The people of this town are a very busy and clever race, but much given
to litigation. My brother says, that they are the greatest benefactors
to the Outer House, and that their lawsuits are the most amusing and
profitable before the courts, being less for the purpose of determining
what is right than what is lawful. The chambermaid of the inn where we
lodge pointed out to me, on the opposite side of the street, a
magnificent edifice erected for balls; but the subscribers have resolved
not to allow any dancing till it is determined by the Court of Session to
whom the seats and chairs belong, as they were brought from another house
where the assemblies were formerly held. I have heard a lawsuit compared
to a country-dance, in which, after a great bustle and regular confusion,
the parties stand still, all tired, just on the spot where they began;
but this is the first time that the judges of the land have been called
on to decide when a dance may begin.
We arrived too late for the steam-boat, and are obliged to wait till
Monday morning; but to-morrow we shall go to church, where I expect to
see what sort of creatures the beaux are. The Greenock ladies have a
great name for beauty, but those that I have seen are perfect frights.
Such of the gentlemen as I have observed passing the windows of the inn
may do, but I declare the ladies have nothing of which any woman ought to
be proud. Had we known that we ran a risk of not getting a steam-boat,
my mother would have provided an introductory letter or two from some of
her Irvine friends; but here we are almost entire strangers: my father,
however, is acquainted with one of the magistrates, and has gone to see
him. I hope he will be civil enough to ask us to his house, for an inn
is a shocking place to live in, and my mother is terrified at the
expense. My brother, however, has great confidence in our prospects, and
orders and directs with a high hand. But my paper is full, and I am
compelled to conclude with scarcely room to say how affectionately I am
yours, RACHEL PRINGLE.
LETTER III
The Rev. Dr. Pringle to Mr. Micklewham, Schoolmaster and
Session-Clerk, Garnock
EDINBURGH.
DEAR SIR--We have got this length through many difficulties, both in the
travel by land to, and by sea and land from Greenock, where we were
obligated, by reason of no conveyance, to stop the Sabbath, but not
without edification; for we went to hear Dr. Drystour in the forenoon,
who had a most weighty sermon on the tenth chapter of Nehemiah. He is
surely a great orthodox divine, but rather costive in his delivery. In
the afternoon we heard a correct moral lecture on good works, in another
church, from Dr. Eastlight--a plain man, with a genteel congregation.
The same night we took supper with a wealthy family, where we had much
pleasant communion together, although the bringing in of the toddy-bowl
after supper is a fashion that has a tendency to lengthen the sederunt to
unseasonable hours.