virtuous conduct, and by the thought of the legacy of fame which he had
bequeathed, not to his family alone, but to his country.

With a solicitude for the education of his children, then by no means
common among the Scottish farmers, Mr. Park hired a tutor to superintend
their education, being anxious not to leave them to such chance
instruction as they might receive before they were of a proper age for
going to school; thus shewing that he was alive to the advantage of early
habits of application and study. The boyhood of Mungo Park was not
distinguished by any marks of peculiar talent, though he appears, when
sent to Selkirk school, to have paid more than an average share of
attention to his studies. Of a thoughtful and reserved disposition, he
seldom took a share in the mirthful sports of his school-fellows. He was
fond of reading and solitude, often wandering for hours among the hills,
and along the banks of his native Yarrow. The legends of border chivalry,
many of which still lingered in the district, had not been poured into an
unwilling ear; they made a strong impression upon his imagination, and
probably contributed, in no inconsiderable degree, to fire his spirit,
and excite that love of adventure which so strongly marked his future
life. Moreover, occasional gleams of ambition broke forth from amid his
quiet thoughtfulness, which shewed, that beneath a cold exterior there
lurked a mind of no ordinary cast. This constitutional reserve made him
select in his choice of friends, but with those to whom he granted the
privilege of intimacy, he was all confidence and frankness.

The limited cost of an education for the Church of Scotland renders it an
object of ambition to many in the middle ranks of life; and the parents
of Mungo Park, judging that his peculiar disposition fitted him for the
ministry, were anxious that he should enter upon the initiatory course of
education. Park, however, manifested a decided repugnance to this choice,