. To childhood, to manhood, to age ye are dear; Wildings of nature, or cultured with care, Ye are beautiful, beautiful everywhere! JOHN PALMER. ANNAN, July 11, 1851. SKILL LEADS TO FORTUNE. It will be recollected that one of Sir Walter Scott's sayings was, that 'Whatever might be said about luck, 'tis skill that leads to fortune!' There can be no doubt of this as a general principle. Few self-indulgent and apathetic men do well in any line of life. The skilful, the active, and the steadily persevering, usually carry off the prizes which turn up in the wheel of fortune. At the same time, something is due to circumstances; as well as to the Power which wisely controls human destiny. Practically, however, the thing to be borne in mind is, that the young are bound to exercise all proper means to secure improvement in their condition. That with a fair share of ambition, prudence, and meritorious skill, it may be possible to attain a station of eminence-that is, fortune,' though perhaps not without corresponding responsibilities and cares we present the following compendious list of distinguished men who rose from humble and obscure circumstances. Readers of Plutarch and other old historians will recollect that Æsop, Publius Syrus, Terence, and Epictetus—all distinguished men in ancient times-were slaves at their outset in life. Protagoras, a Greek philosopher, was at first a common porter; Cleanthes, another philosopher, was a pugilist, and also supported himself at first by drawing water and carrying burdens. The late Professor Heyn, of Gottingen, one of the greatest classical scholars of his own r any other age, was the son of a poor weaver, and for many years had to struggle with the most depressing poverty. The efforts of this excellent man of genius appear to have been greater and more protracted than those of any other on record, but he was finally rewarded with the highest honors. Bandoccin, one of the learned men of the sixteenth century, was the son of a shoemaker, and worked for many years at the same business. Gelli, a celebrated Italian writer, began life as a tailor; and although he rose to eminence in literature, never forgot his original profession, which he took pleasure in mentioning in his lectures. The elder Opie, whose talent for painting was well appreciated, was originally a working carpenter in Cornwall, and was discovered by Dr. Wolcott-otherwise Peter Pindar-working as a sawyer at the bottom of a saw-pit. Abbot, archbishop of Canterbury, who flourished in the sixteenth century, and distinguished himself by opposing the schemes of Charles I., was the son of a cloth-worker at Guildford. Akenside, the author of 'Pleasures of Imagination,' was the son of a butcher in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. D'Alembert, the French mathematician, was left at the steps of a church by his parents, and brought up by a poor woman as a foundling, yet arrived at great celebrity, and never forgot or abandoned his nurse. Ammenius Saccophorus, founder of the Mystic philosophy at Alexandria, was born in poverty, and originally earned his subsistence by carrying sacks of wheatwhence the latter part of his name. Amyot, a French author of some celebrity for his version of Plutarch, lived in the sixteenth century, and was at first so poor as to be unable to afford oil or candles to assist his studies, which he had to carry on by fire-light; and all the sustenance his parents could afford him was a loaf of bread weekly. George Anderson, the translator of a treatise of Archimedes, and author of a 'General View of the East India Company's Affairs,' who died in 1796, was originally a day-laborer. Masaniello, who headed a successful revolt against the tyranny of the Austrian government at Naples, was a poor seller of fish. Sir Richard Arkwright, the ingenious inventor of the machinery for spinning cotton, was origi nally a country barber, or dealer in hair. Arne, an eminent English composer of music, who died in 1778, was the only son of an upholsterer, and was himself brought up as an attorney's clerk. Astle, the archæologist, and author of a work on the origin and progress of writing, was the son of the keeper of Needwood Forest. Augereau, marshal of France, and Duke de Castiglione, under Bonaparte, was originally a private soldier in the French and Neapolitan ranks. John Bacon, an eminent sculptor of last century, was originally a painter of porcelain for potters. Baillet, a laborious and learned French writer, was born of poor parents at Neuville in Picardy, but he extricated and raised himself by his genius. Ballard, the author of 'Memoirs of British Ladies,' was originally a stay and habit maker; but being patronized for his acquirements, he was educated at Oxford, and made beadle of that university. Barker, the inventor of pictorial representation by panorama, having failed in business, became a miniature-painter, and settled at Edinburgh; and it was while resident here, and taking a view from the Calton Hill, that the idea of forming a panorama entered his mind, His invention realized him a fortune. Beattie, the author of the 'Minstrel,' and professor of moral philosophy in Aberdeen university, was originally a parish schoolmaster at Fordun. Belzoni, one of the most eminent travellers in Egypt, at one period, when in pecuniary difficulties, supported himself by exhibiting feats of