 and had in some measure
redeemed human nature from the reproach of pride, selfishness, and ingratitude.
- For my part, I was as much pleased with the modesty as with the filial virtue
of this honest soldier, who assumed no merit from his success, and said very
little of his own transactions, though the answers he made to our inquiries were
equally sensible and laconic. Mrs. Tabitha behaved very graciously to him until
she understood that he was going to make a tender of his hand to a person of low
estate, who had been his sweet-heart while he worked as a journeyman weaver. -
Our aunt was no sooner made acquainted with this design, than she starched up
her behaviour with a double proportion of reserve; and when the company broke
up, she observed, with a toss of her nose, that Brown was a civil fellow enough,
considering the lowness of his origin; but that Fortune, though she had mended
his circumstances, was incapable to raise his ideas, which were still humble and
plebeian.
    On the day that succeeded this adventure, we went some miles out of our road
to see Drumlanrig, a seat belonging to the Duke of Queensberry, which appears
like a magnificent palace erected by magic, in the midst of a wilderness. - It
is indeed a princely mansion, with suitable parks and plantations, rendered
still more striking by the nakedness of the surrounding country, which is one of
the wildest tracts in all Scotland. - This wildness, however, is different from
that of the Highlands; for here the mountains, instead of heath, are covered
with a fine green swarth, affording pasture to innumerable flocks of sheep. But
the fleeces of this country, called Nithsdale, are not comparable to the wool of
Galloway, which is said to equal that of Salisbury plain. Having passed the
night at the castle of Drumlanrig, by invitation from the duke himself, who is
one of the best men that ever breathed, we prosecuted our journey to Dumfries, a
very elegant trading town near the borders of England, where we found plenty of
good provision and excellent wine, at very reasonable prices, and the
accommodation as good in all respects as in any part of South-Britain. - If I
was confined to Scotland for life, I would choose Dumfries as the place of my
residence. Here we made enquiries about captain Lismahago, of whom hearing no
tidings, we proceeded, by the Solway Frith, to Carlisle. You must know, that the
Solway sands, upon which travellers pass at low water, are exceedingly
dangerous, because, as the
