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the large legal knowledge which he had so laboriously

acquired. In a case in which he was engaged, he urged a legal

point against the wishes both of the attorney and client who

employed him. The Master of the Rolls decided against him, but on

an appeal to the House of Lords, Lord Thurlow reversed the decision

on the very point that Scott had urged. On leaving the House that

day, a solicitor tapped him on the shoulder and said, “Young man,

your bread and butter’s cut for life.” And the prophecy proved a

true one. Lord Mansfield used to say that he knew no interval

between no business and 3000l. a-year, and Scott might have told

the same story; for so rapid was his progress, that in 1783, when

only thirty-two, he was appointed King’s Counsel, was at the head

of the Northern Circuit, and sat in Parliament for the borough of

Weobley. It was in the dull but unflinching drudgery of the early

part of his career that he laid the foundation of his future

success. He won his spurs by perseverance, knowledge, and ability,

diligently cultivated. He was successively appointed to the

offices of solicitor and attorney-general, and rose steadily

upwards to the highest office that the Crown had to bestow—that of

Lord Chancellor of England, which he held for a quarter of a

century.

 

Henry Bickersteth was the son of a surgeon at Kirkby Lonsdale, in

Westmoreland, and was himself educated to that profession. As a

student at Edinburgh, he distinguished himself by the steadiness

with which he worked, and the application which he devoted to the

science of medicine. Returned to Kirkby Lonsdale, he took an

active part in his father’s practice; but he had no liking for the

profession, and grew discontented with the obscurity of a country

town. He went on, nevertheless, diligently improving himself, and

engaged on speculations in the higher branches of physiology. In

conformity with his own wish, his father consented to send him to

Cambridge, where it was his intention to take a medical degree with

the view of practising in the metropolis. Close application to his

studies, however, threw him out of health, and with a view to re-establishing his strength he accepted the appointment of travelling

physician to Lord Oxford. While abroad he mastered Italian, and

acquired a great admiration for Italian literature, but no greater

liking for medicine than before. On the contrary, he determined to

abandon it; but returning to Cambridge, he took his degree; and

that he worked hard may be inferred from the fact that he was

senior wrangler of his year. Disappointed in his desire to enter

the army, he turned to the bar, and entered a student of the Inner

Temple. He worked as hard at law as he had done at medicine.

Writing to his father, he said, “Everybody says to me, ‘You are

certain of success in the end—only persevere;’ and though I don’t

well understand how this is to happen, I try to believe it as much

as I can, and I shall not fail to do everything in my power.” At

twenty-eight he was called to the bar, and had every step in life

yet to make. His means were straitened, and he lived upon the

contributions of his friends. For years he studied and waited.

Still no business came. He stinted himself in recreation, in

clothes, and even in the necessaries of life; struggling on

indefatigably through all. Writing home, he “confessed that he

hardly knew how he should be able to struggle on till he had fair

time and opportunity to establish himself.” After three years’

waiting, still without success, he wrote to his friends that rather

than be a burden upon them longer, he was willing to give the

matter up and return to Cambridge, “where he was sure of support

and some profit.” The friends at home sent him another small

remittance, and he persevered. Business gradually came in.

Acquitting himself creditably in small matters, he was at length

entrusted with cases of greater importance. He was a man who never

missed an opportunity, nor allowed a legitimate chance of

improvement to escape him. His unflinching industry soon began to

tell upon his fortunes; a few more years and he was not only

enabled to do without assistance from home, but he was in a

position to pay back with interest the debts which he had incurred.

The clouds had dispersed, and the after career of Henry Bickersteth

was one of honour, of emolument, and of distinguished fame. He

ended his career as Master of the Rolls, sitting in the House of

Peers as Baron Langdale. His life affords only another

illustration of the power of patience, perseverance, and

conscientious working, in elevating the character of the

individual, and crowning his labours with the most complete

success.

 

Such are a few of the distinguished men who have honourably worked

their way to the highest position, and won the richest rewards of

their profession, by the diligent exercise of qualities in many

respects of an ordinary character, but made potent by the force of

application and industry.

CHAPTER VIII—ENERGY AND COURAGE

“A coeur vaillant rien d’impossible.”—Jacques Coeur.

 

“Den Muthigen gehort die Welt.”—German Proverb.

 

“In every work that he began … he did it with all his heart,

and prospered.”—II. Chron. XXXI. 21.

