If I one soul improve, I have not lived in vain.

Professor James Beattie FRSE (1735 –1803) was a Scottish poet, moralist and philosopher. He was born at Laurencekirk, in the county of Kincardine, Scotland.
His father, a farmer of no considerable rank, is said to have been interested in reading and verifying but died when James was only seven, so he had little influence on his son’s mind.
He was sent to the only school available. His tutor was named Milne, of whom he later wrote

“as a good grammarian, and tolerably skilled in the Latin language, but destitute of taste, as well as some other qualifications essential to a good teacher.”

In 1749 he entered Marischal College, Aberdeen obtaining the first of the bursaries left fro the use of students whose parents are unable to support the entire expenses of academical education. In 1753 he took the degree of master of arts.
He wrote and published his poetry in a volume called the Minstrel. Part I was soon followed by Part II. In 1777 he published the two parts of the Minstrel together.

The Minstrel - Book II-XXXII
“Yet leave me not. I would allay that grief,
Which else might thy young virtue overpower;
And in thy converse I shall find relief,
When the dark shades of melancholy lour;
For solitude has many a dreary hour,
Ev’n when exempt from grief, remorse and pain:
Come often then; for, haply, in my bower, Amusement, knowledge, wisdom thou may’st gain.
If I one soul improve, I have not lived in vain.”

I had another blog about caring for the elderly. It helped one person realize that you're never alone and there is support for you.
That was nice.
Help at least one other person.