Archer Wallace

“ Josiah was taken from school at once and sent to help in the factory, where his eldest brother, Thomas, was in charge. For several generations the Wedgewoods had been potters and the whole countryside was famous as the chief centre of the industry in England. It was a proud day for Josiah when first he began to work at the trade in which he was destined to become so great. He was too young to understand what a serious handicap it is to be sent out into the world with little education, and besides, in those days, comparatively few received a thorough training in school. ”

“ Innellan, because of its beautiful situation and bracing air, had become a favourite summer resort, and to these attractions was added George Matheson's fame as a preacher. People came from far and near to hear him, and none ever went away disappointed.
What a picture it is to think of that blind man, standing there in his pulpit, instructing and comforting people who had perfect eyesight and seemed more favoured than he. Yet in all his sermons and in his conversation, there was cheerfulness and gratitude to God. ”

“ For the greater part of his life he was largely dependent upon other people. His lessons at college were read to him, and, thanks to a marvellous memory, he learned with amazing thoroughness. He had a wonderfully cheerful disposition. To become blind when so young would have been sufficient to crush all brightness out of most lives, but not so with George Matheson. He rose above his terrible calamity, and showed himself a real hero.
When only eleven he was admitted to the Glasgow Academy. He took his place alongside other pupils, studied the same subjects, and sat for the same examinations. ”

“ The salary was eighteen dollars a week, which in those days was considered a good salary for one so young. He astonished every one by his energy and enterprise. There wasn't a lazy bone in his body. He had an ever-willingness to work which made his success a certainty. When he got out into the world he was astonished to find how many of his young, friends believed that the only way to get on was through favouritism. That was not his experience. He found that if a young man were willing to work, and to do his very best, the way to success was wide, and it was not overpeopled. ”

“ While Andrew was mistaken in thinking this was in the Bible, it shows how deeply it had been fixed in his mind.
One day Andrew's father came home very dejected. "Andy," he said, "I have no more work." Up till that time all weaving had been done on hand looms, and the introduction of the steam looms threw hundreds of men out of work. Andrew never forgot how bitter and harsh his father's words sounded. "No more work!" That meant no more money, and poverty stared them in the face.
Andrew's father could not obtain work in the town. Hundreds of others, like himself, were thrown out of work. ”

“ The little negro boy—whose name was Booker Taliaferro Washington—never knew what it was to sleep in a bed. With his brother, John, and his sister, Amanda, he slept on a bundle of filthy rags on the dirty floor. The poor mother, who acted as cook to the slaves on the plantation, had little or no time to give to the training of her children, so they just grew up, and early learned to do hard work.
The family never sat down around the table together for a meal, nor was God's blessing ever asked upon the food. Like most other slaves at that time, they hardly ate like civilized beings. ”

“ When women did not wish to buy or seemed to hesitate, he would say: "Come, now, Madam, here you have the best pegs on the market. They will not eat and will not wear clothes out. They will not cry nor wake you up in the middle of the night." If they still hesitated, Rodney would tell them that he had no mother. It was no wonder that with his humour and determination he generally managed to do a good business.
When Rodney was in his early teens his father became a Christian. It made a great change for the better in Cornelius Smith and life in that gipsy wagon became happier. ”

“ Often what little furniture there was in the Flanaghan home would be smashed to atoms in the fury of the man's drunken passion, and the mother and children would be driven out into the street, to wander around until some one had pity on them and took them in.
After a few years James went to work with his father at the task of pipe-making in a factory. His father was the kiln man, and was clever in the art of giving fixity to moulds of clay by a process of burning. James stood at the table modelling clay into tobacco pipes. ”

“ He was amazed to find how many young men there were who were not doing their best, or anything like it. They were constantly watching the clock, and afraid lest they should work one minute more than they were being paid for. When luncheon time came, Edward listened to the conversation around him and he was surprised to note that scarcely any youth ever gave a thought to anything except wages and outside interests. ”

“ From being a shoemaker's apprentice, Henry Jones rose to a position of great power and influence. It was not by any means an easy road. There was a terrific struggle with poverty, and at times it seemed as though it would be too much for him. But his tremendous perseverence and grit carried him along, and he succeeded to an extent that he had never dared even to dream of. During the Great War he delivered scores of lectures throughout Great Britain and in the United States. ”

“ Young Booker had heaps of trouble, and difficulties at every turn, but there never was a time in all those hard years when he did not have the determination to secure an education.
One day, while he was working in the mine, young Booker overheard two men talking about an advanced school for coloured boys at some distance away. In the darkness he crept closer, and he heard one of the men say that opportunities for work were provided, so that worthy pupils could pay part of their board, and at the same time be taught some trade. ”

“ He taught school and worked in the harvest fields during the long summer vacations. When in college he lived so frugally that sometimes he did not spend more than half a dollar a week.
The greatest interest of John Muir's life had always been the things he found in nature. From the days when, as a little fellow, he played around the fields and streams near Dunbar in Scotland, he had loved the open air and the hundreds of things which lived and grew there. When he did finish his course at college he suffered from eye trouble, and was even threatened with blindness. ”

“ After a few years the school which Booker Washington began in an old shanty, had grown to be an institution with eleven hundred pupils and a staff of eighty-six officers and teachers.
Booker T. Washington—now known everywhere as Professor Washington—became one of the greatest orators in the United States. Often he made speeches before tremendous audiences, and always succeeded in raising the white man's idea of the coloured people. ”

“ He wanted to be a shoemaker like his father. The little workshop in which Henry and his father worked, was a little lean-to at the gable-end of the cottage. Out of the window Henry could see a barn and an old thatched cottage. The room was so small that those working had to get into opposite corners so as not to interfere with each other's movements. Sometimes there was a hired workman, and even a fourth place was often made for the local postman, who worked at making and repairing ladies' boots between his arrival with the letters and his departure. ”

