"Wrapping the remains in a Union Jack as a fitting winding sheet for the gallant explorer, Mr. Howitt Wills, which he found in the wurley where he died, still under the sand and rushes where King had first laid him to rest. Reverently placing the body in a grave near to a large tree, and heaping sand and branches over his tomb so that the natives, who understood that token, might never disturb his long repose, Mr. Howitt read that grand story of death and resurrection in the fifteenth chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians, and then cut on the tree this inscription : W. J. WILLS, XLV. YDS. W.N.W. Collecting from the cache where they had been buried the Field Books of the deceased, and every memento he could find, Howitt then proceeded to search for the remains of Burke. There they lay among tall plants under a clump of box-trees, and the pistol lying by his side corroded with rust. Wrapping the remains in the Union Jack as a fitting winding-sheet for the gallant explorer, Mr. Howitt buried him under a box-tree, on which he cut this inscription : A. H. Not many days after this, Howitt assembled all the natives together who had been kind in any way to the explorers, and R. O'H. B., 21/9/61. A. H. distributed among them presents of tomahawks, knives, necklaces, looking-glasses, combs, and other articles useful and ornamental, which were received with shouts of intense delight. King, upon his arrival in Melbourne, received a tremendous ovation, and was crowned with honours and rewards. And if the reader should chance to visit Australia now, he will find in Melbourne a magnificent monument to the memory of the brave explorers Burke and Wills, streets bearing their names, and many other pleasing memorials. But none of these will obliterate from his memory the recollection that these noble fellows were the victims of a series of blunders. Had Wright fulfilled his obligations, had Brahe remained at the post of duty for twelve hours longer at Cooper's Creek, the tragedy would have been averted. Nor was this all. Burke, Wills, and King arrived at Cooper's Creek on their return journey, as we have seen, on the 21st April, and when they left it to seek the natives, they deposited in the cache a letter telling of their whereabouts. In the official inquiry, instituted after the return of Mr. Howitt, it transpired that on the 9th of May, while there was yet time to have saved the intrepid men, Wright and Brahe, conscience-smitten perhaps, returned to Cooper's Creek, but not seeing any sign of the lost travellers, retraced their steps without looking into the cache where the letters had been placed, telling of the whereabouts of the men, who were then in the direst need of help! Burke and Wills will live when the splendid monument in Melbourne has fallen to decay, for they achieved a glorious feat in passing through the continent from sea to sea; they have written a brilliant page in the world's history which will never be forgotten; they died, it is true, on their way to where temporary glory and honour awaited them, but in their deaths, no less than in their adventurous lives, they immortalised themselves as British Heroes. Different Phases of Heroism-Duty-Josiah Wedgwood-His Early Labours-His Successes-James Watt-A Prophecy of the Future-Struggles for a Livelihood-Investigations in Steam-His Great Discovery-Roebuck-Matthew BoultonThe Soho Works-Epitaph by Lord Brougham-George Stephenson-Neglected Education-Inventive Genius-The Turning-point in his Career-Step by Step Upward-Success of his Locomotive-His Manly Courage-Rowland Hill-The Penny Post-Curious Statistics. HERE are phases of Heroism which are apt to be overlooked. The title of Hero has been too generally lavished on men celebrated in our naval and military annals-men who have done daring deeds, and have won for themselves spontaneously the world's applause. But the world's greatest battles have not been in the din and carnage of cruel warfare; many a true warrior has gone forth with some great thought as his trusty sword, some glowing word of aspiration as his only war-cry, to invade some territory held by ignorance, superstition, or misery, and to reclaim this moral waste he has been willing to spend his life in energetic and self-sacrificing toil that he might win it as the Crusaders sought to win the Holy Land from the power of the infidel. The heroism of patient persevering labour deserves a world-wide acknowledgment, and notable instances of it are to be found in the History of Invention and Discovery. The greatness of our country is due more to the labours of noble men who have wrought out great ideas than to the daring men who have fought great battles; but the story of great thinkers is less brilliant than the story of great actors. To follow in the path of duty, persevering in the face of difficulty, opposition, and prejudice, is more prosaic than to follow in the path of glory; and in some of the chapters of this work which, like the present, tell of the struggles and great works of men who only toiled patiently, wrought out ideas perseveringly, and endured opposition and disappointment calmly, if we find less of dramatic incident, we shall find that which is apt to be overlooked, but which is the strength and backbone of our nation-the Heroism of Duty. "What shall I do to be for ever known? My duty ever. Thus did full many who yet sleep unknown Oh! never, never. Thinkest thou, perchance, that they remain unknown Whom thou knowest not? By angel-trumps in heaven their praise is blown Divine their lot." Josiah Wedgwood, the Staffordshire potter, the man who revolutionised the whole trade of this country, was one of "the people." When he was a boy, pottery was in the rude state in which it had been for centuries before his time, and the boy, descended from generations of potters, was born into the traditions of his sires. He learnt a little of the three R's, and then took his place before the wheel to make the same rude kind of ware that his fathers had made before him. At fourteen he was apprenticed to his brother, and soon acquired the art of "throwing" and "handling," and other simple mysteries of the craft. Small-pox, contracted early in life, had left a chronic affection in his right knee, and it was soon found that the labour at the wheel was too much for him, so that he was removed to another branch, where he was employed in moulding and modelling. Misfortune favoured him; he was allowed to indulge his taste for ornamental work, and his progress from that time was steadily onwards. When he left his brother he entered into partnership with a Mr. Harrison, of Stoke, and while with him not only seized every opportunity of educating himself, but spent much of his time in experimenting, in order to produce imitations of porphyry, agate, jasper, and other stones. Harrison reaped the reward of Wedgwood's industry and genius, but did not make him a sharer in the benefits, and therefore, as this was not a satisfactory arrangement for a young fellow with large ideas, the partnership was dissolved, and a fresh one entered into with one of the best potters of his day, Thomas Whirldon. But Whirldon was not a man of progress; he was content with what was, and did not care to have anything to do with new-fangled notions; so the partnership lasted only for three years, and then Wedgwood, at the age of twentysix, started business on his own account at Burslem, in a little house for which he paid £10 a year rent. Free to act on his own responsibility and to bring out the results of his experiments, business soon came to him in excess of his most sanguine expectations, and soon he had to increase his premises and build new works; but he never allowed the chance of mere money-making to divert his mind from the great work he had set himself to master-the chemistry of pottery. For whole days and nights at a time he would pore over the best works he could obtain on the subject, and for many hours at a stretch he would be found at the lathe or in the modelling and moulding shops, carefully experimenting and elaborating new ideas. Soon the name of Josiah Wedgwood began to obtain a widening popularity, and a demand set in for his ornamental wares. The beautiful cream-coloured ware, which he had brought to so great a state of perfection that no foreign manufacture could compare with it, became the talk of the town. Show-rooms were obtained in London, and the potter boy was sought out by men distinguished in literature and science and art, who were glad to welcome him amongst them, and in whose friendship he found much enjoyment. Among the celebrities of the day with whom he was most intimately associated were Matthew Boulton, Thomas Bentley, James Brindley, Darwin the physician, Priestley the philosopher, Dr. Aikin, and Mrs. Barbauld. Queen Charlotte happening to see some of Wedgwood's cream-coloured ware, but not knowing who was the maker, sent to the potteries to have a service of it made |