Economy and Prudence — His continued Efforts at Improvement — Rev. Mr. Fessenden — Hon. T. W. Thompson — Mr. Webster resumes his Law Studies — Coke upon Littleton — Webster upon Coke — Webster as a Collector of Debts — Mr. Webster goes to Boston, and enters the Office of Hon. Christo- pher Gore — Character of that Gentleman — Mr. Webster's con- tinued Industry — He is tendered the Clerkship of a New Hamp- shire Court — Under Advice of Mr. Gore he declines it — The Astonishment and Chagrin of his Father 124 CHAPTER VII. Mr. Webster admitted to the Bar — Establishes himself in New Hampshire — His first cause — Death of his father — A son's testimony — The trial of a dumb depredator — Fourth of July Oration in 1806 — Opinions of France — Relations of Agri- culture and Commerce — Monthly Anthology — Mr. Webster's first criminal case — His fatiguing journeys — His abhorrence of affectation — Mode of addressing a jury — Admission to the Superior Court 145 CHAPTER VIII. The New Hampshire Bar — Mr. Webster and Jeremiah Mason — Professional Anecdotes — The Drilled Witness — Webster's Farm — Mr. Webster's Marriage — State of the Country and of Parties — New England Interests — The Bar as an Introduction to Public Life — Mr. Webster in " caucus" — Popular Enthusiasm — Mr. Webster's Professional Industry — His Habits of Early Rising — His Letter upon the Morning 1G2 CHAPTER IX. Mr. Webster a Candidate for Congress — His account of his Ser- vices in the State Legislature — Mr. Webster elected Represen X CONTENTS. tative from New Hampshire — Appointed a Member of tho Committee on Foreign Affairs — Mr. Webster's First Speech — Resolution of Inquiry relative to the Berlin and Milan Decrees — Character and Impression of Mr. Webster's Speech — Remarks upon the Navy and the Embargo — Loss of Mr. Webster's House by Fire — Re-elected to Congress — Position of the Country after the War — Attitude of the South towards a Tariff — Mr. Webster's Course on the Bank and Tariff Questions — Death of Mr. Web- ster's Mother 183 CHAPTER X. Mr. Webster's removal to Boston — His entrance upon Professional life in that Metropolis — His manner at the Bar — Personal Characteristics — Death of his Child — The Dartmouth College Case — Mr. Webster as a Constitutional Lawyer — The United States Supreme Court — Dartmouth and the Indians — The Nan- tucket Friend — Summary of his Professional career 203 CHAPTER XI. The Pilgrim Address at Plymouth — A Prophecy — Its fulfilment — Foundation of Bunker-Hill Monument — Completion of the Monu- ment — Eulogy on Adams and Jefferson — Other Eulogies — The Washington Address, in 1832 — Address at the Capitol enlarge- ment — The Trial of the Knapps for the Murder of Captain Joseph White — Power of Conscience 223 CHAPTER XII. Mr. Webster's reluctance to re-enter Congress — nis Election in 1822 and 1824 — Present of an Annuity — Speech upon the Greek Question — The Panama Mission — Mr. Adams's Adminis- tration — Mr. Webster's Labors in Committee — His Election as Senator — Death of his Wife — Webster and Hayne — Death of CONTENTS. XI Ezekiel "Webster — Nullification — The Bank Question — Faneuil Hall Dinner — Visit to England — Mr. Webster as Secretary of State — Again in the Senate — Mexican War — Death of his Son Edward — Again Secretary — Hulseman — Kossuth 237 CHAPTEK XIII. Elms Farm — Marshfield — Close of Mr. Webster's Life — His Illness and Death — His Burial — His Will — Religious Opinicna —Con- clusion 260 THE LIFE OP DANIEL WEBSTER. CHAPTER I. Opening Remarks — The Webster Family— Birth of Daniel— His Parents, Brothers and Sisters — His Early Years — Remarks of Mr. Hillard — Mr. Webster's Reference to his Birth-place — Daniel Webster's first Teachers— Mr. Thomas Chase— Mr. James Tappan— Letters of Mr. Webster to Mr. Tappan— The old School- master's Recollections of his Pupils - Mr. Webster's generous Presents to his old Instructor — Mr. William Hoyt — Daniel Webster's first Copy of the Constitution of the United States — Long Walks to School — Daniel Webster's Father a natural Elocutionist -The Son taught by the Father — Little Dan's Reading — Anecdote. _ In a republican country, the circumstances of birth confer no claim to honor or distinction ; and the descendants of great men and public benefac- tors are entitled to uo consideration on account of their parentage, except so far as the son is per- 2 '13) 14 LIFE OP mitted to share in the sentiment of gratitude due to the father. And, when that son is worthy, and honors the memory of his parents by perpetu- ating their virtues, he is entitled to an honest pride in his ancestry. This is a natural feeling, which no political theory can eradicate. But when, on the other hand, the unworthy eon of a worthy parent degrades his family, he meets with a contempt proportioned to the esteem in which his ancestors were held. This is natural justice, which no law of primogeniture can wholly avert, and which, in the absence of such laws, is always meted out to the transgressor. Still, in a biographical work, it is a proper com- pliment to the subject to notice his ancestry ; and, furthermore, it is useful as exhibiting the circum- stances and associations which combined, in early life, to form the characters of those who are worthy of such commemoration. The family to which Daniel Webster belonged was of Scottish origin, but the descendants had resided so long in Eng- land, previous to their emigration to America, that all distinct traces of this extraction were lost. Thomas Webster emigrated from Norfolk, England, in 1656, sixteen years after the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth. He settled at Hampton, DANIEL WEBSTER. 15 on the sea-coast of New Hampshire. From him descended two of the most remarkable men this country has produced; Dr. Noah Webster, the author of the American Dictionary of the English language, and Daniel Webster, the distinguished statesman, whose life we are about to hold up as an example for the emulation of his young countrymen. Daniel Webster, of the fourth generation from the original settler, Thomas, was born in Salisbury, New Hampshire, on the 18th of January, 1782. His father, Ebenezer Webster, was a soldier in two wars — serving as a member of a volunteer corps in the French war, which closed in 1763, and afterward employing his military experience in the protracted struggle which established the freedom of the United States of America. As commander of a volunteer company he served under Stark in the memorable battle of Benning- ton, and performed a most important part in that engagement. He was present at the battle of White Plains, and was distinguished as a popular and most efficient commander. He was of athletic stature and commanding appearance; having been trained in that border school of hardship and endurance, which gave to the founders of this 16 LIFE OF Republic the physical development which seconded their mental and moral strength. The township of Salisbury was mostly settled by retired soldiers of the French war. Ebenezer Webster being one of the original grantees, and his tract lying in the northerly part of the town- ship, his son used to say of him, that, for many years, the smoke of his cabin ascended nearer the North Star than that of any other of his Majesty's New England subjects. To the north, as far as the boundaries of Canada, all was a wilderness. Ebenezer Webster settled on this tract in 1764, and, very soon after, his wife died, leaving five children. This family consisted of three sons and two daughters. Mr. Webster then married Abigail Eastman, of Salisbury, and by this second union became the father of three daughters, and two sons, Ezekiel and Daniel. Of the sons by the first marriage one died young, and the other removed to Canada. The third son, Joseph, will be noticed in these pages in connection with our subject. Ezekiel, the only brother of Daniel by the same mother, lived to share the hopes and almost the triumphs of the rising statesman ; but he died twenty years before Daniel, all the others, with the exception of one sister, having preceded, him to DANIEL WEBSTER. 17 the grave. That sister, the youngest of the family, died in 1831. Thus, being the ninth child in a family of ten, we may readily infer that his father, a backwoods settler, had not sufficient means to afford any great educational advantages to Daniel Webster. But he received the tuition of circumstances — adverse circumstances — a hard discipline to undergo, but productive of solid and enduring results. An eloquent writer, in noticing the early years of the distinguished statesman, says : " Daniel Webster was fortunate in the outward circumstances of his birth and breeding. He came from that class in society whence almost all the great men of Ame- rica have come, — the two Adamses, Washington, Hancock, Jackson, Jefferson, Clay, and almost every living notable of our time. Our Hercules was also cradled on the ground. He had small opportunities for academical education. The schoolmaster was ' abroad' in New Hampshire; he was seldom at home in Salisbury. Only two or three months in a year was there a school, and that was two or three miles off. Thither went Daniel Webster, a brave, bright boy, ' the father of the man.' The school-house of New England is the cradle of her greatness." 2* 18 LIFE OF Hon. George S. Hilliard spoke as follows, upon the occasion of the funeral obsequies of Daniel Webster, in Boston, concerning the surroundings and associations of the lad, whose fame as a man is now spread throughout all the world : " He was fortunate in the accident, or rather the Providence of his birth. His father was a man of uncommon strength of mind and worth of character, who had served his country faithfully in trying times, and yarned, in a high degree, the respect and confi- dence of his neighbors; — a man of large and loving heart, whose efforts and sacrifices for his children were repaid by them with most affectionate veneration. The energy and good sense of Daniel's mother exerted a strong influence upon the minds and characters of her children. He was born to the discipline of poverty, but a poverty such as braces and stimulates, not such as crushes and paralyzes. The region in which his boyhood was passed was new and wild, books were not easy to be had, schools were only an occasional privilege, and intercourse with the more settled parts of the country was difficult and rare. " But the scarcity of mental food and mental excitement had its advantages, and his training was good, however imperfect his teaching might DANIEL WEBSTER. 19 have been. His labors upon the farm helped to form that vigorous constitution, which enabled him to sustain the immense pressure of cares and duties laid upon him in after years. Such books as he could procure were read with heartfelt avidity, and all the powers of his mind devoted to their study. The conversation of a household, presided over by a strong-minded father, and a sensible, loving mother, helped to train the faculties of the younger members of the family. Nor were their winter evenings wanting in topics which had a fresher interest than any which books could furnish. There were stirring tales of the Revolu- tionary struggle and the old French war, in both of which his father had taken a part, with many traditions of the hardships and perils of border life, and harrowing narratives of Indian captivity, all of which sunk deep into the heart of the impressible boy. " The ample page of Nature was ever before his eyes, not beautiful nor picturesque, but stern, wild, and solitary, covered with a primeval forest, in winter swept over by tremendous storms, but in summer putting on a short-lived grace, and in autumn glowing with an imperial pomp of coloring. In the deep, lonely woods, by the rushing streams, 20 life or under the frosty stars of winter, the musing boy gathered food for his growing mind. There, to him, the mighty mother unveiled her awful face ; and there, we may be sure that the dauntless child stretched forth his hands and smiled. We feel a pensive pleasure in calling up the image of this slender, dark-browed, bright-eyed youth, going forth in the morning of life to sow the seed of future years. A loving brother, and a loving and dutiful son, he is cheerful under privation, and patient under restraint. Whatever work he finds to do, whether with the brain or the hand, he does it with all his might. He opens his mind to every ray of knowledge which breaks in upon him. Every step is a progress, and every blow removes an obstacle. Onward, ever onward he moves; borne against the wind and against the tide by a self-derived and self-sustained impulse. He makes friends, awakens interest, inspires hopes. Thus, with these good angels about him, he passes from boyhood to youth, and from youth to early manhood. The school and the college have given him what they had to give ; an excellent profes- sional training has been secured ; and now. with a vigorous frame and a spirit patient of labor, with manly self-reliance, and a heart glowing with DANIEL WEBSTER. 21 generous ambition and warm affections, the man, Daniel Webster, stepped forth into the arena of life." At the time when Daniel Webster was born, nearly twenty years after his father's settlement in Salisbury, the original cabin had given way to a more substantial house. That house has also been removed, and the traces of the cellar alone indicate the spot where it stood. Near the site is an old well, excavated by his father; and the premises are sheltered by a giant elm, planted a year or two before the birth of Daniel. Under this elm Mr. Webster, when a man, and engaged in the labors of his profession, or the cares of State, always sat at least once in a year, and drank of the waters of the well which his father had dug. The site of the old house and of the log-cabin, the fruit and other trees which his father and grandfather had planted, and the many ob- jects which recalled the memory of his childhood, were to him sources of inspiration. His feelings are well expressed in a speech which he made in 1840, when General Harrison was a candidate for President of the United States. He said : " It is only shallow-minded pretenders who either make distinguished origin matter of personal merit, or 22 LIFE OF obscure origin matter of personal reproach. Taunt and scoffing at the humble condition of early life affect nobody, in this country, but those who are foolish enough to indulge in them ; and they are generally sufficiently punished by public rebuke. A man who is not ashamed of himself need not be ashamed of his early condition. " It did not happen to me to be born in a log- cabin, but my elder brothers and sisters were born in a log-cabin, raised amid the snow-drifts of New Hampshire, at a period so early, that when the smoke first rose from its chimney and curled over the frozen hills, there was no similar evidence of a white man's habitation between it and the settle- ments on the rivers of Canada. Its remains still exist. I make to it an annual visit. I carry my children to it, to teach them the hardships endured by the generations which have gone before them. I love to dwell on the tender recollections, the kindred ties, the early affections, and the touching narrations and incidents which mingle with all I know of this primitive family abode. I weep to think that none of those who inhabited it are now among the living ; and if ever I am ashamed of it, or if ever I fail in affectionate veneration for him who raised it, and defended it against savage DANIEL WEBSTER. 23 violence and destruction, cherished all the domestic virtues beneath its roof, and, through the fire and blood of a seven years' revolutionary war, shrunk from no danger, no toil, no sacrifice to serve his country, and to raise his children to a better con- dition than his own, may my name, and the name of my posterity, be blotted forever from the memory of mankind." There were other reminiscences connected with a log building, which were dear to Mr. Webster, and are interesting to those who read his life. The first school-house which young Daniel ever entered was built of logs, and in this humble building the boy studied the rudiments of the education which, by the aid of natural talents, seconded by appli- cation, made him the great jurist and statesman. Daniel's first school experience was not in a public, but in a "subscription school," opened at the request, and under the patronage of Colonel Webster, his father, and other residents in the vicinity. The teacher was Mr. Thomas Chase. Daniel Webster had, however, before entering this school, the privilege of the best of teachers, his mother. She taught him to read, and the first book which he remembered reading was the Bible. The mother of Ezekiel and Daniel Webster had a 24 LIFE OF mother's ambition for her children, and a strong mind and capacity to direct them. As Daniel was only about four years old when he entered this school, much could not have been required of the teacher. Daniel appears to have enjoyed ad- vantages superior to those of his brothers. Some- thing of this was obtained by his early delicate appearance, and something, no doubt, by the fact that he was the youngest of nine children. His brother Joseph used to say of him, in a good- humored way, that " Dan was sent to school, that he might know as much as the other boys ! " Of Daniel's other teachers in his infancy we happen to possess some very pleasant memorials. One of them, James Tappan, died at Gloucester, Massachusetts, since the death of Mr. Webster. In 1851 he reminded his distinguished pupil that he was still alive, and received from him the following letter : " Washington, Feb. 2Qth, 1851. " Master Tappan, — I thank you for your letter, and am rejoiced to hear that you are still among the living. I remember you perfectly well as a teacher of my infant years. I suppose my mother must have taught me to read very early, as I have never been able to recollect the time when I could DANIEL WEBSTER. 25 not read the Bible. I think Master Chase was my earliest schoolmaster, probably when I was three or four years old. Then came Master Tappan. You boarded at our house, and some- times I think in the family of Mr. Benjamin San- born, our neighbor, the lame man. Most )f those whom you knew in New Salisbury have gone to their graves. Mr. John Sanborn, the son of Ben- jamin, is yet living, and is about your age. Mr. John Colby, who married my eldest sister, Susannah, is also living. On the North road is Mr. Benjamin Pettingill. I think of none else among the living whom you would possibly re- member. You have, indeed, lived a checkered life. I hope you have been able to bear prosperity with meekness, and adversity with patience. These things are all ordered for us, far better than we can order them for ourselves. We may pray for our daily bread ; we may pray for the forgive- ness of sins ; we may pray to be kept from tempta- tion, and that the kingdom of God may come, in us, and in all men, and his will everywhere be done. Beyond this, we hardly know for what good to supplicate the Divine Mercy. Our Heavenly Father knoweth what we have need of better than we do ourselves, and we are sure that 3 26 LIFE OF his eye and his loving kindness are upon us and around us, every moment. I thank you again, my good old schoolmaster, for your kind letter, which has awakened many sleeping recollections; and with all good wishes, "I remain your friend and pupil, "Daniel Webster." A correspondent of the Boston Transcript, who met Mr. Tappan at Gloucester in the summer of 1852, gives us the schoolmaster's reminiscences of his pupil. " Master Tappan " at that time was in his eighty-sixth year, somewhat infirm, but with his intellectual faculties bright and vivid, espe- cially on the subject of his old pupil, whom he esteemed the foremost man of his time, and in whose fame he took a justifiable and natural pride. "Daniel was always the brightest boy in the school," said Master Tappan, " and Ezekiel the next ; but Daniel was much quicker at his studies than his brother. He would learn more in five minutes than any other boy would in five hours. One Saturday, I remember, I held up a handscme new knife to the scholars, and said the boy who would commit to memory the greatest number of verses in the Bible, by Monday morning, should DANIEL WEBSTER. 27 have it. Many of the boys did well ; but when it came to Daniel's turn to recite, I found that he had committed so much that, after hearing him repeat some sixty or seventy verses, I was obliged to give up, he telling me that there were several chapters yet that he had learned. Daniel got that jack-knife. Ah ! Sir, he was remarkable, even as a boy ; and I told his father he would do God's work injustice, if he did not send both Daniel and Ezekiel to college. The old man said he could not well afford it; but I told him he must, and he finally did. And didn't they both justify my good opinion ?" The paper containing this notice of "Master Tappan" was shown to Mr. Webster, and he instantly wrote and despatched the following letter to the old gentleman : — " Boston, July 20th, 1852. "Master Tappan, — I learn with much plea- sure, through the public press, that you still con- tinue to enjoy life, with mental faculties bright and vivid, although you have arrived at a very advanced age, and are somewhat mfirm. I came to-day from the very spot in which you taught me ; and to me a most delightful spot it is. The 28 LIFE OF river and the hills are as beautiful as ever, but the graves of my father and mother, and brothers and sisters, and early friends, gave it to me something of the appearance of a city of the dead. But let me not repine. You have lived long, and my life is already not short, and we have both much to be thankful for. Two or three persons are yet living, who, like myself, were brought up sub tua ferula. They remember ; Master Tappan.' And now, my good old master, receive a renewed tri- bute of affectionate regard from your grateful pupil, with his wishes and prayers for your happi- ness in all that remains to you in this life, and, more especially, for your participation hereafter in the durable riches of righteousness. " Daniel Webster." The "renewed tribute of affectionate regard'' spoken of in the above letter was an enclosure of twenty dollars. In the first letter, sent the year before, Mr. Webster enclosed fifty. It is pleasant to record these evidences of the affection of the man for the teacher of his childhood ; and it is useful also to notice what appreciation the aged states- man had of the services of those who introduced him to the first humble acquisitions in the course DANIEL WEBSTER. 29 of education which made him great. We have got another memorial of Mr. Webster's early teachers, preserved by his private secretary, Mr. Lanman. It is a memorandum of his conversa- tion respecting Mr. Hoyt. "Mr. William Hoyt was, for many years, teacher of our county school in Salisbury : I do not call it village school, because there was at that time no village ; and boys came to school in the winter, the only season in which schools were usually open, from distances of several miles, wading through the snow, or running upon its crust, with their curly hair often whitened with frost from their own breaths. I knew William Hoyt well, and every truant knew him. He was an austere man, but a good teacher of children. He had been a printer in Newburyport, wrote a very fair and excellent hand, was a good reader, and could teach boys, that which so few masters can or will do, to read well themselves. Beyond this, and a very slight knowledge of grammar, his attainments did not extend. He had brought with him into the town a little property, which he took very good care of. He rather loved money ; of all the pronouns preferring the possessive ; he also kept a little shop for the sale of various commo- 3* 30 LIFE OF dities. I do not know how old I was, but I remember having gone into his shop one day, and bought a small cotton pocket-handkerchief, with a Constitution of the United States printed on its two sides; from this I just learned either that there was a Constitution, or that there were Unit ,d States. I remember to have read it, and have known more or less of it ever since. William Hoyt and his wife lie buried in the grave-yard on my farm, near the graves of my own family. He left no children. I suppose that this little hand- kerchief was purchased about the time that I was eight years old, as I remember listening to the conversation of my father and Mr. Thompson upon political events which happened in the year 1790." The Constitution of the United States was only ratified in 1789 by the several States, and had hardly, at the time when Daniel Webster com- menced the study of it, gone into operation. The purchase exhausted his juvenile purse; and the afternoon and evening of the day on which it came into his possession were spent in poring over and spelling out its provisions. Little could his parents then have dreamed that the thoughtful boy was entering upon the course of study, at DANIEL WEBSTER. 