4ipi|iH;in;iuu:"i,;:' llii!i:ill,-W|i' ii lllSilliii 'M m 'nmmmM \ri'U'']\m>y^mi ;!r:'^ ■.;; Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation littp://www.archive.org/details/boyhoodofgreatmeOOedgaricli ^^"^-^^ SCOTT AT SMAILHOL-ME TOWF.R. 1". ' 'BOYHOOD OF GREAT MEN - EXTENDED AS ^ )..JL^'~^^-^ AN EXAMPLE TO YOUTH. ^■•^/,f Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, And, departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time ;- Footprints, that perhaps another. Sailing o'er life's solemn main, A forlorn and shipwreck'd brother, Seeing, shall take heart again. Let us, then, be up and doing, With a heart for any fate ; Still achieving, still pursuing, Learn to labour and to virait. Longfellow. LONDON : DAVID BOGUE, FLEET STREET. MDCCCLIII. '<;^=' ^^^ X^ LONDON : .Printed by G. Barclay, Castle St. Leicester Stj. PEEFACE. That a powerful interest attaches to the boyhood of great men will hardly be denied by any one who has given the slightest attention to the subject. The juvenile exploits, adventures, and aspirations of those who have performed memorable services to their country and their species, led mighty armies into the field, ad- vanced the progress of humanity and civilisation, achieved important triumphs in literature and science, or associated their names honourably and indissolubly with some great profession, are matters fraught with instruction to the young, and with interest to all. The object of the following pages is to place before the reader brief sketches of the early career of those who have fought their way to i~\ r'% v«-j .c .—v VI PREFACE. eminence and distinction in the various walks of life ; and thus to develop in the mind of youth noble tastes and high principles, as well as to encourage, stimulate, and sustain that spirit of industry, which is essential to the attain- ment of any position worth striving for. Youth is the season of generous emotions, heroic im- pulses, and high resolves ; the career of the boy usually foreshadows that of the man ; no day passes without thoughts and experiences which will lead to good or evil, just as they are pondered and profited by; and the im- portance of directing the attention to laudable pursuits, by actual examples, at an age when the heart and mind are so peculiarly susceptible of lasting impressions, can scarcely be questioned. The fame, honours, and rewards, consequent upon youthful talent being brought to full and brilliant maturity, depend almost, if not alto- gether, on the energy and perseverance employed in the struggles of life. In the following sketches there is hardly one instance of a man, however highly gifted and richly endowed by nature, who has risen to a conspicuous position, and filled a large space in the public eye, without the most assiduous and diligent de- PREFACE. VU votion to his chosen pursuits. It is entirely by painstakings self-denial, determination, and midnight study, that the men who move the world place themselves in positions that give them the power of performing great and worthy actions; or, as the American poet expresses it, — " The heights by great men reached and kept Were not attained by sudden flight; But they, while their companions slept, Were toiling upwards in the night." Indeed, nothing great can be accomplished without arduous exertion and a resolute pur- pose; but all biography proves that where these are truly and honestly manifested, dif- ficulties yield and fall before the aspirant who is animated by a real sense of duty, and a clear spirit of well-regulated ambition. Those, who have fairly and faithfully exercised these worthy means, have seldom failed, in the long run, to rise to positions of credit, respect, and honour. Moreover, no period of life can be so appropriate as boyhood for laying the founda- tion of that influence arising from acquired knowledge and habitual industry. The pleasing dreams of childhood, and the romantic visions VUl PREFACE. of youth^ may and will pass away ; but the recollections of faculties truly exercised, intellect properly applied, duties nobly performed, and great thoughts terminating in noble deeds, im- part a satisfaction to the mind, which neither length of days nor the cares of the world can efface. A work intended to incite youth to industry and goodness can require no apology, except for the imperfect manner in which it is exe- cuted ; and the writer of these pages is too well aware that these imperfections are neither so few nor far between as could be wished. CONTENTS. 1. $OttB. x^ SIE WALTEK SCOTT . POPE • II. '§htaxim$. GIBBON . SIR JAMES MAC]£lNTOSH III. €xxiu^. DR. JOHNSON • LORD JEFFREY . • IV. ^Mtsmm. CANKlNa . , VWEBSTER , , PAGE 1 15 25 34 44 64 75 X CONTENTS. V. PAGE LORD MANSFIELD 86 LORD ELDON 98 VI. WILBERFORCE . . . . . .111 SIR THOMAS FOWELL BUXTON . . . 122 vn. • .j GALILEO .136 FERGUSON ...... 146 VIII. SIR ISAAC NEWTON .... 158 GASSENDI 170 of his fellow-students was the present distinguished Chief-Justice of England. A letter to his mother, during the summer after his session 346 DIVINES. at college, is still preserved as the earliest specimen of his writings, and proves, by its orthographical and grammatical errors, that he had still to com- mence the task of learning to compose with cor- rectness in that language, of which he, ere long, became so consummate a master. Indeed, though the self-sufficient Ramsay was, as time rolled on, excessively proud of having taught him, Chalmers was, when he entered it, ill prepared by previous education to benefit by the instruction college afforded ; and the greater part of the first two sessions was devoted much more to golf and foot- ball, the games of the locaHty, than to the appointed studies of the place. Next year, however, he began in earnest the study of mathematics ; he applied his mind to it with ardour, and henceforth his intellectual faculties knew no repose. He was enthusiastic in, and gave his whole attention to, whatever he undertook. Even after he was enrolled as a student of divinity, mathe- matics continued to occupy the greater part of his attention, and having learned enough of French for the purpose, he read attentively all the principal writings in that language on the higher branch of the subject. His interest in the study continued imabated, and not even the attractive lectures of one of the most eminent of theological professors could win him from his devotion. But towards the BOYHOOD OF DR. CHALMERS. 