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diff --git a/935-0.txt b/935-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4b94daa --- /dev/null +++ b/935-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13293 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook of Self-Help, by Samuel Smiles + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you +will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before +using this eBook. + +Title: Self-Help + with illustrations of Conduct and Perseverance + +Author: Samuel Smiles + +Release Date: June 10, 1997 [eBook #935] +[Most recently updated: January 29, 2021] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +Produced by: David Price + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SELF-HELP *** + + + + + [Picture: Cover (somewhat battered)] + + + + + + SELF HELP + WITH ILLUSTRATIONS OF + CONDUCT AND PERSEVERANCE. + + + * * * * * + + BY SAMUEL SMILES, LL.D., + AUTHOR OF “LIVES OF THE ENGINEERS,” ETC. + + * * * * * + + “This above all,—To thine own self be true; + And it must follow, as the night the day, + Then canst not then be false to any man.” + + SHAKESPEARE. + + “Might I give counsel to any young man, I would say to him, try + to frequent the company of your betters. In books and in life, + that is the most wholesome society; learn to admire rightly; the + great pleasure of life is that. Note what great men admired; + they admired great things; narrow spirits admire basely and + worship meanly.”—W. M. THACKERAY. + + * * * * * + + POPULAR EDITION. + + * * * * * + + LONDON: + JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. + 1897. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +THIS is a revised edition of a book which has already been received with +considerable favour at home and abroad. It has been reprinted in various +forms in America; translations have appeared in Dutch and French, and +others are about to appear in German and Danish. The book has, +doubtless, proved attractive to readers in different countries by reason +of the variety of anecdotal illustrations of life and character which it +contains, and the interest which all more or less feel in the labours, +the trials, the struggles, and the achievements of others. No one can be +better aware than the author, of its fragmentary character, arising from +the manner in which it was for the most part originally composed,—having +been put together principally from jottings made during many +years,—intended as readings for young men, and without any view to +publication. The appearance of this edition has furnished an opportunity +for pruning the volume of some superfluous matter, and introducing +various new illustrations, which will probably be found of general +interest. + +In one respect the title of the book, which it is now too late to alter, +has proved unfortunate, as it has led some, who have judged it merely by +the title, to suppose that it consists of a eulogy of selfishness: the +very opposite of what it really is,—or at least of what the author +intended it to be. Although its chief object unquestionably is to +stimulate youths to apply themselves diligently to right +pursuits,—sparing neither labour, pains, nor self-denial in prosecuting +them,—and to rely upon their own efforts in life, rather than depend upon +the help or patronage of others, it will also be found, from the examples +given of literary and scientific men, artists, inventors, educators, +philanthropists, missionaries, and martyrs, that the duty of helping +one’s self in the highest sense involves the helping of one’s neighbours. + +It has also been objected to the book that too much notice is taken in it +of men who have succeeded in life by helping themselves, and too little +of the multitude of men who have failed. “Why should not Failure,” it +has been asked, “have its Plutarch as well as Success?” There is, +indeed, no reason why Failure should not have its Plutarch, except that a +record of mere failure would probably be found excessively depressing as +well as uninstructive reading. It is, however, shown in the following +pages that Failure is the best discipline of the true worker, by +stimulating him to renewed efforts, evoking his best powers, and carrying +him onward in self-culture, self-control, and growth in knowledge and +wisdom. Viewed in this light, Failure, conquered by Perseverance, is +always full of interest and instruction, and this we have endeavoured to +illustrate by many examples. + +As for Failure _per se_, although it may be well to find consolations for +it at the close of life, there is reason to doubt whether it is an object +that ought to be set before youth at the beginning of it. Indeed, “how +_not_ to do it” is of all things the easiest learnt: it needs neither +teaching, effort, self-denial, industry, patience, perseverance, nor +judgment. Besides, readers do not care to know about the general who +lost his battles, the engineer whose engines blew up, the architect who +designed only deformities, the painter who never got beyond daubs, the +schemer who did not invent his machine, the merchant who could not keep +out of the Gazette. It is true, the best of men may fail, in the best of +causes. But even these best of men did not try to fail, or regard their +failure as meritorious; on the contrary, they tried to succeed, and +looked upon failure as misfortune. Failure in any good cause is, +however, honourable, whilst success in any bad cause is merely infamous. +At the same time success in the good cause is unquestionably better than +failure. But it is not the result in any case that is to be regarded so +much as the aim and the effort, the patience, the courage, and the +endeavour with which desirable and worthy objects are pursued;— + + “’Tis not in mortals to command success; + We will do more—deserve it.” + +The object of the book briefly is, to re-inculcate these old-fashioned +but wholesome lessons—which perhaps cannot be too often urged,—that youth +must work in order to enjoy,—that nothing creditable can be accomplished +without application and diligence,—that the student must not be daunted +by difficulties, but conquer them by patience and perseverance,—and that, +above all, he must seek elevation of character, without which capacity is +worthless and worldly success is naught. If the author has not succeeded +in illustrating these lessons, he can only say that he has failed in his +object. + +Among the new passages introduced in the present edition, may be +mentioned the following:—Illustrious Foreigners of humble origin (pp. +10–12), French Generals and Marshals risen from the ranks (14), De +Tocqueville and Mutual Help (24), William Lee, M.A., and the +Stocking-loom (42), John Heathcoat, M.P., and the Bobbin-net machine +(47), Jacquard and his Loom (55), Vaucanson (58), Joshua Heilmann and the +Combing-machine (62), Bernard Palissy and his struggles (69), Böttgher, +discoverer of Hard Porcelain (80), Count de Buffon as Student (104), +Cuvier (128), Ambrose Paré (134), Claud Lorraine (160), Jacques Callot +(162), Benvenuto Cellini (164), Nicholas Poussin (168), Ary Scheffer +(171), the Strutts of Belper (214), Francis Xavier (238), Napoleon as a +man of business (276), Intrepidity of Deal Boatmen (400), besides +numerous other passages which it is unnecessary to specify. + +_London_, _May_, 1866. + + + + +INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EDITION. + + +THE origin of this book may be briefly told. + +Some fifteen years since, the author was requested to deliver an address +before the members of some evening classes, which had been formed in a +northern town for mutual improvement, under the following circumstances:— + +Two or three young men of the humblest rank resolved to meet in the +winter evenings, for the purpose of improving themselves by exchanging +knowledge with each other. Their first meetings were held in the room of +a cottage in which one of the members lived; and, as others shortly +joined them, the place soon became inconveniently filled. When summer +set in, they adjourned to the cottage garden outside; and the classes +were then held in the open air, round a little boarded hut used as a +garden-house, in which those who officiated as teachers set the sums, and +gave forth the lessons of the evening. When the weather was fine, the +youths might be seen, until a late hour, hanging round the door of the +hut like a cluster of bees; but sometimes a sudden shower of rain would +dash the sums from their slates, and disperse them for the evening +unsatisfied. + +Winter, with its cold nights, was drawing near, and what were they to do +for shelter? Their numbers had by this time so increased, that no room +of an ordinary cottage could accommodate them. Though they were for the +most part young men earning comparatively small weekly wages, they +resolved to incur the risk of hiring a room; and, on making inquiry, they +found a large dingy apartment to let, which had been used as a temporary +Cholera Hospital. No tenant could be found for the place, which was +avoided as if the plague still clung to it. But the mutual improvement +youths, nothing daunted, hired the cholera room at so much a week, lit it +up, placed a few benches and a deal table in it, and began their winter +classes. The place soon presented a busy and cheerful appearance in the +evenings. The teaching may have been, as no doubt it was, of a very rude +and imperfect sort; but it was done with a will. Those who knew a little +taught those who knew less—improving themselves while they improved the +others; and, at all events, setting before them a good working example. +Thus these youths—and there were also grown men amongst them—proceeded to +teach themselves and each other, reading and writing, arithmetic and +geography; and even mathematics, chemistry, and some of the modern +languages. + +About a hundred young men had thus come together, when, growing +ambitious, they desired to have lectures delivered to them; and then it +was that the author became acquainted with their proceedings. A party of +them waited on him, for the purpose of inviting him to deliver an +introductory address, or, as they expressed it, “to talk to them a bit;” +prefacing the request by a modest statement of what they had done and +what they were doing. He could not fail to be touched by the admirable +self-helping spirit which they had displayed; and, though entertaining +but slight faith in popular lecturing, he felt that a few words of +encouragement, honestly and sincerely uttered, might not be without some +good effect. And in this spirit he addressed them on more than one +occasion, citing examples of what other men had done, as illustrations of +what each might, in a greater or less degree, do for himself; and +pointing out that their happiness and well-being as individuals in after +life, must necessarily depend mainly upon themselves—upon their own +diligent self-culture, self-discipline, and self-control—and, above all, +on that honest and upright performance of individual duty, which is the +glory of manly character. + +There was nothing in the slightest degree new or original in this +counsel, which was as old as the Proverbs of Solomon, and possibly quite +as familiar. But old-fashioned though the advice may have been, it was +welcomed. The youths went forward in their course; worked on with energy +and resolution; and, reaching manhood, they went forth in various +directions into the world, where many of them now occupy positions of +trust and usefulness. Several years after the incidents referred to, the +subject was unexpectedly recalled to the author’s recollection by an +evening visit from a young man—apparently fresh from the work of a +foundry—who explained that he was now an employer of labour and a +thriving man; and he was pleased to remember with gratitude the words +spoken in all honesty to him and to his fellow-pupils years before, and +even to attribute some measure of his success in life to the endeavours +which he had made to work up to their spirit. + +The author’s personal interest having in this way been attracted to the +subject of Self-Help, he was accustomed to add to the memoranda from +which he had addressed these young men; and to note down occasionally in +his leisure evening moments, after the hours of business, the results of +such reading, observation, and experience of life, as he conceived to +bear upon it. One of the most prominent illustrations cited in his +earlier addresses, was that of George Stephenson, the engineer; and the +original interest of the subject, as well as the special facilities and +opportunities which the author possessed for illustrating Mr. +Stephenson’s life and career, induced him to prosecute it at his leisure, +and eventually to publish his biography. The present volume is written +in a similar spirit, as it has been similar in its origin. The +illustrative sketches of character introduced, are, however, necessarily +less elaborately treated—being busts rather than full-length portraits, +and, in many of the cases, only some striking feature has been noted; the +lives of individuals, as indeed of nations, often concentrating their +lustre and interest in a few passages. Such as the book is, the author +now leaves it in the hands of the reader; in the hope that the lessons of +industry, perseverance, and self-culture, which it contains, will be +found useful and instructive, as well as generally interesting. + +_London_, _September_, 1859. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + CHAPTER I. + + SELF-HELP—NATIONAL AND INDIVIDUAL. +Spirit of Self-Help—Institutions and men—Government a Page +reflex of the individualism of a nation—Cæsarism and 1–26 +Self-Help—William Dargan on Independence—Patient +labourers in all ranks—Self-Help a feature in the +English character—Power of example and of work in +practical education—Value of biographies—Great men +belong to no exclusive class or rank—Illustrious men +sprung from the ranks—Shakespeare—Various humble +origin of many eminent men—Distinguished +astronomers—Eminent sons of clergymen—Of +attorneys—Illustrious foreigners of humble +origin—Vauquelin, the chemist—Promotions from the +ranks in the French army—Instances of persevering +application and energy—Joseph Brotherton—W. J. Fox—W. +S. Lindsay—William Jackson—Richard Cobden—Diligence +indispensable to usefulness and distinction—The +wealthier ranks not all idlers—Examples—Military +men—Philosophers—Men of science—Politicians—Literary +men—Sir Robert Peel—Lord +Brougham—Lytton—Disraeli—Wordsworth on +self-reliance—De Tocqueville: his industry and +recognition of the help of others—Men their own best +helpers + CHAPTER II. + + LEADERS OF INDUSTRY—INVENTORS AND PRODUCERS. +Industry of the English people—Work the best 27–66 +educator—Hugh Miller—Poverty and toil not +insurmountable obstacles—Working men as +inventors—Invention of the steam-engine—James Watt: +his industry and habit of attention—Matthew +Boulton—Applications of the steam-engine—The Cotton +manufacture—The early inventors—Paul and +Highs—Arkwright: his early life—Barber, inventor and +manufacturer—His influence and character—The Peels of +South Lancashire—The founder of the family—The first +Sir Robert Peel, cotton-printer—Lady Peel—Rev. William +Lee, inventor of the stocking-frame—Dies abroad in +misery—James Lee—The Nottingham lace manufacture—John +Heathcoat, inventor of the bobbin-net machine—His +early life, his ingenuity, and plodding +perseverance—Invention of his machine—Anecdote of Lord +Lyndhurst—Progress of the lace-trade—Heathcoat’s +machines destroyed by the Luddites—His +character—Jacquard: his inventions and +adventures—Vaucanson: his mechanical genius, +improvements in silk manufacture—Jacquard improves +Vaucanson’s machine—The Jacquard loom adopted—Joshua +Heilmann, inventor of the combing-machine—History of +the invention—Its value + CHAPTER III. + + THREE GREAT POTTERS—PALLISSY, BÖTTGHER, WEDGWOOD. +Ancient pottery—Etruscan ware—Luca della Robbia, the 67–93 +Florentine sculptor: re-discovers the art of +enamelling—Bernard Pallissy: sketch of his life and +labours—Inflamed by the sight of an Italian cup—His +search after the secret of the enamel—His experiments +during years of unproductive toil—His personal and +family privations—Indomitable perseverance, burns his +furniture to heat the furnace, and success at +last—Reduced to destitution—Condemned to death, and +release—His writings—Dies in the Bastille—John +Frederick Böttgher, the Berlin ‘gold cook’—His trick +in alchemy and consequent troubles—Flight into +Saxony—His detention at Dresden—Discovers how to make +red and white porcelain—The manufacture taken up by +the Saxon Government—Böttgher treated as a prisoner +and a slave—His unhappy end—The Sèvres porcelain +manufactory—Josiah Wedgwood, the English potter—Early +state of English earthenware manufacture—Wedgwood’s +indefatigable industry, skill, and perseverance—His +success—The Barberini vase—Wedgwood a national +benefactor—Industrial heroes + CHAPTER IV. + + APPLICATION AND PERSEVERANCE. +Great results attained by simple means—Fortune favours 94–117 +the industrious—“Genius is patience”—Newton and +Kepler—Industry of eminent men—Power acquired by +repeated effort—Anecdote of Sir Robert Peel’s +cultivation of memory—Facility comes by +practice—Importance of patience—Cheerfulness—Sydney +Smith—Dr. Hook—Hope an important element in +character—Carey the missionary—Anecdote of Dr. +Young—Anecdote of Audubon the ornithologist—Anecdote +of Mr. Carlyle and his MS. of the ‘French +Revolution’—Perseverance of Watt and +Stephenson—Perseverance displayed in the discovery of +the Nineveh marbles by Rawlinson and Layard—Comte de +Buffon as student—His continuous and unremitting +labours—Sir Walter Scott’s perseverance—John +Britton—Loudon—Samuel Drew—Joseph Hume + CHAPTER V. + + HELPS AND OPPORTUNITIES—SCIENTIFIC PURSUITS. +No great result achieved by accident—Newton’s 118–153 +discoveries—Dr. Young—Habit of observing with +intelligence—Galileo—Inventions of Brown, Watt, and +Brunel, accidentally suggested—Philosophy in little +things—Apollonius Pergæus and conic sections—Franklin +and Galvani—Discovery of steam power—Opportunities +seized or made—Simple and rude tools of great +workers—Lee and Stone’s opportunities for learning—Sir +Walter Scott’s—Dr. Priestly—Sir Humphry +Davy—Faraday—Davy and Coleridge—Cuvier—Dalton’s +industry—Examples of improvement of time—Daguesseau +and Bentham—Melancthon and Baxter—Writing down +observations—Great note-makers—Dr. Pye Smith—John +Hunter: his patient study of little things—His great +labours—Ambrose Paré the French +surgeon—Harvey—Jenner—Sir Charles Bell—Dr. Marshall +Hall—Sir William Herschel—William Smith the geologist: +his discoveries, his geological map—Hugh Miller: his +observant faculties—John Brown and Robert Dick, +geologists—Sir Roderick Murchison, his industry and +attainments + CHAPTER VI. + + WORKERS IN ART. +Sir Joshua Reynolds on the power of industry in 154–201 +art—Humble origin of eminent artists—Acquisition of +wealth not the ruling motive with artists—Michael +Angelo on riches—Patient labours of Michael Angelo and +Titian—West’s early success a disadvantage—Richard +Wilson and Zuccarelli—Sir Joshua Reynolds, Blake, +Bird, Gainsborough, and Hogarth, as boy +artists—Hogarth a keen observer—Banks and +Mulready—Claude Lorraine and Turner: their +indefatigable industry—Perrier and Jacques Callot and +their visits to Rome—Callot and the gipsies—Benvenuto +Cellini, goldsmith and musician: his ambition to +excel—Casting of his statue of Perseus—Nicolas +Poussin, a sedulous student and +worker—Duquesnoi—Poussin’s fame—Ary Scheffer: his +hindrances and success—John Flaxman: his genius and +perseverance—His brave wife—Their visit to +Rome—Francis Chantrey: his industry and energy—David +Wilkie and William Etty, unflagging workers—Privations +endured by artists—Martin—Pugin—George Kemp, architect +of the Scott monument—John Gibson, Robert Thorburn, +Noel Paton—James Sharples the blacksmith artist: his +autobiography—Industry of musicians—Handel, Haydn, +Beethoven, Bach, Meyerbeer—Dr. Arne—William Jackson +the self-taught composer + CHAPTER VII. + + INDUSTRY AND THE PEERAGE. +The peerage fed from the industrial ranks—Fall of old 202–222 +families: Bohuns, Mortimers, and Plantagenets—The +peerage comparatively modern—Peerages originating with +traders and merchants—Richard Foley, nailmaker, +founder of the Foley peerage—Adventurous career of +William Phipps, founder of the Normanby peerage: his +recovery of sunken treasure—Sir William Petty, founder +of the Lansdowne peerage—Jedediah Strutt, founder of +the Belper peerage—William and Edward Strutt—Naval and +Military peers—Peerages founded by lawyers—Lords +Tenterden and Campbell—Lord Eldon: his early struggles +and eventual success—Baron Langdale—Rewards of +perseverance + CHAPTER VIII. + + ENERGY AND COURAGE. +Energy characteristic of the Teutonic race—The 223–262 +foundations of strength of character—Force of +purpose—Concentration—Courageous working—Words of Hugh +Miller and Fowell Buxton—Power and freedom of +will—Words of Lamennais—Suwarrow—Napoleon and +“glory”—Wellington and “duty”—Promptitude in +action—Energy displayed by the British in India—Warren +Hastings—Sir Charles Napier: his adventure with the +Indian swordsman—The rebellion in India—The +Lawrences—Nicholson—The siege of Delhi—Captain +Hodson—Missionary labourers—Francis Xavier’s missions +in the East—John Williams—Dr. Livingstone—John +Howard—Jonas Hanway: his career—The philanthropic +labours of Granville Sharp—Position of slaves in +England—Result of Sharp’s efforts—Clarkson’s +labours—Fowell Buxton: his resolute purpose and +energy—Abolition of slavery + CHAPTER IX. + + MEN OF BUSINESS. +Hazlitt’s definition of the man of business—The chief 263–289 +requisite qualities—Men of genius men of +business—Shakespeare, Chaucer, Spenser, Milton, +Newton, Cowper, Wordsworth, Scott, Ricardo, Grote, J. +S. Mill—Labour and application necessary to +success—Lord Melbourne’s advice—The school of +difficulty a good school—Conditions of success in +Law—The industrious architect—The salutary influence +of work—Consequences of contempt for arithmetic—Dr. +Johnson on the alleged injustice of “the +world”—Washington Irving’s views—Practical qualities +necessary in business—Importance of accuracy—Charles +James Fox—Method—Richard Cecil and De Witt: their +despatch of business—Value of time—Sir Walter Scott’s +advice—Promptitude—Economy of +time—Punctuality—Firmness—Tact—Napoleon and Wellington +as men of business—Napoleon’s attention to details—The +‘Napoleon Correspondence’—Wellington’s business +faculty—Wellington in the Peninsula—“Honesty the best +policy”—Trade tries character—Dishonest gains—David +Barclay a model man of business + CHAPTER X. + + MONEY—ITS USE AND ABUSE. +The right use of money a test of wisdom—The virtue of 290–313 +self-denial—Self-imposed taxes—Economy necessary to +independence—Helplessness of the improvident—Frugality +an important public question—Counsels of Richard +Cobden and John Bright—The bondage of the +improvident—Independence attainable by working +men—Francis Horner’s advice from his father—Robert +Burns—Living within the means—Bacon’s +maxim—Wasters—Running into debt—Haydon’s +debts—Fichte—Dr. Johnson on debt—John Locke—The Duke +of Wellington on debt—Washington—Earl St. Vincent: his +protested bill—Joseph Hume on living too high—Ambition +after gentility—Napier’s order to his officers in +India—Resistance to temptation—Hugh Miller’s case—High +standard of life necessary—Proverbs on money-making +and thrift—Thomas Wright and the reclamation of +criminals—Mere money-making—John Foster—Riches no +proof of worth—All honest industry honourable—The +power of money over-estimated—Joseph Brotherton—True +Respectability—Lord Collingwood + CHAPTER XI. + + SELF-CULTURE—FACILITIES AND DIFFICULTIES. +Sir W. Scott and Sir B. Brodie on self-culture—Dr. 314–359 +Arnold’s spirit—Active employment salutary—Malthus’s +advice to his son—Importance of physical +health—Hodson, of “Hodson’s Horse”—Dr. Channing—Early +labour—Training in use of tools—Healthiness of great +men—Sir Walter Scott’s athletic sports—Barrow, Fuller, +Clarke—Labour conquers all things—Words of Chatterton, +Ferguson, Stone, Drew—Well-directed labour—Opinions of +Sir Joshua Reynolds, Fowell Buxton, Dr. Ross, F. +Horner, Loyola, and Lord St. Leonards—Thoroughness, +accuracy, decision, and promptitude—The virtue of +patient labour—The mischievous effects of “cramming” +in labour-saving processes and multifarious +reading—The right use of knowledge—Books may impart +learning, but well-applied knowledge and experience +only exhibit wisdom—The Magna Charta men—Brindley, +Stephenson, Hunter, and others, not book-learned yet +great—Self-respect—Jean Paul Richter—Knowledge as a +means of rising—Base views of the value of +knowledge—Ideas of Bacon and Southey—Douglas Jerrold +on comic literature—Danger of immoderate love of +pleasure—Benjamin Constant: his high thinking and low +living—Thierry: his noble character—Coleridge and +Southey—Robert Nicoll on Coleridge—Charles James Fox +on perseverance—The wisdom and strength acquired +through failure—Hunter, Rossini, Davy, Mendelssohn—The +uses of difficulty and adversity—Lyndhurst, +D’Alembert, Carissimi, Reynolds, and Henry Clay on +persistency—Curran on honest poverty—Struggles with +difficulties: Alexander Murray, William Chambers, +Cobbet—The French stonemason turned Professor—Sir +Samuel Romilly as a self-cultivator—John Leyden’s +perseverance—Professor Lee: his perseverance and his +attainments as a linguist—Late learners: Spelman, +Franklin, Dryden, Scott, Boccaccio, Arnold, and +others—Illustrious dunces: Generals Grant, Stonewall +Jackson, John Howard, Davy, and others—Story of a +dunce—Success depends on perseverance + CHAPTER XII. + + EXAMPLE—MODELS. +Example a potent instructor—Influence of 360–381 +conduct—Parental example—All acts have their train of +consequences—Disraeli on Cobden—Words of Babbage—Human +responsibility—Every person owes a good example to +others—Doing, not saying—Mrs. Chisholm—Dr. Guthrie and +John Pounds—Good models of conduct—The company of our +betters—Francis Horner’s views on personal +intercourse—The Marquis of Lansdowne and +Malesherbes—Fowell Buxton and the Gurney +family—Personal influence of John Sterling—Influence +of artistic genius upon others—Example of the brave an +inspiration to the timid—Biography valuable as forming +high models of character—Lives influenced by +biography—Romilly, Franklin, Drew, Alfieri, Loyola, +Wolff, Horner, Reynolds—Examples of cheerfulness—Dr. +Arnold’s influence over others—Career of Sir John +Sinclair + CHAPTER XIII. + + CHARACTER—THE TRUE GENTLEMAN. +Character a man’s best possession—Character of Francis 382–408 +Horner—Franklin—Character is power—The higher +qualities of character—Lord Erskine’s rules of +conduct—A high standard of life +necessary—Truthfulness—Wellington’s character of +Peel—Be what you seem—Integrity and honesty of +action—Importance of habits—Habits constitute +character—Growth of habit in youth—Words of Robertson +of Brighton—Manners and morals—Civility and +kindness—Anecdote of Abernethy—True +politeness—Great-hearted men of no exclusive rank or +class—William and Charles Grant, the “Brothers +Cheeryble”—The true gentleman—Lord Edward +Fitzgerald—Honour, probity, rectitude—The gentleman +will not be bribed—Anecdotes of Hanway, Wellington, +Wellesley, and Sir C. Napier—The poor in purse may be +rich in spirit—A noble peasant—Intrepidity of Deal +boatmen—Anecdotes of the Emperor of Austria and of two +English navvies—Truth makes the success of the +gentleman—Courage and gentleness—Gentlemen in +India—Outram, Henry Lawrence—Lord Clyde—The private +soldiers at Agra—The wreck of the _Birkenhead_—Use of +power, the test of the Gentleman—Sir Ralph +Abercrombie—Fuller’s character of Sir Francis Drake + + + + +CHAPTER I. +SELF-HELP—NATIONAL AND INDIVIDUAL. + + + “The worth of a State, in the long run, is the worth of the + individuals composing it.”—_J. S. Mill_. + + “We put too much faith in systems, and look too little to men.”—_B. + Disraeli_. + +“HEAVEN helps those who help themselves” is a well-tried maxim, embodying +in a small compass the results of vast human experience. The spirit of +self-help is the root of all genuine growth in the individual; and, +exhibited in the lives of many, it constitutes the true source of +national vigour and strength. Help from without is often enfeebling in +its effects, but help from within invariably invigorates. Whatever is +done _for_ men or classes, to a certain extent takes away the stimulus +and necessity of doing for themselves; and where men are subjected to +over-guidance and over-government, the inevitable tendency is to render +them comparatively helpless. + +Even the best institutions can give a man no active help. Perhaps the +most they can do is, to leave him free to develop himself and improve his +individual condition. But in all times men have been prone to believe +that their happiness and well-being were to be secured by means of +institutions rather than by their own conduct. Hence the value of +legislation as an agent in human advancement has usually been much +over-estimated. To constitute the millionth part of a Legislature, by +voting for one or two men once in three or five years, however +conscientiously this duty may be performed, can exercise but little +active influence upon any man’s life and character. Moreover, it is +every day becoming more clearly understood, that the function of +Government is negative and restrictive, rather than positive and active; +being resolvable principally into protection—protection of life, liberty, +and property. Laws, wisely administered, will secure men in the +enjoyment of the fruits of their labour, whether of mind or body, at a +comparatively small personal sacrifice; but no laws, however stringent, +can make the idle industrious, the thriftless provident, or the drunken +sober. Such reforms can only be effected by means of individual action, +economy, and self-denial; by better habits, rather than by greater +rights. + +The Government of a nation itself is usually found to be but the reflex +of the individuals composing it. The Government that is ahead of the +people will inevitably be dragged down to their level, as the Government +that is behind them will in the long run be dragged up. In the order of +nature, the collective character of a nation will as surely find its +befitting results in its law and government, as water finds its own +level. The noble people will be nobly ruled, and the ignorant and +corrupt ignobly. Indeed all experience serves to prove that the worth +and strength of a State depend far less upon the form of its institutions +than upon the character of its men. For the nation is only an aggregate +of individual conditions, and civilization itself is but a question of +the personal improvement of the men, women, and children of whom society +is composed. + +National progress is the sum of individual industry, energy, and +uprightness, as national decay is of individual idleness, selfishness, +and vice. What we are accustomed to decry as great social evils, will, +for the most part, be found to be but the outgrowth of man’s own +perverted life; and though we may endeavour to cut them down and +extirpate them by means of Law, they will only spring up again with fresh +luxuriance in some other form, unless the conditions of personal life and +character are radically improved. If this view be correct, then it +follows that the highest patriotism and philanthropy consist, not so much +in altering laws and modifying institutions, as in helping and +stimulating men to elevate and improve themselves by their own free and +independent individual action. + +It may be of comparatively little consequence how a man is governed from +without, whilst everything depends upon how he governs himself from +within. The greatest slave is not he who is ruled by a despot, great +though that evil be, but he who is the thrall of his own moral ignorance, +selfishness, and vice. Nations who are thus enslaved at heart cannot be +freed by any mere changes of masters or of institutions; and so long as +the fatal delusion prevails, that liberty solely depends upon and +consists in government, so long will such changes, no matter at what cost +they may be effected, have as little practical and lasting result as the +shifting of the figures in a phantasmagoria. The solid foundations of +liberty must rest upon individual character; which is also the only sure +guarantee for social security and national progress. John Stuart Mill +truly observes that “even despotism does not produce its worst effects so +long as individuality exists under it; and whatever crushes individuality +_is_ despotism, by whatever name it be called.” + +Old fallacies as to human progress are constantly turning up. Some call +for Cæsars, others for Nationalities, and others for Acts of Parliament. +We are to wait for Cæsars, and when they are found, “happy the people who +recognise and follow them.” {4} This doctrine shortly means, everything +_for_ the people, nothing _by_ them,—a doctrine which, if taken as a +guide, must, by destroying the free conscience of a community, speedily +prepare the way for any form of despotism. Cæsarism is human idolatry in +its worst form—a worship of mere power, as degrading in its effects as +the worship of mere wealth would be. A far healthier doctrine to +inculcate among the nations would be that of Self-Help; and so soon as it +is thoroughly understood and carried into action, Cæsarism will be no +more. The two principles are directly antagonistic; and what Victor Hugo +said of the Pen and the Sword alike applies to them, “Ceci tuera cela.” +[This will kill that.] + +The power of Nationalities and Acts of Parliament is also a prevalent +superstition. What William Dargan, one of Ireland’s truest patriots, +said at the closing of the first Dublin Industrial Exhibition, may well +be quoted now. “To tell the truth,” he said, “I never heard the word +independence mentioned that my own country and my own fellow townsmen did +not occur to my mind. I have heard a great deal about the independence +that we were to get from this, that, and the other place, and of the +great expectations we were to have from persons from other countries +coming amongst us. Whilst I value as much as any man the great +advantages that must result to us from that intercourse, I have always +been deeply impressed with the feeling that our industrial independence +is dependent upon ourselves. I believe that with simple industry and +careful exactness in the utilization of our energies, we never had a +fairer chance nor a brighter prospect than the present. We have made a +step, but perseverance is the great agent of success; and if we but go on +zealously, I believe in my conscience that in a short period we shall +arrive at a position of equal comfort, of equal happiness, and of equal +independence, with that of any other people.” + +All nations have been made what they are by the thinking and the working +of many generations of men. Patient and persevering labourers in all +ranks and conditions of life, cultivators of the soil and explorers of +the mine, inventors and discoverers, manufacturers, mechanics and +artisans, poets, philosophers, and politicians, all have contributed +towards the grand result, one generation building upon another’s labours, +and carrying them forward to still higher stages. This constant +succession of noble workers—the artisans of civilisation—has served to +create order out of chaos in industry, science, and art; and the living +race has thus, in the course of nature, become the inheritor of the rich +estate provided by the skill and industry of our forefathers, which is +placed in our hands to cultivate, and to hand down, not only unimpaired +but improved, to our successors. + +The spirit of self-help, as exhibited in the energetic action of +individuals, has in all times been a marked feature in the English +character, and furnishes the true measure of our power as a nation. +Rising above the heads of the mass, there were always to be found a +series of individuals distinguished beyond others, who commanded the +public homage. But our progress has also been owing to multitudes of +smaller and less known men. Though only the generals’ names may be +remembered in the history of any great campaign, it has been in a great +measure through the individual valour and heroism of the privates that +victories have been won. And life, too, is “a soldiers’ battle,”—men in +the ranks having in all times been amongst the greatest of workers. Many +are the lives of men unwritten, which have nevertheless as powerfully +influenced civilisation and progress as the more fortunate Great whose +names are recorded in biography. Even the humblest person, who sets +before his fellows an example of industry, sobriety, and upright honesty +of purpose in life, has a present as well as a future influence upon the +well-being of his country; for his life and character pass unconsciously +into the lives of others, and propagate good example for all time to +come. + +Daily experience shows that it is energetic individualism which produces +the most powerful effects upon the life and action of others, and really +constitutes the best practical education. Schools, academies, and +colleges, give but the merest beginnings of culture in comparison with +it. Far more influential is the life-education daily given in our homes, +in the streets, behind counters, in workshops, at the loom and the +plough, in counting-houses and manufactories, and in the busy haunts of +men. This is that finishing instruction as members of society, which +Schiller designated “the education of the human race,” consisting in +action, conduct, self-culture, self-control,—all that tends to discipline +a man truly, and fit him for the proper performance of the duties and +business of life,—a kind of education not to be learnt from books, or +acquired by any amount of mere literary training. With his usual weight +of words Bacon observes, that “Studies teach not their own use; but that +is a wisdom without them, and above them, won by observation;” a remark +that holds true of actual life, as well as of the cultivation of the +intellect itself. For all experience serves to illustrate and enforce +the lesson, that a man perfects himself by work more than by +reading,—that it is life rather than literature, action rather than +study, and character rather than biography, which tend perpetually to +renovate mankind. + +Biographies of great, but especially of good men, are nevertheless most +instructive and useful, as helps, guides, and incentives to others. Some +of the best are almost equivalent to gospels—teaching high living, high +thinking, and energetic action for their own and the world’s good. The +valuable examples which they furnish of the power of self-help, of +patient purpose, resolute working, and steadfast integrity, issuing in +the formation of truly noble and manly character, exhibit in language not +to be misunderstood, what it is in the power of each to accomplish for +himself; and eloquently illustrate the efficacy of self-respect and +self-reliance in enabling men of even the humblest rank to work out for +themselves an honourable competency and a solid reputation. + +Great men of science, literature, and art—apostles of great thoughts and +lords of the great heart—have belonged to no exclusive class nor rank in +life. They have come alike from colleges, workshops, and +farmhouses,—from the huts of poor men and the mansions of the rich. Some +of God’s greatest apostles have come from “the ranks.” The poorest have +sometimes taken the highest places; nor have difficulties apparently the +most insuperable proved obstacles in their way. Those very difficulties, +in many instances, would ever seem to have been their best helpers, by +evoking their powers of labour and endurance, and stimulating into life +faculties which might otherwise have lain dormant. The instances of +obstacles thus surmounted, and of triumphs thus achieved, are indeed so +numerous, as almost to justify the proverb that “with Will one can do +anything.” Take, for instance, the remarkable fact, that from the +barber’s shop came Jeremy Taylor, the most poetical of divines; Sir +Richard Arkwright, the inventor of the spinning-jenny and founder of the +cotton manufacture; Lord Tenterden, one of the most distinguished of Lord +Chief Justices; and Turner, the greatest among landscape painters. + +No one knows to a certainty what Shakespeare was; but it is +unquestionable that he sprang from a humble rank. His father was a +butcher and grazier; and Shakespeare himself is supposed to have been in +early life a woolcomber; whilst others aver that he was an usher in a +school and afterwards a scrivener’s clerk. He truly seems to have been +“not one, but all mankind’s epitome.” For such is the accuracy of his +sea phrases that a naval writer alleges that he must have been a sailor; +whilst a clergyman infers, from internal evidence in his writings, that +he was probably a parson’s clerk; and a distinguished judge of +horse-flesh insists that he must have been a horse-dealer. Shakespeare +was certainly an actor, and in the course of his life “played many +parts,” gathering his wonderful stores of knowledge from a wide field of +experience and observation. In any event, he must have been a close +student and a hard worker; and to this day his writings continue to +exercise a powerful influence on the formation of English character. + +The common class of day labourers has given us Brindley the engineer, +Cook the navigator, and Burns the poet. Masons and bricklayers can boast +of Ben Jonson, who worked at the building of Lincoln’s Inn, with a trowel +in his hand and a book in his pocket, Edwards and Telford the engineers, +Hugh Miller the geologist, and Allan Cunningham the writer and sculptor; +whilst among distinguished carpenters we find the names of Inigo Jones +the architect, Harrison the chronometer-maker, John Hunter the +physiologist, Romney and Opie the painters, Professor Lee the +Orientalist, and John Gibson the sculptor. + +From the weaver class have sprung Simson the mathematician, Bacon the +sculptor, the two Milners, Adam Walker, John Foster, Wilson the +ornithologist, Dr. Livingstone the missionary traveller, and Tannahill +the poet. Shoemakers have given us Sir Cloudesley Shovel the great +Admiral, Sturgeon the electrician, Samuel Drew the essayist, Gifford the +editor of the ‘Quarterly Review,’ Bloomfield the poet, and William Carey +the missionary; whilst Morrison, another laborious missionary, was a +maker of shoe-lasts. Within the last few years, a profound naturalist +has been discovered in the person of a shoemaker at Banff, named Thomas +Edwards, who, while maintaining himself by his trade, has devoted his +leisure to the study of natural science in all its branches, his +researches in connexion with the smaller crustaceæ having been rewarded +by the discovery of a new species, to which the name of “Praniza +Edwardsii” has been given by naturalists. + +Nor have tailors been undistinguished. John Stow, the historian, worked +at the trade during some part of his life. Jackson, the painter, made +clothes until he reached manhood. The brave Sir John Hawkswood, who so +greatly distinguished himself at Poictiers, and was knighted by Edward +III. for his valour, was in early life apprenticed to a London tailor. +Admiral Hobson, who broke the boom at Vigo in 1702, belonged to the same +calling. He was working as a tailor’s apprentice near Bonchurch, in the +Isle of Wight, when the news flew through the village that a squadron of +men-of-war was sailing off the island. He sprang from the shopboard, and +ran down with his comrades to the beach, to gaze upon the glorious sight. +The boy was suddenly inflamed with the ambition to be a sailor; and +springing into a boat, he rowed off to the squadron, gained the admiral’s +ship, and was accepted as a volunteer. Years after, he returned to his +native village full of honours, and dined off bacon and eggs in the +cottage where he had worked as an apprentice. But the greatest tailor of +all is unquestionably Andrew Johnson, the present President of the United +States—a man of extraordinary force of character and vigour of intellect. +In his great speech at Washington, when describing himself as having +begun his political career as an alderman, and run through all the +branches of the legislature, a voice in the crowd cried, “From a tailor +up.” It was characteristic of Johnson to take the intended sarcasm in +good part, and even to turn it to account. “Some gentleman says I have +been a tailor. That does not disconcert me in the least; for when I was +a tailor I had the reputation of being a good one, and making close fits; +I was always punctual with my customers, and always did good work.” + +Cardinal Wolsey, De Foe, Akenside, and Kirke White were the sons of +butchers; Bunyan was a tinker, and Joseph Lancaster a basket-maker. +Among the great names identified with the invention of the steam-engine +are those of Newcomen, Watt, and Stephenson; the first a blacksmith, the +second a maker of mathematical instruments, and the third an +engine-fireman. Huntingdon the preacher was originally a coalheaver, and +Bewick, the father of wood-engraving, a coalminer. Dodsley was a +footman, and Holcroft a groom. Baffin the navigator began his seafaring +career as a man before the mast, and Sir Cloudesley Shovel as a +cabin-boy. Herschel played the oboe in a military band. Chantrey was a +journeyman carver, Etty a journeyman printer, and Sir Thomas Lawrence the +son of a tavern-keeper. Michael Faraday, the son of a blacksmith, was in +early life apprenticed to a bookbinder, and worked at that trade until he +reached his twenty-second year: he now occupies the very first rank as a +philosopher, excelling even his master, Sir Humphry Davy, in the art of +lucidly expounding the most difficult and abstruse points in natural +science. + +Among those who have given the greatest impulse to the sublime science of +astronomy, we find Copernicus, the son of a Polish baker; Kepler, the son +of a German public-house keeper, and himself the “garçon de cabaret;” +d’Alembert, a foundling picked up one winter’s night on the steps of the +church of St. Jean le Rond at Paris, and brought up by the wife of a +glazier; and Newton and Laplace, the one the son of a small freeholder +near Grantham, the other the son of a poor peasant of Beaumont-en-Auge, +near Honfleur. Notwithstanding their comparatively adverse circumstances +in early life, these distinguished men achieved a solid and enduring +reputation by the exercise of their genius, which all the wealth in the +world could not have purchased. The very possession of wealth might +indeed have proved an obstacle greater even than the humble means to +which they were born. The father of Lagrange, the astronomer and +mathematician, held the office of Treasurer of War at Turin; but having +ruined himself by speculations, his family were reduced to comparative +poverty. To this circumstance Lagrange was in after life accustomed +partly to attribute his own fame and happiness. “Had I been rich,” said +he, “I should probably not have become a mathematician.” + +The sons of clergymen and ministers of religion generally, have +particularly distinguished themselves in our country’s history. Amongst +them we find the names of Drake and Nelson, celebrated in naval heroism; +of Wollaston, Young, Playfair, and Bell, in science; of Wren, Reynolds, +Wilson, and Wilkie, in art; of Thurlow and Campbell, in law; and of +Addison, Thomson, Goldsmith, Coleridge, and Tennyson, in literature. +Lord Hardinge, Colonel Edwardes, and Major Hodson, so honourably known in +Indian warfare, were also the sons of clergymen. Indeed, the empire of +England in India was won and held chiefly by men of the middle class—such +as Clive, Warren Hastings, and their successors—men for the most part +bred in factories and trained to habits of business. + +Among the sons of attorneys we find Edmund Burke, Smeaton the engineer, +Scott and Wordsworth, and Lords Somers, Hardwick, and Dunning. Sir +William Blackstone was the posthumous son of a silk-mercer. Lord +Gifford’s father was a grocer at Dover; Lord Denman’s a physician; judge +Talfourd’s a country brewer; and Lord Chief Baron Pollock’s a celebrated +saddler at Charing Cross. Layard, the discoverer of the monuments of +Nineveh, was an articled clerk in a London solicitor’s office; and Sir +William Armstrong, the inventor of hydraulic machinery and of the +Armstrong ordnance, was also trained to the law and practised for some +time as an attorney. Milton was the son of a London scrivener, and Pope +and Southey were the sons of linendrapers. Professor Wilson was the son +of a Paisley manufacturer, and Lord Macaulay of an African merchant. +Keats was a druggist, and Sir Humphry Davy a country apothecary’s +apprentice. Speaking of himself, Davy once said, “What I am I have made +myself: I say this without vanity, and in pure simplicity of heart.” +Richard Owen, the Newton of Natural History, began life as a midshipman, +and did not enter upon the line of scientific research in which he has +since become so distinguished, until comparatively late in life. He laid +the foundations of his great knowledge while occupied in cataloguing the +magnificent museum accumulated by the industry of John Hunter, a work +which occupied him at the College of Surgeons during a period of about +ten years. + +Foreign not less than English biography abounds in illustrations of men +who have glorified the lot of poverty by their labours and their genius. +In Art we find Claude, the son of a pastrycook; Geefs, of a baker; +Leopold Robert, of a watchmaker; and Haydn, of a wheelwright; whilst +Daguerre was a scene-painter at the Opera. The father of Gregory VII. +was a carpenter; of Sextus V., a shepherd; and of Adrian VI., a poor +bargeman. When a boy, Adrian, unable to pay for a light by which to +study, was accustomed to prepare his lessons by the light of the lamps in +the streets and the church porches, exhibiting a degree of patience and +industry which were the certain forerunners of his future distinction. +Of like humble origin were Hauy, the mineralogist, who was the son of a +weaver of Saint-Just; Hautefeuille, the mechanician, of a baker at +Orleans; Joseph Fourier, the mathematician, of a tailor at Auxerre; +Durand, the architect, of a Paris shoemaker; and Gesner, the naturalist, +of a skinner or worker in hides, at Zurich. This last began his career +under all the disadvantages attendant on poverty, sickness, and domestic +calamity; none of which, however, were sufficient to damp his courage or +hinder his progress. His life was indeed an eminent illustration of the +truth of the saying, that those who have most to do and are willing to +work, will find the most time. Pierre Ramus was another man of like +character. He was the son of poor parents in Picardy, and when a boy was +employed to tend sheep. But not liking the occupation he ran away to +Paris. After encountering much misery, he succeeded in entering the +College of Navarre as a servant. The situation, however, opened for him +the road to learning, and he shortly became one of the most distinguished +men of his time. + +The chemist Vauquelin was the son of a peasant of Saint-André-d’Herbetot, +in the Calvados. When a boy at school, though poorly clad, he was full +of bright intelligence; and the master, who taught him to read and write, +when praising him for his diligence, used to say, “Go on, my boy; work, +study, Colin, and one day you will go as well dressed as the parish +churchwarden!” A country apothecary who visited the school, admired the +robust boy’s arms, and offered to take him into his laboratory to pound +his drugs, to which Vauquelin assented, in the hope of being able to +continue his lessons. But the apothecary would not permit him to spend +any part of his time in learning; and on ascertaining this, the youth +immediately determined to quit his service. He therefore left +Saint-André and took the road for Paris with his havresac on his back. +Arrived there, he searched for a place as apothecary’s boy, but could not +find one. Worn out by fatigue and destitution, Vauquelin fell ill, and +in that state was taken to the hospital, where he thought he should die. +But better things were in store for the poor boy. He recovered, and +again proceeded in his search of employment, which he at length found +with an apothecary. Shortly after, he became known to Fourcroy the +eminent chemist, who was so pleased with the youth that he made him his +private secretary; and many years after, on the death of that great +philosopher, Vauquelin succeeded him as Professor of Chemistry. Finally, +in 1829, the electors of the district of Calvados appointed him their +representative in the Chamber of Deputies, and he re-entered in triumph +the village which he had left so many years before, so poor and so +obscure. + +England has no parallel instances to show, of promotions from the ranks +of the army to the highest military offices; which have been so common in +France since the first Revolution. “La carrière ouverte aux talents” has +there received many striking illustrations, which would doubtless be +matched among ourselves were the road to promotion as open. Hoche, +Humbert, and Pichegru, began their respective careers as private +soldiers. Hoche, while in the King’s army, was accustomed to embroider +waistcoats to enable him to earn money wherewith to purchase books on +military science. Humbert was a scapegrace when a youth; at sixteen he +ran away from home, and was by turns servant to a tradesman at Nancy, a +workman at Lyons, and a hawker of rabbit skins. In 1792, he enlisted as +a volunteer; and in a year he was general of brigade. Kleber, Lefèvre, +Suchet, Victor, Lannes, Soult, Massena, St. Cyr, D’Erlon, Murat, +Augereau, Bessières, and Ney, all rose from the ranks. In some cases +promotion was rapid, in others it was slow. Saint Cyr, the son of a +tanner of Toul, began life as an actor, after which he enlisted in the +Chasseurs, and was promoted to a captaincy within a year. Victor, Duc de +Belluno, enlisted in the Artillery in 1781: during the events preceding +the Revolution he was discharged; but immediately on the outbreak of war +he re-enlisted, and in the course of a few months his intrepidity and +ability secured his promotion as Adjutant-Major and chief of battalion. +Murat, “le beau sabreur,” was the son of a village innkeeper in Perigord, +where he looked after the horses. He first enlisted in a regiment of +Chasseurs, from which he was dismissed for insubordination: but again +enlisting, he shortly rose to the rank of Colonel. Ney enlisted at +eighteen in a hussar regiment, and gradually advanced step by step: +Kleber soon discovered his merits, surnaming him “The Indefatigable,” and +promoted him to be Adjutant-General when only twenty-five. On the other +hand, Soult {15} was six years from the date of his enlistment before he +reached the rank of sergeant. But Soult’s advancement was rapid compared +with that of Massena, who served for fourteen years before he was made +sergeant; and though he afterwards rose successively, step by step, to +the grades of Colonel, General of Division, and Marshal, he declared that +the post of sergeant was the step which of all others had cost him the +most labour to win. Similar promotions from the ranks, in the French +army, have continued down to our own day. Changarnier entered the King’s +bodyguard as a private in 1815. Marshal Bugeaud served four years in the +ranks, after which he was made an officer. Marshal Randon, the present +French Minister of War, began his military career as a drummer boy; and +in the portrait of him in the gallery at Versailles, his hand rests upon +a drum-head, the picture being thus painted at his own request. +Instances such as these inspire French soldiers with enthusiasm for their +service, as each private feels that he may possibly carry the baton of a +marshal in his knapsack. + +The instances of men, in this and other countries, who, by dint of +persevering application and energy, have raised themselves from the +humblest ranks of industry to eminent positions of usefulness and +influence in society, are indeed so numerous that they have long ceased +to be regarded as exceptional. Looking at some of the more remarkable, +it might almost be said that early encounter with difficulty and adverse +circumstances was the necessary and indispensable condition of success. +The British House of Commons has always contained a considerable number +of such self-raised men—fitting representatives of the industrial +character of the people; and it is to the credit of our Legislature that +they have been welcomed and honoured there. When the late Joseph +Brotherton, member for Salford, in the course of the discussion on the +Ten Hours Bill, detailed with true pathos the hardships and fatigues to +which he had been subjected when working as a factory boy in a cotton +mill, and described the resolution which he had then formed, that if ever +it was in his power he would endeavour to ameliorate the condition of +that class, Sir James Graham rose immediately after him, and declared, +amidst the cheers of the House, that he did not before know that Mr. +Brotherton’s origin had been so humble, but that it rendered him more +proud than he had ever before been of the House of Commons, to think that +a person risen from that condition should be able to sit side by side, on +equal terms, with the hereditary gentry of the land. + +The late Mr. Fox, member for Oldham, was accustomed to introduce his +recollections of past times with the words, “when I was working as a +weaver boy at Norwich;” and there are other members of parliament, still +living, whose origin has been equally humble. Mr. Lindsay, the +well-known ship owner, until recently member for Sunderland, once told +the simple story of his life to the electors of Weymouth, in answer to an +attack made upon him by his political opponents. He had been left an +orphan at fourteen, and when he left Glasgow for Liverpool to push his +way in the world, not being able to pay the usual fare, the captain of +the steamer agreed to take his labour in exchange, and the boy worked his +passage by trimming the coals in the coal hole. At Liverpool he remained +for seven weeks before he could obtain employment, during which time he +lived in sheds and fared hardly; until at last he found shelter on board +a West Indiaman. He entered as a boy, and before he was nineteen, by +steady good conduct he had risen to the command of a ship. At +twenty-three he retired from the sea, and settled on shore, after which +his progress was rapid “he had prospered,” he said, “by steady industry, +by constant work, and by ever keeping in view the great principle of +doing to others as you would be done by.” + +The career of Mr. William Jackson, of Birkenhead, the present member for +North Derbyshire, bears considerable resemblance to that of Mr. Lindsay. +His father, a surgeon at Lancaster, died, leaving a family of eleven +children, of whom William Jackson was the seventh son. The elder boys +had been well educated while the father lived, but at his death the +younger members had to shift for themselves. William, when under twelve +years old, was taken from school, and put to hard work at a ship’s side +from six in the morning till nine at night. His master falling ill, the +boy was taken into the counting-house, where he had more leisure. This +gave him an opportunity of reading, and having obtained access to a set +of the ‘Encyclopædia Britannica,’ he read the volumes through from A to +Z, partly by day, but chiefly at night. He afterwards put himself to a +trade, was diligent, and succeeded in it. Now he has ships sailing on +almost every sea, and holds commercial relations with nearly every +country on the globe. + +Among like men of the same class may be ranked the late Richard Cobden, +whose start in life was equally humble. The son of a small farmer at +Midhurst in Sussex, he was sent at an early age to London and employed as +a boy in a warehouse in the City. He was diligent, well conducted, and +eager for information. His master, a man of the old school, warned him +against too much reading; but the boy went on in his own course, storing +his mind with the wealth found in books. He was promoted from one +position of trust to another—became a traveller for his house—secured a +large connection, and eventually started in business as a calico printer +at Manchester. Taking an interest in public questions, more especially +in popular education, his attention was gradually drawn to the subject of +the Corn Laws, to the repeal of which he may be said to have devoted his +fortune and his life. It may be mentioned as a curious fact that the +first speech he delivered in public was a total failure. But he had +great perseverance, application, and energy; and with persistency and +practice, he became at length one of the most persuasive and effective of +public speakers, extorting the disinterested eulogy of even Sir Robert +Peel himself. M. Drouyn de Lhuys, the French Ambassador, has eloquently +said of Mr. Cobden, that he was “a living proof of what merit, +perseverance, and labour can accomplish; one of the most complete +examples of those men who, sprung from the humblest ranks of society, +raise themselves to the highest rank in public estimation by the effect +of their own worth and of their personal services; finally, one of the +rarest examples of the solid qualities inherent in the English +character.” + +In all these cases, strenuous individual application was the price paid +for distinction; excellence of any sort being invariably placed beyond +the reach of indolence. It is the diligent hand and head alone that +maketh rich—in self-culture, growth in wisdom, and in business. Even +when men are born to wealth and high social position, any solid +reputation which they may individually achieve can only be attained by +energetic application; for though an inheritance of acres may be +bequeathed, an inheritance of knowledge and wisdom cannot. The wealthy +man may pay others for doing his work for him, but it is impossible to +get his thinking done for him by another, or to purchase any kind of +self-culture. Indeed, the doctrine that excellence in any pursuit is +only to be achieved by laborious application, holds as true in the case +of the man of wealth as in that of Drew and Gifford, whose only school +was a cobbler’s stall, or Hugh Miller, whose only college was a Cromarty +stone quarry. + +Riches and ease, it is perfectly clear, are not necessary for man’s +highest culture, else had not the world been so largely indebted in all +times to those who have sprung from the humbler ranks. An easy and +luxurious existence does not train men to effort or encounter with +difficulty; nor does it awaken that consciousness of power which is so +necessary for energetic and effective action in life. Indeed, so far +from poverty being a misfortune, it may, by vigorous self-help, be +converted even into a blessing; rousing a man to that struggle with the +world in which, though some may purchase ease by degradation, the +right-minded and true-hearted find strength, confidence, and triumph. +Bacon says, “Men seem neither to understand their riches nor their +strength: of the former they believe greater things than they should; of +the latter much less. Self-reliance and self-denial will teach a man to +drink out of his own cistern, and eat his own sweet bread, and to learn +and labour truly to get his living, and carefully to expend the good +things committed to his trust.” + +Riches are so great a temptation to ease and self-indulgence, to which +men are by nature prone, that the glory is all the greater of those who, +born to ample fortunes, nevertheless take an active part in the work of +their generation—who “scorn delights and live laborious days.” It is to +the honour of the wealthier ranks in this country that they are not +idlers; for they do their fair share of the work of the state, and +usually take more than their fair share of its dangers. It was a fine +thing said of a subaltern officer in the Peninsular campaigns, observed +trudging alone through mud and mire by the side of his regiment, “There +goes 15,000_l._ a year!” and in our own day, the bleak slopes of +Sebastopol and the burning soil of India have borne witness to the like +noble self-denial and devotion on the part of our gentler classes; many a +gallant and noble fellow, of rank and estate, having risked his life, or +lost it, in one or other of those fields of action, in the service of his +country. + +Nor have the wealthier classes been undistinguished in the more peaceful +pursuits of philosophy and science. Take, for instance, the great names +of Bacon, the father of modern philosophy, and of Worcester, Boyle, +Cavendish, Talbot, and Rosse, in science. The last named may be regarded +as the great mechanic of the peerage; a man who, if he had not been born +a peer, would probably have taken the highest rank as an inventor. So +thorough is his knowledge of smith-work that he is said to have been +pressed on one occasion to accept the foremanship of a large workshop, by +a manufacturer to whom his rank was unknown. The great Rosse telescope, +of his own fabrication, is certainly the most extraordinary instrument of +the kind that has yet been constructed. + +But it is principally in the departments of politics and literature that +we find the most energetic labourers amongst our higher classes. Success +in these lines of action, as in all others, can only be achieved through +industry, practice, and study; and the great Minister, or parliamentary +leader, must necessarily be amongst the very hardest of workers. Such +was Palmerston; and such are Derby and Russell, Disraeli and Gladstone. +These men have had the benefit of no Ten Hours Bill, but have often, +during the busy season of Parliament, worked “double shift,” almost day +and night. One of the most illustrious of such workers in modern times +was unquestionably the late Sir Robert Peel. He possessed in an +extraordinary degree the power of continuous intellectual labour, nor did +he spare himself. His career, indeed, presented a remarkable example of +how much a man of comparatively moderate powers can accomplish by means +of assiduous application and indefatigable industry. During the forty +years that he held a seat in Parliament, his labours were prodigious. He +was a most conscientious man, and whatever he undertook to do, he did +thoroughly. All his speeches bear evidence of his careful study of +everything that had been spoken or written on the subject under +consideration. He was elaborate almost to excess; and spared no pains to +adapt himself to the various capacities of his audience. Withal, he +possessed much practical sagacity, great strength of purpose, and power +to direct the issues of action with steady hand and eye. In one respect +he surpassed most men: his principles broadened and enlarged with time; +and age, instead of contracting, only served to mellow and ripen his +nature. To the last he continued open to the reception of new views, +and, though many thought him cautious to excess, he did not allow himself +to fall into that indiscriminating admiration of the past, which is the +palsy of many minds similarly educated, and renders the old age of many +nothing but a pity. + +The indefatigable industry of Lord Brougham has become almost proverbial. +His public labours have extended over a period of upwards of sixty years, +during which he has ranged over many fields—of law, literature, politics, +and science,—and achieved distinction in them all. How he contrived it, +has been to many a mystery. Once, when Sir Samuel Romilly was requested +to undertake some new work, he excused himself by saying that he had no +time; “but,” he added, “go with it to that fellow Brougham, he seems to +have time for everything.” The secret of it was, that he never left a +minute unemployed; withal he possessed a constitution of iron. When +arrived at an age at which most men would have retired from the world to +enjoy their hard-earned leisure, perhaps to doze away their time in an +easy chair, Lord Brougham commenced and prosecuted a series of elaborate +investigations as to the laws of Light, and he submitted the results to +the most scientific audiences that Paris and London could muster. About +the same time, he was passing through the press his admirable sketches of +the ‘Men of Science and Literature of the Reign of George III.,’ and +taking his full share of the law business and the political discussions +in the House of Lords. Sydney Smith once recommended him to confine +himself to only the transaction of so much business as three strong men +could get through. But such was Brougham’s love of work—long become a +habit—that no amount of application seems to have been too great for him; +and such was his love of excellence, that it has been said of him that if +his station in life had been only that of a shoe-black, he would never +have rested satisfied until he had become the best shoe-black in England. + +Another hard-working man of the same class is Sir E. Bulwer Lytton. Few +writers have done more, or achieved higher distinction in various +walks—as a novelist, poet, dramatist, historian, essayist, orator, and +politician. He has worked his way step by step, disdainful of ease, and +animated throughout by the ardent desire to excel. On the score of mere +industry, there are few living English writers who have written so much, +and none that have produced so much of high quality. The industry of +Bulwer is entitled to all the greater praise that it has been entirely +self-imposed. To hunt, and shoot, and live at ease,—to frequent the +clubs and enjoy the opera, with the variety of London visiting and +sight-seeing during the “season,” and then off to the country mansion, +with its well-stocked preserves, and its thousand delightful out-door +pleasures,—to travel abroad, to Paris, Vienna, or Rome,—all this is +excessively attractive to a lover of pleasure and a man of fortune, and +by no means calculated to make him voluntarily undertake continuous +labour of any kind. Yet these pleasures, all within his reach, Bulwer +must, as compared with men born to similar estate, have denied himself in +assuming the position and pursuing the career of a literary man. Like +Byron, his first effort was poetical (‘Weeds and Wild Flowers’), and a +failure. His second was a novel (‘Falkland’), and it proved a failure +too. A man of weaker nerve would have dropped authorship; but Bulwer had +pluck and perseverance; and he worked on, determined to succeed. He was +incessantly industrious, read extensively, and from failure went +courageously onwards to success. ‘Pelham’ followed ‘Falkland’ within a +year, and the remainder of Bulwer’s literary life, now extending over a +period of thirty years, has been a succession of triumphs. + +Mr. Disraeli affords a similar instance of the power of industry and +application in working out an eminent public career. His first +achievements were, like Bulwer’s, in literature; and he reached success +only through a succession of failures. His ‘Wondrous Tale of Alroy’ and +‘Revolutionary Epic’ were laughed at, and regarded as indications of +literary lunacy. But he worked on in other directions, and his +‘Coningsby,’ ‘Sybil,’ and ‘Tancred,’ proved the sterling stuff of which +he was made. As an orator too, his first appearance in the House of +Commons was a failure. It was spoken of as “more screaming than an +Adelphi farce.” Though composed in a grand and ambitious strain, every +sentence was hailed with “loud laughter.” ‘Hamlet’ played as a comedy +were nothing to it. But he concluded with a sentence which embodied a +prophecy. Writhing under the laughter with which his studied eloquence +had been received, he exclaimed, “I have begun several times many things, +and have succeeded in them at last. I shall sit down now, but the time +will come when you will hear me.” The time did come; and how Disraeli +succeeded in at length commanding the attention of the first assembly of +gentlemen in the world, affords a striking illustration of what energy +and determination will do; for Disraeli earned his position by dint of +patient industry. He did not, as many young men do, having once failed, +retire dejected, to mope and whine in a corner, but diligently set +himself to work. He carefully unlearnt his faults, studied the character +of his audience, practised sedulously the art of speech, and +industriously filled his mind with the elements of parliamentary +knowledge. He worked patiently for success; and it came, but slowly: +then the House laughed with him, instead of at him. The recollection of +his early failure was effaced, and by general consent he was at length +admitted to be one of the most finished and effective of parliamentary +speakers. + +Although much may be accomplished by means of individual industry and +energy, as these and other instances set forth in the following pages +serve to illustrate, it must at the same time be acknowledged that the +help which we derive from others in the journey of life is of very great +importance. The poet Wordsworth has well said that “these two things, +contradictory though they may seem, must go together—manly dependence and +manly independence, manly reliance and manly self-reliance.” From +infancy to old age, all are more or less indebted to others for nurture +and culture; and the best and strongest are usually found the readiest to +acknowledge such help. Take, for example, the career of the late Alexis +de Tocqueville, a man doubly well-born, for his father was a +distinguished peer of France, and his mother a grand-daughter of +Malesherbes. Through powerful family influence, he was appointed Judge +Auditor at Versailles when only twenty-one; but probably feeling that he +had not fairly won the position by merit, he determined to give it up and +owe his future advancement in life to himself alone. “A foolish +resolution,” some will say; but De Tocqueville bravely acted it out. He +resigned his appointment, and made arrangements to leave France for the +purpose of travelling through the United States, the results of which +were published in his great book on ‘Democracy in America.’ His friend +and travelling companion, Gustave de Beaumont, has described his +indefatigable industry during this journey. “His nature,” he says, “was +wholly averse to idleness, and whether he was travelling or resting, his +mind was always at work. . . . With Alexis, the most agreeable +conversation was that which was the most useful. The worst day was the +lost day, or the day ill spent; the least loss of time annoyed him.” +Tocqueville himself wrote to a friend—“There is no time of life at which +one can wholly cease from action, for effort without one’s self, and +still more effort within, is equally necessary, if not more so, when we +grow old, as it is in youth. I compare man in this world to a traveller +journeying without ceasing towards a colder and colder region; the higher +he goes, the faster he ought to walk. The great malady of the soul is +cold. And in resisting this formidable evil, one needs not only to be +sustained by the action of a mind employed, but also by contact with +one’s fellows in the business of life.” {25} + +Notwithstanding de Tocqueville’s decided views as to the necessity of +exercising individual energy and self-dependence, no one could be more +ready than he was to recognise the value of that help and support for +which all men are indebted to others in a greater or less degree. Thus, +he often acknowledged, with gratitude, his obligations to his friends De +Kergorlay and Stofells,—to the former for intellectual assistance, and to +the latter for moral support and sympathy. To De Kergorlay he +wrote—“Thine is the only soul in which I have confidence, and whose +influence exercises a genuine effect upon my own. Many others have +influence upon the details of my actions, but no one has so much +influence as thou on the origination of fundamental ideas, and of those +principles which are the rule of conduct.” De Tocqueville was not less +ready to confess the great obligations which he owed to his wife, Marie, +for the preservation of that temper and frame of mind which enabled him +to prosecute his studies with success. He believed that a noble-minded +woman insensibly elevated the character of her husband, while one of a +grovelling nature as certainly tended to degrade it. {26} + +In fine, human character is moulded by a thousand subtle influences; by +example and precept; by life and literature; by friends and neighbours; +by the world we live in as well as by the spirits of our forefathers, +whose legacy of good words and deeds we inherit. But great, +unquestionably, though these influences are acknowledged to be, it is +nevertheless equally clear that men must necessarily be the active agents +of their own well-being and well-doing; and that, however much the wise +and the good may owe to others, they themselves must in the very nature +of things be their own best helpers. + + + + +CHAPTER II. +LEADERS OF INDUSTRY—INVENTORS AND PRODUCERS. + + + “Le travail et la Science sont désormais les maîtres du monde.”—_De + Salvandy_. + + “Deduct all that men of the humbler classes have done for England in + the way of inventions only, and see where she would have been but for + them.”—_Arthur Helps_. + +ONE of the most strongly-marked features of the English people is their +spirit of industry, standing out prominent and distinct in their past +history, and as strikingly characteristic of them now as at any former +period. It is this spirit, displayed by the commons of England, which +has laid the foundations and built up the industrial greatness of the +empire. This vigorous growth of the nation has been mainly the result of +the free energy of individuals, and it has been contingent upon the +number of hands and minds from time to time actively employed within it, +whether as cultivators of the soil, producers of articles of utility, +contrivers of tools and machines, writers of books, or creators of works +of art. And while this spirit of active industry has been the vital +principle of the nation, it has also been its saving and remedial one, +counteracting from time to time the effects of errors in our laws and +imperfections in our constitution. + +The career of industry which the nation has pursued, has also proved its +best education. As steady application to work is the healthiest training +for every individual, so is it the best discipline of a state. +Honourable industry travels the same road with duty; and Providence has +closely linked both with happiness. The gods, says the poet, have placed +labour and toil on the way leading to the Elysian fields. Certain it is +that no bread eaten by man is so sweet as that earned by his own labour, +whether bodily or mental. By labour the earth has been subdued, and man +redeemed from barbarism; nor has a single step in civilization been made +without it. Labour is not only a necessity and a duty, but a blessing: +only the idler feels it to be a curse. The duty of work is written on +the thews and muscles of the limbs, the mechanism of the hand, the nerves +and lobes of the brain—the sum of whose healthy action is satisfaction +and enjoyment. In the school of labour is taught the best practical +wisdom; nor is a life of manual employment, as we shall hereafter find, +incompatible with high mental culture. + +Hugh Miller, than whom none knew better the strength and the weakness +belonging to the lot of labour, stated the result of his experience to +be, that Work, even the hardest, is full of pleasure and materials for +self-improvement. He held honest labour to be the best of teachers, and +that the school of toil is the noblest of schools—save only the Christian +one,—that it is a school in which the ability of being useful is +imparted, the spirit of independence learnt, and the habit of persevering +effort acquired. He was even of opinion that the training of the +mechanic,—by the exercise which it gives to his observant faculties, from +his daily dealing with things actual and practical, and the close +experience of life which he acquires,—better fits him for picking his way +along the journey of life, and is more favourable to his growth as a Man, +emphatically speaking, than the training afforded by any other condition. + +The array of great names which we have already cursorily cited, of men +springing from the ranks of the industrial classes, who have achieved +distinction in various walks of life—in science, commerce, literature, +and art—shows that at all events the difficulties interposed by poverty +and labour are not insurmountable. As respects the great contrivances +and inventions which have conferred so much power and wealth upon the +nation, it is unquestionable that for the greater part of them we have +been indebted to men of the humblest rank. Deduct what they have done in +this particular line of action, and it will be found that very little +indeed remains for other men to have accomplished. + +Inventors have set in motion some of the greatest industries of the +world. To them society owes many of its chief necessaries, comforts, and +luxuries; and by their genius and labour daily life has been rendered in +all respects more easy as well as enjoyable. Our food, our clothing, the +furniture of our homes, the glass which admits the light to our dwellings +at the same time that it excludes the cold, the gas which illuminates our +streets, our means of locomotion by land and by sea, the tools by which +our various articles of necessity and luxury are fabricated, have been +the result of the labour and ingenuity of many men and many minds. +Mankind at large are all the happier for such inventions, and are every +day reaping the benefit of them in an increase of individual well-being +as well as of public enjoyment. + +Though the invention of the working steam-engine—the king of +machines—belongs, comparatively speaking, to our own epoch, the idea of +it was born many centuries ago. Like other contrivances and discoveries, +it was effected step by step—one man transmitting the result of his +labours, at the time apparently useless, to his successors, who took it +up and carried it forward another stage,—the prosecution of the inquiry +extending over many generations. Thus the idea promulgated by Hero of +Alexandria was never altogether lost; but, like the grain of wheat hid in +the hand of the Egyptian mummy, it sprouted and again grew vigorously +when brought into the full light of modern science. The steam-engine was +nothing, however, until it emerged from the state of theory, and was +taken in hand by practical mechanics; and what a noble story of patient, +laborious investigation, of difficulties encountered and overcome by +heroic industry, does not that marvellous machine tell of! It is indeed, +in itself, a monument of the power of self-help in man. Grouped around +it we find Savary, the military engineer; Newcomen, the Dartmouth +blacksmith; Cawley, the glazier; Potter, the engine-boy; Smeaton, the +civil engineer; and, towering above all, the laborious, patient, +never-tiring James Watt, the mathematical-instrument maker. + +Watt was one of the most industrious of men; and the story of his life +proves, what all experience confirms, that it is not the man of the +greatest natural vigour and capacity who achieves the highest results, +but he who employs his powers with the greatest industry and the most +carefully disciplined skill—the skill that comes by labour, application, +and experience. Many men in his time knew far more than Watt, but none +laboured so assiduously as he did to turn all that he did know to useful +practical purposes. He was, above all things, most persevering in the +pursuit of facts. He cultivated carefully that habit of active attention +on which all the higher working qualities of the mind mainly depend. +Indeed, Mr. Edgeworth entertained the opinion, that the difference of +intellect in men depends more upon the early cultivation of this _habit +of attention_, than upon any great disparity between the powers of one +individual and another. + +Even when a boy, Watt found science in his toys. The quadrants lying +about his father’s carpenter’s shop led him to the study of optics and +astronomy; his ill health induced him to pry into the secrets of +physiology; and his solitary walks through the country attracted him to +the study of botany and history. While carrying on the business of a +mathematical-instrument maker, he received an order to build an organ; +and, though without an ear for music, he undertook the study of +harmonics, and successfully constructed the instrument. And, in like +manner, when the little model of Newcomen’s steam-engine, belonging to +the University of Glasgow, was placed in his hands to repair, he +forthwith set himself to learn all that was then known about heat, +evaporation, and condensation,—at the same time plodding his way in +mechanics and the science of construction,—the results of which he at +length embodied in his condensing steam-engine. + +For ten years he went on contriving and inventing—with little hope to +cheer him, and with few friends to encourage him. He went on, meanwhile, +earning bread for his family by making and selling quadrants, making and +mending fiddles, flutes, and musical instruments; measuring mason-work, +surveying roads, superintending the construction of canals, or doing +anything that turned up, and offered a prospect of honest gain. At +length, Watt found a fit partner in another eminent leader of +industry—Matthew Boulton, of Birmingham; a skilful, energetic, and +far-seeing man, who vigorously undertook the enterprise of introducing +the condensing-engine into general use as a working power; and the +success of both is now matter of history. {31} + +Many skilful inventors have from time to time added new power to the +steam-engine; and, by numerous modifications, rendered it capable of +being applied to nearly all the purposes of manufacture—driving +machinery, impelling ships, grinding corn, printing books, stamping +money, hammering, planing, and turning iron; in short, of performing +every description of mechanical labour where power is required. One of +the most useful modifications in the engine was that devised by +Trevithick, and eventually perfected by George Stephenson and his son, in +the form of the railway locomotive, by which social changes of immense +importance have been brought about, of even greater consequence, +considered in their results on human progress and civilization, than the +condensing-engine of Watt. + +One of the first grand results of Watt’s invention,—which placed an +almost unlimited power at the command of the producing classes,—was the +establishment of the cotton-manufacture. The person most closely +identified with the foundation of this great branch of industry was +unquestionably Sir Richard Arkwright, whose practical energy and sagacity +were perhaps even more remarkable than his mechanical inventiveness. His +originality as an inventor has indeed been called in question, like that +of Watt and Stephenson. Arkwright probably stood in the same relation to +the spinning-machine that Watt did to the steam-engine and Stephenson to +the locomotive. He gathered together the scattered threads of ingenuity +which already existed, and wove them, after his own design, into a new +and original fabric. Though Lewis Paul, of Birmingham, patented the +invention of spinning by rollers thirty years before Arkwright, the +machines constructed by him were so imperfect in their details, that they +could not be profitably worked, and the invention was practically a +failure. Another obscure mechanic, a reed-maker of Leigh, named Thomas +Highs, is also said to have invented the water-frame and spinning-jenny; +but they, too, proved unsuccessful. + +When the demands of industry are found to press upon the resources of +inventors, the same idea is usually found floating about in many +minds;—such has been the case with the steam-engine, the safety-lamp, the +electric telegraph, and other inventions. Many ingenious minds are found +labouring in the throes of invention, until at length the master mind, +the strong practical man, steps forward, and straightway delivers them of +their idea, applies the principle successfully, and the thing is done. +Then there is a loud outcry among all the smaller contrivers, who see +themselves distanced in the race; and hence men such as Watt, Stephenson, +and Arkwright, have usually to defend their reputation and their rights +as practical and successful inventors. + +Richard Arkwright, like most of our great mechanicians, sprang from the +ranks. He was born in Preston in 1732. His parents were very poor, and +he was the youngest of thirteen children. He was never at school: the +only education he received he gave to himself; and to the last he was +only able to write with difficulty. When a boy, he was apprenticed to a +barber, and after learning the business, he set up for himself in Bolton, +where he occupied an underground cellar, over which he put up the sign, +“Come to the subterraneous barber—he shaves for a penny.” The other +barbers found their customers leaving them, and reduced their prices to +his standard, when Arkwright, determined to push his trade, announced his +determination to give “A clean shave for a halfpenny.” After a few years +he quitted his cellar, and became an itinerant dealer in hair. At that +time wigs were worn, and wig-making formed an important branch of the +barbering business. Arkwright went about buying hair for the wigs. He +was accustomed to attend the hiring fairs throughout Lancashire resorted +to by young women, for the purpose of securing their long tresses; and it +is said that in negotiations of this sort he was very successful. He +also dealt in a chemical hair dye, which he used adroitly, and thereby +secured a considerable trade. But he does not seem, notwithstanding his +pushing character, to have done more than earn a bare living. + +The fashion of wig-wearing having undergone a change, distress fell upon +the wig-makers; and Arkwright, being of a mechanical turn, was +consequently induced to turn machine inventor or “conjurer,” as the +pursuit was then popularly termed. Many attempts were made about that +time to invent a spinning-machine, and our barber determined to launch +his little bark on the sea of invention with the rest. Like other +self-taught men of the same bias, he had already been devoting his spare +time to the invention of a perpetual-motion machine; and from that the +transition to a spinning-machine was easy. He followed his experiments +so assiduously that he neglected his business, lost the little money he +had saved, and was reduced to great poverty. His wife—for he had by this +time married—was impatient at what she conceived to be a wanton waste of +time and money, and in a moment of sudden wrath she seized upon and +destroyed his models, hoping thus to remove the cause of the family +privations. Arkwright was a stubborn and enthusiastic man, and he was +provoked beyond measure by this conduct of his wife, from whom he +immediately separated. + +In travelling about the country, Arkwright had become acquainted with a +person named Kay, a clockmaker at Warrington, who assisted him in +constructing some of the parts of his perpetual-motion machinery. It is +supposed that he was informed by Kay of the principle of spinning by +rollers; but it is also said that the idea was first suggested to him by +accidentally observing a red-hot piece of iron become elongated by +passing between iron rollers. However this may be, the idea at once took +firm possession of his mind, and he proceeded to devise the process by +which it was to be accomplished, Kay being able to tell him nothing on +this point. Arkwright now abandoned his business of hair collecting, and +devoted himself to the perfecting of his machine, a model of which, +constructed by Kay under his directions, he set up in the parlour of the +Free Grammar School at Preston. Being a burgess of the town, he voted at +the contested election at which General Burgoyne was returned; but such +was his poverty, and such the tattered state of his dress, that a number +of persons subscribed a sum sufficient to have him put in a state fit to +appear in the poll-room. The exhibition of his machine in a town where +so many workpeople lived by the exercise of manual labour proved a +dangerous experiment; ominous growlings were heard outside the +school-room from time to time, and Arkwright,—remembering the fate of +Kay, who was mobbed and compelled to fly from Lancashire because of his +invention of the fly-shuttle, and of poor Hargreaves, whose +spinning-jenny had been pulled to pieces only a short time before by a +Blackburn mob,—wisely determined on packing up his model and removing to +a less dangerous locality. He went accordingly to Nottingham, where he +applied to some of the local bankers for pecuniary assistance; and the +Messrs. Wright consented to advance him a sum of money on condition of +sharing in the profits of the invention. The machine, however, not being +perfected so soon as they had anticipated, the bankers recommended +Arkwright to apply to Messrs. Strutt and Need, the former of whom was the +ingenious inventor and patentee of the stocking-frame. Mr. Strutt at +once appreciated the merits of the invention, and a partnership was +entered into with Arkwright, whose road to fortune was now clear. The +patent was secured in the name of “Richard Arkwright, of Nottingham, +clockmaker,” and it is a circumstance worthy of note, that it was taken +out in 1769, the same year in which Watt secured the patent for his +steam-engine. A cotton-mill was first erected at Nottingham, driven by +horses; and another was shortly after built, on a much larger scale, at +Cromford, in Derbyshire, turned by a water-wheel, from which circumstance +the spinning-machine came to be called the water-frame. + +Arkwright’s labours, however, were, comparatively speaking, only begun. +He had still to perfect all the working details of his machine. It was +in his hands the subject of constant modification and improvement, until +eventually it was rendered practicable and profitable in an eminent +degree. But success was only secured by long and patient labour: for +some years, indeed, the speculation was disheartening and unprofitable, +swallowing up a very large amount of capital without any result. When +success began to appear more certain, then the Lancashire manufacturers +fell upon Arkwright’s patent to pull it in pieces, as the Cornish miners +fell upon Boulton and Watt to rob them of the profits of their +steam-engine. Arkwright was even denounced as the enemy of the working +people; and a mill which he built near Chorley was destroyed by a mob in +the presence of a strong force of police and military. The Lancashire +men refused to buy his materials, though they were confessedly the best +in the market. Then they refused to pay patent-right for the use of his +machines, and combined to crush him in the courts of law. To the disgust +of right-minded people, Arkwright’s patent was upset. After the trial, +when passing the hotel at which his opponents were staying, one of them +said, loud enough to be heard by him, “Well, we’ve done the old shaver at +last;” to which he coolly replied, “Never mind, I’ve a razor left that +will shave you all.” He established new mills in Lancashire, Derbyshire, +and at New Lanark, in Scotland. The mills at Cromford also came into his +hands at the expiry of his partnership with Strutt, and the amount and +the excellence of his products were such, that in a short time he +obtained so complete a control of the trade, that the prices were fixed +by him, and he governed the main operations of the other cotton-spinners. + +Arkwright was a man of great force of character, indomitable courage, +much worldly shrewdness, with a business faculty almost amounting to +genius. At one period his time was engrossed by severe and continuous +labour, occasioned by the organising and conducting of his numerous +manufactories, sometimes from four in the morning till nine at night. At +fifty years of age he set to work to learn English grammar, and improve +himself in writing and orthography. After overcoming every obstacle, he +had the satisfaction of reaping the reward of his enterprise. Eighteen +years after he had constructed his first machine, he rose to such +estimation in Derbyshire that he was appointed High Sheriff of the +county, and shortly after George III. conferred upon him the honour of +knighthood. He died in 1792. Be it for good or for evil, Arkwright was +the founder in England of the modern factory system, a branch of industry +which has unquestionably proved a source of immense wealth to individuals +and to the nation. + +All the other great branches of industry in Britain furnish like examples +of energetic men of business, the source of much benefit to the +neighbourhoods in which they have laboured, and of increased power and +wealth to the community at large. Amongst such might be cited the +Strutts of Belper; the Tennants of Glasgow; the Marshalls and Gotts of +Leeds; the Peels, Ashworths, Birleys, Fieldens, Ashtons, Heywoods, and +Ainsworths of South Lancashire, some of whose descendants have since +become distinguished in connection with the political history of England. +Such pre-eminently were the Peels of South Lancashire. + +The founder of the Peel family, about the middle of last century, was a +small yeoman, occupying the Hole House Farm, near Blackburn, from which +he afterwards removed to a house situated in Fish Lane in that town. +Robert Peel, as he advanced in life, saw a large family of sons and +daughters growing up about him; but the land about Blackburn being +somewhat barren, it did not appear to him that agricultural pursuits +offered a very encouraging prospect for their industry. The place had, +however, long been the seat of a domestic manufacture—the fabric called +“Blackburn greys,” consisting of linen weft and cotton warp, being +chiefly made in that town and its neighbourhood. It was then +customary—previous to the introduction of the factory system—for +industrious yeomen with families to employ the time not occupied in the +fields in weaving at home; and Robert Peel accordingly began the domestic +trade of calico-making. He was honest, and made an honest article; +thrifty and hardworking, and his trade prospered. He was also +enterprising, and was one of the first to adopt the carding cylinder, +then recently invented. + +But Robert Peel’s attention was principally directed to the _printing_ of +calico—then a comparatively unknown art—and for some time he carried on a +series of experiments with the object of printing by machinery. The +experiments were secretly conducted in his own house, the cloth being +ironed for the purpose by one of the women of the family. It was then +customary, in such houses as the Peels, to use pewter plates at dinner. +Having sketched a figure or pattern on one of the plates, the thought +struck him that an impression might be got from it in reverse, and +printed on calico with colour. In a cottage at the end of the farm-house +lived a woman who kept a calendering machine, and going into her cottage, +he put the plate with colour rubbed into the figured part and some calico +over it, through the machine, when it was found to leave a satisfactory +impression. Such is said to have been the origin of roller printing on +calico. Robert Peel shortly perfected his process, and the first pattern +he brought out was a parsley leaf; hence he is spoken of in the +neighbourhood of Blackburn to this day as “Parsley Peel.” The process of +calico printing by what is called the mule machine—that is, by means of a +wooden cylinder in relief, with an engraved copper cylinder—was +afterwards brought to perfection by one of his sons, the head of the firm +of Messrs. Peel and Co., of Church. Stimulated by his success, Robert +Peel shortly gave up farming, and removing to Brookside, a village about +two miles from Blackburn, he devoted himself exclusively to the printing +business. There, with the aid of his sons, who were as energetic as +himself, he successfully carried on the trade for several years; and as +the young men grew up towards manhood, the concern branched out into +various firms of Peels, each of which became a centre of industrial +activity and a source of remunerative employment to large numbers of +people. + +From what can now be learnt of the character of the original and untitled +Robert Peel, he must have been a remarkable man—shrewd, sagacious, and +far-seeing. But little is known of him excepting from traditions and the +sons of those who knew him are fast passing away. His son, Sir Robert, +thus modestly spoke of him:—“My father may be truly said to have been the +founder of our family; and he so accurately appreciated the importance of +commercial wealth in a national point of view, that he was often heard to +say that the gains to individuals were small compared with the national +gains arising from trade.” + +Sir Robert Peel, the first baronet and the second manufacturer of the +name, inherited all his father’s enterprise, ability, and industry. His +position, at starting in life, was little above that of an ordinary +working man; for his father, though laying the foundations of future +prosperity, was still struggling with the difficulties arising from +insufficient capital. When Robert was only twenty years of age, he +determined to begin the business of cotton-printing, which he had by this +time learnt from his father, on his own account. His uncle, James +Haworth, and William Yates of Blackburn, joined him in his enterprise; +the whole capital which they could raise amongst them amounting to only +about 500_l._, the principal part of which was supplied by William Yates. +The father of the latter was a householder in Blackburn, where he was +well known and much respected; and having saved money by his business, he +was willing to advance sufficient to give his son a start in the +lucrative trade of cotton-printing, then in its infancy. Robert Peel, +though comparatively a mere youth, supplied the practical knowledge of +the business; but it was said of him, and proved true, that he “carried +an old head on young shoulders.” A ruined corn-mill, with its adjoining +fields, was purchased for a comparatively small sum, near the then +insignificant town of Bury, where the works long after continued to be +known as “The Ground;” and a few wooden sheds having been run up, the +firm commenced their cotton-printing business in a very humble way in the +year 1770, adding to it that of cotton-spinning a few years later. The +frugal style in which the partners lived may be inferred from the +following incident in their early career. William Yates, being a married +man with a family, commenced housekeeping on a small scale, and, to +oblige Peel, who was single, he agreed to take him as a lodger. The sum +which the latter first paid for board and lodging was only 8_s._ a week; +but Yates, considering this too little, insisted on the weekly payment +being increased a shilling, to which Peel at first demurred, and a +difference between the partners took place, which was eventually +compromised by the lodger paying an advance of sixpence a week. William +Yates’s eldest child was a girl named Ellen, and she very soon became an +especial favourite with the young lodger. On returning from his hard +day’s work at “The Ground,” he would take the little girl upon his knee, +and say to her, “Nelly, thou bonny little dear, wilt be my wife?” to +which the child would readily answer “Yes,” as any child would do. “Then +I’ll wait for thee, Nelly; I’ll wed thee, and none else.” And Robert +Peel did wait. As the girl grew in beauty towards womanhood, his +determination to wait for her was strengthened; and after the lapse of +ten years—years of close application to business and rapidly increasing +prosperity—Robert Peel married Ellen Yates when she had completed her +seventeenth year; and the pretty child, whom her mother’s lodger and +father’s partner had nursed upon his knee, became Mrs. Peel, and +eventually Lady Peel, the mother of the future Prime Minister of England. +Lady Peel was a noble and beautiful woman, fitted to grace any station in +life. She possessed rare powers of mind, and was, on every emergency, +the high-souled and faithful counsellor of her husband. For many years +after their marriage, she acted as his amanuensis, conducting the +principal part of his business correspondence, for Mr. Peel himself was +an indifferent and almost unintelligible writer. She died in 1803, only +three years after the Baronetcy had been conferred upon her husband. It +is said that London fashionable life—so unlike what she had been +accustomed to at home—proved injurious to her health; and old Mr. Yates +afterwards used to say, “if Robert hadn’t made our Nelly a ‘Lady,’ she +might ha’ been living yet.” + +The career of Yates, Peel, & Co., was throughout one of great and +uninterrupted prosperity. Sir Robert Peel himself was the soul of the +firm; to great energy and application uniting much practical sagacity, +and first-rate mercantile abilities—qualities in which many of the early +cotton-spinners were exceedingly deficient. He was a man of iron mind +and frame, and toiled unceasingly. In short, he was to cotton printing +what Arkwright was to cotton-spinning, and his success was equally great. +The excellence of the articles produced by the firm secured the command +of the market, and the character of the firm stood pre-eminent in +Lancashire. Besides greatly benefiting Bury, the partnership planted +similar extensive works in the neighbourhood, on the Irwell and the Roch; +and it was cited to their honour, that, while they sought to raise to the +highest perfection the quality of their manufactures, they also +endeavoured, in all ways, to promote the well-being and comfort of their +workpeople; for whom they contrived to provide remunerative employment +even in the least prosperous times. + +Sir Robert Peel readily appreciated the value of all new processes and +inventions; in illustration of which we may allude to his adoption of the +process for producing what is called _resist work_ in calico printing. +This is accomplished by the use of a paste, or resist, on such parts of +the cloth as were intended to remain white. The person who discovered +the paste was a traveller for a London house, who sold it to Mr. Peel for +an inconsiderable sum. It required the experience of a year or two to +perfect the system and make it practically useful; but the beauty of its +effect, and the extreme precision of outline in the pattern produced, at +once placed the Bury establishment at the head of all the factories for +calico printing in the country. Other firms, conducted with like spirit, +were established by members of the same family at Burnley, Foxhill bank, +and Altham, in Lancashire; Salley Abbey, in Yorkshire; and afterwards at +Burton-on-Trent, in Staffordshire; these various establishments, whilst +they brought wealth to their proprietors, setting an example to the whole +cotton trade, and training up many of the most successful printers and +manufacturers in Lancashire. + +Among other distinguished founders of industry, the Rev. William Lee, +inventor of the Stocking Frame, and John Heathcoat, inventor of the +Bobbin-net Machine, are worthy of notice, as men of great mechanical +skill and perseverance, through whose labours a vast amount of +remunerative employment has been provided for the labouring population of +Nottingham and the adjacent districts. The accounts which have been +preserved of the circumstances connected with the invention of the +Stocking Frame are very confused, and in many respects contradictory, +though there is no doubt as to the name of the inventor. This was +William Lee, born at Woodborough, a village some seven miles from +Nottingham, about the year 1563. According to some accounts, he was the +heir to a small freehold, while according to others he was a poor +scholar, {43a} and had to struggle with poverty from his earliest years. +He entered as a sizar at Christ College, Cambridge, in May, 1579, and +subsequently removed to St. John’s, taking his degree of B.A. in 1582–3. +It is believed that he commenced M.A. in 1586; but on this point there +appears to be some confusion in the records of the University. The +statement usually made that he was expelled for marrying contrary to the +statutes, is incorrect, as he was never a Fellow of the University, and +therefore could not be prejudiced by taking such a step. + +At the time when Lee invented the Stocking Frame he was officiating as +curate of Calverton, near Nottingham; and it is alleged by some writers +that the invention had its origin in disappointed affection. The curate +is said to have fallen deeply in love with a young lady of the village, +who failed to reciprocate his affections; and when he visited her, she +was accustomed to pay much more attention to the process of knitting +stockings and instructing her pupils in the art, than to the addresses of +her admirer. This slight is said to have created in his mind such an +aversion to knitting by hand, that he formed the determination to invent +a machine that should supersede it and render it a gainless employment. +For three years he devoted himself to the prosecution of the invention, +sacrificing everything to his new idea. At the prospect of success +opened before him, he abandoned his curacy, and devoted himself to the +art of stocking making by machinery. This is the version of the story +given by Henson {43b} on the authority of an old stocking-maker, who died +in Collins’s Hospital, Nottingham, aged ninety-two, and was apprenticed +in the town during the reign of Queen Anne. It is also given by Deering +and Blackner as the traditional account in the neighbourhood, and it is +in some measure borne out by the arms of the London Company of Frame-Work +Knitters, which consists of a stocking frame without the wood-work, with +a clergyman on one side and a woman on the other as supporters. {44} + +Whatever may have been the actual facts as to the origin of the invention +of the Stocking Loom, there can be no doubt as to the extraordinary +mechanical genius displayed by its inventor. That a clergyman living in +a remote village, whose life had for the most part been spent with books, +should contrive a machine of such delicate and complicated movements, and +at once advance the art of knitting from the tedious process of linking +threads in a chain of loops by three skewers in the fingers of a woman, +to the beautiful and rapid process of weaving by the stocking frame, was +indeed an astonishing achievement, which may be pronounced almost +unequalled in the history of mechanical invention. Lee’s merit was all +the greater, as the handicraft arts were then in their infancy, and +little attention had as yet been given to the contrivance of machinery +for the purposes of manufacture. He was under the necessity of +extemporising the parts of his machine as he best could, and adopting +various expedients to overcome difficulties as they arose. His tools +were imperfect, and his materials imperfect; and he had no skilled +workmen to assist him. According to tradition, the first frame he made +was a twelve gauge, without lead sinkers, and it was almost wholly of +wood; the needles being also stuck in bits of wood. One of Lee’s +principal difficulties consisted in the formation of the stitch, for want +of needle eyes; but this he eventually overcame by forming eyes to the +needles with a three-square file. {45} At length, one difficulty after +another was successfully overcome, and after three years’ labour the +machine was sufficiently complete to be fit for use. The quondam curate, +full of enthusiasm for his art, now began stocking weaving in the village +of Calverton, and he continued to work there for several years, +instructing his brother James and several of his relations in the +practice of the art. + +Having brought his frame to a considerable degree of perfection, and +being desirous of securing the patronage of Queen Elizabeth, whose +partiality for knitted silk stockings was well known, Lee proceeded to +London to exhibit the loom before her Majesty. He first showed it to +several members of the court, among others to Sir William (afterwards +Lord) Hunsdon, whom he taught to work it with success; and Lee was, +through their instrumentality, at length admitted to an interview with +the Queen, and worked the machine in her presence. Elizabeth, however, +did not give him the encouragement that he had expected; and she is said +to have opposed the invention on the ground that it was calculated to +deprive a large number of poor people of their employment of hand +knitting. Lee was no more successful in finding other patrons, and +considering himself and his invention treated with contempt, he embraced +the offer made to him by Sully, the sagacious minister of Henry IV., to +proceed to Rouen and instruct the operatives of that town—then one of the +most important manufacturing centres of France—in the construction and +use of the stocking-frame. Lee accordingly transferred himself and his +machines to France, in 1605, taking with him his brother and seven +workmen. He met with a cordial reception at Rouen, and was proceeding +with the manufacture of stockings on a large scale—having nine of his +frames in full work,—when unhappily ill fortune again overtook him. +Henry IV., his protector, on whom he had relied for the rewards, honours, +and promised grant of privileges, which had induced Lee to settle in +France, was murdered by the fanatic Ravaillac; and the encouragement and +protection which had heretofore been extended to him were at once +withdrawn. To press his claims at court, Lee proceeded to Paris; but +being a protestant as well as a foreigner, his representations were +treated with neglect; and worn out with vexation and grief, this +distinguished inventor shortly after died at Paris, in a state of extreme +poverty and distress. + +Lee’s brother, with seven of the workmen, succeeded in escaping from +France with their frames, leaving two behind. On James Lee’s return to +Nottinghamshire, he was joined by one Ashton, a miller of Thoroton, who +had been instructed in the art of frame-work knitting by the inventor +himself before he left England. These two, with the workmen and their +frames, began the stocking manufacture at Thoroton, and carried it on +with considerable success. The place was favourably situated for the +purpose, as the sheep pastured in the neighbouring district of Sherwood +yielded a kind of wool of the longest staple. Ashton is said to have +introduced the method of making the frames with lead sinkers, which was a +great improvement. The number of looms employed in different parts of +England gradually increased; and the machine manufacture of stockings +eventually became an important branch of the national industry. + +One of the most important modifications in the Stocking-Frame was that +which enabled it to be applied to the manufacture of lace on a large +scale. In 1777, two workmen, Frost and Holmes, were both engaged in +making point-net by means of the modifications they had introduced in the +stocking-frame; and in the course of about thirty years, so rapid was the +growth of this branch of production that 1500 point-net frames were at +work, giving employment to upwards of 15,000 people. Owing, however, to +the war, to change of fashion, and to other circumstances, the Nottingham +lace manufacture rapidly fell off; and it continued in a decaying state +until the invention of the Bobbin-net Machine by John Heathcoat, late +M.P. for Tiverton, which had the effect of at once re-establishing the +manufacture on solid foundations. + +John Heathcoat was the youngest son of a respectable small farmer at +Duffield, Derbyshire, where he was born in 1783. When at school he made +steady and rapid progress, but was early removed from it to be +apprenticed to a frame-smith near Loughborough. The boy soon learnt to +handle tools with dexterity, and he acquired a minute knowledge of the +parts of which the stocking-frame was composed, as well as of the more +intricate warp-machine. At his leisure he studied how to introduce +improvements in them, and his friend, Mr. Bazley, M.P., states that as +early as the age of sixteen, he conceived the idea of inventing a machine +by which lace might be made similar to Buckingham or French lace, then +all made by hand. The first practical improvement he succeeded in +introducing was in the warp-frame, when, by means of an ingenious +apparatus, he succeeded in producing “mitts” of a lacy appearance, and it +was this success which determined him to pursue the study of mechanical +lace-making. The stocking-frame had already, in a modified form, been +applied to the manufacture of point-net lace, in which the mesh was +_looped_ as in a stocking, but the work was slight and frail, and +therefore unsatisfactory. Many ingenious Nottingham mechanics had, +during a long succession of years, been labouring at the problem of +inventing a machine by which the mesh of threads should be _twisted_ +round each other on the formation of the net. Some of these men died in +poverty, some were driven insane, and all alike failed in the object of +their search. The old warp-machine held its ground. + +When a little over twenty-one years of age, Heathcoat went to Nottingham, +where he readily found employment, for which he soon received the highest +remuneration, as a setter-up of hosiery and warp-frames, and was much +respected for his talent for invention, general intelligence, and the +sound and sober principles that governed his conduct. He also continued +to pursue the subject on which his mind had before been occupied, and +laboured to compass the contrivance of a twist traverse-net machine. He +first studied the art of making the Buckingham or pillow-lace by hand, +with the object of effecting the same motions by mechanical means. It +was a long and laborious task, requiring the exercise of great +perseverance and ingenuity. His master, Elliot, described him at that +time as inventive, patient, self-denying, and taciturn, undaunted by +failures and mistakes, full of resources and expedients, and entertaining +the most perfect confidence that his application of mechanical principles +would eventually be crowned with success. + +It is difficult to describe in words an invention so complicated as the +bobbin-net machine. It was, indeed, a mechanical pillow for making lace, +imitating in an ingenious manner the motions of the lace-maker’s fingers +in intersecting or tying the meshes of the lace upon her pillow. On +analysing the component parts of a piece of hand-made lace, Heathcoat was +enabled to classify the threads into longitudinal and diagonal. He began +his experiments by fixing common pack-threads lengthwise on a sort of +frame for the warp, and then passing the weft threads between them by +common plyers, delivering them to other plyers on the opposite side; +then, after giving them a sideways motion and twist, the threads were +repassed back between the next adjoining cords, the meshes being thus +tied in the same way as upon pillows by hand. He had then to contrive a +mechanism that should accomplish all these nice and delicate movements, +and to do this cost him no small amount of mental toil. Long after he +said, “The single difficulty of getting the diagonal threads to twist in +the allotted space was so great that if it had now to be done, I should +probably not attempt its accomplishment.” His next step was to provide +thin metallic discs, to be used as bobbins for conducting the threads +backwards and forwards through the warp. These discs, being arranged in +carrier-frames placed on each side of the warp, were moved by suitable +machinery so as to conduct the threads from side to side in forming the +lace. He eventually succeeded in working out his principle with +extraordinary skill and success; and, at the age of twenty-four, he was +enabled to secure his invention by a patent. + +During this time his wife was kept in almost as great anxiety as himself, +for she well knew of his trials and difficulties while he was striving to +perfect his invention. Many years after they had been successfully +overcome, the conversation which took place one eventful evening was +vividly remembered. “Well,” said the anxious wife, “will it work?” +“No,” was the sad answer; “I have had to take it all to pieces again.” +Though he could still speak hopefully and cheerfully, his poor wife could +restrain her feelings no longer, but sat down and cried bitterly. She +had, however, only a few more weeks to wait, for success long laboured +for and richly deserved, came at last, and a proud and happy man was John +Heathcoat when he brought home the first narrow strip of bobbin-net made +by his machine, and placed it in the hands of his wife. + +As in the case of nearly all inventions which have proved productive, +Heathcoat’s rights as a patentee were disputed, and his claims as an +inventor called in question. On the supposed invalidity of the patent, +the lace-makers boldly adopted the bobbin-net machine, and set the +inventor at defiance. But other patents were taken out for alleged +improvements and adaptations; and it was only when these new patentees +fell out and went to law with each other that Heathcoat’s rights became +established. One lace-manufacturer having brought an action against +another for an alleged infringement of his patent, the jury brought in a +verdict for the defendant, in which the judge concurred, on the ground +that _both_ the machines in question were infringements of Heathcoat’s +patent. It was on the occasion of this trial, “Boville v. Moore,” that +Sir John Copley (afterwards Lord Lyndhurst), who was retained for the +defence in the interest of Mr. Heathcoat, learnt to work the bobbin-net +machine in order that he might master the details of the invention. On +reading over his brief, he confessed that he did not quite understand the +merits of the case; but as it seemed to him to be one of great +importance, he offered to go down into the country forthwith and study +the machine until he understood it; “and then,” said he, “I will defend +you to the best of my ability.” He accordingly put himself into that +night’s mail, and went down to Nottingham to get up his case as perhaps +counsel never got it up before. Next morning the learned sergeant placed +himself in a lace-loom, and he did not leave it until he could deftly +make a piece of bobbin-net with his own hands, and thoroughly understood +the principle as well as the details of the machine. When the case came +on for trial, the learned sergeant was enabled to work the model on the +table with such case and skill, and to explain the precise nature of the +invention with such felicitous clearness, as to astonish alike judge, +jury, and spectators; and the thorough conscientiousness and mastery with +which he handled the case had no doubt its influence upon the decision of +the court. + +After the trial was over, Mr. Heathcoat, on inquiry, found about six +hundred machines at work after his patent, and he proceeded to levy +royalty upon the owners of them, which amounted to a large sum. But the +profits realised by the manufacturers of lace were very great, and the +use of the machines rapidly extended; while the price of the article was +reduced from five pounds the square yard to about five pence in the +course of twenty-five years. During the same period the average annual +returns of the lace-trade have been at least four millions sterling, and +it gives remunerative employment to about 150,000 workpeople. + +To return to the personal history of Mr. Heathcoat. In 1809 we find him +established as a lace-manufacturer at Loughborough, in Leicestershire. +There he carried on a prosperous business for several years, giving +employment to a large number of operatives, at wages varying from 5_l._ +to 10_l._ a week. Notwithstanding the great increase in the number of +hands employed in lace-making through the introduction of the new +machines, it began to be whispered about among the workpeople that they +were superseding labour, and an extensive conspiracy was formed for the +purpose of destroying them wherever found. As early as the year 1811 +disputes arose between the masters and men engaged in the stocking and +lace trades in the south-western parts of Nottinghamshire and the +adjacent parts of Derbyshire and Leicestershire, the result of which was +the assembly of a mob at Sutton, in Ashfield, who proceeded in open day +to break the stocking and lace-frames of the manufacturers. Some of the +ringleaders having been seized and punished, the disaffected learnt +caution; but the destruction of the machines was nevertheless carried on +secretly wherever a safe opportunity presented itself. As the machines +were of so delicate a construction that a single blow of a hammer +rendered them useless, and as the manufacture was carried on for the most +part in detached buildings, often in private dwellings remote from towns, +the opportunities of destroying them were unusually easy. In the +neighbourhood of Nottingham, which was the focus of turbulence, the +machine-breakers organized themselves in regular bodies, and held +nocturnal meetings at which their plans were arranged. Probably with the +view of inspiring confidence, they gave out that they were under the +command of a leader named Ned Ludd, or General Ludd, and hence their +designation of Luddites. Under this organization machine-breaking was +carried on with great vigour during the winter of 1811, occasioning great +distress, and throwing large numbers of workpeople out of employment. +Meanwhile, the owners of the frames proceeded to remove them from the +villages and lone dwellings in the country, and brought them into +warehouses in the towns for their better protection. + +The Luddites seem to have been encouraged by the lenity of the sentences +pronounced on such of their confederates as had been apprehended and +tried; and, shortly after, the mania broke out afresh, and rapidly +extended over the northern and midland manufacturing districts. The +organization became more secret; an oath was administered to the members +binding them to obedience to the orders issued by the heads of the +confederacy; and the betrayal of their designs was decreed to be death. +All machines were doomed by them to destruction, whether employed in the +manufacture of cloth, calico, or lace; and a reign of terror began which +lasted for years. In Yorkshire and Lancashire mills were boldly attacked +by armed rioters, and in many cases they were wrecked or burnt; so that +it became necessary to guard them by soldiers and yeomanry. The masters +themselves were doomed to death; many of them were assaulted, and some +were murdered. At length the law was vigorously set in motion; numbers +of the misguided Luddites were apprehended; some were executed; and after +several years’ violent commotion from this cause, the machine-breaking +riots were at length quelled. + +Among the numerous manufacturers whose works were attacked by the +Luddites, was the inventor of the bobbin-net machine himself. One bright +sunny day, in the summer of 1816, a body of rioters entered his factory +at Loughborough with torches, and set fire to it, destroying thirty-seven +lace-machines, and above 10,000_l._ worth of property. Ten of the men +were apprehended for the felony, and eight of them were executed. Mr. +Heathcoat made a claim upon the county for compensation, and it was +resisted; but the Court of Queen’s Bench decided in his favour, and +decreed that the county must make good his loss of 10,000_l._ The +magistrates sought to couple with the payment of the damage the condition +that Mr. Heathcoat should expend the money in the county of Leicester; +but to this he would not assent, having already resolved on removing his +manufacture elsewhere. At Tiverton, in Devonshire, he found a large +building which had been formerly used as a woollen manufactory; but the +Tiverton cloth trade having fallen into decay, the building remained +unoccupied, and the town itself was generally in a very poverty-stricken +condition. Mr. Heathcoat bought the old mill, renovated and enlarged it, +and there recommenced the manufacture of lace upon a larger scale than +before; keeping in full work as many as three hundred machines, and +employing a large number of artisans at good wages. Not only did he +carry on the manufacture of lace, but the various branches of business +connected with it—yarn-doubling, silk-spinning, net-making, and +finishing. He also established at Tiverton an iron-foundry and works for +the manufacture of agricultural implements, which proved of great +convenience to the district. It was a favourite idea of his that steam +power was capable of being applied to perform all the heavy drudgery of +life, and he laboured for a long time at the invention of a steam-plough. +In 1832 he so far completed his invention as to be enabled to take out a +patent for it; and Heathcoat’s steam-plough, though it has since been +superseded by Fowler’s, was considered the best machine of the kind that +had up to that time been invented. + +Mr. Heathcoat was a man of great natural gifts. He possessed a sound +understanding, quick perception, and a genius for business of the highest +order. With these he combined uprightness, honesty, and +integrity—qualities which are the true glory of human character. Himself +a diligent self-educator, he gave ready encouragement to deserving youths +in his employment, stimulating their talents and fostering their +energies. During his own busy life, he contrived to save time to master +French and Italian, of which he acquired an accurate and grammatical +knowledge. His mind was largely stored with the results of a careful +study of the best literature, and there were few subjects on which he had +not formed for himself shrewd and accurate views. The two thousand +workpeople in his employment regarded him almost as a father, and he +carefully provided for their comfort and improvement. Prosperity did not +spoil him, as it does so many; nor close his heart against the claims of +the poor and struggling, who were always sure of his sympathy and help. +To provide for the education of the children of his workpeople, he built +schools for them at a cost of about 6000_l._ He was also a man of +singularly cheerful and buoyant disposition, a favourite with men of all +classes and most admired and beloved by those who knew him best. + +In 1831 the electors of Tiverton, of which town Mr. Heathcoat had proved +himself so genuine a benefactor, returned him to represent them in +Parliament, and he continued their member for nearly thirty years. +During a great part of that time he had Lord Palmerston for his +colleague, and the noble lord, on more than one public occasion, +expressed the high regard which he entertained for his venerable friend. +On retiring from the representation in 1859, owing to advancing age and +increasing infirmities, thirteen hundred of his workmen presented him +with a silver inkstand and gold pen, in token of their esteem. He +enjoyed his leisure for only two more years, dying in January, 1861, at +the age of seventy-seven, and leaving behind him a character for probity, +virtue, manliness, and mechanical genius, of which his descendants may +well be proud. + +We next turn to a career of a very different kind, that of the +illustrious but unfortunate Jacquard, whose life also illustrates in a +remarkable manner the influence which ingenious men, even of the humblest +rank, may exercise upon the industry of a nation. Jacquard was the son +of a hard-working couple of Lyons, his father being a weaver, and his +mother a pattern reader. They were too poor to give him any but the most +meagre education. When he was of age to learn a trade, his father placed +him with a book-binder. An old clerk, who made up the master’s accounts, +gave Jacquard some lessons in mathematics. He very shortly began to +display a remarkable turn for mechanics, and some of his contrivances +quite astonished the old clerk, who advised Jacquard’s father to put him +to some other trade, in which his peculiar abilities might have better +scope than in bookbinding. He was accordingly put apprentice to a +cutler; but was so badly treated by his master, that he shortly +afterwards left his employment, on which he was placed with a +type-founder. + +His parents dying, Jacquard found himself in a measure compelled to take +to his father’s two looms, and carry on the trade of a weaver. He +immediately proceeded to improve the looms, and became so engrossed with +his inventions that he forgot his work, and very soon found himself at +the end of his means. He then sold the looms to pay his debts, at the +same time that he took upon himself the burden of supporting a wife. He +became still poorer, and to satisfy his creditors, he next sold his +cottage. He tried to find employment, but in vain, people believing him +to be an idler, occupied with mere dreams about his inventions. At +length he obtained employment with a line-maker of Bresse, whither he +went, his wife remaining at Lyons, earning a precarious living by making +straw bonnets. + +We hear nothing further of Jacquard for some years, but in the interval +he seems to have prosecuted his improvement in the drawloom for the +better manufacture of figured fabrics; for, in 1790, he brought out his +contrivance for selecting the warp threads, which, when added to the +loom, superseded the services of a draw-boy. The adoption of this +machine was slow but steady, and in ten years after its introduction, +4000 of them were found at work in Lyons. Jacquard’s pursuits were +rudely interrupted by the Revolution, and, in 1792, we find him fighting +in the ranks of the Lyonnaise Volunteers against the Army of the +Convention under the command of Dubois Crancé. The city was taken; +Jacquard fled and joined the Army of the Rhine, where he rose to the rank +of sergeant. He might have remained a soldier, but that, his only son +having been shot dead at his side, he deserted and returned to Lyons to +recover his wife. He found her in a garret still employed at her old +trade of straw-bonnet making. While living in concealment with her, his +mind reverted to the inventions over which he had so long brooded in +former years; but he had no means wherewith to prosecute them. Jacquard +found it necessary, however, to emerge from his hiding-place and try to +find some employment. He succeeded in obtaining it with an intelligent +manufacturer, and while working by day he went on inventing by night. It +had occurred to him that great improvements might still be introduced in +looms for figured goods, and he incidentally mentioned the subject one +day to his master, regretting at the same time that his limited means +prevented him from carrying out his ideas. Happily his master +appreciated the value of the suggestions, and with laudable generosity +placed a sum of money at his disposal, that he might prosecute the +proposed improvements at his leisure. + +In three months Jacquard had invented a loom to substitute mechanical +action for the irksome and toilsome labour of the workman. The loom was +exhibited at the Exposition of National Industry at Paris in 1801, and +obtained a bronze medal. Jacquard was further honoured by a visit at +Lyons from the Minister Carnot, who desired to congratulate him in person +on the success of his invention. In the following year the Society of +Arts in London offered a prize for the invention of a machine for +manufacturing fishing-nets and boarding-netting for ships. Jacquard +heard of this, and while walking one day in the fields according to his +custom, he turned the subject over in his mind, and contrived the plan of +a machine for the purpose. His friend, the manufacturer, again furnished +him with the means of carrying out his idea, and in three weeks Jacquard +had completed his invention. + +Jacquard’s achievement having come to the knowledge of the Prefect of the +Department, he was summoned before that functionary, and, on his +explanation of the working of the machine, a report on the subject was +forwarded to the Emperor. The inventor was forthwith summoned to Paris +with his machine, and brought into the presence of the Emperor, who +received him with the consideration due to his genius. The interview +lasted two hours, during which Jacquard, placed at his ease by the +Emperor’s affability, explained to him the improvements which he proposed +to make in the looms for weaving figured goods. The result was, that he +was provided with apartments in the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers, +where he had the use of the workshop during his stay, and was provided +with a suitable allowance for his maintenance. + +Installed in the Conservatoire, Jacquard proceeded to complete the +details of his improved loom. He had the advantage of minutely +inspecting the various exquisite pieces of mechanism contained in that +great treasury of human ingenuity. Among the machines which more +particularly attracted his attention, and eventually set him upon the +track of his discovery, was a loom for weaving flowered silk, made by +Vaucanson the celebrated automaton-maker. + +Vaucanson was a man of the highest order of constructive genius. The +inventive faculty was so strong in him that it may almost be said to have +amounted to a passion, and could not be restrained. The saying that the +poet is born, not made, applies with equal force to the inventor, who, +though indebted, like the other, to culture and improved opportunities, +nevertheless contrives and constructs new combinations of machinery +mainly to gratify his own instinct. This was peculiarly the case with +Vaucanson; for his most elaborate works were not so much distinguished +for their utility as for the curious ingenuity which they displayed. +While a mere boy attending Sunday conversations with his mother, he +amused himself by watching, through the chinks of a partition wall, part +of the movements of a clock in the adjoining apartment. He endeavoured +to understand them, and by brooding over the subject, after several +months he discovered the principle of the escapement. + +From that time the subject of mechanical invention took complete +possession of him. With some rude tools which he contrived, he made a +wooden clock that marked the hours with remarkable exactness; while he +made for a miniature chapel the figures of some angels which waved their +wings, and some priests that made several ecclesiastical movements. With +the view of executing some other automata he had designed, he proceeded +to study anatomy, music, and mechanics, which occupied him for several +years. The sight of the Flute-player in the Gardens of the Tuileries +inspired him with the resolution to invent a similar figure that should +_play_; and after several years’ study and labour, though struggling with +illness, he succeeded in accomplishing his object. He next produced a +Flageolet-player, which was succeeded by a Duck—the most ingenious of his +contrivances,—which swam, dabbled, drank, and quacked like a real duck. +He next invented an asp, employed in the tragedy of ‘Cléopâtre,’ which +hissed and darted at the bosom of the actress. + +Vaucanson, however, did not confine himself merely to the making of +automata. By reason of his ingenuity, Cardinal de Fleury appointed him +inspector of the silk manufactories of France; and he was no sooner in +office, than with his usual irrepressible instinct to invent, he +proceeded to introduce improvements in silk machinery. One of these was +his mill for thrown silk, which so excited the anger of the Lyons +operatives, who feared the loss of employment through its means, that +they pelted him with stones and had nearly killed him. He nevertheless +went on inventing, and next produced a machine for weaving flowered +silks, with a contrivance for giving a dressing to the thread, so as to +render that of each bobbin or skein of an equal thickness. + +When Vaucanson died in 1782, after a long illness, he bequeathed his +collection of machines to the Queen, who seems to have set but small +value on them, and they were shortly after dispersed. But his machine +for weaving flowered silks was happily preserved in the Conservatoire des +Arts et Métiers, and there Jacquard found it among the many curious and +interesting articles in the collection. It proved of the utmost value to +him, for it immediately set him on the track of the principal +modification which he introduced in his improved loom. + +One of the chief features of Vaucanson’s machine was a pierced cylinder +which, according to the holes it presented when revolved, regulated the +movement of certain needles, and caused the threads of the warp to +deviate in such a manner as to produce a given design, though only of a +simple character. Jacquard seized upon the suggestion with avidity, and, +with the genius of the true inventor, at once proceeded to improve upon +it. At the end of a month his weaving-machine was completed. To the +cylinder of Vancanson, he added an endless piece of pasteboard pierced +with a number of holes, through which the threads of the warp were +presented to the weaver; while another piece of mechanism indicated to +the workman the colour of the shuttle which he ought to throw. Thus the +drawboy and the reader of designs were both at once superseded. The +first use Jacquard made of his new loom was to weave with it several +yards of rich stuff which he presented to the Empress Josephine. +Napoleon was highly gratified with the result of the inventor’s labours, +and ordered a number of the looms to be constructed by the best workmen, +after Jacquard’s model, and presented to him; after which he returned to +Lyons. + +There he experienced the frequent fate of inventors. He was regarded by +his townsmen as an enemy, and treated by them as Kay, Hargreaves, and +Arkwright had been in Lancashire. The workmen looked upon the new loom +as fatal to their trade, and feared lest it should at once take the bread +from their mouths. A tumultuous meeting was held on the Place des +Terreaux, when it was determined to destroy the machines. This was +however prevented by the military. But Jacquard was denounced and hanged +in effigy. The ‘Conseil des prud’hommes’ in vain endeavoured to allay +the excitement, and they were themselves denounced. At length, carried +away by the popular impulse, the prud’hommes, most of whom had been +workmen and sympathized with the class, had one of Jacquard’s looms +carried off and publicly broken in pieces. Riots followed, in one of +which Jacquard was dragged along the quay by an infuriated mob intending +to drown him, but he was rescued. + +The great value of the Jacquard loom, however, could not be denied, and +its success was only a question of time. Jacquard was urged by some +English silk manufacturers to pass over into England and settle there. +But notwithstanding the harsh and cruel treatment he had received at the +hands of his townspeople, his patriotism was too strong to permit him to +accept their offer. The English manufacturers, however, adopted his +loom. Then it was, and only then, that Lyons, threatened to be beaten +out of the field, adopted it with eagerness; and before long the Jacquard +machine was employed in nearly all kinds of weaving. The result proved +that the fears of the workpeople had been entirely unfounded. Instead of +diminishing employment, the Jacquard loom increased it at least tenfold. +The number of persons occupied in the manufacture of figured goods in +Lyons, was stated by M. Leon Faucher to have been 60,000 in 1833; and +that number has since been considerably increased. + +As for Jacquard himself, the rest of his life passed peacefully, +excepting that the workpeople who dragged him along the quay to drown him +were shortly after found eager to bear him in triumph along the same +route in celebration of his birthday. But his modesty would not permit +him to take part in such a demonstration. The Municipal Council of Lyons +proposed to him that he should devote himself to improving his machine +for the benefit of the local industry, to which Jacquard agreed in +consideration of a moderate pension, the amount of which was fixed by +himself. After perfecting his invention accordingly, he retired at sixty +to end his days at Oullins, his father’s native place. It was there that +he received, in 1820, the decoration of the Legion of Honour; and it was +there that he died and was buried in 1834. A statue was erected to his +memory, but his relatives remained in poverty; and twenty years after his +death, his two nieces were under the necessity of selling for a few +hundred francs the gold medal bestowed upon their uncle by Louis XVIII. +“Such,” says a French writer, “was the gratitude of the manufacturing +interests of Lyons to the man to whom it owes so large a portion of its +splendour.” + +It would be easy to extend the martyrology of inventors, and to cite the +names of other equally distinguished men who have, without any +corresponding advantage to themselves, contributed to the industrial +progress of the age,—for it has too often happened that genius has +planted the tree, of which patient dulness has gathered the fruit; but we +will confine ourselves for the present to a brief account of an inventor +of comparatively recent date, by way of illustration of the difficulties +and privations which it is so frequently the lot of mechanical genius to +surmount. We allude to Joshua Heilmann, the inventor of the Combing +Machine. + +Heilmann was born in 1796 at Mulhouse, the principal seat of the Alsace +cotton manufacture. His father was engaged in that business; and Joshua +entered his office at fifteen. He remained there for two years, +employing his spare time in mechanical drawing. He afterwards spent two +years in his uncle’s banking-house in Paris, prosecuting the study of +mathematics in the evenings. Some of his relatives having established a +small cotton-spinning factory at Mulhouse, young Heilmann was placed with +Messrs. Tissot and Rey, at Paris, to learn the practice of that firm. At +the same time he became a student at the Conservatoire des Arts et +Métiers, where he attended the lectures, and studied the machines in the +museum. He also took practical lessons in turning from a toymaker. +After some time, thus diligently occupied, he returned to Alsace, to +superintend the construction of the machinery for the new factory at +Vieux-Thann, which was shortly finished and set to work. The operations +of the manufactory were, however, seriously affected by a commercial +crisis which occurred, and it passed into other hands, on which Heilmann +returned to his family at Mulhouse. + +He had in the mean time been occupying much of his leisure with +inventions, more particularly in connection with the weaving of cotton +and the preparation of the staple for spinning. One of his earliest +contrivances was an embroidering-machine, in which twenty needles were +employed, working simultaneously; and he succeeded in accomplishing his +object after about six months’ labour. For this invention, which he +exhibited at the Exposition of 1834, he received a gold medal, and was +decorated with the Legion of Honour. Other inventions quickly +followed—an improved loom, a machine for measuring and folding fabrics, +an improvement of the “bobbin and fly frames” of the English spinners, +and a weft winding-machine, with various improvements in the machinery +for preparing, spinning, and weaving silk and cotton. One of his most +ingenious contrivances was his loom for weaving simultaneously two pieces +of velvet or other piled fabric, united by the pile common to both, with +a knife and traversing apparatus for separating the two fabrics when +woven. But by far the most beautiful and ingenious of his inventions was +the combing-machine, the history of which we now proceed shortly to +describe. + +Heilmann had for some years been diligently studying the contrivance of a +machine for combing long-stapled cotton, the ordinary carding-machine +being found ineffective in preparing the raw material for spinning, +especially the finer sorts of yarn, besides causing considerable waste. +To avoid these imperfections, the cotton-spinners of Alsace offered a +prize of 5000 francs for an improved combing-machine, and Heilmann +immediately proceeded to compete for the reward. He was not stimulated +by the desire of gain, for he was comparatively rich, having acquired a +considerable fortune by his wife. It was a saying of his that “one will +never accomplish great things who is constantly asking himself, how much +gain will this bring me?” What mainly impelled him was the irrepressible +instinct of the inventor, who no sooner has a mechanical problem set +before him than he feels impelled to undertake its solution. The problem +in this case was, however, much more difficult than he had anticipated. +The close study of the subject occupied him for several years, and the +expenses in which he became involved in connection with it were so great, +that his wife’s fortune was shortly swallowed up, and he was reduced to +poverty, without being able to bring his machine to perfection. From +that time he was under the necessity of relying mainly on the help of his +friends to enable him to prosecute the invention. + +While still struggling with poverty and difficulties, Heilmann’s wife +died, believing her husband ruined; and shortly after he proceeded to +England and settled for a time at Manchester, still labouring at his +machine. He had a model made for him by the eminent machine-makers, +Sharpe, Roberts, and Company; but still he could not make it work +satisfactorily, and he was at length brought almost to the verge of +despair. He returned to France to visit his family, still pursuing his +idea, which had obtained complete possession of his mind. While sitting +by his hearth one evening, meditating upon the hard fate of inventors and +the misfortunes in which their families so often become involved, he +found himself almost unconsciously watching his daughters coming their +long hair and drawing it out at full length between their fingers. The +thought suddenly struck him that if he could successfully imitate in a +machine the process of combing out the longest hair and forcing back the +short by reversing the action of the comb, it might serve to extricate +him from his difficulty. It may be remembered that this incident in the +life of Heilmann has been made the subject of a beautiful picture by Mr. +Elmore, R.A., which was exhibited at the Royal Academy Exhibition of +1862. + +Upon this idea he proceeded, introduced the apparently simple but really +most intricate process of machine-combing, and after great labour he +succeeded in perfecting the invention. The singular beauty of the +process can only be appreciated by those who have witnessed the machine +at work, when the similarity of its movements to that of combing the +hair, which suggested the invention, is at once apparent. The machine +has been described as “acting with almost the delicacy of touch of the +human fingers.” It combs the lock of cotton _at both ends_, places the +fibres exactly parallel with each other, separates the long from the +short, and unites the long fibres in one sliver and the short ones in +another. In fine, the machine not only acts with the delicate accuracy +of the human fingers, but apparently with the delicate intelligence of +the human mind. + +The chief commercial value of the invention consisted in its rendering +the commoner sorts of cotton available for fine spinning. The +manufacturers were thereby enabled to select the most suitable fibres for +high-priced fabrics, and to produce the finer sorts of yarn in much +larger quantities. It became possible by its means to make thread so +fine that a length of 334 miles might be spun from a single pound weight +of the prepared cotton, and, worked up into the finer sorts of lace, the +original shilling’s worth of cotton-wool, before it passed into the hands +of the consumer, might thus be increased to the value of between 300_l._ +and 400_l._ sterling. + +The beauty and utility of Heilmann’s invention were at once appreciated +by the English cotton-spinners. Six Lancashire firms united and +purchased the patent for cotton-spinning for England for the sum of +30,000_l._; the wool-spinners paid the same sum for the privilege of +applying the process to wool; and the Messrs. Marshall, of Leeds, +20,000_l._ for the privilege of applying it to flax. Thus wealth +suddenly flowed in upon poor Heilmann at last. But he did not live to +enjoy it. Scarcely had his long labours been crowned by success than he +died, and his son, who had shared in his privations, shortly followed +him. + +It is at the price of lives such as these that the wonders of +civilisation are achieved. + + + + +CHAPTER III. +HE GREAT POTTERS—PALISSY, BÖTTGHER, WEDGWOOD. + + + “Patience is the finest and worthiest part of fortitude, and the + rarest too . . . Patience lies at the root of all pleasures, as well + as of all powers. Hope herself ceases to be happiness when + Impatience companions her.”—_John Ruskin_. + + “Il y a vingt et cinq ans passez qu’il ne me fut monstré une coupe de + terre, tournée et esmaillée d’une telle beauté que . . . dèslors, + sans avoir esgard que je n’avois nulle connoissance des terres + argileuses, je me mis a chercher les émaux, comme un homme qui taste + en ténèbres.”—_Bernard Palissy_. + +IT so happens that the history of Pottery furnishes some of the most +remarkable instances of patient perseverance to be found in the whole +range of biography. Of these we select three of the most striking, as +exhibited in the lives of Bernard Palissy, the Frenchman; Johann +Friedrich Böttgher, the German; and Josiah Wedgwood, the Englishman. + +Though the art of making common vessels of clay was known to most of the +ancient nations, that of manufacturing enamelled earthenware was much +less common. It was, however, practised by the ancient Etruscans, +specimens of whose ware are still to be found in antiquarian collections. +But it became a lost art, and was only recovered at a comparatively +recent date. The Etruscan ware was very valuable in ancient times, a +vase being worth its weight in gold in the time of Augustus. The Moors +seem to have preserved amongst them a knowledge of the art, which they +were found practising in the island of Majorca when it was taken by the +Pisans in 1115. Among the spoil carried away were many plates of Moorish +earthenware, which, in token of triumph, were embedded in the walls of +several of the ancient churches of Pisa, where they are to be seen to +this day. About two centuries later the Italians began to make an +imitation enamelled ware, which they named Majolica, after the Moorish +place of manufacture. + +The reviver or re-discoverer of the art of enamelling in Italy was Luca +della Robbia, a Florentine sculptor. Vasari describes him as a man of +indefatigable perseverance, working with his chisel all day and +practising drawing during the greater part of the night. He pursued the +latter art with so much assiduity, that when working late, to prevent his +feet from freezing with the cold, he was accustomed to provide himself +with a basket of shavings, in which he placed them to keep himself warm +and enable him to proceed with his drawings. “Nor,” says Vasari, “am I +in the least astonished at this, since no man ever becomes distinguished +in any art whatsoever who does not early begin to acquire the power of +supporting heat, cold, hunger, thirst, and other discomforts; whereas +those persons deceive themselves altogether who suppose that when taking +their ease and surrounded by all the enjoyments of the world they may +still attain to honourable distinction,—for it is not by sleeping, but by +waking, watching, and labouring continually, that proficiency is attained +and reputation acquired.” + +But Luca, notwithstanding all his application and industry, did not +succeed in earning enough money by sculpture to enable him to live by the +art, and the idea occurred to him that he might nevertheless be able to +pursue his modelling in some material more facile and less dear than +marble. Hence it was that he began to make his models in clay, and to +endeavour by experiment so to coat and bake the clay as to render those +models durable. After many trials he at length discovered a method of +covering the clay with a material, which, when exposed to the intense +heat of a furnace, became converted into an almost imperishable enamel. +He afterwards made the further discovery of a method of imparting colour +to the enamel, thus greatly adding to its beauty. + +The fame of Luca’s work extended throughout Europe, and specimens of his +art became widely diffused. Many of them were sent into France and +Spain, where they were greatly prized. At that time coarse brown jars +and pipkins were almost the only articles of earthenware produced in +France; and this continued to be the case, with comparatively small +improvement, until the time of Palissy—a man who toiled and fought +against stupendous difficulties with a heroism that sheds a glow almost +of romance over the events of his chequered life. + +Bernard Palissy is supposed to have been born in the south of France, in +the diocese of Agen, about the year 1510. His father was probably a +worker in glass, to which trade Bernard was brought up. His parents were +poor people—too poor to give him the benefit of any school education. “I +had no other books,” said he afterwards, “than heaven and earth, which +are open to all.” He learnt, however, the art of glass-painting, to +which he added that of drawing, and afterwards reading and writing. + +When about eighteen years old, the glass trade becoming decayed, Palissy +left his father’s house, with his wallet on his back, and went out into +the world to search whether there was any place in it for him. He first +travelled towards Gascony, working at his trade where he could find +employment, and occasionally occupying part of his time in +land-measuring. Then he travelled northwards, sojourning for various +periods at different places in France, Flanders, and Lower Germany. + +Thus Palissy occupied about ten more years of his life, after which he +married, and ceased from his wanderings, settling down to practise +glass-painting and land-measuring at the small town of Saintes, in the +Lower Charente. There children were born to him; and not only his +responsibilities but his expenses increased, while, do what he could, his +earnings remained too small for his needs. It was therefore necessary +for him to bestir himself. Probably he felt capable of better things +than drudging in an employment so precarious as glass-painting; and hence +he was induced to turn his attention to the kindred art of painting and +enamelling earthenware. Yet on this subject he was wholly ignorant; for +he had never seen earth baked before he began his operations. He had +therefore everything to learn by himself, without any helper. But he was +full of hope, eager to learn, of unbounded perseverance and inexhaustible +patience. + +It was the sight of an elegant cup of Italian manufacture—most probably +one of Luca della Robbia’s make—which first set Palissy a-thinking about +the new art. A circumstance so apparently insignificant would have +produced no effect upon an ordinary mind, or even upon Palissy himself at +an ordinary time; but occurring as it did when he was meditating a change +of calling, he at once became inflamed with the desire of imitating it. +The sight of this cup disturbed his whole existence; and the +determination to discover the enamel with which it was glazed +thenceforward possessed him like a passion. Had he been a single man he +might have travelled into Italy in search of the secret; but he was bound +to his wife and his children, and could not leave them; so he remained by +their side groping in the dark in the hope of finding out the process of +making and enamelling earthenware. + +At first he could merely guess the materials of which the enamel was +composed; and he proceeded to try all manner of experiments to ascertain +what they really were. He pounded all the substances which he supposed +were likely to produce it. Then he bought common earthen pots, broke +them into pieces, and, spreading his compounds over them, subjected them +to the heat of a furnace which he erected for the purpose of baking them. +His experiments failed; and the results were broken pots and a waste of +fuel, drugs, time, and labour. Women do not readily sympathise with +experiments whose only tangible effect is to dissipate the means of +buying clothes and food for their children; and Palissy’s wife, however +dutiful in other respects, could not be reconciled to the purchase of +more earthen pots, which seemed to her to be bought only to be broken. +Yet she must needs submit; for Palissy had become thoroughly possessed by +the determination to master the secret of the enamel, and would not leave +it alone. + +For many successive months and years Palissy pursued his experiments. +The first furnace having proved a failure, he proceeded to erect another +out of doors. There he burnt more wood, spoiled more drugs and pots, and +lost more time, until poverty stared him and his family in the face. +“Thus,” said he, “I fooled away several years, with sorrow and sighs, +because I could not at all arrive at my intention.” In the intervals of +his experiments he occasionally worked at his former callings, painting +on glass, drawing portraits, and measuring land; but his earnings from +these sources were very small. At length he was no longer able to carry +on his experiments in his own furnace because of the heavy cost of fuel; +but he bought more potsherds, broke them up as before into three or four +hundred pieces, and, covering them with chemicals, carried them to a +tile-work a league and a half distant from Saintes, there to be baked in +an ordinary furnace. After the operation he went to see the pieces taken +out; and, to his dismay, the whole of the experiments were failures. But +though disappointed, he was not yet defeated; for he determined on the +very spot to “begin afresh.” + +His business as a land-measurer called him away for a brief season from +the pursuit of his experiments. In conformity with an edict of the +State, it became necessary to survey the salt-marshes in the +neighbourhood of Saintes for the purpose of levying the land-tax. +Palissy was employed to make this survey, and prepare the requisite map. +The work occupied him some time, and he was doubtless well paid for it; +but no sooner was it completed than he proceeded, with redoubled zeal, to +follow up his old investigations “in the track of the enamels.” He began +by breaking three dozen new earthen pots, the pieces of which he covered +with different materials which he had compounded, and then took them to a +neighbouring glass-furnace to be baked. The results gave him a glimmer +of hope. The greater heat of the glass-furnace had melted some of the +compounds; but though Palissy searched diligently for the white enamel he +could find none. + +For two more years he went on experimenting without any satisfactory +result, until the proceeds of his survey of the salt-marshes having +become nearly spent, he was reduced to poverty again. But he resolved to +make a last great effort; and he began by breaking more pots than ever. +More than three hundred pieces of pottery covered with his compounds were +sent to the glass-furnace; and thither he himself went to watch the +results of the baking. Four hours passed, during which he watched; and +then the furnace was opened. The material on _one_ only of the three +hundred pieces of potsherd had melted, and it was taken out to cool. As +it hardened, it grew white-white and polished! The piece of potsherd was +covered with white enamel, described by Palissy as “singularly +beautiful!” And beautiful it must no doubt have been in his eyes after +all his weary waiting. He ran home with it to his wife, feeling himself, +as he expressed it, quite a new creature. But the prize was not yet +won—far from it. The partial success of this intended last effort merely +had the effect of luring him on to a succession of further experiments +and failures. + +In order that he might complete the invention, which he now believed to +be at hand, he resolved to build for himself a glass-furnace near his +dwelling, where he might carry on his operations in secret. He proceeded +to build the furnace with his own hands, carrying the bricks from the +brick-field upon his back. He was bricklayer, labourer, and all. From +seven to eight more months passed. At last the furnace was built and +ready for use. Palissy had in the mean time fashioned a number of +vessels of clay in readiness for the laying on of the enamel. After +being subjected to a preliminary process of baking, they were covered +with the enamel compound, and again placed in the furnace for the grand +crucial experiment. Although his means were nearly exhausted, Palissy +had been for some time accumulating a great store of fuel for the final +effort; and he thought it was enough. At last the fire was lit, and the +operation proceeded. All day he sat by the furnace, feeding it with +fuel. He sat there watching and feeding all through the long night. But +the enamel did not melt. The sun rose upon his labours. His wife +brought him a portion of the scanty morning meal,—for he would not stir +from the furnace, into which he continued from time to time to heave more +fuel. The second day passed, and still the enamel did not melt. The sun +set, and another night passed. The pale, haggard, unshorn, baffled yet +not beaten Palissy sat by his furnace eagerly looking for the melting of +the enamel. A third day and night passed—a fourth, a fifth, and even a +sixth,—yes, for six long days and nights did the unconquerable Palissy +watch and toil, fighting against hope; and still the enamel would not +melt. + +It then occurred to him that there might be some defect in the materials +for the enamel—perhaps something wanting in the flux; so he set to work +to pound and compound fresh materials for a new experiment. Thus two or +three more weeks passed. But how to buy more pots?—for those which he +had made with his own hands for the purposes of the first experiment were +by long baking irretrievably spoilt for the purposes of a second. His +money was now all spent; but he could borrow. His character was still +good, though his wife and the neighbours thought him foolishly wasting +his means in futile experiments. Nevertheless he succeeded. He borrowed +sufficient from a friend to enable him to buy more fuel and more pots, +and he was again ready for a further experiment. The pots were covered +with the new compound, placed in the furnace, and the fire was again lit. + +It was the last and most desperate experiment of the whole. The fire +blazed up; the heat became intense; but still the enamel did not melt. +The fuel began to run short! How to keep up the fire? There were the +garden palings: these would burn. They must be sacrificed rather than +that the great experiment should fail. The garden palings were pulled up +and cast into the furnace. They were burnt in vain! The enamel had not +yet melted. Ten minutes more heat might do it. Fuel must be had at +whatever cost. There remained the household furniture and shelving. A +crashing noise was heard in the house; and amidst the screams of his wife +and children, who now feared Palissy’s reason was giving way, the tables +were seized, broken up, and heaved into the furnace. The enamel had not +melted yet! There remained the shelving. Another noise of the wrenching +of timber was heard within the house; and the shelves were torn down and +hurled after the furniture into the fire. Wife and children then rushed +from the house, and went frantically through the town, calling out that +poor Palissy had gone mad, and was breaking up his very furniture for +firewood! {74} + +For an entire month his shirt had not been off his back, and he was +utterly worn out—wasted with toil, anxiety, watching, and want of food. +He was in debt, and seemed on the verge of ruin. But he had at length +mastered the secret; for the last great burst of heat had melted the +enamel. The common brown household jars, when taken out of the furnace +after it had become cool, were found covered with a white glaze! For +this he could endure reproach, contumely, and scorn, and wait patiently +for the opportunity of putting his discovery into practice as better days +came round. + +Palissy next hired a potter to make some earthen vessels after designs +which he furnished; while he himself proceeded to model some medallions +in clay for the purpose of enamelling them. But how to maintain himself +and his family until the wares were made and ready for sale? Fortunately +there remained one man in Saintes who still believed in the integrity, if +not in the judgment, of Palissy—an inn-keeper, who agreed to feed and +lodge him for six months, while he went on with his manufacture. As for +the working potter whom he had hired, Palissy soon found that he could +not pay him the stipulated wages. Having already stripped his dwelling, +he could but strip himself; and he accordingly parted with some of his +clothes to the potter, in part payment of the wages which he owed him. + +Palissy next erected an improved furnace, but he was so unfortunate as to +build part of the inside with flints. When it was heated, these flints +cracked and burst, and the spiculæ were scattered over the pieces of +pottery, sticking to them. Though the enamel came out right, the work +was irretrievably spoilt, and thus six more months’ labour was lost. +Persons were found willing to buy the articles at a low price, +notwithstanding the injury they had sustained; but Palissy would not sell +them, considering that to have done so would be to “decry and abate his +honour;” and so he broke in pieces the entire batch. “Nevertheless,” +says he, “hope continued to inspire me, and I held on manfully; +sometimes, when visitors called, I entertained them with pleasantry, +while I was really sad at heart. . . . Worst of all the sufferings I had +to endure, were the mockeries and persecutions of those of my own +household, who were so unreasonable as to expect me to execute work +without the means of doing so. For years my furnaces were without any +covering or protection, and while attending them I have been for nights +at the mercy of the wind and the rain, without help or consolation, save +it might be the wailing of cats on the one side and the howling of dogs +on the other. Sometimes the tempest would beat so furiously against the +furnaces that I was compelled to leave them and seek shelter within +doors. Drenched by rain, and in no better plight than if I had been +dragged through mire, I have gone to lie down at midnight or at daybreak, +stumbling into the house without a light, and reeling from one side to +another as if I had been drunken, but really weary with watching and +filled with sorrow at the loss of my labour after such long toiling. But +alas! my home proved no refuge; for, drenched and besmeared as I was, I +found in my chamber a second persecution worse than the first, which +makes me even now marvel that I was not utterly consumed by my many +sorrows.” + +At this stage of his affairs, Palissy became melancholy and almost +hopeless, and seems to have all but broken down. He wandered gloomily +about the fields near Saintes, his clothes hanging in tatters, and +himself worn to a skeleton. In a curious passage in his writings he +describes how that the calves of his legs had disappeared and were no +longer able with the help of garters to hold up his stockings, which fell +about his heels when he walked. {77} The family continued to reproach +him for his recklessness, and his neighbours cried shame upon him for his +obstinate folly. So he returned for a time to his former calling; and +after about a year’s diligent labour, during which he earned bread for +his household and somewhat recovered his character among his neighbours, +he again resumed his darling enterprise. But though he had already spent +about ten years in the search for the enamel, it cost him nearly eight +more years of experimental plodding before he perfected his invention. +He gradually learnt dexterity and certainty of result by experience, +gathering practical knowledge out of many failures. Every mishap was a +fresh lesson to him, teaching him something new about the nature of +enamels, the qualities of argillaceous earths, the tempering of clays, +and the construction and management of furnaces. + +At last, after about sixteen years’ labour, Palissy took heart and called +himself Potter. These sixteen years had been his term of apprenticeship +to the art; during which he had wholly to teach himself, beginning at the +very beginning. He was now able to sell his wares and thereby maintain +his family in comfort. But he never rested satisfied with what he had +accomplished. He proceeded from one step of improvement to another; +always aiming at the greatest perfection possible. He studied natural +objects for patterns, and with such success that the great Buffon spoke +of him as “so great a naturalist as Nature only can produce.” His +ornamental pieces are now regarded as rare gems in the cabinets of +virtuosi, and sell at almost fabulous prices. {78} The ornaments on them +are for the most part accurate models from life, of wild animals, +lizards, and plants, found in the fields about Saintes, and tastefully +combined as ornaments into the texture of a plate or vase. When Palissy +had reached the height of his art he styled himself “Ouvrier de Terre et +Inventeur des Rustics Figulines.” + +We have not, however, come to an end of the sufferings of Palissy, +respecting which a few words remain to be said. Being a Protestant, at a +time when religious persecution waxed hot in the south of France, and +expressing his views without fear, he was regarded as a dangerous +heretic. His enemies having informed against him, his house at Saintes +was entered by the officers of “justice,” and his workshop was thrown +open to the rabble, who entered and smashed his pottery, while he himself +was hurried off by night and cast into a dungeon at Bordeaux, to wait his +turn at the stake or the scaffold. He was condemned to be burnt; but a +powerful noble, the Constable de Montmorency, interposed to save his +life—not because he had any special regard for Palissy or his religion, +but because no other artist could be found capable of executing the +enamelled pavement for his magnificent château then in course of erection +at Ecouen, about four leagues from Paris. By his influence an edict was +issued appointing Palissy Inventor of Rustic Figulines to the King and to +the Constable, which had the effect of immediately removing him from the +jurisdiction of Bourdeaux. He was accordingly liberated, and returned to +his home at Saintes only to find it devastated and broken up. His +workshop was open to the sky, and his works lay in ruins. Shaking the +dust of Saintes from his feet he left the place never to return to it, +and removed to Paris to carry on the works ordered of him by the +Constable and the Queen Mother, being lodged in the Tuileries {79} while +so occupied. + +Besides carrying on the manufacture of pottery, with the aid of his two +sons, Palissy, during the latter part of his life, wrote and published +several books on the potter’s art, with a view to the instruction of his +countrymen, and in order that they might avoid the many mistakes which he +himself had made. He also wrote on agriculture, on fortification, and +natural history, on which latter subject he even delivered lectures to a +limited number of persons. He waged war against astrology, alchemy, +witchcraft, and like impostures. This stirred up against him many +enemies, who pointed the finger at him as a heretic, and he was again +arrested for his religion and imprisoned in the Bastille. He was now an +old man of seventy-eight, trembling on the verge of the grave, but his +spirit was as brave as ever. He was threatened with death unless he +recanted; but he was as obstinate in holding to his religion as he had +been in hunting out the secret of the enamel. The king, Henry III., even +went to see him in prison to induce him to abjure his faith. “My good +man,” said the King, “you have now served my mother and myself for +forty-five years. We have put up with your adhering to your religion +amidst fires and massacres: now I am so pressed by the Guise party as +well as by my own people, that I am constrained to leave you in the hands +of your enemies, and to-morrow you will be burnt unless you become +converted.” “Sire,” answered the unconquerable old man, “I am ready to +give my life for the glory of God. You have said many times that you +have pity on me; and now I have pity on you, who have pronounced the +words _I am constrained_! It is not spoken like a king, sire; it is what +you, and those who constrain you, the Guisards and all your people, can +never effect upon me, for I know how to die.” {80a} Palissy did indeed +die shortly after, a martyr, though not at the stake. He died in the +Bastille, after enduring about a year’s imprisonment,—there peacefully +terminating a life distinguished for heroic labour, extraordinary +endurance, inflexible rectitude, and the exhibition of many rare and +noble virtues. {80b} + +The life of John Frederick Böttgher, the inventor of hard porcelain, +presents a remarkable contrast to that of Palissy; though it also +contains many points of singular and almost romantic interest. Böttgher +was born at Schleiz, in the Voightland, in 1685, and at twelve years of +age was placed apprentice with an apothecary at Berlin. He seems to have +been early fascinated by chemistry, and occupied most of his leisure in +making experiments. These for the most part tended in one direction—the +art of converting common on metals into gold. At the end of several +years, Böttgher pretended to have discovered the universal solvent of the +alchemists, and professed that he had made gold by its means. He +exhibited its powers before his master, the apothecary Zörn, and by some +trick or other succeeded in making him and several other witnesses +believe that he had actually converted copper into gold. + +The news spread abroad that the apothecary’s apprentice had discovered +the grand secret, and crowds collected about the shop to get a sight of +the wonderful young “gold-cook.” The king himself expressed a wish to +see and converse with him, and when Frederick I. was presented with a +piece of the gold pretended to have been converted from copper, he was so +dazzled with the prospect of securing an infinite quantity of it—Prussia +being then in great straits for money—that he determined to secure +Böttgher and employ him to make gold for him within the strong fortress +of Spandau. But the young apothecary, suspecting the king’s intention, +and probably fearing detection, at once resolved on flight, and he +succeeded in getting across the frontier into Saxony. + +A reward of a thousand thalers was offered for Böttgher’s apprehension, +but in vain. He arrived at Wittenberg, and appealed for protection to +the Elector of Saxony, Frederick Augustus I. (King of Poland), surnamed +“the Strong.” Frederick was himself very much in want of money at the +time, and he was overjoyed at the prospect of obtaining gold in any +quantity by the aid of the young alchemist. Böttgher was accordingly +conveyed in secret to Dresden, accompanied by a royal escort. He had +scarcely left Wittenberg when a battalion of Prussian grenadiers appeared +before the gates demanding the gold-maker’s extradition. But it was too +late: Böttgher had already arrived in Dresden, where he was lodged in the +Golden House, and treated with every consideration, though strictly +watched and kept under guard. + +The Elector, however, must needs leave him there for a time, having to +depart forthwith to Poland, then almost in a state of anarchy. But, +impatient for gold, he wrote Böttgher from Warsaw, urging him to +communicate the secret, so that he himself might practise the art of +commutation. The young “gold-cook,” thus pressed, forwarded to Frederick +a small phial containing “a reddish fluid,” which, it was asserted, +changed all metals, when in a molten state, into gold. This important +phial was taken in charge by the Prince Fürst von Fürstenburg, who, +accompanied by a regiment of Guards, hurried with it to Warsaw. Arrived +there, it was determined to make immediate trial of the process. The +King and the Prince locked themselves up in a secret chamber of the +palace, girt themselves about with leather aprons, and like true +“gold-cooks” set to work melting copper in a crucible and afterwards +applying to it the red fluid of Böttgher. But the result was +unsatisfactory; for notwithstanding all that they could do, the copper +obstinately remained copper. On referring to the alchemist’s +instructions, however, the King found that, to succeed with the process, +it was necessary that the fluid should be used “in great purity of +heart;” and as his Majesty was conscious of having spent the evening in +very bad company he attributed the failure of the experiment to that +cause. A second trial was followed by no better results, and then the +King became furious; for he had confessed and received absolution before +beginning the second experiment. + +Frederick Augustus now resolved on forcing Böttgher to disclose the +golden secret, as the only means of relief from his urgent pecuniary +difficulties. The alchemist, hearing of the royal intention, again +determined to fly. He succeeded in escaping his guard, and, after three +days’ travel, arrived at Ens in Austria, where he thought himself safe. +The agents of the Elector were, however, at his heels; they had tracked +him to the “Golden Stag,” which they surrounded, and seizing him in his +bed, notwithstanding his resistance and appeals to the Austrian +authorities for help, they carried him by force to Dresden. From this +time he was more strictly watched than ever, and he was shortly after +transferred to the strong fortress of Köningstein. It was communicated +to him that the royal exchequer was completely empty, and that ten +regiments of Poles in arrears of pay were waiting for his gold. The King +himself visited him, and told him in a severe tone that if he did not at +once proceed to make gold, he would be hung! (“_Thu mir zurecht_, +_Böttgher_, _sonst lass ich dich hangen_”). + +Years passed, and still Böttgher made no gold; but he was not hung. It +was reserved for him to make a far more important discovery than the +conversion of copper into gold, namely, the conversion of clay into +porcelain. Some rare specimens of this ware had been brought by the +Portuguese from China, which were sold for more than their weight in +gold. Böttgher was first induced to turn his attention to the subject by +Walter von Tschirnhaus, a maker of optical instruments, also an +alchemist. Tschirnhaus was a man of education and distinction, and was +held in much esteem by Prince Fürstenburg as well as by the Elector. He +very sensibly said to Böttgher, still in fear of the gallows—“If you +can’t make gold, try and do something else; make porcelain.” + +The alchemist acted on the hint, and began his experiments, working night +and day. He prosecuted his investigations for a long time with great +assiduity, but without success. At length some red clay, brought to him +for the purpose of making his crucibles, set him on the right track. He +found that this clay, when submitted to a high temperature, became +vitrified and retained its shape; and that its texture resembled that of +porcelain, excepting in colour and opacity. He had in fact accidentally +discovered red porcelain, and he proceeded to manufacture it and sell it +as porcelain. + +Böttgher was, however, well aware that the white colour was an essential +property of true porcelain; and he therefore prosecuted his experiments +in the hope of discovering the secret. Several years thus passed, but +without success; until again accident stood his friend, and helped him to +a knowledge of the art of making white porcelain. One day, in the year +1707, he found his perruque unusually heavy, and asked of his valet the +reason. The answer was, that it was owing to the powder with which the +wig was dressed, which consisted of a kind of earth then much used for +hair powder. Böttgher’s quick imagination immediately seized upon the +idea. This white earthy powder might possibly be the very earth of which +he was in search—at all events the opportunity must not be let slip of +ascertaining what it really was. He was rewarded for his painstaking +care and watchfulness; for he found, on experiment, that the principal +ingredient of the hair-powder consisted of _kaolin_, the want of which +had so long formed an insuperable difficulty in the way of his inquiries. + +The discovery, in Böttgher’s intelligent hands, led to great results, and +proved of far greater importance than the discovery of the philosopher’s +stone would have been. In October, 1707, he presented his first piece of +porcelain to the Elector, who was greatly pleased with it; and it was +resolved that Böttgher should be furnished with the means necessary for +perfecting his invention. Having obtained a skilled workman from Delft, +he began to _turn_ porcelain with great success. He now entirely +abandoned alchemy for pottery, and inscribed over the door of his +workshop this distich:— + + “_Es machte Gott_, _der grosse Schöpfer_, + _Aus einem Goldmacher einen Töpfer_.” {84} + +Böttgher, however, was still under strict surveillance, for fear lest he +should communicate his secret to others or escape the Elector’s control. +The new workshops and furnaces which were erected for him, were guarded +by troops night and day, and six superior officers were made responsible +for the personal security of the potter. + +Böttgher’s further experiments with his new furnaces proving very +successful, and the porcelain which he manufactured being found to fetch +large prices, it was next determined to establish a Royal Manufactory of +porcelain. The manufacture of delft ware was known to have greatly +enriched Holland. Why should not the manufacture of porcelain equally +enrich the Elector? Accordingly, a decree went forth, dated the 23rd of +January, 1710, for the establishment of “a large manufactory of +porcelain” at the Albrechtsburg in Meissen. In this decree, which was +translated into Latin, French, and Dutch, and distributed by the +Ambassadors of the Elector at all the European Courts, Frederick Augustus +set forth that to promote the welfare of Saxony, which had suffered much +through the Swedish invasion, he had “directed his attention to the +subterranean treasures (_unterirdischen Schätze_)” of the country, and +having employed some able persons in the investigation, they had +succeeded in manufacturing “a sort of red vessels (_eine Art rother +Gefässe_) far superior to the Indian terra sigillata;” {85} as also +“coloured ware and plates (_buntes Geschirr und Tafeln_) which may be +cut, ground, and polished, and are quite equal to Indian vessels,” and +finally that “specimens of white porcelain (_Proben von weissem +Porzellan_)” had already been obtained, and it was hoped that this +quality, too, would soon be manufactured in considerable quantities. The +royal decree concluded by inviting “foreign artists and handicraftmen” to +come to Saxony and engage as assistants in the new factory, at high +wages, and under the patronage of the King. This royal edict probably +gives the best account of the actual state of Böttgher’s invention at the +time. + +It has been stated in German publications that Böttgher, for the great +services rendered by him to the Elector and to Saxony, was made Manager +of the Royal Porcelain Works, and further promoted to the dignity of +Baron. Doubtless he deserved these honours; but his treatment was of an +altogether different character, for it was shabby, cruel, and inhuman. +Two royal officials, named Matthieu and Nehmitz, were put over his head +as directors of the factory, while he himself only held the position of +foreman of potters, and at the same time was detained the King’s +prisoner. During the erection of the factory at Meissen, while his +assistance was still indispensable, he was conducted by soldiers to and +from Dresden; and even after the works were finished, he was locked up +nightly in his room. All this preyed upon his mind, and in repeated +letters to the King he sought to obtain mitigation of his fate. Some of +these letters are very touching. “I will devote my whole soul to the art +of making porcelain,” he writes on one occasion, “I will do more than any +inventor ever did before; only give me liberty, liberty!” + +To these appeals, the King turned a deaf ear. He was ready to spend +money and grant favours; but liberty he would not give. He regarded +Böttgher as his slave. In this position, the persecuted man kept on +working for some time, till, at the end of a year or two, he grew +negligent. Disgusted with the world and with himself, he took to +drinking. Such is the force of example, that it no sooner became known +that Böttgher had betaken himself to this vice, than the greater number +of the workmen at the Meissen factory became drunkards too. Quarrels and +fightings without end were the consequence, so that the troops were +frequently called upon to interfere and keep peace among the +“Porzellanern,” as they were nicknamed. After a while, the whole of +them, more than three hundred, were shut up in the Albrechtsburg, and +treated as prisoners of state. + +Böttgher at last fell seriously ill, and in May, 1713, his dissolution +was hourly expected. The King, alarmed at losing so valuable a slave, +now gave him permission to take carriage exercise under a guard; and, +having somewhat recovered, he was allowed occasionally to go to Dresden. +In a letter written by the King in April, 1714, Böttgher was promised his +full liberty; but the offer came too late. Broken in body and mind, +alternately working and drinking, though with occasional gleams of nobler +intention, and suffering under constant ill-health, the result of his +enforced confinement, Böttgher lingered on for a few years more, until +death freed him from his sufferings on the 13th March, 1719, in the +thirty-fifth year of his age. He was buried _at night_—as if he had been +a dog—in the Johannis Cemetery of Meissen. Such was the treatment and +such the unhappy end, of one of Saxony’s greatest benefactors. + +The porcelain manufacture immediately opened up an important source of +public revenue, and it became so productive to the Elector of Saxony, +that his example was shortly after followed by most European monarchs. +Although soft porcelain had been made at St. Cloud fourteen years before +Böttgher’s discovery, the superiority of the hard porcelain soon became +generally recognised. Its manufacture was begun at Sèvres in 1770, and +it has since almost entirely superseded the softer material. This is now +one of the most thriving branches of French industry, of which the high +quality of the articles produced is certainly indisputable. + +The career of Josiah Wedgwood, the English potter, was less chequered and +more prosperous than that of either Palissy or Böttgher, and his lot was +cast in happier times. Down to the middle of last century England was +behind most other nations of the first order in Europe in respect of +skilled industry. Although there were many potters in Staffordshire—and +Wedgwood himself belonged to a numerous clan of potters of the same +name—their productions were of the rudest kind, for the most part only +plain brown ware, with the patterns scratched in while the clay was wet. +The principal supply of the better articles of earthenware came from +Delft in Holland, and of drinking stone pots from Cologne. Two foreign +potters, the brothers Elers from Nuremberg, settled for a time in +Staffordshire, and introduced an improved manufacture, but they shortly +after removed to Chelsea, where they confined themselves to the +manufacture of ornamental pieces. No porcelain capable of resisting a +scratch with a hard point had yet been made in England; and for a long +time the “white ware” made in Staffordshire was not white, but of a dirty +cream colour. Such, in a few words, was the condition of the pottery +manufacture when Josiah Wedgwood was born at Burslem in 1730. By the +time that he died, sixty-four years later, it had become completely +changed. By his energy, skill, and genius, he established the trade upon +a new and solid foundation; and, in the words of his epitaph, “converted +a rude and inconsiderable manufacture into an elegant art and an +important branch of national commerce.” + +Josiah Wedgwood was one of those indefatigable men who from time to time +spring from the ranks of the common people, and by their energetic +character not only practically educate the working population in habits +of industry, but by the example of diligence and perseverance which they +set before them, largely influence the public activity in all directions, +and contribute in a great degree to form the national character. He was, +like Arkwright, the youngest of a family of thirteen children. His +grandfather and granduncle were both potters, as was also his father who +died when he was a mere boy, leaving him a patrimony of twenty pounds. +He had learned to read and write at the village school; but on the death +of his father he was taken from it and set to work as a “thrower” in a +small pottery carried on by his elder brother. There he began life, his +working life, to use his own words, “at the lowest round of the ladder,” +when only eleven years old. He was shortly after seized by an attack of +virulent smallpox, from the effects of which he suffered during the rest +of his life, for it was followed by a disease in the right knee, which +recurred at frequent intervals, and was only got rid of by the amputation +of the limb many years later. Mr. Gladstone, in his eloquent Éloge on +Wedgwood recently delivered at Burslem, well observed that the disease +from which he suffered was not improbably the occasion of his subsequent +excellence. “It prevented him from growing up to be the active, vigorous +English workman, possessed of all his limbs, and knowing right well the +use of them; but it put him upon considering whether, as he could not be +that, he might not be something else, and something greater. It sent his +mind inwards; it drove him to meditate upon the laws and secrets of his +art. The result was, that he arrived at a perception and a grasp of them +which might, perhaps, have been envied, certainly have been owned, by an +Athenian potter.” {89} + +When he had completed his apprenticeship with his brother, Josiah joined +partnership with another workman, and carried on a small business in +making knife-hafts, boxes, and sundry articles for domestic use. Another +partnership followed, when he proceeded to make melon table plates, green +pickle leaves, candlesticks, snuffboxes, and such like articles; but he +made comparatively little progress until he began business on his own +account at Burslem in the year 1759. There he diligently pursued his +calling, introducing new articles to the trade, and gradually extending +his business. What he chiefly aimed at was to manufacture cream-coloured +ware of a better quality than was then produced in Staffordshire as +regarded shape, colour, glaze, and durability. To understand the subject +thoroughly, he devoted his leisure to the study of chemistry; and he made +numerous experiments on fluxes, glazes, and various sorts of clay. Being +a close inquirer and accurate observer, he noticed that a certain earth +containing silica, which was black before calcination, became white after +exposure to the heat of a furnace. This fact, observed and pondered on, +led to the idea of mixing silica with the red powder of the potteries, +and to the discovery that the mixture becomes white when calcined. He +had but to cover this material with a vitrification of transparent glaze, +to obtain one of the most important products of fictile art—that which, +under the name of English earthenware, was to attain the greatest +commercial value and become of the most extensive utility. + +Wedgwood was for some time much troubled by his furnaces, though nothing +like to the same extent that Palissy was; and he overcame his +difficulties in the same way—by repeated experiments and unfaltering +perseverance. His first attempts at making porcelain for table use was a +succession of disastrous failures,—the labours of months being often +destroyed in a day. It was only after a long series of trials, in the +course of which he lost time, money, and labour, that he arrived at the +proper sort of glaze to be used; but he would not be denied, and at last +he conquered success through patience. The improvement of pottery became +his passion, and was never lost sight of for a moment. Even when he had +mastered his difficulties, and become a prosperous man—manufacturing +white stone ware and cream-coloured ware in large quantities for home and +foreign use—he went forward perfecting his manufactures, until, his +example extending in all directions, the action of the entire district +was stimulated, and a great branch of British industry was eventually +established on firm foundations. He aimed throughout at the highest +excellence, declaring his determination “to give over manufacturing any +article, whatsoever it might be, rather than to degrade it.” + +Wedgwood was cordially helped by many persons of rank and influence; for, +working in the truest spirit, he readily commanded the help and +encouragement of other true workers. He made for Queen Charlotte the +first royal table-service of English manufacture, of the kind afterwards +called “Queen’s-ware,” and was appointed Royal Potter; a title which he +prized more than if he had been made a baron. Valuable sets of porcelain +were entrusted to him for imitation, in which he succeeded to admiration. +Sir William Hamilton lent him specimens of ancient art from Herculaneum, +of which he produced accurate and beautiful copies. The Duchess of +Portland outbid him for the Barberini Vase when that article was offered +for sale. He bid as high as seventeen hundred guineas for it: her grace +secured it for eighteen hundred; but when she learnt Wedgwood’s object +she at once generously lent him the vase to copy. He produced fifty +copies at a cost of about 2500_l._, and his expenses were not covered by +their sale; but he gained his object, which was to show that whatever had +been done, that English skill and energy could and would accomplish. + +Wedgwood called to his aid the crucible of the chemist, the knowledge of +the antiquary, and the skill of the artist. He found out Flaxman when a +youth, and while he liberally nurtured his genius drew from him a large +number of beautiful designs for his pottery and porcelain; converting +them by his manufacture into objects of taste and excellence, and thus +making them instrumental in the diffusion of classical art amongst the +people. By careful experiment and study he was even enabled to +rediscover the art of painting on porcelain or earthenware vases and +similar articles—an art practised by the ancient Etruscans, but which had +been lost since the time of Pliny. He distinguished himself by his own +contributions to science, and his name is still identified with the +Pyrometer which he invented. He was an indefatigable supporter of all +measures of public utility; and the construction of the Trent and Mersey +Canal, which completed the navigable communication between the eastern +and western sides of the island, was mainly due to his public-spirited +exertions, allied to the engineering skill of Brindley. The road +accommodation of the district being of an execrable character, he planned +and executed a turnpike-road through the Potteries, ten miles in length. +The reputation he achieved was such that his works at Burslem, and +subsequently those at Etruria, which he founded and built, became a point +of attraction to distinguished visitors from all parts of Europe. + +The result of Wedgwood’s labours was, that the manufacture of pottery, +which he found in the very lowest condition, became one of the staples of +England; and instead of importing what we needed for home use from +abroad, we became large exporters to other countries, supplying them with +earthenware even in the face of enormous prohibitory duties on articles +of British produce. Wedgwood gave evidence as to his manufactures before +Parliament in 1785, only some thirty years after he had begun his +operations; from which it appeared, that instead of providing only casual +employment to a small number of inefficient and badly remunerated +workmen, about 20,000 persons then derived their bread directly from the +manufacture of earthenware, without taking into account the increased +numbers to which it gave employment in coal-mines, and in the carrying +trade by land and sea, and the stimulus which it gave to employment in +many ways in various parts of the country. Yet, important as had been +the advances made in his time, Mr. Wedgwood was of opinion that the +manufacture was but in its infancy, and that the improvements which he +had effected were of but small amount compared with those to which the +art was capable of attaining, through the continued industry and growing +intelligence of the manufacturers, and the natural facilities and +political advantages enjoyed by Great Britain; an opinion which has been +fully borne out by the progress which has since been effected in this +important branch of industry. In 1852 not fewer than 84,000,000 pieces +of pottery were exported from England to other countries, besides what +were made for home use. But it is not merely the quantity and value of +the produce that is entitled to consideration, but the improvement of the +condition of the population by whom this great branch of industry is +conducted. When Wedgwood began his labours, the Staffordshire district +was only in a half-civilized state. The people were poor, uncultivated, +and few in number. When Wedgwood’s manufacture was firmly established, +there was found ample employment at good wages for three times the number +of population; while their moral advancement had kept pace with their +material improvement. + +Men such as these are fairly entitled to take rank as the Industrial +Heroes of the civilized world. Their patient self-reliance amidst trials +and difficulties, their courage and perseverance in the pursuit of worthy +objects, are not less heroic of their kind than the bravery and devotion +of the soldier and the sailor, whose duty and pride it is heroically to +defend what these valiant leaders of industry have so heroically +achieved. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. +APPLICATION AND PERSEVERANCE. + + + “Rich are the diligent, who can command + Time, nature’s stock! and could his hour-glass fall, + Would, as for seed of stars, stoop for the sand, + And, by incessant labour, gather all.”—_D’Avenant_. + + “Allez en avant, et la foi vous viendra!”