she said "there had been a remarkable person in the pew with
her, that he riveted her attention, and that she was sure he had
a most marked character for good or for evil." After a short
time we became acquainted with Mr. Webster, and there was
no longer a problem connected with him.

Mr. Webster took lodgings very near our house, and we soon
saw enough of him to appreciate in some degree, young as we
were, his extraordinary genius, and the noble qualities of his
character. The genial and exceedingly rich humor that he so
often exhibited, was perhaps at this time more prized by us
than any other of the diversified talents we admired in him.
He soon formed a circle around him of which he was the life
and soul. We young people saw him only rarely in friendly
visits. I well remember one afternoon that he came in, when
the elders of the family were absent. He sat down by the
window, and as now and then an inhabitant of the small town
passed through the street, his fancy was caught by their appear-
ance and his imagination excited, and he improvised the most
humorous imaginary histories about them, which would have
furnished a rich treasure for Dickens, could he have been the
delighted listener, instead of the young girl for whose amuse-
ment this wealth of invention was expended. Hon. Mr. Mason
of Portsmouth, who delighted in the rich humor so often dis-
played by Mr. Webster, used to say, "that there was never such
an actor lost to the stage as he would have made had he chosen
to turn his talents in that direction."

My father, Dr. Buckminster, took the liveliest interest in Mr.
Webster, and as he remarked at this time the apparent frailty
of his constitution, he urged upon his young friend his sure
remedy for slight indisposition. This was half an hour of
wood-sawing before breakfast, with a long two-handed saw,
himself holding the end opposite to that of his young friend.
We young people were always delighted when this strong
medicine was taken before breakfast, for however disagreeable
in itself, Mr. Webster appeared at our breakfast afterwards with
his genial humor unimpaired.

The following June your father left Portsmouth for a visit,
as we thought, to his native place, without communicating,
previously, a word of his intention. He did not come back
alone; and, with no change in the domestic arrangements, the

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