I
 
 sh - * / 
 
 v / <J-*^j<f 
 
 c 
 
 1 7 
 
 MEMOIRS OF ADAM BLACK

 
 MEMOIES 
 
 OF 
 
 ADAM BLACK 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 ALEXANDEE NICOLSON, LL.D. 
 
 SECOND EDITION 
 
 EDINBURGH 
 ADAM AND CHAELES BLACK 
 
 1885
 
 PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION. 
 
 THE suggestion having been made that an Index 
 would be of service, it has been supplied in this 
 edition. The opportunity has also been taken to 
 make some corrections kindly furnished by friends, 
 and to append a List of the Principal Books pub- 
 lished by Mr. Black and by his firm down to the 
 time when he formally retired from business. 
 
 November 1885. 
 
 2067802
 
 PEEFACE. 
 
 BIOGRAPHY nowadays is so alarmingly overdone, 
 that a society for the prevention of the evils it 
 brings must soon be recognised as one of the ' felt 
 wants ' of our time. The possibility of being anato- 
 mised, for the benefit of society, after life's fitful 
 fever, by some cruelly candid friend, may well be re- 
 garded as adding unspeakably to the terrors of death. 
 Some wise people, now and in former days, have 
 chosen to write, and even publish, their own 
 biographies, rather than leave them to be done by 
 too partial or sternly truthful friends. This prac- 
 tice has much in its favour. Even the softening 
 touches and cunning omissions of the autobiographer 
 are more agreeable, and not less true, to nature, 
 than the indiscreet or painful revelations of a need- 
 lessly faithful friend. The kindly treatment of their 
 father by Shem and Japheth is still to be preferred 
 to the brutal realism of Ham. 
 
 The life of a man who for more than half a cen- 
 tury held a leading place as a citizen of Edinburgh 
 must be considered worthy of some permanent re- 
 cord. The only doubt in this case arose from a
 
 viii PREFACE. 
 
 consideration of what would have been agreeable 
 to the man himself. Though a prominent public 
 character, and of great personal force, he was very 
 modest in his estimate of his own .deserts and 
 shrank from anything like display. The suggestion 
 made during his lifetime, of that form of Testimonial 
 which was realised after his death in a public 
 Statue, was not less distressing to him personally 
 than it was honourable to him as a citizen. 
 
 The lapse of time between his death and the 
 appearance of this Memoir is not in accordance 
 with modern practice, which allows as little delay 
 as possible from the death of the deceased to the 
 publication of his biography. The sentiments that 
 influence that practice are not those of the publishers 
 of this volume, or of its compiler. 
 
 It would scarcely have been possible to have pro- 
 duced any biography of Adam Black worth reading 
 if he had not left some autobiographical reminis- 
 cences for the benefit of his family. They were not 
 meant for any wider circle ; certainly not for print. 
 They show no care for literary form, or even for his- 
 torical and chronological completeness. They are, 
 notwithstanding, quite fit to be printed as he wrote 
 them ; so much so that the editor would have pre- 
 ferred to have given them, with some alterations and 
 additions, instead of his own narrative, which is only 
 ' second-hand.' 
 
 They were commenced in London in February
 
 PREFACE. ix 
 
 1864, during Mr. Black's attendance in Parliament, 
 and finished in 1872, in the 89th year of his age. They 
 were committed to his eldest son, Charles, in these 
 words : ' London, February 28, 1864. My dear 
 Charles As I believe my children know very little of 
 the history of their father, I am induced to write to 
 you, my eldest son, to give a short sketch of a life 
 which cannot be far from its close, and which death 
 might soon draw a veil over for ever.' 
 
 Mr. Black had at this date entered on his 81st 
 year, but was in full vigour of body and mind. For 
 nine years and eleven months more he lived in com- 
 paratively good health, with mental faculties unim- 
 paired, and continued to make additions to the 
 reminiscences, which he entitled My Pilgrimage, 
 down to 2d April 1872, when he made his last entry. 
 He then recorded his attendance at the funeral of his 
 dear old friend and last surviving school-fellow, Claud 
 Muirhead, who died 28th March 1872, in his 90th year. 
 
 Mr. Black followed him, at the same venerable 
 age, on 24th January 1874. 
 
 He never kept a diary, except when he was from 
 home, and then it was entirely for the benefit of his 
 family. He wrote few letters, except on public or 
 political business, and those he received from such 
 eminent men as Jeffrey and Macaulay, Abercromby 
 and Campbell, were almost exclusively on questions 
 of political or local interest. In this respect the 
 materials for this Memoir were comparatively meagre.
 
 x PREFACE. 
 
 His autobiographical reminiscences are also singularly 
 wanting in those anecdotes and observations on pass- 
 ing events which give so much interest to memoirs 
 otherwise unimportant. He could tell a story well, 
 but he had no desire to figure as a chronicler of anec- 
 dotes, and for mere gossip he had a positive distaste. 
 
 Considering that the life of which these pages 
 give an outline extended to ninety years, and was 
 that of an active, bold, outspoken man, it is impos- 
 sible to say more in his praise than that he said, 
 wrote, or did nothing, in all that long time, which 
 any one having regard for his memory would wish 
 to blot from remembrance. He had some hard fights, 
 but he always fought fairly, and never said anything 
 in private which he would have feared to utter 
 plainly in the market-place. He kept up no feuds 
 or grudges, and honestly grieved to be on any but 
 friendly terms with good men. 
 
 His life and doings are interesting primarily to 
 citizens of Edinburgh, and for them this book is chiefly 
 meant. As the record of a long and useful life, of 
 patient continuance in well-doing, with a single eye 
 to duty and the good of the community to which he 
 belonged, it will have served its purpose if it stimu- 
 late others to prove themselves equally worthy of 
 the respect of their native city.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 1784-1807. Mi. I to 23. 
 
 Parentage Early Days in Edinburgh School The Tawse 
 Summer Holidays at Dry grange Town ' Bickers ' 
 ' Friends of the People ' Edinburgh Newspapers Mobs 
 Old Town Guard Lady Glenorchy's Church Choice 
 of Occupation Apprenticeship with Fairbairn Reminis- 
 cences of Booksellers Allan Ramsay Gentlemen Volun- 
 teers Greek Class Sails for London Engagement 
 with Sheraton Lackington, Allen, & Co. Life in 
 London Visit to David Wanliss . . Pages 1-43 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 1807-1831. Mi. 23-47. 
 
 Commences Business in Edinburgh in 1807 Takes charge 
 of a Sabbath School Enterprise with Underwood Visit 
 to Paris, 1816 Start of the Scotsman and Blackwood's 
 Magazine, 1817 Marriage Early Politics Burgh Re- 
 form Bonnymuir Insurrection Meeting at the Pan- 
 theon Visit of George IV. Removal to 27 North Bridge 
 Purchase of Encyclopedia Britannica Charge of 
 favouring Popery . . . . 44-75
 
 xii CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 1831-1841. m 47-57. 
 
 Keform Bill Excitement Attempt to throw Provost Allan 
 over the North Bridge Charles X. at Holyrood Pass- 
 ing of Reform Bill, 1832 Election of Jeffrey and Aber- 
 cromby Midlothian Election Tait's Magazine Muni- 
 cipal Finances Conflicts with City Creditors Earl 
 Grey Banquet of 1834 Reflections on Church Dis- 
 putes Dr. Chalmers Pamphlet, The Church its own 
 Enemy University of Edinburgh Sir William Hamilton 
 Brougham's Speeches Nomination of T. B. Macaulay 
 as Member for the City Banquet in honour of the 
 Queen's Marriage Unsuccessful Contest for Provostship 
 Public Dinner . . . . . 76-116 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 1841-1849. Mt. 57-65. 
 
 Protection and Abolition of Corn Laws Visit of the 
 Queen and Prince Consort in 1842 Disruption of 
 the National Church, 1843 Elected Lord Provost 
 Public Baths Maynooth Grant Agitation Rights of 
 Way, Hawthornden and Glen Tilt Trip in the PJiaros 
 Anti-Slavery Crusade of George Thompson Trinity Col- 
 lege and Church Scott Monument, 1846 Opening of 
 the Philosophical Institution Copyright Trial, Ency- 
 dopcedia Dissertations Unsectarian Education and 
 Industrial School Rejection of Macaulay, 1847 
 Chartist Riots of 1848 Retirement from Provostship 
 Erection of Corn Exchange Presentation of Portrait 
 painted by Sir John Watson Gordon Offer of Knight- 
 hood 117-155
 
 CONTENTS. xiii 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 1849-1856. ^Et. 65-72. 
 
 Relief from Public Business Purchase of Sir Walter Scott's 
 Works in 1851 Removal to 6 North Bridge Eighth 
 Edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica commenced Re- 
 election of Macaulay, 1852 Death of Charles Black, 
 1854 Proposed Statue Elected M.P. for the city, 
 1856 156-174 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 1856-1865. Mt. 72-81. 
 
 First Speech in House of Commons Proposes Amendment 
 to Mr. Spooner's Motion for Withdrawal of Maynooth 
 Grant Views on National Education and Parliamentary 
 Reform Seconds Mr. Gladstone's Motion for Removal of 
 Disabilities of the Scottish Episcopal Church Dissolu- 
 tion of Parliament, 1857 Re-elected Perplexity about 
 Conspiracy Bill Scottish Universities and Annuity Tax 
 Bills Marriage with Deceased Wife's Sister Bill Re- 
 elected after defeat of Ministry, 1859 Lord Advocate 
 Moncreiff's Annuity Tax Bill Government Reform Bill : 
 reduction of Franchise to 6 Baines's Borough Fran- 
 chise Bill Paper Duty Dinner at Greenwich on com- 
 pletion of Eighth Edition Encyclopedia Britannica 
 Committee on Ragged Schools Great Exhibition of 1862 
 Visits to Buxton and Wiesbaden Marriage of Prince of 
 Wales, 1863 Speech on Prison Ministers Bill Visit to 
 Italy ....:... 175-218
 
 xiv CONTENTS, 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 1865-1874. Mt. 81-90. 
 
 Speech at the Glasgow Congregational Union Meeting Copy- 
 right Acts Palmerston Death of William Tait Prior- 
 bank Opposition to Mr. Baines's Burgh Franchise Bill 
 Riotous Meeting in Edinburgh Last Night in House of 
 Commons, June 23, 1865 Defeat at Election of 1865, 
 and Close of Political Life Visit to Spain, 1866, and 
 Wiesbaden, 1867 Domestic Clouds Duties as Curator 
 of the University of Edinburgh New Water Act New 
 Infirmary Reflections on the close of Life Retirement 
 from Business, 1870 Death, 1874 Statue in Princes 
 Street Gardens Character 219-260
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 1784-1807. 
 
