of them, a gentleman whom I much esteemed, and was in fact a subscriber himself, gave me rather a kind of damping hint on the outset, by bidding me not be surprised, if the efforts of his house should not be effectual, for a particular reason which it is unnecessary to repeat-shewed, that there was still a fellow feeling among that respectable body of men, for an OLD BROTHER OF THE TRADE, who had spent upwards of forty years of his time, in the exercise of, and in learning their profession—and who must have therefore, turned to them, as significantly hinted at in my circular to booksellers-with the more fraternal fondness.

The kind services of the house of Messrs Oliver and Boyd, and Mr Cadell, of the firm of Messrs Robert Cadell & Co. among their brethren in Edinburgh-and of Mr J. Lumsden, of the firm of Messrs J. Lumsden and Son, in Glasgow, I trust this humble record will be the means of preserving in lasting remembrance. But that nothing may appear invidious, or disrespectful, to the many other worthy individuals in the line,-in consequence of, my having particularly selected these gentlemen, for conducting the business for me in their respective cities, I shall here state, as briefly as possible, my reasons for so doing.

The house of Messrs Oliver and Boyd was selected for, not only old acquaintance sake, but the great number, and some of them to a very considerable extent, of transactions, which had taken place betwixt us, without, I believe, a mistake of any consequence, if indeed any at all, or a single angry word ever being exchanged, on any occasion whatever. It is now a long time since the 25th of December, 1804,—that memorable Christmas day,-when, over our beef steak, instead of a goose, and my watch lying upon the table to mark the progress of the minutes, lest I should miss the coach, I cleared Mr Oliver's hands so effectually of his "Little Warblers," &c. previous to my setting out upon a pretty extensive business journey myself, and I think, just at the time, he was making preparations for the arrangement with his respected partner, who, having since the firm commenced, taken an active part at the helm, must have a tolerable idea of, the nature and extent of my transactions, with the house since that period.

The firm with which Mr Robert Cadell is connected, I selected partly for a similar reason; for many a transaction, and some of them too to a pretty considerable amount, I had had, with the old firm of Messrs A. Constable & Co. downward from the time formerly alluded to, in which I had the extensive one, in regard to the Beauties of Scotland ;* and partly, from the circumstance, of Mr Cadell's feeling conduct→→→→ the friendly part he acted-and the kind advices he tendered me, on the evening before, the meeting which took place, on the 7th September, 1816,-which I still remember with gratitude, however little thanks that good gentleman got from me at the time.

In regard to my other good friend, on this occasion, Mr James Lumsden, I may plead also, almost the same apology -the long time I had been in the habit of doing business with his respected father, another of my old and early ac quaintances the extent of my transactions with that firm for such a length of time-and the uniform friendly disposition, which, the only now representative of the firm has manifested to me;-and of which, I have just now, had so convincing a proof, in the exertions he has made, to increase the number of my subscribers.

And truly, in selecting these worthy agents, I have not been disappointed, their kind exertions, I cannot forget, while their lists are preserved for my government in sending out the copies ordered, and while these pages remain to record them, there is little danger of my forgetting them afterwards.

There was an expression in a letter from one of my kind coadjutors, on this occasion, which gave me much pleasure, "the trade are more actuated by a regard for yourself, than to the buying of new books, with any hope of being able to sell them again." This could not but be very gratifying, when conveyed in a letter, accompanying a list of the names of all the individual gentlemen he had seen on his rounds, but one, and that one, I am not without hopes, of still seeing on my subscription paper.

* See note page 42 and 43 of the present volume.

It was on the first of August, as I observed before, and as I see by the date, that I first issued my enlarged prospectus to the public-on the first of September, I sent out my circular to booksellers and I think about, or by, the first of October, I must have been so far satisfied with the amount of my returns, as to enable me, to make up my mind to go on with the work.

I waited, however, during the lapse of another month, to allow time for more returns to come in; and on the 15th of November, set myself down in earnest, to my manuscript, which, by the 14th of February, I had brought to such a state of maturity, as to allow me to lay it aside without inconvenience, while I made preparations for the printing; and, in the mean time, of date the 25th of that month, I issued my last circular, intimating my intention of going to press "early in, or by the middle of March at furthest," and so" as the work may be out as early as possible in June."

In course of the month of March, I see I did go to press, and now (this day, June 21, 1833,) I am able to send this, the last chapter, save one, to the printer,—so that, if I can only keep things moving forward for a few days longer, I shall not be much behind my time after all.*-And that, not without having experienced another series of ups and downs, attended by their corresponding hopes and fears, arising out of circumstances over which I had no control, and which, it appears, I had not given sufficient consideration, at the time I issued my last circular, in February.