31 eight years. of age, which should qualify him for the title of " Expounder of the Constitution." There were three school-houses in the township of Salisbury, which were situated several miles apart. The first was near Colonel Webster's resi- dence ; the next at perhaps three miles' distance ; the third in the extreme part of the township. The teacher divided his time betveen the three. When the school was in the centre school-house, young Daniel went in the morning, taking his dinner, and returned at night; and when the schoolmaster was in the western part of his cir- cuit, the young student boarded near the school- house, going on foot on Monday morning, and returning on Saturday evening. Such disadvan- tages, as we should now consider them, were, by the youth of that day, considered to be great opportunities. We have mentioned Daniel's indebtedness to his mother for early instruction. It is due to his father also to state that his influence and example did much for his child. Colonel Webster was a man of strong natural talents, and is said to have had an intuitive knowledge of the principles of elocution. His voice was loud, clear, and musical, and his reading and speaking were of the best 32 LIFE OF school of natural oratory. The books he delighted to read aloud for the gratification of his family and others, were the Bible, Shakspeare, and Pope's Essay on Man. To his occupation as a farmer he added that of an innkeeper ; a calling which, in those days, was held in high respect. The Governor of Vermont at that time united the vocations of Governor and landlord. General Putnam and several others of the Revolutionary officers were innkeepers. And when Colonel Webster, in 1791, was appointed an Associate Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, he still continued, for some years, to entertain travellers — the gentlemanly host — happy to receive guests, who, in his pleasant society, forgot that they were not visitors on purely friendly terms. Colonel Webster excelled in conversation ; and his know- ledge of the Constitution and laws was such as to command respect for his opinions. Of course, a judge not educated to the law was not expected to make decisions on mere technical points; but the union of practical business men and farmers, with lawyers, upon the bench, has been found to have an exceedingly good influence in County Courts in rural districts; and, in former years, DANIEL WEBSTER. 33 when professional men were rare, was a necessary expedient. With an inherited taste and capacity for elocu- tion, and the lessons of his father added to those of his teachers, Daniel was the pet of the travel- lers who stopped at the inn. As they drew near the house, they thought of the young orator ; and when they stopped, and the future statesman, then a dark-looking boy, had watered their horses, or assisted them in helping themselves, the teamsters were wont to say, " Now, let us go in, and hear little Dan read a Psalm." What primi- tive days were these! And how different a race of men were those old backwoodsmen from their descendants, who claim to have improved under the benefit of modern advantages ! No doubt we have gained much, but in the changes of time we have lost something too. The teamsters who could listen with delight to a Psalm of David, and the tavern in which a boy could be educated in such tastes, belonged to a more simple, certainly a not less virtuous era than the present. A few years ago, when Daniel Webster, the Senator of the United States, visited the West, a citizen of one of the new States, who had immi- 34 LIFE OF grated from New Hampshire, met him and re- membered him. " Is this," he asked, " the son of Col. Webster ?" " It is, indeed." was the reply. "What," repeated the man, "is this the little black Dan who used to water the horses ?" " Yes," rejoined the great Daniel Webster, " it is the little black Dan who used to water the horses." He was proud of his history. " If a man finds the way alone," says the writer from whom we derive this anecdote, " should he not be proud of having fcund the way?" DANIEL WEBSTER. 35 CHAPTER II. Danie- Webster's Habits as a Boy — His Employments and In- dustry — The Saw-mill — Reading while the Saw moved — The Bible, Shakspeare, and Pope's Essay on Man — Watt's Hymns — Too much Light — The Social Library — Chevy Chase — Webster's manner of Reading — Anecdotes of his Boyhood — Daniel as an Office Boy — Latin Grammar — His first intimation that he was to go to School — The Journey to Exeter — His, Examination by the Principal of Phillips Academy — His Diffidence and Application — Daniel's marked Success — Returns to Salisbury, and com- mences as Schoolmaster — He is placed wi^h Dr. Wood, of Bos- cawen — His Emotion upon bearing that be was to be sent to College. The death of no other man in America has called out more anecdotes and traditions, than were thrown to the world upon the demise of Daniel Webster. As remarked in the preceding chapter, our desire is to furnish the youth of America with an account of those traits of his character, which all would do well to emulate. In doing this, we make free use of whatever has fallen under our notice, endeavoring to separate the true from the false, and to correct such erro 86 LIFE OF neous statements as have gained currency, through the desire of all to contribute something to the common stock of anecdotes. The writer of a very interesting article upon Webster, in Putnam's Monthly Magazine, opens by stating that he had visited the place of his nativity, and conversed with the friends of his boyhood, corresponded with most of his surviving classmates and college friends, and examined hun- dreds of his letters. As the result of his investi- gations the writer has presented us with many important facts and conclusions, of which free use is made in this volume, with this general acknow- ledgment. " Daniel Webster performed the ordinary ser- vices of a boy upon his father's farm. His taste for agriculture, and his fondness for rural life grew directly out of the associations of his childhood. Imagine to yourself a slender, black-eyed boy, with serious mien and raven locks, leading the traveller's horse to water when he alighted at his father's inn ; driving the cows to pasture at early dawn, and returning with them at the gray of evening; riding the horse, to harrow between the rows of corn at wecding-time, and following the mowers with a wooden spreader in haying-tune ; DANIEL WEBSTER. 37 and you have a true idea of the lad and of his duties. In dress, in the means of social and in- tellectual culture, his condition was far below that of the sons of farmers and mechanics of the present day. Many anecdotes have been pub- lished, of his incapacity for manual labor, or of his aversion to it. The testimony of his early companions and neighbors contradicts, in general and in particulars, all stories of his idleness. "He was an industrious boy. He labored to the extent of his strength. He was the youngest son, and, perhaps, on that account received some indulgences. Men are now living who labored with him, in the field and in the mill — who shared his toils and his sports. They affirm that he always ' worked well and played fair.' Boys in those days were usually trained to hard service. I have heard Mr. Webster say that he had charge of his father's saw-mill, and was accustomed to tread back the log-carriage, 'when he was not heavier than a robin.' An old schoolmate of his told me that the mill was owned in shares, by several of the neighbors, who used it in turn. Boys were put into the mill to tend it, when it required the weight of two of them to turn back the ' rag-wheel ' and bring the log-carriage to its 4 38 LIFE OF place to commence a new cut. He informed me that he had labored many a day with Daniel Webster, in this old mill, and that his companion was ever ready to do his part of the service. The same boy, Daniel, was accustomed to drive t lie team into the woods, where his elder brother, Ezekiel, cut the logs and assisted in loading them." This mill has been, of late years, regarded as almost classic ground. Mr. Webster, who was notable for his attachment to the scenes of his youth, conducted his guests over the places marked in his memory, with honest pride. And the resi- dents near these localities, admiring the man who in his fame never forgot " the rock whence he was hewn," gave to the haunts of the " little black Dan" a fame and a consequence which is usually reserved to be conferred by posterity. General S. P. Lyman, for many j ears the friend and intimate of Daniel Webster, gives the following description of the place, and notice of its memoirs : " In the bed of a little brook, near where Daniel Webster was born, are the remains of a rude mill which his father built more than sixty years ago. The place is a dark glen, and was then surrounded by a majestic forest, which covered the neighboring hills. To that mill, Daniel Webster, though u Young Daniel at the Saw Mill. DANIEL WEBSTER. 39 small boy, went frequently to assist his father. He was apt in learning anything useful, and soon became so expert in doing everything required, that his services as an assistant were valuable. But the time spent in manual labor was not mis- spent as regarded mental progress. After ' setting the saw ' and ' hoisting the gate,' and while the saw was passing through the log, which usually occupied from ten to fifteen minutes for each board, Daniel was reading attentively some book, which he was permitted to take from the house. He had a passion, thus early, for reading history and biography." There, surrounded by forests, in the midst of the great noise which such a mill makes, and this- too without materially neglecting his task, he made himself familiar with the most remarkable events in history, and with the lives and charac- ters of those who have furnished materials for its pages. What he read there he never forgot. So tenacious was his memory, that he could recite long passages from books which he read there, and scarcely looked at afterward. The solitude of the scene, the absence of everything to divert his attention, the simplicity of his occupation, the thoughtful and taciturn manner of his father, all 40 LIFE OF favored the process of transplanting every idea found in these books to his own fresh, fruitful and vigorous mind. Books were, however, hard to find in that se- questered place ; and the young student, voracious of knowledge, was forced to read over and over again the old, because he could not obtain new. The Bible, Shakspeare, and Pope's Essay on Man, we have already mentioned as favorites with his father. With the first-named, the first of all books, he was very familiar, his early taste for poetry leading him to delight in studying the poetical portions of the inspired volume. The traces of this familiarity with Scripture, common to most men of enlarged minds, may be found continually in his writings and speeches. Pope's Essay on Man he committed to memory on the very day it fell into his hands ; before he was fourteen years of age. When once asked why he committed that poem at so early an age, he replied, " I had nothing else to learn." Since at twelve he " had nothing else to learn," we may presume that he had before that com- mitted to memory Watts' Hymns and the metrical version of the Psalms. lie was accustomed to Bay, in his later years, that he could repeat any DANIEL WEBSTER. 41 stanza of Watts, of which he heard the first line ; so closely did what he had conned in the forest adhere to hirn. He needed to read poetry but twice to be able to repeat it. While such a dearth of books existed, he conned his father's collection over and over. Newspapers were not then flying like winged seeds of good and evil all over the land, and even a new almanac was a treasure. Ezekiel and Daniel had frequent disputes, in their limited world of literature and knowledge ; and, on one occasion, after going to bed, a question arose as to something in the new almanac. They rose and struck a light to settle the dispute, and, in their eagerness and carelessness, set their bed on fire. On being questioned the next morning as to the cause of the accident, Daniel answered, " that they were in pursuit of light, and got too much of it." Books soon became more abundant. Some ot the biographers of Webster state that he enjoyed access to a "Circulating Library." But the col- lections of ephemeral and trifling literature known under the name of circulating libraries, and col- lected with the purpose of attracting the thought- less, and ministering to the folly of readers for mere amusement, were at that time almost un- 4 * 4 J LIFE OF known ; and we presume that, to this day, there never has been such a collection within twenty miles of Daniel Webster's birth-place. The library to which he had access was what is called a " Social Library," collected through the exertions of his father, the clergyman, and Thomas W. Thompson, Esq., a lawyer. The Social Library was divided into shares, at a fixed price, which every member of the company paid upon entrance, each share entitling the holder to certain privi- leges, and being subject to an annual assessment, for the purpose of increasing the number of volumes. Purchases were made by careful com- mittees ; and, although we know nothing of Salis- bury Social Library, we venture to say, from our knowledge of other similar institutions, that young Daniel had a better opportunity for mental improvement in this collection, "fit though few" than the present generation of youth, whose spending-money will furnish them with publica- tions too cheap to be good; and too much like locust swarms in number to pass under the censor- ship of their elders. One of Mr. Webster's eulogists has remarked of him, that " he had read much, but not many books. With the best English writers he was en* DANJEL WEBSTER. 43 tirely familiar, and took great pleasure in reading them, and discussing their merits." Among the books in the library at Salisbury was the Spectator. Of this work he was very fond ; and, in after life he related a circumstance, which shows how pre- dominant was his love of poetry. He said he remembered turning over the leaves of ^.ddi son's criticism of Chevy Chase, to pick out and read connectedly the verses which Addison had quoted. For recreation and amusement his preference settled upon biography and travels ; and this may have been a part of his " social library" education. The number of such books formed a much larger portion of the current publications at the end of the last century than at present ; the novel had not obtained its present unjust proportion in the province of belles-lettres. General Lyman de- scribes his manner of reading ten years before his death, which indicates the habit formed, when to obtain a new book was an event of which he was disposed to make the most. He first went over the index, and apparently fixed the frame-work rf it in his mind; then he studied with equal earnestness the synopsis of each chapter. Then he looked at the length of the chapter. Then, before he began to read it, he took an accurate 44 LIFE OF survey of its parts. Then he read it; passing rapidly over what was common-place, and dwelling only on what was original and worthy of note. It is not to be supposed that Daniel Webster, whose playfulness of character remained through his life, was different from other boys m his fond- ness for amusement in his childhood. And, al- though he " played fair and worked well," he had a boy's choice for play above work, which he exhibited upon occasion. His surviving school- mates deny, however, that his fondness for hunt- ing and fishing caused him to play the truant from school. They say that he was always pre- sent, when the school was open, and always in advance of his associates. In the laborious occu- pations of the farm there were, of course, some things which he could not do. He did not remain at home long enough to learn to mow. An anec- dote in reference to this has long been stereotyped, and current in the papers. His awkward hand- ling of the scythe induced several attempts on the part of his father to " hang" the instrument better — that is, to affix it to the handle. But Daniel could not be brought to like the " hang," and his father told him at last that he must suit himself. Hanging it at once upon a tree, he said, " There, DANIEL WEBSTER. 45 father, that's the hang to suit me." To mow re- quires a strength and dexterity which are seldom possessed by boys of ten or twelve years of age. Daniel's wit helped him out on this as well as other occasions. The two boys, Ezekiel and Daniel were once left a task to perform, in the absence of their father. His return showed the work still undone. " What have you been doing ? " the father asked of the elder boy, in a tone of natural vexation. " Nothing, Sir," Ezekiel was obliged to confess, with the evidence before him. " And you, Daniel," said the father, " what have you been doing?" "Helping Zeke, Sir" The force of logic usually owes much to the inclinations of the person who is to be convinced. Colonel Webster required that his sons should go regularly to church on every Sunday, though the distance was about four miles ; and Daniel com- plained of the hardship of so long a walk. To this the father answered : " I see Deacon True's boys there every Sunday morning, and I never heard of their complaining." " Oh, yes, Sir," answered Daniel, " but the Dea- 16 LIFE OF con's boys live halfway there, and have only half as far to walk." "Well," said his Hither, "you may dress your- self early, and run up to Deacon True's, and then you will have no farther to go than they." This was conclusive. To visit Deacon True's boys was never a hardship, and Daniel, thereafter, was always ready to go early, and walk to church with them. In 1795, when Daniel was in his fourteenth year, Mr. Thompson, the lawyer in Salisbury, in- duced him to stay in his office during his neces- sary absence, to answer the questions of clients and others. His intelligence and his aptitude for learning had undoubtedly procured him this pre- ference ; and, trilling as the circumstance then appeared, it combined with others to rule his life. Many lads, in such a place, would have nursed habits of idleness, and amused themselves with marbles, outside of the door, or invited other lads to play with them. Or they would, in these days of abundance of bad books, dissipate their time in reading piratical romances, or lives of highway- men. Mr. Thompson, who knew his lad, furnished him with better amusement He handed him a Latin grammar, to fill up hih leisure ; and young DANIEL WEBSTER. 47 Daniel committed lesson after lesson, with hearty good-will ; having no higher immediate object than to escape idleness, and gratify Mr. Thompson He had never thought of studying Latin or Greek ; and going to college was a thing so clearlv among impossibilities, as he then thought, that the idea of such a happiness never occurred to him. He thought he must make the most of his advantages, and procure a good common school education. It was during this year that the following incident occurred, which we give in Mr. Webster's own words. It is extracted from a letter written by Mr. Webster, while spending a summer vacation among the scenes of his youth. " Looking out at the east windows at this mo- ment, with a beautiful sun just breaking out, my eye sweeps over a rich and level field of one hun- dred acres. * * I could see a lamb on any part of it. I have ploughed it, and raked it, and hoed it; but I never mowed it. Somehow I never could learn to hang a scythe. I had not wit enough. My brother Joe used to say that my father sent me to college, in order to make me equal to the rest of the children ! " Of a hot day in July — it must have been in one of the last years of Washington's administra 48 LIFE OF tion — I was making hay with my father, just where I now see a remaining elm tree. About the middle of the afternoon, Hon. Abiel Foster, M. C, who lived in Canterbury, six miles off', called at the house, and came into the field to see my father. He was a worthy man, college-learned, and bad been a minister, but was not a man of any consi- derable natural power. My father was his friend and supporter. He talked a while in the field, and then went away. When he was gone, my father called me to him, and we sat down beneath the elm, on a hay-cock. He said, ' My son, that is a worthy man. He is a member of Congress. He goes to Philadelphia, and gets six dollars a day, while I toil here. It is because he had an education, which I never had. If I had received an equally good education, I should have been in Philadelphia in his place. I came near it, as it was. But I missed it, and now I must continue to work here.' " ' My dear father,' said I, 'you shall not work. Brother and I will work for you, and wear our hands out, and you shall rest.' " And I remember to have cried ; and I cry now at the recollection. " ' My child,' said he ' it is of no importance to DANIEL WEBS TEE. 49 me ; I now live but for my children. I could not give your elder brother the advantages of know- ledge, but I can do something for you. Exert yourself; improve your opportunities ; learn, learn; and, when I am gone, you will not need to go through the hardships which I have undergone, and which have made me an old man before my time." Master Tappan, as we have seen, had spoken to Colonel Webster of the capacity of his sons. Mr. Thompson seconded the schoolmaster's advice, that Daniel should be educated ; for, the remark- able tenacity of Daniel's memory, and the ease with which he had committed the grammar, had much surprised and pleased the lawyer. Daniel's mother urged that he should have an opportunity for the development of his powers. Brother Joe, who, with his waggery, had a right good heart, added his voice, putting the case in the humorous light to which reference has already been made. And the slight form of Daniel was also urged, as making it necessary that he should be enabled to pursue some less laborious occupation than that of a New Hampshire farmer. It was, therefore, determined that Daniel should be qualified to teach a country school, that his winter months might be 5 50 LIFE OF profitably passed, without the exposure of wood- cutting and other winter avocations in New Eng- land. In the summer he could still assist upon the farm. There were many such instances within their knowledge, and the young teachers had done well. With these views, it was determined to Bend Daniel Webster to Phillips' Academy in Exeter. This Academy, one of the best in the United States, had then been founded about fourteen years, and was under the charge of the same principal, Dr. Benjamin Abbott, who lived, and remained at Exeter, until after his Salisbury pupil and many others had attained high positions in life. On a bright morning in May, 1796, Daniel Webster, with his father, set out for Exeter. Daniel rode on a side-saddle, which was sent to Exeter for a lady to return upon to Salisbury; for, in those days, carriages were few and roads bad. Dressed in his home-made suit, and thus curiously mounted, Daniel rode forth to seek his fortune ; not in any knight-errant or erratic mood, but with the fixed purpose of making the best use of the advantages which the partiality of his father had opened to him. The journey required (he greater part of three days — two nights being DANIEL WEBSTER. 51 Bpent upon the road. On the fourth day, the father took his son to apply for admission into the Academy. Fifty years ago there was much more dignity preserved among official personages than at present; and young Daniel, with a beating heart, but still self-possessed, presented himself for examination. Dr. Abbott handed him the Bible, and requested him to read the twenty- second chapter of the Gospel according to St. Luke. Probably no task could have been given in which the lad of fourteen could have acquitted himself to better advantage. He was familiar with the book, and accustomed to read aloud. With an accent and emphasis which evinced his knowledge of what he read, and his ability to convey the meaning to his hearers, Daniel read of the treachery of Judas, the Last Supper, the agony in Gethsemane, the betrayal of the Saviour, the weakness of Peter, the Mock Trial before the Council, and the other incidental themes of the chapter. Daniel was in a strange place, and before a different auditory from the travellers who had so often listened to him. He had not the assurance of the love and admiration of his hearers, as when he went over the like passages 52 LIFE OF at his father's fireside. But he concentrated his mind on the subject-matter, and forgot all else in its solemn meaning. Dr. Abbott listened with admiration, and suffered him to proceed to the end of the long chapter. He had never heard it read better ; and when Daniel closed and returned him the book, he simply said, without asking another question, " Young man, you are qualified to enter this institution." Daniel remained only nine months at Exeter. His first entrance was a sore trial ; for, notwith- standing his innate consciousness of power, his unfashionable wardrobe, his unpolished manners and general rustic appearance, exposed him to the derision of lads, who would now be forgotten but for their accidental meeting as classmates with Daniel Webster. A few days after entering the institution he returned to his lodgings in great despondency, and told his friends that the city boys in the Academy were continually laughing at him, because he was at the foot of the class, and came from the back-woods. This petty social tyranny, so common among boys, completely de- pressed the future orator. In referring to his school-days, Mr. Webster tells us : "I believe I made tolerable progress in most branches which I DANIEL WEBSTER. 