{"collection":"philosophy-ethics","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_935/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_935","id":"gutenberg_935","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/935","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Conduct of life"],"text":"[Picture: Cover (somewhat battered)]\n\n\n\n\n\n                                SELF HELP\n                          WITH ILLUSTRATIONS OF\n                        CONDUCT AND PERSEVERANCE.\n\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                         BY SAMUEL SMILES, LL.D.,\n                 AUTHOR OF \u201cLIVES OF THE ENGINEERS,\u201d ETC.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n    \u201cThis above all,\u2014To thine own self be true;\n    And it must follow, as the night the day,\n    Then canst not then be false to any man.\u201d\n\n                                                              SHAKESPEARE.\n\n    \u201cMight I give counsel to any young man, I would say to him, try\n    to frequent the company of your betters.  In books and in life,\n    that is the most wholesome society; learn to admire rightly; the\n    great pleasure of life is that. Note what great men admired;\n    they admired great things; narrow spirits admire basely and\n    worship meanly.\u201d\u2014W. M. THACKERAY.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                             POPULAR EDITION.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                 LONDON:\n                      JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET.\n                                  1897.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nTHIS is a revised edition of a book which has already been received with\nconsiderable favour at home and abroad.  It has been reprinted in various\nforms in America; translations have appeared in Dutch and French, and\nothers are about to appear in German and Danish.  The book has,\ndoubtless, proved attractive to readers in different countries by reason\nof the variety of anecdotal illustrations of life and character which it\ncontains, and the interest which all more or less feel in the labours,\nthe trials, the struggles, and the achievements of others.  No one can be\nbetter aware than the author, of its fragmentary character, arising from\nthe manner in which it was for the most part originally composed,\u2014having\nbeen put together principally from jottings made during many\nyears,\u2014intended as readings for young men, and without any view to\npublication.  The appearance of this edition has furnished an opportunity\nfor pruning the volume of some superfluous matter, and introducing\nvarious new illustrations, which will probably be found of general\ninterest.\n\nIn one respect the title of the book, which it is now too late to alter,\nhas proved unfortunate, as it has led some, who have judged it merely by\nthe title, to suppose that it consists of a eulogy of selfishness: the\nvery opposite of what it really is,\u2014or at least of what the author\nintended it to be.  Although its chief object unquestionably is to\nstimulate youths to apply themselves diligently to right\npursuits,\u2014sparing neither labour, pains, nor self-denial in prosecuting\nthem,\u2014and to rely upon their own efforts in life, rather than depend upon\nthe help or patronage of others, it will also be found, from the examples\ngiven of literary and scientific men, artists, inventors, educators,\nphilanthropists, missionaries, and martyrs, that the duty of helping\none\u2019s self in the highest sense involves the helping of one\u2019s neighbours.\n\nIt has also been objected to the book that too much notice is taken in it\nof men who have succeeded in life by helping themselves, and too little\nof the multitude of men who have failed.  \u201cWhy should not Failure,\u201d it\nhas been asked, \u201chave its Plutarch as well as Success?\u201d  There is,\nindeed, no reason why Failure should not have its Plutarch, except that a\nrecord of mere failure would probably be found excessively depressing as\nwell as uninstructive reading.  It is, however, shown in the following\npages that Failure is the best discipline of the true worker, by\nstimulating him to renewed efforts, evoking his best powers, and carrying\nhim onward in self-culture, self-control, and growth in knowledge and\nwisdom.  Viewed in this light, Failure, conquered by Perseverance, is\nalways full of interest and instruction, and this we have endeavoured to\nillustrate by many examples.\n\nAs for Failure _per se_, although it may be well to find consolations for\nit at the close of life, there is reason to doubt whether it is an object\nthat ought to be set before youth at the beginning of it.  Indeed, \u201chow\n_not_ to do it\u201d is of all things the easiest learnt: it needs neither\nteaching, effort, self-denial, industry, patience, perseverance, nor\njudgment.  Besides, readers do not care to know about the general who\nlost his battles, the engineer whose engines blew up, the architect who\ndesigned only deformities, the painter who never got beyond daubs, the\nschemer who did not invent his machine, the merchant who could not keep\nout of the Gazette.  It is true, the best of men may fail, in the best of\ncauses.  But even these best of men did not try to fail, or regard their\nfailure as meritorious; on the contrary, they tried to succeed, and\nlooked upon failure as misfortune.  Failure in any good cause is,\nhowever, honourable, whilst success in any bad cause is merely infamous.\nAt the same time success in the good cause is unquestionably better than\nfailure.  But it is not the result in any case that is to be regarded so\nmuch as the aim and the effort, the patience, the courage, and the\nendeavour with which desirable and worthy objects are pursued;\u2014\n\n    \u201c\u2019Tis not in mortals to command success;\n    We will do more\u2014deserve it.\u201d\n\nThe object of the book briefly is, to re-inculcate these old-fashioned\nbut wholesome lessons\u2014which perhaps cannot be too often urged,\u2014that youth\nmust work in order to enjoy,\u2014that nothing creditable can be accomplished\nwithout application and diligence,\u2014that the student must not be daunted\nby difficulties, but conquer them by patience and perseverance,\u2014and that,\nabove all, he must seek elevation of character, without which capacity is\nworthless and worldly success is naught.  If the author has not succeeded\nin illustrating these lessons, he can only say that he has failed in his\nobject.\n\nAmong the new passages introduced in the present edition, may be\nmentioned the following:\u2014Illustrious Foreigners of humble origin (pp.\n10\u201312), French Generals and Marshals risen from the ranks (14), De\nTocqueville and Mutual Help (24), William Lee, M.A., and the\nStocking-loom (42), John Heathcoat, M.P., and the Bobbin-net machine\n(47), Jacquard and his Loom (55), Vaucanson (58), Joshua Heilmann and the\nCombing-machine (62), Bernard Palissy and his struggles (69), B\u00f6ttgher,\ndiscoverer of Hard Porcelain (80), Count de Buffon as Student (104),\nCuvier (128), Ambrose Par\u00e9 (134), Claud Lorraine (160), Jacques Callot\n(162), Benvenuto Cellini (164), Nicholas Poussin (168), Ary Scheffer\n(171), the Strutts of Belper (214), Francis Xavier (238), Napoleon as a\nman of business (276), Intrepidity of Deal Boatmen (400), besides\nnumerous other passages which it is unnecessary to specify.\n\n_London_, _May_, 1866.\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EDITION.\n\n\nTHE origin of this book may be briefly told.\n\nSome fifteen years since, the author was requested to deliver an address\nbefore the members of some evening classes, which had been formed in a\nnorthern town for mutual improvement, under the following circumstances:\u2014\n\nTwo or three young men of the humblest rank resolved to meet in the\nwinter evenings, for the purpose of improving themselves by exchanging\nknowledge with each other.  Their first meetings were held in the room of\na cottage in which one of the members lived; and, as others shortly\njoined them, the place soon became inconveniently filled.  When summer\nset in, they adjourned to the cottage garden outside; and the classes\nwere then held in the open air, round a little boarded hut used as a\ngarden-house, in which those who officiated as teachers set the sums, and\ngave forth the lessons of the evening.  When the weather was fine, the\nyouths might be seen, until a late hour, hanging round the door of the\nhut like a cluster of bees; but sometimes a sudden shower of rain would\ndash the sums from their slates, and disperse them for the evening\nunsatisfied.\n\nWinter, with its cold nights, was drawing near, and what were they to do\nfor shelter?  Their numbers had by this time so increased, that no room\nof an ordinary cottage could accommodate them.  Though they were for the\nmost part young men earning comparatively small weekly wages, they\nresolved to incur the risk of hiring a room; and, on making inquiry, they\nfound a large dingy apartment to let, which had been used as a temporary\nCholera Hospital.  No tenant could be found for the place, which was\navoided as if the plague still clung to it.  But the mutual improvement\nyouths, nothing daunted, hired the cholera room at so much a week, lit it\nup, placed a few benches and a deal table in it, and began their winter\nclasses.  The place soon presented a busy and cheerful appearance in the\nevenings.  The teaching may have been, as no doubt it was, of a very rude\nand imperfect sort; but it was done with a will.  Those who knew a little\ntaught those who knew less\u2014improving themselves while they improved the\nothers; and, at all events, setting before them a good working example.\nThus these youths\u2014and there were also grown men amongst them\u2014proceeded to\nteach themselves and each other, reading and writing, arithmetic and\ngeography; and even mathematics, chemistry, and some of the modern\nlanguages.\n\nAbout a hundred young men had thus come together, when, growing\nambitious, they desired to have lectures delivered to them; and then it\nwas that the author became acquainted with their proceedings.  A party of\nthem waited on him, for the purpose of inviting him to deliver an\nintroductory address, or, as they expressed it, \u201cto talk to them a bit;\u201d\nprefacing the request by a modest statement of what they had done and\nwhat they were doing.  He could not fail to be touched by the admirable\nself-helping spirit which they had displayed; and, though entertaining\nbut slight faith in popular lecturing, he felt that a few words of\nencouragement, honestly and sincerely uttered, might not be without some\ngood effect.  And in this spirit he addressed them on more than one\noccasion, citing examples of what other men had done, as illustrations of\nwhat each might, in a greater or less degree, do for himself; and\npointing out that their happiness and well-being as individuals in after\nlife, must necessarily depend mainly upon themselves\u2014upon their own\ndiligent self-culture, self-discipline, and self-control\u2014and, above all,\non that honest and upright performance of individual duty, which is the\nglory of manly character.\n\nThere was nothing in the slightest degree new or original in this\ncounsel, which was as old as the Proverbs of Solomon, and possibly quite\nas familiar.  But old-fashioned though the advice may have been, it was\nwelcomed.  The youths went forward in their course; worked on with energy\nand resolution; and, reaching manhood, they went forth in various\ndirections into the world, where many of them now occupy positions of\ntrust and usefulness.  Several years after the incidents referred to, the\nsubject was unexpectedly recalled to the author\u2019s recollection by an\nevening visit from a young man\u2014apparently fresh from the work of a\nfoundry\u2014who explained that he was now an employer of labour and a\nthriving man; and he was pleased to remember with gratitude the words\nspoken in all honesty to him and to his fellow-pupils years before, and\neven to attribute some measure of his success in life to the endeavours\nwhich he had made to work up to their spirit.\n\nThe author\u2019s personal interest having in this way been attracted to the\nsubject of Self-Help, he was accustomed to add to the memoranda from\nwhich he had addressed these young men; and to note down occasionally in\nhis leisure evening moments, after the hours of business, the results of\nsuch reading, observation, and experience of life, as he conceived to\nbear upon it.  One of the most prominent illustrations cited in his\nearlier addresses, was that of George Stephenson, the engineer; and the\noriginal interest of the subject, as well as the special facilities and\nopportunities which the author possessed for illustrating Mr.\nStephenson\u2019s life and career, induced him to prosecute it at his leisure,\nand eventually to publish his biography.  The present volume is written\nin a similar spirit, as it has been similar in its origin.  The\nillustrative sketches of character introduced, are, however, necessarily\nless elaborately treated\u2014being busts rather than full-length portraits,\nand, in many of the cases, only some striking feature has been noted; the\nlives of individuals, as indeed of nations, often concentrating their\nlustre and interest in a few passages.  Such as the book is, the author\nnow leaves it in the hands of the reader; in the hope that the lessons of\nindustry, perseverance, and self-culture, which it contains, will be\nfound useful and instructive, as well as generally interesting.\n\n_London_, _September_, 1859.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n                              CHAPTER I.\n\n                  SELF-HELP\u2014NATIONAL AND INDIVIDUAL.\nSpirit of Self-Help\u2014Institutions and men\u2014Government a             Page\nreflex of the individualism of a nation\u2014C\u00e6sarism and              1\u201326\nSelf-Help\u2014William Dargan on Independence\u2014Patient\nlabourers in all ranks\u2014Self-Help a feature in the\nEnglish character\u2014Power of example and of work in\npractical education\u2014Value of biographies\u2014Great men\nbelong to no exclusive class or rank\u2014Illustrious men\nsprung from the ranks\u2014Shakespeare\u2014Various humble\norigin of many eminent men\u2014Distinguished\nastronomers\u2014Eminent sons of clergymen\u2014Of\nattorneys\u2014Illustrious foreigners of humble\norigin\u2014Vauquelin, the chemist\u2014Promotions from the\nranks in the French army\u2014Instances of persevering\napplication and energy\u2014Joseph Brotherton\u2014W. J. Fox\u2014W.\nS. Lindsay\u2014William Jackson\u2014Richard Cobden\u2014Diligence\nindispensable to usefulness and distinction\u2014The\nwealthier ranks not all idlers\u2014Examples\u2014Military\nmen\u2014Philosophers\u2014Men of science\u2014Politicians\u2014Literary\nmen\u2014Sir Robert Peel\u2014Lord\nBrougham\u2014Lytton\u2014Disraeli\u2014Wordsworth on\nself-reliance\u2014De Tocqueville: his industry and\nrecognition of the help of others\u2014Men their own best\nhelpers\n                             CHAPTER II.\n\n             LEADERS OF INDUSTRY\u2014INVENTORS AND PRODUCERS.\nIndustry of the English people\u2014Work the best                     27\u201366\neducator\u2014Hugh Miller\u2014Poverty and toil not\ninsurmountable obstacles\u2014Working men as\ninventors\u2014Invention of the steam-engine\u2014James Watt:\nhis industry and habit of attention\u2014Matthew\nBoulton\u2014Applications of the steam-engine\u2014The Cotton\nmanufacture\u2014The early inventors\u2014Paul and\nHighs\u2014Arkwright: his early life\u2014Barber, inventor and\nmanufacturer\u2014His influence and character\u2014The Peels of\nSouth Lancashire\u2014The founder of the family\u2014The first\nSir Robert Peel, cotton-printer\u2014Lady Peel\u2014Rev. William\nLee, inventor of the stocking-frame\u2014Dies abroad in\nmisery\u2014James Lee\u2014The Nottingham lace manufacture\u2014John\nHeathcoat, inventor of the bobbin-net machine\u2014His\nearly life, his ingenuity, and plodding\nperseverance\u2014Invention of his machine\u2014Anecdote of Lord\nLyndhurst\u2014Progress of the lace-trade\u2014Heathcoat\u2019s\nmachines destroyed by the Luddites\u2014His\ncharacter\u2014Jacquard: his inventions and\nadventures\u2014Vaucanson: his mechanical genius,\nimprovements in silk manufacture\u2014Jacquard improves\nVaucanson\u2019s machine\u2014The Jacquard loom adopted\u2014Joshua\nHeilmann, inventor of the combing-machine\u2014History of\nthe invention\u2014Its value\n                             CHAPTER III.\n\n          THREE GREAT POTTERS\u2014PALLISSY, B\u00d6TTGHER, WEDGWOOD.\nAncient pottery\u2014Etruscan ware\u2014Luca della Robbia, the             67\u201393\nFlorentine sculptor: re-discovers the art of\nenamelling\u2014Bernard Pallissy: sketch of his life and\nlabours\u2014Inflamed by the sight of an Italian cup\u2014His\nsearch after the secret of the enamel\u2014His experiments\nduring years of unproductive toil\u2014His personal and\nfamily privations\u2014Indomitable perseverance, burns his\nfurniture to heat the furnace, and success at\nlast\u2014Reduced to destitution\u2014Condemned to death, and\nrelease\u2014His writings\u2014Dies in the Bastille\u2014John\nFrederick B\u00f6ttgher, the Berlin \u2018gold cook\u2019\u2014His trick\nin alchemy and consequent troubles\u2014Flight into\nSaxony\u2014His detention at Dresden\u2014Discovers how to make\nred and white porcelain\u2014The manufacture taken up by\nthe Saxon Government\u2014B\u00f6ttgher treated as a prisoner\nand a slave\u2014His unhappy end\u2014The S\u00e8vres porcelain\nmanufactory\u2014Josiah Wedgwood, the English potter\u2014Early\nstate of English earthenware manufacture\u2014Wedgwood\u2019s\nindefatigable industry, skill, and perseverance\u2014His\nsuccess\u2014The Barberini vase\u2014Wedgwood a national\nbenefactor\u2014Industrial heroes\n                             CHAPTER IV.\n\n                    APPLICATION AND PERSEVERANCE.\nGreat results attained by simple means\u2014Fortune favours          94\u2013117\nthe industrious\u2014\u201cGenius is patience\u201d\u2014Newton and\nKepler\u2014Industry of eminent men\u2014Power acquired by\nrepeated effort\u2014Anecdote of Sir Robert Peel\u2019s\ncultivation of memory\u2014Facility comes by\npractice\u2014Importance of patience\u2014Cheerfulness\u2014Sydney\nSmith\u2014Dr. Hook\u2014Hope an important element in\ncharacter\u2014Carey the missionary\u2014Anecdote of Dr.\nYoung\u2014Anecdote of Audubon the ornithologist\u2014Anecdote\nof Mr. Carlyle and his MS. of the \u2018French\nRevolution\u2019\u2014Perseverance of Watt and\nStephenson\u2014Perseverance displayed in the discovery of\nthe Nineveh marbles by Rawlinson and Layard\u2014Comte de\nBuffon as student\u2014His continuous and unremitting\nlabours\u2014Sir Walter Scott\u2019s perseverance\u2014John\nBritton\u2014Loudon\u2014Samuel Drew\u2014Joseph Hume\n                              CHAPTER V.\n\n             HELPS AND OPPORTUNITIES\u2014SCIENTIFIC PURSUITS.\nNo great result achieved by accident\u2014Newton\u2019s                  118\u2013153\ndiscoveries\u2014Dr. Young\u2014Habit of observing with\nintelligence\u2014Galileo\u2014Inventions of Brown, Watt, and\nBrunel, accidentally suggested\u2014Philosophy in little\nthings\u2014Apollonius Perg\u00e6us and conic sections\u2014Franklin\nand Galvani\u2014Discovery of steam power\u2014Opportunities\nseized or made\u2014Simple and rude tools of great\nworkers\u2014Lee and Stone\u2019s opportunities for learning\u2014Sir\nWalter Scott\u2019s\u2014Dr. Priestly\u2014Sir Humphry\nDavy\u2014Faraday\u2014Davy and Coleridge\u2014Cuvier\u2014Dalton\u2019s\nindustry\u2014Examples of improvement of time\u2014Daguesseau\nand Bentham\u2014Melancthon and Baxter\u2014Writing down\nobservations\u2014Great note-makers\u2014Dr. Pye Smith\u2014John\nHunter: his patient study of little things\u2014His great\nlabours\u2014Ambrose Par\u00e9 the French\nsurgeon\u2014Harvey\u2014Jenner\u2014Sir Charles Bell\u2014Dr. Marshall\nHall\u2014Sir William Herschel\u2014William Smith the geologist:\nhis discoveries, his geological map\u2014Hugh Miller: his\nobservant faculties\u2014John Brown and Robert Dick,\ngeologists\u2014Sir Roderick Murchison, his industry and\nattainments\n                             CHAPTER VI.\n\n                           WORKERS IN ART.\nSir Joshua Reynolds on the power of industry in                154\u2013201\nart\u2014Humble origin of eminent artists\u2014Acquisition of\nwealth not the ruling motive with artists\u2014Michael\nAngelo on riches\u2014Patient labours of Michael Angelo and\nTitian\u2014West\u2019s early success a disadvantage\u2014Richard\nWilson and Zuccarelli\u2014Sir Joshua Reynolds, Blake,\nBird, Gainsborough, and Hogarth, as boy\nartists\u2014Hogarth a keen observer\u2014Banks and\nMulready\u2014Claude Lorraine and Turner: their\nindefatigable industry\u2014Perrier and Jacques Callot and\ntheir visits to Rome\u2014Callot and the gipsies\u2014Benvenuto\nCellini, goldsmith and musician: his ambition to\nexcel\u2014Casting of his statue of Perseus\u2014Nicolas\nPoussin, a sedulous student and\nworker\u2014Duquesnoi\u2014Poussin\u2019s fame\u2014Ary Scheffer: his\nhindrances and success\u2014John Flaxman: his genius and\nperseverance\u2014His brave wife\u2014Their visit to\nRome\u2014Francis Chantrey: his industry and energy\u2014David\nWilkie and William Etty, unflagging workers\u2014Privations\nendured by artists\u2014Martin\u2014Pugin\u2014George Kemp, architect\nof the Scott monument\u2014John Gibson, Robert Thorburn,\nNoel Paton\u2014James Sharples the blacksmith artist: his\nautobiography\u2014Industry of musicians\u2014Handel, Haydn,\nBeethoven, Bach, Meyerbeer\u2014Dr. Arne\u2014William Jackson\nthe self-taught composer\n                             CHAPTER VII.\n\n                      INDUSTRY AND THE PEERAGE.\nThe peerage fed from the industrial ranks\u2014Fall of old          202\u2013222\nfamilies: Bohuns, Mortimers, and Plantagenets\u2014The\npeerage comparatively modern\u2014Peerages originating with\ntraders and merchants\u2014Richard Foley, nailmaker,\nfounder of the Foley peerage\u2014Adventurous career of\nWilliam Phipps, founder of the Normanby peerage: his\nrecovery of sunken treasure\u2014Sir William Petty, founder\nof the Lansdowne peerage\u2014Jedediah Strutt, founder of\nthe Belper peerage\u2014William and Edward Strutt\u2014Naval and\nMilitary peers\u2014Peerages founded by lawyers\u2014Lords\nTenterden and Campbell\u2014Lord Eldon: his early struggles\nand eventual success\u2014Baron Langdale\u2014Rewards of\nperseverance\n                            CHAPTER VIII.\n\n                         ENERGY AND COURAGE.\nEnergy characteristic of the Teutonic race\u2014The                 223\u2013262\nfoundations of strength of character\u2014Force of\npurpose\u2014Concentration\u2014Courageous working\u2014Words of Hugh\nMiller and Fowell Buxton\u2014Power and freedom of\nwill\u2014Words of Lamennais\u2014Suwarrow\u2014Napoleon and\n\u201cglory\u201d\u2014Wellington and \u201cduty\u201d\u2014Promptitude in\naction\u2014Energy displayed by the British in India\u2014Warren\nHastings\u2014Sir Charles Napier: his adventure with the\nIndian swordsman\u2014The rebellion in India\u2014The\nLawrences\u2014Nicholson\u2014The siege of Delhi\u2014Captain\nHodson\u2014Missionary labourers\u2014Francis Xavier\u2019s missions\nin the East\u2014John Williams\u2014Dr. Livingstone\u2014John\nHoward\u2014Jonas Hanway: his career\u2014The philanthropic\nlabours of Granville Sharp\u2014Position of slaves in\nEngland\u2014Result of Sharp\u2019s efforts\u2014Clarkson\u2019s\nlabours\u2014Fowell Buxton: his resolute purpose and\nenergy\u2014Abolition of slavery\n                             CHAPTER IX.\n\n                           MEN OF BUSINESS.\nHazlitt\u2019s definition of the man of business\u2014The chief          263\u2013289\nrequisite qualities\u2014Men of genius men of\nbusiness\u2014Shakespeare, Chaucer, Spenser, Milton,\nNewton, Cowper, Wordsworth, Scott, Ricardo, Grote, J.\nS. Mill\u2014Labour and application necessary to\nsuccess\u2014Lord Melbourne\u2019s advice\u2014The school of\ndifficulty a good school\u2014Conditions of success in\nLaw\u2014The industrious architect\u2014The salutary influence\nof work\u2014Consequences of contempt for arithmetic\u2014Dr.\nJohnson on the alleged injustice of \u201cthe\nworld\u201d\u2014Washington Irving\u2019s views\u2014Practical qualities\nnecessary in business\u2014Importance of accuracy\u2014Charles\nJames Fox\u2014Method\u2014Richard Cecil and De Witt: their\ndespatch of business\u2014Value of time\u2014Sir Walter Scott\u2019s\nadvice\u2014Promptitude\u2014Economy of\ntime\u2014Punctuality\u2014Firmness\u2014Tact\u2014Napoleon and Wellington\nas men of business\u2014Napoleon\u2019s attention to details\u2014The\n\u2018Napoleon Correspondence\u2019\u2014Wellington\u2019s business\nfaculty\u2014Wellington in the Peninsula\u2014\u201cHonesty the best\npolicy\u201d\u2014Trade tries character\u2014Dishonest gains\u2014David\nBarclay a model man of business\n                              CHAPTER X.\n\n                       MONEY\u2014ITS USE AND ABUSE.\nThe right use of money a test of wisdom\u2014The virtue of          290\u2013313\nself-denial\u2014Self-imposed taxes\u2014Economy necessary to\nindependence\u2014Helplessness of the improvident\u2014Frugality\nan important public question\u2014Counsels of Richard\nCobden and John Bright\u2014The bondage of the\nimprovident\u2014Independence attainable by working\nmen\u2014Francis Horner\u2019s advice from his father\u2014Robert\nBurns\u2014Living within the means\u2014Bacon\u2019s\nmaxim\u2014Wasters\u2014Running into debt\u2014Haydon\u2019s\ndebts\u2014Fichte\u2014Dr. Johnson on debt\u2014John Locke\u2014The Duke\nof Wellington on debt\u2014Washington\u2014Earl St. Vincent: his\nprotested bill\u2014Joseph Hume on living too high\u2014Ambition\nafter gentility\u2014Napier\u2019s order to his officers in\nIndia\u2014Resistance to temptation\u2014Hugh Miller\u2019s case\u2014High\nstandard of life necessary\u2014Proverbs on money-making\nand thrift\u2014Thomas Wright and the reclamation of\ncriminals\u2014Mere money-making\u2014John Foster\u2014Riches no\nproof of worth\u2014All honest industry honourable\u2014The\npower of money over-estimated\u2014Joseph Brotherton\u2014True\nRespectability\u2014Lord Collingwood\n                             CHAPTER XI.\n\n              SELF-CULTURE\u2014FACILITIES AND DIFFICULTIES.\nSir W. Scott and Sir B. Brodie on self-culture\u2014Dr.             314\u2013359\nArnold\u2019s spirit\u2014Active employment salutary\u2014Malthus\u2019s\nadvice to his son\u2014Importance of physical\nhealth\u2014Hodson, of \u201cHodson\u2019s Horse\u201d\u2014Dr. Channing\u2014Early\nlabour\u2014Training in use of tools\u2014Healthiness of great\nmen\u2014Sir Walter Scott\u2019s athletic sports\u2014Barrow, Fuller,\nClarke\u2014Labour conquers all things\u2014Words of Chatterton,\nFerguson, Stone, Drew\u2014Well-directed labour\u2014Opinions of\nSir Joshua Reynolds, Fowell Buxton, Dr. Ross, F.\nHorner, Loyola, and Lord St. Leonards\u2014Thoroughness,\naccuracy, decision, and promptitude\u2014The virtue of\npatient labour\u2014The mischievous effects of \u201ccramming\u201d\nin labour-saving processes and multifarious\nreading\u2014The right use of knowledge\u2014Books may impart\nlearning, but well-applied knowledge and experience\nonly exhibit wisdom\u2014The Magna Charta men\u2014Brindley,\nStephenson, Hunter, and others, not book-learned yet\ngreat\u2014Self-respect\u2014Jean Paul Richter\u2014Knowledge as a\nmeans of rising\u2014Base views of the value of\nknowledge\u2014Ideas of Bacon and Southey\u2014Douglas Jerrold\non comic literature\u2014Danger of immoderate love of\npleasure\u2014Benjamin Constant: his high thinking and low\nliving\u2014Thierry: his noble character\u2014Coleridge and\nSouthey\u2014Robert Nicoll on Coleridge\u2014Charles James Fox\non perseverance\u2014The wisdom and strength acquired\nthrough failure\u2014Hunter, Rossini, Davy, Mendelssohn\u2014The\nuses of difficulty and adversity\u2014Lyndhurst,\nD\u2019Alembert, Carissimi, Reynolds, and Henry Clay on\npersistency\u2014Curran on honest poverty\u2014Struggles with\ndifficulties: Alexander Murray, William Chambers,\nCobbet\u2014The French stonemason turned Professor\u2014Sir\nSamuel Romilly as a self-cultivator\u2014John Leyden\u2019s\nperseverance\u2014Professor Lee: his perseverance and his\nattainments as a linguist\u2014Late learners: Spelman,\nFranklin, Dryden, Scott, Boccaccio, Arnold, and\nothers\u2014Illustrious dunces: Generals Grant, Stonewall\nJackson, John Howard, Davy, and others\u2014Story of a\ndunce\u2014Success depends on perseverance\n                             CHAPTER XII.\n\n                           EXAMPLE\u2014MODELS.\nExample a potent instructor\u2014Influence of                       360\u2013381\nconduct\u2014Parental example\u2014All acts have their train of\nconsequences\u2014Disraeli on Cobden\u2014Words of Babbage\u2014Human\nresponsibility\u2014Every person owes a good example to\nothers\u2014Doing, not saying\u2014Mrs. Chisholm\u2014Dr. Guthrie and\nJohn Pounds\u2014Good models of conduct\u2014The company of our\nbetters\u2014Francis Horner\u2019s views on personal\nintercourse\u2014The Marquis of Lansdowne and\nMalesherbes\u2014Fowell Buxton and the Gurney\nfamily\u2014Personal influence of John Sterling\u2014Influence\nof artistic genius upon others\u2014Example of the brave an\ninspiration to the timid\u2014Biography valuable as forming\nhigh models of character\u2014Lives influenced by\nbiography\u2014Romilly, Franklin, Drew, Alfieri, Loyola,\nWolff, Horner, Reynolds\u2014Examples of cheerfulness\u2014Dr.\nArnold\u2019s influence over others\u2014Career of Sir John\nSinclair\n                            CHAPTER XIII.\n\n                    CHARACTER\u2014THE TRUE GENTLEMAN.\nCharacter a man\u2019s best possession\u2014Character of Francis         382\u2013408\nHorner\u2014Franklin\u2014Character is power\u2014The higher\nqualities of character\u2014Lord Erskine\u2019s rules of\nconduct\u2014A high standard of life\nnecessary\u2014Truthfulness\u2014Wellington\u2019s character of\nPeel\u2014Be what you seem\u2014Integrity and honesty of\naction\u2014Importance of habits\u2014Habits constitute\ncharacter\u2014Growth of habit in youth\u2014Words of Robertson\nof Brighton\u2014Manners and morals\u2014Civility and\nkindness\u2014Anecdote of Abernethy\u2014True\npoliteness\u2014Great-hearted men of no exclusive rank or\nclass\u2014William and Charles Grant, the \u201cBrothers\nCheeryble\u201d\u2014The true gentleman\u2014Lord Edward\nFitzgerald\u2014Honour, probity, rectitude\u2014The gentleman\nwill not be bribed\u2014Anecdotes of Hanway, Wellington,\nWellesley, and Sir C. Napier\u2014The poor in purse may be\nrich in spirit\u2014A noble peasant\u2014Intrepidity of Deal\nboatmen\u2014Anecdotes of the Emperor of Austria and of two\nEnglish navvies\u2014Truth makes the success of the\ngentleman\u2014Courage and gentleness\u2014Gentlemen in\nIndia\u2014Outram, Henry Lawrence\u2014Lord Clyde\u2014The private\nsoldiers at Agra\u2014The wreck of the _Birkenhead_\u2014Use of\npower, the test of the Gentleman\u2014Sir Ralph\nAbercrombie\u2014Fuller\u2019s character of Sir Francis Drake\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\nSELF-HELP\u2014NATIONAL AND INDIVIDUAL.\n\n\n    \u201cThe worth of a State, in the long run, is the worth of the\n    individuals composing it.\u201d\u2014_J. S. Mill_.\n\n    \u201cWe put too much faith in systems, and look too little to men.\u201d\u2014_B.\n    Disraeli_.\n\n\u201cHEAVEN helps those who help themselves\u201d is a well-tried maxim, embodying\nin a small compass the results of vast human experience.  The spirit of\nself-help is the root of all genuine growth in the individual; and,\nexhibited in the lives of many, it constitutes the true source of\nnational vigour and strength.  Help from without is often enfeebling in\nits effects, but help from within invariably invigorates.  Whatever is\ndone _for_ men or classes, to a certain extent takes away the stimulus\nand necessity of doing for themselves; and where men are subjected to\nover-guidance and over-government, the inevitable tendency is to render\nthem comparatively helpless.\n\nEven the best institutions can give a man no active help.  Perhaps the\nmost they can do is, to leave him free to develop himself and improve his\nindividual condition.  But in all times men have been prone to believe\nthat their happiness and well-being were to be secured by means of\ninstitutions rather than by their own conduct.  Hence the value of\nlegislation as an agent in human advancement has usually been much\nover-estimated.  To constitute the millionth part of a Legislature, by\nvoting for one or two men once in three or five years, however\nconscientiously this duty may be performed, can exercise but little\nactive influence upon any man\u2019s life and character.  Moreover, it is\nevery day becoming more clearly understood, that the function of\nGovernment is negative and restrictive, rather than positive and active;\nbeing resolvable principally into protection\u2014protection of life, liberty,\nand property.  Laws, wisely administered, will secure men in the\nenjoyment of the fruits of their labour, whether of mind or body, at a\ncomparatively small personal sacrifice; but no laws, however stringent,\ncan make the idle industrious, the thriftless provident, or the drunken\nsober.  Such reforms can only be effected by means of individual action,\neconomy, and self-denial; by better habits, rather than by greater\nrights.\n\nThe Government of a nation itself is usually found to be but the reflex\nof the individuals composing it.  The Government that is ahead of the\npeople will inevitably be dragged down to their level, as the Government\nthat is behind them will in the long run be dragged up.  In the order of\nnature, the collective character of a nation will as surely find its\nbefitting results in its law and government, as water finds its own\nlevel.  The noble people will be nobly ruled, and the ignorant and\ncorrupt ignobly.  Indeed all experience serves to prove that the worth\nand strength of a State depend far less upon the form of its institutions\nthan upon the character of its men.  For the nation is only an aggregate\nof individual conditions, and civilization itself is but a question of\nthe personal improvement of the men, women, and children of whom society\nis composed.\n\nNational progress is the sum of individual industry, energy, and\nuprightness, as national decay is of individual idleness, selfishness,\nand vice.  What we are accustomed to decry as great social evils, will,\nfor the most part, be found to be but the outgrowth of man\u2019s own\nperverted life; and though we may endeavour to cut them down and\nextirpate them by means of Law, they will only spring up again with fresh\nluxuriance in some other form, unless the conditions of personal life and\ncharacter are radically improved.  If this view be correct, then it\nfollows that the highest patriotism and philanthropy consist, not so much\nin altering laws and modifying institutions, as in helping and\nstimulating men to elevate and improve themselves by their own free and\nindependent individual action.\n\nIt may be of comparatively little consequence how a man is governed from\nwithout, whilst everything depends upon how he governs himself from\nwithin.  The greatest slave is not he who is ruled by a despot, great\nthough that evil be, but he who is the thrall of his own moral ignorance,\nselfishness, and vice.  Nations who are thus enslaved at heart cannot be\nfreed by any mere changes of masters or of institutions; and so long as\nthe fatal delusion prevails, that liberty solely depends upon and\nconsists in government, so long will such changes, no matter at what cost\nthey may be effected, have as little practical and lasting result as the\nshifting of the figures in a phantasmagoria.  The solid foundations of\nliberty must rest upon individual character; which is also the only sure\nguarantee for social security and national progress.  John Stuart Mill\ntruly observes that \u201ceven despotism does not produce its worst effects so\nlong as individuality exists under it; and whatever crushes individuality\n_is_ despotism, by whatever name it be called.\u201d\n\nOld fallacies as to human progress are constantly turning up.  Some call\nfor C\u00e6sars, others for Nationalities, and others for Acts of Parliament.\nWe are to wait for C\u00e6sars, and when they are found, \u201chappy the people who\nrecognise and follow them.\u201d {4}  This doctrine shortly means, everything\n_for_ the people, nothing _by_ them,\u2014a doctrine which, if taken as a\nguide, must, by destroying the free conscience of a community, speedily\nprepare the way for any form of despotism.  C\u00e6sarism is human idolatry in\nits worst form\u2014a worship of mere power, as degrading in its effects as\nthe worship of mere wealth would be.  A far healthier doctrine to\ninculcate among the nations would be that of Self-Help; and so soon as it\nis thoroughly understood and carried into action, C\u00e6sarism will be no\nmore.  The two principles are directly antagonistic; and what Victor Hugo\nsaid of the Pen and the Sword alike applies to them, \u201cCeci tuera cela.\u201d\n[This will kill that.]\n\nThe power of Nationalities and Acts of Parliament is also a prevalent\nsuperstition.  What William Dargan, one of Ireland\u2019s truest patriots,\nsaid at the closing of the first Dublin Industrial Exhibition, may well\nbe quoted now.  \u201cTo tell the truth,\u201d he said, \u201cI never heard the word\nindependence mentioned that my own country and my own fellow townsmen did\nnot occur to my mind.  I have heard a great deal about the independence\nthat we were to get from this, that, and the other place, and of the\ngreat expectations we were to have from persons from other countries\ncoming amongst us.  Whilst I value as much as any man the great\nadvantages that must result to us from that intercourse, I have always\nbeen deeply impressed with the feeling that our industrial independence\nis dependent upon ourselves.  I believe that with simple industry and\ncareful exactness in the utilization of our energies, we never had a\nfairer chance nor a brighter prospect than the present.  We have made a\nstep, but perseverance is the great agent of success; and if we but go on\nzealously, I believe in my conscience that in a short period we shall\narrive at a position of equal comfort, of equal happiness, and of equal\nindependence, with that of any other people.\u201d\n\nAll nations have been made what they are by the thinking and the working\nof many generations of men.  Patient and persevering labourers in all\nranks and conditions of life, cultivators of the soil and explorers of\nthe mine, inventors and discoverers, manufacturers, mechanics and\nartisans, poets, philosophers, and politicians, all have contributed\ntowards the grand result, one generation building upon another\u2019s labours,\nand carrying them forward to still higher stages.  This constant\nsuccession of noble workers\u2014the artisans of civilisation\u2014has served to\ncreate order out of chaos in industry, science, and art; and the living\nrace has thus, in the course of nature, become the inheritor of the rich\nestate provided by the skill and industry of our forefathers, which is\nplaced in our hands to cultivate, and to hand down, not only unimpaired\nbut improved, to our successors.\n\nThe spirit of self-help, as exhibited in the energetic action of\nindividuals, has in all times been a marked feature in the English\ncharacter, and furnishes the true measure of our power as a nation.\nRising above the heads of the mass, there were always to be found a\nseries of individuals distinguished beyond others, who commanded the\npublic homage.  But our progress has also been owing to multitudes of\nsmaller and less known men.  Though only the generals\u2019 names may be\nremembered in the history of any great campaign, it has been in a great\nmeasure through the individual valour and heroism of the privates that\nvictories have been won.  And life, too, is \u201ca soldiers\u2019 battle,\u201d\u2014men in\nthe ranks having in all times been amongst the greatest of workers.  Many\nare the lives of men unwritten, which have nevertheless as powerfully\ninfluenced civilisation and progress as the more fortunate Great whose\nnames are recorded in biography.  Even the humblest person, who sets\nbefore his fellows an example of industry, sobriety, and upright honesty\nof purpose in life, has a present as well as a future influence upon the\nwell-being of his country; for his life and character pass unconsciously\ninto the lives of others, and propagate good example for all time to\ncome.\n\nDaily experience shows that it is energetic individualism which produces\nthe most powerful effects upon the life and action of others, and really\nconstitutes the best practical education.  Schools, academies, and\ncolleges, give but the merest beginnings of culture in comparison with\nit.  Far more influential is the life-education daily given in our homes,\nin the streets, behind counters, in workshops, at the loom and the\nplough, in counting-houses and manufactories, and in the busy haunts of\nmen.  This is that finishing instruction as members of society, which\nSchiller designated \u201cthe education of the human race,\u201d consisting in\naction, conduct, self-culture, self-control,\u2014all that tends to discipline\na man truly, and fit him for the proper performance of the duties and\nbusiness of life,\u2014a kind of education not to be learnt from books, or\nacquired by any amount of mere literary training.  With his usual weight\nof words Bacon observes, that \u201cStudies teach not their own use; but that\nis a wisdom without them, and above them, won by observation;\u201d a remark\nthat holds true of actual life, as well as of the cultivation of the\nintellect itself.  For all experience serves to illustrate and enforce\nthe lesson, that a man perfects himself by work more than by\nreading,\u2014that it is life rather than literature, action rather than\nstudy, and character rather than biography, which tend perpetually to\nrenovate mankind.\n\nBiographies of great, but especially of good men, are nevertheless most\ninstructive and useful, as helps, guides, and incentives to others.  Some\nof the best are almost equivalent to gospels\u2014teaching high living, high\nthinking, and energetic action for their own and the world\u2019s good.  The\nvaluable examples which they furnish of the power of self-help, of\npatient purpose, resolute working, and steadfast integrity, issuing in\nthe formation of truly noble and manly character, exhibit in language not\nto be misunderstood, what it is in the power of each to accomplish for\nhimself; and eloquently illustrate the efficacy of self-respect and\nself-reliance in enabling men of even the humblest rank to work out for\nthemselves an honourable competency and a solid reputation.\n\nGreat men of science, literature, and art\u2014apostles of great thoughts and\nlords of the great heart\u2014have belonged to no exclusive class nor rank in\nlife.  They have come alike from colleges, workshops, and\nfarmhouses,\u2014from the huts of poor men and the mansions of the rich.  Some\nof God\u2019s greatest apostles have come from \u201cthe ranks.\u201d  The poorest have\nsometimes taken the highest places; nor have difficulties apparently the\nmost insuperable proved obstacles in their way.  Those very difficulties,\nin many instances, would ever seem to have been their best helpers, by\nevoking their powers of labour and endurance, and stimulating into life\nfaculties which might otherwise have lain dormant.  The instances of\nobstacles thus surmounted, and of triumphs thus achieved, are indeed so\nnumerous, as almost to justify the proverb that \u201cwith Will one can do\nanything.\u201d  Take, for instance, the remarkable fact, that from the\nbarber\u2019s shop came Jeremy Taylor, the most poetical of divines; Sir\nRichard Arkwright, the inventor of the spinning-jenny and founder of the\ncotton manufacture; Lord Tenterden, one of the most distinguished of Lord\nChief Justices; and Turner, the greatest among landscape painters.\n\nNo one knows to a certainty what Shakespeare was; but it is\nunquestionable that he sprang from a humble rank.  His father was a\nbutcher and grazier; and Shakespeare himself is supposed to have been in\nearly life a woolcomber; whilst others aver that he was an usher in a\nschool and afterwards a scrivener\u2019s clerk.  He truly seems to have been\n\u201cnot one, but all mankind\u2019s epitome.\u201d  For such is the accuracy of his\nsea phrases that a naval writer alleges that he must have been a sailor;\nwhilst a clergyman infers, from internal evidence in his writings, that\nhe was probably a parson\u2019s clerk; and a distinguished judge of\nhorse-flesh insists that he must have been a horse-dealer.  Shakespeare\nwas certainly an actor, and in the course of his life \u201cplayed many\nparts,\u201d gathering his wonderful stores of knowledge from a wide field of\nexperience and observation.  In any event, he must have been a close\nstudent and a hard worker; and to this day his writings continue to\nexercise a powerful influence on the formation of English character.\n\nThe common class of day labourers has given us Brindley the engineer,\nCook the navigator, and Burns the poet.  Masons and bricklayers can boast\nof Ben Jonson, who worked at the building of Lincoln\u2019s Inn, with a trowel\nin his hand and a book in his pocket, Edwards and Telford the engineers,\nHugh Miller the geologist, and Allan Cunningham the writer and sculptor;\nwhilst among distinguished carpenters we find the names of Inigo Jones\nthe architect, Harrison the chronometer-maker, John Hunter the\nphysiologist, Romney and Opie the painters, Professor Lee the\nOrientalist, and John Gibson the sculptor.\n\nFrom the weaver class have sprung Simson the mathematician, Bacon the\nsculptor, the two Milners, Adam Walker, John Foster, Wilson the\nornithologist, Dr. Livingstone the missionary traveller, and Tannahill\nthe poet.  Shoemakers have given us Sir Cloudesley Shovel the great\nAdmiral, Sturgeon the electrician, Samuel Drew the essayist, Gifford the\neditor of the \u2018Quarterly Review,\u2019 Bloomfield the poet, and William Carey\nthe missionary; whilst Morrison, another laborious missionary, was a\nmaker of shoe-lasts.  Within the last few years, a profound naturalist\nhas been discovered in the person of a shoemaker at Banff, named Thomas\nEdwards, who, while maintaining himself by his trade, has devoted his\nleisure to the study of natural science in all its branches, his\nresearches in connexion with the smaller crustace\u00e6 having been rewarded\nby the discovery of a new species, to which the name of \u201cPraniza\nEdwardsii\u201d has been given by naturalists.\n\nNor have tailors been undistinguished.  John Stow, the historian, worked\nat the trade during some part of his life.  Jackson, the painter, made\nclothes until he reached manhood.  The brave Sir John Hawkswood, who so\ngreatly distinguished himself at Poictiers, and was knighted by Edward\nIII. for his valour, was in early life apprenticed to a London tailor.\nAdmiral Hobson, who broke the boom at Vigo in 1702, belonged to the same\ncalling.  He was working as a tailor\u2019s apprentice near Bonchurch, in the\nIsle of Wight, when the news flew through the village that a squadron of\nmen-of-war was sailing off the island.  He sprang from the shopboard, and\nran down with his comrades to the beach, to gaze upon the glorious sight.\nThe boy was suddenly inflamed with the ambition to be a sailor; and\nspringing into a boat, he rowed off to the squadron, gained the admiral\u2019s\nship, and was accepted as a volunteer.  Years after, he returned to his\nnative village full of honours, and dined off bacon and eggs in the\ncottage where he had worked as an apprentice.  But the greatest tailor of\nall is unquestionably Andrew Johnson, the present President of the United\nStates\u2014a man of extraordinary force of character and vigour of intellect.\nIn his great speech at Washington, when describing himself as having\nbegun his political career as an alderman, and run through all the\nbranches of the legislature, a voice in the crowd cried, \u201cFrom a tailor\nup.\u201d  It was characteristic of Johnson to take the intended sarcasm in\ngood part, and even to turn it to account.  \u201cSome gentleman says I have\nbeen a tailor.  That does not disconcert me in the least; for when I was\na tailor I had the reputation of being a good one, and making close fits;\nI was always punctual with my customers, and always did good work.\u201d\n\nCardinal Wolsey, De Foe, Akenside, and Kirke White were the sons of\nbutchers; Bunyan was a tinker, and Joseph Lancaster a basket-maker.\nAmong the great names identified with the invention of the steam-engine\nare those of Newcomen, Watt, and Stephenson; the first a blacksmith, the\nsecond a maker of mathematical instruments, and the third an\nengine-fireman.  Huntingdon the preacher was originally a coalheaver, and\nBewick, the father of wood-engraving, a coalminer.  Dodsley was a\nfootman, and Holcroft a groom.  Baffin the navigator began his seafaring\ncareer as a man before the mast, and Sir Cloudesley Shovel as a\ncabin-boy.  Herschel played the oboe in a military band.  Chantrey was a\njourneyman carver, Etty a journeyman printer, and Sir Thomas Lawrence the\nson of a tavern-keeper.  Michael Faraday, the son of a blacksmith, was in\nearly life apprenticed to a bookbinder, and worked at that trade until he\nreached his twenty-second year: he now occupies the very first rank as a\nphilosopher, excelling even his master, Sir Humphry Davy, in the art of\nlucidly expounding the most difficult and abstruse points in natural\nscience.\n\nAmong those who have given the greatest impulse to the sublime science of\nastronomy, we find Copernicus, the son of a Polish baker; Kepler, the son\nof a German public-house keeper, and himself the \u201cgar\u00e7on de cabaret;\u201d\nd\u2019Alembert, a foundling picked up one winter\u2019s night on the steps of the\nchurch of St. Jean le Rond at Paris, and brought up by the wife of a\nglazier; and Newton and Laplace, the one the son of a small freeholder\nnear Grantham, the other the son of a poor peasant of Beaumont-en-Auge,\nnear Honfleur.  Notwithstanding their comparatively adverse circumstances\nin early life, these distinguished men achieved a solid and enduring\nreputation by the exercise of their genius, which all the wealth in the\nworld could not have purchased.  The very possession of wealth might\nindeed have proved an obstacle greater even than the humble means to\nwhich they were born.  The father of Lagrange, the astronomer and\nmathematician, held the office of Treasurer of War at Turin; but having\nruined himself by speculations, his family were reduced to comparative\npoverty.  To this circumstance Lagrange was in after life accustomed\npartly to attribute his own fame and happiness.  \u201cHad I been rich,\u201d said\nhe, \u201cI should probably not have become a mathematician.\u201d\n\nThe sons of clergymen and ministers of religion generally, have\nparticularly distinguished themselves in our country\u2019s history.  Amongst\nthem we find the names of Drake and Nelson, celebrated in naval heroism;\nof Wollaston, Young, Playfair, and Bell, in science; of Wren, Reynolds,\nWilson, and Wilkie, in art; of Thurlow and Campbell, in law; and of\nAddison, Thomson, Goldsmith, Coleridge, and Tennyson, in literature.\nLord Hardinge, Colonel Edwardes, and Major Hodson, so honourably known in\nIndian warfare, were also the sons of clergymen.  Indeed, the empire of\nEngland in India was won and held chiefly by men of the middle class\u2014such\nas Clive, Warren Hastings, and their successors\u2014men for the most part\nbred in factories and trained to habits of business.\n\nAmong the sons of attorneys we find Edmund Burke, Smeaton the engineer,\nScott and Wordsworth, and Lords Somers, Hardwick, and Dunning.  Sir\nWilliam Blackstone was the posthumous son of a silk-mercer.  Lord\nGifford\u2019s father was a grocer at Dover; Lord Denman\u2019s a physician; judge\nTalfourd\u2019s a country brewer; and Lord Chief Baron Pollock\u2019s a celebrated\nsaddler at Charing Cross.  Layard, the discoverer of the monuments of\nNineveh, was an articled clerk in a London solicitor\u2019s office; and Sir\nWilliam Armstrong, the inventor of hydraulic machinery and of the\nArmstrong ordnance, was also trained to the law and practised for some\ntime as an attorney.  Milton was the son of a London scrivener, and Pope\nand Southey were the sons of linendrapers.  Professor Wilson was the son\nof a Paisley manufacturer, and Lord Macaulay of an African merchant.\nKeats was a druggist, and Sir Humphry Davy a country apothecary\u2019s\napprentice.  Speaking of himself, Davy once said, \u201cWhat I am I have made\nmyself: I say this without vanity, and in pure simplicity of heart.\u201d\nRichard Owen, the Newton of Natural History, began life as a midshipman,\nand did not enter upon the line of scientific research in which he has\nsince become so distinguished, until comparatively late in life.  He laid\nthe foundations of his great knowledge while occupied in cataloguing the\nmagnificent museum accumulated by the industry of John Hunter, a work\nwhich occupied him at the College of Surgeons during a period of about\nten years.\n\nForeign not less than English biography abounds in illustrations of men\nwho have glorified the lot of poverty by their labours and their genius.\nIn Art we find Claude, the son of a pastrycook; Geefs, of a baker;\nLeopold Robert, of a watchmaker; and Haydn, of a wheelwright; whilst\nDaguerre was a scene-painter at the Opera.  The father of Gregory VII.\nwas a carpenter; of Sextus V., a shepherd; and of Adrian VI., a poor\nbargeman.  When a boy, Adrian, unable to pay for a light by which to\nstudy, was accustomed to prepare his lessons by the light of the lamps in\nthe streets and the church porches, exhibiting a degree of patience and\nindustry which were the certain forerunners of his future distinction.\nOf like humble origin were Hauy, the mineralogist, who was the son of a\nweaver of Saint-Just; Hautefeuille, the mechanician, of a baker at\nOrleans; Joseph Fourier, the mathematician, of a tailor at Auxerre;\nDurand, the architect, of a Paris shoemaker; and Gesner, the naturalist,\nof a skinner or worker in hides, at Zurich.  This last began his career\nunder all the disadvantages attendant on poverty, sickness, and domestic\ncalamity; none of which, however, were sufficient to damp his courage or\nhinder his progress.  His life was indeed an eminent illustration of the\ntruth of the saying, that those who have most to do and are willing to\nwork, will find the most time.  Pierre Ramus was another man of like\ncharacter.  He was the son of poor parents in Picardy, and when a boy was\nemployed to tend sheep.  But not liking the occupation he ran away to\nParis.  After encountering much misery, he succeeded in entering the\nCollege of Navarre as a servant.  The situation, however, opened for him\nthe road to learning, and he shortly became one of the most distinguished\nmen of his time.\n\nThe chemist Vauquelin was the son of a peasant of Saint-Andr\u00e9-d\u2019Herbetot,\nin the Calvados.  When a boy at school, though poorly clad, he was full\nof bright intelligence; and the master, who taught him to read and write,\nwhen praising him for his diligence, used to say, \u201cGo on, my boy; work,\nstudy, Colin, and one day you will go as well dressed as the parish\nchurchwarden!\u201d  A country apothecary who visited the school, admired the\nrobust boy\u2019s arms, and offered to take him into his laboratory to pound\nhis drugs, to which Vauquelin assented, in the hope of being able to\ncontinue his lessons.  But the apothecary would not permit him to spend\nany part of his time in learning; and on ascertaining this, the youth\nimmediately determined to quit his service.  He therefore left\nSaint-Andr\u00e9 and took the road for Paris with his havresac on his back.\nArrived there, he searched for a place as apothecary\u2019s boy, but could not\nfind one.  Worn out by fatigue and destitution, Vauquelin fell ill, and\nin that state was taken to the hospital, where he thought he should die.\nBut better things were in store for the poor boy.  He recovered, and\nagain proceeded in his search of employment, which he at length found\nwith an apothecary.  Shortly after, he became known to Fourcroy the\neminent chemist, who was so pleased with the youth that he made him his\nprivate secretary; and many years after, on the death of that great\nphilosopher, Vauquelin succeeded him as Professor of Chemistry.  Finally,\nin 1829, the electors of the district of Calvados appointed him their\nrepresentative in the Chamber of Deputies, and he re-entered in triumph\nthe village which he had left so many years before, so poor and so\nobscure.\n\nEngland has no parallel instances to show, of promotions from the ranks\nof the army to the highest military offices; which have been so common in\nFrance since the first Revolution.  \u201cLa carri\u00e8re ouverte aux talents\u201d has\nthere received many striking illustrations, which would doubtless be\nmatched among ourselves were the road to promotion as open.  Hoche,\nHumbert, and Pichegru, began their respective careers as private\nsoldiers.  Hoche, while in the King\u2019s army, was accustomed to embroider\nwaistcoats to enable him to earn money wherewith to purchase books on\nmilitary science.  Humbert was a scapegrace when a youth; at sixteen he\nran away from home, and was by turns servant to a tradesman at Nancy, a\nworkman at Lyons, and a hawker of rabbit skins.  In 1792, he enlisted as\na volunteer; and in a year he was general of brigade.  Kleber, Lef\u00e8vre,\nSuchet, Victor, Lannes, Soult, Massena, St. Cyr, D\u2019Erlon, Murat,\nAugereau, Bessi\u00e8res, and Ney, all rose from the ranks.  In some cases\npromotion was rapid, in others it was slow.  Saint Cyr, the son of a\ntanner of Toul, began life as an actor, after which he enlisted in the\nChasseurs, and was promoted to a captaincy within a year.  Victor, Duc de\nBelluno, enlisted in the Artillery in 1781: during the events preceding\nthe Revolution he was discharged; but immediately on the outbreak of war\nhe re-enlisted, and in the course of a few months his intrepidity and\nability secured his promotion as Adjutant-Major and chief of battalion.\nMurat, \u201cle beau sabreur,\u201d was the son of a village innkeeper in Perigord,\nwhere he looked after the horses.  He first enlisted in a regiment of\nChasseurs, from which he was dismissed for insubordination: but again\nenlisting, he shortly rose to the rank of Colonel.  Ney enlisted at\neighteen in a hussar regiment, and gradually advanced step by step:\nKleber soon discovered his merits, surnaming him \u201cThe Indefatigable,\u201d and\npromoted him to be Adjutant-General when only twenty-five.  On the other\nhand, Soult {15} was six years from the date of his enlistment before he\nreached the rank of sergeant.  But Soult\u2019s advancement was rapid compared\nwith that of Massena, who served for fourteen years before he was made\nsergeant; and though he afterwards rose successively, step by step, to\nthe grades of Colonel, General of Division, and Marshal, he declared that\nthe post of sergeant was the step which of all others had cost him the\nmost labour to win.  Similar promotions from the ranks, in the French\narmy, have continued down to our own day.  Changarnier entered the King\u2019s\nbodyguard as a private in 1815.  Marshal Bugeaud served four years in the\nranks, after which he was made an officer.  Marshal Randon, the present\nFrench Minister of War, began his military career as a drummer boy; and\nin the portrait of him in the gallery at Versailles, his hand rests upon\na drum-head, the picture being thus painted at his own request.\nInstances such as these inspire French soldiers with enthusiasm for their\nservice, as each private feels that he may possibly carry the baton of a\nmarshal in his knapsack.\n\nThe instances of men, in this and other countries, who, by dint of\npersevering application and energy, have raised themselves from the\nhumblest ranks of industry to eminent positions of usefulness and\ninfluence in society, are indeed so numerous that they have long ceased\nto be regarded as exceptional.  Looking at some of the more remarkable,\nit might almost be said that early encounter with difficulty and adverse\ncircumstances was the necessary and indispensable condition of success.\nThe British House of Commons has always contained a considerable number\nof such self-raised men\u2014fitting representatives of the industrial\ncharacter of the people; and it is to the credit of our Legislature that\nthey have been welcomed and honoured there.  When the late Joseph\nBrotherton, member for Salford, in the course of the discussion on the\nTen Hours Bill, detailed with true pathos the hardships and fatigues to\nwhich he had been subjected when working as a factory boy in a cotton\nmill, and described the resolution which he had then formed, that if ever\nit was in his power he would endeavour to ameliorate the condition of\nthat class, Sir James Graham rose immediately after him, and declared,\namidst the cheers of the House, that he did not before know that Mr.\nBrotherton\u2019s origin had been so humble, but that it rendered him more\nproud than he had ever before been of the House of Commons, to think that\na person risen from that condition should be able to sit side by side, on\nequal terms, with the hereditary gentry of the land.\n\nThe late Mr. Fox, member for Oldham, was accustomed to introduce his\nrecollections of past times with the words, \u201cwhen I was working as a\nweaver boy at Norwich;\u201d and there are other members of parliament, still\nliving, whose origin has been equally humble.  Mr. Lindsay, the\nwell-known ship owner, until recently member for Sunderland, once told\nthe simple story of his life to the electors of Weymouth, in answer to an\nattack made upon him by his political opponents.  He had been left an\norphan at fourteen, and when he left Glasgow for Liverpool to push his\nway in the world, not being able to pay the usual fare, the captain of\nthe steamer agreed to take his labour in exchange, and the boy worked his\npassage by trimming the coals in the coal hole.  At Liverpool he remained\nfor seven weeks before he could obtain employment, during which time he\nlived in sheds and fared hardly; until at last he found shelter on board\na West Indiaman.  He entered as a boy, and before he was nineteen, by\nsteady good conduct he had risen to the command of a ship.  At\ntwenty-three he retired from the sea, and settled on shore, after which\nhis progress was rapid \u201che had prospered,\u201d he said, \u201cby steady industry,\nby constant work, and by ever keeping in view the great principle of\ndoing to others as you would be done by.\u201d\n\nThe career of Mr. William Jackson, of Birkenhead, the present member for\nNorth Derbyshire, bears considerable resemblance to that of Mr. Lindsay.\nHis father, a surgeon at Lancaster, died, leaving a family of eleven\nchildren, of whom William Jackson was the seventh son.  The elder boys\nhad been well educated while the father lived, but at his death the\nyounger members had to shift for themselves.  William, when under twelve\nyears old, was taken from school, and put to hard work at a ship\u2019s side\nfrom six in the morning till nine at night.  His master falling ill, the\nboy was taken into the counting-house, where he had more leisure.  This\ngave him an opportunity of reading, and having obtained access to a set\nof the \u2018Encyclop\u00e6dia Britannica,\u2019 he read the volumes through from A to\nZ, partly by day, but chiefly at night.  He afterwards put himself to a\ntrade, was diligent, and succeeded in it.  Now he has ships sailing on\nalmost every sea, and holds commercial relations with nearly every\ncountry on the globe.\n\nAmong like men of the same class may be ranked the late Richard Cobden,\nwhose start in life was equally humble.  The son of a small farmer at\nMidhurst in Sussex, he was sent at an early age to London and employed as\na boy in a warehouse in the City.  He was diligent, well conducted, and\neager for information.  His master, a man of the old school, warned him\nagainst too much reading; but the boy went on in his own course, storing\nhis mind with the wealth found in books.  He was promoted from one\nposition of trust to another\u2014became a traveller for his house\u2014secured a\nlarge connection, and eventually started in business as a calico printer\nat Manchester.  Taking an interest in public questions, more especially\nin popular education, his attention was gradually drawn to the subject of\nthe Corn Laws, to the repeal of which he may be said to have devoted his\nfortune and his life.  It may be mentioned as a curious fact that the\nfirst speech he delivered in public was a total failure.  But he had\ngreat perseverance, application, and energy; and with persistency and\npractice, he became at length one of the most persuasive and effective of\npublic speakers, extorting the disinterested eulogy of even Sir Robert\nPeel himself.  M. Drouyn de Lhuys, the French Ambassador, has eloquently\nsaid of Mr. Cobden, that he was \u201ca living proof of what merit,\nperseverance, and labour can accomplish; one of the most complete\nexamples of those men who, sprung from the humblest ranks of society,\nraise themselves to the highest rank in public estimation by the effect\nof their own worth and of their personal services; finally, one of the\nrarest examples of the solid qualities inherent in the English\ncharacter.\u201d\n\nIn all these cases, strenuous individual application was the price paid\nfor distinction; excellence of any sort being invariably placed beyond\nthe reach of indolence.  It is the diligent hand and head alone that\nmaketh rich\u2014in self-culture, growth in wisdom, and in business.  Even\nwhen men are born to wealth and high social position, any solid\nreputation which they may individually achieve can only be attained by\nenergetic application; for though an inheritance of acres may be\nbequeathed, an inheritance of knowledge and wisdom cannot.  The wealthy\nman may pay others for doing his work for him, but it is impossible to\nget his thinking done for him by another, or to purchase any kind of\nself-culture.  Indeed, the doctrine that excellence in any pursuit is\nonly to be achieved by laborious application, holds as true in the case\nof the man of wealth as in that of Drew and Gifford, whose only school\nwas a cobbler\u2019s stall, or Hugh Miller, whose only college was a Cromarty\nstone quarry.\n\nRiches and ease, it is perfectly clear, are not necessary for man\u2019s\nhighest culture, else had not the world been so largely indebted in all\ntimes to those who have sprung from the humbler ranks.  An easy and\nluxurious existence does not train men to effort or encounter with\ndifficulty; nor does it awaken that consciousness of power which is so\nnecessary for energetic and effective action in life.  Indeed, so far\nfrom poverty being a misfortune, it may, by vigorous self-help, be\nconverted even into a blessing; rousing a man to that struggle with the\nworld in which, though some may purchase ease by degradation, the\nright-minded and true-hearted find strength, confidence, and triumph.\nBacon says, \u201cMen seem neither to understand their riches nor their\nstrength: of the former they believe greater things than they should; of\nthe latter much less.  Self-reliance and self-denial will teach a man to\ndrink out of his own cistern, and eat his own sweet bread, and to learn\nand labour truly to get his living, and carefully to expend the good\nthings committed to his trust.\u201d\n\nRiches are so great a temptation to ease and self-indulgence, to which\nmen are by nature prone, that the glory is all the greater of those who,\nborn to ample fortunes, nevertheless take an active part in the work of\ntheir generation\u2014who \u201cscorn delights and live laborious days.\u201d  It is to\nthe honour of the wealthier ranks in this country that they are not\nidlers; for they do their fair share of the work of the state, and\nusually take more than their fair share of its dangers.  It was a fine\nthing said of a subaltern officer in the Peninsular campaigns, observed\ntrudging alone through mud and mire by the side of his regiment, \u201cThere\ngoes 15,000_l._ a year!\u201d and in our own day, the bleak slopes of\nSebastopol and the burning soil of India have borne witness to the like\nnoble self-denial and devotion on the part of our gentler classes; many a\ngallant and noble fellow, of rank and estate, having risked his life, or\nlost it, in one or other of those fields of action, in the service of his\ncountry.\n\nNor have the wealthier classes been undistinguished in the more peaceful\npursuits of philosophy and science.  Take, for instance, the great names\nof Bacon, the father of modern philosophy, and of Worcester, Boyle,\nCavendish, Talbot, and Rosse, in science.  The last named may be regarded\nas the great mechanic of the peerage; a man who, if he had not been born\na peer, would probably have taken the highest rank as an inventor.  So\nthorough is his knowledge of smith-work that he is said to have been\npressed on one occasion to accept the foremanship of a large workshop, by\na manufacturer to whom his rank was unknown.  The great Rosse telescope,\nof his own fabrication, is certainly the most extraordinary instrument of\nthe kind that has yet been constructed.\n\nBut it is principally in the departments of politics and literature that\nwe find the most energetic labourers amongst our higher classes.  Success\nin these lines of action, as in all others, can only be achieved through\nindustry, practice, and study; and the great Minister, or parliamentary\nleader, must necessarily be amongst the very hardest of workers.  Such\nwas Palmerston; and such are Derby and Russell, Disraeli and Gladstone.\nThese men have had the benefit of no Ten Hours Bill, but have often,\nduring the busy season of Parliament, worked \u201cdouble shift,\u201d almost day\nand night.  One of the most illustrious of such workers in modern times\nwas unquestionably the late Sir Robert Peel.  He possessed in an\nextraordinary degree the power of continuous intellectual labour, nor did\nhe spare himself.  His career, indeed, presented a remarkable example of\nhow much a man of comparatively moderate powers can accomplish by means\nof assiduous application and indefatigable industry.  During the forty\nyears that he held a seat in Parliament, his labours were prodigious.  He\nwas a most conscientious man, and whatever he undertook to do, he did\nthoroughly.  All his speeches bear evidence of his careful study of\neverything that had been spoken or written on the subject under\nconsideration.  He was elaborate almost to excess; and spared no pains to\nadapt himself to the various capacities of his audience.  Withal, he\npossessed much practical sagacity, great strength of purpose, and power\nto direct the issues of action with steady hand and eye.  In one respect\nhe surpassed most men: his principles broadened and enlarged with time;\nand age, instead of contracting, only served to mellow and ripen his\nnature.  To the last he continued open to the reception of new views,\nand, though many thought him cautious to excess, he did not allow himself\nto fall into that indiscriminating admiration of the past, which is the\npalsy of many minds similarly educated, and renders the old age of many\nnothing but a pity.\n\nThe indefatigable industry of Lord Brougham has become almost proverbial.\nHis public labours have extended over a period of upwards of sixty years,\nduring which he has ranged over many fields\u2014of law, literature, politics,\nand science,\u2014and achieved distinction in them all.  How he contrived it,\nhas been to many a mystery.  Once, when Sir Samuel Romilly was requested\nto undertake some new work, he excused himself by saying that he had no\ntime; \u201cbut,\u201d he added, \u201cgo with it to that fellow Brougham, he seems to\nhave time for everything.\u201d  The secret of it was, that he never left a\nminute unemployed; withal he possessed a constitution of iron.  When\narrived at an age at which most men would have retired from the world to\nenjoy their hard-earned leisure, perhaps to doze away their time in an\neasy chair, Lord Brougham commenced and prosecuted a series of elaborate\ninvestigations as to the laws of Light, and he submitted the results to\nthe most scientific audiences that Paris and London could muster.  About\nthe same time, he was passing through the press his admirable sketches of\nthe \u2018Men of Science and Literature of the Reign of George III.,\u2019 and\ntaking his full share of the law business and the political discussions\nin the House of Lords.  Sydney Smith once recommended him to confine\nhimself to only the transaction of so much business as three strong men\ncould get through.  But such was Brougham\u2019s love of work\u2014long become a\nhabit\u2014that no amount of application seems to have been too great for him;\nand such was his love of excellence, that it has been said of him that if\nhis station in life had been only that of a shoe-black, he would never\nhave rested satisfied until he had become the best shoe-black in England.\n\nAnother hard-working man of the same class is Sir E. Bulwer Lytton.  Few\nwriters have done more, or achieved higher distinction in various\nwalks\u2014as a novelist, poet, dramatist, historian, essayist, orator, and\npolitician.  He has worked his way step by step, disdainful of ease, and\nanimated throughout by the ardent desire to excel.  On the score of mere\nindustry, there are few living English writers who have written so much,\nand none that have produced so much of high quality.  The industry of\nBulwer is entitled to all the greater praise that it has been entirely\nself-imposed.  To hunt, and shoot, and live at ease,\u2014to frequent the\nclubs and enjoy the opera, with the variety of London visiting and\nsight-seeing during the \u201cseason,\u201d and then off to the country mansion,\nwith its well-stocked preserves, and its thousand delightful out-door\npleasures,\u2014to travel abroad, to Paris, Vienna, or Rome,\u2014all this is\nexcessively attractive to a lover of pleasure and a man of fortune, and\nby no means calculated to make him voluntarily undertake continuous\nlabour of any kind.  Yet these pleasures, all within his reach, Bulwer\nmust, as compared with men born to similar estate, have denied himself in\nassuming the position and pursuing the career of a literary man.  Like\nByron, his first effort was poetical (\u2018Weeds and Wild Flowers\u2019), and a\nfailure.  His second was a novel (\u2018Falkland\u2019), and it proved a failure\ntoo.  A man of weaker nerve would have dropped authorship; but Bulwer had\npluck and perseverance; and he worked on, determined to succeed.  He was\nincessantly industrious, read extensively, and from failure went\ncourageously onwards to success.  \u2018Pelham\u2019 followed \u2018Falkland\u2019 within a\nyear, and the remainder of Bulwer\u2019s literary life, now extending over a\nperiod of thirty years, has been a succession of triumphs.\n\nMr. Disraeli affords a similar instance of the power of industry and\napplication in working out an eminent public career.  His first\nachievements were, like Bulwer\u2019s, in literature; and he reached success\nonly through a succession of failures.  His \u2018Wondrous Tale of Alroy\u2019 and\n\u2018Revolutionary Epic\u2019 were laughed at, and regarded as indications of\nliterary lunacy.  But he worked on in other directions, and his\n\u2018Coningsby,\u2019 \u2018Sybil,\u2019 and \u2018Tancred,\u2019 proved the sterling stuff of which\nhe was made.  As an orator too, his first appearance in the House of\nCommons was a failure.  It was spoken of as \u201cmore screaming than an\nAdelphi farce.\u201d  Though composed in a grand and ambitious strain, every\nsentence was hailed with \u201cloud laughter.\u201d  \u2018Hamlet\u2019 played as a comedy\nwere nothing to it.  But he concluded with a sentence which embodied a\nprophecy.  Writhing under the laughter with which his studied eloquence\nhad been received, he exclaimed, \u201cI have begun several times many things,\nand have succeeded in them at last.  I shall sit down now, but the time\nwill come when you will hear me.\u201d  The time did come; and how Disraeli\nsucceeded in at length commanding the attention of the first assembly of\ngentlemen in the world, affords a striking illustration of what energy\nand determination will do; for Disraeli earned his position by dint of\npatient industry.  He did not, as many young men do, having once failed,\nretire dejected, to mope and whine in a corner, but diligently set\nhimself to work.  He carefully unlearnt his faults, studied the character\nof his audience, practised sedulously the art of speech, and\nindustriously filled his mind with the elements of parliamentary\nknowledge.  He worked patiently for success; and it came, but slowly:\nthen the House laughed with him, instead of at him.  The recollection of\nhis early failure was effaced, and by general consent he was at length\nadmitted to be one of the most finished and effective of parliamentary\nspeakers.\n\nAlthough much may be accomplished by means of individual industry and\nenergy, as these and other instances set forth in the following pages\nserve to illustrate, it must at the same time be acknowledged that the\nhelp which we derive from others in the journey of life is of very great\nimportance.  The poet Wordsworth has well said that \u201cthese two things,\ncontradictory though they may seem, must go together\u2014manly dependence and\nmanly independence, manly reliance and manly self-reliance.\u201d  From\ninfancy to old age, all are more or less indebted to others for nurture\nand culture; and the best and strongest are usually found the readiest to\nacknowledge such help.  Take, for example, the career of the late Alexis\nde Tocqueville, a man doubly well-born, for his father was a\ndistinguished peer of France, and his mother a grand-daughter of\nMalesherbes.  Through powerful family influence, he was appointed Judge\nAuditor at Versailles when only twenty-one; but probably feeling that he\nhad not fairly won the position by merit, he determined to give it up and\nowe his future advancement in life to himself alone.  \u201cA foolish\nresolution,\u201d some will say; but De Tocqueville bravely acted it out.  He\nresigned his appointment, and made arrangements to leave France for the\npurpose of travelling through the United States, the results of which\nwere published in his great book on \u2018Democracy in America.\u2019  His friend\nand travelling companion, Gustave de Beaumont, has described his\nindefatigable industry during this journey.  \u201cHis nature,\u201d he says, \u201cwas\nwholly averse to idleness, and whether he was travelling or resting, his\nmind was always at work. . . . With Alexis, the most agreeable\nconversation was that which was the most useful.  The worst day was the\nlost day, or the day ill spent; the least loss of time annoyed him.\u201d\nTocqueville himself wrote to a friend\u2014\u201cThere is no time of life at which\none can wholly cease from action, for effort without one\u2019s self, and\nstill more effort within, is equally necessary, if not more so, when we\ngrow old, as it is in youth.  I compare man in this world to a traveller\njourneying without ceasing towards a colder and colder region; the higher\nhe goes, the faster he ought to walk.  The great malady of the soul is\ncold.  And in resisting this formidable evil, one needs not only to be\nsustained by the action of a mind employed, but also by contact with\none\u2019s fellows in the business of life.\u201d {25}\n\nNotwithstanding de Tocqueville\u2019s decided views as to the necessity of\nexercising individual energy and self-dependence, no one could be more\nready than he was to recognise the value of that help and support for\nwhich all men are indebted to others in a greater or less degree.  Thus,\nhe often acknowledged, with gratitude, his obligations to his friends De\nKergorlay and Stofells,\u2014to the former for intellectual assistance, and to\nthe latter for moral support and sympathy.  To De Kergorlay he\nwrote\u2014\u201cThine is the only soul in which I have confidence, and whose\ninfluence exercises a genuine effect upon my own.  Many others have\ninfluence upon the details of my actions, but no one has so much\ninfluence as thou on the origination of fundamental ideas, and of those\nprinciples which are the rule of conduct.\u201d  De Tocqueville was not less\nready to confess the great obligations which he owed to his wife, Marie,\nfor the preservation of that temper and frame of mind which enabled him\nto prosecute his studies with success.  He believed that a noble-minded\nwoman insensibly elevated the character of her husband, while one of a\ngrovelling nature as certainly tended to degrade it. {26}\n\nIn fine, human character is moulded by a thousand subtle influences; by\nexample and precept; by life and literature; by friends and neighbours;\nby the world we live in as well as by the spirits of our forefathers,\nwhose legacy of good words and deeds we inherit.  But great,\nunquestionably, though these influences are acknowledged to be, it is\nnevertheless equally clear that men must necessarily be the active agents\nof their own well-being and well-doing; and that, however much the wise\nand the good may owe to others, they themselves must in the very nature\nof things be their own best helpers.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\nLEADERS OF INDUSTRY\u2014INVENTORS AND PRODUCERS.\n\n\n    \u201cLe travail et la Science sont d\u00e9sormais les ma\u00eetres du monde.\u201d\u2014_De\n    Salvandy_.\n\n    \u201cDeduct all that men of the humbler classes have done for England in\n    the way of inventions only, and see where she would have been but for\n    them.\u201d\u2014_Arthur Helps_.\n\nONE of the most strongly-marked features of the English people is their\nspirit of industry, standing out prominent and distinct in their past\nhistory, and as strikingly characteristic of them now as at any former\nperiod.  It is this spirit, displayed by the commons of England, which\nhas laid the foundations and built up the industrial greatness of the\nempire.  This vigorous growth of the nation has been mainly the result of\nthe free energy of individuals, and it has been contingent upon the\nnumber of hands and minds from time to time actively employed within it,\nwhether as cultivators of the soil, producers of articles of utility,\ncontrivers of tools and machines, writers of books, or creators of works\nof art.  And while this spirit of active industry has been the vital\nprinciple of the nation, it has also been its saving and remedial one,\ncounteracting from time to time the effects of errors in our laws and\nimperfections in our constitution.\n\nThe career of industry which the nation has pursued, has also proved its\nbest education.  As steady application to work is the healthiest training\nfor every individual, so is it the best discipline of a state.\nHonourable industry travels the same road with duty; and Providence has\nclosely linked both with happiness.  The gods, says the poet, have placed\nlabour and toil on the way leading to the Elysian fields.  Certain it is\nthat no bread eaten by man is so sweet as that earned by his own labour,\nwhether bodily or mental.  By labour the earth has been subdued, and man\nredeemed from barbarism; nor has a single step in civilization been made\nwithout it.  Labour is not only a necessity and a duty, but a blessing:\nonly the idler feels it to be a curse.  The duty of work is written on\nthe thews and muscles of the limbs, the mechanism of the hand, the nerves\nand lobes of the brain\u2014the sum of whose healthy action is satisfaction\nand enjoyment.  In the school of labour is taught the best practical\nwisdom; nor is a life of manual employment, as we shall hereafter find,\nincompatible with high mental culture.\n\nHugh Miller, than whom none knew better the strength and the weakness\nbelonging to the lot of labour, stated the result of his experience to\nbe, that Work, even the hardest, is full of pleasure and materials for\nself-improvement.  He held honest labour to be the best of teachers, and\nthat the school of toil is the noblest of schools\u2014save only the Christian\none,\u2014that it is a school in which the ability of being useful is\nimparted, the spirit of independence learnt, and the habit of persevering\neffort acquired.  He was even of opinion that the training of the\nmechanic,\u2014by the exercise which it gives to his observant faculties, from\nhis daily dealing with things actual and practical, and the close\nexperience of life which he acquires,\u2014better fits him for picking his way\nalong the journey of life, and is more favourable to his growth as a Man,\nemphatically speaking, than the training afforded by any other condition.\n\nThe array of great names which we have already cursorily cited, of men\nspringing from the ranks of the industrial classes, who have achieved\ndistinction in various walks of life\u2014in science, commerce, literature,\nand art\u2014shows that at all events the difficulties interposed by poverty\nand labour are not insurmountable.  As respects the great contrivances\nand inventions which have conferred so much power and wealth upon the\nnation, it is unquestionable that for the greater part of them we have\nbeen indebted to men of the humblest rank.  Deduct what they have done in\nthis particular line of action, and it will be found that very little\nindeed remains for other men to have accomplished.\n\nInventors have set in motion some of the greatest industries of the\nworld.  To them society owes many of its chief necessaries, comforts, and\nluxuries; and by their genius and labour daily life has been rendered in\nall respects more easy as well as enjoyable.  Our food, our clothing, the\nfurniture of our homes, the glass which admits the light to our dwellings\nat the same time that it excludes the cold, the gas which illuminates our\nstreets, our means of locomotion by land and by sea, the tools by which\nour various articles of necessity and luxury are fabricated, have been\nthe result of the labour and ingenuity of many men and many minds.\nMankind at large are all the happier for such inventions, and are every\nday reaping the benefit of them in an increase of individual well-being\nas well as of public enjoyment.\n\nThough the invention of the working steam-engine\u2014the king of\nmachines\u2014belongs, comparatively speaking, to our own epoch, the idea of\nit was born many centuries ago.  Like other contrivances and discoveries,\nit was effected step by step\u2014one man transmitting the result of his\nlabours, at the time apparently useless, to his successors, who took it\nup and carried it forward another stage,\u2014the prosecution of the inquiry\nextending over many generations.  Thus the idea promulgated by Hero of\nAlexandria was never altogether lost; but, like the grain of wheat hid in\nthe hand of the Egyptian mummy, it sprouted and again grew vigorously\nwhen brought into the full light of modern science.  The steam-engine was\nnothing, however, until it emerged from the state of theory, and was\ntaken in hand by practical mechanics; and what a noble story of patient,\nlaborious investigation, of difficulties encountered and overcome by\nheroic industry, does not that marvellous machine tell of!  It is indeed,\nin itself, a monument of the power of self-help in man.  Grouped around\nit we find Savary, the military engineer; Newcomen, the Dartmouth\nblacksmith; Cawley, the glazier; Potter, the engine-boy; Smeaton, the\ncivil engineer; and, towering above all, the laborious, patient,\nnever-tiring James Watt, the mathematical-instrument maker.\n\nWatt was one of the most industrious of men; and the story of his life\nproves, what all experience confirms, that it is not the man of the\ngreatest natural vigour and capacity who achieves the highest results,\nbut he who employs his powers with the greatest industry and the most\ncarefully disciplined skill\u2014the skill that comes by labour, application,\nand experience.  Many men in his time knew far more than Watt, but none\nlaboured so assiduously as he did to turn all that he did know to useful\npractical purposes.  He was, above all things, most persevering in the\npursuit of facts.  He cultivated carefully that habit of active attention\non which all the higher working qualities of the mind mainly depend.\nIndeed, Mr. Edgeworth entertained the opinion, that the difference of\nintellect in men depends more upon the early cultivation of this _habit\nof attention_, than upon any great disparity between the powers of one\nindividual and another.\n\nEven when a boy, Watt found science in his toys.  The quadrants lying\nabout his father\u2019s carpenter\u2019s shop led him to the study of optics and\nastronomy; his ill health induced him to pry into the secrets of\nphysiology; and his solitary walks through the country attracted him to\nthe study of botany and history.  While carrying on the business of a\nmathematical-instrument maker, he received an order to build an organ;\nand, though without an ear for music, he undertook the study of\nharmonics, and successfully constructed the instrument.  And, in like\nmanner, when the little model of Newcomen\u2019s steam-engine, belonging to\nthe University of Glasgow, was placed in his hands to repair, he\nforthwith set himself to learn all that was then known about heat,\nevaporation, and condensation,\u2014at the same time plodding his way in\nmechanics and the science of construction,\u2014the results of which he at\nlength embodied in his condensing steam-engine.\n\nFor ten years he went on contriving and inventing\u2014with little hope to\ncheer him, and with few friends to encourage him.  He went on, meanwhile,\nearning bread for his family by making and selling quadrants, making and\nmending fiddles, flutes, and musical instruments; measuring mason-work,\nsurveying roads, superintending the construction of canals, or doing\nanything that turned up, and offered a prospect of honest gain.  At\nlength, Watt found a fit partner in another eminent leader of\nindustry\u2014Matthew Boulton, of Birmingham; a skilful, energetic, and\nfar-seeing man, who vigorously undertook the enterprise of introducing\nthe condensing-engine into general use as a working power; and the\nsuccess of both is now matter of history. {31}\n\nMany skilful inventors have from time to time added new power to the\nsteam-engine; and, by numerous modifications, rendered it capable of\nbeing applied to nearly all the purposes of manufacture\u2014driving\nmachinery, impelling ships, grinding corn, printing books, stamping\nmoney, hammering, planing, and turning iron; in short, of performing\nevery description of mechanical labour where power is required.  One of\nthe most useful modifications in the engine was that devised by\nTrevithick, and eventually perfected by George Stephenson and his son, in\nthe form of the railway locomotive, by which social changes of immense\nimportance have been brought about, of even greater consequence,\nconsidered in their results on human progress and civilization, than the\ncondensing-engine of Watt.\n\nOne of the first grand results of Watt\u2019s invention,\u2014which placed an\nalmost unlimited power at the command of the producing classes,\u2014was the\nestablishment of the cotton-manufacture.  The person most closely\nidentified with the foundation of this great branch of industry was\nunquestionably Sir Richard Arkwright, whose practical energy and sagacity\nwere perhaps even more remarkable than his mechanical inventiveness.  His\noriginality as an inventor has indeed been called in question, like that\nof Watt and Stephenson.  Arkwright probably stood in the same relation to\nthe spinning-machine that Watt did to the steam-engine and Stephenson to\nthe locomotive.  He gathered together the scattered threads of ingenuity\nwhich already existed, and wove them, after his own design, into a new\nand original fabric.  Though Lewis Paul, of Birmingham, patented the\ninvention of spinning by rollers thirty years before Arkwright, the\nmachines constructed by him were so imperfect in their details, that they\ncould not be profitably worked, and the invention was practically a\nfailure.  Another obscure mechanic, a reed-maker of Leigh, named Thomas\nHighs, is also said to have invented the water-frame and spinning-jenny;\nbut they, too, proved unsuccessful.\n\nWhen the demands of industry are found to press upon the resources of\ninventors, the same idea is usually found floating about in many\nminds;\u2014such has been the case with the steam-engine, the safety-lamp, the\nelectric telegraph, and other inventions.  Many ingenious minds are found\nlabouring in the throes of invention, until at length the master mind,\nthe strong practical man, steps forward, and straightway delivers them of\ntheir idea, applies the principle successfully, and the thing is done.\nThen there is a loud outcry among all the smaller contrivers, who see\nthemselves distanced in the race; and hence men such as Watt, Stephenson,\nand Arkwright, have usually to defend their reputation and their rights\nas practical and successful inventors.\n\nRichard Arkwright, like most of our great mechanicians, sprang from the\nranks.  He was born in Preston in 1732.  His parents were very poor, and\nhe was the youngest of thirteen children.  He was never at school: the\nonly education he received he gave to himself; and to the last he was\nonly able to write with difficulty.  When a boy, he was apprenticed to a\nbarber, and after learning the business, he set up for himself in Bolton,\nwhere he occupied an underground cellar, over which he put up the sign,\n\u201cCome to the subterraneous barber\u2014he shaves for a penny.\u201d  The other\nbarbers found their customers leaving them, and reduced their prices to\nhis standard, when Arkwright, determined to push his trade, announced his\ndetermination to give \u201cA clean shave for a halfpenny.\u201d  After a few years\nhe quitted his cellar, and became an itinerant dealer in hair.  At that\ntime wigs were worn, and wig-making formed an important branch of the\nbarbering business.  Arkwright went about buying hair for the wigs.  He\nwas accustomed to attend the hiring fairs throughout Lancashire resorted\nto by young women, for the purpose of securing their long tresses; and it\nis said that in negotiations of this sort he was very successful.  He\nalso dealt in a chemical hair dye, which he used adroitly, and thereby\nsecured a considerable trade.  But he does not seem, notwithstanding his\npushing character, to have done more than earn a bare living.\n\nThe fashion of wig-wearing having undergone a change, distress fell upon\nthe wig-makers; and Arkwright, being of a mechanical turn, was\nconsequently induced to turn machine inventor or \u201cconjurer,\u201d as the\npursuit was then popularly termed.  Many attempts were made about that\ntime to invent a spinning-machine, and our barber determined to launch\nhis little bark on the sea of invention with the rest.  Like other\nself-taught men of the same bias, he had already been devoting his spare\ntime to the invention of a perpetual-motion machine; and from that the\ntransition to a spinning-machine was easy.  He followed his experiments\nso assiduously that he neglected his business, lost the little money he\nhad saved, and was reduced to great poverty.  His wife\u2014for he had by this\ntime married\u2014was impatient at what she conceived to be a wanton waste of\ntime and money, and in a moment of sudden wrath she seized upon and\ndestroyed his models, hoping thus to remove the cause of the family\nprivations.  Arkwright was a stubborn and enthusiastic man, and he was\nprovoked beyond measure by this conduct of his wife, from whom he\nimmediately separated.\n\nIn travelling about the country, Arkwright had become acquainted with a\nperson named Kay, a clockmaker at Warrington, who assisted him in\nconstructing some of the parts of his perpetual-motion machinery.  It is\nsupposed that he was informed by Kay of the principle of spinning by\nrollers; but it is also said that the idea was first suggested to him by\naccidentally observing a red-hot piece of iron become elongated by\npassing between iron rollers.  However this may be, the idea at once took\nfirm possession of his mind, and he proceeded to devise the process by\nwhich it was to be accomplished, Kay being able to tell him nothing on\nthis point.  Arkwright now abandoned his business of hair collecting, and\ndevoted himself to the perfecting of his machine, a model of which,\nconstructed by Kay under his directions, he set up in the parlour of the\nFree Grammar School at Preston.  Being a burgess of the town, he voted at\nthe contested election at which General Burgoyne was returned; but such\nwas his poverty, and such the tattered state of his dress, that a number\nof persons subscribed a sum sufficient to have him put in a state fit to\nappear in the poll-room.  The exhibition of his machine in a town where\nso many workpeople lived by the exercise of manual labour proved a\ndangerous experiment; ominous growlings were heard outside the\nschool-room from time to time, and Arkwright,\u2014remembering the fate of\nKay, who was mobbed and compelled to fly from Lancashire because of his\ninvention of the fly-shuttle, and of poor Hargreaves, whose\nspinning-jenny had been pulled to pieces only a short time before by a\nBlackburn mob,\u2014wisely determined on packing up his model and removing to\na less dangerous locality.  He went accordingly to Nottingham, where he\napplied to some of the local bankers for pecuniary assistance; and the\nMessrs. Wright consented to advance him a sum of money on condition of\nsharing in the profits of the invention.  The machine, however, not being\nperfected so soon as they had anticipated, the bankers recommended\nArkwright to apply to Messrs. Strutt and Need, the former of whom was the\ningenious inventor and patentee of the stocking-frame.  Mr. Strutt at\nonce appreciated the merits of the invention, and a partnership was\nentered into with Arkwright, whose road to fortune was now clear.  The\npatent was secured in the name of \u201cRichard Arkwright, of Nottingham,\nclockmaker,\u201d and it is a circumstance worthy of note, that it was taken\nout in 1769, the same year in which Watt secured the patent for his\nsteam-engine.  A cotton-mill was first erected at Nottingham, driven by\nhorses; and another was shortly after built, on a much larger scale, at\nCromford, in Derbyshire, turned by a water-wheel, from which circumstance\nthe spinning-machine came to be called the water-frame.\n\nArkwright\u2019s labours, however, were, comparatively speaking, only begun.\nHe had still to perfect all the working details of his machine.  It was\nin his hands the subject of constant modification and improvement, until\neventually it was rendered practicable and profitable in an eminent\ndegree.  But success was only secured by long and patient labour: for\nsome years, indeed, the speculation was disheartening and unprofitable,\nswallowing up a very large amount of capital without any result.  When\nsuccess began to appear more certain, then the Lancashire manufacturers\nfell upon Arkwright\u2019s patent to pull it in pieces, as the Cornish miners\nfell upon Boulton and Watt to rob them of the profits of their\nsteam-engine.  Arkwright was even denounced as the enemy of the working\npeople; and a mill which he built near Chorley was destroyed by a mob in\nthe presence of a strong force of police and military.  The Lancashire\nmen refused to buy his materials, though they were confessedly the best\nin the market.  Then they refused to pay patent-right for the use of his\nmachines, and combined to crush him in the courts of law.  To the disgust\nof right-minded people, Arkwright\u2019s patent was upset.  After the trial,\nwhen passing the hotel at which his opponents were staying, one of them\nsaid, loud enough to be heard by him, \u201cWell, we\u2019ve done the old shaver at\nlast;\u201d to which he coolly replied, \u201cNever mind, I\u2019ve a razor left that\nwill shave you all.\u201d  He established new mills in Lancashire, Derbyshire,\nand at New Lanark, in Scotland.  The mills at Cromford also came into his\nhands at the expiry of his partnership with Strutt, and the amount and\nthe excellence of his products were such, that in a short time he\nobtained so complete a control of the trade, that the prices were fixed\nby him, and he governed the main operations of the other cotton-spinners.\n\nArkwright was a man of great force of character, indomitable courage,\nmuch worldly shrewdness, with a business faculty almost amounting to\ngenius.  At one period his time was engrossed by severe and continuous\nlabour, occasioned by the organising and conducting of his numerous\nmanufactories, sometimes from four in the morning till nine at night.  At\nfifty years of age he set to work to learn English grammar, and improve\nhimself in writing and orthography.  After overcoming every obstacle, he\nhad the satisfaction of reaping the reward of his enterprise.  Eighteen\nyears after he had constructed his first machine, he rose to such\nestimation in Derbyshire that he was appointed High Sheriff of the\ncounty, and shortly after George III. conferred upon him the honour of\nknighthood.  He died in 1792.  Be it for good or for evil, Arkwright was\nthe founder in England of the modern factory system, a branch of industry\nwhich has unquestionably proved a source of immense wealth to individuals\nand to the nation.\n\nAll the other great branches of industry in Britain furnish like examples\nof energetic men of business, the source of much benefit to the\nneighbourhoods in which they have laboured, and of increased power and\nwealth to the community at large.  Amongst such might be cited the\nStrutts of Belper; the Tennants of Glasgow; the Marshalls and Gotts of\nLeeds; the Peels, Ashworths, Birleys, Fieldens, Ashtons, Heywoods, and\nAinsworths of South Lancashire, some of whose descendants have since\nbecome distinguished in connection with the political history of England.\nSuch pre-eminently were the Peels of South Lancashire.\n\nThe founder of the Peel family, about the middle of last century, was a\nsmall yeoman, occupying the Hole House Farm, near Blackburn, from which\nhe afterwards removed to a house situated in Fish Lane in that town.\nRobert Peel, as he advanced in life, saw a large family of sons and\ndaughters growing up about him; but the land about Blackburn being\nsomewhat barren, it did not appear to him that agricultural pursuits\noffered a very encouraging prospect for their industry.  The place had,\nhowever, long been the seat of a domestic manufacture\u2014the fabric called\n\u201cBlackburn greys,\u201d consisting of linen weft and cotton warp, being\nchiefly made in that town and its neighbourhood.  It was then\ncustomary\u2014previous to the introduction of the factory system\u2014for\nindustrious yeomen with families to employ the time not occupied in the\nfields in weaving at home; and Robert Peel accordingly began the domestic\ntrade of calico-making.  He was honest, and made an honest article;\nthrifty and hardworking, and his trade prospered.  He was also\nenterprising, and was one of the first to adopt the carding cylinder,\nthen recently invented.\n\nBut Robert Peel\u2019s attention was principally directed to the _printing_ of\ncalico\u2014then a comparatively unknown art\u2014and for some time he carried on a\nseries of experiments with the object of printing by machinery.  The\nexperiments were secretly conducted in his own house, the cloth being\nironed for the purpose by one of the women of the family.  It was then\ncustomary, in such houses as the Peels, to use pewter plates at dinner.\nHaving sketched a figure or pattern on one of the plates, the thought\nstruck him that an impression might be got from it in reverse, and\nprinted on calico with colour.  In a cottage at the end of the farm-house\nlived a woman who kept a calendering machine, and going into her cottage,\nhe put the plate with colour rubbed into the figured part and some calico\nover it, through the machine, when it was found to leave a satisfactory\nimpression.  Such is said to have been the origin of roller printing on\ncalico.  Robert Peel shortly perfected his process, and the first pattern\nhe brought out was a parsley leaf; hence he is spoken of in the\nneighbourhood of Blackburn to this day as \u201cParsley Peel.\u201d  The process of\ncalico printing by what is called the mule machine\u2014that is, by means of a\nwooden cylinder in relief, with an engraved copper cylinder\u2014was\nafterwards brought to perfection by one of his sons, the head of the firm\nof Messrs. Peel and Co., of Church.  Stimulated by his success, Robert\nPeel shortly gave up farming, and removing to Brookside, a village about\ntwo miles from Blackburn, he devoted himself exclusively to the printing\nbusiness.  There, with the aid of his sons, who were as energetic as\nhimself, he successfully carried on the trade for several years; and as\nthe young men grew up towards manhood, the concern branched out into\nvarious firms of Peels, each of which became a centre of industrial\nactivity and a source of remunerative employment to large numbers of\npeople.\n\nFrom what can now be learnt of the character of the original and untitled\nRobert Peel, he must have been a remarkable man\u2014shrewd, sagacious, and\nfar-seeing.  