still living. I did not present it at the time; but I now
proposed to visit, on my return homewards, the establishment

which he had founded at York for the manufacture of telescopes
and other optical instruments. Indeed, what a man may do for

himself as well as for science, cannot be better illustrated than
by the life of this remarkable man.

Mr. Nasmyth says that he had an account from Cooke himself of his
small beginnings. He was originally a shoemaker in a small

country village. Many a man has risen to distinction from a
shoemaker's seat. Bulwer, in his 'What will He do with It?' has

discussed the difference between shoemakers and tailors. "The
one is thrown upon his own resources, the other works in the

company of his fellows: the one thinks, the other communicates.
Cooke was a man of natural ability, and he made the best use of

his powers. Opportunity, sooner or later, comes to nearly all
who work and wait, and are duly persevering. Shoemaking was not

found very productive; and Cooke, being fairly educated as well
as self-educated, opened a village school. He succeeded

tolerably well. He taught himself geometry and mathematics, and
daily application made him more perfect in his studies. In

course of time an extraordinaryambition took possession of him:
no less than the construction of a reflecting telescope of six

inches diameter. The idea would not let him rest until he had
accomplished his purpose. He cast and polished the speculum with

great labour; but just as he was about to finish it, the casting
broke! What was to be done? About one-fifth had broken away, but

still there remained a large piece, which he proceeded to grind
down to a proper diameter. His perseverance was rewarded by the

possession of a 3 1/2 inch speculum, which by his rare skill he
worked into a reflecting telescope of very good quality.

He was, however, so much annoyed by the treacherously brittle
nature of the speculum metal that he abandoned its use, and

betook himself to glass. He found that before he could make a
good achromatic telescope it was necessary that he should

calculate his curves from data depending upon the nature of the
glass. He accordingly proceeded to study the optical laws of

refraction, in which his knowledge of geometry and mathematics
greatly helped him. And in course of time, by his rare and

exquisite manipulative skill, he succeeded in constructing a
four-inch refractor, or achromatic telescope, of admirable

defining power.
The excellence of his first works became noised abroad.

Astronomical observers took an interest in him; and friends began
to gather round him, amongst others the late Professor Phillips

and the Rev. Vernon Harcourt, Dean of York. Cooke received an
order for a telescope like his own; then he received other

orders. At last he gave up teaching, and took to telescope
making. He advanced step by step; and like a practical,

thoughtful man, he invented special tools and machinery for the
purpose of grinding and polishing his glasses. He opened a shop

in York, and established himself as a professed maker of
telescopes. He added to this the business of a general optician,

his wife attending to the sale in the shop, while he himself
attended to the workshop.

Such was the excellence of his work that the demand for his
telescopes largely increased. They were not only better

manufactured, but greatly cheaper than those which had before
been in common use. Three of the London makers had before

possessed a monopoly of the business; but now the trade was
thrown open by the enterprise of Cooke of York. He proceeded to

erect a complete factory--the Buckingham Street works. His
brother took charge of the grinding and polishing of the lenses,

while his sons attended to the mechanism of the workshop; but
Cooke himself was the master spirit of the whole concern.

Everything that he did was good and accurate. His clocks were
about the best that could be made. He carried out his

clock-making business with the same zeal that he devoted to the
perfection of his achromatic telescopes. His work was always

first-rate. There was no scamping about it. Everything that he
did was thoroughly good and honest. His 4 1/4-inch equatorials

are perfect gems; and his admirable achromatics, many of them of
the largest class, are known all over the world. Altogether,

Thomas Cooke was a remarkableinstance of the power of Self-Help.
Such was the story of his Life, as communicated by Mr. Nasmyth.

I was afterwards enabled, through the kind assistance of his
widow, Mrs. Cooke, whom I saw at Saltburn, in Yorkshire, to add a

few particulars to his biography.
"My husband," she said, "was the son of a workingshoemaker at

Pocklington, in the East Riding. He was born in 1807. His
father's circumstances were so straitened that he was not able to

do much for him; but he sent him to the National school, where he
received some education. He remained there for about two years,

and then he was put to his father's trade. But he greatly
disliked shoemaking, and longed to get away from it. He liked

the sun, the sky, and the open air. He was eager to be a sailor,
and, having heard of the voyages of Captain Cook, he wished to go

to sea. He spent his spare hours in learningnavigation, that he
might be a good seaman. But when he was ready to set out for

Hull, the entreaties and tears of his mother prevailed on him to
give up the project; and then he had to consider what he should

do to maintain himself at home.
"He proceeded with his self-education, and with such small aids

as he could procure, he gathered together a good deal of
knowledge. He thought that he might be able to teach others.

Everybody liked him, for his diligence, his application, and his
good sense. At the age of seventeen he was employed to teach the

sons of the neighbouring farmers. He succeeded so well that in
the following year he opened a village school at Beilby. He went

on educating himself, and learnt a little of everything. He next
removed his school to Kirpenbeck, near Stamford Bridge; and it

was there," proceeded Mrs. Cooke, "that I got to know him, for I
was one of his pupils."

"He first learnedmathematics by buying an old volume at a
bookstall, with a spare shilling. That was before he began to

teach. He also got odd sheets, and read other books about
geometry and mathematics, before he could buy them; for he had

very little to spare. He studied and learnt as much as he could.
He was very anxious to get an insight into knowledge. He studied

optics before he had any teaching. Then he tried to turn his
knowledge to account. While at Kirpenbeck he made his first

object-glass out of a thick tumbler bottom. He ground the glass
cleverly by hand; then he got a piece of tin and soldered it

together, and mounted the object-glass in it so as to form a
telescope.

"He next got a situation at the Rev. Mr. Shapkley's school in
Micklegate, York, where he taught mathematics. He also taught in

ladies' schools in the city, and did what he could to make a
little income. Our intimacy had increased, and we had arranged

to get married. He was twenty-four, and I was nineteen, when we
were happily united. I was then his pupil for life.

"Professor Phillips saw his first telescope, with the
object-glass made out of the thick tumbler bottom, and he was so

much pleased with it that my husband made it over to him. But he
also got an order for another, from Mr. Gray, solicitor, more by

way of encouragement" target="_blank" title="n.鼓励；赞助；引诱">encouragement than because Mr. Gray wanted it, for he was
a most kind man. The object-glass was of four-inch aperture, and

when mounted the defining power was found excellent. My husband
was so successful with his telescopes that he went on from

smaller to greater, and at length he began to think of devoting