Page:Life of Henry Clay (Schurz; v. 1).djvu/18

6 panions gave themselves up to the pleasures of the town.

Then the fortunate accident arrived which is so frequently found in the lives of young men of uncommon quality and promise. He began to attract the attention of persons of superior merit. George Wythe, the Chancellor of the High Court of Chancery, who often had occasion to visit Peter Tinsley's office, noticed the new-comer, and selected him from among the employees there to act as an amanuensis in writing out and recording the decisions of the court. This became young Clay's principal occupation for four years, during which his intercourse with the learned and venerable judge grew constantly more intimate and elevating. As he had to write much from the Chancellor's dictation, the subject-matter of his writing, which at first was a profound mystery to him, gradually became a matter of intelligent interest. The Chancellor, whose friendly feeling for the bright youth grew warmer as their relations became more confidential, began to direct his reading, at first turning him to grammatical studies, and then gradually opening to him a wider range of legal and historical literature. But what was equally, if not more important in the pauses of their work and in hours of leisure, the Chancellor conversed with his young secretary upon grave subjects, and thus did much to direct his thoughts and to form his principles.

Henry Clay could not have found a wiser and