strength in different towns in Great Britain. The famous Admiral Benbow served at first as a common sailor in a merchant vessel. Miss Benger, the authoress of the 'Life of Mary Queen of Scots,' and many other productions of merit, was so very poor in early life, that, for the sake of reading, she used to peruse the pages of books in a bookseller's window in a little town in Wiltshire, where she resided, and returned day after day, in the hope of finding another page turned over. She afterwards obtained friends who assisted her. Sebastian Castalio, the elegant Latin translator of the Bible, was born of poor peasants, who lived among the mountains of Dauphiné. The Abbé Hautefeuille, who distinguished himself in the seventeenth century by his inventions in clock and watch making, was the son of a baker. The eminent Prideaux, who rose to be bishop of Winchester, was born of such poor parents that they could with difficulty keep him at school, and he acquired the rudiments of his education by acting as an assistant in the kitchen of Exeter College, Oxford. Sir Edmund Saunders, chief-justice of the King's Bench in the reign of Charles II., was originally an errand-boy to the young lawyers at the Temple-chambers in London. Linnæus was apprenticed to a shoemaker, with whom he wrought for some time, till rescued by a generous patron, who saw his genius for learning. Lomonosoff, one of the most celebrated Russian poets of last century, began life as a poor fisherboy. The famous Ben Jonson worked for some years as a bricklayer, but while he had a trowel in his hand, he had a book in his pocket. Peter Ramus, a celebrated writer of the sixteenth century, was at first a shepherdboy, and obtained his education by serving as a lackey to the college of Navarre. Longomantanus, the Danish astronomer, was the son of a laborer. Parens, professor of theology at Heidelberg, and an eminent divine, was at first an apprentice to a shoemaker. Hans Sacho, an eminent German poet and scholar, was the son of a tailor, and he himself wrought as a shoemaker for many years. John Folcz, an old German poet, was a barber. Lucas Cornelisz, a Dutch painter of the sixteenth century, had occasionally to support his family as a cook in gentlemen's kitchens. The illustrious Kepler spent his life in poverty, but in apparent contentment. Winckelman was so poor while a student, that he sang ballads through the streets at night for his support. Wolfgang Musculus commenced his career in a similar manner, having for some time sung ballads through the country, and begged from door to door, in order to obtain a pittance wherewith to put himself toschool. Pope Adrain VI., one of the most eminent scholars of his time, began life in great poverty; and as he could not afford candles, often read by the light of streetlamps, or in church-porches where lights are kept burning: his eminent acquirements and unimpeachable character led him successively through different preferments in the church till he was elected pope. Claude Lorraine is said to have been originally apprenticed to a pastrycook. Marmontel was born of poor parents, and was indebted for the elements of education to the charity of a priest. Lagrange, the French translator of Lucretius, was brought up in extreme poverty. Spagnoolettu began his career in great indigence. Miles Davies, a writer on antiquities in the early part of last century, hawked his productions from door to door. James Tytler, a person of great genius in Edinburgh in the last century, lived in the greatest indigence, composing some of his works in types without the intervention of manuscripts. Parkes, the author of some celebrated works on chemistry, was originally an apprentice to a grocer, and underwent many difficulties before he was ultimately successful as a practical chemist. Sir Humphry Davy was the son of a carver on wood, and he himself began as an apprentice to an apothecary. Dr. Isaac Maddox, bishop of Worcester, and known for his writings in defence of the church, was the son of a pastry cook. The late Dr. Isaac Milner, dean of Carlisle, and Lucasian professor of mathematics at Cambridge, was at first a weaver. Dr. White, professor of Arabic at Oxford, was also a weaver in his youth. Thedem, the chief surgeon of Frederick the Great, had in his youth been apprenticed to a tailor. The celebrated John Hunter, the anatomist, was originally apprentice to a cabinetmaker. William Kent and Francis Towne, landscape painters of eminence, began as apprentices to coach-painters. The famous Hogarth raised himself from the condition of a working-engraver on silver. Edmund Stone, the eminent mathematician, was originally a boy who wrought in the garden of the Duke of Argyle at Inverary, and who taught himself to read. Buchanan, the Scottish historian, was born of poor parents, and being sent by an uncle to Paris for his education, he was there so neglected that, in order to get back to his own country, he enlisted as a private soldier in a corps leaving France for Scotland: Buchanan had to undergo many difficulties before his learning was appreciated. Cervantes, the author of 'Don Quixote,' commenced life as a soldier, lost his left hand in battle, and was a captive in Algiers for five years, during which period he wrote part of his celebrated work. Giordani, an Italian engineer and mathematician of the seventeenth century, |