Edward Teach

“ Summary.—Most of Edward VI grammar-schools were founded out of small portions of property which had belonged to religious houses. Generally they were only for a small number of scholars. In the eighteenth century many of these schools were in a very poor condition. Most of them now are alive and flourishing. In the seventeenth century a good many attempts were made to teach the children of the poor on a small scale. ”

“ Edward was sent to Westminster school as a home boarder in 1795, before he had completed his seventh year. He became a king's scholar in 1800, and was elected head to Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1805. He obtained the wooden spoon in 1809, graduating B.A. in the same year, and M.A. in 1812. As a middle bachelor he gained one of the members' prizes for Latin prose in 1810, and in the following year he gained a similar distinction as a senior bachelor. He was elected to a fellowship of Sidney-Sussex College in 1812, and won the Seatonian prize for English verse in 1813, 1814, 1827, and 1828. ”

“ Some honours—none of them of any value in a money point of view—were now awarded to Edward. The Linnean Society having discovered his genius and talent, unanimously elected him an Associate in 1866. Immediately afterwards, the Natural History Society of Aberdeen unanimously admitted him a member; and in 1867 he received the diploma of the Glasgow Natural History Society. 'Although Banff,' says Mr Smiles, 'possessed an "Institution for Science, Literature, and the Arts, and for the encouragement of native genius and talent," the members did not even elect Edward an honorary member. ”

“ But, evidently, much would depend upon the character of the tutor. A high-minded, well-balanced scholar might be of inestimable service to a youth eager to improve his opportunities. But the number of well-equipped tutors must have been relatively small. The low ebb to which education had sunk at Cambridge and Oxford had brought it about that only an occasional scholar was even moderately competent to direct the work of his pupil, to say nothing of serving as a guide on the Continent. ”

“ In wealthy English families of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the education of young men was largely in the hands of private tutors. A few great public schools, like Eton and Winchester and Westminster, were famous, but for a variety of reasons many parents preferred to keep their sons under their own eyes and engaged private teachers for home training. And even after a youth had gone through a public school and the university, the tutor was felt to be the most suitable companion for the Continental tour, the importance of which was taken for granted. ”

“ Never before was there a career so fully opened to talent. The academic teacher's fame took him from the lecture-room to the court, from the university to the episcopal throne, and so it was that the university influenced action almost as profoundly as it influenced thought, and affected all classes of society alike. The struggles of poor students like Edmund of Abingdon or 093Grosseteste must not make us think that the universities of this period were exclusively frequented by humble scholars. ”

“ For you have done more than the teacher sometimes,” he frankly added.
George Edward tried to protest, but it was no use. “Don’t be discouraged,” added the teacher kindly, “if prizes do not fall to you now; but keep on.”
“I should have liked to carry one home to father and mother,” said George Edward honestly.
“Of course; who of us does not?” assented Mr. Bryan. “Let me tell you though, my boy, that the prizes, though late often, that fall to industry and conscientious work, are better worth getting. ”

“ When they arrived at the great metropolis of the West, Edward offered to see Miss King to her home, while the Russian was to wait at the station until his return.
When Edward came back, his friend asked him: "Did she cry when you left her?"
"Ben, I don't like to hear you speak this way about her. No; I won't permit any joking about it."
"All right, Ed, but what do you know about her?"
"I know that she is a good girl, and that she is not making sport of me."
"How do you know it?"
"She told me so."
"Oh! la! la! la! She told you so, eh? Don't you know that women can say anything?" ”

“ The bone in question is now one of the most cherished relics of the Banff Museum.
BANFF MUSEUM.
[373]
CHAPTER XVIII.
CONCLUSION. Edward’s labours were now drawing to a close. He had fought the fight of science inch by inch, until he could fight no more. He had also fought the fight of honest poverty—a great triumph and a great glory.
The honest man, though e’er sae poor,
Is king o’ men, for a’ that.
It is said that the man who can pay his way is not poor. Edward could always do that. He was in no man’s debt. He had lived within his means, small though they were. ”

“ Of the state of learning, in the houses at any rate of the upper classes, much is to be said that reflects credit on our ancestors. The royal court of Henry VIII., whatever might be its faults, did not neglect study. In the case of Prince Edward, afterwards Edward VI., devotion to his books no doubt had an injurious effect on his health, and there is no saying what might have been the result to England had he had less learning and more exercise. ”

“ As he spoke, Edward had extended his hand as if to raise the young girl from his feet, but instead of this he laid it among the rich tresses of her hair, where it rested pale and caressingly lighted up by his own princely gift of jewels, and sinking to his seat again he bent forward and addressed the wondering girl in a low and earnest voice, smiling as he spoke, and faintly blushing as he saw that his words made the warm color deepen and glow in the cheek that had a moment before looked so cold and pale. ”

“ I am now rich beyond the comprehension of your economical German mind, and surely I may be allowed, in the interests of science, of my ward and myself to spend from the abundant store. I look for you early. In the meantime, I will be careful in my experiments. Come at once! The mind has an independent memory and you can demonstrate it."
Edward knew that there was more on that concluding sentence than in the rest of the letter and exchange combined, and half-believing it, he stated it as a prophecy. ”

“ And I am not sure but that in this he is pursuing the wisest course, heredity being the primer."
"You believe he has made a new discovery, then?"
"As to that, no. The speculative mind is tolerant. It accepts nothing that is not proven; it rejects nothing that has not been disproved. The original ideas in most discoveries in their crude forms were not less wild than this. All men who observe are friends of science."
The incident pleased Edward. To bring the professor and Gerald together he had feared would be difficult. Chance and the professor's tact had already accomplished this successfully. ”

