DANIEL’S COLLEGE LIFE.
It is all important point in a boy’s life when he enters college. He
leaves home, in most cases, and, to a greater extent than ever before,
he is trusted to order his own life and rely upon his own judgment.
It is a trying ordeal, and many fail to pass through it creditably. A
student who has plenty of money is in greater danger of wasting his
time from the enlarged opportunities of enjoyment which money can buy.
From this danger, at least, Daniel was free. His father found it hard
enough to pay his ordinary expenses, and it is hardly likely that the
boy ever had much spare money to spend on pleasure.
Besides, though only fifteen, Daniel already possessed a gravity and
earnestness not often to be found in much older students. These,
however, were blended with a humor and love of fun which contributed to
make him an agreeable companion for his fellow-students.
Daniel’s development was not rapid. The oak tree grows steadily, but in
rapidity of growth it is eclipsed by many trees of less importance.
The great powers which our hero exhibited in after life did not at once
make themselves manifest. He did not at once take his place proudly at
the head of his class. This is shown by the fact that at the Sophomore
exhibition neither of the two principal appointments was assigned to
him. Notwithstanding this, it may safely be asserted that his time
was well spent. In this connection I am sure my young readers will be
interested in reading the testimony of Professor Shortliff.
“Mr. Webster, while in college,” writes the professor, “was remarkable
for his steady habits, his intense application to study, and his
punctual attendance upon all the prescribed exercises. I know not that
he was absent from a recitation, or from morning and evening prayers
in the chapel, or from public worship on the Sabbath; and I doubt if
ever a smile was seen upon his face during any religious exercise. He
was always in his place, and with a decorum suited to it. He had no
collision with any one, nor appeared to enter into the concerns of
others, but emphatically minded his own business. But, as steady as the
sun, he pursued with intense application the great object for which he
came to college.”
This is certainly high praise, and I am afraid such words could hardly
be said with truth of the majority of the college students of to-day.
Conscientious devotion to duty is often set down by college students
as indicating a lack of proper spirit, and the punctilious scholar is
often stigmatized as a toady, who is trying to curry favor with the
Faculty. Daniel, however, understood very well how important to his
future success was his improvement of the advantages which his father’s
self-sacrifice had purchased for him. Judge Webster was obliged to
mortgage his house and farm to meet the expenses incurred by Daniel’s
education, and he would indeed have been most reprehensible if he had
not constantly borne this in mind.
To go into details, Daniel’s favorite studies were the Latin and Greek
classics. He was but slenderly versed in these languages when he
entered college, and the college course was not as advanced as it is at
Dartmouth to-day. The first year, and part of the second, was devoted
to authors and studies which now receive attention before entrance.
For instance, the Freshman class went on with the Seventh Book of the
Æneid and with the remainder of the Greek Testament, arithmetic was
continued, and algebra was begun. While he was not below the average
in mathematics, Daniel certainly did not excel in that department.
It is related of Charles Sumner that he made strenuous efforts to
become a good mathematical scholar in spite of, perhaps because of,
his conscious distaste for that important branch, but without marked
success. General reading and composition always attracted him, and he
was probably one of the best read students at the time in college. He
devoted his leisure hours to extensive readings in poetry, history and
criticism. His powerful and retentive memory made this voluntary course
of especial value, and years later there were times when he was able to
make happy and striking quotations from authors he had not read since
his college life.
It is quite certain that Daniel at this time had no path marked out for
his future life, yet he probably could not have made a more profitable
preparation for that which actually lay before him than that which he
was unconsciously making. The history of England and of his own country
especially interested him, not alone the history of outward events, but
the constitutional history. From the age of eight he had been familiar
with the Constitution of the United States, read for the first time as
printed on the cheap cotton handkerchief, of which mention has already
been made. He never ceased to study it, and he well deserved the title
sometimes given him of Expounder and Defender of the Constitution.
At that time, as at present, it was the custom for the students to
form societies, in which debates and other literary exercises were
the principal features of the periodical meetings. Towards the middle
of his college course Daniel joined “The United Fraternity,” then the
leading society in college. He had long since overcome the diffidence
which at Exeter prevented him from participating in the exercise of
declamation. In the society he became distinguished both as a writer
and debater, and ere long ranked in the general estimation as the best
writer and speaker in college. So far as he exhibited precocity in
anything he showed it in these two branches. His method of preparation,
for he always prepared himself when he proposed to speak, is described
by a classmate as follows: “He was accustomed to arrange his thoughts
in his mind in his room or his private walks, and to put them upon
paper just before the exercise would be called for. When he was
required to speak at two o’clock, he would frequently begin to write
after dinner, and when the bell rang he would fold his paper, put it in
his pocket and go in, and speak with great ease. In his movements he
was rather slow and deliberate, except when his feelings were aroused;
then his whole soul would kindle into a flame.”
As this was the formative period when young Webster’s intellectual
character was taking shape; as, moreover, he was still a boy in years,
no older than many who will read this book, I add another tribute to
his industry in college and the ability which he displayed. It is from
a letter written by Hon. Henry Hubbard to Prof. Sanborn.
“I entered the Freshman class in 1799,” writes Mr. Hubbard, “at the
early age of fourteen. I was two years in college with Mr. Webster.
When I first went to Hanover I found his reputation already established
as the most remarkable young man in the college. He was, I believe, so
decidedly beyond any one else that no other student of his class was
ever spoken of as _second_ to him. I was led, very soon, to appreciate
most highly his scholarship and attainments. As a student his
acquisitions seemed to me to be very extensive. Every subject appeared
to contribute something to his intellectual stores. He acquired
knowledge with remarkable facility. He seemed to grasp the meaning
and substance of a book almost by intuition. Others toiled long and
patiently for that which he acquired at a glance.
“As a scholar, I should say that he was then distinguished for
the uncommon extent of his knowledge, and for the ease with which
he acquired it. But I should say that I was more impressed by his
eloquence and power as a speaker, before the society of which we were
both members, than by his other qualifications, however superior to
others. There was a completeness and fullness in his views, and a
force and expressiveness in his manner of presenting them, which no
other student possessed. We used to listen to him with the deepest
interest and respect, and no one thought of equaling the vigor and
glow of his eloquence. The oration which he delivered before the
United Fraternity on the day of his graduation is, I think, now among
the records of that society. Whoever will read it at this late day,
and bring to mind the appearance of the author, his manner and power,
during its delivery, cannot fail to admit that I have said no more
of his eloquence than I was warranted in saying. The students, and
those who knew him best and judged him most impartially, felt that no
one connected with the college deserved to be compared with him at
the time he received his first degree. His habits and moral character
were entirely unimpeachable. I never heard them questioned during our
college acquaintance.”
After this testimony I am certainly justified in holding up Daniel
Webster, during his college life, as a fit model for all young men who
at this day are placed in similar circumstances and pursuing a similar
course.