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diff --git a/old/selfh10.txt b/old/selfh10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6b83a51 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/selfh10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13725 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Self Help, by Samuel Smiles + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Self Help + +Author: Samuel Smiles + +Release Date: June, 1997 [EBook #935] +[This file was first posted on June 10, 1997] +[Most recently updated: May 20, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, SELF HELP *** + + + + +Transcribed by David Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk + + + + +SELF HELP; WITH ILLUSTRATIONS OF CONDUCT AND PERSEVERANCE + + + + +CHAPTER I--SELF-HELP--NATIONAL AND INDIVIDUAL + + + +"The worth of a State, in the long run, is the worth of the +individuals composing it."--J. S. Mill. + +"We put too much faith in systems, and look too little to men."--B. +Disraeli. + + +"Heaven helps those who help themselves" is a well-tried maxim, +embodying in a small compass the results of vast human experience. +The spirit of self-help is the root of all genuine growth in the +individual; and, exhibited in the lives of many, it constitutes the +true source of national vigour and strength. Help from without is +often enfeebling in its effects, but help from within invariably +invigorates. Whatever is done FOR men or classes, to a certain +extent takes away the stimulus and necessity of doing for +themselves; and where men are subjected to over-guidance and over- +government, the inevitable tendency is to render them comparatively +helpless. + +Even the best institutions can give a man no active help. Perhaps +the most they can do is, to leave him free to develop himself and +improve his individual condition. But in all times men have been +prone to believe that their happiness and well-being were to be +secured by means of institutions rather than by their own conduct. +Hence the value of legislation as an agent in human advancement has +usually been much over-estimated. To constitute the millionth part +of a Legislature, by voting for one or two men once in three or +five years, however conscientiously this duty may be performed, can +exercise but little active influence upon any man's life and +character. Moreover, it is every day becoming more clearly +understood, that the function of Government is negative and +restrictive, rather than positive and active; being resolvable +principally into protection--protection of life, liberty, and +property. Laws, wisely administered, will secure men in the +enjoyment of the fruits of their labour, whether of mind or body, +at a comparatively small personal sacrifice; but no laws, however +stringent, can make the idle industrious, the thriftless provident, +or the drunken sober. Such reforms can only be effected by means +of individual action, economy, and self-denial; by better habits, +rather than by greater rights. + +The Government of a nation itself is usually found to be but the +reflex of the individuals composing it. The Government that is +ahead of the people will inevitably be dragged down to their level, +as the Government that is behind them will in the long run be +dragged up. In the order of nature, the collective character of a +nation will as surely find its befitting results in its law and +government, as water finds its own level. The noble people will be +nobly ruled, and the ignorant and corrupt ignobly. Indeed all +experience serves to prove that the worth and strength of a State +depend far less upon the form of its institutions than upon the +character of its men. For the nation is only an aggregate of +individual conditions, and civilization itself is but a question of +the personal improvement of the men, women, and children of whom +society is composed. + +National progress is the sum of individual industry, energy, and +uprightness, as national decay is of individual idleness, +selfishness, and vice. What we are accustomed to decry as great +social evils, will, for the most part, be found to be but the +outgrowth of man's own perverted life; and though we may endeavour +to cut them down and extirpate them by means of Law, they will only +spring up again with fresh luxuriance in some other form, unless +the conditions of personal life and character are radically +improved. If this view be correct, then it follows that the +highest patriotism and philanthropy consist, not so much in +altering laws and modifying institutions, as in helping and +stimulating men to elevate and improve themselves by their own free +and independent individual action. + +It may be of comparatively little consequence how a man is governed +from without, whilst everything depends upon how he governs himself +from within. The greatest slave is not he who is ruled by a +despot, great though that evil be, but he who is the thrall of his +own moral ignorance, selfishness, and vice. Nations who are thus +enslaved at heart cannot be freed by any mere changes of masters or +of institutions; and so long as the fatal delusion prevails, that +liberty solely depends upon and consists in government, so long +will such changes, no matter at what cost they may be effected, +have as little practical and lasting result as the shifting of the +figures in a phantasmagoria. The solid foundations of liberty must +rest upon individual character; which is also the only sure +guarantee for social security and national progress. John Stuart +Mill truly observes that "even despotism does not produce its worst +effects so long as individuality exists under it; and whatever +crushes individuality IS despotism, by whatever name it be called." + +Old fallacies as to human progress are constantly turning up. Some +call for Caesars, others for Nationalities, and others for Acts of +Parliament. We are to wait for Caesars, and when they are found, +"happy the people who recognise and follow them." {1} This +doctrine shortly means, everything FOR the people, nothing BY +them,--a doctrine which, if taken as a guide, must, by destroying +the free conscience of a community, speedily prepare the way for +any form of despotism. Caesarism 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, Caesarism +will be no more. The two principles are directly antagonistic; and +what Victor Hugo said of the Pen and the Sword alike applies to +them, "Ceci tuera cela." [This will kill that.] + +The power of Nationalities and Acts of Parliament is also a +prevalent superstition. What William Dargan, one of Ireland's +truest patriots, said at the closing of the first Dublin Industrial +Exhibition, may well be quoted now. "To tell the truth," he said, +"I never heard the word independence mentioned that my own country +and my own fellow townsmen did not occur to my mind. I have heard +a great deal about the independence that we were to get from this, +that, and the other place, and of the great expectations we were to +have from persons from other countries coming amongst us. Whilst I +value as much as any man the great advantages that must result to +us from that intercourse, I have always been deeply impressed with +the feeling that our industrial independence is dependent upon +ourselves. I believe that with simple industry and careful +exactness in the utilization of our energies, we never had a fairer +chance nor a brighter prospect than the present. We have made a +step, but perseverance is the great agent of success; and if we but +go on zealously, I believe in my conscience that in a short period +we shall arrive at a position of equal comfort, of equal happiness, +and of equal independence, with that of any other people." + +All nations have been made what they are by the thinking and the +working of many generations of men. Patient and persevering +labourers in all ranks and conditions of life, cultivators of the +soil and explorers of the mine, inventors and discoverers, +manufacturers, mechanics and artisans, poets, philosophers, and +politicians, all have contributed towards the grand result, one +generation building upon another's labours, and carrying them +forward to still higher stages. This constant succession of noble +workers--the artisans of civilisation--has served to create order +out of chaos in industry, science, and art; and the living race has +thus, in the course of nature, become the inheritor of the rich +estate provided by the skill and industry of our forefathers, which +is placed in our hands to cultivate, and to hand down, not only +unimpaired but improved, to our successors. + +The spirit of self-help, as exhibited in the energetic action of +individuals, has in all times been a marked feature in the English +character, and furnishes the true measure of our power as a nation. +Rising above the heads of the mass, there were always to be found a +series of individuals distinguished beyond others, who commanded +the public homage. But our progress has also been owing to +multitudes of smaller and less known men. Though only the +generals' names may be remembered in the history of any great +campaign, it has been in a great measure through the individual +valour and heroism of the privates that victories have been won. +And life, too, is "a soldiers' battle,"--men in the ranks having in +all times been amongst the greatest of workers. Many are the lives +of men unwritten, which have nevertheless as powerfully influenced +civilisation and progress as the more fortunate Great whose names +are recorded in biography. Even the humblest person, who sets +before his fellows an example of industry, sobriety, and upright +honesty of purpose in life, has a present as well as a future +influence upon the well-being of his country; for his life and +character pass unconsciously into the lives of others, and +propagate good example for all time to come. + +Daily experience shows that it is energetic individualism which +produces the most powerful effects upon the life and action of +others, and really constitutes the best practical education. +Schools, academies, and colleges, give but the merest beginnings of +culture in comparison with it. Far more influential is the life- +education daily given in our homes, in the streets, behind +counters, in workshops, at the loom and the plough, in counting- +houses and manufactories, and in the busy haunts of men. This is +that finishing instruction as members of society, which Schiller +designated "the education of the human race," consisting in action, +conduct, self-culture, self-control,--all that tends to discipline +a man truly, and fit him for the proper performance of the duties +and business of life,--a kind of education not to be learnt from +books, or acquired by any amount of mere literary training. With +his usual weight of words Bacon observes, that "Studies teach not +their own use; but that is a wisdom without them, and above them, +won by observation;" a remark that holds true of actual life, as +well as of the cultivation of the intellect itself. For all +experience serves to illustrate and enforce the lesson, that a man +perfects himself by work more than by reading,--that it is life +rather than literature, action rather than study, and character +rather than biography, which tend perpetually to renovate mankind. + +Biographies of great, but especially of good men, are nevertheless +most instructive and useful, as helps, guides, and incentives to +others. Some of the best are almost equivalent to gospels-- +teaching high living, high thinking, and energetic action for their +own and the world's good. The valuable examples which they furnish +of the power of self-help, of patient purpose, resolute working, +and steadfast integrity, issuing in the formation of truly noble +and manly character, exhibit in language not to be misunderstood, +what it is in the power of each to accomplish for himself; and +eloquently illustrate the efficacy of self-respect and self- +reliance in enabling men of even the humblest rank to work out for +themselves an honourable competency and a solid reputation. + +Great men of science, literature, and art--apostles of great +thoughts and lords of the great heart--have belonged to no +exclusive class nor rank in life. They have come alike from +colleges, workshops, and farmhouses,--from the huts of poor men and +the mansions of the rich. Some of God's greatest apostles have +come from "the ranks." The poorest have sometimes taken the +highest places; nor have difficulties apparently the most +insuperable proved obstacles in their way. Those very +difficulties, in many instances, would ever seem to have been their +best helpers, by evoking their powers of labour and endurance, and +stimulating into life faculties which might otherwise have lain +dormant. The instances of obstacles thus surmounted, and of +triumphs thus achieved, are indeed so numerous, as almost to +justify the proverb that "with Will one can do anything." Take, +for instance, the remarkable fact, that from the barber's shop came +Jeremy Taylor, the most poetical of divines; Sir Richard Arkwright, +the inventor of the spinning-jenny and founder of the cotton +manufacture; Lord Tenterden, one of the most distinguished of Lord +Chief Justices; and Turner, the greatest among landscape painters. + +No one knows to a certainty what Shakespeare was; but it is +unquestionable that he sprang from a humble rank. His father was a +butcher and grazier; and Shakespeare himself is supposed to have +been in early life a woolcomber; whilst others aver that he was an +usher in a school and afterwards a scrivener's clerk. He truly +seems to have been "not one, but all mankind's epitome." For such +is the accuracy of his sea phrases that a naval writer alleges that +he must have been a sailor; whilst a clergyman infers, from +internal evidence in his writings, that he was probably a parson's +clerk; and a distinguished judge of horse-flesh insists that he +must have been a horse-dealer. Shakespeare was certainly an actor, +and in the course of his life "played many parts," gathering his +wonderful stores of knowledge from a wide field of experience and +observation. In any event, he must have been a close student and a +hard worker; and to this day his writings continue to exercise a +powerful influence on the formation of English character. + +The common class of day labourers has given us Brindley the +engineer, Cook the navigator, and Burns the poet. Masons and +bricklayers can boast of Ben Jonson, who worked at the building of +Lincoln's Inn, with a trowel in his hand and a book in his pocket, +Edwards and Telford the engineers, Hugh Miller the geologist, and +Allan Cunningham the writer and sculptor; whilst among +distinguished carpenters we find the names of Inigo Jones the +architect, Harrison the chronometer-maker, John Hunter the +physiologist, Romney and Opie the painters, Professor Lee the +Orientalist, and John Gibson the sculptor. + +From the weaver class have sprung Simson the mathematician, Bacon +the sculptor, the two Milners, Adam Walker, John Foster, Wilson the +ornithologist, Dr. Livingstone the missionary traveller, and +Tannahill the poet. Shoemakers have given us Sir Cloudesley Shovel +the great Admiral, Sturgeon the electrician, Samuel Drew the +essayist, Gifford the editor of the 'Quarterly Review,' Bloomfield +the poet, and William Carey the missionary; whilst Morrison, +another laborious missionary, was a maker of shoe-lasts. Within +the last few years, a profound naturalist has been discovered in +the person of a shoemaker at Banff, named Thomas Edwards, who, +while maintaining himself by his trade, has devoted his leisure to +the study of natural science in all its branches, his researches in +connexion with the smaller crustaceae having been rewarded by the +discovery of a new species, to which the name of "Praniza +Edwardsii" has been given by naturalists. + +Nor have tailors been undistinguished. John Stow, the historian, +worked at the trade during some part of his life. Jackson, the +painter, made clothes until he reached manhood. The brave Sir John +Hawkswood, who so greatly distinguished himself at Poictiers, and +was knighted by Edward III. for his valour, was in early life +apprenticed to a London tailor. Admiral Hobson, who broke the boom +at Vigo in 1702, belonged to the same calling. He was working as a +tailor's apprentice near Bonchurch, in the Isle of Wight, when the +news flew through the village that a squadron of men-of-war was +sailing off the island. He sprang from the shopboard, and ran down +with his comrades to the beach, to gaze upon the glorious sight. +The boy was suddenly inflamed with the ambition to be a sailor; and +springing into a boat, he rowed off to the squadron, gained the +admiral's ship, and was accepted as a volunteer. Years after, he +returned to his native village full of honours, and dined off bacon +and eggs in the cottage where he had worked as an apprentice. But +the greatest tailor of all is unquestionably Andrew Johnson, the +present President of the United States--a man of extraordinary +force of character and vigour of intellect. In his great speech at +Washington, when describing himself as having begun his political +career as an alderman, and run through all the branches of the +legislature, a voice in the crowd cried, "From a tailor up." It +was characteristic of Johnson to take the intended sarcasm in good +part, and even to turn it to account. "Some gentleman says I have +been a tailor. That does not disconcert me in the least; for when +I was a tailor I had the reputation of being a good one, and making +close fits; I was always punctual with my customers, and always did +good work." + +Cardinal Wolsey, De Foe, Akenside, and Kirke White were the sons of +butchers; Bunyan was a tinker, and Joseph Lancaster a basket-maker. +Among the great names identified with the invention of the steam- +engine are those of Newcomen, Watt, and Stephenson; the first a +blacksmith, the second a maker of mathematical instruments, and the +third an engine-fireman. Huntingdon the preacher was originally a +coalheaver, and Bewick, the father of wood-engraving, a coalminer. +Dodsley was a footman, and Holcroft a groom. Baffin the navigator +began his seafaring career as a man before the mast, and Sir +Cloudesley Shovel as a cabin-boy. Herschel played the oboe in a +military band. Chantrey was a journeyman carver, Etty a journeyman +printer, and Sir Thomas Lawrence the son of a tavern-keeper. +Michael Faraday, the son of a blacksmith, was in early life +apprenticed to a bookbinder, and worked at that trade until he +reached his twenty-second year: he now occupies the very first +rank as a philosopher, excelling even his master, Sir Humphry Davy, +in the art of lucidly expounding the most difficult and abstruse +points in natural science. + +Among those who have given the greatest impulse to the sublime +science of astronomy, we find Copernicus, the son of a Polish +baker; Kepler, the son of a German public-house keeper, and himself +the "garcon de cabaret;" d'Alembert, a foundling picked up one +winter's night on the steps of the church of St. Jean le Rond at +Paris, and brought up by the wife of a glazier; and Newton and +Laplace, the one the son of a small freeholder near Grantham, the +other the son of a poor peasant of Beaumont-en-Auge, near Honfleur. +Notwithstanding their comparatively adverse circumstances in early +life, these distinguished men achieved a solid and enduring +reputation by the exercise of their genius, which all the wealth in +the world could not have purchased. The very possession of wealth +might indeed have proved an obstacle greater even than the humble +means to which they were born. The father of Lagrange, the +astronomer and mathematician, held the office of Treasurer of War +at Turin; but having ruined himself by speculations, his family +were reduced to comparative poverty. To this circumstance Lagrange +was in after life accustomed partly to attribute his own fame and +happiness. "Had I been rich," said he, "I should probably not have +become a mathematician." + +The sons of clergymen and ministers of religion generally, have +particularly distinguished themselves in our country's history. +Amongst them we find the names of Drake and Nelson, celebrated in +naval heroism; of Wollaston, Young, Playfair, and Bell, in science; +of Wren, Reynolds, Wilson, and Wilkie, in art; of Thurlow and +Campbell, in law; and of Addison, Thomson, Goldsmith, Coleridge, +and Tennyson, in literature. Lord Hardinge, Colonel Edwardes, and +Major Hodson, so honourably known in Indian warfare, were also the +sons of clergymen. Indeed, the empire of England in India was won +and held chiefly by men of the middle class--such as Clive, Warren +Hastings, and their successors--men for the most part bred in +factories and trained to habits of business. + +Among the sons of attorneys we find Edmund Burke, Smeaton the +engineer, Scott and Wordsworth, and Lords Somers, Hardwick, and +Dunning. Sir William Blackstone was the posthumous son of a silk- +mercer. Lord Gifford's father was a grocer at Dover; Lord Denman's +a physician; judge Talfourd's a country brewer; and Lord Chief +Baron Pollock's a celebrated saddler at Charing Cross. Layard, the +discoverer of the monuments of Nineveh, was an articled clerk in a +London solicitor's office; and Sir William Armstrong, the inventor +of hydraulic machinery and of the Armstrong ordnance, was also +trained to the law and practised for some time as an attorney. +Milton was the son of a London scrivener, and Pope and Southey were +the sons of linendrapers. Professor Wilson was the son of a +Paisley manufacturer, and Lord Macaulay of an African merchant. +Keats was a druggist, and Sir Humphry Davy a country apothecary's +apprentice. Speaking of himself, Davy once said, "What I am I have +made myself: I say this without vanity, and in pure simplicity of +heart." Richard Owen, the Newton of Natural History, began life as +a midshipman, and did not enter upon the line of scientific +research in which he has since become so distinguished, until +comparatively late in life. He laid the foundations of his great +knowledge while occupied in cataloguing the magnificent museum +accumulated by the industry of John Hunter, a work which occupied +him at the College of Surgeons during a period of about ten years. + +Foreign not less than English biography abounds in illustrations of +men who have glorified the lot of poverty by their labours and +their genius. In Art we find Claude, the son of a pastrycook; +Geefs, of a baker; Leopold Robert, of a watchmaker; and Haydn, of a +wheelwright; whilst Daguerre was a scene-painter at the Opera. The +father of Gregory VII. was a carpenter; of Sextus V., a shepherd; +and of Adrian VI., a poor bargeman. When a boy, Adrian, unable to +pay for a light by which to study, was accustomed to prepare his +lessons by the light of the lamps in the streets and the church +porches, exhibiting a degree of patience and industry which were +the certain forerunners of his future distinction. Of like humble +origin were Hauy, the mineralogist, who was the son of a weaver of +Saint-Just; Hautefeuille, the mechanician, of a baker at Orleans; +Joseph Fourier, the mathematician, of a tailor at Auxerre; Durand, +the architect, of a Paris shoemaker; and Gesner, the naturalist, of +a skinner or worker in hides, at Zurich. This last began his +career under all the disadvantages attendant on poverty, sickness, +and domestic calamity; none of which, however, were sufficient to +damp his courage or hinder his progress. His life was indeed an +eminent illustration of the truth of the saying, that those who +have most to do and are willing to work, will find the most time. +Pierre Ramus was another man of like character. He was the son of +poor parents in Picardy, and when a boy was employed to tend sheep. +But not liking the occupation he ran away to Paris. After +encountering much misery, he succeeded in entering the College of +Navarre as a servant. The situation, however, opened for him the +road to learning, and he shortly became one of the most +distinguished men of his time. + +The chemist Vauquelin was the son of a peasant of Saint-Andre- +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-Andre and took the road for Paris with his havresac on his +back. Arrived there, he searched for a place as apothecary's boy, +but could not find one. Worn out by fatigue and destitution, +Vauquelin fell ill, and in that state was taken to the hospital, +where he thought he should die. But better things were in store +for the poor boy. He recovered, and again proceeded in his search +of employment, which he at length found with an apothecary. +Shortly after, he became known to Fourcroy the eminent chemist, who +was so pleased with the youth that he made him his private +secretary; and many years after, on the death of that great +philosopher, Vauquelin succeeded him as Professor of Chemistry. +Finally, in 1829, the electors of the district of Calvados +appointed him their representative in the Chamber of Deputies, and +he re-entered in triumph the village which he had left so many +years before, so poor and so obscure. + +England has no parallel instances to show, of promotions from the +ranks of the army to the highest military offices; which have been +so common in France since the first Revolution. "La carriere +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, Lefevre, Suchet, Victor, Lannes, Soult, Massena, St. Cyr, +D'Erlon, Murat, Augereau, Bessieres, 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 +{2} was six years from the date of his enlistment before he reached +the rank of sergeant. But Soult's advancement was rapid compared +with that of Massena, who served for fourteen years before he was +made sergeant; and though he afterwards rose successively, step by +step, to the grades of Colonel, General of Division, and Marshal, +he declared that the post of sergeant was the step which of all +others had cost him the most labour to win. Similar promotions +from the ranks, in the French army, have continued down to our own +day. Changarnier entered the King's bodyguard as a private in +1815. Marshal Bugeaud served four years in the ranks, after which +he was made an officer. Marshal Randon, the present French +Minister of War, began his military career as a drummer boy; and in +the portrait of him in the gallery at Versailles, his hand rests +upon a drum-head, the picture being thus painted at his own +request. Instances such as these inspire French soldiers with +enthusiasm for their service, as each private feels that he may +possibly carry the baton of a marshal in his knapsack. + +The instances of men, in this and other countries, who, by dint of +persevering application and energy, have raised themselves from the +humblest ranks of industry to eminent positions of usefulness and +influence in society, are indeed so numerous that they have long +ceased to be regarded as exceptional. Looking at some of the more +remarkable, it might almost be said that early encounter with +difficulty and adverse circumstances was the necessary and +indispensable condition of success. The British House of Commons +has always contained a considerable number of such self-raised men- +-fitting representatives of the industrial character of the people; +and it is to the credit of our Legislature that they have been +welcomed and honoured there. When the late Joseph Brotherton, +member for Salford, in the course of the discussion on the Ten +Hours Bill, detailed with true pathos the hardships and fatigues to +which he had been subjected when working as a factory boy in a +cotton mill, and described the resolution which he had then formed, +that if ever it was in his power he would endeavour to ameliorate +the condition of that class, Sir James Graham rose immediately +after him, and declared, amidst the cheers of the House, that he +did not before know that Mr. Brotherton's origin had been so +humble, but that it rendered him more proud than he had ever before +been of the House of Commons, to think that a person risen from +that condition should be able to sit side by side, on equal terms, +with the hereditary gentry of the land. + +The late Mr. Fox, member for Oldham, was accustomed to introduce +his recollections of past times with the words, "when I was working +as a weaver boy at Norwich;" and there are other members of +parliament, still living, whose origin has been equally humble. +Mr. Lindsay, the well-known ship owner, until recently member for +Sunderland, once told the simple story of his life to the electors +of Weymouth, in answer to an attack made upon him by his political +opponents. He had been left an orphan at fourteen, and when he +left Glasgow for Liverpool to push his way in the world, not being +able to pay the usual fare, the captain of the steamer agreed to +take his labour in exchange, and the boy worked his passage by +trimming the coals in the coal hole. At Liverpool he remained for +seven weeks before he could obtain employment, during which time he +lived in sheds and fared hardly; until at last he found shelter on +board a West Indiaman. He entered as a boy, and before he was +nineteen, by steady good conduct he had risen to the command of a +ship. At twenty-three he retired from the sea, and settled on +shore, after which his progress was rapid "he had prospered," he +said, "by steady industry, by constant work, and by ever keeping in +view the great principle of doing to others as you would be done +by." + +The career of Mr. William Jackson, of Birkenhead, the present +member for North Derbyshire, bears considerable resemblance to that +of Mr. Lindsay. His father, a surgeon at Lancaster, died, leaving +a family of eleven children, of whom William Jackson was the +seventh son. The elder boys had been well educated while the +father lived, but at his death the younger members had to shift for +themselves. William, when under twelve years old, was taken from +school, and put to hard work at a ship's side from six in the +morning till nine at night. His master falling ill, the boy was +taken into the counting-house, where he had more leisure. This +gave him an opportunity of reading, and having obtained access to a +set of the 'Encyclopaedia Britannica,' he read the volumes through +from A to Z, partly by day, but chiefly at night. He afterwards +put himself to a trade, was diligent, and succeeded in it. Now he +has ships sailing on almost every sea, and holds commercial +relations with nearly every country on the globe. + +Among like men of the same class may be ranked the late Richard +Cobden, whose start in life was equally humble. The son of a small +farmer at Midhurst in Sussex, he was sent at an early age to London +and employed as a boy in a warehouse in the City. He was diligent, +well conducted, and eager for information. His master, a man of +the old school, warned him against too much reading; but the boy +went on in his own course, storing his mind with the wealth found +in books. He was promoted from one position of trust to another-- +became a traveller for his house--secured a large connection, and +eventually started in business as a calico printer at Manchester. +Taking an interest in public questions, more especially in popular +education, his attention was gradually drawn to the subject of the +Corn Laws, to the repeal of which he may be said to have devoted +his fortune and his life. It may be mentioned as a curious fact +that the first speech he delivered in public was a total failure. +But he had great perseverance, application, and energy; and with +persistency and practice, he became at length one of the most +persuasive and effective of public speakers, extorting the +disinterested eulogy of even Sir Robert Peel himself. M. Drouyn de +Lhuys, the French Ambassador, has eloquently said of Mr. Cobden, +that he was "a living proof of what merit, perseverance, and labour +can accomplish; one of the most complete examples of those men who, +sprung from the humblest ranks of society, raise themselves to the +highest rank in public estimation by the effect of their own worth +and of their personal services; finally, one of the rarest examples +of the solid qualities inherent in the English character." + +In all these cases, strenuous individual application was the price +paid for distinction; excellence of any sort being invariably +placed beyond the reach of indolence. It is the diligent hand and +head alone that maketh rich--in self-culture, growth in wisdom, and +in business. Even when men are born to wealth and high social +position, any solid reputation which they may individually achieve +can only be attained by energetic application; for though an +inheritance of acres may be bequeathed, an inheritance of knowledge +and wisdom cannot. The wealthy man may pay others for doing his +work for him, but it is impossible to get his thinking done for him +by another, or to purchase any kind of self-culture. Indeed, the +doctrine that excellence in any pursuit is only to be achieved by +laborious application, holds as true in the case of the man of +wealth as in that of Drew and Gifford, whose only school was a +cobbler's stall, or Hugh Miller, whose only college was a Cromarty +stone quarry. + +Riches and ease, it is perfectly clear, are not necessary for man's +highest culture, else had not the world been so largely indebted in +all times to those who have sprung from the humbler ranks. An easy +and luxurious existence does not train men to effort or encounter +with difficulty; nor does it awaken that consciousness of power +which is so necessary for energetic and effective action in life. +Indeed, so far from poverty being a misfortune, it may, by vigorous +self-help, be converted even into a blessing; rousing a man to that +struggle with the world in which, though some may purchase ease by +degradation, the right-minded and true-hearted find strength, +confidence, and triumph. Bacon says, "Men seem neither to +understand their riches nor their strength: of the former they +believe greater things than they should; of the latter much less. +Self-reliance and self-denial will teach a man to drink out of his +own cistern, and eat his own sweet bread, and to learn and labour +truly to get his living, and carefully to expend the good things +committed to his trust." + +Riches are so great a temptation to ease and self-indulgence, to +which men are by nature prone, that the glory is all the greater of +those who, born to ample fortunes, nevertheless take an active part +in the work of their generation--who "scorn delights and live +laborious days." It is to the honour of the wealthier ranks in +this country that they are not idlers; for they do their fair share +of the work of the state, and usually take more than their fair +share of its dangers. It was a fine thing said of a subaltern +officer in the Peninsular campaigns, observed trudging alone +through mud and mire by the side of his regiment, "There goes +15,000l. a year!" and in our own day, the bleak slopes of +Sebastopol and the burning soil of India have borne witness to the +like noble self-denial and devotion on the part of our gentler +classes; many a gallant and noble fellow, of rank and estate, +having risked his life, or lost it, in one or other of those fields +of action, in the service of his country. + +Nor have the wealthier classes been undistinguished in the more +peaceful pursuits of philosophy and science. Take, for instance, +the great names of Bacon, the father of modern philosophy, and of +Worcester, Boyle, Cavendish, Talbot, and Rosse, in science. The +last named may be regarded as the great mechanic of the peerage; a +man who, if he had not been born a peer, would probably have taken +the highest rank as an inventor. So thorough is his knowledge of +smith-work that he is said to have been pressed on one occasion to +accept the foremanship of a large workshop, by a manufacturer to +whom his rank was unknown. The great Rosse telescope, of his own +fabrication, is certainly the most extraordinary instrument of the +kind that has yet been constructed. + +But it is principally in the departments of politics and literature +that we find the most energetic labourers amongst our higher +classes. Success in these lines of action, as in all others, can +only be achieved through industry, practice, and study; and the +great Minister, or parliamentary leader, must necessarily be +amongst the very hardest of workers. Such was Palmerston; and such +are Derby and Russell, Disraeli and Gladstone. These men have had +the benefit of no Ten Hours Bill, but have often, during the busy +season of Parliament, worked "double shift," almost day and night. +One of the most illustrious of such workers in modern times was +unquestionably the late Sir Robert Peel. He possessed in an +extraordinary degree the power of continuous intellectual labour, +nor did he spare himself. His career, indeed, presented a +remarkable example of how much a man of comparatively moderate +powers can accomplish by means of assiduous application and +indefatigable industry. During the forty years that he held a seat +in Parliament, his labours were prodigious. He was a most +conscientious man, and whatever he undertook to do, he did +thoroughly. All his speeches bear evidence of his careful study of +everything that had been spoken or written on the subject under +consideration. He was elaborate almost to excess; and spared no +pains to adapt himself to the various capacities of his audience. +Withal, he possessed much practical sagacity, great strength of +purpose, and power to direct the issues of action with steady hand +and eye. In one respect he surpassed most men: his principles +broadened and enlarged with time; and age, instead of contracting, +only served to mellow and ripen his nature. To the last he +continued open to the reception of new views, and, though many +thought him cautious to excess, he did not allow himself to fall +into that indiscriminating admiration of the past, which is the +palsy of many minds similarly educated, and renders the old age of +many nothing but a pity. + +The indefatigable industry of Lord Brougham has become almost +proverbial. His public labours have extended over a period of +upwards of sixty years, during which he has ranged over many +fields--of law, literature, politics, and science,--and achieved +distinction in them all. How he contrived it, has been to many a +mystery. Once, when Sir Samuel Romilly was requested to undertake +some new work, he excused himself by saying that he had no time; +"but," he added, "go with it to that fellow Brougham, he seems to +have time for everything." The secret of it was, that he never +left a minute unemployed; withal he possessed a constitution of +iron. When arrived at an age at which most men would have retired +from the world to enjoy their hard-earned leisure, perhaps to doze +away their time in an easy chair, Lord Brougham commenced and +prosecuted a series of elaborate investigations as to the laws of +Light, and he submitted the results to the most scientific +audiences that Paris and London could muster. About the same time, +he was passing through the press his admirable sketches of the 'Men +of Science and Literature of the Reign of George III.,' and taking +his full share of the law business and the political discussions in +the House of Lords. Sydney Smith once recommended him to confine +himself to only the transaction of so much business as three strong +men could get through. But such was Brougham's love of work--long +become a habit--that no amount of application seems to have been +too great for him; and such was his love of excellence, that it has +been said of him that if his station in life had been only that of +a shoe-black, he would never have rested satisfied until he had +become the best shoe-black in England. + +Another hard-working man of the same class is Sir E. Bulwer Lytton. +Few writers have done more, or achieved higher distinction in +various walks--as a novelist, poet, dramatist, historian, essayist, +orator, and politician. He has worked his way step by step, +disdainful of ease, and animated throughout by the ardent desire to +excel. On the score of mere industry, there are few living English +writers who have written so much, and none that have produced so +much of high quality. The industry of Bulwer is entitled to all +the greater praise that it has been entirely self-imposed. To +hunt, and shoot, and live at ease,--to frequent the clubs and enjoy +the opera, with the variety of London visiting and sight-seeing +during the "season," and then off to the country mansion, with its +well-stocked preserves, and its thousand delightful out-door +pleasures,--to travel abroad, to Paris, Vienna, or Rome,--all this +is excessively attractive to a lover of pleasure and a man of +fortune, and by no means calculated to make him voluntarily +undertake continuous labour of any kind. Yet these pleasures, all +within his reach, Bulwer must, as compared with men born to similar +estate, have denied himself in assuming the position and pursuing +the career of a literary man. Like Byron, his first effort was +poetical ('Weeds and Wild Flowers'), and a failure. His second was +a novel ('Falkland'), and it proved a failure too. A man of weaker +nerve would have dropped authorship; but Bulwer had pluck and +perseverance; and he worked on, determined to succeed. He was +incessantly industrious, read extensively, and from failure went +courageously onwards to success. 'Pelham' followed 'Falkland' +within a year, and the remainder of Bulwer's literary life, now +extending over a period of thirty years, has been a succession of +triumphs. + +Mr. Disraeli affords a similar instance of the power of industry +and application in working out an eminent public career. His first +achievements were, like Bulwer's, in literature; and he reached +success only through a succession of failures. His 'Wondrous Tale +of Alroy' and 'Revolutionary Epic' were laughed at, and regarded as +indications of literary lunacy. But he worked on in other +directions, and his 'Coningsby,' 'Sybil,' and 'Tancred,' proved the +sterling stuff of which he was made. As an orator too, his first +appearance in the House of Commons was a failure. It was spoken of +as "more screaming than an Adelphi farce." Though composed in a +grand and ambitious strain, every sentence was hailed with "loud +laughter." 'Hamlet' played as a comedy were nothing to it. But he +concluded with a sentence which embodied a prophecy. Writhing +under the laughter with which his studied eloquence had been +received, he exclaimed, "I have begun several times many things, +and have succeeded in them at last. I shall sit down now, but the +time will come when you will hear me." The time did come; and how +Disraeli succeeded in at length commanding the attention of the +first assembly of gentlemen in the world, affords a striking +illustration of what energy and determination will do; for Disraeli +earned his position by dint of patient industry. He did not, as +many young men do, having once failed, retire dejected, to mope and +whine in a corner, but diligently set himself to work. He +carefully unlearnt his faults, studied the character of his +audience, practised sedulously the art of speech, and industriously +filled his mind with the elements of parliamentary knowledge. He +worked patiently for success; and it came, but slowly: then the +House laughed with him, instead of at him. The recollection of his +early failure was effaced, and by general consent he was at length +admitted to be one of the most finished and effective of +parliamentary speakers. + +Although much may be accomplished by means of individual industry +and energy, as these and other instances set forth in the following +pages serve to illustrate, it must at the same time be acknowledged +that the help which we derive from others in the journey of life is +of very great importance. The poet Wordsworth has well said that +"these two things, contradictory though they may seem, must go +together--manly dependence and manly independence, manly reliance +and manly self-reliance." From infancy to old age, all are more or +less indebted to others for nurture and culture; and the best and +strongest are usually found the readiest to acknowledge such help. +Take, for example, the career of the late Alexis de Tocqueville, a +man doubly well-born, for his father was a distinguished peer of +France, and his mother a grand-daughter of Malesherbes. Through +powerful family influence, he was appointed Judge Auditor at +Versailles when only twenty-one; but probably feeling that he had +not fairly won the position by merit, he determined to give it up +and owe his future advancement in life to himself alone. "A +foolish resolution," some will say; but De Tocqueville bravely +acted it out. He resigned his appointment, and made arrangements +to leave France for the purpose of travelling through the United +States, the results of which were published in his great book on +'Democracy in America.' His friend and travelling companion, +Gustave de Beaumont, has described his indefatigable industry +during this journey. "His nature," he says, "was wholly averse to +idleness, and whether he was travelling or resting, his mind was +always at work. . . . With Alexis, the most agreeable conversation +was that which was the most useful. The worst day was the lost +day, or the day ill spent; the least loss of time annoyed him." +Tocqueville himself wrote to a friend--"There is no time of life at +which one can wholly cease from action, for effort without one's +self, and still more effort within, is equally necessary, if not +more so, when we grow old, as it is in youth. I compare man in +this world to a traveller journeying without ceasing towards a +colder and colder region; the higher he goes, the faster he ought +to walk. The great malady of the soul is cold. And in resisting +this formidable evil, one needs not only to be sustained by the +action of a mind employed, but also by contact with one's fellows +in the business of life." {3} + +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. +{4} + +In fine, human character is moulded by a thousand subtle +influences; by example and precept; by life and literature; by +friends and neighbours; by the world we live in as well as by the +spirits of our forefathers, whose legacy of good words and deeds we +inherit. But great, unquestionably, though these influences are +acknowledged to be, it is nevertheless equally clear that men must +necessarily be the active agents of their own well-being and well- +doing; and that, however much the wise and the good may owe to +others, they themselves must in the very nature of things be their +own best helpers. + + + +CHAPTER II--LEADERS OF INDUSTRY--INVENTORS AND PRODUCERS + + + +"Le travail et la Science sont desormais les maitres du monde."--De +Salvandy. + +"Deduct all that men of the humbler classes have done for England +in the way of inventions only, and see where she would have been +but for them."--Arthur Helps. + + +One of the most strongly-marked features of the English people is +their spirit of industry, standing out prominent and distinct in +their past history, and as strikingly characteristic of them now as +at any former period. It is this spirit, displayed by the commons +of England, which has laid the foundations and built up the +industrial greatness of the empire. This vigorous growth of the +nation has been mainly the result of the free energy of +individuals, and it has been contingent upon the number of hands +and minds from time to time actively employed within it, whether as +cultivators of the soil, producers of articles of utility, +contrivers of tools and machines, writers of books, or creators of +works of art. And while this spirit of active industry has been +the vital principle of the nation, it has also been its saving and +remedial one, counteracting from time to time the effects of errors +in our laws and imperfections in our constitution. + +The career of industry which the nation has pursued, has also +proved its best education. As steady application to work is the +healthiest training for every individual, so is it the best +discipline of a state. Honourable industry travels the same road +with duty; and Providence has closely linked both with happiness. +The gods, says the poet, have placed labour and toil on the way +leading to the Elysian fields. Certain it is that no bread eaten +by man is so sweet as that earned by his own labour, whether bodily +or mental. By labour the earth has been subdued, and man redeemed +from barbarism; nor has a single step in civilization been made +without it. Labour is not only a necessity and a duty, but a +blessing: only the idler feels it to be a curse. The duty of work +is written on the thews and muscles of the limbs, the mechanism of +the hand, the nerves and lobes of the brain--the sum of whose +healthy action is satisfaction and enjoyment. In the school of +labour is taught the best practical wisdom; nor is a life of manual +employment, as we shall hereafter find, incompatible with high +mental culture. + +Hugh Miller, than whom none knew better the strength and the +weakness belonging to the lot of labour, stated the result of his +experience to be, that Work, even the hardest, is full of pleasure +and materials for self-improvement. He held honest labour to be +the best of teachers, and that the school of toil is the noblest of +schools--save only the Christian one,--that it is a school in which +the ability of being useful is imparted, the spirit of independence +learnt, and the habit of persevering effort acquired. He was even +of opinion that the training of the mechanic,--by the exercise +which it gives to his observant faculties, from his daily dealing +with things actual and practical, and the close experience of life +which he acquires,--better fits him for picking his way along the +journey of life, and is more favourable to his growth as a Man, +emphatically speaking, than the training afforded by any other +condition. + +The array of great names which we have already cursorily cited, of +men springing from the ranks of the industrial classes, who have +achieved distinction in various walks of life--in science, +commerce, literature, and art--shows that at all events the +difficulties interposed by poverty and labour are not +insurmountable. As respects the great contrivances and inventions +which have conferred so much power and wealth upon the nation, it +is unquestionable that for the greater part of them we have been +indebted to men of the humblest rank. Deduct what they have done +in this particular line of action, and it will be found that very +little indeed remains for other men to have accomplished. + +Inventors have set in motion some of the greatest industries of the +world. To them society owes many of its chief necessaries, +comforts, and luxuries; and by their genius and labour daily life +has been rendered in all respects more easy as well as enjoyable. +Our food, our clothing, the furniture of our homes, the glass which +admits the light to our dwellings at the same time that it excludes +the cold, the gas which illuminates our streets, our means of +locomotion by land and by sea, the tools by which our various +articles of necessity and luxury are fabricated, have been the +result of the labour and ingenuity of many men and many minds. +Mankind at large are all the happier for such inventions, and are +every day reaping the benefit of them in an increase of individual +well-being as well as of public enjoyment. + +Though the invention of the working steam-engine--the king of +machines--belongs, comparatively speaking, to our own epoch, the +idea of it was born many centuries ago. Like other contrivances +and discoveries, it was effected step by step--one man transmitting +the result of his labours, at the time apparently useless, to his +successors, who took it up and carried it forward another stage,-- +the prosecution of the inquiry extending over many generations. +Thus the idea promulgated by Hero of Alexandria was never +altogether lost; but, like the grain of wheat hid in the hand of +the Egyptian mummy, it sprouted and again grew vigorously when +brought into the full light of modern science. The steam-engine +was nothing, however, until it emerged from the state of theory, +and was taken in hand by practical mechanics; and what a noble +story of patient, laborious investigation, of difficulties +encountered and overcome by heroic industry, does not that +marvellous machine tell of! It is indeed, in itself, a monument of +the power of self-help in man. Grouped around it we find Savary, +the military engineer; Newcomen, the Dartmouth blacksmith; Cawley, +the glazier; Potter, the engine-boy; Smeaton, the civil engineer; +and, towering above all, the laborious, patient, never-tiring James +Watt, the mathematical-instrument maker. + +Watt was one of the most industrious of men; and the story of his +life proves, what all experience confirms, that it is not the man +of the greatest natural vigour and capacity who achieves the +highest results, but he who employs his powers with the greatest +industry and the most carefully disciplined skill--the skill that +comes by labour, application, and experience. Many men in his time +knew far more than Watt, but none laboured so assiduously as he did +to turn all that he did know to useful practical purposes. He was, +above all things, most persevering in the pursuit of facts. He +cultivated carefully that habit of active attention on which all +the higher working qualities of the mind mainly depend. Indeed, +Mr. Edgeworth entertained the opinion, that the difference of +intellect in men depends more upon the early cultivation of this +HABIT OF ATTENTION, than upon any great disparity between the +powers of one individual and another. + +Even when a boy, Watt found science in his toys. The quadrants +lying about his father's carpenter's shop led him to the study of +optics and astronomy; his ill health induced him to pry into the +secrets of physiology; and his solitary walks through the country +attracted him to the study of botany and history. While carrying +on the business of a mathematical-instrument maker, he received an +order to build an organ; and, though without an ear for music, he +undertook the study of harmonics, and successfully constructed the +instrument. And, in like manner, when the little model of +Newcomen's steam-engine, belonging to the University of Glasgow, +was placed in his hands to repair, he forthwith set himself to +learn all that was then known about heat, evaporation, and +condensation,--at the same time plodding his way in mechanics and +the science of construction,--the results of which he at length +embodied in his condensing steam-engine. + +For ten years he went on contriving and inventing--with little hope +to cheer him, and with few friends to encourage him. He went on, +meanwhile, earning bread for his family by making and selling +quadrants, making and mending fiddles, flutes, and musical +instruments; measuring mason-work, surveying roads, superintending +the construction of canals, or doing anything that turned up, and +offered a prospect of honest gain. At length, Watt found a fit +partner in another eminent leader of industry--Matthew Boulton, of +Birmingham; a skilful, energetic, and far-seeing man, who +vigorously undertook the enterprise of introducing the condensing- +engine into general use as a working power; and the success of both +is now matter of history. {5} + +Many skilful inventors have from time to time added new power to +the steam-engine; and, by numerous modifications, rendered it +capable of being applied to nearly all the purposes of manufacture- +-driving machinery, impelling ships, grinding corn, printing books, +stamping money, hammering, planing, and turning iron; in short, of +performing every description of mechanical labour where power is +required. One of the most useful modifications in the engine was +that devised by Trevithick, and eventually perfected by George +Stephenson and his son, in the form of the railway locomotive, by +which social changes of immense importance have been brought about, +of even greater consequence, considered in their results on human +progress and civilization, than the condensing-engine of Watt. + +One of the first grand results of Watt's invention,--which placed +an almost unlimited power at the command of the producing classes,- +-was the establishment of the cotton-manufacture. The person most +closely identified with the foundation of this great branch of +industry was unquestionably Sir Richard Arkwright, whose practical +energy and sagacity were perhaps even more remarkable than his +mechanical inventiveness. His originality as an inventor has +indeed been called in question, like that of Watt and Stephenson. +Arkwright probably stood in the same relation to the spinning- +machine that Watt did to the steam-engine and Stephenson to the +locomotive. He gathered together the scattered threads of +ingenuity which already existed, and wove them, after his own +design, into a new and original fabric. Though Lewis Paul, of +Birmingham, patented the invention of spinning by rollers thirty +years before Arkwright, the machines constructed by him were so +imperfect in their details, that they could not be profitably +worked, and the invention was practically a failure. Another +obscure mechanic, a reed-maker of Leigh, named Thomas Highs, is +also said to have invented the water-frame and spinning-jenny; but +they, too, proved unsuccessful. + +When the demands of industry are found to press upon the resources +of inventors, the same idea is usually found floating about in many +minds;--such has been the case with the steam-engine, the safety- +lamp, the electric telegraph, and other inventions. Many ingenious +minds are found labouring in the throes of invention, until at +length the master mind, the strong practical man, steps forward, +and straightway delivers them of their idea, applies the principle +successfully, and the thing is done. Then there is a loud outcry +among all the smaller contrivers, who see themselves distanced in +the race; and hence men such as Watt, Stephenson, and Arkwright, +have usually to defend their reputation and their rights as +practical and successful inventors. + +Richard Arkwright, like most of our great mechanicians, sprang from +the ranks. He was born in Preston in 1732. His parents were very +poor, and he was the youngest of thirteen children. He was never +at school: the only education he received he gave to himself; and +to the last he was only able to write with difficulty. When a boy, +he was apprenticed to a barber, and after learning the business, he +set up for himself in Bolton, where he occupied an underground +cellar, over which he put up the sign, "Come to the subterraneous +barber--he shaves for a penny." The other barbers found their +customers leaving them, and reduced their prices to his standard, +when Arkwright, determined to push his trade, announced his +determination to give "A clean shave for a halfpenny." After a few +years he quitted his cellar, and became an itinerant dealer in +hair. At that time wigs were worn, and wig-making formed an +important branch of the barbering business. Arkwright went about +buying hair for the wigs. He was accustomed to attend the hiring +fairs throughout Lancashire resorted to by young women, for the +purpose of securing their long tresses; and it is said that in +negotiations of this sort he was very successful. He also dealt in +a chemical hair dye, which he used adroitly, and thereby secured a +considerable trade. But he does not seem, notwithstanding his +pushing character, to have done more than earn a bare living. + +The fashion of wig-wearing having undergone a change, distress fell +upon the wig-makers; and Arkwright, being of a mechanical turn, was +consequently induced to turn machine inventor or "conjurer," as the +pursuit was then popularly termed. Many attempts were made about +that time to invent a spinning-machine, and our barber determined +to launch his little bark on the sea of invention with the rest. +Like other self-taught men of the same bias, he had already been +devoting his spare time to the invention of a perpetual-motion +machine; and from that the transition to a spinning-machine was +easy. He followed his experiments so assiduously that he neglected +his business, lost the little money he had saved, and was reduced +to great poverty. His wife--for he had by this time married--was +impatient at what she conceived to be a wanton waste of time and +money, and in a moment of sudden wrath she seized upon and +destroyed his models, hoping thus to remove the cause of the family +privations. Arkwright was a stubborn and enthusiastic man, and he +was provoked beyond measure by this conduct of his wife, from whom +he immediately separated. + +In travelling about the country, Arkwright had become acquainted +with a person named Kay, a clockmaker at Warrington, who assisted +him in constructing some of the parts of his perpetual-motion +machinery. It is supposed that he was informed by Kay of the +principle of spinning by rollers; but it is also said that the idea +was first suggested to him by accidentally observing a red-hot +piece of iron become elongated by passing between iron rollers. +However this may be, the idea at once took firm possession of his +mind, and he proceeded to devise the process by which it was to be +accomplished, Kay being able to tell him nothing on this point. +Arkwright now abandoned his business of hair collecting, and +devoted himself to the perfecting of his machine, a model of which, +constructed by Kay under his directions, he set up in the parlour +of the Free Grammar School at Preston. Being a burgess of the +town, he voted at the contested election at which General Burgoyne +was returned; but such was his poverty, and such the tattered state +of his dress, that a number of persons subscribed a sum sufficient +to have him put in a state fit to appear in the poll-room. The +exhibition of his machine in a town where so many workpeople lived +by the exercise of manual labour proved a dangerous experiment; +ominous growlings were heard outside the school-room from time to +time, and Arkwright,--remembering the fate of Kay, who was mobbed +and compelled to fly from Lancashire because of his invention of +the fly-shuttle, and of poor Hargreaves, whose spinning-jenny had +been pulled to pieces only a short time before by a Blackburn mob,- +-wisely determined on packing up his model and removing to a less +dangerous locality. He went accordingly to Nottingham, where he +applied to some of the local bankers for pecuniary assistance; and +the Messrs. Wright consented to advance him a sum of money on +condition of sharing in the profits of the invention. The machine, +however, not being perfected so soon as they had anticipated, the +bankers recommended Arkwright to apply to Messrs. Strutt and Need, +the former of whom was the ingenious inventor and patentee of the +stocking-frame. Mr. Strutt at once appreciated the merits of the +invention, and a partnership was entered into with Arkwright, whose +road to fortune was now clear. The patent was secured in the name +of "Richard Arkwright, of Nottingham, clockmaker," and it is a +circumstance worthy of note, that it was taken out in 1769, the +same year in which Watt secured the patent for his steam-engine. A +cotton-mill was first erected at Nottingham, driven by horses; and +another was shortly after built, on a much larger scale, at +Cromford, in Derbyshire, turned by a water-wheel, from which +circumstance the spinning-machine came to be called the water- +frame. + +Arkwright's labours, however, were, comparatively speaking, only +begun. He had still to perfect all the working details of his +machine. It was in his hands the subject of constant modification +and improvement, until eventually it was rendered practicable and +profitable in an eminent degree. But success was only secured by +long and patient labour: for some years, indeed, the speculation +was disheartening and unprofitable, swallowing up a very large +amount of capital without any result. When success began to appear +more certain, then the Lancashire manufacturers fell upon +Arkwright's patent to pull it in pieces, as the Cornish miners fell +upon Boulton and Watt to rob them of the profits of their steam- +engine. Arkwright was even denounced as the enemy of the working +people; and a mill which he built near Chorley was destroyed by a +mob in the presence of a strong force of police and military. The +Lancashire men refused to buy his materials, though they were +confessedly the best in the market. Then they refused to pay +patent-right for the use of his machines, and combined to crush him +in the courts of law. To the disgust of right-minded people, +Arkwright's patent was upset. After the trial, when passing the +hotel at which his opponents were staying, one of them said, loud +enough to be heard by him, "Well, we've done the old shaver at +last;" to which he coolly replied, "Never mind, I've a razor left +that will shave you all." He established new mills in Lancashire, +Derbyshire, and at New Lanark, in Scotland. The mills at Cromford +also came into his hands at the expiry of his partnership with +Strutt, and the amount and the excellence of his products were +such, that in a short time he obtained so complete a control of the +trade, that the prices were fixed by him, and he governed the main +operations of the other cotton-spinners. + +Arkwright was a man of great force of character, indomitable +courage, much worldly shrewdness, with a business faculty almost +amounting to genius. At one period his time was engrossed by +severe and continuous labour, occasioned by the organising and +conducting of his numerous manufactories, sometimes from four in +the morning till nine at night. At fifty years of age he set to +work to learn English grammar, and improve himself in writing and +orthography. After overcoming every obstacle, he had the +satisfaction of reaping the reward of his enterprise. Eighteen +years after he had constructed his first machine, he rose to such +estimation in Derbyshire that he was appointed High Sheriff of the +county, and shortly after George III. conferred upon him the honour +of knighthood. He died in 1792. Be it for good or for evil, +Arkwright was the founder in England of the modern factory system, +a branch of industry which has unquestionably proved a source of +immense wealth to individuals and to the nation. + +All the other great branches of industry in Britain furnish like +examples of energetic men of business, the source of much benefit +to the neighbourhoods in which they have laboured, and of increased +power and wealth to the community at large. Amongst such might be +cited the Strutts of Belper; the Tennants of Glasgow; the Marshalls +and Gotts of Leeds; the Peels, Ashworths, Birleys, Fieldens, +Ashtons, Heywoods, and Ainsworths of South Lancashire, some of +whose descendants have since become distinguished in connection +with the political history of England. Such pre-eminently were the +Peels of South Lancashire. + +The founder of the Peel family, about the middle of last century, +was a small yeoman, occupying the Hole House Farm, near Blackburn, +from which he afterwards removed to a house situated in Fish Lane +in that town. Robert Peel, as he advanced in life, saw a large +family of sons and daughters growing up about him; but the land +about Blackburn being somewhat barren, it did not appear to him +that agricultural pursuits offered a very encouraging prospect for +their industry. The place had, however, long been the seat of a +domestic manufacture--the fabric called "Blackburn greys," +consisting of linen weft and cotton warp, being chiefly made in +that town and its neighbourhood. It was then customary--previous +to the introduction of the factory system--for industrious yeomen +with families to employ the time not occupied in the fields in +weaving at home; and Robert Peel accordingly began the domestic +trade of calico-making. He was honest, and made an honest article; +thrifty and hardworking, and his trade prospered. He was also +enterprising, and was one of the first to adopt the carding +cylinder, then recently invented. + +But Robert Peel's attention was principally directed to the +PRINTING of calico--then a comparatively unknown art--and for some +time he carried on a series of experiments with the object of +printing by machinery. The experiments were secretly conducted in +his own house, the cloth being ironed for the purpose by one of the +women of the family. It was then customary, in such houses as the +Peels, to use pewter plates at dinner. Having sketched a figure or +pattern on one of the plates, the thought struck him that an +impression might be got from it in reverse, and printed on calico +with colour. In a cottage at the end of the farm-house lived a +woman who kept a calendering machine, and going into her cottage, +he put the plate with colour rubbed into the figured part and some +calico over it, through the machine, when it was found to leave a +satisfactory impression. Such is said to have been the origin of +roller printing on calico. Robert Peel shortly perfected his +process, and the first pattern he brought out was a parsley leaf; +hence he is spoken of in the neighbourhood of Blackburn to this day +as "Parsley Peel." The process of calico printing by what is +called the mule machine--that is, by means of a wooden cylinder in +relief, with an engraved copper cylinder--was afterwards brought to +perfection by one of his sons, the head of the firm of Messrs. Peel +and Co., of Church. Stimulated by his success, Robert Peel shortly +gave up farming, and removing to Brookside, a village about two +miles from Blackburn, he devoted himself exclusively to the +printing business. There, with the aid of his sons, who were as +energetic as himself, he successfully carried on the trade for +several years; and as the young men grew up towards manhood, the +concern branched out into various firms of Peels, each of which +became a centre of industrial activity and a source of remunerative +employment to large numbers of people. + +From what can now be learnt of the character of the original and +untitled Robert Peel, he must have been a remarkable man--shrewd, +sagacious, and far-seeing. But little is known of him excepting +from traditions and the sons of those who knew him are fast passing +away. His son, Sir Robert, thus modestly spoke of him:- "My father +may be truly said to have been the founder of our family; and he so +accurately appreciated the importance of commercial wealth in a +national point of view, that he was often heard to say that the +gains to individuals were small compared with the national gains +arising from trade." + +Sir Robert Peel, the first baronet and the second manufacturer of +the name, inherited all his father's enterprise, ability, and +industry. His position, at starting in life, was little above that +of an ordinary working man; for his father, though laying the +foundations of future prosperity, was still struggling with the +difficulties arising from insufficient capital. When Robert was +only twenty years of age, he determined to begin the business of +cotton-printing, which he had by this time learnt from his father, +on his own account. His uncle, James Haworth, and William Yates of +Blackburn, joined him in his enterprise; the whole capital which +they could raise amongst them amounting to only about 500l., 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 +8s. a week; but Yates, considering this too little, insisted on the +weekly payment being increased a shilling, to which Peel at first +demurred, and a difference between the partners took place, which +was eventually compromised by the lodger paying an advance of +sixpence a week. William Yates's eldest child was a girl named +Ellen, and she very soon became an especial favourite with the +young lodger. On returning from his hard day's work at "The +Ground," he would take the little girl upon his knee, and say to +her, "Nelly, thou bonny little dear, wilt be my wife?" to which the +child would readily answer "Yes," as any child would do. "Then +I'll wait for thee, Nelly; I'll wed thee, and none else." And +Robert Peel did wait. As the girl grew in beauty towards +womanhood, his determination to wait for her was strengthened; and +after the lapse of ten years--years of close application to +business and rapidly increasing prosperity--Robert Peel married +Ellen Yates when she had completed her seventeenth year; and the +pretty child, whom her mother's lodger and father's partner had +nursed upon his knee, became Mrs. Peel, and eventually Lady Peel, +the mother of the future Prime Minister of England. Lady Peel was +a noble and beautiful woman, fitted to grace any station in life. +She possessed rare powers of mind, and was, on every emergency, the +high-souled and faithful counsellor of her husband. For many years +after their marriage, she acted as his amanuensis, conducting the +principal part of his business correspondence, for Mr. Peel himself +was an indifferent and almost unintelligible writer. She died in +1803, only three years after the Baronetcy had been conferred upon +her husband. It is said that London fashionable life--so unlike +what she had been accustomed to at home--proved injurious to her +health; and old Mr. Yates afterwards used to say, "if Robert hadn't +made our Nelly a 'Lady,' she might ha' been living yet." + +The career of Yates, Peel, & Co., was throughout one of great and +uninterrupted prosperity. Sir Robert Peel himself was the soul of +the firm; to great energy and application uniting much practical +sagacity, and first-rate mercantile abilities--qualities in which +many of the early cotton-spinners were exceedingly deficient. He +was a man of iron mind and frame, and toiled unceasingly. In +short, he was to cotton printing what Arkwright was to cotton- +spinning, and his success was equally great. The excellence of the +articles produced by the firm secured the command of the market, +and the character of the firm stood pre-eminent in Lancashire. +Besides greatly benefiting Bury, the partnership planted similar +extensive works in the neighbourhood, on the Irwell and the Roch; +and it was cited to their honour, that, while they sought to raise +to the highest perfection the quality of their manufactures, they +also endeavoured, in all ways, to promote the well-being and +comfort of their workpeople; for whom they contrived to provide +remunerative employment even in the least prosperous times. + +Sir Robert Peel readily appreciated the value of all new processes +and inventions; in illustration of which we may allude to his +adoption of the process for producing what is called RESIST WORK in +calico printing. This is accomplished by the use of a paste, or +resist, on such parts of the cloth as were intended to remain +white. The person who discovered the paste was a traveller for a +London house, who sold it to Mr. Peel for an inconsiderable sum. +It required the experience of a year or two to perfect the system +and make it practically useful; but the beauty of its effect, and +the extreme precision of outline in the pattern produced, at once +placed the Bury establishment at the head of all the factories for +calico printing in the country. Other firms, conducted with like +spirit, were established by members of the same family at Burnley, +Foxhill bank, and Altham, in Lancashire; Salley Abbey, in +Yorkshire; and afterwards at Burton-on-Trent, in Staffordshire; +these various establishments, whilst they brought wealth to their +proprietors, setting an example to the whole cotton trade, and +training up many of the most successful printers and manufacturers +in Lancashire. + +Among other distinguished founders of industry, the Rev. William +Lee, inventor of the Stocking Frame, and John Heathcoat, inventor +of the Bobbin-net Machine, are worthy of notice, as men of great +mechanical skill and perseverance, through whose labours a vast +amount of remunerative employment has been provided for the +labouring population of Nottingham and the adjacent districts. The +accounts which have been preserved of the circumstances connected +with the invention of the Stocking Frame are very confused, and in +many respects contradictory, though there is no doubt as to the +name of the inventor. This was William Lee, born at Woodborough, a +village some seven miles from Nottingham, about the year 1563. +According to some accounts, he was the heir to a small freehold, +while according to others he was a poor scholar, {6} and had to +struggle with poverty from his earliest years. He entered as a +sizar at Christ College, Cambridge, in May, 1579, and subsequently +removed to St. John's, taking his degree of B.A. in 1582-3. It is +believed that he commenced M.A. in 1586; but on this point there +appears to be some confusion in the records of the University. The +statement usually made that he was expelled for marrying contrary +to the statutes, is incorrect, as he was never a Fellow of the +University, and therefore could not be prejudiced by taking such a +step. + +At the time when Lee invented the Stocking Frame he was officiating +as curate of Calverton, near Nottingham; and it is alleged by some +writers that the invention had its origin in disappointed +affection. The curate is said to have fallen deeply in love with a +young lady of the village, who failed to reciprocate his +affections; and when he visited her, she was accustomed to pay much +more attention to the process of knitting stockings and instructing +her pupils in the art, than to the addresses of her admirer. This +slight is said to have created in his mind such an aversion to +knitting by hand, that he formed the determination to invent a +machine that should supersede it and render it a gainless +employment. For three years he devoted himself to the prosecution +of the invention, sacrificing everything to his new idea. At the +prospect of success opened before him, he abandoned his curacy, and +devoted himself to the art of stocking making by machinery. This +is the version of the story given by Henson {7} 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. {8} + +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. {9} At length, one difficulty after another +was successfully overcome, and after three years' labour the +machine was sufficiently complete to be fit for use. The quondam +curate, full of enthusiasm for his art, now began stocking weaving +in the village of Calverton, and he continued to work there for +several years, instructing his brother James and several of his +relations in the practice of the art. + +Having brought his frame to a considerable degree of perfection, +and being desirous of securing the patronage of Queen Elizabeth, +whose partiality for knitted silk stockings was well known, Lee +proceeded to London to exhibit the loom before her Majesty. He +first showed it to several members of the court, among others to +Sir William (afterwards Lord) Hunsdon, whom he taught to work it +with success; and Lee was, through their instrumentality, at length +admitted to an interview with the Queen, and worked the machine in +her presence. Elizabeth, however, did not give him the +encouragement that he had expected; and she is said to have opposed +the invention on the ground that it was calculated to deprive a +large number of poor people of their employment of hand knitting. +Lee was no more successful in finding other patrons, and +considering himself and his invention treated with contempt, he +embraced the offer made to him by Sully, the sagacious minister of +Henry IV., to proceed to Rouen and instruct the operatives of that +town--then one of the most important manufacturing centres of +France--in the construction and use of the stocking-frame. Lee +accordingly transferred himself and his machines to France, in +1605, taking with him his brother and seven workmen. He met with a +cordial reception at Rouen, and was proceeding with the manufacture +of stockings on a large scale--having nine of his frames in full +work,--when unhappily ill fortune again overtook him. Henry IV., +his protector, on whom he had relied for the rewards, honours, and +promised grant of privileges, which had induced Lee to settle in +France, was murdered by the fanatic Ravaillac; and the +encouragement and protection which had heretofore been extended to +him were at once withdrawn. To press his claims at court, Lee +proceeded to Paris; but being a protestant as well as a foreigner, +his representations were treated with neglect; and worn out with +vexation and grief, this distinguished inventor shortly after died +at Paris, in a state of extreme poverty and distress. + +Lee's brother, with seven of the workmen, succeeded in escaping +from France with their frames, leaving two behind. On James Lee's +return to Nottinghamshire, he was joined by one Ashton, a miller of +Thoroton, who had been instructed in the art of frame-work knitting +by the inventor himself before he left England. These two, with +the workmen and their frames, began the stocking manufacture at +Thoroton, and carried it on with considerable success. The place +was favourably situated for the purpose, as the sheep pastured in +the neighbouring district of Sherwood yielded a kind of wool of the +longest staple. Ashton is said to have introduced the method of +making the frames with lead sinkers, which was a great improvement. +The number of looms employed in different parts of England +gradually increased; and the machine manufacture of stockings +eventually became an important branch of the national industry. + +One of the most important modifications in the Stocking-Frame was +that which enabled it to be applied to the manufacture of lace on a +large scale. In 1777, two workmen, Frost and Holmes, were both +engaged in making point-net by means of the modifications they had +introduced in the stocking-frame; and in the course of about thirty +years, so rapid was the growth of this branch of production that +1500 point-net frames were at work, giving employment to upwards of +15,000 people. Owing, however, to the war, to change of fashion, +and to other circumstances, the Nottingham lace manufacture rapidly +fell off; and it continued in a decaying state until the invention +of the Bobbin-net Machine by John Heathcoat, late M.P. for +Tiverton, which had the effect of at once re-establishing the +manufacture on solid foundations. + +John Heathcoat was the youngest son of a respectable small farmer +at Duffield, Derbyshire, where he was born in 1783. When at school +he made steady and rapid progress, but was early removed from it to +be apprenticed to a frame-smith near Loughborough. The boy soon +learnt to handle tools with dexterity, and he acquired a minute +knowledge of the parts of which the stocking-frame was composed, as +well as of the more intricate warp-machine. At his leisure he +studied how to introduce improvements in them, and his friend, Mr. +Bazley, M.P., states that as early as the age of sixteen, he +conceived the idea of inventing a machine by which lace might be +made similar to Buckingham or French lace, then all made by hand. +The first practical improvement he succeeded in introducing was in +the warp-frame, when, by means of an ingenious apparatus, he +succeeded in producing "mitts" of a lacy appearance, and it was +this success which determined him to pursue the study of mechanical +lace-making. The stocking-frame had already, in a modified form, +been applied to the manufacture of point-net lace, in which the +mesh was LOOPED as in a stocking, but the work was slight and +frail, and therefore unsatisfactory. Many ingenious Nottingham +mechanics had, during a long succession of years, been labouring at +the problem of inventing a machine by which the mesh of threads +should be TWISTED round each other on the formation of the net. +Some of these men died in poverty, some were driven insane, and all +alike failed in the object of their search. The old warp-machine +held its ground. + +When a little over twenty-one years of age, Heathcoat went to +Nottingham, where he readily found employment, for which he soon +received the highest remuneration, as a setter-up of hosiery and +warp-frames, and was much respected for his talent for invention, +general intelligence, and the sound and sober principles that +governed his conduct. He also continued to pursue the subject on +which his mind had before been occupied, and laboured to compass +the contrivance of a twist traverse-net machine. He first studied +the art of making the Buckingham or pillow-lace by hand, with the +object of effecting the same motions by mechanical means. It was a +long and laborious task, requiring the exercise of great +perseverance and ingenuity. His master, Elliot, described him at +that time as inventive, patient, self-denying, and taciturn, +undaunted by failures and mistakes, full of resources and +expedients, and entertaining the most perfect confidence that his +application of mechanical principles would eventually be crowned +with success. + +It is difficult to describe in words an invention so complicated as +the bobbin-net machine. It was, indeed, a mechanical pillow for +making lace, imitating in an ingenious manner the motions of the +lace-maker's fingers in intersecting or tying the meshes of the +lace upon her pillow. On analysing the component parts of a piece +of hand-made lace, Heathcoat was enabled to classify the threads +into longitudinal and diagonal. He began his experiments by fixing +common pack-threads lengthwise on a sort of frame for the warp, and +then passing the weft threads between them by common plyers, +delivering them to other plyers on the opposite side; then, after +giving them a sideways motion and twist, the threads were repassed +back between the next adjoining cords, the meshes being thus tied +in the same way as upon pillows by hand. He had then to contrive a +mechanism that should accomplish all these nice and delicate +movements, and to do this cost him no small amount of mental toil. +Long after he said, "The single difficulty of getting the diagonal +threads to twist in the allotted space was so great that if it had +now to be done, I should probably not attempt its accomplishment." +His next step was to provide thin metallic discs, to be used as +bobbins for conducting the threads backwards and forwards through +the warp. These discs, being arranged in carrier-frames placed on +each side of the warp, were moved by suitable machinery so as to +conduct the threads from side to side in forming the lace. He +eventually succeeded in working out his principle with +extraordinary skill and success; and, at the age of twenty-four, he +was enabled to secure his invention by a patent. + +During this time his wife was kept in almost as great anxiety as +himself, for she well knew of his trials and difficulties while he +was striving to perfect his invention. Many years after they had +been successfully overcome, the conversation which took place one +eventful evening was vividly remembered. "Well," said the anxious +wife, "will it work?" "No," was the sad answer; "I have had to +take it all to pieces again." Though he could still speak +hopefully and cheerfully, his poor wife could restrain her feelings +no longer, but sat down and cried bitterly. She had, however, only +a few more weeks to wait, for success long laboured for and richly +deserved, came at last, and a proud and happy man was John +Heathcoat when he brought home the first narrow strip of bobbin-net +made by his machine, and placed it in the hands of his wife. + +As in the case of nearly all inventions which have proved +productive, Heathcoat's rights as a patentee were disputed, and his +claims as an inventor called in question. On the supposed +invalidity of the patent, the lace-makers boldly adopted the +bobbin-net machine, and set the inventor at defiance. But other +patents were taken out for alleged improvements and adaptations; +and it was only when these new patentees fell out and went to law +with each other that Heathcoat's rights became established. One +lace-manufacturer having brought an action against another for an +alleged infringement of his patent, the jury brought in a verdict +for the defendant, in which the judge concurred, on the ground that +BOTH the machines in question were infringements of Heathcoat's +patent. It was on the occasion of this trial, "Boville v. Moore," +that Sir John Copley (afterwards Lord Lyndhurst), who was retained +for the defence in the interest of Mr. Heathcoat, learnt to work +the bobbin-net machine in order that he might master the details of +the invention. On reading over his brief, he confessed that he did +not quite understand the merits of the case; but as it seemed to +him to be one of great importance, he offered to go down into the +country forthwith and study the machine until he understood it; +"and then," said he, "I will defend you to the best of my ability." +He accordingly put himself into that night's mail, and went down to +Nottingham to get up his case as perhaps counsel never got it up +before. Next morning the learned sergeant placed himself in a +lace-loom, and he did not leave it until he could deftly make a +piece of bobbin-net with his own hands, and thoroughly understood +the principle as well as the details of the machine. When the case +came on for trial, the learned sergeant was enabled to work the +model on the table with such case and skill, and to explain the +precise nature of the invention with such felicitous clearness, as +to astonish alike judge, jury, and spectators; and the thorough +conscientiousness and mastery with which he handled the case had no +doubt its influence upon the decision of the court. + +After the trial was over, Mr. Heathcoat, on inquiry, found about +six hundred machines at work after his patent, and he proceeded to +levy royalty upon the owners of them, which amounted to a large +sum. But the profits realised by the manufacturers of lace were +very great, and the use of the machines rapidly extended; while the +price of the article was reduced from five pounds the square yard +to about five pence in the course of twenty-five years. During the +same period the average annual returns of the lace-trade have been +at least four millions sterling, and it gives remunerative +employment to about 150,000 workpeople. + +To return to the personal history of Mr. Heathcoat. In 1809 we +find him established as a lace-manufacturer at Loughborough, in +Leicestershire. There he carried on a prosperous business for +several years, giving employment to a large number of operatives, +at wages varying from 5l. to 10l. a week. Notwithstanding the +great increase in the number of hands employed in lace-making +through the introduction of the new machines, it began to be +whispered about among the workpeople that they were superseding +labour, and an extensive conspiracy was formed for the purpose of +destroying them wherever found. As early as the year 1811 disputes +arose between the masters and men engaged in the stocking and lace +trades in the south-western parts of Nottinghamshire and the +adjacent parts of Derbyshire and Leicestershire, the result of +which was the assembly of a mob at Sutton, in Ashfield, who +proceeded in open day to break the stocking and lace-frames of the +manufacturers. Some of the ringleaders having been seized and +punished, the disaffected learnt caution; but the destruction of +the machines was nevertheless carried on secretly wherever a safe +opportunity presented itself. As the machines were of so delicate +a construction that a single blow of a hammer rendered them +useless, and as the manufacture was carried on for the most part in +detached buildings, often in private dwellings remote from towns, +the opportunities of destroying them were unusually easy. In the +neighbourhood of Nottingham, which was the focus of turbulence, the +machine-breakers organized themselves in regular bodies, and held +nocturnal meetings at which their plans were arranged. Probably +with the view of inspiring confidence, they gave out that they were +under the command of a leader named Ned Ludd, or General Ludd, and +hence their designation of Luddites. Under this organization +machine-breaking was carried on with great vigour during the winter +of 1811, occasioning great distress, and throwing large numbers of +workpeople out of employment. Meanwhile, the owners of the frames +proceeded to remove them from the villages and lone dwellings in +the country, and brought them into warehouses in the towns for +their better protection. + +The Luddites seem to have been encouraged by the lenity of the +sentences pronounced on such of their confederates as had been +apprehended and tried; and, shortly after, the mania broke out +afresh, and rapidly extended over the northern and midland +manufacturing districts. The organization became more secret; an +oath was administered to the members binding them to obedience to +the orders issued by the heads of the confederacy; and the betrayal +of their designs was decreed to be death. All machines were doomed +by them to destruction, whether employed in the manufacture of +cloth, calico, or lace; and a reign of terror began which lasted +for years. In Yorkshire and Lancashire mills were boldly attacked +by armed rioters, and in many cases they were wrecked or burnt; so +that it became necessary to guard them by soldiers and yeomanry. +The masters themselves were doomed to death; many of them were +assaulted, and some were murdered. At length the law was +vigorously set in motion; numbers of the misguided Luddites were +apprehended; some were executed; and after several years' violent +commotion from this cause, the machine-breaking riots were at +length quelled. + +Among the numerous manufacturers whose works were attacked by the +Luddites, was the inventor of the bobbin-net machine himself. One +bright sunny day, in the summer of 1816, a body of rioters entered +his factory at Loughborough with torches, and set fire to it, +destroying thirty-seven lace-machines, and above 10,000l. 