No More Learning

"And why do you prefer Bayard? " "Because I also
would wish to be, Le Chevalier sans peur et sans re-
proche. "
CHARLES THE TWELFTH OF SWEDEN.
CHARLES the Twelfth of Sweden was, in his
childhood, extremely obstinate: the only way to
make him tractable was to raise his emulation;
Glory was a word that had always power over him.
He had a great aversion to Latin, but as soon as he
was told that the King of Poland and the King of
Denmark understood it, he applied himself to learn it,
and succeeded so well, as to be able to converse in
that language for the remainder of his life.
As soon as the above-mentioned Prince had acquired
some knowledge of Latin, Quintus Curtius was given
him to translate, and he imbibed a great fondness for
this author. His preceptor having asked him what he
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? LAUDABLE EMULATION. 167
thought of Alexander. "I think," replied he, "that
I would like to resemble him. " "But," said the pre-
ceptor, "he lived but thirty-two years. " "Ah," re-
plied the prince, "and is that not long enough, when
one has conquered kingdoms? " These remarks were
repeated to the king, his father, who said, "This child
will go beyond me, and will perhaps surpass the great
Gustavus. "
KANG-HI, EMPEROR OF CHINA.
HEN Cham-Chi, Emperor of China, was on his
death-bed, he assembled his children together,
in order to fix upon one of them as his succes-
sor upon the throne. On asking his eldest son, if he
should like to be emperor, he replied that he did not
feel himself equal to undertake the cares of govern-
ment: the second son gave a similar answer. But when
he put the question to Kang-Hi, his youngest son, who
was not then quite seven years old, he replied, " Give
me the empire to govern, and you shall see how I will
acquit myself. " The emperor was pleased at this
spirited reply, and appointed Kang-Hi as his suc-
cessor.
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? 168
LAUDABLE EMULATION.
ALEXANDER THE GREAT.
HE great Alexander, when a child, excelled all
his companions in running. Wherefore one de-
manded of him if he would run at the great game
of Olympus, whereto, out of all parts of Greece, came
the most active and valiant persons to essay mastery.
Whereunto Alexander answered in this form: "I
would very gladly run there, if I were sure to run
with kings: for if I should contend with a private
person, having respect to both our estates, our vic-
tories would not be equal. "
THE EMBRYO HISTORIAN.
HUCYDIDES, while yet a boy, was taken by his
father to the Olympic Games, where he heard
Herodotus recite his history. As he listened,
feelings and powers of which he was before uncon-
scious, stirred within him, and tears of emotion stole
down his cheeks. "The Father of History," observing
how much the boy was moved, congratulated the parent
upon having a child of so much promise, and recom-
mended him to spare no pains in his education. His
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? LAUDABLE EMULATION.
169
anticipations proved just, for Thucydides became the
only Greek historian who can compete with Hero-
dotus.
CYRUS THE ELDER.
HEN Mandane, the mother of Cyrus, was pre-
paring to return home to her husband, Asty-
ages desired her to leave Cyrus with him, and
when she put it to his choice whether he would go or
stay, he did not at all hesitate, but said that he would
stay. And being asked by his mother the reason why,
he made answer: "Because, mother, at home, both at
the bow and javelin, I am superior to all of equal age
with me, and am so reckoned; but here, I well know
that in horsemanship I am their inferior; and be it
known to you, mother, this grieves me very much.
But if you leave me here, and I learn to be a horse-
man, then I reckon that when I am in Persia, I shall
easily master them there, who are so good at all exer-
cises on foot; and when I come among the Medes, I
shall endeavour to be an assistant and a support to my
grandfather, making myself the most skilful amongst
those who excel in horsemanship. "
Therefore Cyrus remained at the court of Astyages,
and in all the exercises, that he and his equals in age
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? 170 LAUDABLE EMULATION.
used in emulation of each other, he did not challenge
his companions to those in which he knew himself
superior; but such as he well knew himself to be
inferior in, those he set on foot; declaring that he
would do them better than they. Accordingly, he
would begin vaulting the horse, throwing the javelin,
or shooting with the bow on horseback, while he was
yet scarce well able to sit on a horse, and when he
was outdone, he was the first to laugh at himself. And
as, upon the account of being baffled, he did not fly
off, and meddle no more with the things he was so
baffled in, but continued repeating his endeavours to
do better, he presently became equal to his companions
in horsemanship, and by his love of the work, quickly
left them behind.
