118 FARQUHAR.
early devoted to the Muses; for ere he had attained his tenth year, he gave specimens of his poetry, in which force of thinking and eloquence of expression are united, the following stanzas being written by him at that early age:– “The pliant soul of erring youth, Is like soft wax, or moisten’d clay; Apt to receive all heavenly truth, Or yield to tyrant i l l the sway; Slight folly i n your early years, At manhood may t o virtue rise; But he, who i n his youth appears A fool, i n age will ne'er b e wise.” His parents having a numerous family, could bestow o n him n o other portion than a liberal education; therefore, when h e was qualified for the university, h e was sent, i n 1694, t o Trinity College, Dublin. Here, b y dint o f his na tural talents, h e made great progress i n his studies; but i t does not appear, that h e took h i s degree o f Bachelor o f Arts, for the lightness and volatility o f his disposition could not long accommodate itself t o the uniformity and retirement o f a college life. The attractive entertainments o f the town more forcibly commanded his attention, especially theatrical amusements, for which h e discovered a violent propensity. He, therefore, soon quitted college”, and betook himself t o the arduous yet alluring profession o f a n actor, and was, b y means o f Mr. Wilks, with whom Farquhar was acquainted, introduced o n the Dublin stage.
One o f his biographers states, that h e was expelled from college on account o f the following circumstance. Our author having received a college exercise from his tutor, upon the well-known miracle o f our Sa viour's walking o n the water, he came into the hall for examination the next day, when i t was found that h e had not brought his exercise written, a s the rest had done, a t which the lecturer was much displeased. Far quhar, however, offered t o make one extempore, and after considering a short time, h e observed, that for his part h e thought i t n o great miracle, since—the man that i s born t o b e hanged, &c. &c. The monstrous impiety (together with the tone i n which i t was delivered) quite extinguished all the approbation which h e expected from i t s wit, and h e was accord ingly, next sitting, expelled i n the usual form, tunquam pestilentia hujus societalis.
