whither they had hurried to take their last look of that hearse which
was carrying to the grave a kind and indulgent master, whose like they
had no hope ever to look upon again.

The elevation of the road on the hill-side was such as to give us a full
view of the valley, and we could observe that the summit of many of the
little knolls at a distance, even those beyond the Tweed, were covered
with small clusters of rustic gazers, all intent upon a spectacle
equally calculated to move persons of every rank and description; and
every now and then we found a little knot of spectators assembled by the
way-side, whose motionless countenances and unbroken silence
sufficiently testified the nature of their feelings.

As we approached the neat little village of Darnick, our attention was
forcibly arrested by a very striking token of woe. On the top of an
ancient tower--one of those, we believe, which Sir Walter has rendered
classical--was placed a flag-staff, from which depended a broad, black
banner of crape, or some other light material. There was not a breath
of air to stir the film of a gossamer, so that light as the material
seemed to be, it hung heavy and motionless--a sad and simple emblem,
that eloquently spoke the general village sorrow. This we found more
particularly expressed in detail, as we passed through the little
place, by the many minuter insignia of mourning which the individual
inhabitants had put on the fronts of their houses and shops--by the
suspension of business--and by the respectful manner in which the young
and the old, and people of both sexes, stood silently and reverently
before their respective dwellings, wrapt in that all-absorbing sorrow
which told how deeply he that was gone had rooted himself in their
affections. When the hearse drew near to his own Melrose, the bell
tolled sadly from the steeple of the church; and as we entered the