It may be supposed that between his school in the daytime and his duties as copyist in the evening, Daniel found his time pretty well occupied. As we know, he was not drawn to the teacher’s office by any special love of that honorable vocation, but simply by the pecuniary emolument. But, though this was the case, he discharged his duties with conscientious fidelity, and made himself a favorite both among his pupils and in the village, where the new preceptor was, as is usual, a person of importance.
He was accustomed to open and close the school with extemporaneous prayer, and those who remember the deep solemnity of manner which he could command at will will readily believe that this exercise was made impressive by the young teacher.
No stories have been handed down of insubordination among his pupils. If there had been any, it would speedily have been quelled by the preceptor, whose demeanor was naturally dignified.
It is remarkable how many of our great men have spent a portion of their early lives at the teacher’s desk. Gen. Garfield had an unusually extensive and varied experience as teacher, and would have passed through life very happily if he had never withdrawn from the school-room. Daniel Webster had not his special aptitude for it, but was nevertheless very fairly successful. One qualification, as we learn from the testimony of a pupil, was his “remarkable equanimity of temper.” The vexations of the school-room are neither few nor far between, but none of them were able to bring a frown to young Webster’s brow. Calmly he met and conquered all difficulties that came in his way, and secured the confidence and respect of his scholars.
The young man also impressed his pupils and friends as a man of competent scholarship. Hon. Samuel Fessenden, of Portland, writes: “The first I ever knew of Daniel Webster was immediately after he left college, and was employed by my father, the secretary of the Trustees of Fryeburg Academy, to become the principal instructor in that institution. He was not, when he commenced, twenty years old. I heard no one complain that his scholarship was not adequate to the duty he had assumed. On the contrary, I heard the Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Porter, of Conway, and my father, the Rev. William Fessenden, of Fryeburg, both of whom were good scholars, and the former, Rev. Dr. Porter, a very great man, say that Daniel Webster was a very good scholar for his years. He did, while at Fryeburg, exhibit traits of talent and genius which drew from these two divines, and from other professional gentlemen, unqualified praise of his powers of mind. I remember very distinctly hearing my father remark that if Mr. Webster should live, and have health, and pursue a straightforward course of industry and virtue, he would become one of the greatest men this country had produced.”
When it is remembered that the young man of whom this prediction was made was at the time an obscure teacher, in an obscure town, in what was then a frontier settlement, we must infer that he exhibited remarkable ability, and gave hints of a reserved power not yet called into action.
In spite of his engrossing employments, the young man found time to enlarge his general culture by various reading. Nor did he neglect his professional studies, but continued the reading of Blackstone’s Commentaries. It is remarkable that with all this hard work he found time for society. Dr. Osgood, the registrar’s son, says: “He was usually serious, but often facetious and pleasant. He was an agreeable companion, and eminently social with all who shared his friendship. He was greatly beloved by all who knew him. His habits were strictly abstemious, and he neither took wine nor strong drink. He was punctual in his attendance upon public worship, and ever opened his school with prayer. I never heard him use a profane word, and never saw him lose his temper.”
From all that has been said my young readers will see that Daniel was beginning life in the right way. It seems to me that at this period he was a model who may be safely copied in all respects. The reverence which he so plainly evinced as a young man for religion he never lost, but to the latest day of his life he yielded to none in his regard for the spirit of Christianity.
Under date of May 18, 1802, Daniel writes to his favorite friend Harvey Bingham, giving some account of matters at Fryeburg. He had just returned from spending a short vacation with his brother at Hanover.
“I arrived here last night,” he says; “but must fill this page by relating a little anecdote that happened yesterday. I accidentally fell in with one of my scholars on his return to the academy. He was mounted on the ugliest horse I ever saw or heard of except Sancho Panzas’s pacer. As I had two horses with me, I proposed to him to ride one of them, and tie his bay fast to his Bucephalus; he did accordingly, and turned her forwa............