Litchfield enquirer., 1871-03-09
s- y3 For the Enquirer. THE BIRTHPLACE OF DANIEL WEB
 STER @&@a1A#

s# For the Enauirer THE BIRTHPLACE OF DANIEL WEB
 STER. s9@3's To-day. while all is cheerless without, while the air is full of falling snow, I have in imagination, been living over again some of last summers pleasant days Who shall say that our energies are not qnickened in- to new life, as we climb again those same green hills, follow the meandering course of the trout brook, dip our oars in the translucent waters of those northern lakes, and sit beneath the cool shade of the whis. pering pines. Dreary wastes of snow fade away into green hills. Instead of the wind making its weird. wild music through leaf less branches, we hear the soft low melody of the leaves as they are kissed by some passing zephyr. Winters icy fingers un. clasp the brook and it flows on, making music as before. The present gives way to the past. It was my privilege to spend last summer among the hills of New Hamp- shire. Any one ought to consider it priv ilege so to do.
 My dear reader, if you want to spend a few weeks next summer for health and pleasure. we advise you to go north. among the mountains and lakes of New Hamp. shire or Vermont, instead of visiting some celebrated watering place. -lt 54a
 It was at o'clock on beautiful morn. ing in August that we left Meredith Vil. lage, oia. the Concord and Montreal R. R. to visit the birth-pl of Daniel Webster. For nearly an hour we rode along the banks of Lake Winnipiseogee, now and then catching the gleam of it's sparkling waters. Rare pictures we saw through the car win dow that August morning. They are en- graven on our memory.
 At Sanborton Bridge we left the cars and crossed over to Franklin. The conveyance we took was private one. It did not dis turb much dust as we passed along. It was also decidedly primitive. Adam had one like it. So did Eve. ..t .s
 Franklin Village is busy little place on the Vermont Central R. R. Here the Msrrimack takes it's rise, formed from the Winnipiseogee river and 8 small stream from Lake Como. just north of the village. Webster was born within the present Him. its of the town of Franklin. In his day, however, that part of the town was em. braced within the limits of Salisbury. Webster Place" is about two miles below Franklin Village. Here Mir. Webster own ed farm, and for time practiced law. He called it Films Farm and it still goes by that name. Ebenezer Webster, Daniels father, moved from the farm on the hill, to Mis in the valley, while Daniel was yet a boy. The Mansion House," still stand. ing, with its row of stately elms in front, has the appearance of 8 hospitable old farm house. And it soas while Webster lived. for no man kept a more open. free hearted house than he. =.
 From this house Webster, the boy, went out to enter Dartmouth College, where he won himself high honors. Back to this house and this pleasant farm Webster, the statesman, the orator, came for few days each summer, for rest and enjoyment. The land in the valley of the Merrimack is usu- ally good. Indeed, the best land in New Hampshire lies in this valley. It is some- thing like that along the Connecticut river. Leaving "Webster Place." we go north for about half mile, then climb the hill to the west After going about two miles we reach the birth place of Daniel Webster. The house in which he was born is still standing It's dimensions are 20 IS. The graceful branches of large elm bend over 1t, whose trunk at the roots measures twen- weight feet in circumference. This is said to have been planted by Mir. Webster's father. We are under obligation to MT. Hiram Shaw (the present owner of the place) for stick, cut from the old elm, which we hope at some time to have made into cane. also for many "reminiscences of the great Expounder of the Constitu- tion. "Punch Brook" flows few rods to the south of the house. Near the brook, and just below the road, may be seen the of the old ''Mill Dam" and the site of the mill When Daniel was a boy this was the only gristmili in the vicinity. Farmers came here from twenty, or even thirty miles away, to get their grinding done. Probably Mir. Webster, as boy and man, followed down Punch Brook" many times with his fishing rod. The land about the farmhouse is not particularly fertile. Indeed, it is quite rocky and sterile. It is one of the many farms in New Hampshire from which only the industrious farmer can obtain livelihood. Such farms as these have produced such men as Greeley and Webster. men who in early life learned that great truth, "there is no true excel. lency without labor.'''
 People living in the vicinity told me that MT. Webster always seemed to enjoy visit- ing among his old schoolmates. Some of their homes were very humble, yet his stately figure often crossed their thresh. holds. What pity that SO great. and. wo