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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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If the above remark of the great Roman Orator be true , ' W apology need be offered for submitting the fallowing Me * - mpir to the public eye . 1 $ traces a few lineaments in the character of one who was very eminent as an instructor of the rising generation , and who , therefore brought to the national altar a pure and munificent oblation .
MEMOIR of M *> WihhlAM BUTLER , " Nullum raunus Reipublicae afferre majus meliuave possuinus , quam « i doceamm atque erudiamus juventutein . " Ciefenov
The late Mr , William Butler , whose merits as a teacher of writing and geo > - graphy are here recorded , was a native of Stf John's , near Worcester , wjiere he was born October 12 , 1748 . Splendid lineage conferred upon him none of its honours , nor was he anxious to claim them .
Without affecting to undervalue high birth , when it is illustrated by the talent or virtue of its possessor , he felt no wish to trace his pedigree to remote antiquity or great ancestors . His father enjoyed a very moderate competency , arising from the cultivation of a small farm * If , however , his advantages of fortune were
slender , he derived from Ins parents a better inheritance tfr ^ u tjm € whic h wjre fortune can bqstow * The plain good ^ gnge , the strong an 4 taeajthy constitution , m& the independence of character which distiaguished the son through life , were bere » -
ditary qualities ; white U > the admonitions of a mother , siren thawed by the prudent frugality of her tabte * he owed that obedience to the temperate dictates of nature , in the choice and love of simple diet , which he inflexibly evinced hi riper
years . Mr . Butler received Wfi early education at Worcester , and was originally intended for the profession of a land-surveyor . Beimg disappointed , however , in this expectation , and having acquired considerable knowledge , and especially a fime
style of penmanship , be resolved to try his fortune as a tetfehec of writing wd geography ia that great mart of talent and wealth , the metropolis He accord-* ngly quitted Worcester in * 7 $ 5 , and from that period ( being then only in his * 7 th year ) he wholly maintained himself by his own exertions .
Mr . Butler might claim a fair and even superior distinction as an able penman : ne diligently copied an 4 imbibed the vanous exeellencieis of masters eminent in ^ teraphy , eapecially those of Bland , his
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great favourite ; upon the model of whose penmanship his own free , tasteful and elegant running hand was formed-But the great reputation and success which he attained sprang from a different
source . They . flowed from the improvements which were introduced by him intQ the mode of instruction in writing ami geography . The former branch of education acquired under his care a usefulness and an elevation which it had not
before possessed . He perceived that a writing master has it in his power to introduce a copious store of miscellaneous information into the schools that he attends by jmeans of a judicious choice of copies , particularly geographical ones , sabered and profane , and such as contain historical facts , dates in chronology , and biographical notices of characters illustrious for " deeds of excellence and high
renown . " As an auxiliary to these , he proposed the publication of literary work 3 having a direct reference to his own particular departments of instruction , but containing a rich fund of general and useful knowledge . The plan was original ; it had , therefore , the impress of genius upon it . There was no laurel picked up which had fallen from the brow of a » y
predecessor . Libera per vacuum posui vestigial princepd . Hoa . In aid of the plan above-mentioned , of combining general knowledge with his own immediate pursuits , Mr , Butler published his " Arithmetical Questions /*
" Exercises on the Globes ; " " Chronological Exercises " and " Geographical Exercises in the New Testament" with other works . It is not here intended to enumerate , much less to analyze , all the publications which his indefatigable industry and literary zeal induced him to compose . The favour with which they
have been received by the public , the station which they occupy , not only in the youthful library , but often in that of the adult ; and the commendation beatp ^ ved upon them by those who have thejnselves been deservedly praised , and whose suffrage is therefore valuable , preclude 3 ucji a necessity . It may , however , be said , that they present a mass of information , both instructive and entertaining , rarely
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1822, page 571, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2516/page/51/
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