But little is known of him excepting from traditions and the\nsons of those who knew him are fast passing away.  His son, Sir Robert,\nthus modestly spoke of him:\u2014\u201cMy father may be truly said to have been the\nfounder of our family; and he so accurately appreciated the importance of\ncommercial wealth in a national point of view, that he was often heard to\nsay that the gains to individuals were small compared with the national\ngains arising from trade.\u201d\n\nSir Robert Peel, the first baronet and the second manufacturer of the\nname, inherited all his father\u2019s enterprise, ability, and industry.  His\nposition, at starting in life, was little above that of an ordinary\nworking man; for his father, though laying the foundations of future\nprosperity, was still struggling with the difficulties arising from\ninsufficient capital.  When Robert was only twenty years of age, he\ndetermined to begin the business of cotton-printing, which he had by this\ntime learnt from his father, on his own account.  His uncle, James\nHaworth, and William Yates of Blackburn, joined him in his enterprise;\nthe whole capital which they could raise amongst them amounting to only\nabout 500_l._, the principal part of which was supplied by William Yates.\nThe father of the latter was a householder in Blackburn, where he was\nwell known and much respected; and having saved money by his business, he\nwas willing to advance sufficient to give his son a start in the\nlucrative trade of cotton-printing, then in its infancy.  Robert Peel,\nthough comparatively a mere youth, supplied the practical knowledge of\nthe business; but it was said of him, and proved true, that he \u201ccarried\nan old head on young shoulders.\u201d  A ruined corn-mill, with its adjoining\nfields, was purchased for a comparatively small sum, near the then\ninsignificant town of Bury, where the works long after continued to be\nknown as \u201cThe Ground;\u201d and a few wooden sheds having been run up, the\nfirm commenced their cotton-printing business in a very humble way in the\nyear 1770, adding to it that of cotton-spinning a few years later.  The\nfrugal style in which the partners lived may be inferred from the\nfollowing incident in their early career.  William Yates, being a married\nman with a family, commenced housekeeping on a small scale, and, to\noblige Peel, who was single, he agreed to take him as a lodger.  The sum\nwhich the latter first paid for board and lodging was only 8_s._ a week;\nbut Yates, considering this too little, insisted on the weekly payment\nbeing increased a shilling, to which Peel at first demurred, and a\ndifference between the partners took place, which was eventually\ncompromised by the lodger paying an advance of sixpence a week.  William\nYates\u2019s eldest child was a girl named Ellen, and she very soon became an\nespecial favourite with the young lodger.  On returning from his hard\nday\u2019s work at \u201cThe Ground,\u201d he would take the little girl upon his knee,\nand say to her, \u201cNelly, thou bonny little dear, wilt be my wife?\u201d to\nwhich the child would readily answer \u201cYes,\u201d as any child would do.  \u201cThen\nI\u2019ll wait for thee, Nelly; I\u2019ll wed thee, and none else.\u201d  And Robert\nPeel did wait.  As the girl grew in beauty towards womanhood, his\ndetermination to wait for her was strengthened; and after the lapse of\nten years\u2014years of close application to business and rapidly increasing\nprosperity\u2014Robert Peel married Ellen Yates when she had completed her\nseventeenth year; and the pretty child, whom her mother\u2019s lodger and\nfather\u2019s partner had nursed upon his knee, became Mrs. Peel, and\neventually Lady Peel, the mother of the future Prime Minister of England.\nLady Peel was a noble and beautiful woman, fitted to grace any station in\nlife.  She possessed rare powers of mind, and was, on every emergency,\nthe high-souled and faithful counsellor of her husband.  For many years\nafter their marriage, she acted as his amanuensis, conducting the\nprincipal part of his business correspondence, for Mr. Peel himself was\nan indifferent and almost unintelligible writer.  She died in 1803, only\nthree years after the Baronetcy had been conferred upon her husband.  It\nis said that London fashionable life\u2014so unlike what she had been\naccustomed to at home\u2014proved injurious to her health; and old Mr. Yates\nafterwards used to say, \u201cif Robert hadn\u2019t made our Nelly a \u2018Lady,\u2019 she\nmight ha\u2019 been living yet.\u201d\n\nThe career of Yates, Peel, & Co., was throughout one of great and\nuninterrupted prosperity.  Sir Robert Peel himself was the soul of the\nfirm; to great energy and application uniting much practical sagacity,\nand first-rate mercantile abilities\u2014qualities in which many of the early\ncotton-spinners were exceedingly deficient.  He was a man of iron mind\nand frame, and toiled unceasingly.  In short, he was to cotton printing\nwhat Arkwright was to cotton-spinning, and his success was equally great.\nThe excellence of the articles produced by the firm secured the command\nof the market, and the character of the firm stood pre-eminent in\nLancashire.  Besides greatly benefiting Bury, the partnership planted\nsimilar extensive works in the neighbourhood, on the Irwell and the Roch;\nand it was cited to their honour, that, while they sought to raise to the\nhighest perfection the quality of their manufactures, they also\nendeavoured, in all ways, to promote the well-being and comfort of their\nworkpeople; for whom they contrived to provide remunerative employment\neven in the least prosperous times.\n\nSir Robert Peel readily appreciated the value of all new processes and\ninventions; in illustration of which we may allude to his adoption of the\nprocess for producing what is called _resist work_ in calico printing.\nThis is accomplished by the use of a paste, or resist, on such parts of\nthe cloth as were intended to remain white.  The person who discovered\nthe paste was a traveller for a London house, who sold it to Mr. Peel for\nan inconsiderable sum.  It required the experience of a year or two to\nperfect the system and make it practically useful; but the beauty of its\neffect, and the extreme precision of outline in the pattern produced, at\nonce placed the Bury establishment at the head of all the factories for\ncalico printing in the country.  Other firms, conducted with like spirit,\nwere established by members of the same family at Burnley, Foxhill bank,\nand Altham, in Lancashire; Salley Abbey, in Yorkshire; and afterwards at\nBurton-on-Trent, in Staffordshire; these various establishments, whilst\nthey brought wealth to their proprietors, setting an example to the whole\ncotton trade, and training up many of the most successful printers and\nmanufacturers in Lancashire.\n\nAmong other distinguished founders of industry, the Rev. William Lee,\ninventor of the Stocking Frame, and John Heathcoat, inventor of the\nBobbin-net Machine, are worthy of notice, as men of great mechanical\nskill and perseverance, through whose labours a vast amount of\nremunerative employment has been provided for the labouring population of\nNottingham and the adjacent districts.  The accounts which have been\npreserved of the circumstances connected with the invention of the\nStocking Frame are very confused, and in many respects contradictory,\nthough there is no doubt as to the name of the inventor.  This was\nWilliam Lee, born at Woodborough, a village some seven miles from\nNottingham, about the year 1563.  According to some accounts, he was the\nheir to a small freehold, while according to others he was a poor\nscholar, {43a} and had to struggle with poverty from his earliest years.\nHe entered as a sizar at Christ College, Cambridge, in May, 1579, and\nsubsequently removed to St. John\u2019s, taking his degree of B.A. in 1582\u20133.\nIt is believed that he commenced M.A. in 1586; but on this point there\nappears to be some confusion in the records of the University.  The\nstatement usually made that he was expelled for marrying contrary to the\nstatutes, is incorrect, as he was never a Fellow of the University, and\ntherefore could not be prejudiced by taking such a step.\n\nAt the time when Lee invented the Stocking Frame he was officiating as\ncurate of Calverton, near Nottingham; and it is alleged by some writers\nthat the invention had its origin in disappointed affection.  The curate\nis said to have fallen deeply in love with a young lady of the village,\nwho failed to reciprocate his affections; and when he visited her, she\nwas accustomed to pay much more attention to the process of knitting\nstockings and instructing her pupils in the art, than to the addresses of\nher admirer.  This slight is said to have created in his mind such an\naversion to knitting by hand, that he formed the determination to invent\na machine that should supersede it and render it a gainless employment.\nFor three years he devoted himself to the prosecution of the invention,\nsacrificing everything to his new idea.  At the prospect of success\nopened before him, he abandoned his curacy, and devoted himself to the\nart of stocking making by machinery.  This is the version of the story\ngiven by Henson {43b} on the authority of an old stocking-maker, who died\nin Collins\u2019s Hospital, Nottingham, aged ninety-two, and was apprenticed\nin the town during the reign of Queen Anne.  It is also given by Deering\nand Blackner as the traditional account in the neighbourhood, and it is\nin some measure borne out by the arms of the London Company of Frame-Work\nKnitters, which consists of a stocking frame without the wood-work, with\na clergyman on one side and a woman on the other as supporters. {44}\n\nWhatever may have been the actual facts as to the origin of the invention\nof the Stocking Loom, there can be no doubt as to the extraordinary\nmechanical genius displayed by its inventor.  That a clergyman living in\na remote village, whose life had for the most part been spent with books,\nshould contrive a machine of such delicate and complicated movements, and\nat once advance the art of knitting from the tedious process of linking\nthreads in a chain of loops by three skewers in the fingers of a woman,\nto the beautiful and rapid process of weaving by the stocking frame, was\nindeed an astonishing achievement, which may be pronounced almost\nunequalled in the history of mechanical invention.  Lee\u2019s merit was all\nthe greater, as the handicraft arts were then in their infancy, and\nlittle attention had as yet been given to the contrivance of machinery\nfor the purposes of manufacture.  He was under the necessity of\nextemporising the parts of his machine as he best could, and adopting\nvarious expedients to overcome difficulties as they arose.  His tools\nwere imperfect, and his materials imperfect; and he had no skilled\nworkmen to assist him.  According to tradition, the first frame he made\nwas a twelve gauge, without lead sinkers, and it was almost wholly of\nwood; the needles being also stuck in bits of wood.  One of Lee\u2019s\nprincipal difficulties consisted in the formation of the stitch, for want\nof needle eyes; but this he eventually overcame by forming eyes to the\nneedles with a three-square file. {45}  At length, one difficulty after\nanother was successfully overcome, and after three years\u2019 labour the\nmachine was sufficiently complete to be fit for use.  The quondam curate,\nfull of enthusiasm for his art, now began stocking weaving in the village\nof Calverton, and he continued to work there for several years,\ninstructing his brother James and several of his relations in the\npractice of the art.\n\nHaving brought his frame to a considerable degree of perfection, and\nbeing desirous of securing the patronage of Queen Elizabeth, whose\npartiality for knitted silk stockings was well known, Lee proceeded to\nLondon to exhibit the loom before her Majesty.  He first showed it to\nseveral members of the court, among others to Sir William (afterwards\nLord) Hunsdon, whom he taught to work it with success; and Lee was,\nthrough their instrumentality, at length admitted to an interview with\nthe Queen, and worked the machine in her presence.  Elizabeth, however,\ndid not give him the encouragement that he had expected; and she is said\nto have opposed the invention on the ground that it was calculated to\ndeprive a large number of poor people of their employment of hand\nknitting.  Lee was no more successful in finding other patrons, and\nconsidering himself and his invention treated with contempt, he embraced\nthe offer made to him by Sully, the sagacious minister of Henry IV., to\nproceed to Rouen and instruct the operatives of that town\u2014then one of the\nmost important manufacturing centres of France\u2014in the construction and\nuse of the stocking-frame.  Lee accordingly transferred himself and his\nmachines to France, in 1605, taking with him his brother and seven\nworkmen.  He met with a cordial reception at Rouen, and was proceeding\nwith the manufacture of stockings on a large scale\u2014having nine of his\nframes in full work,\u2014when unhappily ill fortune again overtook him.\nHenry IV., his protector, on whom he had relied for the rewards, honours,\nand promised grant of privileges, which had induced Lee to settle in\nFrance, was murdered by the fanatic Ravaillac; and the encouragement and\nprotection which had heretofore been extended to him were at once\nwithdrawn.  To press his claims at court, Lee proceeded to Paris; but\nbeing a protestant as well as a foreigner, his representations were\ntreated with neglect; and worn out with vexation and grief, this\ndistinguished inventor shortly after died at Paris, in a state of extreme\npoverty and distress.\n\nLee\u2019s brother, with seven of the workmen, succeeded in escaping from\nFrance with their frames, leaving two behind.  On James Lee\u2019s return to\nNottinghamshire, he was joined by one Ashton, a miller of Thoroton, who\nhad been instructed in the art of frame-work knitting by the inventor\nhimself before he left England.  These two, with the workmen and their\nframes, began the stocking manufacture at Thoroton, and carried it on\nwith considerable success.  The place was favourably situated for the\npurpose, as the sheep pastured in the neighbouring district of Sherwood\nyielded a kind of wool of the longest staple.  Ashton is said to have\nintroduced the method of making the frames with lead sinkers, which was a\ngreat improvement.  The number of looms employed in different parts of\nEngland gradually increased; and the machine manufacture of stockings\neventually became an important branch of the national industry.\n\nOne of the most important modifications in the Stocking-Frame was that\nwhich enabled it to be applied to the manufacture of lace on a large\nscale.  In 1777, two workmen, Frost and Holmes, were both engaged in\nmaking point-net by means of the modifications they had introduced in the\nstocking-frame; and in the course of about thirty years, so rapid was the\ngrowth of this branch of production that 1500 point-net frames were at\nwork, giving employment to upwards of 15,000 people.  Owing, however, to\nthe war, to change of fashion, and to other circumstances, the Nottingham\nlace manufacture rapidly fell off; and it continued in a decaying state\nuntil the invention of the Bobbin-net Machine by John Heathcoat, late\nM.P. for Tiverton, which had the effect of at once re-establishing the\nmanufacture on solid foundations.\n\nJohn Heathcoat was the youngest son of a respectable small farmer at\nDuffield, Derbyshire, where he was born in 1783.  When at school he made\nsteady and rapid progress, but was early removed from it to be\napprenticed to a frame-smith near Loughborough.  The boy soon learnt to\nhandle tools with dexterity, and he acquired a minute knowledge of the\nparts of which the stocking-frame was composed, as well as of the more\nintricate warp-machine.  At his leisure he studied how to introduce\nimprovements in them, and his friend, Mr. Bazley, M.P., states that as\nearly as the age of sixteen, he conceived the idea of inventing a machine\nby which lace might be made similar to Buckingham or French lace, then\nall made by hand.  The first practical improvement he succeeded in\nintroducing was in the warp-frame, when, by means of an ingenious\napparatus, he succeeded in producing \u201cmitts\u201d of a lacy appearance, and it\nwas this success which determined him to pursue the study of mechanical\nlace-making.  The stocking-frame had already, in a modified form, been\napplied to the manufacture of point-net lace, in which the mesh was\n_looped_ as in a stocking, but the work was slight and frail, and\ntherefore unsatisfactory.  Many ingenious Nottingham mechanics had,\nduring a long succession of years, been labouring at the problem of\ninventing a machine by which the mesh of threads should be _twisted_\nround each other on the formation of the net.  Some of these men died in\npoverty, some were driven insane, and all alike failed in the object of\ntheir search.  The old warp-machine held its ground.\n\nWhen a little over twenty-one years of age, Heathcoat went to Nottingham,\nwhere he readily found employment, for which he soon received the highest\nremuneration, as a setter-up of hosiery and warp-frames, and was much\nrespected for his talent for invention, general intelligence, and the\nsound and sober principles that governed his conduct.  He also continued\nto pursue the subject on which his mind had before been occupied, and\nlaboured to compass the contrivance of a twist traverse-net machine.  He\nfirst studied the art of making the Buckingham or pillow-lace by hand,\nwith the object of effecting the same motions by mechanical means.  It\nwas a long and laborious task, requiring the exercise of great\nperseverance and ingenuity.  His master, Elliot, described him at that\ntime as inventive, patient, self-denying, and taciturn, undaunted by\nfailures and mistakes, full of resources and expedients, and entertaining\nthe most perfect confidence that his application of mechanical principles\nwould eventually be crowned with success.\n\nIt is difficult to describe in words an invention so complicated as the\nbobbin-net machine.  It was, indeed, a mechanical pillow for making lace,\nimitating in an ingenious manner the motions of the lace-maker\u2019s fingers\nin intersecting or tying the meshes of the lace upon her pillow.  On\nanalysing the component parts of a piece of hand-made lace, Heathcoat was\nenabled to classify the threads into longitudinal and diagonal.  He began\nhis experiments by fixing common pack-threads lengthwise on a sort of\nframe for the warp, and then passing the weft threads between them by\ncommon plyers, delivering them to other plyers on the opposite side;\nthen, after giving them a sideways motion and twist, the threads were\nrepassed back between the next adjoining cords, the meshes being thus\ntied in the same way as upon pillows by hand.  He had then to contrive a\nmechanism that should accomplish all these nice and delicate movements,\nand to do this cost him no small amount of mental toil.  Long after he\nsaid, \u201cThe single difficulty of getting the diagonal threads to twist in\nthe allotted space was so great that if it had now to be done, I should\nprobably not attempt its accomplishment.\u201d  His next step was to provide\nthin metallic discs, to be used as bobbins for conducting the threads\nbackwards and forwards through the warp.  These discs, being arranged in\ncarrier-frames placed on each side of the warp, were moved by suitable\nmachinery so as to conduct the threads from side to side in forming the\nlace.  He eventually succeeded in working out his principle with\nextraordinary skill and success; and, at the age of twenty-four, he was\nenabled to secure his invention by a patent.\n\nDuring this time his wife was kept in almost as great anxiety as himself,\nfor she well knew of his trials and difficulties while he was striving to\nperfect his invention.  Many years after they had been successfully\novercome, the conversation which took place one eventful evening was\nvividly remembered.  \u201cWell,\u201d said the anxious wife, \u201cwill it work?\u201d\n\u201cNo,\u201d was the sad answer; \u201cI have had to take it all to pieces again.\u201d\nThough he could still speak hopefully and cheerfully, his poor wife could\nrestrain her feelings no longer, but sat down and cried bitterly.  She\nhad, however, only a few more weeks to wait, for success long laboured\nfor and richly deserved, came at last, and a proud and happy man was John\nHeathcoat when he brought home the first narrow strip of bobbin-net made\nby his machine, and placed it in the hands of his wife.\n\nAs in the case of nearly all inventions which have proved productive,\nHeathcoat\u2019s rights as a patentee were disputed, and his claims as an\ninventor called in question.  On the supposed invalidity of the patent,\nthe lace-makers boldly adopted the bobbin-net machine, and set the\ninventor at defiance.  But other patents were taken out for alleged\nimprovements and adaptations; and it was only when these new patentees\nfell out and went to law with each other that Heathcoat\u2019s rights became\nestablished.  One lace-manufacturer having brought an action against\nanother for an alleged infringement of his patent, the jury brought in a\nverdict for the defendant, in which the judge concurred, on the ground\nthat _both_ the machines in question were infringements of Heathcoat\u2019s\npatent.  It was on the occasion of this trial, \u201cBoville v. Moore,\u201d that\nSir John Copley (afterwards Lord Lyndhurst), who was retained for the\ndefence in the interest of Mr. Heathcoat, learnt to work the bobbin-net\nmachine in order that he might master the details of the invention.  On\nreading over his brief, he confessed that he did not quite understand the\nmerits of the case; but as it seemed to him to be one of great\nimportance, he offered to go down into the country forthwith and study\nthe machine until he understood it; \u201cand then,\u201d said he, \u201cI will defend\nyou to the best of my ability.\u201d  He accordingly put himself into that\nnight\u2019s mail, and went down to Nottingham to get up his case as perhaps\ncounsel never got it up before.  Next morning the learned sergeant placed\nhimself in a lace-loom, and he did not leave it until he could deftly\nmake a piece of bobbin-net with his own hands, and thoroughly understood\nthe principle as well as the details of the machine.  When the case came\non for trial, the learned sergeant was enabled to work the model on the\ntable with such case and skill, and to explain the precise nature of the\ninvention with such felicitous clearness, as to astonish alike judge,\njury, and spectators; and the thorough conscientiousness and mastery with\nwhich he handled the case had no doubt its influence upon the decision of\nthe court.\n\nAfter the trial was over, Mr. Heathcoat, on inquiry, found about six\nhundred machines at work after his patent, and he proceeded to levy\nroyalty upon the owners of them, which amounted to a large sum.  But the\nprofits realised by the manufacturers of lace were very great, and the\nuse of the machines rapidly extended; while the price of the article was\nreduced from five pounds the square yard to about five pence in the\ncourse of twenty-five years.  During the same period the average annual\nreturns of the lace-trade have been at least four millions sterling, and\nit gives remunerative employment to about 150,000 workpeople.\n\nTo return to the personal history of Mr. Heathcoat.  In 1809 we find him\nestablished as a lace-manufacturer at Loughborough, in Leicestershire.\nThere he carried on a prosperous business for several years, giving\nemployment to a large number of operatives, at wages varying from 5_l._\nto 10_l._ a week.  Notwithstanding the great increase in the number of\nhands employed in lace-making through the introduction of the new\nmachines, it began to be whispered about among the workpeople that they\nwere superseding labour, and an extensive conspiracy was formed for the\npurpose of destroying them wherever found.  As early as the year 1811\ndisputes arose between the masters and men engaged in the stocking and\nlace trades in the south-western parts of Nottinghamshire and the\nadjacent parts of Derbyshire and Leicestershire, the result of which was\nthe assembly of a mob at Sutton, in Ashfield, who proceeded in open day\nto break the stocking and lace-frames of the manufacturers.  Some of the\nringleaders having been seized and punished, the disaffected learnt\ncaution; but the destruction of the machines was nevertheless carried on\nsecretly wherever a safe opportunity presented itself.  As the machines\nwere of so delicate a construction that a single blow of a hammer\nrendered them useless, and as the manufacture was carried on for the most\npart in detached buildings, often in private dwellings remote from towns,\nthe opportunities of destroying them were unusually easy.  In the\nneighbourhood of Nottingham, which was the focus of turbulence, the\nmachine-breakers organized themselves in regular bodies, and held\nnocturnal meetings at which their plans were arranged.  Probably with the\nview of inspiring confidence, they gave out that they were under the\ncommand of a leader named Ned Ludd, or General Ludd, and hence their\ndesignation of Luddites.  Under this organization machine-breaking was\ncarried on with great vigour during the winter of 1811, occasioning great\ndistress, and throwing large numbers of workpeople out of employment.\nMeanwhile, the owners of the frames proceeded to remove them from the\nvillages and lone dwellings in the country, and brought them into\nwarehouses in the towns for their better protection.\n\nThe Luddites seem to have been encouraged by the lenity of the sentences\npronounced on such of their confederates as had been apprehended and\ntried; and, shortly after, the mania broke out afresh, and rapidly\nextended over the northern and midland manufacturing districts.  The\norganization became more secret; an oath was administered to the members\nbinding them to obedience to the orders issued by the heads of the\nconfederacy; and the betrayal of their designs was decreed to be death.\nAll machines were doomed by them to destruction, whether employed in the\nmanufacture of cloth, calico, or lace; and a reign of terror began which\nlasted for years.  In Yorkshire and Lancashire mills were boldly attacked\nby armed rioters, and in many cases they were wrecked or burnt; so that\nit became necessary to guard them by soldiers and yeomanry.  The masters\nthemselves were doomed to death; many of them were assaulted, and some\nwere murdered.  At length the law was vigorously set in motion; numbers\nof the misguided Luddites were apprehended; some were executed; and after\nseveral years\u2019 violent commotion from this cause, the machine-breaking\nriots were at length quelled.\n\nAmong the numerous manufacturers whose works were attacked by the\nLuddites, was the inventor of the bobbin-net machine himself.  One bright\nsunny day, in the summer of 1816, a body of rioters entered his factory\nat Loughborough with torches, and set fire to it, destroying thirty-seven\nlace-machines, and above 10,000_l._ worth of property.  Ten of the men\nwere apprehended for the felony, and eight of them were executed.  Mr.\nHeathcoat made a claim upon the county for compensation, and it was\nresisted; but the Court of Queen\u2019s Bench decided in his favour, and\ndecreed that the county must make good his loss of 10,000_l._  The\nmagistrates sought to couple with the payment of the damage the condition\nthat Mr. Heathcoat should expend the money in the county of Leicester;\nbut to this he would not assent, having already resolved on removing his\nmanufacture elsewhere.  At Tiverton, in Devonshire, he found a large\nbuilding which had been formerly used as a woollen manufactory; but the\nTiverton cloth trade having fallen into decay, the building remained\nunoccupied, and the town itself was generally in a very poverty-stricken\ncondition.  Mr. Heathcoat bought the old mill, renovated and enlarged it,\nand there recommenced the manufacture of lace upon a larger scale than\nbefore; keeping in full work as many as three hundred machines, and\nemploying a large number of artisans at good wages.  Not only did he\ncarry on the manufacture of lace, but the various branches of business\nconnected with it\u2014yarn-doubling, silk-spinning, net-making, and\nfinishing.  He also established at Tiverton an iron-foundry and works for\nthe manufacture of agricultural implements, which proved of great\nconvenience to the district.  It was a favourite idea of his that steam\npower was capable of being applied to perform all the heavy drudgery of\nlife, and he laboured for a long time at the invention of a steam-plough.\nIn 1832 he so far completed his invention as to be enabled to take out a\npatent for it; and Heathcoat\u2019s steam-plough, though it has since been\nsuperseded by Fowler\u2019s, was considered the best machine of the kind that\nhad up to that time been invented.\n\nMr. Heathcoat was a man of great natural gifts.  He possessed a sound\nunderstanding, quick perception, and a genius for business of the highest\norder.  With these he combined uprightness, honesty, and\nintegrity\u2014qualities which are the true glory of human character.  Himself\na diligent self-educator, he gave ready encouragement to deserving youths\nin his employment, stimulating their talents and fostering their\nenergies.  During his own busy life, he contrived to save time to master\nFrench and Italian, of which he acquired an accurate and grammatical\nknowledge.  His mind was largely stored with the results of a careful\nstudy of the best literature, and there were few subjects on which he had\nnot formed for himself shrewd and accurate views.  The two thousand\nworkpeople in his employment regarded him almost as a father, and he\ncarefully provided for their comfort and improvement.  Prosperity did not\nspoil him, as it does so many; nor close his heart against the claims of\nthe poor and struggling, who were always sure of his sympathy and help.\nTo provide for the education of the children of his workpeople, he built\nschools for them at a cost of about 6000_l._  He was also a man of\nsingularly cheerful and buoyant disposition, a favourite with men of all\nclasses and most admired and beloved by those who knew him best.\n\nIn 1831 the electors of Tiverton, of which town Mr. Heathcoat had proved\nhimself so genuine a benefactor, returned him to represent them in\nParliament, and he continued their member for nearly thirty years.\nDuring a great part of that time he had Lord Palmerston for his\ncolleague, and the noble lord, on more than one public occasion,\nexpressed the high regard which he entertained for his venerable friend.\nOn retiring from the representation in 1859, owing to advancing age and\nincreasing infirmities, thirteen hundred of his workmen presented him\nwith a silver inkstand and gold pen, in token of their esteem.  He\nenjoyed his leisure for only two more years, dying in January, 1861, at\nthe age of seventy-seven, and leaving behind him a character for probity,\nvirtue, manliness, and mechanical genius, of which his descendants may\nwell be proud.\n\nWe next turn to a career of a very different kind, that of the\nillustrious but unfortunate Jacquard, whose life also illustrates in a\nremarkable manner the influence which ingenious men, even of the humblest\nrank, may exercise upon the industry of a nation.  Jacquard was the son\nof a hard-working couple of Lyons, his father being a weaver, and his\nmother a pattern reader.  They were too poor to give him any but the most\nmeagre education.  When he was of age to learn a trade, his father placed\nhim with a book-binder.  An old clerk, who made up the master\u2019s accounts,\ngave Jacquard some lessons in mathematics.  He very shortly began to\ndisplay a remarkable turn for mechanics, and some of his contrivances\nquite astonished the old clerk, who advised Jacquard\u2019s father to put him\nto some other trade, in which his peculiar abilities might have better\nscope than in bookbinding.  He was accordingly put apprentice to a\ncutler; but was so badly treated by his master, that he shortly\nafterwards left his employment, on which he was placed with a\ntype-founder.\n\nHis parents dying, Jacquard found himself in a measure compelled to take\nto his father\u2019s two looms, and carry on the trade of a weaver.  He\nimmediately proceeded to improve the looms, and became so engrossed with\nhis inventions that he forgot his work, and very soon found himself at\nthe end of his means.  He then sold the looms to pay his debts, at the\nsame time that he took upon himself the burden of supporting a wife.  He\nbecame still poorer, and to satisfy his creditors, he next sold his\ncottage.  He tried to find employment, but in vain, people believing him\nto be an idler, occupied with mere dreams about his inventions.  At\nlength he obtained employment with a line-maker of Bresse, whither he\nwent, his wife remaining at Lyons, earning a precarious living by making\nstraw bonnets.\n\nWe hear nothing further of Jacquard for some years, but in the interval\nhe seems to have prosecuted his improvement in the drawloom for the\nbetter manufacture of figured fabrics; for, in 1790, he brought out his\ncontrivance for selecting the warp threads, which, when added to the\nloom, superseded the services of a draw-boy.  The adoption of this\nmachine was slow but steady, and in ten years after its introduction,\n4000 of them were found at work in Lyons.  Jacquard\u2019s pursuits were\nrudely interrupted by the Revolution, and, in 1792, we find him fighting\nin the ranks of the Lyonnaise Volunteers against the Army of the\nConvention under the command of Dubois Cranc\u00e9.  The city was taken;\nJacquard fled and joined the Army of the Rhine, where he rose to the rank\nof sergeant.  He might have remained a soldier, but that, his only son\nhaving been shot dead at his side, he deserted and returned to Lyons to\nrecover his wife.  He found her in a garret still employed at her old\ntrade of straw-bonnet making.  While living in concealment with her, his\nmind reverted to the inventions over which he had so long brooded in\nformer years; but he had no means wherewith to prosecute them.  Jacquard\nfound it necessary, however, to emerge from his hiding-place and try to\nfind some employment.  He succeeded in obtaining it with an intelligent\nmanufacturer, and while working by day he went on inventing by night.  It\nhad occurred to him that great improvements might still be introduced in\nlooms for figured goods, and he incidentally mentioned the subject one\nday to his master, regretting at the same time that his limited means\nprevented him from carrying out his ideas.  Happily his master\nappreciated the value of the suggestions, and with laudable generosity\nplaced a sum of money at his disposal, that he might prosecute the\nproposed improvements at his leisure.\n\nIn three months Jacquard had invented a loom to substitute mechanical\naction for the irksome and toilsome labour of the workman.  The loom was\nexhibited at the Exposition of National Industry at Paris in 1801, and\nobtained a bronze medal.  Jacquard was further honoured by a visit at\nLyons from the Minister Carnot, who desired to congratulate him in person\non the success of his invention.  In the following year the Society of\nArts in London offered a prize for the invention of a machine for\nmanufacturing fishing-nets and boarding-netting for ships.  Jacquard\nheard of this, and while walking one day in the fields according to his\ncustom, he turned the subject over in his mind, and contrived the plan of\na machine for the purpose.  His friend, the manufacturer, again furnished\nhim with the means of carrying out his idea, and in three weeks Jacquard\nhad completed his invention.\n\nJacquard\u2019s achievement having come to the knowledge of the Prefect of the\nDepartment, he was summoned before that functionary, and, on his\nexplanation of the working of the machine, a report on the subject was\nforwarded to the Emperor.  The inventor was forthwith summoned to Paris\nwith his machine, and brought into the presence of the Emperor, who\nreceived him with the consideration due to his genius.  The interview\nlasted two hours, during which Jacquard, placed at his ease by the\nEmperor\u2019s affability, explained to him the improvements which he proposed\nto make in the looms for weaving figured goods.  The result was, that he\nwas provided with apartments in the Conservatoire des Arts et M\u00e9tiers,\nwhere he had the use of the workshop during his stay, and was provided\nwith a suitable allowance for his maintenance.\n\nInstalled in the Conservatoire, Jacquard proceeded to complete the\ndetails of his improved loom.  He had the advantage of minutely\ninspecting the various exquisite pieces of mechanism contained in that\ngreat treasury of human ingenuity.  Among the machines which more\nparticularly attracted his attention, and eventually set him upon the\ntrack of his discovery, was a loom for weaving flowered silk, made by\nVaucanson the celebrated automaton-maker.\n\nVaucanson was a man of the highest order of constructive genius.  The\ninventive faculty was so strong in him that it may almost be said to have\namounted to a passion, and could not be restrained.  The saying that the\npoet is born, not made, applies with equal force to the inventor, who,\nthough indebted, like the other, to culture and improved opportunities,\nnevertheless contrives and constructs new combinations of machinery\nmainly to gratify his own instinct.  This was peculiarly the case with\nVaucanson; for his most elaborate works were not so much distinguished\nfor their utility as for the curious ingenuity which they displayed.\nWhile a mere boy attending Sunday conversations with his mother, he\namused himself by watching, through the chinks of a partition wall, part\nof the movements of a clock in the adjoining apartment.  He endeavoured\nto understand them, and by brooding over the subject, after several\nmonths he discovered the principle of the escapement.\n\nFrom that time the subject of mechanical invention took complete\npossession of him.  With some rude tools which he contrived, he made a\nwooden clock that marked the hours with remarkable exactness; while he\nmade for a miniature chapel the figures of some angels which waved their\nwings, and some priests that made several ecclesiastical movements.  With\nthe view of executing some other automata he had designed, he proceeded\nto study anatomy, music, and mechanics, which occupied him for several\nyears.  The sight of the Flute-player in the Gardens of the Tuileries\ninspired him with the resolution to invent a similar figure that should\n_play_; and after several years\u2019 study and labour, though struggling with\nillness, he succeeded in accomplishing his object.  He next produced a\nFlageolet-player, which was succeeded by a Duck\u2014the most ingenious of his\ncontrivances,\u2014which swam, dabbled, drank, and quacked like a real duck.\nHe next invented an asp, employed in the tragedy of \u2018Cl\u00e9op\u00e2tre,\u2019 which\nhissed and darted at the bosom of the actress.\n\nVaucanson, however, did not confine himself merely to the making of\nautomata.  By reason of his ingenuity, Cardinal de Fleury appointed him\ninspector of the silk manufactories of France; and he was no sooner in\noffice, than with his usual irrepressible instinct to invent, he\nproceeded to introduce improvements in silk machinery.  One of these was\nhis mill for thrown silk, which so excited the anger of the Lyons\noperatives, who feared the loss of employment through its means, that\nthey pelted him with stones and had nearly killed him.  He nevertheless\nwent on inventing, and next produced a machine for weaving flowered\nsilks, with a contrivance for giving a dressing to the thread, so as to\nrender that of each bobbin or skein of an equal thickness.\n\nWhen Vaucanson died in 1782, after a long illness, he bequeathed his\ncollection of machines to the Queen, who seems to have set but small\nvalue on them, and they were shortly after dispersed.  But his machine\nfor weaving flowered silks was happily preserved in the Conservatoire des\nArts et M\u00e9tiers, and there Jacquard found it among the many curious and\ninteresting articles in the collection.  It proved of the utmost value to\nhim, for it immediately set him on the track of the principal\nmodification which he introduced in his improved loom.\n\nOne of the chief features of Vaucanson\u2019s machine was a pierced cylinder\nwhich, according to the holes it presented when revolved, regulated the\nmovement of certain needles, and caused the threads of the warp to\ndeviate in such a manner as to produce a given design, though only of a\nsimple character.  Jacquard seized upon the suggestion with avidity, and,\nwith the genius of the true inventor, at once proceeded to improve upon\nit.  At the end of a month his weaving-machine was completed.  To the\ncylinder of Vancanson, he added an endless piece of pasteboard pierced\nwith a number of holes, through which the threads of the warp were\npresented to the weaver; while another piece of mechanism indicated to\nthe workman the colour of the shuttle which he ought to throw.  Thus the\ndrawboy and the reader of designs were both at once superseded.  The\nfirst use Jacquard made of his new loom was to weave with it several\nyards of rich stuff which he presented to the Empress Josephine.\nNapoleon was highly gratified with the result of the inventor\u2019s labours,\nand ordered a number of the looms to be constructed by the best workmen,\nafter Jacquard\u2019s model, and presented to him; after which he returned to\nLyons.\n\nThere he experienced the frequent fate of inventors.  He was regarded by\nhis townsmen as an enemy, and treated by them as Kay, Hargreaves, and\nArkwright had been in Lancashire.  The workmen looked upon the new loom\nas fatal to their trade, and feared lest it should at once take the bread\nfrom their mouths.  A tumultuous meeting was held on the Place des\nTerreaux, when it was determined to destroy the machines.  This was\nhowever prevented by the military.  But Jacquard was denounced and hanged\nin effigy.  The \u2018Conseil des prud\u2019hommes\u2019 in vain endeavoured to allay\nthe excitement, and they were themselves denounced.  At length, carried\naway by the popular impulse, the prud\u2019hommes, most of whom had been\nworkmen and sympathized with the class, had one of Jacquard\u2019s looms\ncarried off and publicly broken in pieces.  Riots followed, in one of\nwhich Jacquard was dragged along the quay by an infuriated mob intending\nto drown him, but he was rescued.\n\nThe great value of the Jacquard loom, however, could not be denied, and\nits success was only a question of time.  Jacquard was urged by some\nEnglish silk manufacturers to pass over into England and settle there.\nBut notwithstanding the harsh and cruel treatment he had received at the\nhands of his townspeople, his patriotism was too strong to permit him to\naccept their offer.  The English manufacturers, however, adopted his\nloom.  Then it was, and only then, that Lyons, threatened to be beaten\nout of the field, adopted it with eagerness; and before long the Jacquard\nmachine was employed in nearly all kinds of weaving.  The result proved\nthat the fears of the workpeople had been entirely unfounded.  Instead of\ndiminishing employment, the Jacquard loom increased it at least tenfold.\nThe number of persons occupied in the manufacture of figured goods in\nLyons, was stated by M. Leon Faucher to have been 60,000 in 1833; and\nthat number has since been considerably increased.\n\nAs for Jacquard himself, the rest of his life passed peacefully,\nexcepting that the workpeople who dragged him along the quay to drown him\nwere shortly after found eager to bear him in triumph along the same\nroute in celebration of his birthday.  But his modesty would not permit\nhim to take part in such a demonstration.  The Municipal Council of Lyons\nproposed to him that he should devote himself to improving his machine\nfor the benefit of the local industry, to which Jacquard agreed in\nconsideration of a moderate pension, the amount of which was fixed by\nhimself.  After perfecting his invention accordingly, he retired at sixty\nto end his days at Oullins, his father\u2019s native place.  It was there that\nhe received, in 1820, the decoration of the Legion of Honour; and it was\nthere that he died and was buried in 1834.  A statue was erected to his\nmemory, but his relatives remained in poverty; and twenty years after his\ndeath, his two nieces were under the necessity of selling for a few\nhundred francs the gold medal bestowed upon their uncle by Louis XVIII.\n\u201cSuch,\u201d says a French writer, \u201cwas the gratitude of the manufacturing\ninterests of Lyons to the man to whom it owes so large a portion of its\nsplendour.\u201d\n\nIt would be easy to extend the martyrology of inventors, and to cite the\nnames of other equally distinguished men who have, without any\ncorresponding advantage to themselves, contributed to the industrial\nprogress of the age,\u2014for it has too often happened that genius has\nplanted the tree, of which patient dulness has gathered the fruit; but we\nwill confine ourselves for the present to a brief account of an inventor\nof comparatively recent date, by way of illustration of the difficulties\nand privations which it is so frequently the lot of mechanical genius to\nsurmount.  We allude to Joshua Heilmann, the inventor of the Combing\nMachine.\n\nHeilmann was born in 1796 at Mulhouse, the principal seat of the Alsace\ncotton manufacture.  His father was engaged in that business; and Joshua\nentered his office at fifteen.  He remained there for two years,\nemploying his spare time in mechanical drawing.  He afterwards spent two\nyears in his uncle\u2019s banking-house in Paris, prosecuting the study of\nmathematics in the evenings.  Some of his relatives having established a\nsmall cotton-spinning factory at Mulhouse, young Heilmann was placed with\nMessrs. Tissot and Rey, at Paris, to learn the practice of that firm.  At\nthe same time he became a student at the Conservatoire des Arts et\nM\u00e9tiers, where he attended the lectures, and studied the machines in the\nmuseum.  He also took practical lessons in turning from a toymaker.\nAfter some time, thus diligently occupied, he returned to Alsace, to\nsuperintend the construction of the machinery for the new factory at\nVieux-Thann, which was shortly finished and set to work.  The operations\nof the manufactory were, however, seriously affected by a commercial\ncrisis which occurred, and it passed into other hands, on which Heilmann\nreturned to his family at Mulhouse.\n\nHe had in the mean time been occupying much of his leisure with\ninventions, more particularly in connection with the weaving of cotton\nand the preparation of the staple for spinning.  One of his earliest\ncontrivances was an embroidering-machine, in which twenty needles were\nemployed, working simultaneously; and he succeeded in accomplishing his\nobject after about six months\u2019 labour.  For this invention, which he\nexhibited at the Exposition of 1834, he received a gold medal, and was\ndecorated with the Legion of Honour.  Other inventions quickly\nfollowed\u2014an improved loom, a machine for measuring and folding fabrics,\nan improvement of the \u201cbobbin and fly frames\u201d of the English spinners,\nand a weft winding-machine, with various improvements in the machinery\nfor preparing, spinning, and weaving silk and cotton.  One of his most\ningenious contrivances was his loom for weaving simultaneously two pieces\nof velvet or other piled fabric, united by the pile common to both, with\na knife and traversing apparatus for separating the two fabrics when\nwoven.  But by far the most beautiful and ingenious of his inventions was\nthe combing-machine, the history of which we now proceed shortly to\ndescribe.\n\nHeilmann had for some years been diligently studying the contrivance of a\nmachine for combing long-stapled cotton, the ordinary carding-machine\nbeing found ineffective in preparing the raw material for spinning,\nespecially the finer sorts of yarn, besides causing considerable waste.\nTo avoid these imperfections, the cotton-spinners of Alsace offered a\nprize of 5000 francs for an improved combing-machine, and Heilmann\nimmediately proceeded to compete for the reward.  He was not stimulated\nby the desire of gain, for he was comparatively rich, having acquired a\nconsiderable fortune by his wife.  It was a saying of his that \u201cone will\nnever accomplish great things who is constantly asking himself, how much\ngain will this bring me?\u201d  What mainly impelled him was the irrepressible\ninstinct of the inventor, who no sooner has a mechanical problem set\nbefore him than he feels impelled to undertake its solution.  The problem\nin this case was, however, much more difficult than he had anticipated.\nThe close study of the subject occupied him for several years, and the\nexpenses in which he became involved in connection with it were so great,\nthat his wife\u2019s fortune was shortly swallowed up, and he was reduced to\npoverty, without being able to bring his machine to perfection.  From\nthat time he was under the necessity of relying mainly on the help of his\nfriends to enable him to prosecute the invention.\n\nWhile still struggling with poverty and difficulties, Heilmann\u2019s wife\ndied, believing her husband ruined; and shortly after he proceeded to\nEngland and settled for a time at Manchester, still labouring at his\nmachine.  He had a model made for him by the eminent machine-makers,\nSharpe, Roberts, and Company; but still he could not make it work\nsatisfactorily, and he was at length brought almost to the verge of\ndespair.  He returned to France to visit his family, still pursuing his\nidea, which had obtained complete possession of his mind.  While sitting\nby his hearth one evening, meditating upon the hard fate of inventors and\nthe misfortunes in which their families so often become involved, he\nfound himself almost unconsciously watching his daughters coming their\nlong hair and drawing it out at full length between their fingers.  The\nthought suddenly struck him that if he could successfully imitate in a\nmachine the process of combing out the longest hair and forcing back the\nshort by reversing the action of the comb, it might serve to extricate\nhim from his difficulty.  It may be remembered that this incident in the\nlife of Heilmann has been made the subject of a beautiful picture by Mr.\nElmore, R.A., which was exhibited at the Royal Academy Exhibition of\n1862.\n\nUpon this idea he proceeded, introduced the apparently simple but really\nmost intricate process of machine-combing, and after great labour he\nsucceeded in perfecting the invention.  The singular beauty of the\nprocess can only be appreciated by those who have witnessed the machine\nat work, when the similarity of its movements to that of combing the\nhair, which suggested the invention, is at once apparent.  The machine\nhas been described as \u201cacting with almost the delicacy of touch of the\nhuman fingers.\u201d  It combs the lock of cotton _at both ends_, places the\nfibres exactly parallel with each other, separates the long from the\nshort, and unites the long fibres in one sliver and the short ones in\nanother.  In fine, the machine not only acts with the delicate accuracy\nof the human fingers, but apparently with the delicate intelligence of\nthe human mind.\n\nThe chief commercial value of the invention consisted in its rendering\nthe commoner sorts of cotton available for fine spinning.  The\nmanufacturers were thereby enabled to select the most suitable fibres for\nhigh-priced fabrics, and to produce the finer sorts of yarn in much\nlarger quantities.  It became possible by its means to make thread so\nfine that a length of 334 miles might be spun from a single pound weight\nof the prepared cotton, and, worked up into the finer sorts of lace, the\noriginal shilling\u2019s worth of cotton-wool, before it passed into the hands\nof the consumer, might thus be increased to the value of between 300_l._\nand 400_l._ sterling.\n\nThe beauty and utility of Heilmann\u2019s invention were at once appreciated\nby the English cotton-spinners.  Six Lancashire firms united and\npurchased the patent for cotton-spinning for England for the sum of\n30,000_l._; the wool-spinners paid the same sum for the privilege of\napplying the process to wool; and the Messrs. Marshall, of Leeds,\n20,000_l._ for the privilege of applying it to flax.  Thus wealth\nsuddenly flowed in upon poor Heilmann at last.  But he did not live to\nenjoy it.  Scarcely had his long labours been crowned by success than he\ndied, and his son, who had shared in his privations, shortly followed\nhim.\n\nIt is at the price of lives such as these that the wonders of\ncivilisation are achieved.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\nHE GREAT POTTERS\u2014PALISSY, B\u00d6TTGHER, WEDGWOOD.\n\n\n    \u201cPatience is the finest and worthiest part of fortitude, and the\n    rarest too . . . Patience lies at the root of all pleasures, as well\n    as of all powers.  Hope herself ceases to be happiness when\n    Impatience companions her.\u201d\u2014_John Ruskin_.\n\n    \u201cIl y a vingt et cinq ans passez qu\u2019il ne me fut monstr\u00e9 une coupe de\n    terre, tourn\u00e9e et esmaill\u00e9e d\u2019une telle beaut\u00e9 que . . . d\u00e8slors,\n    sans avoir esgard que je n\u2019avois nulle connoissance des terres\n    argileuses, je me mis a chercher les \u00e9maux, comme un homme qui taste\n    en t\u00e9n\u00e8bres.\u201d\u2014_Bernard Palissy_.\n\nIT so happens that the history of Pottery furnishes some of the most\nremarkable instances of patient perseverance to be found in the whole\nrange of biography.  Of these we select three of the most striking, as\nexhibited in the lives of Bernard Palissy, the Frenchman; Johann\nFriedrich B\u00f6ttgher, the German; and Josiah Wedgwood, the Englishman.\n\nThough the art of making common vessels of clay was known to most of the\nancient nations, that of manufacturing enamelled earthenware was much\nless common.  It was, however, practised by the ancient Etruscans,\nspecimens of whose ware are still to be found in antiquarian collections.\nBut it became a lost art, and was only recovered at a comparatively\nrecent date.  The Etruscan ware was very valuable in ancient times, a\nvase being worth its weight in gold in the time of Augustus.  The Moors\nseem to have preserved amongst them a knowledge of the art, which they\nwere found practising in the island of Majorca when it was taken by the\nPisans in 1115. Among the spoil carried away were many plates of Moorish\nearthenware, which, in token of triumph, were embedded in the walls of\nseveral of the ancient churches of Pisa, where they are to be seen to\nthis day.  About two centuries later the Italians began to make an\nimitation enamelled ware, which they named Majolica, after the Moorish\nplace of manufacture.\n\nThe reviver or re-discoverer of the art of enamelling in Italy was Luca\ndella Robbia, a Florentine sculptor.  Vasari describes him as a man of\nindefatigable perseverance, working with his chisel all day and\npractising drawing during the greater part of the night.  He pursued the\nlatter art with so much assiduity, that when working late, to prevent his\nfeet from freezing with the cold, he was accustomed to provide himself\nwith a basket of shavings, in which he placed them to keep himself warm\nand enable him to proceed with his drawings.  \u201cNor,\u201d says Vasari, \u201cam I\nin the least astonished at this, since no man ever becomes distinguished\nin any art whatsoever who does not early begin to acquire the power of\nsupporting heat, cold, hunger, thirst, and other discomforts; whereas\nthose persons deceive themselves altogether who suppose that when taking\ntheir ease and surrounded by all the enjoyments of the world they may\nstill attain to honourable distinction,\u2014for it is not by sleeping, but by\nwaking, watching, and labouring continually, that proficiency is attained\nand reputation acquired.\u201d\n\nBut Luca, notwithstanding all his application and industry, did not\nsucceed in earning enough money by sculpture to enable him to live by the\nart, and the idea occurred to him that he might nevertheless be able to\npursue his modelling in some material more facile and less dear than\nmarble.  Hence it was that he began to make his models in clay, and to\nendeavour by experiment so to coat and bake the clay as to render those\nmodels durable.  After many trials he at length discovered a method of\ncovering the clay with a material, which, when exposed to the intense\nheat of a furnace, became converted into an almost imperishable enamel.\nHe afterwards made the further discovery of a method of imparting colour\nto the enamel, thus greatly adding to its beauty.\n\nThe fame of Luca\u2019s work extended throughout Europe, and specimens of his\nart became widely diffused.  Many of them were sent into France and\nSpain, where they were greatly prized.  At that time coarse brown jars\nand pipkins were almost the only articles of earthenware produced in\nFrance; and this continued to be the case, with comparatively small\nimprovement, until the time of Palissy\u2014a man who toiled and fought\nagainst stupendous difficulties with a heroism that sheds a glow almost\nof romance over the events of his chequered life.\n\nBernard Palissy is supposed to have been born in the south of France, in\nthe diocese of Agen, about the year 1510.  His father was probably a\nworker in glass, to which trade Bernard was brought up.  His parents were\npoor people\u2014too poor to give him the benefit of any school education.  \u201cI\nhad no other books,\u201d said he afterwards, \u201cthan heaven and earth, which\nare open to all.\u201d  He learnt, however, the art of glass-painting, to\nwhich he added that of drawing, and afterwards reading and writing.\n\nWhen about eighteen years old, the glass trade becoming decayed, Palissy\nleft his father\u2019s house, with his wallet on his back, and went out into\nthe world to search whether there was any place in it for him.  He first\ntravelled towards Gascony, working at his trade where he could find\nemployment, and occasionally occupying part of his time in\nland-measuring.  Then he travelled northwards, sojourning for various\nperiods at different places in France, Flanders, and Lower Germany.\n\nThus Palissy occupied about ten more years of his life, after which he\nmarried, and ceased from his wanderings, settling down to practise\nglass-painting and land-measuring at the small town of Saintes, in the\nLower Charente.  There children were born to him; and not only his\nresponsibilities but his expenses increased, while, do what he could, his\nearnings remained too small for his needs.  It was therefore necessary\nfor him to bestir himself.  Probably he felt capable of better things\nthan drudging in an employment so precarious as glass-painting; and hence\nhe was induced to turn his attention to the kindred art of painting and\nenamelling earthenware.  Yet on this subject he was wholly ignorant; for\nhe had never seen earth baked before he began his operations.  He had\ntherefore everything to learn by himself, without any helper.  But he was\nfull of hope, eager to learn, of unbounded perseverance and inexhaustible\npatience.\n\nIt was the sight of an elegant cup of Italian manufacture\u2014most probably\none of Luca della Robbia\u2019s make\u2014which first set Palissy a-thinking about\nthe new art.  A circumstance so apparently insignificant would have\nproduced no effect upon an ordinary mind, or even upon Palissy himself at\nan ordinary time; but occurring as it did when he was meditating a change\nof calling, he at once became inflamed with the desire of imitating it.\nThe sight of this cup disturbed his whole existence; and the\ndetermination to discover the enamel with which it was glazed\nthenceforward possessed him like a passion.  Had he been a single man he\nmight have travelled into Italy in search of the secret; but he was bound\nto his wife and his children, and could not leave them; so he remained by\ntheir side groping in the dark in the hope of finding out the process of\nmaking and enamelling earthenware.\n\nAt first he could merely guess the materials of which the enamel was\ncomposed; and he proceeded to try all manner of experiments to ascertain\nwhat they really were.  He pounded all the substances which he supposed\nwere likely to produce it.  Then he bought common earthen pots, broke\nthem into pieces, and, spreading his compounds over them, subjected them\nto the heat of a furnace which he erected for the purpose of baking them.\nHis experiments failed; and the results were broken pots and a waste of\nfuel, drugs, time, and labour.  Women do not readily sympathise with\nexperiments whose only tangible effect is to dissipate the means of\nbuying clothes and food for their children; and Palissy\u2019s wife, however\ndutiful in other respects, could not be reconciled to the purchase of\nmore earthen pots, which seemed to her to be bought only to be broken.\nYet she must needs submit; for Palissy had become thoroughly possessed by\nthe determination to master the secret of the enamel, and would not leave\nit alone.\n\nFor many successive months and years Palissy pursued his experiments.\nThe first furnace having proved a failure, he proceeded to erect another\nout of doors.  There he burnt more wood, spoiled more drugs and pots, and\nlost more time, until poverty stared him and his family in the face.\n\u201cThus,\u201d said he, \u201cI fooled away several years, with sorrow and sighs,\nbecause I could not at all arrive at my intention.\u201d  In the intervals of\nhis experiments he occasionally worked at his former callings, painting\non glass, drawing portraits, and measuring land; but his earnings from\nthese sources were very small.  At length he was no longer able to carry\non his experiments in his own furnace because of the heavy cost of fuel;\nbut he bought more potsherds, broke them up as before into three or four\nhundred pieces, and, covering them with chemicals, carried them to a\ntile-work a league and a half distant from Saintes, there to be baked in\nan ordinary furnace.  After the operation he went to see the pieces taken\nout; and, to his dismay, the whole of the experiments were failures.  But\nthough disappointed, he was not yet defeated; for he determined on the\nvery spot to \u201cbegin afresh.\u201d\n\nHis business as a land-measurer called him away for a brief season from\nthe pursuit of his experiments.  In conformity with an edict of the\nState, it became necessary to survey the salt-marshes in the\nneighbourhood of Saintes for the purpose of levying the land-tax.\nPalissy was employed to make this survey, and prepare the requisite map.\nThe work occupied him some time, and he was doubtless well paid for it;\nbut no sooner was it completed than he proceeded, with redoubled zeal, to\nfollow up his old investigations \u201cin the track of the enamels.\u201d  He began\nby breaking three dozen new earthen pots, the pieces of which he covered\nwith different materials which he had compounded, and then took them to a\nneighbouring glass-furnace to be baked.  The results gave him a glimmer\nof hope.  The greater heat of the glass-furnace had melted some of the\ncompounds; but though Palissy searched diligently for the white enamel he\ncould find none.\n\nFor two more years he went on experimenting without any satisfactory\nresult, until the proceeds of his survey of the salt-marshes having\nbecome nearly spent, he was reduced to poverty again.  But he resolved to\nmake a last great effort; and he began by breaking more pots than ever.\nMore than three hundred pieces of pottery covered with his compounds were\nsent to the glass-furnace; and thither he himself went to watch the\nresults of the baking.  Four hours passed, during which he watched; and\nthen the furnace was opened.  The material on _one_ only of the three\nhundred pieces of potsherd had melted, and it was taken out to cool.  As\nit hardened, it grew white-white and polished!  The piece of potsherd was\ncovered with white enamel, described by Palissy as \u201csingularly\nbeautiful!\u201d  And beautiful it must no doubt have been in his eyes after\nall his weary waiting.  He ran home with it to his wife, feeling himself,\nas he expressed it, quite a new creature.  But the prize was not yet\nwon\u2014far from it.  The partial success of this intended last effort merely\nhad the effect of luring him on to a succession of further experiments\nand failures.\n\nIn order that he might complete the invention, which he now believed to\nbe at hand, he resolved to build for himself a glass-furnace near his\ndwelling, where he might carry on his operations in secret.  He proceeded\nto build the furnace with his own hands, carrying the bricks from the\nbrick-field upon his back.  He was bricklayer, labourer, and all.  From\nseven to eight more months passed.  At last the furnace was built and\nready for use.  Palissy had in the mean time fashioned a number of\nvessels of clay in readiness for the laying on of the enamel.  After\nbeing subjected to a preliminary process of baking, they were covered\nwith the enamel compound, and again placed in the furnace for the grand\ncrucial experiment.  Although his means were nearly exhausted, Palissy\nhad been for some time accumulating a great store of fuel for the final\neffort; and he thought it was enough.  At last the fire was lit, and the\noperation proceeded.  All day he sat by the furnace, feeding it with\nfuel.  He sat there watching and feeding all through the long night.  But\nthe enamel did not melt.  The sun rose upon his labours.  His wife\nbrought him a portion of the scanty morning meal,\u2014for he would not stir\nfrom the furnace, into which he continued from time to time to heave more\nfuel.  The second day passed, and still the enamel did not melt.  The sun\nset, and another night passed.  The pale, haggard, unshorn, baffled yet\nnot beaten Palissy sat by his furnace eagerly looking for the melting of\nthe enamel.  A third day and night passed\u2014a fourth, a fifth, and even a\nsixth,\u2014yes, for six long days and nights did the unconquerable Palissy\nwatch and toil, fighting against hope; and still the enamel would not\nmelt.\n\nIt then occurred to him that there might be some defect in the materials\nfor the enamel\u2014perhaps something wanting in the flux; so he set to work\nto pound and compound fresh materials for a new experiment.  Thus two or\nthree more weeks passed.  But how to buy more pots?\u2014for those which he\nhad made with his own hands for the purposes of the first experiment were\nby long baking irretrievably spoilt for the purposes of a second.  His\nmoney was now all spent; but he could borrow.  His character was still\ngood, though his wife and the neighbours thought him foolishly wasting\nhis means in futile experiments.  Nevertheless he succeeded.  He borrowed\nsufficient from a friend to enable him to buy more fuel and more pots,\nand he was again ready for a further experiment.  The pots were covered\nwith the new compound, placed in the furnace, and the fire was again lit.\n\nIt was the last and most desperate experiment of the whole.  The fire\nblazed up; the heat became intense; but still the enamel did not melt.\nThe fuel began to run short!  How to keep up the fire?  There were the\ngarden palings: these would burn.  They must be sacrificed rather than\nthat the great experiment should fail.  The garden palings were pulled up\nand cast into the furnace.  They were burnt in vain!  The enamel had not\nyet melted.  Ten minutes more heat might do it.  Fuel must be had at\nwhatever cost.  There remained the household furniture and shelving.  A\ncrashing noise was heard in the house; and amidst the screams of his wife\nand children, who now feared Palissy\u2019s reason was giving way, the tables\nwere seized, broken up, and heaved into the furnace.  The enamel had not\nmelted yet!  There remained the shelving.  Another noise of the wrenching\nof timber was heard within the house; and the shelves were torn down and\nhurled after the furniture into the fire.  Wife and children then rushed\nfrom the house, and went frantically through the town, calling out that\npoor Palissy had gone mad, and was breaking up his very furniture for\nfirewood! {74}\n\nFor an entire month his shirt had not been off his back, and he was\nutterly worn out\u2014wasted with toil, anxiety, watching, and want of food.\nHe was in debt, and seemed on the verge of ruin.  But he had at length\nmastered the secret; for the last great burst of heat had melted the\nenamel.  The common brown household jars, when taken out of the furnace\nafter it had become cool, were found covered with a white glaze!  For\nthis he could endure reproach, contumely, and scorn, and wait patiently\nfor the opportunity of putting his discovery into practice as better days\ncame round.\n\nPalissy next hired a potter to make some earthen vessels after designs\nwhich he furnished; while he himself proceeded to model some medallions\nin clay for the purpose of enamelling them.  But how to maintain himself\nand his family until the wares were made and ready for sale?  Fortunately\nthere remained one man in Saintes who still believed in the integrity, if\nnot in the judgment, of Palissy\u2014an inn-keeper, who agreed to feed and\nlodge him for six months, while he went on with his manufacture.  As for\nthe working potter whom he had hired, Palissy soon found that he could\nnot pay him the stipulated wages.  Having already stripped his dwelling,\nhe could but strip himself; and he accordingly parted with some of his\nclothes to the potter, in part payment of the wages which he owed him.\n\nPalissy next erected an improved furnace, but he was so unfortunate as to\nbuild part of the inside with flints.  When it was heated, these flints\ncracked and burst, and the spicul\u00e6 were scattered over the pieces of\npottery, sticking to them.  Though the enamel came out right, the work\nwas irretrievably spoilt, and thus six more months\u2019 labour was lost.\nPersons were found willing to buy the articles at a low price,\nnotwithstanding the injury they had sustained; but Palissy would not sell\nthem, considering that to have done so would be to \u201cdecry and abate his\nhonour;\u201d and so he broke in pieces the entire batch.  \u201cNevertheless,\u201d\nsays he, \u201chope continued to inspire me, and I held on manfully;\nsometimes, when visitors called, I entertained them with pleasantry,\nwhile I was really sad at heart. . . . Worst of all the sufferings I had\nto endure, were the mockeries and persecutions of those of my own\nhousehold, who were so unreasonable as to expect me to execute work\nwithout the means of doing so.  For years my furnaces were without any\ncovering or protection, and while attending them I have been for nights\nat the mercy of the wind and the rain, without help or consolation, save\nit might be the wailing of cats on the one side and the howling of dogs\non the other.  Sometimes the tempest would beat so furiously against the\nfurnaces that I was compelled to leave them and seek shelter within\ndoors.  Drenched by rain, and in no better plight than if I had been\ndragged through mire, I have gone to lie down at midnight or at daybreak,\nstumbling into the house without a light, and reeling from one side to\nanother as if I had been drunken, but really weary with watching and\nfilled with sorrow at the loss of my labour after such long toiling.  But\nalas! my home proved no refuge; for, drenched and besmeared as I was, I\nfound in my chamber a second persecution worse than the first, which\nmakes me even now marvel that I was not utterly consumed by my many\nsorrows.\u201d\n\nAt this stage of his affairs, Palissy became melancholy and almost\nhopeless, and seems to have all but broken down.  He wandered gloomily\nabout the fields near Saintes, his clothes hanging in tatters, and\nhimself worn to a skeleton.  In a curious passage in his writings he\ndescribes how that the calves of his legs had disappeared and were no\nlonger able with the help of garters to hold up his stockings, which fell\nabout his heels when he walked. {77}  The family continued to reproach\nhim for his recklessness, and his neighbours cried shame upon him for his\nobstinate folly.  So he returned for a time to his former calling; and\nafter about a year\u2019s diligent labour, during which he earned bread for\nhis household and somewhat recovered his character among his neighbours,\nhe again resumed his darling enterprise.  But though he had already spent\nabout ten years in the search for the enamel, it cost him nearly eight\nmore years of experimental plodding before he perfected his invention.\nHe gradually learnt dexterity and certainty of result by experience,\ngathering practical knowledge out of many failures.  Every mishap was a\nfresh lesson to him, teaching him something new about the nature of\nenamels, the qualities of argillaceous earths, the tempering of clays,\nand the construction and management of furnaces.\n\nAt last, after about sixteen years\u2019 labour, Palissy took heart and called\nhimself Potter.  These sixteen years had been his term of apprenticeship\nto the art; during which he had wholly to teach himself, beginning at the\nvery beginning.  He was now able to sell his wares and thereby maintain\nhis family in comfort.  But he never rested satisfied with what he had\naccomplished.  He proceeded from one step of improvement to another;\nalways aiming at the greatest perfection possible.  He studied natural\nobjects for patterns, and with such success that the great Buffon spoke\nof him as \u201cso great a naturalist as Nature only can produce.\u201d  His\nornamental pieces are now regarded as rare gems in the cabinets of\nvirtuosi, and sell at almost fabulous prices. {78}  The ornaments on them\nare for the most part accurate models from life, of wild animals,\nlizards, and plants, found in the fields about Saintes, and tastefully\ncombined as ornaments into the texture of a plate or vase.  When Palissy\nhad reached the height of his art he styled himself \u201cOuvrier de Terre et\nInventeur des Rustics Figulines.\u201d\n\nWe have not, however, come to an end of the sufferings of Palissy,\nrespecting which a few words remain to be said.  Being a Protestant, at a\ntime when religious persecution waxed hot in the south of France, and\nexpressing his views without fear, he was regarded as a dangerous\nheretic.  His enemies having informed against him, his house at Saintes\nwas entered by the officers of \u201cjustice,\u201d and his workshop was thrown\nopen to the rabble, who entered and smashed his pottery, while he himself\nwas hurried off by night and cast into a dungeon at Bordeaux, to wait his\nturn at the stake or the scaffold.  He was condemned to be burnt; but a\npowerful noble, the Constable de Montmorency, interposed to save his\nlife\u2014not because he had any special regard for Palissy or his religion,\nbut because no other artist could be found capable of executing the\nenamelled pavement for his magnificent ch\u00e2teau then in course of erection\nat Ecouen, about four leagues from Paris.  By his influence an edict was\nissued appointing Palissy Inventor of Rustic Figulines to the King and to\nthe Constable, which had the effect of immediately removing him from the\njurisdiction of Bourdeaux.  He was accordingly liberated, and returned to\nhis home at Saintes only to find it devastated and broken up. His\nworkshop was open to the sky, and his works lay in ruins.  Shaking the\ndust of Saintes from his feet he left the place never to return to it,\nand removed to Paris to carry on the works ordered of him by the\nConstable and the Queen Mother, being lodged in the Tuileries {79} while\nso occupied.\n\nBesides carrying on the manufacture of pottery, with the aid of his two\nsons, Palissy, during the latter part of his life, wrote and published\nseveral books on the potter\u2019s art, with a view to the instruction of his\ncountrymen, and in order that they might avoid the many mistakes which he\nhimself had made.  He also wrote on agriculture, on fortification, and\nnatural history, on which latter subject he even delivered lectures to a\nlimited number of persons.  He waged war against astrology, alchemy,\nwitchcraft, and like impostures.  This stirred up against him many\nenemies, who pointed the finger at him as a heretic, and he was again\narrested for his religion and imprisoned in the Bastille.  He was now an\nold man of seventy-eight, trembling on the verge of the grave, but his\nspirit was as brave as ever.  He was threatened with death unless he\nrecanted; but he was as obstinate in holding to his religion as he had\nbeen in hunting out the secret of the enamel.  The king, Henry III., even\nwent to see him in prison to induce him to abjure his faith.  \u201cMy good\nman,\u201d said the King, \u201cyou have now served my mother and myself for\nforty-five years.  We have put up with your adhering to your religion\namidst fires and massacres: now I am so pressed by the Guise party as\nwell as by my own people, that I am constrained to leave you in the hands\nof your enemies, and to-morrow you will be burnt unless you become\nconverted.\u201d  \u201cSire,\u201d answered the unconquerable old man, \u201cI am ready to\ngive my life for the glory of God.  You have said many times that you\nhave pity on me; and now I have pity on you, who have pronounced the\nwords _I am constrained_!  It is not spoken like a king, sire; it is what\nyou, and those who constrain you, the Guisards and all your people, can\nnever effect upon me, for I know how to die.\u201d {80a}  Palissy did indeed\ndie shortly after, a martyr, though not at the stake.  He died in the\nBastille, after enduring about a year\u2019s imprisonment,\u2014there peacefully\nterminating a life distinguished for heroic labour, extraordinary\nendurance, inflexible rectitude, and the exhibition of many rare and\nnoble virtues. {80b}\n\nThe life of John Frederick B\u00f6ttgher, the inventor of hard porcelain,\npresents a remarkable contrast to that of Palissy; though it also\ncontains many points of singular and almost romantic interest.  B\u00f6ttgher\nwas born at Schleiz, in the Voightland, in 1685, and at twelve years of\nage was placed apprentice with an apothecary at Berlin.  He seems to have\nbeen early fascinated by chemistry, and occupied most of his leisure in\nmaking experiments.  These for the most part tended in one direction\u2014the\nart of converting common on metals into gold.  At the end of several\nyears, B\u00f6ttgher pretended to have discovered the universal solvent of the\nalchemists, and professed that he had made gold by its means.  He\nexhibited its powers before his master, the apothecary Z\u00f6rn, and by some\ntrick or other succeeded in making him and several other witnesses\nbelieve that he had actually converted copper into gold.\n\nThe news spread abroad that the apothecary\u2019s apprentice had discovered\nthe grand secret, and crowds collected about the shop to get a sight of\nthe wonderful young \u201cgold-cook.\u201d  The king himself expressed a wish to\nsee and converse with him, and when Frederick I. was presented with a\npiece of the gold pretended to have been converted from copper, he was so\ndazzled with the prospect of securing an infinite quantity of it\u2014Prussia\nbeing then in great straits for money\u2014that he determined to secure\nB\u00f6ttgher and employ him to make gold for him within the strong fortress\nof Spandau.  But the young apothecary, suspecting the king\u2019s intention,\nand probably fearing detection, at once resolved on flight, and he\nsucceeded in getting across the frontier into Saxony.\n\nA reward of a thousand thalers was offered for B\u00f6ttgher\u2019s apprehension,\nbut in vain.  He arrived at Wittenberg, and appealed for protection to\nthe Elector of Saxony, Frederick Augustus I. (King of Poland), surnamed\n\u201cthe Strong.\u201d  Frederick was himself very much in want of money at the\ntime, and he was overjoyed at the prospect of obtaining gold in any\nquantity by the aid of the young alchemist.  B\u00f6ttgher was accordingly\nconveyed in secret to Dresden, accompanied by a royal escort.  He had\nscarcely left Wittenberg when a battalion of Prussian grenadiers appeared\nbefore the gates demanding the gold-maker\u2019s extradition.  But it was too\nlate: B\u00f6ttgher had already arrived in Dresden, where he was lodged in the\nGolden House, and treated with every consideration, though strictly\nwatched and kept under guard.\n\nThe Elector, however, must needs leave him there for a time, having to\ndepart forthwith to Poland, then almost in a state of anarchy.  But,\nimpatient for gold, he wrote B\u00f6ttgher from Warsaw, urging him to\ncommunicate the secret, so that he himself might practise the art of\ncommutation.  The young \u201cgold-cook,\u201d thus pressed, forwarded to Frederick\na small phial containing \u201ca reddish fluid,\u201d which, it was asserted,\nchanged all metals, when in a molten state, into gold.  This important\nphial was taken in charge by the Prince F\u00fcrst von F\u00fcrstenburg, who,\naccompanied by a regiment of Guards, hurried with it to Warsaw.  Arrived\nthere, it was determined to make immediate trial of the process.  The\nKing and the Prince locked themselves up in a secret chamber of the\npalace, girt themselves about with leather aprons, and like true\n\u201cgold-cooks\u201d set to work melting copper in a crucible and afterwards\napplying to it the red fluid of B\u00f6ttgher.  But the result was\nunsatisfactory; for notwithstanding all that they could do, the copper\nobstinately remained copper.  On referring to the alchemist\u2019s\ninstructions, however, the King found that, to succeed with the process,\nit was necessary that the fluid should be used \u201cin great purity of\nheart;\u201d and as his Majesty was conscious of having spent the evening in\nvery bad company he attributed the failure of the experiment to that\ncause.  A second trial was followed by no better results, and then the\nKing became furious; for he had confessed and received absolution before\nbeginning the second experiment.\n\nFrederick Augustus now resolved on forcing B\u00f6ttgher to disclose the\ngolden secret, as the only means of relief from his urgent pecuniary\ndifficulties.  The alchemist, hearing of the royal intention, again\ndetermined to fly.  He succeeded in escaping his guard, and, after three\ndays\u2019 travel, arrived at Ens in Austria, where he thought himself safe.\nThe agents of the Elector were, however, at his heels; they had tracked\nhim to the \u201cGolden Stag,\u201d which they surrounded, and seizing him in his\nbed, notwithstanding his resistance and appeals to the Austrian\nauthorities for help, they carried him by force to Dresden.  From this\ntime he was more strictly watched than ever, and he was shortly after\ntransferred to the strong fortress of K\u00f6ningstein.  It was communicated\nto him that the royal exchequer was completely empty, and that ten\nregiments of Poles in arrears of pay were waiting for his gold.  The King\nhimself visited him, and told him in a severe tone that if he did not at\nonce proceed to make gold, he would be hung!  (\u201c_Thu mir zurecht_,\n_B\u00f6ttgher_, _sonst lass ich dich hangen_\u201d).\n\nYears passed, and still B\u00f6ttgher made no gold; but he was not hung.  It\nwas reserved for him to make a far more important discovery than the\nconversion of copper into gold, namely, the conversion of clay into\nporcelain.  Some rare specimens of this ware had been brought by the\nPortuguese from China, which were sold for more than their weight in\ngold.  B\u00f6ttgher was first induced to turn his attention to the subject by\nWalter von Tschirnhaus, a maker of optical instruments, also an\nalchemist.  Tschirnhaus was a man of education and distinction, and was\nheld in much esteem by Prince F\u00fcrstenburg as well as by the Elector.  He\nvery sensibly said to B\u00f6ttgher, still in fear of the gallows\u2014\u201cIf you\ncan\u2019t make gold, try and do something else; make porcelain.\u201d\n\nThe alchemist acted on the hint, and began his experiments, working night\nand day.  He prosecuted his investigations for a long time with great\nassiduity, but without success.  At length some red clay, brought to him\nfor the purpose of making his crucibles, set him on the right track.  He\nfound that this clay, when submitted to a high temperature, became\nvitrified and retained its shape; and that its texture resembled that of\nporcelain, excepting in colour and opacity.  He had in fact accidentally\ndiscovered red porcelain, and he proceeded to manufacture it and sell it\nas porcelain.\n\nB\u00f6ttgher was, however, well aware that the white colour was an essential\nproperty of true porcelain; and he therefore prosecuted his experiments\nin the hope of discovering the secret.  Several years thus passed, but\nwithout success; until again accident stood his friend, and helped him to\na knowledge of the art of making white porcelain.  One day, in the year\n1707, he found his perruque unusually heavy, and asked of his valet the\nreason.  The answer was, that it was owing to the powder with which the\nwig was dressed, which consisted of a kind of earth then much used for\nhair powder.  B\u00f6ttgher\u2019s quick imagination immediately seized upon the\nidea.  This white earthy powder might possibly be the very earth of which\nhe was in search\u2014at all events the opportunity must not be let slip of\nascertaining what it really was.  He was rewarded for his painstaking\ncare and watchfulness; for he found, on experiment, that the principal\ningredient of the hair-powder consisted of _kaolin_, the want of which\nhad so long formed an insuperable difficulty in the way of his inquiries.\n\nThe discovery, in B\u00f6ttgher\u2019s intelligent hands, led to great results, and\nproved of far greater importance than the discovery of the philosopher\u2019s\nstone would have been.  In October, 1707, he presented his first piece of\nporcelain to the Elector, who was greatly pleased with it; and it was\nresolved that B\u00f6ttgher should be furnished with the means necessary for\nperfecting his invention.  Having obtained a skilled workman from Delft,\nhe began to _turn_ porcelain with great success.  He now entirely\nabandoned alchemy for pottery, and inscribed over the door of his\nworkshop this distich:\u2014\n\n    \u201c_Es machte Gott_, _der grosse Sch\u00f6pfer_,\n    _Aus einem Goldmacher einen T\u00f6pfer_.\u201d {84}\n\nB\u00f6ttgher, however, was still under strict surveillance, for fear lest he\nshould communicate his secret to others or escape the Elector\u2019s control.\nThe new workshops and furnaces which were erected for him, were guarded\nby troops night and day, and six superior officers were made responsible\nfor the personal security of the potter.\n\nB\u00f6ttgher\u2019s further experiments with his new furnaces proving very\nsuccessful, and the porcelain which he manufactured being found to fetch\nlarge prices, it was next determined to establish a Royal Manufactory of\nporcelain.  The manufacture of delft ware was known to have greatly\nenriched Holland.  Why should not the manufacture of porcelain equally\nenrich the Elector?  Accordingly, a decree went forth, dated the 23rd of\nJanuary, 1710, for the establishment of \u201ca large manufactory of\nporcelain\u201d at the Albrechtsburg in Meissen.  In this decree, which was\ntranslated into Latin, French, and Dutch, and distributed by the\nAmbassadors of the Elector at all the European Courts, Frederick Augustus\nset forth that to promote the welfare of Saxony, which had suffered much\nthrough the Swedish invasion, he had \u201cdirected his attention to the\nsubterranean treasures (_unterirdischen Sch\u00e4tze_)\u201d of the country, and\nhaving employed some able persons in the investigation, they had\nsucceeded in manufacturing \u201ca sort of red vessels (_eine Art rother\nGef\u00e4sse_) far superior to the Indian terra sigillata;\u201d {85} as also\n\u201ccoloured ware and plates (_buntes Geschirr und Tafeln_) which may be\ncut, ground, and polished, and are quite equal to Indian vessels,\u201d and\nfinally that \u201cspecimens of white porcelain (_Proben von weissem\nPorzellan_)\u201d had already been obtained, and it was hoped that this\nquality, too, would soon be manufactured in considerable quantities.  The\nroyal decree concluded by inviting \u201cforeign artists and handicraftmen\u201d to\ncome to Saxony and engage as assistants in the new factory, at high\nwages, and under the patronage of the King.  This royal edict probably\ngives the best account of the actual state of B\u00f6ttgher\u2019s invention at the\ntime.\n\nIt has been stated in German publications that B\u00f6ttgher, for the great\nservices rendered by him to the Elector and to Saxony, was made Manager\nof the Royal Porcelain Works, and further promoted to the dignity of\nBaron.  Doubtless he deserved these honours; but his treatment was of an\naltogether different character, for it was shabby, cruel, and inhuman.\nTwo royal officials, named Matthieu and Nehmitz, were put over his head\nas directors of the factory, while he himself only held the position of\nforeman of potters, and at the same time was detained the King\u2019s\nprisoner.  During the erection of the factory at Meissen, while his\nassistance was still indispensable, he was conducted by soldiers to and\nfrom Dresden; and even after the works were finished, he was locked up\nnightly in his room.  All this preyed upon his mind, and in repeated\nletters to the King he sought to obtain mitigation of his fate.  Some of\nthese letters are very touching.  \u201cI will devote my whole soul to the art\nof making porcelain,\u201d he writes on one occasion, \u201cI will do more than any\ninventor ever did before; only give me liberty, liberty!\u201d\n\nTo these appeals, the King turned a deaf ear.  He was ready to spend\nmoney and grant favours; but liberty he would not give.  He regarded\nB\u00f6ttgher as his slave.  In this position, the persecuted man kept on\nworking for some time, till, at the end of a year or two, he grew\nnegligent.  Disgusted with the world and with himself, he took to\ndrinking.  Such is the force of example, that it no sooner became known\nthat B\u00f6ttgher had betaken himself to this vice, than the greater number\nof the workmen at the Meissen factory became drunkards too.  Quarrels and\nfightings without end were the consequence, so that the troops were\nfrequently called upon to interfere and keep peace among the\n\u201cPorzellanern,\u201d as they were nicknamed.  After a while, the whole of\nthem, more than three hundred, were shut up in the Albrechtsburg, and\ntreated as prisoners of state.\n\nB\u00f6ttgher at last fell seriously ill, and in May, 1713, his dissolution\nwas hourly expected.  The King, alarmed at losing so valuable a slave,\nnow gave him permission to take carriage exercise under a guard; and,\nhaving somewhat recovered, he was allowed occasionally to go to Dresden.\nIn a letter written by the King in April, 1714, B\u00f6ttgher was promised his\nfull liberty; but the offer came too late.  Broken in body and mind,\nalternately working and drinking, though with occasional gleams of nobler\nintention, and suffering under constant ill-health, the result of his\nenforced confinement, B\u00f6ttgher lingered on for a few years more, until\ndeath freed him from his sufferings on the 13th March, 1719, in the\nthirty-fifth year of his age.  He was buried _at night_\u2014as if he had been\na dog\u2014in the Johannis Cemetery of Meissen.  Such was the treatment and\nsuch the unhappy end, of one of Saxony\u2019s greatest benefactors.\n\nThe porcelain manufacture immediately opened up an important source of\npublic revenue, and it became so productive to the Elector of Saxony,\nthat his example was shortly after followed by most European monarchs.\nAlthough soft porcelain had been made at St. Cloud fourteen years before\nB\u00f6ttgher\u2019s discovery, the superiority of the hard porcelain soon became\ngenerally recognised.  Its manufacture was begun at S\u00e8vres in 1770, and\nit has since almost entirely superseded the softer material.  This is now\none of the most thriving branches of French industry, of which the high\nquality of the articles produced is certainly indisputable.\n\nThe career of Josiah Wedgwood, the English potter, was less chequered and\nmore prosperous than that of either Palissy or B\u00f6ttgher, and his lot was\ncast in happier times.  Down to the middle of last century England was\nbehind most other nations of the first order in Europe in respect of\nskilled industry.  Although there were many potters in Staffordshire\u2014and\nWedgwood himself belonged to a numerous clan of potters of the same\nname\u2014their productions were of the rudest kind, for the most part only\nplain brown ware, with the patterns scratched in while the clay was wet.\nThe principal supply of the better articles of earthenware came from\nDelft in Holland, and of drinking stone pots from Cologne.  Two foreign\npotters, the brothers Elers from Nuremberg, settled for a time in\nStaffordshire, and introduced an improved manufacture, but they shortly\nafter removed to Chelsea, where they confined themselves to the\nmanufacture of ornamental pieces.  No porcelain capable of resisting a\nscratch with a hard point had yet been made in England; and for a long\ntime the \u201cwhite ware\u201d made in Staffordshire was not white, but of a dirty\ncream colour.  Such, in a few words, was the condition of the pottery\nmanufacture when Josiah Wedgwood was born at Burslem in 1730.  By the\ntime that he died, sixty-four years later, it had become completely\nchanged.  By his energy, skill, and genius, he established the trade upon\na new and solid foundation; and, in the words of his epitaph, \u201cconverted\na rude and inconsiderable manufacture into an elegant art and an\nimportant branch of national commerce.\u201d\n\nJosiah Wedgwood was one of those indefatigable men who from time to time\nspring from the ranks of the common people, and by their energetic\ncharacter not only practically educate the working population in habits\nof industry, but by the example of diligence and perseverance which they\nset before them, largely influence the public activity in all directions,\nand contribute in a great degree to form the national character.  He was,\nlike Arkwright, the youngest of a family of thirteen children.  His\ngrandfather and granduncle were both potters, as was also his father who\ndied when he was a mere boy, leaving him a patrimony of twenty pounds.\nHe had learned to read and write at the village school; but on the death\nof his father he was taken from it and set to work as a \u201cthrower\u201d in a\nsmall pottery carried on by his elder brother.  There he began life, his\nworking life, to use his own words, \u201cat the lowest round of the ladder,\u201d\nwhen only eleven years old.  He was shortly after seized by an attack of\nvirulent smallpox, from the effects of which he suffered during the rest\nof his life, for it was followed by a disease in the right knee, which\nrecurred at frequent intervals, and was only got rid of by the amputation\nof the limb many years later.  Mr. Gladstone, in his eloquent \u00c9loge on\nWedgwood recently delivered at Burslem, well observed that the disease\nfrom which he suffered was not improbably the occasion of his subsequent\nexcellence.  \u201cIt prevented him from growing up to be the active, vigorous\nEnglish workman, possessed of all his limbs, and knowing right well the\nuse of them; but it put him upon considering whether, as he could not be\nthat, he might not be something else, and something greater.  It sent his\nmind inwards; it drove him to meditate upon the laws and secrets of his\nart.  The result was, that he arrived at a perception and a grasp of them\nwhich might, perhaps, have been envied, certainly have been owned, by an\nAthenian potter.\u201d {89}\n\nWhen he had completed his apprenticeship with his brother, Josiah joined\npartnership with another workman, and carried on a small business in\nmaking knife-hafts, boxes, and sundry articles for domestic use.  Another\npartnership followed, when he proceeded to make melon table plates, green\npickle leaves, candlesticks, snuffboxes, and such like articles; but he\nmade comparatively little progress until he began business on his own\naccount at Burslem in the year 1759.  There he diligently pursued his\ncalling, introducing new articles to the trade, and gradually extending\nhis business.  What he chiefly aimed at was to manufacture cream-coloured\nware of a better quality than was then produced in Staffordshire as\nregarded shape, colour, glaze, and durability.  To understand the subject\nthoroughly, he devoted his leisure to the study of chemistry; and he made\nnumerous experiments on fluxes, glazes, and various sorts of clay.  Being\na close inquirer and accurate observer, he noticed that a certain earth\ncontaining silica, which was black before calcination, became white after\nexposure to the heat of a furnace.  This fact, observed and pondered on,\nled to the idea of mixing silica with the red powder of the potteries,\nand to the discovery that the mixture becomes white when calcined.  He\nhad but to cover this material with a vitrification of transparent glaze,\nto obtain one of the most important products of fictile art\u2014that which,\nunder the name of English earthenware, was to attain the greatest\ncommercial value and become of the most extensive utility.\n\nWedgwood was for some time much troubled by his furnaces, though nothing\nlike to the same extent that Palissy was; and he overcame his\ndifficulties in the same way\u2014by repeated experiments and unfaltering\nperseverance.  His first attempts at making porcelain for table use was a\nsuccession of disastrous failures,\u2014the labours of months being often\ndestroyed in a day.  It was only after a long series of trials, in the\ncourse of which he lost time, money, and labour, that he arrived at the\nproper sort of glaze to be used; but he would not be denied, and at last\nhe conquered success through patience.  The improvement of pottery became\nhis passion, and was never lost sight of for a moment.  Even when he had\nmastered his difficulties, and become a prosperous man\u2014manufacturing\nwhite stone ware and cream-coloured ware in large quantities for home and\nforeign use\u2014he went forward perfecting his manufactures, until, his\nexample extending in all directions, the action of the entire district\nwas stimulated, and a great branch of British industry was eventually\nestablished on firm foundations.  He aimed throughout at the highest\nexcellence, declaring his determination \u201cto give over manufacturing any\narticle, whatsoever it might be, rather than to degrade it.\u201d\n\nWedgwood was cordially helped by many persons of rank and influence; for,\nworking in the truest spirit, he readily commanded the help and\nencouragement of other true workers.  He made for Queen Charlotte the\nfirst royal table-service of English manufacture, of the kind afterwards\ncalled \u201cQueen\u2019s-ware,\u201d and was appointed Royal Potter; a title which he\nprized more than if he had been made a baron.  Valuable sets of porcelain\nwere entrusted to him for imitation, in which he succeeded to admiration.\nSir William Hamilton lent him specimens of ancient art from Herculaneum,\nof which he produced accurate and beautiful copies.  The Duchess of\nPortland outbid him for the Barberini Vase when that article was offered\nfor sale.  He bid as high as seventeen hundred guineas for it: her grace\nsecured it for eighteen hundred; but when she learnt Wedgwood\u2019s object\nshe at once generously lent him the vase to copy.  He produced fifty\ncopies at a cost of about 2500_l._, and his expenses were not covered by\ntheir sale; but he gained his object, which was to show that whatever had\nbeen done, that English skill and energy could and would accomplish.\n\nWedgwood called to his aid the crucible of the chemist, the knowledge of\nthe antiquary, and the skill of the artist.  He found out Flaxman when a\nyouth, and while he liberally nurtured his genius drew from him a large\nnumber of beautiful designs for his pottery and porcelain; converting\nthem by his manufacture into objects of taste and excellence, and thus\nmaking them instrumental in the diffusion of classical art amongst the\npeople.  By careful experiment and study he was even enabled to\nrediscover the art of painting on porcelain or earthenware vases and\nsimilar articles\u2014an art practised by the ancient Etruscans, but which had\nbeen lost since the time of Pliny.  He distinguished himself by his own\ncontributions to science, and his name is still identified with the\nPyrometer which he invented.  He was an indefatigable supporter of all\nmeasures of public utility; and the construction of the Trent and Mersey\nCanal, which completed the navigable communication between the eastern\nand western sides of the island, was mainly due to his public-spirited\nexertions, allied to the engineering skill of Brindley.  The road\naccommodation of the district being of an execrable character, he planned\nand executed a turnpike-road through the Potteries, ten miles in length.\nThe reputation he achieved was such that his works at Burslem, and\nsubsequently those at Etruria, which he founded and built, became a point\nof attraction to distinguished visitors from all parts of Europe.\n\nThe result of Wedgwood\u2019s labours was, that the manufacture of pottery,\nwhich he found in the very lowest condition, became one of the staples of\nEngland; and instead of importing what we needed for home use from\nabroad, we became large exporters to other countries, supplying them with\nearthenware even in the face of enormous prohibitory duties on articles\nof British produce.  Wedgwood gave evidence as to his manufactures before\nParliament in 1785, only some thirty years after he had begun his\noperations; from which it appeared, that instead of providing only casual\nemployment to a small number of inefficient and badly remunerated\nworkmen, about 20,000 persons then derived their bread directly from the\nmanufacture of earthenware, without taking into account the increased\nnumbers to which it gave employment in coal-mines, and in the carrying\ntrade by land and sea, and the stimulus which it gave to employment in\nmany ways in various parts of the country.  Yet, important as had been\nthe advances made in his time, Mr. Wedgwood was of opinion that the\nmanufacture was but in its infancy, and that the improvements which he\nhad effected were of but small amount compared with those to which the\nart was capable of attaining, through the continued industry and growing\nintelligence of the manufacturers, and the natural facilities and\npolitical advantages enjoyed by Great Britain; an opinion which has been\nfully borne out by the progress which has since been effected in this\nimportant branch of industry.  In 1852 not fewer than 84,000,000 pieces\nof pottery were exported from England to other countries, besides what\nwere made for home use.  But it is not merely the quantity and value of\nthe produce that is entitled to consideration, but the improvement of the\ncondition of the population by whom this great branch of industry is\nconducted.  When Wedgwood began his labours, the Staffordshire district\nwas only in a half-civilized state.  The people were poor, uncultivated,\nand few in number.  When Wedgwood\u2019s manufacture was firmly established,\nthere was found ample employment at good wages for three times the number\nof population; while their moral advancement had kept pace with their\nmaterial improvement.\n\nMen such as these are fairly entitled to take rank as the Industrial\nHeroes of the civilized world.  Their patient self-reliance amidst trials\nand difficulties, their courage and perseverance in the pursuit of worthy\nobjects, are not less heroic of their kind than the bravery and devotion\nof the soldier and the sailor, whose duty and pride it is heroically to\ndefend what these valiant leaders of industry have so heroically\nachieved.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\nAPPLICATION AND PERSEVERANCE.\n\n\n    \u201cRich are the diligent, who can command\n    Time, nature\u2019s stock! and could his hour-glass fall,\n    Would, as for seed of stars, stoop for the sand,\n    And, by incessant labour, gather all.\u201d\u2014_D\u2019Avenant_.\n\n    \u201cAllez en avant, et la foi vous viendra!\u201d\u2014_D\u2019Alembert_.\n\nTHE greatest results in life are usually attained by simple means, and\nthe exercise of ordinary qualities.  The common life of every day, with\nits cares, necessities, and duties, affords ample opportunity for\nacquiring experience of the best kind; and its most beaten paths provide\nthe true worker with abundant scope for effort and room for\nself-improvement.  The road of human welfare lies along the old highway\nof steadfast well-doing; and they who are the most persistent, and work\nin the truest spirit, will usually be the most successful.\n\nFortune has often been blamed for her blindness; but fortune is not so\nblind as men are.  Those who look into practical life will find that\nfortune is usually on the side of the industrious, as the winds and waves\nare on the side of the best navigators.  In the pursuit of even the\nhighest branches of human inquiry, the commoner qualities are found the\nmost useful\u2014such as common sense, attention, application, and\nperseverance.  