The occasional perusal of books which were brought to the shop of his employer to be bound, awakened Mr. Drew to a consciousness of his own ignorance, and determined him to acquire knowledge. Every moment he could snatch from sleep and labor, was now devoted to the reading of such books as his limited finances placed within his reach. One of the difficulties which he had to encounter at this outset of his literary career, arose from his ignorance of the import of words. To overcome this, he found it necessary, while reading, to keep a dictionary constantly at hand. The process was tedious, but it was unavoidable; and difficulties lessened at every step.
A new world was now opened before him. All its paths were untried, and in what direction to push his inquiries, he was yet undecided. Astronomy first attracted his attention; but to the pursuit of this, his ignorance of arithmetic and geometry was an insuperable obstacle. In history, to which his views were next directed, no proficiency could be made without extensive reading, and he had too little command of time and money for such a purpose. The religious bias which he had received, tended, however, to give a theological direction to his studies, and from the apparently accidental inspection of “Locke’s Essay on the Human Understanding,” he acquired a predilection for the higher exercises of the mind.
In April, 1791, Mr. Drew married, being then in a creditable way of business as a shoemaker. He was not yet an author, but had obtained a name for skill and integrity as a tradesman, and was held in respect by his neighbors. Doctor Franklin’s “Way to Wealth,” fell into his hands about the time he commenced business for himself. The pithy and excellent advice of “Poor Richard,” in that work, instructed and delighted him. He placed it in a conspicuous situation in his chamber, and resolved to follow its maxims. Eighteen hours out of twenty-four, he regularly worked, and sometimes longer; for his friends gave him plenty of employment, but until the bills became due, he had no means of paying wages to a journeyman. He remarks: “I was indefatigable, and at the year’s end, I had the satisfaction of paying the five pounds which had been so kindly lent me, and finding myself, with a tolerable stock of leather, clear of the world.”
By unremitting industry, he at length surmounted such obstacles as were of a pecuniary nature. This enabled him to procure assistance in his labors, and thus afforded him some relaxation. Industry and rigid economy were still indispensable, but his ruling passion, the acquisition of knowledge, he was enabled to gratify in a limited degree, and for several years, every spare moment, and all the hours he could snatch from sleep, were devoted to reading such books as he could procure.
Referring to this period of his life, in conversation with a friend, Mr. Drew said: “I once had a very great desire for the study of astronomy, for I thought it suitable to the genius of my mind, and I think so still; but then—
“Chill penury repressed the noble rage,
And froze the genial current of the soul.”
Dangers and difficulties I did not fear, while I could bring the powers of my mind to bear upon them, and force myself a passage. To metaphysics I then applied myself, and became what the world and my good friend Doctor Clarke call “a metaphysician.”
As he could devote but little time to the acquisition of knowledge, every moment was fully occupied. “Drive thy business—do not let thy business drive thee,” was one of those maxims of Dr. Franklin, to which Mr. Drew adhered; and his example shows that literature may be cultivated, and piety pursued, without prejudice to our worldly interests.
“During several years,” he observes, “all my leisure hours were devoted to reading or scribbling; but I do not recollect that it ever interrupted my business, though it frequently broke in upon my rest. On my labor depended my livelihood; literary pursuits were only my amusement. The man who makes shoes is sure of his wages—the man who writes a book is never sure of anything.”
Mr. Drew’s first attempts at composition, like those of most young essayists in the paths of literature, were metrical. The earliest known effort of his muse, was a poetical epistle to his sister, and the next an elegy on the death of his brother. These were followed by several short poetical pieces, none of which have been preserved. He left in manuscript a metrical piece containing about 1200 lines, entitled “Reflections on St. Austell Churchyard,” dated August, 1792. It is written in the heroic stanza, and has many excellent couplets, but is too defective in grammar and versification, to endure the test of criticism. The major part is argumentative—not unlike “Pope’s Essay on Man,” upon which, possibly, it was modelled: and several of the arguments tend to prove that the soul is immaterial, and therefore immortal. This poetical composition is apparently the embryo of Mr. Drew’s applauded “Treatise on the Human Soul.” From the year 1792, when this poem was written, until the commencement of his “Essay on the Soul,” in 1798, no particular circumstance of his literary life is on record.