Nasmyth a letter of
introduction to the late Mr. Cooke of York, while the latter was
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 extraordinary ambition took possession of him:
no less than the construction of a reflecting telescope of six
inches diameter.
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