“ By this time Josiah Wedgewood was known throughout England and in many lands far beyond. There was great interest taken when his leg was amputated and many of the leading people of England, including the King and Queen, were greatly relieved when it was known that the operation had been a success. When he regained his strength he soon returned to the work he loved so much and sought to make his products more perfect.
Probably there has never been a more skilled potter than Josiah Wedgewood. There have been other skilful men, but they have almost always copied one from another. ”

“ His books proved helpful to thousands of people. From every part of the world letters came from people whose lives had been greatly blessed by reading the works of the blind author. What was true of his preaching was also true of his writing. People felt, at once, the strong, cheerful, grateful heart of the author. Great numbers of people, around whose lives heavy clouds had gathered, had their hearts strengthened, and their faith in God renewed, as they read George Matheson's books.
In 1882 he wrote his famous hymn, now known the world over, "O Love, that will not let me go." ”

“ After school they gave up their play and swept and scrubbed, and helped their mother to prepare the evening meal, and wash the dishes afterwards.
One morning the boys woke up to find that there was no kindling wood or coal wherewith to build the fire, so they decided to go out each evening to gather coal which had been carelessly spilled when coal was being delivered. A good deal of wood was also lying about the streets which they were glad to get. The mother remonstrated with the boys, but Edward said: "It is all right, Mother; this is America, where one can do anything if it is honest. ”

“ We rebel, and our souls shrivel up when Dad, Mother, Teacher or some interested friend starts to point out our weaknesses. On the other hand, how it stirs our blood and thrills us as we read of some fellow who has played the game of life against fearful odds and has come through with a crowning achievement! ”

“ When he became a potter he copied out those same flowers in his marvellous designs. He did not copy the works of other men; he followed as his ideal the things which God had made. He was by far the most original potter that the world has ever seen. His business became one of the great industries of England and he and Sarah built an ideal village called Etruria, where they lived with their daughter Susannah, who became the mother of the famous scientist, Charles Darwin. ”

“ Francis' father died when he was twelve years of age, and soon after he was apprenticed to a Mr. Robert Ramsay, who had a small shop in Sheffield where he sold pictures, plaster models, wood carvings, and such things. He was now in the midst of the things he loved, and he took great delight in handling pictures and plaster models. Nothing pleased him better than to model soft clay with his fingers. Sometimes a mould would be taken of a person's face, and young Chantrey thought that he would like to try and take a mould of this kind. ”

“ How few of those who so admired his culture and lofty thought realized that they were listening to a man who had never been to public school a day in his life, and who up to the time of his sixteenth birthday could neither read or write. Lord Plunkett, the Governor of New Zealand, greatly admired Mr. Flanaghan, and showed him much kindness. Sir J. C. Ward, the Prime Minister, made him an honoured guest of the Parliament, and wherever he went his fine bearing and culture made an excellent impression. ”

“ After his return to England Gipsy Smith became an assistant to the Rev. F. S. Collier, of Manchester. Here he continued to be a means of blessing to great numbers of people. Sometimes he preached to congregations of over five thousand, and always with good results. He soon became known as one of the greatest evangelists of Great Britain and wielded a great influence for good.
Gipsy Smith has paid several visits to America, and each time he has risen higher in the respect and love of the people. Wherever he goes crowds flock to hear him, and they are never disappointed. ”

“ When he was seven the time came for him to go to school, so he returned to his father's house in Saint Leons. The school he attended, which was the schoolmaster's home, consisted of one room, which had to serve as school, kitchen, bedroom, dining-room, and, sometimes, chicken-house and piggery. The schoolmaster himself was not a man of much learning, and seemed more interested in his chickens and pigs than in anything else, but he managed to teach the pupils their letters and some elementary subjects. ”

“ While still a very young boy Henry began to help his father make and repair shoes. It was the greatest ambition of his life to become a good shoemaker. One day an incident happened which made him very proud. Toe-caps for boots were just coming into fashion, and they had to be carefully stitched. When it came to putting on the caps, Elias Jones was not sure of himself, so he went over to the school and asked permission for Henry to return home and do the sewing.
When twelve years of age Henry left school to become a shoemaker's apprentice with his father. ”

“ When he was no longer an apprentice he looked around for some way in which to earn a living. He was severely handicapped in some ways. When he was ten years of age his parents made the discovery that he was quite blind in one eye. Up to that time no one had ever suspected such a thing. Then again he had attended school very little and was not by any means a good scholar. The letters which he wrote when he became a man show that even then he was a very poor scholar. ”

“ His father, who was by trade a stone-mason, was a man of intemperate habits, and as a result there was constant poverty in the Kitto home. John never went to school for more than a few days in his life. At ten years of age he began to help his father and often had to stagger along under very heavy loads, or climb ladders carrying slates for the roof. For two years the boy did almost a man's work, and then, one day as he was ascending a ladder carrying a heavy load of slates, he missed his footing and fell a distance of thirty-five feet. ”

“ It was fortunate for John that he had made good progress at school before he left Scotland, for he had few opportunities to study after he arrived on the backwoods farm.
For many years nearly every waking moment was spent in doing some kind of manual work. However, he was hungry for knowledge, and eagerly read the few books which came his way. Among these were the Bible, parts of Shakespeare's poems, and selections from Milton, Cowper and others, not often read by boys of his age. ”

“ George Matheson lived to be sixty-four years of age and managed to fill every hour with useful and loving service. To read an account of one day's work in the life of this blind man is sufficient to make most people realize how hard he worked. ”