His Father Was A
Respectable Farmer On The Duke Of Buccleuch's Estate; And His Mother, The
Daughter Of A Neighbouring
Farmer of the name of Hislop, a woman of great
good sense and prudence, who anxiously and faithfully discharged the
Duties which she owed to a large family of thirteen children, of whom
Mungo, the subject of this memoir, was the seventh. Park's father died
before his son had won that renown which so honourably distinguishes his
name, though not without the satisfaction of witnessing a fair promise of
his future distinction; but his mother, after hearing with much pride of
her offspring's early achievements, had to lament his untimely fate;
consoled, however, by the recollection of his unblemished character, and
virtuous conduct, and by the thought of the legacy of fame which he had
bequeathed, not to his family alone, but to his country.
With a solicitude for the education of his children, then by no means
common among the Scottish farmers, Mr. Park hired a tutor to superintend
their education, being anxious not to leave them to such chance
instruction as they might receive before they were of a proper age for
going to school; thus shewing that he was alive to the advantage of early
habits of application and study. The boyhood of Mungo Park was not
distinguished by any marks of peculiar talent, though he appears, when
sent to Selkirk school, to have paid more than an average share of
attention to his studies. Of a thoughtful and reserved disposition, he
seldom took a share in the mirthful sports of his school-fellows.
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