LETTER II


Miss Rachel Pringle to Miss Isabella Tod--GREENOCK.

My Dear Isabella--I know not why the dejection with which I parted
from you still hangs upon my heart, and grows heavier as I am drawn
farther and farther away. The uncertainty of the future--the
dangers of the sea--all combine to sadden my too sensitive spirit.
Still, however, I will exert myself, and try to give you some
account of our momentous journey.

The morning on which we bade farewell for a time--alas! it was to me
as if for ever, to my native shades of Garnock--the weather was
cold, bleak, and boisterous, and the waves came rolling in majestic
fury towards the shore, when we arrived at the Tontine Inn of
Ardrossan. What a monument has the late Earl of Eglinton left there
of his public spirit! It should embalm his memory in the hearts of
future ages, as I doubt not but in time Ardrossan will become a
grand emporium; but the people of Saltcoats, a sordid race, complain
that it will be their ruin; and the Paisley subscribers to his
lordship's canal grow pale when they think of profit.

The road, after leaving Ardrossan, lies along the shore. The blast
came dark from the waters, and the clouds lay piled in every form of
grandeur on the lofty peaks of Arran. The view on the right hand is
limited to the foot of a range of abrupt mean hills, and on the left
it meets the sea--as we were obliged to keep the glasses up, our