"SELF-ELEVATION; OR, RANK FROM THE RANKS."

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 120, 8 September 1876, Page 2

"SELF-ELEVATION; OR, RANK FROM THE RANKS."

The Rev. Mr. Agnew delivered a most interesting and highly-instructive lecture 011 the above subject at the Masonic Hall, I last evening. We regret to say that the attendance was far from what the merit of the lecture deserved ; but we feel assured that those present were highly gratified at the intellectual treat given them. The rev. lecturer gave numerous instances, in both ancient and modern times, of those whose genius raised them from comparative obscurity to the highest honors and the greatest dignities, commencing .with the time of Homer, who was contemporaneous with Moses, down to the present day. He told, in graphic language, the struggle and hardships endured by many whose names are now emblazoned on the scroll of fame, and retailed the almost insuperable difficulties which had been overcome by plodding perseverance and the power of an indomitable will. Of Eliliu Burritt, who, from being a village blacksmith, became the master of fifty languages, and as a linguist, was only excelled by Mizzofanti; of the early days and struggles of Benjamin Franklin, Dr. Samuel Lee, Herschel, iEsop, Lincoln, Remington, Livingstone, Fergusson, Cliantrev, and a host of other who occupy separate niches in the Temple of Fame. Of Chantrey, the renowned sculptor, lie related a most amusing anecdote of his earliest effort. It appeared that while the eminent sculptor was attending school, lie was one day seen by the minister of the parish with a stick and knife in his hands, with which he seemed busily en- ! gaged. On being accosted by the clergyman, and asked what was the work upo" which he was so intent, he replied that it was a likeness of old Fox—old Fox being the village schoolmaster. This was the first attempt at an art which afterwards placed voung Chantrey amongst the foremost ranks of his profession, and tliefirst of those works which have since enriched the art galleries of Europe. Mr. Agnew has all the qualifications to make him a successful Lcturer—a graceful delivery, a choiceness of language, which flows with ease and without an effort, and he possesses in an eminent degree the power of enchaining his audience. He is ever interesting, never tiresome, and his similes are worked out with a most pleasing effect. This was most noticeable last evening, when, in speaking of the grand events which had their origin in trifles light as air, he likened the small beginnings of bygone geniuses to the river, which take.! its rise irom the bubbling spring. Step by step he traced its tiny course, gradually swelling in its outward career, until it was lost in the boundless ocean. So life-like was the picture drawn, and so graphic the language, that one could see in the tiny rivulet the struggles attendant on early genius, and that genius led by study and perseverance, becoming boundless as the ocean in its immensity. From the time the rev. lecturer appeared 021 the platform, until the close, the interest of the lecture was not allowed to flag for one moment. Mr. Agnew possesses a rare fuud of anecdote, which he has a happy knack of retailing. One anecdote he related of the Virgin Queen when despatching Admiral Drake against the Spanish Armada, we are rather inclined to receive with doubt. It is that when Elizabeth was giving the warrior his hist instructions, she dismissed him with the following words :—" 2fow, Drake, go and defeat the enemy ; there's a duck/' Knowing that there is a fund of humor in the rev. lecturer, a detecting a sly twinkle ( during its narration, we are somewhat | sceptical as to the joke being so ancient, | and strongly suspect that its author is of the sterner sex. Before closing, Mr. Agnew spoke, in a feeling manner, of the ! newspaper comments which had been passed upon him, and reiterated liis invitation to "Britisher"' to inspect the accounts of receipts and expenditure. He further intimated that at the request of several friends he intended next week to give some passages from his own life and experiences. "With the numerous vicissitudes through which he has passed, there would be ample material to select from, and should Mr. Agnew carry out his intention, the forthcoming lectures would be well worth listening to.