ely
attribute to the ruthless havoc made among every kind of bird.

* * * * *

My mother set me in due time to learn the catechism of the Kirk of
Scotland, and to attend the public examinations in the kirk. This was a
severe trial for me; for, besides being timid and shy, I had a bad
memory, and did not understand one word of the catechism. These
meetings, which began with prayer, were attended by all the children of
the town and neighbourhood, with their mothers, and a great many old
women, who came to be edified. They were an acute race, and could quote
chapter and verse of Scripture as accurately as the minister himself. I
remember he said to one of them--"Peggie, what lightened the world
before the sun was made?" After thinking for a minute, she said--"'Deed,
sir, the question is mair curious than edifying."

Besides these public examinations, the minister made an annual visit to
each household in his parish. When he came to us, the servants were
called in, and we all knelt while he said a prayer; and then he examined
each individual as to the state of his soul and conduct. He asked me if
I could say my "Questions"--that is, the catechism of the Kirk of
Scotland--and asked a question at random to ascertain the fact. He did
the same to the servants.

When I was between eight and nine years old, my father came home from
sea, and was shocked to find me such a savage. I had not yet been taught
to write, and although I amused myself reading the "Arabian Nights,"
"Robinson Crusoe," and the "Pilgrim's Progress," I read very badly, and
with a strong Scotch accent; so, besides a chapter of the Bible, he made
me read a paper of the "Spectator" aloud every morning, after breakfast;
the consequence of which discipline is that I have never since opened
that book. Hume's "History of England" was also a real penance to me. I
gladly accompanied my father when he cultivated his flowers, which even
now I can say were of the best quality. The tulips and other bulbous
plants, ranunculi, anemones, carnations, as well as the annuals then
known, were all beautiful. He used to root up and throw away many plants
I thought very beautiful; he said he did so because the colours of their
petals were not sharply defined, and that they would spoil the seed of
the others. Thus I learnt to know the good and the bad--how to lay
carnations, and how to distinguish between the leaf and fruit buds in
pruning fruit trees; this