347 close of the session of 1795, he studied " Edwards on Free Will," and was so absorbed with it, that he could for some time talk of nothing else. He used to wander early in the morning into quiet rural scenes to luxuriate in solitary musing on the mighty theme. In the following summer he paid a visit to Liver- pool, where an elder brother was settled; and there speculations of the loftiest order strangely mingled in his mind, with the shipping and docks on one side of the Mersey, and the ploughed and pasture land on the other. He now began earnestly to cul- tivate his powers of composition, and his progress was so remarkably rapid, that in two years he acquired habits of quick and easy writing. When the ordinary difficulties of expression were once overcome, the thoughts pent up in his great soul found free and open vent in forms of surpassing power and beauty. Moreover, he very soon gave ample proof of his oratorical talent in the morning and evening prayers, which were then conducted in the hall of the Uni- versity, and to w^hich the the public were admitted. The latter did not generally manifest particular eagerness to avail themselves of the privilege ; but when it w^as known that Chalmers was to pray, they came in crowds ; and though then only a youth of sixteen, the wonderful flow of vivid and glowing eloquence showed exquisite taste and capacity for 348 DIVINES. composition, and produced a striking effect on the thronging audience. His style is said to have been then very much the same as when he produced such splendid impressions in the pulpit and through the press. For his cultivation, in this respect, he was much indebted to his practice in debating societies formed among the students. He had early become a member of the political society, whose proceedings have not, unfortunately, been I'ecorded ; but in the Theological Society, to w^hich he was admitted in 1795, he particularly distinguished himself on some subjects, which interested and engaged his attention almost to the close of his earthly career. It is worthy of remark, that one of the exercises wTitten during his attendance at the Divinity Hall on the ardour and enthusiasm of the earlier Christians, supplied him with the very words in which, forty years after, he addressed four hundred of his brethren, when they were assembled to deliberate on the propriety of separating themselves from that church, whose annals could hardly furnish a more bright or venerable name than that of the illustrious divine, who stood in the midst to cheer and sustain them. At the close of his seventh session at St. Andrews, Chalmers accepted a situation as tutor to a family in the north. On the day of his departure to enter upon his new duties, a somewhat ludicrous incident BOYHOOD OF DR. CHALMERS. 349 occurred. His father s whole household turned out to bid him farewell, and having taken, as he thought, his last fond look at them, he proceeded to mount his horse, which stood at the door ; but having done so, he found himself in a most awkward position, his face being most unaccountably turned towards the animal's tail. This was too much for the gravity of all parties, and especially for his own, so vaulting round with as much equestrian dexterity as he was master of, he spurred on his steed, and amid shouts of laughter, in which he heartily joined, soon left the salt-pans and malt- steeps of Anstruther far behind. On arrival, he found his new residence so exceedingly unpleasant and uncomfortable, that in a few months he was compelled to relinquish the post. In January 1799, he returned to St. Andrews, and before long applied to the Presbytery to be examined preparatory to his obtaining a license as a preacher. Difficulties were raised from his being too young to be intrusted with the sacred functions ; but one of his friends having luckily discovered that the rule could be set aside in the case of an as- pirant possessing rare and singular parts, he was, after the usual formalities, licensed in the end of July ; and, starting immediately for the south, preached his first sermon in a Scotch chapel at Wigan, in Lancashire, while yet in his twentieth 850 DIVINES. year. Betaking himself soon after to Edinburgh, he zealously pursued his studies for two years at the university of that fair city. Having for some time preached at Cavers, in "pleasant Teviotdale," he was ordained minister of the parish of Kilmany, May, 1803. There he remained till 1814, when, having during the previous year been elected to the Tron Kirk at Glasgow, he removed to undertake more extensive and onerous duties, and exercise his genius in a wider sphere. In 1814, being ap- pointed Professor of Moral Philosophy in the Uni- versity of Edinburgh, he removed thither, and in 1828, became Professor of Theology. The degree of LL.D. was conferred on him by Oxford, and he was elected a Corresponding Member of the Royal Institute of France. On the 31st of May, 1847, he died at his resi- dence at Momingside, near Edinburgh ; and all who knew him felt that pang which accompanies the disappearance of a truly great and good man from the earth. CHAPTER XVIII. BOYHOOD OF JOHN HUNTER. This remarkable and eminent man, who enjoys the distinction of having been one of the most accom- pHshed anatomists that ever lived, was born at Long Calderwood, in the county of Lanark, on the 13th of February, 1728. The place of his birth was an estate of which his father was laird, as the proprietors of the Scottish soil are indiscriminately termed; but, as the acres were few and the family numerous, he was not, of course, reared in anything like ener- vating affluence or corrupting luxury. Neverthe- less, it appears that he did not in boyhood exhibit an iota of that dauntless industry, which characterised his later years. 