L. P. SHIDY 
 
x 
 
 Si y 
 
 
MEN WHO HAVE RISEN. 
 

 ENTERED according to Act of Congress in the year 1859, by 
 W. A. TOWNSEND it CO., 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Conrt of the United States for the Southern 
 District of New Yoik. 
 
 W. II. TIMSON, Stereotypcr. 
 
THE ROTHSCHILDS TIIK IIF.ITBLICAN SOLDIERS. 
 
 ' He did noi attempt to conceal any of bis own property. Hi suffered tbtm to carry it a'.l off.-' 
 FAGK 49. 
 
\V. A. TOT\ r XSEXD & COMPANY. 
 1861. 
 
UH 
 
 CT/07 
 
 IN MEMORIAM 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 Stephenson, The Railway Pioneer, 7 
 
 The Beginning of the Rothschilds, 48 
 
 The rise of the Peel Family, 53 
 
 Wilson, the Ornithologist, 80 
 
 West, the Artist, 100 
 
 Astor, the Millionaire, Ill 
 
 Hutton, the Bookseller, 121 
 
 Franklin, the Navigator, 145 
 
 Obeiiin, the Pastor, 163 
 
 Burritt, the Linguist, 121 
 
 Wilhelm, the Knife-grinder, 206 
 
 The Story of Hugh Miller's Early Days, 225 
 
 Linna3us, the Naturalist, 277 
 
 Smeaton, the Engineer, 285 
 
 Rittenhouse, the Mathematician, 299 
 
 922S&9 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 I AGE. 
 
 The Rothschilds and the Republican Soldiers, (Frontispiece.) 
 Vignette Title 
 
 George Stephenson 21 
 
 The Spinning-Jenny 70 
 
 Wilson and the Mouse 90 
 
 Button's Escape 125 
 
 Oberlin, the Pastor 178 
 
 Hugh Miller and Companion in the Cave 246 
 
MEN WHO HATE RISEN. 
 
 'Whoe'er, amidst the sons 
 Of reason, valor, liberty and virtue, 
 Displays distinguished merit, is a noble 
 Of Nature's own creating." 
 
 STEPHENSON, THE KAILWAY 
 PIOKEEK. 
 
 WITHIN the last thirty years a revolution has been 
 effected in our social relations, and the surface 
 of the country has undergone a change wondrous 
 as the transformations of a geologic era. The 
 greatest works of antiquity cannot stand compari- 
 son with our railways, when we take into consider- 
 ation their magnitude and utility the engineer- 
 ing skill and amount of capital involved in their 
 construction. It is estimated by the biographer 
 of George Stephenson that in Great Britain and 
 Ireland alone, iron rails have been laid more than 
 sufficient to girdle the globe; tunnels and viaducts, 
 upwards of one hundred miles in extent, have 
 pierced hard rock-mountains, and spanned deep 
 
8 MEN WHO HAVE RISEN. 
 
 valleys j and earthworks have "been constructed 
 capable, according to calculation, of forming a 
 mountain half-a-mile in diameter at its base, and 
 towering upwards one mile and a-half in height. 
 It seems almost incredible that worts of such mag- 
 nitude, requiring for their construction an unpre- 
 cedented amount of capital, labor and skill, should 
 have been completed in little more than a quarter 
 of a century. The great value, the absolute neces- 
 sity, of railway communication, in these days of 
 flourishing trade and extending commerce, is made 
 abundantly manifest by the rapidity with which 
 the country has been incased in a network of iron. 
 George Stephenson came when a new system of 
 internal intercourse was demanded by the wants 
 of the age, and his invention of the Locomotive 
 Engine gave an impulse to science and art, to 
 commerce and civilization, greater than we can 
 fully estimate. The life of the man who inaugur- 
 ated the modern system of Railways, and who, 
 by patient plodding perseverance and invincible 
 determination, rendered possible a declared im- 
 possibility, possesses the deepest interest, and en- 
 forces the most valuable lessons. The biography 
 of the most eminent of English engineers cannot 
 foil to prove attractive in no ordinary degree, un- 
 folding as it does the career of one who rose from 
 obscurity to well-earned fame and affluence, and 
 who must be pronounced a model-worker the re- 
 presentative practical man of the nineteenth cen- 
 tury. Availing ourselves of the information col- 
 
STErilEXSON, THE RAILWAY PIONEER. 9 
 
 lected by Mr. Samuel Smiles in his bulky biogra- 
 phy, we give the following epitome of the life of 
 this true Railway King : 
 
 George Stephensou was born at Wylam a 
 colliery village about eight miles west of New- 
 castle-on-Tyne on the 9th of June, 1781. His 
 parents inhabited a laborer's cottage of the hum- 
 blest class, with unplastered walls, clay floor, and 
 exposed rafters. " Old Bob," as his father was 
 familiarly called, fired the old pumping-engine at 
 the Wylam Colliery a careful, hard-working man ; 
 and Mabel Stephenson, his mother, though troub- 
 led occasionally with the "vapors," was held in 
 the highest esteem by her neighbors. They were 
 an honest, decent, respectable couple, such as we 
 may find in colliery cottages and elsewhere. " Old 
 Bob " was a genuine character, a self-taught roman- 
 cist, and natural naturalist ; and it is pleasant to 
 think of him on the winter evenings gathering the 
 children of the village around his engine-fire, and 
 telling, in strong Northumbrian speech, the stories 
 of "Sinbad" and Robinson Crusoe," or wandering 
 about during the summer months in search of 
 birds' nests, when the day's "darg" was done. 
 George was the second oF a family of six children 
 four sons and two daughters. None of them 
 were ever sent to school. The weekly wages of a 
 fireman were barely sufficient, even with rigid 
 economy, to afford the family a sufficient supply of 
 food and clothing. 
 
 The first duties of the future eminent engineer 
 
10 MEN WnO HAVE RISEN. 
 
 consisted in carrying his father's dinner to him while 
 at work, in nursing the younger children, and see- 
 ing that they were kept out of the way of the chal- 
 dron wagons, which were dragged by horses along 
 a wooden tramroad immediately in front of the 
 cottage-door. He next herded the cows of a widow 
 at Dewley Burn, whither the family removed from 
 Wylam, when the coal was worked out, and the 
 old engine pulled down. Besides herding the 
 widow'-s cows, he was appointed, at the wage of 
 twopence a-day (four cents), to bar the gates at 
 night after all the coal-wagons had passed. The 
 herd-boy spent his spare time in making whistles 
 and little mills, and erecting clay engines. The child 
 is father of the man. Wilkie drawing pencil-heads 
 on his slate for pins, and Stephenson modeling 
 clay engines for amusement, had already begun 
 the labor of their lives. From that humble origin, 
 from the rude attempts of a herd-boy sitting by 
 the side of the Dewley Burn, sprung the great 
 system of British Railways. Feeding cows, lead- 
 ing horses at the plow, and hoeing turnips, did 
 not, however, suit the taste of the embryo en- 
 gineer, and he was much elated when advanced to 
 the position of "picker" at the colliery, where he 
 was employed, along with his elder brother, in 
 clearing the coal of stones and dross. His wages 
 were now sixpence a-day, and rose to eightpence 
 (sixteen cents) when he drove the gin-horse. 
 Shortly after he was sent to Black Callerton Col- 
 liery, about two miles from Dewley Burn, to drive 
 
8TEPHENSOX, THE RAILWAY PIONEER. 11 
 
 the gin there ; and he is described by the old peo- 
 ple of that place as a "grit barelegged laddie, very 
 quick-witted, and full of fun and tricks." There 
 was genuine mettle and promise in the boy so 
 characterized. We can picture him there, the 
 rough, unkempt, barelegged collier "laddie," driv- 
 ing his gin-horse, whistling on his own whistles, 
 cracking a whip of his own manufacture, and in- 
 dulging in practical jokes at the expense of grim 
 pitmen. When off duty, he went bird-nesting, 
 having inherited from "Old Bob" a strong attach- 
 ment to birds and animals. He tamed young 
 blackbirds, taught them to fly about the cottage 
 unconfined by cages, and prided himself upon the 
 superiority of his breed of rabbits. 
 
 At the age of fourteen, the "grit barelegged 
 laddie " became assistant fireman to his father at 
 Dewley. His ambition was to be an engineman, 
 and his exultation was unbounded when he at- 
 tained the long-desired promotion. He had now 
 got upon the right track, and his career of pro- 
 gress began with his appointment as assistant fire- 
 man. From Dewley, the family removed south- 
 wards to Jolly's Close, where a new coal-mine had 
 recently been opened. They lived hi a poor cot- 
 tage of one apartment, where father, mother, sons, 
 and daughters, ate their humble meals, and slept 
 their hurried sleep. At Jolly's Close, George was 
 removed to one of the workings on his own ac- 
 count. He was now fifteen years old ; a steady, 
 sober, hard-working young man. He was fond of 
 
12 MEN WHO HAVE KISEN. 
 
 trying feats of strength with his companions. At 
 throwing the hammer he had no compeer, and 
 seems to have been equally successful in lifting 
 heavy weights. 
 
 At the age of seventeen George had got ahead 
 of his father in his station as a workman. He was 
 appointed plugman of a pumping-engine, while his 
 father worked it as fireman. No sooner did he 
 occupy this responsible post, than he devoted him- 
 self assiduously to the study of the engine, taking 
 it frequently to pieces in his leisure hours, for the 
 purpose of cleaning and mastering its parts, and 
 thus he early acquired a thorough practical know- 
 ledge of its construction, and disciplined his inven- 
 tive faculty. An engine seemed to attract him by 
 some mysterious fascination ; it was no dull, groan- 
 ing machine in his estimation, but a thing instinct 
 with wondrous life. Its complicated mechanism 
 absorbed his interest, and excited his admiration ; 
 and the minute study of its details, while quicken- 
 ing his powers of observation, made him an accom- 
 plished workman, and gained for him the increased 
 confidence of his employers. At this period he 
 worked twelve hours every day, and earned twelve 
 shillings (about three dollars) a-week. The " grit 
 barelegged laddie" has now taken a considerable 
 stride in advance. 
 
 George Stephenson was eighteen years of age 
 before he knew his letters, and he does not appear 
 to have felt the want until he was told that all the 
 engines of Watt and Bolt on, about which he was 
 
STEPHENSON, THE RAILWAY PIONEEK. 16 
 
 so anxious to know, were to be found described in 
 books and the alphabet was yet to him a hidden 
 mystery ! It affords a striking illustration of the 
 persevering, searching, indomitable spirit of the 
 young man, that no sooner did he feel his want 
 no sooner was the conviction forced upon him that 
 he must learn to read before further progress was 
 possible, than immediately he went to school, big 
 as he was, and commenced in earnest the work of 
 self-culture. He was not ashamed to confess his 
 ignorance ; he was proud that he possessed the ca- 
 pability of learning. A poor teacher in the village 
 of Walbottle kept a night-school, and there George 
 Stephenson took his first lessons in spelling and 
 reading, and practiced " pot-hooks." One can 
 imagine the big bony engineman bending over his 
 desk, and laboring sore at the unwonted task. 
 Andrew Robertson, a Scotch dominie, who enjoy- 
 ed the reputation of being a skilled arithmetician, 
 was the next teacher from whom George took 
 lessons. He made rapid progress, and at the end 
 of the Winter had mastered "reduction," while 
 the junior fireman was heating his brains over sim- 
 ple division. He improved every spare minute by 
 the engine-fire in working out the sums set for him 
 by the learned dominie of Newburn, and the pa- 
 tient pupil was not long in outstripping his teacher. 
 To perseverance all things are possible, and where 
 the desire to learn was so strong, rapid attainment 
 was certain. In this, as in other respects, Stephen- 
 son may be held up as a memorable model to young 
 
t MEN WHO HAVE KISEN. 
 
 men. Against every disadvantage of circumstance 
 and fortune, he struggled onwards, by sheer force 
 of will, and the determination to succeed. Many 
 men, unschooled like him in boyhood, and of equal 
 natural ability, ashamed to confess their ignorance, 
 would have remained without instruction, and thus 
 neglected the means and the opportunity of better- 
 ing their condition, and of rising from obscurity to 
 eminence. 
 
 Stephenson ever rising steadily step by step 
 became brakesman at Black Callerton when he had 
 attained his twentieth year, and his wages amount- 
 ed to from five to ten dollars in the fortnight. By 
 extra work during leisure hours, he increased his 
 earnings, and he had the happy facility, peculiar to 
 some men gifted with mechanical genius, of being 
 able to turn his hand to any and everything. He 
 grew expert in making and mending the shoes of 
 his fellow-workmen. His chef cPoeuvre in the cob- 
 bling department was soleing the shoes of his 
 sweetheart, Fanny Henderson, a servant in a neigh- 
 boring farm-house. So delighted was the amateur 
 shoemaker with his performance, that he carried 
 the shoes about with him in his pocket on the Sun- 
 day afternoon, and exhibiting them to a friend, ex- 
 claimed, "What a capital job he had made of 
 them ! " From shoemending he contrived to save 
 his first guinea, and considered himself to be a rich 
 man. He did not, like many of the other work- 
 men, spend his earnings in the public-house; he 
 was habitually steady, and applied his spare time 
 
STEPHKNSON, THE RAILWAY riO-N'EEK. 15 
 
 to master the powers and mechanisms of the engine. 
 lie had a definite purpose in view when he saved 
 his first guinea. It gradually attracted a few 
 more, and the industrious brakesman soon managed 
 to save as much money as enabled him, on leaving 
 Black Callerton for Willington Quay, to furnish a 
 humble house, and marry Fanny Henderson. After 
 the marriage ceremony, George rode over to Wil- 
 lington on a borrowed horse, with his newly-wed- 
 ded wife sitting on the pillion behind him, and 
 holding on by her arms around his waist. He con- 
 tinued the same regular course of life, working 
 hard during the day, and studying the principles of 
 mechanics in the evenings by the side of his young 
 wife. He also modeled experimental engines, and 
 occupied himself much in endeavoring to discover 
 Perpetual Motion. He allowed few moments to 
 pass unimproved ; his eye was ever observant, and 
 his mind ever active. He could make and mend 
 shoes, cut out shoe-lasts, clean clocks, and model 
 complicated machines ; and whatever he did was 
 creditable alike to his ingenuity and his skill. 
 While residing at Willington, his only son Robert 
 was born that son who has contributed so much 
 to heighten the distinction of the Stephenson name. 
 The child was from the first a great favorite with 
 his father, and added a fresh charm to the domes- 
 tic hearth. 
 
 George Stephenson worked for about three 
 years as a brakesman at the Willington machine, 
 and then removed to a similar situation at Killing- 
 
16 MEN WHO HATE EISEBT. 
 
 worth, a village lying about seven miles north of 
 Newcastle, where the coal-workings are of great 
 extent, and a large number of people are employed. 
 Much interest attaches to his settlement in this 
 place, as it was here that his practical qualities as 
 an engineer were fully developed, and that he ac- 
 quired the reputation of an inventor. He came to 
 Killingworth in 1804, and he had scarcely settled 
 down ere he sustained a severe loss in the death of 
 his much-loved Fanny. A man of strong affections, 
 he felt the bereavement bitterly. He bowed his 
 head in sorrow, and ever fondly cherished the 
 memory of his young wife. While mourning her 
 loss, he was invited to superintend the working of 
 one of Bolton and Watt's engines, near Montrose. 
 He accepted the invitation, and, leaving his boy in 
 charge of a neighbor, set out upon his long jour- 
 ney on foot, with his kit upon his back. He re- 
 turned to Killingworth, after a year's absence, 
 with 28 ($160) of saved money in his pocket. 
 During his stay in Scotland, old Robert Stephen- 
 son, his father, had been severely scorched, and his 
 eye-sight destroyed, while making some repairs in 
 the inside of an engine. George's first step was to 
 pay off his father's debts ; and soon afterwards he 
 removed his aged parents to a comfortable cottage 
 iat Killingworth, where they lived, supported en 
 tirely by their dutiful son. 
 
 About the years 1807-8, Stephenson contem- 
 plated the idea of emigrating to the United States. 
 Owing to the great war in which England was 
 
STEPHENSON, THE RAILWAY PIONEEE. 17 
 
 then engaged, taxes pressed heavily upon the 
 laboring class; food was scarce and dear, and 
 wages were low ; and the workman saw little pros- 
 pect of any improvement in his condition. The 
 hard won earnings of George Stephenson were paid 
 to a militiaman to serve in his stead ; and need we 
 wonder if he should almost have despaired of ever 
 being able to succeed in England ? He could not, 
 however, raise the requisite money to emigrate, 
 and thus his poverty was ultimately his own and 
 his country's gain. He worked on steadily as a 
 brakesman. Stinted as he was for means at the 
 time, he resolved to send his son Robert to school. 
 " In the earlier period of my career," said he, long 
 afterwards, in a speech at Newcastle, "when 
 Robert was a little boy, I saw how deficient I was 
 in education ; and I made up my mind that he 
 should not labor under the same defect, but that I 
 would put him to school, and give him a liberal 
 training. I was, however, a poor man ; and how 
 do you think I managed? I betook myself to 
 mending my neighbors' clocks and watches at 
 night, after my daily labor was done ; and thus I 
 procured the means of educating my son." 
 
 An achievement which George performed at this 
 time caused his name to be noised abroad as an en- 
 gine-doctor. At the Killingworth High Pit, an at- 
 mospheric engine was fixed, for the purpose of 
 pumping out the water from the shaft ; but the 
 workmen continued to be " drowned out," pump 
 as the engine might. Under the direction of Ste- 
 2 
 
18 MEN VttIO HAVE EISEN. 
 
 phenson, the engine was taken to pieces, and so 
 repaired that the pumping apparatus proved com- 
 pletely successful. He received a present of 10, 
 as a recognition of his skill as a workman. After 
 hard struggling, the genius of the man now began 
 to be felt and acknowledged. He devoted himself 
 in the evenings, with renewed energy, to self-im- 
 provement, modeling steam and pumping engines, 
 and striving to embody the mechanical inventions 
 described in odd volumes on mechanics. From 
 John Wigham, a farmer's -son, he derived consider- 
 able assistance in his studies. This young man 
 taught him to draw plans and sections. They 
 carefully pondered together Ferguson's "Lectures 
 on Mechanics," and invented many mechanical 
 contrivances to aid them in their experiments. 
 Wigham expounded principles, and Stephenson re- 
 duced them to practice. 
 
 The resolution which George had formed to give 
 his son a good education, he was able to carry into 
 effect, by managing to save a sum of 100. This 
 amount he accumulated in guineas, and sold them 
 to Jews at twenty-six shillings a-piece. A shrewd, 
 industrious man was George Stephenson, and one 
 destined to rise in the world. He sent his son to 
 an academy at Newcastle, where he commenced a 
 course of sound instruction. At Killingworth, 
 Stephenson continued to astonish the neighborhood 
 by his ingenious mechanical contrivances. He in- 
 vented a strange " fley craw " to protect his gar- 
 den-crops from the ravages of birds ; he won the 
 
BTEPIIENSOX, THE EAILWAY PIONEEK. 19 
 
 admiration of the women, by connecting their 
 cradles with the smoke-jack, and making them 
 self-acting ; and excited much wonder in the pit- 
 men, by attaching an alarm to the clock of the 
 watchman, whose duty it was to call them up in 
 the morning. He also contrived a mysterious 
 lamp, which burned under water, and attracted 
 the fish. His cottage was full of models, engines, 
 and perpetual-motion machines. 
 
 In 1812 he was appointed engine-wright of the 
 Killingworth Colliery, at- the salary of 100 a-year. 
 He is ever steadily rising, winning more and more 
 the respect of his employers, and gaining for him- 
 self, by manful effort, a better position in the world. 
 He had now advanced to the grade of a higher- 
 class workman. He erected a winding and a 
 pumping engine, and laid down a self-acting in- 
 cline at AVillington. The practical study which he 
 had given to the steam engine, and his intimate 
 acquaintance with its powers, were of immense ad- 
 vantage to him in his endeavors after improvement. 
 The locomotive already occupied his attention ; he 
 knew its value and its capabilities ; and he soon 
 bent the whole force of his mind to develop its 
 might. A more economical method of working 
 the coal trains, instead of by means of horses, was 
 a great desideratum at the collieries. Stephenson 
 immediately began in earnest to attempt the solu- 
 tion of the problem. He first made himself 
 thoroughly acquainted with what had already been 
 done. He went to inspect the engines which 
 
20 MEN WHO HAVE KISEN. 
 
 working daily at "Wylam slow, cumbrous, un- 
 steady machines, more expensive than horses, and 
 certainly much slower in their movements. He 
 declared on the spot that he could make a much 
 better engine than Trevethick's. One of Blenkin- 
 sop's Leeds engines he saw placed on the tramway 
 leading from the collieries of Kenton and Coxlodge ; 
 and here again, after examining the machine, and ob- 
 serving its performances, he asserted that "he could 
 make a better engine than that to go upon legs." 
 All the engines constructed up to this time were, 
 in his estimation, practical failures, unsteady in 
 their movement, and far from economical in their 
 working. Much ingenuity had already been shown, 
 and some little success had been attained ; but a 
 man of keen practical insight and great persever- 
 ance was required to promote the efficiency of 
 every part, and to produce a good working ma- 
 chine. Lord Ravensworth, one of the lessees of 
 the Killing-worth Colliery, after hearing Stephen- 
 son's statements, authorized him to proceed with 
 the construction of a locomotive. With such 
 mechanics and tools as he could find (and both 
 were somewhat clumsy), he set to work, following 
 in part the plan of Blenkinsop's engine. The lo- 
 comotive was completed in about ten months. Its 
 powers were tried on the Killingworth Railway on 
 the 25th of July, 1814, and it succeeded in draw- 
 ing after it, on an ascending gradient of 1 in 450, 
 eight loaded carriages, of thirty tons' weight, at 
 about four miles an hour. " Blucher " was a great 
 
GEORGE BTEPIIENSOX. 
 There w?w danger, it mijhtbe de.i h, bef.-ro linn, but he must go." TAGS 21. 
 
STEPIIEXSOX, THE RAILWAY PIONEER. 21 
 
 advance upon all previous locomotives ; but it was 
 nevertheless a cumbrous machine, and jolted, 
 jerked, and rattled like the gigantic skeleton of a 
 mammoth. At the end of the year, the steam- 
 power and horse-power were found to be nearly 
 upon a par in point of cost. The locomotive might 
 have been condemned as useless, had not Stephen- 
 son at this juncture fortunately invented and ap- 
 plied the steam-blast, which stimulated combus- 
 tion, increased the capability of the boiler to gen- 
 erate steam, and more than doubled the power of 
 the engine. The success of the steam-blast was 
 complete ; and Stephenson determined to construct 
 a second engine, embodying all the improvements 
 that his experience suggested. It was finished in 
 the year 1815, and may be regarded as the type of 
 the present locomotive engine. 
 
 At this period, explosions of fire-damp were fre- 
 quent in the Northumberland and Durham coal- 
 mines, attended sometimes by fearful loss of life. 
 " One day, in the year 1814, a workman hurried in 
 to Mr. Stephenson's cottage, with the startling in- 
 formation that the deepest main of the colliery was 
 on fire ! He immediately hastened to the pit- 
 mouth, about a hundred yards off, whither the 
 women and children of the colliery were fast run- 
 ning, with wildness and terror depicted in every 
 face. In an energetic voice Stephenson ordered 
 the engine-man to lower him down the shaft in the 
 corve. There was danger, it might be death, be- 
 fore him but he must go. As those about the 
 
22 MEN wno HAVE 
 
 pit-mouth saw him descend rapidly out of sight, 
 and heard from the gloomy depths of the shaft the 
 mingled cries of despair and agony rising from the 
 workpeople below, they gazed on the heroic man 
 with breathless amazement. He was soon at the 
 bottom, and in the midst of his workmen, who 
 were paralyzed at the danger which threatened the- 
 lives of all in the pit. Leaping from the corve on 
 its touching the ground, he called out, 'Stand 
 back ! Are there six men among you who have 
 courage enough to follow me ? If so, come, and 
 we will put the fire out.' The Killingworth men 
 had always the most perfect confidence in George 
 Stephenson, and instantly they volunteered to fol- 
 low him. Silence succeeded to the frantic tumult 
 of the previous minute, and the men set to work. 
 In every mine, bricks, mortar, and tools enough 
 are at hand, and by Stephenson's direction mate- 
 rials were forthwith carried to the required spot, 
 where, in a very short time, a wall was raised at 
 the entrance to the main, he himself taking the 
 most active part in the work. Thus the atmos- 
 pheric air was excluded, the fire was extinguished, 
 and the people were saved from death, and the 
 mine was preserved." 
 
 After this accident, Stephenson set about devis- 
 ing a lamp which would afford sufficient light to 
 the miners, without communicating flame to the 
 inflammable gas in the pit. His experiments re- 
 sulted in the invention of the Geordy Safety 
 Lamp. The name of Sir Humphrey Davy has 
 
STEPHENSOX, THE RAILWAY PIONEER. 23 
 
 been generally identified with the invention : but 
 it now seems that Stephenson had made a success- 
 ful trial of his lamp before Davy's invention was 
 made public. 
 
 While people were predicting a terrible blow- 
 up some day for George's locomotive at Killing- 
 worth, it continued to perform its appointed work. 
 The engine was indeed subject to jolts and shocks, 
 and occasionally it was thrown off the road, owing 
 to the inequality of the rails, and the imperfection 
 of the chairs or cast-iron pedestals into which the 
 rails were inserted. These defects did not long re- 
 main unnoticed and unamended. In September, 
 1816, an improved form of the rail and chair was 
 embodied in a patent taken out in the joint names 
 of Mr. Losh of Newcastle, ironfounder, and of Mr. 
 Stephenson. Important improvements on loco- 
 motives previously constructed were also described 
 in the specification of the same patent. Mr. Ste- 
 phenson had devised an ingenious contrivance, by 
 which the steam generated in the boiler was made 
 to supply the place of springs ! The working of 
 the new locomotive and improved road was highly 
 satisfactory, and the superiority of the locomotive 
 to horse traction, both as regards regularity and 
 economy, was now completely established. The 
 identical engines constructed by Mr. Stephenson 
 are still at work on the Killingworth Railway. 
 He investigated the resistances to which carria- 
 ges are exposed, and ascertained by experiment 
 the now well-known, but then much-contested 
 
24: MEN WHO HAVE EISEN". 
 
 fact, that friction was uniform at all veloci- 
 ties. 
 
 In 1820 Mr. Stephenson resolved to send his son 
 Robert who, since leaving school at Newcastle, 
 had acted as under-viewer in the West Moor Pit 
 to the University of Edinburgh. He was fur- 
 nished with introductions to men of science in the 
 Scottish metropolis, and attended the lectures of 
 Dr. Hope, Sir John Leslie, and the mathematical 
 classes of Jamieson. He studied at Edinburgh for 
 only one session of six months, but, possessing 
 much of his father's zeal, industry, and persever- 
 ance, he made great progress, and stored his mind 
 with scientific knowledge. He subsequently ren- 
 dered his father the most valuable assistance in de- 
 veloping the power of the steam-engine, and in the 
 construction of railways. 
 
 While such men as William James, Edward 
 Pease, and Thomas Gray, were agitating the gen- 
 eral adoption of railways, Stephenson was busy 
 making railways, and building efficient locomo- 
 tives. A very large capital was required to lay 
 clown rails and furnish engines, and this accounts 
 in part for the slow growth at first of the railway 
 system. The Hetton Coal Company, possessing 
 adequate means, and observing the working of the 
 Killingworth line, resolved to construct a railway 
 about eight miles in length, and George Stephen- 
 son was requested to superintend their works. 
 This was the first decisive public recognition of 
 his engineering skill. The line was opened in ]STo- 
 
STEPHENSOX, THE RAILWAY PIONEEK. 25 
 
 vember, 1822, in the presence of a crowd of spec- 
 tators. Five of Stephenson's locomotives were at 
 work on that day, traveling about four miles an 
 hour, and each engine dragging after it a train of 
 seventeen wagons, weighing about sixty-four tons. 
 In 1823 the second Stockton and Darlington 
 Railway Act was obtained. Mr. Stephenson was 
 appointed the company's engineer, at a salary of 
 300 (nearly $1500) per annum. He laid out 
 every foot of the ground himself, accompanied by 
 his assistants. He surveyed -indefatigably from 
 daylight to dusk, dressed in top-boots and breech- 
 es ; and took his chance of bread and milk, or a 
 homely dinner at some neighboring farmhouse. 
 The country people were fond of his cheerful talk, 
 and he was always a great favorite with the chil- 
 dren. One day, when the works were approaching 
 completion, he dined with his son, and John^Dixon, 
 his assistant, at Stockton. After dinner, Mr. Ste- 
 phenson ordered in a bottle of wine, to drink suc- 
 cess to the railway, and said to the young men, 
 " Now, lads, I will tell you that I think you will 
 live to see the day, though I may not live so long, 
 when railways will come to supersede almost all 
 other methods of conveyance in this country ; when 
 mail-coaches will go by railway, and railroads will 
 become the great highway for the King and all his 
 subjects. The time is coming when it will be 
 cheaper for a working man to travel on a railway 
 than to walk on foot. I know there are great and 
 almost insurmountable obstacles that will have to 
 2 
 
26 MEN WHO HAVE KISEN. 
 
 be encountered. But what I have said will come 
 to pass, as sure as I live. I only wish I may live 
 to see the day, though that I can scarcely hope 
 for, as I know how slow all human progress is, and 
 with what difficulty I have been able to get the 
 locomotive adopted, notwithstanding my more 
 than ten years' successful experiment at Killing- 
 worth." The anticipations of the great engineer 
 were more than realized. 
 
 The Stockton and Darlington line was opened 
 for traffic in September, 1825. As this was the 
 first public railway, a great crowd of people as- 
 sembled to witness the ceremony of opening. Mr. 
 Stephenson himself drove the engine. The train 
 consisted of thirty-eight vehicles, among which 
 were twenty-one wagons fitted up with temporary 
 seats for passengers, and a carriage filled with the 
 directors and their friends. The speed attained in 
 some parts was twelve miles an hour; and the arrival 
 at Stockton excited deep interest and admiration. 
 The line was found to work excellently, and the 
 goods and passenger traffic soon exceeded the ex- 
 pectations of the directors. 
 
 An important step in the progress of the rail- 
 way system was the establishment by Mr. Stephen- 
 son of a locomotive manufactory at Newcastle. 
 The building, small at first, subsequently assumed 
 gigantic dimensions. Skilled workmen were en- 
 gaged, under whose direction others were disci- 
 plined. The most celebrated engineers of Europe, 
 America and India, acquired their best practical 
 
STEPIIENSOX, THE RAILWAY TIONEEE. 27 
 
 knowledge in the Newcastle factory. It continued 
 to be the only establishment of the kind, until 
 after the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester 
 line in 1830. 
 
 The survey of this railway was the next import- 
 ant public work which Mr. Stephenson was re- 
 quested to undertake. Great was the opposition 
 on the part of the proprietors of the lands through 
 which the line was intended to pass. Lord 
 Derby's farmers and servants, and Lord Sefton's 
 keepers, turned out in full force to resist the ag- 
 gressions of the surveying party. The Duke of 
 Bridgewater's property-guard threatened to duck 
 Mr. Stephenson in a pond if he proceeded ; and 
 he had to take the survey by stealth, when the 
 people were at dinner. The opposition of landed 
 proprietors and canal companies to the projected 
 railway grew in intensity, when the survey, im- 
 perfect as it could not fail to be, was completed, 
 and arrangements were made for introducing the 
 bill into Parliament. The Liverpool and Man- 
 chester Bill went into committee of the House of 
 Commons on the 21st of March, 1825. The array 
 of legal talent, on the opposition side especially, 
 was something extraordinary. Mr. George Ste- 
 phenson was called to the witness-box, and sub- 
 jected to a rigorous examination. " I had to place 
 myself in that most unpleasant of all positions 
 the witness-box of a parliamentary committee. I 
 was not long in it before I began to wish for a 
 hole to creep out at, I could not find words to 
 
28 MEN WHO HAVE EISE2T. 
 
 satisfy either the committee or myself. I was 
 subjected to the cross-examination of eight or ten 
 barristers, purposely, as far as possible, to bewilder 
 me. One member of the committee asked if I 
 was a foreigner ; and another hinted that I was 
 mad. But I put up with every rebuff, and went 
 on with my plans, determined not to be put down." 
 The idea of a train going at the rate of twelve 
 miles an hour was considered the height of ab- 
 surdity. A good story is told of Stephenson dur- 
 ing his examination. A member of committee 
 put the following case : " Suppose, now, one of 
 these engines to be going along a railroad at the 
 rate of nine or ten miles an hour, and that a cow 
 were to stray upon the line, and get in the way of 
 the engine, would not that, think you, be a very awk- 
 ward circumstance ? " " Yes," replied the witness, 
 in his Northumbrian speech ; " very awkward in- 
 deed -for the coo." The examination of Mr. 
 Stephenson lasted three days ; and the result of 
 the contest was the temporary withdrawal of the 
 bill. This was sufficiently discouraging, and the 
 railway system seemed about to be crushed at the 
 outset. The directors, however, nothing daunted, 
 were determined to press on with their project. 
 A new survey was made, the plans were deposited, 
 and the bill went into committee. It passed the 
 third reading in the House of Commons, by a 
 majority of eighty-eight to forty-one ; and its only 
 opponents in the House of Lords were the Earl of 
 Derby and the Earl of Wilton. 
 
STEPIIENSOX, THE RAILWAY PIONEER. 29 
 
 The directors appointed Mr. George Stephen- 
 son their principal engineer, at a salary of 1,000 
 per annum a mighty advance from the herd-boy 
 with his twopence per diem. The Liverpool and 
 Manchester directors had put the right man in 
 the right place, as they subsequently found. He 
 immediately began to make the road over Chat, 
 Moss a work which the distinguished engineers 
 of the day had declared that " no man in his 
 senses would undertake to do." But George Ste- 
 phenson did not know the meaning of the word 
 " impossible." For weeks, truck-load after truck- 
 load of material w r as poured in, without any sen- 
 sible effect. The bog, it was feared, had some 
 connection with the bottomless pit. The directors 
 became alarmed, and Mr. Stephenson answered, 
 " We must persevere." Other weeks passed ; the 
 insatiable bog sw r allowed all; the solid embank- 
 ment made no sign. A special meeting of the 
 board was forthwith held on the spot, to consult 
 whether the w r ork should be proceeded with or 
 abandoned. "An immense outlay had been in- 
 curred," said Mr. Stephenson afterwards, " and 
 great loss would have been occasioned had the 
 scheme been then abandoned, and the line taken 
 by another route. So the directors were compelled 
 to allow me to go on with my plan, of the ultimate 
 success of which I myself never for one moment 
 doubted. Determined, therefore, to persevere as 
 before, I ordered the works to be carried on 
 vigorously ; and, to the surprise of every one con- 
 
30 MEN WHO HAVE KISEN. 
 
 nected with the undertaking, in six months from 
 the day on which the board had held its special 
 meeting on the moss, a locomotive engine and 
 carriage passed over the very spot, with a party 
 of the directors' friends, on their way to dine at 
 Manchester." The embankments, the bridges, 
 the Sankey viaduct, the Rainhill Skew bridge, 
 and the Olive Mount excavation, were regarded 
 as wondrous works, and filled even " distinguished 
 engineers " with admiration. In the organization 
 and direction of navvies, and in training them for 
 their special work, Mr. Stephenson also manifested 
 the most eminent skill and ability. He was a 
 Napoleon in his profession, never failing in his re- 
 sources or his undertakings; a man of infinite 
 vigor and determination. 
 
 While the works were in progress, many con- 
 sultations were held by the directors as to the 
 kind of power which was to be employed in the 
 working of the railway when opened for traffic. 
 Two eminent practical engineers reported against 
 the employment of the locomotive. The whole 
 profession stood opposed to George Stephenson, 
 but he still held to his purpose. Urged by his 
 solicitations to test the powers of the locomotive, 
 the directors at last determined to offer a prize of 
 500 for the best locomotive engine which, on a 
 certain day, should be produced on the railway, 
 and fulfill certain conditions in the most satisfac- 
 tory manner. A speed of ten miles an hour was 
 all that was required to be maintained. Mr. Ste- 
 
STEPHENSOX, THE RAILWAY PIONEER. 31 
 
 phenson, assisted by his son, who had returned 
 from South America, immediately set about the 
 construction of his famous " Rocket." An import- 
 ant principle introduced in the construction 01 
 this engine, was the multi-tubular boiler, by whicli 
 the power of generating steam was greatly in- 
 creased. On the day appointed for the competi- 
 tion at Rainhill, four engines were entered for the 
 prize: first, Messrs. Braithwaite and Ericsson's 
 "Novelty"; second, Mr. Timothy Hackworth's 
 " Sanspareil " ; third, Mr. Robert Stephenson's 
 "Rocket"; fourth, Mr. Burstall's "Persever- 
 ance." Mr. Stephenson's engine was first ready, 
 and entered upon the contest. It drew after it 
 thirteen tons' weight in wagons, and the maxi- 
 mum velocity attained during the trial trip was 
 twenty-nine miles an hour three times the speed 
 that one of the judges had declared to be the 
 limit of possibility. The average speed was fif- 
 teen miles an hour. The spectators were filled 
 with a great astonishment ; and one of the direc- 
 tors lifted up his hands, and exclaimed, " Now is 
 George Stephenson at last delivered ! " The 
 "Sanspareil" weighed five hundredweights be- 
 yond the weight specified, and was excluded from 
 competition. The steam-generator of the " Nov- 
 elty" burst, and ended its performance. The 
 " Perseverance " did not fulfill the advertised con- 
 ditions ; and the prize of 500 was accordingly 
 awarded to the " Rocket " as the successful en- 
 gine. 
 
32 MEN WHO HAVE RISEN. 
 
 The public opening of the Liverpool and Man- 
 chester Railway took place on the 15th of Sep- 
 tember, 1830. Eight locomotives, constructed by 
 the Messrs. Stephenson, had been placed upon the 
 line. The Duke of Wellington, Sir Robert Peel, 
 Mr. Huskisson, one of the members for Liver- 
 pool, and a large body of distinguished persons, 
 were present ; for the completion of the work was 
 justly regarded and celebrated as a national event. 
 The lamentable accident to Mr. Huskisson, who 
 was struck down by the " Rocket," and expired 
 that same evening, cast a gloom over the day's 
 proceedings. The " Northumbrian " engine con- 
 veyed the wounded body a distance of fifteen 
 miles in twenty-five minutes a rate of speed 
 which at the time excited much wonder and ad- 
 miration. The success of the railway in a com- 
 mercial point of view, was immediate and decisive. 
 Soon after the opening, it carried, on an average, 
 about 1,200 passengers a-day. Mr. Stephenson, 
 whose energy and perseverance had thus triumphed 
 so signally over all difficulties and opposition, con- 
 tinued to improve the construction and develop 
 the powers of the locomotive. The " Planet " 
 was an improvement upon the " Rocket," and the 
 " Samson" was an improvement upon the "Planet." 
 The number of competitors who appeared about 
 the time, stimulated Mr. Stephenson's inventive 
 faculties, and he succeeded in sustaining the su- 
 periority of his engines. 
 
 The practicability of Railway Locomotion being 
 
STEPJIENSON, THE RAILWAY PIONEER. 33 
 
 now proved, other joint-stock companies speedily 
 arose in the manufacturing districts, and George 
 Stephenson was appointed engineer of the prin- 
 cipal projected lines. The landowners might be 
 horrified at the idea of " fire-horses " snorting and 
 puffing through their fields, causing premature 
 births among the cattle, and frightening the poul- 
 try to death ; but merchants and manufacturers 
 did not feel disposed to sacrifice the interests of 
 commerce to the absurd fears of timid or superan- 
 nuated proprietors. The London and Birmingham 
 Railway was the most important on which the 
 Messrs. Stephenson were soon afterwards engaged, 
 The works were of the most formidable descrip- 
 tion ; but the difficulties encountered only roused 
 the energies of father and son. The formation of 
 the Kilsby Tunnel 2400 yards in length, and pen- 
 etrating about 160 feet below the surface was 
 justly regarded as a great engineering triumph. 
 The number of bricks used, according to estimate, 
 was sufficient to make a good footpath, a yard 
 broad, from London to Aberdeen ! Some idea of 
 the magnitude of the works may be formed from 
 the cost of construction, which amounted to five 
 million sterling. Practical ability of the highest 
 kind, and energy that never flagged, were neces- 
 sary to bring such works to a successful issue. 
 
 Mr. Stephenson removed from Liverpool to 
 Alton Grange, near Ashby-de-la-Zouch, in Leices- 
 tershire, in 1832. He had leased the estate of 
 Snibston, certain that coal was to be found in the 
 3 
 
3 MEN WHO HAVE EISEN. 
 
 district, and he soon discovered a rich bed of that 
 mineral. As railway projects were now springing 
 up all over England, he was often called from 
 home for the purpose of making surveys. A pri- 
 vate secretary accompanied him on his journeys. 
 He was averse himself to writing letters ; but he 
 possessed the power of laboring continuously at 
 dictation. It it stated that in one day he dictated 
 thirty-seven letters, many of them embodying the 
 results of close thinking and calculation. He 
 could snatch his sleep while traveling in his chaise, 
 and by break of day he would be at work again 
 surveying until dark. He was always fresh and 
 energetic, when secretaries and assistants were 
 knocked up and unfit for duty. He took an office 
 in London during the session of 1836, and this 
 office was for many years the busy scene of railway 
 politics. 
 
 The importance of the Midland Railway, as 
 opening up new coal-markets, Mr. Stephenson 
 early detected. " The strength of Britain," he 
 would say, " lies in her coal-beds ; and the locomo- 
 tive is destined, above all other agencies, to bring 
 it forth. The Lord Chancellor now sits upon a 
 bag of wool ; but wool has long ceased to be em- 
 blematical of the staple commodity of England. 
 He ought rather to sit upon a bag of coals, though 
 it might not prove quite so comfortable a seat. 
 Then think of the Lord Chancellor being address 
 ed as the noble and learned lord on the coal-sack ! 
 I am afraid it wouldn't answer, after all." He 
 
STEPIIEX30X, Tin: .RAILWAY PIONEEE. 35 
 
 took a lease of the Clay Cross Colliery, in anticipa- 
 tion of the London demand for railway-led coal. 
 Tapton House, near Chesterfield, thencefor wards 
 continued his residence until the close of his life. 
 
 A keen competition of professional ability among 
 engineers was excited by the general demand for 
 railways which sprang up after the opening of the 
 Liverpool and Manchester line. Jealousy, of 
 course, also prevailed, and it was long before tho 
 regular professional men would recognize George 
 Stephenson as entitled to the status of a civil 
 engineer ! He was an interloper ; he was born to 
 be a brakesman, and should have remained so ; he 
 had no right to do what he had done ! The ap- 
 preciation and generous admiration of genius is the 
 last thing that can be expected of your " regular " 
 respectable professional men. George Stephenson 
 could well afford to despise his detractors, so long- 
 as the country recognized his power. The desire 
 to be original, and to excel Stephenson, became a 
 passion with some of the new " fast " engineers. 
 They proposed undulating railways, atmospheric 
 railways, alterations of the gauge, increase of loco- 
 motive speed to one hundred miles an hour, and a 
 variety of absurd and impracticable projects. Mr. 
 Stephenson, in opposition to the " fast " men, de- 
 fended the importance of the uniform gauge, pro- 
 nounced the atmospheric system to be "gimerack," 
 and declared that the introduction of steep gra- 
 dients would neutralize every improvement which 
 he had made v The soundness of his judgment in 
 
36 MEN WHO HAVE EISEN. 
 
 these particulars experience lias proved. He always 
 kept in view ecunomy, public utility, and commer- 
 cial advantage, and gave no countenance to schemes 
 that would be prejudicial to the interests of share- 
 holders. 
 
 In 1840, George Stephensoii publicly intimated 
 his intention of retiring from the more active pur- 
 suit of his profession, and resigned the charge of 
 several of the railways of which he was chief 
 engineer. He longed to enjoy rest and leisure in 
 the retirement of Tapton House a place beautiful 
 for situation, looking down from its wooded emi- 
 nence upon the town of Chesterfield, and command- 
 ing an extensive prospect over a rich undulating 
 country. He contemplated improvements in the 
 garden and pleasure-grounds ; but some years 
 elapsed before he could carry them into effect. 
 Although he had retired from the more active pur- 
 suit of his profession, he was not allowed, nor did 
 he allow himself, to rest. He was, in 1844, ap- 
 pointed engineer of the Whitehaven and Maryport 
 Railway, along with his friend and former assistant, 
 John Dixon. He was also elected Chairman of the 
 Yarmouth and Norwich Railway. When the 
 Thames and the Tyne were connected by a con- 
 tinuous line, the event was worthily celebrated : 
 Newcastle held holiday ; and a banquet in the As- 
 sembly Rooms in the evening assumed the form of 
 nn ovation to Mr. Stephensoii and his son. In re- 
 plying to the complimentary speech of the cliuir- 
 iv! an, Mr. Stephensoii gave a short autobiogi aphic 
 
STEPHENSOX, THE EAILWAY PIONEEE. 37 
 
 sketch, part of which we have already quoted. 
 The Iligh Level Bridge over the Tyne at Newcas- 
 tle one of the most striking and picturesque erec- 
 tions to which railways have given birth was 
 shortly afterwards projected by George Stephen- 
 son ; but he did not live to see it completed. 
 
 As early as the year 1835, Mr. Stephenson and 
 hib son had been consulted by Leopold, King of 
 the Belgians, as to the formation of the most effi- 
 cient system of lines throughout his kingdom. In 
 consideration of the great English engineer's valu- 
 able assistance, and the services which he had ren- 
 dered to civilization, he was appointed by the Bel- 
 gian King a Knight of the Order of Leopold. The 
 same honor was afterwards conferred on his distin- 
 guished son by royal ordinance. When the Sam- 
 bre and Meuse Company, in 1845, obtained the 
 concession of a line from the Belgian legislature, 
 Mr. Stephenson proceeded to Belgium for the pur- 
 pose of examining the district through which the 
 proposed line was to pass. He went as far as the 
 Forest of Ardennes and Rocroi, examining the 
 bearings of the coal-fields, the slate and marble 
 quarries, and iron mines. The engineers of Bel- 
 gium invited him to a magnificent banquet at 
 Brussels. " The public hall, in w r hich they enter- 
 tained him, w r as gaily decorated with flags, prom- 
 inent amongst which was the Union Jack, in honor 
 of their distinguished guest. A handsome marble 
 pedestal, ornamented with his bust, crowned witli 
 laurels, occupied one end of the room. The chair 
 
33 MEN WHO HAVE KISEItf. 
 
 was occupied by M. Massui, the chief director of 
 the National Railways of Belgium ; and the most 
 eminent scientific men of the kingdom were pre- 
 sent. Their reception of the ' father of railways ' 
 was of the most enthusiastic description. Mr. Ste- 
 phensoii was greatly pleased with the entertain- 
 ment. Not the least interesting incident of the 
 evening was his observing, when the dinner was 
 about half over, a model of a locomotive engine 
 placed upon the centre of the table, under a trium- 
 phal arch. Turning suddenly to his friend Lop- 
 \vict, he exclaimed, ' Do you see the Rocket ? ' It 
 was indeed the model of that celebrated engine; 
 and Mr. Stephenson prized the compliment thus 
 paid him perhaps more than all the encomiums of 
 the evening." He had a private interview with 
 King Leopold next day, at the royal palace of 
 Laaken, near Brussels. Mr. Stephenson w^as gen- 
 tlemanly, simple, and unpretending ; maintained 
 the most perfect ease and self-possession, and des- 
 cribed to the king the geological structure of Bel- 
 gium. The " grit barelegged laddie " is now teach- 
 ing a king! In describing the coal-fields, Mr. 
 Stephenson used his hat as a sort of model to illus- 
 trate his meaning, and on leaving the palace, said 
 to his friend, " By the by, Lopwict, I was afraid 
 the king would see the inside of my hat, for it's a 
 shocking bad one ! " He paid a second visit to 
 Belgium in the course of the same year, for the 
 _ purpose of examining the direction of the proposed 
 West Flanders Railway, and had scarcely return- 
 
STEPHEXSOX, THE RAILWAY PIONEEK. 39 
 
 ed, before he was requested to proceed to Spain, to 
 report upon a project then on foot for constructing 
 the Royal North of Spain Railway. He was ac- 
 companied by Sir Joshua Walmsley, and several 
 other gentlemen. In passing through Irun, St. 
 Sebastian, St. Andrew, and Bilbao, they were met 
 by deputations of the principal inhabitants, who 
 were interested in the subject of their journey. 
 Mr. Stephenson was not long in forming an un- 
 favorable opinion of the entire project, and it was 
 consequently abandoned. From fatigue and the 
 privations endured by him while carrying on the 
 survey among the Spanish mountains, he became 
 ill on the homeward journey. After a few weeks' 
 rest at home, he gradually recovered, although his 
 health remained shaken. 
 
 The Ambergate and Manchester line, which re- 
 ceived the sanction of Parliament in 1848, was the 
 last railway in the promotion of which he took any 
 active part. He resided at Tapton House, enjoy- 
 ing his garden and grounds, and indulging that 
 love of nature which remained strong within him 
 to the last. He built new melon-houses, pineries, 
 and vineries of great extent, and became eager to 
 excel his neighbors in the growth of exotic plants. 
 His grapes took the first prize at Rotherham, at a 
 competition open to all England. Rivalry was the 
 very life of the man, and he was never satisfied 
 until he had excelled all competitors. He fed cat- 
 tle after methods of his own, and was very partic- 
 ular as to breed and build in stock-breeding. 
 
40 MEN WHO HAVE KISEtf. 
 
 Again, as when a boy, he began to keep rabbits, 
 and prosecuted con amore his old occupation of 
 bird-nesting. From close observation, he was 
 minutely acquainted with the habits of British 
 birds. He read very little in-doors ; his greatest 
 pleasure was in conversation. He was fond of tell- 
 ing anecdotes illustrating the struggles of his early 
 life. He would sometimes indulge his visitors in 
 the evening by reciting the old pastoral " Damon 
 and Phyllis," or singing " John Anderson my Joe." 
 The humbler companions of his early life were fre- 
 quently invited to his house ; he assumed none of 
 the high airs of an upstart, but treated them as his 
 equals. He was charitable to the needy, and so 
 bestowed his gifts that the delicacy of the fastidious 
 was never offended. 
 
 " Young men would call upon him for advice or 
 assistance, in commencing a professional career. 
 When he noted their industry, prudence, and 
 good sense, he was always ready. But, hating 
 foppery and frippery above all things, he would re- 
 prove any tendency to this weakness which he ob- 
 served in the applicants. One day a youth, desir- 
 ous of becoming an engineer, called upon him, 
 flourishing a gold-headed cane. Mr. Stephenson 
 said, ' Put by that stick, my man, and then I will 
 speak to you.' To another extensively-decorated 
 young man he one day said, ' You will, I hope, Mr. 
 
 , excuse me ; I am a plain-spoken person, and 
 
 am sorry to see a nice-looking and rather clever 
 young man like you disfigured with that fine- 
 
STEPIIENSON, THE BAILWAY PIONEEK. 41 
 
 patterned waistcoat, and all these chains and fang- 
 dangs. If I, sir, had bothered my head with such 
 things wlien at your age, I would not have been 
 where I am now." 
 
 During the later years of his life, Mr. Stephen- 
 son took a deep interest in educational institutes 
 for the working classes. He had many thousand 
 workpeople engaged in his works at Tapton and 
 Clay Cross; and he established a model educa- 
 tional institute, beneficial alike to employers and 
 employed. 
 
 The inventive faculty of the eminent engineer 
 did not slumber when he retired to the seclusion 
 of private life. In 1846 he brought out his design 
 of a three-cylinder locomotive. It has not come 
 into general use, owing to the greater expense of 
 its construction and working. In 1847 he invent- 
 ed a new self-acting break. He communicated a 
 paper on the subject, accompanied by a model, to 
 the Institute of Mechanical Engineers at Birming- 
 ham, of which he was president. 
 
 Sir Robert Peel on more than one occasion 
 invited Mr. Stephenson to Drayton. He refused 
 at first, from an indisposition to " mix in fine com- 
 pany ; " but ultimately went. " On one occasion, 
 an animated discussion took place between him- 
 self and Dr. Buckland, on one of his favorite 
 theories as to the formation of coal ; but the re- 
 sult was, that Dr. Buckland, a much greater 
 master of tongue-fence than Stephenson, com- 
 pletely silenced him. Next morning, before 
 
4:2 MEN WHO HATE KISEN. 
 
 breakfast, when he was walking in the grounds, 
 deeply pondering, Sir William Follett came up, 
 and asked what he was thinking about. ' Why, 
 Sir William, I am thinking over that argu- 
 ment I had with Buckland last night. I know 
 I am right, and that, if I had only the com- 
 mand of words which he has, I'd have beaten 
 him.' ' Let me know all about it,' said Sir 
 William, ' and I '11 see what I can do for you. 
 The two sat down in an arbor, where the astute 
 lawyer made himself thoroughly acquainted with 
 the points of the case, entering into it with all 
 the zeal of an advocate about to plead the dearest 
 interests of his client. After he had mastered 
 the subject, Sir William rose up, rubbing his 
 hands with glee, and said, ' Now I am ready for 
 him.' Sir Robert Peel was made acquainted with 
 the plot, and adroitly introduced the subject of 
 the controversy after dinner. The result was, 
 that, in the argument which followed, the man of 
 science was overcome by the man of law, and Sir 
 William Follett had at all points the mastery over 
 Dr. Buckland. ' What do you say, Mr. Stephen- 
 son ? ' asked Sir Robert, laughing. ' Why,' said 
 he, 'I will only say this, that, of all the powers 
 above and under the earth, there seems to me to 
 'be no power so great as the gift of the gab.' On 
 another occasion a highly original idea was struck 
 out by Mr. Stephenson in conversation with Dr. 
 Buckland. ' Now, Buckland,' said he, ' I have a 
 poser for you : can you tell me what is the power 
 
STEPIIEliSOX, TIIE HALLWAY PIONEER. 43 
 
 that is driving that train ? ' ' Well,' said the 
 other, ' I suppose it is one of your big engines ! ' 
 4 But what drives the engine ? ' ' Oh, very 
 likely a canny Newcastle driver.' ' ' What do you 
 say to the light of the sun ? ' ' How can that 
 be ? ' ' It is nothing else,' said the engineer ; ' it 
 is light bottled up in the earth for tens of thou- 
 sands of years light absorbed by plants and 
 vegetables, being necessary for the condensation 
 of carbon during the process of their growth, if it 
 be not carbon in another form; and now, after 
 being buried in the earth for long ages in fields of 
 coal, that latent light is again brought forth and 
 liberated, made to work, as in that locomotive, for 
 great human purposes.' " Such an idea was more 
 an immediate intuition of genius, than the result 
 of methodical reasoning. 
 