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 10,000l. The magistrates sought to +couple with the payment of the damage the condition that Mr. +Heathcoat should expend the money in the county of Leicester; but +to this he would not assent, having already resolved on removing +his manufacture elsewhere. At Tiverton, in Devonshire, he found a +large building which had been formerly used as a woollen +manufactory; but the Tiverton cloth trade having fallen into decay, +the building remained unoccupied, and the town itself was generally +in a very poverty-stricken condition. Mr. Heathcoat bought the old +mill, renovated and enlarged it, and there recommenced the +manufacture of lace upon a larger scale than before; keeping in +full work as many as three hundred machines, and employing a large +number of artisans at good wages. Not only did he carry on the +manufacture of lace, but the various branches of business connected +with it--yarn-doubling, silk-spinning, net-making, and finishing. +He also established at Tiverton an iron-foundry and works for the +manufacture of agricultural implements, which proved of great +convenience to the district. It was a favourite idea of his that +steam power was capable of being applied to perform all the heavy +drudgery of life, and he laboured for a long time at the invention +of a steam-plough. In 1832 he so far completed his invention as to +be enabled to take out a patent for it; and Heathcoat's steam- +plough, though it has since been superseded by Fowler's, was +considered the best machine of the kind that had up to that time +been invented. + +Mr. Heathcoat was a man of great natural gifts. He possessed a +sound understanding, quick perception, and a genius for business of +the highest order. With these he combined uprightness, honesty, +and integrity--qualities which are the true glory of human +character. Himself a diligent self-educator, he gave ready +encouragement to deserving youths in his employment, stimulating +their talents and fostering their energies. During his own busy +life, he contrived to save time to master French and Italian, of +which he acquired an accurate and grammatical knowledge. His mind +was largely stored with the results of a careful study of the best +literature, and there were few subjects on which he had not formed +for himself shrewd and accurate views. The two thousand workpeople +in his employment regarded him almost as a father, and he carefully +provided for their comfort and improvement. Prosperity did not +spoil him, as it does so many; nor close his heart against the +claims of the poor and struggling, who were always sure of his +sympathy and help. To provide for the education of the children of +his workpeople, he built schools for them at a cost of about 6000l. +He was also a man of singularly cheerful and buoyant disposition, a +favourite with men of all classes and most admired and beloved by +those who knew him best. + +In 1831 the electors of Tiverton, of which town Mr. Heathcoat had +proved himself so genuine a benefactor, returned him to represent +them in Parliament, and he continued their member for nearly thirty +years. During a great part of that time he had Lord Palmerston for +his colleague, and the noble lord, on more than one public +occasion, expressed the high regard which he entertained for his +venerable friend. On retiring from the representation in 1859, +owing to advancing age and increasing infirmities, thirteen hundred +of his workmen presented him with a silver inkstand and gold pen, +in token of their esteem. He enjoyed his leisure for only two more +years, dying in January, 1861, at the age of seventy-seven, and +leaving behind him a character for probity, virtue, manliness, and +mechanical genius, of which his descendants may well be proud. + +We next turn to a career of a very different kind, that of the +illustrious but unfortunate Jacquard, whose life also illustrates +in a remarkable manner the influence which ingenious men, even of +the humblest rank, may exercise upon the industry of a nation. +Jacquard was the son of a hard-working couple of Lyons, his father +being a weaver, and his mother a pattern reader. They were too +poor to give him any but the most meagre education. When he was of +age to learn a trade, his father placed him with a book-binder. An +old clerk, who made up the master's accounts, gave Jacquard some +lessons in mathematics. He very shortly began to display a +remarkable turn for mechanics, and some of his contrivances quite +astonished the old clerk, who advised Jacquard's father to put him +to some other trade, in which his peculiar abilities might have +better scope than in bookbinding. He was accordingly put +apprentice to a cutler; but was so badly treated by his master, +that he shortly afterwards left his employment, on which he was +placed with a type-founder. + +His parents dying, Jacquard found himself in a measure compelled to +take to his father's two looms, and carry on the trade of a weaver. +He immediately proceeded to improve the looms, and became so +engrossed with his inventions that he forgot his work, and very +soon found himself at the end of his means. He then sold the looms +to pay his debts, at the same time that he took upon himself the +burden of supporting a wife. He became still poorer, and to +satisfy his creditors, he next sold his cottage. He tried to find +employment, but in vain, people believing him to be an idler, +occupied with mere dreams about his inventions. At length he +obtained employment with a line-maker of Bresse, whither he went, +his wife remaining at Lyons, earning a precarious living by making +straw bonnets. + +We hear nothing further of Jacquard for some years, but in the +interval he seems to have prosecuted his improvement in the +drawloom for the better manufacture of figured fabrics; for, in +1790, he brought out his contrivance for selecting the warp +threads, which, when added to the loom, superseded the services of +a draw-boy. The adoption of this machine was slow but steady, and +in ten years after its introduction, 4000 of them were found at +work in Lyons. Jacquard's pursuits were rudely interrupted by the +Revolution, and, in 1792, we find him fighting in the ranks of the +Lyonnaise Volunteers against the Army of the Convention under the +command of Dubois Crance. The city was taken; Jacquard fled and +joined the Army of the Rhine, where he rose to the rank of +sergeant. He might have remained a soldier, but that, his only son +having been shot dead at his side, he deserted and returned to +Lyons to recover his wife. He found her in a garret still employed +at her old trade of straw-bonnet making. While living in +concealment with her, his mind reverted to the inventions over +which he had so long brooded in former years; but he had no means +wherewith to prosecute them. Jacquard found it necessary, however, +to emerge from his hiding-place and try to find some employment. +He succeeded in obtaining it with an intelligent manufacturer, and +while working by day he went on inventing by night. It had +occurred to him that great improvements might still be introduced +in looms for figured goods, and he incidentally mentioned the +subject one day to his master, regretting at the same time that his +limited means prevented him from carrying out his ideas. Happily +his master appreciated the value of the suggestions, and with +laudable generosity placed a sum of money at his disposal, that he +might prosecute the proposed improvements at his leisure. + +In three months Jacquard had invented a loom to substitute +mechanical action for the irksome and toilsome labour of the +workman. The loom was exhibited at the Exposition of National +Industry at Paris in 1801, and obtained a bronze medal. Jacquard +was further honoured by a visit at Lyons from the Minister Carnot, +who desired to congratulate him in person on the success of his +invention. In the following year the Society of Arts in London +offered a prize for the invention of a machine for manufacturing +fishing-nets and boarding-netting for ships. Jacquard heard of +this, and while walking one day in the fields according to his +custom, he turned the subject over in his mind, and contrived the +plan of a machine for the purpose. His friend, the manufacturer, +again furnished him with the means of carrying out his idea, and in +three weeks Jacquard had completed his invention. + +Jacquard's achievement having come to the knowledge of the Prefect +of the Department, he was summoned before that functionary, and, on +his explanation of the working of the machine, a report on the +subject was forwarded to the Emperor. The inventor was forthwith +summoned to Paris with his machine, and brought into the presence +of the Emperor, who received him with the consideration due to his +genius. The interview lasted two hours, during which Jacquard, +placed at his ease by the Emperor's affability, explained to him +the improvements which he proposed to make in the looms for weaving +figured goods. The result was, that he was provided with +apartments in the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers, where he had +the use of the workshop during his stay, and was provided with a +suitable allowance for his maintenance. + +Installed in the Conservatoire, Jacquard proceeded to complete the +details of his improved loom. He had the advantage of minutely +inspecting the various exquisite pieces of mechanism contained in +that great treasury of human ingenuity. Among the machines which +more particularly attracted his attention, and eventually set him +upon the track of his discovery, was a loom for weaving flowered +silk, made by Vaucanson the celebrated automaton-maker. + +Vaucanson was a man of the highest order of constructive genius. +The inventive faculty was so strong in him that it may almost be +said to have amounted to a passion, and could not be restrained. +The saying that the poet is born, not made, applies with equal +force to the inventor, who, though indebted, like the other, to +culture and improved opportunities, nevertheless contrives and +constructs new combinations of machinery mainly to gratify his own +instinct. This was peculiarly the case with Vaucanson; for his +most elaborate works were not so much distinguished for their +utility as for the curious ingenuity which they displayed. While a +mere boy attending Sunday conversations with his mother, he amused +himself by watching, through the chinks of a partition wall, part +of the movements of a clock in the adjoining apartment. He +endeavoured to understand them, and by brooding over the subject, +after several months he discovered the principle of the escapement. + +From that time the subject of mechanical invention took complete +possession of him. With some rude tools which he contrived, he +made a wooden clock that marked the hours with remarkable +exactness; while he made for a miniature chapel the figures of some +angels which waved their wings, and some priests that made several +ecclesiastical movements. With the view of executing some other +automata he had designed, he proceeded to study anatomy, music, and +mechanics, which occupied him for several years. The sight of the +Flute-player in the Gardens of the Tuileries inspired him with the +resolution to invent a similar figure that should PLAY; and after +several years' study and labour, though struggling with illness, he +succeeded in accomplishing his object. He next produced a +Flageolet-player, which was succeeded by a Duck--the most ingenious +of his contrivances,--which swam, dabbled, drank, and quacked like +a real duck. He next invented an asp, employed in the tragedy of +'Cleopatre,' which hissed and darted at the bosom of the actress. + +Vaucanson, however, did not confine himself merely to the making of +automata. By reason of his ingenuity, Cardinal de Fleury appointed +him inspector of the silk manufactories of France; and he was no +sooner in office, than with his usual irrepressible instinct to +invent, he proceeded to introduce improvements in silk machinery. +One of these was his mill for thrown silk, which so excited the +anger of the Lyons operatives, who feared the loss of employment +through its means, that they pelted him with stones and had nearly +killed him. He nevertheless went on inventing, and next produced a +machine for weaving flowered silks, with a contrivance for giving a +dressing to the thread, so as to render that of each bobbin or +skein of an equal thickness. + +When Vaucanson died in 1782, after a long illness, he bequeathed +his collection of machines to the Queen, who seems to have set but +small value on them, and they were shortly after dispersed. But +his machine for weaving flowered silks was happily preserved in the +Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers, and there Jacquard found it +among the many curious and interesting articles in the collection. +It proved of the utmost value to him, for it immediately set him on +the track of the principal modification which he introduced in his +improved loom. + +One of the chief features of Vaucanson's machine was a pierced +cylinder which, according to the holes it presented when revolved, +regulated the movement of certain needles, and caused the threads +of the warp to deviate in such a manner as to produce a given +design, though only of a simple character. Jacquard seized upon +the suggestion with avidity, and, with the genius of the true +inventor, at once proceeded to improve upon it. At the end of a +month his weaving-machine was completed. To the cylinder of +Vancanson, he added an endless piece of pasteboard pierced with a +number of holes, through which the threads of the warp were +presented to the weaver; while another piece of mechanism indicated +to the workman the colour of the shuttle which he ought to throw. +Thus the drawboy and the reader of designs were both at once +superseded. The first use Jacquard made of his new loom was to +weave with it several yards of rich stuff which he presented to the +Empress Josephine. Napoleon was highly gratified with the result +of the inventor's labours, and ordered a number of the looms to be +constructed by the best workmen, after Jacquard's model, and +presented to him; after which he returned to Lyons. + +There he experienced the frequent fate of inventors. He was +regarded by his townsmen as an enemy, and treated by them as Kay, +Hargreaves, and Arkwright had been in Lancashire. The workmen +looked upon the new loom as fatal to their trade, and feared lest +it should at once take the bread from their mouths. A tumultuous +meeting was held on the Place des Terreaux, when it was determined +to destroy the machines. This was however prevented by the +military. But Jacquard was denounced and hanged in effigy. The +'Conseil des prud'hommes' in vain endeavoured to allay the +excitement, and they were themselves denounced. At length, carried +away by the popular impulse, the prud'hommes, most of whom had been +workmen and sympathized with the class, had one of Jacquard's looms +carried off and publicly broken in pieces. Riots followed, in one +of which Jacquard was dragged along the quay by an infuriated mob +intending to drown him, but he was rescued. + +The great value of the Jacquard loom, however, could not be denied, +and its success was only a question of time. Jacquard was urged by +some English silk manufacturers to pass over into England and +settle there. But notwithstanding the harsh and cruel treatment he +had received at the hands of his townspeople, his patriotism was +too strong to permit him to accept their offer. The English +manufacturers, however, adopted his loom. Then it was, and only +then, that Lyons, threatened to be beaten out of the field, adopted +it with eagerness; and before long the Jacquard machine was +employed in nearly all kinds of weaving. The result proved that +the fears of the workpeople had been entirely unfounded. Instead +of diminishing employment, the Jacquard loom increased it at least +tenfold. The number of persons occupied in the manufacture of +figured goods in Lyons, was stated by M. Leon Faucher to have been +60,000 in 1833; and that number has since been considerably +increased. + +As for Jacquard himself, the rest of his life passed peacefully, +excepting that the workpeople who dragged him along the quay to +drown him were shortly after found eager to bear him in triumph +along the same route in celebration of his birthday. But his +modesty would not permit him to take part in such a demonstration. +The Municipal Council of Lyons proposed to him that he should +devote himself to improving his machine for the benefit of the +local industry, to which Jacquard agreed in consideration of a +moderate pension, the amount of which was fixed by himself. After +perfecting his invention accordingly, he retired at sixty to end +his days at Oullins, his father's native place. It was there that +he received, in 1820, the decoration of the Legion of Honour; and +it was there that he died and was buried in 1834. A statue was +erected to his memory, but his relatives remained in poverty; and +twenty years after his death, his two nieces were under the +necessity of selling for a few hundred francs the gold medal +bestowed upon their uncle by Louis XVIII. "Such," says a French +writer, "was the gratitude of the manufacturing interests of Lyons +to the man to whom it owes so large a portion of its splendour." + +It would be easy to extend the martyrology of inventors, and to +cite the names of other equally distinguished men who have, without +any corresponding advantage to themselves, contributed to the +industrial progress of the age,--for it has too often happened that +genius has planted the tree, of which patient dulness has gathered +the fruit; but we will confine ourselves for the present to a brief +account of an inventor of comparatively recent date, by way of +illustration of the difficulties and privations which it is so +frequently the lot of mechanical genius to surmount. We allude to +Joshua Heilmann, the inventor of the Combing Machine. + +Heilmann was born in 1796 at Mulhouse, the principal seat of the +Alsace cotton manufacture. His father was engaged in that +business; and Joshua entered his office at fifteen. He remained +there for two years, employing his spare time in mechanical +drawing. He afterwards spent two years in his uncle's banking- +house in Paris, prosecuting the study of mathematics in the +evenings. Some of his relatives having established a small cotton- +spinning factory at Mulhouse, young Heilmann was placed with +Messrs. Tissot and Rey, at Paris, to learn the practice of that +firm. At the same time he became a student at the Conservatoire +des Arts et Metiers, where he attended the lectures, and studied +the machines in the museum. He also took practical lessons in +turning from a toymaker. After some time, thus diligently +occupied, he returned to Alsace, to superintend the construction of +the machinery for the new factory at Vieux-Thann, which was shortly +finished and set to work. The operations of the manufactory were, +however, seriously affected by a commercial crisis which occurred, +and it passed into other hands, on which Heilmann returned to his +family at Mulhouse. + +He had in the mean time been occupying much of his leisure with +inventions, more particularly in connection with the weaving of +cotton and the preparation of the staple for spinning. One of his +earliest contrivances was an embroidering-machine, in which twenty +needles were employed, working simultaneously; and he succeeded in +accomplishing his object after about six months' labour. For this +invention, which he exhibited at the Exposition of 1834, he +received a gold medal, and was decorated with the Legion of Honour. +Other inventions quickly followed--an improved loom, a machine for +measuring and folding fabrics, an improvement of the "bobbin and +fly frames" of the English spinners, and a weft winding-machine, +with various improvements in the machinery for preparing, spinning, +and weaving silk and cotton. One of his most ingenious +contrivances was his loom for weaving simultaneously two pieces of +velvet or other piled fabric, united by the pile common to both, +with a knife and traversing apparatus for separating the two +fabrics when woven. But by far the most beautiful and ingenious of +his inventions was the combing-machine, the history of which we now +proceed shortly to describe. + +Heilmann had for some years been diligently studying the +contrivance of a machine for combing long-stapled cotton, the +ordinary carding-machine being found ineffective in preparing the +raw material for spinning, especially the finer sorts of yarn, +besides causing considerable waste. To avoid these imperfections, +the cotton-spinners of Alsace offered a prize of 5000 francs for an +improved combing-machine, and Heilmann immediately proceeded to +compete for the reward. He was not stimulated by the desire of +gain, for he was comparatively rich, having acquired a considerable +fortune by his wife. It was a saying of his that "one will never +accomplish great things who is constantly asking himself, how much +gain will this bring me?" What mainly impelled him was the +irrepressible instinct of the inventor, who no sooner has a +mechanical problem set before him than he feels impelled to +undertake its solution. The problem in this case was, however, +much more difficult than he had anticipated. The close study of +the subject occupied him for several years, and the expenses in +which he became involved in connection with it were so great, that +his wife's fortune was shortly swallowed up, and he was reduced to +poverty, without being able to bring his machine to perfection. +From that time he was under the necessity of relying mainly on the +help of his friends to enable him to prosecute the invention. + +While still struggling with poverty and difficulties, Heilmann's +wife died, believing her husband ruined; and shortly after he +proceeded to England and settled for a time at Manchester, still +labouring at his machine. He had a model made for him by the +eminent machine-makers, Sharpe, Roberts, and Company; but still he +could not make it work satisfactorily, and he was at length brought +almost to the verge of despair. He returned to France to visit his +family, still pursuing his idea, which had obtained complete +possession of his mind. While sitting by his hearth one evening, +meditating upon the hard fate of inventors and the misfortunes in +which their families so often become involved, he found himself +almost unconsciously watching his daughters coming their long hair +and drawing it out at full length between their fingers. The +thought suddenly struck him that if he could successfully imitate +in a machine the process of combing out the longest hair and +forcing back the short by reversing the action of the comb, it +might serve to extricate him from his difficulty. It may be +remembered that this incident in the life of Heilmann has been made +the subject of a beautiful picture by Mr. Elmore, R.A., which was +exhibited at the Royal Academy Exhibition of 1862. + +Upon this idea he proceeded, introduced the apparently simple but +really most intricate process of machine-combing, and after great +labour he succeeded in perfecting the invention. The singular +beauty of the process can only be appreciated by those who have +witnessed the machine at work, when the similarity of its movements +to that of combing the hair, which suggested the invention, is at +once apparent. The machine has been described as "acting with +almost the delicacy of touch of the human fingers." It combs the +lock of cotton AT BOTH ENDS, places the fibres exactly parallel +with each other, separates the long from the short, and unites the +long fibres in one sliver and the short ones in another. In fine, +the machine not only acts with the delicate accuracy of the human +fingers, but apparently with the delicate intelligence of the human +mind. + +The chief commercial value of the invention consisted in its +rendering the commoner sorts of cotton available for fine spinning. +The manufacturers were thereby enabled to select the most suitable +fibres for high-priced fabrics, and to produce the finer sorts of +yarn in much larger quantities. It became possible by its means to +make thread so fine that a length of 334 miles might be spun from a +single pound weight of the prepared cotton, and, worked up into the +finer sorts of lace, the original shilling's worth of cotton-wool, +before it passed into the hands of the consumer, might thus be +increased to the value of between 300l. and 400l. sterling. + +The beauty and utility of Heilmann's invention were at once +appreciated by the English cotton-spinners. Six Lancashire firms +united and purchased the patent for cotton-spinning for England for +the sum of 30,000l; the wool-spinners paid the same sum for the +privilege of applying the process to wool; and the Messrs. +Marshall, of Leeds, 20,000l. for the privilege of applying it to +flax. Thus wealth suddenly flowed in upon poor Heilmann at last. +But he did not live to enjoy it. Scarcely had his long labours +been crowned by success than he died, and his son, who had shared +in his privations, shortly followed him. + +It is at the price of lives such as these that the wonders of +civilisation are achieved. + + + +CHAPTER III--THE GREAT POTTERS--PALISSY, BOTTGHER, WEDGWOOD + + + +"Patience is the finest and worthiest part of fortitude, and the +rarest too . . . Patience lies at the root of all pleasures, as +well as of all powers. Hope herself ceases to be happiness when +Impatience companions her."--John Ruskin. + +"Il y a vingt et cinq ans passez qu'il ne me fut monstre une coupe +de terre, tournee et esmaillee d'une telle beaute que . . . +deslors, sans avoir esgard que je n'avois nulle connoissance des +terres argileuses, je me mis a chercher les emaux, comme un homme +qui taste en tenebres."--Bernard Palissy. + + +It so happens that the history of Pottery furnishes some of the +most remarkable instances of patient perseverance to be found in +the whole range of biography. Of these we select three of the most +striking, as exhibited in the lives of Bernard Palissy, the +Frenchman; Johann Friedrich Bottgher, the German; and Josiah +Wedgwood, the Englishman. + +Though the art of making common vessels of clay was known to most +of the ancient nations, that of manufacturing enamelled earthenware +was much less common. It was, however, practised by the ancient +Etruscans, specimens of whose ware are still to be found in +antiquarian collections. But it became a lost art, and was only +recovered at a comparatively recent date. The Etruscan ware was +very valuable in ancient times, a vase being worth its weight in +gold in the time of Augustus. The Moors seem to have preserved +amongst them a knowledge of the art, which they were found +practising in the island of Majorca when it was taken by the Pisans +in 1115. Among the spoil carried away were many plates of Moorish +earthenware, which, in token of triumph, were embedded in the walls +of several of the ancient churches of Pisa, where they are to be +seen to this day. About two centuries later the Italians began to +make an imitation enamelled ware, which they named Majolica, after +the Moorish place of manufacture. + +The reviver or re-discoverer of the art of enamelling in Italy was +Luca della Robbia, a Florentine sculptor. Vasari describes him as +a man of indefatigable perseverance, working with his chisel all +day and practising drawing during the greater part of the night. +He pursued the latter art with so much assiduity, that when working +late, to prevent his feet from freezing with the cold, he was +accustomed to provide himself with a basket of shavings, in which +he placed them to keep himself warm and enable him to proceed with +his drawings. "Nor," says Vasari, "am I in the least astonished at +this, since no man ever becomes distinguished in any art whatsoever +who does not early begin to acquire the power of supporting heat, +cold, hunger, thirst, and other discomforts; whereas those persons +deceive themselves altogether who suppose that when taking their +ease and surrounded by all the enjoyments of the world they may +still attain to honourable distinction,--for it is not by sleeping, +but by waking, watching, and labouring continually, that +proficiency is attained and reputation acquired." + +But Luca, notwithstanding all his application and industry, did not +succeed in earning enough money by sculpture to enable him to live +by the art, and the idea occurred to him that he might nevertheless +be able to pursue his modelling in some material more facile and +less dear than marble. Hence it was that he began to make his +models in clay, and to endeavour by experiment so to coat and bake +the clay as to render those models durable. After many trials he +at length discovered a method of covering the clay with a material, +which, when exposed to the intense heat of a furnace, became +converted into an almost imperishable enamel. He afterwards made +the further discovery of a method of imparting colour to the +enamel, thus greatly adding to its beauty. + +The fame of Luca's work extended throughout Europe, and specimens +of his art became widely diffused. Many of them were sent into +France and Spain, where they were greatly prized. At that time +coarse brown jars and pipkins were almost the only articles of +earthenware produced in France; and this continued to be the case, +with comparatively small improvement, until the time of Palissy--a +man who toiled and fought against stupendous difficulties with a +heroism that sheds a glow almost of romance over the events of his +chequered life. + +Bernard Palissy is supposed to have been born in the south of +France, in the diocese of Agen, about the year 1510. His father +was probably a worker in glass, to which trade Bernard was brought +up. His parents were poor people--too poor to give him the benefit +of any school education. "I had no other books," said he +afterwards, "than heaven and earth, which are open to all." He +learnt, however, the art of glass-painting, to which he added that +of drawing, and afterwards reading and writing. + +When about eighteen years old, the glass trade becoming decayed, +Palissy left his father's house, with his wallet on his back, and +went out into the world to search whether there was any place in it +for him. He first travelled towards Gascony, working at his trade +where he could find employment, and occasionally occupying part of +his time in land-measuring. Then he travelled northwards, +sojourning for various periods at different places in France, +Flanders, and Lower Germany. + +Thus Palissy occupied about ten more years of his life, after which +he married, and ceased from his wanderings, settling down to +practise glass-painting and land-measuring at the small town of +Saintes, in the Lower Charente. There children were born to him; +and not only his responsibilities but his expenses increased, +while, do what he could, his earnings remained too small for his +needs. It was therefore necessary for him to bestir himself. +Probably he felt capable of better things than drudging in an +employment so precarious as glass-painting; and hence he was +induced to turn his attention to the kindred art of painting and +enamelling earthenware. Yet on this subject he was wholly +ignorant; for he had never seen earth baked before he began his +operations. He had therefore everything to learn by himself, +without any helper. But he was full of hope, eager to learn, of +unbounded perseverance and inexhaustible patience. + +It was the sight of an elegant cup of Italian manufacture--most +probably one of Luca della Robbia's make--which first set Palissy +a-thinking about the new art. A circumstance so apparently +insignificant would have produced no effect upon an ordinary mind, +or even upon Palissy himself at an ordinary time; but occurring as +it did when he was meditating a change of calling, he at once +became inflamed with the desire of imitating it. The sight of this +cup disturbed his whole existence; and the determination to +discover the enamel with which it was glazed thenceforward +possessed him like a passion. Had he been a single man he might +have travelled into Italy in search of the secret; but he was bound +to his wife and his children, and could not leave them; so he +remained by their side groping in the dark in the hope of finding +out the process of making and enamelling earthenware. + +At first he could merely guess the materials of which the enamel +was composed; and he proceeded to try all manner of experiments to +ascertain what they really were. He pounded all the substances +which he supposed were likely to produce it. Then he bought common +earthen pots, broke them into pieces, and, spreading his compounds +over them, subjected them to the heat of a furnace which he erected +for the purpose of baking them. His experiments failed; and the +results were broken pots and a waste of fuel, drugs, time, and +labour. Women do not readily sympathise with experiments whose +only tangible effect is to dissipate the means of buying clothes +and food for their children; and Palissy's wife, however dutiful in +other respects, could not be reconciled to the purchase of more +earthen pots, which seemed to her to be bought only to be broken. +Yet she must needs submit; for Palissy had become thoroughly +possessed by the determination to master the secret of the enamel, +and would not leave it alone. + +For many successive months and years Palissy pursued his +experiments. The first furnace having proved a failure, he +proceeded to erect another out of doors. There he burnt more wood, +spoiled more drugs and pots, and lost more time, until poverty +stared him and his family in the face. "Thus," said he, "I fooled +away several years, with sorrow and sighs, because I could not at +all arrive at my intention." In the intervals of his experiments +he occasionally worked at his former callings, painting on glass, +drawing portraits, and measuring land; but his earnings from these +sources were very small. At length he was no longer able to carry +on his experiments in his own furnace because of the heavy cost of +fuel; but he bought more potsherds, broke them up as before into +three or four hundred pieces, and, covering them with chemicals, +carried them to a tile-work a league and a half distant from +Saintes, there to be baked in an ordinary furnace. After the +operation he went to see the pieces taken out; and, to his dismay, +the whole of the experiments were failures. But though +disappointed, he was not yet defeated; for he determined on the +very spot to "begin afresh." + +His business as a land-measurer called him away for a brief season +from the pursuit of his experiments. In conformity with an edict +of the State, it became necessary to survey the salt-marshes in the +neighbourhood of Saintes for the purpose of levying the land-tax. +Palissy was employed to make this survey, and prepare the requisite +map. The work occupied him some time, and he was doubtless well +paid for it; but no sooner was it completed than he proceeded, with +redoubled zeal, to follow up his old investigations "in the track +of the enamels." He began by breaking three dozen new earthen +pots, the pieces of which he covered with different materials which +he had compounded, and then took them to a neighbouring glass- +furnace to be baked. The results gave him a glimmer of hope. The +greater heat of the glass-furnace had melted some of the compounds; +but though Palissy searched diligently for the white enamel he +could find none. + +For two more years he went on experimenting without any +satisfactory result, until the proceeds of his survey of the salt- +marshes having become nearly spent, he was reduced to poverty +again. But he resolved to make a last great effort; and he began +by breaking more pots than ever. More than three hundred pieces of +pottery covered with his compounds were sent to the glass-furnace; +and thither he himself went to watch the results of the baking. +Four hours passed, during which he watched; and then the furnace +was opened. The material on ONE only of the three hundred pieces +of potsherd had melted, and it was taken out to cool. As it +hardened, it grew white-white and polished! The piece of potsherd +was covered with white enamel, described by Palissy as "singularly +beautiful!" And beautiful it must no doubt have been in his eyes +after all his weary waiting. He ran home with it to his wife, +feeling himself, as he expressed it, quite a new creature. But the +prize was not yet won--far from it. The partial success of this +intended last effort merely had the effect of luring him on to a +succession of further experiments and failures. + +In order that he might complete the invention, which he now +believed to be at hand, he resolved to build for himself a glass- +furnace near his dwelling, where he might carry on his operations +in secret. He proceeded to build the furnace with his own hands, +carrying the bricks from the brick-field upon his back. He was +bricklayer, labourer, and all. From seven to eight more months +passed. At last the furnace was built and ready for use. Palissy +had in the mean time fashioned a number of vessels of clay in +readiness for the laying on of the enamel. After being subjected +to a preliminary process of baking, they were covered with the +enamel compound, and again placed in the furnace for the grand +crucial experiment. Although his means were nearly exhausted, +Palissy had been for some time accumulating a great store of fuel +for the final effort; and he thought it was enough. At last the +fire was lit, and the operation proceeded. All day he sat by the +furnace, feeding it with fuel. He sat there watching and feeding +all through the long night. But the enamel did not melt. The sun +rose upon his labours. His wife brought him a portion of the +scanty morning meal,--for he would not stir from the furnace, into +which he continued from time to time to heave more fuel. The +second day passed, and still the enamel did not melt. The sun set, +and another night passed. The pale, haggard, unshorn, baffled yet +not beaten Palissy sat by his furnace eagerly looking for the +melting of the enamel. A third day and night passed--a fourth, a +fifth, and even a sixth,--yes, for six long days and nights did the +unconquerable Palissy watch and toil, fighting against hope; and +still the enamel would not melt. + +It then occurred to him that there might be some defect in the +materials for the enamel--perhaps something wanting in the flux; so +he set to work to pound and compound fresh materials for a new +experiment. Thus two or three more weeks passed. But how to buy +more pots?--for those which he had made with his own hands for the +purposes of the first experiment were by long baking irretrievably +spoilt for the purposes of a second. His money was now all spent; +but he could borrow. His character was still good, though his wife +and the neighbours thought him foolishly wasting his means in +futile experiments. Nevertheless he succeeded. He borrowed +sufficient from a friend to enable him to buy more fuel and more +pots, and he was again ready for a further experiment. The pots +were covered with the new compound, placed in the furnace, and the +fire was again lit. + +It was the last and most desperate experiment of the whole. The +fire blazed up; the heat became intense; but still the enamel did +not melt. The fuel began to run short! How to keep up the fire? +There were the garden palings: these would burn. They must be +sacrificed rather than that the great experiment should fail. The +garden palings were pulled up and cast into the furnace. They were +burnt in vain! The enamel had not yet melted. Ten minutes more +heat might do it. Fuel must be had at whatever cost. There +remained the household furniture and shelving. A crashing noise +was heard in the house; and amidst the screams of his wife and +children, who now feared Palissy's reason was giving way, the +tables were seized, broken up, and heaved into the furnace. The +enamel had not melted yet! There remained the shelving. Another +noise of the wrenching of timber was heard within the house; and +the shelves were torn down and hurled after the furniture into the +fire. Wife and children then rushed from the house, and went +frantically through the town, calling out that poor Palissy had +gone mad, and was breaking up his very furniture for firewood! {10} + +For an entire month his shirt had not been off his back, and he was +utterly worn out--wasted with toil, anxiety, watching, and want of +food. He was in debt, and seemed on the verge of ruin. But he had +at length mastered the secret; for the last great burst of heat had +melted the enamel. The common brown household jars, when taken out +of the furnace after it had become cool, were found covered with a +white glaze! For this he could endure reproach, contumely, and +scorn, and wait patiently for the opportunity of putting his +discovery into practice as better days came round. + +Palissy next hired a potter to make some earthen vessels after +designs which he furnished; while he himself proceeded to model +some medallions in clay for the purpose of enamelling them. But +how to maintain himself and his family until the wares were made +and ready for sale? Fortunately there remained one man in Saintes +who still believed in the integrity, if not in the judgment, of +Palissy--an inn-keeper, who agreed to feed and lodge him for six +months, while he went on with his manufacture. As for the working +potter whom he had hired, Palissy soon found that he could not pay +him the stipulated wages. Having already stripped his dwelling, he +could but strip himself; and he accordingly parted with some of his +clothes to the potter, in part payment of the wages which he owed +him. + +Palissy next erected an improved furnace, but he was so unfortunate +as to build part of the inside with flints. When it was heated, +these flints cracked and burst, and the spiculae were scattered +over the pieces of pottery, sticking to them. Though the enamel +came out right, the work was irretrievably spoilt, and thus six +more months' labour was lost. Persons were found willing to buy +the articles at a low price, notwithstanding the injury they had +sustained; but Palissy would not sell them, considering that to +have done so would be to "decry and abate his honour;" and so he +broke in pieces the entire batch. "Nevertheless," says he, "hope +continued to inspire me, and I held on manfully; sometimes, when +visitors called, I entertained them with pleasantry, while I was +really sad at heart. . . . Worst of all the sufferings I had to +endure, were the mockeries and persecutions of those of my own +household, who were so unreasonable as to expect me to execute work +without the means of doing so. For years my furnaces were without +any covering or protection, and while attending them I have been +for nights at the mercy of the wind and the rain, without help or +consolation, save it might be the wailing of cats on the one side +and the howling of dogs on the other. Sometimes the tempest would +beat so furiously against the furnaces that I was compelled to +leave them and seek shelter within doors. Drenched by rain, and in +no better plight than if I had been dragged through mire, I have +gone to lie down at midnight or at daybreak, stumbling into the +house without a light, and reeling from one side to another as if I +had been drunken, but really weary with watching and filled with +sorrow at the loss of my labour after such long toiling. But alas! +my home proved no refuge; for, drenched and besmeared as I was, I +found in my chamber a second persecution worse than the first, +which makes me even now marvel that I was not utterly consumed by +my many sorrows." + +At this stage of his affairs, Palissy became melancholy and almost +hopeless, and seems to have all but broken down. He wandered +gloomily about the fields near Saintes, his clothes hanging in +tatters, and himself worn to a skeleton. In a curious passage in +his writings he describes how that the calves of his legs had +disappeared and were no longer able with the help of garters to +hold up his stockings, which fell about his heels when he walked. +{11} The family continued to reproach him for his recklessness, +and his neighbours cried shame upon him for his obstinate folly. +So he returned for a time to his former calling; and after about a +year's diligent labour, during which he earned bread for his +household and somewhat recovered his character among his +neighbours, he again resumed his darling enterprise. But though he +had already spent about ten years in the search for the enamel, it +cost him nearly eight more years of experimental plodding before he +perfected his invention. He gradually learnt dexterity and +certainty of result by experience, gathering practical knowledge +out of many failures. Every mishap was a fresh lesson to him, +teaching him something new about the nature of enamels, the +qualities of argillaceous earths, the tempering of clays, and the +construction and management of furnaces. + +At last, after about sixteen years' labour, Palissy took heart and +called himself Potter. These sixteen years had been his term of +apprenticeship to the art; during which he had wholly to teach +himself, beginning at the very beginning. He was now able to sell +his wares and thereby maintain his family in comfort. But he never +rested satisfied with what he had accomplished. He proceeded from +one step of improvement to another; always aiming at the greatest +perfection possible. He studied natural objects for patterns, and +with such success that the great Buffon spoke of him as "so great a +naturalist as Nature only can produce." His ornamental pieces are +now regarded as rare gems in the cabinets of virtuosi, and sell at +almost fabulous prices. {12} The ornaments on them are for the +most part accurate models from life, of wild animals, lizards, and +plants, found in the fields about Saintes, and tastefully combined +as ornaments into the texture of a plate or vase. When Palissy had +reached the height of his art he styled himself "Ouvrier de Terre +et Inventeur des Rustics Figulines." + +We have not, however, come to an end of the sufferings of Palissy, +respecting which a few words remain to be said. Being a +Protestant, at a time when religious persecution waxed hot in the +south of France, and expressing his views without fear, he was +regarded as a dangerous heretic. His enemies having informed +against him, his house at Saintes was entered by the officers of +"justice," and his workshop was thrown open to the rabble, who +entered and smashed his pottery, while he himself was hurried off +by night and cast into a dungeon at Bordeaux, to wait his turn at +the stake or the scaffold. He was condemned to be burnt; but a +powerful noble, the Constable de Montmorency, interposed to save +his life--not because he had any special regard for Palissy or his +religion, but because no other artist could be found capable of +executing the enamelled pavement for his magnificent chateau 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 {13} +while so occupied. + +Besides carrying on the manufacture of pottery, with the aid of his +two sons, Palissy, during the latter part of his life, wrote and +published several books on the potter's art, with a view to the +instruction of his countrymen, and in order that they might avoid +the many mistakes which he himself had made. He also wrote on +agriculture, on fortification, and natural history, on which latter +subject he even delivered lectures to a limited number of persons. +He waged war against astrology, alchemy, witchcraft, and like +impostures. This stirred up against him many enemies, who pointed +the finger at him as a heretic, and he was again arrested for his +religion and imprisoned in the Bastille. He was now an old man of +seventy-eight, trembling on the verge of the grave, but his spirit +was as brave as ever. He was threatened with death unless he +recanted; but he was as obstinate in holding to his religion as he +had been in hunting out the secret of the enamel. The king, Henry +III., even went to see him in prison to induce him to abjure his +faith. "My good man," said the King, "you have now served my +mother and myself for forty-five years. We have put up with your +adhering to your religion amidst fires and massacres: now I am so +pressed by the Guise party as well as by my own people, that I am +constrained to leave you in the hands of your enemies, and to- +morrow you will be burnt unless you become converted." "Sire," +answered the unconquerable old man, "I am ready to give my life for +the glory of God. You have said many times that you have pity on +me; and now I have pity on you, who have pronounced the words _I_ +AM CONSTRAINED! It is not spoken like a king, sire; it is what +you, and those who constrain you, the Guisards and all your people, +can never effect upon me, for I know how to die." {14} 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. {15} + +The life of John Frederick Bottgher, 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. Bottgher 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, Bottgher 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 +Zorn, and by some trick or other succeeded in making him and +several other witnesses believe that he had actually converted +copper into gold. + +The news spread abroad that the apothecary's apprentice had +discovered the grand secret, and crowds collected about the shop to +get a sight of the wonderful young "gold-cook." The king himself +expressed a wish to see and converse with him, and when Frederick +I. was presented with a piece of the gold pretended to have been +converted from copper, he was so dazzled with the prospect of +securing an infinite quantity of it--Prussia being then in great +straits for money--that he determined to secure Bottgher and employ +him to make gold for him within the strong fortress of Spandau. +But the young apothecary, suspecting the king's intention, and +probably fearing detection, at once resolved on flight, and he +succeeded in getting across the frontier into Saxony. + +A reward of a thousand thalers was offered for Bottgher'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. Bottgher 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: +Bottgher had already arrived in Dresden, where he was lodged in the +Golden House, and treated with every consideration, though strictly +watched and kept under guard. + +The Elector, however, must needs leave him there for a time, having +to depart forthwith to Poland, then almost in a state of anarchy. +But, impatient for gold, he wrote Bottgher 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 Furst +von Furstenburg, 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 Bottgher. But the result was unsatisfactory; for +notwithstanding all that they could do, the copper obstinately +remained copper. On referring to the alchemist's instructions, +however, the King found that, to succeed with the process, it was +necessary that the fluid should be used "in great purity of heart;" +and as his Majesty was conscious of having spent the evening in +very bad company he attributed the failure of the experiment to +that cause. A second trial was followed by no better results, and +then the King became furious; for he had confessed and received +absolution before beginning the second experiment. + +Frederick Augustus now resolved on forcing Bottgher 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 Koningstein. It was communicated to him +that the royal exchequer was completely empty, and that ten +regiments of Poles in arrears of pay were waiting for his gold. +The King himself visited him, and told him in a severe tone that if +he did not at once proceed to make gold, he would be hung! ("Thu +mir zurecht, Bottgher, sonst lass ich dich hangen"). + +Years passed, and still Bottgher 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. Bottgher 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 Furstenburg +as well as by the Elector. He very sensibly said to Bottgher, +still in fear of the gallows--"If you can't make gold, try and do +something else; make porcelain." + +The alchemist acted on the hint, and began his experiments, working +night and day. He prosecuted his investigations for a long time +with great assiduity, but without success. At length some red +clay, brought to him for the purpose of making his crucibles, set +him on the right track. He found that this clay, when submitted to +a high temperature, became vitrified and retained its shape; and +that its texture resembled that of porcelain, excepting in colour +and opacity. He had in fact accidentally discovered red porcelain, +and he proceeded to manufacture it and sell it as porcelain. + +Bottgher 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. Bottgher's quick imagination immediately seized upon the +idea. This white earthy powder might possibly be the very earth of +which he was in search--at all events the opportunity must not be +let slip of ascertaining what it really was. He was rewarded for +his painstaking care and watchfulness; for he found, on experiment, +that the principal ingredient of the hair-powder consisted of +kaolin, the want of which had so long formed an insuperable +difficulty in the way of his inquiries. + +The discovery, in Bottgher'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 Bottgher should +be furnished with the means necessary for perfecting his invention. +Having obtained a skilled workman from Delft, he began to TURN +porcelain with great success. He now entirely abandoned alchemy +for pottery, and inscribed over the door of his workshop this +distich:- + + +"Es machte Gott, der grosse Schopfer, +Aus einem Goldmacher einen Topfer." {16} + + +Bottgher, 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. + +Bottgher's further experiments with his new furnaces proving very +successful, and the porcelain which he manufactured being found to +fetch large prices, it was next determined to establish a Royal +Manufactory of porcelain. The manufacture of delft ware was known +to have greatly enriched Holland. Why should not the manufacture +of porcelain equally enrich the Elector? Accordingly, a decree +went forth, dated the 23rd of January, 1710, for the establishment +of "a large manufactory of porcelain" at the Albrechtsburg in +Meissen. In this decree, which was translated into Latin, French, +and Dutch, and distributed by the Ambassadors of the Elector at all +the European Courts, Frederick Augustus set forth that to promote +the welfare of Saxony, which had suffered much through the Swedish +invasion, he had "directed his attention to the subterranean +treasures (unterirdischen Schatze)" of the country, and having +employed some able persons in the investigation, they had succeeded +in manufacturing "a sort of red vessels (eine Art rother Gefasse) +far superior to the Indian terra sigillata;" {17} as also "coloured +ware and plates (buntes Geschirr und Tafeln) which may be cut, +ground, and polished, and are quite equal to Indian vessels," and +finally that "specimens of white porcelain (Proben von weissem +Porzellan)" had already been obtained, and it was hoped that this +quality, too, would soon be manufactured in considerable +quantities. The royal decree concluded by inviting "foreign +artists and handicraftmen" to come to Saxony and engage as +assistants in the new factory, at high wages, and under the +patronage of the King. This royal edict probably gives the best +account of the actual state of Bottgher's invention at the time. + +It has been stated in German publications that Bottgher, for the +great services rendered by him to the Elector and to Saxony, was +made Manager of the Royal Porcelain Works, and further promoted to +the dignity of Baron. Doubtless he deserved these honours; but his +treatment was of an altogether different character, for it was +shabby, cruel, and inhuman. Two royal officials, named Matthieu +and Nehmitz, were put over his head as directors of the factory, +while he himself only held the position of foreman of potters, and +at the same time was detained the King's prisoner. During the +erection of the factory at Meissen, while his assistance was still +indispensable, he was conducted by soldiers to and from Dresden; +and even after the works were finished, he was locked up nightly in +his room. All this preyed upon his mind, and in repeated letters +to the King he sought to obtain mitigation of his fate. Some of +these letters are very touching. "I will devote my whole soul to +the art of making porcelain," he writes on one occasion, "I will do +more than any inventor ever did before; only give me liberty, +liberty!" + +To these appeals, the King turned a deaf ear. He was ready to +spend money and grant favours; but liberty he would not give. He +regarded Bottgher 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 Bottgher 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. + +Bottgher 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, Bottgher 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, Bottgher lingered on for a few years more, until death +freed him from his sufferings on the 13th March, 1719, in the +thirty-fifth year of his age. He was buried AT NIGHT--as if he had +been a dog--in the Johannis Cemetery of Meissen. Such was the +treatment and such the unhappy end, of one of Saxony's greatest +benefactors. + +The porcelain manufacture immediately opened up an important source +of public revenue, and it became so productive to the Elector of +Saxony, that his example was shortly after followed by most +European monarchs. Although soft porcelain had been made at St. +Cloud fourteen years before Bottgher's discovery, the superiority +of the hard porcelain soon became generally recognised. Its +manufacture was begun at Sevres in 1770, and it has since almost +entirely superseded the softer material. This is now one of the +most thriving branches of French industry, of which the high +quality of the articles produced is certainly indisputable. + +The career of Josiah Wedgwood, the English potter, was less +chequered and more prosperous than that of either Palissy or +Bottgher, and his lot was cast in happier times. Down to the +middle of last century England was behind most other nations of the +first order in Europe in respect of skilled industry. Although +there were many potters in Staffordshire--and Wedgwood himself +belonged to a numerous clan of potters of the same name--their +productions were of the rudest kind, for the most part only plain +brown ware, with the patterns scratched in while the clay was wet. +The principal supply of the better articles of earthenware came +from Delft in Holland, and of drinking stone pots from Cologne. +Two foreign potters, the brothers Elers from Nuremberg, settled for +a time in Staffordshire, and introduced an improved manufacture, +but they shortly after removed to Chelsea, where they confined +themselves to the manufacture of ornamental pieces. No porcelain +capable of resisting a scratch with a hard point had yet been made +in England; and for a long time the "white ware" made in +Staffordshire was not white, but of a dirty cream colour. Such, in +a few words, was the condition of the pottery manufacture when +Josiah Wedgwood was born at Burslem in 1730. By the time that he +died, sixty-four years later, it had become completely changed. By +his energy, skill, and genius, he established the trade upon a new +and solid foundation; and, in the words of his epitaph, "converted +a rude and inconsiderable manufacture into an elegant art and an +important branch of national commerce." + +Josiah Wedgwood was one of those indefatigable men who from time to +time spring from the ranks of the common people, and by their +energetic character not only practically educate the working +population in habits of industry, but by the example of diligence +and perseverance which they set before them, largely influence the +public activity in all directions, and contribute in a great degree +to form the national character. He was, like Arkwright, the +youngest of a family of thirteen children. His grandfather and +granduncle were both potters, as was also his father who died when +he was a mere boy, leaving him a patrimony of twenty pounds. He +had learned to read and write at the village school; but on the +death of his father he was taken from it and set to work as a +"thrower" in a small pottery carried on by his elder brother. +There he began life, his working life, to use his own words, "at +the lowest round of the ladder," when only eleven years old. He +was shortly after seized by an attack of virulent smallpox, from +the effects of which he suffered during the rest of his life, for +it was followed by a disease in the right knee, which recurred at +frequent intervals, and was only got rid of by the amputation of +the limb many years later. Mr. Gladstone, in his eloquent Eloge 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." {18} + +When he had completed his apprenticeship with his brother, Josiah +joined partnership with another workman, and carried on a small +business in making knife-hafts, boxes, and sundry articles for +domestic use. Another partnership followed, when he proceeded to +make melon table plates, green pickle leaves, candlesticks, +snuffboxes, and such like articles; but he made comparatively +little progress until he began business on his own account at +Burslem in the year 1759. There he diligently pursued his calling, +introducing new articles to the trade, and gradually extending his +business. What he chiefly aimed at was to manufacture cream- +coloured ware of a better quality than was then produced in +Staffordshire as regarded shape, colour, glaze, and durability. To +understand the subject thoroughly, he devoted his leisure to the +study of chemistry; and he made numerous experiments on fluxes, +glazes, and various sorts of clay. Being a close inquirer and +accurate observer, he noticed that a certain earth containing +silica, which was black before calcination, became white after +exposure to the heat of a furnace. This fact, observed and +pondered on, led to the idea of mixing silica with the red powder +of the potteries, and to the discovery that the mixture becomes +white when calcined. He had but to cover this material with a +vitrification of transparent glaze, to obtain one of the most +important products of fictile art--that which, under the name of +English earthenware, was to attain the greatest commercial value +and become of the most extensive utility. + +Wedgwood was for some time much troubled by his furnaces, though +nothing like to the same extent that Palissy was; and he overcame +his difficulties in the same way--by repeated experiments and +unfaltering perseverance. His first attempts at making porcelain +for table use was a succession of disastrous failures,--the labours +of months being often destroyed in a day. It was only after a long +series of trials, in the course of which he lost time, money, and +labour, that he arrived at the proper sort of glaze to be used; but +he would not be denied, and at last he conquered success through +patience. The improvement of pottery became his passion, and was +never lost sight of for a moment. Even when he had mastered his +difficulties, and become a prosperous man--manufacturing white +stone ware and cream-coloured ware in large quantities for home and +foreign use--he went forward perfecting his manufactures, until, +his example extending in all directions, the action of the entire +district was stimulated, and a great branch of British industry was +eventually established on firm foundations. He aimed throughout at +the highest excellence, declaring his determination "to give over +manufacturing any article, whatsoever it might be, rather than to +degrade it." + +Wedgwood was cordially helped by many persons of rank and +influence; for, working in the truest spirit, he readily commanded +the help and encouragement of other true workers. He made for +Queen Charlotte the first royal table-service of English +manufacture, of the kind afterwards called "Queen's-ware," and was +appointed Royal Potter; a title which he prized more than if he had +been made a baron. Valuable sets of porcelain were entrusted to +him for imitation, in which he succeeded to admiration. Sir +William Hamilton lent him specimens of ancient art from +Herculaneum, of which he produced accurate and beautiful copies. +The Duchess of Portland outbid him for the Barberini Vase when that +article was offered for sale. He bid as high as seventeen hundred +guineas for it: her grace secured it for eighteen hundred; but +when she learnt Wedgwood's object she at once generously lent him +the vase to copy. He produced fifty copies at a cost of about +2500l., and his expenses were not covered by their sale; but he +gained his object, which was to show that whatever had been done, +that English skill and energy could and would accomplish. + +Wedgwood called to his aid the crucible of the chemist, the +knowledge of the antiquary, and the skill of the artist. He found +out Flaxman when a youth, and while he liberally nurtured his +genius drew from him a large number of beautiful designs for his +pottery and porcelain; converting them by his manufacture into +objects of taste and excellence, and thus making them instrumental +in the diffusion of classical art amongst the people. By careful +experiment and study he was even enabled to rediscover the art of +painting on porcelain or earthenware vases and similar articles--an +art practised by the ancient Etruscans, but which had been lost +since the time of Pliny. He distinguished himself by his own +contributions to science, and his name is still identified with the +Pyrometer which he invented. He was an indefatigable supporter of +all measures of public utility; and the construction of the Trent +and Mersey Canal, which completed the navigable communication +between the eastern and western sides of the island, was mainly due +to his public-spirited exertions, allied to the engineering skill +of Brindley. The road accommodation of the district being of an +execrable character, he planned and executed a turnpike-road +through the Potteries, ten miles in length. The reputation he +achieved was such that his works at Burslem, and subsequently those +at Etruria, which he founded and built, became a point of +attraction to distinguished visitors from all parts of Europe. + +The result of Wedgwood's labours was, that the manufacture of +pottery, which he found in the very lowest condition, became one of +the staples of England; and instead of importing what we needed for +home use from abroad, we became large exporters to other countries, +supplying them with earthenware even in the face of enormous +prohibitory duties on articles of British produce. Wedgwood gave +evidence as to his manufactures before Parliament in 1785, only +some thirty years after he had begun his operations; from which it +appeared, that instead of providing only casual employment to a +small number of inefficient and badly remunerated workmen, about +20,000 persons then derived their bread directly from the +manufacture of earthenware, without taking into account the +increased numbers to which it gave employment in coal-mines, and in +the carrying trade by land and sea, and the stimulus which it gave +to employment in many ways in various parts of the country. Yet, +important as had been the advances made in his time, Mr. Wedgwood +was of opinion that the manufacture was but in its infancy, and +that the improvements which he had effected were of but small +amount compared with those to which the art was capable of +attaining, through the continued industry and growing intelligence +of the manufacturers, and the natural facilities and political +advantages enjoyed by Great Britain; an opinion which has been +fully borne out by the progress which has since been effected in +this important branch of industry. In 1852 not fewer than +84,000,000 pieces of pottery were exported from England to other +countries, besides what were made for home use. But it is not +merely the quantity and value of the produce that is entitled to +consideration, but the improvement of the condition of the +population by whom this great branch of industry is conducted. +When Wedgwood began his labours, the Staffordshire district was +only in a half-civilized state. The people were poor, +uncultivated, and few in number. When Wedgwood's manufacture was +firmly established, there was found ample employment at good wages +for three times the number of population; while their moral +advancement had kept pace with their material improvement. + +Men such as these are fairly entitled to take rank as the +Industrial Heroes of the civilized world. Their patient self- +reliance amidst trials and difficulties, their courage and +perseverance in the pursuit of worthy objects, are not less heroic +of their kind than the bravery and devotion of the soldier and the +sailor, whose duty and pride it is heroically to defend what these +valiant leaders of industry have so heroically achieved. + + + +CHAPTER IV--APPLICATION AND PERSEVERANCE + + + +"Rich are the diligent, who can command +Time, nature's stock! and could his hour-glass fall, +Would, as for seed of stars, stoop for the sand, +And, by incessant labour, gather all."--D'Avenant. +"Allez en avant, et la foi vous viendra!"--D'Alembert. + + +The greatest results in life are usually attained by simple means, +and the exercise of ordinary qualities. The common life of every +day, with its cares, necessities, and duties, affords ample +opportunity for acquiring experience of the best kind; and its most +beaten paths provide the true worker with abundant scope for effort +and room for self-improvement. The road of human welfare lies +along the old highway of steadfast well-doing; and they who are the +most persistent, and work in the truest spirit, will usually be the +most successful. + +Fortune has often been blamed for her blindness; but fortune is not +so blind as men are. Those who look into practical life will find +that fortune is usually on the side of the industrious, as the +winds and waves are on the side of the best navigators. In the +pursuit of even the highest branches of human inquiry, the commoner +qualities are found the most useful--such as common sense, +attention, application, and perseverance. Genius may not be +necessary, though even genius of the highest sort does not disdain +the use of these ordinary qualities. The very greatest men have +been among the least believers in the power of genius, and as +worldly wise and persevering as successful men of the commoner +sort. Some have even defined genius to be only common sense +intensified. A distinguished teacher and president of a college +spoke of it as the power of making efforts. John Foster held it to +be the power of lighting one's own fire. Buffon said of genius "it +is patience." + +Newton's was unquestionably a mind of the very highest order, and +yet, when asked by what means he had worked out his extraordinary +discoveries, he modestly answered, "By always thinking unto them." +At another time he thus expressed his method of study: "I keep the +subject continually before me, and wait till the first dawnings +open slowly by little and little into a full and clear light." It +was in Newton's case, as in every other, only by diligent +application and perseverance that his great reputation was +achieved. Even his recreation consisted in change of study, laying +down one subject to take up another. To Dr. Bentley he said: "If +I have done the public any service, it is due to nothing but +industry and patient thought." So Kepler, another great +philosopher, speaking of his studies and his progress, said: "As +in Virgil, 'Fama mobilitate viget, vires acquirit eundo,' so it was +with me, that the diligent thought on these things was the occasion +of still further thinking; until at last I brooded with the whole +energy of my mind upon the subject." + +The extraordinary results effected by dint of sheer industry and +perseverance, have led many distinguished men to doubt whether the +gift of genius be so exceptional an endowment as it is usually +supposed to be. Thus Voltaire held that it is only a very slight +line of separation that divides the man of genius from the man of +ordinary mould. Beccaria was even of opinion that all men might be +poets and orators, and Reynolds that they might be painters and +sculptors. If this were really so, that stolid Englishman might +not have been so very far wrong after all, who, on Canova's death, +inquired of his brother whether it was "his intention to carry on +the business!" Locke, Helvetius, and Diderot believed that all men +have an equal aptitude for genius, and that what some are able to +effect, under the laws which regulate the operations of the +intellect, must also be within the reach of others who, under like +circumstances, apply themselves to like pursuits. But while +admitting to the fullest extent the wonderful achievements of +labour, and recognising the fact that men of the most distinguished +genius have invariably been found the most indefatigable workers, +it must nevertheless be sufficiently obvious that, without the +original endowment of heart and brain, no amount of labour, however +well applied, could have produced a Shakespeare, a Newton, a +Beethoven, or a Michael Angelo. + +Dalton, the chemist, repudiated the notion of his being "a genius," +attributing everything which he had accomplished to simple industry +and accumulation. John Hunter said of himself, "My mind is like a +beehive; but full as it is of buzz and apparent confusion, it is +yet full of order and regularity, and food collected with incessant +industry from the choicest stores of nature." We have, indeed, but +to glance at the biographies of great men to find that the most +distinguished inventors, artists, thinkers, and workers of all +kinds, owe their success, in a great measure, to their +indefatigable industry and application. They were men who turned +all things to gold--even time itself. Disraeli the elder held that +the secret of success consisted in being master of your subject, +such mastery being attainable only through continuous application +and study. Hence it happens that the men who have most moved the +world, have not been so much men of genius, strictly so called, as +men of intense mediocre abilities, and untiring perseverance; not +so often the gifted, of naturally bright and shining qualities, as +those who have applied themselves diligently to their work, in +whatsoever line that might lie. "Alas!" said a widow, speaking of +her brilliant but careless son, "he has not the gift of +continuance." Wanting in perseverance, such volatile natures are +outstripped in the race of life by the diligent and even the dull. +"Che va piano, va longano, e va lontano," says the Italian proverb: +Who goes slowly, goes long, and goes far. + +Hence, a great point to be aimed at is to get the working quality +well trained. When that is done, the race will be found +comparatively easy. We must repeat and again repeat; facility will +come with labour. Not even the simplest art can be accomplished +without it; and what difficulties it is found capable of achieving! +It was by early discipline and repetition that the late Sir Robert +Peel cultivated those remarkable, though still mediocre powers, +which rendered him so illustrious an ornament of the British +Senate. When a boy at Drayton Manor, his father was accustomed to +set him up at table to practise speaking extempore; and he early +accustomed him to repeat as much of the Sunday's sermon as he could +remember. Little progress was made at first, but by steady +perseverance the habit of attention became powerful, and the sermon +was at length repeated almost verbatim. When afterwards replying +in succession to the arguments of his parliamentary opponents--an +art in which he was perhaps unrivalled--it was little surmised that +the extraordinary power of accurate remembrance which he displayed +on such occasions had been originally trained under the discipline +of his father in the parish church of Drayton. + +It is indeed marvellous what continuous application will effect in +the commonest of things. It may seem a simple affair to play upon +a violin; yet what a long and laborious practice it requires! +Giardini said to a youth who asked him how long it would take to +learn it, "Twelve hours a day for twenty years together." +Industry, it is said, fait l'ours danser. The poor figurante must +devote years of incessant toil to her profitless task before she +can shine in it. When Taglioni was preparing herself for her +evening exhibition, she would, after a severe two hours' lesson +from her father, fall down exhausted, and had to be undressed, +sponged, and resuscitated totally unconscious. The agility and +bounds of the evening were insured only at a price like this. + +Progress, however, of the best kind, is comparatively slow. Great +results cannot be achieved at once; and we must be satisfied to +advance in life as we walk, step by step. De Maistre says that "to +know HOW TO WAIT is the great secret of success." We must sow +before we can reap, and often have to wait long, content meanwhile +to look patiently forward in hope; the fruit best worth waiting for +often ripening the slowest. But "time and patience," says the +Eastern proverb, "change the mulberry leaf to satin." + +To wait patiently, however, men must work cheerfully. Cheerfulness +is an excellent working quality, imparting great elasticity to the +character. As a bishop has said, "Temper is nine-tenths of +Christianity;" so are cheerfulness and diligence nine-tenths of +practical wisdom. They are the life and soul of success, as well +as of happiness; perhaps the very highest pleasure in life +consisting in clear, brisk, conscious working; energy, confidence, +and every other good quality mainly depending upon it. Sydney +Smith, when labouring as a parish priest at Foston-le-Clay, in +Yorkshire,--though he did not feel himself to be in his proper +element,--went cheerfully to work in the firm determination to do +his best. "I am resolved," he said, "to like it, and reconcile +myself to it, which is more manly than to feign myself above it, +and to send up complaints by the post of being thrown away, and +being desolate, and such like trash." So Dr. Hook, when leaving +Leeds for a new sphere of labour said, "Wherever I may be, I shall, +by God's blessing, do with my might what my hand findeth to do; and +if I do not find work, I shall make it." + +Labourers for the public good especially, have to work long and +patiently, often uncheered by the prospect of immediate recompense +or result. The seeds they sow sometimes lie hidden under the +winter's snow, and before the spring comes the husbandman may have +gone to his rest. It is not every public worker who, like Rowland +Hill, sees his great idea bring forth fruit in his life-time. Adam +Smith sowed the seeds of a great social amelioration in that dingy +old University of Glasgow where he so long laboured, and laid the +foundations of his 'Wealth of Nations;' but seventy years passed +before his work bore substantial fruits, nor indeed are they all +gathered in yet. + +Nothing can compensate for the loss of hope in a man: it entirely +changes the character. "How can I work--how can I be happy," said +a great but miserable thinker, "when I have lost all hope?" One of +the most cheerful and courageous, because one of the most hopeful +of workers, was Carey, the missionary. When in India, it was no +uncommon thing for him to weary out three pundits, who officiated +as his clerks, in one day, he himself taking rest only in change of +employment. Carey, the son of a shoe-maker, was supported in his +labours by Ward, the son of a carpenter, and Marsham, the son of a +weaver. By their labours, a magnificent college was erected at +Serampore; sixteen flourishing stations were established; the Bible +was translated into sixteen languages, and the seeds were sown of a +beneficent moral revolution in British India. Carey was never +ashamed of the humbleness of his origin. On one occasion, when at +the Governor-General's table he over-heard an officer opposite him +asking another, loud enough to be heard, whether Carey had not once +been a shoemaker: "No, sir," exclaimed Carey immediately; "only a +cobbler." An eminently characteristic anecdote has been told of +his perseverance as a boy. When climbing a tree one day, his foot +slipped, and he fell to the ground, breaking his leg by the fall. +He was confined to his bed for weeks, but when he recovered and was +able to walk without support, the very first thing he did was to go +and climb that tree. Carey had need of this sort of dauntless +courage for the great missionary work of his life, and nobly and +resolutely he did it. + +It was a maxim of Dr. Young, the philosopher, that "Any man can do +what any other man has done;" and it is unquestionable that he +himself never recoiled from any trials to which he determined to +subject himself. It is related of him, that the first time he +mounted a horse, he was in company with the grandson of Mr. Barclay +of Ury, the well-known sportsman; when the horseman who preceded +them leapt a high fence. Young wished to imitate him, but fell off +his horse in the attempt. Without saying a word, he remounted, +made a second effort, and was again unsuccessful, but this time he +was not thrown further than on to the horse's neck, to which he +clung. At the third trial, he succeeded, and cleared the fence. + +The story of Timour the Tartar learning a lesson of perseverance +under adversity from the spider is well known. Not less +interesting is the anecdote of Audubon, the American ornithologist, +as related by himself: "An accident," he says, "which happened to +two hundred of my original drawings, nearly put a stop to my +researches in ornithology. I shall relate it, merely to show how +far enthusiasm--for by no other name can I call my perseverance-- +may enable the preserver of nature to surmount the most +disheartening difficulties. I left the village of Henderson, in +Kentucky, situated on the banks of the Ohio, where I resided for +several years, to proceed to Philadelphia on business. I looked to +my drawings before my departure, placed them carefully in a wooden +box, and gave them in charge of a relative, with injunctions to see +that no injury should happen to them. My absence was of several +months; and when I returned, after having enjoyed the pleasures of +home for a few days, I inquired after my box, and what I was +pleased to call my treasure. The box was produced and opened; but +reader, feel for me--a pair of Norway rats had taken possession of +the whole, and reared a young family among the gnawed bits of +paper, which, but a month previous, represented nearly a thousand +inhabitants of air! The burning beat which instantly rushed +through my brain was too great to be endured without affecting my +whole nervous system. I slept for several nights, and the days +passed like days of oblivion--until the animal powers being +recalled into action through the strength of my constitution, I +took up my gun, my notebook, and my pencils, and went forth to the +woods as gaily as if nothing had happened. I felt pleased that I +might now make better drawings than before; and, ere a period not +exceeding three years had elapsed, my portfolio was again filled." + +The accidental destruction of Sir Isaac Newton's papers, by his +little dog 'Diamond' upsetting a lighted taper upon his desk, by +which the elaborate calculations of many years were in a moment +destroyed, is a well-known anecdote, and need not be repeated: it +is said that the loss caused the philosopher such profound grief +that it seriously injured his health, and impaired his +understanding. An accident of a somewhat similar kind happened to +the MS. of Mr. Carlyle's first volume of his 'French Revolution.' +He had lent the MS. to a literary neighbour to peruse. By some +mischance, it had been left lying on the parlour floor, and become +forgotten. Weeks ran on, and the historian sent for his work, the +printers being loud for "copy." Inquiries were made, and it was +found that the maid-of-all-work, finding what she conceived to be a +bundle of waste paper on the floor, had used it to light the +kitchen and parlour fires with! Such was the answer returned to +Mr. Carlyle; and his feelings may be imagined. There was, however, +no help for him but to set resolutely to work to re-write the book; +and he turned to and did it. He had no draft, and was compelled to +rake up from his memory facts, ideas, and expressions, which had +been long since dismissed. The composition of the book in the +first instance had been a work of pleasure; the re-writing of it a +second time was one of pain and anguish almost beyond belief. That +he persevered and finished the volume under such circumstances, +affords an instance of determination of purpose which has seldom +been surpassed. + +The lives of eminent inventors are eminently illustrative of the +same quality of perseverance. George Stephenson, when addressing +young men, was accustomed to sum up his best advice to them, in the +words, "Do as I have done--persevere." He had worked at the +improvement of his locomotive for some fifteen years before +achieving his decisive victory at Rainhill; and Watt was engaged +for some thirty years upon the condensing-engine before he brought +it to perfection. But there are equally striking illustrations of +perseverance to be found in every other branch of science, art, and +industry. Perhaps one of the most interesting is that connected +with the disentombment of the Nineveh marbles, and the discovery of +the long-lost cuneiform or arrow-headed character in which the +inscriptions on them are written--a kind of writing which had been +lost to the world since the period of the Macedonian conquest of +Persia. + +An intelligent cadet of the East India Company, stationed at +Kermanshah, in Persia, had observed the curious cuneiform +inscriptions on the old monuments in the neighbourhood--so old that +all historical traces of them had been lost,--and amongst the +inscriptions which he copied was that on the celebrated rock of +Behistun--a perpendicular rock rising abruptly some 1700 feet from +the plain, the lower part bearing inscriptions for the space of +about 300 feet in three languages--Persian, Scythian, and Assyrian. +Comparison of the known with the unknown, of the language which +survived with the language that had been lost, enabled this cadet +to acquire some knowledge of the cuneiform character, and even to +form an alphabet. Mr. (afterwards Sir Henry) Rawlinson sent his +tracings home for examination. No professors in colleges as yet +knew anything of the cuneiform character; but there was a ci-devant +clerk of the East India House--a modest unknown man of the name of +Norris--who had made this little-understood subject his study, to +whom the tracings were submitted; and so accurate was his +knowledge, that, though he had never seen the Behistun rock, he +pronounced that the cadet had not copied the puzzling inscription +with proper exactness. Rawlinson, who was still in the +neighbourhood of the rock, compared his copy with the original, and +found that Norris was right; and by further comparison and careful +study the knowledge of the cuneiform writing was thus greatly +advanced. + +But to make the learning of these two self-taught men of avail, a +third labourer was necessary in order to supply them with material +for the exercise of their skill. Such a labourer presented himself +in the person of Austen Layard, originally an articled clerk in the +office of a London solicitor. One would scarcely have expected to +find in these three men, a cadet, an India-House clerk, and a +lawyer's clerk, the discoverers of a forgotten language, and of the +buried history of Babylon; yet it was so. Layard was a youth of +only twenty-two, travelling in the East, when he was possessed with +a desire to penetrate the regions beyond the Euphrates. +Accompanied by a single companion, trusting to his arms for +protection, and, what was better, to his cheerfulness, politeness, +and chivalrous bearing, he passed safely amidst tribes at deadly +war with each other; and, after the lapse of many years, with +comparatively slender means at his command, but aided by +application and perseverance, resolute will and purpose, and almost +sublime patience,--borne up throughout by his passionate enthusiasm +for discovery and research,--he succeeded in laying bare and +digging up an amount of historical treasures, the like of which has +probably never before been collected by the industry of any one +man. Not less than two miles of bas-reliefs were thus brought to +light by Mr. Layard. The selection of these valuable antiquities, +now placed in the British Museum, was found so curiously +corroborative of the scriptural records of events which occurred +some three thousand years ago, that they burst upon the world +almost like a new revelation. And the story of the disentombment +of these remarkable works, as told by Mr. Layard himself in his +'Monuments of Nineveh,' will always be regarded as one of the most +charming and unaffected records which we possess of individual +enterprise, industry, and energy. + +The career of the Comte de Buffon presents another remarkable +illustration of the power of patient industry as well as of his own +saying, that "Genius is patience." Notwithstanding the great +results achieved by him in natural history, Buffon, when a youth, +was regarded as of mediocre talents. His mind was slow in forming +itself, and slow in reproducing what it had acquired. He was also +constitutionally indolent; and being born to good estate, it might +be supposed that he would indulge his liking for ease and luxury. +Instead of which, he early formed the resolution of denying himself +pleasure, and devoting himself to study and self-culture. +Regarding time as a treasure that was limited, and finding that he +was losing many hours by lying a-bed in the mornings, he determined +to break himself of the habit. He struggled hard against it for +some time, but failed in being able to rise at the hour he had +fixed. He then called his servant, Joseph, to his help, and +promised him the reward of a crown every time that he succeeded in +getting him up before six. At first, when called, Buffon declined +to rise--pleaded that he was ill, or pretended anger at being +disturbed; and on the Count at length getting up, Joseph found that +he had earned nothing but reproaches for having permitted his +master to lie a-bed contrary to his express orders. At length the +valet determined to earn his crown; and again and again he forced +Buffon to rise, notwithstanding his entreaties, expostulations, and +threats of immediate discharge from his service. One morning +Buffon was unusually obstinate, and Joseph found it necessary to +resort to the extreme measure of dashing a basin of ice-cold water +under the bed-clothes, the effect of which was instantaneous. By +the persistent use of such means, Buffon at length conquered his +habit; and he was accustomed to say that he owed to Joseph three or +four volumes of his Natural History. + +For forty years of his life, Buffon worked every morning at his +desk from nine till two, and again in the evening from five till +nine. His diligence was so continuous and so regular that it +became habitual. His biographer has said of him, "Work was his +necessity; his studies were the charm of his life; and towards the +last term of his glorious career he frequently said that he still +hoped to be able to consecrate to them a few more years." He was a +most conscientious worker, always studying to give the reader his +best thoughts, expressed in the very best manner. He was never +wearied with touching and retouching his compositions, so that his +style may be pronounced almost perfect. He wrote the 'Epoques de +la Nature' not fewer than eleven times before he was satisfied with +it; although he had thought over the work about fifty years. He +was a thorough man of business, most orderly in everything; and he +was accustomed to say that genius without order lost three-fourths +of its power. His great success as a writer was the result mainly +of his painstaking labour and diligent application. "Buffon," +observed Madame Necker, "strongly persuaded that genius is the +result of a profound attention directed to a particular subject, +said that he was thoroughly wearied out when composing his first +writings, but compelled himself to return to them and go over them +carefully again, even when he thought he had already brought them +to a certain degree of perfection; and that at length he found +pleasure instead of weariness in this long and elaborate +correction." It ought also to be added that Buffon wrote and +published all his great works while afflicted by one of the most +painful diseases to which the human frame is subject. + +Literary life affords abundant illustrations of the same power of +perseverance; and perhaps no career is more instructive, viewed in +this light, than that of Sir Walter Scott. His admirable working +qualities were trained in a lawyer's office, where he pursued for +many years a sort of drudgery scarcely above that of a copying +clerk. His daily dull routine made his evenings, which were his +own, all the more sweet; and he generally devoted them to reading +and study. He himself attributed to his prosaic office discipline +that habit of steady, sober diligence, in which mere literary men +are so often found wanting. As a copying clerk he was allowed 3d. +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 30s.; out of which he would +occasionally purchase an odd volume, otherwise beyond his means. + +During his after-life Scott was wont to pride himself upon being a +man of business, and he averred, in contradiction to what he called +the cant of sonneteers, that there was no necessary connection +between genius and an aversion or contempt for the common duties of +life. On the contrary, he was of opinion that to spend some fair +portion of every day in any matter-of-fact occupation was good for +the higher faculties themselves in the upshot. While afterwards +acting as clerk to the Court of Session in Edinburgh, he performed +his literary work chiefly before breakfast, attending the court +during the day, where he authenticated registered deeds and +writings of various kinds. On the whole, says Lockhart, "it forms +one of the most remarkable features in his history, that throughout +the most active period of his literary career, he must have devoted +a large proportion of his hours, during half at least of every +year, to the conscientious discharge of professional duties." It +was a principle of action which he laid down for himself, that he +must earn his living by business, and not by literature. On one +occasion he said, "I determined that literature should be my staff, +not my crutch, and that the profits of my literary labour, however +convenient otherwise, should not, if I could help it, become +necessary to my ordinary expenses." + +His punctuality was one of the most carefully cultivated of his +habits, otherwise it had not been possible for him to get through +so enormous an amount of literary labour. He made it a rule to +answer every letter received by him on the same day, except where +inquiry and deliberation were requisite. Nothing else could have +enabled him to keep abreast with the flood of communications that +poured in upon him and sometimes put his good nature to the +severest test. It was his practice to rise by five o'clock, and +light his own fire. He shaved and dressed with deliberation, and +was seated at his desk by six o'clock, with his papers arranged +before him in the most accurate order, his works of reference +marshalled round him on the floor, while at least one favourite dog +lay watching his eye, outside the line of books. Thus by the time +the family assembled for breakfast, between nine and ten, he had +done enough--to use his own words--to break the neck of the day's +work. But with all his diligent and indefatigable industry, and +his immense knowledge, the result of many years' patient labour, +Scott always spoke with the greatest diffidence of his own powers. +On one occasion he said, "Throughout every part of my career I have +felt pinched and hampered by my own ignorance." + +Such is true wisdom and humility; for the more a man really knows, +the less conceited he will be. The student at Trinity College who +went up to his professor to take leave of him because he had +"finished his education," was wisely rebuked by the professor's +reply, "Indeed! I am only beginning mine." The superficial person +who has obtained a smattering of many things, but knows nothing +well, may pride himself upon his gifts; but the sage humbly +confesses that "all he knows is, that he knows nothing," or like +Newton, that he has been only engaged in picking shells by the sea +shore, while the great ocean of truth lies all unexplored before +him. + +The lives of second-rate literary men furnish equally remarkable +illustrations of the power of perseverance. The late John Britton, +author of 'The Beauties of England and Wales,' and of many valuable +architectural works, was born in a miserable cot in Kingston, +Wiltshire. His father had been a baker and maltster, but was +ruined in trade and became insane while Britton was yet a child. +The boy received very little schooling, but a great deal of bad +example, which happily did not corrupt him. He was early in life +set to labour with an uncle, a tavern-keeper in Clerkenwell, under +whom he bottled, corked, and binned wine for more than five years. +His health failing him, his uncle turned him adrift in the world, +with only two guineas, the fruits of his five years' service, in +his pocket. During the next seven years of his life he endured +many vicissitudes and hardships. Yet he says, in his +autobiography, "in my poor and obscure lodgings, at eighteenpence a +week, I indulged in study, and often read in bed during the winter +evenings, because I could not afford a fire." Travelling on foot +to Bath, he there obtained an engagement as a cellarman, but +shortly after we find him back in the metropolis again almost +penniless, shoeless, and shirtless. He succeeded, however, in +obtaining employment as a cellarman at the London Tavern, where it +was his duty to be in the cellar from seven in the morning until +eleven at night. His health broke down under this confinement in +the dark, added to the heavy work; and he then engaged himself, at +fifteen shillings a week, to an attorney,--for he had been +diligently cultivating the art of writing during the few spare +minutes that he could call his own. While in this employment, he +devoted his leisure principally to perambulating the bookstalls, +where he read books by snatches which he could not buy, and thus +picked up a good deal of odd knowledge. Then he shifted to another +office, at the advanced wages of twenty shillings a week, still +reading and studying. At twenty-eight he was able to write a book, +which he published under the title of 'The Enterprising Adventures +of Pizarro;' and from that time until his death, during a period of +about fifty-five years, Britton was occupied in laborious literary +occupation. The number of his published works is not fewer than +eighty-seven; the most important being 'The Cathedral Antiquities +of England,' in fourteen volumes, a truly magnificent work; itself +the best monument of John Britton's indefatigable industry. + +London, the landscape gardener, was a man of somewhat similar +character, possessed of an extraordinary working power. The son of +a farmer near Edinburgh, he was early inured to work. His skill in +drawing plans and making sketches of scenery induced his father to +train him for a landscape gardener. During his apprenticeship he +sat up two whole nights every week to study; yet he worked harder +during the day than any labourer. In the course of his night +studies he learnt French, and before he was eighteen he translated +a life of Abelard for an Encyclopaedia. 