Proceeded to Arbroath by the Railway. Was kindly received by Alexander Anderson's
family to whom I had a letter. Had an
interview with Mr. & Mrs. Stuart Gellatly, as also with Mr. John Taylor
Sect. to the Tee-total Society.
Proceeded by the Railway to Forfar.
The view was delightful. The sun
shone in autumnal grandeur, upon the busy reapers. Nature smiled sweet around me, and I was not
dead to her charms, my heart rose in gratitude to the great source of all the beauties. A serene, severe reflection oftener than once
passed through my mind. Can man, thought
I, favoured with such a scene of beauty, in which he must perceive not only
grandeur, but also mercy, be so debased as to withdraw himself from the lovely
scene and spend his precious time in debauchery. And can these fields of Barley 'mong which
the reaper plys his busy sickle be changed into a deadly poison by man to
destroy his fellow. Ah! Yes! Tis
lamentably true. Then reflections nerved
me onward to the undertaking in which I was engaged. On reaching Forfar, I called on two members
of Committee who seemed quite willing that a meeting should be got up for me
but would do nothing without the concurrence of the rest. I accordingly went to a Mr. Scott, Pres. of
the Society, who sent for the Treasurer, and made up matters. The meeting was called through the town. The business was rather a failure. Owing partly to it being on the day on which
inhabitants are most busy at their avocations, and partly to the short notice
which they had of my coming. There could
not be more than 100 who assembled in the Mason Lodge where I lectured about an
hour and a half.
The cause here is prosperous. There are about 400 members. They have printed their Rules. They are much the same as the Dundee
ones. An excellent instrumental band
belonging to the Society is started l7 in number. A weekly convivial meeting is held on the
Saturday evenings. These meetings are
not conducted on the principal, which is generally adopted, of giving sound
information on the subject, but mainly in singing and amusement. Consequently they are well attended. To these meetings, the Society is most
indebted for its present prosperous state for there is but little thirst for
information on the subject. I
endeavoured to point out the evil as far as possible to the Committee, who
promised to endeavour to remedy it, if possible.
I had supper in the Coffee room, and a good bed in a
respectable house. On the whole my visit
to Forfar did in no wise realize my expectations. However some good may have been done.
Typed by Betty Kay
11th May 1996, from Dan Marshall`s notes of the original journal.
©2012, copyright Alana Farrell
I'm enjoying Robert's journey very much, but I might have to have a glass of wine later :-)
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