Genius may not be necessary, though even genius of the\nhighest sort does not disdain the use of these ordinary qualities.  The\nvery greatest men have been among the least believers in the power of\ngenius, and as worldly wise and persevering as successful men of the\ncommoner sort.  Some have even defined genius to be only common sense\nintensified.  A distinguished teacher and president of a college spoke of\nit as the power of making efforts.  John Foster held it to be the power\nof lighting one\u2019s own fire.  Buffon said of genius \u201cit is patience.\u201d\n\nNewton\u2019s was unquestionably a mind of the very highest order, and yet,\nwhen asked by what means he had worked out his extraordinary discoveries,\nhe modestly answered, \u201cBy always thinking unto them.\u201d  At another time he\nthus expressed his method of study: \u201cI keep the subject continually\nbefore me, and wait till the first dawnings open slowly by little and\nlittle into a full and clear light.\u201d  It was in Newton\u2019s case, as in\nevery other, only by diligent application and perseverance that his great\nreputation was achieved.  Even his recreation consisted in change of\nstudy, laying down one subject to take up another.  To Dr. Bentley he\nsaid: \u201cIf I have done the public any service, it is due to nothing but\nindustry and patient thought.\u201d  So Kepler, another great philosopher,\nspeaking of his studies and his progress, said: \u201cAs in Virgil, \u2018Fama\nmobilitate viget, vires acquirit eundo,\u2019 so it was with me, that the\ndiligent thought on these things was the occasion of still further\nthinking; until at last I brooded with the whole energy of my mind upon\nthe subject.\u201d\n\nThe extraordinary results effected by dint of sheer industry and\nperseverance, have led many distinguished men to doubt whether the gift\nof genius be so exceptional an endowment as it is usually supposed to be.\nThus Voltaire held that it is only a very slight line of separation that\ndivides the man of genius from the man of ordinary mould.  Beccaria was\neven of opinion that all men might be poets and orators, and Reynolds\nthat they might be painters and sculptors.  If this were really so, that\nstolid Englishman might not have been so very far wrong after all, who,\non Canova\u2019s death, inquired of his brother whether it was \u201chis intention\nto carry on the business!\u201d  Locke, Helvetius, and Diderot believed that\nall men have an equal aptitude for genius, and that what some are able to\neffect, under the laws which regulate the operations of the intellect,\nmust also be within the reach of others who, under like circumstances,\napply themselves to like pursuits.  But while admitting to the fullest\nextent the wonderful achievements of labour, and recognising the fact\nthat men of the most distinguished genius have invariably been found the\nmost indefatigable workers, it must nevertheless be sufficiently obvious\nthat, without the original endowment of heart and brain, no amount of\nlabour, however well applied, could have produced a Shakespeare, a\nNewton, a Beethoven, or a Michael Angelo.\n\nDalton, the chemist, repudiated the notion of his being \u201ca genius,\u201d\nattributing everything which he had accomplished to simple industry and\naccumulation.  John Hunter said of himself, \u201cMy mind is like a beehive;\nbut full as it is of buzz and apparent confusion, it is yet full of order\nand regularity, and food collected with incessant industry from the\nchoicest stores of nature.\u201d  We have, indeed, but to glance at the\nbiographies of great men to find that the most distinguished inventors,\nartists, thinkers, and workers of all kinds, owe their success, in a\ngreat measure, to their indefatigable industry and application.  They\nwere men who turned all things to gold\u2014even time itself.  Disraeli the\nelder held that the secret of success consisted in being master of your\nsubject, such mastery being attainable only through continuous\napplication and study.  Hence it happens that the men who have most moved\nthe world, have not been so much men of genius, strictly so called, as\nmen of intense mediocre abilities, and untiring perseverance; not so\noften the gifted, of naturally bright and shining qualities, as those who\nhave applied themselves diligently to their work, in whatsoever line that\nmight lie.  \u201cAlas!\u201d said a widow, speaking of her brilliant but careless\nson, \u201che has not the gift of continuance.\u201d  Wanting in perseverance, such\nvolatile natures are outstripped in the race of life by the diligent and\neven the dull.  \u201cChe va piano, va longano, e va lontano,\u201d says the\nItalian proverb: Who goes slowly, goes long, and goes far.\n\nHence, a great point to be aimed at is to get the working quality well\ntrained.  When that is done, the race will be found comparatively easy.\nWe must repeat and again repeat; facility will come with labour.  Not\neven the simplest art can be accomplished without it; and what\ndifficulties it is found capable of achieving!  It was by early\ndiscipline and repetition that the late Sir Robert Peel cultivated those\nremarkable, though still mediocre powers, which rendered him so\nillustrious an ornament of the British Senate.  When a boy at Drayton\nManor, his father was accustomed to set him up at table to practise\nspeaking extempore; and he early accustomed him to repeat as much of the\nSunday\u2019s sermon as he could remember.  Little progress was made at first,\nbut by steady perseverance the habit of attention became powerful, and\nthe sermon was at length repeated almost verbatim.  When afterwards\nreplying in succession to the arguments of his parliamentary opponents\u2014an\nart in which he was perhaps unrivalled\u2014it was little surmised that the\nextraordinary power of accurate remembrance which he displayed on such\noccasions had been originally trained under the discipline of his father\nin the parish church of Drayton.\n\nIt is indeed marvellous what continuous application will effect in the\ncommonest of things.  It may seem a simple affair to play upon a violin;\nyet what a long and laborious practice it requires!  Giardini said to a\nyouth who asked him how long it would take to learn it, \u201cTwelve hours a\nday for twenty years together.\u201d  Industry, it is said, _fait l\u2019ours\ndanser_.  The poor figurante must devote years of incessant toil to her\nprofitless task before she can shine in it.  When Taglioni was preparing\nherself for her evening exhibition, she would, after a severe two hours\u2019\nlesson from her father, fall down exhausted, and had to be undressed,\nsponged, and resuscitated totally unconscious.  The agility and bounds of\nthe evening were insured only at a price like this.\n\nProgress, however, of the best kind, is comparatively slow.  Great\nresults cannot be achieved at once; and we must be satisfied to advance\nin life as we walk, step by step.  De Maistre says that \u201cto know _how to\nwait_ is the great secret of success.\u201d  We must sow before we can reap,\nand often have to wait long, content meanwhile to look patiently forward\nin hope; the fruit best worth waiting for often ripening the slowest.\nBut \u201ctime and patience,\u201d says the Eastern proverb, \u201cchange the mulberry\nleaf to satin.\u201d\n\nTo wait patiently, however, men must work cheerfully.  Cheerfulness is an\nexcellent working quality, imparting great elasticity to the character.\nAs a bishop has said, \u201cTemper is nine-tenths of Christianity;\u201d so are\ncheerfulness and diligence nine-tenths of practical wisdom.  They are the\nlife and soul of success, as well as of happiness; perhaps the very\nhighest pleasure in life consisting in clear, brisk, conscious working;\nenergy, confidence, and every other good quality mainly depending upon\nit.  Sydney Smith, when labouring as a parish priest at Foston-le-Clay,\nin Yorkshire,\u2014though he did not feel himself to be in his proper\nelement,\u2014went cheerfully to work in the firm determination to do his\nbest.  \u201cI am resolved,\u201d he said, \u201cto like it, and reconcile myself to it,\nwhich is more manly than to feign myself above it, and to send up\ncomplaints by the post of being thrown away, and being desolate, and such\nlike trash.\u201d  So Dr. Hook, when leaving Leeds for a new sphere of labour\nsaid, \u201cWherever I may be, I shall, by God\u2019s blessing, do with my might\nwhat my hand findeth to do; and if I do not find work, I shall make it.\u201d\n\nLabourers for the public good especially, have to work long and\npatiently, often uncheered by the prospect of immediate recompense or\nresult.  The seeds they sow sometimes lie hidden under the winter\u2019s snow,\nand before the spring comes the husbandman may have gone to his rest.  It\nis not every public worker who, like Rowland Hill, sees his great idea\nbring forth fruit in his life-time.  Adam Smith sowed the seeds of a\ngreat social amelioration in that dingy old University of Glasgow where\nhe so long laboured, and laid the foundations of his \u2018Wealth of Nations;\u2019\nbut seventy years passed before his work bore substantial fruits, nor\nindeed are they all gathered in yet.\n\nNothing can compensate for the loss of hope in a man: it entirely changes\nthe character.  \u201cHow can I work\u2014how can I be happy,\u201d said a great but\nmiserable thinker, \u201cwhen I have lost all hope?\u201d  One of the most cheerful\nand courageous, because one of the most hopeful of workers, was Carey,\nthe missionary.  When in India, it was no uncommon thing for him to weary\nout three pundits, who officiated as his clerks, in one day, he himself\ntaking rest only in change of employment.  Carey, the son of a\nshoe-maker, was supported in his labours by Ward, the son of a carpenter,\nand Marsham, the son of a weaver.  By their labours, a magnificent\ncollege was erected at Serampore; sixteen flourishing stations were\nestablished; the Bible was translated into sixteen languages, and the\nseeds were sown of a beneficent moral revolution in British India.  Carey\nwas never ashamed of the humbleness of his origin.  On one occasion, when\nat the Governor-General\u2019s table he over-heard an officer opposite him\nasking another, loud enough to be heard, whether Carey had not once been\na shoemaker: \u201cNo, sir,\u201d exclaimed Carey immediately; \u201conly a cobbler.\u201d\nAn eminently characteristic anecdote has been told of his perseverance as\na boy.  When climbing a tree one day, his foot slipped, and he fell to\nthe ground, breaking his leg by the fall.  He was confined to his bed for\nweeks, but when he recovered and was able to walk without support, the\nvery first thing he did was to go and climb that tree.  Carey had need of\nthis sort of dauntless courage for the great missionary work of his life,\nand nobly and resolutely he did it.\n\nIt was a maxim of Dr. Young, the philosopher, that \u201cAny man can do what\nany other man has done;\u201d and it is unquestionable that he himself never\nrecoiled from any trials to which he determined to subject himself.  It\nis related of him, that the first time he mounted a horse, he was in\ncompany with the grandson of Mr. Barclay of Ury, the well-known\nsportsman; when the horseman who preceded them leapt a high fence.  Young\nwished to imitate him, but fell off his horse in the attempt.  Without\nsaying a word, he remounted, made a second effort, and was again\nunsuccessful, but this time he was not thrown further than on to the\nhorse\u2019s neck, to which he clung.  At the third trial, he succeeded, and\ncleared the fence.\n\nThe story of Timour the Tartar learning a lesson of perseverance under\nadversity from the spider is well known.  Not less interesting is the\nanecdote of Audubon, the American ornithologist, as related by himself:\n\u201cAn accident,\u201d he says, \u201cwhich happened to two hundred of my original\ndrawings, nearly put a stop to my researches in ornithology.  I shall\nrelate it, merely to show how far enthusiasm\u2014for by no other name can I\ncall my perseverance\u2014may enable the preserver of nature to surmount the\nmost disheartening difficulties.  I left the village of Henderson, in\nKentucky, situated on the banks of the Ohio, where I resided for several\nyears, to proceed to Philadelphia on business.  I looked to my drawings\nbefore my departure, placed them carefully in a wooden box, and gave them\nin charge of a relative, with injunctions to see that no injury should\nhappen to them.  My absence was of several months; and when I returned,\nafter having enjoyed the pleasures of home for a few days, I inquired\nafter my box, and what I was pleased to call my treasure.  The box was\nproduced and opened; but reader, feel for me\u2014a pair of Norway rats had\ntaken possession of the whole, and reared a young family among the gnawed\nbits of paper, which, but a month previous, represented nearly a thousand\ninhabitants of air!  The burning beat which instantly rushed through my\nbrain was too great to be endured without affecting my whole nervous\nsystem.  I slept for several nights, and the days passed like days of\noblivion\u2014until the animal powers being recalled into action through the\nstrength of my constitution, I took up my gun, my notebook, and my\npencils, and went forth to the woods as gaily as if nothing had happened.\nI felt pleased that I might now make better drawings than before; and,\nere a period not exceeding three years had elapsed, my portfolio was\nagain filled.\u201d\n\nThe accidental destruction of Sir Isaac Newton\u2019s papers, by his little\ndog \u2018Diamond\u2019 upsetting a lighted taper upon his desk, by which the\nelaborate calculations of many years were in a moment destroyed, is a\nwell-known anecdote, and need not be repeated: it is said that the loss\ncaused the philosopher such profound grief that it seriously injured his\nhealth, and impaired his understanding.  An accident of a somewhat\nsimilar kind happened to the MS. of Mr. Carlyle\u2019s first volume of his\n\u2018French Revolution.\u2019  He had lent the MS. to a literary neighbour to\nperuse.  By some mischance, it had been left lying on the parlour floor,\nand become forgotten.  Weeks ran on, and the historian sent for his work,\nthe printers being loud for \u201ccopy.\u201d  Inquiries were made, and it was\nfound that the maid-of-all-work, finding what she conceived to be a\nbundle of waste paper on the floor, had used it to light the kitchen and\nparlour fires with!  Such was the answer returned to Mr. Carlyle; and his\nfeelings may be imagined.  There was, however, no help for him but to set\nresolutely to work to re-write the book; and he turned to and did it.  He\nhad no draft, and was compelled to rake up from his memory facts, ideas,\nand expressions, which had been long since dismissed.  The composition of\nthe book in the first instance had been a work of pleasure; the\nre-writing of it a second time was one of pain and anguish almost beyond\nbelief.  That he persevered and finished the volume under such\ncircumstances, affords an instance of determination of purpose which has\nseldom been surpassed.\n\nThe lives of eminent inventors are eminently illustrative of the same\nquality of perseverance.  George Stephenson, when addressing young men,\nwas accustomed to sum up his best advice to them, in the words, \u201cDo as I\nhave done\u2014persevere.\u201d  He had worked at the improvement of his locomotive\nfor some fifteen years before achieving his decisive victory at Rainhill;\nand Watt was engaged for some thirty years upon the condensing-engine\nbefore he brought it to perfection.  But there are equally striking\nillustrations of perseverance to be found in every other branch of\nscience, art, and industry.  Perhaps one of the most interesting is that\nconnected with the disentombment of the Nineveh marbles, and the\ndiscovery of the long-lost cuneiform or arrow-headed character in which\nthe inscriptions on them are written\u2014a kind of writing which had been\nlost to the world since the period of the Macedonian conquest of Persia.\n\nAn intelligent cadet of the East India Company, stationed at Kermanshah,\nin Persia, had observed the curious cuneiform inscriptions on the old\nmonuments in the neighbourhood\u2014so old that all historical traces of them\nhad been lost,\u2014and amongst the inscriptions which he copied was that on\nthe celebrated rock of Behistun\u2014a perpendicular rock rising abruptly some\n1700 feet from the plain, the lower part bearing inscriptions for the\nspace of about 300 feet in three languages\u2014Persian, Scythian, and\nAssyrian.  Comparison of the known with the unknown, of the language\nwhich survived with the language that had been lost, enabled this cadet\nto acquire some knowledge of the cuneiform character, and even to form an\nalphabet.  Mr. (afterwards Sir Henry) Rawlinson sent his tracings home\nfor examination.  No professors in colleges as yet knew anything of the\ncuneiform character; but there was a ci-devant clerk of the East India\nHouse\u2014a modest unknown man of the name of Norris\u2014who had made this\nlittle-understood subject his study, to whom the tracings were submitted;\nand so accurate was his knowledge, that, though he had never seen the\nBehistun rock, he pronounced that the cadet had not copied the puzzling\ninscription with proper exactness.  Rawlinson, who was still in the\nneighbourhood of the rock, compared his copy with the original, and found\nthat Norris was right; and by further comparison and careful study the\nknowledge of the cuneiform writing was thus greatly advanced.\n\nBut to make the learning of these two self-taught men of avail, a third\nlabourer was necessary in order to supply them with material for the\nexercise of their skill.  Such a labourer presented himself in the person\nof Austen Layard, originally an articled clerk in the office of a London\nsolicitor.  One would scarcely have expected to find in these three men,\na cadet, an India-House clerk, and a lawyer\u2019s clerk, the discoverers of a\nforgotten language, and of the buried history of Babylon; yet it was so.\nLayard was a youth of only twenty-two, travelling in the East, when he\nwas possessed with a desire to penetrate the regions beyond the\nEuphrates.  Accompanied by a single companion, trusting to his arms for\nprotection, and, what was better, to his cheerfulness, politeness, and\nchivalrous bearing, he passed safely amidst tribes at deadly war with\neach other; and, after the lapse of many years, with comparatively\nslender means at his command, but aided by application and perseverance,\nresolute will and purpose, and almost sublime patience,\u2014borne up\nthroughout by his passionate enthusiasm for discovery and research,\u2014he\nsucceeded in laying bare and digging up an amount of historical\ntreasures, the like of which has probably never before been collected by\nthe industry of any one man.  Not less than two miles of bas-reliefs were\nthus brought to light by Mr. Layard.  The selection of these valuable\nantiquities, now placed in the British Museum, was found so curiously\ncorroborative of the scriptural records of events which occurred some\nthree thousand years ago, that they burst upon the world almost like a\nnew revelation.  And the story of the disentombment of these remarkable\nworks, as told by Mr. Layard himself in his \u2018Monuments of Nineveh,\u2019 will\nalways be regarded as one of the most charming and unaffected records\nwhich we possess of individual enterprise, industry, and energy.\n\nThe career of the Comte de Buffon presents another remarkable\nillustration of the power of patient industry as well as of his own\nsaying, that \u201cGenius is patience.\u201d  Notwithstanding the great results\nachieved by him in natural history, Buffon, when a youth, was regarded as\nof mediocre talents.  His mind was slow in forming itself, and slow in\nreproducing what it had acquired.  He was also constitutionally indolent;\nand being born to good estate, it might be supposed that he would indulge\nhis liking for ease and luxury.  Instead of which, he early formed the\nresolution of denying himself pleasure, and devoting himself to study and\nself-culture.  Regarding time as a treasure that was limited, and finding\nthat he was losing many hours by lying a-bed in the mornings, he\ndetermined to break himself of the habit.  He struggled hard against it\nfor some time, but failed in being able to rise at the hour he had fixed.\nHe then called his servant, Joseph, to his help, and promised him the\nreward of a crown every time that he succeeded in getting him up before\nsix.  At first, when called, Buffon declined to rise\u2014pleaded that he was\nill, or pretended anger at being disturbed; and on the Count at length\ngetting up, Joseph found that he had earned nothing but reproaches for\nhaving permitted his master to lie a-bed contrary to his express orders.\nAt length the valet determined to earn his crown; and again and again he\nforced Buffon to rise, notwithstanding his entreaties, expostulations,\nand threats of immediate discharge from his service.  One morning Buffon\nwas unusually obstinate, and Joseph found it necessary to resort to the\nextreme measure of dashing a basin of ice-cold water under the\nbed-clothes, the effect of which was instantaneous.  By the persistent\nuse of such means, Buffon at length conquered his habit; and he was\naccustomed to say that he owed to Joseph three or four volumes of his\nNatural History.\n\nFor forty years of his life, Buffon worked every morning at his desk from\nnine till two, and again in the evening from five till nine.  His\ndiligence was so continuous and so regular that it became habitual.  His\nbiographer has said of him, \u201cWork was his necessity; his studies were the\ncharm of his life; and towards the last term of his glorious career he\nfrequently said that he still hoped to be able to consecrate to them a\nfew more years.\u201d  He was a most conscientious worker, always studying to\ngive the reader his best thoughts, expressed in the very best manner.  He\nwas never wearied with touching and retouching his compositions, so that\nhis style may be pronounced almost perfect.  He wrote the \u2018Epoques de la\nNature\u2019 not fewer than eleven times before he was satisfied with it;\nalthough he had thought over the work about fifty years.  He was a\nthorough man of business, most orderly in everything; and he was\naccustomed to say that genius without order lost three-fourths of its\npower.  His great success as a writer was the result mainly of his\npainstaking labour and diligent application.  \u201cBuffon,\u201d observed Madame\nNecker, \u201cstrongly persuaded that genius is the result of a profound\nattention directed to a particular subject, said that he was thoroughly\nwearied out when composing his first writings, but compelled himself to\nreturn to them and go over them carefully again, even when he thought he\nhad already brought them to a certain degree of perfection; and that at\nlength he found pleasure instead of weariness in this long and elaborate\ncorrection.\u201d  It ought also to be added that Buffon wrote and published\nall his great works while afflicted by one of the most painful diseases\nto which the human frame is subject.\n\nLiterary life affords abundant illustrations of the same power of\nperseverance; and perhaps no career is more instructive, viewed in this\nlight, than that of Sir Walter Scott.  His admirable working qualities\nwere trained in a lawyer\u2019s office, where he pursued for many years a sort\nof drudgery scarcely above that of a copying clerk.  His daily dull\nroutine made his evenings, which were his own, all the more sweet; and he\ngenerally devoted them to reading and study.  He himself attributed to\nhis prosaic office discipline that habit of steady, sober diligence, in\nwhich mere literary men are so often found wanting.  As a copying clerk\nhe was allowed 3_d._ for every page containing a certain number of words;\nand he sometimes, by extra work, was able to copy as many as 120 pages in\ntwenty-four hours, thus earning some 30_s._; out of which he would\noccasionally purchase an odd volume, otherwise beyond his means.\n\nDuring his after-life Scott was wont to pride himself upon being a man of\nbusiness, and he averred, in contradiction to what he called the cant of\nsonneteers, that there was no necessary connection between genius and an\naversion or contempt for the common duties of life.  On the contrary, he\nwas of opinion that to spend some fair portion of every day in any\nmatter-of-fact occupation was good for the higher faculties themselves in\nthe upshot.  While afterwards acting as clerk to the Court of Session in\nEdinburgh, he performed his literary work chiefly before breakfast,\nattending the court during the day, where he authenticated registered\ndeeds and writings of various kinds.  On the whole, says Lockhart, \u201cit\nforms one of the most remarkable features in his history, that throughout\nthe most active period of his literary career, he must have devoted a\nlarge proportion of his hours, during half at least of every year, to the\nconscientious discharge of professional duties.\u201d  It was a principle of\naction which he laid down for himself, that he must earn his living by\nbusiness, and not by literature.  On one occasion he said, \u201cI determined\nthat literature should be my staff, not my crutch, and that the profits\nof my literary labour, however convenient otherwise, should not, if I\ncould help it, become necessary to my ordinary expenses.\u201d\n\nHis punctuality was one of the most carefully cultivated of his habits,\notherwise it had not been possible for him to get through so enormous an\namount of literary labour.  He made it a rule to answer every letter\nreceived by him on the same day, except where inquiry and deliberation\nwere requisite.  Nothing else could have enabled him to keep abreast with\nthe flood of communications that poured in upon him and sometimes put his\ngood nature to the severest test.  It was his practice to rise by five\no\u2019clock, and light his own fire.  He shaved and dressed with\ndeliberation, and was seated at his desk by six o\u2019clock, with his papers\narranged before him in the most accurate order, his works of reference\nmarshalled round him on the floor, while at least one favourite dog lay\nwatching his eye, outside the line of books.  Thus by the time the family\nassembled for breakfast, between nine and ten, he had done enough\u2014to use\nhis own words\u2014to break the neck of the day\u2019s work.  But with all his\ndiligent and indefatigable industry, and his immense knowledge, the\nresult of many years\u2019 patient labour, Scott always spoke with the\ngreatest diffidence of his own powers.  On one occasion he said,\n\u201cThroughout every part of my career I have felt pinched and hampered by\nmy own ignorance.\u201d\n\nSuch is true wisdom and humility; for the more a man really knows, the\nless conceited he will be.  The student at Trinity College who went up to\nhis professor to take leave of him because he had \u201cfinished his\neducation,\u201d was wisely rebuked by the professor\u2019s reply, \u201cIndeed!  I am\nonly beginning mine.\u201d  The superficial person who has obtained a\nsmattering of many things, but knows nothing well, may pride himself upon\nhis gifts; but the sage humbly confesses that \u201call he knows is, that he\nknows nothing,\u201d or like Newton, that he has been only engaged in picking\nshells by the sea shore, while the great ocean of truth lies all\nunexplored before him.\n\nThe lives of second-rate literary men furnish equally remarkable\nillustrations of the power of perseverance.  The late John Britton,\nauthor of \u2018The Beauties of England and Wales,\u2019 and of many valuable\narchitectural works, was born in a miserable cot in Kingston, Wiltshire.\nHis father had been a baker and maltster, but was ruined in trade and\nbecame insane while Britton was yet a child.  The boy received very\nlittle schooling, but a great deal of bad example, which happily did not\ncorrupt him.  He was early in life set to labour with an uncle, a\ntavern-keeper in Clerkenwell, under whom he bottled, corked, and binned\nwine for more than five years.  His health failing him, his uncle turned\nhim adrift in the world, with only two guineas, the fruits of his five\nyears\u2019 service, in his pocket.  During the next seven years of his life\nhe endured many vicissitudes and hardships.  Yet he says, in his\nautobiography, \u201cin my poor and obscure lodgings, at eighteenpence a week,\nI indulged in study, and often read in bed during the winter evenings,\nbecause I could not afford a fire.\u201d  Travelling on foot to Bath, he there\nobtained an engagement as a cellarman, but shortly after we find him back\nin the metropolis again almost penniless, shoeless, and shirtless.  He\nsucceeded, however, in obtaining employment as a cellarman at the London\nTavern, where it was his duty to be in the cellar from seven in the\nmorning until eleven at night.  His health broke down under this\nconfinement in the dark, added to the heavy work; and he then engaged\nhimself, at fifteen shillings a week, to an attorney,\u2014for he had been\ndiligently cultivating the art of writing during the few spare minutes\nthat he could call his own.  While in this employment, he devoted his\nleisure principally to perambulating the bookstalls, where he read books\nby snatches which he could not buy, and thus picked up a good deal of odd\nknowledge.  Then he shifted to another office, at the advanced wages of\ntwenty shillings a week, still reading and studying.  At twenty-eight he\nwas able to write a book, which he published under the title of \u2018The\nEnterprising Adventures of Pizarro;\u2019 and from that time until his death,\nduring a period of about fifty-five years, Britton was occupied in\nlaborious literary occupation.  The number of his published works is not\nfewer than eighty-seven; the most important being \u2018The Cathedral\nAntiquities of England,\u2019 in fourteen volumes, a truly magnificent work;\nitself the best monument of John Britton\u2019s indefatigable industry.\n\nLondon, the landscape gardener, was a man of somewhat similar character,\npossessed of an extraordinary working power.  The son of a farmer near\nEdinburgh, he was early inured to work.  His skill in drawing plans and\nmaking sketches of scenery induced his father to train him for a\nlandscape gardener.  During his apprenticeship he sat up two whole nights\nevery week to study; yet he worked harder during the day than any\nlabourer.  In the course of his night studies he learnt French, and\nbefore he was eighteen he translated a life of Abelard for an\nEncyclop\u00e6dia.  He was so eager to make progress in life, that when only\ntwenty, while working as a gardener in England, he wrote down in his\nnote-book, \u201cI am now twenty years of age, and perhaps a third part of my\nlife has passed away, and yet what have I done to benefit my fellow men?\u201d\nan unusual reflection for a youth of only twenty.  From French he\nproceeded to learn German, and rapidly mastered that language.  Having\ntaken a large farm, for the purpose of introducing Scotch improvements in\nthe art of agriculture, he shortly succeeded in realising a considerable\nincome.  The continent being thrown open at the end of the war, he\ntravelled abroad for the purpose of inquiring into the system of\ngardening and agriculture in other countries.  He twice repeated his\njourneys, and the results were published in his Encyclop\u00e6dias, which are\namong the most remarkable works of their kind,\u2014distinguished for the\nimmense mass of useful matter which they contain, collected by an amount\nof industry and labour which has rarely been equalled.\n\nThe career of Samuel Drew is not less remarkable than any of those which\nwe have cited.  His father was a hard-working labourer of the parish of\nSt. Austell, in Cornwall.  Though poor, he contrived to send his two sons\nto a penny-a-week school in the neighbourhood.  Jabez, the elder, took\ndelight in learning, and made great progress in his lessons; but Samuel,\nthe younger, was a dunce, notoriously given to mischief and playing\ntruant.  When about eight years old he was put to manual labour, earning\nthree-halfpence a day as a buddle-boy at a tin mine.  At ten he was\napprenticed to a shoemaker, and while in this employment he endured much\nhardship,\u2014living, as he used to say, \u201clike a toad under a harrow.\u201d  He\noften thought of running away and becoming a pirate, or something of the\nsort, and he seems to have grown in recklessness as he grew in years.  In\nrobbing orchards he was usually a leader; and, as he grew older, he\ndelighted to take part in any poaching or smuggling adventure.  When\nabout seventeen, before his apprenticeship was out, he ran away,\nintending to enter on board a man-of-war; but, sleeping in a hay-field at\nnight cooled him a little, and he returned to his trade.\n\nDrew next removed to the neighbourhood of Plymouth to work at his\nshoemaking business, and while at Cawsand he won a prize for\ncudgel-playing, in which he seems to have been an adept.  While living\nthere, he had nearly lost his life in a smuggling exploit which he had\njoined, partly induced by the love of adventure, and partly by the love\nof gain, for his regular wages were not more than eight shillings a-week.\nOne night, notice was given throughout Crafthole, that a smuggler was off\nthe coast, ready to land her cargo; on which the male population of the\nplace\u2014nearly all smugglers\u2014made for the shore.  One party remained on the\nrocks to make signals and dispose of the goods as they were landed; and\nanother manned the boats, Drew being of the latter party.  The night was\nintensely dark, and very little of the cargo had been landed, when the\nwind rose, with a heavy sea.  The men in the boats, however, determined\nto persevere, and several trips were made between the smuggler, now\nstanding farther out to sea, and the shore.  One of the men in the boat\nin which Drew was, had his hat blown off by the wind, and in attempting\nto recover it, the boat was upset.  Three of the men were immediately\ndrowned; the others clung to the boat for a time, but finding it drifting\nout to sea, they took to swimming.  They were two miles from land, and\nthe night was intensely dark.  After being about three hours in the\nwater, Drew reached a rock near the shore, with one or two others, where\nhe remained benumbed with cold till morning, when he and his companions\nwere discovered and taken off, more dead than alive.  A keg of brandy\nfrom the cargo just landed was brought, the head knocked in with a\nhatchet, and a bowlfull of the liquid presented to the survivors; and,\nshortly after, Drew was able to walk two miles through deep snow, to his\nlodgings.\n\nThis was a very unpromising beginning of a life; and yet this same Drew,\nscapegrace, orchard-robber, shoemaker, cudgel-player, and smuggler,\noutlived the recklessness of his youth and became distinguished as a\nminister of the Gospel and a writer of good books.  Happily, before it\nwas too late, the energy which characterised him was turned into a more\nhealthy direction, and rendered him as eminent in usefulness as he had\nbefore been in wickedness.  His father again took him back to St.\nAustell, and found employment for him as a journeyman shoemaker.  Perhaps\nhis recent escape from death had tended to make the young man serious, as\nwe shortly find him attracted by the forcible preaching of Dr. Adam\nClarke, a minister of the Wesleyan Methodists.  His brother having died\nabout the same time, the impression of seriousness was deepened; and\nthenceforward he was an altered man.  He began anew the work of\neducation, for he had almost forgotten how to read and write; and even\nafter several years\u2019 practice, a friend compared his writing to the\ntraces of a spider dipped in ink set to crawl upon paper.  Speaking of\nhimself, about that time, Drew afterwards said, \u201cThe more I read, the\nmore I felt my own ignorance; and the more I felt my ignorance, the more\ninvincible became my energy to surmount it.  Every leisure moment was now\nemployed in reading one thing or another.  Having to support myself by\nmanual labour, my time for reading was but little, and to overcome this\ndisadvantage, my usual method was to place a book before me while at\nmeat, and at every repast I read five or six pages.\u201d  The perusal of\nLocke\u2019s \u2018Essay on the Understanding\u2019 gave the first metaphysical turn to\nhis mind.  \u201cIt awakened me from my stupor,\u201d said he, \u201cand induced me to\nform a resolution to abandon the grovelling views which I had been\naccustomed to entertain.\u201d\n\nDrew began business on his own account, with a capital of a few\nshillings; but his character for steadiness was such that a neighbouring\nmiller offered him a loan, which was accepted, and, success attending his\nindustry, the debt was repaid at the end of a year.  He started with a\ndetermination to \u201cowe no man anything,\u201d and he held to it in the midst of\nmany privations.  Often he went to bed supperless, to avoid rising in\ndebt.  His ambition was to achieve independence by industry and economy,\nand in this he gradually succeeded.  In the midst of incessant labour, he\nsedulously strove to improve his mind, studying astronomy, history, and\nmetaphysics.  He was induced to pursue the latter study chiefly because\nit required fewer books to consult than either of the others.  \u201cIt\nappeared to be a thorny path,\u201d he said, \u201cbut I determined, nevertheless,\nto enter, and accordingly began to tread it.\u201d\n\nAdded to his labours in shoemaking and metaphysics, Drew became a local\npreacher and a class leader.  He took an eager interest in politics, and\nhis shop became a favourite resort with the village politicians.  And\nwhen they did not come to him, he went to them to talk over public\naffairs.  This so encroached upon his time that he found it necessary\nsometimes to work until midnight to make up for the hours lost during the\nday.  His political fervour become the talk of the village.  While busy\none night hammering away at a shoe-sole, a little boy, seeing a light in\nthe shop, put his mouth to the keyhole of the door, and called out in a\nshrill pipe, \u201cShoemaker! shoe-maker! work by night and run about by day!\u201d\nA friend, to whom Drew afterwards told the story, asked, \u201cAnd did not you\nrun after the boy, and strap him?\u201d  \u201cNo, no,\u201d was the reply; \u201chad a\npistol been fired off at my ear, I could not have been more dismayed or\nconfounded.  I dropped my work, and said to myself, \u2018True, true! but you\nshall never have that to say of me again.\u2019  To me that cry was as the\nvoice of God, and it has been a word in season throughout my life.  I\nlearnt from it not to leave till to-morrow the work of to-day, or to idle\nwhen I ought to be working.\u201d\n\nFrom that moment Drew dropped politics, and stuck to his work, reading\nand studying in his spare hours: but he never allowed the latter pursuit\nto interfere with his business, though it frequently broke in upon his\nrest.  He married, and thought of emigrating to America; but he remained\nworking on.  His literary taste first took the direction of poetical\ncomposition; and from some of the fragments which have been preserved, it\nappears that his speculations as to the immateriality and immortality of\nthe soul had their origin in these poetical musings.  His study was the\nkitchen, where his wife\u2019s bellows served him for a desk; and he wrote\namidst the cries and cradlings of his children.  Paine\u2019s \u2018Age of Reason\u2019\nhaving appeared about this time and excited much interest, he composed a\npamphlet in refutation of its arguments, which was published.  He used\nafterwards to say that it was the \u2018Age of Reason\u2019 that made him an\nauthor.  Various pamphlets from his pen shortly appeared in rapid\nsuccession, and a few years later, while still working at shoemaking, he\nwrote and published his admirable \u2018Essay on the Immateriality and\nImmortality of the Human Soul,\u2019 which he sold for twenty pounds, a great\nsum in his estimation at the time.  The book went through many editions,\nand is still prized.\n\nDrew was in no wise puffed up by his success, as many young authors are,\nbut, long after he had become celebrated as a writer, used to be seen\nsweeping the street before his door, or helping his apprentices to carry\nin the winter\u2019s coals.  Nor could he, for some time, bring himself to\nregard literature as a profession to live by.  His first care was, to\nsecure an honest livelihood by his business, and to put into the \u201clottery\nof literary success,\u201d as he termed it, only the surplus of his time.  At\nlength, however, he devoted himself wholly to literature, more\nparticularly in connection with the Wesleyan body; editing one of their\nmagazines, and superintending the publication of several of their\ndenominational works.  He also wrote in the \u2018Eclectic Review,\u2019 and\ncompiled and published a valuable history of his native county, Cornwall,\nwith numerous other works.  Towards the close of his career, he said of\nhimself,\u2014\u201cRaised from one of the lowest stations in society, I have\nendeavoured through life to bring my family into a state of\nrespectability, by honest industry, frugality, and a high regard for my\nmoral character.  Divine providence has smiled on my exertions, and\ncrowned my wishes with success.\u201d\n\nThe late Joseph Hume pursued a very different career, but worked in an\nequally persevering spirit.  He was a man of moderate parts, but of great\nindustry and unimpeachable honesty of purpose.  The motto of his life was\n\u201cPerseverance,\u201d and well, he acted up to it.  His father dying while he\nwas a mere child, his mother opened a small shop in Montrose, and toiled\nhard to maintain her family and bring them up respectably.  Joseph she\nput apprentice to a surgeon, and educated for the medical profession.\nHaving got his diploma, he made several voyages to India as ship\u2019s\nsurgeon, {115} and afterwards obtained a cadetship in the Company\u2019s\nservice.  None worked harder, or lived more temperately, than he did,\nand, securing the confidence of his superiors, who found him a capable\nman in the performance of his duty, they gradually promoted him to higher\noffices.  In 1803 he was with the division of the army under General\nPowell, in the Mahratta war; and the interpreter having died, Hume, who\nhad meanwhile studied and mastered the native languages, was appointed in\nhis stead.  He was next made chief of the medical staff.  But as if this\nwere not enough to occupy his full working power, he undertook in\naddition the offices of paymaster and post-master, and filled them\nsatisfactorily.  He also contracted to supply the commissariat, which he\ndid with advantage to the army and profit to himself.  After about ten\nyears\u2019 unremitting labour, he returned to England with a competency; and\none of his first acts was to make provision for the poorer members of his\nfamily.\n\nBut Joseph Hume was not a man to enjoy the fruits of his industry in\nidleness.  Work and occupation had become necessary for his comfort and\nhappiness.  To make himself fully acquainted with the actual state of his\nown country, and the condition of the people, he visited every town in\nthe kingdom which then enjoyed any degree of manufacturing celebrity.  He\nafterwards travelled abroad for the purpose of obtaining a knowledge of\nforeign states. Returned to England, he entered Parliament in 1812, and\ncontinued a member of that assembly, with a short interruption, for a\nperiod of about thirty-four years.  His first recorded speech was on the\nsubject of public education, and throughout his long and honourable\ncareer he took an active and earnest interest in that and all other\nquestions calculated to elevate and improve the condition of the\npeople\u2014criminal reform, savings-banks, free trade, economy and\nretrenchment, extended representation, and such like measures, all of\nwhich he indefatigably promoted.  Whatever subject he undertook, he\nworked at with all his might.  He was not a good speaker, but what he\nsaid was believed to proceed from the lips of an honest, single-minded,\naccurate man.  If ridicule, as Shaftesbury says, be the test of truth,\nJoseph Hume stood the test well.  No man was more laughed at, but there\nhe stood perpetually, and literally, \u201cat his post.\u201d  He was usually\nbeaten on a division, but the influence which he exercised was\nnevertheless felt, and many important financial improvements were\neffected by him even with the vote directly against him.  The amount of\nhard work which he contrived to get through was something extraordinary.\nHe rose at six, wrote letters and arranged his papers for parliament;\nthen, after breakfast, he received persons on business, sometimes as many\nas twenty in a morning.  The House rarely assembled without him, and\nthough the debate might be prolonged to two or three o\u2019clock in the\nmorning, his name was seldom found absent from the division.  In short,\nto perform the work which he did, extending over so long a period, in the\nface of so many Administrations, week after week, year after year,\u2014to be\noutvoted, beaten, laughed at, standing on many occasions almost alone,\u2014to\npersevere in the face of every discouragement, preserving his temper\nunruffled, never relaxing in his energy or his hope, and living to see\nthe greater number of his measures adopted with acclamation, must be\nregarded as one of the most remarkable illustrations of the power of\nhuman perseverance that biography can exhibit.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\nHELPS AND OPPORTUNITIES\u2014SCIENTIFIC PURSUITS.\n\n\n    \u201cNeither the naked hand, nor the understanding, left to itself, can\n    do much; the work is accomplished by instruments and helps, of which\n    the need is not less for the understanding than the hand.\u201d\u2014_Bacon_.\n\n    \u201cOpportunity has hair in front, behind she is bald; if you seize her\n    by the forelock you may hold her, but, if suffered to escape, not\n    Jupiter himself can catch her again.\u201d\u2014_From the Latin_.\n\nACCIDENT does very little towards the production of any great result in\nlife.  Though sometimes what is called \u201ca happy hit\u201d may be made by a\nbold venture, the common highway of steady industry and application is\nthe only safe road to travel.  It is said of the landscape painter\nWilson, that when he had nearly finished a picture in a tame, correct\nmanner, he would step back from it, his pencil fixed at the end of a long\nstick, and after gazing earnestly on the work, he would suddenly walk up\nand by a few bold touches give a brilliant finish to the painting.  But\nit will not do for every one who would produce an effect, to throw his\nbrush at the canvas in the hope of producing a picture.  The capability\nof putting in these last vital touches is acquired only by the labour of\na life; and the probability is, that the artist who has not carefully\ntrained himself beforehand, in attempting to produce a brilliant effect\nat a dash, will only produce a blotch.\n\nSedulous attention and painstaking industry always mark the true worker.\nThe greatest men are not those who \u201cdespise the day of small things,\u201d but\nthose who improve them the most carefully.  Michael Angelo was one day\nexplaining to a visitor at his studio, what he had been doing at a statue\nsince his previous visit.  \u201cI have retouched this part\u2014polished\nthat\u2014softened this feature\u2014brought out that muscle\u2014given some expression\nto this lip, and more energy to that limb.\u201d  \u201cBut these are trifles,\u201d\nremarked the visitor.  \u201cIt may be so,\u201d replied the sculptor, \u201cbut\nrecollect that trifles make perfection, and perfection is no trifle.\u201d  So\nit was said of Nicholas Poussin, the painter, that the rule of his\nconduct was, that \u201cwhatever was worth doing at all was worth doing well;\u201d\nand when asked, late in life, by his friend Vigneul de Marville, by what\nmeans he had gained so high a reputation among the painters of Italy,\nPoussin emphatically answered, \u201cBecause I have neglected nothing.\u201d\n\nAlthough there are discoveries which are said to have been made by\naccident, if carefully inquired into, it will be found that there has\nreally been very little that was accidental about them.  For the most\npart, these so-called accidents have only been opportunities, carefully\nimproved by genius.  The fall of the apple at Newton\u2019s feet has often\nbeen quoted in proof of the accidental character of some discoveries.\nBut Newton\u2019s whole mind had already been devoted for years to the\nlaborious and patient investigation of the subject of gravitation; and\nthe circumstance of the apple falling before his eyes was suddenly\napprehended only as genius could apprehend it, and served to flash upon\nhim the brilliant discovery then opening to his sight.  In like manner,\nthe brilliantly-coloured soap-bubbles blown from a common tobacco\npipe\u2014though \u201ctrifles light as air\u201d in most eyes\u2014suggested to Dr. Young\nhis beautiful theory of \u201cinterferences,\u201d and led to his discovery\nrelating to the diffraction of light.  Although great men are popularly\nsupposed only to deal with great things, men such as Newton and Young\nwere ready to detect the significance of the most familiar and simple\nfacts; their greatness consisting mainly in their wise interpretation of\nthem.\n\nThe difference between men consists, in a great measure, in the\nintelligence of their observation.  The Russian proverb says of the\nnon-observant man, \u201cHe goes through the forest and sees no firewood.\u201d\n\u201cThe wise man\u2019s eyes are in his head,\u201d says Solomon, \u201cbut the fool\nwalketh in darkness.\u201d  \u201cSir,\u201d said Johnson, on one occasion, to a fine\ngentleman just returned from Italy, \u201csome men will learn more in the\nHampstead stage than others in the tour of Europe.\u201d  It is the mind that\nsees as well as the eye.  Where unthinking gazers observe nothing, men of\nintelligent vision penetrate into the very fibre of the phenomena\npresented to them, attentively noting differences, making comparisons,\nand recognizing their underlying idea.  Many before Galileo had seen a\nsuspended weight swing before their eyes with a measured beat; but he was\nthe first to detect the value of the fact.  One of the vergers in the\ncathedral at Pisa, after replenishing with oil a lamp which hung from the\nroof, left it swinging to and fro; and Galileo, then a youth of only\neighteen, noting it attentively, conceived the idea of applying it to the\nmeasurement of time.  Fifty years of study and labour, however, elapsed,\nbefore he completed the invention of his Pendulum,\u2014the importance of\nwhich, in the measurement of time and in astronomical calculations, can\nscarcely be overrated.  In like manner, Galileo, having casually heard\nthat one Lippershey, a Dutch spectacle-maker, had presented to Count\nMaurice of Nassau an instrument by means of which distant objects\nappeared nearer to the beholder, addressed himself to the cause of such a\nphenomenon, which led to the invention of the telescope, and proved the\nbeginning of the modern science of astronomy.  Discoveries such as these\ncould never have been made by a negligent observer, or by a mere passive\nlistener.\n\nWhile Captain (afterwards Sir Samuel) Brown was occupied in studying the\nconstruction of bridges, with the view of contriving one of a cheap\ndescription to be thrown across the Tweed, near which he lived, he was\nwalking in his garden one dewy autumn morning, when he saw a tiny\nspider\u2019s net suspended across his path.  The idea immediately occurred to\nhim, that a bridge of iron ropes or chains might be constructed in like\nmanner, and the result was the invention of his Suspension Bridge.  So\nJames Watt, when consulted about the mode of carrying water by pipes\nunder the Clyde, along the unequal bed of the river, turned his attention\none day to the shell of a lobster presented at table; and from that model\nhe invented an iron tube, which, when laid down, was found effectually to\nanswer the purpose.  Sir Isambert Brunel took his first lessons in\nforming the Thames Tunnel from the tiny shipworm: he saw how the little\ncreature perforated the wood with its well-armed head, first in one\ndirection and then in another, till the archway was complete, and then\ndaubed over the roof and sides with a kind of varnish; and by copying\nthis work exactly on a large scale, Brunel was at length enabled to\nconstruct his shield and accomplish his great engineering work.\n\nIt is the intelligent eye of the careful observer which gives these\napparently trivial phenomena their value.  So trifling a matter as the\nsight of seaweed floating past his ship, enabled Columbus to quell the\nmutiny which arose amongst his sailors at not discovering land, and to\nassure them that the eagerly sought New World was not far off.  There is\nnothing so small that it should remain forgotten; and no fact, however\ntrivial, but may prove useful in some way or other if carefully\ninterpreted.  Who could have imagined that the famous \u201cchalk cliffs of\nAlbion\u201d had been built up by tiny insects\u2014detected only by the help of\nthe microscope\u2014of the same order of creatures that have gemmed the sea\nwith islands of coral!  And who that contemplates such extraordinary\nresults, arising from infinitely minute operations, will venture to\nquestion the power of little things?\n\nIt is the close observation of little things which is the secret of\nsuccess in business, in art, in science, and in every pursuit in life.\nHuman knowledge is but an accumulation of small facts, made by successive\ngenerations of men, the little bits of knowledge and experience carefully\ntreasured up by them growing at length into a mighty pyramid.  Though\nmany of these facts and observations seemed in the first instance to have\nbut slight significance, they are all found to have their eventual uses,\nand to fit into their proper places.  Even many speculations seemingly\nremote, turn out to be the basis of results the most obviously practical.\nIn the case of the conic sections discovered by Apollonius Perg\u00e6us,\ntwenty centuries elapsed before they were made the basis of astronomy\u2014a\nscience which enables the modern navigator to steer his way through\nunknown seas and traces for him in the heavens an unerring path to his\nappointed haven.  And had not mathematicians toiled for so long, and, to\nuninstructed observers, apparently so fruitlessly, over the abstract\nrelations of lines and surfaces, it is probable that but few of our\nmechanical inventions would have seen the light.\n\nWhen Franklin made his discovery of the identity of lightning and\nelectricity, it was sneered at, and people asked, \u201cOf what use is it?\u201d\nTo which his reply was, \u201cWhat is the use of a child?  It may become a\nman!\u201d  When Galvani discovered that a frog\u2019s leg twitched when placed in\ncontact with different metals, it could scarcely have been imagined that\nso apparently insignificant a fact could have led to important results.\nYet therein lay the germ of the Electric Telegraph, which binds the\nintelligence of continents together, and, probably before many years have\nelapsed, will \u201cput a girdle round the globe.\u201d  So too, little bits of\nstone and fossil, dug out of the earth, intelligently interpreted, have\nissued in the science of geology and the practical operations of mining,\nin which large capitals are invested and vast numbers of persons\nprofitably employed.\n\nThe gigantic machinery employed in pumping our mines, working our mills\nand manufactures, and driving our steam-ships and locomotives, in like\nmanner depends for its supply of power upon so slight an agency as little\ndrops of water expanded by heat,\u2014that familiar agency called steam, which\nwe see issuing from that common tea-kettle spout, but which, when put up\nwithin an ingeniously contrived mechanism, displays a force equal to that\nof millions of horses, and contains a power to rebuke the waves and set\neven the hurricane at defiance.  The same power at work within the bowels\nof the earth has been the cause of those volcanoes and earthquakes which\nhave played so mighty a part in the history of the globe.\n\nIt is said that the Marquis of Worcester\u2019s attention was first\naccidentally directed to the subject of steam power, by the tight cover\nof a vessel containing hot water having been blown off before his eyes,\nwhen confined a prisoner in the Tower.  He published the result of his\nobservations in his \u2018Century of Inventions,\u2019 which formed a sort of\ntext-book for inquirers into the powers of steam for a time, until\nSavary, Newcomen, and others, applying it to practical purposes, brought\nthe steam-engine to the state in which Watt found it when called upon to\nrepair a model of Newcomen\u2019s engine, which belonged to the University of\nGlasgow.  This accidental circumstance was an opportunity for Watt, which\nhe was not slow to improve; and it was the labour of his life to bring\nthe steam-engine to perfection.\n\nThis art of seizing opportunities and turning even accidents to account,\nbending them to some purpose is a great secret of success.  Dr. Johnson\nhas defined genius to be \u201ca mind of large general powers accidentally\ndetermined in some particular direction.\u201d  Men who are resolved to find a\nway for themselves, will always find opportunities enough; and if they do\nnot lie ready to their hand, they will make them.  It is not those who\nhave enjoyed the advantages of colleges, museums, and public galleries,\nthat have accomplished the most for science and art; nor have the\ngreatest mechanics and inventors been trained in mechanics\u2019 institutes.\nNecessity, oftener than facility, has been the mother of invention; and\nthe most prolific school of all has been the school of difficulty.  Some\nof the very best workmen have had the most indifferent tools to work\nwith.  But it is not tools that make the workman, but the trained skill\nand perseverance of the man himself.  Indeed it is proverbial that the\nbad workman never yet had a good tool.  Some one asked Opie by what\nwonderful process he mixed his colours.  \u201cI mix them with my brains,\nsir,\u201d was his reply.  It is the same with every workman who would excel.\nFerguson made marvellous things\u2014such as his wooden clock, that accurately\nmeasured the hours\u2014by means of a common penknife, a tool in everybody\u2019s\nhand; but then everybody is not a Ferguson.  A pan of water and two\nthermometers were the tools by which Dr. Black discovered latent heat;\nand a prism, a lens, and a sheet of pasteboard enabled Newton to unfold\nthe composition of light and the origin of colours.  An eminent foreign\n_savant_ once called upon Dr. Wollaston, and requested to be shown over\nhis laboratories in which science had been enriched by so many important\ndiscoveries, when the doctor took him into a little study, and, pointing\nto an old tea-tray on the table, containing a few watch-glasses, test\npapers, a small balance, and a blowpipe, said, \u201cThere is all the\nlaboratory that I have!\u201d\n\nStothard learnt the art of combining colours by closely studying\nbutterflies\u2019 wings: he would often say that no one knew what he owed to\nthese tiny insects.  A burnt stick and a barn door served Wilkie in lieu\nof pencil and canvas.  Bewick first practised drawing on the cottage\nwalls of his native village, which he covered with his sketches in chalk;\nand Benjamin West made his first brushes out of the cat\u2019s tail.  Ferguson\nlaid himself down in the fields at night in a blanket, and made a map of\nthe heavenly bodies by means of a thread with small beads on it stretched\nbetween his eye and the stars.  Franklin first robbed the thundercloud of\nits lightning by means of a kite made with two cross sticks and a silk\nhandkerchief.  Watt made his first model of the condensing steam-engine\nout of an old anatomist\u2019s syringe, used to inject the arteries previous\nto dissection.  Gifford worked his first problems in mathematics, when a\ncobbler\u2019s apprentice, upon small scraps of leather, which he beat smooth\nfor the purpose; whilst Rittenhouse, the astronomer, first calculated\neclipses on his plough handle.\n\nThe most ordinary occasions will furnish a man with opportunities or\nsuggestions for improvement, if he be but prompt to take advantage of\nthem.  Professor Lee was attracted to the study of Hebrew by finding a\nBible in that tongue in a synagogue, while working as a common carpenter\nat the repairs of the benches.  He became possessed with a desire to read\nthe book in the original, and, buying a cheap second-hand copy of a\nHebrew grammar, he set to work and learnt the language for himself.  As\nEdmund Stone said to the Duke of Argyle, in answer to his grace\u2019s inquiry\nhow he, a poor gardener\u2019s boy, had contrived to be able to read Newton\u2019s\nPrincipia in Latin, \u201cOne needs only to know the twenty-four letters of\nthe alphabet in order to learn everything else that one wishes.\u201d\nApplication and perseverance, and the diligent improvement of\nopportunities, will do the rest.\n\nSir Walter Scott found opportunities for self-improvement in every\npursuit, and turned even accidents to account.  Thus it was in the\ndischarge of his functions as a writer\u2019s apprentice that he first visited\nthe Highlands, and formed those friendships among the surviving heroes of\n1745 which served to lay the foundation of a large class of his works.\nLater in life, when employed as quartermaster of the Edinburgh Light\nCavalry, he was accidentally disabled by the kick of a horse, and\nconfined for some time to his house; but Scott was a sworn enemy to\nidleness, and he forthwith set his mind to work.  In three days he had\ncomposed the first canto of \u2018The Lay of the Last Minstrel,\u2019 which he\nshortly after finished,\u2014his first great original work.\n\nThe attention of Dr. Priestley, the discoverer of so many gases, was\naccidentally drawn to the subject of chemistry through his living in the\nneighbourhood of a brewery.  When visiting the place one day, he noted\nthe peculiar appearances attending the extinction of lighted chips in the\ngas floating over the fermented liquor.  He was forty years old at the\ntime, and knew nothing of chemistry.  He consulted books to ascertain the\ncause, but they told him little, for as yet nothing was known on the\nsubject.  Then he began to experiment, with some rude apparatus of his\nown contrivance.  The curious results of his first experiments led to\nothers, which in his hands shortly became the science of pneumatic\nchemistry.  About the same time, Scheele was obscurely working in the\nsame direction in a remote Swedish village; and he discovered several new\ngases, with no more effective apparatus at his command than a few\napothecaries\u2019 phials and pigs\u2019 bladders.\n\nSir Humphry Davy, when an apothecary\u2019s apprentice, performed his first\nexperiments with instruments of the rudest description.  He extemporised\nthe greater part of them himself, out of the motley materials which\nchance threw in his way,\u2014the pots and pans of the kitchen, and the phials\nand vessels of his master\u2019s surgery.  It happened that a French ship was\nwrecked off the Land\u2019s End, and the surgeon escaped, bearing with him his\ncase of instruments, amongst which was an old-fashioned glyster\napparatus; this article he presented to Davy, with whom he had become\nacquainted.  The apothecary\u2019s apprentice received it with great\nexultation, and forthwith employed it as a part of a pneumatic apparatus\nwhich he contrived, afterwards using it to perform the duties of an\nair-pump in one of his experiments on the nature and sources of heat.\n\nIn like manner Professor Faraday, Sir Humphry Davy\u2019s scientific\nsuccessor, made his first experiments in electricity by means of an old\nbottle, while he was still a working bookbinder.  And it is a curious\nfact that Faraday was first attracted to the study of chemistry by\nhearing one of Sir Humphry Davy\u2019s lectures on the subject at the Royal\nInstitution.  A gentleman, who was a member, calling one day at the shop\nwhere Faraday was employed in binding books, found him poring over the\narticle \u201cElectricity\u201d in an Encyclop\u00e6dia placed in his hands to bind.\nThe gentleman, having made inquiries, found that the young bookbinder was\ncurious about such subjects, and gave him an order of admission to the\nRoyal Institution, where he attended a course of four lectures delivered\nby Sir Humphry.  He took notes of them, which he showed to the lecturer,\nwho acknowledged their scientific accuracy, and was surprised when\ninformed of the humble position of the reporter.  Faraday then expressed\nhis desire to devote himself to the prosecution of chemical studies, from\nwhich Sir Humphry at first endeavoured to dissuade him: but the young man\npersisting, he was at length taken into the Royal Institution as an\nassistant; and eventually the mantle of the brilliant apothecary\u2019s boy\nfell upon the worthy shoulders of the equally brilliant bookbinder\u2019s\napprentice.\n\nThe words which Davy entered in his note-book, when about twenty years of\nage, working in Dr. Beddoes\u2019 laboratory at Bristol, were eminently\ncharacteristic of him: \u201cI have neither riches, nor power, nor birth to\nrecommend me; yet if I live, I trust I shall not be of less service to\nmankind and my friends, than if I had been born with all these\nadvantages.\u201d  Davy possessed the capability, as Faraday does, of devoting\nthe whole power of his mind to the practical and experimental\ninvestigation of a subject in all its bearings; and such a mind will\nrarely fail, by dint of mere industry and patient thinking, in producing\nresults of the highest order.  Coleridge said of Davy, \u201cThere is an\nenergy and elasticity in his mind, which enables him to seize on and\nanalyze all questions, pushing them to their legitimate consequences.\nEvery subject in Davy\u2019s mind has the principle of vitality.  Living\nthoughts spring up like turf under his feet.\u201d  Davy, on his part, said of\nColeridge, whose abilities he greatly admired, \u201cWith the most exalted\ngenius, enlarged views, sensitive heart, and enlightened mind, he will be\nthe victim of a want of order, precision, and regularity.\u201d\n\nThe great Cuvier was a singularly accurate, careful, and industrious\nobserver.  When a boy, he was attracted to the subject of natural history\nby the sight of a volume of Buffon which accidentally fell in his way.\nHe at once proceeded to copy the drawings, and to colour them after the\ndescriptions given in the text.  While still at school, one of his\nteachers made him a present of \u2018Linn\u00e6us\u2019s System of Nature;\u2019 and for more\nthan ten years this constituted his library of natural history.  At\neighteen he was offered the situation of tutor in a family residing near\nF\u00e9camp, in Normandy.  Living close to the sea-shore, he was brought face\nto face with the wonders of marine life.  Strolling along the sands one\nday, he observed a stranded cuttlefish.  He was attracted by the curious\nobject, took it home to dissect, and thus began the study of the\nmollusc\u00e6, in the pursuit of which he achieved so distinguished a\nreputation.  He had no books to refer to, excepting only the great book\nof Nature which lay open before him.  The study of the novel and\ninteresting objects which it daily presented to his eyes made a much\ndeeper impression on his mind than any written or engraved descriptions\ncould possibly have done.  Three years thus passed, during which he\ncompared the living species of marine animals with the fossil remains\nfound in the neighbourhood, dissected the specimens of marine life that\ncame under his notice, and, by careful observation, prepared the way for\na complete reform in the classification of the animal kingdom.  About\nthis time Cuvier became known to the learned Abb\u00e9 Teissier, who wrote to\nJussieu and other friends in Paris on the subject of the young\nnaturalist\u2019s inquiries, in terms of such high commendation, that Cuvier\nwas requested to send some of his papers to the Society of Natural\nHistory; and he was shortly after appointed assistant-superintendent at\nthe Jardin des Plantes.  In the letter written by Teissier to Jussieu,\nintroducing the young naturalist to his notice, he said, \u201cYou remember\nthat it was I who gave Delambre to the Academy in another branch of\nscience: this also will be a Delambre.\u201d  We need scarcely add that the\nprediction of Teissier was more than fulfilled.\n\nIt is not accident, then, that helps a man in the world so much as\npurpose and persistent industry.  To the feeble, the sluggish and\npurposeless, the happiest accidents avail nothing,\u2014they pass them by,\nseeing no meaning in them.  But it is astonishing how much can be\naccomplished if we are prompt to seize and improve the opportunities for\naction and effort which are constantly presenting themselves.  Watt\ntaught himself chemistry and mechanics while working at his trade of a\nmathematical-instrument maker, at the same time that he was learning\nGerman from a Swiss dyer.  Stephenson taught himself arithmetic and\nmensuration while working as an engineman during the night shifts; and\nwhen he could snatch a few moments in the intervals allowed for meals\nduring the day, he worked his sums with a bit of chalk upon the sides of\nthe colliery waggons.  Dalton\u2019s industry was the habit of his life.  He\nbegan from his boyhood, for he taught a little village-school when he was\nonly about twelve years old,\u2014keeping the school in winter, and working\nupon his father\u2019s farm in summer.  He would sometimes urge himself and\ncompanions to study by the stimulus of a bet, though bred a Quaker; and\non one occasion, by his satisfactory solution of a problem, he won as\nmuch as enabled him to buy a winter\u2019s store of candles.  He continued his\nmeteorological observations until a day or two before he died,\u2014having\nmade and recorded upwards of 200,000 in the course of his life.\n\nWith perseverance, the very odds and ends of time may be worked up into\nresults of the greatest value.  An hour in every day withdrawn from\nfrivolous pursuits would, if profitably employed, enable a person of\nordinary capacity to go far towards mastering a science.  It would make\nan ignorant man a well-informed one in less than ten years.  Time should\nnot be allowed to pass without yielding fruits, in the form of something\nlearnt worthy of being known, some good principle cultivated, or some\ngood habit strengthened.  Dr. Mason Good translated Lucretius while\nriding in his carriage in the streets of London, going the round of his\npatients.  Dr. Darwin composed nearly all his works in the same way while\ndriving about in his \u201csulky\u201d from house to house in the country,\u2014writing\ndown his thoughts on little scraps of paper, which he carried about with\nhim for the purpose.  Hale wrote his \u2018Contemplations\u2019 while travelling on\ncircuit.  Dr. Burney learnt French and Italian while travelling on\nhorseback from one musical pupil to another in the course of his\nprofession.  Kirke White learnt Greek while walking to and from a\nlawyer\u2019s office; and we personally know a man of eminent position who\nlearnt Latin and French while going messages as an errand-boy in the\nstreets of Manchester.\n\nDaguesseau, one of the great Chancellors of France, by carefully working\nup his odd bits of time, wrote a bulky and able volume in the successive\nintervals of waiting for dinner, and Madame de Genlis composed several of\nher charming volumes while waiting for the princess to whom she gave her\ndaily lessons.  Elihu Burritt attributed his first success in\nself-improvement, not to genius, which he disclaimed, but simply to the\ncareful employment of those invaluable fragments of time, called \u201codd\nmoments.\u201d  While working and earning his living as a blacksmith, he\nmastered some eighteen ancient and modern languages, and twenty-two\nEuropean dialects.\n\nWhat a solemn and striking admonition to youth is that inscribed on the\ndial at All Souls, Oxford\u2014\u201cPereunt et imputantur\u201d\u2014the hours perish, and\nare laid to our charge.  Time is the only little fragment of Eternity\nthat belongs to man; and, like life, it can never be recalled.  \u201cIn the\ndissipation of worldly treasure,\u201d says Jackson of Exeter, \u201cthe frugality\nof the future may balance the extravagance of the past; but who can say,\n\u2018I will take from minutes to-morrow to compensate for those I have lost\nto-day\u2019?\u201d  Melancthon noted down the time lost by him, that he might\nthereby reanimate his industry, and not lose an hour.  An Italian scholar\nput over his door an inscription intimating that whosoever remained there\nshould join in his labours.  \u201cWe are afraid,\u201d said some visitors to\nBaxter, \u201cthat we break in upon your time.\u201d  \u201cTo be sure you do,\u201d replied\nthe disturbed and blunt divine.  Time was the estate out of which these\ngreat workers, and all other workers, formed that rich treasury of\nthoughts and deeds which they have left to their successors.\n\nThe mere drudgery undergone by some men in carrying on their undertakings\nhas been something extraordinary, but the drudgery they regarded as the\nprice of success.  Addison amassed as much as three folios of manuscript\nmaterials before he began his \u2018Spectator.\u2019  Newton wrote his \u2018Chronology\u2019\nfifteen times over before he was satisfied with it; and Gibbon wrote out\nhis \u2018Memoir\u2019 nine times.  Hale studied for many years at the rate of\nsixteen hours a day, and when wearied with the study of the law, he would\nrecreate himself with philosophy and the study of the mathematics.  Hume\nwrote thirteen hours a day while preparing his \u2018History of England.\u2019\nMontesquieu, speaking of one part of his writings, said to a friend, \u201cYou\nwill read it in a few hours; but I assure you it has cost me so much\nlabour that it has whitened my hair.\u201d\n\nThe practice of writing down thoughts and facts for the purpose of\nholding them fast and preventing their escape into the dim region of\nforgetfulness, has been much resorted to by thoughtful and studious men.\nLord Bacon left behind him many manuscripts entitled \u201cSudden thoughts set\ndown for use.\u201d  Erskine made great extracts from Burke; and Eldon copied\nCoke upon Littleton twice over with his own hand, so that the book\nbecame, as it were, part of his own mind.  The late Dr. Pye Smith, when\napprenticed to his father as a bookbinder, was accustomed to make copious\nmemoranda of all the books he read, with extracts and criticisms.  This\nindomitable industry in collecting materials distinguished him through\nlife, his biographer describing him as \u201calways at work, always in\nadvance, always accumulating.\u201d  These note-books afterwards proved, like\nRichter\u2019s \u201cquarries,\u201d the great storehouse from which he drew his\nillustrations.\n\nThe same practice characterized the eminent John Hunter, who adopted it\nfor the purpose of supplying the defects of memory; and he was accustomed\nthus to illustrate the advantages which one derives from putting one\u2019s\nthoughts in writing: \u201cIt resembles,\u201d he said, \u201ca tradesman taking stock,\nwithout which he never knows either what he possesses or in what he is\ndeficient.\u201d  John Hunter\u2014whose observation was so keen that Abernethy was\naccustomed to speak of him as \u201cthe Argus-eyed\u201d\u2014furnished an illustrious\nexample of the power of patient industry.  He received little or no\neducation till he was about twenty years of age, and it was with\ndifficulty that he acquired the arts of reading and writing.  He worked\nfor some years as a common carpenter at Glasgow, after which he joined\nhis brother William, who had settled in London as a lecturer and\nanatomical demonstrator.  John entered his dissecting-room as an\nassistant, but soon shot ahead of his brother, partly by virtue of his\ngreat natural ability, but mainly by reason of his patient application\nand indefatigable industry.  He was one of the first in this country to\ndevote himself assiduously to the study of comparative anatomy, and the\nobjects he dissected and collected took the eminent Professor Owen no\nless than ten years to arrange.  The collection contains some twenty\nthousand specimens, and is the most precious treasure of the kind that\nhas ever been accumulated by the industry of one man.  Hunter used to\nspend every morning from sunrise until eight o\u2019clock in his museum; and\nthroughout the day he carried on his extensive private practice,\nperformed his laborious duties as surgeon to St. George\u2019s Hospital and\ndeputy surgeon-general to the army; delivered lectures to students, and\nsuperintended a school of practical anatomy at his own house; finding\nleisure, amidst all, for elaborate experiments on the animal economy, and\nthe composition of various works of great scientific importance.  To find\ntime for this gigantic amount of work, he allowed himself only four hours\nof sleep at night, and an hour after dinner.  When once asked what method\nhe had adopted to insure success in his undertakings, he replied, \u201cMy\nrule is, deliberately to consider, before I commence, whether the thing\nbe practicable.  If it be not practicable, I do not attempt it.  If it be\npracticable, I can accomplish it if I give sufficient pains to it; and\nhaving begun, I never stop till the thing is done.  To this rule I owe\nall my success.\u201d\n\nHunter occupied a great deal of his time in collecting definite facts\nrespecting matters which, before his day, were regarded as exceedingly\ntrivial.  Thus it was supposed by many of his contemporaries that he was\nonly wasting his time and thought in studying so carefully as he did the\ngrowth of a deer\u2019s horn.  But Hunter was impressed with the conviction\nthat no accurate knowledge of scientific facts is without its value.  By\nthe study referred to, he learnt how arteries accommodate themselves to\ncircumstances, and enlarge as occasion requires; and the knowledge thus\nacquired emboldened him, in a case of aneurism in a branch artery, to tie\nthe main trunk where no surgeon before him had dared to tie it, and the\nlife of his patient was saved.  Like many original men, he worked for a\nlong time as it were underground, digging and laying foundations.  He was\na solitary and self-reliant genius, holding on his course without the\nsolace of sympathy or approbation,\u2014for but few of his contemporaries\nperceived the ultimate object of his pursuits.  But like all true\nworkers, he did not fail in securing his best reward\u2014that which depends\nless upon others than upon one\u2019s self\u2014the approval of conscience, which\nin a right-minded man invariably follows the honest and energetic\nperformance of duty.\n\nAmbrose Par\u00e9, the great French surgeon, was another illustrious instance\nof close observation, patient application, and indefatigable\nperseverance.  He was the son of a barber at Laval, in Maine, where he\nwas born in 1509.  His parents were too poor to send him to school, but\nthey placed him as foot-boy with the cur\u00e9 of the village, hoping that\nunder that learned man he might pick up an education for himself.  But\nthe cur\u00e9 kept him so busily employed in grooming his mule and in other\nmenial offices that the boy found no time for learning.  While in his\nservice, it happened that the celebrated lithotomist, Cotot, came to\nLaval to operate on one of the cur\u00e9\u2019s ecclesiastical brethren.  Par\u00e9 was\npresent at the operation, and was so much interested by it that he is\nsaid to have from that time formed the determination of devoting himself\nto the art of surgery.\n\nLeaving the cur\u00e9\u2019s household service, Par\u00e9 apprenticed himself to a\nbarber-surgeon named Vialot, under whom he learnt to let blood, draw\nteeth, and perform the minor operations.  After four years\u2019 experience of\nthis kind, he went to Paris to study at the school of anatomy and\nsurgery, meanwhile maintaining himself by his trade of a barber.  He\nafterwards succeeded in obtaining an appointment as assistant at the\nH\u00f4tel Dieu, where his conduct was so exemplary, and his progress so\nmarked, that the chief surgeon, Goupil, entrusted him with the charge of\nthe patients whom he could not himself attend to.  After the usual course\nof instruction, Par\u00e9 was admitted a master barber-surgeon, and shortly\nafter was appointed to a charge with the French army under Montmorenci in\nPiedmont.  Par\u00e9 was not a man to follow in the ordinary ruts of his\nprofession, but brought the resources of an ardent and original mind to\nbear upon his daily work, diligently thinking out for himself the\n_rationale_ of diseases and their befitting remedies.  Before his time\nthe wounded suffered much more at the hands of their surgeons than they\ndid at those of their enemies.  To stop bleeding from gunshot wounds, the\nbarbarous expedient was resorted to of dressing them with boiling oil.\nH\u00e6morrhage was also stopped by searing the wounds with a red-hot iron;\nand when amputation was necessary, it was performed with a red-hot knife.\nAt first Par\u00e9 treated wounds according to the approved methods; but,\nfortunately, on one occasion, running short of boiling oil, he\nsubstituted a mild and emollient application.  He was in great fear all\nnight lest he should have done wrong in adopting this treatment; but was\ngreatly relieved next morning on finding his patients comparatively\ncomfortable, while those whose wounds had been treated in the usual way\nwere writhing in torment.  Such was the casual origin of one of Par\u00e9\u2019s\ngreatest improvements in the treatment of gun-shot wounds; and he\nproceeded to adopt the emollient treatment in all future cases.  Another\nstill more important improvement was his employment of the ligature in\ntying arteries to stop h\u00e6morrhage, instead of the actual cautery.  Par\u00e9,\nhowever, met with the usual fate of innovators and reformers.  His\npractice was denounced by his surgical brethren as dangerous,\nunprofessional, and empirical; and the older surgeons banded themselves\ntogether to resist its adoption.  They reproached him for his want of\neducation, more especially for his ignorance of Latin and Greek; and they\nassailed him with quotations from ancient writers, which he was unable\neither to verify or refute.  But the best answer to his assailants was\nthe success of his practice.  The wounded soldiers called out everywhere\nfor Par\u00e9, and he was always at their service: he tended them carefully\nand affectionately; and he usually took leave of them with the words, \u201cI\nhave dressed you; may God cure you.\u201d\n\nAfter three years\u2019 active service as army-surgeon, Par\u00e9 returned to Paris\nwith such a reputation that he was at once appointed surgeon in ordinary\nto the King.  When Metz was besieged by the Spanish army, under Charles\nV., the garrison suffered heavy loss, and the number of wounded was very\ngreat.  The surgeons were few and incompetent, and probably slew more by\ntheir bad treatment than the Spaniards did by the sword.  The Duke of\nGuise, who commanded the garrison, wrote to the King imploring him to\nsend Par\u00e9 to his help.  The courageous surgeon at once set out, and,\nafter braving many dangers (to use his own words, \u201cd\u2019estre pendu,\nestrangl\u00e9 ou mis en pi\u00e8ces\u201d), he succeeded in passing the enemy\u2019s lines,\nand entered Metz in safety.  The Duke, the generals, and the captains\ngave him an affectionate welcome; while the soldiers, when they heard of\nhis arrival, cried, \u201cWe no longer fear dying of our wounds; our friend is\namong us.\u201d  In the following year Par\u00e9 was in like manner with the\nbesieged in the town of Hesdin, which shortly fell before the Duke of\nSavoy, and he was taken prisoner.  But having succeeded in curing one of\nthe enemy\u2019s chief officers of a serious wound, he was discharged without\nransom, and returned in safety to Paris.\n\nThe rest of his life was occupied in study, in self-improvement, in\npiety, and in good deeds.  Urged by some of the most learned among his\ncontemporaries, he placed on record the results of his surgical\nexperience, in twenty-eight books, which were published by him at\ndifferent times.  His writings are valuable and remarkable chiefly on\naccount of the great number of facts and cases contained in them, and the\ncare with which he avoids giving any directions resting merely upon\ntheory unsupported by observation.  Par\u00e9 continued, though a Protestant,\nto hold the office of surgeon in ordinary to the King; and during the\nMassacre of St. Bartholomew he owed his life to the personal friendship\nof Charles IX., whom he had on one occasion saved from the dangerous\neffects of a wound inflicted by a clumsy surgeon in performing the\noperation of venesection.  Brant\u00f4me, in his \u2018M\u00e9moires,\u2019 thus speaks of\nthe King\u2019s rescue of Par\u00e9 on the night of Saint Bartholomew\u2014\u201cHe sent to\nfetch him, and to remain during the night in his chamber and\nwardrobe-room, commanding him not to stir, and saying that it was not\nreasonable that a man who had preserved the lives of so many people\nshould himself be massacred.\u201d  Thus Par\u00e9 escaped the horrors of that\nfearful night, which he survived for many years, and was permitted to die\nin peace, full of age and honours.\n\nHarvey was as indefatigable a labourer as any we have named.  He spent\nnot less than eight long years of investigation and research before he\npublished his views of the circulation of the blood.  He repeated and\nverified his experiments again and again, probably anticipating the\nopposition he would have to encounter from the profession on making known\nhis discovery.  The tract in which he at length announced his views, was\na most modest one,\u2014but simple, perspicuous, and conclusive.  It was\nnevertheless received with ridicule, as the utterance of a crack-brained\nimpostor.  For some time, he did not make a single convert, and gained\nnothing but contumely and abuse.  He had called in question the revered\nauthority of the ancients; and it was even averred that his views were\ncalculated to subvert the authority of the Scriptures and undermine the\nvery foundations of morality and religion.  His little practice fell\naway, and he was left almost without a friend.  This lasted for some\nyears, until the great truth, held fast by Harvey amidst all his\nadversity, and which had dropped into many thoughtful minds, gradually\nripened by further observation, and after a period of about twenty-five\nyears, it became generally recognised as an established scientific truth.\n\nThe difficulties encountered by Dr. Jenner in promulgating and\nestablishing his discovery of vaccination as a preventive of small-pox,\nwere even greater than those of Harvey.  Many, before him, had witnessed\nthe cow-pox, and had heard of the report current among the milkmaids in\nGloucestershire, that whoever had taken that disease was secure against\nsmall-pox.  It was a trifling, vulgar rumour, supposed to have no\nsignificance whatever; and no one had thought it worthy of investigation,\nuntil it was accidentally brought under the notice of Jenner.  He was a\nyouth, pursuing his studies at Sodbury, when his attention was arrested\nby the casual observation made by a country girl who came to his master\u2019s\nshop for advice.  The small-pox was mentioned, when the girl said, \u201cI\ncan\u2019t take that disease, for I have had cow-pox.\u201d  The observation\nimmediately riveted Jenner\u2019s attention, and he forthwith set about\ninquiring and making observations on the subject.  His professional\nfriends, to whom he mentioned his views as to the prophylactic virtues of\ncow-pox, laughed at him, and even threatened to expel him from their\nsociety, if he persisted in harassing them with the subject.  In London\nhe was so fortunate as to study under John Hunter, to whom he\ncommunicated his views.  The advice of the great anatomist was thoroughly\ncharacteristic: \u201cDon\u2019t think, but _try_; be patient, be accurate.\u201d\nJenner\u2019s courage was supported by the advice, which conveyed to him the\ntrue art of philosophical investigation.  He went back to the country to\npractise his profession and make observations and experiments, which he\ncontinued to pursue for a period of twenty years.  His faith in his\ndiscovery was so implicit that he vaccinated his own son on three several\noccasions.  At length he published his views in a quarto of about seventy\npages, in which he gave the details of twenty-three cases of successful\nvaccination of individuals, to whom it was found afterwards impossible to\ncommunicate the small-pox either by contagion or inoculation.  It was in\n1798 that this treatise was published; though he had been working out his\nideas since the year 1775, when they had begun to assume a definite form.\n\nHow was the discovery received?  First with indifference, then with\nactive hostility.  Jenner proceeded to London to exhibit to the\nprofession the process of vaccination and its results; but not a single\nmedical man could be induced to make trial of it, and after fruitlessly\nwaiting for nearly three months, he returned to his native village.  He\nwas even caricatured and abused for his attempt to \u201cbestialize\u201d his\nspecies by the introduction into their systems of diseased matter from\nthe cow\u2019s udder.  Vaccination was denounced from the pulpit as\n\u201cdiabolical.\u201d  It was averred that vaccinated children became \u201cox-faced,\u201d\nthat abscesses broke out to \u201cindicate sprouting horns,\u201d and that the\ncountenance was gradually \u201ctransmuted into the visage of a cow, the voice\ninto the bellowing of bulls.\u201d  Vaccination, however, was a truth, and\nnotwithstanding the violence of the opposition, belief in it spread\nslowly.  In one village, where a gentleman tried to introduce the\npractice, the first persons who permitted themselves to be vaccinated\nwere absolutely pelted and driven into their houses if they appeared out\nof doors.  Two ladies of title\u2014Lady Ducie and the Countess of Berkeley\u2014to\ntheir honour be it remembered\u2014had the courage to vaccinate their\nchildren; and the prejudices of the day were at once broken through.  The\nmedical profession gradually came round, and there were several who even\nsought to rob Dr. Jenner of the merit of the discovery, when its\nimportance came to be recognised.  Jenner\u2019s cause at last triumphed, and\nhe was publicly honoured and rewarded.  In his prosperity he was as\nmodest as he had been in his obscurity.  He was invited to settle in\nLondon, and told that he might command a practice of 10,000_l._ a year.\nBut his answer was, \u201cNo!  In the morning of my days I have sought the\nsequestered and lowly paths of life\u2014the valley, and not the mountain,\u2014and\nnow, in the evening of my days, it is not meet for me to hold myself up\nas an object for fortune and for fame.\u201d  During Jenner\u2019s own life-time\nthe practice of vaccination became adopted all over the civilized world;\nand when he died, his title as a Benefactor of his kind was recognised\nfar and wide.  Cuvier has said, \u201cIf vaccine were the only discovery of\nthe epoch, it would serve to render it illustrious for ever; yet it\nknocked twenty times in vain at the doors of the Academies.\u201d\n\nNot less patient, resolute, and persevering was Sir Charles Bell in the\nprosecution of his discoveries relating to the nervous system.  Previous\nto his time, the most confused notions prevailed as to the functions of\nthe nerves, and this branch of study was little more advanced than it had\nbeen in the times of Democritus and Anaxagoras three thousand years\nbefore.  Sir Charles Bell, in the valuable series of papers the\npublication of which was commenced in 1821, took an entirely original\nview of the subject, based upon a long series of careful, accurate, and\noft-repeated experiments.  Elaborately tracing the development of the\nnervous system up from the lowest order of animated being, to man\u2014the\nlord of the animal kingdom,\u2014he displayed it, to use his own words, \u201cas\nplainly as if it were written in our mother-tongue.\u201d  His discovery\nconsisted in the fact, that the spinal nerves are double in their\nfunction, and arise by double roots from the spinal marrow,\u2014volition\nbeing conveyed by that part of the nerves springing from the one root,\nand sensation by the other.  The subject occupied the mind of Sir Charles\nBell for a period of forty years, when, in 1840, he laid his last paper\nbefore the Royal Society.  As in the cases of Harvey and Jenner, when he\nhad lived down the ridicule and opposition with which his views were\nfirst received, and their truth came to be recognised, numerous claims\nfor priority in making the discovery were set up at home and abroad.\nLike them, too, he lost practice by the publication of his papers; and he\nleft it on record that, after every step in his discovery, he was obliged\nto work harder than ever to preserve his reputation as a practitioner.\nThe great merits of Sir Charles Bell were, however, at length fully\nrecognised; and Cuvier himself, when on his death-bed, finding his face\ndistorted and drawn to one side, pointed out the symptom to his\nattendants as a proof of the correctness of Sir Charles Bell\u2019s theory.\n\nAn equally devoted pursuer of the same branch of science was the late Dr.\nMarshall Hall, whose name posterity will rank with those of Harvey,\nHunter, Jenner, and Bell.  During the whole course of his long and useful\nlife he was a most careful and minute observer; and no fact, however\napparently insignificant, escaped his attention.  His important discovery\nof the diastaltic nervous system, by which his name will long be known\namongst scientific men, originated in an exceedingly simple circumstance.\nWhen investigating the pneumonic circulation in the Triton, the\ndecapitated object lay upon the table; and on separating the tail and\naccidentally pricking the external integument, he observed that it moved\nwith energy, and became contorted into various forms.  He had not touched\na muscle or a muscular nerve; what then was the nature of these\nmovements?  The same phenomena had probably been often observed before,\nbut Dr. Hall was the first to apply himself perseveringly to the\ninvestigation of their causes; and he exclaimed on the occasion, \u201cI will\nnever rest satisfied until I have found all this out, and made it clear.\u201d\nHis attention to the subject was almost incessant; and it is estimated\nthat in the course of his life he devoted not less than 25,000 hours to\nits experimental and chemical investigation.  He was at the same time\ncarrying on an extensive private practice, and officiating as lecturer at\nSt. Thomas\u2019s Hospital and other Medical Schools.  It will scarcely be\ncredited that the paper in which he embodied his discovery was rejected\nby the Royal Society, and was only accepted after the lapse of seventeen\nyears, when the truth of his views had become acknowledged by scientific\nmen both at home and abroad.\n\nThe life of Sir William Herschel affords another remarkable illustration\nof the force of perseverance in another branch of science.  His father\nwas a poor German musician, who brought up his four sons to the same\ncalling.  William came over to England to seek his fortune, and he joined\nthe band of the Durham Militia, in which he played the oboe.  The\nregiment was lying at Doncaster, where Dr. Miller first became acquainted\nwith Herschel, having heard him perform a solo on the violin in a\nsurprising manner.  The Doctor entered into conversation with the youth,\nand was so pleased with him, that he urged him to leave the militia and\ntake up his residence at his house for a time.  Herschel did so, and\nwhile at Doncaster was principally occupied in violin-playing at\nconcerts, availing himself of the advantages of Dr. Miller\u2019s library to\nstudy at his leisure hours.  A new organ having been built for the parish\nchurch of Halifax, an organist was advertised for, on which Herschel\napplied for the office, and was selected.  Leading the wandering life of\nan artist, he was next attracted to Bath, where he played in the\nPump-room band, and also officiated as organist in the Octagon chapel.\nSome recent discoveries in astronomy having arrested his mind, and\nawakened in him a powerful spirit of curiosity, he sought and obtained\nfrom a friend the loan of a two-foot Gregorian telescope.  So fascinated\nwas the poor musician by the science, that he even thought of purchasing\na telescope, but the price asked by the London optician was so alarming,\nthat he determined to make one.  Those who know what a reflecting\ntelescope is, and the skill which is required to prepare the concave\nmetallic speculum which forms the most important part of the apparatus,\nwill be able to form some idea of the difficulty of this undertaking.\nNevertheless, Herschel succeeded, after long and painful labour, in\ncompleting a five-foot reflector, with which he had the gratification of\nobserving the ring and satellites of Saturn.  Not satisfied with his\ntriumph, he proceeded to make other instruments in succession, of seven,\nten, and even twenty feet.  In constructing the seven-foot reflector, he\nfinished no fewer than two hundred specula before he produced one that\nwould bear any power that was applied to it,\u2014a striking instance of the\npersevering laboriousness of the man.  While gauging the heavens with his\ninstruments, he continued patiently to earn his bread by piping to the\nfashionable frequenters of the Pump-room.  So eager was he in his\nastronomical observations, that he would steal away from the room during\nan interval of the performance, give a little turn at his telescope, and\ncontentedly return to his oboe.  Thus working away, Herschel discovered\nthe Georgium Sidus, the orbit and rate of motion of which he carefully\ncalculated, and sent the result to the Royal Society; when the humble\noboe player found himself at once elevated from obscurity to fame.  He\nwas shortly after appointed Astronomer Royal, and by the kindness of\nGeorge III. was placed in a position of honourable competency for life.\nHe bore his honours with the same meekness and humility which had\ndistinguished him in the days of his obscurity.  So gentle and patient,\nand withal so distinguished and successful a follower of science under\ndifficulties, perhaps cannot be found in the entire history of biography.\n\nThe career of William Smith, the father of English geology, though\nperhaps less known, is not less interesting and instructive as an example\nof patient and laborious effort, and the diligent cultivation of\nopportunities.  He was born in 1769, the son of a yeoman farmer at\nChurchill, in Oxfordshire.  His father dying when he was but a child, he\nreceived a very sparing education at the village school, and even that\nwas to a considerable extent interfered with by his wandering and\nsomewhat idle habits as a boy.  His mother having married a second time,\nhe was taken in charge by an uncle, also a farmer, by whom he was brought\nup.  Though the uncle was by no means pleased with the boy\u2019s love of\nwandering about, collecting \u201cpoundstones,\u201d \u201cpundips,\u201d and other stony\ncuriosities which lay scattered about the adjoining land, he yet enabled\nhim to purchase a few of the necessary books wherewith to instruct\nhimself in the rudiments of geometry and surveying; for the boy was\nalready destined for the business of a land-surveyor.  One of his marked\ncharacteristics, even as a youth, was the accuracy and keenness of his\nobservation; and what he once clearly saw he never forgot.  He began to\ndraw, attempted to colour, and practised the arts of mensuration and\nsurveying, all without regular instruction; and by his efforts in\nself-culture, he shortly became so proficient, that he was taken on as\nassistant to a local surveyor of ability in the neighbourhood.  In\ncarrying on his business he was constantly under the necessity of\ntraversing Oxfordshire and the adjoining counties.  One of the first\nthings he seriously pondered over, was the position of the various soils\nand strata that came under his notice on the lands which he surveyed or\ntravelled over; more especially the position of the red earth in regard\nto the lias and superincumbent rocks.  The surveys of numerous collieries\nwhich he was called upon to make, gave him further experience; and\nalready, when only twenty-three years of age, he contemplated making a\nmodel of the strata of the earth.\n\nWhile engaged in levelling for a proposed canal in Gloucestershire, the\nidea of a general law occurred to him relating to the strata of that\ndistrict.  He conceived that the strata lying above the coal were not\nlaid horizontally, but inclined, and in one direction, towards the east;\nresembling, on a large scale, \u201cthe ordinary appearance of superposed\nslices of bread and butter.\u201d  The correctness of this theory he shortly\nafter confirmed by observations of the strata in two parallel valleys,\nthe \u201cred ground,\u201d \u201clias,\u201d and \u201cfreestone\u201d or \u201coolite,\u201d being found to\ncome down in an eastern direction, and to sink below the level, yielding\nplace to the next in succession.  He was shortly enabled to verify the\ntruth of his views on a larger scale, having been appointed to examine\npersonally into the management of canals in England and Wales.  During\nhis journeys, which extended from Bath to Newcastle-on-Tyne, returning by\nShropshire and Wales, his keen eyes were never idle for a moment.  He\nrapidly noted the aspect and structure of the country through which he\npassed with his companions, treasuring up his observations for future\nuse.  His geologic vision was so acute, that though the road along which\nhe passed from York to Newcastle in the post chaise was from five to\nfifteen miles distant from the hills of chalk and oolite on the east, he\nwas satisfied as to their nature, by their contours and relative\nposition, and their ranges on the surface in relation to the lias and\n\u201cred ground\u201d occasionally seen on the road.\n\nThe general results of his observation seem to have been these.  He noted\nthat the rocky masses of country in the western parts of England\ngenerally inclined to the east and south-east; that the red sandstones\nand marls above the coal measures passed beneath the lias, clay, and\nlimestone, that these again passed beneath the sands, yellow limestones\nand clays, forming the table-land of the Cotswold Hills, while these in\nturn passed beneath the great chalk deposits occupying the eastern parts\nof England.  He further observed, that each layer of clay, sand, and\nlimestone held its own peculiar classes of fossils; and pondering much on\nthese things, he at length came to the then unheard-of conclusion, that\neach distinct deposit of marine animals, in these several strata,\nindicated a distinct sea-bottom, and that each layer of clay, sand,\nchalk, and stone, marked a distinct epoch of time in the history of the\nearth.\n\nThis idea took firm possession of his mind, and he could talk and think\nof nothing else.  At canal boards, at sheep-shearings, at county\nmeetings, and at agricultural associations, \u2018Strata Smith,\u2019 as he came to\nbe called, was always running over with the subject that possessed him.\nHe had indeed made a great discovery, though he was as yet a man utterly\nunknown in the scientific world.  He proceeded to project a map of the\nstratification of England; but was for some time deterred from proceeding\nwith it, being fully occupied in carrying out the works of the\nSomersetshire coal canal, which engaged him for a period of about six\nyears.  He continued, nevertheless, to be unremitting in his observation\nof facts; and he became so expert in apprehending the internal structure\nof a district and detecting the lie of the strata from its external\nconfiguration, that he was often consulted respecting the drainage of\nextensive tracts of land, in which, guided by his geological knowledge,\nhe proved remarkably successful, and acquired an extensive reputation.\n\nOne day, when looking over the cabinet collection of fossils belonging to\nthe Rev. Samuel Richardson, at Bath, Smith astonished his friend by\nsuddenly disarranging his classification, and re-arranging the fossils in\ntheir stratigraphical order, saying\u2014\u201cThese came from the blue lias, these\nfrom the over-lying sand and freestone, these from the fuller\u2019s earth,\nand these from the Bath building stone.\u201d  A new light flashed upon Mr.\nRichardson\u2019s mind, and he shortly became a convert to and believer in\nWilliam Smith\u2019s doctrine.  The geologists of the day were not, however,\nso easily convinced; and it was scarcely to be tolerated that an unknown\nland-surveyor should pretend to teach them the science of geology.  But\nWilliam Smith had an eye and mind to penetrate deep beneath the skin of\nthe earth; he saw its very fibre and skeleton, and, as it were, divined\nits organization.  His knowledge of the strata in the neighbourhood of\nBath was so accurate, that one evening, when dining at the house of the\nRev. Joseph Townsend, he dictated to Mr. Richardson the different strata\naccording to their order of succession in descending order, twenty-three\nin number, commencing with the chalk and descending in continuous series\ndown to the coal, below which the strata were not then sufficiently\ndetermined.  