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? BEAUTIFUL SAYINGS.
"If the mind with clear conceptions glow,
The willing words in just expressions flow. "
HILDREN of high birth having constant inter-
course with persons of cultivated mind and ele-
gant manners, often acquire a power of express-
ing themselves with much beauty, and of giving a
striking turn to very simple ideas. Such a facility is
not, perhaps, to be taught, but as the slightest words
of Princes are remembered and repeated, they would
do well to habituate themselves from childhood to ex-
press themselves with conciseness, and in correct and
elegant language.
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? 172
BEAUTIFUL SAYINGS.
THE DAUPHIN, SON OF LOUIS THE SIXTEENTH.
N the birthday of Marie-Antoinette, the king ex-
pressed a wish, that the Dauphin would present
her with a bouquet, accompanied with a compli-
ment of his own composing. "Papa," said the Prince,
"I have a beautiful evergreen in my garden: I will
present it to her and say, My dear mamma, may you
resemble this flower. "
One day, perceiving that he had mingled some
marigolds in a bouquet that he intended for the
queen, he hastily plucked them out, saying, " Maman
a deja assez de soucis. "
He was one day very inattentive at his studies, and
even began to whistle, with his book in his hand. His preceptor reprimanded him, and the queen en-
tering at the moment, also expressed her displeasure.
"Maman," said the little prince, "j'ai si mal lu, que
je me suis siffle moimeme. "
Taking the air one day, in the gardens of the
Tuileries, he saw a flight of swallows, and follow-
ing them with his eyes, walking all the time, he
struck his foot against the root of a tree, and fell upon
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? BEAUTIFUL SAYINGS.
173
his two hands. Getting up quickly, he anticipated
the remonstrance of his governor by saying, laughing,
"I am like the astrologer in the fable, who was so in-
tent upon reading the stars, that he did not look before
him, and fell into a well. "
There having been some intermission in the lessons
which the Dauphin received from the Abbe Davaux,
owing to the unfortunate journey to Varennes, the
abbe, when resuming his duties, began his lesson in
grammar by saying: "I recollect that your Royal
Highness's last lesson was upon the three degrees of
comparison, the positive, the comparative, and the
superlative, but no doubt you have forgotten it. " "You
are quite mistaken," replied the prince, "and I will
prove it to you. The positive is when I say, My abbe
is a good abbe; the comparative, when I say, My abbe
is better than another abbe: the superlative," con-
tinued he, looking at the queen, "is when I say, Mamma
is the best and tenderest of mammas. " The queen
took him in her arms, and embraced him with tears.
On the memorable 20th of June, 1792, the frantic,
revolutionary mob penetrated even into the interior
of the Tuileries, placing in imminent danger the king
and the royal family. On the following day, hearing
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? 174
BEAUTIFUL SAYINGS.
the drum again beat to arms, the Dauphin, throwing
himself into the arms of the queen, said, " Mamma is
yesterday not finished? "
LOUIS PHILIPPE, KING OF THE FRENCH.
HILE Mad. de Genlis was travelling with her
pupils, among other fetes that were given for
the amusement of the young princes, was a
very ingenious and magnificent military one, in which
were the attack, defence, and blowing up of a pre-
tended fort, on the summit of a hill. After the destruc-
tion of the fort, the officer who commanded the as-
sailants came and presented his victorious sword to the
Duke de Chartres: the Duke returned it to him,
saying, "It is in too good hands, for me to think of re-
ceiving it. " This obliging expression was the more
admired, as it could not have been suggested to him.
THE DUKE DE MONTPENSIER, BROTHER OF LOUIS
PHILIPPE, KING OF THE FRENCH.
AD. de Genlis says of her pupil, the Duke de
Montpensier: "He was of a reserved disposition,
but had a sensible and generous soul, and there
was a natural elegance about him, with a something
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? BEAUTIFUL SAYINGS.
