ceived it with looks and gestures of kindness and satisfac tion; and observing that each of them held one in his hand, we immediately gathered every one a bough, and carried it in our hands in the same manner. same. They marched with us about half a mile towards the place where the Dolphin had watered, conducted by Owhaw; then they made a full stop, and having laid the ground bare, by clearing away all the plants that grew upon it, the principal persons among them threw their green branches upon the naked spot, and made signs that we should do the We immediately showed our readiness to comply, and to give a greater solemnity to the rite, the marines were drawn up, and marching in order, each dropped his bough upon those of the Indians, and we followed their example. We then proceeded, and when we came to the watering-place it was intimated to us by signs, that we might occupy that ground, but it happened not to be fit for our purpose. During our walk they had shaken off their first timid sense of our superiority, and were become familiar; they went with us from the watering-place, and took a circuit through the woods. As we went along, we distributed beads and other small presents among them, and had the satisfaction to see that they were much gratified. Our circuit was not less than four or five miles, through groves of trees, which were loaded with cocoa-nuts and bread-fruit, and afforded the most grateful shade. Under these trees were the habitations of the people, most of them being only a roof without walls, and the whole scene realized the poetical fables of Arcadia. It is a common thing for men of business to say that they are "fond of books, but have no time for reading." In some instances this may really be the case; but, for the most part, they had better acknowledge that they care little for what they can find no time to do. In these, as in most other circumstances, "where there is a will there is a way;" and it is the design of the following extracts from the life of William Hutton to show it. They may be of service both to employers and the employed. The best workman is he who can do his work with cheerfulness; he is the man whose nature is the best and completest, who has his faculties most about him, and in the most fitting abundance; and the way to turn our faculties to the best account, is to give them fair play-to see that the senses of the mind (if we may so call them) have as much reasonable fruition as those that contribute to the nourishment and refreshment of the body. Hutton of Birmingham (as he is familiarly called) combined, in a remarkable manner, prudence with enterprise, industry with amusement, and the love of books with devotion to business, and all because he was a thorough human being of his class, probably from causes anterior to his birth. Not that his father was a person of any very edifying description. His son gives the following amusing account of him :-"Though my father was neither young, being forty-two, nor handsome, having lost an eye, nor sober, for he spent all he could get in liquor, nor clean, for his trade was oily, nor without shackles, for he had five children, yet women of various descriptions courted his smiles, and were much inclined to pull caps for him." But this squalid Lothario probably supplied him with wit and address, and his mother with thought and a good constitution. William Hutton was the son of a poor wool-worker. He was brought up as a poor weaver, had not a penny in the world, became a bookbinder under the poorest auspices, and ended with being a rich man, and living in wealth and honour to the age of ninety-two. The passages selected are from a life of him written by himself, and in the original are accompanied with a great deal of additional matter, all worth reading, and in the course of which he gives an account of the rise and progress of his courtship of Mrs. Hutton, here only intimated. He was one of the sufferers from the Riots of Birmingham (which he has recorded), and author of amusing Histories of that town and of Derby. The Robert Bage whom he mentions as his friend and benefactor, and who was another man of his sort, though in every respect of a higher class, is better known by his writings than his name, being no other than the author of Hermsprong, Man as he Is, and other novels well known to the readers of circulating libraries, and admired by Walter Scott. Two such men of business as Hutton and Robert Bage have seldom come together, at least not in the eyes of the world; and as they came in the shapes of bookseller and paper-maker, we have special pleasure in thus bringing them before the reader. PASSAGES FROM THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF WILLIAM HUTTON. WHAT 1741. WHAT the mind is bent upon obtaining, the hand seldom fails in accomplishing. I detested the frame, as totally unsuitable to my temper; therefore I produeed no more profit than necessity demanded. I made shift, however, with a little overwork and a little credit, to raise a genteel suit of clothes, fully adequate to the sphere in which I moved. The girls eyed me with some attention; nay I eyed myself as much as any of them, 1743. At Whitsuntide I went to see my father, and was favourably received by my acquaintance. One of them played upon the bell-harp. I was charmed with the sound, and agreed for the price, when I could raise the sum, half a-crown. At Michaelmas I went to Derby, to pay for and bring back my bell-harp, whose sound I thought seraphic. This opened a scene of pleasure which continued many years. Music was my daily study and delight. But, perhaps, I laboured under greater difficulties than any one had done before me. I could not afford an instructor. I had no books, nor could I borrow, or buy; neither had I a friend to give me the least hint, or put my instrument in tune. Thus I was in the situation of a first inventor, left to grope in the dark to find something. I had first my ear to bring into tune, before I could tune the instrument; for the ear is the foundation of all music. That is the best tune which best pleases the ear, and he keeps the best time who draws the most music from his tune. For six months did I use every effort to bring a tune out of an instrument which was so dreadfully out, it had no tune in it. Assiduity never forsook me. I was encouraged by a couplet I had seen in Dyce's Spelling-book: "Despair of nothing that you would attain, When I was able to lay a foundation, the improvement and the pleasure were progressive. Wishing to rise, I borrowed a dulcimer, made one by it, then learned to play upon it. But in the fabrication of this instrument, I had neither timber to work upon, tools to work with, nor money to purchase either. It is said "necessity is the mother of invention." I pulled a large trunk to pieces, one of the relics of my family, but formerly the property of Thomas Parker, the first Earl of Macclesfield. And as to tools, I considered that the hammer-key and the plyers belonging to the stocking-frame, would supply the place of hammer and pincers. My pocket-knife was all the edge-tools I could raise; a fork, with one limb, was made to act in the double capacity of spring-awl and gimlet. I quickly was master of this piece of music; for if a man can play upon one instrument he can soon learn upon any. A young man, apprentice to a baker, happening to see the dulcimer, asked if I could perform upon it. Struck with the sound, and with seeing me play with what he thought great ease, he asked if I would part with the instrument, and at what price? I answered in the affirmative, and, for sixteen shillings. He gave it. I told him, "If he wanted advice, or his instrument wanted tuning, I would assist him." 66 Oh no, there's not a doubt but I shall do." I bought a coat with the money, and constructed a better instrument. 1746. An inclination for books began to expand; but here, as in music and dress, money was wanting. The first article of purchase was three volumes of the Gentleman's Magazine, 1742, 3, and 4. As I could not afford to pay for binding, I fastened them together in a most cobbled style. These afforded me a treat. I could only raise books of small value, and these in worn-out bindings. I learned to patch, procured paste, -varnish, &c., and brought them into tolerable order; erected shelves, and arranged them in the best manner I was able. If I purchased shabby books, it is no wonder that I dealt with a shabby bookseller who kept his working apparatus in his shop. It is no wonder, too, if by repeated visits I became acquainted with this shabby bookseller, and often saw him at work; but it is a wonder and a fact, that I never saw him perform one act but I could perform it myself; so strong was the desire to attain the art. |