92 A FINE CHARACTER. duty to give largely; but still, even so viewed, his was a bountiful hand. He dealt with money as one who, if he knew its value, with how much toil and anxiety it had been won by him, felt also that God has impressed wealth with a trust, and that the trustee must pass his accounts. He gave much, and by preference he gave in secret. He gave also with delicacy of manner, and the nice feelings of a gentleman. His was no narrow or one-sided beneficence; he knew no distinction of politics or creed when a man needed help. He was a moral and religious man. He was grave in exterior, yet a humorous man, with a quiet relish of fun. He had small respect for a man of idle life- -for any one, in short, who was not useful; and neither fashion nor rank, without good service of some sort, won any allegiance from him. He was the true child of commerce; the productive industry of England, its value and its power-these were his abiding themes." Emphatically did the boy make the man in the case of Robert Peel's eldest son, the illustrious statesman. When he was born, his father fell on his knees, and vowed to devote him to the service of his country. The vow was solemnly kept. All the education and PEEL THE STATESMAN. 93 home-training of the youthful Robert were designed with a view to his debut in the House of Commons, and the career of a patriot, an orator, and a statesman. His father was wont to set him up at table to practise extemporaneous speaking; and he was made to repeat every Sunday as much of the sermon as his memory could retain. At Harrow school he distinguished himself as a declaimer and actor; and he lived to become, not only first minister and the leading politician of England, but the best debater in the House of Commons-the result of his early training. We commend these examples to the careful consideration and imitation of our youthful readers. Examples of Studious Application. "Study is like the heaven's glorious sun, That will not be deep-searched with saucy looks; SHAKSPEARE. 33 TUDIES," says Lord Bacon, "serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability. Their chief use for delight is in privateness and retiring; for ornament is in discourse; and for ability is in the judgment and disposition of business. For expert men can execute, and, perhaps, judge of particulars, one by one; but the general counsels and the plots and marshalling of affairs come best from those that are learned." From those that are learned; yes, but a studious youth is the necessary preliminary to a learned manhood. A youth spent in well THE JOYS OF KNOWLEDGE. 35 95 directed and well-considered study, not in mere plodding; since the food must be digested, if it is to strengthen our muscles and purify our blood. And, oh, what a pleasure there is in the pursuit of Knowledge! No labour so surely repays itself; no toil that I know of earns SO glorious and enduring a reward. It is not to be acquired without arduous pains and constant application, for, as an old writer says, it is troublesome and deep digging for pure waters; but when once the spring is reached, how the draught refreshes our soul and recruits our energies! It is the true Elixir Vitæ, that secures for its possessor the joys of immortal youth. It is the Open Sesame of the Oriental fable, which unlocks for us the inexhaustible treasures of the Past. It is the magician's spell, and evokes for our special communion the spirits of the illustrious dead. It is the wing-to borrow Shakspeare's fine expression — with which we fly to heaven; on which, with soaring flight, we rise above the sordid earth, and roam among the stars. The value of knowledge has been appreciated. by all great minds; and Mr. Craik, in a charming little work, has shown us that they have suffered no obstacles to daunt them in its attain 96 AN HEROIC STUDENT. ment. Poverty might be supposed to operate as an insuperable barrier, for it deprives the student of the means of study-of the implements of his work-while depressing his energies and chilling his very soul. But no severity of fortune can oppress the fervent scholar, to whom his mind a kingdom is, and who finds in himself a sufficient resource when "winds blow bleak without." When the great Erasmus was at Paris, a poor and penniless seeker after truth, he sometimes longed for a little money, but not to expend upon those objects which generally excite the wishes of youth. "As soon as I get money," he wrote, "I will buy, first Greek books, and then clothes." It is related of the German scholar Schaeffer, that when he entered the University of Halle, his whole expenditure for the first six months of his attendance did not exceed a few halfpence daily; a little bread and a few vegetables boiled in water were his only nourishment; and in the severest winter his apartment was without a fire. This heroism has been common among the sizars of our English universities no less than among the German students. Who does not remember the hardships endured by Dr. Johnson, both in his collegiate career and in the days of his early |