ent population whom it was his duty to keep in order: a difficult
task, which he accomplished so well as to gain the special commendation
of the King, and even the goodwill of the Highlanders themselves. He
was five years among these northern hills, battling with ill-health, and
restless under the intellectual barrenness of his surroundings. He felt
his position to be in no way salutary, and wrote to his mother: "The
fear of becoming a mere ruffian and of imbibing the tyrannical
principles of an absolute commander, or giving way insensibly to the
temptations of power till I became proud, insolent, and
intolerable,--these considerations will make me wish to leave the
regiment before next winter; that by frequenting men above myself I may
know my true condition, and by discoursing with the other sex may learn
some civility and mildness of carriage." He got leave of absence, and
spent six months in Paris, where he was presented at Court and saw much
of the best society. This did not prevent him from working hard to
perfect himself in French, as well as in horsemanship, fencing, dancing,
and other accomplishments, and from earnestly seeking an opportunity to
study the various armies of Europe. In this he was thwarted by the
stupidity and prejudice of the commander-in-chief; and he made what
amends he could by extensive reading in all that bore on military
matters.

His martial instincts were balanced by strong domestic inclinations. He
was fond of children; and after his disappointment in love used to say
that they were the only true inducement to marriage. He was a most
dutiful son, and wrote continually to both his parents. Sometimes he
would philosophize on the good and ill of life; sometimes he held
questionings with his conscience; and once he wrote to his mother in a
strain of self-accusation not to be expected from a bold and determined
soldier. His nature was a compound of tenderness and fire, which last
sometimes showed itself in sharp and unpleasant flashes. His excitable
temper was capable almost of fierceness, and he could now and then be
needlessly stern; but towards his father, mother, and friends he was a
model of steady affection. He made friends readily, and kept them, and
was usually a pleasant companion though subject to sallies of imperious
irritability which occasionally broke through his strong sense of good
breeding. For this his susceptible constitution was largely answerable,
for he was a living bar