166 THE JOURNEYMAN. 



have been worth publishing after all. ' Perhaps ' he 

 thus expresses his philosophical resignation ' my Ode 

 was ill-timed perhaps its merits are of so doubtful a 

 kind that no one except myself can discover them, per- 

 haps but I have said enough. Why should I be a 

 seeker after fame? "Fame is not happiness it is not 

 virtue. Bad men enjoy it wretched men attain it. It 

 rewarded the deeds of Erostratus as largely as those of 

 Leonidas/ With equal judiciousness and self-severity, 

 he touches upon his efforts in the way of mental im- 

 provement. ' It is the remark of a celebrated writer, 

 that without long and serious application no man, how- 

 ever great his natural abilities, can attain the art of 

 writing correctly. At one time I flattered myself with 

 the hope of becoming a correct writer ; and with the 

 intention of applying myself sedulously to the study of 

 the English language, I collected several works that 

 treated of grammar and composition. Besides these helps 

 I also calculated upon the assistance of my friend John 

 Swanson. But though repeatedly warned by experience, 

 I did not calculate upon that volatility of mind which I 

 have ever found as difficult to fix upon any single object, 

 whatever may be its importance, as to fix quicksilver on 

 an inclined plane ; and now I can look back upon my 

 half-attempt at becoming an English scholar just as I 

 can upon every other speculation in which I have been 

 engaged. I see a fine foundation laid, but no super- 

 structure. I still propose, however, to become a correct 

 writer, but it must be in the manner in which Cowley 

 became a grammarian. That ingenious poet, speaking 

 of himself, says : " I was so much an enemy to all con- 

 straint that my masters could never prevail on me by 

 any persuasion or encouragement to learn without book 

 the common rules of grammar, in which they dispensed 