53 attended to while in this school, but there was one thing I could not do — I could not make a decla- mation ; 1 could not speak before the school. The kind and excellent Buckminster sought especially to persuade me to perform the exercise of decla- mation, like other boys, but, notwithstanding, I could not do it. Many a piece did I commit to memory, and recite and rehearse in my own room, over and over again; yet, when the day came, and the school collected to hear the declamations, when my name was called, and I saw all eyes turned to my seat, I could not raise myself from it. Sometimes the instructors frowned ; some- times they smiled. Mr. Buckminster always pressed and entreated, most winningly, that I would venture, venture only once. But I never could command sufficient resolution." It is stated that Daniel was effectually discouraged when first called upon. He became embarrassed, burst into tears, and sat down. Joseph Stevens Buckminster was one of the tutors in the Academy ; Nicholas Emery was an- other. Both these gentlemen, as well as Dr. Abbott, discerned the rustic boy's talent ; and the progress which he had made in his Latin recrea- tions, in Mr, Thompson's office, stood him in good 5* 54 LITE OF stead. Mr. Emery, who was made acquainted with Daniel's difficulties and troubles with the boys, treated him with marked kindness, by way of encouragement. He urged him to pay no heed to their taunts, but give his whole thoughts to his books, and all would come out right. At the end of the first quarter, Mr. Emery mustered his class in a line, and formally took the arm of young Webster, and conducted him to the head of the class, saying at the same time that this was his proper position. Cheered by this triumph, Daniel applied himself with new diligence. After the review at the end of the second quarter, when the class was again mustered for the summing up, Mr. Emery said, " Daniel Webster, gather up your books, and take down your cap." Strangely puzzled to know what this could mean, and fearing that he was to be expelled, the lad silently obeyed. " Now, sir, you will please report yourself to the teacher of the first class ; and you, young gentlemen, will take an affectionate leave of your classmate, for you will never see him again." Such was the mode in which he had distanced those who had affected to despise him, and pre- DANIEL WEBSTER. 55 sumed upon their better dress and fuller pockets, to tease the backwoods boy. It will be readily supposed that such progress, and in so short a period, could only have been accomplished by diligent study. The qualification of young Webster for a schoolmaster was still the leading object of his studies ; and Latin was pur- sued as a secondary branch. The English branches, such as would be needed for the instruction of a country school, received his chief attention. Col. Webster's limited means made it necessary that this object should be pursued with the strictest economy ; his whole estate being worth less than three thousand dollars. To prosecute his studies at a less expense, Daniel was removed from Exeter, and placed in the family of the Rev. Dr. Samuel Wood, of Boscawen, were board and tuition were given him for one dollar per week. But, in the interim between leaving Exeter and going to Boscawen, young Daniel, now in his six- teenth year, had an opportunity to show how far his education to that date could be made available. While he continued his own studies at home, a class was collected for him to teach, few, if any, being younger than he, and some of them his seniors. He was found fully competent, and the 5G LIFE OF proceeds of this school no doubt were applied to the relief of his father in bearing the expenses of his education. Many a distinguished man in New England has "worked his way" in the same mode; and it has proved a most excellent preparation for after life ; teaching them practically the cost and the value of their education. The impression which Daniel made upon Dr. Abbott, at Exeter, was not lost, although he was removed from that institution. Dr. Abbott was an intimate friend of Dr. Wood, and they had an interchange of opinions upon the rare talents which the lad had exhibited. Dr. Wood was one of the trustees of Dartmouth College, and it was upon his earnest recommendation that Daniel should be fitted for that institution, that his father consented. Dr. Wood proposed to attend to the preparatory studies of the lad ; and it was this which determined the farther progress of Daniel. Up to this time the original purpose only had been entertained — to educate a county schoolmaster Dr. Wood had experience and discrimination. He resided in Boscawen, beloved and respected, over half a century ; and, during that period, person- ally instructed one hundred and fifty-five pupils in his own house. Of these, one hundred and five DANIEL WEBSTER. 57 entered college. About one-third of Dr. Wood's pupils became clergymen, twenty took up the pro- fession of the law, and a few graduated as physi- cians. Among his pupils, Dr. Wood had the nonest pride to see many of the leading men of New Hampshire, and some who have achieved a national reputation. While on his way to Boscawen with his father, to take his place in the household of Dr. Wood, Daniel was first apprised of the conclusion which his father and his teachers had reached concerning him. The old-fashioned mode of treating chil- dren, — and we are inclined to think that the modern is far from being in all respects an im- provement, — kept the will and purposes of the boy in abeyance to the authority of the parents. So, while Drs. Wood and Abbott had consulted and advised, and Colonel Webster had consented, Daniel's mind was undisturbed by any speculation upon the future. The advantages of a college education were above the highest dreams of the lad. His emo- tions, when the intention of his father were com- municated to him, exceeded his power of expres- sion. While he eagerly assented, and felt, to use his own words, " as much exultation one moment 58 LIFE OF as ever was felt by a Roman Consul, to whom a triumph had been decreed," in the next he was unmanned by his feelings. " I remember," he once said, " the very hill which we were ascending, through deep snows, in a New England sleigh, when my father made known this promise to me. I could not speak. How could he, I thought, with so large a family, and in such narrow circum- stances, think of incurring so great an expense for me ? A warm glow ran all over me, and I laid my head on my father's shoulder and wept." DANIEL WEBSTER. 59 CHAPTER III. Virgil and Cicero — Don Quixote — Grotius and Puffendorf — A long Recitation — Daniel a poor Harvester — A new Impetus to his Studies — Advantages of Education in the Olden Time — The Journey to Hanover — The true blue Suit — Storm and Delay — Arrival at Hanover — Making Toilet in Fast Colors — Manly Appearance, in Spite of Disadvantages — Daniel enters as Fresh- man — His Habits while at Dartmouth — His Manner of Compo- sition — Fondness for Out-door Exercise — Apostrophes to the Cod and the Trout — Mr. Webster and the Farmer — Mr. Webster and the Quails — His First Trout. Daniel Webster did not commence his prepa- ration for College like a lad who could go through it as a routine duty, occupying the time of an established course, and pursuing it at his leisure. It was all important that he should reduce the expense of his education, by shortening the time employed in acquiring it. He entered Dr. Wood's family at the beginning of March, 1797; and, in August of the same year entered Dartmouth Col- lege. The good use of his limited opportunities, which he had already made, prepared him for this 60 LIFE OF very brief course. And yet, though Daniel Webster had the strongest inducements to exer- tion, and possessed wonderful natural powers, we are not to suppose that the preparation made in so very short a period was anything like thorough. Daniel had already some acquaintance with the rudiments of the Latin language, and he had, moreover, a fondness for it. He had neither time nor money to expend on things not absolutely ne- cessary, and his preparation in Greek was barely sufficient to fulfil the requirements of the college, upon admission. He gave only two months to this language ; and this imperfect preparation he always regretted. In college it was always a task rather than an intellectual pleasure ; and, as lately as the year before his death, he expressed his re- gret that he had not pursued the Greek language, till he could read and understand Demosthenes in his own tongue. What Daniel Webster was com- pelled to forego, by want of opportunity, should not be neglected by those who have time and means. The deficiency that he acknowledged, would be more apparent in a man of less natural capacity. The Latin language was his delight. He read the entire iEneid as a pleasant occupation, long DANIEL WEBSTER. 61 before he was called to recite it, in the course of instruction. When he entered the class of young men who were preparing for college with Dr. Wood, he found them reviewing Cicero's orations. Daniel had never read them ; but he commenced, and kept pace with his classmates ; and he has been heard to say that no task was so easily ac- complished by him as the reading of Cicero. Pro- bably the "Social Library" had rendered him familiar with the history and themes of the Latin orator; and he could enter with understanding into his thoughts, and appreciate his argument. At Boscawen he found another " Social Library ; " and in this he sought relaxation from his severer studies. It was his rule to work with all his heart and mind while at work, and Avhen he sought relief to abandon himself to it. At Boscawen he met, for the first time, an English translation of Don Quixote. He bears the same testimony to the interest of this work, that other men of mind have done. " I began to read it," he says, " and it is literally true that I never closed my eyes until I had finished it ; nor did I lay it down any time for five minutes ; so great was the power of this extraordinary book upon my imagination." But his imagination was not alone consulted io 6 G2 LIFE OF bis leisure; for, besides Virgil and Cicero, which he read with his tutor, and other classics which he looked over under the same direction, he read, in the original, two large works of Grotius and Puflendorf. With Daniel Webster's residence at Dr. Wood's an anecdote is connected, which implies a good reproof of those who would neglect study for amusement, and cite his example as their apology. Mr. Webster had a very retentive memory, and could, in a few moments, commit what it cost others hours of labor to accomplish. This faculty in memorising made him appear negligent, to the superficial observer, wdio measured study by the time occupied, rather than by the results obtained. His favorite recreations were walks with his gun and his rod. His preceptor once hinted to him, that the spending of so much time in rambling might have an injurious influence upon the habits of the other boys. He did not complain that his task was neglected, nor that he was unprepared for his recitations. The sensitive lad could not end ire any suspi- cion that he neglected his duties He applied himself instantly to Virgil, and spent the entire night at his self-imposed task. The next morning DANIEL WEBSTER. G3 he read his hundred lines without tripping or mistake. Dr. Wood expressed his approbation, and prepared to leave, as he had an engagement, of which, by the way, Daniel was aware. " I can recite a few more lines," said the lad. " Well, let us have them," said the Doctor ; and a hundred more were read. Breakfast was repeatedly an- nounced, and the Doctor, impatient to go, asked how much farther he could read. " To the end of the Twelfth Book," was the reply. The Doctor complimented him upon his recitation, but begged to be excused from so long a session. " You may have the whole day, Dan, for pigeon-shooting," said his tutor, when retiring. But the conscien- tious lad never gave the Doctor an opportunity to reprove him again, and avoided even the appear- ance of neglect, by strictly keeping his study hours. While Daniel was studying with Dr. Wood, his father sent for him to come home, and assist for a few days in harvesting. He packed up his bundle of clothes and answered the summons. On the next morning he went to work in the fields, while the father visited a neighboring town upon busi- ness. His slendei limbs proved unequal to the labor, in which he probably over-exerted himself. 64 LIFE OF and he returned to the house before noon with blisterel hands Ills mother readily excused him from farther labor. An hour after dinner, how- ever, found Daniel so much refreshed, that he put the old family horse in harness, and, placing his sisters in a wagon, drove to a famous hill, where he, boy-like, worked harder in running than lie could have done in the hay-field. His father laughed upon hearing from Daniel and his mother the report of the day's work ; and the next morning handed Daniel his bundle of clothes, and, with a smile, pointed towards Boscawen. The boy walked off, and, as he left the house, his old friend, Thompson, asked, " Where, now, Dan ?" " Back to school, sir," said the boy. " I thought it would be so," said the other, with a quiet laugh : and the boy walked back to his preceptor. Dr. Wood, who had probably regretted the harvest excursion as lost time, received him with a cordial greeting, and told him that, with hard study, he might enter Dartmouth College at the next com- mencement. At this time Daniel did not even know the Greek Alphabet; but, with the encou- ragement of his tutor, and characteristic energy, he applied himself to the work, and accomplished it. His fatter had told him that he should go to DANIEL WEBSTER. 65 college, "if he was compelled to sell every acre of land to pay the expense." Daniel appreciated the sacrifice, and looked for- ward with high expectations to the privilege. Now, by the increase of opportunities, and the high improvement, in cities and large towns espe- cially, of public schools, education has become a far different matter. There is much less differ- ence, now, between the acquirements of the colle- gian and the information of those who have not the privilege of academic education, than there was in the days of Daniel's boyhood. From the common school to the college was a long remove. The college graduate was a man distinctly marked, because few lads commenced such higher branches as are now included in our public-school courses, except with a view to enter the learned professions. Edward Everett, in his Memoir of Webster, has the following remarks upon the subject : " In truth, a college education was a far different affair fifty years ago from what it has since become, by the multiplication of collegiate insti- tutions, and the establishment of public funds in aid of those who need assistance. It constituted a person at once a member of an intellectual aris- tocracy In many cases it really conferred quali* 6* 06* LIFE OF fications, and in all was supposed to do so, without which professional and public life could not be entered upon with any hope of success. In New England, at that time, it was not a common occur- rence that any one attained a respectable position in either of the professions, without this advantage. In selecting the members of the family who should enjoy the privilege, the choice not unfrequently fell upon the son whose slender frame and early indications of disease, unfitted him for the la- borious life of our New England yeomanry. While Daniel Webster was preparing to enter college, his friend, Dr. Wood, who was a Trustee of Dartmouth, was preparing the Faculty to re- ceive him. The Doctor went to them personally to recommend Daniel, " not so much for what he had learned, as for what" he told them, "he could learn, if he had an opportunity." Mr. Thompson was also a member of the Board of Trustees, and their joint influence, with that of Dr. Abbott, and the respect in which Mr. Webster's father was held, procured the application of the young man a respectful consideration, and predisposed his examiners to be lenient. It is noticeable how much the self-reliance of Daniel Webstei had been increased by success, DANIEL WEBSTER. 67 and by the knowledge of what he could effect if he bent his energies to the work. He saw the young gentlemen at Dr. Wood's, who were to enter with him at college, fully prepared, and leisurely reviewing the books which he was first reading, with all the disadvantages of haste and want of time. Nevertheless, he persevered in his original intention. The incidents of his journey to Dartmouth are among the most interesting passages of his boy life; and we dwell upon such, because it is for youth we are writing. The details of the events of the manhood of such men as Webster cannot be compressed within our space. And, in the larger and more elaborate works, which are de- voted to the public life and services of statesmen, the particulars which we seek to preserve are passed over. Daniel Webster's first Dartmouth suit was true blue, domestic manufacture, coat, vest, and panta- loons. The writer of this memoir remembers that homespun manufacture well — literally redolent of the substances which gave it its hue, — stealing and giving color as well as odors, for, where the perspiration oozed from the skin, the colors struck in. Those, as we have already remarked, were 68 LIFE OF not the days of public conveyances. Daniel set out from home on horseback, his books and ward- robe packed in saddle-bags. Hardly had he left the house when a furious storm burst upon the traveller. It continued two days, and swelled the mountain streams, which he had to pass, to tor- rents, washing roads, and carrying away bridges. The delays which this inopportune tempest caused, protracted his journey, and, on his arrival, he had no time to lose. The Faculty was in session for the examination of candidates, and his presence was required immediately. Professor Shurtleff, now one of the Faculty of Amherst College, entered the institution at the same time, as a student. He says : " I put up, with others, at what is now called the Olcott House, which was then a tavern. We were con- ducted to a chamber where we might brush our clothes, and make ready for examination. A young man, a stranger to us all, was soon ushered into the room. Similarity of object rendered the ordinary forms of introduction needless. We learned that his name was Webster; also where he had studied, and how much Latin and Greek he had read, which, I think, was just to the limit DANIEL WEBSTER. 69 prescribed by the law at that period, and which was very much below the present requisition. Daniel found, on attempting his toilet, that the fast colors of his new suit were fast in discharging from their proper place, and no less fast in adhering where they were not desired. He was blue throughout — linen and skin, and all. He improved his plight as well as he could, but after all his efforts, he says of himself, that he was not only "black Dan, but blue Dan." He stated what op- portunities he had had, what time he had spent in preparation, and what books he had read, and recounted his wayside disaster. " Thus, you see me," he said, " as I am ; if not entitled to your approbation, at least to your sympathy." The diffident boy among boys, could hold up his head before men. He answered the questions addressed to him without embarrassment, and with full pos- session and command of his resources. Like many other lads of nervous sensibility, he found what he had feared as a fiery ordeal, a much less severe trial than he expected, and was entered as a Freshman at Dartmouth College. Hon. John Wheelock, LL. D., was President of Dartmouth College at the time of Mr. Webster's entrance. Hon. Bezaleel Woodward, and Rev. 70 LIFE OF John Smith, D. D., were among the Professors, These gentlemen, and particularly the latter, were so much impressed with his character and talents, that his Dartmouth experience proved a good re- commendation to his further progress, as we shall presently see. Professor Shurtleff, whom we have already quoted, thus bears testimony to Mr. Web- Bter's habits while at Dartmouth : " Mr. Webster, while in college, was remarkable for his steady habits, his intense application to study, and his punctual attendance upon all the prescribed exercises. I know not that he was ab- sent from a recitation, or from morning and evening prayers in the chapel, or from public worship on the Sabbath ; and I doubt if ever a smile was seen upon his face during any religious exercise. He was always in his place, and with a decorum suited to it. He had no collision with any one, nor appeared to enter into the concerns of others, but emphatically minded 7iis own business. But, as steady as the sun, he pursued with intense ap- plication the great object for which he came to college. This, I conceive, was the secret of his popularity in college, and his success in subsequent life." Another authority, the writer of a paper ill DANIEL WEBSTER. 71 Putnam's Monthly, speaks as follows respecting Mr. Webster's career in college : " It has been so commonly reported about our colleges that Wel>- ster was not a laborious, student, that many gen- tlemen who have written eulogies upon the illus- trious statesman and orator, have felt bound to apologize for him as a scholar. This is all wrong. His early life was as strongly characterized by those homely virtues, industry, perseverance, and punctuality, as his later career. It may safely be questioned whether any undergraduate of any of our New England Colleges ever left behind him so many written and printed proofs of his talents and application, as Mr. Webster. He always scorned the imputation of idleness. When in- formed that such a tradition prevailed among stu- dents, he exclaimed, ' What fools they must be, to suppose that a man could make anything of him- self without hard study !' He regarded every hour of his student life as sacred to study and reflection ; that his first object was a thorough mastery of his daily tasks, and his next purpose was, to store his mind with useful knowledge. His solitary wan- derings were devoted to reflection, and frequently to the composition of his themes; his social inter- 72 LIFE OF course was always rendered profitable by literary conversation." The classmates of Mr. Webster, quoted by the last-mentioned writer, thus speak of his college life : " His habits were good, lie had the highest sense of honor and integrity. He was sure to understand the subject of his recitation ; some- times, I used to think, in a more extended and comprehensive sense than his teacher. He never liked to be confined to small technicalities or narrow views, but seemed to possess an intuitive knowledge of whatever subject he was considering. He did not find it necessary, as was the case with most of us, to sit down to hard work three or four hours, to make himself master of his lesson, but seemed to comprehend it in a larger view, and would, sometimes, procure other books on the same subject, for further examination, and employ hours in close thought, either in his room or in his walks, which would enlarge his views, and, at the same time, might, with some, give him the cha- racter of not being a close student. " His great powers of memory he turned to good account, both in retaining the thoughts of others, and in fixing the results of his own reflections. He was accustomed to arrange his thoughts for DANIEL WEBSTER. id debates and declamations in his solitary i ambles upon the borders of neighboring brooks, angling for trout, or scouring the surrounding forests in quest of game. When his thoughts were once arranged in his mind, the business of writing was merely mechanical. Amusement and study were so strangely wedded, that careless observers mis- took the profound thinker for a heedless trifier. lie composed his college themes at his leisure, and ivrote them just before they were due. Accord- ingly, he was often known to commence the writing of a public declamation after dinner, which he was to speak at two o'clock the same day. The New Hampshire hour for dinner, fifty years ago, as it still is in many rural districts, was meridian. In one instance, while writing, a sudden flaw of wind took away his paper through the open window, and it was last seen flying over the meeting-house. He appeared upon the stage, not- withstanding his loss, and spoke with his usual fluency and eloquence. General Lyman records a conversation with a lady who resided in Hanover when Mr. Webster was at Dartmouth. She was somewhat younger than he, and, among the memories of her girlhood, are recollections of Daniel Webster, of whom her 7 74 LIFE OF brother was a classmate. She says that Mr. Webster was of slight form, and had the appear- ance of a person of feeble constitution. He was a brunette in complexion ; his hair was black as jet, and, when turned back, displayed a forehead which always excited great admiration. His dark eyes shone with extraordinary brilliancy. In his youth, among other soubriquets, Mr. Webster had that of "All Eyes." With this delicacy of consti- tution, we may readily suppose that the out-door recreations, invigorating yet not violent, in which Mr. Webster indulged, were as necessary to the health of his body as to the strength of his mind. Probably, to them, and to his habit of early rising, and devoting the morning to study, Mr. Webster owed that renovation of his physical strength, which made him in after years as remarkable for his iron constitution, as in youth he had been for an opposite appearance. He was quite an adroit swimmer and skater, and a very good marksman. In the pursuit of anything he was an enthusiast. The brooks on his father's farm were, in those early days, famous for trout, and young Daniel knew all their haunts and habits. With hia fishing-rods, cut from the bushes, and his horse- hair lines, of his own manufacture, he was ready, DANIEL WEBSTER. 