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diff --git a/935-h/935-h.htm b/935-h/935-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..537a9d3 --- /dev/null +++ b/935-h/935-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,15979 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" +"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Self-Help, by Samuel Smiles</title> + +<style type="text/css"> + + P { margin-top: .75em; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + P.gutsumm { margin-left: 5%;} + P.poetry {margin-left: 3%; } + .GutSmall { font-size: 0.7em; } + H1, H2 { + text-align: center; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + } + H3, H4, H5 { + text-align: center; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } + BODY{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + table { border-collapse: collapse; } +table {margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;} + td { vertical-align: top; border: 1px solid black;} + td p { margin: 0.2em; } + .blkquot {margin-left: 4em; margin-right: 4em;} /* block indent */ + + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .pagenum {position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: small; + text-align: right; + font-weight: normal; + color: gray; + } + img { border: none; } + img.dc { float: left; width: 50px; height: 50px; } + p.gutindent { margin-left: 2em; } + div.gapspace { height: 0.8em; } + div.gapline { height: 0.8em; width: 100%; border-top: 1px solid;} + div.gapmediumline { height: 0.3em; width: 40%; margin-left:30%; + border-top: 1px solid; } + div.gapmediumdoubleline { height: 0.3em; width: 40%; margin-left:30%; + border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} + div.gapshortdoubleline { height: 0.3em; width: 20%; + margin-left: 40%; border-top: 1px solid; + border-bottom: 1px solid; } + div.gapdoubleline { height: 0.3em; width: 50%; + margin-left: 25%; border-top: 1px solid; + border-bottom: 1px solid;} + div.gapshortline { height: 0.3em; width: 20%; margin-left:40%; + border-top: 1px solid; } + .citation {vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: none;} + img.floatleft { float: left; + margin-right: 1em; + margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; } + img.floatright { float: right; + margin-left: 1em; margin-top: 0.5em; + margin-bottom: 0.5em; } + img.clearcenter {display: block; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0.5em; + margin-bottom: 0.5em} + + </style> +</head> +<body> + +<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold;'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Self-Help, by Samuel Smiles</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. 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. +</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Self-Help<br /> + with illustrations of Conduct and Perseverance</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Samuel Smiles</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Release Date: June 10, 1997 [eBook #935]<br /> +[Most recently updated: January 29, 2021]</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: David Price</div> +<div style='margin-top:2em;margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SELF-HELP ***</div> + +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/coverb.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Cover (somewhat battered)" +title= +"Cover (somewhat battered)" + src="images/covers.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<h1>SELF HELP<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">WITH ILLUSTRATIONS OF</span><br /> +CONDUCT AND PERSEVERANCE.</h1> + +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">By</span> +SAMUEL SMILES, LL.D.,<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">AUTHOR OF “LIVES OF THE +ENGINEERS,” ETC.</span></p> + +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<blockquote><p>“This above all,—To thine own self be +true;<br /> +And it must follow, as the night the day,<br /> +Then canst not then be false to any man.”</p> +<p style="text-align: right"><span +class="smcap">Shakespeare</span>.</p> + +<p>“Might I give counsel to any young man, I would say to +him, try<br /> +to frequent the company of your betters. In books and in +life,<br /> +that is the most wholesome society; learn to admire rightly; +the<br /> +great pleasure of life is that. Note what great men admired;<br +/> +they admired great things; narrow spirits admire basely and<br /> +worship meanly.”—W. M. <span +class="smcap">Thackeray</span>.</p> +</blockquote> + +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center"><b>POPULAR EDITION</b>.</p> + +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center"><span +class="GutSmall">LONDON:</span><br /> +JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">1897.</span></p> +<h2><a name="pagev"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +v</span>PREFACE.</h2> + +<p><span class="smcap">This</span> 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.</p> + +<p>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 <a +name="pagevi"></a><span class="pagenum">p. vi</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>As for Failure <i>per se</i>, 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 <i>not</i> 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 <a name="pagevii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +vii</span>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;—</p> +<blockquote><p>“’Tis not in mortals to command +success;<br /> +We will do more—deserve it.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <a +name="pageviii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. viii</span>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.</p> + +<p><i>London</i>, <i>May</i>, 1866.</p> +<h2><a name="pageix"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +ix</span>INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EDITION.</h2> + +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> origin of this book may be +briefly told.</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Winter, with its cold nights, was drawing near, and what were +they to do for shelter? Their numbers had by <a +name="pagex"></a><span class="pagenum">p. x</span>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.</p> + +<p>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 <a name="pagexi"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. xi</span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><a name="pagexii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. xii</span>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.