Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1871-09-01
,m the Philadelphia Ledger.


i Apropos to letter in which the writer
seems disposed to controvert the poetic
maxim asserting that honor and fame
| from all conditions rise" we may say
that almost any collection Of distin
guished names may set him to further
reflection on the subject. The history
of our own country is full of illustra
tions from John Adams, who was son oi
an humble farmer, and Franklin, who
was the the son of tallow chandler
down to the men of our own time. II
finds brilliant examples even under
aristocratic institutions. Pope, one OF
the greatest Of English poets, was the
son of lnen-draper. Bloomfield wrote
his best poem, "The Farmer Boy,
while working in a garret, as shoe
maker. Clifford, the first editor of the
Quarterly Review, began life as a sailor
boy, and afterwards served an appren-
ticeship as a shoemaker. Ben Jonson,
the dramatic poet, worked for some
time as a bricklayer. Shakespeare was
the son of poor man who could not
write his own name, Burns was the
son of small farmer; Allan Gun
ningham of a gardener; Hogg was q
shepherd; Ebenezer Elliott worked in an
iron foundry; Falconer was sailor boy;
Thomas Moore was the son of a grocer,
who, however, contrived to give him a
classical education; Gerald Massey is
the son of a canal boatman, and began
life as an errand boy, and was next an
operative in a silk mill. Daniel Defoe,
the author OF, Robinson Crusoe,' began
life as hostler, and was almost wholly
self1taught. Cobbett was in early life
farmers boy, and afterwards a private
soldier. Isaac Walton, the Complete
Angler, was linen draper. DR.. Isaac
Miller, Dean Of Carlisle, and his brother
Joseph, author of q History of the
CHURCH, began life as weavers. DR..
JohH Prideaux, Bishop of Worcester,
got his education at Oxford, by entering
the University as a kitchen by. John
Bunyan, author Of the Pilgrims Pro
gress," was a tinker, and entirely self
taught. Joseph Ames, antiquary, was
an iron-monger. Hugh Miller, the geolo- |
gist and journalist, was quarryman.
Camden, the great historian, was the son
of a house painter. Caxton, who was
the first to set up o printing press in |
England, was apprenticed to a weaver. |
The dramatis Holoroft was groom.
Tom Paine was the son of staymaker..
Sam Pepys was the son of a tailor.
Richardson, the novelist, was the son of |
a joiner, Among scientific men,
Simpson, the mathematician, was
weaver Captain Cook was the son Of a
peasant, who, at seventy years of age,
learned to read that he might peruse the
of his sons voyages. Sir
Richard Arkwright, the inventor of the
cotton spinning machine, commenced
lifeas barber. Brindley, the engineer
began life as mechanic. Sir William
Herschel, the illustrious astronomer,
was musician in the band of regi- /
ment. Farraday, the chemist and natu-
raj philosopher was the son Of black
smith, Ferguson, the astronomer, was
q shepherd. John Hunter, the celebra-
ted surgeon, and his brother William,
the eminent physician, were sons Of a
farmer. Chantrey, the sculptor, was a
and Flaxman, another great
sculptor, was the son Of a plaster-cast
maker. Sir Thomas Lawrence, the
painter, was the son Of an innkeeper
Ople, the painter, worked in q saw-pit,
and Hogarth, the satirist, began life as I
4 working engrayer of coats of arms.
Golden, the statesman, was the son Of ,
armer. Sir John Hawkins, the famous /
General, began life as a householder.
These names may serve to set our cor
thinking. I
I