352 SUEGEONS. Gibbon says with truth, that every man who rises above the ordinary level receives two educations — the first from his instructors, the second, the most per- sonal and important, from himself; and it appears that Hunter was almost, if not altogether, indebted to self-culture for any learning he was ever master of. Indeed, in his earliest years he was allowed, and perhaps even to some extent encouraged, to neglect the opportimities of improvement within his reach. Being his father's youngest and favourite child, he was not required to apply himself with any earnest- ness to study, and it appears that he afterwards experienced no inconsiderable disadvantage from the want of proper and regular tuition. At the age of ten he lost his father, and about the same time was sent to the grammar-school of Glasgow ; but, owing to the unfortunate system of indulgence which was injudiciously continued by his mother, he arrived at his seventeenth year without having made any progress worthy of the name. It was the laudable and wholesome custom of his country, pursued originally in deference to a statute of one of the Jameses, that the sons of " lairds " should learn Latin. Accordingly, an effort was made to convey some knowledge of that language to Hunter, but with so little success that the attempt was abandoned in utter despair. Indeed, it was with no small difficulty that he was taught to read BOYHOOD OF JOHN HUNTER. 353 and write with as much proficiency, as must have been manifested by his father's ploughman and sheep-boy. On leaving school he contrived for some time to amuse himself with such rural sports as his native district afforded, probably also employing himself in switching hedges, digging in the kail-yard, or driving cows from the meadows ; but it was certain that he could not permanently lead such a life. The paternal estate had, as usual, gone to the eldest brother, the other sons being left to sink or swim, just as fortune and their own exertions might befriend them. More- over, the days were gone by when the youths of Scot- land bartered their serv ices and their blood for foreign pay, otherwise Hunter might have been recruited by some veteran Dalgetty on the common of the neigh- bouring village, shipped off forthwith to France or Germany, and ere long rivalled the fame of that Sir John Hepburn, who was regarded as the best soldier in Christendom, and, consequently, in the world. As it happened, he w^ent to stay with a sister, who had been married to a cabinet-maker in Glasgow, took to his brother-in-laws trade, and began to learn the manufacture of furniture. Luckily for himself, though by a circumstance which must at the time have been considered unfortunate, he was not per- mitted to spend his time in, and devote his labours to, the construction of beds, chairs, and tables. His 354 SURGEONS. relative became bankrupt, and having no prospect of pursuing the trade with success. Hunter was com- pelled to look abroad for some other occupation ; and fortune was eminently propitious. An elder brother, William, the seventh of the brood, and ten years older than our hero, having studied medicine at the Scottish Universities, had some time before this uepaired to London, and laid the foundation of the extraordinary reputation, which he was destined to attain. The report of his success had possibly awakened in the younger brother a feel- ing of ambition, and his "moimting spirit" began to soar above the humble station, which he was then occupying. He, therefore, wrote to his already celebrated brother, proposing to proceed to London, and become his anatomical assistant ; stating, at the same time, his intention, in case " of the offer not being accepted, of enlisting in the army. The proposal, however, was treated with fraternal gene- rosity; and the surgical profession received into its ranks a man capable of adding immensely to its importance. On arriving in London his first efforts ^t dissection were made with a skill, dexterity, and judgment, which augured most favourably for his future career ; and he pursued his first success so effectually that, before the expiration of a year, he was employed in the instruction of his brother's pupils. BOYHOOD OF JOHN HUNTER. 355 He was now twenty-one, and his subsequent sur- gical achievements were worthy of the auspicious commencement he had made. He pursued his in- vestigations at a cost of money and labour seldom paralleled ; and the interesting museum, which after his death was purchased by Parliament and deposited in the Eoyal College of Surgeons, is a striking memo- rial of the efforts and exertions he made in pursuing his object. He shortly became a member of the Corporation of Surgeons, and was appointed surgeon to St. George's Hospital. He was subsequently elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, in whose proceedings he acted a conspicuous part, and was selected as Inspector-gene- ral of the Hospitals, and Surgeon-general to the army. His time was so incessantly occupied with his various important avocations, that he only allowed himself four hours in the twenty-four for rest and repose. He died while in the discharge of his laborious functions, at St. George's Hospital, on the 16th of October, 1793. No stronger instance of the advantage of study application, and industry, could be cited than the rise of this wonderful man, from the upholsterer's work- shop to the highest and most honourable position in the great profession, which he adorned by the results of his independent thought and by the workings of his scientific genius. " That man thinks fOr himself,'* 366 SUEGEONS. exclaimed Lavater, when he looked on that face, as it seems to live and breathe on the canvass of Sir Joshua. BOYHOOD OF SIR ASTLEY