333 Life of John Hairy Ldmhcri. 



boaster to tho^e who did not su'ncifntly know him. life \<'i'? 

 wedded, as it were, to his opinions, and rehuquished them 

 with great reluctance, when tenabiq no lunger. He ge- 

 nerally judged corrcctlv in his own sphere : whilst out of it, 

 when men and business- were the objects of conversa- 

 tion, his judgment \\'as frequcntlv gJaringly erroneous, and 

 otteutmies e\en destitute f^ comnion sense; either, because 

 he neglected to observe men in their actions, and the course 

 of business,, in their real situation, or because his being ac- 

 customed to ajialysc, incapacitated him from discerning by 

 intuition. 



His conduct exactly corresponded with liis manner of 

 thinking. He proposed to lumself certain rules, of the pro- 

 priety and justness of which he was convinced, and ob- 

 served them as strictly as the rule of arithmetic in calcu- 

 lating. Hence, nothing could affect the calmness of his 

 mind, or divert him in the slightest degree from the pursuit 

 of his studies. His diligence and assiduitv were, perhaps, 

 never excelled, or even equalled by any man ; though he 

 never manifested the least sign of that uneasiness which is 

 so common with pe-ople of an active mind, and involved in 

 a miihiplicity of occupations. His mind Vvas constantly 

 iinruitled. 



He generally was at his writing-desk from iivc o'clock iii 

 ihe morning till noon, and from two o'clock in the after- 

 noon till midnight, without indulging himself in any 

 kind of recreation, a solitary walk on a fine day excepted. 

 The most Inditi'ercnt occurrence led him to matiiematical or 

 philosophical analysts; to v.-hich he gave lumself up so 

 completely, that no object whatever could make the least 

 impression upon him. When he happened to be overtaken 

 by a shower of rain, on a walk, he calculat.ed, whilst run- 

 ning, which was the shortest and driest way. Several of 

 his treatises owe their existence to incidents of this nature.^ 

 Even in the management of his cpconomieal concerns every 

 thing was conducted with mathematical exactness. When- 

 ever he hapi>ened to speak in company of metaphysical or 

 mathematical subjects, he took not the slightest notice of 

 the surrounding persons } and his discourses were real dis- 

 sertations, in which not the least leap or chasm could be 

 discovered, as he alv.ays represented his ideas in that order 

 in which they arose in his mind, — and when he was inter- 

 rupted, resumed his discourse at tiie exact point where he 

 had stopped. 



Considering his ai'dcnt and indefatigable diligence, it iS' 

 very natural that he should have ac(i'.iircd a prui'o-und know- 



ledse 