 IN the summer of 1779 a young mason from Edin- 
 burgh, named Charles Black, was working at the 
 Fly Bridge, about two miles below Melrose, and 
 lodged in the miller's house on the farm of Dry- 
 grange. The tenant of that farm was a good man 
 named Adam Nicol, and his wife was Alison 
 Bunyan, a high-spirited little woman. They had 
 two or three sons, and one daughter, Isabella. The 
 young mason became a frequent and esteemed 
 visitor at their house, and found special favour in 
 the eyes of the daughter, who before very long 
 became his wife. He could not have saved much 
 money, for he was just twenty-three when he mar- 
 ried, and a mason's wages at that time were about 
 a fourth of what they are now. But self-denial and 
 care could make them go far, and Charles Black 
 told his son Adam that ' he thought he would soon 
 make rich when he found he could get 8s. a 
 week.' The bride brought him no tocher in money, 
 
 B
 
 2 MEMOIRS OF [1784- 
 
 but she had her ' providing ' of ' napery,' and the 
 other articles which all respectable Scottish parents 
 were accustomed to give their daughters at marriage. 
 The young couple were quite prepared to face life 
 and the world with their slender means ; and the 
 bride's parents thought they could trust her safely 
 to Charles Black, in which they were not mistaken. 
 The young couple removed at once to Edinburgh, 
 and took up their abode in the lower floor of a 
 house on the west side of Charles Street, a very 
 respectable locality, leading into what was then 
 the most aristocratic quarter of Edinburgh, George 
 Square. The front room was furnished as a shop, 
 and stocked with butter, cheese, potatoes, and other 
 farm produce supplied from Drygrange, for which 
 the capable young housewife found a ready market. 
 This sensible speculation had doubtless been all 
 arranged before the marriage. The united earnings 
 of the young couple enabled Charles Black in a 
 few years to commence business as a master-builder, 
 in which he prospered so well that the shop was 
 given up ; and on his death, in 1826, at the age of 
 seventy, he left a moderate patrimony to each of his 
 three sons and three daughters. His excellent wife 
 survived him for twenty-one years, and died in 
 1847 at the ripe age of eighty-nine. 
 
 The second of the three sons was Adam, who 
 was born in Charles Street on 20th February 
 1784, Eleven years before that, Francis Jeffrey
 
 JET. 5.] ADAM BLACK. 3 
 
 had been born up a stair a few doors farther south 
 in the same street. 
 
 Adam Black's earliest reminiscence was the illu- 
 mination of Edinburgh in 1789, on the temporary 
 recovery of the health of the king, George III. The 
 joy of the nation at the restoration of their sovereign 
 to the use of his reason was sincere, and nowhere 
 could it have been more splendidly exhibited than 
 in Edinburgh, ' throned on crags.' 
 
 About the same time he saw from the corner 
 house in Drummond Street, which was then being 
 built, the laying of the foundation-stone of the Uni- 
 versity. The ground on which College Street, and 
 the portion of Nicolson Street reaching to Nicolson 
 Square, now stand, was then occupied by a garden, 
 sloping up southward from the old ' Kirk o' Field,' 
 where the University buildings were erected. A num- 
 ber of people had climbed up into one of the trees on 
 that slope, and little Adam Black heard the cries and 
 saw the commotion, when the tree, with all its living 
 load, came crashing to the ground. 
 
 When about four or five years of age, he was sent 
 to a school in the Pleasance, on the south side of the 
 town, kept by a man of the name of Noy, from Mrs. 
 Black's native district, probably his chief recom- 
 mendation. It was of the old-fashioned sort. ' Our 
 schoolbook/ he says, ' was the Bible, or any other 
 book we chose to bring. No grammar was taught, 
 no geography; no explanation was given of the
 
 4 MEMOIRS OF [1791- 
 
 meaning of words ; no questions were put, except the 
 questions of the Shorter Catechism.' 
 
 This school Adam Black attended till he was 
 seven years of age, when he could read, write, and 
 do a little arithmetic, had learned as much, per- 
 haps, as was good for him. His religious education 
 was certainly not neglected. Family worship was 
 as regular at home as breakfast and supper; and 
 on Sunday the children, after being twice at church, 
 had to learn the Shorter Catechism, 'with proofs,' 
 under penalty of going without the luxury of tea and 
 bread and butter, allowed to them only on that blessed 
 day. Their good father was not content with hearing 
 them repeat their lessons like parrots ; he endeavoured 
 to explain them ; and when all were gathered to- 
 gether on Sunday evening, ' we received from him/ 
 says Adam, ' the most affectionate and pious admoni- 
 tions.' Those of a more advanced generation may 
 look back with a sympathetic shudder on such 
 Sundays as these, filled up with religious exercises 
 from morning to night, ' spending the whole time,' as 
 the Shorter Catechism prescribes, ' in the public and 
 private exercise of God's worship, except so much as 
 is required for works of necessity and mercy.' But 
 it cannot be denied that our country and its people 
 have owed much to the stern discipline of our fathers, 
 and that from such lessons as were taught and 
 practised in such houses as that of Charles Black 
 ' old Scotia's grandeur springs.'
 
 JET. 7.] ADAM BLACK, 5 
 
 About the beginning of October 1791, Adam was 
 taken by his father to the High School Yards, down 
 Infirmary Street, and entered as a pupil in the first 
 class of the High School of Edinburgh, at that time, 
 as it still is, the chief school of the city. 'I recollect,' 
 he says, ' as we went along, he met an acquaintance, 
 who asked him where he was going. My father said 
 he was "takin' the laddie to the Hie Schule." " He's 
 surely ower young," said the friend. " Oh, he's seven 
 years auld," said my father, which I kept in mind.' 
 The teacher under whom he was placed, and sat for 
 the next four years, was Christison, afterwards Pro- 
 fessor of Latin in the University of Edinburgh, and 
 still better remembered as father of Sir Robert 
 Christison. Adam was one of the youngest boys in 
 the class, and ill prepared for it, Latin being, of 
 course, the one great subject. He had little time to 
 learn his lessons at home, where he was generally 
 occupied in helping his mother and going messages ; 
 and his elder brother Frank, who learned his father's 
 trade, could give him little or no help. His progress, 
 therefore, was small. ' These four years,' he . says, 
 ' were years of cruel bondage. The great educator 
 was the tawse, a long thick leathern thong, cut into 
 stripes, which, brought down with great force on 
 the hand, was very painful, often leaving marks of 
 coagulated blood. Every day this teacher of the 
 young idea how to shoot was administered more or 
 less liberally ; no boy altogether escaped.'
 
 6 MEMOIRS OF [i795- 
 
 At the end of those four years Adam went into 
 the Rector's class, where he sat for two years more, 
 with pleasure and profit. The tawse was not the 
 principal engine of education here. The master con- 
 descended to recognise the poor boys as human 
 creatures, with certain tastes and feelings, not un- 
 worthy of sympathy, even in a Dominie. 'Dr. 
 Adam,' says A. B., ' put himself on a more friendly 
 footing with his pupils, and I think was rather kind 
 to me. He was not like some of the other masters, 
 who showed a partiality for the sons of the great. 
 The old man, from his own hard struggles with 
 poverty in early life, was rather favourable to the 
 sons of those in the humbler ranks, and, from his 
 constant reading of Greek and Eoman authors, and 
 admiration of the patriotic Republican heroes of 
 classic days, he had imbibed a considerable spirit of 
 Republicanism. It is said that when publicly ex- 
 amining his class he asked a boy the Latin for a King, 
 and was answered Rex. He asked again, " Give me 
 another word for King," and was answered Tyrannus. 
 " Right, sir," said the Rector, with peculiar emphasis.' 
 
 The summer holidays during these years were 
 pleasantly spent at Drygrange, and delightful it must 
 have been to exchange the weary routine of the High 
 School and Charles Street for the lovely banks of the 
 Tweed, and the endless diversions of autumn. 
 
 Among the rougher amusements of boy life in 
 town were the pitched battles, or bickers, between
 
 At. 13.] ADAM BLACK. 7 
 
 the boys of one district or school and those of another. 
 These were part of Sir Walter Scott's education, and 
 also of Adam Black's. The aristocratic boys of 
 George Square, sons of peers, law lords, and other 
 dignitaries, came out against the ' blackguards ' of 
 the Bristo Street quarter, as they called them, of 
 whom Adam was one. He had friendly relations, 
 however, with some of them, who daily passed, as 
 he did, to the High School, through Middleton's 
 Entry, then the only opening from the George Square 
 district to the South Bridge. Among these were the 
 two sons of Napier of Merchiston, whose house was 
 at the north-east corner of George Square. The 
 eldest of them was ' Charley,' afterwards Admiral Sir 
 Charles, on whom Adam Black had the pleasure, in 
 due time, as Lord Provost, of conferring the freedom 
 of the city of Edinburgh, and whom, still later, he met 
 regularly as a member of the House of Commons. 
 
 He had lively recollections of disturbances in 
 those days, of a more serious kind, representing the 
 widening breach and conflict between the rulers of 
 the country and the ruled, between the powers that 
 were and the powers that were to be. For some 
 years the public mind had been agitated with questions 
 of Parliamentary and Burgh Reform, and societies 
 were formed for the promotion of these objects by 
 persons called the Friends of the People, but regarded 
 by all ' well-disposed ' persons (i.e. persons disposed 
 to believe that the King and his ministers could do
 
 MEMOIRS OF [1791. 
 
 no wrong), as enemies of the State. The effect of 
 the Revolution in France in exciting the public mind 
 at that time can hardly now be realised. It divided 
 all society into two distinct factions, the friends of 
 Order and the friends of Liberty. There was as 
 much of dread and tyranny on the one side as there 
 was of extravagant hopes and alarming prophecies on 
 the other. The old fools on the one side naturally 
 thought that the end of the world was coming ; and 
 the young fools on the other thought that the Saturn- 
 ian reign was returning. The number of petitions 
 presented to Parliament, and of pamphlets weekly 
 issued from the press, all about Reform and cognate 
 subjects, was endless. In no part of the kingdom 
 was there more intelligent thought and keen feeling 
 on political questions than in Edinburgh, and no- 
 where was it watched and frowned on more severely. 
 The real king of Scotland at this time was Henry 
 Dundas, and no man ever ruled with a rod of iron 
 so well and pleasantly as he did. He hated change 
 and all its promoters heartily, but he loved his 
 country, and those of his countrymen who knew 
 him best, and had felt the benefit of his influence, 
 loved him heartily, and in due time raised a monu- 
 ment expressive of their gratitude, the extravagant 
 height of which truly indicates the measure of their 
 admiration. 
 
 Lord Cockburn, in his Memorials, gives a very 
 graphic and fair account of the political state of
 
 ^:T. 13.] ADAM BLACK. 9 
 
 Edinburgh about this time. The way in which 
 Friends of the People were looked after, and had 
 their names taken down by contemptible spies 
 set to watch their meeting-places, seems laughable 
 now, but was at the time not only very exas- 
 perating, but of serious menace and import. Adam 
 Black's father, like most thinking tradesmen, was 
 entirely in sympathy with the Friends of the 
 People ; but, with characteristic Scottish caution, 
 he did not join any of their associations, having 
 no desire to be set down as a 'dangerous' or 
 'auspicious' person by 'the watch' of the city. 
 His wife, who had the .spirit of her mother, ex- 
 pressed herself more openly and emphatically, as 
 women generally do, in favour of liberty, and her boy 
 Adam listened, no doubt, with appreciative interest, 
 to many a talk on the questions of the day. 
 
 To see a newspaper regularly has always been 
 considered in Scotland, in towns at least, as clear 
 a necessity and sign of civilisation as a seat in 
 church. This is perhaps one of the chief reasons of 
 that persistent and provoking liberalism of Scot- 
 land, which has so often exercised the critical 
 mind in the regions of Fleet Street and Pall Mall. 
 Charles Black could not afford a paper for himself 
 at Is. 6d. a-week ; the Caledonian Mercury or Edin- 
 burgh Evening Courant thrice a-week at 6d., or the 
 Edinburgh Advertiser twice a-week at 9d. But he 
 joined with three or four friends in getting a
 
 io MEMOIRS OF [1792- 
 
 paper between them, which was passed from one 
 to the other. The paper chosen was the Courant, 
 which they thought was, of the three, 'least sub- 
 servient to the ruling powers.' That venerable 
 organ, the oldest of British newspapers, still con- 
 tinues to instruct a select portion of the Scottish 
 public. 
 
