Stonemason John Barr at work on a house in North Taranaki, New Zealand, in about 1930. Samuel Smiles’s Self-Help was an attempt to deal with the assumption that the working man’s lot could be improved only by the bosses he worked for. At one time, that was true enough and for the Marxists it still was — one just needed to change the bosses. But for Smiles, a new, fluid industrial economy meant that with thrift and honesty a working man held his destiny in his own hands. It was this breathtaking freshness of thinking that made Self-Help a Victorian best-seller.
Introduction
Samuel Smiles’s Self-Help; with Illustrations of Conduct and Perseverance (1859, 1866) was a book suited to a time of social change. For centuries, the elite had dictated a man’s trade and harvested most of the fruits of his labour, but the Industrial Revolution was changing all that. Smiles gave an example of just what was now possible in a free country.
WE have been informed of an equally striking instance of perseverance and application in learning on the part of a French political exile in London. His original occupation was that of a stonemason, at which he found employment for some time; but work becoming slack, he lost his place, and poverty stared him in the face. In his dilemma he called upon a fellow exile, profitably engaged in teaching French, and consulted him what he ought to do to earn a living. The answer was, “Become a professor!”
“A professor?” answered the mason — “I, who am only workman, speaking but a patois! Surely you are jesting?” “On the contrary, I am quite serious,” said the other, “and again I advise you become a professor; place yourself under me, and I will undertake to teach you how to teach others.” “No, no!” replied the mason, “it is impossible; I am too old to learn; I am too little of a scholar; I cannot be a professor.”
He went away, and again he tried to obtain employment at his trade.
Précis
To illustrate the value of perseverance, Samuel Smiles told the tale of a French emigre in London who worked as a stonemason. Finding it difficult to get work, he asked a friend for advice. His friend surprised him by suggesting that he teach French. However, he felt utterly inadequate for the task, and went on looking for manual jobs. (59 / 60 words)
To illustrate the value of perseverance, Samuel Smiles told the tale of a French emigre in London who worked as a stonemason. Finding it difficult to get work, he asked a friend for advice. His friend surprised him by suggesting that he teach French. However, he felt utterly inadequate for the task, and went on looking for manual jobs.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: although, besides, must, otherwise, ought, unless, until, whereas.
Word Games
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
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