any, were those connected
with the queen's visit to Dundee, in 1844. The spot where she landed has
been commemorated by the erection of a superb triumphal arch in stone.
The provost said some of the people were quite astonished at the
plainness of the queen's dress, having looked for something very
dazzling and overpowering from a queen. They could scarcely believe
their eyes, when they saw her riding by in a plain bonnet, and enveloped
in a simple shepherd's plaid.

The queen is exceedingly popular in Scotland, doubtless in part because
she heartily appreciated the beauty of the country, and the strong and
interesting traits of the people. She has a country residence at
Balmorrow, where she spends a part of every year; and the impression
seems to prevail among her Scottish subjects, that she never appears to
feel herself more happy or more at home than in this her Highland
dwelling. The legend is, that here she delights to throw off the
restraints of royalty; to go about plainly dressed, like a private
individual; to visit in the cottages of the poor; to interest herself in
the instruction of the children; and to initiate the future heir of
England into that practical love of the people which is the best
qualification for a ruler.

I repeat to you the things which I hear floating of the public
characters of England, and you can attach what degree of credence you
may think proper. As a general rule in this censorious world, I think it
safe to suppose that the good which is commonly reported of public
characters, if not true in the letter of its details, is at least so in
its general spirit. The stories which are told about distinguished
people generally run in a channel coincident with the facts of their
character. On the other hand, with regard to evil reports, it is safe
always to allow something for the natural propensity to detraction and
slander, which is one of the most undoubted facts of human nature in all
lands.

We left Dundee at two o'clock, by cars, for Edinburgh. In the evening we
attended another _soiree_ of the working men of Edinburgh. As it was
similar in all respects to the one at Glasgow, I will not dwell upon it,
further than to say how gratifying to me, in every respect, are
occasions in which working men, as a class, stand out before the public.
_They_ are to form, more and more, a new power in society, greater than
the old power of helmet and sword, and I rejoice in every indication
that they