 Edinburgh had long been famous for rough and 
 dangerous mobs. Adam saw some of them in 
 his youth, and lived long enough to see the time 
 when they had ceased to be violent, though still 
 formidable. He had a lively recollection of what he 
 witnessed in 1792, on the King's birthday, 4th June, 
 one of the holidays always marked by a demonstration 
 of popular feeling. He was playing in George Square, 
 when he saw ' a squad of masons coming up from 
 Buccleuch Place, carrying an effigy of Dundas on the 
 top of a pole. They turned into the south side of 
 the square, and stopped opposite a house seven or 
 eight doors to the west, where Dundas and a party 
 had been dining. They set fire to the effigy, and 
 commenced breaking the windows, when Dundas's 
 company opened the door, seemingly prepared to give 
 battle. Captain Duncan, afterwards Admiral and 
 Lord Camperdown, with all the heroism of a true 
 British tar, came out flourishing a golf club round 
 his head, charged the mob, and broke the line for a 
 little distance. But the enemy began to close in 
 upon him, and his retreat was in danger of being cut
 
 *T. 8.] ADAM BLACK. li 
 
 off, when he was struck by one of the legs of the 
 effigy thrown at him. He wisely made his escape 
 into the house; but, before shutting the door, he 
 turned round and showed his contempt for his assail- 
 ants by clapping his hand upon his stern ! During 
 all this time,' says Adam, ' I was sitting on the 
 top of a lamp-pillar, enjoying the fun. The mob, 
 at first but trifling, had now become alarming, 
 and was pouring into the square from all quarters, 
 when I saw my father hurrying down the square. He 
 got hold of my brother and me, and pulled us home, 
 where we were kept close for the rest of the evening. 
 The mob now filled not only the square, but Charles 
 Street and part of Bristo Street, and was still increas- 
 ing. At length troops were brought from the Castle, 
 and posted across the openings into the square. I saw 
 a division posted across the head of Charles Street, 
 with a dense mob before them. The captain must 
 have waited with considerable patience before giving 
 the fatal order to fire, for I had been sent to bed, and 
 was fast asleep before that happened. "When the 
 troops did fire, it was inevitable that many should 
 be killed and wounded. Some of the soldiers acci- 
 dentally or designedly fired over the heads of the 
 people, but there was considerable danger of some of 
 the balls going through the windows of the houses 
 in Bristo Street. I believe some did pass through, 
 but our house was on the opposite side of the street, 
 and safe.'
 
 12 MEMOIRS OF [1793. 
 
 ' On the next birthday,' he says, ' they began to 
 break the windows of Dundas's house, which was then 
 on the east side of George Square, when he had a 
 party of yeomanry in the house, some of whom I saw 
 rush out, sword in hand, and chase the mob. One 
 unfortunate fellow in the retreat stumbled and fell, 
 and the mob took unpleasant vengeance on his white 
 breeches. The mobbing was repeated on a third 
 occasion, but was more effectually quelled by the 
 press-gang brought up from Leith.' 
 
 Among the other privileges which the roughs of 
 the city in those days considered themselves entitled 
 to exercise on the King's birthday was that of mal- 
 treating every man with a good coat on his back, 
 such as in a London mob would be called ' a bloated 
 haristocrat.' If he were not sufficiently dexterous or 
 lucky to escape, he was arrested and made a ' burgher' 
 on the spot, by being lifted up and brought down 
 with force on a wooden box placed in the middle of 
 the street. If he escaped this rude process, he was 
 punished by being pelted with mud from head to 
 foot. 
 
 There were also what were called 'meal-mobs' 
 occasionally, when oatmeal rose in price beyond what 
 was considered tolerable. The meal was sent in from 
 the country on the market day, and sold in the Meal 
 Market, a court in the Cowgate. ' I have seen mobs,' 
 says A. B., 'principally composed of women, attack 
 the carts, get at the meal bags, carry off some in their
 
 XT. 13.] ADAM BLACK. 13 
 
 laps, and spill more on the street, while the constables 
 with their batons laid about them.' 
 
 By ' constables ' here are meant the members of 
 the old Town Guard, who were the only police of 
 Edinburgh up to 1817, when they were succeeded by 
 a more efficient body of men, selected, not for their 
 past achievements, but for their promise for the 
 future. The old guard were mostly old soldiers, and 
 though sufficiently picturesque in appearance, with 
 their imposing uniform, and Lochaber axes, were not 
 much of a terror to evildoers. The boys made fun 
 of them, and it was one of the fixed laws of war 
 among the ' bickerers,' that when the Town Guard 
 veterans interfered to stop their Homeric combats, 
 both sides united to 'bicker,' and, as a matter of 
 course, completely to rout, the battered old warriors, 
 not a few of whom had smelt powder at Falkirk 
 and Culloden. One of them particularly deserves 
 mention, Duncan Macintyre, the sweetest of Gaelic 
 poets, and par excellence the bard of the chase. Like 
 Horace with his shield at Philippi, Duncan had 
 ingloriously left his broadsword at Falkirk, his heart 
 having been much more with the golden-haired youth 
 from ' yont the seas,' than with the heavy-jowled re- 
 presentative and avenger of the 'wee German lairdie.' 
 Duncan attained the height of his modest ambition 
 when he became a private in the Edinburgh Town 
 Guard, of which he was the only member that left in 
 imperishable verse some graphic record of the fact.
 
 T4 MEMOIRS OF [1791. 
 
 To know what church a man or boy goes to is 
 considered of great importance in Scotland. Adam's 
 father was a member of the Church of Scotland, but 
 he had connected himself with Lady Glenorchy's 
 congregation, which was half independent, because 
 he thought there was more of ' life ' in it than in 
 most of the other churches ; and he was probably 
 right. Moderatism, the genteel rational form of 
 Christianity, was then dominant, not only in Edin- 
 burgh, but generally through Scotland, so far at least 
 as the clergy were concerned. It may fairly be said 
 that the great mass of the Scottish population, with 
 its ' perfervid ' nature, has always desired, and still 
 does, something more warm and moving than old 
 Moderatism or new Broad Churchism supplies. ' Light 
 and sweetness' are very desirable, but the descend- 
 ants of those who bled with Wallace, or burned with 
 Wishart, are made of sterner stuff than quite to 
 appreciate them yet. 
 
 Lady Glenorchy had imbibed in England the 
 religious opinions and zeal of Lady Huntingdon, a 
 great friend of John Newton and Cowper, and gene- 
 rally of what was considered worthy of being called 
 ' Evangelical religion,' which was specially strong on 
 the 'Atonement' and 'Substitution,' and, generally 
 speaking, has its sentiments most clearly expressed 
 in the Olney Hymn commencing 
 
 ' There is a fountain filled with blood.'
 
 ^T. I3-] ADAM BLACK. 15 
 
 This good lady built, at her own sole expense, in 
 1772, the chapel called by her name, in the full and 
 earnest belief that she was thereby doing the very best 
 service possible for the inhabitants of Edinburgh. 
 She did not formally connect it with the Church of 
 Scotland, and rightly, but she desired that the ser- 
 vices of ministers of that church should be employed 
 on all suitable occasions. In Scotland at that time 
 the Lord's Supper as a rule was administered only 
 once a-year in rural, and twice a-year in town dis- 
 tricts. The practice in Lady Glenorchy's church 
 was to have it once in six weeks. Some of the 
 Established Church ministers would not countenance 
 this novelty by assisting on such occasions. Among 
 these was the Keverend John Colquhoun of Leith, 
 a man of the severest orthodoxy and extreme so- 
 lemnity of demeanour. Mr. Black heard the following 
 anecdote of him : ' On one Sacrament Sunday 
 morning, his wife being desirous to have him nicely 
 rigged out for the occasion, had his coat well brushed, 
 his shirt white as snow, and his bands hanging 
 handsomely on his breast, and when she surveyed 
 her gudeman she was so delighted with his comely 
 appearance that she suddenly took him round the 
 neck and kissed him. Johnny, however, was so 
 offended by this carnal proceeding that he debarred 
 his wife from the Sacrament that day ! ' 
 
 The minister of Lady Glenorchy's was Dr. Jones, 
 who was much thought of in Evangelical circles, but
 
 1 6 MEMOIRS OF [1797- 
 
 made no agreeable impression on the young mind of 
 Adam. This is his description : ' Dr. Jones was a 
 little "gudgy" man, seemingly fully sensible of his 
 own dignity, and a great favourite with his own 
 people, who could understand what he said. His 
 utterance was rapid, and he would proceed for a 
 considerable time in a low key, then suddenly dart 
 up into a shriek, which he would continue for a 
 minute or two, and again sink suddenly down to the 
 low scale. As for me, though I attended the chapel 
 with my parents till I was about twelve or fourteen 
 years of age, I never understood one word he said. 
 I sat there two hours in the forenoon, and two hours 
 in the afternoon, every Sunday, " horn-idle." I recol- 
 lect occasionally trying if I could make out what he 
 was saying, but my imagination was more powerful 
 than my understanding, and I sometimes made 
 myself believe that I heard what was ridiculous 
 nonsense, which I amused my friends by repeating to 
 them. But it was a terrible penance to sit there weary- 
 ing till he finished the last head of his discourse.' 
 
 At the close of his sixth year at the High School, 
 Adam Black occupied a respectable place in the 
 Eector's class, being among the ten or twelve boys 
 at the top, who could read Livy ad aperturam libri. 
 He was now thirteen, and during the next year he 
 attended no classes. A vague notion was enter- 
 tained for some time of bringing him up as a 
 minister, and it was therefore decided that Adam
 
 ^ET. 14.] ADAM BLACK. 17 
 
 should go to the University. His father thought 
 that the Greek class would be sufficient to begin 
 with, as he had already learned so much Latin. He 
 was accordingly entered with Professor Dalziel in 
 the autumn of 1798, and attended the class till the 
 end of March 1799. It was the custom then, which 
 unfortunately has not yet been got rid of, to begin 
 with the alphabet, many students from the country 
 never having learned even that. The consequence 
 was that most of the boys who had made some 
 progress in the Greek grammar, at the High School 
 or elsewhere, did not trouble themselves with the 
 lessons, and got into an idle habit. 1 Professor Dalziel 
 was an elegant scholar, and pleasant as a teacher, 
 but Adam did not profit much by the class. ' The 
 greatest advantage I derived from it,' he says, ' was 
 the instruction he gave us just before the class broke 
 up. He gave us a list of books we ought to read 
 during the vacation ; and as we had the privilege of 
 the College library, I read them almost all.' 
 
 Meantime the critical question as to his future 
 occupation had been solved differently from what 
 had been at one time imagined. His parents, in- 
 fluenced by the Independent ministers brought from 
 England by the Haldanes, adopted their religious 
 principles, and Adam heartily concurred. The idea 
 
 1 The teaching of Greek in the High School was introduced in 
 1772 under Dr. Adam. The innovation was opposed by the Senatus 
 Academicus ! 
 
