ou have a good time in the city?"

"Capital: so good that I shall go again the first opportunity I have.
But, I confess, it was rather aggravating to see so many books, and not
be able to possess them."

Charlie smiled at this confession, remembering their conversation a few
days before, and both proceeded to their work.

This new volume was a great acquisition to Nat, and as much as any
other, perhaps, had an influence in developing and strengthening his
mental powers. It was not read and cast aside. It was read and re-read,
and studied for months, in connection with other volumes. It was one of
the standard books that moulded his youth, and decided his career.

It is a singular fact that "Locke's Essay on the Understanding" has
exerted a controlling influence upon the early lives of so many
self-taught men. It was one of the few volumes that constituted the
early literary treasure of Robert Burns, to which he ascribed much of
his success, though he says, at the same time, "A collection of English
songs was my _vade mecum_." The famed metaphysician, Samuel Drew, owed
his triumphs mainly to this work. True, he became a great reader of
other works, for he said, "The more I read, the more I felt my
ignorance; and the more I felt my ignorance, the more invincible became
my energy to surmount it. Every leisure moment was now employed in
reading one thing or another. Having to support myself by manual labor,
my time for reading was but little, and to overcome this disadvantage,
my usual method was to place a book before me while at meat, and at
every repast I read five or six pages." Yet, he attached the most
importance to "Locke's Essay," for he acknowledged that it turned his
attention to metaphysics, and, he said, "It awakened me from my stupor,
and induced me to form a resolution to abandon the grovelling views
which I had been accustomed to entertain."

The German scholar, Mendelsohn, owed not a little of his distinction in
certain departments of study to the influence of a Latin copy of
"Locke's Essay." He was an extensive reader, and found that a knowledge
of Greek and Latin was necessary for the successful prosecution of his
literary pursuits. Consequently he purchased a copy of "Locke's Essay"
in Latin, and with an old dictionary, which he bought for a trifle, and
the assistance of a friend, who understood Latin, fifteen minutes each
day, he translated the work. But the knowledge it gave him of Latin was
far le