house themselves, and saved the meat and wages of a servant maid, instead of appearing in public like ladies, when their circumstances were so indifferent! But they had seen better days; "they could not work, and to beg they were ashamed." So true is Solomon's remark, at present as well as in his own day, " There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing."

About this time my worthy grandmother died, (of whom I cannot think without heartfelt emotion,) committing her soul" to Him in whom she believed ;" and, as she was exemplary in her life, she was no less so in her death. Although I had not the satisfaction of seeing her on her death-bed, I have since learned some very comfortable particulars. Nothing else worth mentioning happened while I was in this family, but one circumstance, which was this: I happened to get a few halfpence given me, with which I purchased an old fife, and this cheering companion beguiled many a hungry hour, for I was remarkably fond of music. This was not the first time I showed my attachment to music; for when I lived at Darnick with my grandfather, there was a weaver in the town, who was famous, far and

near, as a whistler, and he used to gratify my musical desire by whistling a tune to me, till I had got it nearly correct, and then gave me another, and so on; but I was then little aware what this was to lead to, for I afterwards got enough of music, as you shall see in the sequel of this book; but it may be seen from this early propensity in me, that "even a child may be known by his doings."

After leaving this family, I went to a Mr. F., where also was a cousin of my own, who paid me great attention: but I looked upon her rather as an enemy than a friend; for I fell in with some bad companions, with whom I got a habit of staying and amusing myself, when I was sent a message, and in order to screen myself I was obliged to have recourse to falsehoods. My cousin frequently expostulated with me about such conduct, but all to no effect; at last my master, discovering my negligent and disobedient conduct, gave me a good drubbing, and this was a mean of bringing me to my senses; so I was compelled to give up all fellowship with my pitch-and-toss gentry, and I became afterwards more attentive. Nothing worth mentioning happened to me while I remained here, but the death of

my grandfather, of an iliac passion, who, as I was named after him, distinguished me from the rest by leaving me his Bible as a legacy, wishing the blessing of God to accompany it.

There is just one other circumstance which I will mention, before I take my leave of Edinburgh. During a short period that I attended a charity school, several of my companions and I took a ramble one day to see the castle and Wallace's Tower, and likewise to try if we could find any birds' nests amongst the rocks. When we had completed our excursion, and tired ourselves with these dangerous and mischievous sports, we descended to the bottom of the rocks, where stands the ruin of Wallace's Tower. When we were all collected, one of my school-fellows, who was more quietly disposed than any of us, and whom we highly esteemed, desired us to look up to the precipice from which we had just descended, and said that we had all been too adventurous, adding, that it was a great wonder none of us had received any injury, and proposed that we should join together in returning thanks to our almighty Preserver, to which proposal we all readily agreed. He accordingly repeated the 146th psalm, a part of which we all joined

with him in singing, being enabled to do so from having learned it at school. This part of the service seemed to be performed with great seriousness, but how the other part was to be accomplished I could not foresee; for although I got on pretty well in singing the first two or three verses of the psalm, yet, when we were drawing to a close, I became quite agitated, for I trembled lest young Thomas would make us all pray in our turn; but my uneasiness was relieved when he bade us kneel down and pray by ourselves. At his request, therefore, we all obeyed, and remained upon our knees for a few minutes; but whether or not any of us prayed, strictly speaking, I cannot say. Sure I am that I did not, as it was with great difficulty that I could run over in my own mind the pattern which our Lord has left us; for I was greatly ashamed to be thus employed, before my comrades, and much more so when I thought the people who were walking about the castle hill would perceive us; and glad I was when young Thomas rose from his knees, as I did not like to rise before him, although my little stock of materials for this duty was exhausted when I had repeated the Lord's prayer.

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When this (I believe truly pious) boy had offered up the effusions of a grateful heart, he gave us, in his own simple and sincere manner, a word or two about our rashness and folly, and added, that we should never again enter upon such a hazardous enterprise, for it was what the old people called a tempting of Providence ; so we all agreed to attend in future to his wholesome counsel, and then departed each to his own home.

I shall not trouble the reader with the little space that intervened from this until I entered my apprenticeship, at which time I was fourteen years of age. I then went to learn the trade of a weaver in Darnick; and when you know that the great dearth of 1799, 1800, came on, and that I could only earn about fourteen pence a-day, half of which went to my master, you will see that I had much occasion for the practice of that abstinence which I had been forced to learn at Mr B.'s school. It would be tedious and trifling to tell how I managed to make up my breakfast, dinner, and supper; I have been for months together, indeed, that I never could say my hunger was once satisfied, even though I had recourse to rather dishonest means to help me, for I went out

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