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 Encyclopaedias, which are among the most +remarkable works of their kind,--distinguished for the immense mass +of useful matter which they contain, collected by an amount of +industry and labour which has rarely been equalled. + +The career of Samuel Drew is not less remarkable than any of those +which we have cited. His father was a hard-working labourer of the +parish of St. Austell, in Cornwall. Though poor, he contrived to +send his two sons to a penny-a-week school in the neighbourhood. +Jabez, the elder, took delight in learning, and made great progress +in his lessons; but Samuel, the younger, was a dunce, notoriously +given to mischief and playing truant. When about eight years old +he was put to manual labour, earning three-halfpence a day as a +buddle-boy at a tin mine. At ten he was apprenticed to a +shoemaker, and while in this employment he endured much hardship,-- +living, as he used to say, "like a toad under a harrow." He often +thought of running away and becoming a pirate, or something of the +sort, and he seems to have grown in recklessness as he grew in +years. In robbing orchards he was usually a leader; and, as he +grew older, he delighted to take part in any poaching or smuggling +adventure. When about seventeen, before his apprenticeship was +out, he ran away, intending to enter on board a man-of-war; but, +sleeping in a hay-field at night cooled him a little, and he +returned to his trade. + +Drew next removed to the neighbourhood of Plymouth to work at his +shoemaking business, and while at Cawsand he won a prize for +cudgel-playing, in which he seems to have been an adept. While +living there, he had nearly lost his life in a smuggling exploit +which he had joined, partly induced by the love of adventure, and +partly by the love of gain, for his regular wages were not more +than eight shillings a-week. One night, notice was given +throughout Crafthole, that a smuggler was off the coast, ready to +land her cargo; on which the male population of the place--nearly +all smugglers--made for the shore. One party remained on the rocks +to make signals and dispose of the goods as they were landed; and +another manned the boats, Drew being of the latter party. The +night was intensely dark, and very little of the cargo had been +landed, when the wind rose, with a heavy sea. The men in the +boats, however, determined to persevere, and several trips were +made between the smuggler, now standing farther out to sea, and the +shore. One of the men in the boat in which Drew was, had his hat +blown off by the wind, and in attempting to recover it, the boat +was upset. Three of the men were immediately drowned; the others +clung to the boat for a time, but finding it drifting out to sea, +they took to swimming. They were two miles from land, and the +night was intensely dark. After being about three hours in the +water, Drew reached a rock near the shore, with one or two others, +where he remained benumbed with cold till morning, when he and his +companions were discovered and taken off, more dead than alive. A +keg of brandy from the cargo just landed was brought, the head +knocked in with a hatchet, and a bowlfull of the liquid presented +to the survivors; and, shortly after, Drew was able to walk two +miles through deep snow, to his lodgings. + +This was a very unpromising beginning of a life; and yet this same +Drew, scapegrace, orchard-robber, shoemaker, cudgel-player, and +smuggler, outlived the recklessness of his youth and became +distinguished as a minister of the Gospel and a writer of good +books. Happily, before it was too late, the energy which +characterised him was turned into a more healthy direction, and +rendered him as eminent in usefulness as he had before been in +wickedness. His father again took him back to St. Austell, and +found employment for him as a journeyman shoemaker. Perhaps his +recent escape from death had tended to make the young man serious, +as we shortly find him attracted by the forcible preaching of Dr. +Adam Clarke, a minister of the Wesleyan Methodists. His brother +having died about the same time, the impression of seriousness was +deepened; and thenceforward he was an altered man. He began anew +the work of education, for he had almost forgotten how to read and +write; and even after several years' practice, a friend compared +his writing to the traces of a spider dipped in ink set to crawl +upon paper. Speaking of himself, about that time, Drew afterwards +said, "The more I read, the more I felt my own ignorance; and the +more I felt my ignorance, the more invincible became my energy to +surmount it. Every leisure moment was now employed in reading one +thing or another. Having to support myself by manual labour, my +time for reading was but little, and to overcome this disadvantage, +my usual method was to place a book before me while at meat, and at +every repast I read five or six pages." The perusal of Locke's +'Essay on the Understanding' gave the first metaphysical turn to +his mind. "It awakened me from my stupor," said he, "and induced +me to form a resolution to abandon the grovelling views which I had +been accustomed to entertain." + +Drew began business on his own account, with a capital of a few +shillings; but his character for steadiness was such that a +neighbouring miller offered him a loan, which was accepted, and, +success attending his industry, the debt was repaid at the end of a +year. He started with a determination to "owe no man anything," +and he held to it in the midst of many privations. Often he went +to bed supperless, to avoid rising in debt. His ambition was to +achieve independence by industry and economy, and in this he +gradually succeeded. In the midst of incessant labour, he +sedulously strove to improve his mind, studying astronomy, history, +and metaphysics. He was induced to pursue the latter study chiefly +because it required fewer books to consult than either of the +others. "It appeared to be a thorny path," he said, "but I +determined, nevertheless, to enter, and accordingly began to tread +it." + +Added to his labours in shoemaking and metaphysics, Drew became a +local preacher and a class leader. He took an eager interest in +politics, and his shop became a favourite resort with the village +politicians. And when they did not come to him, he went to them to +talk over public affairs. This so encroached upon his time that he +found it necessary sometimes to work until midnight to make up for +the hours lost during the day. His political fervour become the +talk of the village. While busy one night hammering away at a +shoe-sole, a little boy, seeing a light in the shop, put his mouth +to the keyhole of the door, and called out in a shrill pipe, +"Shoemaker! shoe-maker! work by night and run about by day!" A +friend, to whom Drew afterwards told the story, asked, "And did not +you run after the boy, and strap him?" "No, no," was the reply; +"had a pistol been fired off at my ear, I could not have been more +dismayed or confounded. I dropped my work, and said to myself, +'True, true! but you shall never have that to say of me again.' To +me that cry was as the voice of God, and it has been a word in +season throughout my life. I learnt from it not to leave till to- +morrow the work of to-day, or to idle when I ought to be working." + +From that moment Drew dropped politics, and stuck to his work, +reading and studying in his spare hours: but he never allowed the +latter pursuit to interfere with his business, though it frequently +broke in upon his rest. He married, and thought of emigrating to +America; but he remained working on. His literary taste first took +the direction of poetical composition; and from some of the +fragments which have been preserved, it appears that his +speculations as to the immateriality and immortality of the soul +had their origin in these poetical musings. His study was the +kitchen, where his wife's bellows served him for a desk; and he +wrote amidst the cries and cradlings of his children. Paine's 'Age +of Reason' having appeared about this time and excited much +interest, he composed a pamphlet in refutation of its arguments, +which was published. He used afterwards to say that it was the +'Age of Reason' that made him an author. Various pamphlets from +his pen shortly appeared in rapid succession, and a few years +later, while still working at shoemaking, he wrote and published +his admirable 'Essay on the Immateriality and Immortality of the +Human Soul,' which he sold for twenty pounds, a great sum in his +estimation at the time. The book went through many editions, and +is still prized. + +Drew was in no wise puffed up by his success, as many young authors +are, but, long after he had become celebrated as a writer, used to +be seen sweeping the street before his door, or helping his +apprentices to carry in the winter's coals. Nor could he, for some +time, bring himself to regard literature as a profession to live +by. His first care was, to secure an honest livelihood by his +business, and to put into the "lottery of literary success," as he +termed it, only the surplus of his time. At length, however, he +devoted himself wholly to literature, more particularly in +connection with the Wesleyan body; editing one of their magazines, +and superintending the publication of several of their +denominational works. He also wrote in the 'Eclectic Review,' and +compiled and published a valuable history of his native county, +Cornwall, with numerous other works. Towards the close of his +career, he said of himself,--"Raised from one of the lowest +stations in society, I have endeavoured through life to bring my +family into a state of respectability, by honest industry, +frugality, and a high regard for my moral character. Divine +providence has smiled on my exertions, and crowned my wishes with +success." + +The late Joseph Hume pursued a very different career, but worked in +an equally persevering spirit. He was a man of moderate parts, but +of great industry and unimpeachable honesty of purpose. The motto +of his life was "Perseverance," and well, he acted up to it. His +father dying while he was a mere child, his mother opened a small +shop in Montrose, and toiled hard to maintain her family and bring +them up respectably. Joseph she put apprentice to a surgeon, and +educated for the medical profession. Having got his diploma, he +made several voyages to India as ship's surgeon, {19} and +afterwards obtained a cadetship in the Company's service. None +worked harder, or lived more temperately, than he did, and, +securing the confidence of his superiors, who found him a capable +man in the performance of his duty, they gradually promoted him to +higher offices. In 1803 he was with the division of the army under +General Powell, in the Mahratta war; and the interpreter having +died, Hume, who had meanwhile studied and mastered the native +languages, was appointed in his stead. He was next made chief of +the medical staff. But as if this were not enough to occupy his +full working power, he undertook in addition the offices of +paymaster and post-master, and filled them satisfactorily. He also +contracted to supply the commissariat, which he did with advantage +to the army and profit to himself. After about ten years' +unremitting labour, he returned to England with a competency; and +one of his first acts was to make provision for the poorer members +of his family. + +But Joseph Hume was not a man to enjoy the fruits of his industry +in idleness. Work and occupation had become necessary for his +comfort and happiness. To make himself fully acquainted with the +actual state of his own country, and the condition of the people, +he visited every town in the kingdom which then enjoyed any degree +of manufacturing celebrity. He afterwards travelled abroad for the +purpose of obtaining a knowledge of foreign states. Returned to +England, he entered Parliament in 1812, and continued a member of +that assembly, with a short interruption, for a period of about +thirty-four years. His first recorded speech was on the subject of +public education, and throughout his long and honourable career he +took an active and earnest interest in that and all other questions +calculated to elevate and improve the condition of the people-- +criminal reform, savings-banks, free trade, economy and +retrenchment, extended representation, and such like measures, all +of which he indefatigably promoted. Whatever subject he undertook, +he worked at with all his might. He was not a good speaker, but +what he said was believed to proceed from the lips of an honest, +single-minded, accurate man. If ridicule, as Shaftesbury says, be +the test of truth, Joseph Hume stood the test well. No man was +more laughed at, but there he stood perpetually, and literally, "at +his post." He was usually beaten on a division, but the influence +which he exercised was nevertheless felt, and many important +financial improvements were effected by him even with the vote +directly against him. The amount of hard work which he contrived +to get through was something extraordinary. He rose at six, wrote +letters and arranged his papers for parliament; then, after +breakfast, he received persons on business, sometimes as many as +twenty in a morning. The House rarely assembled without him, and +though the debate might be prolonged to two or three o'clock in the +morning, his name was seldom found absent from the division. In +short, to perform the work which he did, extending over so long a +period, in the face of so many Administrations, week after week, +year after year,--to be outvoted, beaten, laughed at, standing on +many occasions almost alone,--to persevere in the face of every +discouragement, preserving his temper unruffled, never relaxing in +his energy or his hope, and living to see the greater number of his +measures adopted with acclamation, must be regarded as one of the +most remarkable illustrations of the power of human perseverance +that biography can exhibit. + + + +CHAPTER V--HELPS AND OPPORTUNITIES--SCIENTIFIC PURSUITS + + + +"Neither the naked hand, nor the understanding, left to itself, can +do much; the work is accomplished by instruments and helps, of +which the need is not less for the understanding than the hand."-- +Bacon. + +"Opportunity has hair in front, behind she is bald; if you seize +her by the forelock you may hold her, but, if suffered to escape, +not Jupiter himself can catch her again."--From the Latin. + + +Accident does very little towards the production of any great +result in life. Though sometimes what is called "a happy hit" may +be made by a bold venture, the common highway of steady industry +and application is the only safe road to travel. It is said of the +landscape painter Wilson, that when he had nearly finished a +picture in a tame, correct manner, he would step back from it, his +pencil fixed at the end of a long stick, and after gazing earnestly +on the work, he would suddenly walk up and by a few bold touches +give a brilliant finish to the painting. But it will not do for +every one who would produce an effect, to throw his brush at the +canvas in the hope of producing a picture. The capability of +putting in these last vital touches is acquired only by the labour +of a life; and the probability is, that the artist who has not +carefully trained himself beforehand, in attempting to produce a +brilliant effect at a dash, will only produce a blotch. + +Sedulous attention and painstaking industry always mark the true +worker. The greatest men are not those who "despise the day of +small things," but those who improve them the most carefully. +Michael Angelo was one day explaining to a visitor at his studio, +what he had been doing at a statue since his previous visit. "I +have retouched this part--polished that--softened this feature-- +brought out that muscle--given some expression to this lip, and +more energy to that limb." "But these are trifles," remarked the +visitor. "It may be so," replied the sculptor, "but recollect that +trifles make perfection, and perfection is no trifle." So it was +said of Nicholas Poussin, the painter, that the rule of his conduct +was, that "whatever was worth doing at all was worth doing well;" +and when asked, late in life, by his friend Vigneul de Marville, by +what means he had gained so high a reputation among the painters of +Italy, Poussin emphatically answered, "Because I have neglected +nothing." + +Although there are discoveries which are said to have been made by +accident, if carefully inquired into, it will be found that there +has really been very little that was accidental about them. For +the most part, these so-called accidents have only been +opportunities, carefully improved by genius. The fall of the apple +at Newton's feet has often been quoted in proof of the accidental +character of some discoveries. But Newton's whole mind had already +been devoted for years to the laborious and patient investigation +of the subject of gravitation; and the circumstance of the apple +falling before his eyes was suddenly apprehended only as genius +could apprehend it, and served to flash upon him the brilliant +discovery then opening to his sight. In like manner, the +brilliantly-coloured soap-bubbles blown from a common tobacco pipe- +-though "trifles light as air" in most eyes--suggested to Dr. Young +his beautiful theory of "interferences," and led to his discovery +relating to the diffraction of light. Although great men are +popularly supposed only to deal with great things, men such as +Newton and Young were ready to detect the significance of the most +familiar and simple facts; their greatness consisting mainly in +their wise interpretation of them. + +The difference between men consists, in a great measure, in the +intelligence of their observation. The Russian proverb says of the +non-observant man, "He goes through the forest and sees no +firewood." "The wise man's eyes are in his head," says Solomon, +"but the fool walketh in darkness." "Sir," said Johnson, on one +occasion, to a fine gentleman just returned from Italy, "some men +will learn more in the Hampstead stage than others in the tour of +Europe." It is the mind that sees as well as the eye. Where +unthinking gazers observe nothing, men of intelligent vision +penetrate into the very fibre of the phenomena presented to them, +attentively noting differences, making comparisons, and recognizing +their underlying idea. Many before Galileo had seen a suspended +weight swing before their eyes with a measured beat; but he was the +first to detect the value of the fact. One of the vergers in the +cathedral at Pisa, after replenishing with oil a lamp which hung +from the roof, left it swinging to and fro; and Galileo, then a +youth of only eighteen, noting it attentively, conceived the idea +of applying it to the measurement of time. Fifty years of study +and labour, however, elapsed, before he completed the invention of +his Pendulum,--the importance of which, in the measurement of time +and in astronomical calculations, can scarcely be overrated. In +like manner, Galileo, having casually heard that one Lippershey, a +Dutch spectacle-maker, had presented to Count Maurice of Nassau an +instrument by means of which distant objects appeared nearer to the +beholder, addressed himself to the cause of such a phenomenon, +which led to the invention of the telescope, and proved the +beginning of the modern science of astronomy. Discoveries such as +these could never have been made by a negligent observer, or by a +mere passive listener. + +While Captain (afterwards Sir Samuel) Brown was occupied in +studying the construction of bridges, with the view of contriving +one of a cheap description to be thrown across the Tweed, near +which he lived, he was walking in his garden one dewy autumn +morning, when he saw a tiny spider's net suspended across his path. +The idea immediately occurred to him, that a bridge of iron ropes +or chains might be constructed in like manner, and the result was +the invention of his Suspension Bridge. So James Watt, when +consulted about the mode of carrying water by pipes under the +Clyde, along the unequal bed of the river, turned his attention one +day to the shell of a lobster presented at table; and from that +model he invented an iron tube, which, when laid down, was found +effectually to answer the purpose. Sir Isambert Brunel took his +first lessons in forming the Thames Tunnel from the tiny shipworm: +he saw how the little creature perforated the wood with its well- +armed head, first in one direction and then in another, till the +archway was complete, and then daubed over the roof and sides with +a kind of varnish; and by copying this work exactly on a large +scale, Brunel was at length enabled to construct his shield and +accomplish his great engineering work. + +It is the intelligent eye of the careful observer which gives these +apparently trivial phenomena their value. So trifling a matter as +the sight of seaweed floating past his ship, enabled Columbus to +quell the mutiny which arose amongst his sailors at not discovering +land, and to assure them that the eagerly sought New World was not +far off. There is nothing so small that it should remain +forgotten; and no fact, however trivial, but may prove useful in +some way or other if carefully interpreted. Who could have +imagined that the famous "chalk cliffs of Albion" had been built up +by tiny insects--detected only by the help of the microscope--of +the same order of creatures that have gemmed the sea with islands +of coral! And who that contemplates such extraordinary results, +arising from infinitely minute operations, will venture to question +the power of little things? + +It is the close observation of little things which is the secret of +success in business, in art, in science, and in every pursuit in +life. Human knowledge is but an accumulation of small facts, made +by successive generations of men, the little bits of knowledge and +experience carefully treasured up by them growing at length into a +mighty pyramid. Though many of these facts and observations seemed +in the first instance to have but slight significance, they are all +found to have their eventual uses, and to fit into their proper +places. Even many speculations seemingly remote, turn out to be +the basis of results the most obviously practical. In the case of +the conic sections discovered by Apollonius Pergaeus, twenty +centuries elapsed before they were made the basis of astronomy--a +science which enables the modern navigator to steer his way through +unknown seas and traces for him in the heavens an unerring path to +his appointed haven. And had not mathematicians toiled for so +long, and, to uninstructed observers, apparently so fruitlessly, +over the abstract relations of lines and surfaces, it is probable +that but few of our mechanical inventions would have seen the +light. + +When Franklin made his discovery of the identity of lightning and +electricity, it was sneered at, and people asked, "Of what use is +it?" To which his reply was, "What is the use of a child? It may +become a man!" When Galvani discovered that a frog's leg twitched +when placed in contact with different metals, it could scarcely +have been imagined that so apparently insignificant a fact could +have led to important results. Yet therein lay the germ of the +Electric Telegraph, which binds the intelligence of continents +together, and, probably before many years have elapsed, will "put a +girdle round the globe." So too, little bits of stone and fossil, +dug out of the earth, intelligently interpreted, have issued in the +science of geology and the practical operations of mining, in which +large capitals are invested and vast numbers of persons profitably +employed. + +The gigantic machinery employed in pumping our mines, working our +mills and manufactures, and driving our steam-ships and +locomotives, in like manner depends for its supply of power upon so +slight an agency as little drops of water expanded by heat,--that +familiar agency called steam, which we see issuing from that common +tea-kettle spout, but which, when put up within an ingeniously +contrived mechanism, displays a force equal to that of millions of +horses, and contains a power to rebuke the waves and set even the +hurricane at defiance. The same power at work within the bowels of +the earth has been the cause of those volcanoes and earthquakes +which have played so mighty a part in the history of the globe. + +It is said that the Marquis of Worcester's attention was first +accidentally directed to the subject of steam power, by the tight +cover of a vessel containing hot water having been blown off before +his eyes, when confined a prisoner in the Tower. He published the +result of his observations in his 'Century of Inventions,' which +formed a sort of text-book for inquirers into the powers of steam +for a time, until Savary, Newcomen, and others, applying it to +practical purposes, brought the steam-engine to the state in which +Watt found it when called upon to repair a model of Newcomen's +engine, which belonged to the University of Glasgow. This +accidental circumstance was an opportunity for Watt, which he was +not slow to improve; and it was the labour of his life to bring the +steam-engine to perfection. + +This art of seizing opportunities and turning even accidents to +account, bending them to some purpose is a great secret of success. +Dr. Johnson has defined genius to be "a mind of large general +powers accidentally determined in some particular direction." Men +who are resolved to find a way for themselves, will always find +opportunities enough; and if they do not lie ready to their hand, +they will make them. It is not those who have enjoyed the +advantages of colleges, museums, and public galleries, that have +accomplished the most for science and art; nor have the greatest +mechanics and inventors been trained in mechanics' institutes. +Necessity, oftener than facility, has been the mother of invention; +and the most prolific school of all has been the school of +difficulty. Some of the very best workmen have had the most +indifferent tools to work with. But it is not tools that make the +workman, but the trained skill and perseverance of the man himself. +Indeed it is proverbial that the bad workman never yet had a good +tool. Some one asked Opie by what wonderful process he mixed his +colours. "I mix them with my brains, sir," was his reply. It is +the same with every workman who would excel. Ferguson made +marvellous things--such as his wooden clock, that accurately +measured the hours--by means of a common penknife, a tool in +everybody's hand; but then everybody is not a Ferguson. A pan of +water and two thermometers were the tools by which Dr. Black +discovered latent heat; and a prism, a lens, and a sheet of +pasteboard enabled Newton to unfold the composition of light and +the origin of colours. An eminent foreign savant once called upon +Dr. Wollaston, and requested to be shown over his laboratories in +which science had been enriched by so many important discoveries, +when the doctor took him into a little study, and, pointing to an +old tea-tray on the table, containing a few watch-glasses, test +papers, a small balance, and a blowpipe, said, "There is all the +laboratory that I have!" + +Stothard learnt the art of combining colours by closely studying +butterflies' wings: he would often say that no one knew what he +owed to these tiny insects. A burnt stick and a barn door served +Wilkie in lieu of pencil and canvas. Bewick first practised +drawing on the cottage walls of his native village, which he +covered with his sketches in chalk; and Benjamin West made his +first brushes out of the cat's tail. Ferguson laid himself down in +the fields at night in a blanket, and made a map of the heavenly +bodies by means of a thread with small beads on it stretched +between his eye and the stars. Franklin first robbed the +thundercloud of its lightning by means of a kite made with two +cross sticks and a silk handkerchief. Watt made his first model of +the condensing steam-engine out of an old anatomist's syringe, used +to inject the arteries previous to dissection. Gifford worked his +first problems in mathematics, when a cobbler's apprentice, upon +small scraps of leather, which he beat smooth for the purpose; +whilst Rittenhouse, the astronomer, first calculated eclipses on +his plough handle. + +The most ordinary occasions will furnish a man with opportunities +or suggestions for improvement, if he be but prompt to take +advantage of them. Professor Lee was attracted to the study of +Hebrew by finding a Bible in that tongue in a synagogue, while +working as a common carpenter at the repairs of the benches. He +became possessed with a desire to read the book in the original, +and, buying a cheap second-hand copy of a Hebrew grammar, he set to +work and learnt the language for himself. As Edmund Stone said to +the Duke of Argyle, in answer to his grace's inquiry how he, a poor +gardener's boy, had contrived to be able to read Newton's Principia +in Latin, "One needs only to know the twenty-four letters of the +alphabet in order to learn everything else that one wishes." +Application and perseverance, and the diligent improvement of +opportunities, will do the rest. + +Sir Walter Scott found opportunities for self-improvement in every +pursuit, and turned even accidents to account. Thus it was in the +discharge of his functions as a writer's apprentice that he first +visited the Highlands, and formed those friendships among the +surviving heroes of 1745 which served to lay the foundation of a +large class of his works. Later in life, when employed as +quartermaster of the Edinburgh Light Cavalry, he was accidentally +disabled by the kick of a horse, and confined for some time to his +house; but Scott was a sworn enemy to idleness, and he forthwith +set his mind to work. In three days he had composed the first +canto of 'The Lay of the Last Minstrel,' which he shortly after +finished,--his first great original work. + +The attention of Dr. Priestley, the discoverer of so many gases, +was accidentally drawn to the subject of chemistry through his +living in the neighbourhood of a brewery. When visiting the place +one day, he noted the peculiar appearances attending the extinction +of lighted chips in the gas floating over the fermented liquor. He +was forty years old at the time, and knew nothing of chemistry. He +consulted books to ascertain the cause, but they told him little, +for as yet nothing was known on the subject. Then he began to +experiment, with some rude apparatus of his own contrivance. The +curious results of his first experiments led to others, which in +his hands shortly became the science of pneumatic chemistry. About +the same time, Scheele was obscurely working in the same direction +in a remote Swedish village; and he discovered several new gases, +with no more effective apparatus at his command than a few +apothecaries' phials and pigs' bladders. + +Sir Humphry Davy, when an apothecary's apprentice, performed his +first experiments with instruments of the rudest description. He +extemporised the greater part of them himself, out of the motley +materials which chance threw in his way,--the pots and pans of the +kitchen, and the phials and vessels of his master's surgery. It +happened that a French ship was wrecked off the Land's End, and the +surgeon escaped, bearing with him his case of instruments, amongst +which was an old-fashioned glyster apparatus; this article he +presented to Davy, with whom he had become acquainted. The +apothecary's apprentice received it with great exultation, and +forthwith employed it as a part of a pneumatic apparatus which he +contrived, afterwards using it to perform the duties of an air-pump +in one of his experiments on the nature and sources of heat. + +In like manner Professor Faraday, Sir Humphry Davy's scientific +successor, made his first experiments in electricity by means of an +old bottle, white 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 +Encyclopaedia placed in his hands to bind. The gentleman, having +made inquiries, found that the young bookbinder was curious about +such subjects, and gave him an order of admission to the Royal +Institution, where he attended a course of four lectures delivered +by Sir Humphry. He took notes of them, which he showed to the +lecturer, who acknowledged their scientific accuracy, and was +surprised when informed of the humble position of the reporter. +Faraday then expressed his desire to devote himself to the +prosecution of chemical studies, from which Sir Humphry at first +endeavoured to dissuade him: but the young man persisting, he was +at length taken into the Royal Institution as an assistant; and +eventually the mantle of the brilliant apothecary's boy fell upon +the worthy shoulders of the equally brilliant bookbinder's +apprentice. + +The words which Davy entered in his note-book, when about twenty +years of age, working in Dr. Beddoes' laboratory at Bristol, were +eminently characteristic of him: "I have neither riches, nor +power, nor birth to recommend me; yet if I live, I trust I shall +not be of less service to mankind and my friends, than if I had +been born with all these advantages." Davy possessed the +capability, as Faraday does, of devoting the whole power of his +mind to the practical and experimental investigation of a subject +in all its bearings; and such a mind will rarely fail, by dint of +mere industry and patient thinking, in producing results of the +highest order. Coleridge said of Davy, "There is an energy and +elasticity in his mind, which enables him to seize on and analyze +all questions, pushing them to their legitimate consequences. +Every subject in Davy's mind has the principle of vitality. Living +thoughts spring up like turf under his feet." Davy, on his part, +said of Coleridge, whose abilities he greatly admired, "With the +most exalted genius, enlarged views, sensitive heart, and +enlightened mind, he will be the victim of a want of order, +precision, and regularity." + +The great Cuvier was a singularly accurate, careful, and +industrious observer. When a boy, he was attracted to the subject +of natural history by the sight of a volume of Buffon which +accidentally fell in his way. He at once proceeded to copy the +drawings, and to colour them after the descriptions given in the +text. While still at school, one of his teachers made him a +present of 'Linnaeus'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 +Fecamp, 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 molluscae, 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 Abbe Teissier, who wrote to +Jussieu and other friends in Paris on the subject of the young +naturalist's inquiries, in terms of such high commendation, that +Cuvier was requested to send some of his papers to the Society of +Natural History; and he was shortly after appointed assistant- +superintendent at the Jardin des Plantes. In the letter written by +Teissier to Jussieu, introducing the young naturalist to his +notice, he said, "You remember that it was I who gave Delambre to +the Academy in another branch of science: this also will be a +Delambre." We need scarcely add that the prediction of Teissier +was more than fulfilled. + +It is not accident, then, that helps a man in the world so much as +purpose and persistent industry. To the feeble, the sluggish and +purposeless, the happiest accidents avail nothing,--they pass them +by, seeing no meaning in them. But it is astonishing how much can +be accomplished if we are prompt to seize and improve the +opportunities for action and effort which are constantly presenting +themselves. Watt taught himself chemistry and mechanics while +working at his trade of a mathematical-instrument maker, at the +same time that he was learning German from a Swiss dyer. +Stephenson taught himself arithmetic and mensuration while working +as an engineman during the night shifts; and when he could snatch a +few moments in the intervals allowed for meals during the day, he +worked his sums with a bit of chalk upon the sides of the colliery +waggons. Dalton's industry was the habit of his life. He began +from his boyhood, for he taught a little village-school when he was +only about twelve years old,--keeping the school in winter, and +working upon his father's farm in summer. He would sometimes urge +himself and companions to study by the stimulus of a bet, though +bred a Quaker; and on one occasion, by his satisfactory solution of +a problem, he won as much as enabled him to buy a winter's store of +candles. He continued his meteorological observations until a day +or two before he died,--having made and recorded upwards of 200,000 +in the course of his life. + +With perseverance, the very odds and ends of time may be worked up +into results of the greatest value. An hour in every day withdrawn +from frivolous pursuits would, if profitably employed, enable a +person of ordinary capacity to go far towards mastering a science. +It would make an ignorant man a well-informed one in less than ten +years. Time should not be allowed to pass without yielding fruits, +in the form of something learnt worthy of being known, some good +principle cultivated, or some good habit strengthened. Dr. Mason +Good translated Lucretius while riding in his carriage in the +streets of London, going the round of his patients. Dr. Darwin +composed nearly all his works in the same way while driving about +in his "sulky" from house to house in the country,--writing down +his thoughts on little scraps of paper, which he carried about with +him for the purpose. Hale wrote his 'Contemplations' while +travelling on circuit. Dr. Burney learnt French and Italian while +travelling on horseback from one musical pupil to another in the +course of his profession. Kirke White learnt Greek while walking +to and from a lawyer's office; and we personally know a man of +eminent position who learnt Latin and French while going messages +as an errand-boy in the streets of Manchester. + +Daguesseau, one of the great Chancellors of France, by carefully +working up his odd bits of time, wrote a bulky and able volume in +the successive intervals of waiting for dinner, and Madame de +Genlis composed several of her charming volumes while waiting for +the princess to whom she gave her daily lessons. Elihu Burritt +attributed his first success in self-improvement, not to genius, +which he disclaimed, but simply to the careful employment of those +invaluable fragments of time, called "odd moments." While working +and earning his living as a blacksmith, he mastered some eighteen +ancient and modern languages, and twenty-two European dialects. + +What a solemn and striking admonition to youth is that inscribed on +the dial at All Souls, Oxford--"Pereunt et imputantur"--the hours +perish, and are laid to our charge. Time is the only little +fragment of Eternity that belongs to man; and, like life, it can +never be recalled. "In the dissipation of worldly treasure," says +Jackson of Exeter, "the frugality of the future may balance the +extravagance of the past; but who can say, 'I will take from +minutes to-morrow to compensate for those I have lost to-day'?" +Melancthon noted down the time lost by him, that he might thereby +reanimate his industry, and not lose an hour. An Italian scholar +put over his door an inscription intimating that whosoever remained +there should join in his labours. "We are afraid," said some +visitors to Baxter, "that we break in upon your time." "To be sure +you do," replied the disturbed and blunt divine. Time was the +estate out of which these great workers, and all other workers, +formed that rich treasury of thoughts and deeds which they have +left to their successors. + +The mere drudgery undergone by some men in carrying on their +undertakings has been something extraordinary, but the drudgery +they regarded as the price of success. Addison amassed as much as +three folios of manuscript materials before he began his +'Spectator.' Newton wrote his 'Chronology' fifteen times over +before he was satisfied with it; and Gibbon wrote out his 'Memoir' +nine times. Hale studied for many years at the rate of sixteen +hours a day, and when wearied with the study of the law, he would +recreate himself with philosophy and the study of the mathematics. +Hume wrote thirteen hours a day while preparing his 'History of +England.' Montesquieu, speaking of one part of his writings, said +to a friend, "You will read it in a few hours; but I assure you it +has cost me so much labour that it has whitened my hair." + +The practice of writing down thoughts and facts for the purpose of +holding them fast and preventing their escape into the dim region +of forgetfulness, has been much resorted to by thoughtful and +studious men. Lord Bacon left behind him many manuscripts entitled +"Sudden thoughts set down for use." Erskine made great extracts +from Burke; and Eldon copied Coke upon Littleton twice over with +his own hand, so that the book became, as it were, part of his own +mind. The late Dr. Pye Smith, when apprenticed to his father as a +bookbinder, was accustomed to make copious memoranda of all the +books he read, with extracts and criticisms. This indomitable +industry in collecting materials distinguished him through life, +his biographer describing him as "always at work, always in +advance, always accumulating." These note-books afterwards proved, +like Richter's "quarries," the great storehouse from which he drew +his illustrations. + +The same practice characterized the eminent John Hunter, who +adopted it for the purpose of supplying the defects of memory; and +he was accustomed thus to illustrate the advantages which one +derives from putting one's thoughts in writing: "It resembles," he +said, "a tradesman taking stock, without which he never knows +either what he possesses or in what he is deficient." John Hunter- +-whose observation was so keen that Abernethy was accustomed to +speak of him as "the Argus-eyed"--furnished an illustrious example +of the power of patient industry. He received little or no +education till he was about twenty years of age, and it was with +difficulty that he acquired the arts of reading and writing. He +worked for some years as a common carpenter at Glasgow, after which +he joined his brother William, who had settled in London as a +lecturer and anatomical demonstrator. John entered his dissecting- +room as an assistant, but soon shot ahead of his brother, partly by +virtue of his great natural ability, but mainly by reason of his +patient application and indefatigable industry. He was one of the +first in this country to devote himself assiduously to the study of +comparative anatomy, and the objects he dissected and collected +took the eminent Professor Owen no less than ten years to arrange. +The collection contains some twenty thousand specimens, and is the +most precious treasure of the kind that has ever been accumulated +by the industry of one man. Hunter used to spend every morning +from sunrise until eight o'clock in his museum; and throughout the +day he carried on his extensive private practice, performed his +laborious duties as surgeon to St. George's Hospital and deputy +surgeon-general to the army; delivered lectures to students, and +superintended a school of practical anatomy at his own house; +finding leisure, amidst all, for elaborate experiments on the +animal economy, and the composition of various works of great +scientific importance. To find time for this gigantic amount of +work, he allowed himself only four hours of sleep at night, and an +hour after dinner. When once asked what method he had adopted to +insure success in his undertakings, he replied, "My rule is, +deliberately to consider, before I commence, whether the thing be +practicable. If it be not practicable, I do not attempt it. If it +be practicable, I can accomplish it if I give sufficient pains to +it; and having begun, I never stop till the thing is done. To this +rule I owe all my success." + +Hunter occupied a great deal of his time in collecting definite +facts respecting matters which, before his day, were regarded as +exceedingly trivial. Thus it was supposed by many of his +contemporaries that he was only wasting his time and thought in +studying so carefully as he did the growth of a deer's horn. But +Hunter was impressed with the conviction that no accurate knowledge +of scientific facts is without its value. By the study referred +to, he learnt how arteries accommodate themselves to circumstances, +and enlarge as occasion requires; and the knowledge thus acquired +emboldened him, in a case of aneurism in a branch artery, to tie +the main trunk where no surgeon before him had dared to tie it, and +the life of his patient was saved. Like many original men, he +worked for a long time as it were underground, digging and laying +foundations. He was a solitary and self-reliant genius, holding on +his course without the solace of sympathy or approbation,--for but +few of his contemporaries perceived the ultimate object of his +pursuits. But like all true workers, he did not fail in securing +his best reward--that which depends less upon others than upon +one's self--the approval of conscience, which in a right-minded man +invariably follows the honest and energetic performance of duty. + +Ambrose Pare, 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 cure +of the village, hoping that under that learned man he might pick up +an education for himself. But the cure 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 cure's ecclesiastical brethren. Pare was present at the +operation, and was so much interested by it that he is said to have +from that time formed the determination of devoting himself to the +art of surgery. + +Leaving the cure's household service, Pare 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 Hotel 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, Pare was +admitted a master barber-surgeon, and shortly after was appointed +to a charge with the French army under Montmorenci in Piedmont. +Pare was not a man to follow in the ordinary ruts of his +profession, but brought the resources of an ardent and original +mind to bear upon his daily work, diligently thinking out for +himself the rationale of diseases and their befitting remedies. +Before his time the wounded suffered much more at the hands of +their surgeons than they did at those of their enemies. To stop +bleeding from gunshot wounds, the barbarous expedient was resorted +to of dressing them with boiling oil. Haemorrhage 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 Pare +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 +Pare'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 haemorrhage, instead of +the actual cautery. Pare, 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 Pare, and he was always at their service: he tended +them carefully and affectionately; and he usually took leave of +them with the words, "I have dressed you; may God cure you." + +After three years' active service as army-surgeon, Pare 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 Pare to his help. +The courageous surgeon at once set out, and, after braving many +dangers (to use his own words, "d'estre pendu, estrangle ou mis en +pieces"), 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 Pare was in like manner with +the besieged in the town of Hesdin, which shortly fell before the +Duke of Savoy, and he was taken prisoner. But having succeeded in +curing one of the enemy's chief officers of a serious wound, he was +discharged without ransom, and returned in safety to Paris. + +The rest of his life was occupied in study, in self-improvement, in +piety, and in good deeds. Urged by some of the most learned among +his contemporaries, he placed on record the results of his surgical +experience, in twenty-eight books, which were published by him at +different times. His writings are valuable and remarkable chiefly +on account of the great number of facts and cases contained in +them, and the care with which he avoids giving any directions +resting merely upon theory unsupported by observation. Pare +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. Brantome, in his 'Memoires,' thus speaks of the +King's rescue of Pare 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 Pare escaped the horrors +of that fearful night, which he survived for many years, and was +permitted to die in peace, full of age and honours. + +Harvey was as indefatigable a labourer as any we have named. He +spent not less than eight long years of investigation and research +before he published his views of the circulation of the blood. He +repeated and verified his experiments again and again, probably +anticipating the opposition he would have to encounter from the +profession on making known his discovery. The tract in which he at +length announced his views, was a most modest one,--but simple, +perspicuous, and conclusive. It was nevertheless received with +ridicule, as the utterance of a crack-brained impostor. For some +time, he did not make a single convert, and gained nothing but +contumely and abuse. He had called in question the revered +authority of the ancients; and it was even averred that his views +were calculated to subvert the authority of the Scriptures and +undermine the very foundations of morality and religion. His +little practice fell away, and he was left almost without a friend. +This lasted for some years, until the great truth, held fast by +Harvey amidst all his adversity, and which had dropped into many +thoughtful minds, gradually ripened by further observation, and +after a period of about twenty-five years, it became generally +recognised as an established scientific truth. + +The difficulties encountered by Dr. Jenner in promulgating and +establishing his discovery of vaccination as a preventive of small- +pox, were even greater than those of Harvey. Many, before him, had +witnessed the cow-pox, and had heard of the report current among +the milkmaids in Gloucestershire, that whoever had taken that +disease was secure against small-pox. It was a trifling, vulgar +rumour, supposed to have no significance whatever; and no one had +thought it worthy of investigation, until it was accidentally +brought under the notice of Jenner. He was a youth, pursuing his +studies at Sodbury, when his attention was arrested by the casual +observation made by a country girl who came to his master's shop +for advice. The small-pox was mentioned, when the girl said, "I +can't take that disease, for I have had cow-pox." The observation +immediately riveted Jenner's attention, and he forthwith set about +inquiring and making observations on the subject. His professional +friends, to whom he mentioned his views as to the prophylactic +virtues of cow-pox, laughed at him, and even threatened to expel +him from their society, if he persisted in harassing them with the +subject. In London he was so fortunate as to study under John +Hunter, to whom he communicated his views. The advice of the great +anatomist was thoroughly characteristic: "Don't think, but TRY; be +patient, be accurate." Jenner's courage was supported by the +advice, which conveyed to him the true art of philosophical +investigation. He went back to the country to practise his +profession and make observations and experiments, which he +continued to pursue for a period of twenty years. His faith in his +discovery was so implicit that he vaccinated his own son on three +several occasions. At length he published his views in a quarto of +about seventy pages, in which he gave the details of twenty-three +cases of successful vaccination of individuals, to whom it was +found afterwards impossible to communicate the small-pox either by +contagion or inoculation. It was in 1798 that this treatise was +published; though he had been working out his ideas since the year +1775, when they had begun to assume a definite form. + +How was the discovery received? First with indifference, then with +active hostility. Jenner proceeded to London to exhibit to the +profession the process of vaccination and its results; but not a +single medical man could be induced to make trial of it, and after +fruitlessly waiting for nearly three months, he returned to his +native village. He was even caricatured and abused for his attempt +to "bestialize" his species by the introduction into their systems +of diseased matter from the cow's udder. Vaccination was denounced +from the pulpit as "diabolical." It was averred that vaccinated +children became "ox-faced," that abscesses broke out to "indicate +sprouting horns," and that the countenance was gradually +"transmuted into the visage of a cow, the voice into the bellowing +of bulls." Vaccination, however, was a truth, and notwithstanding +the violence of the opposition, belief in it spread slowly. In one +village, where a gentleman tried to introduce the practice, the +first persons who permitted themselves to be vaccinated were +absolutely pelted and driven into their houses if they appeared out +of doors. Two ladies of title--Lady Ducie and the Countess of +Berkeley--to their honour be it remembered--had the courage to +vaccinate their children; and the prejudices of the day were at +once broken through. The medical profession gradually came round, +and there were several who even sought to rob Dr. Jenner of the +merit of the discovery, when its importance came to be recognised. +Jenner's cause at last triumphed, and he was publicly honoured and +rewarded. In his prosperity he was as modest as he had been in his +obscurity. He was invited to settle in London, and told that he +might command a practice of 10,000l. a year. But his answer was, +"No! In the morning of my days I have sought the sequestered and +lowly paths of life--the valley, and not the mountain,--and now, in +the evening of my days, it is not meet for me to hold myself up as +an object for fortune and for fame." During Jenner's own life-time +the practice of vaccination became adopted all over the civilized +world; and when he died, his title as a Benefactor of his kind was +recognised far and wide. Cuvier has said, "If vaccine were the +only discovery of the epoch, it would serve to render it +illustrious for ever; yet it knocked twenty times in vain at the +doors of the Academies." + +Not less patient, resolute, and persevering was Sir Charles Bell in +the prosecution of his discoveries relating to the nervous system. +Previous to his time, the most confused notions prevailed as to the +functions of the nerves, and this branch of study was little more +advanced than it had been in the times of Democritus and Anaxagoras +three thousand years before. Sir Charles Bell, in the valuable +series of papers the publication of which was commenced in 1821, +took an entirely original view of the subject, based upon a long +series of careful, accurate, and oft-repeated experiments. +Elaborately tracing the development of the nervous system up from +the lowest order of animated being, to man--the lord of the animal +kingdom,--he displayed it, to use his own words, "as plainly as if +it were written in our mother-tongue." His discovery consisted in +the fact, that the spinal nerves are double in their function, and +arise by double roots from the spinal marrow,--volition being +conveyed by that part of the nerves springing from the one root, +and sensation by the other. The subject occupied the mind of Sir +Charles Bell for a period of forty years, when, in 1840, he laid +his last paper before the Royal Society. As in the cases of Harvey +and Jenner, when he had lived down the ridicule and opposition with +which his views were first received, and their truth came to be +recognised, numerous claims for priority in making the discovery +were set up at home and abroad. Like them, too, he lost practice +by the publication of his papers; and he left it on record that, +after every step in his discovery, he was obliged to work harder +than ever to preserve his reputation as a practitioner. The great +merits of Sir Charles Bell were, however, at length fully +recognised; and Cuvier himself, when on his death-bed, finding his +face distorted and drawn to one side, pointed out the symptom to +his attendants as a proof of the correctness of Sir Charles Bell's +theory. + +An equally devoted pursuer of the same branch of science was the +late Dr. Marshall Hall, whose name posterity will rank with those +of Harvey, Hunter, Jenner, and Bell. During the whole course of +his long and useful life he was a most careful and minute observer; +and no fact, however apparently insignificant, escaped his +attention. His important discovery of the diastaltic nervous +system, by which his name will long be known amongst scientific +men, originated in an exceedingly simple circumstance. When +investigating the pneumonic circulation in the Triton, the +decapitated object lay upon the table; and on separating the tail +and accidentally pricking the external integument, he observed that +it moved with energy, and became contorted into various forms. He +had not touched a muscle or a muscular nerve; what then was the +nature of these movements? The same phenomena had probably been +often observed before, but Dr. Hall was the first to apply himself +perseveringly to the investigation of their causes; and he +exclaimed on the occasion, "I will never rest satisfied until I +have found all this out, and made it clear." His attention to the +subject was almost incessant; and it is estimated that in the +course of his life he devoted not less than 25,000 hours to its +experimental and chemical investigation. He was at the same time +carrying on an extensive private practice, and officiating as +lecturer at St. Thomas's Hospital and other Medical Schools. It +will scarcely be credited that the paper in which he embodied his +discovery was rejected by the Royal Society, and was only accepted +after the lapse of seventeen years, when the truth of his views had +become acknowledged by scientific men both at home and abroad. + +The life of Sir William Herschel affords another remarkable +illustration of the force of perseverance in another branch of +science. His father was a poor German musician, who brought up his +four sons to the same calling. William came over to England to +seek his fortune, and he joined the band of the Durham Militia, in +which he played the oboe. The regiment was lying at Doncaster, +where Dr. Miller first became acquainted with Herschel, having +heard him perform a solo on the violin in a surprising manner. The +Doctor entered into conversation with the youth, and was so pleased +with him, that he urged him to leave the militia and take up his +residence at his house for a time. Herschel did so, and while at +Doncaster was principally occupied in violin-playing at concerts, +availing himself of the advantages of Dr. Miller's library to study +at his leisure hours. A new organ having been built for the parish +church of Halifax, an organist was advertised for, on which +Herschel applied for the office, and was selected. Leading the +wandering life of an artist, he was next attracted to Bath, where +he played in the Pump-room band, and also officiated as organist in +the Octagon chapel. Some recent discoveries in astronomy having +arrested his mind, and awakened in him a powerful spirit of +curiosity, he sought and obtained from a friend the loan of a two- +foot Gregorian telescope. So fascinated was the poor musician by +the science, that he even thought of purchasing a telescope, but +the price asked by the London optician was so alarming, that he +determined to make one. Those who know what a reflecting telescope +is, and the skill which is required to prepare the concave metallic +speculum which forms the most important part of the apparatus, will +be able to form some idea of the difficulty of this undertaking. +Nevertheless, Herschel succeeded, after long and painful labour, in +completing a five-foot reflector, with which he had the +gratification of observing the ring and satellites of Saturn. Not +satisfied with his triumph, he proceeded to make other instruments +in succession, of seven, ten, and even twenty feet. In +constructing the seven-foot reflector, he finished no fewer than +two hundred specula before he produced one that would bear any +power that was applied to it,--a striking instance of the +persevering laboriousness of the man. While gauging the heavens +with his instruments, he continued patiently to earn his bread by +piping to the fashionable frequenters of the Pump-room. So eager +was he in his astronomical observations, that he would steal away +from the room during an interval of the performance, give a little +turn at his telescope, and contentedly return to his oboe. Thus +working away, Herschel discovered the Georgium Sidus, the orbit and +rate of motion of which he carefully calculated, and sent the +result to the Royal Society; when the humble oboe player found +himself at once elevated from obscurity to fame. He was shortly +after appointed Astronomer Royal, and by the kindness of George +III. was placed in a position of honourable competency for life. +He bore his honours with the same meekness and humility which had +distinguished him in the days of his obscurity. So gentle and +patient, and withal so distinguished and successful a follower of +science under difficulties, perhaps cannot be found in the entire +history of biography. + +The career of William Smith, the father of English geology, though +perhaps less known, is not less interesting and instructive as an +example of patient and laborious effort, and the diligent +cultivation of opportunities. He was born in 1769, the son of a +yeoman farmer at Churchill, in Oxfordshire. His father dying when +he was but a child, he received a very sparing education at the +village school, and even that was to a considerable extent +interfered with by his wandering and somewhat idle habits as a boy. +His mother having married a second time, he was taken in charge by +an uncle, also a farmer, by whom he was brought up. Though the +uncle was by no means pleased with the boy's love of wandering +about, collecting "poundstones," "pundips," and other stony +curiosities which lay scattered about the adjoining land, he yet +enabled him to purchase a few of the necessary books wherewith to +instruct himself in the rudiments of geometry and surveying; for +the boy was already destined for the business of a land-surveyor. +One of his marked characteristics, even as a youth, was the +accuracy and keenness of his observation; and what he once clearly +saw he never forgot. He began to draw, attempted to colour, and +practised the arts of mensuration and surveying, all without +regular instruction; and by his efforts in self-culture, he shortly +became so proficient, that he was taken on as assistant to a local +surveyor of ability in the neighbourhood. In carrying on his +business he was constantly under the necessity of traversing +Oxfordshire and the adjoining counties. One of the first things he +seriously pondered over, was the position of the various soils and +strata that came under his notice on the lands which he surveyed or +travelled over; more especially the position of the red earth in +regard to the lias and superincumbent rocks. The surveys of +numerous collieries which he was called upon to make, gave him +further experience; and already, when only twenty-three years of +age, he contemplated making a model of the strata of the earth. + +While engaged in levelling for a proposed canal in Gloucestershire, +the idea of a general law occurred to him relating to the strata of +that district. He conceived that the strata lying above the coal +were not laid horizontally, but inclined, and in one direction, +towards the east; resembling, on a large scale, "the ordinary +appearance of superposed slices of bread and butter." The +correctness of this theory he shortly after confirmed by +observations of the strata in two parallel valleys, the "red +ground," "lias," and "freestone" or "oolite," being found to come +down in an eastern direction, and to sink below the level, yielding +place to the next in succession. He was shortly enabled to verify +the truth of his views on a larger scale, having been appointed to +examine personally into the management of canals in England and +Wales. During his journeys, which extended from Bath to Newcastle- +on-Tyne, returning by Shropshire and Wales, his keen eyes were +never idle for a moment. He rapidly noted the aspect and structure +of the country through which he passed with his companions, +treasuring up his observations for future use. His geologic vision +was so acute, that though the road along which he passed from York +to Newcastle in the post chaise was from five to fifteen miles +distant from the hills of chalk and oolite on the east, he was +satisfied as to their nature, by their contours and relative +position, and their ranges on the surface in relation to the lias +and "red ground" occasionally seen on the road. + +The general results of his observation seem to have been these. He +noted that the rocky masses of country in the western parts of +England generally inclined to the east and south-east; that the red +sandstones and marls above the coal measures passed beneath the +lias, clay, and limestone, that these again passed beneath the +sands, yellow limestones and clays, forming the table-land of the +Cotswold Hills, while these in turn passed beneath the great chalk +deposits occupying the eastern parts of England. He further +observed, that each layer of clay, sand, and limestone held its own +peculiar classes of fossils; and pondering much on these things, he +at length came to the then unheard-of conclusion, that each +distinct deposit of marine animals, in these several strata, +indicated a distinct sea-bottom, and that each layer of clay, sand, +chalk, and stone, marked a distinct epoch of time in the history of +the earth. + +This idea took firm possession of his mind, and he could talk and +think of nothing else. At canal boards, at sheep-shearings, at +county meetings, and at agricultural associations, 'Strata Smith,' +as he came to be called, was always running over with the subject +that possessed him. He had indeed made a great discovery, though +he was as yet a man utterly unknown in the scientific world. He +proceeded to project a map of the stratification of England; but +was for some time deterred from proceeding with it, being fully +occupied in carrying out the works of the Somersetshire coal canal, +which engaged him for a period of about six years. He continued, +nevertheless, to be unremitting in his observation of facts; and he +became so expert in apprehending the internal structure of a +district and detecting the lie of the strata from its external +configuration, that he was often consulted respecting the drainage +of extensive tracts of land, in which, guided by his geological +knowledge, he proved remarkably successful, and acquired an +extensive reputation. + +One day, when looking over the cabinet collection of fossils +belonging to the Rev. Samuel Richardson, at Bath, Smith astonished +his friend by suddenly disarranging his classification, and re- +arranging the fossils in their stratigraphical order, saying-- +"These came from the blue lias, these from the over-lying sand and +freestone, these from the fuller's earth, and these from the Bath +building stone." A new light flashed upon Mr. Richardson's mind, +and he shortly became a convert to and believer in William Smith's +doctrine. The geologists of the day were not, however, so easily +convinced; and it was scarcely to be tolerated that an unknown +land-surveyor should pretend to teach them the science of geology. +But William Smith had an eye and mind to penetrate deep beneath the +skin of the earth; he saw its very fibre and skeleton, and, as it +were, divined its organization. His knowledge of the strata in the +neighbourhood of Bath was so accurate, that one evening, when +dining at the house of the Rev. Joseph Townsend, he dictated to Mr. +Richardson the different strata according to their order of +succession in descending order, twenty-three in number, commencing +with the chalk and descending in continuous series down to the +coal, below which the strata were not then sufficiently determined. +To this was added a list of the more remarkable fossils which had +been gathered in the several layers of rock. This was printed and +extensively circulated in 1801. + +He next determined to trace out the strata through districts as +remote from Bath as his means would enable him to reach. For years +he journeyed to and fro, sometimes on foot, sometimes on horseback, +riding on the tops of stage coaches, often making up by night- +travelling the time he had lost by day, so as not to fail in his +ordinary business engagements. When he was professionally called +away to any distance from home--as, for instance, when travelling +from Bath to Holkham, in Norfolk, to direct the irrigation and +drainage of Mr. Coke's land in that county--he rode on horseback, +making frequent detours from the road to note the geological +features of the country which he traversed. + +For several years he was thus engaged in his journeys to distant +quarters in England and Ireland, to the extent of upwards of ten +thousand miles yearly; and it was amidst this incessant and +laborious travelling, that he contrived to commit to paper his +fast-growing generalizations on what he rightly regarded as a new +science. No observation, howsoever trivial it might appear, was +neglected, and no opportunity of collecting fresh facts was +overlooked. Whenever he could, he possessed himself of records of +borings, natural and artificial sections, drew them to a constant +scale of eight yards to the inch, and coloured them up. Of his +keenness of observation take the following illustration. When +making one of his geological excursions about the country near +Woburn, as he was drawing near to the foot of the Dunstable chalk +hills, he observed to his companion, "If there be any broken ground +about the foot of these hills, we may find SHARK'S TEETH;" and they +had not proceeded far, before they picked up six from the white +bank of a new fence-ditch. As he afterwards said of himself, "The +habit of observation crept on me, gained a settlement in my mind, +became a constant associate of my life, and started up in activity +at the first thought of a journey; so that I generally went off +well prepared with maps, and sometimes with contemplations on its +objects, or on those on the road, reduced to writing before it +commenced. My mind was, therefore, like the canvas of a painter, +well prepared for the first and best impressions." + +Notwithstanding his courageous and indefatigable industry, many +circumstances contributed to prevent the promised publication of +William Smith's 'Map of the Strata of England and Wales,' and it +was not until 1814 that he was enabled, by the assistance of some +friends, to give to the world the fruits of his twenty years' +incessant labour. To prosecute his inquiries, and collect the +extensive series of facts and observations requisite for his +purpose, he had to expend the whole of the profits of his +professional labours during that period; and he even sold off his +small property to provide the means of visiting remoter parts of +the island. Meanwhile he had entered on a quarrying speculation +near Bath, which proved unsuccessful, and he was under the +necessity of selling his geological collection (which was purchased +by the British Museum), his furniture and library, reserving only +his papers, maps, and sections, which were useless save to himself. +He bore his losses and misfortunes with exemplary fortitude; and +amidst all, he went on working with cheerful courage and untiring +patience. He died at Northampton, in August, 1839, while on his +way to attend the meeting of the British Association at Birmingham. + +It is difficult to speak in terms of too high praise of the first +geological map of England, which we owe to the industry of this +courageous man of science. An accomplished writer says of it, "It +was a work so masterly in conception and so correct in general +outline, that in principle it served as a basis not only for the +production of later maps of the British Islands, but for geological +maps of all other parts of the world, wherever they have been +undertaken. In the apartments of the Geological Society Smith's +map may yet be seen--a great historical document, old and worn, +calling for renewal of its faded tints. Let any one conversant +with the subject compare it with later works on a similar scale, +and he will find that in all essential features it will not suffer +by the comparison--the intricate anatomy of the Silurian rocks of +Wales and the north of England by Murchison and Sedgwick being the +chief additions made to his great generalizations." {20} The +genius of the Oxfordshire surveyor did not fail to be duly +recognised and honoured by men of science during his lifetime. In +1831 the Geological Society of London awarded to him the Wollaston +medal, "in consideration of his being a great original discoverer +in English geology, and especially for his being the first in this +country to discover and to teach the identification of strata, and +to determine their succession by means of their imbedded fossils." +William Smith, in his simple, earnest way, gained for himself a +name as lasting as the science he loved so well. To use the words +of the writer above quoted, "Till the manner as well as the fact of +the first appearance of successive forms of life shall be solved, +it is not easy to surmise how any discovery can be made in geology +equal in value to that which we owe to the genius of William +Smith." + +Hugh Miller was a man of like observant faculties, who studied +literature as well as science with zeal and success. The book in +which he has told the story of his life, ('My Schools and +Schoolmasters'), is extremely interesting, and calculated to be +eminently useful. It is the history of the formation of a truly +noble character in the humblest condition of life; and inculcates +most powerfully the lessons of self-help, self-respect, and self- +dependence. While Hugh was but a child, his father, who was a +sailor, was drowned at sea, and he was brought up by his widowed +mother. He had a school training after a sort, but his best +teachers were the boys with whom he played, the men amongst whom he +worked, the friends and relatives with whom he lived. He read much +and miscellaneously, and picked up odd sorts of knowledge from many +quarters,--from workmen, carpenters, fishermen and sailors, and +above all, from the old boulders strewed along the shores of the +Cromarty Frith. With a big hammer which had belonged to his great- +grandfather, an old buccaneer, the boy went about chipping the +stones, and accumulating specimens of mica, porphyry, garnet, and +such like. Sometimes he had a day in the woods, and there, too, +the boy's attention was excited by the peculiar geological +curiosities which came in his way. While searching among the rocks +on the beach, he was sometimes asked, in irony, by the farm +servants who came to load their carts with sea-weed, whether he +"was gettin' siller in the stanes," but was so unlucky as never to +be able to answer in the affirmative. When of a suitable age he +was apprenticed to the trade of his choice--that of a working +stonemason; and he began his labouring career in a quarry looking +out upon the Cromarty Frith. This quarry proved one of his best +schools. The remarkable geological formations which it displayed +awakened his curiosity. The bar of deep-red stone beneath, and the +bar of pale-red clay above, were noted by the young quarryman, who +even in such unpromising subjects found matter for observation and +reflection. Where other men saw nothing, he detected analogies, +differences, and peculiarities, which set him a-thinking. He +simply kept his eyes and his mind open; was sober, diligent, and +persevering; and this was the secret of his intellectual growth. + +His curiosity was excited and kept alive by the curious organic +remains, principally of old and extinct species of fishes, ferns, +and ammonites, which were revealed along the coast by the washings +of the waves, or were exposed by the stroke of his mason's hammer. +He never lost sight of the subject; but went on accumulating +observations and comparing formations, until at length, many years +afterwards, when no longer a working mason, he gave to the world +his highly interesting work on the Old Red Sandstone, which at once +established his reputation as a scientific geologist. But this +work was the fruit of long years of patient observation and +research. As he modestly states in his autobiography, "the only +merit to which I lay claim in the case is that of patient research- +-a merit in which whoever wills may rival or surpass me; and this +humble faculty of patience, when rightly developed, may lead to +more extraordinary developments of idea than even genius itself." + +The late John Brown, the eminent English geologist, was, like +Miller, a stonemason in his early life, serving an apprenticeship +to the trade at Colchester, and afterwards working as a journeyman +mason at Norwich. He began business as a builder on his own +account at Colchester, where by frugality and industry he secured a +competency. It was while working at his trade that his attention +was first drawn to the study of fossils and shells; and he +proceeded to make a collection of them, which afterwards grew into +one of the finest in England. His researches along the coasts of +Essex, Kent, and Sussex brought to light some magnificent remains +of the elephant and rhinoceros, the most valuable of which were +presented by him to the British Museum. During the last few years +of his life he devoted considerable attention to the study of the +Foraminifera in chalk, respecting which he made several interesting +discoveries. His life was useful, happy, and honoured; and he died +at Stanway, in Essex, in November 1859, at the ripe age of eighty +years. + +Not long ago, Sir Roderick Murchison discovered at Thurso, in the +far north of Scotland, a profound geologist, in the person of a +baker there, named Robert Dick. When Sir Roderick called upon him +at the bakehouse in which he baked and earned his bread, Robert +Dick delineated to him, by means of flour upon the board, the +geographical features and geological phenomena of his native +county, pointing out the imperfections in the existing maps, which +he had ascertained by travelling over the country in his leisure +hours. On further inquiry, Sir Roderick ascertained that the +humble individual before him was not only a capital baker and +geologist, but a first-rate botanist. "I found," said the +President of the Geographical Society, "to my great humiliation +that the baker knew infinitely more of botanical science, ay, ten +times more, than I did; and that there were only some twenty or +thirty specimens of flowers which he had not collected. Some he +had obtained as presents, some he had purchased, but the greater +portion had been accumulated by his industry, in his native county +of Caithness; and the specimens were all arranged in the most +beautiful order, with their scientific names affixed." + +Sir Roderick Murchison himself is an illustrious follower of these +and kindred branches of science. A writer in the 'Quarterly +Review' cites him as a "singular instance of a man who, having +passed the early part of his life as a soldier, never having had +the advantage, or disadvantage as the case might have been, of a +scientific training, instead of remaining a fox-hunting country +gentleman, has succeeded by his own native vigour and sagacity, +untiring industry and zeal, in making for himself a scientific +reputation that is as wide as it is likely to be lasting. He took +first of all an unexplored and difficult district at home, and, by +the labour of many years, examined its rock-formations, classed +them in natural groups, assigned to each its characteristic +assemblage of fossils, and was the first to decipher two great +chapters in the world's geological history, which must always +henceforth carry his name on their title-page. Not only so, but he +applied the knowledge thus acquired to the dissection of large +districts, both at home and abroad, so as to become the geological +discoverer of great countries which had formerly been 'terrae +incognitae.'" But Sir Roderick Murchison is not merely a +geologist. His indefatigable labours in many branches of knowledge +have contributed to render him among the most accomplished and +complete of scientific men. + + + +CHAPTER VI--WORKERS IN ART + + + +"If what shone afar so grand, +Turn to nothing in thy hand, +On again; the virtue lies +In struggle, not the prize."--R. M. Milnes. + +"Excelle, et tu vivras."