8 MEMOIR OF DR. DALTON, AND 



Occupied in teaching and in the work of the farm he kid 

 the foundations of an active mind and raised up a vigorous 

 well-knit frame, which underwent great exertion till an ad- 

 vanced age with little interruption from ill health. Here 

 we see the self-reliance which was strong in him through 

 life; at an age when most persons are mere children, he 

 sought to some extent to rule ; and when most persons have 

 scarcely begun to learn soundly, he sought to teach. Here, 

 also, we see that peculiarity of his mind, which did not seek 

 to acquire a great mass of information otherwise than by 

 investigation, and had more pleasure in making use of what 

 it had attained either by conveying it to others, or as a tool 

 for search. These united causes throw some light on his 

 early grasp at independence, as it was not necessity that 

 compelled him to work, nor the want of the means of living 

 which had never failed him. 



As we are obliged to arrive at his early character chiefly 

 by inference, we must the more carefully remember, what is 

 more directly told of him, his great diligence. This con- 

 tinued with him through life, and his theory of success was 

 made in the belief that diligence constituted the main dif- 

 ference amongst men engaged in intellectual pursuits. His 

 principal study in early life was mathematics, which he 

 learned with a boy of the name of William Balderstone, 

 receiving assistance from a gentleman in the neighbourhood 

 of the name of Robinson, who fortunately had education as 

 well as property. He and his accomplished wife readily gave 

 their assistance in conducting the studies of Dalton, and his 

 companion who was in their service. These boys filled 

 with "emulation solved problems in numbers and in forms, as 

 active minded boys still do over all the country. Balder- 

 stone bet Dalton sixpence on a proposition in geometry, but 

 Mr. Robinson objected, and proposed rather that whoever 

 lost should supply the other with candles during the winter. 

 Dalton's answer is generally said to be, <« yan might do it," 



