partner, who was a good sort of fellow
too, failed, and N---- was paralyzed on receiving a letter from the
attorney to the assignees to say, that not having regularly gazetted his
retirement from the concern, he had rendered himself legally liable to
the creditors of the late firm of ---- and Co., and unless N---- paid
the balance which remained due after the assets of the bankrupt's estate
had been ascertained, that immediate steps would be resorted to, to
compel him. The matter soon got abroad, and all N----'s other creditors
also pressed forward to crush him--well, to make a disagreeable story
short, the end is as I have previously related. Poor N---- is to be
ruined to pay another man's debts, after a vast deal to do with law and
lawyers, and much heat on both sides.

I had taken great interest in the matter from the first, and it was with
deep feelings of sorrow that I saw this excellent family likely to be
driven from the home of their forefathers, by the merciless and often
unjust hand of the law. N---- was, I believe, generally liked, and no
person in need, in the district where he resided, looked up to the
_Laird_ for advice or assistance in vain. You may judge therefore
of the public sensation. While these matters were pending, N---- looked
with the deepest anxiety for the arrival of a letter from his son in
India; and every day did he send his servant express to the little
post-office at ----, but in vain.

At last the fatal day of sale arrived. N----, in the depth of his
distress had early sent for me to consult whether even at the eleventh
hour something could not be done to avert the calamity. A sinking man
catches at a straw. It wanted less than three hours of the time of sale
when I entered the grounds of Fernlands. The gate was half off its
hinges, the posts plastered with advertisements of the sale; and people,
as always happens in such cases, were already pouring towards the house
more from a motive of curiosity than from an intention of purchasing
anything. As I advanced towards the scene of action, I could observe
that the shrubberies were injured, and the rare plants and flowers
which both N---- and his wife had valued so much--for they were fond
of the study of nature--exhibited evident tokens of the mischief of
the careless multitude thronging to the show. The day was clear and
beautiful, the breeze played through the leafy wilderness with a joyous
effect; the contrast between the peace and har