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At the age of ten Livingstone was sent to work in a cotton factory
near Glasgow as a "piecer." With part of his first week's wages he
bought a Latin grammar, and began to learn that language, pursuing
the study for years at a night school. He would sit up conning his
lessons till twelve or later, when not sent to bed by his mother,
for he had to be up and at work in the factory every morning by
six. In this way he plodded through Virgil and Horace, also
reading extensively all books, excepting novels, that came in his
way, but more especially scientific works and books of travels. He
occupied his spare hours, which were but few, in the pursuit of
botany, scouring the neighbourhood to collect plants. He even
carried on his reading amidst the roar of the factory machinery, so
placing the book upon the spinning jenny which he worked that he
could catch sentence after sentence as he passed it. In this way
the persevering youth acquired much useful knowledge; and as he
grew older, the desire possessed him of becoming a missionary to
the heathen. With this object he set himself to obtain a medical
education, in order the better to be qualified for the work. He
accordingly economised his earnings, and saved as much money as
enabled him to support himself while attending the Medical and
Greek classes, as well as the Divinity Lectures, at Glasgow, for
several winters, working as a cotton spinner during the remainder
of each year.
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