or London on the 11th of September. The desire of home, however,
now urged me forward; so that even the wonders of this wonderful
city could not detain me. Passing over the uninteresting incidents of
steamboat and railroad travelling, I arrived on the 20th of September
at the spot from which I had started twenty-three years before. The
meeting of a mother with an only son, after so long an absence, need
not be described, nor the feelings the well-known scenes of youthful
sports and youthful joys gave rise to. These scenes were still the
same, as far as the hand of Nature was concerned:--there stood the
lofty Benmore, casting his sombre shades over the glassy surface of
Lochba, as in the days of yore; there were also the same heath-covered
hills and wooded dells, well stocked with sheep and cattle; but
the human inhabitants of the woods and dells--where were they?--far
distant from their much-loved native land in the wilds of America,
or toiling for a miserable existence in the crowded cities of the
Lowlands,--a sad change! The bleating of sheep, and lowing of cattle,
for the glad voices of a numerous population, happy and contented with
their lot, loyal to their sovereign, and devotedly attached to their
chiefs! But loyalty and attachment are but fancies, which, in these
utilitarian and trading days, are flat and unprofitable; yet the
aristocratical manufacturers of beef and mutton may live to feel the
truth of the lines of Goldsmith:--

"But a bold peasantry, their country's pride,
When once destroyed, can never be supplied."

I remained about six weeks in my native country, and set out for
London, where I arrived early in November,--"the beginning of the gay
season;" but it appeared to me the reverse. The city was shrouded in
a cloud of condensed smoke and fog, that shut out the light of heaven.
During three whole days the obscurity was so great that the steamboats
were prevented from plying on the Thames, and the gas-lights were
seen glimmering through the windows at noon-day. How applicable is
the description of the Roman historian to the Rome of our day:--"Caput
orbis terrarum, urbis magnificentiam augebant fora, templa, porticas,
aquaeductus, theatra, horti denique, et ejus generis alia, ad quae
vel lecta animus stupet." My time was too limited, however, and the
weather too unfavourable, to admit of my seeing all the "lions;" but
who would think of leaving London without visiting that wonderful
work--the Tun