COOPER. This most scientific and enterprising surgeon was bom at Brooke Hall, an ancient manor-house in that rich coimty of Norfolk, which has, in these latter times, contributed so fair a share of distinguished men to the service of the world. Some vestiges of the old hall may yet be traced where it stood, about seven miles from Norwich; though the whole place has undergone a marked change since the time when Sir Astley's reverend father used to issue forth, on Sunday morning, in a stately coach, drawn by four black horses, to ofi&ciate at Yelverton ; or, when he himself plunged into the huge moat, shaded by the branches of the famous old oak-tree. His grandfather held a respectable position, and amassed a handsome fortune as a provincial surgeon, and was, moreover, a man of more than ordinary literary attainments. His father enjoyed a high character for intellect in the locality, and reputa- tion as a divine ; and his mother, a woman of do- mestic virtues and mental endowments, was known as the authoress of manv works, several of which were BOYHOOD OF SIR ASTLEY COOPER. 357 Tvritten with the praiseworthy object of improving the young, and guiding them in the way they should go. The birth of Sir Astley took place on the 23d of August, 1768, and his baptism in the following month ; a few days after which he was sent from home to be nursed by a vigorous country-woman — a practice which he afterwards condemned with all the weight of his authority, and with an earnestness that Eousseau might have envied. However, the fact, in his case, is somewhat interesting, as connected with an occurrence which subsequently exercised a considerable and important influence on his choice of a profession. Meantime, it appears that he escaped any fatal disadvantage from the custom being followed, and was restored safe and sound to his mother's arms. His life was soon after exposed to great danger, from his accidentally running against a knife, which, a brother, with whom he was playing, was, at the moment, holding in his hand, unclasped. The blade penetrated the lower part of his cheek, passed upward, and was only stopped in its deadly course by the socket of the eye. Blood flowed profusely, but medical aid being in- stantly procured, the wound was attended to, and at length healed ; though the scar remained visible to his last days. As soon as he was old enough to receive instruction, he was initiated into the ele- 368 SURGEONS. ments of education by his mother, who, as may be conceived, from her tastes and accomplishments, -was well qualified for the task. Notwithstanding her literary engagements, she managed to devote a considerable portion of her well-spent time to im- parting knowledge — and especially religious know- ledge — to her family, and grounded young Astley in the rudiments of English grammar and history, for the latter of which he ever retained a strong attachment. At the same time he acquired from his father as much learning in the Latin and Greek classics, as enabled him to read the New Testa- ment in one language, and Horace in the other. Another preceptor was the village schoolmaster, who daily attended at the hall to instruct the young Coopers in writing, ciphering, and arithmetic. But Astley does not seem to have made any particu- larly rapid progress under his tuition. Indeed he was much too fond of fun and frolic, and too much of a boy in every sense of the word. His pranks were the wonder and alarm of the village ; though his frank, open, and generous temper rendered it all but impossible for any one to be angry with him, and they were, as usual, the delight of his youthful associates. The hazardous adventures he engaged in are not such as can be deemed worthy of applause. The very objectionable exploit of plundering orchards, which then prevailed to such an extent, that, as we BOYHOOD OF SIR ASTLEY COOPER. 359 have seen, even a future Lord Cliancellor could indulge in it, was frequently practised under his advice and direction. He rode, without the aid of a bridle, horses which others were afraid to mount when properly bitted ; drove out the herd of cows from some neighbouring pasture, mounted on the back of a fierce bull, whose horns others would have feared to approach ; and ran along the eaves of high bams, with the utmost indifference as to conse- quences. On one day, while performing the latter feat, he fell from so great a height, that death must have been the penalty of his giddy rashness, but for his tumbling into the stable-yard, which, at that time fortunately happened to be filled with hay. On another, having cHmbed to the roof of the church, he suddenly lost his hold, and was precipi- tated to the ground ; but escaped almost miraculously with a few bruises. On a third, while leaping a horse, which he had caught on the common, over a cow lying on the ground, he was overthrown by the animal rising at the instant; and though the bold rider escaped unhurt, the collar-bone of the steed was broken in the fall. On a fourth, he would tease some hapless donkeys, till severely kicked by them in retaliation. But before leaving with his father for Great Yar- mouth, he left a more honourable memorial of his energetic spirit than the remembrance of such doings 360 SURGEONS. as have been mentioned. He was not yet thirteen when he gave a memorable proof of his calm courage and innate skill in dealing with that human frame, which afterwards formed the chief subject of his laborious study. A son of his foster-mother, a lad rather older than himself, while driving a cart loaded with coals for the vicar, fell in front of the wheel, which passed over his thigh before he could regain his footing, and besides other injuries, caused a lace- ration of the principal artery. The unfortunate boy was borne home utterly exhausted, and sinking from loss of blood, which flowed so copiously that surgical aid not being at hand, the assembled villagers, find- ing their efforts to stop it utterly futile, were in terror of his bleeding to death; when Astley having heard of the accident, hurried to the place. Unde- terred by the feeling of sickness which the sight of so ghastly a wound naturally produces, and undis- mayed by the affright of the trembling spectators, he, with consummate presence of mind and a firm hand, instinctively did exactly what should have been done, encircled the limb with his handkerchief above the wound, and bound it so tightly, that the bleeding was effectually stayed till the arrival of the surgeon, with whose aid the boy was saved. In after-life Sir Astley used to refer to this cir- cumstance as a remarkable event in his career; and he regarded it as first giving his mind the bent ASTLEY COOPER'S DEBDT IX SDRGER7, trill r-B^rfY BOYHOOD OF SIR ASTLEY COOPER. 