GRANT THORBURN.
As regards incident, the life of GRANT THORBURN contains little• that is singular, or worthy of record as an event. His father was a nailmaker, a Scotchman, and a Presbyterian. GRANT himself was weakly in his infancy and childhood ; was brought up to his father's business; and emigrated early in life to New York, in consequence of a connexion with the Corresponding Society. On his arrival, he worked at his business; gained money enough to set up a store; found his trade diminish in consequence of a rival shop; started in the seed-trade ; speculated in garden- ground ; became insolvent ; took the benefit; started again, was more successful, and eventually became the first seedsman in the United States. It should be added, to his great credit, that,he voluntarily paid the debts owing under his first insolvency. He also married twice, and had children by each wife. Surely, in all this there was nothing so strange that it was ne- cessary to tell it to the world. Nor is the paucity of action re- deemed by graces of narrative, shrewd or striking observations, or fine or strong development of character. But the original Lawrie Todd was entitled to tell his tale. The original !—bah l—the ori- ginal was in GALT'S genius, in his peculiar power of seeing nature, and painting what he saw. Even had the moving accidents of the life been far more stirring, it would not have been safe to print them after they had been given to the world by such a master. Could a man, obtuse save in what concerned his own in- terest, see himself and his motives as the great satirist saw him? could he develop his own character—could he take his own mea- sure, as GALT developed the character and took the measure? In the shrewd and close observation of moral equivocalities, or of weaknesses of manner, the greatest and most commanding intellect would fail when brought into competition with the author of the Annals of the Parish.'Imagine Lord GREY giving an autobio- graphical account of his interview in the red room in Downing Street between himself and the Dean of Gtiild, and fancy what it would be when compared with that of GALT!
Save in some scattered passages of homely truth, Grant Thor- burn of New York would have been a dull affair—a specimen of sheer bookmaking, without the bookmaker's skill—had it not been for the seemingly irreverent use which is made of " the Doctrine of a Particular Providence." The mode in which Mr. THORBURN represents what worldly men call the accidents of life, as special exertions of the Almighty in his favour, are sometimes ludicrously startling to persons not familiar with the religious sentiments of the Scotch, brought up as THORBURN was ; and on the whole stamp a character on the autobiography. His infancy and childhood, as we have said, were weakly : in this he sees the goodness of God,"—for, through snails boiled in milk, and other means used for restoring his strength, he gained, he believes a new constitution. His weakness stunted his growth, his stature being only four feet ten inches : this too " Providence turned to his advantage,"—for it stimulated him to excel his fellows in mind. He climbs over a high wall -to see some fireworks at the Duke of BUCCLEUCHS ; and " Pro- vidence orders" that lie should drop on a bed of leaves : in pas- sing out of the park, he finds a porter whipping the juvenile spectators for lagging behind and keeping him waiting at the gate; a warning induces him to take hold of the hand of a laird's son, and he passes through unscathed. A gentleman on shipboard, "a cabin passenger," placed his foot before GRANT, on the spot GRANT had selected, slipped, fell, broke his leg, and died of the yellow lever. A heavy stone, when pelting walnuts, only grazes him; a cooper's tool drops on his shoulder, instead of on his skull; a woman is run over in the gutter, and Mr. THORBURN has his cloak torn from his shoulders : in all these and many other cases of equal importance, Providence, or his "guardian angel" works out his safety.
Lest we be suspected of exaggerating, let him speak for himself, in a passage which will afford a fair specimen of the style and
manner of author. Here we have it, in what may be termed the finger of Providence pointing,to the establishment of GRANT THORBURN 'S seed-store.
