" A LAYMAN'S LEGACY."* EVERY life, however uneventful, has its

interest and its lessons-, and it is natural for survivors who have been themselves

A Layman's Legacy, in Prose and Veme, Selections from the Papers of Samuel. Ong; and a Brief Memoir. London ; Macmillan and Co. deeply impressed by it to wish to convey those impressions to others ; and we gather not only from Dean Stanley's in-

troductory letter, but also from the work itself, that Mr. Greg was of the number of those men who do endear them- selves greatly to others, possibly because there is so much of the feminine element in their nature, and because they crave that which they are at all times so ready to give,—unbounded sympa- thy. Born in 1804, and the fourth son and eleventh child of a Manchester manufacturer, Samuel Greg's earliest associations were connected with a cotton mill, not one, however, in the noisy, grimy, money-making capital of trade, but an ideal cotton- mill standing by the river, half-hidden by trees and creepers, and situated in a secluded ravine at Quarry Bank, near Wilmslow, in Cheshire, close to which was situated his earliest home, the place which was to him for ever after a sort of Paradise :—

"Three generations of children can recall,"says the writer," the de- light of fishing in the river which runs through the garden, climbing the old beech trees, sliding down the green slopes, or playing in the 'caves,' or hollowed rocks, near the river. And by others besides children the charm of that home, inside as well as out, has been widely felt"

She goes on to say

" Those who have not lived near a factory may think it scarcely an agreeable neighbour, but in this secluded ravine its busy and sociable vicinity had its advantages. Mr. Greg has often described with what pleasure he used to hail the sight of it, on his arrival at home from his weekly rides to the Manchester cotton-market. In the winter-time, this was often a cold, wet ride in the dark ; and it was very cheering to come suddenly upon the mill, all lighted up, nestling in its valley, and to watch the shadows of the mules; as they ran backwards and forwards behind the window-blinds, with their attendant figures. Ho got quite fond even of the smell of burnt oil, because it was associated with the mill, and many a happy hour did he pass there, or in the counting-house, studying the machinery, and making friends with the workpoople."

This, of course, was after his return from the two schools, one at Nottingham and the other at Bristol, where the nine years de- voted to preliminary education were passed. When he was six- teen, he was set to learn mill-work, and after spending two more years in this manner, was allowed a winter's course of lectures in the University of Edinburgh, following up his studies afterwards with keen zest in the intervals of business at home, in company with his younger brother, William, who seems to have continued ever afterwards his devoted friend and helper. The Quarry Bank family in general were people of much intellect and edu- cation, and formed friendships and held communication with men of science and learning, whose society could not but be bene- ficial to the two young men. Their " appetite for knowledge at this time was," we are told, "insatiable, and their outlook over the rich life that was opening before them full of hope and promise." Even at this time, 1825 to 1828, we find Samuel Greg taking a great interest in his father's "mill hands," lecturing to them on scientific subjects, and devising plans for their welfare, although he also possessed a keen relish for active sports, especially for hunting ; yet already he had become subject to strange occasional attacks of illness, the forerunners, probably, of that malady which was afterwards to lay him low, and which he himself, whether rightly or wrongly, attributed in great measure to the incautious practice of mesmerism.

In 1832 Mr. Greg set up in business for himself, removing to the large manufacturing village of Bollington, "which lies," says the writer, "nestled among the hills on the eastern borders of Cheshire," and taking "the Lower House Mill," at that time empty, desolate, and destitute of machinery. He undertook to form the place, and with his enthusiastic temperament threw himself ardently into his new occupation, resolved to make of his little kingdom a region of happiness and peace, to give "an example of what factory life might be made, and to show what might bo the happy relations between master and man." He also studied farming, laid out the picturesque broken ground where his new house afterwards stood, built cottages- and a school, became a borough magistrate, took part in local affairs in Maccles- field, especially in the doings of the Useful Knowledge Society, and but for the indescribable nervous discomfort and irritation from which he suffered at times, this busy, active life would have been to him one of complete enjoyment.