361 towards that great profession which he adorned. Moreover he was likely to be incited in that direc- tion by the example of his grandfather, who had followed it with honour and profit at Norwich; and of his uncle, who had acquired distinction as a sur- geon in the metropolis. But though the inclination 7nutas agitare inglorias artes was thus conceived, no steps were taken to gratify it at the time, nor does he seem to have made any preparation for giving effect to it. On the contrary, when settled in his father's new parsonage at Yarmouth, he divided his time between frolicsome levities and evening parties, till roused into action by the visits of his uncle. The professional knowledge, lively talents, and ex- tensive information of this gentleman, captivated his keen-spirited and active-minded nephew, who re- solved forthwith to devote his life and energies to the promotion of that science, in which he won such high renown. So, after witnessing the performance of an operation at Norwich, he determined on becoming his uncle's pupil, and was articled accordingly. In the autumn of 1784, he took his departure from Norwich, experiencing to the full those feelings of melancholy so natural under the circumstances. However, the anticipation of one day becoming a great man, and the attractions of the wondrous city to which he was journeying, tended to dissipate any 362 SURGEONS. disagreeable reflections. He was only sixteen : but* his appearance and manner were particularly pre- possessing, his conversation pleasing and animated; and he had within him the energy and perseverance, which are, above all, necessary to the achievement of success in any walk of life. No doubt, also, he showed something of the attention to his attire, which afterwards won him the reputation of being one of the best-dressed men in the city of London. His uncle, not finding it convenient to receive the young aspirant to surgical distinction into his own house, managed to obtain for him a residence in that of Mr. Cline, an eminent surgeon of St. Thomas's Hospital; an arrangement most auspicious to his professional prospects. At the following Christmas he was transferred from the pupilage of his uncle to that of Mr. Cline, described by him as " a man of great judgment, a slow and cautious operator; and a moderate anatomist." It is related that one day Mr. Cline brought home an arm, and throwing it on the table of his private dissecting-room, desired Astley to set to work upon it, whereupon the latter bent all his powers, bodily and mental, to the task, and accom- plished it with a success, which not only highly satisfied his instructor, but created in him the en- thusiastic devotion to his profession, by which he was characterised. At all events, it is certain that, on BOYHOOD OF SIR ASTLEY COOPEE. 363 being placed under Mr. Cline, he totally abandoned his juvenile habits of trifling and carelessness, and applied himself to the acquirement of his professional knowledge by diligent study in private, by labour in the dissecting-room, and by a complete attention to the lectures delivered at the hospital. He had previously been elected, on the nomination of his uncle, as a member of the Physical Society, then one of the oldest and most valuable institutions of the kind in London. By the rules of the society, every member had to read an essay in the course of the session, the subject being a matter of choice to himself. Sir Astley took that of malignant diseases in the breast, or cancers ; and he thus at once became interested in a subject, the investigation of which continued to occupy his attention and his pen to the close of his life. So great was his industry in his new pursuit, that, by the following spring, his pro- ficiency in anatomy far exceeded that of any other pupil of his standing in the hospital, and gave sure presage of the wide -spread celebrity he was to attain; and, while visiting his father during the vacation, he attended at the surgery of Mr. Turner, a relative of his, who resided at Yarmouth, with the view of gaining information in the practice of phar- macy. His evident change of character, from gay to grave, conveyed sensations of the most pleasing kind to the hearts of his parents. 364 SURGEONS. During his second session at the hospital he applied his mind intensely to the study of anatomy, making himself fully conversant with the structure of the human hody, and paving the way for those discoveries in " pathological anatomy '' which have been so beneficial to his profession. In the winter of 1786 he contrived to attend a course of lectures delivered by the philosophical and scientific John Hunter, whom he regarded with great interest and admiration, and from whom he derived his knowledge of the principles of physiology and surgery, which he afterwards found so valuable. Next year his thirst for knowledge carried him to the University of Edinburgh, where he immediately attracted notice by his zeal and diligence in ob- taining it. For seven months he prosecuted his studies there with great diligence ; and having been elected an ordinary member of the Royal Medical Society, he so highly distinguished himself in its discussions, that on his leaving he was offered the presidency in case of his returning. At the termination of the session he resolved to banish all study for a time, and undertake a journey in the Highlands — then no easy matter. He pre- pared for it in almost as primitive a fashion as Bailie Nicol Jarvie had done nearly a century before ; and having purchased two suitable nags, and hired a servant, he extended his tour to the Western Isles. BOYHOOD OF SIR ASTLEY COOPER. 