Self Help | Page 9

have borne witness to the like noble self-denial
and devotion on the part of our gentler classes; many a gallant and
noble fellow, of rank and estate, having risked his life, or lost it, in one

or other of those fields of action, in the service of his country.
Nor have the wealthier classes been undistinguished in the more
peaceful pursuits of philosophy and science. Take, for instance, the
great names of Bacon, the father of modern philosophy, and of
Worcester, Boyle, Cavendish, Talbot, and Rosse, in science. The last
named may be regarded as the great mechanic of the peerage; a man
who, if he had not been born a peer, would probably have taken the
highest rank as an inventor. So thorough is his knowledge of
smith-work that he is said to have been pressed on one occasion to
accept the foremanship of a large workshop, by a manufacturer to
whom his rank was unknown. The great Rosse telescope, of his own
fabrication, is certainly the most extraordinary instrument of the kind
that has yet been constructed.
But it is principally in the departments of politics and literature that we
find the most energetic labourers amongst our higher classes. Success
in these lines of action, as in all others, can only be achieved through
industry, practice, and study; and the great Minister, or parliamentary
leader, must necessarily be amongst the very hardest of workers. Such
was Palmerston; and such are Derby and Russell, Disraeli and
Gladstone. These men have had the benefit of no Ten Hours Bill, but
have often, during the busy season of Parliament, worked "double
shift," almost day and night. One of the most illustrious of such
workers in modern times was unquestionably the late Sir Robert Peel.
He possessed in an extraordinary degree the power of continuous
intellectual labour, nor did he spare himself. His career, indeed,
presented a remarkable example of how much a man of comparatively
moderate powers can accomplish by means of assiduous application
and indefatigable industry. During the forty years that he held a seat in
Parliament, his labours were prodigious. He was a most conscientious
man, and whatever he undertook to do, he did thoroughly. All his
speeches bear evidence of his careful study of everything that had been
spoken or written on the subject under consideration. He was elaborate
almost to excess; and spared no pains to adapt himself to the various
capacities of his audience. Withal, he possessed much practical sagacity,
great strength of purpose, and power to direct the issues of action with

steady hand and eye. In one respect he surpassed most men: his
principles broadened and enlarged with time; and age, instead of
contracting, only served to mellow and ripen his nature. To the last he
continued open to the reception of new views, and, though many
thought him cautious to excess, he did not allow himself to fall into that
indiscriminating admiration of the past, which is the palsy of many
minds similarly educated, and renders the old age of many nothing but
a pity.
The indefatigable industry of Lord Brougham has become almost
proverbial. His public labours have extended over a period of upwards
of sixty years, during which he has ranged over many fields--of law,
literature, politics, and science,--and achieved distinction in them all.
How he contrived it, has been to many a mystery. Once, when Sir
Samuel Romilly was requested to undertake some new work, he
excused himself by saying that he had no time; "but," he added, "go
with it to that fellow Brougham, he seems to have time for everything."
The secret of it was, that he never left a minute unemployed; withal he
possessed a constitution of iron. When arrived at an age at which most
men would have retired from the world to enjoy their hard-earned
leisure, perhaps to doze away their time in an easy chair, Lord
Brougham commenced and prosecuted a series of elaborate
investigations as to the laws of Light, and he submitted the results to
the most scientific audiences that Paris and London could muster.
About the same time, he was passing through the press his admirable
sketches of the 'Men of Science and Literature of the Reign of George
III.,' and taking his full share of the law business and the political
discussions in the House of Lords. Sydney Smith once recommended
him to confine himself to only the transaction of so much business as
three strong men could get through. But such was Brougham's love of
work--long become a habit--that no amount of application seems to
have been too great for him; and such was his love of excellence, that it
has been said of him that if his station in life had been only that of a
shoe-black, he would never