 Sir Robert Peel made Stephenson the offer of 
 knighthood more than once, but he steadily re- 
 fused. He was not the creature of patronage, 
 and he did not wish to shine with borrowed lustre. 
 He gave a characteristic reply to a request that 
 he would state what were his " ornamental initials," 
 in order that they might be added to his name in 
 the title of a work proposed to be dedicated to 
 him : " I have to state, that I have no flourishes 
 to my name, either before or after ; and I think 
 it will be as well if you merely say ' George Ste- 
 phenson.' It is true that I am a Belgian knight ; 
 but I do not wish to have any use made of it. I 
 have had the honor of knighthood cf my own 
 
44 MEN WHO HAVE HISEN. 
 
 country made to me several times, but would not 
 Lave it. I have been invited to become a Fellow 
 of the Royal Society, and also of the Civil En- 
 gineers' Society, but objected to the empty addi- 
 tion to my name. I am a member of the Geolog- 
 ical Society, and I have consented to become 
 president of, I believe, a highly respectable Me- 
 chanics' Institution at Birmingham." He wished 
 to join the Civil Engineers' Institute ; but the 
 council would not waive the condition that he 
 should compose a probationary essay in proof of 
 his capacity as an engineer! Mr. Stephenson 
 would not stoop to enter, and turned his back 
 upon the Institute. 
 
 In July, 1848, though suffering from nervous 
 affection, he attended a meeting of the Birming- 
 ham Institute, and read a paper to the members 
 " On the Fallacies of the Rotary Engine." It 
 was his last appearance in public. A sudden 
 effusion of blood from the lungs, which followed 
 an attack of intermittent fever, carried him off, on 
 the 12th of August, 1848, in the sixty-seventh 
 year of his age. The death-pallor lay upon that 
 countenance, once so ruddy and glowing with 
 health ; the keen gray eye looked no longer upon 
 the common light of day ; the brain within that 
 massive forehead throbbed no more. A large 
 body of his workpeople, by whom he was as much 
 beloved as admired, followed his remains to the 
 grave. He was interred in Trinity Church, 
 Chesterfield, where a simple tablet marks his 
 
THE RAILWAY PIOKEEK. 45 
 
 resting-place. A chaste and elegant statue of the 
 great engineer, produced by Mr. Gibson of Rome, 
 was placed in the magnificent St. George's Hall, 
 Liverpool. To him, more than any other man of 
 this century, the commercial metropolis of England 
 owed a debt of gratitude and a tribute of respect. 
 Such is a rapid review of the leading events 
 in the life of George Stephenson a life pregnant 
 with valuable lessons and large results. He had 
 a, work to do in this world, and he performed his 
 duty ; he fulfilled his mission with manliness, with 
 energy, and with success. It is impossible as yet 
 correctly to estimate the greatness of the impulse 
 he has given to civilization, or to weigh in the 
 balance the mighty advantages, commercial, social, 
 and political, which he has conferred upon man- 
 kind. Future generations will be better able to 
 form a judgment and give a decision, when the 
 system he originated has been longer in existence, 
 and has attained a fuller development. Great 
 was the work he wrought, but still greater was 
 the workman. We cannot but wonder that one 
 born in circumstances so humble, and laboring 
 long under so many disadvantages, should have 
 been able to exemplify, more perhaps than any 
 other man, the masterdom of mind over matter. 
 He was enabled, through sheer force of intellect- 
 and never-failing determination, to make all diffi- 
 culties and every apparent disadvantage work 
 together for good both to himself and to the world. 
 Under the stern discipline of poverty find ncces 
 
4:6 MEN WHO HAVE RISEN. 
 
 sity, he early grew strong in self-reliance. He had 
 the desire to learn, the desire to advance, and that 
 desire was accompanied by the resolute will which 
 commands success. He never thought of failure ; 
 he never dreamed of impossibilities ; he fixed the 
 whole strength of his mind upon the end to be 
 gained, and the means to be applied. By patient, 
 unwearied, self-reliant industry, he rose from ob- 
 scurity to world-wide renown, and emphatically 
 proved, throughout the whole course of his labori 
 ous life, that perseverance is power. By word as 
 by example, he strove on every available occasion 
 to enforce this important truth. On one of his 
 last public appearances, he told the mechanics of 
 Leeds that " he stood before them but as a hum- 
 ble mechanic. He had risen from a lower standing 
 than the meanest person there ; and all that he had 
 been enabled to accomplish in the course of his 
 life had been done through perseverance. He said 
 this for the purpose of encouraging youthful me- 
 chanics to do as he had done to persevere." It 
 is remarkable that, although Stephenson was origin- 
 ally endowed with a strong mind, an inquiring 
 spirit, and great constructive skill, he attributed to 
 perseverance ah 1 his success. Any man, he con- 
 sidered, might have done what he did by simple 
 tenacity of purpose, and the resolution to be un- 
 daunted by difficulties. He never plumed himself 
 upon the possession of superior powers, nor Avas 
 there any affectation in describing himself as a 
 humble mechanic, when he was universally recog- 
 
6TEPHENSOX, THE RAILWAY riOJSTEEK. 47 
 
 nized as the greatest engineer of the day. He had 
 all the manly modesty, the unpretending, uncon- 
 scious greatness, which ever characterize true 
 genius. Social elevation did not destroy his nat- 
 ural humility. Popular applause he estimated at 
 its true value. His personal worth imparted new 
 dignity to his mechanical eminence ; his heart was 
 as sound as his head ; he was as much beloved as 
 he was admired. George Stephenson was, in fine, 
 a genuine Englishman frank, fearless, heroic, 
 vigorous in thought and energetic in action. He 
 has left behind him a memorable name, and his 
 works will ever be his noblest monument. 
 
THE 
 
 BEGINNING OF THE EOTHSCHILDS. 
 
 ON the approach of the republican army to the 
 territories of the Prince of Hesse Cassel, in the 
 early part of the French revolutionary wars, his 
 Serene Highness like many other pretty princes 
 of Germany was compelled to flee. In his pass- 
 age through the imperial city of Frankfort-on-the 
 Maine, he paid a hasty visit to one Moses Roths- 
 child, a Jewish banker of limited means, but of 
 good repute both for integrity- and ability in the 
 management of his business. The prince's pur- 
 pose in visiting Moses was to request him to take 
 charge of a large sum in money and jewels, 
 amounting in value to several millions of thalers, 
 a coin equal to seventy-five cents of our money. The 
 Jew at first point blank refused so dangerous a, 
 charge ; but, upon being earnestly pressed to take 
 it, at the prince's own sole risk nay, that even a 
 receipt should not be required he at length con- 
 sented. The money and jewels were speedily but 
 
THE BEGINNING OF THE ROTHSCHILDS. 49 
 
 privately conveyed from the prince's treasury to 
 the Jew's residence ; and, just as the advanced 
 corps of the French army had entered through the 
 gates of Frankfort, Moses had succeeded in bury- 
 ing it in a corner of his garden. He, of course, 
 received a visit from the republicans ; but, true to 
 his trust, he hit upon the following means of sav- 
 ing the treasure of the fugitive prince, who had 
 placed such implicit confidence in his honor. He 
 did not attempt to conceal any of his own property 
 (the whole of his cash and stock consisting of only 
 40,000 thalers, or about $30,000), but, after the 
 necessary remonstrances and grumbling with his 
 unwelcome visitors, and a threat or two that he 
 should report them to the General-in-Chief from 
 whom he had no doubt of obtaining redress he 
 suffered them to carry it all off. 
 
 As soon as the republicans had evacuated the 
 city, Moses Rothschild resumed his business as 
 banker and money-changer ; at first, indeed in an 
 humble way, but daily increasing and extending 
 it by the aid of the Prince of Hesse Cassel's money. 
 In the course of a comparatively short space of 
 time, he was considered the most stable and opu- 
 lent banker in all Germany. 
 
 In the year 1802, the prince, returning to his 
 dominions, visited Frankfort in his route. He was 
 almost afraid to call on his Jewish banker ; appre- 
 hending that if the French had left anything, the 
 honesty of Moses had not been proof against so 
 strong a temptation as he had been compelled from 
 4 
 
50 MEN WHO HAVE RISEN. 
 
 dire necessity to put in his way. On being intro- 
 duced into Rothschild's sanctum, he, in a tone of 
 despairing carelessness, said, " I have called on you, 
 Moses, as a matter of course ; but I fear the result. 
 Did the rascals take all ? " 
 
 " Not a thaler," replied the Jew, gravely. 
 
 " What say you ? " returned his Highness. 
 " Not a thaler ! Why, I was informed that the 
 Sans-culottes had emptied all your coffers and made 
 you a beggar : I even read so in the gazettes." 
 
 " Why, so they did, may it please your Serene 
 Highness," replied Moses ; "but I was too cunning 
 for them. By letting them take my own little 
 stock, I saved your great one. I knew that as I 
 was reputed wealthy, although by no means so, if 
 I should remove any of my own gold and silver 
 from their appropriate bags and coffers, the rob- 
 bers would be sure to search for it : and in doino- 
 
 5 
 
 so, would not forget to dig in the garden ; it is 
 wonderful what a keen scent these fellows have 
 got ! they actually poured buckets of water over 
 some of my neighbors' kitchen and cellar floors, in 
 order to discover, by the rapid sinking of the fluid, 
 whether the tiles and earth had been recently dug 
 up ! Well, as I was saying, I buried your treasure 
 in the garden; and it remained untouched until 
 the robbers left Frankfort, to go in search of plun 
 der elsewhere. Now, then, to the point : as the 
 jSans-culottcs left me not a kreutzer to carry on 
 my business ; as several good opportunities offered 
 of making a very handsome profit ; and as I thought 
 
THE BEGINNING OF THE KOTHSCHILDS. 51 
 
 it a pity that so much good money should lie idle, 
 whilst the merchants were both ready and willing 
 to give large interest ; the temptation of convert- 
 ing your Highness's florins to present use haunted 
 my thoughts by day and my dreams by night. 
 Not to detain your Highness with a long story, I 
 dug up the treasure, and deposited your jewels in 
 a strong box, from which they have never since 
 been moved ; I employed your gold and silver in 
 my business ; my speculations were profitable ; and 
 I am now able to restore your deposit, with five 
 per cent, interest since the day on which you left 
 it under my care." 
 
 " I thank you heartily, my good friend," said 
 his Highness, " for the great care you have taken 
 and the sacrifices you have made. As to the in- 
 terest of five per cent., let that replace the sum 
 which the French took from you ; I beg you will 
 add to it whatever other profits you may have 
 made. As a reward for your singular honesty, I 
 shall still leave my cash in your hands for twenty 
 years longer, at a low rate of two per cent, interest 
 per annum, the same being more as an acknowledg- 
 ment of the deposit, in case of the death of either 
 of us, than with a view of making a profit by you. 
 I trust that this will enable you to use my florins 
 with advantage in any way which may appear 
 most beneficial to your own interests." 
 
 The prince and his banker parted, well satisfied 
 with each other. Nor did the gratitude and good 
 will of his Serene Highness stop there on every 
 
OSS MEN WHO HAVE 
 
 occasion in whicli he could serve his interests he 
 did so, by procuring for him, from the princes of 
 Germany, many facilities both for international 
 and foreign negociation. At the congress of sove- 
 reigns, which met at Vienna in 1814, he did not 
 fail to represent the fidelity of Moses Rothschild, 
 and procured for him, thereby, from the Emperors 
 of Russia, Austria, and the other European poten- 
 tates, as well as from the French, English, and 
 other ministers, promises that in case of loans be- 
 ing required by their respective governments, the 
 " Honest Jew of Frankfort " should have th^ pre- 
 ference in their negociation. Nor were these prom- 
 ises " more honored in the breach than in the ob- 
 servance," as those of princes and courtiers are 
 proverbially said to be. A loan of 200 millions of 
 francs being required by the French government 
 to pay the Allied Powers for the expenses they had 
 been put to in the restoration of the Bourbons, one 
 of old Rothschild's sons, then residing at Paris, 
 was intrusted with its management. The same 
 was accordingly taken at 67 per cent., and sold to 
 the public in a very few days at 93 ! thereby yield- 
 ing an immense profit to the contractor. Other 
 loans followed to various powers, all of which turn- 
 ed out equal to the most sanguine expectations of 
 this lucky family, who are now in possession of 
 such immense wealth, that it is supposed they 
 could at will change the destinies of the nations of 
 Europe. 
 
THE KISE OF THE PEEL FAMILY. 
 
 ABOUT a week before Whitsuntide, in the year 
 1765, at nine o'clock in the morning, a line of 
 Manchester bell-horses (nineteen in number), 
 loaded with packs and attended by chapmen, 
 were seen by the weavers of Irwell Green, de- 
 scending from the moors by the bridle-road into 
 that hamlet. The weavers (thirty in number, 
 or thereabout) stopped their looms, and went 
 forth to ask questions about trade, wages, prices, 
 politics ; Lord Bute, Grenville, William Pitt (the 
 elder), and young King George III. ; and to in- 
 quire if there were a likelihood of the young king 
 doing anything for the good of trade. 
 
 The spinning women had come forth also from 
 their spinning-wheels, and, in reference to them, 
 Mr. William Garland, a merchant (locally called 
 a Manchester warehouseman), who had accom- 
 panied his pack-horses thus far to make some ar- 
 rangements with the resident weavers of this 
 hamlet, said, " If the young king would make the 
 
MEN WHO HAVE RISEN. 
 
 lasses spin more, he would do some good." " Or," 
 said a weaver, " an t' king would make a spinning- 
 wheel to spin two threads instead of one, it would 
 be some good." " Nonsense," replied another; " no 
 man can make a wheel to spin two threads at once ; 
 no, not even King George upon the throne." 
 
 The chapmen having baited their horses, pro- 
 ceeded on their journey towards Blackburn, which 
 they hoped to reach early in the afternoon. When 
 they were gone, the children of Irwell Green 
 ranged themselves in a troop across the stony 
 causeway, hand in hand, and sang, 
 
 "Bell-horses, bell-horses, what time o 1 day? 
 One o'clock, two o'clock, three, and away ! " 
 
 At the word " away," they raised a shout, ran 
 down the causeway, their wooden-soJed clogs 
 clattering on the stones as loudly as all the 
 shuttles of Irwell Green. About two in the after- 
 noon, the bell-horses reached Blackburn. 
 
 If the reader should ever visit Blackburn wind- 
 ing through the vales by the turnpike road, or, on 
 the railway, through tunnels, over ravines, along 
 the mountain-sides he will find it a town contain- 
 ing fifty thousand people, or thereabout, with 
 narrow, crooked streets, situated on undulating 
 ground. It is surrounded by hills ; and a rivulet, 
 a canal, a railway, and several thoroughfares run 
 through it. The whole town of gray stone houses, 
 with stone roofs, and the country of green pastures 
 rising around, are less changed for better or worse 
 
THE RISE OF THE PEEL FAMILY. 55 
 
 than any other town and neighborhood which ex- 
 isted in the middle of last century in Lancashire. 
 This has resulted from the early and long sustained 
 resistance of the inhabitants to the mechanical in- 
 ventions which had their origin in that vicinity. 
 
 Being a stranger in Blackburn, you will doubt- 
 less visit Stanehill Moor and Peel Fold the one 
 the birth-place of the spinning-jenny, and of James 
 Ilargreav es, its inventor ; the other, of the Peels ; 
 and, though not the birth-place of the art of print- 
 ing calico, nor, perhaps its cradle, yet certainly its 
 infant-school. 
 
 If you leave the town by yonder windmill on the 
 rising ground, your face northeast, and, where the 
 road divides, take that branch going due east, you 
 will, having proceeded about two and a half miles, 
 turn to your right hand, and face southward. As 
 you approach the village of Knuzden Brook, lift 
 your eyes towards the plantation which runs from 
 west to east, and crowns that green upland. Be- 
 hind that plantation lies Stanehill Moor, in one of 
 the houses of which the spinning-jenny was in- 
 vented ; and that farm-house with cowsheds, 
 barn, and iuclosure walls, all built of gray stone 
 raid roofed with the same is Peel Fold. Forty 
 acres of that cold, wet pasture land, with these 
 buildings, formed the inheritance of the Peels. 
 
 With this view and knowledge of the estate, it 
 will not surprise you to be told that the Robert 
 Peel born in 1714, who married Elizabeth How- 
 arth of Walmsley Fold, in 1744, and had a family 
 
56 MEN WHO HATE RISEN. 
 
 of five sons and a daughter in 1755, was not, as 
 some heraldic writers have written, a " yeoman, 
 living on and cultivating his own estate." He did 
 not cultivate it at all, except a garden for pot- 
 herbs ; nor did he live on it in the sense indicated. 
 He was a " yeoman," it is true, and sold the milk 
 and butter of four or five cows in Blackburn ; but 
 he was a weaver also, and was too shrewd a man 
 of the world not to educate his sons to industrial 
 pursuits of a like kind. They, too, were weavers. 
 In yonder house, to which our footsteps now tend, 
 were at least two looms in 1765. His children 
 were, William, born 1745; Edmund, born 1748; 
 Robert, born April 25, 1750 (whose son, Sir Robert 
 Peel, the eminent statesman, died one hundred 
 years afterwards, July 2, 1850); Jonathan, born 
 1752; Anne, born 1753; Lawrence, born 1755; 
 some others who died in infancy ; Joseph, bora 
 1766; and John, whose birth occurred after the 
 family were driven out of Lancashire by the in- 
 surgent spinning women, probably at Burton-on- 
 Trent, Staffordshire. 
 
 Here it may be as well to remark, that, though 
 the tradition which the reader is about to know 
 is shaped somewhat like a story, we have not 
 dared, for the sake of a story, to falsify incidents 
 so truly national and historical, though so little 
 known. The incidents and domestic economy of 
 Peel Fold about to be described are such as old 
 people, with whom we became acquainted a few 
 yeais ago, related. We have conversed with per- 
 
THE KISE OF THE PEEL FAMILY. 57 
 
 sons who had seen the Robert and Elizabeth Peel 
 now under notice ; who had also seen James Har- 
 greaves, inventor of the spinning-jenny ; and the 
 fathers and mothers of these aged persons were 
 the neighbors of Robert Peel and James Har 
 greaves, and had often spoken of them to their 
 sons and daughters. 
 
 Some tune in the year 1764, one of the boys at 
 Peel Fold, in weaving a piece of cloth of linen and 
 cotton mixture, spoiled it for the Blackburn cloth 
 market. It was taken to Bamber Bridge, near 
 Preston, to be printed for kerchiefs, there being a 
 small print-work at that place, the only one in 
 Lancashire, and, except at Cray, near London, the 
 only one in England. The real object of Robert 
 Peel, in taking this piece of cloth to be printed, 
 was alleged, however, to be a desire to see the 
 process. In this he was disappointed ; the works 
 were kept secret. Such being the case, he induced 
 Mr. Harry Garland, son of the Manchester ware- 
 houseman, to take note of the Cray print-works 
 Avhen he next went to London with his father's 
 pack-horses, and if possible to procure some of the 
 patterns, colors, gums, and printing-blocks. The 
 first visit of Harry Garland to Blackburn, after at- 
 tending to this business, was on that day near 
 Whitsuntide, 1765. On the afternoon of that day 
 (we were told it was so, but it might have been on 
 another day), James Hargreaves was " at play," as 
 the weavers termed it, for want of weft. His 
 wife had given birth to an infant, and was still in 
 
58 MEN WHO HAVE RISEN". 
 
 bed, and could not spin. The spinning women 
 were all too well employed to give him weft, ex- 
 cept as a very great favor, though highly paid ; 
 and, now that he was a married man, favors were 
 not so readily obtained. Besides, under ordinary 
 circumstances, his wife could spin more weft than 
 most other women. She was such an extraordinary 
 spinner for diligence and speed, that people called 
 her " Spinning Jenny." 
 
 James at last determined to step across " the 
 waste " and the stone quarry to Peel Fold, and 
 borrow weft. Neighbor Peel he knew to be a 
 careful man : doubtless he would have enough for 
 the lads (Edmund, Robert, and Jonathan, who 
 were on the loom William was otherwise em- 
 ployed), and might have some to spare. True, 
 he was a shade beyond being careful he was 
 narrow; but James Hargreaves had taught the 
 boys how to use the fly-shuttle a recent inven- 
 tion of the Brothers Kay of Bury. He hoped, 
 therefore, they would not refuse a loan of some 
 weft.* 
 
 James reasoned rightly. He was accommodated 
 with weft, and invited to partake of their frugal 
 supper. Had you been present while the rustic 
 mess was preparing, and Hargreaves was em- 
 ployed in sorting out and counting the copes of 
 weft, you would have observed that the kitchen 
 
 * The weft of a web is the cross threads wound into copes or 
 pirns," and placed in the shuttle ; the warp is the longitudinal 
 threads. 
 
THE RISE OF THE PEEL FAMILY. 59 
 
 in which you sat was large enough to hold two 
 looms, a carding stock, a reel, and other imple- 
 ments of in-door and out-door labor, with space 
 still unoccupied. You would have seen the reeds 
 and headles to be used in the looms when required, 
 hanging from the joists ; the oatmeal jannock (the 
 common bread in Lincolnshire in those days), 
 hanging over spars, like leather ; bundles of yarn ; 
 bacon, for family use and for sale ; some books, of 
 which one was the Holy Bible, covered with un- 
 tanned calf-skin, tjie hair outside a part of the 
 same skin whish Robert Peel wore for a waist- 
 coat. You would have seen that he wore a coat 
 of homespun wool, undyed ; breeches of the same, 
 tied at the knee with leather thongs ; an apron of 
 flannel ; stockings made of the undyed wool of a 
 black and a white sheep, mixed; clogs, made of 
 leather above, and wood and iron below ; a brown 
 felt hat, once black, turned up behind and at the 
 sides, and pointed before. His sons were dressed 
 in the same manner, except that they had buckles 
 at their knees instead of leather thongs, and waist- 
 coats of stuff like their mother's linsey-woolsey 
 gown, instead of call-skin. You would have seen 
 and heard that Mrs. Peel trod the same floor in 
 wooden-soled clogs, while the clat-clatting of 
 little Anne gave the same intimation. On seeing 
 the family seated around the table uncovered, you 
 would have observed, by their golden-tinged hair, 
 short and curly, that they still retained the Scan- 
 dinavian temperament of their Danish ancestors, 
 
60 MEN WHO HATE EISEK. 
 
 who, as rovers of the sea, are supposed to have 
 brought the lineage and name of Peel to England. 
 Their neighbor Hargreaves, you would have 
 seen, was a short, broadly formed man, with hard 
 black hair. He did not stand above five feet live ; 
 Robert Peel stood five feet eleven inches, rather 
 more. 
 
 Being seated, and seeing his wife sit down, he 
 said, " 'Lizabeth, are you ready ? " to which she, 
 having put a portion of the supper on a platter, 
 to cool for the younger children, and lifted her 
 finger in sign of admonition to be silent and still, 
 answered, " Say away, Robert," and bowed her 
 head. The father looked around, and, seeing that 
 his children had bent their heads and were still, 
 bowed his own, and addressed himself to the Most 
 High. He besought a blessing on their food, on 
 all their actions, on all their varied ways through 
 life, and for mercy to their manifold sins. To 
 which they all said, " Amen." 
 
 Soon after, William, the eldest son, came in 
 from Blackburn. He said Harry Garland and 
 other chapmen had come as far as the Pack 
 Horse, at the Brook, but had gone in there, and 
 he thought Garland was not much short of tipsy ; 
 they had been drinking at the Black Bull in 
 Blackburn before starting. Saying which, he 
 asked, " Mother, is there no supper for me ? " 
 She replied, " In t' oven ; in t' dish ; dinnot fear 
 but thy share were set by for thee." 
 
 Presently the dogs, Brock and Flowery, began 
 
THE BISE OF THE PEEL FAMILY. 61 
 
 to bark, and the sound told they were running up 
 the path toward the plantation. This indicated 
 the approach of a stranger. Anne and little Law- 
 rence ran, spoons in hand, their clogs clattering on 
 the stones, and returned in fright, saying it was a 
 man who wore a red coat, and with a sword in his 
 hand ; and he was like to cut off the heads of 
 Brock and Flowery with it for barking at him ; 
 upon which William observed, he dared say it was 
 Harry Garland. Robert, the third son, laid down 
 his spoon, saying he would call in the dogs ; but 
 his father bade him stay ; he would go himself, and 
 went. It was Harry Garland. Mr. Peel, desiring 
 to speak with him privately about the printing at 
 Cray, took him into another apartment. They re- 
 mained there more than an hour. The girl and 
 the youngest boy looked through the keyhole, and, 
 returning to the kitchen, said the stranger was 
 showing father such beautiful paper, and such a 
 curious piece of wood, and such lovely things. But 
 their mother interrupted them, saying, "Howd 
 thee tongue, and sit thee down." James Har- 
 greaves, thinking, correctly enough, that his pres- 
 ence stood in the way of some private business, 
 took the copes of weft in his apron, and went home. 
 Presently the private conference was at an end, 
 and the visitor, with Mr. Peel, went to the 
 kitchen. 
 
 Harry Garland was a handsome young man, in 
 his twentieth year. He had dark brown hair, 
 tied behind with blue ribbon ; clear, mirthful 
 
62 MEN WHO HAVE EISEN. 
 
 eyes; boots which reached above his knees; a 
 broad-skirted scarlet coat, with gold lace on the 
 cuffs, the collar and the skirts, and a long waist- 
 coat of blue silk. His breeches were buckskin ; 
 his hat was three-cornered, set jauntily higher on 
 the right than on the left side. In his breast- 
 pockets he carried loaded pistols, and, dangling 
 from his waistbelt, a short, heavy sword, suffi- 
 ciently strong to cut the branches from a tree, or 
 kill a highwayman. He thus appeared, on or- 
 dinary days, in the dress and accoutrements 
 which a Manchester chapman only wore on holi- 
 days, or at a wedding, or at church. Mr. Peel 
 had invited him, when in the private apartment, 
 to stay all night ; but no, he must be in Black- 
 burn, he said, to go early in the morning to 
 Preston. Besides, he had friends at the Pack 
 Horse, down at the Brook, awaiting his return. 
 Would William, Edmund, and Robert step that 
 length with him? Their father, answering, said, 
 " No, they cannot go out." They inclined to go ; 
 the smart dress of the handsome Harry Garland, 
 his lively conversation, his knowledge of the social 
 and commercial world, so far exceeding theirs, in- 
 clined them to his company. But their father had 
 said " No." They said nothing. 
 
 Robert Peel had work for himself and his sons 
 which required to be done that night. He accord- 
 ingly called them together, and said it was not so 
 much that he objected to their being with Gar- 
 land, though doubtless they might find more pro- 
 
THE RISE OF THE PEEL FAMILY. 63 
 
 fitable company, as truly as they might find 
 worse; but he had objected to their going out 
 because there was work to do. "Seest thou a 
 man diligent in his business," he quoted, "he 
 shall stand before kings." He then told them to 
 get the hand-barrow, the sledge-hammer, the iron 
 wedges, the pinch (an iron lever), the two crow- 
 bars, and the pick, and that perhaps they might 
 also require the spade. They put the wedges, 
 hammer, and pick on the barrow, and Anne and 
 Lawrence on the top of them. William and Ed- 
 mund took their places upon the shafts ; their 
 father went on before with the spade under his 
 arm, Robert with him, walking sturdily with the 
 iron lever on his shoulder. It was a clear moon- 
 light night. When they came to the quarry, they 
 removed some surface earth and rubbish, and, hav- 
 ing laid bare a stratum of rock likely to split into 
 slabs, they began to use the pick. They marked 
 a surface of solid stone five feet long and twenty 
 inches wide, or thereabout. They made a series of 
 incisions along the line, about five inches apart, 
 into which they set the iron wedges. After tapping 
 them gently, to make their points lay hold, Mr. 
 Peel, who was the steadiest hand at the large 
 hammer, swung it round his head, and gave each 
 of the wedges a blow in turn, until the block was 
 rent from the mass, as desired. The points of the 
 pick and lever were then inserted in the rent. 
 The crowbars, unfortunately, were found to be 
 short and powerless. The father and two of tho 
 
64 MEN WHO HAVE KISEN. 
 
 sons laid all their weight and strength on the long 
 pinch; another worked the pick as a lever, and 
 poised the block outward and upward. Jonathan 
 had a small hard stone ready, and Anne another 
 a little larger. The smallest was dropped, as di- 
 rected, into the opening. Then they let go with 
 the levers, and took a deeper hold, the small hard 
 stone keeping the block from subsiding to its 
 place. Having got a deeper hold, they gave their 
 united weight and strength to the leverage again, 
 and the opening being wider, Anne dropped in 
 the larger of the hard stones. Again they let the 
 block rest, and, getting a still deeper hold, they 
 poised it upward and outward further, and Jona- 
 than, having got a larger hard stone, dropped it 
 in. By two other holds and rests, conducted in 
 like manner, they overturned the block, two-and- 
 twenty inches thick, or thereabout, to its side. 
 On examining it all round, and detecting no break 
 nor flaw, they estimated that, could they split ifc 
 into four equal slabs of five and a half inches thick, 
 they would have as many stone tables as were re- 
 quired. To split the block into four slabs, it was 
 necessary to make three rows of incisions with the 
 pick, into which to introduce the wedges. This 
 was done, and the slabs being split, were dressed 
 a little at the ends and sides. Turning one of 
 them on edge, they placed the hand-barrow on 
 edge beside it, and brought barrow and stone 
 down, the stone uppermost, as desired. Turning 
 it cross ways, that its ends should project to the 
 
THE RISE OF THE PEEL FAMILY. 65 
 
 sides, and enable one at each end to attach his 
 sustaining strength, Robert and Edmund were al- 
 lotted to that duty. Their father and William, as 
 the stronger of the four, took their places between 
 the shafts the father behind, William before. 
 They got it out of the quarry by the exercise o* 
 sheer strength. But to get it over the steps 
 going out of the waste into the plantation, re- 
 quired skill and caution, as well as strength. It 
 was both difficult and dangerous. Nor were they 
 clear of danger going down the path which led 
 athwart the slope. Their feet had a tendency to 
 slip, and the stone naturally slid to the lowest 
 side ; but the youth who had charge of that end 
 kept it up manfully. Without hurt or mishap, 
 they got it to the kitchen door. So, in due time, 
 they got the other three ; but, before they were 
 done, the perspiration was dripping from all the 
 four. They sat down to rest and wipe their warm 
 faces, and found the time was an hour past midnight. 
 There was not space for them all to work in the 
 small back room at laying the slabs. The father 
 and the two elder sons laid them at the proper 
 height for working upon with printing blocks, as 
 described by Harry Garland. In that room they 
 remain at this day, as then laid down. In that 
 room the visitor still sees those slabs of stone upon 
 which the Peels made their first essays in printing 
 calicoes upon which they took tne first step to- 
 wards that wonderful fortune of wealth and fame 
 which then lay before them unknown. 
 5 
 
66 MEN WHO HAVE EISEJST. 
 
 Though the hour was Lite, young Robert Peel 
 was too full of ideas about designs for the blocks 
 he intended to carve for printing, to go to sleep. 
 He went out to the moor in the moonlight, to 
 gather a handfull of bilberry leaves, or other foli- 
 age, which might be copied. (The first thing 
 printed at Peel Fold was a parsley leaf.) Going 
 to the moor, the youth had to pass near the house 
 of James Hargreaves. He saw a light in the win- 
 dow. Seeing a shadow moving, he halted for a 
 moment, and that moment revealed enough to de- 
 tain him half an hour. He was surprised, not 
 alone to see the weaver up at that hour, but to see 
 his singular, his inexplicable employment. To 
 comprehend what that was, let us return to Gar- 
 land's departure from Peel Fold, as told before. 
 
 When Harry had crossed the waste, he met 
 James Hargreaves, carrying two pails of water for 
 domestic use, and asked him to go down the hill, 
 and drink a " gill of ale " at the Horse. James 
 considered a minute, set down his pails, twisted 
 his body, rolled one shoulder forward, the other 
 back, chipped the stones of the road with his iron- 
 shod clogs, and confessed that he had no objection 
 to a gill of ale at the Horse, were it not that he 
 had Jenny's gruel to make. But, again, there was 
 Kan Pilkington who would make the gruel. Also, 
 there was Charlotte Marsden at the Horse, who 
 was always at her wheel, and Alice, her sister, who 
 also was a spinner when not waiting on the cus- 
 tomers; perhaps they might have weft ready 
 
THE HISS OF THE PEEL FAMILY. GT 
 
 which nobody had bespoke. The balance of rea- 
 sons for and against going to the Horse was thus 
 found to be in favor of going. So, taking in the 
 water, and directing Nan Pilkington's attention to 
 Jenny's gruel, he called on Joe Pilkington, the 
 singing weaver, and both went. 
 
 They joined the chapmen from Blackburn, and 
 were soon in a merry mood. Joe Pilkington was 
 ready with a song at any time. Perhaps they 
 would have sat later than the usually sober hours 
 of James Hargreaves, had not an accident oc- 
 curred which disconcerted Garland, and suggested 
 to Hargreaves to go home. Harry had seated 
 himself beside Charlotte Marsden, where she was 
 spinning at the further end of the spacious kitchen. 
 In this apartment the company were assembled. 
 Some who knew the lofty spirit of the beautiful 
 Charlotte, offered to wager with Garland that he 
 could not kiss her. The forward youth attempted 
 the rash act without hesitation ; upon which she 
 called him an impudent moth, and, rising indig- 
 nantly, overturned her spinning-wheel. It fell 
 backward. The spindle, which before had been 
 horizontal, the point towards the maiden's left 
 hand, stood upright. The wheel, which had been 
 upright, and turned by her right hand (its band 
 turning the spindle), was now horizontal. It con- 
 tinued to revolve in that position, and to turn the 
 spindle. In a moment, a thought an inspiration 
 of thought fixed the eyes of Hargreaves upon 
 it. Garland pursued the indignant Charlotte out 
 
68 MEN WHO HATE BISECT. 
 
 of the apartment. The company followed, urging 
 him to the renewal of his rudeness, which, the 
 more he tried to succeed in, the more he seemed 
 to be baffled and humiliated. In their absence, 
 J.ames Hargreaves turned the wheel with his right 
 hand, it still lying as it fell, and, drawing the rov- 
 ing of cotton with his left, saw that the spindle 
 made as good a thread standing vertically as it 
 had done horizontally. " Then why," his inspira- 
 tion of thought suggested, " should not many 
 spindles, all standing upright, all moved by a band 
 crossing them from the wheel, like this single 
 spindle, each with a bobbin on it, and a roving of 
 cotton attached, and something like the finger and 
 thumb, which now take hold of the one roving, to 
 lay hold of them all, and draw them backward 
 from the spindles into attenuated threads ? Why 
 should not many spindles be moved, and threads 
 be spun by the same wheel and band which now 
 spin only one ? " 
 
 Hearing the company return, James Hargreaves 
 lifted the wheel to its feet, placed the roving in 
 its right place, and said, " Sit thee down, Char- 
 lotte; let him see thee spin; who can tell what 
 may come of this ! " Then, after a pause, and a 
 reflection that he should retain his new ideas as 
 secrets of his own at present, he continued : " Thou 
 maybe his wife; more unlikely things have hap- 
 pened ; it will be a fine thing to be lady of all that 
 owd Billy Garland may leave some day." 
 
 " Yf ifb, indeed ! " interjected the vexed maiden ; 
 
THE RISE OF THE PEEL FAMILY. G9 
 
 " the moth ! "Wife, indeed ! Who would be wife 
 to it?" 
 
 " Weel," said James, " be that as it may ; but 
 I mun go whoam; my wife thinks whoam the 
 best place for me, and I think so mysen." 
 
 Remarks were made as to why he was going so 
 soon. But Harry Garland had lost spirit after 
 the conflict, and felt the scorn of the maiden more 
 keenly than any reproof which had ever fallen 
 upon his impudence before. He was not in a 
 humor to solicit James Hargreaves to remain ; so 
 they parted. 
 
 James had reached home two or three hours be- 
 fore young Robert Peel observed the light in his 
 window. On the lad approaching the window, 
 the weaver was standing motionless. Suddenly 
 he dropped upon his knees, and rolled on the stone 
 floor at full length. He lay with his face towards 
 the floor, and made lines and circles with the end 
 of a burned stick. He rose, and went to the fire 
 to burn his stick. He took hold of his bristly 
 hair with one hand, and rubbed his forehead and 
 nose with the other and the blackened stick. 
 Then he sat upon a chair, and placed his head be- 
 tween his hands, his elbows on his knees, and 
 gazed intently on the floor. Then he sprang to 
 his feet, and replied to some feeble question of his 
 wife (who had not risen since the day she gave 
 birth to a little stranger), by a loud assurance that 
 he had it; and, taking her in his sturdy arms, in 
 the blankets, the baby in her arms, he lifted her 
 
fO MEN WHO HAVE RISEN. 
 
 out, and held her over the black drawings on the 
 floor. These he explained, and she joined a small, 
 hopeful, happy laugh with his high-toned assur- 
 ance, that she should never again toil at the spin- 
 ning-wheel that he would never again "play," 
 and have his loom standing for want of weft. She 
 asked some questions, which he answered, after 
 seating her in the arm-chair, by laying her spin- 
 ning-wheel on its back, the horizontal spindle 
 standing vertically, while he made the wheel re- 
 volve, and drew a roving of cotton from the spindle 
 into an attenuated thread. " Our fortune is made 
 when that is made," he said, speaking of his draw- 
 ings on the floor. 
 
 " What will you call it ? " asked his wife. 
 
 " Call it ? What an we call it after thysen, 
 Jenny ! They called thee c Spinning Jenny ' afore 
 I had thee, because thou beat every lass in Stane- 
 hill Moor at the wheel. What if we call it ' Spin- 
 ning Jenny ? '" 
 
 It was all a mystery to Robert Peel. He went 
 home w T ith his bilberry leaves, and went to bed, 
 wondering if Hargreaves were out of his mind, or 
 if he, too, were inventing something, or about to 
 make experiments in some new process of working. 
 
 The principle of spinning by rollers, usually 
 called Arkwright's invention, was not introduced 
 until about four years after the invention of the 
 jenny. Whether it was original to Arkwright, 
 cannot now be told ; but Mr. Baines of Leeds, 
 and other diligent inquirers, have established the 
 
THE SPINNING JEXNY. 
 i ma.ld when tlmt i ina.lj, Uj taiJ, K{.eakinj of Li* drawin~son the fl< 
 
THE RISE OF THE PEEL FAMILY. 71 
 
 fact that an ingenious man named Wyatt, erect- 
 ed a machine at Birmingham, and afterwards at 
 Sutton Coldfield, in Warwickshire, twenty years 
 before Arkwright evolved his idea, which was in 
 principle the same namely, that a pair of rollers 
 with slow motion drew in a roving of cotton, and 
 a second pair, with an accelerated motion, drew 
 the roving from the other. All the varieties of 
 cotton-spinning machinery have sprung from those 
 two the rollers of Wyatt (or Arkwright) and the 
 jenny of Hargreaves. A farmer, named Samuel 
 Crompton, living at Hall-i'-th'-wood, near Bolton, 
 was the first to combine them in one machine ; 
 this was called the " mule." 
 
 Returning to the Peel family, we see Robert, the 
 son, following the printing of calicoes with enthu- 
 siasm. He obtains lessons at Bamber Bridge. We 
 see his father engaged in constructing a machine 
 for carding cotton into rovings, preparatory to spin- 
 ning. Instead of two flat cards set full of small 
 wiry teeth, the one card to work over the other, 
 this machine of Robert Peel the elder is a cylinder 
 covered with such wiry teeth. It revolves, and a 
 flat card w r ith a vertical. motion works upon it. 
 The carding by cylinders obtains to this day ; and 
 there is no reason to doubt that it was invented 
 at Peel Fold. It was, however, first erected for 
 use at Brookside, a mile distant, for the conve- 
 nience of water power. You look down upon the 
 place called Brookside from Stanehill Moor, your 
 face turned to the south-west. There, also, Mr. 
 
72 MEN WHO HAVE KISEN. 
 
 Peel and Ms sons erected the first of Hargreaves' 
 spinning-jennies, which was set in motion by 
 water power, they being previously moved by hand. 
 
 It was now, 1766, that the murmurs of the 
 spinning women ripened to acts of violence. At 
 first the men were pleased with the jenny, which 
 gave eight threads of weft instead of one; but, 
 when it threatened to supersede hand-spinning 
 altogether, they joined with the women in resist- 
 ing its use. They marched out of Blackburn in 
 mobs, and broke all the jennies, reduced the works 
 at Brookside to absolute wreck, and leveled the 
 house of James Hargreaves at Stanehill Moor 
 with the ground. Hargreaves, his wife and child, 
 fled for their lives, first to Manchester, and then 
 to Nottingham. After many difficulties, he ob- 
 tained the assistance of a person named Strutt, 
 and the jenny was brought into use at Nottingham 
 (1766-67), also at Derby. Mr. Strutt made a 
 fortune out of it, which, with his sagacity, in- 
 tegrity, and business habits, has descended to the 
 eminent family who still bear that name at Derby. 
 It has been said that James Hargreaves died a 
 pauper at Nottingham. This was repeated in 
 books for many years; but more recent investi- 
 gation has proved that, though neither so rich as 
 the Strutts, Peels, or Arkwrights, he was not a 
 pauper. In his will he bequeathed 4,000 to 
 relatives. 
 
 When the buildings and machinery were de- 
 molished at Brookside, the mob proceeded to Al- 
 
THE KISE OF THE PEEL FAMILY. 73 
 
 tham, six miles distant, and destroyed the works 
 which William Peel, the eldest son, had erected 
 there. Everywhere the Peels were hunted for the 
 next twelve months. At last the father turned 
 his back on Lancashire, and took up his abode at 
 Burton-on-Trent, in Staffordshire, where he es- 
 tablished both spinning and printing. Meanwhile 
 Robert, the third son, was diligently fulfilling an 
 apprenticeship with the Bamber Bridge printers 
 already named. When at liberty to enter upon 
 business for himself, he selected a green, sunny 
 spot, with abundance of water, close to the town 
 of Bury, in Lancashire. His brothers did the 
 same, at the hamlet of Church, near to which has 
 since arisen the thriving and populous town of 
 Accrington. 
 
 The wonderful success of the whole family of 
 the Peels as merchants, manufacturers, and calico 
 printers, is a part of the industrial history of Brit- 
 ain. Nothing more can be done here than to 
 name it. Robert, from the magnitude of his works 
 at Bury, and from his political tendencies, became 
 the best known. He married the daughter of Mr. 
 Yates, one of his partners in business, and by her 
 had a large family. 
 
 He extended his works to other places than 
 Bury. Near Tamworth, in Staffordshire, he ac- 
 quired property (where there was an abundance 
 of water), and built the town of Fazeley, besides 
 giving employment to the population of Tamworth. 
 In 1790 he became member of Parliament for tho 
 4 
 
74 MEN WHO HAVE EISEN. 
 
 latter glace. In 1797, when the government was 
 distressed for money, he subscribed 10,000 to 
 the voluntary contribution. Next year, when in- 
 vasion was first seriously feared, he raised six com- 
 panies of volunteers, chiefly among his own work- 
 people at Bury, and became their lieutenant- 
 colonel. He published several political pamphlets. 
 He was the first to claim legislative protection to 
 young persons employed in factories. He had 
 been careful to regulate his own establishment 
 more in accordance with humanity than most of 
 his neighbors, and founded his bill of 1802 to 
 " ameliorate the condition of apprentices in the 
 cotton and woolen trade " on the regulations which 
 he had practically adopted. At various times he 
 re-opened this question during the next seventeen 
 years, but never with that success which he de- 
 sired. In 1801, he was created a baronet; about 
 which time he purchased the estate of Drayton 
 Manor, close beside Fazeley. He died there, and 
 was interred in the church of Drayton Bassett, in 
 1830, where the escutcheon, with its bees and the 
 word "industria," was raised over his tomb by his 
 more celebrated son. But there, too, the son is 
 now lying " Dust to dust, ashes to ashes." 
 
 His son, the second Sir Robert Peel, was born 
 5th February, 1788, at Bury. His latter years 
 were identified with the untaxing of bread, and 
 Bury was the first to propose a monument to his 
 memory in gratitude for that legislation. This 
 monument was completed, and opened to public 
 
THE JtlSE OF THE TEEL FAMILY. 75 
 
 view on the 8th September, 1852. It bears the 
 following inscription, quoted from one of his latest 
 speeches : " It may be that I shall leave a name 
 sometimes remembered with expressions of good- 
 will in the abodes of those whose lot it is to earn 
 their daily bread by the sweat of their brow, when 
 they shall recruit their exhausted strength with 
 abundant and untaxed food the sweeter because 
 it is no longer leavened by a sense of injustice." 
 
 From Bury he was sent to school at Harrow, 
 where he displayed great diligence and aptitude 
 for learning. Lord Byron was his contemporary, 
 and, long before the statesman reached his great 
 eminence, bore testimony to his unusual ability 
 and diligence. He said : " Peel, the orator and 
 statesman that was, or is, or is to be, was my form- 
 fellow, and we were both at the top of our remove, 
 in public phrase. We were on good terms, but 
 his brother was my intimate friend. There were 
 always great hopes of Peel amongst us all, masters 
 and scholars, and he has not disappointed us. As 
 a scholar, he was greatly my superior ; as a de- 
 claime v and actor, I was reckoned at least his 
 equal. As a schoolboy out of school, I was always 
 in scrapes ; he never ; and in school he always 
 knew his lesson, and I rarely." Mr. Peel pro- 
 ceeded to Christ-Church, Oxford. On taking his 
 degree, he was the first man in his year. In 1809, 
 he obtained a seat in Parliament for the borough 
 of Cashel, in Ireland. In 1810 he was made 
 \mder-secretary of state. In September, 1812, he 
 
76 MEN wno HAVE EISEN. 
 
 was appointed chief secretary for Ireland. In 
 1817, Mr. Abbott, speaker of the House, and mem- 
 ber for the University of Oxford, being elevated 
 to the peerage, Mr. Peel was elected for the uni- 
 versity in his stead. In 1822, he succeeded Lord 
 Sidrnouth as secretary of state for the home de- 
 partment, and, with a short interval, filled that 
 office eight years. In 1819, he carried a measure 
 effecting great changes in the currency. In 1826, 
 he introduced measures for the reform of the crim- 
 inal code. In 1828-29, he reformed the police 
 system ; and in the latter year, with the Duke of 
 Wellington, carried the Catholic Emancipation 
 Act. Before entering on this last measure, he 
 resigned his seat for the university, and stood a 
 new election, but was rejected. In 1830, he suc- 
 ceeded to the baronetcy and a magnificent fortune 
 as Sir Robert Peel. In 1831-32, he opposed Lord 
 John Russell's Reform Bill. In addressing the 
 electors of Tarn worth, in 1832, he made a declara- 
 tion of his principles, which did not seem so true 
 then as it does now, when his life and legislation 
 are a part of national history. He said : "I have 
 never been the decided supporter of any band 
 of partisans, but have always thought it better 
 to look steadily at the peculiar circumstances of 
 the times in which we live, and, if necessities were 
 so pressing as to demand it, to conclude that there 
 was no discredit or dishonor in relinquishing 
 opinions or measures, and adopting others more 
 suited to the altered state of the country." 
 
THE KISE OF THE TEEL FAMILY. 77 
 
 In the month of November, 1834, Sir Robert 
 Peel, being in Rome, received a message that his 
 presence was desired in London, to place himself 
 at the head of a Conservative ministry. He obeyed 
 the summons; but the ministry only retained 
 office until the month of April, 1835. He re- 
 mained out of office until 1841. In that year he 
 became prime minister, and, in 1842, surprised 
 both his adherents and opponents by the boldness 
 of his financial measures. He proposed an income 
 and property tax, to supply the deficiency in the 
 exchequer, which had been gradually increasing, 
 and causing alarm over several years ; and he 
 proposed to exempt from the tariff of customs 
 duties many hundreds of articles. Some of these 
 yielded little or no revenue, and were only a 
 hindrance to commercial business ; others entered 
 largely into manufactures, as the raw material of 
 industry. He still resisted the repeal of the corn 
 laws; but yearly his resistance became more 
 feeble, until, on the 4th of December, 1845, he 
 announced his intention to propose the abolition 
 of the corn laws in the ensuing session of Parlia- 
 ment. This was accomplished, and the act took 
 full effect on the 1st February, 1849. 
 
 In the latter part of the session of 1846, Sir 
 Robert Peel resigned office. He occasionally 
 spoke in the House afterwards, but evinced no 
 desire to return to offi'.c. When His Royal High- 
 ness Prince Albert propounded the plan for a 
 Great Exhibition of the Industry of all Notions, 
 
78 MEN WHO HAVE RISEN. 
 
 for tlie year 1851, Sir Robert Peel entered 
 heartily into it, was nominated a commissioner, 
 and was, up to the week of his death, the most 
 unweariedly working member of the commission. 
 
 On the 29th of June, 1850, when riding on 
 horseback on Constitution Hill, near Buckingham 
 Palace, in London, he was seen to fall from his 
 horse. Whether the horse stumbled, or he had 
 lost his balance in a fit, no one could tell. He 
 was bruised, and so severely injured, that he never 
 recovered consciousness. He died on the 2d of 
 July, in the 62d year of his age. 
 
 The following extract from a letter, written by 
 the father of the statesman, relating to his father, 
 the Robert Peel of 1765, with whom we started, 
 is worth perusal. It was written in 1821. He 
 said " My father moved in a confined sphere, and 
 employed his talents in improving the cotton trade. 
 . . . I lived under his roof until I attained the 
 age of manhood, and had many opportunities of 
 discovering that he possessed in an eminent degree 
 a mechanical genius and a good heart. He had 
 many sons, and placed them all in situations that 
 they might be useful to each other. The cotton 
 trade was preferred, as best calculated to this ob- 
 ject ; and by habits of industry, and imparting to 
 his offspring an intimate knowledge of the various 
 branches of the cotton manufacture, he lived to 
 see his children connected together in business, 
 and, by his successful exertions, to become, with- 
 out one exception, opulent and happy. My father 
 
THE KISE OF THE PEEL FAMILY. 79 
 
 may be truly said to have been the founder of our 
 family ; and he so accurately appreciated the im- 
 portance of commercial wealth in a national point 
 of view, that he was often heard to say, that the 
 gains to the individual were small compared with 
 the national gain arising from trade." 
 
 Is there a moral to be derived from the history 
 of the Peel family ? It was seen in the obedience 
 of the boys to their father in 1765 "Seest thou 
 a man diligent in his business," said he, " he shall 
 stand before kings." Harry Garland, the gay 
 Manchester chapman, became a ruined spendthrift. 
 
WILSON, THE ORNITHOLOGIST. 
 
 THE name of Alexander Wilson " Scottish 
 poet and American ornithologist" is dear to 
 every admirer of genius, to every one, indeed, who 
 loves to think of talent and worth struggling with 
 adverse circumstances, and, by dint of patience 
 and perseverance, rising to honor and fame. 
 
 He was born in the Seedhills of Paisley on the 
 6th of July, 1766. His father (though formerly 
 he had been a distiller on a limited scale) followed 
 the occupation of a weaver, and at one time pos- 
 sessed looms and employed journeymen. In per- 
 sonal appearance he is said to have greatly resem- 
 bled his son, whom he survived a few years. 
 
 The future poet and ornithologist was, it ap- 
 pears, intended by his parents for the church ; 
 but his mother, with whom the idea seems to have 
 originated, suddenly died, and with her perished 
 the young man's hopes of filling the position to 
 which he had been taught to aspire. In his 
 thirteenth year he was apprenticed to a weaver, 
 
WILSON, THE ORNITHOLOGIST. 81 
 
 an engagement which lasted three years, and 
 which was faithfully fulfilled. For four years 
 after this Wilson was employed as a journeyman 
 weaver sometimes in Paisley and sometimes in 
 Lochwinnoch. It was during these years that he 
 was first visited by the muse, and some of his pieces 
 gained no little repute in his native town. 
 
