From Farm Boy to Senator

lt, and in this humble dwelling Ezekiel and one of his sisters were born. He was poor in worldly goods, but rich in childr

s one of the first to take up arms. He himself drew up, and induced

at the risk of our lives and fortunes, with arms, oppose the hostile procee

the last year of his life declared that "this is suffi

supplemented by his own persistent efforts for education, qualified him for a high and influential place in the community in which he lived. But in one thing he was lacking, the ability to make money, and was obliged to practise the utmost frugality in his household.

here was one subject which cost him anxious thought. How was he to provide his family, and especially the two youngest boys, with the educational

in an unex

his house with a look of satisfact

appointed Judge of the Court o

ly pleased at the honor which ha

d dollars a year," said Mr. Webster, "

of living, to buy new furniture or new clothes, but to spend it in such a way as

n a farmer's household on the bleak acres of New Hampshire it would go a considerable way. Every dollar in Ebeneze

armer's boy, though delicate, was not thought too delicate for such a walk. Indeed the boy's delicacy was in his favor, for he was thought not robust enough to work on the farm steadily, and was sent to school, as an elder half-brother, Joseph, laughingly said, "t

t the middle of the forenoon, Judge Webster, for this

you, father," s

ng to leave his work; "it is th

is his

r, my son. He liv

niel and his father were at work. "Don't let me interrupt you, Judge Webster,"

norable gentleman with attention, and perhaps with reverent respect, though he is said not to have been endowed

sman got into his carriage and rode away.

x dollars a day, while I toil here. It is because he had an education which I never had. If I had had his early educati

n, "you shall not work. Brother and I will work for y

ved, for he knew well how hard his father

s the advantages of knowledge, but I can do something for you. Exert yourself, improve your opportunities, learn, learn, and when

g from a trifler or a shallow person falls often unheeded, and with reason. But Daniel knew how much his father had accomplished without education-he knew h

purchased at Master Hoyt's store. The acceptance was by no means a foregone conclusion. Many of the delegates to the convention had been instructed to vote against acceptance, and among them Ebenezer Webster hi

necessary for the common defence and the public welfare. It is the only government which will enable us to pay off the national debt-the debt which we owe for the Revolution, and which we are bound in honor fully and fairly

re and establish. His father was a grave and earnest man, but he was not stern nor ascetic. His strength was softened by good humor, and his massiv