202 THE PORTRAIT GALLERY 



ORATOR, PATRIOT, STATESMAN 



79. The first American statesman really to become prominent 

 as a director of opposition, during the successes of Jefferson, 

 Madison, Monroe and Jackson, was Daniel Webster. He was 

 born in Salisbury (Now Franklin), N. H., January 18, 1782. 

 As a child he was very sickly and was allowed much leisure 

 time which he spent in fishing, hunting, roaming the woods and 

 reading. His thirst for knowledge was insatiable, and he read 

 every book that came within his reach, conning his favorite 

 authors until their most salient thought's were permanently 

 stored in his memory. In 1796 he was sent to Exeter Academy 

 where he overcame a natural timidity and developed a real 

 gift as an orator. Although very poor, his father felt that there 

 was great promise in young Daniel, and decided to send him 

 to college. After six months preparation under a private tutor 

 he entered Dartmouth where he graduated in 1801. While in 

 college he was not considered a thorough scholar but his mem- 

 ory was prodigious, and power of convincing statement 

 unrivalled. He became recognized as a remarkable speaker, 

 and, although at the time an undergraduate, he was selected by 

 the Hanover townspeople to deliver the Fourth of July oration 

 in 1800. 



After leaving college he read law with Senator Thomas W. 

 Thompson in Salisbury, and taught school at Fryeburg, Me., 

 for a few months in order to send his brother Ezekiel to college. 

 In 1804 he removed to Boston where he entered the office of 

 Christopher Gore, as student and clerk. One year later he 

 was admitted to the bar and practiced his profession at Bos- 

 cawen, N. H. In 1807 he turned his business over to his brother 

 Ezekiel and located in Portsmouth, where his reputation as a 

 barrister grew rapidly. He was soon considered a worthy antag- 

 onist to Jeremiah Mason, one of the ablest lawyers produced 

 in America. 



