The poetical works of Sir Walter Scott, with memoir of the author.

LAY OF THE LAST MINSTREL. 11
been all resigned, or used with great moderation,
had I determined to regain my station at the bar.
It was even doubtful whether I could, with perfect character as a jurisconsult, retain a situation
in a volunteer corps of cavalry which I then held.
The threats of invasion were at this time instant
and menacing; the call by Britain on her children
was universal, and was answered by some, who,
like myself, consulted rather their desire than
their ability to bear arms. My services, however, were found useful in assisting to maintain
the discipline of the corps, being the point on
which their constitution rendered them most
amenable to military criticism. In other respects,
the squadron was a fine one, consisting chiefly of
handsome men, well mounted and armed at their
own expense. My attention to the corps took up
a good deal of time; and while it occupied many
of the happiest hours of my life, it furnished an
additional reason for my reluctance again to encounter the severe course of study indispensable
to success in the juridical profession.
On the other hand, my father, whose feelings
might have been hurt by my quitting the bar, had
been for two or three years dead, so that I had
no control to thwart my own inclination; and my
income being equal to all the comforts, and some
of the elegances, of life, I was not pressed to an
irksome labour by necessity, that most powerful
of motives; consequently, I was the more easily