with him. He loses life, the poor mob get off with being scared. I think
it as fair to say that Shakspere justifies Macbeth as Coriolanus.
17 & 18. Tuesday & Wednesday. At the Castle, drawing. Forrest came, once.
Evening drawing on wood as should not have been. Found an old two volumed
Peter Wilkins, and re-read it. Clever, yet save Gulliver & Crusoe,
no such books have reality as manifested by Swift & Defoe.
19. Thursday. As before. Evening drawing & reading, for the first time
Scotts Lord of the Isles. Not such interest of story or character as is manifest in
other of Scotts poems. It is more of a topographical poem than ought else. And I
cannot but think he might have made more of the Bruce; � he�s not Scotch
enough. He ought not to bear testimony to Edward�s character, or to talk com-
plimentary of England after Bannock born. There�s more of the true spirit of
the Bruce in Burns �Scot�s wha hae� than in all the Lord of the Isles. Yet
the poem has beautiful passages.
20. Friday. The Castle, as before. While sitting, during the earlier part
of the morning, a posse of girls appear on the ploughed field, in defiance of pro-
hibiting notice. Rambling up to the building they spy me, and come to a
halt & consultation; and presently one comes to the window & asks if I
have �any objection� to their going round it. I tell em I haven�t, and they
do. Anon they, by the same spokeswoman, (she had a pleasant face) ask
to see the inside: �We�re Captain Chase�s daughters, and live at Yonkers,�
say they. So I, after a little hesitation, in defiance of the exclusiveness of the
mighty Edwin, let �em in, and with strict caution not to peep out of the
windows landwards they go over the building; and then, after a little chat depart
well pleased. After dinner, to the rock fronting the Castle, on the opposite
side of the Railroad, and there making a sketch of the place. While
doing it, Forrest and some companions, ladies & masculines appeared on the
summit & presently he put up the flag. / A bathe in the Hudson, then