</p> + +<p><i>London</i>, <i>September</i>, 1859.</p> +<h2><a name="pagexiii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xiii</span>CONTENTS.</h2> +<table> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER I.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">Self-Help</span>—<span class="smcap">National +and Individual</span>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Spirit of Self-Help—Institutions and +men—Government a reflex of the individualism of a +nation—Cæsarism and 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</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">Page<br /> +<span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page1">1</a></span>–26</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER II.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">Leaders of +Industry</span>—<span class="smcap">Inventors and +Producers</span>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Industry of the English people—Work the best +educator—Hugh Miller—Poverty and toil not +insurmountable obstacles—Working men as +inventors—Invention of the steam-engine—<a +name="pagexiv"></a><span class="pagenum">p. xiv</span>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</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page27">27</a></span>–66</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER III.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">Three great +Potters</span>—<span class="smcap">Pallissy, Böttgher, +Wedgwood</span>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Ancient pottery—Etruscan ware—Luca della +Robbia, the 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 <a name="pagexv"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xv</span>industry, skill, and perseverance—His +success—The Barberini vase—Wedgwood a national +benefactor—Industrial heroes</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page67">67</a></span>–93</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER IV.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">Application and +Perseverance</span>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Great results attained by simple means—Fortune +favours 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</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page94">94</a></span>–117</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER V.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">Helps and +Opportunities</span>—<span class="smcap">Scientific +Pursuits</span>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>No great result achieved by accident—Newton’s +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—<a name="pagexvi"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. xvi</span>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</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page118">118</a></span>–153</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER VI.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">Workers in +Art</span>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Sir Joshua Reynolds on the power of industry in +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</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page154">154</a></span>–201</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER VII.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">Industry and +the Peerage</span>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>The peerage fed from the industrial ranks—Fall of +old 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 <a name="pagexvii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xvii</span>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</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page202">202</a></span>–222</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER VIII.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">Energy and +Courage</span>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Energy characteristic of the Teutonic race—The +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</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page223">223</a></span>–262</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER IX.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">Men of +Business</span>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Hazlitt’s definition of the man of +business—The chief 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 <a +name="pagexviii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. xviii</span>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</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page263">263</a></span>–289</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER X.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">Money</span>—<span class="smcap">Its Use and +Abuse</span>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>The right use of money a test of wisdom—The virtue +of 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</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page290">290</a></span>–313</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XI.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">Self-culture</span>—<span +class="smcap">Facilities and Difficulties</span>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Sir W. Scott and Sir B. Brodie on self-culture—Dr. +Arnold’s spirit—Active employment +salutary—Malthus’s advice to <a +name="pagexix"></a><span class="pagenum">p. xix</span>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</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page314">314</a></span>–359</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XII.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">Example</span>—<span +class="smcap">Models</span>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Example a potent instructor—Influence of +conduct—Parental example—All acts have their train of +consequences—<a name="pagexx"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xx</span>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</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page360">360</a></span>–381</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XIII.