I was qualified for no employment, compatible with a town life, but that of the pen.

This, indeed, had ever been a favourite tool with me; and, though it may appear somewhat strange, it is no less true that I had had nearly as much practice at the quill as at the mattock.

But the sum of my skill lay in tracing distinct characters.

I had used it merely to transcribe what others had written, or to give form to my own conceptions.

Whether the city would afford me employment, as a mere copyist, sufficiently lucrative, was a point on which I possessed no means of information.
My determination was hastened by the conduct of my new mother.