A SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF ROBERT FERGUSSON. THE errors of genius have often afforded melancholy occasion for the triumphs of prudent stupidity; and sometimes they have produced an affectation of folly and vice, as the appropri ate marks of mental brightness. Eccentricity, and dissipated habits of life, it must be confessed, have been the frequent concomitants of high intellectual endowments; but they are to be view-` ed as the mere contingent blemishes, not as the inseparable associates of genius. B VOL. I. འ་་་་་་་་་་་་་་་ THE SCOTTISH POET. Vice and profligacy, in the conduct of the dull and illiterate, pass without observation, because the beings in whom these deformities are to be found grovel in the shades of life, without exciting interest, or arresting attention. It must not however be supposed, that stupidity, or mediocrity of talent, exempt a man from the follies and crimes incident to humanity; while at the same time, there cannot be a more fatal error than that which sanctifies imprudence, and neglect of the more rigid duties of life, by representing such conduct as the aberrations of a generous spirit. Perhaps it is possible to derive useful instruction from exhibiting man as he is always to be found, an imperfect being: perhaps it is possible to trace the steps of intellectual pre-eminence through a career of imprudence, without that. imprudence being permitted to assume the form and complexion of excellence. It is certainly not impossible to check the shallow pretensions of af THE SCOTTISH POET. fectation, by showing, that the adventitious dross is not the precious jewel-that extravagance, thoughtlessness, and ardour of pursuit, are not the only constituents of mental superiority. For a moral picture of this kind, it is difficult, perhaps, to select a fitter subject than Robert Fergusson. His natural talents were of the highest order; his acquirements were considerable; and he lived in an age, when the possession of such qualities, if properly applied, could not have failed to promote his domestic and social comfort. Although, however, he was placed in these circumstances, he never reached the meri◄ dian of life. The short period of his existence was distinguished chiefly by its wretchedness; and its close was preceeded by madness, the consummation of mortal calamity. Robert Fergusson was the son of William Fergusson, a man of Worth, but of humble Fortune, |