“My boyhood was passed in comparative seclusion; for I was, from my earliest recollection, possessed of personal defects; and idle, thoughtless boys, when I appeared amongst them, found a delight in wounding my susceptibility, by jeering at me, mocking my stunted growth and my sallow visage. I was on that account kept as much within doors as possible, and was educated at home. I had kind instructors and an extensive library to consult, and naturally acquired a passion for reading, especially as legendary lore was rather an extensive element in the collection. I was, perhaps, the more urged to devote myself to books, because, by comparison, I became quite aware of my physical deficiencies, and because--with a kind motive---my father’s terrible example was always held up _in terrorem_ before me. So I became dull and thoughtful, and shunned society as much as it was possible for me to do, and I began to feel like Cain. Strangers met me with a smile of derision, or their lips were curled with scorn. I was bantered by my own kind; and was the scoff of the other sex. No wonder that I hated the human race; for it appeared to hate me. Even the servants of the house in which I lived made me the butt at which to level the shafts of their vulgar ridicule. How much of this I really deserved I do not now pretend to measure; but I hurled back the contumely I received with fierce; intemperate defiance. I spurned; and spat; and sneered; too; even though beneath that scornful rage my heart was breaking. “I had nearly arrived at man’s estate; a dwarf still in stature, harbouring against the world the most rancorous animosity; when I became sensible that there was one gentle spirit who was out of the pale of my hate. Years before, a quiet, dove-like, mild girl was a frequent visitor at my aunt’s, and she was often invited when, in an irritated, turbulent mood, I wandered about threatening mischief to others as to myself. At first I repelled her, but somehow she discovered the way to soften my violence, and to lead my thoughts into a gentler train. As we grew up together, her influence over me increased, until her lightest wish became the law I implicitly obeyed. Her face and form were of faultless beauty, and her mind was not less perfect in purity and excellence. Her coming seemed to me as the opening of the gates of Paradise, in which I wandered with her--her going, as though I had been thrust back into darkness and gloom. In my most morose fits, her smiling eyes and soft words wooed me into placidity and to kinder thoughts of others. Her gentle touch unloosed my clenched hands, unlocked my hard-set teeth, and her appealing look toned down the bitterness of my heart against those who were, as it seemed to me, lashing me into fury.