--Joubert. + + +Excellence in art, as in everything else, can only be achieved by +dint of painstaking labour. + +There is nothing less accidental than the painting of a fine +picture or the chiselling of a noble statue. Every skilled touch +of the artist's brush or chisel, though guided by genius, is the +product of unremitting study. + +Sir Joshua Reynolds was such a believer in the force of industry, +that he held that artistic excellence, "however expressed by +genius, taste, or the gift of heaven, may be acquired." Writing to +Barry he said, "Whoever is resolved to excel in painting, or indeed +any other art, must bring all his mind to bear upon that one object +from the moment that he rises till he goes to bed." And on another +occasion he said, "Those who are resolved to excel must go to their +work, willing or unwilling, morning, noon, and night: they will +find it no play, but very hard labour." But although diligent +application is no doubt absolutely necessary for the achievement of +the highest distinction in art, it is equally true that without the +inborn genius, no amount of mere industry, however well applied, +will make an artist. The gift comes by nature, but is perfected by +self-culture, which is of more avail than all the imparted +education of the schools. + +Some of the greatest artists have had to force their way upward in +the face of poverty and manifold obstructions. Illustrious +instances will at once flash upon the reader's mind. Claude +Lorraine, the pastrycook; Tintoretto, the dyer; the two +Caravaggios, the one a colour-grinder, the other a mortar-carrier +at the Vatican; Salvator Rosa, the associate of bandits; Giotto, +the peasant boy; Zingaro, the gipsy; Cavedone, turned out of doors +to beg by his father; Canova, the stone-cutter; these, and many +other well-known artists, succeeded in achieving distinction by +severe study and labour, under circumstances the most adverse. + +Nor have the most distinguished artists of our own country been +born in a position of life more than ordinarily favourable to the +culture of artistic genius. Gainsborough and Bacon were the sons +of cloth-workers; Barry was an Irish sailor boy, and Maclise a +banker's apprentice at Cork; Opie and Romney, like Inigo Jones, +were carpenters; West was the son of a small Quaker farmer in +Pennsylvania; Northcote was a watchmaker, Jackson a tailor, and +Etty a printer; Reynolds, Wilson, and Wilkie, were the sons of +clergymen; Lawrence was the son of a publican, and Turner of a +barber. Several of our painters, it is true, originally had some +connection with art, though in a very humble way,--such as Flaxman, +whose father sold plaster casts; Bird, who ornamented tea-trays; +Martin, who was a coach-painter; Wright and Gilpin, who were ship- +painters; Chantrey, who was a carver and gilder; and David Cox, +Stanfield, and Roberts, who were scene-painters. + +It was not by luck or accident that these men achieved distinction, +but by sheer industry and hard work. Though some achieved wealth, +yet this was rarely, if ever, the ruling motive. Indeed, no mere +love of money could sustain the efforts of the artist in his early +career of self-denial and application. The pleasure of the pursuit +has always been its best reward; the wealth which followed but an +accident. Many noble-minded artists have preferred following the +bent of their genius, to chaffering with the public for terms. +Spagnoletto verified in his life the beautiful fiction of Xenophon, +and after he had acquired the means of luxury, preferred +withdrawing himself from their influence, and voluntarily returned +to poverty and labour. When Michael Angelo was asked his opinion +respecting a work which a painter had taken great pains to exhibit +for profit, he said, "I think that he will be a poor fellow so long +as he shows such an extreme eagerness to become rich." + +Like Sir Joshua Reynolds, Michael Angelo was a great believer in +the force of labour; and he held that there was nothing which the +imagination conceived, that could not be embodied in marble, if the +hand were made vigorously to obey the mind. He was himself one of +the most indefatigable of workers; and he attributed his power of +studying for a greater number of hours than most of his +contemporaries, to his spare habits of living. A little bread and +wine was all he required for the chief part of the day when +employed at his work; and very frequently he rose in the middle of +the night to resume his labours. On these occasions, it was his +practice to fix the candle, by the light of which he chiselled, on +the summit of a paste-board cap which he wore. Sometimes he was +too wearied to undress, and he slept in his clothes, ready to +spring to his work so soon as refreshed by sleep. He had a +favourite device of an old man in a go-cart, with an hour-glass +upon it bearing the inscription, Ancora imparo! Still I am +learning. + +Titian, also, was an indefatigable worker. His celebrated "Pietro +Martire" was eight years in hand, and his "Last Supper" seven. In +his letter to Charles V. he said, "I send your Majesty the 'Last +Supper' after working at it almost daily for seven years--dopo +sette anni lavorandovi quasi continuamente." Few think of the +patient labour and long training involved in the greatest works of +the artist. They seem easy and quickly accomplished, yet with how +great difficulty has this ease been acquired. "You charge me fifty +sequins," said the Venetian nobleman to the sculptor, "for a bust +that cost you only ten days' labour." "You forget," said the +artist, "that I have been thirty years learning to make that bust +in ten days." Once when Domenichino was blamed for his slowness in +finishing a picture which was bespoken, he made answer, "I am +continually painting it within myself." It was eminently +characteristic of the industry of the late Sir Augustus Callcott, +that he made not fewer than forty separate sketches in the +composition of his famous picture of "Rochester." This constant +repetition is one of the main conditions of success in art, as in +life itself. + +No matter how generous nature has been in bestowing the gift of +genius, the pursuit of art is nevertheless a long and continuous +labour. Many artists have been precocious, but without diligence +their precocity would have come to nothing. The anecdote related +of West is well known. When only seven years old, struck with the +beauty of the sleeping infant of his eldest sister whilst watching +by its cradle, he ran to seek some paper and forthwith drew its +portrait in red and black ink. The little incident revealed the +artist in him, and it was found impossible to draw him from his +bent. West might have been a greater painter, had he not been +injured by too early success: his fame, though great, was not +purchased by study, trials, and difficulties, and it has not been +enduring. + +Richard Wilson, when a mere child, indulged himself with tracing +figures of men and animals on the walls of his father's house, with +a burnt stick. He first directed his attention to portrait +painting; but when in Italy, calling one day at the house of +Zucarelli, and growing weary with waiting, he began painting the +scene on which his friend's chamber window looked. When Zucarelli +arrived, he was so charmed with the picture, that he asked if +Wilson had not studied landscape, to which he replied that he had +not. "Then, I advise you," said the other, "to try; for you are +sure of great success." Wilson adopted the advice, studied and +worked hard, and became our first great English landscape painter. + +Sir Joshua Reynolds, when a boy, forgot his lessons, and took +pleasure only in drawing, for which his father was accustomed to +rebuke him. The boy was destined for the profession of physic, but +his strong instinct for art could not be repressed, and he became a +painter. Gainsborough went sketching, when a schoolboy, in the +woods of Sudbury; and at twelve he was a confirmed artist: he was +a keen observer and a hard worker,--no picturesque feature of any +scene he had once looked upon, escaping his diligent pencil. +William Blake, a hosier's son, employed himself in drawing designs +on the backs of his father's shop-bills, and making sketches on the +counter. Edward Bird, when a child only three or four years old, +would mount a chair and draw figures on the walls, which he called +French and English soldiers. A box of colours was purchased for +him, and his father, desirous of turning his love of art to +account, put him apprentice to a maker of tea-trays! Out of this +trade he gradually raised himself, by study and labour, to the rank +of a Royal Academician. + +Hogarth, though a very dull boy at his lessons, took pleasure in +making drawings of the letters of the alphabet, and his school +exercises were more remarkable for the ornaments with which he +embellished them, than for the matter of the exercises themselves. +In the latter respect he was beaten by all the blockheads of the +school, but in his adornments he stood alone. His father put him +apprentice to a silversmith, where he learnt to draw, and also to +engrave spoons and forks with crests and ciphers. From silver- +chasing, he went on to teach himself engraving on copper, +principally griffins and monsters of heraldry, in the course of +which practice he became ambitious to delineate the varieties of +human character. The singular excellence which he reached in this +art, was mainly the result of careful observation and study. He +had the gift, which he sedulously cultivated, of committing to +memory the precise features of any remarkable face, and afterwards +reproducing them on paper; but if any singularly fantastic form or +outre face came in his way, he would make a sketch of it on the +spot, upon his thumb-nail, and carry it home to expand at his +leisure. Everything fantastical and original had a powerful +attraction for him, and he wandered into many out-of-the-way places +for the purpose of meeting with character. By this careful storing +of his mind, he was afterwards enabled to crowd an immense amount +of thought and treasured observation into his works. Hence it is +that Hogarth's pictures are so truthful a memorial of the +character, the manners, and even the very thoughts of the times in +which he lived. True painting, he himself observed, can only be +learnt in one school, and that is kept by Nature. But he was not a +highly cultivated man, except in his own walk. His school +education had been of the slenderest kind, scarcely even perfecting +him in the art of spelling; his self-culture did the rest. For a +long time he was in very straitened circumstances, but nevertheless +worked on with a cheerful heart. Poor though he was, he contrived +to live within his small means, and he boasted, with becoming +pride, that he was "a punctual paymaster." When he had conquered +all his difficulties and become a famous and thriving man, he loved +to dwell upon his early labours and privations, and to fight over +again the battle which ended so honourably to him as a man and so +gloriously as an artist. "I remember the time," said he on one +occasion, "when I have gone moping into the city with scarce a +shilling, but as soon as I have received ten guineas there for a +plate, I have returned home, put on my sword, and sallied out with +all the confidence of a man who had thousands in his pockets." + +"Industry and perseverance" was the motto of the sculptor Banks, +which he acted on himself, and strongly recommended to others. His +well-known kindness induced many aspiring youths to call upon him +and ask for his advice and assistance; and it is related that one +day a boy called at his door to see him with this object, but the +servant, angry at the loud knock he had given, scolded him, and was +about sending him away, when Banks overhearing her, himself went +out. The little boy stood at the door with some drawings in his +hand. "What do you want with me?" asked the sculptor. "I want, +sir, if you please, to be admitted to draw at the Academy." Banks +explained that he himself could not procure his admission, but he +asked to look at the boy's drawings. Examining them, he said, +"Time enough for the Academy, my little man! go home--mind your +schooling--try to make a better drawing of the Apollo--and in a +month come again and let me see it." The boy went home--sketched +and worked with redoubled diligence--and, at the end of the month, +called again on the sculptor. The drawing was better; but again +Banks sent him back, with good advice, to work and study. In a +week the boy was again at his door, his drawing much improved; and +Banks bid him be of good cheer, for if spared he would distinguish +himself. The boy was Mulready; and the sculptor's augury was amply +fulfilled. + +The fame of Claude Lorraine is partly explained by his +indefatigable industry. Born at Champagne, in Lorraine, of poor +parents, he was first apprenticed to a pastrycook. His brother, +who was a wood-carver, afterwards took him into his shop to learn +that trade. Having there shown indications of artistic skill, a +travelling dealer persuaded the brother to allow Claude to +accompany him to Italy. He assented, and the young man reached +Rome, where he was shortly after engaged by Agostino Tassi, the +landscape painter, as his house-servant. In that capacity Claude +first learnt landscape painting, and in course of time he began to +produce pictures. We next find him making the tour of Italy, +France, and Germany, occasionally resting by the way to paint +landscapes, and thereby replenish his purse. On returning to Rome +he found an increasing demand for his works, and his reputation at +length became European. He was unwearied in the study of nature in +her various aspects. It was his practice to spend a great part of +his time in closely copying buildings, bits of ground, trees, +leaves, and such like, which he finished in detail, keeping the +drawings by him in store for the purpose of introducing them in his +studied landscapes. He also gave close attention to the sky, +watching it for whole days from morning till night, and noting the +various changes occasioned by the passing clouds and the increasing +and waning light. By this constant practice he acquired, although +it is said very slowly, such a mastery of hand and eye as +eventually secured for him the first rank among landscape painters. + +Turner, who has been styled "the English Claude," pursued a career +of like laborious industry. He was destined by his father for his +own trade of a barber, which he carried on in London, until one day +the sketch which the boy had made of a coat of arms on a silver +salver having attracted the notice of a customer whom his father +was shaving, the latter was urged to allow his son to follow his +bias, and he was eventually permitted to follow art as a +profession. Like all young artists, Turner had many difficulties +to encounter, and they were all the greater that his circumstances +were so straitened. But he was always willing to work, and to take +pains with his work, no matter how humble it might be. He was glad +to hire himself out at half-a-crown a night to wash in skies in +Indian ink upon other people's drawings, getting his supper into +the bargain. Thus he earned money and acquired expertness. Then +he took to illustrating guide-books, almanacs, and any sort of +books that wanted cheap frontispieces. "What could I have done +better?" said he afterwards; "it was first-rate practice." He did +everything carefully and conscientiously, never slurring over his +work because he was ill-remunerated for it. He aimed at learning +as well as living; always doing his best, and never leaving a +drawing without having made a step in advance upon his previous +work. A man who thus laboured was sure to do much; and his growth +in power and grasp of thought was, to use Ruskin's words, "as +steady as the increasing light of sunrise." But Turner's genius +needs no panegyric; his best monument is the noble gallery of +pictures bequeathed by him to the nation, which will ever be the +most lasting memorial of his fame. + +To reach Rome, the capital of the fine arts, is usually the highest +ambition of the art student. But the journey to Rome is costly, +and the student is often poor. With a will resolute to overcome +difficulties, Rome may however at last be reached. Thus Francois +Perrier, an early French painter, in his eager desire to visit the +Eternal City, consented to act as guide to a blind vagrant. After +long wanderings he reached the Vatican, studied and became famous. +Not less enthusiasm was displayed by Jacques Callot in his +determination to visit Rome. Though opposed by his father in his +wish to be an artist, the boy would not be baulked, but fled from +home to make his way to Italy. Having set out without means, he +was soon reduced to great straits; but falling in with a band of +gipsies, he joined their company, and wandered about with them from +one fair to another, sharing in their numerous adventures. During +this remarkable journey Callot picked up much of that extraordinary +knowledge of figure, feature, and character which he afterwards +reproduced, sometimes in such exaggerated forms, in his wonderful +engravings. + +When Callot at length reached Florence, a gentleman, pleased with +his ingenious ardour, placed him with an artist to study; but he +was not satisfied to stop short of Rome, and we find him shortly on +his way thither. At Rome he made the acquaintance of Porigi and +Thomassin, who, on seeing his crayon sketches, predicted for him a +brilliant career as an artist. But a friend of Callot's family +having accidentally encountered him, took steps to compel the +fugitive to return home. By this time he had acquired such a love +of wandering that he could not rest; so he ran away a second time, +and a second time he was brought back by his elder brother, who +caught him at Turin. At last the father, seeing resistance was in +vain, gave his reluctant consent to Callot's prosecuting his +studies at Rome. Thither he went accordingly; and this time he +remained, diligently studying design and engraving for several +years, under competent masters. On his way back to France, he was +encouraged by Cosmo II. to remain at Florence, where he studied and +worked for several years more. On the death of his patron he +returned to his family at Nancy, where, by the use of his burin and +needle, he shortly acquired both wealth and fame. When Nancy was +taken by siege during the civil wars, Callot was requested by +Richelieu to make a design and engraving of the event, but the +artist would not commemorate the disaster which had befallen his +native place, and he refused point-blank. Richelieu could not +shake his resolution, and threw him into prison. There Callot met +with some of his old friends the gipsies, who had relieved his +wants on his first journey to Rome. When Louis XIII. heard of his +imprisonment, he not only released him, but offered to grant him +any favour he might ask. Callot immediately requested that his old +companions, the gipsies, might be set free and permitted to beg in +Paris without molestation. This odd request was granted on +condition that Callot should engrave their portraits, and hence his +curious book of engravings entitled "The Beggars." Louis is said +to have offered Callot a pension of 3000 livres provided he would +not leave Paris; but the artist was now too much of a Bohemian, and +prized his liberty too highly to permit him to accept it; and he +returned to Nancy, where he worked till his death. His industry +may be inferred from the number of his engravings and etchings, of +which he left not fewer than 1600. He was especially fond of +grotesque subjects, which he treated with great skill; his free +etchings, touched with the graver, being executed with especial +delicacy and wonderful minuteness. + +Still more romantic and adventurous was the career of Benvenuto +Cellini, the marvellous gold worker, painter, sculptor, engraver, +engineer, and author. His life, as told by himself, is one of the +most extraordinary autobiographies ever written. Giovanni Cellini, +his father, was one of the Court musicians to Lorenzo de Medici at +Florence; and his highest ambition concerning his son Benvenuto was +that he should become an expert player on the flute. But Giovanni +having lost his appointment, found it necessary to send his son to +learn some trade, and he was apprenticed to a goldsmith. The boy +had already displayed a love of drawing and of art; and, applying +himself to his business, he soon became a dexterous workman. +Having got mixed up in a quarrel with some of the townspeople, he +was banished for six months, during which period he worked with a +goldsmith at Sienna, gaining further experience in jewellery and +gold-working. + +His father still insisting on his becoming a flute-player, +Benvenuto continued to practise on the instrument, though he +detested it. His chief pleasure was in art, which he pursued with +enthusiasm. Returning to Florence, he carefully studied the +designs of Leonardo da Vinci and Michael Angelo; and, still further +to improve himself in gold-working, he went on foot to Rome, where +he met with a variety of adventures. He returned to Florence with +the reputation of being a most expert worker in the precious +metals, and his skill was soon in great request. But being of an +irascible temper, he was constantly getting into scrapes, and was +frequently under the necessity of flying for his life. Thus he +fled from Florence in the disguise of a friar, again taking refuge +at Sienna, and afterwards at Rome. + +During his second residence in Rome, Cellini met with extensive +patronage, and he was taken into the Pope's service in the double +capacity of goldsmith and musician. He was constantly studying and +improving himself by acquaintance with the works of the best +masters. He mounted jewels, finished enamels, engraved seals, and +designed and executed works in gold, silver, and bronze, in such a +style as to excel all other artists. Whenever he heard of a +goldsmith who was famous in any particular branch, he immediately +determined to surpass him. Thus it was that he rivalled the medals +of one, the enamels of another, and the jewellery of a third; in +fact, there was not a branch of his business that he did not feel +impelled to excel in. + +Working in this spirit, it is not so wonderful that Cellini should +have been able to accomplish so much. He was a man of +indefatigable activity, and was constantly on the move. At one +time we find him at Florence, at another at Rome; then he is at +Mantua, at Rome, at Naples, and back to Florence again; then at +Venice, and in Paris, making all his long journeys on horseback. +He could not carry much luggage with him; so, wherever he went, he +usually began by making his own tools. He not only designed his +works, but executed them himself,--hammered and carved, and cast +and shaped them with his own hands. Indeed, his works have the +impress of genius so clearly stamped upon them, that they could +never have been designed by one person, and executed by another. +The humblest article--a buckle for a lady's girdle, a seal, a +locket, a brooch, a ring, or a button--became in his hands a +beautiful work of art. + +Cellini was remarkable for his readiness and dexterity in +handicraft. One day a surgeon entered the shop of Raffaello del +Moro, the goldsmith, to perform an operation on his daughter's +hand. On looking at the surgeon's instruments, Cellini, who was +present, found them rude and clumsy, as they usually were in those +days, and he asked the surgeon to proceed no further with the +operation for a quarter of an hour. He then ran to his shop, and +taking a piece of the finest steel, wrought out of it a beautifully +finished knife, with which the operation was successfully +performed. + +Among the statues executed by Cellini, the most important are the +silver figure of Jupiter, executed at Paris for Francis I., and the +Perseus, executed in bronze for the Grand Duke Cosmo of Florence. +He also executed statues in marble of Apollo, Hyacinthus, +Narcissus, and Neptune. The extraordinary incidents connected with +the casting of the Perseus were peculiarly illustrative of the +remarkable character of the man. + +The Grand Duke having expressed a decided opinion that the model, +when shown to him in wax, could not possibly be cast in bronze, +Cellini was immediately stimulated by the predicted impossibility, +not only to attempt, but to do it. He first made the clay model, +baked it, and covered it with wax, which he shaped into the perfect +form of a statue. Then coating the wax with a sort of earth, he +baked the second covering, during which the wax dissolved and +escaped, leaving the space between the two layers for the reception +of the metal. To avoid disturbance, the latter process was +conducted in a pit dug immediately under the furnace, from which +the liquid metal was to be introduced by pipes and apertures into +the mould prepared for it. + +Cellini had purchased and laid in several loads of pine-wood, in +anticipation of the process of casting, which now began. The +furnace was filled with pieces of brass and bronze, and the fire +was lit. The resinous pine-wood was soon in such a furious blaze, +that the shop took fire, and part of the roof was burnt; while at +the same time the wind blowing and the rain filling on the furnace, +kept down the heat, and prevented the metals from melting. For +hours Cellini struggled to keep up the heat, continually throwing +in more wood, until at length he became so exhausted and ill, that +he feared he should die before the statue could be cast. He was +forced to leave to his assistants the pouring in of the metal when +melted, and betook himself to his bed. While those about him were +condoling with him in his distress, a workman suddenly entered the +room, lamenting that "Poor Benvenuto's work was irretrievably +spoiled!" On hearing this, Cellini immediately sprang from his bed +and rushed to the workshop, where he found the fire so much gone +down that the metal had again become hard. + +Sending across to a neighbour for a load of young oak which had +been more than a year in drying, he soon had the fire blazing again +and the metal melting and glittering. The wind was, however, still +blowing with fury, and the rain falling heavily; so, to protect +himself, Cellini had some tables with pieces of tapestry and old +clothes brought to him, behind which he went on hurling the wood +into the furnace. A mass of pewter was thrown in upon the other +metal, and by stirring, sometimes with iron and sometimes with long +poles, the whole soon became completely melted. At this juncture, +when the trying moment was close at hand, a terrible noise as of a +thunderbolt was heard, and a glittering of fire flashed before +Cellini's eyes. The cover of the furnace had burst, and the metal +began to flow! Finding that it did not run with the proper +velocity, Cellini rushed into the kitchen, bore away every piece of +copper and pewter that it contained--some two hundred porringers, +dishes, and kettles of different kinds--and threw them into the +furnace. Then at length the metal flowed freely, and thus the +splendid statue of Perseus was cast. + +The divine fury of genius in which Cellini rushed to his kitchen +and stripped it of its utensils for the purposes of his furnace, +will remind the reader of the like act of Pallissy in breaking up +his furniture for the purpose of baking his earthenware. +Excepting, however, in their enthusiasm, no two men could be less +alike in character. Cellini was an Ishmael against whom, according +to his own account, every man's hand was turned. But about his +extraordinary skill as a workman, and his genius as an artist, +there cannot be two opinions. + +Much less turbulent was the career of Nicolas Poussin, a man as +pure and elevated in his ideas of art as he was in his daily life, +and distinguished alike for his vigour of intellect, his rectitude +of character, and his noble simplicity. He was born in a very +humble station, at Andeleys, near Rouen, where his father kept a +small school. The boy had the benefit of his parent's instruction, +such as it was, but of that he is said to have been somewhat +negligent, preferring to spend his time in covering his lesson- +books and his slate with drawings. A country painter, much pleased +with his sketches, besought his parents not to thwart him in his +tastes. The painter agreed to give Poussin lessons, and he soon +made such progress that his master had nothing more to teach him. +Becoming restless, and desirous of further improving himself, +Poussin, at the age of 18, set out for Paris, painting signboards +on his way for a maintenance. + +At Paris a new world of art opened before him, exciting his wonder +and stimulating his emulation. He worked diligently in many +studios, drawing, copying, and painting pictures. After a time, he +resolved, if possible, to visit Rome, and set out on his journey; +but he only succeeded in getting as far as Florence, and again +returned to Paris. A second attempt which he made to reach Rome +was even less successful; for this time he only got as far as +Lyons. He was, nevertheless, careful to take advantage of all +opportunities for improvement which came in his way, and continued +as sedulous as before in studying and working. + +Thus twelve years passed, years of obscurity and toil, of failures +and disappointments, and probably of privations. At length Poussin +succeeded in reaching Rome. There he diligently studied the old +masters, and especially the ancient statues, with whose perfection +he was greatly impressed. For some time he lived with the sculptor +Duquesnoi, as poor as himself, and assisted him in modelling +figures after the antique. With him he carefully measured some of +the most celebrated statues in Rome, more particularly the +'Antinous:' and it is supposed that this practice exercised +considerable influence on the formation of his future style. At +the same time he studied anatomy, practised drawing from the life, +and made a great store of sketches of postures and attitudes of +people whom he met, carefully reading at his leisure such standard +books on art as he could borrow from his friends. + +During all this time he remained very poor, satisfied to be +continually improving himself. He was glad to sell his pictures +for whatever they would bring. One, of a prophet, he sold for +eight livres; and another, the 'Plague of the Philistines,' he sold +for 60 crowns--a picture afterwards bought by Cardinal de Richelieu +for a thousand. To add to his troubles, he was stricken by a cruel +malady, during the helplessness occasioned by which the Chevalier +del Posso assisted him with money. For this gentleman Poussin +afterwards painted the 'Rest in the Desert,' a fine picture, which +far more than repaid the advances made during his illness. + +The brave man went on toiling and learning through suffering. +Still aiming at higher things, he went to Florence and Venice, +enlarging the range of his studies. The fruits of his +conscientious labour at length appeared in the series of great +pictures which he now began to produce,--his 'Death of Germanicus,' +followed by 'Extreme Unction,' the 'Testament of Eudamidas,' the +'Manna,' and the 'Abduction of the Sabines.' + +The reputation of Poussin, however, grew but slowly. He was of a +retiring disposition and shunned society. People gave him credit +for being a thinker much more than a painter. When not actually +employed in painting, he took long solitary walks in the country, +meditating the designs of future pictures. One of his few friends +while at Rome was Claude Lorraine, with whom he spent many hours at +a time on the terrace of La Trinite-du-Mont, conversing about art +and antiquarianism. The monotony and the quiet of Rome were suited +to his taste, and, provided he could earn a moderate living by his +brush, he had no wish to leave it. + +But his fame now extended beyond Rome, and repeated invitations +were sent him to return to Paris. He was offered the appointment +of principal painter to the King. At first he hesitated; quoted +the Italian proverb, Chi sta bene non si muove; said he had lived +fifteen years in Rome, married a wife there, and looked forward to +dying and being buried there. Urged again, he consented, and +returned to Paris. But his appearance there awakened much +professional jealousy, and he soon wished himself back in Rome +again. While in Paris he painted some of his greatest works--his +'Saint Xavier,' the 'Baptism,' and the 'Last Supper.' He was kept +constantly at work. At first he did whatever he was asked to do, +such as designing frontispieces for the royal books, more +particularly a Bible and a Virgil, cartoons for the Louvre, and +designs for tapestry; but at length he expostulated:- "It is +impossible for me," he said to M. de Chanteloup, "to work at the +same time at frontispieces for books, at a Virgin, at a picture of +the Congregation of St. Louis, at the various designs for the +gallery, and, finally, at designs for the royal tapestry. I have +only one pair of hands and a feeble head, and can neither be helped +nor can my labours be lightened by another." + +Annoyed by the enemies his success had provoked and whom he was +unable to conciliate, he determined, at the end of less than two +years' labour in Paris, to return to Rome. Again settled there in +his humble dwelling on Mont Pincio, he employed himself diligently +in the practice of his art during the remaining years of his life, +living in great simplicity and privacy. Though suffering much from +the disease which afflicted him, he solaced himself by study, +always striving after excellence. "In growing old," he said, "I +feel myself becoming more and more inflamed with the desire of +surpassing myself and reaching the highest degree of perfection." +Thus toiling, struggling, and suffering, Poussin spent his later +years. He had no children; his wife died before him; all his +friends were gone: so that in his old age he was left absolutely +alone in Rome, so full of tombs, and died there in 1665, +bequeathing to his relatives at Andeleys the savings of his life, +amounting to about 1000 crowns; and leaving behind him, as a legacy +to his race, the great works of his genius. + +The career of Ary Scheffer furnishes one of the best examples in +modern times of a like high-minded devotion to art. Born at +Dordrecht, the son of a German artist, he early manifested an +aptitude for drawing and painting, which his parents encouraged. +His father dying while he was still young, his mother resolved, +though her means were but small, to remove the family to Paris, in +order that her son might obtain the best opportunities for +instruction. There young Scheffer was placed with Guerin the +painter. But his mother's means were too limited to permit him to +devote himself exclusively to study. She had sold the few jewels +she possessed, and refused herself every indulgence, in order to +forward the instruction of her other children. Under such +circumstances, it was natural that Ary should wish to help her; and +by the time he was eighteen years of age he began to paint small +pictures of simple subjects, which met with a ready sale at +moderate prices. He also practised portrait painting, at the same +time gathering experience and earning honest money. He gradually +improved in drawing, colouring, and composition. The 'Baptism' +marked a new epoch in his career, and from that point he went on +advancing, until his fame culminated in his pictures illustrative +of 'Faust,' his 'Francisca de Rimini,' 'Christ the Consoler,' the +'Holy Women,' 'St. Monica and St. Augustin,' and many other noble +works. + +"The amount of labour, thought, and attention," says Mrs. Grote, +"which Scheffer brought to the production of the 'Francisca,' must +have been enormous. In truth, his technical education having been +so imperfect, he was forced to climb the steep of art by drawing +upon his own resources, and thus, whilst his hand was at work, his +mind was engaged in meditation. He had to try various processes of +handling, and experiments in colouring; to paint and repaint, with +tedious and unremitting assiduity. But Nature had endowed him with +that which proved in some sort an equivalent for shortcomings of a +professional kind. His own elevation of character, and his +profound sensibility, aided him in acting upon the feelings of +others through the medium of the pencil." {21} + +One of the artists whom Scheffer most admired was Flaxman; and he +once said to a friend, "If I have unconsciously borrowed from any +one in the design of the 'Francisca,' it must have been from +something I had seen among Flaxman's drawings." John Flaxman was +the son of a humble seller of plaster casts in New Street, Covent +Garden. When a child, he was such an invalid that it was his +custom to sit behind his father's shop counter propped by pillows, +amusing himself with drawing and reading. A benevolent clergyman, +the Rev. Mr. Matthews, calling at the shop one day, saw the boy +trying to read a book, and on inquiring what it was, found it to be +a Cornelius Nepos, which his father had picked up for a few pence +at a bookstall. The gentleman, after some conversation with the +boy, said that was not the proper book for him to read, but that he +would bring him one. The next day he called with translations of +Homer and 'Don Quixote,' which the boy proceeded to read with great +avidity. His mind was soon filled with the heroism which breathed +through the pages of the former, and, with the stucco Ajaxes and +Achilleses about him, ranged along the shop shelves, the ambition +took possession of him, that he too would design and embody in +poetic forms those majestic heroes. + +Like all youthful efforts, his first designs were crude. The proud +father one day showed some of them to Roubilliac the sculptor, who +turned from them with a contemptuous "pshaw!" But the boy had the +right stuff in him; he had industry and patience; and he continued +to labour incessantly at his books and drawings. He then tried his +young powers in modelling figures in plaster of Paris, wax, and +clay. Some of these early works are still preserved, not because +of their merit, but because they are curious as the first healthy +efforts of patient genius. It was long before the boy could walk, +and he only learnt to do so by hobbling along upon crutches. At +length he became strong enough to walk without them. + +The kind Mr. Matthews invited him to his house, where his wife +explained Homer and Milton to him. They helped him also in his +self-culture--giving him lessons in Greek and Latin, the study of +which he prosecuted at home. By dint of patience and perseverance, +his drawing improved so much that he obtained a commission from a +lady, to execute six original drawings in black chalk of subjects +in Homer. His first commission! What an event in the artist's +life! A surgeon's first fee, a lawyer's first retainer, a +legislator's first speech, a singer's first appearance behind the +foot-lights, an author's first book, are not any of them more full +of interest to the aspirant for fame than the artist's first +commission. The boy at once proceeded to execute the order, and he +was both well praised and well paid for his work. + +At fifteen Flaxman entered a pupil at the Royal Academy. +Notwithstanding his retiring disposition, he soon became known +among the students, and great things were expected of him. Nor +were their expectations disappointed: in his fifteenth year he +gained the silver prize, and next year he became a candidate for +the gold one. Everybody prophesied that he would carry off the +medal, for there was none who surpassed him in ability and +industry. Yet he lost it, and the gold medal was adjudged to a +pupil who was not afterwards heard of. This failure on the part of +the youth was really of service to him; for defeats do not long +cast down the resolute-hearted, but only serve to call forth their +real powers. "Give me time," said he to his father, "and I will +yet produce works that the Academy will be proud to recognise." He +redoubled his efforts, spared no pains, designed and modelled +incessantly, and made steady if not rapid progress. But meanwhile +poverty threatened his father's household; the plaster-cast trade +yielded a very bare living; and young Flaxman, with resolute self- +denial, curtailed his hours of study, and devoted himself to +helping his father in the humble details of his business. He laid +aside his Homer to take up the plaster-trowel. He was willing to +work in the humblest department of the trade so that his father's +family might be supported, and the wolf kept from the door. To +this drudgery of his art he served a long apprenticeship; but it +did him good. It familiarised him with steady work, and cultivated +in him the spirit of patience. The discipline may have been hard, +but it was wholesome. + +Happily, young Flaxman's skill in design had reached the knowledge +of Josiah Wedgwood, who sought him out for the purpose of employing +him to design improved patterns of china and earthenware. It may +seem a humble department of art for such a genius as Flaxman to +work in; but it really was not so. An artist may be labouring +truly in his vocation while designing a common teapot or water-jug. +Articles in daily use amongst the people, which are before their +eyes at every meal, may be made the vehicles of education to all, +and minister to their highest culture. The most ambitious artist +way thus confer a greater practical benefit on his countrymen than +by executing an elaborate work which he may sell for thousands of +pounds to be placed in some wealthy man's gallery where it is +hidden away from public sight. Before Wedgwood's time the designs +which figured upon our china and stoneware were hideous both in +drawing and execution, and he determined to improve both. Flaxman +did his best to carry out the manufacturer's views. He supplied +him from time to time with models and designs of various pieces of +earthenware, the subjects of which were principally from ancient +verse and history. Many of them are still in existence, and some +are equal in beauty and simplicity to his after designs for marble. +The celebrated Etruscan vases, specimens of which were to be found +in public museums and in the cabinets of the curious, furnished him +with the best examples of form, and these he embellished with his +own elegant devices. Stuart's 'Athens,' then recently published, +furnished him with specimens of the purest-shaped Greek utensils; +of these he adopted the best, and worked them into new shapes of +elegance and beauty. Flaxman then saw that he was labouring in a +great work--no less than the promotion of popular education; and he +was proud, in after life, to allude to his early labours in this +walk, by which he was enabled at the same time to cultivate his +love of the beautiful, to diffuse a taste for art among the people, +and to replenish his own purse, while he promoted the prosperity of +his friend and benefactor. + +At length, in the year 1782, when twenty-seven years of age, he +quitted his father's roof and rented a small house and studio in +Wardour Street, Soho; and what was more, he married--Ann Denman was +the name of his wife--and a cheerful, bright-souled, noble woman +she was. He believed that in marrying her he should be able to +work with an intenser spirit; for, like him, she had a taste for +poetry and art; and besides was an enthusiastic admirer of her +husband's genius. Yet when Sir Joshua Reynolds--himself a +bachelor--met Flaxman shortly after his marriage, he said to him, +"So, Flaxman, I am told you are married; if so, sir, I tell you you +are ruined for an artist." Flaxman went straight home, sat down +beside his wife, took her hand in his, and said, "Ann, I am ruined +for an artist." "How so, John? How has it happened? and who has +done it?" "It happened," he replied, "in the church, and Ann +Denman has done it." He then told her of Sir Joshua's remark-- +whose opinion was well known, and had often been expressed, that if +students would excel they must bring the whole powers of their mind +to bear upon their art, from the moment they rose until they went +to bed; and also, that no man could be a GREAT artist unless he +studied the grand works of Raffaelle, Michael Angelo, and others, +at Rome and Florence. "And I," said Flaxman, drawing up his little +figure to its full height, "_I_ would be a great artist." "And a +great artist you shall be," said his wife, "and visit Rome too, if +that be really necessary to make you great." "But how?" asked +Flaxman. "WORK AND ECONOMISE," rejoined the brave wife; "I will +never have it said that Ann Denman ruined John Flaxman for an +artist." And so it was determined by the pair that the journey to +Rome was to be made when their means would admit. "I will go to +Rome," said Flaxman, "and show the President that wedlock is for a +man's good rather than his harm; and you, Ann, shall accompany me." + +Patiently and happily the affectionate couple plodded on during +five years in their humble little home in Wardour Street, always +with the long journey to Rome before them. It was never lost sight +of for a moment, and not a penny was uselessly spent that could be +saved towards the necessary expenses. They said no word to any one +about their project; solicited no aid from the Academy; but trusted +only to their own patient labour and love to pursue and achieve +their object. During this time Flaxman exhibited very few works. +He could not afford marble to experiment in original designs; but +he obtained frequent commissions for monuments, by the profits of +which he maintained himself. He still worked for Wedgwood, who was +a prompt paymaster; and, on the whole, he was thriving, happy, and +hopeful. His local respectability was even such as to bring local +honours and local work upon him; for he was elected by the +ratepayers to collect the watch-rate for the Parish of St. Anne, +when he might be seen going about with an ink-bottle suspended from +his button-hole, collecting the money. + +At length Flaxman and his wife having accumulated a sufficient +store of savings, set out for Rome. Arrived there, he applied +himself diligently to study, maintaining himself, like other poor +artists, by making copies from the antique. English visitors +sought his studio, and gave him commissions; and it was then that +he composed his beautiful designs illustrative of Homer, AEschylus, +and Dante. The price paid for them was moderate--only fifteen +shillings a-piece; but Flaxman worked for art as well as money; and +the beauty of the designs brought him other friends and patrons. +He executed Cupid and Aurora for the munificent Thomas Hope, and +the Fury of Athamas for the Earl of Bristol. He then prepared to +return to England, his taste improved and cultivated by careful +study; but before he left Italy, the Academies of Florence and +Carrara recognised his merit by electing him a member. + +His fame had preceded him to London, where he soon found abundant +employment. While at Rome he had been commissioned to execute his +famous monument in memory of Lord Mansfield, and it was erected in +the north transept of Westminster Abbey shortly after his return. +It stands there in majestic grandeur, a monument to the genius of +Flaxman himself--calm, simple, and severe. No wonder that Banks, +the sculptor, then in the heyday of his fame, exclaimed when he saw +it, "This little man cuts us all out!" + +When the members of the Royal Academy heard of Flaxman's return, +and especially when they had an opportunity of seeing and admiring +his portrait-statue of Mansfield, they were eager to have him +enrolled among their number. He allowed his name to be proposed in +the candidates' list of associates, and was immediately elected. +Shortly after, he appeared in an entirely new character. The +little boy who had begun his studies behind the plaster-cast- +seller's shop-counter in New Street, Covent Garden, was now a man +of high intellect and recognised supremacy in art, to instruct +students, in the character of Professor of Sculpture to the Royal +Academy! And no man better deserved to fill that distinguished +office; for none is so able to instruct others as he who, for +himself and by his own efforts, has learnt to grapple with and +overcome difficulties. + +After a long, peaceful, and happy life, Flaxman found himself +growing old. The loss which he sustained by the death of his +affectionate wife Ann, was a severe shock to him; but he survived +her several years, during which he executed his celebrated "Shield +of Achilles," and his noble "Archangel Michael vanquishing Satan,"- +-perhaps his two greatest works. + +Chantrey was a more robust man;--somewhat rough, but hearty in his +demeanour; proud of his successful struggle with the difficulties +which beset him in early life; and, above all, proud of his +independence. He was born a poor man's child, at Norton, near +Sheffield. His father dying when he was a mere boy, his mother +married again. Young Chantrey used to drive an ass laden with +milk-cans across its back into the neighbouring town of Sheffield, +and there serve his mother's customers with milk. Such was the +humble beginning of his industrial career; and it was by his own +strength that he rose from that position, and achieved the highest +eminence as an artist. Not taking kindly to his step-father, the +boy was sent to trade, and was first placed with a grocer in +Sheffield. The business was very distasteful to him; but, passing +a carver's shop window one day, his eye was attracted by the +glittering articles it contained, and, charmed with the idea of +being a carver, he begged to be released from the grocery business +with that object. His friends consented, and he was bound +apprentice to the carver and gilder for seven years. His new +master, besides being a carver in wood, was also a dealer in prints +and plaster models; and Chantrey at once set about imitating both, +studying with great industry and energy. All his spare hours were +devoted to drawing, modelling, and self-improvement, and he often +carried his labours far into the night. Before his apprenticeship +was out--at the ace of twenty-one--he paid over to his master the +whole wealth which he was able to muster--a sum of 50l.--to cancel +his indentures, determined to devote himself to the career of an +artist. He then made the best of his way to London, and with +characteristic good sense, sought employment as an assistant +carver, studying painting and modelling at his bye-hours. Among +the jobs on which he was first employed as a journeyman carver, was +the decoration of the dining-room of Mr. Rogers, the poet--a room +in which he was in after years a welcome visitor; and he usually +took pleasure in pointing out his early handywork to the guests +whom he met at his friend's table. + +Returning to Sheffield on a professional visit, he advertised +himself in the local papers as a painter of portraits in crayons +and miniatures, and also in oil. For his first crayon portrait he +was paid a guinea by a cutler; and for a portrait in oil, a +confectioner paid him as much as 5l. 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 5l. 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 12,000l. + +Chantrey had now succeeded, but he had worked hard, and fairly +earned his good fortune. He was selected from amongst sixteen +competitors to execute the statue of George III. for the city of +London. A few years later, he produced the exquisite monument of +the Sleeping Children, now in Lichfield Cathedral,--a work of great +tenderness and beauty; and thenceforward his career was one of +increasing honour, fame, and prosperity. His patience, industry, +and steady perseverance were the means by which he achieved his +greatness. Nature endowed him with genius, and his sound sense +enabled him to employ the precious gift as a blessing. He was +prudent and shrewd, like the men amongst whom he was born; the +pocket-book which accompanied him on his Italian tour containing +mingled notes on art, records of daily expenses, and the current +prices of marble. His tastes were simple, and he made his finest +subjects great by the mere force of simplicity. His statue of +Watt, in Handsworth church, seems to us the very consummation of +art; yet it is perfectly artless and simple. His generosity to +brother artists in need was splendid, but quiet and unostentatious. +He left the principal part of his fortune to the Royal Academy for +the promotion of British art. + +The same honest and persistent industry was throughout distinctive +of the career of David Wilkie. The son of a Scotch minister, he +gave early indications of an artistic turn; and though he was a +negligent and inapt scholar, he was a sedulous drawer of faces and +figures. A silent boy, he already displayed that quiet +concentrated energy of character which distinguished him through +life. He was always on the look-out for an opportunity to draw,-- +and the walls of the manse, or the smooth sand by the river side, +were alike convenient for his purpose. Any sort of tool would +serve him; like Giotto, he found a pencil in a burnt stick, a +prepared canvas in any smooth stone, and the subject for a picture +in every ragged mendicant he met. When he visited a house, he +generally left his mark on the walls as an indication of his +presence, sometimes to the disgust of cleanly housewives. In +short, notwithstanding the aversion of his father, the minister, to +the "sinful" profession of painting, Wilkie's strong propensity was +not to be thwarted, and he became an artist, working his way +manfully up the steep of difficulty. Though rejected on his first +application as a candidate for admission to the Scottish Academy, +at Edinburgh, on account of the rudeness and inaccuracy of his +introductory specimens, he persevered in producing better, until he +was admitted. But his progress was slow. He applied himself +diligently to the drawing of the human figure, and held on with the +determination to succeed, as if with a resolute confidence in the +result. He displayed none of the eccentric humour and fitful +application of many youths who conceive themselves geniuses, but +kept up the routine of steady application to such an extent that he +himself was afterwards accustomed to attribute his success to his +dogged perseverance rather than to any higher innate power. "The +single element," he said, "in all the progressive movements of my +pencil was persevering industry." At Edinburgh he gained a few +premiums, thought of turning his attention to portrait painting, +with a view to its higher and more certain remuneration, but +eventually went boldly into the line in which he earned his fame,-- +and painted his Pitlessie Fair. What was bolder still, he +determined to proceed to London, on account of its presenting so +much wider a field for study and work; and the poor Scotch lad +arrived in town, and painted his Village Politicians while living +in a humble lodging on eighteen shillings a week. + +Notwithstanding the success of this picture, and the commissions +which followed it, Wilkie long continued poor. The prices which +his works realized were not great, for he bestowed upon them so +much time and labour, that his earnings continued comparatively +small for many years. Every picture was carefully studied and +elaborated beforehand; nothing was struck off at a heat; many +occupied him for years--touching, retouching, and improving them +until they finally passed out of his hands. As with Reynolds, his +motto was "Work! work! work!" and, like him, he expressed great +dislike for talking artists. Talkers may sow, but the silent reap. +"Let us be DOING something," was his oblique mode of rebuking the +loquacious and admonishing the idle. He once related to his friend +Constable that when he studied at the Scottish Academy, Graham, the +master of it, was accustomed to say to the students, in the words +of Reynolds, "If you have genius, industry will improve it; if you +have none, industry will supply its place." "So," said Wilkie, "I +was determined to be very industrious, for I knew I had no genius." +He also told Constable that when Linnell and Burnett, his fellow- +students in London, were talking about art, he always contrived to +get as close to them as he could to hear all they said, "for," said +he, "they know a great deal, and I know very little." This was +said with perfect sincerity, for Wilkie was habitually modest. One +of the first things that he did with the sum of thirty pounds which +he obtained from Lord Mansfield for his Village Politicians, was to +buy a present--of bonnets, shawls, and dresses--for his mother and +sister at home, though but little able to afford it at the time. +Wilkie's early poverty had trained him in habits of strict economy, +which were, however, consistent with a noble liberality, as appears +from sundry passages in the Autobiography of Abraham Raimbach the +engraver. + +William Etty was another notable instance of unflagging industry +and indomitable perseverance in art. His father was a ginger-bread +and spicemaker at York, and his mother--a woman of considerable +force and originality of character--was the daughter of a +ropemaker. The boy early displayed a love of drawing, covering +walls, floors, and tables with specimens of his skill; his first +crayon being a farthing's worth of chalk, and this giving place to +a piece of coal or a bit of charred stick. His mother, knowing +nothing of art, put the boy apprentice to a trade--that of a +printer. But in his leisure hours he went on with the practice of +drawing; and when his time was out he determined to follow his +bent--he would be a painter and nothing else. Fortunately his +uncle and elder brother were able and willing to help him on in his +new career, and they provided him with the means of entering as +pupil at the Royal Academy. We observe, from Leslie's +Autobiography, that Etty was looked upon by his fellow students as +a worthy but dull, plodding person, who would never distinguish +himself. But he had in him the divine faculty of work, and +diligently plodded his way upward to eminence in the highest walks +of art. + +Many artists have had to encounter privations which have tried +their courage and endurance to the utmost before they succeeded. +What number may have sunk under them we can never know. Martin +encountered difficulties in the course of his career such as +perhaps fall to the lot of few. More than once he found himself on +the verge of starvation while engaged on his first great picture. +It is related of him that on one occasion he found himself reduced +to his last shilling--a BRIGHT shilling--which he had kept because +of its very brightness, but at length he found it necessary to +exchange it for bread. He went to a baker's shop, bought a loaf, +and was taking it away, when the baker snatched it from him, and +tossed back the shilling to the starving painter. The bright +shilling had failed him in his hour of need--it was a bad one! +Returning to his lodgings, he rummaged his trunk for some remaining +crust to satisfy his hunger. Upheld throughout by the victorious +power of enthusiasm, he pursued his design with unsubdued energy. +He had the courage to work on and to wait; and when, a few days +after, he found an opportunity to exhibit his picture, he was from +that time famous. Like many other great artists, his life proves +that, in despite of outward circumstances, genius, aided by +industry, will be its own protector, and that fame, though she +comes late, will never ultimately refuse her favours to real merit + +The most careful discipline and training after academic methods +will fail in making an artist, unless he himself take an active +part in the work. Like every highly cultivated man, he must be +mainly self-educated. When Pugin, who was brought up in his +father's office, had learnt all that he could learn of architecture +according to the usual formulas, he still found that he had learned +but little; and that he must begin at the beginning, and pass +through the discipline of labour. Young Pugin accordingly hired +himself out as a common carpenter at Covent Garden Theatre--first +working under the stage, then behind the flys, then upon the stage +itself. He thus acquired a familiarity with work, and cultivated +an architectural taste, to which the diversity of the mechanical +employment about a large operatic establishment is peculiarly +favourable. When the theatre closed for the season, he worked a +sailing-ship between London and some of the French ports, carrying +on at the same time a profitable trade. At every opportunity he +would land and make drawings of any old building, and especially of +any ecclesiastical structure which fell in his way. Afterwards he +would make special journeys to the Continent for the same purpose, +and returned home laden with drawings. Thus he plodded and +laboured on, making sure of the excellence and distinction which he +eventually achieved. + +A similar illustration of plodding industry in the same walk is +presented in the career of George Kemp, the architect of the +beautiful Scott Monument at Edinburgh. He was the son of a poor +shepherd, who pursued his calling on the southern slope of the +Pentland Hills. Amidst that pastoral solitude the boy had no +opportunity of enjoying the contemplation of works of art. It +happened, however, that in his tenth year he was sent on a message +to Roslin, by the farmer for whom his father herded sheep, and the +sight of the beautiful castle and chapel there seems to have made a +vivid and enduring impression on his mind. Probably to enable him +to indulge his love of architectural construction, the boy besought +his father to let him be a joiner; and he was accordingly put +apprentice to a neighbouring village carpenter. Having served his +time, he went to Galashiels to seek work. As he was plodding along +the valley of the Tweed with his tools upon his back, a carriage +overtook him near Elibank Tower; and the coachman, doubtless at the +suggestion of his master, who was seated inside, having asked the +youth how far he had to walk, and learning that he was on his way +to Galashiels, invited him to mount the box beside him, and thus to +ride thither. It turned out that the kindly gentleman inside was +no other than Sir Walter Scott, then travelling on his official +duty as Sheriff of Selkirkshire. Whilst working at Galashiels, +Kemp had frequent opportunities of visiting Melrose, Dryburgh, and +Jedburgh Abbeys, which he studied carefully. Inspired by his love +of architecture, he worked his way as a carpenter over the greater +part of the north of England, never omitting an opportunity of +inspecting and making sketches of any fine Gothic building. On one +occasion, when working in Lancashire, he walked fifty miles to +York, spent a week in carefully examining the Minster, and returned +in like manner on foot. We next find him in Glasgow, where he +remained four years, studying the fine cathedral there during his +spare time. He returned to England again, this time working his +way further south; studying Canterbury, Winchester, Tintern, and +other well-known structures. In 1824 he formed the design of +travelling over Europe with the same object, supporting himself by +his trade. Reaching Boulogne, he proceeded by Abbeville and +Beauvais to Paris, spending a few weeks making drawings and studies +at each place. His skill as a mechanic, and especially his +knowledge of mill-work, readily secured him employment wherever he +went; and he usually chose the site of his employment in the +neighbourhood of some fine old Gothic structure, in studying which +he occupied his leisure. After a year's working, travel, and study +abroad, he returned to Scotland. He continued his studies, and +became a proficient in drawing and perspective: Melrose was his +favourite ruin; and he produced several elaborate drawings of the +building, one of which, exhibiting it in a "restored" state, was +afterwards engraved. He also obtained employment as a modeller of +architectural designs; and made drawings for a work begun by an +Edinburgh engraver, after the plan of Britton's 'Cathedral +Antiquities.' This was a task congenial to his tastes, and he +laboured at it with an enthusiasm which ensured its rapid advance; +walking on foot for the purpose over half Scotland, and living as +an ordinary mechanic, whilst executing drawings which would have +done credit to the best masters in the art. The projector of the +work having died suddenly, the publication was however stopped, and +Kemp sought other employment. Few knew of the genius of this man-- +for he was exceedingly taciturn and habitually modest--when the +Committee of the Scott Monument offered a prize for the best +design. The competitors were numerous--including some of the +greatest names in classical architecture; but the design +unanimously selected was that of George Kemp, who was working at +Kilwinning Abbey in Ayrshire, many miles off, when the letter +reached him intimating the decision of the committee. Poor Kemp! +Shortly after this event he met an untimely death, and did not live +to see the first result of his indefatigable industry and self- +culture embodied in stone,--one of the most beautiful and +appropriate memorials ever erected to literary genius. + +John Gibson was another artist full of a genuine enthusiasm and +love for his art, which placed him high above those sordid +temptations which urge meaner natures to make time the measure of +profit. He was born at Gyffn, near Conway, in North Wales--the son +of a gardener. He early showed indications of his talent by the +carvings in wood which he made by means of a common pocket knife; +and his father, noting the direction of his talent, sent him to +Liverpool and bound him apprentice to a cabinet-maker and wood- +carver. He rapidly improved at his trade, and some of his carvings +were much admired. He was thus naturally led to sculpture, and +when eighteen years old he modelled a small figure of Time in wax, +which attracted considerable notice. The Messrs. Franceys, +sculptors, of Liverpool, having purchased the boy's indentures, +took him as their apprentice for six years, during which his genius +displayed itself in many original works. From thence he proceeded +to London, and afterwards to Rome; and his fame became European. + +Robert Thorburn, the Royal Academician, like John Gibson, was born +of poor parents. His father was a shoe-maker at Dumfries. Besides +Robert there were two other sons; one of whom is a skilful carver +in wood. One day a lady called at the shoemaker's and found +Robert, then a mere boy, engaged in drawing upon a stool which +served him for a table. She examined his work, and observing his +abilities, interested herself in obtaining for him some employment +in drawing, and enlisted in his behalf the services of others who +could assist him in prosecuting the study of art. The boy was +diligent, pains-taking, staid, and silent, mixing little with his +companions, and forming but few intimacies. About the year 1830, +some gentlemen of the town provided him with the means of +proceeding to Edinburgh, where he was admitted a student at the +Scottish Academy. There he had the advantage of studying under +competent masters, and the progress which he made was rapid. From +Edinburgh he removed to London, where, we understand, he had the +advantage of being introduced to notice under the patronage of the +Duke of Buccleuch. We need scarcely say, however, that of whatever +use patronage may have been to Thorburn in giving him an +introduction to the best circles, patronage of no kind could have +made him the great artist that he unquestionably is, without native +genius and diligent application. + +Noel Paton, the well-known painter, began his artistic career at +Dunfermline and Paisley, as a drawer of patterns for table-cloths +and muslin embroidered by hand; meanwhile working diligently at +higher subjects, including the drawing of the human figure. He +was, like Turner, ready to turn his hand to any kind of work, and +in 1840, when a mere youth, we find him engaged, among his other +labours, in illustrating the 'Renfrewshire Annual.' He worked his +way step by step, slowly yet surely; but he remained unknown until +the exhibition of the prize cartoons painted for the houses of +Parliament, when his picture of the Spirit of Religion (for which +he obtained one of the first prizes) revealed him to the world as a +genuine artist; and the works which he has since exhibited--such as +the 'Reconciliation of Oberon and Titania,' 'Home,' and 'The bluidy +Tryste'--have shown a steady advance in artistic power and culture. + +Another striking exemplification of perseverance and industry in +the cultivation of art in humble life is presented in the career of +James Sharples, a working blacksmith at Blackburn. He was born at +Wakefield in Yorkshire, in 1825, one of a family of thirteen +children. His father was a working ironfounder, and removed to +Bury to follow his business. The boys received no school +education, but were all sent to work as soon as they were able; and +at about ten James was placed in a foundry, where he was employed +for about two years as smithy-boy. After that he was sent into the +engine-shop where his father worked as engine-smith. The boy's +employment was to heat and carry rivets for the boiler-makers. +Though his hours of labour were very long--often from six in the +morning until eight at night--his father contrived to give him some +little teaching after working hours; and it was thus that he +partially learned his letters. An incident occurred in the course +of his employment among the boiler-makers, which first awakened in +him the desire to learn drawing. He had occasionally been employed +by the foreman to hold the chalked line with which he made the +designs of boilers upon the floor of the workshop; and on such +occasions the foreman was accustomed to hold the line, and direct +the boy to make the necessary dimensions. James soon became so +expert at this as to be of considerable service to the foreman; and +at his leisure hours at home his great delight was to practise +drawing designs of boilers upon his mother's floor. On one +occasion, when a female relative was expected from Manchester to +pay the family a visit, and the house had been made as decent as +possible for her reception, the boy, on coming in from the foundry +in the evening, began his usual operations upon the floor. He had +proceeded some way with his design of a large boiler in chalk, when +his mother arrived with the visitor, and to her dismay found the +boy unwashed and the floor chalked all over. The relative, +however, professed to be pleased with the boy's industry, praised +his design, and recommended his mother to provide "the little +sweep," as she called him, with paper and pencils. + +Encouraged by his elder brother, he began to practise figure and +landscape drawing, making copies of lithographs, but as yet without +any knowledge of the rules of perspective and the principles of +light and shade. He worked on, however, and gradually acquired +expertness in copying. At sixteen, he entered the Bury Mechanic's +Institution in order to attend the drawing class, taught by an +amateur who followed the trade of a barber. There he had a lesson +a week during three months. The teacher recommended him to obtain +from the library Burnet's 'Practical Treatise on Painting;' but as +he could not yet read with ease, he was under the necessity of +getting his mother, and sometimes his elder brother, to read +passages from the book for him while he sat by and listened. +Feeling hampered by his ignorance of the art of reading, and eager +to master the contents of Burnet's book, he ceased attending the +drawing class at the Institute after the first quarter, and devoted +himself to learning reading and writing at home. In this he soon +succeeded; and when he again entered the Institute and took out +'Burnet' a second time, he was not only able to read it, but to +make written extracts for further use. So ardently did he study +the volume, that he used to rise at four o'clock in the morning to +read it and copy out passages; after which he went to the foundry +at six, worked until six and sometimes eight in the evening; and +returned home to enter with fresh zest upon the study of Burnet, +which he continued often until a late hour. Parts of his nights +were also occupied in drawing and making copies of drawings. On +one of these--a copy of Leonardo da Vinci's "Last Supper"--he spent +an entire night. He went to bed indeed, but his mind was so +engrossed with the subject that he could not sleep, and rose again +to resume his pencil. + +He next proceeded to try his hand at painting in oil, for which +purpose he procured some canvas from a draper, stretched it on a +frame, coated it over with white lead, and began painting on it +with colours bought from a house-painter. But his work proved a +total failure; for the canvas was rough and knotty, and the paint +would not dry. In his extremity he applied to his old teacher, the +barber, from whom he first learnt that prepared canvas was to be +had, and that there were colours and varnishes made for the special +purpose of oil-painting. As soon therefore, as his means would +allow, he bought a small stock of the necessary articles and began +afresh,--his amateur master showing him how to paint; and the pupil +succeeded so well that he excelled the master's copy. His first +picture was a copy from an engraving called "Sheep-shearing," and +was afterwards sold by him for half-a-crown. Aided by a shilling +Guide to Oil-painting, he went on working at his leisure hours, and +gradually acquired a better knowledge of his materials. He made +his own easel and palette, palette-knife, and paint-chest; he +bought his paint, brushes, and canvas, as he could raise the money +by working over-time. This was the slender fund which his parents +consented to allow him for the purpose; the burden of supporting a +very large family precluding them from doing more. Often he would +walk to Manchester and back in the evenings to buy two or three +shillings' worth of paint and canvas, returning almost at midnight, +after his eighteen miles' walk, sometimes wet through and +completely exhausted, but borne up throughout by his inexhaustible +hope and invincible determination. The further progress of the +self-taught artist is best narrated in his own words, as +communicated by him in a letter to the author:- + +"The next pictures I painted," he says, "were a Landscape by +Moonlight, a Fruitpiece, and one or two others; after which I +conceived the idea of painting 'The Forge.' I had for some time +thought about it, but had not attempted to embody the conception in +a drawing. I now, however, made a sketch of the subject upon +paper, and then proceeded to paint it on canvas. The picture +simply represents the interior of a large workshop such as I have +been accustomed to work in, although not of any particular shop. +It is, therefore, to this extent, an original conception. Having +made an outline of the subject, I found that, before I could +proceed with it successfully, a knowledge of anatomy was +indispensable to enable me accurately to delineate the muscles of +the figures. My brother Peter came to my assistance at this +juncture, and kindly purchased for me Flaxman's 'Anatomical +studies,'--a work altogether beyond my means at the time, for it +cost twenty-four shillings. This book I looked upon as a great +treasure, and I studied it laboriously, rising at three o'clock in +the morning to draw after it, and occasionally getting my brother +Peter to stand for me as a model at that untimely hour. Although I +gradually improved myself by this practice, it was some time before +I felt sufficient confidence to go on with my picture. I also felt +hampered by my want of knowledge of perspective, which I +endeavoured to remedy by carefully studying Brook Taylor's +'Principles;' and shortly after I resumed my painting. While +engaged in the study of perspective at home, I used to apply for +and obtain leave to work at the heavier kinds of smith work at the +foundry, and for this reason--the time required for heating the +heaviest iron work is so much longer than that required for heating +the lighter, that it enabled me to secure a number of spare minutes +in the course of the day, which I carefully employed in making +diagrams in perspective upon the sheet iron casing in front of the +hearth at which I worked." + +Thus assiduously working and studying, James Sharples steadily +advanced in his knowledge of the principles of art, and acquired +greater facility in its practice. Some eighteen months after the +expiry of his apprenticeship he painted a portrait of his father, +which attracted considerable notice in the town; as also did the +picture of "The Forge," which he finished soon after. His success +in portrait-painting obtained for him a commission from the foreman +of the shop to paint a family group, and Sharples executed it so +well that the foreman not only paid him the agreed price of +eighteen pounds, but thirty shillings to boot. While engaged on +this group he ceased to work at the foundry, and he had thoughts of +giving up his trade altogether and devoting himself exclusively to +painting. He proceeded to paint several pictures, amongst others a +head of Christ, an original conception, life-size, and a view of +Bury; but not obtaining sufficient employment at portraits to +occupy his time, or give him the prospect of a steady income, he +had the good sense to resume his leather apron, and go on working +at his honest trade of a blacksmith; employing his leisure hours in +engraving his picture of "The Forge," since published. He was +induced to commence the engraving by the following circumstance. A +Manchester picture-dealer, to whom he showed the painting, let drop +the observation, that in the hands of a skilful engraver it would +make a very good print. Sharples immediately conceived the idea of +engraving it himself, though altogether ignorant of the art. The +difficulties which he encountered and successfully overcame in +carrying out his project are thus described by himself:- + +"I had seen an advertisement of a Sheffield steel-plate maker, +giving a list of the prices at which he supplied plates of various +sizes, and, fixing upon one of suitable dimensions, I remitted the +amount, together with a small additional sum for which I requested +him to send me a few engraving tools. I could not specify the +articles wanted, for I did not then know anything about the process +of engraving. However, there duly arrived with the plate three or +four gravers and an etching needle; the latter I spoiled before I +knew its use. While working at the plate, the Amalgamated Society +of Engineers offered a premium for the best design for an +emblematical picture, for which I determined to compete, and I was +so fortunate as to win the prize. Shortly after this I removed to +Blackburn, where I obtained employment at Messrs. Yates', +engineers, as an engine-smith; and continued to employ my leisure +time in drawing, painting, and engraving, as before. With the +engraving I made but very slow progress, owing to the difficulties +I experienced from not possessing proper tools. I then determined +to try to make some that would suit my purpose, and after several +failures I succeeded in making many that I have used in the course +of my engraving. I was also greatly at a loss for want of a proper +magnifying glass, and part of the plate was executed with no other +assistance of this sort than what my father's spectacles afforded, +though I afterwards succeeded in obtaining a proper magnifier, +which was of the utmost use to me. An incident occurred while I +was engraving the plate, which had almost caused me to abandon it +altogether. It sometimes happened that I was obliged to lay it +aside for a considerable time, when other work pressed; and in +order to guard it against rust, I was accustomed to rub over the +graven parts with oil. But on examining the plate after one of +such intervals, I found that the oil had become a dark sticky +substance extremely difficult to get out. I tried to pick it out +with a needle, but found that it would almost take as much time as +to engrave the parts afresh. I was in great despair at this, but +at length hit upon the expedient of boiling it in water containing +soda, and afterwards rubbing the engraved parts with a tooth-brush; +and to my delight found the plan succeeded perfectly. My greatest +difficulties now over, patience and perseverance were all that were +needed to bring my labours to a successful issue. I had neither +advice nor assistance from any one in finishing the plate. If, +therefore, the work possess any merit, I can claim it as my own; +and if in its accomplishment I have contributed to show what can be +done by persevering industry and determination, it is all the +honour I wish to lay claim to." + +It would be beside our purpose to enter upon any criticism of "The +Forge" as an engraving; its merits having been already fully +recognised by the art journals. The execution of the work occupied +Sharples's leisure evening hours during a period of five years; and +it was only when he took the plate to the printer that he for the +first time saw an engraved plate produced by any other man. To +this unvarnished picture of industry and genius, we add one other +trait, and it is a domestic one. "I have been married seven +years," says he, "and during that time my greatest pleasure, after +I have finished my daily labour at the foundry, has been to resume +my pencil or graver, frequently until a late hour of the evening, +my wife meanwhile sitting by my side and reading to me from some +interesting book,"--a simple but beautiful testimony to the +thorough common sense as well as the genuine right-heartedness of +this most interesting and deserving workman. + +The same industry and application which we have found to be +necessary in order to acquire excellence in painting and sculpture, +are equally required in the sister art of music--the one being the +poetry of form and colour, the other of the sounds of nature. +Handel was an indefatigable and constant worker; he was never cast +down by defeat, but his energy seemed to increase the more that +adversity struck him. When a prey to his mortifications as an +insolvent debtor, he did not give way for a moment, but in one year +produced his 'Saul,' 'Israel,' the music for Dryden's 'Ode,' his +'Twelve Grand Concertos,' and the opera of 'Jupiter in Argos,' +among the finest of his works. As his biographer says of him, "He +braved everything, and, by his unaided self, accomplished the work +of twelve men." + +Haydn, speaking of his art, said, "It consists in taking up a +subject and pursuing it." "Work," said Mozart, "is my chief +pleasure." Beethoven's favourite maxim was, "The barriers are not +erected which can say to aspiring talents and industry, 'Thus far +and no farther.'" When Moscheles submitted his score of 'Fidelio' +for the pianoforte to Beethoven, the latter found written at the +bottom of the last page, "Finis, with God's help." Beethoven +immediately wrote underneath, "O man! help thyself!" This was the +motto of his artistic life. John Sebastian Bach said of himself, +"I was industrious; whoever is equally sedulous, will be equally +successful." But there is no doubt that Bach was born with a +passion for music, which formed the mainspring of his industry, and +was the true secret of his success. When a mere youth, his elder +brother, wishing to turn his abilities in another direction, +destroyed a collection of studies which the young Sebastian, being +denied candles, had copied by moonlight; proving the strong natural +bent of the boy's genius. Of Meyerbeer, Bayle thus wrote from +Milan in 1820:- "He is a man of some talent, but no genius; he +lives solitary, working fifteen hours a day at music." Years +passed, and Meyerbeer's hard work fully brought out his genius, as +displayed in his 'Roberto,' 'Huguenots,' 'Prophete,' and other +works, confessedly amongst the greatest operas which have been +produced in modern times. + +Although musical composition is not an art in which Englishmen have +as yet greatly distinguished themselves, their energies having for +the most part taken other and more practical directions, we are not +without native illustrations of the power of perseverance in this +special pursuit. Arne was an upholsterer's son, intended by his +father for the legal profession; but his love of music was so +great, that he could not be withheld from pursuing it. While +engaged in an attorney's office, his means were very limited, but, +to gratify his tastes, he was accustomed to borrow a livery and go +into the gallery of the Opera, then appropriated to domestics. +Unknown to his father he made great progress with the violin, and +the first knowledge his father had of the circumstance was when +accidentally calling at the house of a neighbouring gentleman, to +his surprise and consternation he found his son playing the leading +instrument with a party of musicians. This incident decided the +fate of Arne. His father offered no further opposition to his +wishes; and the world thereby lost a lawyer, but gained a musician +of much taste and delicacy of feeling, who added many valuable +works to our stores of English music. + +The career of the late William Jackson, author of 'The Deliverance +of Israel,' an oratorio which has been successfully performed in +the principal towns of his native county of York, furnishes an +interesting illustration of the triumph of perseverance over +difficulties in the pursuit of musical science. He was the son of +a miller at Masham, a little town situated in the valley of the +Yore, in the north-west corner of Yorkshire. Musical taste seems +to have been hereditary in the family, for his father played the +fife in the band of the Masham Volunteers, and was a singer in the +parish choir. His grandfather also was leading singer and ringer +at Masham Church; and one of the boy's earliest musical treats was +to be present at the bell pealing on Sunday mornings. During the +service, his wonder was still more excited by the organist's +performance on the barrel-organ, the doors of which were thrown +open behind to let the sound fully into the church, by which the +stops, pipes, barrels, staples, keyboard, and jacks, were fully +exposed, to the wonderment of the little boys sitting in the +gallery behind, and to none more than our young musician. At eight +years of age he began to play upon his father's old fife, which, +however, would not sound D; but his mother remedied the difficulty +by buying for him a one-keyed flute; and shortly after, a gentleman +of the neighbourhood presented him with a flute with four silver +keys. As the boy made no progress with his "book learning," being +fonder of cricket, fives, and boxing, than of his school lessons-- +the village schoolmaster giving him up as "a bad job"--his parents +sent him off to a school at Pateley Bridge. While there he found +congenial society in a club of village choral singers at Brighouse +Gate, and with them he learnt the sol-fa-ing gamut on the old +English plan. He was thus well drilled in the reading of music, in +which he soon became a proficient. His progress astonished the +club, and he returned home full of musical ambition. He now learnt +to play upon his father's old piano, but with little melodious +result; and he became eager to possess a finger-organ, but had no +means of procuring one. About this time, a neighbouring parish +clerk had purchased, for an insignificant sum, a small disabled +barrel-organ, which had gone the circuit of the northern counties +with a show. The clerk tried to revive the tones of the +instrument, but failed; at last he bethought him that he would try +the skill of young Jackson, who had succeeded in making some +alterations and improvements in the hand-organ of the parish +church. He accordingly brought it to the lad's house in a donkey +cart, and in a short time the instrument was repaired, and played +over its old tunes again, greatly to the owner's satisfaction. + +The thought now haunted the youth that he could make a barrel- +organ, and he determined to do so. His father and he set to work, +and though without practice in carpentering, yet, by dint of hard +labour and after many failures, they at last succeeded; and an +organ was constructed which played ten tunes very decently, and the +instrument was generally regarded as a marvel in the neighbourhood. +Young Jackson was now frequently sent for to repair old church +organs, and to put new music upon the barrels which he added to +them. All this he accomplished to the satisfaction of his +employers, after which he proceeded with the construction of a +four-stop finger-organ, adapting to it the keys of an old +harpsichord. This he learnt to play upon,--studying 'Callcott's +Thorough Bass' in the evening, and working at his trade of a miller +during the day; occasionally also tramping about the country as a +"cadger," with an ass and a cart. During summer he worked in the +fields, at turnip-time, hay-time, and harvest, but was never +without the solace of music in his leisure evening hours. He next +tried his hand at musical composition, and twelve of his anthems +were shown to the late Mr. Camidge, of York, as "the production of +a miller's lad of fourteen." Mr. Camidge was pleased with them, +marked the objectionable passages, and returned them with the +encouraging remark, that they did the youth great credit, and that +he must "go on writing." + +A village band having been set on foot at Masham, young Jackson +joined it, and was ultimately appointed leader. He played all the +instruments by turns, and thus acquired a considerable practical +knowledge of his art: he also composed numerous tunes for the +band. A new finger-organ having been presented to the parish +church, he was appointed the organist. He now gave up his +employment as a journeyman miller, and commenced tallow-chandling, +still employing his spare hours in the study of music. In 1839 he +published his first anthem--'For joy let fertile valleys sing;' and +in the following year he gained the first prize from the +Huddersfield Glee Club, for his 'Sisters of the Lea.' His other +anthem 'God be merciful to us,' and the 103rd Psalm, written for a +double chorus and orchestra, are well known. In the midst of these +minor works, Jackson proceeded with the composition of his +oratorio,--'The Deliverance of Israel from Babylon.' His practice +was, to jot down a sketch of the ideas as they presented themselves +to his mind, and to write them out in score in the evenings, after +he had left his work in the candle-shop. His oratorio was +published in parts, in the course of 1844-5, and he published the +last chorus on his twenty-ninth birthday. The work was exceedingly +well received, and has been frequently performed with much success +in the northern towns. Mr. Jackson eventually settled as a +professor of music at Bradford, where he contributed in no small +degree to the cultivation of the musical taste of that town and its +neighbourhood. Some years since he had the honour of leading his +fine company of Bradford choral singers before Her Majesty at +Buckingham Palace; on which occasion, as well as at the Crystal +Palace, some choral pieces of his composition, were performed with +great effect. {22} + +Such is a brief outline of the career of a self-taught musician, +whose life affords but another illustration of the power of self- +help, and the force of courage and industry in enabling a man to +surmount and overcome early difficulties and obstructions of no +ordinary kind. + + + +CHAPTER VII--INDUSTRY AND THE PEERAGE + + + +"He either fears his fate too much, +Or his deserts are small, +That dares not put it to the touch, +To gain or lose it all."--Marquis of Montrose. + +"He hath put down the mighty from their seats; and exalted them of +low degree."--St. Luke. + + +We have already referred to some illustrious Commoners raised from +humble to elevated positions by the power of application and +industry; and we might point to even the Peerage itself as +affording equally instructive examples. One reason why the Peerage +of England has succeeded so well in holding its own, arises from +the fact that, unlike the peerages of other countries, it has been +fed, from time to time, by the best industrial blood of the +country--the very "liver, heart, and brain of Britain." Like the +fabled Antaeus, it has been invigorated and refreshed by touching +its mother earth, and mingling with that most ancient order of +nobility--the working order. + +The blood of all men flows from equally remote sources; and though +some are unable to trace their line directly beyond their +grandfathers, all are nevertheless justified in placing at the head +of their pedigree the great progenitors of the race, as Lord +Chesterfield did when he wrote, "ADAM de Stanhope--EVE de +Stanhope." No class is ever long stationary. The mighty fall, and +the humble are exalted. New families take the place of the old, +who disappear among the ranks of the common people. Burke's +'Vicissitudes of Families' strikingly exhibit this rise and fall of +families, and show that the misfortunes which overtake the rich and +noble are greater in proportion than those which overwhelm the +poor. This author points out that of the twenty-five barons +selected to enforce the observance of Magna Charta, there is not +now in the House of Peers a single male descendant. Civil wars and +rebellions ruined many of the old nobility and dispersed their +families. Yet their descendants in many cases survive, and are to +be found among the ranks of the people. Fuller wrote in his +'Worthies,' that "some who justly hold the surnames of Bohuns, +Mortimers, and Plantagenets, are hid in the heap of common men." +Thus Burke shows that two of the lineal descendants of the Earl of +Kent, sixth son of Edward I., were discovered in a butcher and a +toll-gatherer; that the great grandson of Margaret Plantagenet, +daughter of the Duke of Clarance, sank to the condition of a +cobbler at Newport, in Shropshire; and that among the lineal +descendants of the Duke of Gloucester, son of Edward III., was the +late sexton of St George's, Hanover Square. It is understood that +the lineal descendant of Simon de Montfort, England's premier +baron, is a saddler in Tooley Street. One of the descendants of +the "Proud Percys," a claimant of the title of Duke of +Northumberland, was a Dublin trunk-maker; and not many years since +one of the claimants for the title of Earl of Perth presented +himself in the person of a labourer in a Northumberland coal-pit. +Hugh Miller, when working as a stone-mason near Edinburgh, was +served by a hodman, who was one of the numerous claimants for the +earldom of Crauford--all that was wanted to establish his claim +being a missing marriage certificate; and while the work was going +on, the cry resounded from the walls many times in the day, of-- +"John, Yearl Crauford, bring us anither hod o'lime." One of Oliver +Cromwell's great grandsons was a grocer on Snow Hill, and others of +his descendants died in great poverty. Many barons of proud names +and titles have perished, like the sloth, upon their family tree, +after eating up all the leaves; while others have been overtaken by +adversities which they have been unable to retrieve, and sunk at +last into poverty and obscurity. Such are the mutabilities of rank +and fortune. + +The great bulk of our peerage is comparatively modern, so far as +the titles go; but it is not the less noble that it has been +recruited to so large an extent from the ranks of honourable +industry. In olden times, the wealth and commerce of London, +conducted as it was by energetic and enterprising men, was a +prolific source of peerages. Thus, the earldom of Cornwallis was +founded by Thomas Cornwallis, the Cheapside merchant; that of Essex +by William Capel, the draper; and that of Craven by William Craven, +the merchant tailor. The modern Earl of Warwick is not descended +from the "King-maker," but from William Greville, the woolstapler; +whilst the modern dukes of Northumberland find their head, not in +the Percies, but in Hugh Smithson, a respectable London apothecary. +The founders of the families of Dartmouth, Radnor, Ducie, and +Pomfret, were respectively a skinner, a silk manufacturer, a +merchant tailor, and a Calais merchant; whilst the founders of the +peerages of Tankerville, Dormer, and Coventry, were mercers. The +ancestors of Earl Romney, and Lord Dudley and Ward, were goldsmiths +and jewellers; and Lord Dacres was a banker in the reign of Charles +I., as Lord Overstone is in that of Queen Victoria. Edward +Osborne, the founder of the Dukedom of Leeds, was apprentice to +William Hewet, a rich clothworker on London Bridge, whose only +daughter he courageously rescued from drowning, by leaping into the +Thames after her, and eventually married. Among other peerages +founded by trade are those of Fitzwilliam, Leigh, Petre, Cowper, +Darnley, Hill, and Carrington. The founders of the houses of Foley +and Normanby were remarkable men in many respects, and, as +furnishing striking examples of energy of character, the story of +their lives is worthy of preservation. + +The father of Richard Foley, the founder of the family, was a small +yeoman living in the neighbourhood of Stourbridge in the time of +Charles I. That place was then the centre of the iron manufacture +of the midland districts, and Richard was brought up to work at one +of the branches of the trade--that of nail-making. He was thus a +daily observer of the great labour and loss of time caused by the +clumsy process then adopted for dividing the rods of iron in the +manufacture of nails. It appeared that the Stourbridge nailers +were gradually losing their trade in consequence of the importation +of nails from Sweden, by which they were undersold in the market. +It became known that the Swedes were enabled to make their nails so +much cheaper, by the use of splitting mills and machinery, which +had completely superseded the laborious process of preparing the +rods for nail-making then practised in England. + +Richard Foley, having ascertained this much, determined to make +himself master of the new process. He suddenly disappeared from +the neighbourhood of Stourbridge, and was not heard of for several +years. No one knew whither he had gone, not even his own family; +for he had not informed them of his intention, lest he should fail. +He had little or no money in his pocket, but contrived to get to +Hull, where he engaged himself on board a ship bound for a Swedish +port, and worked his passage there. The only article of property +which he possessed was his fiddle, and on landing in Sweden he +begged and fiddled his way to the Dannemora mines, near Upsala. He +was a capital musician, as well as a pleasant fellow, and soon +ingratiated himself with the iron-workers. He was received into +the works, to every part of which he had access; and he seized the +opportunity thus afforded him of storing his mind with +observations, and mastering, as he thought, the mechanism of iron +splitting. After a continued stay for this purpose, he suddenly +disappeared from amongst his kind friends the miners--no one knew +whither. + +Returned to England, he communicated the results of his voyage to +Mr. Knight and another person at Stourbridge, who had sufficient +confidence in him to advance the requisite funds for the purpose of +erecting buildings and machinery for splitting iron by the new +process. But when set to work, to the great vexation and +disappointment of all, and especially of Richard Foley, it was +found that the machinery would not act--at all events it would not +split the bars of iron. Again Foley disappeared. It was thought +that shame and mortification at his failure had driven him away for +ever. Not so! Foley had determined to master this secret of iron- +splitting, and he would yet do it. He had again set out for +Sweden, accompanied by his fiddle as before, and found his way to +the iron works, where he was joyfully welcomed by the miners; and, +to make sure of their fiddler, they this time lodged him in the +very splitting-mill itself. There was such an apparent absence of +intelligence about the man, except in fiddle-playing, that the +miners entertained no suspicions as to the object of their +minstrel, whom they thus enabled to attain the very end and aim of +his life. He now carefully examined the works, and soon discovered +the cause of his failure. He made drawings or tracings of the +machinery as well as he could, though this was a branch of art +quite new to him; and after remaining at the place long enough to +enable him to verify his observations, and to impress the +mechanical arrangements clearly and vividly on his mind, he again +left the miners, reached a Swedish port, and took ship for England. +A man of such purpose could not but succeed. Arrived amongst his +surprised friends, he now completed his arrangements, and the +results were entirely successful. By his skill and his industry he +soon laid the foundations of a large fortune, at the same time that +he restored the business of an extensive district. He himself +continued, during his life, to carry on his trade, aiding and +encouraging all works of benevolence in his neighbourhood. He +founded and endowed a school at Stourbridge; and his son Thomas (a +great benefactor of Kidderminster), who was High Sheriff of +Worcestershire in the time of "The Rump," founded and endowed an +hospital, still in existence, for the free education of children at +Old Swinford. All the early Foleys were Puritans. Richard Baxter +seems to have been on familiar and intimate terms with various +members of the family, and makes frequent mention of them in his +'Life and Times.' Thomas Foley, when appointed high sheriff of the +county, requested Baxter to preach the customary sermon before him; +and Baxter in his 'Life' speaks of him as "of so just and blameless +dealing, that all men he ever had to do with magnified his great +integrity and honesty, which were questioned by none." The family +was ennobled in the reign of Charles the Second. + +William Phipps, the founder of the Mulgrave or Normanby family, was +a man quite as remarkable in his way as Richard Foley. His father +was a gunsmith--a robust Englishman settled at Woolwich, in Maine, +then forming part of our English colonies in America. He was born +in 1651, one of a family of not fewer than twenty-six children (of +whom twenty-one were sons), whose only fortune lay in their stout +hearts and strong arms. William seems to have had a dash of the +Danish-sea blood in his veins, and did not take kindly to the quiet +life of a shepherd in which he spent his early years. By nature +bold and adventurous, he longed to become a sailor and roam through +the world. He sought to join some ship; but not being able to find +one, he apprenticed himself to a shipbuilder, with whom he +thoroughly learnt his trade, acquiring the arts of reading and +writing during his leisure hours. Having completed his +apprenticeship and removed to Boston, he wooed and married a widow +of some means, after which he set up a little shipbuilding yard of +his own, built a ship, and, putting to sea in her, he engaged in +the lumber trade, which he carried on in a plodding and laborious +way for the space of about ten years. + +It happened that one day, whilst passing through the crooked +streets of old Boston, he overheard some sailors talking to each +other of a wreck which had just taken place off the Bahamas; that +of a Spanish ship, supposed to have much money on board. His +adventurous spirit was at once kindled, and getting together a +likely crew without loss of time, he set sail for the Bahamas. The +wreck being well in-shore, he easily found it, and succeeded in +recovering a great deal of its cargo, but very little money; and +the result was, that he barely defrayed his expenses. His success +had been such, however, as to stimulate his enterprising spirit; +and when he was told of another and far more richly laden vessel +which had been wrecked near Port de la Plata more than half a +century before, he forthwith formed the resolution of raising the +wreck, or at all events of fishing up the treasure. + +Being too poor, however, to undertake such an enterprise without +powerful help, he set sail for England in the hope that he might +there obtain it. The fame of his success in raising the wreck off +the Bahamas had already preceded him. He applied direct to the +Government. By his urgent enthusiasm, he succeeded in overcoming +the usual inertia of official minds; and Charles II. eventually +placed at his disposal the "Rose Algier," a ship of eighteen guns +and ninety-five men, appointing him to the chief command. + +Phipps then set sail to find the Spanish ship and fish up the +treasure. He reached the coast of Hispaniola in safety; but how to +find the sunken ship was the great difficulty. The fact of the +wreck was more than fifty years old; and Phipps had only the +traditionary rumours of the event to work upon. There was a wide +coast to explore, and an outspread ocean without any trace whatever +of the argosy which lay somewhere at its bottom. But the man was +stout in heart and full of hope. He set his seamen to work to drag +along the coast, and for weeks they went on fishing up sea-weed, +shingle, and bits of rock. No occupation could be more trying to +seamen, and they began to grumble one to another, and to whisper +that the man in command had brought them on a fool's errand. + +At length the murmurers gained head, and the men broke into open +mutiny. A body of them rushed one day on to the quarter-deck, and +demanded that the voyage should be relinquished. Phipps, however, +was not a man to be intimidated; he seized the ringleaders, and +sent the others back to their duty. It became necessary to bring +the ship to anchor close to a small island for the purpose of +repairs; and, to lighten her, the chief part of the stores was +landed. Discontent still increasing amongst the crew, a new plot +was laid amongst the men on shore to seize the ship, throw Phipps +overboard, and start on a piratical cruize against the Spaniards in +the South Seas. But it was necessary to secure the services of the +chief ship carpenter, who was consequently made privy to the pilot. +This man proved faithful, and at once told the captain of his +danger. Summoning about him those whom he knew to be loyal, Phipps +had the ship's guns loaded which commanded the shore, and ordered +the bridge communicating with the vessel to be drawn up. When the +mutineers made their appearance, the captain hailed them, and told +the men he would fire upon them if they approached the stores +(still on land),--when they drew back; on which Phipps had the +stores reshipped under cover of his guns. The mutineers, fearful +of being left upon the barren island, threw down their arms and +implored to be permitted to return to their duty. The request was +granted, and suitable precautions were taken against future +mischief. Phipps, however, took the first opportunity of landing +the mutinous part of the crew, and engaging other men in their +places; but, by the time that he could again proceed actively with +his explorations, he found it absolutely necessary to proceed to +England for the purpose of repairing the ship. He had now, +however, gained more precise information as to the spot where the +Spanish treasure ship had sunk; and, though as yet baffled, he was +more confident than ever of the eventual success of his enterprise. + +Returned to London, Phipps reported the result of his voyage to the +Admiralty, who professed to be pleased with his exertions; but he +had been unsuccessful, and they would not entrust him with another +king's ship. James II. was now on the throne, and the Government +was in trouble; so Phipps and his golden project appealed to them +in vain. He next tried to raise the requisite means by a public +subscription. At first he was laughed at; but his ceaseless +importunity at length prevailed, and after four years' dinning of +his project into the ears of the great and influential--during +which time he lived in poverty--he at length succeeded. A company +was formed in twenty shares, the Duke of Albermarle, son of General +Monk, taking the chief interest in it, and subscribing the +principal part of the necessary fund for the prosecution of the +enterprise. + +Like Foley, Phipps proved more fortunate in his second voyage than +in his first. The ship arrived without accident at Port de la +Plata, in the neighbourhood of the reef of rocks supposed to have +been the scene of the wreck. His first object was to build a stout +boat capable of carrying eight or ten oars, in constructing which +Phipps used the adze himself. It is also said that he constructed +a machine for the purpose of exploring the bottom of the sea +similar to what is now known as the Diving Bell. Such a machine +was found referred to in books, but Phipps