DAVID GEO. GOYDER, F. E. S., FORMERLY CURATOR OF THE MUSEUM OF THE GLASGOW PHRENOLOGICAL My rule is deliberately to consider, before I commence, whether the thing is practicable. If it be not practicable I do not attempt it; if it be practicable, I can accomplish it, if I give sufficient pains to it; and, having begun, I never stop till the thing is done.'-DR. HUNTER. As Authors are scattered through all ranks of society, among the governors and the governed, and the objects of their puits are usually carried on by their own peculiar idiosyncracy, we are deeply interested in the secret connection of the incidents of their lives with their intellectual habits, in the development of that predisposition which is ever working in characters of native force. In their felicities and their failures, and the fortunes which such men have shaped for themselves, and oftener for the world, we discover what is not found in Biographical Dictionaries-the history of the mind of the individual, and this constitutes the psychology of genius.-D'ISRAELI. 'It is a hard and a nice thing for a man to speak of himself; it grates his own heart to say any thing of disparagement, and his readers' ears to hear anything of praise from him. There is no danger of my offending in this matter. Neither my mind, nor my body, nor my fortune allow me any materials for this vanity.'-COWLEY. LONDON: SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, AND CO., STATIONERS HALL COURT. MDCCCLVII. 85 1 PREFACE. In the following pages I present the reader with the story of MY BATTLE FOR LIFE.' I have thought it best to detail the vicissitudes in my experience in a plain unvarnished style, and to relate the occurrences as they transpired in the simple language of truth. Like most persons whose temperaments have a sanguine-nervous predominance, I am, by nature, of a social and cheerful disposition; but since the year 1830 my deafness has so increased as to operate as a bar to social intercourse. A deaf person is always more or less a 'bore' in company. This has been a matter of continual experience with me, and I have often keenly felt that I was indeed solitary in the midst of society. Under these circumstances I have thrown myself almost entirely upon my books. These have been b my most constant and dearest companions. Through them, I have. studied not only things but mankind. Through them, I have made myself acquainted, not only with literature and science, but also with the characters of their authors. This latter subject has been one of my principal sources of enjoyment, and the reader will find various examples in the following pages. Many of the opinions formed may be erroneous, but I have not set down 'aught in malice.' In singleness of purpose, I trust, I have expressed my single thought. With regard to the religious opinions herein advanced, I conceive they require no apology. I have examined most of the creeds of Christendom, and, after a deliberate investigation, I have chosen that which I hold to be the Lord's truth, the fundamental principle of which is LOVE-love to God above all things and charity to my neighbor. Upon this I have staked my salvation. Of others I do not pretend to judge-to their own Master they must stand or fall. As a minister of the Lord's New Church, I have endeavored to the best of my ability to fulfil the promise made at the altar at my ordination. I have |