365 Shortly after his return to London, he received the well-merited appointment of demonstrator at St. Thomas's Hospital, and later was made joint lec- turer with Mr. Cline. In this capacity he es- tablished with success a distinct course of lectures on surgery, which had hitherto been treated in con- junction with anatomy. Sir Astley had even when a roving boy at Brooke indulged in a romantic courtship with a young lady of his own age ; and so ardent was his love, that after leaving the neighbourhood, he one day, still only thirteen, without the knowledge of his family, made a journey of forty-eight miles to pay her a visit, which very much pleased the fair damsel, and very much surprised her worthy father. But how- ever deep their vows, they were destined to come to naught ; and he now found a bride in the new sphere of his exertions, and set off on a trip to Paris. On arrival, he seized the opportunity to attend the lectures of Desault and Chopart, and compare the practice of the French surgeons with that pursued by those of his own country. In 1793 he was appointed Professor of Anatomy to Surgeons' Hall. He had already appeared as an author on those subjects, to which his attention was directed with great credit for ability, and for the scientific manner in which he had discussed them ; and in 1800, on the resignation of his uncle, he succeeded him as surgeon to Guy's 366 SUBGEONS. Hospital. Thenceforth, his career was brilliant, and he was created a baronet by George IV. in 1821. He afterwards became president of the College of Surgeons, vice-president of the Boyal Society, mem- ber of the French Institute, and of the Academy of Sciences. He died in February 1841. Sir Astley was the architect of his own fortune. His advancement was the result of steady exertion. He thought for himself, and w^orked for himself, with an assiduity and diligence, which rarely fail to bring their rewards — professional eminence, public esteem, and the ennobling consciousness of duties faithfully and indefatigably performed. CHAPTER XIX. BOYHOOD OF SIR JOSEPH BANKS. This distinguished naturalist, though his name is not associated with any great work, or connected in the minds of men with any memorable discovery, was in reahty so energetic, enthusiastic, and successful a promoter of science, as to be pronounced, by no mean authority, to have been "perhaps the most accomplished botanist of his day, and among the very first in the other branches of natural history." His zeal for science itself seems to have been so strong and ardent, that he took no pains to appropriate or perpetuate the fame, which his zealous labours in the cause worthily brought him. He was bom on the 2d of February, 1743, at Argyle Street, 368 NATUKALISTS. London, 'and not, as has been asserted, at Eevesby, in Lincolnshire, in after years the scene of his hospitality, when he left every summer for a short while his house in Soho Square, and its noble library, which was ever open to the student of science and the literary labourer. He was the representative of an ancient and opulent territorial family, and the heir of large estates. After having been under the care of a private tutor, he was placed at Harrow school in his ninth year, but without showing any marked liking for his books. Four years after he was removed to Eton, where, for the first twelve months he was only remarkable for his love of active amusement and indifference to ordinary study. His good-humour and cheerful disposition, however, were sufficient to insure some amount of popularity with masters and boys. A change was suddenly produced in his tastes and habits, which developing itself with time, raised him to the highest honours in the scientific world ; and his conversion is thus accounted for. One day, he was bathing in the river with a party of his schoolfellows, and having remained longer in the water than the others, was not dressed in time to leave the place with them. Having put on his clothes, he walked slowly and musingly along the green lane : and the evening being fine, the beauties of nature touched and impressed him with an un-' BOYHOOD OF SIE JOSEPH BANKS. 369 wonted and peculiar force. He contemplated, with delighted eye, the flowers that adorned the sides of the path, and exclaimed with rapture, " How beau- tiful ! Would it not be far more reasonable to make me learn the names of these plants than the Greek and Latin I am confined to?" He soon recollected, however, that it was his duty, in the first place, to obey his father's wishes, and apply himself to the proper studies of the school. But henceforth his passion for botany grew and waxed daily stronger, and, not finding any more fitting teacher, he employed some women, occupied in gathering plants and herbs for the druggists, to give him such instruction as they could — the reward being sixpence for every piece of information they gave him. His tutor, so far from having reason to complain now, was surprised to find him reading studiously and intently during the hours of play. When he went home for the holidays, he was over- joyed to find an old torn copy of Gerrards "Herbal" in his mother's dressing-room, full of the names and figures of plants, which he had already, in some slight degree, become acquainted with. He carried the precious book back to school with him, and con- tinued his collection of plants, besides commencing one of butterflies and other insects. His pedestrian powers, w^hich were remarkable, now stood him in good stead ; and his whole time, when out of school, B B 370 NATUEALISTS. was busily occupied in searching for