75 at 3very proper moment of leisure, while at Lome, in college, and even to the last days of his life, to follow the streams, and take the fish which can only be captured by skill and patience. By the side of the brook many of his college themes were composed. In the solitude of the forest, or the trout run, he arranged his legal argu- ments. On the day preceding that on which he was to deliver the address of welcome to General Lafayette, in Boston, in 1825, Mr. Webster was out rod-fishing in his yacht. The sport was not good, and the party were about giving it up in despair, when Mr. Webster hooked a large cod, and, just as its nose appeared above water, he ex- claimed, in a loud and pompous voice, " Welcome ! all hail ! and thrice welcome, citizen of two hemi- spheres ! " We may imagine the amazement of the party when, on the next day, they heard these words addressed to the nation's guest. Such inci- dents exhibit what his thoughts were occupied with, even during his apparent abandonment to amusement. Another anecdote, of a similar nature, is related respecting Mr. Webster's composition of his famous address, delivered on Bunker Hill. It was arranged in his mind, and studied by the side of Marshpee t LIFE OF Brook, fishing-rod in hand. As he landed in quick succession a couple of huge trout, and trans- ferred them to his basket, he thus apostrophized them, " Venerable men ! you have come down to. us from a former generation. Heaven has boun- teously lengthened out your lives, that you might behold this joyous day." Stern and thoughtful as Mr. Webster appeared in public, he had a high zest for humor; and, that the above sentence, which occurs in his speech, should have been first addressed to the fishes, while his mind was occu- pied with it, is perfectly in character with his playfulness in private life. He very much en- joyed a harmless joke, even when he was the subject of it, and used to relate the following with great glee : He went from Marshfield, some years since, on a trouting expedition to Sandwich. Coming to a fine stream, he stepped from his wagon, and meeting the owner of the farm, the usual saluta- tions passed. Mr. Webster inquired if there were any trout in the stream. " Well," said the farmer, " some people fish here, but I don't know what they do get." " I '11 throw my line in," said Mr. Webster, " and see what there is." DANIEL WEBSTER. 77 Mr. Webster walked the banks of the stream, trying his luck, and the old farmer followed him. Mr. Webster soon remarked, " You have some bog on your farm." " Yes," rejoined the farmer, " and that ain't the worst of it." Mr. Webster still continued to throw his line into the deep pools. After a silence of a few moments, he said, " You have plenty of briars here." "Yes," said the farmer, "and that ain't the worst of it." Mr. Webster began to get somewhat discouraged. To be sweltering in the heat of an August day, bitten by mosquitoes, scratched by briars, and yet not be able to raise a single fish, was too much for his patience — dropping his rod, he remarked, " I do not believe there are any trout here." "And that ain't the worst of it," reiterated the farmer. "Well," said Mr. Webster, "I would like to know what the worst of it is ? " " There never was any here" replied the waggish farmer. While Mr. Webster, in 1851, was engrossed with the affairs of the nation, as Secretary of 7 * 78 LIFE OF State, he was almost in the daily habit of fishing at the little Falls of the Potomac. His only and constant attendant on these occasions was his Private Secretary, Mr. Lanman, whom he called for the purpose at the early hour of four, in the morning. He was pleased if he caught a few rock-fish or bass, and quite contented if he caught nothing; for he enjoyed the fresh air and exer- cise, and returned from the fishing-ground before the public offices were opened. Air and exercise were his mental stimulus. He had no boyish fondness for taking the lives of animals, and never hesitated to reprove those who had this weakness. Mr. Lanman relates that, while he was walking with Mr. Webster one morning, at Marshfield, they were joined by a Boston gentleman. A flock of quails ran across the road, and the stranger worked himself up into an intense excitement, and exclaimed, " Oh ! if I only had a gun, I could easily kill the whole flock ; have you not one in your house, Mr. Webster?" Mr. Webster calmly replied that he had a number of guns, but that no man whatsoever was ever permitted to kill a quail or any other bird, a rabbit or a squirrel, on his property. He then proceeded to comment on the slaughtering propensities of the American DANIEL WEBSTER. 79 people, remarking that, in this country, there was an almost universal passion for killing and eating every wild animal that chanced to cross the path- way of man ; while in England and other portions of Europe, these animals were kindly protected and valued for their companionship. " This, to me, is a great mystery," said he, " and, so far as my influence extends, the birds shall be protected." Just at this moment one of the quails mounted a little knoll and poured forth a few of its sweet and peculiar notes. Mr. Webster continued, " There, does not that gush of song do the heart a thousandfold more good than could possibly be derived from the death of that beautiful bird ?" The stranger thanked Mr. Webster for his reproof, and said afterward that this little incident had taught him to love the man whom he had before only admired as a statesman. Having gone before the course of our narrative, to insert in this place anecdotes of the latter part of Mr. Webster's life, we may correct the error by going back to his early childhood, and showing who taught him to fish. While a bare-footed boy, in his fifth year, he was riding with his father upon the same horse. "Dan!" said the Colonel, u how would you like to catch a trout ?" Of course 80 LIFE OF the lad could not but like such an achievement. They dismounted, and the father cut a hazel-twig, to which he affixed a hook and line, which he produced from his pocket. Turning over a flat stone, he found a worm for bait, and told his son to creep upon a rock, and carefully throw it to the further side of a deep pool. The boy did as he was bidden, hooked a fish, lost his balance, and fell into the water; whence he was drawn ashore b}^ his father, still clinging to his end of the line, while the fish was fast to the other. And that was the wa} T Daniel Webster's first trout was landed. DANIEL, WEBSTER. 81 CHAPTER IV. Studies of the first two Tears at Dartmouth — Young "VYehster a Schoolmaster in the Vacations — His Fondness for a Scholar's Life — His desire that his Brother Ezekiel should share his Pur- suits — Difficulties in the Way — The Young Men pass a Night in considering them — Importance of Ezekiel's aid to his Father — Daniel introduces the Subject to the Old Gentleman — The Mother called in to advise — Her prompt Decision — Ezekiel enters upon a Course of Preparation, and Daniel returns to College — Change in his Costume — His Attention, through Life, to Personal Neatness — Third Year in College — Mr. Webster takes high Rank — Fourth of July Oration in 1800 — Anecdote of General Stark. During the first year at college, Mr. Webster's studies were the Greek and Latin languages, the rules for speaking and composition, and the ele- ments of mathematics. In the second year new books were taken in thes« languages, and logic and the higher branches of mathematics were added. Greek and mathematics were not studies in which his mind was interested. Logic, rhetoric, and the belles-lettres, history, biography and poetry were his delight. In geography, ancient and modern. 32 LIFE OF he was a proficient. In the Latin language he was, from the first, at home. The dictionary and grammar were impressed on his memory, and he read the Latin classics as a recreation, and not as a task. " If," he says, " at this early stage I had a desire for the future, it was to write as Virgil and Tacitus wrote, and to speak as Cicero spoke." But, though a good scholar, he did not rank as the best during his first years in college. Nor was it to be wondered that he could not, under his disad- vantages, rank with those who had entered with everything in their favor. We have mentioned Mr. Webster's first attempt at school-teaching, in 1797. In 1798 he again taught in his college vacation. A new school- house had been erected in Salisbury, at " Shaw's Corner ; " and Mr. Webster received for his second attempt — having gained one }^ear in age, and more in experience — six dollars a month. During his first term of teaching, his salary was only four dollars. Many of the district schools in New England are thus taught by students ; but, during the last fifty years, the salary has advanced from this low standard, which was the rule when the student preparing for college was required to pay only one dollar per week for board and tuition. DANIEL WEBSTER. 83 At the end of Daniel's second year he spent a vacation at home. With advancement in his college course, and additional attention bestowed upon English literature, Mr. Webster was more in his element. Having reached a breathing-place in his progress, he began to feel more sensibly the happiness he enjoyed. Professor Sanborn thus narrates one of the most honorable passages in Daniel Webster's life : " He had tasted the sweets of literature, and enjoyed the victories of intel- lectual effort. He loved the scholar's life. He felt keenly for the condition of his brother Ezekiel, who was destined to remain on the farm, and labor to lift the mortgage from the old homestead, and furnish the means for his brother's support. Ezekiel was a farmer, in spirit and in practice. He led his laborers in the field, as he afterwards led his class in Greek. Daniel knew and appre- ciated his superior intellectual endowments. He resolved that his brother should enjoy the same privileges as himself. " That night the two brothers retired to bed, but not to sleep. They discoursed of their pros- pects. Daniel utterly refused to enjoy the fruit of his brother's labor any longer. They were united in sympathy and affections, and they must 84 LIFE OP be united in their pursuits. But how could they leave their beloved parents, in age and solitude, with no protector? They talked and wept, and wept and talked till dawn of day. They dared not broach the matter to their father. Finally Daniel resolved to be the orator upon the occasion. Judge Webster was then somewhat burdened with debts. He was advanced in age, and had set his heart upon having Ezekiel as his helper. The very thought of separation from both his sons was painful to him. When the proposition was made, he felt as did the Patriarch of old, when he ex- claimed, 'Joseph is not, and will ye take Benjamin away ? ' "A family council was called. The mother's opinion was asked. She was a noble-minded woman. She was not blind to the superior en- dowments of her sons. With all a mother's par- tiality, however, she did not over-estimate their powers. She decided the matter at once. Her reply was, * I have lived long in the world, and been happy in my children. If Daniel and Ezekiel will promise to take care of me in my old age, ] will consent to the sale of all our property, at once, and they may enjoy the benefit of all that remains after our debts are paid.' This was a DANIEL WEBSTER. 85 moment of intense interest to all the parties. Parents and children all mingled their tears to- gether, and sobbed aloud at the thought of sepa- ration. The father yielded to the entreaties of his sons and the advice of his wife. Daniel re- turned to college ; Ezekiel took his little bundle in his hand, and sought on foot the scene of his preparatory studies. He resided, like his brother Daniel, at Boscawen, with Dr. Wood, and in one year went through his preparatory studies, entering at Dartmouth in 1803. Young Webster's dress and appearance upon entering college we have already described. The accomplishment of his wishes and hopes respecting his brother opened a new era in his feelings. He was more elastic in spirits. Deeming nothing a trifle which affected the estimation in which others held him, and thence reflected disagreeably upon himself, he introduced a change in his costume. He remembered the mortification to which he was exposed at Exeter, and, after the commencement of his junior year, dressed better than the average of his class — but not foppishly. Throughout his life Mr. Webster paid strict attention to the pro- prieties of costume. He considered it a duty to be so prepared in all particulars, that those with 66 LIFE OF whom he was to converse, or the audiei.ce which he was expected to address, should perceive that he entertained a proper respect for them. lie paid strict attention to the lesser as well as more important requirements of etiquette, and was always dressed in a becoming manner. His favo- rite and almost uniform costume for the Senate, the Bar, or public meetings, was a blue coat with gilt buttons, a buff-colored vest, and black panta- loons. We mention these matters here, because the hint for his attention to them appears to have been taken by him from his early school expe- riences ; and because, while foppishness is ridicu- lous, and expensive clothing is not desirable or necessary, cleanliness of person, and a proper re- gard to the customs of society, are due to every man's regard for health, and his respect for his friends. In the third year of his college course, besides the languages, Daniel read Natural and Moral Philosophy, and Rhetoric. " Watts on the Mind" and " Locke on the Conduct of the Understand- ing," which were not in the regular college course, he committed to memory. Besides regular atten- tion to his prescribed studies, he improved the opportunity of his enlarged access to books, to DANIEL WEBSTER. 87 read whatever was useful or graceful in English literature. As a classical and belles-lettres scholar (Greek always excepted), as a writer, and as a debater, he ranked first in his class. One of his classmates thus speaks of him : " The truth is, that by his thorough investigation of every sub- ject and every study, whilst in college, he rose to the very pinnacle of fame ; and, since he has left college, all that he has had to do was to sustain his elevated position ; and all his classmates have been compelled to look up high to see him, which I have always been proud to do." In the year 1800, Daniel being then eighteen years old, his friends and admirers, in college and out, united in a pressing invitation to him to de- liver to the citizens of Hanover an oration on the Fourth of July. So much were the people pleased with it, that they requested a copy for publication, and it was printed. The edition of Daniel Web- ster's works, published under his eye, does not contain it. Undoubtedly he regarded it as too crude and boyish to be included among his more mature writings. Perhaps — and very probably — he had not reserved a copy, and had nearly for- gotten it. It was not among the subjects of which he most delighted to converse. Delivered over 88 LIFE OF half a century ago, while the wounds of the Re- volution were yet fresh, it has a haughty bitterness towards Britain which we do not find in Mr. Webster's later speeches. Daniel's father was an earnest Federalist — so much so, that it is related of him, that being taken sick on a journey while passing through a village noted for its opposite political character, he begged his physician to remove him as soon as possible out of the place. " He was born," he said, " a Federalist, had lived a Federalist, and could not die in any but a Fede- ralist town !" Young Daniel's allusion to France, and his commendation of the course of the then Executive of the United States, the elder Adams, show that the young man shared in the political feelings of his father. Whatever reasons may have operated with the editors of Mr. Webster's speeches, to reject this interesting memorial of his youth, its insertion comes strictly within our place. It was the first strictly public performance of the young man ; and, making all proper allowances for the circumstances which we have noted, it is not at all unworthy of his fame. It was but re- cently rescued from oblivion by General Lyman ; and we present it entire, that our young readers DANIEL WEBSTER. 89 may compare it with the great orator's later speeches, and draw their own conclusions. The oration was preceded by the usual forms, the ringing of bells, firing of cannon, and marching in procession. Prayer, an anthem, and the reading of the Declaration of Independence, opened the exercises. Those celebrations of the Fourth in country towns were great affairs, even thirty years ago. As the nation grows older, if it loses some of the extravagance and boasting spirit of its youth, we fear that it loses also something of the sentiment of patriotism, and fervency of natural love and veneration for its great men. Daniel, of course, did himself justice in the delivery ; and we may well imagine that his performance pro- duced a great sensation. The pamphlet copy of it bears on the title-page the following motto, from Addison : u Do thou, great Liberty, inspire our souls, And make our lives, in thy possession, happy, Or our deaths glorious in thy just defence." " Countrymen, Brethren, and Fathers : " We are now assembled to celebrate an anni- versary, ever to be held in dear remembrance by 8* 90 LIFE OF the sons of Freedom. Nothing less than the birth of a nation — nothing less than the emancipation of three millions of people from the degrading chains of foreign dominion, is the event we com- memorate. " Twenty-four years have now elapsed since these United States first raised the standard of Liberty, and echoed the shouts of Independence. " Those of you who were then reaping the iron harvest of the martial field, whose bosoms then palpitated for the honor of America, will, at this time, experience a renewal of all that fervent patriotism ; of all those inscrutable emotions which then agitated your breasts. As for us, who were either then unborn, or not far enough advanced beyond the threshold of existence, to engage in the grand conflict for Liberty, we now most cor- dially unite with you, to greet the return of this joyous anniversary, to welcome the return of the day which gave us Freedom, and to hail the rising glories of our country ! "On occasions like this, you have hitherto been addressed from the stage, on the nature, the origin, and the expediency of civil government. The field of political speculation has been explored, by persons possessing talents to which the speaker of DANIEL WEBSTER. 91 the day can have no pretensions. Declining therefore a dissertation on the principles of civil polity, you will indulge me in slightly sketching those events which have originated, nurtured, and raised to its present grandeur, this new republic. "As no nation on the globe can rival us in the rapidity of our growth since the conclusion of the Revolutionary War, so none, perhaps, ever en- dured greater hardships and distresses than the people of this country previous to that period. We behold a feeble band of colonists, engaged in the arduous undertaking of a new settlement in the wilds of North America. Their civil liberty being mutilated, and the enjoyment of their reli- gious sentiments denied them in the land that gave them birth, they fled their country, they braved the dangers of the then almost unnavi- gated ocean, and sought, on the other side of the globe, an asylum from the iron grasp of tyranny, and the more intolerable scourge of ecclesiastical persecution. "But gloomy indeed was the prospect when they arrived on this side of the Atlantic. Scat- tered in detachments along a coast immensely extensive, at a distance of more than three thou- sand miles from their friends on the Eastern Con- 92 LIFE OF tinent, they were exposed to all those evils, and encountered or experienced all those difficulties to which human nature seemed liable. Destitute of convenient habitations, the inclemencies of the seasons harassed them, the midnight beasts of prey prowled terribly around them, and the more portentous yell of savage fury incessantly assailed them. But the same undiminished confidence in the Almighty God which prompted the first settlers of this county to forsake the unfriendly climes of Europe, still supported them under all their calamities, and inspired them with fortitude almost divine. Having a glorious issue of their labors now in prospect, they cheerfully endured the rigors of the climate, pursued the savage beast in his remotest haunt, and stood, undismayed, in the dismal hour of Indian battle. " Scarcely were the Indian settlements freed from those dangers which at first environed them, ere the clashing interests of France and Britain involved them anew in war. The Colonists were now destined to combat with well-appointed, well- disciplined troops from Europe ; and the horrors of the tomahawk and the scalping-knife were again renewed. But these frowns of fortune, dis- tressing as they were, had been met without a DANIEL WEBSTER. 9S sigh, and endured without a groan, had not Great Britain presumptuously arrogated to herself the glory of the victories achieved by American militia. Louisburg must be taken, Canada at- tacked, and a frontier of more than one thousand miles defended by untutored yeomanry, while the honor of every conquest must be ascribed to an English army. "But while England was thus tyrannically stripping her colonies of their well-earned laurels, and triumphantly weaving them into the stupen- dous wreath of her own martial glories, she was unwittingly teaching them to value themselves, and effectually to resist, on a future day, her un- just encroachments. il The pitiful tale of taxation now commences — the unhappy quarrel which resulted in the dis- memberment of the British Empire has here its origin. England, now triumphant over the united powers of France and Spain, is determined to re- duce to the condition of slaves her American subjects. "We might now display the Legislatures of the several States, together with the general Congress, petitioning, praying, remonstrating, and, like duti- ful subjects, humbly laying their grievances before 94 LIFE O F the throne. On the other hand we could exhibiv a British Parliament, assiduously devising means to subjugate America; disdaining our petitions; trampling on our rights ; and menacingly telling us, in language not to be misunderstood, 'Ye shall be slaves!' We could mention the haughty, ty- rannical, perfidious Gage, at the head of a standing army ; we could show our brethren, attacked and slaughtered at Lexington ; our property plundered and destroyed at Concord ! Recollections can still pain us with the spiral flames of burning Charles- town, the agonizing groans of aged parents, the shrieks of widows, orphans and infants ! " Indelibly impressed on our memories still live the dismal scenes of Bunker's awful mount, the grand theatre of New England bravery ; where slaughter stalked, grimly triumphant; where re- lentless Britain saw her soldiers, the unhappy in- struments of despotism, fallen in heaps beneath the nervous arms of injured freemen ! " There the great Warren fought, and there, also, lie fell ! Valuing life only as it enabled him to serve his country, he freely resigned himself a willing martyr in the cause of Liberty, and now he 's encircled in the arms of glory. DANIEL WEBSTER. 95 " Peace to the patriot's shade — let no rude blast Disturb the willow that nods o'er his tomb; Let orphan tears bedew his sacred urn, And Fame's loud trump proclaim the hero's nan,e, Far as the circuit of the sphere extends. " But, haughty Albion, thy reign shall soon be o'er ! Thou shalt triumph no longer ; thine em- pire already reels and totters; thy laurels even now begin to wither and thy frame decay. Thou hast at length roused the indignation of an in- sulted people; thy oppressions they deem no longer tolerable. " The 4th of July, 1776, has now arrived, and America, manfully springing from the torturing fangs of the British Lion, now rises majestic in the pride of her sovereignty, and bids her eagle elevate his wings ! " The solemn Declaration of Independence is now pronounced, amidst crowds of admiring citi- zens, by the supreme council of our nation ; and received with the unbounded plaudits of a grateful people ! " That was the hour when patriotism was proved — when the souls of men were tried. It was then, ye venerable patriots, it was then you lifted the indignant arm, and unitedly swore to be 9G LIFE OF free! Despising such toys as subjugated en.pircs, you then knew no middle fortune between Liberty and Death. Firmly relying on the protection of Heaven, unwarped in the resolution you had taken, you then, undaunted, met — engaged — de- feated the gigantic power of Britain, and rose triumphant over the aggressions of your enemies. " Trenton, Princeton, Bennington and Saratoga were the successive theatres of your victories, and the utmost bounds of creation are the limits of your fame ! The sacred fire of freedom, then en- kindled in your breasts, shall be perpetuated through the long descent of future ages, and burn, with undiminished fervor, in the bosoms of mil- lions yet unborn. " Finally, to close the sanguinary conflict, to grant to America the blessings of an honorable peace, and clothe her heroes with laurels, Corn- wallis, at whose feet the kings and princes of Asia have since thrown their diadems, was compelled to submit to the sword of Washington. " The great drama is now completed : our Inde- pendence is now acknowledged ; and the hopes of our enemies are blasted forever. Columbia is now seated in the forum of Nations, and the Empires DA.NIEL "WEBSTER. 