[Illustration: MOORE AND SCOTT IN THE RHYMER’S GLEN.] FOOTPRINTS OF FAMOUS MEN. DESIGNED AS INCITEMENTS TO INTELLECTUAL INDUSTRY. By JOHN G. EDGAR, AUTHOR OF “THE BOYHOOD OF GREAT MEN.” The heights by great men reached and kept, Were not attained by sudden flight, But they, while their companions slept, Were toiling upward in the night. LONGFELLOW. With Illustrations. NEW YORK: HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS. 1854. “Magna etiam illa laus, et admirabilis videri solet, tulisse casus sapienter adversos, non fractum esse fortuna, retinuisse in rebus asperis dignitatem.” CICERO _de Orat_. PHILADELPHIA: PRINTED BY KING & BAIRD, SANSOM STREET. CONTENTS. PAGE I.――MEN OF ACTION. WASHINGTON 9 BURKE 44 NECKER 68 PITT 82 LORD ERSKINE 103 LORD COLLINGWOOD 123 LORD TEIGNMOUTH 143 II.――MEN OF LETTERS. DEAN MILNER 159 DAVID HUME 180 ROBERT SOUTHEY 200 THOMAS MOORE 226 III.――ARTISTS. SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS 243 SIR FRANCIS CHANTREY 272 SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN 289 IV.――MEN OF SCIENCE. DR. WILLIAM HUNTER 305 BLACK 324 BRINDLEY 332 WATT 340 ADAM SMITH 348 LIST OF PLATES. MOORE AND SCOTT IN THE RHYMER’S GLEN _Frontis._ YOUNG WASHINGTON’S MILITARY ASPIRATIONS _Page_ 11 BURKE READING TO HIS MOTHER 46 ERSKINE’S FIRST SUCCESSES 116 COLLINGWOOD’S JUVENILE GENEROSITY 130 MILNER RESCUED FROM THE LOOM 166 SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS AT BLENHEIM 267 CHANTREY’S EARLY STUDIES 277 FOOTPRINTS OF FAMOUS MEN. WASHINGTON.