Opis: Life of Henry Clay (Classic Reprint) - Junius Junius

Excerpt from Life of Henry Clay

Mr. Clay was born the 12th of April, 1777, in Hanover county, Virginia. His father was a Baptist minister, who left his wife a widow in indigence, when Henry was in his fifth year, with seven young children, and two younger than Henry. Mr. Robert Hughes, a playfellow of Henry Clay in boyhood, said of this old friend, at a dinner on the Fourth of July, 1843, at Campbell Court House, Virginia: "He and I were born close to the slashes of old Hanover. He worked barefooted, and so did I. He went to mill, and so did I. He was good to his mamma, and so was I. I know him like a book, and love him like a brother." The boy that works barefooted for his mother, will be very likely, when he comes to be a man, if Providence opens the way, to serve his country well. The two spheres are kindred to each other.

Mr. Clay's first rudiments of education were acquired in a log schoolhouse. In the meantime, he had to work barefooted and go to mill. He is familiarly called in "old Hanover" the "Mill-boy of the Slashes," - having been so often seen between his mother's house and Mrs. Darricott's grist-mill on the Pamunkey, mounted on a bag and a poney, guided by a rope-bridle. At the age of fourteen, he went to serve as clerk with Mr. Richard Denny, druggist, in Richmond, Va.; and the next year, 1792, went into the office of Peter Tinsley, Esq., clerk of the High Court of Chancery, where he attracted the notice, and received the kind regards of the venerable Chancellor Wythe, who afterward employed him as his amanuensis in recording his decisions, comments, &c. In these not unfavorable positions, spurred on by his ambition, and cherished by the Chancellor and others who had the sagacity to recognise the germe of his future eminence, he made rapid advances in legal and other studies. After spending his nineteenth year in the office of Robert Brooke, Esq., Attorney General for the State of Virginia, Mr. Clay obtained license for the practice of law from the Judges of the Court of Appeals in his native State.

Removal to Kentucky.

In 1792 Mr. Clay's mother had married Mr. Henry Watkins, and removed with her family to Woodford county, Kentucky. Attracted by his filial regard, Henry was induced to follow her; and in 1797 Mr. Clay, a youth of twenty, opened an attorney's office in Lexington, as he says in his speech of June 6, 1842, at that place, without patrons, "without the favor or countenance of the great or opulent, and without the means of paying my weekly board. I remember how comfortable I thought I should be, if I could make one hundred pounds, Virginia money, a year, and with what delight I received the first fifteen-shilling fee. My hopes were more than realized. I immediately rushed into a lucrative practice."

A pleasant story.

While Mr. Clay was yet a stranger at Lexington, he joined a debating club, but for some time declined taking any part in the discussions. After a while, however, it happened that a question was about to be put by the chairman for decision, when Mr. Clay, in a low voice, said to a fellow-member by his side, that he thought the question was not exhausted. Whereupon, glad of the chance, and without leave, Mr. Clay's friend suddenly rose, and said, "Mr. Chairman, Mr. Clay will speak on this question." Thus unexpectedly forced up, and abashed with that diffidence which gifted minds usually feel before they are used to collision with other minds, Mr. Clay began: "Gentlemen of the Jury," and perceiving his mistake, he stopped short. But through the politeness of the chairman and the club, who had wished to see him come out, he was encouraged to begin again: "Gentlemen of the Jury," said Mr. Clay, and there he stopped. At last, however, he got over the distressing balk, and gradually acquiring self-possession, he made an argument that excited the astonishment and admiration of all. The ice being thus broken, he walked straight into a reputation, that

Szczegóły: Life of Henry Clay (Classic Reprint) - Junius Junius

Nazwa: Life of Henry Clay (Classic Reprint)
Autor: Junius Junius
Wydawnictwo: FB &c Ltd
Kod paskowy: 9781331393665
Języki: angielski
Ilość stron: 22
Format: 15.2x22.9cm
Oprawa: Miękka

Recenzje: Life of Henry Clay (Classic Reprint) - Junius Junius