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">Character</span>—<span class="smcap">The True +Gentleman</span>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Character a man’s best possession—Character of +Francis 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 +<i>Birkenhead</i>—Use of power, the test of the +Gentleman—Sir Ralph Abercrombie—Fuller’s +character of Sir Francis Drake</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page382">382</a></span>–408</p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<h2><a name="page1"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 1</span>CHAPTER +I.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Self-Help—National and +Individual</span>.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“The worth of a State, in the long run, is +the worth of the individuals composing it.”—<i>J. S. +Mill</i>.</p> + +<p>“We put too much faith in systems, and look too little +to men.”—<i>B. Disraeli</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>“<span class="smcap">Heaven</span> 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 <i>for</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>is</i> despotism, by whatever +name it be called.”</p> + +<p>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.” <a name="citation4"></a><a +href="#footnote4" class="citation">[4]</a> This doctrine +shortly means, everything <i>for</i> the people, nothing +<i>by</i> 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.]</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <a name="citation15"></a><a +href="#footnote15" class="citation">[15]</a> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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<i>l.</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.” <a +name="citation25"></a><a href="#footnote25" +class="citation">[25]</a></p> + +<p>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. <a name="citation26"></a><a +href="#footnote26" class="citation">[26]</a></p> + +<p>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.</p> +<h2><a name="page27"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +27</span>CHAPTER II.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Leaders of Industry—Inventors and +Producers</span>.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“Le travail et la Science sont +désormais les maîtres du monde.”—<i>De +Salvandy</i>.</p> + +<p>“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.”—<i>Arthur +Helps</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">One</span> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<i>habit of attention</i>, than upon any great disparity between +the powers of one individual and another.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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. <a name="citation31"></a><a href="#footnote31" +class="citation">[31]</a></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>But Robert Peel’s attention was principally directed to +the <i>printing</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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<i>l.</i>, 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<i>s.</i> 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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<i>resist work</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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, <a name="citation43a"></a><a +href="#footnote43a" class="citation">[43a]</a> 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.</p> + +<p>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 <a +name="citation43b"></a><a href="#footnote43b" +class="citation">[43b]</a> 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. <a name="citation44"></a><a href="#footnote44" +class="citation">[44]</a></p> + +<p>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. +<a name="citation45"></a><a href="#footnote45" +class="citation">[45]</a> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>looped</i> 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 +<i>twisted</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>both</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<i>l.</i> to +10<i>l.</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<i>l.</i> 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<i>l.</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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<i>l.</i> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>play</i>; 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>at +both ends</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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<i>l.</i> and 400<i>l.</i> sterling.</p> + +<p>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<i>l.</i>; the +wool-spinners paid the same sum for the privilege of applying the +process to wool; and the Messrs. Marshall, of Leeds, +20,000<i>l.</i> 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.</p> + +<p>It is at the price of lives such as these that the wonders of +civilisation are achieved.</p> +<h2><a name="page67"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +67</span>CHAPTER III.<br /> +<span class="smcap">The Great Potters—Palissy, +Böttgher, Wedgwood</span>.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“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.”—<i>John Ruskin</i>.</p> + +<p>“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.”—<i>Bernard Palissy</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">It</span> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>one</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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! <a name="citation74"></a><a href="#footnote74" +class="citation">[74]</a></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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. <a name="citation77"></a><a href="#footnote77" +class="citation">[77]</a> 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.</p> + +<p>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. <a +name="citation78"></a><a href="#footnote78" +class="citation">[78]</a> 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.”</p> + +<p>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 <a name="citation79"></a><a +href="#footnote79" class="citation">[79]</a> while so +occupied.</p> + +<p>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>I am constrained</i>! 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.” <a name="citation80a"></a><a href="#footnote80a" +class="citation">[80a]</a> 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. <a name="citation80b"></a><a href="#footnote80b" +class="citation">[80b]</a></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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! (“<i>Thu mir +zurecht</i>, <i>Böttgher</i>, <i>sonst lass ich dich +hangen</i>”).