When I left the school I was for my age neither high nor low in it; and I believe that I was considered by all my masters and by my father as a very ordinary boy rather below the common standard in intellect. To my deep mortification my father once said to me "You care for nothing but shooting dogs and rat-catching and you will be a disgrace to yourself and all your family." But my father who was the kindest man I ever knew and whose memory I love with all my heart must have been angry and somewhat unjust when he used such words.