and arranging plants and insects. In one of his excursions he fell asleep under a hedge, and being mistaken by a game- keeper, who surprised him in that position, was carried before a magistrate on suspicion of being a poacher. A greater risk did he afterwards run, amid the snow of Terra del Fuego, when any yielding to drowsiness would have been inevitable death. On that occasion, two of the party actually perished from excessive cold, and Banks himself, with Dr. Solander, a favourite pupil of Linnaeus, narrowly escaped sharing their fate. While thus wandering, our naturalist contrived some days to kill as many as sixty birds with his own hand, and thus added im- mensely to his ornithological possessions. When Banks was eighteen years old, his father's death put him in possession of valuable estates in the counties of Derby and Lincoln ; but instead of alluring him from his favourite studies, this circum- stance incited him to pursue it with renewed and redoubled ardour. On going to Oxford, he found to his disappointment, that no lectures were delivered by the botanical professor, and immediately applied to that personage for leave to engage a lecturer, to be paid by the pupils attending him. Permission being freely granted, and no one in Oxford being found prepared to undertake the duty. Banks, with that characteristic energy which he exhibited in all BOYHOOD OF SIR JOSEPH BANKS. 371 future emergencies when in pursuit of knowledge, went forthwith to Cambridge, and speedily returned with a learned botanist under his wing, for whom he after- wards obtained the appointment of astronomer to Cap- tain Phipps, in his polar voyage. This gentleman gave lectures and lessons to those who concurred in the scheme, very much to the profit and instruction of Mr. Banks, of whom Lord Brougham writes in his *' Lives of Men of Letters and Science :" — " Among true Oxonians, of course, he stood low. He used to tell, in after-life, that when he entered any of the rooms where discussions on classical subjects were going briskly on, they would say, ' There is Banks, but he knows nothing about Greek.' He made no reply, but he would say to himself, ' I shall very soon beat you all in a kind of knowledge I think infinitely more important ;' and it happened, that soon after he first heard these jokes, as often as the. classical men were puzzled on a point of natural history, they would say, ' We must go to Banks.' '* On leaving the University, when he came of age, he continued his pursuits with great zeal, and occu- pied much of his time in angling, which afforded him opportunities of observing the habits of the fishes. In 1766 he was elected a member of the Royal Society; and the same year set out on a voyage to Newfoundland, from which he brought home an interesting collection of plants, insects, and other 372 NATURALISTS. productions of nature. It happened soon after that the Government, at the suggestion of the Royal Society, resolved upon sending out competent per- sons to Otaheite for the purpose of making observa- tions on the transit of Venus over the sun's disc, expected to take place in 1769. The " Endeavour*' was fitted out for the voyage, and the command of her given to a man eminently qualified for the important office. The great navigator, Captain Cook, had early in life, been indentured by his humble parents to the haberdasher of a small town near Newcastle. In this situation he conceived so strong a passion for the sea, that on some disagreement with his em- ployer he bound himself apprentice to a Whitby collier, and soon became proficient in practical navigation. Having volunteered into the navy in 1755, he soon, by his skill, conduct, and diligence, raised himself to posts of credit and confidence. He was now presented with a lieutenant's commission, and appointed to the command of the expedition. Banks obtained leave to accompany the celebrated navigator, and made his preparations worthy of a man who had an ample fortune, and knew how to use it for the benefit of others. In this expedition he pro- cured a choice and valuable collection of natural specimens ; in many cases at the hazard of his life, BOYHOOD OF SIR JOSEPH BANKS. S73 which was often endangered and despaired of during the voyage. When Captain Cook's second voyage was resolved upon, Sir Joseph expressed an earnest anxiety to accompany the great, sldlful, and gallant navigator ; and having been thwarted in his wish, he with be- coming spirit fitted out a vessel at his o^^n expense, and set sail for Iceland in 1772. His voyage was most productive in a scientific point of view, and gained him much and well-merited fame. In 1778 he succeeded Sir John Pringle as Presi- dent of the Royal Society, and soon after was created a baronet, and invested with the Order of the Bath. In 1795 he was appointed a member of the Privy Council. He died full of honours, on the 19th of March, 1820, leaving his library and botanical collection to the British Museum, of which he had been a trustee. His indefatigable industry, his watchful vigilance over the interests of science, the intrepidity with which he braved perils by land and sea in pursuit of knowledge, and his general excellences of charac- ter, entitle him, in the highest degree, to the regard, emulation, and admiration of posterity. 374 NATURALISTS. BOYHOOD OF AUDUBON. This great and good man, whose mind combined the vigour and elasticity of youth with the wisdom of philosophic maturity, was one of the most ear- nest and enthusiastic students of natural history who ever walked the earth ; and his boyhood was devoted to the study of the science, which he after- wards indefatigably pursued and splendidly illus- trated. John James Audubon was born in the year 1776, on a plantation in New France, which at that time was still a dependency of the Bourbons. His father, an officer in the French navy, had settled there to enjoy dignified leisure ; and being a man of retired habits and a cultivated mind, early implanted in the breast of his son a love of those natural objects to which his time and attention were devoted through- out life with firm enthusiasm and untiring energy. Almost in infancy he was led to take a lively interest in the winged and feathered tribes. A love of birds indeed is, in some degree, natural to the hearts of children ; and assuredly no knight of romance, laying his lance in rest, with bright eyes beaming upon him, ever glowed with a purer chivalry than does the little boy, when springing from his BOYHOOD OF AUDUBON. 