</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>kaolin</i>, the +want of which had so long formed an insuperable difficulty in the +way of his inquiries.</p> + +<p>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 <i>turn</i> porcelain with great +success. He now entirely abandoned alchemy for pottery, and +inscribed over the door of his workshop this distich:—</p> +<blockquote><p>“<i>Es machte Gott</i>, <i>der grosse +Schöpfer</i>,<br /> +<i>Aus einem Goldmacher einen Töpfer</i>.” <a +name="citation84"></a><a href="#footnote84" +class="citation">[84]</a></p> +</blockquote> +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +(<i>unterirdischen Schätze</i>)” of the country, and +having employed some able persons in the investigation, they had +succeeded in manufacturing “a sort of red vessels (<i>eine +Art rother Gefässe</i>) far superior to the Indian terra +sigillata;” <a name="citation85"></a><a href="#footnote85" +class="citation">[85]</a> as also “coloured ware and plates +(<i>buntes Geschirr und Tafeln</i>) which may be cut, ground, and +polished, and are quite equal to Indian vessels,” and +finally that “specimens of white porcelain (<i>Proben von +weissem Porzellan</i>)” 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.</p> + +<p>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!”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>at +night</i>—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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.” <a +name="citation89"></a><a href="#footnote89" +class="citation">[89]</a></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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<i>l.</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> +<h2><a name="page94"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +94</span>CHAPTER IV.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Application and Perseverance</span>.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“Rich are the diligent, who can command<br +/> +Time, nature’s stock! and could his hour-glass fall,<br /> +Would, as for seed of stars, stoop for the sand,<br /> +And, by incessant labour, gather +all.”—<i>D’Avenant</i>.</p> + +<p>“Allez en avant, et la foi vous +viendra!”—<i>D’Alembert</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> 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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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, +<i>fait l’ours danser</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>how to wait</i> 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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<i>d.</i> 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<i>s.</i>; out of +which he would occasionally purchase an odd volume, otherwise +beyond his means.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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, <a name="citation115"></a><a href="#footnote115" +class="citation">[115]</a> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> +<h2><a name="page118"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +118</span>CHAPTER V.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Helps and Opportunities—Scientific +Pursuits</span>.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“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.”—<i>Bacon</i>.</p> + +<p>“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.”—<i>From the Latin</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">Accident</span> 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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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?</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>savant</i> 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!”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>rationale</i> 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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>try</i>; 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.</p> + +<p>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<i>l.</i> 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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>shark’s teeth</i>;” 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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.” <a +name="citation149"></a><a href="#footnote149" +class="citation">[149]</a> 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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> +<h2><a name="page154"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +154</span>CHAPTER VI.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Workers in Art</span>.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“If what shone afar so grand,<br /> +Turn to nothing in thy hand,<br /> +On again; the virtue lies<br /> +In struggle, not the prize.”—<i>R. M. Milnes</i>.</p> + +<p>“Excelle, et tu vivras.”—<i>Joubert</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">Excellence</span> in art, as in everything +else, can only be achieved by dint of painstaking labour.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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, <i>Ancora imparo</i>! Still I am +learning.</p> + +<p>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—<i>dopo sette anni lavorandovi quasi +continuamente</i>.” 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>outré</i> 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.”</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.’</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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, <i>Chi sta +bene non si muove</i>; 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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.” +<a name="citation173"></a><a href="#footnote173" +class="citation">[173]</a></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>great</i> 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>I</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. “<i>Work and +economise</i>,” 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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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!”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<i>l.</i>—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.</p> + +<p>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<i>l.