“ William Church, is also a resident of Falmouth. After receiving the best education the common schools of that day could give, Edward was one of the first pupils at Norton Academy in April, 1829, of whom the “Records of Students” says: —
Though quite a lad, he showed aptness for learning. Subsequently he left the province and became Chief of the Bureau of Statistics at Washington, received the degree of M.A. from Acadia College, and afterwards Ph.D. from Columbian University, Washington. He has proved himself the constant friend of Acadia. ”

“ While Edward was a little child he lived chiefly in the country, and was brought up till he was six years old by the women of the household. After that he had learned men for his schoolmasters, and they taught him languages, philosophy, and such art and science as were known at the time. ”

“ The Parliament foolishly throwing good money after bad, granted immense supplies, for which the king thanked them in the fulness of his heart, for the fulness of his pocket. Returning to Flanders, he met the enemy at the harbour of Sluys, on the 24th of June, 1340, when a battle ensued, in which Edward astonished his own followers by his most successful début in a naval character. He gave orders to the sailors as freely as if he had been playing in nautical dramas and dancing naval hornpipes from the days of his infancy. ”

“ Many branches of mathematics were seriously attacked, and the youth ploughed through masses of divinity. At Michaelmas 1650 Edward went to Oxford, and matriculated at Magdalen Hall on 19 Nov. He left the university after a few months' stay in 1651 without a degree, and sought a livelihood in London in private tuition or in work for the booksellers, which he looked to obtain either by his own ability or his uncle's influence. ”

“ In compliance with his wishes, his father had given him a liberal education, but when, upon leaving college he requested permission to study some profession, he met with a decided negative. “I wish you to be a merchant, Edward,” said his father, “I have given you an education which will enable you to be an enlightened and intelligent one, but upon yourself it depends to become a rich one. Talents and learning without money are of as little use as rough gems ”

“ Yes, Edward acts on his father's plan, and he says the old marquis always insisted that a child was more formed by his companions than by his teachers; that one dissipated worldly companion would contaminate a school. ”

“ There is a tradition that Prince Edward studied at Queen's College, Oxford, and this may perhaps have been the case, as Queen's College was founded by his mother, Queen Philippa; but the story rests on no authentic evidence. ”

“ Edward was a wonderfully successful man. But success in life does not consist in that only, if in that at all. Edward lived for an aim, and that aim he amply attained. He never neglected his home duties or his regular work; but in his stray moments he found time to amass an amount of knowledge which rendered him the intellectual equal of men whose opportunities and education had been far more fortunate than his own. The pleasure he found in his work was the real reward that science gave him. ”

“ The professor gazed about him. "How was it you used to say good-night, Edward? Old customs are good. It is not possible that the violin has been lost." He smiled and Edward got his instrument and played. He knew the old man's favorites; the little folk-melodies of the Rhine country, bits of love songs, mostly, around which the loving players of Germany have woven so many beautiful fancies. And in the playing Edward himself was quieted.
The light from the hall downstairs streamed out along the gravel walk, and in the glare was a man standing with arms folded and head bent forward. ”

“ And at this the astonished look on Edward's face deepened.
"Is Mr. Minturn here?" he asked.
"No; but his son is. Are you so surprised that I should have prayers in my father's absence?"
"Yes," said Edward; "I didn't know—I mean I didn't think"—
"You didn't think I had learned to pray, perhaps. Thank God, I have." Then he laid his hand kindly on Edward's shoulder. "Have you learned that precious lesson yet, my friend?"
"Yes," said Edward softly; "a good while ago."
"I am very glad; you will never learn anything else that is quite so important. What is all the study for, by the way? ”

“ In October, 1883, as had been arranged, Edward went up to Trinity College, Cambridge. I had a short letter from Arthur telling me. It ended characteristically thus: "I don't in the least care that Edward should be distinguished academically. I do care very much what sort of a character he is. What one does, matters so very much less than how one does it. It is the method, not the thing, which shows what the man is. I shall be very much disgusted if he means to work and doesn't, but merely drifts ”

“ Edward knew that his friend was an enemy of womankind, and therefore he saw fit to close the discussion as soon as possible.
They left their baggage in the check-room and went to a cheap hotel where they had lunch, and afterward the Russian asked Edward about the program for the afternoon.
"My program is already made," said Edward. "I shall call on Miss King." They walked together in the direction of her home, where they parted, after having agreed to meet later at the hotel. ”

“ CHAPTER XXXVII A profound belief in the efficacy of his eloquence, when he chose to expend it, was one of the principal supports of Edward's sense of mastery; a secret sense belonging to certain men in every station of life, and which is the staff of many an otherwise impressible and fluctuating intellect. ”

“ In spite of the base ingratitude with which he had been treated, and the breach of faith which saddled him with enormous liabilities and debts, which weighed him down and imbittered the rest of his life, Edward remained faithful to the cause of his father's ally, and did his best to maintain him in the position which English valor had won for him. He himself with a few companions passed through Navarre, and arrived safely in Bordeaux, where his wife awaited him, and where he was received with rejoicings and festivities in honor of his glorious campaign in Spain. ”

“ The new scheme was large and comprehensive, including as it did the creation of scholarships in the leading towns of the United Kingdom and the Dominions beyond the seas. The realisation of such a project would have been impossible, had it not been for the extraordinary influence exercised by the late King Edward, and the enthusiasm he extended towards its accomplishment. ”