So Prescott
injured his eyesight through the same proud spirit; but it was this
pride which made him afterwards what he was.
His ill-health however did not prevent him from studying and writing.
The following autumn he went into the office of a lawyer and member of
Congress in Castine and read "Blackstone," "Chitty on Bills," and some
other law-books. The study of law is in itself an excellent nerve tonic,
balancing the mind and strengthening the character. Nothing could have
been better for him at this juncture, and it is an unlimited pity that
he did not continue it longer. But the law could never have satisfied
the aspirations of his nature any more than Columbus might have been
satisfied with sailing a packet in the Mediterranean. He liked the study
of it, and once spoke with great respect of "Chitty on Bills" wishing he
could find a work on theology or politics that contains so much good
sense; but he longed for something beyond it. The congressman had a good
opinion of his abilities and held out the prospect of a partnership to
him, but personal ambition was not an ingredient in Wasson's nature. He
was discontented and ready for a change.
One day in June 1849 he was sent to a distant town on what was to his
sensitive moral nature a most disgusting expedition; namely, to help a
lucrative client take the poor debtor's oath, and so avoid a partially
unjust debt.
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