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



over, and to bring it to a close, give prizes, &c, by deputy; 

 but as far as usefulness went, my work was almost done. 

 I believe I had been only four days absent from the class 

 all the previous part of the session, though lecturing 

 only three days a week/ 



Two letters must here find place, though one of them 

 belongs to an earlier date. To Cambridge men they may 

 probably be interesting, as they were written, the one to, 

 the other by, the late Mr. Leslie Ellis. 



' MY DEAK FRIEND, 'EDINBURGH, March lth, 1856. 



* It gave me very great pleasure to hear from you, 

 and that on more accounts than one. ... I should have 

 written to you ere now had I felt sure that the thought 

 of a letter which you might be expected to answer might 

 not oppress you, however little. My belief is that it is 

 good for us all to keep up our ties in this world, even 

 while we are striving to prepare ourselves for that other 

 to which we are visibly hastening. For this purpose we 

 should not drop society nor correspondence altogether, 

 even if we at times feel quietness our greatest solace. I 

 own that in this I am preaching what I do not always 

 practise. 



* Your letter brings me back in spirit to your quiet yet 

 cheerful room, which it pleases me to have seen, because 

 I can picture you there. And often after since we met 

 has that scene of suffering patience arisen in my fancy, 

 and to see you again would be by far the chief pleasure 

 of another visit to Cambridge, of which, however, at 

 present I see not the very slightest prospect. I often 

 wish you could have your bed raised so as to see out of 

 the window without the intervention of a mirror. This 

 is a parenthesis. In that small chamber you are working 

 out, my dear friend, a problem greater than you ever 

 grappled with in the Senate-house ; a victory as real as 

 any military hero's. You have found that " tribulation 

 worketh patience, patience experience, and experience 

 hope," a happy climax. I, like you, have wandered near 

 the confines of the dark river. I have felt the trial of 



