Daniel Webster

Daniel Webster

By:Stephen Vincent Benet The Devil and Daniel Webster, written in 1937, is the story of a man who sells his soul to the Devil in exchange for some good luck. The man, Jabez Stone is a farmer living in New Hampshire, who has chronic bad luck with his farm and his family. One morning he broke his plow on a rock and that was the last straw. He said, "I vow, I vow it's enough to make a man want to sell his soul to the Devil and I would, too, for two cents!" Sure enough, the next day the Devil arrived at his farm with an offer. Jabez Stone promises his soul to the Devil after a period of seven years. In this time he cows became fat and his horses sleek, and his crops were the envy of the neighborhood. Jabez Stone became one of the most prosperous men in the country. There was tlak of him running for State Senate and even Governor. The rest of the Stone family became "as contented as cats in a dairy." Once a year the Devil would return to check on Jabez Stone. On the day of his 6th visit, it was time to discuss the contract. Jabez Stone managed to get it extended for a perios of three more years. The next four years were the fastest of Jabez Stone's life. In the final months before his contract expired again, Stone sought out the most powerful man around, a lawyer name Daniel Webster. Webster's cases were usually fought in the Supreme Court, but since Jabez Stone was an old nieghbor, Webster had a soft spot in his heart and agreed to take the case against the Devil. The Devil selected an impossible jury, and Webster thought that all hope was lost. In the end, Webster was able to convince the jury that they were all human just like Jabez Stone, and therefore, the jury ruled in favor of Jabez Stone. The Devil was never allowed in New Hampshire again.

The historical aspects of this story are scattered throughout. When Jabez Stone approached Daniel Webster, he was busy working up speeches to make against John C. Calhoun. When Webster...

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