Although retaining his place in the store, his heart was given to the theatre, and the dearest exercises of his soul were devoted to the cultivation of the powers which, he hoped, would enable him at some future time to shine as he had seen others shine. Not only had Cooper presented a model to his admiring fancy, Edmund Kean also had electrified his senses and indelibly stamped his imagination. It was only two nights after his own benefit as Octavian that Kean began an engagement of twelve nights in the same theatre. And of all in the crowds who waited on this peerless meteor of the stage, melted at the pathos of his genius, or trembled before the irresistible bursts of his power, in not one did the exhibition kindle such imperishable wonder and such idolatrous admiration as in the fond proud boy who was himself aspiring to become a great actor, and who drew from what he then saw a large share of the inspiration which afterwards urged him so high. The nature of Edwin Forrest in his fifteenth year was remarkably developed and mature, especially when we consider the small advantages he had enjoyed. He was distinguished from most youths of his age by the intensity and tenacity of his passion and purpose, and by the vividness with which the objects of his thought were pictured in his mind. A consequence of these attributes was a strong personal magnetism, a power of attracting and deeply interesting susceptible natures with whom he came in contact. He was not without touches of a poetic and sentimental vein, leading him sometimes to indulge in melancholy reveries. The following lines were composed by him at this time,--that is, in 1820. They were found among his posthumous papers, inscribed in his own hand, "Verses, or Doggerel, written in my Boyhood": "Scenes of my childhood, hail! All hail, beloved years When Hope first spread life's sail, Ere sorrow came, or tears. Hail to the blissful hours Of life's resplendent morn, When all around was flowers, And flowers without a thorn! "Hail, guardians of my youth! Hail their instructions given, Showing the path of Truth, The flowery way to heaven! All hail the reverend place Where first I lisped His name, Where first my infant lips God's praises did proclaim! Inestimable precious scenes, Now faded and all past, Can you not fling one ray serene To cheer me on at last? Ah, no! Life's winter has set in, And storms and tempests rise; A chaos infinite of sin Sweeps full before my eyes. "This frail habiliment of soul Must shortly cease to be,-- Some planet then my goal,-- Home for eternity.