man fell, with respect to the management of young Smith, which, if we consider the effect it produced on his future character, will appear of a nature still more ruinous. He liked the boy's daring spirit, and took a pleasure in trifling with his temper, which was naturally violent and ungovernable: he found out the art of working on his youthful passions, till they were wound up to the utmost pitch of fury, and amused himself with his childish bursts of rage, and his impotent attempts at revenge. More than once, however, the old gentleman had reason to repent his folly, and occasion to remark the fatal effect of adding fuel to a temper already too inflammable. At B- there was a kitchen garden, surrounded by an impenetrable thorn hedge. In this garden there were many gooseberry bushes, whose ripe fruit had attracted the longing eyes of poor Maitland. He had not been accustomed to restrain his appetites, and though he had learned the principles of religion by rote, he had not been taught practically to remember that there was a God who saw all his actions, and read all his thoughts. Hence the desire which, by a little exertion, he might at first have easily checked, grew so strong by indulgence that he could get no rest till it was satisfied. Finding no other way of obtaining

his wish, he procured a hatchet, and, in the most private part of the hedge, cut himself a passage into the garden. He did not, however, long enjoy the fruit of his dishonesty; his master having discovered the gap in the hedge, taxed him with the theft, and he was too conscious of guilt, and too sensible of the magical powers of the compass, to deny it. The captain was proceeding to take vengeance on the little culprit, when he, bursting from his grasp, seized a pitchfork, and, in his fury, would have run his master through the body, had he not avoided the blow, by escaping into the house. It is by such little incidents as this, that a person of discernment can trace, even in the feeble efforts of infancy, the embryo character of the future man. But the captain was too partial to the boy to see, in this ungovernable burst of rage, anything but the mark of a manly and independent spirit: and instead of expressing any resentment for what had passed, he next morning gave orders that Maitland should every day be treated with a handful of gooseberries, as long as any remained in the garden.

But another circumstance soon afterwards occurred, which served in some degree to open his master's eyes, and which still more strongly illustrates the extreme violence of his temper,

and his excessive impatience under personal insult. His fellow-servant, who was a great proficient in sacred music, was permitted by the captain to teach this accomplishment, during the winter evenings, in the parish church. Young Smith had liberty, on such occasions, to attend as a scholar. Happening, one of these nights, to quarrel with a school-fellow, matters were carried so high, that they came to blows: and his opponent being older and stronger than himself, he was very roughly handled, and felt beyond measure mortified and enraged at his defeat. He was bent on revenge; and recollecting, in the heat of his passion, that his father had an old rusty sword, he ran instantly to his father's cottage, which was in the neighbourhood, and contrived to get it, unobserved, into his possession. Thus armed, he returned to the church, determined to make his antagonist pay dear for his victory. Fortunately, however, the young man was apprised of his design in time to secure himself by flight. On his return home, the captain happening to discover the dangerous weapon concealed beneath his coat, obliged him to deliver it up, and extorted from him a confession of his intentions.

These repeated instances of unbridled fury began now to give the good old man some un

easiness, and he expressed his apprehension of the desperate lengths to which the violence of the boy's passions might lead him, in language that seems almost to have the air of prophecy : -"Maitland," says he, "you are a hot-brained fool; I am sure you will not die in your bed."

We must not neglect to record another occurrence that took place, whilst Maitland was an inmate of this family, as it bears a striking resemblance to some particulars in his situation and his feelings, during the most eventful period of his life. One Fair day, his master sent him to the neighbouring village of Thornhill, on business, and at the same time entrusted him with five shillings, as a present to his mother. Unfortunately, instead of going by his father's house, he went directly to the village, where he met with several of his companions, who were as idly disposed as himself. They had no money; he was vain enough to display his store, and to pretend that it was his own property. From boasting of it as his own, the progress was easy to the making use of it as his own. A thousand tempting things attracted his attention, and excited his desire; here the showman displayed his wonders, and harangued to the astonishment of his little audience; there a stand of sweetmeats drew the longing eyes of

the childish group; and there again the ripe fruit blushed in the baskets of the gardener. His companions urged and bantered; his own inclination prompted; the temptation was too strong for his ill-regulated mind; and at the close of the evening, he found his curiosity satisfied, and his young friends pleased, but his pockets empty, and his mind distracted. What could he do? He durst not return to his master, for he had transgressed his orders, and broken the trust which had been placed in him ; he durst not take shelter under his paternal roof, for he had robbed his parents of what was intended for their support ;-he was every way undone, and he could resolve on nothing. He accepted, however, the invitation of one of his playfellows, and spent the night with him at Eccles. Next morning, in a state of mind that may more easily be conceived than described, he set out, without having been able to form any plan; and, scarcely either knowing or caring which way he went, found himself within a few gunshots of his master's dwelling. Here he for some time loitered about, creeping among the bushes, and skulking behind the hedges. In the meantime, his mother, alarmed by information that her son had been all night absent from his master's house, had arrived in great