97 of the world are amazed at the bright effulgence of her glory. " Thus, friends and citizens, did the kind hand of over-ruling Providence conduct us, through toils, fatigues, and dangers, to Independence and Peace. If piety be the rational exercise of the human soul, if religion be not a chimera, and if the vestiges of heavenly assistance be clearly traced in those events which mark the annals of our nation, it becomes us, on this day, in considera- tion of the great things which have been done for us, to render the tribute of unfeigned thanks to that God, who superintends the universe, and holds aloft the scale that weighs the destiny of nations. " The conclusion of the Revolutionary War did not accomplish the entire achievements of our countrymen. Their military character was then, indeed, established; but the time was coming which should prove their practical sagacity — their ability to govern themselves. " No sooner was peace restored with England, (the first grand article of which was the acknow- ledgement of our Independence,) than the old system of confederation, dictated at first by neces- sity, and adopted for the purposes of the moment, 9 98 LIFE OF was found inadequate to the government of an extensive empire. Under a full conviction of this, we then saw the people of these States engaged in a transaction, which is undoubtedly the greatest approximation towards human perfection the po- litical world ever yet witnessed, and which will, perhaps, forever stand in the history of the world without a parallel. A great Republic, composed of different States, whose interests in all respects could not be perfectly compatible, then came deli- berately forward, discarded one system of govern- ment, and adopted another, without the loss of one man's blood. " There is not a single government now existing in Europe, which is not based in usurpation, and established, if established at all, by the sacrifice of thousands. But, in the adoption of our present system of jurisprudence, we see the powers neces- sary for government, voluntarily flowing from the people, their only proper origin, and directed to the public good, their only proper object. " With peculiar propriety we may now felicitate ourselves on that happy form of mixed govern- ment under which we live. The advantages re- sulting to the citizens of the Union are utterly incalculable, and the day when it was received by DANIEL WEBSTER. 99 a majority of the States shall stand on the cata- logue of American anniversaries, second to none but the birth-day of Independence. " In consequence of the adoption of our present system of government, and the virtuous manner in which it has been administered by a Washington and an Adams, we are this day in the enjoyment of peace, while war devastates Europe. We can now sit down beneath the shadow of the olive, while her cities blaze, her streams run purple with blood, and her fields glitter with a forest of bayo- nets ! The citizens of America can this day throng the temples of Freedom, and renew their oaths of fealty to Independence ; while Holland, our once sister republic, is erased from the cata- logue of nations ; while Venice is destroyed, Italy ravaged, and Switzerland — the once happy, the once united, the once flourishing Switzerland — lies bleeding at every pore ! " No ambitious foe dares now invade our country. No standing army now endangers our liberty. Our commerce, though subject in some degree to the depredations of the belligerent Powers, is ex- tended from Pole to Pole; our Navy, though just emerging from non-existence, shall soon vouch for the safety of our merchantmen, and bear the 100 LIFE OF thunder of Freedom around the ball. Fair science, too, holds her gentle empire amongst us, and almost innumerable altars are raised to her divinity. Yale, Providence and Harvard now grace our land ; and Dartmouth, towering majestic above the groves which encircle her, now inscribes her glory on the register of fame. Oxford and Cambridge, those oriental stars of literature, shall soon be outshone by the bright sun of American science, which displays his broad circumference in uneclipsed radiance. " Pleasing indeed were it here to dilate on the future grandeur of America; but we forbear, and pause for a moment to drop the tear of affection over the graves of our departed warriors. Their names should be mentioned on every anniversary of Independence, that the youth of each succes- sive generation may learn not to value life, when held in competition with their country's safety. " Wooster, Montgomery and Mercer fell bravely in battle, and their ashes are now entombed on the fields that witnessed their valor. Let their exertions in their country's cause be remembered, while liberty has an advocate, and gratitude has a place in the human heart. " Greene, the immortal hero of the Carolinas, DANIEL WEBSTER. 101 has since gone down to the grave, loaded with honors, and high in the estimation of his country- men. The courageous Putnam has long slept with his fathers ; and Sullivan and Cilley, New Hamp- shire's veteran sons, are no more remembered among the living. " With hearts penetrated with unutterable grief, we are at last constrained to ask, where is our Washington ? where the hero who led us to victory ? where the man who gave us freedom ? where is he who headed our feeble army, when destruction threatened us ? who came upon our enemies like the storms of winter, and scattered them like leaves before the Borean blast ? Where, 0, my country ! is thy political saviour ? Where, 0, humanity ! thy favorite son ? "The solemnity of the assembly, the lamenta- tions of the American people will answer, 'Alas, he is no more — the mighty is fallen ! ' Yes, Ame- ricans, Washington is gone ! He is now consigned to dust, and sleeps in 'dull, cold marble.' The man who never felt a wound but when it pierced his country — who never groaned but when fair Freedom bled — is now forever silent ! " Wrapped in the shroud of death, the dark dominions of the grave long since received him, 9* 102 LIFE OF and he rests in undisturbed repose ! Vain were the attempt to express our loss — vain the attempt to describe the feelings of our souls ! Though months have rolled away since his spirit left this terrestrial orb, and sought the shining worlds on high, yet the sad event is still remembered with increased sorrow. The hoary-headed patriot of '76 still tells the mournful story to the listening infant, till the loss of his country touches his heart, and patriotism fires his breast. The aged matron still laments the loss of the man beneath whose banners her husband has fought, or her son has fallen. At the name of Washington the sym- pathetic tear still glistens in the eye of every youthful hero. Nor does the tender sigh yet cease to heave in the fair bosom of Columbia's daughters. - " Farewell, Washington, a long farewell ! Thy country's tears embalm thy memory j Thy virtues challenge immortality j Impressed on grateful hearts thy name shall live, Till dissolution's deluge drown the world I "Although we must feel the keenest sorrow at the demise of our Washington, yet Ave console ourselves with the reflection that his virtuous DANIEL WEBSTER. 103 compatriot, his worthy successor, the firm, the wise, the inflexible Adams, still survives. Elevated by the voice of his country to the supreme executive magistracy, he constantly adheres to her essentia] interests, and with steady hand draws the dis- guising veil from the intrigues of foreign enemies, and the plots of domestic foes. " Having the honor of America always in view, never fearing when wisdom dictates, to stem the impetuous torrent of popular resentment, he stands amid the fluctuations of party and the ex- plosions of faction, unmoved as Atlas, " While storms and tempests thunder on its brow, And oceans break their billows at its feet. "Yet all the vigilance of our Executive, and all the wisdom of our Congress, have not been suffi- cient to prevent the country from being in some degree agitated by the convulsions of Europe, But why shall every quarrel on the other side of the Atlantic interest us in its issue ? Why shall the rise or the depression of every party there, produce here a corresponding vibration ? Was this continent designed as a mere satellite to the other? Has not Nature here wrought all her operations on the broadest scale ? Where are the 104 LIFE OF Mississippies and the Amazons, the AUeghanies and tlie Andes of Europe, Asia, and Africa? The natural superiority of America clearly indicates that it was designed to be inhabited by a nobler race of men, possessing a superior form of govern- ment, superior patriotism, and superior virtues. " Let the nations of the East vainly waste their strength in destroying each other. Let them aspire at conquest, and contend for dominion, till their continent is deluged in blood. But let none, how- ever elated by victory, however proud of triumph, ever presume to intrude on the neutral position assumed by our country. " Britain, twice humbled for her aggressions, has been taught to respect us. But France, once our ally, has dared to insult us ! She has violated her treaty obligations — she has depredated on our com- merce — she has abased our government and riveted the chains of bondage on our unhappy fellow-citizens. Not content with ravaging and depopulating the fairest countries of Europe ; not yet satisfied with the contortions of expiring re- publics, the convulsive throes of subjugated na- tions, and the groans of her own slaughtered citizens — she has spouted her fury across the Atlantic ; and the stars and stripes of the United DANIEL WEBSTER. 105 States have been almost attacked in our harbors ! When we have demanded reparation, she has told us, 'Give us your money, and we will give you peace.' Mighty nation ! Magnanimous Republic! Let her fill her coffers from those towns and cities which she has plundered, and grant peace if she can to the shades of those millions whose death she has caused. " But Columbia stoops not to tyrants ; her spirit will never cringe to France ; neither a supercilious, five-headed Directory, nor the gasconading pilgrim of Egypt, will ever dictate terms to sovereign America. The thunder of our cannon shall en- sure the performance of our treaties, and fulminate destruction on Frenchmen, till the ocean is crim- soned with blood and gorged with pirates ! " It becomes us, on whom the defence of our country will ere long devolve, this day most se- riously to reflect on the duties incumbent upon us. Our ancestors bravely snatched expiring Liberty from the grasp of Britain, whose touch is poison ; shall we now consign it to France, whose embrace is death ? We have seen our fathers, in the days of our country's trouble, assume the rough habili- ments of war, and seek the hostile field. Too full of sorrow to speak, we have seen them wave a 106 LIFE OF last farewell to a disconsolate, a woe-stung family. We have seen them return, worn down with fatigue, and scarred with wounds ; or we have seen them, perhaps, no more. For us they fought — for us they bled — for us they conquered. Shall we, their descendants, now basely disgrace our lineage, and pusillanimously disclaim the lineage be- queathed to us? Shall we pronounce the sad valediction to freedom and immortal Liberty on the altars our fathers have raised to her ? No ! The response of the nation is, ' No ! ' Let it be registered in the archives of Heaven. Ere the religion we profess, and the privileges we enjoy are sacrificed at the shrine of despots and dema- gogues — let the sons of Europe be vassals ; let her hosts of nations be a vast congregation of slaves ; but let us, who are this day free, whose hearts are yet unappalled and whose right arms are yet nerved for war, assemble before the hallowed temple of American Freedom, and swear to the God of our Fathers, to preserve it secure, or die at its portals ! " Such was the oration. If it pleased his audi- tory, we may well imagine with what delight his father pored over the printed pages of his son's DANIEL WEBSTER. 107 maiden effort — the father, who, in his declining days, when he engaged in conversation with a stranger, did not fail to speak of his " son at Dart- mouth." He was the old man's idol, and, as Dr. Alexander, of Princeton, remarks, of that son " it was easy to see that he was proud." There are faults in the style, extravagances to which Daniel's poetical mind led him, but which he afterwards corrected — and corrected by diligent labor. There are prejudices, received at second hand from traditionary sources, which his reading afterwards modified. And there are boastful ex- pressions about the young Republic of America, which a more mature taste led him to abandon, while he lost none of his true patriotism. But who can wonder at such things, at that day, and in a young man accustomed to such encounters as the following, which is related by Mr. Lanman : " Daniel's father and General Stark, the hero of Bennington, were fast friends on the battle- field, and afterwards in the walks of civil life. Professional business, early in Mr. Webster's career, called him to Manchester, the residence of General Stark. He found him surrounded with friends, and in the midst of convivial enjoyment. The parties were introduced, and the General, who no 108 LIFE OF doubt knew .ill about the son from his old com- rade in arms, cried out, 'Why, Dan Webster, you're as black as your father; and he was so black that I never could tell when he was covered with powder, for he was one of those chaps who are always in the thickest of the fight ! ' " DANIEL WEBSTER. 109 CHAPTER V. Specimens of Daniel Webster's College Composition — The Dart- mouth Gazetie — Man — Essay on Peace — Eulogy on a Classmate — Washington — Later Poetry — "The Memory of the Heart"— Mr. Webster an Improvisator — Mr. Webster and the Child — Commencement Exercises — Mr. Webster's Disappointment — Professor Woodward's Opinion of Mr. Webster — The Pupil's kind Recollections — Lessons of Daniel Webster's Childhood. Poetry was a favorite exercise with Daniel Webster while in college. Indeed, it is said that, attracted by the brilliant and fervid style of Pre- sident Wheelock, he gave stronger indications of rising to eminence in poetry, than in law or politics. He often wrote in verse for public clecla • mation ; and, in his early compositions, exhibited great fertility of imagination. Close study and laborious mental discipline tempered down this habit of mind, and made his style more terse and vigorous ; although to the last, at proper opportu- nities, he exhibited his power in pathos and word- painting. Some early specimens of his poetry, contributed to the "Dartmouth Gazette," we sub« 10 110 LIFE OF join. The contents of this sheet were furnished by the Faculty and students of the College, and there was no more frequent contributor than Daniel Webster. The following extracts are from a poem published in the " Gazette." " When that grand period in the Eternal Mind, Long pre-determined, had arrived, behold The universe, this most stupendous mass Of things, to instant being rose. This globe, For light and heat dependent on the sun, By power supreme was then ordained to roll, And on its surface bear immortal Man, Complete in bliss, the image of his God. His soul to gentle harmonies attuned, Th' ungoverned rage of boisterous passions knew not Malice, revenge, and hate were then unknown; Love held its empire in the human heart — The voice of love alone escaped the lip, And gladdening Nature echoed back the strain. 0, happy state ! too happy to remain ; Temptation comes, and man a victim falls 1 Farewell to peace, farewell to human bliss, Farewell ye kindred virtues, all farewell ! Ye flee the world, and seek sublimer realms. Passions impetuous now possess the heart, And hurry every gentler feeling thence. ***** Is it now asked why man for slaughter pants, Raves with revenge, and with detraction burns if DANIEL WEBSTER. Ill Go ask of JEtua, why her thunders roar, Why her volcanoes smoke, and why she pours In torrents down her sides the igneous mass That hurries men and cities to the tomb ! These but the effects of bursting fires within, Convulsions that are hidden from our sight, And bellow under ground. Just so in man, The love of conquest and the lust of power Are but the effects of passion unsubdued. T' avert the effects, then deeply strike the cause, O'ercome the rage of passion, and obtain The empire over self. This once achieved, Impress fair virtue's precepts on the heart, Teach to adore his G-od, and love his brother; War then no more shall raise the rude alarm, Widows and orphans then shall sigh no more, Peace shall return, and man again be bless' d." In perfect accordance with the sentiment of bills poetry, is a prize essay on peace, written by Daniel Webster while in college. " For what was man created," he asks, " but to cultivate the arts of peace and friendship, to beam charity and be- nevolence on all around him, to improve his own mind by study and reflection, to serve his God with all the powers of his soul, and finally, when the days of his years are numbered, to bid adieu to earthly objects with a smile, to close his eyes on the pillow of religious hope, and sink to repose 1 J J LITE OF in the bosom of his Maker? Why, then, is the object of our existence unattained ? Why are the fairest countries on the earth desolated and de- populated with the ravages of war? Why are the annals of the world crowded with the details of murder, treason, sacrilege, and crimes that stiike the soul with horror but to name them? 0, corrupted nature ! 0, depraved man ! Those who are delighted with tales of bloodshed and destruction find a rich repast in the daily accounts from Europe, where " ' Gigantic slaughter stalks with awful strides, And vengeful fury pours her copious tides.' " But, to the child of humanity, to the man of true benevolence, it is a sad and painful rellection, that iniquity should usurp the reign of justice, that the liberties and lives of millions should be sacrificed, to satiate the ambition of individuals, and that tyrants should wade through seas of blood to empire and dominion. War, under cer- tain circumstances, is proper, is just. When men take arms to burst those chains that have bound them in slavery, to assert and maintain those pri- vileges which they justly claim as natural rights, their object is noble, and we wish them success." DANIEL WEBSTER. 113 As a specimen of the poetic style of Mr. Webster's early prose writings, we give the following extract from a eulogy pronounced by him on a classmate, who died in 1801. His name was Ephraim Simonds. He was universally beloved, and a dear friend of Mr. Webster. "All of him that was mortal now lies in the charnels of yonder cemetery. By the grass that now nods over the mounds of Sumner, Merrill, and Cook, now rests a fourth son of Dartmouth, constituting another monument of man's mortality. The sun, as it sinks to the ocean, plays its depart- ing beams on his tomb, but they reanimate him not. The cold sod presses on his bosom; his hands hang down in weakness. The bird of the evening shouts a melancholy air on the poplar, but her voice is stillness to his ears. While his pencil was drawing scenes of future felicity, — while his soul fluttered on the gay breezes of hope, — an unseen hand drew the curtain, and shut him from our view." After a glowing exordium, the orator proceeded to paint the virtues of the deceased; and dwelt with an especial earnestness upon his religious excellence. " To his surviving friends, gladdening is the re- 10 * 114 LIFE OF flection that he died, as he lived, a firm believer in the sublime doctrines of Christianity. * * * * Whoever knew him in life, or saw him in death, will cordially address this honorable testimony to his memory : " ' He taught us how to live, and 0, too high, The price of knowledge, taught us how to die!'" The eulogy was published, and after Mr. Web- ster left college other students committed portions of it for declamation. At the time of the original delivery a large audience was moved to tears, and even when repeated at second hand, by the young orators, its effect was not lost. This eulogy was admitted to be the most beautiful and finished performance of Mr. Webster's college life, — unsur- passed in the traditions of the college, as it was unequalled by contemporary efforts. The son of religious parents, and educated under religious in- fluences, the young orator did not fail to take the occasion to exhibit the power of religion to sustain and console in scenes of sorrow, persecution, and death. Scripture images and allusions were very frequently introduced by Mr. Webster in his writings and speeches. The following apostrophe to Washington is from one of his earliest poems : DANIEL WEBSTER. 115 " Ah, Washington ! thou once didst guide the helm, And point each danger to our infant realm ; Didst show the gulf where Faction's trumpets sweep, And the big thunders frolic o'er the deep j Through the red wave didst lead our bark, nor stood, Like Moses, on the other side the flood. But thou art gone — yes, gone — and we deplore The man, the Washington, we knew before. But when thy spirit mounted to the sky, And scarce beneath thee left a tearless eye — Tell, what Elisha then thy mantle caught, Warmed with thy virtue — with thy wisdom fraught?" The following graceful trifle was written in 1839 — forty years after the time of which we are writing. It is entitled " The Memory of the Heart." " If stores of dry and learned lore we gain, We keep them in the memory of the brain ; Names, things, and facts, whate'er we knowledge call, There is the common ledger for them all ; And images on this cold surface traced Make slight impressions and are soon effaced. "But we've a page more glowing and more bright, On which our friendship and our love we write ; That these may never from the soul depart, We trust them to the memory of the heart. There is no dimming — no effacement here ; Each new pulsation keeps the record clear ; Warm, golden letters all the tablet fill, Nor lose their lustre till the heart stands still." 116 LIFE OF Mr. Webster possessed a great and ready com- mand of words, and must have been a sparkling contributor to the recreations of the literary society of which he was a member in Dartmouth, since in later years he has given frequent evi- dences of his capacity to trifle elegantly, as well as to wield the ponderous arms of logic and argu- ment. On one occasion, while Mr. Webster was Secretary of State, a farewell dinner was given to Senator Foote, who had been elected Governor of Mississippi, and was going home to assume his new duties. At the close of the dinner, Mr. Foote addressed Mr. Webster in a parting speech, in which he so exhausted the language of felici- tous compliment, that the company present were curious to know what Mr. Webster could say in answer. Gracefully to acquit one's-self in such a dilemma, is a task of which few men are capable, and those who have least depth can often support them- selves under the weight of compliment with more address than the profoundest thinkers. Mr. Web- ster slowly rose from his chair and answered Mr. Foote, not in prose, but in poetry. The farther he proceeded, the happier was he in his improvi- sation; and the company were completely taker. DANIEL WEBSTER. 117 by surprise at this new phase of Mr. Webster's mind. The long slumbering poetry of his nature, extinguished as it had seemed for nearly half a century, by the cares of State and the labors of the law, burst forth to the admiration of those who had not suspected that such a vein existed in his composition. The poetry was far above medi- ocrity, and the circumstances of the occasion showed that it must have been extempore. At another time he was unexpectedly presented, at a banquet, with a bouquet of flowers, by a beautiful and graceful child. In a similar fit of inspiration he addressed her in acknowledgment, in a strain of prose poetry, abounding with graceful and beautiful images. Mr. Webster could also, upon occasion, trifle in an amusing style of composition. Among his college exercises, a classmate remem- bers a composition, every line of which ended in i-o-n. At the commencement of Dartmouth College, in the year in which he graduated, Mr. Webster's share of the public exercises was a discourse on the then recent discoveries in chemistry, particu- larly those of Lavoisier, then just made public Mr. Webster also delivered an oration before " The United Fraternity," upon " The Influence of 118 LIFE OF Opinion." A contemporary newspaper says: "A numerous audience manifested a high degree of satisfaction at the genius displayed. Elegance of composition and propriety of delivery distin- guished the performance." One of Mr. Webster's eulogists, Mr. Hillard, says of him : " He was an ambitious man. He desired the highest office in the gift of the people. But on this subject as on all others there was no concealment in his nature. And ambition is not a weakness, unless it be disproportioned to the capacity. To have more ambition than ability is to be at once weak and unhappy. With him it was a noble passion, because it rested upon noble powers. He was a man cast in a heroic mould. His thoughts, his wishes, his passions, his aspira- tions, were all on a grander scale than those of other men. Unexercised capacity is always a source of rusting discontent. The height to which men may rise is in proportion to the upward force of their genius, and they will never be calm till they have attained their predestined elevation." The child is father of the man, and the same characteristics which Mr. Hillard notices in the character of the statesman, were observable in the young man amid the objects of college rivalry. DANIEL WEBSTER. 