of his native city, Königsberg. Heyne, the celebrated classical scholar and editor, in the Memoirs of his own life, says, "Want was the earliest companion of my childhood. I well remember the painful impressions made on my mind by witnessing the distress of my mother, when without food for her children." The father of Sir Humphrey Davy pursued the employment of a carver, at Penzance, in Cornwall, and from this humble origin, the son became the most renowned and successful chemist of the present century. Vauquelin, the celebrated French chemist, was apprenticed to an apothecary, and acquired the Latin language by tearing the leaves from an old dictionary, and always having some of them in his hand, when traversing the streets with medicines, and executing other commissions in his master's service. These examples are fitted to give an impulse to the energies of those who are most industrious and most enterprising. When we look into the lives of such men, the cause of their success is no longer a secret to us; we cease to be surprised at the distinctions which they won. When we observe the series of struggles, which they endured amidst poverty, obscurity, and neglect, their disciplined passions, their love of knowledge, their firmness of purpose, and their unconquerable zeal and perseverance, we perceive, that their success has followed in the train of their exertions by the ordinary law of cause and effect. But it is not necessary to resort to foreign sources to illustrate the importance of cultivating the faculties of the mind, and the rewards which wait on such cultivation. The history of no nation on earth more abounds with instructive examples of this kind than our own. The circumstances under which the celebrated Roger Sherman rose to eminence and distinguished usefulness, have been noticed in another connexion.* David Rittenhouse was entirely self-taught in mechanics. When he took up the business of a mathematical instrument and clock maker, he made many implements of his trade with his own hands. From the age of nineteen to twenty-five, he applied himself unremittingly to his trade and his studies, devoting the day to the former, and *See above, p. 228. much of the night to the latter. Samuel Huntington was engaged in the labors of the farm, until his twenty-second year, when he commenced the study of the law, and rose to be a distinguished member of Congress, and was chief justice of the Supreme Court, and chief magistrate of his native State (Connecticut), during many years. Dr. Thomas Baldwin may be said to have commenced the education which fitted him for his distinguished course of usefulness in the Christian ministry, when he was thirty-eight years of age. If propriety permitted me to use the names of persons still living, many other examples equally striking and instructive might be cited. But, of all examples, that of Dr. Franklin is probably the most instructive and cheering to those, whose humble circumstances require them to be the architects of their own fortunes. His father was accustomed to quote this verse of the Proverbs of Solomon; "Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings ;"* and the Memoirs of the son warrant us in believing, that it had a decisive influence on his aspiring genius. Born in the lowest obscurity, his industry and enterprise raised him to be the companion and adviser of kings. Lord Chatham said, he was "one, whom all Europe held in estimation for his knowledge and wisdom, and ranked with Boyle and Newton; who was an honor, not to the English nation only, but to human nature."† But why review the cases of individuals any further? Our entire country is a great and striking illustration of what may be done by native force of mind, self-education, without advantages, but springing up under strong excitement, and embarking in new and successful undertakings. Nowhere do we meet with examples more numerous and more brilliant, of men who have risen above poverty, obscurity, and every other discouragement, to usefulness and an honorable fame. The statesmen who conducted the revolution to its successful issue, were called, generally without experience, to the head of affairs. The generals who commanded our armies, were most of them taken, like Cincinnatus, from the plough; and the forces which they led, were gathered from the firesides of an industrious and peaceable population. They were arrayed against all the experience, talent, * Chap. xxii. 29. Franklin's Works, Vol. I. pp. 85, 322. and resources of the older world, and came off victorious. They have handed down to us a country and a constitution, and have put us upon a national career, affording boundless prospects to every citizen, and calling every individual to do for himself, what our fathers unitedly did for the country. What young man can start in life, with so few advantages, as our country started with, in the race of independence? Over whose private prospects, can there hang a cloud so dark as that which brooded over