rectors and gentlemen connected with that establishment, being among my best customers, in the book line; but, indeed, what farther could be expected at that time from the sale of such articles, in a county, now so poverty-struck as East Lothian had become, by this tremendous blow to her capitalists!. -the whole of whose dependents must have suffered proportionally?

In the meantime, while these memorable, because, most afflictive events, were taking place around us, and the deplorable consequences of this lamentable occurrence, were, as might have been anticipated, developing, and manifesting themselves among all degrees, and descriptions of persons in the community, I was proceeding progressively, in getting things in readiness for my transatlantic adventure, previous to which, I see, I had published what I shall call, a "New General Shop Bill," consisting of a post folio half sheet, printed on both sides, and including, on the back, our list of patent medicines, which, at the date marked, May 1822, will be found to be very respectable for a country town.

By the 16th of that month, (May) I see, I had furnished the young man with an invoice of ten packages, the receipt of which, he acknowledges in his letter, of date, the 31st; and in the bill of loading, it appears, all were shipped on board the Intrepid, then lying in the harbour of Greenock, bound for New York; and by his sailing letter afterwards, 1 am given to understand, he was to sail on the 11th of June, which, having no doubt he did, I observe, that to make matters as secure as possible, so far, I had covered the whole by insurance, effected with a gentleman in this place, on the 18th.

It was on the first of July, this year, and when a near connexion was engaged at a meeting on the affairs of the East Lothian Bank, I observe, that we were favoured with a visit from our much respected and esteemed friend, Mr - from London, who, accompanied by his daughter and a friend, were at the time on a tour of health. Notwithstanding the untoward situation in which he found us, in consequence of my protracted misfortunes, and the recent calamity that had befallen the county, we contrived to make this dear friend and his travelling companions as comfortable as possible, dur

ing their short sojourn among us.-Pity that it had not been longer, as it was, alas! the LAST, as well as the first, visit, from that highly endeared, on many accounts, and much respected individual, that we were ever destined to have.

The little pleasant jaunt that I was enabled to take with these welcome strangers, to the Lake at Pressmennan, and the beautiful grounds of Biel, would no doubt be of service to me, in the way of a restorative ;-for I had many a hint given me, that I took too little exercise in that way,—and my health and spirits, certainly required something, at that time, to brace them up to the proper pitch, and put them in tone, preparatory to setting out on a journey which I had been contemplating for some time, to the westward; and which, it will be seen, I undertook in the following month, just in time to meet his Majesty, on his visit to Scotland, at Edinburgh, on my return.

On the morning of Friday, the 9th of August, I see, I set out for Edinburgh, where I had business to transact, previous to going forward to Glasgow. But Edinburgh was in such a state of internal ferment at the time, in consequence of the great preparations going on for the reception of his Majesty, then daily expected, that, of all the times and seasons I could have chosen, I could not have selected, or fallen upon a worse, for business.

Every person was either engaged in making preparations for, or talking about the intended visit, and I could not turn my eyes to the castle, as I hastily pursued my business course along the streets of the new town,—or gave them a cast upwards, to Arthur Seat, spotted with its tents,—or to the wonderful alterations going on in all quarters of the town, -but I saw something to remind me that this was not a time for business in Edinburgh; so that, I resolved to go forward to Glasgow, and finish there, and at Paisley, in the first place, in the hopes to fare better in the good old city, on my return.

On the following morning, therefore, viz., that of Saturday the 10th of August, I went forward to Glasgow by one of the coaches; and in order to make up for some of the time I had spent to so little purpose in Edinburgh, and to make my

stay in the west the shorter, I lost not a moment in proceeding to business; but, what with being told, that one person had gone off to Edinburgh, (to which point the tide seemed to have been for some time setting in, from all quarters,) to meet the King-that another, less curious in these matters, had been absent for some time at bathing quarters-I soon found, that even the inhabitants of the great commercial city of Glasgow itself, could allow their minds to be directed to

other purposes than those of mere commerce. So that, I got

comparatively little business done on that day, in that city also, to what I expected.*

After finishing, as far as possible, in Glasgow, on the Monday morning, I went down to Paisley by one of the afternoon coaches (it was the one driven by, and, I believe, the property of, the gentleman, said to have been an officer in the army;)—and, after transacting business there, returned to Glasgow, in the evening.

Next morning saw me on board of the track boat, with a very crowded assemblage of passengers, on my way to Edinburgh. But my limits do not permit me to enter into details of what I either saw, or heard, or befel me, including the accident, from which I so narrowly escaped, in stepping from the boat, in order to call at Kilsyth, on that JOURNEY OF A DAY,— being the windy Tuesday,—the day previous to his Majesty's arrival in Leith Roads, on the 14th.

