Self Help; with Illustrations of Conduct and PerseveranceSmiles, Samuel
Philosophy
Self Help; with Illustrations of Conduct and Perseverance
Smiles, Samuel
Conduct of life
Nothing can compensate for the loss of hope in a man: it entirely changes
the character. “How can I work—how can I be happy,” said a great but
miserable thinker, “when I have lost all hope?” One of the most cheerful
and courageous, because one of the most hopeful of workers, was Carey,
the missionary. When in India, it was no uncommon thing for him to weary
out three pundits, who officiated as his clerks, in one day, he himself
taking rest only in change of employment. Carey, the son of a
shoe-maker, was supported in his labours by Ward, the son of a carpenter,
and Marsham, the son of a weaver. By their labours, a magnificent
college was erected at Serampore; sixteen flourishing stations were
established; the Bible was translated into sixteen languages, and the
seeds were sown of a beneficent moral revolution in British India. Carey
was never ashamed of the humbleness of his origin. On one occasion, when
at the Governor-General’s table he over-heard an officer opposite him
asking another, loud enough to be heard, whether Carey had not once been
a shoemaker: “No, sir,” exclaimed Carey immediately; “only a cobbler.”
An eminently characteristic anecdote has been told of his perseverance as
a boy. When climbing a tree one day, his foot slipped, and he fell to
the ground, breaking his leg by the fall. He was confined to his bed for
weeks, but when he recovered and was able to walk without support, the
very first thing he did was to go and climb that tree. Carey had need of
this sort of dauntless courage for the great missionary work of his life,
and nobly and resolutely he did it.
It was a maxim of Dr. Young, the philosopher, that “Any man can do what
any other man has done;” and it is unquestionable that he himself never
recoiled from any trials to which he determined to subject himself. It
is related of him, that the first time he mounted a horse, he was in
company with the grandson of Mr. Barclay of Ury, the well-known
sportsman; when the horseman who preceded them leapt a high fence. Young
wished to imitate him, but fell off his horse in the attempt. Without
saying a word, he remounted, made a second effort, and was again
unsuccessful, but this time he was not thrown further than on to the
horse’s neck, to which he clung. At the third trial, he succeeded, and
cleared the fence.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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