Biographical Memoir ofDr Thomas Young, 217 



The eager activity of the young philosopher had seduced him 

 beyond the limits of his strength, and, at the age of fourteen, his 

 health was most seriously injured. The symptoms led to the 

 belief that his lungs were affected ; but the threatening appear- 

 ances yielded under professional advice, and the anxious care 

 which his relatives exercised towards the invalid. 



It often happens with our neighbours beyond the Channel, 

 that a gentleman who can afford it, when he intrusts his child to 

 the care of a private tutor, seeks, among the boys of his ac- 

 quaintance, for an associate who is already known for his 

 abilities and acquirements. It was on this footing that Young, 

 in 1787, became the fellow-scholar of the grandson of Mr David 

 Barclay of Youngsbury in Hertfordshire. On the day of his 

 arrival, Mr Barclay, who, without doubt, felt no disposition to 

 be too exacting with a scholar of fourteen years of age, gave him 

 a number of phrases to copy, that he might ascertain how he 

 could write. Young, somewhat humbled perhaps by this kind 

 of experiment, asked permission to retire into the next room. 

 Being longer absent than the copying seemed to require, Mr 

 Barclay began to amuse himself at the expense of the little 

 quaker, when at length he appeared. The copy was exceeding- 

 ly well written, — a writing-master could not have done it better. 

 With regard to the delay, there was no ground for complaint, 

 for the little quaker, as Mr Barclay called him, had not only 

 transcribed the given English phrases, but had, moreover, trans- 

 lated them into nine diff^erent languages ! 



The preceptor, or, as he is called in Britain, the tutor^ whose 

 business it was to conduct the education of the two scholars of 

 Youngsbury, was an eminent young man, who was then much 

 engaged in perfecting his acquaintance with ancient languages ; 

 he was, at a future time, the author of the CalUgraphia Grceca. 

 He was not slow to perceive the immense superiority of one of 

 his pupils, and he recognised, with the most praiseworthy mo- 

 desty, that, in their common studies, the true tutor was not al- 

 ways he who bore the name. 



At this period, Young prepared, resorting always to the ori- 

 ginal sources of information, a detailed analysis of the numerous 

 systems of philosophy which were professed in the different 

 schools of Greece. His friends speak of this work in the highest 



