d.

There was a circulating library in Boscawen, and Daniel read every book
that was in it. Sometimes he slighted his Latin for the sake of giving
more time to such reading.

One of the books in the library was _Don Quixote_. Daniel thought it the
most wonderful story in existence. He afterwards said:

"I began to read it, and it is literally true that I never closed my
eyes until I had finished it, so great was the power of this
extraordinary book on my imagination."

But it was so easy for the boy to learn, that he made very rapid
progress in all his studies. In less than a year, Dr. Wood declared that
he was ready for college.

He was then fifteen years old. He had a pretty thorough knowledge of
arithmetic; but he had never studied algebra or geometry. In Latin he
had read four of Cicero's orations, and six books of Virgil's _Aeneid._
He knew something of the elements of Greek grammar, and had read a
portion of the Greek Testament.

Nowadays, a young man could hardly enter even a third-rate college
without a better preparation than that. But colleges are much more
thorough than they were a hundred years ago.

* * * * *

VII.--AT DARTMOUTH COLLEGE.

Dartmouth College is at Hanover, New Hampshire. It is one of the oldest
colleges in America and among its students have been many of the
foremost men of New England.

It was in the fall of 1797, that Daniel Webster entered this college.

He was then a tall, slender youth, with high cheek bones and a swarthy
skin.

The professors soon saw that he was no common lad. They said to one
another, "This young Webster will one day be a greater man than any of
us."

And young Webster was well-behaved and studious at college. He was as
fond of sport as any of the students, but he never gave himself up to
boyish pranks.

He was punctual and regular in all his classes. He was as great a reader
as ever.

He could learn anything that he tried. No other young man had a broader
knowledge of things than he.

And yet he did not make his mark as a student in the prescribed branches
of study. He could not confine himself to the narrow routine of the
college course.

He did not, as at Exeter, push his way quickly to the head of his class.
He won no prizes.

"But he minded his own business," said one of the professors. "As steady
as the sun, he pursued, with intense application, the great object for
which he came to college."

Soon eve