Languages & literature > Aurus clavus, or, The adventures of a gold trinket, supposed to have been written by itself

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piercing gusts, and every blast seemed to shake
to the core his delicate frame.
Arrived at his destined spot, he took to bed
almost immediately, from which he was unable
to rise for some days. During that time I was
often looked upon with interest by him, and
he would commune with himself on tjje former
part of his life; from which soliloquys I
gleaned the substance of the following brief
memoir:—
Andrew Manson was the youngest son of
Mr. Pomfret’s uncle; his father was a school¬
master, and had early imbibed into his son a
spark of that fire which burned in his own
bosom, a thirst, ardent and unceasing, for know¬
ledge. After drinking with avidity all that
his father could give him, he was, in the seven¬
teenth year of his age, sent to alma mater,
there to enjoy a more copious stream of his
favourite beverage. From the very cradle he
had been a studious child, and the passion for
learning “ grew with his growth, and strength¬
ened with his strength.” His constitution, how¬
ever, was not fitted to bear the buffetings of
this rough world. He was weak and sickly,
and already that ruthless destroyer of Scot-