364 THE JOURNEYMAN. 



most : just your manner of addressing the poor people 

 whom you occasionally met by the way ; the frank in- 

 quiry, the kind reply, the good-humoured remark, the 

 caress bestowed on the child, the compliment paid to the 

 mother, in short, the numberless proofs of this kind 

 which you so unwittingly gave me, that your sympathies 

 crossed the broad line of demarcation and found 

 human nature on the other side, inspired me with a re- 

 spect for your character which no opposite course could 

 have led me to entertain. I have often said to myself, 

 Give me an aristocracy of Miss Dunbars, and we shall 

 have no Revolution for a century to come. 7 



' Cromarty, March 9, 1834. 



' You have returned to Forres. Would that it were 

 under happier auspices and with brighter hopes. But I 

 do trust that in the quiet of retirement, and amid all that 

 constitutes home, you will find that there yet remains 

 for you much of comfort and enjoyment. I cannot 

 suffer myself to think that my friend is to be other than 

 happy, and would fain believe what I so earnestly wish. 

 There is a moral alchemy which can transmute the evils 

 of life into blessings, and you are not unacquainted with 

 the secret. Besides, it is wonderful how our bodies, and 

 our minds too, accommodate themselves to the circum- 

 stances in which we are placed, and how even amid 

 much pain, and much unavoidable depression of spirits, 

 enough of pleasure may be found to render life de- 

 sirable. I would fain have something to build upon 

 regarding you, were it but the consideration how rest 

 proves positive enjoyment to those who labour, and a 

 cessation of pain positive happiness to those who suffer. 

 I would fain find something to solace me in the story of 

 the prisoner, who found his dungeon for the first few 



