IN EDINBURGH. 9 



and as pieces of mechanical skill do barely well enough. 

 But the Promethean soul is wanting/ 



This on Monday. On Thursday the ardent lover 

 and indefatigable correspondent has again pen in hand. 

 He has been to the Grange House, the residence of Sir 

 Thomas Dick Lander, and writes of his reception with 

 enthusiasm. ' I cannot express to you the kindness 

 with which I was received. He scolded me for ^taking 

 lodgings. Why not come and live with him ? And I 

 was only forgiven on condition that, after arranging 

 matters Avith the secretary of the bank, I should part 

 with my landlady, and take up my abode at the Grange. 

 " I have a snug room for you," he said ; " breakfast 

 shall be prepared for you to suit your office hours ; and 

 in the evening I shall have you to myself. To-morrow 

 you must come and dine with me ; I shall get Black, 

 the bookseller, to meet with you, and meanwhile I shall 

 write him a note that will be at once an introductory 

 one and an invitation." He then introduced me to 

 Lady Lauder and his daughters ; showed me his library, 

 a capacious room, shelved all round, and rich in the 

 literature of the past and the present. " Here/' said he, 

 " Robertson, the historian, penned his last work ; and 

 here," opening the door of an adjoining room, " he 

 died." He next brought me to the leads of his house ; 

 pointing out the more striking features of the scenery ; 

 told, and told well, a number of little stories connected 

 with it ; showed me the extent of his lands, but I 

 want space to enumerate. We parted/ 



Armed with Sir Thomas's note, he waits upon Mr 

 Adam Black, future Lord Provost of Edinburgh and 

 member of parliament for the city, and is civilly received. 

 Next day he starts for Linlithgow, and seems hardly 

 alighted there, when the indefatigable pen is again in 