Neither have I room to enlarge upon the way I employed my time, in winding up matters in Edinburgh and Leith, on

* So great, indeed, was the mania, (shall I call it, when coupled with so great a name?) for emigration to the eastward, that I was informed, before I left Glasgow, that the Rev. Dr Chalmers himself, whom I had heard in his own church of St John's, on the morning of the Sunday on which I remained at Glasgow, had also taken his flight eastwards, although it would be presuming too much in me to say, to meet and to welcome, the coming rays of Royalty; for I observed, soon after my return home, a notice from, or in, a Dumfries paper, that the Rev. Dr Chalmers had been preaching there, on a mission to the south,-accompanied by the piquant remark, that a person might sit, and have his pockets picked, while the Doctor preached, but that it was impossible any of his auditors could fall asleep! assertion that I might have, with good reason, called in question at the time, seeing such is the power of habit, or, it may be, the extreme heat of the day, or of both I had but recently witnessed, in the pew just before me, in the Doctor's own church, and while the Doctor himself preached-and most likely one of his own congregation—a person,—and a good-looking, stout, and healthy person too,— not only asleep, but remain for such a length of time under the power of the drowsy enchanter, that one might have picked his pocket, or done what he liked with him, fifty times, without his knowing any thing of the matter.

An

the 14th, until I was interrupted in the latter place, by the shutting up of the shops in all directions, on the arrival of the little squadron in the Roads.

These, and a number of other matters, connected with the fine sights I saw, in that throng, happy, and stirring time in the city, must all be passed over, in order to enable me, to make room for others of more consequence, to be detailed towards the conclusion of my present chapter.

The large number of remnants brought home by my agent, from the north-the little progress he had been able to make in the reducing of them, after his return, to the time of his departure for America-and the complete failure, I may say, of my sale by catalogue, in consequence of the distressing occurrence formerly alluded to—with the little prospect we had, of being able to do any more good, in our own now impoverished county, for some time at least,-made us look out for new ground, for our future operations ;—and, I resolved, at last, upon making the experiment, as to how far, a range along by the foot of the BRAES OF ANGus, might be conducive, to make up the deficiencies, occasioned by being driven from our old ground,-among the fertile plains of BERWICKSHIRE and EAST LOTHIAN.*

So that, if we were not successful, it was not for want of going to distant ground, or far beyond the bounds of our now unfortunate county, as I am sorry to call it,-and, I may add, its unfortunate neighbour, Berwickshire-for it, too, was too nearly situated to escape the effects of the explosion-in search of it. But, upon the whole, I have little reason to complain in this respect, for the produce of the foot of the Braes of Angus, certainly, on this occasion, came fully up to our most sanguine expectations.

And it was well for us that it did so; for, if the accounts

In accordance with this plan, I see that my son after trying a sale at Berwick, for 5 days, commencing on Tuesday, the 3d of Sept.and at Tweedmouth, for a few days afterwards, commencing on the 9th,-operating with his auctions at Forfar, in ANGUS-SHIRE, from the 25th Sept. to the 14th of Oct. -at Kirriemuir, from the, to thedo.At Blairgowrie, in PERTHSHIRE, from theto_the-At Brechin in ANGUS-SHIRE again, from the- -to the--and then at Dundee, from the-to the 4th November, on which day, I see his last returns are dated.-N. B. The returns for these blanks, have for the present fallen by, but it is of little consequence, as the sales are marked in regular succession, so that, the time at each place, may be nearly guessed at.

we had recently received of the arrival of the young man in America, brought with them nothing else satisfactory-neither did his letter of the 12th November, from which it appeared, that, having been laid up with the yellow fever, and other et ceteras, I had nothing to look for, as being immediately forthcoming, from that quarter. Indeed, the being made acquainted with this circumstance, seems to have determined me to try the northern range again, but the success was by no means equal to the former; and, as two of my returns, I see, are dated the 17th and 23d of December, from Forfar, and on the 26th and 30th, from Dundee,-after which, the auctioneer soon made his appearance personally,I may say and so ended, the transactions of the year.

CHAPTER XXXII.-1823.

It would have been well, could I have said, that with the transactions of 1822, an end had been put to our procrastinated troubles.-Still surrounded by prospects far from pleasing.-Another sober New Year.-Disastrous intelligence, accompanied by the first and last remittance from America.-Lamentable extracts from my American letter. The judgment of charity, on such an afAlicting occasion.-A rather strange expression, apologized for, in the best manner possible.-A new ground of hope-My mind diverted from these disagreeables, by another subject of immediate interest.-Severe storm in the month of February.-Able to go westward, and attend a meeting of friends at --An affecting recollection.—Melancholy sofa scene.-Lines to a departed son.-Journey to the westward -Visit the Edinburgh College Mu. seum.-Recognized by an old acquaintance in coming out.-New winter auction campaign-Route described.

AND, it would have been well could I have added, that, with "the transactions of the year," an end had been put to those procrastinated troubles; for we certainly had had, a most tedious business to perform, in winding up, during the by-past year, what should have been wound up a twelvemonth before; and a full share of other vexatious matter to engage my attention along with it.

But, by the 14th January, the time when I wrote my next Retrospect, under the designation at the top, "My birthday,” it will be seen, this was by no means the case, or that manuscript would not have furnished matter for the following