It lasted for fifteen years, and in 1838 be had increased his happiness by marriage, with one whom he had known intimately from early childhood. What his plans for the amelioration of the working-classes were, and with what apparent success they were carried out, will be seen from his letters to Mr. Leonard Horner, which are given in the appendix. That they had not, however, the solid foundation which Mr. Greg believed he had laid for them, is seen from their sudden destruction. All at once

upon the introduction of some new machinery for stretching the cloth, the work-people, understanding neither their own interest nor the real regard for their welfare entertained by their master,. instead of attempting friendly remonstrance, resorted to a "turn- out," and the shock and disappointment, united to the grave cares and.anxieties of had times, brought on a terrible attack of spinal and nervous illness, from which Mr. Greg never quite recovered, and which obliged him to retire altogether from business. When, how- ever, after some years of seclusion and of wanderings in search of health, Mr. Greg was again able to occupy himself in some manner, he found it quite impossible to resume his old pursuits. He had thrown, perhaps unconsciously, so much of himself into his efforts for the good of others, that he could not bear to see them thwarted, and yet patiently, as would have been pos- sible to some men, begin again. Had he done so, great as was the personal affection for him which still subsisted amongst his people, notwithstanding their unfortunate outbreak, he might

perhaps have seen his desires accomplished. But, says his biographer, " he rather lacked that harder, tougher fibre, both of mind and frame, which makes the battle of life so easy and so successful to many men, Ile had nothing hard about him, and was not made for conflict. One would have said that he would have come out best, shone brightest, and achieved most, in sun- shine, were it not that He who seeth not as man seeth bad so distinctly relegated his course to the shadows and the clouds." Yet never, perhaps, was the meaning of sorrow and suffering more distinctly set forth than in that " chastening and ripening of his character as ho grew old," of which his brother and other watchers became so distinctly aware, and they cannot fail to have recognised that the highest end of existence is neither to " shine ' nor to "achieve," but to do the divine will.

Never, then, returning to the mill, although it was but tem minutes' walk from his house, Mr. Greg sought with improved health for a new sphere of duty, and in teaching his children, in literary occupations, in giving lectures for the Useful Knowledge Society, and in preaching to a small congregation of working-men and women in Macclesfield, he found himself sufficiently occupied until the last twelve years of his life were again overclouded by a disease in the face, which, when he recognised its nature,. and contemplated the prospects involved in it of physical and mental suffering, brought him at first almost to the verge of de- spair, and afterwards caused him a succession of disappointments, from the failure of each new medical treatment, which must have been crushing to his sanguine nature. But sustained by religious convictions which were sincere and deep, and solaced by the devotion of his home circle and the kindness of friends, the death of one of whom, Lady Augustus Stanley, preceded his own by less than two months, he bore up heroically, even after impaired sight was added to the list of his calamities, never giving utter- ance to an impatient or an irritable word. Some poems written by him at this time afford us touching glimpses of trial, suffering, and calm patience, with a spirit always looking forward ; oven that piteous cry " Beaten !" has in it something of thia element of consolation. Mr. Greg's versification is modest, chiefly confined to short poems of the religious order, although there are a few others. He does not evince genius or power, but shows

much thought and tenderness. His lines on pain, and one verse in particular, prove that he had a deep comprehension, born of experience, of the uses of that stern messenger :—

me door is closed in heaven to Pain alone is given ;

"Perhaps

Whosekesy e

And only thine all-powerful hand Can open to the onward land ; While spirits none shall enter there But those baptised in suffering here."

As to his sermons, they are practical, pointed little dis- courses, well suited doubtless to the people to whom they were delivered, and from which we may all learn something, although. they are not more noteworthy than thousands of others which lie neglected upon the shelves of second-hand book-shops. Still they aro all the fresher for their lay origin.