66 "within the line of innocence. The great mis"fortune of my life was to want an aim. I had "felt early some stirrings of ambition, but they were the blind gropings of Homer's Cyclops "round the walls of his cave. I saw my father's "situation entailed on me perpetual labour. The only two openings by which I could enter the "temple of fortune, was the gate of niggardly œconomy, or the path of little chicaning bargain-making. The first is so contracted an a"perture I never could squeeze myself into it"the last I always hated-there was contamina❝tion in the very entrance!-Thus abandoned "of aim or view in life, with a strong appetite for " sociability, as well from native hilarity, as from " à pride of observation and remark; a constitu❝tional melancholy or hypochondriasm that made me fly solitude; add to these incentives to so "cial life, my reputation for bookish knowledge, "a certain wild logical talent, and a strength of "thought, something like the rudiments of good"sense, and it will not seem surprising that I "was generally a welcome guest where I visited, or any great wonder that always where two or "three met together, there was I among them. "But far beyond all other impulses of my heart, was un penchant a l' adorable moitiée du genre "humain. My heart was completely tinder, and was eternally lighted up by some goddess or "other; 66 "other; and as in every other warfare in this 66 world, my fortune was various; sometimes I "was received with favour, and sometimes I was "mortified with a repulse. At the plough, "scythe, or reap-hook, I feared no competitor, "and thus I set absolute want at defiance; and "as I never cared farther for my labours than "while I was in actual exercise, I spent the even"ings in the way after my own heart. A counlad seldom carries on a love-adventure without an assisting confidant. I possessed a curiosity, zeal, and intrepid dexterity, that recom"mended me as a proper second on these occa"sions, and I dare say, I felt as much pleasure "in being in the secret of half the loves of the parish of Tarbolton, as ever did statesman in 66 66 try knowing the intrigues of half the courts of Europe. The very goose-feather in my hand, "seems to know instinctively the well-worn path "of my imagination, the favourite theme of my song; and is with difficulty restrained from 66 giving you a couple of paragraphs on the love"adventures of my compeers, the humble inmates "of the farm-house and cottage: but the grave "sons of science, ambition, or avarice, baptize "these things by the name of Follies. To the "sons and daughters of labour and poverty they .66 are matters of the most serious nature; to them "the ardent hope, the stolen interview, the ten "der "der farewell, and the greatest and most delici"ous parts of their enjoyments. 166 "Another circumstance in my life which "made some alteration in my mind and manners, was, that I spent my nineteenth summer on a smuggling coast, a good distance from home, 66 at a noted school, to learn mensuration, survey"ing, dialling, &c. in which I made a pretty "good progress. But I made a greater progress "in the knowledge of mankind. The contra"band trade was at that time very successful, and "it sometimes happened to me to fall in with "those who carried it on. Scenes of swaggering "riot and roaring dissipation were till this time new to me, but I was no enemy to social life. "Here, though I learnt to fill my glass, and to "mix without fear in a drunken squabble, yet I "went on with a high hand with my geometry; "till the sun entered Virgo, a month which is always a carnival in my bosom, when a charm"ing fillette who lived next door to the school, "overset my trigonometry, and set me off at a 66 66 tangent from the sphere of my studies. I how ever struggled on with my sines and co-sines for a few days more; but stepping into the garden one charming noon to take the sun's altitude, "there I met my angel "Like Proserpine gathering flowers, "Herself a fairer flower " It "It was in vain to think of doing any more "good at school. The remaining week I staid I "did nothing but craze the faculties of my soul "about her, or steal out to meet her; and "the two last nights of my stay in the coun try, had sleep been a mortal sin, the image of "this modest and innocent girl had kept me guiltless. “I returned home very considerably improved. My reading was enlarged with the very impor"tant addition of Thompson's and Shenstone's "Works; I had seen human nature in a new "phasis; and I engaged several of my school"fellows to keep up a literary correspondence with "me. This improved me in composition. I had met with a collection of letters by the wits of "Queen Anne's reign, and I pored over them most "devoutly. I kept copies of any of my own let"ters that pleased me, and a comparison between "them and the composition of most of my cor"respondents, flattered my vanity. I carried this "whim so far, that though I had not three far66 things worth of business in the world, yet almost every post brought me as many letters as if I "had been a broad plodding son of day-book "and ledger. 66 "My life flowed on much in the same course " till Vive l'amour, et "till my twenty-third year. "vive la bagatelle, were my sole principles of ac"tion. The addition of two more authors to my "library gave me great pleasure; Sterne and "M'Kenzie-Tristram Shandy and The Man of Feeling were my bosom favourites. Poesy was "still a darling walk for my mind, but it was only indulged in according to the humour of the hour. I had usually half a dozen or more pieces on hand; I took up one or other as it suit"ed the momentary tone of the mind, and dismissed the work as it bordered on fatigue. My "passions, when once lighted up, raged like so 66 66 many devils, till they got vent in rhyme; and "then the conning over my verses, like a spell, "soothed all into quiet! None of the rhymes "of those days are in print, except, Winter, a Dirge, the eldest of my printed pieces; The "Death of poor Maillie, John Barleycorn, and $6 songs first, second, and third.§ Song second was "the ebullition of that passion which ended the "forementioned school-business. 66 |