Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1911-05-05
The BLACKSMITH WHO
FORGED A GREAT NAME

ONE hundred years ago there was
~ born in the town Of New Brit
ain, Conn, q boy-the youngest OF
ten children.
The boys name was Elihu Burrftt.
His father was a farmer and
shoemaker, and the boy himself, as
he grew up, followed these pursuits
and many others, generally those OF
a mechanical nature.
Though Elihu Burritt attended
district school, his opportunities to
learn were few, for the family re-
Quired the income of his working
power for its support.
When the boy was fifteen years old
his father died. Then he appren-
tieed himself to a blacksmith, in New
Britain. Even in his teens. the boy
had acquired a hunger for knowl-
edge. He read the books, particu-
larly the historical works, in the To-
cal library. While he stood at his
anvil he worked out problems in
mathematics Here are some OF
them, homemade and exacting:
How many barley-corns, at three
to the inch, will it take to go around
the earth at the equator?"
How many yards of cloth, three
feet In width, cut into strips an inch
wide, and allowing half an inch at
each end for the lap, would it require
to reach from the center of the earth
to the sum-"
How much will all this cloth cost
at a shilling yard?"
All this, remember, was done with
out writing down a single figure. He
carried on all the operations in his
lem and answer t. his brother, who
was skilled In mathematics, for veri-
fcation.
Then 1t entered the boys head
that he should study Latin. In the
evenings of one winter, with the help
of an elder brother who had been to
college. he finished reading Virgil
Then he read other Latin authors,
and, completing these, took up the
study Of Greek.
At this time. every hour Of day
light and often other hours beyond
daylight, had to be spent at the
forge. But this offered no perma-
nent obstacle to Elihu Burritt. ~
carried" he said, "my Greek gram
mar in my hat, and often found a
moment, when I was heating some
large irons, when I-could place my
book open before me, against the
chimney Of my forge, and go through
my lesson. At evening l sat down,
unassisted and alone, to the Iliad
and Homer, twenty books of which
measured my progress in that Ian
guage during the evenings Of another
winter"
Burritt had occasionally sought in
struction during his apprenticeship,
but it cost him the loss of his wages
a dollar a day, and such opportuni-
ties he could scarcely afford. But at.
ter mastering, to an extent, the Latin
and Greek languages. he saw that
they furnished him with the key to
many of the modern European Ian
guages. He saw the relation and de-
riviation of these languages, and, de-
termining to learn them, left his
work and went to New Haven.
where he had instruction in French
German, Spanish and Italian.
Then he went back to the forge
and resumed his work as a black
smith.
He next turned his attention to Or
iental languages. But he could fin"
no teacher who would aid him to b"
gin that study. He determined then
to give up his work and to ship as q
sailor on vessel that put in at var
ious European ports, where he hoped
to collect books on modern and Or
iental languages.
HE WALKED TO BOSTON, over
hundred miles, but found no oppor-
tunity to ship as sailor.
Then he heard of the American
Antiquarian society in Worcester,
and thither he walked in order to
discover what it had to offer. The II.
brary of the society was rich in tbs
very books he wanted, and he was
granted the freest use of them.
What was the result of this find?
This, In Burrit's own words:
Through the facilities afforded
by this institution, have been able
to add 50 much to my previous &C.
quaintanee with ancient, modern and
Oriental languages as to be able ia
read UPWARD OF FIFTY OF
THEM with more or less facility"
From Mr.. Burritt's dairy, written
when he was twenty-seven years old,
the following IL taken:
'''All that I have accomplished. OF
expect, or hope to accomplish, has
been, and will be, by that plodding,
patient, persevering process of accre.
ton which builds the. anthem. par.