THE ENGLISH WOMAN'S MAGAZINE AND Christian Mother's Miscellany. AUGUST, 1848. SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF THE REVEREND SAMUEL LEE, D.D. REGIUS PROFESSOR OF HEBREW IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE. HE personal history of Professor Lee presents an instance of success in "the pursuit of knowledge under difficulties," as striking, perhaps, as any which is recorded in the annals of literature; and as the habits of patient labour, and self-denying perseverance which must of necessity belong to those who would be successful in that pursuit, are habits valuable alike in all conditions and under all circumstances of life, we venture to hope, that the following brief account of the progress of the subject of this sketch, from poverty and obscurity to wealth and honours, may be regarded by our readers as neither uninteresting nor uninstructive. SAMUEL LEE was born at Longnor, a village on the Hereford road, about eight miles from Shrewsbury, on the fourteenth day of May, 1783. He received the first rudiments of his education in a charityschool, established at Longnor by the Corbett family, an eminent member of which family-Archdeacon Corbett,-subsequently became his friend and patron. In this school he remained till he had attained the age of twelve years, learning such things as were there taught, viz., reading. writing, and arithmetic; but nowise distinguishing himself among his fellow-scholars; and giving no promise of the superiority which he afterwards attained. In fact, like Oliver Goldsmith, Samuel Lee, up to this period of his life, was considered to be rather dull than otherwise ; and had the master of Longnor school been required to select from among his pupils the boy least likely to win for himself a niche in the Temple of Fame, his choice might very probably have fallen upon future"Shrewsbury Linguist." the At twelve years of age Samuel was bound apprentice to a carpenter; and now during his compulsory application to the labours of planing and sawing-for he evinced from the first a distate for his mechanical occupation-some symptoms of abilities and tastes above the common order began to develop themselves. He began to read with avidity such books as came in his way; and as these books sometimes contained Latin quotations, he conceived an ardent desire to master the Lati language. A slight incident soon afterwards strengthened this desire. Being employed, in the way of his trade, by Sir Edward Smith of ActonBurnel, the aspiring mechanic had an opportunity of seeing various Latin books, and sometimes of hearing parts of them read, or discussed. On such occasions, the thought, that the treasures of ancient learning were locked up from him, wrought powerfully upon his mind; firmly resolved, by the study of the classical languages, or at least, ei the Latin tongue, to possess himself of the key which should give him access to them. and he The course of learning, however, does not always, any more than that of love, "run smooth;" and now began the young student's "diffculties" in the pursuit of knowledge. of his Samuel Lee was about seventeen years old when, in pursuance resolution, he contrived to procure "Ruddiman's Latin Grammar,” and a few other elementary books. These books, however, failed to supply all the information of which he felt himself to stand in need, and in his difficulties he ventured to solicit aid from a Romish priest who frequently visited at Sir Edward Smith's. Few persons, it may be supposed. would have refused assistance to a youth in Lee's circumstances, panting after learning. The priest, however, refused it; and that, coldly and even harshly; and by so doing, conferred an important benefit on petitioner. Young Lee was mortified by the repulse which he had received, but not intimidated, or discouraged; on the contrary, lated him to further exertion; and by throwing him back upon the it stima his own resources, brought into active operation that power and those habits of self-reliance which are essential to success whatever may be the object of pursuit, and pre-eminently essential when that object is literary excellence. At this period of his life the circumstances of the studious mechanic happily received some little improvement; and he was thus furnished with the means of obtaining a Latin Bible; some of Cicero's Orations; Cæsar's Commentaries; aud parts of the works of Ovid, Virgil, Horace, and Sallust. These books-being an early riser, and a great economist of time he read with care, during his apprenticeship; and as an appetite for learning "grows by what it feeds on," he determined, on being liberated from his indentures, to apply himself to the study of Greek. Accordingly he sold some of his elementary Latin books, and bought a Westminster Greek grammar, and, soon afterwards, a Greek Testament; which latter, with the help of Schrevelius's Lexicon, he was soon able to read. His lot in life was now virtually decided; and though neither he nor his relations were as yet aware of it, it was his settled vocation to labour with the head, not with the hands. The plane and the chisel were soon to be laid aside for ever. The young scholar now procured "Huntingford's Greek Exercises;" all of which he wrote; and then, according to the plan recommended in that work, he proceeded to read Xenophon's Cyropædia, and soon afterwards Plato's Dialogues; parts of the Iliad and Odyssey; Lucian's Dialogues of the Dead, the Antigone of Sophocles, &c. &c. The facility with which he acquired an acquaintance with the Greek tongue, and the rapidity of his progress, convinced him, that he was endowed with peculiar powers for the attainment of languages; and after having completed an extensive course of Greek literature, he resolved to undertake the study of Hebrew. As we have already intimated, a slight improvement had before this taken place in the pecuniary circumstances of this highly-gifted student. To procure the books absolutely necessary to his literary progress, was, however, still matter of difficulty; and as in order to obtain a Greek grammar, he had been constrained to sell some of his earlier Latin books, so now, adopting a similar expedient, he sold "Huntingford's Exercises," and some other Greek school-books which had rendered him good service, and purchased "Bythner's Lyra Prophetica," containing an excellent grammar, and a key to the Psalms. With this help he was soon able to read the Psalms in Hebrew; procuring the Hebrew |