Excerpt from Bengough's Chalk-Talks: A Series of Platform Addresses on Various Topics, With Reproductions of the Impromptu Drawings With Which They Were Illustrated The dawn of my ambition to become a Cartoonist is dated as far back as 1870. Of course, for some years prior to that - I refuse to be more specific - I was much given to the lead-pencil. I had developed a facility at drawing which was recognized by my school mates, and even by that formidable personage, the "Master," who, I gratefully remember, made me a present on a faraway Merry Christmas, of a box of paints, anticipating, no doubt, that it was my destiny to shine amongst the great ones of the then future Canadian Royal Academy. It was also significant, perhaps, that one of the books presented to me as a prize for general proficiency in learning at the same institution was a work on "The Boyhood of Great Artists." I cannot help thinking that this "reward of merit" was more of a testimony to the liberal views of the examiners on the subject of proficiency, than to my own deserts. I am afraid I cannot claim to have been a diligent student. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.