MIGHTY MEN.

"We shall reap if we faint not."-St. Paul.

THE truly mighty men of history were made such more by industry than by genius. Let the lesson be well learned by the young. There

have been great men who were not able men— fictitiously great; their greatness arising more from their fortunate circumstances than from themselves; but the truly great have generally been the "labouring classes" of their respective departments, genuine workmen. The young man who does not feel strongly within him the disposition to work, may entertain no high ambition for usefulness or eminence.

Dr. Samuel Clarke said the old adage of "too many irons in the fire, conveys an abominable old lie; have all in, shovel, tongs, and poker." It is not so much the multiplicity of employments, as the want of system in them, that disturbs and injures both the work and workman. Wesley did everything by system, and how much did he achieve? He travelled about five thousand miles a year, preached about three times a day, beginning at five o'clock in the morning, and his published works amount to about two hundred volumes.

Asbury travelled about six thousand miles a year, and preached incessantly. Coke crossed the Atlantic eighteen times, preached, wrote, travelled, established missions, begged from door to door for them, and laboured in all respects as if, like the apostles, he would "turn the world upside down." At nearly seventy years of age he started to Christianize India! Baxter, with numerous and grievous diseases, wrote a surprising number of books, practised physic, and, as he took no fees, was oppressed with patients; spent two days a week in catechetical instruction, and, besides special sermons and several regular evening services, preached three times a week. Calvin, tortured with gout, stranguary, stone, catarrh, and other infirmities, acted, while in Geneva, as pastor and professor, wrote nine folio volumes, with profound thought, corresponded with all parts of the continent, every other day lectured, and every other week preached daily. He states, in one of his letters, the work of one day while at Strasburgh. It consists of a sermon, a lecture, the correction of twenty sheets of manuscript, four letters, besides offices of advice and reconciliation in more than a dozen cases. Luther was one of the most extensive writers of his age. He maintained an immense cor

respondence, the published part filling numerous volumes, lectured regularly before the university, preached nearly every day, bore the chief burden of the churches, fought emperor, pope, and council, lived constantly in the agitation of controversy, and yet found leisure for the enjoyments of domestic life, and the recreations of music and poetry. Nearly all these wonderful men were also oppressed with poverty. Wes

ley left not more than ten pounds for his funeral expences; Asbury received not two dollars a week, besides his entertainment and travelling expenses; Baxter received sixty pounds a year; Calvin sold his books to pay his rent; and Luther had to beg a coat of the elector.

"Labour conquers all things," was a maxim worthy of the nation which conquered the world. It is the testimony of almost all literary biography, that intellectual greatness is most commonly found, at first, in obscurity and poverty. In the higher walks of life, where the pleasures and honours of opulence pamper the sensuality and flatter the vanity of the mind, it is seldom capable of those high aspirations which lead to intellectual eminence-while in poverty and obscurity it is dependant upon its own resources. It must remain unhonoured, or rise by the might of its own energy. It acquires

in such circumstances one quality, at least, which lies at the foundation of all true greatness of mind, a noble sense of self-dependance.

Nearly all the great names, conspicuous on the catalogue of renown, are proofs of the success of mind in contending with difficulties.

Metastasios, a friendless lad, singing verses in the streets, became one of the greatest authors in Italian literature. Gifford, the cabin boy, was one of the most powerful writers of his age. Epictetus, the moralist, was born a slave, but became the boast of the stoical sect of philosophers, and the intimate friend of the best emperors of Rome. Ferguson was a shepherd's boy, but raised himself to the honour of the first astronomer of his age, at whose lectures royalty itself listened with delight. Murray was a shepherd's boy, but he became one of the first instructers of mankind. Brown, the author of the Commentary, Concordance, and Bible Dictionary, was likewise a shepherd's boy. Terence was an African slave, but raised himself to such an elevation that the haughty consuls of Rome courted his society. Franklin, the printer, became one of the first men of his age. Sir Humphrey Davy, the son of a woodcarver, and the apprentice of an apothecary, became the first chemist of his times. Colum

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bus, the sailor, left a new world for his memorial. Roger Sherman, the statesman of the American Revolution, was a shoemaker. Herschel, the great astronomer, was a British soldier in Nova Scotia; he commenced the study of astronomy while watching on the sentry post at night, and has fixed his name among the orbs. Samuel Lee was a carpenter, but became a professor of Hebrew in Cambridge University, England. Adam Clarke was the son of a country schoolmaster, but rose to be one of the first Biblical scholars of modern times. Robert Hall was the son of a poor dissenting minister; he became one of the most splendid orators of the British pulpit, and one of the best writers of the English language. Cuvier, the greatest of modern naturalists, was the son of a pensioned soldier, and a charity scholar at college. Prideaux, the author of the "Connections," and bishop of Worcester, could not be kept at school by his poor parents, longer than to learn to read and write, and he obtained the rest of his education by walking to Oxford and obtaining employment in the kitchen of Exeter College.

Nearly the whole list of worthies on the record of literary fame were thus diamonds found in the mire-pearls brought up from the depths of obscurity-men who, but for their