During the year of 1796 he left the office of Mr. Tinsley and went to reside with the attorney general of Virginia, Robert Brooke, Esq. Here his advantages for studying law were better than they had previously been, of which he eagerly availed himself, and with much success. The year 1797 appears to be the only one in which he pursued the study of law uninterrupted, yet it must be certain that during his residence of several years in the capital of Virginia, daily cognizant of legal proceedings, and associating with the most eminent legal gentlemen of the period, he acquired an amount of legal information neither inconsiderable nor unimportant. Near the close of the year he was licensed to practice law, by the judges of the Virginia Court of Appeals. He entered on the duties of his profession at Lexington, Kentucky, under auspices not the most favorable, as appears from his speech of June, 1842, at the same place. In this he says he ‘was without patrons, without friends, and destitute of the means of paying his weekly board. I remember how comfortable I thought I should be, if I could make £100, Virginia money, per annum, and with what delight I received the first fifteen shilling fee. My hopes were more than realized; I immediately rushed into a lucrative practice.’ Though success most unexpected, crowned his first efforts, he did by no means relax his exertions to qualify himself more thoroughly for the profession he had chosen. While other young men of his own age, and not more eligibly situated, with regard to means and employment, were spending their evenings in recreations suited to their juvenile dispositions, he was eagerly conning over his own self-directed and unaided lessons of learning. Most assiduously did he devote his every leisure hour in enriching his mind, and in polishing his mental armor. Modest, unassuming, apparently feeble in constitution, languid and listless in his movements, he exhibited little in his deportment indicative of those lofty powers of eloquence and commanding talents, which in latent energy were reposing in his mind. An incident, however, occurred a short time after, at a meeting of a debating society, by which they were brought to light. He had been a member of the society some time, but refrained from taking an active part in its exercises. This was attributed to those traits of character before mentioned. At the meeting referred to, a question had been discussed at considerable length and apparently with much ability, on which the customary vote was about to be taken, when he observed in an under tone to a person seated by him, ‘the subject does not seem to be exhausted.’ The individual addressed, exclaimed, ‘do not put the question yet, Mr. Clay will speak.’ The chairman by a smile and nod of the head signified his willingness to allow the discussion to be continued by him, who thereupon arose under every appearance of trepidation and embarrassment.