AND THE SENTIMENT OF UNION 367 



will not mislead us now. I shall vote for its adop- 

 tion" (Curtis, I. 10). 



Colonel Webster was noted for manly beauty and 

 noble bearing, for tireless industry, broad intelligence, 

 and tenacious memory, and for most devoted and self- 

 sacrificing love for his children*. Of these there were 

 five by the first wife, who died in 1774; and five by 

 the second wife, Abigail Eastman, a lady of rare intel- 

 ligence and strength of character. The youngest son, 

 Daniel, was born on the i8th of January, 1782, so puny 

 and sickly a babe that it was thought he could not 

 live to grow up. As a lad he was considered too 4 deli- 

 cate for hard work on the farm, and was accordingly 

 allowed a great deal of time for play. Much of this 

 leisure he spent in fishing and hunting, or in roaming 

 about the woods, the rest in reading. He never could 

 remember when he learned to read. His thirst for 

 knowledge was insatiable ; he read every book that 

 came within reach, and conned his favourite authors 

 till he knew them by heart. In May, 1796, he was 

 sent to Exeter Academy, where he made rapid prog- 

 ress with his studies, but was so overcome by shyness 

 that he found it impossible to stand up and "speak 

 pieces " before his schoolmates. When he saw so 

 many eyes turned toward him, the words would not 

 come, the master's encouraging remarks only added to 

 his confusion, and he would go away and cry from 

 vexation. But despite this timidity, his natural gifts 

 as an orator had already begun to show themselves. 

 His great, dark, lustrous eyes and rich voice, with its 

 musical inflections, were already exerting fascination 

 upon all who came within their range. Passing team- 

 sters would stop their horses, farmers at work in 



