Welsh Journals

ft %A. THE WREXHAM REGISTRAR. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF PROFESSOR LEE. Samuel Lee was born at the village of Longnor, near Shrewsbury, in 1783. He re¬ ceived tbe first rudiments of his education in a charity school in that place. He remained in the school until he had attained the age of twelve years ; and so little was there any ap¬ pearance of talent in him at this time, the shoolmaster would probably have pronounced him one of the dullest of his boys. At twelve years of age, he was apprenticed to a carpenter. If he had been dull in his books, this mechanical occupation suited him less. From the first he showed a distaste for his trade; but at the same time abilities and tastes above the common order began to de¬ velop themselves. He began to read with eagerness the books which fell in his way; and when he met with quotations in them from Latin authors, he was filled with an ardeut desire to unlock this store of learning by ac¬ quiring a knowledge of the Latin language. Samuel Lee was now about seventeen, and he accordingly purchased a Latin grammar, and one or two other elementary books. The studious mechanic only once ventured to solicit aid in^his studies; and not receiving the help he had hoped for, henceforward, strong in self-reliance and unsparing application, he pursued his way. Being an early riser, and a great economist of time during his appren¬ ticeship, he made himself master of the Latin tongue. As soon as he was liberated from his inden¬ tures he sold some of his Latin books, and purchased a Greek grammar and Lexican. The facility with which he mastered Greek assured him that he had peculiar talent for the acquirement of languages. He therefore, fear¬ lessly proceeded to Hebrew, selling some of Ms Greek books to purchase the Hebrew, as he had before sold Latin books to purchase Greek. It is especially to be observed that this wonderfully talented man throughout his stu¬ dies was unassisted by any instructor, uncheer- ed by any companion, and quite uninfluenced by the hope either of profit or of fame. Such was the simplicity of his mind, he appears to have been really ignorant of the value of his own attainments. He studied for pleasure; and as an appetite for learning "grows by what it feeds on," not satisfied by the acquisi¬ tion of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, he proceed¬ ed to the study of Chaldee, some parts of the ancient Scriptures being written in that dia¬ lect. He then undertook the study Qf the Syriac and Samaritan dialects, which are neer- ly related to the Chaldaic and Hebrew, and thus made him more perfectly acquainted with the languages in which the Scriptures were originally written. The unfavorable circumstances under which Samuel Lee studied would have effectually de¬ pressed any spirit less bouyant and energetic than his own, but this Goliath in intellect, triumphed over all. His devotion to study had brought on a disease in his eyes, and his friends strongly urged him to abandon pursuits which seemed to incompatible with his success as a tradesman. But his delight in these pur¬ suits was unabated. His habits of study had long been fixed; and night after night, when the business of the day was finished, his books were his companions, for he declared in them he found his most refreshing rest. However, this studious man could not pro¬ tect himself from the arrows of busy mischief- ous Cupid; and in the year 1811, at twenty. eight years of age, Samuel Lee married. His diligence in literary pursuits had never caused