On the corner of Nassau and Liberty Streets, there lived the venerable old gentleman' Mr. Isaac Van Hook, so well known as the sexton of the New Dutch church opposite his house, for nearly fifty years. James Laing and Wit- ham Smith, both cabinetmakers, and carrying on a respectable business, hav- in.,- in their employment ten or twelve journeymen and apprentices: these men took a mad resolution, gave up the business, sold their stock, hired the corner house over the head of poor old Van Hook, turned him and his tobacco-pipes out of doors, and commenced the grocery business. Theirs being a corner, took away the most of may customers; insomuch that I was obliged to look sound for some other mode to support my family. This; you'll:ay be 'sure, I considered. a great misfortune-; -but, is the sequel,- you will see that Providence was thusTreparing the way to put me into a more agreeable and profitable busi- ness- and what we may often'thinic ilia great misfortune, at the time, is only -? - Making the way for a greater blessin.g. About this tune; the ladies iri'New York were beginning to 'show their taste for flowers; audit wag customary to sell the empty flower-pots in the grocery stores; these articles AU comprised part of my stock. In the fall of the year, when the plants wanted shifting, preparatory to their being placed in the parlour, 'I was often asked for pots of a handsomer quality, or better make. As I stated above, I was looking round for some other means to support my'family. All at once it came into my mind to take and paint some of my:common flower-pots with green varnish paint; thinking it would better suit the taste of the ladies than the common brick-bat coloured ones. I painted two pait,,and exposed them in front of my, window. I remember, just as I had placed the two pair of pots in front of my window on the outside, I was standing in the side walk, admiring their appearance: a carriage came along, Laving the glasses letdown, and one lady' only an the carriage. As the carriage passed my shop, her eye lit on the pots ; she put her head out at the window, and looked back, as far as she could see, on the pots. Thinks I, this will take ; end it did take—for these two pots were the links of a chain by means of which Providence was leading me into my present extensive seed establishment. They soon drew attention, and were sold. I painted six pair ; they soon went the same way. Being thus' encouraged, I continued painting and selling to good advantage : this was in the fall of 1802. One day,.in the month of April following, I observed a man, for the first time, selling floiver- plants in the Fly Market, which then stood in the foot of Maiden Lane. As I carelessly passed along, I took a leaf, and rubbing it between my fingers and 'bomb, asked him what was the name of it. He answered, a rose-geranium. This, as far. as I can recollect, was the first time that I ever heard that there was a.gei atrium in the world ; as, before this, I had no taste for, nor paid any attention to, plants. I looked a few minutes at the plant, thought it hail a plea.. sant smell, and thought it would look well if removed into one of my green flow. r-pots, to stand on my counter to draw attention. I remember, after sinel- in-", the first leaf of the rose-geranium, and also when I received additions to my stock, how I was struck with wonder and amazement lit the power, win- . om, arrl goodness of God, in imparting to the green leaf of one plant the fra- rarce of another, such as the balm, musk, pennyroyal, &a. How condescend- ng to our senses, how indulgent, as it were, even to our childish and playful antes ! It 1.9s, thus my mind was struck, when I smelt the first leaf. Thought , it' is strange that a green leaf, plucked from a plant no way similar, should pon- es' all the ilivour.of the,/lower plucked from another. Observe, I did not purchase this plant with the intention of selling it again, but merely todraw attention to my green pots, and let the people see how well the pots naked when the plant was iu them. Next day, someone fancied and purchased plant and pot. Next day I went, when the market was nearly over, judging the man would sell cheaper, rather than have the trouble of carrying them over the river, as he lived at Brooklyn,—and in those days there was neither steam nor horse-hosts: Accordingly, I purchased two plants ; and having sold them, I began to think. that something might be done this way; and so I continued to go at the close of the market, and always bargained for the unsold plants. And the man finding me a useful customer, would assist me to entry them home, and show me how to shift the plants out of his pots and put them into green puts, if My customers wished it. So I soon found by his tongue that he was a Scotchman, and being countrymen, we wrought to one anothet'a hands : thus from having one plant, in a short time I had fifty. The thing; being a novelty, began to draw attention; people carrying their country friends to see the curiosities of the city, ,would step in to see my plants. In some of these visits, the strangers would express a wish to have some of these plants, but having so far to go, could not carry them. Then they would ask if I had no seed of such plants; then, again, others would ask for cabbage, turnip, or Tadish-seeds, &c.
' These frequent inquiries at length set me to thinking, that if I could get seeds, I would be able to sell them ; but here lay the difficulty, as no one sold seed in new York, no one of the farmers. or gardeners saved inure than what they wanted for their own use ; there being no market for an overplus. In this dilemma, I told my situation to George Inglis, the man from whom I had always bought the plants in the Fly Market. He said he was now raising seeds, with the intention of selling them next spring along with his plants in 'the market; but if I would take his seeds, he would quit the market, and stay at home and raise plants and seeds for me to sell. A bargain was immediately struck ; I purchased his stock of seeds, amounting to fifteen dollars ; and thus commenced a business on the I7th of September 1805, that already is the most extensive of the sort in the United States.
It is worth while to look back on the steps by which Providence led me into this business, without my ever planning or intending. to become a seedsman. 1. By the introduction of cut-nail machines, cutting me off from making a living by my own trade of nail-making.
2. By shutting me up, so that I could not make a living by keeping grocery. 3. By directing my mind to the painting of green pots, which induced me to purchase the first plant that ever drew My attention ; and this merely with a view of ornamenting my store, and not for the purpose of sale. 4. In being led, by the sale of this plant, to keep a quantity of them for the same purpose, which induced people to ask for the seed of the plants, and also for vegetable seeds, long before I ever thought of selling seeds.
When the Autobiography was first announced, we suspected its .authenticity. A perusal has considerably changed that impression. The volume, indeed, is eked out with stories of Tom PAINE, and a variety of other matter very extraneous to the narrative of Mr. THORBURN'S life : but its defects support its genuine character— they smack of the race—they are faults that no mere littera- tear would have been guilty of. On the other hand, there are passages of natural though vulgar truth, and observations of homely shrewdness, which are perhaps above a common book- maker's reach. Occasionally, however, there are sentences, even paragraphs, of such force and vigour that we suspect GRANT hipl- self never could have produced them,—bits which stand out " like lumps of marl on a barren moor, incumbering what it is not in their power to fertilize." Had it.not been expressly declared that no man of letters had seen the manuscript, we should have con- cluded the work had been edited: and perhaps it has—in proof.
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