I am surely simple and
harmless enough, and should have fancied any thing in the world
rather than that it would ever be my fate to draw upon myself in any
degree the notice of the public. I will merely indicate, as briefly
as may be, my character and circumstances, and then I have no doubt
my conduct will lose its appearance of eccentricity, and seem
perfectly natural.
When I was but a little child, I had already a strong desire to see
the world. Whenever I met a travelling-carriage, I would stop
involuntarily, and gaze after it until it had disappeared; I used
even to envy the postilion, for I thought he also must have
accomplished the whole long journey.
As I grew to the age of from ten to twelve years, nothing gave me so
much pleasure as the perusal of voyages and travels. I ceased,
indeed, to envy the postilions, but envied the more every navigator
and naturalist.
Frequently my eyes would fill with tears when, having ascended a
mountain, I saw others towering before me, and could not gain the
summit.
I made several journeys with my parents, and, after my marriage,
with my husband; and only settled down when it became necessary that
my two boys should visit particular schools.