 In his twentieth year a new calling opened tip 
 to Wilson. William Duncan, his brother-in-law, 
 with whom he was now employed, having deserted 
 the weaving in order to follow out a mercantile 
 speculation on the eastern coasts of Scotland, 
 Wilson determined, though at an humble distance, 
 to follow his example. He accordingly devoted 
 himself to the wandering life of a peddler or " chap- 
 man," an occupation then more frequently followed 
 than at present, the contents of his wallet or 
 " pack " consisting of a miscellaneous assortment 
 of such articles of dress, bijouterie, <fcc., as were 
 likely to be in request in the houses of the farmers 
 or peasantry. A love of " rural sights and rural 
 sounds," combined with a certain shrewd talent 
 for the observation of character, which distin- 
 guished the poet, must have lent a peculiar charm 
 to such an employment. The idea occurred to 
 Wilson that he might advantageously add a 
 volume of poems to the other attractions of his 
 pack ; and having got prospectuses printed, he 
 set out in September, 1789, for Edinburgh in 
 order, as he says in his journal, "to make one 
 bold push for the united interests of pack and 
 6 
 
82 MEN WHO HAVE PJSEN. 
 
 poems." In his new character of peddler-poet, he 
 did not long remain in Edinburgh, but proceeded 
 at once to the towns on the eastern coast. The 
 journal which he kept during the excursion was 
 afterwards printed with his poems. It is cleverly 
 written a kind of prose of a much higher order 
 than his poetry and contains some shrewd obser- 
 vations, with a few sketches of the more remarkable 
 characters which fell in his way. In the course 
 of his wanderings, he met in with " a school- 
 master, who seemed to be a son of Bacchus, learn- 
 ing, and snuff; for after several favorable obser 
 vations on the specimen (of his poems), and an 
 enormous draught of snuff, he declared he would 
 most certainly take a copy. 4 But remember, 5 
 says he, 'by Jupiter, we will offer up one-half 
 of its price at the shrine of Bacchus.' " In the 
 same town he encountered a brother of the 
 rhyming craft, whom " he began to interrogate as 
 to his knowledge of poetry, but found him entirely 
 ignorant of everything save rhyme. Happening 
 to ask him if he had ever read any of Pope or 
 Milton's pieces, he told me he never had, for he 
 did not understand one word of Latin. I showed 
 him my proposals, asked him to subscribe, and 
 said I knew the author. He read part of them 
 with excessive laughter, declared that the author 
 was certainly a learned fellow, and that he would 
 cheerfully subscribe, but that his wife was such a 
 person that if she knew of him doing anything 
 without her approbation, there would be no peace 
 
WILSON, THE ORNITHOLOGIST. 83 
 
 in the house for months to come. 'And, by the 
 by,' says he, ' we are most dismally poor.' I told 
 him that poverty was the characteristic of a poet. 
 4 You are right,' said he, ' and for that very reason 
 I am proud of being poor.' " 
 
 After much hard labor and many rebuffs the 
 poet meanwhile subsisting on the sales from his 
 pack he at length got a goodly few subscribers ; 
 and having retraced his steps to his native town, 
 he engaged with a bookseller, and "rushed on 
 publication." His next step was a second peregri- 
 nation to deliver the copies which had been sub- 
 scribed for. Here again the pack was called into 
 requisition, to sustain him during the distribution 
 of his " rhyming ware." The few opening sen- 
 tences of his journal, descriptive of his setting out 
 from Edinburgh, make up a very pleasing little 
 picture, not unworthy of the hand which after- 
 wards threw off the finished sketches in America. 
 He says " Having furnished my budget with what 
 necessary articles might be required, equipped with 
 a short oaken plant, I yielded my shoulders to the 
 load, and by daybreak left the confines of our 
 ancient metropolis. The morning was mild, clear, 
 and inviting. A gentle shower, which had fallen 
 amid the stillness of night, besprinkled the fields 
 and adjoining meadows, exposing them to the eye, 
 clad with brightest green, and glittering with 
 unnumbered globes of dew. Nature seemed to 
 smile on my intended expedition; I hailed the 
 happy omen, and with a heart light as the lark 
 
84 MEN WHO HAVE KISEN. 
 
 that hovered over my head, I passed the foot of 
 Salisbury Rocks, and directing my course towards 
 Dalkeith, launched among the first farms and cot- 
 tages that offered." 
 
 Many mortifications awaited the peddler-poet on 
 his second trip. He found that many of the par- 
 ties who had subscribed for his volume had en- 
 tirely forgotten the circumstance, and the greater 
 portion " either could not or would not accept of 
 it." Odd characters in abundance, as may be 
 readily supposed, fell in his way. An innkeeper, 
 by way of puffing the poet, and at the same time 
 paying a compliment to Ms own understanding, 
 said to the poor author regarding his pieces 
 
 " They're clever, very clever ; but I incline more 
 to the historical way, such as Goldsmith's Scots 
 History, the Inquest of Peru, and things of that 
 kind, else I would cheerfully take a copy." 
 
 On the whole, the result of this expedition was 
 very discouraging to Wilson, who, on his return 
 to Paisley, was fain once more to settle down to 
 the loom. To this " his poverty but not his will 
 consented;" and on another opportunity offering, 
 he again deserted it for the fields of literature. 
 A friend in Edinburgh haying informed him that 
 the question, "Whether have the exertions of 
 Allan Ramsay or Robert Fergusson done more 
 honor to Scottish poetry?" was to be discussed 
 in a debating society called the Forum, Wilson 
 seized the opportunity for distinguishing himself, 
 and after a few dnys' hard work at the loom, in 
 
WILSON, THE ORNITHOLOGIST. 85 
 
 order to provide the necessary funds, and a little 
 mental labor at home, the ambitious poet set out 
 for Edinburgh. He arrived just in time to take 
 part in the debate, and enthusiastically delivered 
 his poem entitled, "The Laurel Disputed," in de- 
 fence of the unfortunate Fergusson. The piece 
 gained him some notice and applause, and was the 
 means of detaining him in Edinburgh till he had 
 composed and recited two other productions, 
 namely, "Rab and Ringan," and "The Loss o' 
 the Pack." 
 
 Stimulated by the applause he received while 
 resident in the metropolis, Wilson, on his return 
 to his native town, once more set to the unprofit- 
 able business of publishing, by producing a second 
 edition of his poems, and again did he depart on a 
 thankless and harassing mission to dispose of his 
 volume. This turned out as unfortunate as the 
 first, and the result of all these high hopes and 
 anticipations was the return to his shuttles. 
 About this time he opened up a correspondence 
 with Burns, then in the zenith of his fame, and 
 shortly afterwards paid him a visit in Ayrshire. 
 Of this interview Wilson always spoke in enthu- 
 siastic terms. 
 
 The poet made a great start in the year 1792, 
 when the poem of "Watty and Meg" made its 
 appearance. This is a piece of rich and genuine 
 humor, almost rivaling in its broad and original 
 pictures of low life, its pathos and perfect versifi- 
 cation, the best parts of " Tarn o' Shanter." In- 
 
86 MEN WHO HAVE KISEN. 
 
 deed, both poems were universally ascribed to the 
 same hand, till Wilson dropped the anonymous 
 curtain, under the needless shade of which the 
 poem had been issued, and declared himself the 
 author. The popularity of this piece was pecu- 
 liarly gratifying to the author, this being the only 
 effort of his muse which had successfully command- 
 ed anything like universal esteem. 
 
 This bright glimpse of sunshine was speedily 
 followed by a lowering sky. A dispute happening 
 to arise between the manufacturers and weavers 
 of Paisley, "Wilson at once took part with the 
 latter, and in the course of the controversy pro- 
 duced an offensive piece of personal satire entitled 
 "The Shark, or Lang Mills Detected." This sub- 
 jected him to a criminal prosecution before the 
 sheriff, in which he was convicted. But his pro- 
 secutors were not vindictive. He suffered only a 
 few days' imprisonment, and the mortification of 
 being obliged to burn his own poem on the stair 
 fronting the jail. The folly of these attacks he 
 deeply regretted; and many years afterwards, in 
 America, we find him rebuking his brother for 
 having brought with him copies of the offensive 
 Paisley diatribes. "These," said Wilson, throw- 
 ing the packet into the fire, " were the sins of my 
 youth, and had I taken my good old father's ad- 
 vice, they never would have seen the light." 
 
 The mortification consequent on this event, 
 combined with the disagreeable prominence he 
 had attained in his native town as the advocate of 
 
WILSOX, Tin; ORNITHOLOGIST. 87 
 
 tlie French Revolution, were the main causes of 
 the poet's leaving Scotland. And having made 
 up his mind to the step, with the singleness of 
 purpose which characterized him, he set about 
 gathering the necessary funds, and for four months 
 labored incessantly at the loom, confining the 
 expenses of his living during that time, as we are 
 informed, to one shilling a-week. He was thus 
 able to save the sum necessary for the voyage, 
 and embarked at Belfast in a ship bound for New- 
 castle, in the State of Delaware, where he arrived 
 on the 14th July, 1794. 
 
 When the future ornithologist of his adopted 
 country set foot on its shores, his prospects were 
 as gloomy as may well be imagined. His passage- 
 money had absorbed all his means, even to the last 
 shilling. He had no friends, no letters of introduc- 
 tion, and his poetical talents, as sad experience 
 had taught him, were little calculated to gain him 
 favor or friends. But his was not the soul to be 
 daunted by circumstances, however untoward ; so 
 he cheerfully shouldered his gun and marched 
 towards Philadelphia the same city which, some 
 seventy years before, had been entered in simi- 
 larly destitute circumstances by one of the greatest 
 men of the eighteenth century Franklin, of ori- 
 gin alike humble with the future ornithologist 
 (tike him, also, destined for the church), but who 
 lived to exercise an influence on the affairs of the 
 world greater than the greatest monarchs or minis- 
 ters of his time. The reminiscence, so interesting 
 
88 MEN WHO HAVE EISEN. 
 
 in the circumstances, could scarcely escape Wilson, 
 and must have infused fresh courage and hope into 
 his mind. 
 
 On arriving in the town, his first search was for 
 weaving, but none was to be had. Chance threw 
 him in the way of a countryman, who was in busi 
 ness as a copperplate-printer, from whom Wilson 
 procured employment, which, however, was de- 
 serted on finding work at his own business. After 
 a few months, the loom was again abandoned for 
 his old occupation of peddler, in which capacity he 
 traveled over a considerable part of New Jersey ; 
 meeting with more success, however, than had at- 
 tended him in his own country. On his return 
 from wandering, he opened a school, and for sev- 
 eral years, in diiferent places, he taught with great 
 efficiency and success. To remedy the defects of 
 his education, he began a course of systematic 
 study, and among other acquisitions, succeeded in 
 gaining a knowledge of mathematics, in which he 
 proceeded so far as to be able to survey. After 
 several unimportant removals, we find him appoint- 
 ed teacher of a union school in the township or 
 Kingsessing, not far from Philadelphia. While resi- 
 dent here, he learned that his nephew, William 
 Duncan (whose father was then dead), had landed 
 in New York, with his mother and a large family 
 of brothers and sisters ; and knowing that his 
 favorable representations of America had been the 
 principal means of inducing his nephew to this 
 perilous step, Wilson instantly set out on foot for 
 
89 
 
 New York, a distance of one hundred miles, in 
 order to assist in getting his relations comfortably 
 settled. Having accomplished this object, the 
 generous man returned on foot to the labors of the 
 school-room ; and, from all we can learn, thinking 
 no more of the feat than any other ordinary act 01 
 duty. 
 
 It was also while residing at Kingsessing that 
 Wilson became acquainted with a kindred spirit 
 of the name of Bartram, an amiable, self-taught 
 naturalist, who has been styled the American 
 LinnaBus of the period, and whose residence and 
 botanic garden were happily situated in the vicin- 
 ity of Wilson's schoolhouse. The love of nature, 
 which had always characterized Wilson, here seems 
 to have taken firm root ; and from the feelings of 
 general interest with which all the works of God 
 were regarded, gradually rose a predilection for 
 that branch of natural history, the pursuit of which 
 was to immortalize his name. The nature of his 
 employments at this period are beautifully de- 
 scribed in a letter to his friend Bartram : " I 
 sometimes smile to think, that while others are 
 immersed in deep schemes of speculation and 
 aggrandizement, in building towns and purchasing 
 plantations, I am entranced in contemplation over 
 the plumage of a lark, or gazing, like a despair 
 ing lover, on the lineaments of an owl. While 
 others are hoarding up their bags of money, with- 
 out the power of enjoying it, I am collecting, 
 without injuring my conscience or wounding my 
 
90 MEN WHO HAVE KISEN. 
 
 peace of mind, those beautiful specimens of Nature's 
 works that are for ever pleasing. I have had live 
 crows, hawks, and owls ; opossums, squirrels, 
 snakes, lizards, &c., so that my room has some- 
 times reminded me of Noah's ark ; but Noah had 
 a wife in one corner of it, and, in this particular, 
 our parallel does not altogether tally. I receive 
 every subject of natural history that is brought to 
 me ; and, though they do not march into my ark 
 from all quarters, as they did into that of our great 
 ancestor, yet I find means, by the distribution of 
 a few fivepenny bits, to make them find the way 
 fast enough. A boy not long ago brought me a 
 large basketfull of crows. I expect his next load 
 will be bull-frogs, if I do n't soon issue orders to 
 the contrary. One of my boys caught a mouse in 
 school, a few days ago, and directly marched up to 
 me with his prisoner. I set about drawing it the 
 same evening, and all the while the pantings of its 
 little heart showed it to be in the most extreme 
 agonies of fear. I had intended to kill it, in order 
 to fix it in the claws of a stuffed owl ; but hap- 
 pening to spill a few drops of water near where it 
 was tied, it lapped it up with such eagerness, and 
 looked in my face with such an eye of supplicating 
 terror, as perfectly overcame me. I immediately 
 restored it to life and liberty. The agonies of a 
 prisoner at the stake, while the fire and instru- 
 ments of torture are preparing, could not be more 
 severe than the sufferings of that poor mouse ; 
 and, insignificant as the object was, I felt at that 
 
WILSON THE OHNITIIOLOGIST. 
 
 "One of my boyj ca-.:ght a mouse in school, a few day* f.jro, nnld:rectly marched up to me with li:s 
 prisoner. . . . I lnul intended to kill it, in cr.ler to fix it in the cluwa i.f a stuffed owl ; bv.t, 
 happening to fp!'.l a few drops of water ni-ar w hi-re it was licil, it Iaj)[x.-d it up w::h such eagerness, 
 and looked in my !ace with such an eyj of supplicating terror, BJ perfectly overcame Die. I imme- 
 diately restored it to life and liberty." PACE 90. 
 
WILSON, THE ORNITHOLOGIST. 91 
 
 moment tlie sweet sensations that mercy leaves 
 in the mind when she triumphs over cruelty." The 
 first indication of his design to form an ornitholo- 
 gical collection is found in a letter to a friend in 
 Paisley, written in June, 1803. He says: "Close 
 application to the duties of my profession, which 
 I have followed since November, 1795, has deeply 
 injured my constitution; the more so, that my 
 rambling disposition was the worst calculated of 
 any one in the world for the austere regularity of 
 a teacher's life. I have had many pursuits since 
 I left Scotland mathematics, the German lan- 
 guage, music, drawing, &c. ; and I am about to 
 make a collection of all our finest birds." 
 
 Wilson's first designs, though but faint outlines 
 of the magnificent plan he afterwards conceived, 
 were sufficiently comprehensive to alarm his 
 friends, who sought to dissuade him from an en- 
 terprise which, as they represented, and with 
 much truth, only fortune and learned leisure could 
 competently achieve. But the naturalist, having 
 formed his plan, set to work with ah 1 the indomi- 
 table energy of his character, and in October of 
 the year 1 804, accompanied by his nephew and a 
 friend, he began his first bird-seeking pilgrimage 
 by a pedestrian tour to Niagara. The travelers 
 had undertaken the journey too late in the season, 
 and on their return were overtaken by winter, and 
 had to travel a great part of the way through 
 snow. The perseverance of his companions failed, 
 but Wilson set forth alone with his gun and bag- 
 
92 MEN WHO IIAYE KISEN. 
 
 gage, and reached home safely, after an absence 
 of fifty-nine days. Regarding this journey, he thus 
 enthusiastically writes to his friend Bartram : 
 "Though in this tour I have had every disadvan- 
 tage of deep roads and rough weather, hurried 
 marches, and many other inconveniences ; yet, so 
 far ain I from being satisfied with what I have 
 seen, or discouraged by the fatigues which every 
 traveler must submit to, that I feel more eager 
 than ever to commence some more extensive ex- 
 pedition, where scenes and subjects entirely new, 
 and generally unknown, might reward my curio- 
 sity; and where, perhaps, my humble acquisitions 
 might add something to the stores of knowledge." 
 
 As an evidence of the strength of his resolution, 
 lie set himself to learn drawing and coloring, and 
 the art of etching on copper. In these arts he 
 made some progress, but meanwhile his worldly 
 means were far from improving. His scholars 
 fell off, till the number could not support him; 
 but such was the estimation in which Wilson was 
 held, that the trustees of the school, on learning 
 the state of affairs, generously subscribed for a 
 sufficient number of pupils to maintain him. 
 
 In the beginning of 1806, Wilson received in- 
 timation that the United States Government in- 
 tended despatching a party of scientific men to 
 explore the valley of the Mississippi. This was 
 an expedition in which Wilson would have re- 
 joiced to embark, and accordingly he addressed a 
 letter to Jefferson, offering his service ; but much 
 
WILSON, THE ORNITHOLOGIST. 93 
 
 to the chagrin of the eager naturalist, the letter 
 was never answered. 
 
 A brighter era at length dawned on the 
 hitherto unfortunate projector. A bookseller of 
 Philadelphia, Mr. Samuel Bradford, "being about 
 to publish an edition of Kees' Cyclopaedia, Wilson 
 was recommended to him as a person well qualified 
 to superintend the work, and his services were ac- 
 cepted. This was an occupation more congenial 
 to his mind, and it gave him a better opportunity 
 of pursuing his studies, being free from the harass- 
 ing cares of a teacher's life." The connection was 
 of signal service to Wilson ; for on his explaining to 
 Mr. Bradford his views regarding "The American 
 Ornithology," that gentleman undertook the risk 
 of publication. One material difficulty being thus 
 removed, Wilson set himself for some months 
 heartily and unremittingly to the duties of 
 author; and in the month of September, 1808, the 
 first volume of his great work made its appearance. 
 
 The design and execution of the work have 
 been truly described as magnificent. But although 
 it took the public completely by surprise, yet the 
 patronage was so meagre, that the enterprising 
 editor was fain to call in on its behalf the old re- 
 source of his peddler craft canvassing for sub- 
 scribers ; and, with this view, he set out on a tour 
 through the Southern States, which lasted for six 
 months, but was only slightly productive of the 
 encouragement he was in quest of, though doubt- 
 less the naturalist found this and similar expcdi- 
 
94: MEN WHO HAVE RISEN. 
 
 tions of immense advantage in the accumulation 
 of materials. Of this expedition, Wilson thus 
 writes in a letter to a friend : " I have labored 
 with the zeal of a knight-errand in exhibiting this 
 book of mine wherever I went traveling with it 
 like a beggar with his bantling from town to town, 
 and from one country to another." The second 
 volume was published in January, 1810, fifteen 
 months after the first was issued ; and immediately 
 on its appearance, Wilson again started on an ex- 
 tensive land and water journey, including a sail 
 of 720 miles down the river Ohio. Contrary to 
 the advice of his friends, the daring ornithologist 
 decided on attempting this dangerous voyage alone 
 and unattended. The outset of the expedition is 
 thus graphically described : " My stock of pro- 
 visions consisted of some biscuit and cheese, and a 
 bottle of cordial presented me by a gentleman of 
 Pittsburgh ; my gun, trunk, and greatcoat occupied 
 one end of the boat ; I had a small tin, occasion- 
 ally to bale her, and to take my beverage from the 
 Ohio with ; and bidding adieu to the smoky con- 
 fines of Pitt, I launched into the stream, and soon 
 winded away among the hills that everywhere en- 
 close this noble river. The weather was warm 
 and serene, and the river like a mirror, except 
 where floating masses of ice spotted its surface, 
 and which required some care to steer clear of; 
 but these, to my surprise, in less than a day's 
 sailing, totally disappeared. Far from being con- 
 cerned at my new situation, I felt my heart ex- 
 
WILSON, THE ORNITHOLOGIST. 95 
 
 pand with joy at the novelties which surrounded 
 me ; I listened with pleasure to the whistling of 
 the redbird on the banks as I passed, and contem- 
 plated the forest scenery as it receded, with in- 
 creasing delight. The smoke of the numerous 
 maple sugar camps, rising lazily among the moun- 
 tains, gave great effect to the varying landscape ; 
 and the grotesque log cabins, that here and there 
 opened from the woods, were diminished into mere 
 dog-houses by the sublimity of the impending 
 mountains." This solitary voyage, " exposed to 
 hardships all day, and hard berths all night, to 
 storms of rain, hail, and snow, for it froze severely 
 almost every night," lasted some three weeks; 
 and then mooring his boat in Bear Grass Creek, 
 at the rapids of the Ohio, and "leaving 
 his baggage to be forwarded by a wagon, 
 he set out on foot to Lexington, seventy- 
 two miles further, where, on the 4th of May, he 
 hired a horse and departed on a journey towards 
 Natchez, with a pistol in each pocket, and his 
 fowling-piece belted across his shoulders. During 
 this long and hazardous journey he experienced 
 great hardships, sometimes having to swim perilous 
 creeks, and having to encamp for thirteen different 
 nights in the woods alone. To these inconvenien- 
 ces was added a new attack of the dysentery, when 
 far amidst execrable swamps. ' My complaint,' 
 he writes, c increased so much that I could scarce- 
 ly sit on horseback, and all night my mouth 
 and throat were parched with burning thirst and 
 
96 MEN WHO HAVE RISEN. 
 
 fever. On Sunday I bought some eggs, which I 
 ate, and repeated the dose at mid-day and towards 
 evening. I found great benefit from this simple 
 remedy, and inquired all along the road for fresh 
 eggs ; and for a week made them almost my sole 
 food, until I completed my cure.' He was also 
 in danger of a tornado, attended with a drenching 
 of rain. Trees were broken and torn up by the 
 roots, and those which stood were bent almost to 
 the ground ; limbs of trees flew whirling past him ; 
 and his life was in such danger that he was 
 astonished how he escaped, and declared he would 
 rather take his chance in a field of battle, than in 
 such a tornado again. Nevertheless he seems to 
 have enjoyed his journey, and reached Natchez on 
 the 17th of May. After enjoying at this place the 
 kind hospitality of William Dunbar, at whose res- 
 idence he remained a few days, he proceeded on 
 his journey, and on the 6th of June arrived at 
 New Orleans, distant from Natchez two hundred 
 and fifty-two miles. But as the sickly season was 
 fast approaching, he did not consider it safe to 
 remain there long ; and on the 25th of the month 
 he took passage for New York, where he landed 
 on July the 30th. He had left home on the 30th 
 of January, and all his expenses to this period 
 amounted only to four hundred and fifty dollars. 
 He arrived in Philadelphia on the 2d of August, 
 after an absence of seven months, and immediately 
 applied himself with increasing industry to the 
 preparation of his third volume." 
 
WILSON, THE OSNITUOLOGIST. 97 
 
 From this period to the year 1812, Wilson 
 undertook several other journeys, partly with the 
 object of procuring subscribers, and partly also to 
 gather fresh materials for his publication, which, 
 meanwhile, was rapidly proceeding, and had at- 
 tained its seventh volume early in 1813. The 
 carrying forward of the grand project which filled 
 the mind of Wilson, would, even to a learned 
 body with ample materials at command, have been 
 sufficiently arduous and exciting ; and what then 
 must it have been to a single individual who had 
 all his specimens to collect, arrange, and make 
 drawings from, and afterwards, in some cases, to 
 etch the plates and color the engravings? The 
 health of the ardent naturalist gradually gave way 
 under the extraordinary exertion, but he would 
 hear of no respite from his labors ; " he denied 
 himself rest, and spent the whole of the day in 
 unceasing exertion." To the remonstrances of 
 his friends he calmly said, "Life is short, and 
 nothing can be done without exertion." The 
 eighth volume of his work was announced to ap- 
 pear in November, 1812, and another volume was 
 intended to conclude it ; but the gifted author 
 was not destined to see the completion of his pro- 
 ject. Severe labor and anxiety had now so far 
 undermined his constitution as to predispose it to 
 yield under the first extraordinary exertion, and 
 to a person of Wilson's enthusiastic temperament 
 the occasion soon presented itself. The cause 
 which led to his early and lamented death was 
 7 
 
98 MEN WHO HAVE KISEN. 
 
 this : " Sitting one clay conversing with a friend, 
 a rare bird, which he had long been desirous to 
 possess, happened to fly past the window. The 
 moment Wilson beheld it, he seized his gun, and 
 after an arduous pursuit, during which he swam 
 across a river, succeeded in killing it ; but the 
 consequence was a severe cold, followed by an 
 attack of dysentery, which, after ten days' dura- 
 tion, ended his mortal career. He died at nine 
 o'clock on the morning of the 23d August, 1813, 
 in his 48th year, and was interred on the follow- 
 ing day the whole of the scientific men of the 
 city, and the clergy of all denominations, attend- 
 ing the mournful scene. We are told, also, that 
 the Columbian Society of Fine Arts walked in pro- 
 cession before the hearse, and for thirty days wore 
 crape round their arms. 
 
 Thus ended the life of this gifted man. Of his 
 personal character we have said little, leaving it 
 to be gathered from the events of his chequered 
 career. From, first to last he maintained his inde- 
 pendence in thought and action, and, if he ever 
 strove after the gifts of fortune, it was only, like 
 Burns, " for the glorious privilege of being inde- 
 pendent." His great work, which cost him so 
 many years of the most arduous toil and an 
 anxiety ever on the stretch, brought him noth- 
 ing more substantial than fame of pecuniary 
 enumeration he received nothing, except payment 
 for coloring his own plates. " The American 
 Ornithology" ranks amongst the first works on 
 
WILSOX, THE ORNITHOLOGIST. 99 
 
 natural history which any age or nation ever gave 
 birth to, and is not less remarkable for the beauty 
 and fidelity of the illustrations than for the admi- 
 rable spirit and faithfulness of the descriptions 
 a proud triumph for the Paisley weaver, and due 
 to his indomitable energy and perseverance. 
 
 Wilson's intense delight in the feathered song- 
 sters of the grove was beautifully portrayed in 
 the wish he had more than once expressed, " that 
 he might be buried in some rural spot where the 
 birds might sing over his grave." 
 
BENJAMIN WEST, THE AKTIST. 
 
 BENJAMIN WEST, the earliest and most distin- 
 guished of American painters, was born in Spring- 
 field, Chester county, Pennsylvania, on the 10th 
 of October, 1738. He was the youngest of nine 
 children, of excellent Quaker parents, and at a 
 very early age gave evidence of a genius for Art. 
 When only seven years of age, while keeping flies 
 from the sleeping baby of his eldest sister, he was 
 prompted to attempt a sketch of the babe in black 
 and red ink, which were at hand. The portrait 
 was so accurate that his mother, upon returning, 
 snatched the paper from his hand, exclaiming, " I 
 declare he has made a likeness of little Sally." 
 His parents encouraged" his efforts, and from the 
 Indians he learned the use of the red and yellow 
 colors with which they painted their belts and or- 
 naments. This was, however, after he had ad- 
 vanced somewhat in his artist career. At first, the 
 colors he used were principally charcoal and chalk, 
 mixed with the juice of berries, while the material 
 
BENJAMIN WEST, TK& ARTIST. , , , . ,1X>JL , 
 
 for his brushes were drawii from the tail of a cat 
 AVith these colors and implements, when only nine 
 years of age, he drew on a sheet of paper the 
 portraits of a neighboring family. When twelve 
 years of age he accomplished a more difficult task, 
 and drew a portrait of himself. But the knowl- 
 edge which he had gained from the Indians en- 
 larged his field of operations. His mother's indigo 
 bag supplied him with blue, and he now had the 
 three primary colors to work with. 
 
 "Such was the juvenile beginning of the greatest 
 historical painter of the last century ; such were 
 the first buddings of the genius of that boy, who 
 would not ride in company of another, because he 
 aspired to nothing greater than a tailor's shop- 
 board. 
 
 " ' Do you really mean to be a tailor ? ' asked 
 little West. 
 
 " ' Indeed I do,' replied his boy-companion. 
 
 " ' Then you may ride alone,' exclaimed the 
 young aspirant, leaping to the ground. ' I mean 
 to be a painter, and be a companion of kings and 
 emperors. I '11 not ride with one willing to be a 
 tailor ! ' 
 
 At the age of sixteen, it was determined that 
 Benjamin should become a painter. The pursuit 
 of such an art was not in accordance with the dis- 
 cipline of the Quakers. A meeting was called and 
 a consultation held. One of the assembly arose 
 and said : " God hath bestowed on this youth a 
 genius for Art; shall we question His wisdom? 
 
102 MEN WHO HAVE RISEN. 
 
 I see the "Divine hand in this. "We shall do well to 
 sanction the art and encourage this youth." The 
 women of the assembly then rose up and kissed 
 the young aspirant: the men, one by one, laid 
 their hands on his head, and thus " Benjamin 
 "West was solemnly consecrated to the service of 
 the Great Art." 
 
 Young West now went to Philadelphia, in order 
 that he might pursue his studies with the advan- 
 tages which that city afforded. He had free 
 access to all the pictures. In the intervals of his 
 portait painting, he made copies of celebrated pic- 
 tures, especially of a Murillo in Governor Hamil- 
 ton's collections. A Saint Ignatius was next copied 
 with enthusiasm. His application now became in- 
 tense, and the result was an attack of sickness. 
 "While stretched upon his sick bed in a darkened 
 room, the light entering only through the cracks 
 in the window-shutters, an incident occurred which 
 illustrates the young artist's keen powers of rea- 
 soning and observation. 
 
 "As he was lying in bed, slowly recovering 
 from a fever, he was surprised to see the form of a 
 white cow enter at one side of the roof, and, walk- 
 ing over the bed, gradually vanish at the other. 
 The phenomenon surprised him exceedingly, and 
 he feared that his mind was impaired by his dis- 
 ease, which his sister also suspected, when, on en- 
 tering to inquire how he felt himself, he related to 
 her what he had seen. She soon left the room, 
 and informed her husband, who accompanied her 
 
BENJAMIN WEST, THE ARTIST. 103 
 
 back to the apartment; and as they were both 
 standing near the bed, West repeated the story, 
 exclaiming that he saw, at the very moment in 
 which he was speaking, several little pigs running 
 along the roof. This confirmed them in the appre- 
 hension- of his delirium, and they sent for a physi- 
 cian ; but his pulse was regular, the skin moist and 
 cool, the thirst abated, and, indeed, everything 
 about the patient indicated convalescence. Still, 
 the painter persisted in his story, and assured them 
 that he then saw the figures of several of their 
 mutual friends passing on the roof, over the bed, 
 and that he even saw fowls picking, and the very 
 stones of the street. All this seemed to them very 
 extraordinary, for their eyes, not accustomed to the 
 gloom of the chamber, could discover nothing ; 
 and the physician himself, in despite of the symp- 
 toms, began to suspect that the convalescent was 
 really delirious. Prescribing, therefore, a com- 
 posing mixture, he took his leave, requesting Mrs. 
 Clarkson and her husband to come away and not 
 disturb the patient. After they had retired, the 
 artist got up, determined to find out the cause of 
 the strange apparitions which had so alarmed them 
 all. In a short time he discovered a diagonal knot- 
 hole in one of the window-shutters, and upon 
 placing his hand over it, the visionary paintings on 
 the roof disappeared. This confirmed him in 
 an opinion that he began to form, that there must 
 be some simple natural cause for what he had 
 seen, and having thus ascertained the way in 
 
104 MEN WHO HATE lilSEN. 
 
 which it acted, he called his sister and her husband 
 into the room, and explained it to them. He prof- 
 ited by this investigation ; made a box with one 01 
 its sides perforated, and thus, without ever having 
 heard of the invention, contrived a camera obscura. 
 From Philadelphia West went to New York, 
 where he remained during a period of eleven 
 months, industriously pursuing his profession 
 working at portraits for his support, and in such 
 intervals as he could secure, laboring with un- 
 diminished zeal and enthusiasm at original com- 
 positions. His successes now determined him to 
 visit Italy. Although almost self-taught, and with 
 no advantages in the way of fortune or birth, 
 young West had been more fortunate, had ad- 
 vanced more smoothly on the road to fame and 
 position, than is common with those who essay 
 the paths of ambition. His genius had been re- 
 cognized from the beginning ; friends had not 
 withheld their aid or countenance ; he had even 
 succeeded in accumulating means sufficient for his 
 contemplated visit to the classic shores of Italy. 
 Among the earliest of his friends was the father of 
 the immortal General Wayne. This gentleman 
 saw the first crude-sketches of the boy, and pur- 
 chased some of his drawings. A Mr. Pennington 
 also encouraged and patronized the lad ; and when 
 he removed to Philadelphia, he there experienced 
 no lack of supporters and friends. When he de- 
 termined to sail for Italy, he was engaged upon the 
 portrait of Mr. Kelly, a merchant of New York. 
 
BENJAMIN WEST, THE ARTIST. 105 
 
 To this gentleman he mentioned his plan, who ap- 
 proved of it, and gave him a letter to his agents in 
 Philadelphia, from which place he intended to sail. 
 West presented the letter, and was surprised to 
 find that it contained an order for fifty guineas 
 " a present to aid in his equipment for Italy." 
 These instances prove that West did not experi- 
 ence that neglect and poverty, which so frequent- 
 ly cloud the dawning efforts of genius. 
 
 West embarked in 1760; reached Leghorn in 
 safety, and thence proceeded to Rome, which he 
 entered on the 10th of July, 1760. With regret 
 it must be said that he never returned to America. 
 
 Among West's letters of introduction was one 
 , to Cardinal Albani, a great connoisseur, although 
 nearly blind. An amusing anecdote is related of 
 his interview with this personage. The Cardinal 
 passed his hand over the face of the young artist, 
 in order to judge of his features. 
 
 " This young savage," said he, " has good fea- 
 tures ; but what is his complexion ? Is he black or 
 white ? " 
 
 The gentleman who introduced West replied 
 that he was " very fair." 
 
 " What ! " exclaimed the Cardinal ; " as fair as I 
 am?" 
 
 The interrogation caused no little mirth, for the 
 Cardinal was not remarkable for his beauty in this 
 particular. 
 
 West remained three years in Italy, visiting 
 Florence, Bologna, and Venice, and everywhere 
 5* 
 
106 MEN WHO HAVE EISEN. 
 
 meeting the most gratifying encouragement, and 
 the amplest recognition of his genius. He now 
 made his preparations for returning to America, 
 but first determined to visit England, where he ar- 
 rived in August, 1763. In London he found so 
 much encouragement, that, contrary to his first in- 
 tention, he determined to settle there. He made 
 the acquaintance of Sir Joshua Reynolds, Nelson 
 the landscape painter, Dr. Johnson, Mr. Burke, 
 and other distinguished personages in that age of 
 great men : he was also introduced to the young 
 king George III., who commanded him to paint 
 The Departure of Regulus. He became establish- 
 ed in popular favor almost immediately. Com- 
 missions poured in upon him. His rank, as among 
 the first of the living historical painters, became 
 everywhere conceded. Lord Rockingham offered 
 the successful artist three thousand five hundred 
 a-year, if he would undertake to embellish his 
 family mansion with pictures. West declined. He 
 wished to keep before the public. 
 
 Prior to his departure from America, he had 
 won the affections of a young lady of the name of 
 Shewell. His position was now secured, and he 
 desired to make her his wife. At first he purposed 
 to return to America with the object of effecting 
 the marriage, but this was prevented by his father, 
 who took the bride to England, where the mar- 
 riage was consummated, West then being twenty- 
 seven years of age. 
 
 In 1768, West, in conjunction with Sir Joshua 
 
BENJAMIN' WEST, TIIE AliTIST. 107 
 
 Reynolds and the King, established the Royal 
 Academy. Sir Joshua was the first president, 
 but, after his death, West was unanimously elected 
 to that honorable position, which he held to the 
 time of his death. 
 
 We cannot, in this brief sketch, attempt to 
 dwell upon the various productions of West's pro- 
 lific pencil. His Death of Wolfe^ one of his earlier 
 efforts, achieved a world-wide reputation, not 
 only as a work of art, but as exhibiting a broad 
 innovation on the customs and usages of artists. 
 Up to that period, it had been customary to cos- 
 tume the characters in modern heroic pieces in the 
 flowing robes of ancient Greek and Roman heroes. 
 West rejected the teaching, and in spite of many 
 remonstrances, he depicted the characters in this 
 celebrated picture in the actual dress of the time. 
 The result justified the attempt. It was a success. 
 Even Reynolds, who had resolutely opposed the 
 innovation, exclaimed, when he saw the painting, 
 "West has conquered. I retract. This picture 
 will occasion a revolution in art." The King's 
 admiration for the artist was almost unbounded. 
 He gave West an order for painting thirty grand 
 pictures, illustrative of revealed religion, for a new 
 chapel at Windsor Castle. West designed them 
 all, and completed twenty-eight. "A work so 
 varied, so extensive and so noble, was never under- 
 taken by any painter ; " but when insanity clouded 
 the mind of the king, West was neglected, and 
 ^he series were discontinued. But our artist, in 
 
108 MEN WHO HAVE EISEN. 
 
 losing royal patronage, still retained the favor of 
 the public. He never lacked commissions ; and as he 
 labored diligently and with earnestness, the num- 
 ber of his productions were immense. It has 
 been stated, that to exhibit all his works it would 
 take a gallery four hundred feet long, fifty in 
 breadth, and forty in height. The sums that he 
 received were large, not less in the aggregate, 
 during his residence in England, than $500,000. 
 
 In December, 1817, occurred the death of Mrs. 
 Y/est, and three years later, in the eighty-second 
 year of his age, the artist departed this life. He was 
 buried with great pomp in St. Paul's Cathedral. 
 
 " The last illness of Mr. West," says Mr. Gait, 
 " was slow and languishing. It was rather a ger- 
 eral decay of nature than any specific malady; 
 and he continued to enjoy his mental faculties in 
 perfect distinctness upon all subjects as long as the 
 powers of articulation could be exercised. To his 
 merits as an artist and a man I may be deemed 
 partial, nor do I wish to be thought otherwise. I 
 have enjoyed his frankest confidence for many 
 years, and received from his conversation the ad- 
 vantages of a more valuable species of instruction, 
 relative to the arts, than books alone can supply 
 to one who is not an artist. While I therefore 
 admit that the partiality of friendship may tincture 
 my opinion of his character, I am yet confident 
 that the general truth of the estimate will be ad- 
 mitted by all who knew the man, or are capable 
 to appreciate the merits of his works. 
 
BENJAMIN WEST, THE AKTIST. 109 
 
 " In his deportment Mr. West was mild and 
 considerate ; his eye was keen, and his mind apt ; 
 but he was slow and methodical in his reflections, 
 and the sedateness of his remarks must often, in 
 his younger years, have seemed to strangers sin- 
 gularly at variance with the vivacity of his look. 
 That vivacity, however, was not the result of any 
 particular animation of temperament ; it was rather 
 the illuminations of his genius; for, when his 
 features were studiously considered, they appeared 
 to resemble those which we find associated with 
 dignity of character in the best productions of art. 
 As an artist, he will stand in the first rank ; his 
 name will be classed with those of Michael Angelo 
 and Raffaelle ; but he possessed little in common 
 with cither. As the former has been compared to 
 Homer and the latter to Virgil, in Shakspeare we 
 shall perhaps find the best likeness to the genius 
 of Mr. West. He undoubtedly possessed but in a 
 slight degree that energy and physical expression 
 of character in which Michael Angelo excelled, 
 and in a still less degree that serene sublimity 
 which constitutes the charm of Raftaelle's great 
 productions ; but he was their equal in the fullness, 
 the perspicuity, and the propriety of his composi- 
 tions. In all his great works, the scene intended 
 to be brought before the spectator is represented 
 in such a manner that the imagination has noth- 
 ing to supply. The incident, the time, and the 
 place are there as we think they must have been ; 
 nml it is this wonderful force of conception which 
 
110 MEN WHO IIAYE KISEN. 
 
 renders the sketches of Mr. West so much more 
 extraordinary than his finished pictures. In the 
 finished pictures we naturally institute comparisons 
 in coloring, and in beauty of figure, and in a thou- 
 sand details which are never noticed in the sketches 
 of this illustrious artist ; but, although his powers 
 of conception were so superior, equal in their ex- 
 cellence to Michael Angelo's energy or Rafaelle's 
 grandeur, still, in the inferior departments of draw- 
 ing and coloring he was one of the greatest artists 
 of his age. It was not, however, till late in life 
 that he executed any of those works in which he 
 thought the splendor of the Venetian school might 
 be judiciously imitated. At one time he intended 
 to collect his works together, and to form a gen- 
 eral exhibition of them all. Had he accomplished 
 this, the greatness and versatility of his talents 
 would have been established beyond all contro- 
 versy; for unquestionably he was one of those 
 great men whose genius cannot be justly estimated 
 by particular works, but only by a collective in- 
 spection of the variety, the extent, and the num- 
 ber of their productions." 
 
ASTOK, THE MILLIOISTAIEE. 
 
 IN July, 1763, the worthy and profound bailiff of 
 the village of Waldrop, near Heidelberg, in the 
 duchy of Baden, had a son born unto him. He 
 had had several sons, but this particular one was 
 designated John Jacob, two names with wonder- 
 ful opposite significations. John is one of your 
 soft, gentle names, full of urbanity, with a touch 
 of dignity ; it means gracious, and would suit a 
 condescending monarch well. Jacob, on the other 
 hand, is just the name for a money-maker ; it is 
 quite a pecuniary name. The wealth of Laban of 
 old consisted of flocks ; and Jacob manifested as 
 much adroitness in the accumulation of these as 
 in the supplanting of Esau. Jacob means a sup- 
 planter; that is, one who trips up somebody's 
 heels and takes his place. John Jacob Astor 
 began life with auguries of success. He was a 
 German ; had a worthy, cautious, and wise father, 
 who did not spare him of good advice, and equally 
 good example. Ths Germans, like the Scotch, 
 
112 MEN WHO HATE KISEN". 
 
 fire brought up with a predisposition for emigra- 
 tion. One of the German tendencies is to leave 
 home. Preparatory to departing from the place 
 of his nativity, John Jacob Astor had been in- 
 structed in what was right and wrong in a worldly 
 sense ; so that, when he packed up his scanty 
 wardrobe and took leave of Waldrop, he deter- 
 mined that honesty, industry, and total abstinence 
 from the immoral practice of gambling, should 
 mark his conduct through life. At eighteen years 
 of age John Jacob steered his course for London, 
 where he had a brother resident. With a few 
 wearables in his bundle coarse home-made clothes, 
 blue cap, keel, and heavy hobnailed shoes he 
 landed in the great city. He had two brothers 
 who had emigrated. One was a musical instru- 
 ment maker in London, the other a butcher in New 
 York ; but he does not seem to have thriven under 
 the auspices of the brother in Britain, during the 
 three years that he remained in England. This 
 residence was of advantage to him, however, for 
 he acquired the English tongue, which was indis- 
 pensable to him in his new sphere of action. 
 
 The revolutionary war had just ceased ; eight 
 years of fiery ordeal had been passed through ; the 
 Americans had attained independence, and the 
 hopeful and aspiring youth of Europe were hasten- 
 ing to the now open ports of the New World. 
 With various articles of manufacture as his whole 
 wealth, among the most valuable of which were 
 seven flutes, presented to him by his brother, John 
 
ASTOE, THE MILLIONAIRE. 113 
 
 Jacob Astor embarked in November, 1784, as a 
 steerage passenger on board of an emigrant ship 
 bound for the United States. The voyage was 
 long and tedious, the ship being retarded by ice 
 for nearly three months in the Chesapeake. Dur- 
 ing this protracted detention in the river, the pas- 
 sengers went on shore occasionally, and Astor had 
 time to form and perfect a friendship with a young 
 countryman of his own, a furrier to trade, who 
 induced him to turn his attention to his art, and 
 generously offered to assist him in the acquirement 
 thereof, and to go to New York with him. When 
 he arrived at New York, the young German sold 
 his flutes and other property, and immediately in- 
 vested the small capital arising therefrom in furs. 
 These he carried to London and sold ; and then, 
 returning to New York, high in hope, he appren- 
 ticed himself to the fur trade, in Gold-street, where 
 he commenced beating skins. He had not been 
 long here until he sufficiently understood the trade 
 to embark in it as a capitalist ; and he had at the 
 same time manifested so much diligence and in- 
 dustry as to obtain the notice of Robert Bowne, 
 a good old Quaker, who carried on an extensive 
 business in New York as a furrier. Employed by 
 Bowne as clerk, Astor recommended himself so 
 highly by his industry and probity as to command 
 the respect^f the old Quaker, and his entire con- 
 fidence. In this situation he made himself tho- 
 roughly acquainted with the nature of the fur 
 trade, coming in contact with the agents, and ob- 
 ^ 
 
114: MEN WHO HAVE RISEN. 
 
 taining a complete knowledge of the methods and 
 profits of the traffic. 
 
 When the revolutionary war closed, Oswego, 
 Detroit, Niagara, and other posts, were in the 
 hands of the British ; and as these were the entre- 
 pots of the western and northern countries, the 
 fur trade had languished after their capture and 
 during their detention. The traders had been 
 either driven away or drafted into the armies; 
 the trappers had ranged themselves on either side 
 of the political contention ; and the Indians ob- 
 tained more fire-water and calico for the use of 
 their mercenary rifles and tomahawks from Great 
 Britain, in this her domestic quarrel with the 
 colonists, than if they had employed them on 
 beavers and squirrels. After much negotiation 
 and surveying, and the advancement and considera- 
 tion of claims, these posts were conceded to the 
 United States, and Canada was open to the fur 
 trade. Astor had received from his brother Harry, 
 a rich butcher in Bowery, an advancement of a 
 few thousand dollars; these he had already em- 
 barked in the fur trade, in 1794, and shortly after- 
 wards the British retired from the west side of St. 
 Clair, opening up to the enterprising sons of 
 America the great fur trade of the west. The 
 cautious, acute German saw that the posts now 
 free would soon be thronged by IndTans eager to 
 dispose of the accumulated produce of several 
 years' hunting, and that the time was now come 
 when he was certain to amass a large fortune by 
 
ASTOK, THE MILLIONAIRE. 115 
 
 the traffic. He immediately established agencies, 
 over which he exercised a sort of personal super- 
 intendence, visiting the stations sometimes, but 
 chiefly devoting himself to the New York busi- 
 ness. The result verified the sagacious predictions 
 of the adventurous trader, for in six years he is 
 said to have accumulated the enormous sum of 
 two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. This sum 
 was not stored up, but invested in stock which 
 was likely to yield large returns. 
 
 The British fur companies had, however, built 
 their block-forts at almost every eligible site on 
 the rivers of the northern and south-western parts 
 of the American continent, and were soon likely 
 to monopolize the whole of the fur trade, unless 
 some bold measures were adopted to rescue it 
 from them. This Astor attempted in 1803, 
 by establishing the American Fur Company. 
 The hardy adventurers who entered into this 
 project, boldly pushed their outposts far into 
 the hitherto unknown prairie, and raised their 
 forts upon the banks of yet unexplored rivers. 
 Tribes unused to see the white man, and who 
 only knew him through vague tradition, or in a 
 passing tale from some visitor of another tribe, 
 now saw and knew hiin, and brought their abun- 
 dance of beaver, otter, and buffalo skins, and laid 
 them at his feet for muskets, powder, and fire- 
 water. 
 
 If there is a genius in money-making, Astor 
 surely possessed it. He had that insatiable thirst 
 
116 MEN WHO HAVE RISEN. 
 
 peculiar to genius that desire that expands and 
 rises with success. The American Fur Company 
 was no sooner established and in operation than 
 he cast his sagacious, cunning little eyes towards 
 the region stretching from the Rocky Mountains 
 to the ocean. He proposed to the United States 
 government the establishment of a line of forts 
 along the shores of the Pacific Ocean and 011 the 
 Columbia river, in order to take from the hands of 
 the British all facilities for establishing a trade 
 west of the Rocky Mountains. The project was 
 agreed to; and, in 1810, sixty men, under the 
 command of a hardy and adventurous leader (W. 
 P. Hunt), established the first post at the mouth 
 of the Columbia, which took its designation of 
 Astoria from the projector of the scheme. This 
 became the germ of the budding State of Oregon. 
 Then commenced a series of operations on a scale 
 altogether beyond anything hitherto attempted by 
 individual enterprise. The history is full of 
 wildest romance ; and the chaste pen of Irving has 
 wo\en the wonderful incidents into a charmiup- 
 
 J> 
 
 narrative. We cannot even glance at it in this 
 brief memoir. The whole scheme was the offspring 
 of a capacious mind ; and had the plans of Mi*. 
 Astor been faithfully carried out by his associates, 
 it would, no doubt, have been eminently success- 
 ful. But the enterprise soon failed. During the 
 Avar a British armed sloop captured Astoria, and 
 the British fur traders entered upon the rich field 
 which Mr. Astor had planted, and reaped the 
 
ASTOE, THE MILLIONAIRE. 117 
 
 golden harvest. When the war had ended, and 
 Astoria was left within the domain of the United 
 States by treaty, Mr. Astor solicited the govern- 
 ment to aid him in recovering his lost possessions. 
 Aid was withheld, and the grand scheme of open- 
 ing a highway across the continent, with a con 
 tinuous chain of military and trading posts, which 
 Mr. Astor laid before President Jefferson, became 
 a mere figment of history, over which sound 
 statesmen soon lamented. 
 
 From the period of the establishment of the 
 American Fur Company, Mr. Astor had not only 
 covered an immense tract of inland country and 
 coast with the depots of his wealth, but he had 
 also multiplied the number of his ships until they 
 exceeded the marine of some of the smaller Euro- 
 pean States. He had ships freighted with furs 
 trading to the ports of France, England, Germany, 
 and Russia, and carrying peltries to Canton, 
 whence they came laden with teas, silks, spices, 
 and the other products of the East. On every 
 sea, laden with the richest cargoes, and consigned 
 to every port of note, were the vessels of this 
 German lad, who, in 1784, with only a few flutes 
 and several other articles in his chest, landed from 
 the steerage of an English emigrant ship upon the 
 quay of New York. With the sagacity of a Frank- 
 lin, Astor purchased a good deal of the land lying 
 round New York. Perceiving the rapid growth 01 
 the city, he knew that this land, prospectively, was 
 of immense value, and for a long time he invested 
 
118 HEX WHO HAVE RISEN. 
 
 two-thirds of his yearly income in the purchase of 
 an estate, which he took care never to mortgage. 
 Through the natural growth of .the city, the re- 
 turns from his real estate yearly increased till it 
 reached an enormous amount. Speculating upon 
 the settlement of Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, and 
 other parts of the west, he purchased immense 
 tracts at the goverment price, which, of course 
 the settlers will be constrained to take at an ad- 
 vance. The labor of generations yet unborn, the 
 inhabitants of nations yet unknown, is mortgaged 
 in this way to the descendants of John Jacob 
 Astor. From, indigence equal to that of the poor 
 itinerant lads who perambulate our streets with 
 organs, this man rose to be second only to the 
 Rothschilds in wealth, in a shortness of time almost 
 incredible. 
 
 It must be mentioned to the honor of this ple- 
 thoric old Croesus, however, that he lent his aid 
 to many works of public utility and philanthropy ; 
 he gave 350,000 dollars for the foundation of a 
 library in New York, the interest to be expended 
 in the erection of a building and the employment 
 of agents for the purchase of books. He also gave 
 a large sum of money to his native town, for the 
 purpose of founding an institution for the educa- 
 tion of the young, and as a retreat for indigent 
 aged persons. The Astor Library in New York, 
 and the Astor House in Walldorf, were both open- 
 ed in 1854. The following amusing anecdote is 
 told of him, in the double character of a patron of 
 
ASTOK, TIIE MILLIONAIRE. 119 
 
 literature and parsimonious money-holder, which 
 appears to be exceedingly characteristic : Among 
 the subscribers to Audubon's magnificent work on 
 ornithology, the subscription price of which was 
 ] ,000 dollars a copy, appeared the name of John 
 Jacob Astor. During the progress of the work, 
 (lie prosecution of which was exceedingly expen- 
 sive, M. Audubon, of course, called upon several 
 of his subscribers for payments. It so happened 
 that Mr. Astor (probably that he might not be 
 troubled about small matters) was not applied to 
 before the delivery of all the letterpress and plates. 
 Then, however, Audubon asked for his thousand 
 dollars ; but he was put off with one excuse or 
 another. "Ah, M. Audubon," would the owner 
 of millions observe, " you come at a bad time ; 
 money is very scarce ; I have nothing in bank ; I 
 have invested all my funds." At length, for the 
 sixth time, Audubon called upon Astor for his 
 thousand dollars. As he was ushered into the 
 presence, he found William B. Astor, the son, con- 
 versing with his father. No sooner did the rich 
 man see the man of art, than he began, "Ah, M. 
 Audubon, so you have come again after your mo- 
 ney. Hard times, M. Audubon money scarce." 
 But just then, catching an inquiring look from his 
 son, he changed his tone: "However, M. Audu- 
 bon, I suppose we must contrive to let you have 
 some of your money, if possible. "William," he 
 added, calling to his son, who had walked into an 
 adjoining parlor, "have we any money at all in the 
 
120 MEN WHO HAVE KISEtf. 
 
 bank?" "Yes, father," replied the son, suppos- 
 ing that he was asked an earnest question perti- 
 nent to what they had been talking about when 
 the ornithologist came in, " we have two hundred 
 and twenty thousand dollars in the Bank of New 
 York, seventy thousand in the City Bank, ninety 
 thousand in the Merchants', ninety-eight thousand 
 four hundred in the Mechanics', eighty-three thou- 
 sand ." "That'll do, that'll do," exclaimed 
 
 John Jacob, interrupting him. " It seems that 
 William can give you a check for your money." 
 
 Mr. Astor married shortly after his settlement 
 in America, and had four children two sons and 
 two daughters. He died on 29th March, 1848, at 
 his residence, Broadway, aged eighty-five years. 
 
 The singular life and growth in wealth of John 
 Jacob Astor offers many interesting reflections. 
 There is assuredly scarcely another individual who 
 has contrived to accumulate so much of the world's 
 capital. The Rothschilds and Barings have, it is 
 true, acquired magnificent fortunes through usury, 
 but the process has been infinitely more tedious 
 than that of Astor. Their money was acquired 
 through the exigencies of exchequers. Astor's 
 was gained in trade by what may be termed a 
 gigantic system of concentration, through which 
 the wealth of savage tribes was made to flow by 
 semi-civilized agents into the coffers of the priiiie 
 mover of the system. 
 