 

There is a famous speech recorded of an old Norseman, thoroughly

characteristic of the Teuton. “I believe neither in idols nor

demons,” said he, “I put my sole trust in my own strength of body

and soul.” The ancient crest of a pickaxe with the motto of

“Either I will find a way or make one,” was an expression of the

same sturdy independence which to this day distinguishes the

descendants of the Northmen. Indeed nothing could be more

characteristic of the Scandinavian mythology, than that it had a

god with a hammer. A man’s character is seen in small matters; and

from even so slight a test as the mode in which a man wields a

hammer, his energy may in some measure be inferred. Thus an

eminent Frenchman hit off in a single phrase the characteristic

quality of the inhabitants of a particular district, in which a

friend of his proposed to settle and buy land. “Beware,” said he,

“of making a purchase there; I know the men of that department; the

pupils who come from it to our veterinary school at Paris DO NOR

STRIKE HARD UPON THE ANVIL; they want energy; and you will not get

a satisfactory return on any capital you may invest there.” A fine

and just appreciation of character, indicating the thoughtful

observer; and strikingly illustrative of the fact that it is the

energy of the individual men that gives strength to a State, and

confers a value even upon the very soil which they cultivate. As

the French proverb has it: “Tant vaut l’homme, tant vaut sa

terre.”

 

The cultivation of this quality is of the greatest importance;

resolute determination in the pursuit of worthy objects being the

foundation of all true greatness of character. Energy enables a

man to force his way through irksome drudgery and dry details, and

carries him onward and upward in every station in life. It

accomplishes more than genius, with not one-half the disappointment

and peril. It is not eminent talent that is required to ensure

success in any pursuit, so much as purpose,—not merely the power

to achieve, but the will to labour energetically and perseveringly.

Hence energy of will may be defined to be the very central power of

character in a man—in a word, it is the Man himself. It gives

impulse to his every action, and soul to every effort. True hope

is based on it,—and it is hope that gives the real perfume to

life. There is a fine heraldic motto on a broken helmet in Battle

Abbey, “L’espoir est ma force,” which might be the motto of every

man’s life. “Woe unto him that is fainthearted,” says the son of

Sirach. There is, indeed, no blessing equal to the possession of a

stout heart. Even if a man fail in his efforts, it will be a

satisfaction to him to enjoy the consciousness of having done his

best. In humble life nothing can be more cheering and beautiful

than to see a man combating suffering by patience, triumphing in

his integrity, and who, when his feet are bleeding and his limbs

failing him, still walks upon his courage.

 

Mere wishes and desires but engender a sort of green sickness in

young minds, unless they are promptly embodied in act and deed. It

will not avail merely to wait as so many do, “until Blucher comes

up,” but they must struggle on and persevere in the mean time, as

Wellington did. The good purpose once formed must be carried out

with alacrity and without swerving. In most conditions of life,

drudgery and toil are to be cheerfully endured as the best and most

wholesome discipline. “In life,” said Ary Scheffer, “nothing bears

fruit except by labour of mind or body. To strive and still

strive—such is life; and in this respect mine is fulfilled; but I

dare to say, with just pride, that nothing has ever shaken my

courage. With a strong soul, and a noble aim, one can do what one

wills, morally speaking.”

 

Hugh Miller said the only school in which he was properly taught

was “that world-wide school in which toil and hardship are the

severe but noble teachers.” He who allows his application to

falter, or shirks his work on frivolous pretexts, is on the sure

road to ultimate failure. Let any task be undertaken as a thing

not possible to be evaded, and it will soon come to be performed

with alacrity and cheerfulness. Charles IX. of Sweden was a firm

believer in the power of will, even in youth. Laying his hand on

the head of his youngest son when engaged on a difficult task, he

exclaimed, “He SHALL do it! he SHALL do it!” The habit of

application becomes easy in time, like every other habit. Thus

persons with comparatively moderate powers will accomplish much, if

they apply themselves wholly and indefatigably to one thing at a

time. Fowell Buxton placed his confidence in ordinary means and

extraordinary application; realizing the scriptural injunction,

“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might;” and

he attributed his own success in life to his practice of “being a

whole man to one thing at a time.”

 

Nothing that is of real worth can be achieved without courageous

working. Man owes his growth chiefly to that active striving of

the will, that encounter with difficulty, which we call effort; and

it is astonishing to find how often results apparently

impracticable are thus made possible. An intense anticipation

itself transforms possibility into reality; our desires being often

but the precursors of the things which we are capable of

performing. On the contrary, the timid and hesitating find

everything impossible, chiefly because it seems so. It is related

of a young French officer, that he used to walk about his apartment

exclaiming, “I WILL be Marshal of France and a great general.” His

ardent desire was the presentiment of his success; for the young

officer did become a distinguished commander, and he died a Marshal

of France.

 

Mr. Walker, author of the ‘Original,’ had so great a faith in the

power of will, that he says on one occasion he DETERMINED to be

well, and he was so. This may answer once; but, though safer to

follow than many prescriptions, it will not always succeed. The

power of mind over body is no doubt great, but it may be strained

until the physical power breaks down altogether. It is related of

Muley Moluc, the

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