After one of his usual night-dissipations, a friend stood by his
bedside on the following morning. "Paley," said he, "I have not
been able to sleep for thinking about you. I have been thinking
what a fool you are! I have the means of dissipation, and can
afford to be idle: YOU are poor, and cannot afford it. I could do
nothing, probably, even were I to try: YOU are capable of doing
anything. I have lain awake all night thinking about your folly,
and I have now come solemnly to warn you. Indeed, if you persist
in your indolence, and go on in this way, I must renounce your
society altogether!
It is said that Paley was so powerfully affected by this
admonition, that from that moment he became an altered man. He
formed an entirely new plan of life, and diligently persevered in
it. He became one of the most industrious of students. One by
one he distanced his competitors, and at the end of the year be
came out Senior Wrangler. What he afterwards accomplished as an
author and a divine is sufficiently well known.
No one recognised more fully the influence of personal example on
the young than did Dr. Arnold. It was the great lever with which
he worked in striving to elevate the character of his school. He
made it his principal object, first to put a right spirit into the
leading boys, by attracting their good and noble feelings; and
then to make them instrumental in propagating the same spirit
among the rest, by the influence of imitation, example, and
admiration.
Pages:
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105