—_D’Alembert_. + +THE greatest results in life are usually attained by simple means, and +the exercise of ordinary qualities. The common life of every day, with +its cares, necessities, and duties, affords ample opportunity for +acquiring experience of the best kind; and its most beaten paths provide +the true worker with abundant scope for effort and room for +self-improvement. The road of human welfare lies along the old highway +of steadfast well-doing; and they who are the most persistent, and work +in the truest spirit, will usually be the most successful. + +Fortune has often been blamed for her blindness; but fortune is not so +blind as men are. Those who look into practical life will find that +fortune is usually on the side of the industrious, as the winds and waves +are on the side of the best navigators. In the pursuit of even the +highest branches of human inquiry, the commoner qualities are found the +most useful—such as common sense, attention, application, and +perseverance. Genius may not be necessary, though even genius of the +highest sort does not disdain the use of these ordinary qualities. The +very greatest men have been among the least believers in the power of +genius, and as worldly wise and persevering as successful men of the +commoner sort. Some have even defined genius to be only common sense +intensified. A distinguished teacher and president of a college spoke of +it as the power of making efforts. John Foster held it to be the power +of lighting one’s own fire. Buffon said of genius “it is patience.” + +Newton’s was unquestionably a mind of the very highest order, and yet, +when asked by what means he had worked out his extraordinary discoveries, +he modestly answered, “By always thinking unto them.” At another time he +thus expressed his method of study: “I keep the subject continually +before me, and wait till the first dawnings open slowly by little and +little into a full and clear light.” It was in Newton’s case, as in +every other, only by diligent application and perseverance that his great +reputation was achieved. Even his recreation consisted in change of +study, laying down one subject to take up another. To Dr. Bentley he +said: “If I have done the public any service, it is due to nothing but +industry and patient thought.” So Kepler, another great philosopher, +speaking of his studies and his progress, said: “As in Virgil, ‘Fama +mobilitate viget, vires acquirit eundo,’ so it was with me, that the +diligent thought on these things was the occasion of still further +thinking; until at last I brooded with the whole energy of my mind upon +the subject.” + +The extraordinary results effected by dint of sheer industry and +perseverance, have led many distinguished men to doubt whether the gift +of genius be so exceptional an endowment as it is usually supposed to be. +Thus Voltaire held that it is only a very slight line of separation that +divides the man of genius from the man of ordinary mould. Beccaria was +even of opinion that all men might be poets and orators, and Reynolds +that they might be painters and sculptors. If this were really so, that +stolid Englishman might not have been so very far wrong after all, who, +on Canova’s death, inquired of his brother whether it was “his intention +to carry on the business!” Locke, Helvetius, and Diderot believed that +all men have an equal aptitude for genius, and that what some are able to +effect, under the laws which regulate the operations of the intellect, +must also be within the reach of others who, under like circumstances, +apply themselves to like pursuits. But while admitting to the fullest +extent the wonderful achievements of labour, and recognising the fact +that men of the most distinguished genius have invariably been found the +most indefatigable workers, it must nevertheless be sufficiently obvious +that, without the original endowment of heart and brain, no amount of +labour, however well applied, could have produced a Shakespeare, a +Newton, a Beethoven, or a Michael Angelo. + +Dalton, the chemist, repudiated the notion of his being “a genius,” +attributing everything which he had accomplished to simple industry and +accumulation. John Hunter said of himself, “My mind is like a beehive; +but full as it is of buzz and apparent confusion, it is yet full of order +and regularity, and food collected with incessant industry from the +choicest stores of nature.” We have, indeed, but to glance at the +biographies of great men to find that the most distinguished inventors, +artists, thinkers, and workers of all kinds, owe their success, in a +great measure, to their indefatigable industry and application. They +were men who turned all things to gold—even time itself. Disraeli the +elder held that the secret of success consisted in being master of your +subject, such mastery being attainable only through continuous +application and study. Hence it happens that the men who have most moved +the world, have not been so much men of genius, strictly so called, as +men of intense mediocre abilities, and untiring perseverance; not so +often the gifted, of naturally bright and shining qualities, as those who +have applied themselves diligently to their work, in whatsoever line that +might lie. “Alas!” said a widow, speaking of her brilliant but careless +son, “he has not the gift of continuance.” Wanting in perseverance, such +volatile natures are outstripped in the race of life by the diligent and +even the dull. “Che va piano, va longano, e va lontano,” says the +Italian proverb: Who goes slowly, goes long, and goes far. + +Hence, a great point to be aimed at is to get the working quality well +trained. When that is done, the race will be found comparatively easy. +We must repeat and again repeat; facility will come with labour. Not +even the simplest art can be accomplished without it; and what +difficulties it is found capable of achieving! It was by early +discipline and repetition that the late Sir Robert Peel cultivated those +remarkable, though still mediocre powers, which rendered him so +illustrious an ornament of the British Senate. When a boy at Drayton +Manor, his father was accustomed to set him up at table to practise +speaking extempore; and he early accustomed him to repeat as much of the +Sunday’s sermon as he could remember. Little progress was made at first, +but by steady perseverance the habit of attention became powerful, and +the sermon was at length repeated almost verbatim. When afterwards +replying in succession to the arguments of his parliamentary opponents—an +art in which he was perhaps unrivalled—it was little surmised that the +extraordinary power of accurate remembrance which he displayed on such +occasions had been originally trained under the discipline of his father +in the parish church of Drayton. + +It is indeed marvellous what continuous application will effect in the +commonest of things. It may seem a simple affair to play upon a violin; +yet what a long and laborious practice it requires! Giardini said to a +youth who asked him how long it would take to learn it, “Twelve hours a +day for twenty years together.” Industry, it is said, _fait l’ours +danser_. The poor figurante must devote years of incessant toil to her +profitless task before she can shine in it. When Taglioni was preparing +herself for her evening exhibition, she would, after a severe two hours’ +lesson from her father, fall down exhausted, and had to be undressed, +sponged, and resuscitated totally unconscious. The agility and bounds of +the evening were insured only at a price like this. + +Progress, however, of the best kind, is comparatively slow. Great +results cannot be achieved at once; and we must be satisfied to advance +in life as we walk, step by step. De Maistre says that “to know _how to +wait_ is the great secret of success.” We must sow before we can reap, +and often have to wait long, content meanwhile to look patiently forward +in hope; the fruit best worth waiting for often ripening the slowest. +But “time and patience,” says the Eastern proverb, “change the mulberry +leaf to satin.” + +To wait patiently, however, men must work cheerfully. Cheerfulness is an +excellent working quality, imparting great elasticity to the character. +As a bishop has said, “Temper is nine-tenths of Christianity;” so are +cheerfulness and diligence nine-tenths of practical wisdom. They are the +life and soul of success, as well as of happiness; perhaps the very +highest pleasure in life consisting in clear, brisk, conscious working; +energy, confidence, and every other good quality mainly depending upon +it. Sydney Smith, when labouring as a parish priest at Foston-le-Clay, +in Yorkshire,—though he did not feel himself to be in his proper +element,—went cheerfully to work in the firm determination to do his +best. “I am resolved,” he said, “to like it, and reconcile myself to it, +which is more manly than to feign myself above it, and to send up +complaints by the post of being thrown away, and being desolate, and such +like trash.” So Dr. Hook, when leaving Leeds for a new sphere of labour +said, “Wherever I may be, I shall, by God’s blessing, do with my might +what my hand findeth to do; and if I do not find work, I shall make it.” + +Labourers for the public good especially, have to work long and +patiently, often uncheered by the prospect of immediate recompense or +result. The seeds they sow sometimes lie hidden under the winter’s snow, +and before the spring comes the husbandman may have gone to his rest. It +is not every public worker who, like Rowland Hill, sees his great idea +bring forth fruit in his life-time. Adam Smith sowed the seeds of a +great social amelioration in that dingy old University of Glasgow where +he so long laboured, and laid the foundations of his ‘Wealth of Nations;’ +but seventy years passed before his work bore substantial fruits, nor +indeed are they all gathered in yet. + +Nothing can compensate for the loss of hope in a man: it entirely changes +the character. “How can I work—how can I be happy,” said a great but +miserable thinker, “when I have lost all hope?” One of the most cheerful +and courageous, because one of the most hopeful of workers, was Carey, +the missionary. When in India, it was no uncommon thing for him to weary +out three pundits, who officiated as his clerks, in one day, he himself +taking rest only in change of employment. Carey, the son of a +shoe-maker, was supported in his labours by Ward, the son of a carpenter, +and Marsham, the son of a weaver. By their labours, a magnificent +college was erected at Serampore; sixteen flourishing stations were +established; the Bible was translated into sixteen languages, and the +seeds were sown of a beneficent moral revolution in British India. Carey +was never ashamed of the humbleness of his origin. On one occasion, when +at the Governor-General’s table he over-heard an officer opposite him +asking another, loud enough to be heard, whether Carey had not once been +a shoemaker: “No, sir,” exclaimed Carey immediately; “only a cobbler.” +An eminently characteristic anecdote has been told of his perseverance as +a boy. When climbing a tree one day, his foot slipped, and he fell to +the ground, breaking his leg by the fall. He was confined to his bed for +weeks, but when he recovered and was able to walk without support, the +very first thing he did was to go and climb that tree. Carey had need of +this sort of dauntless courage for the great missionary work of his life, +and nobly and resolutely he did it. + +It was a maxim of Dr. Young, the philosopher, that “Any man can do what +any other man has done;” and it is unquestionable that he himself never +recoiled from any trials to which he determined to subject himself. It +is related of him, that the first time he mounted a horse, he was in +company with the grandson of Mr. Barclay of Ury, the well-known +sportsman; when the horseman who preceded them leapt a high fence. Young +wished to imitate him, but fell off his horse in the attempt. Without +saying a word, he remounted, made a second effort, and was again +unsuccessful, but this time he was not thrown further than on to the +horse’s neck, to which he clung. At the third trial, he succeeded, and +cleared the fence. + +The story of Timour the Tartar learning a lesson of perseverance under +adversity from the spider is well known. Not less interesting is the +anecdote of Audubon, the American ornithologist, as related by himself: +“An accident,” he says, “which happened to two hundred of my original +drawings, nearly put a stop to my researches in ornithology. I shall +relate it, merely to show how far enthusiasm—for by no other name can I +call my perseverance—may enable the preserver of nature to surmount the +most disheartening difficulties. I left the village of Henderson, in +Kentucky, situated on the banks of the Ohio, where I resided for several +years, to proceed to Philadelphia on business. I looked to my drawings +before my departure, placed them carefully in a wooden box, and gave them +in charge of a relative, with injunctions to see that no injury should +happen to them. My absence was of several months; and when I returned, +after having enjoyed the pleasures of home for a few days, I inquired +after my box, and what I was pleased to call my treasure. The box was +produced and opened; but reader, feel for me—a pair of Norway rats had +taken possession of the whole, and reared a young family among the gnawed +bits of paper, which, but a month previous, represented nearly a thousand +inhabitants of air! The burning beat which instantly rushed through my +brain was too great to be endured without affecting my whole nervous +system. I slept for several nights, and the days passed like days of +oblivion—until the animal powers being recalled into action through the +strength of my constitution, I took up my gun, my notebook, and my +pencils, and went forth to the woods as gaily as if nothing had happened. +I felt pleased that I might now make better drawings than before; and, +ere a period not exceeding three years had elapsed, my portfolio was +again filled.” + +The accidental destruction of Sir Isaac Newton’s papers, by his little +dog ‘Diamond’ upsetting a lighted taper upon his desk, by which the +elaborate calculations of many years were in a moment destroyed, is a +well-known anecdote, and need not be repeated: it is said that the loss +caused the philosopher such profound grief that it seriously injured his +health, and impaired his understanding. An accident of a somewhat +similar kind happened to the MS. of Mr. Carlyle’s first volume of his +‘French Revolution.’ He had lent the MS. to a literary neighbour to +peruse. By some mischance, it had been left lying on the parlour floor, +and become forgotten. Weeks ran on, and the historian sent for his work, +the printers being loud for “copy.” Inquiries were made, and it was +found that the maid-of-all-work, finding what she conceived to be a +bundle of waste paper on the floor, had used it to light the kitchen and +parlour fires with! Such was the answer returned to Mr. Carlyle; and his +feelings may be imagined. There was, however, no help for him but to set +resolutely to work to re-write the book; and he turned to and did it. He +had no draft, and was compelled to rake up from his memory facts, ideas, +and expressions, which had been long since dismissed. The composition of +the book in the first instance had been a work of pleasure; the +re-writing of it a second time was one of pain and anguish almost beyond +belief. That he persevered and finished the volume under such +circumstances, affords an instance of determination of purpose which has +seldom been surpassed. + +The lives of eminent inventors are eminently illustrative of the same +quality of perseverance. George Stephenson, when addressing young men, +was accustomed to sum up his best advice to them, in the words, “Do as I +have done—persevere.” He had worked at the improvement of his locomotive +for some fifteen years before achieving his decisive victory at Rainhill; +and Watt was engaged for some thirty years upon the condensing-engine +before he brought it to perfection. But there are equally striking +illustrations of perseverance to be found in every other branch of +science, art, and industry. Perhaps one of the most interesting is that +connected with the disentombment of the Nineveh marbles, and the +discovery of the long-lost cuneiform or arrow-headed character in which +the inscriptions on them are written—a kind of writing which had been +lost to the world since the period of the Macedonian conquest of Persia. + +An intelligent cadet of the East India Company, stationed at Kermanshah, +in Persia, had observed the curious cuneiform inscriptions on the old +monuments in the neighbourhood—so old that all historical traces of them +had been lost,—and amongst the inscriptions which he copied was that on +the celebrated rock of Behistun—a perpendicular rock rising abruptly some +1700 feet from the plain, the lower part bearing inscriptions for the +space of about 300 feet in three languages—Persian, Scythian, and +Assyrian. Comparison of the known with the unknown, of the language +which survived with the language that had been lost, enabled this cadet +to acquire some knowledge of the cuneiform character, and even to form an +alphabet. Mr. (afterwards Sir Henry) Rawlinson sent his tracings home +for examination. No professors in colleges as yet knew anything of the +cuneiform character; but there was a ci-devant clerk of the East India +House—a modest unknown man of the name of Norris—who had made this +little-understood subject his study, to whom the tracings were submitted; +and so accurate was his knowledge, that, though he had never seen the +Behistun rock, he pronounced that the cadet had not copied the puzzling +inscription with proper exactness. Rawlinson, who was still in the +neighbourhood of the rock, compared his copy with the original, and found +that Norris was right; and by further comparison and careful study the +knowledge of the cuneiform writing was thus greatly advanced. + +But to make the learning of these two self-taught men of avail, a third +labourer was necessary in order to supply them with material for the +exercise of their skill. Such a labourer presented himself in the person +of Austen Layard, originally an articled clerk in the office of a London +solicitor. One would scarcely have expected to find in these three men, +a cadet, an India-House clerk, and a lawyer’s clerk, the discoverers of a +forgotten language, and of the buried history of Babylon; yet it was so. +Layard was a youth of only twenty-two, travelling in the East, when he +was possessed with a desire to penetrate the regions beyond the +Euphrates. Accompanied by a single companion, trusting to his arms for +protection, and, what was better, to his cheerfulness, politeness, and +chivalrous bearing, he passed safely amidst tribes at deadly war with +each other; and, after the lapse of many years, with comparatively +slender means at his command, but aided by application and perseverance, +resolute will and purpose, and almost sublime patience,—borne up +throughout by his passionate enthusiasm for discovery and research,—he +succeeded in laying bare and digging up an amount of historical +treasures, the like of which has probably never before been collected by +the industry of any one man. Not less than two miles of bas-reliefs were +thus brought to light by Mr. Layard. The selection of these valuable +antiquities, now placed in the British Museum, was found so curiously +corroborative of the scriptural records of events which occurred some +three thousand years ago, that they burst upon the world almost like a +new revelation. And the story of the disentombment of these remarkable +works, as told by Mr. Layard himself in his ‘Monuments of Nineveh,’ will +always be regarded as one of the most charming and unaffected records +which we possess of individual enterprise, industry, and energy. + +The career of the Comte de Buffon presents another remarkable +illustration of the power of patient industry as well as of his own +saying, that “Genius is patience.” Notwithstanding the great results +achieved by him in natural history, Buffon, when a youth, was regarded as +of mediocre talents. His mind was slow in forming itself, and slow in +reproducing what it had acquired. He was also constitutionally indolent; +and being born to good estate, it might be supposed that he would indulge +his liking for ease and luxury. Instead of which, he early formed the +resolution of denying himself pleasure, and devoting himself to study and +self-culture. Regarding time as a treasure that was limited, and finding +that he was losing many hours by lying a-bed in the mornings, he +determined to break himself of the habit. He struggled hard against it +for some time, but failed in being able to rise at the hour he had fixed. +He then called his servant, Joseph, to his help, and promised him the +reward of a crown every time that he succeeded in getting him up before +six. At first, when called, Buffon declined to rise—pleaded that he was +ill, or pretended anger at being disturbed; and on the Count at length +getting up, Joseph found that he had earned nothing but reproaches for +having permitted his master to lie a-bed contrary to his express orders. +At length the valet determined to earn his crown; and again and again he +forced Buffon to rise, notwithstanding his entreaties, expostulations, +and threats of immediate discharge from his service. One morning Buffon +was unusually obstinate, and Joseph found it necessary to resort to the +extreme measure of dashing a basin of ice-cold water under the +bed-clothes, the effect of which was instantaneous. By the persistent +use of such means, Buffon at length conquered his habit; and he was +accustomed to say that he owed to Joseph three or four volumes of his +Natural History. + +For forty years of his life, Buffon worked every morning at his desk from +nine till two, and again in the evening from five till nine. His +diligence was so continuous and so regular that it became habitual. His +biographer has said of him, “Work was his necessity; his studies were the +charm of his life; and towards the last term of his glorious career he +frequently said that he still hoped to be able to consecrate to them a +few more years.” He was a most conscientious worker, always studying to +give the reader his best thoughts, expressed in the very best manner. He +was never wearied with touching and retouching his compositions, so that +his style may be pronounced almost perfect. He wrote the ‘Epoques de la +Nature’ not fewer than eleven times before he was satisfied with it; +although he had thought over the work about fifty years. He was a +thorough man of business, most orderly in everything; and he was +accustomed to say that genius without order lost three-fourths of its +power. His great success as a writer was the result mainly of his +painstaking labour and diligent application. “Buffon,” observed Madame +Necker, “strongly persuaded that genius is the result of a profound +attention directed to a particular subject, said that he was thoroughly +wearied out when composing his first writings, but compelled himself to +return to them and go over them carefully again, even when he thought he +had already brought them to a certain degree of perfection; and that at +length he found pleasure instead of weariness in this long and elaborate +correction.” It ought also to be added that Buffon wrote and published +all his great works while afflicted by one of the most painful diseases +to which the human frame is subject. + +Literary life affords abundant illustrations of the same power of +perseverance; and perhaps no career is more instructive, viewed in this +light, than that of Sir Walter Scott. His admirable working qualities +were trained in a lawyer’s office, where he pursued for many years a sort +of drudgery scarcely above that of a copying clerk. His daily dull +routine made his evenings, which were his own, all the more sweet; and he +generally devoted them to reading and study. He himself attributed to +his prosaic office discipline that habit of steady, sober diligence, in +which mere literary men are so often found wanting. As a copying clerk +he was allowed 3_d._ for every page containing a certain number of words; +and he sometimes, by extra work, was able to copy as many as 120 pages in +twenty-four hours, thus earning some 30_s._; out of which he would +occasionally purchase an odd volume, otherwise beyond his means. + +During his after-life Scott was wont to pride himself upon being a man of +business, and he averred, in contradiction to what he called the cant of +sonneteers, that there was no necessary connection between genius and an +aversion or contempt for the common duties of life. On the contrary, he +was of opinion that to spend some fair portion of every day in any +matter-of-fact occupation was good for the higher faculties themselves in +the upshot. While afterwards acting as clerk to the Court of Session in +Edinburgh, he performed his literary work chiefly before breakfast, +attending the court during the day, where he authenticated registered +deeds and writings of various kinds. On the whole, says Lockhart, “it +forms one of the most remarkable features in his history, that throughout +the most active period of his literary career, he must have devoted a +large proportion of his hours, during half at least of every year, to the +conscientious discharge of professional duties.” It was a principle of +action which he laid down for himself, that he must earn his living by +business, and not by literature. On one occasion he said, “I determined +that literature should be my staff, not my crutch, and that the profits +of my literary labour, however convenient otherwise, should not, if I +could help it, become necessary to my ordinary expenses.” + +His punctuality was one of the most carefully cultivated of his habits, +otherwise it had not been possible for him to get through so enormous an +amount of literary labour. He made it a rule to answer every letter +received by him on the same day, except where inquiry and deliberation +were requisite. Nothing else could have enabled him to keep abreast with +the flood of communications that poured in upon him and sometimes put his +good nature to the severest test. It was his practice to rise by five +o’clock, and light his own fire. He shaved and dressed with +deliberation, and was seated at his desk by six o’clock, with his papers +arranged before him in the most accurate order, his works of reference +marshalled round him on the floor, while at least one favourite dog lay +watching his eye, outside the line of books. Thus by the time the family +assembled for breakfast, between nine and ten, he had done enough—to use +his own words—to break the neck of the day’s work. But with all his +diligent and indefatigable industry, and his immense knowledge, the +result of many years’ patient labour, Scott always spoke with the +greatest diffidence of his own powers. On one occasion he said, +“Throughout every part of my career I have felt pinched and hampered by +my own ignorance.” + +Such is true wisdom and humility; for the more a man really knows, the +less conceited he will be. The student at Trinity College who went up to +his professor to take leave of him because he had “finished his +education,” was wisely rebuked by the professor’s reply, “Indeed! I am +only beginning mine.” The superficial person who has obtained a +smattering of many things, but knows nothing well, may pride himself upon +his gifts; but the sage humbly confesses that “all he knows is, that he +knows nothing,” or like Newton, that he has been only engaged in picking +shells by the sea shore, while the great ocean of truth lies all +unexplored before him. + +The lives of second-rate literary men furnish equally remarkable +illustrations of the power of perseverance. The late John Britton, +author of ‘The Beauties of England and Wales,’ and of many valuable +architectural works, was born in a miserable cot in Kingston, Wiltshire. +His father had been a baker and maltster, but was ruined in trade and +became insane while Britton was yet a child. The boy received very +little schooling, but a great deal of bad example, which happily did not +corrupt him. He was early in life set to labour with an uncle, a +tavern-keeper in Clerkenwell, under whom he bottled, corked, and binned +wine for more than five years. His health failing him, his uncle turned +him adrift in the world, with only two guineas, the fruits of his five +years’ service, in his pocket. During the next seven years of his life +he endured many vicissitudes and hardships. Yet he says, in his +autobiography, “in my poor and obscure lodgings, at eighteenpence a week, +I indulged in study, and often read in bed during the winter evenings, +because I could not afford a fire.” Travelling on foot to Bath, he there +obtained an engagement as a cellarman, but shortly after we find him back +in the metropolis again almost penniless, shoeless, and shirtless. He +succeeded, however, in obtaining employment as a cellarman at the London +Tavern, where it was his duty to be in the cellar from seven in the +morning until eleven at night. His health broke down under this +confinement in the dark, added to the heavy work; and he then engaged +himself, at fifteen shillings a week, to an attorney,—for he had been +diligently cultivating the art of writing during the few spare minutes +that he could call his own. While in this employment, he devoted his +leisure principally to perambulating the bookstalls, where he read books +by snatches which he could not buy, and thus picked up a good deal of odd +knowledge. Then he shifted to another office, at the advanced wages of +twenty shillings a week, still reading and studying. At twenty-eight he +was able to write a book, which he published under the title of ‘The +Enterprising Adventures of Pizarro;’ and from that time until his death, +during a period of about fifty-five years, Britton was occupied in +laborious literary occupation. The number of his published works is not +fewer than eighty-seven; the most important being ‘The Cathedral +Antiquities of England,’ in fourteen volumes, a truly magnificent work; +itself the best monument of John Britton’s indefatigable industry. + +London, the landscape gardener, was a man of somewhat similar character, +possessed of an extraordinary working power. The son of a farmer near +Edinburgh, he was early inured to work. His skill in drawing plans and +making sketches of scenery induced his father to train him for a +landscape gardener. During his apprenticeship he sat up two whole nights +every week to study; yet he worked harder during the day than any +labourer. In the course of his night studies he learnt French, and +before he was eighteen he translated a life of Abelard for an +Encyclopædia. He was so eager to make progress in life, that when only +twenty, while working as a gardener in England, he wrote down in his +note-book, “I am now twenty years of age, and perhaps a third part of my +life has passed away, and yet what have I done to benefit my fellow men?” +an unusual reflection for a youth of only twenty. From French he +proceeded to learn German, and rapidly mastered that language. Having +taken a large farm, for the purpose of introducing Scotch improvements in +the art of agriculture, he shortly succeeded in realising a considerable +income. The continent being thrown open at the end of the war, he +travelled abroad for the purpose of inquiring into the system of +gardening and agriculture in other countries. He twice repeated his +journeys, and the results were published in his Encyclopædias, which are +among the most remarkable works of their kind,—distinguished for the +immense mass of useful matter which they contain, collected by an amount +of industry and labour which has rarely been equalled. + +The career of Samuel Drew is not less remarkable than any of those which +we have cited. His father was a hard-working labourer of the parish of +St. Austell, in Cornwall. Though poor, he contrived to send his two sons +to a penny-a-week school in the neighbourhood. Jabez, the elder, took +delight in learning, and made great progress in his lessons; but Samuel, +the younger, was a dunce, notoriously given to mischief and playing +truant. When about eight years old he was put to manual labour, earning +three-halfpence a day as a buddle-boy at a tin mine. At ten he was +apprenticed to a shoemaker, and while in this employment he endured much +hardship,—living, as he used to say, “like a toad under a harrow.” He +often thought of running away and becoming a pirate, or something of the +sort, and he seems to have grown in recklessness as he grew in years. In +robbing orchards he was usually a leader; and, as he grew older, he +delighted to take part in any poaching or smuggling adventure. When +about seventeen, before his apprenticeship was out, he ran away, +intending to enter on board a man-of-war; but, sleeping in a hay-field at +night cooled him a little, and he returned to his trade. + +Drew next removed to the neighbourhood of Plymouth to work at his +shoemaking business, and while at Cawsand he won a prize for +cudgel-playing, in which he seems to have been an adept. While living +there, he had nearly lost his life in a smuggling exploit which he had +joined, partly induced by the love of adventure, and partly by the love +of gain, for his regular wages were not more than eight shillings a-week. +One night, notice was given throughout Crafthole, that a smuggler was off +the coast, ready to land her cargo; on which the male population of the +place—nearly all smugglers—made for the shore. One party remained on the +rocks to make signals and dispose of the goods as they were landed; and +another manned the boats, Drew being of the latter party. The night was +intensely dark, and very little of the cargo had been landed, when the +wind rose, with a heavy sea. The men in the boats, however, determined +to persevere, and several trips were made between the smuggler, now +standing farther out to sea, and the shore. One of the men in the boat +in which Drew was, had his hat blown off by the wind, and in attempting +to recover it, the boat was upset. Three of the men were immediately +drowned; the others clung to the boat for a time, but finding it drifting +out to sea, they took to swimming. They were two miles from land, and +the night was intensely dark. After being about three hours in the +water, Drew reached a rock near the shore, with one or two others, where +he remained benumbed with cold till morning, when he and his companions +were discovered and taken off, more dead than alive. A keg of brandy +from the cargo just landed was brought, the head knocked in with a +hatchet, and a bowlfull of the liquid presented to the survivors; and, +shortly after, Drew was able to walk two miles through deep snow, to his +lodgings. + +This was a very unpromising beginning of a life; and yet this same Drew, +scapegrace, orchard-robber, shoemaker, cudgel-player, and smuggler, +outlived the recklessness of his youth and became distinguished as a +minister of the Gospel and a writer of good books. Happily, before it +was too late, the energy which characterised him was turned into a more +healthy direction, and rendered him as eminent in usefulness as he had +before been in wickedness. His father again took him back to St. +Austell, and found employment for him as a journeyman shoemaker. Perhaps +his recent escape from death had tended to make the young man serious, as +we shortly find him attracted by the forcible preaching of Dr. Adam +Clarke, a minister of the Wesleyan Methodists. His brother having died +about the same time, the impression of seriousness was deepened; and +thenceforward he was an altered man. He began anew the work of +education, for he had almost forgotten how to read and write; and even +after several years’ practice, a friend compared his writing to the +traces of a spider dipped in ink set to crawl upon paper. Speaking of +himself, about that time, Drew afterwards said, “The more I read, the +more I felt my own ignorance; and the more I felt my ignorance, the more +invincible became my energy to surmount it. Every leisure moment was now +employed in reading one thing or another. Having to support myself by +manual labour, my time for reading was but little, and to overcome this +disadvantage, my usual method was to place a book before me while at +meat, and at every repast I read five or six pages.” The perusal of +Locke’s ‘Essay on the Understanding’ gave the first metaphysical turn to +his mind. “It awakened me from my stupor,” said he, “and induced me to +form a resolution to abandon the grovelling views which I had been +accustomed to entertain.” + +Drew began business on his own account, with a capital of a few +shillings; but his character for steadiness was such that a neighbouring +miller offered him a loan, which was accepted, and, success attending his +industry, the debt was repaid at the end of a year. He started with a +determination to “owe no man anything,” and he held to it in the midst of +many privations. Often he went to bed supperless, to avoid rising in +debt. His ambition was to achieve independence by industry and economy, +and in this he gradually succeeded. In the midst of incessant labour, he +sedulously strove to improve his mind, studying astronomy, history, and +metaphysics. He was induced to pursue the latter study chiefly because +it required fewer books to consult than either of the others. “It +appeared to be a thorny path,” he said, “but I determined, nevertheless, +to enter, and accordingly began to tread it.” + +Added to his labours in shoemaking and metaphysics, Drew became a local +preacher and a class leader. He took an eager interest in politics, and +his shop became a favourite resort with the village politicians. And +when they did not come to him, he went to them to talk over public +affairs. This so encroached upon his time that he found it necessary +sometimes to work until midnight to make up for the hours lost during the +day. His political fervour become the talk of the village. While busy +one night hammering away at a shoe-sole, a little boy, seeing a light in +the shop, put his mouth to the keyhole of the door, and called out in a +shrill pipe, “Shoemaker! shoe-maker! work by night and run about by day!” +A friend, to whom Drew afterwards told the story, asked, “And did not you +run after the boy, and strap him?” “No, no,” was the reply; “had a +pistol been fired off at my ear, I could not have been more dismayed or +confounded. I dropped my work, and said to myself, ‘True, true! but you +shall never have that to say of me again.’ To me that cry was as the +voice of God, and it has been a word in season throughout my life. I +learnt from it not to leave till to-morrow the work of to-day, or to idle +when I ought to be working.” + +From that moment Drew dropped politics, and stuck to his work, reading +and studying in his spare hours: but he never allowed the latter pursuit +to interfere with his business, though it frequently broke in upon his +rest. He married, and thought of emigrating to America; but he remained +working on. His literary taste first took the direction of poetical +composition; and from some of the fragments which have been preserved, it +appears that his speculations as to the immateriality and immortality of +the soul had their origin in these poetical musings. His study was the +kitchen, where his wife’s bellows served him for a desk; and he wrote +amidst the cries and cradlings of his children. Paine’s ‘Age of Reason’ +having appeared about this time and excited much interest, he composed a +pamphlet in refutation of its arguments, which was published. He used +afterwards to say that it was the ‘Age of Reason’ that made him an +author. Various pamphlets from his pen shortly appeared in rapid +succession, and a few years later, while still working at shoemaking, he +wrote and published his admirable ‘Essay on the Immateriality and +Immortality of the Human Soul,’ which he sold for twenty pounds, a great +sum in his estimation at the time. The book went through many editions, +and is still prized. + +Drew was in no wise puffed up by his success, as many young authors are, +but, long after he had become celebrated as a writer, used to be seen +sweeping the street before his door, or helping his apprentices to carry +in the winter’s coals. Nor could he, for some time, bring himself to +regard literature as a profession to live by. His first care was, to +secure an honest livelihood by his business, and to put into the “lottery +of literary success,” as he termed it, only the surplus of his time. At +length, however, he devoted himself wholly to literature, more +particularly in connection with the Wesleyan body; editing one of their +magazines, and superintending the publication of several of their +denominational works. He also wrote in the ‘Eclectic Review,’ and +compiled and published a valuable history of his native county, Cornwall, +with numerous other works. Towards the close of his career, he said of +himself,—“Raised from one of the lowest stations in society, I have +endeavoured through life to bring my family into a state of +respectability, by honest industry, frugality, and a high regard for my +moral character. Divine providence has smiled on my exertions, and +crowned my wishes with success.” + +The late Joseph Hume pursued a very different career, but worked in an +equally persevering spirit. He was a man of moderate parts, but of great +industry and unimpeachable honesty of purpose. The motto of his life was +“Perseverance,” and well, he acted up to it. His father dying while he +was a mere child, his mother opened a small shop in Montrose, and toiled +hard to maintain her family and bring them up respectably. Joseph she +put apprentice to a surgeon, and educated for the medical profession. +Having got his diploma, he made several voyages to India as ship’s +surgeon, {115} and afterwards obtained a cadetship in the Company’s +service. None worked harder, or lived more temperately, than he did, +and, securing the confidence of his superiors, who found him a capable +man in the performance of his duty, they gradually promoted him to higher +offices. In 1803 he was with the division of the army under General +Powell, in the Mahratta war; and the interpreter having died, Hume, who +had meanwhile studied and mastered the native languages, was appointed in +his stead. He was next made chief of the medical staff. But as if this +were not enough to occupy his full working power, he undertook in +addition the offices of paymaster and post-master, and filled them +satisfactorily. He also contracted to supply the commissariat, which he +did with advantage to the army and profit to himself. After about ten +years’ unremitting labour, he returned to England with a competency; and +one of his first acts was to make provision for the poorer members of his +family. + +But Joseph Hume was not a man to enjoy the fruits of his industry in +idleness. Work and occupation had become necessary for his comfort and +happiness. To make himself fully acquainted with the actual state of his +own country, and the condition of the people, he visited every town in +the kingdom which then enjoyed any degree of manufacturing celebrity. He +afterwards travelled abroad for the purpose of obtaining a knowledge of +foreign states. Returned to England, he entered Parliament in 1812, and +continued a member of that assembly, with a short interruption, for a +period of about thirty-four years. His first recorded speech was on the +subject of public education, and throughout his long and honourable +career he took an active and earnest interest in that and all other +questions calculated to elevate and improve the condition of the +people—criminal reform, savings-banks, free trade, economy and +retrenchment, extended representation, and such like measures, all of +which he indefatigably promoted. Whatever subject he undertook, he +worked at with all his might. He was not a good speaker, but what he +said was believed to proceed from the lips of an honest, single-minded, +accurate man. If ridicule, as Shaftesbury says, be the test of truth, +Joseph Hume stood the test well. No man was more laughed at, but there +he stood perpetually, and literally, “at his post.” He was usually +beaten on a division, but the influence which he exercised was +nevertheless felt, and many important financial improvements were +effected by him even with the vote directly against him. The amount of +hard work which he contrived to get through was something extraordinary. +He rose at six, wrote letters and arranged his papers for parliament; +then, after breakfast, he received persons on business, sometimes as many +as twenty in a morning. The House rarely assembled without him, and +though the debate might be prolonged to two or three o’clock in the +morning, his name was seldom found absent from the division. In short, +to perform the work which he did, extending over so long a period, in the +face of so many Administrations, week after week, year after year,—to be +outvoted, beaten, laughed at, standing on many occasions almost alone,—to +persevere in the face of every discouragement, preserving his temper +unruffled, never relaxing in his energy or his hope, and living to see +the greater number of his measures adopted with acclamation, must be +regarded as one of the most remarkable illustrations of the power of +human perseverance that biography can exhibit. + + + + +CHAPTER V. +HELPS AND OPPORTUNITIES—SCIENTIFIC PURSUITS. + + + “Neither the naked hand, nor the understanding, left to itself, can + do much; the work is accomplished by instruments and helps, of which + the need is not less for the understanding than the hand.”—_Bacon_. + + “Opportunity has hair in front, behind she is bald; if you seize her + by the forelock you may hold her, but, if suffered to escape, not + Jupiter himself can catch her again.”—_From the Latin_. + +ACCIDENT does very little towards the production of any great result in +life. Though sometimes what is called “a happy hit” may be made by a +bold venture, the common highway of steady industry and application is +the only safe road to travel. It is said of the landscape painter +Wilson, that when he had nearly finished a picture in a tame, correct +manner, he would step back from it, his pencil fixed at the end of a long +stick, and after gazing earnestly on the work, he would suddenly walk up +and by a few bold touches give a brilliant finish to the painting. But +it will not do for every one who would produce an effect, to throw his +brush at the canvas in the hope of producing a picture. The capability +of putting in these last vital touches is acquired only by the labour of +a life; and the probability is, that the artist who has not carefully +trained himself beforehand, in attempting to produce a brilliant effect +at a dash, will only produce a blotch. + +Sedulous attention and painstaking industry always mark the true worker. +The greatest men are not those who “despise the day of small things,” but +those who improve them the most carefully. Michael Angelo was one day +explaining to a visitor at his studio, what he had been doing at a statue +since his previous visit. “I have retouched this part—polished +that—softened this feature—brought out that muscle—given some expression +to this lip, and more energy to that limb.” “But these are trifles,” +remarked the visitor. “It may be so,” replied the sculptor, “but +recollect that trifles make perfection, and perfection is no trifle.” So +it was said of Nicholas Poussin, the painter, that the rule of his +conduct was, that “whatever was worth doing at all was worth doing well;” +and when asked, late in life, by his friend Vigneul de Marville, by what +means he had gained so high a reputation among the painters of Italy, +Poussin emphatically answered, “Because I have neglected nothing.” + +Although there are discoveries which are said to have been made by +accident, if carefully inquired into, it will be found that there has +really been very little that was accidental about them. For the most +part, these so-called accidents have only been opportunities, carefully +improved by genius. The fall of the apple at Newton’s feet has often +been quoted in proof of the accidental character of some discoveries. +But Newton’s whole mind had already been devoted for years to the +laborious and patient investigation of the subject of gravitation; and +the circumstance of the apple falling before his eyes was suddenly +apprehended only as genius could apprehend it, and served to flash upon +him the brilliant discovery then opening to his sight. In like manner, +the brilliantly-coloured soap-bubbles blown from a common tobacco +pipe—though “trifles light as air” in most eyes—suggested to Dr. Young +his beautiful theory of “interferences,” and led to his discovery +relating to the diffraction of light. Although great men are popularly +supposed only to deal with great things, men such as Newton and Young +were ready to detect the significance of the most familiar and simple +facts; their greatness consisting mainly in their wise interpretation of +them. + +The difference between men consists, in a great measure, in the +intelligence of their observation. The Russian proverb says of the +non-observant man, “He goes through the forest and sees no firewood.” +“The wise man’s eyes are in his head,” says Solomon, “but the fool +walketh in darkness.” “Sir,” said Johnson, on one occasion, to a fine +gentleman just returned from Italy, “some men will learn more in the +Hampstead stage than others in the tour of Europe.” It is the mind that +sees as well as the eye. Where unthinking gazers observe nothing, men of +intelligent vision penetrate into the very fibre of the phenomena +presented to them, attentively noting differences, making comparisons, +and recognizing their underlying idea. Many before Galileo had seen a +suspended weight swing before their eyes with a measured beat; but he was +the first to detect the value of the fact. One of the vergers in the +cathedral at Pisa, after replenishing with oil a lamp which hung from the +roof, left it swinging to and fro; and Galileo, then a youth of only +eighteen, noting it attentively, conceived the idea of applying it to the +measurement of time. Fifty years of study and labour, however, elapsed, +before he completed the invention of his Pendulum,—the importance of +which, in the measurement of time and in astronomical calculations, can +scarcely be overrated. In like manner, Galileo, having casually heard +that one Lippershey, a Dutch spectacle-maker, had presented to Count +Maurice of Nassau an instrument by means of which distant objects +appeared nearer to the beholder, addressed himself to the cause of such a +phenomenon, which led to the invention of the telescope, and proved the +beginning of the modern science of astronomy. Discoveries such as these +could never have been made by a negligent observer, or by a mere passive +listener. + +While Captain (afterwards Sir Samuel) Brown was occupied in studying the +construction of bridges, with the view of contriving one of a cheap +description to be thrown across the Tweed, near which he lived, he was +walking in his garden one dewy autumn morning, when he saw a tiny +spider’s net suspended across his path. The idea immediately occurred to +him, that a bridge of iron ropes or chains might be constructed in like +manner, and the result was the invention of his Suspension Bridge. So +James Watt, when consulted about the mode of carrying water by pipes +under the Clyde, along the unequal bed of the river, turned his attention +one day to the shell of a lobster presented at table; and from that model +he invented an iron tube, which, when laid down, was found effectually to +answer the purpose. Sir Isambert Brunel took his first lessons in +forming the Thames Tunnel from the tiny shipworm: he saw how the little +creature perforated the wood with its well-armed head, first in one +direction and then in another, till the archway was complete, and then +daubed over the roof and sides with a kind of varnish; and by copying +this work exactly on a large scale, Brunel was at length enabled to +construct his shield and accomplish his great engineering work. + +It is the intelligent eye of the careful observer which gives these +apparently trivial phenomena their value. So trifling a matter as the +sight of seaweed floating past his ship, enabled Columbus to quell the +mutiny which arose amongst his sailors at not discovering land, and to +assure them that the eagerly sought New World was not far off. There is +nothing so small that it should remain forgotten; and no fact, however +trivial, but may prove useful in some way or other if carefully +interpreted. Who could have imagined that the famous “chalk cliffs of +Albion” had been built up by tiny insects—detected only by the help of +the microscope—of the same order of creatures that have gemmed the sea +with islands of coral! And who that contemplates such extraordinary +results, arising from infinitely minute operations, will venture to +question the power of little things? + +It is the close observation of little things which is the secret of +success in business, in art, in science, and in every pursuit in life. +Human knowledge is but an accumulation of small facts, made by successive +generations of men, the little bits of knowledge and experience carefully +treasured up by them growing at length into a mighty pyramid. Though +many of these facts and observations seemed in the first instance to have +but slight significance, they are all found to have their eventual uses, +and to fit into their proper places. Even many speculations seemingly +remote, turn out to be the basis of results the most obviously practical. +In the case of the conic sections discovered by Apollonius Pergæus, +twenty centuries elapsed before they were made the basis of astronomy—a +science which enables the modern navigator to steer his way through +unknown seas and traces for him in the heavens an unerring path to his +appointed haven. And had not mathematicians toiled for so long, and, to +uninstructed observers, apparently so fruitlessly, over the abstract +relations of lines and surfaces, it is probable that but few of our +mechanical inventions would have seen the light. + +When Franklin made his discovery of the identity of lightning and +electricity, it was sneered at, and people asked, “Of what use is it?” +To which his reply was, “What is the use of a child? It may become a +man!” When Galvani discovered that a frog’s leg twitched when placed in +contact with different metals, it could scarcely have been imagined that +so apparently insignificant a fact could have led to important results. +Yet therein lay the germ of the Electric Telegraph, which binds the +intelligence of continents together, and, probably before many years have +elapsed, will “put a girdle round the globe.” So too, little bits of +stone and fossil, dug out of the earth, intelligently interpreted, have +issued in the science of geology and the practical operations of mining, +in which large capitals are invested and vast numbers of persons +profitably employed. + +The gigantic machinery employed in pumping our mines, working our mills +and manufactures, and driving our steam-ships and locomotives, in like +manner depends for its supply of power upon so slight an agency as little +drops of water expanded by heat,—that familiar agency called steam, which +we see issuing from that common tea-kettle spout, but which, when put up +within an ingeniously contrived mechanism, displays a force equal to that +of millions of horses, and contains a power to rebuke the waves and set +even the hurricane at defiance. The same power at work within the bowels +of the earth has been the cause of those volcanoes and earthquakes which +have played so mighty a part in the history of the globe. + +It is said that the Marquis of Worcester’s attention was first +accidentally directed to the subject of steam power, by the tight cover +of a vessel containing hot water having been blown off before his eyes, +when confined a prisoner in the Tower. He published the result of his +observations in his ‘Century of Inventions,’ which formed a sort of +text-book for inquirers into the powers of steam for a time, until +Savary, Newcomen, and others, applying it to practical purposes, brought +the steam-engine to the state in which Watt found it when called upon to +repair a model of Newcomen’s engine, which belonged to the University of +Glasgow. This accidental circumstance was an opportunity for Watt, which +he was not slow to improve; and it was the labour of his life to bring +the steam-engine to perfection. + +This art of seizing opportunities and turning even accidents to account, +bending them to some purpose is a great secret of success. Dr. Johnson +has defined genius to be “a mind of large general powers accidentally +determined in some particular direction.” Men who are resolved to find a +way for themselves, will always find opportunities enough; and if they do +not lie ready to their hand, they will make them. It is not those who +have enjoyed the advantages of colleges, museums, and public galleries, +that have accomplished the most for science and art; nor have the +greatest mechanics and inventors been trained in mechanics’ institutes. +Necessity, oftener than facility, has been the mother of invention; and +the most prolific school of all has been the school of difficulty. Some +of the very best workmen have had the most indifferent tools to work +with. But it is not tools that make the workman, but the trained skill +and perseverance of the man himself. Indeed it is proverbial that the +bad workman never yet had a good tool. Some one asked Opie by what +wonderful process he mixed his colours. “I mix them with my brains, +sir,” was his reply. It is the same with every workman who would excel. +Ferguson made marvellous things—such as his wooden clock, that accurately +measured the hours—by means of a common penknife, a tool in everybody’s +hand; but then everybody is not a Ferguson. A pan of water and two +thermometers were the tools by which Dr. Black discovered latent heat; +and a prism, a lens, and a sheet of pasteboard enabled Newton to unfold +the composition of light and the origin of colours. An eminent foreign +_savant_ once called upon Dr. Wollaston, and requested to be shown over +his laboratories in which science had been enriched by so many important +discoveries, when the doctor took him into a little study, and, pointing +to an old tea-tray on the table, containing a few watch-glasses, test +papers, a small balance, and a blowpipe, said, “There is all the +laboratory that I have!” + +Stothard learnt the art of combining colours by closely studying +butterflies’ wings: he would often say that no one knew what he owed to +these tiny insects. A burnt stick and a barn door served Wilkie in lieu +of pencil and canvas. Bewick first practised drawing on the cottage +walls of his native village, which he covered with his sketches in chalk; +and Benjamin West made his first brushes out of the cat’s tail. Ferguson +laid himself down in the fields at night in a blanket, and made a map of +the heavenly bodies by means of a thread with small beads on it stretched +between his eye and the stars. Franklin first robbed the thundercloud of +its lightning by means of a kite made with two cross sticks and a silk +handkerchief. Watt made his first model of the condensing steam-engine +out of an old anatomist’s syringe, used to inject the arteries previous +to dissection. Gifford worked his first problems in mathematics, when a +cobbler’s apprentice, upon small scraps of leather, which he beat smooth +for the purpose; whilst Rittenhouse, the astronomer, first calculated +eclipses on his plough handle. + +The most ordinary occasions will furnish a man with opportunities or +suggestions for improvement, if he be but prompt to take advantage of +them. Professor Lee was attracted to the study of Hebrew by finding a +Bible in that tongue in a synagogue, while working as a common carpenter +at the repairs of the benches. He became possessed with a desire to read +the book in the original, and, buying a cheap second-hand copy of a +Hebrew grammar, he set to work and learnt the language for himself. As +Edmund Stone said to the Duke of Argyle, in answer to his grace’s inquiry +how he, a poor gardener’s boy, had contrived to be able to read Newton’s +Principia in Latin, “One needs only to know the twenty-four letters of +the alphabet in order to learn everything else that one wishes.” +Application and perseverance, and the diligent improvement of +opportunities, will do the rest. + +Sir Walter Scott found opportunities for self-improvement in every +pursuit, and turned even accidents to account. Thus it was in the +discharge of his functions as a writer’s apprentice that he first visited +the Highlands, and formed those friendships among the surviving heroes of +1745 which served to lay the foundation of a large class of his works. +Later in life, when employed as quartermaster of the Edinburgh Light +Cavalry, he was accidentally disabled by the kick of a horse, and +confined for some time to his house; but Scott was a sworn enemy to +idleness, and he forthwith set his mind to work. In three days he had +composed the first canto of ‘The Lay of the Last Minstrel,’ which he +shortly after finished,—his first great original work. + +The attention of Dr. Priestley, the discoverer of so many gases, was +accidentally drawn to the subject of chemistry through his living in the +neighbourhood of a brewery. When visiting the place one day, he noted +the peculiar appearances attending the extinction of lighted chips in the +gas floating over the fermented liquor. He was forty years old at the +time, and knew nothing of chemistry. He consulted books to ascertain the +cause, but they told him little, for as yet nothing was known on the +subject. Then he began to experiment, with some rude apparatus of his +own contrivance. The curious results of his first experiments led to +others, which in his hands shortly became the science of pneumatic +chemistry. About the same time, Scheele was obscurely working in the +same direction in a remote Swedish village; and he discovered several new +gases, with no more effective apparatus at his command than a few +apothecaries’ phials and pigs’ bladders. + +Sir Humphry Davy, when an apothecary’s apprentice, performed his first +experiments with instruments of the rudest description. He extemporised +the greater part of them himself, out of the motley materials which +chance threw in his way,—the pots and pans of the kitchen, and the phials +and vessels of his master’s surgery. It happened that a French ship was +wrecked off the Land’s End, and the surgeon escaped, bearing with him his +case of instruments, amongst which was an old-fashioned glyster +apparatus; this article he presented to Davy, with whom he had become +acquainted. The apothecary’s apprentice received it with great +exultation, and forthwith employed it as a part of a pneumatic apparatus +which he contrived, afterwards using it to perform the duties of an +air-pump in one of his experiments on the nature and sources of heat. + +In like manner Professor Faraday, Sir Humphry Davy’s scientific +successor, made his first experiments in electricity by means of an old +bottle, while he was still a working bookbinder. And it is a curious +fact that Faraday was first attracted to the study of chemistry by +hearing one of Sir Humphry Davy’s lectures on the subject at the Royal +Institution. A gentleman, who was a member, calling one day at the shop +where Faraday was employed in binding books, found him poring over the +article “Electricity” in an Encyclopædia placed in his hands to bind. +The gentleman, having made inquiries, found that the young bookbinder was +curious about such subjects, and gave him an order of admission to the +Royal Institution, where he attended a course of four lectures delivered +by Sir Humphry. He took notes of them, which he showed to the lecturer, +who acknowledged their scientific accuracy, and was surprised when +informed of the humble position of the reporter. Faraday then expressed +his desire to devote himself to the prosecution of chemical studies, from +which Sir Humphry at first endeavoured to dissuade him: but the young man +persisting, he was at length taken into the Royal Institution as an +assistant; and eventually the mantle of the brilliant apothecary’s boy +fell upon the worthy shoulders of the equally brilliant bookbinder’s +apprentice. + +The words which Davy entered in his note-book, when about twenty years of +age, working in Dr. Beddoes’ laboratory at Bristol, were eminently +characteristic of him: “I have neither riches, nor power, nor birth to +recommend me; yet if I live, I trust I shall not be of less service to +mankind and my friends, than if I had been born with all these +advantages.” Davy possessed the capability, as Faraday does, of devoting +the whole power of his mind to the practical and experimental +investigation of a subject in all its bearings; and such a mind will +rarely fail, by dint of mere industry and patient thinking, in producing +results of the highest order. Coleridge said of Davy, “There is an +energy and elasticity in his mind, which enables him to seize on and +analyze all questions, pushing them to their legitimate consequences. +Every subject in Davy’s mind has the principle of vitality. Living +thoughts spring up like turf under his feet.” Davy, on his part, said of +Coleridge, whose abilities he greatly admired, “With the most exalted +genius, enlarged views, sensitive heart, and enlightened mind, he will be +the victim of a want of order, precision, and regularity.” + +The great Cuvier was a singularly accurate, careful, and industrious +observer. When a boy, he was attracted to the subject of natural history +by the sight of a volume of Buffon which accidentally fell in his way. +He at once proceeded to copy the drawings, and to colour them after the +descriptions given in the text. While still at school, one of his +teachers made him a present of ‘Linnæus’s System of Nature;’ and for more +than ten years this constituted his library of natural history. At +eighteen he was offered the situation of tutor in a family residing near +Fécamp, in Normandy. Living close to the sea-shore, he was brought face +to face with the wonders of marine life. Strolling along the sands one +day, he observed a stranded cuttlefish. He was attracted by the curious +object, took it home to dissect, and thus began the study of the +molluscæ, in the pursuit of which he achieved so distinguished a +reputation. He had no books to refer to, excepting only the great book +of Nature which lay open before him. The study of the novel and +interesting objects which it daily presented to his eyes made a much +deeper impression on his mind than any written or engraved descriptions +could possibly have done. Three years thus passed, during which he +compared the living species of marine animals with the fossil remains +found in the neighbourhood, dissected the specimens of marine life that +came under his notice, and, by careful observation, prepared the way for +a complete reform in the classification of the animal kingdom. About +this time Cuvier became known to the learned Abbé Teissier, who wrote to +Jussieu and other friends in Paris on the subject of the young +naturalist’s inquiries, in terms of such high commendation, that Cuvier +was requested to send some of his papers to the Society of Natural +History; and he was shortly after appointed assistant-superintendent at +the Jardin des Plantes. In the letter written by Teissier to Jussieu, +introducing the young naturalist to his notice, he said, “You remember +that it was I who gave Delambre to the Academy in another branch of +science: this also will be a Delambre.” We need scarcely add that the +prediction of Teissier was more than fulfilled. + +It is not accident, then, that helps a man in the world so much as +purpose and persistent industry. To the feeble, the sluggish and +purposeless, the happiest accidents avail nothing,—they pass them by, +seeing no meaning in them. But it is astonishing how much can be +accomplished if we are prompt to seize and improve the opportunities for +action and effort which are constantly presenting themselves. Watt +taught himself chemistry and mechanics while working at his trade of a +mathematical-instrument maker, at the same time that he was learning +German from a Swiss dyer. Stephenson taught himself arithmetic and +mensuration while working as an engineman during the night shifts; and +when he could snatch a few moments in the intervals allowed for meals +during the day, he worked his sums with a bit of chalk upon the sides of +the colliery waggons. Dalton’s industry was the habit of his life. He +began from his boyhood, for he taught a little village-school when he was +only about twelve years old,—keeping the school in winter, and working +upon his father’s farm in summer. He would sometimes urge himself and +companions to study by the stimulus of a bet, though bred a Quaker; and +on one occasion, by his satisfactory solution of a problem, he won as +much as enabled him to buy a winter’s store of candles. He continued his +meteorological observations until a day or two before he died,—having +made and recorded upwards of 200,000 in the course of his life. + +With perseverance, the very odds and ends of time may be worked up into +results of the greatest value. An hour in every day withdrawn from +frivolous pursuits would, if profitably employed, enable a person of +ordinary capacity to go far towards mastering a science. It would make +an ignorant man a well-informed one in less than ten years. Time should +not be allowed to pass without yielding fruits, in the form of something +learnt worthy of being known, some good principle cultivated, or some +good habit strengthened. Dr. Mason Good translated Lucretius while +riding in his carriage in the streets of London, going the round of his +patients. Dr. Darwin composed nearly all his works in the same way while +driving about in his “sulky” from house to house in the country,—writing +down his thoughts on little scraps of paper, which he carried about with +him for the purpose. Hale wrote his ‘Contemplations’ while travelling on +circuit. Dr. Burney learnt French and Italian while travelling on +horseback from one musical pupil to another in the course of his +profession. Kirke White learnt Greek while walking to and from a +lawyer’s office; and we personally know a man of eminent position who +learnt Latin and French while going messages as an errand-boy in the +streets of Manchester. + +Daguesseau, one of the great Chancellors of France, by carefully working +up his odd bits of time, wrote a bulky and able volume in the successive +intervals of waiting for dinner, and Madame de Genlis composed several of +her charming volumes while waiting for the princess to whom she gave her +daily lessons. Elihu Burritt attributed his first success in +self-improvement, not to genius, which he disclaimed, but simply to the +careful employment of those invaluable fragments of time, called “odd +moments.” While working and earning his living as a blacksmith, he +mastered some eighteen ancient and modern languages, and twenty-two +European dialects. + +What a solemn and striking admonition to youth is that inscribed on the +dial at All Souls, Oxford—“Pereunt et imputantur”—the hours perish, and +are laid to our charge. Time is the only little fragment of Eternity +that belongs to man; and, like life, it can never be recalled. “In the +dissipation of worldly treasure,” says Jackson of Exeter, “the frugality +of the future may balance the extravagance of the past; but who can say, +‘I will take from minutes to-morrow to compensate for those I have lost +to-day’?” Melancthon noted down the time lost by him, that he might +thereby reanimate his industry, and not lose an hour. An Italian scholar +put over his door an inscription intimating that whosoever remained there +should join in his labours. “We are afraid,” said some visitors to +Baxter, “that we break in upon your time.” “To be sure you do,” replied +the disturbed and blunt divine. Time was the estate out of which these +great workers, and all other workers, formed that rich treasury of +thoughts and deeds which they have left to their successors. + +The mere drudgery undergone by some men in carrying on their undertakings +has been something extraordinary, but the drudgery they regarded as the +price of success. Addison amassed as much as three folios of manuscript +materials before he began his ‘Spectator.’ Newton wrote his ‘Chronology’ +fifteen times over before he was satisfied with it; and Gibbon wrote out +his ‘Memoir’ nine times. Hale studied for many years at the rate of +sixteen hours a day, and when wearied with the study of the law, he would +recreate himself with philosophy and the study of the mathematics. Hume +wrote thirteen hours a day while preparing his ‘History of England.’ +Montesquieu, speaking of one part of his writings, said to a friend, “You +will read it in a few hours; but I assure you it has cost me so much +labour that it has whitened my hair.” + +The practice of writing down thoughts and facts for the purpose of +holding them fast and preventing their escape into the dim region of +forgetfulness, has been much resorted to by thoughtful and studious men. +Lord Bacon left behind him many manuscripts entitled “Sudden thoughts set +down for use.” Erskine made great extracts from Burke; and Eldon copied +Coke upon Littleton twice over with his own hand, so that the book +became, as it were, part of his own mind. The late Dr. Pye Smith, when +apprenticed to his father as a bookbinder, was accustomed to make copious +memoranda of all the books he read, with extracts and criticisms. This +indomitable industry in collecting materials distinguished him through +life, his biographer describing him as “always at work, always in +advance, always accumulating.” These note-books afterwards proved, like +Richter’s “quarries,” the great storehouse from which he drew his +illustrations. + +The same practice characterized the eminent John Hunter, who adopted it +for the purpose of supplying the defects of memory; and he was accustomed +thus to illustrate the advantages which one derives from putting one’s +thoughts in writing: “It resembles,” he said, “a tradesman taking stock, +without which he never knows either what he possesses or in what he is +deficient.” John Hunter—whose observation was so keen that Abernethy was +accustomed to speak of him as “the Argus-eyed”—furnished an illustrious +example of the power of patient industry. He received little or no +education till he was about twenty years of age, and it was with +difficulty that he acquired the arts of reading and writing. He worked +for some years as a common carpenter at Glasgow, after which he joined +his brother William, who had settled in London as a lecturer and +anatomical demonstrator. John entered his dissecting-room as an +assistant, but soon shot ahead of his brother, partly by virtue of his +great natural ability, but mainly by reason of his patient application +and indefatigable industry. He was one of the first in this country to +devote himself assiduously to the study of comparative anatomy, and the +objects he dissected and collected took the eminent Professor Owen no +less than ten years to arrange. The collection contains some twenty +thousand specimens, and is the most precious treasure of the kind that +has ever been accumulated by the industry of one man. Hunter used to +spend every morning from sunrise until eight o’clock in his museum; and +throughout the day he carried on his extensive private practice, +performed his laborious duties as surgeon to St. George’s Hospital and +deputy surgeon-general to the army; delivered lectures to students, and +superintended a school of practical anatomy at his own house; finding +leisure, amidst all, for elaborate experiments on the animal economy, and +the composition of various works of great scientific importance. To find +time for this gigantic amount of work, he allowed himself only four hours +of sleep at night, and an hour after dinner. When once asked what method +he had adopted to insure success in his undertakings, he replied, “My +rule is, deliberately to consider, before I commence, whether the thing +be practicable. If it be not practicable, I do not attempt it. If it be +practicable, I can accomplish it if I give sufficient pains to it; and +having begun, I never stop till the thing is done. To this rule I owe +all my success.” + +Hunter occupied a great deal of his time in collecting definite facts +respecting matters which, before his day, were regarded as exceedingly +trivial. Thus it was supposed by many of his contemporaries that he was +only wasting his time and thought in studying so carefully as he did the +growth of a deer’s horn. But Hunter was impressed with the conviction +that no accurate knowledge of scientific facts is without its value. By +the study referred to, he learnt how arteries accommodate themselves to +circumstances, and enlarge as occasion requires; and the knowledge thus +acquired emboldened him, in a case of aneurism in a branch artery, to tie +the main trunk where no surgeon before him had dared to tie it, and the +life of his patient was saved. Like many original men, he worked for a +long time as it were underground, digging and laying foundations. He was +a solitary and self-reliant genius, holding on his course without the +solace of sympathy or approbation,—for but few of his contemporaries +perceived the ultimate object of his pursuits. But like all true +workers, he did not fail in securing his best reward—that which depends +less upon others than upon one’s self—the approval of conscience, which +in a right-minded man invariably follows the honest and energetic +performance of duty. + +Ambrose Paré, the great French surgeon, was another illustrious instance +of close observation, patient application, and indefatigable +perseverance. He was the son of a barber at Laval, in Maine, where he +was born in 1509. His parents were too poor to send him to school, but +they placed him as foot-boy with the curé of the village, hoping that +under that learned man he might pick up an education for himself. But +the curé kept him so busily employed in grooming his mule and in other +menial offices that the boy found no time for learning. While in his +service, it happened that the celebrated lithotomist, Cotot, came to +Laval to operate on one of the curé’s ecclesiastical brethren. Paré was +present at the operation, and was so much interested by it that he is +said to have from that time formed the determination of devoting himself +to the art of surgery. + +Leaving the curé’s household service, Paré apprenticed himself to a +barber-surgeon named Vialot, under whom he learnt to let blood, draw +teeth, and perform the minor operations. After four years’ experience of +this kind, he went to Paris to study at the school of anatomy and +surgery, meanwhile maintaining himself by his trade of a barber. He +afterwards succeeded in obtaining an appointment as assistant at the +Hôtel Dieu, where his conduct was so exemplary, and his progress so +marked, that the chief surgeon, Goupil, entrusted him with the charge of +the patients whom he could not himself attend to. After the usual course +of instruction, Paré was admitted a master barber-surgeon, and shortly +after was appointed to a charge with the French army under Montmorenci in +Piedmont. Paré was not a man to follow in the ordinary ruts of his +profession, but brought the resources of an ardent and original mind to +bear upon his daily work, diligently thinking out for himself the +_rationale_ of diseases and their befitting remedies. Before his time +the wounded suffered much more at the hands of their surgeons than they +did at those of their enemies. To stop bleeding from gunshot wounds, the +barbarous expedient was resorted to of dressing them with boiling oil. +Hæmorrhage was also stopped by searing the wounds with a red-hot iron; +and when amputation was necessary, it was performed with a red-hot knife. +At first Paré treated wounds according to the approved methods; but, +fortunately, on one occasion, running short of boiling oil, he +substituted a mild and emollient application. He was in great fear all +night lest he should have done wrong in adopting this treatment; but was +greatly relieved next morning on finding his patients comparatively +comfortable, while those whose wounds had been treated in the usual way +were writhing in torment. Such was the casual origin of one of Paré’s +greatest improvements in the treatment of gun-shot wounds; and he +proceeded to adopt the emollient treatment in all future cases. Another +still more important improvement was his employment of the ligature in +tying arteries to stop hæmorrhage, instead of the actual cautery. Paré, +however, met with the usual fate of innovators and reformers. His +practice was denounced by his surgical brethren as dangerous, +unprofessional, and empirical; and the older surgeons banded themselves +together to resist its adoption. They reproached him for his want of +education, more especially for his ignorance of Latin and Greek; and they +assailed him with quotations from ancient writers, which he was unable +either to verify or refute. But the best answer to his assailants was +the success of his practice. The wounded soldiers called out everywhere +for Paré, and he was always at their service: he tended them carefully +and affectionately; and he usually took leave of them with the words, “I +have dressed you; may God cure you.” + +After three years’ active service as army-surgeon, Paré returned to Paris +with such a reputation that he was at once appointed surgeon in ordinary +to the King. When Metz was besieged by the Spanish army, under Charles +V., the garrison suffered heavy loss, and the number of wounded was very +great. The surgeons were few and incompetent, and probably slew more by +their bad treatment than the Spaniards did by the sword. The Duke of +Guise, who commanded the garrison, wrote to the King imploring him to +send Paré to his help. The courageous surgeon at once set out, and, +after braving many dangers (to use his own words, “d’estre pendu, +estranglé ou mis en pièces”), he succeeded in passing the enemy’s lines, +and entered Metz in safety. The Duke, the generals, and the captains +gave him an affectionate welcome; while the soldiers, when they heard of +his arrival, cried, “We no longer fear dying of our wounds; our friend is +among us.” In the following year Paré was in like manner with the +besieged in the town of Hesdin, which shortly fell before the Duke of +Savoy, and he was taken prisoner. But having succeeded in curing one of +the enemy’s chief officers of a serious wound, he was discharged without +ransom, and returned in safety to Paris. + +The rest of his life was occupied in study, in self-improvement, in +piety, and in good deeds. Urged by some of the most learned among his +contemporaries, he placed on record the results of his surgical +experience, in twenty-eight books, which were published by him at +different times. His writings are valuable and remarkable chiefly on +account of the great number of facts and cases contained in them, and the +care with which he avoids giving any directions resting merely upon +theory unsupported by observation. Paré continued, though a Protestant, +to hold the office of surgeon in ordinary to the King; and during the +Massacre of St. Bartholomew he owed his life to the personal friendship +of Charles IX., whom he had on one occasion saved from the dangerous +effects of a wound inflicted by a clumsy surgeon in performing the +operation of venesection. Brantôme, in his ‘Mémoires,’ thus speaks of +the King’s rescue of Paré on the night of Saint Bartholomew—“He sent to +fetch him, and to remain during the night in his chamber and +wardrobe-room, commanding him not to stir, and saying that it was not +reasonable that a man who had preserved the lives of so many people +should himself be massacred.” Thus Paré escaped the horrors of that +fearful night, which he survived for many years, and was permitted to die +in peace, full of age and honours. + +Harvey was as indefatigable a labourer as any we have named. He spent +not less than eight long years of investigation and research before he +published his views of the circulation of the blood. He repeated and +verified his experiments again and again, probably anticipating the +opposition he would have to encounter from the profession on making known +his discovery. The tract in which he at length announced his views, was +a most modest one,—but simple, perspicuous, and conclusive. It was +nevertheless received with ridicule, as the utterance of a crack-brained +impostor. For some time, he did not make a single convert, and gained +nothing but contumely and abuse. He had called in question the revered +authority of the ancients; and it was even averred that his views were +calculated to subvert the authority of the Scriptures and undermine the +very foundations of morality and religion. His little practice fell +away, and he was left almost without a friend. This lasted for some +years, until the great truth, held fast by Harvey amidst all his +adversity, and which had dropped into many thoughtful minds, gradually +ripened by further observation, and after a period of about twenty-five +years, it became generally recognised as an established scientific truth. + +The difficulties encountered by Dr. Jenner in promulgating and +establishing his discovery of vaccination as a preventive of small-pox, +were even greater than those of Harvey. Many, before him, had witnessed +the cow-pox, and had heard of the report current among the milkmaids in +Gloucestershire, that whoever had taken that disease was secure against +small-pox. It was a trifling, vulgar rumour, supposed to have no +significance whatever; and no one had thought it worthy of investigation, +until it was accidentally brought under the notice of Jenner. He was a +youth, pursuing his studies at Sodbury, when his attention was arrested +by the casual observation made by a country girl who came to his master’s +shop for advice. The small-pox was mentioned, when the girl said, “I +can’t take that disease, for I have had cow-pox.” The observation +immediately riveted Jenner’s attention, and he forthwith set about +inquiring and making observations on the subject. His professional +friends, to whom he mentioned his views as to the prophylactic virtues of +cow-pox, laughed at him, and even threatened to expel him from their +society, if he persisted in harassing them with the subject. In London +he was so fortunate as to study under John Hunter, to whom he +communicated his views. The advice of the great anatomist was thoroughly +characteristic: “Don’t think, but _try_; be patient, be accurate.” +Jenner’s courage was supported by the advice, which conveyed to him the +true art of philosophical investigation. He went back to the country to +practise his profession and make observations and experiments, which he +continued to pursue for a period of twenty years. His faith in his +discovery was so implicit that he vaccinated his own son on three several +occasions. At length he published his views in a quarto of about seventy +pages, in which he gave the details of twenty-three cases of successful +vaccination of individuals, to whom it was found afterwards impossible to +communicate the small-pox either by contagion or inoculation. It was in +1798 that this treatise was published; though he had been working out his +ideas since the year 1775, when they had begun to assume a definite form. + +How was the discovery received? First with indifference, then with +active hostility. Jenner proceeded to London to exhibit to the +profession the process of vaccination and its results; but not a single +medical man could be induced to make trial of it, and after fruitlessly +waiting for nearly three months, he returned to his native village. He +was even caricatured and abused for his attempt to “bestialize” his +species by the introduction into their systems of diseased matter from +the cow’s udder. Vaccination was denounced from the pulpit as +“diabolical.” It was averred that vaccinated children became “ox-faced,” +that abscesses broke out to “indicate sprouting horns,” and that the +countenance was gradually “transmuted into the visage of a cow, the voice +into the bellowing of bulls.” Vaccination, however, was a truth, and +notwithstanding the violence of the opposition, belief in it spread +slowly. In one village, where a gentleman tried to introduce the +practice, the first persons who permitted themselves to be vaccinated +were absolutely pelted and driven into their houses if they appeared out +of doors. Two ladies of title—Lady Ducie and the Countess of Berkeley—to +their honour be it remembered—had the courage to vaccinate their +children; and the prejudices of the day were at once broken through. The +medical profession gradually came round, and there were several who even +sought to rob Dr. Jenner of the merit of the discovery, when its +importance came to be recognised. Jenner’s cause at last triumphed, and +he was publicly honoured and rewarded. In his prosperity he was as +modest as he had been in his obscurity. He was invited to settle in +London, and told that he might command a practice of 10,000_l._ a year. +But his answer was, “No! In the morning of my days I have sought the +sequestered and lowly paths of life—the valley, and not the mountain,—and +now, in the evening of my days, it is not meet for me to hold myself up +as an object for fortune and for fame.” During Jenner’s own life-time +the practice of vaccination became adopted all over the civilized world; +and when he died, his title as a Benefactor of his kind was recognised +far and wide. Cuvier has said, “If vaccine were the only discovery of +the epoch, it would serve to render it illustrious for ever; yet it +knocked twenty times in vain at the doors of the Academies.” + +Not less patient, resolute, and persevering was Sir Charles Bell in the +prosecution of his discoveries relating to the nervous system. Previous +to his time, the most confused notions prevailed as to the functions of +the nerves, and this branch of study was little more advanced than it had +been in the times of Democritus and Anaxagoras three thousand years +before. Sir Charles Bell, in the valuable series of papers the +publication of which was commenced in 1821, took an entirely original +view of the subject, based upon a long series of careful, accurate, and +oft-repeated experiments. Elaborately tracing the development of the +nervous system up from the lowest order of animated being, to man—the +lord of the animal kingdom,—he displayed it, to use his own words, “as +plainly as if it were written in our mother-tongue.” His discovery +consisted in the fact, that the spinal nerves are double in their +function, and arise by double roots from the spinal marrow,—volition +being conveyed by that part of the nerves springing from the one root, +and sensation by the other. The subject occupied the mind of Sir Charles +Bell for a period of forty years, when, in 1840, he laid his last paper +before the Royal Society. As in the cases of Harvey and Jenner, when he +had lived down the ridicule and opposition with which his views were +first received, and their truth came to be recognised, numerous claims +for priority in making the discovery were set up at home and abroad. +Like them, too, he lost practice by the publication of his papers; and he +left it on record that, after every step in his discovery, he was obliged +to work harder than ever to preserve his reputation as a practitioner. +The great merits of Sir Charles Bell were, however, at length fully +recognised; and Cuvier himself, when on his death-bed, finding his face +distorted and drawn to one side, pointed out the symptom to his +attendants as a proof of the correctness of Sir Charles Bell’s theory. + +An equally devoted pursuer of the same branch of science was the late Dr. +Marshall Hall, whose name posterity will rank with those of Harvey, +Hunter, Jenner, and Bell. During the whole course of his long and useful +life he was a most careful and minute observer; and no fact, however +apparently insignificant, escaped his attention. His important discovery +of the diastaltic nervous system, by which his name will long be known +amongst scientific men, originated in an exceedingly simple circumstance. +When investigating the pneumonic circulation in the Triton, the +decapitated object lay upon the table; and on separating the tail and +accidentally pricking the external integument, he observed that it moved +with energy, and became contorted into various forms. He had not touched +a muscle or a muscular nerve; what then was the nature of these +movements? The same phenomena had probably been often observed before, +but Dr. Hall was the first to apply himself perseveringly to the +investigation of their causes; and he exclaimed on the occasion, “I will +never rest satisfied until I have found all this out, and made it clear.” +His attention to the subject was almost incessant; and it is estimated +that in the course of his life he devoted not less than 25,000 hours to +its experimental and chemical investigation. He was at the same time +carrying on an extensive private practice, and officiating as lecturer at +St. Thomas’s Hospital and other Medical Schools. It will scarcely be +credited that the paper in which he embodied his discovery was rejected +by the Royal Society, and was only accepted after the lapse of seventeen +years, when the truth of his views had become acknowledged by scientific +men both at home and abroad. + +The life of Sir William Herschel affords another remarkable illustration +of the force of perseverance in another branch of science. His father +was a poor German musician, who brought up his four sons to the same +calling. William came over to England to seek his fortune, and he joined +the band of the Durham Militia, in which he played the oboe. The +regiment was lying at Doncaster, where Dr. Miller first became acquainted +with Herschel, having heard him perform a solo on the violin in a +surprising manner. The Doctor entered into conversation with the youth, +and was so pleased with him, that he urged him to leave the militia and +take up his residence at his house for a time. Herschel did so, and +while at Doncaster was principally occupied in violin-playing at +concerts, availing himself of the advantages of Dr. Miller’s library to +study at his leisure hours. A new organ having been built for the parish +church of Halifax, an organist was advertised for, on which Herschel +applied for the office, and was selected. Leading the wandering life of +an artist, he was next attracted to Bath, where he played in the +Pump-room band, and also officiated as organist in the Octagon chapel. +Some recent discoveries in astronomy having arrested his mind, and +awakened in him a powerful spirit of curiosity, he sought and obtained +from a friend the loan of a two-foot Gregorian telescope. So fascinated +was the poor musician by the science, that he even thought of purchasing +a telescope, but the price asked by the London optician was so alarming, +that he determined to make one. Those who know what a reflecting +telescope is, and the skill which is required to prepare the concave +metallic speculum which forms the most important part of the apparatus, +will be able to form some idea of the difficulty of this undertaking. +Nevertheless, Herschel succeeded, after long and painful labour, in +completing a five-foot reflector, with which he had the gratification of +observing the ring and satellites of Saturn. Not satisfied with his +triumph, he proceeded to make other instruments in succession, of seven, +ten, and even twenty feet. In constructing the seven-foot reflector, he +finished no fewer than two hundred specula before he produced one that +would bear any power that was applied to it,—a striking instance of the +persevering laboriousness of the man. While gauging the heavens with his +instruments, he continued patiently to earn his bread by piping to the +fashionable frequenters of the Pump-room. So eager was he in his +astronomical observations, that he would steal away from the room during +an interval of the performance, give a little turn at his telescope, and +contentedly return to his oboe. Thus working away, Herschel discovered +the Georgium Sidus, the orbit and rate of motion of which he carefully +calculated, and sent the result to the Royal Society; when the humble +oboe player found himself at once elevated from obscurity to fame. He +was shortly after appointed Astronomer Royal, and by the kindness of +George III. was placed in a position of honourable competency for life. +He bore his honours with the same meekness and humility which had +distinguished him in the days of his obscurity. So gentle and patient, +and withal so distinguished and successful a follower of science under +difficulties, perhaps cannot be found in the entire history of biography. + +The career of William Smith, the father of English geology, though +perhaps less known, is not less interesting and instructive as an example +of patient and laborious effort, and the diligent cultivation of +opportunities. He was born in 1769, the son of a yeoman farmer at +Churchill, in Oxfordshire. His father dying when he was but a child, he +received a very sparing education at the village school, and even that +was to a considerable extent interfered with by his wandering and +somewhat idle habits as a boy. His mother having married a second time, +he was taken in charge by an uncle, also a farmer, by whom he was brought +up. Though the uncle was by no means pleased with the boy’s love of +wandering about, collecting “poundstones,” “pundips,” and other stony +curiosities which lay scattered about the adjoining land, he yet enabled +him to purchase a few of the necessary books wherewith to instruct +himself in the rudiments of geometry and surveying; for the boy was +already destined for the business of a land-surveyor. One of his marked +characteristics, even as a youth, was the accuracy and keenness of his +observation; and what he once clearly saw he never forgot. He began to +draw, attempted to colour, and practised the arts of mensuration and +surveying, all without regular instruction; and by his efforts in +self-culture, he shortly became so proficient, that he was taken on as +assistant to a local surveyor of ability in the neighbourhood. In +carrying on his business he was constantly under the necessity of +traversing Oxfordshire and the adjoining counties. One of the first +things he seriously pondered over, was the position of the various soils +and strata that came under his notice on the lands which he surveyed or +travelled over; more especially the position of the red earth in regard +to the lias and superincumbent rocks. The surveys of numerous collieries +which he was called upon to make, gave him further experience; and +already, when only twenty-three years of age, he contemplated making a +model of the strata of the earth. + +While engaged in levelling for a proposed canal in Gloucestershire, the +idea of a general law occurred to him relating to the strata of that +district. He conceived that the strata lying above the coal were not +laid horizontally, but inclined, and in one direction, towards the east; +resembling, on a large scale, “the ordinary appearance of superposed +slices of bread and butter.” The correctness of this theory he shortly +after confirmed by observations of the strata in two parallel valleys, +the “red ground,” “lias,” and “freestone” or “oolite,” being found to +come down in an eastern direction, and to sink below the level, yielding +place to the next in succession. He was shortly enabled to verify the +truth of his views on a larger scale, having been appointed to examine +personally into the management of canals in England and Wales. During +his journeys, which extended from Bath to Newcastle-on-Tyne, returning by +Shropshire and Wales, his keen eyes were never idle for a moment. He +rapidly noted the aspect and structure of the country through which he +passed with his companions, treasuring up his observations for future +use. His geologic vision was so acute, that though the road along which +he passed from York to Newcastle in the post chaise was from five to +fifteen miles distant from the hills of chalk and oolite on the east, he +was satisfied as to their nature, by their contours and relative +position, and their ranges on the surface in relation to the lias and +“red ground” occasionally seen on the road. + +The general results of his observation seem to have been these. He noted +that the rocky masses of country in the western parts of England +generally inclined to the east and south-east; that the red sandstones +and marls above the coal measures passed beneath the lias, clay, and +limestone, that these again passed beneath the sands, yellow limestones +and clays, forming the table-land of the Cotswold Hills, while these in +turn passed beneath the great chalk deposits occupying the eastern parts +of England. He further observed, that each layer of clay, sand, and +limestone held its own peculiar classes of fossils; and pondering much on +these things, he at length came to the then unheard-of conclusion, that +each distinct deposit of marine animals, in these several strata, +indicated a distinct sea-bottom, and that each layer of clay, sand, +chalk, and stone, marked a distinct epoch of time in the history of the +earth. + +This idea took firm possession of his mind, and he could talk and think +of nothing else. At canal boards, at sheep-shearings, at county +meetings, and at agricultural associations, ‘Strata Smith,’ as he came to +be called, was always running over with the subject that possessed him. +He had indeed made a great discovery, though he was as yet a man utterly +unknown in the scientific world. He proceeded to project a map of the +stratification of England; but was for some time deterred from proceeding +with it, being fully occupied in carrying out the works of the +Somersetshire coal canal, which engaged him for a period of about six +years. He continued, nevertheless, to be unremitting in his observation +of facts; and he became so expert in apprehending the internal structure +of a district and detecting the lie of the strata from its external +configuration, that he was often consulted respecting the drainage of +extensive tracts of land, in which, guided by his geological knowledge, +he proved remarkably successful, and acquired an extensive reputation. + +One day, when looking over the cabinet collection of fossils belonging to +the Rev. Samuel Richardson, at Bath, Smith astonished his friend by +suddenly disarranging his classification, and re-arranging the fossils in +their stratigraphical order, saying—“These came from the blue lias, these +from the over-lying sand and freestone, these from the fuller’s earth, +and these from the Bath building stone.” A new light flashed upon Mr. +Richardson’s mind, and he shortly became a convert to and believer in +William Smith’s doctrine. The geologists of the day were not, however, +so easily convinced; and it was scarcely to be tolerated that an unknown +land-surveyor should pretend to teach them the science of geology. But +William Smith had an eye and mind to penetrate deep beneath the skin of +the earth; he saw its very fibre and skeleton, and, as it were, divined +its organization. His knowledge of the strata in the neighbourhood of +Bath was so accurate, that one evening, when dining at the house of the +Rev. Joseph Townsend, he dictated to Mr. Richardson the different strata +according to their order of succession in descending order, twenty-three +in number, commencing with the chalk and descending in continuous series +down to the coal, below which the strata were not then sufficiently +determined. To this was added a list of the more remarkable fossils +which had been gathered in the several layers of rock. This was printed +and extensively circulated in 1801. + +He next determined to trace out the strata through districts as remote +from Bath as his means would enable him to reach. For years he journeyed +to and fro, sometimes on foot, sometimes on horseback, riding on the tops +of stage coaches, often making up by night-travelling the time he had +lost by day, so as not to fail in his ordinary business engagements. +When he was professionally called away to any distance from home—as, for +instance, when travelling from Bath to Holkham, in Norfolk, to direct the +irrigation and drainage of Mr. Coke’s land in that county—he rode on +horseback, making frequent detours from the road to note the geological +features of the country which he traversed. + +For several years he was thus engaged in his journeys to distant quarters +in England and Ireland, to the extent of upwards of ten thousand miles +yearly; and it was amidst this incessant and laborious travelling, that +he contrived to commit to paper his fast-growing generalizations on what +he rightly regarded as a new science. No observation, howsoever trivial +it might appear, was neglected, and no opportunity of collecting fresh +facts was overlooked. Whenever he could, he possessed himself of records +of borings, natural and artificial sections, drew them to a constant +scale of eight yards to the inch, and coloured them up. Of his keenness +of observation take the following illustration. When making one of his +geological excursions about the country near Woburn, as he was drawing +near to the foot of the Dunstable chalk hills, he observed to his +companion, “If there be any broken ground about the foot of these hills, +we may find _shark’s teeth_;” and they had not proceeded far, before they +picked up six from the white bank of a new fence-ditch. As he afterwards +said of himself, “The habit of observation crept on me, gained a +settlement in my mind, became a constant associate of my life, and +started up in activity at the first thought of a journey; so that I +generally went off well prepared with maps, and sometimes with +contemplations on its objects, or on those on the road, reduced to +writing before it commenced. My mind was, therefore, like the canvas of +a painter, well prepared for the first and best impressions.” + +Notwithstanding his courageous and indefatigable industry, many +circumstances contributed to prevent the promised publication of William +Smith’s ‘Map of the Strata of England and Wales,’ and it was not until +1814 that he was enabled, by the assistance of some friends, to give to +the world the fruits of his twenty years’ incessant labour. To prosecute +his inquiries, and collect the extensive series of facts and observations +requisite for his purpose, he had to expend the whole of the profits of +his professional labours during that period; and he even sold off his +small property to provide the means of visiting remoter parts of the +island. Meanwhile he had entered on a quarrying speculation near Bath, +which proved unsuccessful, and he was under the necessity of selling his +geological collection (which was purchased by the British Museum), his +furniture and library, reserving only his papers, maps, and sections, +which were useless save to himself. He bore his losses and misfortunes +with exemplary fortitude; and amidst all, he went on working with +cheerful courage and untiring patience. He died at Northampton, in +August, 1839, while on his way to attend the meeting of the British +Association at Birmingham. + +It is difficult to speak in terms of too high praise of the first +geological map of England, which we owe to the industry of this +courageous man of science. An accomplished writer says of it, “It was a +work so masterly in conception and so correct in general outline, that in +principle it served as a basis not only for the production of later maps +of the British Islands, but for geological maps of all other parts of the +world, wherever they have been undertaken. In the apartments of the +Geological Society Smith’s map may yet be seen—a great historical +document, old and worn, calling for renewal of its faded tints. Let any +one conversant with the subject compare it with later works on a similar +scale, and he will find that in all essential features it will not suffer +by the comparison—the intricate anatomy of the Silurian rocks of Wales +and the north of England by Murchison and Sedgwick being the chief +additions made to his great generalizations.” {149} The genius of the +Oxfordshire surveyor did not fail to be duly recognised and honoured by +men of science during his lifetime. In 1831 the Geological Society of +London awarded to him the Wollaston medal, “in consideration of his being +a great original discoverer in English geology, and especially for his +being the first in this country to discover and to teach the +identification of strata, and to determine their succession by means of +their imbedded fossils.” William Smith, in his simple, earnest way, +gained for himself a name as lasting as the science he loved so well. To +use the words of the writer above quoted, “Till the manner as well as the +fact of the first appearance of successive forms of life shall be solved, +it is not easy to surmise how any discovery can be made in geology equal +in value to that which we owe to the genius of William Smith.” + +Hugh Miller was a man of like observant faculties, who studied literature +as well as science with zeal and success. The book in which he has told +the story of his life, (‘My Schools and Schoolmasters’), is extremely +interesting, and calculated to be eminently useful. It is the history of +the formation of a truly noble character in the humblest condition of +life; and inculcates most powerfully the lessons of self-help, +self-respect, and self-dependence. While Hugh was but a child, his +father, who was a sailor, was drowned at sea, and he was brought up by +his widowed mother. He had a school training after a sort, but his best +teachers were the boys with whom he played, the men amongst whom he +worked, the friends and relatives with whom he lived. He read much and +miscellaneously, and picked up odd sorts of knowledge from many +quarters,—from workmen, carpenters, fishermen and sailors, and above all, +from the old boulders strewed along the shores of the Cromarty Frith. +With a big hammer which had belonged to his great-grandfather, an old +buccaneer, the boy went about chipping the stones, and accumulating +specimens of mica, porphyry, garnet, and such like. Sometimes he had a +day in the woods, and there, too, the boy’s attention was excited by the +peculiar geological curiosities which came in his way. While searching +among the rocks on the beach, he was sometimes asked, in irony, by the +farm servants who came to load their carts with sea-weed, whether he “was +gettin’ siller in the stanes,” but was so unlucky as never to be able to +answer in the affirmative. When of a suitable age he was apprenticed to +the trade of his choice—that of a working stonemason; and he began his +labouring career in a quarry looking out upon the Cromarty Frith. This +quarry proved one of his best schools. The remarkable geological +formations which it displayed awakened his curiosity. The bar of +deep-red stone beneath, and the bar of pale-red clay above, were noted by +the young quarryman, who even in such unpromising subjects found matter +for observation and reflection. Where other men saw nothing, he detected +analogies, differences, and peculiarities, which set him a-thinking. He +simply kept his eyes and his mind open; was sober, diligent, and +persevering; and this was the secret of his intellectual growth. + +His curiosity was excited and kept alive by the curious organic remains, +principally of old and extinct species of fishes, ferns, and ammonites, +which were revealed along the coast by the washings of the waves, or were +exposed by the stroke of his mason’s hammer. He never lost sight of the +subject; but went on accumulating observations and comparing formations, +until at length, many years afterwards, when no longer a working mason, +he gave to the world his highly interesting work on the Old Red +Sandstone, which at once established his reputation as a scientific +geologist. But this work was the fruit of long years of patient +observation and research. As he modestly states in his autobiography, +“the only merit to which I lay claim in the case is that of patient +research—a merit in which whoever wills may rival or surpass me; and this +humble faculty of patience, when rightly developed, may lead to more +extraordinary developments of idea than even genius itself.” + +The late John Brown, the eminent English geologist, was, like Miller, a +stonemason in his early life, serving an apprenticeship to the trade at +Colchester, and afterwards working as a journeyman mason at Norwich. He +began business as a builder on his own account at Colchester, where by +frugality and industry he secured a competency. It was while working at +his trade that his attention was first drawn to the study of fossils and +shells; and he proceeded to make a collection of them, which afterwards +grew into one of the finest in England. His researches along the coasts +of Essex, Kent, and Sussex brought to light some magnificent remains of +the elephant and rhinoceros, the most valuable of which were presented by +him to the British Museum. During the last few years of his life he +devoted considerable attention to the study of the Foraminifera in chalk, +respecting which he made several interesting discoveries. His life was +useful, happy, and honoured; and he died at Stanway, in Essex, in +November 1859, at the ripe age of eighty years. + +Not long ago, Sir Roderick Murchison discovered at Thurso, in the far +north of Scotland, a profound geologist, in the person of a baker there, +named Robert Dick. When Sir Roderick called upon him at the bakehouse in +which he baked and earned his bread, Robert Dick delineated to him, by +means of flour upon the board, the geographical features and geological +phenomena of his native county, pointing out the imperfections in the +existing maps, which he had ascertained by travelling over the country in +his leisure hours. On further inquiry, Sir Roderick ascertained that the +humble individual before him was not only a capital baker and geologist, +but a first-rate botanist. “I found,” said the President of the +Geographical Society, “to my great humiliation that the baker knew +infinitely more of botanical science, ay, ten times more, than I did; and +that there were only some twenty or thirty specimens of flowers which he +had not collected. Some he had obtained as presents, some he had +purchased, but the greater portion had been accumulated by his industry, +in his native county of Caithness; and the specimens were all arranged in +the most beautiful order, with their scientific names affixed.” + +Sir Roderick Murchison himself is an illustrious follower of these and +kindred branches of science. A writer in the ‘Quarterly Review’ cites +him as a “singular instance of a man who, having passed the early part of +his life as a soldier, never having had the advantage, or disadvantage as +the case might have been, of a scientific training, instead of remaining +a fox-hunting country gentleman, has succeeded by his own native vigour +and sagacity, untiring industry and zeal, in making for himself a +scientific reputation that is as wide as it is likely to be lasting. He +took first of all an unexplored and difficult district at home, and, by +the labour of many years, examined its rock-formations, classed them in +natural groups, assigned to each its characteristic assemblage of +fossils, and was the first to decipher two great chapters in the world’s +geological history, which must always henceforth carry his name on their +title-page. Not only so, but he applied the knowledge thus acquired to +the dissection of large districts, both at home and abroad, so as to +become the geological discoverer of great countries which had formerly +been ‘terræ incognitæ.’” But Sir Roderick Murchison is not merely a +geologist. His indefatigable labours in many branches of knowledge have +contributed to render him among the most accomplished and complete of +scientific men. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. +WORKERS IN ART. + + + “If what shone afar so grand, + Turn to nothing in thy hand, + On again; the virtue lies + In struggle, not the prize.”—_R. M. Milnes_. + + “Excelle, et tu vivras.”—_Joubert_. + +EXCELLENCE in art, as in everything else, can only be achieved by dint of +painstaking labour. + +There is nothing less accidental than the painting of a fine picture or +the chiselling of a noble statue. Every skilled touch of the artist’s +brush or chisel, though guided by genius, is the product of unremitting +study. + +Sir Joshua Reynolds was such a believer in the force of industry, that he +held that artistic excellence, “however expressed by genius, taste, or +the gift of heaven, may be acquired.” Writing to Barry he said, “Whoever +is resolved to excel in painting, or indeed any other art, must bring all +his mind to bear upon that one object from the moment that he rises till +he goes to bed.” And on another occasion he said, “Those who are +resolved to excel must go to their work, willing or unwilling, morning, +noon, and night: they will find it no play, but very hard labour.” But +although diligent application is no doubt absolutely necessary for the +achievement of the highest distinction in art, it is equally true that +without the inborn genius, no amount of mere industry, however well +applied, will make an artist. The gift comes by nature, but is perfected +by self-culture, which is of more avail than all the imparted education +of the schools. + +Some of the greatest artists have had to force their way upward in the +face of poverty and manifold obstructions. Illustrious instances will at +once flash upon the reader’s mind. Claude Lorraine, the pastrycook; +Tintoretto, the dyer; the two Caravaggios, the one a colour-grinder, the +other a mortar-carrier at the Vatican; Salvator Rosa, the associate of +bandits; Giotto, the peasant boy; Zingaro, the gipsy; Cavedone, turned +out of doors to beg by his father; Canova, the stone-cutter; these, and +many other well-known artists, succeeded in achieving distinction by +severe study and labour, under circumstances the most adverse. + +Nor have the most distinguished artists of our own country been born in a +position of life more than ordinarily favourable to the culture of +artistic genius. Gainsborough and Bacon were the sons of cloth-workers; +Barry was an Irish sailor boy, and Maclise a banker’s apprentice at Cork; +Opie and Romney, like Inigo Jones, were carpenters; West was the son of a +small Quaker farmer in Pennsylvania; Northcote was a watchmaker, Jackson +a tailor, and Etty a printer; Reynolds, Wilson, and Wilkie, were the sons +of clergymen; Lawrence was the son of a publican, and Turner of a barber. +Several of our painters, it is true, originally had some connection with +art, though in a very humble way,—such as Flaxman, whose father sold +plaster casts; Bird, who ornamented tea-trays; Martin, who was a +coach-painter; Wright and Gilpin, who were ship-painters; Chantrey, who +was a carver and gilder; and David Cox, Stanfield, and Roberts, who were +scene-painters. + +It was not by luck or accident that these men achieved distinction, but +by sheer industry and hard work. Though some achieved wealth, yet this +was rarely, if ever, the ruling motive. Indeed, no mere love of money +could sustain the efforts of the artist in his early career of +self-denial and application. The pleasure of the pursuit has always been +its best reward; the wealth which followed but an accident. Many +noble-minded artists have preferred following the bent of their genius, +to chaffering with the public for terms. Spagnoletto verified in his +life the beautiful fiction of Xenophon, and after he had acquired the +means of luxury, preferred withdrawing himself from their influence, and +voluntarily returned to poverty and labour. When Michael Angelo was +asked his opinion respecting a work which a painter had taken great pains +to exhibit for profit, he said, “I think that he will be a poor fellow so +long as he shows such an extreme eagerness to become rich.” + +Like Sir Joshua Reynolds, Michael Angelo was a great believer in the +force of labour; and he held that there was nothing which the imagination +conceived, that could not be embodied in marble, if the hand were made +vigorously to obey the mind. He was himself one of the most +indefatigable of workers; and he attributed his power of studying for a +greater number of hours than most of his contemporaries, to his spare +habits of living. A little bread and wine was all he required for the +chief part of the day when employed at his work; and very frequently he +rose in the middle of the night to resume his labours. On these +occasions, it was his practice to fix the candle, by the light of which +he chiselled, on the summit of a paste-board cap which he wore. +Sometimes he was too wearied to undress, and he slept in his clothes, +ready to spring to his work so soon as refreshed by sleep. He had a +favourite device of an old man in a go-cart, with an hour-glass upon it +bearing the inscription, _Ancora imparo_! Still I am learning. + +Titian, also, was an indefatigable worker. His celebrated “Pietro +Martire” was eight years in hand, and his “Last Supper” seven. In his +letter to Charles V. he said, “I send your Majesty the ‘Last Supper’ +after working at it almost daily for seven years—_dopo sette anni +lavorandovi quasi continuamente_.” Few think of the patient labour and +long training involved in the greatest works of the artist. They seem +easy and quickly accomplished, yet with how great difficulty has this +ease been acquired. “You charge me fifty sequins,” said the Venetian +nobleman to the sculptor, “for a bust that cost you only ten days’ +labour.” “You forget,” said the artist, “that I have been thirty years +learning to make that bust in ten days.” Once when Domenichino was +blamed for his slowness in finishing a picture which was bespoken, he +made answer, “I am continually painting it within myself.” It was +eminently characteristic of the industry of the late Sir Augustus +Callcott, that he made not fewer than forty separate sketches in the +composition of his famous picture of “Rochester.” This constant +repetition is one of the main conditions of success in art, as in life +itself. + +No matter how generous nature has been in bestowing the gift of genius, +the pursuit of art is nevertheless a long and continuous labour. Many +artists have been precocious, but without diligence their precocity would +have come to nothing. The anecdote related of West is well known. When +only seven years old, struck with the beauty of the sleeping infant of +his eldest sister whilst watching by its cradle, he ran to seek some +paper and forthwith drew its portrait in red and black ink. The little +incident revealed the artist in him, and it was found impossible to draw +him from his bent. West might have been a greater painter, had he not +been injured by too early success: his fame, though great, was not +purchased by study, trials, and difficulties, and it has not been +enduring. + +Richard Wilson, when a mere child, indulged himself with tracing figures +of men and animals on the walls of his father’s house, with a burnt +stick. He first directed his attention to portrait painting; but when in +Italy, calling one day at the house of Zucarelli, and growing weary with +waiting, he began painting the scene on which his friend’s chamber window +looked. When Zucarelli arrived, he was so charmed with the picture, that +he asked if Wilson had not studied landscape, to which he replied that he +had not. “Then, I advise you,” said the other, “to try; for you are sure +of great success.” Wilson adopted the advice, studied and worked hard, +and became our first great English landscape painter. + +Sir Joshua Reynolds, when a boy, forgot his lessons, and took pleasure +only in drawing, for which his father was accustomed to rebuke him. The +boy was destined for the profession of physic, but his strong instinct +for art could not be repressed, and he became a painter. Gainsborough +went sketching, when a schoolboy, in the woods of Sudbury; and at twelve +he was a confirmed artist: he was a keen observer and a hard worker,—no +picturesque feature of any scene he had once looked upon, escaping his +diligent pencil. William Blake, a hosier’s son, employed himself in +drawing designs on the backs of his father’s shop-bills, and making +sketches on the counter. Edward Bird, when a child only three or four +years old, would mount a chair and draw figures on the walls, which he +called French and English soldiers. A box of colours was purchased for +him, and his father, desirous of turning his love of art to account, put +him apprentice to a maker of tea-trays! Out of this trade he gradually +raised himself, by study and labour, to the rank of a Royal Academician. + +Hogarth, though a very dull boy at his lessons, took pleasure in making +drawings of the letters of the alphabet, and his school exercises were +more remarkable for the ornaments with which he embellished them, than +for the matter of the exercises themselves. In the latter respect he was +beaten by all the blockheads of the school, but in his adornments he +stood alone. His father put him apprentice to a silversmith, where he +learnt to draw, and also to engrave spoons and forks with crests and +ciphers. From silver-chasing, he went on to teach himself engraving on +copper, principally griffins and monsters of heraldry, in the course of +which practice he became ambitious to delineate the varieties of human +character. The singular excellence which he reached in this art, was +mainly the result of careful observation and study. He had the gift, +which he sedulously cultivated, of committing to memory the precise +features of any remarkable face, and afterwards reproducing them on +paper; but if any singularly fantastic form or _outré_ face came in his +way, he would make a sketch of it on the spot, upon his thumb-nail, and +carry it home to expand at his leisure. Everything fantastical and +original had a powerful attraction for him, and he wandered into many +out-of-the-way places for the purpose of meeting with character. By this +careful storing of his mind, he was afterwards enabled to crowd an +immense amount of thought and treasured observation into his works. +Hence it is that Hogarth’s pictures are so truthful a memorial of the +character, the manners, and even the very thoughts of the times in which +he lived. True painting, he himself observed, can only be learnt in one +school, and that is kept by Nature. But he was not a highly cultivated +man, except in his own walk. His school education had been of the +slenderest kind, scarcely even perfecting him in the art of spelling; his +self-culture did the rest. For a long time he was in very straitened +circumstances, but nevertheless worked on with a cheerful heart. Poor +though he was, he contrived to live within his small means, and he +boasted, with becoming pride, that he was “a punctual paymaster.” When +he had conquered all his difficulties and become a famous and thriving +man, he loved to dwell upon his early labours and privations, and to +fight over again the battle which ended so honourably to him as a man and +so gloriously as an artist. “I remember the time,” said he on one +occasion, “when I have gone moping into the city with scarce a shilling, +but as soon as I have received ten guineas there for a plate, I have +returned home, put on my sword, and sallied out with all the confidence +of a man who had thousands in his pockets.” + +“Industry and perseverance” was the motto of the sculptor Banks, which he +acted on himself, and strongly recommended to others. His well-known +kindness induced many aspiring youths to call upon him and ask for his +advice and assistance; and it is related that one day a boy called at his +door to see him with this object, but the servant, angry at the loud +knock he had given, scolded him, and was about sending him away, when +Banks overhearing her, himself went out. The little boy stood at the +door with some drawings in his hand. “What do you want with me?” asked +the sculptor. “I want, sir, if you please, to be admitted to draw at the +Academy.” Banks explained that he himself could not procure his +admission, but he asked to look at the boy’s drawings. Examining them, +he said, “Time enough for the Academy, my little man! go home—mind your +schooling—try to make a better drawing of the Apollo—and in a month come +again and let me see it.” The boy went home—sketched and worked with +redoubled diligence—and, at the end of the month, called again on the +sculptor. The drawing was better; but again Banks sent him back, with +good advice, to work and study. In a week the boy was again at his door, +his drawing much improved; and Banks bid him be of good cheer, for if +spared he would distinguish himself. The boy was Mulready; and the +sculptor’s augury was amply fulfilled. + +The fame of Claude Lorraine is partly explained by his indefatigable +industry. Born at Champagne, in Lorraine, of poor parents, he was first +apprenticed to a pastrycook. His brother, who was a wood-carver, +afterwards took him into his shop to learn that trade. Having there +shown indications of artistic skill, a travelling dealer persuaded the +brother to allow Claude to accompany him to Italy. He assented, and the +young man reached Rome, where he was shortly after engaged by Agostino +Tassi, the landscape painter, as his house-servant. In that capacity +Claude first learnt landscape painting, and in course of time he began to +produce pictures. We next find him making the tour of Italy, France, and +Germany, occasionally resting by the way to paint landscapes, and thereby +replenish his purse. On returning to Rome he found an increasing demand +for his works, and his reputation at length became European. He was +unwearied in the study of nature in her various aspects. It was his +practice to spend a great part of his time in closely copying buildings, +bits of ground, trees, leaves, and such like, which he finished in +detail, keeping the drawings by him in store for the purpose of +introducing them in his studied landscapes. He also gave close attention +to the sky, watching it for whole days from morning till night, and +noting the various changes occasioned by the passing clouds and the +increasing and waning light. By this constant practice he acquired, +although it is said very slowly, such a mastery of hand and eye as +eventually secured for him the first rank among landscape painters. + +Turner, who has been styled “the English Claude,” pursued a career of +like laborious industry. He was destined by his father for his own trade +of a barber, which he carried on in London, until one day the sketch +which the boy had made of a coat of arms on a silver salver having +attracted the notice of a customer whom his father was shaving, the +latter was urged to allow his son to follow his bias, and he was +eventually permitted to follow art as a profession. Like all young +artists, Turner had many difficulties to encounter, and they were all the +greater that his circumstances were so straitened. But he was always +willing to work, and to take pains with his work, no matter how humble it +might be. He was glad to hire himself out at half-a-crown a night to +wash in skies in Indian ink upon other people’s drawings, getting his +supper into the bargain. Thus he earned money and acquired expertness. +Then he took to illustrating guide-books, almanacs, and any sort of books +that wanted cheap frontispieces. “What could I have done better?” said +he afterwards; “it was first-rate practice.” He did everything carefully +and conscientiously, never slurring over his work because he was +ill-remunerated for it. He aimed at learning as well as living; always +doing his best, and never leaving a drawing without having made a step in +advance upon his previous work. A man who thus laboured was sure to do +much; and his growth in power and grasp of thought was, to use Ruskin’s +words, “as steady as the increasing light of sunrise.” But Turner’s +genius needs no panegyric; his best monument is the noble gallery of +pictures bequeathed by him to the nation, which will ever be the most +lasting memorial of his fame. + +To reach Rome, the capital of the fine arts, is usually the highest +ambition of the art student. But the journey to Rome is costly, and the +student is often poor. With a will resolute to overcome difficulties, +Rome may however at last be reached. Thus François Perrier, an early +French painter, in his eager desire to visit the Eternal City, consented +to act as guide to a blind vagrant. After long wanderings he reached the +Vatican, studied and became famous. Not less enthusiasm was displayed by +Jacques Callot in his determination to visit Rome. Though opposed by his +father in his wish to be an artist, the boy would not be baulked, but +fled from home to make his way to Italy. Having set out without means, +he was soon reduced to great straits; but falling in with a band of +gipsies, he joined their company, and wandered about with them from one +fair to another, sharing in their numerous adventures. During this +remarkable journey Callot picked up much of that extraordinary knowledge +of figure, feature, and character which he afterwards reproduced, +sometimes in such exaggerated forms, in his wonderful engravings. + +When Callot at length reached Florence, a gentleman, pleased with his +ingenious ardour, placed him with an artist to study; but he was not +satisfied to stop short of Rome, and we find him shortly on his way +thither. At Rome he made the acquaintance of Porigi and Thomassin, who, +on seeing his crayon sketches, predicted for him a brilliant career as an +artist. But a friend of Callot’s family having accidentally encountered +him, took steps to compel the fugitive to return home. By this time he +had acquired such a love of wandering that he could not rest; so he ran +away a second time, and a second time he was brought back by his elder +brother, who caught him at Turin. At last the father, seeing resistance +was in vain, gave his reluctant consent to Callot’s prosecuting his +studies at Rome. Thither he went accordingly; and this time he remained, +diligently studying design and engraving for several years, under +competent masters. On his way back to France, he was encouraged by Cosmo +II. to remain at Florence, where he studied and worked for several years +more. On the death of his patron he returned to his family at Nancy, +where, by the use of his burin and needle, he shortly acquired both +wealth and fame. When Nancy was taken by siege during the civil wars, +Callot was requested by Richelieu to make a design and engraving of the +event, but the artist would not commemorate the disaster which had +befallen his native place, and he refused point-blank. Richelieu could +not shake his resolution, and threw him into prison. There Callot met +with some of his old friends the gipsies, who had relieved his wants on +his first journey to Rome. When Louis XIII. heard of his imprisonment, +he not only released him, but offered to grant him any favour he might +ask. Callot immediately requested that his old companions, the gipsies, +might be set free and permitted to beg in Paris without molestation. +This odd request was granted on condition that Callot should engrave +their portraits, and hence his curious book of engravings entitled “The +Beggars.” Louis is said to have offered Callot a pension of 3000 livres +provided he would not leave Paris; but the artist was now too much of a +Bohemian, and prized his liberty too highly to permit him to accept it; +and he returned to Nancy, where he worked till his death. His industry +may be inferred from the number of his engravings and etchings, of which +he left not fewer than 1600. He was especially fond of grotesque +subjects, which he treated with great skill; his free etchings, touched +with the graver, being executed with especial delicacy and wonderful +minuteness. + +Still more romantic and adventurous was the career of Benvenuto Cellini, +the marvellous gold worker, painter, sculptor, engraver, engineer, and +author. His life, as told by himself, is one of the most extraordinary +autobiographies ever written. Giovanni Cellini, his father, was one of +the Court musicians to Lorenzo de Medici at Florence; and his highest +ambition concerning his son Benvenuto was that he should become an expert +player on the flute. But Giovanni having lost his appointment, found it +necessary to send his son to learn some trade, and he was apprenticed to +a goldsmith. The boy had already displayed a love of drawing and of art; +and, applying himself to his business, he soon became a dexterous +workman. Having got mixed up in a quarrel with some of the townspeople, +he was banished for six months, during which period he worked with a +goldsmith at Sienna, gaining further experience in jewellery and +gold-working. + +His father still insisting on his becoming a flute-player, Benvenuto +continued to practise on the instrument, though he detested it. His +chief pleasure was in art, which he pursued with enthusiasm. Returning +to Florence, he carefully studied the designs of Leonardo da Vinci and +Michael Angelo; and, still further to improve himself in gold-working, he +went on foot to Rome, where he met with a variety of adventures. He +returned to Florence with the reputation of being a most expert worker in +the precious metals, and his skill was soon in great request. But being +of an irascible temper, he was constantly getting into scrapes, and was +frequently under the necessity of flying for his life. Thus he fled from +Florence in the disguise of a friar, again taking refuge at Sienna, and +afterwards at Rome. + +During his second residence in Rome, Cellini met with extensive +patronage, and he was taken into the Pope’s service in the double +capacity of goldsmith and musician. He was constantly studying and +improving himself by acquaintance with the works of the best masters. He +mounted jewels, finished enamels, engraved seals, and designed and +executed works in gold, silver, and bronze, in such a style as to excel +all other artists. Whenever he heard of a goldsmith who was famous in +any particular branch, he immediately determined to surpass him. Thus it +was that he rivalled the medals of one, the enamels of another, and the +jewellery of a third; in fact, there was not a branch of his business +that he did not feel impelled to excel in. + +Working in this spirit, it is not so wonderful that Cellini should have +been able to accomplish so much. He was a man of indefatigable activity, +and was constantly on the move. At one time we find him at Florence, at +another at Rome; then he is at Mantua, at Rome, at Naples, and back to +Florence again; then at Venice, and in Paris, making all his long +journeys on horseback. He could not carry much luggage with him; so, +wherever he went, he usually began by making his own tools. He not only +designed his works, but executed them himself,—hammered and carved, and +cast and shaped them with his own hands. Indeed, his works have the +impress of genius so clearly stamped upon them, that they could never +have been designed by one person, and executed by another. The humblest +article—a buckle for a lady’s girdle, a seal, a locket, a brooch, a ring, +or a button—became in his hands a beautiful work of art. + +Cellini was remarkable for his readiness and dexterity in handicraft. +One day a surgeon entered the shop of Raffaello del Moro, the goldsmith, +to perform an operation on his daughter’s hand. On looking at the +surgeon’s instruments, Cellini, who was present, found them rude and +clumsy, as they usually were in those days, and he asked the surgeon to +proceed no further with the operation for a quarter of an hour. He then +ran to his shop, and taking a piece of the finest steel, wrought out of +it a beautifully finished knife, with which the operation was +successfully performed. + +Among the statues executed by Cellini, the most important are the silver +figure of Jupiter, executed at Paris for Francis I., and the Perseus, +executed in bronze for the Grand Duke Cosmo of Florence. He also +executed statues in marble of Apollo, Hyacinthus, Narcissus, and Neptune. +The extraordinary incidents connected with the casting of the Perseus +were peculiarly illustrative of the remarkable character of the man. + +The Grand Duke having expressed a decided opinion that the model, when +shown to him in wax, could not possibly be cast in bronze, Cellini was +immediately stimulated by the predicted impossibility, not only to +attempt, but to do it. He first made the clay model, baked it, and +covered it with wax, which he shaped into the perfect form of a statue. +Then coating the wax with a sort of earth, he baked the second covering, +during which the wax dissolved and escaped, leaving the space between the +two layers for the reception of the metal. To avoid disturbance, the +latter process was conducted in a pit dug immediately under the furnace, +from which the liquid metal was to be introduced by pipes and apertures +into the mould prepared for it. + +Cellini had purchased and laid in several loads of pine-wood, in +anticipation of the process of casting, which now began. The furnace was +filled with pieces of brass and bronze, and the fire was lit. The +resinous pine-wood was soon in such a furious blaze, that the shop took +fire, and part of the roof was burnt; while at the same time the wind +blowing and the rain filling on the furnace, kept down the heat, and +prevented the metals from melting. For hours Cellini struggled to keep +up the heat, continually throwing in more wood, until at length he became +so exhausted and ill, that he feared he should die before the statue +could be cast. He was forced to leave to his assistants the pouring in +of the metal when melted, and betook himself to his bed. While those +about him were condoling with him in his distress, a workman suddenly +entered the room, lamenting that “Poor Benvenuto’s work was irretrievably +spoiled!” On hearing this, Cellini immediately sprang from his bed and +rushed to the workshop, where he found the fire so much gone down that +the metal had again become hard. + +Sending across to a neighbour for a load of young oak which had been more +than a year in drying, he soon had the fire blazing again and the metal +melting and glittering. The wind was, however, still blowing with fury, +and the rain falling heavily; so, to protect himself, Cellini had some +tables with pieces of tapestry and old clothes brought to him, behind +which he went on hurling the wood into the furnace. A mass of pewter was +thrown in upon the other metal, and by stirring, sometimes with iron and +sometimes with long poles, the whole soon became completely melted. At +this juncture, when the trying moment was close at hand, a terrible noise +as of a thunderbolt was heard, and a glittering of fire flashed before +Cellini’s eyes. The cover of the furnace had burst, and the metal began +to flow! Finding that it did not run with the proper velocity, Cellini +rushed into the kitchen, bore away every piece of copper and pewter that +it contained—some two hundred porringers, dishes, and kettles of +different kinds—and threw them into the furnace. Then at length the +metal flowed freely, and thus the splendid statue of Perseus was cast. + +The divine fury of genius in which Cellini rushed to his kitchen and +stripped it of its utensils for the purposes of his furnace, will remind +the reader of the like act of Pallissy in breaking up his furniture for +the purpose of baking his earthenware. Excepting, however, in their +enthusiasm, no two men could be less alike in character. Cellini was an +Ishmael against whom, according to his own account, every man’s hand was +turned. But about his extraordinary skill as a workman, and his genius +as an artist, there cannot be two opinions. + +Much less turbulent was the career of Nicolas Poussin, a man as pure and +elevated in his ideas of art as he was in his daily life, and +distinguished alike for his vigour of intellect, his rectitude of +character, and his noble simplicity. He was born in a very humble +station, at Andeleys, near Rouen, where his father kept a small school. +The boy had the benefit of his parent’s instruction, such as it was, but +of that he is said to have been somewhat negligent, preferring to spend +his time in covering his lesson-books and his slate with drawings. A +country painter, much pleased with his sketches, besought his parents not +to thwart him in his tastes. The painter agreed to give Poussin lessons, +and he soon made such progress that his master had nothing more to teach +him. Becoming restless, and desirous of further improving himself, +Poussin, at the age of 18, set out for Paris, painting signboards on his +way for a maintenance. + +At Paris a new world of art opened before him, exciting his wonder and +stimulating his emulation. He worked diligently in many studios, +drawing, copying, and painting pictures. After a time, he resolved, if +possible, to visit Rome, and set out on his journey; but he only +succeeded in getting as far as Florence, and again returned to Paris. A +second attempt which he made to reach Rome was even less successful; for +this time he only got as far as Lyons. He was, nevertheless, careful to +take advantage of all opportunities for improvement which came in his +way, and continued as sedulous as before in studying and working. + +Thus twelve years passed, years of obscurity and toil, of failures and +disappointments, and probably of privations. At length Poussin succeeded +in reaching Rome. There he diligently studied the old masters, and +especially the ancient statues, with whose perfection he was greatly +impressed. For some time he lived with the sculptor Duquesnoi, as poor +as himself, and assisted him in modelling figures after the antique. +With him he carefully measured some of the most celebrated statues in +Rome, more particularly the ‘Antinous:’ and it is supposed that this +practice exercised considerable influence on the formation of his future +style. At the same time he studied anatomy, practised drawing from the +life, and made a great store of sketches of postures and attitudes of +people whom he met, carefully reading at his leisure such standard books +on art as he could borrow from his friends. + +During all this time he remained very poor, satisfied to be continually +improving himself. He was glad to sell his pictures for whatever they +would bring. One, of a prophet, he sold for eight livres; and another, +the ‘Plague of the Philistines,’ he sold for 60 crowns—a picture +afterwards bought by Cardinal de Richelieu for a thousand. To add to his +troubles, he was stricken by a cruel malady, during the helplessness +occasioned by which the Chevalier del Posso assisted him with money. For +this gentleman Poussin afterwards painted the ‘Rest in the Desert,’ a +fine picture, which far more than repaid the advances made during his +illness. + +The brave man went on toiling and learning through suffering. Still +aiming at higher things, he went to Florence and Venice, enlarging the +range of his studies. The fruits of his conscientious labour at length +appeared in the series of great pictures which he now began to +produce,—his ‘Death of Germanicus,’ followed by ‘Extreme Unction,’ the +‘Testament of Eudamidas,’ the ‘Manna,’ and the ‘Abduction of the +Sabines.’ + +The reputation of Poussin, however, grew but slowly. He was of a +retiring disposition and shunned society. People gave him credit for +being a thinker much more than a painter. When not actually employed in +painting, he took long solitary walks in the country, meditating the +designs of future pictures. One of his few friends while at Rome was +Claude Lorraine, with whom he spent many hours at a time on the terrace +of La Trinité-du-Mont, conversing about art and antiquarianism. The +monotony and the quiet of Rome were suited to his taste, and, provided he +could earn a moderate living by his brush, he had no wish to leave it. + +But his fame now extended beyond Rome, and repeated invitations were sent +him to return to Paris. He was offered the appointment of principal +painter to the King. At first he hesitated; quoted the Italian proverb, +_Chi sta bene non si muove_; said he had lived fifteen years in Rome, +married a wife there, and looked forward to dying and being buried there. +Urged again, he consented, and returned to Paris. But his appearance +there awakened much professional jealousy, and he soon wished himself +back in Rome again. While in Paris he painted some of his greatest +works—his ‘Saint Xavier,’ the ‘Baptism,’ and the ‘Last Supper.’ He was +kept constantly at work. At first he did whatever he was asked to do, +such as designing frontispieces for the royal books, more particularly a +Bible and a Virgil, cartoons for the Louvre, and designs for tapestry; +but at length he expostulated:—“It is impossible for me,” he said to M. +de Chanteloup, “to work at the same time at frontispieces for books, at a +Virgin, at a picture of the Congregation of St. Louis, at the various +designs for the gallery, and, finally, at designs for the royal tapestry. +I have only one pair of hands and a feeble head, and can neither be +helped nor can my labours be lightened by another.” + +Annoyed by the enemies his success had provoked and whom he was unable to +conciliate, he determined, at the end of less than two years’ labour in +Paris, to return to Rome. Again settled there in his humble dwelling on +Mont Pincio, he employed himself diligently in the practice of his art +during the remaining years of his life, living in great simplicity and +privacy. Though suffering much from the disease which afflicted him, he +solaced himself by study, always striving after excellence. “In growing +old,” he said, “I feel myself becoming more and more inflamed with the +desire of surpassing myself and reaching the highest degree of +perfection.” Thus toiling, struggling, and suffering, Poussin spent his +later years. He had no children; his wife died before him; all his +friends were gone: so that in his old age he was left absolutely alone in +Rome, so full of tombs, and died there in 1665, bequeathing to his +relatives at Andeleys the savings of his life, amounting to about 1000 +crowns; and leaving behind him, as a legacy to his race, the great works +of his genius. + +The career of Ary Scheffer furnishes one of the best examples in modern +times of a like high-minded devotion to art. Born at Dordrecht, the son +of a German artist, he early manifested an aptitude for drawing and +painting, which his parents encouraged. His father dying while he was +still young, his mother resolved, though her means were but small, to +remove the family to Paris, in order that her son might obtain the best +opportunities for instruction. There young Scheffer was placed with +Guérin the painter. But his mother’s means were too limited to permit +him to devote himself exclusively to study. She had sold the few jewels +she possessed, and refused herself every indulgence, in order to forward +the instruction of her other children. Under such circumstances, it was +natural that Ary should wish to help her; and by the time he was eighteen +years of age he began to paint small pictures of simple subjects, which +met with a ready sale at moderate prices. He also practised portrait +painting, at the same time gathering experience and earning honest money. +He gradually improved in drawing, colouring, and composition. The +‘Baptism’ marked a new epoch in his career, and from that point he went +on advancing, until his fame culminated in his pictures illustrative of +‘Faust,’ his ‘Francisca de Rimini,’ ‘Christ the Consoler,’ the ‘Holy +Women,’ ‘St. Monica and St. Augustin,’ and many other noble works. + +“The amount of labour, thought, and attention,” says Mrs. Grote, “which +Scheffer brought to the production of the ‘Francisca,’ must have been +enormous. In truth, his technical education having been so imperfect, he +was forced to climb the steep of art by drawing upon his own resources, +and thus, whilst his hand was at work, his mind was engaged in +meditation. He had to try various processes of handling, and experiments +in colouring; to paint and repaint, with tedious and unremitting +assiduity. But Nature had endowed him with that which proved in some +sort an equivalent for shortcomings of a professional kind. His own +elevation of character, and his profound sensibility, aided him in acting +upon the feelings of others through the medium of the pencil.” {173} + +One of the artists whom Scheffer most admired was Flaxman; and he once +said to a friend, “If I have unconsciously borrowed from any one in the +design of the ‘Francisca,’ it must have been from something I had seen +among Flaxman’s drawings.” John Flaxman was the son of a humble seller +of plaster casts in New Street, Covent Garden. When a child, he was such +an invalid that it was his custom to sit behind his father’s shop counter +propped by pillows, amusing himself with drawing and reading. A +benevolent clergyman, the Rev. Mr. Matthews, calling at the shop one day, +saw the boy trying to read a book, and on inquiring what it was, found it +to be a Cornelius Nepos, which his father had picked up for a few pence +at a bookstall. The gentleman, after some conversation with the boy, +said that was not the proper book for him to read, but that he would +bring him one. The next day he called with translations of Homer and +‘Don Quixote,’ which the boy proceeded to read with great avidity. His +mind was soon filled with the heroism which breathed through the pages of +the former, and, with the stucco Ajaxes and Achilleses about him, ranged +along the shop shelves, the ambition took possession of him, that he too +would design and embody in poetic forms those majestic heroes. + +Like all youthful efforts, his first designs were crude. The proud +father one day showed some of them to Roubilliac the sculptor, who turned +from them with a contemptuous “pshaw!” But the boy had the right stuff +in him; he had industry and patience; and he continued to labour +incessantly at his books and drawings. He then tried his young powers in +modelling figures in plaster of Paris, wax, and clay. Some of these +early works are still preserved, not because of their merit, but because +they are curious as the first healthy efforts of patient genius. It was +long before the boy could walk, and he only learnt to do so by hobbling +along upon crutches. At length he became strong enough to walk without +them. + +The kind Mr. Matthews invited him to his house, where his wife explained +Homer and Milton to him. They helped him also in his self-culture—giving +him lessons in Greek and Latin, the study of which he prosecuted at home. +By dint of patience and perseverance, his drawing improved so much that +he obtained a commission from a lady, to execute six original drawings in +black chalk of subjects in Homer. His first commission! What an event +in the artist’s life! A surgeon’s first fee, a lawyer’s first retainer, +a legislator’s first speech, a singer’s first appearance behind the +foot-lights, an author’s first book, are not any of them more full of +interest to the aspirant for fame than the artist’s first commission. +The boy at once proceeded to execute the order, and he was both well +praised and well paid for his work. + +At fifteen Flaxman entered a pupil at the Royal Academy. Notwithstanding +his retiring disposition, he soon became known among the students, and +great things were expected of him. Nor were their expectations +disappointed: in his fifteenth year he gained the silver prize, and next +year he became a candidate for the gold one. Everybody prophesied that +he would carry off the medal, for there was none who surpassed him in +ability and industry. Yet he lost it, and the gold medal was adjudged to +a pupil who was not afterwards heard of. This failure on the part of the +youth was really of service to him; for defeats do not long cast down the +resolute-hearted, but only serve to call forth their real powers. “Give +me time,” said he to his father, “and I will yet produce works that the +Academy will be proud to recognise.” He redoubled his efforts, spared no +pains, designed and modelled incessantly, and made steady if not rapid +progress. But meanwhile poverty threatened his father’s household; the +plaster-cast trade yielded a very bare living; and young Flaxman, with +resolute self-denial, curtailed his hours of study, and devoted himself +to helping his father in the humble details of his business. He laid +aside his Homer to take up the plaster-trowel. He was willing to work in +the humblest department of the trade so that his father’s family might be +supported, and the wolf kept from the door. To this drudgery of his art +he served a long apprenticeship; but it did him good. It familiarised +him with steady work, and cultivated in him the spirit of patience. The +discipline may have been hard, but it was wholesome. + +Happily, young Flaxman’s skill in design had reached the knowledge of +Josiah Wedgwood, who sought him out for the purpose of employing him to +design improved patterns of china and earthenware. It may seem a humble +department of art for such a genius as Flaxman to work in; but it really +was not so. An artist may be labouring truly in his vocation while +designing a common teapot or water-jug. Articles in daily use amongst +the people, which are before their eyes at every meal, may be made the +vehicles of education to all, and minister to their highest culture. The +most ambitious artist way thus confer a greater practical benefit on his +countrymen than by executing an elaborate work which he may sell for +thousands of pounds to be placed in some wealthy man’s gallery where it +is hidden away from public sight. Before Wedgwood’s time the designs +which figured upon our china and stoneware were hideous both in drawing +and execution, and he determined to improve both. Flaxman did his best +to carry out the manufacturer’s views. He supplied him from time to time +with models and designs of various pieces of earthenware, the subjects of +which were principally from ancient verse and history. Many of them are +still in existence, and some are equal in beauty and simplicity to his +after designs for marble. The celebrated Etruscan vases, specimens of +which were to be found in public museums and in the cabinets of the +curious, furnished him with the best examples of form, and these he +embellished with his own elegant devices. Stuart’s ‘Athens,’ then +recently published, furnished him with specimens of the purest-shaped +Greek utensils; of these he adopted the best, and worked them into new +shapes of elegance and beauty. Flaxman then saw that he was labouring in +a great work—no less than the promotion of popular education; and he was +proud, in after life, to allude to his early labours in this walk, by +which he was enabled at the same time to cultivate his love of the +beautiful, to diffuse a taste for art among the people, and to replenish +his own purse, while he promoted the prosperity of his friend and +benefactor. + +At length, in the year 1782, when twenty-seven years of age, he quitted +his father’s roof and rented a small house and studio in Wardour Street, +Soho; and what was more, he married—Ann Denman was the name of his +wife—and a cheerful, bright-souled, noble woman she was. He believed +that in marrying her he should be able to work with an intenser spirit; +for, like him, she had a taste for poetry and art; and besides was an +enthusiastic admirer of her husband’s genius. Yet when Sir Joshua +Reynolds—himself a bachelor—met Flaxman shortly after his marriage, he +said to him, “So, Flaxman, I am told you are married; if so, sir, I tell +you you are ruined for an artist.” Flaxman went straight home, sat down +beside his wife, took her hand in his, and said, “Ann, I am ruined for an +artist.” “How so, John? How has it happened? and who has done it?” “It +happened,” he replied, “in the church, and Ann Denman has done it.” He +then told her of Sir Joshua’s remark—whose opinion was well known, and +had often been expressed, that if students would excel they must bring +the whole powers of their mind to bear upon their art, from the moment +they rose until they went to bed; and also, that no man could be a +_great_ artist unless he studied the grand works of Raffaelle, Michael +Angelo, and others, at Rome and Florence. “And I,” said Flaxman, drawing +up his little figure to its full height, “_I_ would be a great artist.” +“And a great artist you shall be,” said his wife, “and visit Rome too, if +that be really necessary to make you great.” “But how?” asked Flaxman. +“_Work and economise_,” rejoined the brave wife; “I will never have it +said that Ann Denman ruined John Flaxman for an artist.” And so it was +determined by the pair that the journey to Rome was to be made when their +means would admit. “I will go to Rome,” said Flaxman, “and show the +President that wedlock is for a man’s good rather than his harm; and you, +Ann, shall accompany me.” + +Patiently and happily the affectionate couple plodded on during five +years in their humble little home in Wardour Street, always with the long +journey to Rome before them. It was never lost sight of for a moment, +and not a penny was uselessly spent that could be saved towards the +necessary expenses. They said no word to any one about their project; +solicited no aid from the Academy; but trusted only to their own patient +labour and love to pursue and achieve their object. During this time +Flaxman exhibited very few works. He could not afford marble to +experiment in original designs; but he obtained frequent commissions for +monuments, by the profits of which he maintained himself. He still +worked for Wedgwood, who was a prompt paymaster; and, on the whole, he +was thriving, happy, and hopeful. His local respectability was even such +as to bring local honours and local work upon him; for he was elected by +the ratepayers to collect the watch-rate for the Parish of St. Anne, when +he might be seen going about with an ink-bottle suspended from his +button-hole, collecting the money. + +At length Flaxman and his wife having accumulated a sufficient store of +savings, set out for Rome. Arrived there, he applied himself diligently +to study, maintaining himself, like other poor artists, by making copies +from the antique. English visitors sought his studio, and gave him +commissions; and it was then that he composed his beautiful designs +illustrative of Homer, Æschylus, and Dante. The price paid for them was +moderate—only fifteen shillings a-piece; but Flaxman worked for art as +well as money; and the beauty of the designs brought him other friends +and patrons. He executed Cupid and Aurora for the munificent Thomas +Hope, and the Fury of Athamas for the Earl of Bristol. He then prepared +to return to England, his taste improved and cultivated by careful study; +but before he left Italy, the Academies of Florence and Carrara +recognised his merit by electing him a member. + +His fame had preceded him to London, where he soon found abundant +employment. While at Rome he had been commissioned to execute his famous +monument in memory of Lord Mansfield, and it was erected in the north +transept of Westminster Abbey shortly after his return. It stands there +in majestic grandeur, a monument to the genius of Flaxman himself—calm, +simple, and severe. No wonder that Banks, the sculptor, then in the +heyday of his fame, exclaimed when he saw it, “This little man cuts us +all out!” + +When the members of the Royal Academy heard of Flaxman’s return, and +especially when they had an opportunity of seeing and admiring his +portrait-statue of Mansfield, they were eager to have him enrolled among +their number. He allowed his name to be proposed in the candidates’ list +of associates, and was immediately elected. Shortly after, he appeared +in an entirely new character. The little boy who had begun his studies +behind the plaster-cast-seller’s shop-counter in New Street, Covent +Garden, was now a man of high intellect and recognised supremacy in art, +to instruct students, in the character of Professor of Sculpture to the +Royal Academy! And no man better deserved to fill that distinguished +office; for none is so able to instruct others as he who, for himself and +by his own efforts, has learnt to grapple with and overcome difficulties. + +After a long, peaceful, and happy life, Flaxman found himself growing +old. The loss which he sustained by the death of his affectionate wife +Ann, was a severe shock to him; but he survived her several years, during +which he executed his celebrated “Shield of Achilles,” and his noble +“Archangel Michael vanquishing Satan,”—perhaps his two greatest works. + +Chantrey was a more robust man;—somewhat rough, but hearty in his +demeanour; proud of his successful struggle with the difficulties which +beset him in early life; and, above all, proud of his independence. He +was born a poor man’s child, at Norton, near Sheffield. His father dying +when he was a mere boy, his mother married again. Young Chantrey used to +drive an ass laden with milk-cans across its back into the neighbouring +town of Sheffield, and there serve his mother’s customers with milk. +Such was the humble beginning of his industrial career; and it was by his +own strength that he rose from that position, and achieved the highest +eminence as an artist. Not taking kindly to his step-father, the boy was +sent to trade, and was first placed with a grocer in Sheffield. The +business was very distasteful to him; but, passing a carver’s shop window +one day, his eye was attracted by the glittering articles it contained, +and, charmed with the idea of being a carver, he begged to be released +from the grocery business with that object. His friends consented, and +he was bound apprentice to the carver and gilder for seven years. His +new master, besides being a carver in wood, was also a dealer in prints +and plaster models; and Chantrey at once set about imitating both, +studying with great industry and energy. All his spare hours were +devoted to drawing, modelling, and self-improvement, and he often carried +his labours far into the night. Before his apprenticeship was out—at the +ace of twenty-one—he paid over to his master the whole wealth which he +was able to muster—a sum of 50_l._—to cancel his indentures, determined +to devote himself to the career of an artist. He then made the best of +his way to London, and with characteristic good sense, sought employment +as an assistant carver, studying painting and modelling at his bye-hours. +Among the jobs on which he was first employed as a journeyman carver, was +the decoration of the dining-room of Mr. Rogers, the poet—a room in which +he was in after years a welcome visitor; and he usually took pleasure in +pointing out his early handywork to the guests whom he met at his +friend’s table. + +Returning to Sheffield on a professional visit, he advertised himself in +the local papers as a painter of portraits in crayons and miniatures, and +also in oil. For his first crayon portrait he was paid a guinea by a +cutler; and for a portrait in oil, a confectioner paid him as much as +5_l._ and a pair of top boots! Chantrey was soon in London again to +study at the Royal Academy; and next time he returned to Sheffield he +advertised himself as ready to model plaster busts of his townsmen, as +well as paint portraits of them. He was even selected to design a +monument to a deceased vicar of the town, and executed it to the general +satisfaction. When in London he used a room over a stable as a studio, +and there he modelled his first original work for exhibition. It was a +gigantic head of Satan. Towards the close of Chantrey’s life, a friend +passing through his studio was struck by this model lying in a corner. +“That head,” said the sculptor, “was the first thing that I did after I +came to London. I worked at it in a garret with a paper cap on my head; +and as I could then afford only one candle, I stuck that one in my cap +that it might move along with me, and give me light whichever way I +turned.” Flaxman saw and admired this head at the Academy Exhibition, +and recommended Chantrey for the execution of the busts of four admirals, +required for the Naval Asylum at Greenwich. This commission led to +others, and painting was given up. But for eight years before, he had +not earned 5_l._ by his modelling. His famous head of Horne Tooke was +such a success that, according to his own account, it brought him +commissions amounting to 12,000_l._ + +Chantrey had now succeeded, but he had worked hard, and fairly earned his +good fortune. He was selected from amongst sixteen competitors to +execute the statue of George III. for the city of London. A few years +later, he produced the exquisite monument of the Sleeping Children, now +in Lichfield Cathedral,—a work of great tenderness and beauty; and +thenceforward his career was one of increasing honour, fame, and +prosperity. His patience, industry, and steady perseverance were the +means by which he achieved his greatness. Nature endowed him with +genius, and his sound sense enabled him to employ the precious gift as a +blessing. He was prudent and shrewd, like the men amongst whom he was +born; the pocket-book which accompanied him on his Italian tour +containing mingled notes on art, records of daily expenses, and the +current prices of marble. His tastes were simple, and he made his finest +subjects great by the mere force of simplicity. His statue of Watt, in +Handsworth church, seems to us the very consummation of art; yet it is +perfectly artless and simple. His generosity to brother artists in need +was splendid, but quiet and unostentatious. He left the principal part +of his fortune to the Royal Academy for the promotion of British art. + +The same honest and persistent industry was throughout distinctive of the +career of David Wilkie. The son of a Scotch minister, he gave early +indications of an artistic turn; and though he was a negligent and inapt +scholar, he was a sedulous drawer of faces and figures. A silent boy, he +already displayed that quiet concentrated energy of character which +distinguished him through life. He was always on the look-out for an +opportunity to draw,—and the walls of the manse, or the smooth sand by +the river side, were alike convenient for his purpose. Any sort of tool +would serve him; like Giotto, he found a pencil in a burnt stick, a +prepared canvas in any smooth stone, and the subject for a picture in +every ragged mendicant he met. When he visited a house, he generally +left his mark on the walls as an indication of his presence, sometimes to +the disgust of cleanly housewives. In short, notwithstanding the +aversion of his father, the minister, to the “sinful” profession of +painting, Wilkie’s strong propensity was not to be thwarted, and he +became an artist, working his way manfully up the steep of difficulty. +Though rejected on his first application as a candidate for admission to +the Scottish Academy, at Edinburgh, on account of the rudeness and +inaccuracy of his introductory specimens, he persevered in producing +better, until he was admitted. But his progress was slow. He applied +himself diligently to the drawing of the human figure, and held on with +the determination to succeed, as if with a resolute confidence in the +result. He displayed none of the eccentric humour and fitful application +of many youths who conceive themselves geniuses, but kept up the routine +of steady application to such an extent that he himself was afterwards +accustomed to attribute his success to his dogged perseverance rather +than to any higher innate power. “The single element,” he said, “in all +the progressive movements of my pencil was persevering industry.” At +Edinburgh he gained a few premiums, thought of turning his attention to +portrait painting, with a view to its higher and more certain +remuneration, but eventually went boldly into the line in which he earned +his fame,—and painted his Pitlessie Fair. What was bolder still, he +determined to proceed to London, on account of its presenting so much +wider a field for study and work; and the poor Scotch lad arrived in +town, and painted his Village Politicians while living in a humble +lodging on eighteen shillings a week. + +Notwithstanding the success of this picture, and the commissions which +followed it, Wilkie long continued poor. The prices which his works +realized were not great, for he bestowed upon them so much time and +labour, that his earnings continued comparatively small for many years. +Every picture was carefully studied and elaborated beforehand; nothing +was struck off at a heat; many occupied him for years—touching, +retouching, and improving them until they finally passed out of his +hands. As with Reynolds, his motto was “Work! work! work!” and, like +him, he expressed great dislike for talking artists. Talkers may sow, +but the silent reap. “Let us be _doing_ something,” was his oblique mode +of rebuking the loquacious and admonishing the idle. He once related to +his friend Constable that when he studied at the Scottish Academy, +Graham, the master of it, was accustomed to say to the students, in the +words of Reynolds, “If you have genius, industry will improve it; if you +have none, industry will supply its place.” “So,” said Wilkie, “I was +determined to be very industrious, for I knew I had no genius.” He also +told Constable that when Linnell and Burnett, his fellow-students in +London, were talking about art, he always contrived to get as close to +them as he could to hear all they said, “for,” said he, “they know a +great deal, and I know very little.” This was said with perfect +sincerity, for Wilkie was habitually modest. One of the first things +that he did with the sum of thirty pounds which he obtained from Lord +Mansfield for his Village Politicians, was to buy a present—of bonnets, +shawls, and dresses—for his mother and sister at home, though but little +able to afford it at the time. Wilkie’s early poverty had trained him in +habits of strict economy, which were, however, consistent with a noble +liberality, as appears from sundry passages in the Autobiography of +Abraham Raimbach the engraver. + +William Etty was another notable instance of unflagging industry and +indomitable perseverance in art. His father was a ginger-bread and +spicemaker at York, and his mother—a woman of considerable force and +originality of character—was the daughter of a ropemaker. The boy early +displayed a love of drawing, covering walls, floors, and tables with +specimens of his skill; his first crayon being a farthing’s worth of +chalk, and this giving place to a piece of coal or a bit of charred +stick. His mother, knowing nothing of art, put the boy apprentice to a +trade—that of a printer. But in his leisure hours he went on with the +practice of drawing; and when his time was out he determined to follow +his bent—he would be a painter and nothing else. Fortunately his uncle +and elder brother were able and willing to help him on in his new career, +and they provided him with the means of entering as pupil at the Royal +Academy. We observe, from Leslie’s Autobiography, that Etty was looked +upon by his fellow students as a worthy but dull, plodding person, who +would never distinguish himself. But he had in him the divine faculty of +work, and diligently plodded his way upward to eminence in the highest +walks of art. + +Many artists have had to encounter privations which have tried their +courage and endurance to the utmost before they succeeded. What number +may have sunk under them we can never know. Martin encountered +difficulties in the course of his career such as perhaps fall to the lot +of few. More than once he found himself on the verge of starvation while +engaged on his first great picture. It is related of him that on one +occasion he found himself reduced to his last shilling—a _bright_ +shilling—which he had kept because of its very brightness, but at length +he found it necessary to exchange it for bread. He went to a baker’s +shop, bought a loaf, and was taking it away, when the baker snatched it +from him, and tossed back the shilling to the starving painter. The +bright shilling had failed him in his hour of need—it was a bad one! +Returning to his lodgings, he rummaged his trunk for some remaining crust +to satisfy his hunger. Upheld throughout by the victorious power of +enthusiasm, he pursued his design with unsubdued energy. He had the +courage to work on and to wait; and when, a few days after, he found an +opportunity to exhibit his picture, he was from that time famous. Like +many other great artists, his life proves that, in despite of outward +circumstances, genius, aided by industry, will be its own protector, and +that fame, though she comes late, will never ultimately refuse her +favours to real merit. + +The most careful discipline and training after academic methods will fail +in making an artist, unless he himself take an active part in the work. +Like every highly cultivated man, he must be mainly self-educated. When +Pugin, who was brought up in his father’s office, had learnt all that he +could learn of architecture according to the usual formulas, he still +found that he had learned but little; and that he must begin at the +beginning, and pass through the discipline of labour. Young Pugin +accordingly hired himself out as a common carpenter at Covent Garden +Theatre—first working under the stage, then behind the flys, then upon +the stage itself. He thus acquired a familiarity with work, and +cultivated an architectural taste, to which the diversity of the +mechanical employment about a large operatic establishment is peculiarly +favourable. When the theatre closed for the season, he worked a +sailing-ship between London and some of the French ports, carrying on at +the same time a profitable trade. At every opportunity he would land and +make drawings of any old building, and especially of any ecclesiastical +structure which fell in his way. Afterwards he would make special +journeys to the Continent for the same purpose, and returned home laden +with drawings. Thus he plodded and laboured on, making sure of the +excellence and distinction which he eventually achieved. + +A similar illustration of plodding industry in the same walk is presented +in the career of George Kemp, the architect of the beautiful Scott +Monument at Edinburgh. He was the son of a poor shepherd, who pursued +his calling on the southern slope of the Pentland Hills. Amidst that +pastoral solitude the boy had no opportunity of enjoying the +contemplation of works of art. It happened, however, that in his tenth +year he was sent on a message to Roslin, by the farmer for whom his +father herded sheep, and the sight of the beautiful castle and chapel +there seems to have made a vivid and enduring impression on his mind. +Probably to enable him to indulge his love of architectural construction, +the boy besought his father to let him be a joiner; and he was +accordingly put apprentice to a neighbouring village carpenter. Having +served his time, he went to Galashiels to seek work. As he was plodding +along the valley of the Tweed with his tools upon his back, a carriage +overtook him near Elibank Tower; and the coachman, doubtless at the +suggestion of his master, who was seated inside, having asked the youth +how far he had to walk, and learning that he was on his way to +Galashiels, invited him to mount the box beside him, and thus to ride +thither. It turned out that the kindly gentleman inside was no other +than Sir Walter Scott, then travelling on his official duty as Sheriff of +Selkirkshire. Whilst working at Galashiels, Kemp had frequent +opportunities of visiting Melrose, Dryburgh, and Jedburgh Abbeys, which +he studied carefully. Inspired by his love of architecture, he worked +his way as a carpenter over the greater part of the north of England, +never omitting an opportunity of inspecting and making sketches of any +fine Gothic building. On one occasion, when working in Lancashire, he +walked fifty miles to York, spent a week in carefully examining the +Minster, and returned in like manner on foot. We next find him in +Glasgow, where he remained four years, studying the fine cathedral there +during his spare time. He returned to England again, this time working +his way further south; studying Canterbury, Winchester, Tintern, and +other well-known structures. In 1824 he formed the design of travelling +over Europe with the same object, supporting himself by his trade. +Reaching Boulogne, he proceeded by Abbeville and Beauvais to Paris, +spending a few weeks making drawings and studies at each place. His +skill as a mechanic, and especially his knowledge of mill-work, readily +secured him employment wherever he went; and he usually chose the site of +his employment in the neighbourhood of some fine old Gothic structure, in +studying which he occupied his leisure. After a year’s working, travel, +and study abroad, he returned to Scotland. He continued his studies, and +became a proficient in drawing and perspective: Melrose was his favourite +ruin; and he produced several elaborate drawings of the building, one of +which, exhibiting it in a “restored” state, was afterwards engraved. He +also obtained employment as a modeller of architectural designs; and made +drawings for a work begun by an Edinburgh engraver, after the plan of +Britton’s ‘Cathedral Antiquities.’ This was a task congenial to his +tastes, and he laboured at it with an enthusiasm which ensured its rapid +advance; walking on foot for the purpose over half Scotland, and living +as an ordinary mechanic, whilst executing drawings which would have done +credit to the best masters in the art. The projector of the work having +died suddenly, the publication was however stopped, and Kemp sought other +employment. Few knew of the genius of this man—for he was exceedingly +taciturn and habitually modest—when the Committee of the Scott Monument +offered a prize for the best design. The competitors were +numerous—including some of the greatest names in classical architecture; +but the design unanimously selected was that of George Kemp, who was +working at Kilwinning Abbey in Ayrshire, many miles off, when the letter +reached him intimating the decision of the committee. Poor Kemp! +Shortly after this event he met an untimely death, and did not live to +see the first result of his indefatigable industry and self-culture +embodied in stone,—one of the most beautiful and appropriate memorials +ever erected to literary genius. + +John Gibson was another artist full of a genuine enthusiasm and love for +his art, which placed him high above those sordid temptations which urge +meaner natures to make time the measure of profit. He was born at Gyffn, +near Conway, in North Wales—the son of a gardener. He early showed +indications of his talent by the carvings in wood which he made by means +of a common pocket knife; and his father, noting the direction of his +talent, sent him to Liverpool and bound him apprentice to a cabinet-maker +and wood-carver. He rapidly improved at his trade, and some of his +carvings were much admired. He was thus naturally led to sculpture, and +when eighteen years old he modelled a small figure of Time in wax, which +attracted considerable notice. The Messrs. Franceys, sculptors, of +Liverpool, having purchased the boy’s indentures, took him as their +apprentice for six years, during which his genius displayed itself in +many original works. From thence he proceeded to London, and afterwards +to Rome; and his fame became European. + +Robert Thorburn, the Royal Academician, like John Gibson, was born of +poor parents. His father was a shoe-maker at Dumfries. Besides Robert +there were two other sons; one of whom is a skilful carver in wood. One +day a lady called at the shoemaker’s and found Robert, then a mere boy, +engaged in drawing upon a stool which served him for a table. She +examined his work, and observing his abilities, interested herself in +obtaining for him some employment in drawing, and enlisted in his behalf +the services of others who could assist him in prosecuting the study of +art. The boy was diligent, pains-taking, staid, and silent, mixing +little with his companions, and forming but few intimacies. About the +year 1830, some gentlemen of the town provided him with the means of +proceeding to Edinburgh, where he was admitted a student at the Scottish +Academy. There he had the advantage of studying under competent masters, +and the progress which he made was rapid. From Edinburgh he removed to +London, where, we understand, he had the advantage of being introduced to +notice under the patronage of the Duke of Buccleuch. We need scarcely +say, however, that of whatever use patronage may have been to Thorburn in +giving him an introduction to the best circles, patronage of no kind +could have made him the great artist that he unquestionably is, without +native genius and diligent application. + +Noel Paton, the well-known painter, began his artistic career at +Dunfermline and Paisley, as a drawer of patterns for table-cloths and +muslin embroidered by hand; meanwhile working diligently at higher +subjects, including the drawing of the human figure. He was, like +Turner, ready to turn his hand to any kind of work, and in 1840, when a +mere youth, we find him engaged, among his other labours, in illustrating +the ‘Renfrewshire Annual.’ He worked his way step by step, slowly yet +surely; but he remained unknown until the exhibition of the prize +cartoons painted for the houses of Parliament, when his picture of the +Spirit of Religion (for which he obtained one of the first prizes) +revealed him to the world as a genuine artist; and the works which he has +since exhibited—such as the ‘Reconciliation of Oberon and Titania,’ +‘Home,’ and ‘The bluidy Tryste’—have shown a steady advance in artistic +power and culture. + +Another striking exemplification of perseverance and industry in the +cultivation of art in humble life is presented in the career of James +Sharples, a working blacksmith at Blackburn. He was born at Wakefield in +Yorkshire, in 1825, one of a family of thirteen children. His father was +a working ironfounder, and removed to Bury to follow his business. The +boys received no school education, but were all sent to work as soon as +they were able; and at about ten James was placed in a foundry, where he +was employed for about two years as smithy-boy. After that he was sent +into the engine-shop where his father worked as engine-smith. The boy’s +employment was to heat and carry rivets for the boiler-makers. Though +his hours of labour were very long—often from six in the morning until +eight at night—his father contrived to give him some little teaching +after working hours; and it was thus that he partially learned his +letters. An incident occurred in the course of his employment among the +boiler-makers, which first awakened in him the desire to learn drawing. +He had occasionally been employed by the foreman to hold the chalked line +with which he made the designs of boilers upon the floor of the workshop; +and on such occasions the foreman was accustomed to hold the line, and +direct the boy to make the necessary dimensions. James soon became so +expert at this as to be of considerable service to the foreman; and at +his leisure hours at home his great delight was to practise drawing +designs of boilers upon his mother’s floor. On one occasion, when a +female relative was expected from Manchester to pay the family a visit, +and the house had been made as decent as possible for her reception, the +boy, on coming in from the foundry in the evening, began his usual +operations upon the floor. He had proceeded some way with his design of +a large boiler in chalk, when his mother arrived with the visitor, and to +her dismay found the boy unwashed and the floor chalked all over. The +relative, however, professed to be pleased with the boy’s industry, +praised his design, and recommended his mother to provide “the little +sweep,” as she called him, with paper and pencils. + +Encouraged by his elder brother, he began to practise figure and +landscape drawing, making copies of lithographs, but as yet without any +knowledge of the rules of perspective and the principles of light and +shade. He worked on, however, and gradually acquired expertness in +copying. At sixteen, he entered the Bury Mechanic’s Institution in order +to attend the drawing class, taught by an amateur who followed the trade +of a barber. There he had a lesson a week during three months. The +teacher recommended him to obtain from the library Burnet’s ‘Practical +Treatise on Painting;’ but as he could not yet read with ease, he was +under the necessity of getting his mother, and sometimes his elder +brother, to read passages from the book for him while he sat by and +listened. Feeling hampered by his ignorance of the art of reading, and +eager to master the contents of Burnet’s book, he ceased attending the +drawing class at the Institute after the first quarter, and devoted +himself to learning reading and writing at home. In this he soon +succeeded; and when he again entered the Institute and took out ‘Burnet’ +a second time, he was not only able to read it, but to make written +extracts for further use. So ardently did he study the volume, that he +used to rise at four o’clock in the morning to read it and copy out +passages; after which he went to the foundry at six, worked until six and +sometimes eight in the evening; and returned home to enter with fresh +zest upon the study of Burnet, which he continued often until a late +hour. Parts of his nights were also occupied in drawing and making +copies of drawings. On one of these—a copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s “Last +Supper”—he spent an entire night. He went to bed indeed, but his mind +was so engrossed with the subject that he could not sleep, and rose again +to resume his pencil. + +He next proceeded to try his hand at painting in oil, for which purpose +he procured some canvas from a draper, stretched it on a frame, coated it +over with white lead, and began painting on it with colours bought from a +house-painter. But his work proved a total failure; for the canvas was +rough and knotty, and the paint would not dry. In his extremity he +applied to his old teacher, the barber, from whom he first learnt that +prepared canvas was to be had, and that there were colours and varnishes +made for the special purpose of oil-painting. As soon therefore, as his +means would allow, he bought a small stock of the necessary articles and +began afresh,—his amateur master showing him how to paint; and the pupil +succeeded so well that he excelled the master’s copy. His first picture +was a copy from an engraving called “Sheep-shearing,” and was afterwards +sold by him for half-a-crown. Aided by a shilling Guide to Oil-painting, +he went on working at his leisure hours, and gradually acquired a better +knowledge of his materials. He made his own easel and palette, +palette-knife, and paint-chest; he bought his paint, brushes, and canvas, +as he could raise the money by working over-time. This was the slender +fund which his parents consented to allow him for the purpose; the burden +of supporting a very large family precluding them from doing more. Often +he would walk to Manchester and back in the evenings to buy two or three +shillings’ worth of paint and canvas, returning almost at midnight, after +his eighteen miles’ walk, sometimes wet through and completely exhausted, +but borne up throughout by his inexhaustible hope and invincible +determination. The further progress of the self-taught artist is best +narrated in his own words, as communicated by him in a letter to the +author:— + +“The next pictures I painted,” he says, “were a Landscape by Moonlight, a +Fruitpiece, and one or two others; after which I conceived the idea of +painting ‘The Forge.’ I had for some time thought about it, but had not +attempted to embody the conception in a drawing. I now, however, made a +sketch of the subject upon paper, and then proceeded to paint it on +canvas. The picture simply represents the interior of a large workshop +such as I have been accustomed to work in, although not of any particular +shop. It is, therefore, to this extent, an original conception. Having +made an outline of the subject, I found that, before I could proceed with +it successfully, a knowledge of anatomy was indispensable to enable me +accurately to delineate the muscles of the figures. My brother Peter +came to my assistance at this juncture, and kindly purchased for me +Flaxman’s ‘Anatomical studies,’—a work altogether beyond my means at the +time, for it cost twenty-four shillings. This book I looked upon as a +great treasure, and I studied it laboriously, rising at three o’clock in +the morning to draw after it, and occasionally getting my brother Peter +to stand for me as a model at that untimely hour. Although I gradually +improved myself by this practice, it was some time before I felt +sufficient confidence to go on with my picture. I also felt hampered by +my want of knowledge of perspective, which I endeavoured to remedy by +carefully studying Brook Taylor’s ‘Principles;’ and shortly after I +resumed my painting. While engaged in the study of perspective at home, +I used to apply for and obtain leave to work at the heavier kinds of +smith work at the foundry, and for this reason—the time required for +heating the heaviest iron work is so much longer than that required for +heating the lighter, that it enabled me to secure a number of spare +minutes in the course of the day, which I carefully employed in making +diagrams in perspective upon the sheet iron casing in front of the hearth +at which I worked.” + +Thus assiduously working and studying, James Sharples steadily advanced +in his knowledge of the principles of art, and acquired greater facility +in its practice. Some eighteen months after the expiry of his +apprenticeship he painted a portrait of his father, which attracted +considerable notice in the town; as also did the picture of “The Forge,” +which he finished soon after. His success in portrait-painting obtained +for him a commission from the foreman of the shop to paint a family +group, and Sharples executed it so well that the foreman not only paid +him the agreed price of eighteen pounds, but thirty shillings to boot. +While engaged on this group he ceased to work at the foundry, and he had +thoughts of giving up his trade altogether and devoting himself +exclusively to painting. He proceeded to paint several pictures, amongst +others a head of Christ, an original conception, life-size, and a view of +Bury; but not obtaining sufficient employment at portraits to occupy his +time, or give him the prospect of a steady income, he had the good sense +to resume his leather apron, and go on working at his honest trade of a +blacksmith; employing his leisure hours in engraving his picture of “The +Forge,” since published. He was induced to commence the engraving by the +following circumstance. A Manchester picture-dealer, to whom he showed +the painting, let drop the observation, that in the hands of a skilful +engraver it would make a very good print. Sharples immediately conceived +the idea of engraving it himself, though altogether ignorant of the art. +The difficulties which he encountered and successfully overcame in +carrying out his project are thus described by himself:— + +“I had seen an advertisement of a Sheffield steel-plate maker, giving a +list of the prices at which he supplied plates of various sizes, and, +fixing upon one of suitable dimensions, I remitted the amount, together +with a small additional sum for which I requested him to send me a few +engraving tools. I could not specify the articles wanted, for I did not +then know anything about the process of engraving. However, there duly +arrived with the plate three or four gravers and an etching needle; the +latter I spoiled before I knew its use. While working at the plate, the +Amalgamated Society of Engineers offered a premium for the best design +for an emblematical picture, for which I determined to compete, and I was +so fortunate as to win the prize. Shortly after this I removed to +Blackburn, where I obtained employment at Messrs. Yates’, engineers, as +an engine-smith; and continued to employ my leisure time in drawing, +painting, and engraving, as before. With the engraving I made but very +slow progress, owing to the difficulties I experienced from not +possessing proper tools. I then determined to try to make some that +would suit my purpose, and after several failures I succeeded in making +many that I have used in the course of my engraving. I was also greatly +at a loss for want of a proper magnifying glass, and part of the plate +was executed with no other assistance of this sort than what my father’s +spectacles afforded, though I afterwards succeeded in obtaining a proper +magnifier, which was of the utmost use to me. An incident occurred while +I was engraving the plate, which had almost caused me to abandon it +altogether. It sometimes happened that I was obliged to lay it aside for +a considerable time, when other work pressed; and in order to guard it +against rust, I was accustomed to rub over the graven parts with oil. +But on examining the plate after one of such intervals, I found that the +oil had become a dark sticky substance extremely difficult to get out. I +tried to pick it out with a needle, but found that it would almost take +as much time as to engrave the parts afresh. I was in great despair at +this, but at length hit upon the expedient of boiling it in water +containing soda, and afterwards rubbing the engraved parts with a +tooth-brush; and to my delight found the plan succeeded perfectly. My +greatest difficulties now over, patience and perseverance were all that +were needed to bring my labours to a successful issue. I had neither +advice nor assistance from any one in finishing the plate. If, +therefore, the work possess any merit, I can claim it as my own; and if +in its accomplishment I have contributed to show what can be done by +persevering industry and determination, it is all the honour I wish to +lay claim to.” + +It would be beside our purpose to enter upon any criticism of “The Forge” +as an engraving; its merits having been already fully recognised by the +art journals. The execution of the work occupied Sharples’s leisure +evening hours during a period of five years; and it was only when he took +the plate to the printer that he for the first time saw an engraved plate +produced by any other man. To this unvarnished picture of industry and +genius, we add one other trait, and it is a domestic one. “I have been +married seven years,” says he, “and during that time my greatest +pleasure, after I have finished my daily labour at the foundry, has been +to resume my pencil or graver, frequently until a late hour of the +evening, my wife meanwhile sitting by my side and reading to me from some +interesting book,”—a simple but beautiful testimony to the thorough +common sense as well as the genuine right-heartedness of this most +interesting and deserving workman. + +The same industry and application which we have found to be necessary in +order to acquire excellence in painting and sculpture, are equally +required in the sister art of music—the one being the poetry of form and +colour, the other of the sounds of nature. Handel was an indefatigable +and constant worker; he was never cast down by defeat, but his energy +seemed to increase the more that adversity struck him. When a prey to +his mortifications as an insolvent debtor, he did not give way for a +moment, but in one year produced his ‘Saul,’ ‘Israel,’ the music for +Dryden’s ‘Ode,’ his ‘Twelve Grand Concertos,’ and the opera of ‘Jupiter +in Argos,’ among the finest of his works. As his biographer says of him, +“He braved everything, and, by his unaided self, accomplished the work of +twelve men.” + +Haydn, speaking of his art, said, “It consists in taking up a subject and +pursuing it.” “Work,” said Mozart, “is my chief pleasure.” Beethoven’s +favourite maxim was, “The barriers are not erected which can say to +aspiring talents and industry, ‘Thus far and no farther.’” When +Moscheles submitted his score of ‘Fidelio’ for the pianoforte to +Beethoven, the latter found written at the bottom of the last page, +“Finis, with God’s help.” Beethoven immediately wrote underneath, “O +man! help thyself!” This was the motto of his artistic life. John +Sebastian Bach said of himself, “I was industrious; whoever is equally +sedulous, will be equally successful.” But there is no doubt that Bach +was born with a passion for music, which formed the mainspring of his +industry, and was the true secret of his success. When a mere youth, his +elder brother, wishing to turn his abilities in another direction, +destroyed a collection of studies which the young Sebastian, being denied +candles, had copied by moonlight; proving the strong natural bent of the +boy’s genius. Of Meyerbeer, Bayle thus wrote from Milan in 1820:—“He is +a man of some talent, but no genius; he lives solitary, working fifteen +hours a day at music.” Years passed, and Meyerbeer’s hard work fully +brought out his genius, as displayed in his ‘Roberto,’ ‘Huguenots,’ +‘Prophète,’ and other works, confessedly amongst the greatest operas +which have been produced in modern times. + +Although musical composition is not an art in which Englishmen have as +yet greatly distinguished themselves, their energies having for the most +part taken other and more practical directions, we are not without native +illustrations of the power of perseverance in this special pursuit. Arne +was an upholsterer’s son, intended by his father for the legal +profession; but his love of music was so great, that he could not be +withheld from pursuing it. While engaged in an attorney’s office, his +means were very limited, but, to gratify his tastes, he was accustomed to +borrow a livery and go into the gallery of the Opera, then appropriated +to domestics. Unknown to his father he made great progress with the +violin, and the first knowledge his father had of the circumstance was +when accidentally calling at the house of a neighbouring gentleman, to +his surprise and consternation he found his son playing the leading +instrument with a party of musicians. This incident decided the fate of +Arne. His father offered no further opposition to his wishes; and the +world thereby lost a lawyer, but gained a musician of much taste and +delicacy of feeling, who added many valuable works to our stores of +English music. + +The career of the late William Jackson, author of ‘The Deliverance of +Israel,’ an oratorio which has been successfully performed in the +principal towns of his native county of York, furnishes an interesting +illustration of the triumph of perseverance over difficulties in the +pursuit of musical science. He was the son of a miller at Masham, a +little town situated in the valley of the Yore, in the north-west corner +of Yorkshire. Musical taste seems to have been hereditary in the family, +for his father played the fife in the band of the Masham Volunteers, and +was a singer in the parish choir. His grandfather also was leading +singer and ringer at Masham Church; and one of the boy’s earliest musical +treats was to be present at the bell pealing on Sunday mornings. During +the service, his wonder was still more excited by the organist’s +performance on the barrel-organ, the doors of which were thrown open +behind to let the sound fully into the church, by which the stops, pipes, +barrels, staples, keyboard, and jacks, were fully exposed, to the +wonderment of the little boys sitting in the gallery behind, and to none +more than our young musician. At eight years of age he began to play +upon his father’s old fife, which, however, would not sound D; but his +mother remedied the difficulty by buying for him a one-keyed flute; and +shortly after, a gentleman of the neighbourhood presented him with a +flute with four silver keys. As the boy made no progress with his “book +learning,” being fonder of cricket, fives, and boxing, than of his school +lessons—the village schoolmaster giving him up as “a bad job”—his parents +sent him off to a school at Pateley Bridge. While there he found +congenial society in a club of village choral singers at Brighouse Gate, +and with them he learnt the sol-fa-ing gamut on the old English plan. He +was thus well drilled in the reading of music, in which he soon became a +proficient. His progress astonished the club, and he returned home full +of musical ambition. He now learnt to play upon his father’s old piano, +but with little melodious result; and he became eager to possess a +finger-organ, but had no means of procuring one. About this time, a +neighbouring parish clerk had purchased, for an insignificant sum, a +small disabled barrel-organ, which had gone the circuit of the northern +counties with a show. The clerk tried to revive the tones of the +instrument, but failed; at last he bethought him that he would try the +skill of young Jackson, who had succeeded in making some alterations and +improvements in the hand-organ of the parish church. He accordingly +brought it to the lad’s house in a donkey cart, and in a short time the +instrument was repaired, and played over its old tunes again, greatly to +the owner’s satisfaction. + +The thought now haunted the youth that he could make a barrel-organ, and +he determined to do so. His father and he set to work, and though +without practice in carpentering, yet, by dint of hard labour and after +many failures, they at last succeeded; and an organ was constructed which +played ten tunes very decently, and the instrument was generally regarded +as a marvel in the neighbourhood. Young Jackson was now frequently sent +for to repair old church organs, and to put new music upon the barrels +which he added to them. All this he accomplished to the satisfaction of +his employers, after which he proceeded with the construction of a +four-stop finger-organ, adapting to it the keys of an old harpsichord. +This he learnt to play upon,—studying ‘Callcott’s Thorough Bass’ in the +evening, and working at his trade of a miller during the day; +occasionally also tramping about the country as a “cadger,” with an ass +and a cart. During summer he worked in the fields, at turnip-time, +hay-time, and harvest, but was never without the solace of music in his +leisure evening hours. He next tried his hand at musical composition, +and twelve of his anthems were shown to the late Mr. Camidge, of York, as +“the production of a miller’s lad of fourteen.” Mr. Camidge was pleased +with them, marked the objectionable passages, and returned them with the +encouraging remark, that they did the youth great credit, and that he +must “go on writing.” + +A village band having been set on foot at Masham, young Jackson joined +it, and was ultimately appointed leader. He played all the instruments +by turns, and thus acquired a considerable practical knowledge of his +art: he also composed numerous tunes for the band. A new finger-organ +having been presented to the parish church, he was appointed the +organist. He now gave up his employment as a journeyman miller, and +commenced tallow-chandling, still employing his spare hours in the study +of music. In 1839 he published his first anthem—‘For joy let fertile +valleys sing;’ and in the following year he gained the first prize from +the Huddersfield Glee Club, for his ‘Sisters of the Lea.’ His other +anthem ‘God be merciful to us,’ and the 103rd Psalm, written for a double +chorus and orchestra, are well known. In the midst of these minor works, +Jackson proceeded with the composition of his oratorio,—‘The Deliverance +of Israel from Babylon.’ His practice was, to jot down a sketch of the +ideas as they presented themselves to his mind, and to write them out in +score in the evenings, after he had left his work in the candle-shop. +His oratorio was published in parts, in the course of 1844–5, and he +published the last chorus on his twenty-ninth birthday. The work was +exceedingly well received, and has been frequently performed with much +success in the northern towns. Mr. Jackson eventually settled as a +professor of music at Bradford, where he contributed in no small degree +to the cultivation of the musical taste of that town and its +neighbourhood. Some years since he had the honour of leading his fine +company of Bradford choral singers before Her Majesty at Buckingham +Palace; on which occasion, as well as at the Crystal Palace, some choral +pieces of his composition, were performed with great effect. {201} + +Such is a brief outline of the career of a self-taught musician, whose +life affords but another illustration of the power of self-help, and the +force of courage and industry in enabling a man to surmount and overcome +early difficulties and obstructions of no ordinary kind. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. +INDUSTRY AND THE PEERAGE. + + + “He either fears his fate too much, + Or his deserts are small, + That dares not put it to the touch, + To gain or lose it all.”—_Marquis of Montrose_. + + “He hath put down the mighty from their seats; and exalted them of + low degree.”—_St. Luke_. + +WE have already referred to some illustrious Commoners raised from humble +to elevated positions by the power of application and industry; and we +might point to even the Peerage itself as affording equally instructive +examples. One reason why the Peerage of England has succeeded so well in +holding its own, arises from the fact that, unlike the peerages of other +countries, it has been fed, from time to time, by the best industrial +blood of the country—the very “liver, heart, and brain of Britain.” Like +the fabled Antæus, it has been invigorated and refreshed by touching its +mother earth, and mingling with that most ancient order of nobility—the +working order. + +The blood of all men flows from equally remote sources; and though some +are unable to trace their line directly beyond their grandfathers, all +are nevertheless justified in placing at the head of their pedigree the +great progenitors of the race, as Lord Chesterfield did when he wrote, +“ADAM _de Stanhope_—EVE _de Stanhope_.” No class is ever long +stationary. The mighty fall, and the humble are exalted. New families +take the place of the old, who disappear among the ranks of the common +people. Burke’s ‘Vicissitudes of Families’ strikingly exhibit this rise +and fall of families, and show that the misfortunes which overtake the +rich and noble are greater in proportion than those which overwhelm the +poor. This author points out that of the twenty-five barons selected to +enforce the observance of Magna Charta, there is not now in the House of +Peers a single male descendant. Civil wars and rebellions ruined many of +the old nobility and dispersed their families. Yet their descendants in +many cases survive, and are to be found among the ranks of the people. +Fuller wrote in his ‘Worthies,’ that “some who justly hold the surnames +of Bohuns, Mortimers, and Plantagenets, are hid in the heap of common +men.” Thus Burke shows that two of the lineal descendants of the Earl of +Kent, sixth son of Edward I., were discovered in a butcher and a +toll-gatherer; that the great grandson of Margaret Plantagenet, daughter +of the Duke of Clarance, sank to the condition of a cobbler at Newport, +in Shropshire; and that among the lineal descendants of the Duke of +Gloucester, son of Edward III., was the late sexton of St. George’s, +Hanover Square. It is understood that the lineal descendant of Simon de +Montfort, England’s premier baron, is a saddler in Tooley Street. One of +the descendants of the “Proud Percys,” a claimant of the title of Duke of +Northumberland, was a Dublin trunk-maker; and not many years since one of +the claimants for the title of Earl of Perth presented himself in the +person of a labourer in a Northumberland coal-pit. Hugh Miller, when +working as a stone-mason near Edinburgh, was served by a hodman, who was +one of the numerous claimants for the earldom of Crauford—all that was +wanted to establish his claim being a missing marriage certificate; and +while the work was going on, the cry resounded from the walls many times +in the day, of—“John, Yearl Crauford, bring us anither hod o’lime.” One +of Oliver Cromwell’s great grandsons was a grocer on Snow Hill, and +others of his descendants died in great poverty. Many barons of proud +names and titles have perished, like the sloth, upon their family tree, +after eating up all the leaves; while others have been overtaken by +adversities which they have been unable to retrieve, and sunk at last +into poverty and obscurity. Such are the mutabilities of rank and +fortune. + +The great bulk of our peerage is comparatively modern, so far as the +titles go; but it is not the less noble that it has been recruited to so +large an extent from the ranks of honourable industry. In olden times, +the wealth and commerce of London, conducted as it was by energetic and +enterprising men, was a prolific source of peerages. Thus, the earldom +of Cornwallis was founded by Thomas Cornwallis, the Cheapside merchant; +that of Essex by William Capel, the draper; and that of Craven by William +Craven, the merchant tailor. The modern Earl of Warwick is not descended +from the “King-maker,” but from William Greville, the woolstapler; whilst +the modern dukes of Northumberland find their head, not in the Percies, +but in Hugh Smithson, a respectable London apothecary. The founders of +the families of Dartmouth, Radnor, Ducie, and Pomfret, were respectively +a skinner, a silk manufacturer, a merchant tailor, and a Calais merchant; +whilst the founders of the peerages of Tankerville, Dormer, and Coventry, +were mercers. The ancestors of Earl Romney, and Lord Dudley and Ward, +were goldsmiths and jewellers; and Lord Dacres was a banker in the reign +of Charles I., as Lord Overstone is in that of Queen Victoria. Edward +Osborne, the founder of the Dukedom of Leeds, was apprentice to William +Hewet, a rich clothworker on London Bridge, whose only daughter he +courageously rescued from drowning, by leaping into the Thames after her, +and eventually married. Among other peerages founded by trade are those +of Fitzwilliam, Leigh, Petre, Cowper, Darnley, Hill, and Carrington. The +founders of the houses of Foley and Normanby were remarkable men in many +respects, and, as furnishing striking examples of energy of character, +the story of their lives is worthy of preservation. + +The father of Richard Foley, the founder of the family, was a small +yeoman living in the neighbourhood of Stourbridge in the time of Charles +I. That place was then the centre of the iron manufacture of the midland +districts, and Richard was brought up to work at one of the branches of +the trade—that of nail-making. He was thus a daily observer of the great +labour and loss of time caused by the clumsy process then adopted for +dividing the rods of iron in the manufacture of nails. It appeared that +the Stourbridge nailers were gradually losing their trade in consequence +of the importation of nails from Sweden, by which they were undersold in +the market. It became known that the Swedes were enabled to make their +nails so much cheaper, by the use of splitting mills and machinery, which +had completely superseded the laborious process of preparing the rods for +nail-making then practised in England. + +Richard Foley, having ascertained this much, determined to make himself +master of the new process. He suddenly disappeared from the +neighbourhood of Stourbridge, and was not heard of for several years. No +one knew whither he had gone, not even his own family; for he had not +informed them of his intention, lest he should fail. He had little or no +money in his pocket, but contrived to get to Hull, where he engaged +himself on board a ship bound for a Swedish port, and worked his passage +there. The only article of property which he possessed was his fiddle, +and on landing in Sweden he begged and fiddled his way to the Dannemora +mines, near Upsala. He was a capital musician, as well as a pleasant +fellow, and soon ingratiated himself with the iron-workers. He was +received into the works, to every part of which he had access; and he +seized the opportunity thus afforded him of storing his mind with +observations, and mastering, as he thought, the mechanism of iron +splitting. After a continued stay for this purpose, he suddenly +disappeared from amongst his kind friends the miners—no one knew whither. + +Returned to England, he communicated the results of his voyage to Mr. +Knight and another person at Stourbridge, who had sufficient confidence +in him to advance the requisite funds for the purpose of erecting +buildings and machinery for splitting iron by the new process. But when +set to work, to the great vexation and disappointment of all, and +especially of Richard Foley, it was found that the machinery would not +act—at all events it would not split the bars of iron. Again Foley +disappeared. It was thought that shame and mortification at his failure +had driven him away for ever. Not so! Foley had determined to master +this secret of iron-splitting, and he would yet do it. He had again set +out for Sweden, accompanied by his fiddle as before, and found his way to +the iron works, where he was joyfully welcomed by the miners; and, to +make sure of their fiddler, they this time lodged him in the very +splitting-mill itself. There was such an apparent absence of +intelligence about the man, except in fiddle-playing, that the miners +entertained no suspicions as to the object of their minstrel, whom they +thus enabled to attain the very end and aim of his life. He now +carefully examined the works, and soon discovered the cause of his +failure. He made drawings or tracings of the machinery as well as he +could, though this was a branch of art quite new to him; and after +remaining at the place long enough to enable him to verify his +observations, and to impress the mechanical arrangements clearly and +vividly on his mind, he again left the miners, reached a Swedish port, +and took ship for England. A man of such purpose could not but succeed. +Arrived amongst his surprised friends, he now completed his arrangements, +and the results were entirely successful. By his skill and his industry +he soon laid the foundations of a large fortune, at the same time that he +restored the business of an extensive district. He himself continued, +during his life, to carry on his trade, aiding and encouraging all works +of benevolence in his neighbourhood. He founded and endowed a school at +Stourbridge; and his son Thomas (a great benefactor of Kidderminster), +who was High Sheriff of Worcestershire in the time of “The Rump,” founded +and endowed an hospital, still in existence, for the free education of +children at Old Swinford. All the early Foleys were Puritans. Richard +Baxter seems to have been on familiar and intimate terms with various +members of the family, and makes frequent mention of them in his ‘Life +and Times.’ Thomas Foley, when appointed high sheriff of the county, +requested Baxter to preach the customary sermon before him; and Baxter in +his ‘Life’ speaks of him as “of so just and blameless dealing, that all +men he ever had to do with magnified his great integrity and honesty, +which were questioned by none.” The family was ennobled in the reign of +Charles the Second. + +William Phipps, the founder of the Mulgrave or Normanby family, was a man +quite as remarkable in his way as Richard Foley. His father was a +gunsmith—a robust Englishman settled at Woolwich, in Maine, then forming +part of our English colonies in America. He was born in 1651, one of a +family of not fewer than twenty-six children (of whom twenty-one were +sons), whose only fortune lay in their stout hearts and strong arms. +William seems to have had a dash of the Danish-sea blood in his veins, +and did not take kindly to the quiet life of a shepherd in which he spent +his early years. By nature bold and adventurous, he longed to become a +sailor and roam through the world. He sought to join some ship; but not +being able to find one, he apprenticed himself to a shipbuilder, with +whom he thoroughly learnt his trade, acquiring the arts of reading and +writing during his leisure hours. Having completed his apprenticeship +and removed to Boston, he wooed and married a widow of some means, after +which he set up a little shipbuilding yard of his own, built a ship, and, +putting to sea in her, he engaged in the lumber trade, which he carried +on in a plodding and laborious way for the space of about ten years. + +It happened that one day, whilst passing through the crooked streets of +old Boston, he overheard some sailors talking to each other of a wreck +which had just taken place off the Bahamas; that of a Spanish ship, +supposed to have much money on board. His adventurous spirit was at once +kindled, and getting together a likely crew without loss of time, he set +sail for the Bahamas. The wreck being well in-shore, he easily found it, +and succeeded in recovering a great deal of its cargo, but very little +money; and the result was, that he barely defrayed his expenses. His +success had been such, however, as to stimulate his enterprising spirit; +and when he was told of another and far more richly laden vessel which +had been wrecked near Port de la Plata more than half a century before, +he forthwith formed the resolution of raising the wreck, or at all events +of fishing up the treasure. + +Being too poor, however, to undertake such an enterprise without powerful +help, he set sail for England in the hope that he might there obtain it. +The fame of his success in raising the wreck off the Bahamas had already +preceded him. He applied direct to the Government. By his urgent +enthusiasm, he succeeded in overcoming the usual inertia of official +minds; and Charles II. eventually placed at his disposal the “Rose +Algier,” a ship of eighteen guns and ninety-five men, appointing him to +the chief command. + +Phipps then set sail to find the Spanish ship and fish up the treasure. +He reached the coast of Hispaniola in safety; but how to find the sunken +ship was the great difficulty. The fact of the wreck was more than fifty +years old; and Phipps had only the traditionary rumours of the event to +work upon. There was a wide coast to explore, and an outspread ocean +without any trace whatever of the argosy which lay somewhere at its +bottom. But the man was stout in heart and full of hope. He set his +seamen to work to drag along the coast, and for weeks they went on +fishing up sea-weed, shingle, and bits of rock. No occupation could be +more trying to seamen, and they began to grumble one to another, and to +whisper that the man in command had brought them on a fool’s errand. + +At length the murmurers gained head, and the men broke into open mutiny. +A body of them rushed one day on to the quarter-deck, and demanded that +the voyage should be relinquished. Phipps, however, was not a man to be +intimidated; he seized the ringleaders, and sent the others back to their +duty. It became necessary to bring the ship to anchor close to a small +island for the purpose of repairs; and, to lighten her, the chief part of +the stores was landed. Discontent still increasing amongst the crew, a +new plot was laid amongst the men on shore to seize the ship, throw +Phipps overboard, and start on a piratical cruize against the Spaniards +in the South Seas. But it was necessary to secure the services of the +chief ship carpenter, who was consequently made privy to the pilot. This +man proved faithful, and at once told the captain of his danger. +Summoning about him those whom he knew to be loyal, Phipps had the ship’s +guns loaded which commanded the shore, and ordered the bridge +communicating with the vessel to be drawn up. When the mutineers made +their appearance, the captain hailed them, and told the men he would fire +upon them if they approached the stores (still on land),—when they drew +back; on which Phipps had the stores reshipped under cover of his guns. +The mutineers, fearful of being left upon the barren island, threw down +their arms and implored to be permitted to return to their duty. The +request was granted, and suitable precautions were taken against future +mischief. Phipps, however, took the first opportunity of landing the +mutinous part of the crew, and engaging other men in their places; but, +by the time that he could again proceed actively with his explorations, +he found it absolutely necessary to proceed to England for the purpose of +repairing the ship. He had now, however, gained more precise information +as to the spot where the Spanish treasure ship had sunk; and, though as +yet baffled, he was more confident than ever of the eventual success of +his enterprise. + +Returned to London, Phipps reported the result of his voyage to the +Admiralty, who professed to be pleased with his exertions; but he had +been unsuccessful, and they would not entrust him with another king’s +ship. James II. was now on the throne, and the Government was in +trouble; so Phipps and his golden project appealed to them in vain. He +next tried to raise the requisite means by a public subscription. At +first he was laughed at; but his ceaseless importunity at length +prevailed, and after four years’ dinning of his project into the ears of +the great and influential—during which time he lived in poverty—he at +length succeeded. A company was formed in twenty shares, the Duke of +Albermarle, son of General Monk, taking the chief interest in it, and +subscribing the principal part of the necessary fund for the prosecution +of the enterprise. + +Like Foley, Phipps proved more fortunate in his second voyage than in his +first. The ship arrived without accident at Port de la Plata, in the +neighbourhood of the reef of rocks supposed to have been the scene of the +wreck. His first object was to build a stout boat capable of carrying +eight or ten oars, in constructing which Phipps used the adze himself. +It is also said that he constructed a machine for the purpose of +exploring the bottom of the sea similar to what is now known as the +Diving Bell. Such a machine was found referred to in books, but Phipps +knew little of books, and may be said to have re-invented the apparatus +for his own use. He also engaged Indian divers, whose feats of diving +for pearls, and in submarine operations, were very remarkable. The +tender and boat having been taken to the reef, the men were set to work, +the diving bell was sunk, and the various modes of dragging the bottom of +the sea were employed continuously for many weeks, but without any +prospect of success. Phipps, however, held on valiantly, hoping almost +against hope. At length, one day, a sailor, looking over the boat’s side +down into the clear water, observed a curious sea-plant growing in what +appeared to be a crevice of the rock; and he called upon an Indian diver +to go down and fetch it for him. On the red man coming up with the weed, +he reported that a number of ships guns were lying in the same place. +The intelligence was at first received with incredulity, but on further +investigation it proved to be correct. Search was made, and presently a +diver came up with a solid bar of silver in his arms. When Phipps was +shown it, he exclaimed, “Thanks be to God! we are all made men.” Diving +bell and divers now went to work with a will, and in a few days, treasure +was brought up to the value of about £300,000, with which Phipps set sail +for England. On his arrival, it was urged upon the king that he should +seize the ship and its cargo, under the pretence that Phipps, when +soliciting his Majesty’s permission, had not given accurate information +respecting the business. But the king replied, that he knew Phipps to be +an honest man, and that he and his friends should divide the whole +treasure amongst them, even though he had returned with double the value. +Phipps’s share was about £20,000, and the king, to show his approval of +his energy and honesty in conducting the enterprise, conferred upon him +the honour of knighthood. He was also made High Sheriff of New England; +and during the time he held the office, he did valiant service for the +mother country and the colonists against the French, by expeditions +against Port Royal and Quebec. He also held the post of Governor of +Massachusetts, from which he returned to England, and died in London in +1695. + +Phipps throughout the latter part of his career, was not ashamed to +allude to the lowness of his origin, and it was matter of honest pride to +him that he had risen from the condition of common ship carpenter to the +honours of knighthood and the government of a province. When perplexed +with public business, he would often declare that it would be easier for +him to go back to his broad axe again. He left behind him a character +for probity, honesty, patriotism, and courage, which is certainly not the +least noble inheritance of the house of Normanby. + +William Petty, the founder of the house of Lansdowne, was a man of like +energy and public usefulness in his day. He was the son of a clothier in +humble circumstances, at Romsey, in Hampshire, where he was born in 1623. +In his boyhood he obtained a tolerable education at the grammar school of +his native town; after which he determined to improve himself by study at +the University of Caen, in Normandy. Whilst there he contrived to +support himself unassisted by his father, carrying on a sort of small +pedler’s trade with “a little stock of merchandise.” Returning to +England, he had himself bound apprentice to a sea captain, who “drubbed +him with a rope’s end” for the badness of his sight. He left the navy in +disgust, taking to the study of medicine. When at Paris he engaged in +dissection, during which time he also drew diagrams for Hobbes, who was +then writing his treatise on Optics. He was reduced to such poverty that +he subsisted for two or three weeks entirely on walnuts. But again he +began to trade in a small way, turning an honest penny, and he was +enabled shortly to return to England with money in his pocket. Being of +an ingenious mechanical turn, we find him taking out a patent for a +letter-copying machine. He began to write upon the arts and sciences, +and practised chemistry and physic with such success that his reputation +shortly became considerable. Associating with men of science, the +project of forming a Society for its prosecution was discussed, and the +first meetings of the infant Royal Society were held at his lodgings. At +Oxford he acted for a time as deputy to the anatomical professor there, +who had a great repugnance to dissection. In 1652 his industry was +rewarded by the appointment of physician to the army in Ireland, whither +he went; and whilst there he was the medical attendant of three +successive lords-lieutenant, Lambert, Fleetwood, and Henry Cromwell. +Large grants of forfeited land having been awarded to the Puritan +soldiery, Petty observed that the lands were very inaccurately measured; +and in the midst of his many avocations he undertook to do the work +himself. His appointments became so numerous and lucrative that he was +charged by the envious with corruption, and removed from them all; but he +was again taken into favour at the Restoration. + +Petty was a most indefatigable contriver, inventor, and organizer of +industry. One of his inventions was a double-bottomed ship, to sail +against wind and tide. He published treatises on dyeing, on naval +philosophy, on woollen cloth manufacture, on political arithmetic, and +many other subjects. He founded iron works, opened lead mines, and +commenced a pilchard fishery and a timber trade; in the midst of which he +found time to take part in the discussions of the Royal Society, to which +he largely contributed. He left an ample fortune to his sons, the eldest +of whom was created Baron Shelburne. His will was a curious document, +singularly illustrative of his character; containing a detail of the +principal events of his life, and the gradual advancement of his fortune. +His sentiments on pauperism are characteristic: “As for legacies for the +poor,” said he, “I am at a stand; as for beggars by trade and election, I +give them nothing; as for impotents by the hand of God, the public ought +to maintain them; as for those who have been bred to no calling nor +estate, they should be put upon their kindred;” . . . “wherefore I am +contented that I have assisted all my poor relations, and put many into a +way of getting their own bread; have laboured in public works; and by +inventions have sought out real objects of charity; and I do hereby +conjure all who partake of my estate, from time to time, to do the same +at their peril. Nevertheless to answer custom, and to take the surer +side, I give 20_l._ to the most wanting of the parish wherein I die.” He +was interred in the fine old Norman church of Romsey—the town wherein he +was born a poor man’s son—and on the south side of the choir is still to +be seen a plain slab, with the inscription, cut by an illiterate workman, +“Here Layes Sir William Petty.” + +Another family, ennobled by invention and trade in our own day, is that +of Strutt of Belper. Their patent of nobility was virtually secured by +Jedediah Strutt in 1758, when he invented his machine for making ribbed +stockings, and thereby laid the foundations of a fortune which the +subsequent bearers of the name have largely increased and nobly employed. +The father of Jedediah was a farmer and malster, who did but little for +the education of his children; yet they all prospered. Jedediah was the +second son, and when a boy assisted his father in the work of the farm. +At an early age he exhibited a taste for mechanics, and introduced +several improvements in the rude agricultural implements of the period. +On the death of his uncle he succeeded to a farm at Blackwall, near +Normanton, long in the tenancy of the family, and shortly after he +married Miss Wollatt, the daughter of a Derby hosier. Having learned +from his wife’s brother that various unsuccessful attempts had been made +to manufacture ribbed-stockings, he proceeded to study the subject with a +view to effect what others had failed in accomplishing. He accordingly +obtained a stocking-frame, and after mastering its construction and mode +of action, he proceeded to introduce new combinations, by means of which +he succeeded in effecting a variation in the plain looped-work of the +frame, and was thereby enabled to turn out “ribbed” hosiery. Having +secured a patent for the improved machine, he removed to Derby, and there +entered largely on the manufacture of ribbed-stockings, in which he was +very successful. He afterwards joined Arkwright, of the merits of whose +invention he fully satisfied himself, and found the means of securing his +patent, as well as erecting a large cotton-mill at Cranford, in +Derbyshire. After the expiry of the partnership with Arkwright, the +Strutts erected extensive cotton-mills at Milford, near Belper, which +worthily gives its title to the present head of the family. The sons of +the founder were, like their father, distinguished for their mechanical +ability. Thus William Strutt, the eldest, is said to have invented a +self-acting mule, the success of which was only prevented by the +mechanical skill of that day being unequal to its manufacture. Edward, +the son of William, was a man of eminent mechanical genius, having early +discovered the principle of suspension-wheels for carriages: he had a +wheelbarrow and two carts made on the principle, which were used on his +farm near Belper. It may be added that the Strutts have throughout been +distinguished for their noble employment of the wealth which their +industry and skill have brought them; that they have sought in all ways +to improve the moral and social condition of the work-people in their +employment; and that they have been liberal donors in every good cause—of +which the presentation, by Mr. Joseph Strutt, of the beautiful park or +Arboretum at Derby, as a gift to the townspeople for ever, affords only +one of many illustrations. The concluding words of the short address +which he delivered on presenting this valuable gift are worthy of being +quoted and remembered:—“As the sun has shone brightly on me through life, +it would be ungrateful in me not to employ a portion of the fortune I +possess in promoting the welfare of those amongst whom I live, and by +whose industry I have been aided in its organisation.” + +No less industry and energy have been displayed by the many brave men, +both in present and past times, who have earned the peerage by their +valour on land and at sea. Not to mention the older feudal lords, whose +tenure depended upon military service, and who so often led the van of +the English armies in great national encounters, we may point to Nelson, +St. Vincent, and Lyons—to Wellington, Hill, Hardinge, Clyde, and many +more in recent times, who have nobly earned their rank by their +distinguished services. But plodding industry has far oftener worked its +way to the peerage by the honourable pursuit of the legal profession, +than by any other. No fewer than seventy British peerages, including two +dukedoms, have been founded by successful lawyers. Mansfield and Erskine +were, it is true, of noble family; but the latter used to thank God that +out of his own family he did not know a lord. {216} The others were, for +the most part, the sons of attorneys, grocers, clergymen, merchants, and +hardworking members of the middle class. Out of this profession have +sprung the peerages of Howard and Cavendish, the first peers of both +families having been judges; those of Aylesford, Ellenborough, Guildford, +Shaftesbury, Hardwicke, Cardigan, Clarendon, Camden, Ellesmere, Rosslyn; +and others nearer our own day, such as Tenterden, Eldon, Brougham, +Denman, Truro, Lyndhurst, St. Leonards, Cranworth, Campbell, and +Chelmsford. + +Lord Lyndhurst’s father was a portrait painter, and that of St. Leonards +a perfumer and hairdresser in Burlington Street. Young Edward Sugden was +originally an errand-boy in the office of the late Mr. Groom, of +Henrietta Street, Cavendish Square, a certificated conveyancer; and it +was there that the future Lord Chancellor of Ireland obtained his first +notions of law. The origin of the late Lord Tenterden was perhaps the +humblest of all, nor was he ashamed of it; for he felt that the industry, +study, and application, by means of which he achieved his eminent +position, were entirely due to himself. It is related of him, that on +one occasion he took his son Charles to a little shed, then standing +opposite the western front of Canterbury Cathedral, and pointing it out +to him, said, “Charles, you see this little shop; I have brought you here +on purpose to show it you. In that shop your grandfather used to shave +for a penny: that is the proudest reflection of my life.” When a boy, +Lord Tenterden was a singer in the Cathedral, and it is a curious +circumstance that his destination in life was changed by a +disappointment. When he and Mr. Justice Richards were going the Home +Circuit together, they went to service in the cathedral; and on Richards +commending the voice of a singing man in the choir, Lord Tenterden said, +“Ah! that is the only man I ever envied! When at school in this town, we +were candidates for a chorister’s place, and he obtained it.” + +Not less remarkable was the rise to the same distinguished office of Lord +Chief Justice, of the rugged Kenyon and the robust Ellenborough; nor was +he a less notable man who recently held the same office—the astute Lord +Campbell, late Lord Chancellor of England, son of a parish minister in +Fifeshire. For many years he worked hard as a reporter for the press, +while diligently preparing himself for the practice of his profession. +It is said of him, that at the beginning of his career, he was accustomed +to walk from county town to county town when on circuit, being as yet too +poor to afford the luxury of posting. But step by step he rose slowly +but surely to that eminence and distinction which ever follow a career of +industry honourably and energetically pursued, in the legal, as in every +other profession. + +There have been other illustrious instances of Lords Chancellors who have +plodded up the steep of fame and honour with equal energy and success. +The career of the late Lord Eldon is perhaps one of the most remarkable +examples. He was the son of a Newcastle coal-fitter; a mischievous +rather than a studious boy; a great scapegrace at school, and the subject +of many terrible thrashings,—for orchard-robbing was one of the favourite +exploits of the future Lord Chancellor. His father first thought of +putting him apprentice to a grocer, and afterwards had almost made up his +mind to bring him up to his own trade of a coal-fitter. But by this time +his eldest son William (afterwards Lord Stowell) who had gained a +scholarship at Oxford, wrote to his father, “Send Jack up to me, I can do +better for him.” John was sent up to Oxford accordingly, where, by his +brother’s influence and his own application, he succeeded in obtaining a +fellowship. But when at home during the vacation, he was so +unfortunate—or rather so fortunate, as the issue proved—as to fall in +love; and running across the Border with his eloped bride, he married, +and as his friends thought, ruined himself for life. He had neither +house nor home when he married, and had not yet earned a penny. He lost +his fellowship, and at the same time shut himself out from preferment in +the Church, for which he had been destined. He accordingly turned his +attention to the study of the law. To a friend he wrote, “I have married +rashly; but it is my determination to work hard to provide for the woman +I love.” + +John Scott came up to London, and took a small house in Cursitor Lane, +where he settled down to the study of the law. He worked with great +diligence and resolution; rising at four every morning and studying till +late at night, binding a wet towel round his head to keep himself awake. +Too poor to study under a special pleader, he copied out three folio +volumes from a manuscript collection of precedents. Long after, when +Lord Chancellor, passing down Cursitor Lane one day, he said to his +secretary, “Here was my first perch: many a time do I recollect coming +down this street with sixpence in my hand to buy sprats for supper.” +When at length called to the bar, he waited long for employment. His +first year’s earnings amounted to only nine shillings. For four years he +assiduously attended the London Courts and the Northern Circuit, with +little better success. Even in his native town, he seldom had other than +pauper cases to defend. The results were indeed so discouraging, that he +had almost determined to relinquish his chance of London business, and +settle down in some provincial town as a country barrister. His brother +William wrote home, “Business is dull with poor Jack, very dull indeed!” +But as he had escaped being a grocer, a coal-fitter, and a country parson +so did he also escape being a country lawyer. + +An opportunity at length occurred which enabled John Scott to exhibit the +large legal knowledge which he had so laboriously acquired. In a case in +which he was engaged, he urged a legal point against the wishes both of +the attorney and client who employed him. The Master of the Rolls +decided against him, but on an appeal to the House of Lords, Lord Thurlow +reversed the decision on the very point that Scott had urged. On leaving +the House that day, a solicitor tapped him on the shoulder and said, +“Young man, your bread and butter’s cut for life.” And the prophecy +proved a true one. Lord Mansfield used to say that he knew no interval +between no business and 3000_l._ a-year, and Scott might have told the +same story; for so rapid was his progress, that in 1783, when only +thirty-two, he was appointed King’s Counsel, was at the head of the +Northern Circuit, and sat in Parliament for the borough of Weobley. It +was in the dull but unflinching drudgery of the early part of his career +that he laid the foundation of his future success. He won his spurs by +perseverance, knowledge, and ability, diligently cultivated. He was +successively appointed to the offices of solicitor and attorney-general, +and rose steadily upwards to the highest office that the Crown had to +bestow—that of Lord Chancellor of England, which he held for a quarter of +a century. + +Henry Bickersteth was the son of a surgeon at Kirkby Lonsdale, in +Westmoreland, and was himself educated to that profession. As a student +at Edinburgh, he distinguished himself by the steadiness with which he +worked, and the application which he devoted to the science of medicine. +Returned to Kirkby Lonsdale, he took an active part in his father’s +practice; but he had no liking for the profession, and grew discontented +with the obscurity of a country town. He went on, nevertheless, +diligently improving himself, and engaged on speculations in the higher +branches of physiology. In conformity with his own wish, his father +consented to send him to Cambridge, where it was his intention to take a +medical degree with the view of practising in the metropolis. Close +application to his studies, however, threw him out of health, and with a +view to re-establishing his strength he accepted the appointment of +travelling physician to Lord Oxford. While abroad he mastered Italian, +and acquired a great admiration for Italian literature, but no greater +liking for medicine than before. On the contrary, he determined to +abandon it; but returning to Cambridge, he took his degree; and that he +worked hard may be inferred from the fact that he was senior wrangler of +his year. Disappointed in his desire to enter the army, he turned to the +bar, and entered a student of the Inner Temple. He worked as hard at law +as he had done at medicine. Writing to his father, he said, “Everybody +says to me, ‘You are certain of success in the end—only persevere;’ and +though I don’t well understand how this is to happen, I try to believe it +as much as I can, and I shall not fail to do everything in my power.” At +twenty-eight he was called to the bar, and had every step in life yet to +make. His means were straitened, and he lived upon the contributions of +his friends. For years he studied and waited. Still no business came. +He stinted himself in recreation, in clothes, and even in the necessaries +of life; struggling on indefatigably through all. Writing home, he +“confessed that he hardly knew how he should be able to struggle on till +he had fair time and opportunity to establish himself.” After three +years’ waiting, still without success, he wrote to his friends that +rather than be a burden upon them longer, he was willing to give the +matter up and return to Cambridge, “where he was sure of support and some +profit.” The friends at home sent him another small remittance, and he +persevered. Business gradually came in. Acquitting himself creditably +in small matters, he was at length entrusted with cases of greater +importance. He was a man who never missed an opportunity, nor allowed a +legitimate chance of improvement to escape him. His unflinching industry +soon began to tell upon his fortunes; a few more years and he was not +only enabled to do without assistance from home, but he was in a position +to pay back with interest the debts which he had incurred. The clouds +had dispersed, and the after career of Henry Bickersteth was one of +honour, of emolument, and of distinguished fame. He ended his career as +Master of the Rolls, sitting in the House of Peers as Baron Langdale. +His life affords only another illustration of the power of patience, +perseverance, and conscientious working, in elevating the character of +the individual, and crowning his labours with the most complete success. + +Such are a few of the distinguished men who have honourably worked their +way to the highest position, and won the richest rewards of their +profession, by the diligent exercise of qualities in many respects of an +ordinary character, but made potent by the force of application and +industry. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. +ENERGY AND COURAGE. + + + “A cœur vaillant rien d’impossible.”—_Jacques Cœur_. + + “Den Muthigen gehört die Welt.”—_German Proverb_. + + “In every work that he began . . . he did it with all his heart, and + prospered.”—_II. Chron._ xxxi. 21. + +THERE is a famous speech recorded of an old Norseman, thoroughly +characteristic of the Teuton. “I believe neither in idols nor demons,” +said he, “I put my sole trust in my own strength of body and soul.” The +ancient crest of a pickaxe with the motto of “Either I will find a way or +make one,” was an expression of the same sturdy independence which to +this day distinguishes the descendants of the Northmen. Indeed nothing +could be more characteristic of the Scandinavian mythology, than that it +had a god with a hammer. A man’s character is seen in small matters; and +from even so slight a test as the mode in which a man wields a hammer, +his energy may in some measure be inferred. Thus an eminent Frenchman +hit off in a single phrase the characteristic quality of the inhabitants +of a particular district, in which a friend of his proposed to settle and +buy land. “Beware,” said he, “of making a purchase there; I know the men +of that department; the pupils who come from it to our veterinary school +at Paris _do nor strike hard upon the anvil_; they want energy; and you +will not get a satisfactory return on any capital you may invest there.” +A fine and just appreciation of character, indicating the thoughtful +observer; and strikingly illustrative of the fact that it is the energy +of the individual men that gives strength to a State, and confers a value +even upon the very soil which they cultivate. As the French proverb has +it: “Tant vaut l’homme, tant vaut sa terre.” + +The cultivation of this quality is of the greatest importance; resolute +determination in the pursuit of worthy objects being the foundation of +all true greatness of character. Energy enables a man to force his way +through irksome drudgery and dry details, and carries him onward and +upward in every station in life. It accomplishes more than genius, with +not one-half the disappointment and peril. It is not eminent talent that +is required to ensure success in any pursuit, so much as purpose,—not +merely the power to achieve, but the will to labour energetically and +perseveringly. Hence energy of will may be defined to be the very +central power of character in a man—in a word, it is the Man himself. It +gives impulse to his every action, and soul to every effort. True hope +is based on it,—and it is hope that gives the real perfume to life. +There is a fine heraldic motto on a broken helmet in Battle Abbey, +“L’espoir est ma force,” which might be the motto of every man’s life. +“Woe unto him that is fainthearted,” says the son of Sirach. There is, +indeed, no blessing equal to the possession of a stout heart. Even if a +man fail in his efforts, it will be a satisfaction to him to enjoy the +consciousness of having done his best. In humble life nothing can be +more cheering and beautiful than to see a man combating suffering by +patience, triumphing in his integrity, and who, when his feet are +bleeding and his limbs failing him, still walks upon his courage. + +Mere wishes and desires but engender a sort of green sickness in young +minds, unless they are promptly embodied in act and deed. It will not +avail merely to wait as so many do, “until Blucher comes up,” but they +must struggle on and persevere in the mean time, as Wellington did. The +good purpose once formed must be carried out with alacrity and without +swerving. In most conditions of life, drudgery and toil are to be +cheerfully endured as the best and most wholesome discipline. “In life,” +said Ary Scheffer, “nothing bears fruit except by labour of mind or body. +To strive and still strive—such is life; and in this respect mine is +fulfilled; but I dare to say, with just pride, that nothing has ever +shaken my courage. With a strong soul, and a noble aim, one can do what +one wills, morally speaking.” + +Hugh Miller said the only school in which he was properly taught was +“that world-wide school in which toil and hardship are the severe but +noble teachers.” He who allows his application to falter, or shirks his +work on frivolous pretexts, is on the sure road to ultimate failure. Let +any task be undertaken as a thing not possible to be evaded, and it will +soon come to be performed with alacrity and cheerfulness. Charles IX. of +Sweden was a firm believer in the power of will, even in youth. Laying +his hand on the head of his youngest son when engaged on a difficult +task, he exclaimed, “He _shall_ do it! he _shall_ do it!” The habit of +application becomes easy in time, like every other habit. Thus persons +with comparatively moderate powers will accomplish much, if they apply +themselves wholly and indefatigably to one thing at a time. Fowell +Buxton placed his confidence in ordinary means and extraordinary +application; realizing the scriptural injunction, “Whatsoever thy hand +findeth to do, do it with all thy might;” and he attributed his own +success in life to his practice of “being a whole man to one thing at a +time.” + +Nothing that is of real worth can be achieved without courageous working. +Man owes his growth chiefly to that active striving of the will, that +encounter with difficulty, which we call effort; and it is astonishing to +find how often results apparently impracticable are thus made possible. +An intense anticipation itself transforms possibility into reality; our +desires being often but the precursors of the things which we are capable +of performing. On the contrary, the timid and hesitating find everything +impossible, chiefly because it seems so. It is related of a young French +officer, that he used to walk about his apartment exclaiming, “I _will_ +be Marshal of France and a great general.” His ardent desire was the +presentiment of his success; for the young officer did become a +distinguished commander, and he died a Marshal of France. + +Mr. Walker, author of the ‘Original,’ had so great a faith in the power +of will, that he says on one occasion he _determined_ to be well, and he +was so. This may answer once; but, though safer to follow than many +prescriptions, it will not always succeed. The power of mind over body +is no doubt great, but it may be strained until the physical power breaks +down altogether. It is related of Muley Moluc, the Moorish leader, that, +when lying ill, almost worn out by an incurable disease, a battle took +place between his troops and the Portuguese; when, starting from his +litter at the great crisis of the fight, he rallied his army, led them to +victory, and instantly afterwards sank exhausted and expired. + +It is will,—force of purpose,—that enables a man to do or be whatever he +sets his mind on being or doing. A holy man was accustomed to say, +“Whatever you wish, that you are: for such is the force of our will, +joined to the Divine, that whatever we wish to be, seriously, and with a +true intention, that we become. No one ardently wishes to be submissive, +patient, modest, or liberal, who does not become what he wishes.” The +story is told of a working carpenter, who was observed one day planing a +magistrate’s bench which he was repairing, with more than usual +carefulness; and when asked the reason, he replied, “Because I wish to +make it easy against the time when I come to sit upon it myself.” And +singularly enough, the man actually lived to sit upon that very bench as +a magistrate. + +Whatever theoretical conclusions logicians may have formed as to the +freedom of the will, each individual feels that practically he is free to +choose between good and evil—that he is not as a mere straw thrown upon +the water to mark the direction of the current, but that he has within +him the power of a strong swimmer, and is capable of striking out for +himself, of buffeting with the waves, and directing to a great extent his +own independent course. There is no absolute constraint upon our +volitions, and we feel and know that we are not bound, as by a spell, +with reference to our actions. It would paralyze all desire of +excellence were we to think otherwise. The entire business and conduct +of life, with its domestic rules, its social arrangements, and its public +institutions, proceed upon the practical conviction that the will is +free. Without this where would be responsibility?—and what the advantage +of teaching, advising, preaching, reproof, and correction? What were the +use of laws, were it not the universal belief, as it is the universal +fact, that men obey them or not, very much as they individually +determine? In every moment of our life, conscience is proclaiming that +our will is free. It is the only thing that is wholly ours, and it rests +solely with ourselves individually, whether we give it the right or the +wrong direction. Our habits or our temptations are not our masters, but +we of them. Even in yielding, conscience tells us we might resist; and +that were we determined to master them, there would not be required for +that purpose a stronger resolution than we know ourselves to be capable +of exercising. + +“You are now at the age,” said Lamennais once, addressing a gay youth, +“at which a decision must be formed by you; a little later, and you may +have to groan within the tomb which you yourself have dug, without the +power of rolling away the stone. That which the easiest becomes a habit +in us is the will. Learn then to will strongly and decisively; thus fix +your floating life, and leave it no longer to be carried hither and +thither, like a withered leaf, by every wind that blows.” + +Buxton held the conviction that a young man might be very much what he +pleased, provided he formed a strong resolution and held to it. Writing +to one of his sons, he said to him, “You are now at that period of life, +in which you must make a turn to the right or the left. You must now +give proofs of principle, determination, and strength of mind; or you +must sink into idleness, and acquire the habits and character of a +desultory, ineffective young man; and if once you fall to that point, you +will find it no easy matter to rise again. I am sure that a young man +may be very much what he pleases. In my own case it was so. . . . Much +of my happiness, and all my prosperity in life, have resulted from the +change I made at your age. If you seriously resolve to be energetic and +industrious, depend upon it that you will for your whole life have reason +to rejoice that you were wise enough to form and to act upon that +determination.” As will, considered without regard to direction, is +simply constancy, firmness, perseverance, it will be obvious that +everything depends upon right direction and motives. Directed towards +the enjoyment of the senses, the strong will may be a demon, and the +intellect merely its debased slave; but directed towards good, the strong +will is a king, and the intellect the minister of man’s highest +well-being. + +“Where there is a will there is a way,” is an old and true saying. He +who resolves upon doing a thing, by that very resolution often scales the +barriers to it, and secures its achievement. To think we are able, is +almost to be so—to determine upon attainment is frequently attainment +itself. Thus, earnest resolution has often seemed to have about it +almost a savour of omnipotence. The strength of Suwarrow’s character lay +in his power of willing, and, like most resolute persons, he preached it +up as a system. “You can only half will,” he would say to people who +failed. Like Richelieu and Napoleon, he would have the word “impossible” +banished from the dictionary. “I don’t know,” “I can’t,” and +“impossible,” were words which he detested above all others. “Learn! +Do! Try!” he would exclaim. His biographer has said of him, that he +furnished a remarkable illustration of what may be effected by the +energetic development and exercise of faculties, the germs of which at +least are in every human heart. + +One of Napoleon’s favourite maxims was, “The truest wisdom is a resolute +determination.” His life, beyond most others, vividly showed what a +powerful and unscrupulous will could accomplish. He threw his whole +force of body and mind direct upon his work. Imbecile rulers and the +nations they governed went down before him in succession. He was told +that the Alps stood in the way of his armies—“There shall be no Alps,” he +said, and the road across the Simplon was constructed, through a district +formerly almost inaccessible. “Impossible,” said he, “is a word only to +be found in the dictionary of fools.” He was a man who toiled terribly; +sometimes employing and exhausting four secretaries at a time. He spared +no one, not even himself. His influence inspired other men, and put a +new life into them. “I made my generals out of mud,” he said. But all +was of no avail; for Napoleon’s intense selfishness was his ruin, and the +ruin of France, which he left a prey to anarchy. His life taught the +lesson that power, however energetically wielded, without beneficence, is +fatal to its possessor and its subjects; and that knowledge, or +knowingness, without goodness, is but the incarnate principle of Evil. + +Our own Wellington was a far greater man. Not less resolute, firm, and +persistent, but more self-denying, conscientious, and truly patriotic. +Napoleon’s aim was “Glory;” Wellington’s watchword, like Nelson’s, was +“Duty.” The former word, it is said, does not once occur in his +despatches; the latter often, but never accompanied by any high-sounding +professions. The greatest difficulties could neither embarrass nor +intimidate Wellington; his energy invariably rising in proportion to the +obstacles to be surmounted. The patience, the firmness, the resolution, +with which he bore through the maddening vexations and gigantic +difficulties of the Peninsular campaigns, is, perhaps, one of the +sublimest things to be found in history. In Spain, Wellington not only +exhibited the genius of the general, but the comprehensive wisdom of the +statesman. Though his natural temper was irritable in the extreme, his +high sense of duty enabled him to restrain it; and to those about him his +patience seemed absolutely inexhaustible. His great character stands +untarnished by ambition, by avarice, or any low passion. Though a man of +powerful individuality, he yet displayed a great variety of endowment. +The equal of Napoleon in generalship, he was as prompt, vigorous, and +daring as Clive; as wise a statesman as Cromwell; and as pure and +high-minded as Washington. The great Wellington left behind him an +enduring reputation, founded on toilsome campaigns won by skilful +combination, by fortitude which nothing could exhaust, by sublime daring, +and perhaps by still sublimer patience. + +Energy usually displays itself in promptitude and decision. When Ledyard +the traveller was asked by the African Association when he would be ready +to set out for Africa, he immediately answered, “To-morrow morning.” +Blucher’s promptitude obtained for him the cognomen of “Marshal Forwards” +throughout the Prussian army. When John Jervis, afterwards Earl St. +Vincent, was asked when he would be ready to join his ship, he replied, +“Directly.” And when Sir Colin Campbell, appointed to the command of the +Indian army, was asked when he could set out, his answer was, +“To-morrow,”—an earnest of his subsequent success. For it is rapid +decision, and a similar promptitude in action, such as taking instant +advantage of an enemy’s mistakes, that so often wins battles. “At +Arcola,” said Napoleon, “I won the battle with twenty-five horsemen. I +seized a moment of lassitude, gave every man a trumpet, and gained the +day with this handful. Two armies are two bodies which meet and +endeavour to frighten each other: a moment of panic occurs, and _that +moment_ must be turned to advantage.” “Every moment lost,” said he at +another time, “gives an opportunity for misfortune;” and he declared that +he beat the Austrians because they never knew the value of time: while +they dawdled, he overthrew them. + +India has, during the last century, been a great field for the display of +British energy. From Clive to Havelock and Clyde there is a long and +honourable roll of distinguished names in Indian legislation and +warfare,—such as Wellesley, Metcalfe, Outram, Edwardes, and the +Lawrences. Another great but sullied name is that of Warren Hastings—a +man of dauntless will and indefatigable industry. His family was ancient +and illustrious; but their vicissitudes of fortune and ill-requited +loyalty in the cause of the Stuarts, brought them to poverty, and the +family estate at Daylesford, of which they had been lords of the manor +for hundreds of years, at length passed from their hands. The last +Hastings of Daylesford had, however, presented the parish living to his +second son; and it was in his house, many years later, that Warren +Hastings, his grandson, was born. The boy learnt his letters at the +village school, on the same bench with the children of the peasantry. He +played in the fields which his fathers had owned; and what the loyal and +brave Hastings of Daylesford _had_ been, was ever in the boy’s thoughts. +His young ambition was fired, and it is said that one summer’s day, when +only seven years old, as he laid him down on the bank of the stream which +flowed through the domain, he formed in his mind the resolution that he +would yet recover possession of the family lands. It was the romantic +vision of a boy; yet he lived to realize it. The dream became a passion, +rooted in his very life; and he pursued his determination through youth +up to manhood, with that calm but indomitable force of will which was the +most striking peculiarity of his character. The orphan boy became one of +the most powerful men of his time; he retrieved the fortunes of his line; +bought back the old estate, and rebuilt the family mansion. “When, under +a tropical sun,” says Macaulay, “he ruled fifty millions of Asiatics, his +hopes, amidst all the cares of war, finance, and legislation, still +pointed to Daylesford. And when his long public life, so singularly +chequered with good and evil, with glory and obloquy, had at length +closed for ever, it was to Daylesford that he retired to die.” + +Sir Charles Napier was another Indian leader of extraordinary courage and +determination. He once said of the difficulties with which he was +surrounded in one of his campaigns, “They only make my feet go deeper +into the ground.” His battle of Meeanee was one of the most +extraordinary feats in history. With 2000 men, of whom only 400 were +Europeans, he encountered an army of 35,000 hardy and well-armed +Beloochees. It was an act, apparently, of the most daring temerity, but +the general had faith in himself and in his men. He charged the Belooch +centre up a high bank which formed their rampart in front, and for three +mortal hours the battle raged. Each man of that small force, inspired by +the chief, became for the time a hero. The Beloochees, though twenty to +one, were driven back, but with their faces to the foe. It is this sort +of pluck, tenacity, and determined perseverance which wins soldiers’ +battles, and, indeed, every battle. It is the one neck nearer that wins +the race and shows the blood; it is the one march more that wins the +campaign; the five minutes’ more persistent courage that wins the fight. +Though your force be less than another’s, you equal and outmaster your +opponent if you continue it longer and concentrate it more. The reply of +the Spartan father, who said to his son, when complaining that his sword +was too short, “Add a step to it,” is applicable to everything in life. + +Napier took the right method of inspiring his men with his own heroic +spirit. He worked as hard as any private in the ranks. “The great art +of commanding,” he said, “is to take a fair share of the work. The man +who leads an army cannot succeed unless his whole mind is thrown into his +work. The more trouble, the more labour must be given; the more danger, +the more pluck must be shown, till all is overpowered.” A young officer +who accompanied him in his campaign in the Cutchee Hills, once said, +“When I see that old man incessantly on his horse, how can I be idle who +am young and strong? I would go into a loaded cannon’s mouth if he +ordered me.” This remark, when repeated to Napier, he said was ample +reward for his toils. The anecdote of his interview with the Indian +juggler strikingly illustrates his cool courage as well as his remarkable +simplicity and honesty of character. On one occasion, after the Indian +battles, a famous juggler visited the camp and performed his feats before +the General, his family, and staff. Among other performances, this man +cut in two with a stroke of his sword a lime or lemon placed in the hand +of his assistant. Napier thought there was some collusion between the +juggler and his retainer. To divide by a sweep of the sword on a man’s +hand so small an object without touching the flesh he believed to be +impossible, though a similar incident is related by Scott in his romance +of the ‘Talisman.’ To determine the point, the General offered his own +hand for the experiment, and he stretched out his right arm. The juggler +looked attentively at the hand, and said he would not make the trial. “I +thought I would find you out!” exclaimed Napier. “But stop,” added the +other, “let me see your left hand.” The left hand was submitted, and the +man then said firmly, “If you will hold your arm steady I will perform +the feat.” “But why the left hand and not the right?” “Because the +right hand is hollow in the centre, and there is a risk of cutting off +the thumb; the left is high, and the danger will be less.” Napier was +startled. “I got frightened,” he said; “I saw it was an actual feat of +delicate swordsmanship, and if I had not abused the man as I did before +my staff, and challenged him to the trial, I honestly acknowledge I would +have retired from the encounter. However, I put the lime on my hand, and +held out my arm steadily. The juggler balanced himself, and, with a +swift stroke cut the lime in two pieces. I felt the edge of the sword on +my hand as if a cold thread had been drawn across it. So much (he added) +for the brave swordsmen of India, whom our fine fellows defeated at +Meeanee.” + +The recent terrible struggle in India has served to bring out, perhaps +more prominently than any previous event in our history, the determined +energy and self-reliance of the national character. Although English +officialism may often drift stupidly into gigantic blunders, the men of +the nation generally contrive to work their way out of them with a +heroism almost approaching the sublime. In May, 1857, when the revolt +burst upon India like a thunder-clap, the British forces had been allowed +to dwindle to their extreme minimum, and were scattered over a wide +extent of country, many of them in remote cantonments. The Bengal +regiments, one after another, rose against their officers, broke away, +and rushed to Delhi. Province after province was lapped in mutiny and +rebellion; and the cry for help rose from east to west. Everywhere the +English stood at bay in small detachments, beleaguered and surrounded, +apparently incapable of resistance. Their discomfiture seemed so +complete, and the utter ruin of the British cause in India so certain, +that it might be said of them then, as it had been said before, “These +English never know when they are beaten.” According to rule, they ought +then and there to have succumbed to inevitable fate. + +While the issue of the mutiny still appeared uncertain, Holkar, one of +the native princes, consulted his astrologer for information. The reply +was, “If all the Europeans save one are slain, that one will remain to +fight and reconquer.” In their very darkest moment—even where, as at +Lucknow, a mere handful of British soldiers, civilians, and women, held +out amidst a city and province in arms against them—there was no word of +despair, no thought of surrender. Though cut off from all communication +with their friends for months, and not knowing whether India was lost or +held, they never ceased to have perfect faith in the courage and +devotedness of their countrymen. They knew that while a body of men of +English race held together in India, they would not be left unheeded to +perish. They never dreamt of any other issue but retrieval of their +misfortune and ultimate triumph; and if the worst came to the worst, they +could but fall at their post, and die in the performance of their duty. +Need we remind the reader of the names of Havelock, Inglis, Neill, and +Outram—men of truly heroic mould—of each of whom it might with truth be +said that he had the heart of a chevalier, the soul of a believer, and +the temperament of a martyr. Montalembert has said of them that “they do +honour to the human race.” But throughout that terrible trial almost all +proved equally great—women, civilians and soldiers—from the general down +through all grades to the private and bugleman. The men were not picked: +they belonged to the same ordinary people whom we daily meet at home—in +the streets, in workshops, in the fields, at clubs; yet when sudden +disaster fell upon them, each and all displayed a wealth of personal +resources and energy, and became as it were individually heroic. “Not +one of them,” says Montalembert, “shrank or trembled—all, military and +civilians, young and old, generals and soldiers, resisted, fought, and +perished with a coolness and intrepidity which never faltered. It is in +this circumstance that shines out the immense value of public education, +which invites the Englishman from his youth to make use of his strength +and his liberty, to associate, resist, fear nothing, to be astonished at +nothing, and to save himself, by his own sole exertions, from every sore +strait in life.” + +It has been said that Delhi was taken and India saved by the personal +character of Sir John Lawrence. The very name of “Lawrence” represented +power in the North-West Provinces. His standard of duty, zeal, and +personal effort, was of the highest; and every man who served under him +seemed to be inspired by his spirit. It was declared of him that his +character alone was worth an army. The same might be said of his brother +Sir Henry, who organised the Punjaub force that took so prominent a part +in the capture of Delhi. Both brothers inspired those who were about +them with perfect love and confidence. Both possessed that quality of +tenderness, which is one of the true elements of the heroic character. +Both lived amongst the people, and powerfully influenced them for good. +Above all as Col. Edwardes says, “they drew models on young fellows’ +minds, which they went forth and copied in their several administrations: +they sketched a _faith_, and begot a _school_, which are both living +things at this day.” Sir John Lawrence had by his side such men as +Montgomery, Nicholson, Cotton, and Edwardes, as prompt, decisive, and +high-souled as himself. John Nicholson was one of the finest, manliest, +and noblest of men—“every inch a hakim,” the natives said of him—“a tower +of strength,” as he was characterised by Lord Dalhousie. In whatever +capacity he acted he was great, because he acted with his whole strength +and soul. A brotherhood of fakeers—borne away by their enthusiastic +admiration of the man—even began the worship of Nikkil Seyn: he had some +of them punished for their folly, but they continued their worship +nevertheless. Of his sustained energy and persistency an illustration +may be cited in his pursuit of the 55th Sepoy mutineers, when he was in +the saddle for twenty consecutive hours, and travelled more than seventy +miles. When the enemy set up their standard at Delhi, Lawrence and +Montgomery, relying on the support of the people of the Punjaub, and +compelling their admiration and confidence, strained every nerve to keep +their own province in perfect order, whilst they hurled every available +soldier, European and Sikh, against that city. Sir John wrote to the +commander-in-chief to “hang on to the rebels’ noses before Delhi,” while +the troops pressed on by forced marches under Nicholson, “the tramp of +whose war-horse might be heard miles off,” as was afterwards said of him +by a rough Sikh who wept over his grave. + +The siege and storming of Delhi was the most illustrious event which +occurred in the course of that gigantic struggle, although the leaguer of +Lucknow, during which the merest skeleton of a British regiment—the +32nd—held out, under the heroic Inglis, for six months against two +hundred thousand armed enemies, has perhaps excited more intense +interest. At Delhi, too, the British were really the besieged, though +ostensibly the besiegers; they were a mere handful of men “in the +open”—not more than 3,700 bayonets, European and native—and they were +assailed from day to day by an army of rebels numbering at one time as +many as 75,000 men, trained to European discipline by English officers, +and supplied with all but exhaustless munitions of war. The heroic +little band sat down before the city under the burning rays of a tropical +sun. Death, wounds, and fever failed to turn them from their purpose. +Thirty times they were attacked by overwhelming numbers, and thirty times +did they drive back the enemy behind their defences. As Captain +Hodson—himself one of the bravest there—has said, “I venture to aver that +no other nation in the world would have remained here, or avoided defeat +if they had attempted to do so.” Never for an instant did these heroes +falter at their work; with sublime endurance they held on, fought on, and +never relaxed until, dashing through the “imminent deadly breach,” the +place was won, and the British flag was again unfurled on the walls of +Delhi. All were great—privates, officers, and generals. Common soldiers +who had been inured to a life of hardship, and young officers who had +been nursed in luxurious homes, alike proved their manhood, and emerged +from that terrible trial with equal honour. The native strength and +soundness of the English race, and of manly English training and +discipline, were never more powerfully exhibited; and it was there +emphatically proved that the Men of England are, after all, its greatest +products. A terrible price was paid for this great chapter in our +history, but if those who survive, and those who come after, profit by +the lesson and example, it may not have been purchased at too great a +cost. + +But not less energy and courage have been displayed in India and the East +by men of various nations, in other lines of action more peaceful and +beneficent than that of war. And while the heroes of the sword are +remembered, the heroes of the gospel ought not to be forgotten. From +Xavier to Martyn and Williams, there has been a succession of illustrious +missionary labourers, working in a spirit of sublime self-sacrifice, +without any thought of worldly honour, inspired solely by the hope of +seeking out and rescuing the lost and fallen of their race. Borne up by +invincible courage and never-failing patience, these men have endured +privations, braved dangers, walked through pestilence, and borne all +toils, fatigues, and sufferings, yet held on their way rejoicing, +glorying even in martyrdom itself. Of these one of the first and most +illustrious was Francis Xavier. Born of noble lineage, and with +pleasure, power, and honour within his reach, he proved by his life that +there are higher objects in the world than rank, and nobler aspirations +than the accumulation of wealth. He was a true gentleman in manners and +sentiment; brave, honourable, generous; easily led, yet capable of +leading; easily persuaded, yet himself persuasive; a most patient, +resolute and energetic man. At the age of twenty-two he was earning his +living as a public teacher of philosophy at the University of Paris. +There Xavier became the intimate friend and associate of Loyola, and +shortly afterwards he conducted the pilgrimage of the first little band +of proselytes to Rome. + +When John III. of Portugal resolved to plant Christianity in the Indian +territories subject to his influence, Bobadilla was first selected as his +missionary; but being disabled by illness, it was found necessary to make +another selection, and Xavier was chosen. Repairing his tattered +cassock, and with no other baggage than his breviary, he at once started +for Lisbon and embarked for the East. The ship in which he set sail for +Goa had the Governor on board, with a reinforcement of a thousand men for +the garrison of the place. Though a cabin was placed at his disposal, +Xavier slept on deck throughout the voyage with his head on a coil of +ropes, messing with the sailors. By ministering to their wants, +inventing innocent sports for their amusement, and attending them in +their sickness, he wholly won their hearts, and they regarded him with +veneration. + +Arrived at Goa, Xavier was shocked at the depravity of the people, +settlers as well as natives; for the former had imported the vices +without the restraints of civilization, and the latter had only been too +apt to imitate their bad example. Passing along the streets of the city, +sounding his handbell as he went, he implored the people to send him +their children to be instructed. He shortly succeeded in collecting a +large number of scholars, whom he carefully taught day by day, at the +same time visiting the sick, the lepers, and the wretched of all classes, +with the object of assuaging their miseries, and bringing them to the +Truth. No cry of human suffering which reached him was disregarded. +Hearing of the degradation and misery of the pearl fishers of Manaar, he +set out to visit them, and his bell again rang out the invitation of +mercy. He baptized and he taught, but the latter he could only do +through interpreters. His most eloquent teaching was his ministration to +the wants and the sufferings of the wretched. + +On he went, his hand-bell sounding along the coast of Comorin, among the +towns and villages, the temples and the bazaars, summoning the natives to +gather about him and be instructed. He had translations made of the +Catechism, the Apostles’ Creed, the Commandments, the Lord’s Prayer, and +some of the devotional offices of the Church. Committing these to memory +in their own tongue he recited them to the children, until they had them +by heart; after which he sent them forth to teach the words to their +parents and neighbours. At Cape Comorin, he appointed thirty teachers, +who under himself presided over thirty Christian Churches, though the +Churches were but humble, in most cases consisting only of a cottage +surmounted by a cross. Thence he passed to Travancore, sounding his way +from village to village, baptizing until his hands dropped with +weariness, and repeating his formulas until his voice became almost +inaudible. According to his own account, the success of his mission +surpassed his highest expectations. His pure, earnest, and beautiful +life, and the irresistible eloquence of his deeds, made converts wherever +he went; and by sheer force of sympathy, those who saw him and listened +to him insensibly caught a portion of his ardour. + +Burdened with the thought that “the harvest is great and the labourers +are few,” Xavier next sailed to Malacca and Japan, where he found himself +amongst entirely new races speaking other tongues. The most that he +could do here was to weep and pray, to smooth the pillow and watch by the +sick-bed, sometimes soaking the sleeve of his surplice in water, from +which to squeeze out a few drops and baptize the dying. Hoping all +things, and fearing nothing, this valiant soldier of the truth was borne +onward throughout by faith and energy. “Whatever form of death or +torture,” said he, “awaits me, I am ready to suffer it ten thousand times +for the salvation of a single soul.” He battled with hunger, thirst, +privations and dangers of all kinds, still pursuing his mission of love, +unresting and unwearying. At length, after eleven years’ labour, this +great good man, while striving to find a way into China, was stricken +with fever in the Island of Sanchian, and there received his crown of +glory. A hero of nobler mould, more pure, self-denying, and courageous, +has probably never trod this earth. + +Other missionaries have followed Xavier in the same field of work, such +as Schwartz, Carey, and Marshman in India; Gutzlaff and Morrison in +China; Williams in the South Seas; Campbell, Moffatt and Livingstone in +Africa. John Williams, the martyr of Erromanga, was originally +apprenticed to a furnishing ironmonger. Though considered a dull boy, he +was handy at his trade, in which he acquired so much skill that his +master usually entrusted him with any blacksmiths work that required the +exercise of more than ordinary care. He was also fond of bell-hanging +and other employments which took him away from the shop. A casual sermon +which he heard gave his mind a serious bias, and he became a +Sunday-school teacher. The cause of missions having been brought under +his notice at some of his society’s meetings, he determined to devote +himself to this work. His services were accepted by the London +Missionary Society; and his master allowed him to leave the ironmonger’s +shop before the expiry of his indentures. The islands of the Pacific +Ocean were the principal scene of his labours—more particularly Huahine +in Tahiti, Raiatea, and Rarotonga. Like the Apostles he worked with his +hands,—at blacksmith work, gardening, shipbuilding; and he endeavoured to +teach the islanders the art of civilised life, at the same time that he +instructed them in the truths of religion. It was in the course of his +indefatigable labours that he was massacred by savages on the shore of +Erromanga—none worthier than he to wear the martyr’s crown. + +The career of Dr. Livingstone is one of the most interesting of all. He +has told the story of his life in that modest and unassuming manner which +is so characteristic of the man himself. His ancestors were poor but +honest Highlanders, and it is related of one of them, renowned in his +district for wisdom and prudence, that when on his death-bed he called +his children round him and left them these words, the only legacy he had +to bequeath—“In my life-time,” said he, “I have searched most carefully +through all the traditions I could find of our family, and I never could +discover that there was a dishonest man among our forefathers: if, +therefore, any of you or any of your children should take to dishonest +ways, it will not be because it runs in our blood; it does not belong to +you: I leave this precept with you—Be honest.” At the age of ten +Livingstone was sent to work in a cotton factory near Glasgow as a +“piecer.” With part of his first week’s wages he bought a Latin grammar, +and began to learn that language, pursuing the study for years at a night +school. He would sit up conning his lessons till twelve or later, when +not sent to bed by his mother, for he had to be up and at work in the +factory every morning by six. In this way he plodded through Virgil and +Horace, also reading extensively all books, excepting novels, that came +in his way, but more especially scientific works and books of travels. +He occupied his spare hours, which were but few, in the pursuit of +botany, scouring the neighbourhood to collect plants. He even carried on +his reading amidst the roar of the factory machinery, so placing the book +upon the spinning jenny which he worked that he could catch sentence +after sentence as he passed it. In this way the persevering youth +acquired much useful knowledge; and as he grew older, the desire +possessed him of becoming a missionary to the heathen. With this object +he set himself to obtain a medical education, in order the better to be +qualified for the work. He accordingly economised his earnings, and +saved as much money as enabled him to support himself while attending the +Medical and Greek classes, as well as the Divinity Lectures, at Glasgow, +for several winters, working as a cotton spinner during the remainder of +each year. He thus supported himself, during his college career, +entirely by his own earnings as a factory workman, never having received +a farthing of help from any other source. “Looking back now,” he +honestly says, “at that life of toil, I cannot but feel thankful that it +formed such a material part of my early education; and, were it possible, +I should like to begin life over again in the same lowly style, and to +pass through the same hardy training.” At length he finished his medical +curriculum, wrote his Latin thesis, passed his examinations, and was +admitted a licentiate of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons. At +first he thought of going to China, but the war then waging with that +country prevented his following out the idea; and having offered his +services to the London Missionary Society, he was by them sent out to +Africa, which he reached in 1840. He had intended to proceed to China by +his own efforts; and he says the only pang he had in going to Africa at +the charge of the London Missionary Society was, because “it was not +quite agreeable to one accustomed to work his own way to become, in a +manner, dependent upon others.” Arrived in Africa he set to work with +great zeal. He could not brook the idea of merely entering upon the +labours of others, but cut out a large sphere of independent work, +preparing himself for it by undertaking manual labour in building and +other handicraft employment, in addition to teaching, which, he says, +“made me generally as much exhausted and unfit for study in the evenings +as ever I had been when a cotton-spinner.” Whilst labouring amongst the +Bechuanas, he dug canals, built houses, cultivated fields, reared cattle, +and taught the natives to work as well as worship. When he first started +with a party of them on foot upon a long journey, he overheard their +observations upon his appearance and powers—“He is not strong,” said +they; “he is quite slim, and only appears stout because he puts himself +into those bags (trowsers): he will soon knock up.” This caused the +missionary’s Highland blood to rise, and made him despise the fatigue of +keeping them all at the top of their speed for days together, until he +heard them expressing proper opinions of his pedestrian powers. What he +did in Africa, and how he worked, may be learnt from his own ‘Missionary +Travels,’ one of the most fascinating books of its kind that has ever +been given to the public. One of his last known acts is thoroughly +characteristic of the man. The ‘Birkenhead’ steam launch, which he took +out with him to Africa, having proved a failure, he sent home orders for +the construction of another vessel at an estimated cost of 2000_l._ This +sum he proposed to defray out of the means which he had set aside for his +children arising from the profits of his books of travels. “The children +must make it up themselves,” was in effect his expression in sending home +the order for the appropriation of the money. + +The career of John Howard was throughout a striking illustration of the +same power of patient purpose. His sublime life proved that even +physical weakness could remove mountains in the pursuit of an end +recommended by duty. The idea of ameliorating the condition of prisoners +engrossed his whole thoughts and possessed him like a passion; and no +toil, nor danger, nor bodily suffering could turn him from that great +object of his life. Though a man of no genius and but moderate talent, +his heart was pure and his will was strong. Even in his own time he +achieved a remarkable degree of success; and his influence did not die +with him, for it has continued powerfully to affect not only the +legislation of England, but of all civilised nations, down to the present +hour. + +Jonas Hanway was another of the many patient and persevering men who have +made England what it is—content simply to do with energy the work they +have been appointed to do, and go to their rest thankfully when it is +done— + + “Leaving no memorial but a world + Made better by their lives.” + +He was born in 1712, at Portsmouth, where his father, a storekeeper in +the dockyard, being killed by an accident, he was left an orphan at an +early age. His mother removed with her children to London, where she had +them put to school, and struggled hard to bring them up respectably. At +seventeen Jonas was sent to Lisbon to be apprenticed to a merchant, where +his close attention to business, his punctuality, and his strict honour +and integrity, gained for him the respect and esteem of all who knew him. +Returning to London in 1743, he accepted the offer of a partnership in an +English mercantile house at St. Petersburg engaged in the Caspian trade, +then in its infancy. Hanway went to Russia for the purpose of extending +the business; and shortly after his arrival at the capital he set out for +Persia, with a caravan of English bales of cloth making twenty carriage +loads. At Astracan he sailed for Astrabad, on the south-eastern shore of +the Caspian; but he had scarcely landed his bales, when an insurrection +broke out, his goods were seized, and though he afterwards recovered the +principal part of them, the fruits of his enterprise were in a great +measure lost. A plot was set on foot to seize himself and his party; so +he took to sea and, after encountering great perils, reached Ghilan in +safety. His escape on this occasion gave him the first idea of the words +which he afterwards adopted as the motto of his life—“_Never Despair_.” +He afterwards resided in St. Petersburg for five years, carrying on a +prosperous business. But a relative having left him some property, and +his own means being considerable, he left Russia, and arrived in his +native country in 1755. His object in returning to England was, as he +himself expressed it, “to consult his own health (which was extremely +delicate), and do as much good to himself and others as he was able.” +The rest of his life was spent in deeds of active benevolence and +usefulness to his fellow men. He lived in a quiet style, in order that +he might employ a larger share of his income in works of benevolence. +One of the first public improvements to which he devoted himself was that +of the highways of the metropolis, in which he succeeded to a large +extent. The rumour of a French invasion being prevalent in 1755, Mr. +Hanway turned his attention to the best mode of keeping up the supply of +seamen. He summoned a meeting of merchants and shipowners at the Royal +Exchange, and there proposed to them to form themselves into a society +for fitting out landsmen volunteers and boys, to serve on board the +king’s ships. The proposal was received with enthusiasm: a society was +formed, and officers were appointed, Mr. Hanway directing its entire +operations. The result was the establishment in 1756 of The Marine +Society, an institution which has proved of much national advantage, and +is to this day of great and substantial utility. Within six years from +its formation, 5451 boys and 4787 landsmen volunteers had been trained +and fitted out by the society and added to the navy, and to this day it +is in active operation, about 600 poor boys, after a careful education, +being annually apprenticed as sailors, principally in the merchant +service. + +Mr. Hanway devoted the other portions of his spare time to improving or +establishing important public institutions in the metropolis. From an +early period he took an active interest in the Foundling Hospital, which +had been started by Thomas Coram many years before, but which, by +encouraging parents to abandon their children to the charge of a charity, +was threatening to do more harm than good. He determined to take steps +to stem the evil, entering upon the work in the face of the fashionable +philanthropy of the time; but by holding to his purpose he eventually +succeeded in bringing the charity back to its proper objects; and time +and experience have proved that he was right. The Magdalen Hospital was +also established in a great measure through Mr. Hanway’s exertions. But +his most laborious and persevering efforts were in behalf of the infant +parish poor. The misery and neglect amidst which the children of the +parish poor then grew up, and the mortality which prevailed amongst them, +were frightful; but there was no fashionable movement on foot to abate +the suffering, as in the case of the foundlings. So Jonas Hanway +summoned his energies to the task. Alone and unassisted he first +ascertained by personal inquiry the extent of the evil. He explored the +dwellings of the poorest classes in London, and visited the poorhouse +sick wards, by which he ascertained the management in detail of every +workhouse in and near the metropolis. He next made a journey into France +and through Holland, visiting the houses for the reception of the poor, +and noting whatever he thought might be adopted at home with advantage. +He was thus employed for five years; and on his return to England he +published the results of his observations. The consequence was that many +of the workhouses were reformed and improved. In 1761 he obtained an Act +obliging every London parish to keep an annual register of all the +infants received, discharged, and dead; and he took care that the Act +should work, for he himself superintended its working with indefatigable +watchfulness. He went about from workhouse to workhouse in the morning, +and from one member of parliament to another in the afternoon, for day +after day, and for year after year, enduring every rebuff, answering +every objection, and accommodating himself to every humour. At length, +after a perseverance hardly to be equalled, and after nearly ten years’ +labour, he obtained another Act, at his sole expense (7 Geo. III. c. 39), +directing that all parish infants belonging to the parishes within the +bills of mortality should not be nursed in the workhouses, but be sent to +nurse a certain number of miles out of town, until they were six years +old, under the care of guardians to be elected triennially. The poor +people called this “the Act for keeping children alive;” and the +registers for the years which followed its passing, as compared with +those which preceded it, showed that thousands of lives had been +preserved through the judicious interference of this good and sensible +man. + +Wherever a philanthropic work was to be done in London, be sure that +Jonas Hanway’s hand was in it. One of the first Acts for the protection +of chimney-sweepers’ boys was obtained through his influence. A +destructive fire at Montreal, and another at Bridgetown, Barbadoes, +afforded him the opportunity for raising a timely subscription for the +relief of the sufferers. His name appeared in every list, and his +disinterestedness and sincerity were universally recognized. But he was +not suffered to waste his little fortune entirely in the service of +others. Five leading citizens of London, headed by Mr. Hoare, the +banker, without Mr. Hanway’s knowledge, waited on Lord Bute, then prime +minister, in a body, and in the names of their fellow-citizens requested +that some notice might be taken of this good man’s disinterested services +to his country. The result was, his appointment shortly after, as one of +the commissioners for victualling the navy. + +Towards the close of his life Mr. Hanway’s health became very feeble, and +although he found it necessary to resign his office at the Victualling +Board, he could not be idle; but laboured at the establishment of Sunday +Schools,—a movement then in its infancy,—or in relieving poor blacks, +many of whom wandered destitute about the streets of the metropolis,—or, +in alleviating the sufferings of some neglected and destitute class of +society. Notwithstanding his familiarity with misery in all its shapes, +he was one of the most cheerful of beings; and, but for his cheerfulness +he could never, with so delicate a frame, have got through so vast an +amount of self-imposed work. He dreaded nothing so much as inactivity. +Though fragile, he was bold and indefatigable; and his moral courage was +of the first order. It may be regarded as a trivial matter to mention +that he was the first who ventured to walk the streets of London with an +umbrella over his head. But let any modern London merchant venture to +walk along Cornhill in a peaked Chinese hat, and he will find it takes +some degree of moral courage to persevere in it. After carrying an +umbrella for thirty years, Mr. Hanway saw the article at length come into +general use. + +Hanway was a man of strict honour, truthfulness, and integrity; and every +word he said might be relied upon. He had so great a respect, amounting +almost to a reverence, for the character of the honest merchant, that it +was the only subject upon which he was ever seduced into a eulogium. He +strictly practised what he professed, and both as a merchant, and +afterwards as a commissioner for victualling the navy, his conduct was +without stain. He would not accept the slightest favour of any sort from +a contractor; and when any present was sent to him whilst at the +Victualling Office, he would politely return it, with the intimation that +“he had made it a rule not to accept anything from any person engaged +with the office.” When he found his powers failing, he prepared for +death with as much cheerfulness as he would have prepared himself for a +journey into the country. He sent round and paid all his tradesmen, took +leave of his friends, arranged his affairs, had his person neatly +disposed of, and parted with life serenely and peacefully in his 74th +year. The property which he left did not amount to two thousand pounds, +and, as he had no relatives who wanted it, he divided it amongst sundry +orphans and poor persons whom he had befriended during his lifetime. +Such, in brief, was the beautiful life of Jonas Hanway,—as honest, +energetic, hard-working, and true-hearted a man as ever lived. + +The life of Granville Sharp is another striking example of the same power +of individual energy—a power which was afterwards transfused into the +noble band of workers in the cause of Slavery Abolition, prominent among +whom were Clarkson, Wilberforce, Buxton, and Brougham. But, giants +though these men were in this cause, Granville Sharp was the first, and +perhaps the greatest of them all, in point of perseverance, energy, and +intrepidity. He began life as apprentice to a linen-draper on Tower +Hill; but, leaving that business after his apprenticeship was out, he +next entered as a clerk in the Ordnance Office; and it was while engaged +in that humble occupation that he carried on in his spare hours the work +of Negro Emancipation. He was always, even when an apprentice, ready to +undertake any amount of volunteer labour where a useful purpose was to be +served. Thus, while learning the linen-drapery business, a fellow +apprentice who lodged in the same house, and was a Unitarian, led him +into frequent discussions on religious subjects. The Unitarian youth +insisted that Granville’s Trinitarian misconception of certain passages +of Scripture arose from his want of acquaintance with the Greek tongue; +on which he immediately set to work in his evening hours, and shortly +acquired an intimate knowledge of Greek. A similar controversy with +another fellow-apprentice, a Jew, as to the interpretation of the +prophecies, led him in like manner to undertake and overcome the +difficulties of Hebrew. + +But the circumstance which gave the bias and direction to the main +labours of his life originated in his generosity and benevolence. His +brother William, a surgeon in Mincing Lane, gave gratuitous advice to the +poor, and amongst the numerous applicants for relief at his surgery was a +poor African named Jonathan Strong. It appeared that the negro had been +brutally treated by his master, a Barbadoes lawyer then in London, and +became lame, almost blind, and unable to work; on which his owner, +regarding him as of no further value as a chattel, cruelly turned him +adrift into the streets to starve. This poor man, a mass of disease, +supported himself by begging for a time, until he found his way to +William Sharp, who gave him some medicine, and shortly after got him +admitted to St. Bartholomew’s hospital, where he was cured. On coming +out of the hospital, the two brothers supported the negro in order to +keep him off the streets, but they had not the least suspicion at the +time that any one had a claim upon his person. They even succeeded in +obtaining a situation for Strong with an apothecary, in whose service he +remained for two years; and it was while he was attending his mistress +behind a hackney coach, that his former owner, the Barbadoes lawyer, +recognized him, and determined to recover possession of the slave, again +rendered valuable by the restoration of his health. The lawyer employed +two of the Lord Mayor’s officers to apprehend Strong, and he was lodged +in the Compter, until he could be shipped off to the West Indies. The +negro, bethinking him in his captivity of the kind services which +Granville Sharp had rendered him in his great distress some years before, +despatched a letter to him requesting his help. Sharp had forgotten the +name of Strong, but he sent a messenger to make inquiries, who returned +saying that the keepers denied having any such person in their charge. +His suspicions were roused, and he went forthwith to the prison, and +insisted upon seeing Jonathan Strong. He was admitted, and recognized +the poor negro, now in custody as a recaptured slave. Mr. Sharp charged +the master of the prison at his own peril not to deliver up Strong to any +person whatever, until he had been carried before the Lord Mayor, to whom +Sharp immediately went, and obtained a summons against those persons who +had seized and imprisoned Strong without a warrant. The parties appeared +before the Lord Mayor accordingly, and it appeared from the proceedings +that Strong’s former master had already sold him to a new one, who +produced the bill of sale and claimed the negro as his property. As no +charge of offence was made against Strong, and as the Lord Mayor was +incompetent to deal with the legal question of Strong’s liberty or +otherwise, he discharged him, and the slave followed his benefactor out +of court, no one daring to touch him. The man’s owner immediately gave +Sharp notice of an action to recover possession of his negro slave, of +whom he declared he had been robbed. + +About that time (1767), the personal liberty of the Englishman, though +cherished as a theory, was subject to grievous infringements, and was +almost daily violated. The impressment of men for the sea service was +constantly practised, and, besides the press-gangs, there were regular +bands of kidnappers employed in London and all the large towns of the +kingdom, to seize men for the East India Company’s service. And when the +men were not wanted for India, they were shipped off to the planters in +the American colonies. Negro slaves were openly advertised for sale in +the London and Liverpool newspapers. Rewards were offered for recovering +and securing fugitive slaves, and conveying them down to certain +specified ships in the river. + +The position of the reputed slave in England was undefined and doubtful. +The judgments which had been given in the courts of law were fluctuating +and various, resting on no settled principle. Although it was a popular +belief that no slave could breathe in England, there were legal men of +eminence who expressed a directly contrary opinion. The lawyers to whom +Mr. Sharp resorted for advice, in defending himself in the action raised +against him in the case of Jonathan Strong, generally concurred in this +view, and he was further told by Jonathan Strong’s owner, that the +eminent Lord Chief Justice Mansfield, and all the leading counsel, were +decidedly of opinion that the slave, by coming into England, did not +become free, but might legally be compelled to return again to the +plantations. Such information would have caused despair in a mind less +courageous and earnest than that of Granville Sharp; but it only served +to stimulate his resolution to fight the battle of the negroes’ freedom, +at least in England. “Forsaken,” he said, “by my professional defenders, +I was compelled, through the want of regular legal assistance, to make a +hopeless attempt at self-defence, though I was totally unacquainted +either with the practice of the law or the foundations of it, having +never opened a law book (except the Bible) in my life, until that time, +when I most reluctantly undertook to search the indexes of a law library, +which my bookseller had lately purchased.” + +The whole of his time during the day was occupied with the business of +the ordnance department, where he held the most laborious post in the +office; he was therefore under the necessity of conducting his new +studies late at night or early in the morning. He confessed that he was +himself becoming a sort of slave. Writing to a clerical friend to excuse +himself for delay in replying to a letter, he said, “I profess myself +entirely incapable of holding a literary correspondence. What little +time I have been