Her aim was to give her sons a manly and vigorous character. She impressed upon them, from childhood, the duty of benevolence, and set before them the idea of taking up and advocating some great cause, by which they might promote the permanent welfare and happiness of their fellow-creatures. She sought to render them self-denying, and, at the same time, thoughtful for others; and particularly strove to inculcate an abhorrence of slavery and the slave-trade. Occasionally the holidays were spent with their grandmother, either in London or at a country-house near Weymouth. A visit of this kind was always looked on as an extremely pleasant affair, and comprised many of the happiest hours of Buxton's boyhood. The situation of his grandmother's house was beautiful, and commanded enchanting views of Weymouth Bay and the Island of Portland.

When he had attained his fifteenth year, without having made any considerable advance in learning, Buxton persuaded his mother to allow him to reside at home, and for some months divided his time between field-sports and desultory reading. When active amusement did not conveniently come in his way, he was in the habit of spending whole days riding about the lanes, on an old pony, with some entertaining book in his hand, to the entire neglect of graver studies. His manners were rough and uncultivated; his friends laboured to reform and refine them, but the weapons used for that purpose - reproof and ridicule - produced no other effect than discouragement and annoyance. Still, he was looked upon as the heir of a considerable fortune, which was something to be thankful for; and there was every prospect of his passing through life like one of those enviable squires who, according to old poets and modern historians,—

"-----were only fit to sleep and dream

By their own fire; And, when awake, were only good To yelp and halloo in a wood."

He was, indeed, on the edge and crisis of his fate, when, raw, loutish, and awkward, he set off, in the autumn of 1802, to visit the family of Mr. Gurney, at Earlham Hall, near Norwich, with one of whose sons he had fortunately become acquainted. The Gurneys belonged to the most ancient gentry of the county, but had enriched themselves by commercial enterprise, and become Quakers, though hardly after the most rigid and approved fashion. The circle contained four boys and seven girls, all zealously employed in improving their natural endowments. The three elder daughters particularly were gifted with superior minds, and accomplished in various ways. They did not dance, indeed, for that of course would have been a grievous sin, especially as one of them was in esteem as a preacher; but they excelled as linguists and musicians, and were possessed of equestrian skill that Diana Vernon might have been jealous of. Even the youngest were animated with an ardent desire to acquire knowledge, and Buxton caught the inspiration, not the less readily, as may easily be imagined, that he was at first sight captivated with "the sweet attractive grace" of the fifth daughter, Hannah, and yielded to her mild charms without a struggle. No event certainly could have been more propitious for him, or more conducive to improvement. It gave a colour to his existence, stimulated his industry in the pursuit of knowledge, and exercised an influence on him pregnant with good at a very critical period of his life. He had gone to Earlham a loutish, uninteresting lad, whose uncultivated condition had defied all the efforts of Dr. Burney and his mother; but,—

"What not his parents' care nor tutor's art Could plant with pains in his unpolish'd heart, The best instructor, love, at once inspired."

The influences to which he was there exposed awakened the faculties that lay dormant in his large mind, and wrought a complete change in the whole working of his high spirit; and when, on leaving the place, he looked back on the hospitable mansion with its old trees, under whose shade he had walked with his charming friends, and sat while they sketched or read aloud, it was with a vow to cultivate his talents—a firm and invincible determination to do or die.

His mother had proposed sending him to the Scottish University of St. Andrews, but to this his aversion was, from some cause, decided and insuperable. Besides, there being reason to expect that he would inherit considerable property in Ireland, she deemed it advisable that he should complete his education in Dublin. Accordingly, in the winter of 1802, he was placed at Donnybrook, in the family of a person who prepared pupils for the University At this place he took up his residence shortly before the Christmas holidays; and, though then he was inferior to all his companions in classical acquirements, by spending the vacation in close and resolute study, it was found, on their return, that he stood first among the pupils. He gave up all desultory reading, even refrained from looking into a novel or newspaper, but pursued weightier studies, morning, noon, and night.

