THE STORY OF DANIEL WEBSTER.

* * * * *

I.--CAPTAIN WEBSTER.


Many years ago there lived in New Hampshire a poor farmer, whose name
was Ebenezer Webster.

His little farm was among the hills, not far from the Merrimac River. It
was a beautiful place to live in; but the ground was poor, and there
were so many rocks that you would wonder how anything could grow among
them.

Ebenezer Webster was known far and wide as a brave, wise man. When any
of his neighbors were in trouble or in doubt about anything, they always
said, "We will ask Captain Webster about it."

They called him Captain because he had fought the French and Indians and
had been a brave soldier in the Revolutionary War. Indeed, he was one
of the first men in New Hampshire to take up arms for his country.

When he heard that the British were sending soldiers to America to force
the people to obey the unjust laws of the king of England, he said, "We
must never submit to this."