119 His friends conceded him the first rank, and in the debates and exercises of the society of which he was a member his position was unequivocal. No one thought of Daniel Webster as second to any. But even giant intellect cannot supply that knowledge of particulars, which must be acquired by longer study and better opportunities than young Webster had enjoyed. While in the general summing up he was probably unquestionably su- perior to all his classmates, in the details he had not that proficiency which, by the strict rules of college judgment, entitles a student to the highest honors at graduation. He thought, as did his personal friends also, that the valedictory would be assigned to him in the Commencement exer- cises ; but the Faculty gave this honor to acquire- ments rather than to genius; and following, as was their duty, the custom and precedent of the institution, assigned the valedictory to him who strictly merited it, rather than to one who would undoubtedly have most distinguished himself, and honored the institution in the performance. Young Webster was grievously disappointed at this deci- sion, and, in the presence of his classmates, de- stroyed his diploma as Bachelor of Arts, before he left the college. We presume, however, the dis- 120 LIFE OF .appointment was of salutary influence. Had he graduated with the highest honors, he might have misunderstood his real position. The cheek this incident gave to him was a good discipline. lie was spurred to continued study after he left the institution ; a course he might not perhaps have taken had he carried away all the honors at Com- mencement, as he had done during the last two years in the unofficial judgment of the college. We are not to suppose, however, that Mr. Web- ster's vexation about the circumstance was any- thing more than a temporary and natural emotion in a high-spirited boy. Nor did the Faculty regard it in any serious light, or abate their admiration of his genius, and their estimate of his capacities. Professor Woodward was accustomed to speak of Mr. Webster in high terms. He said : " That man's victory is certain who reaches the heart through the medium of the understanding. lie gained me by combating my opinions ; for I often attacked him merely to try his strength." Pro- fessor Woodward died just as Mr. Webster was entering upon the practice of law, and the highest honors were paid to his memory by the Faculty, the Students, and the Alumni of the College. Mr. Webster lamented the death of his old friend, DANIEL WEBSTER. 121 as a child laments the death of an indulgent father. Mr. Webster, through life, often spoke of him. He said that Dr. Woodward taught him how to think, and to express his thoughts with brevity, instead of indulging in the redundant style to which at first he was too much inclined. " That great scholar," said he, " taught me how much I could strike out of whatever I wrote or spoke, and still have enough to communicate all I desired to say." Professor Woodward directed Mr. Webster's attention to the field in which he afterwards was so eminent. The themes of his conversation were the services and talents of such men as Ames, the Adamses, Henry, Hamilton, and other great Ame- rican statesmen and orators of that era. From the journals he became familiar with the speeches and characters of Pitt, Burke, and the other lead- ing men on the European side of the ocean. The Fourth of July oration which he delivered in his junior year, shows how well read he was in European politics and history. Thus passed the college life of Daniel Webster. Laborious in his studies and correct in his habits, he received the following praise from the venerable 11 122 LIFE OF professor of whom we have spoken : " Daniel was as regular as the sun. lie never made a mistake; he never stooped to do a mean act; he never countenanced by his presence or conversation any college irregularities." Hon. Edward Everett thus sums the lessons of the youth of Daniel Webster . " The poor boy at the village school has taken comfort, as he has read that the time was when Daniel Webster, whose father told him he should go to college, if he had to sell every acre of his farm to pay the expense, laid his head on the shoulder of that fond and discerning parent, and wept the thanks he could not speak. The pale student who ekes out his scanty support by extra toil, has gathered comfort when reminded that the first jurist, statesman and orator of the time earned with his weary fingers, by the midnight lamp, the means of securing the same advantages of education to a beloved brother. Every true- hearted citizen throughout the Union has felt an honest pride, as he re-peruses the narrative, in reflecting that he lives beneath a Constitution and a Government, under which such a man has been formed and trained, and that he himself is com- patriot with him. He does more; he reflects DANIEL WEBSTER. 123 with gratitude that, in consequence of what that man has done, and written, and said — in the result of his efforts to strengthen the pillars of the Union — a safer inheritance of civil liberty, a stronger assurance that these blessings will en- dure, will descend to his children." 124 LIFE OF CHAPTER VI. Mr. Webs er at Fryehurg — His Labors as Assistant Recorder of Deeds — His Economy and Prudence — His continued Eflbrts at Improvement — Rev. Mr. Fessenden — Hon. T. W. Thompson — Mr. Webster resumes his Law Studies — Coke upon Littleton — Webster upon Coke — Webster as a Collector of Debts — Mr. Webster goes to Boston, and enters the Office of Hon. Christo- pher Gore — Character of that Gentleman — Mr. Webster's con- tinued Industry — He is tendered the Clerkship of a New Hamp- shire Court — Under Advice of Mr. Gore he declines it — The Astonishment and Chagrin of his Father. As soon as Mr. Webster had completed his college course, he entered the office of his old friend, Mr. Thompson, as a student. But his father's poverty, and the necessity of provision for his brother's education, pressed hard upon him, and the necessity became obvious and imperious, that the young student, now in his twentieth year, should do something, not only for his own support, but to meet the requirements of his father's family and his brother's tuition. Ezekiel had entered at Dartmouth during Daniel's last year there. DANIEL WEBSTER. 125 In this dilemma, a way was opened. Rev. Dr. John Smith recommended him as principal of an academy at Fryeburg, in the State of Maine (then a district of Massachusetts). Dr. Smith, Pro- fessor of Greek, Hebrew, and Oriental languages at Dartmouth, was the author of a Latin Gram- mar, edited some of the classics, and published also a Hebrew Grammar. He was a man whose word had weight, and whose recommendation was no small honor. Thus, in Mr. Webster's early life, we find every one who had to do with his culture and training, added to their immediate instruction their good offices, to advance him still farther. His schoolmasters and his friend, Mr. Thompson, urged his being sent to Phillips Aca- demy. Dr. Abbott, the Principal of that institu- tion, united with Rev. Dr. Wood, a Trustee of Dartmouth, to procure his introduction there ; and upon leaving college, his late teachers recom- mended him to the trustees of the Fryeburg Aca- demy. It is stated that, since the establishment of Dartmouth College, over three-fourths of the students have taught school during three months in the year. There is a singular propriety and fitness in this. Information is scattered among the children of the people, who thus indirectly 11* 12G LIFE OF sustain the college, by aiding in the maintenance of the under-graduates. Mr. Webster remained at Fryeburg nine months, performing the duties of his post to the entire satisfaction of the trustees, who, at the close of his engagement passed a respectful and affectionate vote of thanks to the young teacher. The school- house was burned down many years since, but the records of the trustees of the Academy are still in existence. In 1831, Mr. Webster, while return- ing with his son from a tour to the White Moun- tains, turned aside for a few days amid the scenes of his early labors in Fryeburg. There is Love- well's Pond, of bloody memor}', the scene of "Lovewell's fight." Here, in 1725, Captain John Lovewell, at the head of thirty-five men, met eighty savages, under a chief named Paugus. Of the Indians sixty were killed, and the remaining twenty fled, leaving the remains of Lovewell's band, only nine in number, masters of the field. The commanders of both parties were among the slain. Here, Mr. Webster, while engaged as a teacher, pursued the solitary rambles which were his recreation, with his book and fishing-tackle. But more interesting memorials than all others to his son, were the records above mentioned, and Webster Fishing at Frybukg. DANIEL WEBSTER. 127 two large bound volumes of deeds, in the office of the register, written by Mr. Webster's own hand, in a neat style of penmanship. In addition to his duties as preceptor, Mr. Webster copied deeds for the register's office, at the rate of twenty-five cents each ; and this more than met his personal expenses, reserving the whole of his salary, which was $350 per annum, to aid in meeting his bro- ther's expenses at Dartmouth, and to defray the cost of his own professional education. These volumes, large folios, are monuments of what is seldom found allied to great genius — patient industry ; and they excite the more wonder when it is remembered that they were the extra work of less than a year, written after spending the usual hours in the duty of teaching. Mr. Web- ster laughingly said, as he looked at them, nearly half a century after they were written, that the ache, which so much writing caused, was not yet out of his fingers ! While at Fryeburg, Mr. Webster borrowed and read, for the first time, Blackstone's Commentaries. He had also the use of the library of Rev. Wm. Fessenden, and the advice . and encouragement of that gentleman. Under his counsel, he reviewed his college course, and strengthened himself in the 128 LIFE OF points of useful or agreeable knowledge, where he found or thought himself deficient. Of the Latin Classics he remained, through life, an admirer. Yet his was not the blind worship of the ancient which overlooks modern and contemporary excel- lence. Mr. Webster delighted to read and re- peruse what pleased him ; preferring to master a few excellent books, rather than read indiscrimi- nately. While at Fryeburg, he committed to memory Fisher Ames's celebrated speech on the British Treaty. Returning home in September, 1802, with what to him, at that day, was a full exchequer — be- tween two and three hundred dollars — Mr. Web- ster resumed his place in the office of his old friend and neighbor, Mr. Thompson. As this gentleman was Mr. Webster's first teacher in the science of law, our readers may be interested to know something of him. He was a graduate of Harvard College, Cambridge, and for some time a tutor in that university. He studied law with Theophilus Parsons, in Newburyport, and, when admitted to the bar, opened an office in Salisbury, where, as we have already stated, he became early interested in Mr. Webster. He had an extensive and lucrative practice, was a gentleman of honour- DANIEL WEBSTER. 129 able character, and stood high in the public esti- mation, as well as in his profession. He was one of the trustees of Dartmouth, and represented New Hampshire once in the United States House of Representatives. He was several times a member of the State Legislature, and served a term as a senator in Congress. In 1809, he left Salisbury, and removed to Concord, the capital of New Hampshire. He lived till 1819, long enough to discern the commencement of the fulfilment of the promise of his pupil's childhood, and to see his bare-footed office-boy enter upon a career in which he left his early friends far behind. For two years Mr. Webster pursued his studies with Mr. Thompson, having a fellow-student in Parker Noyes, Esq., who was in the office when Mr. Webster entered, and who remained after he left, and succeeded to the business of Mr. Thomp- son, on his removal to Concord. Mr. Noyes shared in the interest which all who met young Daniel entertained for him, and he was a worthy companion for the ambitious student. Like all who were connected with Mr. Webster's youth, he was a man of a character to elevate and improve his junior. The office still remains as in the day when Webster read and studied there, fifty years 130 LIFE OF ago. General Lyman, who has the interest of a devotee in all that pertains to Mr. Webster, thus speaks of the old building : — " There stand the identical tables, book-cases, desks and chairs, which stood there in Mr. Webster's time. It is still a law-office, but years and years have gone by since the venerable proprietor (who is rich enough to forego the practice of the law) gave audience to his clients in these rooms. There are the old registries of law-suits, with entries made in the hand-writing of Mr. Webster; and there are the old books on which his mind dwelt so intently, and from which he drew some of the knowledge to which the most eminent judges have so often listened, to be instructed and convinced." Mr. Webster had, as his first book to read, Coke upon Littleton, as was the custom at that period. As the result of his own experience, Mr. Webster says : — "A boy of twenty, with no previous knowledge of such subjects, cannot understand Coke. It is folly to set him upon such an author. There are propositions in Coke so abstract, and distinctions so nice, and doctrines embracing so many distinctions and qualifications, that it re- quires an effort not only of a mature mind, but of a mind both strong and mature, to understand DANIEL WEBSTER, 131 him. Why disgust and discourage a young man, by telling him he must break into his profession through such a wall as this ? " Many of the valuable works which have been published on the science of law, had not then appeared, and Mr. Webster had to grope in the dark, in unravelling black-letter webs, and de- ducing premises which have been unravelled by others. Along with his law-studies he kept up his research into English history, and his enjoy- ment of the Latin and English Classics. He read, during these two years, Sallust, Ca?sar, and Ho- race. Some of the odes of the latter, which he translated, have been published. He devoted much time, also, to more intelligible law authori- ties than Coke. Before his second year was closed, he showed himself competent to advise, frequently writing out opinions upon the cases submitted by clients, which Mr. Thompson adopted and signed as his own. He had great tact in the arrangement of the facts to be drawn from witnesses on the stand, and in marshalling the testimony and arranging details. General Lyman relates an amusing anec- dote of the young student's success in collecting certain moneys due to a road-contractor. A turn- 132 LIFE OF pike was to be built, the contract being founded on subscriptions pledged by property-holders in Portsmouth, and along the line of the proposed improvement. In the midst of the work, from some dissatisfaction, the subscribers refused to pay. In this dilemma, the contractor applied to Mr. Thompson for advice. He wrote urgent let- ters to the delinquents, and sent Mr. Noyes, his elder clerk, but neither of these measures pro- duced any money. Mr. Webster then volunteered. He came dashing into Portsmouth, with his horse in a foam ; and, giving out that he had come " to get the money," desired the presence of the Sheriff of the county. Asking the privilege of Hon. Jere- miah Mason, he sat down at his table, and com- menced the filling out of a writ for every delin- quent ; and, in those days, a debtor who could, must find bail, or be committed upon a writ, to await trial. A parley was soon proposed, and he courteously but peremptorily stated his intention to deliver the writs, at a certain hour, to the Sheriff for execution, if the demands were not batisfied. When his horse was brought to the office-door, for him to mount on his return, the delinquents finding that he was as good as his word, and that costs and trouble were inevitable, DANIEL WEBSTER. 133 unless they redeemed their subscriptions, paid over the money as fast as he could receive it; and he hurried back to his principal with the funds, much to the astonishment of Messrs. Thompson and Noyes, and to the satisfaction of Captain Kimball, the contractor. Having acquired all that could be learned in the limited practice of a country office, Mr. Web- ster repaired to Boston. This was a step taken with the advice and consent of his father, who had consulted the circle of legal friends with whom, as a judge, he was acquainted. The young country-lawyer's clerk found, however, that he had left home in leaving New Hampshire. His application was declined by several of the leading members of the Suffolk Bar; but he persevered, ambitious, and sure of his own strength, until he obtained admission into the office of Hon. Christo- pher Gore. This was one of the fortunate events of Mr. Webster's life. In many other offices, his training would have been such as to make him a mere lawyer. Mr. Gore had at that time given up the common business of his profession — the details of ordinary practice, which Mr. Webster had already become familiar with. He did nothing as an attorney or solicitor; but being 12 134 LIFE OF much distinguished as a counsellor, was consulted in affairs of such importance as demanded great legal learning. He was a statesman and a civi- lian, a gentleman of the old school of manners, and a rare example of distinguished intellectual qualities, united with practical good sense and judgment. He was a graduate of Harvard, tho- roughly educated; and in his classical tastes could sympathise with his pupil. He was acquainted with most of the great men of his time, at home and abroad ; having passed several years in Eng- land as a commissioner, under Jay's treaty, for liquidating the claims of citizens of the United States for seizures by the British cruisers, in the early wars of the French Revolution. His library, amply furnished with works of professional and general literature, his large experience of men and things, and his uncommon amenity of temper, combined to make the period passed by Mr. Webster, in his office, one of the pleasantest of his life. Mr. Knapp, the American Biographer, says of Mr. Gore's manner with his students, that he soon forgot or laid aside the office relation, and they stood to each other as mutual and intellectual friends, without regard to the difference in theii DANIEL WEBSTER. 135 respective ages. Mr. Gore had a happy perspi- cuity of style, and communicated what he had to convey with so much exactness, discrimination, and taste, that his hearers seized his meaning, and became familiar with the facts and principles brought forward, without labor. In commercial and international law, he had a high reputation. He had been several years familiar with the best English lawyers, the forms and proceedings in the courts, and the customs of counsellors and advo- cates ; and imparted to Mr. Webster a knowledge which books did not convey — the living law which governs courts, and can only be obtained by prac- tice and observation. The young lawyer had now reached a genial atmosphere, and his mind expanded under the realisation of the scope and magnitude of law as a science. The glimpses which he had discerned from a distance were verified, and distinctly ex- tended; and the noble ambition which was part of his nature, found scope. But Daniel Webster was no dreamer, to lose time in speculations and abstractions, which could be made profitable by diligence. The advantages which Mr. Gore's office and assistance opened to him, were not thrown away. He regularly attended the sessions 136 LIFE OF of the courts, and reported their decisions. He read with care the leading elementary works of common and municipal law, with the best authors on the law of nations — some of them for a second and third time ; diversifying these strictly pro- fessional studies, with more agreeable but not less useful reading. History is often the interpreter of law; and to English History, as well as to American colonial and political memoirs and treatises, Mr. Webster devoted great attention. Shakspeare, Bacon, Milton, Burke, and Johnson, were said to be his favorites for miscellaneous reading. His chief study, however, was the com- mon law; and more especially that part of it which relates to the now somewhat obsolete science of special pleading. He regarded this not only as a most refined and ingenious, but a highly instructive and useful branch of the law. Besides mastering all that was contained in Viner, Bacon, and other books then in common study, he waded through Saunders' Reports, in the original edition, and abstracted and translated into English, from the Latin and Norman-French, all the pleadings con- tained in the two folio volumes. This manuscript still remains, a monument of his industry. Both as an exercise of the mind, and as an acquisition DANIEL WEBSTER. 137 of useful learning, this work was of great advan- tage to him in his professional career. By the familiarity which he thus obtained with the forms of special pleading, guided by the clear teaching and practical suggestions of Mr. Gore, young Webster came soon to be regarded as a great special pleader. An edition of Saunders has since appeared, which makes the useful parts of the work much more accessible ; but it is very much to be questioned whether the time saved by the student, by such aids, is not saved at the sacrifice of mental discipline. What is acquired by labor is longer retained, and more profoundly impressed upon the mind. In January, 1805, the clerkship of the Court of Common Pleas for the county of Hillsborough, New Hampshire, fell vacant. The office was worth $1500 per annum; in those days more than a competence — absolute wealth. The expenses incurred in educating his children pressed hard upon Daniel Webster's father, and he had mort- gaged his property to meet it. A mortgaged farm — his children away — and himself in years, made a complication of anxiety in which the children deeply shared, without, at that period, the means of removing it. Ezekiel Webster, who had his 12* 138 LIFE OF brother's habits of application, was teaching a select school in Boston, to assist in discharging the mortgage ; and for a portion of the time he added the labors of an eveninsr school for sailors and apprentices. In addition to his other employ ments and avocations, Daniel assisted his brother, taking his place when ill, or when absent from any other cause. Some of the first men in Massa- chusetts, Edward Everett among them, are proud to say that thus they received a portion of their education from Daniel Webster. In his speech upon the life and character of Webster, delivered at the meeting of the citizens of Boston, Mr. Everett feelingly and gracefully alluded to this circumstance ; and referring to other and later connections with the great dead which he had enjoyed, and to the evidences of his friendship, of which he was affectionately proud, he quoted a letter from Mr. Webster, which he had received a short time before his death. In this letter, Mr. Webster thus refers to their friendship: "We now and then see, stretching across the heavens, a clear, blue, cerulean sky, without cloud, or mist, or haze. And such appears to me our acquaint- ance, from the time when I heard you for a week DANIEL WEBSTER. 139 recite your lessons in the little school-house in Short Street, to the date hereof." Mr. Webster's father was one of the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas for the county of Hills oorough. He had only to express a wish that his son should receive the appointment, and that wish was gratified. Delighted with his suc- cess, he at once advised his son of it. The young man who felt so warmly for his friends, had deeper feelings for his kindred ; and Daniel's delight was not less than his father's. Now their embarrass- ment was at an end, and the inconvenience which his aged parents were suffering on account of their children, would be removed. He regarded it as an early realisation of the benefits which an edu- cation had promised him ; and though it was certainly a sacrifice of the high hopes of distinc- tion which his young ambition had promised, he was glad, at such a sacrifice, to promote the happiness of those to whom his heart was knit. Under the influence of these feelings, he an- nounced his good fortune to his legal counsellor and friend, and was astonished to hear Mr. Gore peremptorily and vehemently interpose his dissent — his utter disapprobation of the proposed change. 