ruary, 1779. The news of the event was received with general lamentation, not only in our own country, but throughout Europe. Pensions were bestowed upon his widow and three sons by the Government; the Royal Society ordered a medal to be struck in commemoration of him; his eulogy was pronounced in the Florentine Academy; and various ther honours were paid to his memory, both by public bodies and individuals. Thus, by his own persevering efforts, did this great man raise himself from the lowest obscurity to a reputation wide as the world itself, and certain to last as long as the age in which he flourished shall be remembered by history. But better still than even all this famethan either the honours which he received while living, or those which, when he was no more, his country and mankind bestowed upon his memory-he had exalted himself in the scale of moral and intellectual being; had won for himself, by his unwearied striving, a new and nobler nature, and taken a high place among the instructors and best benefactors of mankind. This alone is true happiness-the one worthy end of human exertion or ambition—the only satisfying reward of all labour, and study, and virtuous activity or endurance. Among the shipmates with whom Cook mixed when he first went to sea, there was, perhaps, no one who ever either raised himself above the condition to which he then belonged, in point of outward circumstances, or enlarged in any considerable degree the knowledge or mental resources he then possessed. And some will, perhaps, say that this was little to be regretted, at least on their own account; that the many who spent their lives in their original sphere were probably as happy as the one who succeeded in rising above it. But this is to cast but a hasty glance on human nature, and the scene of things in which we are placed. That man was never truly happy-happy upon reflection and while looking to the past or the future-who could not say to himself that he had made something of the faculties God had given him, and had not lived altogether without progression, like one of the inferior animals. We do not speak of mere wealth or station :-these are comparatively nothing; are as often missed as attained, even by those who best merit them; and do not of themselves constitute happiness when they are attained. But there must be some consciousness of an intellectual or moral progress, or there can be no satisfaction-no self-congratulation on reviewing what of life may be already gone-no hope in the prospect of what is yet to come. All men feel this, and feel it strongly; and, if they could secure for themselves the source of happiness in question by a wish, they would avail themselves of the privilege with sufficient alacrity. Nobody would pass his life in ignorance, if knowledge might be had by merely looking up to the clouds for it: it is the labour necessary for its acquirement that scares them. Yet it is, in truth, from the exertion by which it must be obtained, that knowledge derives at least half its value; for to

this entirely we owe the sense of merit in ourselves which the acquisition brings along with it, and hence no little of the happiness of which we have just described its possession to be the source. Besides that the labour itself soon becomes an enjoyment.

To the example of Cook, if it were necessary, we might add those of others of his countrymen, who, since his time, have shown, in like manner, the possibility of uniting the cultivation of literature and science to the most zealous performance of the duties of the same laborious profession. For instance, VANCOUVER was a sailor formed under Cook; and to him we owe an interesting and ably written account of the voyage which he made round the world in 1790 and the four following years. Lieutenant FLINDERS commanded the expedition sent out in 1801 to survey the coast of New Holland, and afterwards published an account of his voyage, accompanied by a volume of charts, which are considered as placing the author in the highest rank of modern hydrographers. In particular, we ought not here to forget the late Lord COLLINGWOOD, second in command to Nelson at Trafalgar, and in all respects a man of first-rate merit, who, although he never sent any production to the press, has been proved by his correspondence, published since his death, to have been in reality one of the best of writers. Yet he was only thirteen when he first entered the navy, and during the remainder of his life he was scarcely ever ashore-circumstances which used to make his acquaintances wonder not a little where he got his style. He had always, however, been fond of reading and the study of elegant literature; and he found that even a life at sea afforded him many opportunities of indulging his taste for these enjoyments.

Lord Collingwood may be said to have been, in all respects, a perfect illustration of Wordsworth's fine lines on the character of "The Happy Warrior:"

"Whose powers shed round him in the common strife,

Or mild concerns of ordinary life,

A constant influence-a peculiar grace:

But who, if he be called upon to face

Some awful moment, to which Heaven has joined

Great issues, good or bad, for human kind,

Is happy as a lover, and attired

With sudden brightness, like a man inspired;
And, through the heat of conflict, keeps the law
In calmness made, and sees what he foresaw;
Or if an unexpected call succeed,

Come when it will, is equal to the need.

