72 Mary Somerville. 



pressibly beautiful, though there was no gas in 

 those times. It often happened that bails were 

 given by the officers of the ships of war that came 

 occasionally to Leith Roads, and I was always 

 invited, but never allowed to go ; for my mother 

 thought it foolish to run the risk of crossing the 

 Firth, a distance of seven miles, at a late hour, in 

 a small open boat and returning in the morning, as 

 the weather was always uncertain, and the sea often 

 rough from tide and wind. On one occasion, my 

 father was at home, and, though it was blowing 

 hard, I thought he would not object to accepting 

 the invitation ; but he said, " Were it a matter of 

 duty, you should go, even at the risk of your life, 

 but for a ball, certainly not." 



We were as poor as ever, even more so ; for my 

 father was led into unavoidable expenses in London; 

 so, after all the excitement, we returned to our 

 more than usually economical life. No events worth 

 mentioning happened for a long time. I continued 

 my diversified pursuits as usual ; had they been 

 more concentrated, it would have been better ; but 

 there was no choice ; for I had not the means of 

 pursuing any one as far as I could wish, nor had I 

 any friend to whom I could apply for direction or 

 information. I was often deeply depressed at 

 spending so much time to so little purpose. 