To this was added a list of the more remarkable fossils\nwhich had been gathered in the several layers of rock.  This was printed\nand extensively circulated in 1801.\n\nHe next determined to trace out the strata through districts as remote\nfrom Bath as his means would enable him to reach.  For years he journeyed\nto and fro, sometimes on foot, sometimes on horseback, riding on the tops\nof stage coaches, often making up by night-travelling the time he had\nlost by day, so as not to fail in his ordinary business engagements.\nWhen he was professionally called away to any distance from home\u2014as, for\ninstance, when travelling from Bath to Holkham, in Norfolk, to direct the\nirrigation and drainage of Mr. Coke\u2019s land in that county\u2014he rode on\nhorseback, making frequent detours from the road to note the geological\nfeatures of the country which he traversed.\n\nFor several years he was thus engaged in his journeys to distant quarters\nin England and Ireland, to the extent of upwards of ten thousand miles\nyearly; and it was amidst this incessant and laborious travelling, that\nhe contrived to commit to paper his fast-growing generalizations on what\nhe rightly regarded as a new science.  No observation, howsoever trivial\nit might appear, was neglected, and no opportunity of collecting fresh\nfacts was overlooked.  Whenever he could, he possessed himself of records\nof borings, natural and artificial sections, drew them to a constant\nscale of eight yards to the inch, and coloured them up.  Of his keenness\nof observation take the following illustration.  When making one of his\ngeological excursions about the country near Woburn, as he was drawing\nnear to the foot of the Dunstable chalk hills, he observed to his\ncompanion, \u201cIf there be any broken ground about the foot of these hills,\nwe may find _shark\u2019s teeth_;\u201d and they had not proceeded far, before they\npicked up six from the white bank of a new fence-ditch.  As he afterwards\nsaid of himself, \u201cThe habit of observation crept on me, gained a\nsettlement in my mind, became a constant associate of my life, and\nstarted up in activity at the first thought of a journey; so that I\ngenerally went off well prepared with maps, and sometimes with\ncontemplations on its objects, or on those on the road, reduced to\nwriting before it commenced.  My mind was, therefore, like the canvas of\na painter, well prepared for the first and best impressions.\u201d\n\nNotwithstanding his courageous and indefatigable industry, many\ncircumstances contributed to prevent the promised publication of William\nSmith\u2019s \u2018Map of the Strata of England and Wales,\u2019 and it was not until\n1814 that he was enabled, by the assistance of some friends, to give to\nthe world the fruits of his twenty years\u2019 incessant labour.  To prosecute\nhis inquiries, and collect the extensive series of facts and observations\nrequisite for his purpose, he had to expend the whole of the profits of\nhis professional labours during that period; and he even sold off his\nsmall property to provide the means of visiting remoter parts of the\nisland.  Meanwhile he had entered on a quarrying speculation near Bath,\nwhich proved unsuccessful, and he was under the necessity of selling his\ngeological collection (which was purchased by the British Museum), his\nfurniture and library, reserving only his papers, maps, and sections,\nwhich were useless save to himself.  He bore his losses and misfortunes\nwith exemplary fortitude; and amidst all, he went on working with\ncheerful courage and untiring patience.  He died at Northampton, in\nAugust, 1839, while on his way to attend the meeting of the British\nAssociation at Birmingham.\n\nIt is difficult to speak in terms of too high praise of the first\ngeological map of England, which we owe to the industry of this\ncourageous man of science.  An accomplished writer says of it, \u201cIt was a\nwork so masterly in conception and so correct in general outline, that in\nprinciple it served as a basis not only for the production of later maps\nof the British Islands, but for geological maps of all other parts of the\nworld, wherever they have been undertaken.  In the apartments of the\nGeological Society Smith\u2019s map may yet be seen\u2014a great historical\ndocument, old and worn, calling for renewal of its faded tints.  Let any\none conversant with the subject compare it with later works on a similar\nscale, and he will find that in all essential features it will not suffer\nby the comparison\u2014the intricate anatomy of the Silurian rocks of Wales\nand the north of England by Murchison and Sedgwick being the chief\nadditions made to his great generalizations.\u201d {149}  The genius of the\nOxfordshire surveyor did not fail to be duly recognised and honoured by\nmen of science during his lifetime.  In 1831 the Geological Society of\nLondon awarded to him the Wollaston medal, \u201cin consideration of his being\na great original discoverer in English geology, and especially for his\nbeing the first in this country to discover and to teach the\nidentification of strata, and to determine their succession by means of\ntheir imbedded fossils.\u201d  William Smith, in his simple, earnest way,\ngained for himself a name as lasting as the science he loved so well.  To\nuse the words of the writer above quoted, \u201cTill the manner as well as the\nfact of the first appearance of successive forms of life shall be solved,\nit is not easy to surmise how any discovery can be made in geology equal\nin value to that which we owe to the genius of William Smith.\u201d\n\nHugh Miller was a man of like observant faculties, who studied literature\nas well as science with zeal and success.  The book in which he has told\nthe story of his life, (\u2018My Schools and Schoolmasters\u2019), is extremely\ninteresting, and calculated to be eminently useful.  It is the history of\nthe formation of a truly noble character in the humblest condition of\nlife; and inculcates most powerfully the lessons of self-help,\nself-respect, and self-dependence.  While Hugh was but a child, his\nfather, who was a sailor, was drowned at sea, and he was brought up by\nhis widowed mother.  He had a school training after a sort, but his best\nteachers were the boys with whom he played, the men amongst whom he\nworked, the friends and relatives with whom he lived.  He read much and\nmiscellaneously, and picked up odd sorts of knowledge from many\nquarters,\u2014from workmen, carpenters, fishermen and sailors, and above all,\nfrom the old boulders strewed along the shores of the Cromarty Frith.\nWith a big hammer which had belonged to his great-grandfather, an old\nbuccaneer, the boy went about chipping the stones, and accumulating\nspecimens of mica, porphyry, garnet, and such like.  Sometimes he had a\nday in the woods, and there, too, the boy\u2019s attention was excited by the\npeculiar geological curiosities which came in his way.  While searching\namong the rocks on the beach, he was sometimes asked, in irony, by the\nfarm servants who came to load their carts with sea-weed, whether he \u201cwas\ngettin\u2019 siller in the stanes,\u201d but was so unlucky as never to be able to\nanswer in the affirmative.  When of a suitable age he was apprenticed to\nthe trade of his choice\u2014that of a working stonemason; and he began his\nlabouring career in a quarry looking out upon the Cromarty Frith.  This\nquarry proved one of his best schools.  The remarkable geological\nformations which it displayed awakened his curiosity.  The bar of\ndeep-red stone beneath, and the bar of pale-red clay above, were noted by\nthe young quarryman, who even in such unpromising subjects found matter\nfor observation and reflection.  Where other men saw nothing, he detected\nanalogies, differences, and peculiarities, which set him a-thinking.  He\nsimply kept his eyes and his mind open; was sober, diligent, and\npersevering; and this was the secret of his intellectual growth.\n\nHis curiosity was excited and kept alive by the curious organic remains,\nprincipally of old and extinct species of fishes, ferns, and ammonites,\nwhich were revealed along the coast by the washings of the waves, or were\nexposed by the stroke of his mason\u2019s hammer.  He never lost sight of the\nsubject; but went on accumulating observations and comparing formations,\nuntil at length, many years afterwards, when no longer a working mason,\nhe gave to the world his highly interesting work on the Old Red\nSandstone, which at once established his reputation as a scientific\ngeologist.  But this work was the fruit of long years of patient\nobservation and research.  As he modestly states in his autobiography,\n\u201cthe only merit to which I lay claim in the case is that of patient\nresearch\u2014a merit in which whoever wills may rival or surpass me; and this\nhumble faculty of patience, when rightly developed, may lead to more\nextraordinary developments of idea than even genius itself.\u201d\n\nThe late John Brown, the eminent English geologist, was, like Miller, a\nstonemason in his early life, serving an apprenticeship to the trade at\nColchester, and afterwards working as a journeyman mason at Norwich.  He\nbegan business as a builder on his own account at Colchester, where by\nfrugality and industry he secured a competency.  It was while working at\nhis trade that his attention was first drawn to the study of fossils and\nshells; and he proceeded to make a collection of them, which afterwards\ngrew into one of the finest in England.  His researches along the coasts\nof Essex, Kent, and Sussex brought to light some magnificent remains of\nthe elephant and rhinoceros, the most valuable of which were presented by\nhim to the British Museum.  During the last few years of his life he\ndevoted considerable attention to the study of the Foraminifera in chalk,\nrespecting which he made several interesting discoveries.  His life was\nuseful, happy, and honoured; and he died at Stanway, in Essex, in\nNovember 1859, at the ripe age of eighty years.\n\nNot long ago, Sir Roderick Murchison discovered at Thurso, in the far\nnorth of Scotland, a profound geologist, in the person of a baker there,\nnamed Robert Dick.  When Sir Roderick called upon him at the bakehouse in\nwhich he baked and earned his bread, Robert Dick delineated to him, by\nmeans of flour upon the board, the geographical features and geological\nphenomena of his native county, pointing out the imperfections in the\nexisting maps, which he had ascertained by travelling over the country in\nhis leisure hours.  On further inquiry, Sir Roderick ascertained that the\nhumble individual before him was not only a capital baker and geologist,\nbut a first-rate botanist.  \u201cI found,\u201d said the President of the\nGeographical Society, \u201cto my great humiliation that the baker knew\ninfinitely more of botanical science, ay, ten times more, than I did; and\nthat there were only some twenty or thirty specimens of flowers which he\nhad not collected.  Some he had obtained as presents, some he had\npurchased, but the greater portion had been accumulated by his industry,\nin his native county of Caithness; and the specimens were all arranged in\nthe most beautiful order, with their scientific names affixed.\u201d\n\nSir Roderick Murchison himself is an illustrious follower of these and\nkindred branches of science.  A writer in the \u2018Quarterly Review\u2019 cites\nhim as a \u201csingular instance of a man who, having passed the early part of\nhis life as a soldier, never having had the advantage, or disadvantage as\nthe case might have been, of a scientific training, instead of remaining\na fox-hunting country gentleman, has succeeded by his own native vigour\nand sagacity, untiring industry and zeal, in making for himself a\nscientific reputation that is as wide as it is likely to be lasting.  He\ntook first of all an unexplored and difficult district at home, and, by\nthe labour of many years, examined its rock-formations, classed them in\nnatural groups, assigned to each its characteristic assemblage of\nfossils, and was the first to decipher two great chapters in the world\u2019s\ngeological history, which must always henceforth carry his name on their\ntitle-page.  Not only so, but he applied the knowledge thus acquired to\nthe dissection of large districts, both at home and abroad, so as to\nbecome the geological discoverer of great countries which had formerly\nbeen \u2018terr\u00e6 incognit\u00e6.\u2019\u201d  But Sir Roderick Murchison is not merely a\ngeologist.  His indefatigable labours in many branches of knowledge have\ncontributed to render him among the most accomplished and complete of\nscientific men.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\nWORKERS IN ART.\n\n\n    \u201cIf what shone afar so grand,\n    Turn to nothing in thy hand,\n    On again; the virtue lies\n    In struggle, not the prize.\u201d\u2014_R. M. Milnes_.\n\n    \u201cExcelle, et tu vivras.\u201d\u2014_Joubert_.\n\nEXCELLENCE in art, as in everything else, can only be achieved by dint of\npainstaking labour.\n\nThere is nothing less accidental than the painting of a fine picture or\nthe chiselling of a noble statue.  Every skilled touch of the artist\u2019s\nbrush or chisel, though guided by genius, is the product of unremitting\nstudy.\n\nSir Joshua Reynolds was such a believer in the force of industry, that he\nheld that artistic excellence, \u201chowever expressed by genius, taste, or\nthe gift of heaven, may be acquired.\u201d  Writing to Barry he said, \u201cWhoever\nis resolved to excel in painting, or indeed any other art, must bring all\nhis mind to bear upon that one object from the moment that he rises till\nhe goes to bed.\u201d  And on another occasion he said, \u201cThose who are\nresolved to excel must go to their work, willing or unwilling, morning,\nnoon, and night: they will find it no play, but very hard labour.\u201d  But\nalthough diligent application is no doubt absolutely necessary for the\nachievement of the highest distinction in art, it is equally true that\nwithout the inborn genius, no amount of mere industry, however well\napplied, will make an artist.  The gift comes by nature, but is perfected\nby self-culture, which is of more avail than all the imparted education\nof the schools.\n\nSome of the greatest artists have had to force their way upward in the\nface of poverty and manifold obstructions.  Illustrious instances will at\nonce flash upon the reader\u2019s mind.  Claude Lorraine, the pastrycook;\nTintoretto, the dyer; the two Caravaggios, the one a colour-grinder, the\nother a mortar-carrier at the Vatican; Salvator Rosa, the associate of\nbandits; Giotto, the peasant boy; Zingaro, the gipsy; Cavedone, turned\nout of doors to beg by his father; Canova, the stone-cutter; these, and\nmany other well-known artists, succeeded in achieving distinction by\nsevere study and labour, under circumstances the most adverse.\n\nNor have the most distinguished artists of our own country been born in a\nposition of life more than ordinarily favourable to the culture of\nartistic genius.  Gainsborough and Bacon were the sons of cloth-workers;\nBarry was an Irish sailor boy, and Maclise a banker\u2019s apprentice at Cork;\nOpie and Romney, like Inigo Jones, were carpenters; West was the son of a\nsmall Quaker farmer in Pennsylvania; Northcote was a watchmaker, Jackson\na tailor, and Etty a printer; Reynolds, Wilson, and Wilkie, were the sons\nof clergymen; Lawrence was the son of a publican, and Turner of a barber.\nSeveral of our painters, it is true, originally had some connection with\nart, though in a very humble way,\u2014such as Flaxman, whose father sold\nplaster casts; Bird, who ornamented tea-trays; Martin, who was a\ncoach-painter; Wright and Gilpin, who were ship-painters; Chantrey, who\nwas a carver and gilder; and David Cox, Stanfield, and Roberts, who were\nscene-painters.\n\nIt was not by luck or accident that these men achieved distinction, but\nby sheer industry and hard work.  Though some achieved wealth, yet this\nwas rarely, if ever, the ruling motive.  Indeed, no mere love of money\ncould sustain the efforts of the artist in his early career of\nself-denial and application.  The pleasure of the pursuit has always been\nits best reward; the wealth which followed but an accident.  Many\nnoble-minded artists have preferred following the bent of their genius,\nto chaffering with the public for terms.  Spagnoletto verified in his\nlife the beautiful fiction of Xenophon, and after he had acquired the\nmeans of luxury, preferred withdrawing himself from their influence, and\nvoluntarily returned to poverty and labour.  When Michael Angelo was\nasked his opinion respecting a work which a painter had taken great pains\nto exhibit for profit, he said, \u201cI think that he will be a poor fellow so\nlong as he shows such an extreme eagerness to become rich.\u201d\n\nLike Sir Joshua Reynolds, Michael Angelo was a great believer in the\nforce of labour; and he held that there was nothing which the imagination\nconceived, that could not be embodied in marble, if the hand were made\nvigorously to obey the mind.  He was himself one of the most\nindefatigable of workers; and he attributed his power of studying for a\ngreater number of hours than most of his contemporaries, to his spare\nhabits of living.  A little bread and wine was all he required for the\nchief part of the day when employed at his work; and very frequently he\nrose in the middle of the night to resume his labours.  On these\noccasions, it was his practice to fix the candle, by the light of which\nhe chiselled, on the summit of a paste-board cap which he wore.\nSometimes he was too wearied to undress, and he slept in his clothes,\nready to spring to his work so soon as refreshed by sleep.  He had a\nfavourite device of an old man in a go-cart, with an hour-glass upon it\nbearing the inscription, _Ancora imparo_!  Still I am learning.\n\nTitian, also, was an indefatigable worker.  His celebrated \u201cPietro\nMartire\u201d was eight years in hand, and his \u201cLast Supper\u201d seven.  In his\nletter to Charles V. he said, \u201cI send your Majesty the \u2018Last Supper\u2019\nafter working at it almost daily for seven years\u2014_dopo sette anni\nlavorandovi quasi continuamente_.\u201d  Few think of the patient labour and\nlong training involved in the greatest works of the artist.  They seem\neasy and quickly accomplished, yet with how great difficulty has this\nease been acquired.  \u201cYou charge me fifty sequins,\u201d said the Venetian\nnobleman to the sculptor, \u201cfor a bust that cost you only ten days\u2019\nlabour.\u201d  \u201cYou forget,\u201d said the artist, \u201cthat I have been thirty years\nlearning to make that bust in ten days.\u201d  Once when Domenichino was\nblamed for his slowness in finishing a picture which was bespoken, he\nmade answer, \u201cI am continually painting it within myself.\u201d  It was\neminently characteristic of the industry of the late Sir Augustus\nCallcott, that he made not fewer than forty separate sketches in the\ncomposition of his famous picture of \u201cRochester.\u201d  This constant\nrepetition is one of the main conditions of success in art, as in life\nitself.\n\nNo matter how generous nature has been in bestowing the gift of genius,\nthe pursuit of art is nevertheless a long and continuous labour.  Many\nartists have been precocious, but without diligence their precocity would\nhave come to nothing.  The anecdote related of West is well known.  When\nonly seven years old, struck with the beauty of the sleeping infant of\nhis eldest sister whilst watching by its cradle, he ran to seek some\npaper and forthwith drew its portrait in red and black ink.  The little\nincident revealed the artist in him, and it was found impossible to draw\nhim from his bent.  West might have been a greater painter, had he not\nbeen injured by too early success: his fame, though great, was not\npurchased by study, trials, and difficulties, and it has not been\nenduring.\n\nRichard Wilson, when a mere child, indulged himself with tracing figures\nof men and animals on the walls of his father\u2019s house, with a burnt\nstick.  He first directed his attention to portrait painting; but when in\nItaly, calling one day at the house of Zucarelli, and growing weary with\nwaiting, he began painting the scene on which his friend\u2019s chamber window\nlooked.  When Zucarelli arrived, he was so charmed with the picture, that\nhe asked if Wilson had not studied landscape, to which he replied that he\nhad not.  \u201cThen, I advise you,\u201d said the other, \u201cto try; for you are sure\nof great success.\u201d  Wilson adopted the advice, studied and worked hard,\nand became our first great English landscape painter.\n\nSir Joshua Reynolds, when a boy, forgot his lessons, and took pleasure\nonly in drawing, for which his father was accustomed to rebuke him.  The\nboy was destined for the profession of physic, but his strong instinct\nfor art could not be repressed, and he became a painter.  Gainsborough\nwent sketching, when a schoolboy, in the woods of Sudbury; and at twelve\nhe was a confirmed artist: he was a keen observer and a hard worker,\u2014no\npicturesque feature of any scene he had once looked upon, escaping his\ndiligent pencil.  William Blake, a hosier\u2019s son, employed himself in\ndrawing designs on the backs of his father\u2019s shop-bills, and making\nsketches on the counter.  Edward Bird, when a child only three or four\nyears old, would mount a chair and draw figures on the walls, which he\ncalled French and English soldiers.  A box of colours was purchased for\nhim, and his father, desirous of turning his love of art to account, put\nhim apprentice to a maker of tea-trays!  Out of this trade he gradually\nraised himself, by study and labour, to the rank of a Royal Academician.\n\nHogarth, though a very dull boy at his lessons, took pleasure in making\ndrawings of the letters of the alphabet, and his school exercises were\nmore remarkable for the ornaments with which he embellished them, than\nfor the matter of the exercises themselves.  In the latter respect he was\nbeaten by all the blockheads of the school, but in his adornments he\nstood alone.  His father put him apprentice to a silversmith, where he\nlearnt to draw, and also to engrave spoons and forks with crests and\nciphers.  From silver-chasing, he went on to teach himself engraving on\ncopper, principally griffins and monsters of heraldry, in the course of\nwhich practice he became ambitious to delineate the varieties of human\ncharacter.  The singular excellence which he reached in this art, was\nmainly the result of careful observation and study.  He had the gift,\nwhich he sedulously cultivated, of committing to memory the precise\nfeatures of any remarkable face, and afterwards reproducing them on\npaper; but if any singularly fantastic form or _outr\u00e9_ face came in his\nway, he would make a sketch of it on the spot, upon his thumb-nail, and\ncarry it home to expand at his leisure.  Everything fantastical and\noriginal had a powerful attraction for him, and he wandered into many\nout-of-the-way places for the purpose of meeting with character.  By this\ncareful storing of his mind, he was afterwards enabled to crowd an\nimmense amount of thought and treasured observation into his works.\nHence it is that Hogarth\u2019s pictures are so truthful a memorial of the\ncharacter, the manners, and even the very thoughts of the times in which\nhe lived.  True painting, he himself observed, can only be learnt in one\nschool, and that is kept by Nature.  But he was not a highly cultivated\nman, except in his own walk.  His school education had been of the\nslenderest kind, scarcely even perfecting him in the art of spelling; his\nself-culture did the rest.  For a long time he was in very straitened\ncircumstances, but nevertheless worked on with a cheerful heart.  Poor\nthough he was, he contrived to live within his small means, and he\nboasted, with becoming pride, that he was \u201ca punctual paymaster.\u201d  When\nhe had conquered all his difficulties and become a famous and thriving\nman, he loved to dwell upon his early labours and privations, and to\nfight over again the battle which ended so honourably to him as a man and\nso gloriously as an artist.  \u201cI remember the time,\u201d said he on one\noccasion, \u201cwhen I have gone moping into the city with scarce a shilling,\nbut as soon as I have received ten guineas there for a plate, I have\nreturned home, put on my sword, and sallied out with all the confidence\nof a man who had thousands in his pockets.\u201d\n\n\u201cIndustry and perseverance\u201d was the motto of the sculptor Banks, which he\nacted on himself, and strongly recommended to others.  His well-known\nkindness induced many aspiring youths to call upon him and ask for his\nadvice and assistance; and it is related that one day a boy called at his\ndoor to see him with this object, but the servant, angry at the loud\nknock he had given, scolded him, and was about sending him away, when\nBanks overhearing her, himself went out.  The little boy stood at the\ndoor with some drawings in his hand.  \u201cWhat do you want with me?\u201d asked\nthe sculptor.  \u201cI want, sir, if you please, to be admitted to draw at the\nAcademy.\u201d  Banks explained that he himself could not procure his\nadmission, but he asked to look at the boy\u2019s drawings.  Examining them,\nhe said, \u201cTime enough for the Academy, my little man! go home\u2014mind your\nschooling\u2014try to make a better drawing of the Apollo\u2014and in a month come\nagain and let me see it.\u201d  The boy went home\u2014sketched and worked with\nredoubled diligence\u2014and, at the end of the month, called again on the\nsculptor.  The drawing was better; but again Banks sent him back, with\ngood advice, to work and study.  In a week the boy was again at his door,\nhis drawing much improved; and Banks bid him be of good cheer, for if\nspared he would distinguish himself.  The boy was Mulready; and the\nsculptor\u2019s augury was amply fulfilled.\n\nThe fame of Claude Lorraine is partly explained by his indefatigable\nindustry.  Born at Champagne, in Lorraine, of poor parents, he was first\napprenticed to a pastrycook.  His brother, who was a wood-carver,\nafterwards took him into his shop to learn that trade.  Having there\nshown indications of artistic skill, a travelling dealer persuaded the\nbrother to allow Claude to accompany him to Italy.  He assented, and the\nyoung man reached Rome, where he was shortly after engaged by Agostino\nTassi, the landscape painter, as his house-servant.  In that capacity\nClaude first learnt landscape painting, and in course of time he began to\nproduce pictures.  We next find him making the tour of Italy, France, and\nGermany, occasionally resting by the way to paint landscapes, and thereby\nreplenish his purse.  On returning to Rome he found an increasing demand\nfor his works, and his reputation at length became European.  He was\nunwearied in the study of nature in her various aspects.  It was his\npractice to spend a great part of his time in closely copying buildings,\nbits of ground, trees, leaves, and such like, which he finished in\ndetail, keeping the drawings by him in store for the purpose of\nintroducing them in his studied landscapes.  He also gave close attention\nto the sky, watching it for whole days from morning till night, and\nnoting the various changes occasioned by the passing clouds and the\nincreasing and waning light.  By this constant practice he acquired,\nalthough it is said very slowly, such a mastery of hand and eye as\neventually secured for him the first rank among landscape painters.\n\nTurner, who has been styled \u201cthe English Claude,\u201d pursued a career of\nlike laborious industry.  He was destined by his father for his own trade\nof a barber, which he carried on in London, until one day the sketch\nwhich the boy had made of a coat of arms on a silver salver having\nattracted the notice of a customer whom his father was shaving, the\nlatter was urged to allow his son to follow his bias, and he was\neventually permitted to follow art as a profession.  Like all young\nartists, Turner had many difficulties to encounter, and they were all the\ngreater that his circumstances were so straitened.  But he was always\nwilling to work, and to take pains with his work, no matter how humble it\nmight be.  He was glad to hire himself out at half-a-crown a night to\nwash in skies in Indian ink upon other people\u2019s drawings, getting his\nsupper into the bargain.  Thus he earned money and acquired expertness.\nThen he took to illustrating guide-books, almanacs, and any sort of books\nthat wanted cheap frontispieces.  \u201cWhat could I have done better?\u201d said\nhe afterwards; \u201cit was first-rate practice.\u201d  He did everything carefully\nand conscientiously, never slurring over his work because he was\nill-remunerated for it.  He aimed at learning as well as living; always\ndoing his best, and never leaving a drawing without having made a step in\nadvance upon his previous work.  A man who thus laboured was sure to do\nmuch; and his growth in power and grasp of thought was, to use Ruskin\u2019s\nwords, \u201cas steady as the increasing light of sunrise.\u201d  But Turner\u2019s\ngenius needs no panegyric; his best monument is the noble gallery of\npictures bequeathed by him to the nation, which will ever be the most\nlasting memorial of his fame.\n\nTo reach Rome, the capital of the fine arts, is usually the highest\nambition of the art student.  But the journey to Rome is costly, and the\nstudent is often poor.  With a will resolute to overcome difficulties,\nRome may however at last be reached.  Thus Fran\u00e7ois Perrier, an early\nFrench painter, in his eager desire to visit the Eternal City, consented\nto act as guide to a blind vagrant.  After long wanderings he reached the\nVatican, studied and became famous.  Not less enthusiasm was displayed by\nJacques Callot in his determination to visit Rome.  Though opposed by his\nfather in his wish to be an artist, the boy would not be baulked, but\nfled from home to make his way to Italy.  Having set out without means,\nhe was soon reduced to great straits; but falling in with a band of\ngipsies, he joined their company, and wandered about with them from one\nfair to another, sharing in their numerous adventures.  During this\nremarkable journey Callot picked up much of that extraordinary knowledge\nof figure, feature, and character which he afterwards reproduced,\nsometimes in such exaggerated forms, in his wonderful engravings.\n\nWhen Callot at length reached Florence, a gentleman, pleased with his\ningenious ardour, placed him with an artist to study; but he was not\nsatisfied to stop short of Rome, and we find him shortly on his way\nthither.  At Rome he made the acquaintance of Porigi and Thomassin, who,\non seeing his crayon sketches, predicted for him a brilliant career as an\nartist.  But a friend of Callot\u2019s family having accidentally encountered\nhim, took steps to compel the fugitive to return home.  By this time he\nhad acquired such a love of wandering that he could not rest; so he ran\naway a second time, and a second time he was brought back by his elder\nbrother, who caught him at Turin.  At last the father, seeing resistance\nwas in vain, gave his reluctant consent to Callot\u2019s prosecuting his\nstudies at Rome.  Thither he went accordingly; and this time he remained,\ndiligently studying design and engraving for several years, under\ncompetent masters.  On his way back to France, he was encouraged by Cosmo\nII. to remain at Florence, where he studied and worked for several years\nmore.  On the death of his patron he returned to his family at Nancy,\nwhere, by the use of his burin and needle, he shortly acquired both\nwealth and fame.  When Nancy was taken by siege during the civil wars,\nCallot was requested by Richelieu to make a design and engraving of the\nevent, but the artist would not commemorate the disaster which had\nbefallen his native place, and he refused point-blank.  Richelieu could\nnot shake his resolution, and threw him into prison.  There Callot met\nwith some of his old friends the gipsies, who had relieved his wants on\nhis first journey to Rome.  When Louis XIII. heard of his imprisonment,\nhe not only released him, but offered to grant him any favour he might\nask.  Callot immediately requested that his old companions, the gipsies,\nmight be set free and permitted to beg in Paris without molestation.\nThis odd request was granted on condition that Callot should engrave\ntheir portraits, and hence his curious book of engravings entitled \u201cThe\nBeggars.\u201d  Louis is said to have offered Callot a pension of 3000 livres\nprovided he would not leave Paris; but the artist was now too much of a\nBohemian, and prized his liberty too highly to permit him to accept it;\nand he returned to Nancy, where he worked till his death.  His industry\nmay be inferred from the number of his engravings and etchings, of which\nhe left not fewer than 1600.  He was especially fond of grotesque\nsubjects, which he treated with great skill; his free etchings, touched\nwith the graver, being executed with especial delicacy and wonderful\nminuteness.\n\nStill more romantic and adventurous was the career of Benvenuto Cellini,\nthe marvellous gold worker, painter, sculptor, engraver, engineer, and\nauthor.  His life, as told by himself, is one of the most extraordinary\nautobiographies ever written.  Giovanni Cellini, his father, was one of\nthe Court musicians to Lorenzo de Medici at Florence; and his highest\nambition concerning his son Benvenuto was that he should become an expert\nplayer on the flute.  But Giovanni having lost his appointment, found it\nnecessary to send his son to learn some trade, and he was apprenticed to\na goldsmith.  The boy had already displayed a love of drawing and of art;\nand, applying himself to his business, he soon became a dexterous\nworkman.  Having got mixed up in a quarrel with some of the townspeople,\nhe was banished for six months, during which period he worked with a\ngoldsmith at Sienna, gaining further experience in jewellery and\ngold-working.\n\nHis father still insisting on his becoming a flute-player, Benvenuto\ncontinued to practise on the instrument, though he detested it.  His\nchief pleasure was in art, which he pursued with enthusiasm.  Returning\nto Florence, he carefully studied the designs of Leonardo da Vinci and\nMichael Angelo; and, still further to improve himself in gold-working, he\nwent on foot to Rome, where he met with a variety of adventures.  He\nreturned to Florence with the reputation of being a most expert worker in\nthe precious metals, and his skill was soon in great request.  But being\nof an irascible temper, he was constantly getting into scrapes, and was\nfrequently under the necessity of flying for his life.  Thus he fled from\nFlorence in the disguise of a friar, again taking refuge at Sienna, and\nafterwards at Rome.\n\nDuring his second residence in Rome, Cellini met with extensive\npatronage, and he was taken into the Pope\u2019s service in the double\ncapacity of goldsmith and musician.  He was constantly studying and\nimproving himself by acquaintance with the works of the best masters.  He\nmounted jewels, finished enamels, engraved seals, and designed and\nexecuted works in gold, silver, and bronze, in such a style as to excel\nall other artists.  Whenever he heard of a goldsmith who was famous in\nany particular branch, he immediately determined to surpass him.  Thus it\nwas that he rivalled the medals of one, the enamels of another, and the\njewellery of a third; in fact, there was not a branch of his business\nthat he did not feel impelled to excel in.\n\nWorking in this spirit, it is not so wonderful that Cellini should have\nbeen able to accomplish so much.  He was a man of indefatigable activity,\nand was constantly on the move.  At one time we find him at Florence, at\nanother at Rome; then he is at Mantua, at Rome, at Naples, and back to\nFlorence again; then at Venice, and in Paris, making all his long\njourneys on horseback.  He could not carry much luggage with him; so,\nwherever he went, he usually began by making his own tools.  He not only\ndesigned his works, but executed them himself,\u2014hammered and carved, and\ncast and shaped them with his own hands.  Indeed, his works have the\nimpress of genius so clearly stamped upon them, that they could never\nhave been designed by one person, and executed by another.  The humblest\narticle\u2014a buckle for a lady\u2019s girdle, a seal, a locket, a brooch, a ring,\nor a button\u2014became in his hands a beautiful work of art.\n\nCellini was remarkable for his readiness and dexterity in handicraft.\nOne day a surgeon entered the shop of Raffaello del Moro, the goldsmith,\nto perform an operation on his daughter\u2019s hand.  On looking at the\nsurgeon\u2019s instruments, Cellini, who was present, found them rude and\nclumsy, as they usually were in those days, and he asked the surgeon to\nproceed no further with the operation for a quarter of an hour.  He then\nran to his shop, and taking a piece of the finest steel, wrought out of\nit a beautifully finished knife, with which the operation was\nsuccessfully performed.\n\nAmong the statues executed by Cellini, the most important are the silver\nfigure of Jupiter, executed at Paris for Francis I., and the Perseus,\nexecuted in bronze for the Grand Duke Cosmo of Florence.  He also\nexecuted statues in marble of Apollo, Hyacinthus, Narcissus, and Neptune.\nThe extraordinary incidents connected with the casting of the Perseus\nwere peculiarly illustrative of the remarkable character of the man.\n\nThe Grand Duke having expressed a decided opinion that the model, when\nshown to him in wax, could not possibly be cast in bronze, Cellini was\nimmediately stimulated by the predicted impossibility, not only to\nattempt, but to do it.  He first made the clay model, baked it, and\ncovered it with wax, which he shaped into the perfect form of a statue.\nThen coating the wax with a sort of earth, he baked the second covering,\nduring which the wax dissolved and escaped, leaving the space between the\ntwo layers for the reception of the metal.  To avoid disturbance, the\nlatter process was conducted in a pit dug immediately under the furnace,\nfrom which the liquid metal was to be introduced by pipes and apertures\ninto the mould prepared for it.\n\nCellini had purchased and laid in several loads of pine-wood, in\nanticipation of the process of casting, which now began.  The furnace was\nfilled with pieces of brass and bronze, and the fire was lit.  The\nresinous pine-wood was soon in such a furious blaze, that the shop took\nfire, and part of the roof was burnt; while at the same time the wind\nblowing and the rain filling on the furnace, kept down the heat, and\nprevented the metals from melting.  For hours Cellini struggled to keep\nup the heat, continually throwing in more wood, until at length he became\nso exhausted and ill, that he feared he should die before the statue\ncould be cast.  He was forced to leave to his assistants the pouring in\nof the metal when melted, and betook himself to his bed.  While those\nabout him were condoling with him in his distress, a workman suddenly\nentered the room, lamenting that \u201cPoor Benvenuto\u2019s work was irretrievably\nspoiled!\u201d  On hearing this, Cellini immediately sprang from his bed and\nrushed to the workshop, where he found the fire so much gone down that\nthe metal had again become hard.\n\nSending across to a neighbour for a load of young oak which had been more\nthan a year in drying, he soon had the fire blazing again and the metal\nmelting and glittering.  The wind was, however, still blowing with fury,\nand the rain falling heavily; so, to protect himself, Cellini had some\ntables with pieces of tapestry and old clothes brought to him, behind\nwhich he went on hurling the wood into the furnace.  A mass of pewter was\nthrown in upon the other metal, and by stirring, sometimes with iron and\nsometimes with long poles, the whole soon became completely melted.  At\nthis juncture, when the trying moment was close at hand, a terrible noise\nas of a thunderbolt was heard, and a glittering of fire flashed before\nCellini\u2019s eyes.  The cover of the furnace had burst, and the metal began\nto flow!  Finding that it did not run with the proper velocity, Cellini\nrushed into the kitchen, bore away every piece of copper and pewter that\nit contained\u2014some two hundred porringers, dishes, and kettles of\ndifferent kinds\u2014and threw them into the furnace.  Then at length the\nmetal flowed freely, and thus the splendid statue of Perseus was cast.\n\nThe divine fury of genius in which Cellini rushed to his kitchen and\nstripped it of its utensils for the purposes of his furnace, will remind\nthe reader of the like act of Pallissy in breaking up his furniture for\nthe purpose of baking his earthenware.  Excepting, however, in their\nenthusiasm, no two men could be less alike in character.  Cellini was an\nIshmael against whom, according to his own account, every man\u2019s hand was\nturned.  But about his extraordinary skill as a workman, and his genius\nas an artist, there cannot be two opinions.\n\nMuch less turbulent was the career of Nicolas Poussin, a man as pure and\nelevated in his ideas of art as he was in his daily life, and\ndistinguished alike for his vigour of intellect, his rectitude of\ncharacter, and his noble simplicity.  He was born in a very humble\nstation, at Andeleys, near Rouen, where his father kept a small school.\nThe boy had the benefit of his parent\u2019s instruction, such as it was, but\nof that he is said to have been somewhat negligent, preferring to spend\nhis time in covering his lesson-books and his slate with drawings.  A\ncountry painter, much pleased with his sketches, besought his parents not\nto thwart him in his tastes.  The painter agreed to give Poussin lessons,\nand he soon made such progress that his master had nothing more to teach\nhim.  Becoming restless, and desirous of further improving himself,\nPoussin, at the age of 18, set out for Paris, painting signboards on his\nway for a maintenance.\n\nAt Paris a new world of art opened before him, exciting his wonder and\nstimulating his emulation.  He worked diligently in many studios,\ndrawing, copying, and painting pictures.  After a time, he resolved, if\npossible, to visit Rome, and set out on his journey; but he only\nsucceeded in getting as far as Florence, and again returned to Paris.  A\nsecond attempt which he made to reach Rome was even less successful; for\nthis time he only got as far as Lyons.  He was, nevertheless, careful to\ntake advantage of all opportunities for improvement which came in his\nway, and continued as sedulous as before in studying and working.\n\nThus twelve years passed, years of obscurity and toil, of failures and\ndisappointments, and probably of privations.  At length Poussin succeeded\nin reaching Rome.  There he diligently studied the old masters, and\nespecially the ancient statues, with whose perfection he was greatly\nimpressed.  For some time he lived with the sculptor Duquesnoi, as poor\nas himself, and assisted him in modelling figures after the antique.\nWith him he carefully measured some of the most celebrated statues in\nRome, more particularly the \u2018Antinous:\u2019 and it is supposed that this\npractice exercised considerable influence on the formation of his future\nstyle.  At the same time he studied anatomy, practised drawing from the\nlife, and made a great store of sketches of postures and attitudes of\npeople whom he met, carefully reading at his leisure such standard books\non art as he could borrow from his friends.\n\nDuring all this time he remained very poor, satisfied to be continually\nimproving himself.  He was glad to sell his pictures for whatever they\nwould bring.  One, of a prophet, he sold for eight livres; and another,\nthe \u2018Plague of the Philistines,\u2019 he sold for 60 crowns\u2014a picture\nafterwards bought by Cardinal de Richelieu for a thousand.  To add to his\ntroubles, he was stricken by a cruel malady, during the helplessness\noccasioned by which the Chevalier del Posso assisted him with money.  For\nthis gentleman Poussin afterwards painted the \u2018Rest in the Desert,\u2019 a\nfine picture, which far more than repaid the advances made during his\nillness.\n\nThe brave man went on toiling and learning through suffering.  Still\naiming at higher things, he went to Florence and Venice, enlarging the\nrange of his studies.  The fruits of his conscientious labour at length\nappeared in the series of great pictures which he now began to\nproduce,\u2014his \u2018Death of Germanicus,\u2019 followed by \u2018Extreme Unction,\u2019 the\n\u2018Testament of Eudamidas,\u2019 the \u2018Manna,\u2019 and the \u2018Abduction of the\nSabines.\u2019\n\nThe reputation of Poussin, however, grew but slowly.  He was of a\nretiring disposition and shunned society.  People gave him credit for\nbeing a thinker much more than a painter.  When not actually employed in\npainting, he took long solitary walks in the country, meditating the\ndesigns of future pictures.  One of his few friends while at Rome was\nClaude Lorraine, with whom he spent many hours at a time on the terrace\nof La Trinit\u00e9-du-Mont, conversing about art and antiquarianism.  The\nmonotony and the quiet of Rome were suited to his taste, and, provided he\ncould earn a moderate living by his brush, he had no wish to leave it.\n\nBut his fame now extended beyond Rome, and repeated invitations were sent\nhim to return to Paris.  He was offered the appointment of principal\npainter to the King.  At first he hesitated; quoted the Italian proverb,\n_Chi sta bene non si muove_; said he had lived fifteen years in Rome,\nmarried a wife there, and looked forward to dying and being buried there.\nUrged again, he consented, and returned to Paris.  But his appearance\nthere awakened much professional jealousy, and he soon wished himself\nback in Rome again.  While in Paris he painted some of his greatest\nworks\u2014his \u2018Saint Xavier,\u2019 the \u2018Baptism,\u2019 and the \u2018Last Supper.\u2019  He was\nkept constantly at work.  At first he did whatever he was asked to do,\nsuch as designing frontispieces for the royal books, more particularly a\nBible and a Virgil, cartoons for the Louvre, and designs for tapestry;\nbut at length he expostulated:\u2014\u201cIt is impossible for me,\u201d he said to M.\nde Chanteloup, \u201cto work at the same time at frontispieces for books, at a\nVirgin, at a picture of the Congregation of St. Louis, at the various\ndesigns for the gallery, and, finally, at designs for the royal tapestry.\nI have only one pair of hands and a feeble head, and can neither be\nhelped nor can my labours be lightened by another.\u201d\n\nAnnoyed by the enemies his success had provoked and whom he was unable to\nconciliate, he determined, at the end of less than two years\u2019 labour in\nParis, to return to Rome.  Again settled there in his humble dwelling on\nMont Pincio, he employed himself diligently in the practice of his art\nduring the remaining years of his life, living in great simplicity and\nprivacy.  Though suffering much from the disease which afflicted him, he\nsolaced himself by study, always striving after excellence.  \u201cIn growing\nold,\u201d he said, \u201cI feel myself becoming more and more inflamed with the\ndesire of surpassing myself and reaching the highest degree of\nperfection.\u201d  Thus toiling, struggling, and suffering, Poussin spent his\nlater years.  He had no children; his wife died before him; all his\nfriends were gone: so that in his old age he was left absolutely alone in\nRome, so full of tombs, and died there in 1665, bequeathing to his\nrelatives at Andeleys the savings of his life, amounting to about 1000\ncrowns; and leaving behind him, as a legacy to his race, the great works\nof his genius.\n\nThe career of Ary Scheffer furnishes one of the best examples in modern\ntimes of a like high-minded devotion to art.  Born at Dordrecht, the son\nof a German artist, he early manifested an aptitude for drawing and\npainting, which his parents encouraged.  His father dying while he was\nstill young, his mother resolved, though her means were but small, to\nremove the family to Paris, in order that her son might obtain the best\nopportunities for instruction.  There young Scheffer was placed with\nGu\u00e9rin the painter.  But his mother\u2019s means were too limited to permit\nhim to devote himself exclusively to study.  She had sold the few jewels\nshe possessed, and refused herself every indulgence, in order to forward\nthe instruction of her other children.  Under such circumstances, it was\nnatural that Ary should wish to help her; and by the time he was eighteen\nyears of age he began to paint small pictures of simple subjects, which\nmet with a ready sale at moderate prices.  He also practised portrait\npainting, at the same time gathering experience and earning honest money.\nHe gradually improved in drawing, colouring, and composition.  The\n\u2018Baptism\u2019 marked a new epoch in his career, and from that point he went\non advancing, until his fame culminated in his pictures illustrative of\n\u2018Faust,\u2019 his \u2018Francisca de Rimini,\u2019 \u2018Christ the Consoler,\u2019 the \u2018Holy\nWomen,\u2019 \u2018St. Monica and St. Augustin,\u2019 and many other noble works.\n\n\u201cThe amount of labour, thought, and attention,\u201d says Mrs. Grote, \u201cwhich\nScheffer brought to the production of the \u2018Francisca,\u2019 must have been\nenormous.  In truth, his technical education having been so imperfect, he\nwas forced to climb the steep of art by drawing upon his own resources,\nand thus, whilst his hand was at work, his mind was engaged in\nmeditation.  He had to try various processes of handling, and experiments\nin colouring; to paint and repaint, with tedious and unremitting\nassiduity.  But Nature had endowed him with that which proved in some\nsort an equivalent for shortcomings of a professional kind.  His own\nelevation of character, and his profound sensibility, aided him in acting\nupon the feelings of others through the medium of the pencil.\u201d {173}\n\nOne of the artists whom Scheffer most admired was Flaxman; and he once\nsaid to a friend, \u201cIf I have unconsciously borrowed from any one in the\ndesign of the \u2018Francisca,\u2019 it must have been from something I had seen\namong Flaxman\u2019s drawings.\u201d  John Flaxman was the son of a humble seller\nof plaster casts in New Street, Covent Garden.  When a child, he was such\nan invalid that it was his custom to sit behind his father\u2019s shop counter\npropped by pillows, amusing himself with drawing and reading.  A\nbenevolent clergyman, the Rev. Mr. Matthews, calling at the shop one day,\nsaw the boy trying to read a book, and on inquiring what it was, found it\nto be a Cornelius Nepos, which his father had picked up for a few pence\nat a bookstall.  The gentleman, after some conversation with the boy,\nsaid that was not the proper book for him to read, but that he would\nbring him one.  The next day he called with translations of Homer and\n\u2018Don Quixote,\u2019 which the boy proceeded to read with great avidity.  His\nmind was soon filled with the heroism which breathed through the pages of\nthe former, and, with the stucco Ajaxes and Achilleses about him, ranged\nalong the shop shelves, the ambition took possession of him, that he too\nwould design and embody in poetic forms those majestic heroes.\n\nLike all youthful efforts, his first designs were crude.  The proud\nfather one day showed some of them to Roubilliac the sculptor, who turned\nfrom them with a contemptuous \u201cpshaw!\u201d  But the boy had the right stuff\nin him; he had industry and patience; and he continued to labour\nincessantly at his books and drawings.  He then tried his young powers in\nmodelling figures in plaster of Paris, wax, and clay.  Some of these\nearly works are still preserved, not because of their merit, but because\nthey are curious as the first healthy efforts of patient genius.  It was\nlong before the boy could walk, and he only learnt to do so by hobbling\nalong upon crutches.  At length he became strong enough to walk without\nthem.\n\nThe kind Mr. Matthews invited him to his house, where his wife explained\nHomer and Milton to him.  They helped him also in his self-culture\u2014giving\nhim lessons in Greek and Latin, the study of which he prosecuted at home.\nBy dint of patience and perseverance, his drawing improved so much that\nhe obtained a commission from a lady, to execute six original drawings in\nblack chalk of subjects in Homer.  His first commission!  What an event\nin the artist\u2019s life!  A surgeon\u2019s first fee, a lawyer\u2019s first retainer,\na legislator\u2019s first speech, a singer\u2019s first appearance behind the\nfoot-lights, an author\u2019s first book, are not any of them more full of\ninterest to the aspirant for fame than the artist\u2019s first commission.\nThe boy at once proceeded to execute the order, and he was both well\npraised and well paid for his work.\n\nAt fifteen Flaxman entered a pupil at the Royal Academy.  Notwithstanding\nhis retiring disposition, he soon became known among the students, and\ngreat things were expected of him.  Nor were their expectations\ndisappointed: in his fifteenth year he gained the silver prize, and next\nyear he became a candidate for the gold one.  Everybody prophesied that\nhe would carry off the medal, for there was none who surpassed him in\nability and industry.  Yet he lost it, and the gold medal was adjudged to\na pupil who was not afterwards heard of.  This failure on the part of the\nyouth was really of service to him; for defeats do not long cast down the\nresolute-hearted, but only serve to call forth their real powers.  \u201cGive\nme time,\u201d said he to his father, \u201cand I will yet produce works that the\nAcademy will be proud to recognise.\u201d  He redoubled his efforts, spared no\npains, designed and modelled incessantly, and made steady if not rapid\nprogress.  But meanwhile poverty threatened his father\u2019s household; the\nplaster-cast trade yielded a very bare living; and young Flaxman, with\nresolute self-denial, curtailed his hours of study, and devoted himself\nto helping his father in the humble details of his business.  He laid\naside his Homer to take up the plaster-trowel.  He was willing to work in\nthe humblest department of the trade so that his father\u2019s family might be\nsupported, and the wolf kept from the door.  To this drudgery of his art\nhe served a long apprenticeship; but it did him good.  It familiarised\nhim with steady work, and cultivated in him the spirit of patience.  The\ndiscipline may have been hard, but it was wholesome.\n\nHappily, young Flaxman\u2019s skill in design had reached the knowledge of\nJosiah Wedgwood, who sought him out for the purpose of employing him to\ndesign improved patterns of china and earthenware.  It may seem a humble\ndepartment of art for such a genius as Flaxman to work in; but it really\nwas not so.  An artist may be labouring truly in his vocation while\ndesigning a common teapot or water-jug.  Articles in daily use amongst\nthe people, which are before their eyes at every meal, may be made the\nvehicles of education to all, and minister to their highest culture.  The\nmost ambitious artist way thus confer a greater practical benefit on his\ncountrymen than by executing an elaborate work which he may sell for\nthousands of pounds to be placed in some wealthy man\u2019s gallery where it\nis hidden away from public sight.  Before Wedgwood\u2019s time the designs\nwhich figured upon our china and stoneware were hideous both in drawing\nand execution, and he determined to improve both.  Flaxman did his best\nto carry out the manufacturer\u2019s views.  He supplied him from time to time\nwith models and designs of various pieces of earthenware, the subjects of\nwhich were principally from ancient verse and history.  Many of them are\nstill in existence, and some are equal in beauty and simplicity to his\nafter designs for marble.  The celebrated Etruscan vases, specimens of\nwhich were to be found in public museums and in the cabinets of the\ncurious, furnished him with the best examples of form, and these he\nembellished with his own elegant devices.  Stuart\u2019s \u2018Athens,\u2019 then\nrecently published, furnished him with specimens of the purest-shaped\nGreek utensils; of these he adopted the best, and worked them into new\nshapes of elegance and beauty.  Flaxman then saw that he was labouring in\na great work\u2014no less than the promotion of popular education; and he was\nproud, in after life, to allude to his early labours in this walk, by\nwhich he was enabled at the same time to cultivate his love of the\nbeautiful, to diffuse a taste for art among the people, and to replenish\nhis own purse, while he promoted the prosperity of his friend and\nbenefactor.\n\nAt length, in the year 1782, when twenty-seven years of age, he quitted\nhis father\u2019s roof and rented a small house and studio in Wardour Street,\nSoho; and what was more, he married\u2014Ann Denman was the name of his\nwife\u2014and a cheerful, bright-souled, noble woman she was.  He believed\nthat in marrying her he should be able to work with an intenser spirit;\nfor, like him, she had a taste for poetry and art; and besides was an\nenthusiastic admirer of her husband\u2019s genius.  Yet when Sir Joshua\nReynolds\u2014himself a bachelor\u2014met Flaxman shortly after his marriage, he\nsaid to him, \u201cSo, Flaxman, I am told you are married; if so, sir, I tell\nyou you are ruined for an artist.\u201d  Flaxman went straight home, sat down\nbeside his wife, took her hand in his, and said, \u201cAnn, I am ruined for an\nartist.\u201d  \u201cHow so, John?  How has it happened? and who has done it?\u201d  \u201cIt\nhappened,\u201d he replied, \u201cin the church, and Ann Denman has done it.\u201d  He\nthen told her of Sir Joshua\u2019s remark\u2014whose opinion was well known, and\nhad often been expressed, that if students would excel they must bring\nthe whole powers of their mind to bear upon their art, from the moment\nthey rose until they went to bed; and also, that no man could be a\n_great_ artist unless he studied the grand works of Raffaelle, Michael\nAngelo, and others, at Rome and Florence.  \u201cAnd I,\u201d said Flaxman, drawing\nup his little figure to its full height, \u201c_I_ would be a great artist.\u201d\n\u201cAnd a great artist you shall be,\u201d said his wife, \u201cand visit Rome too, if\nthat be really necessary to make you great.\u201d  \u201cBut how?\u201d asked Flaxman.\n\u201c_Work and economise_,\u201d rejoined the brave wife; \u201cI will never have it\nsaid that Ann Denman ruined John Flaxman for an artist.\u201d  And so it was\ndetermined by the pair that the journey to Rome was to be made when their\nmeans would admit.  \u201cI will go to Rome,\u201d said Flaxman, \u201cand show the\nPresident that wedlock is for a man\u2019s good rather than his harm; and you,\nAnn, shall accompany me.\u201d\n\nPatiently and happily the affectionate couple plodded on during five\nyears in their humble little home in Wardour Street, always with the long\njourney to Rome before them.  It was never lost sight of for a moment,\nand not a penny was uselessly spent that could be saved towards the\nnecessary expenses.  They said no word to any one about their project;\nsolicited no aid from the Academy; but trusted only to their own patient\nlabour and love to pursue and achieve their object.  During this time\nFlaxman exhibited very few works.  He could not afford marble to\nexperiment in original designs; but he obtained frequent commissions for\nmonuments, by the profits of which he maintained himself.  He still\nworked for Wedgwood, who was a prompt paymaster; and, on the whole, he\nwas thriving, happy, and hopeful.  His local respectability was even such\nas to bring local honours and local work upon him; for he was elected by\nthe ratepayers to collect the watch-rate for the Parish of St. Anne, when\nhe might be seen going about with an ink-bottle suspended from his\nbutton-hole, collecting the money.\n\nAt length Flaxman and his wife having accumulated a sufficient store of\nsavings, set out for Rome.  Arrived there, he applied himself diligently\nto study, maintaining himself, like other poor artists, by making copies\nfrom the antique.  English visitors sought his studio, and gave him\ncommissions; and it was then that he composed his beautiful designs\nillustrative of Homer, \u00c6schylus, and Dante.  The price paid for them was\nmoderate\u2014only fifteen shillings a-piece; but Flaxman worked for art as\nwell as money; and the beauty of the designs brought him other friends\nand patrons.  He executed Cupid and Aurora for the munificent Thomas\nHope, and the Fury of Athamas for the Earl of Bristol.  He then prepared\nto return to England, his taste improved and cultivated by careful study;\nbut before he left Italy, the Academies of Florence and Carrara\nrecognised his merit by electing him a member.\n\nHis fame had preceded him to London, where he soon found abundant\nemployment.  While at Rome he had been commissioned to execute his famous\nmonument in memory of Lord Mansfield, and it was erected in the north\ntransept of Westminster Abbey shortly after his return.  It stands there\nin majestic grandeur, a monument to the genius of Flaxman himself\u2014calm,\nsimple, and severe.  No wonder that Banks, the sculptor, then in the\nheyday of his fame, exclaimed when he saw it, \u201cThis little man cuts us\nall out!\u201d\n\nWhen the members of the Royal Academy heard of Flaxman\u2019s return, and\nespecially when they had an opportunity of seeing and admiring his\nportrait-statue of Mansfield, they were eager to have him enrolled among\ntheir number.  He allowed his name to be proposed in the candidates\u2019 list\nof associates, and was immediately elected.  Shortly after, he appeared\nin an entirely new character.  The little boy who had begun his studies\nbehind the plaster-cast-seller\u2019s shop-counter in New Street, Covent\nGarden, was now a man of high intellect and recognised supremacy in art,\nto instruct students, in the character of Professor of Sculpture to the\nRoyal Academy!  And no man better deserved to fill that distinguished\noffice; for none is so able to instruct others as he who, for himself and\nby his own efforts, has learnt to grapple with and overcome difficulties.\n\nAfter a long, peaceful, and happy life, Flaxman found himself growing\nold.  The loss which he sustained by the death of his affectionate wife\nAnn, was a severe shock to him; but he survived her several years, during\nwhich he executed his celebrated \u201cShield of Achilles,\u201d and his noble\n\u201cArchangel Michael vanquishing Satan,\u201d\u2014perhaps his two greatest works.\n\nChantrey was a more robust man;\u2014somewhat rough, but hearty in his\ndemeanour; proud of his successful struggle with the difficulties which\nbeset him in early life; and, above all, proud of his independence.  He\nwas born a poor man\u2019s child, at Norton, near Sheffield.  His father dying\nwhen he was a mere boy, his mother married again.  Young Chantrey used to\ndrive an ass laden with milk-cans across its back into the neighbouring\ntown of Sheffield, and there serve his mother\u2019s customers with milk.\nSuch was the humble beginning of his industrial career; and it was by his\nown strength that he rose from that position, and achieved the highest\neminence as an artist.  Not taking kindly to his step-father, the boy was\nsent to trade, and was first placed with a grocer in Sheffield.  The\nbusiness was very distasteful to him; but, passing a carver\u2019s shop window\none day, his eye was attracted by the glittering articles it contained,\nand, charmed with the idea of being a carver, he begged to be released\nfrom the grocery business with that object.  His friends consented, and\nhe was bound apprentice to the carver and gilder for seven years.  His\nnew master, besides being a carver in wood, was also a dealer in prints\nand plaster models; and Chantrey at once set about imitating both,\nstudying with great industry and energy.  All his spare hours were\ndevoted to drawing, modelling, and self-improvement, and he often carried\nhis labours far into the night.  Before his apprenticeship was out\u2014at the\nace of twenty-one\u2014he paid over to his master the whole wealth which he\nwas able to muster\u2014a sum of 50_l._\u2014to cancel his indentures, determined\nto devote himself to the career of an artist.  He then made the best of\nhis way to London, and with characteristic good sense, sought employment\nas an assistant carver, studying painting and modelling at his bye-hours.\nAmong the jobs on which he was first employed as a journeyman carver, was\nthe decoration of the dining-room of Mr. Rogers, the poet\u2014a room in which\nhe was in after years a welcome visitor; and he usually took pleasure in\npointing out his early handywork to the guests whom he met at his\nfriend\u2019s table.\n\nReturning to Sheffield on a professional visit, he advertised himself in\nthe local papers as a painter of portraits in crayons and miniatures, and\nalso in oil.  For his first crayon portrait he was paid a guinea by a\ncutler; and for a portrait in oil, a confectioner paid him as much as\n5_l._ and a pair of top boots!  Chantrey was soon in London again to\nstudy at the Royal Academy; and next time he returned to Sheffield he\nadvertised himself as ready to model plaster busts of his townsmen, as\nwell as paint portraits of them.  He was even selected to design a\nmonument to a deceased vicar of the town, and executed it to the general\nsatisfaction.  When in London he used a room over a stable as a studio,\nand there he modelled his first original work for exhibition.  It was a\ngigantic head of Satan.  Towards the close of Chantrey\u2019s life, a friend\npassing through his studio was struck by this model lying in a corner.\n\u201cThat head,\u201d said the sculptor, \u201cwas the first thing that I did after I\ncame to London.  I worked at it in a garret with a paper cap on my head;\nand as I could then afford only one candle, I stuck that one in my cap\nthat it might move along with me, and give me light whichever way I\nturned.\u201d  Flaxman saw and admired this head at the Academy Exhibition,\nand recommended Chantrey for the execution of the busts of four admirals,\nrequired for the Naval Asylum at Greenwich.  This commission led to\nothers, and painting was given up.  But for eight years before, he had\nnot earned 5_l._ by his modelling.  His famous head of Horne Tooke was\nsuch a success that, according to his own account, it brought him\ncommissions amounting to 12,000_l._\n\nChantrey had now succeeded, but he had worked hard, and fairly earned his\ngood fortune.  He was selected from amongst sixteen competitors to\nexecute the statue of George III. for the city of London.  A few years\nlater, he produced the exquisite monument of the Sleeping Children, now\nin Lichfield Cathedral,\u2014a work of great tenderness and beauty; and\nthenceforward his career was one of increasing honour, fame, and\nprosperity.  His patience, industry, and steady perseverance were the\nmeans by which he achieved his greatness.  Nature endowed him with\ngenius, and his sound sense enabled him to employ the precious gift as a\nblessing.  He was prudent and shrewd, like the men amongst whom he was\nborn; the pocket-book which accompanied him on his Italian tour\ncontaining mingled notes on art, records of daily expenses, and the\ncurrent prices of marble.  His tastes were simple, and he made his finest\nsubjects great by the mere force of simplicity.  His statue of Watt, in\nHandsworth church, seems to us the very consummation of art; yet it is\nperfectly artless and simple.  His generosity to brother artists in need\nwas splendid, but quiet and unostentatious.  He left the principal part\nof his fortune to the Royal Academy for the promotion of British art.\n\nThe same honest and persistent industry was throughout distinctive of the\ncareer of David Wilkie.  The son of a Scotch minister, he gave early\nindications of an artistic turn; and though he was a negligent and inapt\nscholar, he was a sedulous drawer of faces and figures.  A silent boy, he\nalready displayed that quiet concentrated energy of character which\ndistinguished him through life.  He was always on the look-out for an\nopportunity to draw,\u2014and the walls of the manse, or the smooth sand by\nthe river side, were alike convenient for his purpose.  Any sort of tool\nwould serve him; like Giotto, he found a pencil in a burnt stick, a\nprepared canvas in any smooth stone, and the subject for a picture in\nevery ragged mendicant he met.  When he visited a house, he generally\nleft his mark on the walls as an indication of his presence, sometimes to\nthe disgust of cleanly housewives.  In short, notwithstanding the\naversion of his father, the minister, to the \u201csinful\u201d profession of\npainting, Wilkie\u2019s strong propensity was not to be thwarted, and he\nbecame an artist, working his way manfully up the steep of difficulty.\nThough rejected on his first application as a candidate for admission to\nthe Scottish Academy, at Edinburgh, on account of the rudeness and\ninaccuracy of his introductory specimens, he persevered in producing\nbetter, until he was admitted.  But his progress was slow.  He applied\nhimself diligently to the drawing of the human figure, and held on with\nthe determination to succeed, as if with a resolute confidence in the\nresult.  He displayed none of the eccentric humour and fitful application\nof many youths who conceive themselves geniuses, but kept up the routine\nof steady application to such an extent that he himself was afterwards\naccustomed to attribute his success to his dogged perseverance rather\nthan to any higher innate power.  \u201cThe single element,\u201d he said, \u201cin all\nthe progressive movements of my pencil was persevering industry.\u201d  At\nEdinburgh he gained a few premiums, thought of turning his attention to\nportrait painting, with a view to its higher and more certain\nremuneration, but eventually went boldly into the line in which he earned\nhis fame,\u2014and painted his Pitlessie Fair.  What was bolder still, he\ndetermined to proceed to London, on account of its presenting so much\nwider a field for study and work; and the poor Scotch lad arrived in\ntown, and painted his Village Politicians while living in a humble\nlodging on eighteen shillings a week.\n\nNotwithstanding the success of this picture, and the commissions which\nfollowed it, Wilkie long continued poor.  The prices which his works\nrealized were not great, for he bestowed upon them so much time and\nlabour, that his earnings continued comparatively small for many years.\nEvery picture was carefully studied and elaborated beforehand; nothing\nwas struck off at a heat; many occupied him for years\u2014touching,\nretouching, and improving them until they finally passed out of his\nhands.  As with Reynolds, his motto was \u201cWork! work! work!\u201d and, like\nhim, he expressed great dislike for talking artists.  Talkers may sow,\nbut the silent reap.  \u201cLet us be _doing_ something,\u201d was his oblique mode\nof rebuking the loquacious and admonishing the idle.  He once related to\nhis friend Constable that when he studied at the Scottish Academy,\nGraham, the master of it, was accustomed to say to the students, in the\nwords of Reynolds, \u201cIf you have genius, industry will improve it; if you\nhave none, industry will supply its place.\u201d  \u201cSo,\u201d said Wilkie, \u201cI was\ndetermined to be very industrious, for I knew I had no genius.\u201d  He also\ntold Constable that when Linnell and Burnett, his fellow-students in\nLondon, were talking about art, he always contrived to get as close to\nthem as he could to hear all they said, \u201cfor,\u201d said he, \u201cthey know a\ngreat deal, and I know very little.\u201d  This was said with perfect\nsincerity, for Wilkie was habitually modest.  One of the first things\nthat he did with the sum of thirty pounds which he obtained from Lord\nMansfield for his Village Politicians, was to buy a present\u2014of bonnets,\nshawls, and dresses\u2014for his mother and sister at home, though but little\nable to afford it at the time.  Wilkie\u2019s early poverty had trained him in\nhabits of strict economy, which were, however, consistent with a noble\nliberality, as appears from sundry passages in the Autobiography of\nAbraham Raimbach the engraver.\n\nWilliam Etty was another notable instance of unflagging industry and\nindomitable perseverance in art.  His father was a ginger-bread and\nspicemaker at York, and his mother\u2014a woman of considerable force and\noriginality of character\u2014was the daughter of a ropemaker.  The boy early\ndisplayed a love of drawing, covering walls, floors, and tables with\nspecimens of his skill; his first crayon being a farthing\u2019s worth of\nchalk, and this giving place to a piece of coal or a bit of charred\nstick.  His mother, knowing nothing of art, put the boy apprentice to a\ntrade\u2014that of a printer.  But in his leisure hours he went on with the\npractice of drawing; and when his time was out he determined to follow\nhis bent\u2014he would be a painter and nothing else.  Fortunately his uncle\nand elder brother were able and willing to help him on in his new career,\nand they provided him with the means of entering as pupil at the Royal\nAcademy.  We observe, from Leslie\u2019s Autobiography, that Etty was looked\nupon by his fellow students as a worthy but dull, plodding person, who\nwould never distinguish himself.  But he had in him the divine faculty of\nwork, and diligently plodded his way upward to eminence in the highest\nwalks of art.\n\nMany artists have had to encounter privations which have tried their\ncourage and endurance to the utmost before they succeeded.  What number\nmay have sunk under them we can never know.  Martin encountered\ndifficulties in the course of his career such as perhaps fall to the lot\nof few.  More than once he found himself on the verge of starvation while\nengaged on his first great picture.  It is related of him that on one\noccasion he found himself reduced to his last shilling\u2014a _bright_\nshilling\u2014which he had kept because of its very brightness, but at length\nhe found it necessary to exchange it for bread.  He went to a baker\u2019s\nshop, bought a loaf, and was taking it away, when the baker snatched it\nfrom him, and tossed back the shilling to the starving painter.  The\nbright shilling had failed him in his hour of need\u2014it was a bad one!\nReturning to his lodgings, he rummaged his trunk for some remaining crust\nto satisfy his hunger.  Upheld throughout by the victorious power of\nenthusiasm, he pursued his design with unsubdued energy.  He had the\ncourage to work on and to wait; and when, a few days after, he found an\nopportunity to exhibit his picture, he was from that time famous.  Like\nmany other great artists, his life proves that, in despite of outward\ncircumstances, genius, aided by industry, will be its own protector, and\nthat fame, though she comes late, will never ultimately refuse her\nfavours to real merit.\n\nThe most careful discipline and training after academic methods will fail\nin making an artist, unless he himself take an active part in the work.\nLike every highly cultivated man, he must be mainly self-educated.  When\nPugin, who was brought up in his father\u2019s office, had learnt all that he\ncould learn of architecture according to the usual formulas, he still\nfound that he had learned but little; and that he must begin at the\nbeginning, and pass through the discipline of labour.  Young Pugin\naccordingly hired himself out as a common carpenter at Covent Garden\nTheatre\u2014first working under the stage, then behind the flys, then upon\nthe stage itself.  He thus acquired a familiarity with work, and\ncultivated an architectural taste, to which the diversity of the\nmechanical employment about a large operatic establishment is peculiarly\nfavourable.  When the theatre closed for the season, he worked a\nsailing-ship between London and some of the French ports, carrying on at\nthe same time a profitable trade.  At every opportunity he would land and\nmake drawings of any old building, and especially of any ecclesiastical\nstructure which fell in his way.  Afterwards he would make special\njourneys to the Continent for the same purpose, and returned home laden\nwith drawings.  Thus he plodded and laboured on, making sure of the\nexcellence and distinction which he eventually achieved.\n\nA similar illustration of plodding industry in the same walk is presented\nin the career of George Kemp, the architect of the beautiful Scott\nMonument at Edinburgh.  He was the son of a poor shepherd, who pursued\nhis calling on the southern slope of the Pentland Hills.  Amidst that\npastoral solitude the boy had no opportunity of enjoying the\ncontemplation of works of art.  It happened, however, that in his tenth\nyear he was sent on a message to Roslin, by the farmer for whom his\nfather herded sheep, and the sight of the beautiful castle and chapel\nthere seems to have made a vivid and enduring impression on his mind.\nProbably to enable him to indulge his love of architectural construction,\nthe boy besought his father to let him be a joiner; and he was\naccordingly put apprentice to a neighbouring village carpenter.  Having\nserved his time, he went to Galashiels to seek work.  As he was plodding\nalong the valley of the Tweed with his tools upon his back, a carriage\novertook him near Elibank Tower; and the coachman, doubtless at the\nsuggestion of his master, who was seated inside, having asked the youth\nhow far he had to walk, and learning that he was on his way to\nGalashiels, invited him to mount the box beside him, and thus to ride\nthither.  It turned out that the kindly gentleman inside was no other\nthan Sir Walter Scott, then travelling on his official duty as Sheriff of\nSelkirkshire.  Whilst working at Galashiels, Kemp had frequent\nopportunities of visiting Melrose, Dryburgh, and Jedburgh Abbeys, which\nhe studied carefully.  Inspired by his love of architecture, he worked\nhis way as a carpenter over the greater part of the north of England,\nnever omitting an opportunity of inspecting and making sketches of any\nfine Gothic building.  On one occasion, when working in Lancashire, he\nwalked fifty miles to York, spent a week in carefully examining the\nMinster, and returned in like manner on foot.  We next find him in\nGlasgow, where he remained four years, studying the fine cathedral there\nduring his spare time.  He returned to England again, this time working\nhis way further south; studying Canterbury, Winchester, Tintern, and\nother well-known structures.  In 1824 he formed the design of travelling\nover Europe with the same object, supporting himself by his trade.\nReaching Boulogne, he proceeded by Abbeville and Beauvais to Paris,\nspending a few weeks making drawings and studies at each place.  His\nskill as a mechanic, and especially his knowledge of mill-work, readily\nsecured him employment wherever he went; and he usually chose the site of\nhis employment in the neighbourhood of some fine old Gothic structure, in\nstudying which he occupied his leisure.  After a year\u2019s working, travel,\nand study abroad, he returned to Scotland.  He continued his studies, and\nbecame a proficient in drawing and perspective: Melrose was his favourite\nruin; and he produced several elaborate drawings of the building, one of\nwhich, exhibiting it in a \u201crestored\u201d state, was afterwards engraved.  He\nalso obtained employment as a modeller of architectural designs; and made\ndrawings for a work begun by an Edinburgh engraver, after the plan of\nBritton\u2019s \u2018Cathedral Antiquities.\u2019  This was a task congenial to his\ntastes, and he laboured at it with an enthusiasm which ensured its rapid\nadvance; walking on foot for the purpose over half Scotland, and living\nas an ordinary mechanic, whilst executing drawings which would have done\ncredit to the best masters in the art.  The projector of the work having\ndied suddenly, the publication was however stopped, and Kemp sought other\nemployment.  Few knew of the genius of this man\u2014for he was exceedingly\ntaciturn and habitually modest\u2014when the Committee of the Scott Monument\noffered a prize for the best design.  The competitors were\nnumerous\u2014including some of the greatest names in classical architecture;\nbut the design unanimously selected was that of George Kemp, who was\nworking at Kilwinning Abbey in Ayrshire, many miles off, when the letter\nreached him intimating the decision of the committee.  Poor Kemp!\nShortly after this event he met an untimely death, and did not live to\nsee the first result of his indefatigable industry and self-culture\nembodied in stone,\u2014one of the most beautiful and appropriate memorials\never erected to literary genius.\n\nJohn Gibson was another artist full of a genuine enthusiasm and love for\nhis art, which placed him high above those sordid temptations which urge\nmeaner natures to make time the measure of profit.  He was born at Gyffn,\nnear Conway, in North Wales\u2014the son of a gardener.  He early showed\nindications of his talent by the carvings in wood which he made by means\nof a common pocket knife; and his father, noting the direction of his\ntalent, sent him to Liverpool and bound him apprentice to a cabinet-maker\nand wood-carver.  He rapidly improved at his trade, and some of his\ncarvings were much admired.  He was thus naturally led to sculpture, and\nwhen eighteen years old he modelled a small figure of Time in wax, which\nattracted considerable notice.  The Messrs. Franceys, sculptors, of\nLiverpool, having purchased the boy\u2019s indentures, took him as their\napprentice for six years, during which his genius displayed itself in\nmany original works.  From thence he proceeded to London, and afterwards\nto Rome; and his fame became European.\n\nRobert Thorburn, the Royal Academician, like John Gibson, was born of\npoor parents.  His father was a shoe-maker at Dumfries.  Besides Robert\nthere were two other sons; one of whom is a skilful carver in wood.  One\nday a lady called at the shoemaker\u2019s and found Robert, then a mere boy,\nengaged in drawing upon a stool which served him for a table.  She\nexamined his work, and observing his abilities, interested herself in\nobtaining for him some employment in drawing, and enlisted in his behalf\nthe services of others who could assist him in prosecuting the study of\nart.  The boy was diligent, pains-taking, staid, and silent, mixing\nlittle with his companions, and forming but few intimacies.  About the\nyear 1830, some gentlemen of the town provided him with the means of\nproceeding to Edinburgh, where he was admitted a student at the Scottish\nAcademy.  There he had the advantage of studying under competent masters,\nand the progress which he made was rapid.  From Edinburgh he removed to\nLondon, where, we understand, he had the advantage of being introduced to\nnotice under the patronage of the Duke of Buccleuch.  We need scarcely\nsay, however, that of whatever use patronage may have been to Thorburn in\ngiving him an introduction to the best circles, patronage of no kind\ncould have made him the great artist that he unquestionably is, without\nnative genius and diligent application.\n\nNoel Paton, the well-known painter, began his artistic career at\nDunfermline and Paisley, as a drawer of patterns for table-cloths and\nmuslin embroidered by hand; meanwhile working diligently at higher\nsubjects, including the drawing of the human figure.  He was, like\nTurner, ready to turn his hand to any kind of work, and in 1840, when a\nmere youth, we find him engaged, among his other labours, in illustrating\nthe \u2018Renfrewshire Annual.\u2019  He worked his way step by step, slowly yet\nsurely; but he remained unknown until the exhibition of the prize\ncartoons painted for the houses of Parliament, when his picture of the\nSpirit of Religion (for which he obtained one of the first prizes)\nrevealed him to the world as a genuine artist; and the works which he has\nsince exhibited\u2014such as the \u2018Reconciliation of Oberon and Titania,\u2019\n\u2018Home,\u2019 and \u2018The bluidy Tryste\u2019\u2014have shown a steady advance in artistic\npower and culture.\n\nAnother striking exemplification of perseverance and industry in the\ncultivation of art in humble life is presented in the career of James\nSharples, a working blacksmith at Blackburn.  He was born at Wakefield in\nYorkshire, in 1825, one of a family of thirteen children.  His father was\na working ironfounder, and removed to Bury to follow his business.  The\nboys received no school education, but were all sent to work as soon as\nthey were able; and at about ten James was placed in a foundry, where he\nwas employed for about two years as smithy-boy.  After that he was sent\ninto the engine-shop where his father worked as engine-smith.  The boy\u2019s\nemployment was to heat and carry rivets for the boiler-makers.  Though\nhis hours of labour were very long\u2014often from six in the morning until\neight at night\u2014his father contrived to give him some little teaching\nafter working hours; and it was thus that he partially learned his\nletters.  An incident occurred in the course of his employment among the\nboiler-makers, which first awakened in him the desire to learn drawing.\nHe had occasionally been employed by the foreman to hold the chalked line\nwith which he made the designs of boilers upon the floor of the workshop;\nand on such occasions the foreman was accustomed to hold the line, and\ndirect the boy to make the necessary dimensions.  James soon became so\nexpert at this as to be of considerable service to the foreman; and at\nhis leisure hours at home his great delight was to practise drawing\ndesigns of boilers upon his mother\u2019s floor.  On one occasion, when a\nfemale relative was expected from Manchester to pay the family a visit,\nand the house had been made as decent as possible for her reception, the\nboy, on coming in from the foundry in the evening, began his usual\noperations upon the floor.  He had proceeded some way with his design of\na large boiler in chalk, when his mother arrived with the visitor, and to\nher dismay found the boy unwashed and the floor chalked all over.  The\nrelative, however, professed to be pleased with the boy\u2019s industry,\npraised his design, and recommended his mother to provide \u201cthe little\nsweep,\u201d as she called him, with paper and pencils.\n\nEncouraged by his elder brother, he began to practise figure and\nlandscape drawing, making copies of lithographs, but as yet without any\nknowledge of the rules of perspective and the principles of light and\nshade.  He worked on, however, and gradually acquired expertness in\ncopying.  At sixteen, he entered the Bury Mechanic\u2019s Institution in order\nto attend the drawing class, taught by an amateur who followed the trade\nof a barber.  There he had a lesson a week during three months.  The\nteacher recommended him to obtain from the library Burnet\u2019s \u2018Practical\nTreatise on Painting;\u2019 but as he could not yet read with ease, he was\nunder the necessity of getting his mother, and sometimes his elder\nbrother, to read passages from the book for him while he sat by and\nlistened.  Feeling hampered by his ignorance of the art of reading, and\neager to master the contents of Burnet\u2019s book, he ceased attending the\ndrawing class at the Institute after the first quarter, and devoted\nhimself to learning reading and writing at home.  In this he soon\nsucceeded; and when he again entered the Institute and took out \u2018Burnet\u2019\na second time, he was not only able to read it, but to make written\nextracts for further use.  So ardently did he study the volume, that he\nused to rise at four o\u2019clock in the morning to read it and copy out\npassages; after which he went to the foundry at six, worked until six and\nsometimes eight in the evening; and returned home to enter with fresh\nzest upon the study of Burnet, which he continued often until a late\nhour.  Parts of his nights were also occupied in drawing and making\ncopies of drawings.  On one of these\u2014a copy of Leonardo da Vinci\u2019s \u201cLast\nSupper\u201d\u2014he spent an entire night.  He went to bed indeed, but his mind\nwas so engrossed with the subject that he could not sleep, and rose again\nto resume his pencil.\n\nHe next proceeded to try his hand at painting in oil, for which purpose\nhe procured some canvas from a draper, stretched it on a frame, coated it\nover with white lead, and began painting on it with colours bought from a\nhouse-painter.  But his work proved a total failure; for the canvas was\nrough and knotty, and the paint would not dry.  In his extremity he\napplied to his old teacher, the barber, from whom he first learnt that\nprepared canvas was to be had, and that there were colours and varnishes\nmade for the special purpose of oil-painting.  As soon therefore, as his\nmeans would allow, he bought a small stock of the necessary articles and\nbegan afresh,\u2014his amateur master showing him how to paint; and the pupil\nsucceeded so well that he excelled the master\u2019s copy.  His first picture\nwas a copy from an engraving called \u201cSheep-shearing,\u201d and was afterwards\nsold by him for half-a-crown.  Aided by a shilling Guide to Oil-painting,\nhe went on working at his leisure hours, and gradually acquired a better\nknowledge of his materials.  He made his own easel and palette,\npalette-knife, and paint-chest; he bought his paint, brushes, and canvas,\nas he could raise the money by working over-time.  This was the slender\nfund which his parents consented to allow him for the purpose; the burden\nof supporting a very large family precluding them from doing more.  Often\nhe would walk to Manchester and back in the evenings to buy two or three\nshillings\u2019 worth of paint and canvas, returning almost at midnight, after\nhis eighteen miles\u2019 walk, sometimes wet through and completely exhausted,\nbut borne up throughout by his inexhaustible hope and invincible\ndetermination.  The further progress of the self-taught artist is best\nnarrated in his own words, as communicated by him in a letter to the\nauthor:\u2014\n\n\u201cThe next pictures I painted,\u201d he says, \u201cwere a Landscape by Moonlight, a\nFruitpiece, and one or two others; after which I conceived the idea of\npainting \u2018The Forge.\u2019  I had for some time thought about it, but had not\nattempted to embody the conception in a drawing.  I now, however, made a\nsketch of the subject upon paper, and then proceeded to paint it on\ncanvas.  The picture simply represents the interior of a large workshop\nsuch as I have been accustomed to work in, although not of any particular\nshop.  It is, therefore, to this extent, an original conception.  Having\nmade an outline of the subject, I found that, before I could proceed with\nit successfully, a knowledge of anatomy was indispensable to enable me\naccurately to delineate the muscles of the figures.  My brother Peter\ncame to my assistance at this juncture, and kindly purchased for me\nFlaxman\u2019s \u2018Anatomical studies,\u2019\u2014a work altogether beyond my means at the\ntime, for it cost twenty-four shillings.  This book I looked upon as a\ngreat treasure, and I studied it laboriously, rising at three o\u2019clock in\nthe morning to draw after it, and occasionally getting my brother Peter\nto stand for me as a model at that untimely hour.  Although I gradually\nimproved myself by this practice, it was some time before I felt\nsufficient confidence to go on with my picture.  I also felt hampered by\nmy want of knowledge of perspective, which I endeavoured to remedy by\ncarefully studying Brook Taylor\u2019s \u2018Principles;\u2019 and shortly after I\nresumed my painting.  While engaged in the study of perspective at home,\nI used to apply for and obtain leave to work at the heavier kinds of\nsmith work at the foundry, and for this reason\u2014the time required for\nheating the heaviest iron work is so much longer than that required for\nheating the lighter, that it enabled me to secure a number of spare\nminutes in the course of the day, which I carefully employed in making\ndiagrams in perspective upon the sheet iron casing in front of the hearth\nat which I worked.\u201d\n\nThus assiduously working and studying, James Sharples steadily advanced\nin his knowledge of the principles of art, and acquired greater facility\nin its practice.  Some eighteen months after the expiry of his\napprenticeship he painted a portrait of his father, which attracted\nconsiderable notice in the town; as also did the picture of \u201cThe Forge,\u201d\nwhich he finished soon after.  His success in portrait-painting obtained\nfor him a commission from the foreman of the shop to paint a family\ngroup, and Sharples executed it so well that the foreman not only paid\nhim the agreed price of eighteen pounds, but thirty shillings to boot.\nWhile engaged on this group he ceased to work at the foundry, and he had\nthoughts of giving up his trade altogether and devoting himself\nexclusively to painting.  He proceeded to paint several pictures, amongst\nothers a head of Christ, an original conception, life-size, and a view of\nBury; but not obtaining sufficient employment at portraits to occupy his\ntime, or give him the prospect of a steady income, he had the good sense\nto resume his leather apron, and go on working at his honest trade of a\nblacksmith; employing his leisure hours in engraving his picture of \u201cThe\nForge,\u201d since published.  He was induced to commence the engraving by the\nfollowing circumstance.  A Manchester picture-dealer, to whom he showed\nthe painting, let drop the observation, that in the hands of a skilful\nengraver it would make a very good print.  Sharples immediately conceived\nthe idea of engraving it himself, though altogether ignorant of the art.\nThe difficulties which he encountered and successfully overcame in\ncarrying out his project are thus described by himself:\u2014\n\n\u201cI had seen an advertisement of a Sheffield steel-plate maker, giving a\nlist of the prices at which he supplied plates of various sizes, and,\nfixing upon one of suitable dimensions, I remitted the amount, together\nwith a small additional sum for which I requested him to send me a few\nengraving tools.  I could not specify the articles wanted, for I did not\nthen know anything about the process of engraving.  However, there duly\narrived with the plate three or four gravers and an etching needle; the\nlatter I spoiled before I knew its use.  While working at the plate, the\nAmalgamated Society of Engineers offered a premium for the best design\nfor an emblematical picture, for which I determined to compete, and I was\nso fortunate as to win the prize.  Shortly after this I removed to\nBlackburn, where I obtained employment at Messrs. Yates\u2019, engineers, as\nan engine-smith; and continued to employ my leisure time in drawing,\npainting, and engraving, as before.  With the engraving I made but very\nslow progress, owing to the difficulties I experienced from not\npossessing proper tools.  I then determined to try to make some that\nwould suit my purpose, and after several failures I succeeded in making\nmany that I have used in the course of my engraving.  I was also greatly\nat a loss for want of a proper magnifying glass, and part of the plate\nwas executed with no other assistance of this sort than what my father\u2019s\nspectacles afforded, though I afterwards succeeded in obtaining a proper\nmagnifier, which was of the utmost use to me.  An incident occurred while\nI was engraving the plate, which had almost caused me to abandon it\naltogether.  It sometimes happened that I was obliged to lay it aside for\na considerable time, when other work pressed; and in order to guard it\nagainst rust, I was accustomed to rub over the graven parts with oil.\nBut on examining the plate after one of such intervals, I found that the\noil had become a dark sticky substance extremely difficult to get out.  I\ntried to pick it out with a needle, but found that it would almost take\nas much time as to engrave the parts afresh.  I was in great despair at\nthis, but at length hit upon the expedient of boiling it in water\ncontaining soda, and afterwards rubbing the engraved parts with a\ntooth-brush; and to my delight found the plan succeeded perfectly.  My\ngreatest difficulties now over, patience and perseverance were all that\nwere needed to bring my labours to a successful issue.  I had neither\nadvice nor assistance from any one in finishing the plate.  If,\ntherefore, the work possess any merit, I can claim it as my own; and if\nin its accomplishment I have contributed to show what can be done by\npersevering industry and determination, it is all the honour I wish to\nlay claim to.\u201d\n\nIt would be beside our purpose to enter upon any criticism of \u201cThe Forge\u201d\nas an engraving; its merits having been already fully recognised by the\nart journals.  The execution of the work occupied Sharples\u2019s leisure\nevening hours during a period of five years; and it was only when he took\nthe plate to the printer that he for the first time saw an engraved plate\nproduced by any other man.  To this unvarnished picture of industry and\ngenius, we add one other trait, and it is a domestic one.  \u201cI have been\nmarried seven years,\u201d says he, \u201cand during that time my greatest\npleasure, after I have finished my daily labour at the foundry, has been\nto resume my pencil or graver, frequently until a late hour of the\nevening, my wife meanwhile sitting by my side and reading to me from some\ninteresting book,\u201d\u2014a simple but beautiful testimony to the thorough\ncommon sense as well as the genuine right-heartedness of this most\ninteresting and deserving workman.\n\nThe same industry and application which we have found to be necessary in\norder to acquire excellence in painting and sculpture, are equally\nrequired in the sister art of music\u2014the one being the poetry of form and\ncolour, the other of the sounds of nature.  Handel was an indefatigable\nand constant worker; he was never cast down by defeat, but his energy\nseemed to increase the more that adversity struck him.  When a prey to\nhis mortifications as an insolvent debtor, he did not give way for a\nmoment, but in one year produced his \u2018Saul,\u2019 \u2018Israel,\u2019 the music for\nDryden\u2019s \u2018Ode,\u2019 his \u2018Twelve Grand Concertos,\u2019 and the opera of \u2018Jupiter\nin Argos,\u2019 among the finest of his works.  As his biographer says of him,\n\u201cHe braved everything, and, by his unaided self, accomplished the work of\ntwelve men.\u201d\n\nHaydn, speaking of his art, said, \u201cIt consists in taking up a subject and\npursuing it.\u201d  \u201cWork,\u201d said Mozart, \u201cis my chief pleasure.\u201d  Beethoven\u2019s\nfavourite maxim was, \u201cThe barriers are not erected which can say to\naspiring talents and industry, \u2018Thus far and no farther.\u2019\u201d  When\nMoscheles submitted his score of \u2018Fidelio\u2019 for the pianoforte to\nBeethoven, the latter found written at the bottom of the last page,\n\u201cFinis, with God\u2019s help.\u201d  Beethoven immediately wrote underneath, \u201cO\nman! help thyself!\u201d  This was the motto of his artistic life.  John\nSebastian Bach said of himself, \u201cI was industrious; whoever is equally\nsedulous, will be equally successful.\u201d  But there is no doubt that Bach\nwas born with a passion for music, which formed the mainspring of his\nindustry, and was the true secret of his success.  When a mere youth, his\nelder brother, wishing to turn his abilities in another direction,\ndestroyed a collection of studies which the young Sebastian, being denied\ncandles, had copied by moonlight; proving the strong natural bent of the\nboy\u2019s genius.  Of Meyerbeer, Bayle thus wrote from Milan in 1820:\u2014\u201cHe is\na man of some talent, but no genius; he lives solitary, working fifteen\nhours a day at music.\u201d  Years passed, and Meyerbeer\u2019s hard work fully\nbrought out his genius, as displayed in his \u2018Roberto,\u2019 \u2018Huguenots,\u2019\n\u2018Proph\u00e8te,\u2019 and other works, confessedly amongst the greatest operas\nwhich have been produced in modern times.\n\nAlthough musical composition is not an art in which Englishmen have as\nyet greatly distinguished themselves, their energies having for the most\npart taken other and more practical directions, we are not without native\nillustrations of the power of perseverance in this special pursuit.  Arne\nwas an upholsterer\u2019s son, intended by his father for the legal\nprofession; but his love of music was so great, that he could not be\nwithheld from pursuing it.  While engaged in an attorney\u2019s office, his\nmeans were very limited, but, to gratify his tastes, he was accustomed to\nborrow a livery and go into the gallery of the Opera, then appropriated\nto domestics.  Unknown to his father he made great progress with the\nviolin, and the first knowledge his father had of the circumstance was\nwhen accidentally calling at the house of a neighbouring gentleman, to\nhis surprise and consternation he found his son playing the leading\ninstrument with a party of musicians.  This incident decided the fate of\nArne.  His father offered no further opposition to his wishes; and the\nworld thereby lost a lawyer, but gained a musician of much taste and\ndelicacy of feeling, who added many valuable works to our stores of\nEnglish music.\n\nThe career of the late William Jackson, author of \u2018The Deliverance of\nIsrael,\u2019 an oratorio which has been successfully performed in the\nprincipal towns of his native county of York, furnishes an interesting\nillustration of the triumph of perseverance over difficulties in the\npursuit of musical science.  He was the son of a miller at Masham, a\nlittle town situated in the valley of the Yore, in the north-west corner\nof Yorkshire.  Musical taste seems to have been hereditary in the family,\nfor his father played the fife in the band of the Masham Volunteers, and\nwas a singer in the parish choir.  His grandfather also was leading\nsinger and ringer at Masham Church; and one of the boy\u2019s earliest musical\ntreats was to be present at the bell pealing on Sunday mornings.  During\nthe service, his wonder was still more excited by the organist\u2019s\nperformance on the barrel-organ, the doors of which were thrown open\nbehind to let the sound fully into the church, by which the stops, pipes,\nbarrels, staples, keyboard, and jacks, were fully exposed, to the\nwonderment of the little boys sitting in the gallery behind, and to none\nmore than our young musician.  At eight years of age he began to play\nupon his father\u2019s old fife, which, however, would not sound D; but his\nmother remedied the difficulty by buying for him a one-keyed flute; and\nshortly after, a gentleman of the neighbourhood presented him with a\nflute with four silver keys.  As the boy made no progress with his \u201cbook\nlearning,\u201d being fonder of cricket, fives, and boxing, than of his school\nlessons\u2014the village schoolmaster giving him up as \u201ca bad job\u201d\u2014his parents\nsent him off to a school at Pateley Bridge.  While there he found\ncongenial society in a club of village choral singers at Brighouse Gate,\nand with them he learnt the sol-fa-ing gamut on the old English plan.  He\nwas thus well drilled in the reading of music, in which he soon became a\nproficient.  His progress astonished the club, and he returned home full\nof musical ambition.  He now learnt to play upon his father\u2019s old piano,\nbut with little melodious result; and he became eager to possess a\nfinger-organ, but had no means of procuring one.  About this time, a\nneighbouring parish clerk had purchased, for an insignificant sum, a\nsmall disabled barrel-organ, which had gone the circuit of the northern\ncounties with a show.  The clerk tried to revive the tones of the\ninstrument, but failed; at last he bethought him that he would try the\nskill of young Jackson, who had succeeded in making some alterations and\nimprovements in the hand-organ of the parish church.  He accordingly\nbrought it to the lad\u2019s house in a donkey cart, and in a short time the\ninstrument was repaired, and played over its old tunes again, greatly to\nthe owner\u2019s satisfaction.\n\nThe thought now haunted the youth that he could make a barrel-organ, and\nhe determined to do so.  His father and he set to work, and though\nwithout practice in carpentering, yet, by dint of hard labour and after\nmany failures, they at last succeeded; and an organ was constructed which\nplayed ten tunes very decently, and the instrument was generally regarded\nas a marvel in the neighbourhood.  Young Jackson was now frequently sent\nfor to repair old church organs, and to put new music upon the barrels\nwhich he added to them.  All this he accomplished to the satisfaction of\nhis employers, after which he proceeded with the construction of a\nfour-stop finger-organ, adapting to it the keys of an old harpsichord.\nThis he learnt to play upon,\u2014studying \u2018Callcott\u2019s Thorough Bass\u2019 in the\nevening, and working at his trade of a miller during the day;\noccasionally also tramping about the country as a \u201ccadger,\u201d with an ass\nand a cart.  During summer he worked in the fields, at turnip-time,\nhay-time, and harvest, but was never without the solace of music in his\nleisure evening hours.  