 C
 
 1 8 MEMOIRS OF [1799. 
 
 of his becoming a minister was now abandoned, and 
 he was left to choose for himself. ' As I had been 
 always fond of reading/ he says, ' I thought it would 
 be a pleasant trade to be a bookseller, to which my 
 father did not object.' Together they went, calling 
 at various booksellers' shops, inquiring if an appren- 
 tice was wanted. They were not very lucky, but 
 they made the best selection they could. ' We found 
 two, both of the " old fogey " type Dickson, up a 
 stair on the south side of the High Street, near the 
 Cross, and John Fairbairn, in a small shop in Hunter 
 Square, in the corner between the Square and Blair 
 Street. Neither of them was very prepossessing, but 
 I preferred Fairbairn.' 
 
 On 20th March 1799, Adam, at fifteen years of 
 age, entered on what he calls ' a dreary, disgusting 
 servitude, in which I wasted five of the best years of 
 my life, with associates from whom I learned much 
 evil and no good.' 
 
 The picture his memory retained of John Fair- 
 bairn was unpleasant, and his estimate of him was 
 very different from that of Archibald Constable, who 
 speaks of him as a good friend, and a ' most careful, 
 respectable, and worthy man.' But Constable's rela- 
 tions to him were of a very different character, and 
 he had good reason to speak kindly of him, being one 
 of his residuary legatees. 
 
 Here are the apprentice's reminiscences, not 
 softened even by the mellowing distance of seventy
 
 /ET. 15.] ADAM BLACK. 19 
 
 years : ' Good masters endeavour to promote the 
 happiness and improvement of those under them, but 
 ours seemed to consider it his duty to prevent our 
 enjoyment, and to secure only his own profit out of us. 
 He was a little fat elderly man, with a rubicund face, 
 and a wart on the side of his nose. I made some 
 verses upon him, of which I recollect only two lines 
 
 He once in his life dropped a tear, but it froze, 
 Before it had trickled half down his red nose. 
 
 Somehow or other he had heard of this composition, 
 which made him very angry with me. He resided 
 in a small house in Broughton, then a suburb of 
 Edinburgh, with a garden behind. There were other 
 small houses and gardens opposite, where the Albany 
 Street churches now stand, and up at the top of the 
 street, opposite the present theatre, there was a row 
 of small weavers' shops, occupied by the Picardy 
 weavers (after whom Picardy Place was called), 
 whose shuttles I used to hear birring along when I 
 went for the shop -keys in the morning. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Fairbairn came to their shop about eleven 
 o'clock, John toddling along, staff in hand, in grayish 
 cloth knee-breeches, stockings and shoes to match, 
 and decent brown coat, his wife by his side, and the 
 maid behind with a basket containing provisions for 
 the day. Small as the shop was, they dined in the 
 back-room, which could not have been more than 
 twelve or fifteen feet square. I have seen the great 
 Archibald Constable, Eeid, bookseller in Leith, and
 
 20 MEMOIRS OP [1799. 
 
 others, dining there ; for though the host had not a 
 particle of wit in himself, he was the cause of wit in 
 others. They used to call him Baron Accidents. 
 He was the greatest gourmand I ever knew. Nothing 
 distressed him so much as when two invitations to 
 dinner came for the same day. I have heard him 
 consulting his wife as to which should be accepted ; 
 and after going over the viands likely to be at each 
 house, he would choose the one that was likely to 
 give the best fare. He used to screw down the poor 
 men who wrought for him, and made them call again 
 and again for their accounts. 
 
 ' The accounts of some of the booksellers were kept 
 in the most slovenly way, and long unsettled, and there 
 was something slightly roguish in them, besides con- 
 fusion. I recollect an account we had for years going 
 on with another bookseller, Dickson, which never could 
 be brought to a settlement, till one day the two, along 
 with little Doig and another, agreed to dine at Luckie 
 Baxter's, who kept a tavern down one of the stairs on 
 the South Bridge, and settle the accounts after dinner 
 over some tumblers of toddy. Seeing they could 
 not balance accounts, each maintaining that books 
 charged had been returned, it was at last agreed that 
 each should give the other a full discharge, without 
 further examination. The only house during my 
 apprenticeship that kept their accounts with accuracy 
 was that of Bell and Bradfute, and they were looked 
 upon by the others as disagreeable strict precisionists.'
 
 *T. 15.] ADAM BLACK. 21 
 
 Although John Fairbairn was 'one of the most 
 churlish, selfish, unlovable men ' Adam Black ever 
 knew, he tells also that there is a tombstone erected 
 to his memory, near the gate of Greyfriars' Church- 
 yard, by his ' disconsolate widow,' who was ' really a 
 good kind of woman,' and has thus enduringly re- 
 corded that he was adorned with every human virtue, 
 and, above all, was ' the best of husbands.' 
 
 The company Adam had to keep, as his shopmates, 
 was every way distasteful to him. 'Not one of 
 them,' he says, ' made any pretensions to religion or 
 morality.' He adds, however, that the principal 
 clerk, ' Colin,' would, on his return from a ' spree ' 
 of three or four days' duration, set himself down at 
 his desk religiously to read his favourite book, 
 Wotherspoon on Regeneration ! When Colin was 
 missing, it was a time of great discomfort, and he 
 had to be hunted for in all the low dram-shops which 
 he was known to patronise. But the dissipation 
 was not confined to places outside. The warehouse 
 was down a stair on the South Bridge, and when the 
 master was at a safe distance, whisky would be sent 
 for, and disreputable company got from the flat above, 
 and a regular orgy indulged in. 'Perhaps,' says 
 A. B., 'if their vice had been less gross, it would 
 have been more dangerous, but their conduct rather 
 filled me with disgust.' 
 
 His reminiscences of the booksellers' shops in 
 Edinburgh during his apprenticeship are interesting
 
 22 MEMOIRS OF [1799. 
 
 to Edinburgh people. The substance of them was 
 given in a speech at the annual dinner of the 
 Edinburgh Booksellers' Association, where Mr. Black 
 presided. 
 
 ' When we had to purchase books,' he said, ' for our 
 customers from other shops, I was often sent round 
 the trade to collect them, and as I remember the 
 appearance of every one of them as if it were yester- 
 day, although it is about seventy years ago, I shall 
 notice them in the order in which I called with my 
 collecting list. 
 
 ' The first I came to was Mackay, on the south 
 side of the High Street, who had one of the largest 
 circulating libraries in Edinburgh, founded by Allan 
 Eamsay. It passed first into the hands of James 
 Sibbald in the Parliament Square, then to Mackay, 
 and lastly, a large portion of it formed the library of 
 William Wilson, George Street. 
 
 'A little higher up the High Street I came to 
 James Dickson's, already mentioned. He was a 
 Bailie, and of course a stout supporter of the 
 Government. He had been a juryman on the trial 
 of Muir for sedition in 1*793. 
 
 'A little farther up the street was Peter Hill, 
 another of the bailies. 
 
 ' Then passing through the piazza into the Parlia- 
 ment Square, I came to Bell and Bradfute, the best- 
 managed bookselling business in Edinburgh at the 
 time. They dealt principally in law books, and were
 
 JET. 15-20.] ADAM SLACK. 23 
 
 remarkable for invariably retaining the same books 
 in their windows for years. 1 I have heard of a 
 gentleman who, after residing for several years in 
 India, wrote to a friend in Edinburgh, to send him 
 out a certain book, of which he would see a copy in 
 Bell and Bradfute's window. 
 
 ' Next to them came John Ogle, who dealt chiefly 
 in religious books ; then Symington, who seemed to 
 have little business; then Sibbald, a man of some 
 literary reputation, who commenced the Edinburgh 
 Magazine, afterwards published by Mackay ; he also 
 edited four volumes of Scottish poetry, etc. 
 
 ' Last came Laurie, who was grand secretary, or 
 something, in the Mason Lodge. These were all on 
 the east side of the Parliament Square. 
 
 ' On the south side was Manners and Miller's shop, 
 the most fashionable in town. Robert Miller was 
 generally cicerone to any distinguished ladies or 
 gentlemen who visited Edinburgh. He was him- 
 self an amiable man, with an aldermanic pre- 
 sence, witty, sang a good song, and whistled like a 
 laverock. 
 
 ' On that side was a passage to the Cowgate, called 
 the Back Stairs, where Mundell and Doig had a 
 wholesale warehouse, afterwards Mundell, Doig, and 
 Stirling. 
 
 ' Leaving the Parliament Square, I came to William 
 
 1 This respectable old house, now in Bank Street, still preserves 
 much the same characteristics.
 
 24 MEMOIRS OF [1799. 
 
 Creech, whose shop was at the eastmost end of a block 
 of buildings, afterwards removed, which stood be- 
 tween St. Giles' and the High Street. At that time 
 his shop was managed by John Anderson, who after- 
 wards commenced bookselling in the front of the Ex- 
 change, and by John Eairbairn, a very different person 
 from my master, and no relation to him. He afterwards 
 commenced business, in company with John Anderson 
 jun., in the new buildings on the North Bridge. 
 
 'Creech's dwelling-house was in Old Assembly 
 Close, where he sometimes invited his friends to 
 breakfast, but never gave dinners. When he was 
 Lord Provost, I recollect seeing a caricature of the 
 kitchens of the Lord Mayor of London and the Lord 
 Provost of Edinburgh. In the one was seen a roar- 
 ing fire, a host of cooks, and roasting and boiling 
 going on in great style. In the other was seen 
 nothing but a gathering- coal on the fire, and a cat 
 keeping itself warm by sitting on the top of it. 
 Creech had some pretensions to literature, and pub- 
 lished a volume of essays of some merit. 1 He 
 was the best story-teller I ever heard. It was a 
 great treat to hear him tell the adventures of the 
 
 1 Lord Cockburn says of it (Memorials, 1874, p. 148) ' In spite 
 of its absurd title, Fugitive Pieces, it is very interesting, and so far 
 as one who knew only one end of the period can judge, generally 
 correct. ' Most of the contents originally appeared in the shape of 
 letters to the Courant. The first edition was published in 1791, 
 another soon after Creech's death, with a biographical sketch and 
 portrait, in 1815.
 
 JET. 15-20.] ADAM SLACK. 25 
 
 Laird of Bonymoon, Dr. Blaikie of Dalkeith, and 
 stories of Hugo Arnot. At the door of his conspicu- 
 ous shop Creech might often be seen standing with 
 his hands in his pockets, his hair curled and powdered, 
 looking jauntily down the High Street, as if enjoying 
 the view of the Canongate. 
 
 ' The row of buildings, of which Creech's shop was 
 the eastern terminus, was within six or seven feet 
 of St. Giles' Cathedral. At the west end was the 
 gallows, and under it was the small shop of Eobert 
 Eoss, who to the trade of bookseller joined that of 
 book auctioneer. He afterwards entered into partner- 
 ship with Blackwood, under the name of Eoss and 
 Blackwood, in a shop on the South Bridge opposite 
 the College. 
 
 ' From Eoss's shop I passed on to Simson's in front 
 of the Exchange, the only one who sold the Army 
 List. He was of a crusty temper, and when a book- 
 seller's boy inquired for a list of religious books, 
 answered gruffly, " We keep no such books." Coming 
 down the High Street I came to Constable's, at that 
 time a dingy dark shop, filled with an indifferent 
 stock of old books. He was a jolly, good-looking 
 man, fond of fun, and a frequent visitor at Fair- 
 bairn's, whom he, and Eeid of Leith, made their 
 regular butt. Constable's clerk was little David 
 Forbes, a crooked, conceited body, who would boast 
 to his companions when fou, that ' though they saw 
 his body they did not see his soul.'
 
