In an address delivered by Governor Everett, before a Mechanics'
Association, in Boston, 1837, he introduced a letter from Elihu Burritt,
a native of Connecticut, and then a resident of Worcester,
Massachusetts, of which the following is a copy:--
"I was the youngest of many brethren, and my parents were poor. My means
of education were limited to the advantages of a district school, and
those again were circumscribed by my father's death, which deprived me,
at the age of fifteen, of those scanty opportunities which I had
previously enjoyed.
"A few months after his decease, I apprenticed myself to a blacksmith in
my native village. Thither I carried an indomitable taste for reading,
which I had previously acquired through the medium of the society
library,--all the historical works in which I had at that time perused.
At the expiration of a little more than half my apprenticeship, I
suddenly conceived the idea of studying Latin.
"Through the assistance of an elder brother, who had himself obtained a
collegiate education by his own exertions, I completed my Virgil during
the evenings of one winter. After some time devoted to Cicero, and a few
other Latin authors, I commenced the Greek: at this time it was
necessary that I should devote every hour of daylight, and a part of the
evening, to the duties of my apprenticeship.
"Still I carried my Greek grammar in my hat, and often found a moment,
when I was heating some large iron, when I could place my book open
before me against the chimney of my forge, and go through with _tupto_,
_tupteis_, _tuptei_, unperceived by my fellow-apprentices. At evening I
sat down, unassisted, to the Iliad of Homer, twenty books of which
measured my progress in that language during the evenings of another
winter.
"I next turned to the modern languages, and was much gratified to learn
that my knowledge of Latin furnished me with a key to the literature of
most of the languages of Europe. This circumstance gave a new impulse to
the desire of acquainting myself with the philosophy, derivation, and
affinity of the different European tongues. I could not be reconciled to
limit myself in these investigations, to a few hours, after the arduous
labors of the day.
"I therefore laid down my hammer, and went to New Haven, where I recited
to native teachers, in French, Spanish, German, and Italian. I returned,
at the expiration of two years, to the forge, bringing with me such
books in those languages as I could procure. When I had read these
books through, I commenced the Hebrew, with an awakened desire of
examining another field; and, by assiduous application, I was enabled in
a few weeks to read this language with such facility, that I allotted it
to myself as a task to read two chapters in the Hebrew Bible before
breakfast, each morning; this, and an hour at noon, being all the time
that I could devote to myself during the day.
"After becoming somewhat familiar with this language, I looked around me
for the means of initiating myself into the fields of Oriental
literature; and, to my deep regret and concern, I found my progress in
this direction hedged in by the want of requisite books. I began
immediately to devise means of obviating this obstacle; and, after many
plans, I concluded to seek a place as a sailor on board some ship bound
to Europe, thinking in this way to have opportunities of collecting, at
different ports, such works in the modern and Oriental languages as I
found necessary for this object. I left the forge at my native place, to
carry this plan into execution.
"I travelled on foot to Boston, a distance of more than a hundred miles,
to find some vessel bound to Europe. In this I was disappointed; and,
while revolving in my mind what steps next to take, I accidentally heard
of the American Antiquarian Society, at Worcester. I immediately bent my
steps toward this place. I visited the hall of the American Antiquarian
Society, and found there, to my infinite gratification, such a
collection in ancient, modern, and Oriental languages, as I never before
conceived to be collected in one place; and, sir, you may imagine with
what sentiments of gratitude I was affected, when, upon evincing a
desire to examine some of these rich and rare works, I was kindly
invited to unlimited participation in all the benefits of this noble
institution.
"Availing myself of the kindness of the directors, I spent three hours
daily at the hall, which, with an hour at noon, and about three in the
evening, make up the portion of the day which I appropriate to my
studies, the rest being occupied in arduous manual labor. Through the
facilities afforded by this institution, I have added so much to my
previous acquaintance with the ancient, modern, and Oriental languages,
as to be able to read upwards of FIFTY of them with more or less
facility."
This statement, however extraordinary it may seem, is well known to be
but a modest account of Mr. Burritt's wonderful acquirements. He is
still (1843) a practical blacksmith, yet he finds time to pursue his
studies. Nor are his acquisitions his only merit. He has been frequently
invited to deliver lectures before lyceums, and other associations, and
in these he has displayed no small degree of eloquence and rhetorical
power. As he is still a young man, we may venture to affirm that his
history affords an instance of self-cultivation, which, having regard to
all the circumstances, is without a parallel.
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