knew little of books, +and may be said to have re-invented the apparatus for his own use. +He also engaged Indian divers, whose feats of diving for pearls, +and in submarine operations, were very remarkable. The tender and +boat having been taken to the reef, the men were set to work, the +diving bell was sunk, and the various modes of dragging the bottom +of the sea were employed continuously for many weeks, but without +any prospect of success. Phipps, however, held on valiantly, +hoping almost against hope. At length, one day, a sailor, looking +over the boat's side down into the clear water, observed a curious +sea-plant growing in what appeared to be a crevice of the rock; and +he called upon an Indian diver to go down and fetch it for him. On +the red man coming up with the weed, he reported that a number of +ships guns were lying in the same place. The intelligence was at +first received with incredulity, but on further investigation it +proved to be correct. Search was made, and presently a diver came +up with a solid bar of silver in his arms. When Phipps was shown +it, he exclaimed, "Thanks be to God! we are all made men." Diving +bell and divers now went to work with a will, and in a few days, +treasure was brought up to the value of about 300,000 pounds, 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 pounds, and the king, to show his approval of his +energy and honesty in conducting the enterprise, conferred upon him +the honour of knighthood. He was also made High Sheriff of New +England; and during the time he held the office, he did valiant +service for the mother country and the colonists against the +French, by expeditions against Port Royal and Quebec. He also held +the post of Governor of Massachusetts, from which he returned to +England, and died in London in 1695. + +Phipps throughout the latter part of his career, was not ashamed to +allude to the lowness of his origin, and it was matter of honest +pride to him that he had risen from the condition of common ship +carpenter to the honours of knighthood and the government of a +province. When perplexed with public business, he would often +declare that it would be easier for him to go back to his broad axe +again. He left behind him a character for probity, honesty, +patriotism, and courage, which is certainly not the least noble +inheritance of the house of Normanby. + +William Petty, the founder of the house of Lansdowne, was a man of +like energy and public usefulness in his day. He was the son of a +clothier in humble circumstances, at Romsey, in Hampshire, where he +was born in 1623. In his boyhood he obtained a tolerable education +at the grammar school of his native town; after which he determined +to improve himself by study at the University of Caen, in Normandy. +Whilst there he contrived to support himself unassisted by his +father, carrying on a sort of small pedler's trade with "a little +stock of merchandise." Returning to England, he had himself bound +apprentice to a sea captain, who "drubbed him with a rope's end" +for the badness of his sight. He left the navy in disgust, taking +to the study of medicine. When at Paris he engaged in dissection, +during which time he also drew diagrams for Hobbes, who was then +writing his treatise on Optics. He was reduced to such poverty +that he subsisted for two or three weeks entirely on walnuts. But +again he began to trade in a small way, turning an honest penny, +and he was enabled shortly to return to England with money in his +pocket. Being of an ingenious mechanical turn, we find him taking +out a patent for a letter-copying machine. He began to write upon +the arts and sciences, and practised chemistry and physic with such +success that his reputation shortly became considerable. +Associating with men of science, the project of forming a Society +for its prosecution was discussed, and the first meetings of the +infant Royal Society were held at his lodgings. At Oxford he acted +for a time as deputy to the anatomical professor there, who had a +great repugnance to dissection. In 1652 his industry was rewarded +by the appointment of physician to the army in Ireland, whither he +went; and whilst there he was the medical attendant of three +successive lords-lieutenant, Lambert, Fleetwood, and Henry +Cromwell. Large grants of forfeited land having been awarded to +the Puritan soldiery, Petty observed that the lands were very +inaccurately measured; and in the midst of his many avocations he +undertook to do the work himself. His appointments became so +numerous and lucrative that he was charged by the envious with +corruption, and removed from them all; but he was again taken into +favour at the Restoration. + +Petty was a most indefatigable contriver, inventor, and organizer +of industry. One of his inventions was a double-bottomed ship, to +sail against wind and tide. He published treatises on dyeing, on +naval philosophy, on woollen cloth manufacture, on political +arithmetic, and many other subjects. He founded iron works, opened +lead mines, and commenced a pilchard fishery and a timber trade; in +the midst of which he found time to take part in the discussions of +the Royal Society, to which he largely contributed. He left an +ample fortune to his sons, the eldest of whom was created Baron +Shelburne. His will was a curious document, singularly +illustrative of his character; containing a detail of the principal +events of his life, and the gradual advancement of his fortune. +His sentiments on pauperism are characteristic: "As for legacies +for the poor," said he, "I am at a stand; as for beggars by trade +and election, I give them nothing; as for impotents by the hand of +God, the public ought to maintain them; as for those who have been +bred to no calling nor estate, they should be put upon their +kindred;" . . . "wherefore I am contented that I have assisted all +my poor relations, and put many into a way of getting their own +bread; have laboured in public works; and by inventions have sought +out real objects of charity; and I do hereby conjure all who +partake of my estate, from time to time, to do the same at their +peril. Nevertheless to answer custom, and to take the surer side, +I give 20l. to the most wanting of the parish wherein I die." He +was interred in the fine old Norman church of Romsey--the town +wherein he was born a poor man's son--and on the south side of the +choir is still to be seen a plain slab, with the inscription, cut +by an illiterate workman, "Here Layes Sir William Petty." + +Another family, ennobled by invention and trade in our own day, is +that of Strutt of Belper. Their patent of nobility was virtually +secured by Jedediah Strutt in 1758, when he invented his machine +for making ribbed stockings, and thereby laid the foundations of a +fortune which the subsequent bearers of the name have largely +increased and nobly employed. The father of Jedediah was a farmer +and malster, who did but little for the education of his children; +yet they all prospered. Jedediah was the second son, and when a +boy assisted his father in the work of the farm. At an early age +he exhibited a taste for mechanics, and introduced several +improvements in the rude agricultural implements of the period. On +the death of his uncle he succeeded to a farm at Blackwall, near +Normanton, long in the tenancy of the family, and shortly after he +married Miss Wollatt, the daughter of a Derby hosier. Having +learned from his wife's brother that various unsuccessful attempts +had been made to manufacture ribbed-stockings, he proceeded to +study the subject with a view to effect what others had failed in +accomplishing. He accordingly obtained a stocking-frame, and after +mastering its construction and mode of action, he proceeded to +introduce new combinations, by means of which he succeeded in +effecting a variation in the plain looped-work of the frame, and +was thereby enabled to turn out "ribbed" hosiery. Having secured a +patent for the improved machine, he removed to Derby, and there +entered largely on the manufacture of ribbed-stockings, in which he +was very successful. He afterwards joined Arkwright, of the merits +of whose invention he fully satisfied himself, and found the means +of securing his patent, as well as erecting a large cotton-mill at +Cranford, in Derbyshire. After the expiry of the partnership with +Arkwright, the Strutts erected extensive cotton-mills at Milford, +near Belper, which worthily gives its title to the present head of +the family. The sons of the founder were, like their father, +distinguished for their mechanical ability. Thus William Strutt, +the eldest, is said to have invented a self-acting mule, the +success of which was only prevented by the mechanical skill of that +day being unequal to its manufacture. Edward, the son of William, +was a man of eminent mechanical genius, having early discovered the +principle of suspension-wheels for carriages: he had a wheelbarrow +and two carts made on the principle, which were used on his farm +near Belper. It may be added that the Strutts have throughout been +distinguished for their noble employment of the wealth which their +industry and skill have brought them; that they have sought in all +ways to improve the moral and social condition of the work-people +in their employment; and that they have been liberal donors in +every good cause--of which the presentation, by Mr. Joseph Strutt, +of the beautiful park or Arboretum at Derby, as a gift to the +townspeople for ever, affords only one of many illustrations. The +concluding words of the short address which he delivered on +presenting this valuable gift are worthy of being quoted and +remembered:- "As the sun has shone brightly on me through life, it +would be ungrateful in me not to employ a portion of the fortune I +possess in promoting the welfare of those amongst whom I live, and +by whose industry I have been aided in its organisation." + +No less industry and energy have been displayed by the many brave +men, both in present and past times, who have earned the peerage by +their valour on land and at sea. Not to mention the older feudal +lords, whose tenure depended upon military service, and who so +often led the van of the English armies in great national +encounters, we may point to Nelson, St. Vincent, and Lyons--to +Wellington, Hill, Hardinge, Clyde, and many more in recent times, +who have nobly earned their rank by their distinguished services. +But plodding industry has far oftener worked its way to the peerage +by the honourable pursuit of the legal profession, than by any +other. No fewer than seventy British peerages, including two +dukedoms, have been founded by successful lawyers. Mansfield and +Erskine were, it is true, of noble family; but the latter used to +thank God that out of his own family he did not know a lord. {23} +The others were, for the most part, the sons of attorneys, grocers, +clergymen, merchants, and hardworking members of the middle class. +Out of this profession have sprung the peerages of Howard and +Cavendish, the first peers of both families having been judges; +those of Aylesford, Ellenborough, Guildford, Shaftesbury, +Hardwicke, Cardigan, Clarendon, Camden, Ellesmere, Rosslyn; and +others nearer our own day, such as Tenterden, Eldon, Brougham, +Denman, Truro, Lyndhurst, St. Leonards, Cranworth, Campbell, and +Chelmsford. + +Lord Lyndhurst's father was a portrait painter, and that of St. +Leonards a perfumer and hairdresser in Burlington Street. Young +Edward Sugden was originally an errand-boy in the office of the +late Mr. Groom, of Henrietta Street, Cavendish Square, a +certificated conveyancer; and it was there that the future Lord +Chancellor of Ireland obtained his first notions of law. The +origin of the late Lord Tenterden was perhaps the humblest of all, +nor was he ashamed of it; for he felt that the industry, study, and +application, by means of which he achieved his eminent position, +were entirely due to himself. It is related of him, that on one +occasion he took his son Charles to a little shed, then standing +opposite the western front of Canterbury Cathedral, and pointing it +out to him, said, "Charles, you see this little shop; I have +brought you here on purpose to show it you. In that shop your +grandfather used to shave for a penny: that is the proudest +reflection of my life." When a boy, Lord Tenterden was a singer in +the Cathedral, and it is a curious circumstance that his +destination in life was changed by a disappointment. When he and +Mr. Justice Richards were going the Home Circuit together, they +went to service in the cathedral; and on Richards commending the +voice of a singing man in the choir, Lord Tenterden said, "Ah! that +is the only man I ever envied! When at school in this town, we +were candidates for a chorister's place, and he obtained it." + +Not less remarkable was the rise to the same distinguished office +of Lord Chief Justice, of the rugged Kenyon and the robust +Ellenborough; nor was he a less notable man who recently held the +same office--the astute Lord Campbell, late Lord Chancellor of +England, son of a parish minister in Fifeshire. For many years he +worked hard as a reporter for the press, while diligently preparing +himself for the practice of his profession. It is said of him, +that at the beginning of his career, he was accustomed to walk from +county town to county town when on circuit, being as yet too poor +to afford the luxury of posting. But step by step he rose slowly +but surely to that eminence and distinction which ever follow a +career of industry honourably and energetically pursued, in the +legal, as in every other profession. + +There have been other illustrious instances of Lords Chancellors +who have plodded up the steep of fame and honour with equal energy +and success. The career of the late Lord Eldon is perhaps one of +the most remarkable examples. He was the son of a Newcastle coal- +fitter; a mischievous rather than a studious boy; a great +scapegrace at school, and the subject of many terrible thrashings,- +-for orchard-robbing was one of the favourite exploits of the +future Lord Chancellor. His father first thought of putting him +apprentice to a grocer, and afterwards had almost made up his mind +to bring him up to his own trade of a coal-fitter. But by this +time his eldest son William (afterwards Lord Stowell) who had +gained a scholarship at Oxford, wrote to his father, "Send Jack up +to me, I can do better for him." John was sent up to Oxford +accordingly, where, by his brother's influence and his own +application, he succeeded in obtaining a fellowship. But when at +home during the vacation, he was so unfortunate--or rather so +fortunate, as the issue proved--as to fall in love; and running +across the Border with his eloped bride, he married, and as his +friends thought, ruined himself for life. He had neither house nor +home when he married, and had not yet earned a penny. He lost his +fellowship, and at the same time shut himself out from preferment +in the Church, for which he had been destined. He accordingly +turned his attention to the study of the law. To a friend he +wrote, "I have married rashly; but it is my determination to work +hard to provide for the woman I love." + +John Scott came up to London, and took a small house in Cursitor +Lane, where he settled down to the study of the law. He worked +with great diligence and resolution; rising at four every morning +and studying till late at night, binding a wet towel round his head +to keep himself awake. Too poor to study under a special pleader, +he copied out three folio volumes from a manuscript collection of +precedents. Long after, when Lord Chancellor, passing down +Cursitor Lane one day, he said to his secretary, "Here was my first +perch: many a time do I recollect coming down this street with +sixpence in my hand to buy sprats for supper." When at length +called to the bar, he waited long for employment. His first year's +earnings amounted to only nine shillings. For four years he +assiduously attended the London Courts and the Northern Circuit, +with little better success. Even in his native town, he seldom had +other than pauper cases to defend. The results were indeed so +discouraging, that he had almost determined to relinquish his +chance of London business, and settle down in some provincial town +as a country barrister. His brother William wrote home, "Business +is dull with poor Jack, very dull indeed!" But as he had escaped +being a grocer, a coal-fitter, and a country parson so did he also +escape being a country lawyer. + +An opportunity at length occurred which enabled John Scott to +exhibit the large legal knowledge which he had so laboriously +acquired. In a case in which he was engaged, he urged a legal +point against the wishes both of the attorney and client who +employed him. The Master of the Rolls decided against him, but on +an appeal to the House of Lords, Lord Thurlow reversed the decision +on the very point that Scott had urged. On leaving the House that +day, a solicitor tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Young man, +your bread and butter's cut for life." And the prophecy proved a +true one. Lord Mansfield used to say that he knew no interval +between no business and 3000l. a-year, and Scott might have told +the same story; for so rapid was his progress, that in 1783, when +only thirty-two, he was appointed King's Counsel, was at the head +of the Northern Circuit, and sat in Parliament for the borough of +Weobley. It was in the dull but unflinching drudgery of the early +part of his career that he laid the foundation of his future +success. He won his spurs by perseverance, knowledge, and ability, +diligently cultivated. He was successively appointed to the +offices of solicitor and attorney-general, and rose steadily +upwards to the highest office that the Crown had to bestow--that of +Lord Chancellor of England, which he held for a quarter of a +century. + +Henry Bickersteth was the son of a surgeon at Kirkby Lonsdale, in +Westmoreland, and was himself educated to that profession. As a +student at Edinburgh, he distinguished himself by the steadiness +with which he worked, and the application which he devoted to the +science of medicine. Returned to Kirkby Lonsdale, he took an +active part in his father's practice; but he had no liking for the +profession, and grew discontented with the obscurity of a country +town. He went on, nevertheless, diligently improving himself, and +engaged on speculations in the higher branches of physiology. In +conformity with his own wish, his father consented to send him to +Cambridge, where it was his intention to take a medical degree with +the view of practising in the metropolis. Close application to his +studies, however, threw him out of health, and with a view to re- +establishing his strength he accepted the appointment of travelling +physician to Lord Oxford. While abroad he mastered Italian, and +acquired a great admiration for Italian literature, but no greater +liking for medicine than before. On the contrary, he determined to +abandon it; but returning to Cambridge, he took his degree; and +that he worked hard may be inferred from the fact that he was +senior wrangler of his year. Disappointed in his desire to enter +the army, he turned to the bar, and entered a student of the Inner +Temple. He worked as hard at law as he had done at medicine. +Writing to his father, he said, "Everybody says to me, 'You are +certain of success in the end--only persevere;' and though I don't +well understand how this is to happen, I try to believe it as much +as I can, and I shall not fail to do everything in my power." At +twenty-eight he was called to the bar, and had every step in life +yet to make. His means were straitened, and he lived upon the +contributions of his friends. For years he studied and waited. +Still no business came. He stinted himself in recreation, in +clothes, and even in the necessaries of life; struggling on +indefatigably through all. Writing home, he "confessed that he +hardly knew how he should be able to struggle on till he had fair +time and opportunity to establish himself." After three years' +waiting, still without success, he wrote to his friends that rather +than be a burden upon them longer, he was willing to give the +matter up and return to Cambridge, "where he was sure of support +and some profit." The friends at home sent him another small +remittance, and he persevered. Business gradually came in. +Acquitting himself creditably in small matters, he was at length +entrusted with cases of greater importance. He was a man who never +missed an opportunity, nor allowed a legitimate chance of +improvement to escape him. His unflinching industry soon began to +tell upon his fortunes; a few more years and he was not only +enabled to do without assistance from home, but he was in a +position to pay back with interest the debts which he had incurred. +The clouds had dispersed, and the after career of Henry Bickersteth +was one of honour, of emolument, and of distinguished fame. He +ended his career as Master of the Rolls, sitting in the House of +Peers as Baron Langdale. His life affords only another +illustration of the power of patience, perseverance, and +conscientious working, in elevating the character of the +individual, and crowning his labours with the most complete +success. + +Such are a few of the distinguished men who have honourably worked +their way to the highest position, and won the richest rewards of +their profession, by the diligent exercise of qualities in many +respects of an ordinary character, but made potent by the force of +application and industry. + + + +CHAPTER VIII--ENERGY AND COURAGE + + + +"A coeur vaillant rien d'impossible."--Jacques Coeur. + +"Den Muthigen gehort die Welt."--German Proverb. + +"In every work that he began . . . he did it with all his heart, +and prospered."--II. Chron. XXXI. 21. + + +There is a famous speech recorded of an old Norseman, thoroughly +characteristic of the Teuton. "I believe neither in idols nor +demons," said he, "I put my sole trust in my own strength of body +and soul." The ancient crest of a pickaxe with the motto of +"Either I will find a way or make one," was an expression of the +same sturdy independence which to this day distinguishes the +descendants of the Northmen. Indeed nothing could be more +characteristic of the Scandinavian mythology, than that it had a +god with a hammer. A man's character is seen in small matters; and +from even so slight a test as the mode in which a man wields a +hammer, his energy may in some measure be inferred. Thus an +eminent Frenchman hit off in a single phrase the characteristic +quality of the inhabitants of a particular district, in which a +friend of his proposed to settle and buy land. "Beware," said he, +"of making a purchase there; I know the men of that department; the +pupils who come from it to our veterinary school at Paris DO NOR +STRIKE HARD UPON THE ANVIL; they want energy; and you will not get +a satisfactory return on any capital you may invest there." A fine +and just appreciation of character, indicating the thoughtful +observer; and strikingly illustrative of the fact that it is the +energy of the individual men that gives strength to a State, and +confers a value even upon the very soil which they cultivate. As +the French proverb has it: "Tant vaut l'homme, tant vaut sa +terre." + +The cultivation of this quality is of the greatest importance; +resolute determination in the pursuit of worthy objects being the +foundation of all true greatness of character. Energy enables a +man to force his way through irksome drudgery and dry details, and +carries him onward and upward in every station in life. It +accomplishes more than genius, with not one-half the disappointment +and peril. It is not eminent talent that is required to ensure +success in any pursuit, so much as purpose,--not merely the power +to achieve, but the will to labour energetically and perseveringly. +Hence energy of will may be defined to be the very central power of +character in a man--in a word, it is the Man himself. It gives +impulse to his every action, and soul to every effort. True hope +is based on it,--and it is hope that gives the real perfume to +life. There is a fine heraldic motto on a broken helmet in Battle +Abbey, "L'espoir est ma force," which might be the motto of every +man's life. "Woe unto him that is fainthearted," says the son of +Sirach. There is, indeed, no blessing equal to the possession of a +stout heart. Even if a man fail in his efforts, it will be a +satisfaction to him to enjoy the consciousness of having done his +best. In humble life nothing can be more cheering and beautiful +than to see a man combating suffering by patience, triumphing in +his integrity, and who, when his feet are bleeding and his limbs +failing him, still walks upon his courage. + +Mere wishes and desires but engender a sort of green sickness in +young minds, unless they are promptly embodied in act and deed. It +will not avail merely to wait as so many do, "until Blucher comes +up," but they must struggle on and persevere in the mean time, as +Wellington did. The good purpose once formed must be carried out +with alacrity and without swerving. In most conditions of life, +drudgery and toil are to be cheerfully endured as the best and most +wholesome discipline. "In life," said Ary Scheffer, "nothing bears +fruit except by labour of mind or body. To strive and still +strive--such is life; and in this respect mine is fulfilled; but I +dare to say, with just pride, that nothing has ever shaken my +courage. With a strong soul, and a noble aim, one can do what one +wills, morally speaking." + +Hugh Miller said the only school in which he was properly taught +was "that world-wide school in which toil and hardship are the +severe but noble teachers." He who allows his application to +falter, or shirks his work on frivolous pretexts, is on the sure +road to ultimate failure. Let any task be undertaken as a thing +not possible to be evaded, and it will soon come to be performed +with alacrity and cheerfulness. Charles IX. of Sweden was a firm +believer in the power of will, even in youth. Laying his hand on +the head of his youngest son when engaged on a difficult task, he +exclaimed, "He SHALL do it! he SHALL do it!" The habit of +application becomes easy in time, like every other habit. Thus +persons with comparatively moderate powers will accomplish much, if +they apply themselves wholly and indefatigably to one thing at a +time. Fowell Buxton placed his confidence in ordinary means and +extraordinary application; realizing the scriptural injunction, +"Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might;" and +he attributed his own success in life to his practice of "being a +whole man to one thing at a time." + +Nothing that is of real worth can be achieved without courageous +working. Man owes his growth chiefly to that active striving of +the will, that encounter with difficulty, which we call effort; and +it is astonishing to find how often results apparently +impracticable are thus made possible. An intense anticipation +itself transforms possibility into reality; our desires being often +but the precursors of the things which we are capable of +performing. On the contrary, the timid and hesitating find +everything impossible, chiefly because it seems so. It is related +of a young French officer, that he used to walk about his apartment +exclaiming, "I WILL be Marshal of France and a great general." His +ardent desire was the presentiment of his success; for the young +officer did become a distinguished commander, and he died a Marshal +of France. + +Mr. Walker, author of the 'Original,' had so great a faith in the +power of will, that he says on one occasion he DETERMINED to be +well, and he was so. This may answer once; but, though safer to +follow than many prescriptions, it will not always succeed. The +power of mind over body is no doubt great, but it may be strained +until the physical power breaks down altogether. It is related of +Muley Moluc, the Moorish leader, that, when lying ill, almost worn +out by an incurable disease, a battle took place between his troops +and the Portuguese; when, starting from his litter at the great +crisis of the fight, he rallied his army, led them to victory, and +instantly afterwards sank exhausted and expired. + +It is will,--force of purpose,--that enables a man to do or be +whatever he sets his mind on being or doing. A holy man was +accustomed to say, "Whatever you wish, that you are: for such is +the force of our will, joined to the Divine, that whatever we wish +to be, seriously, and with a true intention, that we become. No +one ardently wishes to be submissive, patient, modest, or liberal, +who does not become what he wishes." The story is told of a +working carpenter, who was observed one day planing a magistrate's +bench which he was repairing, with more than usual carefulness; and +when asked the reason, he replied, "Because I wish to make it easy +against the time when I come to sit upon it myself." And +singularly enough, the man actually lived to sit upon that very +bench as a magistrate. + +Whatever theoretical conclusions logicians may have formed as to +the freedom of the will, each individual feels that practically he +is free to choose between good and evil--that he is not as a mere +straw thrown upon the water to mark the direction of the current, +but that he has within him the power of a strong swimmer, and is +capable of striking out for himself, of buffeting with the waves, +and directing to a great extent his own independent course. There +is no absolute constraint upon our volitions, and we feel and know +that we are not bound, as by a spell, with reference to our +actions. It would paralyze all desire of excellence were we to +think otherwise. The entire business and conduct of life, with its +domestic rules, its social arrangements, and its public +institutions, proceed upon the practical conviction that the will +is free. Without this where would be responsibility?--and what the +advantage of teaching, advising, preaching, reproof, and +correction? What were the use of laws, were it not the universal +belief, as it is the universal fact, that men obey them or not, +very much as they individually determine? In every moment of our +life, conscience is proclaiming that our will is free. It is the +only thing that is wholly ours, and it rests solely with ourselves +individually, whether we give it the right or the wrong direction. +Our habits or our temptations are not our masters, but we of them. +Even in yielding, conscience tells us we might resist; and that +were we determined to master them, there would not be required for +that purpose a stronger resolution than we know ourselves to be +capable of exercising. + +"You are now at the age," said Lamennais once, addressing a gay +youth, "at which a decision must be formed by you; a little later, +and you may have to groan within the tomb which you yourself have +dug, without the power of rolling away the stone. That which the +easiest becomes a habit in us is the will. Learn then to will +strongly and decisively; thus fix your floating life, and leave it +no longer to be carried hither and thither, like a withered leaf, +by every wind that blows." + +Buxton held the conviction that a young man might be very much what +he pleased, provided he formed a strong resolution and held to it. +Writing to one of his sons, he said to him, "You are now at that +period of life, in which you must make a turn to the right or the +left. You must now give proofs of principle, determination, and +strength of mind; or you must sink into idleness, and acquire the +habits and character of a desultory, ineffective young man; and if +once you fall to that point, you will find it no easy matter to +rise again. I am sure that a young man may be very much what he +pleases. In my own case it was so. . . . Much of my happiness, and +all my prosperity in life, have resulted from the change I made at +your age. If you seriously resolve to be energetic and +industrious, depend upon it that you will for your whole life have +reason to rejoice that you were wise enough to form and to act upon +that determination." As will, considered without regard to +direction, is simply constancy, firmness, perseverance, it will be +obvious that everything depends upon right direction and motives. +Directed towards the enjoyment of the senses, the strong will may +be a demon, and the intellect merely its debased slave; but +directed towards good, the strong will is a king, and the intellect +the minister of man's highest well-being. + +"Where there is a will there is a way," is an old and true saying. +He who resolves upon doing a thing, by that very resolution often +scales the barriers to it, and secures its achievement. To think +we are able, is almost to be so--to determine upon attainment is +frequently attainment itself. Thus, earnest resolution has often +seemed to have about it almost a savour of omnipotence. The +strength of Suwarrow's character lay in his power of willing, and, +like most resolute persons, he preached it up as a system. "You +can only half will," he would say to people who failed. Like +Richelieu and Napoleon, he would have the word "impossible" +banished from the dictionary. "I don't know," "I can't," and +"impossible," were words which he detested above all others. +"Learn! Do! Try!" he would exclaim. His biographer has said of +him, that he furnished a remarkable illustration of what may be +effected by the energetic development and exercise of faculties, +the germs of which at least are in every human heart. + +One of Napoleon's favourite maxims was, "The truest wisdom is a +resolute determination." His life, beyond most others, vividly +showed what a powerful and unscrupulous will could accomplish. He +threw his whole force of body and mind direct upon his work. +Imbecile rulers and the nations they governed went down before him +in succession. He was told that the Alps stood in the way of his +armies--"There shall be no Alps," he said, and the road across the +Simplon was constructed, through a district formerly almost +inaccessible. "Impossible," said he, "is a word only to be found +in the dictionary of fools." He was a man who toiled terribly; +sometimes employing and exhausting four secretaries at a time. He +spared no one, not even himself. His influence inspired other men, +and put a new life into them. "I made my generals out of mud," he +said. But all was of no avail; for Napoleon's intense selfishness +was his ruin, and the ruin of France, which he left a prey to +anarchy. His life taught the lesson that power, however +energetically wielded, without beneficence, is fatal to its +possessor and its subjects; and that knowledge, or knowingness, +without goodness, is but the incarnate principle of Evil. + +Our own Wellington was a far greater man. Not less resolute, firm, +and persistent, but more self-denying, conscientious, and truly +patriotic. Napoleon's aim was "Glory;" Wellington's watchword, +like Nelson's, was "Duty." The former word, it is said, does not +once occur in his despatches; the latter often, but never +accompanied by any high-sounding professions. The greatest +difficulties could neither embarrass nor intimidate Wellington; his +energy invariably rising in proportion to the obstacles to be +surmounted. The patience, the firmness, the resolution, with which +he bore through the maddening vexations and gigantic difficulties +of the Peninsular campaigns, is, perhaps, one of the sublimest +things to be found in history. In Spain, Wellington not only +exhibited the genius of the general, but the comprehensive wisdom +of the statesman. Though his natural temper was irritable in the +extreme, his high sense of duty enabled him to restrain it; and to +those about him his patience seemed absolutely inexhaustible. His +great character stands untarnished by ambition, by avarice, or any +low passion. Though a man of powerful individuality, he yet +displayed a great variety of endowment. The equal of Napoleon in +generalship, he was as prompt, vigorous, and daring as Clive; as +wise a statesman as Cromwell; and as pure and high-minded as +Washington. The great Wellington left behind him an enduring +reputation, founded on toilsome campaigns won by skilful +combination, by fortitude which nothing could exhaust, by sublime +daring, and perhaps by still sublimer patience. + +Energy usually displays itself in promptitude and decision. When +Ledyard the traveller was asked by the African Association when he +would be ready to set out for Africa, he immediately answered, "To- +morrow morning." Blucher's promptitude obtained for him the +cognomen of "Marshal Forwards" throughout the Prussian army. When +John Jervis, afterwards Earl St. Vincent, was asked when he would +be ready to join his ship, he replied, "Directly." And when Sir +Colin Campbell, appointed to the command of the Indian army, was +asked when he could set out, his answer was, "To-morrow,"--an +earnest of his subsequent success. For it is rapid decision, and a +similar promptitude in action, such as taking instant advantage of +an enemy's mistakes, that so often wins battles. "At Arcola," said +Napoleon, "I won the battle with twenty-five horsemen. I seized a +moment of lassitude, gave every man a trumpet, and gained the day +with this handful. Two armies are two bodies which meet and +endeavour to frighten each other: a moment of panic occurs, and +THAT MOMENT must be turned to advantage." "Every moment lost," +said he at another time, "gives an opportunity for misfortune;" and +he declared that he beat the Austrians because they never knew the +value of time: while they dawdled, he overthrew them. + +India has, during the last century, been a great field for the +display of British energy. From Clive to Havelock and Clyde there +is a long and honourable roll of distinguished names in Indian +legislation and warfare,--such as Wellesley, Metcalfe, Outram, +Edwardes, and the Lawrences. Another great but sullied name is +that of Warren Hastings--a man of dauntless will and indefatigable +industry. His family was ancient and illustrious; but their +vicissitudes of fortune and ill-requited loyalty in the cause of +the Stuarts, brought them to poverty, and the family estate at +Daylesford, of which they had been lords of the manor for hundreds +of years, at length passed from their hands. The last Hastings of +Daylesford had, however, presented the parish living to his second +son; and it was in his house, many years later, that Warren +Hastings, his grandson, was born. The boy learnt his letters at +the village school, on the same bench with the children of the +peasantry. He played in the fields which his fathers had owned; +and what the loyal and brave Hastings of Daylesford HAD been, was +ever in the boy's thoughts. His young ambition was fired, and it +is said that one summer's day, when only seven years old, as he +laid him down on the bank of the stream which flowed through the +domain, he formed in his mind the resolution that he would yet +recover possession of the family lands. It was the romantic vision +of a boy; yet he lived to realize it. The dream became a passion, +rooted in his very life; and he pursued his determination through +youth up to manhood, with that calm but indomitable force of will +which was the most striking peculiarity of his character. The +orphan boy became one of the most powerful men of his time; he +retrieved the fortunes of his line; bought back the old estate, and +rebuilt the family mansion. "When, under a tropical sun," says +Macaulay, "he ruled fifty millions of Asiatics, his hopes, amidst +all the cares of war, finance, and legislation, still pointed to +Daylesford. And when his long public life, so singularly chequered +with good and evil, with glory and obloquy, had at length closed +for ever, it was to Daylesford that he retired to die." + +Sir Charles Napier was another Indian leader of extraordinary +courage and determination. He once said of the difficulties with +which he was surrounded in one of his campaigns, "They only make my +feet go deeper into the ground." His battle of Meeanee was one of +the most extraordinary feats in history. With 2000 men, of whom +only 400 were Europeans, he encountered an army of 35,000 hardy and +well-armed Beloochees. It was an act, apparently, of the most +daring temerity, but the general had faith in himself and in his +men. He charged the Belooch centre up a high bank which formed +their rampart in front, and for three mortal hours the battle +raged. Each man of that small force, inspired by the chief, became +for the time a hero. The Beloochees, though twenty to one, were +driven back, but with their faces to the foe. It is this sort of +pluck, tenacity, and determined perseverance which wins soldiers' +battles, and, indeed, every battle. It is the one neck nearer that +wins the race and shows the blood; it is the one march more that +wins the campaign; the five minutes' more persistent courage that +wins the fight. Though your force be less than another's, you +equal and outmaster your opponent if you continue it longer and +concentrate it more. The reply of the Spartan father, who said to +his son, when complaining that his sword was too short, "Add a step +to it," is applicable to everything in life. + +Napier took the right method of inspiring his men with his own +heroic spirit. He worked as hard as any private in the ranks. +"The great art of commanding," he said, "is to take a fair share of +the work. The man who leads an army cannot succeed unless his +whole mind is thrown into his work. The more trouble, the more +labour must be given; the more danger, the more pluck must be +shown, till all is overpowered." A young officer who accompanied +him in his campaign in the Cutchee Hills, once said, "When I see +that old man incessantly on his horse, how can I be idle who am +young and strong? I would go into a loaded cannon's mouth if he +ordered me." This remark, when repeated to Napier, he said was +ample reward for his toils. The anecdote of his interview with the +Indian juggler strikingly illustrates his cool courage as well as +his remarkable simplicity and honesty of character. On one +occasion, after the Indian battles, a famous juggler visited the +camp and performed his feats before the General, his family, and +staff. Among other performances, this man cut in two with a stroke +of his sword a lime or lemon placed in the hand of his assistant. +Napier thought there was some collusion between the juggler and his +retainer. To divide by a sweep of the sword on a man's hand so +small an object without touching the flesh he believed to be +impossible, though a similar incident is related by Scott in his +romance of the 'Talisman.' To determine the point, the General +offered his own hand for the experiment, and he stretched out his +right arm. The juggler looked attentively at the hand, and said he +would not make the trial. "I thought I would find you out!" +exclaimed Napier. "But stop," added the other, "let me see your +left hand." The left hand was submitted, and the man then said +firmly, "If you will hold your arm steady I will perform the feat." +"But why the left hand and not the right?" "Because the right hand +is hollow in the centre, and there is a risk of cutting off the +thumb; the left is high, and the danger will be less." Napier was +startled. "I got frightened," he said; "I saw it was an actual +feat of delicate swordsmanship, and if I had not abused the man as +I did before my staff, and challenged him to the trial, I honestly +acknowledge I would have retired from the encounter. However, I +put the lime on my hand, and held out my arm steadily. The juggler +balanced himself, and, with a swift stroke cut the lime in two +pieces. I felt the edge of the sword on my hand as if a cold +thread had been drawn across it. So much (he added) for the brave +swordsmen of India, whom our fine fellows defeated at Meeanee." + +The recent terrible struggle in India has served to bring out, +perhaps more prominently than any previous event in our history, +the determined energy and self-reliance of the national character. +Although English officialism may often drift stupidly into gigantic +blunders, the men of the nation generally contrive to work their +way out of them with a heroism almost approaching the sublime. In +May, 1857, when the revolt burst upon India like a thunder-clap, +the British forces had been allowed to dwindle to their extreme +minimum, and were scattered over a wide extent of country, many of +them in remote cantonments. The Bengal regiments, one after +another, rose against their officers, broke away, and rushed to +Delhi. Province after province was lapped in mutiny and rebellion; +and the cry for help rose from east to west. Everywhere the +English stood at bay in small detachments, beleaguered and +surrounded, apparently incapable of resistance. Their discomfiture +seemed so complete, and the utter ruin of the British cause in +India so certain, that it might be said of them then, as it had +been said before, "These English never know when they are beaten." +According to rule, they ought then and there to have succumbed to +inevitable fate. + +While the issue of the mutiny still appeared uncertain, Holkar, one +of the native princes, consulted his astrologer for information. +The reply was, "If all the Europeans save one are slain, that one +will remain to fight and reconquer." In their very darkest moment- +-even where, as at Lucknow, a mere handful of British soldiers, +civilians, and women, held out amidst a city and province in arms +against them--there was no word of despair, no thought of +surrender. Though cut off from all communication with their +friends for months, and not knowing whether India was lost or held, +they never ceased to have perfect faith in the courage and +devotedness of their countrymen. They knew that while a body of +men of English race held together in India, they would not be left +unheeded to perish. They never dreamt of any other issue but +retrieval of their misfortune and ultimate triumph; and if the +worst came to the worst, they could but fall at their post, and die +in the performance of their duty. Need we remind the reader of the +names of Havelock, Inglis, Neill, and Outram--men of truly heroic +mould--of each of whom it might with truth be said that he had the +heart of a chevalier, the soul of a believer, and the temperament +of a martyr. Montalembert has said of them that "they do honour to +the human race." But throughout that terrible trial almost all +proved equally great--women, civilians and soldiers--from the +general down through all grades to the private and bugleman. The +men were not picked: they belonged to the same ordinary people +whom we daily meet at home--in the streets, in workshops, in the +fields, at clubs; yet when sudden disaster fell upon them, each and +all displayed a wealth of personal resources and energy, and became +as it were individually heroic. "Not one of them," says +Montalembert, "shrank or trembled--all, military and civilians, +young and old, generals and soldiers, resisted, fought, and +perished with a coolness and intrepidity which never faltered. It +is in this circumstance that shines out the immense value of public +education, which invites the Englishman from his youth to make use +of his strength and his liberty, to associate, resist, fear +nothing, to be astonished at nothing, and to save himself, by his +own sole exertions, from every sore strait in life." + +It has been said that Delhi was taken and India saved by the +personal character of Sir John Lawrence. The very name of +"Lawrence" represented power in the North-West Provinces. His +standard of duty, zeal, and personal effort, was of the highest; +and every man who served under him seemed to be inspired by his +spirit. It was declared of him that his character alone was worth +an army. The same might be said of his brother Sir Henry, who +organised the Punjaub force that took so prominent a part in the +capture of Delhi. Both brothers inspired those who were about them +with perfect love and confidence. Both possessed that quality of +tenderness, which is one of the true elements of the heroic +character. Both lived amongst the people, and powerfully +influenced them for good. Above all as Col. Edwardes says, "they +drew models on young fellows' minds, which they went forth and +copied in their several administrations: they sketched a FAITH, +and begot a SCHOOL, which are both living things at this day." Sir +John Lawrence had by his side such men as Montgomery, Nicholson, +Cotton, and Edwardes, as prompt, decisive, and high-souled as +himself. John Nicholson was one of the finest, manliest, and +noblest of men--"every inch a hakim," the natives said of him--"a +tower of strength," as he was characterised by Lord Dalhousie. In +whatever capacity he acted he was great, because he acted with his +whole strength and soul. A brotherhood of fakeers--borne away by +their enthusiastic admiration of the man--even began the worship of +Nikkil Seyn: he had some of them punished for their folly, but +they continued their worship nevertheless. Of his sustained energy +and persistency an illustration may be cited in his pursuit of the +55th Sepoy mutineers, when he was in the saddle for twenty +consecutive hours, and travelled more than seventy miles. When the +enemy set up their standard at Delhi, Lawrence and Montgomery, +relying on the support of the people of the Punjaub, and compelling +their admiration and confidence, strained every nerve to keep their +own province in perfect order, whilst they hurled every available +soldier, European and Sikh, against that city. Sir John wrote to +the commander-in-chief to "hang on to the rebels' noses before +Delhi," while the troops pressed on by forced marches under +Nicholson, "the tramp of whose war-horse might be heard miles off," +as was afterwards said of him by a rough Sikh who wept over his +grave. + +The siege and storming of Delhi was the most illustrious event +which occurred in the course of that gigantic struggle, although +the leaguer of Lucknow, during which the merest skeleton of a +British regiment--the 32nd--held out, under the heroic Inglis, for +six months against two hundred thousand armed enemies, has perhaps +excited more intense interest. At Delhi, too, the British were +really the besieged, though ostensibly the besiegers; they were a +mere handful of men "in the open"--not more than 3,700 bayonets, +European and native--and they were assailed from day to day by an +army of rebels numbering at one time as many as 75,000 men, trained +to European discipline by English officers, and supplied with all +but exhaustless munitions of war. The heroic little band sat down +before the city under the burning rays of a tropical sun. Death, +wounds, and fever failed to turn them from their purpose. Thirty +times they were attacked by overwhelming numbers, and thirty times +did they drive back the enemy behind their defences. As Captain +Hodson--himself one of the bravest there--has said, "I venture to +aver that no other nation in the world would have remained here, or +avoided defeat if they had attempted to do so." Never for an +instant did these heroes falter at their work; with sublime +endurance they held on, fought on, and never relaxed until, dashing +through the "imminent deadly breach," the place was won, and the +British flag was again unfurled on the walls of Delhi. All were +great--privates, officers, and generals. Common soldiers who had +been inured to a life of hardship, and young officers who had been +nursed in luxurious homes, alike proved their manhood, and emerged +from that terrible trial with equal honour. The native strength +and soundness of the English race, and of manly English training +and discipline, were never more powerfully exhibited; and it was +there emphatically proved that the Men of England are, after all, +its greatest products. A terrible price was paid for this great +chapter in our history, but if those who survive, and those who +come after, profit by the lesson and example, it may not have been +purchased at too great a cost. + +But not less energy and courage have been displayed in India and +the East by men of various nations, in other lines of action more +peaceful and beneficent than that of war. And while the heroes of +the sword are remembered, the heroes of the gospel ought not to be +forgotten. From Xavier to Martyn and Williams, there has been a +succession of illustrious missionary labourers, working in a spirit +of sublime self-sacrifice, without any thought of worldly honour, +inspired solely by the hope of seeking out and rescuing the lost +and fallen of their race. Borne up by invincible courage and +never-failing patience, these men have endured privations, braved +dangers, walked through pestilence, and borne all toils, fatigues, +and sufferings, yet held on their way rejoicing, glorying even in +martyrdom itself. Of these one of the first and most illustrious +was Francis Xavier. Born of noble lineage, and with pleasure, +power, and honour within his reach, he proved by his life that +there are higher objects in the world than rank, and nobler +aspirations than the accumulation of wealth. He was a true +gentleman in manners and sentiment; brave, honourable, generous; +easily led, yet capable of leading; easily persuaded, yet himself +persuasive; a most patient, resolute and energetic man. At the age +of twenty-two he was earning his living as a public teacher of +philosophy at the University of Paris. There Xavier became the +intimate friend and associate of Loyola, and shortly afterwards he +conducted the pilgrimage of the first little band of proselytes to +Rome. + +When John III. of Portugal resolved to plant Christianity in the +Indian territories subject to his influence, Bobadilla was first +selected as his missionary; but being disabled by illness, it was +found necessary to make another selection, and Xavier was chosen. +Repairing his tattered cassock, and with no other baggage than his +breviary, he at once started for Lisbon and embarked for the East. +The ship in which he set sail for Goa had the Governor on board, +with a reinforcement of a thousand men for the garrison of the +place. Though a cabin was placed at his disposal, Xavier slept on +deck throughout the voyage with his head on a coil of ropes, +messing with the sailors. By ministering to their wants, inventing +innocent sports for their amusement, and attending them in their +sickness, he wholly won their hearts, and they regarded him with +veneration. + +Arrived at Goa, Xavier was shocked at the depravity of the people, +settlers as well as natives; for the former had imported the vices +without the restraints of civilization, and the latter had only +been too apt to imitate their bad example. Passing along the +streets of the city, sounding his handbell as he went, he implored +the people to send him their children to be instructed. He shortly +succeeded in collecting a large number of scholars, whom he +carefully taught day by day, at the same time visiting the sick, +the lepers, and the wretched of all classes, with the object of +assuaging their miseries, and bringing them to the Truth. No cry +of human suffering which reached him was disregarded. Hearing of +the degradation and misery of the pearl fishers of Manaar, he set +out to visit them, and his bell again rang out the invitation of +mercy. He baptized and he taught, but the latter he could only do +through interpreters. His most eloquent teaching was his +ministration to the wants and the sufferings of the wretched. + +On he went, his hand-bell sounding along the coast of Comorin, +among the towns and villages, the temples and the bazaars, +summoning the natives to gather about him and be instructed. He +had translations made of the Catechism, the Apostles' Creed, the +Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, and some of the devotional offices +of the Church. Committing these to memory in their own tongue he +recited them to the children, until they had them by heart; after +which he sent them forth to teach the words to their parents and +neighbours. At Cape Comorin, he appointed thirty teachers, who +under himself presided over thirty Christian Churches, though the +Churches were but humble, in most cases consisting only of a +cottage surmounted by a cross. Thence he passed to Travancore, +sounding his way from village to village, baptizing until his hands +dropped with weariness, and repeating his formulas until his voice +became almost inaudible. According to his own account, the success +of his mission surpassed his highest expectations. His pure, +earnest, and beautiful life, and the irresistible eloquence of his +deeds, made converts wherever he went; and by sheer force of +sympathy, those who saw him and listened to him insensibly caught a +portion of his ardour. + +Burdened with the thought that "the harvest is great and the +labourers are few," Xavier next sailed to Malacca and Japan, where +he found himself amongst entirely new races speaking other tongues. +The most that he could do here was to weep and pray, to smooth the +pillow and watch by the sick-bed, sometimes soaking the sleeve of +his surplice in water, from which to squeeze out a few drops and +baptize the dying. Hoping all things, and fearing nothing, this +valiant soldier of the truth was borne onward throughout by faith +and energy. "Whatever form of death or torture," said he, "awaits +me, I am ready to suffer it ten thousand times for the salvation of +a single soul." He battled with hunger, thirst, privations and +dangers of all kinds, still pursuing his mission of love, unresting +and unwearying. At length, after eleven years' labour, this great +good man, while striving to find a way into China, was stricken +with fever in the Island of Sanchian, and there received his crown +of glory. A hero of nobler mould, more pure, self-denying, and +courageous, has probably never trod this earth. + +Other missionaries have followed Xavier in the same field of work, +such as Schwartz, Carey, and Marshman in India; Gutzlaff and +Morrison in China; Williams in the South Seas; Campbell, Moffatt +and Livingstone in Africa. John Williams, the martyr of Erromanga, +was originally apprenticed to a furnishing ironmonger. Though +considered a dull boy, he was handy at his trade, in which he +acquired so much skill that his master usually entrusted him with +any blacksmiths work that required the exercise of more than +ordinary care. He was also fond of bell-hanging and other +employments which took him away from the shop. A casual sermon +which he heard gave his mind a serious bias, and he became a +Sunday-school teacher. The cause of missions having been brought +under his notice at some of his society's meetings, he determined +to devote himself to this work. His services were accepted by the +London Missionary Society; and his master allowed him to leave the +ironmonger's shop before the expiry of his indentures. The islands +of the Pacific Ocean were the principal scene of his labours--more +particularly Huahine in Tahiti, Raiatea, and Rarotonga. Like the +Apostles he worked with his hands,--at blacksmith work, gardening, +shipbuilding; and he endeavoured to teach the islanders the art of +civilised life, at the same time that he instructed them in the +truths of religion. It was in the course of his indefatigable +labours that he was massacred by savages on the shore of Erromanga- +-none worthier than he to wear the martyr's crown. + +The career of Dr. Livingstone is one of the most interesting of +all. He has told the story of his life in that modest and +unassuming manner which is so characteristic of the man himself. +His ancestors were poor but honest Highlanders, and it is related +of one of them, renowned in his district for wisdom and prudence, +that when on his death-bed he called his children round him and +left them these words, the only legacy he had to bequeath--"In my +life-time," said he, "I have searched most carefully through all +the traditions I could find of our family, and I never could +discover that there was a dishonest man among our forefathers: if, +therefore, any of you or any of your children should take to +dishonest ways, it will not be because it runs in our blood; it +does not belong to you: I leave this precept with you--Be honest." +At the age of ten Livingstone was sent to work in a cotton factory +near Glasgow as a "piecer." With part of his first week's wages he +bought a Latin grammar, and began to learn that language, pursuing +the study for years at a night school. He would sit up conning his +lessons till twelve or later, when not sent to bed by his mother, +for he had to be up and at work in the factory every morning by +six. In this way he plodded through Virgil and Horace, also +reading extensively all books, excepting novels, that came in his +way, but more especially scientific works and books of travels. He +occupied his spare hours, which were but few, in the pursuit of +botany, scouring the neighbourhood to collect plants. He even +carried on his reading amidst the roar of the factory machinery, so +placing the book upon the spinning jenny which he worked that he +could catch sentence after sentence as he passed it. In this way +the persevering youth acquired much useful knowledge; and as he +grew older, the desire possessed him of becoming a missionary to +the heathen. With this object he set himself to obtain a medical +education, in order the better to be qualified for the work. He +accordingly economised his earnings, and saved as much money as +enabled him to support himself while attending the Medical and +Greek classes, as well as the Divinity Lectures, at Glasgow, for +several winters, working as a cotton spinner during the remainder +of each year. He thus supported himself, during his college +career, entirely by his own earnings as a factory workman, never +having received a farthing of help from any other source. "Looking +back now," he honestly says, "at that life of toil, I cannot but +feel thankful that it formed such a material part of my early +education; and, were it possible, I should like to begin life over +again in the same lowly style, and to pass through the same hardy +training." At length he finished his medical curriculum, wrote his +Latin thesis, passed his examinations, and was admitted a +licentiate of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons. At first he +thought of going to China, but the war then waging with that +country prevented his following out the idea; and having offered +his services to the London Missionary Society, he was by them sent +out to Africa, which he reached in 1840. He had intended to +proceed to China by his own efforts; and he says the only pang he +had in going to Africa at the charge of the London Missionary +Society was, because "it was not quite agreeable to one accustomed +to work his own way to become, in a manner, dependent upon others." +Arrived in Africa he set to work with great zeal. He could not +brook the idea of merely entering upon the labours of others, but +cut out a large sphere of independent work, preparing himself for +it by undertaking manual labour in building and other handicraft +employment, in addition to teaching, which, he says, "made me +generally as much exhausted and unfit for study in the evenings as +ever I had been when a cotton-spinner." Whilst labouring amongst +the Bechuanas, he dug canals, built houses, cultivated fields, +reared cattle, and taught the natives to work as well as worship. +When he first started with a party of them on foot upon a long +journey, he overheard their observations upon his appearance and +powers--"He is not strong," said they; "he is quite slim, and only +appears stout because he puts himself into those bags (trowsers): +he will soon knock up." This caused the missionary's Highland +blood to rise, and made him despise the fatigue of keeping them all +at the top of their speed for days together, until he heard them +expressing proper opinions of his pedestrian powers. What he did +in Africa, and how he worked, may be learnt from his own +'Missionary Travels,' one of the most fascinating books of its kind +that has ever been given to the public. One of his last known acts +is thoroughly characteristic of the man. The 'Birkenhead' steam +launch, which he took out with him to Africa, having proved a +failure, he sent home orders for the construction of another vessel +at an estimated cost of 2000l. This sum he proposed to defray out +of the means which he had set aside for his children arising from +the profits of his books of travels. "The children must make it up +themselves," was in effect his expression in sending home the order +for the appropriation of the money. + +The career of John Howard was throughout a striking illustration of +the same power of patient purpose. His sublime life proved that +even physical weakness could remove mountains in the pursuit of an +end recommended by duty. The idea of ameliorating the condition of +prisoners engrossed his whole thoughts and possessed him like a +passion; and no toil, nor danger, nor bodily suffering could turn +him from that great object of his life. Though a man of no genius +and but moderate talent, his heart was pure and his will was +strong. Even in his own time he achieved a remarkable degree of +success; and his influence did not die with him, for it has +continued powerfully to affect not only the legislation of England, +but of all civilised nations, down to the present hour. + +Jonas Hanway was another of the many patient and persevering men +who have made England what it is--content simply to do with energy +the work they have been appointed to do, and go to their rest +thankfully when it is done - + + +"Leaving no memorial but a world +Made better by their lives." + + +He was born in 1712, at Portsmouth, where his father, a storekeeper +in the dockyard, being killed by an accident, he was left an orphan +at an early age. His mother removed with her children to London, +where she had them put to school, and struggled hard to bring them +up respectably. At seventeen Jonas was sent to Lisbon to be +apprenticed to a merchant, where his close attention to business, +his punctuality, and his strict honour and integrity, gained for +him the respect and esteem of all who knew him. Returning to +London in 1743, he accepted the offer of a partnership in an +English mercantile house at St. Petersburg engaged in the Caspian +trade, then in its infancy. Hanway went to Russia for the purpose +of extending the business; and shortly after his arrival at the +capital he set out for Persia, with a caravan of English bales of +cloth making twenty carriage loads. At Astracan he sailed for +Astrabad, on the south-eastern shore of the Caspian; but he had +scarcely landed his bales, when an insurrection broke out, his +goods were seized, and though he afterwards recovered the principal +part of them, the fruits of his enterprise were in a great measure +lost. A plot was set on foot to seize himself and his party; so he +took to sea and, after encountering great perils, reached Ghilan in +safety. His escape on this occasion gave him the first idea of the +words which he afterwards adopted as the motto of his life--"NEVER +DESPAIR." He afterwards resided in St. Petersburg for five years, +carrying on a prosperous business. But a relative having left him +some property, and his own means being considerable, he left +Russia, and arrived in his native country in 1755. His object in +returning to England was, as he himself expressed it, "to consult +his own health (which was extremely delicate), and do as much good +to himself and others as he was able." The rest of his life was +spent in deeds of active benevolence and usefulness to his fellow +men. He lived in a quiet style, in order that he might employ a +larger share of his income in works of benevolence. One of the +first public improvements to which he devoted himself was that of +the highways of the metropolis, in which he succeeded to a large +extent. The rumour of a French invasion being prevalent in 1755, +Mr. Hanway turned his attention to the best mode of keeping up the +supply of seamen. He summoned a meeting of merchants and +shipowners at the Royal Exchange, and there proposed to them to +form themselves into a society for fitting out landsmen volunteers +and boys, to serve on board the king's ships. The proposal was +received with enthusiasm: a society was formed, and officers were +appointed, Mr. Hanway directing its entire operations. The result +was the establishment in 1756 of The Marine Society, an institution +which has proved of much national advantage, and is to this day of +great and substantial utility. Within six years from its +formation, 5451 boys and 4787 landsmen volunteers had been trained +and fitted out by the society and added to the navy, and to this +day it is in active operation, about 600 poor boys, after a careful +education, being annually apprenticed as sailors, principally in +the merchant service. + +Mr. Hanway devoted the other portions of his spare time to +improving or establishing important public institutions in the +metropolis. From an early period he took an active interest in the +Foundling Hospital, which had been started by Thomas Coram many +years before, but which, by encouraging parents to abandon their +children to the charge of a charity, was threatening to do more +harm than good. He determined to take steps to stem the evil, +entering upon the work in the face of the fashionable philanthropy +of the time; but by holding to his purpose he eventually succeeded +in bringing the charity back to its proper objects; and time and +experience have proved that he was right. The Magdalen Hospital +was also established in a great measure through Mr. Hanway's +exertions. But his most laborious and persevering efforts were in +behalf of the infant parish poor. The misery and neglect amidst +which the children of the parish poor then grew up, and the +mortality which prevailed amongst them, were frightful; but there +was no fashionable movement on foot to abate the suffering, as in +the case of the foundlings. So Jonas Hanway summoned his energies +to the task. Alone and unassisted he first ascertained by personal +inquiry the extent of the evil. He explored the dwellings of the +poorest classes in London, and visited the poorhouse sick wards, by +which he ascertained the management in detail of every workhouse in +and near the metropolis. He next made a journey into France and +through Holland, visiting the houses for the reception of the poor, +and noting whatever he thought might be adopted at home with +advantage. He was thus employed for five years; and on his return +to England he published the results of his observations. The +consequence was that many of the workhouses were reformed and +improved. In 1761 he obtained an Act obliging every London parish +to keep an annual register of all the infants received, discharged, +and dead; and he took care that the Act should work, for he himself +superintended its working with indefatigable watchfulness. He went +about from workhouse to workhouse in the morning, and from one +member of parliament to another in the afternoon, for day after +day, and for year after year, enduring every rebuff, answering +every objection, and accommodating himself to every humour. At +length, after a perseverance hardly to be equalled, and after +nearly ten years' labour, he obtained another Act, at his sole +expense (7 Geo. III. c. 39), directing that all parish infants +belonging to the parishes within the bills of mortality should not +be nursed in the workhouses, but be sent to nurse a certain number +of miles out of town, until they were six years old, under the care +of guardians to be elected triennially. The poor people called +this "the Act for keeping children alive;" and the registers for +the years which followed its passing, as compared with those which +preceded it, showed that thousands of lives had been preserved +through the judicious interference of this good and sensible man. + +Wherever a philanthropic work was to be done in London, be sure +that Jonas Hanway's hand was in it. One of the first Acts for the +protection of chimney-sweepers' boys was obtained through his +influence. A destructive fire at Montreal, and another at +Bridgetown, Barbadoes, afforded him the opportunity for raising a +timely subscription for the relief of the sufferers. His name +appeared in every list, and his disinterestedness and sincerity +were universally recognized. But he was not suffered to waste his +little fortune entirely in the service of others. Five leading +citizens of London, headed by Mr. Hoare, the banker, without Mr. +Hanway's knowledge, waited on Lord Bute, then prime minister, in a +body, and in the names of their fellow-citizens requested that some +notice might be taken of this good man's disinterested services to +his country. The result was, his appointment shortly after, as one +of the commissioners for victualling the navy. + +Towards the close of his life Mr. Hanway's health became very +feeble, and although he found it necessary to resign his office at +the Victualling Board, he could not be idle; but laboured at the +establishment of Sunday Schools,--a movement then in its infancy,-- +or in relieving poor blacks, many of whom wandered destitute about +the streets of the metropolis,--or, in alleviating the sufferings +of some neglected and destitute class of society. Notwithstanding +his familiarity with misery in all its shapes, he was one of the +most cheerful of beings; and, but for his cheerfulness he could +never, with so delicate a frame, have got through so vast an amount +of self-imposed work. He dreaded nothing so much as inactivity. +Though fragile, he was bold and indefatigable; and his moral +courage was of the first order. It may be regarded as a trivial +matter to mention that he was the first who ventured to walk the +streets of London with an umbrella over his head. But let any +modern London merchant venture to walk along Cornhill in a peaked +Chinese hat, and he will find it takes some degree of moral courage +to persevere in it. After carrying an umbrella for thirty years, +Mr. Hanway saw the article at length come into general use. + +Hanway was a man of strict honour, truthfulness, and integrity; and +every word he said might be relied upon. He had so great a +respect, amounting almost to a reverence, for the character of the +honest merchant, that it was the only subject upon which he was +ever seduced into a eulogium. He strictly practised what he +professed, and both as a merchant, and afterwards as a commissioner +for victualling the navy, his conduct was without stain. He would +not accept the slightest favour of any sort from a contractor; and +when any present was sent to him whilst at the Victualling Office, +he would politely return it, with the intimation that "he had made +it a rule not to accept anything from any person engaged with the +office." When he found his powers failing, he prepared for death +with as much cheerfulness as he would have prepared himself for a +journey into the country. He sent round and paid all his +tradesmen, took leave of his friends, arranged his affairs, had his +person neatly disposed of, and parted with life serenely and +peacefully in his 74th year. The property which he left did not +amount to two thousand pounds, and, as he had no relatives who +wanted it, he divided it amongst sundry orphans and poor persons +whom he had befriended during his lifetime. Such, in brief, was +the beautiful life of Jonas Hanway,--as honest, energetic, hard- +working, and true-hearted a man as ever lived. + +The life of Granville Sharp is another striking example of the same +power of individual energy--a power which was afterwards transfused +into the noble band of workers in the cause of Slavery Abolition, +prominent among whom were Clarkson, Wilberforce, Buxton, and +Brougham. But, giants though these men were in this cause, +Granville Sharp was the first, and perhaps the greatest of them +all, in point of perseverance, energy, and intrepidity. He began +life as apprentice to a linen-draper on Tower Hill; but, leaving +that business after his apprenticeship was out, he next entered as +a clerk in the Ordnance Office; and it was while engaged in that +humble occupation that he carried on in his spare hours the work of +Negro Emancipation. He was always, even when an apprentice, ready +to undertake any amount of volunteer labour where a useful purpose +was to be served. Thus, while learning the linen-drapery business, +a fellow apprentice who lodged in the same house, and was a +Unitarian, led him into frequent discussions on religious subjects. +The Unitarian youth insisted that Granville's Trinitarian +misconception of certain passages of Scripture arose from his want +of acquaintance with the Greek tongue; on which he immediately set +to work in his evening hours, and shortly acquired an intimate +knowledge of Greek. A similar controversy with another fellow- +apprentice, a Jew, as to the interpretation of the prophecies, led +him in like manner to undertake and overcome the difficulties of +Hebrew. + +But the circumstance which gave the bias and direction to the main +labours of his life originated in his generosity and benevolence. +His brother William, a surgeon in Mincing Lane, gave gratuitous +advice to the poor, and amongst the numerous applicants for relief +at his surgery was a poor African named Jonathan Strong. It +appeared that the negro had been brutally treated by his master, a +Barbadoes lawyer then in London, and became lame, almost blind, and +unable to work; on which his owner, regarding him as of no further +value as a chattel, cruelly turned him adrift into the streets to +starve. This poor man, a mass of disease, supported himself by +begging for a time, until he found his way to William Sharp, who +gave him some medicine, and shortly after got him admitted to St. +Bartholomew's hospital, where he was cured. On coming out of the +hospital, the two brothers supported the negro in order to keep him +off the streets, but they had not the least suspicion at the time +that any one had a claim upon his person. They even succeeded in +obtaining a situation for Strong with an apothecary, in whose +service he remained for two years; and it was while he was +attending his mistress behind a hackney coach, that his former +owner, the Barbadoes lawyer, recognized him, and determined to +recover possession of the slave, again rendered valuable by the +restoration of his health. The lawyer employed two of the Lord +Mayor's officers to apprehend Strong, and he was lodged in the +Compter, until he could be shipped off to the West Indies. The +negro, bethinking him in his captivity of the kind services which +Granville Sharp had rendered him in his great distress some years +before, despatched a letter to him requesting his help. Sharp had +forgotten the name of Strong, but he sent a messenger to make +inquiries, who returned saying that the keepers denied having any +such person in their charge. His suspicions were roused, and he +went forthwith to the prison, and insisted upon seeing Jonathan +Strong. He was admitted, and recognized the poor negro, now in +custody as a recaptured slave. Mr. Sharp charged the master of the +prison at his own peril not to deliver up Strong to any person +whatever, until he had been carried before the Lord Mayor, to whom +Sharp immediately went, and obtained a summons against those +persons who had seized and imprisoned Strong without a warrant. +The parties appeared before the Lord Mayor accordingly, and it +appeared from the proceedings that Strong's former master had +already sold him to a new one, who produced the bill of sale and +claimed the negro as his property. As no charge of offence was +made against Strong, and as the Lord Mayor was incompetent to deal +with the legal question of Strong's liberty or otherwise, he +discharged him, and the slave followed his benefactor out of court, +no one daring to touch him. The man's owner immediately gave Sharp +notice of an action to recover possession of his negro slave, of +whom he declared he had been robbed. + +About that time (1767), the personal liberty of the Englishman, +though cherished as a theory, was subject to grievous +infringements, and was almost daily violated. The impressment of +men for the sea service was constantly practised, and, besides the +press-gangs, there were regular bands of kidnappers employed in +London and all the large towns of the kingdom, to seize men for the +East India Company's service. And when the men were not wanted for +India, they were shipped off to the planters in the American +colonies. Negro slaves were openly advertised for sale in the +London and Liverpool newspapers. Rewards were offered for +recovering and securing fugitive slaves, and conveying them down to +certain specified ships in the river. + +The position of the reputed slave in England was undefined and +doubtful. The judgments which had been given in the courts of law +were fluctuating and various, resting on no settled principle. +Although it was a popular belief that no slave could breathe in +England, there were legal men of eminence who expressed a directly +contrary opinion. The lawyers to whom Mr. Sharp resorted for +advice, in defending himself in the action raised against him in +the case of Jonathan Strong, generally concurred in this view, and +he was further told by Jonathan Strong's owner, that the eminent +Lord Chief Justice Mansfield, and all the leading counsel, were +decidedly of opinion that the slave, by coming into England, did +not become free, but might legally be compelled to return again to +the plantations. Such information would have caused despair in a +mind less courageous and earnest than that of Granville Sharp; but +it only served to stimulate his resolution to fight the battle of +the negroes' freedom, at least in England. "Forsaken," he said, +"by my professional defenders, I was compelled, through the want of +regular legal assistance, to make a hopeless attempt at self- +defence, though I was totally unacquainted either with the practice +of the law or the foundations of it, having never opened a law book +(except the Bible) in my life, until that time, when I most +reluctantly undertook to search the indexes of a law library, which +my bookseller had lately purchased." + +The whole of his time during the day was occupied with the business +of the ordnance department, where he held the most laborious post +in the office; he was therefore under the necessity of conducting +his new studies late at night or early in the morning. He +confessed that he was himself becoming a sort of slave. Writing to +a clerical friend to excuse himself for delay in replying to a +letter, he said, "I profess myself entirely incapable of holding a +literary correspondence. What little time I have been able to save +from sleep at night, and early in the morning, has been necessarily +employed in the examination of some points of law, which admitted +of no delay, and yet required the most diligent researches and +examination in my study." + +Mr. Sharp gave up every leisure moment that he could command during +the next two years, to the close study of the laws of England +affecting personal liberty,--wading through an immense mass of dry +and repulsive literature, and making extracts of all the most +important Acts of Parliament, decisions of the courts, and opinions +of eminent lawyers, as he went along. In this tedious and +protracted inquiry he had no instructor, nor assistant, nor +adviser. He could not find a single lawyer whose opinion was +favourable to his undertaking. The results of his inquiries were, +however, as gratifying to himself, as they were surprising to the +gentlemen of the law. "God be thanked," he wrote, "there is +nothing in any English law or statute--at least that I am able to +find out--that can justify the enslaving of others." He had +planted his foot firm, and now he doubted nothing. He drew up the +result of his studies in a summary form; it was a plain, clear, and +manly statement, entitled, 'On the Injustice of Tolerating Slavery +in England;' and numerous copies, made by himself, were circulated +by him amongst the most eminent lawyers of the time. Strong's +owner, finding the sort of man he had to deal with, invented +various pretexts for deferring the suit against Sharp, and at +length offered a compromise, which was rejected. Granville went on +circulating his manuscript tract among the lawyers, until at length +those employed against Jonathan Strong were deterred from +proceeding further, and the result was, that the plaintiff was +compelled to pay treble costs for not bringing forward his action. +The tract was then printed in 1769. + +In the mean time other cases occurred of the kidnapping of negroes +in London, and their shipment to the West Indies for sale. +Wherever Sharp could lay hold of any such case, he at once took +proceedings to rescue the negro. Thus the wife of one Hylas, an +African, was seized, and despatched to Barbadoes; on which Sharp, +in the name of Hylas, instituted legal proceedings against the +aggressor, obtained a verdict with damages, and Hylas's wife was +brought back to England free. + +Another forcible capture of a negro, attended with great cruelty, +having occurred in 1770, he immediately set himself on the track of +the aggressors. An African, named Lewis, was seized one dark night +by two watermen employed by the person who claimed the negro as his +property, dragged into the water, hoisted into a boat, where he was +gagged, and his limbs were tied; and then rowing down river, they +put him on board a ship bound for Jamaica, where he was to be sold +for a slave upon his arrival in the island. The cries of the poor +negro had, however, attracted the attention of some neighbours; one +of whom proceeded direct to Mr. Granville Sharp, now known as the +negro's friend, and informed him of the outrage. Sharp immediately +got a warrant to bring back Lewis, and he proceeded to Gravesend, +but on arrival there the ship had sailed for the Downs. A writ of +Habeas Corpus was obtained, sent down to Spithead, and before the +ship could leave the shores of England the writ was served. The +slave was found chained to the main-mast bathed in tears, casting +mournful looks on the land from which he was about to be torn. He +was immediately liberated, brought back to London, and a warrant +was issued against the author of the outrage. The promptitude of +head, heart, and hand, displayed by Mr. Sharp in this transaction +could scarcely have been surpassed, and yet he accused himself of +slowness. The case was tried before Lord Mansfield--whose opinion, +it will be remembered, had already been expressed as decidedly +opposed to that entertained by Granville Sharp. The judge, +however, avoided bringing the question to an issue, or offering any +opinion on the legal question as to the slave's personal liberty or +otherwise, but discharged the negro because the defendant could +bring no evidence that Lewis was even nominally his property. + +The question of the personal liberty of the negro in England was +therefore still undecided; but in the mean time Mr. Sharp continued +steady in his benevolent course, and by his indefatigable exertions +and promptitude of action, many more were added to the list of the +rescued. At length the important case of James Somerset occurred; +a case which is said to have been selected, at the mutual desire of +Lord Mansfield and Mr. Sharp, in order to bring the great question +involved to a clear legal issue. Somerset had been brought to +England by his master, and left there. Afterwards his master +sought to apprehend him and send him off to Jamaica, for sale. Mr. +Sharp, as usual, at once took the negro's case in hand, and +employed counsel to defend him. Lord Mansfield intimated that the +case was of such general concern, that he should take the opinion +of all the judges upon it. Mr. Sharp now felt that he would have +to contend with all the force that could be brought against him, +but his resolution was in no wise shaken. Fortunately for him, in +this severe struggle, his exertions had already begun to tell: +increasing interest was taken in the question, and many eminent +legal gentlemen openly declared themselves to be upon his side. + +The cause of personal liberty, now at stake, was fairly tried +before Lord Mansfield, assisted by the three justices,--and tried +on the broad principle of the essential and constitutional right of +every man in England to the liberty of his person, unless forfeited +by the law. It is unnecessary here to enter into any account of +this great trial; the arguments extended to a great length, the +cause being carried over to another term,--when it was adjourned +and re-adjourned,--but at length judgment was given by Lord +Mansfield, in whose powerful mind so gradual a change had been +worked by the arguments of counsel, based mainly on Granville +Sharp's tract, that he now declared the court to be so clearly of +one opinion, that there was no necessity for referring the case to +the twelve judges. He then declared that the claim of slavery +never can be supported; that the power claimed never was in use in +England, nor acknowledged by the law; therefore the man James +Somerset must be discharged. By securing this judgment Granville +Sharp effectually abolished the Slave Trade until then carried on +openly in the streets of Liverpool and London. But he also firmly +established the glorious axiom, that as soon as any slave sets his +foot on English ground, that moment he becomes free; and there can +be no doubt that this great decision of Lord Mansfield was mainly +owing to Mr. Sharp's firm, resolute, and intrepid prosecution of +the cause from the beginning to the end. + +It is unnecessary further to follow the career of Granville Sharp. +He continued to labour indefatigably in all good works. He was +instrumental in founding the colony of Sierra Leone as an asylum +for rescued negroes. He laboured to ameliorate the condition of +the native Indians in the American colonies. He agitated the +enlargement and extension of the political rights of the English +people; and he endeavoured to effect the abolition of the +impressment of seamen. Granville held that the British seamen, as +well as the African negro, was entitled to the protection of the +law; and that the fact of his choosing a seafaring life did not in +any way cancel his rights and privileges as an Englishman--first +amongst which he ranked personal freedom. Mr. Sharp also laboured, +but ineffectually, to restore amity between England and her +colonies in America; and when the fratricidal war of the American +Revolution was entered on, his sense of integrity was so scrupulous +that, resolving not in any way to be concerned in so unnatural a +business, he resigned his situation at the Ordnance Office. + +To the last he held to the great object of his life--the abolition +of slavery. To carry on this work, and organize the efforts of the +growing friends of the cause, the Society for the Abolition of +Slavery was founded, and new men, inspired by Sharp's example and +zeal, sprang forward to help him. His energy became theirs, and +the self-sacrificing zeal in which he had so long laboured single- +handed, became at length transfused into the nation itself. His +mantle fell upon Clarkson, upon Wilberforce, upon Brougham, and +upon Buxton, who laboured as he had done, with like energy and +stedfastness of purpose, until at length slavery was abolished +throughout the British dominions. But though the names last +mentioned may be more frequently identified with the triumph of +this great cause, the chief merit unquestionably belongs to +Granville Sharp. He was encouraged by none of the world's huzzas +when he entered upon his work. He stood alone, opposed to the +opinion of the ablest lawyers and the most rooted prejudices of the +times; and alone he fought out, by his single exertions, and at his +individual expense, the most memorable battle for the constitution +of this country and the liberties of British subjects, of which +modern times afford a record. What followed was mainly the +consequence of his indefatigable constancy. He lighted the torch +which kindled other minds, and it was handed on until the +illumination became complete. + +Before the death of Granville Sharp, Clarkson had already turned +his attention to the question of Negro Slavery. He had even +selected it for the subject of a college Essay; and his mind became +so possessed by it that he could not shake it off. The spot is +pointed out near Wade's Mill, in Hertfordshire, where, alighting +from his horse one day, he sat down disconsolate on the turf by the +road side, and after long thinking, determined to devote himself +wholly to the work. He translated his Essay from Latin into +English, added fresh illustrations, and published it. Then fellow +labourers gathered round him. The Society for Abolishing the Slave +Trade, unknown to him, had already been formed, and when he heard +of it he joined it. He sacrificed all his prospects in life to +prosecute this cause. Wilberforce was selected to lead in +parliament; but upon Clarkson chiefly devolved the labour of +collecting and arranging the immense mass of evidence offered in +support of the abolition. A remarkable instance of Clarkson's +sleuth-hound sort of perseverance may be mentioned. The abettors +of slavery, in the course of their defence of the system, +maintained that only such negroes as were captured in battle were +sold as slaves, and if not so sold, then they were reserved for a +still more frightful doom in their own country. Clarkson knew of +the slave-hunts conducted by the slave-traders, but had no +witnesses to prove it. Where was one to be found? Accidentally, a +gentleman whom he met on one of his journeys informed him of a +young sailor, in whose company he had been about a year before, who +had been actually engaged in one of such slave-hunting expeditions. +The gentleman did not know his name, and could but indefinitely +describe his person. He did not know where he was, further than +that he belonged to a ship of war in ordinary, but at what port he +could not tell. With this mere glimmering of information, Clarkson +determined to produce this man as a witness. He visited personally +all the seaport towns where ships in ordinary lay; boarded and +examined every ship without success, until he came to the very LAST +port, and found the young man, his prize, in the very LAST ship +that remained to be visited. The young man proved to be one of his +most valuable and effective witnesses. + +During several years Clarkson conducted a correspondence with +upwards of four hundred persons, travelling more than thirty-five +thousand miles during the same time in search of evidence. He was +at length disabled and exhausted by illness, brought on by his +continuous exertions; but he was not borne from the field until his +zeal had fully awakened the public mind, and excited the ardent +sympathies of all good men on behalf of the slave. + +After years of protracted struggle, the slave trade was abolished. +But still another great achievement remained to be accomplished-- +the abolition of slavery itself throughout the British dominions. +And here again determined energy won the day. Of the leaders in +the cause, none was more distinguished than Fowell Buxton, who took +the position formerly occupied by Wilberforce in the House of +Commons. Buxton was a dull, heavy boy, distinguished for his +strong self-will, which first exhibited itself in violent, +domineering, and headstrong obstinacy. His father died when he was +a child; but fortunately he had a wise mother, who trained his will +with great care, constraining him to obey, but encouraging the +habit of deciding and acting for himself in matters which might +safely be left to him. His mother believed that a strong will, +directed upon worthy objects, was a valuable manly quality if +properly guided, and she acted accordingly. When others about her +commented on the boy's self-will, she would merely say, "Never +mind--he is self-willed now--you will see it will turn out well in +the end." Fowell learnt very little at school, and was regarded as +a dunce and an idler. He got other boys to do his exercises for +him, while he romped and scrambled about. He returned home at +fifteen, a great, growing, awkward lad, fond only of boating, +shooting, riding, and field sports,--spending his time principally +with the gamekeeper, a man possessed of a good heart,--an +intelligent observer of life and nature, though he could neither +read nor write. Buxton had excellent raw material in him, but he +wanted culture, training, and development. At this juncture of his +life, when his habits were being formed for good or evil, he was +happily thrown into the society of the Gurney family, distinguished +for their fine social qualities not less than for their +intellectual culture and public-spirited philanthropy. This +intercourse with the Gurneys, he used afterwards to say, gave the +colouring to his life. They encouraged his efforts at self- +culture; and when he went to the University of Dublin and gained +high honours there, the animating passion in his mind, he said, +"was to carry back to them the prizes which they prompted and +enabled me to win." He married one of the daughters of the family, +and started in life, commencing as a clerk to his uncles Hanbury, +the London brewers. His power of will, which made him so difficult +to deal with as a boy, now formed the backbone of his character, +and made him most indefatigable and energetic in whatever he +undertook. He threw his whole strength and bulk right down upon +his work; and the great giant--"Elephant Buxton" they called him, +for he stood some six feet four in height--became one of the most +vigorous and practical of men. "I could brew," he said, "one +hour,--do mathematics the next,--and shoot the next,--and each with +my whole soul." There was invincible energy and determination in +whatever he did. Admitted a partner, he became the active manager +of the concern; and the vast business which he conducted felt his +influence through every fibre, and prospered far beyond its +previous success. Nor did he allow his mind to lie fallow, for he +gave his evenings diligently to self-culture, studying and +digesting Blackstone, Montesquieu, and solid commentaries on +English law. His maxims in reading were, "never to begin a book +without finishing it;" "never to consider a book finished until it +is mastered;" and "to study everything with the whole mind." + +When only thirty-two, Buxton entered parliament, and at once +assumed that position of influence there, of which every honest, +earnest, well-informed man is secure, who enters that assembly of +the first gentlemen in the world. The principal question to which +he devoted himself was the complete emancipation of the slaves in +the British colonies. He himself used to attribute the interest +which he early felt in this question to the influence of Priscilla +Gurney, one of the Earlham family,--a woman of a fine intellect and +warm heart, abounding in illustrious virtues. When on her +deathbed, in 1821, she repeatedly sent for Buxton, and urged him +"to make the cause of the slaves the great object of his life." +Her last act was to attempt to reiterate the solemn charge, and she +expired in the ineffectual effort. Buxton never forgot her +counsel; he named one of his daughters after her; and on the day on +which she was married from his house, on the 1st of August, 1834,-- +the day of Negro emancipation--after his Priscilla had been +manumitted from her filial service, and left her father's home in +the company of her husband, Buxton sat down and thus wrote to a +friend: "The bride is just gone; everything has passed off to +admiration; and THERE IS NOT A SLAVE IN THE BRITISH COLONIES!" + +Buxton was no genius--not a great intellectual leader nor +discoverer, but mainly an earnest, straightforward, resolute, +energetic man. Indeed, his whole character is most forcibly +expressed in his own words, which every young man might well stamp +upon his soul: "The longer I live," said he, "the more I am +certain that the great difference between men, between the feeble +and the powerful, the great and the insignificant, is ENERGY-- +INVINCIBLE DETERMINATION--a purpose once fixed, and then death or +victory! That quality will do anything that can be done in this +world; and no talents, no circumstances, no opportunities, will +make a two-legged creature a Man without it." + + + +CHAPTER IX--MEN OF BUSINESS + + + +"Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before +kings."