20 
MEMOIR OP WERNER. 
could resist the force of his attractions. Feeling the 
ascendency of his talents, the pupils of Werner re- 
spected him as a great master, and, returning the 
regard he shewed for them, they soon loved him as 
a father. Wherever they went, they promulgated 
his doctrines, and spoke of his person with respect 
and affection. 
It was thus that, in a few years, the little school 
of Freyberg, originally designed only for the instruc- 
tion of a few miners for Saxony, again presented the 
appearance of the earliest universities of the middle 
ages. Pupils flocked to it from every civilized coun- 
try ; and, even in the most remote places, aged in- 
dividuals, and men of science who had already at- 
tained the highest celebrity, hastened to acquire a 
knowledge of the German language, for the sole pur- 
pose of being in a condition to hear and understand 
the great oracle of Geology. 
Abraham-Gottlob* Werner was born on the 
25th of September 1750, at Welnau on the Queiss, 
in Upper Lusatia. From his earliest years, he was 
surrounded with the objects which were to form the 
occupation and the glory of his life. His father, who 
was the director of a forge, used to give him shining 
minerals for his playthings ; and, before he could pro- 
nounce then - names, the child was learning, by piling 
them together, tossing them about, and breaking 
them in pieces, to group them, and recognise them 
by their most prominent characters. He always 
* Gottlob, Praise God 
