EPILOGUE.-1. Anecdote of Richard Burke-2. Oneness of aim and fixity of purpose essential to success; William Etty-3. Sebastian Bach, Sir Thomas Lawrence -4, 5, 6. Biography of Canova, the PROLOGUE.-1. Genius not daunted by first failures; Bulwer Lytton, Disraeli, J. Curran -2. Poverty no obstacle; Ferguson and Dr. Alexander Murray-3. The reward of knowledge; Robert Nicoll quoted. Value of earnestness: William Cobbett, Winkelmann, Charlotte Bronte.-1. A strange childhood; her father's peculiar Haworth; her brother's misconduct; a second time a governess; goes to Brussels-8. Home again; its pains and pleasures; the volume of poetry-9. Essays literature as a novelist; 'Jane Eyre'-10. Its great success - 11. Deaths at Haworth - 12. 'Shirley' published; 'Villette' published; her marriage and Robert Southey.-1. His parentage and childhood-2. School life; 4. Pantisocracy; Southey marries; visits Lisbon; returns to England-5. A literary career -- -6. Southey's own account of his daily work-7. His closing years and death-8. Wordsworth's Dr. Alexander Murray.-1. Birth; peculiar education; learning to rudiments; rapid progress in Latin - 6. Ainsworth's Latin Dic- tionary; Milton's 'Paradise Lost'-7. A ripe scholar-8. Studies Anglo-Saxon, Welsh, &c.; enters the University of Edinburgh 9. Prepares a new edition of Bruce's Travels-10. Minister at Urr; Professor of Oriental Languages at Edinburgh; a premature Dr. Samuel Lee.--1. His birth and early years; acquires a love of reading; teaches himself various languages-2. Ill health; carpenter's work; opens a day-school for young children 3. Advantage of a good character; a good appointment; studies at Queen's College, Cambridge; elected Professor of Hebrew EPILOGUE.-1. Value of energy; dull boys sometimes illustrious men ; Scott, Robert Hall, James Watt, Adam Clarke, Dean Swift; Pro- fessor Dalzell; encouragements-2. The way and the will; John Leyden-3. Sketch of his career- -4. His literary labours; studies medicine-5. Goes to India; acquires the Oriental lan- guages — 6. His passion for knowledge, and premature death – PROLOGUE.-1. Numerous examples in England of successful mer- chants: Osborne, Strutt, Peel, Overstone, Lindsay, Ingram, Bro- therton, Brown-2. Necessity of strenuous application - 3. The first Sir Robert Peel; his remarkable career; Ellen Yates — 4. Indefatigable exertions crowned with brilliant success-5. Saxon philanthropy; endurance of affliction and privation; a crown of glory'-6. John Falk; a Moravian household; wanted a wig maker-7. The boy's steady purpose; a true lover of knowledge -8. Stern parental discipline is at last relaxed; Falk goes to school; removes to Weimar-9. His literary pursuits; patriotic exertions; love for his children-10. Finds out the work of his life; establishes Orphanages; the Society of Friends in Need- 11. Vagabonds to be reclaimed; the first reformatory-12. A life of self-sacrifice; EXAMPLES.-The Duke of Bridgewater.-1. A stupid young duke; gradual developement; travels on the Continent; a match broken off; the consequence-2. Projects a canal from the Worsley Mines to Manchester; obtains an Act of Parliament-3. Three men with a purpose'-4. The duke's extraordinary self-denial; an ale-house interior-5. A gigantic enterprise successfully com- pleted; its results 6. Particulars of the duke's person and character-7. His death; a Manchester man. Pages 248-252 Jonas Hanway-1. Sketch of his early life, manhood, and Persian travels-2. Returns to England, and devotes himself to well doing; improves the London streets-3. Establishes the Marine Society; the work it has accomplished-4. The Magdalene Society; the Foundling Hospital; a Commissioner of the Navy Victualling Board-5. Suburban schools for paupers' children 6. Literary labours-7. Hanway's tranquil death 252-255 Sir Humphry Davy.-1. His early years; apprenticed to an apo- 255-259 THE STEADY AIM. CHAPTER I. EXAMPLES AND ENCOURAGEMENTS FROM THE LIVES OF Never yet was good accomplish'd BARRY CORNWALL. f PROLOGUE. 1. Ir is fitting that every man, however humble his condition, should set before himself, at the outset of his career, some object to be attained, some desire to be gratified, or some hope to be fulfilled. And it is the design of this volume to show, by examples from modern Biography, that if he resolutely adhere to the purpose thus defined, and steadfastly carry out his Steady Aim, his exertions, sooner or later, will be crowned with success. 2. And success - -success in life-is equally dear to the philanthropist as to the statesman, to the artist in his studio as to the captain who would bind his brow with 'War's red laurels.' For we would be understood by 'success in life' to mean not only material, but, if we may use the expression, moral success—a success not to be appraised by any worldly standard. Let the student declare that by B success in life he means the acquirement of extensive knowledge. Let the savant protest that it consists in the felicitous investigation of scientific mysteries. Let the poet assert that it is a noble place on the bead-roll of those sublime singers whose music 'vibrates in the memory' of successive generations. The engineer shall limit his ambition to the perfection of some wonderful mechanism, or the development of one of those inventions which help man to subdue nature. The merchant shall freight his ships with the treasure of far-off lands; and the man of letters be content if he secure a fitting audience for what he has to say. Thus, success in life may be rightly comprehended by each of us to mean the fruition of our special labours; and the philosopher may justly rejoice in the hopes fulfilled, and designs accomplished, upon which the soldier would look down with undisguised contempt. Or the studious bookworm, who barely earns a sufficient pittance to afford the frugal meal by day and the needful oil at night, may fold himself in his virtuous contentment as in a cloak, and feel, in the noble pride of knowledge, that no condition can surpass, no success in life' can equal his! into 3. But how is that success to be attained? How shall we realise those burning dreams which set our young hearts astir with anxiety, and move our brains into ceaseless action? Yonder shine the Golden Gates which open the Enchanted Land, but a dreary waste of cloud and shadow, concealing we know not what of insuperable difficulties or hostile terrors, intervenes between them and us. How shall we run the race? How shall we fight the battle? Whither shall we turn for aid, advice, or consolation? 4. Let the young neophyte, thus trembling on the threshold of an uncertain Future, turn to Biography for the help he needs. Every great and good life is rich in necessary warning, in hopeful promise. Most illustrious men have owed the inspiration which spurred them on to excellence to the perusal of what other men have suffered and achieved. Sir Samuel Romilly speaks of the influence exercised upon |