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survivors, who had repelled the foe, at the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1763, took advantage of this quiet time, and pushed into the wilderness to form settlements. Among them was Mr. E. Webster. He took up his march, and penetrated the forest fifteen miles above the garrison town,-now Concord,-the seat of Government for that State. This new settlement was called Salisbury, after a town of that name in Massachusetts, from which many of the settlers had emigrated. Here the enterprising adventurers set about building up one of those corporations that make up New England; one of those primitive assemblies governed by patriarchal simplicity, and yet with energy and effect. and effect. While he and his friends, a handful of sturdy yeomanry, were clearing the land and watching the growth of their crops and their children, the revolutionary storm burst out. They were accustomed to dangers, not to fears. Every possession had been gained by great efforts; and they were prepared to support their property and their liberties with still greater. The soldier of a former war was now called to the command of a company raised in his own town and vicinity; and great confidence was placed in one who had had such experience as a ranger. In 1777, when the alarm was given that Burgoyne was making rapid strides into our territory, having taken Ticonderoga, which had been thought quite impregnable, the militia of New York and New England started at once, and hastened to meet the enemy. Captain Webster was with Stark's force in his

spirited and successful engagement with Count Baum, at Bennington, and also at the surrender of Burgoyne. After the peace of 1783, he was elected a member of the Legislature of New Hampshire, and served in both branches of the General Court. In 1791, he was appointed Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and was on the bench for several years. Judge Webster was a man of strong sense; and, although his education was, of course, in that age limited, yet he was well acquainted with the Constitution of the States and the laws of the land as they affected the great question of rights and duties of freemen; and his opinions were held in great respect by his neighbors, and a neighborhood is a very extensive circle in a new country. In the latter part of his life, Judge Webster found leisure for reading, of which he was very fond. His society was sought by all the intelligent men around him, for he excelled in conversation. He died at the age of

seventy-seven, in 1816.

The maiden name of Daniel Webster's mother was Eastman; she was a native of Salisbury, in Massachusetts, a woman of intellect, piety, and good affections, -loved and respected in her neighborhood and venerated by her children. She had three sons and two daughters, and was their primary instructer in the elements of letters. With the true feelings of a maternal heart she watched the growth of her sons; and with that inspiration, which Heaven often vouchsafes to a mother to reward her for her anxieties and pains, she

prophesied their future distinction; and, more happy than many, she lived to see the prophecy fulfilled.

In the neighborhood of Salisbury, in the town of Boscawen, there resided a clergyman, who possessed the soul of the man of Ross, and as the inhabitants of the surrounding country were too happy in their possessions from their industry, to require him to apportion maids or apprentice orphans, if he had possessed the means, still there was a way for him to be quite as useful, in dispensing the blessings of education. This man was the Rev. Samuel Wood, D. D., who added to an ardent love of learning great industry and patience. Hundreds of those, who were striving for an education, received his instruction gratuitously, and many of them shared his hospitable table without remuneration, or a wish for it on his part. He is still living with the same noble disposition, if his age does not admit of the same exertions. This good man saw the promising talents of the subject of this memoir, and recommended his father to send him to college. For this purpose, the son was sent to Exeter academy, in his native State. This was judicious, for Exeter academy is one of the best literary and scientific institutions in the country. This, with its twin sister, Phillips's Andover academy, was founded and liberally endowed by the Phillips family-a name identified with the literature, science, and theology of the country. The Exeter academy was then and still is, under the superintendence of Benjamin Abbot, L. L. D., a fine classical scholar, of gentlemanly

and affectionate manners; a man admirably calculated for the Principal of such a seminary. Dr. Abbott had the sagacity to discover at once the capacity and talents of his pupil, and used his best exertions to bring him forward, which he did in a very rapid manner. Such men as Wood and Abbot should be remembered with the great teachers of youth,-Milton, Busby, Johnson and Parr, to whom so much credit has justly been given, as instructers of the great minds of England. There is an affectionate connexion between an instructor and his pupil, which lasts through life, if there has been a good understanding in the early days of the aspirant for literary and scientific honors with his director and teacher. "I taught that boy,' is the proud reflection of the teacher, when his pupil becomes distinguished; and, I was educated by that celebrated instructer, is the heartfelt response of one, however elevated, whose mind has been properly nurtured, and the luxuriance of whose imagination has been judiciously pruned by the friendly and sagacious care of a kind and intelligent teacher. Mr. Webster has often been heard to express his obligations to Wood and Abbot for their attention to his education. They share his fame, and enhance, while they enjoy, his honors.

From this academy, Mr. Webster went to Dartmouth college, an institution which has produced no ordinary share of distinguished men in every walk of life.

There is one feature in the character of that college, which deserves to be mentioned. There was no mannerism-the bane of many seminaries, contracted by the course of studies required there, nor could you tell from the graduate the course of his discipline while a student. After exacting the ordinary requisitions, the mind of each scholar was allowed to take its own bent, without the stamp of a reigning fashion, as common as it is injurious to young men. In Dartmouth college there was no uniformity of coats, caps, or thoughts. The alumni exhibited a wilderness of free minds, over whom the alma mater had no other control, than the exactions of a respectful compliance to a few necessary rules in order to secure the ordinary duties of a student. Mr. Webster was distinguished in his class for a general knowledge of all the branches of learning taught in the college, but much more for a bold, strong, independent manner of thinking and of expressing his opinions. grappled with authors at that time not simply to make himself master of what they wrote, but to test their merits by a standard of his own. If such a mind is not always right in its conclusions, it is certainly on the road to truth. The scholars acknowledged his great talents, and the Faculty sanctioned their opinion of his merits. The Professor of Natural Philosophy, Judge Woodward, who lived but three years after Mr. Webster left college, often spoke of him in high terms, and accompanied his remarks with a confident prophecy of his

future eminence.

He

"That man's victory is certain,'

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