CHAPTER III 



Why I became a Showman The Sword of Damocles The Oxfordshire 

 Agricultural Society An Early Mission The Canny Scot. 



MY father, who enjoyed the confidence of 

 landowners and farmers alike, held several 

 appointments connected with agriculture, 

 including the secretaryship of the Oxfordshire 

 Agricultural Society. In view of my friendly 

 relations with representatives of the farming 

 interest, it might naturally be supposed that I 

 should have looked forward to following in my 

 father's footsteps. Yet I have to confess that, 

 although in the end I took up his work, this was 

 due much more to accident than inclination on 

 my part. The fact was, as I have explained in 

 my town reminiscences, I had, in my own mind, 

 chosen my path in life long before I was out of my 

 'teens and my father had acquiesced in my choice. 

 I was devoted to books, and on leaving school 

 I obtained a position in the Bodleian Library. 

 This I held for some years and until, just after I 

 was of age, when I was elected to the chief librarian- 

 ship of the Oxford City Public Library. I had 

 contentedly settled down in this office, which, with 

 certain kindred literary work, absorbed all my 

 energies at least, I thought it did when in 1867 

 my father, to my great sorrow, was suddenly 

 and fatally struck down, a victim to heart failure. 



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