 26 MEMOIRS OF [1799. 
 
 'The next shop I came to was Brown's in the 
 south-east corner of the North Bridge, whose trade 
 consisted in atlases and drawing materials. His wife 
 assisted him, and he rose to the rank of bailie. The 
 next was William Laing (father of David Laing), at 
 the head of the Canongate, who dealt only in old 
 books, of which his was the largest and most valuable 
 stock in town. Some years after that, he removed to 
 the South Bridge, to the shop afterwards occupied by 
 Ogle and Murray. On the same side of the South 
 Bridge was Alexander Guthrie, but he dealt chiefly 
 in stationery. 
 
 ' In Adam Square was Elphinstone Balfour, who 
 seemed to take business very easy. 
 
 ' The last toward the south was John Guthrie, a 
 very worthy, simple old man, who began the world 
 by making and selling laces ; then carried a pack ; 
 then kept a stall ; and now was master of a respect- 
 able shop in Nicolson Street. 
 
 ' The only booksellers in the New Town were 
 William Whyte in St. Andrew Street, whose princi- 
 pal trade was in music and musical instruments, and 
 Kinnear in South Frederick Street who kept a circu- 
 lating library. His and Mackay's were the only 
 circulating libraries in town. 
 
 ' In Leith were Beattie, William Eeid, and William 
 Coke. Beattie was little known. Eeid had a good 
 deal of jollity, and rejoiced in practical jokes. Coke 
 thought nothing of walking up to Edinburgh to pur-
 
 XT. 15-20.] ADAM SLACK. 27 
 
 chase a few catechisms or spelling books for a country 
 customer, 1 and was rather remarkable for an irritable 
 temper. Creech seeing him one hot day washing his 
 head with whisky, said to him, "William, it's no 
 wonder you are hotheaded, since you cool your head 
 with whisky." 
 
 'According to Williamson's Edinburgh Directory 
 for 1777, there were then twenty booksellers in 
 Edinburgh, and one in Leith. According to the same 
 authority, there were fifty hairdressers and forty-eight 
 barbers, or, as these trades are generally combined, 
 ninety-eight persons who furnished the outside of the 
 head, and twenty-one who furnished the inside. Now 
 happily the numbers are reversed. By the Edinburgh 
 Directory for 1867 the booksellers number 128, while 
 the hairdressers are only forty-three. In the latter 
 half of the eighteenth century every gentleman re- 
 quired his hairdresser to dress and powder his head, 
 and to put his wig in order before he went out ; and 
 the ladies were not less indebted to these artists for 
 their adornment. It may well be supposed, therefore, 
 that the staff of operators required for ordinary days 
 could hardly meet the multiplied demands for extra- 
 ordinary occasions; and I have heard of ladies, in 
 order to secure the due frizzling and powdering of 
 their heads for an assembly, having it done the day 
 
 1 It is said in Kay's Portraits (vol. ii. p. 43) that he calculated 
 that he had walked twice the circumference of the globe between 
 Edinburgh and Leith.
 
 28 MEMOIRS OF [1799. 
 
 before, and sitting up all night that it might not be 
 disordered by lying down. I recollect of meeting 
 hairdressers on Sunday mornings flying along the 
 pavement to prepare their customers for going to 
 church. 
 
 'If the hairdressers have decreased in numbers, 
 the booksellers have increased in a greater ratio, 
 though many of those who are now dignified with 
 the name of booksellers would not have been acknow- 
 ledged in my time. Those only were considered as 
 belonging to the trade who dealt in folios, quartos, 
 octavos, and duodecimos, not the mere retailers of 
 penny journals and newspapers. In those days books 
 of any pretensions were frequently published in 
 quarto at a price not less than 2 : 2s. a volume ; but 
 alas ! we have now fallen upon Liliputian times. 
 Scott's Lady of the Lake, was originally published at 
 2:2:6, and the edition was greedily bought up. 
 Now it is sold for 6d. 
 
 ' It is remarkable that Allan Eamsay should have 
 combined the trade of hairdresser or wigmaker with 
 that of poet and bookseller. I am proud to think 
 that I am possessed of the shop where Allan manu- 
 factured wigs, and composed and sold his ballads. 
 It is one of the few remnants of the picturesque 
 wooden-fronted houses of ancient Edinburgh, on the 
 north side of the High Street, a few yards below the 
 North Bridge.' 
 
 During his apprenticeship, especially towards its
 
 XT. 15-20.] ADAM BLACK. 29 
 
 close, Adam did not neglect his studies, and often rose 
 in -the dark in winter to read or write, sometimes to 
 ' scribble verses.' 
 
 In 1802 or 1803 he joined the Gentlemen Volun- 
 teers of Edinburgh, and did duty for above a year. 
 He was once sent as one of a picket of 100 men 
 to quell a meal-mob in Mcolson Street. They 
 met in the Parliament house, and were each supplied 
 with a dozen ball-cartridges, and ordered to prime 
 and load before starting. Adam Black thought 
 proper to put plenty priming into the pan but no 
 ball into the barrel of his musket. Fortunately, no 
 firing was called for. 
 
 In the last year, 1803, he took advantage of the 
 privilege given to students going for a second year to 
 the same professor, of entering at a reduced fee. He 
 accordingly entered the second Greek class for session 
 1803-4, and attended very regularly, from 8 to 9 a.m. 
 and 2 to 3 p.m. He now worked in earnest, and got 
 up regularly between four and five in the morning to 
 prepare his lessons. At the close of the session he 
 was agreeably surprised by getting a prize for an 
 essay on History, which he had carried to the class 
 several days before he summoned courage to give 
 it in. 
 
 This winter he had chief charge of Fairbairn's 
 business, the head-man having, after dissipating 
 more than usual, gone quite ' to the dogs.' On the 
 last night of 1803 he lay awake in bed waiting to
 
 30 MEMOIRS OF [1804- 
 
 hear the clock strike twelve, and he says 'at the 
 twelfth stroke my delight was intense to feel that I 
 was now a free man.' 
 
 In the interval, after leaving Fairbairn, he was 
 a good deal at the College Library, of which Pro- 
 fessor Dalziel was librarian. One day the Pro- 
 fessor asked him if he would take a situation as an 
 assistant in Perth Academy. He thanked him, but 
 said he was going to London. ' So near was I,' he 
 says, 'to being a dominie.' About the same time, 
 he says, he had ' some hankerings after the ministry 
 among the Independents;' but these too had to 
 yield to the attractions of the Great Babylon. 
 
 On 22d August 1804 he started for London as a 
 passenger in the smack Swift, without any security 
 for employment, but with good recommendations to 
 some of the chief London booksellers. After a 
 voyage of seven days, he landed in London and went 
 straight to the house of a friend of his father's, 
 the only person he knew in London. He had 
 suffered from sea -sickness, but was now very 
 hungry, and was rather dismayed to see a breakfast 
 set down for six, of which he could have eaten every 
 morsel. 
 
 After breakfast he at once commenced his round 
 of calls with his introductory letters, but with small 
 success. The same answer met him everywhere 
 ' You have come at the very worst season of the 
 year. We shall not require any one till the begin-
 
 JET. 20.] ADAM BLACK. 31 
 
 ning of winter.' This went on day after day and 
 week after week, till at last his stout heart began to 
 sink. His good father had given him 10 to keep 
 him afloat till he should get employment, and his 
 purse was getting ominously light. The thought 
 of going back to Edinburgh a beaten man was too 
 humiliating. 'No one,' he says, 'who has not ex- 
 perienced it can conceive the desolation of heart of 
 a man without friends or money in London ; seeking 
 employment without success, in a tide of active 
 men rushing along the streets full of the important 
 business in which they are engaged. The loneliness 
 of the desert is not half so lonely. I recollect one 
 warm day walking along the City Eoad, oppressed 
 with weariness and disappointment, going into a 
 grass field and lying down. I fell fast asleep. These 
 fields were then full of herds of cows ; now they are 
 a city of streets and squares.' 
 
 He was willing to do any honest work by which 
 he could make a living, and inquired in all directions, 
 but in vain. At last he heard of a man called 
 Sheraton, publishing a book called the Cabinetmaker's 
 Encyclopaedia, who might give him something to do. 
 He called on him, and found the worthy encyclo- 
 paedist and his surroundings to be painfully humble ; 
 but as he wanted an assistant A. B. agreed to help him 
 in whatever way he could, either in writing articles 
 or in a less intellectual capacity. Here is his de- 
 scription of the man and his place : ' He lived in an
 
 32 MEMOIRS OF [1804. 
 
 obscure street, his house half shop, half dwelling- 
 house, and looked himself like a worn-out Methodist 
 minister, with threadbare black coat. I took tea with 
 them one afternoon. There were a cup and saucer for 
 the host, and another for his wife, and a little porringer 
 for their daughter. The wife's cup and saucer were 
 given to me, and she had to put up with another 
 little porringer. My host seemed a good man, with 
 some talent. He had been a cabinetmaker, was now 
 author and publisher, teacher of drawing, and, I be- 
 lieve, occasional preacher. 
 
 'I was with him for about a week, engaged in 
 most wretched work, writing a few articles, and try- 
 ing to put his shop in order, working among dirt and 
 bugs, for which I was remunerated with half a guinea. 
 Miserable as the pay was, I was half ashamed to 
 take it from the poor man.' 
 
 This many-sided worn-out encyclopaedist and 
 preacher is an interesting figure, and would have 
 taken the fancy of Dickens. Adam, cogitating upon 
 him in his diary addressed to his parents, says of 
 him further : ' He is a man of talents, and, I be- 
 lieve, of genuine piety. He understands the cabinet 
 business I believe was bred to it ; he has been, and 
 perhaps at present is, a preacher; he is a scholar, 
 writes well ; draws, in my opinion, masterly ; is an 
 author, bookseller, stationer, and teacher. We may 
 be ready to ask how comes it to pass that a man 
 with such abilities and resources is in such a state ?
 
 XT. 20.] ADAM SLACK. 33 
 
 I believe his abilities and resources are his ruin, in 
 this respect, for by attempting to do everything he 
 does nothing.' l 
 
 The future publisher of the Encyclopaedia JBritan- 
 nica, and friend of Jeffrey and Macaulay, working 
 with this good threadbare man ' among dirt and bugs,' 
 and taking half a guinea for his trouble with some 
 compunction, is an instructive spectacle. 
 
 Among the houses to which Black had letters of 
 introduction was that of Lackington, Allen, and Co. 
 He had so little desire to be taken there that he 
 left it to the last, and was told to call again. He 
 was not favourably impressed by the establishment. 
 It was named ' The Temple of the Muses,' and over 
 the door was the inscription 
 
 LACKIKGTON, ALLEN, & CO. 
 
 THE CHEAPEST BOOKSELLERS IN THE WORLD, 
 
 which a small bookseller on the opposite side of the 
 street fairly parodied by calling himself 
 
 GREENLAND, THE CHEAPEST BOOKSELLER IN FINSBURY. 
 
 The Temple of the Muses was a large building of five 
 stories, filled chiefly with old books to the number of 
 80,000. The lower shop was of such extent that a 
 
 1 Sheraton, now regarded, along with Chippendale, as one of 
 the old masters of British Upholstery, died in 1806, aged 55, 
 having reaped none of the fruits of the skill and taste for which 
 his designs are now regarded with superstitious admiration.
 
 34 MEMOIRS OF [1804. 
 
 coach and four was once driven round the counters, 
 and above it were four circular galleries lighted from 
 the roof. Strangers often came to see this as one of 
 the sights of London. 
 
