Beginning at the beginning-As the boy so the man-Wolcot and the boy Opie-Napoleon's boyhood-Illustrations from the boyhood of great men-Newton, Pascal, Joinville, Sir Philip Sidney, and others-Great achievements of young men-Dis- raeli quoted-The men who succeed are the boys who have striven-Difficulties which have least sway in their early years -Story of Thomas Simpson-Lord Macaulay's boyhood and its lessons-A schoolboy's letter-Franklin's boyhood-Fara- day's boyhood-Hugh Miller and his early experiences-His faculty of observation-Self-education-An English gentleman -Boyhood of George Hughes-" Putting down" a bully-A gymnastic feat-A Rugby boy's letter-A father's letter to his son-Boyhood of Frederick Perthes-A lesson of progress- James Montgomery quoted-Urgent necessity of our turning our boyhood to good account-Boyhood of Sir Thomas Law- rence-Story of Ferguson, the astronomer-Boyhood of the poet Cowper-Alexander Murray-Self-taught-Learning lan- guages-Sir Walter Scott in his boyhood-His love of reading -A good example-Robert Blake's boyhood-Mozart, the young musician-His wonderful precocity-Boyhood of Tytler, the historian-His favourite books-Story of Lieutenant Smith -The shipwreck-The young commander-A lesson of heroism -Teaching by example-The lessons of experience-Look before you leap-Story of the Eastern dervise-Thomas White- head's boyhood-Early piety-Charles Kingsley's boyhood- His earliest verses-His achievements -Robbing the hawk's nest-Bewick's boyhood-Thorwaldsen's boyhood-An anec- dote and an illustration-F. W. Faber, the Church poet- Influence of scenery on his imagination-Michael Angelo's boyhood-An anecdote-The " Sleeping Cupid"—A hard worker-Sir Christopher Wren's boyhood-Young Jervis- "He would be a sailor"-Adam Smith's boyhood-Sir Isaac Newton as a boy-His mechanical tastes-Gibbon's boyhood- juvenile books - His character - Abraham Lincoln's boy- "How happy is he born and taught That serveth not another's will; Whose armour is his honest thought, And simple truth his utmost skill! Who God doth late and early pray More of His grace dear gifts to lend 66 OYS and their Ways!" The reader will think, perhaps, that the size of my book is not at all in proportion to the extent of my subject; that there are almost as many "C ways" as there are "boys," and that, to do justice to them, I should need as large and close a folio as any in which our forefathers delighted, or as numerous a series of volumes as those which Mademoiselle de Scudery was accustomed to devote to the adventures of her fictitious heroes and heroines. But boys, like men, fall naturally into a certain number of classes, each of which has its well-known characteristics; and in describing these classes it is possible to describe the great world of boys with quite sufficient accuracy. I might go further and say, that all boys may be divided into two great sections: the good boys and the bad. Both these sections, at all events, come under notice in the following pages; the latter by way of warning only and incidentally, for to dwell upon them at length would be waste of time they are not likely to read their own description. Now, in every boy's life occurs, sooner or later, a critical epoch, when he has to make up his mind to which section he xiv PREFACE. will belong; and while he is making up his mind-as, thank God, he generally does-to join the good, there must be a period of hesitation and doubt and difficulty, in which he lies peculiarly open to temptation. One of my objects in writing Boys and their Ways" has been to counsel and strengthen, by example and precept, the tyro while he undergoes this probation; and I hope that my book will assist him to decide quickly in favour of the right, and to persevere in well-doing when the decision has been made. I trust that its perusal will make him a better son, a better brother, a more obedient and industrious student. I trust it will inspire him with a love of truth, with a thirst after knowledge, with a desire to think generously and live nobly. It will lead him, I hope, to the study of nature, and show him what sources of wholesome entertainment lie always at his command. And in itself it will furnish—at least such is my ambition-some pleasant and profitable reading for a leisure hour. I have had much to do with boys, and may claim, therefore, to have written with a competent knowledge of my subject. And here they will be found "in their habit as they live;" as they are, or might be, or should be, "at home" and "at school," in the study and in the playground, in hours of work and hours of recreation; in their struggles, sufferings, hopes, fears, and aspirations; in their friendships and their little enmities; in their relations to their masters and to one another. I have had something to say, not, I trust, altogether ineffectively, about their lessons and amusements, their good and bad habits, their temptations and their trials. I have also sketched them in the various aspects of country life, and accompanied them in their "walks abroad," their nutting and blackberrying expeditions, their woodland rambles and seaside adventures. I have "looked in" upon them in the winter season, with their skating and sleighing and grand snowball "bickers," and shared in their Christmas merrymaking, with its "round games " and " private theatricals." In more serious mood, I have put together some practical hints upon the qualities by which men become useful citizens and good Christians, and have added a chapter upon reading, which contains carefully compiled lists of the books in poetry, history, fiction, biography, and general literature, that boys ought to read. And, finally, I have ventured to portray the ideal boy -a standard of perfection to which, perhaps, none may fully attain, though all should set it before them as a desirable goal. Sensible, from long experience, of the value of example, I have plentifully strewn my pages with anecdote and biographical illustration. And throughout I have borne in mind the golden words of Jean Paul in his "Levana:"-" Honour, honesty, firm will, truthfulness, advancing in spite of threatening wounds, endurance of misfortune, of the blows of fate, frankness, self-respect, self-balance, contempt of opinion, justice, and perseverance-all these and similar words denote only one-half of the moral nature, moral strength, and elevation. The second part refers to all included in the kingdom of love, gentleness, and beneficence: these may be called moral beauty." That the reader should be better and wiser and happier for the time he gives up to me, when engaged with this little volume, has been constantly in my thoughts while writing. I trust he will not find me a dull companion. I am sure I have striven to be a candid friend; and it may be that even those "old boys" who were once young boys-old boys who are now "fathers and guardians "-may not object to my |