Giant of the Law; and upon completing his studies, he opened an office near the residence of Colonel Webster, with whom he boarded. He at once had a lucrative practice, purchased property, married, and settled down for life. By diligent at tention to business, he soon acquired a handsome fortune, an extensive reputation as a lawyer, no little fame as a state politician, and finally a seat in congress. In every post, as well as at home, he was remarkable for his industry, his acquirements, his kindness of heart, the general suavity of his manners, a sort of native eloquence in speech and conversation, and a polite regard for the feelings of others, which made him a general favorite. He died in 1819, in consequence of exposures endured in escaping from the ill-fated steamer, Phoenix, which was burnt to the water's edge at midnight. Such was the man with whom Daniel Webster first undertook the study of his profession.

The young student, however, was too poor to remain here long in quiet; and he wished, also, to earn money with which to aid his brother Ezekiel, who was still in college. Just at this time, through the influence of a personal friend, he was called to take charge of an academy at Fryeburg, in the State of Maine, where he spent nine months, which must be accounted as among the most interesting and important of his life. The most reliable statement of this part of his personal history has been given to the public by G. B. Bradley, Esq., now a resi dent of Fryeburg; and the reader will be ready to enter heartily into the enthusiasm with which he writes. The occa sion of forming a connection with the school is very correctly stated: "Mr. Webster's connection with the academy commenced in January, 1802, and terminated in August of the same year. The circumstances that directed his course to Fryeburg, arose from an early intimacy with the family of Hon. John Bradley, of Concord, New Hampshire, whose two eldest sons, Robert and, Samuel A., were then residing at Frye

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burg. Mr. Webster was graduated at Dartmouth College in 1801; his father had assisted him through his college course with considerable sacrifice and personal embarrassment, and at its close, he looked about for some employment that would enable him to pay the debts contracted in his behalf. Advised by his friend, Samuel A. Bradley, who had received his degree at the same college two years earlier, and who was then about commencing the practice of law at Fryeburg, he applied for the post of instructor in the academy, and was appointed. Mr. Bradley afterward introduced Mr. Webster to Hon. Christopher Gore, of Boston, as a student of law, who subsequently told him that he had brought him a very remarkable young man."

Mr. Webster's first entrance into Fryeburg is given us by this writer, in nearly the words which the statesman, in recently referring to it, employed himself: "In a late interview with Mr. Robert Bradley, Mr. Webster, to show the minuteness of his recollection, recalled to his mind an incident connected with his first arrival at Fryeburg. Said he,‘at that time I was a youth not quite twenty years of age, with a slen der frame of less than one houndred and twenty pounds weight; on deciding to go, my father gave me rather an ordinary horse, and after making the journey from Salisbury, upon his back, I was to dispose of him to the best of my judgment, for my own benefit. Immediately on my arrival, I called upon you, stating that I would sell the horse for forty dollars, and requesting your aid in his disposal; you replied, that he was worth more, and gave me an obligation for a larger sum, and in a few days succeeded in making a sale for me at the advanced price. I well remember that the purchaser lived about three miles from the village, and that his name was James Walker; I suppose he has long since deceased.' On being told that he was still living, he said with great heartiness,' please give him my best respects." "

His connection with this institution, if not profitable, was honorable. When his time was out, he not only received his small pay, which was at the rate of three hundred and fifty dollars per year, but the marked respect of his patrons in a vote of thanks still left upon their academic books:

"SEPTEMBER 1, 1802.

"Voted, That the Secretary return the thanks of this Board to Mr. Daniel Webster, for his faithful services while Precep or of Fryeburg Academy.

"WM. FESSENDEN, Secretary."

While teaching in this academy, he ardently pursued the study of the law. Borrowing a copy of Blackstone's Commentaries, he read them thoroughly, and, at the same time, reviewed several of his favorite authors. He also read, during these months, Cæsar, Sallust, Cicero, Virgil, and Horace, making himself still more familiar with the splendid passages, which, afterwards, he was always so prepared to quote. These, however, were not the whole of his labors, while preceptor at this school. He boarded at the Osgood House, the proprietor of which was then the Registrar of Deeds; and, thus getting the post of assistant, he spent many of his hours in writing out those records, which are still preserved, and which he often referred to as the most laborious work of his youth. "The ache is not yet out of my fingers," he used to say, "which so much writing caused them.”

