After remaining for a time with Mr. Cushing, his father furnished him with a liberal capital, and he commenced business for himself. By losses, arising from the pernicious credit system, he was soon stripped of all his stock in trade. By the death of his father he was left, at the age of twenty-five, to take charge of the paternal estate and family. In the discharge of that duty, he proved that he was _competent_ to manage pecuniary matters, by bringing his mind to bear upon the subject. The estate was considerably involved and under an attachment when he undertook his trust, from which he entirely relieved it. This accomplished he again bestowed his attention almost entirely upon politics. He became celebrated as a keen, sarcastic, and ready writer, and laid deep the foundations of his fame as a statesman. He analyzed every point at issue between his own and the mother country, and exposed the corruptions of the British ministry to public gaze in all their pristine deformity. He soon became one of the most popular whigs in his native state, and was hailed as one of their boldest leaders. From his boyhood he had advocated their cause, and despised the chains of slavery. So strongly did the whig party become attached to him, that many of its members who were not personally acquainted with him contributed liberally to relieve him from pecuniary embarrassments, which arose from devoting his time exclusively to political matters. No man had examined more closely, or understood better, the relative situation of Great Britain and her American colonies. He measured every circumstance upon the scale of reason, and based his every action upon the sure foundation of immutable justice. He was not rash and inflammatory—always appealing to the judgment and understanding—endeavouring to allay rather than excite the passions of men. He was a friend to order, opposed to sudden bursts of popular fury, and to every thing calculated to produce riotous and tumultuous proceedings. He took a philosophic view of the chartered rights guarantied to his country, and of the infringements upon them.