Little John Flaxman--for that was the boy’s name--came into the world with so frail a body that few people thought he could live very long. For the first ten years of his life only the constant care of his father and mother kept him alive. He attended school for a very short time. His health made it impossible for him to take his place alongside other boys, and as to romping around and playing with them, of course it was out of the question. He hobbled around on crutches and often as he lay at home supported by pillows he could hear the shouts of other boys at play. The plaster casts around his father’s shop never failed to interest John Flaxman. He asked a great many questions about each one, and questions which his parents could not always answer. He was anxious to get an education and as he was unable to attend school he depended largely upon the help his parents could give him. One day a clergyman named Matthews visited the shop in order to get a little model repaired which his servant had broken. While Mr. Flaxman, senior, was repairing the figure, the clergyman noticed little John reading and when he saw that the book was a Latin grammar he became interested at once. The pale, delicate face of the boy greatly attracted Mr. Matthews and he promised to return the following day with a book of Homer so that the boy could learn about the classic heroes, concerning whom the lad asked so many times. The clergyman was as good as his word, and next day put into John’s hands a volume of Homer, which so fascinated John Flaxman, that soon he covered whole sheets of paper with sketches of scenes from Homer’s works. He spent a great many hours trying to mould figures, using plaster of paris, soft clay or wax. As he was only eight or nine years of age, his models were quite crude, but he laboured away and as he seemed so supremely happy in doing it, his parents gently praised his work. After he passed his tenth birthday he began to grow stronger. He became well enough to go out without his crutches, and while he was far from being as robust as other lads of his age, he was able to take walks in the park and soon some colour of health stole into his cheeks.