broadened and he acquired a love for the classic English writers that
lasted through life. But Mr. McGuffey determined to become a lawyer and,
while still teaching English literature in Woodward College, he read
law. He was admitted to the bar as soon as he reached his twenty-first
year, and became a noted and wise counsellor. His labor for his clients
was in keeping them out of the courts by clearly expressed contracts and
prudent action. He was seldom engaged in jury trials; but was expert in
cases involving contracts and wills. In such suits his knowledge of the
principles of law and his power of close reasoning were valuable. He was
often placed in positions of trust, and was for more than fifty years
the watchful guardian of the interests of the Cincinnati College.

[The Rhetorical Guide]

He prepared the manuscript of the Rhetorical Guide after the close of
his labor as a teacher. The work probably occupied his leisure time in a
law office before he acquired remunerative practice in his profession.

[McGuffey's Sixth Reader]

The contract between Mr. A.H. McGuffey and W.B. Smith, dated September
30, 1841, provided for the preparation within eighteen months, of the
manuscript of a book to be called McGuffey's Rhetorical Reader, or by
any other appropriate name which Mr. Smith might select. It was to
contain not less than three hundred and twenty-four duodecimo pages nor
more than four hundred and eighty. Mr. Smith paid five hundred dollars
for it, in three notes payable in three, twelve, and eighteen months
after the delivery of the manuscript. The book was issued in 1844 as
McGuffey's Rhetorical Guide. Its material, revised by its author, later
became, in modified form, the Fifth Reader in the five-book series, and