 Here, after calling two or three times, he at last 
 got employment at 18s. a week, which he joyfully 
 accepted ; and here he remained for nearly three 
 years. It required rigid economy to maintain him- 
 self respectably at first, but he did it. War prices 
 prevailed at this time ; the quartern loaf was Is., and 
 rose to Is. 4d. Butcher meat was quite out of the 
 question ; but he could live and be content without 
 it. ' Very often,' he says, ' my dinner consisted of 
 two slices of my loaf and a drink of water, with 
 sometimes a dessert of apples. I read and dined at 
 the same time, and felt quite happy in my indepen- 
 dence, with my 18s. a week. I never was in better 
 health, and went respectably dressed, and with money 
 in my pocket.' 
 
 For the first year he kept a diary very regularly, 
 which he transmitted to his parents from time 
 to time, by friends going from London to Edin- 
 burgh. In thought and style it is creditable to 
 a youth of twenty, kept hard at work from seven 
 in the morning till nine at night, with intervals for 
 meals. 
 
 During his first fortnight in London he lived 
 with a Mr. Dalziel from Edinburgh, where he paid 
 about 17s. a week for board and lodgings. After
 
 /ET. 20.] ADAM BLACK. 35 
 
 this he lodged for ten days with Mr. Ogle, book- 
 seller, another Edinburgh man, who charged him 
 nothing for his bed. He now looked out for 
 quarters near the Temple of the Muses, where his 
 friend, Walter Drysdale, who worked with a watch- 
 maker near Finsbury, found him lodgings near the 
 chapel called the Tabernacle, kept by a Mrs. Westfield, 
 whom he found 'one of the kindest, worthiest old 
 ladies ' he ever knew. Here he paid 2s. 6d. a 
 week for a room, ' if room it could be called, eight 
 feet long, and not quite so broad. The bed when 
 folded down almost entirely covered the floor. There 
 was just room besides for my chest and a chair. 
 There was a small window, which opened by hinges, 
 but no fireplace. When the bed was folded, my 
 books and writing-materials were arranged on the 
 top of it. My bread and butter and water, and other 
 odds and ends, had to find room there also. I had 
 no table, but made my chest do duty for it.' Here he 
 lived for about a year. 
 
 Of public amusements and the sights of London 
 he necessarily saw little. He went once to the 
 theatre, and tells what he saw, though he omits to 
 mention what the play was, or who were the chief 
 performers. The theatre was Drury Lane, the night 
 6th December 1804. The Eoyal Family were to 
 be present, and he found a great crowd round the 
 doors at five o'clock. When he got inside he 
 heard shrieks, and looking about he saw a man and
 
 36 MEMOIRS OF [1804. 
 
 woman being trampled under foot. He pulled them 
 up, one after the other, the crowd being fortunately 
 brought to a stand for a little, and then passed in. 
 He then describes the scene : ' Near seven o'clock 
 His Majesty entered, and was received with repeated 
 bursts of applause. The band played " God Save the 
 King," the audience stamped with their feet, clapped 
 their hands, and huzzaed lustily. You may conceive 
 what sort of melody would be produced. All this 
 time His Majesty, the Queen, and the Princesses, 
 who accompanied them, stood and bowed and curtsied 
 to the audience. The King is very like his picture, 
 a jolly, honest-looking man, dressed in regimentals. 
 He used a sort of short prospect (opera) glass. The 
 Queen is a very decent-looking woman, dresses plain, 
 and she is a great snuffer. The Princesses wore 
 richer dresses than the Queen. They had all their 
 Lords and Ladies-in-waiting behind them. The 
 Ladies-in-waiting wore hoops. Beneath the King's 
 box stood two of the Tower officers, with great old- 
 fashioned spears. I saw likewise one of the Princes. 
 We were not dismissed till about twelve o'clock. I 
 was completely tired.' 
 
 What he lacked of secular entertainments during 
 the week, he made up for on Sunday by unwearied 
 attendance at church, seldom less than three times a 
 day, sometimes more. Before he left Edinburgh he 
 had, along with his parents, become a member of the 
 Rev. John Aikman's church, and in London he joined
 
 /EX. 20.] ADAM SLACK. 37 
 
 the church meeting in Fetter Lane, under the Eev. 
 Mr. Burder, one of the Independent ministers, who 
 succeeded Eowland Hill in the Circus. From the 
 regular services of this church he was never absent, 
 but he occasionally went in addition to other places 
 of worship to hear eminent men. Sunday was his 
 only free day, and this was the use he made of it. 
 To dine out on that day, or even walk in the parks, 
 he would not hear of. He got quite beyond this 
 severe Sabbatarianism in his mellower years, but 
 though as a young man he must have been considered 
 a strait-laced Puritan among his London friends, 
 he was in the end none the worse of it. Of his 
 joining the church as a professed member he says, 
 ' I found that this step gave a stability to my char- 
 acter, and proved a defence from follies and vices, 
 especially as a young man in London, entirely my 
 own master, with no one to guide or check me.' 
 Eespect for the teaching and feelings of one's parents, 
 when they are really believed in, and worthy of 
 respect, is one of the purest and best of motives. 
 Joined to it, and overruling it, was a solemn though 
 unpretending realisation of his constant amenable- 
 ness to the will of his Heavenly Father, and his 
 constant protection by that highest power. This 
 continued to be his dominant principle to the last, 
 expressed very little in words, but so far as he could, 
 in conduct. 
 
 Among other preachers whom he went to hear was
 
 38 MEMOIRS OF [1805. 
 
 John Newton of ' Cardiphonia,' Cowper's friend, who 
 was then very old, in his 80th year. He says : ' As I 
 went into the church I was surprised to see a livery 
 servant in a brown coat with yellow collar leaning 
 over the crimson velvet cushion of the pulpit. This 
 was Newton's servant, whom he brought into the 
 pulpit to look up the place in the Bible or Prayer- 
 book for him, and to remind him of the hour. It 
 was obvious his memory had much failed. In his 
 sermon he seemed just to be talking to his people. 
 He began by, " I remember once preaching on a text 
 not dissimilar to this;" then rubbing his forehead 
 once or twice, he composedly said, " I have forgot it 
 at this moment," and then went on. While he was 
 preaching his servant said something to him, telling 
 him the hour, I suppose, when he turned about, and 
 inquired, " What said you, Thomas ? Is it past it ?" 
 and then went on again.' 
 
 He entered the Lackington house on 24th Sep- 
 tember 1804, and at Christmas his wages were raised 
 to a guinea. In the course of the next year they 
 were increased to a guinea and a half per week, and he 
 was promoted to the Lounge, a well-furnished room, 
 where the finest and rarest books were kept, and the 
 best customers shown to. His predecessor in this 
 post was Mr. Hessey, who left it to become a partner 
 in the firm of Taylor and Hessey. 
 
 After a year's close attention to business he was 
 allowed a fortnight's holiday in September 1805, and
 
 /ET. 21.] ADAM BLACK. 39 
 
 chose to visit Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight. 
 At Portsmouth he took a boat for Spithead and' sailed 
 round the Victory, the finest ship he ever saw. They 
 were not allowed on board, as the ship was preparing 
 for the admiral's last cruise, on which he started 
 soon after, to win his last fight at Trafalgar. He 
 got an introduction to see the dockyard and building 
 yards at Portsmouth, which greatly impressed him. 
 Among other sights there was the body hanging in 
 chains of ' Jack the Painter,' who had set fire to the 
 ropeworks during the American War. After see- 
 ing the Isle of Wight he did a little business at 
 Southampton, visited Netley Abbey, and returned to 
 London by coach on Saturday evening, glad to get 
 back to his little room, to be in his place in Mr. 
 Burder's chapel next day, and in the Lounge on 
 Monday morning. 
 
 Soon after this he had to change his lodgings, his 
 landlady having become so old and frail that she 
 had to give up housekeeping. He pays a grateful 
 tribute to the virtues of good old Mrs. Westfield : 
 
 ' She was as kind and attentive to me as a mother, 
 and was a fine specimen of the true Englishwoman 
 of the yeoman class. Her information was scanty, 
 but she was a sound churchwoman, knew all the 
 fast and feast days, had her goose and plum-pudding 
 at Christmas, her pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, and 
 though a firm believer in the Litany, she liked very 
 well to hear me read some of the writings of Dis-
 
 40 MEMOIRS OF [1806. 
 
 senters. She was kind to all, just and true as steel, 
 and would stoop to nothing dishonourable. She 
 knew little about Christian doctrine, but without 
 knowing it she possessed the Christian virtues in no 
 ordinary degree.' 
 
 His knowledge of Latin and Greek had been found 
 useful in the Temple of the Muses, and had won him 
 additional respect as well as promotion. He now 
 set himself to learn French with a French priest, 
 M. Lemettais, at the rate of a guinea for twelve 
 lessons, and made good progress. His master made 
 him talk French as soon as possible, and did not 
 grudge his time to his vigorous pupil, though by his 
 own admission the astute young Scot took a little 
 advantage of the national sensibilities of his teacher, 
 by starting subjects of discussion on which he felt 
 keenly (Buonaparte, etc.), and would go on talking 
 long after the stipulated hour had expired. 
 
 In the summer of 1806 he paid a visit to Edin- 
 burgh, going by coach rather than encounter again 
 the horrors of sea-sickness. His original intention 
 was to walk all the way, and he carefully consulted 
 Moore's Almanack for the time when ' a tract of fair 
 weather' was to be expected. 'The predictions in 
 Moore,' he says, ' were believed in as firmly as Holy 
 Writ by the old women in England.' He had the 
 kind offer of a seat in his gig from John Loudon, 
 the horticulturist, who was starting on a journey 
 to the north of England, but was dissuaded from it
 
 *2T. 22.] ADAM BLACK. 41 
 
 by a friend who had some interest in a coach, and 
 got him an outside seat, with liberty to go inside 
 when he liked. He afterwards regretted that he had 
 not availed himself of London's offer, through which 
 he would have seen so much more of English scenery 
 and rural life. 
 
 After staying some days in Edinburgh, where the 
 things that struck him most, after an absence of 
 about two years, were the peculiar tone of the native 
 speech, which he had never observed before, and the 
 shortness of the distances, compared with London, 
 he paid a visit to his brother Francis at Dollar, 
 who was engaged in building operations there, and 
 had recently married. 1 He also visited his good old 
 friend Mr. David Wanliss at Abernethy, riding across 
 the country on horseback, which was a novelty to 
 him. Of Mr. Wanliss he says : 
 
 'Mr. Wanliss was a remarkable man, and had 
 collected a considerable library of excellent books, 
 especially in theology. I doubt if its equal was to 
 be found within the bounds of the presbytery. 
 Though a staunch Presbyterian, he was liberal in 
 his views beyond most. He was a man of sound 
 common sense and sterling honesty, and an industri- 
 ous and successful farmer. He came frequently to 
 Edinburgh for the benefit of St. Bernard's Well, 'and 
 
 1 His wife was widow of a Mr. Ramage, by whom she had a son, 
 Crawfurd Tait Ramage, afterwards distinguished as a teacher and 
 scholar, and headmaster of Closeburn Institution.
 
