of the Stoics, was brought up to the profession of a pugilist, and used to exhibit himself in that character at the public games; till, longing to study philosophy, he betook himself for that purpose to Athens, where he arrived with only three drachms (about three shillings and sixpence) in his pocket. In these circumstances he was obliged, for his support, to employ himself in drawing water, carrying burdens, and other such humble and laborious occupations. He contrived, however to proceed with his studies at the same time, bringing his fee of an obolus, or penny, every day to his master, Zeno, with great punctuality. On the death of Zeno, he succeeded him in his school, but still continued his menial labours as usual. "I draw water," he was wont to say, "and do any other sort of work which presents itself, that I may give myself up to philosophy, without being a burthen to any one." He was so poor, indeed, that the wind having blown aside his mantle one day when he happened to be present at one of the public shews, his fellow-citizens perceived that he had no tunic, or under garment, and gave him one. He was always treated, notwithstanding his poverty, with the greatest respect at Athens.

In modern times we have many examples, also, of persons whom the love of knowledge has found in the lowest obscurity, and who have possessed themselves of the highest acquirements in science or literature, in spite of every disadvantage of birth. Heyne, as we have mentioned, was the son of a poor weaver. So was the Abbé HAUY, who died in Paris a few years ago, celebrated for his writings and discoveries in Crystallography—a science, indeed, of which he may be almost considered as the founder. It is the science which treats of those curious regular figures which so

natural state, or which they may be made to assume artificially, by dissolving or fusing them, and then allowing their particles to return to a state of solidity, which latter process is called their crystallization. Now it happens that the same substance is not found to have always the same figure externally when in a crystallized state, but is susceptible of several different forms, some of which do not appear at first to have any resemblance to each other. All preceding inquirers had been very much perplexed by this circumstance, in their attempts to establish a theory of crystallized bodies; and various principles had been successively adopted and rejected as the foundations of a scientific arrangement of them. At length the attention of Haüy was directed to the subject, by having accidentally picked up an uncommonly beautiful specimen of calcareous spar, which presented the figure of a six-sided prism, and had been detached from a group of similar crystals. By trying to split this specimen in various directions with the blade of a knife, and dividing it only where be found a natural joint, he at last reduced it to the form of a rhomboid, or oblongated cube, which it retained in spite of all subsequent sections. Now this is exactly the form in which another calcareous spar, called Iceland Spar, is commonly found; whence Haüy was led to suspect that, by the application of the process he had employed, all crystallized substances of the same species might be reduced to the same primitive form. This idea he pursued with exceeding ingenuity; till, by means not only of his unparalleled dexterity in the dissection of crystals, but of a most masterly combination of algebraical and geometrical reasoning, he rested his theory upon grounds which would almost lead to the conclusion, that the principle is of universal application, and that it is only necessary to strip

them of their external coatings to discover the same radical figure in all crystals of the same species.

But, to proceed; the celebrated WINCKELMAN, one of the most distinguished writers on classic antiquities and the fine arts tha modern times have produced, was the son of a shoemaker. His father, after vainly endeavouring for some time, at the expense of many sacrifices, to give him a learned education, was at last obliged, from age and ill health, to retire to an hospital, where he was, in his turn, supported for several years in part by the hard labours of his son, who, aided by the kindness of his professors, contrived to keep himself at college, chiefly by teaching some of his younger or less-advanced fellow-students. BARTHOLOMEW ARNIGIO, an Italian poet of the sixteenth century, of considerable genius and learning, followed his father's trade of a blacksmith till he was eighteen years old, when he began of his own accord to apply to his studies; and by availing himself of the aid sometimes of one friend, and sometimes of another, prepared himself at last for entering the University of Padua. VALENTINE JAMERAY DUVAL, a very able antiquarian of the last century, and who at the time of his death held the office of keeper of the imperial medals at Vienna, as well as that of one of the preceptors to the prince, afterwards the Emperor Joseph II., was the son of a poor peasant of Champagne, and lost his father when he was ten years of age. He was then taken into the service of a farmer in the village; but being soon after turned off for some petty fault, he resolved to leave his native place altogether, that he might not be a burthen to his mother. So he set out on his travels, without knowing in what direction he was proceeding, in the beginning of a dreadful winter; and for some time begged in vain even for a

the elements, till, worn out with hunger, fatigue, and a tormenting head-ache, he was at last taken in by a poor shepherd, who permitted him to lie down in the place where he shut up his sheep. Here he was attacked by small-pox, and lay ill nearly a month; but having at last recovered, chiefly through the kind attentions of the village clergyman, he proceeded on his wanderings a second time, thinking that by getting farther to the east he should be nearer the sun, and therefore suffer less from the cold. Having arrived in this way at the foot of the Vosges mountains, nearly a hundred and fifty miles from his native village, he remained there for two years in the service of a farmer, who gave him his flocks to keep. Chancing then to make his appearance at the hut of a hermit, the recluse was so much struck by the intelligence of his answers, that he proposed he should take up his abode with him, and share his labours, an offer which Duval gladly accepted. Here he had an opportunity of reading a few books, chiefly of a devotional description; and, after some time, was sent with a letter of recommendation from his master to another hermitage, or religious house, near Lunéville, the inmates of which set him to take charge of their little herd of cattle, consisting only of five or six cows, while one of them took the trouble of teaching him to write. He had a few books at command, which he perused with great eagerness. He sometimes, too, procured a little money by the produce of his skill and activity in the chase, and this he always bestowed in the purchase of books. One day, while pursuing this occupation, he was lucky enough to find a gold seal, which had been dropt by an English traveller of the name of Forster. Upon this gentleman coming to claim his property, Duval jestingly told him that he should not have the seal, unless he could describe the armorial bearings on it

in correct heraldic phrase. Surprised at any appearance of an acquaintance with such subjects in the poor cow-herd, Forster, who was a lawyer, entered into conversation with him, and was so much struck by his information and intelligence, that he both supplied him with a number of books and maps, and instructed him in the manner of studying them. Some time after this, he was found by another stranger sitting at the foot of a tree, and apparently absorbed in the contemplation of a map which lay before him. Upon being asked what he was about, he replied that he was studying geography. And "whereabouts in the study may you be at present," inquired the stranger. "I am seeking the way to Quebec," answered Duval. "To Quebec? What should you want there?" "I wish to go to continue my studies at the university of that city." The stranger belonged to the establishment of the princes of Lorraine, who, returning from the chase, came up with their suite at the moment; and the result was, that, after putting a great many questions to Duval, they were so delighted with the vivacity of his replies, that they proposed to send him immediately to a Jesuit's college in the neighbourhood. Here he continued for some time, until he was at last taken by his patron, the Duke of Lorraine, afterwards the Emperor Francis I., to Paris, where he speedily distinguished himself, and eventually acquired a high place among the literary men of the day. He never forgot, however, either his early benefactors, or departed from that simplicity of character and manners which the humble nature of his origin and first fortunes had given him. It is gratifying indeed to have to tell, that even after he had become a courtier, and was living in intimate familiarity with the emperor, he took a journey to his native village, purchased the cottage in which his father had lived, and erected on its site at his own

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