Page:The Cottagers of Glenburnie - Hamilton (1808).djvu/127

 consequences of being pent up in the unwholesome atmosphere of that immense place; and had besides such a hankering after my native country, that I wished of all things to return to it. While I was still hesitating, a young man, who came up to London to seek a situation as a gardener, brought a letter to me from a niece of Jackson's, with whom I had continued to correspond; and by his conversation, concerning all the friends of my youth, increased my desire of revisiting scenes that were still dear to my recollection. He told me of a cottage near Hill Castle that was now empty, and advised me to ask it of the young earl, who could not surely refuse such a trifle to one who had been so long in the family, and to whom, as he said, the family owed such obligation. But he was mistaken. I petitioned for it, and was refused.

Perhaps to soften the refusal, I was at the same time told, that Lord Longlands had resolved against having any cottages