lazing light of our
fires, and commemorate the glorious actions of our ancestors; the
children catch the sound, and consider themselves as interested in
supporting the honour of a nation which is yet unsullied in the annals
of the world, and resolve to transmit it equally pure to their
posterity.

"With these impressions, which were the earliest I can remember, you
cannot wonder, gentlemen, that I should have early imbibed a spirit of
enterprise and a love of arms. My father was indeed poor, but he had
been himself a soldier, and therefore did not so strenuously oppose my
growing inclination; he, indeed, set before me the little chance I
should have of promotion, and the innumerable difficulties of my
intended profession. But what were difficulties to a youth brought up to
subsist upon a handful of oatmeal, to drink the waters of the stream,
and to sleep shrouded in my plaid, beneath the arch of an impending
rock! I see, gentlemen," continued the Highlander, "that you appear
surprised to hear a man, who has so little to recommend him, express
himself in rather loftier language than you are accustomed to among your
peasantry here. But you should remember that a certain degree of
education is more general in Scotland than where you live, and that,
wanting almost all the gifts of fortune, we cannot afford to suffer
those of nature to remain uncultivated. When, therefore, my father saw
that the determined bent of my temper was towards a military life, he
thought it vain to oppose my inclinations. He even, perhaps,
involuntarily cherished them, by explaining to me, during the long
leisure of our dreary winter, some books which treated of military
sciences and ancient history. From these I imbibed an early love of
truth and honour, which I hope has not abandoned me since, and by
teaching me what brave and virtuous men have suffered in every age and
country, they have, perhaps, prevented me from entirely sinking under my
misfortunes.

"One night, in the autumn of the year, as we were seated round the
embers of our fire, we heard a knocking at the door. My father rose, and
a man of a majestic presence came in, and requested permission to pass
the night in our cottage. He told us he was an English officer, who had
long been stationed in the Highlands, but now, upon the breaking out of
war, he had been sent for in haste to London, whence he was to embark
for America as soon as he could be joined by his regiment. 'This,' said
h