He next tried his hand at musical composition,\nand twelve of his anthems were shown to the late Mr. Camidge, of York, as\n\u201cthe production of a miller\u2019s lad of fourteen.\u201d  Mr. Camidge was pleased\nwith them, marked the objectionable passages, and returned them with the\nencouraging remark, that they did the youth great credit, and that he\nmust \u201cgo on writing.\u201d\n\nA village band having been set on foot at Masham, young Jackson joined\nit, and was ultimately appointed leader.  He played all the instruments\nby turns, and thus acquired a considerable practical knowledge of his\nart: he also composed numerous tunes for the band.  A new finger-organ\nhaving been presented to the parish church, he was appointed the\norganist.  He now gave up his employment as a journeyman miller, and\ncommenced tallow-chandling, still employing his spare hours in the study\nof music.  In 1839 he published his first anthem\u2014\u2018For joy let fertile\nvalleys sing;\u2019 and in the following year he gained the first prize from\nthe Huddersfield Glee Club, for his \u2018Sisters of the Lea.\u2019  His other\nanthem \u2018God be merciful to us,\u2019 and the 103rd Psalm, written for a double\nchorus and orchestra, are well known.  In the midst of these minor works,\nJackson proceeded with the composition of his oratorio,\u2014\u2018The Deliverance\nof Israel from Babylon.\u2019  His practice was, to jot down a sketch of the\nideas as they presented themselves to his mind, and to write them out in\nscore in the evenings, after he had left his work in the candle-shop.\nHis oratorio was published in parts, in the course of 1844\u20135, and he\npublished the last chorus on his twenty-ninth birthday.  The work was\nexceedingly well received, and has been frequently performed with much\nsuccess in the northern towns.  Mr. Jackson eventually settled as a\nprofessor of music at Bradford, where he contributed in no small degree\nto the cultivation of the musical taste of that town and its\nneighbourhood.  Some years since he had the honour of leading his fine\ncompany of Bradford choral singers before Her Majesty at Buckingham\nPalace; on which occasion, as well as at the Crystal Palace, some choral\npieces of his composition, were performed with great effect. {201}\n\nSuch is a brief outline of the career of a self-taught musician, whose\nlife affords but another illustration of the power of self-help, and the\nforce of courage and industry in enabling a man to surmount and overcome\nearly difficulties and obstructions of no ordinary kind.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\nINDUSTRY AND THE PEERAGE.\n\n\n    \u201cHe either fears his fate too much,\n    Or his deserts are small,\n    That dares not put it to the touch,\n    To gain or lose it all.\u201d\u2014_Marquis of Montrose_.\n\n    \u201cHe hath put down the mighty from their seats; and exalted them of\n    low degree.\u201d\u2014_St. Luke_.\n\nWE have already referred to some illustrious Commoners raised from humble\nto elevated positions by the power of application and industry; and we\nmight point to even the Peerage itself as affording equally instructive\nexamples.  One reason why the Peerage of England has succeeded so well in\nholding its own, arises from the fact that, unlike the peerages of other\ncountries, it has been fed, from time to time, by the best industrial\nblood of the country\u2014the very \u201cliver, heart, and brain of Britain.\u201d  Like\nthe fabled Ant\u00e6us, it has been invigorated and refreshed by touching its\nmother earth, and mingling with that most ancient order of nobility\u2014the\nworking order.\n\nThe blood of all men flows from equally remote sources; and though some\nare unable to trace their line directly beyond their grandfathers, all\nare nevertheless justified in placing at the head of their pedigree the\ngreat progenitors of the race, as Lord Chesterfield did when he wrote,\n\u201cADAM _de Stanhope_\u2014EVE _de Stanhope_.\u201d  No class is ever long\nstationary.  The mighty fall, and the humble are exalted.  New families\ntake the place of the old, who disappear among the ranks of the common\npeople.  Burke\u2019s \u2018Vicissitudes of Families\u2019 strikingly exhibit this rise\nand fall of families, and show that the misfortunes which overtake the\nrich and noble are greater in proportion than those which overwhelm the\npoor.  This author points out that of the twenty-five barons selected to\nenforce the observance of Magna Charta, there is not now in the House of\nPeers a single male descendant.  Civil wars and rebellions ruined many of\nthe old nobility and dispersed their families.  Yet their descendants in\nmany cases survive, and are to be found among the ranks of the people.\nFuller wrote in his \u2018Worthies,\u2019 that \u201csome who justly hold the surnames\nof Bohuns, Mortimers, and Plantagenets, are hid in the heap of common\nmen.\u201d  Thus Burke shows that two of the lineal descendants of the Earl of\nKent, sixth son of Edward I., were discovered in a butcher and a\ntoll-gatherer; that the great grandson of Margaret Plantagenet, daughter\nof the Duke of Clarance, sank to the condition of a cobbler at Newport,\nin Shropshire; and that among the lineal descendants of the Duke of\nGloucester, son of Edward III., was the late sexton of St. George\u2019s,\nHanover Square.  It is understood that the lineal descendant of Simon de\nMontfort, England\u2019s premier baron, is a saddler in Tooley Street.  One of\nthe descendants of the \u201cProud Percys,\u201d a claimant of the title of Duke of\nNorthumberland, was a Dublin trunk-maker; and not many years since one of\nthe claimants for the title of Earl of Perth presented himself in the\nperson of a labourer in a Northumberland coal-pit.  Hugh Miller, when\nworking as a stone-mason near Edinburgh, was served by a hodman, who was\none of the numerous claimants for the earldom of Crauford\u2014all that was\nwanted to establish his claim being a missing marriage certificate; and\nwhile the work was going on, the cry resounded from the walls many times\nin the day, of\u2014\u201cJohn, Yearl Crauford, bring us anither hod o\u2019lime.\u201d  One\nof Oliver Cromwell\u2019s great grandsons was a grocer on Snow Hill, and\nothers of his descendants died in great poverty.  Many barons of proud\nnames and titles have perished, like the sloth, upon their family tree,\nafter eating up all the leaves; while others have been overtaken by\nadversities which they have been unable to retrieve, and sunk at last\ninto poverty and obscurity.  Such are the mutabilities of rank and\nfortune.\n\nThe great bulk of our peerage is comparatively modern, so far as the\ntitles go; but it is not the less noble that it has been recruited to so\nlarge an extent from the ranks of honourable industry.  In olden times,\nthe wealth and commerce of London, conducted as it was by energetic and\nenterprising men, was a prolific source of peerages.  Thus, the earldom\nof Cornwallis was founded by Thomas Cornwallis, the Cheapside merchant;\nthat of Essex by William Capel, the draper; and that of Craven by William\nCraven, the merchant tailor.  The modern Earl of Warwick is not descended\nfrom the \u201cKing-maker,\u201d but from William Greville, the woolstapler; whilst\nthe modern dukes of Northumberland find their head, not in the Percies,\nbut in Hugh Smithson, a respectable London apothecary.  The founders of\nthe families of Dartmouth, Radnor, Ducie, and Pomfret, were respectively\na skinner, a silk manufacturer, a merchant tailor, and a Calais merchant;\nwhilst the founders of the peerages of Tankerville, Dormer, and Coventry,\nwere mercers.  The ancestors of Earl Romney, and Lord Dudley and Ward,\nwere goldsmiths and jewellers; and Lord Dacres was a banker in the reign\nof Charles I., as Lord Overstone is in that of Queen Victoria.  Edward\nOsborne, the founder of the Dukedom of Leeds, was apprentice to William\nHewet, a rich clothworker on London Bridge, whose only daughter he\ncourageously rescued from drowning, by leaping into the Thames after her,\nand eventually married.  Among other peerages founded by trade are those\nof Fitzwilliam, Leigh, Petre, Cowper, Darnley, Hill, and Carrington.  The\nfounders of the houses of Foley and Normanby were remarkable men in many\nrespects, and, as furnishing striking examples of energy of character,\nthe story of their lives is worthy of preservation.\n\nThe father of Richard Foley, the founder of the family, was a small\nyeoman living in the neighbourhood of Stourbridge in the time of Charles\nI.  That place was then the centre of the iron manufacture of the midland\ndistricts, and Richard was brought up to work at one of the branches of\nthe trade\u2014that of nail-making.  He was thus a daily observer of the great\nlabour and loss of time caused by the clumsy process then adopted for\ndividing the rods of iron in the manufacture of nails.  It appeared that\nthe Stourbridge nailers were gradually losing their trade in consequence\nof the importation of nails from Sweden, by which they were undersold in\nthe market.  It became known that the Swedes were enabled to make their\nnails so much cheaper, by the use of splitting mills and machinery, which\nhad completely superseded the laborious process of preparing the rods for\nnail-making then practised in England.\n\nRichard Foley, having ascertained this much, determined to make himself\nmaster of the new process.  He suddenly disappeared from the\nneighbourhood of Stourbridge, and was not heard of for several years.  No\none knew whither he had gone, not even his own family; for he had not\ninformed them of his intention, lest he should fail.  He had little or no\nmoney in his pocket, but contrived to get to Hull, where he engaged\nhimself on board a ship bound for a Swedish port, and worked his passage\nthere.  The only article of property which he possessed was his fiddle,\nand on landing in Sweden he begged and fiddled his way to the Dannemora\nmines, near Upsala.  He was a capital musician, as well as a pleasant\nfellow, and soon ingratiated himself with the iron-workers.  He was\nreceived into the works, to every part of which he had access; and he\nseized the opportunity thus afforded him of storing his mind with\nobservations, and mastering, as he thought, the mechanism of iron\nsplitting.  After a continued stay for this purpose, he suddenly\ndisappeared from amongst his kind friends the miners\u2014no one knew whither.\n\nReturned to England, he communicated the results of his voyage to Mr.\nKnight and another person at Stourbridge, who had sufficient confidence\nin him to advance the requisite funds for the purpose of erecting\nbuildings and machinery for splitting iron by the new process.  But when\nset to work, to the great vexation and disappointment of all, and\nespecially of Richard Foley, it was found that the machinery would not\nact\u2014at all events it would not split the bars of iron.  Again Foley\ndisappeared.  It was thought that shame and mortification at his failure\nhad driven him away for ever.  Not so!  Foley had determined to master\nthis secret of iron-splitting, and he would yet do it.  He had again set\nout for Sweden, accompanied by his fiddle as before, and found his way to\nthe iron works, where he was joyfully welcomed by the miners; and, to\nmake sure of their fiddler, they this time lodged him in the very\nsplitting-mill itself.  There was such an apparent absence of\nintelligence about the man, except in fiddle-playing, that the miners\nentertained no suspicions as to the object of their minstrel, whom they\nthus enabled to attain the very end and aim of his life.  He now\ncarefully examined the works, and soon discovered the cause of his\nfailure.  He made drawings or tracings of the machinery as well as he\ncould, though this was a branch of art quite new to him; and after\nremaining at the place long enough to enable him to verify his\nobservations, and to impress the mechanical arrangements clearly and\nvividly on his mind, he again left the miners, reached a Swedish port,\nand took ship for England.  A man of such purpose could not but succeed.\nArrived amongst his surprised friends, he now completed his arrangements,\nand the results were entirely successful.  By his skill and his industry\nhe soon laid the foundations of a large fortune, at the same time that he\nrestored the business of an extensive district.  He himself continued,\nduring his life, to carry on his trade, aiding and encouraging all works\nof benevolence in his neighbourhood.  He founded and endowed a school at\nStourbridge; and his son Thomas (a great benefactor of Kidderminster),\nwho was High Sheriff of Worcestershire in the time of \u201cThe Rump,\u201d founded\nand endowed an hospital, still in existence, for the free education of\nchildren at Old Swinford.  All the early Foleys were Puritans.  Richard\nBaxter seems to have been on familiar and intimate terms with various\nmembers of the family, and makes frequent mention of them in his \u2018Life\nand Times.\u2019  Thomas Foley, when appointed high sheriff of the county,\nrequested Baxter to preach the customary sermon before him; and Baxter in\nhis \u2018Life\u2019 speaks of him as \u201cof so just and blameless dealing, that all\nmen he ever had to do with magnified his great integrity and honesty,\nwhich were questioned by none.\u201d  The family was ennobled in the reign of\nCharles the Second.\n\nWilliam Phipps, the founder of the Mulgrave or Normanby family, was a man\nquite as remarkable in his way as Richard Foley.  His father was a\ngunsmith\u2014a robust Englishman settled at Woolwich, in Maine, then forming\npart of our English colonies in America.  He was born in 1651, one of a\nfamily of not fewer than twenty-six children (of whom twenty-one were\nsons), whose only fortune lay in their stout hearts and strong arms.\nWilliam seems to have had a dash of the Danish-sea blood in his veins,\nand did not take kindly to the quiet life of a shepherd in which he spent\nhis early years.  By nature bold and adventurous, he longed to become a\nsailor and roam through the world.  He sought to join some ship; but not\nbeing able to find one, he apprenticed himself to a shipbuilder, with\nwhom he thoroughly learnt his trade, acquiring the arts of reading and\nwriting during his leisure hours.  Having completed his apprenticeship\nand removed to Boston, he wooed and married a widow of some means, after\nwhich he set up a little shipbuilding yard of his own, built a ship, and,\nputting to sea in her, he engaged in the lumber trade, which he carried\non in a plodding and laborious way for the space of about ten years.\n\nIt happened that one day, whilst passing through the crooked streets of\nold Boston, he overheard some sailors talking to each other of a wreck\nwhich had just taken place off the Bahamas; that of a Spanish ship,\nsupposed to have much money on board.  His adventurous spirit was at once\nkindled, and getting together a likely crew without loss of time, he set\nsail for the Bahamas.  The wreck being well in-shore, he easily found it,\nand succeeded in recovering a great deal of its cargo, but very little\nmoney; and the result was, that he barely defrayed his expenses.  His\nsuccess had been such, however, as to stimulate his enterprising spirit;\nand when he was told of another and far more richly laden vessel which\nhad been wrecked near Port de la Plata more than half a century before,\nhe forthwith formed the resolution of raising the wreck, or at all events\nof fishing up the treasure.\n\nBeing too poor, however, to undertake such an enterprise without powerful\nhelp, he set sail for England in the hope that he might there obtain it.\nThe fame of his success in raising the wreck off the Bahamas had already\npreceded him.  He applied direct to the Government.  By his urgent\nenthusiasm, he succeeded in overcoming the usual inertia of official\nminds; and Charles II. eventually placed at his disposal the \u201cRose\nAlgier,\u201d a ship of eighteen guns and ninety-five men, appointing him to\nthe chief command.\n\nPhipps then set sail to find the Spanish ship and fish up the treasure.\nHe reached the coast of Hispaniola in safety; but how to find the sunken\nship was the great difficulty.  The fact of the wreck was more than fifty\nyears old; and Phipps had only the traditionary rumours of the event to\nwork upon.  There was a wide coast to explore, and an outspread ocean\nwithout any trace whatever of the argosy which lay somewhere at its\nbottom.  But the man was stout in heart and full of hope.  He set his\nseamen to work to drag along the coast, and for weeks they went on\nfishing up sea-weed, shingle, and bits of rock.  No occupation could be\nmore trying to seamen, and they began to grumble one to another, and to\nwhisper that the man in command had brought them on a fool\u2019s errand.\n\nAt length the murmurers gained head, and the men broke into open mutiny.\nA body of them rushed one day on to the quarter-deck, and demanded that\nthe voyage should be relinquished.  Phipps, however, was not a man to be\nintimidated; he seized the ringleaders, and sent the others back to their\nduty.  It became necessary to bring the ship to anchor close to a small\nisland for the purpose of repairs; and, to lighten her, the chief part of\nthe stores was landed.  Discontent still increasing amongst the crew, a\nnew plot was laid amongst the men on shore to seize the ship, throw\nPhipps overboard, and start on a piratical cruize against the Spaniards\nin the South Seas.  But it was necessary to secure the services of the\nchief ship carpenter, who was consequently made privy to the pilot.  This\nman proved faithful, and at once told the captain of his danger.\nSummoning about him those whom he knew to be loyal, Phipps had the ship\u2019s\nguns loaded which commanded the shore, and ordered the bridge\ncommunicating with the vessel to be drawn up.  When the mutineers made\ntheir appearance, the captain hailed them, and told the men he would fire\nupon them if they approached the stores (still on land),\u2014when they drew\nback; on which Phipps had the stores reshipped under cover of his guns.\nThe mutineers, fearful of being left upon the barren island, threw down\ntheir arms and implored to be permitted to return to their duty.  The\nrequest was granted, and suitable precautions were taken against future\nmischief.  Phipps, however, took the first opportunity of landing the\nmutinous part of the crew, and engaging other men in their places; but,\nby the time that he could again proceed actively with his explorations,\nhe found it absolutely necessary to proceed to England for the purpose of\nrepairing the ship.  He had now, however, gained more precise information\nas to the spot where the Spanish treasure ship had sunk; and, though as\nyet baffled, he was more confident than ever of the eventual success of\nhis enterprise.\n\nReturned to London, Phipps reported the result of his voyage to the\nAdmiralty, who professed to be pleased with his exertions; but he had\nbeen unsuccessful, and they would not entrust him with another king\u2019s\nship.  James II. was now on the throne, and the Government was in\ntrouble; so Phipps and his golden project appealed to them in vain.  He\nnext tried to raise the requisite means by a public subscription.  At\nfirst he was laughed at; but his ceaseless importunity at length\nprevailed, and after four years\u2019 dinning of his project into the ears of\nthe great and influential\u2014during which time he lived in poverty\u2014he at\nlength succeeded.  A company was formed in twenty shares, the Duke of\nAlbermarle, son of General Monk, taking the chief interest in it, and\nsubscribing the principal part of the necessary fund for the prosecution\nof the enterprise.\n\nLike Foley, Phipps proved more fortunate in his second voyage than in his\nfirst.  The ship arrived without accident at Port de la Plata, in the\nneighbourhood of the reef of rocks supposed to have been the scene of the\nwreck.  His first object was to build a stout boat capable of carrying\neight or ten oars, in constructing which Phipps used the adze himself.\nIt is also said that he constructed a machine for the purpose of\nexploring the bottom of the sea similar to what is now known as the\nDiving Bell.  Such a machine was found referred to in books, but Phipps\nknew little of books, and may be said to have re-invented the apparatus\nfor his own use.  He also engaged Indian divers, whose feats of diving\nfor pearls, and in submarine operations, were very remarkable.  The\ntender and boat having been taken to the reef, the men were set to work,\nthe diving bell was sunk, and the various modes of dragging the bottom of\nthe sea were employed continuously for many weeks, but without any\nprospect of success.  Phipps, however, held on valiantly, hoping almost\nagainst hope.  At length, one day, a sailor, looking over the boat\u2019s side\ndown into the clear water, observed a curious sea-plant growing in what\nappeared to be a crevice of the rock; and he called upon an Indian diver\nto go down and fetch it for him.  On the red man coming up with the weed,\nhe reported that a number of ships guns were lying in the same place.\nThe intelligence was at first received with incredulity, but on further\ninvestigation it proved to be correct.  Search was made, and presently a\ndiver came up with a solid bar of silver in his arms.  When Phipps was\nshown it, he exclaimed, \u201cThanks be to God! we are all made men.\u201d  Diving\nbell and divers now went to work with a will, and in a few days, treasure\nwas brought up to the value of about \u00a3300,000, with which Phipps set sail\nfor England.  On his arrival, it was urged upon the king that he should\nseize the ship and its cargo, under the pretence that Phipps, when\nsoliciting his Majesty\u2019s permission, had not given accurate information\nrespecting the business.  But the king replied, that he knew Phipps to be\nan honest man, and that he and his friends should divide the whole\ntreasure amongst them, even though he had returned with double the value.\nPhipps\u2019s share was about \u00a320,000, and the king, to show his approval of\nhis energy and honesty in conducting the enterprise, conferred upon him\nthe honour of knighthood.  He was also made High Sheriff of New England;\nand during the time he held the office, he did valiant service for the\nmother country and the colonists against the French, by expeditions\nagainst Port Royal and Quebec.  He also held the post of Governor of\nMassachusetts, from which he returned to England, and died in London in\n1695.\n\nPhipps throughout the latter part of his career, was not ashamed to\nallude to the lowness of his origin, and it was matter of honest pride to\nhim that he had risen from the condition of common ship carpenter to the\nhonours of knighthood and the government of a province.  When perplexed\nwith public business, he would often declare that it would be easier for\nhim to go back to his broad axe again.  He left behind him a character\nfor probity, honesty, patriotism, and courage, which is certainly not the\nleast noble inheritance of the house of Normanby.\n\nWilliam Petty, the founder of the house of Lansdowne, was a man of like\nenergy and public usefulness in his day.  He was the son of a clothier in\nhumble circumstances, at Romsey, in Hampshire, where he was born in 1623.\nIn his boyhood he obtained a tolerable education at the grammar school of\nhis native town; after which he determined to improve himself by study at\nthe University of Caen, in Normandy.  Whilst there he contrived to\nsupport himself unassisted by his father, carrying on a sort of small\npedler\u2019s trade with \u201ca little stock of merchandise.\u201d  Returning to\nEngland, he had himself bound apprentice to a sea captain, who \u201cdrubbed\nhim with a rope\u2019s end\u201d for the badness of his sight.  He left the navy in\ndisgust, taking to the study of medicine.  When at Paris he engaged in\ndissection, during which time he also drew diagrams for Hobbes, who was\nthen writing his treatise on Optics.  He was reduced to such poverty that\nhe subsisted for two or three weeks entirely on walnuts.  But again he\nbegan to trade in a small way, turning an honest penny, and he was\nenabled shortly to return to England with money in his pocket.  Being of\nan ingenious mechanical turn, we find him taking out a patent for a\nletter-copying machine.  He began to write upon the arts and sciences,\nand practised chemistry and physic with such success that his reputation\nshortly became considerable.  Associating with men of science, the\nproject of forming a Society for its prosecution was discussed, and the\nfirst meetings of the infant Royal Society were held at his lodgings.  At\nOxford he acted for a time as deputy to the anatomical professor there,\nwho had a great repugnance to dissection.  In 1652 his industry was\nrewarded by the appointment of physician to the army in Ireland, whither\nhe went; and whilst there he was the medical attendant of three\nsuccessive lords-lieutenant, Lambert, Fleetwood, and Henry Cromwell.\nLarge grants of forfeited land having been awarded to the Puritan\nsoldiery, Petty observed that the lands were very inaccurately measured;\nand in the midst of his many avocations he undertook to do the work\nhimself.  His appointments became so numerous and lucrative that he was\ncharged by the envious with corruption, and removed from them all; but he\nwas again taken into favour at the Restoration.\n\nPetty was a most indefatigable contriver, inventor, and organizer of\nindustry.  One of his inventions was a double-bottomed ship, to sail\nagainst wind and tide.  He published treatises on dyeing, on naval\nphilosophy, on woollen cloth manufacture, on political arithmetic, and\nmany other subjects.  He founded iron works, opened lead mines, and\ncommenced a pilchard fishery and a timber trade; in the midst of which he\nfound time to take part in the discussions of the Royal Society, to which\nhe largely contributed.  He left an ample fortune to his sons, the eldest\nof whom was created Baron Shelburne.  His will was a curious document,\nsingularly illustrative of his character; containing a detail of the\nprincipal events of his life, and the gradual advancement of his fortune.\nHis sentiments on pauperism are characteristic: \u201cAs for legacies for the\npoor,\u201d said he, \u201cI am at a stand; as for beggars by trade and election, I\ngive them nothing; as for impotents by the hand of God, the public ought\nto maintain them; as for those who have been bred to no calling nor\nestate, they should be put upon their kindred;\u201d . . .  \u201cwherefore I am\ncontented that I have assisted all my poor relations, and put many into a\nway of getting their own bread; have laboured in public works; and by\ninventions have sought out real objects of charity; and I do hereby\nconjure all who partake of my estate, from time to time, to do the same\nat their peril.  Nevertheless to answer custom, and to take the surer\nside, I give 20_l._ to the most wanting of the parish wherein I die.\u201d  He\nwas interred in the fine old Norman church of Romsey\u2014the town wherein he\nwas born a poor man\u2019s son\u2014and on the south side of the choir is still to\nbe seen a plain slab, with the inscription, cut by an illiterate workman,\n\u201cHere Layes Sir William Petty.\u201d\n\nAnother family, ennobled by invention and trade in our own day, is that\nof Strutt of Belper.  Their patent of nobility was virtually secured by\nJedediah Strutt in 1758, when he invented his machine for making ribbed\nstockings, and thereby laid the foundations of a fortune which the\nsubsequent bearers of the name have largely increased and nobly employed.\nThe father of Jedediah was a farmer and malster, who did but little for\nthe education of his children; yet they all prospered.  Jedediah was the\nsecond son, and when a boy assisted his father in the work of the farm.\nAt an early age he exhibited a taste for mechanics, and introduced\nseveral improvements in the rude agricultural implements of the period.\nOn the death of his uncle he succeeded to a farm at Blackwall, near\nNormanton, long in the tenancy of the family, and shortly after he\nmarried Miss Wollatt, the daughter of a Derby hosier.  Having learned\nfrom his wife\u2019s brother that various unsuccessful attempts had been made\nto manufacture ribbed-stockings, he proceeded to study the subject with a\nview to effect what others had failed in accomplishing.  He accordingly\nobtained a stocking-frame, and after mastering its construction and mode\nof action, he proceeded to introduce new combinations, by means of which\nhe succeeded in effecting a variation in the plain looped-work of the\nframe, and was thereby enabled to turn out \u201cribbed\u201d hosiery.  Having\nsecured a patent for the improved machine, he removed to Derby, and there\nentered largely on the manufacture of ribbed-stockings, in which he was\nvery successful.  He afterwards joined Arkwright, of the merits of whose\ninvention he fully satisfied himself, and found the means of securing his\npatent, as well as erecting a large cotton-mill at Cranford, in\nDerbyshire.  After the expiry of the partnership with Arkwright, the\nStrutts erected extensive cotton-mills at Milford, near Belper, which\nworthily gives its title to the present head of the family.  The sons of\nthe founder were, like their father, distinguished for their mechanical\nability.  Thus William Strutt, the eldest, is said to have invented a\nself-acting mule, the success of which was only prevented by the\nmechanical skill of that day being unequal to its manufacture.  Edward,\nthe son of William, was a man of eminent mechanical genius, having early\ndiscovered the principle of suspension-wheels for carriages: he had a\nwheelbarrow and two carts made on the principle, which were used on his\nfarm near Belper.  It may be added that the Strutts have throughout been\ndistinguished for their noble employment of the wealth which their\nindustry and skill have brought them; that they have sought in all ways\nto improve the moral and social condition of the work-people in their\nemployment; and that they have been liberal donors in every good cause\u2014of\nwhich the presentation, by Mr. Joseph Strutt, of the beautiful park or\nArboretum at Derby, as a gift to the townspeople for ever, affords only\none of many illustrations.  The concluding words of the short address\nwhich he delivered on presenting this valuable gift are worthy of being\nquoted and remembered:\u2014\u201cAs the sun has shone brightly on me through life,\nit would be ungrateful in me not to employ a portion of the fortune I\npossess in promoting the welfare of those amongst whom I live, and by\nwhose industry I have been aided in its organisation.\u201d\n\nNo less industry and energy have been displayed by the many brave men,\nboth in present and past times, who have earned the peerage by their\nvalour on land and at sea.  Not to mention the older feudal lords, whose\ntenure depended upon military service, and who so often led the van of\nthe English armies in great national encounters, we may point to Nelson,\nSt. Vincent, and Lyons\u2014to Wellington, Hill, Hardinge, Clyde, and many\nmore in recent times, who have nobly earned their rank by their\ndistinguished services.  But plodding industry has far oftener worked its\nway to the peerage by the honourable pursuit of the legal profession,\nthan by any other.  No fewer than seventy British peerages, including two\ndukedoms, have been founded by successful lawyers.  Mansfield and Erskine\nwere, it is true, of noble family; but the latter used to thank God that\nout of his own family he did not know a lord. {216}  The others were, for\nthe most part, the sons of attorneys, grocers, clergymen, merchants, and\nhardworking members of the middle class.  Out of this profession have\nsprung the peerages of Howard and Cavendish, the first peers of both\nfamilies having been judges; those of Aylesford, Ellenborough, Guildford,\nShaftesbury, Hardwicke, Cardigan, Clarendon, Camden, Ellesmere, Rosslyn;\nand others nearer our own day, such as Tenterden, Eldon, Brougham,\nDenman, Truro, Lyndhurst, St. Leonards, Cranworth, Campbell, and\nChelmsford.\n\nLord Lyndhurst\u2019s father was a portrait painter, and that of St. Leonards\na perfumer and hairdresser in Burlington Street.  Young Edward Sugden was\noriginally an errand-boy in the office of the late Mr. Groom, of\nHenrietta Street, Cavendish Square, a certificated conveyancer; and it\nwas there that the future Lord Chancellor of Ireland obtained his first\nnotions of law.  The origin of the late Lord Tenterden was perhaps the\nhumblest of all, nor was he ashamed of it; for he felt that the industry,\nstudy, and application, by means of which he achieved his eminent\nposition, were entirely due to himself.  It is related of him, that on\none occasion he took his son Charles to a little shed, then standing\nopposite the western front of Canterbury Cathedral, and pointing it out\nto him, said, \u201cCharles, you see this little shop; I have brought you here\non purpose to show it you.  In that shop your grandfather used to shave\nfor a penny: that is the proudest reflection of my life.\u201d  When a boy,\nLord Tenterden was a singer in the Cathedral, and it is a curious\ncircumstance that his destination in life was changed by a\ndisappointment.  When he and Mr. Justice Richards were going the Home\nCircuit together, they went to service in the cathedral; and on Richards\ncommending the voice of a singing man in the choir, Lord Tenterden said,\n\u201cAh! that is the only man I ever envied!  When at school in this town, we\nwere candidates for a chorister\u2019s place, and he obtained it.\u201d\n\nNot less remarkable was the rise to the same distinguished office of Lord\nChief Justice, of the rugged Kenyon and the robust Ellenborough; nor was\nhe a less notable man who recently held the same office\u2014the astute Lord\nCampbell, late Lord Chancellor of England, son of a parish minister in\nFifeshire.  For many years he worked hard as a reporter for the press,\nwhile diligently preparing himself for the practice of his profession.\nIt is said of him, that at the beginning of his career, he was accustomed\nto walk from county town to county town when on circuit, being as yet too\npoor to afford the luxury of posting.  But step by step he rose slowly\nbut surely to that eminence and distinction which ever follow a career of\nindustry honourably and energetically pursued, in the legal, as in every\nother profession.\n\nThere have been other illustrious instances of Lords Chancellors who have\nplodded up the steep of fame and honour with equal energy and success.\nThe career of the late Lord Eldon is perhaps one of the most remarkable\nexamples.  He was the son of a Newcastle coal-fitter; a mischievous\nrather than a studious boy; a great scapegrace at school, and the subject\nof many terrible thrashings,\u2014for orchard-robbing was one of the favourite\nexploits of the future Lord Chancellor.  His father first thought of\nputting him apprentice to a grocer, and afterwards had almost made up his\nmind to bring him up to his own trade of a coal-fitter.  But by this time\nhis eldest son William (afterwards Lord Stowell) who had gained a\nscholarship at Oxford, wrote to his father, \u201cSend Jack up to me, I can do\nbetter for him.\u201d  John was sent up to Oxford accordingly, where, by his\nbrother\u2019s influence and his own application, he succeeded in obtaining a\nfellowship.  But when at home during the vacation, he was so\nunfortunate\u2014or rather so fortunate, as the issue proved\u2014as to fall in\nlove; and running across the Border with his eloped bride, he married,\nand as his friends thought, ruined himself for life.  He had neither\nhouse nor home when he married, and had not yet earned a penny.  He lost\nhis fellowship, and at the same time shut himself out from preferment in\nthe Church, for which he had been destined.  He accordingly turned his\nattention to the study of the law.  To a friend he wrote, \u201cI have married\nrashly; but it is my determination to work hard to provide for the woman\nI love.\u201d\n\nJohn Scott came up to London, and took a small house in Cursitor Lane,\nwhere he settled down to the study of the law.  He worked with great\ndiligence and resolution; rising at four every morning and studying till\nlate at night, binding a wet towel round his head to keep himself awake.\nToo poor to study under a special pleader, he copied out three folio\nvolumes from a manuscript collection of precedents.  Long after, when\nLord Chancellor, passing down Cursitor Lane one day, he said to his\nsecretary, \u201cHere was my first perch: many a time do I recollect coming\ndown this street with sixpence in my hand to buy sprats for supper.\u201d\nWhen at length called to the bar, he waited long for employment.  His\nfirst year\u2019s earnings amounted to only nine shillings.  For four years he\nassiduously attended the London Courts and the Northern Circuit, with\nlittle better success.  Even in his native town, he seldom had other than\npauper cases to defend.  The results were indeed so discouraging, that he\nhad almost determined to relinquish his chance of London business, and\nsettle down in some provincial town as a country barrister.  His brother\nWilliam wrote home, \u201cBusiness is dull with poor Jack, very dull indeed!\u201d\nBut as he had escaped being a grocer, a coal-fitter, and a country parson\nso did he also escape being a country lawyer.\n\nAn opportunity at length occurred which enabled John Scott to exhibit the\nlarge legal knowledge which he had so laboriously acquired.  In a case in\nwhich he was engaged, he urged a legal point against the wishes both of\nthe attorney and client who employed him.  The Master of the Rolls\ndecided against him, but on an appeal to the House of Lords, Lord Thurlow\nreversed the decision on the very point that Scott had urged.  On leaving\nthe House that day, a solicitor tapped him on the shoulder and said,\n\u201cYoung man, your bread and butter\u2019s cut for life.\u201d  And the prophecy\nproved a true one.  Lord Mansfield used to say that he knew no interval\nbetween no business and 3000_l._ a-year, and Scott might have told the\nsame story; for so rapid was his progress, that in 1783, when only\nthirty-two, he was appointed King\u2019s Counsel, was at the head of the\nNorthern Circuit, and sat in Parliament for the borough of Weobley.  It\nwas in the dull but unflinching drudgery of the early part of his career\nthat he laid the foundation of his future success.  He won his spurs by\nperseverance, knowledge, and ability, diligently cultivated.  He was\nsuccessively appointed to the offices of solicitor and attorney-general,\nand rose steadily upwards to the highest office that the Crown had to\nbestow\u2014that of Lord Chancellor of England, which he held for a quarter of\na century.\n\nHenry Bickersteth was the son of a surgeon at Kirkby Lonsdale, in\nWestmoreland, and was himself educated to that profession.  As a student\nat Edinburgh, he distinguished himself by the steadiness with which he\nworked, and the application which he devoted to the science of medicine.\nReturned to Kirkby Lonsdale, he took an active part in his father\u2019s\npractice; but he had no liking for the profession, and grew discontented\nwith the obscurity of a country town.  He went on, nevertheless,\ndiligently improving himself, and engaged on speculations in the higher\nbranches of physiology.  In conformity with his own wish, his father\nconsented to send him to Cambridge, where it was his intention to take a\nmedical degree with the view of practising in the metropolis.  Close\napplication to his studies, however, threw him out of health, and with a\nview to re-establishing his strength he accepted the appointment of\ntravelling physician to Lord Oxford.  While abroad he mastered Italian,\nand acquired a great admiration for Italian literature, but no greater\nliking for medicine than before.  On the contrary, he determined to\nabandon it; but returning to Cambridge, he took his degree; and that he\nworked hard may be inferred from the fact that he was senior wrangler of\nhis year.  Disappointed in his desire to enter the army, he turned to the\nbar, and entered a student of the Inner Temple.  He worked as hard at law\nas he had done at medicine.  Writing to his father, he said, \u201cEverybody\nsays to me, \u2018You are certain of success in the end\u2014only persevere;\u2019 and\nthough I don\u2019t well understand how this is to happen, I try to believe it\nas much as I can, and I shall not fail to do everything in my power.\u201d  At\ntwenty-eight he was called to the bar, and had every step in life yet to\nmake.  His means were straitened, and he lived upon the contributions of\nhis friends.  For years he studied and waited.  Still no business came.\nHe stinted himself in recreation, in clothes, and even in the necessaries\nof life; struggling on indefatigably through all.  Writing home, he\n\u201cconfessed that he hardly knew how he should be able to struggle on till\nhe had fair time and opportunity to establish himself.\u201d  After three\nyears\u2019 waiting, still without success, he wrote to his friends that\nrather than be a burden upon them longer, he was willing to give the\nmatter up and return to Cambridge, \u201cwhere he was sure of support and some\nprofit.\u201d  The friends at home sent him another small remittance, and he\npersevered.  Business gradually came in.  Acquitting himself creditably\nin small matters, he was at length entrusted with cases of greater\nimportance.  He was a man who never missed an opportunity, nor allowed a\nlegitimate chance of improvement to escape him.  His unflinching industry\nsoon began to tell upon his fortunes; a few more years and he was not\nonly enabled to do without assistance from home, but he was in a position\nto pay back with interest the debts which he had incurred.  The clouds\nhad dispersed, and the after career of Henry Bickersteth was one of\nhonour, of emolument, and of distinguished fame.  He ended his career as\nMaster of the Rolls, sitting in the House of Peers as Baron Langdale.\nHis life affords only another illustration of the power of patience,\nperseverance, and conscientious working, in elevating the character of\nthe individual, and crowning his labours with the most complete success.\n\nSuch are a few of the distinguished men who have honourably worked their\nway to the highest position, and won the richest rewards of their\nprofession, by the diligent exercise of qualities in many respects of an\nordinary character, but made potent by the force of application and\nindustry.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\nENERGY AND COURAGE.\n\n\n    \u201cA c\u0153ur vaillant rien d\u2019impossible.\u201d\u2014_Jacques C\u0153ur_.\n\n    \u201cDen Muthigen geh\u00f6rt die Welt.\u201d\u2014_German Proverb_.\n\n    \u201cIn every work that he began . . . he did it with all his heart, and\n    prospered.\u201d\u2014_II. Chron._ xxxi. 21.\n\nTHERE is a famous speech recorded of an old Norseman, thoroughly\ncharacteristic of the Teuton.  \u201cI believe neither in idols nor demons,\u201d\nsaid he, \u201cI put my sole trust in my own strength of body and soul.\u201d  The\nancient crest of a pickaxe with the motto of \u201cEither I will find a way or\nmake one,\u201d was an expression of the same sturdy independence which to\nthis day distinguishes the descendants of the Northmen.  Indeed nothing\ncould be more characteristic of the Scandinavian mythology, than that it\nhad a god with a hammer.  A man\u2019s character is seen in small matters; and\nfrom even so slight a test as the mode in which a man wields a hammer,\nhis energy may in some measure be inferred.  Thus an eminent Frenchman\nhit off in a single phrase the characteristic quality of the inhabitants\nof a particular district, in which a friend of his proposed to settle and\nbuy land.  \u201cBeware,\u201d said he, \u201cof making a purchase there; I know the men\nof that department; the pupils who come from it to our veterinary school\nat Paris _do nor strike hard upon the anvil_; they want energy; and you\nwill not get a satisfactory return on any capital you may invest there.\u201d\nA fine and just appreciation of character, indicating the thoughtful\nobserver; and strikingly illustrative of the fact that it is the energy\nof the individual men that gives strength to a State, and confers a value\neven upon the very soil which they cultivate.  As the French proverb has\nit: \u201cTant vaut l\u2019homme, tant vaut sa terre.\u201d\n\nThe cultivation of this quality is of the greatest importance; resolute\ndetermination in the pursuit of worthy objects being the foundation of\nall true greatness of character.  Energy enables a man to force his way\nthrough irksome drudgery and dry details, and carries him onward and\nupward in every station in life.  It accomplishes more than genius, with\nnot one-half the disappointment and peril.  It is not eminent talent that\nis required to ensure success in any pursuit, so much as purpose,\u2014not\nmerely the power to achieve, but the will to labour energetically and\nperseveringly.  Hence energy of will may be defined to be the very\ncentral power of character in a man\u2014in a word, it is the Man himself.  It\ngives impulse to his every action, and soul to every effort.  True hope\nis based on it,\u2014and it is hope that gives the real perfume to life.\nThere is a fine heraldic motto on a broken helmet in Battle Abbey,\n\u201cL\u2019espoir est ma force,\u201d which might be the motto of every man\u2019s life.\n\u201cWoe unto him that is fainthearted,\u201d says the son of Sirach.  There is,\nindeed, no blessing equal to the possession of a stout heart.  Even if a\nman fail in his efforts, it will be a satisfaction to him to enjoy the\nconsciousness of having done his best.  In humble life nothing can be\nmore cheering and beautiful than to see a man combating suffering by\npatience, triumphing in his integrity, and who, when his feet are\nbleeding and his limbs failing him, still walks upon his courage.\n\nMere wishes and desires but engender a sort of green sickness in young\nminds, unless they are promptly embodied in act and deed.  It will not\navail merely to wait as so many do, \u201cuntil Blucher comes up,\u201d but they\nmust struggle on and persevere in the mean time, as Wellington did.  The\ngood purpose once formed must be carried out with alacrity and without\nswerving.  In most conditions of life, drudgery and toil are to be\ncheerfully endured as the best and most wholesome discipline.  \u201cIn life,\u201d\nsaid Ary Scheffer, \u201cnothing bears fruit except by labour of mind or body.\nTo strive and still strive\u2014such is life; and in this respect mine is\nfulfilled; but I dare to say, with just pride, that nothing has ever\nshaken my courage.  With a strong soul, and a noble aim, one can do what\none wills, morally speaking.\u201d\n\nHugh Miller said the only school in which he was properly taught was\n\u201cthat world-wide school in which toil and hardship are the severe but\nnoble teachers.\u201d  He who allows his application to falter, or shirks his\nwork on frivolous pretexts, is on the sure road to ultimate failure.  Let\nany task be undertaken as a thing not possible to be evaded, and it will\nsoon come to be performed with alacrity and cheerfulness.  Charles IX. of\nSweden was a firm believer in the power of will, even in youth.  Laying\nhis hand on the head of his youngest son when engaged on a difficult\ntask, he exclaimed, \u201cHe _shall_ do it! he _shall_ do it!\u201d  The habit of\napplication becomes easy in time, like every other habit.  Thus persons\nwith comparatively moderate powers will accomplish much, if they apply\nthemselves wholly and indefatigably to one thing at a time.  Fowell\nBuxton placed his confidence in ordinary means and extraordinary\napplication; realizing the scriptural injunction, \u201cWhatsoever thy hand\nfindeth to do, do it with all thy might;\u201d and he attributed his own\nsuccess in life to his practice of \u201cbeing a whole man to one thing at a\ntime.\u201d\n\nNothing that is of real worth can be achieved without courageous working.\nMan owes his growth chiefly to that active striving of the will, that\nencounter with difficulty, which we call effort; and it is astonishing to\nfind how often results apparently impracticable are thus made possible.\nAn intense anticipation itself transforms possibility into reality; our\ndesires being often but the precursors of the things which we are capable\nof performing.  On the contrary, the timid and hesitating find everything\nimpossible, chiefly because it seems so.  It is related of a young French\nofficer, that he used to walk about his apartment exclaiming, \u201cI _will_\nbe Marshal of France and a great general.\u201d  His ardent desire was the\npresentiment of his success; for the young officer did become a\ndistinguished commander, and he died a Marshal of France.\n\nMr. Walker, author of the \u2018Original,\u2019 had so great a faith in the power\nof will, that he says on one occasion he _determined_ to be well, and he\nwas so.  This may answer once; but, though safer to follow than many\nprescriptions, it will not always succeed.  The power of mind over body\nis no doubt great, but it may be strained until the physical power breaks\ndown altogether.  It is related of Muley Moluc, the Moorish leader, that,\nwhen lying ill, almost worn out by an incurable disease, a battle took\nplace between his troops and the Portuguese; when, starting from his\nlitter at the great crisis of the fight, he rallied his army, led them to\nvictory, and instantly afterwards sank exhausted and expired.\n\nIt is will,\u2014force of purpose,\u2014that enables a man to do or be whatever he\nsets his mind on being or doing.  A holy man was accustomed to say,\n\u201cWhatever you wish, that you are: for such is the force of our will,\njoined to the Divine, that whatever we wish to be, seriously, and with a\ntrue intention, that we become.  No one ardently wishes to be submissive,\npatient, modest, or liberal, who does not become what he wishes.\u201d  The\nstory is told of a working carpenter, who was observed one day planing a\nmagistrate\u2019s bench which he was repairing, with more than usual\ncarefulness; and when asked the reason, he replied, \u201cBecause I wish to\nmake it easy against the time when I come to sit upon it myself.\u201d  And\nsingularly enough, the man actually lived to sit upon that very bench as\na magistrate.\n\nWhatever theoretical conclusions logicians may have formed as to the\nfreedom of the will, each individual feels that practically he is free to\nchoose between good and evil\u2014that he is not as a mere straw thrown upon\nthe water to mark the direction of the current, but that he has within\nhim the power of a strong swimmer, and is capable of striking out for\nhimself, of buffeting with the waves, and directing to a great extent his\nown independent course.  There is no absolute constraint upon our\nvolitions, and we feel and know that we are not bound, as by a spell,\nwith reference to our actions.  It would paralyze all desire of\nexcellence were we to think otherwise.  The entire business and conduct\nof life, with its domestic rules, its social arrangements, and its public\ninstitutions, proceed upon the practical conviction that the will is\nfree.  Without this where would be responsibility?\u2014and what the advantage\nof teaching, advising, preaching, reproof, and correction?  What were the\nuse of laws, were it not the universal belief, as it is the universal\nfact, that men obey them or not, very much as they individually\ndetermine?  In every moment of our life, conscience is proclaiming that\nour will is free.  It is the only thing that is wholly ours, and it rests\nsolely with ourselves individually, whether we give it the right or the\nwrong direction.  Our habits or our temptations are not our masters, but\nwe of them.  Even in yielding, conscience tells us we might resist; and\nthat were we determined to master them, there would not be required for\nthat purpose a stronger resolution than we know ourselves to be capable\nof exercising.\n\n\u201cYou are now at the age,\u201d said Lamennais once, addressing a gay youth,\n\u201cat which a decision must be formed by you; a little later, and you may\nhave to groan within the tomb which you yourself have dug, without the\npower of rolling away the stone.  That which the easiest becomes a habit\nin us is the will.  Learn then to will strongly and decisively; thus fix\nyour floating life, and leave it no longer to be carried hither and\nthither, like a withered leaf, by every wind that blows.\u201d\n\nBuxton held the conviction that a young man might be very much what he\npleased, provided he formed a strong resolution and held to it.  Writing\nto one of his sons, he said to him, \u201cYou are now at that period of life,\nin which you must make a turn to the right or the left.  You must now\ngive proofs of principle, determination, and strength of mind; or you\nmust sink into idleness, and acquire the habits and character of a\ndesultory, ineffective young man; and if once you fall to that point, you\nwill find it no easy matter to rise again.  I am sure that a young man\nmay be very much what he pleases.  In my own case it was so. . . . Much\nof my happiness, and all my prosperity in life, have resulted from the\nchange I made at your age.  If you seriously resolve to be energetic and\nindustrious, depend upon it that you will for your whole life have reason\nto rejoice that you were wise enough to form and to act upon that\ndetermination.\u201d  As will, considered without regard to direction, is\nsimply constancy, firmness, perseverance, it will be obvious that\neverything depends upon right direction and motives.  Directed towards\nthe enjoyment of the senses, the strong will may be a demon, and the\nintellect merely its debased slave; but directed towards good, the strong\nwill is a king, and the intellect the minister of man\u2019s highest\nwell-being.\n\n\u201cWhere there is a will there is a way,\u201d is an old and true saying.  He\nwho resolves upon doing a thing, by that very resolution often scales the\nbarriers to it, and secures its achievement.  To think we are able, is\nalmost to be so\u2014to determine upon attainment is frequently attainment\nitself.  Thus, earnest resolution has often seemed to have about it\nalmost a savour of omnipotence.  The strength of Suwarrow\u2019s character lay\nin his power of willing, and, like most resolute persons, he preached it\nup as a system.  \u201cYou can only half will,\u201d he would say to people who\nfailed.  Like Richelieu and Napoleon, he would have the word \u201cimpossible\u201d\nbanished from the dictionary.  \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d \u201cI can\u2019t,\u201d and\n\u201cimpossible,\u201d were words which he detested above all others.  \u201cLearn!\nDo!  Try!\u201d he would exclaim.  His biographer has said of him, that he\nfurnished a remarkable illustration of what may be effected by the\nenergetic development and exercise of faculties, the germs of which at\nleast are in every human heart.\n\nOne of Napoleon\u2019s favourite maxims was, \u201cThe truest wisdom is a resolute\ndetermination.\u201d  His life, beyond most others, vividly showed what a\npowerful and unscrupulous will could accomplish.  He threw his whole\nforce of body and mind direct upon his work.  Imbecile rulers and the\nnations they governed went down before him in succession.  He was told\nthat the Alps stood in the way of his armies\u2014\u201cThere shall be no Alps,\u201d he\nsaid, and the road across the Simplon was constructed, through a district\nformerly almost inaccessible.  \u201cImpossible,\u201d said he, \u201cis a word only to\nbe found in the dictionary of fools.\u201d  He was a man who toiled terribly;\nsometimes employing and exhausting four secretaries at a time.  He spared\nno one, not even himself.  His influence inspired other men, and put a\nnew life into them.  \u201cI made my generals out of mud,\u201d he said.  But all\nwas of no avail; for Napoleon\u2019s intense selfishness was his ruin, and the\nruin of France, which he left a prey to anarchy.  His life taught the\nlesson that power, however energetically wielded, without beneficence, is\nfatal to its possessor and its subjects; and that knowledge, or\nknowingness, without goodness, is but the incarnate principle of Evil.\n\nOur own Wellington was a far greater man.  Not less resolute, firm, and\npersistent, but more self-denying, conscientious, and truly patriotic.\nNapoleon\u2019s aim was \u201cGlory;\u201d Wellington\u2019s watchword, like Nelson\u2019s, was\n\u201cDuty.\u201d  The former word, it is said, does not once occur in his\ndespatches; the latter often, but never accompanied by any high-sounding\nprofessions.  The greatest difficulties could neither embarrass nor\nintimidate Wellington; his energy invariably rising in proportion to the\nobstacles to be surmounted.  The patience, the firmness, the resolution,\nwith which he bore through the maddening vexations and gigantic\ndifficulties of the Peninsular campaigns, is, perhaps, one of the\nsublimest things to be found in history.  In Spain, Wellington not only\nexhibited the genius of the general, but the comprehensive wisdom of the\nstatesman.  Though his natural temper was irritable in the extreme, his\nhigh sense of duty enabled him to restrain it; and to those about him his\npatience seemed absolutely inexhaustible.  His great character stands\nuntarnished by ambition, by avarice, or any low passion.  Though a man of\npowerful individuality, he yet displayed a great variety of endowment.\nThe equal of Napoleon in generalship, he was as prompt, vigorous, and\ndaring as Clive; as wise a statesman as Cromwell; and as pure and\nhigh-minded as Washington.  The great Wellington left behind him an\nenduring reputation, founded on toilsome campaigns won by skilful\ncombination, by fortitude which nothing could exhaust, by sublime daring,\nand perhaps by still sublimer patience.\n\nEnergy usually displays itself in promptitude and decision.  When Ledyard\nthe traveller was asked by the African Association when he would be ready\nto set out for Africa, he immediately answered, \u201cTo-morrow morning.\u201d\nBlucher\u2019s promptitude obtained for him the cognomen of \u201cMarshal Forwards\u201d\nthroughout the Prussian army.  When John Jervis, afterwards Earl St.\nVincent, was asked when he would be ready to join his ship, he replied,\n\u201cDirectly.\u201d  And when Sir Colin Campbell, appointed to the command of the\nIndian army, was asked when he could set out, his answer was,\n\u201cTo-morrow,\u201d\u2014an earnest of his subsequent success.  For it is rapid\ndecision, and a similar promptitude in action, such as taking instant\nadvantage of an enemy\u2019s mistakes, that so often wins battles.  \u201cAt\nArcola,\u201d said Napoleon, \u201cI won the battle with twenty-five horsemen.  I\nseized a moment of lassitude, gave every man a trumpet, and gained the\nday with this handful.  Two armies are two bodies which meet and\nendeavour to frighten each other: a moment of panic occurs, and _that\nmoment_ must be turned to advantage.\u201d  \u201cEvery moment lost,\u201d said he at\nanother time, \u201cgives an opportunity for misfortune;\u201d and he declared that\nhe beat the Austrians because they never knew the value of time: while\nthey dawdled, he overthrew them.\n\nIndia has, during the last century, been a great field for the display of\nBritish energy.  From Clive to Havelock and Clyde there is a long and\nhonourable roll of distinguished names in Indian legislation and\nwarfare,\u2014such as Wellesley, Metcalfe, Outram, Edwardes, and the\nLawrences.  Another great but sullied name is that of Warren Hastings\u2014a\nman of dauntless will and indefatigable industry.  His family was ancient\nand illustrious; but their vicissitudes of fortune and ill-requited\nloyalty in the cause of the Stuarts, brought them to poverty, and the\nfamily estate at Daylesford, of which they had been lords of the manor\nfor hundreds of years, at length passed from their hands.  The last\nHastings of Daylesford had, however, presented the parish living to his\nsecond son; and it was in his house, many years later, that Warren\nHastings, his grandson, was born.  The boy learnt his letters at the\nvillage school, on the same bench with the children of the peasantry.  He\nplayed in the fields which his fathers had owned; and what the loyal and\nbrave Hastings of Daylesford _had_ been, was ever in the boy\u2019s thoughts.\nHis young ambition was fired, and it is said that one summer\u2019s day, when\nonly seven years old, as he laid him down on the bank of the stream which\nflowed through the domain, he formed in his mind the resolution that he\nwould yet recover possession of the family lands.  It was the romantic\nvision of a boy; yet he lived to realize it.  The dream became a passion,\nrooted in his very life; and he pursued his determination through youth\nup to manhood, with that calm but indomitable force of will which was the\nmost striking peculiarity of his character.  The orphan boy became one of\nthe most powerful men of his time; he retrieved the fortunes of his line;\nbought back the old estate, and rebuilt the family mansion.  \u201cWhen, under\na tropical sun,\u201d says Macaulay, \u201che ruled fifty millions of Asiatics, his\nhopes, amidst all the cares of war, finance, and legislation, still\npointed to Daylesford.  And when his long public life, so singularly\nchequered with good and evil, with glory and obloquy, had at length\nclosed for ever, it was to Daylesford that he retired to die.\u201d\n\nSir Charles Napier was another Indian leader of extraordinary courage and\ndetermination.  He once said of the difficulties with which he was\nsurrounded in one of his campaigns, \u201cThey only make my feet go deeper\ninto the ground.\u201d  His battle of Meeanee was one of the most\nextraordinary feats in history.  With 2000 men, of whom only 400 were\nEuropeans, he encountered an army of 35,000 hardy and well-armed\nBeloochees.  It was an act, apparently, of the most daring temerity, but\nthe general had faith in himself and in his men.  He charged the Belooch\ncentre up a high bank which formed their rampart in front, and for three\nmortal hours the battle raged.  Each man of that small force, inspired by\nthe chief, became for the time a hero.  The Beloochees, though twenty to\none, were driven back, but with their faces to the foe.  It is this sort\nof pluck, tenacity, and determined perseverance which wins soldiers\u2019\nbattles, and, indeed, every battle.  It is the one neck nearer that wins\nthe race and shows the blood; it is the one march more that wins the\ncampaign; the five minutes\u2019 more persistent courage that wins the fight.\nThough your force be less than another\u2019s, you equal and outmaster your\nopponent if you continue it longer and concentrate it more.  The reply of\nthe Spartan father, who said to his son, when complaining that his sword\nwas too short, \u201cAdd a step to it,\u201d is applicable to everything in life.\n\nNapier took the right method of inspiring his men with his own heroic\nspirit.  He worked as hard as any private in the ranks.  \u201cThe great art\nof commanding,\u201d he said, \u201cis to take a fair share of the work.  The man\nwho leads an army cannot succeed unless his whole mind is thrown into his\nwork.  The more trouble, the more labour must be given; the more danger,\nthe more pluck must be shown, till all is overpowered.\u201d  A young officer\nwho accompanied him in his campaign in the Cutchee Hills, once said,\n\u201cWhen I see that old man incessantly on his horse, how can I be idle who\nam young and strong?  I would go into a loaded cannon\u2019s mouth if he\nordered me.\u201d  This remark, when repeated to Napier, he said was ample\nreward for his toils.  The anecdote of his interview with the Indian\njuggler strikingly illustrates his cool courage as well as his remarkable\nsimplicity and honesty of character.  On one occasion, after the Indian\nbattles, a famous juggler visited the camp and performed his feats before\nthe General, his family, and staff.  Among other performances, this man\ncut in two with a stroke of his sword a lime or lemon placed in the hand\nof his assistant.  Napier thought there was some collusion between the\njuggler and his retainer.  To divide by a sweep of the sword on a man\u2019s\nhand so small an object without touching the flesh he believed to be\nimpossible, though a similar incident is related by Scott in his romance\nof the \u2018Talisman.\u2019  To determine the point, the General offered his own\nhand for the experiment, and he stretched out his right arm.  The juggler\nlooked attentively at the hand, and said he would not make the trial.  \u201cI\nthought I would find you out!\u201d exclaimed Napier.  \u201cBut stop,\u201d added the\nother, \u201clet me see your left hand.\u201d  The left hand was submitted, and the\nman then said firmly, \u201cIf you will hold your arm steady I will perform\nthe feat.\u201d  \u201cBut why the left hand and not the right?\u201d  \u201cBecause the\nright hand is hollow in the centre, and there is a risk of cutting off\nthe thumb; the left is high, and the danger will be less.\u201d  Napier was\nstartled.  \u201cI got frightened,\u201d he said; \u201cI saw it was an actual feat of\ndelicate swordsmanship, and if I had not abused the man as I did before\nmy staff, and challenged him to the trial, I honestly acknowledge I would\nhave retired from the encounter.  However, I put the lime on my hand, and\nheld out my arm steadily.  The juggler balanced himself, and, with a\nswift stroke cut the lime in two pieces.  I felt the edge of the sword on\nmy hand as if a cold thread had been drawn across it.  So much (he added)\nfor the brave swordsmen of India, whom our fine fellows defeated at\nMeeanee.\u201d\n\nThe recent terrible struggle in India has served to bring out, perhaps\nmore prominently than any previous event in our history, the determined\nenergy and self-reliance of the national character.  Although English\nofficialism may often drift stupidly into gigantic blunders, the men of\nthe nation generally contrive to work their way out of them with a\nheroism almost approaching the sublime.  In May, 1857, when the revolt\nburst upon India like a thunder-clap, the British forces had been allowed\nto dwindle to their extreme minimum, and were scattered over a wide\nextent of country, many of them in remote cantonments.  The Bengal\nregiments, one after another, rose against their officers, broke away,\nand rushed to Delhi.  Province after province was lapped in mutiny and\nrebellion; and the cry for help rose from east to west.  Everywhere the\nEnglish stood at bay in small detachments, beleaguered and surrounded,\napparently incapable of resistance.  Their discomfiture seemed so\ncomplete, and the utter ruin of the British cause in India so certain,\nthat it might be said of them then, as it had been said before, \u201cThese\nEnglish never know when they are beaten.\u201d  According to rule, they ought\nthen and there to have succumbed to inevitable fate.\n\nWhile the issue of the mutiny still appeared uncertain, Holkar, one of\nthe native princes, consulted his astrologer for information.  The reply\nwas, \u201cIf all the Europeans save one are slain, that one will remain to\nfight and reconquer.\u201d  In their very darkest moment\u2014even where, as at\nLucknow, a mere handful of British soldiers, civilians, and women, held\nout amidst a city and province in arms against them\u2014there was no word of\ndespair, no thought of surrender.  Though cut off from all communication\nwith their friends for months, and not knowing whether India was lost or\nheld, they never ceased to have perfect faith in the courage and\ndevotedness of their countrymen.  They knew that while a body of men of\nEnglish race held together in India, they would not be left unheeded to\nperish.  They never dreamt of any other issue but retrieval of their\nmisfortune and ultimate triumph; and if the worst came to the worst, they\ncould but fall at their post, and die in the performance of their duty.\nNeed we remind the reader of the names of Havelock, Inglis, Neill, and\nOutram\u2014men of truly heroic mould\u2014of each of whom it might with truth be\nsaid that he had the heart of a chevalier, the soul of a believer, and\nthe temperament of a martyr.  Montalembert has said of them that \u201cthey do\nhonour to the human race.\u201d  But throughout that terrible trial almost all\nproved equally great\u2014women, civilians and soldiers\u2014from the general down\nthrough all grades to the private and bugleman.  The men were not picked:\nthey belonged to the same ordinary people whom we daily meet at home\u2014in\nthe streets, in workshops, in the fields, at clubs; yet when sudden\ndisaster fell upon them, each and all displayed a wealth of personal\nresources and energy, and became as it were individually heroic.  \u201cNot\none of them,\u201d says Montalembert, \u201cshrank or trembled\u2014all, military and\ncivilians, young and old, generals and soldiers, resisted, fought, and\nperished with a coolness and intrepidity which never faltered.  It is in\nthis circumstance that shines out the immense value of public education,\nwhich invites the Englishman from his youth to make use of his strength\nand his liberty, to associate, resist, fear nothing, to be astonished at\nnothing, and to save himself, by his own sole exertions, from every sore\nstrait in life.\u201d\n\nIt has been said that Delhi was taken and India saved by the personal\ncharacter of Sir John Lawrence.  The very name of \u201cLawrence\u201d represented\npower in the North-West Provinces.  His standard of duty, zeal, and\npersonal effort, was of the highest; and every man who served under him\nseemed to be inspired by his spirit.  It was declared of him that his\ncharacter alone was worth an army.  The same might be said of his brother\nSir Henry, who organised the Punjaub force that took so prominent a part\nin the capture of Delhi.  Both brothers inspired those who were about\nthem with perfect love and confidence.  Both possessed that quality of\ntenderness, which is one of the true elements of the heroic character.\nBoth lived amongst the people, and powerfully influenced them for good.\nAbove all as Col. Edwardes says, \u201cthey drew models on young fellows\u2019\nminds, which they went forth and copied in their several administrations:\nthey sketched a _faith_, and begot a _school_, which are both living\nthings at this day.\u201d  Sir John Lawrence had by his side such men as\nMontgomery, Nicholson, Cotton, and Edwardes, as prompt, decisive, and\nhigh-souled as himself.  John Nicholson was one of the finest, manliest,\nand noblest of men\u2014\u201cevery inch a hakim,\u201d the natives said of him\u2014\u201ca tower\nof strength,\u201d as he was characterised by Lord Dalhousie.  In whatever\ncapacity he acted he was great, because he acted with his whole strength\nand soul.  A brotherhood of fakeers\u2014borne away by their enthusiastic\nadmiration of the man\u2014even began the worship of Nikkil Seyn: he had some\nof them punished for their folly, but they continued their worship\nnevertheless.  Of his sustained energy and persistency an illustration\nmay be cited in his pursuit of the 55th Sepoy mutineers, when he was in\nthe saddle for twenty consecutive hours, and travelled more than seventy\nmiles.  When the enemy set up their standard at Delhi, Lawrence and\nMontgomery, relying on the support of the people of the Punjaub, and\ncompelling their admiration and confidence, strained every nerve to keep\ntheir own province in perfect order, whilst they hurled every available\nsoldier, European and Sikh, against that city.  Sir John wrote to the\ncommander-in-chief to \u201chang on to the rebels\u2019 noses before Delhi,\u201d while\nthe troops pressed on by forced marches under Nicholson, \u201cthe tramp of\nwhose war-horse might be heard miles off,\u201d as was afterwards said of him\nby a rough Sikh who wept over his grave.\n\nThe siege and storming of Delhi was the most illustrious event which\noccurred in the course of that gigantic struggle, although the leaguer of\nLucknow, during which the merest skeleton of a British regiment\u2014the\n32nd\u2014held out, under the heroic Inglis, for six months against two\nhundred thousand armed enemies, has perhaps excited more intense\ninterest.  At Delhi, too, the British were really the besieged, though\nostensibly the besiegers; they were a mere handful of men \u201cin the\nopen\u201d\u2014not more than 3,700 bayonets, European and native\u2014and they were\nassailed from day to day by an army of rebels numbering at one time as\nmany as 75,000 men, trained to European discipline by English officers,\nand supplied with all but exhaustless munitions of war.  The heroic\nlittle band sat down before the city under the burning rays of a tropical\nsun.  Death, wounds, and fever failed to turn them from their purpose.\nThirty times they were attacked by overwhelming numbers, and thirty times\ndid they drive back the enemy behind their defences.  As Captain\nHodson\u2014himself one of the bravest there\u2014has said, \u201cI venture to aver that\nno other nation in the world would have remained here, or avoided defeat\nif they had attempted to do so.\u201d  Never for an instant did these heroes\nfalter at their work; with sublime endurance they held on, fought on, and\nnever relaxed until, dashing through the \u201cimminent deadly breach,\u201d the\nplace was won, and the British flag was again unfurled on the walls of\nDelhi.  All were great\u2014privates, officers, and generals.  Common soldiers\nwho had been inured to a life of hardship, and young officers who had\nbeen nursed in luxurious homes, alike proved their manhood, and emerged\nfrom that terrible trial with equal honour.  The native strength and\nsoundness of the English race, and of manly English training and\ndiscipline, were never more powerfully exhibited; and it was there\nemphatically proved that the Men of England are, after all, its greatest\nproducts.  A terrible price was paid for this great chapter in our\nhistory, but if those who survive, and those who come after, profit by\nthe lesson and example, it may not have been purchased at too great a\ncost.\n\nBut not less energy and courage have been displayed in India and the East\nby men of various nations, in other lines of action more peaceful and\nbeneficent than that of war.  And while the heroes of the sword are\nremembered, the heroes of the gospel ought not to be forgotten.  From\nXavier to Martyn and Williams, there has been a succession of illustrious\nmissionary labourers, working in a spirit of sublime self-sacrifice,\nwithout any thought of worldly honour, inspired solely by the hope of\nseeking out and rescuing the lost and fallen of their race.  Borne up by\ninvincible courage and never-failing patience, these men have endured\nprivations, braved dangers, walked through pestilence, and borne all\ntoils, fatigues, and sufferings, yet held on their way rejoicing,\nglorying even in martyrdom itself.  Of these one of the first and most\nillustrious was Francis Xavier.  Born of noble lineage, and with\npleasure, power, and honour within his reach, he proved by his life that\nthere are higher objects in the world than rank, and nobler aspirations\nthan the accumulation of wealth.  He was a true gentleman in manners and\nsentiment; brave, honourable, generous; easily led, yet capable of\nleading; easily persuaded, yet himself persuasive; a most patient,\nresolute and energetic man.  At the age of twenty-two he was earning his\nliving as a public teacher of philosophy at the University of Paris.\nThere Xavier became the intimate friend and associate of Loyola, and\nshortly afterwards he conducted the pilgrimage of the first little band\nof proselytes to Rome.\n\nWhen John III. of Portugal resolved to plant Christianity in the Indian\nterritories subject to his influence, Bobadilla was first selected as his\nmissionary; but being disabled by illness, it was found necessary to make\nanother selection, and Xavier was chosen.  Repairing his tattered\ncassock, and with no other baggage than his breviary, he at once started\nfor Lisbon and embarked for the East.  The ship in which he set sail for\nGoa had the Governor on board, with a reinforcement of a thousand men for\nthe garrison of the place.  Though a cabin was placed at his disposal,\nXavier slept on deck throughout the voyage with his head on a coil of\nropes, messing with the sailors.  By ministering to their wants,\ninventing innocent sports for their amusement, and attending them in\ntheir sickness, he wholly won their hearts, and they regarded him with\nveneration.\n\nArrived at Goa, Xavier was shocked at the depravity of the people,\nsettlers as well as natives; for the former had imported the vices\nwithout the restraints of civilization, and the latter had only been too\napt to imitate their bad example.  Passing along the streets of the city,\nsounding his handbell as he went, he implored the people to send him\ntheir children to be instructed.  He shortly succeeded in collecting a\nlarge number of scholars, whom he carefully taught day by day, at the\nsame time visiting the sick, the lepers, and the wretched of all classes,\nwith the object of assuaging their miseries, and bringing them to the\nTruth.  No cry of human suffering which reached him was disregarded.\nHearing of the degradation and misery of the pearl fishers of Manaar, he\nset out to visit them, and his bell again rang out the invitation of\nmercy.  He baptized and he taught, but the latter he could only do\nthrough interpreters.  His most eloquent teaching was his ministration to\nthe wants and the sufferings of the wretched.\n\nOn he went, his hand-bell sounding along the coast of Comorin, among the\ntowns and villages, the temples and the bazaars, summoning the natives to\ngather about him and be instructed.  He had translations made of the\nCatechism, the Apostles\u2019 Creed, the Commandments, the Lord\u2019s Prayer, and\nsome of the devotional offices of the Church.  Committing these to memory\nin their own tongue he recited them to the children, until they had them\nby heart; after which he sent them forth to teach the words to their\nparents and neighbours.  At Cape Comorin, he appointed thirty teachers,\nwho under himself presided over thirty Christian Churches, though the\nChurches were but humble, in most cases consisting only of a cottage\nsurmounted by a cross.  Thence he passed to Travancore, sounding his way\nfrom village to village, baptizing until his hands dropped with\nweariness, and repeating his formulas until his voice became almost\ninaudible.  According to his own account, the success of his mission\nsurpassed his highest expectations.  His pure, earnest, and beautiful\nlife, and the irresistible eloquence of his deeds, made converts wherever\nhe went; and by sheer force of sympathy, those who saw him and listened\nto him insensibly caught a portion of his ardour.\n\nBurdened with the thought that \u201cthe harvest is great and the labourers\nare few,\u201d Xavier next sailed to Malacca and Japan, where he found himself\namongst entirely new races speaking other tongues.  The most that he\ncould do here was to weep and pray, to smooth the pillow and watch by the\nsick-bed, sometimes soaking the sleeve of his surplice in water, from\nwhich to squeeze out a few drops and baptize the dying.  Hoping all\nthings, and fearing nothing, this valiant soldier of the truth was borne\nonward throughout by faith and energy.  \u201cWhatever form of death or\ntorture,\u201d said he, \u201cawaits me, I am ready to suffer it ten thousand times\nfor the salvation of a single soul.\u201d  He battled with hunger, thirst,\nprivations and dangers of all kinds, still pursuing his mission of love,\nunresting and unwearying.  At length, after eleven years\u2019 labour, this\ngreat good man, while striving to find a way into China, was stricken\nwith fever in the Island of Sanchian, and there received his crown of\nglory.  A hero of nobler mould, more pure, self-denying, and courageous,\nhas probably never trod this earth.\n\nOther missionaries have followed Xavier in the same field of work, such\nas Schwartz, Carey, and Marshman in India; Gutzlaff and Morrison in\nChina; Williams in the South Seas; Campbell, Moffatt and Livingstone in\nAfrica.  John Williams, the martyr of Erromanga, was originally\napprenticed to a furnishing ironmonger.  Though considered a dull boy, he\nwas handy at his trade, in which he acquired so much skill that his\nmaster usually entrusted him with any blacksmiths work that required the\nexercise of more than ordinary care.  He was also fond of bell-hanging\nand other employments which took him away from the shop.  A casual sermon\nwhich he heard gave his mind a serious bias, and he became a\nSunday-school teacher.  The cause of missions having been brought under\nhis notice at some of his society\u2019s meetings, he determined to devote\nhimself to this work.  His services were accepted by the London\nMissionary Society; and his master allowed him to leave the ironmonger\u2019s\nshop before the expiry of his indentures.  The islands of the Pacific\nOcean were the principal scene of his labours\u2014more particularly Huahine\nin Tahiti, Raiatea, and Rarotonga.  Like the Apostles he worked with his\nhands,\u2014at blacksmith work, gardening, shipbuilding; and he endeavoured to\nteach the islanders the art of civilised life, at the same time that he\ninstructed them in the truths of religion.  It was in the course of his\nindefatigable labours that he was massacred by savages on the shore of\nErromanga\u2014none worthier than he to wear the martyr\u2019s crown.\n\nThe career of Dr. Livingstone is one of the most interesting of all.  He\nhas told the story of his life in that modest and unassuming manner which\nis so characteristic of the man himself.  His ancestors were poor but\nhonest Highlanders, and it is related of one of them, renowned in his\ndistrict for wisdom and prudence, that when on his death-bed he called\nhis children round him and left them these words, the only legacy he had\nto bequeath\u2014\u201cIn my life-time,\u201d said he, \u201cI have searched most carefully\nthrough all the traditions I could find of our family, and I never could\ndiscover that there was a dishonest man among our forefathers: if,\ntherefore, any of you or any of your children should take to dishonest\nways, it will not be because it runs in our blood; it does not belong to\nyou: I leave this precept with you\u2014Be honest.\u201d  At the age of ten\nLivingstone was sent to work in a cotton factory near Glasgow as a\n\u201cpiecer.\u201d  With part of his first week\u2019s wages he bought a Latin grammar,\nand began to learn that language, pursuing the study for years at a night\nschool.  He would sit up conning his lessons till twelve or later, when\nnot sent to bed by his mother, for he had to be up and at work in the\nfactory every morning by six.  In this way he plodded through Virgil and\nHorace, also reading extensively all books, excepting novels, that came\nin his way, but more especially scientific works and books of travels.\nHe occupied his spare hours, which were but few, in the pursuit of\nbotany, scouring the neighbourhood to collect plants.  He even carried on\nhis reading amidst the roar of the factory machinery, so placing the book\nupon the spinning jenny which he worked that he could catch sentence\nafter sentence as he passed it.  In this way the persevering youth\nacquired much useful knowledge; and as he grew older, the desire\npossessed him of becoming a missionary to the heathen.  With this object\nhe set himself to obtain a medical education, in order the better to be\nqualified for the work.  He accordingly economised his earnings, and\nsaved as much money as enabled him to support himself while attending the\nMedical and Greek classes, as well as the Divinity Lectures, at Glasgow,\nfor several winters, working as a cotton spinner during the remainder of\neach year.  He thus supported himself, during his college career,\nentirely by his own earnings as a factory workman, never having received\na farthing of help from any other source.  \u201cLooking back now,\u201d he\nhonestly says, \u201cat that life of toil, I cannot but feel thankful that it\nformed such a material part of my early education; and, were it possible,\nI should like to begin life over again in the same lowly style, and to\npass through the same hardy training.\u201d  At length he finished his medical\ncurriculum, wrote his Latin thesis, passed his examinations, and was\nadmitted a licentiate of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons.  At\nfirst he thought of going to China, but the war then waging with that\ncountry prevented his following out the idea; and having offered his\nservices to the London Missionary Society, he was by them sent out to\nAfrica, which he reached in 1840.  He had intended to proceed to China by\nhis own efforts; and he says the only pang he had in going to Africa at\nthe charge of the London Missionary Society was, because \u201cit was not\nquite agreeable to one accustomed to work his own way to become, in a\nmanner, dependent upon others.\u201d  Arrived in Africa he set to work with\ngreat zeal.  He could not brook the idea of merely entering upon the\nlabours of others, but cut out a large sphere of independent work,\npreparing himself for it by undertaking manual labour in building and\nother handicraft employment, in addition to teaching, which, he says,\n\u201cmade me generally as much exhausted and unfit for study in the evenings\nas ever I had been when a cotton-spinner.\u201d  Whilst labouring amongst the\nBechuanas, he dug canals, built houses, cultivated fields, reared cattle,\nand taught the natives to work as well as worship.  When he first started\nwith a party of them on foot upon a long journey, he overheard their\nobservations upon his appearance and powers\u2014\u201cHe is not strong,\u201d said\nthey; \u201che is quite slim, and only appears stout because he puts himself\ninto those bags (trowsers): he will soon knock up.\u201d  This caused the\nmissionary\u2019s Highland blood to rise, and made him despise the fatigue of\nkeeping them all at the top of their speed for days together, until he\nheard them expressing proper opinions of his pedestrian powers.  What he\ndid in Africa, and how he worked, may be learnt from his own \u2018Missionary\nTravels,\u2019 one of the most fascinating books of its kind that has ever\nbeen given to the public.  One of his last known acts is thoroughly\ncharacteristic of the man.  The \u2018Birkenhead\u2019 steam launch, which he took\nout with him to Africa, having proved a failure, he sent home orders for\nthe construction of another vessel at an estimated cost of 2000_l._  This\nsum he proposed to defray out of the means which he had set aside for his\nchildren arising from the profits of his books of travels.  \u201cThe children\nmust make it up themselves,\u201d was in effect his expression in sending home\nthe order for the appropriation of the money.\n\nThe career of John Howard was throughout a striking illustration of the\nsame power of patient purpose.  His sublime life proved that even\nphysical weakness could remove mountains in the pursuit of an end\nrecommended by duty.  The idea of ameliorating the condition of prisoners\nengrossed his whole thoughts and possessed him like a passion; and no\ntoil, nor danger, nor bodily suffering could turn him from that great\nobject of his life.  Though a man of no genius and but moderate talent,\nhis heart was pure and his will was strong.  Even in his own time he\nachieved a remarkable degree of success; and his influence did not die\nwith him, for it has continued powerfully to affect not only the\nlegislation of England, but of all civilised nations, down to the present\nhour.\n\nJonas Hanway was another of the many patient and persevering men who have\nmade England what it is\u2014content simply to do with energy the work they\nhave been appointed to do, and go to their rest thankfully when it is\ndone\u2014\n\n    \u201cLeaving no memorial but a world\n    Made better by their lives.\u201d\n\nHe was born in 1712, at Portsmouth, where his father, a storekeeper in\nthe dockyard, being killed by an accident, he was left an orphan at an\nearly age.  His mother removed with her children to London, where she had\nthem put to school, and struggled hard to bring them up respectably.  At\nseventeen Jonas was sent to Lisbon to be apprenticed to a merchant, where\nhis close attention to business, his punctuality, and his strict honour\nand integrity, gained for him the respect and esteem of all who knew him.\nReturning to London in 1743, he accepted the offer of a partnership in an\nEnglish mercantile house at St. Petersburg engaged in the Caspian trade,\nthen in its infancy.  Hanway went to Russia for the purpose of extending\nthe business; and shortly after his arrival at the capital he set out for\nPersia, with a caravan of English bales of cloth making twenty carriage\nloads.  At Astracan he sailed for Astrabad, on the south-eastern shore of\nthe Caspian; but he had scarcely landed his bales, when an insurrection\nbroke out, his goods were seized, and though he afterwards recovered the\nprincipal part of them, the fruits of his enterprise were in a great\nmeasure lost.  A plot was set on foot to seize himself and his party; so\nhe took to sea and, after encountering great perils, reached Ghilan in\nsafety.  His escape on this occasion gave him the first idea of the words\nwhich he afterwards adopted as the motto of his life\u2014\u201c_Never Despair_.\u201d\nHe afterwards resided in St. Petersburg for five years, carrying on a\nprosperous business.  But a relative having left him some property, and\nhis own means being considerable, he left Russia, and arrived in his\nnative country in 1755.  His object in returning to England was, as he\nhimself expressed it, \u201cto consult his own health (which was extremely\ndelicate), and do as much good to himself and others as he was able.\u201d\nThe rest of his life was spent in deeds of active benevolence and\nusefulness to his fellow men.  He lived in a quiet style, in order that\nhe might employ a larger share of his income in works of benevolence.\nOne of the first public improvements to which he devoted himself was that\nof the highways of the metropolis, in which he succeeded to a large\nextent.  The rumour of a French invasion being prevalent in 1755, Mr.\nHanway turned his attention to the best mode of keeping up the supply of\nseamen.  He summoned a meeting of merchants and shipowners at the Royal\nExchange, and there proposed to them to form themselves into a society\nfor fitting out landsmen volunteers and boys, to serve on board the\nking\u2019s ships.  The proposal was received with enthusiasm: a society was\nformed, and officers were appointed, Mr. Hanway directing its entire\noperations.  The result was the establishment in 1756 of The Marine\nSociety, an institution which has proved of much national advantage, and\nis to this day of great and substantial utility.  Within six years from\nits formation, 5451 boys and 4787 landsmen volunteers had been trained\nand fitted out by the society and added to the navy, and to this day it\nis in active operation, about 600 poor boys, after a careful education,\nbeing annually apprenticed as sailors, principally in the merchant\nservice.\n\nMr. Hanway devoted the other portions of his spare time to improving or\nestablishing important public institutions in the metropolis.  From an\nearly period he took an active interest in the Foundling Hospital, which\nhad been started by Thomas Coram many years before, but which, by\nencouraging parents to abandon their children to the charge of a charity,\nwas threatening to do more harm than good.  He determined to take steps\nto stem the evil, entering upon the work in the face of the fashionable\nphilanthropy of the time; but by holding to his purpose he eventually\nsucceeded in bringing the charity back to its proper objects; and time\nand experience have proved that he was right.  The Magdalen Hospital was\nalso established in a great measure through Mr. Hanway\u2019s exertions.  But\nhis most laborious and persevering efforts were in behalf of the infant\nparish poor.  The misery and neglect amidst which the children of the\nparish poor then grew up, and the mortality which prevailed amongst them,\nwere frightful; but there was no fashionable movement on foot to abate\nthe suffering, as in the case of the foundlings.  So Jonas Hanway\nsummoned his energies to the task.  Alone and unassisted he first\nascertained by personal inquiry the extent of the evil.  He explored the\ndwellings of the poorest classes in London, and visited the poorhouse\nsick wards, by which he ascertained the management in detail of every\nworkhouse in and near the metropolis.  He next made a journey into France\nand through Holland, visiting the houses for the reception of the poor,\nand noting whatever he thought might be adopted at home with advantage.\nHe was thus employed for five years; and on his return to England he\npublished the results of his observations.  The consequence was that many\nof the workhouses were reformed and improved.  In 1761 he obtained an Act\nobliging every London parish to keep an annual register of all the\ninfants received, discharged, and dead; and he took care that the Act\nshould work, for he himself superintended its working with indefatigable\nwatchfulness.  He went about from workhouse to workhouse in the morning,\nand from one member of parliament to another in the afternoon, for day\nafter day, and for year after year, enduring every rebuff, answering\nevery objection, and accommodating himself to every humour.  At length,\nafter a perseverance hardly to be equalled, and after nearly ten years\u2019\nlabour, he obtained another Act, at his sole expense (7 Geo. III. c. 39),\ndirecting that all parish infants belonging to the parishes within the\nbills of mortality should not be nursed in the workhouses, but be sent to\nnurse a certain number of miles out of town, until they were six years\nold, under the care of guardians to be elected triennially.  The poor\npeople called this \u201cthe Act for keeping children alive;\u201d and the\nregisters for the years which followed its passing, as compared with\nthose which preceded it, showed that thousands of lives had been\npreserved through the judicious interference of this good and sensible\nman.\n\nWherever a philanthropic work was to be done in London, be sure that\nJonas Hanway\u2019s hand was in it.  One of the first Acts for the protection\nof chimney-sweepers\u2019 boys was obtained through his influence.  A\ndestructive fire at Montreal, and another at Bridgetown, Barbadoes,\nafforded him the opportunity for raising a timely subscription for the\nrelief of the sufferers.  His name appeared in every list, and his\ndisinterestedness and sincerity were universally recognized.  But he was\nnot suffered to waste his little fortune entirely in the service of\nothers.  Five leading citizens of London, headed by Mr. Hoare, the\nbanker, without Mr. Hanway\u2019s knowledge, waited on Lord Bute, then prime\nminister, in a body, and in the names of their fellow-citizens requested\nthat some notice might be taken of this good man\u2019s disinterested services\nto his country.  The result was, his appointment shortly after, as one of\nthe commissioners for victualling the navy.\n\nTowards the close of his life Mr. Hanway\u2019s health became very feeble, and\nalthough he found it necessary to resign his office at the Victualling\nBoard, he could not be idle; but laboured at the establishment of Sunday\nSchools,\u2014a movement then in its infancy,\u2014or in relieving poor blacks,\nmany of whom wandered destitute about the streets of the metropolis,\u2014or,\nin alleviating the sufferings of some neglected and destitute class of\nsociety.  Notwithstanding his familiarity with misery in all its shapes,\nhe was one of the most cheerful of beings; and, but for his cheerfulness\nhe could never, with so delicate a frame, have got through so vast an\namount of self-imposed work.  He dreaded nothing so much as inactivity.\nThough fragile, he was bold and indefatigable; and his moral courage was\nof the first order.  It may be regarded as a trivial matter to mention\nthat he was the first who ventured to walk the streets of London with an\numbrella over his head.  But let any modern London merchant venture to\nwalk along Cornhill in a peaked Chinese hat, and he will find it takes\nsome degree of moral courage to persevere in it.  After carrying an\numbrella for thirty years, Mr. Hanway saw the article at length come into\ngeneral use.\n\nHanway was a man of strict honour, truthfulness, and integrity; and every\nword he said might be relied upon.  He had so great a respect, amounting\nalmost to a reverence, for the character of the honest merchant, that it\nwas the only subject upon which he was ever seduced into a eulogium.  He\nstrictly practised what he professed, and both as a merchant, and\nafterwards as a commissioner for victualling the navy, his conduct was\nwithout stain.  He would not accept the slightest favour of any sort from\na contractor; and when any present was sent to him whilst at the\nVictualling Office, he would politely return it, with the intimation that\n\u201che had made it a rule not to accept anything from any person engaged\nwith the office.\u201d  When he found his powers failing, he prepared for\ndeath with as much cheerfulness as he would have prepared himself for a\njourney into the country.  He sent round and paid all his tradesmen, took\nleave of his friends, arranged his affairs, had his person neatly\ndisposed of, and parted with life serenely and peacefully in his 74th\nyear.  The property which he left did not amount to two thousand pounds,\nand, as he had no relatives who wanted it, he divided it amongst sundry\norphans and poor persons whom he had befriended during his lifetime.\nSuch, in brief, was the beautiful life of Jonas Hanway,\u2014as honest,\nenergetic, hard-working, and true-hearted a man as ever lived.\n\nThe life of Granville Sharp is another striking example of the same power\nof individual energy\u2014a power which was afterwards transfused into the\nnoble band of workers in the cause of Slavery Abolition, prominent among\nwhom were Clarkson, Wilberforce, Buxton, and Brougham.  But, giants\nthough these men were in this cause, Granville Sharp was the first, and\nperhaps the greatest of them all, in point of perseverance, energy, and\nintrepidity.  He began life as apprentice to a linen-draper on Tower\nHill; but, leaving that business after his apprenticeship was out, he\nnext entered as a clerk in the Ordnance Office; and it was while engaged\nin that humble occupation that he carried on in his spare hours the work\nof Negro Emancipation.  He was always, even when an apprentice, ready to\nundertake any amount of volunteer labour where a useful purpose was to be\nserved.  Thus, while learning the linen-drapery business, a fellow\napprentice who lodged in the same house, and was a Unitarian, led him\ninto frequent discussions on religious subjects.  The Unitarian youth\ninsisted that Granville\u2019s Trinitarian misconception of certain passages\nof Scripture arose from his want of acquaintance with the Greek tongue;\non which he immediately set to work in his evening hours, and shortly\nacquired an intimate knowledge of Greek.  A similar controversy with\nanother fellow-apprentice, a Jew, as to the interpretation of the\nprophecies, led him in like manner to undertake and overcome the\ndifficulties of Hebrew.\n\nBut the circumstance which gave the bias and direction to the main\nlabours of his life originated in his generosity and benevolence.  His\nbrother William, a surgeon in Mincing Lane, gave gratuitous advice to the\npoor, and amongst the numerous applicants for relief at his surgery was a\npoor African named Jonathan Strong.  It appeared that the negro had been\nbrutally treated by his master, a Barbadoes lawyer then in London, and\nbecame lame, almost blind, and unable to work; on which his owner,\nregarding him as of no further value as a chattel, cruelly turned him\nadrift into the streets to starve.  This poor man, a mass of disease,\nsupported himself by begging for a time, until he found his way to\nWilliam Sharp, who gave him some medicine, and shortly after got him\nadmitted to St. Bartholomew\u2019s hospital, where he was cured.  On coming\nout of the hospital, the two brothers supported the negro in order to\nkeep him off the streets, but they had not the least suspicion at the\ntime that any one had a claim upon his person.  They even succeeded in\nobtaining a situation for Strong with an apothecary, in whose service he\nremained for two years; and it was while he was attending his mistress\nbehind a hackney coach, that his former owner, the Barbadoes lawyer,\nrecognized him, and determined to recover possession of the slave, again\nrendered valuable by the restoration of his health.  The lawyer employed\ntwo of the Lord Mayor\u2019s officers to apprehend Strong, and he was lodged\nin the Compter, until he could be shipped off to the West Indies.  The\nnegro, bethinking him in his captivity of the kind services which\nGranville Sharp had rendered him in his great distress some years before,\ndespatched a letter to him requesting his help.  Sharp had forgotten the\nname of Strong, but he sent a messenger to make inquiries, who returned\nsaying that the keepers denied having any such person in their charge.\nHis suspicions were roused, and he went forthwith to the prison, and\ninsisted upon seeing Jonathan Strong.  He was admitted, and recognized\nthe poor negro, now in custody as a recaptured slave.  Mr. Sharp charged\nthe master of the prison at his own peril not to deliver up Strong to any\nperson whatever, until he had been carried before the Lord Mayor, to whom\nSharp immediately went, and obtained a summons against those persons who\nhad seized and imprisoned Strong without a warrant.  The parties appeared\nbefore the Lord Mayor accordingly, and it appeared from the proceedings\nthat Strong\u2019s former master had already sold him to a new one, who\nproduced the bill of sale and claimed the negro as his property.  As no\ncharge of offence was made against Strong, and as the Lord Mayor was\nincompetent to deal with the legal question of Strong\u2019s liberty or\notherwise, he discharged him, and the slave followed his benefactor out\nof court, no one daring to touch him.  The man\u2019s owner immediately gave\nSharp notice of an action to recover possession of his negro slave, of\nwhom he declared he had been robbed.\n\nAbout that time (1767), the personal liberty of the Englishman, though\ncherished as a theory, was subject to grievous infringements, and was\nalmost daily violated.  The impressment of men for the sea service was\nconstantly practised, and, besides the press-gangs, there were regular\nbands of kidnappers employed in London and all the large towns of the\nkingdom, to seize men for the East India Company\u2019s service.  And when the\nmen were not wanted for India, they were shipped off to the planters in\nthe American colonies.  Negro slaves were openly advertised for sale in\nthe London and Liverpool newspapers.  Rewards were offered for recovering\nand securing fugitive slaves, and conveying them down to certain\nspecified ships in the river.\n\nThe position of the reputed slave in England was undefined and doubtful.\nThe judgments which had been given in the courts of law were fluctuating\nand various, resting on no settled principle.  Although it was a popular\nbelief that no slave could breathe in England, there were legal men of\neminence who expressed a directly contrary opinion.  The lawyers to whom\nMr. Sharp resorted for advice, in defending himself in the action raised\nagainst him in the case of Jonathan Strong, generally concurred in this\nview, and he was further told by Jonathan Strong\u2019s owner, that the\neminent Lord Chief Justice Mansfield, and all the leading counsel, were\ndecidedly of opinion that the slave, by coming into England, did not\nbecome free, but might legally be compelled to return again to the\nplantations.  Such information would have caused despair in a mind less\ncourageous and earnest than that of Granville Sharp; but it only served\nto stimulate his resolution to fight the battle of the negroes\u2019 freedom,\nat least in England.  \u201cForsaken,\u201d he said, \u201cby my professional defenders,\nI was compelled, through the want of regular legal assistance, to make a\nhopeless attempt at self-defence, though I was totally unacquainted\neither with the practice of the law or the foundations of it, having\nnever opened a law book (except the Bible) in my life, until that time,\nwhen I most reluctantly undertook to search the indexes of a law library,\nwhich my bookseller had lately purchased.\u201d\n\nThe whole of his time during the day was occupied with the business of\nthe ordnance department, where he held the most laborious post in the\noffice; he was therefore under the necessity of conducting his new\nstudies late at night or early in the morning.  He confessed that he was\nhimself becoming a sort of slave.  Writing to a clerical friend to excuse\nhimself for delay in replying to a letter, he said, \u201cI profess myself\nentirely incapable of holding a literary correspondence.  What little\ntime I have been able to save from sleep at night, and early in the\nmorning, has been necessarily employed in the examination of some points\nof law, which admitted of no delay, and yet required the most diligent\nresearches and examination in my study.