175
formed in his ideas, that is rarely seen in childhood. I
will give an instance of it. When I took the princes to
a first representation of a play, each wrote out a short
account of it, which was read to me the following day.
Upon one of these occasions, one of my pupils, reading
his extract, and speaking of two lovers, said that the
princess declared her love: the Duke de Montpensier
interrupted him:'The expression,'said he, 'is not pro-
per; a man declares his love, a woman acknowledges
hers. ' There is certainly a delicacy in this distinction,
very surprising for a child of twelve years old. "
THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY, GRANDSON OF
LOUIS THE FOURTEENTH.
HE Duke of Burgundy, pupil of Fenelon, was
walking in the streets of Versailles, during a
time of great scarcity, and as his benevolent dis-
position was well known, the number of poor who soli-
cited his charity Soon exhausted his purse. Having
nothing more to give, he detached several diamonds
from an order he was wearing, and handed them to a
gentleman of his suite, saying, " Go and sell them, and
so, according to the words of the gospel, cause these
stones to be made bread. "
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? 176
BEAUTIFUL SAYINGS.
THE DUKE OF MAINE.
T the time that the fame of the great Conde was
at its height, and all Paris rang with his victo-
ries, the Duke of Maine, then quite a child, was
one day amusing himself very noisily in an apartment,
in which the general also happened to be: the Conde
was disturbed, and complained of the noise the Duke
made. "I only wish, Sir," said the child, "that I
made as much noise as you do. "
HENRY, PRINCE OF WALES, SON OF JAMES
THE FIRST.
ENRY, Prince of Wales, son of James the First,
having, when quite a child, cut his finger, one of
his attendants sucked out the blood. "Now,"
said the Prince, jokingly, "if, which God forbid! my
father, myself, and the rest of our kindred should fail,
you might claim the crown, for you have in you the
blood royal. "
Observing once, as he was travelling, a stack of
corn, it struck him as similar in shape to the top he
used to play with. "That's a good top," said he.
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? BEAUTIFUL SAYINGS.
177
"Why do you not then play with it? " observed one
of his attendants. "Do you set it up for me, and I
will," smartly answered the prince.
FRANCOIS BEAUCHATEAU.
HE fame of the infant poet, Beauchateau, having
reached the ears of Anne of Austria, mother of
Louis the Fourteenth, she sent for him to court,
and conversed with him upon many subjects, in French,
Italian, and Spanish. Surprised at his intelligence
and acquirements, "How is it," said she, "that you can
have so much wit and knowledge at your age? " "Oh,"
replied the young poet, "when we approach the divi-
nities of the earth, it is natural that we should be in-
spired. "
Beauchateau had been received by the queen-
mother without ceremony or parade, and preserved
all his presence of mind, and freedom of manner;
but Cardinal Mazarine invited him to a brilliant
court party, and, awed by the persons and the magnifi-
cence that surrounded him, he became timid and silent.
An amiable and high-bred lady, however, wishing to
encourage him, whispered a few kind words in his ear,
and he instantly replied by the following impromptu:
N
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? 178 BEAUTIFUL SAYINGS.
"Tant d'e? clat, j'en conviens, m'a trouble? , m'a surpris.
Je cherche de l'esprit, plaignez mon sort funeste,
Puisqu'ici chacun m'a tout pris,
Comment se peut-il, qu'il m'en reste? "
Another day when Beaucha^teau was reproached
with his love of play, which they told him was un-
worthy of his superior mind, he laughed, and said:
"Pour les jeux et les vers mon ardeur est e? gale,
Car de mon a^ge enfin je dois subir la loi,
Et, poe? te a` dix ans, je sens bien que pour moi,
Le plus beau des sonnets ne vaut pas une balle. "
SIR FRANCIS BACON.
jjjlR Francis Bacon, Baron of Verulam, from his
early childhood displayed a sprightliness and vi-
gour of intellect beyond the common level. One
day when Queen Elizabeth asked him how old he was,
he readily and smartly replied, "Just two years younger
than your majesty's happy reign.