able to save from sleep at night, and early in the +morning, has been necessarily employed in the examination of some points +of law, which admitted of no delay, and yet required the most diligent +researches and examination in my study.” + +Mr. Sharp gave up every leisure moment that he could command during the +next two years, to the close study of the laws of England affecting +personal liberty,—wading through an immense mass of dry and repulsive +literature, and making extracts of all the most important Acts of +Parliament, decisions of the courts, and opinions of eminent lawyers, as +he went along. In this tedious and protracted inquiry he had no +instructor, nor assistant, nor adviser. He could not find a single +lawyer whose opinion was favourable to his undertaking. The results of +his inquiries were, however, as gratifying to himself, as they were +surprising to the gentlemen of the law. “God be thanked,” he wrote, +“there is nothing in any English law or statute—at least that I am able +to find out—that can justify the enslaving of others.” He had planted +his foot firm, and now he doubted nothing. He drew up the result of his +studies in a summary form; it was a plain, clear, and manly statement, +entitled, ‘On the Injustice of Tolerating Slavery in England;’ and +numerous copies, made by himself, were circulated by him amongst the most +eminent lawyers of the time. Strong’s owner, finding the sort of man he +had to deal with, invented various pretexts for deferring the suit +against Sharp, and at length offered a compromise, which was rejected. +Granville went on circulating his manuscript tract among the lawyers, +until at length those employed against Jonathan Strong were deterred from +proceeding further, and the result was, that the plaintiff was compelled +to pay treble costs for not bringing forward his action. The tract was +then printed in 1769. + +In the mean time other cases occurred of the kidnapping of negroes in +London, and their shipment to the West Indies for sale. Wherever Sharp +could lay hold of any such case, he at once took proceedings to rescue +the negro. Thus the wife of one Hylas, an African, was seized, and +despatched to Barbadoes; on which Sharp, in the name of Hylas, instituted +legal proceedings against the aggressor, obtained a verdict with damages, +and Hylas’s wife was brought back to England free. + +Another forcible capture of a negro, attended with great cruelty, having +occurred in 1770, he immediately set himself on the track of the +aggressors. An African, named Lewis, was seized one dark night by two +watermen employed by the person who claimed the negro as his property, +dragged into the water, hoisted into a boat, where he was gagged, and his +limbs were tied; and then rowing down river, they put him on board a ship +bound for Jamaica, where he was to be sold for a slave upon his arrival +in the island. The cries of the poor negro had, however, attracted the +attention of some neighbours; one of whom proceeded direct to Mr. +Granville Sharp, now known as the negro’s friend, and informed him of the +outrage. Sharp immediately got a warrant to bring back Lewis, and he +proceeded to Gravesend, but on arrival there the ship had sailed for the +Downs. A writ of Habeas Corpus was obtained, sent down to Spithead, and +before the ship could leave the shores of England the writ was served. +The slave was found chained to the main-mast bathed in tears, casting +mournful looks on the land from which he was about to be torn. He was +immediately liberated, brought back to London, and a warrant was issued +against the author of the outrage. The promptitude of head, heart, and +hand, displayed by Mr. Sharp in this transaction could scarcely have been +surpassed, and yet he accused himself of slowness. The case was tried +before Lord Mansfield—whose opinion, it will be remembered, had already +been expressed as decidedly opposed to that entertained by Granville +Sharp. The judge, however, avoided bringing the question to an issue, or +offering any opinion on the legal question as to the slave’s personal +liberty or otherwise, but discharged the negro because the defendant +could bring no evidence that Lewis was even nominally his property. + +The question of the personal liberty of the negro in England was +therefore still undecided; but in the mean time Mr. Sharp continued +steady in his benevolent course, and by his indefatigable exertions and +promptitude of action, many more were added to the list of the rescued. +At length the important case of James Somerset occurred; a case which is +said to have been selected, at the mutual desire of Lord Mansfield and +Mr. Sharp, in order to bring the great question involved to a clear legal +issue. Somerset had been brought to England by his master, and left +there. Afterwards his master sought to apprehend him and send him off to +Jamaica, for sale. Mr. Sharp, as usual, at once took the negro’s case in +hand, and employed counsel to defend him. Lord Mansfield intimated that +the case was of such general concern, that he should take the opinion of +all the judges upon it. Mr. Sharp now felt that he would have to contend +with all the force that could be brought against him, but his resolution +was in no wise shaken. Fortunately for him, in this severe struggle, his +exertions had already begun to tell: increasing interest was taken in the +question, and many eminent legal gentlemen openly declared themselves to +be upon his side. + +The cause of personal liberty, now at stake, was fairly tried before Lord +Mansfield, assisted by the three justices,—and tried on the broad +principle of the essential and constitutional right of every man in +England to the liberty of his person, unless forfeited by the law. It is +unnecessary here to enter into any account of this great trial; the +arguments extended to a great length, the cause being carried over to +another term,—when it was adjourned and re-adjourned,—but at length +judgment was given by Lord Mansfield, in whose powerful mind so gradual a +change had been worked by the arguments of counsel, based mainly on +Granville Sharp’s tract, that he now declared the court to be so clearly +of one opinion, that there was no necessity for referring the case to the +twelve judges. He then declared that the claim of slavery never can be +supported; that the power claimed never was in use in England, nor +acknowledged by the law; therefore the man James Somerset must be +discharged. By securing this judgment Granville Sharp effectually +abolished the Slave Trade until then carried on openly in the streets of +Liverpool and London. But he also firmly established the glorious axiom, +that as soon as any slave sets his foot on English ground, that moment he +becomes free; and there can be no doubt that this great decision of Lord +Mansfield was mainly owing to Mr. Sharp’s firm, resolute, and intrepid +prosecution of the cause from the beginning to the end. + +It is unnecessary further to follow the career of Granville Sharp. He +continued to labour indefatigably in all good works. He was instrumental +in founding the colony of Sierra Leone as an asylum for rescued negroes. +He laboured to ameliorate the condition of the native Indians in the +American colonies. He agitated the enlargement and extension of the +political rights of the English people; and he endeavoured to effect the +abolition of the impressment of seamen. Granville held that the British +seamen, as well as the African negro, was entitled to the protection of +the law; and that the fact of his choosing a seafaring life did not in +any way cancel his rights and privileges as an Englishman—first amongst +which he ranked personal freedom. Mr. Sharp also laboured, but +ineffectually, to restore amity between England and her colonies in +America; and when the fratricidal war of the American Revolution was +entered on, his sense of integrity was so scrupulous that, resolving not +in any way to be concerned in so unnatural a business, he resigned his +situation at the Ordnance Office. + +To the last he held to the great object of his life—the abolition of +slavery. To carry on this work, and organize the efforts of the growing +friends of the cause, the Society for the Abolition of Slavery was +founded, and new men, inspired by Sharp’s example and zeal, sprang +forward to help him. His energy became theirs, and the self-sacrificing +zeal in which he had so long laboured single-handed, became at length +transfused into the nation itself. His mantle fell upon Clarkson, upon +Wilberforce, upon Brougham, and upon Buxton, who laboured as he had done, +with like energy and stedfastness of purpose, until at length slavery was +abolished throughout the British dominions. But though the names last +mentioned may be more frequently identified with the triumph of this +great cause, the chief merit unquestionably belongs to Granville Sharp. +He was encouraged by none of the world’s huzzas when he entered upon his +work. He stood alone, opposed to the opinion of the ablest lawyers and +the most rooted prejudices of the times; and alone he fought out, by his +single exertions, and at his individual expense, the most memorable +battle for the constitution of this country and the liberties of British +subjects, of which modern times afford a record. What followed was +mainly the consequence of his indefatigable constancy. He lighted the +torch which kindled other minds, and it was handed on until the +illumination became complete. + +Before the death of Granville Sharp, Clarkson had already turned his +attention to the question of Negro Slavery. He had even selected it for +the subject of a college Essay; and his mind became so possessed by it +that he could not shake it off. The spot is pointed out near Wade’s +Mill, in Hertfordshire, where, alighting from his horse one day, he sat +down disconsolate on the turf by the road side, and after long thinking, +determined to devote himself wholly to the work. He translated his Essay +from Latin into English, added fresh illustrations, and published it. +Then fellow labourers gathered round him. The Society for Abolishing the +Slave Trade, unknown to him, had already been formed, and when he heard +of it he joined it. He sacrificed all his prospects in life to prosecute +this cause. Wilberforce was selected to lead in parliament; but upon +Clarkson chiefly devolved the labour of collecting and arranging the +immense mass of evidence offered in support of the abolition. A +remarkable instance of Clarkson’s sleuth-hound sort of perseverance may +be mentioned. The abettors of slavery, in the course of their defence of +the system, maintained that only such negroes as were captured in battle +were sold as slaves, and if not so sold, then they were reserved for a +still more frightful doom in their own country. Clarkson knew of the +slave-hunts conducted by the slave-traders, but had no witnesses to prove +it. Where was one to be found? Accidentally, a gentleman whom he met on +one of his journeys informed him of a young sailor, in whose company he +had been about a year before, who had been actually engaged in one of +such slave-hunting expeditions. The gentleman did not know his name, and +could but indefinitely describe his person. He did not know where he +was, further than that he belonged to a ship of war in ordinary, but at +what port he could not tell. With this mere glimmering of information, +Clarkson determined to produce this man as a witness. He visited +personally all the seaport towns where ships in ordinary lay; boarded and +examined every ship without success, until he came to the very _last_ +port, and found the young man, his prize, in the very _last_ ship that +remained to be visited. The young man proved to be one of his most +valuable and effective witnesses. + +During several years Clarkson conducted a correspondence with upwards of +four hundred persons, travelling more than thirty-five thousand miles +during the same time in search of evidence. He was at length disabled +and exhausted by illness, brought on by his continuous exertions; but he +was not borne from the field until his zeal had fully awakened the public +mind, and excited the ardent sympathies of all good men on behalf of the +slave. + +After years of protracted struggle, the slave trade was abolished. But +still another great achievement remained to be accomplished—the abolition +of slavery itself throughout the British dominions. And here again +determined energy won the day. Of the leaders in the cause, none was +more distinguished than Fowell Buxton, who took the position formerly +occupied by Wilberforce in the House of Commons. Buxton was a dull, +heavy boy, distinguished for his strong self-will, which first exhibited +itself in violent, domineering, and headstrong obstinacy. His father +died when he was a child; but fortunately he had a wise mother, who +trained his will with great care, constraining him to obey, but +encouraging the habit of deciding and acting for himself in matters which +might safely be left to him. His mother believed that a strong will, +directed upon worthy objects, was a valuable manly quality if properly +guided, and she acted accordingly. When others about her commented on +the boy’s self-will, she would merely say, “Never mind—he is self-willed +now—you will see it will turn out well in the end.” Fowell learnt very +little at school, and was regarded as a dunce and an idler. He got other +boys to do his exercises for him, while he romped and scrambled about. +He returned home at fifteen, a great, growing, awkward lad, fond only of +boating, shooting, riding, and field sports,—spending his time +principally with the gamekeeper, a man possessed of a good heart,—an +intelligent observer of life and nature, though he could neither read nor +write. Buxton had excellent raw material in him, but he wanted culture, +training, and development. At this juncture of his life, when his habits +were being formed for good or evil, he was happily thrown into the +society of the Gurney family, distinguished for their fine social +qualities not less than for their intellectual culture and +public-spirited philanthropy. This intercourse with the Gurneys, he used +afterwards to say, gave the colouring to his life. They encouraged his +efforts at self-culture; and when he went to the University of Dublin and +gained high honours there, the animating passion in his mind, he said, +“was to carry back to them the prizes which they prompted and enabled me +to win.” He married one of the daughters of the family, and started in +life, commencing as a clerk to his uncles Hanbury, the London brewers. +His power of will, which made him so difficult to deal with as a boy, now +formed the backbone of his character, and made him most indefatigable and +energetic in whatever he undertook. He threw his whole strength and bulk +right down upon his work; and the great giant—“Elephant Buxton” they +called him, for he stood some six feet four in height—became one of the +most vigorous and practical of men. “I could brew,” he said, “one +hour,—do mathematics the next,—and shoot the next,—and each with my whole +soul.” There was invincible energy and determination in whatever he did. +Admitted a partner, he became the active manager of the concern; and the +vast business which he conducted felt his influence through every fibre, +and prospered far beyond its previous success. Nor did he allow his mind +to lie fallow, for he gave his evenings diligently to self-culture, +studying and digesting Blackstone, Montesquieu, and solid commentaries on +English law. His maxims in reading were, “never to begin a book without +finishing it;” “never to consider a book finished until it is mastered;” +and “to study everything with the whole mind.” + +When only thirty-two, Buxton entered parliament, and at once assumed that +position of influence there, of which every honest, earnest, +well-informed man is secure, who enters that assembly of the first +gentlemen in the world. The principal question to which he devoted +himself was the complete emancipation of the slaves in the British +colonies. He himself used to attribute the interest which he early felt +in this question to the influence of Priscilla Gurney, one of the Earlham +family,—a woman of a fine intellect and warm heart, abounding in +illustrious virtues. When on her deathbed, in 1821, she repeatedly sent +for Buxton, and urged him “to make the cause of the slaves the great +object of his life.” Her last act was to attempt to reiterate the solemn +charge, and she expired in the ineffectual effort. Buxton never forgot +her counsel; he named one of his daughters after her; and on the day on +which she was married from his house, on the 1st of August, 1834,—the day +of Negro emancipation—after his Priscilla had been manumitted from her +filial service, and left her father’s home in the company of her husband, +Buxton sat down and thus wrote to a friend: “The bride is just gone; +everything has passed off to admiration; and _there is not a slave in the +British colonies_!” + +Buxton was no genius—not a great intellectual leader nor discoverer, but +mainly an earnest, straightforward, resolute, energetic man. Indeed, his +whole character is most forcibly expressed in his own words, which every +young man might well stamp upon his soul: “The longer I live,” said he, +“the more I am certain that the great difference between men, between the +feeble and the powerful, the great and the insignificant, is +_energy_—_invincible determination_—a purpose once fixed, and then death +or victory! That quality will do anything that can be done in this +world; and no talents, no circumstances, no opportunities, will make a +two-legged creature a Man without it.” + + + + +CHAPTER IX. +MEN OF BUSINESS. + + + “Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before + kings.”—_Proverbs of Solomon_. + + “That man is but of the lower part of the world that is not brought + up to business and affairs.”—_Owen Feltham_. + +HAZLITT, in one of his clever essays, represents the man of business as a +mean sort of person put in a go-cart, yoked to a trade or profession; +alleging that all he has to do is, not to go out of the beaten track, but +merely to let his affairs take their own course. “The great requisite,” +he says, “for the prosperous management of ordinary business is the want +of imagination, or of any ideas but those of custom and interest on the +narrowest scale.” {263} But nothing could be more one-sided, and in +effect untrue, than such a definition. Of course, there are +narrow-minded men of business, as there are narrow-minded scientific men, +literary men, and legislators; but there are also business men of large +and comprehensive minds, capable of action on the very largest scale. As +Burke said in his speech on the India Bill, he knew statesmen who were +pedlers, and merchants who acted in the spirit of statesmen. + +If we take into account the qualities necessary for the successful +conduct of any important undertaking,—that it requires special aptitude, +promptitude of action on emergencies, capacity for organizing the labours +often of large numbers of men, great tact and knowledge of human nature, +constant self-culture, and growing experience in the practical affairs of +life,—it must, we think, be obvious that the school of business is by no +means so narrow as some writers would have us believe. Mr. Helps had +gone much nearer the truth when he said that consummate men of business +are as rare almost as great poets,—rarer, perhaps, than veritable saints +and martyrs. Indeed, of no other pursuit can it so emphatically be said, +as of this, that “Business makes men.” + +It has, however, been a favourite fallacy with dunces in all times, that +men of genius are unfitted for business, as well as that business +occupations unfit men for the pursuits of genius. The unhappy youth who +committed suicide a few years since because he had been “born to be a man +and condemned to be a grocer,” proved by the act that his soul was not +equal even to the dignity of grocery. For it is not the calling that +degrades the man, but the man that degrades the calling. All work that +brings honest gain is honourable, whether it be of hand or mind. The +fingers may be soiled, yet the heart remain pure; for it is not material +so much as moral dirt that defiles—greed far more than grime, and vice +than verdigris. + +The greatest have not disdained to labour honestly and usefully for a +living, though at the same time aiming after higher things. Thales, the +first of the seven sages, Solon, the second founder of Athens, and +Hyperates, the mathematician, were all traders. Plato, called the Divine +by reason of the excellence of his wisdom, defrayed his travelling +expenses in Egypt by the profits derived from the oil which he sold +during his journey. Spinoza maintained himself by polishing glasses +while he pursued his philosophical investigations. Linnæus, the great +botanist, prosecuted his studies while hammering leather and making +shoes. Shakespeare was a successful manager of a theatre—perhaps priding +himself more upon his practical qualities in that capacity than on his +writing of plays and poetry. Pope was of opinion that Shakespeare’s +principal object in cultivating literature was to secure an honest +independence. Indeed he seems to have been altogether indifferent to +literary reputation. It is not known that he superintended the +publication of a single play, or even sanctioned the printing of one; and +the chronology of his writings is still a mystery. It is certain, +however, that he prospered in his business, and realized sufficient to +enable him to retire upon a competency to his native town of +Stratford-upon-Avon. + +Chaucer was in early life a soldier, and afterwards an effective +Commissioner of Customs, and Inspector of Woods and Crown Lands. Spencer +was Secretary to the Lord Deputy of Ireland, was afterwards Sheriff of +Cork, and is said to have been shrewd and attentive in matters of +business. Milton, originally a schoolmaster, was elevated to the post of +Secretary to the Council of State during the Commonwealth; and the extant +Order-book of the Council, as well as many of Milton’s letters which are +preserved, give abundant evidence of his activity and usefulness in that +office. Sir Isaac Newton proved himself an efficient Master of the Mint; +the new coinage of 1694 having been carried on under his immediate +personal superintendence. Cowper prided himself upon his business +punctuality, though he confessed that he “never knew a poet, except +himself, who was punctual in anything.” But against this we may set the +lives of Wordsworth and Scott—the former a distributor of stamps, the +latter a clerk to the Court of Session,—both of whom, though great poets, +were eminently punctual and practical men of business. David Ricardo, +amidst the occupations of his daily business as a London stock-jobber, in +conducting which he acquired an ample fortune, was able to concentrate +his mind upon his favourite subject—on which he was enabled to throw +great light—the principles of political economy; for he united in himself +the sagacious commercial man and the profound philosopher. Baily, the +eminent astronomer, was another stockbroker; and Allen, the chemist, was +a silk manufacturer. + +We have abundant illustrations, in our own day, of the fact that the +highest intellectual power is not incompatible with the active and +efficient performance of routine duties. Grote, the great historian of +Greece, was a London banker. And it is not long since John Stuart Mill, +one of our greatest living thinkers, retired from the Examiner’s +department of the East India Company, carrying with him the admiration +and esteem of his fellow officers, not on account of his high views of +philosophy, but because of the high standard of efficiency which he had +established in his office, and the thoroughly satisfactory manner in +which he had conducted the business of his department. + +The path of success in business is usually the path of common sense. +Patient labour and application are as necessary here as in the +acquisition of knowledge or the pursuit of science. The old Greeks said, +“to become an able man in any profession, three things are +necessary—nature, study, and practice.” In business, practice, wisely +and diligently improved, is the great secret of success. Some may make +what are called “lucky hits,” but like money earned by gambling, such +“hits” may only serve to lure one to ruin. Bacon was accustomed to say +that it was in business as in ways—the nearest way was commonly the +foulest, and that if a man would go the fairest way he must go somewhat +about. The journey may occupy a longer time, but the pleasure of the +labour involved by it, and the enjoyment of the results produced, will be +more genuine and unalloyed. To have a daily appointed task of even +common drudgery to do makes the rest of life feel all the sweeter. + +The fable of the labours of Hercules is the type of all human doing and +success. Every youth should be made to feel that his happiness and +well-doing in life must necessarily rely mainly on himself and the +exercise of his own energies, rather than upon the help and patronage of +others. The late Lord Melbourne embodied a piece of useful advice in a +letter which he wrote to Lord John Russell, in reply to an application +for a provision for one of Moore the poet’s sons: “My dear John,” he +said, “I return you Moore’s letter. I shall be ready to do what you like +about it when we have the means. I think whatever is done should be done +for Moore himself. This is more distinct, direct, and intelligible. +Making a small provision for young men is hardly justifiable; and it is +of all things the most prejudicial to themselves. They think what they +have much larger than it really is; and they make no exertion. The young +should never hear any language but this: ‘You have your own way to make, +and it depends upon your own exertions whether you starve or not.’ +Believe me, &c., MELBOURNE.” + +Practical industry, wisely and vigorously applied, always produces its +due effects. It carries a man onward, brings out his individual +character, and stimulates the action of others. All may not rise +equally, yet each, on the whole, very much according to his deserts. +“Though all cannot live on the piazza,” as the Tuscan proverb has it, +“every one may feel the sun.” + +On the whole, it is not good that human nature should have the road of +life made too easy. Better to be under the necessity of working hard and +faring meanly, than to have everything done ready to our hand and a +pillow of down to repose upon. Indeed, to start in life with +comparatively small means seems so necessary as a stimulus to work, that +it may almost be set down as one of the conditions essential to success +in life. Hence, an eminent judge, when asked what contributed most to +success at the bar, replied, “Some succeed by great talent, some by high +connexions, some by miracle, but the majority by commencing without a +shilling.” + +We have heard of an architect of considerable accomplishments,—a man who +had improved himself by long study, and travel in the classical lands of +the East,—who came home to commence the practice of his profession. He +determined to begin anywhere, provided he could be employed; and he +accordingly undertook a business connected with dilapidations,—one of the +lowest and least remunerative departments of the architect’s calling. +But he had the good sense not to be above his trade, and he had the +resolution to work his way upward, so that he only got a fair start. One +hot day in July a friend found him sitting astride of a house roof +occupied with his dilapidation business. Drawing his hand across his +perspiring countenance, he exclaimed, “Here’s a pretty business for a man +who has been all over Greece!” However, he did his work, such as it was, +thoroughly and well; he persevered until he advanced by degrees to more +remunerative branches of employment, and eventually he rose to the +highest walks of his profession. + +The necessity of labour may, indeed, be regarded as the main root and +spring of all that we call progress in individuals, and civilization in +nations; and it is doubtful whether any heavier curse could be imposed on +man than the complete gratification of all his wishes without effort on +his part, leaving nothing for his hopes, desires or struggles. The +feeling that life is destitute of any motive or necessity for action, +must be of all others the most distressing and insupportable to a +rational being. The Marquis de Spinola asking Sir Horace Vere what his +brother died of, Sir Horace replied, “He died, Sir, of having nothing to +do.” “Alas!” said Spinola, “that is enough to kill any general of us +all.” + +Those who fail in life are however very apt to assume a tone of injured +innocence, and conclude too hastily that everybody excepting themselves +has had a hand in their personal misfortunes. An eminent writer lately +published a book, in which he described his numerous failures in +business, naively admitting, at the same time, that he was ignorant of +the multiplication table; and he came to the conclusion that the real +cause of his ill-success in life was the money-worshipping spirit of the +age. Lamartine also did not hesitate to profess his contempt for +arithmetic; but, had it been less, probably we should not have witnessed +the unseemly spectacle of the admirers of that distinguished personage +engaged in collecting subscriptions for his support in his old age. + +Again, some consider themselves born to ill luck, and make up their minds +that the world invariably goes against them without any fault on their +own part. We have heard of a person of this sort, who went so far as to +declare his belief that if he had been a hatter people would have been +born without heads! There is however a Russian proverb which says that +Misfortune is next door to Stupidity; and it will often be found that men +who are constantly lamenting their luck, are in some way or other reaping +the consequences of their own neglect, mismanagement, improvidence, or +want of application. Dr. Johnson, who came up to London with a single +guinea in his pocket, and who once accurately described himself in his +signature to a letter addressed to a noble lord, as _Impransus_, or +Dinnerless, has honestly said, “All the complaints which are made of the +world are unjust; I never knew a man of merit neglected; it was generally +by his own fault that he failed of success.” + +Washington Irying, the American author, held like views. “As for the +talk,” said he, “about modest merit being neglected, it is too often a +cant, by which indolent and irresolute men seek to lay their want of +success at the door of the public. Modest merit is, however, too apt to +be inactive, or negligent, or uninstructed merit. Well matured and well +disciplined talent is always sure of a market, provided it exerts itself; +but it must not cower at home and expect to be sought for. There is a +good deal of cant too about the success of forward and impudent men, +while men of retiring worth are passed over with neglect. But it usually +happens that those forward men have that valuable quality of promptness +and activity without which worth is a mere inoperative property. A +barking dog is often more useful than a sleeping lion.” + +Attention, application, accuracy, method, punctuality, and despatch, are +the principal qualities required for the efficient conduct of business of +any sort. These, at first sight, may appear to be small matters; and yet +they are of essential importance to human happiness, well-being, and +usefulness. They are little things, it is true; but human life is made +up of comparative trifles. It is the repetition of little acts which +constitute not only the sum of human character, but which determine the +character of nations. And where men or nations have broken down, it will +almost invariably be found that neglect of little things was the rock on +which they split. Every human being has duties to be performed, and, +therefore, has need of cultivating the capacity for doing them; whether +the sphere of action be the management of a household, the conduct of a +trade or profession, or the government of a nation. + +The examples we have already given of great workers in various branches +of industry, art, and science, render it unnecessary further to enforce +the importance of persevering application in any department of life. It +is the result of every-day experience that steady attention to matters of +detail lies at the root of human progress; and that diligence, above all, +is the mother of good luck. Accuracy is also of much importance, and an +invariable mark of good training in a man. Accuracy in observation, +accuracy in speech, accuracy in the transaction of affairs. What is done +in business must be well done; for it is better to accomplish perfectly a +small amount of work, than to half-do ten times as much. A wise man used +to say, “Stay a little, that we may make an end the sooner.” + +Too little attention, however, is paid to this highly important quality +of accuracy. As a man eminent in practical science lately observed to +us, “It is astonishing how few people I have met with in the course of my +experience, who can _define a fact_ accurately.” Yet in business +affairs, it is the manner in which even small matters are transacted, +that often decides men for or against you. With virtue, capacity, and +good conduct in other respects, the person who is habitually inaccurate +cannot be trusted; his work has to be gone over again; and he thus causes +an infinity of annoyance, vexation, and trouble. + +It was one of the characteristic qualities of Charles James Fox, that he +was thoroughly pains-taking in all that he did. When appointed Secretary +of State, being piqued at some observation as to his bad writing, he +actually took a writing-master, and wrote copies like a schoolboy until +he had sufficiently improved himself. Though a corpulent man, he was +wonderfully active at picking up cut tennis balls, and when asked how he +contrived to do so, he playfully replied, “Because I am a very +pains-taking man.” The same accuracy in trifling matters was displayed +by him in things of greater importance; and he acquired his reputation, +like the painter, by “neglecting nothing.” + +Method is essential, and enables a larger amount of work to be got +through with satisfaction. “Method,” said the Reverend Richard Cecil, +“is like packing things in a box; a good packer will get in half as much +again as a bad one.” Cecil’s despatch of business was extraordinary, his +maxim being, “The shortest way to do many things is to do only one thing +at once;” and he never left a thing undone with a view of recurring to it +at a period of more leisure. When business pressed, he rather chose to +encroach on his hours of meals and rest than omit any part of his work. +De Witt’s maxim was like Cecil’s: “One thing at a time.” “If,” said he, +“I have any necessary despatches to make, I think of nothing else till +they are finished; if any domestic affairs require my attention, I give +myself wholly up to them till they are set in order.” + +A French minister, who was alike remarkable for his despatch of business +and his constant attendance at places of amusement, being asked how he +contrived to combine both objects, replied, “Simply by never postponing +till to-morrow what should be done to-day.” Lord Brougham has said that +a certain English statesman reversed the process, and that his maxim was, +never to transact to-day what could be postponed till to-morrow. +Unhappily, such is the practice of many besides that minister, already +almost forgotten; the practice is that of the indolent and the +unsuccessful. Such men, too, are apt to rely upon agents, who are not +always to be relied upon. Important affairs must be attended to in +person. “If you want your business done,” says the proverb, “go and do +it; if you don’t want it done, send some one else.” + +An indolent country gentleman had a freehold estate producing about five +hundred a-year. Becoming involved in debt, he sold half the estate, and +let the remainder to an industrious farmer for twenty years. About the +end of the term the farmer called to pay his rent, and asked the owner +whether he would sell the farm. “Will _you_ buy it?” asked the owner, +surprised. “Yes, if we can agree about the price.” “That is exceedingly +strange,” observed the gentleman; “pray, tell me how it happens that, +while I could not live upon twice as much land for which I paid no rent, +you are regularly paying me two hundred a-year for your farm, and are +able, in a few years, to purchase it.” “The reason is plain,” was the +reply; “you sat still and said _Go_, I got up and said _Come_; you laid +in bed and enjoyed your estate, I rose in the morning and minded my +business.” + +Sir Walter Scott, writing to a youth who had obtained a situation and +asked for his advice, gave him in reply this sound counsel: “Beware of +stumbling over a propensity which easily besets you from not having your +time fully employed—I mean what the women call _dawdling_. Your motto +must be, _Hoc age_. Do instantly whatever is to be done, and take the +hours of recreation after business, never before it. When a regiment is +under march, the rear is often thrown into confusion because the front do +not move steadily and without interruption. It is the same with +business. If that which is first in hand is not instantly, steadily, and +regularly despatched, other things accumulate behind, till affairs begin +to press all at once, and no human brain can stand the confusion.” + +Promptitude in action may be stimulated by a due consideration of the +value of time. An Italian philosopher was accustomed to call time his +estate: an estate which produces nothing of value without cultivation, +but, duly improved, never fails to recompense the labours of the diligent +worker. Allowed to lie waste, the product will be only noxious weeds and +vicious growths of all kinds. One of the minor uses of steady employment +is, that it keeps one out of mischief, for truly an idle brain is the +devil’s workshop, and a lazy man the devil’s bolster. To be occupied is +to be possessed as by a tenant, whereas to be idle is to be empty; and +when the doors of the imagination are opened, temptation finds a ready +access, and evil thoughts come trooping in. It is observed at sea, that +men are never so much disposed to grumble and mutiny as when least +employed. Hence an old captain, when there was nothing else to do, would +issue the order to “scour the anchor!” + +Men of business are accustomed to quote the maxim that Time is money; but +it is more; the proper improvement of it is self-culture, +self-improvement, and growth of character. An hour wasted daily on +trifles or in indolence, would, if devoted to self-improvement, make an +ignorant man wise in a few years, and employed in good works, would make +his life fruitful, and death a harvest of worthy deeds. Fifteen minutes +a day devoted to self-improvement, will be felt at the end of the year. +Good thoughts and carefully gathered experience take up no room, and may +be carried about as our companions everywhere, without cost or +incumbrance. An economical use of time is the true mode of securing +leisure: it enables us to get through business and carry it forward, +instead of being driven by it. On the other hand, the miscalculation of +time involves us in perpetual hurry, confusion, and difficulties; and +life becomes a mere shuffle of expedients, usually followed by disaster. +Nelson once said, “I owe all my success in life to having been always a +quarter of an hour before my time.” + +Some take no thought of the value of money until they have come to an end +of it, and many do the same with their time. The hours are allowed to +flow by unemployed, and then, when life is fast waning, they bethink +themselves of the duty of making a wiser use of it. But the habit of +listlessness and idleness may already have become confirmed, and they are +unable to break the bonds with which they have permitted themselves to +become bound. Lost wealth may be replaced by industry, lost knowledge by +study, lost health by temperance or medicine, but lost time is gone for +ever. + +A proper consideration of the value of time, will also inspire habits of +punctuality. “Punctuality,” said Louis XIV., “is the politeness of +kings.” It is also the duty of gentlemen, and the necessity of men of +business. Nothing begets confidence in a man sooner than the practice of +this virtue, and nothing shakes confidence sooner than the want of it. +He who holds to his appointment and does not keep you waiting for him, +shows that he has regard for your time as well as for his own. Thus +punctuality is one of the modes by which we testify our personal respect +for those whom we are called upon to meet in the business of life. It is +also conscientiousness in a measure; for an appointment is a contract, +express or implied, and he who does not keep it breaks faith, as well as +dishonestly uses other people’s time, and thus inevitably loses +character. We naturally come to the conclusion that the person who is +careless about time will be careless about business, and that he is not +the one to be trusted with the transaction of matters of importance. +When Washington’s secretary excused himself for the lateness of his +attendance and laid the blame upon his watch, his master quietly said, +“Then you must get another watch, or I another secretary.” + +The person who is negligent of time and its employment is usually found +to be a general disturber of others’ peace and serenity. It was wittily +said by Lord Chesterfield of the old Duke of Newcastle—“His Grace loses +an hour in the morning, and is looking for it all the rest of the day.” +Everybody with whom the unpunctual man has to do is thrown from time to +time into a state of fever: he is systematically late; regular only in +his irregularity. He conducts his dawdling as if upon system; arrives at +his appointment after time; gets to the railway station after the train +has started; posts his letter when the box has closed. Thus business is +thrown into confusion, and everybody concerned is put out of temper. It +will generally be found that the men who are thus habitually behind time +are as habitually behind success; and the world generally casts them +aside to swell the ranks of the grumblers and the railers against +fortune. + +In addition to the ordinary working qualities the business man of the +highest class requires quick perception and firmness in the execution of +his plans. Tact is also important; and though this is partly the gift of +nature, it is yet capable of being cultivated and developed by +observation and experience. Men of this quality are quick to see the +right mode of action, and if they have decision of purpose, are prompt to +carry out their undertakings to a successful issue. These qualities are +especially valuable, and indeed indispensable, in those who direct the +action of other men on a large scale, as for instance, in the case of the +commander of an army in the field. It is not merely necessary that the +general should be great as a warrior but also as a man of business. He +must possess great tact, much knowledge of character, and ability to +organize the movements of a large mass of men, whom he has to feed, +clothe, and furnish with whatever may be necessary in order that they may +keep the field and win battles. In these respects Napoleon and +Wellington were both first-rate men of business. + +Though Napoleon had an immense love for details, he had also a vivid +power of imagination, which enabled him to look along extended lines of +action, and deal with those details on a large scale, with judgment and +rapidity. He possessed such knowledge of character as enabled him to +select, almost unerringly, the best agents for the execution of his +designs. But he trusted as little as possible to agents in matters of +great moment, on which important results depended. This feature in his +character is illustrated in a remarkable degree by the ‘Napoleon +Correspondence,’ now in course of publication, and particularly by the +contents of the 15th volume, {277} which include the letters, orders, and +despatches, written by the Emperor at Finkenstein, a little chateau on +the frontier of Poland in the year 1807, shortly after the victory of +Eylau. + +The French army was then lying encamped along the river Passarge with the +Russians before them, the Austrians on their right flank, and the +conquered Prussians in their rear. A long line of communications had to +be maintained with France, through a hostile country; but so carefully, +and with such foresight was this provided for, that it is said Napoleon +never missed a post. The movements of armies, the bringing up of +reinforcements from remote points in France, Spain, Italy, and Germany, +the opening of canals and the levelling of roads to enable the produce of +Poland and Prussia to be readily transported to his encampments, had his +unceasing attention, down to the minutest details. We find him directing +where horses were to be obtained, making arrangements for an adequate +supply of saddles, ordering shoes for the soldiers, and specifying the +number of rations of bread, biscuit, and spirits, that were to be brought +to camp, or stored in magazines for the use of the troops. At the same +time we find him writing to Paris giving directions for the +reorganization of the French College, devising a scheme of public +education, dictating bulletins and articles for the ‘Moniteur,’ revising +the details of the budgets, giving instructions to architects as to +alterations to be made at the Tuileries and the Church of the Madelaine, +throwing an occasional sarcasm at Madame de Stael and the Parisian +journals, interfering to put down a squabble at the Grand Opera, carrying +on a correspondence with the Sultan of Turkey and the Schah of Persia, so +that while his body was at Finkenstein, his mind seemed to be working at +a hundred different places in Paris, in Europe, and throughout the world. + +We find him in one letter asking Ney if he has duly received the muskets +which have been sent him; in another he gives directions to Prince Jerome +as to the shirts, greatcoats, clothes, shoes, shakos, and arms, to be +served out to the Wurtemburg regiments; again he presses Cambacérès to +forward to the army a double stock of corn—“The _ifs_ and the _buts_,” +said he, “are at present out of season, and above all it must be done +with speed.” Then he informs Daru that the army want shirts, and that +they don’t come to hand. To Massena he writes, “Let me know if your +biscuit and bread arrangements are yet completed.” To the Grand due de +Berg, he gives directions as to the accoutrements of the +cuirassiers—“They complain that the men want sabres; send an officer to +obtain them at Posen. It is also said they want helmets; order that they +be made at Ebling. . . . It is not by sleeping that one can accomplish +anything.” Thus no point of detail was neglected, and the energies of +all were stimulated into action with extraordinary power. Though many of +the Emperor’s days were occupied by inspections of his troops,—in the +course of which he sometimes rode from thirty to forty leagues a day,—and +by reviews, receptions, and affairs of state, leaving but little time for +business matters, he neglected nothing on that account; but devoted the +greater part of his nights, when necessary, to examining budgets, +dictating dispatches, and attending to the thousand matters of detail in +the organization and working of the Imperial Government; the machinery of +which was for the most part concentrated in his own head. + +Like Napoleon, the Duke of Wellington was a first-rate man of business; +and it is not perhaps saying too much to aver that it was in no small +degree because of his possession of a business faculty amounting to +genius, that the Duke never lost a battle. + +While a subaltern, he became dissatisfied with the slowness of his +promotion, and having passed from the infantry to the cavalry twice, and +back again, without advancement, he applied to Lord Camden, then Viceroy +of Ireland, for employment in the Revenue or Treasury Board. Had he +succeeded, no doubt he would have made a first-rate head of a department, +as he would have made a first-rate merchant or manufacturer. But his +application failed, and he remained with the army to become the greatest +of British generals. + +The Duke began his active military career under the Duke of York and +General Walmoden, in Flanders and Holland, where he learnt, amidst +misfortunes and defeats, how bad business arrangements and bad +generalship serve to ruin the _morale_ of an army. Ten years after +entering the army we find him a colonel in India, reported by his +superiors as an officer of indefatigable energy and application. He +entered into the minutest details of the service, and sought to raise the +discipline of his men to the highest standard. “The regiment of Colonel +Wellesley,” wrote General Harris in 1799, “is a model regiment; on the +score of soldierly bearing, discipline, instruction, and orderly +behaviour it is above all praise.” Thus qualifying himself for posts of +greater confidence, he was shortly after nominated governor of the +capital of Mysore. In the war with the Mahrattas he was first called +upon to try his hand at generalship; and at thirty-four he won the +memorable battle of Assaye, with an army composed of 1500 British and +5000 sepoys, over 20,000 Mahratta infantry and 30,000 cavalry. But so +brilliant a victory did not in the least disturb his equanimity, or +affect the perfect honesty of his character. + +Shortly after this event the opportunity occurred for exhibiting his +admirable practical qualities as an administrator. Placed in command of +an important district immediately after the capture of Seringapatam, his +first object was to establish rigid order and discipline among his own +men. Flushed with victory, the troops were found riotous and disorderly. +“Send me the provost marshal,” said he, “and put him under my orders: +till some of the marauders are hung, it is impossible to expect order or +safety.” This rigid severity of Wellington in the field, though it was +the dread, proved the salvation of his troops in many campaigns. His +next step was to re-establish the markets and re-open the sources of +supply. General Harris wrote to the Governor-general, strongly +commending Colonel Wellesley for the perfect discipline he had +established, and for his “judicious and masterly arrangements in respect +to supplies, which opened an abundant free market, and inspired +confidence into dealers of every description.” The same close attention +to, and mastery of details, characterized him throughout his Indian +career; and it is remarkable that one of his ablest despatches to Lord +Clive, full of practical information as to the conduct of the campaign, +was written whilst the column he commanded was crossing the Toombuddra, +in the face of the vastly superior army of Dhoondiah, posted on the +opposite bank, and while a thousand matters of the deepest interest were +pressing upon the commander’s mind. But it was one of his most +remarkable characteristics, thus to be able to withdraw himself +temporarily from the business immediately in hand, and to bend his full +powers upon the consideration of matters totally distinct; even the most +difficult circumstances on such occasions failing to embarrass or +intimidate him. + +Returned to England with a reputation for generalship, Sir Arthur +Wellesley met with immediate employment. In 1808 a corps of 10,000 men +destined to liberate Portugal was placed under his charge. He landed, +fought, and won two battles, and signed the Convention of Cintra. After +the death of Sir John Moore he was entrusted with the command of a new +expedition to Portugal. But Wellington was fearfully overmatched +throughout his Peninsular campaigns. From 1809 to 1813 he never had more +than 30,000 British troops under his command, at a time when there stood +opposed to him in the Peninsula some 350,000 French, mostly veterans, led +by some of Napoleon’s ablest generals. How was he to contend against +such immense forces with any fair prospect of success? His clear +discernment and strong common sense soon taught him that he must adopt a +different policy from that of the Spanish generals, who were invariably +beaten and dispersed whenever they ventured to offer battle in the open +plains. He perceived he had yet to create the army that was to contend +against the French with any reasonable chance of success. Accordingly, +after the battle of Talavera in 1809, when he found himself encompassed +on all sides by superior forces of French, he retired into Portugal, +there to carry out the settled policy on which he had by this time +determined. It was, to organise a Portuguese army under British +officers, and teach them to act in combination with his own troops, in +the mean time avoiding the peril of a defeat by declining all +engagements. He would thus, he conceived, destroy the _morale_ of the +French, who could not exist without victories; and when his army was ripe +for action, and the enemy demoralized, he would then fall upon them with +all his might. + +The extraordinary qualities displayed by Lord Wellington throughout these +immortal campaigns, can only be appreciated after a perusal of his +despatches, which contain the unvarnished tale of the manifold ways and +means by which he laid the foundations of his success. Never was man +more tried by difficulty and opposition, arising not less from the +imbecility, falsehoods and intrigues of the British Government of the +day, than from the selfishness, cowardice, and vanity of the people he +went to save. It may, indeed, be said of him, that he sustained the war +in Spain by his individual firmness and self-reliance, which never failed +him even in the midst of his great discouragements. He had not only to +fight Napoleon’s veterans, but also to hold in check the Spanish juntas +and the Portuguese regency. He had the utmost difficulty in obtaining +provisions and clothing for his troops; and it will scarcely be credited +that, while engaged with the enemy in the battle of Talavera, the +Spaniards, who ran away, fell upon the baggage of the British army, and +the ruffians actually plundered it! These and other vexations the Duke +bore with a sublime patience and self-control, and held on his course, in +the face of ingratitude, treachery, and opposition, with indomitable +firmness. He neglected nothing, and attended to every important detail +of business himself. When he found that food for his troops was not to +be obtained from England, and that he must rely upon his own resources +for feeding them, he forthwith commenced business as a corn merchant on a +large scale, in copartnery with the British Minister at Lisbon. +Commissariat bills were created, with which grain was bought in the ports +of the Mediterranean and in South America. When he had thus filled his +magazines, the overplus was sold to the Portuguese, who were greatly in +want of provisions. He left nothing whatever to chance, but provided for +every contingency. He gave his attention to the minutest details of the +service; and was accustomed to concentrate his whole energies, from time +to time, on such apparently ignominious matters as soldiers’ shoes, +camp-kettles, biscuits and horse fodder. His magnificent business +qualities were everywhere felt, and there can be no doubt that, by the +care with which he provided for every contingency, and the personal +attention which he gave to every detail, he laid the foundations of his +great success. {283} By such means he transformed an army of raw levies +into the best soldiers in Europe, with whom he declared it to be possible +to go anywhere and do anything. + +We have already referred to his remarkable power of abstracting himself +from the work, no matter how engrossing, immediately in hand, and +concentrating his energies upon the details of some entirely different +business. Thus Napier relates that it was while he was preparing to +fight the battle of Salamanca that he had to expose to the Ministers at +home the futility of relying upon a loan; it was on the heights of San +Christoval, on the field of battle itself, that he demonstrated the +absurdity of attempting to establish a Portuguese bank; it was in the +trenches of Burgos that he dissected Funchal’s scheme of finance, and +exposed the folly of attempting the sale of church property; and on each +occasion, he showed himself as well acquainted with these subjects as +with the minutest detail in the mechanism of armies. + +Another feature in his character, showing the upright man of business, +was his thorough honesty. Whilst Soult ransacked and carried away with +him from Spain numerous pictures of great value, Wellington did not +appropriate to himself a single farthing’s worth of property. Everywhere +he paid his way, even when in the enemy’s country. When he had crossed +the French frontier, followed by 40,000 Spaniards, who sought to “make +fortunes” by pillage and plunder, he first rebuked their officers, and +then, finding his efforts to restrain them unavailing, he sent them back +into their own country. It is a remarkable fact, that, even in France +the peasantry fled from their own countrymen, and carried their valuables +within the protection of the British lines! At the very same time, +Wellington was writing home to the British Ministry, “We are overwhelmed +with debts, and I can scarcely stir out of my house on account of public +creditors waiting to demand payment of what is due to them.” Jules +Maurel, in his estimate of the Duke’s character, says, “Nothing can be +grander or more nobly original than this admission. This old soldier, +after thirty years’ service, this iron man and victorious general, +established in an enemy’s country at the head of an immense army, is +afraid of his creditors! This is a kind of fear that has seldom troubled +the mind of conquerors and invaders; and I doubt if the annals of war +could present anything comparable to this sublime simplicity.” But the +Duke himself, had the matter been put to him, would most probably have +disclaimed any intention of acting even grandly or nobly in the matter; +merely regarding the punctual payment of his debts as the best and most +honourable mode of conducting his business. + +The truth of the good old maxim, that “Honesty is the best policy,” is +upheld by the daily experience of life; uprightness and integrity being +found as successful in business as in everything else. As Hugh Miller’s +worthy uncle used to advise him, “In all your dealings give your +neighbour the cast of the bank—‘good measure, heaped up, and running +over,’—and you will not lose by it in the end.” A well-known brewer of +beer attributed his success to the liberality with which he used his +malt. Going up to the vat and tasting it, he would say, “Still rather +poor, my lads; give it another cast of the malt.” The brewer put his +character into his beer, and it proved generous accordingly, obtaining a +reputation in England, India, and the colonies, which laid the foundation +of a large fortune. Integrity of word and deed ought to be the very +cornerstone of all business transactions. To the tradesman, the +merchant, and manufacturer, it should be what honour is to the soldier, +and charity to the Christian. In the humblest calling there will always +be found scope for the exercise of this uprightness of character. Hugh +Miller speaks of the mason with whom he served his apprenticeship, as one +who “_put his conscience into every stone that he laid_.” So the true +mechanic will pride himself upon the thoroughness and solidity of his +work, and the high-minded contractor upon the honesty of performance of +his contract in every particular. The upright manufacturer will find not +only honour and reputation, but substantial success, in the genuineness +of the article which he produces, and the merchant in the honesty of what +he sells, and that it really is what it seems to be. Baron Dupin, +speaking of the general probity of Englishmen, which he held to be a +principal cause of their success, observed, “We may succeed for a time by +fraud, by surprise, by violence; but we can succeed permanently only by +means directly opposite. It is not alone the courage, the intelligence, +the activity, of the merchant and manufacturer which maintain the +superiority of their productions and the character of their country; it +is far more their wisdom, their economy, and, above all, their probity. +If ever in the British Islands the useful citizen should lose these +virtues, we may be sure that, for England, as for every other country, +the vessels of a degenerate commerce, repulsed from every shore, would +speedily disappear from those seas whose surface they now cover with the +treasures of the universe, bartered for the treasures of the industry of +the three kingdoms.” + +It must be admitted, that Trade tries character perhaps more severely +than any other pursuit in life. It puts to the severest tests honesty, +self-denial, justice, and truthfulness; and men of business who pass +through such trials unstained are perhaps worthy of as great honour as +soldiers who prove their courage amidst the fire and perils of battle. +And, to the credit of the multitudes of men engaged in the various +departments of trade, we think it must be admitted that on the whole they +pass through their trials nobly. If we reflect but for a moment on the +vast amount of wealth daily entrusted even to subordinate persons, who +themselves probably earn but a bare competency—the loose cash which is +constantly passing through the hands of shopmen, agents, brokers, and +clerks in banking houses,—and note how comparatively few are the breaches +of trust which occur amidst all this temptation, it will probably be +admitted that this steady daily honesty of conduct is most honourable to +human nature, if it do not even tempt us to be proud of it. The same +trust and confidence reposed by men of business in each other, as implied +by the system of Credit, which is mainly based upon the principle of +honour, would be surprising if it were not so much a matter of ordinary +practice in business transactions. Dr. Chalmers has well said, that the +implicit trust with which merchants are accustomed to confide in distant +agents, separated from them perhaps by half the globe—often consigning +vast wealth to persons, recommended only by their character, whom perhaps +they have never seen—is probably the finest act of homage which men can +render to one another. + +Although common honesty is still happily in the ascendant amongst common +people, and the general business community of England is still sound at +heart, putting their honest character into their respective +callings,—there are unhappily, as there have been in all times, but too +many instances of flagrant dishonesty and fraud, exhibited by the +unscrupulous, the over-speculative, and the intensely selfish in their +haste to be rich. There are tradesmen who adulterate, contractors who +“scamp,” manufacturers who give us shoddy instead of wool, “dressing” +instead of cotton, cast-iron tools instead of steel, needles without +eyes, razors made only “to sell,” and swindled fabrics in many shapes. +But these we must hold to be the exceptional cases, of low-minded and +grasping men, who, though they may gain wealth which they probably cannot +enjoy, will never gain an honest character, nor secure that without which +wealth is nothing—a heart at peace. “The rogue cozened not me, but his +own conscience,” said Bishop Latimer of a cutler who made him pay +twopence for a knife not worth a penny. Money, earned by screwing, +cheating, and overreaching, may for a time dazzle the eyes of the +unthinking; but the bubbles blown by unscrupulous rogues, when +full-blown, usually glitter only to burst. The Sadleirs, Dean Pauls, and +Redpaths, for the most part, come to a sad end even in this world; and +though the successful swindles of others may not be “found out,” and the +gains of their roguery may remain with them, it will be as a curse and +not as a blessing. + +It is possible that the scrupulously honest man may not grow rich so fast +as the unscrupulous and dishonest one; but the success will be of a truer +kind, earned without fraud or injustice. And even though a man should +for a time be unsuccessful, still he must be honest: better lose all and +save character. For character is itself a fortune; and if the +high-principled man will but hold on his way courageously, success will +surely come,—nor will the highest reward of all be withheld from him. +Wordsworth well describes the “Happy Warrior,” as he + + “Who comprehends his trust, and to the same + Keeps faithful with a singleness of aim; + And therefore does not stoop, nor lie in wait + For wealth, or honour, or for worldly state; + Whom they must follow, on whose head must fall, + Like showers of manna, if they come at all.” + +As an example of the high-minded mercantile man trained in upright habits +of business, and distinguished for justice, truthfulness, and honesty of +dealing in all things, the career of the well-known David Barclay, +grandson of Robert Barclay, of Ury, the author of the celebrated ‘Apology +for the Quakers,’ may be briefly referred to. For many years he was the +head of an extensive house in Cheapside, chiefly engaged in the American +trade; but like Granville Sharp, he entertained so strong an opinion +against the war with our American colonies, that he determined to retire +altogether from the trade. Whilst a merchant, he was as much +distinguished for his talents, knowledge, integrity, and power, as he +afterwards was for his patriotism and munificent philanthropy. He was a +mirror of truthfulness and honesty; and, as became the good Christian and +true gentleman, his word was always held to be as good as his bond. His +position, and his high character, induced the Ministers of the day on +many occasions to seek his advice; and, when examined before the House of +Commons on the subject of the American dispute, his views were so clearly +expressed, and his advice was so strongly justified by the reasons stated +by him, that Lord North publicly acknowledged that he had derived more +information from David Barclay than from all others east of Temple Bar. +On retiring from business, it was not to rest in luxurious ease, but to +enter upon new labours of usefulness for others. With ample means, he +felt that he still owed to society the duty of a good example. He +founded a house of industry near his residence at Walthamstow, which he +supported at a heavy outlay for several years, until at length he +succeeded in rendering it a source of comfort as well as independence to +the well-disposed families of the poor in that neighbourhood. When an +estate in Jamaica fell to him, he determined, though at a cost of some +10,000_l._, at once to give liberty to the whole of the slaves on the +property. He sent out an agent, who hired a ship, and he had the little +slave community transported to one of the free American states, where +they settled down and prospered. Mr. Barclay had been assured that the +negroes were too ignorant and too barbarous for freedom, and it was thus +that he determined practically to demonstrate the fallacy of the +assertion. In dealing with his accumulated savings, he made himself the +executor of his own will, and instead of leaving a large fortune to be +divided among his relatives at his death, he extended to them his +munificent aid during his life, watched and aided them in their +respective careers, and thus not only laid the foundation, but lived to +see the maturity, of some of the largest and most prosperous business +concerns in the metropolis. We believe that to this day some of our most +eminent merchants—such as the Gurneys, Hanburys, and Buxtons—are proud to +acknowledge with gratitude the obligations they owe to David Barclay for +the means of their first introduction to life, and for the benefits of +his counsel and countenance in the early stages of their career. Such a +man stands as a mark of the mercantile honesty and integrity of his +country, and is a model and example for men of business in all time to +come. + + + + +CHAPTER X. +MONEY—ITS USE AND ABUSE. + + + “Not for to hide it in a hedge, + Nor for a train attendant, + But for the glorious privilege + Of being independent.”—_Burns_. + + “Neither a borrower nor a lender be: + For loan oft loses both itself and friend; + And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.”—_Shakepeare_. + + Never treat money affairs with levity—Money is character.—_Sir E. L. + Bulwer Lytton_. + +HOW a man uses money—makes it, saves it, and spends it—is perhaps one of +the best tests of practical wisdom. Although money ought by no means to +be regarded as a chief end of man’s life, neither is it a trifling +matter, to be held in philosophic contempt, representing as it does to so +large an extent, the means of physical comfort and social well-being. +Indeed, some of the finest qualities of human nature are intimately +related to the right use of money; such as generosity, honesty, justice, +and self-sacrifice; as well as the practical virtues of economy and +providence. On the other hand, there are their counterparts of avarice, +fraud, injustice, and selfishness, as displayed by the inordinate lovers +of gain; and the vices of thriftlessness, extravagance, and improvidence, +on the part of those who misuse and abuse the means entrusted to them. +“So that,” as is wisely observed by Henry Taylor in his thoughtful ‘Notes +from Life,’ “a right measure and manner in getting, saving, spending, +giving, taking, lending, borrowing, and bequeathing, would almost argue a +perfect man.” + +Comfort in worldly circumstances is a con ion which every man is +justified in striving to attain by all worthy means. It secures that +physical satisfaction, which is necessary for the culture of the better +part of his nature; and enables him to provide for those of his own +household, without which, says the Apostle, a man is “worse than an +infidel.” Nor ought the duty to be any the less indifferent to us, that +the respect which our fellow-men entertain for us in no slight degree +depends upon the manner in which we exercise the opportunities which +present themselves for our honourable advancement in life. The very +effort required to be made to succeed in life with this object, is of +itself an education; stimulating a man’s sense of self-respect, bringing +out his practical qualities, and disciplining him in the exercise of +patience, perseverance, and such like virtues. The provident and careful +man must necessarily be a thoughtful man, for he lives not merely for the +present, but with provident forecast makes arrangements for the future. +He must also be a temperate man, and exercise the virtue of self-denial, +than which nothing is so much calculated to give strength to the +character. John Sterling says truly, that “the worst education which +teaches self denial, is better than the best which teaches everything +else, and not that.” The Romans rightly employed the same word (virtus) +to designate courage, which is in a physical sense what the other is in a +moral; the highest virtue of all being victory over ourselves. + +Hence the lesson of self-denial—the sacrificing of a present +gratification for a future good—is one of the last that is learnt. Those +classes which work the hardest might naturally be expected to value the +most the money which they earn. Yet the readiness with which so many are +accustomed to eat up and drink up their earnings as they go, renders them +to a great extent helpless and dependent upon the frugal. There are +large numbers of persons among us who, though enjoying sufficient means +of comfort and independence, are often found to be barely a day’s march +ahead of actual want when a time of pressure occurs; and hence a great +cause of social helplessness and suffering. On one occasion a deputation +waited on Lord John Russell, respecting the taxation levied on the +working classes of the country, when the noble lord took the opportunity +of remarking, “You may rely upon it that the Government of this country +durst not tax the working classes to anything like the extent to which +they tax themselves in their expenditure upon intoxicating drinks alone!” +Of all great public questions, there is perhaps none more important than +this,—no great work of reform calling more loudly for labourers. But it +must be admitted that “self-denial and self-help” would make a poor +rallying cry for the hustings; and it is to be feared that the patriotism +of this day has but little regard for such common things as individual +economy and providence, although it is by the practice of such virtues +only that the genuine independence of the industrial classes is to be +secured. “Prudence, frugality, and good management,” said Samuel Drew, +the philosophical shoemaker, “are excellent artists for mending bad +times: they occupy but little room in any dwelling, but would furnish a +more effectual remedy for the evils of life than any Reform Bill that +ever passed the Houses of Parliament.” Socrates said, “Let him that +would move the world move first himself. ” Or as the old rhyme runs— + + “If every one would see + To his own reformation, + How very easily + You might reform a nation.” + +It is, however, generally felt to be a far easier thing to reform the +Church and the State than to reform the least of our own bad habits; and +in such matters it is usually found more agreeable to our tastes, as it +certainly is the common practice, to begin with our neighbours rather +than with ourselves. + +Any class of men that lives from hand to mouth will ever be an inferior +class. They will necessarily remain impotent and helpless, hanging on to +the skirts of society, the sport of times and seasons. Having no respect +for themselves, they will fail in securing the respect of others. In +commercial crises, such men must inevitably go to the wall. Wanting that +husbanded power which a store of savings, no matter how small, invariably +gives them, they will be at every man’s mercy, and, if possessed of right +feelings, they cannot but regard with fear and trembling the future +possible fate of their wives and children. “The world,” once said Mr. +Cobden to the working men of Huddersfield, “has always been divided into +two classes,—those who have saved, and those who have spent—the thrifty +and the extravagant. The building of all the houses, the mills, the +bridges, and the ships, and the accomplishment of all other great works +which have rendered man civilized and happy, has been done by the savers, +the thrifty; and those who have wasted their resources have always been +their slaves. It has been the law of nature and of Providence that this +should be so; and I were an impostor if I promised any class that they +would advance themselves if they were improvident, thoughtless, and +idle.” + +Equally sound was the advice given by Mr. Bright to an assembly of +working men at Rochdale, in 1847, when, after expressing his belief that, +“so far as honesty was concerned, it was to be found in pretty equal +amount among all classes,” he used the following words:—“There is only +one way that is safe for any man, or any number of men, by which they can +maintain their present position if it be a good one, or raise themselves +above it if it be a bad one,—that is, by the practice of the virtues of +industry, frugality, temperance, and honesty. There is no royal road by +which men can raise themselves from a position which they feel to be +uncomfortable and unsatisfactory, as regards their mental or physical +condition, except by the practice of those virtues by which they find +numbers amongst them are continually advancing and bettering themselves.” + +There is no reason why the condition of the average workman should not be +a useful, honourable, respectable, and happy one. The whole body of the +working classes might, (with few exceptions) be as frugal, virtuous, +well-informed, and well-conditioned as many individuals of the same class +have already made themselves. What some men are, all without difficulty +might be. Employ the same means, and the same results will follow. That +there should be a class of men who live by their daily labour in every +state is the ordinance of God, and doubtless is a wise and righteous one; +but that this class should be otherwise than frugal, contented, +intelligent, and happy, is not the design of Providence, but springs +solely from the weakness, self-indulgence, and perverseness of man +himself. The healthy spirit of self-help created amongst working people +would more than any other measure serve to raise them as a class, and +this, not by pulling down others, but by levelling them up to a higher +and still advancing standard of religion, intelligence, and virtue. “All +moral philosophy,” says Montaigne, “is as applicable to a common and +private life as to the most splendid. Every man carries the entire form +of the human condition within him.” + +When a man casts his glance forward, he will find that the three chief +temporal contingencies for which he has to provide are want of +employment, sickness, and death. The two first he may escape, but the +last is inevitable. It is, however, the duty of the prudent man so to +live, and so to arrange, that the pressure of suffering, in event of +either contingency occurring, shall be mitigated to as great an extent as +possible, not only to himself, but also to those who are dependent upon +him for their comfort and subsistence. Viewed in this light the honest +earning and the frugal use of money are of the greatest importance. +Rightly earned, it is the representative of patient industry and untiring +effort, of temptation resisted, and hope rewarded; and rightly used, it +affords indications of prudence, forethought and self-denial—the true +basis of manly character. Though money represents a crowd of objects +without any real worth or utility, it also represents many things of +great value; not only food, clothing, and household satisfaction, but +personal self-respect and independence. Thus a store of savings is to +the working man as a barricade against want; it secures him a footing, +and enables him to wait, it may be in cheerfulness and hope, until better +days come round. The very endeavour to gain a firmer position in the +world has a certain dignity in it, and tends to make a man stronger and +better. At all events it gives him greater freedom of action, and +enables him to husband his strength for future effort. + +But the man who is always hovering on the verge of want is in a state not +far removed from that of slavery. He is in no sense his own master, but +is in constant peril of falling under the bondage of others, and +accepting the terms which they dictate to him. He cannot help being, in +a measure, servile, for he dares not look the world boldly in the face; +and in adverse times he must look either to alms or the poor’s rates. If +work fails him altogether, he has not the means of moving to another +field of employment; he is fixed to his parish like a limpet to its rock, +and can neither migrate nor emigrate. + +To secure independence, the practice of simple economy is all that is +necessary. Economy requires neither superior courage nor eminent virtue; +it is satisfied with ordinary energy, and the capacity of average minds. +Economy, at bottom, is but the spirit of order applied in the +administration of domestic affairs: it means management, regularity, +prudence, and the avoidance of waste. The spirit of economy was +expressed by our Divine Master in the words ‘Gather up the fragments that +remain, so that nothing may be lost.’ His omnipotence did not disdain +the small things of life; and even while revealing His infinite power to +the multitude, he taught the pregnant lesson of carefulness of which all +stand so much in need. + +Economy also means the power of resisting present gratification for the +purpose of securing a future good, and in this light it represents the +ascendancy of reason over the animal instincts. It is altogether +different from penuriousness: for it is economy that can always best +afford to be generous. It does not make money an idol, but regards it as +a useful agent. As Dean Swift observes, “we must carry money in the +head, not in the heart.” Economy may be styled the daughter of Prudence, +the sister of Temperance, and the mother of Liberty. It is evidently +conservative—conservative of character, of domestic happiness, and social +well-being. It is, in short, the exhibition of self-help in one of its +best forms. + +Francis Horner’s father gave him this advice on entering life:—“Whilst I +wish you to be comfortable in every respect, I cannot too strongly +inculcate economy. It is a necessary virtue to all; and however the +shallow part of mankind may despise it, it certainly leads to +independence, which is a grand object to every man of a high spirit.” +Burns’ lines, quoted at the head of this chapter, contain the right idea; +but unhappily his strain of song was higher than his practice; his ideal +better than his habit. When laid on his death-bed he wrote to a friend, +“Alas! Clarke, I begin to feel the worst. Burns’ poor widow, and half a +dozen of his dear little ones helpless orphans;—there I am weak as a +woman’s tear. Enough of this;—’tis half my disease.” + +Every man ought so to contrive as to live within his means. This +practice is of the very essence of honesty. For if a man do not manage +honestly to live within his own means, he must necessarily be living +dishonestly upon the means of somebody else. Those who are careless +about personal expenditure, and consider merely their own gratification, +without regard for the comfort of others, generally find out the real +uses of money when it is too late. Though by nature generous, these +thriftless persons are often driven in the end to do very shabby things. +They waste their money as they do their time; draw bills upon the future; +anticipate their earnings; and are thus under the necessity of dragging +after them a load of debts and obligations which seriously affect their +action as free and independent men. + +It was a maxim of Lord Bacon, that when it was necessary to economize, it +was better to look after petty savings than to descend to petty gettings. +The loose cash which many persons throw away uselessly, and worse, would +often form a basis of fortune and independence for life. These wasters +are their own worst enemies, though generally found amongst the ranks of +those who rail at the injustice of “the world.” But if a man will not be +his own friend, how can he expect that others will? Orderly men of +moderate means have always something left in their pockets to help +others; whereas your prodigal and careless fellows who spend all never +find an opportunity for helping anybody. It is poor economy, however, to +be a scrub. Narrowmindedness in living and in dealing is generally +short-sighted, and leads to failure. The penny soul, it is said, never +came to twopence. Generosity and liberality, like honesty, prove the +best policy after all. Though Jenkinson, in the ‘Vicar of Wakefield,’ +cheated his kind-hearted neighbour Flamborough in one way or another +every year, “Flamborough,” said he, “has been regularly growing in +riches, while I have come to poverty and a gaol.” And practical life +abounds in cases of brilliant results from a course of generous and +honest policy. + +The proverb says that “an empty bag cannot stand upright;” neither can a +man who is in debt. It is also difficult for a man who is in debt to be +truthful; hence it is said that lying rides on debt’s back. The debtor +has to frame excuses to his creditor for postponing payment of the money +he owes him; and probably also to contrive falsehoods. It is easy enough +for a man who will exercise a healthy resolution, to avoid incurring the +first obligation; but the facility with which that has been incurred +often becomes a temptation to a second; and very soon the unfortunate +borrower becomes so entangled that no late exertion of industry can set +him free. The first step in debt is like the first step in falsehood; +almost involving the necessity of proceeding in the same course, debt +following debt, as lie follows lie. Haydon, the painter, dated his +decline from the day on which he first borrowed money. He realized the +truth of the proverb, “Who goes a-borrowing, goes a-sorrowing.” The +significant entry in his diary is: “Here began debt and obligation, out +of which I have never been and never shall be extricated as long as I +live.” His Autobiography shows but too painfully how embarrassment in +money matters produces poignant distress of mind, utter incapacity for +work, and constantly recurring humiliations. The written advice which he +gave to a youth when entering the navy was as follows: “Never purchase +any enjoyment if it cannot be procured without borrowing of others. +Never borrow money: it is degrading. I do not say never lend, but never +lend if by lending you render yourself unable to pay what you owe; but +under any circumstances never borrow.” Fichte, the poor student, refused +to accept even presents from his still poorer parents. + +Dr. Johnson held that early debt is ruin. His words on the subject are +weighty, and worthy of being held in remembrance. “Do not,” said he, +“accustom yourself to consider debt only as an inconvenience; you will +find it a calamity. Poverty takes away so many means of doing good, and +produces so much inability to resist evil, both natural and moral, that +it is by all virtuous means to be avoided. . . . Let it be your first +care, then, not to be in any man’s debt. Resolve not to be poor; +whatever you have spend less. Poverty is a great enemy to human +happiness; it certainly destroys liberty, and it makes some virtues +impracticable and others extremely difficult. Frugality is not only the +basis of quiet, but of beneficence. No man can help others that wants +help himself; we must have enough before we have to spare.” + +It is the bounden duty of every man to look his affairs in the face, and +to keep an account of his incomings and outgoings in money matters. The +exercise of a little simple arithmetic in this way will be found of great +value. Prudence requires that we shall pitch our scale of living a +degree below our means, rather than up to them; but this can only be done +by carrying out faithfully a plan of living by which both ends may be +made to meet. John Locke strongly advised this course: “Nothing,” said +he, “is likelier to keep a man within compass than having constantly +before his eyes the state of his affairs in a regular course of account.” +The Duke of Wellington kept an accurate detailed account of all the +moneys received and expended by him. “I make a point,” said he to Mr. +Gleig, “of paying my own bills, and I advise every one to do the same; +formerly I used to trust a confidential servant to pay them, but I was +cured of that folly by receiving one morning, to my great surprise, duns +of a year or two’s standing. The fellow had speculated with my money, +and left my bills unpaid.” Talking of debt his remark was, “It makes a +slave of a man. I have often known what it was to be in want of money, +but I never got into debt.” Washington was as particular as Wellington +was, in matters of business detail; and it is a remarkable fact, that he +did not disdain to scrutinize the smallest outgoings of his +household—determined as he was to live honestly within his means—even +while holding the high office of President of the American Union. + +Admiral Jervis, Earl St. Vincent, has told the story of his early +struggles, and, amongst other things, of his determination to keep out of +debt. “My father had a very large family,” said he, “with limited means. +He gave me twenty pounds at starting, and that was all he ever gave me. +After I had been a considerable time at the station [at sea], I drew for +twenty more, but the bill came back protested. I was mortified at this +rebuke, and made a promise, which I have ever kept, that I would never +draw another bill without a certainty of its being paid. I immediately +changed my mode of living, quitted my mess, lived alone, and took up the +ship’s allowance, which I found quite sufficient; washed and mended my +own clothes; made a pair of trousers out of the ticking of my bed; and +having by these means saved as much money as would redeem my honour, I +took up my bill, and from that time to this I have taken care to keep +within my means.” Jervis for six years endured pinching privation, but +preserved his integrity, studied his profession with success, and +gradually and steadily rose by merit and bravery to the highest rank. + +Mr. Hume hit the mark when he once stated in the House of Commons—though +his words were followed by “laughter”—that the tone of living in England +is altogether too high. Middle-class people are too apt to live up to +their incomes, if not beyond them: affecting a degree of “style” which is +most unhealthy in its effects upon society at large. There is an +ambition to bring up boys as gentlemen, or rather “genteel” men; though +the result frequently is, only to make them gents. They acquire a taste +for dress, style, luxuries, and amusements, which can never form any +solid foundation for manly or gentlemanly character; and the result is, +that we have a vast number of gingerbread young gentry thrown upon the +world, who remind one of the abandoned hulls sometimes picked up at sea, +with only a monkey on board. + +There is a dreadful ambition abroad for being “genteel.” We keep up +appearances, too often at the expense of honesty; and, though we may not +be rich, yet we must seem to be so. We must be “respectable,” though +only in the meanest sense—in mere vulgar outward show. We have not the +courage to go patiently onward in the condition of life in which it has +pleased God to call us; but must needs live in some fashionable state to +which we ridiculously please to call ourselves, and all to gratify the +vanity of that unsubstantial genteel world of which we form a part. +There is a constant struggle and pressure for front seats in the social +amphitheatre; in the midst of which all noble self-denying resolve is +trodden down, and many fine natures are inevitably crushed to death. +What waste, what misery, what bankruptcy, come from all this ambition to +dazzle others with the glare of apparent worldly success, we need not +describe. The mischievous results show themselves in a thousand ways—in +the rank frauds committed by men who dare to be dishonest, but do not +dare to seem poor; and in the desperate dashes at fortune, in which the +pity is not so much for those who fail, as for the hundreds of innocent +families who are so often involved in their ruin. + +The late Sir Charles Napier, in taking leave of his command in India, did +a bold and honest thing in publishing his strong protest, embodied in his +last General Order to the officers of the Indian army, against the “fast” +life led by so many young officers in that service, involving them in +ignominious obligations. Sir Charles strongly urged, in that famous +document—what had almost been lost sight of that “honesty is inseparable +from the character of a thorough-bred gentleman;” and that “to drink +unpaid-for champagne and unpaid-for beer, and to ride unpaid-for horses, +is to be a cheat, and not a gentleman.” Men who lived beyond their means +and were summoned, often by their own servants, before Courts of Requests +for debts contracted in extravagant living, might be officers by virtue +of their commissions, but they were not gentlemen. The habit of being +constantly in debt, the Commander-in-chief held, made men grow callous to +the proper feelings of a gentleman. It was not enough that an officer +should be able to fight: that any bull-dog could do. But did he hold his +word inviolate?