\u201d\n\nMr. Sharp gave up every leisure moment that he could command during the\nnext two years, to the close study of the laws of England affecting\npersonal liberty,\u2014wading through an immense mass of dry and repulsive\nliterature, and making extracts of all the most important Acts of\nParliament, decisions of the courts, and opinions of eminent lawyers, as\nhe went along.  In this tedious and protracted inquiry he had no\ninstructor, nor assistant, nor adviser.  He could not find a single\nlawyer whose opinion was favourable to his undertaking.  The results of\nhis inquiries were, however, as gratifying to himself, as they were\nsurprising to the gentlemen of the law.  \u201cGod be thanked,\u201d he wrote,\n\u201cthere is nothing in any English law or statute\u2014at least that I am able\nto find out\u2014that can justify the enslaving of others.\u201d  He had planted\nhis foot firm, and now he doubted nothing.  He drew up the result of his\nstudies in a summary form; it was a plain, clear, and manly statement,\nentitled, \u2018On the Injustice of Tolerating Slavery in England;\u2019 and\nnumerous copies, made by himself, were circulated by him amongst the most\neminent lawyers of the time.  Strong\u2019s owner, finding the sort of man he\nhad to deal with, invented various pretexts for deferring the suit\nagainst Sharp, and at length offered a compromise, which was rejected.\nGranville went on circulating his manuscript tract among the lawyers,\nuntil at length those employed against Jonathan Strong were deterred from\nproceeding further, and the result was, that the plaintiff was compelled\nto pay treble costs for not bringing forward his action.  The tract was\nthen printed in 1769.\n\nIn the mean time other cases occurred of the kidnapping of negroes in\nLondon, and their shipment to the West Indies for sale.  Wherever Sharp\ncould lay hold of any such case, he at once took proceedings to rescue\nthe negro.  Thus the wife of one Hylas, an African, was seized, and\ndespatched to Barbadoes; on which Sharp, in the name of Hylas, instituted\nlegal proceedings against the aggressor, obtained a verdict with damages,\nand Hylas\u2019s wife was brought back to England free.\n\nAnother forcible capture of a negro, attended with great cruelty, having\noccurred in 1770, he immediately set himself on the track of the\naggressors.  An African, named Lewis, was seized one dark night by two\nwatermen employed by the person who claimed the negro as his property,\ndragged into the water, hoisted into a boat, where he was gagged, and his\nlimbs were tied; and then rowing down river, they put him on board a ship\nbound for Jamaica, where he was to be sold for a slave upon his arrival\nin the island.  The cries of the poor negro had, however, attracted the\nattention of some neighbours; one of whom proceeded direct to Mr.\nGranville Sharp, now known as the negro\u2019s friend, and informed him of the\noutrage.  Sharp immediately got a warrant to bring back Lewis, and he\nproceeded to Gravesend, but on arrival there the ship had sailed for the\nDowns.  A writ of Habeas Corpus was obtained, sent down to Spithead, and\nbefore the ship could leave the shores of England the writ was served.\nThe slave was found chained to the main-mast bathed in tears, casting\nmournful looks on the land from which he was about to be torn.  He was\nimmediately liberated, brought back to London, and a warrant was issued\nagainst the author of the outrage.  The promptitude of head, heart, and\nhand, displayed by Mr. Sharp in this transaction could scarcely have been\nsurpassed, and yet he accused himself of slowness.  The case was tried\nbefore Lord Mansfield\u2014whose opinion, it will be remembered, had already\nbeen expressed as decidedly opposed to that entertained by Granville\nSharp.  The judge, however, avoided bringing the question to an issue, or\noffering any opinion on the legal question as to the slave\u2019s personal\nliberty or otherwise, but discharged the negro because the defendant\ncould bring no evidence that Lewis was even nominally his property.\n\nThe question of the personal liberty of the negro in England was\ntherefore still undecided; but in the mean time Mr. Sharp continued\nsteady in his benevolent course, and by his indefatigable exertions and\npromptitude of action, many more were added to the list of the rescued.\nAt length the important case of James Somerset occurred; a case which is\nsaid to have been selected, at the mutual desire of Lord Mansfield and\nMr. Sharp, in order to bring the great question involved to a clear legal\nissue.  Somerset had been brought to England by his master, and left\nthere.  Afterwards his master sought to apprehend him and send him off to\nJamaica, for sale.  Mr. Sharp, as usual, at once took the negro\u2019s case in\nhand, and employed counsel to defend him.  Lord Mansfield intimated that\nthe case was of such general concern, that he should take the opinion of\nall the judges upon it.  Mr. Sharp now felt that he would have to contend\nwith all the force that could be brought against him, but his resolution\nwas in no wise shaken.  Fortunately for him, in this severe struggle, his\nexertions had already begun to tell: increasing interest was taken in the\nquestion, and many eminent legal gentlemen openly declared themselves to\nbe upon his side.\n\nThe cause of personal liberty, now at stake, was fairly tried before Lord\nMansfield, assisted by the three justices,\u2014and tried on the broad\nprinciple of the essential and constitutional right of every man in\nEngland to the liberty of his person, unless forfeited by the law.  It is\nunnecessary here to enter into any account of this great trial; the\narguments extended to a great length, the cause being carried over to\nanother term,\u2014when it was adjourned and re-adjourned,\u2014but at length\njudgment was given by Lord Mansfield, in whose powerful mind so gradual a\nchange had been worked by the arguments of counsel, based mainly on\nGranville Sharp\u2019s tract, that he now declared the court to be so clearly\nof one opinion, that there was no necessity for referring the case to the\ntwelve judges.  He then declared that the claim of slavery never can be\nsupported; that the power claimed never was in use in England, nor\nacknowledged by the law; therefore the man James Somerset must be\ndischarged.  By securing this judgment Granville Sharp effectually\nabolished the Slave Trade until then carried on openly in the streets of\nLiverpool and London.  But he also firmly established the glorious axiom,\nthat as soon as any slave sets his foot on English ground, that moment he\nbecomes free; and there can be no doubt that this great decision of Lord\nMansfield was mainly owing to Mr. Sharp\u2019s firm, resolute, and intrepid\nprosecution of the cause from the beginning to the end.\n\nIt is unnecessary further to follow the career of Granville Sharp.  He\ncontinued to labour indefatigably in all good works.  He was instrumental\nin founding the colony of Sierra Leone as an asylum for rescued negroes.\nHe laboured to ameliorate the condition of the native Indians in the\nAmerican colonies.  He agitated the enlargement and extension of the\npolitical rights of the English people; and he endeavoured to effect the\nabolition of the impressment of seamen.  Granville held that the British\nseamen, as well as the African negro, was entitled to the protection of\nthe law; and that the fact of his choosing a seafaring life did not in\nany way cancel his rights and privileges as an Englishman\u2014first amongst\nwhich he ranked personal freedom.  Mr. Sharp also laboured, but\nineffectually, to restore amity between England and her colonies in\nAmerica; and when the fratricidal war of the American Revolution was\nentered on, his sense of integrity was so scrupulous that, resolving not\nin any way to be concerned in so unnatural a business, he resigned his\nsituation at the Ordnance Office.\n\nTo the last he held to the great object of his life\u2014the abolition of\nslavery.  To carry on this work, and organize the efforts of the growing\nfriends of the cause, the Society for the Abolition of Slavery was\nfounded, and new men, inspired by Sharp\u2019s example and zeal, sprang\nforward to help him.  His energy became theirs, and the self-sacrificing\nzeal in which he had so long laboured single-handed, became at length\ntransfused into the nation itself.  His mantle fell upon Clarkson, upon\nWilberforce, upon Brougham, and upon Buxton, who laboured as he had done,\nwith like energy and stedfastness of purpose, until at length slavery was\nabolished throughout the British dominions.  But though the names last\nmentioned may be more frequently identified with the triumph of this\ngreat cause, the chief merit unquestionably belongs to Granville Sharp.\nHe was encouraged by none of the world\u2019s huzzas when he entered upon his\nwork.  He stood alone, opposed to the opinion of the ablest lawyers and\nthe most rooted prejudices of the times; and alone he fought out, by his\nsingle exertions, and at his individual expense, the most memorable\nbattle for the constitution of this country and the liberties of British\nsubjects, of which modern times afford a record.  What followed was\nmainly the consequence of his indefatigable constancy.  He lighted the\ntorch which kindled other minds, and it was handed on until the\nillumination became complete.\n\nBefore the death of Granville Sharp, Clarkson had already turned his\nattention to the question of Negro Slavery.  He had even selected it for\nthe subject of a college Essay; and his mind became so possessed by it\nthat he could not shake it off.  The spot is pointed out near Wade\u2019s\nMill, in Hertfordshire, where, alighting from his horse one day, he sat\ndown disconsolate on the turf by the road side, and after long thinking,\ndetermined to devote himself wholly to the work.  He translated his Essay\nfrom Latin into English, added fresh illustrations, and published it.\nThen fellow labourers gathered round him.  The Society for Abolishing the\nSlave Trade, unknown to him, had already been formed, and when he heard\nof it he joined it.  He sacrificed all his prospects in life to prosecute\nthis cause.  Wilberforce was selected to lead in parliament; but upon\nClarkson chiefly devolved the labour of collecting and arranging the\nimmense mass of evidence offered in support of the abolition.  A\nremarkable instance of Clarkson\u2019s sleuth-hound sort of perseverance may\nbe mentioned.  The abettors of slavery, in the course of their defence of\nthe system, maintained that only such negroes as were captured in battle\nwere sold as slaves, and if not so sold, then they were reserved for a\nstill more frightful doom in their own country.  Clarkson knew of the\nslave-hunts conducted by the slave-traders, but had no witnesses to prove\nit.  Where was one to be found?  Accidentally, a gentleman whom he met on\none of his journeys informed him of a young sailor, in whose company he\nhad been about a year before, who had been actually engaged in one of\nsuch slave-hunting expeditions.  The gentleman did not know his name, and\ncould but indefinitely describe his person.  He did not know where he\nwas, further than that he belonged to a ship of war in ordinary, but at\nwhat port he could not tell.  With this mere glimmering of information,\nClarkson determined to produce this man as a witness.  He visited\npersonally all the seaport towns where ships in ordinary lay; boarded and\nexamined every ship without success, until he came to the very _last_\nport, and found the young man, his prize, in the very _last_ ship that\nremained to be visited.  The young man proved to be one of his most\nvaluable and effective witnesses.\n\nDuring several years Clarkson conducted a correspondence with upwards of\nfour hundred persons, travelling more than thirty-five thousand miles\nduring the same time in search of evidence.  He was at length disabled\nand exhausted by illness, brought on by his continuous exertions; but he\nwas not borne from the field until his zeal had fully awakened the public\nmind, and excited the ardent sympathies of all good men on behalf of the\nslave.\n\nAfter years of protracted struggle, the slave trade was abolished.  But\nstill another great achievement remained to be accomplished\u2014the abolition\nof slavery itself throughout the British dominions.  And here again\ndetermined energy won the day.  Of the leaders in the cause, none was\nmore distinguished than Fowell Buxton, who took the position formerly\noccupied by Wilberforce in the House of Commons.  Buxton was a dull,\nheavy boy, distinguished for his strong self-will, which first exhibited\nitself in violent, domineering, and headstrong obstinacy.  His father\ndied when he was a child; but fortunately he had a wise mother, who\ntrained his will with great care, constraining him to obey, but\nencouraging the habit of deciding and acting for himself in matters which\nmight safely be left to him.  His mother believed that a strong will,\ndirected upon worthy objects, was a valuable manly quality if properly\nguided, and she acted accordingly.  When others about her commented on\nthe boy\u2019s self-will, she would merely say, \u201cNever mind\u2014he is self-willed\nnow\u2014you will see it will turn out well in the end.\u201d  Fowell learnt very\nlittle at school, and was regarded as a dunce and an idler.  He got other\nboys to do his exercises for him, while he romped and scrambled about.\nHe returned home at fifteen, a great, growing, awkward lad, fond only of\nboating, shooting, riding, and field sports,\u2014spending his time\nprincipally with the gamekeeper, a man possessed of a good heart,\u2014an\nintelligent observer of life and nature, though he could neither read nor\nwrite.  Buxton had excellent raw material in him, but he wanted culture,\ntraining, and development.  At this juncture of his life, when his habits\nwere being formed for good or evil, he was happily thrown into the\nsociety of the Gurney family, distinguished for their fine social\nqualities not less than for their intellectual culture and\npublic-spirited philanthropy.  This intercourse with the Gurneys, he used\nafterwards to say, gave the colouring to his life.  They encouraged his\nefforts at self-culture; and when he went to the University of Dublin and\ngained high honours there, the animating passion in his mind, he said,\n\u201cwas to carry back to them the prizes which they prompted and enabled me\nto win.\u201d  He married one of the daughters of the family, and started in\nlife, commencing as a clerk to his uncles Hanbury, the London brewers.\nHis power of will, which made him so difficult to deal with as a boy, now\nformed the backbone of his character, and made him most indefatigable and\nenergetic in whatever he undertook.  He threw his whole strength and bulk\nright down upon his work; and the great giant\u2014\u201cElephant Buxton\u201d they\ncalled him, for he stood some six feet four in height\u2014became one of the\nmost vigorous and practical of men.  \u201cI could brew,\u201d he said, \u201cone\nhour,\u2014do mathematics the next,\u2014and shoot the next,\u2014and each with my whole\nsoul.\u201d  There was invincible energy and determination in whatever he did.\nAdmitted a partner, he became the active manager of the concern; and the\nvast business which he conducted felt his influence through every fibre,\nand prospered far beyond its previous success.  Nor did he allow his mind\nto lie fallow, for he gave his evenings diligently to self-culture,\nstudying and digesting Blackstone, Montesquieu, and solid commentaries on\nEnglish law.  His maxims in reading were, \u201cnever to begin a book without\nfinishing it;\u201d \u201cnever to consider a book finished until it is mastered;\u201d\nand \u201cto study everything with the whole mind.\u201d\n\nWhen only thirty-two, Buxton entered parliament, and at once assumed that\nposition of influence there, of which every honest, earnest,\nwell-informed man is secure, who enters that assembly of the first\ngentlemen in the world.  The principal question to which he devoted\nhimself was the complete emancipation of the slaves in the British\ncolonies.  He himself used to attribute the interest which he early felt\nin this question to the influence of Priscilla Gurney, one of the Earlham\nfamily,\u2014a woman of a fine intellect and warm heart, abounding in\nillustrious virtues.  When on her deathbed, in 1821, she repeatedly sent\nfor Buxton, and urged him \u201cto make the cause of the slaves the great\nobject of his life.\u201d  Her last act was to attempt to reiterate the solemn\ncharge, and she expired in the ineffectual effort.  Buxton never forgot\nher counsel; he named one of his daughters after her; and on the day on\nwhich she was married from his house, on the 1st of August, 1834,\u2014the day\nof Negro emancipation\u2014after his Priscilla had been manumitted from her\nfilial service, and left her father\u2019s home in the company of her husband,\nBuxton sat down and thus wrote to a friend: \u201cThe bride is just gone;\neverything has passed off to admiration; and _there is not a slave in the\nBritish colonies_!\u201d\n\nBuxton was no genius\u2014not a great intellectual leader nor discoverer, but\nmainly an earnest, straightforward, resolute, energetic man.  Indeed, his\nwhole character is most forcibly expressed in his own words, which every\nyoung man might well stamp upon his soul: \u201cThe longer I live,\u201d said he,\n\u201cthe more I am certain that the great difference between men, between the\nfeeble and the powerful, the great and the insignificant, is\n_energy_\u2014_invincible determination_\u2014a purpose once fixed, and then death\nor victory!  That quality will do anything that can be done in this\nworld; and no talents, no circumstances, no opportunities, will make a\ntwo-legged creature a Man without it.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\nMEN OF BUSINESS.\n\n\n    \u201cSeest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before\n    kings.\u201d\u2014_Proverbs of Solomon_.\n\n    \u201cThat man is but of the lower part of the world that is not brought\n    up to business and affairs.\u201d\u2014_Owen Feltham_.\n\nHAZLITT, in one of his clever essays, represents the man of business as a\nmean sort of person put in a go-cart, yoked to a trade or profession;\nalleging that all he has to do is, not to go out of the beaten track, but\nmerely to let his affairs take their own course.  \u201cThe great requisite,\u201d\nhe says, \u201cfor the prosperous management of ordinary business is the want\nof imagination, or of any ideas but those of custom and interest on the\nnarrowest scale.\u201d {263}  But nothing could be more one-sided, and in\neffect untrue, than such a definition.  Of course, there are\nnarrow-minded men of business, as there are narrow-minded scientific men,\nliterary men, and legislators; but there are also business men of large\nand comprehensive minds, capable of action on the very largest scale.  As\nBurke said in his speech on the India Bill, he knew statesmen who were\npedlers, and merchants who acted in the spirit of statesmen.\n\nIf we take into account the qualities necessary for the successful\nconduct of any important undertaking,\u2014that it requires special aptitude,\npromptitude of action on emergencies, capacity for organizing the labours\noften of large numbers of men, great tact and knowledge of human nature,\nconstant self-culture, and growing experience in the practical affairs of\nlife,\u2014it must, we think, be obvious that the school of business is by no\nmeans so narrow as some writers would have us believe.  Mr. Helps had\ngone much nearer the truth when he said that consummate men of business\nare as rare almost as great poets,\u2014rarer, perhaps, than veritable saints\nand martyrs.  Indeed, of no other pursuit can it so emphatically be said,\nas of this, that \u201cBusiness makes men.\u201d\n\nIt has, however, been a favourite fallacy with dunces in all times, that\nmen of genius are unfitted for business, as well as that business\noccupations unfit men for the pursuits of genius.  The unhappy youth who\ncommitted suicide a few years since because he had been \u201cborn to be a man\nand condemned to be a grocer,\u201d proved by the act that his soul was not\nequal even to the dignity of grocery.  For it is not the calling that\ndegrades the man, but the man that degrades the calling.  All work that\nbrings honest gain is honourable, whether it be of hand or mind.  The\nfingers may be soiled, yet the heart remain pure; for it is not material\nso much as moral dirt that defiles\u2014greed far more than grime, and vice\nthan verdigris.\n\nThe greatest have not disdained to labour honestly and usefully for a\nliving, though at the same time aiming after higher things.  Thales, the\nfirst of the seven sages, Solon, the second founder of Athens, and\nHyperates, the mathematician, were all traders.  Plato, called the Divine\nby reason of the excellence of his wisdom, defrayed his travelling\nexpenses in Egypt by the profits derived from the oil which he sold\nduring his journey.  Spinoza maintained himself by polishing glasses\nwhile he pursued his philosophical investigations.  Linn\u00e6us, the great\nbotanist, prosecuted his studies while hammering leather and making\nshoes.  Shakespeare was a successful manager of a theatre\u2014perhaps priding\nhimself more upon his practical qualities in that capacity than on his\nwriting of plays and poetry.  Pope was of opinion that Shakespeare\u2019s\nprincipal object in cultivating literature was to secure an honest\nindependence.  Indeed he seems to have been altogether indifferent to\nliterary reputation.  It is not known that he superintended the\npublication of a single play, or even sanctioned the printing of one; and\nthe chronology of his writings is still a mystery.  It is certain,\nhowever, that he prospered in his business, and realized sufficient to\nenable him to retire upon a competency to his native town of\nStratford-upon-Avon.\n\nChaucer was in early life a soldier, and afterwards an effective\nCommissioner of Customs, and Inspector of Woods and Crown Lands.  Spencer\nwas Secretary to the Lord Deputy of Ireland, was afterwards Sheriff of\nCork, and is said to have been shrewd and attentive in matters of\nbusiness.  Milton, originally a schoolmaster, was elevated to the post of\nSecretary to the Council of State during the Commonwealth; and the extant\nOrder-book of the Council, as well as many of Milton\u2019s letters which are\npreserved, give abundant evidence of his activity and usefulness in that\noffice.  Sir Isaac Newton proved himself an efficient Master of the Mint;\nthe new coinage of 1694 having been carried on under his immediate\npersonal superintendence.  Cowper prided himself upon his business\npunctuality, though he confessed that he \u201cnever knew a poet, except\nhimself, who was punctual in anything.\u201d  But against this we may set the\nlives of Wordsworth and Scott\u2014the former a distributor of stamps, the\nlatter a clerk to the Court of Session,\u2014both of whom, though great poets,\nwere eminently punctual and practical men of business.  David Ricardo,\namidst the occupations of his daily business as a London stock-jobber, in\nconducting which he acquired an ample fortune, was able to concentrate\nhis mind upon his favourite subject\u2014on which he was enabled to throw\ngreat light\u2014the principles of political economy; for he united in himself\nthe sagacious commercial man and the profound philosopher.  Baily, the\neminent astronomer, was another stockbroker; and Allen, the chemist, was\na silk manufacturer.\n\nWe have abundant illustrations, in our own day, of the fact that the\nhighest intellectual power is not incompatible with the active and\nefficient performance of routine duties.  Grote, the great historian of\nGreece, was a London banker.  And it is not long since John Stuart Mill,\none of our greatest living thinkers, retired from the Examiner\u2019s\ndepartment of the East India Company, carrying with him the admiration\nand esteem of his fellow officers, not on account of his high views of\nphilosophy, but because of the high standard of efficiency which he had\nestablished in his office, and the thoroughly satisfactory manner in\nwhich he had conducted the business of his department.\n\nThe path of success in business is usually the path of common sense.\nPatient labour and application are as necessary here as in the\nacquisition of knowledge or the pursuit of science.  The old Greeks said,\n\u201cto become an able man in any profession, three things are\nnecessary\u2014nature, study, and practice.\u201d  In business, practice, wisely\nand diligently improved, is the great secret of success.  Some may make\nwhat are called \u201clucky hits,\u201d but like money earned by gambling, such\n\u201chits\u201d may only serve to lure one to ruin.  Bacon was accustomed to say\nthat it was in business as in ways\u2014the nearest way was commonly the\nfoulest, and that if a man would go the fairest way he must go somewhat\nabout.  The journey may occupy a longer time, but the pleasure of the\nlabour involved by it, and the enjoyment of the results produced, will be\nmore genuine and unalloyed.  To have a daily appointed task of even\ncommon drudgery to do makes the rest of life feel all the sweeter.\n\nThe fable of the labours of Hercules is the type of all human doing and\nsuccess.  Every youth should be made to feel that his happiness and\nwell-doing in life must necessarily rely mainly on himself and the\nexercise of his own energies, rather than upon the help and patronage of\nothers.  The late Lord Melbourne embodied a piece of useful advice in a\nletter which he wrote to Lord John Russell, in reply to an application\nfor a provision for one of Moore the poet\u2019s sons: \u201cMy dear John,\u201d he\nsaid, \u201cI return you Moore\u2019s letter.  I shall be ready to do what you like\nabout it when we have the means.  I think whatever is done should be done\nfor Moore himself.  This is more distinct, direct, and intelligible.\nMaking a small provision for young men is hardly justifiable; and it is\nof all things the most prejudicial to themselves.  They think what they\nhave much larger than it really is; and they make no exertion.  The young\nshould never hear any language but this: \u2018You have your own way to make,\nand it depends upon your own exertions whether you starve or not.\u2019\nBelieve me, &c., MELBOURNE.\u201d\n\nPractical industry, wisely and vigorously applied, always produces its\ndue effects.  It carries a man onward, brings out his individual\ncharacter, and stimulates the action of others.  All may not rise\nequally, yet each, on the whole, very much according to his deserts.\n\u201cThough all cannot live on the piazza,\u201d as the Tuscan proverb has it,\n\u201cevery one may feel the sun.\u201d\n\nOn the whole, it is not good that human nature should have the road of\nlife made too easy.  Better to be under the necessity of working hard and\nfaring meanly, than to have everything done ready to our hand and a\npillow of down to repose upon.  Indeed, to start in life with\ncomparatively small means seems so necessary as a stimulus to work, that\nit may almost be set down as one of the conditions essential to success\nin life.  Hence, an eminent judge, when asked what contributed most to\nsuccess at the bar, replied, \u201cSome succeed by great talent, some by high\nconnexions, some by miracle, but the majority by commencing without a\nshilling.\u201d\n\nWe have heard of an architect of considerable accomplishments,\u2014a man who\nhad improved himself by long study, and travel in the classical lands of\nthe East,\u2014who came home to commence the practice of his profession.  He\ndetermined to begin anywhere, provided he could be employed; and he\naccordingly undertook a business connected with dilapidations,\u2014one of the\nlowest and least remunerative departments of the architect\u2019s calling.\nBut he had the good sense not to be above his trade, and he had the\nresolution to work his way upward, so that he only got a fair start.  One\nhot day in July a friend found him sitting astride of a house roof\noccupied with his dilapidation business.  Drawing his hand across his\nperspiring countenance, he exclaimed, \u201cHere\u2019s a pretty business for a man\nwho has been all over Greece!\u201d  However, he did his work, such as it was,\nthoroughly and well; he persevered until he advanced by degrees to more\nremunerative branches of employment, and eventually he rose to the\nhighest walks of his profession.\n\nThe necessity of labour may, indeed, be regarded as the main root and\nspring of all that we call progress in individuals, and civilization in\nnations; and it is doubtful whether any heavier curse could be imposed on\nman than the complete gratification of all his wishes without effort on\nhis part, leaving nothing for his hopes, desires or struggles.  The\nfeeling that life is destitute of any motive or necessity for action,\nmust be of all others the most distressing and insupportable to a\nrational being.  The Marquis de Spinola asking Sir Horace Vere what his\nbrother died of, Sir Horace replied, \u201cHe died, Sir, of having nothing to\ndo.\u201d  \u201cAlas!\u201d said Spinola, \u201cthat is enough to kill any general of us\nall.\u201d\n\nThose who fail in life are however very apt to assume a tone of injured\ninnocence, and conclude too hastily that everybody excepting themselves\nhas had a hand in their personal misfortunes.  An eminent writer lately\npublished a book, in which he described his numerous failures in\nbusiness, naively admitting, at the same time, that he was ignorant of\nthe multiplication table; and he came to the conclusion that the real\ncause of his ill-success in life was the money-worshipping spirit of the\nage.  Lamartine also did not hesitate to profess his contempt for\narithmetic; but, had it been less, probably we should not have witnessed\nthe unseemly spectacle of the admirers of that distinguished personage\nengaged in collecting subscriptions for his support in his old age.\n\nAgain, some consider themselves born to ill luck, and make up their minds\nthat the world invariably goes against them without any fault on their\nown part.  We have heard of a person of this sort, who went so far as to\ndeclare his belief that if he had been a hatter people would have been\nborn without heads!  There is however a Russian proverb which says that\nMisfortune is next door to Stupidity; and it will often be found that men\nwho are constantly lamenting their luck, are in some way or other reaping\nthe consequences of their own neglect, mismanagement, improvidence, or\nwant of application.  Dr. Johnson, who came up to London with a single\nguinea in his pocket, and who once accurately described himself in his\nsignature to a letter addressed to a noble lord, as _Impransus_, or\nDinnerless, has honestly said, \u201cAll the complaints which are made of the\nworld are unjust; I never knew a man of merit neglected; it was generally\nby his own fault that he failed of success.\u201d\n\nWashington Irying, the American author, held like views.  \u201cAs for the\ntalk,\u201d said he, \u201cabout modest merit being neglected, it is too often a\ncant, by which indolent and irresolute men seek to lay their want of\nsuccess at the door of the public.  Modest merit is, however, too apt to\nbe inactive, or negligent, or uninstructed merit.  Well matured and well\ndisciplined talent is always sure of a market, provided it exerts itself;\nbut it must not cower at home and expect to be sought for.  There is a\ngood deal of cant too about the success of forward and impudent men,\nwhile men of retiring worth are passed over with neglect.  But it usually\nhappens that those forward men have that valuable quality of promptness\nand activity without which worth is a mere inoperative property.  A\nbarking dog is often more useful than a sleeping lion.\u201d\n\nAttention, application, accuracy, method, punctuality, and despatch, are\nthe principal qualities required for the efficient conduct of business of\nany sort.  These, at first sight, may appear to be small matters; and yet\nthey are of essential importance to human happiness, well-being, and\nusefulness.  They are little things, it is true; but human life is made\nup of comparative trifles.  It is the repetition of little acts which\nconstitute not only the sum of human character, but which determine the\ncharacter of nations.  And where men or nations have broken down, it will\nalmost invariably be found that neglect of little things was the rock on\nwhich they split.  Every human being has duties to be performed, and,\ntherefore, has need of cultivating the capacity for doing them; whether\nthe sphere of action be the management of a household, the conduct of a\ntrade or profession, or the government of a nation.\n\nThe examples we have already given of great workers in various branches\nof industry, art, and science, render it unnecessary further to enforce\nthe importance of persevering application in any department of life.  It\nis the result of every-day experience that steady attention to matters of\ndetail lies at the root of human progress; and that diligence, above all,\nis the mother of good luck.  Accuracy is also of much importance, and an\ninvariable mark of good training in a man.  Accuracy in observation,\naccuracy in speech, accuracy in the transaction of affairs.  What is done\nin business must be well done; for it is better to accomplish perfectly a\nsmall amount of work, than to half-do ten times as much.  A wise man used\nto say, \u201cStay a little, that we may make an end the sooner.\u201d\n\nToo little attention, however, is paid to this highly important quality\nof accuracy.  As a man eminent in practical science lately observed to\nus, \u201cIt is astonishing how few people I have met with in the course of my\nexperience, who can _define a fact_ accurately.\u201d  Yet in business\naffairs, it is the manner in which even small matters are transacted,\nthat often decides men for or against you.  With virtue, capacity, and\ngood conduct in other respects, the person who is habitually inaccurate\ncannot be trusted; his work has to be gone over again; and he thus causes\nan infinity of annoyance, vexation, and trouble.\n\nIt was one of the characteristic qualities of Charles James Fox, that he\nwas thoroughly pains-taking in all that he did.  When appointed Secretary\nof State, being piqued at some observation as to his bad writing, he\nactually took a writing-master, and wrote copies like a schoolboy until\nhe had sufficiently improved himself.  Though a corpulent man, he was\nwonderfully active at picking up cut tennis balls, and when asked how he\ncontrived to do so, he playfully replied, \u201cBecause I am a very\npains-taking man.\u201d  The same accuracy in trifling matters was displayed\nby him in things of greater importance; and he acquired his reputation,\nlike the painter, by \u201cneglecting nothing.\u201d\n\nMethod is essential, and enables a larger amount of work to be got\nthrough with satisfaction.  \u201cMethod,\u201d said the Reverend Richard Cecil,\n\u201cis like packing things in a box; a good packer will get in half as much\nagain as a bad one.\u201d  Cecil\u2019s despatch of business was extraordinary, his\nmaxim being, \u201cThe shortest way to do many things is to do only one thing\nat once;\u201d and he never left a thing undone with a view of recurring to it\nat a period of more leisure.  When business pressed, he rather chose to\nencroach on his hours of meals and rest than omit any part of his work.\nDe Witt\u2019s maxim was like Cecil\u2019s: \u201cOne thing at a time.\u201d  \u201cIf,\u201d said he,\n\u201cI have any necessary despatches to make, I think of nothing else till\nthey are finished; if any domestic affairs require my attention, I give\nmyself wholly up to them till they are set in order.\u201d\n\nA French minister, who was alike remarkable for his despatch of business\nand his constant attendance at places of amusement, being asked how he\ncontrived to combine both objects, replied, \u201cSimply by never postponing\ntill to-morrow what should be done to-day.\u201d  Lord Brougham has said that\na certain English statesman reversed the process, and that his maxim was,\nnever to transact to-day what could be postponed till to-morrow.\nUnhappily, such is the practice of many besides that minister, already\nalmost forgotten; the practice is that of the indolent and the\nunsuccessful.  Such men, too, are apt to rely upon agents, who are not\nalways to be relied upon.  Important affairs must be attended to in\nperson.  \u201cIf you want your business done,\u201d says the proverb, \u201cgo and do\nit; if you don\u2019t want it done, send some one else.\u201d\n\nAn indolent country gentleman had a freehold estate producing about five\nhundred a-year.  Becoming involved in debt, he sold half the estate, and\nlet the remainder to an industrious farmer for twenty years.  About the\nend of the term the farmer called to pay his rent, and asked the owner\nwhether he would sell the farm.  \u201cWill _you_ buy it?\u201d asked the owner,\nsurprised.  \u201cYes, if we can agree about the price.\u201d  \u201cThat is exceedingly\nstrange,\u201d observed the gentleman; \u201cpray, tell me how it happens that,\nwhile I could not live upon twice as much land for which I paid no rent,\nyou are regularly paying me two hundred a-year for your farm, and are\nable, in a few years, to purchase it.\u201d  \u201cThe reason is plain,\u201d was the\nreply; \u201cyou sat still and said _Go_, I got up and said _Come_; you laid\nin bed and enjoyed your estate, I rose in the morning and minded my\nbusiness.\u201d\n\nSir Walter Scott, writing to a youth who had obtained a situation and\nasked for his advice, gave him in reply this sound counsel: \u201cBeware of\nstumbling over a propensity which easily besets you from not having your\ntime fully employed\u2014I mean what the women call _dawdling_.  Your motto\nmust be, _Hoc age_.  Do instantly whatever is to be done, and take the\nhours of recreation after business, never before it.  When a regiment is\nunder march, the rear is often thrown into confusion because the front do\nnot move steadily and without interruption.  It is the same with\nbusiness.  If that which is first in hand is not instantly, steadily, and\nregularly despatched, other things accumulate behind, till affairs begin\nto press all at once, and no human brain can stand the confusion.\u201d\n\nPromptitude in action may be stimulated by a due consideration of the\nvalue of time.  An Italian philosopher was accustomed to call time his\nestate: an estate which produces nothing of value without cultivation,\nbut, duly improved, never fails to recompense the labours of the diligent\nworker.  Allowed to lie waste, the product will be only noxious weeds and\nvicious growths of all kinds.  One of the minor uses of steady employment\nis, that it keeps one out of mischief, for truly an idle brain is the\ndevil\u2019s workshop, and a lazy man the devil\u2019s bolster.  To be occupied is\nto be possessed as by a tenant, whereas to be idle is to be empty; and\nwhen the doors of the imagination are opened, temptation finds a ready\naccess, and evil thoughts come trooping in.  It is observed at sea, that\nmen are never so much disposed to grumble and mutiny as when least\nemployed.  Hence an old captain, when there was nothing else to do, would\nissue the order to \u201cscour the anchor!\u201d\n\nMen of business are accustomed to quote the maxim that Time is money; but\nit is more; the proper improvement of it is self-culture,\nself-improvement, and growth of character.  An hour wasted daily on\ntrifles or in indolence, would, if devoted to self-improvement, make an\nignorant man wise in a few years, and employed in good works, would make\nhis life fruitful, and death a harvest of worthy deeds.  Fifteen minutes\na day devoted to self-improvement, will be felt at the end of the year.\nGood thoughts and carefully gathered experience take up no room, and may\nbe carried about as our companions everywhere, without cost or\nincumbrance.  An economical use of time is the true mode of securing\nleisure: it enables us to get through business and carry it forward,\ninstead of being driven by it.  On the other hand, the miscalculation of\ntime involves us in perpetual hurry, confusion, and difficulties; and\nlife becomes a mere shuffle of expedients, usually followed by disaster.\nNelson once said, \u201cI owe all my success in life to having been always a\nquarter of an hour before my time.\u201d\n\nSome take no thought of the value of money until they have come to an end\nof it, and many do the same with their time.  The hours are allowed to\nflow by unemployed, and then, when life is fast waning, they bethink\nthemselves of the duty of making a wiser use of it.  But the habit of\nlistlessness and idleness may already have become confirmed, and they are\nunable to break the bonds with which they have permitted themselves to\nbecome bound.  Lost wealth may be replaced by industry, lost knowledge by\nstudy, lost health by temperance or medicine, but lost time is gone for\never.\n\nA proper consideration of the value of time, will also inspire habits of\npunctuality.  \u201cPunctuality,\u201d said Louis XIV., \u201cis the politeness of\nkings.\u201d  It is also the duty of gentlemen, and the necessity of men of\nbusiness.  Nothing begets confidence in a man sooner than the practice of\nthis virtue, and nothing shakes confidence sooner than the want of it.\nHe who holds to his appointment and does not keep you waiting for him,\nshows that he has regard for your time as well as for his own.  Thus\npunctuality is one of the modes by which we testify our personal respect\nfor those whom we are called upon to meet in the business of life.  It is\nalso conscientiousness in a measure; for an appointment is a contract,\nexpress or implied, and he who does not keep it breaks faith, as well as\ndishonestly uses other people\u2019s time, and thus inevitably loses\ncharacter.  We naturally come to the conclusion that the person who is\ncareless about time will be careless about business, and that he is not\nthe one to be trusted with the transaction of matters of importance.\nWhen Washington\u2019s secretary excused himself for the lateness of his\nattendance and laid the blame upon his watch, his master quietly said,\n\u201cThen you must get another watch, or I another secretary.\u201d\n\nThe person who is negligent of time and its employment is usually found\nto be a general disturber of others\u2019 peace and serenity.  It was wittily\nsaid by Lord Chesterfield of the old Duke of Newcastle\u2014\u201cHis Grace loses\nan hour in the morning, and is looking for it all the rest of the day.\u201d\nEverybody with whom the unpunctual man has to do is thrown from time to\ntime into a state of fever: he is systematically late; regular only in\nhis irregularity.  He conducts his dawdling as if upon system; arrives at\nhis appointment after time; gets to the railway station after the train\nhas started; posts his letter when the box has closed.  Thus business is\nthrown into confusion, and everybody concerned is put out of temper.  It\nwill generally be found that the men who are thus habitually behind time\nare as habitually behind success; and the world generally casts them\naside to swell the ranks of the grumblers and the railers against\nfortune.\n\nIn addition to the ordinary working qualities the business man of the\nhighest class requires quick perception and firmness in the execution of\nhis plans.  Tact is also important; and though this is partly the gift of\nnature, it is yet capable of being cultivated and developed by\nobservation and experience.  Men of this quality are quick to see the\nright mode of action, and if they have decision of purpose, are prompt to\ncarry out their undertakings to a successful issue.  These qualities are\nespecially valuable, and indeed indispensable, in those who direct the\naction of other men on a large scale, as for instance, in the case of the\ncommander of an army in the field.  It is not merely necessary that the\ngeneral should be great as a warrior but also as a man of business.  He\nmust possess great tact, much knowledge of character, and ability to\norganize the movements of a large mass of men, whom he has to feed,\nclothe, and furnish with whatever may be necessary in order that they may\nkeep the field and win battles.  In these respects Napoleon and\nWellington were both first-rate men of business.\n\nThough Napoleon had an immense love for details, he had also a vivid\npower of imagination, which enabled him to look along extended lines of\naction, and deal with those details on a large scale, with judgment and\nrapidity.  He possessed such knowledge of character as enabled him to\nselect, almost unerringly, the best agents for the execution of his\ndesigns.  But he trusted as little as possible to agents in matters of\ngreat moment, on which important results depended.  This feature in his\ncharacter is illustrated in a remarkable degree by the \u2018Napoleon\nCorrespondence,\u2019 now in course of publication, and particularly by the\ncontents of the 15th volume, {277} which include the letters, orders, and\ndespatches, written by the Emperor at Finkenstein, a little chateau on\nthe frontier of Poland in the year 1807, shortly after the victory of\nEylau.\n\nThe French army was then lying encamped along the river Passarge with the\nRussians before them, the Austrians on their right flank, and the\nconquered Prussians in their rear.  A long line of communications had to\nbe maintained with France, through a hostile country; but so carefully,\nand with such foresight was this provided for, that it is said Napoleon\nnever missed a post.  The movements of armies, the bringing up of\nreinforcements from remote points in France, Spain, Italy, and Germany,\nthe opening of canals and the levelling of roads to enable the produce of\nPoland and Prussia to be readily transported to his encampments, had his\nunceasing attention, down to the minutest details.  We find him directing\nwhere horses were to be obtained, making arrangements for an adequate\nsupply of saddles, ordering shoes for the soldiers, and specifying the\nnumber of rations of bread, biscuit, and spirits, that were to be brought\nto camp, or stored in magazines for the use of the troops.  At the same\ntime we find him writing to Paris giving directions for the\nreorganization of the French College, devising a scheme of public\neducation, dictating bulletins and articles for the \u2018Moniteur,\u2019 revising\nthe details of the budgets, giving instructions to architects as to\nalterations to be made at the Tuileries and the Church of the Madelaine,\nthrowing an occasional sarcasm at Madame de Stael and the Parisian\njournals, interfering to put down a squabble at the Grand Opera, carrying\non a correspondence with the Sultan of Turkey and the Schah of Persia, so\nthat while his body was at Finkenstein, his mind seemed to be working at\na hundred different places in Paris, in Europe, and throughout the world.\n\nWe find him in one letter asking Ney if he has duly received the muskets\nwhich have been sent him; in another he gives directions to Prince Jerome\nas to the shirts, greatcoats, clothes, shoes, shakos, and arms, to be\nserved out to the Wurtemburg regiments; again he presses Cambac\u00e9r\u00e8s to\nforward to the army a double stock of corn\u2014\u201cThe _ifs_ and the _buts_,\u201d\nsaid he, \u201care at present out of season, and above all it must be done\nwith speed.\u201d  Then he informs Daru that the army want shirts, and that\nthey don\u2019t come to hand.  To Massena he writes, \u201cLet me know if your\nbiscuit and bread arrangements are yet completed.\u201d  To the Grand due de\nBerg, he gives directions as to the accoutrements of the\ncuirassiers\u2014\u201cThey complain that the men want sabres; send an officer to\nobtain them at Posen.  It is also said they want helmets; order that they\nbe made at Ebling. . . . It is not by sleeping that one can accomplish\nanything.\u201d  Thus no point of detail was neglected, and the energies of\nall were stimulated into action with extraordinary power.  Though many of\nthe Emperor\u2019s days were occupied by inspections of his troops,\u2014in the\ncourse of which he sometimes rode from thirty to forty leagues a day,\u2014and\nby reviews, receptions, and affairs of state, leaving but little time for\nbusiness matters, he neglected nothing on that account; but devoted the\ngreater part of his nights, when necessary, to examining budgets,\ndictating dispatches, and attending to the thousand matters of detail in\nthe organization and working of the Imperial Government; the machinery of\nwhich was for the most part concentrated in his own head.\n\nLike Napoleon, the Duke of Wellington was a first-rate man of business;\nand it is not perhaps saying too much to aver that it was in no small\ndegree because of his possession of a business faculty amounting to\ngenius, that the Duke never lost a battle.\n\nWhile a subaltern, he became dissatisfied with the slowness of his\npromotion, and having passed from the infantry to the cavalry twice, and\nback again, without advancement, he applied to Lord Camden, then Viceroy\nof Ireland, for employment in the Revenue or Treasury Board.  Had he\nsucceeded, no doubt he would have made a first-rate head of a department,\nas he would have made a first-rate merchant or manufacturer.  But his\napplication failed, and he remained with the army to become the greatest\nof British generals.\n\nThe Duke began his active military career under the Duke of York and\nGeneral Walmoden, in Flanders and Holland, where he learnt, amidst\nmisfortunes and defeats, how bad business arrangements and bad\ngeneralship serve to ruin the _morale_ of an army.  Ten years after\nentering the army we find him a colonel in India, reported by his\nsuperiors as an officer of indefatigable energy and application.  He\nentered into the minutest details of the service, and sought to raise the\ndiscipline of his men to the highest standard.  \u201cThe regiment of Colonel\nWellesley,\u201d wrote General Harris in 1799, \u201cis a model regiment; on the\nscore of soldierly bearing, discipline, instruction, and orderly\nbehaviour it is above all praise.\u201d  Thus qualifying himself for posts of\ngreater confidence, he was shortly after nominated governor of the\ncapital of Mysore.  In the war with the Mahrattas he was first called\nupon to try his hand at generalship; and at thirty-four he won the\nmemorable battle of Assaye, with an army composed of 1500 British and\n5000 sepoys, over 20,000 Mahratta infantry and 30,000 cavalry.  But so\nbrilliant a victory did not in the least disturb his equanimity, or\naffect the perfect honesty of his character.\n\nShortly after this event the opportunity occurred for exhibiting his\nadmirable practical qualities as an administrator.  Placed in command of\nan important district immediately after the capture of Seringapatam, his\nfirst object was to establish rigid order and discipline among his own\nmen.  Flushed with victory, the troops were found riotous and disorderly.\n\u201cSend me the provost marshal,\u201d said he, \u201cand put him under my orders:\ntill some of the marauders are hung, it is impossible to expect order or\nsafety.\u201d  This rigid severity of Wellington in the field, though it was\nthe dread, proved the salvation of his troops in many campaigns.  His\nnext step was to re-establish the markets and re-open the sources of\nsupply.  General Harris wrote to the Governor-general, strongly\ncommending Colonel Wellesley for the perfect discipline he had\nestablished, and for his \u201cjudicious and masterly arrangements in respect\nto supplies, which opened an abundant free market, and inspired\nconfidence into dealers of every description.\u201d  The same close attention\nto, and mastery of details, characterized him throughout his Indian\ncareer; and it is remarkable that one of his ablest despatches to Lord\nClive, full of practical information as to the conduct of the campaign,\nwas written whilst the column he commanded was crossing the Toombuddra,\nin the face of the vastly superior army of Dhoondiah, posted on the\nopposite bank, and while a thousand matters of the deepest interest were\npressing upon the commander\u2019s mind.  But it was one of his most\nremarkable characteristics, thus to be able to withdraw himself\ntemporarily from the business immediately in hand, and to bend his full\npowers upon the consideration of matters totally distinct; even the most\ndifficult circumstances on such occasions failing to embarrass or\nintimidate him.\n\nReturned to England with a reputation for generalship, Sir Arthur\nWellesley met with immediate employment.  In 1808 a corps of 10,000 men\ndestined to liberate Portugal was placed under his charge.  He landed,\nfought, and won two battles, and signed the Convention of Cintra.  After\nthe death of Sir John Moore he was entrusted with the command of a new\nexpedition to Portugal.  But Wellington was fearfully overmatched\nthroughout his Peninsular campaigns.  From 1809 to 1813 he never had more\nthan 30,000 British troops under his command, at a time when there stood\nopposed to him in the Peninsula some 350,000 French, mostly veterans, led\nby some of Napoleon\u2019s ablest generals.  How was he to contend against\nsuch immense forces with any fair prospect of success?  His clear\ndiscernment and strong common sense soon taught him that he must adopt a\ndifferent policy from that of the Spanish generals, who were invariably\nbeaten and dispersed whenever they ventured to offer battle in the open\nplains.  He perceived he had yet to create the army that was to contend\nagainst the French with any reasonable chance of success.  Accordingly,\nafter the battle of Talavera in 1809, when he found himself encompassed\non all sides by superior forces of French, he retired into Portugal,\nthere to carry out the settled policy on which he had by this time\ndetermined.  It was, to organise a Portuguese army under British\nofficers, and teach them to act in combination with his own troops, in\nthe mean time avoiding the peril of a defeat by declining all\nengagements.  He would thus, he conceived, destroy the _morale_ of the\nFrench, who could not exist without victories; and when his army was ripe\nfor action, and the enemy demoralized, he would then fall upon them with\nall his might.\n\nThe extraordinary qualities displayed by Lord Wellington throughout these\nimmortal campaigns, can only be appreciated after a perusal of his\ndespatches, which contain the unvarnished tale of the manifold ways and\nmeans by which he laid the foundations of his success.  Never was man\nmore tried by difficulty and opposition, arising not less from the\nimbecility, falsehoods and intrigues of the British Government of the\nday, than from the selfishness, cowardice, and vanity of the people he\nwent to save.  It may, indeed, be said of him, that he sustained the war\nin Spain by his individual firmness and self-reliance, which never failed\nhim even in the midst of his great discouragements.  He had not only to\nfight Napoleon\u2019s veterans, but also to hold in check the Spanish juntas\nand the Portuguese regency.  He had the utmost difficulty in obtaining\nprovisions and clothing for his troops; and it will scarcely be credited\nthat, while engaged with the enemy in the battle of Talavera, the\nSpaniards, who ran away, fell upon the baggage of the British army, and\nthe ruffians actually plundered it!  These and other vexations the Duke\nbore with a sublime patience and self-control, and held on his course, in\nthe face of ingratitude, treachery, and opposition, with indomitable\nfirmness.  He neglected nothing, and attended to every important detail\nof business himself.  When he found that food for his troops was not to\nbe obtained from England, and that he must rely upon his own resources\nfor feeding them, he forthwith commenced business as a corn merchant on a\nlarge scale, in copartnery with the British Minister at Lisbon.\nCommissariat bills were created, with which grain was bought in the ports\nof the Mediterranean and in South America.  When he had thus filled his\nmagazines, the overplus was sold to the Portuguese, who were greatly in\nwant of provisions.  He left nothing whatever to chance, but provided for\nevery contingency.  He gave his attention to the minutest details of the\nservice; and was accustomed to concentrate his whole energies, from time\nto time, on such apparently ignominious matters as soldiers\u2019 shoes,\ncamp-kettles, biscuits and horse fodder.  His magnificent business\nqualities were everywhere felt, and there can be no doubt that, by the\ncare with which he provided for every contingency, and the personal\nattention which he gave to every detail, he laid the foundations of his\ngreat success. {283}  By such means he transformed an army of raw levies\ninto the best soldiers in Europe, with whom he declared it to be possible\nto go anywhere and do anything.\n\nWe have already referred to his remarkable power of abstracting himself\nfrom the work, no matter how engrossing, immediately in hand, and\nconcentrating his energies upon the details of some entirely different\nbusiness.  Thus Napier relates that it was while he was preparing to\nfight the battle of Salamanca that he had to expose to the Ministers at\nhome the futility of relying upon a loan; it was on the heights of San\nChristoval, on the field of battle itself, that he demonstrated the\nabsurdity of attempting to establish a Portuguese bank; it was in the\ntrenches of Burgos that he dissected Funchal\u2019s scheme of finance, and\nexposed the folly of attempting the sale of church property; and on each\noccasion, he showed himself as well acquainted with these subjects as\nwith the minutest detail in the mechanism of armies.\n\nAnother feature in his character, showing the upright man of business,\nwas his thorough honesty.  Whilst Soult ransacked and carried away with\nhim from Spain numerous pictures of great value, Wellington did not\nappropriate to himself a single farthing\u2019s worth of property.  Everywhere\nhe paid his way, even when in the enemy\u2019s country.  When he had crossed\nthe French frontier, followed by 40,000 Spaniards, who sought to \u201cmake\nfortunes\u201d by pillage and plunder, he first rebuked their officers, and\nthen, finding his efforts to restrain them unavailing, he sent them back\ninto their own country.  It is a remarkable fact, that, even in France\nthe peasantry fled from their own countrymen, and carried their valuables\nwithin the protection of the British lines!  At the very same time,\nWellington was writing home to the British Ministry, \u201cWe are overwhelmed\nwith debts, and I can scarcely stir out of my house on account of public\ncreditors waiting to demand payment of what is due to them.\u201d  Jules\nMaurel, in his estimate of the Duke\u2019s character, says, \u201cNothing can be\ngrander or more nobly original than this admission.  This old soldier,\nafter thirty years\u2019 service, this iron man and victorious general,\nestablished in an enemy\u2019s country at the head of an immense army, is\nafraid of his creditors!  This is a kind of fear that has seldom troubled\nthe mind of conquerors and invaders; and I doubt if the annals of war\ncould present anything comparable to this sublime simplicity.\u201d  But the\nDuke himself, had the matter been put to him, would most probably have\ndisclaimed any intention of acting even grandly or nobly in the matter;\nmerely regarding the punctual payment of his debts as the best and most\nhonourable mode of conducting his business.\n\nThe truth of the good old maxim, that \u201cHonesty is the best policy,\u201d is\nupheld by the daily experience of life; uprightness and integrity being\nfound as successful in business as in everything else.  As Hugh Miller\u2019s\nworthy uncle used to advise him, \u201cIn all your dealings give your\nneighbour the cast of the bank\u2014\u2018good measure, heaped up, and running\nover,\u2019\u2014and you will not lose by it in the end.\u201d  A well-known brewer of\nbeer attributed his success to the liberality with which he used his\nmalt.  Going up to the vat and tasting it, he would say, \u201cStill rather\npoor, my lads; give it another cast of the malt.\u201d  The brewer put his\ncharacter into his beer, and it proved generous accordingly, obtaining a\nreputation in England, India, and the colonies, which laid the foundation\nof a large fortune.  Integrity of word and deed ought to be the very\ncornerstone of all business transactions.  To the tradesman, the\nmerchant, and manufacturer, it should be what honour is to the soldier,\nand charity to the Christian.  In the humblest calling there will always\nbe found scope for the exercise of this uprightness of character.  Hugh\nMiller speaks of the mason with whom he served his apprenticeship, as one\nwho \u201c_put his conscience into every stone that he laid_.\u201d  So the true\nmechanic will pride himself upon the thoroughness and solidity of his\nwork, and the high-minded contractor upon the honesty of performance of\nhis contract in every particular.  The upright manufacturer will find not\nonly honour and reputation, but substantial success, in the genuineness\nof the article which he produces, and the merchant in the honesty of what\nhe sells, and that it really is what it seems to be.  Baron Dupin,\nspeaking of the general probity of Englishmen, which he held to be a\nprincipal cause of their success, observed, \u201cWe may succeed for a time by\nfraud, by surprise, by violence; but we can succeed permanently only by\nmeans directly opposite.  It is not alone the courage, the intelligence,\nthe activity, of the merchant and manufacturer which maintain the\nsuperiority of their productions and the character of their country; it\nis far more their wisdom, their economy, and, above all, their probity.\nIf ever in the British Islands the useful citizen should lose these\nvirtues, we may be sure that, for England, as for every other country,\nthe vessels of a degenerate commerce, repulsed from every shore, would\nspeedily disappear from those seas whose surface they now cover with the\ntreasures of the universe, bartered for the treasures of the industry of\nthe three kingdoms.\u201d\n\nIt must be admitted, that Trade tries character perhaps more severely\nthan any other pursuit in life.  It puts to the severest tests honesty,\nself-denial, justice, and truthfulness; and men of business who pass\nthrough such trials unstained are perhaps worthy of as great honour as\nsoldiers who prove their courage amidst the fire and perils of battle.\nAnd, to the credit of the multitudes of men engaged in the various\ndepartments of trade, we think it must be admitted that on the whole they\npass through their trials nobly.  If we reflect but for a moment on the\nvast amount of wealth daily entrusted even to subordinate persons, who\nthemselves probably earn but a bare competency\u2014the loose cash which is\nconstantly passing through the hands of shopmen, agents, brokers, and\nclerks in banking houses,\u2014and note how comparatively few are the breaches\nof trust which occur amidst all this temptation, it will probably be\nadmitted that this steady daily honesty of conduct is most honourable to\nhuman nature, if it do not even tempt us to be proud of it.  The same\ntrust and confidence reposed by men of business in each other, as implied\nby the system of Credit, which is mainly based upon the principle of\nhonour, would be surprising if it were not so much a matter of ordinary\npractice in business transactions.  Dr. Chalmers has well said, that the\nimplicit trust with which merchants are accustomed to confide in distant\nagents, separated from them perhaps by half the globe\u2014often consigning\nvast wealth to persons, recommended only by their character, whom perhaps\nthey have never seen\u2014is probably the finest act of homage which men can\nrender to one another.\n\nAlthough common honesty is still happily in the ascendant amongst common\npeople, and the general business community of England is still sound at\nheart, putting their honest character into their respective\ncallings,\u2014there are unhappily, as there have been in all times, but too\nmany instances of flagrant dishonesty and fraud, exhibited by the\nunscrupulous, the over-speculative, and the intensely selfish in their\nhaste to be rich.  There are tradesmen who adulterate, contractors who\n\u201cscamp,\u201d manufacturers who give us shoddy instead of wool, \u201cdressing\u201d\ninstead of cotton, cast-iron tools instead of steel, needles without\neyes, razors made only \u201cto sell,\u201d and swindled fabrics in many shapes.\nBut these we must hold to be the exceptional cases, of low-minded and\ngrasping men, who, though they may gain wealth which they probably cannot\nenjoy, will never gain an honest character, nor secure that without which\nwealth is nothing\u2014a heart at peace.  \u201cThe rogue cozened not me, but his\nown conscience,\u201d said Bishop Latimer of a cutler who made him pay\ntwopence for a knife not worth a penny.  Money, earned by screwing,\ncheating, and overreaching, may for a time dazzle the eyes of the\nunthinking; but the bubbles blown by unscrupulous rogues, when\nfull-blown, usually glitter only to burst.  The Sadleirs, Dean Pauls, and\nRedpaths, for the most part, come to a sad end even in this world; and\nthough the successful swindles of others may not be \u201cfound out,\u201d and the\ngains of their roguery may remain with them, it will be as a curse and\nnot as a blessing.\n\nIt is possible that the scrupulously honest man may not grow rich so fast\nas the unscrupulous and dishonest one; but the success will be of a truer\nkind, earned without fraud or injustice.  And even though a man should\nfor a time be unsuccessful, still he must be honest: better lose all and\nsave character.  For character is itself a fortune; and if the\nhigh-principled man will but hold on his way courageously, success will\nsurely come,\u2014nor will the highest reward of all be withheld from him.\nWordsworth well describes the \u201cHappy Warrior,\u201d as he\n\n    \u201cWho comprehends his trust, and to the same\n    Keeps faithful with a singleness of aim;\n    And therefore does not stoop, nor lie in wait\n    For wealth, or honour, or for worldly state;\n    Whom they must follow, on whose head must fall,\n    Like showers of manna, if they come at all.\u201d\n\nAs an example of the high-minded mercantile man trained in upright habits\nof business, and distinguished for justice, truthfulness, and honesty of\ndealing in all things, the career of the well-known David Barclay,\ngrandson of Robert Barclay, of Ury, the author of the celebrated \u2018Apology\nfor the Quakers,\u2019 may be briefly referred to.  For many years he was the\nhead of an extensive house in Cheapside, chiefly engaged in the American\ntrade; but like Granville Sharp, he entertained so strong an opinion\nagainst the war with our American colonies, that he determined to retire\naltogether from the trade.  Whilst a merchant, he was as much\ndistinguished for his talents, knowledge, integrity, and power, as he\nafterwards was for his patriotism and munificent philanthropy.  He was a\nmirror of truthfulness and honesty; and, as became the good Christian and\ntrue gentleman, his word was always held to be as good as his bond.  His\nposition, and his high character, induced the Ministers of the day on\nmany occasions to seek his advice; and, when examined before the House of\nCommons on the subject of the American dispute, his views were so clearly\nexpressed, and his advice was so strongly justified by the reasons stated\nby him, that Lord North publicly acknowledged that he had derived more\ninformation from David Barclay than from all others east of Temple Bar.\nOn retiring from business, it was not to rest in luxurious ease, but to\nenter upon new labours of usefulness for others.  With ample means, he\nfelt that he still owed to society the duty of a good example.  He\nfounded a house of industry near his residence at Walthamstow, which he\nsupported at a heavy outlay for several years, until at length he\nsucceeded in rendering it a source of comfort as well as independence to\nthe well-disposed families of the poor in that neighbourhood.  When an\nestate in Jamaica fell to him, he determined, though at a cost of some\n10,000_l._, at once to give liberty to the whole of the slaves on the\nproperty.  He sent out an agent, who hired a ship, and he had the little\nslave community transported to one of the free American states, where\nthey settled down and prospered.  Mr. Barclay had been assured that the\nnegroes were too ignorant and too barbarous for freedom, and it was thus\nthat he determined practically to demonstrate the fallacy of the\nassertion.  In dealing with his accumulated savings, he made himself the\nexecutor of his own will, and instead of leaving a large fortune to be\ndivided among his relatives at his death, he extended to them his\nmunificent aid during his life, watched and aided them in their\nrespective careers, and thus not only laid the foundation, but lived to\nsee the maturity, of some of the largest and most prosperous business\nconcerns in the metropolis.  We believe that to this day some of our most\neminent merchants\u2014such as the Gurneys, Hanburys, and Buxtons\u2014are proud to\nacknowledge with gratitude the obligations they owe to David Barclay for\nthe means of their first introduction to life, and for the benefits of\nhis counsel and countenance in the early stages of their career.  Such a\nman stands as a mark of the mercantile honesty and integrity of his\ncountry, and is a model and example for men of business in all time to\ncome.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\nMONEY\u2014ITS USE AND ABUSE.\n\n\n    \u201cNot for to hide it in a hedge,\n       Nor for a train attendant,\n    But for the glorious privilege\n       Of being independent.\u201d\u2014_Burns_.\n\n    \u201cNeither a borrower nor a lender be:\n    For loan oft loses both itself and friend;\n    And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.\u201d\u2014_Shakepeare_.\n\n    Never treat money affairs with levity\u2014Money is character.\u2014_Sir E. L.\n    Bulwer Lytton_.\n\nHOW a man uses money\u2014makes it, saves it, and spends it\u2014is perhaps one of\nthe best tests of practical wisdom.  Although money ought by no means to\nbe regarded as a chief end of man\u2019s life, neither is it a trifling\nmatter, to be held in philosophic contempt, representing as it does to so\nlarge an extent, the means of physical comfort and social well-being.\nIndeed, some of the finest qualities of human nature are intimately\nrelated to the right use of money; such as generosity, honesty, justice,\nand self-sacrifice; as well as the practical virtues of economy and\nprovidence.  On the other hand, there are their counterparts of avarice,\nfraud, injustice, and selfishness, as displayed by the inordinate lovers\nof gain; and the vices of thriftlessness, extravagance, and improvidence,\non the part of those who misuse and abuse the means entrusted to them.\n\u201cSo that,\u201d as is wisely observed by Henry Taylor in his thoughtful \u2018Notes\nfrom Life,\u2019 \u201ca right measure and manner in getting, saving, spending,\ngiving, taking, lending, borrowing, and bequeathing, would almost argue a\nperfect man.\u201d\n\nComfort in worldly circumstances is a con ion which every man is\njustified in striving to attain by all worthy means.  It secures that\nphysical satisfaction, which is necessary for the culture of the better\npart of his nature; and enables him to provide for those of his own\nhousehold, without which, says the Apostle, a man is \u201cworse than an\ninfidel.\u201d  Nor ought the duty to be any the less indifferent to us, that\nthe respect which our fellow-men entertain for us in no slight degree\ndepends upon the manner in which we exercise the opportunities which\npresent themselves for our honourable advancement in life.  The very\neffort required to be made to succeed in life with this object, is of\nitself an education; stimulating a man\u2019s sense of self-respect, bringing\nout his practical qualities, and disciplining him in the exercise of\npatience, perseverance, and such like virtues.  The provident and careful\nman must necessarily be a thoughtful man, for he lives not merely for the\npresent, but with provident forecast makes arrangements for the future.\nHe must also be a temperate man, and exercise the virtue of self-denial,\nthan which nothing is so much calculated to give strength to the\ncharacter.  John Sterling says truly, that \u201cthe worst education which\nteaches self denial, is better than the best which teaches everything\nelse, and not that.\u201d  The Romans rightly employed the same word (virtus)\nto designate courage, which is in a physical sense what the other is in a\nmoral; the highest virtue of all being victory over ourselves.\n\nHence the lesson of self-denial\u2014the sacrificing of a present\ngratification for a future good\u2014is one of the last that is learnt.  Those\nclasses which work the hardest might naturally be expected to value the\nmost the money which they earn.  Yet the readiness with which so many are\naccustomed to eat up and drink up their earnings as they go, renders them\nto a great extent helpless and dependent upon the frugal.  There are\nlarge numbers of persons among us who, though enjoying sufficient means\nof comfort and independence, are often found to be barely a day\u2019s march\nahead of actual want when a time of pressure occurs; and hence a great\ncause of social helplessness and suffering.  On one occasion a deputation\nwaited on Lord John Russell, respecting the taxation levied on the\nworking classes of the country, when the noble lord took the opportunity\nof remarking, \u201cYou may rely upon it that the Government of this country\ndurst not tax the working classes to anything like the extent to which\nthey tax themselves in their expenditure upon intoxicating drinks alone!\u201d\nOf all great public questions, there is perhaps none more important than\nthis,\u2014no great work of reform calling more loudly for labourers.  But it\nmust be admitted that \u201cself-denial and self-help\u201d would make a poor\nrallying cry for the hustings; and it is to be feared that the patriotism\nof this day has but little regard for such common things as individual\neconomy and providence, although it is by the practice of such virtues\nonly that the genuine independence of the industrial classes is to be\nsecured.  \u201cPrudence, frugality, and good management,\u201d said Samuel Drew,\nthe philosophical shoemaker, \u201care excellent artists for mending bad\ntimes: they occupy but little room in any dwelling, but would furnish a\nmore effectual remedy for the evils of life than any Reform Bill that\never passed the Houses of Parliament.\u201d  Socrates said, \u201cLet him that\nwould move the world move first himself.  \u201d Or as the old rhyme runs\u2014\n\n    \u201cIf every one would see\n    To his own reformation,\n    How very easily\n    You might reform a nation.\u201d\n\nIt is, however, generally felt to be a far easier thing to reform the\nChurch and the State than to reform the least of our own bad habits; and\nin such matters it is usually found more agreeable to our tastes, as it\ncertainly is the common practice, to begin with our neighbours rather\nthan with ourselves.\n\nAny class of men that lives from hand to mouth will ever be an inferior\nclass.  They will necessarily remain impotent and helpless, hanging on to\nthe skirts of society, the sport of times and seasons.  Having no respect\nfor themselves, they will fail in securing the respect of others.  In\ncommercial crises, such men must inevitably go to the wall.  Wanting that\nhusbanded power which a store of savings, no matter how small, invariably\ngives them, they will be at every man\u2019s mercy, and, if possessed of right\nfeelings, they cannot but regard with fear and trembling the future\npossible fate of their wives and children.  \u201cThe world,\u201d once said Mr.\nCobden to the working men of Huddersfield, \u201chas always been divided into\ntwo classes,\u2014those who have saved, and those who have spent\u2014the thrifty\nand the extravagant.  The building of all the houses, the mills, the\nbridges, and the ships, and the accomplishment of all other great works\nwhich have rendered man civilized and happy, has been done by the savers,\nthe thrifty; and those who have wasted their resources have always been\ntheir slaves.  It has been the law of nature and of Providence that this\nshould be so; and I were an impostor if I promised any class that they\nwould advance themselves if they were improvident, thoughtless, and\nidle.\u201d\n\nEqually sound was the advice given by Mr. Bright to an assembly of\nworking men at Rochdale, in 1847, when, after expressing his belief that,\n\u201cso far as honesty was concerned, it was to be found in pretty equal\namount among all classes,\u201d he used the following words:\u2014\u201cThere is only\none way that is safe for any man, or any number of men, by which they can\nmaintain their present position if it be a good one, or raise themselves\nabove it if it be a bad one,\u2014that is, by the practice of the virtues of\nindustry, frugality, temperance, and honesty.  There is no royal road by\nwhich men can raise themselves from a position which they feel to be\nuncomfortable and unsatisfactory, as regards their mental or physical\ncondition, except by the practice of those virtues by which they find\nnumbers amongst them are continually advancing and bettering themselves.\u201d\n\nThere is no reason why the condition of the average workman should not be\na useful, honourable, respectable, and happy one.  The whole body of the\nworking classes might, (with few exceptions) be as frugal, virtuous,\nwell-informed, and well-conditioned as many individuals of the same class\nhave already made themselves.  What some men are, all without difficulty\nmight be.  Employ the same means, and the same results will follow.  That\nthere should be a class of men who live by their daily labour in every\nstate is the ordinance of God, and doubtless is a wise and righteous one;\nbut that this class should be otherwise than frugal, contented,\nintelligent, and happy, is not the design of Providence, but springs\nsolely from the weakness, self-indulgence, and perverseness of man\nhimself.  The healthy spirit of self-help created amongst working people\nwould more than any other measure serve to raise them as a class, and\nthis, not by pulling down others, but by levelling them up to a higher\nand still advancing standard of religion, intelligence, and virtue.  \u201cAll\nmoral philosophy,\u201d says Montaigne, \u201cis as applicable to a common and\nprivate life as to the most splendid.  Every man carries the entire form\nof the human condition within him.\u201d\n\nWhen a man casts his glance forward, he will find that the three chief\ntemporal contingencies for which he has to provide are want of\nemployment, sickness, and death.  The two first he may escape, but the\nlast is inevitable.  It is, however, the duty of the prudent man so to\nlive, and so to arrange, that the pressure of suffering, in event of\neither contingency occurring, shall be mitigated to as great an extent as\npossible, not only to himself, but also to those who are dependent upon\nhim for their comfort and subsistence.  Viewed in this light the honest\nearning and the frugal use of money are of the greatest importance.\nRightly earned, it is the representative of patient industry and untiring\neffort, of temptation resisted, and hope rewarded; and rightly used, it\naffords indications of prudence, forethought and self-denial\u2014the true\nbasis of manly character.  Though money represents a crowd of objects\nwithout any real worth or utility, it also represents many things of\ngreat value; not only food, clothing, and household satisfaction, but\npersonal self-respect and independence.  Thus a store of savings is to\nthe working man as a barricade against want; it secures him a footing,\nand enables him to wait, it may be in cheerfulness and hope, until better\ndays come round.  The very endeavour to gain a firmer position in the\nworld has a certain dignity in it, and tends to make a man stronger and\nbetter.  At all events it gives him greater freedom of action, and\nenables him to husband his strength for future effort.\n\nBut the man who is always hovering on the verge of want is in a state not\nfar removed from that of slavery.  He is in no sense his own master, but\nis in constant peril of falling under the bondage of others, and\naccepting the terms which they dictate to him.  He cannot help being, in\na measure, servile, for he dares not look the world boldly in the face;\nand in adverse times he must look either to alms or the poor\u2019s rates.  If\nwork fails him altogether, he has not the means of moving to another\nfield of employment; he is fixed to his parish like a limpet to its rock,\nand can neither migrate nor emigrate.\n\nTo secure independence, the practice of simple economy is all that is\nnecessary.  Economy requires neither superior courage nor eminent virtue;\nit is satisfied with ordinary energy, and the capacity of average minds.\nEconomy, at bottom, is but the spirit of order applied in the\nadministration of domestic affairs: it means management, regularity,\nprudence, and the avoidance of waste.  The spirit of economy was\nexpressed by our Divine Master in the words \u2018Gather up the fragments that\nremain, so that nothing may be lost.\u2019  His omnipotence did not disdain\nthe small things of life; and even while revealing His infinite power to\nthe multitude, he taught the pregnant lesson of carefulness of which all\nstand so much in need.\n\nEconomy also means the power of resisting present gratification for the\npurpose of securing a future good, and in this light it represents the\nascendancy of reason over the animal instincts.  It is altogether\ndifferent from penuriousness: for it is economy that can always best\nafford to be generous.  It does not make money an idol, but regards it as\na useful agent.  As Dean Swift observes, \u201cwe must carry money in the\nhead, not in the heart.\u201d  Economy may be styled the daughter of Prudence,\nthe sister of Temperance, and the mother of Liberty.  It is evidently\nconservative\u2014conservative of character, of domestic happiness, and social\nwell-being.  It is, in short, the exhibition of self-help in one of its\nbest forms.\n\nFrancis Horner\u2019s father gave him this advice on entering life:\u2014\u201cWhilst I\nwish you to be comfortable in every respect, I cannot too strongly\ninculcate economy.  It is a necessary virtue to all; and however the\nshallow part of mankind may despise it, it certainly leads to\nindependence, which is a grand object to every man of a high spirit.\u201d\nBurns\u2019 lines, quoted at the head of this chapter, contain the right idea;\nbut unhappily his strain of song was higher than his practice; his ideal\nbetter than his habit.  When laid on his death-bed he wrote to a friend,\n\u201cAlas! Clarke, I begin to feel the worst.  Burns\u2019 poor widow, and half a\ndozen of his dear little ones helpless orphans;\u2014there I am weak as a\nwoman\u2019s tear.  Enough of this;\u2014\u2019tis half my disease.\u201d\n\nEvery man ought so to contrive as to live within his means.  This\npractice is of the very essence of honesty.  For if a man do not manage\nhonestly to live within his own means, he must necessarily be living\ndishonestly upon the means of somebody else.  Those who are careless\nabout personal expenditure, and consider merely their own gratification,\nwithout regard for the comfort of others, generally find out the real\nuses of money when it is too late.  Though by nature generous, these\nthriftless persons are often driven in the end to do very shabby things.\nThey waste their money as they do their time; draw bills upon the future;\nanticipate their earnings; and are thus under the necessity of dragging\nafter them a load of debts and obligations which seriously affect their\naction as free and independent men.\n\nIt was a maxim of Lord Bacon, that when it was necessary to economize, it\nwas better to look after petty savings than to descend to petty gettings.\nThe loose cash which many persons throw away uselessly, and worse, would\noften form a basis of fortune and independence for life.  These wasters\nare their own worst enemies, though generally found amongst the ranks of\nthose who rail at the injustice of \u201cthe world.\u201d  But if a man will not be\nhis own friend, how can he expect that others will?  Orderly men of\nmoderate means have always something left in their pockets to help\nothers; whereas your prodigal and careless fellows who spend all never\nfind an opportunity for helping anybody.  It is poor economy, however, to\nbe a scrub.  Narrowmindedness in living and in dealing is generally\nshort-sighted, and leads to failure.  The penny soul, it is said, never\ncame to twopence.  Generosity and liberality, like honesty, prove the\nbest policy after all.  Though Jenkinson, in the \u2018Vicar of Wakefield,\u2019\ncheated his kind-hearted neighbour Flamborough in one way or another\nevery year, \u201cFlamborough,\u201d said he, \u201chas been regularly growing in\nriches, while I have come to poverty and a gaol.\u201d  And practical life\nabounds in cases of brilliant results from a course of generous and\nhonest policy.\n\nThe proverb says that \u201can empty bag cannot stand upright;\u201d neither can a\nman who is in debt.  It is also difficult for a man who is in debt to be\ntruthful; hence it is said that lying rides on debt\u2019s back.  The debtor\nhas to frame excuses to his creditor for postponing payment of the money\nhe owes him; and probably also to contrive falsehoods.  It is easy enough\nfor a man who will exercise a healthy resolution, to avoid incurring the\nfirst obligation; but the facility with which that has been incurred\noften becomes a temptation to a second; and very soon the unfortunate\nborrower becomes so entangled that no late exertion of industry can set\nhim free.  The first step in debt is like the first step in falsehood;\nalmost involving the necessity of proceeding in the same course, debt\nfollowing debt, as lie follows lie.  Haydon, the painter, dated his\ndecline from the day on which he first borrowed money.  He realized the\ntruth of the proverb, \u201cWho goes a-borrowing, goes a-sorrowing.\u201d  The\nsignificant entry in his diary is: \u201cHere began debt and obligation, out\nof which I have never been and never shall be extricated as long as I\nlive.\u201d  His Autobiography shows but too painfully how embarrassment in\nmoney matters produces poignant distress of mind, utter incapacity for\nwork, and constantly recurring humiliations.  The written advice which he\ngave to a youth when entering the navy was as follows: \u201cNever purchase\nany enjoyment if it cannot be procured without borrowing of others.\nNever borrow money: it is degrading.  I do not say never lend, but never\nlend if by lending you render yourself unable to pay what you owe; but\nunder any circumstances never borrow.\u201d  Fichte, the poor student, refused\nto accept even presents from his still poorer parents.\n\nDr. Johnson held that early debt is ruin.  His words on the subject are\nweighty, and worthy of being held in remembrance.  \u201cDo not,\u201d said he,\n\u201caccustom yourself to consider debt only as an inconvenience; you will\nfind it a calamity.  Poverty takes away so many means of doing good, and\nproduces so much inability to resist evil, both natural and moral, that\nit is by all virtuous means to be avoided. . . . Let it be your first\ncare, then, not to be in any man\u2019s debt.  Resolve not to be poor;\nwhatever you have spend less.  Poverty is a great enemy to human\nhappiness; it certainly destroys liberty, and it makes some virtues\nimpracticable and others extremely difficult.  Frugality is not only the\nbasis of quiet, but of beneficence.  No man can help others that wants\nhelp himself; we must have enough before we have to spare.\u201d\n\nIt is the bounden duty of every man to look his affairs in the face, and\nto keep an account of his incomings and outgoings in money matters.  The\nexercise of a little simple arithmetic in this way will be found of great\nvalue.  Prudence requires that we shall pitch our scale of living a\ndegree below our means, rather than up to them; but this can only be done\nby carrying out faithfully a plan of living by which both ends may be\nmade to meet.  John Locke strongly advised this course: \u201cNothing,\u201d said\nhe, \u201cis likelier to keep a man within compass than having constantly\nbefore his eyes the state of his affairs in a regular course of account.\u201d\nThe Duke of Wellington kept an accurate detailed account of all the\nmoneys received and expended by him.  \u201cI make a point,\u201d said he to Mr.\nGleig, \u201cof paying my own bills, and I advise every one to do the same;\nformerly I used to trust a confidential servant to pay them, but I was\ncured of that folly by receiving one morning, to my great surprise, duns\nof a year or two\u2019s standing.  The fellow had speculated with my money,\nand left my bills unpaid.\u201d  Talking of debt his remark was, \u201cIt makes a\nslave of a man.  I have often known what it was to be in want of money,\nbut I never got into debt.\u201d  Washington was as particular as Wellington\nwas, in matters of business detail; and it is a remarkable fact, that he\ndid not disdain to scrutinize the smallest outgoings of his\nhousehold\u2014determined as he was to live honestly within his means\u2014even\nwhile holding the high office of President of the American Union.\n\nAdmiral Jervis, Earl St. Vincent, has told the story of his early\nstruggles, and, amongst other things, of his determination to keep out of\ndebt.  \u201cMy father had a very large family,\u201d said he, \u201cwith limited means.\nHe gave me twenty pounds at starting, and that was all he ever gave me.\nAfter I had been a considerable time at the station [at sea], I drew for\ntwenty more, but the bill came back protested.  I was mortified at this\nrebuke, and made a promise, which I have ever kept, that I would never\ndraw another bill without a certainty of its being paid.  I immediately\nchanged my mode of living, quitted my mess, lived alone, and took up the\nship\u2019s allowance, which I found quite sufficient; washed and mended my\nown clothes; made a pair of trousers out of the ticking of my bed; and\nhaving by these means saved as much money as would redeem my honour, I\ntook up my bill, and from that time to this I have taken care to keep\nwithin my means.\u201d  Jervis for six years endured pinching privation, but\npreserved his integrity, studied his profession with success, and\ngradually and steadily rose by merit and bravery to the highest rank.\n\nMr. Hume hit the mark when he once stated in the House of Commons\u2014though\nhis words were followed by \u201claughter\u201d\u2014that the tone of living in England\nis altogether too high.  Middle-class people are too apt to live up to\ntheir incomes, if not beyond them: affecting a degree of \u201cstyle\u201d which is\nmost unhealthy in its effects upon society at large.  There is an\nambition to bring up boys as gentlemen, or rather \u201cgenteel\u201d men; though\nthe result frequently is, only to make them gents.  They acquire a taste\nfor dress, style, luxuries, and amusements, which can never form any\nsolid foundation for manly or gentlemanly character; and the result is,\nthat we have a vast number of gingerbread young gentry thrown upon the\nworld, who remind one of the abandoned hulls sometimes picked up at sea,\nwith only a monkey on board.\n\nThere is a dreadful ambition abroad for being \u201cgenteel.\u201d  We keep up\nappearances, too often at the expense of honesty; and, though we may not\nbe rich, yet we must seem to be so.  We must be \u201crespectable,\u201d though\nonly in the meanest sense\u2014in mere vulgar outward show.  We have not the\ncourage to go patiently onward in the condition of life in which it has\npleased God to call us; but must needs live in some fashionable state to\nwhich we ridiculously please to call ourselves, and all to gratify the\nvanity of that unsubstantial genteel world of which we form a part.\nThere is a constant struggle and pressure for front seats in the social\namphitheatre; in the midst of which all noble self-denying resolve is\ntrodden down, and many fine natures are inevitably crushed to death.\nWhat waste, what misery, what bankruptcy, come from all this ambition to\ndazzle others with the glare of apparent worldly success, we need not\ndescribe.  The mischievous results show themselves in a thousand ways\u2014in\nthe rank frauds committed by men who dare to be dishonest, but do not\ndare to seem poor; and in the desperate dashes at fortune, in which the\npity is not so much for those who fail, as for the hundreds of innocent\nfamilies who are so often involved in their ruin.\n\nThe late Sir Charles Napier, in taking leave of his command in India, did\na bold and honest thing in publishing his strong protest, embodied in his\nlast General Order to the officers of the Indian army, against the \u201cfast\u201d\nlife led by so many young officers in that service, involving them in\nignominious obligations.  Sir Charles strongly urged, in that famous\ndocument\u2014what had almost been lost sight of that \u201chonesty is inseparable\nfrom the character of a thorough-bred gentleman;\u201d and that \u201cto drink\nunpaid-for champagne and unpaid-for beer, and to ride unpaid-for horses,\nis to be a cheat, and not a gentleman.\u201d  Men who lived beyond their means\nand were summoned, often by their own servants, before Courts of Requests\nfor debts contracted in extravagant living, might be officers by virtue\nof their commissions, but they were not gentlemen.  The habit of being\nconstantly in debt, the Commander-in-chief held, made men grow callous to\nthe proper feelings of a gentleman.  It was not enough that an officer\nshould be able to fight: that any bull-dog could do.  But did he hold his\nword inviolate?\u2014did he pay his debts?  These were among the points of\nhonour which, he insisted, illuminated the true gentleman\u2019s and soldier\u2019s\ncareer.  As Bayard was of old, so would Sir Charles Napier have all\nBritish officers to be.  He knew them to be \u201cwithout fear,\u201d but he would\nalso have them \u201cwithout reproach.\u201d  There are, however, many gallant\nyoung fellows, both in India and at home, capable of mounting a breach on\nan emergency amidst belching fire, and of performing the most desperate\ndeeds of valour, who nevertheless cannot or will not exercise the moral\ncourage necessary to enable them to resist a petty temptation presented\nto their senses.  They cannot utter their valiant \u201cNo,\u201d or \u201cI can\u2019t\nafford it,\u201d to the invitations of pleasure and self-enjoyment; and they\nare found ready to brave death rather than the ridicule of their\ncompanions.\n\nThe young man, as he passes through life, advances through a long line of\ntempters ranged on either side of him; and the inevitable effect of\nyielding, is degradation in a greater or a less degree.  Contact with\nthem tends insensibly to draw away from him some portion of the divine\nelectric element with which his nature is charged; and his only mode of\nresisting them is to utter and to act out his \u201cno\u201d manfully and\nresolutely.  He must decide at once, not waiting to deliberate and\nbalance reasons; for the youth, like \u201cthe woman who deliberates, is\nlost.\u201d  Many deliberate, without deciding; but \u201cnot to resolve, _is_ to\nresolve.\u201d  A perfect knowledge of man is in the prayer, \u201cLead us not into\ntemptation.\u201d  But temptation will come to try the young man\u2019s strength;\nand once yielded to, the power to resist grows weaker and weaker.  Yield\nonce, and a portion of virtue has gone.  Resist manfully, and the first\ndecision will give strength for life; repeated, it will become a habit.\nIt is in the outworks of the habits formed in early life that the real\nstrength of the defence must lie; for it has been wisely ordained, that\nthe machinery of moral existence should be carried on principally through\nthe medium of the habits, so as to save the wear and tear of the great\nprinciples within.  It is good habits, which insinuate themselves into\nthe thousand inconsiderable acts of life, that really constitute by far\nthe greater part of man\u2019s moral conduct.\n\nHugh Miller has told how, by an act of youthful decision, he saved\nhimself from one of the strong temptations so peculiar to a life of toil.\nWhen employed as a mason, it was usual for his fellow-workmen to have an\noccasional treat of drink, and one day two glasses of whisky fell to his\nshare, which he swallowed.  When he reached home, he found, on opening\nhis favourite book\u2014\u2018Bacon\u2019s Essays\u2019\u2014that the letters danced before his\neyes, and that he could no longer master the sense.  \u201cThe condition,\u201d he\nsays, \u201cinto which I had brought myself was, I felt, one of degradation.\nI had sunk, by my own act, for the time, to a lower level of intelligence\nthan that on which it was my privilege to be placed; and though the state\ncould have been no very favourable one for forming a resolution, I in\nthat hour determined that I should never again sacrifice my capacity of\nintellectual enjoyment to a drinking usage; and, with God\u2019s help, I was\nenabled to hold by the determination.\u201d  It is such decisions as this that\noften form the turning-points in a man\u2019s life, and furnish the foundation\nof his future character.  And this rock, on which Hugh Miller might have\nbeen wrecked, if he had not at the right moment put forth his moral\nstrength to strike away from it, is one that youth and manhood alike need\nto be constantly on their guard against.  It is about one of the worst\nand most deadly, as well as extravagant, temptations which lie in the way\nof youth.  Sir Walter Scott used to say that \u201cof all vices drinking is\nthe most incompatible with greatness.\u201d  Not only so, but it is\nincompatible with economy, decency, health, and honest living.  When a\nyouth cannot restrain, he must abstain.  Dr. Johnson\u2019s case is the case\nof many.  He said, referring to his own habits, \u201cSir, I can abstain; but\nI can\u2019t be moderate.\u201d\n\nBut to wrestle vigorously and successfully with any vicious habit, we\nmust not merely be satisfied with contending on the low ground of worldly\nprudence, though that is of use, but take stand upon a higher moral\nelevation.  Mechanical aids, such as pledges, may be of service to some,\nbut the great thing is to set up a high standard of thinking and acting,\nand endeavour to strengthen and purify the principles as well as to\nreform the habits.  For this purpose a youth must study himself, watch\nhis steps, and compare his thoughts and acts with his rule.  The more\nknowledge of himself he gains, the more humble will he be, and perhaps\nthe less confident in his own strength.  But the discipline will be\nalways found most valuable which is acquired by resisting small present\ngratifications to secure a prospective greater and higher one.  It is the\nnoblest work in self-education\u2014for\n\n    \u201cReal glory\n    Springs from the silent conquest of ourselves,\n    And without that the conqueror is nought\n    But the first slave.\u201d\n\nMany popular books have been written for the purpose of communicating to\nthe public the grand secret of making money.  But there is no secret\nwhatever about it, as the proverbs of every nation abundantly testify.\n\u201cTake care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves.\u201d\n\u201cDiligence is the mother of good luck.\u201d  \u201cNo pains no gains.\u201d  \u201cNo sweat\nno sweet.\u201d  \u201cWork and thou shalt have.\u201d  \u201cThe world is his who has\npatience and industry.\u201d  \u201cBetter go to bed supperless than rise in debt.\u201d\nSuch are specimens of the proverbial philosophy, embodying the hoarded\nexperience of many generations, as to the best means of thriving in the\nworld.  They were current in people\u2019s mouths long before books were\ninvented; and like other popular proverbs they were the first codes of\npopular morals.  Moreover they have stood the test of time, and the\nexperience of every day still bears witness to their accuracy, force, and\nsoundness.  The proverbs of Solomon are full of wisdom as to the force of\nindustry, and the use and abuse of money:\u2014\u201cHe that is slothful in work is\nbrother to him that is a great waster.\u201d  \u201cGo to the ant, thou sluggard;\nconsider her ways, and be wise.\u201d  Poverty, says the preacher, shall come\nupon the idler, \u201cas one that travelleth, and want as an armed man;\u201d but\nof the industrious and upright, \u201cthe hand of the diligent maketh rich.\u201d\n\u201cThe drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty; and drowsiness shall\nclothe a man with rags.\u201d  \u201cSeest thou a man diligent in his business? he\nshall stand before kings.\u201d  But above all, \u201cIt is better to get wisdom\nthan gold; for wisdom is better than rubies, and all the things that may\nbe desired are not to be compared to it.\u201d\n\nSimple industry and thrift will go far towards making any person of\nordinary working faculty comparatively independent in his means.  Even a\nworking man may be so, provided he will carefully husband his resources,\nand watch the little outlets of useless expenditure.  A penny is a very\nsmall matter, yet the comfort of thousands of families depends upon the\nproper spending and saving of pennies.  If a man allows the little\npennies, the results of his hard work, to slip out of his fingers\u2014some to\nthe beershop, some this way and some that\u2014he will find that his life is\nlittle raised above one of mere animal drudgery.  On the other hand, if\nhe take care of the pennies\u2014putting some weekly into a benefit society or\nan insurance fund, others into a savings\u2019 bank, and confiding the rest to\nhis wife to be carefully laid out, with a view to the comfortable\nmaintenance and education of his family\u2014he will soon find that this\nattention to small matters will abundantly repay him, in increasing\nmeans, growing comfort at home, and a mind comparatively free from fears\nas to the future.  And if a working man have high ambition and possess\nrichness in spirit,\u2014a kind of wealth which far transcends all mere\nworldly possessions\u2014he may not only help himself, but be a profitable\nhelper of others in his path through life.  That this is no impossible\nthing even for a common labourer in a workshop, may be illustrated by the\nremarkable career of Thomas Wright of Manchester, who not only attempted\nbut succeeded in the reclamation of many criminals while working for\nweekly wages in a foundry.\n\nAccident first directed Thomas Wright\u2019s attention to the difficulty\nencountered by liberated convicts in returning to habits of honest\nindustry.  His mind was shortly possessed by the subject; and to remedy\nthe evil became the purpose of his life.  Though he worked from six in\nthe morning till six at night, still there were leisure minutes that he\ncould call his own\u2014more especially his Sundays\u2014and these he employed in\nthe service of convicted criminals; a class then far more neglected than\nthey are now.  But a few minutes a day, well employed, can effect a great\ndeal; and it will scarcely be credited, that in ten years this working\nman, by steadfastly holding to his purpose, succeeded in rescuing not\nfewer than three hundred felons from continuance in a life of villany!\nHe came to be regarded as the moral physician of the Manchester Old\nBailey; and where the Chaplain and all others failed, Thomas Wright often\nsucceeded.  Children he thus restored reformed to their parents; sons and\ndaughters otherwise lost, to their homes; and many a returned convict did\nhe contrive to settle down to honest and industrious pursuits.  The task\nwas by no means easy.  It required money, time, energy, prudence, and\nabove all, character, and the confidence which character invariably\ninspires.  The most remarkable circumstance was that Wright relieved many\nof these poor outcasts out of the comparatively small wages earned by him\nat foundry work.  He did all this on an income which did not average,\nduring his working career, 100_l._ per annum; and yet, while he was able\nto bestow substantial aid on criminals, to whom he owed no more than the\nservice of kindness which every human being owes to another, he also\nmaintained his family in comfort, and was, by frugality and carefulness,\nenabled to lay by a store of savings against his approaching old age.\nEvery week he apportioned his income with deliberate care; so much for\nthe indispensable necessaries of food and clothing, so much for the\nlandlord, so much for the schoolmaster, so much for the poor and needy;\nand the lines of distribution were resolutely observed.  By such means\ndid this humble workman pursue his great work, with the results we have\nso briefly described.  Indeed, his career affords one of the most\nremarkable and striking illustrations of the force of purpose in a man,\nof the might of small means carefully and sedulously applied, and, above\nall, of the power which an energetic and upright character invariably\nexercises upon the lives and conduct of others.\n\nThere is no discredit, but honour, in every right walk of industry,\nwhether it be in tilling the ground, making tools, weaving fabrics, or\nselling the products behind a counter.  