But thirty years have elapsed since the death of Daniel Webster, and there is already danger that, so far as young people are concerned, he will become an historic reminiscence.
PREFACE
But thirty years have elapsed since the death of Daniel Webster, and there is already danger that, so far as young people are concerned, he will become an historic reminiscence. Schoolboys, who declaim the eloquent extracts from his speeches which are included in all the school speakers, are indeed able to form some idea of his great oratorical powers and the themes which called them forth; but I have found that young classical students, as a rule, know more of Cicero's life than of his.
It seems to me eminently fitting that the leading incidents in the life of our great countryman, his struggles for an education, the steps by which he rose to professional and political distinction, should be made familiar to American boys. I have therefore essayed a "story biography," which I have tried to write in such a manner as to make it attractive to young people, who are apt to turn away from ordinary biographies, in the fear that they may prove dull.
I have not found my task an easy one. Webster's life is so crowded with great services and events, it is so interwoven with the history of the nation, that to give a fair idea of him in a volume of ordinary size is almost impossible. I have found it necessary to leave out some things, and to refer briefly to others, lest my book should expand to undue proportions. Let me acknowledge then, with the utmost frankness, that my work is incomplete, and necessarily so. This causes me less regret, because those whom I may be fortunate enough to interest in my subject will readily find all that they wish to know in the noble Life of Webster, by George Ticknor Curtis, the captivating Reminiscences, by Peter Harvey, the Private Correspondence, edited by Fletcher Webster, and the collection of Mr. Webster's speeches, edited by Mr. Everett. They will also find interesting views of Mr. Webster's senatorial career in the Reminiscences of Congress, by Charles W. March.
If this unpretending volume shall contribute in any way to extend the study of Mr. Webster's life and works, I shall feel that my labor has been well bestowed.
Horatio Alger, Jr.
March 28, 1882.
PREFACE
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CHAPTER I. THE COTTON HANDKERCHIEF
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CHAPTER II. DANIEL AND HIS FATHER
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CHAPTER III. A MEMORABLE BATTLE
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CHAPTER IV. AN IMPORTANT STEP
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CHAPTER V. DANIEL AT EXETER ACADEMY
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CHAPTER VI. PREPARING FOR COLLEGE
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CHAPTER VII. DANIEL'S COLLEGE LIFE
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CHAPTER VIII. DANIEL RECEIVES SOME VALUABLE ADVICE
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CHAPTER IX. BROTHERLY LOVE
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CHAPTER X. THE TWO BROTHERS
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CHAPTER XI. DANIEL AS AN ORATOR
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CHAPTER XII. STUDYING LAW
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CHAPTER XIII. HOW DANIEL WENT TO FRYEBURG
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CHAPTER XIV. THE PRECEPTOR OF FRYEBURG ACADEMY
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CHAPTER XV. THE NEXT TWO YEARS
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CHAPTER XVI. A GREAT TEMPTATION
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CHAPTER XVII. DANIEL REFUSES A CLERKSHIP
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CHAPTER XVIII. D. WEBSTER, ATTORNEY
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DANIEL OVERCOMES A BRAMBLE
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CHAPTER XX. "THE LITTLE BLACK STABLE-BOY."
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CHAPTER XXI. WHY DANIEL WAS SENT TO CONGRESS
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CHAPTER XXII. MR. WEBSTER AS A MEMBER OF CONGRESS
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CHAPTER XXIII. JOHN RANDOLPH AND WILLIAM PINKNEY
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CHAPTER XXIV. MR. WEBSTER IN BOSTON
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CHAPTER XXV. THE ORATION AT PLYMOUTH
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CHAPTER XXVI. THE BUNKER HILL ORATION
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CHAPTER XXVII. ADAMS AND JEFFERSON
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CHAPTER XXVIII. HOME LIFE AND DOMESTIC SORROWS
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CHAPTER XXIX. CALLED TO THE SENATE
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CHAPTER XXX. THE BEGINNING OF A GREAT BATTLE
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CHAPTER XXXI. THE REPLY TO HAYNE
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CHAPTER XXXII. THE SECRET OF WEBSTER'S POWER
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CHAPTER XXXIII. HONORS RECEIVED IN ENGLAND
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CHAPTER XXXIV. CALLED TO THE CABINET
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CHAPTER XXXV. LIFE AT MARSHFIELD
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CHAPTER XXXVI. THE SEVENTH OF MARCH SPEECH
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CHAPTER XXXVII. CLOSING SCENES
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CHAPTER XXXVIII. CENTENNIAL TRIBUTES
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