—did he pay his debts? These were among the points of +honour which, he insisted, illuminated the true gentleman’s and soldier’s +career. As Bayard was of old, so would Sir Charles Napier have all +British officers to be. He knew them to be “without fear,” but he would +also have them “without reproach.” There are, however, many gallant +young fellows, both in India and at home, capable of mounting a breach on +an emergency amidst belching fire, and of performing the most desperate +deeds of valour, who nevertheless cannot or will not exercise the moral +courage necessary to enable them to resist a petty temptation presented +to their senses. They cannot utter their valiant “No,” or “I can’t +afford it,” to the invitations of pleasure and self-enjoyment; and they +are found ready to brave death rather than the ridicule of their +companions. + +The young man, as he passes through life, advances through a long line of +tempters ranged on either side of him; and the inevitable effect of +yielding, is degradation in a greater or a less degree. Contact with +them tends insensibly to draw away from him some portion of the divine +electric element with which his nature is charged; and his only mode of +resisting them is to utter and to act out his “no” manfully and +resolutely. He must decide at once, not waiting to deliberate and +balance reasons; for the youth, like “the woman who deliberates, is +lost.” Many deliberate, without deciding; but “not to resolve, _is_ to +resolve.” A perfect knowledge of man is in the prayer, “Lead us not into +temptation.” But temptation will come to try the young man’s strength; +and once yielded to, the power to resist grows weaker and weaker. Yield +once, and a portion of virtue has gone. Resist manfully, and the first +decision will give strength for life; repeated, it will become a habit. +It is in the outworks of the habits formed in early life that the real +strength of the defence must lie; for it has been wisely ordained, that +the machinery of moral existence should be carried on principally through +the medium of the habits, so as to save the wear and tear of the great +principles within. It is good habits, which insinuate themselves into +the thousand inconsiderable acts of life, that really constitute by far +the greater part of man’s moral conduct. + +Hugh Miller has told how, by an act of youthful decision, he saved +himself from one of the strong temptations so peculiar to a life of toil. +When employed as a mason, it was usual for his fellow-workmen to have an +occasional treat of drink, and one day two glasses of whisky fell to his +share, which he swallowed. When he reached home, he found, on opening +his favourite book—‘Bacon’s Essays’—that the letters danced before his +eyes, and that he could no longer master the sense. “The condition,” he +says, “into which I had brought myself was, I felt, one of degradation. +I had sunk, by my own act, for the time, to a lower level of intelligence +than that on which it was my privilege to be placed; and though the state +could have been no very favourable one for forming a resolution, I in +that hour determined that I should never again sacrifice my capacity of +intellectual enjoyment to a drinking usage; and, with God’s help, I was +enabled to hold by the determination.” It is such decisions as this that +often form the turning-points in a man’s life, and furnish the foundation +of his future character. And this rock, on which Hugh Miller might have +been wrecked, if he had not at the right moment put forth his moral +strength to strike away from it, is one that youth and manhood alike need +to be constantly on their guard against. It is about one of the worst +and most deadly, as well as extravagant, temptations which lie in the way +of youth. Sir Walter Scott used to say that “of all vices drinking is +the most incompatible with greatness.” Not only so, but it is +incompatible with economy, decency, health, and honest living. When a +youth cannot restrain, he must abstain. Dr. Johnson’s case is the case +of many. He said, referring to his own habits, “Sir, I can abstain; but +I can’t be moderate.” + +But to wrestle vigorously and successfully with any vicious habit, we +must not merely be satisfied with contending on the low ground of worldly +prudence, though that is of use, but take stand upon a higher moral +elevation. Mechanical aids, such as pledges, may be of service to some, +but the great thing is to set up a high standard of thinking and acting, +and endeavour to strengthen and purify the principles as well as to +reform the habits. For this purpose a youth must study himself, watch +his steps, and compare his thoughts and acts with his rule. The more +knowledge of himself he gains, the more humble will he be, and perhaps +the less confident in his own strength. But the discipline will be +always found most valuable which is acquired by resisting small present +gratifications to secure a prospective greater and higher one. It is the +noblest work in self-education—for + + “Real glory + Springs from the silent conquest of ourselves, + And without that the conqueror is nought + But the first slave.” + +Many popular books have been written for the purpose of communicating to +the public the grand secret of making money. But there is no secret +whatever about it, as the proverbs of every nation abundantly testify. +“Take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves.” +“Diligence is the mother of good luck.” “No pains no gains.” “No sweat +no sweet.” “Work and thou shalt have.” “The world is his who has +patience and industry.” “Better go to bed supperless than rise in debt.” +Such are specimens of the proverbial philosophy, embodying the hoarded +experience of many generations, as to the best means of thriving in the +world. They were current in people’s mouths long before books were +invented; and like other popular proverbs they were the first codes of +popular morals. Moreover they have stood the test of time, and the +experience of every day still bears witness to their accuracy, force, and +soundness. The proverbs of Solomon are full of wisdom as to the force of +industry, and the use and abuse of money:—“He that is slothful in work is +brother to him that is a great waster.” “Go to the ant, thou sluggard; +consider her ways, and be wise.” Poverty, says the preacher, shall come +upon the idler, “as one that travelleth, and want as an armed man;” but +of the industrious and upright, “the hand of the diligent maketh rich.” +“The drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty; and drowsiness shall +clothe a man with rags.” “Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he +shall stand before kings.” But above all, “It is better to get wisdom +than gold; for wisdom is better than rubies, and all the things that may +be desired are not to be compared to it.” + +Simple industry and thrift will go far towards making any person of +ordinary working faculty comparatively independent in his means. Even a +working man may be so, provided he will carefully husband his resources, +and watch the little outlets of useless expenditure. A penny is a very +small matter, yet the comfort of thousands of families depends upon the +proper spending and saving of pennies. If a man allows the little +pennies, the results of his hard work, to slip out of his fingers—some to +the beershop, some this way and some that—he will find that his life is +little raised above one of mere animal drudgery. On the other hand, if +he take care of the pennies—putting some weekly into a benefit society or +an insurance fund, others into a savings’ bank, and confiding the rest to +his wife to be carefully laid out, with a view to the comfortable +maintenance and education of his family—he will soon find that this +attention to small matters will abundantly repay him, in increasing +means, growing comfort at home, and a mind comparatively free from fears +as to the future. And if a working man have high ambition and possess +richness in spirit,—a kind of wealth which far transcends all mere +worldly possessions—he may not only help himself, but be a profitable +helper of others in his path through life. That this is no impossible +thing even for a common labourer in a workshop, may be illustrated by the +remarkable career of Thomas Wright of Manchester, who not only attempted +but succeeded in the reclamation of many criminals while working for +weekly wages in a foundry. + +Accident first directed Thomas Wright’s attention to the difficulty +encountered by liberated convicts in returning to habits of honest +industry. His mind was shortly possessed by the subject; and to remedy +the evil became the purpose of his life. Though he worked from six in +the morning till six at night, still there were leisure minutes that he +could call his own—more especially his Sundays—and these he employed in +the service of convicted criminals; a class then far more neglected than +they are now. But a few minutes a day, well employed, can effect a great +deal; and it will scarcely be credited, that in ten years this working +man, by steadfastly holding to his purpose, succeeded in rescuing not +fewer than three hundred felons from continuance in a life of villany! +He came to be regarded as the moral physician of the Manchester Old +Bailey; and where the Chaplain and all others failed, Thomas Wright often +succeeded. Children he thus restored reformed to their parents; sons and +daughters otherwise lost, to their homes; and many a returned convict did +he contrive to settle down to honest and industrious pursuits. The task +was by no means easy. It required money, time, energy, prudence, and +above all, character, and the confidence which character invariably +inspires. The most remarkable circumstance was that Wright relieved many +of these poor outcasts out of the comparatively small wages earned by him +at foundry work. He did all this on an income which did not average, +during his working career, 100_l._ per annum; and yet, while he was able +to bestow substantial aid on criminals, to whom he owed no more than the +service of kindness which every human being owes to another, he also +maintained his family in comfort, and was, by frugality and carefulness, +enabled to lay by a store of savings against his approaching old age. +Every week he apportioned his income with deliberate care; so much for +the indispensable necessaries of food and clothing, so much for the +landlord, so much for the schoolmaster, so much for the poor and needy; +and the lines of distribution were resolutely observed. By such means +did this humble workman pursue his great work, with the results we have +so briefly described. Indeed, his career affords one of the most +remarkable and striking illustrations of the force of purpose in a man, +of the might of small means carefully and sedulously applied, and, above +all, of the power which an energetic and upright character invariably +exercises upon the lives and conduct of others. + +There is no discredit, but honour, in every right walk of industry, +whether it be in tilling the ground, making tools, weaving fabrics, or +selling the products behind a counter. A youth may handle a yard-stick, +or measure a piece of ribbon; and there will be no discredit in doing so, +unless he allows his mind to have no higher range than the stick and +ribbon; to be as short as the one, and as narrow as the other. “Let not +those blush who _have_,” said Fuller, “but those who _have not_ a lawful +calling.” And Bishop Hall said, “Sweet is the destiny of all trades, +whether of the brow or of the mind.” Men who have raised themselves from +a humble calling, need not be ashamed, but rather ought to be proud of +the difficulties they have surmounted. An American President, when asked +what was his coat-of-arms, remembering that he had been a hewer of wood +in his youth, replied, “A pair of shirt sleeves.” A French doctor once +taunted Flechier, Bishop of Nismes, who had been a tallow-chandler in his +youth, with the meanness of his origin, to which Flechier replied, “If +you had been born in the same condition that I was, you would still have +been but a maker of candles.” + +Nothing is more common than energy in money-making, quite independent of +any higher object than its accumulation. A man who devotes himself to +this pursuit, body and soul, can scarcely fail to become rich. Very +little brains will do; spend less than you earn; add guinea to guinea; +scrape and save; and the pile of gold will gradually rise. Osterwald, +the Parisian banker, began life a poor man. He was accustomed every +evening to drink a pint of beer for supper at a tavern which he visited, +during which he collected and pocketed all the corks that he could lay +his hands on. In eight years he had collected as many corks as sold for +eight louis d’ors. With that sum he laid the foundations of his +fortune—gained mostly by stock-jobbing; leaving at his death some three +millions of francs. John Foster has cited a striking illustration of +what this kind of determination will do in money-making. A young man who +ran through his patrimony, spending it in profligacy, was at length +reduced to utter want and despair. He rushed out of his house intending +to put an end to his life, and stopped on arriving at an eminence +overlooking what were once his estates. He sat down, ruminated for a +time, and rose with the determination that he would recover them. He +returned to the streets, saw a load of coals which had been shot out of a +cart on to the pavement before a house, offered to carry them in, and was +employed. He thus earned a few pence, requested some meat and drink as a +gratuity, which was given him, and the pennies were laid by. Pursuing +this menial labour, he earned and saved more pennies; accumulated +sufficient to enable him to purchase some cattle, the value of which he +understood, and these he sold to advantage. He proceeded by degrees to +undertake larger transactions, until at length he became rich. The +result was, that he more than recovered his possessions, and died an +inveterate miser. When he was buried, mere earth went to earth. With a +nobler spirit, the same determination might have enabled such a man to be +a benefactor to others as well as to himself. But the life and its end +in this case were alike sordid. + +To provide for others and for our own comfort and independence in old +age, is honourable, and greatly to be commended; but to hoard for mere +wealth’s sake is the characteristic of the narrow-souled and the miserly. +It is against the growth of this habit of inordinate saving that the wise +man needs most carefully to guard himself: else, what in youth was simple +economy, may in old age grow into avarice, and what was a duty in the one +case, may become a vice in the other. It is the _love_ of money—not +money itself—which is “the root of evil,”—a love which narrows and +contracts the soul, and closes it against generous life and action. +Hence, Sir Walter Scott makes one of his characters declare that “the +penny siller slew more souls than the naked sword slew bodies.” It is +one of the defects of business too exclusively followed, that it +insensibly tends to a mechanism of character. The business man gets into +a rut, and often does not look beyond it. If he lives for himself only, +he becomes apt to regard other human beings only in so far as they +minister to his ends. Take a leaf from such men’s ledger and you have +their life. + +Worldly success, measured by the accumulation of money, is no doubt a +very dazzling thing; and all men are naturally more or less the admirers +of worldly success. But though men of persevering, sharp, dexterous, and +unscrupulous habits, ever on the watch to push opportunities, may and do +“get on” in the world, yet it is quite possible that they may not possess +the slightest elevation of character, nor a particle of real goodness. +He who recognizes no higher logic than that of the shilling, may become a +very rich man, and yet remain all the while an exceedingly poor creature. +For riches are no proof whatever of moral worth; and their glitter often +serves only to draw attention to the worthlessness of their possessor, as +the light of the glowworm reveals the grub. + +The manner in which many allow themselves to be sacrificed to their love +of wealth reminds one of the cupidity of the monkey—that caricature of +our species. In Algiers, the Kabyle peasant attaches a gourd, well +fixed, to a tree, and places within it some rice. The gourd has an +opening merely sufficient to admit the monkey’s paw. The creature comes +to the tree by night, inserts his paw, and grasps his booty. He tries to +draw it back, but it is clenched, and he has not the wisdom to unclench +it. So there he stands till morning, when he is caught, looking as +foolish as may be, though with the prize in his grasp. The moral of this +little story is capable of a very extensive application in life. + +The power of money is on the whole over-estimated. The greatest things +which have been done for the world have not been accomplished by rich +men, nor by subscription lists, but by men generally of small pecuniary +means. Christianity was propagated over half the world by men of the +poorest class; and the greatest thinkers, discoverers, inventors, and +artists, have been men of moderate wealth, many of them little raised +above the condition of manual labourers in point of worldly +circumstances. And it will always be so. Riches are oftener an +impediment than a stimulus to action; and in many cases they are quite as +much a misfortune as a blessing. The youth who inherits wealth is apt to +have life made too easy for him, and he soon grows sated with it, because +he has nothing left to desire. Having no special object to struggle for, +he finds time hang heavy on his hands; he remains morally and spiritually +asleep; and his position in society is often no higher than that of a +polypus over which the tide floats. + + “His only labour is to kill the time, + And labour dire it is, and weary woe.” + +Yet the rich man, inspired by a right spirit, will spurn idleness as +unmanly; and if he bethink himself of the responsibilities which attach +to the possession of wealth and property he will feel even a higher call +to work than men of humbler lot. This, however, must be admitted to be +by no means the practice of life. The golden mean of Agur’s perfect +prayer is, perhaps, the best lot of all, did we but know it: “Give me +neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me.” The +late Joseph Brotherton, M.P., left a fine motto to be recorded upon his +monument in the Peel Park at Manchester,—the declaration in his case +being strictly true: “My richness consisted not in the greatness of my +possessions, but in the smallness of my wants.” He rose from the +humblest station, that of a factory boy, to an eminent position of +usefulness, by the simple exercise of homely honesty, industry, +punctuality, and self-denial. Down to the close of his life, when not +attending Parliament, he did duty as minister in a small chapel in +Manchester to which he was attached; and in all things he made it appear, +to those who knew him in private life, that the glory he sought was _not_ +“to be seen of men,” or to excite their praise, but to earn the +consciousness of discharging the every-day duties of life, down to the +smallest and humblest of them, in an honest, upright, truthful, and +loving spirit. + +“Respectability,” in its best sense, is good. The respectable man is one +worthy of regard, literally worth turning to look at. But the +respectability that consists in merely keeping up appearances is not +worth looking at in any sense. Far better and more respectable is the +good poor man than the bad rich one—better the humble silent man than the +agreeable well-appointed rogue who keeps his gig. A well balanced and +well-stored mind, a life full of useful purpose, whatever the position +occupied in it may be, is of far greater importance than average worldly +respectability. The highest object of life we take to be, to form a +manly character, and to work out the best development possible, of body +and spirit—of mind, conscience, heart, and soul. This is the end: all +else ought to be regarded but as the means. Accordingly, that is not the +most successful life in which a man gets the most pleasure, the most +money, the most power or place, honour or fame; but that in which a man +gets the most manhood, and performs the greatest amount of useful work +and of human duty. Money is power after its sort, it is true; but +intelligence, public spirit, and moral virtue, are powers too, and far +nobler ones. “Let others plead for pensions,” wrote Lord Collingwood to +a friend; “I can be rich without money, by endeavouring to be superior to +everything poor. I would have my services to my country unstained by any +interested motive; and old Scott {313} and I can go on in our +cabbage-garden without much greater expense than formerly.” On another +occasion he said, “I have motives for my conduct which I would not give +in exchange for a hundred pensions.” + +The making of a fortune may no doubt enable some people to “enter +society,” as it is called; but to be esteemed there, they must possess +qualities of mind, manners, or heart, else they are merely rich people, +nothing more. There are men “in society” now, as rich as Croesus, who +have no consideration extended towards them, and elicit no respect. For +why? They are but as money-bags: their only power is in their till. The +men of mark in society—the guides and rulers of opinion—the really +successful and useful men—are not necessarily rich men; but men of +sterling character, of disciplined experience, and of moral excellence. +Even the poor man, like Thomas Wright, though he possess but little of +this world’s goods, may, in the enjoyment of a cultivated nature, of +opportunities used and not abused, of a life spent to the best of his +means and ability, look down, without the slightest feeling of envy, upon +the person of mere worldly success, the man of money-bags and acres. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. +SELF-CULTURE—FACILITIES AND DIFFICULTIES. + + + “Every person has two educations, one which he receives from others, + and one, more important, which he gives to himself.”—_Gibbon_. + + “Is there one whom difficulties dishearten—who bends to the storm? + He will do little. Is there one who will conquer? That kind of man + never fails.”—_John Hunter_. + + “The wise and active conquer difficulties, + By daring to attempt them: sloth and folly + Shiver and shrink at sight of toil and danger, + And _make_ the impossibility they fear.”—_Rowe_. + +“THE best part of every man’s education,” said Sir Walter Scott, “is that +which he gives to himself.” The late Sir Benjamin Brodie delighted to +remember this saying, and he used to congratulate himself on the fact +that professionally he was self-taught. But this is necessarily the case +with all men who have acquired distinction in letters, science, or art. +The education received at school or college is but a beginning, and is +valuable mainly inasmuch as it trains the mind and habituates it to +continuous application and study. That which is put into us by others is +always far less ours than that which we acquire by our own diligent and +persevering effort. Knowledge conquered by labour becomes a possession—a +property entirely our own. A greater vividness and permanency of +impression is secured; and facts thus acquired become registered in the +mind in a way that mere imparted information can never effect. This kind +of self-culture also calls forth power and cultivates strength. The +solution of one problem helps the mastery of another; and thus knowledge +is carried into faculty. Our own active effort is the essential thing; +and no facilities, no books, no teachers, no amount of lessons learnt by +rote will enable us to dispense with it. + +The best teachers have been the readiest to recognize the importance of +self-culture, and of stimulating the student to acquire knowledge by the +active exercise of his own faculties. They have relied more upon +_training_ than upon telling, and sought to make their pupils themselves +active parties to the work in which they were engaged; thus making +teaching something far higher than the mere passive reception of the +scraps and details of knowledge. This was the spirit in which the great +Dr. Arnold worked; he strove to teach his pupils to rely upon themselves, +and develop their powers by their own active efforts, himself merely +guiding, directing, stimulating, and encouraging them. “I would far +rather,” he said, “send a boy to Van Diemen’s Land, where he must work +for his bread, than send him to Oxford to live in luxury, without any +desire in his mind to avail himself of his advantages.” “If there be one +thing on earth,” he observed on another occasion, “which is truly +admirable, it is to see God’s wisdom blessing an inferiority of natural +powers, when they have been honestly, truly, and zealously cultivated.” +Speaking of a pupil of this character, he said, “I would stand to that +man hat in hand.” Once at Laleham, when teaching a rather dull boy, +Arnold spoke somewhat sharply to him, on which the pupil looked up in his +face and said, “Why do you speak angrily, sir? _indeed_, I am doing the +best I can.” Years afterwards, Arnold used to tell the story to his +children, and added, “I never felt so much in my life—that look and that +speech I have never forgotten.” + +From the numerous instances already cited of men of humble station who +have risen to distinction in science and literature, it will be obvious +that labour is by no means incompatible with the highest intellectual +culture. Work in moderation is healthy, as well as agreeable to the +human constitution. Work educates the body, as study educates the mind; +and that is the best state of society in which there is some work for +every man’s leisure, and some leisure for every man’s work. Even the +leisure classes are in a measure compelled to work, sometimes as a relief +from _ennui_, but in most cases to gratify an instinct which they cannot +resist. Some go foxhunting in the English counties, others +grouse-shooting on the Scotch hills, while many wander away every summer +to climb mountains in Switzerland. Hence the boating, running, +cricketing, and athletic sports of the public schools, in which our young +men at the same time so healthfully cultivate their strength both of mind +and body. It is said that the Duke of Wellington, when once looking on +at the boys engaged in their sports in the play-ground at Eton, where he +had spent many of his own younger days, made the remark, “It was there +that the battle of Waterloo was won!” + +Daniel Malthus urged his son when at college to be most diligent in the +cultivation of knowledge, but he also enjoined him to pursue manly sports +as the best means of keeping up the full working power of his mind, as +well as of enjoying the pleasures of intellect. “Every kind of +knowledge,” said he, “every acquaintance with nature and art, will amuse +and strengthen your mind, and I am perfectly pleased that cricket should +do the same by your arms and legs; I love to see you excel in exercises +of the body, and I think myself that the better half, and much the most +agreeable part, of the pleasures of the mind is best enjoyed while one is +upon one’s legs.” But a still more important use of active employment is +that referred to by the great divine, Jeremy Taylor. “Avoid idleness,” +he says, “and fill up all the spaces of thy time with severe and useful +employment; for lust easily creeps in at those emptinesses where the soul +is unemployed and the body is at ease; for no easy, healthful, idle +person was ever chaste if he could be tempted; but of all employments +bodily labour is the most useful, and of the greatest benefit for driving +away the devil.” + +Practical success in life depends more upon physical health than is +generally imagined. Hodson, of Hodson’s Horse, writing home to a friend +in England, said, “I believe, if I get on well in India, it will be +owing, physically speaking, to a sound digestion.” The capacity for +continuous working in any calling must necessarily depend in a great +measure upon this; and hence the necessity for attending to health, even +as a means of intellectual labour. It is perhaps to the neglect of +physical exercise that we find amongst students so frequent a tendency +towards discontent, unhappiness, inaction, and reverie,—displaying itself +in contempt for real life and disgust at the beaten tracks of men,—a +tendency which in England has been called Byronism, and in Germany +Wertherism. Dr. Channing noted the same growth in America, which led him +to make the remark, that “too many of our young men grow up in a school +of despair.” The only remedy for this green-sickness in youth is +physical exercise—action, work, and bodily occupation. + +The use of early labour in self-imposed mechanical employments may be +illustrated by the boyhood of Sir Isaac Newton. Though a comparatively +dull scholar, he was very assiduous in the use of his saw, hammer, and +hatchet—“knocking and hammering in his lodging room”—making models of +windmills, carriages, and machines of all sorts; and as he grew older, he +took delight in making little tables and cupboards for his friends. +Smeaton, Watt, and Stephenson, were equally handy with tools when mere +boys; and but for such kind of self-culture in their youth, it is +doubtful whether they would have accomplished so much in their manhood. +Such was also the early training of the great inventors and mechanics +described in the preceding pages, whose contrivance and intelligence were +practically trained by the constant use of their hands in early life. +Even where men belonging to the manual labour class have risen above it, +and become more purely intellectual labourers, they have found the +advantages of their early training in their later pursuits. Elihu +Burritt says he found hard labour _necessary_ to enable him to study with +effect; and more than once he gave up school-teaching and study, and, +taking to his leather-apron again, went back to his blacksmith’s forge +and anvil for his health of body and mind’s sake. + +The training of young men in the use of tools would, at the same time +that it educated them in “common things,” teach them the use of their +hands and arms, familiarize them with healthy work, exercise their +faculties upon things tangible and actual, give them some practical +acquaintance with mechanics, impart to them the ability of being useful, +and implant in them the habit of persevering physical effort. This is an +advantage which the working classes, strictly so called, certainly +possess over the leisure classes,—that they are in early life under the +necessity of applying themselves laboriously to some mechanical pursuit +or other,—thus acquiring manual dexterity and the use of their physical +powers. The chief disadvantage attached to the calling of the laborious +classes is, not that they are employed in physical work, but that they +are too exclusively so employed, often to the neglect of their moral and +intellectual faculties. While the youths of the leisure classes, having +been taught to associate labour with servility, have shunned it, and been +allowed to grow up practically ignorant, the poorer classes, confining +themselves within the circle of their laborious callings, have been +allowed to grow up in a large proportion of cases absolutely illiterate. +It seems possible, however, to avoid both these evils by combining +physical training or physical work with intellectual culture: and there +are various signs abroad which seem to mark the gradual adoption of this +healthier system of education. + +The success of even professional men depends in no slight degree on their +physical health; and a public writer has gone so far as to say that “the +greatness of our great men is quite as much a bodily affair as a mental +one.” {319} A healthy breathing apparatus is as indispensable to the +successful lawyer or politician as a well-cultured intellect. The +thorough aëration of the blood by free exposure to a large breathing +surface in the lungs, is necessary to maintain that full vital power on +which the vigorous working of the brain in so large a measure depends. +The lawyer has to climb the heights of his profession through close and +heated courts, and the political leader has to bear the fatigue and +excitement of long and anxious debates in a crowded House. Hence the +lawyer in full practice and the parliamentary leader in full work are +called upon to display powers of physical endurance and activity even +more extraordinary than those of the intellect,—such powers as have been +exhibited in so remarkable a degree by Brougham, Lyndhurst, and Campbell; +by Peel, Graham, and Palmerston—all full-chested men. + +Though Sir Walter Scott, when at Edinburgh College, went by the name of +“The Greek Blockhead,” he was, notwithstanding his lameness, a remarkably +healthy youth: he could spear a salmon with the best fisher on the Tweed, +and ride a wild horse with any hunter in Yarrow. When devoting himself +in after life to literary pursuits, Sir Walter never lost his taste for +field sports; but while writing ‘Waverley’ in the morning, he would in +the afternoon course hares. Professor Wilson was a very athlete, as +great at throwing the hammer as in his flights of eloquence and poetry; +and Burns, when a youth, was remarkable chiefly for his leaping, putting, +and wrestling. Some of our greatest divines were distinguished in their +youth for their physical energies. Isaac Barrow, when at the +Charterhouse School, was notorious for his pugilistic encounters, in +which he got many a bloody nose; Andrew Fuller, when working as a +farmer’s lad at Soham, was chiefly famous for his skill in boxing; and +Adam Clarke, when a boy, was only remarkable for the strength displayed +by him in “rolling large stones about,”—the secret, possibly, of some of +the power which he subsequently displayed in rolling forth large thoughts +in his manhood. + +While it is necessary, then, in the first place to secure this solid +foundation of physical health, it must also be observed that the +cultivation of the habit of mental application is quite indispensable for +the education of the student. The maxim that “Labour conquers all +things” holds especially true in the case of the conquest of knowledge. +The road into learning is alike free to all who will give the labour and +the study requisite to gather it; nor are there any difficulties so great +that the student of resolute purpose may not surmount and overcome them. +It was one of the characteristic expressions of Chatterton, that God had +sent his creatures into the world with arms long enough to reach anything +if they chose to be at the trouble. In study, as in business, energy is +the great thing. There must be the “fervet opus”: we must not only +strike the iron while it is hot, but strike it till it is made hot. It +is astonishing how much may be accomplished in self-culture by the +energetic and the persevering, who are careful to avail themselves of +opportunities, and use up the fragments of spare time which the idle +permit to run to waste. Thus Ferguson learnt astronomy from the heavens, +while wrapt in a sheep-skin on the highland hills. Thus Stone learnt +mathematics while working as a journeyman gardener; thus Drew studied the +highest philosophy in the intervals of cobbling shoes; and thus Miller +taught himself geology while working as a day labourer in a quarry. + +Sir Joshua Reynolds, as we have already observed, was so earnest a +believer in the force of industry that he held that all men might achieve +excellence if they would but exercise the power of assiduous and patient +working. He held that drudgery lay on the road to genius, and that there +was no limit to the proficiency of an artist except the limit of his own +painstaking. He would not believe in what is called inspiration, but +only in study and labour. “Excellence,” he said, “is never granted to +man but as the reward of labour.” “If you have great talents, industry +will improve them; if you have but moderate abilities, industry will +supply their deficiency. Nothing is denied to well-directed labour; +nothing is to be obtained without it.” Sir Fowell Buxton was an equal +believer in the power of study; and he entertained the modest idea that +he could do as well as other men if he devoted to the pursuit double the +time and labour that they did. He placed his great confidence in +ordinary means and extraordinary application. + +“I have known several men in my life,” says Dr. Ross, “who may be +recognized in days to come as men of genius, and they were all plodders, +hard-working, _intent_ men. Genius is known by its works; genius without +works is a blind faith, a dumb oracle. But meritorious works are the +result of time and labour, and cannot be accomplished by intention or by +a wish. . . . Every great work is the result of vast preparatory +training. Facility comes by labour. Nothing seems easy, not even +walking, that was not difficult at first. The orator whose eye flashes +instantaneous fire, and whose lips pour out a flood of noble thoughts, +startling by their unexpectedness, and elevating by their wisdom and +truth, has learned his secret by patient repetition, and after many +bitter disappointments.” {321} + +Thoroughness and accuracy are two principal points to be aimed at in +study. Francis Horner, in laying down rules for the cultivation of his +mind, placed great stress upon the habit of continuous application to one +subject for the sake of mastering it thoroughly; he confined himself, +with this object, to only a few books, and resisted with the greatest +firmness “every approach to a habit of desultory reading.” The value of +knowledge to any man consists not in its quantity, but mainly in the good +uses to which he can apply it. Hence a little knowledge, of an exact and +perfect character, is always found more valuable for practical purposes +than any extent of superficial learning. + +One of Ignatius Loyola’s maxims was, “He who does well one work at a +time, does more than all.” By spreading our efforts over too large a +surface we inevitably weaken our force, hinder our progress, and acquire +a habit of fitfulness and ineffective working. Lord St. Leonards once +communicated to Sir Fowell Buxton the mode in which he had conducted his +studies, and thus explained the secret of his success. “I resolved,” +said he, “when beginning to read law, to make everything I acquired +perfectly my own, and never to go to a second thing till I had entirely +accomplished the first. Many of my competitors read as much in a day as +I read in a week; but, at the end of twelve months, my knowledge was as +fresh as the day it was acquired, while theirs had glided away from +recollection.” + +It is not the quantity of study that one gets through, or the amount of +reading, that makes a wise man; but the appositeness of the study to the +purpose for which it is pursued; the concentration of the mind for the +time being on the subject under consideration; and the habitual +discipline by which the whole system of mental application is regulated. +Abernethy was even of opinion that there was a point of saturation in his +own mind, and that if he took into it something more than it could hold, +it only had the effect of pushing something else out. Speaking of the +study of medicine, he said, “If a man has a clear idea of what he desires +to do, he will seldom fail in selecting the proper means of accomplishing +it.” + +The most profitable study is that which is conducted with a definite aim +and object. By thoroughly mastering any given branch of knowledge we +render it more available for use at any moment. Hence it is not enough +merely to have books, or to know where to read for information as we want +it. Practical wisdom, for the purposes of life, must be carried about +with us, and be ready for use at call. It is not sufficient that we have +a fund laid up at home, but not a farthing in the pocket: we must carry +about with us a store of the current coin of knowledge ready for exchange +on all occasions, else we are comparatively helpless when the opportunity +for using it occurs. + +Decision and promptitude are as requisite in self-culture as in business. +The growth of these qualities may be encouraged by accustoming young +people to rely upon their own resources, leaving them to enjoy as much +freedom of action in early life as is practicable. Too much guidance and +restraint hinder the formation of habits of self-help. They are like +bladders tied under the arms of one who has not taught himself to swim. +Want of confidence is perhaps a greater obstacle to improvement than is +generally imagined. It has been said that half the failures in life +arise from pulling in one’s horse while he is leaping. Dr. Johnson was +accustomed to attribute his success to confidence in his own powers. +True modesty is quite compatible with a due estimate of one’s own merits, +and does not demand the abnegation of all merit. Though there are those +who deceive themselves by putting a false figure before their ciphers, +the want of confidence, the want of faith in one’s self, and consequently +the want of promptitude in action, is a defect of character which is +found to stand very much in the way of individual progress; and the +reason why so little is done, is generally because so little is +attempted. + +There is usually no want of desire on the part of most persons to arrive +at the results of self-culture, but there is a great aversion to pay the +inevitable price for it, of hard work. Dr. Johnson held that “impatience +of study was the mental disease of the present generation;” and the +remark is still applicable. We may not believe that there is a royal +road to learning, but we seem to believe very firmly in a “popular” one. +In education, we invent labour-saving processes, seek short cuts to +science, learn French and Latin “in twelve lessons,” or “without a +master.” We resemble the lady of fashion, who engaged a master to teach +her on condition that he did not plague her with verbs and participles. +We get our smattering of science in the same way; we learn chemistry by +listening to a short course of lectures enlivened by experiments, and +when we have inhaled laughing gas, seen green water turned to red, and +phosphorus burnt in oxygen, we have got our smattering, of which the most +that can be said is, that though it may be better than nothing, it is yet +good for nothing. Thus we often imagine we are being educated while we +are only being amused. + +The facility with which young people are thus induced to acquire +knowledge, without study and labour, is not education. It occupies but +does not enrich the mind. It imparts a stimulus for the time, and +produces a sort of intellectual keenness and cleverness; but, without an +implanted purpose and a higher object than mere pleasure, it will bring +with it no solid advantage. In such cases knowledge produces but a +passing impression; a sensation, but no more; it is, in fact, the merest +epicurism of intelligence—sensuous, but certainly not intellectual. Thus +the best qualities of many minds, those which are evoked by vigorous +effort and independent action, sleep a deep sleep, and are often never +called to life, except by the rough awakening of sudden calamity or +suffering, which, in such cases, comes as a blessing, if it serves to +rouse up a courageous spirit that, but for it, would have slept on. + +Accustomed to acquire information under the guise of amusement, young +people will soon reject that which is presented to them under the aspect +of study and labour. Learning their knowledge and science in sport, they +will be too apt to make sport of both; while the habit of intellectual +dissipation, thus engendered, cannot fail, in course of time, to produce +a thoroughly emasculating effect both upon their mind and character. +“Multifarious reading,” said Robertson of Brighton, “weakens the mind +like smoking, and is an excuse for its lying dormant. It is the idlest +of all idlenesses, and leaves more of impotency than any other.” + +The evil is a growing one, and operates in various ways. Its least +mischief is shallowness; its greatest, the aversion to steady labour +which it induces, and the low and feeble tone of mind which it +encourages. If we would be really wise, we must diligently apply +ourselves, and confront the same continuous application which our +forefathers did; for labour is still, and ever will be, the inevitable +price set upon everything which is valuable. We must be satisfied to +work with a purpose, and wait the results with patience. All progress, +of the best kind, is slow; but to him who works faithfully and zealously +the reward will, doubtless, be vouchsafed in good time. The spirit of +industry, embodied in a man’s daily life, will gradually lead him to +exercise his powers on objects outside himself, of greater dignity and +more extended usefulness. And still we must labour on; for the work of +self-culture is never finished. “To be employed,” said the poet Gray, +“is to be happy.” “It is better to wear out than rust out,” said Bishop +Cumberland. “Have we not all eternity to rest in?” exclaimed Arnauld. +“Repos ailleurs” was the motto of Marnix de St. Aldegonde, the energetic +and ever-working friend of William the Silent. + +It is the use we make of the powers entrusted to us, which constitutes +our only just claim to respect. He who employs his one talent aright is +as much to be honoured as he to whom ten talents have been given. There +is really no more personal merit attaching to the possession of superior +intellectual powers than there is in the succession to a large estate. +How are those powers used—how is that estate employed? The mind may +accumulate large stores of knowledge without any useful purpose; but the +knowledge must be allied to goodness and wisdom, and embodied in upright +character, else it is naught. Pestalozzi even held intellectual training +by itself to be pernicious; insisting that the roots of all knowledge +must strike and feed in the soil of the rightly-governed will. The +acquisition of knowledge may, it is true, protect a man against the +meaner felonies of life; but not in any degree against its selfish vices, +unless fortified by sound principles and habits. Hence do we find in +daily life so many instances of men who are well-informed in intellect, +but utterly deformed in character; filled with the learning of the +schools, yet possessing little practical wisdom, and offering examples +for warning rather than imitation. An often quoted expression at this +day is that “Knowledge is power;” but so also are fanaticism, despotism, +and ambition. Knowledge of itself, unless wisely directed, might merely +make bad men more dangerous, and the society in which it was regarded as +the highest good, little better than a pandemonium. + +It is possible that at this day we may even exaggerate the importance of +literary culture. We are apt to imagine that because we possess many +libraries, institutes, and museums, we are making great progress. But +such facilities may as often be a hindrance as a help to individual +self-culture of the highest kind. The possession of a library, or the +free use of it, no more constitutes learning, than the possession of +wealth constitutes generosity. Though we undoubtedly possess great +facilities it is nevertheless true, as of old, that wisdom and +understanding can only become the possession of individual men by +travelling the old road of observation, attention, perseverance, and +industry. The possession of the mere materials of knowledge is something +very different from wisdom and understanding, which are reached through a +higher kind of discipline than that of reading,—which is often but a mere +passive reception of other men’s thoughts; there being little or no +active effort of mind in the transaction. Then how much of our reading +is but the indulgence of a sort of intellectual dram-drinking, imparting +a grateful excitement for the moment, without the slightest effect in +improving and enriching the mind or building up the character. Thus many +indulge themselves in the conceit that they are cultivating their minds, +when they are only employed in the humbler occupation of killing time, of +which perhaps the best that can be said is that it keeps them from doing +worse things. + +It is also to be borne in mind that the experience gathered from books, +though often valuable, is but of the nature of _learning_; whereas the +experience gained from actual life is of the nature of _wisdom_; and a +small store of the latter is worth vastly more than any stock of the +former. Lord Bolingbroke truly said that “Whatever study tends neither +directly nor indirectly to make us better men and citizens, is at best +but a specious and ingenious sort of idleness, and the knowledge we +acquire by it, only a creditable kind of ignorance—nothing more.” + +Useful and instructive though good reading may be, it is yet only one +mode of cultivating the mind; and is much less influential than practical +experience and good example in the formation of character. There were +wise, valiant, and true-hearted men bred in England, long before the +existence of a reading public. Magna Charta was secured by men who +signed the deed with their marks. Though altogether unskilled in the art +of deciphering the literary signs by which principles were denominated +upon paper, they yet understood and appreciated, and boldly contended +for, the things themselves. Thus the foundations of English liberty were +laid by men, who, though illiterate, were nevertheless of the very +highest stamp of character. And it must be admitted that the chief +object of culture is, not merely to fill the mind with other men’s +thoughts, and to be the passive recipient of their impressions of things, +but to enlarge our individual intelligence, and render us more useful and +efficient workers in the sphere of life to which we may be called. Many +of our most energetic and useful workers have been but sparing readers. +Brindley and Stephenson did not learn to read and write until they +reached manhood, and yet they did great works and lived manly lives; John +Hunter could barely read or write when he was twenty years old, though he +could make tables and chairs with any carpenter in the trade. “I never +read,” said the great physiologist when lecturing before his class; +“this”—pointing to some part of the subject before him—“this is the work +that you must study if you wish to become eminent in your profession.” +When told that one of his contemporaries had charged him with being +ignorant of the dead languages, he said, “I would undertake to teach him +that on the dead body which he never knew in any language, dead or +living.” + +It is not then how much a man may know, that is of importance, but the +end and purpose for which he knows it. The object of knowledge should be +to mature wisdom and improve character, to render us better, happier, and +more useful; more benevolent, more energetic, and more efficient in the +pursuit of every high purpose in life. “When people once fall into the +habit of admiring and encouraging ability as such, without reference to +moral character—and religious and political opinions are the concrete +form of moral character—they are on the highway to all sorts of +degradation.” {329} We must ourselves _be_ and _do_, and not rest +satisfied merely with reading and meditating over what other men have +been and done. Our best light must be made life, and our best thought +action. At least we ought to be able to say, as Richter did, “I have +made as much out of myself as could be made of the stuff, and no man +should require more;” for it is every man’s duty to discipline and guide +himself, with God’s help, according to his responsibilities and the +faculties with which he has been endowed. + +Self-discipline and self-control are the beginnings of practical wisdom; +and these must have their root in self-respect. Hope springs from +it—hope, which is the companion of power, and the mother of success; for +whoso hopes strongly has within him the gift of miracles. The humblest +may say, “To respect myself, to develop myself—this is my true duty in +life. An integral and responsible part of the great system of society, I +owe it to society and to its Author not to degrade or destroy either my +body, mind, or instincts. On the contrary, I am bound to the best of my +power to give to those parts of my constitution the highest degree of +perfection possible. I am not only to suppress the evil, but to evoke +the good elements in my nature. And as I respect myself, so am I equally +bound to respect others, as they on their part are bound to respect me.” +Hence mutual respect, justice, and order, of which law becomes the +written record and guarantee. + +Self-respect is the noblest garment with which a man may clothe +himself—the most elevating feeling with which the mind can be inspired. +One of Pythagoras’s wisest maxims, in his ‘Golden Verses,’ is that with +which he enjoins the pupil to “reverence himself.” Borne up by this high +idea, he will not defile his body by sensuality, nor his mind by servile +thoughts. This sentiment, carried into daily life, will be found at the +root of all the virtues—cleanliness, sobriety, chastity, morality, and +religion. “The pious and just honouring of ourselves,” said Milton, “may +be thought the radical moisture and fountain-head from whence every +laudable and worthy enterprise issues forth.” To think meanly of one’s +self, is to sink in one’s own estimation as well as in the estimation of +others. And as the thoughts are, so will the acts be. Man cannot aspire +if he look down; if he will rise, he must look up. The very humblest may +be sustained by the proper indulgence of this feeling. Poverty itself +may be lifted and lighted up by self-respect; and it is truly a noble +sight to see a poor man hold himself upright amidst his temptations, and +refuse to demean himself by low actions. + +One way in which self-culture may be degraded is by regarding it too +exclusively as a means of “getting on.” Viewed in this light, it is +unquestionable that education is one of the best investments of time and +labour. In any line of life, intelligence will enable a man to adapt +himself more readily to circumstances, suggest improved methods of +working, and render him more apt, skilled and effective in all respects. +He who works with his head as well as his hands, will come to look at his +business with a clearer eye; and he will become conscious of increasing +power—perhaps the most cheering consciousness the human mind can cherish. +The power of self-help will gradually grow; and in proportion to a man’s +self-respect, will he be armed against the temptation of low indulgences. +Society and its action will be regarded with quite a new interest, his +sympathies will widen and enlarge, and he will thus be attracted to work +for others as well as for himself. + +Self-culture may not, however, end in eminence, as in the numerous +instances above cited. The great majority of men, in all times, however +enlightened, must necessarily be engaged in the ordinary avocations of +industry; and no degree of culture which can be conferred upon the +community at large will ever enable them—even were it desirable, which it +is not—to get rid of the daily work of society, which must be done. But +this, we think, may also be accomplished. We can elevate the condition +of labour by allying it to noble thoughts, which confer a grace upon the +lowliest as well as the highest rank. For no matter how poor or humble a +man may be, the great thinker of this and other days may come in and sit +down with him, and be his companion for the time, though his dwelling be +the meanest hut. It is thus that the habit of well-directed reading may +become a source of the greatest pleasure and self-improvement, and +exercise a gentle coercion, with the most beneficial results, over the +whole tenour of a man’s character and conduct. And even though +self-culture may not bring wealth, it will at all events give one the +companionship of elevated thoughts. A nobleman once contemptuously asked +of a sage, “What have you got by all your philosophy?” “At least I have +got society in myself,” was the wise man’s reply. + +But many are apt to feel despondent, and become discouraged in the work +of self-culture, because they do not “get on” in the world so fast as +they think they deserve to do. Having planted their acorn, they expect +to see it grow into an oak at once. They have perhaps looked upon +knowledge in the light of a marketable commodity, and are consequently +mortified because it does not sell as they expected it would do. Mr. +Tremenheere, in one of his ‘Education Reports’ (for 1840–1), states that +a schoolmaster in Norfolk, finding his school rapidly falling off, made +inquiry into the cause, and ascertained that the reason given by the +majority of the parents for withdrawing their children was, that they had +expected “education was to make them better off than they were before,” +but that having found it had “done them no good,” they had taken their +children from school, and would give themselves no further trouble about +education! + +The same low idea of self-culture is but too prevalent in other classes, +and is encouraged by the false views of life which are always more or +less current in society. But to regard self-culture either as a means of +getting past others in the world, or of intellectual dissipation and +amusement, rather than as a power to elevate the character and expand the +spiritual nature, is to place it on a very low level. To use the words +of Bacon, “Knowledge is not a shop for profit or sale, but a rich +storehouse for the glory of the Creator and the relief of man’s estate.” +It is doubtless most honourable for a man to labour to elevate himself, +and to better his condition in society, but this is not to be done at the +sacrifice of himself. To make the mind the mere drudge of the body, is +putting it to a very servile use; and to go about whining and bemoaning +our pitiful lot because we fail in achieving that success in life which, +after all, depends rather upon habits of industry and attention to +business details than upon knowledge, is the mark of a small, and often +of a sour mind. Such a temper cannot better be reproved than in the +words of Robert Southey, who thus wrote to a friend who sought his +counsel: “I would give you advice if it could be of use; but there is no +curing those who choose to be diseased. A good man and a wise man may at +times be angry with the world, at times grieved for it; but be sure no +man was ever discontented with the world if he did his duty in it. If a +man of education, who has health, eyes, hands, and leisure, wants an +object, it is only because God Almighty has bestowed all those blessings +upon a man who does not deserve them.” + +Another way in which education may be prostituted is by employing it as a +mere means of intellectual dissipation and amusement. Many are the +ministers to this taste in our time. There is almost a mania for +frivolity and excitement, which exhibits itself in many forms in our +popular literature. To meet the public taste, our books and periodicals +must now be highly spiced, amusing, and comic, not disdaining slang, and +illustrative of breaches of all laws, human and divine. Douglas Jerrold +once observed of this tendency, “I am convinced the world will get tired +(at least I hope so) of this eternal guffaw about all things. After all, +life has something serious in it. It cannot be all a comic history of +humanity. Some men would, I believe, write a Comic Sermon on the Mount. +Think of a Comic History of England, the drollery of Alfred, the fun of +Sir Thomas More, the farce of his daughter begging the dead head and +clasping it in her coffin on her bosom. Surely the world will be sick of +this blasphemy.” John Sterling, in a like spirit, said:—“Periodicals and +novels are to all in this generation, but more especially to those whose +minds are still unformed and in the process of formation, a new and more +effectual substitute for the plagues of Egypt, vermin that corrupt the +wholesome waters and infest our chambers.” + +As a rest from toil and a relaxation from graver pursuits, the perusal of +a well-written story, by a writer of genius, is a high intellectual +pleasure; and it is a description of literature to which all classes of +readers, old and young, are attracted as by a powerful instinct; nor +would we have any of them debarred from its enjoyment in a reasonable +degree. But to make it the exclusive literary diet, as some do,—to +devour the garbage with which the shelves of circulating libraries are +filled,—and to occupy the greater portion of the leisure hours in +studying the preposterous pictures of human life which so many of them +present, is worse than waste of time: it is positively pernicious. The +habitual novel-reader indulges in fictitious feelings so much, that there +is great risk of sound and healthy feeling becoming perverted or +benumbed. “I never go to hear a tragedy,” said a gay man once to the +Archbishop of York, “it wears my heart out.” The literary pity evoked by +fiction leads to no corresponding action; the susceptibilities which it +excites involve neither inconvenience nor self-sacrifice; so that the +heart that is touched too often by the fiction may at length become +insensible to the reality. The steel is gradually rubbed out of the +character, and it insensibly loses its vital spring. “Drawing fine +pictures of virtue in one’s mind,” said Bishop Butler, “is so far from +necessarily or certainly conducive to form a _habit_ of it in him who +thus employs himself, that it may even harden the mind in a contrary +course, and render it gradually more insensible.” + +Amusement in moderation is wholesome, and to be commended; but amusement +in excess vitiates the whole nature, and is a thing to be carefully +guarded against. The maxim is often quoted of “All work and no play +makes Jack a dull boy;” but all play and no work makes him something +greatly worse. Nothing can be more hurtful to a youth than to have his +soul sodden with pleasure. The best qualities of his mind are impaired; +common enjoyments become tasteless; his appetite for the higher kind of +pleasures is vitiated; and when he comes to face the work and the duties +of life, the result is usually aversion and disgust. “Fast” men waste +and exhaust the powers of life, and dry up the sources of true happiness. +Having forestalled their spring, they can produce no healthy growth of +either character or intellect. A child without simplicity, a maiden +without innocence, a boy without truthfulness, are not more piteous +sights than the man who has wasted and thrown away his youth in +self-indulgence. Mirabeau said of himself, “My early years have already +in a great measure disinherited the succeeding ones, and dissipated a +great part of my vital powers.” As the wrong done to another to-day +returns upon ourselves to-morrow, so the sins of our youth rise up in our +age to scourge us. When Lord Bacon says that “strength of nature in +youth passeth over many excesses which are owing a man until he is old,” +he exposes a physical as well as a moral fact which cannot be too well +weighed in the conduct of life. “I assure you,” wrote Giusti the Italian +to a friend, “I pay a heavy price for existence. It is true that our +lives are not at our own disposal. Nature pretends to give them gratis +at the beginning, and then sends in her account.” The worst of youthful +indiscretions is, not that they destroy health, so much as that they +sully manhood. The dissipated youth becomes a tainted man; and often he +cannot be pure, even if he would. If cure there be, it is only to be +found in inoculating the mind with a fervent spirit of duty, and in +energetic application to useful work. + +One of the most gifted of Frenchmen, in point of great intellectual +endowments, was Benjamin Constant; but, _blasé_ at twenty, his life was +only a prolonged wail, instead of a harvest of the great deeds which he +was capable of accomplishing with ordinary diligence and self-control. +He resolved upon doing so many things, which he never did, that people +came to speak of him as Constant the Inconstant. He was a fluent and +brilliant writer, and cherished the ambition of writing works, “which the +world would not willingly let die.” But whilst Constant affected the +highest thinking, unhappily he practised the lowest living; nor did the +transcendentalism of his books atone for the meanness of his life. He +frequented the gaming-tables while engaged in preparing his work upon +religion, and carried on a disreputable intrigue while writing his +‘Adolphe.’ With all his powers of intellect, he was powerless, because +he had no faith in virtue. “Bah!” said he, “what are honour and dignity? +The longer I live, the more clearly I see there is nothing in them.” It +was the howl of a miserable man. He described himself as but “ashes and +dust.” “I pass,” said he, “like a shadow over the earth, accompanied by +misery and _ennui_.” He wished for Voltaire’s energy, which he would +rather have possessed than his genius. But he had no strength of +purpose—nothing but wishes: his life, prematurely exhausted, had become +but a heap of broken links. He spoke of himself as a person with one +foot in the air. He admitted that he had no principles, and no moral +consistency. Hence, with his splendid talents, he contrived to do +nothing; and, after living many years miserable, he died worn out and +wretched. + +The career of Augustin Thierry, the author of the ‘History of the Norman +Conquest,’ affords an admirable contrast to that of Constant. His entire +life presented a striking example of perseverance, diligence, self +culture, and untiring devotion to knowledge. In the pursuit he lost his +eyesight, lost his health, but never lost his love of truth. When so +feeble that he was carried from room to room, like a helpless infant, in +the arms of a nurse, his brave spirit never failed him; and blind and +helpless though he was, he concluded his literary career in the following +noble words:—“If, as I think, the interest of science is counted in the +number of great national interests, I have given my country all that the +soldier, mutilated on the field of battle, gives her. Whatever may be +the fate of my labours, this example, I hope, will not be lost. I would +wish it to serve to combat the species of moral weakness which is _the +disease_ of our present generation; to bring back into the straight road +of life some of those enervated souls that complain of wanting faith, +that know not what to do, and seek everywhere, without finding it, an +object of worship and admiration. Why say, with so much bitterness, that +in the world, constituted as it is, there is no air for all lungs—no +employment for all minds? Is not calm and serious study there? and is +not that a refuge, a hope, a field within the reach of all of us? With +it, evil days are passed over without their weight being felt. Every one +can make his own destiny—every one employ his life nobly. This is what I +have done, and would do again if I had to recommence my career; I would +choose that which has brought me where I am. Blind, and suffering +without hope, and almost without intermission, I may give this testimony, +which from me will not appear suspicious. There is something in the +world better than sensual enjoyments, better than fortune, better than +health itself—it is devotion to knowledge.” + +Coleridge, in many respects, resembled Constant. He possessed equally +brilliant powers, but was similarly infirm of purpose. With all his +great intellectual gifts, he wanted the gift of industry, and was averse +to continuous labour. He wanted also the sense of independence, and +thought it no degradation to leave his wife and children to be maintained +by the brain-work of the noble Southey, while he himself retired to +Highgate Grove to discourse transcendentalism to his disciples, looking +down contemptuously upon the honest work going forward beneath him amidst +the din and smoke of London. With remunerative employment at his command +he stooped to accept the charity of friends; and, notwithstanding his +lofty ideas of philosophy, he condescended to humiliations from which +many a day-labourer would have shrunk. How different in spirit was +Southey! labouring not merely at work of his own choice, and at taskwork +often tedious and distasteful, but also unremittingly and with the utmost +eagerness seeking and storing knowledge purely for the love of it. Every +day, every hour had its allotted employment: engagements to publishers +requiring punctual fulfilment; the current expenses of a large household +duty to provide: for Southey had no crop growing while his pen was idle. +“My ways,” he used to say, “are as broad as the king’s high-road, and my +means lie in an inkstand.” + +Robert Nicoll wrote to a friend, after reading the ‘Recollections of +Coleridge,’ “What a mighty intellect was lost in that man for want of a +little energy—a little determination!” Nicoll himself was a true and +brave spirit, who died young, but not before he had encountered and +overcome great difficulties in life. At his outset, while carrying on a +small business as a bookseller, he found himself weighed down with a debt +of only twenty pounds, which he said he felt “weighing like a millstone +round his neck,” and that, “if he had it paid he never would borrow again +from mortal man.” Writing to his mother at the time he said, “Fear not +for me, dear mother, for I feel myself daily growing firmer and more +hopeful in spirit. The more I think and reflect—and thinking, not +reading, is now my occupation—I feel that, whether I be growing richer or +not, I am growing a wiser man, which is far better. Pain, poverty, and +all the other wild beasts of life which so affrighten others, I am so +bold as to think I could look in the face without shrinking, without +losing respect for myself, faith in man’s high destinies, or trust in +God. There is a point which it costs much mental toil and struggling to +gain, but which, when once gained, a man can look down from, as a +traveller from a lofty mountain, on storms raging below, while he is +walking in sunshine. That I have yet gained this point in life I will +not say, but I feel myself daily nearer to it.” + +It is not ease, but effort—not facility, but difficulty, that makes men. +There is, perhaps, no station in life, in which difficulties have not to +be encountered and overcome before any decided measure of success can be +achieved. Those difficulties are, however, our best instructors, as our +mistakes often form our best experience. Charles James Fox was +accustomed to say that he hoped more from a man who failed, and yet went +on in spite of his failure, than from the buoyant career of the +successful. “It is all very well,” said he, “to tell me that a young man +has distinguished himself by a brilliant first speech. He may go on, or +he may be satisfied with his first triumph; but show me a young man who +has _not_ succeeded at first, and nevertheless has gone on, and I will +back that young man to do better than most of those who have succeeded at +the first trial.” + +We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success. We often +discover what _will_ do, by finding out what will not do; and probably he +who never made a mistake never made a discovery. It was the failure in +the attempt to make a sucking-pump act, when the working bucket was more +than thirty-three feet above the surface of the water to be raised, that +led observant men to study the law of atmospheric pressure, and opened a +new field of research to the genius of Galileo, Torrecelli, and Boyle. +John Hunter used to remark that the art of surgery would not advance +until professional men had the courage to publish their failures as well +as their successes. Watt the engineer said, of all things most wanted in +mechanical engineering was a history of failures: “We want,” he said, “a +book of blots.” When Sir Humphry Davy was once shown a dexterously +manipulated experiment, he said—“I thank God I was not made a dexterous +manipulator, for the most important of my discoveries have been suggested +to me by failures.” Another distinguished investigator in physical +science has left it on record that, whenever in the course of his +researches he encountered an apparently insuperable obstacle, he +generally found himself on the brink of some discovery. The very +greatest things—great thoughts, discoveries, inventions—have usually been +nurtured in hardship, often pondered over in sorrow, and at length +established with difficulty. + +Beethoven said of Rossini, that he had in him the stuff to have made a +good musician if he had only, when a boy, been well flogged; but that he +had been spoilt by the facility with which he produced. Men who feel +their strength within them need not fear to encounter adverse opinions; +they have far greater reason to fear undue praise and too friendly +criticism. When Mendelssohn was about to enter the orchestra at +Birmingham, on the first performance of his ‘Elijah,’ he said laughingly +to one of his friends and critics, “Stick your claws into me! Don’t tell +me what you like, but what you don’t like!” + +It has been said, and truly, that it is the defeat that tries the general +more than the victory. Washington lost more battles than he gained; but +he succeeded in the end. The Romans, in their most victorious campaigns, +almost invariably began with defeats. Moreau used to be compared by his +companions to a drum, which nobody hears of except it be beaten. +Wellington’s military genius was perfected by encounter with difficulties +of apparently the most overwhelming character, but which only served to +nerve his resolution, and bring out more prominently his great qualities +as a man and a general. So the skilful mariner obtains his best +experience amidst storms and tempests, which train him to self-reliance, +courage, and the highest discipline; and we probably own to rough seas +and wintry nights the best training of our race of British seamen, who +are, certainly, not surpassed by any in the world. + +Necessity may be a hard schoolmistress, but she is generally found the +best. Though the ordeal of adversity is one from which we naturally +shrink, yet, when it comes, we must bravely and manfully encounter it. +Burns says truly, + + “Though losses and crosses + Be lessons right severe, + There’s wit there, you’ll get there, + You’ll find no other where.” + +“Sweet indeed are the uses of adversity.” They reveal to us our powers, +and call forth our energies. If there be real worth in the character, +like sweet herbs, it will give forth its finest fragrance when pressed. +“Crosses,” says the old proverb, “are the ladders that lead to heaven.” +“What is even poverty itself,” asks Richter, “that a man should murmur +under it? It is but as the pain of piercing a maiden’s ear, and you hang +precious jewels in the wound.” In the experience of life it is found +that the wholesome discipline of adversity in strong natures usually +carries with it a self-preserving influence. Many are found capable of +bravely bearing up under privations, and cheerfully encountering +obstructions, who are afterwards found unable to withstand the more +dangerous influences of prosperity. It is only a weak man whom the wind +deprives of his cloak: a man of average strength is more in danger of +losing it when assailed by the beams of a too genial sun. Thus it often +needs a higher discipline and a stronger character to bear up under good +fortune than under adverse. Some generous natures kindle and warm with +prosperity, but there are many on whom wealth has no such influence. +Base hearts it only hardens, making those who were mean and servile, mean +and proud. But while prosperity is apt to harden the heart to pride, +adversity in a man of resolution will serve to ripen it into fortitude. +To use the words of Burke, “Difficulty is a severe instructor, set over +us by the supreme ordinance of a parental guardian and instructor, who +knows us better than we know ourselves, as He loves us better too. He +that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves, and sharpens our skill: our +antagonist is thus our helper.” Without the necessity of encountering +difficulty, life might be easier, but men would be worth less. For +trials, wisely improved, train the character, and teach self-help; thus +hardship itself may often prove the wholesomest discipline for us, though +we recognise it not. When the gallant young Hodson, unjustly removed +from his Indian command, felt himself sore pressed down by unmerited +calumny and reproach, he yet preserved the courage to say to a friend, “I +strive to look the worst boldly in the face, as I would an enemy in the +field, and to do my appointed work resolutely and to the best of my +ability, satisfied that there is a reason for all; and that even irksome +duties well done bring their own reward, and that, if not, still they +_are_ duties.” + +The battle of life is, in most cases, fought up-hill; and to win it +without a struggle were perhaps to win it without honour. If there were +no difficulties there would be no success; if there were nothing to +struggle for, there would be nothing to be achieved. Difficulties may +intimidate the weak, but they act only as a wholesome stimulus to men of +resolution and valour. All experience of life indeed serves to prove +that the impediments thrown in the way of human advancement may for the +most part be overcome by steady good conduct, honest zeal, activity, +perseverance, and above all by a determined resolution to surmount +difficulties, and stand up manfully against misfortune. + +The school of Difficulty is the best school of moral discipline, for +nations as for individuals. Indeed, the history of difficulty would be +but a history of all the great and good things that have yet been +accomplished by men. It is hard to say how much northern nations owe to +their encounter with a comparatively rude and changeable climate and an +originally sterile soil, which is one of the necessities of their +condition,—involving a perennial struggle with difficulties such as the +natives of sunnier climes know nothing of. And thus it may be, that +though our finest products are exotic, the skill and industry which have +been necessary to rear them, have issued in the production of a native +growth of men not surpassed on the globe. + +Wherever there is difficulty, the individual man must come out for better +for worse. Encounter with it will train his strength, and discipline his +skill; heartening him for future effort, as the racer, by being trained +to run against the hill, at length courses with facility. The road to +success may be steep to climb, and it puts to the proof the energies of +him who would reach the summit. But by experience a man soon learns that +obstacles are to be overcome by grappling with them,—that the nettle +feels as soft as silk when it is boldly grasped,—and that the most +effective help towards realizing the object proposed is the moral +conviction that we can and will accomplish it. Thus difficulties often +fall away of themselves before the determination to overcome them. + +Much will be done if we do but try. Nobody knows what he can do till he +has tried; and few try their best till they have been forced to do it. +“_If_ I could do such and such a thing,” sighs the desponding youth. But +nothing will be done if he only wishes. The desire must ripen into +purpose and effort; and one energetic attempt is worth a thousand +aspirations. It is these thorny “ifs”—the mutterings of impotence and +despair—which so often hedge round the field of possibility, and prevent +anything being done or even attempted. “A difficulty,” said Lord +Lyndhurst, “is a thing to be overcome;” grapple with it at once; facility +will come with practice, and strength and fortitude with repeated effort. +Thus the mind and character may be trained to an almost perfect +discipline, and enabled to act with a grace, spirit, and liberty, almost +incomprehensible to those who have not passed through a similar +experience. + +Everything that we learn is the mastery of a difficulty; and the mastery +of one helps to the mastery of others. Things which may at first sight +appear comparatively valueless in education—such as the study of the dead +languages, and the relations of lines and surfaces which we call +mathematics—are really of the greatest practical value, not so much +because of the information which they yield, as because of the +development which they compel. The mastery of these studies evokes +effort, and cultivates powers of application, which otherwise might have +lain dormant, Thus one thing leads to another, and so the work goes on +through life—encounter with difficulty ending only when life and culture +end. But indulging in the feeling of discouragement never helped any one +over a difficulty, and never will. D’Alembert’s advice to the student +who complained to him about his want of success in mastering the first +elements of mathematics was the right one—“Go on, sir, and faith and +strength will come to you.” + +The danseuse who turns a pirouette, the violinist who plays a sonata, +have acquired their dexterity by patient repetition and after many +failures. Carissimi, when praised for the ease and grace of his +melodies, exclaimed, “Ah! you little know with what difficulty this ease +has been acquired.” Sir Joshua Reynolds, when once asked how long it had +taken him to paint a certain picture, replied, “All my life.” Henry +Clay, the American orator, when giving advice to young men, thus +described to them the secret of his success in the cultivation of his +art: “I owe my success in life,” said he, “chiefly to one +circumstance—that at the age of twenty-seven I commenced, and continued +for years, the process of daily reading and speaking upon the contents of +some historical or scientific book. These off-hand efforts were made, +sometimes in a cornfield, at others in the forest, and not unfrequently +in some distant barn, with the horse and the ox for my auditors. It is +to this early practice of the art of all arts that I am indebted for the +primary and leading impulses that stimulated me onward and have shaped +and moulded my whole subsequent destiny.” + +Curran, the Irish orator, when a youth, had a strong defect in his +articulation, and at school he was known as “stuttering Jack Curran.” +While he was engaged in the study of the law, and still struggling to +overcome his defect, he was stung into eloquence by the sarcasms of a +member of a debating club, who characterised him as “Orator Mum;” for, +like Cowper, when he stood up to speak on a previous occasion, Curran had +not been able to utter a word. The taunt stung him and he replied in a +triumphant speech. This accidental discovery in himself of the gift of +eloquence encouraged him to proceed in his studies with renewed energy. +He corrected his enunciation by reading aloud, emphatically and +distinctly, the best passages in literature, for several hours every day, +studying his features before a mirror, and adopting a method of +gesticulation suited to his rather awkward and ungraceful figure. He +also proposed cases to himself, which he argued with as much care as if +he had been addressing a jury. Curran began business with the +qualification which Lord Eldon stated to be the first requisite for +distinction, that is, “to be not worth a shilling.” While working his +way laboriously at the bar, still oppressed by the diffidence which had +overcome him in his debating club, he was on one occasion provoked by the +Judge (Robinson) into making a very severe retort. In the case under +discussion, Curran observed “that he had never met the law as laid down +by his lordship in any book in his library.” “That may be, sir,” said +the judge, in a contemptuous tone, “but I suspect that _your_ library is +very small.” His lordship was notoriously a furious political partisan, +the author of several anonymous pamphlets characterised by unusual +violence and dogmatism. Curran, roused by the allusion to his straitened +circumstances, replied thus; “It is very true, my lord, that I am poor, +and the circumstance has certainly curtailed my library; my books are not +numerous, but they are select, and I hope they have been perused with +proper dispositions. I have prepared myself for this high profession by +the study of a few good works, rather than by the composition of a great +many bad ones. I am not ashamed of my poverty; but I should be ashamed +of my wealth, could I have stooped to acquire it by servility and +corruption. If I rise not to rank, I shall at least be honest; and +should I ever cease to be so, many an example shows me that an ill-gained +elevation, by making me the more conspicuous, would only make me the more +universally and the more notoriously contemptible.” + +The extremest poverty has been no obstacle in the way of men devoted to +the duty of self-culture. Professor Alexander Murray, the linguist, +learnt to write by scribbling his letters on an old wool-card with the +end of a burnt heather stem. The only book which his father, who was a +poor shepherd, possessed, was a penny Shorter Catechism; but that, being +thought too valuable for common use, was carefully preserved in a +cupboard for the Sunday catechisings. Professor Moor, when a young man, +being too poor to purchase Newton’s ‘Principia,’ borrowed the book, and +copied the whole of it with his own hand. Many poor students, while +labouring daily for their living, have only been able to snatch an atom +of knowledge here and there at intervals, as birds do their food in +winter time when the fields are covered with snow. They have struggled +on, and faith and hope have come to them. A well-known author and +publisher, William Chambers, of Edinburgh, speaking before an assemblage +of young men in that city, thus briefly described to them his humble +beginnings, for their encouragement: “I stand before you,” he said, “a +self-educated man. My education was that which is supplied at the humble +parish schools of Scotland; and it was only when I went to Edinburgh, a +poor boy, that I devoted my evenings, after the labours of the day, to +the cultivation of that intellect which the Almighty has given me. From +seven or eight in the morning till nine or ten at night was I at my +business as a bookseller’s apprentice, and it was only during hours after +these, stolen from sleep, that I could devote myself to study. I did not +read novels: my attention was devoted to physical science, and other +useful matters. I also taught myself French. I look back to those times +with great pleasure, and am almost sorry I have not to go through the +same experience again; for I reaped more pleasure when I had not a +sixpence in my pocket, studying in a garret in Edinburgh, then I now find +when sitting amidst all the elegancies and comforts of a parlour.” + +William Cobbett’s account of how he learnt English Grammar is full of +interest and instruction for all students labouring under difficulties. +“I learned grammar,” said he, “when I was a private soldier on the pay of +sixpence a day. The edge of my berth, or that of my guard-bed, was my +seat to study in; my knapsack was my book-case; a bit of board lying on +my lap was my writing-table; and the task did not demand anything like a +year of my life. I had no money to purchase candle or oil; in winter +time it was rarely that I could get any evening light but that of the +fire, and only my turn even of that. And if I, under such circumstances, +and without parent or friend to advise or encourage me, accomplished this +undertaking, what excuse can there be for any youth, however poor, +however pressed with business, or however circumstanced as to room or +other conveniences? To buy a pen or a sheet of paper I was compelled to +forego some portion of food, though in a state of half-starvation: I had +no moment of time that I could call my own; and I had to read and to +write amidst the talking, laughing, singing, whistling, and brawling of +at least half a score of the most thoughtless of men, and that, too, in +the hours of their freedom from all control. Think not lightly of the +farthing that I had to give, now and then, for ink, pen, or paper! That +farthing was, alas! a great sum to me! I was as tall as I am now; I had +great health and great exercise. The whole of the money, not expended +for us at market, was two-pence a week for each man. I remember, and +well I may! that on one occasion I, after all necessary expenses, had, on +a Friday, made shifts to have a halfpenny in reserve, which I had +destined for the purchase of a redherring in the morning; but, when I +pulled off my clothes at night, so hungry then as to be hardly able to +endure life, I found that I had lost my halfpenny! I buried my head +under the miserable sheet and rug, and cried like a child! And again I +say, if, I, under circumstances like these, could encounter and overcome +this task, is there, can there be, in the whole world, a youth to find an +excuse for the non-performance?” + +We have been informed of an equally striking instance of perseverance and +application in learning on the part of a French political exile in +London. His original occupation was that of a stonemason, at which he +found employment for some time; but work becoming slack, he lost his +place, and poverty stared him in the face. In his dilemma he called upon +a fellow exile profitably engaged in teaching French, and consulted him +what he ought to do to earn a living. The answer was, “Become a +professor!” “A professor?” answered the mason—“I, who am only a workman, +speaking but a patois! Surely you are jesting?” “On the contrary, I am +quite serious,” said the other, “and again I advise you—become a +professor; place yourself under me, and I will undertake to teach you how +to teach others.” “No, no!” replied the mason, “it is impossible; I am +too old to learn; I am too little of a scholar; I cannot be a professor.” +He went away, and again he tried to obtain employment at his trade. From +London he went into the provinces, and travelled several hundred miles in +vain; he could not find a master. Returning to London, he went direct to +his former adviser, and said, “I have tried everywhere for work, and +failed; I will now try to be a professor!” He immediately placed himself +under instruction; and being a man of close application, of quick +apprehension, and vigorous intelligence, he speedily mastered the +elements of grammar, the rules of construction and composition, and (what +he had still in a great measure to learn) the correct pronunciation of +classical French. When his friend and instructor thought him +sufficiently competent to undertake the teaching of others, an +appointment, advertised as vacant, was applied for and obtained; and +behold our artisan at length become professor! It so happened, that the +seminary to which he was appointed was situated in a suburb of London +where he had formerly worked as a stonemason; and every morning the first +thing which met his eyes on looking out of his dressing-room window was a +stack of cottage chimneys which he had himself built! He feared for a +time lest he should be recognised in the village as the quondam workman, +and thus bring discredit on his seminary, which was of high standing. +But he need have been under no such apprehension, as he proved a most +efficient teacher, and his pupils were on more than one occasion publicly +complimented for their knowledge of French. Meanwhile, he secured the +respect and friendship of all who knew him—fellow-professors as well as +pupils; and when the story of his struggles, his difficulties, and his +past history, became known to them, they admired him more than ever. + +Sir Samuel Romilly was not less indefatigable as a self-cultivator. The +son of a jeweller, descended from a French refugee, he received little +education in his early years, but overcame all his disadvantages by +unwearied application, and by efforts constantly directed towards the +same end. “I determined,” he says, in his autobiography, “when I was +between fifteen and sixteen years of age, to apply myself seriously to +learning Latin, of which I, at that time, knew little more than some of +the most familiar rules of grammar. In the course of three or four +years, during which I thus applied myself, I had read almost every prose +writer of the age of pure Latinity, except those who have treated merely +of technical subjects, such as Varro, Columella, and Celsus. I had gone +three times through the whole of Livy, Sallust, and Tacitus. I had +studied the most celebrated orations of Cicero, and translated a great +deal of Homer. Terence, Virgil, Horace, Ovid, and Juvenal, I had read +over and over again.” He also studied geography, natural history, and +natural philosophy, and obtained a considerable acquaintance with general +knowledge. At sixteen he was articled to a clerk in Chancery; worked +hard; was admitted to the bar; and his industry and perseverance ensured +success. He became Solicitor-General under the Fox administration in +1806, and steadily worked his way to the highest celebrity in his +profession. Yet he was always haunted by a painful and almost oppressive +sense of his own disqualifications, and never ceased labouring to remedy +them. His autobiography is a lesson of instructive facts, worth volumes +of sentiment, and well deserves a careful perusal. + +Sir Walter Scott was accustomed to cite the case of his young friend John +Leyden as one of the most remarkable illustrations of the power of +perseverance which he had ever known. The son of a shepherd in one of +the wildest valleys of Roxburghshire, he was almost entirely self +educated. Like many Scotch shepherds’ sons—like Hogg, who taught himself +to write by copying the letters of a printed book as he lay watching his +flock on the hill-side—like Cairns, who from tending sheep on the +Lammermoors, raised himself by dint of application and industry to the +professor’s chair which he now so worthily holds—like Murray, Ferguson, +and many more, Leyden was early inspired by a thirst for knowledge. When +a poor barefooted boy, he walked six or eight miles across the moors +daily to learn reading at the little village schoolhouse of Kirkton; and +this was all the education he received; the rest he acquired for himself. +He found his way to Edinburgh to attend the college there, setting the +extremest penury at defiance. He was first discovered as a frequenter of +a small bookseller’s shop kept by Archibald Constable, afterwards so well +known as a publisher. He would pass hour after hour perched on a ladder +in mid-air, with some great folio in his hand, forgetful of the scanty +meal of bread and water which awaited him at his miserable lodging. +Access to books and lectures comprised all within the bounds of his +wishes. Thus he toiled and battled at the gates of science until his +unconquerable perseverance carried everything before it. Before he had +attained his nineteenth year he had astonished all the professors in +Edinburgh by his profound knowledge of Greek and Latin, and the general +mass of information he had acquired. Having turned his views to India, +he sought employment in the civil service, but failed. He was however +informed that a surgeon’s assistant’s commission was open to him. But he +was no surgeon, and knew no more of the profession than a child. He +could however learn. Then he was told that he must be ready to pass in +six months! Nothing daunted, he set to work, to acquire in six months +what usually required three years. At the end of six months he took his +degree with honour. Scott and a few friends helped to fit him out; and +he sailed for India, after publishing his beautiful poem ‘The Scenes of +Infancy.’ In India he promised to become one of the greatest of oriental +scholars, but was unhappily cut off by fever caught by exposure, and died +at an early age. + +The life of the late Dr. Lee, Professor of Hebrew at Cambridge, furnishes +one of the most remarkable instances in modern times of the power of +patient perseverance and resolute purpose in working out an honourable +career in literature. He received his education at a charity school at +Lognor, near Shrewsbury, but so little distinguished himself there, that +his master pronounced him one of the dullest boys that ever passed +through his hands. He was put apprentice to a carpenter, and worked at +that trade until he arrived at manhood. To occupy his leisure hours he +took to reading; and, some of the books containing Latin quotations, he +became desirous of ascertaining what they meant. He bought a Latin +grammar, and proceeded to learn Latin. As Stone, the Duke of Argyle’s +gardener, said, long before, “Does one need to know anything more than +the twenty-four letters in order to learn everything else that one +wishes?” Lee rose early and sat up late, and he succeeded in mastering +the Latin before his apprenticeship was out. Whilst working one day in +some place of worship, a copy of a Greek Testament fell in his way, and +he was immediately filled with the desire to learn that language. He +accordingly sold some of his Latin books, and purchased a Greek Grammar +and Lexicon. Taking pleasure in learning, he soon mastered the language. +Then he sold his Greek books, and bought Hebrew ones, and learnt that +language, unassisted by any instructor, without any hope of fame or +reward, but simply following the bent of his genius. He next proceeded +to learn the Chaldee, Syriac, and Samaritan dialects. But his studies +began to tell upon his health, and brought on disease in his eyes through +his long night watchings with his books. Having laid them aside for a +time and recovered his health, he went on with his daily work. His +character as a tradesman being excellent, his business improved, and his +means enabled him to marry, which he did when twenty-eight years old. He +determined now to devote himself to the maintenance of his family, and to +renounce the luxury of literature; accordingly he sold all his books. He +might have continued a working carpenter all his life, had not the chest +of tools upon which he depended for subsistence been destroyed by fire, +and destitution stared him in the face. He was too poor to buy new +tools, so he bethought him of teaching children their letters,—a +profession requiring the least possible capital. But though he had +mastered many languages, he was so defective in the common branches of +knowledge, that at first he could not teach them. Resolute of purpose, +however, he assiduously set to work, and taught himself arithmetic and +writing to such a degree as to be able to impart the knowledge of these +branches to little children. His unaffected, simple, and beautiful +character gradually attracted friends, and the acquirements of the +“learned carpenter” became bruited abroad. Dr. Scott, a neighbouring +clergyman, obtained for him the appointment of master of a charity school +in Shrewsbury, and introduced him to a distinguished Oriental scholar. +These friends supplied him with books, and Lee successively mastered +Arabic, Persic, and Hindostanee. He continued to pursue his studies +while on duty as a private in the local militia of the county; gradually +acquiring greater proficiency in languages. At length his kind patron, +Dr. Scott, enabled Lee to enter Queen’s College, Cambridge; and after a +course of study, in which he distinguished himself by his mathematical +acquirements, a vacancy occurring in the professorship of Arabic and +Hebrew, he was worthily elected to fill the honourable office. Besides +ably performing his duties as a professor, he voluntarily gave much of +his time to the instruction of missionaries going forth to preach the +Gospel to eastern tribes in their own tongue. He also made translations +of the Bible into several Asiatic dialects; and having mastered the New +Zealand language, he arranged a grammar and vocabulary for two New +Zealand chiefs who were then in England, which books are now in daily use +in the New Zealand schools. Such, in brief, is the remarkable history of +Dr. Samuel Lee; and it is but the counterpart of numerous similarly +instructive examples of the power of perseverance in self-culture, as +displayed in the lives of many of the most distinguished of our literary +and scientific men. + +There are many other illustrious names which might be cited to prove the +truth of the common saying that “it is never too late to learn.” Even at +advanced years men can do much, if they will determine on making a +beginning. Sir Henry Spelman did not begin the study of science until he +was between fifty and sixty years of age. Franklin was fifty before he +fully entered upon the study of Natural Philosophy. Dryden and Scott +were not known as authors until each was in his fortieth year. Boccaccio +was thirty-five when he commenced his literary career, and Alfieri was +forty-six when he began the study of Greek. Dr. Arnold learnt German at +an advanced age, for the purpose of reading Niebuhr in the original; and +in like manner James Watt, when about forty, while working at his trade +of an instrument maker in Glasgow, learnt French, German, and Italian, to +enable himself to peruse the valuable works on mechanical philosophy +which existed in those languages. Thomas Scott was fifty-six before he +began to learn Hebrew. Robert Hall was once found lying upon the floor, +racked by pain, learning Italian in his old age, to enable him to judge +of the parallel drawn by Macaulay between Milton and Dante. Handel was +forty-eight before he published any of his great works. Indeed hundreds +of instances might be given of men who struck out an entirely new path, +and successfully entered on new studies, at a comparatively advanced time +of life. None but the frivolous or the indolent will say, “I am too old +to learn.” {354} + +And here we would repeat what we have said before, that it is not men of +genius who move the world and take the lead in it, so much as men of +steadfastness, purpose, and indefatigable industry. Notwithstanding the +many undeniable instances of the precocity of men of genius, it is +nevertheless true that early cleverness gives no indication of the height +to which the grown man will reach. Precocity is sometimes a symptom of +disease rather than of intellectual vigour. What becomes of all the +“remarkably clever children?” Where are the duxes and prize boys? Trace +them through life, and it will frequently be found that the dull boys, +who were beaten at school, have shot ahead of them. The clever boys are +rewarded, but the prizes which they gain by their greater quickness and +facility do not always prove of use to them. What ought rather to be +rewarded is the endeavour, the struggle, and the obedience; for it is the +youth who does his best, though endowed with an inferiority of natural +powers, that ought above all others to be encouraged. + +An interesting chapter might be written on the subject of illustrious +dunces—dull boys, but brilliant men. We have room, however, for only a +few instances. Pietro di Cortona, the painter, was thought so stupid +that he was nicknamed “Ass’s Head” when a boy; and Tomaso Guidi was +generally known as “Heavy Tom” (Massaccio Tomasaccio), though by +diligence he afterwards raised himself to the highest eminence. Newton, +when at school, stood at the bottom of the lowest form but one. The boy +above Newton having kicked him, the dunce showed his pluck by challenging +him to a fight, and beat him. Then he set to work with a will, and +determined also to vanquish his antagonist as a scholar, which he did, +rising to the top of his class. Many of our greatest divines have been +anything but precocious. Isaac Barrow, when a boy at the Charterhouse +School, was notorious chiefly for his strong temper, pugnacious habits, +and proverbial idleness as a scholar; and he caused such grief to his +parents that his father used to say that, if it pleased God to take from +him any of his children, he hoped it might be Isaac, the least promising +of them all. Adam Clarke, when a boy, was proclaimed by his father to be +“a grievous dunce;” though he could roll large stones about. Dean Swift +was “plucked” at Dublin University, and only obtained his recommendation +to Oxford “speciali gratia.” The well-known Dr. Chalmers and Dr. Cook +{356a} were boys together at the parish school of St. Andrew’s; and they +were found so stupid and mischievous, that the master, irritated beyond +measure, dismissed them both as incorrigible dunces. + +The brilliant Sheridan showed so little capacity as a boy, that he was +presented to a tutor by his mother with the complimentary accompaniment +that he was an incorrigible dunce. Walter Scott was all but a dunce when +a boy, always much readier for a “bicker,” than apt at his lessons. At +the Edinburgh University, Professor Dalzell pronounced upon him the +sentence that “Dunce he was, and dunce he would remain.” Chatterton was +returned on his mother’s hands as “a fool, of whom nothing could be +made.” Burns was a dull boy, good only at athletic exercises. Goldsmith +spoke of himself, as a plant that flowered late. Alfieri left college no +wiser than he entered it, and did not begin the studies by which he +distinguished himself, until he had run half over Europe. Robert Clive +was a dunce, if not a reprobate, when a youth; but always full of energy, +even in badness. His family, glad to get rid of him, shipped him off to +Madras; and he lived to lay the foundations of the British power in +India. Napoleon and Wellington were both dull boys, not distinguishing +themselves in any way at school. {356b} Of the former the Duchess +d’Abrantes says, “he had good health, but was in other respects like +other boys.” + +Ulysses Grant, the Commander-in-Chief of the United States, was called +“Useless Grant” by his mother—he was so dull and unhandy when a boy; and +Stonewall Jackson, Lee’s greatest lieutenant, was, in his youth, chiefly +noted for his slowness. While a pupil at West Point Military Academy he +was, however, equally remarkable for his indefatigable application and +perseverance. When a task was set him, he never left it until he had +mastered it; nor did he ever feign to possess knowledge which he had not +entirely acquired. “Again and again,” wrote one who knew him, “when +called upon to answer questions in the recitation of the day, he would +reply, ‘I have not yet looked at it; I have been engaged in mastering the +recitation of yesterday or the day before.’ The result was that he +graduated seventeenth in a class of seventy. There was probably in the +whole class not a boy to whom Jackson at the outset was not inferior in +knowledge and attainments; but at the end of the race he had only sixteen +before him, and had outstripped no fewer than fifty-three. It used to be +said of him by his contemporaries, that if the course had been for ten +years instead of four, Jackson would have graduated at the head of his +class.” {357} + +John Howard, the philanthropist, was another illustrious dunce, learning +next to nothing during the seven years that he was at school. +Stephenson, as a youth, was distinguished chiefly for his skill at +putting and wrestling, and attention to his work. The brilliant Sir +Humphry Davy was no cleverer than other boys: his teacher, Dr. Cardew, +once said of him, “While he was with me I could not discern the faculties +by which he was so much distinguished.” Indeed, Davy himself in after +life considered it fortunate that he had been left to “enjoy so much +idleness” at school. Watt was a dull scholar, notwithstanding the +stories told about his precocity; but he was, what was better, patient +and perseverant, and it was by such qualities, and by his carefully +cultivated inventiveness, that he was enabled to perfect his +steam-engine. + +What Dr. Arnold said of boys is equally true of men—that the difference +between one boy and another consists not so much in talent as in energy. +Given perseverance and energy soon becomes habitual. Provided the dunce +has persistency and application he will inevitably head the cleverer +fellow without those qualities. Slow but sure wins the race. It is +perseverance that explains how the position of boys at school is so often +reversed in real life; and it is curious to note how some who were then +so clever have since become so commonplace; whilst others, dull boys, of +whom nothing was expected, slow in their faculties but sure in their +pace, have assumed the position of leaders of men. The author of this +book, when a boy, stood in the same class with one of the greatest of +dunces. One teacher after another had tried his skill upon him and +failed. Corporal punishment, the fool’s cap, coaxing, and earnest +entreaty, proved alike fruitless. Sometimes the experiment was tried of +putting him at the top of his class, and it was curious to note the +rapidity with which he gravitated to the inevitable bottom. The youth +was given up by his teachers as an incorrigible dunce—one of them +pronouncing him to be a “stupendous booby.” Yet, slow though he was, +this dunce had a sort of dull energy of purpose in him, which grew with +his muscles and his manhood; and, strange to say, when he at length came +to take part in the practical business of life, he was found heading most +of his school companions, and eventually left the greater number of them +far behind. The last time the author heard of him, he was chief +magistrate of his native town. + +The tortoise in the right road will beat a racer in the wrong. It +matters not though a youth be slow, if he be but diligent. Quickness of +parts may even prove a defect, inasmuch as the boy who learns readily +will often forget as readily; and also because he finds no need of +cultivating that quality of application and perseverance which the slower +youth is compelled to exercise, and which proves so valuable an element +in the formation of every character. Davy said “What I am I have made +myself;” and the same holds true universally. + +To conclude: the best culture is not obtained from teachers when at +school or college, so much as by our own diligent self-education when we +have become men. Hence parents need not be in too great haste to see +their children’s talents forced into bloom. Let them watch and wait +patiently, letting good example and quiet training do their work, and +leave the rest to Providence. Let them see to it that the youth is +provided, by free exercise of his bodily powers, with a full stock of +physical health; set him fairly on the road of self-culture; carefully +train his habits of application and perseverance; and as he grows older, +if the right stuff be in him, he will be enabled vigorously and +effectively to cultivate himself. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. +EXAMPLE—MODELS. + + + “Ever their phantoms rise before us, + Our loftier brothers, but one in blood; + By bed and table they lord it o’er us, + With looks of beauty and words of good.”—_John Sterling_. + + “Children may be strangled, but Deeds never; they have an + indestructible life, both in and out of our consciousness.”—_George + Eliot_. + + “There is no action of man in this life, which is not the beginning + of so long a chain of consequences, as that no human providence is + high enough to give us a prospect to the end.”