He who though thus endued as with a sense

And faculty for storm and turbulence,

Is yet a soul whose master-bias leans

To home-felt pleasures and to gentle scenes;-
Sweet images! which, whereso'er he be,

Are at his heart; and such fidelity

It is his darling passion to approve ;

More brave for this, that he hath much to love."

Many names of officers, both in the sea and the land service, still living or only recently deceased, who have distinguished themselves at once as skilful commanders, and as ardent cultivators of science and learning, will occur to the memory of every reader.

CHAPTER IX.

LITERARY PURSUITS OF MERCHANTS :-SOLON; GUYS; DUDLEY NORTH;

RICARDO.

We will now return to civil life, from the higher walks of which we have already quoted several examples of an attachment to literary and scientific pursuits in the midst of much occupation, and the attainment of eminence at the same time in the world of letters and in that of politics. We shall find that the cares of ordinary business have also left time to many to earn distinction by their learning and their writings, as well as the toils and anxieties of state affairs.

Perhaps the earliest literary merchant we have on record is the celebrated Athenian lawgiver, SOLON. Although descended from one of the most distinguished families in Athens, Solon found himself obliged, on setting out in life, to attempt the re-establishment of the decayed fortunes of his house by engaging in foreign commerce. After the manner customary in those days, he proceeded in person to distant countries along with the goods which he had to dispose of. To a mind such as his, however, the opportunities of an occupation of this kind were invaluable. He returned to his native country not only enriched by the success of his speculations, but fraught with all the learning and philosophy of the countries in which civilization had then made the greatest progress; and fitted to inform and control his fellow-citizens by the lessons of a new wisdom, made attractive by the charms of eloquence and poetry. He had sought, in the course of his travels, still more anxiously for knowledge than for wealth, and he had found both in abundance. When he reappeared in his native country, his fame had preceded him, and he was welcomed by all ranks as the fittest person to assume the government and regulation of the state. He accepted the call, and distinguished himself, as all our readers know, by the wise laws which he established, and the admirable ability and rectitude of his administration. But his love of literature and philosophic speculation still clung to him; and after the usurpation of Pisistratus had overturned the system of good government which he had reared, and the folly and ingratitude of his fellow-citizens compelled him to withdraw

from Athens, we are told that he employed his old age in giving the last finish to some of his poetical compositions, especially his great work, entitled Atlantis, which unfortunately has not come down to us. Solon's fame, however, both as a poet and an orator, long survived among his countrymen, and some fragments of his poetry are still extant.

A French merchant, M. Guys, has, in modern times, distinguished himself by his learned researches touching the geography and history of the country of Solon. Guys had spent the early part of his commercial life in Turkey, and it was while residing there that he conceived the idea of availing himself of the many opportunities his situation afforded him, to compare the existing condition of Greece, and the manners of its inhabitants, with the accounts handed down to us by the classic authors of its ancient state. His object was to ascertain what traces of the old times were still to be found, either in the character and habits of the people, or in the natural aspect and architectural monuments of the country. For this purpose, he repeatedly travelled over both the Morea and the islands of the Archipelago, with Homer and Pausanias in his hand, everywhere comparing what he observed with their descriptions, and those of other ancient authorities. Not satisfied with this anxious investigation of his subject, he did not venture to commence the preparation of his projected work until he had, by long practice, obtained so much skill in the art of composition as gave him reason to hope that he should be able to make it, in all respects, worthy of the acceptance of the public. Keeping his materials by him for some years, he embraced several opportunities of exercising his pen upon lighter topics, producing, among other pieces, a discourse on the "Utility of Literary and Scientific Accomplishments to a Commercial Man," which he read before the Academy of Marseilles, where he now carried on business. At last he published, in 1772, his principal work, under the title of "Literary Travels in Greece," which immediately procured for him a distinguished reputation as a man of letters. The Greeks themselves, in particular, were so much flattered by the learning and talent which he had brought to the illustration of their usages and antiquities, that they sent him a diploma creating him a citizen of Athens. After this, Guys produced various other performances, both in prose and verse, all of respectable merit, and left at his death a considerable number of manuscripts ready for publication; but he is principally remembered for his Literary Travels, of which he was preparing for the press a fourth and a greatly enlarged edition, when he died in 1799, in his seventy-ninth year. He was an associate of the Institute of France, as well as member of various other literary institutions.

Our countryman Sir DUDLEY NORTH also began the world as a Turkey merchant. He was the third son of the fourth Lord North, who was a studious man, and the author of several literary works. In