In that way I had many a draught of
knowledge, as it were, by stealth. Having a strong taste for
music, I was much attracted by choral singing; and on Sundays and
in the evenings I tried to copy out airs from different books,
and accustomed my hand a little to writing. This tendency was,
however, choked within me by too much work with the cattle, and
by other farm labour. In a word, I had but little fair weather
in my search for knowledge. One thing enticed me from another,
to the detriment of my plans; some fair Eve often standing with
an apple in hand, tempting me to taste of that.
"The old preacher's books at Pen Ceint were in Welsh. I had not
yet learned English, but tried to learn it by comparing one line
in the English New Testament with the same line in the Welsh.
This was the Hamiltonian method, and the way in which I learnt
most languages. I first got an idea of astronomy from reading
'The Solar System,' by Dr. Dick, translated into Welsh by Eleazar
Roberts of Liverpool. That book I found on Sundays in the
preacher's library; and many a sublime thought it gave me. It
was comparatively easy to understand.
"When I was about thirty I was taken very ill, and could no
longer work. I then went to Bangor to consult Dr. Humphrys.
After I got better I found work at the Port at 12s. a week. I
was employed in counting the slates, or loading the ships in the
harbour from the railway trucks.
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