I inherited from her the most fastidious tastes, without the means of gratifying them.

I felt that I had a right to be wealthy, and that misfortune alone had made my mother poor, had made her an alien from her kindred and the scenes of her nativity.

I felt a strange pride in this conviction.

Indeed there was a singular union of pride and diffidence in my character, that kept me aloof from my young companions, and closed up the avenues to the social joys of childhood.
My mother thought a school life would counteract the influence of her own solitary habits and example.

She did not wish me to be a hermit child, and for this reason accepted the offer Mr.Regulus made through the minister to become a pupil in the academy.