| Show SELF TAUGHT MEN some son of their excellencies and ad van vantages taXes it is an old adage adae that they do mos most b by books who could do mosi most without t baem ti em and he who chiefly awes himself for his bis own progress Is the substantial man previous to the great discovery of printine tingo learning and all the refined an and useful arts were to a distinct class and beyond its exclusive pale all efforts at knowledge or intellectual tel elevation were well nigh impossible the gradual extension of learning by means of the printing press and the consequent coa sequent revolution revolution in our social and political teg institutions have produced a total change la 15 the means of access to knowledge intelligent perseverance and industry iad astry ma may now obstacle surmount almost every obstacle from humble bumble station or limited opportunities and we are accordingly familiar in the history of our aur most distinguished men of the greatest difficulties overcome and the highest ranks ol of learning genius j and social position achieved by those who I 1 started started surrounded by all the addan ad van of an t a able sphere it is not surprising that among such F elf belf taught men or originality of i bought and indomitable of purpose should more frequently appear than am dg those who surrounded by all the luxuries which wealth secures are indoctrinated isto the ahe haits basils and received opinions of a class and are arc scarcely aware until they enter on the great arena of life of the precise character of their own mental faculties or the relative power of their will and self endurance with all their disadvantages therefore we may justly affirm that those who by their own innate energy have to force their way upward from poverty ignorance and obscurity to the positions for which their capacities fit them possess some peculiar advantages over all other classes of men whatever ot of character they poss pass ess has been tried in the school of severe discipline they have breasted the billows in a great measure alone and have confidence in their own awers and self endurance not so with the ordinary student his powers may manhave have been taked ta for a while awhile but at last the weight was lifted by the shoulders dars of others the ordinary student may remain in perplexity f lor or a time but bulat at length in many cases the boube is solved by a teacher and a clearer eye penetrates the dark cloud for him another attribute of this class Is independence of pur purvise pise by severe thought I 1 and well directed study they have formed independent habits of judg judgment mert they may err in opinion or cheik gaeir purposes may be formed on insufficient grou ads but in general they are not accustomed to form farm kneir conclusions without due investigation nor yield their free agency at the call of party or sect ma many ny of this class have moreover an invin invincible ebe perseverance the resolute resol ute ness with which they resolve finds a in the execution ot of their schemes din only excite a more ardent desire to over overcome cowe them defeat awakens new courage affliction nourishes hope disappointment is the parent and precursor of success A resolution so strong is sometimes formed that it seem seems s 3 to enter into the nature of the soul itself it swallows up the whole man and produces a firmness of determination an iron obstinacy of pursuit watch nothing but death can break down it is said of disraeli lately one of the leading statesmen of the world that when he first attempted to address the house of commons he could neither command their attention nor respect but he was not thereby he simply said gentlemen the time will come when you will listen to me and every one conversant with english politics knows how well he fulfilled that pr promise ornise when johnc john C calhoun was in yale college collee colle e tie ne ws ridiculed by his fellow students for his bis intense application to study s why gentlemen he replied 1 I am forced to make the most of my mv time that I 1 may acquit myself creditably when I 1 get to congress 11 A laugh 7 followed when he answered answered do y yon ou doubt I 1 ii I 1 assure you it I 1 were not convinced oi of my ability to reach the national capital as a representative within the next three years I 1 would leave college this very day was it sot hot mohamet a camel driver who founded a new religion and changed the face of empires was not pope gregory a carpenters carpenter 16 son sixtus V a shepherd and adrian VI a bargeman was not copernicus the son of a baker and kepler thel son of a tavern keeper was it not an obscure monk who split in twain the catholic church and a still more obscure countryman of his who by the invention of the printing press revolutionized the whole intellectual aspect of society clarkson was apparently a man of no promise he be on long amid scorn acorn and obloquy yet lived to accomplish his bis purpose the extinction of the slave trado trade though it had been controlled by ml millions 11 lops of capital and backed by the governmental poi policy y of the british empire who nas has not read of arkwright the barb barbers erld apprentice the manufactures resulting from the splendid achievements of whose mcchan mechanical ical genius bore toe tac english nation triumphantly through the wars of the french Revolution and are now declared to be ot of greater value than all ail her colonies f roii from iii hii 1 bostan to labrador the biographies of these men and a thousand ot others tiers whose names embel ilah the pages of history plainly show that those events which would have proved insurmountable obstacles to many were to these me an excitement cit ement to urge with fresh impulse their onward course another characteristic of self taught men is that they common commonly fy devote themselves to some important practical object they do not waste their powers in the pursuit of trifles it is not self taught men but those who have ample time and means of subsistence who are beguiled into merely speculative regions or who devote themselves to undertakings of doubtful f al utility the cue case is different with those who are de dependent endert on their own efforts for everything the first directions ions of their minds are not so much to the sciences as to the arts carpentry in its various forms the development of new countries tile the manufacture and improvement of implements and the construction of laborsaving labor saving machinery of various kind ki teu ten attract their attention and give a 4 shape to their whole subsequent life it is to this fact doubtless that self taught men are distinguished for invention in the arts their necessities have given a readiness to their minds enabling them to seize on those combinations of thought from which discoveries ol of great importance have sometimes followed they have also that power of patient application which is alie important to discovery no inconsiderable number of self taught men have in this way conferred invaluable benefits upon mankind watt fulton franklin whitney davy and edison will be cherished names in the centuries to come self taught men have also the faculty of clearly communicating their knowledge to others in this respect they make excellent teachers they have worked their own way up the steeps of knowledge and they can point out oat the paths they have traversed their attention was not absorbed by the movements ot of their guide for they had bad none the various objects which they the met they clearly marked and defined whatever were the general principles which they adopted they were not taken upon trust but were well considered these bals may not be able always to ex plain their progress logically or scientifically but they can do it intelligently and to good purpose they have also in a striking degree the ability to employ familiar illustrations for the sake of throwing light upon their course they nave not sought lor for the images of poetry or listened to the personifications of the orator out but they have dave collected graphic illustrations and facts which common people can apprehend and relish and which are gathered from the rocks and aad fields and all the deats of ordinary life no treatise on astronomy has ever been so popular wit i all descriptions of learners as that of the self taught astronomer james ferguson agala again sir humphrey davy the self taught chemist was perhaps the most popular lecturer that ever addressed i british audience this was owing not more to the enthusiasm of his bis character and the perfect knowledge of his bis sub jacc than to the clearness oi of his expositions and the transparency and beauty of his illustrations we live in an age of progress and change when there is a peculiar call for the devotion of the th highest powers of genius and intellect to the direction of the future it is not hot piety alone which is needed nor strength of body nor vigor of mind nor firmness of character nor purity of taste but all of these combined J H W |
