THE ART OF WRITING WELL. 229 



me into solitude, and that my belief in God's omnipre- 

 sence (may I not hope the assistance of His Spirit also ?) 

 gives me strength to accomplish this desire. But you 

 will not be satisfied if I run on in this strain to the end 

 of my letter. Let me close this part of it, then, in the 

 words of one of the many texts which point out the princi- 

 ple upon which the change I have been describing hinged. 

 " Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of 

 God." Mark what follows. " Whosoever is born of 



God overcometh the world." 



.... Rousseau was certainly in the right when he 

 said that the art of writing well was of all others the 

 most difficult to acquire. I have been wishing, ay, and 

 striving too as hard as my indolent, volatile nature 

 suffered, for these three years past to acquire this art ; 

 and all I have yet attained is an ability of detecting my 

 mistakes and of seeing how incorrect my modes of ex- 

 pression are - 



' There is a general stagnation in this part of the 

 country in all kinds of trade. The season favourable to 

 my department is fast advancing, but except two tomb- 

 stones (and one of these is not yet finished) I have 

 done nothing this year. I have some thoughts of putting 

 into execution a plan which has been revolving in my 

 mind these several months back. I engrave inscriptions 

 on stone (conceit apart) in a neater and more correct 

 manner than any other mason in this part of the country. 

 The masons of Inverness, as I have been informed, are 

 very deficient in this art. My plan is to go to that 

 town, take lodgings in some cheap part of it, and make 

 myself known by advertisement as a stone engraver. 

 What think you of this ? The want of friends and of a 

 clue confidence in one's self are, it is true, disqualifying 

 circumstances, but time and chance happeneth to all.' 