When out of school, and not otherwise employed, he used to spend not a little of his time on the bosom of that beautiful sheet of water, called Lovell's Pond, which lies about one mile south of the village. It was at that time full of fish; and, like Rousseau, he was in the habit of getting into a small boat, and lying out upon the water, angling and thinking, or floating alors carelessly, hour after hour, and frequently from morning ti

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night. Those hours were by no means idle hours. They were hours of thought; and they probably exerted as great an influence on his subsequent career, as any of the time that he spent in the most ardent study at his desk.

At the close of his engagement at Fryeburg, he was joined 'by his brother Ezekiel; and, on horseback, then the most ordinary mode of travel, they started for the tour of Maine. "Soon after the commencement of the journey," says the writer. before quoted," while riding along on horseback, they saw a bright, new horseshoe lying in the road. Ezekiel suggested that it was worth picking up. Daniel thought it was not; his brother, however, dismounted, and carefully wrapping a new silk handkerchief about the shoe, placed it in the pocket of his coat. Some time after, on searching for his treasure-trove, he only found a sorry opening worn in the coat, through which shoe and handkerchief had jointly disappeared."

No sooner was he gone, than his remarkable talents became, for a time, the topic of general conversation; and more than one person predicted his future eminence: "While at Fryeburg," says Mr. Bradley, "he delivered an oration before the citizens on the fourth of July, and although still in his minority (if such ever was the fact) he exhibited in a marked degree the elements of his future greatness. Mr. Ketchum, of New York, in a late speech says: 'In early life, when Daniel Webster first came from college, when he first assumed the post of principal of an academy in one of the interior towns of New England, it was predicted by an intelligent citizen of that place that he would be the first man in the country.' Reference is here made to Rev. Dr. N. Porter, then one of the trustees of the academy. At about the same time two citizens of Fryeburg were discoursing on the future promise of the youthful orator, when one remarked that he should not be surprised if, before his death, he should be chosen governor of New Hampshire. The other replied that he would fill the office before five years,

if the people could appreciate him, but that so far as Mr. Web ster was concerned, it would be too small business for him."

Mr. Webster never forgot his friends; and he was seldom forgotten by them. To the latest day of his life, he remembered and mentioned this beginning of his long career, his connection with the academy at Fryeburg; and the citizens of that place, as well as the surrounding country, still hold him dear in their recollection, as in that admiration which all men bestowed upon him: "As an instructor," says Mr. Bradley, "he is still held in affectionate and grateful remembrance by those who were so fortunate as to be his pupils; and in the social circle, the recollections of his vivacity, as well as dignity and refine ment, are still fresh and enduring. Nor did Mr. Webster for get the scene of his first appearance on the stage of active life. Often, when relating this passage in his history, did he 'recur to pleasing recollections, and indulge in refreshing remembrance of the past-and to the close of life, he preserved a strong regard for the friends he there found. To one of them he thus concludes a letter which I now have before me: 'I am happy to hear of your establishment, and the growth of your fame. You have a little world around you; fill it with good deeds, and you will fill it with your own glory. Yours, in love, D. W. To another, a short time since, he sent a likeness of himself, as a 'token of early and long-continued friendship.' have, also, in my possession, a letter of recent date, expressing his readiness to forward a public enterprise, in which some of the citizens of Fryeburg were engaged. So late as September, 1851, on being informed that the trustees were struggling to rebuild the academy, although with sadly diminished resources, he proposed, if his life was spared, and his engagements would permit, to be present at its dedication, and to deliver the opening address. While in common with his afflicted family, and, we might add, the whole family of civilized man, we orofoundly and sincerely mourn that the grave has closed over