t so resolute was he in
acquiring knowledge and training the mind while toiling with the body,
that the operations at the mill were systematically interspersed with
studies well fitted to form and to brace the embryo patriot for his
great life-work. The saw took about ten minutes to cleave a log, and
young Webster, after setting the mill in motion, learned to fill up
these ten minutes with reading. As a patriot, a statesman, an orator,
and a scholar, he became famous, and was called the greatest
intellectual character of his country; and we see where he laid the
foundation of his greatness--by persistent and invincible ardor even in
early boyhood. That magnanimous kindliness and tenderness of heart,
which entered so largely into his character, was fostered amid such
scenes; and of all the men whose memories we are fain to embalm, he
ranks among the least indebted to casualty, and the most to
indefatigable earnestness, for the position to which he eventually rose.
Amid the forest wilds of America his perseverance laid the foundation of
power, of learning, of fame, and of goodness.

A simple incident which happened about this period decided his
life-pursuit. He discovered a copy of the "Constitution of the United
States," as drawn up by some of her ablest statesmen. It was printed
upon a cotton handkerchief which he purchased in a country store with
what was then his all, and which amounted to twenty-five cents. He was
about eight years of age when that took place, and learned then, for
the first time, either that there were United States, or that they had a
Constitution.

From this date, or about the year 1790, his path through life was
decided, not formally, but really, not by any avowal, but by a fostered
predilection. Meanwhile other influences were at work. The father of
this New Hampshire boy was strict in his religious opinions and
observances, and the son had to conform, sometimes with a grudge at the
restraint, but with effects of a vitally beneficial nature to the future
patriot. His father then kept a place of entertainment, where teamsters
halted to bait, and the attractions of the place were increased by the
fact that young Webster often regaled those visitors by his readings.
The Psalms of David were his favorite, and there, when only about seven
years of age, he first imparted that pleasure by his oratory which he
afterward carried up to the highest level which an American citizen can
reach. To that humbl