"The reason why so many are blind to their best interests," Mr. Lloyd would say, "is because they will trust to their neighbors' eyes rather than their own. I intend Arthur shall see for himself. Had Bonaparte done what his own heart approved, he would have preserved freedom and the republic; but he wanted the world should flatter him, that posterity should honor him, and so he violated his integrity of purpose, and grasped a crown that proved but a shadow."
It would be very gratifying to me to describe particularly the manner of Arthur Lloyd's domestic education, the means which were employed to draw forth his powers, ascertain his peculiar talents, and exercise and direct these as they were developed. But it is now my purpose rather to display effects than trace causes. Yet one thing must be noted; his father's great aim, after religious training, was to cultivate the reason and judgment of his son. Mathematics and natural philosophy had been made to occupy a prominent place in his studies.
"The pleasures these pursuits confer," Mr. Lloyd would wisely remark, "cannot be enjoyed without self-exertion. Any man who has money may obtain the reputation of taste by the mere purchasing of works of art, while his own mind is as inert as the canvas or statue on which he gazes with so much seeming admiration. But he who would gain credit for understanding mathematical sciences or natural philosophy, must deserve it by patient toil and persevering industry. Now, this thirst for knowledge, which must be won by personal exertion, is the talisman which will effectually secure the rich man from the torment of ennui; and, if with this knowledge be united the disposition to make his talents and means of doing good serviceable to the world, his own happiness is secure as that derived from earthly objects can be."
So thought the father, and so he trained his son to think.
"I did not expect to find you thus deeply at work," said George Willet, a classmate, who had called on Arthur shortly after he was settled in his home. "Why, the arrangement of all these minerals and shells and insects must be an endless task. If I had as much money as you, I would purchase my cabinets ready furnished."
"So would I, if all I wanted was to exhibit them," replied Arthur, pleasantly.
"And what more important purpose do you intend these shall serve?"
"I intend they shall contribute to my own gratification and improvement," said Arthur. "There is hardly a specimen here but has its history, which awakens some pleasant association of heart, memory, or mind. Some were presented by men I honor, and some by friends I love. This curious shell was the gift of a lady on my last birthday; and the benignant wishes that accompanied it made me, I trust, a better man; or, at least, they inspired me with new resolutions to deserve her commendations. These petrifactions and fossils are a memento of many delightful hours I have spent with some of the noble French naturalists and philosophers. That beetle, I could tell you a long story about it, the time I spent in watching its habits, the pains I took to assure myself it was a nondescript, and the pleasure I enjoyed when the great Cuvier complimented me for my patience and research—but I fear you would think this all nonsense."
"It is not what I should go to Paris to learn," returned the other. "But then I must think of my profession; a physician is the slave of the public. You can use your time as you please, and are not compelled to coin it into money in order to live."
"No; but I have had as hard a lesson perhaps. I have had to learn that money will not buy happiness, and that he who is not compelled to labor for food must labor for an appetite, which, in the end, amounts to about the same thing."