—_Thomas of + Malmesbury_. + +EXAMPLE is one of the most potent of instructors, though it teaches +without a tongue. It is the practical school of mankind, working by +action, which is always more forcible than words. Precept may point to +us the way, but it is silent continuous example, conveyed to us by +habits, and living with us in fact, that carries us along. Good advice +has its weight: but without the accompaniment of a good example it is of +comparatively small influence; and it will be found that the common +saying of “Do as I say, not as I do,” is usually reversed in the actual +experience of life. + +All persons are more or less apt to learn through the eye rather than the +ear; and, whatever is seen in fact, makes a far deeper impression than +anything that is merely read or heard. This is especially the case in +early youth, when the eye is the chief inlet of knowledge. Whatever +children see they unconsciously imitate. They insensibly come to +resemble those who are about them—as insects take the colour of the +leaves they feed on. Hence the vast importance of domestic training. +For whatever may be the efficiency of schools, the examples set in our +Homes must always be of vastly greater influence in forming the +characters of our future men and women. The Home is the crystal of +society—the nucleus of national character; and from that source, be it +pure or tainted, issue the habits, principles and maxims, which govern +public as well as private life. The nation comes from the nursery. +Public opinion itself is for the most part the outgrowth of the home; and +the best philanthropy comes from the fireside. “To love the little +platoon we belong to in society,” says Burke, “is the germ of all public +affections.” From this little central spot, the human sympathies may +extend in an ever widening circle, until the world is embraced; for, +though true philanthropy, like charity, begins at home, assuredly it does +not end there. + +Example in conduct, therefore, even in apparently trivial matters, is of +no light moment, inasmuch as it is constantly becoming inwoven with the +lives of others, and contributing to form their natures for better or for +worse. The characters of parents are thus constantly repeated in their +children; and the acts of affection, discipline, industry, and +self-control, which they daily exemplify, live and act when all else +which may have been learned through the ear has long been forgotten. +Hence a wise man was accustomed to speak of his children as his “future +state.” Even the mute action and unconscious look of a parent may give a +stamp to the character which is never effaced; and who can tell how much +evil act has been stayed by the thought of some good parent, whose memory +their children may not sully by the commission of an unworthy deed, or +the indulgence of an impure thought? The veriest trifles thus become of +importance in influencing the characters of men. “A kiss from my +mother,” said West, “made me a painter.” It is on the direction of such +seeming trifles when children that the future happiness and success of +men mainly depend. Fowell Buxton, when occupying an eminent and +influential station in life, wrote to his mother, “I constantly feel, +especially in action and exertion for others, the effects of principles +early implanted by you in my mind.” Buxton was also accustomed to +remember with gratitude the obligations which he owed to an illiterate +man, a gamekeeper, named Abraham Plastow, with whom he played, and rode, +and sported—a man who could neither read nor write, but was full of +natural good sense and mother-wit. “What made him particularly +valuable,” says Buxton, “were his principles of integrity and honour. He +never said or did a thing in the absence of my mother of which she would +have disapproved. He always held up the highest standard of integrity, +and filled our youthful minds with sentiments as pure and as generous as +could be found in the writings of Seneca or Cicero. Such was my first +instructor, and, I must add, my best.” + +Lord Langdale, looking back upon the admirable example set him by his +mother, declared, “If the whole world were put into one scale, and my +mother into the other, the world would kick the beam.” Mrs. Schimmel +Penninck, in her old age, was accustomed to call to mind the personal +influence exercised by her mother upon the society amidst which she +moved. When she entered a room it had the effect of immediately raising +the tone of the conversation, and as if purifying the moral +atmosphere—all seeming to breathe more freely, and stand more erectly. +“In her presence,” says the daughter, “I became for the time transformed +into another person.” So much does she moral health depend upon the +moral atmosphere that is breathed, and so great is the influence daily +exercised by parents over their children by living a life before their +eyes, that perhaps the best system of parental instruction might be +summed up in these two words: “Improve thyself.” + +There is something solemn and awful in the thought that there is not an +act done or a word uttered by a human being but carries with it a train +of consequences, the end of which we may never trace. Not one but, to a +certain extent, gives a colour to our life, and insensibly influences the +lives of those about us. The good deed or word will live, even though we +may not see it fructify, but so will the bad; and no person is so +insignificant as to be sure that his example will not do good on the one +hand, or evil on the other. The spirits of men do not die: they still +live and walk abroad among us. It was a fine and a true thought uttered +by Mr. Disraeli in the House of Commons on the death of Richard Cobden, +that “he was one of those men who, though not present, were still members +of that House, who were independent of dissolutions, of the caprices of +constituencies, and even of the course of time.” + +There is, indeed, an essence of immortality in the life of man, even in +this world. No individual in the universe stands alone; he is a +component part of a system of mutual dependencies; and by his several +acts he either increases or diminishes the sum of human good now and for +ever. As the present is rooted in the past, and the lives and examples +of our forefathers still to a great extent influence us, so are we by our +daily acts contributing to form the condition and character of the +future. Man is a fruit formed and ripened by the culture of all the +foregoing centuries; and the living generation continues the magnetic +current of action and example destined to bind the remotest past with the +most distant future. No man’s acts die utterly; and though his body may +resolve into dust and air, his good or his bad deeds will still be +bringing forth fruit after their kind, and influencing future generations +for all time to come. It is in this momentous and solemn fact that the +great peril and responsibility of human existence lies. + +Mr. Babbage has so powerfully expressed this idea in a noble passage in +one of his writings that we here venture to quote his words: “Every +atom,” he says, “impressed with good or ill, retains at once the motions +which philosophers and sages have imparted to it, mixed and combined in +ten thousand ways with all that is worthless and base; the air itself is +one vast library, on whose pages are written _for ever_ all that man has +ever said or whispered. There, in their immutable but unerring +characters, mixed with the earliest as well as the latest sighs of +mortality, stand for ever recorded vows unredeemed, promises unfulfilled; +perpetuating, in the united movements of each particle, the testimony of +man’s changeful will. But, if the air we breathe is the never-failing +historian of the sentiments we have uttered, earth, air, and ocean, are, +in like manner, the eternal witnesses of the acts we have done; the same +principle of the equality of action and reaction applies to them. No +motion impressed by natural causes, or by human agency, is ever +obliterated. . . . If the Almighty stamped on the brow of the first +murderer the indelible and visible mark of his guilt, He has also +established laws by which every succeeding criminal is not less +irrevocably chained to the testimony of his crime; for every atom of his +mortal frame, through whatever changes its severed particles may migrate, +will still retain adhering to it, through every combination, some +movement derived from that very muscular effort by which the crime itself +was perpetrated.” + +Thus, every act we do or word we utter, as well as every act we witness +or word we hear, carries with it an influence which extends over, and +gives a colour, not only to the whole of our future life, but makes +itself felt upon the whole frame of society. We may not, and indeed +cannot, possibly, trace the influence working itself into action in its +various ramifications amongst our children, our friends, or associates; +yet there it is assuredly, working on for ever. And herein lies the +great significance of setting forth a good example,—a silent teaching +which even the poorest and least significant person can practise in his +daily life. There is no one so humble, but that he owes to others this +simple but priceless instruction. Even the meanest condition may thus be +made useful; for the light set in a low place shines as faithfully as +that set upon a hill. Everywhere, and under almost all circumstances, +however externally adverse—in moorland shielings, in cottage hamlets, in +the close alleys of great towns—the true man may grow. He who tills a +space of earth scarce bigger than is needed for his grave, may work as +faithfully, and to as good purpose, as the heir to thousands. The +commonest workshop may thus be a school of industry, science, and good +morals, on the one hand; or of idleness, folly, and depravity, on the +other. It all depends on the individual men, and the use they make of +the opportunities for good which offer themselves. + +A life well spent, a character uprightly sustained, is no slight legacy +to leave to one’s children, and to the world; for it is the most eloquent +lesson of virtue and the severest reproof of vice, while it continues an +enduring source of the best kind of riches. Well for those who can say, +as Pope did, in rejoinder to the sarcasm of Lord Hervey, “I think it +enough that my parents, such as they were, never cost me a blush, and +that their son, such as he is, never cost them a tear.” + +It is not enough to tell others what they are to do, but to exhibit the +actual example of doing. What Mrs. Chisholm described to Mrs. Stowe as +the secret of her success, applies to all life. “I found,” she said, +“that if we want anything _done_, we must go to work and _do_: it is of +no use merely to talk—none whatever.” It is poor eloquence that only +shows how a person can talk. Had Mrs. Chisholm rested satisfied with +lecturing, her project, she was persuaded, would never have got beyond +the region of talk; but when people saw what she was doing and had +actually accomplished, they fell in with her views and came forward to +help her. Hence the most beneficent worker is not he who says the most +eloquent things, or even who thinks the most loftily, but he who does the +most eloquent acts. + +True-hearted persons, even in the humblest station in life, who are +energetic doers, may thus give an impulse to good works out of all +proportion, apparently, to their actual station in society. Thomas +Wright might have talked about the reclamation of criminals, and John +Pounds about the necessity for Ragged Schools, and yet done nothing; +instead of which they simply set to work without any other idea in their +minds than that of doing, not talking. And how the example of even the +poorest man may tell upon society, hear what Dr. Guthrie, the apostle of +the Ragged School movement, says of the influence which the example of +John Pounds, the humble Portsmouth cobbler, exercised upon his own +working career:— + +“The interest I have been led to take in this cause is an example of how, +in Providence, a man’s destiny—his course of life, like that of a +river—may be determined and affected by very trivial circumstances. It +is rather curious—at least it is interesting to me to remember—that it +was by a picture I was first led to take an interest in ragged schools—by +a picture in an old, obscure, decaying burgh that stands on the shores of +the Frith of Forth, the birthplace of Thomas Chalmers. I went to see +this place many years ago; and, going into an inn for refreshment, I +found the room covered with pictures of shepherdesses with their crooks, +and sailors in holiday attire, not particularly interesting. But above +the chimney-piece there was a large print, more respectable than its +neighbours, which represented a cobbler’s room. The cobbler was there +himself, spectacles on nose, an old shoe between his knees—the massive +forehead and firm mouth indicating great determination of character, and, +beneath his bushy eyebrows, benevolence gleamed out on a number of poor +ragged boys and girls who stood at their lessons round the busy cobbler. +My curiosity was awakened; and in the inscription I read how this man, +John Pounds, a cobbler in Portsmouth, taking pity on the multitude of +poor ragged children left by ministers and magistrates, and ladies and +gentlemen, to go to ruin on the streets—how, like a good shepherd, he +gathered in these wretched outcasts—how he had trained them to God and to +the world—and how, while earning his daily bread by the sweat of his +brow, he had rescued from misery and saved to society not less than five +hundred of these children. I felt ashamed of myself. I felt reproved +for the little I had done. My feelings were touched. I was astonished +at this man’s achievements; and I well remember, in the enthusiasm of the +moment, saying to my companion (and I have seen in my cooler and calmer +moments no reason for unsaying the saying)—‘That man is an honour to +humanity, and deserves the tallest monument ever raised within the shores +of Britain.’ I took up that man’s history, and I found it animated by +the spirit of Him who ‘had compassion on the multitude.’ John Pounds was +a clever man besides; and, like Paul, if he could not win a poor boy any +other way, he won him by art. He would be seen chasing a ragged boy +along the quays, and compelling him to come to school, not by the power +of a policeman, but by the power of a hot potato. He knew the love an +Irishman had for a potato; and John Pounds might be seen running holding +under the boy’s nose a potato, like an Irishman, very hot, and with a +coat as ragged as himself. When the day comes when honour will be done +to whom honour is due, I can fancy the crowd of those whose fame poets +have sung, and to whose memory monuments have been raised, dividing like +the wave, and, passing the great, and the noble, and the mighty of the +land, this poor, obscure old man stepping forward and receiving the +especial notice of Him who said ‘Inasmuch as ye did it to one of the +least of these, ye did it also to Me.’” + +The education of character is very much a question of models; we mould +ourselves so unconsciously after the characters, manners, habits, and +opinions of those who are about us. Good rules may do much, but good +models far more; for in the latter we have instruction in action—wisdom +at work. Good admonition and bad example only build with one hand to +pull down with the other. Hence the vast importance of exercising great +care in the selection of companions, especially in youth. There is a +magnetic affinity in young persons which insensibly tends to assimilate +them to each other’s likeness. Mr. Edgeworth was so strongly convinced +that from sympathy they involuntarily imitated or caught the tone of the +company they frequented, that he held it to be of the most essential +importance that they should be taught to select the very best models. +“No company, or good company,” was his motto. Lord Collingwood, writing +to a young friend, said, “Hold it as a maxim that you had better be alone +than in mean company. Let your companions be such as yourself, or +superior; for the worth of a man will always be ruled by that of his +company.” It was a remark of the famous Dr. Sydenham that everybody some +time or other would be the better or the worse for having but spoken to a +good or a bad man. As Sir Peter Lely made it a rule never to look at a +bad picture if he could help it, believing that whenever he did so his +pencil caught a taint from it, so, whoever chooses to gaze often upon a +debased specimen of humanity and to frequent his society, cannot help +gradually assimilating himself to that sort of model. + +It is therefore advisable for young men to seek the fellowship of the +good, and always to aim at a higher standard than themselves. Francis +Horner, speaking of the advantages to himself of direct personal +intercourse with high-minded, intelligent men, said, “I cannot hesitate +to decide that I have derived more intellectual improvement from them +than from all the books I have turned over.” Lord Shelburne (afterwards +Marquis of Lansdowne), when a young man, paid a visit to the venerable +Malesherbes, and was so much impressed by it, that he said,—“I have +travelled much, but I have never been so influenced by personal contact +with any man; and if I ever accomplish any good in the course of my life, +I am certain that the recollection of M. de Malesherbes will animate my +soul.” So Fowell Buxton was always ready to acknowledge the powerful +influence exercised upon the formation of his character in early life by +the example of the Gurney family: “It has given a colour to my life,” he +used to say. Speaking of his success at the Dublin University, he +confessed, “I can ascribe it to nothing but my Earlham visits.” It was +from the Gurneys he “caught the infection” of self-improvement. + +Contact with the good never fails to impart good, and we carry away with +us some of the blessing, as travellers’ garments retain the odour of the +flowers and shrubs through which they have passed. Those who knew the +late John Sterling intimately, have spoken of the beneficial influence +which he exercised on all with whom he came into personal contact. Many +owed to him their first awakening to a higher being; from him they learnt +what they were, and what they ought to be. Mr. Trench says of him:—“It +was impossible to come in contact with his noble nature without feeling +one’s self in some measure _ennobled_ and _lifted up_, as I ever felt +when I left him, into a higher region of objects and aims than that in +which one is tempted habitually to dwell.” It is thus that the noble +character always acts; we become insensibly elevated by him, and cannot +help feeling as he does and acquiring the habit of looking at things in +the same light. Such is the magical action and reaction of minds upon +each other. + +Artists, also, feel themselves elevated by contact with artists greater +than themselves. Thus Haydn’s genius was first fired by Handel. Hearing +him play, Haydn’s ardour for musical composition was at once excited, and +but for this circumstance, he himself believed that he would never have +written the ‘Creation.’ Speaking of Handel, he said, “When he chooses, +he strikes like the thunderbolt;” and at another time, “There is not a +note of him but draws blood.” Scarlatti was another of Handel’s ardent +admirers, following him all over Italy; afterwards, when speaking of the +great master, he would cross himself in token of admiration. True +artists never fail generously to recognise each other’s greatness. Thus +Beethoven’s admiration for Cherubini was regal: and he ardently hailed +the genius of Schubert: “Truly,” said he, “in Schubert dwells a divine +fire.” When Northcote was a mere youth he had such an admiration for +Reynolds that, when the great painter was once attending a public meeting +down in Devonshire, the boy pushed through the crowd, and got so near +Reynolds as to touch the skirt of his coat, “which I did,” says +Northcote, “with great satisfaction to my mind,”—a true touch of youthful +enthusiasm in its admiration of genius. + +The example of the brave is an inspiration to the timid, their presence +thrilling through every fibre. Hence the miracles of valour so often +performed by ordinary men under the leadership of the heroic. The very +recollection of the deeds of the valiant stirs men’s blood like the sound +of a trumpet. Ziska bequeathed his skin to be used as a drum to inspire +the valour of the Bohemians. When Scanderbeg, prince of Epirus, was +dead, the Turks wished to possess his bones, that each might wear a piece +next his heart, hoping thus to secure some portion of the courage he had +displayed while living, and which they had so often experienced in +battle. When the gallant Douglas, bearing the heart of Bruce to the Holy +Land, saw one of his knights surrounded and sorely pressed by the +Saracens, he took from his neck the silver case containing the hero’s +bequest, and throwing it amidst the thickest press of his foes, cried, +“Pass first in fight, as thou wert wont to do, and Douglas will follow +thee, or die;” and so saying, he rushed forward to the place where it +fell, and was there slain. + +The chief use of biography consists in the noble models of character in +which it abounds. Our great forefathers still live among us in the +records of their lives, as well as in the acts they have done, which live +also; still sit by us at table, and hold us by the hand; furnishing +examples for our benefit, which we may still study, admire and imitate. +Indeed, whoever has left behind him the record of a noble life, has +bequeathed to posterity an enduring source of good, for it serves as a +model for others to form themselves by in all time to come; still +breathing fresh life into men, helping them to reproduce his life anew, +and to illustrate his character in other forms. Hence a book containing +the life of a true man is full of precious seed. It is a still living +voice; it is an intellect. To use Milton’s words, “it is the precious +life-blood of a master spirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a +life beyond life.” Such a book never ceases to exercise an elevating and +ennobling influence. But, above all, there is the Book containing the +very highest Example set before us to shape our lives by in this +world—the most suitable for all the necessities of our mind and heart—an +example which we can only follow afar off and feel after, + + “Like plants or vines which never saw the sun, + But dream of him and guess where he may be, + And do their best to climb and get to him.” + +Again, no young man can rise from the perusal of such lives as those of +Buxton and Arnold, without feeling his mind and heart made better, and +his best resolves invigorated. Such biographies increase a man’s +self-reliance by demonstrating what men can be, and what they can do; +fortifying his hopes and elevating his aims in life. Sometimes a young +man discovers himself in a biography, as Correggio felt within him the +risings of genius on contemplating the works of Michael Angelo: “And I +too, am a painter,” he exclaimed. Sir Samuel Romilly, in his +autobiography, confessed himself to have been powerfully influenced by +the life of the great and noble-minded French Chancellor Daguesseau:—“The +works of Thomas,” says he, “had fallen into my hands, and I had read with +admiration his ‘Eloge of Daguesseau;’ and the career of honour which he +represented that illustrious magistrate to have run, excited to a great +degree my ardour and ambition, and opened to my imagination new paths of +glory.” + +Franklin was accustomed to attribute his usefulness and eminence to his +having early read Cotton Mather’s ‘Essays to do Good’—a book which grew +out of Mather’s own life. And see how good example draws other men after +it, and propagates itself through future generations in all lands. For +Samuel Drew avers that he framed his own life, and especially his +business habits, after the model left on record by Benjamin Franklin. +Thus it is impossible to say where a good example may not reach, or where +it will end, if indeed it have an end. Hence the advantage, in +literature as in life, of keeping the best society, reading the best +books, and wisely admiring and imitating the best things we find in them. +“In literature,” said Lord Dudley, “I am fond of confining myself to the +best company, which consists chiefly of my old acquaintance, with whom I +am desirous of becoming more intimate; and I suspect that nine times out +of ten it is more profitable, if not more agreeable, to read an old book +over again, than to read a new one for the first time.” + +Sometimes a book containing a noble exemplar of life, taken up at random, +merely with the object of reading it as a pastime, has been known to call +forth energies whose existence had not before been suspected. Alfieri +was first drawn with passion to literature by reading ‘Plutarch’s Lives.’ +Loyola, when a soldier serving at the siege of Pampeluna, and laid up by +a dangerous wound in his leg, asked for a book to divert his thoughts: +the ‘Lives of the Saints’ was brought to him, and its perusal so inflamed +his mind, that he determined thenceforth to devote himself to the +founding of a religious order. Luther, in like manner, was inspired to +undertake the great labours of his life by a perusal of the ‘Life and +Writings of John Huss.’ Dr. Wolff was stimulated to enter upon his +missionary career by reading the ‘Life of Francis Xavier;’ and the book +fired his youthful bosom with a passion the most sincere and ardent to +devote himself to the enterprise of his life. William Carey, also, got +the first idea of entering upon his sublime labours as a missionary from +a perusal of the Voyages of Captain Cook. + +Francis Horner was accustomed to note in his diary and letters the books +by which he was most improved and influenced. Amongst these were +Condorcet’s ‘Eloge of Haller,’ Sir Joshua Reynolds’ ‘Discourses,’ the +writings of Bacon, and ‘Burnet’s Account of Sir Matthew Hale.’ The +perusal of the last-mentioned book—the portrait of a prodigy of +labour—Horner says, filled him with enthusiasm. Of Condorcet’s ‘Eloge of +Haller,’ he said: “I never rise from the account of such men without a +sort of thrilling palpitation about me, which I know not whether I should +call admiration, ambition, or despair.” And speaking of the ‘Discourses’ +of Sir Joshua Reynolds, he said: “Next to the writings of Bacon, there is +no book which has more powerfully impelled me to self-culture. He is one +of the first men of genius who has condescended to inform the world of +the steps by which greatness is attained. The confidence with which he +asserts the omnipotence of human labour has the effect of familiarising +his reader with the idea that genius is an acquisition rather than a +gift; whilst with all there is blended so naturally and eloquently the +most elevated and passionate admiration of excellence, that upon the +whole there is no book of a more _inflammatory_ effect.” It is +remarkable that Reynolds himself attributed his first passionate impulse +towards the study of art, to reading Richardson’s account of a great +painter; and Haydon was in like manner afterwards inflamed to follow the +same pursuit by reading of the career of Reynolds. Thus the brave and +aspiring life of one man lights a flame in the minds of others of like +faculties and impulse; and where there is equally vigorous efforts like +distinction and success will almost surely follow. Thus the chain of +example is carried down through time in an endless succession of +links,—admiration exciting imitation, and perpetuating the true +aristocracy of genius. + +One of the most valuable, and one of the most infectious examples which +can be set before the young, is that of cheerful working. Cheerfulness +gives elasticity to the spirit. Spectres fly before it; difficulties +cause no despair, for they are encountered with hope, and the mind +acquires that happy disposition to improve opportunities which rarely +fails of success. The fervent spirit is always a healthy and happy +spirit; working cheerfully itself, and stimulating others to work. It +confers a dignity on even the most ordinary occupations. The most +effective work, also, is usually the full-hearted work—that which passes +through the hands or the head of him whose heart is glad. Hume was +accustomed to say that he would rather possess a cheerful +disposition—inclined always to look at the bright side of things—than +with a gloomy mind to be the master of an estate of ten thousand a year. +Granville Sharp, amidst his indefatigable labours on behalf of the slave, +solaced himself in the evenings by taking part in glees and instrumental +concerts at his brother’s house, singing, or playing on the flute, the +clarionet or the oboe; and, at the Sunday evening oratorios, when Handel +was played, he beat the kettle-drums. He also indulged, though +sparingly, in caricature drawing. Fowell Buxton also was an eminently +cheerful man; taking special pleasure in field sports, in riding about +the country with his children, and in mixing in all their domestic +amusements. + +In another sphere of action, Dr. Arnold was a noble and a cheerful +worker, throwing himself into the great business of his life, the +training and teaching of young men, with his whole heart and soul. It is +stated in his admirable biography, that “the most remarkable thing in the +Laleham circle was the wonderful healthiness of tone which prevailed +there. It was a place where a new comer at once felt that a great and +earnest work was going forward. Every pupil was made to feel that there +was a work for him to do; that his happiness, as well as his duty, lay in +doing that work well. Hence an indescribable zest was communicated to a +young man’s feeling about life; a strange joy came over him on discerning +that he had the means of being useful, and thus of being happy; and a +deep respect and ardent attachment sprang up towards him who had taught +him thus to value life and his own self, and his work and mission in the +world. All this was founded on the breadth and comprehensiveness of +Arnold’s character, as well as its striking truth and reality; on the +unfeigned regard he had for work of all kinds, and the sense he had of +its value, both for the complex aggregate of society and the growth and +protection of the individual. In all this there was no excitement; no +predilection for one class of work above another; no enthusiasm for any +one-sided object: but a humble, profound, and most religious +consciousness that work is the appointed calling of man on earth; the end +for which his various faculties were given; the element in which his +nature is ordained to develop itself, and in which his progressive +advance towards heaven is to lie.” Among the many valuable men trained +for public life and usefulness by Arnold, was the gallant Hodson, of +Hodson’s Horse, who, writing home from India, many years after, thus +spoke of his revered master: “The influence he produced has been most +lasting and striking in its effects. It is felt even in India; I cannot +say more than _that_.” + +The useful influence which a right-hearted man of energy and industry may +exercise amongst his neighbours and dependants, and accomplish for his +country, cannot, perhaps, be better illustrated than by the career of Sir +John Sinclair; characterized by the Abbé Gregoire as “the most +indefatigable man in Europe.” He was originally a country laird, born to +a considerable estate situated near John o’ Groat’s House, almost beyond +the beat of civilization, in a bare wild country fronting the stormy +North Sea. His father dying while he was a youth of sixteen, the +management of the family property thus early devolved upon him; and at +eighteen he began a course of vigorous improvement in the county of +Caithness, which eventually spread all over Scotland. Agriculture then +was in a most backward state; the fields were unenclosed, the lands +undrained; the small farmers of Caithness were so poor that they could +scarcely afford to keep a horse or shelty; the hard work was chiefly +done, and the burdens borne, by the women; and if a cottier lost a horse +it was not unusual for him to marry a wife as the cheapest substitute. +The country was without roads or bridges; and drovers driving their +cattle south had to swim the rivers along with their beasts. The chief +track leading into Caithness lay along a high shelf on a mountain side, +the road being some hundred feet of clear perpendicular height above the +sea which dashed below. Sir John, though a mere youth, determined to +make a new road over the hill of Ben Cheilt, the old let-alone +proprietors, however, regarding his scheme with incredulity and derision. +But he himself laid out the road, assembled some twelve hundred workmen +early one summer’s morning, set them simultaneously to work, +superintending their labours, and stimulating them by his presence and +example; and before night, what had been a dangerous sheep track, six +miles in length, hardly passable for led horses, was made practicable for +wheel-carriages as if by the power of magic. It was an admirable example +of energy and well-directed labour, which could not fail to have a most +salutary influence upon the surrounding population. He then proceeded to +make more roads, to erect mills, to build bridges, and to enclose and +cultivate the waste lands. He introduced improved methods of culture, +and regular rotation of crops, distributing small premiums to encourage +industry; and he thus soon quickened the whole frame of society within +reach of his influence, and infused an entirely new spirit into the +cultivators of the soil. From being one of the most inaccessible +districts of the north—the very _ultima Thule_ of civilization—Caithness +became a pattern county for its roads, its agriculture, and its +fisheries. In Sinclair’s youth, the post was carried by a runner only +once a week, and the young baronet then declared that he would never rest +till a coach drove daily to Thurso. The people of the neighbourhood +could not believe in any such thing, and it became a proverb in the +county to say of an utterly impossible scheme, “Ou, ay, that will come to +pass when Sir John sees the daily mail at Thurso!” But Sir John lived to +see his dream realized, and the daily mail established to Thurso. + +The circle of his benevolent operation gradually widened. Observing the +serious deterioration which had taken place in the quality of British +wool,—one of the staple commodities of the country,—he forthwith, though +but a private and little-known country gentleman, devoted himself to its +improvement. By his personal exertions he established the British Wool +Society for the purpose, and himself led the way to practical improvement +by importing 800 sheep from all countries, at his own expense. The +result was, the introduction into Scotland of the celebrated Cheviot +breed. Sheep farmers scouted the idea of south country flocks being able +to thrive in the far north. But Sir John persevered; and in a few years +there were not fewer than 300,000 Cheviots diffused over the four +northern counties alone. The value of all grazing land was thus +enormously increased; and Scotch estates, which before were comparatively +worthless, began to yield large rentals. + +Returned by Caithness to Parliament, in which he remained for thirty +years, rarely missing a division, his position gave him farther +opportunities of usefulness, which he did not neglect to employ. Mr. +Pitt, observing his persevering energy in all useful public projects, +sent for him to Downing Street, and voluntarily proposed his assistance +in any object he might have in view. Another man might have thought of +himself and his own promotion; but Sir John characteristically replied, +that he desired no favour for himself, but intimated that the reward most +gratifying to his feelings would be Mr. Pitt’s assistance in the +establishment of a National Board of Agriculture. Arthur Young laid a +bet with the baronet that his scheme would never be established, adding, +“Your Board of Agriculture will be in the moon!” But vigorously setting +to work, he roused public attention to the subject, enlisted a majority +of Parliament on his side, and eventually established the Board, of which +he was appointed President. The result of its action need not be +described, but the stimulus which it gave to agriculture and +stock-raising was shortly felt throughout the whole United Kingdom, and +tens of thousands of acres were redeemed from barrenness by its +operation. He was equally indefatigable in encouraging the establishment +of fisheries; and the successful founding of these great branches of +British industry at Thurso and Wick was mainly due to his exertions. He +urged for long years, and at length succeeded in obtaining the enclosure +of a harbour for the latter place, which is perhaps the greatest and most +prosperous fishing town in the world. + +Sir John threw his personal energy into every work in which he engaged, +rousing the inert, stimulating the idle, encouraging the hopeful, and +working with all. When a French invasion was threatened, he offered to +Mr. Pitt to raise a regiment on his own estate, and he was as good as his +word. He went down to the north, and raised a battalion of 600 men, +afterwards increased to 1000; and it was admitted to be one of the finest +volunteer regiments ever raised, inspired throughout by his own noble and +patriotic spirit. While commanding officer of the camp at Aberdeen he +held the offices of a Director of the Bank of Scotland, Chairman of the +British Wool Society, Provost of Wick, Director of the British Fishery +Society, Commissioner for issuing Exchequer Bills, Member of Parliament +for Caithness, and President of the Board of Agriculture. Amidst all +this multifarious and self-imposed work, he even found time to write +books, enough of themselves to establish a reputation. When Mr. Rush, +the American Ambassador, arrived in England, he relates that he inquired +of Mr. Coke of Holkham, what was the best work on Agriculture, and was +referred to Sir John Sinclair’s; and when he further asked of Mr. +Vansittart, Chancellor of the Exchequer, what was the best work on +British Finance, he was again referred to a work by Sir John Sinclair, +his ‘History of the Public Revenue.’ But the great monument of his +indefatigable industry, a work that would have appalled other men, but +only served to rouse and sustain his energy, was his ‘Statistical Account +of Scotland,’ in twenty-one volumes, one of the most valuable practical +works ever published in any age or country. Amid a host of other +pursuits it occupied him nearly eight years of hard labour, during which +he received, and attended to, upwards of 20,000 letters on the subject. +It was a thoroughly patriotic undertaking, from which he derived no +personal advantage whatever, beyond the honour of having completed it. +The whole of the profits were assigned by him to the Society for the Sons +of the Clergy in Scotland. The publication of the book led to great +public improvements; it was followed by the immediate abolition of +several oppressive feudal rights, to which it called attention; the +salaries of schoolmasters and clergymen in many parishes were increased; +and an increased stimulus was given to agriculture throughout Scotland. +Sir John then publicly offered to undertake the much greater labour of +collecting and publishing a similar Statistical Account of England; but +unhappily the then Archbishop of Canterbury refused to sanction it, lest +it should interfere with the tithes of the clergy, and the idea was +abandoned. + +A remarkable illustration of his energetic promptitude was the manner in +which he once provided, on a great emergency, for the relief of the +manufacturing districts. In 1793 the stagnation produced by the war led +to an unusual number of bankruptcies, and many of the first houses in +Manchester and Glasgow were tottering, not so much from want of property, +but because the usual sources of trade and credit were for the time +closed up. A period of intense distress amongst the labouring classes +seemed imminent, when Sir John urged, in Parliament, that Exchequer notes +to the amount of five millions should be issued immediately as a loan to +such merchants as could give security. This suggestion was adopted, and +his offer to carry out his plan, in conjunction with certain members +named by him, was also accepted. The vote was passed late at night, and +early next morning Sir John, anticipating the delays of officialism and +red tape, proceeded to bankers in the city, and borrowed of them, on his +own personal security, the sum of 70,000_l._, which he despatched the +same evening to those merchants who were in the most urgent need of +assistance. Pitt meeting Sir John in the House, expressed his great +regret that the pressing wants of Manchester and Glasgow could not be +supplied so soon as was desirable, adding, “The money cannot be raised +for some days.” “It is already gone! it left London by to-night’s mail!” +was Sir John’s triumphant reply; and in afterwards relating the anecdote +he added, with a smile of pleasure, “Pitt was as much startled as if I +had stabbed him.” To the last this great, good man worked on usefully +and cheerfully, setting a great example for his family and for his +country. In so laboriously seeking others’ good, it might be said that +he found his own—not wealth, for his generosity seriously impaired his +private fortune, but happiness, and self-satisfaction, and the peace that +passes knowledge. A great patriot, with magnificent powers of work, he +nobly did his duty to his country; yet he was not neglectful of his own +household and home. His sons and daughters grew up to honour and +usefulness; and it was one of the proudest things Sir John could say, +when verging on his eightieth year, that he had lived to see seven sons +grown up, not one of whom had incurred a debt he could not pay, or caused +him a sorrow that could have been avoided. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. +CHARACTER—THE TRUE GENTLEMAN. + + + “For who can always act? but he, + To whom a thousand memories call, + Not being less but more than all + The gentleness he seemed to be, + + But seemed the thing he was, and joined + Each office of the social hour + To noble manners, as the flower + And native growth of noble mind; + + And thus he bore without abuse + The grand old name of Gentleman.”—_Tennyson_. + + “Es bildet ein Talent sich in der Stille, + Sich ein Charakter in dem Strom der Welt.”—_Goethe_. + + “That which raises a country, that which strengthens a country, and + that which dignifies a country,—that which spreads her power, creates + her moral influence, and makes her respected and submitted to, bends + the hearts of millions, and bows down the pride of nations to her—the + instrument of obedience, the fountain of supremacy, the true throne, + crown, and sceptre of a nation;—this aristocracy is not an + aristocracy of blood, not an aristocracy of fashion, not an + aristocracy of talent only; it is an aristocracy of Character. That + is the true heraldry of man.”—_The Times_. + +THE crown and glory of life is Character. It is the noblest possession +of a man, constituting a rank in itself, and an estate in the general +goodwill; dignifying every station, and exalting every position in +society. It exercises a greater power than wealth, and secures all the +honour without the jealousies of fame. It carries with it an influence +which always tells; for it is the result of proved honour, rectitude, and +consistency—qualities which, perhaps more than any other, command the +general confidence and respect of mankind. + +Character is human nature in its best form. It is moral order embodied +in the individual. Men of character are not only the conscience of +society, but in every well-governed State they are its best motive power; +for it is moral qualities in the main which rule the world. Even in war, +Napoleon said the moral is to the physical as ten to one. The strength, +the industry, and the civilisation of nations—all depend upon individual +character; and the very foundations of civil security rest upon it. Laws +and institutions are but its outgrowth. In the just balance of nature, +individuals, nations, and races, will obtain just so much as they +deserve, and no more. And as effect finds its cause, so surely does +quality of character amongst a people produce its befitting results. + +Though a man have comparatively little culture, slender abilities, and +but small wealth, yet, if his character be of sterling worth, he will +always command an influence, whether it be in the workshop, the +counting-house, the mart, or the senate. Canning wisely wrote in 1801, +“My road must be through Character to power; I will try no other course; +and I am sanguine enough to believe that this course, though not perhaps +the quickest, is the surest.” You may admire men of intellect; but +something more is necessary before you will trust them. Hence Lord John +Russell once observed in a sentence full of truth, “It is the nature of +party in England to ask the assistance of men of genius, but to follow +the guidance of men of character.” This was strikingly illustrated in +the career of the late Francis Horner—a man of whom Sydney Smith said +that the Ten Commandments were stamped upon his countenance. “The +valuable and peculiar light,” says Lord Cockburn, “in which his history +is calculated to inspire every right-minded youth, is this. He died at +the age of thirty-eight; possessed of greater public influence than any +other private man; and admired, beloved, trusted, and deplored by all, +except the heartless or the base. No greater homage was ever paid in +Parliament to any deceased member. Now let every young man ask—how was +this attained? By rank? He was the son of an Edinburgh merchant. By +wealth? Neither he, nor any of his relations, ever had a superfluous +sixpence. By office? He held but one, and only for a few years, of no +influence, and with very little pay. By talents? His were not splendid, +and he had no genius. Cautious and slow, his only ambition was to be +right. By eloquence? He spoke in calm, good taste, without any of the +oratory that either terrifies or seduces. By any fascination of manner? +His was only correct and agreeable. By what, then, was it? Merely by +sense, industry, good principles, and a good heart—qualities which no +well-constituted mind need ever despair of attaining. It was the force +of his character that raised him; and this character not impressed upon +him by nature, but formed, out of no peculiarly fine elements, by +himself. There were many in the House of Commons of far greater ability +and eloquence. But no one surpassed him in the combination of an +adequate portion of these with moral worth. Horner was born to show what +moderate powers, unaided by anything whatever except culture and +goodness, may achieve, even when these powers are displayed amidst the +competition and jealousy of public life.” + +Franklin, also, attributed his success as a public man, not to his +talents or his powers of speaking—for these were but moderate—but to his +known integrity of character. Hence it was, he says, “that I had so much +weight with my fellow citizens. I was but a bad speaker, never eloquent, +subject to much hesitation in my choice of words, hardly correct in +language, and yet I generally carried my point.” Character creates +confidence in men in high station as well as in humble life. It was said +of the first Emperor Alexander of Russia, that his personal character was +equivalent to a constitution. During the wars of the Fronde, Montaigne +was the only man amongst the French gentry who kept his castle gates +unbarred; and it was said of him, that his personal character was a +better protection for him than a regiment of horse would have been. + +That character is power, is true in a much higher sense than that +knowledge is power. Mind without heart, intelligence without conduct, +cleverness without goodness, are powers in their way, but they may be +powers only for mischief. We may be instructed or amused by them; but it +is sometimes as difficult to admire them as it would be to admire the +dexterity of a pickpocket or the horsemanship of a highwayman. + +Truthfulness, integrity, and goodness—qualities that hang not on any +man’s breath—form the essence of manly character, or, as one of our old +writers has it, “that inbred loyalty unto Virtue which can serve her +without a livery.” He who possesses these qualities, united with +strength of purpose, carries with him a power which is irresistible. He +is strong to do good, strong to resist evil, and strong to bear up under +difficulty and misfortune. When Stephen of Colonna fell into the hands +of his base assailants, and they asked him in derision, “Where is now +your fortress?” “Here,” was his bold reply, placing his hand upon his +heart. It is in misfortune that the character of the upright man shines +forth with the greatest lustre; and when all else fails, he takes stand +upon his integrity and his courage. + +The rules of conduct followed by Lord Erskine—a man of sterling +independence of principle and scrupulous adherence to truth—are worthy of +being engraven on every young man’s heart. “It was a first command and +counsel of my earliest youth,” he said, “always to do what my conscience +told me to be a duty, and to leave the consequence to God. I shall carry +with me the memory, and I trust the practice, of this parental lesson to +the grave. I have hitherto followed it, and I have no reason to complain +that my obedience to it has been a temporal sacrifice. I have found it, +on the contrary, the road to prosperity and wealth, and I shall point out +the same path to my children for their pursuit.” + +Every man is bound to aim at the possession of a good character as one of +the highest objects of life. The very effort to secure it by worthy +means will furnish him with a motive for exertion; and his idea of +manhood, in proportion as it is elevated, will steady and animate his +motive. It is well to have a high standard of life, even though we may +not be able altogether to realize it. “The youth,” says Mr. Disraeli, +“who does not look up will look down; and the spirit that does not soar +is destined perhaps to grovel.” George Herbert wisely writes, + + “Pitch thy behaviour low, thy projects high, + So shall thou humble and magnanimous be. + Sink not in spirit; who aimeth at the sky + Shoots higher much than he that means a tree.” + +He who has a high standard of living and thinking will certainly do +better than he who has none at all. “Pluck at a gown of gold,” says the +Scotch proverb, “and you may get a sleeve o’t.” Whoever tries for the +highest results cannot fail to reach a point far in advance of that from +which he started; and though the end attained may fall short of that +proposed, still, the very effort to rise, of itself cannot fail to prove +permanently beneficial. + +There are many counterfeits of character, but the genuine article is +difficult to be mistaken. Some, knowing its money value, would assume +its disguise for the purpose of imposing upon the unwary. Colonel +Charteris said to a man distinguished for his honesty, “I would give a +thousand pounds for your good name.” “Why?” “Because I could make ten +thousand by it,” was the knave’s reply. + +Integrity in word and deed is the backbone of character; and loyal +adherence to veracity its most prominent characteristic. One of the +finest testimonies to the character of the late Sir Robert Peel was that +borne by the Duke of Wellington in the House of Lords, a few days after +the great statesman’s death. “Your lordships,” he said, “must all feel +the high and honourable character of the late Sir Robert Peel. I was +long connected with him in public life. We were both in the councils of +our Sovereign together, and I had long the honour to enjoy his private +friendship. In all the course of my acquaintance with him I never knew a +man in whose truth and justice I had greater confidence, or in whom I saw +a more invariable desire to promote the public service. In the whole +course of my communication with him, I never knew an instance in which he +did not show the strongest attachment to truth; and I never saw in the +whole course of my life the smallest reason for suspecting that he stated +anything which he did not firmly believe to be the fact.” And this +high-minded truthfulness of the statesman was no doubt the secret of no +small part of his influence and power. + +There is a truthfulness in action as well as in words, which is essential +to uprightness of character. A man must really be what he seems or +purposes to be. When an American gentleman wrote to Granville Sharp, +that from respect for his great virtues he had named one of his sons +after him, Sharp replied: “I must request you to teach him a favourite +maxim of the family whose name you have given him—_Always endeavour to be +really what you would wish to appear_. This maxim, as my father informed +me, was carefully and humbly practised by _his_ father, whose sincerity, +as a plain and honest man, thereby became the principal feature of his +character, both in public and private life.” Every man who respects +himself, and values the respect of others, will carry out the maxim in +act—doing honestly what he proposes to do—putting the highest character +into his work, scamping nothing, but priding himself upon his integrity +and conscientiousness. Once Cromwell said to Bernard,—a clever but +somewhat unscrupulous lawyer, “I understand that you have lately been +vastly wary in your conduct; do not be too confident of this; subtlety +may deceive you, integrity never will.” Men whose acts are at direct +variance with their words, command no respect, and what they say has but +little weight; even truths, when uttered by them, seem to come blasted +from their lips. + +The true character acts rightly, whether in secret or in the sight of +men. That boy was well trained who, when asked why he did not pocket +some pears, for nobody was there to see, replied, “Yes, there was: I was +there to see myself; and I don’t intend ever to see myself do a dishonest +thing.”—This is a simple but not inappropriate illustration of principle, +or conscience, dominating in the character, and exercising a noble +protectorate over it; not merely a passive influence, but an active power +regulating the life. Such a principle goes on moulding the character +hourly and daily, growing with a force that operates every moment. +Without this dominating influence, character has no protection, but is +constantly liable to fall away before temptation; and every such +temptation succumbed to, every act of meanness or dishonesty, however +slight, causes self-degradation. It matters not whether the act be +successful or not, discovered or concealed; the culprit is no longer the +same, but another person; and he is pursued by a secret uneasiness, by +self-reproach, or the workings of what we call conscience, which is the +inevitable doom of the guilty. + +And here it may be observed how greatly the character may be strengthened +and supported by the cultivation of good habits. Man, it has been said, +is a bundle of habits; and habit is second nature. Metastasio +entertained so strong an opinion as to the power of repetition in act and +thought, that he said, “All is habit in mankind, even virtue itself.” +Butler, in his ‘Analogy,’ impresses the importance of careful +self-discipline and firm resistance to temptation, as tending to make +virtue habitual, so that at length it may become more easy to be good +than to give way to sin. “As habits belonging to the body,” he says, +“are produced by external acts, so habits of the mind are produced by the +execution of inward practical purposes, i.e., carrying them into act, or +acting upon them—the principles of obedience, veracity, justice, and +charity.” And again, Lord Brougham says, when enforcing the immense +importance of training and example in youth, “I trust everything under +God to habit, on which, in all ages, the lawgiver, as well as the +schoolmaster, has mainly placed his reliance; habit, which makes +everything easy, and casts the difficulties upon the deviation from a +wonted course.” Thus, make sobriety a habit, and intemperance will be +hateful; make prudence a habit, and reckless profligacy will become +revolting to every principle of conduct which regulates the life of the +individual. Hence the necessity for the greatest care and watchfulness +against the inroad of any evil habit; for the character is always weakest +at that point at which it has once given way; and it is long before a +principle restored can become so firm as one that has never been moved. +It is a fine remark of a Russian writer, that “Habits are a necklace of +pearls: untie the knot, and the whole unthreads.” + +Wherever formed, habit acts involuntarily, and without effort; and, it is +only when you oppose it, that you find how powerful it has become. What +is done once and again, soon gives facility and proneness. The habit at +first may seem to have no more strength than a spider’s web; but, once +formed, it binds as with a chain of iron. The small events of life, +taken singly, may seem exceedingly unimportant, like snow that falls +silently, flake by flake; yet accumulated, these snow-flakes form the +avalanche. + +Self-respect, self-help, application, industry, integrity—all are of the +nature of habits, not beliefs. Principles, in fact, are but the names +which we assign to habits; for the principles are words, but the habits +are the things themselves: benefactors or tyrants, according as they are +good or evil. It thus happens that as we grow older, a portion of our +free activity and individuality becomes suspended in habit; our actions +become of the nature of fate; and we are bound by the chains which we +have woven around ourselves. + +It is indeed scarcely possible to over-estimate the importance of +training the young to virtuous habits. In them they are the easiest +formed, and when formed they last for life; like letters cut on the bark +of a tree they grow and widen with age. “Train up a child in the way he +should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” The beginning +holds within it the end; the first start on the road of life determines +the direction and the destination of the journey; _ce n’est que le +premier pas qui coûte_. “Remember,” said Lord Collingwood to a young man +whom he loved, “before you are five-and-twenty you must establish a +character that will serve you all your life.” As habit strengthens with +age, and character becomes formed, any turning into a new path becomes +more and more difficult. Hence, it is often harder to unlearn than to +learn; and for this reason the Grecian flute-player was justified who +charged double fees to those pupils who had been taught by an inferior +master. To uproot an old habit is sometimes a more painful thing, and +vastly more difficult, than to wrench out a tooth. Try and reform a +habitually indolent, or improvident, or drunken person, and in a large +majority of cases you will fail. For the habit in each case has wound +itself in and through the life until it has become an integral part of +it, and cannot be uprooted. Hence, as Mr. Lynch observes, “the wisest +habit of all is the habit of care in the formation of good habits.” + +Even happiness itself may become habitual. There is a habit of looking +at the bright side of things, and also of looking at the dark side. Dr. +Johnson has said that the habit of looking at the best side of a thing is +worth more to a man than a thousand pounds a year. And we possess the +power, to a great extent, of so exercising the will as to direct the +thoughts upon objects calculated to yield happiness and improvement +rather than their opposites. In this way the habit of happy thought may +be made to spring up like any other habit. And to bring up men or women +with a genial nature of this sort, a good temper, and a happy frame of +mind, is perhaps of even more importance, in many cases, than to perfect +them in much knowledge and many accomplishments. + +As daylight can be seen through very small holes, so little things will +illustrate a person’s character. Indeed character consists in little +acts, well and honourably performed; daily life being the quarry from +which we build it up, and rough-hew the habits which form it. One of the +most marked tests of character is the manner in which we conduct +ourselves towards others. A graceful behaviour towards superiors, +inferiors, and equals, is a constant source of pleasure. It pleases +others because it indicates respect for their personality; but it gives +tenfold more pleasure to ourselves. Every man may to a large extent be a +self-educator in good behaviour, as in everything else; he can be civil +and kind, if he will, though he have not a penny in his purse. +Gentleness in society is like the silent influence of light, which gives +colour to all nature; it is far more powerful than loudness or force, and +far more fruitful. It pushes its way quietly and persistently, like the +tiniest daffodil in spring, which raises the clod and thrusts it aside by +the simple persistency of growing. + +Even a kind look will give pleasure and confer happiness. In one of +Robertson of Brighton’s letters, he tells of a lady who related to him +“the delight, the tears of gratitude, which she had witnessed in a poor +girl to whom, in passing, I gave a kind look on going out of church on +Sunday. What a lesson! How cheaply happiness can be given! What +opportunities we miss of doing an angel’s work! I remember doing it, +full of sad feelings, passing on, and thinking no more about it; and it +gave an hour’s sunshine to a human life, and lightened the load of life +to a human heart for a time!” {392} + +Morals and manners, which give colour to life, are of much greater +importance than laws, which are but their manifestations. The law +touches us here and there, but manners are about us everywhere, pervading +society like the air we breathe. Good manners, as we call them, are +neither more nor less than good behaviour; consisting of courtesy and +kindness; benevolence being the preponderating element in all kinds of +mutually beneficial and pleasant intercourse amongst human beings. +“Civility,” said Lady Montague, “costs nothing and buys everything.” The +cheapest of all things is kindness, its exercise requiring the least +possible trouble and self-sacrifice. “Win hearts,” said Burleigh to +Queen Elizabeth, “and you have all men’s hearts and purses.” If we would +only let nature act kindly, free from affectation and artifice, the +results on social good humour and happiness would be incalculable. The +little courtesies which form the small change of life, may separately +appear of little intrinsic value, but they acquire their importance from +repetition and accumulation. They are like the spare minutes, or the +groat a day, which proverbially produce such momentous results in the +course of a twelvemonth, or in a lifetime. + +Manners are the ornament of action; and there is a way of speaking a kind +word, or of doing a kind thing, which greatly enhances their value. What +seems to be done with a grudge, or as an act of condescension, is +scarcely accepted as a favour. Yet there are men who pride themselves +upon their gruffness; and though they may possess virtue and capacity, +their manner is often such as to render them almost insupportable. It is +difficult to like a man who, though he may not pull your nose, habitually +wounds your self-respect, and takes a pride in saying disagreeable things +to you. There are others who are dreadfully condescending, and cannot +avoid seizing upon every small opportunity of making their greatness +felt. When Abernethy was canvassing for the office of surgeon to St. +Bartholomew Hospital, he called upon such a person—a rich grocer, one of +the governors. The great man behind the counter seeing the great surgeon +enter, immediately assumed the grand air towards the supposed suppliant +for his vote. “I presume, Sir, you want my vote and interest at this +momentous epoch of your life?” Abernethy, who hated humbugs, and felt +nettled at the tone, replied: “No, I don’t: I want a pennyworth of figs; +come, look sharp and wrap them up; I want to be off!” + +The cultivation of manner—though in excess it is foppish and foolish—is +highly necessary in a person who has occasion to negociate with others in +matters of business. Affability and good breeding may even be regarded +as essential to the success of a man in any eminent station and enlarged +sphere of life; for the want of it has not unfrequently been found in a +great measure to neutralise the results of much industry, integrity, and +honesty of character. There are, no doubt, a few strong tolerant minds +which can bear with defects and angularities of manner, and look only to +the more genuine qualities; but the world at large is not so forbearant, +and cannot help forming its judgments and likings mainly according to +outward conduct. + +Another mode of displaying true politeness is consideration for the +opinions of others. It has been said of dogmatism, that it is only +puppyism come to its full growth; and certainly the worst form this +quality can assume, is that of opinionativeness and arrogance. Let men +agree to differ, and, when they do differ, bear and forbear. Principles +and opinions may be maintained with perfect suavity, without coming to +blows or uttering hard words; and there are circumstances in which words +are blows, and inflict wounds far less easy to heal. As bearing upon +this point, we quote an instructive little parable spoken some time since +by an itinerant preacher of the Evangelical Alliance on the borders of +Wales:—“As I was going to the hills,” said he, “early one misty morning, +I saw something moving on a mountain side, so strange looking that I took +it for a monster. When I came nearer to it I found it was a man. When I +came up to him I found he was my brother.” + +The inbred politeness which springs from right-heartedness and kindly +feelings, is of no exclusive rank or station. The mechanic who works at +the bench may possess it, as well as the clergyman or the peer. It is by +no means a necessary condition of labour that it should, in any respect, +be either rough or coarse. The politeness and refinement which +distinguish all classes of the people in many continental countries show +that those qualities might become ours too—as doubtless they will become +with increased culture and more general social intercourse—without +sacrificing any of our more genuine qualities as men. From the highest +to the lowest, the richest to the poorest, to no rank or condition in +life has nature denied her highest boon—the great heart. There never yet +existed a gentleman but was lord of a great heart. And this may exhibit +itself under the hodden grey of the peasant as well as under the laced +coat of the noble. Robert Burns was once taken to task by a young +Edinburgh blood, with whom he was walking, for recognising an honest +farmer in the open street. “Why you fantastic gomeral,” exclaimed Burns, +“it was not the great coat, the scone bonnet, and the saunders-boot hose +that I spoke to, but _the man_ that was in them; and the man, sir, for +true worth, would weigh down you and me, and ten more such, any day.” +There may be a homeliness in externals, which may seem vulgar to those +who cannot discern the heart beneath; but, to the right-minded, character +will always have its clear insignia. + +William and Charles Grant were the sons of a farmer in Inverness-shire, +whom a sudden flood stripped of everything, even to the very soil which +he tilled. The farmer and his sons, with the world before them where to +choose, made their way southward in search of employment until they +arrived in the neighbourhood of Bury in Lancashire. From the crown of +the hill near Walmesley they surveyed the wide extent of country which +lay before them, the river Irwell making its circuitous course through +the valley. They were utter strangers in the neighbourhood, and knew not +which way to turn. To decide their course they put up a stick, and +agreed to pursue the direction in which it fell. Thus their decision was +made, and they journeyed on accordingly until they reached the village of +Ramsbotham, not far distant. They found employment in a print-work, in +which William served his apprenticeship; and they commanded themselves to +their employers by their diligence, sobriety, and strict integrity. They +plodded on, rising from one station to another, until at length the two +men themselves became employers, and after many long years of industry, +enterprise, and benevolence, they became rich, honoured, and respected by +all who knew them. Their cotton-mills and print-works gave employment to +a large population. Their well-directed diligence made the valley teem +with activity, joy, health, and opulence. Out of their abundant wealth +they gave liberally to all worthy objects, erecting churches, founding +schools, and in all ways promoting the well-being of the class of +working-men from which they had sprung. They afterwards erected, on the +top of the hill above Walmesley, a lofty tower in commemoration of the +early event in their history which had determined the place of their +settlement. The brothers Grant became widely celebrated for their +benevolence and their various goodness, and it is said that Mr. Dickens +had them in his mind’s eye when delineating the character of the brothers +Cheeryble. One amongst many anecdotes of a similar kind may be cited to +show that the character was by no means exaggerated. A Manchester +warehouseman published an exceedingly scurrilous pamphlet against the +firm of Grant Brothers, holding up the elder partner to ridicule as +“Billy Button.” William was informed by some one of the nature of the +pamphlet, and his observation was that the man would live to repent of +it. “Oh!” said the libeller, when informed of the remark, “he thinks +that some time or other I shall be in his debt; but I will take good care +of that.” It happens, however, that men in business do not always +foresee who shall be their creditor, and it so turned out that the +Grants’ libeller became a bankrupt, and could not complete his +certificate and begin business again without obtaining their signature. +It seemed to him a hopeless case to call upon that firm for any favour, +but the pressing claims of his family forced him to make the application. +He appeared before the man whom he had ridiculed as “Billy Button” +accordingly. He told his tale and produced his certificate. “You wrote +a pamphlet against us once?” said Mr. Grant. The supplicant expected to +see his document thrown into the fire; instead of which Grant signed the +name of the firm, and thus completed the necessary certificate. “We make +it a rule,” said he, handing it back, “never to refuse signing the +certificate of an honest tradesman, and we have never heard that you were +anything else.” The tears started into the man’s eyes. “Ah,” continued +Mr. Grant, “you see my saying was true, that you would live to repent +writing that pamphlet. I did not mean it as a threat—I only meant that +some day you would know us better, and repent having tried to injure us.” +“I do, I do, indeed, repent it.” “Well, well, you know us now. But how +do you get on—what are you going to do?” The poor man stated that he had +friends who would assist him when his certificate was obtained. “But how +are you off in the mean time?” The answer was, that, having given up +every farthing to his creditors, he had been compelled to stint his +family in even the common necessaries of life, that he might be enabled +to pay for his certificate. “My good fellow, this will never do; your +wife and family must not suffer in this way; be kind enough to take this +ten-pound note to your wife from me: there, there, now—don’t cry, it will +be all well with you yet; keep up your spirits, set to work like a man, +and you will raise your head among the best of us yet.” The overpowered +man endeavoured with choking utterance to express his gratitude, but in +vain; and putting his hand to his face, he went out of the room sobbing +like a child. + +The True Gentleman is one whose nature has been fashioned after the +highest models. It is a grand old name, that of Gentleman, and has been +recognized as a rank and power in all stages of society. “The Gentleman +is always the Gentleman,” said the old French General to his regiment of +Scottish gentry at Rousillon, “and invariably proves himself such in need +and in danger.” To possess this character is a dignity of itself, +commanding the instinctive homage of every generous mind, and those who +will not bow to titular rank, will yet do homage to the gentleman. His +qualities depend not upon fashion or manners, but upon moral worth—not on +personal possessions, but on personal qualities. The Psalmist briefly +describes him as one “that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, +and speaketh the truth in his heart.” + +The gentleman is eminently distinguished for his self-respect. He values +his character,—not so much of it only as can be seen of others, but as he +sees it himself; having regard for the approval of his inward monitor. +And, as he respects himself, so, by the same law, does he respect others. +Humanity is sacred in his eyes: and thence proceed politeness and +forbearance, kindness and charity. It is related of Lord Edward +Fitzgerald that, while travelling in Canada, in company with the Indians, +he was shocked by the sight of a poor squaw trudging along laden with her +husband’s trappings, while the chief himself walked on unencumbered. +Lord Edward at once relieved the squaw of her pack by placing it upon his +own shoulders,—a beautiful instance of what the French call _politesse de +cœur_—the inbred politeness of the true gentleman. + +The true gentleman has a keen sense of honour,—scrupulously avoiding mean +actions. His standard of probity in word and action is high. He does +not shuffle or prevaricate, dodge or skulk; but is honest, upright, and +straightforward. His law is rectitude—action in right lines. When he +says _yes_, it is a law: and he dares to say the valiant _no_ at the +fitting season. The gentleman will not be bribed; only the low-minded +and unprincipled will sell themselves to those who are interested in +buying them. When the upright Jonas Hanway officiated as commissioner in +the victualling department, he declined to receive a present of any kind +from a contractor; refusing thus to be biassed in the performance of his +public duty. A fine trait of the same kind is to be noted in the life of +the Duke of Wellington. Shortly after the battle of Assaye, one morning +the Prime Minister of the Court of Hyderabad waited upon him for the +purpose of privately ascertaining what territory and what advantages had +been reserved for his master in the treaty of peace between the Mahratta +princes and the Nizam. To obtain this information the minister offered +the general a very large sum—considerably above 100,000_l._ Looking at +him quietly for a few seconds, Sir Arthur said, “It appears, then, that +you are capable of keeping a secret?” “Yes, certainly,” replied the +minister. “_Then so am I_,” said the English general, smiling, and bowed +the minister out. It was to Wellington’s great honour, that though +uniformly successful in India, and with the power of earning in such +modes as this enormous wealth, he did not add a farthing to his fortune, +and returned to England a comparatively poor man. + +A similar sensitiveness and high-mindedness characterised his noble +relative, the Marquis of Wellesley, who, on one occasion, positively +refused a present of 100,000_l._ proposed to be given him by the +Directors of the East India Company on the conquest of Mysore. “It is +not necessary,” said he, “for me to allude to the independence of my +character, and the proper dignity attaching to my office; other reasons +besides these important considerations lead me to decline this testimony, +which is not suitable to me. _I think of nothing but our army_. I +should be much distressed to curtail the share of those brave soldiers.” +And the Marquis’s resolution to refuse the present remained unalterable. + +Sir Charles Napier exhibited the same noble self-denial in the course of +his Indian career. He rejected all the costly gifts which barbaric +princes were ready to lay at his feet, and said with truth, “Certainly I +could have got 30,000_l._ since my coming to Scinde, but my hands do not +want washing yet. Our dear father’s sword which I wore in both battles +(Meanee and Hyderabad) is unstained.” + +Riches and rank have no necessary connexion with genuine gentlemanly +qualities. The poor man may be a true gentleman,—in spirit and in daily +life. He may be honest, truthful, upright, polite, temperate, +courageous, self-respecting, and self-helping,—that is, be a true +gentleman. The poor man with a rich spirit is in all ways superior to +the rich man with a poor spirit. To borrow St. Paul’s words, the former +is as “having nothing, yet possessing all things,” while the other, +though possessing all things, has nothing. The first hopes everything, +and fears nothing; the last hopes nothing, and fears everything. Only +the poor in spirit are really poor. He who has lost all, but retains his +courage, cheerfulness, hope, virtue, and self-respect, is still rich. +For such a man, the world is, as it were, held in trust; his spirit +dominating over its grosser cares, he can still walk erect, a true +gentleman. + +Occasionally, the brave and gentle character may be found under the +humblest garb. Here is an old illustration, but a fine one. Once on a +time, when the Adige suddenly overflowed its banks, the bridge of Verona +was carried away, with the exception of the centre arch, on which stood a +house, whose inhabitants supplicated help from the windows, while the +foundations were visibly giving way. “I will give a hundred French +louis,” said the Count Spolverini, who stood by, “to any person who will +venture to deliver these unfortunate people.” A young peasant came forth +from the crowd, seized a boat, and pushed into the stream. He gained the +pier, received the whole family into the boat, and made for the shore, +where he landed them in safety. “Here is your money, my brave young +fellow,” said the count. “No,” was the answer of the young man, “I do +not sell my life; give the money to this poor family, who have need of +it.” Here spoke the true spirit of the gentleman, though he was but in +the garb of a peasant. + +Not less touching was the heroic conduct of a party of Deal boatmen in +rescuing the crew of a collier-brig in the Downs but a short time ago. +{400} A sudden storm which set in from the north-east drove several +ships from their anchors, and it being low water, one of them struck the +ground at a considerable distance from the shore, when the sea made a +clean breach over her. There was not a vestige of hope for the vessel, +such was the fury of the wind and the violence of the waves. There was +nothing to tempt the boatmen on shore to risk their lives in saving +either ship or crew, for not a farthing of salvage was to be looked for. +But the daring intrepidity of the Deal boatmen was not wanting at this +critical moment. No sooner had the brig grounded than Simon Pritchard, +one of the many persons assembled along the beach, threw off his coat and +called out, “Who will come with me and try to save that crew?” Instantly +twenty men sprang forward, with “I will,” “and I.” But seven only were +wanted; and running down a galley punt into the surf, they leaped in and +dashed through the breakers, amidst the cheers of those on shore. How +the boat lived in such a sea seemed a miracle; but in a few minutes, +impelled by the strong arms of these gallant men, she flew on and reached +the stranded ship, “catching her on the top of a wave”; and in less than +a quarter of an hour from the time the boat left the shore, the six men +who composed the crew of the collier were landed safe on Walmer Beach. A +nobler instance of indomitable courage and disinterested heroism on the +part of the Deal boatmen—brave though they are always known to be—perhaps +cannot be cited; and we have pleasure in here placing it on record. + +Mr. Turnbull, in his work on ‘Austria,’ relates an anecdote of the late +Emperor Francis, in illustration of the manner in which the Government of +that country has been indebted, for its hold upon the people, to the +personal qualities of its princes. “At the time when the cholera was +raging at Vienna, the emperor, with an aide-de-camp, was strolling about +the streets of the city and suburbs, when a corpse was dragged past on a +litter unaccompanied by a single mourner. The unusual circumstance +attracted his attention, and he learnt, on inquiry, that the deceased was +a poor person who had died of cholera, and that the relatives had not +ventured on what was then considered the very dangerous office of +attending the body to the grave. ‘Then,’ said Francis, ‘we will supply +their place, for none of my poor people should go to the grave without +that last mark of respect;’ and he followed the body to the distant place +of interment, and, bare-headed, stood to see every rite and observance +respectfully performed.” + +Fine though this illustration may be of the qualities of the gentleman, +we can match it by another equally good, of two English navvies in Paris, +as related in a morning paper a few years ago. “One day a hearse was +observed ascending the steep Rue de Clichy on its way to Montmartre, +bearing a coffin of poplar wood with its cold corpse. Not a soul +followed—not even the living dog of the dead man, if he had one. The day +was rainy and dismal; passers by lifted the hat as is usual when a +funeral passes, and that was all. At length it passed two English +navvies, who found themselves in Paris on their way from Spain. A right +feeling spoke from beneath their serge jackets. ‘Poor wretch!’ said the +one to the other, ‘no one follows him; let us two follow!’ And the two +took off their hats, and walked bare-headed after the corpse of a +stranger to the cemetery of Montmartre.” + +Above all, the gentleman is truthful. He feels that truth is the “summit +of being,” and the soul of rectitude in human affairs. Lord Chesterfield +declared that Truth made the success of a gentleman. The Duke of +Wellington, writing to Kellerman, on the subject of prisoners on parole, +when opposed to that general in the peninsula, told him that if there was +one thing on which an English officer prided himself more than another, +excepting his courage, it was his truthfulness. “When English officers,” +said he, “have given their parole of honour not to escape, be sure they +will not break it. Believe me—trust to their word; the word of an +English officer is a surer guarantee than the vigilance of sentinels.” + +True courage and gentleness go hand in hand. The brave man is generous +and forbearant, never unforgiving and cruel. It was finely said of Sir +John Franklin by his friend Parry, that “he was a man who never turned +his back upon a danger, yet of that tenderness that he would not brush +away a mosquito.” A fine trait of character—truly gentle, and worthy of +the spirit of Bayard—was displayed by a French officer in the cavalry +combat of El Bodon in Spain. He had raised his sword to strike Sir +Felton Harvey, but perceiving his antagonist had only one arm, he +instantly stopped, brought down his sword before Sir Felton in the usual +salute, and rode past. To this may be added a noble and gentle deed of +Ney during the same Peninsular War. Charles Napier was taken prisoner at +Corunna, desperately wounded; and his friends at home did not know +whether he was alive or dead. A special messenger was sent out from +England with a frigate to ascertain his fate. Baron Clouet received the +flag, and informed Ney of the arrival. “Let the prisoner see his +friends,” said Ney, “and tell them he is well, and well treated.” Clouet +lingered, and Ney asked, smiling, “what more he wanted”? “He has an old +mother, a widow, and blind.” “Has he? then let him go himself and tell +her he is alive.” As the exchange of prisoners between the countries was +not then allowed, Ney knew that he risked the displeasure of the Emperor +by setting the young officer at liberty; but Napoleon approved the +generous act. + +Notwithstanding the wail which we occasionally hear for the chivalry that +is gone, our own age has witnessed deeds of bravery and gentleness—of +heroic self-denial and manly tenderness—which are unsurpassed in history. +The events of the last few years have shown that our countrymen are as +yet an undegenerate race. On the bleak plateau of Sebastopol, in the +dripping perilous trenches of that twelvemonth’s leaguer, men of all +classes proved themselves worthy of the noble inheritance of character +which their forefathers have bequeathed to them. But it was in the hour +of the great trial in India that the qualities of our countrymen shone +forth the brightest. The march of Neill on Cawnpore, of Havelock on +Lucknow—officers and men alike urged on by the hope of rescuing the women +and the children—are events which the whole history of chivalry cannot +equal. Outram’s conduct to Havelock, in resigning to him, though his +inferior officer, the honour of leading the attack on Lucknow, was a +trait worthy of Sydney, and alone justifies the title which has been +awarded to him of, “the Bayard of India.” The death of Henry +Lawrence—that brave and gentle spirit—his last words before dying, “Let +there be no fuss about me; let me be buried _with the men_,”—the anxious +solicitude of Sir Colin Campbell to rescue the beleaguered of Lucknow, +and to conduct his long train of women and children by night from thence +to Cawnpore, which he reached amidst the all but overpowering assault of +the enemy,—the care with which he led them across the perilous bridge, +never ceasing his charge over them until he had seen the precious convoy +safe on the road to Allahabad, and then burst upon the Gwalior contingent +like a thunder-clap;—such things make us feel proud of our countrymen and +inspire the conviction that the best and purest glow of chivalry is not +dead, but vigorously lives among us yet. + +Even the common soldiers proved themselves gentlemen under their trials. +At Agra, where so many poor fellows had been scorched and wounded in +their encounter with the enemy, they were brought into the fort, and +tenderly nursed by the ladies; and the rough, gallant fellows proved +gentle as any children. During the weeks that the ladies watched over +their charge, never a word was said by any soldier that could shock the +ear of the gentlest. And when all was over—when the mortally-wounded had +died, and the sick and maimed who survived were able to demonstrate their +gratitude—they invited their nurses and the chief people of Agra to an +entertainment in the beautiful gardens of the Taj, where, amidst flowers +and music, the rough veterans, all scarred and mutilated as they were, +stood up to thank their gentle countrywomen who had clothed and fed them, +and ministered to their wants during their time of sore distress. In the +hospitals at Scutari, too, many wounded and sick blessed the kind English +ladies who nursed them; and nothing can be finer than the thought of the +poor sufferers, unable to rest through pain, blessing the shadow of +Florence Nightingale as it fell upon their pillow in the night watches. + +The wreck of the _Birkenhead_ off the coast of Africa on the 27th of +February, 1852, affords another memorable illustration of the chivalrous +spirit of common men acting in this nineteenth century, of which any age +might be proud. The vessel was steaming along the African coast with 472 +men and 166 women and children on board. The men belonged to several +regiments then serving at the Cape, and consisted principally of recruits +who had been only a short time in the service. At two o’clock in the +morning, while all were asleep below, the ship struck with violence upon +a hidden rock which penetrated her bottom; and it was at once felt that +she must go down. The roll of the drums called the soldiers to arms on +the upper deck, and the men mustered as if on parade. The word was +passed to _save the women and children_; and the helpless creatures were +brought from below, mostly undressed, and handed silently into the boats. +When they had all left the ship’s side, the commander of the vessel +thoughtlessly called out, “All those that can swim, jump overboard and +make for the boats.” But Captain Wright, of the 91st Highlanders, said, +“No! if you do that, _the boats with the women must be swamped_;” and the +brave men stood motionless. There was no boat remaining, and no hope of +safety; but not a heart quailed; no one flinched from his duty in that +trying moment. “There was not a murmur nor a cry amongst them,” said +Captain Wright, a survivor, “until the vessel made her final plunge.” +Down went the ship, and down went the heroic band, firing a _feu de joie_ +as they sank beneath the waves. Glory and honour to the gentle and the +brave! The examples of such men never die, but, like their memories, are +immortal. + +There are many tests by which a gentleman may be known; but there is one +that never fails—How does he _exercise power_ over those subordinate to +him? How does he conduct himself towards women and children? How does +the officer treat his men, the employer his servants, the master his +pupils, and man in every station those who are weaker than himself? The +discretion, forbearance, and kindliness, with which power in such cases +is used, may indeed be regarded as the crucial test of gentlemanly +character. When La Motte was one day passing through a crowd, he +accidentally trod upon the foot of a young fellow, who forthwith struck +him on the face: “Ah, sire,” said La Motte, “you will surely be sorry for +what you have done, when you know that _I am blind_.” He who bullies +those who are not in a position to resist may be a snob, but cannot be a +gentleman. He who tyrannizes over the weak and helpless may be a coward, +but no true man. The tyrant, it has been said, is but a slave turned +inside out. Strength, and the consciousness of strength, in a +right-hearted man, imparts a nobleness to his character; but he will be +most careful how he uses it; for + + “It is excellent + To have a giant’s strength; but it is tyrannous + To use it like a giant.” + +Gentleness is indeed the best test of gentlemanliness. A consideration +for the feelings of others, for his inferiors and dependants as well as +his equals, and respect for their self-respect, will pervade the true +gentleman’s whole conduct. He will rather himself suffer a small injury, +than by an uncharitable construction of another’s behaviour, incur the +risk of committing a great wrong. He will be forbearant of the +weaknesses, the failings, and the errors, of those whose advantages in +life have not been equal to his own. He will be merciful even to his +beast. He will not boast of his wealth, or his strength, or his gifts. +He will not be puffed up by success, or unduly depressed by failure. He +will not obtrude his views on others, but speak his mind freely when +occasion calls for it. He will not confer favours with a patronizing +air. Sir Walter Scott once said of Lord Lothian, “He is a man from whom +one may receive a favour, and that’s saying a great deal in these days.” + +Lord Chatham has said that the gentleman is characterised by his +sacrifice of self and preference of others to himself in the little daily +occurrences of life. In illustration of this ruling spirit of +considerateness in a noble character, we may cite the anecdote of the +gallant Sir Ralph Abercromby, of whom it is related, that when mortally +wounded in the battle of Aboukir, he was carried in a litter on board the +‘Foudroyant;’ and, to ease his pain, a soldier’s blanket was placed under +his head, from which he experienced considerable relief. He asked what +it was. “It’s only a soldier’s blanket,” was the reply. “_Whose_ +blanket is it?” said he, half lifting himself up. “Only one of the +men’s.” “I wish to know the name of the man whose blanket this is.” “It +is Duncan Roy’s, of the 42nd, Sir Ralph.” “Then see that Duncan Roy gets +his blanket this very night.” {408} Even to ease his dying agony the +general would not deprive the private soldier of his blanket for one +night. The incident is as good in its way as that of the dying Sydney +handing his cup of water to the private soldier on the field of Zutphen. + +The quaint old Fuller sums up in a few words the character of the true +gentleman and man of action in describing that of the great admiral, Sir +Francis Drake: “Chaste in his life, just in his dealings, true of his +word; merciful to those that were under him, and hating nothing so much +as idlenesse; in matters especially of moment, he was never wont to rely +on other men’s care, how trusty or skilful soever they might seem to be, +but, always contemning danger, and refusing no toyl, he was wont himself +to be one (whoever was a second) at every turn, where courage, skill, or +industry, was to be employed.” + + + + +FOOTNOTES + + +{4} Napoleon III., ‘Life of Cæsar.’ + +{15} Soult received but little education in his youth, and learnt next +to no geography until he became foreign minister of France, when the +study of this branch of knowledge is said to have given him the greatest +pleasure.—‘Œuvres, &c., d’Alexis de Tocqueville. Par G. de Beaumont.’ +Paris, 1861. I. 52 + +{25} ‘Œuvres et Correspondance inédite d’Alexis de Tocqueville. Par +Gustave de Beaumont.’ I. 398. + +{26} “I have seen,” said he, “a hundred times in the course of my life, +a weak man exhibit genuine public virtue, because supported by a wife who +sustained hint in his course, not so much by advising him to such and +such acts, as by exercising a strengthening influence over the manner in +which duty or even ambition was to be regarded. Much oftener, however, +it must be confessed, have I seen private and domestic life gradually +transform a man to whom nature had given generosity, disinterestedness, +and even some capacity for greatness, into an ambitious, mean-spirited, +vulgar, and selfish creature who, in matters relating to his country, +ended by considering them only in so far as they rendered his own +particular condition more comfortable and easy.”—‘Œuvres de Tocqueville.’ +II. 349. + +{31} Since the original publication of this book, the author has in +another work, ‘The Lives of Boulton and Watt,’ endeavoured to portray in +greater detail the character and achievements of these two remarkable +men. + +{43a} The following entry, which occurs in the account of monies +disbursed by the burgesses of Sheffield in 1573 [?] is supposed by some +to refer to the inventor of the stocking frame:—“Item gyven to Willm-Lee, +a poore scholler in Sheafield, towards the settyng him to the Universitie +of Chambrydge, and buying him bookes and other furnyture [which money was +afterwards returned] xiii iiii [13s. 4d.].”—Hunter, ‘History of +Hallamshire,’ 141. + +{43b} ‘History of the Framework Knitters.’ + +{44} There are, however, other and different accounts. One is to the +effect that Lee set about studying the contrivance of the stocking-loom +for the purpose of lessening the labour of a young country-girl to whom +he was attached, whose occupation was knitting; another, that being +married and poor, his wife was under the necessity of contributing to +their joint support by knitting; and that Lee, while watching the motion +of his wife’s fingers, conceived the idea of imitating their movements by +a machine. The latter story seems to have been invented by Aaron Hill, +Esq., in his ‘Account of the Rise and Progress of the Beech Oil +manufacture,’ London, 1715; but his statement is altogether unreliable. +Thus he makes Lee to have been a Fellow of a college at Oxford, from +which he was expelled for marrying an innkeeper’s daughter; whilst Lee +neither studied at Oxford, nor married there, nor was a Fellow of any +college; and he concludes by alleging that the result of his invention +was to “make Lee and his family happy;” whereas the invention brought him +only a heritage of misery, and he died abroad destitute. + +{45} Blackner, ‘History of Nottingham.’ The author adds, “We have +information, handed down in direct succession from father to son, that it +was not till late in the seventeenth century that one man could manage +the working of a frame. The man who was considered the workman employed +a labourer, who stood behind the frame to work the slur and pressing +motions; but the application of traddles and of the feet eventually +rendered the labour unnecessary.” + +{74} Palissy’s own words are:—“Le bois m’ayant failli, je fus contraint +brusler les estapes (étaies) qui soustenoyent les tailles de mon jardin, +lesquelles estant bruslées, je fus constraint brusler les tables et +plancher de la maison, afin de faire fondre la seconde composition. +J’estois en une telle angoisse que je ne sçaurois dire: car j’estois tout +tari et deseché à cause du labeur et de la chaleur du fourneau; il y +avoit plus d’un mois que ma chemise n’avoit seiché sur moy, encores pour +me consoler on se moquoit de moy, et mesme ceux qui me devoient secourir +alloient crier par la ville que je faisois brusler le plancher: et par +tel moyen l’on me faisoit perdre mon credit et m’estimoit-on estre fol. +Les autres disoient que je cherchois à faire la fausse monnoye, qui +estoit un mal qui me faisoit seicher sur les pieds; et m’en allois par +les ruës tout baissé comme un homme honteux: . . . personne ne me +secouroit: Mais au contraire ils se mocquoyent de moy, en disant: Il luy +appartient bien de mourir de faim, par ce qu’il delaisse son mestier. +Toutes ces nouvelles venoyent a mes aureilles quand je passois par la +ruë.” ‘Œuvres Complètes de Palissy. Paris, 1844;’ De l’Art de Terre, p. +315. + +{77} “Toutes ces fautes m’ont causé un tel lasseur et tristesse +d’esprit, qu’auparavant que j’aye rendu mes émaux fusible à un mesme +degré de feu, j’ay cuidé entrer jusques à la porte du sepulchre: aussi en +me travaillant à tels affaires je me suis trouvé l’espace de plus se dix +ans si fort escoulé en ma personne, qu’il n’y avoit aucune forme ny +apparence de bosse aux bras ny aux jambes: ains estoyent mes dites jambes +toutes d’une venue: de sorte que les liens de quoy j’attachois mes bas de +chausses estoyent, soudain que je cheminois, sur les talons avec le +residu de mes chausses.”—‘Œuvres, 319–20. + +{78} At the sale of Mr. Bernal’s articles of vertu in London a few years +since, one of Palissy’s small dishes, 12 inches in diameter, with a +lizard in the centre, sold for 162_l._ + +{79} Within the last few months, Mr. Charles Read, a gentleman curious +in matters of Protestant antiquarianism in France, has discovered one of +the ovens in which Palissy baked his chefs-d’œuvre. Several moulds of +faces, plants, animals, &c., were dug up in a good state of preservation, +bearing his well-known stamp. It is situated under the gallery of the +Louvre, in the Place du Carrousel. + +{80a} D’Aubigné, ‘Histoire Universelle.’ The historian adds, “Voyez +l’impudence de ce bilistre! vous diriez qu’il auroit lu ce vers de +Sénèque: ‘On ne peut contraindre celui qui sait mourir: _Qui mori scit_, +cogi nescit.’” + +{80b} The subject of Palissy’s life and labours has been ably and +elaborately treated by Professor Morley in his well-known work. In the +above brief narrative we have for the most part followed Palissy’s own +account of his experiments as given in his ‘Art de Terre.’ + +{84} “Almighty God, the great Creator, +Has changed a goldmaker to a potter.” + +{85} The whole of the Chinese and Japanese porcelain was formerly known +as Indian porcelain—probably because it was first brought by the +Portuguese from India to Europe, after the discovery of the Cape of Good +Hope by Vasco da Gama. + +{89} ‘Wedgwood: an Address delivered at Burslem, Oct. 26th, 1863.’ By +the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, M.P. + +{115} It was characteristic of Mr. Hume, that, during his professional +voyages between England and India, he should diligently apply his spare +time to the study of navigation and seamanship; and many years after, it +proved of use to him in a remarkable manner. In 1825, when on his +passage from London to Leith by a sailing smack, the vessel had scarcely +cleared the mouth of the Thames when a sudden storm came on, she was +driven out of her course, and, in the darkness of the night, she struck +on the Goodwin Sands. The captain, losing his presence of mind, seemed +incapable of giving coherent orders, and it is probable that the vessel +would have become a total wreck, had not one of the passengers suddenly +taken the command and directed the working of the ship, himself taking +the helm while the danger lasted. The vessel was saved, and the stranger +was Mr. Hume. + +{149} ‘Saturday Review,’ July 3rd, 1858. + +{173} Mrs. Grote’s ‘Memoir of the Life of Ary Scheffer,’ p. 67. + +{201} While the sheets of this revised edition are passing through the +press, the announcement appears in the local papers of the death of Mr. +Jackson at the age of fifty. His last work, completed shortly before his +death, was a cantata, entitled ‘The Praise of Music.’ The above +particulars of his early life were communicated by himself to the author +several years since, while he was still carrying on his business of a +tallow-chandler at Masham. + +{216} Mansfield owed nothing to his noble relations, who were poor and +uninfluential. His success was the legitimate and logical result of the +means which he sedulously employed to secure it. When a boy he rode up +from Scotland to London on a pony—taking two months to make the journey. +After a course of school and college, he entered upon the profession of +the law, and he closed a career of patient and ceaseless labour as Lord +Chief Justice of England—the functions of which he is universally +admitted to have performed with unsurpassed ability, justice, and honour. + +{263} On ‘Thought and Action.’ + +{277} ‘Correspondance de Napoléon Ier.,’ publiée par ordre de l’Empereur +Napoléon III, Paris, 1864. + +{283} The recently published correspondence of Napoleon with his brother +Joseph, and the Memoirs of the Duke of Ragusa, abundantly confirm this +view. The Duke overthrew Napoleon’s generals by the superiority of his +routine. He used to say that, if he knew anything at all, he knew how to +feed an army. + +{313} His old gardener. Collingwood’s favourite amusement was +gardening. Shortly after the battle of Trafalgar a brother admiral +called upon him, and, after searching for his lordship all over the +garden, he at last discovered him, with old Scott, in the bottom of a +deep trench which they were busily employed in digging. + +{319} Article in the ‘Times.’ + +{321} ‘Self-Development: an Address to Students,’ by George Ross, M.D., +pp. 1–20, reprinted from the ‘Medical Circular.’ This address, to which +we acknowledge our obligations, contains many admirable thoughts on +self-culture, is thoroughly healthy in its tone, and well deserves +republication in an enlarged form. + +{329} ‘Saturday Review.’ + +{354} See the admirable and well-known book, ‘The Pursuit of Knowledge +under Difficulties.’ + +{356a} Late Professor of Moral Philosophy at St. Andrew’s. + +{356b} A writer in the ‘Edinburgh Review’ (July, 1859) observes that +“the Duke’s talents seem never to have developed themselves until some +active and practical field for their display was placed immediately +before him. He was long described by his Spartan mother, who thought him +a dunce, as only ‘food for powder.’ He gained no sort of distinction, +either at Eton or at the French Military College of Angers.” It is not +improbable that a competitive examination, at this day, might have +excluded him from the army. + +{357} Correspondent of ‘The Times,’ 11th June, 1863. + +{392} Robertson’s ‘Life and Letters,’ i. 258. + +{400} On the 11th January, 1866. + +{408} Brown’s ‘Horæ Subsecivæ.’ + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SELF-HELP *** + +***** This file should be named 935-0.txt or 935-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/9/3/935/ + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the +United States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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