ful Knowledge, as "a most extraordinary instance of literary industry and perseverance;" and to urge upon our young friends the importance of never giving way to trifles, either in their literary pursuits, or in the acquisition of any branch of science or art, to which their taste might lead them. The Rev. William Davy, A. B. was born in 1743, near Chudleigh in Devonshire, England, where his father resided on a small farm, his own freehold. From a very early age he gave proofs of a mechanical genius, and when only eight years old, he cut out with a knife and put together the parts of a small mill, after the model of one that was then building in the neighborhood, the progress made in constructing which he used to observe narrowly every day, while he proceeded with equal regularity in the completion of his own little work. When the large mill was finished, it was found not to work exactly as it ought to have done, and the defect at first eluded the detection even of the builder. It is said, that while they were endeavoring to ascertain what was wrong, the young self-taught architect made his appearance, and observing that his mill went perfectly well, pointed out after an examination of a few minutes, both the defect and the remedy. Being intended for the Church, he was placed at the Exeter Grammar School; and here he distinguished himself by his proficiency in classical learning, while he still retained his early attachment to mechanical pursuits, and exercised his talents in the construction of several curious and ingenious articles. At the age of eighteen he entered at Oxford, where he took the degree of A. B. at the usual time. It was during his residence at the University that he conceived the idea of compiling a system of divinity, to consist of selections from the best writers, and began to collect, in a common place book, such passages as he thought would suit his purpose. On leaving college, he was ordained to the curacy of Moreton, in the diocese of Exeter, and not long after he removed to the adjoining curacy of Lustleigh, with a salary of forty pounds a year. In the year 1786, he published, by subscription, six volumes of sermons by way of introduction to his intended work; but this proved an unfortunate speculation, many of the subscribers forgetting to pay for their copies, and he remained in consequence, indebted to his printer above a hundred pounds. This bad success, however, did not discourage him: he pursued his literary researches and completed the work. But when his manuscript was finished, he found that from its extent, it would cost two thousand pounds to get it printed. In these circumstances, he again contemplated publication by subscription, and issued his proposals accordingly; but the names he collected were too few to induce any bookseller to risk the expense of an impression of the work. Determined not to be defrauded of the honors of authorship, Mr. Davy now resolved to become a printer himself. So, having constructed his own press, and purchased from a printer, at Exeter, a quantity of worn and cast-off types, he commenced operations, having no one to assist him except his female servant, and having of course to perform alternately the offices of compositor and pressman. Yet in this manner did the ingenious and persevering man, sustained by the anticipation of the literary fame awaiting him, proceed until he had printed off forty copies of the first three hundred pages, his press only permitting him to do a single page at a time. Confident that he had now produced so ample a specimen of the work as would be certain to secure for it the general patronage of the learned, he here suspended his labors for awhile; and having forwarded copies to the Royal Society, the universities, certain of the bishops, and the editors of the principal reviews, waited with eager expectation for the notice and assistance which he conceived himself sure of receiving from some of these quarters. He waited, however, in vain; the looked-for encouragement came not. Still, although thus a second time disappointed, he was not to be driven from his purpose, but returned with unabated courage to his neglected labors. He no doubt thought that posterity would repair the injustice of his contemporaries. In one respect, however, he determined to alter his plan. His presents to the bishops, critics, and learned bodies, had cost him twenty-six of his forty copies; and for the completion of these, so thanklessly received, he naturally enough resolved that he would give himself no farther trouble, but limit the impression of the remainder of the work, so as merely to complete the fourteen copies which he had reserved, in this way saving both his labor and his paper. And he had at last, after thirteen years of unremitting toil, the gratification of bringing his extraordinary undertaking to a conclusion. The book, when finished, the reader will be astonished to learn, extended to no fewer than twenty-six volumes 8vo., of nearly five hundred pages each! In a like spirit of independence he next bound all the fourteen copies with his own hands; after which he proceeded in person to London, and deposited one in each of the principal public libraries there. We may smile at so preposterous a dedication of the labors of a life-time as this; but, at least, the pow er of extraordinary perseverance was not wanting here, nor the capability of being excited to arduous exertion, and long sustained under it, by those motives that act most strongly upon the noblest natures the consciousness of honorable pursuit, and a trust in the verdict of posterity. It is true this temper of mind might have been more wisely exercised; and the patience, ingenuity, and toil, which were expended upon a performance of no great use in itself, bestowed upon something better fitted to benefit both the zealous laborer and his fellow-men. Yet this consideration does not entitle us to refuse our admiration to so rare an example of the unwearied and inflexible prosecution of an object, in the absence of all those vulgar encouragements which are generally believed and felt to be so indispensable. DEATH. BY MISS CAROLINE BOWLES. Come not in terrors clad, to claim Come like an evening shadow Death! So stealthily! so silently! And shut mine eyes, and steal my breath: With thee I'll go away. What need to clutch with iron grasp, The wearied soul would hardly care,- "Tis not as when thou markest out The loved, the loving-they who dream Then harsh thy kindest call may seem, But I have drank enough of life, And I may live to pain some heart To pain, but not to bless. O Death; Come quietly-come lovingly And shut mine eyes and steal my breath, TORTOISE-SHELL. The following singularly barbarous process for obtaining the tortoise-shell is abstracted from an Indian newspaper, called the Singapore Chronicle:-This highly-prized aquatic production, when caught by the Eastern islanders, is suspended over a fire, kindled immediately after its capture, until such time as the effect of the heat loosens the shell to such a degree that it can be removed with the greatest ease. The animal, now stripped and defenceless, is set at liberty, to re-enter its native element. If caught in the ensuing season, or at any subsequent period, it is asserted that the unhappy animal is subjected to a second ordeal of fire, rewarding its capturers this time, however, with a very thin shell. This, if true, shows more policy and skill than tenderness in the method thus adopted by the islanders; it is a questionless proof, too, of tenacity of life in the animal, and must further be accounted a very singlar fact in natural history. |