This series, though short, has been upon the whole, pretty severe-indeed so much so, that more than once, I have trembled for the consequences,-and no wonder, my readers may say, when I further inform them, that during their

* And, I had little need to be so; for the mortality among my much esteemed subscribers has been so great, during the short period since I published my prospectus, in August last, that it makes me melancholy, on looking over my lists, to think, how many of the eyes that I expected would, about this time, have met these pages, are now closed in death :-giving me so much reason to trenible, for my own safety, and to say, as I draw towards the end of my task

"When in this vale of years I backward look,

And miss such numbers-numbers too of such,
Firmer in health, and greener in their age,
And stricter on their guard-and fitter far
To play life's subtle game,—I scarce believe
I still survive."

continuance, I have been led to express my fears,-that, these, what I have styled "MY LATTER STRUGGLES," would, in the end, turn out " DEADLY CONFLICTS!"

CHAPTER XLVII.

OR, THE CONCLUDING CHAPTER.

Some very pertinent questions that may be put, in this stage of the business At best, the work in its present state, must be considered but a melancholy medley. Very different from what it would have been, had my subject and limits permitted me to have gone further back into THE VISTA OF TIME.— Answer to the supposable remark, that it may not yet be too late to do so. I would be in no want of materials for a continuation of my work, -Nor at a loss for titles for my additional volumes-No apology necessary, in regard to the manner in which I have redeemed certain pledges.But much, in respect to the way, in which I have executed my task, otherwise. I have, however, too good an excuse, for any deficiencies or defects in that respect, which must go far to disarm the powers of criticism.-In what manner the present volume may be found useful, notwithstanding all its blemishes and imperfections. No prospect, for the present, can be held out, that I shall proceed with my more early reminiscences -Varied instances of well-known characters, who have died at their post.—Weighty considerations against my indulging in the idea of proceeding further at this time.-Drop the subject in consequence, and proceed in my endeavours, to render my present attempt productive and available, for the purposes intended-No saying to what resolution I may come afterwards.-Grateful emotions to present benefactors, gratefully expressed. -My parting valediction. My own desire to be resigned, and patiently submissive to the will of the Almighty.-The best LAST SACRIFICE.-Beautifully expressive and most appropriate concluding prayer, admirably adapted for all descriptions of persons.—But peculiarly suitable for the aged pilgrim, when almost arrived at the end of THE JOURNEY OF LIFE.

AND now-I shall not say, my kind and courteous, (as has been often said, although, perhaps, sometimes with as much intended adulation as sincerity,)-but, MY KIND and GENEROUS-and, if you have had patience to follow me thus farPATIENT and indulgent READER-What do think of my "LATTER STRUGGLES," now that I have set them, although yet in an imperfect and unfinished state, in a kind, so far as we have come, of regular, or orderly array before you?

you

Am not I borne out in the assertion with which I set out, in my prospectus, that my life, although humble, and passed in comparative obscurity, has been, notwithstanding, “re

plete with much striking vicissitude, and not without some occasional attempts to be useful," and, as exhibiting, (in particular, that portion of it, which has been brought under your more immediate notice,) a specimen of "the patient and persevering efforts of suffering humanity, in the midst of misfortunes of an appaling nature, and surrounded by difficulties of no ordinary description ?”

And have not my conflicts been arduous and severe in the extreme, and of such a protracted and procrastinated nature, as fully to warrant the appellation I have given them, in my title, of" STRUGGLES ;"—while, being chiefly comprised in, or confined to, that particular portion of the life of a SEXAGENARIAN, which may properly be designated, his PAST MERIDIAN, or, the AFTERNOON period of his days, the other appellation, that of "LATTER," will be found to be no less, legitimately, applicable—thus constituting, together, in its plain, obvious, and literal sense, in which only I wish it to be understood, the title, which I originally designed for, and have still preserved to,-my book-that of "LATTER Struggles."

As to the Scriptural MOTTO, that I adopted for my prospectus, and which is still exhibited on my title,-if it be admitted for a moment, that the author (and who can refuse to admit this,) has had his UPS as well as his DOWNS in life-his early JOYS, as well as his latter SORROWS-his former HOPES, as well as his more recent DISAPPOINTMENTS-his morning,-and forenoon, and noontide-ACQUISITIONS and SUCCESSES, as well as his afternoon LOSSES and BEREAVEMENTS-nothing, certainly, can be more becoming, as well as appropriate, than to make some allusion to such matters, and, in that allusion, to evidence that patient and submissive disposition, by which he wishes his work to be distinguished, and which, it will be observed, I have done in the words of that motto-while, the propriety of his poetical ones, can scarcely be called in question, when they are considered in connexion with-the humble and obscure situation the writer occupied in society-the few chances he had, of ever being admitted to, any of those high places of power, for which, he is thankful he never had any ambition —and his never, among all his exertions, having made any effort to distinguish himself, by any of those deeds which are