" The queen was so
well pleased with this sprightly compliment from a
child, that she afterwards frequently amused herself
with talking to him, and asking him questions, and
used jokingly to call him, her young Lord Keeper.
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? LOVE OF KNOWLEDGE AND EARLY
ACQUIREMENTS.
"Never, before
This happy child, did I get any thing;
And, when I am in heaven, I shall desire
To see what this child does, and praise my Maker. "
Shakspeare.
NOWLEDGE is the most valuable of all posses-
sions, and the only one of which no outward
circumstances can deprive us: but it is not the
gift of nature: talents, even, do not always ensure it:
it is the fruit of pains: it is the reward of applica-
tion; and Childhood is the season of instruction.
Then is the memory most retentive, the mind most
inquisitive; and to Princes, who in after-life have
weightier duties, and more engrossing occupations and
cares, than those which fall to the lot of common men,
an early application to study is of great moment.
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? 180 LOVE OP KNOWLEDGE AND
An early thirst for knowledge has given a presage
of future greatness in many of our celebrated men, and
we have very wonderful accounts of the acquirements
of some illustrious children at an early age.
CHILDHOOD OF ALFRED THE GEEAT.
LFRED the Great gave very early marks of
those great virtues and shining talents, by which,
during the most difficult times, he saved his
country from utter ruin and subversion. At a very
early age, he accompanied an embassy to Rome, and a
report having been spread, during his stay there, of his
father Ethelwolf's death, Pope Leo the Third gave
him the royal unction as future king. On his return
home, he became more and more the object of his
father's affections; but so injudicious was the fond indul-
gence of this weak prince, that he suffered a youth of
so great promise to spend his whole time in amusement,
neglecting his education entirely, and, it is said, that
Alfred attained his twelfth year before he was even
able to read.
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? EAELY ACQUIREMENTS. 181
About this time, he was present during the recital
of some Saxon poems, in which the queen, his mother,
took great delight: he listened with astonishment and
admiration, and the powers of his mind at once re-
ceived the necessary stimulus: this species of erudi-
tion, which is sometimes able to make a considerable
progress even among barbarians, awakened those noble
and elevated sentiments which he had received from
nature. He longed to read these compositions, and
he felt that he too could be a poet, and a hero. En-
couraged and assisted by the queen, he soon learned
to read his own tongue, and proceeded thence to ac-
quire a knowledge of the Latin language, in which he
met with authors that better prompted his heroic spirit,
and directed his patriotic views.
EDWARD THE SIXTH.
"Thou blessed thing!
Jove knows, what man thou mightst have made, but ah!
Thou dy'dst, a most rare boy. " Shakspeare.
ID WARD the Sixth became king when still a
child, and had already the qualities of a great
king. He lived too short a time to bring them to
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? 182 LOVE OF KNOWLEDGE AND
perfection, but the blossoms of his youth were worth
the fruits of many a more advanced age. The learned
Cardan wrote the character of Edward the Sixth, in
Italy, where nothing could be got or expected by flat-
tering him. He says, "All the graces were in him: he
had many tongues when he was but a child: together
with the English, he had both Latin and French, nor
was he ignorant of the Greek, Italian, and Spanish.
The sweetness of his temper was such as became a
mortal, his gravity becoming the majesty of a king,
and his disposition suitable to his high degree. When
the authority of a king was needful, he carried him-
self like an old man, and yet he was always affable
and gentle, as became his age.
"When he ascended the throne, he relaxed not in
his studies, but so well regulated his hours, that he
gave part of the day to the Belles-Lettres, part to
exercises worthy of a prince, and the remainder of the
day to affairs of state. "
We have a Latin letter written by Edward the Sixth,
to his father, at the age of eight years, and it is not
likely that it was dictated to him by his master, as that
imperious prince would not be deceived, and if they
had presented to him as an original, what was only
copied from the work of others, he would never have
forgiven the deception.
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? EARLY ACQUIREMENTS. 183
LADY JANE GREY.
Extract of a Letter from Roger Ascham, Tutor to Queen
Elizabeth.
CAME to Broadgate in Leicestershire, to take
leave of that noble lady, Jane Grey. Her parents,
the duke and duchess, with all the household,
gentlemen and gentlewomen, were hunting in the park.
