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Article BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF EMINENT (DECEAS... ← Page 5 of 14 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Biographical Sketches Of Eminent (Deceas...
those dictated by affectation and fustian . In his seventeenth year he went to a country dancing school , to which he says his father had an unaccountable antipathy ; and as he went in opposition to his wishes , he believed his father took a dislike to him , which was one of the causes of the dissipation that marked his succeeding years ; but it
must not be understood that this dissipation was anything more than comparative with the strictness and sobriety of Presbyterian country life ; for though he was thoughtless , yet , as he adds , " early ingrained piety and virtue kept me for several years afterwards within the line of innocence . " With a dislike to solitude , a reputation for bookknowledge , naturally sociable , gifted with a wild logical talent and strength of thought , the rudiments of good sense—it is not surprising that he was everywhere a welcome guest , and that where there were gatherings , small or great , of those of his own age , he was always to be found . Added to which , his heart was of that susceptible nature that is always smouldering like tinder , ready to be blown into a flame foi some rustic goddess upon the slightest occasion . Possessing curiosity ,
zeal , and dexterity , our poet Avas the confident of half the love passages in the parish of Tarbolton , for it seems impossible for the male sex in the country to fall in love , unless they have some friend to share their hopes and fears ; and our poet felt as much pride in his numerous clients' causes , as ever any minister of state in knowing the petty intrigues of half the courts in Europe . Although this may appear what grave and dignified men , in their superior wisdom , designate folly , yet to the sons and daughters of labour and poverty , they are matters of the most serious nature ; to them , the ardent hope , the stolen interview , the tender farewell , are their most exquisite , as well as their only enjoyments .
Another change in his mode of life took place when our poet spent his nineteenth summer on a smuggling coast , at a long distance from his home , whither' he went to a noted school to learn mensuration , surveying , & c , in which he made very good progress . But he made more advancement in the knowledge of mankind—as the
contraband trade was at that time very successful , and he sometimes fell in . with those who carried it on . Scenes of drunkenness and riot were new to him , but ho was no enemy to social life , for he soon learned to drink his glass of spirits , and to mix , without fear , in a drunken squabble . Through these scenes he steadily pursued the science of geometry , until a charming girl , who resided next door to the school ,
" overset his trigonometry , and set him off at a tangent from the sphere of his studies . " After his return home , he entered into a correspondence with many of his old schoolfellows , and was considerably benefited by it in the formation of a healthy , fluent style . In his twenty-third year , partly from caprice , and partly from a desire to do something for himself in life , he joined a flax-dresser in
Irvine , with the intention of learning that trade ; but the whole business was unlucky , and as a wind up , as they were giving a carouse to the new year , the shop caught fire and burned to ashes , leaving him ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Biographical Sketches Of Eminent (Deceas...
those dictated by affectation and fustian . In his seventeenth year he went to a country dancing school , to which he says his father had an unaccountable antipathy ; and as he went in opposition to his wishes , he believed his father took a dislike to him , which was one of the causes of the dissipation that marked his succeeding years ; but it
must not be understood that this dissipation was anything more than comparative with the strictness and sobriety of Presbyterian country life ; for though he was thoughtless , yet , as he adds , " early ingrained piety and virtue kept me for several years afterwards within the line of innocence . " With a dislike to solitude , a reputation for bookknowledge , naturally sociable , gifted with a wild logical talent and strength of thought , the rudiments of good sense—it is not surprising that he was everywhere a welcome guest , and that where there were gatherings , small or great , of those of his own age , he was always to be found . Added to which , his heart was of that susceptible nature that is always smouldering like tinder , ready to be blown into a flame foi some rustic goddess upon the slightest occasion . Possessing curiosity ,
zeal , and dexterity , our poet Avas the confident of half the love passages in the parish of Tarbolton , for it seems impossible for the male sex in the country to fall in love , unless they have some friend to share their hopes and fears ; and our poet felt as much pride in his numerous clients' causes , as ever any minister of state in knowing the petty intrigues of half the courts in Europe . Although this may appear what grave and dignified men , in their superior wisdom , designate folly , yet to the sons and daughters of labour and poverty , they are matters of the most serious nature ; to them , the ardent hope , the stolen interview , the tender farewell , are their most exquisite , as well as their only enjoyments .
Another change in his mode of life took place when our poet spent his nineteenth summer on a smuggling coast , at a long distance from his home , whither' he went to a noted school to learn mensuration , surveying , & c , in which he made very good progress . But he made more advancement in the knowledge of mankind—as the
contraband trade was at that time very successful , and he sometimes fell in . with those who carried it on . Scenes of drunkenness and riot were new to him , but ho was no enemy to social life , for he soon learned to drink his glass of spirits , and to mix , without fear , in a drunken squabble . Through these scenes he steadily pursued the science of geometry , until a charming girl , who resided next door to the school ,
" overset his trigonometry , and set him off at a tangent from the sphere of his studies . " After his return home , he entered into a correspondence with many of his old schoolfellows , and was considerably benefited by it in the formation of a healthy , fluent style . In his twenty-third year , partly from caprice , and partly from a desire to do something for himself in life , he joined a flax-dresser in
Irvine , with the intention of learning that trade ; but the whole business was unlucky , and as a wind up , as they were giving a carouse to the new year , the shop caught fire and burned to ashes , leaving him ,