om the uncertainty of the fishings
themselves, than from the fluctuations of the markets--and how in the
pork trade of the place a judicious use of the bank's money enabled the
curers to trade virtually on a doubled capital, and to realize, with the
deduction of the bank discounts, doubled profits. In a few months my
acquaintance with the character and circumstances of the business men of
the district became tolerably extensive, and essentially correct; and on
two several occasions, when my superior left me for a time to conduct
the entire business of the agency, I was fortunate enough not to
discount for him a single bad bill. The implicit confidence reposed in
me by so good and sagacious a man was certainly quite enough of itself
to set me on my metal. There was, however, at least one item in my
calculations in which I almost always found myself incorrect: I found I
could predict every bankruptcy in the district; but I usually fell short
from ten to eighteen months of the period in which the event actually
took place. I could pretty nearly determine the time when the
difficulties and entanglements which I saw _ought_ to have produced
their proper effects, and landed in failure; but I missed taking into
account the desperate efforts which men of energetic temperament make in
such circumstances, and which, to the signal injury of their friends and
the loss of their creditors, succeed usually in staving off the
catastrophe for a season. In short, the school of the branch bank was a
very admirable school; and I profited so much by its teachings, that
when questions connected with banking are forced on the notice of the
public, and my brother editors have to apply for articles on the
subject to literary bankers, I find I can write my banking articles for
myself.

The seasons passed by; the two years of probation came to a close, like
all that had gone before; and after a long, and, in its earlier stages,
anxious courtship of in all five years, I received from the hand of Mr.
Ross that of my young friend, in her mother's house, and was united to
her by my minister, Mr. Stewart. And then, setting out, immediately
after the ceremony, for the southern side of the Moray Firth, we spent
two happy days together in Elgin; and, under the guidance of one of the
most respected citizens of the place, my kind friend Mr. Isaac Forsyth,
visited the more interesting objects connected with the town or its
neighbourhood. He introduced us to