have had an innate idea of death.-I am, my dear Sir, with great regard, yours truly, JOHN GORDON." Postscript.-Before sending you this letter, I transmitted a copy of it to Miss Mitchell, for her perusal and correction; and I have much pleasure in adding the following extracts from her very obliging and satisfactory reply. "Agreeably to your request, I have read your letter to Mr. Stewart with as much attention as the short time it has been in my possession would admit of; and I certainly think you have stated those facts I informed you of, respecting my brother, most correctly. "My brother seems to be very well pleased with his change of residence,1 and goes on much in the same way he did at Ardclach; that is to say, wandering for several miles round the small town we live in, or amusing himself by visiting the different carpenters' or other tradesmen's shops within his reach, and handling their implements, or trying to discover what they are engaged about. He has not yet discovered any anxiety to return to Ardclach, and is, I think, quite as happy as when there." No. IV. While employed in revising this concluding sheet, I had the pleasure of receiving the following letter from my friend Sir James Mackintosh. It is unnecessary for me to mention the satisfaction I feel in attracting that notice to the subject of my memoir which his name cannot fail to ensure. Letter from SIR JAMES MACKINTOSH to MR. STewart. Edinburgh, 5th November 1812. MY DEAR SIR,-In consequence of our conversation at Kinneil in August, I called on Mrs. Mitchell after my arrival in 1 Mrs. Mitchell and her family have, within these few months, left Ardclach to reside at Nairn. Nairnshire, and on the 9th of October I had an interview with James Mitchell, and his sister Miss Mitchell, which lasted for several hours. I directed my inquiries to every point which seemed important, in the corporeal or mental state of this unfortunately interesting young man. The result, however, is little more than a needless corroboration of the accounts which you have already received; especially those from Dr. Gordon, who seems to have conducted his observations with much philosophical discernment and accuracy. During the vacancy in his father's parish, the parishioners assembled on Sunday for public worship and mutual instruction, and one of the elders prayed with a loud and shrill voice, which was observed to give great uneasiness to Mitchell. This occurred several times, so that there appears no reason to consider it as an accidental coincidence. Though his ordinary conduct be decorous, it seems to be influenced by habit and instruction rather than by feelings of delicacy. When the females of his family are undressing, he has been observed to turn aside. There are no males in the house. But in an opportunity which has lately occurred, he has been thought to show a similar disposition in the case of males. I have seldom seen an imperfection of the senses attended by so little an air of defect in the countenance. Singular as it may seem, I should even venture to call his features intelligent. He handled every part of the room in which we sat, with indications of an inquisitive mind. His sister is a young woman of most pleasing appearance and manners, distinguished by a very uncommon degree of modesty, caution, and precision, in her accounts of him; and probably one of the most intelligent, as well as kindest companions, that ever guided a being doomed to such unusual, if not unexampled privations. You will not think me fantastic for adding, that the habitual exercise of ingenious benevolence seems to me to have left its traces on her countenance, and to have bestowed on her naturally agreeable features, an expression more delightful than beauty. Her aversion from exaggeration, and her singular superiority to the pleasure of inspiring wonder, make it important to the purposes of Philosophy as well as of Humanity, that she should continue to attend her brother. Separation from her would indeed be an irreparable calamity to this unfortunate youth. By her own unaided ingenuity, she has conquered the obstacles which seemed for ever to preclude all intercourse between him and other minds; and what is still more important, by the firm and gentle exertion of her wellearned ascendant over him, she spares him much of the pain which he must otherwise have suffered from the occasional violences of a temper irritated by a fruitless struggle to give utterance to his thoughts and wishes; disturbed still farther by the vehemence of those gestures which he employs to supply the deficiency of his signs, and released from that restraint on anger which we experience when we see and hear its excesses disapproved by our fellow-creatures.