It is certain that many ministers would make excellent law- yers, and that many lawyers would make a good appearance in the pulpit. This is perhaps the reason why, in ancient times, the office of judge was always combined with that of religious teacher or priest. In our own times, the minister is very often the family adviser about wills and property arrangements, and he is also not infrequently the prescriber of medicine. Many clergymen have had a thorough medical training with a view to missionary work in dis- tant lands, and not a few physicians seek ordination and exchange medicine for theology. As a general rule, the youth himself is the most likely to know by a kind of instinct what work and occupation in life will be most likely to suit him. But this, as has been shown, is not invariably the case. Still, the cases where a boy's own nature does not point him to one selection rather than another are exceptional. Most men who have CHOICE OF OCCUPATION. I49 achieved greatness in any work have begun early. " The child is father of the man," and in boyhood those qualities are manifested which become fully developed in the subsequent career. The great scholar is generally noted in childhood for a wonderful memory. Sir Isaac Newton, who invented when a boy the art of flying a kite, discovered when a man the law of gravitation. He had no pleasure in mere playthings such as other children care for, but delighted in toys of intricate mechanism which employed his observant young mind in understanding it. Galileo, it is said, would be lost in phil- osophical reflection whenever he saw a top spun by his playmates. Mozart, when a mere infant, exhibited that wonderful inspiration for music which determined his future vocation. Nicbuhr, Arnold, and Thirlwall, the two former historians of Rome, and the last named of Greece, were all remarkable in their early childhood for their in- tense observation and retention of facts. Hogarth and many other famous painters, indeed almost all of them, have been remarkable in childhood for the quickness of their eye, their imitative powers, and fondness for drawing. Sir Walter Scott, when a child, was captivated by Border minstrelsy. The life of that remarkable man whose name is reverenced by every American, Benjamin Franklin, ought to be in the hands of every lad who is trying to decide upon his future occupa- tion in life. "At ten years old," he writes in his Autobiography, " I was taken (from school) to help my father in the business, which was that of a tallow chandler and soap-boiler; a business to which he was not bred, but had assumed on his arrival in New England, because he found that his dyeing trade, being in little request, would not maintain his family. Accordingly I was employed in cutting wicks for the candles, and filling the moulds for cast candles, attend- ing the shops, going of errands, etc. I disliked the trade, and had a strong inclination to go to sea, but my father declared against it; but residing near the water, I was much in it and on it. I learned to swim well and to manage boats; and when embarked with other boys, I was conmionly allowed to govern, especially in any case of difficulty." 1-50 THE hearthstone; or, life at home.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

It is certain that many ministers would make excellent lawyers, and that many lawyers would make a good appearance in the pulpit. This is perhaps the reason why, in ancient times, the office of judge was always combined with that of religious teacher or priest. In our own times, the minister is very often the family adviser about wills and property arrangements, and he is also not infrequently the prescriber of medicine. Many clergymen have had a thorough medical training with a view to missionary work in distant lands, and not a few physicians seek ordination and exchange medicine for theology. As a general rule, the youth himself is the most likely to know by a kind of instinct what work and occupation in life will be most likely to suit him. But this, as has been shown, is not invariably the case. Still, the cases where a boy's own nature does not point him to one selection rather than another are exceptional. Most men who have achieved greatness in any work have begun early. " The child is father of the man," and in boyhood those qualities are manifested which become fully developed in the subsequent career. The great scholar is generally noted in childhood for a wonderful memory. Sir Isaac Newton, who invented when a boy the art of flying a kite, discovered when a man the law of gravitation. He had no pleasure in mere playthings such as other children care for, but delighted in toys of intricate mechanism which employed his observant young mind in understanding it. Galileo, it is said, would be lost in philosophical reflection whenever he saw a top spun by his playmates. Mozart, when a mere infant, exhibited that wonderful inspiration for music which determined his future vocation. Nicbuhr, Arnold, and Thirlwall, the two former historians of Rome, and the last named of Greece, were all remarkable in their early childhood for their intense observation and retention of facts. Hogarth and many other famous painters, indeed almost all of them, have been remarkable in childhood for the quickness of their eye, their imitative powers, and fondness for drawing. Sir Walter Scott, when a child, was captivated by Border minstrelsy. The life of that remarkable man whose name is reverenced by every American, Benjamin Franklin, ought to be in the hands of every lad who is trying to decide upon his future occupation in life. "At ten years old," he writes in his Autobiography, " I was taken (from school) to help my father in the business, which was that of a tallow chandler and soap-boiler; a business to which he was not bred, but had assumed on his arrival in New England, because he found that his dyeing trade, being in little request, would not maintain his family. Accordingly I was employed in cutting wicks for the candles, and filling the moulds for cast candles, attending the shops, going of errands, etc. I disliked the trade, and had a strong inclination to go to sea, but my father declared against it; but residing near the water, I was much in it and on it. I learned to swim well and to manage boats; and when embarked with other boys, I was commonly allowed to govern, especially in any case of difficulty." 1-50 THE hearthstone; or, life at home.

The hearthstone; or, Life at home