</i> 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<i>l.</i> 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<i>l.</i></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>doing</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>bright</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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. <a name="citation201"></a><a +href="#footnote201" class="citation">[201]</a></p> + +<p>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.</p> +<h2><a name="page202"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +202</span>CHAPTER VII.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Industry and the Peerage</span>.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“He either fears his fate too much,<br /> +Or his deserts are small,<br /> +That dares not put it to the touch,<br /> +To gain or lose it all.”—<i>Marquis of +Montrose</i>.</p> + +<p>“He hath put down the mighty from their seats; and +exalted them of low degree.”—<i>St. Luke</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">We</span> 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.</p> + +<p>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, “<span +class="smcap">Adam</span> <i>de Stanhope</i>—<span +class="smcap">Eve</span> <i>de Stanhope</i>.” 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<i>l.</i> 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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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. <a +name="citation216"></a><a href="#footnote216" +class="citation">[216]</a> 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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<i>l.</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> +<h2><a name="page223"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +223</span>CHAPTER VIII.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Energy and Courage</span>.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“A cœur vaillant rien +d’impossible.”—<i>Jacques Cœur</i>.</p> + +<p>“Den Muthigen gehört die +Welt.”—<i>German Proverb</i>.</p> + +<p>“In every work that he began . . . he did it with all +his heart, and prospered.”—<i>II. Chron.</i> xxxi. +21.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">There</span> 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 <i>do nor strike +hard upon the anvil</i>; 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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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 <i>shall</i> do it! he <i>shall</i> 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.”</p> + +<p>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 <i>will</i> 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.</p> + +<p>Mr. Walker, author of the ‘Original,’ had so great +a faith in the power of will, that he says on one occasion he +<i>determined</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>that moment</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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 +<i>had</i> 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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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 +<i>faith</i>, and begot a <i>school</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<i>l.</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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—</p> +<blockquote><p>“Leaving no memorial but a world<br /> +Made better by their lives.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>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—“<i>Never +Despair</i>.” 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>last</i> port, and found +the young man, his prize, in the very <i>last</i> ship that +remained to be visited. The young man proved to be one of +his most valuable and effective witnesses.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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 <i>there is not a slave in the British +colonies</i>!”</p> + +<p>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 <i>energy</i>—<i>invincible +determination</i>—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.”</p> +<h2><a name="page263"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +263</span>CHAPTER IX.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Men of Business</span>.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“Seest thou a man diligent in his business? +he shall stand before kings.”—<i>Proverbs of +Solomon</i>.</p> + +<p>“That man is but of the lower part of the world that is +not brought up to business and affairs.”—<i>Owen +Feltham</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">Hazlitt</span>, 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.” <a name="citation263"></a><a href="#footnote263" +class="citation">[263]</a> 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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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., <span +class="smcap">Melbourne</span>.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<i>Impransus</i>, 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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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 <i>define a fact</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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 <i>you</i> 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 <i>Go</i>, I got up and said +<i>Come</i>; you laid in bed and enjoyed your estate, I rose in +the morning and minded my business.”</p> + +<p>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 <i>dawdling</i>. +Your motto must be, <i>Hoc age</i>. 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.”</p> + +<p>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!”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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, <a name="citation277"></a><a href="#footnote277" +class="citation">[277]</a> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<i>ifs</i> and the <i>buts</i>,” 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>morale</i> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>morale</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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. <a +name="citation283"></a><a href="#footnote283" +class="citation">[283]</a> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 “<i>put his conscience into every stone that he +laid</i>.” 