celebrated for their deeds, but to the Poet and the Historian they owe
their fame, and to the Poet and Historian we owe their glorious memories
and the example of their virtues.

"Vixere fortes ante Agamemnona
Multi; sed omnes illacrimabiles
Urgentur ignotique longa
Nocte, carent quia vate sacro."

There were many brave men before Agamemnon, but their memory has perished
because they were celebrated by no divine Bard. Montrose happily combined
the two, when in "My dear and only love" he promises,

"I'll make thee glorious by my pen,
And famous by my sword."

It is remarkable, and encouraging, how many of the greatest men have risen
from the lowest rank, and triumphed over obstacles which might well have
seemed insurmountable; nay, even obscurity itself may be a source of
honor. The very doubts as to Homer's birthplace have contributed to this
glory, seven cities as we all know laying claim to the great poet--

"Smyrna, Chios, Colophon, Salamis, Rhodos, Argos, Athenae."

To take men of Science only. Ray was the son of a blacksmith, Watt of a
shipwright, Franklin of a tallow-chandler, Dalton of a handloom weaver,
Frauenhofer of a glazier, Laplace of a farmer, Linnaeus of a poor curate,
Faraday of a blacksmith, Lamarck of a banker's clerk; Davy was an
apothecary's assistant, Galileo, Kepler, Sprengel, Cuvier, and Sir W.
Herschel were all children of very poor parents.