The young man must have had the same earnest, frank look as the father when Washington said to him, "Captain Webster, I believe I can trust you," else he would not have won his way so quickly to the lawyer's confidence. Mr. Gore was a man of indefatigable research and great amenity of manners. The younger man probably unconsciously took on the habits of the older, for, says Emerson, "With the great we easily become great." Webster now read, in addition to books on the common and municipal law, Ward's "Law of Nations," Lord Bacon's "Elements," Puffendorff's "Latin History of England," Gifford's "Juvenal," Boswell's "Tour to the Hebrides," Moore's "Travels," and other works. When we know what books a man or woman reads, we generally know the person. The life in Mr. Gore's office was one long step on the road to fame, and it did not come by chance; it came because, even in timidity, Webster had the courage to ask for a high place. When about ready for admission to the bar, the position of Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas of Hillsborough County was offered to him, an appointment which had been the desire of the family for him for years. The salary was fifteen hundred dollars. This seemed a fortune indeed. "I could pay all the debts of the family," he says, "could help on Ezekiel--in short, I was independent. I had no sleep that night, and the next morning when I went to the office I stepped up the stairs with a lighter heart than I ever had before." He conveyed the good news to Mr. Gore. "Well, my young friend," said he, "the gentlemen have been very kind to you; I am glad of it. You must thank them for it. You will write immediately, of course."