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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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</p> +<blockquote><p>“Who comprehends his trust, and to the +same<br /> +Keeps faithful with a singleness of aim;<br /> +And therefore does not stoop, nor lie in wait<br /> +For wealth, or honour, or for worldly state;<br /> +Whom they must follow, on whose head must fall,<br /> +Like showers of manna, if they come at all.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>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<i>l.</i>, 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.</p> +<h2><a name="page290"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +290</span>CHAPTER X.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Money—Its Use and Abuse</span>.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“Not for to hide it in a hedge,<br /> + Nor for a train attendant,<br /> +But for the glorious privilege<br /> + Of being independent.”—<i>Burns</i>.</p> + +<p>“Neither a borrower nor a lender be:<br /> +For loan oft loses both itself and friend;<br /> +And borrowing dulls the edge of +husbandry.”—<i>Shakepeare</i>.</p> + +<p>Never treat money affairs with levity—Money is +character.—<i>Sir E. L. Bulwer Lytton</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">How</span> 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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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—</p> +<blockquote><p>“If every one would see<br /> +To his own reformation,<br /> +How very easily<br /> +You might reform a nation.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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, <i>is</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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</p> +<blockquote><p>“Real glory<br /> +Springs from the silent conquest of ourselves,<br /> +And without that the conqueror is nought<br /> +But the first slave.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<i>l.</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>have</i>,” said Fuller, “but +those who <i>have not</i> 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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<i>love</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> +<blockquote><p>“His only labour is to kill the time,<br /> +And labour dire it is, and weary woe.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>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 <i>not</i> +“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.</p> + +<p>“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 <a +name="citation313"></a><a href="#footnote313" +class="citation">[313]</a> 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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> +<h2><a name="page314"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +314</span>CHAPTER XI.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Self-Culture—Facilities and +Difficulties</span>.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“Every person has two educations, one which +he receives from others, and one, more important, which he gives +to himself.”—<i>Gibbon</i>.</p> + +<p>“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.”—<i>John Hunter</i>.</p> + +<p>“The wise and active conquer difficulties,<br /> +By daring to attempt them: sloth and folly<br /> +Shiver and shrink at sight of toil and danger,<br /> +And <i>make</i> the impossibility they +fear.”—<i>Rowe</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>“<span class="smcap">The</span> 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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>training</i> 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? <i>indeed</i>, 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.”</p> + +<p>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 <i>ennui</i>, 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!”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>necessary</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.” <a +name="citation319"></a><a href="#footnote319" +class="citation">[319]</a> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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, <i>intent</i> +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.” <a name="citation321"></a><a +href="#footnote321" class="citation">[321]</a></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>It is also to be borne in mind that the experience gathered +from books, though often valuable, is but of the nature of +<i>learning</i>; whereas the experience gained from actual life +is of the nature of <i>wisdom</i>; 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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.” <a +name="citation329"></a><a href="#footnote329" +class="citation">[329]</a> We must ourselves <i>be</i> and +<i>do</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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 <i>habit</i> 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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>One of the most gifted of Frenchmen, in point of great +intellectual endowments, was Benjamin Constant; but, +<i>blasé</i> 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 +<i>ennui</i>.” 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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>the +disease</i> 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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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 +<i>not</i> 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.”</p> + +<p>We learn wisdom from failure much more than from +success. We often discover what <i>will</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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!”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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,</p> +<blockquote><p>“Though losses and crosses<br /> +Be lessons right severe,<br /> +There’s wit there, you’ll get there,<br /> +You’ll find no other where.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>“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 <i>are</i> +duties.