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mean to use my tongue in the courts, not my pen; to be an actor, not a register of other men's actions.'

"For a moment, Judge Webster seemed angry. He rocked his chair slightly; a flash went over his eye, softened by age, but even then black as jet; but it immediately disappeared, and his countenance resumed its habitual serenity. Parental love and partiality could not, after all, but have been gratified with the son's devotion to an honorable and distinguished profession, and his evident confidence of success in it. Well, my son,' said the Judge, 'your mother has always said that you would come to something or nothing, she was not sure which. I think you are about settling that doubt for her.""

6

In a few days, Daniel returned to Boston, and the subject was never again alluded to in the family. Mr. Webster says that his father's eyes were brimful of the tears of gratitude, as he spoke of the appointment; and that when he heard his son decline it, he could scarce believe his own ears. Before Mr. Webster left home, he had the satisfaction of giving his father the means to remove the mortgage, and to pay all the debts

which had been contracted on account of himself and his brother. The money came, as we have stated, in part from Mr. Emery, and in part from Daniel's earnings, and his brother's. He wrote a grateful and respectful letter to the judges, and felt that restored serenity which every one experiences when a troublesome question is determined.

CHAPTER VII.

Mr. Webster admitted to the Bar-Establishes himself in New Hampshire His first cause- Death of his father-A son's testimony - The trial of a dumb depredator-Fourth of July Oration in 1806 Opinions of France- - Relations of AgriMonthly Anthology - Mr. Webster's His fatiguing journeys - His abhorrence of affectation- Mode of addressing a jury- Admission to the Superior Court.

culture and Commerce first criminal case

IN March, 1805, Mr. Gore moved the admission of his pupil, Daniel Webster, to practise at the Bar of the Court of Common Pleas, for Suffolk County. In introducing him, Mr. Gore spoke with emphasis of his remarkable talents and attainments, and confidently predicted his future eminence. The prediction had, no doubt, its influence in producing its own fulfilment; both by its stimulus upon the mind of the young lawyer, and by its weight upon those who heard, from Mr. Gore, a commendation much warmer than the mere course of professional courtesy would warrant or require.

Mr. Webster had resolved to establish himself in his native state. Local attachments and filial affection induced him to this determination; and perhaps he felt a natural diffidence, which led him to try his first practice in a narrower sphere than Boston, and to avail himself of his early friendships and connections. His Boston acquaintances and friends, hearing of Mr. Webster's intention to settle in New Hampshire, promised him their business; and as at that time there were many mercantile failures, Mr. Webster commenced at once a lucrative employment in the collection of debts.

After he had been admitted to the Bar, he went from Boston to Amherst, where his father's court was in session, and returned home with him. His original purpose had been to settle in Portsmouth, that being the only seaport in the state, and the place of the principal commercial business. But the age of his father, then in his sixty-seventh year, determined Daniel to remain near him; and he opened an office in the neighboring village of Boscawen.

In September of the same year, 1805, Mr. Webster first appeared in court for the trial of a cause. His father was on the bench, and the court was held in Plymouth, then the county-seat

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