stay in the west the shorter, I lost not a moment in proceeding to business; but, what with being told, that one person had gone off to Edinburgh, (to which point the tide seemed to have been for some time setting in, from all quarters,) to meet the King-that another, less curious in these matters, had been absent for some time at bathing quarters-I soon found, that even the inhabitants of the great commercial city of Glasgow itself, could allow their minds to be directed to other purposes than those of mere commerce. So that, I got comparatively little business done on that day, in that city also, to what I expected.*

After finishing, as far as possible, in Glasgow, on the Monday morning, I went down to Paisley by one of the afternoon coaches (it was the one driven by, and, I believe, the property of, the gentleman, said to have been an officer in the army;)-and, after transacting business there, returned to Glasgow, in the evening.

Next morning saw me on board of the track boat, with a very crowded assemblage of passengers, on my way to Edinburgh. But my limits do not permit me to enter into details of what I either saw, or heard, or befel me, including the accident, from which I so narrowly escaped, in stepping from the boat, in order to call at Kilsyth, on that JOURNEY OF A DAY,being the windy Tuesday, the day previous to his Majesty's arrival in Leith Roads, on the 14th,

Neither have I room to enlarge upon the way I employed my time, in winding up matters in Edinburgh and Leith, on

* So great, indeed, was the mania, (shall I call it, when coupled with so great a name?) for emigration to the eastward, that I was informed, before I left Glas gow, that the Rev. Dr Chalmers himself, whom I had heard in his own church of St John's, on the morning of the Sunday on which I remained at Glasgow, had also taken his flight eastwards, although it would be presuming too much in me to say, to meet and to welcome, the coming rays of Royalty; for I observed, soon after my return home, a notice from, or in, a Dumfries paper, that the Rev. Dr Chalmers had been preaching there, on a mission to the south,-accompanied by the piquant remark, that a person might sit, and have his pockets picked, while the Doctor preached, but that it was impossible any of his auditors could fall asleep! assertion that I might have, with good reason, called in question at the time, seeing such is the power of habit, or, it may be, the extreme heat of the day, or of both had but recently witnessed, in the pew just before me, in the Doctor's own church, and while the Doctor himself preached and most likely one of his own congregation a person, and a good-looking, stout, and healthy person too, not only asleep, but remain for such a length of time under the power of the drowsy enchanter, that one might have picked his pocket, or done what he liked with him, fifty times, without his knowing any thing of the matter.

An

the 14th, until I was interrupted in the latter place, by the shutting up of the shops in all directions, on the arrival of the little squadron in the Roads.

These, and a number of other matters, connected with the fine sights I saw, in that throng, happy, and stirring time in the city, must all be passed over, in order to enable me, to make room for others of more consequence, to be detailed towards the conclusion of my present chapter.

The large number of remnants brought home by my agent, from the north—the little progress he had been able to make in the reducing of them, after his return, to the time of his departure for America-and the complete failure, I may say, of my sale by catalogue, in consequence of the distressing occurrence formerly alluded to-with the little prospect we had, of being able to do any more good, in our own now impoverished county, for some time at least,-made us look out for new ground, for our future operations ;—and, I resolved, at last, upon making the experiment, as to how far, a range along by the foot of the BRAES OF ANGUS, might be conducive, to make up the deficiencies, occasioned by being driven from our old ground,―among the fertile plains of BERWICKSHIRE and EAST LOTHIAN.*

So that, if we were not successful, it was not for want of going to distant ground, or far beyond the bounds of our now unfortunate county, as I am sorry to call it,-and, I may add, its unfortunate neighbour, Berwickshire—for it, too, was too nearly situated to escape the effects of the explosion-in search of it. But, upon the whole, I have little reason to complain in this respect, for the produce of the foot of the Braes of Angus, certainly, on this occasion, came fully up to our most sanguine expectations.

And it was well for us that it did so; for, if the accounts

• In accordance with this plan, I see that my son after trying a sale at Berwick, for 5 days, commencing on Tuesday, the 3d of Sept.-and at Tweedmouth, for a few days afterwards, commencing on the 9th,-operating with his auctions at Forfar, in ANGUS-SHIRE, from the 25th Sept. to the 14th of Oct. -at Kirriemuir, from the- to the do.-At Blairgowrie, in PERTHSHIRE, from the to the--At Brechin in ANGUS-SHIRE again, from the_to the—————,—and then at Dundee, from the to the 4th November, on which day, I see his last returns are dated.-N. B. The returns for these blanks, have for the present fallen by, but it is of little consequence, as the sales are marked in regular succession, so that, the time at each place, may be nearly guessed at.

we had recently received of the arrival of the young man in America, brought with them nothing else satisfactory-neither did his letter of the 12th November, from which it appeared, that, having been laid up with the yellow fever, and other et ceteras, I had nothing to look for, as being immediately forthcoming, from that quarter. Indeed, the being made acquainted with this circumstance, seems to have determined me to try the northern range again, but the success was by no means equal to the former; and, as two of my returns, I see, are dated the 17th and 23d of December, from Forfar,-and on the 26th and 30th, from Dundee,—after which, the auctioneer soon made his appearance personally,I may say-and so ended, the transactions of the year.

