318 SELF-RESPECT AND SELF-HELP. and lieutenant-general of the royal armies in Bavaria, he was created a Count of the Holy Roman Empire in 1791. Seven years later, having resolved to return to England for the benefit of his health, the grateful Elector appointed him Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of St. James's; but the appointment fell to the ground, as Lord Granville, then Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, necessarily refused to confirm it to an English subject. Settling in England, the ever-active Count devoted his attention to the ventilation of houses and the improvement of chimneys and fireplaces. He also took a leading part in the foundation of the Royal Institution, and ensured its success by his engagement of Sir Humphrey Davy as its lecturer. In October, 1805, having been upwards of twelve years a widower, he married the widow of Lavoisier, the celebrated chemist, but the union proved unhappy, and in June, 1807, an amicable separation took place. The Count then retired to Auteuil, where, in complete seclusion, and engaged in the pursuit of his favourite studies, he lived for some years. His death took place on the 21st of August, 1814. That is excellent advice which Lord Dalling gave to his god-daughter-"Rely on yourself for what you are yourself; take modest estimate, but never let any one have it in their power to make you think more or less of yourself than you deserve. If you make a habit of this in early life, you will be almost independent of the accidents of fortune till the day of your death." Self-respect is essential to self-help. When we know what we really are and can really do, we can afford to keep our temper in the face of the world's neglect. Had Haydon formed a proper estimate of his powers, and respected himself for possessing them, or had Chatterton attained a similar degree of insight, neither would have fallen by his own hand. Such men as Collingwood and Havelock preserved their equanimity in spite of the unjust indifference exhibited to their services, by falling back on a reserve fund of selfrespect. It was not until after months, nay, years of discouragement and disappointment, that Thackeray gained a hearing from the public; but he had taken the measure of his intellectual capabilities, and knowing what he could do if an opportunity were given to him, waited unrepiningly until it came. SELF-RELIANCE AND SELF-DENIAL. 319 And so with Wordsworth; with what serene patience he bided his time, content to let critics rail and flout, and confident that his poetry would eventually reach home to the national heart! Self-knowledge and self-respect are to each struggling combatant in the battle of life what Aaron and Hur were to Moses, when but for their support his arms would have fallen nerveless to his side, and the victory have gone from Israel. Says Bacon finely-"Men seem neither to understand their riches nor their strength: of the former, they believe greater things than they should; of the latter, much less." What is wanted is the accurate perception which determines its exact proportions, and the manly consciousness which refuses to be overborne by arrogance or withered by contumely. "Selfreliance and self-denial," continues Bacon, "will teach a man to drink out of his own cistern, and eat his own sweet bread, and to learn and labour truly to get his living, and carefully to expend the good things committed to his trust." "The very art of struggling is in itself a species of enjoyment; and every hope that crosses the mind, every high resolve, every generous sentiment, every lofty aspiration,-nay, every heroic despair, is a gleam of happiness that flings its illumination upon the darkest destiny. All these are as essentially a portion of human life, as the palpable events that serve as landmarks to the history; and all these would have to be computed before we could fairly judge of the prevailing character of the career.' "The talent of success is nothing more than doing what you can do well without a thought of fame."-H. W. Longfellow. "What shall I do to be for ever known? This did full many who yet sleep unknown, - Think'st thou perchance that they remain unknown By angel trumps in heaven their praise is blown, "How must Stephen of Colonna, whom Petrarch loved and reverenced for his heroic spirit, have struck dumb with astonishment the base and impotent assailants who thought indeed that he was at length in their power, and so demanded with an air of triumph, 'Where is now your fortress?' when he laid his hand on his breast and answered, 'Here; and one whose strength will laugh a siege to scorn." "-Kenelm Digby. X |