HUTTON, THE BOOKSELLER 
 
 WILLIAM HUTTOX, according to his very inter- 
 esting autobiography, was born in Derby, Eng- 
 land. He remarks that there were no prognosti- 
 cations prior to his birth, except that his father, a 
 day before, was chosen constable. But a circum- 
 stance occurred, which, he believes, never had hap- 
 pened before in his family the purchase of a 
 cheese, price half a guinea, so large as to merit a 
 wheel-barrow to bring it home. When about two 
 years and a half old he was sent to Mount Sorrel, 
 where he had an uncle, who was a bachelor ; also 
 a grandmother who kept his house. With this 
 uncle, and three crabbed aunts, all single, who re- 
 sided together at Swithland, about two miles dis- 
 tant from his uncle's, he lived alternately for about 
 fifteen months. Here he was put into breeches ; 
 but he was considered an interloper, and treated 
 with much ill-nature. One of his aunts was un- 
 happily addicted to drinking ; and he says, that 
 upon one occasion when ho was out with her, she 
 6 
 
122 MEN WHO HAVE RISEN. 
 
 called at an ale-house and got so very tipsy that 
 she could neither stand nor walk. This was a 
 scene that often occurred, and though he was very 
 young, it seems to have made such an impression 
 upon him as to cause him to look ever afterwards 
 upon this vice with disgust and abhorrence. His 
 father, too, was so given to the same debasing 
 habit that he squandered the pittance he was able 
 to earn as a journeyman wool-comber, while his 
 wife and family were oftentimes nearly starved for 
 want of bread. Between the age of four and six, 
 Hutton, by some contrivance or other, was sent to 
 school, where he was most harshly treated by his 
 teacher, who often took occasion to beat his head 
 against the wall, holding it by the hair, but with- 
 out being able to drive any learning into it, for he 
 hated all books but those containing pictures. 
 This was the only schooling he ever had. 
 
 When Hutton was six years old, consultations 
 were held about fixing him in some employment 
 for the benefit of the family. Winding quills for 
 the weaver was mentioned, but this was dropped. 
 Stripping tobacco for the grocer, in which he was 
 to earn four-pence a week, was also proposed ; but 
 it was at last concluded that he was too young for 
 any employment. The year following, however 
 he was placed in a silk mill in the town of Derby, 
 where for seven years he had to work ; rising at 
 five in the morning, summer and winter ; submit- 
 ting to the cane whenever his master thought pro- 
 per to make use of it; the constant companion of 
 
riUTTOX, THE BOOKSELLER, 123 
 
 the most rude and vulgar of the human race ; 
 never taught by nature, and never wishing to be 
 taught. In the year 1731, about Christmas, there 
 was a very sharp frost, followed by a thaw ; and 
 another frost, when the streets were again glazed 
 with ice. On awaking one night it seemed day- 
 light. Hutton rose in tears, being fearful of pun- 
 ishment, and went to his father's bedside to ask 
 what was the elock. He was told it was about 
 six. He then darted out in terror ; and from the 
 bottom of Fall-street to the top of Silkmill Lane, 
 not 200 yards, he fell down nine times. Observ- 
 ing no light in the mill, he perceived it was still 
 very early, and that the reflection of the snow 
 into his bed-room window must have deceived 
 him. As he was returning home it struck two. 
 
 On the 9th of March, 1731, the youth was so 
 unfortunate as to lose his mother. After her 
 death his father gave up housekeeping, sold the 
 furniture, and spent the money took lodgings 
 for himself and children with a widow, who had 
 four of her own. His mother dead, his father 
 continually at an ale-house, and himself among 
 stangers, his life was forlorn indeed! He was 
 almost without a home, nearly without clothes, 
 and his cupboard, we need scarcely add, was 
 scanty enough. At one time, he fasted from 
 breakfast one day till noon the next, and then 
 only dined upon flour and water boiled into a 
 hasty-pudding. He was also afflicted with the 
 hooping-cough and with boils, His master at the 
 
124: MEN WHO HAVE EISEX. 
 
 mill was very cruel to him ; he made a severe 
 wound in his back when beating him with a cane. 
 It grew gradually worse. In a succeeding punish- 
 ment the point of the cane struck the wound, 
 which brought it into such a state that mortifica- 
 tion was apprehended. His father was advised to 
 bathe him in Keddleston water. A cure was 
 effected, but he continued to carry the scar. 
 When his seven years' servitude at the silk mill 
 had expired, it was necessary to think of some 
 other trade. Hutton wished to be a gardener, 
 but his father opposed this, and to save himself 
 expense and trouble turned him over for another 
 term of years to his brother, a stocking-maker at 
 Nottingham. On being transferred from Derby 
 to Nottingham, he did not find that his condition 
 was much improved. His uncle acted in a very 
 friendly manner towards him, but his aunt was 
 mean and sneaking, and grudged him every meal 
 he ate. She kept a constant eye upon the food 
 and the feeder. This curb galled his mouth to 
 that degree, that he never afterwards ate at 
 another's table without fear. He had also to work 
 over-hours, early and late, to gain a trifle to clothe 
 himself with ; but so little was he able to earn, 
 that during even the severest part of the winter, 
 he was obliged to be content with a light thin 
 waistcoat, without a lining ; as for a coat, he could 
 not possibly get money enough to purchase one. 
 On the 12th of July, 1741, the ill treatment he 
 received from his uncle in the shape of a brutal 
 
HTTTTON THE JIOOKSELLEK. 
 
 'He had only twopence in hu pocket, a spacious world before Lim, and no plan of operaii 
 
 I'A'.K 1-J... 
 
HUTTOX, THE BOOKSELLER. 125 
 
 flogging, with a birch broom-handle of white 
 hazel, which almost killed him, caused him to run 
 away. He was then in his seventeenth year, and 
 was badly dressed, nearly five feet high, and 
 rather of Dutch make. He carried with him a 
 long narrow bag of brown leather, that would 
 hold about a bushel, in which was packed up a 
 new suit of clothes ; also a white linen bag which 
 would hold about half as much, containing a six- 
 penny loaf of the coarsest bread ; a bit of butter 
 wrapped in the leaves of an old copy book ; a new 
 Bible worth three shillings ; one shirt ; a pair of 
 stockings ; a sun-dial ; his best w^ig carefully 
 folded and laid at the top, that by lying in the 
 hollow r of the, bag it might not be crushed. The 
 ends of these two bags being tied together, he 
 flung them over his left shoulder, rather in the 
 style of a cock-fighter. Being unable to put his 
 hat into the bag, he hung it to the button of his 
 coat. He had only twopence in his pocket, a 
 spacious world before him, and no plan of opera- 
 tion. He carried neither a light heart nor a light 
 load ; and all that was light about him was the 
 sun in the heavens and the money in his pocket. 
 He steered his course to Derby, and near to that 
 town he slept in a field. The next morning he 
 arrived at Litchfield, and espying a barn in a field, 
 he thought it would afford him a comfortable 
 shelter; on approaching it, however, and trying 
 the door, he found it was locked. He then went 
 in search of another lodging, leaving his bags be- 
 
126 MEN WHO HAVE KISEK. 
 
 hind him ; to his horror, on returning for them, 
 he discovered that they had been stolen. Terror 
 seized him, he roared after the rascal, but might 
 as well have been silent, for thieves seldom come 
 at call. Running, roaring, and lamenting about 
 the fields and roads occupied some time. He was 
 too deeply plunged in distress to find relief in 
 tears. He described the bags and told the affair 
 to all he met ; and from all he found pity or seem- 
 ing pity, but redress from none. He saw his 
 hearers dwindle away with the summer twilight, 
 and by eleven o'clock he found himself in the open 
 street, left to tell his mournful tale to the silent 
 night. It is not easy to conceive a human being 
 in a more forlorn situation. His finances were 
 nothing ; he was a stranger to the world, and the 
 world was a stranger to him; no employment, 
 nor likely to procure any ; he had neither food to 
 eat nor a place to rest ; all the little property he 
 had upon earth had been taken from him ; nay, 
 even hope, that last and constant friend of the 
 unfortunate, well-nigh forsook him. In this miser- 
 able state of destitution he sought repose upon 
 a butcher's block. Next day he continued his 
 way to Birmingham, and on arriving there he was 
 much struck with the bustle and alacrity of the 
 people. He little thought then, that in the course 
 of nine years he should become a resident in it, 
 and thirty-nine years afterwards its historian. 
 Here he made various unsuccessful applications 
 for work. At night he sat down to rest upon the 
 
HUTTOX, THE BOOKSELLER. 127 
 
 iiorth side of the Old Cross, near Philip Street 
 the poorest of all the poor belonging to that great 
 parish, of which, twenty-seven years afterwards, 
 he became overseer. He sat under that roof a 
 silent, oppressed object, where, thirty-one years 
 afterwards, he sat to determine differences between 
 man and man. He next day proceeded to Coven- 
 try, where he slept at the Star Inn, not as a 
 chamber guest, but a hay-loft one. Not being 
 able to procure any work, he then steered his 
 course to Derby ; and finally, it was arranged that 
 he should return to Nottingham again, which he 
 accordingly did. His wretched and unhappy 
 ramble had damped his rising spirit it sunk him 
 in the eyes of his acquaintance, and he did not 
 recover his former balance for two years. It also 
 ruined him in point of dress, for he was not able 
 to re-assume his former appearance for a long time. 
 Hutton took a fancy to music, and purchased a 
 bell-harp. This was a source of pleasure during 
 many years. For six months he used every effort 
 that ingenuity could devise to bring something 
 like a tune out of this instrument ; still his pro- 
 gress was but slow. Like all others, however, 
 who ever have succeeded in any art or pursuit, 
 perseverance was his motto, and he kept the fol- 
 io whig couplet hi his memory : 
 
 " Despair of nothing that you would attain, 
 Unwearied diligence your point will gain ;" 
 
 and the difficulties that he at first had to contend 
 with soon vanished. 
 
128 MEN WHO HAVE RISEN. 
 
 As soon as his second apprenticeship was corn- 
 pleted, Hutton continued with his uncle as a jour- 
 neyman, in which capacity he was able to save a 
 little money. Having contracted a habit of read- 
 ing what books came in his way, he was now 
 enabled better to gratify this taste, by purchasing 
 a few works. Among others he bought three 
 volumes of the "Gentleman's Magazine," which, 
 being in a tattered state, he contrived to bind. 
 As the stocking trade was very bad, and would 
 not support him, he contrived, with considerable 
 difficulty, to learn the art of bookbinding, and 
 after the most devoted attention to it, he managed 
 to become pretty expert at it. In the year 1747 
 he set out for London, with the intention of try- 
 ing to gain his livelihood by his third trade. His 
 sister Catherine raised for him three guineas, 
 sewed them in his shirt collar, and he commenced 
 his arduous journey on Monday morning, the 8th 
 of April, at three o'clock. Not being used to 
 walk, his feet were blistered with the first ten 
 miles. He would not, however, succumb to the 
 pain and fatigue he experienced, but continued to 
 walk on until he had got over fifty-one miles. 
 On the Wednesday evening he arrived in London, 
 and took up his residence at an inn called the 
 " Horns," in Smithfield. He remained in London 
 a few days, but without being able to procure any 
 work, and, as he was entirely friendless, he thought 
 it the most prudent thing he could do to return 
 to Nottingham. He then took a shop at South- 
 
HUTTON, THE BOOKSELLER. 129 
 
 well, which he stocked with a quantity of old 
 books he had contrived to buy with his slender 
 finances. As he only attended at Southwell on 
 the market day, Saturday, he had to walk to that 
 place through all sorts of weather ; setting out 
 about five o'clock in the morning, opening shop 
 about ten, starving in it all day upon bread and 
 cheese and half-a-pint of ale ; taking about one 
 shilling and sixpence or two shillings, and then, 
 trudging through the solitary night for five hours, 
 he arrived at Nottingham again. Thus for some 
 time he continued to work at the stocking-frame 
 during the first five days of the week, and to 
 attend at Southwell on the Saturday ; and al- 
 though he worked early and late, and practiced 
 the most rigid economy, he could scarcely get his 
 daily bread. Never despairing of success, he looked 
 out for a shop in Birmingham, and removed to 
 that town. He had arranged with a poor woman 
 who resided at No. 6 Bull Street, for part of her 
 small shop, agreeing to pay her one shilling a-week 
 for the use of it. He was also, through the kind- 
 ness of a clergyman, enabled to make a better 
 show than he had hitherto done in point of stock. 
 This gentleman had a quantity of old books, which 
 he let Hutton have upon his signing a note to the 
 effect that he would pay him when he was able. 
 
 Hutton soon was able, and discharged the debt 
 
 accordingly. "First creep and then go," is a 
 
 popular remark. This seems to have been the 
 
 maxim on which the subject of this memoir acted. 
 
 9 
 
130 MEN WHO HAVE EISEN. 
 
 He could not possibly have started in business 
 with less means: we shall see how he contrived to 
 get on. When he first opened his Birmingham 
 shop, everything around him seemed gloomy and 
 disheartening, but he managed to keep up his 
 spirits, and practicing his usual rigid economy, he 
 saved during the first year 20. By degrees his 
 business increased, and he took larger premises. 
 
 In the year 1755, Hutton married a young 
 woman, with whom he had a dowry of 100, and, 
 as he had saved 200 himself, he was placed in a 
 situation to extend his business by adding to it the 
 sale of paper. He had now gained a good foot- 
 ing upon the road to wealth, and he followed 
 it up with such ardor and industry, that the re- 
 sults were splendid and triumphant. In 1772, 
 Hutton was chosen one of the Commissioners of 
 the Court of Requests, to the onerous and gratui- 
 tous duties of which he devoted himself during a 
 period of nineteen years. In the year 1776, he 
 purchased a good deal of land, and as he kept 
 adding to his acres, he became a very extensive 
 landed proprietor in the course of a few years. 
 
 We have, as yet, only noticed William Hutton 
 as the poor, miserable, ill-treated, ill-fed, and ill- 
 clad mill-boy, weaver, and bookseller, gradually 
 making his way through * all sorts of hardships, to 
 competency and station. We have now to speak 
 of him as an author. In the year 1780, at the 
 age of fifty-seven, he published a " History of 
 Birmingham," which has always been looked upon 
 
BUTTON, THE BOOKSELLER. 131 
 
 as a standard book of the kind. He afterwards 
 wrote and published the following works: "The 
 Journey to London ; " " The History of Black- 
 pool;" "The Battle of Bosworth Field, with a 
 Life of Richard III., till he assumed the regal 
 power;" "The History of Derby;" "The Bar- 
 bers, a poem;" "A History of the Roman Wall 
 which crosses the island of Britain, from the Ger- 
 man Ocean to the Irish Sea ; describing its ancient 
 appearance and present state." For the purpose 
 of producing a correct work on the last-named 
 subject, Hutton, at the age of seventy-eight years, 
 took a journey of six hundred miles on foot for 
 the purpose of exploring the wall. In this jour- 
 ney he was accompanied by his daughter Cathe- 
 rine, who traveled on horseback. She says, in a 
 letter written to one of her friends, " that such 
 was the enthusiasm of her father with regard to 
 the wall, that he turned neither to the right nor 
 to the left, except to gratify me with a sight of 
 Liverpool. Windermere he saw, and Ullswater 
 he saw, because they lay under his feet, but noth- 
 ing could detain him from his grand object. On 
 our return," she continues, " walking through 
 Ashton, a village in Lancashire, a dog flew at my 
 father and bit his leg, making a wound about the 
 size of sixpence. I found him sitting in the inn 
 at Newton, where we had appointed to breakfast, 
 deploring the accident and dreading its conse- 
 quences. They were to be dreaded. The leg 
 had got a hundred miles to walk in extreme hot 
 
132 MEN WHO HAVE KISEtf. 
 
 weather. I comforted my father. 'Now,' said 
 I, ' you will reap the fruit of your temperance. 
 You have put no strong liquors or high sauces 
 into your leg ; you eat but when you are hungry, 
 and drink but when you are thirsty, and this will 
 enable your leg to carry you home.' The event 
 showed I was right. When we had got within 
 four days of our journey's end, I could no longer 
 restrain my father. We made forced marches, 
 and if we had had a little further to go the foot 
 would fairly have knocked up the horse. The 
 pace he went did not even fatigue his shoes. He 
 walked the whole six hundred miles in one pair, 
 and scarcely made a hole in his stockings." 
 
 IJp to the age of eighty-five, Button continued 
 his career as an author. He still enjoyed at that 
 great age the use of his faculties and health. He 
 had now retired to his country seat and set up his 
 carriage, enjoying himself in agricultural and in- 
 tellectual pursuits. His last years were indeed 
 all happiness and sunshine, if the morning of his 
 life, as he observes, was gloomy and lowering. At 
 the age of ninety, this exemplary man sunk into 
 the arms of death from the exhaustion of old age. 
 
 PASSAGES FKOM THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF WILLIAM 
 HUTTON. 
 
 1741. What the mind is bent upon obtaining, 
 the hancVseldom fails in accomplishing. I detested 
 the frame, as totally unsuitable to my temper; 
 therefore I produced no more profit than necessity 
 
IIUTTOX, THE BOOKSELLER. 133 
 
 demanded. I made shift, however, with a little 
 overwork and a little credit, to raise a genteel 
 suit of clothes, fully adequate to the sphere in 
 which I moved. The girls eyed me with some at- 
 tention ; nay, I eyed myself as much as any of 
 them. 
 
 1743. At Whitsuntide I went to see my father, 
 and was favorably received by my acquaintance. 
 One of them played upon the bell-harp. I was 
 charmed with the sound, and agreed for the price, 
 when I could raise the sum, half a crown. 
 
 At Michaelmas I went to Derby, to pay for and 
 bring back my bell-harp, whose sound I thought 
 seraphic. This opened a scene of pleasure which 
 continued many years. Music was my daily study 
 and delight. But perhaps I labored under greater 
 difficulties than any one had done before me. I 
 could not afford an instructor. I had no books, 
 nor could I borrow or buy ; neither had I a friend 
 to give me the least hint, or put my instrument in 
 tune. 
 
 Thus was I in the situation of a first inventor, 
 left to grope in the dark to find something. I 
 had first my ear to bring into tune, before I could 
 tune the instrument ; for the ear is the foundation 
 of all music. That is the best tune which best 
 pleases the ear, and he keeps the best time who 
 draws the most music from his tune. 
 
 For six months did I use every effort to bring 
 a tune out of an instrument which was so dread- 
 fully out, it had no tune in it. Assiduity never 
 
MEN WHO HAVE KISEN. 
 
 forsooK me. I was encouraged by a couplet I had 
 seen in Dyce's Spelling-book : 
 
 " Despair of nothing that you would attain, 
 Unwearied diligence your point will gain 1 " 
 
 When I was able to lay a foundation, the im- 
 provement and the pleasure were progressive 
 Wishing to rise, I borrowed a dulcimer, made one 
 by it, then learned to play upon it. But in the 
 fabrication of this instrument, I had neither timber 
 to work upon, tools to work with, nor money to 
 purchase either. It is said, " Necessity is the 
 mother of invention." I pulled a large trunk to 
 pieces, one of the relics of my family, but formerly 
 the property of Thomas Parker, the first Earl of 
 Macclesfield ; and as to tools, I considered that 
 the hammer-key and the plyers belonging to the 
 stocking-frame, would supply the place of hammer 
 and pincers. My pocket-knife was all the edge- 
 tools I could raise ; a fork, with one limb, was 
 made to act in the double capacity of spring-awl 
 and gimlet. 
 
 I quickly was master of this piece of music ; for 
 if a man can play upon one instrument he can soon 
 learn upon any. 
 
 A young man, apprentice to a baker, happen- 
 ing to see the dulcimer, asked if I could perform 
 upon it. Struck with the sound, and with seeing 
 me play with what he thought great ease, he 
 asked if I would part with the instrument, and at 
 what price ? I answered in the affirmative, and, 
 for sixteen shillings. He gave it. I told him, " If 
 
IIBTTOX, THE BOOKSELLER. 135 
 
 he wanted advice, or his instrument wanted 
 tuning, I would assist him." " O no ; there's not 
 a doubt but I shall do." I bought a coat with the 
 money, and constructed a better instrument. 
 
 1746. An inclination for books began to ex- 
 pand ; but here, as in music and dress, money was 
 wanting. The first article of purchase was three 
 volumes of the "Gentleman's Magazine," 1742, 
 3, and 4. As I could not afford, to pay for bind- 
 ing, I fastened them together in a most cobbled 
 style. These afforded me a treat. I could only 
 raise books of small value, and these in worn-out 
 bindings. I learned to patch, procured paste, 
 varnish, <fce., and brought them into tolerable 
 order ; erected shelves, and arranged them in the 
 best manner I was able. If I purchased shabby 
 books, it is no wonder that I dealt with a shabby 
 bookseller, who kept his working apparatus in his 
 shop. It is no wonder, too, if by repeated visits 
 I became acquainted with this shabby bookseller, 
 and often saw him at work ; but it is a wonder 
 and a fact, that I never saw him perform one act 
 but I could perform it myself ; so strong was the 
 desire to attain the art. I made no secret of my 
 progress, and the bookseller rather encouraged 
 me, and for two reasons : I bought such rubbish 
 as nobody else would ; and he had often an 
 opportunity o/ selling me a cast-off tool for a 
 shilling, not worth a penny. As I was below 
 every degree of opposition, a rivalship was out of 
 the question. The first book I bound was a very 
 
136 MEN WHO HAVE KISEN. 
 
 small one Shakspeare's " Venus and Adonis." I 
 showed it to the bookseller. He seemed sur- 
 prised. I could see jealousy in his eye. However, 
 he recovered in a moment. He had no doubt but 
 I should break. He offered me a worn-down 
 press for two shillings, which no man could use, 
 and which was laid by for the fire. I considered 
 the nature of its construction, bought it, and paid 
 the two shillings. I then asked him to favor me 
 with a hammer and a pin, which he brought with 
 half a conquering smile and half a sneer. I drove 
 out the garter-pin, which, being galled, prevented 
 the press from working, and turned another square, 
 which perfectly cured the press. He said in anger, 
 " If I had known, you should not have had it." 
 However, I could see he consoled himself with 
 the idea that all must return in the end. This 
 proved for forty-two years my best binding press. 
 I now purchased a tolerably genteel suit of clothes, 
 and was so careful of them, lest I should not be 
 able to procure another, that they continued my 
 best for five years. The stocking-frame being 
 my own, the trade being dead, the hosiers would 
 not employ me ; they could scarcely employ their 
 own frames. I was advised to try Leicester, and 
 took with me half-a-dozen pair of stockings to 
 sell. I visited several warehouses ; but, alas ! all 
 proved blank. They would neither employ me, 
 nor give for my goods anything near prime cost. 
 As I stood like a culprit before a gentleman of 
 the name of Bennet, I was so affected that I burst 
 
1IUTTON, TilE BOOKSKLLEE. 137 
 
 into tears, to think that I should have served seven 
 years to a trade at which I could not get bread- 
 My sister took a house, and, to soften the rent, 
 my brother and I lodged with her. 
 
 1747. It had been the pride of my life, ever 
 since pride commenced, to wear a watch. I 
 bought a silver one for thirty-five shillings. It 
 went ill. I kept it four years, then gave that and 
 a guinea for another, which went as ill. I after- 
 wards exchanged this for a brass one, which, 
 going no better, I sold it for five shillings ; and, 
 to complete the watch farce, I gave the five 
 shillings away, and went without a watch thirty 
 years. 
 
 I had promised to visit my father on Whitsun 
 eve, at Derby. Business detained me till it was 
 eleven at night before I arrived. Expectation 
 had for some time been on the stretch, and was 
 now giving way. My father being elevated with 
 liquor, and by my arrival, rose in ecstacy, and gave 
 me the first kiss, and, I believe, the last, he ever 
 gave me. 
 
 This year I began to dip into rhyme. The 
 stream was pleasant, though I doubt whether it 
 flowed from Helicon. Many little pieces were the 
 produce of my pen, which perhaps pleased ; how- 
 ever, they gave no offence, for they slept on my 
 shelf till the rioters burnt them in 1791. 
 
 1748. Every soul who knew me scoffed at the 
 idea of my bookbinding, except my sister, who 
 encouraged and aided me ; otherwise I must have 
 
1 38 MEN WHO HAVE KISEN. 
 
 sunk under it. I considered that I was naturally 
 of a frugal temper ; that I could watch every 
 penny ; live up a little ; that I hated stocking- 
 making, but not bookbinding ; that if I continued 
 at the frame, I was certain to be poor ; and if I 
 ventured to leave it, I could not be so. My only 
 fear was lest I should draw in my friends ; for I 
 had nothing of my own. I had frequently heard 
 that every man had, some time or other in his life, 
 an opportunity of rising. As this was a received 
 opinion, I would not contradict it. I had, however, 
 watched many years for the high tide of my affairs, 
 but thought it never yet had reached me. I still 
 pursued the two trades. Hurt to see my three 
 volumes of magazines in so degraded a state, I took 
 them to pieces, and clothed them in a superior 
 dress. 
 
 1749. It was now time to look out for a future 
 place of residence. A large town must be the 
 mark, or there would be no room for exertion. 
 London was thought of, between my sister and 
 me, for I had no soul else to consult. This was 
 rejected for two reasons. I could not venture into 
 such a place without a capital, and my work was 
 not likely to pass among a crowd of judges. My 
 plan was to fix upon some market town, within a 
 stage of Nottingham, and open shop there on the 
 market day, till I should be better prepared to be- 
 gin the world at Birmingham. 
 
 I fixed upon Southwell as the first step of eleva- 
 tion. It was fourteen miles distant, and the town 
 
nUTTON, THE BOOKSELLER. 139 
 
 as despicable as the road to it. I went over at 
 Michaelmas, took a shop at the rate of twenty 
 shillings a-year, sent a few boards for shelves, a 
 few tools, and about two hundred weight of trash^ 
 which might be dignified with the name of books, 
 and worth, perhaps, a year's rent of my shop. I 
 was my own joiner, put up the shelves and their 
 furniture, and in one day became the most eminent 
 bookseller in the place. 
 
 During this rainy winter, I set out at five every 
 Saturday morning, carried a burden of from three 
 pounds' weight to thirty, opened shop at ten, 
 starved in it all day upon bread, cheese, and half- 
 a-pint of ale, took from one to six shillings, shut 
 up at four, and, by trudging through the solitary 
 night and the deep roads five hours more, I 
 arrived at Nottingham at nine, where I always 
 found a mess of milk porridge by the fire, prepared 
 by my valuable sister. Nothing short of a sur- 
 prising resolution and rigid economy could have 
 carried me through this scene. 
 
 1750. Returning to Nottingham, I gave warn- 
 ing to quit at Southwell, and prepared for a total 
 change of life. 
 
 On the 10th of April, I entered Birmingham for 
 the third time, to try if I could be accommodated 
 with a small shop. If I could procure any situa- 
 tion, I should be in the way of procuring a better. 
 On the llth I traveled the streets of Birmingham, 
 agreed with Mrs. Dix for the lesser half of her 
 shop, No. 6 in Bull Street, at one shilling a-week ; 
 
140 MEN AV1IO HAVE lilSEJST. 
 
 and slept at Lit oilfield on my way back to Not- 
 tingham. 
 
 On May 13th, Mr. Rudsdall, a dissenting 
 minister of Gainsborough, with whom my sister 
 had lived as a servant, traveling from Nottingham 
 to Stamford, requested my company, and offered 
 to pay my expenses, and give me eighteen pence 
 a day for my time. The afternoon Avas wet in the 
 extreme. He asked why I did not bring my 
 great-coat ? Shame forbade an answer, or I could 
 have said I had none. The water completely 
 soaked through my clothes, but, not being able 
 to penetrate the skin, it filled my boots. Arriving 
 at the inn, every traveler, I found, was wet ; and 
 every one produced a change of apparel but me. 
 I was left out because the house could produce no 
 more. I was obliged to sit the whole evening in 
 my drenched garments, and to put them on nearly 
 as wet on my return the next morning ! What 
 could I expect but destruction ? Fortunately I 
 sustained no injury. 
 
 It happened that Mr. Rudsdall now declined 
 housekeeping, his wife being dead. He told my 
 sister that he should part with the refuse of his 
 library, and would sell it to me. She replied, 
 " He has no money." " We will not differ about 
 that. Let him come to Gainsborough ; he shall 
 have the books at his own price." I walked to 
 Gainsborough on the 15th of May, stayed there 
 the 16th, and came back on the 17th. 
 
 The books were about two hundred pounds' 
 
nUTTON, THE BOOKSELLER. 141 
 
 weight. Mr. Rudsdall gave me his corn-chest for 
 their deposit ; and for payment drew the following 
 note, which I signed : " I promise to pay to Am- 
 brose Rudsdall, one pound seven shillings, when I 
 am able." Mr. Rudsdall observed, "You never 
 need pay this note if you only say you are not 
 able." The books made a better show, and were 
 more valuable than all I possessed beside. 
 
 I had now a most severe trial to undergo ; part- 
 ing with my friends, and residing wholly among 
 strangers. May 23d, I left Nottingham, and I 
 arrived at Birmingham on the 25th. Having little 
 to do but look into the street, it seemed singular 
 to see thousands of faces pass, and not one that I 
 knew. I had entered a new world, in which I led 
 a melancholy life a life of silence and tears. 
 Though a young man, and of rather a cheerful 
 turn, it was remarked " that I was never seen to 
 smile." The rude family into which I was cast 
 added to the load of melancholy. 
 
 My brother came to see me about six weeks 
 after my arrival, to whom I observed, that the 
 trade had fully supported me. Five shillings 
 a-week covered every expense as food, rent, 
 washing, lodging, &c. Thus a solitary year rolled 
 round, when a few young men of elevated cha- 
 racter and sense took notice of me. I had saved 
 about twenty pounds, and was become more re- 
 conciled to my situation. The first who took a 
 fancy to me was Samuel Salte, a mercer's appren- 
 tice, who, five years after, resided in London, 
 
14:2 HEX WHO HAVE KISEN. 
 
 where he acquired 100,000. He died in 
 Our intimacy lasted his life. 
 
 In this first opening of prosperity, an unfortun- 
 ate circumstance occurred which gave me great 
 uneasiness, as it threatened totally to eclipse the 
 small prospect before me. The overseers, fearful 
 I should become chargeable to the parish, exam- 
 ined me with regard to my settlement ; and, with 
 the voice of authority, ordered me to procure a 
 certificate, or they would remove me. Terrified, 
 I wrote to my father, who returned for answer, 
 " That All Saints, in Derby, never granted certi- 
 ficates." 
 
 I was hunted by ill-nature two years. I re- 
 peatedly offered to pay the levies, which was re- 
 fused. A succeeding overseer, a draper, of whom 
 I had purchased two suits of clothes, value 10, 
 consented to take them. The scruple exhibited a 
 short sight, a narrow principle, and the exultations 
 of power over the defenceless. 
 
 Among others who wished to serve me, I had 
 two friends, Mr. Dowler, a surgeon, who resided 
 opposite me, and Mr. Grace, a hosier at the Gate- 
 way, in the High Street. Great consequences 
 often arise from small things. The house adjoin- 
 ing that of Mr. Grace's was to be let. My friends 
 both urged me to take it. I was frightened at the 
 rent, eight pounds. However, one drew, and the 
 other pushed, till they placed me there. A small 
 house is too large for a man without furniture, and 
 n small rent maybe too large for an income which 
 
HUTTON, THE BOOKSELLER. 143 
 
 has nothing certain in it but the smallness. Hav- 
 ing felt the extreme of poverty, I dreaded nothing 
 so much ; but I believed I had seized the tide, and 
 I was unwilling to stop. Here I pursued business 
 in a more elevated style, and with more success. 
 
 No event in a man's life is more consequential 
 than marriage, nor is any more uncertain. Upon 
 this die his sum of happiness depends. Pleasing 
 views arise, which vanish as a cloud ; because, 
 like that, they have no foundation. Circum- 
 stances change, and tempers with them. Let a 
 man's prior judgment be ever so sound, he cannot 
 foresee a change ; therefore he is liable to deception. 
 I was deceived myself, but, thanks to my kind fate, 
 it was on the right side. I found in my wife more 
 than I ever expected to find in woman. Just in 
 proportion as I loved her, I must regret her loss. 
 If my father, with whom I only lived fourteen 
 years, who loved me less, and has been gone forty, 
 never is a day out of my thoughts, what must be 
 my thoughts towards her, who loved me as her- 
 self, and with whom I resided an age ! 
 
 1 756. My dear wife brought me a little daugh- 
 ter, who has been the pleasure of my life to this 
 day. We had now a delightful plaything for both. 
 
 Robert Bage, an old and intimate friend, and a 
 paper-maker, took me to his inn, where w r e spent 
 the evening. He proposed that I should sell paper 
 for him, which I might either buy on my own ac- 
 count, or sell on his by commission. As I could 
 spare one or tvro hundred pounds, T chose to pur- 
 
144: MEN WHO HAVE KISEN. 
 
 chase ; therefore appropriated a room for the re- 
 ception of goods, and hung out a sign The Paper 
 Warehouse. From this small hint I followed the 
 stroke forty years, and acquired an ample fortune. 
 
 1763. We took several pleasurable journeys; 
 among others, one at Aston, and in a superior 
 style to what we had done before. This is the 
 peculiar privilege of us Birmingham men: if ever 
 we acquire five pounds extraordinary, we take care 
 to show it. 
 
 1764. Every man has his hobby-horse, and it is 
 no disgrace prudently to ride him. He is the pru- 
 dent man who can introduce cheap pleasures with- 
 out impeding business. About ten of us, intimate 
 friends, amused ourselves with playing at tennis. 
 Entertained with the diversion, we erected a tennis- 
 court, and met on fine evenings for amusement, 
 without expense. I was constituted steward of our 
 little fraternity. My family continued their jour- 
 neys, and were in a prosperous state. 
 
FKA^KLIN, THE NAYIGATOE. 
 
 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN was born in the year 1786, 
 of a respectable family in Lincolnshire, England, 
 possessed for several centuries of an estate and 
 position which very probably gave them their 
 name originally. The father of Sir John was com- 
 pelled to part with the patrimonial estate, and 
 sent his children into active life, upon very slender 
 means, and without interest with which to work 
 'their way to distinction. 
 
 John, the youngest of four sons, was destined by 
 his father for the Church, or for agricultural pur- 
 suits ; but he showed so strong a predilection for 
 the sea, that he was allowed to have his way, and 
 entered the navy on the 1st of October, 1800, at 
 the age of fourteen, on board the Polyphemus, 
 sixty-four gun-ship. He was present at the 
 action off Copenhagen in 1801. Immediately 
 afterwards, one phase of his career of exploration 
 commenced. He was one of the party in the In- 
 vestigator under his relative Captain Flinders, and 
 10 
 
146 MEN V\ T IIO HAVE RISEN. 
 
 though only a, young midshipman, was personally 
 associated with his Commander in all his explora- 
 tions and survey of the coasts of Australia, and 
 suffered shipwreck with him in Torres Straits, 
 near Cato Bank, in August, 1803. A worthy 
 beginning it was for that adventurous career, self- 
 adopted, and nobly carried out in after days. The 
 Earl Cam den, an East Indiaman, conveyed Frank- 
 lin home, and he distinguished himself highly even 
 on this incidental passage, aiding in the repulse of 
 the French squadron under Linois. Bonaparte was 
 then contesting the seas most futilely. 
 
 As signal-midshipman in the Bellerophon, Frank- 
 lin was present at Trafalgar, on the 21st of Octo- 
 ber, 1805 ; and during the succeeding years, rising 
 to the rank of lieutenant, he served at Flushing, 
 and afterwards at New Orleans (1814). During 
 the engagements at the latter place, he command- 
 ed some of the boats of the British squadron 
 which captured the strong gun-boats of the Amer-' 
 icans, after a hard struggle and severe losses. The 
 attempted siege ended unhappily for the British ; 
 to Franklin, however, the campaign brought a 
 more solid reward, in the shape of a strong recom- 
 mendation for immediate promotion. He had, 
 indeed, not only proved his merits professionally, 
 but he had shown himself to be a man of ready 
 resources in all departments of action. He had, 
 in short, given an indication of those general and 
 superior abilities which afterwards came more fully 
 to light during his arctic explorations. 
 
FJRANKLIN, THE NAVIGATOR. 
 
 Franklin, after serving in the interval as first 
 lieutenant of the Fourth, at length made his debut 
 in the field of Northern Discovery in 1818. At 
 this period, Captain David Buchan, of the Doro- 
 thea, 370 tons, had been instructed to attempt 
 (as Parry did afterwards) a direct northern passage, 
 that is, to and through the very centre of the 
 polar circle ; and Franklin, his chosen colleague, 
 was nominated to the command of the Trent, a 
 hired vessel of 250 tons. The enterprising navi- 
 gators set sail in the spring of the year mentioned 
 and made for Spitzbergen. On arriving there 
 they endeavored several times to pass north- 
 wards, but could not get beyond latitude 80 deg. 
 15 min., where they were locked up for three 
 weeks in the ice. They tried the east coast of 
 Greenland on being released, but were again 
 baffled by the ice. It gave worthy occasion to try 
 the patience and courage of Franklin, the dangers 
 undergone being inconceivably great. Buchan 
 and his colleague arrived in England in October, 
 1818, Franklin having vainly sought permission 
 from his commanding officer to prosecute the voy- 
 age alone ; a request very naturally denied him, 
 on account of the injury which the vessels had re- 
 ceived. 
 
 The eyes of the British Government, as well as 
 of all interested in arctic discovery, were now 
 fixed on Lieutenant Franklin, as a man possessed 
 of every leading quality requisite for conducting 
 these honorable and perilous northern explora- 
 
1-48 MEN WHO HAVE KISEJST. 
 
 tions. In 1819, accordingly, he was selected for 
 the great enterprise of descending the Copper- 
 mine River, which, like Mackenzie River, carries 
 a portion of the waters of Arctic North America 
 into the Polar Ocean, and the course of which 
 had never before been specially investigated. 
 The mouth of the Coppermine once reached, 
 Franklin was directed to make his Avay along the 
 vast and yet almost unknown line of coast to the 
 westward, that is, towards Behring's Straits. This 
 task, involving a guideless peregrination of im- 
 mense length, and in a clime of surpassing severity, 
 was certainly one of the most formidable that 
 could be undertaken by man ; but with his admi- 
 rable coadjutors, Lieutenants Back and Hood and 
 Dr. Richardson, Franklin manfully girded up his 
 loins for the adventure. On the 23d of May, 1819, 
 he set sail in a ship belonging to the Hudson's 
 Bay Company, and, after narrowly escaping ship- 
 wreck, crossed Hudson's Bay safely, and arrived 
 at York Factory on its western shores. Here a 
 strong boat was built for the party, and, on the 
 9th of September, they began to ascend Hayes 
 River, on their inland route to the Coppermine. 
 Seven hundred miles of river transit were accom- 
 plished by them at this period, a feat rendered 
 alike difficult and perilous by falls, rapids, swamps, 
 and countless other obstacles. A valuable chart 
 resulted from this part of the journey. Reaching 
 Cumberland House, a station on Pine Island Lake, 
 on the close of October, the setting in of the ice 
 
THE NAVIGATOE. 149 
 
 compelled Franklin to pause till January, when, 
 accompanied by Back, and a faithful seaman 
 named Hepburn (to whose fidelity and hardihood 
 the whole party afterwards owned themselves to 
 have been more than once indebted for their lives), 
 the commander moved westwards for another 
 eight hundred and fifty miles, and reached Fort 
 Chipewyan on the 20th March. Another impor- 
 tant inland chart was the product of this excursion. 
 The station of Fort Chipewyan is situated on the 
 Lake Athabasca, into which Slave River flows 
 from the Great Slave Lake. The locality lies 
 towards the centre of Arctic America, or about 
 latitude 110 deg., and was reached by Franklin 
 chiefly by the aid of dogs and sledges. Many 
 interesting observations were made about this 
 period by Franklin, Back, Hood, and Richardson, 
 on the Cree, Chipewyan, and Stone Indians, and 
 on the native features and productions of the 
 country generally ; while Lieutenant Hood also 
 indefatigably pursued a course of meteorogieax 
 and other scientific inquiries. But attention must 
 be confined here mainly to the contributions of 
 Franklin to geognostic science. 
 
 Ah 1 this while Franklin was drawing near to 
 the upper part of the course of the Coppermine, 
 and, being joined at Fort Chipewyan in July by 
 Richardson and Hood, he entertained strong 
 hopes of wintering at the mouth of the river men- 
 tioned, the grand object of his enterprise. Hav- 
 ing obtained three canoes and various supplies of 
 
150 MEN WHO HAVE RISEN. 
 
 food and ammunition, the whole party started 
 briskly for the north, along Slave River. Six 
 Englishmen (Mr. Wentzel of the Fur Company 
 having joined the corps), seventeen hired Canadian 
 voyageurs (all French or half-breeds), and three 
 interpreters, constituted, at this period, the expe- 
 dition ; and a considerable number of Indians, 
 also, were engaged as guides and hunters, under 
 the leadership of a chief named Akaitcho. All 
 went well for a tune ; deer were shot plentifully ; 
 but as the party moved northwards the hardships 
 of the route grew severe, and food more scarce. 
 All that Franklin could accomplish that season 
 was merely to behold the Coppermine River. 
 Fain would he have borne all risks, and attempted 
 its descent, but Akaitcho told him that he would 
 do so only to perish. " I will send some of my 
 young men with you if you persist in advancing, 
 but from the moment that they embark in your 
 canoes I and my relatives shall lament them as 
 dead." The English commander was therefore 
 compelled to settle in winter quarters, which he 
 did at a place termed Fort Enterprise, near the 
 head of the Coppermine, and distant five hundred 
 and fifty miles from Fort Chipewyan. The ad- 
 venturers had now advanced about one thousand 
 five hundred and twenty miles, in the course of 
 1820, into the heart of these obscure and perilous 
 regions. 
 
 As strong a winter-house of wood being erected 
 as possible, the party passed their time for some 
 
FRANKLIN, THE NAVIGATOR. 151 
 
 months mainly in shooting and fishing. But, 
 though the reindeer were pretty numerous, and 
 nearly two hundred fell before the hunters, the 
 influx of famished Indians to the station greatly 
 lessened the stores and curtailed the provisions. 
 The ordinary condition of the poor native people 
 may be guessed from their own words. Some- 
 times they generously gave the whole of their 
 own game to the strangers, saying, " We are used 
 to starvation, you are not." At this time fresh 
 supplies of amunition and other articles were 
 indispensable to the progress of the enterprise, 
 and Back undertook a foot journey to Fort Chip- 
 ewyan to procure what was requisite. Perhaps 
 his passage of the intervening five hundred miles, 
 in the midst of an arctic winter, when noon is 
 almost midnight, formed one of the most severe 
 trials of this whole journey. At a distance of a 
 few feet from the house fires, the thermometer 
 stood at fifteen below zero, and we may thus con- 
 jecture what Back had to endure while camping 
 nightly out of doors. He and his comrades were 
 even exposed to painful changes of temperature, 
 causing a French-Canadian to say, " It is terrible, 
 to be frozen and sun-burnt in one day." The 
 heavy snow-shoes, too, galled their feet and ankles, 
 till they bled profusely. Nevertheless, Back man* 
 aged to return safely to Fort Enterprise, with 
 four sledges laden with needful goods and supplies. 
 Others followed, and still more were promised for 
 prospective necessities. 
 
152 MEN WHO HAVE BISEN. 
 
 In the beginning of July, 1821, tne party ap- 
 proached and began to descend the Coppermine 
 River, two frail canoes being their sole means of 
 conveyance. At the outset, Akaitcho and his In- 
 dians accompanied them, and, by hunting on 
 shore, kept up a decent supply of food. After a 
 painful route of three hundred and thirty-four 
 miles, one hundred and seventeen of which were 
 accomplished by dragging the canoes over land, 
 Franklin at length found himself (19th July) on 
 the shores of the great Northern Ocean. The 
 Indians had now gone back, partly alarmed by a 
 meeting with a small Esquimaux party, their 
 enemies. Provisions now ran low with the expe- 
 dition, and the Canadian voyageurs expressed 
 great fears at embarking on an unknown sea in 
 frail bark canoes. But, after having made all pos- 
 sible preparations (through the returning Indians 
 and Mr. Wentzel) for obtaining food at different 
 land stations on the way back, Franklin boldly 
 launched on the polar main, and moved west- 
 wards, or in the direction of Behring's Straits. 
 It is unnecessary to dwell on the toils and dangers 
 of the subsequent sea voyage. They advanced only 
 six degrees and a half along the coast, in a direct 
 line, though bays, and gulfs, and islands lengthened 
 their actual route to six hundred and fifty miles. 
 Necessities of all kinds at length began to press 
 upon the party, and compelled Franklin to turn 
 back. He resolved to make his way to Fort 
 Enterprise by a river which had been passed on 
 
FKANKLIN, THE NAVIGATOE. 153 
 
 his advance, and which he had called Hood's 
 River, but the expedition had only ascended this 
 stream for a few miles, when they were completely 
 stopped by a magnificent cataract; and they then 
 set to work to make two new and small portable 
 canoes, with which they might proceed inland, 
 taking to the waters when they found it practi- 
 cable, or crossing them when necessary. They 
 counted their direct distance from Fort Enter- 
 prise to be no more than one hundred and forty 
 miles, and all were in high spirits at the thoughts 
 of rest there and good food. This journey, how- 
 ever trifling seemingly to what they had before 
 performed, was destined to be a terrible and fatal 
 one. It was commenced early in the month of 
 September, and during the first few miles they 
 were ominously met by a snow-storm, which ab- 
 solutely drove them to hide under their blankets 
 for two entire days. Their preserved meat failed 
 them, and they had no resource, when they re- 
 sumed their path, save to eat tripe-de-roche, a sort of 
 lichen or moss found on the rocks. The deer rarely 
 appeared in their way, and still more rarely could 
 they kill them when seen. All the band began 
 to feel the horrors of starvation, and to sink under 
 the clime. Their bodies became miserably ema- 
 ciated, and a mile or two formed a heavy days' 
 journey. The Canadians grew unmanageable 
 through despair, and at length both canoes were 
 lost, or rather Avillfully destroyed, the men refusing 
 to drag them along. The consequences of this 
 
154: MEN WHO HAVE KISEN. 
 
 conduct of the Canadians, against which Franklin 
 remonstrated in vain, became tbo plainly apparent 
 when they did finally reach the Coppermine. 
 For eight days the famished band stood shivering 
 on the banks of the river, unable to get across, 
 though its width was but one hundred and thirty 
 yards. The brave Richardson finally offered to 
 swim over with a line, which might have got a 
 raft across, but, after going half way, he sank, and 
 had to be pulled back, nearly dead. At last, a 
 sort of wicker boat, lined with painted cloth, took 
 them all safely over the stream; but, in their 
 wretched condition of body, supported by almost 
 nothing save tripe-de-roche (which could scarcely 
 be called nutriment, and injured many of the 
 eaters), they could only advance by inches, as it 
 were, though Fort Enterprise was now within forty 
 or fifty miles of them in a direct line. Snows and 
 rains fell upon them incessantly ; they had stream 
 after stream to cross ; and fuel often failed as well 
 as food. Two of the men dropped behind, sinking 
 on the ground, benumbed with cold, and incapable 
 of motion. Dr. Richardson and Hood, with Hep- 
 burn, resolved, for the sake of these men, to encamp 
 for a time, and allow Franklin with the rest to go 
 forward, in the hope of procuring aid at Fort En- 
 terprise from the Indians. The adventures of 
 Richardson at this encampment are thrillingly in- 
 teresting. The two men who had fallen behind 
 perished, but the doctor and his friends were 
 joined by one of the vovageurs, who had fallen 
 
FKANKLIX, THE NAVIGATOE. 155 
 
 back, finding himself (as he said) unable to go on 
 with Franklin. This individual, an Iroquois or 
 half breed voyageur, named Michel, grew strong, 
 comparatively, and was able to hunt. He brought 
 to the tent pieces of flesh, which he said had been 
 part of a wolf killed by a deer's horn. Later cir- 
 cumstances led Dr. Richardson to the conclusion, 
 however, that this flesh was actually part of the 
 bodies of the two stragglers, found by Michel in 
 the snow, and possibly found not yet dead. Michel 
 became gloomy and sullen, awakening the suspi- 
 cions of his companions, and adding fresh horrors 
 to their already horrible situation. He watched 
 the Doctor and Hepburn so closely that they could 
 not speak a word to one another, while poor Hood 
 Lay in the tent incapable of motion, and seemingly 
 near his end. At length, on the 20th of October, 
 when the Doctor and Hepburn were severally 
 employed out of doors, a shot was heard in the 
 tent, and there they found Hood killed by a ball 
 through the head. Michel, who was about him at 
 the time, declared that he must have slain himself, 
 or the gun must have gone off accidentally ; but 
 Richardson saw clearly that the shot had certainly 
 been fired from behind, close to the head. Not- 
 withstanding his assertions as to the cause, Michel 
 could not refrain from betraying guilt by con- 
 tinually exclaiming, " You do not suppose that I 
 murdered him ! " Indeed, he was not assailed by 
 any such charges. His companions, than whom, 
 perhaps, two men were never more unhappily 
 
156 MEN WHO HAVE RISEN. 
 
 placed, dared not utter a word on the subject, as 
 Michel had strength enough to have overpowered 
 them both openly, and with ease. That he would 
 do so at the first opportunity that he would 
 never return to Fort Enterprise with them they 
 now also felt as a thing indubitable. By a great 
 and memorable exertion of moral courage, Dr. 
 Richardson saved himself and his friend Hepburn 
 from the fate impending over them. On the third 
 day after the murder of Hood, the three compan- 
 ions set out for Fort Enterprise, and on the way 
 Michel, staying behind under the plea of gathering 
 some tripe-de-roclie, allowed the two Englishmen 
 to speak alone for the first time. Their mutual 
 sense of being doomed to almost instant death 
 proved so strong as at once to determine Richard- 
 son on his course. On Michel coming up, the 
 doctor put a pistol to the head of the wretch and 
 shot him dead on the spot. The Iroquois had 
 loaded his gun, but had gathered no tripe-de-roche. 
 It is scarcely possible to doubt that but for this 
 terrible step, Richardson and Hepburn would both 
 have been sacrificed, and most probably on that 
 very day. Michel durst not permit them to go 
 alive to the Fort, to tell their sad and accusing 
 tale. 
 
 On the llth of November, Franklin had reached 
 Fort Enterprise with five companions, but their 
 joy at reaching its shelter was sadly damped by 
 the desolation of the place, and by the want of 
 food. It was found from a note that the unwearied 
 
FEANKLLtf, THE XAYIGATOR. 157 
 
 Back (who had moved on in advance) had been 
 there, but, seeing the condition of matters, he had 
 instantly set oft' in search of the Indians, to pro- 
 cure supplies against the arrival of his famished 
 associates. With this hope before them, the party 
 of Franklin set to grubbing for bones to pound 
 and make soup of. On this diet and tripe-de-roche 
 they lingered out their existence (with one or two 
 exceptions) till Richardson and Hepburn came up, 
 on the 6th November, only to bring starvation 
 into the midst of starvation. The skeleton figures, 
 the ghastly faces, and the sepulchral voices of the 
 adventurers, prognosticated, indeed, a speedy end 
 to all as regarded this world, when the arrival of 
 the Indians (7th November), sent by Back, 
 snatched them from the grasp of the grave. On 
 the loth December they were strong enough to 
 start on their journey eastward, and, being joined 
 by Back and his party, they safely reached the 
 Hudson's Bay Company's stations early in the 
 summer of 1822. From these stations Franklin 
 and his friends had an easy passage, where they 
 arrived after having journeyed by water and by 
 land (including the navigation of the Polar Sea), 
 the immense distance in all of five thousand five 
 hundred and fifty miles. 
 
 \ Though the grand point of traversing the arctic 
 shores of North America, from the mouth of the 
 Coppermine River to Behring's Straits, had not 
 been fully accomplished, Franklin, in addition to 
 the new information collected by him relative to 
 
158 MEN WHO II AYE KISEN. 
 
 the interior, had also at least rendered it extremely 
 probable that the continent presents to the Polar 
 Ocean a direct and pretty regular line of coast the 
 whole way west of the Coppermine. But Frank- 
 lin, nothing daunted by his past sufferings, was 
 determined to have the honor of clearing up the 
 matter fully, knowing that, by tracing the shores 
 in the direction of his former enterprise, he would 
 acquire the merit of narrowing the north-west 
 passage question to the mere discovery of an inlet 
 to the Arctic Sea on the Eastern shores of North 
 America, either through Hudson's Bay or Baffin's 
 Bay, or their various channels, straits and sounds. 
 He therefore proposed to the British Government 
 to undertake an overland journey to the mouth of 
 Mackenzie River, by which plan he would shorten 
 his course along the coast to Behring's Straits, 
 being satisfied of the continuity of the land from 
 the Coppermine westward to the Mackenzie. The 
 British Government embraced the gallant offer of 
 Franklin, and the latter, now captain, was fortu- 
 nate enough to obtain anew the company of 
 Richardson and Back, his well-tried friends. Re- 
 collecting the previous difficulties in regard to 
 boats, he had three constructed at Woolwich, the 
 materials being mahogany with ash timbers ; while 
 he also prepared a portable one, only eighty-five 
 pounds in weight, and of which the substance wa? 
 ash, fastened plank to plank with thongs, and 
 covered with Mackintosh cloth. All was ready 
 in the beginning of 1825, and the expedition sailed 
 
FRANKLIX, THE NAVIGATOR. 159 
 
 from Liverpool on the 16th of February. It 
 reached New York on the 15th of March. Their 
 further progress northwards affords nothing of 
 novel interest, until they reached the Great Bear 
 Lake, at the head of Mackenzie river so called 
 from Sir Alexander Mackenzie, who descended it 
 in 1789, and who lived to give Franklin the bene- 
 fit of his friendly counsels on the occasion of his 
 first journey. When Captain Franklin arrived at 
 Great Bear Lake, he set a party to work on a 
 winter residence, and, eager to advance the objects 
 of his expedition, proceeded in person with a few 
 companions down the Mackenzie to look at the 
 Polar Sea in that region, and prepare for its navi- 
 gation. 
 