140 LIFE OF " But," replied Daniel, " my father is poor, and 1 wish to make him comfortable in his old age." Mr. Gore admitted that such an appointment as Daniel had received, was a great compliment to so young a man ; he acknowledged the force of family affection ; but told him he would be much more able to gratify his friends by his professional labors, than in a clerkship. " But," he continued, "you should think of the future more than the present. Become once a clerk, and you will always be a clerk, with no chance of obtaining a higher position. Go on, and finish your studies. You are poor enough, but there are greater evils than poverty. Live in no man's favor; what bread you do eat, let it be the bread of indepen- dence ; pursue your profession ; make yourself useful to your friends, and a little formidable to your enemies, and you have nothing to fear." Mr. Webster appreciated the force of these suggestions, so far as his own wishes and hopes were considered ; but there still remained all the difficulties in the case — the real difficulties, which words could not remove — his father's embarrass- ments. In this dilemma, a friend, Rufus Green Emery, advanced the money necessary to relieve DANIEL WEBSTER. 141 his father's estate ; and Mr. Webster, thus forti- fied, hastened home to announce in person to his father, his determination. He looked round for a country sleigh, for in those days there were no stages to the interior of New Hampshire ; and finding one which w T as returning from market, took passage with the owner, and in two or three days was set down at his father's door. The same journey is now made by railroad in about four hours. At that time the winter was the great season for travelling ; and the snow, hard beaten, was the nearest approach to a railroad which people knew. The writer well remembers the business activity of a Boston winter in the olden time ; when the inn-yards were crowded with loads of frozen pork in sledges, and barrels of apples, and other country produce, carefully wrapped in blankets and old quilts to keep out the frost, were exchanged for groceries, and other foreign products. Mr. March, in his interesting work, " Daniel Webster and his Contemporaries," thus describes the scene between Daniel and his father : " It was evening when he arrived. I have heard him tell the story of the interview. Hie 142 Ll F E OP father was sitting before the fire, and received hi no with manifest joy. He looked feebler than he had ever appeared ; but his countenance lighted up, on seeing his clerk stand before him in good health and spirits. He lost no time in alluding to the great appointment — said how spontaneously it had been made — how kindly the Chief Justice proposed it, and with what unanimity all assented. During this speech, it can well be imagined how embarrassed Mr. Webster felt, compelled, as he thought from a conviction of duty, to disappoint his father's sanguine expectations. Nevertheless, he commanded his countenance and voice, so as to reply in a sufficiently assured manner. He spoke gaily about the office ; expressed his great obligation to their Honors, and his intention to write them a most respectful letter ; if he could have consented to record any body's judgments, he should have been proud to have recorded their Honors'.' He proceeded in this strain, till his father exhibited signs of amazement; it having occurred to him, at length, that his son might all the time be serious. ' Do you intend to decline this office ?' he asked. ' Most certainly,' replied his son; 'I cannot think of doing otherwise. I Webster Declining the Clerkship. DANIEL WEBSTER. 143 mea'i to use my tongue in the courts, not my pen ; to be an actor, not a register of other men's actions.' " For a moment, Judge Webster seemed angry. He rocked his chair slightly ; a flash went ovei his eye, softened by age, but even then black as jet; but it immediately disappeared, and his countenance resumed its habitual serenity. Pa- rental love and partiality could not, after all, but have been gratified with the son's devotion to an honorable and distinguished profession, and his evident confidence of success in it. 'Well, my son,' said the Judge, 'your mother has always said that you would come to something or nothing, she was not sure which. I think you are about settling that doubt for her.' " In a few days, Daniel returned to Boston, and the subject was never again alluded to in the family. Mr. Webster says that his father's eyes were brimful of the tears of gratitude, as he spoke of the appointment ; and that when he heard his son decline it, he could scarce believe his own ears. Before Mr. Webster left home, he had the satisfaction of giving his father the means to remove the mortgage, and to pay all the debts 144 LIFE OF which had been contracted on account of himseli and his brother. The money came, as we have stated, in part from Mr. Emery, and in part from Daniel's earnings, and his brother's. He wrote a grateful and respectful letter to the judges, and felt that restored serenity which every one expe- riences when a troublesome question is deter- mined. DANIEL WEBSTER. 145 CHAPTER VII. Mr. Webster admitted to the Bar — Establishes himself in New Hampshire — His first cause — Death of his father — A son's testimony — The trial of a dumb depredator — Fourth of July Oration in 1806 — Opinions of France — Relations of Agri- culture and Commerce — Monthly Anthology — Mr. Webster's first criminal case — His fatiguing journeys — His abhorrence of affectation — Mode of addressing a jury — Admission to the Superior Court. In March, 1805, Mr. Gore moved the admission of his pupil, Daniel Webster, to practise at the Bar of the Court of Common Pleas, for Suffolk County. In introducing him, Mr. Gore spoke with emphasis of his remarkable talents and attainments, and confidently predicted his future eminence. The prediction had, no doubt, its influence in producing its own fulfilment; both by its stimulus upon the mind of the young lawyer, and by its weight upon those who heard, from Mr. Gore, a commendation much warmer than the mere course of professional courtesy would warrant or require. 13 146 LIFE OF Mr. Webster had resolved to establish himself in his native state. Local attachments and filial affection induced him to this determination ; and perhaps he felt a natural diffidence, which led him to try his first practice in a narrower sphere than Boston, and to avail himself of his early friend- ships and connections. His Boston acquaintances and friends, hearing of Mr. Webster's intention to settle in New Hampshire, promised him their business ; and as at that time there were many mercantile failures, Mr. Webster commenced at once a lucrative employment in the collection of debts. After he had been admitted to the Bar, he went from Boston to Amherst, where his father's court was in session, and returned home with him. His original purpose had been to settle in Portsmouth, that being the only seaport in the state, and the place of the principal com- mercial business. But the age of his father, then in his sixty-seventh year, determined Daniel to remain near him ; and he opened an office in the neighboring village of Boscawen. In September of the same year, 1805, Mr. Webster first appeared in court for the trial of a cause. His father was on the bench, and the court was held in Plymouth, then the county-seat DANIEL WEBSTER. 147 of Grafton. Among the members of the Bar present were Mr. Webster's old friend, Mr. Thomp- son, and several others to whom he had been in the habit of looking up with reverence and respect. The Sheriff of the court was Col. William Webster, a connection of the family, who had never seen Daniel Webster before, and who relates that he was ashamed to see so lean and feeble a young man come into court bearing the name of Webster. He thought when Mr. Webster rose, that he could not stand up long. His misgivings were soon dissipated, however, as the debutant had well prepared himself; and in this, his maiden speech, surprised the court, and caused confident auguries of his future eminence. It was such an introduction to the law-seeking public, as there- after ensured him crowds of clients. Mr. Webster's father died in the Spring follow- ing. Let us quote Mr. Webster's own language respecting him : " My father, Ezekiel Webster, was the handsomest man I ever saw, except my brother Ezekiel. He died in April, 1806. I neither left him nor forsook him. My opening an office at Boscawen was that I might be near him. I closed his eyes. He died at sixty-seven years uf age, after a life of exertion, toil, and exposure ; 148 LIFE OF a private soldier, an officer, a legislator, a judge; every thing a man could be, to whom learning ' never had disclosed her ample page.' My first speech at the bar was made when he was on the bench. He never heard me a second time. He had in him what I recollect to have been the character of some of the old Puritans. He was deeply religious, but not sour. On the contrary, good-humored and facetious, showing, even in his age, with a contagious laugh, teeth all as white as alabaster ; gentle, soft, playful ; and yet having a heart in him that he seemed to have borrowed from a lion. He could frown — a frown it was — but cheerfulness, good-humor, and smiles, com- posed his most usual aspect." As throwing light on the character of father and children, we preserve the following anecdote of the early years of the two brothers, Ezekiel and Daniel. The incident is related by a corres- pondent of the Boston Traveller. The vegetables in the garden had suffered very much from the depredations of a woodchuck. Daniel, some ten or twelve years old, and his older brother Ezekiel, had set a trap, and succeeded in capturing the tres- passer. Ezekiel proposed to kill the animal, and end at once all further trouble from him; but DANIEL WEBSTER. 149 Daniel looked with compassion on his meek, dumb captive, and offered to let him again go free. The boys could not agree, and each appealed to their father to decide the case. " Well, my boys," said the old gentleman, " I will be the Judge. There is the prisoner (pointing to the woodchuck) and you shall be the counsel, and plead the case for and against his life and liberty." Ezekiel opened the case with a strong argu- ment, urging the mischievous nature of the crimi- nal, the great harm he had already done, said that much time and labor had been spent in his capture, and now, if he was suffered to live and go again at large, he would renew his depreda- tions, and be cunning enough not to suffer himself to be caught again, and that he ought now to be put to death ; that his skin was of some value, and that to make the most of him they could, it would not repay half the damage he had already done. His argument was ready, practical, to the point, and of much greater length than our limits will allow us to occupy in relating the story. The father looked with pride upon his son, who became a distinguished jurist in his manhood. " Now, Daniel, it is your turn ; I'll hear what you have to say." 19* 150 LIFE OF 'Twas his first case. Daniel saw that the plea of his brother had sensibly affected his father, the Judge; and as his large, brilliant black eyes looked upon the soft, timid expression of the ani- mal, and as he saw it tremble with fear in its narrow prison-house, his heart swelled with pity, and he appealed with eloquent words that the captive might again go free. God, lie said, had made the w r oodchuck ; he made him to live, to enjoy the bright sunlight, the pure air, the free fields and woods. God had not made him, or anything, in vain ; the woodehuek had as much right to live as any other living thing; he was not a destructive animal, as the wolf and the fox were ; he simply ate a few common vegetables, of which they had a plenty, and could well spare a part ; he destroyed nothing except the little food he needed to sustain his humble life ; and that little food was as sweet to him, and as necessary to his existence, as was to them the food upon his mother's table. God furnished their own food ; he gave them all they possessed ; and would they not spare a little for the dumb creature, who really had as much right to his small share of God's bounty, as they themselves had to their portion? yea, more, the animal had never violated DANIEL WEBSTER. 151 the laws of his nature, or the laws of God, as man often did ; but strictly followed the simple, harm- less instincts he had received from the hand of the Creator of all things. Created by God's hand, he had a right, a right from God, to life, to food, to liberty ; and they had no right to deprive him of either. He alluded to the mute but earnest pleadings of the animal for that life, as sweet, as dear to him, as their own was to them, and the just judgment they might expect if in selfish cruelty, and cold heartlessness, they took the life they could not restore again — the life that God alone had given. During this appeal, the tears had started to the old man's eyes, and were fast running down his sun-burnt cheeks ; every feeling of a father's heart was stirred within him ; he saw the future great- ness of his son before his eyes ; he felt that God had blessed him in his children beyond the lot of common men ; his pity and sympathy were awa- kened by the eloquent words of compassion, and the strong appeal for mercy ; and forgetting the Judge in the man and the father, he sprang from his chair, (while Daniel was in the midst of his argument, without thinking he had already won bis case,) and turning to his older son, dashing L52 LIFE OF the tears from his eyes, exclaimed, " Zeke, Zeke, TOU LET THAT WOODCHUCK GO !" On the fourth of July, 180G, Mr. Webster was chosen by the people of Concord to deliver an oration. This, like the oration of 1800, is not included in Mr. Webster's published works, and we avail ourselves of the abstracts and extracts made by General Lyman, that our readers may compare it with his earlier performances. The subject of the speech was the possibility of preserving the present form of our government, the solitary representative of republican institu- tions. " When we speak," said Mr. Webster, " of preserving the Constitution, we mean not the paper on which it is written, but the spirit which dwells in it. Government may lose all of its real char- acter, its genius, its temper, without losing its appearance. Republicanism, unless you guard it, will creep out of its case of parchment, like a snake out of its skin. You may have a Despot- ism under the name of a Republic. You may look on a government and see it possess all the external modes of Freedom, and yet find nothing of the essence, the vitality of Freedom in it; just rs you may contemplate an embalmed body, where oil hath preserved proportion and form, DANIEL WEBSTER. 153 and nerves without motion, and veins void of blood." Among the most dangerous enemies of our government, he histanced the passions and vices of the people. But considering that evil commu- nications corrupt systems as well as individuals, he enlarged on the dangers which threatened its well-being from its foreign relations. Intimately connected as was our country with foreign nations by commerce, which, from its nature, cannot exist without rivalship, he inferred the necessity and policy of granting it a protection sufficient to defend it from the interruptions and aggressions which the spirit of rivalship, and the injustice of other nations may dispose them to infer. The want of protection to commerce will be more fatal to our agriculture than ■ either the drought or the mildew ; for in this instance, were it left to our choice, we should certainly imitate the conduct of David, by choosing " to fall into the hands of the Lord (for his mercies are great), and not to fall into the hands of men." The following sketch of the character of the French empire will be read with interest, as coming from a strong mind, contemporary with the events on which it dwelt. 154 LIFE OF " We seem to be carried back to the Roman age. The days of Caesar are come again. Even a greater than Caesar is here. The throne of the Bourbons is now filled by a new character of the most astonishing fortunes. A new dynasty hath taken place in Europe. A new era hath com- menced. An empire is founded, more populous, more energetic, more warlike, more powerful, than Ancient Rome, at any moment of her existence. The basis of this mighty fabric covers France, Holland, Spain, Prussia, Italy, and Germany ; embracing perhaps an eighth part of the popula- tion of the globe. " Though this Empire is commercial in some degree and in some parts, its ruling passion is not, commerce but war. Its genius is conquest, its ambition is fame. With all the immorality, the licentiousness, the prodigality, the corruption of declining Rome, it has the enterprise, the courage, the ferocity, of Rome in the days of the Consuls. While the French Revolution was acting, it was difficult to speak of France without exciting the rancor of political party. The cause in which the leaders professed to be engaged, was too dear to American hearts to suffer their motives to be (j lestioned, or their excesses censured with just DANIEL WEBSTER. 155 severity. But the Revolutionary drama is now closed — the curtain hath fallen on those tremend- ous scenes, which, for fourteen years, held the eye of the world — that meteor which, ' from its horrid hair shook pestilence and war,' hath now passed off into the distant regions of space, and left us to speculate coolly on the causes of its appearance." It will be perceived that, passing from boyhood to manhood in years, Mr. Webster had not changed his opinions in relation to France. His political preferences were strongly marked. At the time when Mr. Webster delivered this oration, the gun- boat policy of Mr. Jefferson had been brought forward, and the embargo hinted at, thus leaving foreign commerce undefended, and protecting by annihilating it. Mr. Webster's political bias led him to strong opposition to any policy which should include the abandonment of protection to the naval interests. He reviewed the position of the United States in regard to both the great belligerents, Britain and France ; and urged the importance of protecting the commercial interests of the country. " Nothing is plainer," he said, " than this : if we will have commerce, we must protect it. This country is commercial as well as agricultural. ]56 LIFE OF Indissoluble bonds connect him who ploughs the land with him who ploughs the sea. Nature has placed us in a situation favorable to commercial pursuits, and no government can alter the destina- tion. Habits confirmed by two centuries are not to be changed. An immense portion of our property is on the waves. Sixty or eighty thousand of our most useful citizens are there, and are entitled to such protection from the government as their case requires." Thus, though Mr. Webster had at this time no thoughts of becoming a politician, we find him honestly exhibiting his political preferences, and exhibiting the opinions of which at no distant period, he was to become the public champion. He was attentive to his profession, and not neglect- ful of his literary tastes and avocations. From his quiet office in Boscawen he furnished articles for the Monthly Anthology, published at Cam- bridge, and supported by the pens of the most distinguished American writers of that day. It was edited by his old Phillips Academy friend and fellow-student, Joseph Stevens Buckminster; and in this field Mr. Webster could give free scope to his brilliant imagination. The second effort of Mr. Webster at the bar DANIEL WEBSTER. 157 was the defence of a man arraigned for murder. He was not yet admitted to practice in the court in which the man was tried ; and perhaps the case was one of guilt so obvious that only the custom of the court made the assignment of coun- sel necessary. The murder was foul and horrid, perpetrated on an innocent man ; a fellow prisoner for debt. They were in the same room, and no provocation was given by the victim which could in any degree palliate the offence. The fact of killing could not be questioned, and the defence was narrowed down to a single point, the insanity of the prisoner. This plea, while often least tenable in fact, gives scope for legal ingenuity in an inverse ratio to its basis. There were no proofs of the man's former insanity — but his malignity of disposition was notorious. Mr. Webster argued that the very enormity of the deed, perpetrated without any of the motives which operate upon most minds, furnished presumptive proof of the prisoner's alienation of mind ; and even the cool deliberation and apparent serenity which he ex- hibited at the time the deed was done, were proofs that reason was perverted, and that a momentary insanity had seized him. The court and jury were deeply interested in 14 158 LIFE OF the young advocate's masterly analysis of the human mind. He opened all the springs of action, and described and classed every faculty of the mind so lucidly and philosophically that it was a new school for those who heard him. He showed the different shapes insanity assumed, from a single current of false reasoning upon a particular subject, while there is a perfect soundness of mind upon every other; to the reasoning aright upon wrong premises and to the reasoning wrong upon right premises, up to those paroxysms of madness, when the eye is filled with strange sights, and the ear with strange sounds, and reason is entirely dethroned. As he laid open the infirmities of human nature, the jury were in tears and the by- standers were still more affected ; but common sense prevailed over argument and eloquence, and the wretch was condemned and executed. The speech lost nothing of its effect upon the people by the decision of the jury, and was long the subject of conversation. It is much to be regretted that less eloquent pleas have often since defeated in our courts the ends of justice. Mr. Webster's early career at the bar was attended with as much labor and unremitted study as his course through college had been DANIEL WEBSTER. 159 Indeed, he graduated with a reputation which it was no small task to sustain. He might, as many other precocious students have done, have lived a short time upon his college laurels, and then have passed into oblivion. Life, with him, was an earnest struggle ; and as a specimen of the physi- cal endurance which he sustained, he stated to a friend that he had, during his early years as a lawyer, frequently, at sunset, put his saddle on his horse, and ridden fifty miles, to be present at the opening of court the next morning. On one occasion, after a toilsome series of days and nights, he was journeying on horseback, along a lonely road, when he fell into a profound study upon the merits of the case he was to argue the next morn- ing. Long and tedious was the trial, as it pro- ceeded in the chamber of his brain ; when, just as the jury were to pronounce the verdict, a drop of water fell on his hand, and he awakened from sleep, comfortably seated under a tree, whither his horse had carried him. After this nap in the saddle, he hurried away, to finish, in his waking hours, the work he had done in his dream. In the long years of Mr. Webster's legal prac- tice, nearly half a century, it is stated that he was employed as junior counsel in not more than about 1G0 LIFE OF a dozen instances. He had, almost from the first, not so much a reputation to achieve, as to defend. Much was expected of him; and while other young practitioners were gaining experience in lesser cases, and inferior courts, Mr. Webster was thrown at once into a line of practice which re- quired all his talents, and imposed upon him constant study. He always prepared himself with great industry and care — not relying upon his conscious powers, but supporting his eloquence by facts and precedents. He considered it an insult to his auditory, at all periods of his life, to come before them unprepared, lie abhorred affectation — and most of all, the affectation of speaking on the spur of the moment, and without previous thought. A friend of his, in speaking of his habits and characteristics, says : " I have often thought, from my long acquaintance with Mr. Webster, that if other men could think as long, and as closely, and as profoundly, their public efforts would equal his ; for I have never known a man in my life who made such preparation for what he had to say before the court, before the Senate, or before the people. He did not think he had any right to offer extemporaneous thoughts before a multitude of his fellow-citizens, no matter DANIEL WEBSTER. 101 who they were. He thought he was to dress himself in his best garments — that he was to appear and deliver his best thoughts, in his best style, to those who stood to hear him. And thence it happens that he always gave, in the course of his long life, thoughts which were the result of thorough preparation: the public came to under- stand that what Mr. Webster said was worth reading. Hence, what he did say was read more than the productions of any man who was his compeer in the country." In opening a case, he secured his jury by a plain, intelligible statement, using such clear and unadorned language as could not be mistaken, and thus gave evidence of his intention not to distort or to mislead. He gained their confidence before he appealed to their reason. In May, 1807, Mr. Webster was admitted as attorney and counsellor of the Superior Court of New Hampshire; and in September he relin- quished his office and practice in Boscawen to his brother Ezekiel, and removed to Portsmouth. 14* 1G2 LIFE OF CHAPTER VIII. The New Hampshire Bar — Mr. Webster and Jeremiah Mason — Professional Anecdotes — The Drilled Witness — Webster's Farm — Mr. Webster's Marriage — State of the Country and of Parties ■ — New England Interests — The Bar as an Introduction to Public Life — Mr. Webster in "caucus" — Popular Enthusiasm — Mr. Webster's Professional Industry — His Habits of Early Rising — His Letter upon the Morning. Among the distinguished men with whom Mr. Webster was brought into competition at the bar of the Superior Court of New Hampshire, were Jeremiah Mason, Edward St. Loe Livermore, William King Atkinson, and George Sullivan. Jeremiah Smith was Chief Justice of the State ; and having been an early and attached friend of Mr. Webster's father, the son succeeded to his friendship. Samuel Dexter and Joseph Story, of Massachusetts, were occasional practitioners in the New Hampshire courts. To meet such men, Mr. Webster was obliged assiduously to prepare him- self; and by close study to supply his lack of experience. lie sounded his clients thoroughly, DANIEL WEBSTER. 