Thomas Carlyle was born in a little village in Scotland, in the year 1795.
His father, James Carlyle, was a poor mason, so poor that at times there was scarcely enough food in the house for his family; but the father resolved that the boy should have an education, and saved, little by little, the money to pay for it.
When Thomas was ten years old, he and his father walked to the town of Annan, where Thomas was to enter the academy. The father little dreamed, as they trudged along together, that one day his son would be famous as one of the world’s greatest writers, so great that even the Queen of England would wish to talk with him.
He studied at the academy of Annan for three years. His father, dressed in his coarse workman’s clothes, once visited him there. Thomas was afraid that the other boys would laugh at him, but the sturdy Scotchman was so dignified that he won their respect.
When Thomas reached the age of thirteen his parents decided to send him to the great University at Edinburgh. They walked through the village streets with him and watched him start on the highway. It was a journey of a hundred miles, and he traveled all the way on foot.
These experiences made the boy brave and resolute. He was not afraid of the world.