A youth may handle a yard-stick,\nor measure a piece of ribbon; and there will be no discredit in doing so,\nunless he allows his mind to have no higher range than the stick and\nribbon; to be as short as the one, and as narrow as the other.  \u201cLet not\nthose blush who _have_,\u201d said Fuller, \u201cbut those who _have not_ a lawful\ncalling.\u201d  And Bishop Hall said, \u201cSweet is the destiny of all trades,\nwhether of the brow or of the mind.\u201d  Men who have raised themselves from\na humble calling, need not be ashamed, but rather ought to be proud of\nthe difficulties they have surmounted.  An American President, when asked\nwhat was his coat-of-arms, remembering that he had been a hewer of wood\nin his youth, replied, \u201cA pair of shirt sleeves.\u201d  A French doctor once\ntaunted Flechier, Bishop of Nismes, who had been a tallow-chandler in his\nyouth, with the meanness of his origin, to which Flechier replied, \u201cIf\nyou had been born in the same condition that I was, you would still have\nbeen but a maker of candles.\u201d\n\nNothing is more common than energy in money-making, quite independent of\nany higher object than its accumulation.  A man who devotes himself to\nthis pursuit, body and soul, can scarcely fail to become rich.  Very\nlittle brains will do; spend less than you earn; add guinea to guinea;\nscrape and save; and the pile of gold will gradually rise.  Osterwald,\nthe Parisian banker, began life a poor man.  He was accustomed every\nevening to drink a pint of beer for supper at a tavern which he visited,\nduring which he collected and pocketed all the corks that he could lay\nhis hands on.  In eight years he had collected as many corks as sold for\neight louis d\u2019ors.  With that sum he laid the foundations of his\nfortune\u2014gained mostly by stock-jobbing; leaving at his death some three\nmillions of francs.  John Foster has cited a striking illustration of\nwhat this kind of determination will do in money-making.  A young man who\nran through his patrimony, spending it in profligacy, was at length\nreduced to utter want and despair.  He rushed out of his house intending\nto put an end to his life, and stopped on arriving at an eminence\noverlooking what were once his estates.  He sat down, ruminated for a\ntime, and rose with the determination that he would recover them.  He\nreturned to the streets, saw a load of coals which had been shot out of a\ncart on to the pavement before a house, offered to carry them in, and was\nemployed.  He thus earned a few pence, requested some meat and drink as a\ngratuity, which was given him, and the pennies were laid by.  Pursuing\nthis menial labour, he earned and saved more pennies; accumulated\nsufficient to enable him to purchase some cattle, the value of which he\nunderstood, and these he sold to advantage.  He proceeded by degrees to\nundertake larger transactions, until at length he became rich.  The\nresult was, that he more than recovered his possessions, and died an\ninveterate miser.  When he was buried, mere earth went to earth.  With a\nnobler spirit, the same determination might have enabled such a man to be\na benefactor to others as well as to himself.  But the life and its end\nin this case were alike sordid.\n\nTo provide for others and for our own comfort and independence in old\nage, is honourable, and greatly to be commended; but to hoard for mere\nwealth\u2019s sake is the characteristic of the narrow-souled and the miserly.\nIt is against the growth of this habit of inordinate saving that the wise\nman needs most carefully to guard himself: else, what in youth was simple\neconomy, may in old age grow into avarice, and what was a duty in the one\ncase, may become a vice in the other.  It is the _love_ of money\u2014not\nmoney itself\u2014which is \u201cthe root of evil,\u201d\u2014a love which narrows and\ncontracts the soul, and closes it against generous life and action.\nHence, Sir Walter Scott makes one of his characters declare that \u201cthe\npenny siller slew more souls than the naked sword slew bodies.\u201d  It is\none of the defects of business too exclusively followed, that it\ninsensibly tends to a mechanism of character.  The business man gets into\na rut, and often does not look beyond it.  If he lives for himself only,\nhe becomes apt to regard other human beings only in so far as they\nminister to his ends.  Take a leaf from such men\u2019s ledger and you have\ntheir life.\n\nWorldly success, measured by the accumulation of money, is no doubt a\nvery dazzling thing; and all men are naturally more or less the admirers\nof worldly success.  But though men of persevering, sharp, dexterous, and\nunscrupulous habits, ever on the watch to push opportunities, may and do\n\u201cget on\u201d in the world, yet it is quite possible that they may not possess\nthe slightest elevation of character, nor a particle of real goodness.\nHe who recognizes no higher logic than that of the shilling, may become a\nvery rich man, and yet remain all the while an exceedingly poor creature.\nFor riches are no proof whatever of moral worth; and their glitter often\nserves only to draw attention to the worthlessness of their possessor, as\nthe light of the glowworm reveals the grub.\n\nThe manner in which many allow themselves to be sacrificed to their love\nof wealth reminds one of the cupidity of the monkey\u2014that caricature of\nour species.  In Algiers, the Kabyle peasant attaches a gourd, well\nfixed, to a tree, and places within it some rice.  The gourd has an\nopening merely sufficient to admit the monkey\u2019s paw.  The creature comes\nto the tree by night, inserts his paw, and grasps his booty.  He tries to\ndraw it back, but it is clenched, and he has not the wisdom to unclench\nit.  So there he stands till morning, when he is caught, looking as\nfoolish as may be, though with the prize in his grasp.  The moral of this\nlittle story is capable of a very extensive application in life.\n\nThe power of money is on the whole over-estimated.  The greatest things\nwhich have been done for the world have not been accomplished by rich\nmen, nor by subscription lists, but by men generally of small pecuniary\nmeans.  Christianity was propagated over half the world by men of the\npoorest class; and the greatest thinkers, discoverers, inventors, and\nartists, have been men of moderate wealth, many of them little raised\nabove the condition of manual labourers in point of worldly\ncircumstances.  And it will always be so.  Riches are oftener an\nimpediment than a stimulus to action; and in many cases they are quite as\nmuch a misfortune as a blessing.  The youth who inherits wealth is apt to\nhave life made too easy for him, and he soon grows sated with it, because\nhe has nothing left to desire.  Having no special object to struggle for,\nhe finds time hang heavy on his hands; he remains morally and spiritually\nasleep; and his position in society is often no higher than that of a\npolypus over which the tide floats.\n\n    \u201cHis only labour is to kill the time,\n    And labour dire it is, and weary woe.\u201d\n\nYet the rich man, inspired by a right spirit, will spurn idleness as\nunmanly; and if he bethink himself of the responsibilities which attach\nto the possession of wealth and property he will feel even a higher call\nto work than men of humbler lot.  This, however, must be admitted to be\nby no means the practice of life.  The golden mean of Agur\u2019s perfect\nprayer is, perhaps, the best lot of all, did we but know it: \u201cGive me\nneither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me.\u201d  The\nlate Joseph Brotherton, M.P., left a fine motto to be recorded upon his\nmonument in the Peel Park at Manchester,\u2014the declaration in his case\nbeing strictly true: \u201cMy richness consisted not in the greatness of my\npossessions, but in the smallness of my wants.\u201d  He rose from the\nhumblest station, that of a factory boy, to an eminent position of\nusefulness, by the simple exercise of homely honesty, industry,\npunctuality, and self-denial.  Down to the close of his life, when not\nattending Parliament, he did duty as minister in a small chapel in\nManchester to which he was attached; and in all things he made it appear,\nto those who knew him in private life, that the glory he sought was _not_\n\u201cto be seen of men,\u201d or to excite their praise, but to earn the\nconsciousness of discharging the every-day duties of life, down to the\nsmallest and humblest of them, in an honest, upright, truthful, and\nloving spirit.\n\n\u201cRespectability,\u201d in its best sense, is good.  The respectable man is one\nworthy of regard, literally worth turning to look at.  But the\nrespectability that consists in merely keeping up appearances is not\nworth looking at in any sense.  Far better and more respectable is the\ngood poor man than the bad rich one\u2014better the humble silent man than the\nagreeable well-appointed rogue who keeps his gig.  A well balanced and\nwell-stored mind, a life full of useful purpose, whatever the position\noccupied in it may be, is of far greater importance than average worldly\nrespectability.  The highest object of life we take to be, to form a\nmanly character, and to work out the best development possible, of body\nand spirit\u2014of mind, conscience, heart, and soul.  This is the end: all\nelse ought to be regarded but as the means.  Accordingly, that is not the\nmost successful life in which a man gets the most pleasure, the most\nmoney, the most power or place, honour or fame; but that in which a man\ngets the most manhood, and performs the greatest amount of useful work\nand of human duty.  Money is power after its sort, it is true; but\nintelligence, public spirit, and moral virtue, are powers too, and far\nnobler ones.  \u201cLet others plead for pensions,\u201d wrote Lord Collingwood to\na friend; \u201cI can be rich without money, by endeavouring to be superior to\neverything poor.  I would have my services to my country unstained by any\ninterested motive; and old Scott {313} and I can go on in our\ncabbage-garden without much greater expense than formerly.\u201d  On another\noccasion he said, \u201cI have motives for my conduct which I would not give\nin exchange for a hundred pensions.\u201d\n\nThe making of a fortune may no doubt enable some people to \u201center\nsociety,\u201d as it is called; but to be esteemed there, they must possess\nqualities of mind, manners, or heart, else they are merely rich people,\nnothing more.  There are men \u201cin society\u201d now, as rich as Croesus, who\nhave no consideration extended towards them, and elicit no respect.  For\nwhy?  They are but as money-bags: their only power is in their till.  The\nmen of mark in society\u2014the guides and rulers of opinion\u2014the really\nsuccessful and useful men\u2014are not necessarily rich men; but men of\nsterling character, of disciplined experience, and of moral excellence.\nEven the poor man, like Thomas Wright, though he possess but little of\nthis world\u2019s goods, may, in the enjoyment of a cultivated nature, of\nopportunities used and not abused, of a life spent to the best of his\nmeans and ability, look down, without the slightest feeling of envy, upon\nthe person of mere worldly success, the man of money-bags and acres.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\nSELF-CULTURE\u2014FACILITIES AND DIFFICULTIES.\n\n\n    \u201cEvery person has two educations, one which he receives from others,\n    and one, more important, which he gives to himself.\u201d\u2014_Gibbon_.\n\n    \u201cIs there one whom difficulties dishearten\u2014who bends to the storm?\n    He will do little.  Is there one who will conquer?  That kind of man\n    never fails.\u201d\u2014_John Hunter_.\n\n    \u201cThe wise and active conquer difficulties,\n    By daring to attempt them: sloth and folly\n    Shiver and shrink at sight of toil and danger,\n    And _make_ the impossibility they fear.\u201d\u2014_Rowe_.\n\n\u201cTHE best part of every man\u2019s education,\u201d said Sir Walter Scott, \u201cis that\nwhich he gives to himself.\u201d  The late Sir Benjamin Brodie delighted to\nremember this saying, and he used to congratulate himself on the fact\nthat professionally he was self-taught.  But this is necessarily the case\nwith all men who have acquired distinction in letters, science, or art.\nThe education received at school or college is but a beginning, and is\nvaluable mainly inasmuch as it trains the mind and habituates it to\ncontinuous application and study.  That which is put into us by others is\nalways far less ours than that which we acquire by our own diligent and\npersevering effort.  Knowledge conquered by labour becomes a possession\u2014a\nproperty entirely our own.  A greater vividness and permanency of\nimpression is secured; and facts thus acquired become registered in the\nmind in a way that mere imparted information can never effect.  This kind\nof self-culture also calls forth power and cultivates strength.  The\nsolution of one problem helps the mastery of another; and thus knowledge\nis carried into faculty.  Our own active effort is the essential thing;\nand no facilities, no books, no teachers, no amount of lessons learnt by\nrote will enable us to dispense with it.\n\nThe best teachers have been the readiest to recognize the importance of\nself-culture, and of stimulating the student to acquire knowledge by the\nactive exercise of his own faculties.  They have relied more upon\n_training_ than upon telling, and sought to make their pupils themselves\nactive parties to the work in which they were engaged; thus making\nteaching something far higher than the mere passive reception of the\nscraps and details of knowledge.  This was the spirit in which the great\nDr. Arnold worked; he strove to teach his pupils to rely upon themselves,\nand develop their powers by their own active efforts, himself merely\nguiding, directing, stimulating, and encouraging them.  \u201cI would far\nrather,\u201d he said, \u201csend a boy to Van Diemen\u2019s Land, where he must work\nfor his bread, than send him to Oxford to live in luxury, without any\ndesire in his mind to avail himself of his advantages.\u201d  \u201cIf there be one\nthing on earth,\u201d he observed on another occasion, \u201cwhich is truly\nadmirable, it is to see God\u2019s wisdom blessing an inferiority of natural\npowers, when they have been honestly, truly, and zealously cultivated.\u201d\nSpeaking of a pupil of this character, he said, \u201cI would stand to that\nman hat in hand.\u201d  Once at Laleham, when teaching a rather dull boy,\nArnold spoke somewhat sharply to him, on which the pupil looked up in his\nface and said, \u201cWhy do you speak angrily, sir? _indeed_, I am doing the\nbest I can.\u201d  Years afterwards, Arnold used to tell the story to his\nchildren, and added, \u201cI never felt so much in my life\u2014that look and that\nspeech I have never forgotten.\u201d\n\nFrom the numerous instances already cited of men of humble station who\nhave risen to distinction in science and literature, it will be obvious\nthat labour is by no means incompatible with the highest intellectual\nculture.  Work in moderation is healthy, as well as agreeable to the\nhuman constitution.  Work educates the body, as study educates the mind;\nand that is the best state of society in which there is some work for\nevery man\u2019s leisure, and some leisure for every man\u2019s work.  Even the\nleisure classes are in a measure compelled to work, sometimes as a relief\nfrom _ennui_, but in most cases to gratify an instinct which they cannot\nresist.  Some go foxhunting in the English counties, others\ngrouse-shooting on the Scotch hills, while many wander away every summer\nto climb mountains in Switzerland.  Hence the boating, running,\ncricketing, and athletic sports of the public schools, in which our young\nmen at the same time so healthfully cultivate their strength both of mind\nand body.  It is said that the Duke of Wellington, when once looking on\nat the boys engaged in their sports in the play-ground at Eton, where he\nhad spent many of his own younger days, made the remark, \u201cIt was there\nthat the battle of Waterloo was won!\u201d\n\nDaniel Malthus urged his son when at college to be most diligent in the\ncultivation of knowledge, but he also enjoined him to pursue manly sports\nas the best means of keeping up the full working power of his mind, as\nwell as of enjoying the pleasures of intellect.  \u201cEvery kind of\nknowledge,\u201d said he, \u201cevery acquaintance with nature and art, will amuse\nand strengthen your mind, and I am perfectly pleased that cricket should\ndo the same by your arms and legs; I love to see you excel in exercises\nof the body, and I think myself that the better half, and much the most\nagreeable part, of the pleasures of the mind is best enjoyed while one is\nupon one\u2019s legs.\u201d  But a still more important use of active employment is\nthat referred to by the great divine, Jeremy Taylor.  \u201cAvoid idleness,\u201d\nhe says, \u201cand fill up all the spaces of thy time with severe and useful\nemployment; for lust easily creeps in at those emptinesses where the soul\nis unemployed and the body is at ease; for no easy, healthful, idle\nperson was ever chaste if he could be tempted; but of all employments\nbodily labour is the most useful, and of the greatest benefit for driving\naway the devil.\u201d\n\nPractical success in life depends more upon physical health than is\ngenerally imagined.  Hodson, of Hodson\u2019s Horse, writing home to a friend\nin England, said, \u201cI believe, if I get on well in India, it will be\nowing, physically speaking, to a sound digestion.\u201d  The capacity for\ncontinuous working in any calling must necessarily depend in a great\nmeasure upon this; and hence the necessity for attending to health, even\nas a means of intellectual labour.  It is perhaps to the neglect of\nphysical exercise that we find amongst students so frequent a tendency\ntowards discontent, unhappiness, inaction, and reverie,\u2014displaying itself\nin contempt for real life and disgust at the beaten tracks of men,\u2014a\ntendency which in England has been called Byronism, and in Germany\nWertherism.  Dr. Channing noted the same growth in America, which led him\nto make the remark, that \u201ctoo many of our young men grow up in a school\nof despair.\u201d  The only remedy for this green-sickness in youth is\nphysical exercise\u2014action, work, and bodily occupation.\n\nThe use of early labour in self-imposed mechanical employments may be\nillustrated by the boyhood of Sir Isaac Newton.  Though a comparatively\ndull scholar, he was very assiduous in the use of his saw, hammer, and\nhatchet\u2014\u201cknocking and hammering in his lodging room\u201d\u2014making models of\nwindmills, carriages, and machines of all sorts; and as he grew older, he\ntook delight in making little tables and cupboards for his friends.\nSmeaton, Watt, and Stephenson, were equally handy with tools when mere\nboys; and but for such kind of self-culture in their youth, it is\ndoubtful whether they would have accomplished so much in their manhood.\nSuch was also the early training of the great inventors and mechanics\ndescribed in the preceding pages, whose contrivance and intelligence were\npractically trained by the constant use of their hands in early life.\nEven where men belonging to the manual labour class have risen above it,\nand become more purely intellectual labourers, they have found the\nadvantages of their early training in their later pursuits.  Elihu\nBurritt says he found hard labour _necessary_ to enable him to study with\neffect; and more than once he gave up school-teaching and study, and,\ntaking to his leather-apron again, went back to his blacksmith\u2019s forge\nand anvil for his health of body and mind\u2019s sake.\n\nThe training of young men in the use of tools would, at the same time\nthat it educated them in \u201ccommon things,\u201d teach them the use of their\nhands and arms, familiarize them with healthy work, exercise their\nfaculties upon things tangible and actual, give them some practical\nacquaintance with mechanics, impart to them the ability of being useful,\nand implant in them the habit of persevering physical effort.  This is an\nadvantage which the working classes, strictly so called, certainly\npossess over the leisure classes,\u2014that they are in early life under the\nnecessity of applying themselves laboriously to some mechanical pursuit\nor other,\u2014thus acquiring manual dexterity and the use of their physical\npowers.  The chief disadvantage attached to the calling of the laborious\nclasses is, not that they are employed in physical work, but that they\nare too exclusively so employed, often to the neglect of their moral and\nintellectual faculties.  While the youths of the leisure classes, having\nbeen taught to associate labour with servility, have shunned it, and been\nallowed to grow up practically ignorant, the poorer classes, confining\nthemselves within the circle of their laborious callings, have been\nallowed to grow up in a large proportion of cases absolutely illiterate.\nIt seems possible, however, to avoid both these evils by combining\nphysical training or physical work with intellectual culture: and there\nare various signs abroad which seem to mark the gradual adoption of this\nhealthier system of education.\n\nThe success of even professional men depends in no slight degree on their\nphysical health; and a public writer has gone so far as to say that \u201cthe\ngreatness of our great men is quite as much a bodily affair as a mental\none.\u201d {319}  A healthy breathing apparatus is as indispensable to the\nsuccessful lawyer or politician as a well-cultured intellect.  The\nthorough a\u00ebration of the blood by free exposure to a large breathing\nsurface in the lungs, is necessary to maintain that full vital power on\nwhich the vigorous working of the brain in so large a measure depends.\nThe lawyer has to climb the heights of his profession through close and\nheated courts, and the political leader has to bear the fatigue and\nexcitement of long and anxious debates in a crowded House.  Hence the\nlawyer in full practice and the parliamentary leader in full work are\ncalled upon to display powers of physical endurance and activity even\nmore extraordinary than those of the intellect,\u2014such powers as have been\nexhibited in so remarkable a degree by Brougham, Lyndhurst, and Campbell;\nby Peel, Graham, and Palmerston\u2014all full-chested men.\n\nThough Sir Walter Scott, when at Edinburgh College, went by the name of\n\u201cThe Greek Blockhead,\u201d he was, notwithstanding his lameness, a remarkably\nhealthy youth: he could spear a salmon with the best fisher on the Tweed,\nand ride a wild horse with any hunter in Yarrow.  When devoting himself\nin after life to literary pursuits, Sir Walter never lost his taste for\nfield sports; but while writing \u2018Waverley\u2019 in the morning, he would in\nthe afternoon course hares.  Professor Wilson was a very athlete, as\ngreat at throwing the hammer as in his flights of eloquence and poetry;\nand Burns, when a youth, was remarkable chiefly for his leaping, putting,\nand wrestling.  Some of our greatest divines were distinguished in their\nyouth for their physical energies.  Isaac Barrow, when at the\nCharterhouse School, was notorious for his pugilistic encounters, in\nwhich he got many a bloody nose; Andrew Fuller, when working as a\nfarmer\u2019s lad at Soham, was chiefly famous for his skill in boxing; and\nAdam Clarke, when a boy, was only remarkable for the strength displayed\nby him in \u201crolling large stones about,\u201d\u2014the secret, possibly, of some of\nthe power which he subsequently displayed in rolling forth large thoughts\nin his manhood.\n\nWhile it is necessary, then, in the first place to secure this solid\nfoundation of physical health, it must also be observed that the\ncultivation of the habit of mental application is quite indispensable for\nthe education of the student.  The maxim that \u201cLabour conquers all\nthings\u201d holds especially true in the case of the conquest of knowledge.\nThe road into learning is alike free to all who will give the labour and\nthe study requisite to gather it; nor are there any difficulties so great\nthat the student of resolute purpose may not surmount and overcome them.\nIt was one of the characteristic expressions of Chatterton, that God had\nsent his creatures into the world with arms long enough to reach anything\nif they chose to be at the trouble.  In study, as in business, energy is\nthe great thing.  There must be the \u201cfervet opus\u201d: we must not only\nstrike the iron while it is hot, but strike it till it is made hot.  It\nis astonishing how much may be accomplished in self-culture by the\nenergetic and the persevering, who are careful to avail themselves of\nopportunities, and use up the fragments of spare time which the idle\npermit to run to waste.  Thus Ferguson learnt astronomy from the heavens,\nwhile wrapt in a sheep-skin on the highland hills.  Thus Stone learnt\nmathematics while working as a journeyman gardener; thus Drew studied the\nhighest philosophy in the intervals of cobbling shoes; and thus Miller\ntaught himself geology while working as a day labourer in a quarry.\n\nSir Joshua Reynolds, as we have already observed, was so earnest a\nbeliever in the force of industry that he held that all men might achieve\nexcellence if they would but exercise the power of assiduous and patient\nworking.  He held that drudgery lay on the road to genius, and that there\nwas no limit to the proficiency of an artist except the limit of his own\npainstaking.  He would not believe in what is called inspiration, but\nonly in study and labour.  \u201cExcellence,\u201d he said, \u201cis never granted to\nman but as the reward of labour.\u201d  \u201cIf you have great talents, industry\nwill improve them; if you have but moderate abilities, industry will\nsupply their deficiency.  Nothing is denied to well-directed labour;\nnothing is to be obtained without it.\u201d  Sir Fowell Buxton was an equal\nbeliever in the power of study; and he entertained the modest idea that\nhe could do as well as other men if he devoted to the pursuit double the\ntime and labour that they did.  He placed his great confidence in\nordinary means and extraordinary application.\n\n\u201cI have known several men in my life,\u201d says Dr. Ross, \u201cwho may be\nrecognized in days to come as men of genius, and they were all plodders,\nhard-working, _intent_ men.  Genius is known by its works; genius without\nworks is a blind faith, a dumb oracle.  But meritorious works are the\nresult of time and labour, and cannot be accomplished by intention or by\na wish. . . . Every great work is the result of vast preparatory\ntraining.  Facility comes by labour.  Nothing seems easy, not even\nwalking, that was not difficult at first.  The orator whose eye flashes\ninstantaneous fire, and whose lips pour out a flood of noble thoughts,\nstartling by their unexpectedness, and elevating by their wisdom and\ntruth, has learned his secret by patient repetition, and after many\nbitter disappointments.\u201d {321}\n\nThoroughness and accuracy are two principal points to be aimed at in\nstudy.  Francis Horner, in laying down rules for the cultivation of his\nmind, placed great stress upon the habit of continuous application to one\nsubject for the sake of mastering it thoroughly; he confined himself,\nwith this object, to only a few books, and resisted with the greatest\nfirmness \u201cevery approach to a habit of desultory reading.\u201d  The value of\nknowledge to any man consists not in its quantity, but mainly in the good\nuses to which he can apply it.  Hence a little knowledge, of an exact and\nperfect character, is always found more valuable for practical purposes\nthan any extent of superficial learning.\n\nOne of Ignatius Loyola\u2019s maxims was, \u201cHe who does well one work at a\ntime, does more than all.\u201d  By spreading our efforts over too large a\nsurface we inevitably weaken our force, hinder our progress, and acquire\na habit of fitfulness and ineffective working.  Lord St. Leonards once\ncommunicated to Sir Fowell Buxton the mode in which he had conducted his\nstudies, and thus explained the secret of his success.  \u201cI resolved,\u201d\nsaid he, \u201cwhen beginning to read law, to make everything I acquired\nperfectly my own, and never to go to a second thing till I had entirely\naccomplished the first.  Many of my competitors read as much in a day as\nI read in a week; but, at the end of twelve months, my knowledge was as\nfresh as the day it was acquired, while theirs had glided away from\nrecollection.\u201d\n\nIt is not the quantity of study that one gets through, or the amount of\nreading, that makes a wise man; but the appositeness of the study to the\npurpose for which it is pursued; the concentration of the mind for the\ntime being on the subject under consideration; and the habitual\ndiscipline by which the whole system of mental application is regulated.\nAbernethy was even of opinion that there was a point of saturation in his\nown mind, and that if he took into it something more than it could hold,\nit only had the effect of pushing something else out.  Speaking of the\nstudy of medicine, he said, \u201cIf a man has a clear idea of what he desires\nto do, he will seldom fail in selecting the proper means of accomplishing\nit.\u201d\n\nThe most profitable study is that which is conducted with a definite aim\nand object.  By thoroughly mastering any given branch of knowledge we\nrender it more available for use at any moment.  Hence it is not enough\nmerely to have books, or to know where to read for information as we want\nit.  Practical wisdom, for the purposes of life, must be carried about\nwith us, and be ready for use at call.  It is not sufficient that we have\na fund laid up at home, but not a farthing in the pocket: we must carry\nabout with us a store of the current coin of knowledge ready for exchange\non all occasions, else we are comparatively helpless when the opportunity\nfor using it occurs.\n\nDecision and promptitude are as requisite in self-culture as in business.\nThe growth of these qualities may be encouraged by accustoming young\npeople to rely upon their own resources, leaving them to enjoy as much\nfreedom of action in early life as is practicable.  Too much guidance and\nrestraint hinder the formation of habits of self-help.  They are like\nbladders tied under the arms of one who has not taught himself to swim.\nWant of confidence is perhaps a greater obstacle to improvement than is\ngenerally imagined.  It has been said that half the failures in life\narise from pulling in one\u2019s horse while he is leaping.  Dr. Johnson was\naccustomed to attribute his success to confidence in his own powers.\nTrue modesty is quite compatible with a due estimate of one\u2019s own merits,\nand does not demand the abnegation of all merit.  Though there are those\nwho deceive themselves by putting a false figure before their ciphers,\nthe want of confidence, the want of faith in one\u2019s self, and consequently\nthe want of promptitude in action, is a defect of character which is\nfound to stand very much in the way of individual progress; and the\nreason why so little is done, is generally because so little is\nattempted.\n\nThere is usually no want of desire on the part of most persons to arrive\nat the results of self-culture, but there is a great aversion to pay the\ninevitable price for it, of hard work.  Dr. Johnson held that \u201cimpatience\nof study was the mental disease of the present generation;\u201d and the\nremark is still applicable.  We may not believe that there is a royal\nroad to learning, but we seem to believe very firmly in a \u201cpopular\u201d one.\nIn education, we invent labour-saving processes, seek short cuts to\nscience, learn French and Latin \u201cin twelve lessons,\u201d or \u201cwithout a\nmaster.\u201d  We resemble the lady of fashion, who engaged a master to teach\nher on condition that he did not plague her with verbs and participles.\nWe get our smattering of science in the same way; we learn chemistry by\nlistening to a short course of lectures enlivened by experiments, and\nwhen we have inhaled laughing gas, seen green water turned to red, and\nphosphorus burnt in oxygen, we have got our smattering, of which the most\nthat can be said is, that though it may be better than nothing, it is yet\ngood for nothing.  Thus we often imagine we are being educated while we\nare only being amused.\n\nThe facility with which young people are thus induced to acquire\nknowledge, without study and labour, is not education.  It occupies but\ndoes not enrich the mind.  It imparts a stimulus for the time, and\nproduces a sort of intellectual keenness and cleverness; but, without an\nimplanted purpose and a higher object than mere pleasure, it will bring\nwith it no solid advantage.  In such cases knowledge produces but a\npassing impression; a sensation, but no more; it is, in fact, the merest\nepicurism of intelligence\u2014sensuous, but certainly not intellectual.  Thus\nthe best qualities of many minds, those which are evoked by vigorous\neffort and independent action, sleep a deep sleep, and are often never\ncalled to life, except by the rough awakening of sudden calamity or\nsuffering, which, in such cases, comes as a blessing, if it serves to\nrouse up a courageous spirit that, but for it, would have slept on.\n\nAccustomed to acquire information under the guise of amusement, young\npeople will soon reject that which is presented to them under the aspect\nof study and labour.  Learning their knowledge and science in sport, they\nwill be too apt to make sport of both; while the habit of intellectual\ndissipation, thus engendered, cannot fail, in course of time, to produce\na thoroughly emasculating effect both upon their mind and character.\n\u201cMultifarious reading,\u201d said Robertson of Brighton, \u201cweakens the mind\nlike smoking, and is an excuse for its lying dormant.  It is the idlest\nof all idlenesses, and leaves more of impotency than any other.\u201d\n\nThe evil is a growing one, and operates in various ways.  Its least\nmischief is shallowness; its greatest, the aversion to steady labour\nwhich it induces, and the low and feeble tone of mind which it\nencourages.  If we would be really wise, we must diligently apply\nourselves, and confront the same continuous application which our\nforefathers did; for labour is still, and ever will be, the inevitable\nprice set upon everything which is valuable.  We must be satisfied to\nwork with a purpose, and wait the results with patience.  All progress,\nof the best kind, is slow; but to him who works faithfully and zealously\nthe reward will, doubtless, be vouchsafed in good time.  The spirit of\nindustry, embodied in a man\u2019s daily life, will gradually lead him to\nexercise his powers on objects outside himself, of greater dignity and\nmore extended usefulness.  And still we must labour on; for the work of\nself-culture is never finished.  \u201cTo be employed,\u201d said the poet Gray,\n\u201cis to be happy.\u201d  \u201cIt is better to wear out than rust out,\u201d said Bishop\nCumberland.  \u201cHave we not all eternity to rest in?\u201d exclaimed Arnauld.\n\u201cRepos ailleurs\u201d was the motto of Marnix de St. Aldegonde, the energetic\nand ever-working friend of William the Silent.\n\nIt is the use we make of the powers entrusted to us, which constitutes\nour only just claim to respect.  He who employs his one talent aright is\nas much to be honoured as he to whom ten talents have been given.  There\nis really no more personal merit attaching to the possession of superior\nintellectual powers than there is in the succession to a large estate.\nHow are those powers used\u2014how is that estate employed?  The mind may\naccumulate large stores of knowledge without any useful purpose; but the\nknowledge must be allied to goodness and wisdom, and embodied in upright\ncharacter, else it is naught.  Pestalozzi even held intellectual training\nby itself to be pernicious; insisting that the roots of all knowledge\nmust strike and feed in the soil of the rightly-governed will.  The\nacquisition of knowledge may, it is true, protect a man against the\nmeaner felonies of life; but not in any degree against its selfish vices,\nunless fortified by sound principles and habits.  Hence do we find in\ndaily life so many instances of men who are well-informed in intellect,\nbut utterly deformed in character; filled with the learning of the\nschools, yet possessing little practical wisdom, and offering examples\nfor warning rather than imitation.  An often quoted expression at this\nday is that \u201cKnowledge is power;\u201d but so also are fanaticism, despotism,\nand ambition.  Knowledge of itself, unless wisely directed, might merely\nmake bad men more dangerous, and the society in which it was regarded as\nthe highest good, little better than a pandemonium.\n\nIt is possible that at this day we may even exaggerate the importance of\nliterary culture.  We are apt to imagine that because we possess many\nlibraries, institutes, and museums, we are making great progress.  But\nsuch facilities may as often be a hindrance as a help to individual\nself-culture of the highest kind.  The possession of a library, or the\nfree use of it, no more constitutes learning, than the possession of\nwealth constitutes generosity.  Though we undoubtedly possess great\nfacilities it is nevertheless true, as of old, that wisdom and\nunderstanding can only become the possession of individual men by\ntravelling the old road of observation, attention, perseverance, and\nindustry.  The possession of the mere materials of knowledge is something\nvery different from wisdom and understanding, which are reached through a\nhigher kind of discipline than that of reading,\u2014which is often but a mere\npassive reception of other men\u2019s thoughts; there being little or no\nactive effort of mind in the transaction.  Then how much of our reading\nis but the indulgence of a sort of intellectual dram-drinking, imparting\na grateful excitement for the moment, without the slightest effect in\nimproving and enriching the mind or building up the character.  Thus many\nindulge themselves in the conceit that they are cultivating their minds,\nwhen they are only employed in the humbler occupation of killing time, of\nwhich perhaps the best that can be said is that it keeps them from doing\nworse things.\n\nIt is also to be borne in mind that the experience gathered from books,\nthough often valuable, is but of the nature of _learning_; whereas the\nexperience gained from actual life is of the nature of _wisdom_; and a\nsmall store of the latter is worth vastly more than any stock of the\nformer.  Lord Bolingbroke truly said that \u201cWhatever study tends neither\ndirectly nor indirectly to make us better men and citizens, is at best\nbut a specious and ingenious sort of idleness, and the knowledge we\nacquire by it, only a creditable kind of ignorance\u2014nothing more.\u201d\n\nUseful and instructive though good reading may be, it is yet only one\nmode of cultivating the mind; and is much less influential than practical\nexperience and good example in the formation of character.  There were\nwise, valiant, and true-hearted men bred in England, long before the\nexistence of a reading public.  Magna Charta was secured by men who\nsigned the deed with their marks.  Though altogether unskilled in the art\nof deciphering the literary signs by which principles were denominated\nupon paper, they yet understood and appreciated, and boldly contended\nfor, the things themselves.  Thus the foundations of English liberty were\nlaid by men, who, though illiterate, were nevertheless of the very\nhighest stamp of character.  And it must be admitted that the chief\nobject of culture is, not merely to fill the mind with other men\u2019s\nthoughts, and to be the passive recipient of their impressions of things,\nbut to enlarge our individual intelligence, and render us more useful and\nefficient workers in the sphere of life to which we may be called.  Many\nof our most energetic and useful workers have been but sparing readers.\nBrindley and Stephenson did not learn to read and write until they\nreached manhood, and yet they did great works and lived manly lives; John\nHunter could barely read or write when he was twenty years old, though he\ncould make tables and chairs with any carpenter in the trade.  \u201cI never\nread,\u201d said the great physiologist when lecturing before his class;\n\u201cthis\u201d\u2014pointing to some part of the subject before him\u2014\u201cthis is the work\nthat you must study if you wish to become eminent in your profession.\u201d\nWhen told that one of his contemporaries had charged him with being\nignorant of the dead languages, he said, \u201cI would undertake to teach him\nthat on the dead body which he never knew in any language, dead or\nliving.\u201d\n\nIt is not then how much a man may know, that is of importance, but the\nend and purpose for which he knows it.  The object of knowledge should be\nto mature wisdom and improve character, to render us better, happier, and\nmore useful; more benevolent, more energetic, and more efficient in the\npursuit of every high purpose in life.  \u201cWhen people once fall into the\nhabit of admiring and encouraging ability as such, without reference to\nmoral character\u2014and religious and political opinions are the concrete\nform of moral character\u2014they are on the highway to all sorts of\ndegradation.\u201d {329}  We must ourselves _be_ and _do_, and not rest\nsatisfied merely with reading and meditating over what other men have\nbeen and done.  Our best light must be made life, and our best thought\naction.  At least we ought to be able to say, as Richter did, \u201cI have\nmade as much out of myself as could be made of the stuff, and no man\nshould require more;\u201d for it is every man\u2019s duty to discipline and guide\nhimself, with God\u2019s help, according to his responsibilities and the\nfaculties with which he has been endowed.\n\nSelf-discipline and self-control are the beginnings of practical wisdom;\nand these must have their root in self-respect.  Hope springs from\nit\u2014hope, which is the companion of power, and the mother of success; for\nwhoso hopes strongly has within him the gift of miracles.  The humblest\nmay say, \u201cTo respect myself, to develop myself\u2014this is my true duty in\nlife.  An integral and responsible part of the great system of society, I\nowe it to society and to its Author not to degrade or destroy either my\nbody, mind, or instincts.  On the contrary, I am bound to the best of my\npower to give to those parts of my constitution the highest degree of\nperfection possible.  I am not only to suppress the evil, but to evoke\nthe good elements in my nature.  And as I respect myself, so am I equally\nbound to respect others, as they on their part are bound to respect me.\u201d\nHence mutual respect, justice, and order, of which law becomes the\nwritten record and guarantee.\n\nSelf-respect is the noblest garment with which a man may clothe\nhimself\u2014the most elevating feeling with which the mind can be inspired.\nOne of Pythagoras\u2019s wisest maxims, in his \u2018Golden Verses,\u2019 is that with\nwhich he enjoins the pupil to \u201creverence himself.\u201d  Borne up by this high\nidea, he will not defile his body by sensuality, nor his mind by servile\nthoughts.  This sentiment, carried into daily life, will be found at the\nroot of all the virtues\u2014cleanliness, sobriety, chastity, morality, and\nreligion.  \u201cThe pious and just honouring of ourselves,\u201d said Milton, \u201cmay\nbe thought the radical moisture and fountain-head from whence every\nlaudable and worthy enterprise issues forth.\u201d  To think meanly of one\u2019s\nself, is to sink in one\u2019s own estimation as well as in the estimation of\nothers.  And as the thoughts are, so will the acts be.  Man cannot aspire\nif he look down; if he will rise, he must look up.  The very humblest may\nbe sustained by the proper indulgence of this feeling.  Poverty itself\nmay be lifted and lighted up by self-respect; and it is truly a noble\nsight to see a poor man hold himself upright amidst his temptations, and\nrefuse to demean himself by low actions.\n\nOne way in which self-culture may be degraded is by regarding it too\nexclusively as a means of \u201cgetting on.\u201d  Viewed in this light, it is\nunquestionable that education is one of the best investments of time and\nlabour.  In any line of life, intelligence will enable a man to adapt\nhimself more readily to circumstances, suggest improved methods of\nworking, and render him more apt, skilled and effective in all respects.\nHe who works with his head as well as his hands, will come to look at his\nbusiness with a clearer eye; and he will become conscious of increasing\npower\u2014perhaps the most cheering consciousness the human mind can cherish.\nThe power of self-help will gradually grow; and in proportion to a man\u2019s\nself-respect, will he be armed against the temptation of low indulgences.\nSociety and its action will be regarded with quite a new interest, his\nsympathies will widen and enlarge, and he will thus be attracted to work\nfor others as well as for himself.\n\nSelf-culture may not, however, end in eminence, as in the numerous\ninstances above cited.  The great majority of men, in all times, however\nenlightened, must necessarily be engaged in the ordinary avocations of\nindustry; and no degree of culture which can be conferred upon the\ncommunity at large will ever enable them\u2014even were it desirable, which it\nis not\u2014to get rid of the daily work of society, which must be done.  But\nthis, we think, may also be accomplished.  We can elevate the condition\nof labour by allying it to noble thoughts, which confer a grace upon the\nlowliest as well as the highest rank.  For no matter how poor or humble a\nman may be, the great thinker of this and other days may come in and sit\ndown with him, and be his companion for the time, though his dwelling be\nthe meanest hut.  It is thus that the habit of well-directed reading may\nbecome a source of the greatest pleasure and self-improvement, and\nexercise a gentle coercion, with the most beneficial results, over the\nwhole tenour of a man\u2019s character and conduct.  And even though\nself-culture may not bring wealth, it will at all events give one the\ncompanionship of elevated thoughts.  A nobleman once contemptuously asked\nof a sage, \u201cWhat have you got by all your philosophy?\u201d  \u201cAt least I have\ngot society in myself,\u201d was the wise man\u2019s reply.\n\nBut many are apt to feel despondent, and become discouraged in the work\nof self-culture, because they do not \u201cget on\u201d in the world so fast as\nthey think they deserve to do.  Having planted their acorn, they expect\nto see it grow into an oak at once.  They have perhaps looked upon\nknowledge in the light of a marketable commodity, and are consequently\nmortified because it does not sell as they expected it would do.  Mr.\nTremenheere, in one of his \u2018Education Reports\u2019 (for 1840\u20131), states that\na schoolmaster in Norfolk, finding his school rapidly falling off, made\ninquiry into the cause, and ascertained that the reason given by the\nmajority of the parents for withdrawing their children was, that they had\nexpected \u201ceducation was to make them better off than they were before,\u201d\nbut that having found it had \u201cdone them no good,\u201d they had taken their\nchildren from school, and would give themselves no further trouble about\neducation!\n\nThe same low idea of self-culture is but too prevalent in other classes,\nand is encouraged by the false views of life which are always more or\nless current in society.  But to regard self-culture either as a means of\ngetting past others in the world, or of intellectual dissipation and\namusement, rather than as a power to elevate the character and expand the\nspiritual nature, is to place it on a very low level.  To use the words\nof Bacon, \u201cKnowledge is not a shop for profit or sale, but a rich\nstorehouse for the glory of the Creator and the relief of man\u2019s estate.\u201d\nIt is doubtless most honourable for a man to labour to elevate himself,\nand to better his condition in society, but this is not to be done at the\nsacrifice of himself.  To make the mind the mere drudge of the body, is\nputting it to a very servile use; and to go about whining and bemoaning\nour pitiful lot because we fail in achieving that success in life which,\nafter all, depends rather upon habits of industry and attention to\nbusiness details than upon knowledge, is the mark of a small, and often\nof a sour mind.  Such a temper cannot better be reproved than in the\nwords of Robert Southey, who thus wrote to a friend who sought his\ncounsel: \u201cI would give you advice if it could be of use; but there is no\ncuring those who choose to be diseased.  A good man and a wise man may at\ntimes be angry with the world, at times grieved for it; but be sure no\nman was ever discontented with the world if he did his duty in it.  If a\nman of education, who has health, eyes, hands, and leisure, wants an\nobject, it is only because God Almighty has bestowed all those blessings\nupon a man who does not deserve them.\u201d\n\nAnother way in which education may be prostituted is by employing it as a\nmere means of intellectual dissipation and amusement.  Many are the\nministers to this taste in our time.  There is almost a mania for\nfrivolity and excitement, which exhibits itself in many forms in our\npopular literature.  To meet the public taste, our books and periodicals\nmust now be highly spiced, amusing, and comic, not disdaining slang, and\nillustrative of breaches of all laws, human and divine.  Douglas Jerrold\nonce observed of this tendency, \u201cI am convinced the world will get tired\n(at least I hope so) of this eternal guffaw about all things.  After all,\nlife has something serious in it.  It cannot be all a comic history of\nhumanity.  Some men would, I believe, write a Comic Sermon on the Mount.\nThink of a Comic History of England, the drollery of Alfred, the fun of\nSir Thomas More, the farce of his daughter begging the dead head and\nclasping it in her coffin on her bosom.  Surely the world will be sick of\nthis blasphemy.\u201d  John Sterling, in a like spirit, said:\u2014\u201cPeriodicals and\nnovels are to all in this generation, but more especially to those whose\nminds are still unformed and in the process of formation, a new and more\neffectual substitute for the plagues of Egypt, vermin that corrupt the\nwholesome waters and infest our chambers.\u201d\n\nAs a rest from toil and a relaxation from graver pursuits, the perusal of\na well-written story, by a writer of genius, is a high intellectual\npleasure; and it is a description of literature to which all classes of\nreaders, old and young, are attracted as by a powerful instinct; nor\nwould we have any of them debarred from its enjoyment in a reasonable\ndegree.  But to make it the exclusive literary diet, as some do,\u2014to\ndevour the garbage with which the shelves of circulating libraries are\nfilled,\u2014and to occupy the greater portion of the leisure hours in\nstudying the preposterous pictures of human life which so many of them\npresent, is worse than waste of time: it is positively pernicious.  The\nhabitual novel-reader indulges in fictitious feelings so much, that there\nis great risk of sound and healthy feeling becoming perverted or\nbenumbed.  \u201cI never go to hear a tragedy,\u201d said a gay man once to the\nArchbishop of York, \u201cit wears my heart out.\u201d  The literary pity evoked by\nfiction leads to no corresponding action; the susceptibilities which it\nexcites involve neither inconvenience nor self-sacrifice; so that the\nheart that is touched too often by the fiction may at length become\ninsensible to the reality.  The steel is gradually rubbed out of the\ncharacter, and it insensibly loses its vital spring.  \u201cDrawing fine\npictures of virtue in one\u2019s mind,\u201d said Bishop Butler, \u201cis so far from\nnecessarily or certainly conducive to form a _habit_ of it in him who\nthus employs himself, that it may even harden the mind in a contrary\ncourse, and render it gradually more insensible.\u201d\n\nAmusement in moderation is wholesome, and to be commended; but amusement\nin excess vitiates the whole nature, and is a thing to be carefully\nguarded against.  The maxim is often quoted of \u201cAll work and no play\nmakes Jack a dull boy;\u201d but all play and no work makes him something\ngreatly worse.  Nothing can be more hurtful to a youth than to have his\nsoul sodden with pleasure.  The best qualities of his mind are impaired;\ncommon enjoyments become tasteless; his appetite for the higher kind of\npleasures is vitiated; and when he comes to face the work and the duties\nof life, the result is usually aversion and disgust.  \u201cFast\u201d men waste\nand exhaust the powers of life, and dry up the sources of true happiness.\nHaving forestalled their spring, they can produce no healthy growth of\neither character or intellect.  A child without simplicity, a maiden\nwithout innocence, a boy without truthfulness, are not more piteous\nsights than the man who has wasted and thrown away his youth in\nself-indulgence.  Mirabeau said of himself, \u201cMy early years have already\nin a great measure disinherited the succeeding ones, and dissipated a\ngreat part of my vital powers.\u201d  As the wrong done to another to-day\nreturns upon ourselves to-morrow, so the sins of our youth rise up in our\nage to scourge us.  When Lord Bacon says that \u201cstrength of nature in\nyouth passeth over many excesses which are owing a man until he is old,\u201d\nhe exposes a physical as well as a moral fact which cannot be too well\nweighed in the conduct of life.  \u201cI assure you,\u201d wrote Giusti the Italian\nto a friend, \u201cI pay a heavy price for existence.  It is true that our\nlives are not at our own disposal.  Nature pretends to give them gratis\nat the beginning, and then sends in her account.\u201d  The worst of youthful\nindiscretions is, not that they destroy health, so much as that they\nsully manhood.  The dissipated youth becomes a tainted man; and often he\ncannot be pure, even if he would.  If cure there be, it is only to be\nfound in inoculating the mind with a fervent spirit of duty, and in\nenergetic application to useful work.\n\nOne of the most gifted of Frenchmen, in point of great intellectual\nendowments, was Benjamin Constant; but, _blas\u00e9_ at twenty, his life was\nonly a prolonged wail, instead of a harvest of the great deeds which he\nwas capable of accomplishing with ordinary diligence and self-control.\nHe resolved upon doing so many things, which he never did, that people\ncame to speak of him as Constant the Inconstant.  He was a fluent and\nbrilliant writer, and cherished the ambition of writing works, \u201cwhich the\nworld would not willingly let die.\u201d  But whilst Constant affected the\nhighest thinking, unhappily he practised the lowest living; nor did the\ntranscendentalism of his books atone for the meanness of his life.  He\nfrequented the gaming-tables while engaged in preparing his work upon\nreligion, and carried on a disreputable intrigue while writing his\n\u2018Adolphe.\u2019  With all his powers of intellect, he was powerless, because\nhe had no faith in virtue.  \u201cBah!\u201d said he, \u201cwhat are honour and dignity?\nThe longer I live, the more clearly I see there is nothing in them.\u201d  It\nwas the howl of a miserable man.  He described himself as but \u201cashes and\ndust.\u201d  \u201cI pass,\u201d said he, \u201clike a shadow over the earth, accompanied by\nmisery and _ennui_.\u201d  He wished for Voltaire\u2019s energy, which he would\nrather have possessed than his genius.  But he had no strength of\npurpose\u2014nothing but wishes: his life, prematurely exhausted, had become\nbut a heap of broken links.  He spoke of himself as a person with one\nfoot in the air.  He admitted that he had no principles, and no moral\nconsistency.  Hence, with his splendid talents, he contrived to do\nnothing; and, after living many years miserable, he died worn out and\nwretched.\n\nThe career of Augustin Thierry, the author of the \u2018History of the Norman\nConquest,\u2019 affords an admirable contrast to that of Constant.  His entire\nlife presented a striking example of perseverance, diligence, self\nculture, and untiring devotion to knowledge.  In the pursuit he lost his\neyesight, lost his health, but never lost his love of truth.  When so\nfeeble that he was carried from room to room, like a helpless infant, in\nthe arms of a nurse, his brave spirit never failed him; and blind and\nhelpless though he was, he concluded his literary career in the following\nnoble words:\u2014\u201cIf, as I think, the interest of science is counted in the\nnumber of great national interests, I have given my country all that the\nsoldier, mutilated on the field of battle, gives her.  Whatever may be\nthe fate of my labours, this example, I hope, will not be lost.  I would\nwish it to serve to combat the species of moral weakness which is _the\ndisease_ of our present generation; to bring back into the straight road\nof life some of those enervated souls that complain of wanting faith,\nthat know not what to do, and seek everywhere, without finding it, an\nobject of worship and admiration.  Why say, with so much bitterness, that\nin the world, constituted as it is, there is no air for all lungs\u2014no\nemployment for all minds?  Is not calm and serious study there? and is\nnot that a refuge, a hope, a field within the reach of all of us?  With\nit, evil days are passed over without their weight being felt.  Every one\ncan make his own destiny\u2014every one employ his life nobly.  This is what I\nhave done, and would do again if I had to recommence my career; I would\nchoose that which has brought me where I am.  Blind, and suffering\nwithout hope, and almost without intermission, I may give this testimony,\nwhich from me will not appear suspicious.  There is something in the\nworld better than sensual enjoyments, better than fortune, better than\nhealth itself\u2014it is devotion to knowledge.\u201d\n\nColeridge, in many respects, resembled Constant.  He possessed equally\nbrilliant powers, but was similarly infirm of purpose.  With all his\ngreat intellectual gifts, he wanted the gift of industry, and was averse\nto continuous labour.  He wanted also the sense of independence, and\nthought it no degradation to leave his wife and children to be maintained\nby the brain-work of the noble Southey, while he himself retired to\nHighgate Grove to discourse transcendentalism to his disciples, looking\ndown contemptuously upon the honest work going forward beneath him amidst\nthe din and smoke of London.  With remunerative employment at his command\nhe stooped to accept the charity of friends; and, notwithstanding his\nlofty ideas of philosophy, he condescended to humiliations from which\nmany a day-labourer would have shrunk.  How different in spirit was\nSouthey! labouring not merely at work of his own choice, and at taskwork\noften tedious and distasteful, but also unremittingly and with the utmost\neagerness seeking and storing knowledge purely for the love of it.  Every\nday, every hour had its allotted employment: engagements to publishers\nrequiring punctual fulfilment; the current expenses of a large household\nduty to provide: for Southey had no crop growing while his pen was idle.\n\u201cMy ways,\u201d he used to say, \u201care as broad as the king\u2019s high-road, and my\nmeans lie in an inkstand.\u201d\n\nRobert Nicoll wrote to a friend, after reading the \u2018Recollections of\nColeridge,\u2019 \u201cWhat a mighty intellect was lost in that man for want of a\nlittle energy\u2014a little determination!\u201d  Nicoll himself was a true and\nbrave spirit, who died young, but not before he had encountered and\novercome great difficulties in life.  At his outset, while carrying on a\nsmall business as a bookseller, he found himself weighed down with a debt\nof only twenty pounds, which he said he felt \u201cweighing like a millstone\nround his neck,\u201d and that, \u201cif he had it paid he never would borrow again\nfrom mortal man.\u201d  Writing to his mother at the time he said, \u201cFear not\nfor me, dear mother, for I feel myself daily growing firmer and more\nhopeful in spirit.  The more I think and reflect\u2014and thinking, not\nreading, is now my occupation\u2014I feel that, whether I be growing richer or\nnot, I am growing a wiser man, which is far better.  Pain, poverty, and\nall the other wild beasts of life which so affrighten others, I am so\nbold as to think I could look in the face without shrinking, without\nlosing respect for myself, faith in man\u2019s high destinies, or trust in\nGod.  There is a point which it costs much mental toil and struggling to\ngain, but which, when once gained, a man can look down from, as a\ntraveller from a lofty mountain, on storms raging below, while he is\nwalking in sunshine.  That I have yet gained this point in life I will\nnot say, but I feel myself daily nearer to it.\u201d\n\nIt is not ease, but effort\u2014not facility, but difficulty, that makes men.\nThere is, perhaps, no station in life, in which difficulties have not to\nbe encountered and overcome before any decided measure of success can be\nachieved.  Those difficulties are, however, our best instructors, as our\nmistakes often form our best experience.  Charles James Fox was\naccustomed to say that he hoped more from a man who failed, and yet went\non in spite of his failure, than from the buoyant career of the\nsuccessful.  \u201cIt is all very well,\u201d said he, \u201cto tell me that a young man\nhas distinguished himself by a brilliant first speech.  He may go on, or\nhe may be satisfied with his first triumph; but show me a young man who\nhas _not_ succeeded at first, and nevertheless has gone on, and I will\nback that young man to do better than most of those who have succeeded at\nthe first trial.\u201d\n\nWe learn wisdom from failure much more than from success.  We often\ndiscover what _will_ do, by finding out what will not do; and probably he\nwho never made a mistake never made a discovery.  It was the failure in\nthe attempt to make a sucking-pump act, when the working bucket was more\nthan thirty-three feet above the surface of the water to be raised, that\nled observant men to study the law of atmospheric pressure, and opened a\nnew field of research to the genius of Galileo, Torrecelli, and Boyle.\nJohn Hunter used to remark that the art of surgery would not advance\nuntil professional men had the courage to publish their failures as well\nas their successes.  Watt the engineer said, of all things most wanted in\nmechanical engineering was a history of failures: \u201cWe want,\u201d he said, \u201ca\nbook of blots.\u201d  When Sir Humphry Davy was once shown a dexterously\nmanipulated experiment, he said\u2014\u201cI thank God I was not made a dexterous\nmanipulator, for the most important of my discoveries have been suggested\nto me by failures.\u201d  Another distinguished investigator in physical\nscience has left it on record that, whenever in the course of his\nresearches he encountered an apparently insuperable obstacle, he\ngenerally found himself on the brink of some discovery.  The very\ngreatest things\u2014great thoughts, discoveries, inventions\u2014have usually been\nnurtured in hardship, often pondered over in sorrow, and at length\nestablished with difficulty.\n\nBeethoven said of Rossini, that he had in him the stuff to have made a\ngood musician if he had only, when a boy, been well flogged; but that he\nhad been spoilt by the facility with which he produced.  Men who feel\ntheir strength within them need not fear to encounter adverse opinions;\nthey have far greater reason to fear undue praise and too friendly\ncriticism.  When Mendelssohn was about to enter the orchestra at\nBirmingham, on the first performance of his \u2018Elijah,\u2019 he said laughingly\nto one of his friends and critics, \u201cStick your claws into me!  Don\u2019t tell\nme what you like, but what you don\u2019t like!\u201d\n\nIt has been said, and truly, that it is the defeat that tries the general\nmore than the victory.  Washington lost more battles than he gained; but\nhe succeeded in the end.  The Romans, in their most victorious campaigns,\nalmost invariably began with defeats.  Moreau used to be compared by his\ncompanions to a drum, which nobody hears of except it be beaten.\nWellington\u2019s military genius was perfected by encounter with difficulties\nof apparently the most overwhelming character, but which only served to\nnerve his resolution, and bring out more prominently his great qualities\nas a man and a general.  So the skilful mariner obtains his best\nexperience amidst storms and tempests, which train him to self-reliance,\ncourage, and the highest discipline; and we probably own to rough seas\nand wintry nights the best training of our race of British seamen, who\nare, certainly, not surpassed by any in the world.\n\nNecessity may be a hard schoolmistress, but she is generally found the\nbest.  Though the ordeal of adversity is one from which we naturally\nshrink, yet, when it comes, we must bravely and manfully encounter it.\nBurns says truly,\n\n    \u201cThough losses and crosses\n    Be lessons right severe,\n    There\u2019s wit there, you\u2019ll get there,\n    You\u2019ll find no other where.\u201d\n\n\u201cSweet indeed are the uses of adversity.\u201d  They reveal to us our powers,\nand call forth our energies.  If there be real worth in the character,\nlike sweet herbs, it will give forth its finest fragrance when pressed.\n\u201cCrosses,\u201d says the old proverb, \u201care the ladders that lead to heaven.\u201d\n\u201cWhat is even poverty itself,\u201d asks Richter, \u201cthat a man should murmur\nunder it?  It is but as the pain of piercing a maiden\u2019s ear, and you hang\nprecious jewels in the wound.\u201d  In the experience of life it is found\nthat the wholesome discipline of adversity in strong natures usually\ncarries with it a self-preserving influence.  Many are found capable of\nbravely bearing up under privations, and cheerfully encountering\nobstructions, who are afterwards found unable to withstand the more\ndangerous influences of prosperity.  It is only a weak man whom the wind\ndeprives of his cloak: a man of average strength is more in danger of\nlosing it when assailed by the beams of a too genial sun.  Thus it often\nneeds a higher discipline and a stronger character to bear up under good\nfortune than under adverse.  Some generous natures kindle and warm with\nprosperity, but there are many on whom wealth has no such influence.\nBase hearts it only hardens, making those who were mean and servile, mean\nand proud.  But while prosperity is apt to harden the heart to pride,\nadversity in a man of resolution will serve to ripen it into fortitude.\nTo use the words of Burke, \u201cDifficulty is a severe instructor, set over\nus by the supreme ordinance of a parental guardian and instructor, who\nknows us better than we know ourselves, as He loves us better too.  He\nthat wrestles with us strengthens our nerves, and sharpens our skill: our\nantagonist is thus our helper.\u201d  Without the necessity of encountering\ndifficulty, life might be easier, but men would be worth less.  For\ntrials, wisely improved, train the character, and teach self-help; thus\nhardship itself may often prove the wholesomest discipline for us, though\nwe recognise it not.  When the gallant young Hodson, unjustly removed\nfrom his Indian command, felt himself sore pressed down by unmerited\ncalumny and reproach, he yet preserved the courage to say to a friend, \u201cI\nstrive to look the worst boldly in the face, as I would an enemy in the\nfield, and to do my appointed work resolutely and to the best of my\nability, satisfied that there is a reason for all; and that even irksome\nduties well done bring their own reward, and that, if not, still they\n_are_ duties.\u201d\n\nThe battle of life is, in most cases, fought up-hill; and to win it\nwithout a struggle were perhaps to win it without honour.  If there were\nno difficulties there would be no success; if there were nothing to\nstruggle for, there would be nothing to be achieved.  Difficulties may\nintimidate the weak, but they act only as a wholesome stimulus to men of\nresolution and valour.  All experience of life indeed serves to prove\nthat the impediments thrown in the way of human advancement may for the\nmost part be overcome by steady good conduct, honest zeal, activity,\nperseverance, and above all by a determined resolution to surmount\ndifficulties, and stand up manfully against misfortune.\n\nThe school of Difficulty is the best school of moral discipline, for\nnations as for individuals.  Indeed, the history of difficulty would be\nbut a history of all the great and good things that have yet been\naccomplished by men.  It is hard to say how much northern nations owe to\ntheir encounter with a comparatively rude and changeable climate and an\noriginally sterile soil, which is one of the necessities of their\ncondition,\u2014involving a perennial struggle with difficulties such as the\nnatives of sunnier climes know nothing of.  And thus it may be, that\nthough our finest products are exotic, the skill and industry which have\nbeen necessary to rear them, have issued in the production of a native\ngrowth of men not surpassed on the globe.\n\nWherever there is difficulty, the individual man must come out for better\nfor worse.  Encounter with it will train his strength, and discipline his\nskill; heartening him for future effort, as the racer, by being trained\nto run against the hill, at length courses with facility.  The road to\nsuccess may be steep to climb, and it puts to the proof the energies of\nhim who would reach the summit.  But by experience a man soon learns that\nobstacles are to be overcome by grappling with them,\u2014that the nettle\nfeels as soft as silk when it is boldly grasped,\u2014and that the most\neffective help towards realizing the object proposed is the moral\nconviction that we can and will accomplish it.  Thus difficulties often\nfall away of themselves before the determination to overcome them.\n\nMuch will be done if we do but try.  Nobody knows what he can do till he\nhas tried; and few try their best till they have been forced to do it.\n\u201c_If_ I could do such and such a thing,\u201d sighs the desponding youth.  But\nnothing will be done if he only wishes.  The desire must ripen into\npurpose and effort; and one energetic attempt is worth a thousand\naspirations.  It is these thorny \u201cifs\u201d\u2014the mutterings of impotence and\ndespair\u2014which so often hedge round the field of possibility, and prevent\nanything being done or even attempted.  \u201cA difficulty,\u201d said Lord\nLyndhurst, \u201cis a thing to be overcome;\u201d grapple with it at once; facility\nwill come with practice, and strength and fortitude with repeated effort.\nThus the mind and character may be trained to an almost perfect\ndiscipline, and enabled to act with a grace, spirit, and liberty, almost\nincomprehensible to those who have not passed through a similar\nexperience.\n\nEverything that we learn is the mastery of a difficulty; and the mastery\nof one helps to the mastery of others.  Things which may at first sight\nappear comparatively valueless in education\u2014such as the study of the dead\nlanguages, and the relations of lines and surfaces which we call\nmathematics\u2014are really of the greatest practical value, not so much\nbecause of the information which they yield, as because of the\ndevelopment which they compel.  The mastery of these studies evokes\neffort, and cultivates powers of application, which otherwise might have\nlain dormant, Thus one thing leads to another, and so the work goes on\nthrough life\u2014encounter with difficulty ending only when life and culture\nend.  But indulging in the feeling of discouragement never helped any one\nover a difficulty, and never will.  D\u2019Alembert\u2019s advice to the student\nwho complained to him about his want of success in mastering the first\nelements of mathematics was the right one\u2014\u201cGo on, sir, and faith and\nstrength will come to you.\u201d\n\nThe danseuse who turns a pirouette, the violinist who plays a sonata,\nhave acquired their dexterity by patient repetition and after many\nfailures.  Carissimi, when praised for the ease and grace of his\nmelodies, exclaimed, \u201cAh! you little know with what difficulty this ease\nhas been acquired.\u201d  Sir Joshua Reynolds, when once asked how long it had\ntaken him to paint a certain picture, replied, \u201cAll my life.\u201d  Henry\nClay, the American orator, when giving advice to young men, thus\ndescribed to them the secret of his success in the cultivation of his\nart: \u201cI owe my success in life,\u201d said he, \u201cchiefly to one\ncircumstance\u2014that at the age of twenty-seven I commenced, and continued\nfor years, the process of daily reading and speaking upon the contents of\nsome historical or scientific book.  These off-hand efforts were made,\nsometimes in a cornfield, at others in the forest, and not unfrequently\nin some distant barn, with the horse and the ox for my auditors.  It is\nto this early practice of the art of all arts that I am indebted for the\nprimary and leading impulses that stimulated me onward and have shaped\nand moulded my whole subsequent destiny.\u201d\n\nCurran, the Irish orator, when a youth, had a strong defect in his\narticulation, and at school he was known as \u201cstuttering Jack Curran.\u201d\nWhile he was engaged in the study of the law, and still struggling to\novercome his defect, he was stung into eloquence by the sarcasms of a\nmember of a debating club, who characterised him as \u201cOrator Mum;\u201d for,\nlike Cowper, when he stood up to speak on a previous occasion, Curran had\nnot been able to utter a word.  The taunt stung him and he replied in a\ntriumphant speech.  This accidental discovery in himself of the gift of\neloquence encouraged him to proceed in his studies with renewed energy.\nHe corrected his enunciation by reading aloud, emphatically and\ndistinctly, the best passages in literature, for several hours every day,\nstudying his features before a mirror, and adopting a method of\ngesticulation suited to his rather awkward and ungraceful figure.  He\nalso proposed cases to himself, which he argued with as much care as if\nhe had been addressing a jury.  Curran began business with the\nqualification which Lord Eldon stated to be the first requisite for\ndistinction, that is, \u201cto be not worth a shilling.\u201d  While working his\nway laboriously at the bar, still oppressed by the diffidence which had\novercome him in his debating club, he was on one occasion provoked by the\nJudge (Robinson) into making a very severe retort.  In the case under\ndiscussion, Curran observed \u201cthat he had never met the law as laid down\nby his lordship in any book in his library.\u201d  \u201cThat may be, sir,\u201d said\nthe judge, in a contemptuous tone, \u201cbut I suspect that _your_ library is\nvery small.\u201d  His lordship was notoriously a furious political partisan,\nthe author of several anonymous pamphlets characterised by unusual\nviolence and dogmatism.  Curran, roused by the allusion to his straitened\ncircumstances, replied thus; \u201cIt is very true, my lord, that I am poor,\nand the circumstance has certainly curtailed my library; my books are not\nnumerous, but they are select, and I hope they have been perused with\nproper dispositions.  I have prepared myself for this high profession by\nthe study of a few good works, rather than by the composition of a great\nmany bad ones.  I am not ashamed of my poverty; but I should be ashamed\nof my wealth, could I have stooped to acquire it by servility and\ncorruption.  If I rise not to rank, I shall at least be honest; and\nshould I ever cease to be so, many an example shows me that an ill-gained\nelevation, by making me the more conspicuous, would only make me the more\nuniversally and the more notoriously contemptible.\u201d\n\nThe extremest poverty has been no obstacle in the way of men devoted to\nthe duty of self-culture.  Professor Alexander Murray, the linguist,\nlearnt to write by scribbling his letters on an old wool-card with the\nend of a burnt heather stem.  The only book which his father, who was a\npoor shepherd, possessed, was a penny Shorter Catechism; but that, being\nthought too valuable for common use, was carefully preserved in a\ncupboard for the Sunday catechisings.  Professor Moor, when a young man,\nbeing too poor to purchase Newton\u2019s \u2018Principia,\u2019 borrowed the book, and\ncopied the whole of it with his own hand.  Many poor students, while\nlabouring daily for their living, have only been able to snatch an atom\nof knowledge here and there at intervals, as birds do their food in\nwinter time when the fields are covered with snow.  They have struggled\non, and faith and hope have come to them.  A well-known author and\npublisher, William Chambers, of Edinburgh, speaking before an assemblage\nof young men in that city, thus briefly described to them his humble\nbeginnings, for their encouragement: \u201cI stand before you,\u201d he said, \u201ca\nself-educated man.  My education was that which is supplied at the humble\nparish schools of Scotland; and it was only when I went to Edinburgh, a\npoor boy, that I devoted my evenings, after the labours of the day, to\nthe cultivation of that intellect which the Almighty has given me.  From\nseven or eight in the morning till nine or ten at night was I at my\nbusiness as a bookseller\u2019s apprentice, and it was only during hours after\nthese, stolen from sleep, that I could devote myself to study.  I did not\nread novels: my attention was devoted to physical science, and other\nuseful matters.  I also taught myself French.  I look back to those times\nwith great pleasure, and am almost sorry I have not to go through the\nsame experience again; for I reaped more pleasure when I had not a\nsixpence in my pocket, studying in a garret in Edinburgh, then I now find\nwhen sitting amidst all the elegancies and comforts of a parlour.\u201d\n\nWilliam Cobbett\u2019s account of how he learnt English Grammar is full of\ninterest and instruction for all students labouring under difficulties.\n\u201cI learned grammar,\u201d said he, \u201cwhen I was a private soldier on the pay of\nsixpence a day.  The edge of my berth, or that of my guard-bed, was my\nseat to study in; my knapsack was my book-case; a bit of board lying on\nmy lap was my writing-table; and the task did not demand anything like a\nyear of my life.  I had no money to purchase candle or oil; in winter\ntime it was rarely that I could get any evening light but that of the\nfire, and only my turn even of that.  And if I, under such circumstances,\nand without parent or friend to advise or encourage me, accomplished this\nundertaking, what excuse can there be for any youth, however poor,\nhowever pressed with business, or however circumstanced as to room or\nother conveniences?  To buy a pen or a sheet of paper I was compelled to\nforego some portion of food, though in a state of half-starvation: I had\nno moment of time that I could call my own; and I had to read and to\nwrite amidst the talking, laughing, singing, whistling, and brawling of\nat least half a score of the most thoughtless of men, and that, too, in\nthe hours of their freedom from all control.  Think not lightly of the\nfarthing that I had to give, now and then, for ink, pen, or paper!  That\nfarthing was, alas! a great sum to me!  I was as tall as I am now; I had\ngreat health and great exercise.  The whole of the money, not expended\nfor us at market, was two-pence a week for each man.  I remember, and\nwell I may! that on one occasion I, after all necessary expenses, had, on\na Friday, made shifts to have a halfpenny in reserve, which I had\ndestined for the purchase of a redherring in the morning; but, when I\npulled off my clothes at night, so hungry then as to be hardly able to\nendure life, I found that I had lost my halfpenny!  I buried my head\nunder the miserable sheet and rug, and cried like a child!  And again I\nsay, if, I, under circumstances like these, could encounter and overcome\nthis task, is there, can there be, in the whole world, a youth to find an\nexcuse for the non-performance?\u201d\n\nWe have been informed of an equally striking instance of perseverance and\napplication in learning on the part of a French political exile in\nLondon.  His original occupation was that of a stonemason, at which he\nfound employment for some time; but work becoming slack, he lost his\nplace, and poverty stared him in the face.  In his dilemma he called upon\na fellow exile profitably engaged in teaching French, and consulted him\nwhat he ought to do to earn a living.  The answer was, \u201cBecome a\nprofessor!\u201d  \u201cA professor?\u201d answered the mason\u2014\u201cI, who am only a workman,\nspeaking but a patois!  Surely you are jesting?\u201d  \u201cOn the contrary, I am\nquite serious,\u201d said the other, \u201cand again I advise you\u2014become a\nprofessor; place yourself under me, and I will undertake to teach you how\nto teach others.\u201d  \u201cNo, no!\u201d replied the mason, \u201cit is impossible; I am\ntoo old to learn; I am too little of a scholar; I cannot be a professor.\u201d\nHe went away, and again he tried to obtain employment at his trade.  From\nLondon he went into the provinces, and travelled several hundred miles in\nvain; he could not find a master.  Returning to London, he went direct to\nhis former adviser, and said, \u201cI have tried everywhere for work, and\nfailed; I will now try to be a professor!\u201d  He immediately placed himself\nunder instruction; and being a man of close application, of quick\napprehension, and vigorous intelligence, he speedily mastered the\nelements of grammar, the rules of construction and composition, and (what\nhe had still in a great measure to learn) the correct pronunciation of\nclassical French.  When his friend and instructor thought him\nsufficiently competent to undertake the teaching of others, an\nappointment, advertised as vacant, was applied for and obtained; and\nbehold our artisan at length become professor!  It so happened, that the\nseminary to which he was appointed was situated in a suburb of London\nwhere he had formerly worked as a stonemason; and every morning the first\nthing which met his eyes on looking out of his dressing-room window was a\nstack of cottage chimneys which he had himself built!  He feared for a\ntime lest he should be recognised in the village as the quondam workman,\nand thus bring discredit on his seminary, which was of high standing.\nBut he need have been under no such apprehension, as he proved a most\nefficient teacher, and his pupils were on more than one occasion publicly\ncomplimented for their knowledge of French.  Meanwhile, he secured the\nrespect and friendship of all who knew him\u2014fellow-professors as well as\npupils; and when the story of his struggles, his difficulties, and his\npast history, became known to them, they admired him more than ever.\n\nSir Samuel Romilly was not less indefatigable as a self-cultivator.  The\nson of a jeweller, descended from a French refugee, he received little\neducation in his early years, but overcame all his disadvantages by\nunwearied application, and by efforts constantly directed towards the\nsame end.  \u201cI determined,\u201d he says, in his autobiography, \u201cwhen I was\nbetween fifteen and sixteen years of age, to apply myself seriously to\nlearning Latin, of which I, at that time, knew little more than some of\nthe most familiar rules of grammar.  In the course of three or four\nyears, during which I thus applied myself, I had read almost every prose\nwriter of the age of pure Latinity, except those who have treated merely\nof technical subjects, such as Varro, Columella, and Celsus.  I had gone\nthree times through the whole of Livy, Sallust, and Tacitus.  I had\nstudied the most celebrated orations of Cicero, and translated a great\ndeal of Homer.  Terence, Virgil, Horace, Ovid, and Juvenal, I had read\nover and over again.\u201d  He also studied geography, natural history, and\nnatural philosophy, and obtained a considerable acquaintance with general\nknowledge.  At sixteen he was articled to a clerk in Chancery; worked\nhard; was admitted to the bar; and his industry and perseverance ensured\nsuccess.  He became Solicitor-General under the Fox administration in\n1806, and steadily worked his way to the highest celebrity in his\nprofession.  Yet he was always haunted by a painful and almost oppressive\nsense of his own disqualifications, and never ceased labouring to remedy\nthem.  His autobiography is a lesson of instructive facts, worth volumes\nof sentiment, and well deserves a careful perusal.\n\nSir Walter Scott was accustomed to cite the case of his young friend John\nLeyden as one of the most remarkable illustrations of the power of\nperseverance which he had ever known.  The son of a shepherd in one of\nthe wildest valleys of Roxburghshire, he was almost entirely self\neducated.  Like many Scotch shepherds\u2019 sons\u2014like Hogg, who taught himself\nto write by copying the letters of a printed book as he lay watching his\nflock on the hill-side\u2014like Cairns, who from tending sheep on the\nLammermoors, raised himself by dint of application and industry to the\nprofessor\u2019s chair which he now so worthily holds\u2014like Murray, Ferguson,\nand many more, Leyden was early inspired by a thirst for knowledge.  When\na poor barefooted boy, he walked six or eight miles across the moors\ndaily to learn reading at the little village schoolhouse of Kirkton; and\nthis was all the education he received; the rest he acquired for himself.\nHe found his way to Edinburgh to attend the college there, setting the\nextremest penury at defiance.  He was first discovered as a frequenter of\na small bookseller\u2019s shop kept by Archibald Constable, afterwards so well\nknown as a publisher.  He would pass hour after hour perched on a ladder\nin mid-air, with some great folio in his hand, forgetful of the scanty\nmeal of bread and water which awaited him at his miserable lodging.\nAccess to books and lectures comprised all within the bounds of his\nwishes.  Thus he toiled and battled at the gates of science until his\nunconquerable perseverance carried everything before it.  Before he had\nattained his nineteenth year he had astonished all the professors in\nEdinburgh by his profound knowledge of Greek and Latin, and the general\nmass of information he had acquired.  Having turned his views to India,\nhe sought employment in the civil service, but failed.  He was however\ninformed that a surgeon\u2019s assistant\u2019s commission was open to him.  But he\nwas no surgeon, and knew no more of the profession than a child.  He\ncould however learn.  Then he was told that he must be ready to pass in\nsix months!  Nothing daunted, he set to work, to acquire in six months\nwhat usually required three years.  At the end of six months he took his\ndegree with honour.  Scott and a few friends helped to fit him out; and\nhe sailed for India, after publishing his beautiful poem \u2018The Scenes of\nInfancy.\u2019  In India he promised to become one of the greatest of oriental\nscholars, but was unhappily cut off by fever caught by exposure, and died\nat an early age.\n\nThe life of the late Dr. Lee, Professor of Hebrew at Cambridge, furnishes\none of the most remarkable instances in modern times of the power of\npatient perseverance and resolute purpose in working out an honourable\ncareer in literature.  He received his education at a charity school at\nLognor, near Shrewsbury, but so little distinguished himself there, that\nhis master pronounced him one of the dullest boys that ever passed\nthrough his hands.  He was put apprentice to a carpenter, and worked at\nthat trade until he arrived at manhood.  To occupy his leisure hours he\ntook to reading; and, some of the books containing Latin quotations, he\nbecame desirous of ascertaining what they meant.  He bought a Latin\ngrammar, and proceeded to learn Latin.  As Stone, the Duke of Argyle\u2019s\ngardener, said, long before, \u201cDoes one need to know anything more than\nthe twenty-four letters in order to learn everything else that one\nwishes?\u201d  Lee rose early and sat up late, and he succeeded in mastering\nthe Latin before his apprenticeship was out.  Whilst working one day in\nsome place of worship, a copy of a Greek Testament fell in his way, and\nhe was immediately filled with the desire to learn that language.  He\naccordingly sold some of his Latin books, and purchased a Greek Grammar\nand Lexicon.  Taking pleasure in learning, he soon mastered the language.\nThen he sold his Greek books, and bought Hebrew ones, and learnt that\nlanguage, unassisted by any instructor, without any hope of fame or\nreward, but simply following the bent of his genius.  He next proceeded\nto learn the Chaldee, Syriac, and Samaritan dialects.  But his studies\nbegan to tell upon his health, and brought on disease in his eyes through\nhis long night watchings with his books.  Having laid them aside for a\ntime and recovered his health, he went on with his daily work.  His\ncharacter as a tradesman being excellent, his business improved, and his\nmeans enabled him to marry, which he did when twenty-eight years old.  He\ndetermined now to devote himself to the maintenance of his family, and to\nrenounce the luxury of literature; accordingly he sold all his books.  He\nmight have continued a working carpenter all his life, had not the chest\nof tools upon which he depended for subsistence been destroyed by fire,\nand destitution stared him in the face.  He was too poor to buy new\ntools, so he bethought him of teaching children their letters,\u2014a\nprofession requiring the least possible capital.  But though he had\nmastered many languages, he was so defective in the common branches of\nknowledge, that at first he could not teach them.  Resolute of purpose,\nhowever, he assiduously set to work, and taught himself arithmetic and\nwriting to such a degree as to be able to impart the knowledge of these\nbranches to little children.  His unaffected, simple, and beautiful\ncharacter gradually attracted friends, and the acquirements of the\n\u201clearned carpenter\u201d became bruited abroad.  Dr. Scott, a neighbouring\nclergyman, obtained for him the appointment of master of a charity school\nin Shrewsbury, and introduced him to a distinguished Oriental scholar.\nThese friends supplied him with books, and Lee successively mastered\nArabic, Persic, and Hindostanee.  He continued to pursue his studies\nwhile on duty as a private in the local militia of the county; gradually\nacquiring greater proficiency in languages.  At length his kind patron,\nDr. Scott, enabled Lee to enter Queen\u2019s College, Cambridge; and after a\ncourse of study, in which he distinguished himself by his mathematical\nacquirements, a vacancy occurring in the professorship of Arabic and\nHebrew, he was worthily elected to fill the honourable office.  Besides\nably performing his duties as a professor, he voluntarily gave much of\nhis time to the instruction of missionaries going forth to preach the\nGospel to eastern tribes in their own tongue.  He also made translations\nof the Bible into several Asiatic dialects; and having mastered the New\nZealand language, he arranged a grammar and vocabulary for two New\nZealand chiefs who were then in England, which books are now in daily use\nin the New Zealand schools.  Such, in brief, is the remarkable history of\nDr. Samuel Lee; and it is but the counterpart of numerous similarly\ninstructive examples of the power of perseverance in self-culture, as\ndisplayed in the lives of many of the most distinguished of our literary\nand scientific men.\n\nThere are many other illustrious names which might be cited to prove the\ntruth of the common saying that \u201cit is never too late to learn.\u201d  Even at\nadvanced years men can do much, if they will determine on making a\nbeginning.  Sir Henry Spelman did not begin the study of science until he\nwas between fifty and sixty years of age.  Franklin was fifty before he\nfully entered upon the study of Natural Philosophy.  Dryden and Scott\nwere not known as authors until each was in his fortieth year.  Boccaccio\nwas thirty-five when he commenced his literary career, and Alfieri was\nforty-six when he began the study of Greek.  Dr. Arnold learnt German at\nan advanced age, for the purpose of reading Niebuhr in the original; and\nin like manner James Watt, when about forty, while working at his trade\nof an instrument maker in Glasgow, learnt French, German, and Italian, to\nenable himself to peruse the valuable works on mechanical philosophy\nwhich existed in those languages.  Thomas Scott was fifty-six before he\nbegan to learn Hebrew.  Robert Hall was once found lying upon the floor,\nracked by pain, learning Italian in his old age, to enable him to judge\nof the parallel drawn by Macaulay between Milton and Dante.  Handel was\nforty-eight before he published any of his great works.  Indeed hundreds\nof instances might be given of men who struck out an entirely new path,\nand successfully entered on new studies, at a comparatively advanced time\nof life.  None but the frivolous or the indolent will say, \u201cI am too old\nto learn.\u201d {354}\n\nAnd here we would repeat what we have said before, that it is not men of\ngenius who move the world and take the lead in it, so much as men of\nsteadfastness, purpose, and indefatigable industry.  Notwithstanding the\nmany undeniable instances of the precocity of men of genius, it is\nnevertheless true that early cleverness gives no indication of the height\nto which the grown man will reach.  Precocity is sometimes a symptom of\ndisease rather than of intellectual vigour.  What becomes of all the\n\u201cremarkably clever children?\u201d  Where are the duxes and prize boys?  Trace\nthem through life, and it will frequently be found that the dull boys,\nwho were beaten at school, have shot ahead of them.  The clever boys are\nrewarded, but the prizes which they gain by their greater quickness and\nfacility do not always prove of use to them.  What ought rather to be\nrewarded is the endeavour, the struggle, and the obedience; for it is the\nyouth who does his best, though endowed with an inferiority of natural\npowers, that ought above all others to be encouraged.\n\nAn interesting chapter might be written on the subject of illustrious\ndunces\u2014dull boys, but brilliant men.  We have room, however, for only a\nfew instances.  Pietro di Cortona, the painter, was thought so stupid\nthat he was nicknamed \u201cAss\u2019s Head\u201d when a boy; and Tomaso Guidi was\ngenerally known as \u201cHeavy Tom\u201d (Massaccio Tomasaccio), though by\ndiligence he afterwards raised himself to the highest eminence.  Newton,\nwhen at school, stood at the bottom of the lowest form but one.  The boy\nabove Newton having kicked him, the dunce showed his pluck by challenging\nhim to a fight, and beat him.  Then he set to work with a will, and\ndetermined also to vanquish his antagonist as a scholar, which he did,\nrising to the top of his class.  Many of our greatest divines have been\nanything but precocious.  Isaac Barrow, when a boy at the Charterhouse\nSchool, was notorious chiefly for his strong temper, pugnacious habits,\nand proverbial idleness as a scholar; and he caused such grief to his\nparents that his father used to say that, if it pleased God to take from\nhim any of his children, he hoped it might be Isaac, the least promising\nof them all.  Adam Clarke, when a boy, was proclaimed by his father to be\n\u201ca grievous dunce;\u201d though he could roll large stones about.  Dean Swift\nwas \u201cplucked\u201d at Dublin University, and only obtained his recommendation\nto Oxford \u201cspeciali gratia.\u201d  The well-known Dr. Chalmers and Dr. Cook\n{356a} were boys together at the parish school of St. Andrew\u2019s; and they\nwere found so stupid and mischievous, that the master, irritated beyond\nmeasure, dismissed them both as incorrigible dunces.\n\nThe brilliant Sheridan showed so little capacity as a boy, that he was\npresented to a tutor by his mother with the complimentary accompaniment\nthat he was an incorrigible dunce.  Walter Scott was all but a dunce when\na boy, always much readier for a \u201cbicker,\u201d than apt at his lessons.  At\nthe Edinburgh University, Professor Dalzell pronounced upon him the\nsentence that \u201cDunce he was, and dunce he would remain.\u201d  Chatterton was\nreturned on his mother\u2019s hands as \u201ca fool, of whom nothing could be\nmade.\u201d  Burns was a dull boy, good only at athletic exercises.  Goldsmith\nspoke of himself, as a plant that flowered late.  Alfieri left college no\nwiser than he entered it, and did not begin the studies by which he\ndistinguished himself, until he had run half over Europe.  Robert Clive\nwas a dunce, if not a reprobate, when a youth; but always full of energy,\neven in badness.  His family, glad to get rid of him, shipped him off to\nMadras; and he lived to lay the foundations of the British power in\nIndia.  Napoleon and Wellington were both dull boys, not distinguishing\nthemselves in any way at school. {356b}  Of the former the Duchess\nd\u2019Abrantes says, \u201che had good health, but was in other respects like\nother boys.\u201d\n\nUlysses Grant, the Commander-in-Chief of the United States, was called\n\u201cUseless Grant\u201d by his mother\u2014he was so dull and unhandy when a boy; and\nStonewall Jackson, Lee\u2019s greatest lieutenant, was, in his youth, chiefly\nnoted for his slowness.  While a pupil at West Point Military Academy he\nwas, however, equally remarkable for his indefatigable application and\nperseverance.  When a task was set him, he never left it until he had\nmastered it; nor did he ever feign to possess knowledge which he had not\nentirely acquired.  \u201cAgain and again,\u201d wrote one who knew him, \u201cwhen\ncalled upon to answer questions in the recitation of the day, he would\nreply, \u2018I have not yet looked at it; I have been engaged in mastering the\nrecitation of yesterday or the day before.\u2019  The result was that he\ngraduated seventeenth in a class of seventy.  There was probably in the\nwhole class not a boy to whom Jackson at the outset was not inferior in\nknowledge and attainments; but at the end of the race he had only sixteen\nbefore him, and had outstripped no fewer than fifty-three.  It used to be\nsaid of him by his contemporaries, that if the course had been for ten\nyears instead of four, Jackson would have graduated at the head of his\nclass.\u201d {357}\n\nJohn Howard, the philanthropist, was another illustrious dunce, learning\nnext to nothing during the seven years that he was at school.\nStephenson, as a youth, was distinguished chiefly for his skill at\nputting and wrestling, and attention to his work.  The brilliant Sir\nHumphry Davy was no cleverer than other boys: his teacher, Dr. Cardew,\nonce said of him, \u201cWhile he was with me I could not discern the faculties\nby which he was so much distinguished.\u201d  Indeed, Davy himself in after\nlife considered it fortunate that he had been left to \u201cenjoy so much\nidleness\u201d at school.  Watt was a dull scholar, notwithstanding the\nstories told about his precocity; but he was, what was better, patient\nand perseverant, and it was by such qualities, and by his carefully\ncultivated inventiveness, that he was enabled to perfect his\nsteam-engine.\n\nWhat Dr. Arnold said of boys is equally true of men\u2014that the difference\nbetween one boy and another consists not so much in talent as in energy.\nGiven perseverance and energy soon becomes habitual.  Provided the dunce\nhas persistency and application he will inevitably head the cleverer\nfellow without those qualities.  Slow but sure wins the race.  It is\nperseverance that explains how the position of boys at school is so often\nreversed in real life; and it is curious to note how some who were then\nso clever have since become so commonplace; whilst others, dull boys, of\nwhom nothing was expected, slow in their faculties but sure in their\npace, have assumed the position of leaders of men.  The author of this\nbook, when a boy, stood in the same class with one of the greatest of\ndunces.  One teacher after another had tried his skill upon him and\nfailed.  Corporal punishment, the fool\u2019s cap, coaxing, and earnest\nentreaty, proved alike fruitless.  Sometimes the experiment was tried of\nputting him at the top of his class, and it was curious to note the\nrapidity with which he gravitated to the inevitable bottom.  The youth\nwas given up by his teachers as an incorrigible dunce\u2014one of them\npronouncing him to be a \u201cstupendous booby.\u201d  Yet, slow though he was,\nthis dunce had a sort of dull energy of purpose in him, which grew with\nhis muscles and his manhood; and, strange to say, when he at length came\nto take part in the practical business of life, he was found heading most\nof his school companions, and eventually left the greater number of them\nfar behind.  The last time the author heard of him, he was chief\nmagistrate of his native town.\n\nThe tortoise in the right road will beat a racer in the wrong.  It\nmatters not though a youth be slow, if he be but diligent.  Quickness of\nparts may even prove a defect, inasmuch as the boy who learns readily\nwill often forget as readily; and also because he finds no need of\ncultivating that quality of application and perseverance which the slower\nyouth is compelled to exercise, and which proves so valuable an element\nin the formation of every character.  Davy said \u201cWhat I am I have made\nmyself;\u201d and the same holds true universally.\n\nTo conclude: the best culture is not obtained from teachers when at\nschool or college, so much as by our own diligent self-education when we\nhave become men.  Hence parents need not be in too great haste to see\ntheir children\u2019s talents forced into bloom.  Let them watch and wait\npatiently, letting good example and quiet training do their work, and\nleave the rest to Providence.  Let them see to it that the youth is\nprovided, by free exercise of his bodily powers, with a full stock of\nphysical health; set him fairly on the road of self-culture; carefully\ntrain his habits of application and perseverance; and as he grows older,\nif the right stuff be in him, he will be enabled vigorously and\neffectively to cultivate himself.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\nEXAMPLE\u2014MODELS.\n\n\n    \u201cEver their phantoms rise before us,\n       Our loftier brothers, but one in blood;\n    By bed and table they lord it o\u2019er us,\n       With looks of beauty and words of good.\u201d\u2014_John Sterling_.\n\n    \u201cChildren may be strangled, but Deeds never; they have an\n    indestructible life, both in and out of our consciousness.\u201d\u2014_George\n    Eliot_.\n\n    \u201cThere is no action of man in this life, which is not the beginning\n    of so long a chain of consequences, as that no human providence is\n    high enough to give us a prospect to the end.\u201d\u2014_Thomas of\n    Malmesbury_.\n\nEXAMPLE is one of the most potent of instructors, though it teaches\nwithout a tongue.  It is the practical school of mankind, working by\naction, which is always more forcible than words.  Precept may point to\nus the way, but it is silent continuous example, conveyed to us by\nhabits, and living with us in fact, that carries us along.  Good advice\nhas its weight: but without the accompaniment of a good example it is of\ncomparatively small influence; and it will be found that the common\nsaying of \u201cDo as I say, not as I do,\u201d is usually reversed in the actual\nexperience of life.\n\nAll persons are more or less apt to learn through the eye rather than the\near; and, whatever is seen in fact, makes a far deeper impression than\nanything that is merely read or heard.  This is especially the case in\nearly youth, when the eye is the chief inlet of knowledge.  Whatever\nchildren see they unconsciously imitate.  They insensibly come to\nresemble those who are about them\u2014as insects take the colour of the\nleaves they feed on.  Hence the vast importance of domestic training.\nFor whatever may be the efficiency of schools, the examples set in our\nHomes must always be of vastly greater influence in forming the\ncharacters of our future men and women.  The Home is the crystal of\nsociety\u2014the nucleus of national character; and from that source, be it\npure or tainted, issue the habits, principles and maxims, which govern\npublic as well as private life.  The nation comes from the nursery.\nPublic opinion itself is for the most part the outgrowth of the home; and\nthe best philanthropy comes from the fireside.  \u201cTo love the little\nplatoon we belong to in society,\u201d says Burke, \u201cis the germ of all public\naffections.\u201d  From this little central spot, the human sympathies may\nextend in an ever widening circle, until the world is embraced; for,\nthough true philanthropy, like charity, begins at home, assuredly it does\nnot end there.\n\nExample in conduct, therefore, even in apparently trivial matters, is of\nno light moment, inasmuch as it is constantly becoming inwoven with the\nlives of others, and contributing to form their natures for better or for\nworse.  The characters of parents are thus constantly repeated in their\nchildren; and the acts of affection, discipline, industry, and\nself-control, which they daily exemplify, live and act when all else\nwhich may have been learned through the ear has long been forgotten.\nHence a wise man was accustomed to speak of his children as his \u201cfuture\nstate.