The Whig standard. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1843-1844, 1844-01-09
PURSUIT. OF Knowledge.

;4 We have the testimony Of the wisest men that
have lived that knowledge ia the price Of TOLL Sir
Isaac Newton says that to patient industry ne
owes whatever of knowledge he had acquired !;
and the present wonder of theo c0untrys Eihu
Burritt, the = learned blacksmith, who at thirty
three years Of ageaha already learned mors Or
less perfectly fifty languages, and studied various
branches of science, says ..All that hare accom-
plished or expect, hope to accomplish, has bsen
and will be- by that pleddng, patient, perseserng
process of accretion which biilds this ant heap.
particle by particle, thought by thought and fact
by fact,' The Rev. John Todd, in the Students
Manual, work that every seeker OF Skpowtedge
should read, very appropriately remarks, Those
islands which SO beautifully adorn the Pacific,
and which, but for sin, would seem 80 many
Edens, were reared up from the bed Of the ocean
by the little coral Insect, which deposites ONE:
grair of sand at time,f till the whole of those
piles are reared up. Just so with, human exert
tons. The greatest results Of the mind are pro-
duced by small but continued effortss Il have fire.
luuently thought of tie motto of one,of tina most
distinguished scholars in the country az peculi-
ary appropriate. As near AZ remainder, II ie
the picture of mountain, with man at its base,
with bis hat and coat lying beside him. and puck
axe in his hand, and he digs stroke by strokes his
patient look corresponds with his words PEA ief
rea--a little by little.S 2.ll Las .s9saaqk9 i.lg.
able to rise by some bold stroke, will probably
resemble at last his conntryman who loitered on
tile river bank, hoping that the stream wonld ex-
haust it's waters. But the Young man who BET
lieves that knowledge is worth possessing, and 10
willing to apply his energies, hasamuch TO en-
courage him. He may point to some rot. the
brightest ornaments of thel nation andp Of the
world, and tell MS of the time when they were
poor and robscure.a Roger Shorman was a siIoe-
maker, and was encountered with the care, ofhs
widowed mother and; helpless family yet he be-
came deeply skilled id mathematics afterwards
read laws, was appointed j judge, and Rose TO
cminence as jurist and a politician. Ithas been
remarked of him that he never said foolish
thing lin his lfe.9 General Greene the favUrlte Of
Washiugton, was q Blacksmith, and had only the
elements of an English education given 70 him
But to him an education so limited was Iunsatisl
factory. With such funds a. he was able to raise
he purchased small but we'll iselscted libfafE
and spent his evenings and all the time ne coulf
redeem from bis fathers busiriAss = in regular
stuslys n Renjamin Franklin, 1t need SCARCELY be
said, was practical printer, and enphaticailF the
att6cer of his own fortune. 81 Rittenhoaas, who
was pronounced second to No astronomer living,
was o farmer in early life, and it isssad that wep
boy the smooth r0Cksin the fields and the ftuBcb
hv the way side weHe often GOV cred with AiB
arithmetical calculations. He became' so1ipent
AZ an astronomer aud mathsmaticians Il NAthanicl
Bowditch, the celebrated anavirat0r and echolAr,
was poor, and enjoyed opportunities In youth
to acquire education. All his science and hiS
fame weH The fruits pfspersAseriag application
Who was Fulton. whaAe invsntions istithei applit
cation Of steam power have asAdsd uikons to thS
wealth Of the ooNntry. end eapecial1y0 the Wsst9
And who was w hitnay .tAe invantor Of the cot
ton-gip. hy which the wealth Of the South asbas
doubled talaes oa esAd ~ s9igianiIl SsA
II, Let the industrious student read his conntr1's
history. and ANwil 6pA that thsreare hut very fse
Of the nHusber ,thaA hare rssn to euninsncs With
the inhsritsncs # fcFtune's favors And among