 42 MEMOIRS OF [1806. 
 
 my father got acquainted with him on one of these 
 visits. He wore a large blue bonnet I should think 
 three feet in circumference. On one occasion he had 
 a strong desire to see a play, and though he had great 
 religious scruples about going to a theatre, his curi- 
 osity got the better of them. He got a front seat in 
 the two-shilling gallery, and placed his bonnet flat 
 before him. Whether by accident or by the help of 
 one of his neighbours, it fell down into the pit be- 
 tween the acts, to the no small amusement of the 
 audience. One picked it up and threw it to another, 
 a third put it on his head, a fourth twirled it round 
 on the top of his stick. Mr. Wanliss began to be 
 alarmed for his bonnet, but good-humouredly address- 
 ing the performers in the pit said, " Gentlemen, I'm 
 glad to see that my bonnet affords ye ony amuse- 
 ment, but when ye're dune wi't I'll thank ye to hand 
 it up." ' 
 
 About this time his friend Ogle proposed that 
 Black should enter into partnership with him and 
 Duncan in Paternoster Eow. The offer was declined, 
 though a good one, and as soon as he had recovered 
 from an attack of scarlet fever, caught at Dollar or 
 Abernethy, he returned to his work at the Temple of 
 the Muses, where he continued for a few months 
 longer. 
 
 The time now drew near when he must commence 
 business on his own account. He would have pre- 
 ferred to settle in London, but his friends at home
 
 JET. 23.] ADAM SLACK. 43 
 
 were so desirous that he should remain in Edinburgh 
 that he decided on doing so. The shop No. 57 South 
 Bridge was taken for him, and he entered it at Whit- 
 sunday 1807, being then just over twenty-three years 
 of acre.
 
 44 MEMOIRS OP [1807. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 1807-1831. 
 
 ADAM BLACK commenced business on a very modest 
 scale. He had no capital of his own, but on the 
 strength of a loan of 200 from Mr. Wanliss, and a 
 cash-credit for 300, for which his father and another 
 friend were securities, he stocked his shop, and 
 cheerfully took his place in the battle of life. There 
 is nothing formidable nowadays in entering on busi- 
 ness, except financial considerations. No rational 
 person thinks of inquiring as to the political or reli- 
 gious creed of a shopkeeper before dealing with him. 
 It was not so in 1807. To be known as one of the 
 ' dangerous class ' who sympathised with the ' Friends 
 of the People,' and of those who added to their sin 
 by forsaking the Church of their Fathers for a miser- 
 able set of Independents, was the worst certificate a 
 man could have who desired at that time to ' get on' 
 in Edinburgh. Adam Black knew this well, but 
 it rather stimulated than depressed him. He was 
 neither afraid to express his opinions nor forward to
 
 *T. 23.] ADAM BLACK. 45 
 
 do so. He knew perfectly well that the religious 
 body he was connected with could be of little use 
 to him in business, and that he had no patronage to 
 expect from the ruling class or their followers. He 
 knew that not many years ago (1793), a friend of his, 
 Walter Berry, also a bookseller on the South Bridge, 
 had been imprisoned for six months in the Tolbooth . 
 for publishing a ' seditious pamphlet ' denouncing 
 the extravagant wars in which the Governments of 
 the country had involved it since 1688. But 
 neither financially nor otherwise did he feel special 
 anxiety. ' I lived,' he says, ' in my father's house ; 
 my expenses were very moderate, and my only 
 assistant was an apprentice, who received 10 a year. 
 Though seemingly very dependent, I was really 
 independent. I could maintain my opinions on re- 
 ligion and politics without fear of losing the favour 
 of any who could or would help me on. I could 
 say with the miller on the river Dee : 
 
 " I care for nobody, for nobody cares for me." ' 
 
 As an illustration, however, of the terrorism that 
 prevailed, he confesses that it so far influenced him, 
 that if a stranger came into the shop and found him 
 reading Cobbett's Political Register, he carefully put 
 it out of sight. Such was the state of public feeling 
 in Edinburgh when Adam Black commenced busi- 
 ness. To be suspected of disloyalty, or what was 
 considered the same thing, a desire to reform public
 
 46 MEMOIRS OF [1809. 
 
 abuses, was dangerous to the prospects of a trades- 
 man. Many were afraid of their credit at the banks 
 being affected by such a suspicion, and naturally 
 preferred to go with the tide than go against it. 
 
 Adam Black's shop, however, was regularly visited 
 by a few very respectable persons, to whom he could 
 speak freely on political subjects. Among these 
 were John Eamsay M'Culloch, Dr. Irving of the 
 Advocates' Library, Jeffrey, Cockburn, and some 
 others of the small but powerful band of Parliament 
 House Whigs would also look in upon him occa- 
 sionally. The most frequent visitor of that set was 
 James Gibson, W.S., afterwards Sir J. Gibson-Craig, 
 who by and by came to regard Adam Black as the 
 most forcible and trusty representative of Whig 
 principles among the commercial class of Edinburgh. 
 Whenever any special movement was afoot, he was 
 usually the first man consulted outside of the Parlia- 
 ment House. It is said that on one occasion, some 
 time after this period, when Gibson had been trying 
 to stir up the citizens to some vigorous action, he 
 declared in disgust that he had ' gone all over the 
 Bridges and found nothing but skim-milk all except 
 Adam Black.' 
 
 Mr. Black, however, did not take any prominent 
 part in public matters for ten years after entering on 
 business. There was no opportunity for doing so. 
 The bulk of the population was totally unrepresented 
 in Parliament or even in the Town Council, which
 
 &c. 27.] ADAM BLACK. 47 
 
 elected itself and the M.P. for Edinburgh also. 
 Public meetings had not yet come into existence ; the 
 press was of no importance ; and the public, however 
 much it thought and felt on political questions, was 
 practically dumb. 
 
 Young men of active minds found scope for their 
 abilities in other spheres. A Sabbath-school Society 
 had been formed in Edinburgh about this time, of 
 which he became a member. Its chief promoters 
 were Dissenters, and were generally regarded by 
 the Established clergy in the same light as those 
 who were not sound in the political faith of the 
 time, as dangerous persons, meddling with things 
 that did not belong to them, probably sowing the 
 seeds of mischievous doctrines among the young. 
 A sketch in Kay's Portraits represents one of the 
 Edinburgh clergy entering a Sabbath school, and 
 dismissing it cane uplifted with every sign of 
 rage. 
 
 The Sabbath-school Society met monthly, to hear 
 the reports of those appointed to visit the schools 
 and manage the affairs of the Society. They some- 
 times had animated discussions, prolonged till late 
 hours, which proved a good training for those of the 
 members who afterwards took part in public affairs. 
 
 Adam Black took charge of a Sabbath school in 
 Fountainbridge to begin with, but gave it up after a 
 while, the attendance being poor, and some of the 
 boys extremely rude and unmanageable. Portobello
 
 48 MEMOIRS OF [1809. 
 
 was the next field of his efforts, at that time ' a small 
 village.' Assisted by Mr. Lothian, father of Maurice 
 Lothian, afterwards brother-in-law of Mr. Black, he 
 called at every house in the place to recruit scholars, 
 and soon opened school with about a hundred children. 
 Mr. Black took sole charge of the school, and worked 
 it with remarkable success for several years, going 
 down to Portobello every Sunday evening, summer 
 and winter, in weather fair or foul. ' This is the part 
 of my life,' he says, ' that I look back upon with the 
 greatest satisfaction. If I have been of any use to 
 my fellow-creatures, it was here.' 
 
 In 1809 or 1810 Mr. Black entered on a somewhat 
 hazardous enterprise with an old shopmate, Thomas 
 Underwood, in whom he had taken a special interest 
 when they were together at old Fairbairn's, acting as 
 elder brother and private tutor to him. Underwood 
 had gone up to London, and got, employment as shop- 
 man to John Murray. The business of a bookseller 
 named Grace came into the market, and Underwood, 
 considering it a ' grand opening,' asked Black to join 
 him in buying it. He had friends in Edinburgh 
 who could assist, if they would. Black called on 
 these friends, but they scouted the idea. The only 
 resource was to ask his father to lend the money, 
 which he kindly did, stipulating, however, that he 
 was to have a share of the profits, which was fixed 
 at a third. The business prospered well; but at 
 the end of three years the Edinburgh partners were
 
 XT. 27.] ADAM BLACK. 49 
 
 startled by a letter from Underwood, objecting to the 
 continuance of the partnership, on the ground that 
 the Black share of the profits was too large. ' I can- 
 not express,' says Mr. Black, ' how keenly I felt this 
 cruel wrench of friendship. The difference was made 
 up by my father restricting his share to 200 a-year, 
 but the entire confidence in my friend was gone.' 
 
 The partnership went on for another year, when 
 a still grander ' opening ' occurred. Murray had set 
 up the Quarterly Review, and was removing from 
 Fleet Street to Albemarle Street. He proposed that 
 Underwood and Black should buy his Fleet Street 
 business for 3000. Underwood, believing .this to 
 be an extraordinary bargain, the like of which would 
 never happen again, wrote to Black; but, without 
 waiting to hear from him, agreed to purchase Murray's 
 whole stock, his copyrights of medical books, then 
 his chief business, and his lease of the premises, at 
 the price asked, and to give bills for the whole, pay- 
 able at certain terms.' Adam Black was horrified on 
 hearing of this grand performance, knowing that 
 between them they could not possibly raise funds 
 sufficient to meet the bills when due. He declined 
 to concur in the arrangement, but Underwood had 
 committed himself and his partner, and Murray 
 would not consent to drop the agreement, having 
 come under engagements for the property in Albe- 
 marle Street. Black and Underwood then tried to 
 get others to join in the undertaking, but failed. 
 
 E
 
 50 MEMOIRS OF [1816. 
 
 Neither Longman nor Constable would look at the 
 thing. As a last resource, Black proposed to his 
 brother Charles, who was a partner in their father's 
 business, and had already made some money, to drop 
 the building trade and join him and Underwood in 
 bookselling. Charles agreed to do so, and to advance 
 1000, and his father gave some additional security. 
 Charles went up to London to take part in the busi- 
 ness, and the firm of UNDERWOOD AND BLACKS now 
 took the place of JOHN MURRAY in Fleet Street. 
 Adam Black took the precaution this time to have 
 their agreement in writing ; but Underwood's sur- 
 prises were not yet exhausted. At the end of a year, 
 when it was proposed to have a more formal deed of 
 partnership drawn up, he insisted that the money 
 contributed by Charles should be more than double 
 what had been agreed on. This was too much for 
 Adam Black, and he quitted the business as soon as 
 possible. Underwood found means to buy both 
 brothers out ; and ' I had greatly more pleasure,' 
 says Mr. Black, ' in getting out than I had in getting 
 in.' This was in 1813. 
 
 He had long wished to visit Paris, and in the 
 summer of 1816 went over with three pleasant com- 
 panions, David Laing, David Brown, both at that 
 time booksellers, and James Wilson, brother of Pro- 
 fessor John Wilson (better known as 'Christopher 
 North'), a distinguished naturalist, and a delightful 
 man. They sailed from Leith to Eotterdam, and after
 
 /ET. 3 1 . ] ADAM BLA CK. 5 1 
 
 visiting the chief towns of Holland and Belgium, went 
 on to Paris. When at Brussels they visited Waterloo 
 and Quatre Bras, where they found the wheat in the 
 ear, and large patches of a deeper green, where twelve 
 months before the slain had been buried in thousands. 
 A short residence in Paris corrected Mr. Black's British 
 prejudices against the French. He says, 'I found 
 them generally well-conducted, honourable, and very 
 agreeable.' He liked Paris so well that he revisited 
 it in 1818, and in subsequent years as often as he 
 was able. On this occasion he made the acquaintance 
 of several good friends in the way of business. One 
 of these was M. Merlin, a pleasant gentleman of the 
 old school. Some years after this, Mr. James Gibson- 
 Craig when in Merlin's shop mentioned that he lived 
 in Edinburgh. ' Connaissez vous Mons. Black ?' said 
 the old gentleman. ' Oh oui.' ' C'est un brave 
 gargon,' said Merlin. 
 
