"
As Robert grew to be a man the changes in his somber life were
few. But once he spent a summer on the coast learning how to
measure and survey land. In this he made good progress. "But,"
he says, "I made a greater progress in the knowledge of mankind."
For it was a smuggling district. Robert came to know the men who
carried on the unlawful trade, and so was present at many a wild
and riotous scene, and saw men in new lights. He had already
begun to write poetry, now he began to write letters too. He did
not write with the idea alone of giving his friends news of him.
He wrote to improve his power of language. He came across a book
of letters of the wits of Queen Anne's reign, and these he pored
over, eager to make his own style good.
When Robert was twenty-two he again left home. This time he went
to the little seaport town of Irvine to learn flax dressing. For
on the farm the father and brothers had begun to grow flax, and
it was thought well that one of them should know how to prepare
it for spinning.
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