theironlyregretisthattheyaresosoontoquitit；butoh，yedeardeludedhearts，itisnoteveryonewhoissofortunate!
Tothegeneralityofmankindthereisnoperiodlikeyouth。Thegeneralityarefarfromfortunate；buttheperiodofyouth，eventotheleastso，offersmomentsofconsiderablehappiness，fortheyarenotonlydisposedbutabletoenjoymostthingswithintheirreach。Withwhattriflesatthatperiodarewecontent；thethingsfromwhichinafter-lifeweshouldturnawayindisdainpleaseusthen，forweareinthemidstofagoldencloud，andeverythingseemsdeckedwithagoldenhue。Neverduringanyportionofmylifedidtimeflowonmorespeedilythanduringthetwoorthreeyearsimmediatelysucceedingtheperiodtowhichwearrivedintheprecedingchapter：sincethenithasflaggedoftenenough；
sometimesithasseemedtostandentirelystill；andthereadermayeasilyjudgehowitfaresatthepresent，fromthecircumstanceofmytakingpeninhand，andendeavouringtowritedownthepassagesofmylife-alastresourcewithmostpeople。ButattheperiodtowhichIalludeIwasjust，asImaysay，enteringuponlife；I
hadadoptedaprofession，and，tokeepupmycharacter，simultaneouslywiththatprofession-thestudyofanewlanguage。
Ispeedilybecameaproficientintheone，buteverremainedanoviceintheother：anoviceinthelaw，butaperfectmasterintheWelshtongue。