163 and explored every point which the opposite party were likely to make ; acquainting himself care- fully with the weakness as well as the strength of his own side, and of the other. He was very rarely surprised by any new or unexpected testi- mony ; and even though some unlooked-for deve- lopment occurred, he betrayed no astonishment. As Mr. Mason and Mr. Webster were the acknowledged heads of the bar, they were usually engaged in the same causes, and most generally opposed to each other. They travelled together, occupied apartments in the same house, and sat at the same table ; by their friendly intercourse exciting the wonder of men, who could not com- prehend how the two great advocates could deal such hard blows in argument, and still be warm friends. Mr. Mason died in 1849 ; and Mr. Web- ster, in a speech at the meeting of the Suffolk Bar, made the following allusion to their early and continued friendship : " The proprieties of this occasion compel me, with whatever reluctance, to refrain from the personal feelings which arise in my heart upon the death of one with whom I have cultivated a sincere, affectionate, aud un- broken friendship, from the day that I commenced my own professional career to the closing hour of 1C4 LIFE OF his life. 1 will not say, of the advantages which I have derived from his intercourse and conver- sation, all that Mr. Fox said of Edmund Burke ; hut I am hound to say, of my own professional discipline and attainments, whatever they may he, I owe much to that close attention to the dis- charge of my duties, which I was compelled to pay for nine successive years, from day to day, by Mr. Mason's efforts and arguments at the same bar. Fas est ah lioste doceri ; and I must have been unintelligent indeed, not to have learned something from the constant displays of that power which I had so much occasion to see and to feel." While conversing upon his connection with Mr. Mason, Mr. Webster once said : " If any body should think me somewhat familiar with the law on some points, and should be curious enough to desire to know how it happened, tell him that Jeremiah Mason compelled me to study it. He was my master." It is related that the first meeting of Mr. Web- ster with Jeremiah Mason, as opposing counsel, was in a criminal case. The person accused being a man of some note, great efforts were made to defend him ; and Jeremiah Mason, as the most prominent member of the Portsmouth Bar, waa DANIEL WEBSTER. 165 engaged for the defence. In the absence of the prosecuting attorney, Mr. Webster was delegated to conduct the prosecution for the State. The accused was acquitted; but Mr. Mason acknow- ledged the high, open, and manly ground taken by Mr. Webster. He did not resort to technicali- ties, but confined himself to the law and the facts, and commanded the high respect of bench and of bar. An amusing anecdote of Mr. Webster's early professional career, as related by himself, is given in Lanman's " Private Life." " Soon after com- mencing the practice of my profession at Ports- mouth," said Mr. Webster, " I was waited on by an old acquaintance of my father's, resident in an adjacent county, who wished to engage my pro- fessional services. Some years previous, he had rented a farm, with the clear understanding that he could purchase it, after the expiration of his lease, for one thousand dollars. Finding the farm productive, he soon determined to own it; and as lie laid aside money for the purchase, he was iempted to improve what he felt certain he should possess. But his landlord, perceiving the property was greatly increased in value, coolly refused to receive the one thousand dollars, when, in due 166 LIFE OP time, it was presented; and when his extortionate demand of double that sum was refused, he at once brought an action of ejectment. The man had but the one thousand dollars, and an unble- mished reputation ; yet I willingly undertook his case. " The opening argument of the plaintiff's attorney left me little ground for hope. lie stated that he could prove that my client hired the farm ; but there was not a word in the lease about the sale, nor was there a word spoken about the sale when the lease was signed, as he could prove by a witness. In short, his was a clear case, and I left the courtroom at dinner-time with feeble hopes of success. By chance I sat at table next a newly-commissioned militia officer, and a brother lawyer began to joke him about his lack of military knowledge. ' Indeed,' he jocosely remarked, 'you should write down the orders, and get old W to beat them into your sconce, as I saw him this morning with a paper in his hand, teaching something to young M in the court- house entry.' Can it be, thought I, that old W , the plaintiff in the case, was instructing 3'oung M , who was his reliable witness ? "After dinner the court was reopened, and DANIEL WEBSTER. 167 M was put on the stand. He was examined by the plaintiff's counsel, and certainly told a clear, plain story, repudiating all knowledge of any agreement to sell. When he had concluded, the opposite counsel, with a triumphant glance, turned to me, and asked me if I was satisfied. ' Not quite,' I replied. " I had noticed a piece of paper protruding from M 's pocket, and hastily approaching him, I seized it, before he had the least idea of my intention. ' Now,' I asked, ' tell me if this paper does not detail the story you have so clearly told, and if it is not all false ?' The witness hung down his head with shame ; and when the paper was found to be what I had supposed, and in the very hand-writing of old W , he lost his case at once. Nay, there was such a storm of indig- nation against him, that he soon removed to the West. " Years afterwards, visiting New Hampshire, I was the guest of my professional brethren at a public dinner; and towards the close of the festivities, I was asked if I would solve a great doubt by answering a question. ' Certainly.' ' Well then, Mr. Webster, we have often wondered how you knew what was in M 's pocket !' " 1G8 LIFE OF Another anecdote of Mr. Webster's professional life in Portland is characteristic of the man. One of his clients, after gaining a certain suit, found himself unable to pay his lawyer, and insisted upon deeding to him a piece of land, situated in a neighboring county. So, for some years the matter rested, until, happening to be in the neighborhood, it occurred to Mr. Webster to look up his property. He found an old woman living upon it alone, in an old house among the rocks. He questioned the old lady about the farm, and was told tli at it was the property of a lawyer named Webster, and that she was daily expecting him to come and turn her out of doors. Mr. Webster made himself known, assured her that she need not fear any such summary process, made her a liberal present, and took his departure; not, however, till he had made her glad by accepting her humble hospitality. The place is still known as " Webster's Farm," but it is believed that he never took formal possession of the property. Mr. Webster was now in a position to settle himself in life, and he was united in marriage with Grace Fletcher, a young lady who had been admitted to a share in his hopes and plans, long DANIEL WEBSTER. 1G9 before they had attained that definiteness which they now possessed. She was about his own age, and lived to share many of his successes, and to verify the truth of their young hopes in the fame of her husband. From the complexion of Mr. Webster's early orations, specimens of which we have given, the reader has perceived that he had decided political opinions, and a manly way of expressing them. The early part of the present century was marked by much greater excitement upon political subjects than we have witnessed since. There may have been less printing and publishing, but there was deeper feeling, for more was at stake. The policy and powers of the government had not been settled. Many questions which are now deter- mined by precedent, had then to be decided for the first time. And, in the decision, mere ab- stractions were not the points at stake, but the wealth and prosperity of the people and the very existence of the government. The great European powers, at war with each other, were disposed to treat this country as a mere colonial dependency of Europe, and to decide upon international rights and questions without recognising her existence as a power among the nations of the earth. Hon. 15 170 LIFE OF Edward Everett, in his memoir of Daniel Webster, thus sketches the position of the nation and of the parties within it. " The politics of the country were in such a state, that there was scarcely any course which could be pursued with entire satisfaction by a patriotic young man, sagacious enough to penetrate behind mere party names and to view public questions in their true light. Party spirit ran high ; errors had been committed by ardent men on both sides ; and extreme opinions had been advanced on most questions, which no wise and well-informed person at the present day would be willing to espouse. The United States, though not actually drawn to any great length into the vortex of the French Revolution, were powerfully affected by it. The deadly struggle of the two great European belli- gerents, in which the neutral rights of this country were grossly violated by both, gave a complexion to our domestic politics. A change of administra- tion, mainly resulting from difference of opinion in respect to our foreign relations, had taken place in 1801. If we may consider President Jefferson's inaugural address as the indication of the principles on which he intended to conduct his administration, it was his purpose to take a new departure, and DANIEL WEBSTER. 171 to disregard the former party divisions. l We have,' said he, in that eloquent state paper, ' called by different names, brethren of the same principle. We are all republicans, we are all federalists.' " At the time these significant expressions were uttered, Mr. Webster, at nineteen, was just leaving college, and preparing to embark on the voyage of life. A sentiment so liberal was not only in accordance with the generous temper of youth, but highly congenial with the spirit of enlarged patriotism which has ever guided his public course. There is certainly no individual who has filled a prominent place in our political history, who has shown himself more devoted to principle, and less to party. While no man has clung with greater tenacity to the friendships which spring from agreement in political opinions, no man has been less disposed to find in these associations an in- strument of monopoly or exclusion in favor of individuals, interests, or sections of the country. " But, however catholic may have been the intentions and wishes of Mr. Jefferson, events both at home and abroad were too strong for him, and defeated that policy of blending the two great parties into one, which has always been a favorite — perhaps we may add a visionary project — with 172 LIFE OF statesmen of elevated and generous characters The aggressions of the belligerents on our neutral commerce still continued; and, by the joint effect of the French Berlin and Milan Decrees, and the. British Orders in Council, it was all but swept from the ocean. In this state of things, two courses were open to the United States as a grow- ing neutral power : one, that of prompt resistance to the aggressive policy of the belligerents; the other, that which was called the ' restrictive sys- tem,' which consisted in an embargo on our own vessels, with a view to withdraw them from the grasp of the foreign cruisers, and in laws inhibiting commercial intercourse with England and France. There was a division of opinion in the cabinet of Mr. Jefferson, and in the country at large. The latter policy was finally adopted. It fell in with the general views of Mr. Jefferson, against com- mitting the country to the risks of a foreign war. His administration was also strongly pledged to retrenchment and economy ; in the pursuit of which a portion of our little navy had been brought to the hammer, and a species of shore defence substituted, which can now be thought of only with mortification and astonishment. "Although the disci] >line of party was suffi- DANIEL WEBSTER. 173 ciently strong to cause this system of measures to be adopted and pursued for years, it was never cordially approved by the people of the United States of any party. Leading republicans, both at the South and the North, denounced it. With Mr. Jefferson's retirement from office, it fell rapidly into disrepute. It continued, however, to form the basis of our party divisions, till the war of 1812. In these divisions, as has been intimated, both parties were in a false position ; the one supporting and forcing upon the country a system of measures not cordially approved of even by themselves; the other, a powerless minority, zealously opposing those measures, but liable for that reason to be thought backward in asserting the neutral rights of the country. Among these, mature beyond his years, was Mr. Webster." We have already quoted, from his Concord oration, his strong arguments in favor of cherish- ing and defending the commercial interests of the United States. New England was deeply inte- rested in commerce. New Hampshire, with its one sea-port, has in its coat-of-arms a ship on the stocks. The active industry of New England, without the agricultural facilities of other States, Was necessarily drawn into commerce and the 15* 1 74 LI F E F fisheries. The commercial restrictions which pre- ceded the war, fell heavily upon this portion of the confederacy; and it is asking too much of any community, however patriotic, to demand their hearty approval and advocacy of measures which, if they benefit the country, do it at the expense of a portion of the citizens. There is always a choice of measures ; and it is entirely too harsh a judgment to say of those who prefer one course above another, that they are necessarily deficient in patriotism, because they elect that political course which would do them least injury. The Bar has usually been, in the United States, the best introduction to public life. The talents and eloquence of lawyers become matters of pub- lic notoriety. Parties are anxious to secure the aid of talent. Governments invite its co-operation and assistance. The people at large expect and demand that the powers which are exhibited for a fee, in the cases of individuals before the courts, should be heard for love of country, in behalf of the nation ; and the natural and necessary ambi- tion of men who are conscious of intellectual gifts, and who derive mental nourishment from the excitement of admiration, predisposes them to listen to these calls. We are not to wonder, then, DANIEL WEBSTER. 175 that Mr. Webster was early drawn into politics. There is a sympathy between that science and the science of law — if indeed they may not more properly be treated as different branches of the same subject. But while party spirit ran high, and amounted in many cases to personal bitter- ness, it is but justice to Mr. Webster to say that in this respect, throughout his whole life, he kept a watch upon himself; and his course is unmarked by the personal quarrels which have been the unfortunate incidents in the lives of many other statesmen. When he entered the political arena, it was at once to be acknowledged as a leader. It was a tribute to his commanding talents ; for he never resorted to the arts which designing men practise to obtain popular favor. Indeed, in this respect he did less to conciliate and win general affection than would have been perfectly allowable. He was direct and bold, coming openly to what he designed to say, without circumlocution, without evasion, and without flattery. Mr. Webster was one of the leading spirits in many political gatherings in and near Portsmouth. We shall not particularise, but present, from the account of a witness, an idea of his manner and J 76 L I F E F his subject matter. The writer s ... . — — . ■■«». WINNING HIS SPURS; OR, HENRY MORTON'S FIRST TRIAL. lGmo. Cloth. Illustrated. $1.25. '•Henry Morton's first trial was a trial in court, in which he successfully defended a widow's son who was indicted for theft. Young Morton was fresh from college, ignorant of law, and en- tirely ignorant of the processes of courts. But he had rare com- mon sense, and made his client's cause, of whose innocence he Was assured, his own. The story of his hunting up testimony, of his skilful examination of witnesses, and his manly address to the jury, are admirably told. Portions of it are very dramatic. It is one of Mr. Kellogg's Whispering Pine series, and is one of the most effective of his works." — New Bedford Daily Mercury. A STOUT H EAR T; OR, THE STUDENT FROM OVER THE SEA. lGmo. Cloth. Illustrated. $1.25. "The story of a young Scotchman who came to America to get an education. His adventures in a strange country, his struggles with the language, and his odd ways, are both amusing and enter- taining, and told in the author's best style. The descriptions are lively and beautiful and the characters well drawn." — News. ELIJAH KELLOGG'S BOOKS. SOWED BY THE WIND; OR, THE POOR BOY'S FORTUNE. lGmo. Cloth. Illustrated. $1.25. " Ned, an English boy, the hero, in attempting to look into x bird's-nest, is borne by the breaking of a limb to the water, and is finally lodged in the hollow trunk of an old tree, uprooted by the wind. From this place he is rescued by a passing vessel, bound for Baltimore, which was -then ' in his Majesty's province of Mary- land,' and the lesson taught by his perseverance and constant effort, till at the end he is left with a snug little home of his own, — and dearly prized for the severe struggles it cost him, — is very entertainingly given." — Northampton Journal. BROUGHT TO THE FRONT; OR, THE YOUNG DEFENDERS. K'.mo. Cloth. Illustrated. $1.25. "The scene is laid among the backwoods of Pennsylvania, on the borders of a small stream, and hemmed in on all sides by mountains and forest. Heavy burdens are laid upon the young heroes of the story — fighting the Indians, aiding the toils and sharing the perils of their parents, always accomplishing what they undertook, and showing at all times an unflinching courage and endurance. A story of the woods and Indians never fails to have a strong cliarm for young readers, and this one, like all of Mr. Kellogg's stories, will be no exception to the general rule." — Hartford Times. ELIJAH KELLOGG'S BOOKS. m m ij WOLF RUN; Or, THE BOYS of the WILDERNESS. 16mo. Cloth. Illustrated. $1.25. " In this work, the Rev. Elijah Kellogg, already well known as the author of several series of boys 1 books, has forcibly portrayed the trials and adventures of the early settlers of Pennsylvania. Don't fancy, boys, that because this book is written by a clergy- man, that it is all Sunday-school and goody-goody talk. On th« contrary, there is lots of hunting in it, and Indian fights that will make you feel for your scalp every minute, and look under the bed for 'Injuns. 1 " — Forest and Stream, New York, June 24, 75. FOREST GLEN; Or, THE MOHAWK'S FRIENDSHIP. lGmo. Cloth. Illustrated. $1.25. " A story of Indian warfare, in which a chapter of pioneer his- tory is introduced, involving the early struggles of the Pennsylva- nians with the Indians. Quakers and the world's people treat their assailants according to their views of right, and the story brings out a strange contrast between the fighting and the non- fighting combatants, as well as some instances of noble action on the side of the Indians. Bear-fights, and other rough experiences of primitive times, add to the excitement of the narrative." — Albany Timet. ELIJAH KELLOGG'S BOOKS. THE MISSION OF BLACK RIFLE, lGmo. Cloth. Illustrated, §1.25. "The hero, ' Black Rifle, 1 is a noted Indian hunter, who devoted tis life to avenge the cruelties he suffered at the hands of savages in his youth. His miraculous escapes, amazing exploits, and won- derful success in killing Indians, led to the belief that he bore a charmed life, and made him at once the terror of the red men and the hope and protection of the white settlers in his neighborhood. The other characters of the story are strongly drawn." — Man- chester Union. BURYING THE HATCHET; OR, THE YOUNG BRAVE OF THE DELAWARE. IGnio. Cloth. Illustrated. $1.25. " The scene of this story is laid in Pennsylvania more than one hundred years ago, when that part of the country was overrun by Indians and wild beasts. The building of the wind-mill, the saw- mill, the pottery, the brick-kiln, and the ceiled school-house brought the primitive life of those early settlers into a state or. comfort we should find it hard to understand, if the graphic pic- ture of their life without them had not been given us. While the book is full of adventure, it is not more so than a history of that period would give; and the noble qualities of a simple piety, cour- age, perseverance, and love are well depicted." — Christian Union. ELIJAH KELLOGG'S BOOKS. THE CHILD of the ISLAND CLEN lGmo. Cloth. Illustrated. $1.25. " Kellogg writes with care, and knows just what he is writing about. He never mistakes the 'poop deck \ for the 'spanker boom, 1 n«r does he order his sailors to lower the hatch over the stern, or to coil the keelson in the forward cabin. Young readers will be glad to find in it a ship and its midnight lamp, and as a matter of course, the fine captain and his jolly crew, who always accompany every vessel setting sail in literature." — Church and Bepublic. THE CRUISE of the CASCO. 16mo. Cloth. Illustrated. $1.25. " Like its predecessors, it is a capital story, capitally told, and the boys -will find new pleasure in following the varying fortunes and exciting adventures of their old friends in their life upon the ocean. There is a thrilling interest in the story, and the attack, repulse, and capture of the pirates, the unexpected recognition of old acquaintances, and the extraordinary good fortunes of the Cascoites, are told in the best possible manner." — Lawrence Amer. ELIJAH KELLOGG'S BOOKS. JOHN CODSOE'S LECACY. IOrao. Cloth. Illustrated. $1.25. " ' John Godsoe's Legacy ' is an only child sent from the West Indies by a repentant father, to be educated in the New England home from which he had become an exile. Willie Godsoe is a manly little fellow^and makes everybody love him for his nobility of soul and affectionate disposition. The progress of his education is agreeably sketched, and the story is interwoven with instructive descriptions of West India life, and many pleasing incidents in the domestic experience of Pleasant Cove." — Boston Transcript. THE FISHER BOYS OF PLEASANT COVE. 16mo. Cloth. Illustrated. $1-25. •'The history of an honest, determined, and generous boy, who was trained in a hard school, and obliged to borrow an axe to earn his first money, but whom fortune favored at last, and who in winning his way encounters many adventures, and wanders over the land and sea. The story is full of mirth and excitement." — Hartford CouraiU. ELIJAH KELLOGG'S BOOKS. ARTHUR BROWN, THE YOUNG CAPTAIN. lGmo. Cloth. Illustrated. $1.25. " This narrative illustrates the virtue of gratitude, by represent- ing the hero, Arthur Brown, lashed to a raft, perishing with cold and hunger, when he is rescued by Capt. Rhines of Ehn Island, who had been instructed when a boy and afterwards started in business by Arthur's father. The captain receives him with open arms, freely bestowing both time and money upon Arthur, and thus repays an old debt. The book is full of exciting adven- tures." — Indianapolis News. THE YOUNG DELIVERERS OF PLEASANT COVE. 16mo. Cloth. Illustrated. $1.25. " Receives its title from the fact that its most prominent char- acters, returning from a voyage when they had run the blockade under Lord Nelson, and passed through a variety of incidents, and hearing the fate of a colored cook, a shipmate of former years, who had suddenly and mysteriously disappeared one night, set out for Martinique, where they found the man and delivered him from slavery. The story is full of incident, well told." — Baptist Union. ELIJAH KELLOGG'S BOOKS. THE YOUNG SHIPBUILDERS OF ELM ISLAND. 16mo. Cloth. Illustrated. $1.25. " The young heroes of the story start out to learn a trade, try the blacksmith's occupation, become enamored of boat-building, and make the attempt to construct one. The author describes their successes and mishaps. Boys cannot fail to be charmed with the book, so unique is it in its sea-side adventures, pleasant in its incidents, and interesting in its information." — Lynn Reporter. THE ARK OF ELM ISLAND, lOmo. Cloth. Illustrated. $1.25. " Gives the adventures of the singular craft built by ' Lion Ben' to get his lumber directly to a market; and not a boy in the land but will follow with eager and delighted interest the voyage of old Captain Rhines, his Yankee ingenuity and well-merited success — how he weathered the storms of the Gulf, sold his cargo for a handsome profit, and came back with a mint of bright Span- ish dollars to gladden the hearts of the dwellers on Elm Island." — Lawrence American. ■ >--■ ,; . ,;. "■ ■ ■ -