Junior Lord of the Treasury, and Livingstone was exploring the continent.
At twenty-four Sir Humphrey Davy was Professor of Chemistry in the Royal
Institution, Dante, Ruskin, and Browning had become famous writers. At
twenty-five Hume had written his treatise on Human Nature, Galileo was
lecturer of science at the University of Pisa, and Mark Antony was the
"hero of Rome." At twenty-six Sir Isaac Newton had made his greatest
discoveries; at twenty-seven Don John of Austria had won Lepanto, and
Napoleon was commander-in-chief of the army of Italy. At twenty-eight
AEschylus was the peer of Greek tragedy, at twenty-nine Maurice of Saxony
the greatest statesman of the age, and at thirty Frederick the Great was
the most conspicuous character of his day. At the same age Richelieu was
Secretary of State, and Cortez little older when he gazed on the "golden
Cupolas" of Mexico. These are a few of the splendid names that illumine
the pages of history across the sea.

But the young man has been no less potent in the affairs of our own
Nation, which has always been conspicuous for its production of truly
great men. The story is told that when one of England's great men was
visiting Henry Clay, and the two were riding over the country, the
distinguished guest inquired of his host, "What do you raise on these
hills and in these beautiful valleys?" "Men," was Clay's reply; and the
English patriot declared that this was the greatest crop to enrich a
country. We boast that we have given the world a full quota of really
great young men, some of them like Jason embarking on the sea of adventure
while the dew of extreme youth is still on their brow. If we wend our way
back through the grand procession of events of but a single century we
will find extreme youth marking out the lines of progress and directing
the course of the nation in politics, in literature and religion.

We would see William Prescott, a boy of twelve, diligently at work in the