I shall not attempt that; but I
cannot but express, in a few ineffectual words, the delight which every
human bosom feels in the benign spirit which pervades all his creations.
How kind and good a man he is, I need not say; nor what strength of
genius he has acquired by that profound sympathy with his
fellow-creatures, whether in prosperity and happiness, or overwhelmed
with unfortunate circumstances, but who yet do not sink under their
miseries, but trust to their own strength of endurance, to that
principle of truth and honor and integrity which is no stranger to the
uncultivated bosom, and which is found in the lowest abodes in as great
strength as in the halls of nobles and the palaces of kings. Mr. Dickens
is also a satirist. He satirizes human life, but he does not satirize it
to degrade it. He does not wish to pull down what is high into the
neighborhood of what is low. He does not seek to represent all virtue as
a hollow thing, in which no confidence can be placed. He satirizes only
the selfish, and the hard-hearted, and the cruel. Our distinguished
guest may not have given us, as yet, a full and complete delineation of
the female character. But this he has done: he has not endeavored to
represent women as charming merely by the aid of accomplishments,
however elegant and graceful. He has not depicted those accomplishments
as their essentials, but has spoken of them rather as always inspired by
a love of domesticity, by fidelity, by purity, by innocence, by charity,
and by hope, which makes them discharge, under the most difficult
circumstances, their duties, and which brings over their path in this
world some glimpses of the light of heaven. Mr. Dickens may be assured
that there is felt for him all over Scotland a sentiment of kindness,
affection, admiration, and love; and I know for certain that the
knowledge of these sentiments must make him happy."

[39] On this occasion, as he told me afterwards, the orchestra did a
double stroke of business, much to the amazement of himself and his
friends, by improvising at his entrance _Charley is my Darling_, amid
tumultuous shouts of delight.

CHAPTER XVI.

ADVENTURES IN THE HIGHLANDS.

1841.

A Fright--Fletcher's Eccentricities--The
Trossachs--The Travelers' Guide--A Comical
Picture--Highland Accommodation--Grand
Scenery--Changes in Route--A
Waterfall--Entrance to Glencoe--The Pass of
Glencoe--Loch Leven--