I found her in her chamber, reading Phsedon Platonis
in Greek, and that with as much delight as some gen-
tlemen would read a merry tale in Boccace. After
salutation, with some other talk, I asked her why she
should lose so much pastime in the park? Smiling,
she answered me; "I wis all their sport in the park is
but a shadow to that pleasure that I find in Plato:
Alas! good folk, they never felt what true pleasure
meant. "
QUEEN ELIZABETH.
HE same Mr. Ascham, in a letter to Sir John
Cheke, speaking of the Princess Elizabeth, says:
"It can scarce be credited to what degree of
skill in the Latin and Greek she might arrive, if she
shall proceed in that course of study wherein she hath
begun. " In another letter to his friend Sturmius, he
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? 184 LOVE OF KNOWLEDGE AND
tells him: "that he enjoyed at court as agreeable a
freedom for his studies, as he had ever done in the
university: and that he was then reading over with the
Princess Elizabeth the orations of iEschines and Demos-
thenes in Greek; and that she understood at first sight,
not only the force and propriety of the language, and
the meaning of the orator, but the whole scheme of
the cause, and the laws, customs, and manners of the
Athenians. "
SIR PHILIP SYDNEY.
"The spirit of a youth,
That means to be of note, begins betimes. " Shakspeare.
ULKE Greville, Lord Brook, says of Sir Philip
Sydney," Though I lived with him, and knew him
from a child, yet I never knew him other than a
man: with such staidness of mind, lovely and familiar
gravity, as carried grace and reverence above greater
years. His talk ever of knowledge, and his very play
tending to enrich his mind: so as even his teachers
found something in him to observe and learn, above
that which they had usually read or taught. "
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? EARLY ACQUIREMENTS. 185
THE ADMIRABLE CRICHTON.
F the many examples of precocious and versatile
talent that are recorded in history, that of James
Crichton, commonly called The Admirable Crich-
ton, is the most extraordinary. His father was lord ad-
vocate of Scotland, his mother was of the royal family
of Stewart, and he is said to have received lessons from
the celebrated George Buchanan, preceptor of James
the First. By the time he reached his twentieth year,
he was master of ten languages, and had gone through
the whole circle of the sciences; nor was his fame con-
fined to mere literary accomplishments. He was dis-
tinguished by his uncommon strength, and agility in
athletic exercises: in fencing, he could spring at one
bound the length of twenty feet on his antagonist, and
could use the sword in either hand with equal skill.
He possessed also a very fine voice, and played well on
several musical instruments: to these various accom-
plishments were added the advantages of a handsome
person and elegant address.
Thus highly cultivated and accomplished, Crichton
set out upon his travels, and on his arrival at Paris,
publicly set up, as was the custom in those days, a
challenge on the college gate, in which he invited all
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? 186 LOVE OF KNOWLEDGE AND
the learned men of the university to dispute with him
on a certain day, giving his opponents the choice of
ten languages, and of all the sciences.
On the day appointed, he appeared in presence of
three thousand persons, whom curiosity had drawn to
the college to witness this singular phenomenon; and
there, after a disputation of nine hours against fifty-
four of the most learned men of the university, he
silenced his antagonists, and was presented with a
diamond and a purse of gold, amidst the loudest accla-
mations. The next day, he attended a tilting match,
where, in the presence of the court of France, he bore
away the prize on his lance fifteen times successively.
At Rome, at Venice, at Padua, at Mantua, the same
success attended him: he foiled always the most cele-
brated professors, whether in arms, or in science, or
in literature; but at length he fell a victim to the envy
which his great powers excited, being assassinated at
Mantua, in the twenty-third year of his age.
THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY, GRANDSON OF
LOUIS THE FOURTEENTH.
HEN the Duke of Burgundy was committed to
the tuition of the celebrated Fenelon, he had
hitherto displayed all the symptoms of a per-
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? EARLY ACQUIREMENTS. 187
verse nature: invincible obstinacy, a revolting pride,
and the most violent passions, joined, however, with a
great capacity for acquiring all kinds of knowledge.