-I am, my dear Sir, with the truest esteem, yours most faithfully, J. MACKINTOSH. Supplement to the History of JAMES MITCHELL. [Some fourteen years later.] Sept. 12, 1826. Some time after this Appendix was sent to press, it occurred to me that it might be desirable to obtain some information with respect to James Mitchell's present condition; and if possible an outline of his history since the last intelligence transmitted by the late Dr. Gordon. With this view I requested my friend Mr. Macvey Napier to apply to Sir Thomas Dick Lauder for any particulars concerning Mitchell he might think it worth while to communicate. From the deep interest which that gentleman has always taken in the Mitchell family, and from his well-known habits of philosophical observation, I thought him more likely than any other person to whom I had access, to be acquainted with the circumstances which I was most anxious to learn. I was unwilling to address myself directly to Miss Mitchell, lest she should have felt it painful to write again on so distressing a subject. Of the obliging readiness with which Sir Thomas has complied with my request, the following communications (for which I beg leave to return. both to him and to Miss Mitchell my most grateful acknowledgments) are flattering proofs. Letter from SIR T. DICK LAUDER of Fountainhall, Bart., to Relugas, 31st August 1826. MY DEAR NAPIER,-In obedience to Mr. Stewart's wish, I hasten to convey to you all the information I can procure regarding the very interesting youth James Mitchell; and having just received a very clear and satisfactory letter from his amiable sister, in reply to some queries which I addressed to her immediately on receipt of yours, I think I should be doing injustice to her, as well as the subject, were I to alter or abridge it in any way. I therefore copy it at length for Mr. Stewart's information. "Nairn, 28th August 1826. "MY DEAR SIR,-I received your much-esteemed favour of the 26th inst. yesterday, and regretted that being Sunday I could not immediately proceed, as far as memory enabled me, to give you an account of anything that had occurred (out of the common routine) in my brother's conduct, during the period marked out by Professor Napier, that is to say, since our lamented friend Dr. Gordon's death. By referring to some letters, I find that some of the most striking incidents regarding him took place prior to that event, and were communicated through him to Mr. Stewart, such as the escape he made from being drowned, and his apparent fear of death during the only severe illness he ever experienced. His conduct at the time of my mother's death, I had the honour of communicating directly to Mr. Stewart, in consequence of your considering it proper for me to do so. It is therefore only the occurrences that have happened since, that will be new to Mr. Stewart, or the effects these circumstances appear to have had on his actions. Regarding the first mentioned event, as naturally might be expected, it prevented him for some time from visiting the shore altogether; but as the recollection became fainter, he gradually resumed his rambles on the beach. As far, however, as I have been able to learn, he never resumed his station in any of the boats under similar circumstances. Some time after, he made as narrow an escape of another description, which I do not recollect having mentioned, and which has influenced his conduct quite as much. On the day of the coronation of his present Majesty, an additional pair of horses were put to the mail-coach, rode by a postilion unacquainted with James's deficiencies. From this cause, and the crowded state of the street, he was thrown down by the leaders, and was for a second or two literally under them. He was taken up almost insensible, as it appeared from the fright, for when he was stript and examined immediately afterwards by Dr. Smith, he was found to have received no actual injury, except on one hand, which was marked by one of the horse's shoes. Soon after this accident, a gentleman coming into town in a post-chaise, observed him to throw himself on the parapet of the bridge, the moment he became sensible, from the vibration, of the approach of some conveyance, and to remain there until it had passed; and I have invariably noticed since, that he makes a bolt to the nearest side of the street the moment he is warned of the approach of a cart or carriage. I think my mother's death has influenced his conduct, and even softened his temper more than almost any other event in his life, particularly in cases where I am concerned. During her life, when I refused compliance with any little capricious wish or want, he generally made an appeal to her, and that too success Several of the letters here referred to have unfortunately been mislaid, and cannot at the present moment be recovered. For an additional communi cation concerning Mitchell, by Dr. Gordon, see Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, vol. viii. Part First, p. 129. [Read Nov. 20, 1815.] |