"How blest the man, who, in these peaceful plains, Ploughs his paternal field; far from the noise, The care and bustle of a busy world! All in the sacred, sweet, sequestered vale Of solitude, the secret primrose path Of rural life he dwells; and with him dwells Peace and content, twins of the sylvan shade, And all the graces of the golden age. Such is Agricola, the wise, the good; By nature formed for the calm retreat, The silent path of life. Learned, but not fraught With self-importance, as the starched fool Who challenges respect by solemn face, By studied accent, and high-sounding phrase, Enamored of the shade, but not morose, Politeness, raised in courts by frigid rules With him spontaneous grows. Not books alone, But man his study, and the better part; To tread the ways of virtue, and to act The various scenes of life with God's applause. Deep in the bottom of the flowery vale, With blooming sallows, and the leafy twine Of verdant alders fenced, his dwelling stands Complete in rural elegance. The door By which the poor or pilgrim never passed Still open, speaks the master's bounteous heart. Then, O how sweet! amid the fragrant shrubs, At evening cool to sit; while, on their boughs The nested songsters twitter o'er their young; And the hoarse low of folded cattle breaks The silence, wafted o'er the sleeping lakes, Whose waters glow beneath the purple tinge Of western cloud; while converse sweet deceives The stealing foot of time!" He found an opportunity of acquiring the Latin language and preparing for college, with a Mr. Dun, who, for the sake of his son, formed a class of boys, of which Michael was decidedly the best scholar, as all acknowledged. But he was of a slender make, and gave early indications of pulmonary consumption. In his personal appearance he is said to have resembled Shelley; having yellowish curling hair, a long neck and narrow chest, skin white and shining, and his cheeks "tinged with red rather than ruddy." He was "early smitten with the love of song," and began occasionally to write verses. Possessed of a fine musical ear, he was impatient to get hold of all sorts of old ballads and songs; and while the other children of the village or school were amusing themselves with play, or spending their money on trash, he was poring with delighted eyes over "Chevy Chase," or "The Flowers of the Forest." When he had made himself familiar with the music and sentiments of these ballads, he would endeavor "to supply his lack of novelty with verses of his own." It is in this way, probably, that his fine ballad of "Sir James the Ross," and some of his pastorals originated.