 Franklin and his party reached the north-eastern 
 entrance on the 14th August, in latitude 69 deg. 
 44 min., longitude 135 deg. 57 min., and rejoiced 
 at the sea-like appearance to the north. Observ. 
 ing an island in the distance, the boat's head was 
 directed towards it, and, hastening to its most 
 elevated part, the prospect was highly gratifying. 
 The Rocky Mountains were seen from S. W. to 
 W. 1-2 N"., while to the north the sea appeared in 
 all its majesty, with many seals and whales sport- 
 ing in its waves. On the 5th September they re- 
 turned to their winter quarters on the Great Bear 
 River, which now presented a lively, bustling 
 scene, from the preparations necessary to be made 
 for passing eight or nine months in what was ap- 
 propriately called Fort Franklin. With full em- 
 
160 MEN WHO IIAVU KISEN. 
 
 ployment for every one, the time passed away very 
 cheerfully. On Christmas-day sixty human beings 
 assembled in the little hall to do honor to the 
 usual festivities Englishmen, Highlanders, Cana- 
 dians, Esquimaux, Chipewyans, Dogribs, Hare 
 Indians, Cree women and children, all talking at 
 one time in their different languages, and all 
 mingling together in perfect harmony. 
 
 On Tuesday, the 28th June, 1856, the whole 
 company re-embarked in the boats, on the Mac- 
 kenzie, and proceeded on their voyage down that 
 river until the 3d July, when, on arriving at the 
 point where the river branches off into several 
 channels, the separation into two parties took 
 place Captain Franklin and Back with two boats 
 (one of which had been built at the fort) and four- 
 teen men, including Augustus, a faithful interpreter 
 of the former journey, were to proceed to the 
 westward ; while Dr. Richardson and Lieutenant 
 Kendall, in the other two, were to proceed with 
 ten men to the eastward as far as the Coppermine. 
 We shall, however, first follow Captain Franklin 
 and his party. 
 
 On the 7th he arrived at the mouth of the 
 Mackenzie, where he fell in with a very large party 
 of Esquimaux, whose conduct was at first very vio- 
 lent, but by great command of temper, and some 
 conciliation, they were at length brought to restore 
 the articles pillaged from the boats. Captain Frank- 
 lin, however, speedily discovered that all their pro- 
 testations of regret were false, and nothing but 
 
THE XAYIGATOK. 161 
 
 the greatest vigilance on his part saved the party 
 from a general massacre. On the 13th his pro- 
 gress towards Behring's Straits was arrested by a 
 compact body of ice stretching from the shore to 
 seaward ; and on landing for shelt er from a heavy 
 gale, another party of Esquimaux was met with. 
 On the 15th, having passed this barrier, they 
 arrived off Babbage's River, but again were they 
 involved in an icy labyrinth, which, added to the 
 dense fogs here found in the highest degree of per- 
 fection, owing to the barrier opposed to their pro- 
 gress south by the Rocky Chain, made it torment- 
 ingly slow. A month one the most favorable 
 for arctic exploration had passed in this manner, 
 while only 10 deg. (three hundred and seventy- 
 four miles) of west longitude had been attained, 
 and another 10 deg. still lay between them and 
 Icy Cape. Thus situated, and ignorant that a 
 hundred and fifty miles further west a boat was 
 awaiting him from the Blossom, which had been 
 sent to Behring's Straits, under Captain Beechey, 
 Captain Franklin justly came to the conclusion 
 that they had reached a point, beyond which per- 
 severance would have been rashness, and their 
 best efforts fruitless. On the 18th August they, 
 therefore, set out on their return, giving to their 
 extreme point, in latitude 70 deg. 24. min. north, 
 longitude 149 deg. 37 min. west, the name of Re- 
 turn Reef; and,with the exception of a violent storm 
 near Herschel Island, reached Fort Franklin on the 
 21st September, without any mateiial danger. 
 11 
 
162 HEX WHO HAVE BISEN. 
 
 By Captain Beechey, in the meantime, an im- 
 portant addition had been made to our knowledge 
 of the arctic shores of North America. Franklin 
 had made it clear that from longitude 115 deg. to 
 149 deg. west, or from Coppermine River to Re- 
 turn Reef, these shores were open and navigable ; 
 and Beechey had advanced a considerable way 
 eastward from Behring's Straits, till checked by 
 ice. Having been instructed to avoid being shut 
 up, he sent forward his barge under Mr. Elson, 
 who examined the coast up to a point only 
 one hundred and fifty miles from Return Reef. 
 These were great accessions to geognostic science 
 and, as before remarked, necessarily narrowed 
 materially the question of a north-west pas- 
 sage. 
 
 Being joined by Dr. Richardson, who with his 
 party had made valuable and extended observa- 
 tions on the Coppermine River, as well as on its 
 Esquimaux and Indian tribes, and the native pro- 
 ductions of the country, Franklin and his friends 
 returned once more to Britain in September, 1827, 
 to enjoy their well- won repute. Not only his own 
 land but Europe generally recognized the high 
 deserts of Franklin. The Geographical Society 
 of Paris presented him, immediately on his return 
 home, with a valuable gold medal, thereby stamp- 
 ing him as the greatest geographical discoverer of 
 the year preceding. On the 29th April, 1829, he 
 received the honor of knighthood, and, shortly 
 afterwards, the degree of a D.C.L. from the Uni- 
 
FRANKLIN, THE NAVIGATOR. 163 
 
 versity of Oxford. In 1830, Sir John was em- 
 ployed, in his naval capacity simply, to command 
 the Rainbow on the Mediterranean station, and 
 for his exertions while there in farthering the 
 interests and quieting the troubles of Greece, he 
 was decorated with the order of the Redeemer of 
 Greece. 
 
 The next prominent post held by Sir John 
 Franklin was that of Lieutenant-Governor of 
 Tasmania or Van Piemen's Land, his appointment 
 to which took place in 1836. On this occasion 
 he was created a knight of the Guelphic or 
 Hanoverian Order. He held his governorship 
 nearly up to his entrance on his last explora- 
 tions. 
 
 Having done so much to clear up the mysteries 
 of the northern shores of the New World, it is no 
 wonder that on a new voyage in search of a north- 
 west passage being resolved upon by the Admi- 
 ralty, Sir John Franklin should have been selected 
 for the task. Nor need we be surprised that he, 
 though now in the sixtieth year, should have ac- 
 cepted it. Satisfied of the existence of a great 
 navigable sea to the west, he could scarcely fail to 
 entertain the hope of penetrating to it at some 
 point or another, and thus winning the laurel so 
 long struggled for by himself, and by so many 
 able rivals. Danger, and perhaps death, he knew 
 lay in the way, but beyond shone the inviting 
 crown of deathless celebrity. Two ships were 
 placed under the command of Sir John Franklin 
 
164: MEN WHO HAVE EISEN. 
 
 for this fresh service in the Polar Seas, namely, 
 the Erebus and Terror, both of which were fitted 
 with small steam-engines and propellers. Captain 
 Crozier, who had been Parry's lieutenant in the 
 Hecla, was nominated to the command of the 
 Terror. The directions of the Admiralty were, 
 generally, that Sir John should enter Lancaster 
 Sound through Baffin's Bay, and, descending south- 
 westwards, into the water-way discovered by him- 
 self along the northern shore of the American con- 
 tinent, seek an opening into the western Polar 
 Ocean. He set sail on the 26th May, 1845, and 
 was last seen, by a whaler, in Baffin's Bay, on 
 the 26th July, at which time he was moored to an 
 iceberg, and waiting impatiently till the ice 
 would allow him to enter Lancaster Sound. 
 
 Since that period neither Sir John Franklin 
 nor any of his gallant company has been discov- 
 erable. After three years had passed, public 
 as well as private anxiety was awakened on be- 
 half of the absent ships, and during successive 
 years it was kept alive by continual attempts to 
 ascertain the proceedings and fate of the expedi- 
 tion. A visit to Beechey Island, in Barrow Strait, 
 by one of these searching vessels, disclosed the 
 fullest evidence that the Erebus and Terror had 
 passed there the winter of 1845-6, the first of 
 their absence. Three deaths had occurred among 
 tho crews, but there were indisputable signs of 
 the prosperous condition of the expedition, and of 
 the fulfillment of some of tho scientific pursuits to 
 
FRANKLIN, THE NAVIGATOR. 165 
 
 which it was devoted. The search made subse- 
 quently to this important discovery, unfortunately 
 took a wrong direction, with the single exception 
 of that of a vessel (the Prince Albert) sent out by 
 Lady Franklin, whose instructions pointed to the 
 precise locality where, as is now known, the Erebus 
 and Terror must have been finally arrested. 
 
 It was in 1854 that the next, and, as yet, latest, 
 tidings were received. Dr. Rae, who was en- 
 gaged upon a geographical exploration in the 
 Hudson Bay Company's territory, accidentally 
 received information that a party from the missing 
 expedition had landed upon the coast at the mouth 
 of the Back or Fish River ; and he brought home 
 many indisputable relics, given him by the Esqui- 
 maux, which proved the vicinity of the Erebus 
 and Terror. A boat party was sent in the follow- 
 ing year to the spot indicated to Dr. Rae by the 
 Esquimaux, and it was proved that an escaping 
 party had reached it, and ascended the Fish 
 River ; traces of their progress being found higher 
 up, but no signs of their having perished there. 
 Thus the actual fate of these martyrs to science is 
 yet undecided nay, though hope may well have 
 died out, it cannot be positively affirmed that 
 some may not be still alive, sharing, possibly, the 
 miserable existence of the Esquimaux upon the 
 coast, It is well known that the task of clearing 
 up this fearful mystery has been accepted by the 
 devoted wife of Franklin, and that in 1857, another 
 expedition (the fourth we believe, which has been 
 
166 MEN WHO HAVE EISE1T. 
 
 mainly or wholly furnished by her funds), small, 
 but admirably equipped and organised, started 
 under the command of Captain M'Clintock, an 
 officer who has distinguished himself in each of the 
 searching expeditions sent out by the Government. 
 One closing word may be added. Many 
 persons are apt to ask, "What good end the 
 discovery of a north-west passage will serve ? " 
 They give force to their question, by assuming it 
 as undeniable, that the passage, even if fully made 
 out by a ship sailing through could never be used 
 for trading purposes, or any others truly beneficial. 
 It must be allowed that science (and not commerce) 
 is more deeply, or at least directly, interested in 
 the arctic exploration. Yet let not the merchant, 
 who sends out his ships to bring him gain from the 
 four quarters of the globe, imagine that, as being 
 a scientific question chiefly, the exploring of the 
 Arctic Circle is a matter in which he has no posi- 
 tive concern. The safe voyaging of his vessels 
 hangs upon the compass the mysterious root of 
 whose power and utility lies in the heart of the 
 boreal regions. Let the merchant consider what 
 would be the chances of safety to his barks 
 without that instrument, and not undervalue those 
 labors of science which have done so much for 
 him before, and which have even now his final 
 good in view, did the settlement of the magnetic 
 pole form their whole and sole object. Let the 
 practical man of business also reflect, that to the 
 north-west passage question we owe the discovery 
 
FJRAXKLIX, TIIE NAVIGATOK. 167 
 
 the N"ew World. Columbus sailed simply to 
 * 4id a western route to the Indies ; the Americas 
 only fell in his way by mere accident, or at least 
 unexpectedly. Let any one who scouts northern 
 exploration as useless, meditate on this one grand 
 fact, and be silent. On the further general and 
 scientific points connected with the subject it is 
 needless to enter. They are numerous, and in- 
 volve the welfare of our kind deeply. 
 
OBERLEST THE PASTOR 
 
 THE Ban de la Roche derives its name from the 
 neighboring castle of La Roche. The Germans 
 call the Ban " Steinthal," or the valley of stone. 
 Formerly it was part of the province of Alsace, 
 in the north-east of France, and is situated on the 
 western slope of the Champ de Feu, an isolated 
 range of mountains of volcanic origin as the 
 name implies separated by a deep valley from 
 the eastern chain of the Vosges. The Ban con- 
 tains only two parishes one called Rothau ; the 
 other comprises the hamlets of Waldbach, Zolbach, 
 Belmont, Bellefosse, and Foudai. Waldbach, 
 which lies nearly in the centre of these hamlets, 
 is about eighteen hundred feet above the level of 
 the sea ; and four hundred feet below Waldbach, 
 on the mountain-side, stands Rothau. The two 
 parishes contain about nine thousand acres, the 
 sterility of which may be judged from the fact, 
 that little more than fifteen hundred are capable 
 of cultivation. Wave after wave of persecution 
 
OBEKLEST, THE PASTOR. 169 
 
 broke upon them during the thirty years' war and 
 the reign of Louis XIV., which so desolated the 
 Ban as to render it almost incapable of affording 
 sustenance to any human being. Nevertheless, 
 about eighty or a hundred families, destitute of 
 all the necessaries of civilized life, and shut out 
 from intercourse with the inhabitants of the neigh- 
 boring districts, in consequence of the want of 
 roads, here continued to drag on a most wretched 
 and miserable existence. At length the province 
 of Alsace was united to France an union which 
 brought no change to the moral or physical condi- 
 tion of the poor dwellers in the " valley of stone." 
 About the year 1 750, a devout and earnest clergy- 
 man, moved by their wretched state, undertook 
 the charge of the Ban. His name was Stouber. 
 Desirous of knowing what was the state of educa- 
 tion in the district, he inquired for the principal 
 school. To his astonishment he was conducted to 
 a miserable hovel, in one corner of which lay a 
 helpless old man on a truckle bed, and around 
 him were grouped a crowd of ill-clad, noisy, wild- 
 looking children. 
 
 " Are you the schoolmaster, my good friend ? " 
 asked Stouber to the old man. 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 " And what do you teach the children ? " 
 
 a Nothing, sir." 
 
 " Nothing ! How is that ? " 
 
 " Because," replied the old man, with genuine 
 naivete, " I know nothing myself." 
 
1YO MEN WHO HAVE RISEN 
 
 "Why, then, were you appointed school- 
 master ? " 
 
 " Why, sir, I had been taking care of the Wald- 
 bach pigs, and when I got too old and infirm for 
 that employment, I was sent here to take care of 
 the children ! " 
 
 Stouber found the schools of the other villages 
 in a similar condition. Nothing could be more 
 deplorably wretched than the ignorance of the 
 masters, who, for the most part, were swineherds 
 and shepherds ! During the months of summer, 
 they ranged the hills with their flocks, but in 
 winter they were transformed into " dominies,'* 
 without any qualifications for their office, but a 
 most laudable stock of good intentions, which led 
 them to attempt to teach the children what they 
 themselves could not understand ; for the language 
 of the Ban is a patois, evidently the old dialect of 
 Lorraine; when, therefore, they taught their 
 charge to read a French or German elementary 
 work, or a fragment of a French Bible, they were 
 wholly incapable of explaining the sense or of 
 giving the correct pronunciation ! 
 
 A man of less ardent piety and determined res- 
 olution than M. Stouber, would have departed 
 from the Ban in hopeless despair of ever being 
 able to bring about a revolution in the condition 
 of its wretched inhabitants; but he was rich in 
 faith. For fourteen years he labored unceasingly 
 to effect the object which lay next his heart, by 
 establishing schools, by assiduous pastoral visita- 
 
OBERLIN 3 THE PASTOK. 171 
 
 tion, and by the faithful preaching of the Gospel 
 of Christ. Soon after the death of his wife, 
 Stonber was appointed to a new sphere of labor ; 
 but before entering on this he was anxious to see 
 tho Ban provided with a man " like-minded " as 
 himself. He knew this was no easy matter to 
 accomplish, for the difficulties in that isolated place 
 were numerous, while the income was extremely 
 small. The man who came there, Stouber knew, 
 must make up his mind to " endure hardness," to 
 suifer privation, to be cut off from all intercourse 
 with the educated, and to wholly devote himself 
 to the instruction of the poor and the wretched. 
 Consequently he feared lest he should find it im- 
 possible to obtain any one who would be willing 
 to take charge of the parish ; and this grieved him 
 the more, as his own health was so completely 
 shattered as to forbid his continuance. He, how- 
 ever, commenced his inquiries. 
 
 In 1740, at the gymnasium of Strasburg, a man 
 of very considerable classical attainments, named 
 Oberlin, held the office of tutor. His wife was an 
 amiable and accomplished woman. They had 
 seven sons and two daughters. Theirs was a joy- 
 ous household. If you visited Madame Oberlin 
 in the evening of almost any day in the year, you 
 would have found her seated in the midst of her 
 children, correcting their drawings, or reading 
 aloud to them some interesting and instructive 
 book. Thus her evenings were spent, and when 
 the hour for retiring to rest came, there was gen- 
 
172 MEN WHO HATE EISEN. 
 
 erally a united request for one " beautiful hymn 
 from dear mamma ! " When that mother's voice 
 was no longer heard upon the earth, and the long 
 green grass grew thick upon her grave, those 
 evening hymns were remembered and their influ- 
 ence felt. 
 
 Oberlin was the playfellow as well as the in- 
 structor of his children. In the vicinity of Stras- 
 burg, at a place named Schiltigheim, he had a few 
 acres of land, and there, once a week, during the 
 summer, the villagers would see him, with an old 
 drum slung across his shoulder, acting as drill 
 sergeant and drummer at the same time to his lads, 
 whom he put through the military evolutions, with 
 which he was well acquainted. One of the boys, 
 John Frederic, in consequence of this " playing at 
 soldiers," became passionately attached to the 
 military profession. Tales and histories of battles 
 were eagerly sought after and as eagerly read by 
 him. The officers of the troops quartered in the 
 city were known to his family, and, being aware 
 of the predilection which he had formed, and as- 
 tonished at the acquaintance with military science 
 which he displayed, granted his request to be per- 
 mitted to join the soldiers when at exercise. The 
 glitter and excitement of the parade filled the 
 boy's mind. 
 
 He, like most of his age, did not interpret the 
 word " soldier." Its import was hidden from him, 
 or his gentle, sensitive nature would have shrunk 
 from it. He looked upon the troops as they marched 
 
173 
 
 before him, with their gay clothing, and glistening 
 weapons, and emblazoned banners ; he heard their 
 regular tread and thrilling music ; but to him it 
 was all only a splendid summer-day pageant he 
 thought not of the cruelty, and gore, and carnage 
 of the battle-field. 
 
 Happily for him, his father destined him for a 
 learned profession. Filial obedience was a pleas- 
 ure to the lad, so, without a regret, he gave him- 
 self to the ardent pursuit of the studies which his 
 father marked out. A few years, and the curric- 
 ulum was passed through, and he was now of age 
 to choose a profession. He made choice of the 
 ministry. Of the work in which he had engaged, 
 he had the clearest views. His w^as not an ambi- 
 tion to preach. The responsibilities of the Chris- 
 tian pastor were set before him, and he sought to 
 prepare himself for their efficient discharge. When 
 pressed to undertake a pastoral charge, his reply 
 was, " I need more experience, more knowledge ; 
 at present I am not qualified. Moreover, I wish 
 to labor where I can be useful, not where I can 
 be at ease." The key to his after life is to bo 
 found hi this reply. Seven years elapsed, during 
 which he diligently employed himself in the study 
 of theology, supporting himself in the meantime 
 by acting as tutor to the family of a distinguished 
 surgeon of Strasburg, in whose house he acquired 
 the knowledge of surgery and the healing art, 
 which he afterwards turned to such good in the 
 Ban de la Roche. 
 
174: MEN WHO HAVE KISEN. 
 
 Thus he continued teaching and studying until 
 1776, when the chaplaincy of a French regiment 
 was offered to him. The "old drum" and the 
 military associations of childhood were aroused up 
 from the sleep of years. The chaplaincy, he 
 thought, presented a prospect of extensive useful- 
 ness, so he decided to accept it. Accordingly he 
 resigned his tutorship, took lodgings in the city, 
 and commenced a preparatory course of reading. 
 
 About this period M. Stouber began his search 
 after a pastor to succeed him in the Ban. Ober- 
 lin, whose piety, disinterested benevolence, and 
 scholarly ability, had already won him the esteem 
 of his fellow-citizens, was mentioned to him as 
 exactly such a man as he sought. Stouber came 
 to Strasburg, and sought out Oberlin's lodgings. 
 They were in a mean street, and when he reached 
 the house he was directed to a little room up three 
 pair of stairs. He opened the door, and the first 
 thing that caught his eye was a small bed, covered 
 with curtains made of brown paper ! He entered 
 the apartment and approached the bed, and there 
 he found Oberlin, racked with the agony of tooth- 
 ache. After some conversation, during which he 
 rallied him upon the unique character of his bed- 
 hangings and the poverty of his abode, he inquired 
 the use of a little iron pan which he saw suspended 
 above his table. " That," replied Oberlin, " is my 
 kitchen. I am accustomed every day to dine at 
 home with my parents, and they give me a large 
 piece of bread to carry back with me in my pocket. 
 
OBERLIN, THE PASTOK. 175 
 
 At eight o'clock in the evening I put my bread 
 into that pan; and, having sprinkled it with a 
 little salt and water, I place my lamp beneath it, 
 and go on with my studies until ten or eleven, 
 when I generally begin to feel hungry, by which 
 time my slice of bread is nicely cooked, and I 
 relish it more than the choicest luxuries." 
 
 Stouber was overjoyed while he listened. This 
 was the very man for the Steinthal. He declared 
 the object of his visit, portrayed the condition of 
 the people, their misery and ignorance, gave ut- 
 terance to his own unfeigned sorrow at being 
 obliged to leave them, and his fear, lest he could 
 prevail upon him to occupy his post, that they must 
 perish for lack of knowledge. 
 
 Oberlin's heart was touched. The place which 
 Stouber described was just such a one as he had 
 often pictured to himself as the scene of his pas- 
 torate. But, then, what could he do? his en- 
 gagement with the regiment being all but finally 
 concluded. He could not think of accepting 
 charge of the Ban unless he was liberated from 
 the chaplaincy, and, moreover, except there were 
 before him no candidates for clerical preferment 
 who would accept M. Stouber's proposal. These 
 obstacles were soon removed. The chaplaincy 
 was speedily filled, and Oberlin was free to be- 
 come the pastor of the Ban de la Roche. 
 
 His mother accompanied him to Waldbach, and 
 after arranging his little establishment, she bade 
 him adieu, leaving with him his younger sister, 
 
176 MEN V\ T IIO HAVE EISEN. 
 
 Sophia, who took charge of his household. Pas- 
 tor Stouber introduced him to the parishioners ; 
 and in April, 1767, in the twenty-seventh year of 
 his age, Oberlin became pastor of the Ban de la 
 Roche. About a year after this event had taken 
 place, a lady of highly cultivated mind and agree- 
 able disposition came to Waldbach on a visit to 
 Sophia. Her name was Madeline, and she was 
 the orphan daughter of Professor Witter of Stras- 
 burg. She soon relieved Sophia of her cares as 
 her brother's housekeeper ; for, despite of a long- 
 cherished determination never to marry a clergy- 
 man, Madeline Witter became the wife of Ober- 
 lin. A more judicious choice it was impossible to 
 make. She was the sharer of his trials and his 
 joys. Her prudence and foresight balanced and 
 controled his enthusiastic disposition : her devoted 
 piety, which led her to fully participate in his 
 anxiety to promote the welfare of his people, 
 cheered him when desponding, and heightened 
 his joy when successful. 
 
 The testing time had now come to Oberlin. 
 He was a pastor and a husband. His wife, one of 
 the best of women ; his flock, wretched, ignorant, 
 scattered a prey to laziness and hunger with- 
 out the merest necessaries of life, and contented 
 to remain so. Let us, then, look at what this 
 young man possessed that his hopes should be 
 so strong of turning this wilderness into a " gar- 
 den of God." What had he? wealth? No, 
 not a stiver; but he had that which wealth could 
 
OBEKLLN", THE PASTOR. 177 
 
 not, cannot purchase an earnest, devoted, loving 
 heart, a thoughtful and well-disciplined mind, 
 considerable scientific skill and practical ability, 
 a, natural and suasive eloquence which at once 
 won its way to the heart, habits of self-denial, of 
 promptitude, of perseverance, and a joyous wil- 
 lingness to endure all things, if by so doing he 
 could promote the glory of God and the good of 
 mankind. That such a man should accomplish 
 what he did is no marvel. It would have been 
 miraculous, indeed, if he had failed. 
 
 When he had gone over the parish, he saw that 
 Stouber's picture of its degraded state was by no 
 means too highly colored, and he felt that all his 
 resources would be taxed if he sought to effect 
 any change for the better. His quick mind at 
 once perceived the connexion which existed be- 
 tween their physical misery and their moral 
 degradation, so he immediately began to devise 
 plans to promote their civilization. His first was 
 to bring them into contact with the inhabitants of 
 the neighboring towns, rightly judging that the 
 comfort, and cleanliness, and intelligence which 
 they would behold in those places would present 
 such a strong contrast to the state of things in 
 the Steinthal as at once to beget a desire in their 
 minds for improvement. But how was he to 
 move ? All the roads connected with the parish 
 were literally impassable during the greater por- 
 tion of the year, in consequence of land-slips 
 which completely blocked them, or their being 
 12 
 
178 MEN WHO HAVE RISEN. 
 
 torn up "by the rushing down of the mountain- 
 torrents during the winter. The people thus shut 
 in could neither find a market for their produce 
 nor obtain agricultural implements which they 
 required. There was but one way to effect the 
 desired change. Oberlin made a careful survey 
 of the parish, and the result was a determination 
 to open up a communication with the high-road 
 to Strasburg ; but to do this it would be necessary 
 to blast the rocks and to construct a solid wall to 
 support a road, which he proposed to carry for 
 about a mile and a half along the banks of a deep 
 mountain-stream called the Bruche, and then, 
 at Rothau, to build a bridge across it. He called 
 his parishioners together, and announced his pro- 
 ject. They were astonished. "He was mad," 
 they said. " The thing was utterly impracticable. 
 They had thought for some time that there was 
 something strange about him, but now they were 
 sure he was downright insane." Thus they 
 thought and said, and one and all began to excuse 
 themselves from having any share in what they 
 deemed such a wild and foolish undertaking. But 
 Oberlin pressed the matter upon them, refuted 
 their objections respecting the impossibility of 
 accomplishing his plan, pointed out the manifest 
 and numerous advantages which would result 
 from it, both to themselves and to their children, 
 and wound up his harangue by shouldering a pick- 
 axe and exclaiming, " Let those who see the im- 
 portance of what I have stated come and work 
 
OBERLIX THE PASTOR. N^A 
 
 " Let those who sae the importance of what I luivo stated come nnd work wil'i me." TACK 118. 
 
OBEKLIN, THE PASTOR. 179 
 
 with me ! " The effect was electric. Opposition 
 gave way to cheerful acquiescence and the most 
 unbounded enthusiasm. He appointed to each 
 man a certain task. He soon had more helpers 
 than he could find tools for. The news of his under- 
 taking reached Strasburg, and implements and 
 funds were sent to him. Rocks were undermined 
 and blasted ; torrents which had overspread and 
 inundated the meadows were guided into chan- 
 nels which had been cut to receive them ; where 
 the land threatened to slip, walls were built to 
 sustain it ; the road was completed to Rothau ; 
 at that place he threw a neat wooden bridge 
 across the Bruche, which to this day is called 
 Le Pout de Charite. The whole was finished, 
 and a communication opened up with Strasburg 
 in 1770, about a year and a half after his mar- 
 riage. 
 
 But how fared it with his duties as a religious 
 teacher all this time? Did he neglect them? 
 No ; on the contrary, like the great apostle of the 
 Gentiles who thought it not beneath him to 
 make tents during the week Oberlin, who on 
 week-days headed his people in their arduous task, 
 on the Sabbath directed them with equal zeal 
 and earnestness to "the rest which remaineth for 
 the people of God." The immediate effect of the 
 success of his scheme was the gaining of almost 
 unbounded influence over his parishioners. They 
 no longer regarded him as a madman, but as the 
 only wise one among them. They now cheerfully 
 
1 80 MEJS T 4 WIIO HAVE RISEN. 
 
 engaged in any work which he devised, and, very 
 soon, convenient and necessary roads traversed 
 the Steinthal, and connected the various villages. 
 While he was tutor in M. Ziegenhagen's family 
 in Strasburg, he became intimately acquainted 
 with botanical science, and acquired not merely 
 that knowledge which enables the empiric to 
 classify and denominate, but he understood the 
 properties of almost every plant, and could at once 
 tell you whether it could be used as food or med- 
 icine. This knowledge he at once turned to 
 account. He introduced the culture of several 
 leguminous plants and herbs ; imported seed from 
 Riga, and raised flax ; introduced Dutch clover ; 
 taught the farmers the use of manure, to make 
 composts, to improve the growth of the potato, 
 which had so far degenerated that fields which 
 had formerly yielded from one hundred and twenty 
 to one hundred and fifty bushels, now yielded only 
 about thirty or fifty, which the people imputed to 
 the sterility of the soil, instead of their own 
 neglect. His success was most unequivocal, and 
 the consequence was the augmentation of the re- 
 sources of the Steinthal. As an example of the 
 manner in which he was wont to connect all those 
 efforts for the temporal welfare with the spiritual 
 instruction of his people, the following incident is 
 characteristic. Although he had been so success- 
 ful in the affair of the road-making, and in the 
 introduction of an improved style of husbandry, 
 still among the parishioners there was a hankering 
 
OBERLIN, THE PASTOE. 181 
 
 after "old fashions," and, for the life of them, 
 they could not understand how it was that he who 
 never dug, or ploughed, or owned an acre of land 
 in his life, should know more about the manage- 
 ment of fields and cattle than they did. Ober- 
 lin's sagacity at once discovered this, and so, 
 when he wished to make any improvement, or 
 to introduce any new kind of plant, or vegetable, 
 or tree, he began in his own garden, and when 
 the curiosity of the people was excited, he 
 detailed to them the name of the root, the object 
 he had in cultivating it, the mode to be observed 
 in its culture, <fcc., until he had thoroughly in- 
 structed them, and kindled a desire in their 
 minds to imitate him. There was scarcely a 
 fruit-tree worth a groat for miles around, and 
 there were few gardens which grew anything but 
 the most luxuriant weeds. To talk about the 
 matter Oberlin knew would be quite useless ; so 
 he betook himself to his old plan of teaching by 
 example. He had a servant who was an intelli- 
 gent and devoted man; they took counsel to- 
 gether. There were two gardens belonging to 
 the parsonage, each of which was crossed by a 
 well-frequented thoroughfare. One of these 
 gardens had been noted for years for the poverty 
 and sterility of its soil ; this he determined to 
 convert into a nursery-ground ! Trenches, ac- 
 cordingly, were dug, and the land laid out ; slips 
 of walnut, apple, plum, and pear trees were 
 planted. In due time the trees blossomed ; and 
 
182 MEN WHO HAYE EISEN. 
 
 when the period of fruitage came, the crop was 
 abundant. The plan, as Oberlin anticipated, 
 succeeded admirably. "Week after week the vil- 
 lagers were wont to pause, and wonder how trees 
 could grow in such a soil. Then they began to 
 contrast the appearance of their pastor's garden 
 with their own ; and then they came to him in 
 crowds, begging that he would be kind enough to 
 instruct them how to grow trees for themselves. 
 The object he sought was accomplished. Accord- 
 ing to his accustomed mode, he first directed 
 their thoughts to Him " who causeth the earth to 
 bring forth her bud, and who crowneth the year 
 with his goodness," and then gave them the 
 desired information. To aid them he gave them 
 a supply of young trees from his nursery, and in- 
 structed them in the art of grafting. The conse- 
 quence was, that in a little time the whole district 
 changed its aspect : the bare and desolate-looking 
 cottages were speedily surrounded by neat little 
 gardens ; and, instead of the indigence and misery 
 which formerly characterized the villagers and their 
 dwellings, they now put on the garb of rural beauty 
 and happiness. So rapid were the advances which 
 the people made under his direction, that, in 1778, 
 Oberlin formed an Agricultural Society, which he 
 connected with the central society at Strasburg. 
 By doing so, he secured the use of the society's 
 publications and periodicals, and received its assist- 
 ance in the distribution of the prizes, which were 
 annually awarded to the peasants who distinguished 
 
OBEIILIX, THE PASTOK. 183 
 
 themselves in the grafting and culture of fruit-trees, 
 and in rearing or improving the breed of cattle. 
 The Strasburg Society, as a testimony of its sense 
 of the advantages which Oberlin's labors had be- 
 stowed upon the people, placed two hundred francs 
 at his disposal, to be distributed among such agri- 
 culturists as he might deem worthy of a prize. He 
 soon began to reap the fruit of his toil. Every- 
 where around him civilization and the power of the 
 Gospel made themselves manifest. "With the im- 
 provement of their physical condition, their moral 
 advancement went hand in hand, till, at length, in 
 the district around, and in the towns and cities of 
 the basin of the Rhine, few things awakened more 
 astonishment, or attracted so much attention, as 
 the remarkable change which had taken place in 
 the people, and the no less remarkable character of 
 the pastor of the Ban de la Roche. 
 
 To Oberlin belongs the merit of being the 
 founder of Infant Schools ; a fact which justly en- 
 titles him to the gratitude of mankind. When lie 
 took the cure of the Ban in 1767, there was but 
 one schoolhouse in the five villages, and that was 
 a hut erected by Pastor Stouber, which then was 
 in a ruinous state. He called the parishioners to- 
 gether, and proposed that they should either build 
 a new one or repair the hut. They gave a decided 
 negative to his proposition, nor would they again 
 listen to him on the subject, until he engaged that 
 no part of the expense should fall on the funds of 
 the parish. His income, arising from his salary 
 
184 MEN WHO HAVE RISEN". 
 
 as pastor, and his little property, did not amount 
 to more than about forty pounds a-year; never- 
 theless, he gave the required promise, and the 
 schoolhouse was built. " Why should I hesitate 
 in this matter ? " said he ; "I seek only the glory 
 of God, and therefore I have confidence that He 
 will grant me what I desire. If we ask in faith, 
 and it be really right that the thing should take 
 place, our prayer is certain to be granted. When, 
 indeed, are our plans more likely to be successful 
 than when we enter upon them in humble and 
 simple dependence upon God, whose blessing 
 alone can cause tKem to succeed ? " Thus Ober- 
 lin reasoned, and time proved that he reasoned 
 aright. God did* grant his prayer. His fast 
 friends at Strasburg, who watched his progress 
 with anxiety, came to his help; and further, in 
 the course of a few years the inhabitants in the 
 other four villages voluntarily proposed that a 
 school should be built in each, of which they 
 would cheerfully bear all the expense ! And so 
 they did. The young are the hope of the world. 
 The men and women of the next generation will 
 be what the children of the present are. The 
 future is only the development of the present; 
 " the child is father to the man." Oberlin direct- 
 ed all his energies to the instruction of the young 
 of his flock. The habits of the adults might be 
 modified, but not eradicated. The men were as 
 ignorant of the commonest mechanical arts as 
 their wives were of domestic economy or home 
 
OBERLIX, THE PASTOB. 185 
 
 comfort. They had passed their learning time. 
 Not so, however, with their children. So Ober- 
 lin selected the most promising, and sent them to 
 Strasburg, to acquire the trades of mason, car- 
 penter, glazier, wheelwright, and blacksmith. 
 When they returned to the Ban, they became the 
 instructors of others. Their earnings increased 
 the little treasuries of the district, while their skill 
 accelerated its improvements. 
 
 The schools which Avere erected were devoted 
 to the use of children from the age of ten to 
 seventeen. The shepherd-masters who formerly 
 played the "dominie" were cashiered, and the 
 most respectable of the inhabitants were prevail- 
 ed upon to take their places under the imposing 
 title of " regents." The plans of instruction were 
 drawn up, and the " regents" drilled in the science 
 of education by Oberlin. While the schools were 
 working well under his careful superintendence, 
 he noticed that the infant children were almost 
 wholly neglected by their parents, and were there- 
 fore forming habits which in after years would 
 increase the task of the schoolmaster, if not alto- 
 gether nullify his labor. His active mind at onco 
 devised a remedy for the evil. The result was a 
 plan for the establishment of Infant Schools the 
 first of the kind ever known. Experience of his 
 own family and keen observation in the families of 
 others, led him to the conclusion that children 
 begin to learn even in the cradle ; that at the 
 earliest age they are capable of being taught tho 
 
186 MEN WHO HAVE KISEIST. 
 
 difference between right and wrong ; and are 
 easily trained to habits of obedience and industry. 
 His beloved and intelligent wife entered heart and 
 soul into his views. The most pious and intelli- 
 gent females of the community were induced to 
 take charge of the schools. For their use, Ober- 
 lin rented a large room in each village, and out of 
 his own pocket paid the salaries. The instruction 
 given to the little ones was mingled with amuse- 
 ment, and habits of attention and subordination 
 were formed, while information of the most valu- 
 able kind was communicated in a manner which 
 rendered it attractive to the infant mind. The 
 songs of " dear mamma " had left too deep and 
 hallowed an influence upon Oberlin's mind to 
 cause him to overlook the value of music in the 
 instruction of youth. Singing was taught in all 
 the schools. At a proper age the children were 
 transferred to the public schools, prepared, by the 
 progress which they had made, to enjoy the ad. 
 vantages which were there afforded to them. In 
 addition to reading, writing, arithmetic, and geog- 
 raphy, they were carefully instructed in the prin- 
 ciples of agriculture and other industrial arts, in 
 sacred and uninspired history, and in astronomy. 
 Their religious cultivation was a task which Ober- 
 lin considered his own, and faithfully did he fulfill it. 
 With the view of encouraging the spirit of emu- 
 lation between the several schools, and to improve 
 the modes of instruction pursued by the various 
 masters, a weekly meeting of all the scholars was 
 
OBERLLN", THE PASTOE. 187 
 
 held at Waldbach. By this the machinery of the 
 whole was kept bright and in good working order. 
 The master and the pupils were stimulated, know- 
 ing that the w r eekly meeting would bring disgrace 
 to the idle, but to the industrious and good public 
 commendation, and the approval of " dear papa," 
 as Oberlin w r as called by his people. In addition 
 to this weekly examination, on every Sabbath, at 
 each village church in rotation, the children assem- 
 bled to sing the hymns and to repeat the passages 
 of Scripture which they had learned during the 
 week. At the close he usually gave them an 
 address ; and superlatively happy was the child or 
 young person who was fortunate enough to merit 
 the approving smile of " dear papa." 
 
 His benevolent efforts were well seconded by 
 the Christians of Strasburg. They sent him several 
 sums of money, all of which were devoted by him 
 to the public use. A printing-press was added to 
 the resources of the Ban. This enabled him to print 
 several books which he composed and compiled for 
 the exclusive use of the schools and his parishioners, 
 and to award prizes both to the teachers and pupils. 
 He also made a collection of indigenous plants, 
 and procured an electrical machine, and several 
 other philosophical instruments ; various works on 
 natural history and general science were circulated 
 on the " book society " plan, each village retaining 
 them for three months, care being taken that every 
 house, according to the number of the family, pos- 
 sessed them for a definite time. Every individual 
 
188 MEN WHO HAVE EISEN. 
 
 was impressed with the conviction that it was a 
 first duty, as well as a great privilege, to promote 
 the glory of God and the welfare of mankind. 
 Every work which was undertaken of a public or 
 private nature was discharged, each one bearing 
 in mind his responsibility to promote the prosper- 
 ity of all, by " provoking his neighbor to love and 
 to good works." Thus the Ban was changed. 
 Where ignorance and its never-failing attendants, 
 cruelty, vice, poverty, reigned supreme, piety in- 
 telligence, meekness, and plenty, held triumphant 
 sway. 
 
 All that knew him loved him. His worth was 
 acknowledged not only by those who were near, 
 but by those who were far off. Louis XVIII. 
 sent him the ribbon of the Legion of Honor, and 
 the royal agricultural society of France voted him 
 a gold medal. When Count Fran9ois de ISTeuf- 
 chateau proposed this vote, he said, " If you 
 would behold an instance of what may be effected 
 in any country for the advancement of agriculture 
 and the interests of humanity, friends of the plough 
 and of human happiness, ascend the Yosges Moun- 
 tains, and behold the Ban de la Roche ! " At the 
 time of the foundation of the British and Foreign 
 Bible Society, his fame had spread into Britain ; 
 and one of the first grants made by the Society was 
 to pastor Oberlin for the inhabitants of the Ban. 
 
 Oberlin's heaviest trial, though not his first, was 
 the loss of his wife. She died in January, 1784, 
 in the sixteenth year of their unioi\. She departed 
 
OBEKLIX, THE PASTOE. 189 
 
 almost suddenly, leaving him seven, out of nine, 
 children, the youngest being only about ten weeks 
 old. Nothing could be more characteristic than 
 his conduct on this distressing occasion. Her 
 death was wholly unlooked-for. When the intel- 
 ligence was brought to him, he was stunned, and 
 remained for some time in silence, quite incapable 
 of giving utterance to his feelings. He then fell 
 on his knees and returned " thanks to God that 
 his beloved partner was now beyond the reach or 
 need of prayer, and that her heavenly Father had 
 crowned the abundance of His mercies towards 
 her, by giving her so easy a departure." At their 
 marriage they had prayed that they might always 
 have death before their eyes, and always be pre- 
 pared for it ; and " if it be a thing," they added, 
 " which we may ask of Thee, oh ! grant that we be 
 not long separated one from another, but that the 
 death of one may speedily, very speedily, follow 
 that of the other." From the period of his wife's 
 death a deepened seriousness was observable in his 
 conversation and deportment. He was grave, not 
 gloomy. A word of repining or murmuring never 
 escaped his lips. It was the Lord's doing, and it 
 was right. About six months after he had laid 
 her in the grave, he composed an address to his 
 parishioners, and laid it aside, to be delivered to 
 hem after his decease, as his last charge. In this 
 document he briefly states when and where he was 
 born, when he took charge of the Ban, the time of 
 his marriage, tfye number of his children, " two of 
 
190 MEN WHO HAVE RISEN. 
 
 whom," he said, " have already entered paradise, 
 and seven remain in this world ;" he also names 
 the day and the circumstances in which his wife 
 died. 
 
 " Upon this occasion," he goes on to say, " as 
 upon a thousand others in the course of my life, 
 notwithstanding my overwhelming affliction, I was 
 upheld by God's gracious assistance in a very re- 
 markable manner. I have had all my life a desire, 
 occasionally a very strong one, to die, owing in 
 some measure to the consciousness of my moral 
 infirmities and of my frequent derelictions. My 
 affection for my wife and children, and my attach- 
 ment to my parish, have sometimes checked this 
 desire, though for short intervals only. I had, 
 about a year since, some presentiment of my ap- 
 proaching end. I did not pay much attention to 
 it at the time ; but, since the death of my wife, I 
 have received unequivocal warnings of the same 
 nature. Millions of times have I besought God to 
 enable me to surrender myself with entire and 
 filial submission to his will, either to live or die, 
 and to bring me into such a state of resignation as 
 neither to wish, nor to say, nor to do, nor to under- 
 take anything, but what He, who only is wise and 
 good, sees to be best. Having had such frequent 
 intimations of my approaching end, I have ar- 
 ranged all my affairs as far as I am able, in order 
 to prevent confusion after my death. For my 
 dear children I fear nothing; but as I always 
 greatly preferred being useful to others to giving 
 
OBERLIN, THE PASTOE. 191 
 
 them trouble, I suffer much from' the idea that 
 they may occasion sorrow or anxiety to the friends 
 who take charge of them. May God abundantly 
 reward them for it ! With regard to my children 
 themselves I have no anxiety ; for I have had such 
 frequent experience of the mercy of God towards 
 myself, and place such full reliance upon his good- 
 ness, his wisdom, and his love, as to render it im- 
 possible for me to be at all solicitous about them. 
 Their mother was at a very early age deprived of 
 her parents ; but she was, notwithstanding, a better 
 Christian than thousands who have enjoyed the 
 advantages of parental instruction. Besides, I 
 know that God hears our prayers ; and ever since 
 the birth of our children, neither their mother nor 
 I have ceased to supplicate him to make them 
 faithful followers of Jesus Christ, and laborers in 
 his vineyard. And thou, O my dear parish ! 
 neither will God forsake thee. He has towards 
 thee, as I have often said, thoughts of peace and 
 mercy. All things will go well with thee; only 
 cleave thou to him, and leave him to act. Oh! 
 mayest thou forget my n&me, and retain only that 
 of Jesus Christ, whom I have proclaimed to thee. 
 lie is thy pastor ; I am but his servant. He is 
 that good Master who, after having trained and 
 prepared me from my youth, sent me to thee that 
 I might be useful. He alone is wise, good, al- 
 mighty, and merciful ; and as for me, I am but a 
 poor, feeble, wretched man." . . . This touching 
 document concludes thus : " O, my God ! let thine 
 
192 MEN WHO HATE RISEN. 
 
 eye watch over my dear parishioners ; let thine ear 
 be open to hear them ; thine arm be extended to 
 succor and protect them ! Lord Jesus, thou 
 hast intrusted this parish to my care, feeble and 
 miserable as I am ; oh ! suffer me to commend 
 it to thee to resign it into thy hands. Give 
 it pastors after thine own heart ; never forsake 
 it; overrule ah 1 things for its good! Enlighten 
 them, guide them, love them, bless them all ; and 
 grant that the young and old, the teachers and the 
 taught, pastors and parishioners, may all, in due 
 time, meet together in thy paradise! Even 
 so, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit ! Even so. 
 Amen !" 
 
 Forty-two years after this parting address was 
 written, it was found among his papers, and was 
 read in the churchyard to his assembled people, 
 before his body was lowered down into the grave. 
 Those forty-two years were spent, like those that 
 preceded them, in unremitting attention to the 
 instruction of his flock. The death of his sons, 
 which took place when they had attained the age 
 of manhood, seemed only to quicken his diligence, 
 and to deepen his solicitude respecting the eternal 
 welfare of his charge. The apostolic injunction 
 came with power to his heart he was " instant in 
 season and out of season," and always " fervent in 
 spirit." He did not content himself with preach- 
 ing publicly, but paid pastoral visits to every 
 cottage in his large parish, and conversed with 
 the people upon their spiritual condition, and 
 
OBERLIN, THE PASTOR. 193 
 
 upon the various efforts which were made by 
 benevolent individuals to diffuse religious know- 
 ledge throughout the world. On every Friday 
 he conducted a service in German, for the benefit 
 of about two hundred persons in the Ban, to 
 whom that language was more familiar than the 
 French. At his Friday evening service he used 
 to lay aside all form, and the now silvery-headed 
 old man seemed more like a father surrounded by 
 his children than the minister of an extensive dis- 
 trict. At those meetings, in order that no time 
 might be lost, he used to make his female hearers 
 knit stockings for their poorer neighbors, not for 
 themselves ; it was a work of charity, he said, and 
 needed not to either distract their attention or to 
 diminish their devotion. When he had for some 
 time read and expounded the Bible to them, he 
 would often say, " Well, children, are you not 
 tired ? Have you had enough ?" If they said, 
 " Enough for one time," he would leave off; but 
 the more frequent reply was, " JSTo, dear papa, go 
 on ; we should like to hear a little more ! " His 
 discourses for the Sabbath were carefully prepared. 
 In them he preserved a colloquial plainness, scru- 
 pulously avoiding the use of words or phrases 
 which were not level to the apprehension of his 
 hearers. He drew largely upon natural history, 
 with which his people were well acquainted, for 
 illustration; and he frequently introduced bio- 
 graphical anecdotes of persons who were eminent 
 for piety or benevolence. 
 13 
 
194: MEN WHO IIAYE KISEST. 
 
 The close of his earthly career was, like that of 
 a summer day, calm and peaceful. His was a 
 green old age, the snows of time, although they 
 rested upon his head, sent no chill into the warm 
 affections of his heart. In the latter part of his 
 life, the increasing infirmities of age prevented 
 him from occupying himself, as he was wont, in 
 the discharge of his pastoral duty. If he could 
 not visit nor preach to his flock, he could pray for 
 them. The sand was now low in the glass. The 
 last grain ran out on the morning of the 1st of 
 June, 1826, when he was in the eighty-sixth year 
 of his age. The illness which preceded his de- 
 parture continued for four days. On the morning 
 of the first of June, at six o'clock, his pain abated. 
 His children were grouped around his bed, and at 
 intervals he clasped their hands arid pressed them 
 to his heart. His limbs soon became cold and 
 lifeless, and he lost the use of his speech. His 
 last act was to take off his cap, and to join his 
 hands as in prayer, and to raise his eyes toward 
 heaven ; his countenance as he did so, beaming 
 with joy and love. He closed his eyes never to 
 open them again until the day of the resurrection. 
 About eleven o'clock, the toll of the passing-bell 
 informed the inhabitants of the valley that he who 
 had watched over them for nearly sixty years 
 would watch no more. 
 
 Four days afterwards he was buried. During 
 the interval which elapsed between his decease 
 and the simple and affecting ceremony which con- 
 
OBEKLIX, TIIE PASTOE. 195 
 
 signed his remains to the grave, heavy clouds 
 rested on the surrounding mountains, and the 
 rain poured down in incessant torrents. Nature 
 seemed to sympathise with the feelings which 
 swelled the hearts of his people, and which bowed 
 their souls with the sineerest sorrow. Oberlin's 
 remains were placed in a coffin with a glass lid, 
 and laid in his study, where, despite of the in- 
 clemency of the weather, the inhabitants of the 
 Ban and of the surrounding districts (of ah 1 ages, 
 conditions, and religious denominations) congre- 
 gated to take a farewell look at his beloved face. 
 
 Early in the morning of the day fixed for the 
 interment, the clouds cleared away and the sun 
 shone with its wonted brilliancy. As the pro- 
 cession left the house, the president of the consis- 
 tory of Bai-r placed Oberlin's clerical robes upon 
 the coffin, the vice-president of the consistory 
 placed his Bible upon it, and the mayor affixed 
 the decoration of the Legion of Honor to the 
 funeral pall. At the conclusion of this ceremony, 
 ten or twelve young females, who had been stand- 
 ing round the bier, sung a hymn, and at t^vo 
 o'clock the procession began to move, the coffin 
 being borne by the mayors, elders, and official 
 magistrates of the Ban and of the neighboring 
 communes. 
 
 The region round about seemed to have sent 
 forth all its inhabitants, so great was the concourse 
 which assembled. The interment took place at 
 Foudai, two miles distant from Oberlin's house, 
 
196 MEN WHO HAVE RISEN". 
 
 but the foremost of the funeral train had reached 
 the churchyard before the last had left the par- 
 sonage ! The children and youths of the differ- 
 ent schools formed part of the melancholy pro- 
 cession, chanting at intervals sacred hymns, se- 
 lected and adapted to the occasion. When they 
 approached Foudai, a new bell, which had been 
 presented in commemoration of this day of sor- 
 row, was heard to toll for the first time, and to 
 mingle its melancholy sound with the bells of the 
 valley. The burying-ground was surrounded by 
 Roman Catholic women, ah 1 dressed in deep 
 mourning, and kneeling in silent prayer. On 
 arriving at the church, the coffin was placed at 
 the foot of the communion-table, and as many 
 persons entered as the little place would contain, 
 the great multitude having to remain in the 
 churchyard and the adjoining lanes. Notwith- 
 standing the presence of so great a number of 
 persons, the utmost order and solemnity prevailed. 
 Several persons, who could find room nowhere 
 else, sat down on the steps beside the coffin, as if 
 anxious to cling to the ashes of one whom they 
 loved so well. Many distinguished persons were 
 present, and several Roman Catholic priests, 
 dressed in their canonicals, sat among the mem- 
 bers of the consistory. At the conclusion of the 
 president's address, a hymn was sung, and the 
 coffin borne to the grave, which is on one side of 
 the little church, beneath a weeping willow that 
 shades the tomb of his son Henry. Here, amidst 
 
OBERLTX, TIIE PASTOR. 197 
 
 the tears of the assembled thousands, the earth 
 was heaped upon the house of clay which once 
 contained the spirit of John Frederic Oberlin, the 
 world's benefactor, while the humble and Christ- 
 like pastor of the Ban de la Roche. 
 
 Reader, do you wish to die as he died ? If so, 
 live as he lived ; and your memory, like his, will 
 be green and fragrant throughout all ages. 
 
ELIHU BUBKITT, THE LINGUIST. 
 
 ELIHU BUKKITT was born at New Britain, Con- 
 necticut, on the llth of December, 1811. He 
 was the son of a shoemaker, who reared a family 
 of five children in the fear of God and love of 
 virtue. During Elihu's boyhood, he assisted his 
 father with the lap-stone ; about four months of 
 every year he enjoyed the privilege of attending 
 the district school, but the remainder of his time 
 was required as a contribution to the general laboi 
 necessary for the support of the family. Elihu 
 lost his father when at the age of sixteen. It now 
 became necessary for him to strike out a path for 
 himself; he determined to learn the blacksmith's 
 trade ; and, entering into the necessary arrange- 
 ments, he apprenticed himself to a blacksmith, 
 with whom he remained until he was twenty-one 
 years of age. 
 
 At a very early age Elihu evinced an extraordi- 
 nary thirst for knowledge. He read everything 
 upon which he could lay his hands. When he 
 
ELIHO BUIiRITT, THE LINGUIST. 199 
 
 entered upon his apprenticeship he was familiar 
 with the Bible, the history of the Revolutionary 
 War, and had the advantage of a few desultory 
 volumes. But he now had access to the town 
 library, which he availed himself of with so much 
 assiduity, that in a brief period he had exhausted 
 every book of history upon its shelves. He next 
 turned to poetry. This kind of reading he was 
 very fond of; he perused Thomson's Seasons, 
 Young's Night Thoughts, Pollock's Course of 
 Time, Shakespeare and Milton. But his passion 
 for reading did not retard his advancement in his 
 trade ; he became a first-rate blacksmith, as well 
 as an earnest scholar. Having exhausted the 
 library and mastered his trade, he now became 
 animated with a desire to obtain access to those 
 authors who were beyond his reach. Scholarship 
 became his pastime. His indentures having ter- 
 minated, he placed himself under the tuition of 
 his brother, a lawyer and a man of education. 
 This gentleman enabled him to pursue the study 
 of mathematics ; he also took up Latin and French. 
 Employing his winter this way, in the spring he 
 returned to his forge, and, in order to make up for 
 lost time and supply himself with the means of 
 pursuing his studies, he undertook to do the work 
 of two men, laboring hard at the anvil for over 
 fourteen hours a day. 
 
