In 1816, before his second term in Congress had expired, Daniel Webster
removed with his family to Boston. He had lived in Portsmouth nine
years, and he now felt that he needed a wider field for the exercise of
his talents.
He was now no longer the slender, delicate person that he had been in
his boyhood and youth. He was a man of noble mien--a sturdy, dignified
personage, who bore the marks of greatness upon him.
People said, "When Daniel Webster walked the streets of Boston, he made
the buildings look small."
As soon as his term in Congress had expired, he began the practice of
law in Boston.
For nearly seven years he devoted himself strictly to his profession. Of
course, he at once took his place as the leading lawyer of New England.
Indeed, he soon became known as the ablest counsellor and advocate in
America.
The best business of the country now came to him. His income was very
large, amounting to more than $20,000 a year.
And during this time there was no harder worker than he. In fact, his
natural genius could have done but little for him, had it not been for
his untiring industry.
One of his first great victories in law was that which is known as the
Dartmouth College case. The lawmakers of New Hampshire had attempted to
pass a law to alter the charter of the college. By doing this they
would endanger the usefulness and prosperity of that great school, in
order to favor the selfish projects of its enemies.
Daniel Webster undertook to defend the college. The speech which he made
before the Supreme Court of the United States was a masterly effort.
"Sir," he said, "you may destroy this little institution--it is weak, it
is in your hands. I know it is one of the lesser lights in the literary
horizon of our country. You may put it out.
"But if you do so, you must carry through your work! You must
extinguish, one after another, all those greater lights of science
which, for more than a century, have thrown their light over our land!"
He won the case; and this, more than anything else, helped to gain for
him the reputation of being the ablest lawyer in the United States.
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