LETIER TO HIS MASTER.

33

rious. He saw the cock, against which he had the grudge, and which had again and again driven his own fowls from his own yard, led about by the comb, in a manner as degrading as the old Romans led their conquered foes, while celebrating their triumphs of arms. Wellington, after the battle of Waterloo, was not better satisfied with the results of the day, than he was with the results of his day." Years after this event, the statesman, Daniel Webster, took to himself the credit of having a good talent for sleeping. That night, he undoubtedly slept well.

Numerous anecdotes are told to show, that Daniel Webster, the boy, was as quick and as pertinent at a repartee, as ever was Daniel Webster, the man, the orator, the debater of his times. On a certain occasion, Daniel and Ezekiel had retired to bed; but, having been engaged in a literary dispute during the evening, they continued the controversy in their room. Getting into a scuffle about a passage in one of their school books, they set their bed-clothes on fire. In the morning, they were severely questioned upon the matter. Ezekiel, a very bashful boy, took the reproof silently; but Daniel apologized by saying, that "they had only been in pursuit of light, of which, he confessed, they got more than they desired."

The first instructors that Daniel had at school were Thomas Chase and James Tappan. The former of these personages died many years ago; but the latter lived till after the decease of his most distinguished pupil. What influence Mr. Tappan had in opening the mind of his little pupil, is not cer tain; but whatever it was, or whether he performed any great part in the matter, Mr. Webster never forgot him, but seemed to remember him with gratitude. In 1851, the old pedagogue addressed a letter to the statesman, reminding him of their former connection. The statesman, though surrounded by the duties of his office, and overloaded with the cares of an empire,

promptly returned an answer, which enclosed a bank-bil for fifty dollars:

"MASTER TAPPAN,

"I thank you for your letter, and am rejoiced to know thai you are among the living. I remember you perfectly well as a teacher of my infant years. I suppose my mother must have taught me to read very early, as I have never been able to rec ollect the time when I could not read the Bible. I think Mas ter Chase was my earliest schoolmaster, probably when I was three or four years old. Then came Master Tappan. You boarded at our house, and sometimes, I think, in the family of Mr. Benjamin Sandborn, our neighbor, the lame man. Most of those whom you knew in 'New Salisbury' have gone to their graves. Mr. John Sandborn, the son of Benjamin, is yet living, and is about your age. Mr. John Colby, who married my sister Susannah, is also living. On the North Road is Mr. Benjamin Pettingil. I think of none else among the living whom you would probably remember. You have, indeed, lived a chequered life. I hope you have been able to bear prosperity with meekness, and adversity with patience. These things are all ordered for us far better than we could order them for ourselves. We may pray for our daily bread; we may pray for the forgiveness of sins; we may pray to be kept from temptation, and that the kingdom of God may come, in us, and in all men, and his will everywhere be done. Beyond this, we hardly know for what good to supplicate the divine mercy. Our heavenly Father knoweth what we have need of, better than we know ourselves; and we are sure that his eye and his loving kindness are upon us and around us every mo ment. I thank you again, my good old schoolmaster, for your kind letter, which has awakened many sleeping recollections; and, with all good wishes, I remain your friend and pupil,

"DANIEL WEBSTER."

VALUE OF LEARNING.