After remaining a year at Donnybrook, and paying a visit to Earlham, the most delightful reward for his labours, and the source of much pleasure and happiness, he returned to Dublin in 1803, and eniered Trinity College as a fellow-commoner. Here he at once commenced his studies with great vigour, and with a success which surpassed his expectations His college career was a perpetual triumph; all doubts and difficulties disappeared before his arduous energy. He bore off every prize, medal, certificate, or honour, that it was possible for him to gain; and as a member of the Historical Society he received an award of "remarkable thanks," which, though provided for by its rules, had never, up to that date, been won by any individual. At the termination of his University course, the highest compliment, conceivable under the circumstances, was bestowed upon him in being requested to stand for the representation of the University, with such assurances of support, that his return might have been calculated on as a certainty. He took time to consider the matter; much to the surprise of his friends he resisted the tempting prospect thus opened to youthful ambition; and, returning to England in April 1807, soon after received the fair hand of the adorable Hannah—his highest and most cherished aspiration. The first few months of his married life were passed at a small cottage near his grandmother's country residence. The expectations entertained of his succeeding to Irish estates had been disappointed, and he found that his fortunes must depend upon his own exertions. After deliberating on the idea of following the law as a profession, he relinquished it, and entered into ne-gotiations in different quarters, with a view of establishing himself in business. For a time these were fruitless; and he suffered severely from the inactivity of the present, and the uncertainty of the future. Indeed, as he said long after, he longed for any employment that would produce him a hundred a-year, even if he had to work twelve hours a-day for it.

Nearly a year passed before his anxieties in this respect were terminated. Then his uncle offered him a situation in Truman's brewery, with the pro-, mise of being a partner after three years' probation. Buxton was, during the term, closely occupied in making himself master of his new vocation; yet he found time for the study of English literature, particularly of works on political economy. He cherished the hope of some day entering Parliament, and continued to exercise his powers of debate at the Academies' Club, of which he was a member. He now also began to show symptoms of having profited by the example of his father, who as sheriff had done his utmost to ameliorate the condition of the prisoners in the county gaol, and by the lessons inculcated by his mother. The seed had fallen into good ground, and began to spring up. Upon settling in London, he immediately sought opportunities of promoting the welfare of his less favoured fellow-men, and engaged in some of those benevolent pursuits to which his after-life was de voted. From the time of his connexion with the distressed district in which the brewery was situated, he took an active part in all its charities, more especially those having education and the spread of the Gospel for their object. The sufferings of the Spitalfields weavers became his peculiar care.

In 1811 he was admitted as a partner in the brewery, and during the seven following years devoted his rare energies to business. He remodelled the whole system of management, and hardly ever displayed greater vigour, firmness, and indomitable determination, than in carrying his undertaking to a successful termination.

Meantime, in the winter of 1816, he had zealously exerted himself to relieve or palliate the intolerable sufferings that fell on the weavers of Spitalfields At a meeting held on their behalf, at the Mansion House, he delivered a speech that commanded the earnest attention, and won the enthusiastic applause, of all parties. In the same year was established the Society for the Reformation of Prison Discipline, on which subject he, the following summer, published his work, which was received with a degree of at tention far greater than he ever looked for. It ran through six editions in the course of the year, secured the warm congratulations of Mr. Wilberforce, was alluded to in the House of Commons by Sir James Mackintosh in terms of the highest praise, was translated into French and distributed on the Continent, reached Turkey, and induced a gentle-Irian who read it in India to examine into the state of the Madras gaols, and never to slacken in his endeavours till he had effected a complete reformation in their wretched condition.

In 1818 Buxton was elected member of Parliament for Weymouth, and took his seat in the following spring. The horrors of slavery, as has been stated, had been, almost in infancy, impressed on his mind; and he had since become a member of the African Institution. This led to his being chosen by Mr. Wilberforce as his successor in the advocacy and championship of the rights of the slaves. From this point he laboured assiduously to strike off their fetters till 1833, when the great principles for which he had contended were embodied in the Slavery Abolition Act, and freedom bestowed on 900,000 British subjects in the colonies. A baronetcy was conferred on him in 1840. To the last he was unremitting in his efforts to benefit the African race. On the 19th of July, 1845, his spirit departed in peace from the earth, and his mortal remains were consigned to their kindred dust in the ruined chancel of the little church at Overstrand. Crowds of the neighbouring villagers were present to testify their sincere esteem for his estimable character, and their affectionate regard for his memory. Indeed the latter, on account of his * influence and services to mankind, rests on such an imperishable basis that it will in all likelihood be fresh to the latest generations. Such is the reward of persevering philanthropy.

Buxton's opinion seems to have been that a young man may become very much what he pleases, by working, studying, and struggling. "The longer I live, the more I am certain," he wrote," that the great difference between men, between the feeble and the powerful, is energy—invincible determina-tion—& purpose once fixed, and then death or victory. That quality will do anything that can be done in this world; and no talents, no circumstances, no opportunities, will make a two-legged creature a man without it"