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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. “<i>If</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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 <i>your</i> 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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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?”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.” <a +name="citation354"></a><a href="#footnote354" +class="citation">[354]</a></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <a +name="citation356a"></a><a href="#footnote356a" +class="citation">[356a]</a> 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.</p> + +<p>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. <a name="citation356b"></a><a +href="#footnote356b" class="citation">[356b]</a> Of the +former the Duchess d’Abrantes says, “he had good +health, but was in other respects like other boys.”</p> + +<p>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.” <a name="citation357"></a><a href="#footnote357" +class="citation">[357]</a></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> +<h2><a name="page360"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +360</span>CHAPTER XII.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Example—Models</span>.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“Ever their phantoms rise before us,<br /> + Our loftier brothers, but one in blood;<br /> +By bed and table they lord it o’er us,<br /> + With looks of beauty and words of +good.”—<i>John Sterling</i>.</p> + +<p>“Children may be strangled, but Deeds never; they have +an indestructible life, both in and out of our +consciousness.”—<i>George Eliot</i>.</p> + +<p>“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.”—<i>Thomas of Malmesbury</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">Example</span> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>for ever</i> 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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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 <i>done</i>, we must go to work and <i>do</i>: +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.</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<p>“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.’”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>ennobled</i> and <i>lifted up</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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,</p> +<blockquote><p>“Like plants or vines which never saw the +sun,<br /> +But dream of him and guess where he may be,<br /> +And do their best to climb and get to him.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>inflammatory</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<i>that</i>.”</p> + +<p>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 +<i>ultima Thule</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<i>l.</i>, 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.</p> +<h2><a name="page382"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +382</span>CHAPTER XIII.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Character—The True +Gentleman</span>.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“For who can always act? but he,<br /> + To whom a thousand memories call,<br /> +Not being less but more than all<br /> + The gentleness he seemed to be,</p> + +<p>But seemed the thing he was, and joined<br /> + Each office of the social hour<br /> +To noble manners, as the flower<br /> + And native growth of noble mind;</p> + +<p>And thus he bore without abuse<br /> + The grand old name of +Gentleman.”—<i>Tennyson</i>.</p> + +<p>“Es bildet ein Talent sich in der Stille,<br /> +Sich ein Charakter in dem Strom der +Welt.”—<i>Goethe</i>.</p> + +<p>“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.”—<i>The Times</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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,</p> +<blockquote><p>“Pitch thy behaviour low, thy projects +high,<br /> +So shall thou humble and magnanimous be.<br /> +Sink not in spirit; who aimeth at the sky<br /> +Shoots higher much than he that means a tree.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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—<i>Always +endeavour to be really what you would wish to appear</i>. +This maxim, as my father informed me, was carefully and humbly +practised by <i>his</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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; +<i>ce n’est que le premier pas qui coûte</i>. +“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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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!” <a name="citation392"></a><a +href="#footnote392" class="citation">[392]</a></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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!”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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 <i>the man</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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 <i>politesse de cœur</i>—the inbred +politeness of the true gentleman.</p> + +<p>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 <i>yes</i>, it is a law: and he +dares to say the valiant <i>no</i> 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<i>l.</i> 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. “<i>Then so am I</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.</p> + +<p>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<i>l.</i> 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>I think of +nothing but our army</i>. I should be much distressed to +curtail the share of those brave soldiers.” And the +Marquis’s resolution to refuse the present remained +unalterable.</p> + +<p>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<i>l.</i> 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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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. <a name="citation400"></a><a href="#footnote400" +class="citation">[400]</a> 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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>with the +men</i>,”—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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The wreck of the <i>Birkenhead</i> 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 <i>save the women and +children</i>; 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, +<i>the boats with the women must be swamped</i>;” 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 <i>feu de joie</i> 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.