448 MEMOIR OF JOHN WILSON. 



were scarcely inclined to retire to our rooms, and remained talking 

 till early morning. My father was much touched by the delicate 

 tact of Lord John Russell's communication to the Lord Advocate, 

 couched in terms indicative of a tender nobility of soul. 



I know not if the acknowledgment of her Majesty's bounty is a 

 fragment, or the whole of a letter addressed to Earl Russell, but it 

 came into my hands lately, and as being written by my father, I 

 imagine it was a copy of the letter sent, or at least part of it. 

 Whatever the case may be, it will at least be interesting, and I 

 therefore give it : — 



"Billholm, Langholm. 



" My Lord : — That her Majesty has been graciously pleased to 

 bestow on me, in the evening of my life, so unexpected a mark of 

 her bounty, fills my heart with the profoundest gratitude, which 

 will dwell there while that heart continues to beat. I beg your 

 Lordship to lay this its poor expression with reverence at her 

 Majesty's feet. 



"For your kindly sentiments towards my professional and literary 

 character, I would return such acknowledgment as is due from 

 one who knows how to estimate the high qualities of the house of 

 Russell." 



We remained a week or two at Billholm, my father returning 

 with us to Edinburgh. As winter approached, many a thought 

 crossed his heart of his lost labor, and cheerfulness was hard to keep 

 up. He seemed disinclined for any sort of amusement, and remained 

 within doors almost entirely ; unable to find pleasure even in the 

 pastimes of his grandchildren, at one time so great an amusement 

 to him. Something of a settled melancholy rested on his spirit, and 

 for days he would scarcely utter a word, or allow a smile to lighten 

 up his face. He was as a man whose " whole head is sick and the 

 whole heart faint." That such a change for a time should take place, 

 was by no means unnatural. He was not yet stricken in years, the 

 glow within the great mind was still strong, but the pulses of life 

 were weak. So ardent and impulsive a nature could not be expected 

 to lay aside its harness without a pang. Religion alone supported 

 him in the solitude of that altered existence. These dark clouds 

 were possibly as much due to his enfeebled health as to the belief 

 that the usefulness of his life was over. His brother Robert, who 



