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Indiana University Studies 



that finds his way through all these obstructions, must acknowledge 

 that he is indebted to other causes besides his industry, originality, or 

 wit. . . . 



Surely, he that has been confined from his infancy to the conver- 

 sation of the lowest classes of mankind, must necessarily want those 

 accomplishments which are the usual means of attracting favor; and, 

 though truth, fortitude, and probity may be supposed to give an indis- 

 putable right to respect and kindness, tliey will not be distinguished by 

 common eyes, unless they are brightened by elegance, but must be cast 

 aside as unpolished gems of which none but the artist knows the in- 

 trinsic value. . . . 



The world has a thousand times vdtnessed what mighty things can 

 be accomplished by the assistance of learning, but it has never yet 

 ascertained how much may be accomplished ^^dthout it. The pleasure, 

 then, of making the experiment, though in a branch of literature that 

 some may ridicule, and others despise, offers him sufficient inducement 

 for perseverance. The chief art of attaining eminence in anything, is 

 to attempt little at a time. The widest excursions of the mind are made 

 by short flights often repeated; the most lofty fabrics of science have 

 been formed by the continued accumulations of single propositions — the 

 Spy may be worsted — he shall never be discouraged. 



Hogg's next venture was to form a public debating soci- 

 ety called the Forum, Its history is fully set forth in the 

 Autohiograpliy and need not be set down here. To the Forum, 

 Hogg attributed much of his skill of feeling the public pulse, 

 a trait he believed himself to possess in an eminent degree, 

 but of which he gave little evidence. Some of the amusing 

 incidents concerning this society gave rise to the Forum, A 

 Tragedy for Cold Weather, which, however, was never pub- 

 lished. It was at the Forum that Hogg became acquainted 

 with a Mr. Goldie, who subsequently published The Queen's 

 Wake, and whose sudden failure constituted another link in 

 Hogg's chain of financial disaster. At this time (1812) a few 

 copies were printed of The Hunting of Badlewe, under the 

 nom de plume of J. H. Craig, of Douglas, after which Hogg 

 gave up writing for the stage. Subsequently, however, he 

 put forth, in 1817, two volumes of Dramatic Tales, which were 

 merely dramatic dialogues untrammelled with dramatic struc- 

 ture. They neither merited nor received attention. 



Hogg's personal acquaintance was steadily growing among 

 the literary lights of Edinburgh, among which class, how- 

 ever, no one yet thought of classing him. The Isle of Palms 

 appeared in 1812, and Hogg's enthusiastic review of this poem 

 brought him into contact with Christopher North, whom he 



