diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'old/53382-0.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/53382-0.txt | 7155 |
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 7155 deletions
diff --git a/old/53382-0.txt b/old/53382-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 8b098ce..0000000 --- a/old/53382-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7155 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of From Farm Boy to Senator, by Horatio Alger Jr. - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: From Farm Boy to Senator - Being the History of the Boyhood and Manhood of Daniel Webter - -Author: Horatio Alger Jr. - -Release Date: October 27, 2016 [EBook #53382] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FROM FARM BOY TO SENATOR *** - - - - -Produced by David Edwards, Les Galloway and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - -[Illustration: Two boys in a general store] - - - FROM - - FARM BOY TO SENATOR; - - - BEING THE HISTORY OF THE - - BOYHOOD AND MANHOOD - - OF - - DANIEL WEBSTER. - - - BY HORATIO ALGER, JR., - - _Author of “From Canal Boy to President,” “Ragged Dick - Series,” “Tattered Tom Series,” etc., etc._ - - - NEW YORK: - J. S. OGILVIE & COMPANY, - NO. 31 ROSE STREET. - - - COPYRIGHT, 1882, - BY STREET & SMITH. - - - - - TO - - MY FRIEND AND COLLEGE CLASSMATE, - - JUDGE ADDISON BROWN, - - OF NEW YORK, - - THIS VOLUME IS CORDIALLY INSCRIBED. - - - - -CONTENTS. - - - CHAPTER PAGE - - I. The Cotton Handkerchief 9 - II. Daniel and his Father 17 - III. A Memorable Battle 25 - IV. An Important Step 33 - V. Daniel at Exeter Academy 41 - VI. Preparing for College 49 - VII. Daniel’s College Life 59 - VIII. Daniel Receives some Valuable Advice 67 - IX. Brotherly Love 71 - X. The Two Brothers 76 - XI. Daniel as an Orator 84 - XII. Studying Law 92 - XIII. How Daniel went to Fryeburg 97 - XIV. The Preceptor of Fryeburg Academy 101 - XV. The Next Two Years 109 - XVI. A Great Temptation 117 - XVII. Daniel Refuses a Clerkship 125 - XVIII. D. Webster, Attorney 133 - XIX. Daniel Overcomes a Bramble 141 - XX. “The Little Black Stable-Boy.” 150 - XXI. Why Daniel was sent to Congress 158 - XXII. Mr. Webster as a Member of Congress 166 - XXIII. John Randolph and William Pinkney 174 - XXIV. Mr. Webster in Boston 184 - XXV. The Oration at Plymouth 190 - XXVI. The Bunker Hill Oration 199 - XXVII. Adams and Jefferson 207 - XXVIII. Home Life and Domestic Sorrows 218 - XXIX. Called to the Senate 225 - XXX. The Beginning of a Great Battle 232 - XXXI. The Reply to Hayne 240 - XXXII. The Secret of Webster’s Power 256 - XXXIII. Honors Received in England 267 - XXXIV. Called to the Cabinet 275 - XXXV. Life at Marshfield 283 - XXXVI. The Seventh of March Speech 289 - XXXVII. Closing Scenes 296 - XXXVIII. Centennial Tributes 301 - - - - -PREFACE. - - -But thirty years have elapsed since the death of Daniel Webster, and -there is already danger that, so far as young people are concerned, -he will become an historic reminiscence. Schoolboys, who declaim -the eloquent extracts from his speeches which are included in all -the school speakers, are indeed able to form some idea of his great -oratorical powers and the themes which called them forth; but I have -found that young classical students, as a rule, know more of Cicero’s -life than of his. It seems to me eminently fitting that the leading -incidents in the life of our great countryman, his struggles for an -education, the steps by which he rose to professional and political -distinction, should be made familiar to American boys. I have therefore -essayed a “story biography,” which I have tried to write in such a -manner as to make it attractive to young people, who are apt to turn -away from ordinary biographies, in the fear that they may prove dull. - -I have not found my task an easy one. Webster’s life is so crowded -with great services and events, it is so interwoven with the history -of the nation, that to give a fair idea of him in a volume of ordinary -size is almost impossible. I have found it necessary to leave out some -things, and to refer briefly to others, lest my book should expand to -undue proportions. Let me acknowledge then, with the utmost frankness, -that my work is incomplete, and necessarily so. This causes me less -regret, because those whom I may be fortunate enough to interest in my -subject will readily find all that they wish to know in the noble Life -of Webster, by George Ticknor Curtis, the captivating Reminiscences, by -Peter Harvey, the Private Correspondence, edited by Fletcher Webster, -and the collection of Mr. Webster’s speeches, edited by Mr. Everett. -They will also find interesting views of Mr. Webster’s senatorial -career in the Reminiscences of Congress, by Charles W. March. - -If this unpretending volume shall contribute in any way to extend the -study of Mr. Webster’s life and works, I shall feel that my labor has -been well bestowed. - - HORATIO ALGER, JR. - - March 28, 1882. - - -[Illustration: DANIEL WEBSTER AT THE AGE OF SIXTEEN.] - - - - - FROM FARM BOY TO SENATOR. - - A BOYS’ LIFE OF - - DANIEL WEBSTER. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -THE COTTON HANDKERCHIEF. - - -“Where are you going, Daniel?” - -“To Mr. Hoyt’s store.” - -“I’ll go in with you. Where is ’Zekiel this morning?” - -“I left him at work on the farm.” - -“I suppose you will both be farmers when you grow up?” - -“I don’t know,” answered Daniel, thoughtfully. “I don’t think I shall -like it, but there isn’t anything else to do in Salisbury.” - -“You might keep a store, and teach school like Master Hoyt.” - -“Perhaps so. I should like it better than farming.” - -Daniel was but eight years old, a boy of striking appearance, with -black hair and eyes, and a swarthy complexion. He was of slender frame, -and his large dark eyes, deep set beneath an overhanging brow, gave a -singular appearance to the thin face of the delicate looking boy. - -He was a farmer’s son, and lived in a plain, old-fashioned house, -shaded by fine elms, and separated from the broad, quiet street by a -fence. It was situated in a valley, at the bend of the Merrimac, on -both sides of which rose high hills, which the boy climbed many a time -for the more extended view they commanded. From a high sheep-pasture on -his father’s farm, through a wide opening in the hills, he could see on -a clear day Brentney Mountain in Vermont, and in a different direction -the snowy top of Mount Washington, far away to the northeast. - -He entered the humble store with his companion. - -Behind the counter stood Master Hoyt, a tall man, of stern aspect, -which could strike terror into the hearts of delinquent scholars when -in the winter they came to receive instruction from him. - -“Good morning, Daniel,” said Master Hoyt, who was waiting upon a -customer. - -“Good morning, sir,” answered Daniel, respectfully. - -“I hope you won’t forget what you learned at school last winter.” - -“No, sir, I will try not to.” - -“You mustn’t forget your reading and writing.” - -“No, sir; I read whatever I can find, but I don’t like writing much.” - -“You’ll never make much of a hand at writing, Daniel. Ezekiel writes -far better than you. But you won’t need writing much when you’re -following the plough.” - -“I hope I shan’t have to do that, Master Hoyt.” - -“Ay, you’re hardly strong enough, you may find something else to do in -time. You may keep school like me—who knows?—but you’ll have to get -some one else to set the copies,” and Master Hoyt laughed, as if he -thought it a good joke. - -Daniel listened gravely to the master’s prediction, but it seemed -to him he should hardly care to be a teacher like Mr. Hoyt, for the -latter, though he was a good reader, wrote an excellent hand, and had -a slight knowledge of grammar, could carry his pupils no further. No -pupil was likely to wonder that “one small head could carry all he -knew.” Yet the boys respected him, and in his limited way he did them -good. - -Master Hoyt had by this time finished waiting upon his customer, and -was at leisure to pay attention to his two young callers. He regarded -them rather as pupils than as customers, for it is quite the custom in -sparsely settled neighborhoods to “drop in” at the store for a chat. - -Meanwhile Daniel’s roving eyes had been attracted by a cotton -pocket-handkerchief, which appeared to have something printed upon it. - -Master Hoyt noticed the direction of the boy’s gaze. - -“I see you are looking at the handkerchief,” he said. “Would you like -to see what is printed on it?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -The handkerchief was taken down and placed in the boy’s hands. It was -quite customary in those days, when books and papers were comparatively -rare and difficult to obtain, to combine literature with plain homely -utility, by printing reading matter of some kind on cheap cotton -handkerchiefs. Nowadays boys would probably object to such a custom, -but the boy, Daniel who was fond of reading, was attracted. - -“Is it a story?” he asked. - -“No, Daniel; it is the Constitution of the United States—the government -we live under.” - -Daniel’s interest was excited. Of the government he knew something, -but not much, and up to that moment he had not known that there was a -constitution, and indeed he couldn’t tell what a constitution was, but -he thought he would like to know. - -“What is the price?” he asked. - -“Twenty-five cents.” - -Daniel felt in his pocket, and drew out a quarter of a dollar. It -represented all his worldly wealth. It had not come to him all at once, -but was the accumulation of pennies saved. He may have had other plans -for spending it, but now when there was a chance of securing something -to read he could not resist the temptation, so he passed over his -precious coin, and the handkerchief became his. - -“It’s a good purchase,” said Master Hoyt, approvingly. “Take it home, -Daniel, and read it, and you’ll know something of the government we’re -living under. I suppose you’ve heard your father talk of the days when -he was a soldier, and fought against the British?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“When soldiers were called for, Captain Webster was one of the first to -answer the call. But of course you are too young to remember that time.” - -“Yes, sir; but I have heard father talk about it.” - -“Ay, ay; your father was selected to stand guard before General -Washington’s headquarters on the night after Arnold’s treason. The -general knew he could depend upon him.” - -“Yes, sir; I am sure of that,” said the boy proudly, for he had a high -reverence and respect for his soldier father, who on his side was -devoted to the best interests of his sons, and was ready when the time -came to make sacrifices for them such as would have made most fathers -hesitate. - -“Ah, those were dark days, Daniel. You are lucky to live in peaceful -times, under a free government, but you must never forget how your -father and other brave men fought to secure the blessings we now enjoy. -Now General Washington is President, and we are no longer a subject -colony, but we have a free and independent government.” - -It is doubtful how far Daniel and his young companion understood the -remarks of Master Hoyt, but doubtless a time came further on when the -words recurred to him, and in the light of his father’s conversations, -which from time to time he held with his neighbors, gave him a more -adequate idea of the character of that government in which in after -years he was to take so prominent a part. - -“Are you going, Daniel?” asked William Hoyt, as the boys turned to -leave his humble store. - -“Yes, sir; father may want me at home.” - -“Don’t forget your learning, my lad. You must be ready to take up your -studies next winter. Soon you will know as much as I do.” - -It was meant for an encouraging remark, but the prospect it held out -was not one to dazzle the imagination even of a boy of eight, for as I -have already said the good man’s acquirements were of the most limited -character. - -Daniel went home with his precious handkerchief snugly stowed away in -his pocket. He was saving it till evening when he promised himself the -pleasure of reading it. - -After supper by the light of the open log fire he brought out his new -possession. - -“What have you there, my son?” asked his father. - -“It is a handkerchief, father, with the Constitution of the United -States printed on it.” - -“Where did you get it?” - -“At Master Hoyt’s store.” - -“Dan spent all his money for it,” said Ezekiel. - -“Well, well, he might have done worse. It will do him no harm to read -the Constitution of his country,” said the father, gravely. - -Thus assured of his father’s approval, the boy devoted himself to -the reading of that famous document, of which in after years he was -to become the staunch supporter and defender. For this boy was in his -manhood to rank among the great men of the earth, and to leave a name -and a fame to which his countrymen for centuries to come will point -with just and patriotic pride. - -This boy with slender form, swarthy face, and dark eyes, was Daniel -Webster. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -DANIEL AND HIS FATHER. - - -Daniel’s family had not lived many years at Elms Farm. Captain Webster -first occupied a log house which he had himself built, and in this -humble dwelling Ezekiel and one of his sisters were born. He was poor -in worldly goods, but rich in children, having had ten born to him, -five by the second marriage. Daniel was the youngest but one, and Sarah -the youngest of all. - -When the war of the American Revolution broke out Daniel’s father was -one of the first to take up arms. He himself drew up, and induced -eighty-four of his townsmen to sign, the following patriotic pledge: - -“We do solemnly engage and promise that we will, to the utmost of our -power, at the risk of our lives and fortunes, with arms, oppose the -hostile proceedings of the British fleets and armies against the United -American Colonies.” - -Daniel was proud of his descent from such a man, and in the last year -of his life declared that “this is sufficient emblazonry for my arms; -enough of heraldry for me.” - -Ebenezer Webster, Daniel’s father, is described as “a man of great -firmness, whose bearing and manner were decisive; tall and erect, with -a full chest, black hair and eyes, and rather large and prominent -features.” He had never attended school, but his natural powers, -supplemented by his own persistent efforts for education, qualified -him for a high and influential place in the community in which he -lived. But in one thing he was lacking, the ability to make money, and -was obliged to practise the utmost frugality in his household. Though -he filled various important positions, his compensation was of the -smallest. He charged the town for important services but three or four -shillings a day—a sum which even the most modest of office-holders -nowadays would regard as quite beneath their acceptance. - -How he succeeded in wresting a subsistence for his large family from -his sterile acres must remain a mystery. He was willing to live poorly, -but there was one subject which cost him anxious thought. How was he -to provide his family, and especially the two youngest boys, with the -educational advantages which had been denied to him? There were no good -schools near home, and without money he could not send his boys out of -town to school. - -Help came in an unexpected way. - -One day the stalwart farmer entered his house with a look of -satisfaction on his dark and rugged features. - -“Wife,” he said, “I have been appointed Judge of the Court of Common -Pleas for the county.” - -“Indeed!” said his wife, naturally pleased at the honor which had been -conferred upon her husband. - -“It will bring me three to four hundred dollars a year,” said Mr. -Webster, “and now I can hope to educate my boys.” - -This was his first thought, and hers. It was not proposed to improve -their style of living, to buy new furniture or new clothes, but to -spend it in such a way as would best promote the interests of those -whom God had committed to their keeping. - -Three or four hundred dollars! It was a very small sum, so most of my -boy readers will think; and so it was, but in a farmer’s household on -the bleak acres of New Hampshire it would go a considerable way. Every -dollar in Ebenezer Webster’s hands brought its money’s worth, and as we -shall see hereafter it brought rich interest to the investor. - -But Daniel was still too young for any immediate steps to be taken in -the desired direction. He was sent to the small town schools, where he -learned what the master was able to teach him. Sometimes he had two and -a half and three miles to walk to school, but the farmer’s boy, though -delicate, was not thought too delicate for such a walk. Indeed the -boy’s delicacy was in his favor, for he was thought not robust enough -to work on the farm steadily, and was sent to school, as an elder -half-brother, Joseph, laughingly said, “to make him equal with the rest -of the boys.” It was hard for those who saw him in later years, in his -majestic proportions, to believe that he had been a delicate boy. The -tender sapling had become a stately oak, with not a trace of feebleness -or lack of strength. - -One day when Daniel was at work in the hayfield, about the middle of -the forenoon, Judge Webster, for this was his designation now, saw a -carriage approaching. - -“Some one to see you, father,” suggested Daniel. - -“Yes,” said his father, preparing to leave his work; “it is the -Congressman from our district.” - -“What is his name?” - -“Hon. Abiel Foster, my son. He lives in Canterbury.” - -But the Congressman descended from his carriage and entered the field -where Daniel and his father were at work. “Don’t let me interrupt you, -Judge Webster,” said the visitor. “I merely wished to exchange a few -words on public affairs.” - -Daniel was old enough to have some notion of the office of a -Congressman and his duties, and he regarded the honorable gentleman -with attention, and perhaps with reverent respect, though he is -said not to have been endowed with more than average ability, -notwithstanding he had been educated at college, and had once been a -minister. - -When the conversation was over the Congressman got into his carriage -and rode away. Judge Webster looked thoughtfully after him. - -Then he said to Daniel, “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 had his early 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 work -here.” - -“My dear father,” answered Daniel, not without emotion, “you shall not -work. Brother and I will work for you, and will wear our hands out, and -you shall rest.” - -The boy was much moved, and his breast heaved, for he knew well how -hard his father had toiled for him and for all the family. - -“My child,” said Judge Webster, “it is of no importance to me. I -now live but for my children. I could not give your elder brothers -the advantages of knowledge, 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.” - -These words made a profound impression upon the boy. A man’s character -and life add weight to the words which he utters, and wise and -judicious advice coming from a trifler or a shallow person falls often -unheeded, and with reason. But Daniel knew how much his father had -accomplished without education—he knew how high his rank was among his -neighbors, and no man ever probably received from him a tithe of that -reverence which he felt for his plain, unlettered parent. - -By this time he knew that his father had been largely instrumental in -inducing New Hampshire to ratify that Constitution of which he obtained -his first knowledge from the cheap cotton handkerchief which he had -purchased at Master Hoyt’s store. The acceptance was by no means a -foregone conclusion. Many of the delegates to the convention had been -instructed to vote against acceptance, and among them Ebenezer Webster -himself. But he obtained permission later to vote according to his -own judgment, and the speech which he made in favor of this important -action has been preserved. Just before the vote was taken, he rose and -said: - -“Mr. President, I have listened to the arguments for and against the -Constitution. I am convinced such a government as that Constitution -will establish, if adopted—a government acting directly on the people -of the States—is necessary for the common defence and the public -welfare. It is the only government which will enable us to pay off -the national debt—the debt which we owe for the Revolution, and which -we are bound in honor fully and fairly to discharge. Besides, I have -followed the lead of Washington through seven years of war, and I have -never been misled. His name is subscribed to this Constitution. He will -not mislead us now. I shall vote for its adoption.” - -No wonder that Daniel inherited from his father a reverent attachment -for that Constitution which Judge Webster by word and deed had helped -to secure and establish. His father was a grave and earnest man, but -he was not stern nor ascetic. His strength was softened by good humor, -and his massive features were often lighted up by a contagious laugh -which endeared him to his family, who loved no less than they respected -him. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -A MEMORABLE BATTLE. - - -Daniel, as well as his father, had a love of fun, and a sportive humor, -which he always preserved. It is said that “all work and no play makes -Jack a dull boy.” It is certainly a mistake when a boy is shut out -from the innocent sports which boys delight in. John Stuart Mill, who -was set to learning while little more than an infant, and who actually -began to study Greek at four years of age—lamented in after years that -he had never known what boyhood was. - -It was not so with Daniel. Though his father’s poverty made it -necessary for all to work, Daniel, partly because of his early -delicacy, had plenty of time allowed him for amusement. The favorite -companion of his leisure hours was not a boy, but a veteran soldier -and near neighbor, named Robert Wise. He had built a little cottage -in the corner of the Webster farm, and there with his wife he lived -till extreme old age. He was born in Yorkshire, had fought on both -sides in the Revolutionary struggle, had travelled in various parts -of Europe, and had a thousand stories to tell, to all of which the -boy listened with avidity. Though he had twice deserted from the -English king, his heart still thrilled with pride when Daniel read -to him from the newspaper accounts of battles in which the English -arms were victorious. He had never learned to read, and Daniel became -his favorite because he was always ready to read to him as they sat -together at nightfall at the cottage door. - -“Why don’t you learn to read yourself, Robert?” asked Daniel one day. - -“It’s too late, Dan. I’m gettin’ an old man now, and I couldn’t do it.” - -“What will you do when I am grown up, and gone away?” - -“I don’t know, Dan. It will be dull times for me.” - -When that time came the old man picked up a fatherless boy, and gave -him a home and a chance to secure an education, in order that he might -have some one to read the newspaper to him. - -Whenever Daniel had a day or a few hours to himself he ran across the -fields to his humble neighbor’s house. - -“Come, Robert,” he would say, “I’ve got nothing to do. Let us go -fishing.” - -So the two would go down to the banks of the Merrimac, and embark in a -boat which belonged to the old man, and paddle up and down the river, -sometimes for an entire day. Daniel never lost his love of fishing, but -in after years, when the cares of statesmanship were upon him, dressed -in suitable style he would take his fishing pole and lie in wait for -his finny victims, while perhaps he was mentally composing some one -of his famous speeches, destined to thrill the hearts of thousands, -or direct the policy of the government. These happy days spent in the -open air corrected his native delicacy, and gradually imparted physical -strength and vigor, and in time knit the vigorous frame which seemed a -fitting temple for his massive intellect. - -Even the most trivial circumstances in the boyhood of such a man as -Daniel Webster are noteworthy, and I am sure my boy-readers will read -with interest and sympathy the account of a signal victory which the -boy gained, though it was only over a feathered bully. - -Belonging to a neighbor was a cock of redoubtable prowess, a champion -whose fame was in all the farmyards for miles around. One day Daniel, -coming home from school, beheld with mortification the finish of -a contest in which a favorite fowl of his own came off decidedly -second best. The victorious rooster strutted about in conscious and -complacent triumph. - -“It’s too bad, Zeke!” said Daniel in genuine vexation, as he saw the -crestfallen look of his own vanquished fowl. “I should like to see that -impudent bully get well whipped.” - -“There isn’t a rooster about here that can whip him, Dan.” - -“I know that, but he will meet his match some time.” - -“At any rate I’ll drive him away. He’ll have to run from me.” - -Dan picked up a stone, and pelted the victor out of the yard, but the -feathered bully, even in his flight, raised a crow of victory which -vexed the boy. - -“I’d give all the money I’ve got, Zeke, for a rooster that would whip -him,” said Dan. - -There came a time when Daniel had his wish. - -He was visiting a relation at some distance when mention was made -casually of a famous fighting cock who had never been beaten. - -“Where is he to be found?” asked the boy eagerly. - -“Why do you ask?” - -“I would like to see him,” said Dan. - -“Oh, well, he belongs to Mr.——.” - -“Where does he live?” - -The desired information was given. - -Shortly after Daniel was missed. He found his way to the farm where the -pugnacious fowl resided. In the yard he saw the owner, a farmer. - -“Good morning, sir,” said Dan. - -“Good morning, boy. What can I do for you?” was the reply. - -“I hear you have a cock who is a famous fighter.” - -“Yes, he’s never been beaten yet!” said the farmer complacently. - -“Can I see him?” - -“There he is,” said the owner, pointing out the feathered champion. - -Daniel surveyed the rooster with great interest. - -“Will you sell him?” he asked. - -“I don’t know. Why do you want to buy him?” - -Daniel explained his object frankly. - -“How much are you willing to give?” asked the farmer, for he was a -Yankee, and ready for a trade. - -Daniel drew from his pocket half a dollar. It represented his entire -cash capital. - -“Here is half a dollar,” he said. “I’ll give you that.” - -“Haven’t you got anymore money?” asked the farmer, who had a keen scent -for a bargain. - -“No, sir; it is all I have. I’d give you more if I had it.” - -Half a dollar in those days was a considerable sum of money, -particularly in the eyes of a farmer, who handled very little money, -his income being for the most part in the shape of corn, hay and -vegetables. Having satisfied himself that it was all he could get, he -gave a favorable answer to the boy’s application. - -Daniel’s eyes sparkled with delight, and he promptly handed over his -fifty cent piece. - -“When do you want to take it?” asked the farmer. - -“Now,” answered Dan. - -“Very well.” - -The fowl was caught, and Daniel carried it back to the house of his -relative in triumph. - -“I’m going home,” he said abruptly. - -“Going home? Why, you have only just come.” - -“I’ll come again soon, but I want to take this cock home, and see if he -can’t whip Mr. ——-’s. I want to teach the little bully a lesson.” - -So in spite of all that could be said Daniel started on his way home. - -When he had gone a short distance he passed a yard stocked with -poultry, where a large cock was strutting about defiantly, as if -throwing down the gage of battle to any new comers. - -A boy was standing near the fence. - -“Will your cock fight?” asked Dan. - -“He can whip yours,” was the reply. - -“Are you willing to try it?” - -“Yes, come along.” - -The trial was made, and Dan’s new purchase maintained his reputation, -by giving a sound drubbing to his feathered rival. - -Dan surveyed the result with satisfaction. - -“I guess he’ll do,” he said to himself. - -He kept on his way till he got within sight of home. - -“What brings you home so soon, Dan?” asked Zeke. - -“See here, Zeke!” said Dan eagerly.” Here is a cock that will whip Mr. -——’s all to pieces.” - -“Don’t be too sure of it!” - -“I’ve tried him once, and he’s game.” - -The boys did not have long to wait for the trial. - -Over came the haughty intruder, strutting about with his usual boastful -air. - -Dan let loose his new fowl, and a battle royal commenced. Soon the -tyrant of the barnyard found that he had met a foe worthy of his -spur. For a time the contest was an open one, but in ten minutes the -feathered bully was ignominiously defeated, and led about by the comb -in a manner as humiliating as had ever happened when he was himself the -victor. - -Daniel witnessed the defeat of the whilom tyrant with unbounded -delight, and felt abundantly repaid for his investment of all his spare -cash, as well as the cutting short of his visit. Probably in the famous -passage at arms which he had many years after with Mr. Hayne, of South -Carolina, his victory afforded him less satisfaction than this boyish -triumph. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -AN IMPORTANT STEP. - - -“What are you thinking about, Dan?” asked his mother one evening as the -boy sat thoughtfully gazing at the logs blazing in the fireplace. - -“I was wishing for something to read,” answered the boy. - -Indeed that was his chief trouble in those early days. Libraries were -scarce, and private collections equally scarce, especially in small -country places. So the boy’s appetite for books was not likely to be -satisfied. - -Daniel’s words attracted the attention of his father. - -“I have been speaking to some of our neighbors to-day,” he said, “about -establishing a small circulating library which we could all use. I -think we shall do something about it soon.” - -“I hope you will, father,” said Dan eagerly. - -“If we all contribute a little, we can make a beginning. Besides we can -put in some books we have already.” - -A week or two later Judge Webster announced that the library had been -established, and it may be easily supposed that Daniel was one of the -first to patronize it. It was a small and, many of my boy friends -would think, an unattractive collection. But in the collection was -the “Spectator,” in reading which Daniel unconsciously did something -towards forming a desirable style of his own. He was fond of poetry, -and at an early age could repeat many of the psalms and hymns of Dr. -Watts. - -There was another poem which so impressed him that he learned to repeat -the whole of it. This was Pope’s “Essay on Man,” a poem which I fear -is going out of fashion, which is certainly a pity, for apart from its -literary merits it contains a great deal of sensible advice as to the -conduct of life. As it is not of so much importance how much we read as -how thoroughly, and how much we remember, there is reason to think that -Daniel got more benefit from his four books than most of the boys of -to-day from their multitude of books. - -Once, however, Daniel’s literary enthusiasm came near having serious -consequences. A new almanac had been received, and as usual each of -the months was provided with a couplet of poetry. After going to bed -Daniel and Ezekiel got into a dispute about the couplet at the head -of the April page, and in order to ascertain which was correct Dan -got out of bed, went down stairs, and groped his way to the kitchen, -where he lighted a candle and went in search of the almanac. He found -it, and on referring to it ascertained that Ezekiel was right. His -eagerness made him careless, and an unlucky spark from the candle set -some cotton clothes on fire. The house would have been consumed but for -the exertions and presence of mind of his father. It may be a comfort -to some of my careless young readers to learn that so great a man as -Daniel Webster occasionally got into mischief when he was a boy. - -Somewhere about this time a young lawyer, Mr. Thomas W. Thompson, came -to Daniel’s native town and set up an office. - -As he was obliged to be absent at times, and yet did not wish to close -his office, he proposed to Daniel to sit in his office and receive -callers in his absence. Though boys do not generally take kindly to -confinement, the office contained one attraction for the boy in a -collection of books, probably of a miscellaneous character such as a -young man is likely to pick up. - -Daniel’s time was not otherwise occupied, for he had no service to -render, except to stay in the office and inform callers when Mr. -Thompson would be back, and he was therefore at liberty to make use -of the books. He made a selection unusual for a boy. There was an old -Latin grammar, which the young lawyer had probably used himself in his -preparatory course. This book Daniel selected, and began to study by -himself. His employer offered to hear him recite in it, and soon had -occasion to be surprised at the strong and retentive memory of his -office boy. Probably none of the law books attracted the future lawyer. -It would have been surprising if they had. - -“Judge Webster,” said Thompson, on meeting the father of his young -employee, “Dan will make a fine scholar if he has the chance.” - -“I think the boy has ability.” - -“He certainly has. He ought to go to college.” - -Judge Webster shook his head. - -“I should like it above all things,” he said, “but I can’t see my way -clear. I am a poor man, as you know, and it would cost a great deal of -money to carry Dan through college even after he were prepared.” - -This was true, and the young lawyer was unprepared with any suggestion -as to how the difficult matter was to be arranged. But Judge Webster -did not forget the conversation. He was considering what could be -done towards giving his promising son an education. He was willing to -sacrifice his comfort, even, if thereby he could give him a good start -in life. - -Finally he made up his mind to start him on the way, even if he were -obliged to stop short before reaching the desired goal. - -Not far away was an institution which has since become famous, Exeter -Academy, which has now for a century been doing an important work -in preparing boys for our best colleges, and has always maintained -a high standard of scholarship. Thither Judge Webster determined to -take Daniel, and provide for his expenses by domestic self-denial. -It was not till he had fully made up his mind that he announced his -determination to the boy. - -“Dan,” he said one evening, “you must be up early to-morrow.” - -“Why, father?” - -Daniel supposed he was to be set at some farm work. - -“We are going to make a journey,” answered Judge Webster. - -“A journey!” repeated the boy in surprise. “Where are we going?” - -“I am going to take you to Exeter, to put you at school there.” - -The boy listened with breathless interest and delight, mingled perhaps -with a little apprehension, for he did not know he would succeed in the -untried scenes which awaited him. - -“Won’t it be expensive, father?” he asked after a pause, for he knew -well his father’s circumstances, and was unusually considerate for a -boy. - -“Yes, my son, but I look to you to improve your time, so that I may -find my investment a wise one.” - -“How are we to go, father?” - -“On horseback.” - -Dan was a little puzzled, not knowing whether he and his father were -to ride on one horse or not, as was a frequent custom at that time. It -would have been hard upon any horse, for the judge was a man of weight, -and the boy though light would have considerably increased the burden. - -The next morning Daniel’s curiosity was gratified. In front of the -farmhouse stood two horses, one belonging to his father, the other -filled out with a side-saddle. - -“Is that horse for me?” asked Daniel in surprise. - -“Yes, my son.” - -“What do I want of a side-saddle? I am not a lady.” - -“Neighbor —— is sending the horse to Exeter for the use of a lady who -is to return here. I agreed to take charge of it, and it happens just -right, as you can use it.” - -“I don’t know how I can get along with it. It will look strange for me -to be riding on a lady’s saddle.” - -“If a lady can ride on it probably you can.” - -So Dan and his father set out on their journey from the quiet country -town to Exeter, the boy mounted on a lady’s horse. When in his later -life he had occasion to refer to this journey, Mr. Webster recalled -with great merriment the figure he must have cut as he rode meekly -behind his father. - -No doubt as they rode along father and son conversed together about the -important step which had been taken. Judge Webster already had formed -the plan of sending Daniel to college, after he should have completed a -course of preparation at Exeter, but upon this part of his plan he did -not think it best yet to speak to his son, very probably because he had -not yet made up his mind as to whether his circumstances would allow -him to incur so heavy an expense. - -“My son,” said the father gravely, “I hope you will improve to the -utmost the advantages I am securing for you. You must remember how much -depends upon yourself. A boy’s future is largely in his own hands.” - -“Yes, father, I will do the best I can.” - -“Mr. Thompson thinks you can make a good scholar.” - -“I will try, father.” - -“I shall have no money to leave you, Daniel, but I hope to give you an -education, which is better than a fortune.” - -How would the father have been gratified if he could have foreseen the -brilliant future in store for the boy of fourteen who was about to take -his first important step in life. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -DANIEL AT EXETER ACADEMY. - - -The principal of Exeter Academy at that time was Benjamin Abbot, LL.D., -a man of high repute in letters as well as in the educational field. He -was a man of dignified presence, who exacted and received deference not -only from his pupils but from all with whom he came in contact. - -“Dr. Abbot,” said Judge Webster, when the two were admitted to his -presence, “I have brought my son Daniel to study in your institution, -if you find him qualified.” - -The dignified principal turned towards the bashful boy, and said, “What -is your age, sir?” - -“Fourteen,” answered Daniel. - -“I will examine you first in reading. Take this Bible, my lad, and read -that chapter.” - -It was the twenty-second chapter of St. Luke’s Gospel, and was very -well adapted as a test of the boy’s ability in reading. - -Now if there was anything Dan could do well it was this. He never -could remember the time when he could not read. Probably he had learned -from his mother, and his first text-book was the Bible. He was endowed -with reverence, and his grave, sonorous voice was especially well -fitted for sacred reading. - -The boy took the book and commenced the task prescribed. Usually a -few verses are considered sufficient, but in this case the dignified -listener became absorbed in the boy’s reading, and he listened, half -forgetful of the object he had in view. It is a good deal to say that -he actually enjoyed it. He had seldom listened to a voice at once so -rich, deep and sonorous as belonged to this young boy of fourteen. -Daniel, too, forgot that he was on trial, and read with his whole soul -intent upon the words before him. - -When he had completed the chapter Dr. Abbot said, abruptly, “You are -qualified to enter this institution.” - -This was all the examination which in his case was required. - -It was no common school that Daniel had entered, as is shown by the -list of eminent men who have gone forth from it. George Bancroft, -Edward Everett, Alexander H. Everett, Lewis Cass, Levi Woodbury, John -E. Palfrey and others received here the first rudiments of their -classical education, and all of them looked back with affection to -their Alma Mater. But without derogating from the fame of any of these -eminent men, it may surely be said that in Daniel Webster not only -Exeter but Dartmouth College boasts its greatest alumnus. - -Daniel soon vindicated the good judgment of Dr. Abbot in admitting him -as a pupil. As to the manner in which he improved the advantages which -his father’s self-denial had secured to him, I quote the testimony of -Dr. Tefft in his interesting life of Webster: - -“During the nine months of his stay at Exeter he accomplished as much -for himself, according to every account, as most young gentlemen could -have accomplished in two years. When he left he had as thoroughly -mastered grammar, arithmetic, geography and rhetoric, as the majority -of college graduates usually have done after a full collegiate course. -He had also made rapid progress in the study of the Latin language. Dr. -Abbot, fully appreciating the capacity of his most remarkable pupil, -did not tie him down to the ordinary routine of study, nor compel him -to lag behind with the other pupils, but gave him free scope and a -loose rein, that he might do his utmost; and the venerable preceptor, -after the lapse of more than half a century, during all which time he -continued to be a teacher, declared on a public occasion that Daniel -Webster’s equal in the power of amassing knowledge he had never seen, -and never expected to see again. - -“It is not enough to say of him, according to Dr. Abbot’s description -of him at this time, that he had a quick perception and a memory -of great tenacity and strength. He did not seem barely to read and -remember, as other people do. He appeared, rather, to grasp the -thoughts and facts given by his author with a peculiar force, to -incorporate them into his mental being, and thus make them a part of -himself. It is said of Sir Isaac Newton, after reading for the first -time the geometry of Euclid, and on being asked what he thought of -it, that he knew it all before. He understood geometry, it seems, by -intuition, or by a perception so rapid that it seems like intuition; -but it was also true of the great astronomer that he had great -difficulty in remembering even his own calculations after he had gone -through with them. Daniel Webster, on the other hand, though endowed -with a very extraordinary quickness of insight, worked harder for -his knowledge than did Newton; but when once he had gained a point, -or learned a fact, it remained with him, a part of his own essence, -forever afterwards. His mind was also wonderfully fertile. A single -truth, which, with most boys of his age, would have remained a single -truth, in him became at once a starting-point for a remarkable series -of ideas, original and striking, growing up out of the seed sown by -that mighty power of reflection, in which no youth of his years, -probably, was ever his superior.” - -At that time an assistant in the school was Joseph S. Buckminster, -who later became an eminent preacher in Boston, and died while yet a -young man. He was very young at the time, a mere boy, yet such were -his attainments, and such was the confidence reposed in him by his old -teachers, that he was selected to fill the position of tutor. He it -was who first directed the studies of the new scholar, and encouraged -the bashful boy to do his best. In after life Webster never displayed -timidity or awkwardness; but, fresh from the farm, thrown among a -hundred boys, most of whom were better dressed and more used to society -than he, he felt at times awkward and distrustful. One thing he found -it hard to do was to declaim. This is certainly singular, considering -how he excelled in reading, and considering moreover what an orator he -afterwards became. - -It was not because he did not try. He committed more than one piece -to memory, and recited it to himself out loud in the solitude of his -own room, but when the time came to get up and declaim it before the -teacher and his schoolmates he was obliged to give it up. Here is his -own account of it: - -“Many a piece did I commit to memory, and rehearse in my own room over -and over again; but when the day came, when the school collected, when -my name was called, and I saw all eyes turned upon my seat, I could not -raise myself from it. Sometimes the masters frowned, sometimes they -smiled. Mr. Buckminster always pressed and entreated with the most -winning kindness that I would venture only _once_; but I could not -command sufficient resolution, and when the occasion was over I went -home and wept tears of bitter mortification.” - -This is certainly encouraging for bashful boys. Here was a man who -became one of the greatest orators—perhaps _the_ greatest—and yet as a -boy he made an ignominious failure in the very department in which he -afterwards excelled. It is a lesson for parents also. Don’t too hastily -conclude that your boys are dunces, and destined to failure, because -they develop late, or are hindered from making a creditable figure by -timidity or nervous self-consciousness. - -In this connection I am tempted to repeat an anecdote of Sir Walter -Scott. It was not till comparatively late that he discovered his -poetical ability. It is related of him that when already a young man -he was rowing with a friend on a Scotch lake, when they mutually -challenged each other to produce a few lines of poetry. Both made -the trial, and both failed. Thereupon Scott said good-humoredly to -his companion, “It’s clear neither of us was cut out for a poet.” -Yet within ten years appeared the first of those Border poems which -thrilled the hearts of his countrymen, and have lent a charm to the -hills and lakes of Scotland which they will never lose. - -Daniel remained nine months at Exeter. Though he did not win reputation -as a declaimer, he made his mark as a scholar. When he was approaching -the end of his first term the usher said one day, “Webster, you may -stop a few minutes after school; I wish to speak to you.” - -Daniel stopped, wondering whether in any way he had incurred censure. - -When they were alone the usher said, “The term is nearly over. Are you -coming back next term?” - -Daniel hesitated. He enjoyed the advantages which the school afforded, -but his feelings had been hurt at times by the looks of amusement -directed at his rustic manners and ill-fitting garments. - -The usher noticed his hesitation, and said, “You are doing yourself -great credit. You are a better scholar than any in your class. If you -come back next term I shall put you into a higher class.” - -These encouraging words made the boy resolve to return, and regardless -of ridicule pursue with diligence the path which had been marked out -for him. - -It would be rather interesting to read the thoughts of Daniel’s -schoolmates when years afterwards they saw the boy whom they had -ridiculed moving forward with rapid strides to the foremost place in -the councils of state, as well as in the legal profession. - -I am tempted to insert here, on the authority of an Exeter -correspondent of the Chicago _Advance_, an anecdote of Daniel at this -period which will interest my young readers: - -“When Daniel Webster’s father found that his son was not robust enough -to make a successful farmer, he sent him to Exeter to prepare for -college, and found a home for him among a number of other students in -the family of ‘old Squire Clifford,’ as we of a younger generation -had always heard him called. Daniel had up to this time led only the -secular life of a country farmer’s boy, and, though the New Hampshire -farmers have sent out many heroes as firm and true as the granite rocks -in the pasture, there cannot be among the hard and homely work which -such a life implies the little finenesses of manner which good society -demands. Daniel was one of these diamonds of the first water, but was -still in the rough, and needed some cutting and polishing to fit him to -shine in the great world in which he was to figure so conspicuously. - -“None saw this more clearly than the sensible old Squire. The boy had -one habit at table of which the Squire saw it would be a kindness to -cure him. When not using his knife and fork he was accustomed to hold -them upright in his fists, on either side of his plate. Daniel was a -bashful boy of very delicate feelings, and the Squire feared to wound -him by speaking to him directly on the subject. So he called aside one -of the other students with whom he had been longer acquainted, and told -him his dilemma. ‘Now,’ said he, ‘I want you this noon at the table to -hold up your knife and fork as Daniel does. I will speak to you about -it, and we will see if the boy does not take a hint for himself.’ - -“The young man consented to be the scapegoat for his fellow-student, -and several times during the meal planted his fists on the table, with -his knife and fork as straight as if he had received orders to present -arms. The Squire drew his attention to his position, courteously begged -his pardon for speaking of the matter, and added a few kind words -on the importance of young men correcting such little habits before -going out into the world. The student thanked him for his interest and -advice, and promised reform, and Daniel’s knife and fork were never -from that day seen elevated at table.” - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -PREPARING FOR COLLEGE. - - -After nine months spent at Exeter Daniel was withdrawn by his father, -not from any dissatisfaction with the school or with the pupil’s -progress, but probably for economical reasons. Judge Webster was a poor -man, and though the charges at Exeter at that time were very moderate -they were a heavy draft upon the good father’s purse. But Dan was not -taken back to farm-work. He was allowed to continue his classical -studies, but under different auspices. - -In the town of Boscawan, only six miles off, the minister, Rev. Samuel -Wood, was noted for his success in preparing boys for college. His -charges, too, were wonderfully low. For board and instruction he only -charged one dollar per week, which leads us to infer either that -provisions were very cheap, or that boys had less appetite than is the -case now. At any rate, the low price was a great inducement to Dan’s -father. - -“Dan,” he said, soon after the boy came, “do you wish to continue your -studies?” - -“Yes, father, if you are willing.” - -“I am not only willing but desirous that you should do so. I intend to -place you with Rev. Mr. Wood, of Boscawen.” - -Daniel knew of Mr. Wood’s reputation as a teacher, and the prospect did -not displease him. - -Still his father had not announced the plan he had in view for him. - -One cold winter day, when the snow lay deep on the ground, Judge -Webster and Dan started for the house of his future teacher. As they -were ascending a hill slowly through deep snows the Judge, who had for -some time been silent, said, “Dan, I may as well tell you what plan I -have in view for you. I shall ask Mr. Wood to prepare you for college, -and I will let you enter at Dartmouth as soon as you are ready.” - -Daniel could not speak for emotion. He knew what a sacrifice it would -involve for his father with his straitened means to carry through such -a plan as that, and his heart was full. As he himself says, “A warm -glow ran all over me, and I laid my head on my father’s shoulder and -wept.” - -I am afraid that some boys—possibly some of my young readers—have -received a similar announcement from their fathers with quite different -feelings. - -We are to imagine Dan, then, an inmate of the minister’s family, -pursuing his studies with success, but with less of formal restraint -than when he was a pupil at Exeter. Indeed I shall not attempt -to conceal the fact that occasionally Dan’s love of sport, and -particularly of fishing, drew him away from his studies, and led him to -incur the good doctor’s remonstrances. - -One day after a reprimand, which was tempered, however, by a compliment -to his natural abilities, Daniel determined to surprise his teacher. - -The task assigned him to prepare was one hundred lines of Virgil, a -long lesson, as many boys would think. Daniel did not go to bed, but -spent all night in poring over his book. - -The next day, when the hour for recitation came, Dan recited his lesson -with fluency and correctness. - -“Very well,” said Dr. Wood, preparing to close the book. - -“But, doctor, I have a few more lines that I can recite.” - -“Very well,” said Mr. Wood, supposing that Dan might have read -twenty-five or thirty lines more. But the boy kept on till he had -completed a second hundred. - -“Really, Dan, I compliment you on your industry,” said his teacher, -again about to close the book. - -“But,” said Dan, “I have studied further.” “Very remarkable,” said the -minister in surprise; “well, let us have them.” - -Dan rolled off another hundred lines, which he appeared to know quite -as well as the previous two hundred. - -“You are a smart boy!” said the doctor approvingly, and not without a -feeling of relief, for it is rather tedious to listen critically to the -translation of three hundred lines. - -“But,” said Dan, “I am not through yet.” - -“Pray how much have you read?” asked Dr. Wood in amazement. - -“I can recite five hundred more if you like,” said Dan, his eyes -twinkling with enjoyment at the doctor’s surprise. - -“I think that will do for to-day,” said Dr. Wood. “I don’t think I -shall have time to hear them now. You may have the rest of the day for -pigeon shooting.” - -Indeed Dan was always fond of sport, and not particularly fond of -farm-work. My boy reader may like to read an anecdote of this time, -which I will give in the very words in which Daniel told it to some -friends at a later day. - -While at Dr. Wood’s, “my father sent for me in haying time to help -him, and put me into a field to turn hay, and left me. It was pretty -lonely there, and, after working some time, I found it very dull; and, -as I knew my father was gone away, I walked home, and asked my sister -Sally if she did not want to go and pick some whortleberries. She said -yes. So I went and got some horses, and put a side-saddle on one, and -we set off. We did not get home till it was pretty late, and I soon -went to bed. When my father came home he asked my mother where I was, -and what I had been about. She told him. The next morning when I awoke -I saw all the clothes I had brought from Dr. Wood’s tied up in a small -bundle again. When I saw my father he asked me how I liked haying. I -told him I found it ‘pretty dull and lonesome yesterday.’ ’Well,’ said -he, ‘I believe you may as well go back to Dr. Wood’s.’ So I took my -bundle under my arm, and on my way I met Thomas W. Thompson, a lawyer -in Salisbury; he laughed very heartily when he saw me. ‘So,’ said he, -’your farming is over, is it?’” - -It will occur to my readers that, as Judge Webster was struggling so -earnestly to give Dan an education, it would have been more considerate -for the boy to have remained at his task, and so saved his father -the trouble of finishing it. However, it is not my intention to -present the boy as in all respects a model, though it is certain -that he appreciated and was thoroughly grateful for his father’s -self-sacrificing devotion. - -On one occasion Dan was set to mowing. He did not succeed very well. - -“What is the matter, Dan?” asked his father. - -“My scythe does not _hang_ well,” answered Dan, an answer which will be -understood by country boys. - -His father took the scythe and tried to remedy the difficulty, but when -it was handed back to Dan, it worked no better. - -“I think you had better hang it to suit yourself, Dan,” said his father. - -With a laughing face Dan hung it on the branch of a tree, and turning -to his father said, “There, that is just right.” - -On another occasion Judge Webster, on returning home, questioned the -boys as to what they had been doing in his absence. - -“What have you been doing, Ezekiel?” asked his father. - -“Nothing, sir,” was the frank reply. - -“And you, Daniel, what have you been doing?” - -“_Helping Zeke, sir._” - -There is no doubt that Judge Webster was more indulgent than was usual -in that day to his children, and more particularly to Daniel, of whose -talents he was proud, and of whose future distinction he may have had -in his mind some faint foreshadowing. This indulgence was increased -by Dan’s early delicacy of constitution. At any rate, Daniel had in -his father his best friend, not only kind but judicious, and perhaps -the eminence he afterwards attained was due in part to the judicious -management of the father, who earnestly sought to give him a good start -in life. - -While at Boscawan Dan found another circulating library, and was able -to enlarge his reading and culture. Among the books which it contained -was an English translation of Don Quixote, and this seems to have had a -powerful fascination for the boy. “I began to read it,” he says in his -autobiography, “and it is literally true that I never closed my eyes -until I had finished it, nor did I lay it down, so great was the power -of this extraordinary book on my imagination.” - -Meanwhile Daniel was making rapid progress in his classical studies. -He studied fitfully perhaps, but nevertheless rapidly. In the summer -of 1797, at the age of fifteen, he was pronounced ready to enter -college. His acquisitions were by no means extensive, for in those -days colleges were content with a scantier supply of preparatory -knowledge than now. In the ancient languages he had read the first six -books of Virgil’s Æneid, Cicero’s four Orations against Catiline, a -little Greek grammar, and the four Evangelists of the Greek Testament. -In mathematics he had some knowledge of arithmetic, but knew nothing -of algebra or geometry. He had read a considerable number of books, -however, enough to give him a literary taste, but he was by no means -a prodigy of learning. Yet, slender as were his acquirements, his -school life was at an end, and the doors of Dartmouth College opened to -receive its most distinguished son. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -DANIEL’S COLLEGE LIFE. - - -It is all important point in a boy’s life when he enters college. He -leaves home, in most cases, and, to a greater extent than ever before, -he is trusted to order his own life and rely upon his own judgment. -It is a trying ordeal, and many fail to pass through it creditably. A -student who has plenty of money is in greater danger of wasting his -time from the enlarged opportunities of enjoyment which money can buy. -From this danger, at least, Daniel was free. His father found it hard -enough to pay his ordinary expenses, and it is hardly likely that the -boy ever had much spare money to spend on pleasure. - -Besides, though only fifteen, Daniel already possessed a gravity and -earnestness not often to be found in much older students. These, -however, were blended with a humor and love of fun which contributed to -make him an agreeable companion for his fellow-students. - -Daniel’s development was not rapid. The oak tree grows steadily, but in -rapidity of growth it is eclipsed by many trees of less importance. -The great powers which our hero exhibited in after life did not at once -make themselves manifest. He did not at once take his place proudly at -the head of his class. This is shown by the fact that at the Sophomore -exhibition neither of the two principal appointments was assigned to -him. Notwithstanding this, it may safely be asserted that his time -was well spent. In this connection I am sure my young readers will be -interested in reading the testimony of Professor Shortliff. - -“Mr. Webster, while in college,” writes the professor, “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 absent 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 his own business. But, as steady as the -sun, he pursued with intense application the great object for which he -came to college.” - -This is certainly high praise, and I am afraid such words could hardly -be said with truth of the majority of the college students of to-day. -Conscientious devotion to duty is often set down by college students -as indicating a lack of proper spirit, and the punctilious scholar is -often stigmatized as a toady, who is trying to curry favor with the -Faculty. Daniel, however, understood very well how important to his -future success was his improvement of the advantages which his father’s -self-sacrifice had purchased for him. Judge Webster was obliged to -mortgage his house and farm to meet the expenses incurred by Daniel’s -education, and he would indeed have been most reprehensible if he had -not constantly borne this in mind. - -To go into details, Daniel’s favorite studies were the Latin and Greek -classics. He was but slenderly versed in these languages when he -entered college, and the college course was not as advanced as it is at -Dartmouth to-day. The first year, and part of the second, was devoted -to authors and studies which now receive attention before entrance. -For instance, the Freshman class went on with the Seventh Book of the -Æneid and with the remainder of the Greek Testament, arithmetic was -continued, and algebra was begun. While he was not below the average -in mathematics, Daniel certainly did not excel in that department. -It is related of Charles Sumner that he made strenuous efforts to -become a good mathematical scholar in spite of, perhaps because of, -his conscious distaste for that important branch, but without marked -success. General reading and composition always attracted him, and he -was probably one of the best read students at the time in college. He -devoted his leisure hours to extensive readings in poetry, history and -criticism. His powerful and retentive memory made this voluntary course -of especial value, and years later there were times when he was able to -make happy and striking quotations from authors he had not read since -his college life. - -It is quite certain that Daniel at this time had no path marked out for -his future life, yet he probably could not have made a more profitable -preparation for that which actually lay before him than that which he -was unconsciously making. The history of England and of his own country -especially interested him, not alone the history of outward events, but -the constitutional history. From the age of eight he had been familiar -with the Constitution of the United States, read for the first time as -printed on the cheap cotton handkerchief, of which mention has already -been made. He never ceased to study it, and he well deserved the title -sometimes given him of Expounder and Defender of the Constitution. - -At that time, as at present, it was the custom for the students to -form societies, in which debates and other literary exercises were -the principal features of the periodical meetings. Towards the middle -of his college course Daniel joined “The United Fraternity,” then the -leading society in college. He had long since overcome the diffidence -which at Exeter prevented him from participating in the exercise of -declamation. In the society he became distinguished both as a writer -and debater, and ere long ranked in the general estimation as the best -writer and speaker in college. So far as he exhibited precocity in -anything he showed it in these two branches. His method of preparation, -for he always prepared himself when he proposed to speak, is described -by a classmate as follows: “He was accustomed to arrange his thoughts -in his mind in his room or his private walks, and to put them upon -paper just before the exercise would be called for. When he was -required to speak at two o’clock, he would frequently begin to write -after dinner, and when the bell rang he would fold his paper, put it in -his pocket and go in, and speak with great ease. In his movements he -was rather slow and deliberate, except when his feelings were aroused; -then his whole soul would kindle into a flame.” - -As this was the formative period when young Webster’s intellectual -character was taking shape; as, moreover, he was still a boy in years, -no older than many who will read this book, I add another tribute to -his industry in college and the ability which he displayed. It is from -a letter written by Hon. Henry Hubbard to Prof. Sanborn. - -“I entered the Freshman class in 1799,” writes Mr. Hubbard, “at the -early age of fourteen. I was two years in college with Mr. Webster. -When I first went to Hanover I found his reputation already established -as the most remarkable young man in the college. He was, I believe, so -decidedly beyond any one else that no other student of his class was -ever spoken of as _second_ to him. I was led, very soon, to appreciate -most highly his scholarship and attainments. As a student his -acquisitions seemed to me to be very extensive. Every subject appeared -to contribute something to his intellectual stores. He acquired -knowledge with remarkable facility. He seemed to grasp the meaning -and substance of a book almost by intuition. Others toiled long and -patiently for that which he acquired at a glance. - -“As a scholar, I should say that he was then distinguished for -the uncommon extent of his knowledge, and for the ease with which -he acquired it. But I should say that I was more impressed by his -eloquence and power as a speaker, before the society of which we were -both members, than by his other qualifications, however superior to -others. There was a completeness and fullness in his views, and a -force and expressiveness in his manner of presenting them, which no -other student possessed. We used to listen to him with the deepest -interest and respect, and no one thought of equaling the vigor and -glow of his eloquence. The oration which he delivered before the -United Fraternity on the day of his graduation is, I think, now among -the records of that society. Whoever will read it at this late day, -and bring to mind the appearance of the author, his manner and power, -during its delivery, cannot fail to admit that I have said no more -of his eloquence than I was warranted in saying. The students, and -those who knew him best and judged him most impartially, felt that no -one connected with the college deserved to be compared with him at -the time he received his first degree. His habits and moral character -were entirely unimpeachable. I never heard them questioned during our -college acquaintance.” - -After this testimony I am certainly justified in holding up Daniel -Webster, during his college life, as a fit model for all young men who -at this day are placed in similar circumstances and pursuing a similar -course. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -DANIEL RECEIVES SOME VALUABLE ADVICE - - -Peter Harvey, in his interesting volume of “Reminiscences of Daniel -Webster,” relates many incidents for which he was indebted to the free -and friendly communications of Mr. Webster himself. One of these I will -transfer to my pages, as it will be likely to amuse my young readers. -I can do no better than quote it without alteration from Mr. Harvey’s -book. - -“Mr. Webster was once telling me about a plain-spoken neighbor of -his father, whose sons were schoolmates of his own. The neighbor had -moved into the neighborhood of Hanover, where he had opened a little -clearing, and had settled upon a piece of comparatively barren land. -After Daniel had been in college several months his father said to him, - -“‘John Hanson is away up there somewhere. I should like to know how he -is getting along. I think you had better find him out, and go and see -him.’ - -“So Daniel inquired about, and soon found out pretty nearly where -Hanson lived. - -“‘One Saturday afternoon,’ related Mr. Webster, ’I thought I would -trudge up there through the woods, and spend Sunday with my old -friends. After a long, tedious walk I began to think I should never -find the place; but I finally did, and when I got there I was pretty -well tired out with climbing, jumping over logs, and so on. The family -were not less delighted than surprised to see me, but they were as poor -as Job’s cat. They were reduced to the last extreme of poverty, and -their house contained but one apartment, with a rude partition to make -two rooms. - -“’I saw how matters were; but it was too late to go back, and they -seemed really glad to see me. They confessed to me that they had -not even a cow, or any potatoes. The only thing they had to eat was -a bundle of green grass and a little hog’s lard, and they actually -subsisted on this grass fried in the hog’s fat. But it was not so bad -after all. They fried up a great platter of it, and I made my supper -and breakfast off it. About a year and a half afterwards, just before -graduating, I thought that, before leaving Hanover, I would go and pay -another visit to the Hansons. I found that they had improved somewhat, -for they now had a cow and plenty of plain, homely fare. I spent the -night there, and was about to leave the next morning, when Hanson said -to me, - -“’“Well, Daniel, you are about to graduate. You’ve got through college, -and have got college larnin’, and now, what are you going to do with -it?” - -“’I told him I had not decided on a profession. - -“’“Well,” said he, “you are a good boy; your father was a kind man -to me, and was always kind to the poor. I should like to do a kind -turn to him and his. You’ve got through college, and people that go -through college either become ministers, or doctors, or lawyers. As -for bein’ a minister I would never think of doin’ that; they never get -paid anything. Doctorin’ is a miserable profession; they live upon -other people’s ailin’s, are up nights, and have no peace. And as for -bein’ a lawyer, I would never propose that to anybody. Now,” said he, -“Daniel, I’ll tell you what! You are a boy of parts; you understand -this book-larnin’, and you are bright. I knew a man who had college -larnin’ down in Rye, where I lived when I was a boy. That man was a -conjurer; he could tell by consultin’ his books and study if a man had -lost his cow where she was. That was a great thing, and if people lost -anything, they would think nothin’ of payin’ three or four dollars to -a man like that, so as to find their property. There is not a conjurer -within a hundred miles of this place; and you are a bright boy, and -have got this college larnin’. The best thing you can do, Daniel, is to -study that, and _be a conjurer_!”’” - -We can imagine the serious, earnest tone in which this advice was -given, and we may easily suppose that Daniel found it hard not to -laugh when the climax was reached. We can hardly imagine the advice to -have been taken. If, in place of Daniel Webster, the great lawyer, and -the defender of the Constitution, we had Daniel Webster, the famous -conjurer, it would be a ludicrous transformation. There are few persons -who do not consider themselves qualified to give advice, but when my -young readers are advised about the serious business of life, let them -consider whether the advice comes from one who is qualified by wisdom -and good judgment to give it. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -BROTHERLY LOVE. - - -Daniel’s path seemed to lie plain before him. He was a college student, -receiving and using such advantages as Dartmouth could give him. At -nineteen he would be a graduate, and well qualified to commence a -professional course. So far as he was concerned Daniel felt that he had -reason to congratulate himself. But there was another for whom he began -to feel solicitude. - -Ezekiel Webster was nearly two years older than Daniel, and like him -possessed uncommon natural gifts. A strong affection had united the two -brothers from their earliest years. There was no reason, apart from -Judge Webster’s poverty, why Ezekiel, as well as his younger brother, -should not be allowed a college education. But the father hesitated -long before he ventured to offer Daniel the education which he longed -to give him, and to raise the necessary money was obliged to mortgage -his humble house. His plan for Ezekiel was that he should remain at -home and carry on the farm. As he grew older, and hard work had made -him in his own words “old before his time,” he felt that it would -be a relief to have a son like Ezekiel to take the burden from his -shoulders, and keep up the farm. But Ezekiel scarcely more than Daniel -had a vocation for farming. He too had a thirst for learning, and felt -that a farmer’s life would be uncongenial. It is natural that he should -have felt dissatisfied with his prospects, and that the claims of Duty -which he recognized should nevertheless have seemed to him difficult to -obey. - -Such was the state of feeling when Daniel came home on a vacation. To -him Ezekiel revealed his thoughts and inward struggles. - -“I ought to stay, Daniel,” he said; “now that you are away father -needs me more than ever, but I can’t bear the idea of growing up in -ignorance, with no work more elevating than working on the farm.” - -Daniel was touched. He could see how unequal their lots were likely -to be. While he might be a successful lawyer, his favorite brother, -whose talents he considered to equal his own, would have to toil on the -barren acres of their paternal farm. - -“I can’t bear the idea, either, Zeke,” he answered. “You are -sacrificing yourself to me. Father has mortgaged the farm to pay my -expenses, and you are working to pay it.” - -“If but one of us can have an education, Dan, I am glad that you are -that one.” - -“But, Zeke, you are as smart as I, nay, smarter, and ought to have the -same advantages.” - -“It cannot be, Daniel. I know that well enough. If I could be spared to -leave home I should like to go out West. In a new part of the country I -should have a better chance of getting on than here. Here on our barren -little farm there is no chance to do better than get a bare living.” - -“I wish you could go to college too. Isn’t there some way of managing -it?” - -“I have thought of it many times, but I see no way,” answered Ezekiel -despondently. - -“May I mention the subject to father, Zeke?” - -“It would only trouble him, and after all it would do no good.” - -All night long the two brothers talked the matter over, and finally -Zeke gave his consent to Dan’s broaching the subject to their father. -The result I will give in Daniel’s words. - -“I ventured on the negotiation, and it was carried, as other things -often are, by the earnest and sanguine manner of youth. I told him -[Judge Webster] that I was unhappy at my brother’s prospects. For -myself I saw my way to knowledge, respectability and self-protection; -but as to him, all looked the other way; that I would keep school, -and get along as well as I could, be more than four years in getting -through college, if necessary, provided he also could be sent to study. -He said at once he lived but for his children; that he had but little, -and on that little he put no value, except so far as it might be useful -to them; that to carry us both through college would take all he was -worth; that, for himself, he was willing to run the risk, but that this -was a serious matter to our mother and two unmarried sisters; that we -must settle the matter with them, and if their consent was obtained, he -would trust to Providence, and get along as well as he could.” - -So the matter was referred to Mrs. Webster, and she showed a devotion -equal to that exhibited by her husband. Though she knew that the -education of both of her boys would take the balance of their little -property, she never hesitated. “I will trust the boys,” she answered -promptly. - -Her confidence was not misplaced. She lived long enough to rejoice in -the success of both sons, and to find a happy and comfortable home -with Ezekiel. Nothing in the life of Daniel Webster is more beautiful -than the devotion of the parents to their children, and the mutual -affection which existed between them. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -THE TWO BROTHERS. - - -Ezekiel was worthy of the sacrifices his parents made for him. If he -was not the equal of Daniel in ability, he was still remarkable, and -in time reached high rank as a lawyer in his native State. He was a -man grown, and nearly a man in years, when his new plan of life was -formed. He was close upon twenty years of age, a young man of striking -appearance, “an improved edition of his father in form and features,” -but thus far he had had only such educational advantages as were -afforded by the common schools of his native town. But a small academy -had been established in Salisbury, and of this he enrolled himself as a -pupil. He remained here for two years, beginning the Latin grammar, for -it was necessary, notwithstanding his age, to begin at the lowest round -of the ladder. - -From the academy he went to reside with Dr. Wood, and under him -completed his preparatory studies. The good minister was justly proud -of having trained two such pupils as Daniel and Ezekiel Webster. - -Between the two brothers the natural relations of older and younger -seemed to be reversed. Ezekiel looked up to Daniel, though the latter -was two years his junior, and asked his advice, but Daniel never -assumed the superiority which his elder brother was so ready to -concede. Here is an extract from one of his letters: “You tell me that -you have difficulties to encounter which I know nothing of. What do -you mean, Ezekiel? Do you mean to flatter? That don’t become you; or, -do you think you are inferior to me in natural advantages? If so, be -assured you greatly mistake. Therefore, for the future say in your -letters to me, ‘I am superior to you in natural endowments; I will know -more in one year than you do now, and more in six than you ever will.’ -I should not resent this language. I should be very well pleased in -hearing it; but be assured, as mighty as you are your great puissance -shall never insure you a victory without a contest.” - -It will be seen how warm and free from jealousy were the relations -between these two brothers. The spectacle is particularly pleasing -because in so many families we find the case so different. Alienation, -jealousy and strife are too often found. When brothers band together, -cherishing a community of plans and interests, as in the case of the -well-known publishers, the Harper brothers, their chance of a large -and enduring success is much greater than it would be if all pulled in -different directions. - -Ezekiel entered college just as Daniel, his younger brother, was -leaving it. As he was destined to be associated with Daniel afterwards, -my young readers may like to know how he succeeded in college. I quote, -from the private correspondence of Daniel Webster, a letter written by -Rev. George T. Chapman touching this point: - -“All my recollections of Ezekiel Webster are of a gratifying character. -In the Senior year we occupied rooms opposite to each other, in a -building directly north of the college. I am therefore able to state, -from intimate personal acquaintance, that he was altogether exemplary -in his habits and faithful in his studies. He had no enemies, and all -were happy to be numbered in the list of his friends. - -“Owing to his absence in teaching school, no part was assigned him at -Commencement. But I have no doubt he stood high in the estimation of -the college Faculty; and although I should hesitate to pronounce him -the first scholar in his class, it would be doing injustice to his -memory to say that he was excelled by either of those who received -the highest college honors on the day of our graduation. It has -been recently stated that he was particularly distinguished for his -knowledge of Greek; but I cannot now recall the circumstance to mind, -nor, in fact, make any discrimination as to relative proficiency in -the several branches of study. He was deficient in none. He was good -in all. Such at least is my recollection of the reputation he enjoyed. -After leaving college, from all that I have heard, he obtained a -greater degree of eminence in the eye of the public than any of his -classmates; and when I revert to college days, after the lapse of -almost half a century, all my recollections of what he then was cause -me to feel no surprise at the subsequent elevation which he attained.” - -I think I am justified in saying that Ezekiel was worthy of his -relationship to Daniel, though he was overshadowed by the more -brilliant talents and success of his younger brother. It is to be -considered, however, that he was cut off in the midst of his career, -before he had attained the age of fifty, and we cannot tell what might -have been had he lived twenty years longer. - -But we must not forget that it is the life and the gradual development -of Daniel’s powers that we are studying. My young readers will -probably be surprised to learn that in college he was known as a poet, -and appears to have written verse on many occasions with considerable -facility. That he would ever have achieved eminence in this class of -composition no one will claim, but as the productions of such a youth -his verses merit notice. That my readers may judge for themselves, I -will quote entire a letter in rhyme written by Daniel a little before -he attained the age of seventeen. It was addressed to his friend, -George Herbert: - - “DARTMOUTH COLLEGE, Dec. 20, 1798. - - “Dear George, I go. I leave the friend I love. - Long since ’twas written in the books above. - But what, good God! I leave thee, do I say? - The thought distracts my soul, and fills me with dismay. - But Heaven decreed it, let me not repine; - I go; but, George, my heart is knit with thine. - In vain old Time shall all his forces prove - To tear my heart from the dear friend I love; - Should you be distant far as Afric’s sand, - By Fancy pictured, you’d be near at hand. - This shall console my thoughts till time shall end: - Though George be absent, George is still my friend. - But other friends I leave; it wounds my heart - To leave a Gilman, Conkey and a Clark; - But hope through the sad thought my soul shall bear: - Bereft of hope I’d sink in dark despair. - When Phœbus a few courses shall have run, - And e’er old Aries shall receive the sun, - I shall return, nor more shall fear the day - That from my friends shall take poor me away. - Oh then roll on, ye lagging wheels of time, - Roll on the hours; till then, dear George, I’m thine. - - “D. W.” - -Verse-writing was but an episode, an occasional diversion, with Daniel, -and when he entered upon his professional life he found little time -to devote to it. I will therefore cite but one other specimen of his -college productions in this line. It was written shortly after his -eighteenth birthday, and was appended to a letter written to his -intimate friend, Mr. Bingham. - -It runs thus: - - “SYLVARUMQUE POTENS DIANA. A FABLE. - - “Bright Phœbus long all rival suns outshone, - And rode triumphant on his splendid throne. - When first he waked the blushes of the dawn, - And spread his beauties o’er the flowery lawn, - The yielding stars quick hastened from the sky, - Nor moon dare longer with his glories vie; - He reigned supreme, and decked in roseate light - Beamed his full splendors on the astonished sight. - At length on earth behold a damsel rise, - Whose growing beauties charmed the wondering skies! - As forth she walked to breathe the balmy air, - And view the beauties of the gay parterre, - Her radiant glories drowned the blaze of day, - And through all nature shot a brighter ray. - Old Phœbus saw—and blushed—now forced to own - That with superior worth the damsel shone. - Graced with his name he bade her ever shine, - And in his rival owned a form divine!” - -One trait of the young college student I must refer to, because young -men at that stage in their mental training are too apt to be marked by -a self-sufficient and not altogether agreeable opinion of their own -powers. Notwithstanding his great abilities Daniel was always modest, -and disposed to under rather than overestimate himself. Shortly after -his graduation he took occasion to express himself thus, in speaking to -some friends: - -“The opinion of my scholarship was a mistaken one. It was -overestimated. I will explain what I mean. Many other students read -more than I did, and knew more than I did. But so much as I read I made -my own. When a half hour, or an hour at most, had elapsed, I closed my -book and thought over what I had read. If there was anything peculiarly -interesting or striking in the passage I endeavored to recall it and -lay it up in my memory, and commonly could effect my object. Then if, -in debate or conversation afterwards, any subject came up on which I -had read something, I could talk very easily so far as I had read, and -then I was very careful to stop. Thus greater credit was given me for -extensive and accurate knowledge than I really possessed.” - -It may be remarked generally that men of great abilities are more -likely to be modest than third-rate men, who are very much afraid -that they will not be rated as high as they should be. There are -indeed exceptions, and those of a conspicuous character. The poet -Wordsworth had a comfortable consciousness of his superiority to his -contemporaries, and on one occasion, when he was asked if he had read -the poems of such a one (a prominent poet), he answered, “I never read -any poetry except my own.” - -It is a safe rule to let the world pronounce you great before you call -attention to your own greatness. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - -DANIEL AS AN ORATOR. - - -The four years spent in college generally bear an important relation to -the future success or non-success of the student. It is the formative -period with most young men, that is, it is the time when the habits are -formed which are to continue through life. Let us inquire, then, what -did Daniel Webster’s college course do for him? - -We cannot claim that his attainments at graduation were equal to those -of the most proficient graduates of our colleges to-day. The curriculum -at Dartmouth, and indeed at all colleges, was more limited and -elementary than at present. Daniel was a good Greek and Latin scholar -for his advantages, but those were not great. He did, however, pay -special attention to philosophical studies, and to the law of nations. -He took an interest in current politics, as may be gathered from -letters written in his college days, and was unconsciously preparing -himself for the office of a statesman. - -He paid special attention also to oratory. No longer shrinking from -speaking before his classmates, he voluntarily composed the pieces he -declaimed, and took an active part besides in the debating society. -I am sure my young reader will like to know how Daniel wrote at this -time, and will like to compare the oratory of the college student with -that of the future statesman. I shall, therefore, quote from a Fourth -of July oration, which he delivered by invitation to the citizens -and students at the age of eighteen. As in a boy’s features we trace -a general likeness to his mature manhood, so I think we may trace a -likeness in passages of this early effort to the speeches he made in -the fullness of his fame. - -This is the opening of the address: - -“_Countrymen, Brethren and Fathers_: We are now assembled to celebrate -an anniversary, ever to be held in dear remembrance by 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 bondage is the event we commemorate. - -“Twenty-four years have this day 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 indescribable 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 cordially unite with you to greet the -return of this joyous anniversary, to welcome the return of the day -that gave us freedom, and to hail the rising glories of our country.” - -Further on he paints the hardships and distresses through which the -colonists had passed: - -“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 religious -sentiments denied them in the land that gave them birth, they braved -the dangers of the then almost unnavigated 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 arrived on this side of the -Atlantic. - -“Scattered in detachments along a coast immensely extensive, at a -distance of more than three thousand miles from their friends on -the eastern continent, 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 -howled terribly around them, and the more portentous yell of savage -fury incessantly assailed them. But the same undiminished confidence -in Almighty God, which prompted the first settlers of the country -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 to their labors now in prospect, they -cheerfully endured the rigors of the climate, pursued the savage beast -to his remotest haunt, and stood undismayed in the dismal hour of -Indian battle.” - -Passing on to the Revolutionary struggle the young orator refers to -“our brethren attacked and slaughtered at Lexington, our property -plundered and destroyed at Concord,” to “the spiral flames of burning -Charlestown,” and proceeds as follows: - -“Indelibly impressed on our memories still lives the dismal scene of -Bunker’s awful mount, the grand theater of New England bravery, where -slaughter stalked grimly triumphant, where relentless Britain saw her -soldiers, the unhappy instruments of despotism, fallen in heaps beneath -the nervous arm of injured freemen! - -“There the great Warren fought, and there, alas! he fell. Valuing his -life only as it enabled him to serve his country, he freely resigned -himself a willing martyr in the cause of liberty, and now lies -encircled in the arms of glory. - - “’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 proud trump proclaim the hero’s name - Far as the circuit of the spheres extends!’ - -“But, haughty Albion, thy reign shall soon be over. Thou shalt triumph -no longer; thy empire already reels and totters; thy laurel even now -begins to wither and thy fame to decay. Thou hast at length aroused the -indignation of an insulted people; thy oppressions they deem no longer -tolerable. - -“The Fourth Day 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 citizens, by the supreme council of the -nation, and received with the unbounded plaudits of a grateful people! -That was the hour when heroism was proved—when the souls of men were -tried! - -“It was then, ye venerable patriots,” there were some Revolutionary -soldiers present—“it was then you lifted the indignant arm, and -unitedly swore to be free! Despising such toys as subjugated empires, -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, defeated the gigantic power of -Britain, and rode triumphant over the aggressions of your enemies! - -“Trenton, Princeton, Bennington and Saratoga were the successive -theaters of your victories, and the utmost bounds of creation are the -limits of your fame! The sacred fire of freedom, then enkindled in your -breasts, shall be perpetuated through the long descent of future ages, -and burn with undiminished fervor in the bosoms of millions yet unborn!” - -Further on we find the following passage: - -“The great drama is now completed; our independence is now -acknowledged, and the hopes of our enemies are blasted forever. -Columbia is now sealed in the forum of nations, and the empires of the -world are amazed at the effulgence of her glory. - -“Thus, friends and citizens, did the kind hand of an overruling -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 are clearly traced in those events which mark the annals of -our nation, it becomes us on this day, in consideration 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 destinies of nations.” - -The oration was a long one, and touched a variety of topics, but the -extracts already given will convey a good idea of its excellencies and -defects. My college readers will understand me when I say that the -style is sophomoric and ambitious, but these faults may be pardoned in -a youth of eighteen. The tone is elevated, it is marked by gravity and -earnestness, the sentiments are just, there is evidence of thought, -and, on the whole, we may regard the oration as a hopeful promise -of the future. The magniloquence gave place in time to a weighty -simplicity, in which every word told, and not one could be spared. It -was rather remarkable that so young a man should have been selected to -deliver such an address in Hanover, and indicates that Daniel had by -this time acquired reputation as a public speaker. - -This was not the only occasion on which he was selected to speak in -public. When a classmate, a general favorite, died, young Webster was -unanimously selected to deliver an address of commemoration. He is said -to have spoken with a fervor and eloquence which deeply stirred the -hearts of the large audience that had assembled to hear him. “During -the delivery the fall of a pin could have been heard at any moment; a -dense audience were carried entirely away, and kept spellbound by the -magic of his voice and manner; and when he sat down, he left a thousand -people weeping real tears over a heartfelt sorrow. It is reported that -there was not a dry eye in all the vast congregation which the event -and the fame of the orator had brought together.” - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -STUDYING LAW. - - -Daniel had now successfully accomplished the first object of his -ambition. He was a college graduate. Though not the first scholar in -his class he was very near the head, and probably in general culture -stood first. There was a little misunderstanding which led to his -declining to appear at Commencement. His friends desired him to deliver -the valedictory, but the Faculty selected another, and Daniel remained -silent. There is a report that he tore up his diploma in anger and -disgust in presence of his classmates, saying, “My industry may make me -a great man, but this miserable parchment cannot.” Had this story been -true it would have done Daniel little credit. George Ticknor Curtis, -who has written the most elaborate and trustworthy memoir of Webster -states emphatically that there is no foundation for this story. Even if -not entirely satisfied with the treatment he received at that time, -Daniel’s loyalty to his Alma Mater was never doubted. - -And now the world was before the young graduate. What was he to do? - -His thoughts had long been fixed upon the legal profession. This was -no proof of a special fitness for it, for at least half of the young -men who graduate from our colleges make the same choice. But with -Daniel the choice was a more serious one, for he very well knew that -he could not afford to make a mistake here. Poverty was still his hard -taskmaster, and he leaned beneath its dark shadow. - -My young reader will remember that at the age of fourteen Daniel -officiated as office-boy for a young lawyer in his native town—Thomas -W. Thompson. Now a college graduate of nineteen, he re-entered the same -office as a law student. Mr. Thompson was a man of ability. He was a -graduate of Harvard, where also he had filled the position of tutor. -While the boy was obtaining an education at Dartmouth, Thompson was -establishing a lucrative law practice. He became in time prominent -in State politics, and finally went to Congress. It will be seen, -therefore, that Daniel made a good choice, and that Mr. Thompson was -something more than an obscure country lawyer. - -It is a little significant that the first law books which the young -student read related to the law of nations. He read also standard -literary works, and gave his leisure hours to hunting and fishing, the -last of which was always a favorite sport with him. He gained some -insight into the practical business of a law office. The reader will -be amused at a humorous account of the manner in which he was employed -during a temporary absence of his legal preceptor and a fellow-student. - -“I have made some few writs,” he says, “and am now about to bring an -action of trespass for breaking a violin. The owner of the violin was -at a husking, where - - ‘His jarring concord, and his discord dulcet,’ - -made the girls skip over the husks as nimbly as Virgil’s Camilla over -the tops of the corn, till an old surly creature caught his fiddle and -broke it against the wall. For the sake of having plump witnesses the -plaintiff will summons all the girls to attend the trial at Concord.” - -Here is another extract from a letter to the same friend which will -amuse: “I thank you for your receipt for greasing boots. Have this -afternoon to ride to the South Road, and in truth my boots admit not -only water, but peas and gravel-stones. I wish I had better ones. As -for ‘my new friend, tobacco,’ he is like most of that name has made me -twice sick, and is now dismissed. - -“Heighho! a man wants a remedy against his neighbor, whose lips were -found damage-feasant on his—the plaintiffs—wife’s cheek! What is to be -done? But you have not read the law against kissing. I will write for -advice and direction to Barrister Fuller.” - -So the young man appeared to be enjoying himself while pursuing -his studies, and would probably have wished nothing better than to -have gone on till he was prepared for admission to the bar on his -own account. But there was a serious obstacle. His good father had -well nigh exhausted his means in carrying Daniel through college, -and Ezekiel through his preparatory studies, and was now very much -straitened for money. It was felt to be time for Daniel to help him. -He, therefore, “thought it his duty to suffer some delay in his -profession for the sake of serving his elder brother,” by seeking -employment outside. - -As a general thing when a college graduate is pressed by hard -necessity, he turns his attention to the task of teaching, and such -was the case with Daniel. Fortunately he soon found employment. From -Fryeburg, Maine, there came to him an invitation to take charge of the -academy there, and the young man accepted it. He was to be paid the -munificent salary of three hundred and fifty dollars per year, and he -felt that the offer was too dazzling to be rejected. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - -HOW DANIEL WENT TO FRYEBURG. - - -When a young college graduate of to-day sets out for the scene of -his dignified labors, he packs his trunk and buying a ticket for the -station nearest the favored spot where he is to impart knowledge, -takes his seat in a comfortable car, and is whirled rapidly to his -destination. - -Not thus did Daniel go. Railroads had not been heard of, and no stages -made the trip. He therefore purchased a horse for twenty-four dollars, -deposited his limited wardrobe and a few books in his saddle-bags, and -like a scholastic Don Quixote set out by the shortest path across the -country for Fryeburg. In due time he arrived, and the trustees of the -academy congratulated themselves on having secured Daniel Webster, -A.B., as their preceptor. How much more would they have congratulated -themselves could they have foreseen the future of the young teacher. - -Let me pause here to describe the appearance of the young man, as his -friends of that time depict him. He was tall and thin (he weighed but -one hundred and twenty pounds, which was certainly light weight for -a man not far from six feet in height), with a thin face, high cheek -bones, but bright, dark, penetrating eyes, which alone were sufficient -to make him remarkable. He had not wholly overcome the early delicacy -which had led his friends to select him as the scholar of the family, -because he was not strong enough to labor on the farm. His habitual -expression was grave and earnest, though, as we have seen, he had -inherited, and always retained, a genial humor from his father. - -Three hundred and fifty dollars seems a small salary, but Daniel -probably didn’t regard it with disdain. Expenses were small, as we are -told that the current rate of board was but two dollars per week, less -than a third of his income. Then his earnings were increased by a lucky -circumstance. - -Young Webster found a home in the family of James Osgood, Esq., -registrar of deeds for the county of Oxford. Mr. Osgood did not propose -to do the work himself, but was authorized to get it done. - -One evening soon after the advent of his new boarder, the registrar -said, “Mr. Webster, have you a mind to increase your income?” - -“I should be exceedingly glad to do so, sir,” answered the young man, -his face brightening with hopeful expectation. - -“You are aware that I hold the position of registrar of deeds for the -county. It is my duty to see that all deeds are properly recorded?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“This work I do not care to do myself, having sufficient other work to -occupy my time. How would you like to undertake it in the evening? It -would not interfere with your school duties.” - -“I am not a very good penman,” said the young man doubtfully. - -“Handsome penmanship is not required. It is sufficient if the deeds are -copied in a plain, legible hand, and this may be attained by effort.” - -“How much compensation would be allowed?” - -“I receive two shillings and threepence for each deed recorded. I will -allow you one shilling and sixpence, and you can average two deeds in -an evening. What do you say?” - -One shilling and sixpence was twenty-five cents. Two deeds therefore -would bring the young teacher fifty cents, and four evenings’ work, -therefore, would pay his board, and leave him his salary clear. This -was a tempting inducement, though it would involve dry and tedious -labor. - -“I will accept,” said Daniel promptly. - -“Then you can begin at once,” said Mr. Osgood, well satisfied. - -It was a hard way of earning money, but money was very much needed. So, -after the fatigues of the day, when supper was over, Daniel sat down -to record dry deeds. The curious visitor to Fryeburg can still see two -volumes of deeds, a large part of them in Daniel Webster’s handwriting. -Though not a good writer, he forced himself to write well, and in his -autobiography he says, “The ache is not yet out of my fingers, for -nothing has ever been so laborious to me as writing, when under the -necessity of writing a good hand.” - -I may be permitted to call the attention of my young readers to this -point—that what he had undertaken to do he did well, although it was a -task far from congenial. A young man or boy who observes this rule is -likely to succeed in the end: Whatever you have to do do as well as you -can. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - -THE PRECEPTOR OF FRYEBURG ACADEMY. - - -It may be supposed that between his school in the daytime and his -duties as copyist in the evening, Daniel found his time pretty well -occupied. As we know, he was not drawn to the teacher’s office by any -special love of that honorable vocation, but simply by the pecuniary -emolument. But, though this was the case, he discharged his duties with -conscientious fidelity, and made himself a favorite both among his -pupils and in the village, where the new preceptor was, as is usual, a -person of importance. - -He was accustomed to open and close the school with extemporaneous -prayer, and those who remember the deep solemnity of manner which he -could command at will will readily believe that this exercise was made -impressive by the young teacher. - -No stories have been handed down of insubordination among his pupils. -If there had been any, it would speedily have been quelled by the -preceptor, whose demeanor was naturally dignified. - -It is remarkable how many of our great men have spent a portion -of their early lives at the teacher’s desk. Gen. Garfield had an -unusually extensive and varied experience as teacher, and would have -passed through life very happily if he had never withdrawn from the -school-room. Daniel Webster had not his special aptitude for it, but -was nevertheless very fairly successful. One qualification, as we -learn from the testimony of a pupil, was his “remarkable equanimity -of temper.” The vexations of the school-room are neither few nor far -between, but none of them were able to bring a frown to young Webster’s -brow. Calmly he met and conquered all difficulties that came in his -way, and secured the confidence and respect of his scholars. - -The young man also impressed his pupils and friends as a man of -competent scholarship. Hon. Samuel Fessenden, of Portland, writes: -“The first I ever knew of Daniel Webster was immediately after he left -college, and was employed by my father, the secretary of the Trustees -of Fryeburg Academy, to become the principal instructor in that -institution. He was not, when he commenced, twenty years old. I heard -no one complain that his scholarship was not adequate to the duty he -had assumed. On the contrary, I heard the Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Porter, of -Conway, and my father, the Rev. William Fessenden, of Fryeburg, both of -whom were good scholars, and the former, Rev. Dr. Porter, a very great -man, say that Daniel Webster was a very good scholar for his years. -He did, while at Fryeburg, exhibit traits of talent and genius which -drew from these two divines, and from other professional gentlemen, -unqualified praise of his powers of mind. I remember very distinctly -hearing my father remark that if Mr. Webster should live, and have -health, and pursue a straightforward course of industry and virtue, he -would become one of the greatest men this country had produced.” - -When it is remembered that the young man of whom this prediction -was made was at the time an obscure teacher, in an obscure town, in -what was then a frontier settlement, we must infer that he exhibited -remarkable ability, and gave hints of a reserved power not yet called -into action. - -In spite of his engrossing employments, the young man found time to -enlarge his general culture by various reading. Nor did he neglect -his professional studies, but continued the reading of Blackstone’s -Commentaries. It is remarkable that with all this hard work he found -time for society. Dr. Osgood, the registrar’s son, says: “He was -usually serious, but often facetious and pleasant. He was an agreeable -companion, and eminently social with all who shared his friendship. -He was greatly beloved by all who knew him. His habits were strictly -abstemious, and he neither took wine nor strong drink. He was punctual -in his attendance upon public worship, and ever opened his school with -prayer. I never heard him use a profane word, and never saw him lose -his temper.” - -From all that has been said my young readers will see that Daniel was -beginning life in the right way. It seems to me that at this period he -was a model who may be safely copied in all respects. The reverence -which he so plainly evinced as a young man for religion he never lost, -but to the latest day of his life he yielded to none in his regard for -the spirit of Christianity. - -Under date of May 18, 1802, Daniel writes to his favorite friend Harvey -Bingham, giving some account of matters at Fryeburg. He had just -returned from spending a short vacation with his brother at Hanover. - -“I arrived here last night,” he says; “but must fill this page by -relating a little anecdote that happened yesterday. I accidentally -fell in with one of my scholars on his return to the academy. He -was mounted on the ugliest horse I ever saw or heard of except -Sancho Panzas’s pacer. As I had two horses with me, I proposed to -him to ride one of them, and tie his bay fast to his Bucephalus; he -did accordingly, and turned her forward, where her odd appearance, -indescribable gait, and frequent stumblings afforded us constant -amusement. At length we approached Saco River, a very wide, deep and -rapid stream, when this satire on the animal creation, as if to revenge -herself on us for our sarcasms, plunged into the river, then very high -by the freshet, and was wafted down the current like a bag of oats. I -could scarcely sit on my horse for laughter. I am apt to laugh at the -vexations of my friends. The fellow, who was of my own age, and my -roommate half checked the current by oaths as big as lobsters, and the -old Rosinante, who was all the while much at her ease, floated up among -the willows far below on the opposite shore.” - -While Daniel was laboring as teacher and copyist at Fryeburg, his -older brother, Ezekiel, was pursuing his studies at Dartmouth College, -sustained there mainly by the remittances which Daniel was able to send -him. The chief pleasure which the younger brother derived from his -experience as teacher was, that it gave him the means of securing for -his favorite brother the same advantages which he had himself enjoyed. -He cheerfully postponed his plan of professional study in order to -discharge this pious duty. Certainly the affection which united these -two brothers was very beautiful, and creditable to both. Too often -brothers are estranged without good reason, and follow selfishly -their own plans, without the desire to help each other. To the end -of Ezekiel’s life this mutual affection continued, and when he was -suddenly removed by death Daniel was deeply affected, and staggered -under the blow. - -How long was this occupation to continue? How long was the future -statesman to devote himself to the comparatively humble duty of -inducting country boys into the paths of knowledge? - -He had only engaged for two terms, but such was his success that the -trustees were not willing to have him go. As an inducement to him to -remain they offered to increase his small salary of three hundred and -fifty dollars to five or six hundred, with a house to live in, a piece -of land to cultivate, and possibly a clerkship of the Common Pleas. - -All this may sound very small to us, but to a youth who had been -reared in such straitened circumstances as Daniel it seemed like a -liberal competence. It required some decision and boldness to reject -this certainly for the uncertain prospects of a young lawyer, before -whom lay at the first a period of poverty and struggle. Then it must -be added that Daniel was modest, and was far from believing that he -was endowed with extraordinary talent. It is very probable that more -than half the young men who graduate from our law schools to-day have -a higher opinion of their abilities than Daniel Webster at the age of -twenty. To illustrate his struggles I quote from a letter written at -this time. - -“What shall I do? Shall I say, ‘Yes, gentlemen,’ and sit down here to -spend my days in a kind of comfortable privacy, or shall I relinquish -these prospects, and enter into a profession where my feelings will -be constantly harrowed by objects either of dishonesty or misfortune; -where my living must be squeezed from penury (for rich folks seldom -go to law), and my moral principle be continually at hazard? I agree -with you that the law is well calculated to draw forth the powers of -the mind, but what are its effects on the heart? are they equally -propitious? Does it inspire benevolence and awake tenderness; or does -it, by a frequent repetition of wretched objects, blunt sensibility and -stifle the still, small voice of mercy? - -“The talent with which Heaven has intrusted me is small, very small; -yet I feel responsible for the use of it, and am not willing to pervert -it to purposes reproachful or unjust, or to hide it, like the slothful -servant, in a napkin. - -“On the whole, I imagine I shall make one more trial (of the law) -in the ensuing autumn. If I prosecute the profession, I pray God to -fortify me against its temptations. To the winds I dismiss those -light hopes of eminence which ambition inspired and vanity fostered. -To be ‘honest, to be capable, to be faithful’ to my client and my -conscience. I believe you, my worthy boy, when you tell me what are -your intentions. I have long known and long loved the honesty of your -heart. But let us not rely too much on ourselves; let us look to some -less fallible guide to direct us among the temptations that surround -us.” - -In a letter written June 4, 1802, Mr. Webster refers to his indecision -as to a career. - - “Now Hope leans forward on Life’s slender line, - Shows me a lawyer, doctor or divine; - Ardent springs forward to the distant goal, - But indecision clogs the eager soul. - Heaven bless my friend, and when he marks his way, - And takes his bearings o’er life’s troubled sea, - In that important moment may he find - Choice and his friends and duty all combined.” - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - -THE NEXT TWO YEARS. - - -The die was cast! Daniel decided to forego the small but comfortable -income insured to him as a teacher, and in accordance with his father’s -wishes, as well as his own inclination, returned to the study of the -law. He resumed his place (September, 1802) in the office of Mr. -Thompson, at Salisbury, and there he remained till February or March, -1804. Before leaving Fryeburg, at the request of the citizens he -delivered a Fourth of July oration (his second), for which he received -from the trustees of the academy a gratuity of five dollars! It was not -many years before five hundred dollars would not have been considered -too much for such a service from the then obscure teacher. - -My young readers would not feel particularly interested in the -details of Daniel’s professional studies during the eighteen months -he spent in the office of Mr. Thompson. From the larger biographies -such information may be obtained by law students and those who take -an interest therein. I shall content myself by extracting from Mr. -Webster’s autobiography some account of the manner in which he employed -his time. - -“I do not know whether I read much during this year and a half besides -law books, with two exceptions. I read Hume through, not for the first -time; but my principal occupation with books, when not law books, -was with the Latin classics. I brought from college a very scanty -inheritance of Latin. I now tried to add to it. I made myself familiar -with most of Tully’s Orations, committed to memory large passages of -some of them, read Sallust and Cæsar and Horace. Some of Horace’s odes -I translated into poor English rhymes; they were printed. I have never -seen them since. My brother was a far better English scholar than -myself, and, in one of his vacations, we read Juvenal together. But I -never mastered his style, so as to read him with ease and pleasure. -At this period of my life I passed a great deal of time alone. My -amusements were fishing and shooting and riding, and all these were -without a companion. I loved this occasional solitude then, and have -loved it ever since, and love it still. I like to contemplate nature, -and to hold communion, unbroken by the presence of human beings, with -‘this universal frame—thus wondrous fair.’ I like solitude also, as -favorable to thoughts less lofty. I like to let the thoughts go free -and indulge excursions. And when _thinking_ is to be done, one must, -of course, be alone. No man knows himself who does not thus sometimes -keep his own company. At a subsequent period of life I have found that -my lonely journeys, when following the court on its circuits, have -afforded many an edifying day.” - -It will be seen that young Webster aimed to be something more than a -lawyer. Instead of throwing aside his law books when his daily reading -was over with a sigh of relief that he could now devote his time to -mere enjoyment, he closed them only to open the English and Latin -classics, with a view to broaden his culture and qualify himself for -something better than a routine lawyer, to whom his profession presents -itself only as a means of livelihood. Pressed as he had been, and still -was, by the burden of poverty, he never appears to have set before -himself as a principal object the emoluments to be gained by legal -practice. During his busy years his receipts were indeed very large, -but they came to him as a consequence of his large and varied ability, -and not because he had specially labored to that end. - -I have already mentioned the young man’s modesty. He did not -apparently suspect the extent of his own powers, and did not look -forward to fill any conspicuous place in his profession. He hoped -indeed for “the acquirement of a decent, competent estate, enabling -us to treat our friends as they deserve, and to live free from -embarrassment.” This was the measure of his expectation. - -Yet it did occur to him at times that an office in a small country town -hardly afforded the facilities for acquiring professional knowledge -which it would be desirable to enjoy. Sometimes he hoped that he might -be able to finish his studies in Boston, where he would meet with men -of large ability, and where the practice of law took a larger range. -But if he found it hard work to maintain himself in Salisbury, how -could he hope to pay his way in Boston? - -But a way was unexpectedly opened to him. Before Ezekiel had completed -his college course it was necessary for him to teach in order to fill -his exhausted coffers, and by a lucky chance he obtained the charge -of a small private school in what is now Kingston Street, Boston. He -had eight scholars in Latin and Greek, but found himself unable to do -justice to them on account of the long list of branches which he had -to teach. He wrote to Daniel, offering him a sum sufficient to pay -his board, if he would assume the charge of these pupils. This would -require but an hour and a half daily, and would leave the law student -ample time to prosecute his studies. - -It may readily be supposed that Daniel did not decline this offer. It -was an experiment, perhaps, but it was worth trying. So he packed up -his clothes and repaired to Boston, where he joined his brother, whom -he arranged to assist in his duties. Now the relations of the brothers -were again reversed, and it was the elder who took his turn in helping -along the younger. The most eminent of the pupils thus coming under the -instruction of Daniel Webster was Edward Everett, worthy as an orator -to be named with his master. Webster, Everett, Choate! Nine out of ten, -if called upon to name the three most renowned orators of New England, -would single out these names, and it will indeed be a fortunate age -that can boast three who can equal them. Among the pupils of Ezekiel -Webster was George Ticknor, another eminent man who will need no -introduction to my readers. - -Daniel had entered a new and auspicious period of study and -opportunity. He had gained a foothold in Boston. How was he best to -improve his residence? What great lawyer would open his office to the -young New Hampshire student? - -Among the most eminent citizens and lawyers of Boston at that time was -Christopher Gore. He had served the American Government at home and -abroad, as district attorney for Massachusetts, and as a commissioner -to England under Jay’s Treaty, for the settlement of claims brought -by citizens of the United States for spoliation by British cruisers -during the war of the French Revolution. A higher honor was in store -for him, since in 1809 he was elected Governor of Massachusetts by the -Federal party. In 1804, when young Webster arrived in Boston, he was in -practice as a lawyer, his specialty being commercial law. - -Daniel learned that Mr. Gore had no clerk, and ambition led him to -apply for the situation. He did not know any near friend of the -distinguished lawyer, but a young man, whose acquaintance with him was -nearly as slight as his, undertook to introduce him. - -When the two young men entered the office, Daniel, according to his -own account, was shockingly embarrassed. But Mr. Gore, with his -old-fashioned courtesy, speedily put at him at ease. The rest of the -interview we will let Mr. Webster tell for himself. - -“I had the grace to begin with an unaffected apology; told him my -position was very awkward, my appearance there very like an intrusion, -and that, if I expected anything but a civil dismission, it was only -founded in his known kindness and generosity of character. I was -from the country, I said; had studied law for two years; had come to -Boston to study a year more; had some respectable acquaintances in -New Hampshire, not unknown to him, but had no introduction; that I -had heard he had no clerk; thought it possible he would receive one; -that I came to Boston to work, not to play; was most desirous, on all -accounts, to be his pupil; and all I ventured to ask at present was, -that he would keep a place for me in his office till I could write to -New Hampshire for proper letters, showing me worthy of it.” - -This speech Daniel delivered fluently, having carefully considered what -he intended to say. - -Mr. Gore heard him with encouraging good nature, and kindly invited the -young visitor to sit down. - -“I do not mean to fill my office with clerks,” he said, “but am willing -to receive one or two, and will consider what you have said.” - -He inquired what gentlemen of his acquaintance knew Daniel and his -father, and in reply Daniel mentioned several, among others Mr. -Peabody, who was Mr. Gore’s classmate. - -A pleasant conversation continued for a few minutes, and Daniel rose to -go. - -“My young friend,” said Mr. Gore, “you look as if you might be trusted. -You say you came to study and not to waste time. I will take you at -your word. You may as well hang up your hat at once. Go into the other -room, take your book and sit down to reading it, and write at your -convenience to New Hampshire for your letters.” - -Daniel could hardly credit his good fortune in this prompt assent to -his wishes. He felt that he had made an auspicious beginning in Boston, -and made “a good stride onward” in securing admission to such an -office. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - -A GREAT TEMPTATION. - - -Our young student could not have been more favorably situated for -study, and we may well believe that he made the best use of his -advantages. I shall not describe his course at length, or in detail, -but confine myself to such personal details as are likely to interest -my reader. - -In November a rare pleasure awaited him. A gentleman of means, Mr. -Taylor Baldwin, who had some occasion for his services, engaged him to -accompany him on a leisurely journey in parts of New England and New -York, not only defraying his expenses, but recompensing him liberally. -I can do no better than quote the young man’s description of it in a -letter to his friend Bingham, dated Jan. 2d, 1805: - -“Figure to yourself a large room in the third story of a brick -building, in the center of Boston, a sea-coal fire, and a most enormous -writing-table with half a cord of books on it. Then figure further to -yourself your most obedient, with his back to the fire, and his face -to the table, writing by candle-light, and you will precisely see a -‘happy fellow.’ There now is a famous dash at description! Now let me -try my talent at narration. - -“Well, then, on the fifth day of November, being election day, at just -twenty-seven minutes and a half past twelve, I left Mrs. Whitwell’s, -Court Street, Boston, and on the twenty-eighth day of the same month, -at one o’clock P.M., arrived at time same Mrs. Whitwell’s, in the same -Court Street. You can easily determine from the above account where I -went!! If, however, you should be puzzled, I will tell you to Albany. -Yes, James, I have even been to Albany. I cannot now tell you why, -nor for what, but it was in a hackney coach, with a pair of nimble -trotters, a smart coachman before, and a footman on horseback behind. -There’s style for you! Moreover, I had my friend at my elbow.... My -expenses were all amply paid, and on my return I put my hand in my -pocket, and found one hundred and twenty dear delightfuls! Is not that -good luck? And these dear delightfuls were, ’pon honor, all my own, -yes, every dog of ’em. Now don’t you think I would jump to go to Albany -again! But to be serious, I really went to Albany, in November, with -a gentleman of this town, for which I received the above reward; and -I’m so proud to have a dollar of my own I was determined to tell you -of it. Of my journey and all that I saw and heard I cannot give you a -particular account now.” - -The journey above mentioned was through Springfield to Albany, thence -down to Hudson, returning by way of Hartford and Providence to Boston. -Taken by rail it would not be much of a journey, but traveling by easy -stages across the country, it must have been full of enjoyment to a -young man wholly new to journeys of any kind. - -Daniel’s description of Albany in a letter to his brother is an amusing -one. - -“Albany is no despicable place. To be sure it is irregular and without -form. Its houses are generally old and poor-looking—its streets are -rather dirty—but there are many exceptions. A part of the town is very -high, overlooking the river in a very pleasant manner, and affording -many fine seats. Some handsome buildings ornament the town. The Dutch -Reformed Church and the new State Bank would not disgrace State Street -(Boston). Here are all sorts of people, both Greek and Jew, Englishman -and Dutchman, Negro and Indian. Almost everybody speaks English -occasionally, though I have heard them speak among themselves in a -_lingo_ which I never learned even at the Indian Charity School. The -river here is half a mile wide, that is, I should think so; and, if I -think wrong, you: must look at Dr. Morse and correct me.” - -The cosmopolitan character of Albany nearly eighty years since, when -it probably contained not over five thousand inhabitants, is certainly -rather amazing, and I can conceive the modern Albanian reading the -description given above with considerable surprise. But Daniel was -at an age and in a state of inexperience in which everything new -is wonderful, and he certainly saw everything under very pleasant -circumstances. - -From a letter written by his sister it appears that the young law -student was paid seven dollars a day for his company by his rich and -eccentric companion, who, if he lived to know of Webster’s eminence, -probably concluded that the price was by no means exorbitant. - -In the letter of Sally Webster, already referred to, there is a passage -which will amuse my young readers. “Before I have finished my nonsense -I must tell you that our neighbors opposite the door fought a duel the -other day, one with the gridiron, the other with the candlestick. The -female, however, came off victorious, and he, with all speed, ran here -with some lint and rum, to be applied immediately, for he was bleeding -to death with a wound in his head caused by the gridiron.” - -It is evident that if the women of New Hampshire were not -strong-minded, there were some who were strong-armed, and calculated to -strike terror in an average husband. - -Meanwhile how were things going at the early home of the future -statesman in New Hampshire? Judge Webster no doubt experienced -satisfaction in knowing that the two sons for whom he had hoped so -much, and sacrificed so much, were now possessors of a collegiate -education, and in a fair way to make their own way in the world. But -he was not without his anxieties. To obtain that education he had been -obliged to mortgage his small estate for nearly all it was worth. He -was sixty-five years of age, and a life of labor and exposure had made -him old before his time. He could not look for many years more of life, -and he might die before his two boys were able to support themselves -by their professional labors, without speaking of taking his place at -home. But he had been sustained by one hope, which finally seemed in a -way of being realized. The clerk of the Court of Common Pleas, of which -he was an associate judge, died. Chief Justice Farrar, knowing the -family circumstances of his associate, immediately placed the office at -his disposal for his son Daniel. - -For that day it was a lucrative office, paying much more than a -judgeship. The emoluments were fifteen hundred dollars a year, and that -would be a competence to a young man brought up like Daniel. It would -make life easy to him, and enable him to smooth the pathway of his -father, and release the homestead from mortgage. - -With glad heart Judge Webster wrote to Daniel of his good fortune, -and Daniel on his side was elated. He felt that it would make him -independent, that he would pay off the family debt, and assist his -brother Ezekiel. - -So, full of the good news, he went over to the office in the morning, -and with a beaming face acquainted Mr. Gore with the offer he had -received, and then waited to receive his congratulations. - -“Well, my young friend,” said he, “the gentlemen have been very kind -to you; I am glad of it. You must thank them for it. Certainly they -are very good; you must write them a civil letter. You will write -immediately, of course.” - -[Illustration: “_Will you carry us across on your back?_”—Page 286.] - -“I feel their kindness and liberality very deeply,” answered Daniel. “I -shall certainly thank them in the best manner I am able, but, as I -shall go to Salisbury so soon, I hardly think it is necessary to write.” - -“Why,” said Mr. Gore, seeming greatly surprised, “you surely don’t mean -to accept it?” - -Daniel was astounded. Not to accept such a magnificent proposal! As -soon as he could speak he said that he had no thought of anything else -but acceptance. - -“Well,” said Mr. Gore, “you must decide for yourself; but come, sit -down, and let us talk it over. The office is worth fifteen hundred a -year, you say; well, it never will be worth any more. Ten to one if -they find out it is so much the fees will be reduced. You are appointed -now by friends; others may fill their places who are of different -opinions, and who have friends of their own to provide for. You will -lose your place; or, supposing you to retain it, what are you but a -clerk for life? And your prospects as a lawyer are good enough to -encourage you to go on. Go on, and finish your studies; you are poor -enough, but there are greater evils than poverty; live on no man’s -favor; what bread you do eat let it be the bread of independence; -pursue your profession, make yourself useful to your friends, and a -little formidable to your enemies, and you have nothing to fear.” - -Daniel hardly knew what to think or to say. It was presenting the -subject from a very different point of view. He had looked forward to -this office as a thing greatly to be desired. It had been the height -of his ambition, and now his legal instructor, a man whose opinion he -greatly valued, told him he must give it up. He was indeed flattered -and encouraged by the eminent lawyer’s estimate of his talents and -prospects, an estimate far beyond any he had formed for himself, for -Daniel, as I have already had occasion to say, was modest, and wholly -ignorant of the extent of his powers. - -It was not that he expected to enjoy a clerkship. He knew he should -not, but he had been struggling so long with poverty that the prospect -of a competency was most alluring. Besides he was a good son and a good -brother. He knew how much his father’s mind would be relieved, how he -could help his favorite brother, and it seemed very hard to resign such -a piece of fortune. - -“Go home and think it over,” said Mr. Gore, “and come back in the -morning, and we will have another talk.” - -Daniel followed his advice, but passed a sleepless night. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. - -DANIEL REFUSES A CLERKSHIP. - - -Those of my readers who have read “The Canal Boy” will remember that -before Gen. Garfield graduated from college he too was met by a similar -temptation, in the shape of an offer which, if accepted, would have -materially changed his course of life, and given him a comfortable -obscurity in place of national renown. He was offered a school in Troy, -N. Y., with a salary of one hundred and twenty-five dollars per month, -while up to that time he had never earned but eighteen dollars per -month and board. He declined after a hard struggle, for he too had been -reared in poverty and still suffered from it. - -And now a similar temptation had come to Daniel Webster. - -He went home and thought the matter over. He felt that Mr. Gore’s -advice was good, but how could he accept it? His father was old and in -poor health. He had set his heart on Daniel’s accepting this place. -A contrary decision would strike him like a thunderbolt. Moreover it -would bring him home, and give his father the comfort of his society, -as well as pecuniary prosperity. - -It seemed a selfish thing to refuse, to show a lack of consideration -for his father, and Daniel was a good son. I mention all these things -to show that in this turning-point of his career Daniel had a hard -decision to make. There was another circumstance to consider—his father -was in present need of money. - -Finally Daniel made up his mind. If he could borrow a sum of money -sufficient to help his father, he would venture to refuse the clerkship. - -He went to Mr. Joseph Taylor, a Boston acquaintance, and said to him -abruptly, “Mr. Taylor, I want to borrow some money. I will pay you some -time or other, but I can’t tell exactly when.” - -“You can have as much as you want,” answered Mr. Taylor kindly. - -“But,” said Daniel, “I want a good deal of money.” - -“How much?” asked his friend, not seeming alarmed at his rash promise. - -“Three or four hundred dollars,” was the reply, and this in the eyes of -the young law student was a very large sum, though his ideas changed -when money came in by thousands from wealthy clients, not many years -afterwards. - -“You shall have it,” said Mr. Taylor, and he counted out the money into -the young man’s hands. - -Daniel was elated with his success. He would not go home empty-handed, -and this sum would soften the blow which his determination would bring -to his father. - -Now to get home and have it over as soon as possible! He hired a seat -in a country sleigh which had come down to market, and was on the point -of returning, for there was neither railroad nor stage to convey him -to his home. It was a crisp winter day, and they glided over the snowy -roads for many hours till they were beyond the New Hampshire line. -Still mile after mile was traversed till the old home was reached. - -Just at sunset Daniel reached his home. Through the window, even -before he entered, he saw his father in his little room sitting in his -arm-chair. The old man, worn out by a long life of hard labor, seemed -very old and thin, but his eyes were as black and bright as ever. -Daniel’s heart was touched, and he felt that the trial had come. It was -no light thing to disappoint such a father. - -As he entered the presence of his father Judge Webster looked up with a -smile of gladness. - -“Well, Daniel, we have got that office for you,” he said. - -“Yes, father,” said Daniel a little nervously. “The gentlemen were very -kind. I must go and thank them.” - -“They gave it to you without my saying a word about it,” said Judge -Webster complacently. - -“I must go and see Judge Farrar, and tell him I am much obliged to him, -father.” - -Still the father suspected nothing of Daniel’s intention, though his -son treated it more carelessly than he had anticipated. He had thought -so much about it and come to look upon it as so desirable that it did -not seem to him possible that his son could regard it in any other way, -as indeed he would not but for Mr. Gore’s advice. - -But at last the true meaning of Daniel’s indifference flashed upon him, -and he looked at him earnestly. - -He straightened himself up in his chair, and he regarded him intently. - -“Daniel, Daniel,” he said, “don’t you mean to take that office?” - -“No, indeed, father,” answered Daniel lightly, though his lightness -was assumed, and covered a feeling of anxiety; “I hope I can do much -better than that. I mean to use my tongue in the courts, not my pen; to -be an actor, not a register of other men’s acts. I hope yet, sir, to -astonish your honor in your own court by my professional attainments.” - -Youth is hopeful and ready to take risks; age is conservative and takes -little for granted. Judge Webster must have thought his son’s decision -exceedingly rash. Let me tell the rest of the story in Daniel’s words, -as indeed I have closely adhered to his version thus far. - -“For a moment I thought he was angry. He rocked his chair slightly; a -flash went over an eye softened by age, but still as black as jet; but -it was gone, and I thought I saw that parental partiality was, after -all, a little gratified at this apparent devotion to an honorable -profession, and this seeming confidence of success in it. He looked at -me for as much as a minute, and then said slowly, ‘Well, my son, your -mother has always said you would come to something or nothing, she was -not sure which; I think you are now about settling that doubt for her.’ -This he said, and never a word spoke more to me on the subject.” - -Daniel explained to his father the reasons which had induced him to -arrive at the decision he had just expressed, and as an earnest of -the good fortune which he anticipated in the career he had chosen -he produced the money he had borrowed, and placed it in his father’s -hands. Probably this satisfied Judge Webster that there were others who -had faith in his son’s promise, since he could offer no other security -for borrowed money. At any rate it softened his disappointment, since -it brought him help which he sorely needed. - -Daniel stayed at home a week, contributing as such a son might to the -happiness of his parents, who, now in the sunset of life, had little to -hope for themselves, but lived wholly for their children. - -Now he must go back to Boston, for the period of his preparatory -studies was drawing to a close, and he was almost to seek immediately -admission to the bar. - -In March, 1805, he was admitted to practice in the Court of Common -Pleas in Boston, the usual motion being made by his friend and teacher, -Mr. Gore. This eminent lawyer, according to the custom of that time, -accompanied his motion by a brief speech, which was of so complimentary -a character that it must have been exceedingly gratifying to the legal -neophyte, who stood waiting for the doors to open through which he was -to enter into the precincts of a dignified and honorable profession. -“It is a well-known tradition,” says Mr. George Ticknor Curtis, “that -on this occasion Mr. Gore predicted the future eminence of his young -friend. What he said has not been preserved; but that he said what Mr. -Webster never forgot, that it was distinctly a prediction, and that it -excited in him a resolve that it should not go unfulfilled, we have -upon his own authority, though he appears to have been unwilling to -repeat the words of Mr. Gore’s address.” - -Young Webster, whose career we have thus far followed in detail through -the successive stages of his struggle with penury, was now no longer a -farmer’s boy, but a full-fledged lawyer, of whom eminent men expected -much. - -Another important question was to be decided, Where should Daniel -put up his shingle, and commence the practice of his profession? In -Boston the field was larger, and the chances of attaining professional -eminence were greater. Many of his friends counseled his remaining -in the city. But up in New Hampshire was an old man whose life was -nearly over, to whose last days his company would bring solace and -comfort. What prospects, however brilliant, could overbalance this -consideration? With filial devotion Daniel decided to settle in New -Hampshire, in Boscawan, but a few miles from Salisbury, where he -could see his father almost daily. Boston could wait, professional -opportunities could wait. His father’s happiness must not be -disregarded. So in the spring of 1805 he became a country lawyer in the -same town where he had prepared for college. - -Thirteen months later, in April, 1807, his father died. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. - -D. WEBSTER, ATTORNEY. - - -This was the sign that our young lawyer attached to his office, in -the town of Boscawan. The office was humble enough. It was on the -second floor of a store, painted red, and the staircase leading to it -was on the outside. His office rent was fifteen dollars a year, which -certainly could not have been considered an extravagant sum. - -Here it was that the future great lawyer commenced practice. Though his -fees amounted to but six or seven hundred dollars a year, his practice -extended over three counties, Hillsborough, Rockingham and Grafton. We -infer from his meager income, though it was ample for his needs in a -place where living was so inexpensive, that his clients had no occasion -to complain of immoderate charges. - -Judge Webster had the satisfaction of hearing his son make one speech -in court, but he was so near the end of his earthly pilgrimage that -he never heard another, being for the last few months confined within -doors. The father listened with satisfaction, and regarded his son’s -effort as a very creditable one. - -Daniel’s sole object in establishing himself in an obscure country -place was to be near his father, who he knew could not live many years. -The end was nearer than he supposed, for he died little more than a -year later. It may have been a sacrifice, but probably he lost nothing -by it. The quiet seclusion gave him more time for study, and he was -laying a broad groundwork for his future fame to rest upon. - -It was while he was at Boscawan that he first encountered Mr. Jeremiah -Mason, the acknowledged head of the New Hampshire bar. From a foot-note -in Curtis’s Life, I quote the circumstances as told by Mr. Mason -himself. - -“I had heard,” said Mr. Mason,” that there was a young lawyer up there -who was reputed to be a wonderfully able fellow, and was said by the -country people to be as black as the ace of spades, but I had never -seen him. When they told me that he had prepared evidence for this -prosecution (it was a case of forgery, the defendant being a man of -respectable position), I thought it well to be careful, especially as -the trial was to be conducted by the attorney-general. But when the -trial came on the attorney-general was ill, and the prosecutors asked -that Webster should be allowed to conduct the case. I assented to this -readily, thinking I ought to have an easy time of it, and we were -introduced to each other. - -“We went at it, and I soon found that I had no light work on my hands. -He examined his witnesses and shaped his case with so much skill that -I had to exert every faculty I possessed. I got the man off, but it -was as hard a day’s work as I ever did in my life. There were other -transactions behind this one which looked quite as awkward. When the -verdict was announced I went up to the dock and whispered to the -prisoner, as the sheriff let him out, to be off for Canada, and never -to put himself within the reach of that young Webster again. From that -time forth I never lost sight of Mr. Webster, and never had but one -opinion of his powers.” - -This is remarkable testimony from the head of the bar to a practitioner -so young, who was a mere novice in the profession. - -After the death of his father Daniel was still compelled for a time to -remain in his country office. His practice was now worth something, and -he had it in view to surrender it to his brother Ezekiel, who was now -studying law, but had not been admitted to the bar. His father had -left some debts, which Daniel voluntarily assumed. In the autumn of -1807 Ezekiel succeeded to the double office of managing the home farm, -and carrying on the law business of his younger brother. Then Daniel, -feeling that he might safely do so, took down his “shingle,” and -removed to Portsmouth, where he found a larger field for the exercise -of his abilities, where he could gain a higher and more conspicuous -position. - -His appearance at this time has been thus described by a member of -Rev. Dr. Buckminster’s family. “Slender, and apparently of delicate -organization, his large eyes and narrow brow seemed very predominant -above the other features, which were sharply cut, refined and delicate. -The paleness of his complexion was heightened by hair as black as the -raven’s wing.” - -Daniel soon became intimate with the family of Dr. Buckminster, -and from members of this family we learn much that is interesting -concerning him. He developed, according to Mr. Lee, a “genial and -exceedingly rich humor,” which did more to make him popular in society -than any of his other diversified gifts. “We young people saw him only -rarely in friendly visits. I well remember one afternoon that he came -in, when the elders of the family were absent. He sat down by the -window, and as now and then an inhabitant of the small town passed -through the street, his fancy was caught by their appearance and his -imagination excited, and he improvised the most humorous imaginary -histories about them, which would have furnished a rich treasure for -Dickens, could he have been the delighted listener, instead of the -young girl for whose amusement this wealth of invention was extended.” -Mr. Mason, who appreciated the young man’s humor, as well as his -professional ability, used to say that “there was never such an actor -lost to the stage as he would have made had he chosen to turn his -talents in that direction.” - -Daniel was still fragile, not having yet out-grown his early delicacy. -Dr. Buckminster prescribed as a remedy half an hour’s wood-sawing -before breakfast, with a long two-handed saw, one end of which he held -himself. The young lawyer doubtless found this early exercise a good -appetizer, qualifying him to do full justice to the breakfast that -succeeded. - -Within a year of his removal to Portsmouth Mr. Webster took a step -most important to his happiness. He was married to Grace Fletcher, -daughter of Rev. Elijah Fletcher, of Hopkinton. There is no occasion -in a brief biography like this to speak at length of Mrs. Webster. -It is sufficient to say that she was qualified by her natural powers -and acquired culture to be a sympathizing friend and companion to the -husband whom she saw gradually expanding intellectually, and rising -higher in reputation, in the twenty years that they lived together. - -I have said that Mr. Webster’s removal to Portsmouth brought him a -wider and more lucrative practice. He still lived plainly, however. -His office, though more pretentious than the one at Boscawan, which -he hired for fifteen dollars a year, was, according to Mr. Ticknor, -“a common, ordinary looking room, with less furniture and more books -than common. He had a small inner room, opening from the larger, rather -an unusual thing. He lived in a small, modest wooden house, which was -burned in the great fire in 1813,” a fire by which he lost a valuable -library. - -Daniel Webster lived in Portsmouth nine years lacking one month. He -was in no hurry to remove to the still wider field that was waiting -for him in Boston. He says somewhere that these were very happy years. -His great powers were gradually expanding. He grew like an oak tree, -slowly, but his growth was steady, and the result was massive and -majestic. It was not long before he was regarded as one of the most -prominent lawyers in his native State, and he was generally matched -in important suits with Jeremiah Mason, already referred to as the -undisputed head of the bar. Mr. Mason was a remarkable man, not only -intellectually but physically. He was a very Titan, almost tall enough -to have attracted the attention of Barnum had he lived at a later -period. He was six feet seven inches in height, and naturally attracted -attention wherever he went—an attention, by the way, which he did not -court, and which was embarrassing to him. An amusing story is told of -him which I have somewhere read, and will record from memory. - -In spite of his great height Mr. Mason did not sit high, having a -short body and legs of immense length. One day he was driving in the -neighborhood of Portsmouth, when in a narrow road he met a man driving -a cart, a stalwart man, inclined to be a bully, who, confident in his -strength, was disposed to take advantage of it. - -“Turn out!” he said roughly to Mr. Mason. - -“My friend,” said the lawyer, who was in a light buggy,” I have already -given you half the road.” - -“No, you haven’t,” answered the other roughly. “At any rate, you must -turn out more.” - -“But I see no justice in that,” said the great lawyer mildly. - -The mildness of his manner led the bully to think Mr. Mason was afraid -of him; so, with an oath, he repeated his demand. - -Mr. Mason felt that the matter had gone far enough. He slowly rose in -his seat; the countryman with astonishment saw what he had supposed to -be a man of average height towering into gigantic proportions, and he -became alarmed. - -“Hold on!” he shouted; “you needn’t unroll yourself any more. I’ll turn -out myself.” - -This great lawyer, though so often opposed to Webster, was unvaryingly -kind to him, and as Daniel himself testifies, was of infinite advantage -to him, not only by his friendship, but by the many good lessons he -taught him and the example he set him in the commencement of his career. - -The young man admired his elder professional brother, and says of him: -“If there be in the country a stronger intellect, if there be a mind of -more native resources, if there be a vision that sees quicker or sees -deeper into whatever is intricate or whatsoever is profound, I must -confess I have not known it.” - - - - -CHAPTER XIX. - -DANIEL OVERCOMES A BRAMBLE. - - -There is no doubt that Mr. Webster derived considerable advantage from -his association with his elder professional brother. He had adopted a -style very common with young men, abounding in large words, and made -his sentences longer than were needful. He observed that Mr. Mason, -on the other hand, talked to the jury in a plain, conversational way, -and cultivated simplicity of diction. Yet he was noted for his success -in winning cases. Daniel was sensible enough to correct his fault and -prune his too luxuriant style, very much to its improvement. - -No admirer of Daniel Webster should fail to read the volume of -“Reminiscences” by his lifelong friend, Peter Harvey. His confidential -relations with his distinguished friend make what he records not only -entertaining but trustworthy and valuable. I shall venture to transfer -to my pages from Mr. Harvey’s volume an account of two cases in which -Mr. Webster was engaged during his residence in Portsmouth, with the -suggestion that the entire volume will amply repay perusal. - -“Among Mr. Webster’s reminiscences of his professional career at -Portsmouth, and of Jeremiah Mason’s connection with it, was one -relating to a case in which a man named Bramble was implicated. Matthew -Bramble, it appears, was a wealthy resident of Portsmouth, and, as the -sequel proved, an unscrupulous man. His social position was good, but -a feeling of distrust towards him existed in the community. It seems -that Bramble had given to a man named Brown an annuity bond, agreeing -to pay him one hundred dollars a year as long as he lived. This was -to keep dominant a title to some real estate. Bramble had more than -once tried to persuade Brown to take a ‘lump’ sum of money and cancel -the bonds, but this Brown persistently declined to do, and in this he -was supported by the advice of his friends. After in vain offering -one thousand dollars, Bramble resorted to the following method of -getting rid of his obligation. He was accustomed, when he paid the -hundred dollars, to indorse it on the bond. The next chance he got, he -indorsed, not one hundred dollars, but one thousand dollars, adding ‘in -full consideration of and canceling this bond.’ Brown, who could not -read or write, unsuspectingly signed his mark to this indorsement. -Bramble then coolly handed him back the bond, and of course said -nothing of the matter. - -“When the year came round, an altercation took place between them. - -“Bramble said, ‘I owe you nothing; I paid you a thousand dollars, and -it is certified on your bond.’ - -“Brown was a poor shoemaker, simple-minded, truthful, weak, not capable -of coping with this wily scamp. He was friendless, while Bramble was -a rich man. Poor Brown did not know what to do. He had convinced his -neighbors that he was right. He went to Jeremiah Mason, who told him -he was Mr. Bramble’s lawyer. Mr. Mason had asked Bramble about the -matter, and the latter had showed the bond, and Mr. Mason probably -believed him. A friend then advised Brown to go to Mr. Webster; and -after hearing his story, Mr. Webster was quite convinced of the truth -of Brown’s statement. He had no confidence in Bramble. In relating the -story, he said to me: ‘I knew nothing positively against Bramble, but -something impressed me that he was not a man of honor. I was at once -satisfied that he had committed this fraud upon Brown, and I told the -latter that I would sue Bramble for the annuity. He said he had nothing -to give me in payment. I said I wanted nothing. I sent Bramble a -letter, and he made his appearance in my office. - -“’“I should like to know,” he said sharply, “if you are going to take -up a case of that kind in Portsmouth? It seems to me you don’t know on -which side your bread is buttered.” - -“’“This man has come to me,” I replied, “without friends, and has told -me a plain, straightforward story, and it sounds as if it were true. It -is not a made-up story. I shall pursue this thing, and sue you, unless -you settle it.”’ - -“Bramble went to Mr. Mason, who afterwards said to Mr. Webster: ‘I -think you have made a mistake. Bramble is a man of influence. It can’t -be that the fellow tells the truth. Bramble would not do such a thing -as that.’ - -“Mr. Webster replied, ‘He has done just such a thing as that, and I -shall try the suit.’ - -“So the preliminary steps were taken, and the suit was brought. The -case came on at Exeter in the Supreme Court, Judge Smith on the bench. -It created great excitement. Bramble’s friends were incensed at the -charge of forgery, and Brown, too, in his humble way, had his friends. -Mr. Webster said: ‘I never in my life was more badly prepared for a -case. There was no evidence for Brown, and what to do I did not know. -But I had begun the suit, and was going to run for luck, perfectly -satisfied that I was right. There were Bramble and his friends, with -Mason; and poor Brown had only his counsel. And Mason began to sneer a -little, saying, “That is a foolish case.” - -“’Well, a person named Lovejoy was then living in Portsmouth; and -when there is a great deal of litigation, as there was in Portsmouth, -and many towns in New Hampshire, there will always be one person of a -kind not easily described—a shrewd man who is mixed up in all sorts of -affairs. Lovejoy was a man of this kind, and was a witness in nearly -all the cases ever tried in that section. He was an imperturbable -witness, and never could be shaken in his testimony. Call Lovejoy, and -he would swear that he was present on such an occasion, and he seemed -to live by giving evidence in this way. I was getting a little anxious -about the case. I was going to attempt to prove that Brown had been -appealed to by Bramble for years to give up his bond, and take a sum of -money, and that he had always stoutly refused, that he had no uses for -money, and had never been in the receipt of money, and that he could -not write, and was easily imposed upon. But although I felt that I was -right, I began to fear that I should lose the case. - -“’A Portsmouth man who believed in Brown’s story came to me just before -the case was called, and whispered in my ear, “I saw Lovejoy talking -with Bramble just now in the entry, and he took a paper from him.” - -“’I thanked the man, told him that was a pretty important thing to -know, and asked him to say nothing about it. - -“’In the course of the trial Mr. Mason called Lovejoy, and he took -the oath. He went upon the stand and testified that some eight or -ten months before he was in Brown’s shop, and that Brown mended his -shoes for him. As he was sitting in the shop, he naturally fell into -conversation about the bond, and said to Brown, “Bramble wants to get -back the bond. Why don’t you sell it to him?” “Oh,” said Brown, “I -have. He wanted me to do it, and as life is uncertain, I thought I -might as well take the thousand dollars.” He went on to testify that -_the said Brown_ told him so and so, and when he expressed himself -in that way I knew he was being prompted from a written paper. -The expression was an unnatural one for a man to use in ordinary -conversation. It occurred to me in an instant that Bramble had given -Lovejoy a paper, on which was set down what he wanted him to testify. -There sat Mason, full of assurance, and for a moment I hesitated. Now, -I thought, I will “make a spoon or spoil a horn.” - -“’I took the pen from behind my ear, drew myself up, and marched -outside the bar to the witness stand.” Sir!” I exclaimed to Lovejoy, -“give me the paper from which you are testifying!” - -“’In an instant he pulled it out of his pocket, but before he had got -it quite out he hesitated and attempted to put it back. I seized it in -triumph. There was his testimony in Bramble’s handwriting! Mr. Mason -got up and claimed the protection of the court. Judge Smith inquired -the meaning of this proceeding. - -“’I said: “Providence protects the innocent when they are friendless. I -think I could satisfy the court and my learned brother who, of course, -was ignorant of this man’s conduct, that I hold in Mr. Bramble’s -handwriting the testimony of the very respectable witness who is on the -stand.” - -“’The court adjourned, and I had nothing further to do. Mason told his -client that he had better settle the affair as quickly as possible. -Bramble came to my office, and as he entered I said, “Don’t you come in -here! I don’t want any thieves in my office.” - -“’“Do whatever you please with me, Mr. Webster,” he replied. “I will do -whatever you say.” - -“’“I will do nothing without witnesses. We must arrange this matter.” - -“’I consulted Mr. Mason, and he said he did not care how I settled it. -So I told Bramble that in the first place there must be a new life-bond -for one hundred dollars a year, and ample security for its payment, and -that he must also pay Brown five hundred dollars and my fees, which I -should charge pretty roundly. To all this he assented and thus the case -ended.’” - -Mr. Webster’s professional brothers were very much puzzled to account -for his knowing that Lovejoy had the paper in his pocket, and it was -not for a long time that he gratified their curiosity and revealed the -secret. - -My young readers will agree with me that Bramble was a contemptible -fellow, and that the young lawyer, in revealing and defeating his -meanness, did an important service not only to his client but to the -cause of justice, which is often defeated by the very means that -should secure it. In many cases lawyers lend themselves to the service -of clients whose iniquity they have good reason to suspect. There is -no nobler profession than that of law when it is invoked to redress -grievances and defeat the designs of the wicked; but, as Mr. Webster -himself has said, “The evil is, that an accursed thirst for money -violates everything. We cannot study, because we must pettifog. We -learn the low recourses of attorneyism when we should, learn the -conceptions, the reasonings and the opinions of Cicero and Murray. -The love of fame is extinguished, every ardent wish for knowledge -repressed, conscience put in jeopardy, and the best feelings of the -heart indurated by the mean, money-catching, abominable practices which -cover with disgrace a part of the modern practitioners of the law.” - - - - -CHAPTER XX. - -“THE LITTLE BLACK STABLE-BOY.” - - -I am tempted to detail another case in which the young lawyer was able -to do an important service to an acquaintance who had known him in his -boyhood. - -In Grafton County lived a teamster named John Greenough, who was in -the habit of making periodical trips to and from Boston with a load of -goods. One day, when a mile or two distant from the house of Daniel’s -father, his wagon was mired, owing to the size of his load and the -state of the roads. He found that he could not continue his journey -without help, and sent to the house of Judge Webster to borrow a span -of horses. - -“Dan,” said the Judge, “take the horses and help Mr. Greenough out of -his trouble.” - -The boy was roughly dressed like an ordinary farm-boy of that time, -his head being surmounted by a ragged straw hat. He at once obeyed -his father and gave the teamster the assistance which he so urgently -required. - -The teamster thanked him for his assistance and drove on, giving little -thought to the boy, or dreaming that the time would come when Dan would -help him out of a worse scrape. - -Years passed and the farm-boy became a lawyer, but Greenough had lost -track of him, and supposed he was still at work on his father’s farm. - -He was a poor man, owning a farm and little else. But a question arose -as to his title to the farm. Suit was brought against him, and his -whole property was at stake. He secured legal assistance, his lawyer -being Moses P. Payson, of Bath. Mr. Payson thought he ought to have -help, as the case was an important one, and suggested it to his client. -The latter agreed, and Mr. Payson made his selection. - -Soon after, in an interview with Mr. Payson, Greenough inquired, “What -lawyer have you hired to help you?” - -“Mr. Webster,” was the reply. - -“Webster, Webster!” repeated Greenough; “I don’t know any lawyer of -that name. Is he from Boston?” - -“Oh, no; he came from your neighborhood,” was the reply. “It is Daniel -Webster, the son of old Ebenezer Webster, of Salisbury.” - -“What!” exclaimed the teamster in dismay; “that little black stable-boy -that once brought me some horses! Then I think we might as well give -up the case. Can’t you get somebody else?” - -“No; the trial cannot be postponed. We must take our chances and make -the best of it.” - -The teamster went home greatly depressed. He remembered the rough -looking farm-boy in his rustic garb and old straw hat, and it seemed -ridiculous that a good lawyer could have been made out of such -unpromising materials. He was not the first man who had been misled by -appearances. He was yet to learn that a poor boy may become an able -lawyer. Of course the case must go on, but he looked forward to the -result with little hope. He would lose his little farm he felt sure, -and in his declining years be cast adrift penniless and destitute. - -When the day of trial came the teamster was in attendance, but he -looked sad and depressed. Mr. Payson made the opening speech, and the -trial proceeded. Mr. Webster was to make the closing argument. - -When he rose to speak Greenough looked at him with some curiosity. -Yes, it was black Dan, a young man now, but as swarthy, though better -dressed than the boy who had brought him the span of horses to help his -wagon out of the mire. - -“What can he do?” thought the teamster, not without contempt. - -Daniel began to speak, and soon warmed to his work. He seemed -thoroughly master of the case, and as he proceeded the teamster was -surprised, and finally absorbed in his words. He drew nearer and drank -in every word that fell from the lips of the “little black stable-boy,” -as he had recently termed him. - -The jury were no less interested, and when the plea closed it was clear -how they would render their verdict. - -Mr. Payson approached his client, and said with a smile, “Well, Mr. -Greenough, what do you think of him now?” - -“Think!” exclaimed the teamster. “Why, I think he is an angel sent from -heaven to save me from ruin, and my wife and children from misery.” - -The case was won, and Greenough returned home happy that his little -farm would not be taken from him. - -Many lawyers aspire to the judicial office as the crowning professional -dignity which they may wear with pride. But some of the greatest -lawyers are not fitted for that office. They are born advocates, and -the more brilliant they are the less, perhaps, do they possess that -fair and even judgment which is requisite in a judge. Daniel Webster -understood that his talents were not of a judicial character. At a -later day (in 1840) he wrote to a friend as follows: “For my own part, -I never could be a judge. There never was a time when I would have -taken the office of chief justice of the United States or any other -judicial station. I believe the truth may be that I have mixed so much -study of politics with my study of law that, though I have some respect -for myself as an advocate, and some estimate of my knowledge of general -principles, yet I am not confident of possessing all the accuracy and -precision of knowledge which the bench requires.” - -For nearly nine years Daniel Webster practiced law in Portsmouth. He -could not have selected a more prominent place in New Hampshire; but -the time came when he felt that for many reasons he should seek a -larger field. One reason, which deservedly carried weight, was, that -in a small town his income must necessarily be small. During these -years of busy activity he never received in fees more than two thousand -dollars a year. Fees were small then compared with what they are now, -when lawyers by no means distinguished often charge more for their -services in a single case than young Webster’s entire yearly income at -that time. - -When the time came for removal the young lawyer hesitated between -Boston, Albany and New York, but finally decided in favor of the -first place. Of his removal we shall have occasion to speak further -presently. Before doing so it is well to say that these nine years, -though they brought Mr. Webster but little money, did a great deal -for him in other ways. He was not employed in any great cases, or -any memorable trials, though he and Jeremiah Mason were employed -in the most important cases which came before the New Hampshire -courts. Generally they were opposed to each other, and in his older -professional compeer Daniel found a foeman worthy of his steel. He -always had to do his best when Mason was engaged on the other side. -That he fully appreciated Mr. Mason’s ability is evident from his -tribute to him paid in a conversation with another eminent rival, Rufus -Choate. - -“I have known Jeremiah Mason,” he said, “longer than I have known -any other eminent man. He was the first man of distinction in the -law whom I knew, and when I first became acquainted with him he was -in full practice. I knew that generation of lawyers as a younger man -knows those who are his superiors in age—by tradition, reputation and -hearsay, and by occasionally being present and hearing their efforts. -In this way I knew Luther Martin, Edmund Randolph, Goodloe Hart, and -all those great lights of the law; and by the way, I think, on the -whole, that was an abler bar than the present one—of course with some -brilliant exceptions. Of the present bar of the United States I think -I am able to form a pretty fair opinion, having an intimate personal -knowledge of them in the local and federal courts; and this I can say, -that I regard Jeremiah Mason as eminently superior to any other lawyer -whom I ever met. I should rather with my own experience (and I have -had some pretty tough experience with him) meet them all combined in -a case, than to meet him alone and single-handed. He was the keenest -lawyer I ever met or read about. If a man had Jeremiah Mason and he -did not get his case, no human ingenuity or learning could get it. He -drew from a very deep fountain. Yes, I should think he did,” added Mr. -Webster, smiling, “from his great height.” - -The young reader will remember that Mr. Mason was six feet seven inches -in height. - -It is always of great service when a young man is compelled at all -times to do his best. Daniel could not oppose such a lawyer as he -describes Mr. Mason without calling forth all his resources. It -happened, therefore, that the nine years he spent in Portsmouth were by -no means wasted, but contributed to develop and enlarge his powers, -and provide him with resources which were to be of service to him in -the broader and more conspicuous field in which he was soon to exercise -his powers. - -Furthermore, during these nine years he first entered the arena where -he was to gather unfading laurels, and establish his reputation not -only as a great lawyer, but one of the foremost statesmen of any age. - -I allude to his election to Congress, in which he took his seat for -the first time on the 24th of May, 1813, as a Representative from New -Hampshire. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI. - -WHY DANIEL WAS SENT TO CONGRESS. - - -Even in his Sophomore year at college Daniel had taken a considerable -interest in public affairs, as might readily be shown by extracts from -his private correspondence. This interest continued after he entered -upon the practice of the law, but up to the period of his election -to Congress he had never filled a public office. It is generally the -case with our public men that they serve one or more preliminary terms -in one or both branches of the State Legislature, thus obtaining a -practical knowledge of parliamentary proceedings. This was not the case -with Mr. Webster. His public career would probably have been still -further postponed but for the unfortunate state of our relations with -England and France for some years preceding the war of 1812. - -I can only allude very briefly to the causes which had almost -annihilated our commerce and paralyzed our prosperity. Both England -and France had been guilty of aggressions upon our commercial rights, -and the former government especially had excited indignation by its -pretended right to search American vessels, for British seamen and -deserters. This was intensified by the retaliatory order of Napoleon, -issued Dec. 17, 1807, known as the Milan Décrets, in accordance with -which every vessel, of whatever nationality, that submitted to be -searched, forfeited its neutral character, and even neutral vessels -sailing between British ports were declared lawful prizes. Thus America -was between two fires, and there seemed to be small chance of escape -for any. Moreover, Great Britain interdicted all trade by neutrals -between ports not friendly to her, and the United States was one of the -chief sufferers from the extraordinary assumptions of the two hostile -powers. - -To save our vessels from depredation President Jefferson recommended -what is known as the Embargo, which prevented the departure of our -vessels from our own ports, and thus of course suspended our commercial -relations with the rest of the world. The Embargo was never a popular -measure, and its effects were felt to be widely injurious. I do not -propose to discuss the question, but merely to state that in 1808 Mr. -Webster published a pamphlet upon the Embargo, and, as his biographer -claims, this must be regarded as his first appearance in a public -character. I must refer such of my readers as desire more fully to -understand the condition of public affairs and the part that the young -lawyer took therein to the first volume of Mr. Curtis’s memoir. - -It may be stated here, however, to explain the special interest which -he felt in the matter, that Portsmouth, as a seaport, was largely -affected by the suspension of American commerce, and its citizens -felt an interest easily explained in what was so disastrous to their -business prosperity. - -On the Fourth of July, 1812, Mr. Webster delivered by invitation an -oration before the “Washington Benevolent Society,” of Portsmouth, in -which he discussed in a vigorous way the policy of the government, -which he did not approve. Sixteen days before Congress had declared -war against England. To this war Mr. Webster was opposed. Whatever -grievances the government may have suffered from England, he contended -that there was “still more abundant cause of war against France.” -Moreover America was not prepared for war. The navy had been suffered -to fall into neglect during Jefferson’s administration, until it was -utterly insufficient for the defense of our coasts and harbors. - -On this point he says: “If the plan of Washington had been pursued, -and our navy had been suffered to grow with the growth of our commerce -and navigation, what a blow might at this moment be struck, and what -protection yielded, surrounded, as our commerce now is, with all the -dangers of sudden war! Even as it is, all our immediate hopes of glory -or conquest, all expectation of events that shall gratify the pride -or spirit of the nation, rest on the gallantry of that little remnant -of a navy that has now gone forth, like lightning, at the beck of -Government, to scour the seas. - -“It will not be a bright page in our history which relates the total -abandonment of all provision for naval defense by the successors of -Washington. Not to speak of policy and expediency, it will do no credit -to the national faith, stipulated and plighted as it was to that object -in every way that could make the engagement solemn and obligatory. So -long as our commerce remains unprotected, and our coasts and harbors -undefended by naval and maritime means, the essential objects of the -Union remain unanswered, and the just expectation of those who assented -to it, unanswered. - -“A part of our navy has been suffered to go to entire decay; another -part has been passed, like an article of useless lumber, under the -hammer of the auctioneer. As if the millennium had already commenced, -our politicians have beaten their swords into plowshares. They have -actually bargained away in the market essential means of national -defense, and carried the product to the Treasury. Without loss by -accident or by enemies the second commercial nation in the world is -reduced to the limitation of being unable to assert the sovereignty of -its own seas, or to protect its navigation in sight of its own shores. -What war and the waves have sometimes done for others, we have done for -ourselves. We have taken the destruction of our marine out of the power -of fortune, and richly achieved it by our own counsels.” - -This address made a profound impression, voicing as it did the general -public feeling in New Hampshire on the subjects of which it treated. -It led to an assembly of the people of Rockingham County a few weeks -later, called to prepare a memorial to the President protesting against -the war. To this convention Mr. Webster was appointed a delegate, and -it was he who was selected to draft what has been since known as the -“Rockingham Memorial.” - -One of the most noteworthy passages in this memorial—noteworthy because -it is an early expression of his devotion to the Union—I find quoted -by Mr. Curtis, and I shall follow his lead in transferring it to my -pages. - -“We are, sir, from principle and habit attached to the Union of these -States. But our attachment is to the substance, and not to the form. -It is to the good which this Union is capable of producing, and not to -the evil which is suffered unnaturally to grow out of it. If the time -should ever arrive when this Union shall be holden together by nothing -but the authority of law; when its incorporating, vital principles -shall become extinct; when its principal exercises shall consist in -acts of power and authority, not of protection and beneficence; when -it shall lose the strong bond which it hath hitherto had in the public -affections; and when, consequently, we shall be one, not in interest -and mutual regard, but in name and form only—we, sir, shall look on -that hour as the closing scene of our country’s prosperity. - -“We shrink from the separation of the States as an event fraught with -incalculable evils, and it is among our strongest objections to the -present course of measures that they have, in our opinion, a very -dangerous and alarming bearing on such an event. If a separation of -the States ever should take place, it will be on some occasion when -one portion of the country undertakes to control, to regulate and to -sacrifice the interest of another; when a small and heated majority -in the Government, taking counsel of their passions, and not of their -reason, contemptuously disregarding the interests and perhaps stopping -the mouths of a large and respectable minority, shall by hasty, rash -and ruinious measures, threaten to destroy essential rights, and lay -waste the most important interests. - -“It shall be our most fervent supplication to Heaven to avert both the -event and the occasion; and the Government may be assured that the tie -that binds us to the Union will never be broken by us.” - -Even my young readers will be struck by the judicial calmness, the -utter absence of heated partisanship, which mark the extracts I -have made, and they will recall the passage well known to every -schoolboy—the grand closing passage of the reply to Hayne. - -As regards style it will be seen that, though yet a young man, Mr. -Webster had made a very marked advance on the Fourth of July address -which he delivered while yet a college-student. He was but thirty years -old when the memorial was drafted, and in dignified simplicity and -elevation of tone it was worthy of his later days. The young lawyer, -whose time had hitherto been employed upon cases of trifling moment in -a country town, had been ripening his powers, and expanding into the -intellectual proportions of a statesman. It was evident at any rate -that his neighbors thought so, for he was nominated as a Representative -to the Thirteenth Congress, in due time elected, and, as has already -been stated, he first took his seat at a special session called by the -President on the 24th of May, 1813. - -It was in this Congress that Daniel Webster made the acquaintance -of two eminent men, with whose names his own is now most frequently -associated—Henry Clay, of Kentucky, and John C. Calhoun, of South -Carolina. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII. - -MR. WEBSTER AS A MEMBER OF CONGRESS. - - -Before I proceed to speak of Mr. Webster’s Congressional career, I -will make room for a professional anecdote, which carries with it an -excellent lesson for my young readers. - -I find it in Harvey’s “Reminiscences,” already alluded to. - -“In the first years of his professional life a blacksmith called on him -for advice respecting the title to a small estate bequeathed to him -by his father. The terms of the will were peculiar, and the kind of -estate transmitted was doubtful. An attempt had been made to annull the -will. Mr. Webster examined the case, but was unable to give a definite -opinion upon the matter for want of authorities. He looked through the -law libraries of Mr. Mason and other legal gentlemen for authorities, -but in vain. He ascertained what works he needed for consultation, and -ordered them from Boston at an expense of fifty dollars. He spent the -leisure hours of some weeks in going through them. He successfully -argued the case when it came on for trial, and it was decided in his -favor. - -“The blacksmith was in ecstasies, for his little all had been at stake. -He called for his attorney’s bill. Mr. Webster, knowing his poverty, -charged him only fifteen dollars, intending to suffer the loss of -money paid out, and to lose the time expended in securing a verdict. -Years passed away, and the case was forgotten, but not the treasured -knowledge by which it was won. On one of his journeys to Washington Mr. -Webster spent a few days in New York City. While he was there Aaron -Burr waited on him for advice in a very important case pending in the -State court. He told him the facts on which it was founded. Mr. Webster -saw in a moment that it was an exact counterpart to the blacksmith’s -will case. On being asked if he could state the law applicable to it he -at once replied that he could. - -“He proceeded to quote decisions bearing upon the case, going back to -the time of Charles II. As he went on with his array of principles -and authorities, all cited with the precision and order of a table of -contents, Mr. Burr arose in astonishment and asked with some warmth, - -“‘Mr. Webster, have you been consulted before in this case?’ - -“‘Most certainly not,’ he replied. ‘I never heard of your case till -this evening.’ - -“‘Very well,’ said Mr. Burr; ‘proceed.’ - -“Mr. Webster concluded the rehearsal of his authorities, and received -from Mr. Burr the warmest praise of his profound knowledge of the law, -and a fee large enough to remunerate him for all the time and trouble -spent on the blacksmith’s case.” - -I have recorded this anecdote, partly to show the tenacity of Mr. -Webster’s memory, which, after a lapse of years, enabled him so exactly -to repeat the authorities he had relied upon in an old case; partly, -also, to show how thoroughly he was wont to prepare himself, even in -cases where he could expect but a small fee. In this case, not only -did he subsequently turn his knowledge to profitable account, but he -lost nothing by the kindness of heart which prompted him to place his -best powers at the service of an humble client. My young readers will -find that knowledge never comes amiss, but, in the course of a long and -sometimes of a short life, we are generally able to employ it for our -advantage. - -I come back to Daniel Webster’s entrance upon Congressional duties. - -He had reached the age of thirty-one, while Henry Clay, who occupied -the Speaker’s chair, was five years older. Mr. Clay came forward much -earlier in public life than his great rival. Though but thirty-six, he -had twice been a member of the United States Senate, being in each case -elected to serve the balance of an unexpired term. He had been a member -of the Legislature of Kentucky, and Speaker of that body, and now he -was serving, not for the first time, as Speaker of the U. S. House of -Representatives. John C. Calhoun was the leading member of the House, -and he as well as Mr. Clay favored the policy of the administration, -both being supporters of the war. Other distinguished members there -were, among them John McLean, of Ohio; Charles J. Ingersoll, of -Pennsylvania; William Gaston, of North Carolina, and Felix Grundy, of -Tennessee. - -Though Mr. Webster was a new member he was placed upon the Committee on -Foreign Relations, at that time of course the most important position -which could have been assigned him. This may be inferred from the -names of his fellow members. He found himself associated with Calhoun, -Grundy, Jackson, Fish and Ingersoll. He was, as I have stated, not in -favor of the war, but since it had been inaugurated he took the ground -that it should be vigorously prosecuted. He did not long remain silent, -but took his stand both in the committee and in the House as one who -thought the war inexpedient. - -It does not fall within the scope of this volume to detail the steps -which the young member took in order to impress his views upon his -fellow members; but, as a specimen of his oratory at that time, and -because it will explain them sufficiently, I quote from a speech made -by him in the regular session during the year 1814: - -“The humble aid which it would be in my power to render to measures -of Government shall be given cheerfully, if Government will pursue -measures which I can conscientiously support. Badly as I think of the -original grounds of the war, as well as of the manner in which it -has hitherto been conducted, if even now, failing in an honest and -sincere attempt to procure just and honorable peace, it will return -to measures of defence and protection such as reason and common sense -and the public opinion all call for, my vote shall not be withholden -from the means. Give up your futile object of invasion. Extinguish the -fires that blaze on your inland frontier. Establish perfect safety and -defense there by adequate force. Let every man that sleeps on your soil -sleep in security. Stop the blood that flows from the veins of unarmed -yeomanry and women and children. Give to the living time to bury and -lament their dead in the quietness of private sorrow. - -“Having performed this work of beneficence and mercy on your inland -border, turn and look with the eye of justice and compassion on your -vast population along the coast. Unclinch the iron grasp of your -Embargo. Take measures for that end before another sun sets upon you. -With all the war of the enemy on your commerce, if you would cease -to war on it yourselves you would still have some commerce. Apply -that revenue to the augmentation of your navy. That navy will in turn -protect your commerce. Let it no longer be said that not one ship of -force, built by your hands, yet floats upon the ocean. - -“Turn the current of your efforts into the channel which national -sentiment has already worn broad and deep to receive it. A naval -force, competent to defend your coast against considerable armaments, -to convoy your trade, and perhaps raise the blockade of your rivers, -is not a chimera. It may be realized. If, then, the war must be -continued, go to the ocean. If you are seriously contending for -maritime rights, go to the theater where alone those rights can be -defended. Thither every indication of your fortune points you. There -the united wishes and exertions of the nation will go with you. Even -our party divisions, acrimonious as they are, cease at the water’s -edge. They are lost in attachment to national character on the element -where that character is made respectable. In protecting naval interests -by naval means, you will arm yourselves with the whole power of -national sentiment, and may command the whole abundance of the national -resources. In time you may enable yourselves to redress injuries in the -place where they may be offered, and, if need be, to accompany your own -flag throughout the world with the protection of your own cannon.” - -My young reader, without knowing much about the matter at issue, will -nevertheless be struck with the statesmanlike character of these -utterances. It is not often that a new member of Congress is able to -discuss public matters with such fullness of knowledge, and in a tone -of such dignity and elevation of sentiment. His fellow legislators were -not long in learning that the new member from New Hampshire was no raw -novice, but a publicist of remarkable ability, knowledge, and a trained -orator. In a discussion which sprang up between Mr. Webster and Mr. -Calhoun, the conceded leader of the House, the honors were at least -divided, if Mr. Webster did not win the larger portion. - -While the young man was thus coming into national prominence his -residence in Washington helped him in a professional way. He began to -practice in the Supreme Court of the United States, being employed in -several prize cases. Judge Marshall was at that time chief justice, and -of him the young lawyer formed an exalted opinion. “I have never seen a -man,” he writes, “of whose intellect I had a higher opinion.” - -On the 18th of April, 1814, the session of Congress terminated, and -Mr. Webster undertook the long and toilsome journey from Washington -to his New Hampshire home. It was not the same home which he left -when he was called a year earlier to attend the special session. His -house and library were destroyed by fire, and though the loss was -but six thousand dollars, it was a severe set-back to a lawyer whose -professional income had never exceeded two thousand dollars. He bore -the loss, however, with equanimity, since it involved only a loss of -money. His talent and education remained, and these were to earn him -hundreds of thousands of dollars in the years to come. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII. - -JOHN RANDOLPH AND WILLIAM PINKNEY. - - -Mr. Webster served four years in Congress as a Representative from his -native State. He had reached the age of thirty-one when he entered -the public service, and therefore, though not the youngest, was -among the youngest members of that important body. As we have seen, -though without previous legislative experience, he advanced at once -to a leading place and took prominent part in all the discussions -of important questions, his opinions always carrying weight. He was -opposed to the administration and its war policy, but he opposed it in -no factious spirit. - -He distinguished himself particularly by his speeches on finance. -When a bill was proposed to establish a national bank, with a capital -of fifty millions of dollars, of which only four millions was to be -specie, and the balance to consist of Government stocks, then very much -depreciated, Mr. Webster rode forty miles on horseback from Baltimore -to Washington, in order to defeat what he regarded as a scheme to -create an irredeemable paper currency, fraught with widespread mischief -to the country. The vigorous speech which he made defeated the bill. -It is interesting to record that Mr. Calhoun, when the vote was -announced, walked across the floor of the House to where Mr. Webster -stood, and holding out both hands to him, told him that he should rely -upon his help to prepare a new bill of a proper character. When this -assurance was given Mr. Calhoun’s feelings were so stirred that he -burst into tears, so deeply did he feel the importance of some aid for -the Government, which he felt with Mr. Webster’s co-operation might be -secured. - -It may be stated here that these great men cherished for each other -mutual respect and friendship, widely as they differed on some points. -The Senator from South Carolina showed this in a notable manner when he -arose from his deathbed (his death followed in a few days), and sat in -his place to listen to his great friend’s seventh of March speech, in -1850, looking a wan and spectral auditor from the next world. - -The battle for sound money which Mr. Webster fought then has been -renewed in later years, as some of my young readers may be aware. In -his speeches he showed a thorough mastery of the subject which he -discussed. He showed the evils of a debased coin, a depreciated paper -currency, and a depressed and falling public credit, and it is largely -due to his efforts that the country emerged from its chaotic financial -condition with as little injury as it did. - -I have spoken of Mr. Webster’s relations then and later to Mr. Calhoun. -Among the members of the House representing Virginia was the famous -John Randolph, of Roanoke, with whom it was difficult for any one -to keep on good terms. He saw fit to take offense at something said -by Mr. Webster, and sent him a challenge. Webster was never charged -by any man with physical cowardice, but he thoroughly despised the -practice of dueling. He was not to be coerced into fighting by any fear -that cowardice would be imputed to him. This may seem to us a very -trivial matter, but seventy years ago and even much later, it required -considerable moral courage to refuse a challenge. I place on record, as -likely to interest my readers, the letter in which Mr. Webster declined -to give satisfaction in the manner demanded. - -“SIR: For having declined to comply with your demand yesterday in the -House for an explanation of words of a general nature used in debate, -you now ‘demand of me that satisfaction which your insulted feelings -require,’ and refer me to your friend, Mr.——, I presume, as he is the -bearer of your note, for such arrangements as are usual. - -“This demand for explanation you, in my judgment, as a matter of right -were not entitled to make on me, nor were the temper and style of your -own reply to my objection to the sugar tax of a character to induce me -to accord it as a matter of courtesy. - -“Neither can I, under the circumstances of the case, recognize in you a -right to call me to the field to answer what you may please to consider -an insult to your feelings. - -“It is unnecessary for me to state other and obvious considerations -growing out of this case. It is enough that I do not feel myself bound -at all times and under any circumstances to accept from any man who -shall choose to risk his own life an invitation of this sort, although -I shall be always prepared to repel in a suitable manner the aggression -of any man who may presume upon such a refusal. - - “Your obedient servant, - - “DANIEL WEBSTER.” - -Mr. Randolph did not press the matter nor did he presume upon the -refusal, but the matter was adjusted amicably. Nearly forty years -later a similar reply to a challenge was sent by a later Senator from -Massachusetts, Henry Wilson, and in both cases the resolute character -of the men was so well known that no one dared to taunt the writer with -cowardice. - -While upon the subject of physical courage I am tempted to transcribe -from Mr. Harvey’s interesting volume an anecdote in which the famous -lawyer, William Pinkney, is prominently mentioned. In answer to the -question whether he ever carried pistols, Mr. Webster answered: - -“No, I never did. I always trusted to my strong arm, and I do not -believe in pistols. There were some Southern men whose blood was hot -and who got very much excited in debate, and I used myself to get -excited, but I never resorted to any such extremity as the use of -pistols. - -“The nearest I ever came to a downright row was with Mr. William -Pinkney. Mr. Pinkney was the acknowledged head and leader of the -American bar. He was the great practitioner at Washington when I was -admitted to practice in the courts there. I found Mr. Pinkney by -universal concession the very head of the bar—a lawyer of extraordinary -accomplishments and withal a very wonderful man. But with all that -there was something about him that was very small. He did things that -one would hardly think it possible that a gentleman of his breeding and -culture and great weight as a lawyer could do. - -“He was a very vain man. One saw it in every motion he made. When he -came into court he was dressed in the very extreme of fashion—almost -like a dandy. He would wear into the court-room his white gloves that -had been put on fresh that morning and that he never put on again. -He usually rode from his house to the Capitol on horseback, and his -overalls were taken off and given to his servant who attended him. -Pinkney showed in his whole appearance that he considered himself the -great man of that arena, and that he expected deference to be paid -to him as the acknowledged leader of the bar. He had a great many -satellites—men of course much less eminent than himself at the bar—who -flattered him, and employed him to take their briefs and argue their -cases, they doing the work and he receiving the greatest share of the -pay. That was the position that Mr. Pinkney occupied when I entered the -bar at Washington. - -“I was a lawyer who had my living to get, and I felt that although I -should not argue my cases as well as he could, still, if my clients -employed me they should have the best ability I had to give them, and -I should do the work myself. I did not propose to practice law in the -Supreme Court by proxy. I think that in some pretty important cases I -had Mr. Pinkney rather expected that I should fall into the current of -his admirers and share my fees with him. This I utterly refused to do. - -“In some important case (I have forgotten what the case was) Mr. -Pinkney was employed to argue it against me. I was going to argue it -for my client myself. I had felt that on several occasions his manner -was, to say the least, very annoying and aggravating. My intercourse -with him, so far as I had any, was always marked with great courtesy -and deference. I regarded him as the leader of the American bar; he -had that reputation and justly. He was a very great lawyer. On the -occasion to which I refer, in some colloquial discussion upon various -minor points of the case he treated me with contempt. He pooh-poohed, -as much as to say it was not worth while to argue a point that I did -not know anything about, that I was no lawyer. I think he spoke of -‘the gentleman from New Hampshire.’ At any rate, it was a thing that -everybody in the court-house, including the judges, could not fail to -observe. Chief Justice Marshall himself was pained by it. It was very -hard for me to restrain my temper and keep cool, but I did so, knowing -in what presence I stood. I think he construed my apparent humility -into a want of what he would call spirit in resisting, and as a sort of -acquiescence in his rule. - -“However the incident passed, the case was not finished when the hour -for adjournment came, and the court adjourned until the next morning. - -“Mr. Pinkney took his whip and gloves, threw his cloak over his arm, -and began to saunter away. - -“I went up to him and said very calmly, ‘Can I see you alone in one of -the lobbies?’ - -“He replied, ‘Certainly.’ I suppose he thought I was going to beg his -pardon and ask his assistance. We passed one of the anterooms of the -Capitol. I looked into one of the grand jury rooms, rather remote from -the main court-room. There was no one in it, and we entered. As we did -so I looked at the door, and found that there was a key in the lock; -and, unobserved by him, I turned the key and put it in my pocket. Mr. -Pinkney seemed to be waiting in some astonishment. - -“I advanced towards him and said: ‘Mr. Pinkney, you grossly insulted -me in the court-room, and not for the first time either. In deference -to your position, and to the respect in which I hold the court, I did -not answer you as I was tempted to do on the spot.’ - -“He began to parley. - -“I continued. ‘You know you did; don’t add another sin to that; don’t -deny it; you know you did it, and you know it was premeditated. It was -deliberate; it was purposely done; and if you deny it, you state an -untruth. Now,’ I went on, ‘I am here to say to you, once for all, that -you must ask my pardon, and go into court to-morrow morning and repeat -the apology, or else either you or I will go out of this room in a -different condition from that in which we entered it.’ - -“I was never more in earnest. He looked at me, and saw that my eyes -were pretty dark and firm. He began to say something. I interrupted him. - -“‘No explanation,’ said I; ‘admit the fact, and take it back. I do not -want another word from you except that. I will hear no explanation; -nothing but that you admit it and recall it.’ - -“He trembled like an aspen leaf. He again attempted to explain. - -“Said I, ‘There is no other course. I have the key in my pocket, and -you must apologize, or take what I give you.’ - -“At that he humbled down, and said to me: ‘You are right, I am sorry; I -did intend to bluff you; I regret it, and ask your pardon.’ - -“‘Enough,’ I promptly replied. ‘Now, one promise before I open the -door; and that is, that you will to-morrow state to the court that you -have said things which wounded my feelings, and that you regret it.’ - -“Pinkney replied, ‘I will do so.’ - -“Then I unlocked the door, and passed out. - -“The next morning, when the court met, Mr. Pinkney at once rose, and -stated to the court that a very unpleasant affair had occurred the -morning before, as might have been observed by their honors; that his -friend, Mr. Webster, had felt grieved at some things which had dropped -from his lips; that his zeal for his client might have led him to say -some things which he should not have said, and that he was sorry for -having thus spoken.’ - -“From that day,” adds Mr. Webster, “there was no man who treated me -with so much respect and deference as Mr. William Pinkney.” - -I have recorded this anecdote that my young readers may understand -clearly that the young lawyer was manly and self-respecting, and -declined the method of satisfaction then in vogue from high and -honorable motives. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV. - -MR. WEBSTER IN BOSTON. - - -Before his second Congressional term had expired, Mr. Webster carried -out a plan which was first suggested by the destruction of his house -and library. His talents demanded a wider arena. Moreover, his growing -family necessitated a style of living for which his professional income -was insufficient. Happily as his life had flowed on in the chief town -in his native State, he felt that he must seek a new residence. For a -time he hesitated between Albany and Boston, but happily for the latter -he decided in its favor, and in August, 1816, he removed thither with -his family, fixing his home in a house on Mt. Vernon Street, but a few -rods from the State House. - -It mattered not where Daniel Webster might choose to locate himself, he -was sure to take at once a leading position both as a lawyer and a man. -He was now thirty-four years old. He had outlived his early delicacy, -and began to assume that dignity and majesty of mein which made him -everywhere a marked man. Appearances are oftentimes deceptive, but in -his case it was not so. That outward majesty which has been quaintly -described in the statement that “when Daniel Webster walked the streets -of Boston he made the buildings look small,” was but the sign and -manifestation of a corresponding intellectual greatness. By his removal -New Hampshire lost her greatest son, and Boston gained its foremost -citizen. - -His expectations of a largely increased professional income were fully -realized. In Portsmouth his fees had never exceeded two thousand -dollars per year. The third year after his removal his fee-book foots -up over fifteen thousand dollars as the receipts of a single year, and -this record is probably incomplete. His biographer, Mr. Curtis, says: -“I am satisfied that his income, from 1818 until he again entered -Congress in 1823, could not have been on an average less than $20,000 a -year, though the customary fees of such counsel at that time were about -one half of what they are now.” Now, for the first time, he was able -to pay in full his father’s debts, which he had voluntarily assumed, -declining to have his small estate thrown into bankruptcy. - -I shall have occasion, hereafter, to point out with regret the fact -that his expenses increased even more rapidly than his income, and -that he voluntarily incurred debts and pecuniary obligations which all -his life long harassed him, and held him in an entirely unnecessary -thraldom. On the subject of national finance Mr. Webster, as we have -seen, held the soundest views; but in the management of his own -finances, for the larger portion of his active life he displayed an -incapacity to control his expenditures and confine them within his -income which caused his best friends to grieve. In this respect, at any -rate, I cannot present the hero whom we so deservedly admire as a model. - -The large increase in Mr. Webster’s income is sufficient to prove -that he was employed in the most important cases. But fifteen years -had elapsed since, as a raw graduate of a country college, he humbly -sought an opportunity to study in the office of a well-known Boston -lawyer. Now he took his place at the bar, and rapidly gained a much -higher position than the man who had kindly extended to him a welcome. -It is to the credit of Mr. Gore’s ability to read character and -judge of ability that he foresaw and predicted all this when through -his influence his student was led to decline the clerkship of a New -Hampshire court, which then would have filled the measure of his -ambition. - -And how was all this gained? I can assure my young readers that no -great lawyer, no great writer, no great member of any profession, -lounges into greatness. Daniel Webster worked, and worked hard. He -rose early, not only because it gave him an opportunity of doing -considerable while he was fresh and elastic, but because he had a -country boy’s love of nature. Whether in city or country, the early -morning hours were dear to him. As Mr. Lee says, “He did a large amount -of work before others were awake in the house, and in the evening he -was ready for that sweet sleep which ‘God gives to his beloved.’” - -During the period which elapsed between his arrival in Boston and his -return to Congress as a Representative of his adopted city his life was -crowded, and he appeared in many notable cases. But there was one which -merits special mention, because he was enabled to do a great service to -the college where he had been educated, and prove himself in a signal -manner a grateful and loyal son. - -Of the celebrated Dartmouth College case I do not consider it necessary -for my present purpose to speak in detail. It is sufficient to say -that it was menaced with a serious peril. The chartered rights of the -college were threatened by legislative interference; nay, more, an -act was passed, and pronounced valid by the courts of New Hampshire, -which imperilled the usefulness and prosperity of the institution. The -matter was carried before the Supreme Court of the United States, and -Mr. Webster’s services were secured. The argument which he made on that -occasion established his reputation as a great lawyer. The closing -portion was listened to with absorbing interest. It was marked by deep -feeling on the part of the speaker. It is as follows: - -“This, sir, is my case. It is the case not merely of that humble -institution, it is the case of every college in our land; it is -more, it is the case of every eleemosynary institution throughout -our country—of all those great charities founded by the piety of our -ancestors, to alleviate human misery, and scatter blessings along -the pathway of life. It is more! It is, in some sense, the case of -every man among us who has property of which he may stripped, for the -question is simply this: ‘Shall our State Legislatures be allowed to -take that which is not their own, to turn it from its original use, and -apply it to such ends or purposes as they in their discretion shall see -fit?’ - -“Sir, you may destroy this little institution; it is weak; it is in -your hands. I know it is one of the lesser lights in the literary -horizon of our country. You may put it out. But if you do so, you must -carry through your work! You must extinguish, one after another, all -those greater lights of science which, for more than a century, have -thrown their light over our land! - -“It is, sir, as I have said, a small college, and yet there are those -who love it—” - -Here the orator was overcome by emotion. His lips quivered, and his -eyes filled with tears. The effect was extraordinary. All who heard -him, from Chief Justice Marshall to the humblest attendant, were borne -away on the tide of emotion as he gave expression in a few broken words -to the tenderness which he felt for his Alma Mater. - -When he recovered his composure, he continued in deep, thrilling tones, -“Sir, I know not how others may feel, but for myself, when I see my -Alma Mater surrounded, like Cæsar in the Senate-house, by those who are -reiterating stab after stab, I would not, for this right hand, have her -turn to me, and say, ’Et tu quoque mi fili! And thou too, my son!’” - -This speech, which was masterly in point of logic as well as a powerful -appeal to the feelings, was successful, and the opponents of the -college were disastrously defeated. - - - - -CHAPTER XXV. - -THE ORATION AT PLYMOUTH. - - -The three-fold character in which Daniel Webster achieved greatness -was as lawyer, orator and statesman. In this respect he must be placed -at the head of the immortal three whose names are usually conjoined. -Mr. Calhoun did not pretend to be a lawyer, and Mr. Clay, though he -practiced law, possessed but a small share of legal erudition, and -when he gained cases, was indebted to his eloquence rather than to his -mastery of the legal points involved. Both, however, may claim to be -orators and statesmen, but even in these respects it is probable that -the highest place would be accorded to their great compeer. - -Up to the age of thirty-eight Mr. Webster had not vindicated his claim -to the title of a great orator. In Congress and in his profession he -had shown himself a powerful, eloquent and convincing speaker, but it -was not until he delivered at Plymouth his celebrated discourse on the -two hundredth anniversary of the settlement that he established his -fame as a great anniversary orator. - -Probably no better selection of an orator could have been made. The -circumstances of his own early career, born and brought up as he was on -the sterile soil of one of the original States of New England, trained -like the first settlers in the rugged school of poverty and simplicity, -wresting a bare subsistence from unwilling nature, he could enter into -the feelings of those hardy men who brought the seeds of civilization -and civil liberty from the shores of the Old World to find a lodgment -for them in the soil of the New. He could appreciate and admire the -spirit which actuated them, and no one was more likely to set a proper -value on the results they achieved. - -So, by a happy conjuncture, the orator fitted the occasion, and the -occasion was of a character to draw forth the best powers of the -orator. It gave him an opportunity to pay a fitting tribute to the -virtues of the stern but conscientious and deeply religious men, who -had their faults indeed, but who in spite of them will always receive -not only from their descendants but from the world a high measure of -respect. Of the oration, the manner in which it was delivered, and -its effect upon his audience, we have this account by an eye and ear -witness, Mr. Ticknor: - -“In the morning I went with Mr. Webster to the church where he was to -deliver the oration. It was the old First Church—Dr. Kendall’s. He did -not find the pulpit convenient for his purpose, and after making two -or three experiments, determined to speak from the deacon’s seat under -it. An extemporaneous table, covered with a green baize cloth, was -arranged for the occasion, and when the procession entered the church -everything looked very appropriate, though when the arrangement was -first suggested it sounded rather odd. - -“The building was crowded; indeed, the streets had seemed so all the -morning, for the weather was fine, and the whole population was astir -as for a holiday. The oration was an hour and fifty minutes long, but -the whole of what was printed a year afterwards (for a year before it -made its appearance) was not delivered. His manner was very fine—quite -various in the different parts. The passage about the slave trade was -delivered with a power of indignation such as I never witnessed on -any other occasion. That at the end when, spreading his arms as if to -embrace them, he welcomed future generations to the great inheritance -which we have enjoyed, was spoken with the most attractive sweetness, -and that peculiar smile which in him was always so charming. - -“The effect of the whole was very great. As soon as he got home to -our lodgings all the principal people then in Plymouth crowded about -him. He was full of animation and radiant with happiness. But there -was something about him very grand and imposing at the same time. In a -letter which I wrote the same day I said that ‘he seemed as if he were -like the mount that might not be touched, and that burned with fire.’ -I have the same recollection of him still. I never saw him at any time -when he seemed to me to be more conscious of his own powers, or to have -a more true and natural enjoyment from their possession.” - -The occasion will always be memorable, for on that day it was revealed -to the world that America possessed an orator fit to be ranked with the -greatest orators of ancient or modern times. A year afterwards John -Adams, in a letter to Mr. Webster, said of it: “It is the effort of a -great mind, richly stored with every species of information. If there -be an American who can read it without tears I am not that American. -It enters more perfectly into the genuine spirit of New England than -any production I ever read. The observations on the Greeks and Romans; -on colonization in general; on the West India Islands; on the past, -present and future of America, and on the slave trade are sagacious, -profound and affecting in a high degree. Mr. Burke is no longer -entitled to the praise, the most consummate orator of modern times. -This oration will be read five hundred years hence with as much rapture -as it was heard. It ought to be read at the end of every century, and -indeed at the end of every year, forever and ever.” - -This testimony is the more interesting because the writer less then -five years later was himself, with his great contemporary, Mr. -Jefferson, to be the subject of an address which will always be -reckoned as one of Webster’s masterpieces. - -And now, since many of my young readers will never read the Plymouth -oration, I surrender the rest of this chapter to two extracts which may -give them an idea of its high merits. - -“There are enterprises, military as well as civil, which sometimes -check the current of events, give a new turn to human affairs, and -transmit their consequences through ages. We see their importance in -their results, and call them great because great things follow. There -have been battles which have fixed the fate of nations. These come -down to us in history with a solid and permanent interest, not created -by a display of glittering armor, the rush of adverse battalions, -the sinking and rising of pennons, the flight, the pursuit and the -victory; but by their effect in advancing or retarding human knowledge, -in overthrowing or establishing despotism, in extending or destroying -human happiness. - -“When the traveler pauses on the plain of Marathon, what are the -emotions which most strongly agitate his breast? What is that glorious -recollection which thrills through his frame and suffuses his eyes? -Not, I imagine, that Grecian skill and Grecian valor were here most -signally displayed, but that Greece herself was here displayed. It is -because to this spot, and to the event which has rendered it immortal, -he refers all the succeeding glories of the republic. It is because, -if that day had gone otherwise, Greece had perished. It is because he -perceives that her philosophers and orators, her poets and painters, -her sculptors and architects, her government and free institutions, -point backward to Marathon, and that their future existence seems to -have been suspended on the contingency whether the Persian or the -Grecian banner should wave victorious in the beams of that day’s -setting sun. And, as his imagination kindles at the retrospect, he is -transported back to the interesting moment, he counts the fearful odds -of the contending hosts, his interest for the result overwhelms him, -he trembles as if it were still uncertain, and grows to doubt whether -he may consider Socrates and Plato, Demosthenes, Sophocles and Phidias, -as secure yet to himself and the world. - -“‘If God prosper us,’ might have been the appropriate language of -our fathers when they landed upon this Rock. If God prosper us, we -shall begin a work which shall last for ages; we shall plant here a -new society in the principles of the fullest liberty and the purest -religion; we shall fill this region of the great continent, which -stretches almost from pole to pole, with civilization and Christianity; -the temples of the true God shall rise, where now ascends the smoke of -idolatrous sacrifice; fields and gardens, the flowers of summer and the -waving and golden harvest of autumn shall extend over a thousand hills -and stretch along a thousand valleys never yet, since the creation, -reclaimed to the use of civilized man. - -“We shall whiten this coast with the canvas of a prosperous commerce; -we shall stud the long and winding shore with a hundred cities. That -which we sow in weakness shall be raised in strength. From our sincere -but houseless worship there shall spring splendid temples to record -God’s goodness, and from the simplicity of our social unions there -shall arise wise and politic constitutions of government, full of -the liberty which we ourselves bring and breathe; from our zeal for -learning institutions shall spring which shall scatter the light of -knowledge throughout the land, and, in time, paying back where they -have borrowed, shall contribute their part to the great aggregate of -human knowledge; and our descendants through all generations shall -look back to this spot, and to this hour, with unabated affection and -regard.” - -I close with the solemn and impressive peroration in which the orator -addresses those who are to come after him. - -“Advance then, ye future generations! We would hail you as you rise in -your long succession to fill the places which we now fill, and to taste -the blessings of existence where we are passing, and soon shall have -passed, our own human duration. We bid you welcome to this pleasant -land of the fathers. We bid you welcome to the healthful skies and the -verdant fields of New England. We greet your accession to the great -inheritance which we have enjoyed. We welcome you to the blessings of -good government and religious liberty. We welcome you to the treasures -of science and the delights of learning. We welcome you to the -transcendent sweets of domestic life, to the happiness of kindred and -parents and children. We welcome you to the immeasurable blessings of -rational existence, the immortal hope of Christianity, and the light of -everlasting truth!” - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI. - -THE BUNKER HILL ORATION. - - -The oration at Plymouth first revealed the power of Mr. Webster. There -are some men who exhaust themselves in one speech, one poem, or one -story, and never attain again the high level which they have once -reached. - -It was not so with Daniel Webster. He had a fund of reserved power -which great occasions never drew upon in vain. It might be that in an -ordinary case in court, where his feelings were not aroused, and no -fitting demand made upon his great abilities, he would disappoint the -expectations of those who supposed that he must always be eloquent. I -heard a gentleman say once, “Oh, I heard Mr. Webster speak once, and -his speech was commonplace enough.” - -“On what occasion?” - -“In court.” - -“What was the case?” - -“Oh, I don’t remember—some mercantile case.” - -It would certainly be unreasonable to expect any man to invest dry -commercial details with eloquence. Certainly a lawyer always ambitious -in his rhetoric would hardly commend himself to a sound, sensible -client. - -But Mr. Webster always rose to the level of a great occasion. His -occasional speeches were always carefully prepared and finished, and -there is not one of them but will live. I now have to call special -attention to the address delivered at the laying of the corner-stone -of Bunker Hill Monument, at Charlestown, June 17, 1825. It was an -occasion from which he could not help drawing inspiration. His father, -now dead, whom he had loved and revered as few sons love and revere -their parents, had been a participant, not indeed in the battle which -the granite shaft was to commemorate, but in the struggle which the -colonists waged for liberty. It may well be imagined that Mr. Webster -gazed with no common emotion at the veterans who were present to hear -their patriotism celebrated. Though the passages addressed to them—in -part at least—are familiar to many of my readers, I will nevertheless -quote them here. Apart from their subject they will never be forgotten -by Americans. - -“Venerable men! you have come down to us from a former generation. -Heaven has bounteously lengthened out your lives that you might behold -this joyous day. You are now where you stood fifty years ago, this very -hour, with your brothers and your neighbors, shoulder to shoulder in -the strife of your country. Behold how altered! The same heavens are -indeed over your heads; the same ocean rolls at your feet; but all -else how changed! You hear now no roar of hostile cannon, you see now -no mixed volumes of smoke and flame rising from burning Charlestown. -The ground strewed with the dead and the dying; the impetuous charge; -the steady and successful repulse; the loud call to repeated assault; -the summoning of all that is manly to repeated resistance; a thousand -bosoms freely and fearlessly bared in an instant to whatever of terror -there may be in war and death—all these you have witnessed, but you -witness them no more. - -“All is peace. The heights of yonder metropolis, its towers and roofs, -which you then saw filled with wives and children and countrymen in -distress and terror, and looking with unutterable emotions for the -issue of the combat, have presented you to-day with the sight of -its whole happy population come out to welcome and greet you with -an universal jubilee. Yonder proud ships, by a felicity of position -appropriately lying at the foot of this mound, and seeming fondly to -cling around it, are not means of annoyance to you, but your country’s -own means of distinction and defense. All is peace, and God has granted -you this sight of your country’s happiness ere you slumber forever in -the grave; he has allowed you to behold and to partake the reward of -your patriotic toils; and he has allowed us, your sons and countrymen, -to meet you here, and in the name of the present generation, in the -name of your country, in the name of liberty, to thank you! - -“But, alas! you are not all here! Time and the sword have thinned your -ranks. Prescott, Putnam, Stark, Brooks, Read, Pomeroy, Bridge! our eyes -seek for you in vain amid this broken band. You are gathered to your -fathers, and live only to your country in her grateful remembrance and -your own bright example. But let us not too much grieve that you have -met the common fate of men. You lived at least long enough to know that -your work had been nobly and successfully accomplished. You lived to -see your country’s independence established, and to sheathe your swords -from war. On the light of liberty you saw arise the light of peace, like - - ‘another morn, - Risen on mid-noon;’ - -and the sky on which you closed your eyes was cloudless.” - -After a tribute to General Warren ‘the first great martyr in this great -cause,’ Mr. Webster proceeds: - -“Veterans, you are the remnants of many a well-fought field. You bring -with you marks of honor from Trenton and Monmouth, from Yorktown, -Camden,. Bennington and Saratoga. Veterans of half a century, when -in your youthful days you put everything at hazard in your country’s -cause, good as that cause was, and sanguine as youth is, still your -fondest hopes did not stretch onward to an hour like this. At a period -to which you could not reasonably have expected to arrive, at a moment -of national prosperity such as you could never have foreseen, you are -now met here to enjoy the fellowship of old soldiers, and to receive -the overflowings of an universal gratitude. - -“But your agitated countenances and your heaving breasts inform me that -even this is not an unmixed joy. I perceive that a tumult of contending -feelings rushes upon you. The images of the dead, as well as the -persons of the living, throng to your embraces. The scene overwhelms -you, and I turn from it. May the Father of all mercies smile upon your -declining years and bless them! And when you shall here have exchanged -your embraces, when you shall once more have pressed the hands which -have been so often extended to give succor in adversity, or grasped in -the exultation of victory, then look abroad into this lovely land which -your young valor defended, and mark the happiness with which it is -filled; yea, look abroad into the whole earth, and see what a name you -have contributed to give your country, and what a praise you have added -to freedom, and then rejoice in the sympathy and gratitude which beam -upon your last days from the improved condition of mankind!” - -Not only were there war-scarred veterans present to listen entranced to -the glowing periods of the inspired orator, but there was an eminent -friend of America, a son of France, General Lafayette, who sat in a -conspicuous seat and attracted the notice of all. To him the orator -addressed himself in a manner no less impressive. - -“Fortunate, fortunate man! with what measure of devotion will you not -thank God for the circumstances of your extraordinary life! You are -connected with both hemispheres, and with two generations. Heaven saw -fit to ordain that the electric spark of liberty should be conducted, -through you, from the New World to the Old; and we, who are now here to -perform this duty of patriotism, have all of us long ago received it -in charge from our fathers to cherish your name and your virtues. You -will account it an instance of your good fortune, sir, that you crossed -the seas to visit us at a time which enables you to be present at this -solemnity. You now behold the field, the renown of which reached you in -the heart of France, and caused a thrill in your ardent bosom; you see -the lines of the little redoubt thrown up by the incredible diligence -of Prescott, defended to the last extremity by his lion-hearted valor, -and within which the corner-stone of our monument has now taken its -position. You see where Warren fell, and where Parker, Gardner, -McCleary, Moore and other early patriots fell with him. Those who -survived that day, and whose lives have been prolonged to the present -hour, are now around you. Some of them you have known in the trying -scenes of the war. Behold! They now stretch forth their feeble arms to -embrace you. Behold! They raise their trembling voices to invoke the -blessing of God on you and yours forever.” - -I should like to increase my quotations, but space will not permit. I -have quoted enough to give my young readers an idea of this masterly -address. When next they visit the hill where the monument stands -complete, let them try to picture to themselves how it looked on -that occasion when, from the platform where he stood Mr. Webster, -with his clarion voice, facing the thousands who were seated before -him on the rising hillside, and the other thousands who stood at the -summit, spoke these eloquent words. Let them imagine the veteran -soldiers, and the white-haired and venerable Lafayette, and they can -better understand the effect which this address made on the eager and -entranced listeners. They will not wonder at the tears which gathered -in the eyes of the old soldiers as they bowed their heads to conceal -their emotions. Surely there was no other man in America who could so -admirably have improved the occasion. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVII. - -ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. - - -July 4, 1826, was a memorable day. It was the fiftieth anniversary -of American Independence, and for that reason, if no other, it was -likely to be a day of note. But, by a singular coincidence, two eminent -Americans, fathers of the republic, both of whom had filled the -Presidency, yielded up their lives. - -When John Adams was dying at Quincy, in Massachusetts, he spoke of his -great countryman, Thomas Jefferson, who he naturally supposed was to -survive him. But the same day, and that the natal day of the republic, -brought the illustrious career of each to a close. Not untimely, for -John Adams had passed the age of ninety, and Jefferson was but a few -years younger. - -Those were not the days of telegraphs nor of railroads, and the -news had to be conveyed by stage-coaches, so that it was perhaps -a month before the country through its large extent knew of the -double loss which it had sustained. It was certainly by a most -remarkable coincidence that these two great leaders, representing the -two political parties which divided the country, but one in their -devotion to the common welfare, passed from earthly scenes on the same -anniversary. It was no wonder that they were the subjects of public -addresses and sermons throughout the United States. - -Of all those addresses but one is remembered to-day. It was the oration -delivered by Daniel Webster on the 2d of August, 1826. This too was -an anniversary, the anniversary of the day when the Declaration of -Independence had been engrossed by the Revolutionary Congress. - -As the circumstances attending the delivery of this oration will be new -to my young readers, I quote from Mr. Ticknor’s description, as I find -it in Mr. Curtis’s Life of Mr. Webster. After detailing an interview, -in which Mr. Webster read him in advance some portions of the oration, -he proceeds: - -“The next day, the 2d of August, the weather was fine, and the -concourse to hear him immense. It was the first time that Faneuil -Hall had been draped in mourning. The scene was very solemn, though -the light of day was not excluded. Settees had been placed over the -whole area of the hall; the large platform was occupied by many of the -most distinguished men in New England, and, as it was intended that -everything should be conducted with as much quietness as possible, -the doors were closed when the procession had entered, and every -part of the hall and galleries was filled. This was a mistake in the -arrangements; the crowd on the outside, thinking that some space -must still be left within, became very uneasy, and finally grew so -tumultuous and noisy that the solemnities were interrupted. The police -in vain attempted to restore order. It seemed as if confusion would -prevail. Mr. Webster perceived that there was but one thing to be done. -He advanced to the front of the stage, and said in a voice easily heard -above the noise of tumult without and of alarm within, ‘_Let those -doors be opened_.’ - -“The power and authority of his manner were irresistible; the doors -were opened, though with difficulty, from the pressure of the crowd on -the outside; but after the first rush everything was quiet, and the -order during the rest of the performance was perfect. - -“Mr. Webster spoke in an orator’s gown and wore small-clothes. He was -in the perfection of his manly beauty and strength, his form filled out -to its finest proportions, and his bearing, as he stood before the -vast multitude, that of absolute dignity and power. His manuscript lay -on a small table near him, but I think he did not once refer to it. His -manner of speaking was deliberate and commanding. When he came to the -passage on eloquence, and to the words, ‘It is action, noble, sublime, -godlike action,’ he stamped his foot repeatedly on the stage, his form -seemed to dilate, and he stood, as that whole audience saw and felt, -the personification of what he so perfectly described. I never saw him -when his manner was so grand and appropriate. - -“The two speeches attributed to Mr. Adams and his opponent attracted -great attention from the first. Soon they were put into school-books, -as specimens of English, and of eloquence. In time men began to -believe they were genuine speeches, made by genuine men who were in -the Congress of ’76; and at last Mr. Webster received letters asking -whether such was the fact or not. In January, 1846, he sent me from -Washington a letter he had just received, dated at Auburn, begging him -to solve the doubt. With it he sent me his answer, which is published -in his works, saying: ‘The accompanying letter and copy of answer -respect a question which has been often asked me. I place them in your -hands, to serve if similar inquiries should be made of you.’ Two months -after, in March of the same year, he sent me a letter from Bangor, in -Maine, asking the same question, beginning the note which accompanied -it with these words: ‘Here comes another; I cannot possibly answer -all of them, one after another.’ Indeed he continued to receive such -letters until the edition of his works was published in 1851, though -the matter was repeatedly discussed and explained in the newspapers. -The fact is, that the speech he wrote for John Adams has such an air -of truth and reality about it, that only a genius like Mr. Webster, -perfectly familiar with whatever relates to the Revolution, and indeed -with its spirit, could have written it.” - -There is hardly a schoolboy who reads this book who has not declaimed -his famous speech, beginning, ‘Sink or swim, live or die, survive -or perish, I give my hand and my heart to this vote.’ It is hard to -believe that this noble and impressive speech, so true to the sturdy -character of Mr. Adams, and so appropriate to the occasion, was written -by Mr. Webster one morning, before breakfast, in his library. It is -also surprising that the orator was not certain whether it really had -merit or not, and read it to Mr. Ticknor for his opinion. - -Though parts of this speech are familiar, I shall nevertheless conclude -my chapter with the exordium, since it will be read with fresh interest -in this connection. - -“This is an unaccustomed spectacle. For the first time, fellow -citizens, badges of mourning shroud the columns and overhang the arches -of this hall. These walls, which were consecrated so long ago to the -cause of American liberty, which witnessed her infant struggles, and -rang with the shouts of her earliest victories, proclaim now that -distinguished friends and champions of that great cause have fallen. It -is right that it should be thus. The tears which flow and the honors -which are paid when the founders of the republic die give hope that the -republic itself may be immortal. It is fit that by public assembly and -solemn observance, by anthem and by eulogy, we commemorate the services -of national benefactors, extol their virtues, and render thanks to God -for eminent blessings, early given and long continued, to our favored -country. - -“Adams and Jefferson are no more, and we are assembled, fellow -citizens, the aged, the middle-aged, and the young, by the spontaneous -impulse of all, under the authority of the municipal government, -with the presence of the chief magistrate of the commonwealth and -others, its official representatives, the university, and the learned -societies, to bear our part in the manifestations of respect and -gratitude which universally pervade the land. Adams and Jefferson -are no more. On our fiftieth anniversary, the great day of national -jubilee, in the very hour of public rejoicing, in the midst of echoing -and re-echoing voices of thanksgiving, while their own names were on -all tongues, they took their flight together to the world of spirits. - -“If it be true that no one can safely be pronounced happy while he -lives, if that event which terminates life can alone crown its honor -and its glory, what felicity is here! The great epic of their lives how -happily concluded! Poetry itself has hardly closed illustrious lives -and finished the career of earthly renown by such a consummation. If -we had the power, we could not wish to reverse this dispensation of -Divine Providence. The great objects of life were accomplished, the -drama was ready to be closed. It has closed; our patriots have fallen; -but so fallen, at such age, with such coincidence, on such a day, that -we cannot rationally lament that that end has come, which we know could -not long be deferred. - -“Neither of these great men, fellow citizens, could have died at any -time without leaving an immense void in our American society. They have -been so intimately, and for so long a time, blended with the history of -the country, and especially so united in our thoughts and recollections -with the events of the Revolution, that the death of either would have -touched the strings of public sympathy. We should have felt that one -great link connecting us with former times was broken; that we had -lost something more, as it were, of the presence of the Revolution -itself and of the Act of Independence, and were driven on by another -great remove from the days of our country’s early distinction, to meet -posterity and to mix with the future. Like the mariner, whom the ocean -and the winds carry along, till he sees the stars which have directed -his course and lighted his pathless way descend one by one beneath the -rising horizon, we should have felt that the stream of time had borne -us onward till another great luminary, whose light had cheered us and -whose guidance we had followed, had sunk from our sight. - -“But the concurrence of their death on the anniversary of independence -has naturally awakened stronger emotions. Both had been presidents, -both were early patriots, and both were distinguished and ever honored -by their immediate agency in the act of independence. It cannot but -seem striking and extraordinary that these two should live to see the -fiftieth year from the date of that act; that they should complete -that year; and that then, on the day which had just linked forever -their own fame with their country’s glory, the heavens should open to -receive them both at once. As their lives themselves were the gifts of -Providence, who is not willing to recognize in their happy termination, -as well as in their long continuance, proofs that our country and its -benefactors are objects of His care?” - -Towards the close of the oration we find a striking passage familiar to -many, and justly admired, touching the duties which devolve upon the -favored citizens of the United States. - -“This lovely land, this glorious liberty, these benign institutions, -the dear purchase of our fathers, are ours; ours to enjoy, ours to -preserve, ours to transmit. Generations past and generations to come -hold us responsible for this sacred trust. Our fathers from behind -admonish us with their anxious paternal voices; posterity calls out to -us from the bosom of the future; the world turns hither its solicitous -eyes; all, all conjure us to act wisely and faithfully in the relation -which we sustain. - -“We can never, indeed, pay the debt which is upon us; but, by virtue, -by morality, by religion, by the cultivation of every good principle -and every good habit, we may hope to enjoy the blessing through our -day, and to leave it unimpaired to our children. Let us feel deeply how -much of what we are, and of what we possess, we owe to this liberty, -and to these institutions of government. Nature has indeed given us a -soil which yields bounteously to the hands of industry, the mighty and -fruitful ocean is before us, and the skies over our heads shed health -and vigor. But what are lands, and skies, and seas to civilized man, -without society, without knowledge, without morals, without religious -culture? and how can these be enjoyed, in all their extent and all -their excellence, but under the protection of wise institutions and a -free government? Fellow citizens, there is not one of us, there is not -one of us here present, who does not at this moment, and every moment, -experience in his own condition, and in the condition of those most -near and dear to him, the influence and the benefits of this liberty -and these institutions. Let us then acknowledge the blessing, let -us feel it deeply and powerfully, let us cherish a strong affection -for it, and resolve to maintain and perpetuate it. The blood of -our fathers, let it not have been shed in vain; the great hope of -posterity, let it not be blasted!” - -It has been said with truth that no funeral oration has ever been -pronounced, in any age, and in any language, which exceeds this in -eloquence and simple grandeur. Happy the country that possesses two -citizens of whom such praises can be uttered, and happy the nation -that can find an orator of such transcendent genius to pronounce their -eulogies! - - - - -CHAPTER XXVIII. - -HOME LIFE AND DOMESTIC SORROWS. - - -In speaking of Mr. Webster as an orator I have for some time neglected -to speak of him in his domestic relations. He was blessed with a happy -home. The wife he had chosen was fitted by intellect and culture to -sympathize with him in his important work. Moreover, she had those -sweet domestic qualities which are required to make home happy. -Children had been born to them, and these were an important factor in -the happiness of Mr. Webster’s home. He had a warm love for children, -and was always an affectionate and indulgent parent, seldom chiding, -but rebuking in love when occasion required. - -In January, 1817, came the first bereavement. His daughter, Grace, -always precocious and delicate, developed lung trouble and wasted -away. She seems to have been a remarkably bright and attractive child. -Her heart was easily touched by sorrow or destitution, and she would -never consent that applicants for relief should be sent from the door -unsatisfied. “She would bring them herself into the house, see that -their wants were supplied, comfort them with the ministration of her -own little hands and the tender compassion of her large eyes. If her -mother ever refused, those eyes would fill with tears, and she would -urge their requests so perseveringly that there was no resisting her.” - -The death of this sweet child touched Mr. Webster nearly, and it was -with a saddened heart that he returned to Washington to devote himself -to his duties in the Supreme Court. - -On the 18th of December, 1824, death once more appeared in the little -household, this time removing the youngest boy, Charles, then nearing -his second birthday. This child, young as he was, is said to have borne -a closer resemblance to his father than any of his other children. Both -parents were devoted to him. Mrs. Webster writes to her husband just -after the little boy’s death: “It was an inexpressible consolation to -me, when I contemplated him in his sickness, that he had not one regret -for the past, nor one dread for the future; he was as patient as a lamb -during all his sufferings, and they were at last so great I was happy -when they were ended. I shall always reflect on his brief life with -mournful pleasure, and, I hope, remember with gratitude all the joy -he gave me, and it has been great. And, oh, how fondly did I flatter -myself it would be lasting! - - “’It was but yesterday, my child, thy little heart beat high; - And I had scorned the warning voice that told me thou must die.’” - -When Mr. Webster received the intelligence of his loss, he, for the -first time in years, indulged in his early fondness for verse, and -wrote a few stanzas which have been preserved, though they were -intended to be seen only by those near and dear to him. The prevailing -thought is a striking one. Here are the verses: - - “The staff on which my years should lean - Is broken ere those years come’ o’er me; - My funeral rites thou shouldst have seen, - But thou art in the tomb before me. - - “Thou rear’st to me no filial stone, - No parent’s grave with tears beholdest; - Thou art my ancestor—my son! - And stand’st in Heaven’s account the oldest. - - “On earth my lot was soonest cast, - Thy generation after mine; - Thou hast thy predecessor passed, - Earlier eternity is thine. - - “I should have set before thine eyes - The road to Heaven, and showed it clear; - But thou, untaught, spring’st to the skies, - And leav’st thy teacher lingering here. - - “Sweet seraph, I would learn of thee, - And hasten to partake thy bliss! - And, oh! to thy world welcome me, - As first I welcomed thee to this.” - -But a still heavier bereavement was in store, though it was delayed -for some years. In the summer of 1827 the health of Mrs. Webster began -to fail, and from that time she steadily declined until on the 21st -of January, in the following year she died. Of Mr. Webster’s bearing -at the funeral, Mr. Ticknor writes: “Mr. Webster came to Mr. George -Blake’s in Summer Street, where we saw him both before and after the -funeral. He seemed completely broken-hearted. At the funeral, when, -with Mr. Paige, I was making some arrangements for the ceremonies, we -noticed that Mr. Webster was wearing shoes that were not fit for the -wet walking of the day, and I went to him and asked him if he would not -ride in one of the carriages. ‘No,’ he said, ‘my children and I must -follow their mother to the grave on foot. I could swim to Charlestown.’ -A few minutes afterwards he took Nelson and Daniel in either hand, and -walked close to the hearse through the streets to the church in whose -crypt the interment took place. It was a touching and solemn sight. He -was excessively pale.” - -It is a striking commentary upon the emptiness of human honors where -the heart is concerned that this great affliction came very soon after -Mr. Webster’s election to the United State Senate, where he achieved -his highest fame and gathered his choicest laurels. We can well imagine -that he carried a sad heart to the halls of legislation, and realized -how poorly the world’s honors compensate the heart for the wounds of -bereavement. But Daniel Webster was not a man to suffer sorrow to -get the mastery of him. He labored the harder in the service of his -country, and found in the discharge of duty his best consolation. -If I had room I would like to quote the tribute of Judge Storey to -the character of Mr. Webster. I confine myself to one sentence: “Few -persons have been more deservedly or more universally beloved; few have -possessed qualities more attractive, more valuable or more elevating.” - -A little over a year later there was a fresh sorrow. Ezekiel -Webster, the older brother, between whom and Daniel such warm and -affectionate relations had always existed, died suddenly under striking -circumstances. He was addressing a jury in the court-house at Concord, -N. H., speaking with full force, when, without a moment’s warning, “he -fell backward, without bending a joint, and, so far as appeared, was -dead before his head reached the floor.” - -He was a man of large ability, though necessarily overshadowed by -the colossal genius of his younger brother. It would be too much to -expect two Daniel Websters in one family. His death had a depressing -effect upon Daniel, for the two had been one in sympathy, and each -had rejoiced in the success of the other. Together they had struggled -up from poverty, achieved an education and professional distinction, -and though laboring in different spheres, for Ezekiel kept aloof from -politics, they continued to exchange views upon all subjects that -interested either. It is not surprising, in view of his desolate -household, and the loss of his favorite brother, that Daniel should -write: “I confess the world, at present, has an aspect for me anything -but cheerful. With a multitude of acquaintances I have few friends; my -nearest intimacies are broken, and a sad void is made in the objects -of affection.” Yet he was constrained to acknowledge that his life, -on the whole, had been “fortunate and happy beyond the common lot, -and it would be now ungrateful, as well as unavailing, to repine at -calamities, of which, as they are human, I must expect to partake.” - -I have taken pains to speak of Mr. Webster’s home affections, because -many, but only those who did not know him, have looked upon him as -coldly intellectual, with a grand genius, but deficient in human -emotions, when, as a fact, his heart was unusually warm and overflowing -with tender sympathy. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIX. - -CALLED TO THE SENATE. - - -I have called this biography “From Farm-boy to Senator,” because it is -as a senator that Daniel Webster especially distinguished himself. At -different times he filled the position of Secretary of State, but it -was in the Senate Chamber, where he was associated with other great -leaders, in especial Clay, Calhoun and Hayne, that he became a great -central object of attention and admiration. - -Mr. Webster was not elected to the Senate till he had reached the age -of forty-five. For him it was a late preferment, and when it came he -accepted it reluctantly. Mr. Clay was not yet thirty when he entered -the Senate, and Mr. Calhoun was Vice-President before he attained the -age of forty-five. But there was this advantage in Mr. Webster’s case, -that when he joined the highest legislative body in the United States -he joined it as a giant, fully armed and equipped not only by nature -but by long experience in the lower House of Congress, where he was a -leader. - -The preferment came to him unsought. Mr. Mills, one of the senators -from Massachusetts, who had filled his position acceptably, was -drawing near the close of his term, and his failing health rendered -his re-election impolitic. Naturally Mr. Webster was thought of as his -successor, but he felt that he could hardly be spared from the lower -House, where he was the leading supporter of the administration of John -Quincy Adams. Levi Lincoln was at that time Governor of Massachusetts, -and he too had been urged to become a candidate. Mr. Webster wrote him -an urgent letter, in the hope of persuading him to favor this step. -From that letter I quote: - -“I take it for granted that Mr. E. H. Mills will be no longer a -candidate. The question then will be, Who is to succeed him? I need not -say to you that you yourself will doubtless be a prominent object of -consideration in relation to the vacant place, and the purpose of this -communication requires me also to acknowledge that I deem it possible -that my name also should be mentioned, more or less generally, as one -who may be thought of, among others, for the same situation.... There -are many strong personal reasons, and, as friends think, and as I think -too, some _public_ reasons why I should decline the offer of a seat in -the Senate if it should be made to me. Without entering at present -into a detail of those reasons, I will say that the latter class of -them grow out of the public station which I at present fill, and out -of the necessity of increasing rather than of diminishing, in both -branches of the National Legislature, the strength that may be reckoned -on as friendly to the present administration.... To come, therefore, to -the main point, I beg to say that I see no way in which the public good -can be so well promoted as by _your_ consenting to go into the Senate. - -“This is my own clear and decided opinion; it is the opinion, equally -clear and decided, of intelligent and patriotic friends here, and I am -able to add that it is also the decided opinion of all those friends -elsewhere whose judgment in such matters we should naturally regard. I -believe I may say, without violating confidence, that it is the wish, -entertained with some earnestness, of our friends at Washington that -you should consent to be Mr. Mills’s successor.” - -No one certainly can doubt the absolute sincerity of these utterances. -It was, and is, unusual for a representative to resist so earnestly -what is considered a high promotion. Mr. Webster was an ambitious man, -but he thought that the interests of the country required him to stay -where he was, and hence his urgency. - -But Gov. Lincoln was no less patriotic. In an elaborate reply to Mr. -Webster’s letter, from which I have quoted above, he urges that “the -deficiency of power in the Senate is the weak point in the citadel” of -the administration party. “No individual should be placed there but -who was _now_ in armor for the conflict, who understood the proper -mode of resistance, who personally knew and had measured strength -with the opposition, who was familiar with the political interests -and foreign relations of the country, with the course of policy of -the administration, and who would be prepared at once to meet and -decide upon the charter of measures which should be proposed. This, -I undertake to say, no _novice_ in the national council could do. At -least I would not promise to attempt it. I feel deeply that I could -not do it successfully. There is no affectation of humility in this, -and under such impressions I cannot suffer myself to be thought of in -a manner which may make me responsible for great mischief in defeating -the chance of a better selection.” - -I am sure my young readers will agree that this correspondence was -highly honorable to both these eminent gentlemen. It is refreshing -to turn from the self-sufficient and self-seeking politicians of our -own day, most of whom are ready to undertake any responsibilities -however large, without a doubt of their own fitness, to the modesty -and backwardness of these really great men of fifty years since. In -the light of Mr. Webster’s great career we must decide that Gov. -Lincoln was right in deciding that he should be the next senator from -Massachusetts. - -At any rate such was the decision arrived at, and in June, 1827, Mr. -Webster was elected senator for a period of six years. In due time -he took his seat. He was no novice, but a man known throughout the -country, and quite the equal in fame of any of his compeers. I suppose -no new senator has ever taken his seat who was already a man of such -wide fame and national importance as Daniel Webster in 1827. Had James -A. Garfield, instead of assuming the Presidency, taken the seat in the -Senate to which he had been elected on the fourth of March, 1881, his -would have been a parallel case. - -Of course there was some curiosity as to the opening speech of the -already eminent senator. He soon found a fitting theme. A bill was -introduced for the relief of the surviving officers of the Revolution. -Such a bill was sure to win the active support of the orator who had -delivered the address at Bunker Hill. - -Alluding to some objections which had been made to the principle -of pensioning them, Mr. Webster said: “There is, I know, something -repulsive and opprobrious in the name of pension. But God forbid that -I should taunt them with it. With grief, heartfelt grief, do I behold -the necessity which leads these veterans to accept the bounty of their -country in a manner not the most agreeable to their feelings. Worn out -and decrepit, represented before us by those, their former brothers in -arms, who totter along our lobbies or stand leaning on their crutches, -I, for one, would most gladly support such a measure as should consult -at once their services, their years, their necessities and the delicacy -of their sentiments. I would gladly give with promptitude and grace, -with gratitude and delicacy, that which merit has earned and necessity -demands. - -“It is objected that the militia have claims upon us; that they -fought at the side of the regular soldiers, and ought to share in the -country’s remembrance. But it is known to be impossible to carry the -measure to such an extent as to embrace the militia, and it is plain, -too, that the cases are different. The bill, as I have already said, -confines itself to those who served, not occasionally, not temporarily, -but permanently; who allowed themselves to be counted on as men who -were to see the contest through, last as long as it might; and who -have made the phrase ‘‘listing for the war’ a proverbial expression, -signifying unalterable devotion to our cause, through good fortune and -ill fortune, till it reached its close. - -“This is a plain distinction; and although, perhaps, I might wish to do -more, I see good ground to stop here for the present, if we must stop -anywhere. The militia who fought at Concord, at Lexington and at Bunker -Hill, have been alluded to in the course of this debate in terms of -well-deserved praise. Be assured, sir, there could with difficulty be -found a man, who drew his sword or carried his musket at Concord, at -Lexington or at Bunker Hill, who would wish you to reject this bill. -They might ask you to do more, but never to refrain from doing this. -Would to God they were assembled here, and had the fate of this bill -in their own hands! Would to God the question of its passage were to -be put to them! They would affirm it with a unity of acclamation that -would rend the roof of the Capitol!” - -This is so much in Mr. Webster’s style that, had I quoted it without -stating that it was his, I think many of my young readers would have -been able to guess the authorship. - - - - -CHAPTER XXX. - -THE BEGINNING OF A GREAT BATTLE. - - -When Andrew Jackson became President Mr. Webster found himself an -anti-administration leader. He was respected and feared, and a plan was -formed to break him down and overwhelm him in debate. The champion who -was supposed equal to this task was Col. Hayne, of South Carolina, a -graceful and forcible speaker, backed by the party in power and by the -silent influence of John C. Calhoun, who, as Vice-President, presided -over the councils of the Senate. - -On the 29th day of December, 1829, an apparently innocent resolution -was offered by Mr. Foote, of Connecticut, in the following terms: - -“_Resolved_, That the Committee on Public Lands be instructed to -inquire into the expediency of limiting for a certain period the sales -of the public lands to such lands only as have been heretofore offered -for sale and are subject to entry at the minimum price; also, whether -the office of Surveyor-General may not be abolished without detriment -to the public interest.” - -This resolution called forth the celebrated debate in which Mr. Webster -demolished the eloquent champion of the South in a speech which will -live as long as American history. - -Mr. Benton, of Missouri, in an elaborate speech furnished the keynote -of the campaign. On Monday, the 18th, he made a speech in which a -violent attack was made upon New England, its institutions and its -representatives. He was followed by Col. Hayne, who elaborated the -comparison drawn between the so-called illiberal policy of New England -and the generous policy of the South towards the growing West. He -charged the East with a spirit of jealousy and an unwillingness that -the West should be rapidly settled, taking the resolution of the -senator of Connecticut as his text. - -This attack excited surprise, not only by its violence and injustice, -but by its suddenness. Mr. Webster shared in the general surprise. -It was not long before he was led to suspect that he was aimed at as -a well-known defender of New England. At any rate, he rose to reply, -but a motion for adjournment cut him off, and he was obliged to wait -for the next day before he could have the opportunity. The speech he -then made, though not his great speech, was able and deserves notice. -He disproved in the clearest manner the charges which had been made -against New England, and showed that her policy had been the direct -reverse. He dwelt especially upon the part which the Eastern States -had in settling the great State of Ohio, which even then contained a -population of a million. Upon this point he spoke as follows: - -“And here, sir, at the epoch of 1794, let us pause and survey the -scene. It is now thirty-five years since that scene actually existed. -Let us, sir, look back and behold it. Over all that is now Ohio there -then stretched one vast wilderness, unbroken, except by two small spots -of civilized culture, the one at Marietta, the other at Cincinnati. -At these little openings, hardly a pin’s point upon the map, the arm -of the frontiersman had leveled the forest and let in the sun. These -little patches of earth, themselves almost shadowed by the overhanging -boughs of the wilderness, which had stood and perpetuated itself from -century to century ever since the Creation, were all that had been -rendered verdant by the hand of man. In an extent of hundreds and -thousands of square miles no other surface of smiling green attested -the presence of civilization. The hunter’s path crossed mighty rivers -flowing in solitary grandeur, whose sources lay in remote and unknown -regions of the wilderness. It struck, upon the north, on a vast inland -sea, over which the wintry tempest raged as upon the ocean; all around -was bare creation. - -“It was a fresh, untouched, unbounded, magnificent wilderness. And, -sir, what is it now? Is it imagination only, or can it possibly be -fact, that presents such a change as surprises and astonishes us when -we turn our eyes to what Ohio now is? Is it reality or a dream that in -so short a period as even thirty-five years there has sprung up on the -same surface an independent State, with a million of people? A million -of inhabitants! An amount of population greater than all the cantons of -Switzerland; equal to one third of all the people of the United States -when they undertook to accomplish their independence! If, sir, we may -judge of measures by their results, what lessons do these facts read us -on the policy of the government? What inferences do they not authorize -upon the general question of kindness or unkindness? What convictions -do they enforce as to the wisdom and ability, on the one hand, or -the folly and incapacity on the other, of our general management of -Western affairs? For my own part, while I am struck with wonder at the -success, I also look with admiration at the wisdom and foresight which -originally arranged and prescribed the system for the settlement of the -public domain.” - -Mr. Webster said in conclusion: “The Senate will bear me witness that -I am not accustomed to allude to local opinions, nor to compare, nor -to contrast, different portions of the country. I have often suffered -things to pass, which I might properly enough have considered as -deserving a remark, without any observation. But I have felt it my duty -on this occasion to vindicate the State which I represent from charges -and imputations on her public character and conduct which I know to be -undeserved and unfounded. If advanced elsewhere, they might be passed, -perhaps, without notice. But whatever is said here is supposed to be -entitled to public regard and to deserve public attention; it derives -importance and dignity from the place where it is uttered. As a true -representative of the State which has sent me here it is my duty, and a -duty which I shall fulfill, to place her history and her conduct, her -honor and her character, in their just and proper light. - -“While I stand here as representative of Massachusetts, I will be her -true representative, and, by the blessing of God, I will vindicate her -character, motives and history from every imputation coming from a -respectable source.” - -This was the first reply of Webster to Hayne, and it was able and -convincing. But Col. Hayne and his friends had no intention of -leaving the matter there. The next day the consideration of the bill -was renewed. Mr. Webster’s friends wished to have the discussion -postponed as he had an important case pending in the Supreme Court. -Mr. Hayne objected, saying in a theatrical tone, “that he saw the -senator from Massachusetts in his seat, and presumed he could make an -arrangement that would enable him to be present during the discussion. -He was unwilling that the subject should be postponed until he had an -opportunity of replying to some of the observations which had fallen -from the gentleman yesterday. He would not deny that some things had -fallen from the gentleman which rankled here [touching his breast], -from which he would desire at once to relieve himself. The gentleman -had discharged his fire in the face of the Senate. He hoped he would -now afford him the opportunity of returning the shot.” - -“Then it was,” as a Southern member of Congress afterwards expressed -it, “that Mr. Webster’s person seemed to become taller and larger. -His chest expanded and his eyeballs dilated. Folding his arms in a -composed, firm and most expressive manner, he exclaimed: ‘Let the -discussion proceed. I am ready. I am ready _now_ to receive the -gentleman’s fire.’” - -Col. Hayne’s speech was the great effort of his life. He was a ready, -accomplished and forcible speaker, and he vainly thought himself a -match for the great senator from Massachusetts whose power he was yet -to understand. He spoke as one who was confident of victory, with a -self-confidence, a swagger, a violence of invective, which increased as -he went on. He was encouraged by the evident delight of his friends, -including the Vice-President. He did not finish his speech the first -day, but closed with a hint of what he intended to do. - -“Sir,” he said, “the gentleman from Massachusetts has thought proper, -for purposes best known to himself, to strike the South through me, -the most unworthy of her servants. He has crossed the border, he has -invaded the State of South Carolina, is making war upon her citizens, -and endeavoring to overthrow her principles and institutions. Sir, -when the gentleman provokes me to such a conflict, I meet him at the -threshold, I will struggle while I have life for our altars and our -firesides, and if God gives me strength I will drive back the invader -discomfited. Nor shall I stop there. If the gentleman provokes war he -shall have war. Sir, I will not stop at the border; I will carry the -war into the enemy’s territory, and not consent to lay down my arms -until I shall have obtained ‘indemnity for the past and security for -the future.’ It is with unfeigned reluctance that I enter upon the -performance of this part of my duty. I shrink, almost instinctively, -from a course, however necessary, which may have a tendency to excite -sectional feelings and sectional jealousies. But, sir, the task has -been forced upon me, and I proceed right onward to the performance -of my duty, be the consequences what they may; the responsibility is -with those who have imposed upon me the necessity. The senator from -Massachusetts has thought proper to cast the first stone, and, if he -shall find, according to a homely adage, that ‘he lives in a glass -house,’ on his head be the consequences.” - -Brave words these! But brave words do not necessarily win the victory, -and Col. Hayne little knew what a foe he was challenging to combat. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXI. - -THE REPLY TO HAYNE. - - -Before going farther I must speak of a pestilent doctrine then -held in South Carolina, which underlay the whole controversy, and -was the animating cause of the antagonism of the Southern leaders -to the patriotic representatives of the North. This was known as -nullification, and Mr. Calhoun was its sponsor. To explain: South -Carolina claimed the right to overrule any law of the general -government which did not please her, or which her courts might judge to -be unconstitutional. If she did not see fit to pay customs, she claimed -that the government could not coerce her. All power was reposed in her -own executive, her own legislature, and her own judiciary, and the -national power was subordinate to them. - -[Illustration: COL. ROBERT G. HAYNE.] - -It will be easily seen that this was a most dangerous doctrine to hold, -one which if allowed would everywhere subject the national authority -to contempt. The United States never had an external foe half so -insidious or half so dangerous as this assumption which had grown up -within its own borders. - -To return to the great debate. When Col. Hayne took his seat at the -close of his second speech his friends gathered round him in warm -congratulation. Mr. Webster’s friends were sober. Much as they admired -him, they did not see how he was going to answer that speech. They knew -that he would have little or no time for preparation, and it would not -do for him to make an ordinary or commonplace reply to such a dashing -harangue. So on the evening of Monday the friends of Mr. Webster -walked about the streets gloomy and preoccupied. They feared for their -champion. - -But how was it with him? During Col. Hayne’s speech he calmly took -notes. Occasionally there was a flash from the depths of his dark eyes -as a hint or a suggestion occurred to him, but he seemed otherwise -indifferent and unmoved, He spent the evening as usual, and enjoyed a -refreshing night’s sleep. - -In the morning of the eventful day three hours before the hour of -meeting crowds set their faces towards the Capitol. At twelve o’clock -the Senate Chamber—its galleries, floors and even lobbies—was filled to -overflowing. The Speaker retained his place unwillingly in the House, -but hardly enough members were present to transact business. - -When the fitting time came Mr. Webster rose. He was in the full vigor -of a magnificent manhood, the embodiment of conscious strength. He -gazed around him, never more self-possessed than at that moment. He saw -his adversaries with their complacent faces already rejoicing in his -anticipated discomfiture; he looked in the faces of his friends, and he -noted their looks of anxious solicitude; but he had full confidence in -his own strength, and his deep cavernous eyes glowed with “that stern -joy which warriors feel in foemen worthy of their steel.” - -There was a hush of expectation and a breathless silence as those -present waited for his first words. - -He began thus: “Mr. President, when the mariner has been tossed for -many days, in thick weather, and on an unknown sea, he naturally avails -himself of the first pause in the storm, the earliest glance of the -sun, to take his latitude, and ascertain how far the elements have -driven him from his true course. Let us imitate this prudence, and -before we float further on the waves of this debate, refer to the point -from which we departed, that we may at least be able to form some -conjecture where we now are. I ask for the reading of the resolution.” - -This was felt to be a happy exordium, and was sufficient to rivet the -attention of the vast audience. - -After the resolution was read Mr. Webster continued: “We have thus -heard, sir, what the resolution is which is actually before us for -consideration; and it will readily occur to every one that it is almost -the only subject about which something has not been said in the speech, -running through two days, by which the Senate has been now entertained -by the gentleman from South Carolina. Every topic in the wide range of -our public affairs, whether past or present, everything, general or -local, whether belonging to national politics or party politics, seems -to have attracted more or less of the honorable members attention, save -only the resolution before the Senate. He has spoken of everything but -the public lands; they have escaped his notice. To that subject in -all his excursions he has not paid even the cold respect of a passing -glance. - -“When this debate, sir, was to be resumed on Thursday morning, it so -happened that it would have been convenient for me to be elsewhere. The -honorable member, however, did not incline to put off the discussion -to another day. He had a shot, he said, to return, and he wished to -discharge it. That shot, which it was kind thus to inform us was -coming, that we might stand out of the way, or prepare ourselves to -fall before it and die with decency, has now been received. Under all -advantages, and with expectation awakened by the tone which preceded -it, it has been discharged and has spent its force. It may become me -to say no more of its effect than that, if nobody is found, after all, -either killed or wounded by it, it is not the first time in the history -of human affairs that the vigor and success of the war have not quite -come up to the lofty and sounding phrase of the manifesto.” - -Referring to Col. Hayne’s statement that there was something rankling -here (indicating his heart) which he wished to relieve, Mr. Webster -said: “In this respect, sir, I have a great advantage over the -honorable gentleman. There is nothing _here_, sir, which gives me -the slightest uneasiness; neither fear nor anger, nor that which is -sometimes more troublesome than either, the consciousness of having -been in the wrong.... I must repeat, also, that nothing has been -received _here_ which _rankles_ or in any way gives me annoyance. I -will not accuse the honorable gentleman of violating the rules of -civilized war; I will not say he poisoned his arrows. But whether -his shafts were, or were not, dipped in that which would have caused -rankling if they had reached, there was not, as it happened, quite -strength enough in the bow to bring them to their mark. If he wishes -now to gather up these shafts he must look for them elsewhere; they -will not be found fixed and quivering in the object at which they were -aimed.” - -Col. Hayne and his friends, as they listened to these words, breathing -a calm consciousness of power not unmixed with a grand disdain, must -have realized that they had exulted too soon. Indeed Hayne’s friends -had not all looked forward with confidence to his victory. Senator -Iredell, of North Carolina, to a friend of Hayne’s who was praising his -speech, had said the evening previous, “He has started the lion—but -wait till we hear his roar, or feel his claws.” - -While I do not propose to give an abstract of this famous oration, I -shall quote some of the most brilliant and effective passages, well -known and familiar though they are, because they will be re-read with -fresh and added interest in this connection. There was not a son of -Massachusetts, nay, there was not a New Englander, whose heart was not -thrilled by the splendid tribute to Massachusetts. - -“Mr. President, I shall enter upon no encomium on Massachusetts; she -needs none. There she is. Behold her and judge for yourselves. There -is her history; the world knows it by heart. The past, at least, is -secure. There is Boston, and Concord, and Lexington, and Bunker Hill; -and there they will remain forever. The bones of her sons, falling in -the great struggle for independence, now lie mingled with the soil -of every State from New England to Georgia, and there they will lie -forever. And, sir, where American liberty raised its first voice, and -where its youth was nurtured and sustained, there it still lives, in -the strength of its manhood and full of its original spirit. If discord -and disunion shall wound it, if party strife and blind ambition shall -hawk at and tear it, if folly and madness, if uneasiness under salutary -and necessary restraint, shall succeed in separating it from that union -by which alone its existence is made sure, it will stand, in the end, -by the side of that cradle in which its infancy was rocked; it will -stretch forth its arm with whatever of vigor it may still retain over -the friends who gather round it; and it will fall at last, if fall it -must, amidst the proudest monuments of its own glory, and on the very -spot of its origin.” - -Mr. Webster shows his magnanimity by pronouncing, in like manner, an -eulogium upon his opponent’s native State, which is in bright contrast -with the mean and unjust attacks of Col. Hayne upon Massachusetts. This -is what he says: - -“Let me observe that the eulogium pronounced on the character of South -Carolina by the honorable gentleman for her Revolutionary and other -merits meets my hearty concurrence. I shall not acknowledge that the -honorable member goes before me in regard for whatever of distinguished -talent, of distinguished character, South Carolina has produced. I -claim part of the honor. I partake in the pride of her great names. I -claim them for countrymen, one and all, the Laurenses, the Rutledges, -the Pinkneys, the Sumters, the Marions, Americans all, whose fame is no -more to be hemmed in by State lines than their talents and patriotism -were capable of being circumscribed within the same narrow limits. In -their day and generation they served and honored the country, and the -whole country; and their renown is one of the treasures of the whole -country. Him whose honored name the gentleman himself bears—does he -esteem me less capable of gratitude for his patriotism, or sympathy for -his sufferings, than if his eyes had first opened upon the light of -Massachusetts instead of South Carolina? Sir, does he suppose it in -his power to exhibit a Carolina name so bright as to produce envy in my -bosom? No, sir; increased gratification rather. I thank God that, if -I am gifted with little of the spirit which is able to raise mortals -to the skies, I have yet none, as I trust, of that other spirit which -would drag angels down. When I shall be found, sir, in my place here in -the Senate, or elsewhere, to sneer at public merit because it happens -to spring up beyond the little limits of my own State or neighborhood; -when I refuse, for any such cause, or for any cause, the homage due to -American talent, to elevated patriotism, to sincere devotion to liberty -and the country; or, if I see an uncommon endowment of Heaven, if I -see extraordinary capacity and virtue in any son of the South, and if, -moved by local prejudice or gangrened by State jealousy, I get up here -to abate the tithe of a hair from his just character and just fame, may -my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth!” - -It must not be supposed that Mr. Webster’s speech was merely of a -personal character. In a sound and logical manner he discussed the -limits of constitutional authority, and combated the pernicious -doctrine of State supremacy, which thirty years later was to kindle -a civil war of vast proportions, the starting-point being South -Carolina. At the risk of quoting paragraphs which my young readers may -skip, I proceed to introduce an extract which may give an idea of this -part of the oration. - -“We approach at length, sir, to a more important part of the honorable -gentleman’s observations. Since it does not accord with my views -of justice and policy to give away the public lands altogether, as -mere matter of gratuity, I am asked by the honorable gentleman on -what ground it is that I consent to vote them away in particular -instances. How, he inquires, do I reconcile with these profound -sentiments my support of measures appropriating portions of the land to -particular roads, particular canals, particular rivers, and particular -institutions of education in the West? This leads, sir, to the real and -wide difference in political opinion between the honorable gentleman -and myself. On my part, I look upon all these objects as connected with -the common good, fairly embraced in its object and terms; he, on the -contrary, deems them all, if good at all, only local good. - -“This is our difference. - -“The interrogatory which he proceeded to put at once explains this -difference. ‘What interest,’ asks he, ‘has South Carolina in a canal -in Ohio?’ Sir, this very question is full of significance. It develops -the gentleman’s whole political system, and its answer expounds mine. -Here we differ. I look upon a road over the Alleghanies, a canal -round the Falls of the Ohio, or a canal or railway from the Atlantic -to the Western waters, as being an object large and extensive enough -to be fairly said to be for the common benefit. The gentleman thinks -otherwise, and this is the key to his construction of the powers of -the government. He may well ask what interest has South Carolina in a -canal in Ohio. On his system, it is true, she has no interest. On that -system, Ohio and South Carolina are different governments and different -countries; connected here, it is true, by some slight and ill-defined -bond of union, but in all main respects separate and diverse. On that -system South Carolina has no more interest in a canal in Ohio than in -Mexico. The gentleman, therefore, only follows out his own principles; -he does no more than arrive at the natural conclusions of his own -doctrines; he only announces the true results of that creed which he -has adopted himself, and would persuade others to adopt, when he thus -declares that South Carolina has no interest in a public work in Ohio. - -“Sir, we narrow-minded people of New England do not reason thus. Our -notion of things is entirely different. We look upon the States not -as separated but united. We love to dwell on that union, and on the -mutual happiness which it has so much promoted, and the common renown -which it has so greatly contributed to acquire. In our contemplation -South Carolina and Ohio are parts of the same country, States -united under the same general government, having interests common, -associated, intermingled. In whatever is within the proper sphere of -the constitutional power of this government we look upon the States as -one. We do not impose geographical limits to our patriotic feelings or -regard; we do not follow rivers and mountains and lines of latitude to -find boundaries beyond which public improvements do not benefit us. - -“We who come here, as agents and representatives of these narrow-minded -and selfish men of New England, consider ourselves as bound to regard -with an equal eye the good of the whole in whatever is within our -power of legislation. Sir, if a railroad or canal, beginning in South -Carolina and ending in South Carolina, appeared to me to be of national -importance and national magnitude, believing, as I do, that the power -of government extends the encouragement of works of that description, -if I were to stand up here and ask, What interest has Massachusetts -in a railroad in South Carolina? I should not be willing to face my -constituents. These same narrow-minded men would tell me that they had -sent me to act for the whole country, and that one who possessed too -little comprehension either of intellect or feeling, one who was not -large enough both in mind and in heart to embrace the whole, was not -fit to be intrusted with the interests of our part.” - -This will give an idea of the broad national sentiments entertained -and expressed by the senator from Massachusetts. It is certainly in -strong contrast to the narrow sectional views of Col. Hayne and John C. -Calhoun. - -Towards the close of his speech Mr. Webster describes in an amusing way -a supposed conflict in South Carolina between the customs officers of -the government and a local force led by his opponent. It was playful, -but Col. Hayne was moved by the ridicule with which it covered him more -than by any of Mr. Webster’s arguments. - -It need hardly be said that the entire address was listened to with -rapt attention. As it proceeded those friends of Mr. Webster who -doubted his ability to cope with the Southern champion, and who had -listened to his first words with feelings of anxious solicitude, became -cheerful and even jubilant. In fact they changed aspects with Hayne’s -friends who had awaited the opening of the speech with supercilious -disdain. The calm power, the humorous contempt, with which Mr. Webster -handled the doughty champion annoyed them not a little. - -I do not mean to underrate the ability or eloquence of Col. Hayne. -Upon this point it is sufficient to quote the opinion of Mr. Everett, -the tried and intimate friend of Daniel Webster, who says: “It is -unnecessary to state, except to those who have come forward quite -recently, that Col. Hayne was a gentleman of ability very far above -the average, a highly accomplished debater, an experienced politician, -a person possessing the full confidence of his friends, and entirely -familiar with the argument on which the theory controverted in Mr. -Webster’s speech rests.” - -Mr. March, in his “Reminiscences of Congress,” a book from which I have -received valuable help in the composition of this chapter, describes -Hayne’s oratory in these terms: - -“Hayne dashed into debate like the Mameluke cavalry upon a charge. -There was a gallant air about him that could not but win admiration. He -never provided for retreat; he never imagined it. He had an invincible -confidence in himself, which arose partly from constitutional -temperament, partly from previous success. His was the Napoleonic -warfare: to strike at once for the capital of the enemy, heedless of -danger or cost to his own forces. Not doubting to overcome all odds, he -feared none, however seemingly superior. Of great fluency and no little -force of expression, his speech never halted, and seldom fatigued.” - -Mr. Webster swept on to the close of his speech with power unabated. -Some of his friends had feared he could not sustain his elevated -flight, that he would mar the effect of his great passages by -dropping to the commonplace. They had no need to fear. He thoroughly -understood his own powers. At length he reached the peroration—that -famous peroration, so well known, yet, in spite of its familiarity, so -impossible to omit here. - -“When my eyes shall be turned to behold for the last time the sun -in heaven, may I not see him shining on the broken and dishonored -fragments of a once glorious Union; on States dissevered, discordant, -belligerent; on a land rent with civil feuds, or drenched, it may -be, in fraternal blood! Let their last feeble and lingering glance -rather behold the gorgeous ensign of the republic, now known and -honored throughout the earth, still full high advanced, its arms and -trophies streaming in their original luster, not a stripe erased or -polluted, not a single star obscured, bearing for its motto no such -miserable interrogatory, ‘What is all this worth?’ nor those other -words of delusion and folly, ‘Liberty first and Union afterwards:’ but -everywhere, spread all over in characters of living light, blazing on -all its ample folds, as they float over the seas and over the land, -and in every wind under the whole heavens, that other sentiment, dear -to every American heart—Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and -inseparable!” - -Hayne attempted a reply to this speech, but it had little effect. It -was followed by a telling _résumé_ of his positions by Mr. Webster, and -so far as these two speakers were concerned the discussion closed. - -It is remarkable how little effort this famous oration cost it author. -The constitutional argument, to be sure, was familiar to him, and -he had but to state it, but for the great passages, including the -exordium, the peroration, the encomium upon Massachusetts, the speaker -was indebted to the inspiration of the moment; yet they are so compact, -so fitly expressed, so elegantly worded, that he would be a bold man -who should suggest even a verbal change. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXII. - -THE SECRET OF WEBSTER’S POWER. - - -It is hardly necessary to say that when Mr. Webster’s speech in reply -to Hayne was published and read by the country at large it made a -profound impression. Doubtless it kindled afresh in many wavering -hearts a love for that Union the claims of which upon the American -citizen the orator so strongly urged. It is interesting to know that -Hayne himself, while he essayed to answer it, appreciated its power. - -Mr. Harvey relates, upon Mr. Webster’s authority, that when he had -finished his speech some Southern members approached him cordially and -said, “Mr. Webster, I think you had better die now and rest your fame -on that speech.” - -Mr. Hayne, who was standing near by, and heard the remark, said, “You -ought not to die; a man who can make such speeches as that ought never -to die.” - -It is related that Mr. Webster, meeting his opponent at the President’s -reception the same evening, went up to him and remarked, pleasantly, - -“How are you to-night?” - -“None the better for you, sir,” answered Hayne, humorously. - -Henry Clay wrote later: “I congratulate you on the very great -addition which you have made during the session to your previous high -reputation. Your speeches, and particularly in reply to Mr. Hayne, are -the theme of praise from every tongue, and I have shared in the delight -which all have felt.” - -In its powerful defense of the Constitution Mr. Webster carried with -him patriotic men all over the country. Hon. William Gaston, of North -Carolina, wrote thus: “The ability with which the great argument -is treated, the patriotic fervor with which the Union is asserted, -give you claim to the gratitude of every one who loves his country -and regards the Constitution as its best hope and surest stay. My -engrossing occupations leave me little leisure for any correspondence -except on business, but I have resolved to seize a moment to let you -know that with us there is scarcely a division of opinion among the -intelligent portion of the community. All of them whose understanding -or whose conscience is not surrendered to the servitude of faction, -greet your eloquent efforts with unmixed gratification.” - -It is an interesting question how far Mr. Webster prepared himself for -this his greatest, or, at any rate, his most effective parliamentary -speech. - -Upon this point let us read the statement of Mr. Webster himself, as -given to his tried friend, Mr. Harvey. - -In reference to the remark that he had made no preparation for the -Hayne speech, he said: “That was not quite so. If it was meant that -I took notes and studied with a view to a reply, that was not true; -but that I was thoroughly conversant with the subject of debate, from -having made preparation for a totally different purpose than that -speech, is true. The preparation for my reply to Hayne was made upon -the occasion of Mr. Foote’s resolution to sell the public lands. Some -years before that, Mr. McKinley, a senator from Alabama, introduced a -resolution into the Senate, proposing to cede the public domains to -the States in which they were situated. It struck me at that time as -being so unfair and improper that I immediately prepared an argument -to resist it. My argument embraced the whole history of the public -lands, and the government’s action in regard to them. Then there was -another question involved in the Hayne debate. It was as to the -right and practice of petition. Mr. Calhoun had denied the right of -petition on the subject of slavery. In other words, he claimed that, -if the petition was for some subject which the Senate had no right -to grant, then there was no right of petition. If the Senate had no -such right, then the petitioners had no right to come there. Calhoun’s -doctrine seemed to be accepted, and I made preparation to answer -his proposition. It so happened that the debate did not take place, -because the matter never was pressed. I had my notes tucked away in -a pigeon-hole, and when Hayne made that attack upon me and upon New -England I was already posted, and only had to take down my notes and -refresh my memory. In other words, if he had tried to make a speech to -fit my notes he could not have hit it better. No man is inspired with -the occasion; I never was.” - -Mr. Webster was too great a man to wish for praise which he did not -deserve. That is for men of inferior ability, who are glad to have it -believed that their most elaborate utterances are “thrown off upon the -spur of the moment.” Indeed he does not claim enough when he disclaims -being inspired by the occasion. His encomium upon New England, his -glowing peroration, were fused and put into enduring form under the -pressure of strong emotion, which may well be termed inspiration. Yet -it was always his habit to ascribe his great efforts to hard labor -rather than to genius, and he remarked to a young clergyman on one -occasion, who had questioned him in regard to some of his speeches, -“Young man, there is no such thing as extemporaneous acquisition.” - -If a man like Daniel Webster felt constrained to say this, how much -more ought labor to be held necessary by the ordinary mind. My young -readers may be assured that diligent and uncomplaining toil are the -secret springs in most cases of worldly success. So, if they chance -to dash off a smooth essay in a mood of inspiration, they may have -good cause to doubt whether it has any solid value. I recall a certain -school where a prize was offered for an essay on a subject requiring a -certain amount of thought and research. The leading contestants were -two boys, one quick and brilliant, the other slow and plodding, but -sound. Both were anxious to succeed. The second began in due time and -worked steadily, not allowing himself to be unduly hurried. The first -waited till within two days of the date at which the essays were to -be submitted, and then dashed off an essay which was very creditable -under the circumstances. But it did not win. It was slow and sure that -won the prize, then, as in so many other cases. I am glad to have the -potent example of Daniel Webster to help me in enforcing a lesson so -valuable to youth. - -Yet Mr. Webster was always ready of speech. He could make a great -speech upon any occasion, and upon any subject, however slight. An -illustration of this is given by Hon. John Wentworth, of Illinois, in a -letter from which I proceed to quote: - -“Mr. Webster won my lasting gratitude by his assistance in the passage -of the River and Harbor bill, in 1846. The bill had passed the House -and been referred to the Committee on Commerce, a majority of whom were -of the ‘strict construction’ school, believing that Congress could -improve a natural harbor, but could not make one. I went before the -committee to defend the appropriation for a harbor at Little Fort, now -called Waukegan. I found I had no friends there but Senator Reverdy -Johnson, of Maryland. The committee recommended that the appropriation -be struck out. Senator John A. Dix, of New York, led the opposition. He -had been a graduate of West Point, was a good engineer, had brought the -map of survey into the Senate, and was having great influence against -it. I was seated in the lobby directly behind Col. Thomas H. Benton, -and Webster was upon his usual walk. He gave me a nod of recognition -and passed on. Gen. Dix kept up his fire and I felt it. Our senators, -Sidney Breese and James Semple, were both from the southern part of our -State, and had no personal knowledge of the merits of the case. The -Indiana senators were similarly situated. Wisconsin had no senators. -And the Michigan senators lived at Detroit, and they had only a general -knowledge of Lake Michigan. - -“As Webster was traveling to and fro past me, the thought occurred to -me that, as he was ‘a liberal constructionist,’ he was just the man -to rectify all the damage that Gen. Dix was doing. But it was a small -matter for so great a man. Besides, I knew that his colleague, Senator -John Davis, was taking the side of Gen. Dix. As Webster would pass me -I would resolve that the next time he would come I would speak to him. -But my courage would forsake me when I reflected that he was a Whig and -I was a Democrat. I wanted some excuse to speak to him. He had known -my father. He was a son of New Hampshire, and a graduate of the same -college with myself. But my heart failed me; and yet it was all the -while sighing, ‘Webster, Webster, do but speak to me.’ - -“At length came his voice, in deep, sepulchral tone, ‘Wentworth, what -is Dix making all this ado about?’ - -“Promptly the answer came: ‘Mr. Webster, since your trip around the -lakes from Chicago, in 1837, we have had but few appropriations for old -harbors and none for new ones. This place is half way between Chicago -and Milwaukee, and we want a harbor of refuge there.’ - -“‘I see the point, I see the point,’ says Webster, and at once went to -his seat upon the Senate floor. - -“When Gen. Dix had concluded, Mr. Webster observed that he could -add nothing to the conclusive argument of the senator from New York -in favor of the appropriation. He thought he had satisfied all the -senators that there was no harbor at the place, and so the House -must have thought when it made the appropriation to construct one -there. Upon what did the senator from New York found his doctrine -that, when God created the world, or even Lake Michigan, He left -nothing for man to do? The curse pronounced upon our first parents for -their transgression was in entire conflict with any such doctrine. -He did not believe that the Constitution of the United States was -such a narrowly contracted instrument that it would not permit the -construction of a harbor where the necessities of commerce required it. -He then foreshadowed the growth of the West, its abundant products, -its gigantic commerce, its numerous people. He started a steamer from -Chicago laden to the guards with freight and passengers. He then -described a storm in a manner that no man but Webster could describe. -His flight of eloquence equaled his best at Bunker Hill or Plymouth -Rock. You could hear the dashing waves, the whistling winds, the -creaking timbers, and the shrieking passengers, and, as he sent the -vessel to the bottom with all on board, he exclaimed: ‘What but a -merciful Providence saved me from such a catastrophe when I passed over -Lake Michigan in 1837?’ At such a dire disaster could the senator from -New York derive any consolation from the reflection that his narrow -interpretation of the Constitution had been maintained? - -“As Webster closed Col. Benton turned to me and said, ‘That is the -greatest speech upon so small a matter that I ever heard.’ Reverdy -Johnson came up and said, ‘Now, don’t you abuse the Whigs any more.’ -And Senator Breese said, ‘Now you can go back to the House. That speech -saves us.’ - -“The bill passed without amendment. But alas! President Polk vetoed -it. And out of his veto grew that wonderful event in the history of -Chicago, the river and harbor convention of 1847, a vast assemblage, -composed of the most talented, enterprising, wealthy and influential -men of all parts of the country. At the laying of the corner-stone of -the Douglas Monument, Gen. Dix was here as the principal orator. While -others were speaking I called his attention to our magnificent harbor -works. After complimenting them highly he said, ‘They ought to protect -you from any storm—even from such a one as Webster manufactured for you -in the Senate in 1846.’” - -It must be remembered that this readiness of Mr. Webster arose not -wholly from his great powers, but largely from the fact that all -his life long he had been a diligent and faithful student. Hence it -was that his mind was a vast reservoir of acquisition from which he -could at will draw out what was most fitting upon any subject. So Sir -Walter Scott, browsing in his boyhood among the treasures of legendary -lore and feudal traditions, was unconsciously preparing himself for -the novels and poetical romances with which many years afterwards he -delighted the world, and made his native land famous. - -Recurring to the subject of nullification, at which Mr. Webster had -aimed so powerful a blow, it may be said that it was scotched but not -killed. Col. Hayne was overwhelmed, but he was not convinced. Neither -was John C. Calhoun, the greater representative of the same State, who -entirely accorded with Hayne in his extreme views of the rights and -powers of the separate States. Not long afterwards Col. Hayne resigned -his seat in the Senate, in order to be elected Governor of South -Carolina, and lead at home the opponents of the government, while Mr. -Calhoun, resigning his place as Vice-President, was elected senator in -the place of Hayne, to lead the forces of nullification on the floor -of the Senate. Through the firmness of President Jackson their schemes -came to naught, but were revived, as we know, thirty years later by the -citizens of the same State, and the Civil War was the result. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIII. - -HONORS RECEIVED IN ENGLAND. - - -It would require a volume far larger than the present to speak in -detail of Mr. Webster’s public life, to point out his public services, -to enumerate the occasions on which he took a distinguished part in -debate. But this does not come within my plan. Fortunately there are -other works in which such as desire it can gain all the information -they desire upon these points. They will find how closely Mr. Webster -was identified with the history of the nation, and what a powerful -influence he exerted upon all public measures. And all the while he -was making an equally brilliant reputation at the bar. He was employed -in numerous “great cases,” and in none was he found unequal to his -opportunity. - -The result of his multifarious and exhausting labors was a -determination to make a tour of recreation, and not unnaturally -he decided to visit England, a country which to every American of -Anglo-Saxon race must possess a first attraction. His second wife, who -died but a few weeks since, his daughter, and Mrs. Page, the wife of -his brother-in-law, were of the party. His youngest son, Edward, then a -Dartmouth student, joined them later. - -Mr. Webster’s fame had preceded him, and he received unusual honors. -One paper in announcing his arrival said, “We cordially welcome to our -shores this great and good man, and accept him as a fit representative -of all the great and good qualities of our transatlantic brethren.” -So great was the curiosity to see him that the press of carriages -about the door of his hotel was almost unprecedented. He was invited -everywhere, and was cordially received by the most prominent men. In -fact, he was a “lion,” and that in a marked sense. - -Among others he met that eccentric and craggy genius, Thomas Carlyle, -and I am sure my readers young and old will like to know what -impression the great senator made upon the Scotch philosopher. - -This is what Carlyle writes: - -“American notabilities are daily becoming notable among us, the ties of -the two parishes, mother and daughter, getting closer and closer knit. -Indissoluble ties! - -“I reckon that this huge smoky wen may for some centuries yet be the -best Mycale for our Saxon Panionium, a yearly meeting-place of ‘all -the Saxons’ from beyond the Atlantic, from the antipodes, or wherever -the restless wanderers dwell and toil. After centuries, if Boston, if -New York, have become the most convenient ‘All-Saxondom,’ we will right -cheerfully go thither to hold such festival and leave the wen. - -“Not many days ago I saw at breakfast the notablest of all your -notabilities, Daniel Webster. He is a magnificent specimen. You might -say to all the world, ‘This is our Yankee Englishman; such limbs we -make in Yankee-land!’ As a logic-fencer, advocate or parliamentary -Hercules, one would incline to back him at first sight against the -extant world. The tanned complexion, that amorphous crag-like face, the -dull black eyes under the precipice of brows [I am sure no one ever -called Mr. Webster’s eyes dull before or since], like dull anthracite -furnaces only waiting to be _blown_, the mastiff mouth accurately -closed—I have not traced so much of _silent Berseker’s rage_ that I -remember of in any other man. ‘I guess I should not like to be your -nigger.’ Webster is not loquacious, but he is pertinent, conclusive, a -dignified, perfectly-bred man, though not English in breeding, a man -worthy of the best reception among us, and meeting such, I understand.” - -In a letter to Mr. Ticknor, John Kenyon indulges in some reminiscences -of Mr. Webster, whom he met intimately, having traveled with him and -his family party during four days. - -“Coleridge used to say that he had seldom known or heard of any great -man who had not ‘much of the woman in him.’ Even so, that large -intellect of Daniel Webster seemed to be coupled with all softer -feelings, and his countenance and bearing at the very first impressed -me with this. - -“All men, without having studied either science, are, we all know, -more or less phrenologists and physiognomists. Right or wrong, I had -found as I thought much sensibility in Webster’s countenance. A few -weeks afterwards I had an opportunity of learning that it was not -there _only_. We were in a hackney coach, driving along the New Road -to Baring’s in the City. It was a longish drive, and we had time to -get into a train of talk, also we were by that time what I may presume -to call ‘intimate.’ I said, ‘Mr. Webster, you once, I believe, had -a brother?’ ’Yes,’ he kindly said, ‘when I see you and your brother -together I often think of him,’ and—I speak the fact as it was—I saw, -after a little more talk on the subject of his brother, the tears begin -to trickle down his cheek till he said to me, ‘I’ll give you an account -of my early life,’ and he began with his father, and the farm in New -Hampshire, and his own early education, and that of his brother, the -details of his courtship and first marriage, and his no property at -the time, but of his hopes in his profession and of his success, as he -spoke showing much emotion. How could one help loving a man at once so -powerful and so tender?” - -The opinions of those who are themselves eminent are of interest. Let -us see, therefore, what Hallam, the historian, says of our subject. - -“I have had more than one opportunity,” he writes to Mr. Ticknor, “of -hearing of you, especially from your very distinguished countryman, -Mr. Webster, with whom I had the pleasure of becoming acquainted last -summer. It is but an echo of the common voice here to say that I was -extremely struck by his appearance, deportment and conversation. Mr. -Webster approaches as nearly to the _beau ideal_ of a republican -senator as any man that I have ever seen in the course of my life, -worthy of Rome, or Venice, rather than of our noisy and wrangling -generation. I wish that some of our public men here would take example -from his grave and prudent manner of speaking on political subjects, -which seemed to me neither too incautious nor too strikingly reserved.” - -It is seldom that a man’s personal appearance is so impressive as that -of Daniel Webster, seldom that his greatness is so visibly stamped -upon his face and figure. An admirer of Mr. Webster was once shocked -by hearing him called “a hum-bug.” “What do you mean?” he demanded -angrily. “I mean this,” was the reply, “that no man can possibly be as -great as he looks.” - -I have said that Mr. Webster was the recipient of attentions from -all classes, I may add, from the highest in the land. Mr. and Mrs. -Webster dined privately with Queen Victoria by special invitation, -and it is recorded that the young Queen, for she was then young, -was much impressed by the majestic demeanor of the great American. -Even the Eton boys, who are wont to chaff all visitors, forgot their -propensity in the presence of Mr. Webster. As Mr. Kenyon, already -quoted, writes: “Not one look of unseemly curiosity, much less of the -quizzing which I had rather anticipated, had we to undergo. Webster was -not merely gratified, he was visibly touched by the sight. You remember -that Charles Lamb said at Eton—I do not pretend to quote his exact -words—‘What a pity that these fine youths should grow up into paltry -members of Parliament!’ For myself, when I saw them so cheerful and yet -so civilized and well-conditioned, I remember thinking to myself at -the moment, ’Well, if I had a boy I should send him to Eton.’” - -While at the Castle Inn, in Windsor, Mr. Webster wrote the following -autograph, by request, for Mr. Kenyon: - - “When you and I are dead and gone - This busy world will still jog on, - And laugh and sing and be as hearty - As if we still were of the party.” - -There is no doubt that Mr. Webster enjoyed heartily his well-earned -recreation. He had good cause. Never certainly up to that time had an -American been received in England with such distinguished honors. I -will close by his own account of the way in which he was received. - -“I must say that the good people have treated me with great kindness. -Their hospitality is unbounded, and I find nothing cold or stiff in -their manners, at least not more than is observed among ourselves. -There may be exceptions, but I think I may say this as a general truth. -The thing in England most prejudiced against the United States is the -press. Its ignorance of us is shocking, and it is increased by such -absurdities as the travelers publish, to which stock of absurdities -I am sorry to say Captain Marryatt is making an abundant addition. -In general the Whigs know more and think better of America than the -Tories. This is undeniable. Yet my intercourse I think is as much with -the Conservatives as the Whigs. I have several invitations to pass -time in the country after Parliament is prorogued. Two or three of -them I have agreed to accept. Lord Lansdowne and the Earl of Radnor -have invited us, who live in the south, the Duke of Rutland, Sir Henry -Halford, Earl Fitzwilliam, Lord Lonsdale, etc., who live in the north.” - -Of one thing my young reader may be assured, that no attentions, -however elevated the source, had any effect upon the simple dignity of -a typical American citizen, or influenced him when a few years later, -as Secretary of State, it became his duty to deal with our relations -with England. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIV. - -CALLED TO THE CABINET. - - -In the Presidential campaign of 1840, General Harrison, the nominee of -the Whig party, swept the country, and was elected amid demonstrations -of popular enthusiasm till then unprecedented. As we look back upon -this time, uninfluenced by passion, we can only wonder how a man so -moderately fitted for the position should have aroused such a furor. -That he should have been nominated, while such born leaders and -accomplished statesmen as Mr. Webster were passed over, need excite no -surprise. In an ideal republic the best man and the wisest statesman -would be selected, but there are no ideal statesmen, and are not likely -to be. General Harrison was available, and therefore was put forward as -the standard-bearer. - -I do not mean to say that our nominees have always been mediocre men. -James A. Garfield was a trained and experienced statesman, so was -James Buchanan (his faults were of a different order), so were the -early Presidents, and so have been occasional nominees of both great -parties; but, as a rule, public men of the first rank have been passed -by for candidates more available. - -General Harrison showed this evidence of fitness for his high station, -that almost immediately after his election, he indicated a strong -desire that Mr. Webster should enter his Cabinet. Modestly distrustful -of his own abilities, he wished to strengthen his administration by -calling to his councils Mr. Webster and Mr. Clay. He writes thus to Mr. -Webster, Dec. 1, 1840: - -“Since I was first a candidate for the Presidency, I had determined, -if successful, to solicit your able assistance in conducting the -administration, and I now ask you to accept the State or Treasury -Department. I have myself no preference of either for you, but it -may perhaps be more difficult to fill the latter than the former, -if you should decline it. It was the first designed for you, in the -supposition that you had given more attention to the subject of -the finances than Mr. Clay, to whom I intended to have offered the -State Department. This, as well as any other post in the Cabinet, I -understood, before my arrival here, from an intimate friend of that -gentleman, he would decline. This he has since done personally to me.” - -Mr. Webster replied that “for the daily details of the Treasury, -the matters of account, and the supervision of subordinate officers -employed in the collection and disbursement of public moneys,” he did -not think himself to be particularly well qualified. He indicated that -he would accept the office of Secretary of State. - -Mr. Webster no doubt accurately gauged his own abilities. No one could -be better fitted for the premiership and the conduct of our foreign -relations, as the event proved. At this time especially a strong, -judicious statesman of the first rank was required, for the relations -between the United States and Great Britain were very delicate and even -critical, and a rash hand might easily have plunged the two countries -into war. One vexed question related to the boundary between this -country and the provinces of Nova Scotia and Canada. This question was -complicated by others of a still more irritating character, which space -will not allow me to particularize. There was another question also, -the long-standing claim of England to impress her own seamen, and to -take them out of American vessels sailing on the high seas in time of -war, rendering necessary the odious “right of search.” - -Mr. Webster was influenced to accept the post of Secretary of State, -because he knew these questions ought to be settled, and he felt -confident of his ability to settle them. With this view the people -cordially agreed, and Gen. Harrison’s choice of the great statesman of -New England to take charge of our foreign relations was a very popular -one. - -Mr. Webster’s retirement from the Senate, and the necessary choice of -a successor, gave occasion for a display of magnanimity. His relations -with Ex-President John Quincy Adams were not friendly—he felt that -he had been very badly treated by Mr. Adams on one occasion—but Mr. -Adams, from his prominent position, was likely to be thought of as his -successor in the Senate. Upon this subject Mr. Webster writes to a -friend: “Some years ago, as you well know, an incident occurred which -interrupted intercourse between Mr. Adams and myself for several years, -and wounded the feelings of many of my friends as well as my own. With -me that occurrence is overlooked and forgotten. I bury all remembrance -of it under my regard for Mr. Adams’s talents, character, and public -services.... Mr. Adams’s great knowledge and ability, his experience, -and especially his thorough acquaintance with the foreign relations -of the country, will undoubtedly make him prominent as a candidate; -and I wish it to be understood that his election would be altogether -agreeable to me.” - -Mr. Adams, however, remained in the House of Representatives, and Rufus -Choate was selected to succeed Mr. Webster. Massachusetts was fortunate -in having three citizens so eminently fitted to do her honor in the -national councils. - -When the letter announcing Mr. Webster’s resignation of his seat was -read in the Senate, Mr. Clay took occasion to pay a glowing tribute -to his great eloquence and ability, referring to him as “one of the -noblest specimens of American eloquence; one of the brightest ornaments -of these halls, of this country, and of our common nature.” - -The lamented death of General Harrison, on the 5th of April, after but -a single month in office, interrupted official business, and made Mr. -Webster’s position still more difficult. John Tyler, Vice-President, -succeeding, soon made himself obnoxious to the party that had elected -him. All the members of the Cabinet, except Mr. Webster, resigned. Mr. -Webster perceived that he could not do so without serious detriment to -the national interests, and he remained steadfast, thereby incurring -the censure of many, who did not appreciate the patriotism and -self-sacrifice that actuated him. The Secretary of State was too astute -a politician not to understand that he was periling his own political -fortunes, that he was raising up for himself enemies in his own State, -and that his adherence to the administration might cost him the -promotion which he ardently desired, for he had already fixed his eyes -upon the Presidency as an object to which he might legitimately aspire. -Nevertheless he adhered and kept his post till his work was done, and -he had accomplished for this country what no other hand could probably -have done, the peaceful adjustment of her foreign differences. - -In the midst of the dissatisfaction a great meeting was held at Faneuil -Hall, and Mr. Webster determined to go there and face the anger of -his former friends. Whatever might have been the feelings of the -packed audience when Mr. Webster rose before them in his magnificent -manhood, and his deep, calm eyes fell upon the audience, every head was -instantly uncovered in involuntary homage. - -In the course of his speech Mr. Webster said: “There are always -delicacy and regret when one feels obliged to differ from his friends, -but there is no embarrassment. There is no embarrassment, because, if I -see the path of duty before me, I have that within me which will enable -me to pursue it, and throw all embarrassment to the winds. A public man -has no occasion to be embarrassed if he is honest. Himself and his -feelings should be to him as nobody and as nothing; the interest of his -country must be to him as everything; he must sink what is personal to -himself, making exertions for his country, and it is his ability and -readiness to do this which are to mark him as a great or as a little -man in time to come. - -“There were many persons in September, 1841, who found great fault -with my remaining in the President’s Cabinet. You know, gentlemen, -that twenty years of honest and not altogether undistinguished service -in the Whig cause did not save me from an outpouring of wrath which -seldom proceeds from Whig pens and Whig tongues against anybody. I am, -gentlemen, a little hard to coax, but as to being driven, this is out -of the question. I chose to trust my own judgment; and thinking I was -at a post where I was in the service of the country, and could do it -good, I stayed there, and I leave it to you to-day to say, I leave it -to my countrymen to say, whether the country would have been better -off if I had left also. I have no attachment to office. I have tasted -of its sweets, but I have tasted of its bitterness. I am content with -what I have achieved; I am ready to rest satisfied with what is gained -rather than to run the risk of doubtful efforts for new acquisitions.” - -This is the speech of a strong man—a man not to be turned by obloquy -from any step which he has made up his mind to take. I think to-day few -would question the good judgment which he displayed in retaining his -seat in the Cabinet. He was enabled to negotiate a treaty with Great -Britain—known as the Ashburton treaty—which, if not wholly satisfactory -to the United States, at any rate harmonized differences to a large -extent, and removed any immediate danger of hostilities. - -When Mr. Webster felt that his work was fully accomplished, on the 8th -of May, 1843, he resigned the premiership, and hastened to his seaside -home at Marshfield, there to enjoy the rest which he needed and craved. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXV. - -LIFE AT MARSHFIELD. - - -The town of Marshfield is as intimately associated with the name of -Daniel Webster as is Abbotsford with Sir Walter Scott. It is a sparsely -settled town on the south-eastern shore of Massachusetts. Mr. Webster’s -first acquaintance with it dates from 1824. Both Mr. and Mrs. Webster -were charmed with the situation of the Thomas Farm, as it was then -called, and the grand views which it afforded of the ocean. For several -summers the Websters were boarders in the family of Captain Thomas, and -finally, in 1831, he became the owner of the farm by purchase. Then -he began to make improvements, and by the lavish expenditure of money -converted it from a homely farm to a fitting residence for a famous -lawyer. - -Henceforth this was the home to which the thoughts of the great -statesman turned when, weary and exhausted with his labors in the -courts, the Cabinet or the Senate, he felt the need of rest. He -delighted to array himself in a farmer’s rough garb, to stride over -his own fields, and look after his cattle. He had not forgotten his -early tastes, and reveled in the free and unconventional life of this -seaside farm. He drank in health from the invigorating sea breezes, and -always bore more easily the burden of public cares after a few days at -Marshfield. - -“I had rather be here than in the Senate,” he said on one occasion to -his son, while amusing himself with feeding his cattle with ears of -corn from an unhusked pile lying upon the barn floor. - -Mr. Webster was a keen disciple of Isaac Walton, and spent many an -hour with rod and line, when perhaps his thoughts were busy with -some intricate political problem, or his mind was occupied with the -composition of some speech now famous. - -To Mr. Harvey’s “Reminiscences” I am indebted for the following -anecdote of Mr. Webster, and indeed for most that I have said about his -country life: - -“Soon after Mr. Webster went to Marshfield he was one day out on the -marshes shooting birds. It was in the month of August, when the farmers -were securing their salt hay. He came, in the course of his rambles, to -the Green Harbor River, which he wished to cross. He beckoned to one of -the men on the opposite bank to take him over in his boat, which lay -moored in sight. The man at once left his work, came over and paddled -Mr. Webster across the stream. He declined the payment offered him, but -lingered a moment, with Yankee curiosity, to question the stranger. He -surmised who Mr. Webster was, and with some hesitation remarked: - -“‘This is Daniel Webster, I believe?’ - -“‘That is my name,’ replied the sportsman. - -“‘Well, now,’ said the farmer, ‘I am told that you can make from three -to five dollars a day pleadin’ cases up in Boston.’ - -“Mr. Webster replied that he was sometimes so fortunate as to receive -that amount for his services. - -“‘Well, now,’ returned the rustic; ‘it seems to me, I declare, if I -could get as much in the city pleadin’ law cases, I would not be a -wadin’ over these marshes this hot weather shootin’ little birds.’” - -Had the simple countryman been told that his companion, who was dressed -but little better than himself, was making from thirty to forty -thousand dollars annually by these same “law cases,” we can hardly -imagine the extent of his amazement, or perhaps incredulity. - -There is a tradition, and Mr. Webster has confirmed it, that he was one -day out on the marsh when his attention was drawn to two young men, -evidently from the city, who were standing on one side of a creek which -it seemed necessary to cross. They were nicely dressed, and evidently -dismayed by the apparent necessity of spoiling their fine clothes in -the passage. Seeing a large rough-looking man, with his pants tucked in -his boots, approaching them, their faces brightened as they saw a way -out of their dilemma. - -“My good man,” said one, in an eager but patronizing way, “we are in -trouble. Can you help us?” - -Mr. Webster looked at the young men and appreciated the situation. - -He answered gravely, “What is your difficulty?” - -“We want to get across this creek, but you see we might spoil our -clothes if we undertook to wade.” - -Mr. Webster nodded. - -“You look like a good, strong fellow, and it won’t hurt your clothes. -Will you carry us across on your back?” - -Mr. Webster’s eyes twinkled, but he did not suffer the young men to see -it. They were lightly made, and no great burden to one of his herculean -frame. - -“Yes,” he answered; “I will oblige you.” - -So he took the two over in turn, and deposited them, greatly to their -satisfaction, safe and sound on the opposite shore. - -“I’m ever so much obliged,” said the first. “Here, my man, take this,” -and he drew half a dollar from his pocket. - -The second made the same tender. - -“You are quite welcome, young gentlemen,” said Mr. Webster, “but I -can’t think of accepting any recompense.” - -“Really, though, it’s worth it; isn’t it, Jones?” said the first young -man, addressing his companion. - -“Of course it is. Better take the money, sir.” - -“I must decline,” said Mr. Webster, smiling. - -“Ever so much obliged. Really it’s very kind of you. By the way, -doesn’t Daniel Webster live round here somewhere?” - -“Yes; you are on his land now,” said the rough-looking countryman. - -“You don’t say so. Is there any chance of seeing him, do you think?” - -“A very good chance. _You have only to take a good look at me._” - -“Are—you—Mr.—Webster?” faltered the young men simultaneously. - -“Men call me so,” answered the statesman, enjoying the confusion of the -young men. - -They attempted to apologize for the liberty they had taken, and -the great mistake they had made, but without much success, and -notwithstanding the good-natured manner in which their excuses were -received by Mr. Webster, were glad when they were out of his presence. - -I cannot resist the temptation to record another amusing incident in -the summer life of Mr. Webster. One day he had gone to Chelsea Beach -to shoot wild fowl. While lying among the tall grass he watched from -his concealment the flocks of birds as they flew over the beach and -adjacent waters. A flock appeared flying quite low, and he lowered -the muzzle of his gun below the horizontal range to bring the birds -before his eye. He fired, and instantly there was a loud cry proceeding -from the beach below. In alarm Mr. Webster rushed down the bank, -and descried a stranger rubbing his face and shoulder ruefully. The -sportsman himself was not looking his best. His raiment was disordered -and his face was begrimed with powder. - -“My dear sir,” he inquired anxiously, “did I hit you?” - -The man answered resentfully, “Yes, you did hit me; _and, from your -looks, I should think that I am not the first man you have shot, -either_.” - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVI. - -THE SEVENTH OF MARCH SPEECH. - - -Were I to undertake a complete account of Mr. Webster’s public acts -during the last ten years of his life, I should require to write a -volume upon this part of his life alone. This does not enter into my -plan. I aim only to give my young readers a general idea of the public -and private life of the great statesman, and must refer them for -particulars to the valuable Life by George Ticknor Curtis, already more -than once referred to. - -Mr. Webster was strongly opposed to the annexation of Texas, foreseeing -that it would justly be resented by the people of the North as -tending to increase “the obvious inequality which exists in the -representation of the people in Congress by extending slavery and slave -representation.” - -Slavery was the one great flaw in our otherwise glorious system of -government. It was a standing reproach among the European nations that -a government which claimed to be free held in forcible subjection -three million slaves. It sowed dissension between the North and the -South, and seemed to be the entering wedge destined ere long to split -asunder the great republic. There were men on both sides of Mason and -Dixon’s line who openly favored separation, but Mr. Webster was not -one of these. His ardent devotion to the Union we have already seen -in the glowing peroration to his memorable speech against Hayne. He -watched with an anxiety which he did not attempt to conceal the growing -exasperation of feeling between the two sections. Though he took the -Northern view, he saw that there must be mutual concessions or the -Union would be dissolved. He did not wish that event to come in his -time, and it was in this frame of mind that he made his last great -speech in the Senate—what is known as the seventh of March speech. - -It was a strong and temperate statement of the existing condition of -affairs, and of the necessity of compromise. In making this speech Mr. -Webster was fully aware that he was hazarding his popularity—nay, was -sure to lose it—that he would grieve his best friends, and excite a -storm of indignation at the North. He was not mistaken. The minds of -men were in no mood for temperate counsels. They were in no mood to -appreciate the patriotic motives which actuated the great statesman. -He was charged with falling from honor and making undue concessions to -slavery. Upon this last point I shall express no opinion. I only claim -that Mr. Webster’s motives were pure, and that though he may have gone -too far in his concessions, he was influenced thereto by the depth of -his devotion to the Union. There were not wanting those who charged him -with making in his speech a bid for the Presidency, forgetting that he -could not have injured his chances more effectually than by stirring up -against himself his warmest political friends. - -That Mr. Webster had an honorable ambition to serve his country in that -great office—the greatest in its gift—no one will dispute. He knew his -own fitness, and would have rejoiced to crown a life of high service -with this elevated trust. But I have said elsewhere that it is only in -an ideal republic that the greatest citizens reach the highest posts, -and our republic is not an ideal one. - -In the light of our present experience we can see that Mr. Webster was -wrong in supposing that the republic could go on indefinitely with -slavery as its corner-stone. Any compromise could be only for a time. -But he was an old man—sixty-eight years of age—grown cautious and -conservative with advancing years, and he could not see through the -clouds that gathered before him. - -With this brief vindication of his motives I proceed to give an extract -from his last great speech: - -“Secession! Peaceable secession! Sir, your eyes and mine are never -destined to see that miracle. The dismemberment of this vast country -without convulsion! The breaking up of the fountains of the great deep -without ruffling the surface! Who is so foolish—I beg everybody’s -pardon—as to expect any such thing? Sir, he who sees these States now -revolving in harmony around a common center, and expects to see them -quit their places and fly off without convulsion, may look the next -moment to see the heavenly bodies rush from their spheres and jostle -against each other in the realms of space, without causing the wreck -of the universe! There can be no such thing as a peaceable secession. -Peaceable secession is an impossibility. Is the great Constitution -under which we live, covering this whole country, is it to be thawed -and melted away by secession, as the snows on the mountain melt under -the influence of a vernal sun, disappear and run off? No, sir! No, sir! -I will not state what might produce the disruption of the Union; but, -sir, I see as plainly as I see the sun in heaven what that disruption -must produce; I see that it must produce war, and such a war as I will -not describe in its two-fold character. - -“Peaceable secession! Peaceable secession! The concurrent agreement -of all the members of this great government to separate! A voluntary -separation with alimony on one side, and on the other! Why, what -would be the result? Where is the line to be drawn? What States are -to secede? What is to remain America? What am I to be? An American no -longer? Am I to become a sectional man, a local man, a separatist, with -no country in common with the gentlemen who sit around me here, or who -fill the other House of Congress? Heaven forbid! Where is the flag of -the republic to remain? Where is the eagle still to tower? or is he to -cower, and shrink, and fall to the ground? Why, sir, our ancestors, -our fathers, and our grandfathers, those of them who are still living -among us with prolonged lives, would rebuke and reproach us; and our -children and our grandchildren would cry out shame upon us, if we of -this generation should dishonor these ensigns of the power of the -government and the harmony of the union which is every day felt among -us with so much joy and gratitude. What is to become of the army? What -is to become of the navy? What is to become of the public lands? How is -each of the thirty States to defend itself? - -“I know, although the idea has not been stated distinctly, there is -to be, or it is supposed possible that there will be, a Southern -confederacy. I do not mean, when I allude to this statement, that any -one seriously contemplates such a state of things. I do not mean to -say that it is true, but I have heard it suggested elsewhere that the -idea has been entertained that, after the dissolution of this Union -a Southern Confederacy might be formed. I am sorry, sir, that it has -ever been thought of, talked of or dreamed of, in the wildest flights -of human imagination. But the idea, so far as it exists, must be of -a separation, assigning the slave States to one side, and the free -States to the other. Sir, I may express myself too strongly, perhaps, -but there are impossibilities in the moral as well as in the physical -world, and I hold the idea of a separation of these States, those -that are free to form one government, and those that are slaveholding -to form another, as such an impossibility. We could not separate the -States by any such line if we were to draw it. We could not sit down -here to-day and draw a line of separation that would satisfy any five -men in the country. There are natural causes that would keep and tie us -together, and there are social and domestic relations which we could -not break if we would, and which we should not if we could.” - -In describing the consequences of secession it must be admitted -that Mr. Webster spoke like a true prophet. All the evils that he -predicted—the war such as the world had never seen—came to pass, but -out of it the Union emerged stronger than ever, with its chief burden -and reproach thrown overboard. Much as the war cost, we feel to-day -that we are the better off that it was fought. Let us not blame Mr. -Webster that he could not penetrate the future, and strove so hard to -avert it. Probably his speech postponed it, but nothing could avert it. -Can we doubt that if the great statesman were living to-day he would -thank God that He had solved the great problem that had baffled the -wisdom of the wisest, and brought substantial good from fratricidal -strife? - -Among those who listened with rapt attention to Mr. Webster was John C. -Calhoun, his great compeer, who had risen with difficulty from the bed -where he lay fatally sick, to hear the senator from Massachusetts. “A -tall, gaunt figure, wrapped in a long black cloak, with deep, cavernous -black eyes, and a thick mass of snow-white hair brushed back from the -large brow,” he seemed like a visitant from the next world. It was his -last appearance in the Senate. Before March was over he had gone to his -rest! - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVII. - -CLOSING SCENES. - - -Mr. Webster’s public life was drawing to a close. After the death of -Gen. Taylor he accepted for a second time the post of Secretary of -State, but there is nothing in his official work that calls for our -special attention. Important questions came up and were satisfactorily -disposed of. There was a strong hand at the helm. - -June, 1852, brought him a great disappointment. The Whig Convention -assembled in Baltimore to nominate a candidate for the Presidency. Mr. -Webster was by all means the leader of that party, and was one of the -three candidates balloted for. But in the end the successful man was -Gen. Winfield Scott. It was a nomination like that of Harrison and -Taylor, dictated solely by what was thought to be availability. In this -case a mistake was made. Gen. Scott was disastrously defeated by Gen. -Franklin Pierce, the nominee of the Democracy. - -Gen. Pierce, though parted by politics, was a devoted friend of Mr. -Webster, and the reader may be interested to know that on hearing of -his nomination, he spoke thus: “Well, all I can say is, and I say it -in sincerity, if the people of the United States were to repudiate -caucuses, conventions, politicians and tricksters, and rise in the -glory of their strength and might, without waiting for any convention -to designate a candidate, but bent on placing in the Presidential -chair the first citizen and statesman, the first patriot and man, -Daniel Webster, it would do for republican government more than any -event which has taken place in the history of the world. These are my -sentiments, democracy or no democracy.” - -This is certainly a remarkable tribute from the nominee of one party to -an unsuccessful candidate of another, but Gen. Pierce had shown on many -occasions his warm friendship and admiration for Mr. Webster. - -At Mr. Webster’s age it was not likely that he would ever again be a -candidate for the Presidency. His last chance had slipped away, and the -disappointment was keen. He was already in declining health, induced -partly by a severe accident which befell him in May, 1852, when he -was thrown headlong to the earth while riding behind a span of horses -to Plymouth. Probably the injury was greater than appeared. Towards -the end of September, while at Marshfield, alarming symptoms were -developed, and his grand physical system was evidently giving way. That -month was to be his last. His earthly work was done, and he was never -again to resume his work at Washington. The closing scenes are thus -described by Mr. Curtis: - -“It was past midnight, when, awaking from one of the slumbers that he -had at intervals, he seemed not to know whether he had not already -passed from his earthly existence. He made a strong effort to ascertain -what the consciousness that he could still perceive actually was, -and then uttered those well-known words, ‘I still live!’ as if he -had satisfied himself of the fact that he was striving to know. They -were his last coherent utterance. A good deal later he said something -in which the word ‘poetry’ was distinctly heard. His son immediately -repeated to him one of the stanzas of Gray’s ‘Elegy.’ He heard it and -smiled. After this respiration became more difficult, and at length -it went on with perceptible intervals. All was now hushed within the -chamber; and to us who stood waiting there were but three sounds in -nature: the sighing of the autumn wind in the trees, the slow ticking -of the clock in the hall below, and the deep breathing of our dying -friend. Moments that seemed hours flowed on. Still the measured beat -of time fell painfully distinct upon our ears; still the gentle moaning -of the wind mingled with the only sound that arose within the room; -for there were no sobs of women, no movements of men. So grand, and -yet so calm and simple, had been his approach to the moment when he -must know that he was with us no more, that he had lifted us into a -composure which, but for his great example, we could not have felt. At -twenty-three minutes before three o’clock his breathing ceased; the -features settled into a superb repose; and Dr. Jeffries, who still held -the pulse, after waiting a few seconds, gently laid down the arm, and -amid a breathless silence, pronounced the single word, ‘Dead.’ The eyes -were then closed, the remains were removed from the position in which -death came, and all but those who had been appointed to wait and watch -slowly and mournfully walked away.” - -Thus died a man whom all generations will agree in pronouncing great; a -man not without faults, for he was human, but one to whom his country -may point with pride as a sincere patriot, a devoted son, who, in -eloquence at the bar and in the Senate, is worthy of a place beside -the greatest orators of any nation, or any epoch. He has invested the -name of an American citizen with added glory, for he was a typical -American, the genuine product of our republican institutions. No poor -boy who reads his life need despair of becoming eminent, for he can -hardly have more obstacles to overcome than the farmers’ boy, who grew -up on the sterile soil of New Hampshire, and fought his way upward with -unfailing courage and pluck. Not once in a century is such a man born -into the world—a man so amply endowed by his Creator—but he did not -rely upon his natural talents, but was a firm believer in hard work. -With all his marvelous ability he would not otherwise have left behind -him such a name and fame. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVIII. - -CENTENNIAL TRIBUTES. - - -On the 18th of January, 1882, the hundredth birthday of Daniel Webster, -the Marshfield Club assembled at the Parker House, in Boston, to -take suitable notice of the anniversary. Though thirty years had -elapsed since his death there was one at least present, Hon. Robert -C. Winthrop, who had been intimately associated with him in public -life, having been his successor in the Senate, and a warm personal -friend. Most notable among the addresses was that of Gov. Long, of -Massachusetts, which I shall venture to insert here, as containing -in brief compass a fitting estimate of the great statesman whom the -company had assembled to honor. - - -GOVERNOR LONG’S ADDRESS. - -“It is but a poor tribute that even the most eloquent voice, least -of all mine, can pay for Massachusetts to the memory of her greatest -statesman, her mightiest intellect and her most powerful orator. Among -her sons he towers like the lonely and massive shaft on Bunker Hill, -upon the base and the crest of which his name is emblazoned clearer -than if chiseled deep in its granite cubes. For years he was her -synonym. Among the States he sustained her at that proud height which -Winthrop and Sam Adams gave her in the colonial and provincial days. -With what matchless grandeur he defended her! With what overwhelming -power he impressed her convictions upon the national life! God seems -to appoint men to special work, and, that done, the very effort of -its achievement exhausts them, and they rise not again to the summit -of their meridian. So it was with Webster. He knows little even of -written constitutions and frames of government who does not know -that they exist almost less in the letter than in the interpretation -and construction of the letter. In this light it is not too much to -say that the Constitution of the United States, as it existed when -it carried our country through the greatest peril that ever tested -it, was the crystallization of the mind of Webster as well as of its -original framers. It came from them and was only accepted by some of -our own as a compact of States, sovereign in all but certain enumerated -powers delegated to a central government. He made it the crucible of -a welded Union—the charter of one great country, the United States -of America. He made the States a nation and enfolded them in its -single banner. It was the overwhelming logic of his discussion, the -household familiarity of his simple but irresistible statement, that -gave us munition to fight the war for the preservation of the Union and -the abolition of slavery. It was his eloquence, clear as crystal and -precipitating itself in the school-books and literature of a people, -which had trained up the generation of twenty years ago to regard -this nation as one, to love its flag with a patriotism that knew no -faction or section, to be loyal to the whole country, and to find in -its Constitution power to suppress any hand or combination raised -against it. The great Rebellion of 1861 went down hardly more before -the cannon of Grant and Farragut than the thunder of Webster’s reply -to Hayne. He knew not the extent of his own achievement. His greatest -failure was that he rose not to the height and actual stroke of his -own resistless argument, and that he lacked the sublime inspiration, -the disentanglement and the courage to let the giant he had created -go upon his errand, first of force, and then, through that, of surer -peace. He had put the work and genius of more than an ordinary lifetime -of service into the arching and knitting of the Union, and this he -could not bear to put to the final test; his great heart was sincere -in the prayer that his eyes might not behold the earthquake that would -shake it to those foundations which, though he knew it not, he had made -so strong that a succeeding generation saw them stand the shock as -the oak withstands the storm. Men are not gods, and it needed in him -that he should rise to a moral sublimity and daring as lofty as the -intellectual heights above which he soared with unequaled strength. So -had he been godlike. - -“A great man touches the heart of the people as well as their -intelligence. They not only admire, they also love him. It sometimes -seems as if they sought in him some weakness of our common human -nature, that they may chide him for it, forgive it, and so endear him -to themselves the more. Massachusetts had her friction with the younger -Adams, only to lay him away with profounder honor, and to remember him -devotedly as the defender of the right of petition and ‘the old man -eloquent.’ She forgave the overweening conceit of Sumner, she revoked -her unjust censure of him, and now points her youth to him in his high -niche as the unsullied patriot, without fear and without reproach, who -stood and spoke for equal rights, and whose last great service was to -demand and enforce his country’s just claims against the dishonorable -trespass of the cruisers of that England he had so much admired. -Massachusetts smote, too, and broke the heart of Webster, her idol, and -then broke her own above his grave, and to-day writes his name highest -upon her roll of statesmen. It seems disjointed to say that, with such -might as his, the impression that comes from his face upon the wall, -as from his silhouette upon the background of our history, is that of -sadness—the sadness of the great deep eyes, the sadness of the lonely -shore he loved, and by which he sleeps. The story of Webster from the -beginning is the very pathos of romance. A minor chord runs through it -like the tenderest note in a song. What eloquence of tears is in that -narrative, which reveals in this giant of intellectual strength the -heart, the single loving heart, of a child, and in which he describes -the winter sleighride up the New Hampshire hills when his father told -him that, at whatever cost, he should have a college education, and he, -too full to speak, while a warm glow ran all over him, laid his head -upon his father’s shoulder and wept! - -“The greatness of Webster and his title to enduring gratitude have -two illustrations. He taught the people of the United States, in the -simplicity of common understanding, the principles of the Constitution -and government of the country, and he wrought for them, in a style of -matchless strength and beauty, the literature of statesmanship. From -his lips flowed the discussion of constitutional law, of economic -philosophy, of finance, of international right, of national grandeur -and of the whole range of high public themes, so clear and judicial -that it was no longer discussion, but judgment. To-day—and so it will -be while the republic endures—the student and the legislator turn -to the full fountain of his statement for the enunciation of these -principles. What other authority is quoted, or holds even the second -or third place? Even his words have imbedded themselves in the common -phraseology, and come to the tongue like passages from the Psalms or -the poets. I do not know that a sentence or a word of Sumner’s repeats -itself in our every-day parlance. The exquisite periods of Everett are -recalled like the consummate work of some master of music, but no note -or refrain sings itself over and over again to our ears. The brilliant -eloquence of Choate is like the flash of a bursting rocket, lingering -upon the retina indeed after it has faded from the wings of the night, -but as elusive of our grasp as spray-drops that glisten in the sun. The -fiery enthusiasm of Andrews did, indeed, burn some of his heart-beats -forever into the sentiment of Massachusetts; but Webster made his -language the very household words of a nation. They are the library -of a people. They inspired and still inspire patriotism. They taught -and still teach loyalty. They are the school-book of the citizen. They -are the inwrought and accepted fiber of American politics. If the -temple of our republic shall ever fall, they will ‘still live’ above -the ground like those great foundation stones in ancient ruins, which -remain in lonely grandeur, unburied in the dust that springs to turf -over all else, and making men wonder from what rare quarry and by what -mighty force they came. To Webster, as to few other men, is it due -that to-day, wherever a son of the United States, at home or abroad, -‘beholds the gorgeous ensign of the republic, now known and honored -throughout the earth, still full high advanced, its arms and trophies -streaming in their original luster, not a stripe erased or polluted, -nor a single star obscured,’ he can utter a prouder boast than, _Civis -Romanus sum_. For he can say, I am an American citizen.” - -As a fitting pendant to this eloquent tribute I quote a portion of the -address of Mr. Winthrop, whose name, personally and by inheritance, -makes him one of the most eminent sons of Massachusetts: - -“And, after all, Mr. President, what are all the fine things which -have ever been said of him, or which ever can be said of him, to-night -or a hundred years hence, compared with the splendid record which -he has left of himself as an advocate in the courts, as a debater -in the Senate, as an orator before the people? We do not search out -for what was said about Pericles or Demosthenes or Cicero or Burke. -It is enough for us to read their orations. There are those, indeed, -who may justly desire to be measured by the momentary opinions which -others have formed and expressed about them. There are not a few who -may well be content to live on the applauses and praises which their -efforts have called forth from immediate hearers and admirers. They -will enjoy at least a reflected and traditional fame. But Webster will -always stand safest and strongest on his own showing. His fame will -be independent of praise or dispraise from other men’s lips. He can -be measured to his full altitude, as a thinker, a writer, a speaker, -only by the standard of his own immortal productions. That masterly -style, that pure Saxon English, that clear and cogent statement, that -close and clinching logic, that power of going down to the depths -and up to the heights of any great argument, letting the immaterial -or incidental look out for itself, those vivid descriptions, those -magnificent metaphors, those thrilling appeals—not introduced as mere -ornaments wrought out in advance, and stored up for an opportunity of -display, but sparkling and blazing out in the very heat of an effort, -like gems uncovering themselves in the working of a mine—these are some -of the characteristics which will secure for Webster a fame altogether -his own, and will make his works a model and a study, long after most -of those who have praised him, or who have censured him, shall be -forgotten. - -“What if those six noble volumes of his were obliterated from the -roll of American literature and American eloquence! What if those -great speeches, recently issued in a single compendious volume, had -no existence! What if those consummate defenses of the Constitution -and the Union had never been uttered, and their instruction and -inspiration had been lost to us during the fearful ordeal to which -that Constitution and that Union have since been subjected? Are we -quite sure that we should have had that Constitution as it was, and the -Union as it is, to be fought for, if the birth we are commemorating had -never occurred—if that bright Northern Star had never gleamed above -the hills of New Hampshire? Let it be, if you please, that its light -was not always serene and steady. Let it be that mist and clouds -sometimes gathered over its disk, and hid its guiding rays from many a -wistful eye. Say even, if you will, that to some eyes it seemed once -to be shooting madly from its sphere. Make every deduction which his -bitterest enemies have ever made for any alleged deviation from the -course which he had marked out for it by others, or which it seemed to -have marked out for itself, in its path across the sky. Still, still -there is radiance and glory enough left, as we contemplate its whole -golden track, to make us feel and acknowledge that it had no fellow in -our firmament.” - - -THE END. - - - * * * * * - -Transcriber's Notes - -Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. All other -spelling and punctuation remains unchanged. - -Italics are represented thus _italic_. - - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's From Farm Boy to Senator, by Horatio Alger Jr. - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FROM FARM BOY TO SENATOR *** - -***** This file should be named 53382-0.txt or 53382-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/3/3/8/53382/ - -Produced by David Edwards, Les Galloway and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive -specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this -eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook -for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, -performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given -away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks -not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the -trademark license, especially commercial redistribution. - -START: FULL LICENSE - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the -person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph -1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the -Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when -you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country outside the United States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work -on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: - - This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and - most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no - restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it - under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this - eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the - United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you - are located before using this ebook. - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format -other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain -Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -provided that - -* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation." - -* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm - works. - -* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - -* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The -Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at -www.gutenberg.org Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the -mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its -volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous -locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt -Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to -date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and -official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -For additional contact information: - - Dr. Gregory B. Newby - Chief Executive and Director - gbnewby@pglaf.org - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide -spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular -state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - |