doubt that they came from the
pen of his old admirer, Mrs. Cockburn. They are as follows:--

"If such the accents of thy early youth
When playful fancy holds the place of truth;
If so divinely sweet thy numbers flow,
And thy young heart melts with such tender woe;
What {p.107} praise, what admiration shall be thine,
When sense mature with science shall combine
To raise thy genius, and thy taste refine!

"Go on, dear youth, the glorious path pursue
Which bounteous Nature kindly smooths for you;
Go, bid the seeds her hand hath sown arise,
By timely culture, to their native skies;
Go, and employ the poet's heavenly art,
Not merely to delight, but mend the heart.
Than other poets happier mayst thou prove,
More blest in friendship, fortunate in love,
Whilst Fame, who longs to make true merit known,
Impatient waits, to claim, thee as her own.

"Scorning the yoke of prejudice and pride,
Thy tender mind let truth and reason guide;
Let meek humility thy steps attend,
And firm integrity, youth's surest friend.
So peace and honor all thy hours shall bless,
And conscious rectitude each joy increase;
A nobler meed be thine than empty praise--
Heaven shall approve thy life, and Keith thy lays."[59]

[Footnote 59: [Miss Fleming, in her contribution to Dr. John
Brown's memorial of her sister Marjorie, says that these
verses were written by her aunt, Mrs. Keir, after meeting the
boy poet at Ravelston. Another aunt was the wife of Scott's
kinsman, Mr. William Keith of Corstorphine Hill, and it was
at her house, 1, North Charlotte Street, that Sir Walter came
to know familiarly her delightful little niece, during her
long visits to Edinburgh. These ladies and Mrs. Fleming were
the daughters of Dr. James Rae.--See _Marjorie Fleming_.]]

At the period to which I refer these verses, Scott's parents still
continued to have some expectations of curing his lameness, and Mr.
Irving remembers to have often assisted in applying the electrical
apparatus, on which for a considerable time they principally rested
their hopes. There is an allusion to these experiments in Scott's
autobiographical fragment, but I have foun