cles which is
characteristic and pleasant. He seems a very warm-hearted earnest man
too, and I felt quite at home with him forthwith. Walking up and down
the hall of the courts of law (which was full of advocates, writers to
the signet, clerks, and idlers) was a tall, burly, handsome man of
eight-and-fifty, with a gait like O'Connell's, the bluest eye you can
imagine, and long hair--longer than mine--falling down in a wild way
under the broad brim of his hat. He had on a surtout coat, a blue
checked shirt; the collar standing up, and kept in its place with a wisp
of black neckerchief; no waistcoat; and a large pocket-handkerchief
thrust into his breast, which was all broad and open. At his heels
followed a wiry, sharp-eyed, shaggy devil of a terrier, dogging his
steps as he went slashing up and down, now with one man beside him, now
with another, and now quite alone, but always at a fast, rolling pace,
with his head in the air, and his eyes as wide open as he could get
them. I guessed it was Wilson, and it was. A bright, clear-complexioned,
mountain-looking fellow, he looks as though he had just come down from
the Highlands, and had never in his life taken pen in hand. But he has
had an attack of paralysis in his right arm, within this month. He
winced when I shook hands with him; and once or twice, when we were
walking up and down, slipped as if he had stumbled on a piece of
orange-peel. He is a great fellow to look at, and to talk to; and, if
you could divest your mind of the actual Scott, is just the figure you
would put in his place."

Nor have the most ordinary incidents of the visit any lack of interest
for us now, in so far as they help to complete the picture of himself:
"Allan has been squiring me about, all the morning. He and Fletcher have
gone to a meeting of the dinner-stewards, and I take the opportunity of
writing to you. They dine with us to-day, and we are going to-night to
the theatre. M'Ian is playing there. I mean to leave a card for him
before evening. We are engaged for every day of our stay, already; but
the people I have seen are so very hearty and warm in their manner that
much of the horrors of lionization gives way before it. I am glad to
find that they propose giving me for a toast on Friday the Memory of
Wilkie. I should have liked it better than anything, if I could have
made my choice. Communicate all particulars to Mac. I would to God you
were both here. Do dine together at the Gray's Inn