 "After he could read French with pleasure," 
 says the Reverend R. W. Bailey, to whom we are 
 iudebted for the materials of this sketch, "he took 
 
200 MEN WHO HAVE RISEN. 
 
 up Spanish. After reading the Spanish with ease 
 he commenced the Greek, carrying his grammar in 
 his hat while he worked, and studying at the anvil 
 and the forge. He pursued this course until the 
 fall of the year (1833.) He then made his ar- 
 rangements to devote himself to study for another 
 winter. He went to New Haven, not so much, as 
 he said, to find a teacher, as under the conviction 
 that there was the proper place to study. As soon 
 as he arrived he sat down to the reading of Ho- 
 mer's Iliad alone, without notes, or translation, or 
 any other help. At the close of the first day, 
 after intense application, he had read fifteen lines, 
 much to his own satisfaction. After this success- 
 ful effort, he determined to go on without a 
 teacher ; he accordingly made a systematic dis- 
 tribution of his time and studies. He rose at four, 
 and studied German until breakfast, then studied 
 Greek until noon, then spent an hour at Italian. 
 In the afternoon he studied Greek until night, and 
 then studied Spanish until bed-time. This course 
 he continued until he could read two hundred 
 lines a day of Homer, besides carrying forward 
 the other studies in their order. During the win- 
 ter he read twenty books of Homer's Iliad, be- 
 sides studying with equal success the other 
 languages in the hours assigned to them." 
 
 In the Spring he accepted an invitation to teach 
 a grammar-school. In this situation he remained 
 for a year; he then acted as agent for a manu- 
 facturing company, and traveled extensively 
 
ELIHU BILKRITT, THE LINGUIST. 20l 
 
 through the country. During this period his studies 
 were nearly entirely interrupted. He returned to 
 the anvil once more, and resumed his studies with 
 fresh enthusiasm. He soon became proficient in 
 the ancient and European languages, and turned 
 his attention to the Oriental tongues. The means 
 for acquiring these were limited. He determined 
 to enlist as a sailor, that he might travel to places 
 more available for this purpose. He proceeded to 
 Boston and endeavored to obtain a ship. He was 
 unsuccessful ; but while in that city he heard of the 
 American Antiquarian Society at Worcester. He 
 proceeded there at once, and found, as he says, 
 such a collection of books on ancient, modern, and 
 Oriental languages as he never before conceived to 
 be collected together in one place. The use of 
 this library was at once tendered him ; he made 
 arrangements to study three hours a day, and work 
 at the anvil for his support at other times. In this 
 manner he pursued the study of the most difficult 
 of the languages, and advanced with such marvel- 
 ous rapidity that before he left Worcester he was 
 able to read Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Gaelic, Eng- 
 lish, Welsh, Irish, Celtic, French, Spanish, Portu- 
 guese, Italian, German, Flemish, Saxon, Gothic, 
 Icelandic, Polish, Bohemian, Russian, Sclavonic, 
 Armenian, Turkish, Chaldaic, Syriac, Samaritan, 
 Arabic, Ethiopia, Indian, Sanscrit, and Tamul. 
 
 Mr. Bailey publishes an interesting account of a 
 visit to Mr. Burritt's smithy. " On my first ar- 
 9* 
 
202 . MEN WHO HAVE RISEN. 
 
 rival at Worcester, I proceeded directly from the 
 cars to inquire out Mr. Burritt. After two or 
 three directions, I arrived at an extensive iron 
 foundry. In a long line of workshops I was 
 directed to that in which Mr. Burritt was em- 
 ployed. I entered, and, seeing several forges, 
 sought for the object of my visit. 'He has just 
 left, and is probably in his study,' said a son of 
 Vulcan, resting his hammer on his shoulder mean- 
 while ; ' there is his forge,' pointing to one that 
 was silent. I had but a moment to study it. Its 
 entire structure and apparatus resembled ordinary 
 forges, except that it was neater and in better 
 order. Mr. Burritt is a bachelor and a journey- 
 man, and earns a shilling an hour by contract with 
 the proprietor of this foundry. He lives and fur- 
 nishes himself with books by this laborious appli- 
 cation to his trade. Seeing on his table what ap- 
 peared to be a diary, I read as follows : ' August 
 18. Forged 16 hours read Celtic 3 hours trans- 
 lated 2 pages of Icelandic, and three pages of 
 German.' This was a single item of similar records 
 which run through the book. To abate my sur- 
 prise, he told me that this was a correct memoran- 
 dum of the labors of every day ; but the sixteen 
 hours of labor was that which he performed in a 
 job, and for which he was paid by the estimate of 
 its value, but that he performed it in eight hours, 
 thus gaining both time and money by double labor. 
 Eight hours a day is his ordinary habit of labor at 
 
ELIIIU BUKEITT, THE LINGUIST. 203 
 
 the forge." The same writer describes Mr. Bur- 
 ritt (1843) as a person of middle stature, rather 
 slender proportions, high, receding forehead, 
 deeply set, steady, grayish eye, thin visage, fail- 
 complexion, thin, compressed upper lip, a hectic 
 glow, and hair bordering on the brown or auburn. 
 
 In 1844 Mr. Burritt commenced the publication 
 of a newspaper called the " Christian Citizen," and 
 from that time has been largely known for his ad- 
 vocacy of peace doctrines views which he has 
 disseminated with enthusiasm. He is also an ad- 
 vocate of an ocean penny postage, in the further- 
 ance of which he has visited Europe, and delivered 
 popular lectures in several of the principal cities. 
 Mr. Burritt's literary productions include, mainly, 
 "Sparks from the Anvil," "A Voice from the 
 Forge," and Peace Papers for the People." He 
 has also printed some translations from the north- 
 ern classics. 
 
 " Mr. Burritt furnishes a remarkable instance of 
 what may be accomplished by perseverence in spite 
 of the most unfavorable circumstances. A forge, 
 of all places in the world, would seem the least 
 favorable for the prosecution of studies demanding 
 an unusual concentration of mind ; yet, by a con- 
 tented exercise of the will, Mr. Burritt was deaf 
 to the tumult which surrounded him, and was 
 able to accomplish an amount of study which 
 places him in the front rank of great scholars. 
 The other phase of his character, in which he has 
 manifested decided originality and philanthropy, 
 
204: MEN WHO HAVE RISEN. 
 
 will be better appreciated when the beneficence of 
 his efforts are reviewed by the historian. In every 
 respect Mr. Burritt is great and noble, and his 
 name will descend to future generations as a brigh* 
 example of a self-made man." 
 
 
WILHELM, THE KNTFE-GKINDEB. 
 
 " KNIVES to grind !" cried Wilhelm, as he limped 
 through the streets of Brussels, driving his old 
 crazy machine before him. " Knives and scissors 
 to grind !" Wilhelm did not limit his trade to the 
 grinding of knives and scissors exclusively ; he 
 would not refuse to put an edge upon a butcher's 
 cleaver, and he was even very thankful to obtain 
 a hatchet to reduce to chopping acuteness, but he 
 only cried " Knives and scissors to grind," as has 
 been the custom of itinerant cutlers since the days 
 of Cataline. Wilhelm drove his machine before 
 him very slowly, and he perhaps required to do 
 so, as it was rather fragile in its constitution ; but 
 he called "Knives to grind" with a lusty, cheer- 
 ful, happy voice, that seemed to belie his own 
 constitution ; for he, too, like his precursor com- 
 bination of beams, and stones, and wheels, was 
 none of the most robust of creation's works. He 
 was a little, ragged, lame, and feeble Fleming, 
 with an old and woll-worn grinding wheel as his 
 

 206 MEN WHO HAVE KISEN. 
 
 only property ; and anybody particular in affinities 
 would have said they were made for each other. 
 
 AVilhelni's face would have been notified merely 
 as " a face," by a passer by. Any one would have 
 been satisfied at a glance that it was deficient in 
 none of the constituent parts of the human visage ; 
 but the thought of whether it was beautiful or 
 ugly would never have intruded itself amongst 
 his impressions. His large, old, broad-brimnied 
 hat was slouched over his back and shoulders, and 
 threw a deep shade upon his brow ; and then, 
 again, his thick black hair clung in large curls 
 down his pale cheeks, and also partly obscured his 
 features ; so that Wilhelm's countenance was not 
 put forward to advantage like those of the bucks 
 who promenaded the Boulevards, and therefore it 
 might be full of hidden beauties for aught the 
 world knew. His well-patched blouse hung loosely 
 round his spare form, investing it with even more 
 than its own due proportion of apparent robust- 
 ness; but poverty's universal and palpable mantle 
 hung over him all, with a truthful tell-tale earnest- 
 ness of whose reality there could be no mistake. 
 In this guise Wilhelm limped along, then, crying 
 out for customers, and looking sharply about him 
 for the same. He would turn his glancing eyes to 
 the high windows of the quaint wooden-fronted 
 houses, from which pretty damsels were looking 
 into the street, and then he would look earnestly 
 at the portly merchants who leant lazily over their 
 half doors; but, though neither dame nor burgber 
 
WILHELM, THE KtflFE-GKINDEK. 207 
 
 would pay any attention to him, Wilhelm would 
 still jog on and shout as gaily as if he were a wild 
 bird uttering his accustomed cry. 
 
 It was through the lower or Flemish part of the 
 city that the knife-grinder pursued his slow and de- 
 vious course, and either mantua-making and knife- 
 using were at a discount, or all these utensils had 
 been in good repair in that quarter, for poor Wil- 
 helm had little, save the echo of his own cry from 
 the throat of some precocious urchin, for his pains. 
 
 Up one street went Wilhelm, and down another. 
 He often rested in front of the great Church of St. 
 Gudule, and looked admiringly at its architecture, 
 for he had a strong love for the beautiful, although 
 he Avas only a knife-grinder; and sometimes he 
 would seat himself upon the handle of his machine, 
 in order to contemplate the outward grandeur of 
 the Hotel de Ville ; but if any one had supposed 
 that there was one envious thought in all his con- 
 templations, he did the knife-grinder injustice, for 
 no envy had he, poor though he was. 
 
 To those who knew all about Wilhelm, there 
 was nothing more incomprehensible in the world 
 than his lightness of heart. That he should sing 
 was one of the most startling of anomalies he, 
 whose father, the fireman, perished in trying to 
 rescue his own wife and Wilhelm's mother from 
 the flames of his burning home. It was often said 
 by those who saw the knife-grinder's ever-cheerful 
 aspect, that he might think of his father and mo- 
 ther, and if nothing else could remind him of them, 
 
208 MEN WHO HAVE EISKN". 
 
 surely Iris own lameness might ; for it was upon 
 the night when they perished that he was afflicted, 
 and yet he didn't seem to think so. 
 
 Wilhelm's life was a lonely enough one, without- 
 adding to it the pains and penalties of a morbid 
 melancholy ; but some folks didn't think so, and 
 would have had him forever sad as well as lonely. 
 It was acknowledged that Wilhelm was a wonder- 
 ful lad, however ; and as this phrase is capable of 
 a multiplicity of explications, ijb may be as well to 
 state that he had refused all oifers of a pecuniary 
 nature from anybody whatever, had established 
 himself in a little dwelling, and supported himself 
 by his grinding-machine, and this is w r hy he was 
 termed wonderful. If it had been possible to look 
 into the bosom of the knife-grinder, there would 
 have been seen throbbing there, and sending 
 through every channel of his frame a current of 
 boundless love, a heart as rich and pure as ever 
 bosom bore. It was a wonderful heart, too ; for 
 it was stout and strong, and bore up as if it had 
 been a giant's sent to animate a weakling. There 
 was no flinching in its courage, no drooping in its 
 joyous mood, no change in its loving pulsations 
 from morn to night as he plodded up one narrow 
 street, down another, through crossings and 
 squares, and courts, and by-ways. Wilhelm the 
 knife-grinder's heart was a hero's ; and let who 
 will say otherwise, we will maintain, with tongue 
 and pen, that it was, and of the proudest order, too 
 It is easy, it is natural for hearts to maintain their 
 
WILHELM, THE KNIFE-GJRINDEB. 209 
 
 beauty and their .goodness in those sunny spots of 
 the world to which love and beauty are indigenous. 
 By cheerful hearths, where, in the ruddy glow of 
 the log, and in the bright flame, you picture golden 
 gardens, and caverns, and groves, or behold the 
 brightly lighted faces of childhood, how can the 
 heart wither or grow sad ? In the duality of love 
 resides its natural life. Heart answering heart, 
 bright eye enlightening eye, kind words echoing 
 back love's gentle aspirations these maintain the 
 eternal spring of the affections, as sunlight and 
 heat give to the earth her summer. If Wilhelm 
 had resided in the Park where the nobility and 
 English dwelt, or in the great Sablon Square 
 among the merchants and savans, it would have 
 been easy for one so constituted to have been 
 happy and gay ; but to maintain a vital relation 
 to bright and glorious heaven, amidst the darkness 
 and gloom of a lonely little room in the dingiest 
 spot of the low town of Brussels, was heroism, let 
 the world say as it will. 
 
 u Oh, have pity, and give the poor little home- 
 less one a mite ! " said a soft and gentle voice so 
 soft and gentle that the words might have been 
 with propriety addressed direct to Heaven, as well 
 as in the ear of one of Heaven's humblest agents 
 upon earth, Wilhelm the knife-grinder. 
 
 It was in a dark and wretched quarter of the 
 
 town where he was thus accosted, a spot whose 
 
 gloom the shade of evening scarcely deepened ; 
 
 black walls, grim with the smoke of ages and 
 
 14 
 
210 MEN WHO HAVE KISEN. 
 
 crumbling to ruin, rose on either hand, and, con- 
 verging at the top, seemed agreed to meet and 
 exclude the blue heavens and sunbeams. Little 
 windows, dirty, dingy, broken, and rag-patched, 
 told that these high walls were the walls of homes, 
 and the faces of human beings, peeping now and 
 again from them, were the indices of immured life 
 and thought. Yet, even in that lofty series of 
 chambers, where humility scarcely could brook to 
 live, the little outcast, who had breathed her pite- 
 ous accents to Wilhelm, had no spot to lay her 
 head. 
 
 " One little farthing to buy a roll to poor Lelie," 
 pursued the child, in tremulous tones ; " oh, I am 
 hungry !" and she laid her hand on that of Wil- 
 helm, and looked up in his face. 
 
 The knife-grinder's machine dropped from his 
 hands as if he had been suddenly struck, and he 
 turned towards the suppliant with so benign a 
 look that the child smiled in his face and crouched 
 nearer to his person. 
 
 "Poor Lelie," said Wilhelm, descimating his 
 fortune and presenting the tithe to the infant, " art 
 thou hungry?" 
 
 "Yes; and cold, and sad," said the child, art- 
 lessly; "I have no father nor mother, nor any- 
 body to care for me ; I am a beggar and an out- 
 cast." 
 
 The knife-grinder held in his breath, as he bent 
 to listen to the words of Lelie, and when she had 
 done he caught her hand, stretched himself proudly 
 
WILHELM, TIIE KNIFE-GRINDER. 211 
 
 up, and breathed long and freely, while his eyes 
 became radiant and his face illumined with a sud- 
 den and noble purpose. 
 
 " Alone, like me," exclaimed the knife-grinder ; 
 <4 poor child ! Oh ! is there another even more 
 destitute of all the reciprocities of love than lame 
 Wilhelm ?" and he turned his kindly face towards 
 the little girl ; " I could sit at my lone fire at night 
 when the world around me slept, and I could hold 
 communion with my parents' spirits in silent peace 
 and joy ; but Lelie, what will night be to her but 
 houseless horror. I am a man," pursued Wilhelm, 
 again stretching himself and striving to look 
 strong; "lam independent," and he shook the 
 coppers in his pocket ; " can I not snatch this 
 child from sorrow and hunger? Jan Roos the 
 water-carrier keeps a great dog, which I am sure 
 will eat more food than Lelie why not keep a 
 child as well as a dog ? " The spirit within the 
 knife-grinder seemed to say, why not? and the 
 spirit of the outcast child seemed to know it, for 
 Lelie crouched still closer to Wilhelm, and looked 
 up in his face as if she knew him. " And does no 
 one care for you, Lelie ? " said the poor lame 
 youth, softly ; " is there no one to love you ? " 
 
 " None but the Father who dwells beyond the 
 stars with good angels," said the child, timidly. 
 
 "Then thou shalt go with me for His Son's 
 sake," said Wilhelm, snatching her up in his arms 
 and kissing her pale, thin cheek, as lovingly and 
 rapturously as if it had bloomed in health and 
 
212 MEN WHO HAVE RISEN. 
 
 beauty. " Thou shalt go with me, and I will love 
 thee and take care of thee, and thou shalt grow 
 up to be a woman, and I will be to thee as a 
 father. Sit there, Lelie, and hold on firmly ; my 
 machine is not very strong, but it will bear thee. 
 I am not so brave and stout as the sentinels at the 
 castle gate, but I will be weaker if I cannot carry 
 thee home ; so here we go ; " and, with a heart 
 overflowing with feelings which he had never 
 known before, and his eyes dancing with a pleasure 
 which surpassed all former emotions, he limped on 
 with his crazy wheel and smiling child, the proud- 
 est man that night in Brussels. 
 
 "Here we are," cried Wilhelm, as he hurled 
 Lelie into the dark passage of his home, opened 
 his door, and, lifting her gently down, placed her 
 upon his cold hearth-stone. "It won't be cold 
 long," cried he, laughing cheerily, as he struck a 
 light and applied it to the wood from the forest of 
 Soignies, which filled his grate. " It isn't a palace 
 this, Lelie ; but if you are not as happy as a little 
 queen, it shall be no fault of mine. Come, let me 
 wash thy face and hands with this sweet water 
 from the Seine, and eat thou of this brown 
 bread." 
 
 After ministering in every possible way to the 
 comfort of his protege, Wilhelm sat him down, 
 and looked upon her with eyes that sparkled in 
 the light of his crackling logs. A strange elevat- 
 ing sensation stole over his spirit a sense of dig- 
 nity and power that he had never known in his 
 
WILHELM, THE KNTFE-GKIKDEE. 213 
 
 loneliness. Was it not a direct radiation from 
 heaven which exalted the soul of this poor man, 
 with an inward cognizance of paternity ? " My 
 child," muttered Wilhelm, with a sweet smile; 
 " mine ! I now have something to care for ; 
 something that will learn to care for me. Jan 
 Roos's dog loves him, I know, and would fight 
 for him ; but his dog is but a brute. This young 
 Lelie was sent from heaven, fresh, rosy, and glow- 
 ing with a celestial nature, and then misfortune 
 blighted her, to render her a fit companion for the 
 heart-lone Wilhelm Voss." 
 
 Everybody wondered to see how clean and neat 
 Wilhelm the knife-grinder became all at once. 
 He felt that it was necessary to give Lelie a good 
 example in all things, and so he kept his blouse as 
 clean as if every day were Sunday. A change 
 came over the aspect of his home, too ; he became 
 particular with regard to scrubbing his floor, and 
 burnishing his two little cooking pans, and 
 arranging his crockery ; and when he took Lelie 
 to school, and paid a weekly instalment of what 
 he intended to pay for her education, she and he 
 were so trig and neat that the teacher said he 
 was glad to see a brother have such care over his 
 sister. 
 
 Wilhelm became filled by degrees with a sense 
 of home and an assurance of love. When he was 
 abroad, his thoughts were dancing in the flames of 
 his own beaming hearth, and smiling in the face 
 of pretty, blooming Lelie, In every penny he 
 
214: MEN WHO HAYE EISKN". 
 
 earned, he recognized her share ; in every step he 
 took at nightfall towards his dwelling, amongst 
 his anticipations of peace, rest, and comfort, her 
 face was seen smiling him on, and her hands 
 were seen spreading his board. Wilhelm's for- 
 tunes began to mend as the little girl began to 
 grow up. He could not account for it unless as n 
 gracious dispensation of that Great Ruler of good, 
 who sent a double share of work to him for Lelie's 
 sake. But work came to him now, when he didn't 
 call out for it ; and as he was respectable, and 
 could go with his new machine to the Park, it 
 was astonishing how much money he would carry 
 home in the evenings. Nobody would have be- 
 lieved that the Wilhelm Yoss who had his name 
 painted jauntily on a board in front of his machine, 
 and wore a smart blouse and beaver, was the same 
 lame Wilhelm who bore home the little foundling 
 five years previously. His cheeks were clean and 
 ruddy, and his bright black eyes were scarcely 
 brighter than his well-combed locks ; and the 
 cookmaids who brought him knives to grind often 
 declared that his face was very handsome ; and, 
 blessings on their woman's hearts, they pitied him 
 that he was lame, and you would have thought 
 that they blunted the knives on purpose, so reg- 
 ularly did they bring them to Wilhelm to sharp. 
 
 Little Lelie grew up as tall and straight as a 
 poplar, and as beautiful as any orange-tree in the 
 royal conservatory of Brussels ; and how pleasant 
 to Wi'.helm to watch her growth and opening 
 
WILHELM, THE KNIFE-GRINDER. 215 
 
 loveliness ; but he could hardly define the happi- 
 ness that thrilled him, when the truth dawned 
 upon his observant spirit that she was like unto 
 him in her ways. Every little delicate kindness 
 that ever this lame knife-grinder had shown to 
 tliis poor outcast, she strove by some spiritual 
 impulse to reciprocate; she loved him with a 
 strong and passionate earnestess that he knew 
 not of; and every smile he gave her, every happy 
 word he spoke, fell on her heart like heavenly 
 music; and it was because of the refined and 
 delicate manners which she observed in him, and 
 which she so assiduously strove to imitate, that 
 she loved him. Wilhelm had never hinted at the 
 link which bound him and Lelie together; she 
 was old enough when he found her to know that 
 he was no relation of hers ; and she had so dis- 
 tinct a remembrance of the vice amongst which 
 she had dwelt, that the gentle words which Wil- 
 helm constantly spoke, and the little prayers and 
 hymns which he taught her to repeat, gave her at 
 first a dim idea of maternal care, and then of 
 human goodness, which she was constrained to 
 love and venerate, and to which she had some 
 indefinite affinity ; but she liad no sense of cha- 
 rity, no feeling of dependence, for Wilhelm had 
 consulted her about every little household act, 
 and had so identified her with himself in ah 1 he 
 said or did, that she, too, had no thought of doing 
 anything beyond the knowledge of "orr Wil- 
 helm." 
 
216 
 
 MEN WHO HAVE EISEN. 
 
 Lelie Tvould go out of the afternoons to meet her 
 modest protector at some appointed place, and the 
 knife-grinder looked so happy and so brave, and 
 Lelie looked so beautiful and smiling, that the 
 great folks began to take notice of the cheerful 
 pair, and to declare that that knife-grinder and his 
 pretty sister deserved to be encouraged. And so 
 Wilhelm was encouraged ; for, when he opened 
 his cutler shop in the Place de Ville, customers 
 came pouring on him, and, assuredly, Lelie had a 
 busy time of it serving them. Dinner sets of 
 knives and forks for the quiet, calculating dames, 
 who were queens in their way, for each ruled a 
 home; long black scalpels for physicians; large 
 carvers for keepers of cook-shops ; pruners and 
 hedgebills for agriculturists; and hooks and scythes 
 for reapers ; together with penknives for students 
 of law and divinity; these constituted part of the 
 stock of Wilhelm Yoss, and these were the class 
 of his ready-money, constant customers. 
 
 In twelve years from his finding Lelie, Wilhelm 
 was a man of standing and importance amongst 
 the guildry of Brussels. He was esteemed wise, 
 and good, and rich, which last was, perhaps, the 
 most important consideration of the whole in the 
 eyes of some. But he esteemed himself especially 
 blessed of heaven in Lelie, and she was the chief 
 of all his earthly treasures. And what a treasure 
 of grace, and beauty, and affection, had that 
 young child become ! It was a picture far finer 
 than any of the paintings in the city gallery, and 
 
WILHELM, THE KNIFE-GRINDER. 21 7 
 
 the finest of Flemish paintings were there ; it was 
 a finer sight than them all to behold Lelie seated 
 behind the counter of Wilhelm's well-filled shop, 
 on the fine summer afternoons, when the sunbeams 
 streamed through the little panes, and fell upon 
 her fine ruddy cheeks, smooth brown hair, and blue 
 eyes, as she bent thoughtfully over a book, or 
 wrought away with her needle. Wilhelm, grown 
 a thoughtful man, with a dignified air that became 
 him wonderfully well, would stand and gaze upon 
 the maiden from his back workshop, and bless her 
 from his heart ; and then he would wonder if any 
 one could envy him of this jewel of his home. 
 Was it envy, or that most selfish of all the pas- 
 sions, sometimes misnamed love, that prompted 
 Hitter Van Ostt, the skinner, to come so often to 
 the shop of Mynheer Voss? He was a great 
 gallant, Hitter, who was ambitious of illumining 
 the world ; for, like many other people whose 
 money had accumulated in their coffers, he, with 
 great modesty, and, no doubt, truth, felt assured 
 that his intellect had brightened and expanded 
 too ; and if there had been an election for pri- 
 marius of the University of Ghent or Louvain, 
 and it had been left to Hitter to choose the fittest 
 person to fill the academical chair, he would not 
 have required to leave his bed to find such a 
 person. He came to the shop of Wilhem day 
 after day, finely done up in velvet and linen, with 
 his beaver stuck up a little at the side to give it a 
 rakish air, and his cloak hung carelessly iwon one 
 
218 MEN WHO HAVE KISEN. 
 
 shoulder, in cavalier fashion. He was a very 
 large specimen of the human frame, and he spoke 
 very loudly and authoritatively upon everything 
 and even nothing, and few in Brussels thought 
 themselves so high and killing as Hitter Van 
 Ostt. 
 
 Brussels is a fine city. There is the Park, with 
 its fine broad gravel walks, and its old green 
 shady walnut-trees ; and then there is the Botanic 
 Garden, with its orange grove as old as the Prince 
 of Orange himself; and there are galleries, and 
 museums, and many other sights, all agreeable to 
 look upon and profitable to contemplate. Hitter 
 Yan Ostt would ask Lelie Voss to accompany 
 him to all these places, and Lelie, who had been 
 at them all already with Wilhelm, would refuse, 
 and declare that she had sufficiently seen them ; 
 and then Ritter would appeal to Wilhelm, who, 
 remembering how happy she had been with him, 
 would urge her to go for her own sake, but always 
 in such tones that Lelie would still refuse three 
 times out of five. And what was it that stirred 
 Wilhelm Voss when Lelie would reluctantly go 
 with Ritter? Was it the old sensation of his 
 poor and lonely years -his sense of friendlessness 
 that came back upon him ? It was a strange 
 vague feeling a dread of nothingness, that stole 
 over his heart as if to extinguish it. Ah, if Lelie 
 were to leave him now ! and then the tears would 
 rush into his manly eyes, and Wilhelm knew that 
 he loved her. It is a truth, and an almost uni- 
 
WILHELM, THE KNIFE-GRINDEE. 219 
 
 versa! one, that the strongest and most beautiful 
 minds feel most sensitively the oppression of cor- 
 poral infirmities. Wilhelm was lame, and he 
 knew that Lelie was surpassing beautiful. He 
 was only twelve years her senior, and he had 
 known, loved, and tended her longer than any 
 other mortal had ; but though he had deemed 
 himself fit to be a father and instructor to Lelie, 
 he was convinced that she would hardly reckon 
 him a fit companion to brighten and sustain her 
 life a worthy object to whom she might apply 
 the name of husband. 
 
 "Ah, well, "Wilhelm, I shall tell Myneer Van 
 Ostt to walk by himself henceforth," said Lelie, 
 gravely, as she threw off her cloak and hood after 
 one of her walks. " I am done with him." 
 
 " And why, dear Lelie ? said Wilhelm. 
 
 "For various weighty reasons," said Lelie, 
 smiling, " but chiefly on my own account." 
 
 " And how on your own account ? " said Wil- 
 helm, earnestly. 
 
 "Lest I should fall in love with so stupid a 
 creature," said Lelie, laughing; "and then, you 
 know, according to your theory, I should become 
 like him." 
 
 Wilhelm was silent for a few moments, and 
 then he said, " So you would prefer some other 
 companion to Hitter, Lelie ? " 
 
 "Ay, that I would, to all the Ritters in the 
 Netherlands. Do you think, my own Wilhelm, 
 that I am happy when I am in the gardens with 
 
220 MEN WHO HAVE RISEN. 
 
 Van Ostt ? Ah, if you do, how mistaken you 
 are ! 
 
 Wilhelm was troubled, and then quietly said, 
 "Hitter Van Ostt is a man of substance and of 
 honest fame " 
 
 " Oh, fame ! " cried Lelie, interrupting him ; 
 "that he blows forth most lustily himself; they 
 should put a trumpet in his hand when they erect 
 his statue on the top of the Town-House." 
 
 " I have asked you to go with Hitter merely 
 because I thought it would be pleasant for you to 
 see the green trees, and to inhale the fragrance of 
 the flowers." 
 
 "Then you should come with us if you wish 
 them to be beautiful in themselves or agreeable to 
 me," said Lelie, with charming naivete. 
 
 Wilhelm looked at his portege in amazement, 
 and then a sweet smile overspread his face, as he 
 replied, " And so you prefer to talk to Wilhelm 
 and to walk with him, although he is not the finest 
 talker or walker in Belgium." 
 
 " This hearth is the brightest spot I know or 
 have ever known on earth," said Lelie, in low, 
 tremulous, earnest tones. " This face is the hand- 
 somest to me in the world," she continued, as she 
 leant upon Wilhelm's breast and spread back the 
 dark curls from his brow. " These lips have ever 
 been the sweetest exponents of wisdom and good- 
 ness that I have known. Ah, Wilhelm, Wilhelm ! 
 what should poor Lelie do if you were to bid her 
 leave you ? " 
 
WILHELM, THE KNIFE-GRINDEK. 221 
 
 The knife-grinder caught the earnest tearful 
 girl in his arms, and he gazed into her face. Was 
 he dreaming? Was this some passing illusion 
 too bright to last ? Ah ! no ; for truth in its in- 
 tegrity and purity was reflected in her eyes. 
 Through the vista of a few years he saw himself a 
 poor and ragged youth, friendless and almost 
 spiritless, plodding the streets of his native city 
 for the precarious bread derived from a precarious 
 calling. He saw a little girl thrown in his path 
 even more friendless and wretched than he. The 
 political economist who draws conclusions only 
 after casual reflections and with arithmetical pre- 
 cision, would inevitably have seen in the adoption 
 of this child by Wilhelm an addition to his misery; 
 but, by a law which political economists and 
 philosophers have never been able to write down, 
 the blessing had come with the burden. A good 
 deed more than rewards itself; the deed is but 
 the action of a moment ; the reward begins on 
 earth, and goes on increasing through eternity. 
 From a drooping, almost satisfied, son of poverty, 
 Wilhelm, by the stirring of the nobler impulses 
 of his nature, had grown slowly and gradually 
 into a refined and honored man ; and Lelie, from 
 a beggar and an outcast, had been trained into 
 beauty, goodness, and virtue. 
 
 " Well, Wilhelm, I consider it but right as a 
 matter of courtesy, and what not ? " said Ritter. 
 Ritter always finished his sentences with the words, 
 " and what not." " I consider it right," said he, 
 
222 MEN WHO HAVE EISEN. 
 
 " to let you know that it is time Lelie was mar- 
 ried." 
 
 " I was thinking so myself," said Wilhelm, as 
 he leant over his counter, and smiled in the face 
 of Van Ostt. 
 
 " And I consider it but right to let you know 
 that I mean to have her, which, I daresay, will be 
 as agreeable to you as to her, and what not ?" 
 said Hitter, cocking up his beaver and swelling 
 out his cheeks. 
 
 " As agreeable to the one as to the other, doubt- 
 less," replied Wilhelm, quietly. 
 
 " You are a man of substance, Voss," said the 
 skinner, looking more important than ever he had 
 done, " and it is to be hoped that you will be 
 liberal to the girl." 
 
 " I have never laid past a stiver but her share 
 was in it," said Wilhelm, seriously; she shall 
 have my all when she marries." 
 
 " I always said that you was a good fellow, and 
 a liberal fellow, and what not?" said Ritter, 
 grasping Wilhelm's hand, and slapping him on 
 the shoulder with the other. " Odds Bobs, man, 
 how glad we shall be to see thee in the evenings !" 
 
 "I shall keep at home in the evenings as 
 hitherto," replied the knife-grinder, with a merry 
 twinkle in his eye ; " my wife shall feel lonely 
 without me else." 
 
 " Your wife ! " said Ritter, staring at Wilhelm ; 
 " who is she ? when is it to be ? and what not ? " 
 
 " Why, Lelie has her wedding garments to 
 
WILHELM, THE KNIFE-GEINDEK. 223 
 
 "make, and what not ? " said Wilhelm, laughing 
 outright ; " but whenever she says the word, I am 
 ready." 
 
 " Lelie ! you ! " cried Ritter in amazement, as 
 he looked at Wilhelm, and then, strutting up and 
 down the shop, looked first at his limbs, and then 
 at the cloth of his doublet. " Well, who ever 
 heard of the like ? 
 
 " Ay, ay, Ritter, and so you envied me of my 
 little girl, did you ? " said Wilhelm, smiling ; " she 
 wouldn't have you, though, although you were 
 twice as large and rich as you are. I shall take 
 care and give thee a bidding, however, to our 
 wedding." 
 
 Wilhelm and Lelie Voss were the father and 
 mother of honest burghers, and of burghers' lovely 
 wives. Everybody loved them who knew them, 
 and their children almost adored them ; but there 
 was a class of children who had reason, above all 
 others, to bless their name, and to rejoice that 
 prosperity had not made them forget their own 
 early days. The poor and outcast children of 
 humanity, who roamed the streets in rags, were 
 ever recognized by Wilhelm as brethren in soul 
 and suffering ; and the little girls who trembled 
 on the verge of youthful purity and irreclaimable 
 vice, were sisters to the bosom of Madame Lelie. 
 Holy, purifying suffering ! which, like the crucible 
 of clay that is continent of gold, refines w T hile it 
 burns, how many have passed through thy ordeal 
 preparatory to a mission of love and benificence ! 
 
224 MEN WHO HAVE KISEN. 
 
 Who so active as Wilhelm in founding the 
 Foundling Hospital of Brussels ? and who so care- 
 ful in tending the school for orphans as Lelie ? 
 And Wilhelm and Lelie had means and time, too, 
 to attend to these things ; for he became burgo- 
 master of all the crafts, and rich to boot, and lived 
 at last in the Park where he once limped about, 
 a poor itinerant knife-grinder. 
 
THE STOEY OF HUGH MILLEK'S 
 EAKLY DAYS. 
 
 HUGH MILLER was born at Cromarty, in 1802. 
 His ancestors were a race of adventurous and 
 skillful sailors, who had coasted the Scottish shores 
 as early as the days of Sir Andrew Wood and 
 the bold Barton. His great grandsire, one of the 
 last of the buccaneers that sailed the Spanish Main, 
 had invested a portion of his surplus doubloons in 
 the long, low cottage where the subject of our 
 sketch first drew breath. To avoid the hereditary 
 fate of the family which, in its male members, 
 had, during many generations, nearly all perished 
 at sea Hugh Miller's grandmother consigned his 
 father to the care of an aunt married to a neigh- 
 boring farmer. But an agricultural life was not 
 his destiny. The boy was sent to drown a litter 
 of puppies ; his young heart relenting, he found 
 the task impossible, and towards gloaming wan- 
 dered home to his mother with the doomed qua- 
 drupeds tucked up in his kilt. " Mother," said the 
 15 
 
226 MEN WHO HAVE RISEN. 
 
 boy, in reply to a maternal ejaculation of surprise, 
 " I couldna drown the little doggies, mother ! and 
 I brought them to you." The youth who "couldna 
 drown the doggies " afterwards did very effective 
 execution upon the Dutch off the " Dogger Bank." 
 in the memorable naval action of the name. 
 
 Retiring from the service of his country into 
 which, indeed, he had been pressed without his 
 consent the next glimpse we have of Hugh 
 Miller's father, he is master of a craft that sails 
 from his native Cromarty. For a time fortune 
 smiles upon the hardy tar ; but, while sunning him- 
 self in success, he was doomed to feel how quickly 
 adversity sometimes follows upon the heels of for- 
 tune. Early in November, 1797, Miller's sloop, 
 which for some days had lain wind-bound in the 
 port of Peterhead, left its moorings and bore out 
 to sea. The breeze w^hich had lured the craft 
 from her haven speedily freshened into a gale, the 
 gale into a hurricane, and his bark, the Friendship, 
 is next morning in splinters on the bar of Findhorn. 
 By the assistance of a friend, the money required 
 to purchase a new sloop was provided, and soon a 
 vessel nearly equal to the old is once more the 
 property of the sailor. 
 
 Ten years pass away ; it is again November ; and 
 again Miller's sloop not now wind-bound as be- 
 fore, but compelled by the gale seeks shelter in 
 Peterhead. The tempest seems abated, and on 
 the 10th of the ill-fated month, Miller has left the 
 harbor of refuge. Soon a storm arose, more ter- 
 
STORY OF JIUGII MILLEIi's EARLY DAYS. 227 
 
 rible than the storm in which the Friendship 
 went to pieces. All that skill and seamanship 
 could do was done ; but the night fell wild and 
 tempestuous, and no vestige of the hapless sloop 
 or Hi-starred mariner was ever more seen. On the 
 9th November, Hugh Miller's father's last letter 
 was addressed to his family. It had been received 
 in the humble dwelling at Peterhead as only the 
 letters of the sailor are received. But the night 
 after the reception of the farewell epistle, the 
 house door, which had been left unfastened, fell 
 open. Hugh Miller, then just turned five years, 
 is dispatched to shut it. Of what follows, it is 
 perhaps well that the man should tell the recollec- 
 tions of the boy. "Day had not wholly disap- 
 peared, but it was fast posting into night. Within 
 less than a yard of my breast, as plainly as I ever 
 saw anything, was a dissevered hand and arm 
 stretched towards me. Hand and arm were ap- 
 parently those of a female; they bore a livid 
 and sodden appearance ; and directly fronting me, 
 where the body ought to have been, there was 
 only blank, transparent space, through which I 
 could see the dim forms of the objects beyond. 
 I was fearfully startled, and ran shrieking to my 
 mother, telling her what I had seen. I communi- 
 cated the story," continues Hugh Miller, " as it lies 
 fixed in my memory, without attempting to ex- 
 plain it ; " and we shall best respect the memory 
 of the dead by leaving the apparition as its nar- 
 rator has left it, unexplained. But whatever 
 
228 MEN WHO HAVE RISEN. 
 
 doubt might be entertained about the reality of 
 the vision, there could be none about the loss the 
 boy had sustained. Long after hope had died in 
 every breast save his own, was little Miller seen 
 looking wistfully out from the grassy protuber- 
 ance of the old coast line above his mother's house, 
 into the Moray Frith, for the sloop with the white 
 stripes and the square top-sails, but sloop nor sire 
 never came again. In opening manhood Hugh 
 Miller embalmed in verse the record of the catas- 
 trophe which beclouded "life's young day" with 
 this great sorrow ; but the boy of five years, day 
 by day, and month after month, mounting that 
 grassy knoll, intent only on discovering, amid 
 " the yeast of waves," the bark which has borne 
 his father from him never to return, is a nobler 
 poem than any "a journeyman stone-mason" 
 wrote. 
 
 The death of a father so keenly mourned, was 
 in some measure compensated by his two maternal 
 imcles types of a class of men that, from age to 
 age, have been the glory of the peasantry of Scot- 
 land. In his " Schools and Schoolmasters," the 
 subject of our sketch has paid a generous and 
 affecting tribute to this pair of noble brothers. 
 Uncle James was a harness-maker and wrought 
 for the farmers of an extensive district of country 
 a keen local antiquary, and possessed of an as- 
 tonishing store of traditionary lore. Ever just in 
 his own dealings, he regarded every species of 
 meanii'jss with thorough contempt. Uncle Alex- 
 
STORY OF HUGH MILLER'S EAKLY DAYS. 2159 
 
 ancler was characterized by the same strict integ- 
 rity, though of a somewhat different cast from his 
 brother, both in intellect and temperament. An 
 old sailor, he had served under Duncan at Cam- 
 perdown, taken part in the campaign under Aber- 
 crombie in Egypt, and by his descriptions of foreign 
 plants and animals, had kindled in his nephew his 
 own special tastes. Uncle Sandy, in point of fact, 
 was Hugh Miller's professor of natural history. 
 Before his father's death, young Miller had been 
 sent to a " dame school," and, under the tuition of 
 an old lady, he got through the Shorter Catechism, 
 the Proverbs, the New Testament, and at length 
 entered the Bible class. At first his tasks proved 
 irksome hi the extreme ; but so soon as Hugh 
 Miller discovered that in the art of reading con- 
 sisted the art of finding stories in books, all the 
 drudgery was over. After this discovery, his pro- 
 gress, which had hitherto been nothing extraordi- 
 nary, accelerated in something like a geometric 
 ratio. The stories of Joseph, of Samson, of David, 
 of Goliath, of Elijah and Elisha, were all speedily 
 mastered. From these Hebrew worthies, he turned 
 to the classical romances of childhood " Jack the 
 Giant Killer," "Jack and the Bean Stalk," "Blue 
 Beard," " Sinbad the Sailor," " Beauty and the 
 Beast," "Aladdin, or the Wonderful Lamp." 
 From these he passed, without any conscious line 
 of division, to the " Odyssey " of old Homer, 
 and from the "Odyssey" turned to that mar- 
 velous production of the Tinker of Elstow, the 
 
230 MEN WHO HAVE KISEN. 
 
 " Pilgrim's Progress." Subsequently, " Howie's 
 Scots Worthies," "Napthali, or the Hind let 
 Loose," " The Cloud of Witnesses," &c., were 
 made his own. About this time, also, it was that 
 Hugh Miller's " Uncle James " put into his hands 
 " Blind Harry's Wallace." When the boy had 
 read how Wallace killed young Selbie the con- 
 stable's son, how Wallace had fished the Irvine 
 water, and how Wallace killed the churl with his 
 own staff in Ayr, his uncle with a dash of the dry 
 humor that makes a joke effective, said to him, as 
 the book seemed a rather rough sort of production, 
 he need read no more of it unless he liked. But 
 young Miller rather did like to read of Wallace. 
 The fiery narrative of the blind bard intoxicated 
 his young heart; all he had previously read or 
 heard of battles seemed tame in comparison with 
 the deeds of Scotland's hero guardian. 
 
 After some twelve months' instruction in the 
 dame school, young Miller was transferred to the 
 grammar school of Cromarty. Its master was a 
 good scholar, but by no means an energetic in- 
 structor. If a boy wished to learn he could teach 
 him, but if a boy wished to do nothing, he was not 
 required to do more than he wished. Meeting- 
 one day with Uncle James, he urged the harness- 
 maker to put his nephew into Latin. The recom- 
 mendation of the master possessing a sort of pre- 
 established harmony with the ideas of the uncle, 
 Hugh Miller was transferred from the English to 
 the Latin form. In the Latin class, however, ho 
 
STORY OF HUGH MILLER 5 S EARLY DAYS. 231 
 
 appears to have forgotten his axiom about the art 
 of reading. "The Rudiments" was to him by far 
 the dullest book he ever read, and it was not long 
 before he began miserably to flag, and to long for 
 his English reading, with its picture-like descrip- 
 tions and its amusing stories. 
 
 A few of the wealthier inhabitants of Cromarty, 
 irritated with the small progress of their sons under 
 the care of the parish teacher, got up a subscrip- 
 tion school, to which they transferred their chil- 
 dren. Uncle James, sharing the general impatience, 
 sent his protege thither likewise. The teacher of , 
 the subscription school was rather a clever young 
 man, considerably smarter than the parish dominie, 
 to whom the pleasures of sitting still seemed supe- 
 rior to all other pleasures. But unfortunately the 
 master of the new academy soon proved quite as 
 unsteady as he was clever. Having got rid of 
 him, a licentiate of the Church of Scotland was 
 procured. For a time this second teacher prom- 
 ised well, but, getting immersed in a special 
 theological controversy, he ultimately resigned his 
 charge. A third teacher was got, but unluckily 
 he also soon gave up in despair. Young Miller's 
 opportunities for exploring Cromarty and its en- 
 virons were, in consequence of these mishaps, 
 quite as great as ever. His recollections of excur- 
 sions made into the interior at this early period, 
 partially lift the veil which now, during fifty years 
 has been falling over the antique customs of nor- 
 thern society. 
 
MEN WHO HAVE KISEN. 
 
 " The Cromarty Sutors have their two lines of 
 caves an ancient line, hollowed by the waves 
 many centuries ago, when the sea stood, in rela- 
 tion to the land, from fifteen to thirty feet higher 
 along our shores than it does now ; and a modern 
 line, which the surf is still engaged in scooping 
 out. Many of the older caves are lined with sta- 
 lactites, deposited by springs that, filtering through 
 the cracks and fissures of the gneiss, find lime 
 enough in their passage to acquire what is known as 
 a petrifying, though, in reality, only an incrusting 
 quality. And these stalactites, under the name 
 of ' white stones made by the water,' formed of 
 old as in that Cave of Slains specially mentioned 
 by Buchanan and the Chroniclers, and in those 
 caverns of the Peak so quaintly described by Cot- 
 ton one of the grand marvels of the place. Al- 
 most all the old gazetteers sufficiently copious in 
 their details to mention Cromarty at all, refer to 
 its ' Dropping Cave ' as a marvelous marvel-pro- 
 ducing cavern ; and this ' Dropping Cave ' is but 
 one of many that look out upon the sea from the 
 precipices of the Southern Sutor, in whose dark 
 recesses the drops ever tinkle, and the stony ceil- 
 ings ever grow. The wonder could not have been 
 deemed a great or veiy rare one by a man like the 
 late Sir George Mackenzie of Coul, well known 
 from his travels in Iceland, and his experiments 
 on the inflammability of the diamond ; but it so 
 happened, that Sir George, curious to see the sort 
 of stones to which the old gazetteers referred, made 
 
STOKY OF HUGH MlLLEu's EARLY DAYS. 233 
 
 application to the minister of the parish for a set of 
 specimens ; and the minister straightway deputed the 
 commission, which he believed to be not a difficult 
 one, to one of his poorer parishioners, an old nailer, 
 as a means of putting a few shillings in his way. 
 
 " It so happened, however, that the nailer had 
 lost his wife by a sad accident, only a few weeks 
 before ; and the story went abroad that the poor 
 woman was, as the townspeople expressed it, ' com- 
 ing back.' She had been very suddenly hurried out 
 of the world. When going down the quay, after 
 nightfall one evening, with a parcel of clean linen 
 for a sailor, her relative, she had missed footing on 
 the pier-edge, and, half-brained, half-drowned, had 
 been found in the morning, stone dead, at the 
 bottom of the harbor. And now, as if pressed 
 by some unsettled business, she used to be seen, it 
 was said, hovering after nightfall about her old 
 dwelling, or sauntering along the neighboring 
 street ; nay, there were occasions, according to the 
 general report, in which she had even exchanged 
 words with some of her neighbors, little to their 
 satisfaction. The words, however, seemed in every 
 instance to have wonderfully little to do with the 
 affairs of another world. I remember seeing the 
 wife of a neighbor rush into my mother's one 
 evening, about this time, speechless with terror, and 
 declare, after an awful pause, during which she 
 had lain half-fainting in a chair, that she had just 
 eeen Christy. She had been engaged, as the 
 night was falling, but ere darkness had quite set 
 
234: MEN WHO HAVE KISEK. 
 
 in, in piling up a load of brushwood for fuel out- 
 side her door, when up started the spectre on the 
 other side of the heap, attired in the ordinary work- 
 day garb of the deceased, and, in a light and hur- 
 ried tone, asked, as Christy might have done ere 
 the fatal accident, for a share of the brushwood. 
 ' Give me some of that hagf said the ghost ; 'you 
 have plenty I have none.' It was not known 
 whether or no the nailer had seen the apparition, 
 but it was pretty certain he believed in it ; and as 
 the ' Dropping Cave J is both dark and solitary, 
 and had forty years ago a bad name to boot for 
 the mermaid had been observed disporting in front 
 of it even at mid-day, and lights seen and screams 
 heard from it at nights it must have been a 
 rather formidable place to a man living in the mo- 
 mentary expectation of a visit from a dead wife. 
 So far as could be ascertained for the nailer him- 
 self was rather close in the matter he had not 
 entered the cave at all. He seemed, judging from 
 the marks of scraping left along the sides for about 
 two or three feet from the narrow opening, to have 
 taken his stand outside, where the light was good, 
 and the way of retreat clear, and to have raked 
 outwards to him, as far as he could reach, all that 
 stuck to the walls, including ropy slime and mouldy 
 damp, but not one particle of stalactite. It was, 
 of course, seen that his specimens would not suit 
 Sir George ; and the minister, in the extremity of 
 the case, applied to my uncles, though with some 
 little unwillingness, as it was known that no remu- 
 
235 
 
 neration for their trouble could be offered to them. 
 My uncles were, however, delighted with the com- 
 mission it was all for the benefit of science ; and, 
 providing themselves with torches and a hammer, 
 they set out for the caves. And I, of course, ac- 
 companied them a very happy boy, armed, like 
 themselves, with hammer and torch, and prepared 
 devotedly to labor in behalf of science and Sir 
 George. 
 
 " I had never before seen the caves by torch-light ; 
 and though what I now witnessed did not quite 
 come up to what I had read regarding the Grotto 
 of Antiparos, or even.the wonders of the Peak, it 
 was unquestionably both strange and fine. The 
 celebrated Dropping Cave proved inferior as is 
 not unfrequently the case with the celebrated to 
 a cave almost entirely unknown, which opened 
 among the rocks a little further to the east ; and 
 yet even it had its interest. It widened, as one 
 entered, into a twilight chamber, green with velvety 
 mosses, that love the damp and the shade ; and 
 terminated in a range of crystalline wells, fed by 
 the perpetual dropping, and hollowed in what 
 seemed an altar-piece of the deposited marble. 
 And above and along the sides there depended 
 many a draped fold, and hung many a translucent 
 icicle. The other cave, however, we found to be 
 of much greater extent, and of more varied char- 
 acter. It is one of three caves of the old coast- 
 line, known as the Dovecot or Pigeon Caves, which 
 open upon a piece of rocky beach, overhung by a 
 
236 MEN WHO HAVE 
 
 rudely semicircular range of gloomy precipices, 
 the points of the semicircle project on either side 
 into deep water into at least water so much 
 deeper than the fall of ordinary neaps, that it is 
 only during the ebb of stream tides that the place 
 is accessible by land ; and in each of these bold 
 promontories the terminal horns of the crescent 
 there is a cave of the present coast-line, deeply 
 hollowed, in which the sea stands from ten to 
 twelve feet in depth when the tide is at full, and 
 in which the surf thunders, when gales blow hard 
 from the stormy north-east, with the roar of whole 
 parks of artillery. The cav in the western prom- 
 ontory, which bears among the townsfolk the 
 name of the ' Puir Wife's Meal Kist,' has its roof 
 drilled by two small perforations, the largest of 
 them not a great deal wider than the blow-hole of 
 a porpoise, that open externally among the cliffs 
 above ; and when, during storms from the sea, the 
 huge waves come rolling ashore like green moving 
 walls, there are certain times of the tide in which 
 they shut up the mouth of the cave, and so com- 
 press the air within, that it rushes up wards through 
 the openings, roaring in its escape as if ten whales 
 were blowing at once, and rises from amid the 
 crags overhead in two white jets of vapor, dis- 
 tinctly visible to the height of from sixty to eighty 
 feet. If there be critics who have deemed it one 
 of the extravagances of Goethe that he should 
 have given life and motion, as in his famous witch- 
 scene in 'Faust,' to the Hartz crags, they would 
 
STORY OF HUGH MILLERS EAKLY DAYS. 237 
 
 do well to visit this bold headland during some 
 winter tempest from the east, and find his descrip- 
 tion perfectly sober and true : 
 
 " ' See the giant crags, oh ho ! 
 
