to perceive her charge's talents, and even foretold his future
celebrity:

"And, as she gave my diligence its praise,
Talk'd of the honour of my future days."

If he did not deceive himself, it was at this period that his
imagination became susceptible of poetic associations. Speaking
of the eagerness with which he left the usual sports of children
to listen to tales of imaginary woe, and of the effect which they
produced, he says,

"Beloved moment! then 't was first I caught
The first foundation of romantic thought;
Then first I shed bold Fancy's thrilling tear,
Then first that Poesy charm'd mine infant ear.
Soon stored with much of legendary lore,
The sports of childhood charm'd my soul no more;
Far from the scene of gaiety and noise,
Far, far from turbulent and empty joys,
I hied me to the thick o'erarching shade,
And there, on mossy carpet, listless laid;
While at my feet the rippling runnel ran,
The days of wild romance antique I'd scan;
Soar on the wings of fancy through the air,
To realms of light, and pierce the radiance there."

The peculiar disposition of his mind, having thus early displayed
itself, every day added to its force. Study and abstraction were his
greatest pleasures, and a love of reading became his predominant