in which though the instructions I had received were few, they were
eked out and assisted by a mind fruitful in mechanical invention; the other that
of an instructor in mathematics and its practical application, geography,
astronomy, land-surveying and navigation. Neither of these was a very copious
source of emolument in the obscure retreat I had chosen for myself: but, if my
receipts were slender, my disbursements were still fewer. In this little town I
became acquainted with the vicar, the apothecary, the lawyer, and the rest of
the persons who time out of mind had been regarded as the top gentry of the
place. Each of these centred in himself a variety of occupations. There was
little in the appearance of the vicar that reminded you of his profession except
on the recurring Sunday. At other times he condescended with his evangelical
hand to guide the plough, or to drive the cows from the field to the farm-yard
for the milking. The apothecary occasionally officiated as a barber, and the
lawyer was the village schoolmaster.
    By all these persons I was received with kindness and hospitality. Among
people thus remote from the bustle of human life there is an open spirit of
confidence, by means of which, a stranger easily finds access to their
benevolence and goodwill. My manners had never been greatly debauched from the
simplicity of rural life by the scenes through which I had passed; and the
hardships I had endured had given additional mildness to my character. In the
theatre upon which I was now placed I had no rival. My mechanical occupation had
hitherto been a non-resident; and the school-master, who did not aspire to the
sublime heights of science I professed to communicate, was willing to admit me
as a partner in the task of civilizing the unpolished manners of the
inhabitants. For the parson, civilisation was no part of his trade; his business
was with the things of a better life, not with the carnal concerns of this
material scene; in truth, his thoughts were principally occupied with his
oatmeal and his cows.
    These however were not the only companions, which this remote retirement
afforded me. There was a family of a very different description, of which I
gradually became the chosen intimate. The father was a shrewd, sensible,
rational man, but who had turned his principal attention to subjects of
agriculture. His wife was a truly admirable and extraordinary woman. She was the
daughter of a Neapolitan nobleman, who, after having visited, and made a
considerable figure in every country of Europe, had at length received the blow
of fate in this village