290 MEMOIR OF GEORGE WILSON. CHAP. VI. 



my modesty, and may, moreover, not be so acceptable to you 

 as it once was hem ! or of seeking out some common topic 

 whereon I may enlarge for our mutual edification. 



" Of myself, I will only say this much, that whether you are 

 pleased to hear it or not, I make daily invisible progress in 

 amendment ; though I grieve to say that the classicality of 

 outline, of which I spoke in a former letter as developing in my 

 features, is not so apparent as it was, and my nose is as red as 

 ever. I now flourish upon my crutches and make daily excur- 

 sions to the seaside, where they plant a chair, on which I sit 

 and meditate on the ladies bathing and the other wonders of 

 the great deep. 



" But I have got something better than the crutches to pro- 

 gress with ; my good uncle (these uncles and, above all, aunts 

 are the great blessings of creation) has most kindly purchased a 

 little horse, which he sends down to us, along with a comfort- 

 able gig, and I go whisking over the country, to Dalkeith, 

 Musselburgh, Prestonpans, Cramond, and so forth, making all 

 sorts of geographical discoveries, especially concerning the 

 existence and site of turnpike gates and toll-bars, which have 

 now acquired an interest in my eyes equal to that they have in 

 my purse. I shall be in town in a fortnight, and there is no 

 saying whither I may penetrate in my shandrydan. If you 

 have any interest in my welfare still remaining, you may keep 

 a sharp look-out for a little horse of a sort of ginger colour, 

 the lightest brown, cream- colour with a slight dash of brown 

 over it." 



The seaside residence, rest, and simpler appliances, all proved 

 ineffectual. Nature had not strength to work a cure where the 

 evil had become so deeply seated. George's father had suffered 

 much in the same way for years, rheumatism throughout the 

 body ultimately settling in the ankle joints. In his case it had 

 been thoroughly cured by care at an early stage, but the ten- 

 dency was probably transmitted to his son. 



After returning to town, the kind and anxious medical attend- 

 ants Professor Syme and Mr. Goodsir cauterized the foot 

 more than once, but all seemed in vain, and each day left less 



