1817-32. EARLY LOVE FOR BOOKS. 7 



I have got a grasshopper with a red head, but it had the mis- 

 fortune to lose one of its legs, which are red also. 



" GEORGE WILSON." 



" DEAR MOTHER, Little Eobert is now well again, and enjoys 

 the country very much. Grandfather is very grateful for what 

 you sent him ; tell Mary to address the letters Romanno Mains, 

 Noblehouse, and not Peebles, as the last one was addressed. 

 From your little DosY, 1 1828." 



The sister alluded to in the Latin epistle had been born two 

 months previously. Coming as she did after the death of four, 

 her welcome was a warm one, and children and parents looked 

 on her as a precious gift. She and a sister two years younger 

 still survive, and reference will occasionally be made to them. 

 The elder one received her mother's name, Janet or Jessie, and 

 the younger that of the dearly loved Jeanie, who had " fallen 

 asleep" three years before. 



Even at this early age, George's love for books was manifest. 

 Jessie's nurse, in speaking of the family at that time, has often 

 summed up his pursuits in the following words : " Oh, as for 

 George, he was aye to be seen in a corner, wi' a book as big's 

 himsel' ;" probably a volume of the first edition of the ' Encyclo- 

 paedia Britannica,' a great favourite in those days. She does 

 acknowledge, however, that he took a daily walk with her and 

 the baby, when telling stories and listening to them was the 

 favourite occupation. He has often told with glee how his 

 mother, remarking his diligent study of Brown's ' Dictionary of 

 the Bible/ at last, after silent rejoicings, expressed to him her 

 satisfaction at his choice. " Oh, mother," was the reply, looking 

 up with a bright face, " I am making a list of the precious 

 stones !" 



His first attempt at rhyme gave her pleasure from the feel- 

 ings that prompted it. A friend sharing a love for natural 

 history in common with him and his brothers, had instructed 

 them in the art of impaling live insects as specimens. It 

 much grieved her that boys should learn cruelty so early, and 



1 A pet name, used through life in writing to his younger sisters. 



