Your affectionate friend,
H. Davy.
TO SAMUEL PURKIS, ESQ.
Dunrobin Castle, Aug. 29, 1812.
MY DEAR PURKIS,
You may probably be surprised to receive a letter from me from this remote corner of the North; but I owe you a letter, and I have a great inclination, wherever I may be, to discharge all debts, and particularly those rendered due by kindness.
Receive my warm acknowledgments for your kind congratulations on my becoming a Benedick. I can now speak from experience, in which you have long participated. I am convinced that the natural state of domestic society is the best fitted for man, whether he be devoted to philosophy, or to active life.
I shall have much pleasure in presenting my wife to you and to Mrs. Purkis, on my return.
We have had a delightful tour through the Highlands. We are at the extreme point of our journey. The pleasures of a refined society—that of Lord and Lady Stafford's family—have induced us to make a long pause here. We think we shall be in London the beginning of December.
I have spent some days such as we passed together in Wales. We have had all the varieties of river, mountain, and wood scenery. The Lakes of Scotland are infinitely finer than those of Wales; but the glens of the Principality may fairly stand in competition with those of the Highlands.