42 THE LIFE OF JAMES D. FORBES. [CHAP. 



' December 19th, 1828. 



f DEAR SIR, I did not know who A was till your letter 

 informed me. Various circumstances rendered it probable 

 that you were under the mask, and I once asked your uncle, 

 Mr. George Forbes, if he knew any person who used a 

 seal such as yours. But he did not. The transmission 

 of your packet from Eome through Sir A. Wood and 

 some other circumstances were strongly against you, but 

 these were always overpowered by the belief that A must 

 be older than you could be. 



' Many circumstances conspired to make your letter 

 more than agreeable to me, though, like all our plea- 

 sures, it had its alloy of sorrow. It was a matter of 

 real satisfaction to me that Scotland possessed a young 

 man capable of pursuing science with the ardour and 

 talent of A ; and that he should have belonged to a 

 family from whom I received much kindness, and for 

 whom I feel the most sincere affection, was a ground of 

 the most unfeigned satisfaction. 



'I trust you will not allow any professional pursuits to 

 interrupt your studies and researches. The cultivation 

 of science is a luxury of no common kind amid the 

 bustle and vexation of life, and is quite compatible with 

 the most active professional duties. Your education and 

 the example you have had to copy will, I am sure, guard 

 you against those presumptuous and sceptical opinions 

 which scientific knowledge too often engenders. In the 

 ardour of pursuit and under the intoxication of success 

 scientific men are apt to forget that they are the instru- 

 ment by which Providence is gradually revealing the 

 wonders of creation, and that they ought to exercise 

 their functions with the same humility as those who are 

 engaged in unfolding the mysteries of His revealed will. 



* I hope I shall soon have the pleasure of being person- 

 ally acquainted with you, and it will at all times give me 

 the truest pleasure to be able to be of any service to you 

 in your scientific studies. I am, my dear Sir, 



' Ever most faithfully yours, 



'D. BREWSTER,' 