\u201d  Even the mute action and unconscious look of a parent may give a\nstamp to the character which is never effaced; and who can tell how much\nevil act has been stayed by the thought of some good parent, whose memory\ntheir children may not sully by the commission of an unworthy deed, or\nthe indulgence of an impure thought?  The veriest trifles thus become of\nimportance in influencing the characters of men.  \u201cA kiss from my\nmother,\u201d said West, \u201cmade me a painter.\u201d  It is on the direction of such\nseeming trifles when children that the future happiness and success of\nmen mainly depend.  Fowell Buxton, when occupying an eminent and\ninfluential station in life, wrote to his mother, \u201cI constantly feel,\nespecially in action and exertion for others, the effects of principles\nearly implanted by you in my mind.\u201d  Buxton was also accustomed to\nremember with gratitude the obligations which he owed to an illiterate\nman, a gamekeeper, named Abraham Plastow, with whom he played, and rode,\nand sported\u2014a man who could neither read nor write, but was full of\nnatural good sense and mother-wit.  \u201cWhat made him particularly\nvaluable,\u201d says Buxton, \u201cwere his principles of integrity and honour.  He\nnever said or did a thing in the absence of my mother of which she would\nhave disapproved.  He always held up the highest standard of integrity,\nand filled our youthful minds with sentiments as pure and as generous as\ncould be found in the writings of Seneca or Cicero.  Such was my first\ninstructor, and, I must add, my best.\u201d\n\nLord Langdale, looking back upon the admirable example set him by his\nmother, declared, \u201cIf the whole world were put into one scale, and my\nmother into the other, the world would kick the beam.\u201d  Mrs. Schimmel\nPenninck, in her old age, was accustomed to call to mind the personal\ninfluence exercised by her mother upon the society amidst which she\nmoved.  When she entered a room it had the effect of immediately raising\nthe tone of the conversation, and as if purifying the moral\natmosphere\u2014all seeming to breathe more freely, and stand more erectly.\n\u201cIn her presence,\u201d says the daughter, \u201cI became for the time transformed\ninto another person.\u201d  So much does she moral health depend upon the\nmoral atmosphere that is breathed, and so great is the influence daily\nexercised by parents over their children by living a life before their\neyes, that perhaps the best system of parental instruction might be\nsummed up in these two words: \u201cImprove thyself.\u201d\n\nThere is something solemn and awful in the thought that there is not an\nact done or a word uttered by a human being but carries with it a train\nof consequences, the end of which we may never trace.  Not one but, to a\ncertain extent, gives a colour to our life, and insensibly influences the\nlives of those about us.  The good deed or word will live, even though we\nmay not see it fructify, but so will the bad; and no person is so\ninsignificant as to be sure that his example will not do good on the one\nhand, or evil on the other.  The spirits of men do not die: they still\nlive and walk abroad among us.  It was a fine and a true thought uttered\nby Mr. Disraeli in the House of Commons on the death of Richard Cobden,\nthat \u201che was one of those men who, though not present, were still members\nof that House, who were independent of dissolutions, of the caprices of\nconstituencies, and even of the course of time.\u201d\n\nThere is, indeed, an essence of immortality in the life of man, even in\nthis world.  No individual in the universe stands alone; he is a\ncomponent part of a system of mutual dependencies; and by his several\nacts he either increases or diminishes the sum of human good now and for\never.  As the present is rooted in the past, and the lives and examples\nof our forefathers still to a great extent influence us, so are we by our\ndaily acts contributing to form the condition and character of the\nfuture.  Man is a fruit formed and ripened by the culture of all the\nforegoing centuries; and the living generation continues the magnetic\ncurrent of action and example destined to bind the remotest past with the\nmost distant future.  No man\u2019s acts die utterly; and though his body may\nresolve into dust and air, his good or his bad deeds will still be\nbringing forth fruit after their kind, and influencing future generations\nfor all time to come.  It is in this momentous and solemn fact that the\ngreat peril and responsibility of human existence lies.\n\nMr. Babbage has so powerfully expressed this idea in a noble passage in\none of his writings that we here venture to quote his words: \u201cEvery\natom,\u201d he says, \u201cimpressed with good or ill, retains at once the motions\nwhich philosophers and sages have imparted to it, mixed and combined in\nten thousand ways with all that is worthless and base; the air itself is\none vast library, on whose pages are written _for ever_ all that man has\never said or whispered.  There, in their immutable but unerring\ncharacters, mixed with the earliest as well as the latest sighs of\nmortality, stand for ever recorded vows unredeemed, promises unfulfilled;\nperpetuating, in the united movements of each particle, the testimony of\nman\u2019s changeful will.  But, if the air we breathe is the never-failing\nhistorian of the sentiments we have uttered, earth, air, and ocean, are,\nin like manner, the eternal witnesses of the acts we have done; the same\nprinciple of the equality of action and reaction applies to them.  No\nmotion impressed by natural causes, or by human agency, is ever\nobliterated. . . . If the Almighty stamped on the brow of the first\nmurderer the indelible and visible mark of his guilt, He has also\nestablished laws by which every succeeding criminal is not less\nirrevocably chained to the testimony of his crime; for every atom of his\nmortal frame, through whatever changes its severed particles may migrate,\nwill still retain adhering to it, through every combination, some\nmovement derived from that very muscular effort by which the crime itself\nwas perpetrated.\u201d\n\nThus, every act we do or word we utter, as well as every act we witness\nor word we hear, carries with it an influence which extends over, and\ngives a colour, not only to the whole of our future life, but makes\nitself felt upon the whole frame of society.  We may not, and indeed\ncannot, possibly, trace the influence working itself into action in its\nvarious ramifications amongst our children, our friends, or associates;\nyet there it is assuredly, working on for ever.  And herein lies the\ngreat significance of setting forth a good example,\u2014a silent teaching\nwhich even the poorest and least significant person can practise in his\ndaily life.  There is no one so humble, but that he owes to others this\nsimple but priceless instruction.  Even the meanest condition may thus be\nmade useful; for the light set in a low place shines as faithfully as\nthat set upon a hill.  Everywhere, and under almost all circumstances,\nhowever externally adverse\u2014in moorland shielings, in cottage hamlets, in\nthe close alleys of great towns\u2014the true man may grow.  He who tills a\nspace of earth scarce bigger than is needed for his grave, may work as\nfaithfully, and to as good purpose, as the heir to thousands.  The\ncommonest workshop may thus be a school of industry, science, and good\nmorals, on the one hand; or of idleness, folly, and depravity, on the\nother.  It all depends on the individual men, and the use they make of\nthe opportunities for good which offer themselves.\n\nA life well spent, a character uprightly sustained, is no slight legacy\nto leave to one\u2019s children, and to the world; for it is the most eloquent\nlesson of virtue and the severest reproof of vice, while it continues an\nenduring source of the best kind of riches.  Well for those who can say,\nas Pope did, in rejoinder to the sarcasm of Lord Hervey, \u201cI think it\nenough that my parents, such as they were, never cost me a blush, and\nthat their son, such as he is, never cost them a tear.\u201d\n\nIt is not enough to tell others what they are to do, but to exhibit the\nactual example of doing.  What Mrs. Chisholm described to Mrs. Stowe as\nthe secret of her success, applies to all life.  \u201cI found,\u201d she said,\n\u201cthat if we want anything _done_, we must go to work and _do_: it is of\nno use merely to talk\u2014none whatever.\u201d  It is poor eloquence that only\nshows how a person can talk.  Had Mrs. Chisholm rested satisfied with\nlecturing, her project, she was persuaded, would never have got beyond\nthe region of talk; but when people saw what she was doing and had\nactually accomplished, they fell in with her views and came forward to\nhelp her.  Hence the most beneficent worker is not he who says the most\neloquent things, or even who thinks the most loftily, but he who does the\nmost eloquent acts.\n\nTrue-hearted persons, even in the humblest station in life, who are\nenergetic doers, may thus give an impulse to good works out of all\nproportion, apparently, to their actual station in society.  Thomas\nWright might have talked about the reclamation of criminals, and John\nPounds about the necessity for Ragged Schools, and yet done nothing;\ninstead of which they simply set to work without any other idea in their\nminds than that of doing, not talking.  And how the example of even the\npoorest man may tell upon society, hear what Dr. Guthrie, the apostle of\nthe Ragged School movement, says of the influence which the example of\nJohn Pounds, the humble Portsmouth cobbler, exercised upon his own\nworking career:\u2014\n\n\u201cThe interest I have been led to take in this cause is an example of how,\nin Providence, a man\u2019s destiny\u2014his course of life, like that of a\nriver\u2014may be determined and affected by very trivial circumstances.  It\nis rather curious\u2014at least it is interesting to me to remember\u2014that it\nwas by a picture I was first led to take an interest in ragged schools\u2014by\na picture in an old, obscure, decaying burgh that stands on the shores of\nthe Frith of Forth, the birthplace of Thomas Chalmers.  I went to see\nthis place many years ago; and, going into an inn for refreshment, I\nfound the room covered with pictures of shepherdesses with their crooks,\nand sailors in holiday attire, not particularly interesting.  But above\nthe chimney-piece there was a large print, more respectable than its\nneighbours, which represented a cobbler\u2019s room.  The cobbler was there\nhimself, spectacles on nose, an old shoe between his knees\u2014the massive\nforehead and firm mouth indicating great determination of character, and,\nbeneath his bushy eyebrows, benevolence gleamed out on a number of poor\nragged boys and girls who stood at their lessons round the busy cobbler.\nMy curiosity was awakened; and in the inscription I read how this man,\nJohn Pounds, a cobbler in Portsmouth, taking pity on the multitude of\npoor ragged children left by ministers and magistrates, and ladies and\ngentlemen, to go to ruin on the streets\u2014how, like a good shepherd, he\ngathered in these wretched outcasts\u2014how he had trained them to God and to\nthe world\u2014and how, while earning his daily bread by the sweat of his\nbrow, he had rescued from misery and saved to society not less than five\nhundred of these children.  I felt ashamed of myself.  I felt reproved\nfor the little I had done.  My feelings were touched.  I was astonished\nat this man\u2019s achievements; and I well remember, in the enthusiasm of the\nmoment, saying to my companion (and I have seen in my cooler and calmer\nmoments no reason for unsaying the saying)\u2014\u2018That man is an honour to\nhumanity, and deserves the tallest monument ever raised within the shores\nof Britain.\u2019  I took up that man\u2019s history, and I found it animated by\nthe spirit of Him who \u2018had compassion on the multitude.\u2019  John Pounds was\na clever man besides; and, like Paul, if he could not win a poor boy any\nother way, he won him by art.  He would be seen chasing a ragged boy\nalong the quays, and compelling him to come to school, not by the power\nof a policeman, but by the power of a hot potato.  He knew the love an\nIrishman had for a potato; and John Pounds might be seen running holding\nunder the boy\u2019s nose a potato, like an Irishman, very hot, and with a\ncoat as ragged as himself.  When the day comes when honour will be done\nto whom honour is due, I can fancy the crowd of those whose fame poets\nhave sung, and to whose memory monuments have been raised, dividing like\nthe wave, and, passing the great, and the noble, and the mighty of the\nland, this poor, obscure old man stepping forward and receiving the\nespecial notice of Him who said \u2018Inasmuch as ye did it to one of the\nleast of these, ye did it also to Me.\u2019\u201d\n\nThe education of character is very much a question of models; we mould\nourselves so unconsciously after the characters, manners, habits, and\nopinions of those who are about us.  Good rules may do much, but good\nmodels far more; for in the latter we have instruction in action\u2014wisdom\nat work.  Good admonition and bad example only build with one hand to\npull down with the other.  Hence the vast importance of exercising great\ncare in the selection of companions, especially in youth.  There is a\nmagnetic affinity in young persons which insensibly tends to assimilate\nthem to each other\u2019s likeness.  Mr. Edgeworth was so strongly convinced\nthat from sympathy they involuntarily imitated or caught the tone of the\ncompany they frequented, that he held it to be of the most essential\nimportance that they should be taught to select the very best models.\n\u201cNo company, or good company,\u201d was his motto.  Lord Collingwood, writing\nto a young friend, said, \u201cHold it as a maxim that you had better be alone\nthan in mean company.  Let your companions be such as yourself, or\nsuperior; for the worth of a man will always be ruled by that of his\ncompany.\u201d  It was a remark of the famous Dr. Sydenham that everybody some\ntime or other would be the better or the worse for having but spoken to a\ngood or a bad man.  As Sir Peter Lely made it a rule never to look at a\nbad picture if he could help it, believing that whenever he did so his\npencil caught a taint from it, so, whoever chooses to gaze often upon a\ndebased specimen of humanity and to frequent his society, cannot help\ngradually assimilating himself to that sort of model.\n\nIt is therefore advisable for young men to seek the fellowship of the\ngood, and always to aim at a higher standard than themselves.  Francis\nHorner, speaking of the advantages to himself of direct personal\nintercourse with high-minded, intelligent men, said, \u201cI cannot hesitate\nto decide that I have derived more intellectual improvement from them\nthan from all the books I have turned over.\u201d  Lord Shelburne (afterwards\nMarquis of Lansdowne), when a young man, paid a visit to the venerable\nMalesherbes, and was so much impressed by it, that he said,\u2014\u201cI have\ntravelled much, but I have never been so influenced by personal contact\nwith any man; and if I ever accomplish any good in the course of my life,\nI am certain that the recollection of M. de Malesherbes will animate my\nsoul.\u201d  So Fowell Buxton was always ready to acknowledge the powerful\ninfluence exercised upon the formation of his character in early life by\nthe example of the Gurney family: \u201cIt has given a colour to my life,\u201d he\nused to say.  Speaking of his success at the Dublin University, he\nconfessed, \u201cI can ascribe it to nothing but my Earlham visits.\u201d  It was\nfrom the Gurneys he \u201ccaught the infection\u201d of self-improvement.\n\nContact with the good never fails to impart good, and we carry away with\nus some of the blessing, as travellers\u2019 garments retain the odour of the\nflowers and shrubs through which they have passed.  Those who knew the\nlate John Sterling intimately, have spoken of the beneficial influence\nwhich he exercised on all with whom he came into personal contact.  Many\nowed to him their first awakening to a higher being; from him they learnt\nwhat they were, and what they ought to be.  Mr. Trench says of him:\u2014\u201cIt\nwas impossible to come in contact with his noble nature without feeling\none\u2019s self in some measure _ennobled_ and _lifted up_, as I ever felt\nwhen I left him, into a higher region of objects and aims than that in\nwhich one is tempted habitually to dwell.\u201d  It is thus that the noble\ncharacter always acts; we become insensibly elevated by him, and cannot\nhelp feeling as he does and acquiring the habit of looking at things in\nthe same light.  Such is the magical action and reaction of minds upon\neach other.\n\nArtists, also, feel themselves elevated by contact with artists greater\nthan themselves.  Thus Haydn\u2019s genius was first fired by Handel.  Hearing\nhim play, Haydn\u2019s ardour for musical composition was at once excited, and\nbut for this circumstance, he himself believed that he would never have\nwritten the \u2018Creation.\u2019  Speaking of Handel, he said, \u201cWhen he chooses,\nhe strikes like the thunderbolt;\u201d and at another time, \u201cThere is not a\nnote of him but draws blood.\u201d  Scarlatti was another of Handel\u2019s ardent\nadmirers, following him all over Italy; afterwards, when speaking of the\ngreat master, he would cross himself in token of admiration.  True\nartists never fail generously to recognise each other\u2019s greatness.  Thus\nBeethoven\u2019s admiration for Cherubini was regal: and he ardently hailed\nthe genius of Schubert: \u201cTruly,\u201d said he, \u201cin Schubert dwells a divine\nfire.\u201d  When Northcote was a mere youth he had such an admiration for\nReynolds that, when the great painter was once attending a public meeting\ndown in Devonshire, the boy pushed through the crowd, and got so near\nReynolds as to touch the skirt of his coat, \u201cwhich I did,\u201d says\nNorthcote, \u201cwith great satisfaction to my mind,\u201d\u2014a true touch of youthful\nenthusiasm in its admiration of genius.\n\nThe example of the brave is an inspiration to the timid, their presence\nthrilling through every fibre.  Hence the miracles of valour so often\nperformed by ordinary men under the leadership of the heroic.  The very\nrecollection of the deeds of the valiant stirs men\u2019s blood like the sound\nof a trumpet.  Ziska bequeathed his skin to be used as a drum to inspire\nthe valour of the Bohemians.  When Scanderbeg, prince of Epirus, was\ndead, the Turks wished to possess his bones, that each might wear a piece\nnext his heart, hoping thus to secure some portion of the courage he had\ndisplayed while living, and which they had so often experienced in\nbattle.  When the gallant Douglas, bearing the heart of Bruce to the Holy\nLand, saw one of his knights surrounded and sorely pressed by the\nSaracens, he took from his neck the silver case containing the hero\u2019s\nbequest, and throwing it amidst the thickest press of his foes, cried,\n\u201cPass first in fight, as thou wert wont to do, and Douglas will follow\nthee, or die;\u201d and so saying, he rushed forward to the place where it\nfell, and was there slain.\n\nThe chief use of biography consists in the noble models of character in\nwhich it abounds.  Our great forefathers still live among us in the\nrecords of their lives, as well as in the acts they have done, which live\nalso; still sit by us at table, and hold us by the hand; furnishing\nexamples for our benefit, which we may still study, admire and imitate.\nIndeed, whoever has left behind him the record of a noble life, has\nbequeathed to posterity an enduring source of good, for it serves as a\nmodel for others to form themselves by in all time to come; still\nbreathing fresh life into men, helping them to reproduce his life anew,\nand to illustrate his character in other forms.  Hence a book containing\nthe life of a true man is full of precious seed.  It is a still living\nvoice; it is an intellect.  To use Milton\u2019s words, \u201cit is the precious\nlife-blood of a master spirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a\nlife beyond life.\u201d  Such a book never ceases to exercise an elevating and\nennobling influence.  But, above all, there is the Book containing the\nvery highest Example set before us to shape our lives by in this\nworld\u2014the most suitable for all the necessities of our mind and heart\u2014an\nexample which we can only follow afar off and feel after,\n\n    \u201cLike plants or vines which never saw the sun,\n    But dream of him and guess where he may be,\n    And do their best to climb and get to him.\u201d\n\nAgain, no young man can rise from the perusal of such lives as those of\nBuxton and Arnold, without feeling his mind and heart made better, and\nhis best resolves invigorated.  Such biographies increase a man\u2019s\nself-reliance by demonstrating what men can be, and what they can do;\nfortifying his hopes and elevating his aims in life.  Sometimes a young\nman discovers himself in a biography, as Correggio felt within him the\nrisings of genius on contemplating the works of Michael Angelo: \u201cAnd I\ntoo, am a painter,\u201d he exclaimed.  Sir Samuel Romilly, in his\nautobiography, confessed himself to have been powerfully influenced by\nthe life of the great and noble-minded French Chancellor Daguesseau:\u2014\u201cThe\nworks of Thomas,\u201d says he, \u201chad fallen into my hands, and I had read with\nadmiration his \u2018Eloge of Daguesseau;\u2019 and the career of honour which he\nrepresented that illustrious magistrate to have run, excited to a great\ndegree my ardour and ambition, and opened to my imagination new paths of\nglory.\u201d\n\nFranklin was accustomed to attribute his usefulness and eminence to his\nhaving early read Cotton Mather\u2019s \u2018Essays to do Good\u2019\u2014a book which grew\nout of Mather\u2019s own life.  And see how good example draws other men after\nit, and propagates itself through future generations in all lands.  For\nSamuel Drew avers that he framed his own life, and especially his\nbusiness habits, after the model left on record by Benjamin Franklin.\nThus it is impossible to say where a good example may not reach, or where\nit will end, if indeed it have an end.  Hence the advantage, in\nliterature as in life, of keeping the best society, reading the best\nbooks, and wisely admiring and imitating the best things we find in them.\n\u201cIn literature,\u201d said Lord Dudley, \u201cI am fond of confining myself to the\nbest company, which consists chiefly of my old acquaintance, with whom I\nam desirous of becoming more intimate; and I suspect that nine times out\nof ten it is more profitable, if not more agreeable, to read an old book\nover again, than to read a new one for the first time.\u201d\n\nSometimes a book containing a noble exemplar of life, taken up at random,\nmerely with the object of reading it as a pastime, has been known to call\nforth energies whose existence had not before been suspected.  Alfieri\nwas first drawn with passion to literature by reading \u2018Plutarch\u2019s Lives.\u2019\nLoyola, when a soldier serving at the siege of Pampeluna, and laid up by\na dangerous wound in his leg, asked for a book to divert his thoughts:\nthe \u2018Lives of the Saints\u2019 was brought to him, and its perusal so inflamed\nhis mind, that he determined thenceforth to devote himself to the\nfounding of a religious order.  Luther, in like manner, was inspired to\nundertake the great labours of his life by a perusal of the \u2018Life and\nWritings of John Huss.\u2019  Dr. Wolff was stimulated to enter upon his\nmissionary career by reading the \u2018Life of Francis Xavier;\u2019 and the book\nfired his youthful bosom with a passion the most sincere and ardent to\ndevote himself to the enterprise of his life.  William Carey, also, got\nthe first idea of entering upon his sublime labours as a missionary from\na perusal of the Voyages of Captain Cook.\n\nFrancis Horner was accustomed to note in his diary and letters the books\nby which he was most improved and influenced.  Amongst these were\nCondorcet\u2019s \u2018Eloge of Haller,\u2019 Sir Joshua Reynolds\u2019 \u2018Discourses,\u2019 the\nwritings of Bacon, and \u2018Burnet\u2019s Account of Sir Matthew Hale.\u2019  The\nperusal of the last-mentioned book\u2014the portrait of a prodigy of\nlabour\u2014Horner says, filled him with enthusiasm.  Of Condorcet\u2019s \u2018Eloge of\nHaller,\u2019 he said: \u201cI never rise from the account of such men without a\nsort of thrilling palpitation about me, which I know not whether I should\ncall admiration, ambition, or despair.\u201d  And speaking of the \u2018Discourses\u2019\nof Sir Joshua Reynolds, he said: \u201cNext to the writings of Bacon, there is\nno book which has more powerfully impelled me to self-culture.  He is one\nof the first men of genius who has condescended to inform the world of\nthe steps by which greatness is attained.  The confidence with which he\nasserts the omnipotence of human labour has the effect of familiarising\nhis reader with the idea that genius is an acquisition rather than a\ngift; whilst with all there is blended so naturally and eloquently the\nmost elevated and passionate admiration of excellence, that upon the\nwhole there is no book of a more _inflammatory_ effect.\u201d  It is\nremarkable that Reynolds himself attributed his first passionate impulse\ntowards the study of art, to reading Richardson\u2019s account of a great\npainter; and Haydon was in like manner afterwards inflamed to follow the\nsame pursuit by reading of the career of Reynolds.  Thus the brave and\naspiring life of one man lights a flame in the minds of others of like\nfaculties and impulse; and where there is equally vigorous efforts like\ndistinction and success will almost surely follow.  Thus the chain of\nexample is carried down through time in an endless succession of\nlinks,\u2014admiration exciting imitation, and perpetuating the true\naristocracy of genius.\n\nOne of the most valuable, and one of the most infectious examples which\ncan be set before the young, is that of cheerful working.  Cheerfulness\ngives elasticity to the spirit.  Spectres fly before it; difficulties\ncause no despair, for they are encountered with hope, and the mind\nacquires that happy disposition to improve opportunities which rarely\nfails of success.  The fervent spirit is always a healthy and happy\nspirit; working cheerfully itself, and stimulating others to work.  It\nconfers a dignity on even the most ordinary occupations.  The most\neffective work, also, is usually the full-hearted work\u2014that which passes\nthrough the hands or the head of him whose heart is glad.  Hume was\naccustomed to say that he would rather possess a cheerful\ndisposition\u2014inclined always to look at the bright side of things\u2014than\nwith a gloomy mind to be the master of an estate of ten thousand a year.\nGranville Sharp, amidst his indefatigable labours on behalf of the slave,\nsolaced himself in the evenings by taking part in glees and instrumental\nconcerts at his brother\u2019s house, singing, or playing on the flute, the\nclarionet or the oboe; and, at the Sunday evening oratorios, when Handel\nwas played, he beat the kettle-drums.  He also indulged, though\nsparingly, in caricature drawing.  Fowell Buxton also was an eminently\ncheerful man; taking special pleasure in field sports, in riding about\nthe country with his children, and in mixing in all their domestic\namusements.\n\nIn another sphere of action, Dr. Arnold was a noble and a cheerful\nworker, throwing himself into the great business of his life, the\ntraining and teaching of young men, with his whole heart and soul.  It is\nstated in his admirable biography, that \u201cthe most remarkable thing in the\nLaleham circle was the wonderful healthiness of tone which prevailed\nthere.  It was a place where a new comer at once felt that a great and\nearnest work was going forward.  Every pupil was made to feel that there\nwas a work for him to do; that his happiness, as well as his duty, lay in\ndoing that work well.  Hence an indescribable zest was communicated to a\nyoung man\u2019s feeling about life; a strange joy came over him on discerning\nthat he had the means of being useful, and thus of being happy; and a\ndeep respect and ardent attachment sprang up towards him who had taught\nhim thus to value life and his own self, and his work and mission in the\nworld.  All this was founded on the breadth and comprehensiveness of\nArnold\u2019s character, as well as its striking truth and reality; on the\nunfeigned regard he had for work of all kinds, and the sense he had of\nits value, both for the complex aggregate of society and the growth and\nprotection of the individual.  In all this there was no excitement; no\npredilection for one class of work above another; no enthusiasm for any\none-sided object: but a humble, profound, and most religious\nconsciousness that work is the appointed calling of man on earth; the end\nfor which his various faculties were given; the element in which his\nnature is ordained to develop itself, and in which his progressive\nadvance towards heaven is to lie.\u201d  Among the many valuable men trained\nfor public life and usefulness by Arnold, was the gallant Hodson, of\nHodson\u2019s Horse, who, writing home from India, many years after, thus\nspoke of his revered master: \u201cThe influence he produced has been most\nlasting and striking in its effects.  It is felt even in India; I cannot\nsay more than _that_.\u201d\n\nThe useful influence which a right-hearted man of energy and industry may\nexercise amongst his neighbours and dependants, and accomplish for his\ncountry, cannot, perhaps, be better illustrated than by the career of Sir\nJohn Sinclair; characterized by the Abb\u00e9 Gregoire as \u201cthe most\nindefatigable man in Europe.\u201d  He was originally a country laird, born to\na considerable estate situated near John o\u2019 Groat\u2019s House, almost beyond\nthe beat of civilization, in a bare wild country fronting the stormy\nNorth Sea.  His father dying while he was a youth of sixteen, the\nmanagement of the family property thus early devolved upon him; and at\neighteen he began a course of vigorous improvement in the county of\nCaithness, which eventually spread all over Scotland.  Agriculture then\nwas in a most backward state; the fields were unenclosed, the lands\nundrained; the small farmers of Caithness were so poor that they could\nscarcely afford to keep a horse or shelty; the hard work was chiefly\ndone, and the burdens borne, by the women; and if a cottier lost a horse\nit was not unusual for him to marry a wife as the cheapest substitute.\nThe country was without roads or bridges; and drovers driving their\ncattle south had to swim the rivers along with their beasts.  The chief\ntrack leading into Caithness lay along a high shelf on a mountain side,\nthe road being some hundred feet of clear perpendicular height above the\nsea which dashed below.  Sir John, though a mere youth, determined to\nmake a new road over the hill of Ben Cheilt, the old let-alone\nproprietors, however, regarding his scheme with incredulity and derision.\nBut he himself laid out the road, assembled some twelve hundred workmen\nearly one summer\u2019s morning, set them simultaneously to work,\nsuperintending their labours, and stimulating them by his presence and\nexample; and before night, what had been a dangerous sheep track, six\nmiles in length, hardly passable for led horses, was made practicable for\nwheel-carriages as if by the power of magic.  It was an admirable example\nof energy and well-directed labour, which could not fail to have a most\nsalutary influence upon the surrounding population.  He then proceeded to\nmake more roads, to erect mills, to build bridges, and to enclose and\ncultivate the waste lands.  He introduced improved methods of culture,\nand regular rotation of crops, distributing small premiums to encourage\nindustry; and he thus soon quickened the whole frame of society within\nreach of his influence, and infused an entirely new spirit into the\ncultivators of the soil.  From being one of the most inaccessible\ndistricts of the north\u2014the very _ultima Thule_ of civilization\u2014Caithness\nbecame a pattern county for its roads, its agriculture, and its\nfisheries.  In Sinclair\u2019s youth, the post was carried by a runner only\nonce a week, and the young baronet then declared that he would never rest\ntill a coach drove daily to Thurso.  The people of the neighbourhood\ncould not believe in any such thing, and it became a proverb in the\ncounty to say of an utterly impossible scheme, \u201cOu, ay, that will come to\npass when Sir John sees the daily mail at Thurso!\u201d  But Sir John lived to\nsee his dream realized, and the daily mail established to Thurso.\n\nThe circle of his benevolent operation gradually widened.  Observing the\nserious deterioration which had taken place in the quality of British\nwool,\u2014one of the staple commodities of the country,\u2014he forthwith, though\nbut a private and little-known country gentleman, devoted himself to its\nimprovement.  By his personal exertions he established the British Wool\nSociety for the purpose, and himself led the way to practical improvement\nby importing 800 sheep from all countries, at his own expense.  The\nresult was, the introduction into Scotland of the celebrated Cheviot\nbreed.  Sheep farmers scouted the idea of south country flocks being able\nto thrive in the far north.  But Sir John persevered; and in a few years\nthere were not fewer than 300,000 Cheviots diffused over the four\nnorthern counties alone.  The value of all grazing land was thus\nenormously increased; and Scotch estates, which before were comparatively\nworthless, began to yield large rentals.\n\nReturned by Caithness to Parliament, in which he remained for thirty\nyears, rarely missing a division, his position gave him farther\nopportunities of usefulness, which he did not neglect to employ.  Mr.\nPitt, observing his persevering energy in all useful public projects,\nsent for him to Downing Street, and voluntarily proposed his assistance\nin any object he might have in view.  Another man might have thought of\nhimself and his own promotion; but Sir John characteristically replied,\nthat he desired no favour for himself, but intimated that the reward most\ngratifying to his feelings would be Mr. Pitt\u2019s assistance in the\nestablishment of a National Board of Agriculture.  Arthur Young laid a\nbet with the baronet that his scheme would never be established, adding,\n\u201cYour Board of Agriculture will be in the moon!\u201d  But vigorously setting\nto work, he roused public attention to the subject, enlisted a majority\nof Parliament on his side, and eventually established the Board, of which\nhe was appointed President.  The result of its action need not be\ndescribed, but the stimulus which it gave to agriculture and\nstock-raising was shortly felt throughout the whole United Kingdom, and\ntens of thousands of acres were redeemed from barrenness by its\noperation.  He was equally indefatigable in encouraging the establishment\nof fisheries; and the successful founding of these great branches of\nBritish industry at Thurso and Wick was mainly due to his exertions.  He\nurged for long years, and at length succeeded in obtaining the enclosure\nof a harbour for the latter place, which is perhaps the greatest and most\nprosperous fishing town in the world.\n\nSir John threw his personal energy into every work in which he engaged,\nrousing the inert, stimulating the idle, encouraging the hopeful, and\nworking with all.  When a French invasion was threatened, he offered to\nMr. Pitt to raise a regiment on his own estate, and he was as good as his\nword.  He went down to the north, and raised a battalion of 600 men,\nafterwards increased to 1000; and it was admitted to be one of the finest\nvolunteer regiments ever raised, inspired throughout by his own noble and\npatriotic spirit.  While commanding officer of the camp at Aberdeen he\nheld the offices of a Director of the Bank of Scotland, Chairman of the\nBritish Wool Society, Provost of Wick, Director of the British Fishery\nSociety, Commissioner for issuing Exchequer Bills, Member of Parliament\nfor Caithness, and President of the Board of Agriculture.  Amidst all\nthis multifarious and self-imposed work, he even found time to write\nbooks, enough of themselves to establish a reputation.  When Mr. Rush,\nthe American Ambassador, arrived in England, he relates that he inquired\nof Mr. Coke of Holkham, what was the best work on Agriculture, and was\nreferred to Sir John Sinclair\u2019s; and when he further asked of Mr.\nVansittart, Chancellor of the Exchequer, what was the best work on\nBritish Finance, he was again referred to a work by Sir John Sinclair,\nhis \u2018History of the Public Revenue.\u2019  But the great monument of his\nindefatigable industry, a work that would have appalled other men, but\nonly served to rouse and sustain his energy, was his \u2018Statistical Account\nof Scotland,\u2019 in twenty-one volumes, one of the most valuable practical\nworks ever published in any age or country.  Amid a host of other\npursuits it occupied him nearly eight years of hard labour, during which\nhe received, and attended to, upwards of 20,000 letters on the subject.\nIt was a thoroughly patriotic undertaking, from which he derived no\npersonal advantage whatever, beyond the honour of having completed it.\nThe whole of the profits were assigned by him to the Society for the Sons\nof the Clergy in Scotland.  The publication of the book led to great\npublic improvements; it was followed by the immediate abolition of\nseveral oppressive feudal rights, to which it called attention; the\nsalaries of schoolmasters and clergymen in many parishes were increased;\nand an increased stimulus was given to agriculture throughout Scotland.\nSir John then publicly offered to undertake the much greater labour of\ncollecting and publishing a similar Statistical Account of England; but\nunhappily the then Archbishop of Canterbury refused to sanction it, lest\nit should interfere with the tithes of the clergy, and the idea was\nabandoned.\n\nA remarkable illustration of his energetic promptitude was the manner in\nwhich he once provided, on a great emergency, for the relief of the\nmanufacturing districts.  In 1793 the stagnation produced by the war led\nto an unusual number of bankruptcies, and many of the first houses in\nManchester and Glasgow were tottering, not so much from want of property,\nbut because the usual sources of trade and credit were for the time\nclosed up.  A period of intense distress amongst the labouring classes\nseemed imminent, when Sir John urged, in Parliament, that Exchequer notes\nto the amount of five millions should be issued immediately as a loan to\nsuch merchants as could give security.  This suggestion was adopted, and\nhis offer to carry out his plan, in conjunction with certain members\nnamed by him, was also accepted.  The vote was passed late at night, and\nearly next morning Sir John, anticipating the delays of officialism and\nred tape, proceeded to bankers in the city, and borrowed of them, on his\nown personal security, the sum of 70,000_l._, which he despatched the\nsame evening to those merchants who were in the most urgent need of\nassistance.  Pitt meeting Sir John in the House, expressed his great\nregret that the pressing wants of Manchester and Glasgow could not be\nsupplied so soon as was desirable, adding, \u201cThe money cannot be raised\nfor some days.\u201d  \u201cIt is already gone! it left London by to-night\u2019s mail!\u201d\nwas Sir John\u2019s triumphant reply; and in afterwards relating the anecdote\nhe added, with a smile of pleasure, \u201cPitt was as much startled as if I\nhad stabbed him.\u201d  To the last this great, good man worked on usefully\nand cheerfully, setting a great example for his family and for his\ncountry.  In so laboriously seeking others\u2019 good, it might be said that\nhe found his own\u2014not wealth, for his generosity seriously impaired his\nprivate fortune, but happiness, and self-satisfaction, and the peace that\npasses knowledge.  A great patriot, with magnificent powers of work, he\nnobly did his duty to his country; yet he was not neglectful of his own\nhousehold and home.  His sons and daughters grew up to honour and\nusefulness; and it was one of the proudest things Sir John could say,\nwhen verging on his eightieth year, that he had lived to see seven sons\ngrown up, not one of whom had incurred a debt he could not pay, or caused\nhim a sorrow that could have been avoided.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\nCHARACTER\u2014THE TRUE GENTLEMAN.\n\n\n    \u201cFor who can always act? but he,\n       To whom a thousand memories call,\n    Not being less but more than all\n       The gentleness he seemed to be,\n\n    But seemed the thing he was, and joined\n       Each office of the social hour\n    To noble manners, as the flower\n       And native growth of noble mind;\n\n    And thus he bore without abuse\n       The grand old name of Gentleman.\u201d\u2014_Tennyson_.\n\n    \u201cEs bildet ein Talent sich in der Stille,\n    Sich ein Charakter in dem Strom der Welt.\u201d\u2014_Goethe_.\n\n    \u201cThat which raises a country, that which strengthens a country, and\n    that which dignifies a country,\u2014that which spreads her power, creates\n    her moral influence, and makes her respected and submitted to, bends\n    the hearts of millions, and bows down the pride of nations to her\u2014the\n    instrument of obedience, the fountain of supremacy, the true throne,\n    crown, and sceptre of a nation;\u2014this aristocracy is not an\n    aristocracy of blood, not an aristocracy of fashion, not an\n    aristocracy of talent only; it is an aristocracy of Character.  That\n    is the true heraldry of man.\u201d\u2014_The Times_.\n\nTHE crown and glory of life is Character.  It is the noblest possession\nof a man, constituting a rank in itself, and an estate in the general\ngoodwill; dignifying every station, and exalting every position in\nsociety.  It exercises a greater power than wealth, and secures all the\nhonour without the jealousies of fame.  It carries with it an influence\nwhich always tells; for it is the result of proved honour, rectitude, and\nconsistency\u2014qualities which, perhaps more than any other, command the\ngeneral confidence and respect of mankind.\n\nCharacter is human nature in its best form.  It is moral order embodied\nin the individual.  Men of character are not only the conscience of\nsociety, but in every well-governed State they are its best motive power;\nfor it is moral qualities in the main which rule the world.  Even in war,\nNapoleon said the moral is to the physical as ten to one.  The strength,\nthe industry, and the civilisation of nations\u2014all depend upon individual\ncharacter; and the very foundations of civil security rest upon it.  Laws\nand institutions are but its outgrowth.  In the just balance of nature,\nindividuals, nations, and races, will obtain just so much as they\ndeserve, and no more.  And as effect finds its cause, so surely does\nquality of character amongst a people produce its befitting results.\n\nThough a man have comparatively little culture, slender abilities, and\nbut small wealth, yet, if his character be of sterling worth, he will\nalways command an influence, whether it be in the workshop, the\ncounting-house, the mart, or the senate.  Canning wisely wrote in 1801,\n\u201cMy road must be through Character to power; I will try no other course;\nand I am sanguine enough to believe that this course, though not perhaps\nthe quickest, is the surest.\u201d  You may admire men of intellect; but\nsomething more is necessary before you will trust them.  Hence Lord John\nRussell once observed in a sentence full of truth, \u201cIt is the nature of\nparty in England to ask the assistance of men of genius, but to follow\nthe guidance of men of character.\u201d  This was strikingly illustrated in\nthe career of the late Francis Horner\u2014a man of whom Sydney Smith said\nthat the Ten Commandments were stamped upon his countenance.  \u201cThe\nvaluable and peculiar light,\u201d says Lord Cockburn, \u201cin which his history\nis calculated to inspire every right-minded youth, is this.  He died at\nthe age of thirty-eight; possessed of greater public influence than any\nother private man; and admired, beloved, trusted, and deplored by all,\nexcept the heartless or the base.  No greater homage was ever paid in\nParliament to any deceased member.  Now let every young man ask\u2014how was\nthis attained?  By rank?  He was the son of an Edinburgh merchant.  By\nwealth?  Neither he, nor any of his relations, ever had a superfluous\nsixpence.  By office?  He held but one, and only for a few years, of no\ninfluence, and with very little pay.  By talents?  His were not splendid,\nand he had no genius.  Cautious and slow, his only ambition was to be\nright.  By eloquence?  He spoke in calm, good taste, without any of the\noratory that either terrifies or seduces.  By any fascination of manner?\nHis was only correct and agreeable.  By what, then, was it?  Merely by\nsense, industry, good principles, and a good heart\u2014qualities which no\nwell-constituted mind need ever despair of attaining.  It was the force\nof his character that raised him; and this character not impressed upon\nhim by nature, but formed, out of no peculiarly fine elements, by\nhimself.  There were many in the House of Commons of far greater ability\nand eloquence.  But no one surpassed him in the combination of an\nadequate portion of these with moral worth.  Horner was born to show what\nmoderate powers, unaided by anything whatever except culture and\ngoodness, may achieve, even when these powers are displayed amidst the\ncompetition and jealousy of public life.\u201d\n\nFranklin, also, attributed his success as a public man, not to his\ntalents or his powers of speaking\u2014for these were but moderate\u2014but to his\nknown integrity of character.  Hence it was, he says, \u201cthat I had so much\nweight with my fellow citizens.  I was but a bad speaker, never eloquent,\nsubject to much hesitation in my choice of words, hardly correct in\nlanguage, and yet I generally carried my point.\u201d  Character creates\nconfidence in men in high station as well as in humble life.  It was said\nof the first Emperor Alexander of Russia, that his personal character was\nequivalent to a constitution.  During the wars of the Fronde, Montaigne\nwas the only man amongst the French gentry who kept his castle gates\nunbarred; and it was said of him, that his personal character was a\nbetter protection for him than a regiment of horse would have been.\n\nThat character is power, is true in a much higher sense than that\nknowledge is power.  Mind without heart, intelligence without conduct,\ncleverness without goodness, are powers in their way, but they may be\npowers only for mischief.  We may be instructed or amused by them; but it\nis sometimes as difficult to admire them as it would be to admire the\ndexterity of a pickpocket or the horsemanship of a highwayman.\n\nTruthfulness, integrity, and goodness\u2014qualities that hang not on any\nman\u2019s breath\u2014form the essence of manly character, or, as one of our old\nwriters has it, \u201cthat inbred loyalty unto Virtue which can serve her\nwithout a livery.\u201d  He who possesses these qualities, united with\nstrength of purpose, carries with him a power which is irresistible.  He\nis strong to do good, strong to resist evil, and strong to bear up under\ndifficulty and misfortune.  When Stephen of Colonna fell into the hands\nof his base assailants, and they asked him in derision, \u201cWhere is now\nyour fortress?\u201d  \u201cHere,\u201d was his bold reply, placing his hand upon his\nheart.  It is in misfortune that the character of the upright man shines\nforth with the greatest lustre; and when all else fails, he takes stand\nupon his integrity and his courage.\n\nThe rules of conduct followed by Lord Erskine\u2014a man of sterling\nindependence of principle and scrupulous adherence to truth\u2014are worthy of\nbeing engraven on every young man\u2019s heart.  \u201cIt was a first command and\ncounsel of my earliest youth,\u201d he said, \u201calways to do what my conscience\ntold me to be a duty, and to leave the consequence to God.  I shall carry\nwith me the memory, and I trust the practice, of this parental lesson to\nthe grave.  I have hitherto followed it, and I have no reason to complain\nthat my obedience to it has been a temporal sacrifice.  I have found it,\non the contrary, the road to prosperity and wealth, and I shall point out\nthe same path to my children for their pursuit.\u201d\n\nEvery man is bound to aim at the possession of a good character as one of\nthe highest objects of life.  The very effort to secure it by worthy\nmeans will furnish him with a motive for exertion; and his idea of\nmanhood, in proportion as it is elevated, will steady and animate his\nmotive.  It is well to have a high standard of life, even though we may\nnot be able altogether to realize it.  \u201cThe youth,\u201d says Mr. Disraeli,\n\u201cwho does not look up will look down; and the spirit that does not soar\nis destined perhaps to grovel.\u201d  George Herbert wisely writes,\n\n    \u201cPitch thy behaviour low, thy projects high,\n    So shall thou humble and magnanimous be.\n    Sink not in spirit; who aimeth at the sky\n    Shoots higher much than he that means a tree.\u201d\n\nHe who has a high standard of living and thinking will certainly do\nbetter than he who has none at all.  \u201cPluck at a gown of gold,\u201d says the\nScotch proverb, \u201cand you may get a sleeve o\u2019t.\u201d  Whoever tries for the\nhighest results cannot fail to reach a point far in advance of that from\nwhich he started; and though the end attained may fall short of that\nproposed, still, the very effort to rise, of itself cannot fail to prove\npermanently beneficial.\n\nThere are many counterfeits of character, but the genuine article is\ndifficult to be mistaken.  Some, knowing its money value, would assume\nits disguise for the purpose of imposing upon the unwary.  Colonel\nCharteris said to a man distinguished for his honesty, \u201cI would give a\nthousand pounds for your good name.\u201d  \u201cWhy?\u201d  \u201cBecause I could make ten\nthousand by it,\u201d was the knave\u2019s reply.\n\nIntegrity in word and deed is the backbone of character; and loyal\nadherence to veracity its most prominent characteristic.  One of the\nfinest testimonies to the character of the late Sir Robert Peel was that\nborne by the Duke of Wellington in the House of Lords, a few days after\nthe great statesman\u2019s death.  \u201cYour lordships,\u201d he said, \u201cmust all feel\nthe high and honourable character of the late Sir Robert Peel.  I was\nlong connected with him in public life.  We were both in the councils of\nour Sovereign together, and I had long the honour to enjoy his private\nfriendship.  In all the course of my acquaintance with him I never knew a\nman in whose truth and justice I had greater confidence, or in whom I saw\na more invariable desire to promote the public service.  In the whole\ncourse of my communication with him, I never knew an instance in which he\ndid not show the strongest attachment to truth; and I never saw in the\nwhole course of my life the smallest reason for suspecting that he stated\nanything which he did not firmly believe to be the fact.\u201d  And this\nhigh-minded truthfulness of the statesman was no doubt the secret of no\nsmall part of his influence and power.\n\nThere is a truthfulness in action as well as in words, which is essential\nto uprightness of character.  A man must really be what he seems or\npurposes to be.  When an American gentleman wrote to Granville Sharp,\nthat from respect for his great virtues he had named one of his sons\nafter him, Sharp replied: \u201cI must request you to teach him a favourite\nmaxim of the family whose name you have given him\u2014_Always endeavour to be\nreally what you would wish to appear_.  This maxim, as my father informed\nme, was carefully and humbly practised by _his_ father, whose sincerity,\nas a plain and honest man, thereby became the principal feature of his\ncharacter, both in public and private life.\u201d  Every man who respects\nhimself, and values the respect of others, will carry out the maxim in\nact\u2014doing honestly what he proposes to do\u2014putting the highest character\ninto his work, scamping nothing, but priding himself upon his integrity\nand conscientiousness.  Once Cromwell said to Bernard,\u2014a clever but\nsomewhat unscrupulous lawyer, \u201cI understand that you have lately been\nvastly wary in your conduct; do not be too confident of this; subtlety\nmay deceive you, integrity never will.\u201d  Men whose acts are at direct\nvariance with their words, command no respect, and what they say has but\nlittle weight; even truths, when uttered by them, seem to come blasted\nfrom their lips.\n\nThe true character acts rightly, whether in secret or in the sight of\nmen.  That boy was well trained who, when asked why he did not pocket\nsome pears, for nobody was there to see, replied, \u201cYes, there was: I was\nthere to see myself; and I don\u2019t intend ever to see myself do a dishonest\nthing.\u201d\u2014This is a simple but not inappropriate illustration of principle,\nor conscience, dominating in the character, and exercising a noble\nprotectorate over it; not merely a passive influence, but an active power\nregulating the life.  Such a principle goes on moulding the character\nhourly and daily, growing with a force that operates every moment.\nWithout this dominating influence, character has no protection, but is\nconstantly liable to fall away before temptation; and every such\ntemptation succumbed to, every act of meanness or dishonesty, however\nslight, causes self-degradation.  It matters not whether the act be\nsuccessful or not, discovered or concealed; the culprit is no longer the\nsame, but another person; and he is pursued by a secret uneasiness, by\nself-reproach, or the workings of what we call conscience, which is the\ninevitable doom of the guilty.\n\nAnd here it may be observed how greatly the character may be strengthened\nand supported by the cultivation of good habits.  Man, it has been said,\nis a bundle of habits; and habit is second nature.  Metastasio\nentertained so strong an opinion as to the power of repetition in act and\nthought, that he said, \u201cAll is habit in mankind, even virtue itself.\u201d\nButler, in his \u2018Analogy,\u2019 impresses the importance of careful\nself-discipline and firm resistance to temptation, as tending to make\nvirtue habitual, so that at length it may become more easy to be good\nthan to give way to sin.  \u201cAs habits belonging to the body,\u201d he says,\n\u201care produced by external acts, so habits of the mind are produced by the\nexecution of inward practical purposes, i.e., carrying them into act, or\nacting upon them\u2014the principles of obedience, veracity, justice, and\ncharity.\u201d  And again, Lord Brougham says, when enforcing the immense\nimportance of training and example in youth, \u201cI trust everything under\nGod to habit, on which, in all ages, the lawgiver, as well as the\nschoolmaster, has mainly placed his reliance; habit, which makes\neverything easy, and casts the difficulties upon the deviation from a\nwonted course.\u201d  Thus, make sobriety a habit, and intemperance will be\nhateful; make prudence a habit, and reckless profligacy will become\nrevolting to every principle of conduct which regulates the life of the\nindividual.  Hence the necessity for the greatest care and watchfulness\nagainst the inroad of any evil habit; for the character is always weakest\nat that point at which it has once given way; and it is long before a\nprinciple restored can become so firm as one that has never been moved.\nIt is a fine remark of a Russian writer, that \u201cHabits are a necklace of\npearls: untie the knot, and the whole unthreads.\u201d\n\nWherever formed, habit acts involuntarily, and without effort; and, it is\nonly when you oppose it, that you find how powerful it has become.  What\nis done once and again, soon gives facility and proneness.  The habit at\nfirst may seem to have no more strength than a spider\u2019s web; but, once\nformed, it binds as with a chain of iron.  The small events of life,\ntaken singly, may seem exceedingly unimportant, like snow that falls\nsilently, flake by flake; yet accumulated, these snow-flakes form the\navalanche.\n\nSelf-respect, self-help, application, industry, integrity\u2014all are of the\nnature of habits, not beliefs.  Principles, in fact, are but the names\nwhich we assign to habits; for the principles are words, but the habits\nare the things themselves: benefactors or tyrants, according as they are\ngood or evil.  It thus happens that as we grow older, a portion of our\nfree activity and individuality becomes suspended in habit; our actions\nbecome of the nature of fate; and we are bound by the chains which we\nhave woven around ourselves.\n\nIt is indeed scarcely possible to over-estimate the importance of\ntraining the young to virtuous habits.  In them they are the easiest\nformed, and when formed they last for life; like letters cut on the bark\nof a tree they grow and widen with age.  \u201cTrain up a child in the way he\nshould go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.\u201d  The beginning\nholds within it the end; the first start on the road of life determines\nthe direction and the destination of the journey; _ce n\u2019est que le\npremier pas qui co\u00fbte_.  \u201cRemember,\u201d said Lord Collingwood to a young man\nwhom he loved, \u201cbefore you are five-and-twenty you must establish a\ncharacter that will serve you all your life.\u201d  As habit strengthens with\nage, and character becomes formed, any turning into a new path becomes\nmore and more difficult.  Hence, it is often harder to unlearn than to\nlearn; and for this reason the Grecian flute-player was justified who\ncharged double fees to those pupils who had been taught by an inferior\nmaster.  To uproot an old habit is sometimes a more painful thing, and\nvastly more difficult, than to wrench out a tooth.  Try and reform a\nhabitually indolent, or improvident, or drunken person, and in a large\nmajority of cases you will fail.  For the habit in each case has wound\nitself in and through the life until it has become an integral part of\nit, and cannot be uprooted.  Hence, as Mr. Lynch observes, \u201cthe wisest\nhabit of all is the habit of care in the formation of good habits.\u201d\n\nEven happiness itself may become habitual.  There is a habit of looking\nat the bright side of things, and also of looking at the dark side.  Dr.\nJohnson has said that the habit of looking at the best side of a thing is\nworth more to a man than a thousand pounds a year.  And we possess the\npower, to a great extent, of so exercising the will as to direct the\nthoughts upon objects calculated to yield happiness and improvement\nrather than their opposites.  In this way the habit of happy thought may\nbe made to spring up like any other habit.  And to bring up men or women\nwith a genial nature of this sort, a good temper, and a happy frame of\nmind, is perhaps of even more importance, in many cases, than to perfect\nthem in much knowledge and many accomplishments.\n\nAs daylight can be seen through very small holes, so little things will\nillustrate a person\u2019s character.  Indeed character consists in little\nacts, well and honourably performed; daily life being the quarry from\nwhich we build it up, and rough-hew the habits which form it.  One of the\nmost marked tests of character is the manner in which we conduct\nourselves towards others.  A graceful behaviour towards superiors,\ninferiors, and equals, is a constant source of pleasure.  It pleases\nothers because it indicates respect for their personality; but it gives\ntenfold more pleasure to ourselves.  Every man may to a large extent be a\nself-educator in good behaviour, as in everything else; he can be civil\nand kind, if he will, though he have not a penny in his purse.\nGentleness in society is like the silent influence of light, which gives\ncolour to all nature; it is far more powerful than loudness or force, and\nfar more fruitful.  It pushes its way quietly and persistently, like the\ntiniest daffodil in spring, which raises the clod and thrusts it aside by\nthe simple persistency of growing.\n\nEven a kind look will give pleasure and confer happiness.  In one of\nRobertson of Brighton\u2019s letters, he tells of a lady who related to him\n\u201cthe delight, the tears of gratitude, which she had witnessed in a poor\ngirl to whom, in passing, I gave a kind look on going out of church on\nSunday.  What a lesson!  How cheaply happiness can be given!  What\nopportunities we miss of doing an angel\u2019s work!  I remember doing it,\nfull of sad feelings, passing on, and thinking no more about it; and it\ngave an hour\u2019s sunshine to a human life, and lightened the load of life\nto a human heart for a time!\u201d {392}\n\nMorals and manners, which give colour to life, are of much greater\nimportance than laws, which are but their manifestations.  The law\ntouches us here and there, but manners are about us everywhere, pervading\nsociety like the air we breathe.  Good manners, as we call them, are\nneither more nor less than good behaviour; consisting of courtesy and\nkindness; benevolence being the preponderating element in all kinds of\nmutually beneficial and pleasant intercourse amongst human beings.\n\u201cCivility,\u201d said Lady Montague, \u201ccosts nothing and buys everything.\u201d  The\ncheapest of all things is kindness, its exercise requiring the least\npossible trouble and self-sacrifice.  \u201cWin hearts,\u201d said Burleigh to\nQueen Elizabeth, \u201cand you have all men\u2019s hearts and purses.\u201d  If we would\nonly let nature act kindly, free from affectation and artifice, the\nresults on social good humour and happiness would be incalculable.  The\nlittle courtesies which form the small change of life, may separately\nappear of little intrinsic value, but they acquire their importance from\nrepetition and accumulation.  They are like the spare minutes, or the\ngroat a day, which proverbially produce such momentous results in the\ncourse of a twelvemonth, or in a lifetime.\n\nManners are the ornament of action; and there is a way of speaking a kind\nword, or of doing a kind thing, which greatly enhances their value.  What\nseems to be done with a grudge, or as an act of condescension, is\nscarcely accepted as a favour.  Yet there are men who pride themselves\nupon their gruffness; and though they may possess virtue and capacity,\ntheir manner is often such as to render them almost insupportable.  It is\ndifficult to like a man who, though he may not pull your nose, habitually\nwounds your self-respect, and takes a pride in saying disagreeable things\nto you.  There are others who are dreadfully condescending, and cannot\navoid seizing upon every small opportunity of making their greatness\nfelt.  When Abernethy was canvassing for the office of surgeon to St.\nBartholomew Hospital, he called upon such a person\u2014a rich grocer, one of\nthe governors.  The great man behind the counter seeing the great surgeon\nenter, immediately assumed the grand air towards the supposed suppliant\nfor his vote.  \u201cI presume, Sir, you want my vote and interest at this\nmomentous epoch of your life?\u201d  Abernethy, who hated humbugs, and felt\nnettled at the tone, replied: \u201cNo, I don\u2019t: I want a pennyworth of figs;\ncome, look sharp and wrap them up; I want to be off!\u201d\n\nThe cultivation of manner\u2014though in excess it is foppish and foolish\u2014is\nhighly necessary in a person who has occasion to negociate with others in\nmatters of business.  Affability and good breeding may even be regarded\nas essential to the success of a man in any eminent station and enlarged\nsphere of life; for the want of it has not unfrequently been found in a\ngreat measure to neutralise the results of much industry, integrity, and\nhonesty of character.  There are, no doubt, a few strong tolerant minds\nwhich can bear with defects and angularities of manner, and look only to\nthe more genuine qualities; but the world at large is not so forbearant,\nand cannot help forming its judgments and likings mainly according to\noutward conduct.\n\nAnother mode of displaying true politeness is consideration for the\nopinions of others.  It has been said of dogmatism, that it is only\npuppyism come to its full growth; and certainly the worst form this\nquality can assume, is that of opinionativeness and arrogance.  Let men\nagree to differ, and, when they do differ, bear and forbear.  Principles\nand opinions may be maintained with perfect suavity, without coming to\nblows or uttering hard words; and there are circumstances in which words\nare blows, and inflict wounds far less easy to heal.  As bearing upon\nthis point, we quote an instructive little parable spoken some time since\nby an itinerant preacher of the Evangelical Alliance on the borders of\nWales:\u2014\u201cAs I was going to the hills,\u201d said he, \u201cearly one misty morning,\nI saw something moving on a mountain side, so strange looking that I took\nit for a monster.  When I came nearer to it I found it was a man.  When I\ncame up to him I found he was my brother.\u201d\n\nThe inbred politeness which springs from right-heartedness and kindly\nfeelings, is of no exclusive rank or station.  The mechanic who works at\nthe bench may possess it, as well as the clergyman or the peer.  It is by\nno means a necessary condition of labour that it should, in any respect,\nbe either rough or coarse.  The politeness and refinement which\ndistinguish all classes of the people in many continental countries show\nthat those qualities might become ours too\u2014as doubtless they will become\nwith increased culture and more general social intercourse\u2014without\nsacrificing any of our more genuine qualities as men.  From the highest\nto the lowest, the richest to the poorest, to no rank or condition in\nlife has nature denied her highest boon\u2014the great heart.  There never yet\nexisted a gentleman but was lord of a great heart.  And this may exhibit\nitself under the hodden grey of the peasant as well as under the laced\ncoat of the noble.  Robert Burns was once taken to task by a young\nEdinburgh blood, with whom he was walking, for recognising an honest\nfarmer in the open street.  \u201cWhy you fantastic gomeral,\u201d exclaimed Burns,\n\u201cit was not the great coat, the scone bonnet, and the saunders-boot hose\nthat I spoke to, but _the man_ that was in them; and the man, sir, for\ntrue worth, would weigh down you and me, and ten more such, any day.\u201d\nThere may be a homeliness in externals, which may seem vulgar to those\nwho cannot discern the heart beneath; but, to the right-minded, character\nwill always have its clear insignia.\n\nWilliam and Charles Grant were the sons of a farmer in Inverness-shire,\nwhom a sudden flood stripped of everything, even to the very soil which\nhe tilled.  The farmer and his sons, with the world before them where to\nchoose, made their way southward in search of employment until they\narrived in the neighbourhood of Bury in Lancashire.  From the crown of\nthe hill near Walmesley they surveyed the wide extent of country which\nlay before them, the river Irwell making its circuitous course through\nthe valley.  They were utter strangers in the neighbourhood, and knew not\nwhich way to turn.  To decide their course they put up a stick, and\nagreed to pursue the direction in which it fell.  Thus their decision was\nmade, and they journeyed on accordingly until they reached the village of\nRamsbotham, not far distant.  They found employment in a print-work, in\nwhich William served his apprenticeship; and they commanded themselves to\ntheir employers by their diligence, sobriety, and strict integrity.  They\nplodded on, rising from one station to another, until at length the two\nmen themselves became employers, and after many long years of industry,\nenterprise, and benevolence, they became rich, honoured, and respected by\nall who knew them.  Their cotton-mills and print-works gave employment to\na large population.  Their well-directed diligence made the valley teem\nwith activity, joy, health, and opulence.  Out of their abundant wealth\nthey gave liberally to all worthy objects, erecting churches, founding\nschools, and in all ways promoting the well-being of the class of\nworking-men from which they had sprung.  They afterwards erected, on the\ntop of the hill above Walmesley, a lofty tower in commemoration of the\nearly event in their history which had determined the place of their\nsettlement.  The brothers Grant became widely celebrated for their\nbenevolence and their various goodness, and it is said that Mr. Dickens\nhad them in his mind\u2019s eye when delineating the character of the brothers\nCheeryble.  One amongst many anecdotes of a similar kind may be cited to\nshow that the character was by no means exaggerated.  A Manchester\nwarehouseman published an exceedingly scurrilous pamphlet against the\nfirm of Grant Brothers, holding up the elder partner to ridicule as\n\u201cBilly Button.\u201d  William was informed by some one of the nature of the\npamphlet, and his observation was that the man would live to repent of\nit.  \u201cOh!\u201d said the libeller, when informed of the remark, \u201che thinks\nthat some time or other I shall be in his debt; but I will take good care\nof that.\u201d  It happens, however, that men in business do not always\nforesee who shall be their creditor, and it so turned out that the\nGrants\u2019 libeller became a bankrupt, and could not complete his\ncertificate and begin business again without obtaining their signature.\nIt seemed to him a hopeless case to call upon that firm for any favour,\nbut the pressing claims of his family forced him to make the application.\nHe appeared before the man whom he had ridiculed as \u201cBilly Button\u201d\naccordingly.  He told his tale and produced his certificate.  \u201cYou wrote\na pamphlet against us once?\u201d said Mr. Grant.  The supplicant expected to\nsee his document thrown into the fire; instead of which Grant signed the\nname of the firm, and thus completed the necessary certificate.  \u201cWe make\nit a rule,\u201d said he, handing it back, \u201cnever to refuse signing the\ncertificate of an honest tradesman, and we have never heard that you were\nanything else.\u201d  The tears started into the man\u2019s eyes.  \u201cAh,\u201d continued\nMr. Grant, \u201cyou see my saying was true, that you would live to repent\nwriting that pamphlet.  I did not mean it as a threat\u2014I only meant that\nsome day you would know us better, and repent having tried to injure us.\u201d\n\u201cI do, I do, indeed, repent it.\u201d  \u201cWell, well, you know us now.  But how\ndo you get on\u2014what are you going to do?\u201d  The poor man stated that he had\nfriends who would assist him when his certificate was obtained.  \u201cBut how\nare you off in the mean time?\u201d  The answer was, that, having given up\nevery farthing to his creditors, he had been compelled to stint his\nfamily in even the common necessaries of life, that he might be enabled\nto pay for his certificate.  \u201cMy good fellow, this will never do; your\nwife and family must not suffer in this way; be kind enough to take this\nten-pound note to your wife from me: there, there, now\u2014don\u2019t cry, it will\nbe all well with you yet; keep up your spirits, set to work like a man,\nand you will raise your head among the best of us yet.\u201d  The overpowered\nman endeavoured with choking utterance to express his gratitude, but in\nvain; and putting his hand to his face, he went out of the room sobbing\nlike a child.\n\nThe True Gentleman is one whose nature has been fashioned after the\nhighest models.  It is a grand old name, that of Gentleman, and has been\nrecognized as a rank and power in all stages of society.  \u201cThe Gentleman\nis always the Gentleman,\u201d said the old French General to his regiment of\nScottish gentry at Rousillon, \u201cand invariably proves himself such in need\nand in danger.\u201d  To possess this character is a dignity of itself,\ncommanding the instinctive homage of every generous mind, and those who\nwill not bow to titular rank, will yet do homage to the gentleman.  His\nqualities depend not upon fashion or manners, but upon moral worth\u2014not on\npersonal possessions, but on personal qualities.  The Psalmist briefly\ndescribes him as one \u201cthat walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness,\nand speaketh the truth in his heart.\u201d\n\nThe gentleman is eminently distinguished for his self-respect.  He values\nhis character,\u2014not so much of it only as can be seen of others, but as he\nsees it himself; having regard for the approval of his inward monitor.\nAnd, as he respects himself, so, by the same law, does he respect others.\nHumanity is sacred in his eyes: and thence proceed politeness and\nforbearance, kindness and charity.  It is related of Lord Edward\nFitzgerald that, while travelling in Canada, in company with the Indians,\nhe was shocked by the sight of a poor squaw trudging along laden with her\nhusband\u2019s trappings, while the chief himself walked on unencumbered.\nLord Edward at once relieved the squaw of her pack by placing it upon his\nown shoulders,\u2014a beautiful instance of what the French call _politesse de\nc\u0153ur_\u2014the inbred politeness of the true gentleman.\n\nThe true gentleman has a keen sense of honour,\u2014scrupulously avoiding mean\nactions.  His standard of probity in word and action is high.  He does\nnot shuffle or prevaricate, dodge or skulk; but is honest, upright, and\nstraightforward.  His law is rectitude\u2014action in right lines.  When he\nsays _yes_, it is a law: and he dares to say the valiant _no_ at the\nfitting season.  The gentleman will not be bribed; only the low-minded\nand unprincipled will sell themselves to those who are interested in\nbuying them.  When the upright Jonas Hanway officiated as commissioner in\nthe victualling department, he declined to receive a present of any kind\nfrom a contractor; refusing thus to be biassed in the performance of his\npublic duty.  A fine trait of the same kind is to be noted in the life of\nthe Duke of Wellington.  Shortly after the battle of Assaye, one morning\nthe Prime Minister of the Court of Hyderabad waited upon him for the\npurpose of privately ascertaining what territory and what advantages had\nbeen reserved for his master in the treaty of peace between the Mahratta\nprinces and the Nizam.  To obtain this information the minister offered\nthe general a very large sum\u2014considerably above 100,000_l._  Looking at\nhim quietly for a few seconds, Sir Arthur said, \u201cIt appears, then, that\nyou are capable of keeping a secret?\u201d  \u201cYes, certainly,\u201d replied the\nminister.  \u201c_Then so am I_,\u201d said the English general, smiling, and bowed\nthe minister out.  It was to Wellington\u2019s great honour, that though\nuniformly successful in India, and with the power of earning in such\nmodes as this enormous wealth, he did not add a farthing to his fortune,\nand returned to England a comparatively poor man.\n\nA similar sensitiveness and high-mindedness characterised his noble\nrelative, the Marquis of Wellesley, who, on one occasion, positively\nrefused a present of 100,000_l._ proposed to be given him by the\nDirectors of the East India Company on the conquest of Mysore.  \u201cIt is\nnot necessary,\u201d said he, \u201cfor me to allude to the independence of my\ncharacter, and the proper dignity attaching to my office; other reasons\nbesides these important considerations lead me to decline this testimony,\nwhich is not suitable to me.  _I think of nothing but our army_.  I\nshould be much distressed to curtail the share of those brave soldiers.\u201d\nAnd the Marquis\u2019s resolution to refuse the present remained unalterable.\n\nSir Charles Napier exhibited the same noble self-denial in the course of\nhis Indian career.  He rejected all the costly gifts which barbaric\nprinces were ready to lay at his feet, and said with truth, \u201cCertainly I\ncould have got 30,000_l._ since my coming to Scinde, but my hands do not\nwant washing yet.  Our dear father\u2019s sword which I wore in both battles\n(Meanee and Hyderabad) is unstained.\u201d\n\nRiches and rank have no necessary connexion with genuine gentlemanly\nqualities.  The poor man may be a true gentleman,\u2014in spirit and in daily\nlife.  He may be honest, truthful, upright, polite, temperate,\ncourageous, self-respecting, and self-helping,\u2014that is, be a true\ngentleman.  The poor man with a rich spirit is in all ways superior to\nthe rich man with a poor spirit.  To borrow St. Paul\u2019s words, the former\nis as \u201chaving nothing, yet possessing all things,\u201d while the other,\nthough possessing all things, has nothing.  The first hopes everything,\nand fears nothing; the last hopes nothing, and fears everything.  Only\nthe poor in spirit are really poor.  He who has lost all, but retains his\ncourage, cheerfulness, hope, virtue, and self-respect, is still rich.\nFor such a man, the world is, as it were, held in trust; his spirit\ndominating over its grosser cares, he can still walk erect, a true\ngentleman.\n\nOccasionally, the brave and gentle character may be found under the\nhumblest garb.  Here is an old illustration, but a fine one.  Once on a\ntime, when the Adige suddenly overflowed its banks, the bridge of Verona\nwas carried away, with the exception of the centre arch, on which stood a\nhouse, whose inhabitants supplicated help from the windows, while the\nfoundations were visibly giving way.  \u201cI will give a hundred French\nlouis,\u201d said the Count Spolverini, who stood by, \u201cto any person who will\nventure to deliver these unfortunate people.\u201d  A young peasant came forth\nfrom the crowd, seized a boat, and pushed into the stream.  He gained the\npier, received the whole family into the boat, and made for the shore,\nwhere he landed them in safety.  \u201cHere is your money, my brave young\nfellow,\u201d said the count.  \u201cNo,\u201d was the answer of the young man, \u201cI do\nnot sell my life; give the money to this poor family, who have need of\nit.\u201d  Here spoke the true spirit of the gentleman, though he was but in\nthe garb of a peasant.\n\nNot less touching was the heroic conduct of a party of Deal boatmen in\nrescuing the crew of a collier-brig in the Downs but a short time ago.\n{400}  A sudden storm which set in from the north-east drove several\nships from their anchors, and it being low water, one of them struck the\nground at a considerable distance from the shore, when the sea made a\nclean breach over her.  There was not a vestige of hope for the vessel,\nsuch was the fury of the wind and the violence of the waves.  There was\nnothing to tempt the boatmen on shore to risk their lives in saving\neither ship or crew, for not a farthing of salvage was to be looked for.\nBut the daring intrepidity of the Deal boatmen was not wanting at this\ncritical moment.  No sooner had the brig grounded than Simon Pritchard,\none of the many persons assembled along the beach, threw off his coat and\ncalled out, \u201cWho will come with me and try to save that crew?\u201d  Instantly\ntwenty men sprang forward, with \u201cI will,\u201d \u201cand I.\u201d  But seven only were\nwanted; and running down a galley punt into the surf, they leaped in and\ndashed through the breakers, amidst the cheers of those on shore.  How\nthe boat lived in such a sea seemed a miracle; but in a few minutes,\nimpelled by the strong arms of these gallant men, she flew on and reached\nthe stranded ship, \u201ccatching her on the top of a wave\u201d; and in less than\na quarter of an hour from the time the boat left the shore, the six men\nwho composed the crew of the collier were landed safe on Walmer Beach.  A\nnobler instance of indomitable courage and disinterested heroism on the\npart of the Deal boatmen\u2014brave though they are always known to be\u2014perhaps\ncannot be cited; and we have pleasure in here placing it on record.\n\nMr. Turnbull, in his work on \u2018Austria,\u2019 relates an anecdote of the late\nEmperor Francis, in illustration of the manner in which the Government of\nthat country has been indebted, for its hold upon the people, to the\npersonal qualities of its princes.  \u201cAt the time when the cholera was\nraging at Vienna, the emperor, with an aide-de-camp, was strolling about\nthe streets of the city and suburbs, when a corpse was dragged past on a\nlitter unaccompanied by a single mourner.  The unusual circumstance\nattracted his attention, and he learnt, on inquiry, that the deceased was\na poor person who had died of cholera, and that the relatives had not\nventured on what was then considered the very dangerous office of\nattending the body to the grave.  \u2018Then,\u2019 said Francis, \u2018we will supply\ntheir place, for none of my poor people should go to the grave without\nthat last mark of respect;\u2019 and he followed the body to the distant place\nof interment, and, bare-headed, stood to see every rite and observance\nrespectfully performed.\u201d\n\nFine though this illustration may be of the qualities of the gentleman,\nwe can match it by another equally good, of two English navvies in Paris,\nas related in a morning paper a few years ago.  \u201cOne day a hearse was\nobserved ascending the steep Rue de Clichy on its way to Montmartre,\nbearing a coffin of poplar wood with its cold corpse.  Not a soul\nfollowed\u2014not even the living dog of the dead man, if he had one.  The day\nwas rainy and dismal; passers by lifted the hat as is usual when a\nfuneral passes, and that was all.  At length it passed two English\nnavvies, who found themselves in Paris on their way from Spain.  A right\nfeeling spoke from beneath their serge jackets.  \u2018Poor wretch!\u2019 said the\none to the other, \u2018no one follows him; let us two follow!\u2019  And the two\ntook off their hats, and walked bare-headed after the corpse of a\nstranger to the cemetery of Montmartre.\u201d\n\nAbove all, the gentleman is truthful.  He feels that truth is the \u201csummit\nof being,\u201d and the soul of rectitude in human affairs.  Lord Chesterfield\ndeclared that Truth made the success of a gentleman.  The Duke of\nWellington, writing to Kellerman, on the subject of prisoners on parole,\nwhen opposed to that general in the peninsula, told him that if there was\none thing on which an English officer prided himself more than another,\nexcepting his courage, it was his truthfulness.  \u201cWhen English officers,\u201d\nsaid he, \u201chave given their parole of honour not to escape, be sure they\nwill not break it.  Believe me\u2014trust to their word; the word of an\nEnglish officer is a surer guarantee than the vigilance of sentinels.\u201d\n\nTrue courage and gentleness go hand in hand.  The brave man is generous\nand forbearant, never unforgiving and cruel.  It was finely said of Sir\nJohn Franklin by his friend Parry, that \u201che was a man who never turned\nhis back upon a danger, yet of that tenderness that he would not brush\naway a mosquito.\u201d  A fine trait of character\u2014truly gentle, and worthy of\nthe spirit of Bayard\u2014was displayed by a French officer in the cavalry\ncombat of El Bodon in Spain.  He had raised his sword to strike Sir\nFelton Harvey, but perceiving his antagonist had only one arm, he\ninstantly stopped, brought down his sword before Sir Felton in the usual\nsalute, and rode past.  To this may be added a noble and gentle deed of\nNey during the same Peninsular War.  Charles Napier was taken prisoner at\nCorunna, desperately wounded; and his friends at home did not know\nwhether he was alive or dead.  A special messenger was sent out from\nEngland with a frigate to ascertain his fate.  Baron Clouet received the\nflag, and informed Ney of the arrival.  \u201cLet the prisoner see his\nfriends,\u201d said Ney, \u201cand tell them he is well, and well treated.\u201d  Clouet\nlingered, and Ney asked, smiling, \u201cwhat more he wanted\u201d?  \u201cHe has an old\nmother, a widow, and blind.\u201d  \u201cHas he? then let him go himself and tell\nher he is alive.\u201d  As the exchange of prisoners between the countries was\nnot then allowed, Ney knew that he risked the displeasure of the Emperor\nby setting the young officer at liberty; but Napoleon approved the\ngenerous act.\n\nNotwithstanding the wail which we occasionally hear for the chivalry that\nis gone, our own age has witnessed deeds of bravery and gentleness\u2014of\nheroic self-denial and manly tenderness\u2014which are unsurpassed in history.\nThe events of the last few years have shown that our countrymen are as\nyet an undegenerate race.  On the bleak plateau of Sebastopol, in the\ndripping perilous trenches of that twelvemonth\u2019s leaguer, men of all\nclasses proved themselves worthy of the noble inheritance of character\nwhich their forefathers have bequeathed to them.  But it was in the hour\nof the great trial in India that the qualities of our countrymen shone\nforth the brightest.  The march of Neill on Cawnpore, of Havelock on\nLucknow\u2014officers and men alike urged on by the hope of rescuing the women\nand the children\u2014are events which the whole history of chivalry cannot\nequal.  Outram\u2019s conduct to Havelock, in resigning to him, though his\ninferior officer, the honour of leading the attack on Lucknow, was a\ntrait worthy of Sydney, and alone justifies the title which has been\nawarded to him of, \u201cthe Bayard of India.\u201d  The death of Henry\nLawrence\u2014that brave and gentle spirit\u2014his last words before dying, \u201cLet\nthere be no fuss about me; let me be buried _with the men_,\u201d\u2014the anxious\nsolicitude of Sir Colin Campbell to rescue the beleaguered of Lucknow,\nand to conduct his long train of women and children by night from thence\nto Cawnpore, which he reached amidst the all but overpowering assault of\nthe enemy,\u2014the care with which he led them across the perilous bridge,\nnever ceasing his charge over them until he had seen the precious convoy\nsafe on the road to Allahabad, and then burst upon the Gwalior contingent\nlike a thunder-clap;\u2014such things make us feel proud of our countrymen and\ninspire the conviction that the best and purest glow of chivalry is not\ndead, but vigorously lives among us yet.\n\nEven the common soldiers proved themselves gentlemen under their trials.\nAt Agra, where so many poor fellows had been scorched and wounded in\ntheir encounter with the enemy, they were brought into the fort, and\ntenderly nursed by the ladies; and the rough, gallant fellows proved\ngentle as any children.  During the weeks that the ladies watched over\ntheir charge, never a word was said by any soldier that could shock the\near of the gentlest.  And when all was over\u2014when the mortally-wounded had\ndied, and the sick and maimed who survived were able to demonstrate their\ngratitude\u2014they invited their nurses and the chief people of Agra to an\nentertainment in the beautiful gardens of the Taj, where, amidst flowers\nand music, the rough veterans, all scarred and mutilated as they were,\nstood up to thank their gentle countrywomen who had clothed and fed them,\nand ministered to their wants during their time of sore distress.  In the\nhospitals at Scutari, too, many wounded and sick blessed the kind English\nladies who nursed them; and nothing can be finer than the thought of the\npoor sufferers, unable to rest through pain, blessing the shadow of\nFlorence Nightingale as it fell upon their pillow in the night watches.\n\nThe wreck of the _Birkenhead_ off the coast of Africa on the 27th of\nFebruary, 1852, affords another memorable illustration of the chivalrous\nspirit of common men acting in this nineteenth century, of which any age\nmight be proud.  The vessel was steaming along the African coast with 472\nmen and 166 women and children on board.  The men belonged to several\nregiments then serving at the Cape, and consisted principally of recruits\nwho had been only a short time in the service.  At two o\u2019clock in the\nmorning, while all were asleep below, the ship struck with violence upon\na hidden rock which penetrated her bottom; and it was at once felt that\nshe must go down.  The roll of the drums called the soldiers to arms on\nthe upper deck, and the men mustered as if on parade.  The word was\npassed to _save the women and children_; and the helpless creatures were\nbrought from below, mostly undressed, and handed silently into the boats.\nWhen they had all left the ship\u2019s side, the commander of the vessel\nthoughtlessly called out, \u201cAll those that can swim, jump overboard and\nmake for the boats.\u201d  But Captain Wright, of the 91st Highlanders, said,\n\u201cNo! if you do that, _the boats with the women must be swamped_;\u201d and the\nbrave men stood motionless.  There was no boat remaining, and no hope of\nsafety; but not a heart quailed; no one flinched from his duty in that\ntrying moment.  \u201cThere was not a murmur nor a cry amongst them,\u201d said\nCaptain Wright, a survivor, \u201cuntil the vessel made her final plunge.\u201d\nDown went the ship, and down went the heroic band, firing a _feu de joie_\nas they sank beneath the waves.  Glory and honour to the gentle and the\nbrave!  The examples of such men never die, but, like their memories, are\nimmortal.\n\nThere are many tests by which a gentleman may be known; but there is one\nthat never fails\u2014How does he _exercise power_ over those subordinate to\nhim?  How does he conduct himself towards women and children?  How does\nthe officer treat his men, the employer his servants, the master his\npupils, and man in every station those who are weaker than himself?  The\ndiscretion, forbearance, and kindliness, with which power in such cases\nis used, may indeed be regarded as the crucial test of gentlemanly\ncharacter.  When La Motte was one day passing through a crowd, he\naccidentally trod upon the foot of a young fellow, who forthwith struck\nhim on the face: \u201cAh, sire,\u201d said La Motte, \u201cyou will surely be sorry for\nwhat you have done, when you know that _I am blind_.\u201d  He who bullies\nthose who are not in a position to resist may be a snob, but cannot be a\ngentleman.  He who tyrannizes over the weak and helpless may be a coward,\nbut no true man.  The tyrant, it has been said, is but a slave turned\ninside out.  Strength, and the consciousness of strength, in a\nright-hearted man, imparts a nobleness to his character; but he will be\nmost careful how he uses it; for\n\n    \u201cIt is excellent\n    To have a giant\u2019s strength; but it is tyrannous\n    To use it like a giant.\u201d\n\nGentleness is indeed the best test of gentlemanliness.  A consideration\nfor the feelings of others, for his inferiors and dependants as well as\nhis equals, and respect for their self-respect, will pervade the true\ngentleman\u2019s whole conduct.  He will rather himself suffer a small injury,\nthan by an uncharitable construction of another\u2019s behaviour, incur the\nrisk of committing a great wrong.  He will be forbearant of the\nweaknesses, the failings, and the errors, of those whose advantages in\nlife have not been equal to his own.  He will be merciful even to his\nbeast.  He will not boast of his wealth, or his strength, or his gifts.\nHe will not be puffed up by success, or unduly depressed by failure.  He\nwill not obtrude his views on others, but speak his mind freely when\noccasion calls for it.  He will not confer favours with a patronizing\nair.  Sir Walter Scott once said of Lord Lothian, \u201cHe is a man from whom\none may receive a favour, and that\u2019s saying a great deal in these days.\u201d\n\nLord Chatham has said that the gentleman is characterised by his\nsacrifice of self and preference of others to himself in the little daily\noccurrences of life.  In illustration of this ruling spirit of\nconsiderateness in a noble character, we may cite the anecdote of the\ngallant Sir Ralph Abercromby, of whom it is related, that when mortally\nwounded in the battle of Aboukir, he was carried in a litter on board the\n\u2018Foudroyant;\u2019 and, to ease his pain, a soldier\u2019s blanket was placed under\nhis head, from which he experienced considerable relief.  He asked what\nit was.  \u201cIt\u2019s only a soldier\u2019s blanket,\u201d was the reply.  \u201c_Whose_\nblanket is it?\u201d said he, half lifting himself up.  \u201cOnly one of the\nmen\u2019s.\u201d  \u201cI wish to know the name of the man whose blanket this is.\u201d  \u201cIt\nis Duncan Roy\u2019s, of the 42nd, Sir Ralph.\u201d  \u201cThen see that Duncan Roy gets\nhis blanket this very night.\u201d {408}  Even to ease his dying agony the\ngeneral would not deprive the private soldier of his blanket for one\nnight.  The incident is as good in its way as that of the dying Sydney\nhanding his cup of water to the private soldier on the field of Zutphen.\n\nThe quaint old Fuller sums up in a few words the character of the true\ngentleman and man of action in describing that of the great admiral, Sir\nFrancis Drake: \u201cChaste in his life, just in his dealings, true of his\nword; merciful to those that were under him, and hating nothing so much\nas idlenesse; in matters especially of moment, he was never wont to rely\non other men\u2019s care, how trusty or skilful soever they might seem to be,\nbut, always contemning danger, and refusing no toyl, he was wont himself\nto be one (whoever was a second) at every turn, where courage, skill, or\nindustry, was to be employed.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES\n\n\n{4}  Napoleon III., \u2018Life of C\u00e6sar.\u2019\n\n{15}  Soult received but little education in his youth, and learnt next\nto no geography until he became foreign minister of France, when the\nstudy of this branch of knowledge is said to have given him the greatest\npleasure.\u2014\u2018\u0152uvres, &c., d\u2019Alexis de Tocqueville.  Par G. de Beaumont.\u2019\nParis, 1861. I. 52\n\n{25}  \u2018\u0152uvres et Correspondance in\u00e9dite d\u2019Alexis de Tocqueville.  Par\nGustave de Beaumont.\u2019  I. 398.\n\n{26}  \u201cI have seen,\u201d said he, \u201ca hundred times in the course of my life,\na weak man exhibit genuine public virtue, because supported by a wife who\nsustained hint in his course, not so much by advising him to such and\nsuch acts, as by exercising a strengthening influence over the manner in\nwhich duty or even ambition was to be regarded.  Much oftener, however,\nit must be confessed, have I seen private and domestic life gradually\ntransform a man to whom nature had given generosity, disinterestedness,\nand even some capacity for greatness, into an ambitious, mean-spirited,\nvulgar, and selfish creature who, in matters relating to his country,\nended by considering them only in so far as they rendered his own\nparticular condition more comfortable and easy.\u201d\u2014\u2018\u0152uvres de Tocqueville.\u2019\nII. 349.\n\n{31}  Since the original publication of this book, the author has in\nanother work, \u2018The Lives of Boulton and Watt,\u2019 endeavoured to portray in\ngreater detail the character and achievements of these two remarkable\nmen.\n\n{43a}  The following entry, which occurs in the account of monies\ndisbursed by the burgesses of Sheffield in 1573 [?] is supposed by some\nto refer to the inventor of the stocking frame:\u2014\u201cItem gyven to Willm-Lee,\na poore scholler in Sheafield, towards the settyng him to the Universitie\nof Chambrydge, and buying him bookes and other furnyture [which money was\nafterwards returned] xiii iiii [13s. 4d.].\u201d\u2014Hunter, \u2018History of\nHallamshire,\u2019 141.\n\n{43b}  \u2018History of the Framework Knitters.\u2019\n\n{44}  There are, however, other and different accounts.  One is to the\neffect that Lee set about studying the contrivance of the stocking-loom\nfor the purpose of lessening the labour of a young country-girl to whom\nhe was attached, whose occupation was knitting; another, that being\nmarried and poor, his wife was under the necessity of contributing to\ntheir joint support by knitting; and that Lee, while watching the motion\nof his wife\u2019s fingers, conceived the idea of imitating their movements by\na machine.  The latter story seems to have been invented by Aaron Hill,\nEsq., in his \u2018Account of the Rise and Progress of the Beech Oil\nmanufacture,\u2019 London, 1715; but his statement is altogether unreliable.\nThus he makes Lee to have been a Fellow of a college at Oxford, from\nwhich he was expelled for marrying an innkeeper\u2019s daughter; whilst Lee\nneither studied at Oxford, nor married there, nor was a Fellow of any\ncollege; and he concludes by alleging that the result of his invention\nwas to \u201cmake Lee and his family happy;\u201d whereas the invention brought him\nonly a heritage of misery, and he died abroad destitute.\n\n{45}  Blackner, \u2018History of Nottingham.\u2019  The author adds, \u201cWe have\ninformation, handed down in direct succession from father to son, that it\nwas not till late in the seventeenth century that one man could manage\nthe working of a frame.  The man who was considered the workman employed\na labourer, who stood behind the frame to work the slur and pressing\nmotions; but the application of traddles and of the feet eventually\nrendered the labour unnecessary.\u201d\n\n{74}  Palissy\u2019s own words are:\u2014\u201cLe bois m\u2019ayant failli, je fus contraint\nbrusler les estapes (\u00e9taies) qui soustenoyent les tailles de mon jardin,\nlesquelles estant brusl\u00e9es, je fus constraint brusler les tables et\nplancher de la maison, afin de faire fondre la seconde composition.\nJ\u2019estois en une telle angoisse que je ne s\u00e7aurois dire: car j\u2019estois tout\ntari et desech\u00e9 \u00e0 cause du labeur et de la chaleur du fourneau; il y\navoit plus d\u2019un mois que ma chemise n\u2019avoit seich\u00e9 sur moy, encores pour\nme consoler on se moquoit de moy, et mesme ceux qui me devoient secourir\nalloient crier par la ville que je faisois brusler le plancher: et par\ntel moyen l\u2019on me faisoit perdre mon credit et m\u2019estimoit-on estre fol.\nLes autres disoient que je cherchois \u00e0 faire la fausse monnoye, qui\nestoit un mal qui me faisoit seicher sur les pieds; et m\u2019en allois par\nles ru\u00ebs tout baiss\u00e9 comme un homme honteux: . . . personne ne me\nsecouroit: Mais au contraire ils se mocquoyent de moy, en disant: Il luy\nappartient bien de mourir de faim, par ce qu\u2019il delaisse son mestier.\nToutes ces nouvelles venoyent a mes aureilles quand je passois par la\nru\u00eb.\u201d  \u2018\u0152uvres Compl\u00e8tes de Palissy.  Paris, 1844;\u2019 De l\u2019Art de Terre, p.\n315.\n\n{77}  \u201cToutes ces fautes m\u2019ont caus\u00e9 un tel lasseur et tristesse\nd\u2019esprit, qu\u2019auparavant que j\u2019aye rendu mes \u00e9maux fusible \u00e0 un mesme\ndegr\u00e9 de feu, j\u2019ay cuid\u00e9 entrer jusques \u00e0 la porte du sepulchre: aussi en\nme travaillant \u00e0 tels affaires je me suis trouv\u00e9 l\u2019espace de plus se dix\nans si fort escoul\u00e9 en ma personne, qu\u2019il n\u2019y avoit aucune forme ny\napparence de bosse aux bras ny aux jambes: ains estoyent mes dites jambes\ntoutes d\u2019une venue: de sorte que les liens de quoy j\u2019attachois mes bas de\nchausses estoyent, soudain que je cheminois, sur les talons avec le\nresidu de mes chausses.\u201d\u2014\u2018\u0152uvres, 319\u201320.\n\n{78}  At the sale of Mr. Bernal\u2019s articles of vertu in London a few years\nsince, one of Palissy\u2019s small dishes, 12 inches in diameter, with a\nlizard in the centre, sold for 162_l._\n\n{79}  Within the last few months, Mr. Charles Read, a gentleman curious\nin matters of Protestant antiquarianism in France, has discovered one of\nthe ovens in which Palissy baked his chefs-d\u2019\u0153uvre.  Several moulds of\nfaces, plants, animals, &c., were dug up in a good state of preservation,\nbearing his well-known stamp.  It is situated under the gallery of the\nLouvre, in the Place du Carrousel.\n\n{80a}  D\u2019Aubign\u00e9, \u2018Histoire Universelle.\u2019  The historian adds, \u201cVoyez\nl\u2019impudence de ce bilistre! vous diriez qu\u2019il auroit lu ce vers de\nS\u00e9n\u00e8que: \u2018On ne peut contraindre celui qui sait mourir: _Qui mori scit_,\ncogi nescit.\u2019\u201d\n\n{80b}  The subject of Palissy\u2019s life and labours has been ably and\nelaborately treated by Professor Morley in his well-known work.  In the\nabove brief narrative we have for the most part followed Palissy\u2019s own\naccount of his experiments as given in his \u2018Art de Terre.\u2019\n\n{84}  \u201cAlmighty God, the great Creator,\nHas changed a goldmaker to a potter.\u201d\n\n{85}  The whole of the Chinese and Japanese porcelain was formerly known\nas Indian porcelain\u2014probably because it was first brought by the\nPortuguese from India to Europe, after the discovery of the Cape of Good\nHope by Vasco da Gama.\n\n{89}  \u2018Wedgwood: an Address delivered at Burslem, Oct. 26th, 1863.\u2019  By\nthe Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, M.P.\n\n{115}  It was characteristic of Mr. Hume, that, during his professional\nvoyages between England and India, he should diligently apply his spare\ntime to the study of navigation and seamanship; and many years after, it\nproved of use to him in a remarkable manner.  In 1825, when on his\npassage from London to Leith by a sailing smack, the vessel had scarcely\ncleared the mouth of the Thames when a sudden storm came on, she was\ndriven out of her course, and, in the darkness of the night, she struck\non the Goodwin Sands.  The captain, losing his presence of mind, seemed\nincapable of giving coherent orders, and it is probable that the vessel\nwould have become a total wreck, had not one of the passengers suddenly\ntaken the command and directed the working of the ship, himself taking\nthe helm while the danger lasted.  The vessel was saved, and the stranger\nwas Mr. Hume.\n\n{149}  \u2018Saturday Review,\u2019 July 3rd, 1858.\n\n{173}  Mrs. Grote\u2019s \u2018Memoir of the Life of Ary Scheffer,\u2019 p. 67.\n\n{201}  While the sheets of this revised edition are passing through the\npress, the announcement appears in the local papers of the death of Mr.\nJackson at the age of fifty.  His last work, completed shortly before his\ndeath, was a cantata, entitled \u2018The Praise of Music.\u2019  The above\nparticulars of his early life were communicated by himself to the author\nseveral years since, while he was still carrying on his business of a\ntallow-chandler at Masham.\n\n{216}  Mansfield owed nothing to his noble relations, who were poor and\nuninfluential.  His success was the legitimate and logical result of the\nmeans which he sedulously employed to secure it.  When a boy he rode up\nfrom Scotland to London on a pony\u2014taking two months to make the journey.\nAfter a course of school and college, he entered upon the profession of\nthe law, and he closed a career of patient and ceaseless labour as Lord\nChief Justice of England\u2014the functions of which he is universally\nadmitted to have performed with unsurpassed ability, justice, and honour.\n\n{263}  On \u2018Thought and Action.\u2019\n\n{277}  \u2018Correspondance de Napol\u00e9on Ier.,\u2019 publi\u00e9e par ordre de l\u2019Empereur\nNapol\u00e9on III, Paris, 1864.\n\n{283}  The recently published correspondence of Napoleon with his brother\nJoseph, and the Memoirs of the Duke of Ragusa, abundantly confirm this\nview.  The Duke overthrew Napoleon\u2019s generals by the superiority of his\nroutine.  He used to say that, if he knew anything at all, he knew how to\nfeed an army.\n\n{313}  His old gardener.  Collingwood\u2019s favourite amusement was\ngardening.  Shortly after the battle of Trafalgar a brother admiral\ncalled upon him, and, after searching for his lordship all over the\ngarden, he at last discovered him, with old Scott, in the bottom of a\ndeep trench which they were busily employed in digging.\n\n{319}  Article in the \u2018Times.\u2019\n\n{321}  \u2018Self-Development: an Address to Students,\u2019 by George Ross, M.D.,\npp. 1\u201320, reprinted from the \u2018Medical Circular.\u2019  This address, to which\nwe acknowledge our obligations, contains many admirable thoughts on\nself-culture, is thoroughly healthy in its tone, and well deserves\nrepublication in an enlarged form.\n\n{329}  \u2018Saturday Review.\u2019\n\n{354}  See the admirable and well-known book, \u2018The Pursuit of Knowledge\nunder Difficulties.\u2019\n\n{356a}  Late Professor of Moral Philosophy at St. Andrew\u2019s.\n\n{356b}  A writer in the \u2018Edinburgh Review\u2019 (July, 1859) observes that\n\u201cthe Duke\u2019s talents seem never to have developed themselves until some\nactive and practical field for their display was placed immediately\nbefore him.  He was long described by his Spartan mother, who thought him\na dunce, as only \u2018food for powder.\u2019  He gained no sort of distinction,\neither at Eton or at the French Military College of Angers.\u201d  It is not\nimprobable that a competitive examination, at this day, might have\nexcluded him from the army.\n\n{357}  Correspondent of \u2018The Times,\u2019 11th June, 1863.\n\n{392}  Robertson\u2019s \u2018Life and Letters,\u2019 i. 258.\n\n{400}  On the 11th January, 1866.\n\n{408}  Brown\u2019s \u2018Hor\u00e6 Subseciv\u00e6.\u2019","title":"Self Help; with Illustrations of Conduct and Perseverance","tradition":"philosophy-ethics","translated_text":null,"word_count":139674}