CHAPTER XXXII.-1823.

It would have been well, could I have said, that with the transactions of 1822, an end had been put to our procrastinated troubles. Still surrounded by prospects far from pleasing.-Another sober New Year.-Disastrous intelligence, accompanied by the first and last remittance from America.-Lamentable extracts from my American letter.—The judgment of charity, on such an afflicting occasion-A rather strange expression, apologized for, in the best manner possible.-A new ground of hope-My mind diverted from these disagreeables, by another subject of immediate interest.-Severe storm in the month of February.-Able to go westward, and attend a meeting of friends at. -An affecting recollection. Melancholy sofa scene. Lines to a departed son.-Journey to the westward -Visit the Edinburgh College Mu. seum.-Recognized by an old acquaintance in coming out.-New winter auction campaign-Route described.

AND, it would have been well could I have added, that, with "the transactions of the year," an end had been put to those procrastinated troubles; for we certainly had had, a most tedious business to perform, in winding up, during the by-past year, what should have been wound up a twelvemonth before; and a full share of other vexatious matter to engage my attention along with it.

But, by the 14th January, the time when I wrote my next Retrospect, under the designation at the top, " My birthday," it will be seen, this was by no means the case, or that manuscript would not have furnished matter for the following

short extract :—“I am still surrounded with a prospect far from pleasing;" and, in allusion to a letter I had received from my youngest son, then in a situation in Edinburgh, much about the same date, I see, I take occasion, in the same manuscript, to remark" I dare say, my new-year's day this year was spent sober enough, and that, my solitary walk by the sea side was not accomplished without some mournful reflections, and most likely, some fearful forebodings."

But what these reflections or forebodings were, I shall not here say, and as they no doubt referred principally to the subject under the veil, I trust, I need make no other apology for passing them over in silence.

In course of the month of February, I received another letter from New York, dated the 16th of the preceding month; but such a piece of doleful intelligence from that land of promise, I certainly should not have expected !—if hope deferred had not already made me suspicious, and repeated disappointments had not, in some measure, prepared me for the event!

The young man begins, by saying, "I am really sorry that it is not in my power to send a greater amount ;" and well he might, as the amount was only an order for the trivial sum of, upon a banking house in London, at a distant date; and that was, alas! the first and the last remittance I was doomed to receive from that quarter, out of the amount of invoices to the extent of

But the same gracious Being, who tempers the weather to the shorn lamb, and ushers in the midnight darkness, by twilight, did not permit me to see the whole extent of the evil at once; and, from the representations given by the poor lad, however disappointed I might feel, how could I be angry with him?

*

After the above preparatory preamble, he goes on to state "The trade here is in a miserable state. * I have not the most distant prospect of ever doing any good in this country. By this time, you must have had mine, informing you, of my misfortune in having the yellow fever," &c., &c. ;-for I have neither room nor heart to go over the remainder of that lamentable epistle: and, as I have learned since I began to prepare these pages for the press, that the

writer is now removed, beyond that bourne, which interdicts all future commerce with mortals and immortals,-I would indulge the hope, in the judgment of charity, that things were exactly as he represented them at the time, and so be disposed rather, to become his apologist, than otherwise.

There was one expression, indeed, that I did not like well, in his letter, viz., "Confidence is a word obsolete in the American vocabulary." But still, I had no great reason to be much alarmed on that account. The young man was not an American-he had had the best of principles early instilled into him, by the most exemplary of parents-he was connected with a set of the most worthy, and honest, and, on these accounts, highly respected friends-he had long been, and had enjoyed much confidence, in my service; and had he not conducted himself much, very much indeed, to my satisfaction, it is not likely, he would ever have been entrusted, in the manner he with goods to so considerable an amount.

was,

I had no

reason, therefore, not the smallest, to think, that in speaking of the American nomenclature, he had adopted, or meant to adopt, it as his own; and the expression, of course, although it sounded rather curious in my ear, gave me the less concern at the time;—and, I may add, my hopes were also kept the more alive, by his observing, towards the conclusion of his letter, "The next time I write, I shall send a statement of the products of the sales ;”—and it must be allowed he had a very good reason for postponing this information, when he adds, "I have not yet got all disposed of."

I have often observed, in the course of events, that at a time when there happened with me anything peculiarly calamitous, my mind was often drawn off from it, by some other intruding subject of less mournful aspect, and I have some reason to believe, that in this respect, I was far from being singular; although my space does not permit me to dwell upon, at present, what, the more I think of it, I must however consider in the light of, another most happy ordination.—But so it happened, that, about the time I received this unwelcome piece of intelligence, and had my mind harassed by another most perplexing matter lately briefly alluded to,—I had been called upon to busy myself in another manner, and which, would no doubt contribute to divert my mind some