'No.'

'Thou shouldst study it. Why dost thou not undertake the study?'

'I have no books.'

'I will lend thee books, if thou wish to undertake the study. I live
yonder at the hall, as perhaps thou knowest. I have a library there, in
which are many curious books, both in Greek and Hebrew, which I will show
to thee, whenever them mayest find it convenient to come and see me.
Farewell! I am glad to find that thou hast pursuits more satisfactory
than thy cruel fishing.'

And the man of peace departed, and left me on the bank of the stream.
Whether from the effect of his words, or from want of inclination to the
sport, I know not, but from that day I became less and less a
practitioner of that 'cruel fishing.'

* * * * *

Ah, that Irish! How frequently do circumstances, at first sight the most
trivial and unimportant, exercise a mighty and permanent influence on our
habits and pursuits!--how frequently is a stream turned aside from its
natural course by some little rock or knoll, causing it to make an abrupt
turn! On a wild road in Ireland I had heard Irish spoken for the first
time; and I was seized with a desire to learn Irish, the acquisition of
which, in my case, became the stepping-stone to other languages. I had
previously learnt Latin, or rather Lilly; but neither Latin nor Lilly
made me a philologist. I had frequently heard French and other
languages, but had felt little desire to become acquainted with them; and