--Proverbs of Solomon. + +"That man is but of the lower part of the world that is not brought +up to business and affairs."--Owen Feltham + + +Hazlitt, in one of his clever essays, represents the man of +business as a mean sort of person put in a go-cart, yoked to a +trade or profession; alleging that all he has to do is, not to go +out of the beaten track, but merely to let his affairs take their +own course. "The great requisite," he says, "for the prosperous +management of ordinary business is the want of imagination, or of +any ideas but those of custom and interest on the narrowest scale." +{24} But nothing could be more one-sided, and in effect untrue, +than such a definition. Of course, there are narrow-minded men of +business, as there are narrow-minded scientific men, literary men, +and legislators; but there are also business men of large and +comprehensive minds, capable of action on the very largest scale. +As Burke said in his speech on the India Bill, he knew statesmen +who were pedlers, and merchants who acted in the spirit of +statesmen. + +If we take into account the qualities necessary for the successful +conduct of any important undertaking,--that it requires special +aptitude, promptitude of action on emergencies, capacity for +organizing the labours often of large numbers of men, great tact +and knowledge of human nature, constant self-culture, and growing +experience in the practical affairs of life,--it must, we think, be +obvious that the school of business is by no means so narrow as +some writers would have us believe. Mr. Helps had gone much nearer +the truth when he said that consummate men of business are as rare +almost as great poets,--rarer, perhaps, than veritable saints and +martyrs. Indeed, of no other pursuit can it so emphatically be +said, as of this, that "Business makes men." + +It has, however, been a favourite fallacy with dunces in all times, +that men of genius are unfitted for business, as well as that +business occupations unfit men for the pursuits of genius. The +unhappy youth who committed suicide a few years since because he +had been "born to be a man and condemned to be a grocer," proved by +the act that his soul was not equal even to the dignity of grocery. +For it is not the calling that degrades the man, but the man that +degrades the calling. All work that brings honest gain is +honourable, whether it be of hand or mind. The fingers may be +soiled, yet the heart remain pure; for it is not material so much +as moral dirt that defiles--greed far more than grime, and vice +than verdigris. + +The greatest have not disdained to labour honestly and usefully for +a living, though at the same time aiming after higher things. +Thales, the first of the seven sages, Solon, the second founder of +Athens, and Hyperates, the mathematician, were all traders. Plato, +called the Divine by reason of the excellence of his wisdom, +defrayed his travelling expenses in Egypt by the profits derived +from the oil which he sold during his journey. Spinoza maintained +himself by polishing glasses while he pursued his philosophical +investigations. Linnaeus, the great botanist, prosecuted his +studies while hammering leather and making shoes. Shakespeare was +a successful manager of a theatre--perhaps priding himself more +upon his practical qualities in that capacity than on his writing +of plays and poetry. Pope was of opinion that Shakespeare's +principal object in cultivating literature was to secure an honest +independence. Indeed he seems to have been altogether indifferent +to literary reputation. It is not known that he superintended the +publication of a single play, or even sanctioned the printing of +one; and the chronology of his writings is still a mystery. It is +certain, however, that he prospered in his business, and realized +sufficient to enable him to retire upon a competency to his native +town of Stratford-upon-Avon. + +Chaucer was in early life a soldier, and afterwards an effective +Commissioner of Customs, and Inspector of Woods and Crown Lands. +Spencer was Secretary to the Lord Deputy of Ireland, was afterwards +Sheriff of Cork, and is said to have been shrewd and attentive in +matters of business. Milton, originally a schoolmaster, was +elevated to the post of Secretary to the Council of State during +the Commonwealth; and the extant Order-book of the Council, as well +as many of Milton's letters which are preserved, give abundant +evidence of his activity and usefulness in that office. Sir Isaac +Newton proved himself an efficient Master of the Mint; the new +coinage of 1694 having been carried on under his immediate personal +superintendence. Cowper prided himself upon his business +punctuality, though he confessed that he "never knew a poet, except +himself, who was punctual in anything." But against this we may +set the lives of Wordsworth and Scott--the former a distributor of +stamps, the latter a clerk to the Court of Session,--both of whom, +though great poets, were eminently punctual and practical men of +business. David Ricardo, amidst the occupations of his daily +business as a London stock-jobber, in conducting which he acquired +an ample fortune, was able to concentrate his mind upon his +favourite subject--on which he was enabled to throw great light-- +the principles of political economy; for he united in himself the +sagacious commercial man and the profound philosopher. Baily, the +eminent astronomer, was another stockbroker; and Allen, the +chemist, was a silk manufacturer. + +We have abundant illustrations, in our own day, of the fact that +the highest intellectual power is not incompatible with the active +and efficient performance of routine duties. Grote, the great +historian of Greece, was a London banker. And it is not long since +John Stuart Mill, one of our greatest living thinkers, retired from +the Examiner's department of the East India Company, carrying with +him the admiration and esteem of his fellow officers, not on +account of his high views of philosophy, but because of the high +standard of efficiency which he had established in his office, and +the thoroughly satisfactory manner in which he had conducted the +business of his department. + +The path of success in business is usually the path of common +sense. Patient labour and application are as necessary here as in +the acquisition of knowledge or the pursuit of science. The old +Greeks said, "to become an able man in any profession, three things +are necessary--nature, study, and practice." In business, +practice, wisely and diligently improved, is the great secret of +success. Some may make what are called "lucky hits," but like +money earned by gambling, such "hits" may only serve to lure one to +ruin. Bacon was accustomed to say that it was in business as in +ways--the nearest way was commonly the foulest, and that if a man +would go the fairest way he must go somewhat about. The journey +may occupy a longer time, but the pleasure of the labour involved +by it, and the enjoyment of the results produced, will be more +genuine and unalloyed. To have a daily appointed task of even +common drudgery to do makes the rest of life feel all the sweeter. + +The fable of the labours of Hercules is the type of all human doing +and success. Every youth should be made to feel that his happiness +and well-doing in life must necessarily rely mainly on himself and +the exercise of his own energies, rather than upon the help and +patronage of others. The late Lord Melbourne embodied a piece of +useful advice in a letter which he wrote to Lord John Russell, in +reply to an application for a provision for one of Moore the poet's +sons: "My dear John," he said, "I return you Moore's letter. I +shall be ready to do what you like about it when we have the means. +I think whatever is done should be done for Moore himself. This is +more distinct, direct, and intelligible. Making a small provision +for young men is hardly justifiable; and it is of all things the +most prejudicial to themselves. They think what they have much +larger than it really is; and they make no exertion. The young +should never hear any language but this: 'You have your own way to +make, and it depends upon your own exertions whether you starve or +not.' Believe me, &c., MELBOURNE." + +Practical industry, wisely and vigorously applied, always produces +its due effects. It carries a man onward, brings out his +individual character, and stimulates the action of others. All may +not rise equally, yet each, on the whole, very much according to +his deserts. "Though all cannot live on the piazza," as the Tuscan +proverb has it, "every one may feel the sun." + +On the whole, it is not good that human nature should have the road +of life made too easy. Better to be under the necessity of working +hard and faring meanly, than to have everything done ready to our +hand and a pillow of down to repose upon. Indeed, to start in life +with comparatively small means seems so necessary as a stimulus to +work, that it may almost be set down as one of the conditions +essential to success in life. Hence, an eminent judge, when asked +what contributed most to success at the bar, replied, "Some succeed +by great talent, some by high connexions, some by miracle, but the +majority by commencing without a shilling." + +We have heard of an architect of considerable accomplishments,--a +man who had improved himself by long study, and travel in the +classical lands of the East,--who came home to commence the +practice of his profession. He determined to begin anywhere, +provided he could be employed; and he accordingly undertook a +business connected with dilapidations,--one of the lowest and least +remunerative departments of the architect's calling. But he had +the good sense not to be above his trade, and he had the resolution +to work his way upward, so that he only got a fair start. One hot +day in July a friend found him sitting astride of a house roof +occupied with his dilapidation business. Drawing his hand across +his perspiring countenance, he exclaimed, "Here's a pretty business +for a man who has been all over Greece!" However, he did his work, +such as it was, thoroughly and well; he persevered until he +advanced by degrees to more remunerative branches of employment, +and eventually he rose to the highest walks of his profession. + +The necessity of labour may, indeed, be regarded as the main root +and spring of all that we call progress in individuals, and +civilization in nations; and it is doubtful whether any heavier +curse could be imposed on man than the complete gratification of +all his wishes without effort on his part, leaving nothing for his +hopes, desires or struggles. The feeling that life is destitute of +any motive or necessity for action, must be of all others the most +distressing and insupportable to a rational being. The Marquis de +Spinola asking Sir Horace Vere what his brother died of, Sir Horace +replied, "He died, Sir, of having nothing to do." "Alas!" said +Spinola, "that is enough to kill any general of us all." + +Those who fail in life are however very apt to assume a tone of +injured innocence, and conclude too hastily that everybody +excepting themselves has had a hand in their personal misfortunes. +An eminent writer lately published a book, in which he described +his numerous failures in business, naively admitting, at the same +time, that he was ignorant of the multiplication table; and he came +to the conclusion that the real cause of his ill-success in life +was the money-worshipping spirit of the age. Lamartine also did +not hesitate to profess his contempt for arithmetic; but, had it +been less, probably we should not have witnessed the unseemly +spectacle of the admirers of that distinguished personage engaged +in collecting subscriptions for his support in his old age. + +Again, some consider themselves born to ill luck, and make up their +minds that the world invariably goes against them without any fault +on their own part. We have heard of a person of this sort, who +went so far as to declare his belief that if he had been a hatter +people would have been born without heads! There is however a +Russian proverb which says that Misfortune is next door to +Stupidity; and it will often be found that men who are constantly +lamenting their luck, are in some way or other reaping the +consequences of their own neglect, mismanagement, improvidence, or +want of application. Dr. Johnson, who came up to London with a +single guinea in his pocket, and who once accurately described +himself in his signature to a letter addressed to a noble lord, as +Impransus, or Dinnerless, has honestly said, "All the complaints +which are made of the world are unjust; I never knew a man of merit +neglected; it was generally by his own fault that he failed of +success." + +Washington Irying, the American author, held like views. "As for +the talk," said he, "about modest merit being neglected, it is too +often a cant, by which indolent and irresolute men seek to lay +their want of success at the door of the public. Modest merit is, +however, too apt to be inactive, or negligent, or uninstructed +merit. Well matured and well disciplined talent is always sure of +a market, provided it exerts itself; but it must not cower at home +and expect to be sought for. There is a good deal of cant too +about the success of forward and impudent men, while men of +retiring worth are passed over with neglect. But it usually +happens that those forward men have that valuable quality of +promptness and activity without which worth is a mere inoperative +property. A barking dog is often more useful than a sleeping +lion." + +Attention, application, accuracy, method, punctuality, and +despatch, are the principal qualities required for the efficient +conduct of business of any sort. These, at first sight, may appear +to be small matters; and yet they are of essential importance to +human happiness, well-being, and usefulness. They are little +things, it is true; but human life is made up of comparative +trifles. It is the repetition of little acts which constitute not +only the sum of human character, but which determine the character +of nations. And where men or nations have broken down, it will +almost invariably be found that neglect of little things was the +rock on which they split. Every human being has duties to be +performed, and, therefore, has need of cultivating the capacity for +doing them; whether the sphere of action be the management of a +household, the conduct of a trade or profession, or the government +of a nation. + +The examples we have already given of great workers in various +branches of industry, art, and science, render it unnecessary +further to enforce the importance of persevering application in any +department of life. It is the result of every-day experience that +steady attention to matters of detail lies at the root of human +progress; and that diligence, above all, is the mother of good +luck. Accuracy is also of much importance, and an invariable mark +of good training in a man. Accuracy in observation, accuracy in +speech, accuracy in the transaction of affairs. What is done in +business must be well done; for it is better to accomplish +perfectly a small amount of work, than to half-do ten times as +much. A wise man used to say, "Stay a little, that we may make an +end the sooner." + +Too little attention, however, is paid to this highly important +quality of accuracy. As a man eminent in practical science lately +observed to us, "It is astonishing how few people I have met with +in the course of my experience, who can DEFINE A FACT accurately." +Yet in business affairs, it is the manner in which even small +matters are transacted, that often decides men for or against you. +With virtue, capacity, and good conduct in other respects, the +person who is habitually inaccurate cannot be trusted; his work has +to be gone over again; and he thus causes an infinity of annoyance, +vexation, and trouble. + +It was one of the characteristic qualities of Charles James Fox, +that he was thoroughly pains-taking in all that he did. When +appointed Secretary of State, being piqued at some observation as +to his bad writing, he actually took a writing-master, and wrote +copies like a schoolboy until he had sufficiently improved himself. +Though a corpulent man, he was wonderfully active at picking up cut +tennis balls, and when asked how he contrived to do so, he +playfully replied, "Because I am a very pains-taking man." The +same accuracy in trifling matters was displayed by him in things of +greater importance; and he acquired his reputation, like the +painter, by "neglecting nothing." + +Method is essential, and enables a larger amount of work to be got +through with satisfaction. "Method," said the Reverend Richard +Cecil, "is like packing things in a box; a good packer will get in +half as much again as a bad one." Cecil's despatch of business was +extraordinary, his maxim being, "The shortest way to do many things +is to do only one thing at once;" and he never left a thing undone +with a view of recurring to it at a period of more leisure. When +business pressed, he rather chose to encroach on his hours of meals +and rest than omit any part of his work. De Witt's maxim was like +Cecil's: "One thing at a time." "If," said he, "I have any +necessary despatches to make, I think of nothing else till they are +finished; if any domestic affairs require my attention, I give +myself wholly up to them till they are set in order." + +A French minister, who was alike remarkable for his despatch of +business and his constant attendance at places of amusement, being +asked how he contrived to combine both objects, replied, "Simply by +never postponing till to-morrow what should be done to-day." Lord +Brougham has said that a certain English statesman reversed the +process, and that his maxim was, never to transact to-day what +could be postponed till to-morrow. Unhappily, such is the practice +of many besides that minister, already almost forgotten; the +practice is that of the indolent and the unsuccessful. Such men, +too, are apt to rely upon agents, who are not always to be relied +upon. Important affairs must be attended to in person. "If you +want your business done," says the proverb, "go and do it; if you +don't want it done, send some one else." + +An indolent country gentleman had a freehold estate producing about +five hundred a-year. Becoming involved in debt, he sold half the +estate, and let the remainder to an industrious farmer for twenty +years. About the end of the term the farmer called to pay his +rent, and asked the owner whether he would sell the farm. "Will +YOU buy it?" asked the owner, surprised. "Yes, if we can agree +about the price." "That is exceedingly strange," observed the +gentleman; "pray, tell me how it happens that, while I could not +live upon twice as much land for which I paid no rent, you are +regularly paying me two hundred a-year for your farm, and are able, +in a few years, to purchase it." "The reason is plain," was the +reply; "you sat still and said GO, I got up and said COME; you laid +in bed and enjoyed your estate, I rose in the morning and minded my +business." + +Sir Walter Scott, writing to a youth who had obtained a situation +and asked for his advice, gave him in reply this sound counsel: +"Beware of stumbling over a propensity which easily besets you from +not having your time fully employed--I mean what the women call +DAWDLING. Your motto must be, Hoc age. Do instantly whatever is +to be done, and take the hours of recreation after business, never +before it. When a regiment is under march, the rear is often +thrown into confusion because the front do not move steadily and +without interruption. It is the same with business. If that which +is first in hand is not instantly, steadily, and regularly +despatched, other things accumulate behind, till affairs begin to +press all at once, and no human brain can stand the confusion." + +Promptitude in action may be stimulated by a due consideration of +the value of time. An Italian philosopher was accustomed to call +time his estate: an estate which produces nothing of value without +cultivation, but, duly improved, never fails to recompense the +labours of the diligent worker. Allowed to lie waste, the product +will be only noxious weeds and vicious growths of all kinds. One +of the minor uses of steady employment is, that it keeps one out of +mischief, for truly an idle brain is the devil's workshop, and a +lazy man the devil's bolster. To be occupied is to be possessed as +by a tenant, whereas to be idle is to be empty; and when the doors +of the imagination are opened, temptation finds a ready access, and +evil thoughts come trooping in. It is observed at sea, that men +are never so much disposed to grumble and mutiny as when least +employed. Hence an old captain, when there was nothing else to do, +would issue the order to "scour the anchor!" + +Men of business are accustomed to quote the maxim that Time is +money; but it is more; the proper improvement of it is self- +culture, self-improvement, and growth of character. An hour wasted +daily on trifles or in indolence, would, if devoted to self- +improvement, make an ignorant man wise in a few years, and employed +in good works, would make his life fruitful, and death a harvest of +worthy deeds. Fifteen minutes a day devoted to self-improvement, +will be felt at the end of the year. Good thoughts and carefully +gathered experience take up no room, and may be carried about as +our companions everywhere, without cost or incumbrance. An +economical use of time is the true mode of securing leisure: it +enables us to get through business and carry it forward, instead of +being driven by it. On the other hand, the miscalculation of time +involves us in perpetual hurry, confusion, and difficulties; and +life becomes a mere shuffle of expedients, usually followed by +disaster. Nelson once said, "I owe all my success in life to +having been always a quarter of an hour before my time." + +Some take no thought of the value of money until they have come to +an end of it, and many do the same with their time. The hours are +allowed to flow by unemployed, and then, when life is fast waning, +they bethink themselves of the duty of making a wiser use of it. +But the habit of listlessness and idleness may already have become +confirmed, and they are unable to break the bonds with which they +have permitted themselves to become bound. Lost wealth may be +replaced by industry, lost knowledge by study, lost health by +temperance or medicine, but lost time is gone for ever. + +A proper consideration of the value of time, will also inspire +habits of punctuality. "Punctuality," said Louis XIV., "is the +politeness of kings." It is also the duty of gentlemen, and the +necessity of men of business. Nothing begets confidence in a man +sooner than the practice of this virtue, and nothing shakes +confidence sooner than the want of it. He who holds to his +appointment and does not keep you waiting for him, shows that he +has regard for your time as well as for his own. Thus punctuality +is one of the modes by which we testify our personal respect for +those whom we are called upon to meet in the business of life. It +is also conscientiousness in a measure; for an appointment is a +contract, express or implied, and he who does not keep it breaks +faith, as well as dishonestly uses other people's time, and thus +inevitably loses character. We naturally come to the conclusion +that the person who is careless about time will be careless about +business, and that he is not the one to be trusted with the +transaction of matters of importance. When Washington's secretary +excused himself for the lateness of his attendance and laid the +blame upon his watch, his master quietly said, "Then you must get +another watch, or I another secretary." + +The person who is negligent of time and its employment is usually +found to be a general disturber of others' peace and serenity. It +was wittily said by Lord Chesterfield of the old Duke of Newcastle- +-"His Grace loses an hour in the morning, and is looking for it all +the rest of the day." Everybody with whom the unpunctual man has +to do is thrown from time to time into a state of fever: he is +systematically late; regular only in his irregularity. He conducts +his dawdling as if upon system; arrives at his appointment after +time; gets to the railway station after the train has started; +posts his letter when the box has closed. Thus business is thrown +into confusion, and everybody concerned is put out of temper. It +will generally be found that the men who are thus habitually behind +time are as habitually behind success; and the world generally +casts them aside to swell the ranks of the grumblers and the +railers against fortune. + +In addition to the ordinary working qualities the business man of +the highest class requires quick perception and firmness in the +execution of his plans. Tact is also important; and though this is +partly the gift of nature, it is yet capable of being cultivated +and developed by observation and experience. Men of this quality +are quick to see the right mode of action, and if they have +decision of purpose, are prompt to carry out their undertakings to +a successful issue. These qualities are especially valuable, and +indeed indispensable, in those who direct the action of other men +on a large scale, as for instance, in the case of the commander of +an army in the field. It is not merely necessary that the general +should be great as a warrior but also as a man of business. He +must possess great tact, much knowledge of character, and ability +to organize the movements of a large mass of men, whom he has to +feed, clothe, and furnish with whatever may be necessary in order +that they may keep the field and win battles. In these respects +Napoleon and Wellington were both first-rate men of business. + +Though Napoleon had an immense love for details, he had also a +vivid power of imagination, which enabled him to look along +extended lines of action, and deal with those details on a large +scale, with judgment and rapidity. He possessed such knowledge of +character as enabled him to select, almost unerringly, the best +agents for the execution of his designs. But he trusted as little +as possible to agents in matters of great moment, on which +important results depended. This feature in his character is +illustrated in a remarkable degree by the 'Napoleon +Correspondence,' now in course of publication, and particularly by +the contents of the 15th volume, {25} which include the letters, +orders, and despatches, written by the Emperor at Finkenstein, a +little chateau on the frontier of Poland in the year 1807, shortly +after the victory of Eylau. + +The French army was then lying encamped along the river Passarge +with the Russians before them, the Austrians on their right flank, +and the conquered Prussians in their rear. A long line of +communications had to be maintained with France, through a hostile +country; but so carefully, and with such foresight was this +provided for, that it is said Napoleon never missed a post. The +movements of armies, the bringing up of reinforcements from remote +points in France, Spain, Italy, and Germany, the opening of canals +and the levelling of roads to enable the produce of Poland and +Prussia to be readily transported to his encampments, had his +unceasing attention, down to the minutest details. We find him +directing where horses were to be obtained, making arrangements for +an adequate supply of saddles, ordering shoes for the soldiers, and +specifying the number of rations of bread, biscuit, and spirits, +that were to be brought to camp, or stored in magazines for the use +of the troops. At the same time we find him writing to Paris +giving directions for the reorganization of the French College, +devising a scheme of public education, dictating bulletins and +articles for the 'Moniteur,' revising the details of the budgets, +giving instructions to architects as to alterations to be made at +the Tuileries and the Church of the Madelaine, throwing an +occasional sarcasm at Madame de Stael and the Parisian journals, +interfering to put down a squabble at the Grand Opera, carrying on +a correspondence with the Sultan of Turkey and the Schah of Persia, +so that while his body was at Finkenstein, his mind seemed to be +working at a hundred different places in Paris, in Europe, and +throughout the world. + +We find him in one letter asking Ney if he has duly received the +muskets which have been sent him; in another he gives directions to +Prince Jerome as to the shirts, greatcoats, clothes, shoes, shakos, +and arms, to be served out to the Wurtemburg regiments; again he +presses Cambaceres to forward to the army a double stock of corn-- +"The IFS and the BUTS," said he, "are at present out of season, and +above all it must be done with speed." Then he informs Daru that +the army want shirts, and that they don't come to hand. To Massena +he writes, "Let me know if your biscuit and bread arrangements are +yet completed." To the Grand due de Berg, he gives directions as +to the accoutrements of the cuirassiers--"They complain that the +men want sabres; send an officer to obtain them at Posen. It is +also said they want helmets; order that they be made at Ebling. . . +. It is not by sleeping that one can accomplish anything." Thus no +point of detail was neglected, and the energies of all were +stimulated into action with extraordinary power. Though many of +the Emperor's days were occupied by inspections of his troops,--in +the course of which he sometimes rode from thirty to forty leagues +a day,--and by reviews, receptions, and affairs of state, leaving +but little time for business matters, he neglected nothing on that +account; but devoted the greater part of his nights, when +necessary, to examining budgets, dictating dispatches, and +attending to the thousand matters of detail in the organization and +working of the Imperial Government; the machinery of which was for +the most part concentrated in his own head. + +Like Napoleon, the Duke of Wellington was a first-rate man of +business; and it is not perhaps saying too much to aver that it was +in no small degree because of his possession of a business faculty +amounting to genius, that the Duke never lost a battle. + +While a subaltern, he became dissatisfied with the slowness of his +promotion, and having passed from the infantry to the cavalry +twice, and back again, without advancement, he applied to Lord +Camden, then Viceroy of Ireland, for employment in the Revenue or +Treasury Board. Had he succeeded, no doubt he would have made a +first-rate head of a department, as he would have made a first-rate +merchant or manufacturer. But his application failed, and he +remained with the army to become the greatest of British generals. + +The Duke began his active military career under the Duke of York +and General Walmoden, in Flanders and Holland, where he learnt, +amidst misfortunes and defeats, how bad business arrangements and +bad generalship serve to ruin the morale of an army. Ten years +after entering the army we find him a colonel in India, reported by +his superiors as an officer of indefatigable energy and +application. He entered into the minutest details of the service, +and sought to raise the discipline of his men to the highest +standard. "The regiment of Colonel Wellesley," wrote General +Harris in 1799, "is a model regiment; on the score of soldierly +bearing, discipline, instruction, and orderly behaviour it is above +all praise." Thus qualifying himself for posts of greater +confidence, he was shortly after nominated governor of the capital +of Mysore. In the war with the Mahrattas he was first called upon +to try his hand at generalship; and at thirty-four he won the +memorable battle of Assaye, with an army composed of 1500 British +and 5000 sepoys, over 20,000 Mahratta infantry and 30,000 cavalry. +But so brilliant a victory did not in the least disturb his +equanimity, or affect the perfect honesty of his character. + +Shortly after this event the opportunity occurred for exhibiting +his admirable practical qualities as an administrator. Placed in +command of an important district immediately after the capture of +Seringapatam, his first object was to establish rigid order and +discipline among his own men. Flushed with victory, the troops +were found riotous and disorderly. "Send me the provost marshal," +said he, "and put him under my orders: till some of the marauders +are hung, it is impossible to expect order or safety." This rigid +severity of Wellington in the field, though it was the dread, +proved the salvation of his troops in many campaigns. His next +step was to re-establish the markets and re-open the sources of +supply. General Harris wrote to the Governor-general, strongly +commending Colonel Wellesley for the perfect discipline he had +established, and for his "judicious and masterly arrangements in +respect to supplies, which opened an abundant free market, and +inspired confidence into dealers of every description." The same +close attention to, and mastery of details, characterized him +throughout his Indian career; and it is remarkable that one of his +ablest despatches to Lord Clive, full of practical information as +to the conduct of the campaign, was written whilst the column he +commanded was crossing the Toombuddra, in the face of the vastly +superior army of Dhoondiah, posted on the opposite bank, and while +a thousand matters of the deepest interest were pressing upon the +commander's mind. But it was one of his most remarkable +characteristics, thus to be able to withdraw himself temporarily +from the business immediately in hand, and to bend his full powers +upon the consideration of matters totally distinct; even the most +difficult circumstances on such occasions failing to embarrass or +intimidate him. + +Returned to England with a reputation for generalship, Sir Arthur +Wellesley met with immediate employment. In 1808 a corps of 10,000 +men destined to liberate Portugal was placed under his charge. He +landed, fought, and won two battles, and signed the Convention of +Cintra. After the death of Sir John Moore he was entrusted with +the command of a new expedition to Portugal. But Wellington was +fearfully overmatched throughout his Peninsular campaigns. From +1809 to 1813 he never had more than 30,000 British troops under his +command, at a time when there stood opposed to him in the Peninsula +some 350,000 French, mostly veterans, led by some of Napoleon's +ablest generals. How was he to contend against such immense forces +with any fair prospect of success? His clear discernment and +strong common sense soon taught him that he must adopt a different +policy from that of the Spanish generals, who were invariably +beaten and dispersed whenever they ventured to offer battle in the +open plains. He perceived he had yet to create the army that was +to contend against the French with any reasonable chance of +success. Accordingly, after the battle of Talavera in 1809, when +he found himself encompassed on all sides by superior forces of +French, he retired into Portugal, there to carry out the settled +policy on which he had by this time determined. It was, to +organise a Portuguese army under British officers, and teach them +to act in combination with his own troops, in the mean time +avoiding the peril of a defeat by declining all engagements. He +would thus, he conceived, destroy the morale of the French, who +could not exist without victories; and when his army was ripe for +action, and the enemy demoralized, he would then fall upon them +with all his might. + +The extraordinary qualities displayed by Lord Wellington throughout +these immortal campaigns, can only be appreciated after a perusal +of his despatches, which contain the unvarnished tale of the +manifold ways and means by which he laid the foundations of his +success. Never was man more tried by difficulty and opposition, +arising not less from the imbecility, falsehoods and intrigues of +the British Government of the day, than from the selfishness, +cowardice, and vanity of the people he went to save. It may, +indeed, be said of him, that he sustained the war in Spain by his +individual firmness and self-reliance, which never failed him even +in the midst of his great discouragements. He had not only to +fight Napoleon's veterans, but also to hold in check the Spanish +juntas and the Portuguese regency. He had the utmost difficulty in +obtaining provisions and clothing for his troops; and it will +scarcely be credited that, while engaged with the enemy in the +battle of Talavera, the Spaniards, who ran away, fell upon the +baggage of the British army, and the ruffians actually plundered +it! These and other vexations the Duke bore with a sublime +patience and self-control, and held on his course, in the face of +ingratitude, treachery, and opposition, with indomitable firmness. +He neglected nothing, and attended to every important detail of +business himself. When he found that food for his troops was not +to be obtained from England, and that he must rely upon his own +resources for feeding them, he forthwith commenced business as a +corn merchant on a large scale, in copartnery with the British +Minister at Lisbon. Commissariat bills were created, with which +grain was bought in the ports of the Mediterranean and in South +America. When he had thus filled his magazines, the overplus was +sold to the Portuguese, who were greatly in want of provisions. He +left nothing whatever to chance, but provided for every +contingency. He gave his attention to the minutest details of the +service; and was accustomed to concentrate his whole energies, from +time to time, on such apparently ignominious matters as soldiers' +shoes, camp-kettles, biscuits and horse fodder. His magnificent +business qualities were everywhere felt, and there can be no doubt +that, by the care with which he provided for every contingency, and +the personal attention which he gave to every detail, he laid the +foundations of his great success. {26} By such means he +transformed an army of raw levies into the best soldiers in Europe, +with whom he declared it to be possible to go anywhere and do +anything. + +We have already referred to his remarkable power of abstracting +himself from the work, no matter how engrossing, immediately in +hand, and concentrating his energies upon the details of some +entirely different business. Thus Napier relates that it was while +he was preparing to fight the battle of Salamanca that he had to +expose to the Ministers at home the futility of relying upon a +loan; it was on the heights of San Christoval, on the field of +battle itself, that he demonstrated the absurdity of attempting to +establish a Portuguese bank; it was in the trenches of Burgos that +he dissected Funchal's scheme of finance, and exposed the folly of +attempting the sale of church property; and on each occasion, he +showed himself as well acquainted with these subjects as with the +minutest detail in the mechanism of armies. + +Another feature in his character, showing the upright man of +business, was his thorough honesty. Whilst Soult ransacked and +carried away with him from Spain numerous pictures of great value, +Wellington did not appropriate to himself a single farthing's worth +of property. Everywhere he paid his way, even when in the enemy's +country. When he had crossed the French frontier, followed by +40,000 Spaniards, who sought to "make fortunes" by pillage and +plunder, he first rebuked their officers, and then, finding his +efforts to restrain them unavailing, he sent them back into their +own country. It is a remarkable fact, that, even in France the +peasantry fled from their own countrymen, and carried their +valuables within the protection of the British lines! At the very +same time, Wellington was writing home to the British Ministry, "We +are overwhelmed with debts, and I can scarcely stir out of my house +on account of public creditors waiting to demand payment of what is +due to them." Jules Maurel, in his estimate of the Duke's +character, says, "Nothing can be grander or more nobly original +than this admission. This old soldier, after thirty years' +service, this iron man and victorious general, established in an +enemy's country at the head of an immense army, is afraid of his +creditors! This is a kind of fear that has seldom troubled the +mind of conquerors and invaders; and I doubt if the annals of war +could present anything comparable to this sublime simplicity." But +the Duke himself, had the matter been put to him, would most +probably have disclaimed any intention of acting even grandly or +nobly in the matter; merely regarding the punctual payment of his +debts as the best and most honourable mode of conducting his +business. + +The truth of the good old maxim, that "Honesty is the best policy," +is upheld by the daily experience of life; uprightness and +integrity being found as successful in business as in everything +else. As Hugh Miller's worthy uncle used to advise him, "In all +your dealings give your neighbour the cast of the bank--'good +measure, heaped up, and running over,'--and you will not lose by it +in the end." A well-known brewer of beer attributed his success to +the liberality with which he used his malt. Going up to the vat +and tasting it, he would say, "Still rather poor, my lads; give it +another cast of the malt." The brewer put his character into his +beer, and it proved generous accordingly, obtaining a reputation in +England, India, and the colonies, which laid the foundation of a +large fortune. Integrity of word and deed ought to be the very +cornerstone of all business transactions. To the tradesman, the +merchant, and manufacturer, it should be what honour is to the +soldier, and charity to the Christian. In the humblest calling +there will always be found scope for the exercise of this +uprightness of character. Hugh Miller speaks of the mason with +whom he served his apprenticeship, as one who "PUT HIS CONSCIENCE +INTO EVERY STONE THAT HE LAID." So the true mechanic will pride +himself upon the thoroughness and solidity of his work, and the +high-minded contractor upon the honesty of performance of his +contract in every particular. The upright manufacturer will find +not only honour and reputation, but substantial success, in the +genuineness of the article which he produces, and the merchant in +the honesty of what he sells, and that it really is what it seems +to be. Baron Dupin, speaking of the general probity of Englishmen, +which he held to be a principal cause of their success, observed, +"We may succeed for a time by fraud, by surprise, by violence; but +we can succeed permanently only by means directly opposite. It is +not alone the courage, the intelligence, the activity, of the +merchant and manufacturer which maintain the superiority of their +productions and the character of their country; it is far more +their wisdom, their economy, and, above all, their probity. If +ever in the British Islands the useful citizen should lose these +virtues, we may be sure that, for England, as for every other +country, the vessels of a degenerate commerce, repulsed from every +shore, would speedily disappear from those seas whose surface they +now cover with the treasures of the universe, bartered for the +treasures of the industry of the three kingdoms." + +It must be admitted, that Trade tries character perhaps more +severely than any other pursuit in life. It puts to the severest +tests honesty, self-denial, justice, and truthfulness; and men of +business who pass through such trials unstained are perhaps worthy +of as great honour as soldiers who prove their courage amidst the +fire and perils of battle. And, to the credit of the multitudes of +men engaged in the various departments of trade, we think it must +be admitted that on the whole they pass through their trials nobly. +If we reflect but for a moment on the vast amount of wealth daily +entrusted even to subordinate persons, who themselves probably earn +but a bare competency--the loose cash which is constantly passing +through the hands of shopmen, agents, brokers, and clerks in +banking houses,--and note how comparatively few are the breaches of +trust which occur amidst all this temptation, it will probably be +admitted that this steady daily honesty of conduct is most +honourable to human nature, if it do not even tempt us to be proud +of it. The same trust and confidence reposed by men of business in +each other, as implied by the system of Credit, which is mainly +based upon the principle of honour, would be surprising if it were +not so much a matter of ordinary practice in business transactions. +Dr. Chalmers has well said, that the implicit trust with which +merchants are accustomed to confide in distant agents, separated +from them perhaps by half the globe--often consigning vast wealth +to persons, recommended only by their character, whom perhaps they +have never seen--is probably the finest act of homage which men can +render to one another. + +Although common honesty is still happily in the ascendant amongst +common people, and the general business community of England is +still sound at heart, putting their honest character into their +respective callings,--there are unhappily, as there have been in +all times, but too many instances of flagrant dishonesty and fraud, +exhibited by the unscrupulous, the over-speculative, and the +intensely selfish in their haste to be rich. There are tradesmen +who adulterate, contractors who "scamp," manufacturers who give us +shoddy instead of wool, "dressing" instead of cotton, cast-iron +tools instead of steel, needles without eyes, razors made only "to +sell," and swindled fabrics in many shapes. But these we must hold +to be the exceptional cases, of low-minded and grasping men, who, +though they may gain wealth which they probably cannot enjoy, will +never gain an honest character, nor secure that without which +wealth is nothing--a heart at peace. "The rogue cozened not me, +but his own conscience," said Bishop Latimer of a cutler who made +him pay twopence for a knife not worth a penny. Money, earned by +screwing, cheating, and overreaching, may for a time dazzle the +eyes of the unthinking; but the bubbles blown by unscrupulous +rogues, when full-blown, usually glitter only to burst. The +Sadleirs, Dean Pauls, and Redpaths, for the most part, come to a +sad end even in this world; and though the successful swindles of +others may not be "found out," and the gains of their roguery may +remain with them, it will be as a curse and not as a blessing. + +It is possible that the scrupulously honest man may not grow rich +so fast as the unscrupulous and dishonest one; but the success will +be of a truer kind, earned without fraud or injustice. And even +though a man should for a time be unsuccessful, still he must be +honest: better lose all and save character. For character is +itself a fortune; and if the high-principled man will but hold on +his way courageously, success will surely come,--nor will the +highest reward of all be withheld from him. Wordsworth well +describes the "Happy Warrior," as he + + +"Who comprehends his trust, and to the same +Keeps faithful with a singleness of aim; +And therefore does not stoop, nor lie in wait +For wealth, or honour, or for worldly state; +Whom they must follow, on whose head must fall, +Like showers of manna, if they come at all." + + +As an example of the high-minded mercantile man trained in upright +habits of business, and distinguished for justice, truthfulness, +and honesty of dealing in all things, the career of the well-known +David Barclay, grandson of Robert Barclay, of Ury, the author of +the celebrated 'Apology for the Quakers,' may be briefly referred +to. For many years he was the head of an extensive house in +Cheapside, chiefly engaged in the American trade; but like +Granville Sharp, he entertained so strong an opinion against the +war with our American colonies, that he determined to retire +altogether from the trade. Whilst a merchant, he was as much +distinguished for his talents, knowledge, integrity, and power, as +he afterwards was for his patriotism and munificent philanthropy. +He was a mirror of truthfulness and honesty; and, as became the +good Christian and true gentleman, his word was always held to be +as good as his bond. His position, and his high character, induced +the Ministers of the day on many occasions to seek his advice; and, +when examined before the House of Commons on the subject of the +American dispute, his views were so clearly expressed, and his +advice was so strongly justified by the reasons stated by him, that +Lord North publicly acknowledged that he had derived more +information from David Barclay than from all others east of Temple +Bar. On retiring from business, it was not to rest in luxurious +ease, but to enter upon new labours of usefulness for others. With +ample means, he felt that he still owed to society the duty of a +good example. He founded a house of industry near his residence at +Walthamstow, which he supported at a heavy outlay for several +years, until at length he succeeded in rendering it a source of +comfort as well as independence to the well-disposed families of +the poor in that neighbourhood. When an estate in Jamaica fell to +him, he determined, though at a cost of some 10,000l., at once to +give liberty to the whole of the slaves on the property. He sent +out an agent, who hired a ship, and he had the little slave +community transported to one of the free American states, where +they settled down and prospered. Mr. Barclay had been assured that +the negroes were too ignorant and too barbarous for freedom, and it +was thus that he determined practically to demonstrate the fallacy +of the assertion. In dealing with his accumulated savings, he made +himself the executor of his own will, and instead of leaving a +large fortune to be divided among his relatives at his death, he +extended to them his munificent aid during his life, watched and +aided them in their respective careers, and thus not only laid the +foundation, but lived to see the maturity, of some of the largest +and most prosperous business concerns in the metropolis. We +believe that to this day some of our most eminent merchants--such +as the Gurneys, Hanburys, and Buxtons--are proud to acknowledge +with gratitude the obligations they owe to David Barclay for the +means of their first introduction to life, and for the benefits of +his counsel and countenance in the early stages of their career. +Such a man stands as a mark of the mercantile honesty and integrity +of his country, and is a model and example for men of business in +all time to come. + + + +CHAPTER X--MONEY--ITS USE AND ABUSE + + + +"Not for to hide it in a hedge, +Nor for a train attendant, +But for the glorious privilege +Of being independent."--Burns. + +"Neither a borrower nor a lender be: +For loan oft loses both itself and friend; +And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry."--Shakepeare. + +Never treat money affairs with levity--Money is character.--Sir E. +L. Bulwer Lytton. + + +How a man uses money--makes it, saves it, and spends it--is perhaps +one of the best tests of practical wisdom. Although money ought by +no means to be regarded as a chief end of man's life, neither is it +a trifling matter, to be held in philosophic contempt, representing +as it does to so large an extent, the means of physical comfort and +social well-being. Indeed, some of the finest qualities of human +nature are intimately related to the right use of money; such as +generosity, honesty, justice, and self-sacrifice; as well as the +practical virtues of economy and providence. On the other hand, +there are their counterparts of avarice, fraud, injustice, and +selfishness, as displayed by the inordinate lovers of gain; and the +vices of thriftlessness, extravagance, and improvidence, on the +part of those who misuse and abuse the means entrusted to them. +"So that," as is wisely observed by Henry Taylor in his thoughtful +'Notes from Life,' "a right measure and manner in getting, saving, +spending, giving, taking, lending, borrowing, and bequeathing, +would almost argue a perfect man." + +Comfort in worldly circumstances is a con ion which every man is +justified in striving to attain by all worthy means. It secures +that physical satisfaction, which is necessary for the culture of +the better part of his nature; and enables him to provide for those +of his own household, without which, says the Apostle, a man is +"worse than an infidel." Nor ought the duty to be any the less +indifferent to us, that the respect which our fellow-men entertain +for us in no slight degree depends upon the manner in which we +exercise the opportunities which present themselves for our +honourable advancement in life. The very effort required to be +made to succeed in life with this object, is of itself an +education; stimulating a man's sense of self-respect, bringing out +his practical qualities, and disciplining him in the exercise of +patience, perseverance, and such like virtues. The provident and +careful man must necessarily be a thoughtful man, for he lives not +merely for the present, but with provident forecast makes +arrangements for the future. He must also be a temperate man, and +exercise the virtue of self-denial, than which nothing is so much +calculated to give strength to the character. John Sterling says +truly, that "the worst education which teaches self denial, is +better than the best which teaches everything else, and not that." +The Romans rightly employed the same word (virtus) to designate +courage, which is in a physical sense what the other is in a moral; +the highest virtue of all being victory over ourselves. + +Hence the lesson of self-denial--the sacrificing of a present +gratification for a future good--is one of the last that is learnt. +Those classes which work the hardest might naturally be expected to +value the most the money which they earn. Yet the readiness with +which so many are accustomed to eat up and drink up their earnings +as they go, renders them to a great extent helpless and dependent +upon the frugal. There are large numbers of persons among us who, +though enjoying sufficient means of comfort and independence, are +often found to be barely a day's march ahead of actual want when a +time of pressure occurs; and hence a great cause of social +helplessness and suffering. On one occasion a deputation waited on +Lord John Russell, respecting the taxation levied on the working +classes of the country, when the noble lord took the opportunity of +remarking, "You may rely upon it that the Government of this +country durst not tax the working classes to anything like the +extent to which they tax themselves in their expenditure upon +intoxicating drinks alone!" Of all great public questions, there +is perhaps none more important than this,--no great work of reform +calling more loudly for labourers. But it must be admitted that +"self-denial and self-help" would make a poor rallying cry for the +hustings; and it is to be feared that the patriotism of this day +has but little regard for such common things as individual economy +and providence, although it is by the practice of such virtues only +that the genuine independence of the industrial classes is to be +secured. "Prudence, frugality, and good management," said Samuel +Drew, the philosophical shoemaker, "are excellent artists for +mending bad times: they occupy but little room in any dwelling, +but would furnish a more effectual remedy for the evils of life +than any Reform Bill that ever passed the Houses of Parliament." +Socrates said, "Let him that would move the world move first +himself. " Or as the old rhyme runs - + + +"If every one would see +To his own reformation, +How very easily +You might reform a nation." + + +It is, however, generally felt to be a far easier thing to reform +the Church and the State than to reform the least of our own bad +habits; and in such matters it is usually found more agreeable to +our tastes, as it certainly is the common practice, to begin with +our neighbours rather than with ourselves. + +Any class of men that lives from hand to mouth will ever be an +inferior class. They will necessarily remain impotent and +helpless, hanging on to the skirts of society, the sport of times +and seasons. Having no respect for themselves, they will fail in +securing the respect of others. In commercial crises, such men +must inevitably go to the wall. Wanting that husbanded power which +a store of savings, no matter how small, invariably gives them, +they will be at every man's mercy, and, if possessed of right +feelings, they cannot but regard with fear and trembling the future +possible fate of their wives and children. "The world," once said +Mr. Cobden to the working men of Huddersfield, "has always been +divided into two classes,--those who have saved, and those who have +spent--the thrifty and the extravagant. The building of all the +houses, the mills, the bridges, and the ships, and the +accomplishment of all other great works which have rendered man +civilized and happy, has been done by the savers, the thrifty; and +those who have wasted their resources have always been their +slaves. It has been the law of nature and of Providence that this +should be so; and I were an impostor if I promised any class that +they would advance themselves if they were improvident, +thoughtless, and idle." + +Equally sound was the advice given by Mr. Bright to an assembly of +working men at Rochdale, in 1847, when, after expressing his belief +that, "so far as honesty was concerned, it was to be found in +pretty equal amount among all classes," he used the following +words:- "There is only one way that is safe for any man, or any +number of men, by which they can maintain their present position if +it be a good one, or raise themselves above it if it be a bad one,- +-that is, by the practice of the virtues of industry, frugality, +temperance, and honesty. There is no royal road by which men can +raise themselves from a position which they feel to be +uncomfortable and unsatisfactory, as regards their mental or +physical condition, except by the practice of those virtues by +which they find numbers amongst them are continually advancing and +bettering themselves." + +There is no reason why the condition of the average workman should +not be a useful, honourable, respectable, and happy one. The whole +body of the working classes might, (with few exceptions) be as +frugal, virtuous, well-informed, and well-conditioned as many +individuals of the same class have already made themselves. What +some men are, all without difficulty might be. Employ the same +means, and the same results will follow. That there should be a +class of men who live by their daily labour in every state is the +ordinance of God, and doubtless is a wise and righteous one; but +that this class should be otherwise than frugal, contented, +intelligent, and happy, is not the design of Providence, but +springs solely from the weakness, self-indulgence, and perverseness +of man himself. The healthy spirit of self-help created amongst +working people would more than any other measure serve to raise +them as a class, and this, not by pulling down others, but by +levelling them up to a higher and still advancing standard of +religion, intelligence, and virtue. "All moral philosophy," says +Montaigne, "is as applicable to a common and private life as to the +most splendid. Every man carries the entire form of the human +condition within him." + +When a man casts his glance forward, he will find that the three +chief temporal contingencies for which he has to provide are want +of employment, sickness, and death. The two first he may escape, +but the last is inevitable. It is, however, the duty of the +prudent man so to live, and so to arrange, that the pressure of +suffering, in event of either contingency occurring, shall be +mitigated to as great an extent as possible, not only to himself, +but also to those who are dependent upon him for their comfort and +subsistence. Viewed in this light the honest earning and the +frugal use of money are of the greatest importance. Rightly +earned, it is the representative of patient industry and untiring +effort, of temptation resisted, and hope rewarded; and rightly +used, it affords indications of prudence, forethought and self- +denial--the true basis of manly character. Though money represents +a crowd of objects without any real worth or utility, it also +represents many things of great value; not only food, clothing, and +household satisfaction, but personal self-respect and independence. +Thus a store of savings is to the working man as a barricade +against want; it secures him a footing, and enables him to wait, it +may be in cheerfulness and hope, until better days come round. The +very endeavour to gain a firmer position in the world has a certain +dignity in it, and tends to make a man stronger and better. At all +events it gives him greater freedom of action, and enables him to +husband his strength for future effort. + +But the man who is always hovering on the verge of want is in a +state not far removed from that of slavery. He is in no sense his +own master, but is in constant peril of falling under the bondage +of others, and accepting the terms which they dictate to him. He +cannot help being, in a measure, servile, for he dares not look the +world boldly in the face; and in adverse times he must look either +to alms or the poor's rates. If work fails him altogether, he has +not the means of moving to another field of employment; he is fixed +to his parish like a limpet to its rock, and can neither migrate +nor emigrate. + +To secure independence, the practice of simple economy is all that +is necessary. Economy requires neither superior courage nor +eminent virtue; it is satisfied with ordinary energy, and the +capacity of average minds. Economy, at bottom, is but the spirit +of order applied in the administration of domestic affairs: it +means management, regularity, prudence, and the avoidance of waste. +The spirit of economy was expressed by our Divine Master in the +words 'Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing may be +lost.' His omnipotence did not disdain the small things of life; +and even while revealing His infinite power to the multitude, he +taught the pregnant lesson of carefulness of which all stand so +much in need. + +Economy also means the power of resisting present gratification for +the purpose of securing a future good, and in this light it +represents the ascendancy of reason over the animal instincts. It +is altogether different from penuriousness: for it is economy that +can always best afford to be generous. It does not make money an +idol, but regards it as a useful agent. As Dean Swift observes, +"we must carry money in the head, not in the heart." Economy may +be styled the daughter of Prudence, the sister of Temperance, and +the mother of Liberty. It is evidently conservative--conservative +of character, of domestic happiness, and social well-being. It is, +in short, the exhibition of self-help in one of its best forms. + +Francis Horner's father gave him this advice on entering life:- +"Whilst I wish you to be comfortable in every respect, I cannot too +strongly inculcate economy. It is a necessary virtue to all; and +however the shallow part of mankind may despise it, it certainly +leads to independence, which is a grand object to every man of a +high spirit." Burns' lines, quoted at the head of this chapter, +contain the right idea; but unhappily his strain of song was higher +than his practice; his ideal better than his habit. When laid on +his death-bed he wrote to a friend, "Alas! Clarke, I begin to feel +the worst. Burns' poor widow, and half a dozen of his dear little +ones helpless orphans;--there I am weak as a woman's tear. Enough +of this;--'tis half my disease." + +Every man ought so to contrive as to live within his means. This +practice is of the very essence of honesty. For if a man do not +manage honestly to live within his own means, he must necessarily +be living dishonestly upon the means of somebody else. Those who +are careless about personal expenditure, and consider merely their +own gratification, without regard for the comfort of others, +generally find out the real uses of money when it is too late. +Though by nature generous, these thriftless persons are often +driven in the end to do very shabby things. They waste their money +as they do their time; draw bills upon the future; anticipate their +earnings; and are thus under the necessity of dragging after them a +load of debts and obligations which seriously affect their action +as free and independent men. + +It was a maxim of Lord Bacon, that when it was necessary to +economize, it was better to look after petty savings than to +descend to petty gettings. The loose cash which many persons throw +away uselessly, and worse, would often form a basis of fortune and +independence for life. These wasters are their own worst enemies, +though generally found amongst the ranks of those who rail at the +injustice of "the world." But if a man will not be his own friend, +how can he expect that others will? Orderly men of moderate means +have always something left in their pockets to help others; whereas +your prodigal and careless fellows who spend all never find an +opportunity for helping anybody. It is poor economy, however, to +be a scrub. Narrowmindedness in living and in dealing is generally +short-sighted, and leads to failure. The penny soul, it is said, +never came to twopence. Generosity and liberality, like honesty, +prove the best policy after all. Though Jenkinson, in the 'Vicar +of Wakefield,' cheated his kind-hearted neighbour Flamborough in +one way or another every year, "Flamborough," said he, "has been +regularly growing in riches, while I have come to poverty and a +gaol." And practical life abounds in cases of brilliant results +from a course of generous and honest policy. + +The proverb says that "an empty bag cannot stand upright;" neither +can a man who is in debt. It is also difficult for a man who is in +debt to be truthful; hence it is said that lying rides on debt's +back. The debtor has to frame excuses to his creditor for +postponing payment of the money he owes him; and probably also to +contrive falsehoods. It is easy enough for a man who will exercise +a healthy resolution, to avoid incurring the first obligation; but +the facility with which that has been incurred often becomes a +temptation to a second; and very soon the unfortunate borrower +becomes so entangled that no late exertion of industry can set him +free. The first step in debt is like the first step in falsehood; +almost involving the necessity of proceeding in the same course, +debt following debt, as lie follows lie. Haydon, the painter, +dated his decline from the day on which he first borrowed money. +He realized the truth of the proverb, "Who goes a-borrowing, goes +a-sorrowing." The significant entry in his diary is: "Here began +debt and obligation, out of which I have never been and never shall +be extricated as long as I live." His Autobiography shows but too +painfully how embarrassment in money matters produces poignant +distress of mind, utter incapacity for work, and constantly +recurring humiliations. The written advice which he gave to a +youth when entering the navy was as follows: "Never purchase any +enjoyment if it cannot be procured without borrowing of others. +Never borrow money: it is degrading. I do not say never lend, but +never lend if by lending you render yourself unable to pay what you +owe; but under any circumstances never borrow." Fichte, the poor +student, refused to accept even presents from his still poorer +parents. + +Dr. Johnson held that early debt is ruin. His words on the subject +are weighty, and worthy of being held in remembrance. "Do not," +said he, "accustom yourself to consider debt only as an +inconvenience; you will find it a calamity. Poverty takes away so +many means of doing good, and produces so much inability to resist +evil, both natural and moral, that it is by all virtuous means to +be avoided. . . . Let it be your first care, then, not to be in any +man's debt. Resolve not to be poor; whatever you have spend less. +Poverty is a great enemy to human happiness; it certainly destroys +liberty, and it makes some virtues impracticable and others +extremely difficult. Frugality is not only the basis of quiet, but +of beneficence. No man can help others that wants help himself; we +must have enough before we have to spare." + +It is the bounden duty of every man to look his affairs in the +face, and to keep an account of his incomings and outgoings in +money matters. The exercise of a little simple arithmetic in this +way will be found of great value. Prudence requires that we shall +pitch our scale of living a degree below our means, rather than up +to them; but this can only be done by carrying out faithfully a +plan of living by which both ends may be made to meet. John Locke +strongly advised this course: "Nothing," said he, "is likelier to +keep a man within compass than having constantly before his eyes +the state of his affairs in a regular course of account." The Duke +of Wellington kept an accurate detailed account of all the moneys +received and expended by him. "I make a point," said he to Mr. +Gleig, "of paying my own bills, and I advise every one to do the +same; formerly I used to trust a confidential servant to pay them, +but I was cured of that folly by receiving one morning, to my great +surprise, duns of a year or two's standing. The fellow had +speculated with my money, and left my bills unpaid." Talking of +debt his remark was, "It makes a slave of a man. I have often +known what it was to be in want of money, but I never got into +debt." Washington was as particular as Wellington was, in matters +of business detail; and it is a remarkable fact, that he did not +disdain to scrutinize the smallest outgoings of his household-- +determined as he was to live honestly within his means--even while +holding the high office of President of the American Union. + +Admiral Jervis, Earl St. Vincent, has told the story of his early +struggles, and, amongst other things, of his determination to keep +out of debt. "My father had a very large family," said he, "with +limited means. He gave me twenty pounds at starting, and that was +all he ever gave me. After I had been a considerable time at the +station [at sea], I drew for twenty more, but the bill came back +protested. I was mortified at this rebuke, and made a promise, +which I have ever kept, that I would never draw another bill +without a certainty of its being paid. I immediately changed my +mode of living, quitted my mess, lived alone, and took up the +ship's allowance, which I found quite sufficient; washed and mended +my own clothes; made a pair of trousers out of the ticking of my +bed; and having by these means saved as much money as would redeem +my honour, I took up my bill, and from that time to this I have +taken care to keep within my means." Jervis for six years endured +pinching privation, but preserved his integrity, studied his +profession with success, and gradually and steadily rose by merit +and bravery to the highest rank. + +Mr. Hume hit the mark when he once stated in the House of Commons-- +though his words were followed by "laughter"--that the tone of +living in England is altogether too high. Middle-class people are +too apt to live up to their incomes, if not beyond them: affecting +a degree of "style" which is most unhealthy in its effects upon +society at large. There is an ambition to bring up boys as +gentlemen, or rather "genteel" men; though the result frequently +is, only to make them gents. They acquire a taste for dress, +style, luxuries, and amusements, which can never form any solid +foundation for manly or gentlemanly character; and the result is, +that we have a vast number of gingerbread young gentry thrown upon +the world, who remind one of the abandoned hulls sometimes picked +up at sea, with only a monkey on board. + +There is a dreadful ambition abroad for being "genteel." We keep +up appearances, too often at the expense of honesty; and, though we +may not be rich, yet we must seem to be so. We must be +"respectable," though only in the meanest sense--in mere vulgar +outward show. We have not the courage to go patiently onward in +the condition of life in which it has pleased God to call us; but +must needs live in some fashionable state to which we ridiculously +please to call ourselves, and all to gratify the vanity of that +unsubstantial genteel world of which we form a part. There is a +constant struggle and pressure for front seats in the social +amphitheatre; in the midst of which all noble self-denying resolve +is trodden down, and many fine natures are inevitably crushed to +death. What waste, what misery, what bankruptcy, come from all +this ambition to dazzle others with the glare of apparent worldly +success, we need not describe. The mischievous results show +themselves in a thousand ways--in the rank frauds committed by men +who dare to be dishonest, but do not dare to seem poor; and in the +desperate dashes at fortune, in which the pity is not so much for +those who fail, as for the hundreds of innocent families who are so +often involved in their ruin. + +The late Sir Charles Napier, in taking leave of his command in +India, did a bold and honest thing in publishing his strong +protest, embodied in his last General Order to the officers of the +Indian army, against the "fast" life led by so many young officers +in that service, involving them in ignominious obligations. Sir +Charles strongly urged, in that famous document--what had almost +been lost sight of that "honesty is inseparable from the character +of a thorough-bred gentleman;" and that "to drink unpaid-for +champagne and unpaid-for beer, and to ride unpaid-for horses, is to +be a cheat, and not a gentleman." Men who lived beyond their means +and were summoned, often by their own servants, before Courts of +Requests for debts contracted in extravagant living, might be +officers by virtue of their commissions, but they were not +gentlemen. The habit of being constantly in debt, the Commander- +in-chief held, made men grow callous to the proper feelings of a +gentleman. It was not enough that an officer should be able to +fight: that any bull-dog could do. But did he hold his word +inviolate?--did he pay his debts? These were among the points of +honour which, he insisted, illuminated the true gentleman's and +soldier's career. As Bayard was of old, so would Sir Charles +Napier have all British officers to be. He knew them to be +"without fear," but he would also have them "without reproach." +There are, however, many gallant young fellows, both in India and +at home, capable of mounting a breach on an emergency amidst +belching fire, and of performing the most desperate deeds of +valour, who nevertheless cannot or will not exercise the moral +courage necessary to enable them to resist a petty temptation +presented to their senses. They cannot utter their valiant "No," +or "I can't afford it," to the invitations of pleasure and self- +enjoyment; and they are found ready to brave death rather than the +ridicule of their companions. + +The young man, as he passes through life, advances through a long +line of tempters ranged on either side of him; and the inevitable +effect of yielding, is degradation in a greater or a less degree. +Contact with them tends insensibly to draw away from him some +portion of the divine electric element with which his nature is +charged; and his only mode of resisting them is to utter and to act +out his "no" manfully and resolutely. He must decide at once, not +waiting to deliberate and balance reasons; for the youth, like "the +woman who deliberates, is lost." Many deliberate, without +deciding; but "not to resolve, IS to resolve." A perfect knowledge +of man is in the prayer, "Lead us not into temptation." But +temptation will come to try the young man's strength; and once +yielded to, the power to resist grows weaker and weaker. Yield +once, and a portion of virtue has gone. Resist manfully, and the +first decision will give strength for life; repeated, it will +become a habit. It is in the outworks of the habits formed in +early life that the real strength of the defence must lie; for it +has been wisely ordained, that the machinery of moral existence +should be carried on principally through the medium of the habits, +so as to save the wear and tear of the great principles within. It +is good habits, which insinuate themselves into the thousand +inconsiderable acts of life, that really constitute by far the +greater part of man's moral conduct. + +Hugh Miller has told how, by an act of youthful decision, he saved +himself from one of the strong temptations so peculiar to a life of +toil. When employed as a mason, it was usual for his fellow- +workmen to have an occasional treat of drink, and one day two +glasses of whisky fell to his share, which he swallowed. When he +reached home, he found, on opening his favourite book--'Bacon's +Essays'--that the letters danced before his eyes, and that he could +no longer master the sense. "The condition," he says, "into which +I had brought myself was, I felt, one of degradation. I had sunk, +by my own act, for the time, to a lower level of intelligence than +that on which it was my privilege to be placed; and though the +state could have been no very favourable one for forming a +resolution, I in that hour determined that I should never again +sacrifice my capacity of intellectual enjoyment to a drinking +usage; and, with God's help, I was enabled to hold by the +determination." It is such decisions as this that often form the +turning-points in a man's life, and furnish the foundation of his +future character. And this rock, on which Hugh Miller might have +been wrecked, if he had not at the right moment put forth his moral +strength to strike away from it, is one that youth and manhood +alike need to be constantly on their guard against. It is about +one of the worst and most deadly, as well as extravagant, +temptations which lie in the way of youth. Sir Walter Scott used +to say that "of all vices drinking is the most incompatible with +greatness." Not only so, but it is incompatible with economy, +decency, health, and honest living. When a youth cannot restrain, +he must abstain. Dr. Johnson's case is the case of many. He said, +referring to his own habits, "Sir, I can abstain; but I can't be +moderate." + +But to wrestle vigorously and successfully with any vicious habit, +we must not merely be satisfied with contending on the low ground +of worldly prudence, though that is of use, but take stand upon a +higher moral elevation. Mechanical aids, such as pledges, may be +of service to some, but the great thing is to set up a high +standard of thinking and acting, and endeavour to strengthen and +purify the principles as well as to reform the habits. For this +purpose a youth must study himself, watch his steps, and compare +his thoughts and acts with his rule. The more knowledge of himself +he gains, the more humble will he be, and perhaps the less +confident in his own strength. But the discipline will be always +found most valuable which is acquired by resisting small present +gratifications to secure a prospective greater and higher one. It +is the noblest work in self-education--for + + +"Real glory +Springs from the silent conquest of ourselves, +And without that the conqueror is nought +But the first slave." + + +Many popular books have been written for the purpose of +communicating to the public the grand secret of making money. But +there is no secret whatever about it, as the proverbs of every +nation abundantly testify. "Take care of the pennies and the +pounds will take care of themselves." "Diligence is the mother of +good luck." "No pains no gains." "No sweat no sweet." "Work and +thou shalt have." "The world is his who has patience and +industry." "Better go to bed supperless than rise in debt." Such +are specimens of the proverbial philosophy, embodying the hoarded +experience of many generations, as to the best means of thriving in +the world. They were current in people's mouths long before books +were invented; and like other popular proverbs they were the first +codes of popular morals. Moreover they have stood the test of +time, and the experience of every day still bears witness to their +accuracy, force, and soundness. The proverbs of Solomon are full +of wisdom as to the force of industry, and the use and abuse of +money:- "He that is slothful in work is brother to him that is a +great waster." "Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, +and be wise." Poverty, says the preacher, shall come upon the +idler, "as one that travelleth, and want as an armed man;" but of +the industrious and upright, "the hand of the diligent maketh +rich." "The drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty; and +drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags." "Seest thou a man +diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings." But above +all, "It is better to get wisdom than gold; for wisdom is better +than rubies, and all the things that may be desired are not to be +compared to it." + +Simple industry and thrift will go far towards making any person of +ordinary working faculty comparatively independent in his means. +Even a working man may be so, provided he will carefully husband +his resources, and watch the little outlets of useless expenditure. +A penny is a very small matter, yet the comfort of thousands of +families depends upon the proper spending and saving of pennies. +If a man allows the little pennies, the results of his hard work, +to slip out of his fingers--some to the beershop, some this way and +some that--he will find that his life is little raised above one of +mere animal drudgery. On the other hand, if he take care of the +pennies--putting some weekly into a benefit society or an insurance +fund, others into a savings' bank, and confiding the rest to his +wife to be carefully laid out, with a view to the comfortable +maintenance and education of his family--he will soon find that +this attention to small matters will abundantly repay him, in +increasing means, growing comfort at home, and a mind comparatively +free from fears as to the future. And if a working man have high +ambition and possess richness in spirit,--a kind of wealth which +far transcends all mere worldly possessions--he may not only help +himself, but be a profitable helper of others in his path through +life. That this is no impossible thing even for a common labourer +in a workshop, may be illustrated by the remarkable career of +Thomas Wright of Manchester, who not only attempted but succeeded +in the reclamation of many criminals while working for weekly wages +in a foundry. + +Accident first directed Thomas Wright's attention to the difficulty +encountered by liberated convicts in returning to habits of honest +industry. His mind was shortly possessed by the subject; and to +remedy the evil became the purpose of his life. Though he worked +from six in the morning till six at night, still there were leisure +minutes that he could call his own--more especially his Sundays-- +and these he employed in the service of convicted criminals; a +class then far more neglected than they are now. But a few minutes +a day, well employed, can effect a great deal; and it will scarcely +be credited, that in ten years this working man, by steadfastly +holding to his purpose, succeeded in rescuing not fewer than three +hundred felons from continuance in a life of villany! He came to +be regarded as the moral physician of the Manchester Old Bailey; +and where the Chaplain and all others failed, Thomas Wright often +succeeded. Children he thus restored reformed to their parents; +sons and daughters otherwise lost, to their homes; and many a +returned convict did he contrive to settle down to honest and +industrious pursuits. The task was by no means easy. It required +money, time, energy, prudence, and above all, character, and the +confidence which character invariably inspires. The most +remarkable circumstance was that Wright relieved many of these poor +outcasts out of the comparatively small wages earned by him at +foundry work. He did all this on an income which did not average, +during his working career, 100l. per annum; and yet, while he was +able to bestow substantial aid on criminals, to whom he owed no +more than the service of kindness which every human being owes to +another, he also maintained his family in comfort, and was, by +frugality and carefulness, enabled to lay by a store of savings +against his approaching old age. Every week he apportioned his +income with deliberate care; so much for the indispensable +necessaries of food and clothing, so much for the landlord, so much +for the schoolmaster, so much for the poor and needy; and the lines +of distribution were resolutely observed. By such means did this +humble workman pursue his great work, with the results we have so +briefly described. Indeed, his career affords one of the most +remarkable and striking illustrations of the force of purpose in a +man, of the might of small means carefully and sedulously applied, +and, above all, of the power which an energetic and upright +character invariably exercises upon the lives and conduct of +others. + +There is no discredit, but honour, in every right walk of industry, +whether it be in tilling the ground, making tools, weaving fabrics, +or selling the products behind a counter. A youth may handle a +yard-stick, or measure a piece of ribbon; and there will be no +discredit in doing so, unless he allows his mind to have no higher +range than the stick and ribbon; to be as short as the one, and as +narrow as the other. "Let not those blush who HAVE," said Fuller, +"but those who HAVE NOT a lawful calling." And Bishop Hall said, +"Sweet is the destiny of all trades, whether of the brow or of the +mind." Men who have raised themselves from a humble calling, need +not be ashamed, but rather ought to be proud of the difficulties +they have surmounted. An American President, when asked what was +his coat-of-arms, remembering that he had been a hewer of wood in +his youth, replied, "A pair of shirt sleeves." A French doctor +once taunted Flechier, Bishop of Nismes, who had been a tallow- +chandler in his youth, with the meanness of his origin, to which +Flechier replied, "If you had been born in the same condition that +I was, you would still have been but a maker of candles." + +Nothing is more common than energy in money-making, quite +independent of any higher object than its accumulation. A man who +devotes himself to this pursuit, body and soul, can scarcely fail +to become rich. Very little brains will do; spend less than you +earn; add guinea to guinea; scrape and save; and the pile of gold +will gradually rise. Osterwald, the Parisian banker, began life a +poor man. He was accustomed every evening to drink a pint of beer +for supper at a tavern which he visited, during which he collected +and pocketed all the corks that he could lay his hands on. In +eight years he had collected as many corks as sold for eight louis +d'ors. With that sum he laid the foundations of his fortune-- +gained mostly by stock-jobbing; leaving at his death some three +millions of francs. John Foster has cited a striking illustration +of what this kind of determination will do in money-making. A +young man who ran through his patrimony, spending it in profligacy, +was at length reduced to utter want and despair. He rushed out of +his house intending to put an end to his life, and stopped on +arriving at an eminence overlooking what were once his estates. He +sat down, ruminated for a time, and rose with the determination +that he would recover them. He returned to the streets, saw a load +of coals which had been shot out of a cart on to the pavement +before a house, offered to carry them in, and was employed. He +thus earned a few pence, requested some meat and drink as a +gratuity, which was given him, and the pennies were laid by. +Pursuing this menial labour, he earned and saved more pennies; +accumulated sufficient to enable him to purchase some cattle, the +value of which he understood, and these he sold to advantage. He +proceeded by degrees to undertake larger transactions, until at +length he became rich. The result was, that he more than recovered +his possessions, and died an inveterate miser. When he was buried, +mere earth went to earth. With a nobler spirit, the same +determination might have enabled such a man to be a benefactor to +others as well as to himself. But the life and its end in this +case were alike sordid. + +To provide for others and for our own comfort and independence in +old age, is honourable, and greatly to be commended; but to hoard +for mere wealth's sake is the characteristic of the narrow-souled +and the miserly. It is against the growth of this habit of +inordinate saving that the wise man needs most carefully to guard +himself: else, what in youth was simple economy, may in old age +grow into avarice, and what was a duty in the one case, may become +a vice in the other. It is the LOVE of money--not money itself-- +which is "the root of evil,"--a love which narrows and contracts +the soul, and closes it against generous life and action. Hence, +Sir Walter Scott makes one of his characters declare that "the +penny siller slew more souls than the naked sword slew bodies." It +is one of the defects of business too exclusively followed, that it +insensibly tends to a mechanism of character. The business man +gets into a rut, and often does not look beyond it. If he lives +for himself only, he becomes apt to regard other human beings only +in so far as they minister to his ends. Take a leaf from such +men's ledger and you have their life. + +Worldly success, measured by the accumulation of money, is no doubt +a very dazzling thing; and all men are naturally more or less the +admirers of worldly success. But though men of persevering, sharp, +dexterous, and unscrupulous habits, ever on the watch to push +opportunities, may and do "get on" in the world, yet it is quite +possible that they may not possess the slightest elevation of +character, nor a particle of real goodness. He who recognizes no +higher logic than that of the shilling, may become a very rich man, +and yet remain all the while an exceedingly poor creature. For +riches are no proof whatever of moral worth; and their glitter +often serves only to draw attention to the worthlessness of their +possessor, as the light of the glowworm reveals the grub. + +The manner in which many allow themselves to be sacrificed to their +love of wealth reminds one of the cupidity of the monkey--that +caricature of our species. In Algiers, the Kabyle peasant attaches +a gourd, well fixed, to a tree, and places within it some rice. +The gourd has an opening merely sufficient to admit the monkey's +paw. The creature comes to the tree by night, inserts his paw, and +grasps his booty. He tries to draw it back, but it is clenched, +and he has not the wisdom to unclench it. So there he stands till +morning, when he is caught, looking as foolish as may be, though +with the prize in his grasp. The moral of this little story is +capable of a very extensive application in life. + +The power of money is on the whole over-estimated. The greatest +things which have been done for the world have not been +accomplished by rich men, nor by subscription lists, but by men +generally of small pecuniary means. Christianity was propagated +over half the world by men of the poorest class; and the greatest +thinkers, discoverers, inventors, and artists, have been men of +moderate wealth, many of them little raised above the condition of +manual labourers in point of worldly circumstances. And it will +always be so. Riches are oftener an impediment than a stimulus to +action; and in many cases they are quite as much a misfortune as a +blessing. The youth who inherits wealth is apt to have life made +too easy for him, and he soon grows sated with it, because he has +nothing left to desire. Having no special object to struggle for, +he finds time hang heavy on his hands; he remains morally and +spiritually asleep; and his position in society is often no higher +than that of a polypus over which the tide floats. + + +"His only labour is to kill the time, +And labour dire it is, and weary woe." + + +Yet the rich man, inspired by a right spirit, will spurn idleness +as unmanly; and if he bethink himself of the responsibilities which +attach to the possession of wealth and property he will feel even a +higher call to work than men of humbler lot. This, however, must +be admitted to be by no means the practice of life. The golden +mean of Agur's perfect prayer is, perhaps, the best lot of all, did +we but know it: "Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with +food convenient for me." The late Joseph Brotherton, M.P., left a +fine motto to be recorded upon his monument in the Peel Park at +Manchester,--the declaration in his case being strictly true: "My +richness consisted not in the greatness of my possessions, but in +the smallness of my wants." He rose from the humblest station, +that of a factory boy, to an eminent position of usefulness, by the +simple exercise of homely honesty, industry, punctuality, and self- +denial. Down to the close of his life, when not attending +Parliament, he did duty as minister in a small chapel in Manchester +to which he was attached; and in all things he made it appear, to +those who knew him in private life, that the glory he sought was +NOT "to be seen of men," or to excite their praise, but to earn the +consciousness of discharging the every-day duties of life, down to +the smallest and humblest of them, in an honest, upright, truthful, +and loving spirit. + +"Respectability," in its best sense, is good. The respectable man +is one worthy of regard, literally worth turning to look at. But +the respectability that consists in merely keeping up appearances +is not worth looking at in any sense. Far better and more +respectable is the good poor man than the bad rich one--better the +humble silent man than the agreeable well-appointed rogue who keeps +his gig. A well balanced and well-stored mind, a life full of +useful purpose, whatever the position occupied in it may be, is of +far greater importance than average worldly respectability. The +highest object of life we take to be, to form a manly character, +and to work out the best development possible, of body and spirit-- +of mind, conscience, heart, and soul. This is the end: all else +ought to be regarded but as the means. Accordingly, that is not +the most successful life in which a man gets the most pleasure, the +most money, the most power or place, honour or fame; but that in +which a man gets the most manhood, and performs the greatest amount +of useful work and of human duty. Money is power after its sort, +it is true; but intelligence, public spirit, and moral virtue, are +powers too, and far nobler ones. "Let others plead for pensions," +wrote Lord Collingwood to a friend; "I can be rich without money, +by endeavouring to be superior to everything poor. I would have my +services to my country unstained by any interested motive; and old +Scott {27} and I can go on in our cabbage-garden without much +greater expense than formerly." On another occasion he said, "I +have motives for my conduct which I would not give in exchange for +a hundred pensions." + +The making of a fortune may no doubt enable some people to "enter +society," as it is called; but to be esteemed there, they must +possess qualities of mind, manners, or heart, else they are merely +rich people, nothing more. There are men "in society" now, as rich +as Croesus, who have no consideration extended towards them, and +elicit no respect. For why? They are but as money-bags: their +only power is in their till. The men of mark in society--the +guides and rulers of opinion--the really successful and useful men- +-are not necessarily rich men; but men of sterling character, of +disciplined experience, and of moral excellence. Even the poor +man, like Thomas Wright, though he possess but little of this +world's goods, may, in the enjoyment of a cultivated nature, of +opportunities used and not abused, of a life spent to the best of +his means and ability, look down, without the slightest feeling of +envy, upon the person of mere worldly success, the man of money- +bags and acres. + + + +CHAPTER XI--SELF-CULTURE--FACILITIES AND DIFFICULTIES + + + +"Every person has two educations, one which he receives from +others, and one, more important, which he gives to himself."