with critical observations and biographical notices, by Robert Burns

210
early years, it was delightful to see how he could
adapt himself to their yet humble but rising capacities.
He would make them verses by the hour. He
would puzzle them with riddles, and little arithme-
tical problems of his own invention. He would try
to call forth the latent spark of genius, by proposing
questions on the different branches of study in which
they were occupied at school. Although in them-
selves simple, and easy of solution, yet the grand-
father had such art in quaintly arranging, and in enig-
matically expressing, his questions, as conveyed the
idea of extreme difficulty ; while, at the same time,
no sooner did he himself proceed to unravel the
seeming mystery, than even children blushed to find
themselves duped and outwitted by means so completely
within the reach of their own detection. On
one occasion of this kind, when his oldest grandson
could not discover the little artifice employed to per-
plex him, he was not a little alarmed by hearing his
grandfather say, that even Thomas the Tihymer had
prophesied on the subject of the fourth John Skin-
ner's lamentable weakness of mind, and want of
capacity,
< The world shall /bwr John Skinners see,
Thejirst sail teach a school;
The other two shall parsons be.
And thefourth shall be afool !*