375 comfortable lair on the hearth-rug to rescue the cage of his beautiful songster, from the perilous proximity of the prowling cat's murderous claws. But Audubon's childish affection for them was of no ordinary kind. In this, as in most cases, the character and career of the man grew out of those of the boy. His early interest in the animal crea- tion was absorbing ; and that the graceful form of birds might never be absent from his eye, he took such portraits of them as his uninstructed skill could produce. The young ornithologist was, in accordance per- haps with the custom of the more refined colonists, sent to Paris to complete his education, but soon became tired of such lessons as he received. " What," he asked, " have I to do with monstrous torsos and the heads of heathen gods, when my business lies among birds?" He therefore returned with delight to indulge in his enthralling study about the fields, woods, and rivers of his native place. A crowded and noisy city seemed to him a pestilential prison ; he felt that there was a world replete with life and animation in the quiet, retired, solitary haunts of his warbling friends; and in the contemplation of their manners, customs, habits, and language, he found food for his thoughts, recreation for his mind, and subjects for his pen and pencil. 376 NATURALISTS. On his arrival in America he took possession of a farm, given him by his father, on the banks of the Schuylkill, in Pennsylvania, where his taste for his favourite science strengthened and developed itself with time and study. His researches were prose- cuted with unabated zeal and ardour, and his skill in drawing improved by practice. His devotion to ornithology prompted him to make excursions far and wide over the country. Arrayed in a coarse leathern dress, armed with a sure rifle, and pro- vided with a knapsack containing sketching and colouring materials, he roamed for days, sometimes even for months at a time, in quest of animals to study and portray. His eagerness was only equalled by his patience ; he would watch for hours among canes to see some plumed songstress feeding her young; he would climb precipitous mountains to mark the king of birds hovering over its nest, secure amid the strength of rocks. He braved the dreadful perils of rushing tides, and the merciless bowie-knife of the lurking Indian, in order to gratify his taste and add to his knowledge ; and in pursuit of his objects, he exhibited at once the fresh soul of a child and the courageous spirit of a hero. His wanderings were among unfrequented solitudes, soli- tary waterfalls, and pathless groves; and thus, de- spising hunger, fatigue, and danger, he formed by lonely study that intimate acquaintance with the BOYHOOD OF AUDUBON. 377 shapes and plumage of the birds of the air, which he afterwards displayed to the busy world in his brilliant, interesting, and entertaining volumes. Notwithstanding his devotion to ornithological studies, he made up his mind in early years to brave the terrors of matrimony, and married a woman who fortunately sympathised with his tastes and appre- ciated his talents. About the same time, with a view of pursuing his investigations into nature to greater advantage, he purchased a farm in Kentucky, to which he removed. His new dwelling, surrounded by impenetrable thickets, and shadowed by boundless forests, was exactly to his liking ; and he spared no pains or toil to profit by the natural treasures of its rich and magnificent neighbourhood. On visiting England and Europe, he was welcomed with open arms by men of science and letters ; and had such honours bestowed upon him as the learned and sci- entific societies had in their power to confer. This visit afterwards led to his publishing a work on orni- thology, ornamented and elucidated by paintings of birds and narratives of personal adventure. He continued throughout manhood, and even in old age, as ardent in his chosen pursuits as he had been when, in the vigour of youth, braving earthquakes, fearful precipices, and yawning gulfs. At sixty he undertook an expedition to the Rocky Mountains in search of some specimens of wild animals, of which 878 NATURALISTS. a report had been conveyed to him. Even in the last days of his existence, when the world was fading from his view, and his clear spirit was gently taking its leave of the earth, he showed signs of his heart being touched and his imagination excited, as one of his sons held before his once penetrating eyes some of the drawings associated with his finest feelings and most cherished aspirations. He sank composedly into his long sleep, on the 27th of January, 1851 ; and his mortal remains were interred in Trinity Church Cemetery, near his se- cluded residence, quietly reposing amid oaks, and elms, and evergreen foliage. But the intelligence of his death went through that civilised world, which had profited so largely by his arduous and disin- terested labours, and which readily acknowledges the greatness of his pure and persevering genius. London : Printed by G. Barclay, Castle St., Leicester Sq. 14 DAY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED LOAN DEPT. RENEWALS ONLY— -TEL. NO. 642-3405 This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. REC'D LD A FNTrPL'nPAF ■{ LOAM *-'4^^ UNIV. OF CaUF., BbKK, mk m m '.A" ^ JG 1-8 '69 ^ A# -V LD21A-60m-6,'69 .JX^ .. (J9096sl0)476-A-32 General Library University of California i'i UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA UBRARY