old a great bather and well practised in the exercise of the swimming bath, did not join in any public display; nor did he go out in the mornings on horseback, which omission was to be regretted. After working from early morn till eve, he would start for an excursion in a carriage with four horses. The hot winds of the day subsiding at sunset caused the glowing atmosphere to be still and close. So he would direct the postilions to drive rapidly in order that he might inhale such breeze as could thus be obtained.
The fortnightly mail from England affords a tonic to the nervous tension and recreation to his care-worn mind. This post happily differs from the daily posts; it is laden for him with chequered news, but the joy and hope prevail over the tender anxieties.
He writes to his daughter that he carries about with him in his pocket a little red book, given him by her departed mother, marked with the birthdays of the children and containing a text of Scripture for every day in the year. He asks her to obtain one like it for herself. Indeed, he is most diligent in writing to his children as they grow up in England. The length as well as the number of these letters is amazing; many have been lost, but enough of them are preserved to show that the total (written during the busiest years of his Government) must have been more than an octavo volume in bulk. Most of those now extant have fine passages, and some, as compositions, are beautiful throughout. The substance of the letters is religious, but they abound with practical
