ch. ii.] CAMBRIDGE. 17 



everything which he said, for I was as ignorant as a pig 

 about his subjects of history, politics, and moral philosophy. 

 To hear of praise from an eminent person, though no doubt 

 apt or certain to excite vanity, is, I think, good for a young 

 man, as it helps to keep him in the right course. 



My visits to Maer during these two or three succeeding 

 years were quite delightful, independently of the autumnal 

 shooting. Life there was perfectly free ; the country was 

 very pleasant for walking or riding; and in the evening 

 there was much very agreeable conversation, not so personal 

 as it generally is in large family parties, together with 

 music. In the summer the whole family used often to sit 

 on the steps of the old portico with the flower-garden in 

 front, and with the steep wooded bank opposite the house 

 reflected in the lake, with here and there a fish rising or a 

 water-bird paddling about. Nothing has left a more vivid 

 picture on my mind than these evenings at Maer. I was 

 also attached to and greatly revered my Uncle Jos ; he was 

 silent and reserved, so as to be a rather awful man ; but he 

 sometimes talked openly with me. He was the very type of 

 an upright man, with the clearest judgment. I do not be- 

 lieve that any power on earth could have made him swerve 

 an inch from what he considered the right course. I used 

 to apply to him in my mind the well-known ode of Horace, 

 now forgotten by me, in which the words " nee vultus ty- 

 ranni, &c," * come in. 



Cambridge, 1828-1831. After having spent two sessions 

 in Edinburgh, my father perceived, or he heard from my 

 sisters, that I did not like the thought of being a physician, 

 so he proposed that I should become a clergyman. He was 

 very properly vehement against my turning into an idle 

 sporting man, which then seemed my probable destination. 

 I asked for some time to consider, as from what little I had 

 heard or thought on the subject I had scruples about de- 

 claring my belief in all the dogmas of the Church of Eng- 

 land ; though otherwise I liked the thought of being a 

 country clergyman. Accordingly I read with great care 

 Pearson on the Creed, and a few other books on divinity; 

 and as I did not then in the least doubt the strict and literal 



Justum et tenacem propositi virum 

 Non civium ardor prava jubentium, 

 Is on vultus instantis tyranni 

 Mente quatit solida. 



