After leaving school he spent four years in a lawyer's office but after he had read Laplace and the correspondence between Leibniz and Clarke he decided to enter university.
Pagkatapos iiwan ng paaralan siya nagastos apat na taon sa isang abogado ng opisina ngunit pagkatapos niya basahin Laplace at ang pagsusulatan sa pagitan ng Leibniz at Clarke siya nagpasya na ipasok ang unibersidad.