</p> + +<p>There are many tests by which a gentleman may be known; but +there is one that never fails—How does he <i>exercise +power</i> 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>I am +blind</i>.” 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</p> +<blockquote><p>“It is excellent<br /> +To have a giant’s strength; but it is tyrannous<br /> +To use it like a giant.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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. “<i>Whose</i> 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.” <a name="citation408"></a><a href="#footnote408" +class="citation">[408]</a> 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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> +<h2>FOOTNOTES</h2> + +<p><a name="footnote4"></a><a href="#citation4" +class="footnote">[4]</a> Napoleon III., ‘Life of +Cæsar.’</p> + +<p><a name="footnote15"></a><a href="#citation15" +class="footnote">[15]</a> 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</p> + +<p><a name="footnote25"></a><a href="#citation25" +class="footnote">[25]</a> ‘Œuvres et +Correspondance inédite d’Alexis de +Tocqueville. Par Gustave de Beaumont.’ I. +398.</p> + +<p><a name="footnote26"></a><a href="#citation26" +class="footnote">[26]</a> “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.</p> + +<p><a name="footnote31"></a><a href="#citation31" +class="footnote">[31]</a> 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.</p> + +<p><a name="footnote43a"></a><a href="#citation43a" +class="footnote">[43a]</a> 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.</p> + +<p><a name="footnote43b"></a><a href="#citation43b" +class="footnote">[43b]</a> ‘History of the Framework +Knitters.’</p> + +<p><a name="footnote44"></a><a href="#citation44" +class="footnote">[44]</a> 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.</p> + +<p><a name="footnote45"></a><a href="#citation45" +class="footnote">[45]</a> 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.”</p> + +<p><a name="footnote74"></a><a href="#citation74" +class="footnote">[74]</a> 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.</p> + +<p><a name="footnote77"></a><a href="#citation77" +class="footnote">[77]</a> “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.</p> + +<p><a name="footnote78"></a><a href="#citation78" +class="footnote">[78]</a> 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<i>l.</i></p> + +<p><a name="footnote79"></a><a href="#citation79" +class="footnote">[79]</a> 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.</p> + +<p><a name="footnote80a"></a><a href="#citation80a" +class="footnote">[80a]</a> 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: <i>Qui mori scit</i>, +cogi nescit.’”</p> + +<p><a name="footnote80b"></a><a href="#citation80b" +class="footnote">[80b]</a> 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.’</p> + +<p><a name="footnote84"></a><a href="#citation84" +class="footnote">[84]</a> “Almighty God, the great +Creator,<br /> +Has changed a goldmaker to a potter.”</p> + +<p><a name="footnote85"></a><a href="#citation85" +class="footnote">[85]</a> 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.</p> + +<p><a name="footnote89"></a><a href="#citation89" +class="footnote">[89]</a> ‘Wedgwood: an Address +delivered at Burslem, Oct. 26th, 1863.’ By the Right +Hon. W. E. Gladstone, M.P.</p> + +<p><a name="footnote115"></a><a href="#citation115" +class="footnote">[115]</a> 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.</p> + +<p><a name="footnote149"></a><a href="#citation149" +class="footnote">[149]</a> ‘Saturday Review,’ +July 3rd, 1858.</p> + +<p><a name="footnote173"></a><a href="#citation173" +class="footnote">[173]</a> Mrs. Grote’s ‘Memoir +of the Life of Ary Scheffer,’ p. 67.</p> + +<p><a name="footnote201"></a><a href="#citation201" +class="footnote">[201]</a> 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.</p> + +<p><a name="footnote216"></a><a href="#citation216" +class="footnote">[216]</a> 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.</p> + +<p><a name="footnote263"></a><a href="#citation263" +class="footnote">[263]</a> On ‘Thought and +Action.’</p> + +<p><a name="footnote277"></a><a href="#citation277" +class="footnote">[277]</a> ‘Correspondance de +Napoléon Ier.,’ publiée par ordre de +l’Empereur Napoléon III, Paris, 1864.</p> + +<p><a name="footnote283"></a><a href="#citation283" +class="footnote">[283]</a> 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.</p> + +<p><a name="footnote313"></a><a href="#citation313" +class="footnote">[313]</a> 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.</p> + +<p><a name="footnote319"></a><a href="#citation319" +class="footnote">[319]</a> Article in the +‘Times.’</p> + +<p><a name="footnote321"></a><a href="#citation321" +class="footnote">[321]</a> ‘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.</p> + +<p><a name="footnote329"></a><a href="#citation329" +class="footnote">[329]</a> ‘Saturday +Review.’</p> + +<p><a name="footnote354"></a><a href="#citation354" +class="footnote">[354]</a> See the admirable and well-known +book, ‘The Pursuit of Knowledge under +Difficulties.’</p> + +<p><a name="footnote356a"></a><a href="#citation356a" +class="footnote">[356a]</a> Late Professor of Moral +Philosophy at St. Andrew’s.</p> + +<p><a name="footnote356b"></a><a href="#citation356b" +class="footnote">[356b]</a> 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.</p> + +<p><a name="footnote357"></a><a href="#citation357" +class="footnote">[357]</a> Correspondent of ‘The +Times,’ 11th June, 1863.</p> + +<p><a name="footnote392"></a><a href="#citation392" +class="footnote">[392]</a> Robertson’s ‘Life +and Letters,’ i. 258.</p> + +<p><a name="footnote400"></a><a href="#citation400" +class="footnote">[400]</a> On the 11th January, 1866.</p> + +<p><a name="footnote408"></a><a href="#citation408" +class="footnote">[408]</a> Brown’s ‘Horæ +Subsecivæ.’</p> + +<div style='display:block;margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SELF-HELP ***</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0;'>This file should be named 935-h.htm or 935-h.zip</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0;'>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in https://www.gutenberg.org/9/3/935/</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will +be renamed. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +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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