35

During all the years of Daniel's boyhood, his mother contin ued her efforts to instruct him so far as she was able, and undoubtedly gave him his first impressions respecting the value of a thorough education. The first impressions, however, were repeated and strengthened by the father. In a letter, written particularly to throw light upon this part of his history, the statesman has stated an incident, which must have been only a sample of many others: "Of a hot day in July—it must have been one of the last days of Washington's administration -I was making hay with my father, just where I now see a remaining elm tree, about the middle of the afternoon. The Hon. Abiel Foster, M. C., who lived in Canterbury, six miles off, called at the house, and came into the field to see my father. He was a worthy man, college learned, and had been a minister, but was not a person of any considerable natural powers. My father was his friend and supporter. He talked awhile in the field, and went on his way. When he was gone, my father called me to him, and we sat down beneath the elm, on a hay-cock. He said, 'My son, that is a worthy man-he is a member of congress-he goes to Philadelphia, and gets six dollars a day, while I toil here. It is because he had an educacation, 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,' said I, 'you shall not work. Brother and I will work for you, and wear our hands out, and you shall rest'— and I remember to have cried, and I cry now, at the recollection. My child,' said he, 'it is of no importance to me-I now live but for my children; I could not give your elder brother the advantages of knowledge, but I can do something for you. Exert yourself-improve your opportunities-learnlearn-and when I am gone you will not need to go through the hardships which I have undergone, and which have made que an old man before my time.' "

It seems, in fact, from many circumstances connected with the boyhood of Webster, and from several anecdotes not important now to be repeated, that his father and mother both appreciated the remarkable talents of their son; but the first reli able evidence of his genius, or that which must have been the strongest at that time, was given to Mr. Thomas W. Thomp son, a young lawyer, who had only a little before set up an office in the place. Having no students, and yet wishing to keep his door open, whether at home or absent, that his clients might always know when to expect him, he engaged Daniel to sit in the office, whenever he should be away, to give to strangers the proper information. The arrangement was entered into by the consent of all concerned. He was to sit there, not to do any service; but such a mind as that of Daniel Webster, though he was then but thirteen years of age, could not stand still in a room occupied, more or less, with books and papers. Among so many of both kinds, however, as must have been found on the premises of a man of talents and ambition, as Mr. Thompson was, there would be something of a choice. Besides law books, there were probably some histories, some books of poetry, some of travels, some biographies, some romances and other works of fiction. Any one of these would have been interesting to the little office keeper; and most boys would have made a selection from them. But it was not so with Daniel. His choice was a book most repulsive to lads of his age generally; but, it was one, which a better judgment than an ordinary boy's would consider as the most useful. It was a Latin grammar, which Mr. Thompson had saved as a relic from his own days of classical study. This volume, a very poor companion, probably, by the side of the grammars of later generations, Daniel committed entirely to memory and repeated it alcud to his new friend and future patron. Mr. Thompson was surprised. He was surprised, not only at the taste of the youth, but at the tenacity and readiness of his mem

IS TO BECOME A SCHOOL TEACHER.

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ory. He was surprised to see a boy perform such a feat without any apparent object. It seemed to him only the playful frolic of a little giant without employment. He concluded at once, that such a mind ought to have employment; and the incident was mentioned to the father, who was evidently pleased, but did not seem to be struck by it as if it were anything not to be expected. The truth is, he knew the talents of his son; but he now began to think more seriously, under the advice of Mr. Thompson, about setting him free immediately froin manual labor, that he might commence in earnest a course of life better fitted to his capacities.

It is the advice of a French writer, who has addressed many valuable maxims to the young: "Aim high, aim at the highest mark; for it is as easy to shoot at the sun, as at a clod of earth; and by shooting high, you will not be so likely to hit the ground." This precept has roused the ambition of many youths; but it was too elevated for the ambition, at that time, of Daniel Webster's father. After a deliberation with his wife, to which Mr. Thompson was invited, it was settled, that Daniel should be released from the labors of the farm, and sent to some good academy, that he might prepare himself for the useful and honorable profession of a country school teacher!

The choice of an institution could not be a matter of much debate, as Phillips' Academy, at Exeter, New Hampshire, was among the best of New England, and not very distant. Mr. Webster has often told the story of his journey: The roads, at that time, were exceedingly bad even in New England, where they are now so smooth and agreeable. There were few carriages in the country, as they could not be much used. It was the custom, as in all new countries, to ride on horses, not only to places quite near, but to localities the most remote. It was so on this occasion. Mr. Webster, and his son, went to Exeter on horse-back; and there was one circumstance in the story of the ride to which the son, to his latest days, used to refer