Staunton spectator, and general advertiser. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 183?-1849, 1844-04-04

| an" 'aicoia'eu 10 exert All influence in the
formation of It, During the period of his
childho"d, the old soldiers of ihe revolution.
oil whom one remained in every house i'm the
lheiyhoorhoot, were accustomed To assemble
al mis- lather's, and relate the stories of the
war lie used 10 stand in the corner. and
listen with deep emotion To these relations.
wiile his post oi honor was to draw the c,!cr
10 help on the inspiration. Here a taste WAS
Created and cherished for this kind of stories.
when he began to read, il Influenced his Sc
lection of books, in which the Bible took the
lead His early disposition to retire with il
and read in private, led to the natural infer
ence that he was religiously inclined But il
| seems his attention was confined 10 the his,o-
rlcai parts of il, and was tn a great extern, sus-
| pended when its stories of SURPRISING interest
were exhausted II was but q transfer of his
youthful enthusiasm from the tales of the
revolution to the simple historical details of
the Bible, the honored Book of his fathers
approval, OF his mothers faith II WAS easy.
ana almost natural. To pass from the a,!mura..
| ION "l It's enrapturng stories To the embrace
ol It's sublime doctrines. This was the fact.
and furnishes practical lesson to those who
have the edncalion of the young in charge.
lie united with the church of his fathers i'm
lhe same year he apprenticed himself to a
useful trade, aud has since lived the life of q,
practical Christian, as we'll as that of an i'll
dusiriouS mechanic.
lie next founrl access To the Town library. in
which his father owned a share and his
taste for reading, awakened in the family cir
Gle, and cherished by the family Bible, now
led ana eNpata'ei on the successive pages of
this Alexandrine Biblioheca, which The en-
lcrprise of New-Engand farmers and me-
chahics has been wontto collect in every vii l..
ia9e, until he might almost say, as all aged
minister oi the Gospel once said to ire oi The
b'ole-"i Vandal violence should apply the
'aS't I" every page, could re-wrie them to
The very letter" At the are of sixteen, he
had read every book of history in the library.
lie next proceeded to poetry Th,mnson's
Seasons look his earliest attention m This dc
partment. From the pauciv OF books. and
his love OF this kind of reading, he limited
himself to page IA dav, lest lie should get
through the luxury too soon. His mind led
on II and committed il To memory. Young,
Night Thoughts. Pollock's Course of Tine.
ohakspeare and Milton, were ais" successive
~ stored away III his intellectual 'rhesaurus
WIN INC same Keen appetite. Thus he wen,
on through The term of his double apprentice
ship, playing with the muses. at The Co,ue of
vulcan, until he became Il good blacksmith.
and The master of his .rudc
| Up to this time, however, his intellectual
pursuits had been the result of impulse or :,
passion, an under rurrpn, la Ills ude Of life
inpriied and guided by no special object
lie '"oMgaf' because II was pari of his nature.
ana read and studied because il created nIen-
surahlc emotions; but he never thought of
being scholar, for he had Iabored under The
l'"h'ct'"l tiiat he was not g ninS. and was
told tina; among ii brotherhood of respec,able
scholars, he had no native talent. To useh his
own lang"age, in the year of his majority he
celebrated his emancipation from the iron
bondage of this unnatural and heather doc
trine. lie broke loose from this spell. and
became Il man.
In the winter Of that year, he rlaced him
sell under the tuition of his brother. the late
ELIJAH II. Bnrrilt. Esq, lawyer. and man
Oh science, who was one of natures Dohlrmen,
iavorab!y knewn and highly appreciated bv
scholars both in Europe and America Under
his tuition, ne pursued his favorte study of
mathematics. 10 make pleasing variety
ana NIL up some intervals of time. he took up
me study oil Latin, intending to read Virgil
Tor Pastime. Alter some progress in this, he
commenced the study of the French, and was
surprised at the facility of his advancement.
EH'Si St'chuiHS tIie WIltcT ana his small stock
OF means in thus way, he returned To- his trade
III the spring, and to make up for his winters
recreation: he took the place of i,co men ut
the Jorge, and performed the work that be-
longed to both. He commenced at sunrise
and worked hard for fourteen hours a day for
the next six months.
Il Alter he could read the French with plea
sure, he took mp the Spanish After reading
the spanish with ease, he commenced the
Greek. carried his grammar in his hat while
r at work. and studied at the anvil and The
Jorge He pursued this course until the fall
nf that year 1893. He then made his arrange
ments To- devote himself to study for another
winter. lie went To New-IIavcn. not so
much. as he said. 10 find teacher, as under a
conviction that there was the proper place tc
sfudy. AS soon as he arrived, he sat down
n To the reading of fIomer's Had, alone, with.
out notes or Translation, or any other HELM
Al the close Of the first dav after intense an
plicatlon, he had read fifteen lines, much I,
his own satisfaction. After this surcessC
effort, he determined To go on without ;
teacher. lie accordingly made a sysIematl,
distribution OF his time and studies. He ros,
at four. and studied German until breakfast
th@n studied Greek until noon, then spent >,
hour at Italian IN the afternoon he studied
Greek until uigh',and then studied Spanish ON
Ill bed time. This course he continued, up
I'll he could read 200 lines day of Homer
besides carrying forward the other studies II
their order During the wipter he rea,
twenty books Of IIomer's Had. besides study
ings with equal success, the other Ianguape
IN the hours assigned 10 them.
In the spring, he returned again TO his an
i vii; but I'm invitation To teach a aramp,a