9- PROSPECTS IN EDINBURGH. 73 



timely conversation I have won him to* a brighter mood, 

 and he daily grows more cheerful." 



A supplement to his Thesis was the first work that occu- 

 pied George on his return home, followed afterwards by 

 study for his last examination for the degree of M.D. Early 

 in May, he tells his brother, " I am zealously prosecuting 

 my professional hopes ; and, weighing domestic and profes- 

 sional hopes together, I shall have no reason to regret that 

 I came back here. This is the place for me, Daniel. The 

 advantages for studying are very great, and I am getting ac- 

 quainted among the enthusiasts in science here, whom I too 

 much neglected. I shall look among my peers now for 

 welcome and assistance \ and trusting to enthusiasm and 

 perseverance, I do hope for a name and a fame among 

 them, worthy of myself and of us all." A pen-and-ink 

 portrait of George, taken by an artist friend, accompanies 

 this letter, of which he says : " How like you the enclosed 



likeness of your loving and loved brother 1 I shall 



here transcribe for your quiddity book, if they are worthy of 

 it, some lines I wrote on Sunday to a Polyanthus, which 

 mother loved. 



" How the rich cups of that so lovely flower 



Lift to the heavens their purple velvet leaves, 

 That every petal freshened by the shower 



Which falls in dewdrops from its slanting eaves, 

 May feel the warm sap through its vessels run, 

 In glad obedience to the glowing sun ! 



" Each fragrant chalice breathes upon the air 



A scent more sweet than censer ever flung 

 In clouds of incense, blinding all the glare 



Of garish candles, when the mass was sung : 

 ' The long-drawn aisle,' and the cathedral's gloom, 

 Ne'er felt the richness of such rare perfume. 