 How they snort and how they blow. 1 
 
 "Within, at the bottom of the crescent, and 
 where the tide never reaches when at the fullest, 
 we found the large pigeon cave, which we had 
 come to explore, hollowed for about a hundred and 
 fifty feet in the line of a fault. There runs across 
 the opening the broken remains of a wall erected 
 by some monopolizing proprietor of the neighbor- 
 ing lands, with the intention of appropriating to 
 himself the pigeons of the cavern ; but his day 
 had, even at this time, been long gone by, and the 
 wall had sunk into a ruin. As we advanced, the 
 cave caught the echoes of our footsteps, and a flock 
 of pigeons, startled from their nests, came whiz- 
 zing out, almost brushing us with their wings. 
 The damp floor sounded hollow to the tread ; we 
 saw the green mossy sides, which close in the un- 
 certain light, more than twenty feet overhead, 
 furrowed by ridges of stalactites, that became 
 whiter and purer as they retired from the vege- 
 tative influences ; and marked that the last plant 
 which appeared, as we wended our way inwards, 
 was a minute green moss, about half an inch in 
 length, which slanted outwards on the prominences 
 of the sides, and overlay myriads of similar sprigs 
 of moss, long before converted into stone, but 
 which, faithful in death to the ruling law of their 
 
238 MEK WHO HAVE KISEtf. 
 
 lives, still pointed, like the others, to the free ah* 
 and the light. And then, in the deeper recesses 
 of the cave, where the floor becomes covered with 
 uneven sheets of stalagmite, and where long spear- 
 like icicles and drapery-like foldings, pure as the 
 marble of the sculptor descend from above or 
 hang pendent over the sides, we found in abun- 
 dance magnificent specimens for Sir George. The 
 entire expedition was one of wondrous interest; and 
 I returned next day to school, big with description 
 and narrative, to excite, by truths more marvel- 
 ous than fiction, the curiosity of my class-fellows. 
 " I had previously introduced them to the marvels 
 of the hill ; and during our Saturday half-holidays, 
 some of them had accompanied me in my excur- 
 sions to it. But it had failed, somehow, to catch 
 their fancy. It was too solitary, and too far from 
 home, and, as a scene of amusement, not at all 
 equal to the town-links, where they could play at 
 ' shinty,' and ' French and English,' almost within 
 hail of their parents' homesteads. The very tract 
 along its flat, moory summit, over which, accord- 
 in <r to tradition, Wallace had once driven before 
 
 O ' 
 
 him, in headlong route, a strong body of English, 
 and which was actually mottled with sepulchral 
 tumuli, still visible amid the heath, failed in any 
 marked degree to engage them ; and though they 
 liked well enough to hear about the caves, they 
 seemed to have no very great desire to see them. 
 There was, however, one little fellow, who sat at 
 the Latin form the member of a class lower and 
 
STORY OF HUGH MILLER'S EARLY DAYS. 239 
 
 brighter than the heavy one, though it was not 
 particularly bright neither who differed in this 
 respect from all the others. Though he was my 
 junior by about a twelvemonth, and shorter by 
 about half a head, he was a diligent boy in even 
 the Grammar School, in which boys were so rarely 
 diligent, and, for his years, a thoroughly sensible 
 one, without a grain of the dreamer in his com- 
 position. I succeeded, however, notwithstanding 
 his sobriety, in infecting him thoroughly with my 
 peculiar tastes, and learned to love him very much, 
 partly because he doubled my amusements by 
 sharing in them, and partly, I daresay, on the 
 principle on which Mahomet preferred his old wife 
 to his young one, because 'he Irelieved in me.' 
 Devoted to him as Caliban in the c Tempest > to his 
 friend Trinculo, 
 
 " 'I showed him the best springs, I plucked him berries, 
 And I with my long nails did dig him pig-nuts.' 
 
 " His curiosity on this occasion was largely excited 
 by my description of the Doocot Cave ; and, set- 
 ting out one morning to explore its wonders, armed 
 with John Feddes's hammer, in the benefits of 
 which my fiend was permitted liberally to share, 
 w.e failed, for that day at least, in finding our way 
 back. 
 
 " It was on a pleasant spring morning that, with 
 my little curious friend beside me, I stood on the 
 beach opposite the eastern promontory, that, with 
 its stern, granitic wall, bars access for ten days out 
 
240 MEN WHO HAVE EISEN. 
 
 of every fourteen to the wonders of the Doocot ; 
 and saw it stretching provokingly out into the 
 green water. It was hard to be disappointed and 
 the caves so near. The tide was a low neap, and 
 if we wanted a passage dry-shod, it behoved us to 
 wait for at least a week ; but neither of us under- 
 stood the philosophy of neap tides at the period. 
 I was quite sure I had got round at low water, 
 with my uncles, not a great many days before, 
 and we both inferred, that if we but succeeded in 
 getting round now, it would be quite a pleasure 
 to wait among the caves inside until such time as 
 the fall of the tide should lay bare a passage for 
 our return. A narrow and broken shelf runs along 
 the promontory on which, by the assistance of the 
 naked toe and the toe-nail, it is just possible to 
 creep. We succeeded in scrambling up to it ; and 
 then, crawling outwards on all-fours the preci- 
 pice, as we proceeded, beetling more and more 
 formidable from above, and the water becoming 
 greener and deeper below we reached the outer 
 point of the promontory ; and then doubling the 
 cape on a still narrowing margin the water, by 
 a reverse process, becoming shallower and less 
 green as we advanced inwards we found the 
 ledge terminating just where, after clearing the 
 sea, it overhung the gravelly beach at an elevation 
 of nearly ten feet. Adown we both dropped, 
 proud of our success ; up splashed the rattling 
 gravel as we fell ; and for at least the whole com- 
 ing week though we were unaware of the extent 
 
STORY OF HUGH MILLER'S EARLY DAYS. 241 
 
 of our good luck at the time the marvels of the 
 Doocot Cave might be regarded as solely and ex- 
 clusively our own. For one short seven days to 
 borrow emphasis from the phraseology of Carlyle 
 4 they were our own, and no other man's.' 
 
 " The first few hours were hours of sheer enjoy- 
 ment. The larger cave proved a mine of marvels; 
 and we found a great deal additional to wonder at 
 on the slopes beneath the precipices, and along 
 the piece of rocky sea-beach in front. We suc- 
 ceeded in discovering for ourselves, in creeping, 
 dwarf bushes, that told of the blighting influence 
 t of the sea- spray; the pale yellow honey-suckle 
 that we had never seen before, save in gardens 
 and shrubberies; and on a deeply-shaded slope 
 that leaned against one of the steeper precipices, 
 we detected the sweet-scented woodroof of the 
 flower-pot and parterre, with its pretty verticillate 
 leaves that become the more odoriferous the more 
 they are crushed, and its white delicate flowers. 
 There, too, immediately in the opening of the 
 deeper cave, Avhere a small stream came pattering 
 in detached drops from the over-beetling precipice 
 above, like the first drops of a heavy thunder- 
 shower, we found the hot, bitter scurvy grass, 
 with its minute cruciform flowers, which the great 
 Captain Cook had used in his voyages ; above all, 
 there were the caves with their pigeons white, 
 variegated, and blue and their mysterious and 
 gloomy depths, in which plants hardened into 
 stone, and water became marble. In a short time 
 
242 MEN WHO HAVE KISEN. 
 
 we had broken off with our hammer whole pocket- 
 fuls of stalactites and petrified moss. There were 
 little pools at the side of the cave, where we could 
 see the work of congelation going on, as at the 
 commencement of an October frost, when the cold 
 north wind ruffles, and but barely ruffles, the sur- 
 face of some mountain lochan or sluggish moorland 
 stream, and shows the newly-formed needles ot 
 ice projecting mole-like from the shores into the 
 water. So rapid was the course of deposition, 
 that there were cases in which the sides of the 
 hollows seemed growing almost in proportion as 
 the water rose in them ; the springs, lipping over, 
 deposited their minute crystals on the edges; and 
 the reservoirs deepened and became more capaci- 
 ous as their mounds were built up by this curious 
 masonry. The long telescopic prospect of the 
 sparkling sea, as viewed from the inner extremity 
 of the cavern, while all around was dark as mid. 
 night the sudden gleam of the sea-gull, seen for 
 a moment from the recess, as it flitted past in the 
 sunshine the black heaving bulk of the grampus, 
 I as it threw up its slender jets of spray, and then, 
 turning downwards, displayed its glossy back and 
 vast angular fin even the pigeons, as they shot 
 whizzing by, one moment scarce visible in the 
 gloom, the next, radiant in the light all acquired 
 a new interest, from the peculiarity of the setting 
 in which we saw them. They formed a series ot 
 sun-gilt vignettes, framed in jet ; and it was long 
 ere we tired of seeing and admiring in them much 
 
YOUNG HUGH MILLKIt IS THE CAVE. 
 
 " There was n vessel crossing (he wake of the moon nt the time, scarce half n mile from tbe 
 shore ; mid, assisted by my companion, 1 began to about lit the top of my lungs, in the hope ot being 
 beard t.y ihe Bailors." PACK -J43. 
 
STORY OP HUGH MILLEK^S EARLY DAYS. 24:3 
 
 of the strange and the beautiful. It did seem 
 rather ominous, however, and perhaps somewhat 
 supernatural to boot, that about an hour after 
 noon, the tide, while there was yet a full fathom 
 of water beneath the brow of the promontory, 
 ceased to fall, and then, after a quarter of an 
 hour's space, began actually to creep upwards on 
 the beach. But just hoping that there might be 
 some mistake in the matter, which the evening 
 tide would scarce fail to rectify, we continued to 
 amuse ourselves, and to hope on. Hour after 
 hour passed, lengthening as the shadows length- 
 ened, and yet the tide still rose. The sun had 
 sunk behind the precipices, and all was gloom 
 along their bases, and double gloom in their caves ; 
 but their rugged brows still caught the red glare 
 of evening. The flush rose higher and higher, 
 chased by the shadows ; and then, after lingering 
 for a moment on their crests of honey-suckle and 
 juniper, passed away, and the whole became som- 
 bre and gray. The sea-gull sprang upwards from 
 where he had floated on the ripple, and hied him 
 slowely away to his lodge in his deep-sea stack ; 
 the dusky cormorant flitted past, with heavier and 
 more frequent stroke, to his whitened shelf high 
 on the precipice; the pigeons came whizzing 
 downwards from the uplands and the opposite 
 land, and disappeared amid the gloom of their 
 caves; every creature that had wings made use 
 of them in speeding homewards ; but neither my 
 companion nor myself had any ; and there was no 
 
MEX WHO HAVE KISN. 
 
 possibility of getting home without them. We 
 made desperate efforts to scale the precipices, and 
 on two several occasions succeeded in reaching 
 mid-way shelves among the crags, where the 
 sparrovvhawk and the raven build ; but though we 
 had climbed well enough to render our return a 
 matter of bare possibility, there was no possibility 
 whatever of getting further up: the cliffs had 
 never been scaled before, and they were not des- 
 tined to be scaled now. And so, as the twilight 
 deepened, and the precarious footing became every 
 moment more doubtful and precarious still, we 
 had just to give up in despair. 'Wouldn't care 
 for myself,' said the poor little fellow, my compan- 
 ion, bursting into tears, ' if it were not for my 
 mother ; but what will my mother say ? ' 
 c Wouldn't care neither,' said I, with a heavy heart ; 
 'but it's just back water, we'll get out at twall.' 
 We retreated together into one of the shallower 
 and drier caves, and, clearing a little spot of its 
 rough stones, and then groping along the rocks 
 for the dry grass that in the spring season hangs 
 from them in withered tufts, we formed for our- 
 salves a most uncomfortable bed, and lay down in 
 one another's arms. For the last few hours moun- 
 tainous piles of clouds had been rising dark and 
 stormy in the sea-mouth : they had flared porten- 
 tously in the setting sun, and had worn, with the 
 decline of evening, almost every meteoric tint of 
 anger, from fiery red to a sombre thundrous brown, 
 and from sombre brown to doleful black. And 
 
Y OF HUGH MILLER'S EARLY DAYS. 245 
 
 we could now at least hear what they portended, 
 though we could no longer see. The rising wind 
 began to howl mournfully amid the cliffs, and the 
 sea, hitherto so silent, to beat heavily against the 
 shore, and to boom, like distress-guns, from the 
 recesses of the two deep-sea caves. We could 
 hear, too, the beating rain, now heavier, now 
 lighter, as the gusts swelled or sank ; and the in- 
 termittent patter of the streamlet over the deeper 
 cave, now driving against the precipices, now de- 
 scending heavily on the stones. 
 
 " My companion had only the real evils of the 
 case to deal with, and so, the hardness of our bed 
 and the coldness of the night considered, he slept 
 tolerably well ; but I was unlucky enough to have 
 evils greatly worse than the real ones to annoy me. 
 The corpse of a drowned seaman had been found 
 on the beach about a month previous, some forty 
 yards from where we lay. The hands and feet, 
 miserably contracted and corrugated into deep 
 folds at every joint, yet swollen to twice their 
 proper size, had been bleached as white as pieces 
 of alumed sheep-skin ; and where the head should 
 have been, there existed only a sad mass of rub- 
 bish. I had examined the body, as young people 
 are apt to do, a great deal too curiously for my 
 peace ; and, though I had never done the poor 
 nameless seaman any harm, I could not have suf- 
 fered more from him during that melancholy night 
 had I been his murderer. Sleeping or waking, he 
 was continually before me. Every tune I dropped 
 
24:6 MEN WHO HAVE EISEN. 
 
 into a doze, he would come stalking up the beach 
 from the spot where he had lain, with his stiff 
 white fingers, that stuck out like eagles' toes, and 
 his pale broken pulp of a head, and attempt strik- 
 ing me ; and then I would awaken with a start, 
 cling to my companion, and remember that the 
 drowned sailor had lain festering among the iden- 
 tical bunches of sea- weed that still rotted on the 
 beach not a stone-cast away. The near neighbor- 
 hood of a score of living bandits would have 
 inspired less horror than the recollection of that 
 one dead seaman. 
 
 "Towards midnight the sky cleared and the 
 wind fell, and the moon, in her last quarter, rose 
 red as a mass of heated iron out of the sea. We 
 crept down, in the uncertain light, over the rough 
 slippery crags, to ascertain whether the tide had 
 not fallen sufficiently far to yield us a passage ; 
 but we found the waves chafing among the rocks 
 just where the tide-line had rested twelve hours 
 before, and a full fathom of sea enclasping the 
 base of the promontory. A glimmering idea of 
 the real nature of our situation at length crossed 
 my mind. It was not imprisonment for a tide to 
 which we had consigned ourselves ; it was impris- 
 onment for a week. There was little comfort in 
 the thought, arising, as it did, amid the chills and 
 terrors of a dreary midnight ; and I looked wist- 
 fully on the sea as our only path of escape. There 
 was a vessel crossing the wake of the moon at the 
 time, scarce half a mile from the shore ; and, as- 
 
STOJIY OF HUGH MILLEfi's EARLY DAYS. 24:7 
 
 sistcd by my companion, I began to shout at the 
 top of my lungs, in the hope of being heard by 
 the sailors. We saw her dim bulk falling slowly 
 at 1 1 wart the red glittering belt of light that had 
 rendered her visible, and then disappearing in the 
 murky blackness ; and just as we lost sight of her 
 forever, we could hear an indistinct sound mingling 
 with the dash of the waves the shout, in reply, 
 of the startled helmsmen. The vessel, as we 
 afterwards, learned, was a large stone-lighter, 
 deeply laden, and unfurnished with a boat ; nor 
 were her crew at all sure that it would have been 
 safe to attend to the midnight voice from amid 
 the rocks, even had they the means of communi- 
 cation with the shore. We waited on and on, 
 however, now shouting by turns, and now shout- 
 ing together ; but there was no second reply ; and 
 at length, losing hope, we groped our way back 
 to our comfortless bed, just as the tide had again 
 turned on the beach, and the waves began to roll 
 upwards higher and higher at every dash. 
 
 " As the moon rose and brightened, the dead 
 seaman became less troublesome ; and I had suc- 
 ceeded in dropping as soundly asleep as my com- 
 panion, when we were both aroused by a loud 
 shout. We started up, and again crept down- 
 wards among the crags to the shore ; and as we 
 reached the sea, the shout was repeated. It was 
 that of at least a dozen harsh voices united. There 
 was a brief pause followed by another shout ; and 
 then two boats, strongly manned, shot round the 
 
248 MEN WHO HAVE KISEN. 
 
 western promontory, and the men, resting on their 
 oars, turned towards the rock, and shouted yet 
 again. The whole town had been alarmed by the 
 intelligence that two little boys had straggled 
 away in the morning to the rocks of the Southern 
 Sutor, and had not found their way back. The 
 precipices had been from time immemorial a scene 
 of frightful accidents, and it was at once inferred 
 that one other sad accident had been added to the 
 number. True, there were cases remembered of 
 people having been tide-bound in the Doocot 
 Caves, and not much the worse in consequence ; 
 but as the caves were inaccessible during neaps, 
 we could not, it was said, possibly be in them ; 
 and the sole remaining ground of hope was, that, 
 as had happened once before, only one of the two 
 had been killed, and that the survivor was linger- 
 ing among the rocks, afraid to come home. And 
 in this belief, when the moon rose and the surf 
 fell, the two boats had been fitted out. It was 
 late in the morning ere we reached Cromarty, but 
 a crowd on the beach awaited our arrival; and 
 there were anxious-looking lights glancing in the 
 windows, thick and manifold ; nay, sucli was the 
 interest elicited, that some enormously bad verse, 
 in which the writer described the incident a few 
 days after, became popular enough to be handed 
 about in manuscript, and read at tea-parties, by 
 the elite of the town. Poor old Miss Bond, who 
 kept the town boarding-school, got the piece nicely 
 dressed up, somewhat upon the principle on which 
 
STORY OF HUGH MILLERS EAKLY DAYS. 24** 
 
 Macpherson translated Ossian; and at her first 
 school examination proud and happy day for the 
 author ! it was recited with vast applause, by one 
 of her prettiest young ladies, before the assembled 
 taste and fashion of Cromarty." 
 
 About this period, schoolmaster number four is 
 appointed to the Cromarty subscription academy. 
 The new master appeared, to his more advanced 
 pupils, a combination of the coxcomb and the 
 pedant. It will not surprise readers in possession 
 of this information, to learn that the subject of 
 our sketch (through life as little as possible of either 
 pedant or coxcomb) did not long keep on the most 
 amicable terms with the new teacher. A fight 
 arose out of some dispute about spelling, which so 
 soon as finished, Miller takes down his cap from 
 the pin, and bids the pedagogue good-bye, having 
 got about as little benefit from his half-dozen pre- 
 ceptors as probably ever did any man of equal 
 eminence. 
 
 ' Hugh Miller is now nearly seventeen years of 
 age : the period has arrived when he must decide 
 what shall be the business of his life. His uncles 
 had expected to see their nephew attaining emi- 
 nence in some of the learned professions. Their 
 labor was their only capital, yet they would gladly 
 have assisted him in getting to college. But to all 
 their entreaties he pertinaciously demurred. He 
 thought himself destitute of any peculiar fitness for 
 either the legal or the medical professions, and the 
 church was too serious a direction in winch to look 
 
250 MEN WHO HAVE RISEN. 
 
 for his bread, unless he could regard himself as 
 called to the church's proper work. With extreme 
 reluctance Hugh Miller's uncles resigned their 
 nephew to a life of manual labor. Consent, how- 
 ever, was at length wrung from them, and their 
 protege, whom they would gladly have sent to the 
 university, becomes a mason's apprentice, and may 
 be seen arrayed, not in the gown of the scholar, 
 but in a suit of moleskins, and a pair of heavy hob- 
 nailed shoes. Unwilling that labor should wield 
 over him a rod entirely black, the profession of a 
 mason was chosen by Hugh Miller, in the hope 
 that in the amusement of one half the year, he 
 should find compensation for the toils of the other 
 half. Just turned seventeen, Miller enters the 
 quarry of Cromarty, the mason's of his native place 
 combining both occupations. Now he is about to 
 reap the first fruits of his prolonged excursions 
 with Uncle Sandy. The quarry was an upper 
 member of that formation known to geologists as 
 the Lower Old Ked Sandstone, and here Hugh 
 Miller soon discovered the same phenomena he 
 had witnessed on the sea-beach, when laid bare by 
 the ebb tides. His own description of the scenes 
 and circumstances in which his first day of toil was 
 passed is highly fascinating : 
 
 " A heap of loose fragments which had fallen 
 from above, blocked up the face of the quarry, and 
 my first employment was to clear them away. 
 The friction of the shovel soon blistered my hands, 
 .but the pain was by no means very severe, and I 
 
STORY OF HUGH MILLER 1 S EARLY DAYS. 251 
 
 wrought hard and willingly, that I might see how 
 the huge strata below, which presented so firm 
 and unbroken a frontage, were to be torn up and 
 removed. Picks, and wedges, and levers, were 
 applied by my brother-workmen ; and simple and 
 rude as I had been accustomed to regard these 
 implements, I found I had much to learn in the 
 way of using them. They all proved inefficient, 
 however, and the workmen had to bore into 
 one of the inferior strata, and employ gunpowder. 
 The process was new to me, and I deemed it a 
 highly amusing one ; it had the merit, too, of 
 being attended with some such degree of danger 
 as a boating or rock excursion, and had thus an 
 interest independent of its novelty. We had a 
 few capital shots : the fragments flew in every 
 direction ; and an immense mass of the diluvium 
 came toppling down, bearing with it two dead 
 birds, that in a recent storm had crept into one 01 
 the deeper fissures, to die in the shelter. I felt a 
 new interest in examining them. The one was a 
 pretty cock-goldfinch, with its hood of vermilion, 
 and its wings inlaid with the gold to which it o\ves 
 its name, as unsoiled and smooth as if it had been 
 preserved for a museum. The other, a somewhat 
 rarer bird, of the woodpecker tribe, was variegated 
 with light-blue and a grayish-yellow. I was engaged 
 in admiring the poor little things, more disposed to 
 be sentimental, perhaps, than if I had been ten 
 years older, and thinking of the contrast between 
 the warmth and jollity of their green summer 
 
252* MEX WHO HAV3 HIS EN. 
 
 haunts, and the cold and darkness of their last re- 
 treat, when I heard our employer bidding the 
 workmen lay by their tools. I looked up and saw 
 the sun sinking behind the thick fir wood beside us, 
 and the long dark shadows of the trees stretching 
 downwards towards the shore. 
 
 " This was no very formidable beginning of the 
 course of life I had so much dreaded. To be sure, 
 my hands were a little sore, and I felt nearly as 
 much fatigued as if I had been climbing among 
 the rocks; but I had wrought and been useful, 
 and had yet enjoyed the day fully as much as 
 usual. It was no small matter, too, that the even- 
 ing, converted, by a rare transmutation, into the 
 delicious 'blink of rest' which Burns so truth- 
 fully describes, was all my own. I was as light 
 of heart next morning as any of my brother-work- 
 men. There had been a smart frost during the 
 night, and the rime lay white on the grass as we 
 passed onwards through the fields ; but the sun 
 rose in a clear atmosphere, and the day mel- 
 lowed, as it advanced, into one of those delightful 
 days of early spring, which give so pleasing an 
 earnest of whatever is mild and genial in the bet- 
 ter half of the year. All the workmen rested at 
 mid-day, and I went to enjoy my half-hour alone 
 on a mossy knoll in the neighboring wood, which 
 commands through the trees a wide prospect ol 
 the bay and the opposite shore. There was not a 
 wrinkle on the water, nor a cloud in the sky, and 
 the branches were as moveless in the calm as if 
 
STOKY OF iiujii MILLER'S EAKLY DAYS. 253 
 
 they had been traced on canvas. From a wooded 
 promontory that stretched half-way across the frith, 
 there ascended a thin column of smoke. It rose 
 straight as the line of a plummet for more than a 
 thousand yards, and then on reaching a thinner 
 stratum of air, spread out equally on every side, 
 like the foliage of a stately tree. Ben Wy vis rose 
 to the west, white with the yet un wasted snows 
 of winter, and as sharply denned in the clear at- 
 mosphere as if all its sunny slopes and blue retir- 
 ing hollows had been chiseled in marble. A line 
 of snow ran along the opposite hills ; all above 
 was white, and all below was purple. They 
 reminded me of the pretty French story, in which 
 an old artist is described as tasking the ingenuity 
 of his future son-in-law, by giving him as a subject 
 for his pencil a flower-piece composed of only white 
 flowers, of which the one half were to bear their 
 proper color, the other half a deep purple hue, 
 and yet all to be perfectly natural ; and how the 
 young man resolved to riddle and gained his 
 mistress, by introducing a transparent purple vase 
 into the picture, and making the light pass through 
 it on the flowers that were drooping over the edge. 
 I returned to the quarry, convinced that a very ex- 
 quisite pleasure may be a very cheap one, and that 
 the busiest employments may afford leisure enougli 
 to enjoy it. 
 
 " The gunpowder had loosened a large mass in 
 one of the inferior strata, and our first employment, 
 on resuming our labors, was to raise it from its 
 
254: MEN WHO HAVE RISEN. 
 
 bed. I assisted the other workmen in placing it 
 on edge, and was much struck by the appearance 
 of the platform on which it rested. The entire 
 surface was ridged and furrowed like a bank of 
 sand that had been left by the tide on hour before. 
 I could trace every bend and curvature, every crosj 
 hollow and counter ridge of the corresponding phe- 
 nomena; for the resemblance was no half resem- 
 blance it was the thing itself; and I had observed 
 it a hundred and a hundred times, when sailing my 
 little schooner in the shallows left by the ebb. 
 But what had become of the waves that had thus 
 fretted the solid rock, or of what element had 
 they been composed? I felt as completely at 
 fault as Robinson Crusoe did on his discovering 
 the print of a man's foot on the sand. The even- 
 ing furnished me with still further cause of won- 
 der. We raised another block in a different part 
 of the quarry, and found that the area of a circular 
 depression in the stratum below was broken and 
 flawed in every direction, as if it had been the 
 bottom of a pool recently dried up, which had 
 shrunk and split in the hardening. Several large 
 stones came rolling down from the diluvium in 
 the course of the afternoon. They were of differ- 
 ent qualities from the sandstone below, and 
 from one another ; and, what was more wonderful 
 still, they were all rounded and water-worn, as ir 
 they had been tossed about in the sea, or the bed 
 of a river, for hundreds of years. There could 
 not, surely, be a more conclusive proof that the 
 
STOKY OF HUGH MILLElt's KAKLY DAYS. 255 
 
 bank which had inclosed them so long could not 
 have been created on the rock on which it rested. 
 No workman ever manufactures a half-worn article, 
 and the stones were all half-worn ! And if not 
 the bank, why then the sandstone underneath ? I 
 was lost in conjecture, and found I had food 
 enough for thought that evening, without once 
 thinking of the unhappmess of a life of labor." 
 
 He had entered the school of labor with the 
 timidity of the yet undeveloped mind that shrinks 
 from grappling with the stern realities of life; 
 but surrounded with images of grandeur, of 
 beauty, and of liberty, on every side, the spirit 
 of the future geologist shook off the shrinking 
 and timidity with which it had been oppressed, 
 and the remembrance of those early days of toil 
 dictated that noble apostrophe to labor, with 
 which he has adorned his "Schools and School- 
 masters :" " Upright, self-relying toil ! Who 
 that knows thy solid worth and value would be 
 ashamed of thy hard hands and thy soiled vest- 
 ments, and thy obscure tasks thy humble cot- 
 tage, and hard couch, and homely fare ! Save for 
 thee and thy lessons, man in society would every- 
 where sink into a sad compound of the fiend and 
 the wild beast, and this fallen world would be as 
 certainly a moral as a natural wilderness." 
 
 Though the dreaded proved imaginary, never- 
 theless some real evils followed his entrance upon 
 a life of toil. The seeds of that mysterious com- 
 bination of physical and mental disease which r 
 
256 MEX WHO HAVE K1SEN. 
 
 some forty years afterwards, did its work in so very- 
 terrible a manner, were sown in the quarry of 
 Crornarty. Wandering pains in the joints, an 
 oppressive feeling about the chest, frequent fits of 
 extreme depression of spirits, and inability to pro- 
 tect himself against accident, are noted as suffered 
 by Hugh Miller during the first months of his ap- 
 prenticeship. And if to these we add partial fits 
 of somnambulism, of which he was also at this 
 time the victim, we shall not be far wrong in con- 
 cluding that the calamity which laid him low, was 
 a calamity he had long silently combated. Retir- 
 ing from the over-wrought quarries of Cromarty, 
 Hugh Miller crossed the Moray Frith, and began 
 work in a new field. Here, by the hill of Eathie, 
 he discovered a liassic deposit, so amazingly rich 
 in organisms, that the great Alexandrian library, 
 with its tomes of ancient literature, the accumula- 
 tion of long ages, was but a meagre collection in 
 comparison. The working season of the mason is 
 now over, and the next three months are Hugh 
 Miller's exclusive property. In the company of a 
 cousin he makes a Highland tour visits his 
 cousin's father-in-law in the upper district of 
 Strathcarron. The road to the shieling of this 
 aged shepherd lay through an uninhabited valley 
 strewed with the ruins of fallen cottages, in other 
 days the roof-trees of the best swordsmen in Ross. 
 Returned from his excursion into the interior, 
 Hugh Miller formed, or rather we should say re- 
 newed, acquaintance with an apprentice house- 
 
STOKY OF HUGH MILLEli's EARLY DAYS. 257 
 
 painter in Cromarty. William Ross was a lad of 
 genius, but diffident and melancholy, Avith a fine 
 eye and keen relish for the beautiful and sublime, 
 but the joy with which the contemplation of nature 
 inspired his soul was overcast by the conscious- 
 ness that soon her raptures would be for other 
 eyes than his. Many a moonlight walk the two 
 friends took together, visiting at nightfall the 
 glades of the surrounding woods, and listening to 
 the moaning winds sweeping sullenly along the 
 pines. But now winter is past, and moonlight 
 walks and moody reveries must have an end for a 
 time. Spring has come again, and again Hugh 
 Miller girds himself for the active duties of the 
 stone-cutter. Before midsummer, however, work 
 has failed his master, and the squad is thrown out 
 of employment. Uncle David, during twenty-five 
 years an employer of labor, is compelled to be- 
 come a journeyman. The old man, after consider- 
 able effort, at length found " a brother of the earth 
 to give him leave to toil." Hugh Miller, too loyal 
 to abandon his master in the hour of adversity, 
 was first brought by this misfortune into contact 
 with the bothy system, then only in its infancy, 
 but now unhappily diffused over a large area of 
 Scotland. Bothy life, it might have been supposed, 
 was not likely to bring the subject of our narrative 
 into contact with anything save the riotous glee 
 and practical joking of the barrack, but it was not 
 so. From reason's earliest dawn until reason was 
 no more, Hugh Miller was ever encompassed with 
 17 
 
258 MEN WHO HAVE EISEN. 
 
 much of the wild and supernatural. On the even- 
 ing of the first day passed in this new school, he 
 had repaired to a hay-loft, the only place of shelter 
 he could find. Exhausted nature found its needed 
 repose on a heap of straw. But, unaccustomed to 
 so rough a couch, he awoke at midnight, and was 
 looking out from a small window upon a dreary 
 moor, a ruinous chapel, and a solitary burying- 
 ground. Suddenly a light flickered among the 
 grave-stones, and what seemed a continuous 
 screaming was heard from among the tombs. 
 Quitting the churchyard, the light crossed the 
 moor in a straight line, tossed with many a wave 
 and flourish. In a moment the servant girls of 
 the mansion-house came rushing out in undress, 
 summoning the workmen to their assistance. Mad 
 Bell had broke out again. As the masons ap- 
 peared at the door, they were joined by the solitary 
 watcher from the loft. It was, however, soon dis- 
 covered that the maniac was already in custody. 
 Two men were dragging her to her own cottage. 
 On entering her hut, they proceeded to bind her 
 down to the damp earth. Hugh Miller and a 
 comrade successfully remonstrated the maniac 
 was not bound. Mad Bell's song ceased for a 
 moment, and, turning a keen, scrutinizing glance 
 upon the youths who had spoken good for her, 
 she emphatically repeated the sacred text, " Blessed 
 are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." 
 
 Hugh Miller had just turned twenty-one, when, 
 work failing in the north, he bade adieu to 
 
STORY OF HUGH MILLEE^S EAKLY DAYS. 259 
 
 northern scenes and northern friends, and sailed 
 from his native town, ambitious to mate himself 
 with the stone-cutters of the metropolis, then re- 
 puted the best stone-cutters in the world. After 
 a four days' voyage he landed at Leith, and from 
 Leith proceeded to Edinburgh. "While sauntering 
 along Princes Street, admiring the picturesque 
 views with which the Scottish capital so abounds, 
 he is laid hold of by a slim pale lad in moleskins. 
 It was William Ross ; and during what remained 
 of that night the two friends explored the city 
 together. Hugh Miller found work in the vicinity 
 of Niddry Mill ; and beneath the shade of Niddry 
 Wood it was that he first became practically ac- 
 quainted with combinations. A reduction of 
 wages had produced a strike. Hugh did not be- 
 lieve in strikes, and predicted that the one in 
 which they had become involved would be a 
 failure. The leader of the squad more than half 
 admitted he was right. But to that reckless dare- 
 devil Charles, or Cha, as his comrades called him, 
 the excitement of a monster meeting on Brunts- 
 field Links outweighed the dictates of prudence. 
 So the masons marched away to the gathering 
 on the Links. The outdoor meeting over, a low 
 tavern in Canongate received the heroes from 
 Niddry. They were to meet again in the evening, 
 in one of the halls of Edinburgh, but in the tavern 
 they grew deaf to time, and oblivious of all con- 
 nected with the strike. Hugh Miller, leaving his 
 companions to their revel, passed the night with 
 
260 MEN WHO HAVE EISEN. 
 
 his friend William Ross. William took a warm 
 interest in strikes, and entertained quite as san- 
 guine hopes about the happy influence of the prin- 
 ciple of union upon the British proletair as the 
 most ardent of French Socialists. But though 
 the two friends could not agree in their opinions 
 upon trades combinations or the value of strikes, 
 in the tastes and sympathies shared in common 
 these differences were forgotten. 
 
 The following graphic sketch of " poor Charles," 
 who figures as leader in the strike, shows in a very 
 forcible manner how talents of no mean order are 
 frequently shipwrecked : " No man of the party 
 squandered his gains more recklessly than Charles, 
 or had looser notions regarding the legitimacy of 
 the uses to which he too often applied them. 
 And yet, notwithstanding, he was a generous- 
 hearted fellow ; and, under the influence of reli- 
 gious principle, would, like Burns himself, have 
 made a very noble man. In gradually forming 
 my acquaintance, with him, I was at first struck by 
 the circumstance that he never joined in the 
 clumsy ridicule with which I used to be assailed 
 by the other workmen. When left, too, on one 
 occasion, in consequence of a tacit combination 
 against me, to roll up a large stone to the sort of 
 block bench, or siege, as it is technically termed, 
 on which the mass had to be hewn, and as I 
 was slowly succeeding in doing, through dint of 
 very violent effort, what some two or three men 
 usually united to do, Charles stepped out to assist 
 
STOKY OF HUGH MILLEIl's EAKLY DAYS. 261 
 
 me; and the combination at once broke down. 
 Unlike the others, too, who, while they never 
 scrupled to take odds against me, seemed suffi- 
 ciently chary of coming in contact with me singly, 
 lie learned to seek me out in our intervals of 
 labor, and to converse upon subjects upon which 
 we felt a common interest. He was not only an 
 excellent operative mechanic, but possessed also 
 of considerable architectural skill ; and in this 
 special province we found an interchange of idea 
 not unprofitable. He had a turn, too, for reading, 
 though he was by no means extensively read ; and 
 liked to converse about books. Nor, though the 
 faculty had been but little cultivated, was he de- 
 void of an eye for the curious in nature. On 
 directing his attention, one morning, to a well- 
 marked impression of lepidodendron, which deli- 
 cately fretted with its lozenge-shaped net-work 
 one of the planes of the stone before me, he began 
 to describe, with a minuteness of observation not 
 common among working men, certain strange 
 forms which had attracted his notice when em- 
 ployed among the gray flagstones of Forfarshire. 
 I long after recognized in his description that 
 strange crustacean of the Middle Old Red Sand- 
 stone of Scotland, the Pterygotus an organism 
 which was wholly unknown at this time to geolo- 
 gists, and which is but partially known still ; and I 
 saw in 1838, on the publication, in its first edition, 
 of the ' Elements ' of Sir Charles Lyell, what he 
 meant to indicate by a rude sketch which he drew 
 
262 MEN WHO HAVE RISEN. 
 
 on the stone before us, and which, to the base of 
 a semi-elipsis somewhat resembling a horse-shoe, 
 united an angular prolongation not very unlike 
 the iron stem of a pointing trowel drawn from the 
 handle. He had evidently seen, long ere it had 
 been detected by the scientific eye, that strange 
 ichthyolite of the Old Red system, the Cephalaspis. 
 His story, though he used to tell it with great 
 humor, and no little dramatic effect, was in 
 reality a very sad one. He had quarreled, when 
 quite a lad, with one of his fellow-workmen, and 
 was unfortunate enough, in the pugilistic encounter 
 which followed, to break his jaw-bone, and other- 
 wise so severely to injure him, that for some time 
 his recovery seemed doubtful. Flying, pursued 
 by the officers of the law, he was, after a few 
 days' hiding, apprehended, lodged in jail, tried at 
 the High Court of Justiciary, and ultimately sen- 
 tenced to three months' imprisonment. And 
 these three months he had to spend for such was 
 the wretched arrangement of the time in the 
 worst society in the world. In sketching, as he 
 sometimes did, for the general amusement, the 
 characters of the various prisoners with whom he 
 had associated from the sneaking pick-pocket 
 and the murderous ruffian, to the simple Highland 
 smuggler, who had converted his grain into 
 whisky, with scarce intelligence enough to see 
 that there was aught morally wrong in the trans- 
 action he sought only to be as graphic and 
 humorous as he could, and always with complete 
 
STORY OF HUGH MILLER^ EARLY DAYS. 263 
 
 success. But there attached to his narratives an 
 unintentional moral ; and I cannot yet call them 
 up without feeling indignant at that detestable 
 practice of promiscuous imprisonment which so 
 long obtained in our country, and which had the 
 eifect of converting its jails into such complete 
 criminal-manufacturing institutions, that, had the 
 honest men of the community risen and dealt by 
 them as the Lord-George-Gordon mob dealt with 
 Newgate, I hardly think they would have been 
 acting out of character. Poor Charles had a 
 nobility in his nature which saved him from being 
 contaminated by what was worst in his meaner 
 associates ; but he was none the better for his 
 imprisonment, and he quitted jail, of course, a 
 marked man ; and his after career was, I fear, all 
 the more reckless in consequence of the stain im- 
 parted at this time to his character. He was as 
 decidedly a leader among his brother workmen as 
 I myself had been, when sowing my wild oats, 
 among my school-fellows ; but society in its 
 settled state, and in a country such as ours, allows 
 no such scope to the man as it does to the boy ; 
 and so his leadership, dangerous both to himself 
 and his associates, had chiefly, as the scene of its 
 trophies, the grosser and more lawless haunts of 
 vice and dissipation. His course through life 
 was a sad, and, I fear, a brief one. When that 
 sudden crash in the commercial world took place, 
 in which the speculation mania of 1824-25 ter- 
 minated, he was, with thousands more, thrown 
 
264 MEN WHO HAVE BISKS'. 
 
 out of employment ; and, having saved not a 
 farthing of his earnings, he was compelled, under 
 the pressure of actual want, to enlist as a soldier 
 into one of the regiments of the line, bound for one 
 of the intertropical colonies. And there, as his old 
 comrades lost all trace of him, he too probably fell 
 a victim, in an insalubrious climate, to old habits 
 and new rum." 
 
 With bitter grief, Hugh Miller discovered that 
 his early companion, William Ross, was fast losing 
 confidence in his own powers the shadow of the 
 cypress shed its sadness into his soul. In reply to 
 an effort to rally him, with characteristic modesty 
 he exclaimed : " Ah, Miller ! what matters it about 
 me ? You have stamina in you, and will force your 
 way, but I want strength ; the world will never 
 hear of me." The prophecy was all too surely and 
 too swiftly realized. But a little while, and that 
 thin, pale, fair-haired, flat-chested, stooping figure, 
 already a drooping and withered flower, has quietly 
 dropped into the grave, and his one friend on earth 
 sighs for " the touch of a vanished hand, and the 
 sound of a voice that is still." 
 
 When Hugh Miller was working as an operat- 
 ive mason at Niddry, not London itself was the 
 centre of a greater literary activity than the Scot- 
 tish capital. Yet, though living in the light of 
 that galaxy of genius which then shed so great a 
 lustre over Scotland, he was never fortunate 
 enough to catch a glimpse of either Jeffrey or 
 Wilson. Dugald Stewart or Sir Walter Scott. 
 
STORY OF HUGH MILLERS EAKLY DAYS. 265 
 
 His personal recollections dating from this period 
 (with the single exception of the historian of Knox 
 and Melville) embrace none of the celebrities of 
 the metropolis. When leaving Cromarty, the 
 last injunction of his uncle was, "Be sure and 
 visit Dr. M'Crie's Church when in Edinburgh." 
 The precept was obeyed. Much has since been 
 said and written about Thomas M'Crie, but the 
 most impressive picture of that thin, spare, semi- 
 military, semi-ecclesiastical figure, with an air of 
 melancholy spreading its soft shadow upon his 
 countenance, has been painted by Hugh Miller. 
 
 After about a couple of years of labor in Edin- 
 burgh, the subject of our narrative felt premoni- 
 tions of that disease of the lungs and chest which 
 has made the stone-cutters of the metropolis a 
 short-lived race. To recruit his exhausted ener- 
 gies, he resolved to revisit his birthplace; and 
 after a somewhat tedious voyage, he again sets 
 foot on the beach of his native town. On his 
 return to Cromarty, Hugh Miller found an old 
 companion, one of a band he had long led in days 
 of youthful frolic, relinquishing superior com- 
 mercial prospects for the work of the ministry ; 
 and to the influence of this reunion and disin- 
 terested example did he trace it that now religion's 
 tranquil star shed over his soul its selectest in- 
 fluence. For some months after his return to 
 Cromarty, he continued in delicate and indifferent 
 health. Not a moment too soon had he made his 
 escape from the stone-cutter's malady. When 
 12 
 
266 MEN WHO HAVE KISEN. 
 
 health was again somewhat established, he set 
 about executing sculptured tablets and tombstones 
 a kind of work in which he excelled. But a 
 sufficiency of this species of employment not being 
 found in Cromarty, he visited Inverness. Here 
 his skill as a stone-cutter received the promptest 
 recognition; and while his days were given to 
 toil, his nights were employed in preparing a 
 volume of poetry for the press. The volume of 
 verse did little else for his fame than bring him 
 into contact with Mr. Carruthers, editor of the 
 Inverness Courier. Mr. Carruthers introduced 
 him to the late Principal Baird, and, at his 
 suggestion, that most delightful of all Hugh 
 Miller's works, his " Schools and Schoolmasters," 
 was planned and written. About this time, also, 
 it was he made the acquaintance of the late Sir 
 Thomas Dick Lauder. He likewise, now, became 
 known to certain young ladies, and especially to 
 Miss Lydia Mackenzie Frazer. 
 
 A branch of the Commercial Bank having been 
 opened in Cromarty, Hugh Miller was appointed 
 accountant. To gain the necessary experience, 
 he was sent to one of the branches of the Com- 
 mercial at Linlithgow. At first he was a little 
 awkward in his new vocation, but, having mastered 
 the central princple, around which the details 
 grouped themselves, he suddenly shot up into an 
 accomplished accountant. During the first year 
 of his accountantship, " Scenes and Legends of 
 the North of Scotland " appeared, wherein he says: 
 
STOKY OF HUGH MILLEIi's EARLY DAYS. 267 
 
 "There is no personage of real life who can be 
 more properly regarded as a hermit of the church- 
 yard than the itinerant sculptor, who wanders front 
 one country burying-ground to another, recording 
 on his tablets of stone the tears of the living and 
 the worth of the dead. If possessed of a common 
 portion of feeling and imagination, he cannot fail 
 of deeming his profession a school of benevolence 
 and poetry. For my own part, I have seldom 
 thrown aside the hammer and trowel of the stone- 
 mason for the chisel of the itinerant sculptor, with- 
 out receiving some fresh confirmation of the opinion. 
 How often have I suffered my mallet to rest on 
 the unfinished epitaph, when listening to some 
 friend of the buried expatiating with all the 
 eloquence of grief on the mysterious warning and 
 the sad death-bed on the worth that had departed, 
 and the sorrow that remained behind ! How often, 
 forgetting that I was merely an auditor, have I so 
 identified myself with the mourner, as to feel my 
 heart swell and my eyes becoming moist ! Even 
 the very aspect of a solitary churchyard seems 
 conducive to habits of thought and feeling. I 
 have risen from my employment to mark the 
 shadow of tombstone and burial mound creeping 
 over the sward at my feet, and have been rendered 
 serious by the reflection, that as those gnomons of 
 the dead marked out no line of hours, though the 
 hours passed as the shadows moved, so, in that 
 eternity in which even the dead exist, there is a 
 nameless tide of continuity, but no division of 
 
268 MEN WHO HAVE 
 
 time. I have become sad, when, lo oking on the 
 green mounds around me, I have regarded them 
 as waves of triumph which time and death had 
 rolled over the wreck of man; and the feeling has 
 been deepened, when, looking down with the eye 
 of imagination through this motionless sea of 
 graves, I have marked the sad remains of both 
 the long departed and the recent dead, thickly 
 strewed over the bottom. I have grieved above 
 the half-soiled shroud of her for whom the tears of 
 bereavement had not yet been dried up, and sighed 
 over the mouldering bones of him whose very 
 name had long since perished from the earth." 
 
 During the second year of his accountantship, 
 Lydia Mackenzie Fraser became Mrs. Miller ; and 
 in order to supplement his income, which did not 
 noAV look quite so large as once it would have 
 done, the bank accountant began to write for the 
 periodicals. " Wilson's Tales of the Borders," and, 
 subsequently, " Chambers's Edinburgh Journal," 
 were enriched with frequent contributions from 
 his pen. The period had, however, now come 
 when Hugh Miller was to be drawn aside from 
 the serene walks of literature and science, into the 
 stormy arena of ecclesiastical polemics. The great 
 Non-intrusion controversy was at its height. The 
 House of Lords had decided the Auchterarder 
 case. A sleepless night passed by Mr. Miller 
 after learning that decision resulted in " A Letter 
 from one of the Scotch People to the Right Hon. 
 Lord Brougham." This brochure was no sooner 
 
STOKY OF HUGH MILLEIt's EARLY DAYS. 269 
 
 published, than it was pronounced one of the 
 ablest appeals from the popular side of the Church 
 which the controversy had produced. Its racy 
 English was enjoyed by O'Connell, and even Mr. 
 Gladstone pronounced a fervid eulogium on its 
 surpassing merits. Stimulated at once by his own 
 intense interest in the question, and by the notice 
 his first pamphlet attracted, a second, quite equal 
 to the first, was quickly ready. These pamphlets 
 were his passports to the position he was about to 
 be called to occupy in Edinburgh. 
 
 The Non-intrusion leaders were in quest of an 
 editor for a paper they were about to start in 
 the metropolis ; and no sooner had one of the most 
 distinguished of them read those rare tractates ? 
 than with characteristic promptitude he exclaimed, 
 " Here is the man for our Witness." A letter to 
 the bank accountant was dispatched from Edin- 
 burgh, summoning him to a conference with the 
 leading Non-intrusionists ; Hugh Miller repaired 
 to the Scottish capital, accepted the editorship of 
 the projected journal, and terminated his engage- 
 ment with the Commercial Bank. Thus it came 
 to pass, that he who in early life felt no call to 
 become a minister of the Church, now, in the 
 maturity of his power, voluntarily assumes the 
 onerous position of defender of the Church's most 
 sacred spiritual privileges. It is no purpose of 
 this sketch to enter upon the discussion of vexed 
 questions in Church controversy ; we are ready to 
 acknowledge that widely different opinions may 
 
270 MEN WHO HATE KISEN. 
 
 be formed upon the justness of the principles for 
 which Hugh Miller contended, and to the advo- 
 cacy of which the Witness was devoted. There 
 can, however, be only one opinion respecting the 
 great and peculiar ability which he brought to the 
 defense and vindication of the principles of his 
 party. Nor, while remembering and recording 
 this fact, must it be forgotten that the Witness 
 newspaper has ever been something very different 
 from a merely ecclesiastical organ. Hugh Miller 
 brought to his editorial labors a mind imbued 
 with the noblest literature of England. His per_ 
 feet familiarity with the great masters of English 
 prose gave to all his works that charm of style for 
 which they are so remarkable. In the literature 
 of the Scottish Legend, he rivaled Hogg ; and as 
 a geologist, he at once took his place beside the 
 Bucklands and the Murchisons, the Sedgwicks 
 and the Lyells. From all these varied sources he 
 drew at will treasures new and old, wherewith to 
 enrich the columns of the journal with which, for 
 the last sixteen years of his life, his name was 
 identified. If there were brother editors his 
 superiors in that prompt concentration of mental 
 power which enables the journalist to write well 
 upon the topic of the hour, we know no journalist, 
 either Scottish or English, who has furnished a 
 series of leading articles, on nearly every conceiv- 
 able topic within the range of newspaper criticism, 
 so distinguished at once by imaginative, logical, 
 and high literary power. By turns humorous, 
 
271 
 
 satirical, and poetical, ever instructive and ever 
 entertaining, the stamp of intense individuality is 
 upon them all. Latterly, under a benevolent im- 
 pulse, he took the field as a lecturer. On his first 
 appearance in this new capacity, his chairman 
 was the Duke of Argyle a nobleman who, ever 
 since Mr. Miller's introduction to the British 
 Association, cherished for him the highest con- 
 sideration. Like Burns, who, casting from him 
 the poor sixpence a-day, served zealously 'as a 
 volunteer, whatever oral services he could render 
 his countrymen were rendered gratuitously. At 
 length, however, this continuous and multifarious 
 toil proved too much. Even with prolonged periods 
 of nearly complete cessation from the labors of 
 the journalist, he did not rally as formerly. He 
 had been forbidden all mental exertion by his 
 medical advisers during the latter months of 1856 ; 
 but " The Testimony of the Rocks " kept him in 
 harness until the middle of December. The last 
 sheets of the work had been corrected, and its 
 author had begun to rejoice in his completed toil, 
 when the same enemy that so mysteriously pros- 
 trated the stripling in the quarry of Cromarty, 
 menaced the sage with seven-fold fury. In dreams 
 and visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth 
 upon men, horrible spectres haunt his pillow 
 reason reels he feels as if ridden by witches, and 
 rises from his couch more wearied than he lay 
 down. These painful and ominous symptoms in- 
 duced Mrs. Miller to request the kind friend, whose 
 
272 MEN WHO HAVE iilSEX. 
 
 professional attentions are so touchingly alluded to 
 in the dedication of" The Testimony of the Rocks," 
 to visit her husband. The visit of the genial and 
 accomplished Professor exerted the happiest in- 
 fluence, and the evening was spent quietly with 
 his family. During tea, Mr. Miller read aloud 
 Cowper's " Castaway," and the sonnet to Mary 
 Unwin. A little while afterwards he went up 
 stairs to his study. At the appointed hour he 
 took the bath his medical adviser recommended, 
 but the medicine prescribed he did not take. 
 Next morning his body was found lying lifeless on 
 the floor the feet upon the study rug the chest 
 pierced with the ball of a revolver, which had 
 fallen into the bath by his side. On looking 
 round the room, a folio sheet of paper was dis- 
 covered on the table, and on the centre of the 
 page the following lines were written : 
 
 " DEAREST LYDIA : My brain burns. I must 
 have walked, and a fearful dream rises upon me. 
 I cannot bear the horrible thought. God and 
 Father of our Lord Jesus Christ have mercy upon 
 me ! Dearest Lydia, dear children, farewell. My 
 brain burns as the recollection grows. My dear 
 wife, farewell. HUGH MILLER." 
 
 " life, as futile then as frail 
 
 O for thy voice to soothe and bless ! 
 What hope of answer or redress 
 Behind the veil, behind the veil ? '* 
 
 In awe and mystery we stand by the grave of 
 genius, thus suddenly disappearing from the scene 
 
STOUT OF UUGII MILLEfi's EARLY DAYS. 273 
 
 o? its triumphs, rather disposed to meditate in 
 silence than read aloud the lessons to be learned 
 there. Mr. Miller's concluding words in " The 
 Story of my Education" convey, however, the most 
 appropriate lesson which could be given in such 
 a volume as this. He says : " In looking back 
 upon my youth, I see, methinks, a wild fruit tree, 
 rich in leaf and blossom; and it is mortifying 
 enough to mark how very few of the blossoms 
 have set, and how diminutive and imperfectly 
 formed the fruit is into which even the productive 
 few have been developed. A right use of the 
 opportunities of instruction afforded me in early 
 youth would have made me a scholar ere my 
 twenty-fifth year, and have saved to me at least ten 
 of the best years of life years which were spent 
 in 'obscure and humble occupations. But while 
 my story must serve to show the evils which re- 
 sult from truant carelessness in boyhood, and that 
 what was sport to the young lad may assume the 
 form of serious misfortune to the man, it may also 
 serve to show that much may be done by after 
 diligence, to retrieve an early error of this kind 
 that life itself is a school, and nature always a 
 fresh study and that the man who keeps his 
 eyes and his mind open will always find fitting, 
 though, it may be, hard schoolmasters, to speed 
 him on in his life-long education." 
 
 And now, before closing this brief narrative, the 
 reader will perhaps pardon us for interposing a cor- 
 rection of a mischievous misreading of that lesson. 
 18 
 
274: MEN" WHO HAVE RISEN. 
 
 which has, in some quarters, obtained currency. 
 Hugh Miller, it is said, fell the victim of a 
 baffled ambition and an austere theology. His 
 grand effort to reconcile geology with Genesis had 
 failed, and the consciousness of that failure was 
 the cause of the eclipse in which reason and life 
 were extinguished. So the terrible tragedy of the 
 24th December, 1856, is interpreted. To such as 
 possess any true conception of his character, the 
 interpretation must be eminently unsatisfactory. 
 That the precise mode in which science and reve- 
 lation might be harmonized, presented no diffi- 
 culties to Hugh Miller, we do not affirm. But, 
 while quite aware the theory on which he lavished 
 the riches of his imagination was open to question 
 had, indeed, been already questioned the hopes 
 inspired by the book of God never wavered. 
 While exploring the abysmal depths of his favor- 
 ite study, heaven's own light still shed its supernal 
 splendors over his spirit, and in quite another than 
 a despondent mood did he contemplate the ter- 
 mination of his labors upon " The Testimony of 
 the Rocks." The doubt with which the discords 
 of nature inspire some minds did not perplex his. 
 Through all the mists of scientific speculation, the 
 eternal pole-star still remained for him an authen- 
 tic luminary. No scrap of writing, no word 
 breathed even in the ear of friendship, warrants 
 the conclusion to which grave and able editors 
 have not scrupled to rush. We have said that 
 the seeds of the malady which prostrated Hugh 
 
STORY OK HUGH MILLEJi's EARLY DAYS. 275 
 
 Miller were sown in the quarry of Cromarty ; per- 
 haps it had been more correct to have said, that 
 there they received their first marked develop- 
 ment. If the matter was completely investigated, 
 we suspect that a constitutional tendency to cere- 
 bral disease would be found to have existed. For 
 some six or seven years he had been complaining 
 that he no longer worked as he was wont to do. 
 With double toil, but half the results of earlier, 
 better days, could now be produced. The jaded 
 spirit was spurred to its tasks under the pressure 
 of motives whose force the noblest minds alone 
 can feel. Remonstrances of affection and predic- 
 tions of physicians were alike unheeded. Nothing 
 was feared until, suddenly, the dread of a calamity 
 no longer to be concealed precipitated the very 
 catastrophe from which he recoiled. A clearer 
 case of cerebral disorder does not exist. That, 
 with the warnings received, he should have con- 
 tinued unawakened to the perils of his position, only 
 shows how sometimes the best of men, absorbed in 
 special pursuits, may neglect what is of unspeak- 
 able importance to remember. In his eagerness 
 to read the wondrous story of an earlier world, 
 Hugh Miller forgot he was himself fearfully and 
 wonderfully made. Over all men the natural and 
 organic laws assert paramount authority. A man 
 so constitued as Hugh Miller was ever in imminent 
 and peculiar peril from their transgression; yet 
 the peril was put far from him, and every monition 
 of its approach, even while confessed, was un- 
 
276 MEH WHO HAVE KISEN. 
 
 heeded. He could warn brother editors of the 
 dangers of overwork, yet by a singular fatality he 
 himself continued to burn the midnight oil. Thus 
 it came to pass, that he who had done for the 
 geology what Burns had done for the songs of 
 Scotland, perished in the meridian of his powers. 
 
LINKEIJS, THE NATUKALIST. 
 
 LIKE many other men of genius, Linnaeus was 
 of humble origin. He could not boast a noble 
 parentage ; he did not in any degree owe his fame 
 to the rank and wealth of his connections. His 
 ancestors were obscure peasants ; his father was 
 an humble Christian pastor in the village of 
 Rashult, in the province of Smaland, in Sweden, 
 where, on the 23d of May, 1707, the celebrated 
 naturalist was born. The original family name 
 was Nils ; but the father of Linnaeus, being the 
 first member of a learned profession known to be- 
 long to his line, had, in accordance with a custom 
 prevalent in Sweden, changed his family name 
 with his profession. That he now adopted was 
 borrowed from a large Linden-tree which grew in 
 the vicinity of his native place. Charles was des- 
 tined for the church, but he early showed that 
 passion for flowers that ardent thirst for the 
 beauties of nature, which shaped his subsequent 
 career. A patch of the garden was assigned to 
 
278 MEN WHO HAVE KISEN. 
 
 him, in dressing which, Charles spent many of the 
 sunny hours of his boyhood. Cultivating tho- 
 little nook in his father's garden, the genius and 
 tastes of the boy were developed ; and we fancy 
 him bending with fond delight over one favorite 
 flower bursting into bloom, or with intense 
 anxiety gazing on another about to droop and die. 
 When seven years of age he was sent to school. 
 His first teacher was no ornament to his profes- 
 sion. At this school Charles acquired but little. 
 At his second the grammar-school at Wexio, a 
 town adjoining his native village he was by no 
 means noted for his diligence and proficiency. 
 The fields were his study flowers, fruits, and in- 
 sects, the objects of his first love. Hence, instead 
 of attending to the tasks prescribed to him, he 
 spent his time in rambling over the country ; and 
 though his teacher discovered in him some traits 
 of genius, he was regarded by his schoolfellows as 
 a truant. 
 
 At the age of seventeen, he entered the upper 
 college at Wexio, where his deficiencies as a clas- 
 sic were quickly detected, and threatened with 
 severe and summary punishment. The same con- 
 stitutional tendency still held sway; the books 
 were neglected, the fields were frequented. Com- 
 plaints were made to his father, who, convinced 
 that his son would never prosper as a divine, 
 resolved to apprentice him to a, shoemaker. 
 
 Through the timely interference of a medical 
 professor in the College of Wexio, who had saga- 
 
LINXJ2U8, THE NATURALIST. 
 
 city enough to detect tho buddings of genius in 
 the mind of Charles Linnaeus, this purpose was 
 fortunately abandoned. This man, whose name 
 was Dr. John Rothmann, offered to take him 
 under his charge for a year, and to supply all his 
 necessary wants. As natural history Avas not 
 likely to prove a very paying study, it was resolved 
 also that Charles should qualify himself for the 
 practice of medicine. Under the roof of this 
 medical professor, he had ample means of enlarg- 
 ing his information; and that, too, upon the par- 
 ticular department of science to which he was 
 devoted. Here he remained till he was about 
 twenty, when he entered the university of Lund. 
 On quitting his first college, the rector gave him a 
 testimonial in these most appropriate terms : 
 "Students may be compared to the trees of a 
 nursery. Often among the young plants are found 
 some which, notwithstanding the care that has 
 been bestowed, resemble wild shoots ; but, if 
 transplanted at a later period, they change their 
 nature, and sometimes bear delicious fruit. With 
 this hope I send this young man to the university, 
 where another climate may prove favorable to his 
 progress." At this new seminary, under the kind 
 care of the professor of medicine and botany, 
 Linna3us made great improvement, enjoying as he 
 did numerous facilities for cultivating his favorite 
 tastes. He afterwards entered the University of 
 Upsal, where he had to encounter many of those 
 privations with which the student has so often to 
 
280 MEN WHO HAVE RISEK. 
 
 struggle. He was, in fact, chiefly dependent for 
 food and clothing on the charity of his college 
 companions. 
 
 At this time an event happened, most favorable 
 to his views and pursuits. The bleak and barren 
 regions of Lapland had been less explored than 
 any of the Swedish provinces. A society vras 
 instituted at TJpsal, chiefly with the view of making 
 inquiry regarding the natural productions of that 
 kingdom. By this association he was chosen to 
 make this inquiry. He has left us an account of 
 the manner in which he was equipped when he set 
 out on his expedition. "My clothes," says he, 
 " consisted of a light coat of West Gothland lin- 
 sey-woolsey cloth, without folds, lined with red 
 shalloon, having small cuffs and collar of shag ; 
 leather breeches ; a round wig ; a green leather 
 cap ; and a pair of half-boots. I carried a small 
 leather bag, half an ell in length but somewhat 
 less in breadth, furnished on one side with hooks 
 and eyes, so that it could be opened and shut at 
 pleasure. This bag contained one shirt ; two pair 
 of false sleeves; two half-shirts; an inkstand, 
 pen-case, microscope, and spying-glass ; a gauze 
 cap, to protect me occasionally from the gnats ; a 
 comb ; my journal, and a parcel of paper stitched 
 together for drying plants, both in folio ; my manu- 
 script Ornithology, Flora Uplandica, and Charac- 
 teres Generic!. I wore a hanger at my side, and 
 carried a small fowling-piece, as well as an octan- 
 gular stick for the purpose of measuring. My 
 
LENTOSUS, THE KATHRALIST. 28J 
 
 pocket-book contained a pass-port from the Gov- 
 ernor of Upsal, and a recommendation from the 
 
 Academy." 
 
 Thus, somewhat grotesquely accoutred, with a 
 few of the necessaries, but none of the luxuries, for 
 such an expedition, did Linnaeus start for the cold 
 regions of Lapland. After great privations and 
 untiring industry, his mission proved eminently 
 successful. 
 
 Returning to Upsal, the members of the Royal 
 Academy of Sciences evinced their sense of the 
 worth of his services by choosing him as one of its 
 members; and in 1775 he commenced a course of 
 lectures on botany, chemistry, and mineralogy. As 
 he had not yet taken his degree, his doing this was 
 contrary to the statutes of the university : he was 
 accordingly dragged before its senate, and for- 
 bidden to continue his lectures. His prospects in 
 connection with the University of Upsal being for 
 the time blasted, Linnaeus, along with some of his 
 pupils, visited the province of Dalecarlia, with the 
 view of making fresh discoveries in mineralogy 
 and botany. While resident in Fahlun, the capi- 
 tal of the province, he became acquainted w r ith one 
 of its most eminent physicians, whose name was 
 Morseus, and who, in addition to his professional 
 distinction was reputed as one of the wealthiest 
 individuals in the district. The physician had two 
 daughters, with the oldest of whom Linnaeus fell 
 violently in love. The lady did not object, but, 
 on the contrary, thought she could never give her 
 
MEN WHO HAVE EISEN. 
 
 hand to one worthier of it. The old man, how- 
 ever, was more difficult to please. When the 
 future son-in-law mustered courage to moot the 
 question to Dr. Morseus, he was given to under- 
 stand that, though there were no objections on the 
 score of character, his present circumstances and 
 future prospects were scarcely all that could be 
 wished. His answer to Linnseus was to this effect : 
 that should he obtain his diploma, and in the 
 course of three years thereafter succeed in estab- 
 lishing for himself a respectable practice, he should 
 have the hand of his favorite Sarah. The terms 
 were by no means unreasonable ; but as Swedish 
 students at this time required to take their degree 
 at some foreign university, this involved an ex- 
 pense too heavy for our botanist. Miss Morseus, 
 however, had contrived to save a considerable sum 
 off the pocket-money allowed her by her father, 
 which was placed at her lover's disposal. This, in 
 addition to his own earnings, enabled him to ac- 
 complish the desired object. After visiting his 
 friends and the grave of his mother, who had died 
 some months previous, preparing his academical 
 dissertations, and arranging his papers, he set out 
 from Fahlun in the month of April, 1735, and 
 obtained his degree at Harderwycke. He subse- 
 quently visited Leyden, where he published several 
 of his most valuable treatises, and became ac- 
 quainted with Dr. Boerhaave, and many other ce- 
 lebrated persons. These treatises were the result 
 of much toil and patient research his industry at 
 
LINXJ2US, THE NATUEAJLIST. 283 
 
 this period almost surpassing belief. When he 
 had visited England and some other countries on 
 the Continent, he returned to Sweden; and, hav- 
 ing gained for himself a respectable practice we 
 should say rather, having risen to the top of his 
 profession he led Sarah Elizabeth, the eldest 
 daughter of Moraeus, to the altar of wedlock, with 
 the consent of all parties. Though his talents and 
 professional zeal would almost have secured his 
 success anywhere, his rapid advancement, his 
 several appointments to be botanist to the King 
 of Sweden and physician to the Admiralty, were 
 in some measure due to his having completely 
 cured Queen Eleonora of a cough, which had for 
 some tune troubled her Majesty. 
 
 He was subsequently appointed to one of the 
 medical chairs in the University of Upsal, and was 
 afterwards made professor of botany a situation 
 most congenial to his taste, and for which we need 
 not say, he was admirably qualified. Thus was 
 awarded to him an honor, which, we may believe, 
 of all others he most coveted an honor, however, 
 no more than the just reward of the zeal he had 
 displayed in the prosecution of his studies. 
 
 Linna3us had his own share of bodily ailments. 
 He suffered much, especially towards the close of 
 his career, from repeated attacks of rheumatism 
 and gout. He may be said to have fallen, as 
 heroes of every name rejoice to fall, at his post ; 
 for, after an attack of apoplexy, with which he was 
 seized when delivering one of his lectures in the 
 
284: MEN WHO HAVE ETSEX. 
 
 Botanical Garden, he never recovered his strength. 
 The period of second childhood came. The ac- 
 complished Linnaeus ceased to recognize his own 
 works, and, it is said, even forgot his name. He 
 died on the 10th of January, 1778, having ex- 
 ceeded by about one year, the threescore and ten. 
 The following is his own account of his personal 
 appearance : " The head of Linnoeus had a re- 
 markable prominence behind, and was transversely 
 depressed at the lambdoid suture. His hair was 
 white in infancy, afterwards brown, in old age, 
 grayish. His eyes were hazel, lively, and pene- 
 trating ; their power of vision exquisite. His fore- 
 head was furrowed in old age. He had an oblit- 
 erated wart on the right cheek, and another on 
 the corresponding side of the nose. His teeth 
 were unsound, and, at an early age, decayed from 
 hereditary toothache." 
 
 The department of science to which Linnaeus de- 
 voted himself has a charm for almost every mind. 
 While insects are humming around us, and flowers 
 sending their fragrance across our path, his name 
 is not likely to be forgotten. He was a prince 
 among naturalists, as Newton and Kepler were 
 among astronomers. 
 
SMEATCOT, THE ENGUSTEEK. 
 
 THE simple means which men of genius find to 
 bring the wonderful faculties with which they are 
 endowed into action, is indeed a fit subject for ad- 
 miration. He who has music in himself imparts it 
 to some rude instrument of his own construction ; 
 a burned stick has been known to be the first im- 
 plement with which a gifted artist has practiced 
 his divine art ; and, as in the case of Giotti, as he 
 watched his flocks, the faithless sand has supplied 
 the first tablet to which his sketches have been 
 transmitted. Handel, in his childhood, was pro- 
 hibited from heaiing a note of music, and it was 
 by stolen snatches that this sublime genius found 
 vent for the inspiration which was to charm the 
 world. Everything was done to repress the pas- 
 sionate love of his art, which Michael Angelo 
 Buonarotti evinced from his earliest days. The 
 father of Sir Joshua Reynolds was seriously dis- 
 pleased with him when he discovered the draw- 
 ings which he had made on his exercise-book. 
 
286 MEN WHO HAVE EISEK. 
 
 The reproof which he gave the boy remained in 
 black and white on the copy-book, long after Sir 
 Joshua had attained the highest eminence 
 " Done by Joshua out of pure idleness." Watt 
 was very sharply rebuked by his aunt, one even- 
 ing at the tea-table, for his " listless idleness," as 
 she observed him taking off the lid of the kettle, 
 and putting it on again now holding a cup, and 
 then a silver spoon over the steam, as it issued 
 from the spout, and reckoning the drops of water 
 into which it was condensed. Little did the gocd 
 lady think, when she chided the " troublesome brat," 
 that he was taking his first hints for the applica- 
 tion of the mighty power which was to produce 
 such momentous changes in the world, and by 
 which his name was to be immortalized. 
 
 The genius of John Smeaton, the great engineer 
 appeared from his earliest infancy, and was not 
 at ah 1 in accordance with his father's plans for 
 his advancement. When a child in petticoats, he 
 might be seen dividing circles and squares. He 
 rejected all the toys in which children delight, se- 
 lecting for his playthings the tools with which he 
 fashioned models of machines. But his greatest 
 enjoyment was to watch men at work, and ask 
 them questions. When about six years old, he 
 was one day missed, and, on being searched for, 
 was at last found, to the terror of his father and 
 mother, mounted on the roof of a barn, fixing up 
 a windmill of his own construction. It was at 
 about the same period that he watched with great 
 
SMEATON, THE ENGINEER. 287 
 
 interest the progress of some men who were fixing 
 a pump in the neighborhood. Having procured 
 from them a piece of bored pipe, he determined he 
 would have a pump of his own. He succeeded in 
 making one which could raise water. There were 
 heavy complaints made against " Master John" 
 for destroying the fish hi the ponds with his mo- 
 dels of machines for raising water from one to the 
 other. His daughter, in alluding to his infant 
 days, speaks of his career having been one of in- 
 cessant labor, front six years old to sixty. At 
 school he had to give his attention, during the 
 day, to his exercises ; but at night, while others 
 slept, he resumed his favorite pursuit. When 
 about fourteen, he had made for himself an engine 
 to turn rose-work ; and bestowed boxes of ivory 
 and wood, turned by himself, on his acquaintances. 
 A friend of his, who was destined for a mechanical 
 employment, was perfectly astonished, when he 
 went on a visit to him, to see all that he had ac- 
 complished. He forged his iron and steel, and 
 melted his metal himself. He had made tools of 
 every kind for working in wood, ivory, and metals. 
 He had made a lathe, by which he had cut a per- 
 petual screw in brass a thing little known at that 
 time. He had manufactured an extensive set of 
 tools, with which he worked in most of the me- 
 chanical trades genius and industry more than 
 supplying the place of the instruction of which he 
 had never had advantage. 
 
 His father was an attorney, and intended him 
 
288 MEN WHO HAVE RISEN. 
 
 for the bar. He went up to London to attend 
 the courts, but his heart lay in those pursuits by 
 which he became so distinguished. Longing to 
 devote himself exclusively to them, he wrote 
 strongly to his father on the subject, who wisely 
 acceded to his wishes, and allowed him to turn 
 to that profession for which nature herself seemed 
 to have intended him a profession embracing all 
 that is most useful in science, and calling into ac- 
 tion some of the noblest attributes of man energy 
 and judgment, forethought and patience. The 
 wonderful ingenuity of invention which he ap- 
 plied to machinery of various kinds, and the im- 
 provements which he introduced in the construc- 
 tion and working of mills, were of incalculable 
 benefit. His industry was equal to his ability. 
 Ever ardent in desire for improvement, he went to 
 Holland and the Lower Countries, for the purpose 
 of inspecting the works of art, and traveled 011 
 foot. 
 
 An opportunity was soon to occur to bring his 
 great abilities into notice. The Eddystone Light- 
 house, which had been swept away by the memor- 
 able storm of the 26th of November, 1703, had 
 been rebuilt, but was again destroyed by a fatal 
 catastrophe. It happened on the 2d of December* 
 1755, that some fishermen went to prepare their 
 nets at a very early hour in the morning. They 
 were much startled on perceiving volumes of 
 flame issuing from the Eddystone Light-house. 
 They instantly gave the alarm, and a neighbor- 
 
S1IEATON, THE ENGINEER. 280 
 
 ing gentleman sent out a boat and men to re- 
 lieve the sufferers, if they were still in life. They 
 did not reach the light-house till about ten o'clock. 
 The fire had now been racing for about eight hours. 
 It was first discovered by the light-keeper upon 
 watch, who went into the lantern at about two 
 o'clock, to snuff the candles. He found the place 
 filled with smoke, and, on opening the door of the 
 lantern into the balcony, flames issued from the 
 cupola. It was some time before his companions 
 heard him call for assistance, as they had been all 
 asleep. By the time they reached him, all the 
 water left in the buckets at hand was expended. 
 He urged his companions to fill them again from 
 the sea; but the difficulty of getting it from such 
 a height, and their confusion and terror, rendered 
 them quite powerless. The poor light-keeper 
 now in his ninety-fourth year continued to make 
 the most wonderful exertions ; but, completely 
 exhausted by the unavailing labor, and the severe 
 injuries which he had received from the melting 
 lead, he was obliged to desist. The three men 
 Avho were with him, terrified by his miserable sit- - 
 ation, and the extreme agonies he was suffering 
 were quite incapacitated. As the fire approached 
 them more nearly, they rushed into one of the 
 lower rooms, to delay the horrible doom which 
 threatened them, even for a few moments. When 
 the boatmen reached them, they found the poor 
 sufferers crouching together in a kind of cave, or 
 rather hole on the east side of the rock, just under 
 19 
 
WHO HATE RISEIT. 
 
 the iron ladder. They had contrived to reach 
 this cleft, into which they crept to escape the fall- 
 ing timbers and red-hot bolts. It was with the 
 greatest difficulty they were got off. They had 
 no sooner reached the shore, than one of the poor 
 men, no doubt crazed by the terrors which he had 
 undergone, ran away, and was never heard of 
 again. The poor old man languished in great tor- 
 ture for about ten days, when death relieved him 
 from his sufferings. Soon after this dreadful dis- 
 aster, it was resolved that the light-house should 
 be rebuilt ; but some difficulty arose as to finding 
 a competent person to undertake such a stupen- 
 dous work, when Mr. Smeaton was strongly 
 recommended by Lord Macclesfield, president of 
 the Royal Society, under whose notice he had been 
 brought by the communications which he had 
 forwarded, from time to time, for the last seven 
 years, descriptive of improvements and inventions 
 of his own, remarkable for great ingenuity, and 
 showing ability of a very high order. Such an 
 impression had he made on the society, that he 
 svas unanimously elected one of its members. 
 Wilson, the painter, was deputed to announce to 
 Smeaton that he had been appointed to superin- 
 tend the great work. So unthought of was such 
 an offer, that Smeaton was at a loss to understand 
 Wilson's letter ; but, concluding that a permission 
 to send proposals for undertaking the work was 
 couched under ambiguous terms, he wrote such 
 an answer as showed his mistake. Another letter 
 
SMEATON, THE ENGINEER. 291 
 
 arrived from Wilson. It was opened. There was 
 no possibility of misunderstanding its meaning. 
 " Thou art the man," was all that it said. 
 
 Every engagement was relinquished, and Mr. 
 Smeaton entered, with all the energy of a great 
 spirit, into the undertaking, and on those wild 
 rocks succeeded in erecting a building as remark- 
 able for strength and durability as it is for pic- 
 turesque effect a building which is the proudest 
 monument with which a name can be associated. 
 The wild appearance of the rocks, the rushing 
 eddies, and the foaming waves, make the situation 
 of the light-house one of the most striking that can 
 be conceived. In three years the work was com- 
 plete. Of that time, it has been calculated that 
 there were but 431 days wJien it was possible to 
 stand on the rock, and so small a portion of these 
 was available, that the building in reality occu- 
 pied but six weeks. The whole was completed 
 without the slightest accident to any person ; and 
 so well and systematically arranged was the whole 
 conduct of the work, that neither confusion nor 
 delay retarded its progress for an hour. Nothing 
 can show the dreariness of the situation where 
 this building stands, more than an account of the 
 life which the four men lead who are appointed to 
 take care of it. They take the charge by two, 
 and are relieved by the others at the end of six 
 weeks, if winds and waves permit ; but it often 
 happens, particularly in tempestuous weather, that 
 no boat can touch there for many months. Salt 
 
MEN WHO HAVE KISEN. 
 
 provisions are laid up as for a ship prepared for a 
 long voyage. When winds prevail, " the dash- 
 ing of the waves creates such a briny atmosphere, 
 that a man exposed to it could not draw his breath. 
 During such visitations, the two lonely beings 
 keep closely shut up in their solitary abode, living 
 in darkness, and listening to no sound but the 
 awful howling of the storm, and the wild rushing 
 waves, as they lash against the building." Our 
 respect and admiration for the consummate skill 
 and ability to which the success of so great an 
 undertaking was owing, and for the fine qualities 
 of mind which were essential for the endurance 
 of the labor and fatigue with which it was accom- 
 plished, have given a deep interest to whatever 
 we have chanced to meet with relative to Mr. 
 Smeaton. He was just thirty-five years of age 
 when the light-house was finished. By his promp- 
 titude and skillful measures, London Bridge was 
 saved from falling, when its destruction appeared 
 inevitable. He made the river Calder navigable 
 a work that could only have been achieved by 
 the greatest judgment and skill, as its floods were 
 frightfully impetuous. He planned and superin- 
 tended the execution of the great canal in Scot- 
 land, for conveying the trade of the country either 
 to the Atlantic or German Ocean. He applied 
 his own improvements and inventions to the con- 
 structing of mills, and a great variety of works. 
 Moderate in his desires and temperate in his 
 habits, he had no wish to amass jjreat wealth, and 
 
SAIEATOX, THE ENGINEER. 293 
 
 declined splendid offers from the Empress of Rus- 
 sia, made through the Princess Dashkoff. She 
 earnestly desired his superintendence over the 
 great national works which she had in contempla- 
 tion, and would have secured it at any cost. He 
 felt that his own country had the first claim on 
 him, and he declined the offer. " You are a great 
 man, sir," said the Princess, " and I honor you. 
 I doubt whether you have your equal in abilities, 
 but in character you stand certainly -single. The 
 English minister Sir Robert Walpole, was mis- 
 taken, and my sovereign has the misfortune to find 
 a man who has not his price." That " the abili- 
 ties of the individual were a debt due to the com- 
 mon stock of public happiness or accommodation," 
 was a maxim of his, to which, on all occasions, he 
 acted up. 
 
 For many years of Mr. Smeaton's life, he was 
 a constant attendant on parliament ; and whatever 
 bill he supported was in almost every instance 
 carried. It was his invariable rule, when re- 
 quested to forward any measure, to make himself 
 thoroughly acquainted with its merits before he 
 would engage in it. His complete knowledge of 
 the subject, and the remarkable clearness with 
 which he expressed himself, carried great weight, 
 and secured the attention and confidence of all 
 who heard him. Lord Mansfield and others 
 complimented him from the bench, for the new 
 light which he threw on difficult subjects. His 
 language in speaking and writing, was so strong 
 
MEN WHO HAVE RISEN. 
 
 and perspicuous, that his meaning could never bb 
 mistaken, and all that was necessary for those who 
 worked under him was to hear what he said, and 
 do neither more nor less than he desired. Con- 
 tact with the world, which in too many instances 
 blunts the feelings and takes from native simpli- 
 city of character, has generally been found to have 
 a contrary effect on those engaged in pursuits 
 which promote the happiness and comfort of 
 others ; for they are almost invariably conspicuous 
 for simplicity of disposition and tenderness of 
 heart. That it was so with John Smeaton, we 
 have ample testimony, and none more touching 
 than that borne by his daughter, who says that he 
 was " devoted to his family with an affection so 
 lively, a manner at once so cheerful and serene, 
 that it is impossible to say whether the charms 
 of conversation, the simplicity of instructions, or 
 the gentleness with which they were conveyed, 
 most endeared his home a home in which from 
 infancy we cannot recollect to have seen a trace 
 of dissatisfaction, or a word of asperity to any 
 one." The simple integrity of his deportment to 
 those of higher rank was sure to win their esteem, 
 and his kindness and consideration made him an 
 object of veneration to his inferiors. He was 
 highly regarded and looked up to by the members 
 of his own profession. The modesty which almost 
 always accompanies real greatness of mind must 
 have served to endear him to them. So little, 
 indeed, was he elated by his acknowledged superi- 
 
SMEATON, THE ENGIKEEB. 295 
 
 ority, that even in his own family it was a matter 
 of some difficulty to lead him " to speak of himself, 
 his pursuits, or success." Many of his evenings 
 were passed, with his professional friends, in the 
 Society of Civil Engineers, which he had been one 
 of the first to form. 
 
 Early in life, Mr. Smeaton formed an intimacy 
 with the Duke and Duchess of Queensberry 
 which was curiously brought about. It happened 
 one evening, when he was walking in Ranelagh 
 with Mrs. Smeaton, that he observed an elderly 
 lady (who was the eccentric Duchess of Queens- 
 berry) looking at him with evident interest. After 
 some time, Mr. and Mrs. Smeaton stopped, and 
 the lady advanced, and addressed Mr. Smeaton : 
 " Sir," said she, " I don't know who you are, or 
 what you are ; but you resemble my poor dear 
 Gay so strongly that we must be acquainted. 
 You must come home and sup with us ; and if the 
 minds of the two men accord, us do their coun- 
 tenances, you will find two cheerful old folks, w r ho 
 can love you well ; and I think or you are a 
 hypocrite you well deserve it." An invitation 
 so oddly given was as frankly accepted, and for 
 the remainder of his life the warmest friend- 
 hip subsisted between them, and in their society 
 Mr. Smeaton found his most agreeable relaxa- 
 tion. 
 
 It was the intention of Mr. Smeaton, whenever 
 he could find time, to publish an account of his 
 various inventions and the works in which he 
 
296 MEN \Y110 HATE RISEN. 
 
 had been engaged. In the year 1785, his de- 
 clining health suggested that the time was come 
 when he might relinquish more active occupa- 
 tion, and that it was a fitting period for putting 
 his intention into execution, and he felt that 
 he could not set about anything which could 
 be more useful. But he could not resist the 
 solicitations of his friends, who urged him to 
 take the superintendence of various works. He 
 was so warmly pressed to accept the place of 
 engineer to the harbor of Ramsgate by his friend 
 Mr. Aubert, who was chairman, that he was unable 
 to refuse. As he was not able to devote himself 
 exclusively to preparation for his publications, as 
 he had wished, some valuable acquisitions to the 
 libraries of the scientific may have been lost ; but 
 after his death several works, in addition to those 
 which had already appeared > were published. 
 Among these eminently useful productions, is 
 " Smeaton's Reports," which ranks high as a 
 standard work, and is indeed a text-book w T hich 
 none of the profession would be without. 
 
 The sad misfortune which Mr. Smeaton had 
 long anticipated, occurred as he was walking in 
 his garden, on the 16th of September, 1792 he 
 was struck with palsy. The dread of outliving 
 his faculties, was far more distressing to him than 
 the thought of any bodily suffering ; but he was 
 happily spared the trial, and nothing could exceed 
 his pious thankfulness in finding his intellect unin- 
 jured. The tender consideration which he showed 
 
SMEATON, THE ENGINEER. 297 
 
 for the feelings of his family on this afflicting oc- 
 casion served to endear him still more. He used 
 every means to soften the blow to them, by setting 
 them an example of entire resignation. Still it was 
 his wish to be released ; but he lingered on for 
 six weeks. During that interval, as we are told 
 by his daughter, " all his faculties and affections 
 were as clear and animated as ever, and he exer- 
 cised his ingenuity in devising means by which he 
 could assist himself without troubling those about 
 him. He occupied himself with calculations with 
 as much interest as before the stroke. He desired 
 to see all the occupations and amusements of the 
 family go on as usual. He took his accustomed 
 interest in the music and drawing, and joined in 
 conversation with all his wonted cheerfulness. 
 He sometimes fancied and lamented what no 
 one else could perceive his own slowness ; and 
 then he would add with a gentle smile, 4 It could 
 not be otherwise the shadow must lengthen as 
 the sun goes down.' A few evenings before he 
 died, his family were gathered about him, and one 
 of his children asked him about some phenomena 
 of the moon. He gave the required explanation 
 with ah 1 the clearness and precision for which he 
 was so remarkable. While he yet spoke, the 
 moon shone brightly into the chamber. He 
 gazed on it in rapt earnestness for a few moments ; 
 then, turning to those about him, he said : ' How 
 often have I looked up to it with inquiring won- 
 der to that period when I shah 1 have the vast and 
 13* 
 
298 MEN WHO HAVE RISEN. 
 
 privileged view of a hereafter, and all will be com- 
 prehension and pleasure !' " On the 28th of Octo- 
 ber, 1792, in his 68th year, John Smeaton was 
 removed from the world, for which he had dono 
 so much. 
 
RITTENHOUSE, THE MATHEMATICIAN. 
 
 DAVID RiTTEiraousE was born near German- 
 town, Pennsylvania, April 8th, 1732. The family 
 originally came from Guelderland, a province in 
 Holland. They settled in the State of New York, 
 while it was a Dutch colony, and were the first 
 who engaged in the manufacture of paper in this 
 country. The father of David Rittenhouse 
 abandoned the occupation of a paper-maker, when 
 about twenty-nine years of age, and commenced 
 the business of a farmer, on a piece of land which 
 he had purchased in the township of Norriton, 
 about twenty miles from the city of Philadelphia. 
 It seems that he very early designed his son for 
 this useful and respectable employment. Accord- 
 ingly, as soon as the boy arrived at a sufficient 
 age to assist in conducting the affairs of the farm, 
 he was occupied as a husbandman. This kind 
 of occupation appears to have commenced at an 
 early period of his life. About the fourteenth 
 year of his age, he was employed in ploughing in 
 
300 MEN WHO HATE EISENT. 
 
 his father's fields. His brother Benjamin relates, 
 that while David was thus engaged at the plough, 
 he (the informant), then a young boy, was fre- 
 quently sent to call him to his meals; at which 
 times he repeatedly observed, that not only the 
 fences at the head of many of the furrows, but 
 even his plough and its handles, were covered 
 over with chalked numerical figures. Astronomy 
 was a favorite pursuit. He also applied himself 
 industriously to the study of optics, the mechanical 
 powers, &c., without the advantage of the least 
 instruction. About the seventeenth year of his 
 age, he made a wooden clock of very ingenious 
 workmanship; and soon after, he constructed one 
 of the same materials that compose the common 
 four-and-twenty hour clock, and upon the same 
 principles. He had, much earlier in life, exhibited 
 proofs of his mechanical genius, by making, when 
 only seven or eight years old, a complete water- 
 mill in miniature. 
 
 With many valuable traits of character, old 
 Mr. Rittenhouse had no claims to what is termed 
 genius. Hence he did not properly appreciate 
 the early specimens of talent which appeared in 
 his son David. He was, for some time, opposed 
 to the young man's earnest desire to renounce 
 agricultural employments, for the purpose of 
 devoting himself altogether to philosophical pur- 
 suits, in connection with some such mechanical 
 profession as might best comport with useful 
 objects of natural philosophy, and be most likely, 
 
RITTENHOUSE, THE ^lATHEMATICIAN. 301 
 
 at the same time, to afford him the means of a 
 comfortable subsistence. At length, however, the 
 father yielded his own inclinations, in order to 
 gratify what was manifestly the irresistible im- 
 pulse of his son's genius. He supplied him with 
 money to purchase, in Philadelphia, such tools as 
 were more immediately necessary for commencing 
 the clock-making business, which the son then 
 adopted as his profession. About the same time, 
 young Mr. Rittenhouse erected, on the side of a 
 public road, and on his father's land, in the town- 
 ship of Norriton, a small but commodious work- 
 shop ; and after having made many implements 
 of the trade with his own hands, to supply the 
 deficiency in his purchased stock, he set out in 
 good earnest, as a clock and mathematical instru- 
 ment maker. From the age of eighteen or nineteen 
 to twenty-five, Mr. Rittenhouse applied himself 
 unremittingly, both to his trade and his studies. 
 Employed throughout the day in his attention to 
 the former, he devoted much of his nights to the 
 latter. Indeed, he deprived himself of the neces- 
 sary hours of rest ; for it was his almost invariable 
 practice to sit up at his books until midnight, 
 sometimes much later. 
 
 When Mr. Rittenhouse's father established his 
 residence at Norriton, and during the minority of 
 the son, there were no schools in the vicinity at 
 which anything more was taught, than reading 
 and writing in the English language, and the 
 simplest rules of arithmetic. Young Ritten- 
 
302 MEN WHO HAVE RISEN. 
 
 house's school education was, therefore, necessarily 
 bounded by very narrow limits. He was in 
 truth taught nothing beyond those very circum- 
 scribed studies, which have been named, prior to 
 his nineteenth year. The zeal with which he pur- 
 sued his studies will be seen from the following ex- 
 tract of a letter, written in September, 1756, being 
 then little more than twenty-four years of age. 
 " I have not health for a soldier " (the country 
 was then engaged in war), " and as I have no 
 expectation of serving my country in that way, I 
 am spending my time in the old trifling manner, 
 and am so taken with optics, that I do not know 
 whether if the enemy should invade this part of 
 the country, as Archimedes was slain while mak- 
 ing geometrical figures on the sand, so I should 
 die making a telescope." 
 
 An incident now occurred which served to make 
 known more extensively, the extraordinary genius 
 of Rittenhouse. His mother had two brothers, 
 David and Lewis Williams (or William), both of 
 whom died in their minority. David, the elder 
 of these, pursued the trade of a carpenter, or 
 joiner. Though, like his nephew and namesake, 
 he was almost wholly an uneducated youth, he 
 also, like him, early discovered an unusual genius 
 and strength of mind. After the death of this 
 young man, on opening a chest containing the 
 implements of his trade, which, was deposited at 
 Mr. M. Rittenhouse's (in whose family it is pre- 
 sumed he dwelt), a few elementary books, treatino- 
 
RITTENHOUSE, THE MATHEMATICIAN. 303 
 
 of arithmetic and geometry were found in it. 
 With these, there were various calculations and 
 other papers, in manuscript ; all the productions 
 of David Williams himself, and such as indicated 
 not only an uncommon genius, but an active 
 spirit of philosophical research. To this humble 
 yet valuable coffer of his deceased uncle, Ritten- 
 house had free access, while yet a very young 
 boy. He often spoke of this acquisition as a 
 treasure, inasmuch as the instruments belonging 
 to his uncle afforded him the means of gratifying 
 and exercising his mechanical genius, while the 
 books and manuscripts early led his mind to 
 those congenial pursuits in mathematical and 
 astronomical science, which were ever the favor- 
 ite objects of his studies. This circumstance, 
 probably, occurred before his twelfth year. 
 "It was during the residence of Rittenhouse 
 with his father at Norriton," says his eulogist, 
 Dr. Rush, "that he made himself master of 
 Sir Isaac Newton's Principia, which he read 
 in the English translation of Mr. Motte. It was 
 here, likewise, that he became acquainted with the 
 science of fluxions ; of which sublime invention, 
 he believed himself for a while to be the author, 
 nor did he know for some years afterwards, that 
 a contest had been carried on between Sir Isaac 
 Newton and Leibnitz, for the honor of that great 
 and useful discovery." Mr. Rittenhouse's early 
 zeal in his practical researches into astronomy, 
 prompted him to desire the greatest possible 
 
304: MEN WHO HATE KISEN. 
 
 accuracy in the construction of time-pieces adapted 
 to astronomical purposes ; and uniting, as he did, 
 operative skill with a thorough knowledge of the 
 principles upon which their construction depends, 
 he was enabled, by his own mechanical ingenuity, 
 to gain a near approach to the perfection to which 
 the pendulum-chronometer may be brought. 
 
 " There is nothing peculiar in the mechanism 
 of this time-piece which requires to be mentioned, 
 except the pendulum ; especially the apparatus for 
 counteracting the effects of temperature. For 
 this purpose, there is fastened on the pendulum- 
 rod (which is of iron or steel) a glass tube about 
 thirty-six inches long; bent in the middle into 
 two parallel branches, at the distance of about an 
 inch from each other; the bend being placed 
 downwards, immediately above the bob of the 
 pendulum. The tube is open at one end, and 
 closed at the other ; the arm which is closed at 
 the top is filled, within about two inches of the 
 lower end or bend, with alcohol, and the rest of 
 the tube, within about one half of an inch of the 
 upper extremity, or open end, with mercury ; a 
 few inches of the tube, at this extremity, being 
 about twice the width of the rest of the tube. 
 
 " Now, when the heat of the air increases, it 
 will expand the pendulum-rod, and would thus 
 lower the centre of oscillation, and cause the 
 clock to go slower ; but this effect is completely 
 counteracted, by the expansion of the alcohol 
 chiefly, and of the mercury in part ; which equally 
 
BnTENHOTTSE, THE MATHEMATICIAN". 305 
 
 raises the centre of oscillation, and thus preserves 
 an equable motion in all the variable temperatures 
 of the atmosphere." 
 
 The great accuracy and exqusite workmanship 
 displayed in everything belonging to the profes- 
 sion which Mr. Rittenhouse pursued, that came 
 through his hands, soon became extensively 
 known in that portion of the United States where 
 he lived. This knowledge of his mechanical 
 abilities, assisted by the reputation which he had 
 already acquired as a mathematician and astrono- 
 mer, in a short time procured him the friendship 
 and patronage of some eminent scientific men. 
 In mechanics he was entirely self -taught. He 
 never received the least instruction from any 
 person, in any mechanic art whatever. If he 
 were to be considered merely as an excellent 
 artist, in an occupation intimately connected with 
 the science of mechanics, untutored as he was in 
 any art or science, he would deservedly be deemed 
 an extraordinary man. 
 
 In the bosom of his father's family he long con- 
 tinued to enjoy the tranquil scenes of rural life, 
 amidst the society of an amiable and very intelli- 
 gent family circle, and surrounded by many 
 estimable neighbors, by whom he was both loved 
 and respected. His chief occupation was that of 
 the profession which he had chosen ; but the occa- 
 sional intervals of leisure from, his business, which 
 his assistant workmen enabled him to obtain, he 
 devoted to philosophical and abstract studies, 
 20 
 
306 MEN WHO HAVE EISEN. 
 
 In February, 1766, Mr. Rittenliouse was mar- 
 ried to Miss Eleanor Colston, the daughter of a 
 respectable member of the Society of Friends 
 who lived in the neighborhood. After her death 
 he married Miss Hannah Jacobs. 
 
 In 1767, among other things, he contrived 
 and made a very ingenious thermometer, con- 
 structed on the principle of the expansion and 
 contraction of metals by heat and cold, respect- 
 ively. This instrument had, under glass, a face 
 upon which was a graduated semicircle ; the 
 degrees of heat and cold corresponded with those 
 of Fahrenheit's thermometer ; and these were 
 also correspondingly designated by an index 
 moving on the centre of the arch. Its square, or 
 rather parallelogramical form, its flatness and 
 thinness, and its small size, together with its not 
 being liable to the least sensible injury or irregu- 
 larity, from any position in which it might be 
 placed, rendered it a very convenient thermometer 
 to be carried in the pocket. 
 
 About this time Mr. Rittenhouse made a very 
 ingenious orrery. Though no description, in 
 words, can give an adequate idea, yet we sub- 
 join a part of the philosopher's own account of 
 it. "This machine is intended to have three 
 faces, standing perpendicular to the horizon ; that 
 n the front to be four feet square, made of sheet 
 brass, curiously polished, silvered and painted, in 
 proper places, and otherwise properly ornamented. 
 From the centre arises an axis, to support a 
 
EITTENHOUSEj THE MATHEMATICIAN. 307 
 
 gilded brass ball, intended to represent the sun. 
 Round this ball move others, made of brass or 
 ivory, to represent the planets. They are to move 
 in elliptical orbits, having the central ball in one 
 focus ; and their motions to be sometimes swifter, 
 and sometimes slower, as nearly according to the 
 true law of an equable description of areas as 
 possible, without too great a complication of wheel- 
 work. The orbit of each planet is likewise to be 
 properly inclined to those of the others ; and their 
 aphelia and nodes justly placed ; and their veloci- 
 ties so accurately adjusted as not to differ sensibly 
 from the tables of astronomy in some thousands of 
 years. 
 
 "For the greater beauty of the instrument, the 
 balls representing the planets are to be of consid- 
 erable bigness, but so contrived that they may be 
 taken off at pleasure, and others, much smaller, 
 and fitter for some purposes, put in their places. 
 
 "When the machine is put in motion, by the 
 turning of a winch, there are three indices which 
 point out the hour of the day, the day of the 
 month, and the year answering to that situation of 
 the heavenly bodies which is there represented ; 
 and so continually, for a period of five thousand 
 years, either forwards or backwards. 
 
 " The two lesser faces are four feet in height, 
 and two feet three inches in breadth. One of 
 them will exhibit all the appearances of Jupiter 
 and his satellites, their eclipses, transits, and in- 
 clinations ; likewise all the appearances of Saturn, 
 
308 : , MEST WHO HAVE BISEN. 
 
 with his ring and satellites. And the other will 
 represent all the phenomena of the moon particu- 
 larly the exact time,. quantity, and duration of her 
 eclipses and those of the sun occasioned by her 
 interposition ; with a most curious contrivance for 
 exhibiting the appearance of a solar eclipse at any 
 particular place on the earth, likewise the true 
 place of the moon in the signs, with her latitude 
 and the place of her apogee in the nodes ; the sun's 
 declination, equation of time, &c. It must be un- 
 derstood that all these motions are to correspond 
 exactly with the celestial motions ; and not to differ 
 several degrees from the truth in a few revolutions, 
 as is common in orreries." 
 
 Some general idea, perhaps, of this instrument 
 may be derived from the preceding description ; 
 at least it will afford sufficient evidence of the 
 extraordinary philosophical and mechanical powers 
 of Rittenhouse. 
 
 ' Among the most important service which he 
 rendered for the world, was the observation of 
 the transit of Venus over the sun's disc, which 
 took place on the third of June, .1769. There 
 had been but one of these transits of Venus over 
 the sun during the course of about one hundred 
 and thirty years . preceding that of 176-9 ; and, for 
 upwards of seven centuries^ antecendently to the 
 commencement of that period, the same planet 
 had passed over the sun's disc no more than thir 
 teen times. The next transit of Venus will take 
 place on the 8th of December, 1874, which but few, 
 
BITTEftHOUSE, THE MATHEMATICIAN. < 309 
 
 if any persons then on the stage of life will have 
 an opportunity of observing. From 1874, down 
 to the 14th of June, A. D., 2984, inclusively a 
 period of upwards of eleven centuries the same 
 planet will pass over the sun's disc only eighteen 
 times. 
 
 The great use of the observation of the transit 
 of Venus is to determine the sun's parallax.* 
 Only two of these phenomena had been observed 
 since the creation of the world, and the first had 
 been seen by only two persons Jeremiah Horrox 
 and William Crabtree, two Englishmen. As the 
 time approached when this extraordinary pheno- 
 menon was to manifest itself, the public expectation 
 and anxiety were greatly excited. The American 
 Philosophical Society appointed thirteen gentle- 
 men, to be distributed into three committees, for 
 the purpose of making observations. Rev. Dr. 
 Ewing had the principal direction of the observa- 
 tory in the city of Philadelphia ; Mr. Owen Biddle 
 had the charge of superintending the observations 
 at Cape Henlopen, and Mr. Rittenhouse those at 
 ISTorriton, near his own residence, on an elevated 
 piece of ground, commanding a good range of 
 horizontal view. It was completely furnished with 
 the necessary instruments, owing very much 
 
 * A parallax denotes a change of the apparent place of any heavenly 
 body, caused by being seen from different points of view; or it is the 
 difference between the true and apparent distance of any heavenly body 
 from the zenith. The fixed stars are so remote as to have no sensible 
 parallax; and even the sun and all the primary planets, except Mars 
 and Venus when nearest the earth, are at so great distances from the 
 earth, that their parallax is too small to be observed. 
 
310 MEK WHO HAVE RISEN". 
 
 to the liberality of some scientific gentlemen in 
 England. 
 
 " We are naturally led," says Dr. Rush, in his 
 eulogium, " to take a view of our philosopher, with 
 his associates, in their preparations to observe 
 a phenomenon which had never been seen but 
 twice before by any inhabitant of our earth, which 
 would never be seen again by any person then 
 living, and on which depended very important 
 astronomical consequences. The night before the 
 long-expected day was probably passed in a degree 
 of solicitude which precluded sleep. How great 
 must have been their joy, when they beheld the 
 morning sun; and the 'whole horizon without a 
 cloud ;' for such is the description of the day, given 
 by Mr. Rittenhouse in his report to Dr. Smith. 
 In pensive silence and trembling anxiety, they 
 waited for the predicted moment of observation : 
 it came and brought with it all that had been 
 wished for and expected by those who saw it. In 
 our philosopher, in the instant of one of the con- 
 tacts of the planet with the sun, there was an 
 emotion of delight so exquisite and powerful, as to 
 induce fainting; such was the extent of that 
 pleasure, which attends the discovery or first per- 
 ception ot truth." 
 
 The observations of Mr. Rittenhouse were re- 
 ceived with favor by the whole philosophical world. 
 Mr. Ludlam, one of the vice-presidents of the 
 Philosophical Society of London, and an eminent 
 astronomer, thus writes : " No astronomers could 
 
KITTENHOUSE, THE MATHEMATICIAN. 
 
 better deserve all possible encouragement ; whether 
 we consider their care and diligence in making 
 their observations, their fidelity in relating wnat 
 was done, or the clearness and accuracy of their 
 reasoning on this curious and difficult subject. The 
 more I read the transactions of your Society (the 
 American Philosophical), the more I honor and 
 esteem the members of it. There is not another 
 Society in the world that can boast of a member 
 such as Mr. RITTENHOUSE ; theorist enough to 
 encounter the problems of determining, from a few 
 observations, the orbit of a comet ; and also me- 
 chanic enough to make, with his own hands, an 
 equal-altitude instrument, a transit-telescope, and 
 a time-piece. I wish I was near enough to see his 
 mechanical apparatus. I find he is engaged in 
 making a curious orrery." 
 
 Dr. Maskelyne, Astronomer Royal at Green- 
 wich, says : " The Pennsylvania Observations of 
 the transit were excellent and complete, and do 
 honor to the gentleman who made them, and those 
 who promoted the undertaking." Dr. Wrangel, 
 an eminent and learned Swedish clergyman, speak- 
 iiio- of the Transactions of the American Philoso- 
 
 O 
 
 phical Society, says : " Your accurate observations 
 of the transit of Venus have given infinite satisfac- 
 to our Swedish astronomers." 
 
 On the 9th of November following, Mr. 
 Rittenhouse, in connection with several others, 
 observed a transit of Mercury over the sun's 
 disc. 
 
312 MEN WHO HAVE EISEN. 
 
 In the autumn of 1770, Mr. Rittenhouse removed 
 with his family to the city of Philadelphia. 
 
 A new phenomenon in the heavens soon after 
 engaged his attention ; this was the comet which 
 appeared in June and July, 1770. "Here with I 
 send you," says Mr. Rittenhouse, writing to Dr. 
 Smith, "the fruit of three or four days' labor, 
 during which I have covered many sheets, and 
 literally drained my ink-stand several times." In 
 another letter he remarks, " I told you that some 
 intricate calculation or other always takes up my 
 idle hours (he seems to have considered all his 
 hours 'idle' ones which were not taken up in 
 some manual employment), that I cannot find 
 time to write to my friends as often as I could 
 wish ; a new object has lately engrossed my 
 attention. The comet which appeared a few 
 weeks since was so very extraordinary, that I 
 could not forbear tracing it in all its wanderings, 
 and endeavoring to reduce that motion to order 
 and regularity which seemed void of any. This, 
 I think, I have accomplished, so far as to be able 
 to compute its visible place for any given time ; 
 and I can assure you that the account from York, 
 of its having been seen again near the place 
 where it first appeared, is a mistake. Nor is Mr. 
 Winthrop of Boston happier, in supposing that it 
 yet crosses the meridian, every day, between 
 twelve and one o'clock, that it has already passed 
 its peripelion, and that it may, perhaps, again 
 emerge from the southern horizon. This comet 
 
KITTENHOUSE, THE MATHEMATICIAN. 313 
 
 is now to be looked for nowhere but a little to the 
 north of, and very near to the ecliptic. It rises 
 now a little before day-break ; and will continue to 
 rise sooner and sooner every morning." 
 
 In March, 1771, the Legislature of Pennsyl- 
 vania bore the following honorable testimony to 
 the worth of Mr. Rittenhouse : . 
 
 " The Members of Assembly having viewed the 
 orrery constructed by Mr. David Rittenhouse, a 
 native of this province, and being of opinion that 
 it greatly exceeds all others hitherto constructed, 
 in demonstrating the true situations of the celes- 
 tial bodies, their magnitudes, motions, distances, 
 periods, eclipses, and order, upon the principles of 
 the Newtonian system : 
 
 "Resolved, that the sum of three hundred 
 pounds be given to Mr. Rittenhouse, as a testi- 
 mony of the high sense which this House entertain 
 of his mathematical genius and mechanical abili- 
 ties, in constructing the said orrery." 
 
 In January, 1771, Mr. Rittenhouse was elected 
 one of the Secretaries of the American Philo- 
 sophical Society. In 1789, the honorary degree 
 of Doctor of Laws was conferred upon Mr. 
 Rittenhouse by the college of New Jersey. In 
 January, 1791, on the death of Dr. Franklin, Dr. 
 Rittenhouse was, with great unanimity, elected 
 President of the American Philosophical Society. 
 In 1795, he was elected a member of the Royal 
 Society of London. This high honor had been pre- 
 viously conferred upon only three or four Americans. 
 14 
 
314: MEN WHO HAVE RISEN. 
 
 But he did not live long to enjoy his distin- 
 guished honors. Soon after his entrance upon 
 the sixty-fifth year of his age, in June, 1796, he 
 died. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Ashbel Green, being pastor of 
 the congregation in which Dr. Rittenhouse had 
 often attended divine worship during the latter 
 years of his life, pronounced an appropriate 
 address at his interment. "This," says Dr. 
 Green, " is emphatically the tomb of genius and 
 science. Their child, their martyr is here depos. 
 ited and their friends will make his eulogy in 
 tears. I stand not here to pronounce it ; the 
 thought that engrosses my mind is this : how 
 much more clear and impressive must be the 
 views which the late spiritual inhabitant of that 
 lifeless corpse now possesses of GOD of his 
 infinite existence, of his adorable attributes, and 
 of that eternal blaze of glory which emanates 
 from Him than when she was blinded by her vail 
 of flesh ! Accustomed as she was to penetrate far 
 into the universe far as corporal or mental vision 
 here can reach still what new and extensive 
 scenes of wonder have opened on her eyes enlight- 
 ened and invigorated by death ! The discoveries 
 of RITTENHOUSE, since he died, have already been 
 more, and greater, than while he lived. Yes, and 
 could he address us from the spiritual world, his 
 language would be 
 
 ' All, a'l on earth is shadow, all beyond 
 la substance. ' " 
 
BITTXHOU5E, THE MATHEMATICIAN. 315 
 
 In a conversation with the Rev. Dr. Sproat, 
 Dr. Rittenhouse, a short time before his death, 
 declared, that " he could with truth say, that ever 
 since he had examined Christianity and thought 
 upon the subject, he was a firm believer in it ; and 
 that he expected salvation only in the way of the 
 Gospel." He had not attached himself to any 
 particular church. The members of his family 
 were mostly of the Society of Friends. In the 
 last years of his life he read many books on 
 natural and revealed religion. He was much 
 pleased with the " Thoughts of Pascal." 
 
 He was a very modest and unassuming man, 
 and in this strikingly resembled Sir Isaac Newton, 
 for whose character and works he had the highest 
 veneration. His usefulness, though great, was 
 considerably circumscribed by his want of an 
 early education. In consequence of this, he felt 
 an unbecoming diffidence in his own powers, and 
 failed to commit his discoveries and thoughts to 
 writing, which, in a published form, would, doubt- 
 less, have eminently increased his usefulness, and 
 the honor of the country which gave him birth. 
 
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A BOOK FOR KVJEttY FAMILY. 
 
 THE HOME OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 MOUNT YERNON 
 
 AKD ITS ASSOCIATIONS, 
 
 HISTORICAL, BIOGRAPHICAL AND PICTORIAL. 
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