the cause of colonial British America? Who can have less to encourage, and more to appal and discourage him, than the sages and chieftains of the revolution? Let our young men, then, endeavour to walk in their path, and each, according to his means and ability, try to imitate their illustrious example, despising difficulties, grasping at opportunities, and steadily pursuing some honest and manly aim. They will soon find, that the obstacles which oppose their progress, sink into the dust before a firm and resolute step; and that the pleasures and benefits of knowledge are within the reach of all, who seek this invaluable treasure. In these observations, however, on the cultivation of the mind, I of course do not mean to say, that the condition, in which persons are placed, is a matter of indifference. This would be going much too far. Unquestionably there are limits, beyond which, the doctrine I have laid down and attempted to illustrate, does not apply. There are circumstances of birth and general condition, against the adverse influence of which, children, who are affected by them, cannot be expected, comparatively often, to make their way. There are two classes of persons, in particular, whose children are called, in the providence of God, to overcome special obstacles to mental cultivation; and whose situation, in this respect, may be made the just subject of still further remark; — the very wealthy; "cuncta exsuperans patrimonia census, Quanto Delphinis balana Britannica major;" and those who are either paupers, or are but just above the depths of pauperism, The situation of both these classes is unfavorable to mental culture, and it is not certain, which of them has the greatest difficulties to surmount. The means of the poor man are extremely scanty; he is beset with many discouragements, if not with despair; and he habitually feels, that mental cultivation is, in his case, unattainable. Still many, immersed in the depths of poverty, have broken through all its difficulties and discouragements. On the other hand, the love of ease, amusement, and pleasure, indolence with its seductions and fascinations, — gaming with its excitements, fashion with its frivolities, pride, vanity, and ostentation, beset the children of the very wealthy, on their way to improvement, virtue, eminence, and usefulness. -- CHAPTER IV. CULTIVATION OF A STRONG, DELICATE, AND PERMANENT SENSE OF DUTY. EVERY man owes it to himself to cultivate a strong, delicate, and permanent sense of duty. The general importance of acting uniformly on this principle has been so earnestly insisted on before, that I need not do much more than simply advert to it in this connexion. * A sense of duty is the helm by which we are to guide our course; nothing can or will supply the want of it. A good temper, a general good intention, a general disposition to do right, will not supply its place. It is something more than either or all of these. They approach it, they resemble it, they constitute a part of it. Still it is something more than all of them. Firmness and perseverance are among its constituent parts, and obstinacy and self-will are among the counterfeits of it, by which men are most apt to impose on others, and even on themselves. Without being governed by a sense of duty, the individual will be prompted by caprice, by passion, by preju * See above, pp. 11 - 14. dice, by antipathy, by the seductions of pleasure, by the recklessness of false honor, by the aspirations of a criminal ambition, or by whatever other feeling, humor, impulse, or principle, may happen for the moment to have the ascendency. The being governed by a sense of duty embraces a suitable regard to every consideration, principle, sentiment, opinion, relation, fact, and circumstance from which any duty, of whatever kind, can spring. The requirements of Scripture, the law of the land, regard for consequences, propriety, (which, as Lord Kames well says, is not left to our own choice; but, like justice, is required at our hands; and, like justice, is enforced by natural rewards and punishments,)* decency, delicacy, — every thing which can give rise to a duty, however small, is acknowledged to have a claim to attention and regard. CHAPTER V THE DUTY OF CULTIVATING PERSONAL RELIGION AND THE PERSONAL VIRTUES. A SACRED writer, one whose experience in human affairs was perhaps unexampled, says, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom; and, with all thy getting, get understanding. Exalt her, and she shall promote thee; she shall bring thee to honor, when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace; a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee." This language is as beautiful, as the sentiments are persuasive, valuable, and authoritative. Besides the sacred Scriptures, the duty of cultivating personal religion might be argued and illustrated from several sources. But, neglecting every other, I shall confine * Elements of Criticism, Vol. I. + Proverbs iii. 5-7; iv. 7-9. |