Page:Father's memoirs of his child.djvu/99

35 I shall not however be deterred from adding here, that he could imitate whatever lay before him. Several examples are now spread upon my table, where he has copied the most dissimilar hand-writing on scraps of paper, or covers of letters, with the exactness of a fac-simile. His own hand continually varied, and was altogether of a different character from that of a child. He never had any writing-master; nor indeed any instruction, but what he procured at home. He was however for the most part a tutor to himself; requiring neither excitement nor coercion to regulate his habits and employments.

Having transcribed the letters of his preceding birth-days, I shall conclude the short series with that written on his last, though several others may perhaps be found to be more interesting, some of which will be selected in the sequel. It may be necessary to explain, that on this occasion, the business of the University required my