By various means happily combined, by gentleness
and unremitting attention, the preceptor succeeded in
gradually breaking the violent character of his pupil,
and in rendering him equally eminent for worth and
for learning. We are told that, at the age of ten, the
prince wrote Latin with elegance, and translated the
most difficult authors with a facility that surprised the
best judges. He was perfectly master of Virgil, Ho-
race, and the Metamorphoses of Ovid, and was sensible
of the beauty of Cicero's Orations. At eleven, he read
Livy throughout, and began a translation of Tacitus,
which he afterwards finished. The Abbe Henry, in
attesting these facts, says that his mind was of the first
order, and that he was not contented with superficial
knowledge, but sought to penetrate to the bottom of
every thing. At the age of fourteen, his mind was
stored with excellent principles in religion and morals,
with all that most enchants in mythology, and which
supplies the principal subjects for poetry and the fine
arts; and with all the leading facts of ancient and
modern history. It would not have been easy to find
in the whole kingdom a man better informed than the
prince.
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? 188 LOVE OF KNOWLEDGE AND
POPE.
UR great poet, Pope, appears to have been very
unfortunate in his early teachers, and to have
been so well aware of the little advantage he
derived from external help, that he resolved to direct
himself, and at the age of twelve formed a plan of
study, which he completed with little other incitement
than the desire of excellence.
His primary and principal purpose was to be a poet,
with which his father accidentally concurred, by pro-
posing subjects, and obliging him to correct his per-
formances by many revisals; after which the old
gentleman, when he was satisfied, would say, "These
are good rhymes. "
Pope himself tells us, that he "lisp'd in numbers,"
and he used to say, that he could not remember the
time when he began to make verses: the earliest of
his poems, however, that is come down to us, is his
Ode on Solitude, written before he was twelve.
In his perusal of the English poets, he soon distin-
guished the versification of Dryden, which he consi-
dered the model to be studied, and he was impressed
with such veneration for his instructor, that he per-
suaded some friends to take him to the coffee-house
which Dryden frequented, and pleased himself with
having seen him.
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? EARLY ACQUIREMENTS, 189
Dryden died May 1st, 1701, some days before Pope
was twelve, so early must he therefore have felt the
power of harmony, and the zeal of genius. Who does
not wish that Dryden could have known the value of
the homage that was paid him, and foreseen the great-
ness of his young admirer I
METASTASIO.
HE Italian poet, Metastasio, discovered an extra-
ordinary predilection for literature, and for poetry
in particular, at a very early age, and would make
verses extempore on any given subject, before he was
ten years old. This singular talent he was in the
habit of exercising after school-hours in front of his
father's shop, where great crowds used to assemble in
an evening to hear him sing all'improvviso, admiring
not only the harmony of his numbers, but the melody
of his voice.
The learned civilian Gravina, passing accidentally
that way, was struck with the sweetness of the child's
voice, and still more with his verses, and his admira-
tion was increased by the graceful compliments which
he took the opportunity of addressing to himself. When
the youthful poet had concluded, Gravina called him,
and with many encomiums and caresses, offered him a
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? 190 LOVE OF KNOWLEDGE AND
piece of money, which the boy politely refused. He
then enquired into his situation and employment; and
being struck with the intelligence of his replies, pro-
posed to his parents to educate him as his own child.
The parents consented, and under such patronage,
Metastasio's education was advanced, and his genius
expanded, so that at the age of fourteen, he produced
his tragedy of Giustino.
SIR WILLIAM JONES.
IR William Jones, while yet in infancy, was a
miracle of industry, and showed how strongly he
was inspired with the love of knowledge. When
only three or four years of age, if he applied to his
mother for information upon any subject, her constant
answer to him was, "Read, and you will know. " He
thus acquired a passion for books, which grew with his
increasing years. At the close of his seventh year he
was placed at Harrow, and unlike the majority of
boys at pubic schools, young Jones devoted his whole
mind to his studies, his voluntary exertions always ex-
ceeding his prescribed task. Such was his activity at
school, that one of his masters said of him, "If he were
left naked and friendless on Salisbury Plain, he would,
nevertheless, find the road to fame and riches. "
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