-- +Gibbon. + +"Is there one whom difficulties dishearten--who bends to the storm? +He will do little. Is there one who will conquer? That kind of +man never fails."--John Hunter. + +"The wise and active conquer difficulties, +By daring to attempt them: sloth and folly +Shiver and shrink at sight of toil and danger, +And MAKE the impossibility they fear."--Rowe. + + +"The best part of every man's education," said Sir Walter Scott, +"is that which he gives to himself." The late Sir Benjamin Brodie +delighted to remember this saying, and he used to congratulate +himself on the fact that professionally he was self-taught. But +this is necessarily the case with all men who have acquired +distinction in letters, science, or art. The education received at +school or college is but a beginning, and is valuable mainly +inasmuch as it trains the mind and habituates it to continuous +application and study. That which is put into us by others is +always far less ours than that which we acquire by our own diligent +and persevering effort. Knowledge conquered by labour becomes a +possession--a property entirely our own. A greater vividness and +permanency of impression is secured; and facts thus acquired become +registered in the mind in a way that mere imparted information can +never effect. This kind of self-culture also calls forth power and +cultivates strength. The solution of one problem helps the mastery +of another; and thus knowledge is carried into faculty. Our own +active effort is the essential thing; and no facilities, no books, +no teachers, no amount of lessons learnt by rote will enable us to +dispense with it. + +The best teachers have been the readiest to recognize the +importance of self-culture, and of stimulating the student to +acquire knowledge by the active exercise of his own faculties. +They have relied more upon TRAINING than upon telling, and sought +to make their pupils themselves active parties to the work in which +they were engaged; thus making teaching something far higher than +the mere passive reception of the scraps and details of knowledge. +This was the spirit in which the great Dr. Arnold worked; he strove +to teach his pupils to rely upon themselves, and develop their +powers by their own active efforts, himself merely guiding, +directing, stimulating, and encouraging them. "I would far +rather," he said, "send a boy to Van Diemen's Land, where he must +work for his bread, than send him to Oxford to live in luxury, +without any desire in his mind to avail himself of his advantages." +"If there be one thing on earth," he observed on another occasion, +"which is truly admirable, it is to see God's wisdom blessing an +inferiority of natural powers, when they have been honestly, truly, +and zealously cultivated." Speaking of a pupil of this character, +he said, "I would stand to that man hat in hand." Once at Laleham, +when teaching a rather dull boy, Arnold spoke somewhat sharply to +him, on which the pupil looked up in his face and said, "Why do you +speak angrily, sir? INDEED, I am doing the best I can." Years +afterwards, Arnold used to tell the story to his children, and +added, "I never felt so much in my life--that look and that speech +I have never forgotten." + +From the numerous instances already cited of men of humble station +who have risen to distinction in science and literature, it will be +obvious that labour is by no means incompatible with the highest +intellectual culture. Work in moderation is healthy, as well as +agreeable to the human constitution. Work educates the body, as +study educates the mind; and that is the best state of society in +which there is some work for every man's leisure, and some leisure +for every man's work. Even the leisure classes are in a measure +compelled to work, sometimes as a relief from ennui, but in most +cases to gratify an instinct which they cannot resist. Some go +foxhunting in the English counties, others grouse-shooting on the +Scotch hills, while many wander away every summer to climb +mountains in Switzerland. Hence the boating, running, cricketing, +and athletic sports of the public schools, in which our young men +at the same time so healthfully cultivate their strength both of +mind and body. It is said that the Duke of Wellington, when once +looking on at the boys engaged in their sports in the play-ground +at Eton, where he had spent many of his own younger days, made the +remark, "It was there that the battle of Waterloo was won!" + +Daniel Malthus urged his son when at college to be most diligent in +the cultivation of knowledge, but he also enjoined him to pursue +manly sports as the best means of keeping up the full working power +of his mind, as well as of enjoying the pleasures of intellect. +"Every kind of knowledge," said he, "every acquaintance with nature +and art, will amuse and strengthen your mind, and I am perfectly +pleased that cricket should do the same by your arms and legs; I +love to see you excel in exercises of the body, and I think myself +that the better half, and much the most agreeable part, of the +pleasures of the mind is best enjoyed while one is upon one's +legs." But a still more important use of active employment is that +referred to by the great divine, Jeremy Taylor. "Avoid idleness," +he says, "and fill up all the spaces of thy time with severe and +useful employment; for lust easily creeps in at those emptinesses +where the soul is unemployed and the body is at ease; for no easy, +healthful, idle person was ever chaste if he could be tempted; but +of all employments bodily labour is the most useful, and of the +greatest benefit for driving away the devil." + +Practical success in life depends more upon physical health than is +generally imagined. Hodson, of Hodson's Horse, writing home to a +friend in England, said, "I believe, if I get on well in India, it +will be owing, physically speaking, to a sound digestion." The +capacity for continuous working in any calling must necessarily +depend in a great measure upon this; and hence the necessity for +attending to health, even as a means of intellectual labour. It is +perhaps to the neglect of physical exercise that we find amongst +students so frequent a tendency towards discontent, unhappiness, +inaction, and reverie,--displaying itself in contempt for real life +and disgust at the beaten tracks of men,--a tendency which in +England has been called Byronism, and in Germany Wertherism. Dr. +Channing noted the same growth in America, which led him to make +the remark, that "too many of our young men grow up in a school of +despair." The only remedy for this green-sickness in youth is +physical exercise--action, work, and bodily occupation. + +The use of early labour in self-imposed mechanical employments may +be illustrated by the boyhood of Sir Isaac Newton. Though a +comparatively dull scholar, he was very assiduous in the use of his +saw, hammer, and hatchet--"knocking and hammering in his lodging +room"--making models of windmills, carriages, and machines of all +sorts; and as he grew older, he took delight in making little +tables and cupboards for his friends. Smeaton, Watt, and +Stephenson, were equally handy with tools when mere boys; and but +for such kind of self-culture in their youth, it is doubtful +whether they would have accomplished so much in their manhood. +Such was also the early training of the great inventors and +mechanics described in the preceding pages, whose contrivance and +intelligence were practically trained by the constant use of their +hands in early life. Even where men belonging to the manual labour +class have risen above it, and become more purely intellectual +labourers, they have found the advantages of their early training +in their later pursuits. Elihu Burritt says he found hard labour +NECESSARY to enable him to study with effect; and more than once he +gave up school-teaching and study, and, taking to his leather-apron +again, went back to his blacksmith's forge and anvil for his health +of body and mind's sake. + +The training of young men in the use of tools would, at the same +time that it educated them in "common things," teach them the use +of their hands and arms, familiarize them with healthy work, +exercise their faculties upon things tangible and actual, give them +some practical acquaintance with mechanics, impart to them the +ability of being useful, and implant in them the habit of +persevering physical effort. This is an advantage which the +working classes, strictly so called, certainly possess over the +leisure classes,--that they are in early life under the necessity +of applying themselves laboriously to some mechanical pursuit or +other,--thus acquiring manual dexterity and the use of their +physical powers. The chief disadvantage attached to the calling of +the laborious classes is, not that they are employed in physical +work, but that they are too exclusively so employed, often to the +neglect of their moral and intellectual faculties. While the +youths of the leisure classes, having been taught to associate +labour with servility, have shunned it, and been allowed to grow up +practically ignorant, the poorer classes, confining themselves +within the circle of their laborious callings, have been allowed to +grow up in a large proportion of cases absolutely illiterate. It +seems possible, however, to avoid both these evils by combining +physical training or physical work with intellectual culture: and +there are various signs abroad which seem to mark the gradual +adoption of this healthier system of education. + +The success of even professional men depends in no slight degree on +their physical health; and a public writer has gone so far as to +say that "the greatness of our great men is quite as much a bodily +affair as a mental one." {28} A healthy breathing apparatus is as +indispensable to the successful lawyer or politician as a well- +cultured intellect. The thorough aeration of the blood by free +exposure to a large breathing surface in the lungs, is necessary to +maintain that full vital power on which the vigorous working of the +brain in so large a measure depends. The lawyer has to climb the +heights of his profession through close and heated courts, and the +political leader has to bear the fatigue and excitement of long and +anxious debates in a crowded House. Hence the lawyer in full +practice and the parliamentary leader in full work are called upon +to display powers of physical endurance and activity even more +extraordinary than those of the intellect,--such powers as have +been exhibited in so remarkable a degree by Brougham, Lyndhurst, +and Campbell; by Peel, Graham, and Palmerston--all full-chested +men. + +Though Sir Walter Scott, when at Edinburgh College, went by the +name of "The Greek Blockhead," he was, notwithstanding his +lameness, a remarkably healthy youth: he could spear a salmon with +the best fisher on the Tweed, and ride a wild horse with any hunter +in Yarrow. When devoting himself in after life to literary +pursuits, Sir Walter never lost his taste for field sports; but +while writing 'Waverley' in the morning, he would in the afternoon +course hares. Professor Wilson was a very athlete, as great at +throwing the hammer as in his flights of eloquence and poetry; and +Burns, when a youth, was remarkable chiefly for his leaping, +putting, and wrestling. Some of our greatest divines were +distinguished in their youth for their physical energies. Isaac +Barrow, when at the Charterhouse School, was notorious for his +pugilistic encounters, in which he got many a bloody nose; Andrew +Fuller, when working as a farmer's lad at Soham, was chiefly famous +for his skill in boxing; and Adam Clarke, when a boy, was only +remarkable for the strength displayed by him in "rolling large +stones about,"--the secret, possibly, of some of the power which he +subsequently displayed in rolling forth large thoughts in his +manhood. + +While it is necessary, then, in the first place to secure this +solid foundation of physical health, it must also be observed that +the cultivation of the habit of mental application is quite +indispensable for the education of the student. The maxim that +"Labour conquers all things" holds especially true in the case of +the conquest of knowledge. The road into learning is alike free to +all who will give the labour and the study requisite to gather it; +nor are there any difficulties so great that the student of +resolute purpose may not surmount and overcome them. It was one of +the characteristic expressions of Chatterton, that God had sent his +creatures into the world with arms long enough to reach anything if +they chose to be at the trouble. In study, as in business, energy +is the great thing. There must be the "fervet opus": we must not +only strike the iron while it is hot, but strike it till it is made +hot. It is astonishing how much may be accomplished in self- +culture by the energetic and the persevering, who are careful to +avail themselves of opportunities, and use up the fragments of +spare time which the idle permit to run to waste. Thus Ferguson +learnt astronomy from the heavens, while wrapt in a sheep-skin on +the highland hills. Thus Stone learnt mathematics while working as +a journeyman gardener; thus Drew studied the highest philosophy in +the intervals of cobbling shoes; and thus Miller taught himself +geology while working as a day labourer in a quarry. + +Sir Joshua Reynolds, as we have already observed, was so earnest a +believer in the force of industry that he held that all men might +achieve excellence if they would but exercise the power of +assiduous and patient working. He held that drudgery lay on the +road to genius, and that there was no limit to the proficiency of +an artist except the limit of his own painstaking. He would not +believe in what is called inspiration, but only in study and +labour. "Excellence," he said, "is never granted to man but as the +reward of labour." "If you have great talents, industry will +improve them; if you have but moderate abilities, industry will +supply their deficiency. Nothing is denied to well-directed +labour; nothing is to be obtained without it." Sir Fowell Buxton +was an equal believer in the power of study; and he entertained the +modest idea that he could do as well as other men if he devoted to +the pursuit double the time and labour that they did. He placed +his great confidence in ordinary means and extraordinary +application. + +"I have known several men in my life," says Dr. Ross, "who may be +recognized in days to come as men of genius, and they were all +plodders, hard-working, INTENT men. Genius is known by its works; +genius without works is a blind faith, a dumb oracle. But +meritorious works are the result of time and labour, and cannot be +accomplished by intention or by a wish. . . . Every great work is +the result of vast preparatory training. Facility comes by labour. +Nothing seems easy, not even walking, that was not difficult at +first. The orator whose eye flashes instantaneous fire, and whose +lips pour out a flood of noble thoughts, startling by their +unexpectedness, and elevating by their wisdom and truth, has +learned his secret by patient repetition, and after many bitter +disappointments." {29} + +Thoroughness and accuracy are two principal points to be aimed at +in study. Francis Horner, in laying down rules for the cultivation +of his mind, placed great stress upon the habit of continuous +application to one subject for the sake of mastering it thoroughly; +he confined himself, with this object, to only a few books, and +resisted with the greatest firmness "every approach to a habit of +desultory reading." The value of knowledge to any man consists not +in its quantity, but mainly in the good uses to which he can apply +it. Hence a little knowledge, of an exact and perfect character, +is always found more valuable for practical purposes than any +extent of superficial learning. + +One of Ignatius Loyola's maxims was, "He who does well one work at +a time, does more than all." By spreading our efforts over too +large a surface we inevitably weaken our force, hinder our +progress, and acquire a habit of fitfulness and ineffective +working. Lord St. Leonards once communicated to Sir Fowell Buxton +the mode in which he had conducted his studies, and thus explained +the secret of his success. "I resolved," said he, "when beginning +to read law, to make everything I acquired perfectly my own, and +never to go to a second thing till I had entirely accomplished the +first. Many of my competitors read as much in a day as I read in a +week; but, at the end of twelve months, my knowledge was as fresh +as the day it was acquired, while theirs had glided away from +recollection." + +It is not the quantity of study that one gets through, or the +amount of reading, that makes a wise man; but the appositeness of +the study to the purpose for which it is pursued; the concentration +of the mind for the time being on the subject under consideration; +and the habitual discipline by which the whole system of mental +application is regulated. Abernethy was even of opinion that there +was a point of saturation in his own mind, and that if he took into +it something more than it could hold, it only had the effect of +pushing something else out. Speaking of the study of medicine, he +said, "If a man has a clear idea of what he desires to do, he will +seldom fail in selecting the proper means of accomplishing it." + +The most profitable study is that which is conducted with a +definite aim and object. By thoroughly mastering any given branch +of knowledge we render it more available for use at any moment. +Hence it is not enough merely to have books, or to know where to +read for information as we want it. Practical wisdom, for the +purposes of life, must be carried about with us, and be ready for +use at call. It is not sufficient that we have a fund laid up at +home, but not a farthing in the pocket: we must carry about with +us a store of the current coin of knowledge ready for exchange on +all occasions, else we are comparatively helpless when the +opportunity for using it occurs. + +Decision and promptitude are as requisite in self-culture as in +business. The growth of these qualities may be encouraged by +accustoming young people to rely upon their own resources, leaving +them to enjoy as much freedom of action in early life as is +practicable. Too much guidance and restraint hinder the formation +of habits of self-help. They are like bladders tied under the arms +of one who has not taught himself to swim. Want of confidence is +perhaps a greater obstacle to improvement than is generally +imagined. It has been said that half the failures in life arise +from pulling in one's horse while he is leaping. Dr. Johnson was +accustomed to attribute his success to confidence in his own +powers. True modesty is quite compatible with a due estimate of +one's own merits, and does not demand the abnegation of all merit. +Though there are those who deceive themselves by putting a false +figure before their ciphers, the want of confidence, the want of +faith in one's self, and consequently the want of promptitude in +action, is a defect of character which is found to stand very much +in the way of individual progress; and the reason why so little is +done, is generally because so little is attempted. + +There is usually no want of desire on the part of most persons to +arrive at the results of self-culture, but there is a great +aversion to pay the inevitable price for it, of hard work. Dr. +Johnson held that "impatience of study was the mental disease of +the present generation;" and the remark is still applicable. We +may not believe that there is a royal road to learning, but we seem +to believe very firmly in a "popular" one. In education, we invent +labour-saving processes, seek short cuts to science, learn French +and Latin "in twelve lessons," or "without a master." We resemble +the lady of fashion, who engaged a master to teach her on condition +that he did not plague her with verbs and participles. We get our +smattering of science in the same way; we learn chemistry by +listening to a short course of lectures enlivened by experiments, +and when we have inhaled laughing gas, seen green water turned to +red, and phosphorus burnt in oxygen, we have got our smattering, of +which the most that can be said is, that though it may be better +than nothing, it is yet good for nothing. Thus we often imagine we +are being educated while we are only being amused. + +The facility with which young people are thus induced to acquire +knowledge, without study and labour, is not education. It occupies +but does not enrich the mind. It imparts a stimulus for the time, +and produces a sort of intellectual keenness and cleverness; but, +without an implanted purpose and a higher object than mere +pleasure, it will bring with it no solid advantage. In such cases +knowledge produces but a passing impression; a sensation, but no +more; it is, in fact, the merest epicurism of intelligence-- +sensuous, but certainly not intellectual. Thus the best qualities +of many minds, those which are evoked by vigorous effort and +independent action, sleep a deep sleep, and are often never called +to life, except by the rough awakening of sudden calamity or +suffering, which, in such cases, comes as a blessing, if it serves +to rouse up a courageous spirit that, but for it, would have slept +on. + +Accustomed to acquire information under the guise of amusement, +young people will soon reject that which is presented to them under +the aspect of study and labour. Learning their knowledge and +science in sport, they will be too apt to make sport of both; while +the habit of intellectual dissipation, thus engendered, cannot +fail, in course of time, to produce a thoroughly emasculating +effect both upon their mind and character. "Multifarious reading," +said Robertson of Brighton, "weakens the mind like smoking, and is +an excuse for its lying dormant. It is the idlest of all +idlenesses, and leaves more of impotency than any other." + +The evil is a growing one, and operates in various ways. Its least +mischief is shallowness; its greatest, the aversion to steady +labour which it induces, and the low and feeble tone of mind which +it encourages. If we would be really wise, we must diligently +apply ourselves, and confront the same continuous application which +our forefathers did; for labour is still, and ever will be, the +inevitable price set upon everything which is valuable. We must be +satisfied to work with a purpose, and wait the results with +patience. All progress, of the best kind, is slow; but to him who +works faithfully and zealously the reward will, doubtless, be +vouchsafed in good time. The spirit of industry, embodied in a +man's daily life, will gradually lead him to exercise his powers on +objects outside himself, of greater dignity and more extended +usefulness. And still we must labour on; for the work of self- +culture is never finished. "To be employed," said the poet Gray, +"is to be happy." "It is better to wear out than rust out," said +Bishop Cumberland. "Have we not all eternity to rest in?" +exclaimed Arnauld. "Repos ailleurs" was the motto of Marnix de St. +Aldegonde, the energetic and ever-working friend of William the +Silent. + +It is the use we make of the powers entrusted to us, which +constitutes our only just claim to respect. He who employs his one +talent aright is as much to be honoured as he to whom ten talents +have been given. There is really no more personal merit attaching +to the possession of superior intellectual powers than there is in +the succession to a large estate. How are those powers used--how +is that estate employed? The mind may accumulate large stores of +knowledge without any useful purpose; but the knowledge must be +allied to goodness and wisdom, and embodied in upright character, +else it is naught. Pestalozzi even held intellectual training by +itself to be pernicious; insisting that the roots of all knowledge +must strike and feed in the soil of the rightly-governed will. The +acquisition of knowledge may, it is true, protect a man against the +meaner felonies of life; but not in any degree against its selfish +vices, unless fortified by sound principles and habits. Hence do +we find in daily life so many instances of men who are well- +informed in intellect, but utterly deformed in character; filled +with the learning of the schools, yet possessing little practical +wisdom, and offering examples for warning rather than imitation. +An often quoted expression at this day is that "Knowledge is +power;" but so also are fanaticism, despotism, and ambition. +Knowledge of itself, unless wisely directed, might merely make bad +men more dangerous, and the society in which it was regarded as the +highest good, little better than a pandemonium. + +It is possible that at this day we may even exaggerate the +importance of literary culture. We are apt to imagine that because +we possess many libraries, institutes, and museums, we are making +great progress. But such facilities may as often be a hindrance as +a help to individual self-culture of the highest kind. The +possession of a library, or the free use of it, no more constitutes +learning, than the possession of wealth constitutes generosity. +Though we undoubtedly possess great facilities it is nevertheless +true, as of old, that wisdom and understanding can only become the +possession of individual men by travelling the old road of +observation, attention, perseverance, and industry. The possession +of the mere materials of knowledge is something very different from +wisdom and understanding, which are reached through a higher kind +of discipline than that of reading,--which is often but a mere +passive reception of other men's thoughts; there being little or no +active effort of mind in the transaction. Then how much of our +reading is but the indulgence of a sort of intellectual dram- +drinking, imparting a grateful excitement for the moment, without +the slightest effect in improving and enriching the mind or +building up the character. Thus many indulge themselves in the +conceit that they are cultivating their minds, when they are only +employed in the humbler occupation of killing time, of which +perhaps the best that can be said is that it keeps them from doing +worse things. + +It is also to be borne in mind that the experience gathered from +books, though often valuable, is but of the nature of LEARNING; +whereas the experience gained from actual life is of the nature of +WISDOM; and a small store of the latter is worth vastly more than +any stock of the former. Lord Bolingbroke truly said that +"Whatever study tends neither directly nor indirectly to make us +better men and citizens, is at best but a specious and ingenious +sort of idleness, and the knowledge we acquire by it, only a +creditable kind of ignorance--nothing more." + +Useful and instructive though good reading may be, it is yet only +one mode of cultivating the mind; and is much less influential than +practical experience and good example in the formation of +character. There were wise, valiant, and true-hearted men bred in +England, long before the existence of a reading public. Magna +Charta was secured by men who signed the deed with their marks. +Though altogether unskilled in the art of deciphering the literary +signs by which principles were denominated upon paper, they yet +understood and appreciated, and boldly contended for, the things +themselves. Thus the foundations of English liberty were laid by +men, who, though illiterate, were nevertheless of the very highest +stamp of character. And it must be admitted that the chief object +of culture is, not merely to fill the mind with other men's +thoughts, and to be the passive recipient of their impressions of +things, but to enlarge our individual intelligence, and render us +more useful and efficient workers in the sphere of life to which we +may be called. Many of our most energetic and useful workers have +been but sparing readers. Brindley and Stephenson did not learn to +read and write until they reached manhood, and yet they did great +works and lived manly lives; John Hunter could barely read or write +when he was twenty years old, though he could make tables and +chairs with any carpenter in the trade. "I never read," said the +great physiologist when lecturing before his class; "this"-- +pointing to some part of the subject before him--"this is the work +that you must study if you wish to become eminent in your +profession." When told that one of his contemporaries had charged +him with being ignorant of the dead languages, he said, "I would +undertake to teach him that on the dead body which he never knew in +any language, dead or living." + +It is not then how much a man may know, that is of importance, but +the end and purpose for which he knows it. The object of knowledge +should be to mature wisdom and improve character, to render us +better, happier, and more useful; more benevolent, more energetic, +and more efficient in the pursuit of every high purpose in life. +"When people once fall into the habit of admiring and encouraging +ability as such, without reference to moral character--and +religious and political opinions are the concrete form of moral +character--they are on the highway to all sorts of degradation." +{30} We must ourselves BE and DO, and not rest satisfied merely +with reading and meditating over what other men have been and done. +Our best light must be made life, and our best thought action. At +least we ought to be able to say, as Richter did, "I have made as +much out of myself as could be made of the stuff, and no man should +require more;" for it is every man's duty to discipline and guide +himself, with God's help, according to his responsibilities and the +faculties with which he has been endowed. + +Self-discipline and self-control are the beginnings of practical +wisdom; and these must have their root in self-respect. Hope +springs from it--hope, which is the companion of power, and the +mother of success; for whoso hopes strongly has within him the gift +of miracles. The humblest may say, "To respect myself, to develop +myself--this is my true duty in life. An integral and responsible +part of the great system of society, I owe it to society and to its +Author not to degrade or destroy either my body, mind, or +instincts. On the contrary, I am bound to the best of my power to +give to those parts of my constitution the highest degree of +perfection possible. I am not only to suppress the evil, but to +evoke the good elements in my nature. And as I respect myself, so +am I equally bound to respect others, as they on their part are +bound to respect me." Hence mutual respect, justice, and order, of +which law becomes the written record and guarantee. + +Self-respect is the noblest garment with which a man may clothe +himself--the most elevating feeling with which the mind can be +inspired. One of Pythagoras's wisest maxims, in his 'Golden +Verses,' is that with which he enjoins the pupil to "reverence +himself." Borne up by this high idea, he will not defile his body +by sensuality, nor his mind by servile thoughts. This sentiment, +carried into daily life, will be found at the root of all the +virtues--cleanliness, sobriety, chastity, morality, and religion. +"The pious and just honouring of ourselves," said Milton, may be +thought the radical moisture and fountain-head from whence every +laudable and worthy enterprise issues forth." To think meanly of +one's self, is to sink in one's own estimation as well as in the +estimation of others. And as the thoughts are, so will the acts +be. Man cannot aspire if he look down; if he will rise, he must +look up. The very humblest may be sustained by the proper +indulgence of this feeling. Poverty itself may be lifted and +lighted up by self-respect; and it is truly a noble sight to see a +poor man hold himself upright amidst his temptations, and refuse to +demean himself by low actions. + +One way in which self-culture may be degraded is by regarding it +too exclusively as a means of "getting on." Viewed in this light, +it is unquestionable that education is one of the best investments +of time and labour. In any line of life, intelligence will enable +a man to adapt himself more readily to circumstances, suggest +improved methods of working, and render him more apt, skilled and +effective in all respects. He who works with his head as well as +his hands, will come to look at his business with a clearer eye; +and he will become conscious of increasing power--perhaps the most +cheering consciousness the human mind can cherish. The power of +self-help will gradually grow; and in proportion to a man's self- +respect, will he be armed against the temptation of low +indulgences. Society and its action will be regarded with quite a +new interest, his sympathies will widen and enlarge, and he will +thus be attracted to work for others as well as for himself. + +Self-culture may not, however, end in eminence, as in the numerous +instances above cited. The great majority of men, in all times, +however enlightened, must necessarily be engaged in the ordinary +avocations of industry; and no degree of culture which can be +conferred upon the community at large will ever enable them--even +were it desirable, which it is not--to get rid of the daily work of +society, which must be done. But this, we think, may also be +accomplished. We can elevate the condition of labour by allying it +to noble thoughts, which confer a grace upon the lowliest as well +as the highest rank. For no matter how poor or humble a man may +be, the great thinker of this and other days may come in and sit +down with him, and be his companion for the time, though his +dwelling be the meanest hut. It is thus that the habit of well- +directed reading may become a source of the greatest pleasure and +self-improvement, and exercise a gentle coercion, with the most +beneficial results, over the whole tenour of a man's character and +conduct. And even though self-culture may not bring wealth, it +will at all events give one the companionship of elevated thoughts. +A nobleman once contemptuously asked of a sage, "What have you got +by all your philosophy?" "At least I have got society in myself," +was the wise man's reply. + +But many are apt to feel despondent, and become discouraged in the +work of self-culture, because they do not "get on" in the world so +fast as they think they deserve to do. Having planted their acorn, +they expect to see it grow into an oak at once. They have perhaps +looked upon knowledge in the light of a marketable commodity, and +are consequently mortified because it does not sell as they +expected it would do. Mr. Tremenheere, in one of his 'Education +Reports' (for 1840-1), states that a schoolmaster in Norfolk, +finding his school rapidly falling off, made inquiry into the +cause, and ascertained that the reason given by the majority of the +parents for withdrawing their children was, that they had expected +"education was to make them better off than they were before," but +that having found it had "done them no good," they had taken their +children from school, and would give themselves no further trouble +about education! + +The same low idea of self-culture is but too prevalent in other +classes, and is encouraged by the false views of life which are +always more or less current in society. But to regard self-culture +either as a means of getting past others in the world, or of +intellectual dissipation and amusement, rather than as a power to +elevate the character and expand the spiritual nature, is to place +it on a very low level. To use the words of Bacon, "Knowledge is +not a shop for profit or sale, but a rich storehouse for the glory +of the Creator and the relief of man's estate." It is doubtless +most honourable for a man to labour to elevate himself, and to +better his condition in society, but this is not to be done at the +sacrifice of himself. To make the mind the mere drudge of the +body, is putting it to a very servile use; and to go about whining +and bemoaning our pitiful lot because we fail in achieving that +success in life which, after all, depends rather upon habits of +industry and attention to business details than upon knowledge, is +the mark of a small, and often of a sour mind. Such a temper +cannot better be reproved than in the words of Robert Southey, who +thus wrote to a friend who sought his counsel: "I would give you +advice if it could be of use; but there is no curing those who +choose to be diseased. A good man and a wise man may at times be +angry with the world, at times grieved for it; but be sure no man +was ever discontented with the world if he did his duty in it. If +a man of education, who has health, eyes, hands, and leisure, wants +an object, it is only because God Almighty has bestowed all those +blessings upon a man who does not deserve them." + +Another way in which education may be prostituted is by employing +it as a mere means of intellectual dissipation and amusement. Many +are the ministers to this taste in our time. There is almost a +mania for frivolity and excitement, which exhibits itself in many +forms in our popular literature. To meet the public taste, our +books and periodicals must now be highly spiced, amusing, and +comic, not disdaining slang, and illustrative of breaches of all +laws, human and divine. Douglas Jerrold once observed of this +tendency, "I am convinced the world will get tired (at least I hope +so) of this eternal guffaw about all things. After all, life has +something serious in it. It cannot be all a comic history of +humanity. Some men would, I believe, write a Comic Sermon on the +Mount. Think of a Comic History of England, the drollery of +Alfred, the fun of Sir Thomas More, the farce of his daughter +begging the dead head and clasping it in her coffin on her bosom. +Surely the world will be sick of this blasphemy." John Sterling, +in a like spirit, said:- "Periodicals and novels are to all in this +generation, but more especially to those whose minds are still +unformed and in the process of formation, a new and more effectual +substitute for the plagues of Egypt, vermin that corrupt the +wholesome waters and infest our chambers." + +As a rest from toil and a relaxation from graver pursuits, the +perusal of a well-written story, by a writer of genius, is a high +intellectual pleasure; and it is a description of literature to +which all classes of readers, old and young, are attracted as by a +powerful instinct; nor would we have any of them debarred from its +enjoyment in a reasonable degree. But to make it the exclusive +literary diet, as some do,--to devour the garbage with which the +shelves of circulating libraries are filled,--and to occupy the +greater portion of the leisure hours in studying the preposterous +pictures of human life which so many of them present, is worse than +waste of time: it is positively pernicious. The habitual novel- +reader indulges in fictitious feelings so much, that there is great +risk of sound and healthy feeling becoming perverted or benumbed. +"I never go to hear a tragedy," said a gay man once to the +Archbishop of York, "it wears my heart out." The literary pity +evoked by fiction leads to no corresponding action; the +susceptibilities which it excites involve neither inconvenience nor +self-sacrifice; so that the heart that is touched too often by the +fiction may at length become insensible to the reality. The steel +is gradually rubbed out of the character, and it insensibly loses +its vital spring. "Drawing fine pictures of virtue in one's mind," +said Bishop Butler, "is so far from necessarily or certainly +conducive to form a HABIT of it in him who thus employs himself, +that it may even harden the mind in a contrary course, and render +it gradually more insensible." + +Amusement in moderation is wholesome, and to be commended; but +amusement in excess vitiates the whole nature, and is a thing to be +carefully guarded against. The maxim is often quoted of "All work +and no play makes Jack a dull boy;" but all play and no work makes +him something greatly worse. Nothing can be more hurtful to a +youth than to have his soul sodden with pleasure. The best +qualities of his mind are impaired; common enjoyments become +tasteless; his appetite for the higher kind of pleasures is +vitiated; and when he comes to face the work and the duties of +life, the result is usually aversion and disgust. "Fast" men waste +and exhaust the powers of life, and dry up the sources of true +happiness. Having forestalled their spring, they can produce no +healthy growth of either character or intellect. A child without +simplicity, a maiden without innocence, a boy without truthfulness, +are not more piteous sights than the man who has wasted and thrown +away his youth in self-indulgence. Mirabeau said of himself, "My +early years have already in a great measure disinherited the +succeeding ones, and dissipated a great part of my vital powers." +As the wrong done to another to-day returns upon ourselves to- +morrow, so the sins of our youth rise up in our age to scourge us. +When Lord Bacon says that "strength of nature in youth passeth over +many excesses which are owing a man until he is old," he exposes a +physical as well as a moral fact which cannot be too well weighed +in the conduct of life. "I assure you," wrote Giusti the Italian +to a friend, "I pay a heavy price for existence. It is true that +our lives are not at our own disposal. Nature pretends to give +them gratis at the beginning, and then sends in her account." The +worst of youthful indiscretions is, not that they destroy health, +so much as that they sully manhood. The dissipated youth becomes a +tainted man; and often he cannot be pure, even if he would. If +cure there be, it is only to be found in inoculating the mind with +a fervent spirit of duty, and in energetic application to useful +work. + +One of the most gifted of Frenchmen, in point of great intellectual +endowments, was Benjamin Constant; but, blase at twenty, his life +was only a prolonged wail, instead of a harvest of the great deeds +which he was capable of accomplishing with ordinary diligence and +self-control. He resolved upon doing so many things, which he +never did, that people came to speak of him as Constant the +Inconstant. He was a fluent and brilliant writer, and cherished +the ambition of writing works, "which the world would not willingly +let die." But whilst Constant affected the highest thinking, +unhappily he practised the lowest living; nor did the +transcendentalism of his books atone for the meanness of his life. +He frequented the gaming-tables while engaged in preparing his work +upon religion, and carried on a disreputable intrigue while writing +his 'Adolphe.' With all his powers of intellect, he was powerless, +because he had no faith in virtue. "Bah!" said he, "what are +honour and dignity? The longer I live, the more clearly I see +there is nothing in them." It was the howl of a miserable man. He +described himself as but "ashes and dust." "I pass," said he, +"like a shadow over the earth, accompanied by misery and ennui." +He wished for Voltaire's energy, which he would rather have +possessed than his genius. But he had no strength of purpose-- +nothing but wishes: his life, prematurely exhausted, had become +but a heap of broken links. He spoke of himself as a person with +one foot in the air. He admitted that he had no principles, and no +moral consistency. Hence, with his splendid talents, he contrived +to do nothing; and, after living many years miserable, he died worn +out and wretched. + +The career of Augustin Thierry, the author of the 'History of the +Norman Conquest,' affords an admirable contrast to that of +Constant. His entire life presented a striking example of +perseverance, diligence, self culture, and untiring devotion to +knowledge. In the pursuit he lost his eyesight, lost his health, +but never lost his love of truth. When so feeble that he was +carried from room to room, like a helpless infant, in the arms of a +nurse, his brave spirit never failed him; and blind and helpless +though he was, he concluded his literary career in the following +noble words:- "If, as I think, the interest of science is counted +in the number of great national interests, I have given my country +all that the soldier, mutilated on the field of battle, gives her. +Whatever may be the fate of my labours, this example, I hope, will +not be lost. I would wish it to serve to combat the species of +moral weakness which is THE DISEASE of our present generation; to +bring back into the straight road of life some of those enervated +souls that complain of wanting faith, that know not what to do, and +seek everywhere, without finding it, an object of worship and +admiration. Why say, with so much bitterness, that in the world, +constituted as it is, there is no air for all lungs--no employment +for all minds? Is not calm and serious study there? and is not +that a refuge, a hope, a field within the reach of all of us? With +it, evil days are passed over without their weight being felt. +Every one can make his own destiny--every one employ his life +nobly. This is what I have done, and would do again if I had to +recommence my career; I would choose that which has brought me +where I am. Blind, and suffering without hope, and almost without +intermission, I may give this testimony, which from me will not +appear suspicious. There is something in the world better than +sensual enjoyments, better than fortune, better than health itself- +-it is devotion to knowledge." + +Coleridge, in many respects, resembled Constant. He possessed +equally brilliant powers, but was similarly infirm of purpose. +With all his great intellectual gifts, he wanted the gift of +industry, and was averse to continuous labour. He wanted also the +sense of independence, and thought it no degradation to leave his +wife and children to be maintained by the brain-work of the noble +Southey, while he himself retired to Highgate Grove to discourse +transcendentalism to his disciples, looking down contemptuously +upon the honest work going forward beneath him amidst the din and +smoke of London. With remunerative employment at his command he +stooped to accept the charity of friends; and, notwithstanding his +lofty ideas of philosophy, he condescended to humiliations from +which many a day-labourer would have shrunk. How different in +spirit was Southey! labouring not merely at work of his own choice, +and at taskwork often tedious and distasteful, but also +unremittingly and with the utmost eagerness seeking and storing +knowledge purely for the love of it. Every day, every hour had its +allotted employment: engagements to publishers requiring punctual +fulfilment; the current expenses of a large household duty to +provide: for Southey had no crop growing while his pen was idle. +"My ways," he used to say, "are as broad as the king's high-road, +and my means lie in an inkstand." + +Robert Nicoll wrote to a friend, after reading the 'Recollections +of Coleridge,' "What a mighty intellect was lost in that man for +want of a little energy--a little determination!" Nicoll himself +was a true and brave spirit, who died young, but not before he had +encountered and overcome great difficulties in life. At his +outset, while carrying on a small business as a bookseller, he +found himself weighed down with a debt of only twenty pounds, which +he said he felt "weighing like a millstone round his neck," and +that, "if he had it paid he never would borrow again from mortal +man." Writing to his mother at the time he said, "Fear not for me, +dear mother, for I feel myself daily growing firmer and more +hopeful in spirit. The more I think and reflect--and thinking, not +reading, is now my occupation--I feel that, whether I be growing +richer or not, I am growing a wiser man, which is far better. +Pain, poverty, and all the other wild beasts of life which so +affrighten others, I am so bold as to think I could look in the +face without shrinking, without losing respect for myself, faith in +man's high destinies, or trust in God. There is a point which it +costs much mental toil and struggling to gain, but which, when once +gained, a man can look down from, as a traveller from a lofty +mountain, on storms raging below, while he is walking in sunshine. +That I have yet gained this point in life I will not say, but I +feel myself daily nearer to it." + +It is not ease, but effort--not facility, but difficulty, that +makes men. There is, perhaps, no station in life, in which +difficulties have not to be encountered and overcome before any +decided measure of success can be achieved. Those difficulties +are, however, our best instructors, as our mistakes often form our +best experience. Charles James Fox was accustomed to say that he +hoped more from a man who failed, and yet went on in spite of his +failure, than from the buoyant career of the successful. "It is +all very well," said he, "to tell me that a young man has +distinguished himself by a brilliant first speech. He may go on, +or he may be satisfied with his first triumph; but show me a young +man who has NOT succeeded at first, and nevertheless has gone on, +and I will back that young man to do better than most of those who +have succeeded at the first trial." + +We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success. We often +discover what WILL do, by finding out what will not do; and +probably he who never made a mistake never made a discovery. It +was the failure in the attempt to make a sucking-pump act, when the +working bucket was more than thirty-three feet above the surface of +the water to be raised, that led observant men to study the law of +atmospheric pressure, and opened a new field of research to the +genius of Galileo, Torrecelli, and Boyle. John Hunter used to +remark that the art of surgery would not advance until professional +men had the courage to publish their failures as well as their +successes. Watt the engineer said, of all things most wanted in +mechanical engineering was a history of failures: "We want," he +said, "a book of blots." When Sir Humphry Davy was once shown a +dexterously manipulated experiment, he said--"I thank God I was not +made a dexterous manipulator, for the most important of my +discoveries have been suggested to me by failures." Another +distinguished investigator in physical science has left it on +record that, whenever in the course of his researches he +encountered an apparently insuperable obstacle, he generally found +himself on the brink of some discovery. The very greatest things-- +great thoughts, discoveries, inventions--have usually been nurtured +in hardship, often pondered over in sorrow, and at length +established with difficulty. + +Beethoven said of Rossini, that he had in him the stuff to have +made a good musician if he had only, when a boy, been well flogged; +but that he had been spoilt by the facility with which he produced. +Men who feel their strength within them need not fear to encounter +adverse opinions; they have far greater reason to fear undue praise +and too friendly criticism. When Mendelssohn was about to enter +the orchestra at Birmingham, on the first performance of his +'Elijah,' he said laughingly to one of his friends and critics, +"Stick your claws into me! Don't tell me what you like, but what +you don't like!" + +It has been said, and truly, that it is the defeat that tries the +general more than the victory. Washington lost more battles than +he gained; but he succeeded in the end. The Romans, in their most +victorious campaigns, almost invariably began with defeats. Moreau +used to be compared by his companions to a drum, which nobody hears +of except it be beaten. Wellington's military genius was perfected +by encounter with difficulties of apparently the most overwhelming +character, but which only served to nerve his resolution, and bring +out more prominently his great qualities as a man and a general. +So the skilful mariner obtains his best experience amidst storms +and tempests, which train him to self-reliance, courage, and the +highest discipline; and we probably own to rough seas and wintry +nights the best training of our race of British seamen, who are, +certainly, not surpassed by any in the world. + +Necessity may be a hard schoolmistress, but she is generally found +the best. Though the ordeal of adversity is one from which we +naturally shrink, yet, when it comes, we must bravely and manfully +encounter it. Burns says truly, + + +"Though losses and crosses +Be lessons right severe, +There's wit there, you'll get there, +You'll find no other where." + + +"Sweet indeed are the uses of adversity." They reveal to us our +powers, and call forth our energies. If there be real worth in the +character, like sweet herbs, it will give forth its finest +fragrance when pressed. "Crosses," says the old proverb, "are the +ladders that lead to heaven." "What is even poverty itself," asks +Richter, "that a man should murmur under it? It is but as the pain +of piercing a maiden's ear, and you hang precious jewels in the +wound." In the experience of life it is found that the wholesome +discipline of adversity in strong natures usually carries with it a +self-preserving influence. Many are found capable of bravely +bearing up under privations, and cheerfully encountering +obstructions, who are afterwards found unable to withstand the more +dangerous influences of prosperity. It is only a weak man whom the +wind deprives of his cloak: a man of average strength is more in +danger of losing it when assailed by the beams of a too genial sun. +Thus it often needs a higher discipline and a stronger character to +bear up under good fortune than under adverse. Some generous +natures kindle and warm with prosperity, but there are many on whom +wealth has no such influence. Base hearts it only hardens, making +those who were mean and servile, mean and proud. But while +prosperity is apt to harden the heart to pride, adversity in a man +of resolution will serve to ripen it into fortitude. To use the +words of Burke, "Difficulty is a severe instructor, set over us by +the supreme ordinance of a parental guardian and instructor, who +knows us better than we know ourselves, as He loves us better too. +He that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves, and sharpens our +skill: our antagonist is thus our helper." Without the necessity +of encountering difficulty, life might be easier, but men would be +worth less. For trials, wisely improved, train the character, and +teach self-help; thus hardship itself may often prove the +wholesomest discipline for us, though we recognise it not. When +the gallant young Hodson, unjustly removed from his Indian command, +felt himself sore pressed down by unmerited calumny and reproach, +he yet preserved the courage to say to a friend, "I strive to look +the worst boldly in the face, as I would an enemy in the field, and +to do my appointed work resolutely and to the best of my ability, +satisfied that there is a reason for all; and that even irksome +duties well done bring their own reward, and that, if not, still +they ARE duties." + +The battle of life is, in most cases, fought up-hill; and to win it +without a struggle were perhaps to win it without honour. If there +were no difficulties there would be no success; if there were +nothing to struggle for, there would be nothing to be achieved. +Difficulties may intimidate the weak, but they act only as a +wholesome stimulus to men of resolution and valour. All experience +of life indeed serves to prove that the impediments thrown in the +way of human advancement may for the most part be overcome by +steady good conduct, honest zeal, activity, perseverance, and above +all by a determined resolution to surmount difficulties, and stand +up manfully against misfortune. + +The school of Difficulty is the best school of moral discipline, +for nations as for individuals. Indeed, the history of difficulty +would be but a history of all the great and good things that have +yet been accomplished by men. It is hard to say how much northern +nations owe to their encounter with a comparatively rude and +changeable climate and an originally sterile soil, which is one of +the necessities of their condition,--involving a perennial struggle +with difficulties such as the natives of sunnier climes know +nothing of. And thus it may be, that though our finest products +are exotic, the skill and industry which have been necessary to +rear them, have issued in the production of a native growth of men +not surpassed on the globe. + +Wherever there is difficulty, the individual man must come out for +better for worse. Encounter with it will train his strength, and +discipline his skill; heartening him for future effort, as the +racer, by being trained to run against the hill, at length courses +with facility. The road to success may be steep to climb, and it +puts to the proof the energies of him who would reach the summit. +But by experience a man soon learns that obstacles are to be +overcome by grappling with them,--that the nettle feels as soft as +silk when it is boldly grasped,--and that the most effective help +towards realizing the object proposed is the moral conviction that +we can and will accomplish it. Thus difficulties often fall away +of themselves before the determination to overcome them. + +Much will be done if we do but try. Nobody knows what he can do +till he has tried; and few try their best till they have been +forced to do it. "IF I could do such and such a thing," sighs the +desponding youth. But nothing will be done if he only wishes. The +desire must ripen into purpose and effort; and one energetic +attempt is worth a thousand aspirations. It is these thorny "ifs"- +-the mutterings of impotence and despair--which so often hedge +round the field of possibility, and prevent anything being done or +even attempted. "A difficulty," said Lord Lyndhurst, "is a thing +to be overcome;" grapple with it at once; facility will come with +practice, and strength and fortitude with repeated effort. Thus +the mind and character may be trained to an almost perfect +discipline, and enabled to act with a grace, spirit, and liberty, +almost incomprehensible to those who have not passed through a +similar experience. + +Everything that we learn is the mastery of a difficulty; and the +mastery of one helps to the mastery of others. Things which may at +first sight appear comparatively valueless in education--such as +the study of the dead languages, and the relations of lines and +surfaces which we call mathematics--are really of the greatest +practical value, not so much because of the information which they +yield, as because of the development which they compel. The +mastery of these studies evokes effort, and cultivates powers of +application, which otherwise might have lain dormant, Thus one +thing leads to another, and so the work goes on through life-- +encounter with difficulty ending only when life and culture end. +But indulging in the feeling of discouragement never helped any one +over a difficulty, and never will. D'Alembert's advice to the +student who complained to him about his want of success in +mastering the first elements of mathematics was the right one--"Go +on, sir, and faith and strength will come to you." + +The danseuse who turns a pirouette, the violinist who plays a +sonata, have acquired their dexterity by patient repetition and +after many failures. Carissimi, when praised for the ease and +grace of his melodies, exclaimed, "Ah! you little know with what +difficulty this ease has been acquired." Sir Joshua Reynolds, when +once asked how long it had taken him to paint a certain picture, +replied, "All my life." Henry Clay, the American orator, when +giving advice to young men, thus described to them the secret of +his success in the cultivation of his art: "I owe my success in +life," said he, "chiefly to one circumstance--that at the age of +twenty-seven I commenced, and continued for years, the process of +daily reading and speaking upon the contents of some historical or +scientific book. These off-hand efforts were made, sometimes in a +cornfield, at others in the forest, and not unfrequently in some +distant barn, with the horse and the ox for my auditors. It is to +this early practice of the art of all arts that I am indebted for +the primary and leading impulses that stimulated me onward and have +shaped and moulded my whole subsequent destiny." + +Curran, the Irish orator, when a youth, had a strong defect in his +articulation, and at school he was known as "stuttering Jack +Curran." While he was engaged in the study of the law, and still +struggling to overcome his defect, he was stung into eloquence by +the sarcasms of a member of a debating club, who characterised him +as "Orator Mum;" for, like Cowper, when he stood up to speak on a +previous occasion, Curran had not been able to utter a word. The +taunt stung him and he replied in a triumphant speech. This +accidental discovery in himself of the gift of eloquence encouraged +him to proceed in his studies with renewed energy. He corrected +his enunciation by reading aloud, emphatically and distinctly, the +best passages in literature, for several hours every day, studying +his features before a mirror, and adopting a method of +gesticulation suited to his rather awkward and ungraceful figure. +He also proposed cases to himself, which he argued with as much +care as if he had been addressing a jury. Curran began business +with the qualification which Lord Eldon stated to be the first +requisite for distinction, that is, "to be not worth a shilling." +While working his way laboriously at the bar, still oppressed by +the diffidence which had overcome him in his debating club, he was +on one occasion provoked by the Judge (Robinson) into making a very +severe retort. In the case under discussion, Curran observed "that +he had never met the law as laid down by his lordship in any book +in his library." "That may be, sir," said the judge, in a +contemptuous tone, "but I suspect that YOUR library is very small." +His lordship was notoriously a furious political partisan, the +author of several anonymous pamphlets characterised by unusual +violence and dogmatism. Curran, roused by the allusion to his +straitened circumstances, replied thus; "It is very true, my lord, +that I am poor, and the circumstance has certainly curtailed my +library; my books are not numerous, but they are select, and I hope +they have been perused with proper dispositions. I have prepared +myself for this high profession by the study of a few good works, +rather than by the composition of a great many bad ones. I am not +ashamed of my poverty; but I should be ashamed of my wealth, could +I have stooped to acquire it by servility and corruption. If I +rise not to rank, I shall at least be honest; and should I ever +cease to be so, many an example shows me that an ill-gained +elevation, by making me the more conspicuous, would only make me +the more universally and the more notoriously contemptible." + +The extremest poverty has been no obstacle in the way of men +devoted to the duty of self-culture. Professor Alexander Murray, +the linguist, learnt to write by scribbling his letters on an old +wool-card with the end of a burnt heather stem. The only book +which his father, who was a poor shepherd, possessed, was a penny +Shorter Catechism; but that, being thought too valuable for common +use, was carefully preserved in a cupboard for the Sunday +catechisings. Professor Moor, when a young man, being too poor to +purchase Newton's 'Principia,' borrowed the book, and copied the +whole of it with his own hand. Many poor students, while labouring +daily for their living, have only been able to snatch an atom of +knowledge here and there at intervals, as birds do their food in +winter time when the fields are covered with snow. They have +struggled on, and faith and hope have come to them. A well-known +author and publisher, William Chambers, of Edinburgh, speaking +before an assemblage of young men in that city, thus briefly +described to them his humble beginnings, for their encouragement: +"I stand before you," he said, "a self-educated man. My education +was that which is supplied at the humble parish schools of +Scotland; and it was only when I went to Edinburgh, a poor boy, +that I devoted my evenings, after the labours of the day, to the +cultivation of that intellect which the Almighty has given me. +From seven or eight in the morning till nine or ten at night was I +at my business as a bookseller's apprentice, and it was only during +hours after these, stolen from sleep, that I could devote myself to +study. I did not read novels: my attention was devoted to +physical science, and other useful matters. I also taught myself +French. I look back to those times with great pleasure, and am +almost sorry I have not to go through the same experience again; +for I reaped more pleasure when I had not a sixpence in my pocket, +studying in a garret in Edinburgh, then I now find when sitting +amidst all the elegancies and comforts of a parlour." + +William Cobbett's account of how he learnt English Grammar is full +of interest and instruction for all students labouring under +difficulties. "I learned grammar," said he, "when I was a private +soldier on the pay of sixpence a day. The edge of my berth, or +that of my guard-bed, was my seat to study in; my knapsack was my +book-case; a bit of board lying on my lap was my writing-table; and +the task did not demand anything like a year of my life. I had no +money to purchase candle or oil; in winter time it was rarely that +I could get any evening light but that of the fire, and only my +turn even of that. And if I, under such circumstances, and without +parent or friend to advise or encourage me, accomplished this +undertaking, what excuse can there be for any youth, however poor, +however pressed with business, or however circumstanced as to room +or other conveniences? To buy a pen or a sheet of paper I was +compelled to forego some portion of food, though in a state of +half-starvation: I had no moment of time that I could call my own; +and I had to read and to write amidst the talking, laughing, +singing, whistling, and brawling of at least half a score of the +most thoughtless of men, and that, too, in the hours of their +freedom from all control. Think not lightly of the farthing that I +had to give, now and then, for ink, pen, or paper! That farthing +was, alas! a great sum to me! I was as tall as I am now; I had +great health and great exercise. The whole of the money, not +expended for us at market, was two-pence a week for each man. I +remember, and well I may! that on one occasion I, after all +necessary expenses, had, on a Friday, made shifts to have a +halfpenny in reserve, which I had destined for the purchase of a +redherring in the morning; but, when I pulled off my clothes at +night, so hungry then as to be hardly able to endure life, I found +that I had lost my halfpenny! I buried my head under the miserable +sheet and rug, and cried like a child! And again I say, if, I, +under circumstances like these, could encounter and overcome this +task, is there, can there be, in the whole world, a youth to find +an excuse for the non-performance?" + +We have been informed of an equally striking instance of +perseverance and application in learning on the part of a French +political exile in London. His original occupation was that of a +stonemason, at which he found employment for some time; but work +becoming slack, he lost his place, and poverty stared him in the +face. In his dilemma he called upon a fellow exile profitably +engaged in teaching French, and consulted him what he ought to do +to earn a living. The answer was, "Become a professor!" "A +professor?" answered the mason--"I, who am only a workman, speaking +but a patois! Surely you are jesting?" "On the contrary, I am +quite serious," said the other, "and again I advise you--become a +professor; place yourself under me, and I will undertake to teach +you how to teach others." "No, no!" replied the mason, "it is +impossible; I am too old to learn; I am too little of a scholar; I +cannot be a professor." He went away, and again he tried to obtain +employment at his trade. From London he went into the provinces, +and travelled several hundred miles in vain; he could not find a +master. Returning to London, he went direct to his former adviser, +and said, "I have tried everywhere for work, and failed; I will now +try to be a professor!" He immediately placed himself under +instruction; and being a man of close application, of quick +apprehension, and vigorous intelligence, he speedily mastered the +elements of grammar, the rules of construction and composition, and +(what he had still in a great measure to learn) the correct +pronunciation of classical French. When his friend and instructor +thought him sufficiently competent to undertake the teaching of +others, an appointment, advertised as vacant, was applied for and +obtained; and behold our artisan at length become professor! It so +happened, that the seminary to which he was appointed was situated +in a suburb of London where he had formerly worked as a stonemason; +and every morning the first thing which met his eyes on looking out +of his dressing-room window was a stack of cottage chimneys which +he had himself built! He feared for a time lest he should be +recognised in the village as the quondam workman, and thus bring +discredit on his seminary, which was of high standing. But he need +have been under no such apprehension, as he proved a most efficient +teacher, and his pupils were on more than one occasion publicly +complimented for their knowledge of French. Meanwhile, he secured +the respect and friendship of all who knew him--fellow-professors +as well as pupils; and when the story of his struggles, his +difficulties, and his past history, became known to them, they +admired him more than ever. + +Sir Samuel Romilly was not less indefatigable as a self-cultivator. +The son of a jeweller, descended from a French refugee, he received +little education in his early years, but overcame all his +disadvantages by unwearied application, and by efforts constantly +directed towards the same end. "I determined," he says, in his +autobiography, "when I was between fifteen and sixteen years of +age, to apply myself seriously to learning Latin, of which I, at +that time, knew little more than some of the most familiar rules of +grammar. In the course of three or four years, during which I thus +applied myself, I had read almost every prose writer of the age of +pure Latinity, except those who have treated merely of technical +subjects, such as Varro, Columella, and Celsus. I had gone three +times through the whole of Livy, Sallust, and Tacitus. I had +studied the most celebrated orations of Cicero, and translated a +great deal of Homer. Terence, Virgil, Horace, Ovid, and Juvenal, I +had read over and over again." He also studied geography, natural +history, and natural philosophy, and obtained a considerable +acquaintance with general knowledge. At sixteen he was articled to +a clerk in Chancery; worked hard; was admitted to the bar; and his +industry and perseverance ensured success. He became Solicitor- +General under the Fox administration in 1806, and steadily worked +his way to the highest celebrity in his profession. Yet he was +always haunted by a painful and almost oppressive sense of his own +disqualifications, and never ceased labouring to remedy them. His +autobiography is a lesson of instructive facts, worth volumes of +sentiment, and well deserves a careful perusal. + +Sir Walter Scott was accustomed to cite the case of his young +friend John Leyden as one of the most remarkable illustrations of +the power of perseverance which he had ever known. The son of a +shepherd in one of the wildest valleys of Roxburghshire, he was +almost entirely self educated. Like many Scotch shepherds' sons-- +like Hogg, who taught himself to write by copying the letters of a +printed book as he lay watching his flock on the hill-side--like +Cairns, who from tending sheep on the Lammermoors, raised himself +by dint of application and industry to the professor's chair which +he now so worthily holds--like Murray, Ferguson, and many more, +Leyden was early inspired by a thirst for knowledge. When a poor +barefooted boy, he walked six or eight miles across the moors daily +to learn reading at the little village schoolhouse of Kirkton; and +this was all the education he received; the rest he acquired for +himself. He found his way to Edinburgh to attend the college +there, setting the extremest penury at defiance. He was first +discovered as a frequenter of a small bookseller's shop kept by +Archibald Constable, afterwards so well known as a publisher. He +would pass hour after hour perched on a ladder in mid-air, with +some great folio in his hand, forgetful of the scanty meal of bread +and water which awaited him at his miserable lodging. Access to +books and lectures comprised all within the bounds of his wishes. +Thus he toiled and battled at the gates of science until his +unconquerable perseverance carried everything before it. Before he +had attained his nineteenth year he had astonished all the +professors in Edinburgh by his profound knowledge of Greek and +Latin, and the general mass of information he had acquired. Having +turned his views to India, he sought employment in the civil +service, but failed. He was however informed that a surgeon's +assistant's commission was open to him. But he was no surgeon, and +knew no more of the profession than a child. He could however +learn. Then he was told that he must be ready to pass in six +months! Nothing daunted, he set to work, to acquire in six months +what usually required three years. At the end of six months he +took his degree with honour. Scott and a few friends helped to fit +him out; and he sailed for India, after publishing his beautiful +poem 'The Scenes of Infancy.' In India he promised to become one +of the greatest of oriental scholars, but was unhappily cut off by +fever caught by exposure, and died at an early age. + +The life of the late Dr. Lee, Professor of Hebrew at Cambridge, +furnishes one of the most remarkable instances in modern times of +the power of patient perseverance and resolute purpose in working +out an honourable career in literature. He received his education +at a charity school at Lognor, near Shrewsbury, but so little +distinguished himself there, that his master pronounced him one of +the dullest boys that ever passed through his hands. He was put +apprentice to a carpenter, and worked at that trade until he +arrived at manhood. To occupy his leisure hours he took to +reading; and, some of the books containing Latin quotations, he +became desirous of ascertaining what they meant. He bought a Latin +grammar, and proceeded to learn Latin. As Stone, the Duke of +Argyle's gardener, said, long before, "Does one need to know +anything more than the twenty-four letters in order to learn +everything else that one wishes?" Lee rose early and sat up late, +and he succeeded in mastering the Latin before his apprenticeship +was out. Whilst working one day in some place of worship, a copy +of a Greek Testament fell in his way, and he was immediately filled +with the desire to learn that language. He accordingly sold some +of his Latin books, and purchased a Greek Grammar and Lexicon. +Taking pleasure in learning, he soon mastered the language. Then +he sold his Greek books, and bought Hebrew ones, and learnt that +language, unassisted by any instructor, without any hope of fame or +reward, but simply following the bent of his genius. He next +proceeded to learn the Chaldee, Syriac, and Samaritan dialects. +But his studies began to tell upon his health, and brought on +disease in his eyes through his long night watchings with his +books. Having laid them aside for a time and recovered his health, +he went on with his daily work. His character as a tradesman being +excellent, his business improved, and his means enabled him to +marry, which he did when twenty-eight years old. He determined now +to devote himself to the maintenance of his family, and to renounce +the luxury of literature; accordingly he sold all his books. He +might have continued a working carpenter all his life, had not the +chest of tools upon which he depended for subsistence been +destroyed by fire, and destitution stared him in the face. He was +too poor to buy new tools, so he bethought him of teaching children +their letters,--a profession requiring the least possible capital. +But though he had mastered many languages, he was so defective in +the common branches of knowledge, that at first he could not teach +them. Resolute of purpose, however, he assiduously set to work, +and taught himself arithmetic and writing to such a degree as to be +able to impart the knowledge of these branches to little children. +His unaffected, simple, and beautiful character gradually attracted +friends, and the acquirements of the "learned carpenter" became +bruited abroad. Dr. Scott, a neighbouring clergyman, obtained for +him the appointment of master of a charity school in Shrewsbury, +and introduced him to a distinguished Oriental scholar. These +friends supplied him with books, and Lee successively mastered +Arabic, Persic, and Hindostanee. He continued to pursue his +studies while on duty as a private in the local militia of the +county; gradually acquiring greater proficiency in languages. At +length his kind patron, Dr. Scott, enabled Lee to enter Queen's +College, Cambridge; and after a course of study, in which he +distinguished himself by his mathematical acquirements, a vacancy +occurring in the professorship of Arabic and Hebrew, he was +worthily elected to fill the honourable office. Besides ably +performing his duties as a professor, he voluntarily gave much of +his time to the instruction of missionaries going forth to preach +the Gospel to eastern tribes in their own tongue. He also made +translations of the Bible into several Asiatic dialects; and having +mastered the New Zealand language, he arranged a grammar and +vocabulary for two New Zealand chiefs who were then in England, +which books are now in daily use in the New Zealand schools. Such, +in brief, is the remarkable history of Dr. Samuel Lee; and it is +but the counterpart of numerous similarly instructive examples of +the power of perseverance in self-culture, as displayed in the +lives of many of the most distinguished of our literary and +scientific men. + +There are many other illustrious names which might be cited to +prove the truth of the common saying that "it is never too late to +learn." Even at advanced years men can do much, if they will +determine on making a beginning. Sir Henry Spelman did not begin +the study of science until he was between fifty and sixty years of +age. Franklin was fifty before he fully entered upon the study of +Natural Philosophy. Dryden and Scott were not known as authors +until each was in his fortieth year. Boccaccio was thirty-five +when he commenced his literary career, and Alfieri was forty-six +when he began the study of Greek. Dr. Arnold learnt German at an +advanced age, for the purpose of reading Niebuhr in the original; +and in like manner James Watt, when about forty, while working at +his trade of an instrument maker in Glasgow, learnt French, German, +and Italian, to enable himself to peruse the valuable works on +mechanical philosophy which existed in those languages. Thomas +Scott was fifty-six before he began to learn Hebrew. Robert Hall +was once found lying upon the floor, racked by pain, learning +Italian in his old age, to enable him to judge of the parallel +drawn by Macaulay between Milton and Dante. Handel was forty-eight +before he published any of his great works. Indeed hundreds of +instances might be given of men who struck out an entirely new +path, and successfully entered on new studies, at a comparatively +advanced time of life. None but the frivolous or the indolent will +say, "I am too old to learn." {31} + +And here we would repeat what we have said before, that it is not +men of genius who move the world and take the lead in it, so much +as men of steadfastness, purpose, and indefatigable industry. +Notwithstanding the many undeniable instances of the precocity of +men of genius, it is nevertheless true that early cleverness gives +no indication of the height to which the grown man will reach. +Precocity is sometimes a symptom of disease rather than of +intellectual vigour. What becomes of all the "remarkably clever +children?" Where are the duxes and prize boys? Trace them through +life, and it will frequently be found that the dull boys, who were +beaten at school, have shot ahead of them. The clever boys are +rewarded, but the prizes which they gain by their greater quickness +and facility do not always prove of use to them. What ought rather +to be rewarded is the endeavour, the struggle, and the obedience; +for it is the youth who does his best, though endowed with an +inferiority of natural powers, that ought above all others to be +encouraged. + +An interesting chapter might be written on the subject of +illustrious dunces--dull boys, but brilliant men. We have room, +however, for only a few instances. Pietro di Cortona, the painter, +was thought so stupid that he was nicknamed "Ass's Head" when a +boy; and Tomaso Guidi was generally known as "Heavy Tom" (Massaccio +Tomasaccio), though by diligence he afterwards raised himself to +the highest eminence. Newton, when at school, stood at the bottom +of the lowest form but one. The boy above Newton having kicked +him, the dunce showed his pluck by challenging him to a fight, and +beat him. Then he set to work with a will, and determined also to +vanquish his antagonist as a scholar, which he did, rising to the +top of his class. Many of our greatest divines have been anything +but precocious. Isaac Barrow, when a boy at the Charterhouse +School, was notorious chiefly for his strong temper, pugnacious +habits, and proverbial idleness as a scholar; and he caused such +grief to his parents that his father used to say that, if it +pleased God to take from him any of his children, he hoped it might +be Isaac, the least promising of them all. Adam Clarke, when a +boy, was proclaimed by his father to be "a grievous dunce;" though +he could roll large stones about. Dean Swift was "plucked" at +Dublin University, and only obtained his recommendation to Oxford +"speciali gratia." The well-known Dr. Chalmers and Dr. Cook {32} +were boys together at the parish school of St. Andrew's; and they +were found so stupid and mischievous, that the master, irritated +beyond measure, dismissed them both as incorrigible dunces. + +The brilliant Sheridan showed so little capacity as a boy, that he +was presented to a tutor by his mother with the complimentary +accompaniment that he was an incorrigible dunce. Walter Scott was +all but a dunce when a boy, always much readier for a "bicker," +than apt at his lessons. At the Edinburgh University, Professor +Dalzell pronounced upon him the sentence that "Dunce he was, and +dunce he would remain." Chatterton was returned on his mother's +hands as "a fool, of whom nothing could be made." Burns was a dull +boy, good only at athletic exercises. Goldsmith spoke of himself, +as a plant that flowered late. Alfieri left college no wiser than +he entered it, and did not begin the studies by which he +distinguished himself, until he had run half over Europe. Robert +Clive was a dunce, if not a reprobate, when a youth; but always +full of energy, even in badness. His family, glad to get rid of +him, shipped him off to Madras; and he lived to lay the foundations +of the British power in India. Napoleon and Wellington were both +dull boys, not distinguishing themselves in any way at school. {33} +Of the former the Duchess d'Abrantes says, "he had good health, but +was in other respects like other boys." + +Ulysses Grant, the Commander-in-Chief of the United States, was +called "Useless Grant" by his mother--he was so dull and unhandy +when a boy; and Stonewall Jackson, Lee's greatest lieutenant, was, +in his youth, chiefly noted for his slowness. While a pupil at +West Point Military Academy he was, however, equally remarkable for +his indefatigable application and perseverance. When a task was +set him, he never left it until he had mastered it; nor did he ever +feign to possess knowledge which he had not entirely acquired. +"Again and again," wrote one who knew him, "when called upon to +answer questions in the recitation of the day, he would reply, 'I +have not yet looked at it; I have been engaged in mastering the +recitation of yesterday or the day before.' The result was that he +graduated seventeenth in a class of seventy. There was probably in +the whole class not a boy to whom Jackson at the outset was not +inferior in knowledge and attainments; but at the end of the race +he had only sixteen before him, and had outstripped no fewer than +fifty-three. It used to be said of him by his contemporaries, that +if the course had been for ten years instead of four, Jackson would +have graduated at the head of his class." {34} + +John Howard, the philanthropist, was another illustrious dunce, +learning next to nothing during the seven years that he was at +school. Stephenson, as a youth, was distinguished chiefly for his +skill at putting and wrestling, and attention to his work. The +brilliant Sir Humphry Davy was no cleverer than other boys: his +teacher, Dr. Cardew, once said of him, "While he was with me I +could not discern the faculties by which he was so much +distinguished." Indeed, Davy himself in after life considered it +fortunate that he had been left to "enjoy so much idleness" at +school. Watt was a dull scholar, notwithstanding the stories told +about his precocity; but he was, what was better, patient and +perseverant, and it was by such qualities, and by his carefully +cultivated inventiveness, that he was enabled to perfect his steam- +engine. + +What Dr. Arnold said of boys is equally true of men--that the +difference between one boy and another consists not so much in +talent as in energy. Given perseverance and energy soon becomes +habitual. Provided the dunce has persistency and application he +will inevitably head the cleverer fellow without those qualities. +Slow but sure wins the race. It is perseverance that explains how +the position of boys at school is so often reversed in real life; +and it is curious to note how some who were then so clever have +since become so commonplace; whilst others, dull boys, of whom +nothing was expected, slow in their faculties but sure in their +pace, have assumed the position of leaders of men. The author of +this book, when a boy, stood in the same class with one of the +greatest of dunces. One teacher after another had tried his skill +upon him and failed. Corporal punishment, the fool's cap, coaxing, +and earnest entreaty, proved alike fruitless. Sometimes the +experiment was tried of putting him at the top of his class, and it +was curious to note the rapidity with which he gravitated to the +inevitable bottom. The youth was given up by his teachers as an +incorrigible dunce--one of them pronouncing him to be a "stupendous +booby." Yet, slow though he was, this dunce had a sort of dull +energy of purpose in him, which grew with his muscles and his +manhood; and, strange to say, when he at length came to take part +in the practical business of life, he was found heading most of his +school companions, and eventually left the greater number of them +far behind. The last time the author heard of him, he was chief +magistrate of his native town. + +The tortoise in the right road will beat a racer in the wrong. It +matters not though a youth be slow, if he be but diligent. +Quickness of parts may even prove a defect, inasmuch as the boy who +learns readily will often forget as readily; and also because he +finds no need of cultivating that quality of application and +perseverance which the slower youth is compelled to exercise, and +which proves so valuable an element in the formation of every +character. Davy said "What I am I have made myself;" and the same +holds true universally. + +To conclude: the best culture is not obtained from teachers when +at school or college, so much as by our own diligent self-education +when we have become men. Hence parents need not be in too great +haste to see their children's talents forced into bloom. Let them +watch and wait patiently, letting good example and quiet training +do their work, and leave the rest to Providence. Let them see to +it that the youth is provided, by free exercise of his bodily +powers, with a full stock of physical health; set him fairly on the +road of self-culture; carefully train his habits of application and +perseverance; and as he grows older, if the right stuff be in him, +he will be enabled vigorously and effectively to cultivate himself. + + + +CHAPTER XII--EXAMPLE--MODELS + + + +"Ever their phantoms rise before us, +Our loftier brothers, but one in blood; +By bed and table they lord it o'er us, +With looks of beauty and words of good."--John Sterling. + +"Children may be strangled, but Deeds never; they have an +indestructible life, both in and out of our consciousness."--George +Eliot. + +"There is no action of man in this life, which is not the beginning +of so long a chain of consequences, as that no human providence is +high enough to give us a prospect to the end."--Thomas of +Malmesbury. + + +Example is one of the most potent of instructors, though it teaches +without a tongue. It is the practical school of mankind, working +by action, which is always more forcible than words. Precept may +point to us the way, but it is silent continuous example, conveyed +to us by habits, and living with us in fact, that carries us along. +Good advice has its weight: but without the accompaniment of a +good example it is of comparatively small influence; and it will be +found that the common saying of "Do as I say, not as I do," is +usually reversed in the actual experience of life. + +All persons are more or less apt to learn through the eye rather +than the ear; and, whatever is seen in fact, makes a far deeper +impression than anything that is merely read or heard. This is +especially the case in early youth, when the eye is the chief inlet +of knowledge. Whatever children see they unconsciously imitate. +They insensibly come to resemble those who are about them--as +insects take the colour of the leaves they feed on. Hence the vast +importance of domestic training. For whatever may be the +efficiency of schools, the examples set in our Homes must always be +of vastly greater influence in forming the characters of our future +men and women. The Home is the crystal of society--the nucleus of +national character; and from that source, be it pure or tainted, +issue the habits, principles and maxims, which govern public as +well as private life. The nation comes from the nursery. Public +opinion itself is for the most part the outgrowth of the home; and +the best philanthropy comes from the fireside. "To love the little +platoon we belong to in society," says Burke, "is the germ of all +public affections." From this little central spot, the human +sympathies may extend in an ever widening circle, until the world +is embraced; for, though true philanthropy, like charity, begins at +home, assuredly it does not end there. + +Example in conduct, therefore, even in apparently trivial matters, +is of no light moment, inasmuch as it is constantly becoming +inwoven with the lives of others, and contributing to form their +natures for better or for worse. The characters of parents are +thus constantly repeated in their children; and the acts of +affection, discipline, industry, and self-control, which they daily +exemplify, live and act when all else which may have been learned +through the ear has long been forgotten. Hence a wise man was +accustomed to speak of his children as his "future state." Even +the mute action and unconscious look of a parent may give a stamp +to the character which is never effaced; and who can tell how much +evil act has been stayed by the thought of some good parent, whose +memory their children may not sully by the commission of an +unworthy deed, or the indulgence of an impure thought? The veriest +trifles thus become of importance in influencing the characters of +men. "A kiss from my mother," said West, "made me a painter." It +is on the direction of such seeming trifles when children that the +future happiness and success of men mainly depend. Fowell Buxton, +when occupying an eminent and influential station in life, wrote to +his mother, "I constantly feel, especially in action and exertion +for others, the effects of principles early implanted by you in my +mind." Buxton was also accustomed to remember with gratitude the +obligations which he owed to an illiterate man, a gamekeeper, named +Abraham Plastow, with whom he played, and rode, and sported--a man +who could neither read nor write, but was full of natural good +sense and mother-wit. "What made him particularly valuable," says +Buxton, "were his principles of integrity and honour. He never +said or did a thing in the absence of my mother of which she would +have disapproved. He always held up the highest standard of +integrity, and filled our youthful minds with sentiments as pure +and as generous as could be found in the writings of Seneca or +Cicero. Such was my first instructor, and, I must add, my best." + +Lord Langdale, looking back upon the admirable example set him by +his mother, declared, "If the whole world were put into one scale, +and my mother into the other, the world would kick the beam." Mrs. +Schimmel Penninck, in her old age, was accustomed to call to mind +the personal influence exercised by her mother upon the society +amidst which she moved. When she entered a room it had the effect +of immediately raising the tone of the conversation, and as if +purifying the moral atmosphere--all seeming to breathe more freely, +and stand more erectly. "In her presence," says the daughter, "I +became for the time transformed into another person." So much does +she moral health depend upon the moral atmosphere that is breathed, +and so great is the influence daily exercised by parents over their +children by living a life before their eyes, that perhaps the best +system of parental instruction might be summed up in these two +words: "Improve thyself." + +There is something solemn and awful in the thought that there is +not an act done or a word uttered by a human being but carries with +it a train of consequences, the end of which we may never trace. +Not one but, to a certain extent, gives a colour to our life, and +insensibly influences the lives of those about us. The good deed +or word will live, even though we may not see it fructify, but so +will the bad; and no person is so insignificant as to be sure that +his example will not do good on the one hand, or evil on the other. +The spirits of men do not die: they still live and walk abroad +among us. It was a fine and a true thought uttered by Mr. Disraeli +in the House of Commons on the death of Richard Cobden, that "he +was one of those men who, though not present, were still members of +that House, who were independent of dissolutions, of the caprices +of constituencies, and even of the course of time." + +There is, indeed, an essence of immortality in the life of man, +even in this world. No individual in the universe stands alone; he +is a component part of a system of mutual dependencies; and by his +several acts he either increases or diminishes the sum of human +good now and for ever. As the present is rooted in the past, and +the lives and examples of our forefathers still to a great extent +influence us, so are we by our daily acts contributing to form the +condition and character of the future. Man is a fruit formed and +ripened by the culture of all the foregoing centuries; and the +living generation continues the magnetic current of action and +example destined to bind the remotest past with the most distant +future. No man's acts die utterly; and though his body may resolve +into dust and air, his good or his bad deeds will still be bringing +forth fruit after their kind, and influencing future generations +for all time to come. It is in this momentous and solemn fact that +the great peril and responsibility of human existence lies. + +Mr. Babbage has so powerfully expressed this idea in a noble +passage in one of his writings that we here venture to quote his +words: "Every atom," he says, "impressed with good or ill, retains +at once the motions which philosophers and sages have imparted to +it, mixed and combined in ten thousand ways with all that is +worthless and base; the air itself is one vast library, on whose +pages are written FOR EVER all that man has ever said or whispered. +There, in their immutable but unerring characters, mixed with the +earliest as well as the latest sighs of mortality, stand for ever +recorded vows unredeemed, promises unfulfilled; perpetuating, in +the united movements of each particle, the testimony of man's +changeful will. But, if the air we breathe is the never-failing +historian of the sentiments we have uttered, earth, air, and ocean, +are, in like manner, the eternal witnesses of the acts we have +done; the same principle of the equality of action and reaction +applies to them. No motion impressed by natural causes, or by +human agency, is ever obliterated. . . . If the Almighty stamped on +the brow of the first murderer the indelible and visible mark of +his guilt, He has also established laws by which every succeeding +criminal is not less irrevocably chained to the testimony of his +crime; for every atom of his mortal frame, through whatever changes +its severed particles may migrate, will still retain adhering to +it, through every combination, some movement derived from that very +muscular effort by which the crime itself was perpetrated." + +Thus, every act we do or word we utter, as well as every act we +witness or word we hear, carries with it an influence which extends +over, and gives a colour, not only to the whole of our future life, +but makes itself felt upon the whole frame of society. We may not, +and indeed cannot, possibly, trace the influence working itself +into action in its various ramifications amongst our children, our +friends, or associates; yet there it is assuredly, working on for +ever. And herein lies the great significance of setting forth a +good example,--a silent teaching which even the poorest and least +significant person can practise in his daily life. There is no one +so humble, but that he owes to others this simple but priceless +instruction. Even the meanest condition may thus be made useful; +for the light set in a low place shines as faithfully as that set +upon a hill. Everywhere, and under almost all circumstances, +however externally adverse--in moorland shielings, in cottage +hamlets, in the close alleys of great towns--the true man may grow. +He who tills a space of earth scarce bigger than is needed for his +grave, may work as faithfully, and to as good purpose, as the heir +to thousands. The commonest workshop may thus be a school of +industry, science, and good morals, on the one hand; or of +idleness, folly, and depravity, on the other. It all depends on +the individual men, and the use they make of the opportunities for +good which offer themselves. + +A life well spent, a character uprightly sustained, is no slight +legacy to leave to one's children, and to the world; for it is the +most eloquent lesson of virtue and the severest reproof of vice, +while it continues an enduring source of the best kind of riches. +Well for those who can say, as Pope did, in rejoinder to the +sarcasm of Lord Hervey, "I think it enough that my parents, such as +they were, never cost me a blush, and that their son, such as he +is, never cost them a tear." + +It is not enough to tell others what they are to do, but to exhibit +the actual example of doing. What Mrs. Chisholm described to Mrs. +Stowe as the secret of her success, applies to all life. "I +found," she said, "that if we want anything DONE, we must go to +work and DO: it is of no use merely to talk--none whatever." It +is poor eloquence that only shows how a person can talk. Had Mrs. +Chisholm rested satisfied with lecturing, her project, she was +persuaded, would never have got beyond the region of talk; but when +people saw what she was doing and had actually accomplished, they +fell in with her views and came forward to help her. Hence the +most beneficent worker is not he who says the most eloquent things, +or even who thinks the most loftily, but he who does the most +eloquent acts. + +True-hearted persons, even in the humblest station in life, who are +energetic doers, may thus give an impulse to good works out of all +proportion, apparently, to their actual station in society. Thomas +Wright might have talked about the reclamation of criminals, and +John Pounds about the necessity for Ragged Schools, and yet done +nothing; instead of which they simply set to work without any other +idea in their minds than that of doing, not talking. And how the +example of even the poorest man may tell upon society, hear what +Dr. Guthrie, the apostle of the Ragged School movement, says of the +influence which the example of John Pounds, the humble Portsmouth +cobbler, exercised upon his own working career:- + +"The interest I have been led to take in this cause is an example +of how, in Providence, a man's destiny--his course of life, like +that of a river--may be determined and affected by very trivial +circumstances. It is rather curious--at least it is interesting to +me to remember--that it was by a picture I was first led to take an +interest in ragged schools--by a picture in an old, obscure, +decaying burgh that stands on the shores of the Frith of Forth, the +birthplace of Thomas Chalmers. I went to see this place many years +ago; and, going into an inn for refreshment, I found the room +covered with pictures of shepherdesses with their crooks, and +sailors in holiday attire, not particularly interesting. But above +the chimney-piece there was a large print, more respectable than +its neighbours, which represented a cobbler's room. The cobbler +was there himself, spectacles on nose, an old shoe between his +knees--the massive forehead and firm mouth indicating great +determination of character, and, beneath his bushy eyebrows, +benevolence gleamed out on a number of poor ragged boys and girls +who stood at their lessons round the busy cobbler. My curiosity +was awakened; and in the inscription I read how this man, John +Pounds, a cobbler in Portsmouth, taking pity on the multitude of +poor ragged children left by ministers and magistrates, and ladies +and gentlemen, to go to ruin on the streets--how, like a good +shepherd, he gathered in these wretched outcasts--how he had +trained them to God and to the world--and how, while earning his +daily bread by the sweat of his brow, he had rescued from misery +and saved to society not less than five hundred of these children. +I felt ashamed of myself. I felt reproved for the little I had +done. My feelings were touched. I was astonished at this man's +achievements; and I well remember, in the enthusiasm of the moment, +saying to my companion (and I have seen in my cooler and calmer +moments no reason for unsaying the saying)--'That man is an honour +to humanity, and deserves the tallest monument ever raised within +the shores of Britain.' I took up that man's history, and I found +it animated by the spirit of Him who 'had compassion on the +multitude.' John Pounds was a clever man besides; and, like Paul, +if he could not win a poor boy any other way, he won him by art. +He would be seen chasing a ragged boy along the quays, and +compelling him to come to school, not by the power of a policeman, +but by the power of a hot potato. He knew the love an Irishman had +for a potato; and John Pounds might be seen running holding under +the boy's nose a potato, like an Irishman, very hot, and with a +coat as ragged as himself. When the day comes when honour will be +done to whom honour is due, I can fancy the crowd of those whose +fame poets have sung, and to whose memory monuments have been +raised, dividing like the wave, and, passing the great, and the +noble, and the mighty of the land, this poor, obscure old man +stepping forward and receiving the especial notice of Him who said +'Inasmuch as ye did it to one of the least of these, ye did it also +to Me.'" + +The education of character is very much a question of models; we +mould ourselves so unconsciously after the characters, manners, +habits, and opinions of those who are about us. Good rules may do +much, but good models far more; for in the latter we have +instruction in action--wisdom at work. Good admonition and bad +example only build with one hand to pull down with the other. +Hence the vast importance of exercising great care in the selection +of companions, especially in youth. There is a magnetic affinity +in young persons which insensibly tends to assimilate them to each +other's likeness. Mr. Edgeworth was so strongly convinced that +from sympathy they involuntarily imitated or caught the tone of the +company they frequented, that he held it to be of the most +essential importance that they should be taught to select the very +best models. "No company, or good company," was his motto. Lord +Collingwood, writing to a young friend, said, "Hold it as a maxim +that you had better be alone than in mean company. Let your +companions be such as yourself, or superior; for the worth of a man +will always be ruled by that of his company." It was a remark of +the famous Dr. Sydenham that everybody some time or other would be +the better or the worse for having but spoken to a good or a bad +man. As Sir Peter Lely made it a rule never to look at a bad +picture if he could help it, believing that whenever he did so his +pencil caught a taint from it, so, whoever chooses to gaze often +upon a debased specimen of humanity and to frequent his society, +cannot help gradually assimilating himself to that sort of model. + +It is therefore advisable for young men to seek the fellowship of +the good, and always to aim at a higher standard than themselves. +Francis Horner, speaking of the advantages to himself of direct +personal intercourse with high-minded, intelligent men, said, "I +cannot hesitate to decide that I have derived more intellectual +improvement from them than from all the books I have turned over." +Lord Shelburne (afterwards Marquis of Lansdowne), when a young man, +paid a visit to the venerable Malesherbes, and was so much +impressed by it, that he said,--"I have travelled much, but I have +never been so influenced by personal contact with any man; and if I +ever accomplish any good in the course of my life, I am certain +that the recollection of M. de Malesherbes will animate my soul." +So Fowell Buxton was always ready to acknowledge the powerful +influence exercised upon the formation of his character in early +life by the example of the Gurney family: "It has given a colour +to my life," he used to say. Speaking of his success at the Dublin +University, he confessed, "I can ascribe it to nothing but my +Earlham visits." It was from the Gurneys he "caught the infection" +of self-improvement. + +Contact with the good never fails to impart good, and we carry away +with us some of the blessing, as travellers' garments retain the +odour of the flowers and shrubs through which they have passed. +Those who knew the late John Sterling intimately, have spoken of +the beneficial influence which he exercised on all with whom he +came into personal contact. Many owed to him their first awakening +to a higher being; from him they learnt what they were, and what +they ought to be. Mr. Trench says of him:- "It was impossible to +come in contact with his noble nature without feeling one's self in +some measure ENNOBLED and LIFTED UP, as I ever felt when I left +him, into a higher region of objects and aims than that in which +one is tempted habitually to dwell." It is thus that the noble +character always acts; we become insensibly elevated by him, and +cannot help feeling as he does and acquiring the habit of looking +at things in the same light. Such is the magical action and +reaction of minds upon each other. + +Artists, also, feel themselves elevated by contact with artists +greater than themselves. Thus Haydn's genius was first fired by +Handel. Hearing him play, Haydn's ardour for musical composition +was at once excited, and but for this circumstance, he himself +believed that he would never have written the 'Creation.' Speaking +of Handel, he said, "When he chooses, he strikes like the +thunderbolt;" and at another time, "There is not a note of him but +draws blood." Scarlatti was another of Handel's ardent admirers, +following him all over Italy; afterwards, when speaking of the +great master, he would cross himself in token of admiration. True +artists never fail generously to recognise each other's greatness. +Thus Beethoven's admiration for Cherubini was regal: and he +ardently hailed the genius of Schubert: "Truly," said he, "in +Schubert dwells a divine fire." When Northcote was a mere youth he +had such an admiration for Reynolds that, when the great painter +was once attending a public meeting down in Devonshire, the boy +pushed through the crowd, and got so near Reynolds as to touch the +skirt of his coat, "which I did," says Northcote, "with great +satisfaction to my mind,"--a true touch of youthful enthusiasm in +its admiration of genius. + +The example of the brave is an inspiration to the timid, their +presence thrilling through every fibre. Hence the miracles of +valour so often performed by ordinary men under the leadership of +the heroic. The very recollection of the deeds of the valiant +stirs men's blood like the sound of a trumpet. Ziska bequeathed +his skin to be used as a drum to inspire the valour of the +Bohemians. When Scanderbeg, prince of Epirus, was dead, the Turks +wished to possess his bones, that each might wear a piece next his +heart, hoping thus to secure some portion of the courage he had +displayed while living, and which they had so often experienced in +battle. When the gallant Douglas, bearing the heart of Bruce to +the Holy Land, saw one of his knights surrounded and sorely pressed +by the Saracens, he took from his neck the silver case containing +the hero's bequest, and throwing it amidst the thickest press of +his foes, cried, "Pass first in fight, as thou wert wont to do, and +Douglas will follow thee, or die;" and so saying, he rushed forward +to the place where it fell, and was there slain. + +The chief use of biography consists in the noble models of +character in which it abounds. Our great forefathers still live +among us in the records of their lives, as well as in the acts they +have done, which live also; still sit by us at table, and hold us +by the hand; furnishing examples for our benefit, which we may +still study, admire and imitate. Indeed, whoever has left behind +him the record of a noble life, has bequeathed to posterity an +enduring source of good, for it serves as a model for others to +form themselves by in all time to come; still breathing fresh life +into men, helping them to reproduce his life anew, and to +illustrate his character in other forms. Hence a book containing +the life of a true man is full of precious seed. It is a still +living voice; it is an intellect. To use Milton's words, "it is +the precious life-blood of a master spirit, embalmed and treasured +up on purpose to a life beyond life." Such a book never ceases to +exercise an elevating and ennobling influence. But, above all, +there is the Book containing the very highest Example set before us +to shape our lives by in this world--the most suitable for all the +necessities of our mind and heart--an example which we can only +follow afar off and feel after, + + +"Like plants or vines which never saw the sun, +But dream of him and guess where he may be, +And do their best to climb and get to him." + + +Again, no young man can rise from the perusal of such lives as +those of Buxton and Arnold, without feeling his mind and heart made +better, and his best resolves invigorated. Such biographies +increase a man's self-reliance by demonstrating what men can be, +and what they can do; fortifying his hopes and elevating his aims +in life. Sometimes a young man discovers himself in a biography, +as Correggio felt within him the risings of genius on contemplating +the works of Michael Angelo: "And I too, am a painter," he +exclaimed. Sir Samuel Romilly, in his autobiography, confessed +himself to have been powerfully influenced by the life of the great +and noble-minded French Chancellor Daguesseau:- "The works of +Thomas," says he, "had fallen into my hands, and I had read with +admiration his 'Eloge of Daguesseau;' and the career of honour +which he represented that illustrious magistrate to have run, +excited to a great degree my ardour and ambition, and opened to my +imagination new paths of glory." + +Franklin was accustomed to attribute his usefulness and eminence to +his having early read Cotton Mather's 'Essays to do Good'--a book +which grew out of Mather's own life. And see how good example +draws other men after it, and propagates itself through future +generations in all lands. For Samuel Drew avers that he framed his +own life, and especially his business habits, after the model left +on record by Benjamin Franklin. Thus it is impossible to say where +a good example may not reach, or where it will end, if indeed it +have an end. Hence the advantage, in literature as in life, of +keeping the best society, reading the best books, and wisely +admiring and imitating the best things we find in them. "In +literature," said Lord Dudley, "I am fond of confining myself to +the best company, which consists chiefly of my old acquaintance, +with whom I am desirous of becoming more intimate; and I suspect +that nine times out of ten it is more profitable, if not more +agreeable, to read an old book over again, than to read a new one +for the first time." + +Sometimes a book containing a noble exemplar of life, taken up at +random, merely with the object of reading it as a pastime, has been +known to call forth energies whose existence had not before been +suspected. Alfieri was first drawn with passion to literature by +reading 'Plutarch's Lives.' Loyola, when a soldier serving at the +siege of Pampeluna, and laid up by a dangerous wound in his leg, +asked for a book to divert his thoughts: the 'Lives of the Saints' +was brought to him, and its perusal so inflamed his mind, that he +determined thenceforth to devote himself to the founding of a +religious order. Luther, in like manner, was inspired to undertake +the great labours of his life by a perusal of the 'Life and +Writings of John Huss.' Dr. Wolff was stimulated to enter upon his +missionary career by reading the 'Life of Francis Xavier;' and the +book fired his youthful bosom with a passion the most sincere and +ardent to devote himself to the enterprise of his life. William +Carey, also, got the first idea of entering upon his sublime +labours as a missionary from a perusal of the Voyages of Captain +Cook. + +Francis Horner was accustomed to note in his diary and letters the +books by which he was most improved and influenced. Amongst these +were Condorcet's 'Eloge of Haller,' Sir Joshua Reynolds' +'Discourses,' the writings of Bacon, and 'Burnet's Account of Sir +Matthew Hale.' The perusal of the last-mentioned book--the +portrait of a prodigy of labour--Horner says, filled him with +enthusiasm. Of Condorcet's 'Eloge of Haller,' he said: "I never +rise from the account of such men without a sort of thrilling +palpitation about me, which I know not whether I should call +admiration, ambition, or despair." And speaking of the +'Discourses' of Sir Joshua Reynolds, he said: "Next to the +writings of Bacon, there is no book which has more powerfully +impelled me to self-culture. He is one of the first men of genius +who has condescended to inform the world of the steps by which +greatness is attained. The confidence with which he asserts the +omnipotence of human labour has the effect of familiarising his +reader with the idea that genius is an acquisition rather than a +gift; whilst with all there is blended so naturally and eloquently +the most elevated and passionate admiration of excellence, that +upon the whole there is no book of a more INFLAMMATORY effect." It +is remarkable that Reynolds himself attributed his first passionate +impulse towards the study of art, to reading Richardson's account +of a great painter; and Haydon was in like manner afterwards +inflamed to follow the same pursuit by reading of the career of +Reynolds. Thus the brave and aspiring life of one man lights a +flame in the minds of others of like faculties and impulse; and +where there is equally vigorous efforts like distinction and +success will almost surely follow. Thus the chain of example is +carried down through time in an endless succession of links,-- +admiration exciting imitation, and perpetuating the true +aristocracy of genius. + +One of the most valuable, and one of the most infectious examples +which can be set before the young, is that of cheerful working. +Cheerfulness gives elasticity to the spirit. Spectres fly before +it; difficulties cause no despair, for they are encountered with +hope, and the mind acquires that happy disposition to improve +opportunities which rarely fails of success. The fervent spirit is +always a healthy and happy spirit; working cheerfully itself, and +stimulating others to work. It confers a dignity on even the most +ordinary occupations. The most effective work, also, is usually +the full-hearted work--that which passes through the hands or the +head of him whose heart is glad. Hume was accustomed to say that +he would rather possess a cheerful disposition--inclined always to +look at the bright side of things--than with a gloomy mind to be +the master of an estate of ten thousand a year. Granville Sharp, +amidst his indefatigable labours on behalf of the slave, solaced +himself in the evenings by taking part in glees and instrumental +concerts at his brother's house, singing, or playing on the flute, +the clarionet or the oboe; and, at the Sunday evening oratorios, +when Handel was played, he beat the kettle-drums. He also +indulged, though sparingly, in caricature drawing. Fowell Buxton +also was an eminently cheerful man; taking special pleasure in +field sports, in riding about the country with his children, and in +mixing in all their domestic amusements. + +In another sphere of action, Dr. Arnold was a noble and a cheerful +worker, throwing himself into the great business of his life, the +training and teaching of young men, with his whole heart and soul. +It is stated in his admirable biography, that "the most remarkable +thing in the Laleham circle was the wonderful healthiness of tone +which prevailed there. It was a place where a new comer at once +felt that a great and earnest work was going forward. Every pupil +was made to feel that there was a work for him to do; that his +happiness, as well as his duty, lay in doing that work well. Hence +an indescribable zest was communicated to a young man's feeling +about life; a strange joy came over him on discerning that he had +the means of being useful, and thus of being happy; and a deep +respect and ardent attachment sprang up towards him who had taught +him thus to value life and his own self, and his work and mission +in the world. All this was founded on the breadth and +comprehensiveness of Arnold's character, as well as its striking +truth and reality; on the unfeigned regard he had for work of all +kinds, and the sense he had of its value, both for the complex +aggregate of society and the growth and protection of the +individual. In all this there was no excitement; no predilection +for one class of work above another; no enthusiasm for any one- +sided object: but a humble, profound, and most religious +consciousness that work is the appointed calling of man on earth; +the end for which his various faculties were given; the element in +which his nature is ordained to develop itself, and in which his +progressive advance towards heaven is to lie." Among the many +valuable men trained for public life and usefulness by Arnold, was +the gallant Hodson, of Hodson's Horse, who, writing home from +India, many years after, thus spoke of his revered master: "The +influence he produced has been most lasting and striking in its +effects. It is felt even in India; I cannot say more than THAT." + +The useful influence which a right-hearted man of energy and +industry may exercise amongst his neighbours and dependants, and +accomplish for his country, cannot, perhaps, be better illustrated +than by the career of Sir John Sinclair; characterized by the Abbe +Gregoire as "the most indefatigable man in Europe." He was +originally a country laird, born to a considerable estate situated +near John o' Groat's House, almost beyond the beat of civilization, +in a bare wild country fronting the stormy North Sea. His father +dying while he was a youth of sixteen, the management of the family +property thus early devolved upon him; and at eighteen he began a +course of vigorous improvement in the county of Caithness, which +eventually spread all over Scotland. Agriculture then was in a +most backward state; the fields were unenclosed, the lands +undrained; the small farmers of Caithness were so poor that they +could scarcely afford to keep a horse or shelty; the hard work was +chiefly done, and the burdens borne, by the women; and if a cottier +lost a horse it was not unusual for him to marry a wife as the +cheapest substitute. The country was without roads or bridges; and +drovers driving their cattle south had to swim the rivers along +with their beasts. The chief track leading into Caithness lay +along a high shelf on a mountain side, the road being some hundred +feet of clear perpendicular height above the sea which dashed +below. Sir John, though a mere youth, determined to make a new +road over the hill of Ben Cheilt, the old let-alone proprietors, +however, regarding his scheme with incredulity and derision. But +he himself laid out the road, assembled some twelve hundred workmen +early one summer's morning, set them simultaneously to work, +superintending their labours, and stimulating them by his presence +and example; and before night, what had been a dangerous sheep +track, six miles in length, hardly passable for led horses, was +made practicable for wheel-carriages as if by the power of magic. +It was an admirable example of energy and well-directed labour, +which could not fail to have a most salutary influence upon the +surrounding population. He then proceeded to make more roads, to +erect mills, to build bridges, and to enclose and cultivate the +waste lands. He introduced improved methods of culture, and +regular rotation of crops, distributing small premiums to encourage +industry; and he thus soon quickened the whole frame of society +within reach of his influence, and infused an entirely new spirit +into the cultivators of the soil. From being one of the most +inaccessible districts of the north--the very ultima Thule of +civilization--Caithness became a pattern county for its roads, its +agriculture, and its fisheries. In Sinclair's youth, the post was +carried by a runner only once a week, and the young baronet then +declared that he would never rest till a coach drove daily to +Thurso. The people of the neighbourhood could not believe in any +such thing, and it became a proverb in the county to say of an +utterly impossible scheme, "Ou, ay, that will come to pass when Sir +John sees the daily mail at Thurso!" But Sir John lived to see his +dream realized, and the daily mail established to Thurso. + +The circle of his benevolent operation gradually widened. +Observing the serious deterioration which had taken place in the +quality of British wool,--one of the staple commodities of the +country,--he forthwith, though but a private and little-known +country gentleman, devoted himself to its improvement. By his +personal exertions he established the British Wool Society for the +purpose, and himself led the way to practical improvement by +importing 800 sheep from all countries, at his own expense. The +result was, the introduction into Scotland of the celebrated +Cheviot breed. Sheep farmers scouted the idea of south country +flocks being able to thrive in the far north. But Sir John +persevered; and in a few years there were not fewer than 300,000 +Cheviots diffused over the four northern counties alone. The value +of all grazing land was thus enormously increased; and Scotch +estates, which before were comparatively worthless, began to yield +large rentals. + +Returned by Caithness to Parliament, in which he remained for +thirty years, rarely missing a division, his position gave him +farther opportunities of usefulness, which he did not neglect to +employ. Mr. Pitt, observing his persevering energy in all useful +public projects, sent for him to Downing Street, and voluntarily +proposed his assistance in any object he might have in view. +Another man might have thought of himself and his own promotion; +but Sir John characteristically replied, that he desired no favour +for himself, but intimated that the reward most gratifying to his +feelings would be Mr. Pitt's assistance in the establishment of a +National Board of Agriculture. Arthur Young laid a bet with the +baronet that his scheme would never be established, adding, "Your +Board of Agriculture will be in the moon!" But vigorously setting +to work, he roused public attention to the subject, enlisted a +majority of Parliament on his side, and eventually established the +Board, of which he was appointed President. The result of its +action need not be described, but the stimulus which it gave to +agriculture and stock-raising was shortly felt throughout the whole +United Kingdom, and tens of thousands of acres were redeemed from +barrenness by its operation. He was equally indefatigable in +encouraging the establishment of fisheries; and the successful +founding of these great branches of British industry at Thurso and +Wick was mainly due to his exertions. He urged for long years, and +at length succeeded in obtaining the enclosure of a harbour for the +latter place, which is perhaps the greatest and most prosperous +fishing town in the world. + +Sir John threw his personal energy into every work in which he +engaged, rousing the inert, stimulating the idle, encouraging the +hopeful, and working with all. When a French invasion was +threatened, he offered to Mr. Pitt to raise a regiment on his own +estate, and he was as good as his word. He went down to the north, +and raised a battalion of 600 men, afterwards increased to 1000; +and it was admitted to be one of the finest volunteer regiments +ever raised, inspired throughout by his own noble and patriotic +spirit. While commanding officer of the camp at Aberdeen he held +the offices of a Director of the Bank of Scotland, Chairman of the +British Wool Society, Provost of Wick, Director of the British +Fishery Society, Commissioner for issuing Exchequer Bills, Member +of Parliament for Caithness, and President of the Board of +Agriculture. Amidst all this multifarious and self-imposed work, +he even found time to write books, enough of themselves to +establish a reputation. When Mr. Rush, the American Ambassador, +arrived in England, he relates that he inquired of Mr. Coke of +Holkham, what was the best work on Agriculture, and was referred to +Sir John Sinclair's; and when he further asked of Mr. Vansittart, +Chancellor of the Exchequer, what was the best work on British +Finance, he was again referred to a work by Sir John Sinclair, his +'History of the Public Revenue.' But the great monument of his +indefatigable industry, a work that would have appalled other men, +but only served to rouse and sustain his energy, was his +'Statistical Account of Scotland,' in twenty-one volumes, one of +the most valuable practical works ever published in any age or +country. Amid a host of other pursuits it occupied him nearly +eight years of hard labour, during which he received, and attended +to, upwards of 20,000 letters on the subject. It was a thoroughly +patriotic undertaking, from which he derived no personal advantage +whatever, beyond the honour of having completed it. The whole of +the profits were assigned by him to the Society for the Sons of the +Clergy in Scotland. The publication of the book led to great +public improvements; it was followed by the immediate abolition of +several oppressive feudal rights, to which it called attention; the +salaries of schoolmasters and clergymen in many parishes were +increased; and an increased stimulus was given to agriculture +throughout Scotland. Sir John then publicly offered to undertake +the much greater labour of collecting and publishing a similar +Statistical Account of England; but unhappily the then Archbishop +of Canterbury refused to sanction it, lest it should interfere with +the tithes of the clergy, and the idea was abandoned. + +A remarkable illustration of his energetic promptitude was the +manner in which he once provided, on a great emergency, for the +relief of the manufacturing districts. In 1793 the stagnation +produced by the war led to an unusual number of bankruptcies, and +many of the first houses in Manchester and Glasgow were tottering, +not so much from want of property, but because the usual sources of +trade and credit were for the time closed up. A period of intense +distress amongst the labouring classes seemed imminent, when Sir +John urged, in Parliament, that Exchequer notes to the amount of +five millions should be issued immediately as a loan to such +merchants as could give security. This suggestion was adopted, and +his offer to carry out his plan, in conjunction with certain +members named by him, was also accepted. The vote was passed late +at night, and early next morning Sir John, anticipating the delays +of officialism and red tape, proceeded to bankers in the city, and +borrowed of them, on his own personal security, the sum of +70,000l., which he despatched the same evening to those merchants +who were in the most urgent need of assistance. Pitt meeting Sir +John in the House, expressed his great regret that the pressing +wants of Manchester and Glasgow could not be supplied so soon as +was desirable, adding, "The money cannot be raised for some days." +"It is already gone! it left London by to-night's mail!" was Sir +John's triumphant reply; and in afterwards relating the anecdote he +added, with a smile of pleasure, "Pitt was as much startled as if I +had stabbed him." To the last this great, good man worked on +usefully and cheerfully, setting a great example for his family and +for his country. In so laboriously seeking others' good, it might +be said that he found his own--not wealth, for his generosity +seriously impaired his private fortune, but happiness, and self- +satisfaction, and the peace that passes knowledge. A great +patriot, with magnificent powers of work, he nobly did his duty to +his country; yet he was not neglectful of his own household and +home. His sons and daughters grew up to honour and usefulness; and +it was one of the proudest things Sir John could say, when verging +on his eightieth year, that he had lived to see seven sons grown +up, not one of whom had incurred a debt he could not pay, or caused +him a sorrow that could have been avoided. + + + +CHAPTER XIII--CHARACTER--THE TRUE GENTLEMAN + + + +"For who can always act? but he, +To whom a thousand memories call, +Not being less but more than all +The gentleness he seemed to be, + +But seemed the thing he was, and joined +Each office of the social hour +To noble manners, as the flower +And native growth of noble mind; + +And thus he bore without abuse +The grand old name of Gentleman."--Tennyson. + +"Es bildet ein Talent sich in der Stille, +Sich ein Charakter in dem Strom der Welt."--Goethe. + +"That which raises a country, that which strengthens a country, and +that which dignifies a country,--that which spreads her power, +creates her moral influence, and makes her respected and submitted +to, bends the hearts of millions, and bows down the pride of +nations to her--the instrument of obedience, the fountain of +supremacy, the true throne, crown, and sceptre of a nation;--this +aristocracy is not an aristocracy of blood, not an aristocracy of +fashion, not an aristocracy of talent only; it is an aristocracy of +Character. That is the true heraldry of man."--The Times. + + +The crown and glory of life is Character. It is the noblest +possession of a man, constituting a rank in itself, and an estate +in the general goodwill; dignifying every station, and exalting +every position in society. It exercises a greater power than +wealth, and secures all the honour without the jealousies of fame. +It carries with it an influence which always tells; for it is the +result of proved honour, rectitude, and consistency--qualities +which, perhaps more than any other, command the general confidence +and respect of mankind. + +Character is human nature in its best form. It is moral order +embodied in the individual. Men of character are not only the +conscience of society, but in every well-governed State they are +its best motive power; for it is moral qualities in the main which +rule the world. Even in war, Napoleon said the moral is to the +physical as ten to one. The strength, the industry, and the +civilisation of nations--all depend upon individual character; and +the very foundations of civil security rest upon it. Laws and +institutions are but its outgrowth. In the just balance of nature, +individuals, nations, and races, will obtain just so much as they +deserve, and no more. And as effect finds its cause, so surely +does quality of character amongst a people produce its befitting +results. + +Though a man have comparatively little culture, slender abilities, +and but small wealth, yet, if his character be of sterling worth, +he will always command an influence, whether it be in the workshop, +the counting-house, the mart, or the senate. Canning wisely wrote +in 1801, "My road must be through Character to power; I will try no +other course; and I am sanguine enough to believe that this course, +though not perhaps the quickest, is the surest." You may admire +men of intellect; but something more is necessary before you will +trust them. Hence Lord John Russell once observed in a sentence +full of truth, "It is the nature of party in England to ask the +assistance of men of genius, but to follow the guidance of men of +character." This was strikingly illustrated in the career of the +late Francis Horner--a man of whom Sydney Smith said that the Ten +Commandments were stamped upon his countenance. "The valuable and +peculiar light," says Lord Cockburn, "in which his history is +calculated to inspire every right-minded youth, is this. He died +at the age of thirty-eight; possessed of greater public influence +than any other private man; and admired, beloved, trusted, and +deplored by all, except the heartless or the base. No greater +homage was ever paid in Parliament to any deceased member. Now let +every young man ask--how was this attained? By rank? He was the +son of an Edinburgh merchant. By wealth? Neither he, nor any of +his relations, ever had a superfluous sixpence. By office? He +held but one, and only for a few years, of no influence, and with +very little pay. By talents? His were not splendid, and he had no +genius. Cautious and slow, his only ambition was to be right. By +eloquence? He spoke in calm, good taste, without any of the +oratory that either terrifies or seduces. By any fascination of +manner? His was only correct and agreeable. By what, then, was +it? Merely by sense, industry, good principles, and a good heart-- +qualities which no well-constituted mind need ever despair of +attaining. It was the force of his character that raised him; and +this character not impressed upon him by nature, but formed, out of +no peculiarly fine elements, by himself. There were many in the +House of Commons of far greater ability and eloquence. But no one +surpassed him in the combination of an adequate portion of these +with moral worth. Horner was born to show what moderate powers, +unaided by anything whatever except culture and goodness, may +achieve, even when these powers are displayed amidst the +competition and jealousy of public life." + +Franklin, also, attributed his success as a public man, not to his +talents or his powers of speaking--for these were but moderate--but +to his known integrity of character. Hence it was, he says, "that +I had so much weight with my fellow citizens. I was but a bad +speaker, never eloquent, subject to much hesitation in my choice of +words, hardly correct in language, and yet I generally carried my +point." Character creates confidence in men in high station as +well as in humble life. It was said of the first Emperor Alexander +of Russia, that his personal character was equivalent to a +constitution. During the wars of the Fronde, Montaigne was the +only man amongst the French gentry who kept his castle gates +unbarred; and it was said of him, that his personal character was a +better protection for him than a regiment of horse would have been. + +That character is power, is true in a much higher sense than that +knowledge is power. Mind without heart, intelligence without +conduct, cleverness without goodness, are powers in their way, but +they may be powers only for mischief. We may be instructed or +amused by them; but it is sometimes as difficult to admire them as +it would be to admire the dexterity of a pickpocket or the +horsemanship of a highwayman. + +Truthfulness, integrity, and goodness--qualities that hang not on +any man's breath--form the essence of manly character, or, as one +of our old writers has it, "that inbred loyalty unto Virtue which +can serve her without a livery." He who possesses these qualities, +united with strength of purpose, carries with him a power which is +irresistible. He is strong to do good, strong to resist evil, and +strong to bear up under difficulty and misfortune. When Stephen of +Colonna fell into the hands of his base assailants, and they asked +him in derision, "Where is now your fortress?" "Here," was his +bold reply, placing his hand upon his heart. It is in misfortune +that the character of the upright man shines forth with the +greatest lustre; and when all else fails, he takes stand upon his +integrity and his courage. + +The rules of conduct followed by Lord Erskine--a man of sterling +independence of principle and scrupulous adherence to truth--are +worthy of being engraven on every young man's heart. "It was a +first command and counsel of my earliest youth," he said, "always +to do what my conscience told me to be a duty, and to leave the +consequence to God. I shall carry with me the memory, and I trust +the practice, of this parental lesson to the grave. I have +hitherto followed it, and I have no reason to complain that my +obedience to it has been a temporal sacrifice. I have found it, on +the contrary, the road to prosperity and wealth, and I shall point +out the same path to my children for their pursuit." + +Every man is bound to aim at the possession of a good character as +one of the highest objects of life. The very effort to secure it +by worthy means will furnish him with a motive for exertion; and +his idea of manhood, in proportion as it is elevated, will steady +and animate his motive. It is well to have a high standard of +life, even though we may not be able altogether to realize it. +"The youth," says Mr. Disraeli, "who does not look up will look +down; and the spirit that does not soar is destined perhaps to +grovel." George Herbert wisely writes, + + +"Pitch thy behaviour low, thy projects high, +So shall thou humble and magnanimous be. +Sink not in spirit; who aimeth at the sky +Shoots higher much than he that means a tree." + + +He who has a high standard of living and thinking will certainly do +better than he who has none at all. "Pluck at a gown of gold," +says the Scotch proverb, "and you may get a sleeve o't." Whoever +tries for the highest results cannot fail to reach a point far in +advance of that from which he started; and though the end attained +may fall short of that proposed, still, the very effort to rise, of +itself cannot fail to prove permanently beneficial. + +There are many counterfeits of character, but the genuine article +is difficult to be mistaken. Some, knowing its money value, would +assume its disguise for the purpose of imposing upon the unwary. +Colonel Charteris said to a man distinguished for his honesty, "I +would give a thousand pounds for your good name." "Why?" "Because +I could make ten thousand by it," was the knave's reply. + +Integrity in word and deed is the backbone of character; and loyal +adherence to veracity its most prominent characteristic. One of +the finest testimonies to the character of the late Sir Robert Peel +was that borne by the Duke of Wellington in the House of Lords, a +few days after the great statesman's death. "Your lordships," he +said, "must all feel the high and honourable character of the late +Sir Robert Peel. I was long connected with him in public life. We +were both in the councils of our Sovereign together, and I had long +the honour to enjoy his private friendship. In all the course of +my acquaintance with him I never knew a man in whose truth and +justice I had greater confidence, or in whom I saw a more +invariable desire to promote the public service. In the whole +course of my communication with him, I never knew an instance in +which he did not show the strongest attachment to truth; and I +never saw in the whole course of my life the smallest reason for +suspecting that he stated anything which he did not firmly believe +to be the fact." And this high-minded truthfulness of the +statesman was no doubt the secret of no small part of his influence +and power. + +There is a truthfulness in action as well as in words, which is +essential to uprightness of character. A man must really be what +he seems or purposes to be. When an American gentleman wrote to +Granville Sharp, that from respect for his great virtues he had +named one of his sons after him, Sharp replied: "I must request +you to teach him a favourite maxim of the family whose name you +have given him--ALWAYS ENDEAVOUR TO BE REALLY WHAT YOU WOULD WISH +TO APPEAR. This maxim, as my father informed me, was carefully and +humbly practised by HIS father, whose sincerity, as a plain and +honest man, thereby became the principal feature of his character, +both in public and private life." Every man who respects himself, +and values the respect of others, will carry out the maxim in act-- +doing honestly what he proposes to do--putting the highest +character into his work, scamping nothing, but priding himself upon +his integrity and conscientiousness. Once Cromwell said to +Bernard,--a clever but somewhat unscrupulous lawyer, "I understand +that you have lately been vastly wary in your conduct; do not be +too confident of this; subtlety may deceive you, integrity never +will." Men whose acts are at direct variance with their words, +command no respect, and what they say has but little weight; even +truths, when uttered by them, seem to come blasted from their lips. + +The true character acts rightly, whether in secret or in the sight +of men. That boy was well trained who, when asked why he did not +pocket some pears, for nobody was there to see, replied, "Yes, +there was: I was there to see myself; and I don't intend ever to +see myself do a dishonest thing."--This is a simple but not +inappropriate illustration of principle, or conscience, dominating +in the character, and exercising a noble protectorate over it; not +merely a passive influence, but an active power regulating the +life. Such a principle goes on moulding the character hourly and +daily, growing with a force that operates every moment. Without +this dominating influence, character has no protection, but is +constantly liable to fall away before temptation; and every such +temptation succumbed to, every act of meanness or dishonesty, +however slight, causes self-degradation. It matters not whether +the act be successful or not, discovered or concealed; the culprit +is no longer the same, but another person; and he is pursued by a +secret uneasiness, by self-reproach, or the workings of what we +call conscience, which is the inevitable doom of the guilty. + +And here it may be observed how greatly the character may be +strengthened and supported by the cultivation of good habits. Man, +it has been said, is a bundle of habits; and habit is second +nature. Metastasio entertained so strong an opinion as to the +power of repetition in act and thought, that he said, "All is habit +in mankind, even virtue itself." Butler, in his 'Analogy,' +impresses the importance of careful self-discipline and firm +resistance to temptation, as tending to make virtue habitual, so +that at length it may become more easy to be good than to give way +to sin. "As habits belonging to the body," he says, "are produced +by external acts, so habits of the mind are produced by the +execution of inward practical purposes, i.e., carrying them into +act, or acting upon them--the principles of obedience, veracity, +justice, and charity." And again, Lord Brougham says, when +enforcing the immense importance of training and example in youth, +"I trust everything under God to habit, on which, in all ages, the +lawgiver, as well as the schoolmaster, has mainly placed his +reliance; habit, which makes everything easy, and casts the +difficulties upon the deviation from a wonted course." Thus, make +sobriety a habit, and intemperance will be hateful; make prudence a +habit, and reckless profligacy will become revolting to every +principle of conduct which regulates the life of the individual. +Hence the necessity for the greatest care and watchfulness against +the inroad of any evil habit; for the character is always weakest +at that point at which it has once given way; and it is long before +a principle restored can become so firm as one that has never been +moved. It is a fine remark of a Russian writer, that "Habits are a +necklace of pearls: untie the knot, and the whole unthreads." + +Wherever formed, habit acts involuntarily, and without effort; and, +it is only when you oppose it, that you find how powerful it has +become. What is done once and again, soon gives facility and +proneness. The habit at first may seem to have no more strength +than a spider's web; but, once formed, it binds as with a chain of +iron. The small events of life, taken singly, may seem exceedingly +unimportant, like snow that falls silently, flake by flake; yet +accumulated, these snow-flakes form the avalanche. + +Self-respect, self-help, application, industry, integrity--all are +of the nature of habits, not beliefs. Principles, in fact, are but +the names which we assign to habits; for the principles are words, +but the habits are the things themselves: benefactors or tyrants, +according as they are good or evil. It thus happens that as we +grow older, a portion of our free activity and individuality +becomes suspended in habit; our actions become of the nature of +fate; and we are bound by the chains which we have woven around +ourselves. + +It is indeed scarcely possible to over-estimate the importance of +training the young to virtuous habits. In them they are the +easiest formed, and when formed they last for life; like letters +cut on the bark of a tree they grow and widen with age. "Train up +a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not +depart from it." The beginning holds within it the end; the first +start on the road of life determines the direction and the +destination of the journey; ce n'est que le premier pas qui coute. +"Remember," said Lord Collingwood to a young man whom he loved, +"before you are five-and-twenty you must establish a character that +will serve you all your life." As habit strengthens with age, and +character becomes formed, any turning into a new path becomes more +and more difficult. Hence, it is often harder to unlearn than to +learn; and for this reason the Grecian flute-player was justified +who charged double fees to those pupils who had been taught by an +inferior master. To uproot an old habit is sometimes a more +painful thing, and vastly more difficult, than to wrench out a +tooth. Try and reform a habitually indolent, or improvident, or +drunken person, and in a large majority of cases you will fail. +For the habit in each case has wound itself in and through the life +until it has become an integral part of it, and cannot be uprooted. +Hence, as Mr. Lynch observes, "the wisest habit of all is the habit +of care in the formation of good habits." + +Even happiness itself may become habitual. There is a habit of +looking at the bright side of things, and also of looking at the +dark side. Dr. Johnson has said that the habit of looking at the +best side of a thing is worth more to a man than a thousand pounds +a year. And we possess the power, to a great extent, of so +exercising the will as to direct the thoughts upon objects +calculated to yield happiness and improvement rather than their +opposites. In this way the habit of happy thought may be made to +spring up like any other habit. And to bring up men or women with +a genial nature of this sort, a good temper, and a happy frame of +mind, is perhaps of even more importance, in many cases, than to +perfect them in much knowledge and many accomplishments. + +As daylight can be seen through very small holes, so little things +will illustrate a person's character. Indeed character consists in +little acts, well and honourably performed; daily life being the +quarry from which we build it up, and rough-hew the habits which +form it. One of the most marked tests of character is the manner +in which we conduct ourselves towards others. A graceful behaviour +towards superiors, inferiors, and equals, is a constant source of +pleasure. It pleases others because it indicates respect for their +personality; but it gives tenfold more pleasure to ourselves. +Every man may to a large extent be a self-educator in good +behaviour, as in everything else; he can be civil and kind, if he +will, though he have not a penny in his purse. Gentleness in +society is like the silent influence of light, which gives colour +to all nature; it is far more powerful than loudness or force, and +far more fruitful. It pushes its way quietly and persistently, +like the tiniest daffodil in spring, which raises the clod and +thrusts it aside by the simple persistency of growing. + +Even a kind look will give pleasure and confer happiness. In one +of Robertson of Brighton's letters, he tells of a lady who related +to him "the delight, the tears of gratitude, which she had +witnessed in a poor girl to whom, in passing, I gave a kind look on +going out of church on Sunday. What a lesson! How cheaply +happiness can be given! What opportunities we miss of doing an +angel's work! I remember doing it, full of sad feelings, passing +on, and thinking no more about it; and it gave an hour's sunshine +to a human life, and lightened the load of life to a human heart +for a time!" {35} + +Morals and manners, which give colour to life, are of much greater +importance than laws, which are but their manifestations. The law +touches us here and there, but manners are about us everywhere, +pervading society like the air we breathe. Good manners, as we +call them, are neither more nor less than good behaviour; +consisting of courtesy and kindness; benevolence being the +preponderating element in all kinds of mutually beneficial and +pleasant intercourse amongst human beings. "Civility," said Lady +Montague, "costs nothing and buys everything." The cheapest of all +things is kindness, its exercise requiring the least possible +trouble and self-sacrifice. "Win hearts," said Burleigh to Queen +Elizabeth, "and you have all men's hearts and purses." If we would +only let nature act kindly, free from affectation and artifice, the +results on social good humour and happiness would be incalculable. +The little courtesies which form the small change of life, may +separately appear of little intrinsic value, but they acquire their +importance from repetition and accumulation. They are like the +spare minutes, or the groat a day, which proverbially produce such +momentous results in the course of a twelvemonth, or in a lifetime. + +Manners are the ornament of action; and there is a way of speaking +a kind word, or of doing a kind thing, which greatly enhances their +value. What seems to be done with a grudge, or as an act of +condescension, is scarcely accepted as a favour. Yet there are men +who pride themselves upon their gruffness; and though they may +possess virtue and capacity, their manner is often such as to +render them almost insupportable. It is difficult to like a man +who, though he may not pull your nose, habitually wounds your self- +respect, and takes a pride in saying disagreeable things to you. +There are others who are dreadfully condescending, and cannot avoid +seizing upon every small opportunity of making their greatness +felt. When Abernethy was canvassing for the office of surgeon to +St. Bartholomew Hospital, he called upon such a person--a rich +grocer, one of the governors. The great man behind the counter +seeing the great surgeon enter, immediately assumed the grand air +towards the supposed suppliant for his vote. "I presume, Sir, you +want my vote and interest at this momentous epoch of your life?" +Abernethy, who hated humbugs, and felt nettled at the tone, +replied: "No, I don't: I want a pennyworth of figs; come, look +sharp and wrap them up; I want to be off!" + +The cultivation of manner--though in excess it is foppish and +foolish--is highly necessary in a person who has occasion to +negociate with others in matters of business. Affability and good +breeding may even be regarded as essential to the success of a man +in any eminent station and enlarged sphere of life; for the want of +it has not unfrequently been found in a great measure to neutralise +the results of much industry, integrity, and honesty of character. +There are, no doubt, a few strong tolerant minds which can bear +with defects and angularities of manner, and look only to the more +genuine qualities; but the world at large is not so forbearant, and +cannot help forming its judgments and likings mainly according to +outward conduct. + +Another mode of displaying true politeness is consideration for the +opinions of others. It has been said of dogmatism, that it is only +puppyism come to its full growth; and certainly the worst form this +quality can assume, is that of opinionativeness and arrogance. Let +men agree to differ, and, when they do differ, bear and forbear. +Principles and opinions may be maintained with perfect suavity, +without coming to blows or uttering hard words; and there are +circumstances in which words are blows, and inflict wounds far less +easy to heal. As bearing upon this point, we quote an instructive +little parable spoken some time since by an itinerant preacher of +the Evangelical Alliance on the borders of Wales:- "As I was going +to the hills," said he, "early one misty morning, I saw something +moving on a mountain side, so strange looking that I took it for a +monster. When I came nearer to it I found it was a man. When I +came up to him I found he was my brother." + +The inbred politeness which springs from right-heartedness and +kindly feelings, is of no exclusive rank or station. The mechanic +who works at the bench may possess it, as well as the clergyman or +the peer. It is by no means a necessary condition of labour that +it should, in any respect, be either rough or coarse. The +politeness and refinement which distinguish all classes of the +people in many continental countries show that those qualities +might become ours too--as doubtless they will become with increased +culture and more general social intercourse--without sacrificing +any of our more genuine qualities as men. From the highest to the +lowest, the richest to the poorest, to no rank or condition in life +has nature denied her highest boon--the great heart. There never +yet existed a gentleman but was lord of a great heart. And this +may exhibit itself under the hodden grey of the peasant as well as +under the laced coat of the noble. Robert Burns was once taken to +task by a young Edinburgh blood, with whom he was walking, for +recognising an honest farmer in the open street. "Why you +fantastic gomeral," exclaimed Burns, "it was not the great coat, +the scone bonnet, and the saunders-boot hose that I spoke to, but +THE MAN that was in them; and the man, sir, for true worth, would +weigh down you and me, and ten more such, any day." There may be a +homeliness in externals, which may seem vulgar to those who cannot +discern the heart beneath; but, to the right-minded, character will +always have its clear insignia. + +William and Charles Grant were the sons of a farmer in Inverness- +shire, whom a sudden flood stripped of everything, even to the very +soil which he tilled. The farmer and his sons, with the world +before them where to choose, made their way southward in search of +employment until they arrived in the neighbourhood of Bury in +Lancashire. From the crown of the hill near Walmesley they +surveyed the wide extent of country which lay before them, the +river Irwell making its circuitous course through the valley. They +were utter strangers in the neighbourhood, and knew not which way +to turn. To decide their course they put up a stick, and agreed to +pursue the direction in which it fell. Thus their decision was +made, and they journeyed on accordingly until they reached the +village of Ramsbotham, not far distant. They found employment in a +print-work, in which William served his apprenticeship; and they +commanded themselves to their employers by their diligence, +sobriety, and strict integrity. They plodded on, rising from one +station to another, until at length the two men themselves became +employers, and after many long years of industry, enterprise, and +benevolence, they became rich, honoured, and respected by all who +knew them. Their cotton-mills and print-works gave employment to a +large population. Their well-directed diligence made the valley +teem with activity, joy, health, and opulence. Out of their +abundant wealth they gave liberally to all worthy objects, erecting +churches, founding schools, and in all ways promoting the well- +being of the class of working-men from which they had sprung. They +afterwards erected, on the top of the hill above Walmesley, a lofty +tower in commemoration of the early event in their history which +had determined the place of their settlement. The brothers Grant +became widely celebrated for their benevolence and their various +goodness, and it is said that Mr. Dickens had them in his mind's +eye when delineating the character of the brothers Cheeryble. One +amongst many anecdotes of a similar kind may be cited to show that +the character was by no means exaggerated. A Manchester +warehouseman published an exceedingly scurrilous pamphlet against +the firm of Grant Brothers, holding up the elder partner to +ridicule as "Billy Button." William was informed by some one of +the nature of the pamphlet, and his observation was that the man +would live to repent of it. "Oh!" said the libeller, when informed +of the remark, "he thinks that some time or other I shall be in his +debt; but I will take good care of that." It happens, however, +that men in business do not always foresee who shall be their +creditor, and it so turned out that the Grants' libeller became a +bankrupt, and could not complete his certificate and begin business +again without obtaining their signature. It seemed to him a +hopeless case to call upon that firm for any favour, but the +pressing claims of his family forced him to make the application. +He appeared before the man whom he had ridiculed as "Billy Button" +accordingly. He told his tale and produced his certificate. "You +wrote a pamphlet against us once?" said Mr. Grant. The supplicant +expected to see his document thrown into the fire; instead of which +Grant signed the name of the firm, and thus completed the necessary +certificate. "We make it a rule," said he, handing it back, "never +to refuse signing the certificate of an honest tradesman, and we +have never heard that you were anything else." The tears started +into the man's eyes. "Ah," continued Mr. Grant, "you see my saying +was true, that you would live to repent writing that pamphlet. I +did not mean it as a threat--I only meant that some day you would +know us better, and repent having tried to injure us." "I do, I +do, indeed, repent it." "Well, well, you know us now. But how do +you get on--what are you going to do?" The poor man stated that he +had friends who would assist him when his certificate was obtained. +"But how are you off in the mean time?" The answer was, that, +having given up every farthing to his creditors, he had been +compelled to stint his family in even the common necessaries of +life, that he might be enabled to pay for his certificate. "My +good fellow, this will never do; your wife and family must not +suffer in this way; be kind enough to take this ten-pound note to +your wife from me: there, there, now--don't cry, it will be all +well with you yet; keep up your spirits, set to work like a man, +and you will raise your head among the best of us yet." The +overpowered man endeavoured with choking utterance to express his +gratitude, but in vain; and putting his hand to his face, he went +out of the room sobbing like a child. + +The True Gentleman is one whose nature has been fashioned after the +highest models. It is a grand old name, that of Gentleman, and has +been recognized as a rank and power in all stages of society. "The +Gentleman is always the Gentleman," said the old French General to +his regiment of Scottish gentry at Rousillon, "and invariably +proves himself such in need and in danger." To possess this +character is a dignity of itself, commanding the instinctive homage +of every generous mind, and those who will not bow to titular rank, +will yet do homage to the gentleman. His qualities depend not upon +fashion or manners, but upon moral worth--not on personal +possessions, but on personal qualities. The Psalmist briefly +describes him as one "that walketh uprightly, and worketh +righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart." + +The gentleman is eminently distinguished for his self-respect. He +values his character,--not so much of it only as can be seen of +others, but as he sees it himself; having regard for the approval +of his inward monitor. And, as he respects himself, so, by the +same law, does he respect others. Humanity is sacred in his eyes: +and thence proceed politeness and forbearance, kindness and +charity. It is related of Lord Edward Fitzgerald that, while +travelling in Canada, in company with the Indians, he was shocked +by the sight of a poor squaw trudging along laden with her +husband's trappings, while the chief himself walked on +unencumbered. Lord Edward at once relieved the squaw of her pack +by placing it upon his own shoulders,--a beautiful instance of what +the French call politesse de coeur--the inbred politeness of the +true gentleman. + +The true gentleman has a keen sense of honour,--scrupulously +avoiding mean actions. His standard of probity in word and action +is high. He does not shuffle or prevaricate, dodge or skulk; but +is honest, upright, and straightforward. His law is rectitude-- +action in right lines. When he says YES, it is a law: and he +dares to say the valiant NO at the fitting season. The gentleman +will not be bribed; only the low-minded and unprincipled will sell +themselves to those who are interested in buying them. When the +upright Jonas Hanway officiated as commissioner in the victualling +department, he declined to receive a present of any kind from a +contractor; refusing thus to be biassed in the performance of his +public duty. A fine trait of the same kind is to be noted in the +life of the Duke of Wellington. Shortly after the battle of +Assaye, one morning the Prime Minister of the Court of Hyderabad +waited upon him for the purpose of privately ascertaining what +territory and what advantages had been reserved for his master in +the treaty of peace between the Mahratta princes and the Nizam. To +obtain this information the minister offered the general a very +large sum--considerably above 100,000l. Looking at him quietly for +a few seconds, Sir Arthur said, "It appears, then, that you are +capable of keeping a secret?" "Yes, certainly," replied the +minister. "THEN SO AM I," said the English general, smiling, and +bowed the minister out. It was to Wellington's great honour, that +though uniformly successful in India, and with the power of earning +in such modes as this enormous wealth, he did not add a farthing to +his fortune, and returned to England a comparatively poor man. + +A similar sensitiveness and high-mindedness characterised his noble +relative, the Marquis of Wellesley, who, on one occasion, +positively refused a present of 100,000l. proposed to be given him +by the Directors of the East India Company on the conquest of +Mysore. "It is not necessary," said he, "for me to allude to the +independence of my character, and the proper dignity attaching to +my office; other reasons besides these important considerations +lead me to decline this testimony, which is not suitable to me. I +THINK OF NOTHING BUT OUR ARMY. I should be much distressed to +curtail the share of those brave soldiers." And the Marquis's +resolution to refuse the present remained unalterable. + +Sir Charles Napier exhibited the same noble self-denial in the +course of his Indian career. He rejected all the costly gifts +which barbaric princes were ready to lay at his feet, and said with +truth, "Certainly I could have got 30,000l. since my coming to +Scinde, but my hands do not want washing yet. Our dear father's +sword which I wore in both battles (Meanee and Hyderabad) is +unstained." + +Riches and rank have no necessary connexion with genuine +gentlemanly qualities. The poor man may be a true gentleman,--in +spirit and in daily life. He may be honest, truthful, upright, +polite, temperate, courageous, self-respecting, and self-helping,-- +that is, be a true gentleman. The poor man with a rich spirit is +in all ways superior to the rich man with a poor spirit. To borrow +St. Paul's words, the former is as "having nothing, yet possessing +all things," while the other, though possessing all things, has +nothing. The first hopes everything, and fears nothing; the last +hopes nothing, and fears everything. Only the poor in spirit are +really poor. He who has lost all, but retains his courage, +cheerfulness, hope, virtue, and self-respect, is still rich. For +such a man, the world is, as it were, held in trust; his spirit +dominating over its grosser cares, he can still walk erect, a true +gentleman. + +Occasionally, the brave and gentle character may be found under the +humblest garb. Here is an old illustration, but a fine one. Once +on a time, when the Adige suddenly overflowed its banks, the bridge +of Verona was carried away, with the exception of the centre arch, +on which stood a house, whose inhabitants supplicated help from the +windows, while the foundations were visibly giving way. "I will +give a hundred French louis," said the Count Spolverini, who stood +by, "to any person who will venture to deliver these unfortunate +people." A young peasant came forth from the crowd, seized a boat, +and pushed into the stream. He gained the pier, received the whole +family into the boat, and made for the shore, where he landed them +in safety. "Here is your money, my brave young fellow," said the +count. "No," was the answer of the young man, "I do not sell my +life; give the money to this poor family, who have need of it." +Here spoke the true spirit of the gentleman, though he was but in +the garb of a peasant. + +Not less touching was the heroic conduct of a party of Deal boatmen +in rescuing the crew of a collier-brig in the Downs but a short +time ago. {36} A sudden storm which set in from the north-east +drove several ships from their anchors, and it being low water, one +of them struck the ground at a considerable distance from the +shore, when the sea made a clean breach over her. There was not a +vestige of hope for the vessel, such was the fury of the wind and +the violence of the waves. There was nothing to tempt the boatmen +on shore to risk their lives in saving either ship or crew, for not +a farthing of salvage was to be looked for. But the daring +intrepidity of the Deal boatmen was not wanting at this critical +moment. No sooner had the brig grounded than Simon Pritchard, one +of the many persons assembled along the beach, threw off his coat +and called out, "Who will come with me and try to save that crew?" +Instantly twenty men sprang forward, with "I will," "and I." But +seven only were wanted; and running down a galley punt into the +surf, they leaped in and dashed through the breakers, amidst the +cheers of those on shore. How the boat lived in such a sea seemed +a miracle; but in a few minutes, impelled by the strong arms of +these gallant men, she flew on and reached the stranded ship, +"catching her on the top of a wave"; and in less than a quarter of +an hour from the time the boat left the shore, the six men who +composed the crew of the collier were landed safe on Walmer Beach. +A nobler instance of indomitable courage and disinterested heroism +on the part of the Deal boatmen--brave though they are always known +to be--perhaps cannot be cited; and we have pleasure in here +placing it on record. + +Mr. Turnbull, in his work on 'Austria,' relates an anecdote of the +late Emperor Francis, in illustration of the manner in which the +Government of that country has been indebted, for its hold upon the +people, to the personal qualities of its princes. "At the time +when the cholera was raging at Vienna, the emperor, with an aide- +de-camp, was strolling about the streets of the city and suburbs, +when a corpse was dragged past on a litter unaccompanied by a +single mourner. The unusual circumstance attracted his attention, +and he learnt, on inquiry, that the deceased was a poor person who +had died of cholera, and that the relatives had not ventured on +what was then considered the very dangerous office of attending the +body to the grave. 'Then,' said Francis, 'we will supply their +place, for none of my poor people should go to the grave without +that last mark of respect;' and he followed the body to the distant +place of interment, and, bare-headed, stood to see every rite and +observance respectfully performed." + +Fine though this illustration may be of the qualities of the +gentleman, we can match it by another equally good, of two English +navvies in Paris, as related in a morning paper a few years ago. +"One day a hearse was observed ascending the steep Rue de Clichy on +its way to Montmartre, bearing a coffin of poplar wood with its +cold corpse. Not a soul followed--not even the living dog of the +dead man, if he had one. The day was rainy and dismal; passers by +lifted the hat as is usual when a funeral passes, and that was all. +At length it passed two English navvies, who found themselves in +Paris on their way from Spain. A right feeling spoke from beneath +their serge jackets. 'Poor wretch!' said the one to the other, 'no +one follows him; let us two follow!' And the two took off their +hats, and walked bare-headed after the corpse of a stranger to the +cemetery of Montmartre." + +Above all, the gentleman is truthful. He feels that truth is the +"summit of being," and the soul of rectitude in human affairs. +Lord Chesterfield declared that Truth made the success of a +gentleman. The Duke of Wellington, writing to Kellerman, on the +subject of prisoners on parole, when opposed to that general in the +peninsula, told him that if there was one thing on which an English +officer prided himself more than another, excepting his courage, it +was his truthfulness. "When English officers," said he, "have +given their parole of honour not to escape, be sure they will not +break it. Believe me--trust to their word; the word of an English +officer is a surer guarantee than the vigilance of sentinels." + +True courage and gentleness go hand in hand. The brave man is +generous and forbearant, never unforgiving and cruel. It was +finely said of Sir John Franklin by his friend Parry, that "he was +a man who never turned his back upon a danger, yet of that +tenderness that he would not brush away a mosquito." A fine trait +of character--truly gentle, and worthy of the spirit of Bayard--was +displayed by a French officer in the cavalry combat of El Bodon in +Spain. He had raised his sword to strike Sir Felton Harvey, but +perceiving his antagonist had only one arm, he instantly stopped, +brought down his sword before Sir Felton in the usual salute, and +rode past. To this may be added a noble and gentle deed of Ney +during the same Peninsular War. Charles Napier was taken prisoner +at Corunna, desperately wounded; and his friends at home did not +know whether he was alive or dead. A special messenger was sent +out from England with a frigate to ascertain his fate. Baron +Clouet received the flag, and informed Ney of the arrival. "Let +the prisoner see his friends," said Ney, "and tell them he is well, +and well treated." Clouet lingered, and Ney asked, smiling, "what +more he wanted"? "He has an old mother, a widow, and blind." "Has +he? then let him go himself and tell her he is alive." As the +exchange of prisoners between the countries was not then allowed, +Ney knew that he risked the displeasure of the Emperor by setting +the young officer at liberty; but Napoleon approved the generous +act. + +Notwithstanding the wail which we occasionally hear for the +chivalry that is gone, our own age has witnessed deeds of bravery +and gentleness--of heroic self-denial and manly tenderness--which +are unsurpassed in history. The events of the last few years have +shown that our countrymen are as yet an undegenerate race. On the +bleak plateau of Sebastopol, in the dripping perilous trenches of +that twelvemonth's leaguer, men of all classes proved themselves +worthy of the noble inheritance of character which their +forefathers have bequeathed to them. But it was in the hour of the +great trial in India that the qualities of our countrymen shone +forth the brightest. The march of Neill on Cawnpore, of Havelock +on Lucknow--officers and men alike urged on by the hope of rescuing +the women and the children--are events which the whole history of +chivalry cannot equal. Outram's conduct to Havelock, in resigning +to him, though his inferior officer, the honour of leading the +attack on Lucknow, was a trait worthy of Sydney, and alone +justifies the title which has been awarded to him of, "the Bayard +of India." The death of Henry Lawrence--that brave and gentle +spirit--his last words before dying, "Let there be no fuss about +me; let me be buried WITH THE MEN,"--the anxious solicitude of Sir +Colin Campbell to rescue the beleaguered of Lucknow, and to conduct +his long train of women and children by night from thence to +Cawnpore, which he reached amidst the all but overpowering assault +of the enemy,--the care with which he led them across the perilous +bridge, never ceasing his charge over them until he had seen the +precious convoy safe on the road to Allahabad, and then burst upon +the Gwalior contingent like a thunder-clap;--such things make us +feel proud of our countrymen and inspire the conviction that the +best and purest glow of chivalry is not dead, but vigorously lives +among us yet. + +Even the common soldiers proved themselves gentlemen under their +trials. At Agra, where so many poor fellows had been scorched and +wounded in their encounter with the enemy, they were brought into +the fort, and tenderly nursed by the ladies; and the rough, gallant +fellows proved gentle as any children. During the weeks that the +ladies watched over their charge, never a word was said by any +soldier that could shock the ear of the gentlest. And when all was +over--when the mortally-wounded had died, and the sick and maimed +who survived were able to demonstrate their gratitude--they invited +their nurses and the chief people of Agra to an entertainment in +the beautiful gardens of the Taj, where, amidst flowers and music, +the rough veterans, all scarred and mutilated as they were, stood +up to thank their gentle countrywomen who had clothed and fed them, +and ministered to their wants during their time of sore distress. +In the hospitals at Scutari, too, many wounded and sick blessed the +kind English ladies who nursed them; and nothing can be finer than +the thought of the poor sufferers, unable to rest through pain, +blessing the shadow of Florence Nightingale as it fell upon their +pillow in the night watches. + +The wreck of the Birkenhead off the coast of Africa on the 27th of +February, 1852, affords another memorable illustration of the +chivalrous spirit of common men acting in this nineteenth century, +of which any age might be proud. The vessel was steaming along the +African coast with 472 men and 166 women and children on board. +The men belonged to several regiments then serving at the Cape, and +consisted principally of recruits who had been only a short time in +the service. At two o'clock in the morning, while all were asleep +below, the ship struck with violence upon a hidden rock which +penetrated her bottom; and it was at once felt that she must go +down. The roll of the drums called the soldiers to arms on the +upper deck, and the men mustered as if on parade. The word was +passed to SAVE THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN; and the helpless creatures +were brought from below, mostly undressed, and handed silently into +the boats. When they had all left the ship's side, the commander +of the vessel thoughtlessly called out, "All those that can swim, +jump overboard and make for the boats." But Captain Wright, of the +91st Highlanders, said, "No! if you do that, THE BOATS WITH THE +WOMEN MUST BE SWAMPED;" and the brave men stood motionless. There +was no boat remaining, and no hope of safety; but not a heart +quailed; no one flinched from his duty in that trying moment. +"There was not a murmur nor a cry amongst them," said Captain +Wright, a survivor, "until the vessel made her final plunge." Down +went the ship, and down went the heroic band, firing a feu de joie +as they sank beneath the waves. Glory and honour to the gentle and +the brave! The examples of such men never die, but, like their +memories, are immortal. + +There are many tests by which a gentleman may be known; but there +is one that never fails--How does he EXERCISE POWER over those +subordinate to him? How does he conduct himself towards women and +children? How does the officer treat his men, the employer his +servants, the master his pupils, and man in every station those who +are weaker than himself? The discretion, forbearance, and +kindliness, with which power in such cases is used, may indeed be +regarded as the crucial test of gentlemanly character. When La +Motte was one day passing through a crowd, he accidentally trod +upon the foot of a young fellow, who forthwith struck him on the +face: "Ah, sire," said La Motte, "you will surely be sorry for +what you have done, when you know that I AM BLIND." He who bullies +those who are not in a position to resist may be a snob, but cannot +be a gentleman. He who tyrannizes over the weak and helpless may +be a coward, but no true man. The tyrant, it has been said, is but +a slave turned inside out. Strength, and the consciousness of +strength, in a right-hearted man, imparts a nobleness to his +character; but he will be most careful how he uses it; for + + +"It is excellent +To have a giant's strength; but it is tyrannous +To use it like a giant." + + +Gentleness is indeed the best test of gentlemanliness. A +consideration for the feelings of others, for his inferiors and +dependants as well as his equals, and respect for their self- +respect, will pervade the true gentleman's whole conduct. He will +rather himself suffer a small injury, than by an uncharitable +construction of another's behaviour, incur the risk of committing a +great wrong. He will be forbearant of the weaknesses, the +failings, and the errors, of those whose advantages in life have +not been equal to his own. He will be merciful even to his beast. +He will not boast of his wealth, or his strength, or his gifts. He +will not be puffed up by success, or unduly depressed by failure. +He will not obtrude his views on others, but speak his mind freely +when occasion calls for it. He will not confer favours with a +patronizing air. Sir Walter Scott once said of Lord Lothian, "He +is a man from whom one may receive a favour, and that's saying a +great deal in these days." + +Lord Chatham has said that the gentleman is characterised by his +sacrifice of self and preference of others to himself in the little +daily occurrences of life. In illustration of this ruling spirit +of considerateness in a noble character, we may cite the anecdote +of the gallant Sir Ralph Abercromby, of whom it is related, that +when mortally wounded in the battle of Aboukir, he was carried in a +litter on board the 'Foudroyant;' and, to ease his pain, a +soldier's blanket was placed under his head, from which he +experienced considerable relief. He asked what it was. "It's only +a soldier's blanket," was the reply. "WHOSE blanket is it?" said +he, half lifting himself up. "Only one of the men's." "I wish to +know the name of the man whose blanket this is." "It is Duncan +Roy's, of the 42nd, Sir Ralph." "Then see that Duncan Roy gets his +blanket this very night." {37} Even to ease his dying agony the +general would not deprive the private soldier of his blanket for +one night. The incident is as good in its way as that of the dying +Sydney handing his cup of water to the private soldier on the field +of Zutphen. + +The quaint old Fuller sums up in a few words the character of the +true gentleman and man of action in describing that of the great +admiral, Sir Francis Drake: "Chaste in his life, just in his +dealings, true of his word; merciful to those that were under him, +and hating nothing so much as idlenesse; in matters especially of +moment, he was never wont to rely on other men's care, how trusty +or skilful soever they might seem to be, but, always contemning +danger, and refusing no toyl, he was wont himself to be one +(whoever was a second) at every turn, where courage, skill, or +industry, was to be employed." + + + +Footnotes: + + +{1} Napoleon III., 'Life of Caesar.' + +{2} 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.--'OEuvres, &c., d'Alexis de Tocqueville. +Par G. de Beaumont.' Paris, 1861. I. 52 + +{3} 'OEuvres et Correspondance inedite d'Alexis de Tocqueville. +Par Gustave de Beaumont.' I. 398. + +{4} "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."--'OEuvres de Tocqueville.' +II. 349. + +{5} 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. + +{6} 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. + +{7} 'History of the Framework Knitters.' + +{8} 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. + +{9} 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." + +{10} Palissy's own words are:- "Le bois m'ayant failli, je fus +contraint brusler les estapes (etaies) qui soustenoyent les tailles +de mon jardin, lesquelles estant bruslees, 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 +scaurois dire: car j'estois tout tari et deseche a cause du labeur +et de la chaleur du fourneau; il y avoit plus d'un mois que ma +chemise n'avoit seiche 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 a faire la fausse monnoye, qui +estoit un mal qui me faisoit seicher sur les pieds; et m'en allois +par les rues tout baisse 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 rue." 'OEuvres Completes de +Palissy. Paris, 1844;' De l'Art de Terre, p. 315. + +{11} "Toutes ces fautes m'ont cause un tel lasseur et tristesse +d'esprit, qu'auparavant que j'aye rendu mes emaux fusible a un +mesme degre de feu, j'ay cuide entrer jusques a la porte du +sepulchre: aussi en me travaillant a tels affaires je me suis +trouve l'espace de plus se dix ans si fort escoule 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."--'OEuvres, 319-20. + +{12} 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 162l. + +{13} 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'oeuvre. 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. + +{14} D'Aubigne, 'Histoire Universelle.' The historian adds, +"Voyez l'impudence de ce bilistre! vous diriez qu'il auroit lu ce +vers de Seneque: 'On ne peut contraindre celui qui sait mourir: +Qui mori scit, cogi nescit.'" + +{15} 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.' + +{16} "Almighty God, the great Creator, +Has changed a goldmaker to a potter." + +{17} 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. + +{18} 'Wedgwood: an Address delivered at Burslem, Oct. 26th, +1863.' By the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, M.P. + +{19} 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. + +{20} 'Saturday Review,' July 3rd, 1858. + +{21} Mrs. Grote's 'Memoir of the Life of Ary Scheffer,' p. 67. + +{22} 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. + +{23} 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. + +{24} On 'Thought and Action.' + +{25} 'Correspondance de Napoleon Ier.,' publiee par ordre de +l'Empereur Napoleon III, Paris, 1864. + +{26} 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. + +{27} 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. + +{28} Article in the 'Times.' + +{29} '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. + +{30} 'Saturday Review.' + +{31} See the admirable and well-known book, 'The Pursuit of +Knowledge under Difficulties.' + +{32} Late Professor of Moral Philosophy at St. Andrew's. + +{33} 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. + +{34} Correspondent of 'The Times,' 11th June, 1863. + +{35} Robertson's 'Life and Letters,' i. 258. + +{36} On the 11th January, 1866. + +{37} Brown's 'Horae Subsecivae.' + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, SELF HELP *** + +This file should be named selfh10.txt or selfh10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, selfh11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, selfh10a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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