 After about six weeks' absence Black and Laing 
 left Paris together, leaving James Wilson at the 
 Jardin des Plantes, where he spent most of his time. 
 Black and Laing had spent theirs chiefly in bookshops 
 and on the Quais, where they secured many valuable 
 books in beautiful old bindings, remains of the noble 
 libraries of princes and aristocrats, confiscated during 
 the great Eevolution. David Laing as usual carried 
 away also a quantity of prints. Curiously enough 
 he was the hero of the only adventure that befell 
 them in Paris. ' He never liked to hear me mention
 
 52 MEMOIRS OF [1816. 
 
 it,' says Black, ' but he had no reason to be ashamed 
 of himself.' One Sunday evening they had been 
 walking together in the Champs Elysees, and came to 
 the gates of the Tuileries just as they were being 
 shut. Black got through, but Laing was locked in, 
 and had to go round a little to get out. Black walked 
 on to the hotel, and wondered what was keeping his 
 friend. Presently, however, Laing returned, with a 
 flushed face, and a scratch on his cheek. The ex- 
 planation was, that after the gates were closed, he 
 heard the National Guardsmen jabbering to each 
 other, and the word ' boxy ' repeated. He turned to 
 look at them, when one of the valiant Gauls came up 
 and gave him a whack on the side of the head, knock- 
 ing off his hat. Fortunately David had learned at 
 the High School how to use his fists, and he now did 
 so. ' We continued sparring,' he said, ' till some 
 women came up and separated us neither, I dare 
 say, very loath.' This practical illustration of the 
 grand Scottish motto, 'Nemo me impune lacesset,' 
 on the part of one of the most peaceable of men and 
 greatest of Scottish archaeologists, is delightful. 
 
 On their return home they had, as sometimes 
 happens even to prudent Scotchmen, reserved just 
 enough of money to pay their travelling expenses. 
 At Margate Laing had to pay much more duty on his 
 prints than he anticipated, and borrowed from Black, 
 which left between them enough to pay for dinner, 
 with one shilling over. The landlady took places
 
 AST. 32.] ADAM BLACK. 53 
 
 for them on the coach, to be paid in London, which 
 she said was often done, and they started in glee. 
 At Canterbury they spent their last shilling on a cup 
 of tea. About midnight they arrived at Rochester, 
 where the coach proprietor, ' a stout imperious John 
 Bull,' insisted that they must pay their fares before 
 going any farther. In this emergency David Laing 
 called to mind that he had some coins in his trunk, 
 which he had collected in Paris, and he dug them 
 out. With some grumbling, they were taken for 
 what they were worth, and the deficit that still had 
 to be made up was kindly lent by a fellow-passenger. 
 
 The year 1817 was memorable for Edinburgh as 
 that which saw the birth of the two chief organs of 
 public opinion it has produced after the Edinburgh 
 Review, the Scotsman and Blackwood's Magazine. Each 
 was hailed by the party it represented as a refreshing 
 novelty and a wholesome power, denounced by the 
 opposite side as an engine of mischief and an offence 
 to all the right-minded. The struggle between the 
 dominant but waning, and the young but growing 
 powers, was gradually reaching a crisis, and the 
 passions of the combatants became more intense as 
 it drew near. The bitterness of animosity displayed 
 in those days, not merely in political but in literary 
 life, is repulsive now to look back on, and difficult 
 to realise. Libels and actions of damages, whippings, 
 canings, duels and homicides, were quite the order 
 of the day. No impartial person who studies the un-
 
 54 MEMOIRS OF [1817. 
 
 pleasant history of that time can fail to see that the 
 party represented by Blackwood's Magazine were 
 most to blame. They had more wit on their side, 
 but also more venom. The history of the Beacon and 
 Sentinel newspapers, both set up in vain opposition 
 to the Scotsman, is a chronicle of futile malignity. 
 The good Sir Walter, who was tempted into giving 
 his support to the Beacon, said, when it came to a 
 disgraceful end, ' I never was so sick of a transaction 
 in my life.' 
 
 Mr. Black says of this period ' The state of public 
 feeling in Edinburgh at that time cannot be con- 
 ceived by the readers of Blackioood of the present 
 day. The most opprobrious names were applied to 
 their opponents. M'Culloch was the Galloway Stot ; 
 Constable, The Crafty ; Stuart of Dunearn, the Dun- 
 earn Ox, etc. Wilson, though the reputed editor, 
 had little control over the magazine, and Blackwood 
 himself rather rejoiced in the mischief. As might 
 have been expected, this party warfare, in which 
 no quarter was given, had a baneful influence upon 
 Edinburgh society, and especially on the book trade. 
 I recollect a bookseller's sale, at which a number of 
 the trade were assembled, when Constable came in 
 late. Seeing Blackwood, he pointed to him, and 
 said, " I cannot associate with that man," and im- 
 mediately left the room, followed by several others. 
 I remained, though friendly to Constable, not choos- 
 ing to act as an adherent of either party. But it
 
 MT. 32.] ADAM BLACK. 55 
 
 was not easy to maintain a position of neutrality be- 
 tween two proud and hot-tempered men.' 
 
 Of tlie Scotsman lie says ' In the beginning of 
 this year the Scotsman newspaper was started, and 
 was hailed by the majority of the people as a de- 
 liverance from the slavish sycophancy of the other 
 newspapers. I was acquainted with its originators, 
 J. R M'Culloch, its first editor; Charles Maclaren, 
 then a clerk in the custom-house, its next editor; 
 William Ritchie, a solicitor; and John Robertson, 
 bookseller. . . . 
 
 ' From Mr. M'Culloch I had a visit almost daily. 
 He entered keenly into the political contests of the 
 time, and came down on his opponents like a sledge 
 hammer. Although he did not hesitate to censure 
 others very severely, he was excessively sensitive to 
 attacks upon himself. He was of a very friendly 
 disposition, and a genial companion. In London, 
 after he became Controller of the Stationery Office, 
 I received much kindness from him. 
 
 ' Of Charles Maclaren I had a high opinion. He 
 was a sterling honest man, amiable in his disposition, 
 fair and courteous to all. Though not University 
 bred, he was a scholar and a man of science. He 
 wrote the best book on the site of Troy, and some 
 treatises on geology. His style was pure and simple 
 Saxon. 
 
 1 William Ritchie, the brother of the now (1862) 
 sole proprietor of the Scotsman, John Ritchie, was of
 
 $6 MEMOIRS OF [1817. 
 
 a warmer temperament, an ardent Liberal politician, 
 thoroughly honest, but more likely to bring the 
 paper into trouble than any of the others. 
 
 ' John Eobertson, brother of Alexander the music- 
 seller, was a bold and honest Liberal, but a little 
 testy. I afterwards acted with him in the Town 
 Council, and we were always on the same side.' 
 
 The year 1817 was still more memorable to Adam 
 Black as the year of his marriage, and of his first 
 appearance in public. When his parents took up 
 house in Charles Street, two young masons lodged 
 with them, one of whom, James Tait, afterwards rose 
 to great respectability as a builder. He was also 
 fond of books, and often called at Adam Black's 
 shop. One day in 1813 he consulted him about his 
 youngest son Charles, whom he was about to send to 
 an apprenticeship. Black recommended bookselling, 
 and offered to take the youth, which was at once 
 agreed to. This led to his occasionally visiting Mr. 
 Tait's house in Maitland Street. The only daughter, 
 Isabella, was twelve years younger than Adam Black, 
 and he looked upon her at first 'just as a very pretty 
 girl.' In the course of his visits he found out that 
 she had charms of price far above beauty. An 
 attractive combination of sweetness and discretion 
 specially drew him to her; 'and there was about 
 her,' he says, 'that natural simplicity which made 
 me think if I could only secure her affections that 
 she would make me a good wife.' In that he sue-
 
 JET. 32.] ADAM BLACK. 57 
 
 ceeded, and on 4th June 1817, the King's birthday 
 snow falling during the day they were married by 
 the venerable Dr. David Dickson of the West Kirk. 
 People of the most diverse character are often the 
 most happily matched. There could not be a more 
 pleasing example of the union of force and gentle- 
 ness than Mr. and Mrs. Adam Black. ' Through the 
 kind providence of God,' he says, ' we have now lived 
 in union for half a century, in the enjoyment of more 
 happiness and love than falls to the lot of most 
 husbands and wives.' 
 
 Towards the close of this year Mr. Black showed 
 himself for the first time in the Edinburgh arena of 
 politics, in which for the next fifty years he was a 
 very prominent figure. The question of Burgh Eeform 
 had been much agitated some years before in all the 
 Scottish burghs, but the contest was found so fruitless 
 and discouraging that for a time it was entirely 
 given up. It was even considered discreditable by 
 the arm-chair politicians of the time to annoy the 
 public with agitation on the subject. Adam Black 
 was not of that opinion, and he was probably stimu- 
 lated to action by the bracing utterances of the Scots- 
 man. He thought the question ought again to be 
 revived, and that the best platform for doing so would 
 be that of the Merchant Company of Edinburgh, 
 which has always shown a spirited interest in public 
 questions affecting the welfare of the community. 
 He consulted with Andrew Scott, Peter Brown, and a
 
 5 8 MEMOIRS OF [1817. 
 
 few other trusty reformers, and a series of resolutions 
 prepared by him were approved of. The word ' Re- 
 form' was so obnoxious to timid ears that it was 
 thought wise to avoid it, and instead of 'Burgh 
 Eeform ' the thing was called ' Improvement in 
 Burgh Polity.' Some time before this the burgesses 
 of Montrose had raised an action in the Court of 
 Session, to have the last election of magistrates in 
 the burgh reduced, on account of some informalities. 
 In this they were successful ; and the Privy Council 
 ordered a new election to be made by the burgesses 
 at large, thus liberating them from the domination of 
 the self-elected junto who had hitherto held the elec- 
 tion in their own hands. This was some encourage- 
 ment to the Burgh Reformers, but Mr. Black had 
 very little hope of carrying the Merchant Company 
 with him at once. The city authorities were dead 
 against any alteration of the existing order of things, 
 and denounced it as dangerous. The clergy generally 
 opposed it, as but another form of that 'unhappy 
 tendency' to revolt against 'time-honoured institu- 
 tions,' which is always one of their favourite ' bogies,' 
 and exhorted their patient flocks to ' meddle not with 
 them that are given to change.' The bankers looked 
 on the movement with disfavour, as tending to dis- 
 turb the current of business. The upper classes 
 generally, and those who hung by their skirts, re- 
 garded all such agitation with disgust. ' Who could 
 tell where it would all end?' Some even of those
 
 XT. 33-] ADAM BLACK. 59 
 
 who were convinced of the need of reform were afraid 
 to mix themselves up with men who were under the 
 stigma of being Eadicals, Dissenters, firebrands, etc. 
 
 In such circumstances, Adam Black rose up in a 
 crowded meeting of the Merchant Company to move 
 his resolutions. A more timid man might have felt 
 uneasy under the unsympathetic eyes of potent, grave, 
 and reverend Seigniors of the city, to some of whom 
 his years and position as a merchant seemed to make 
 silence among his elders more becoming than speech. 
 While he was in the act of rising, a respectable old 
 Tory who sat behind him laid his hand on his 
 shoulder, with the advice, ' Sit down, man ; ye're 
 ower young to speak !' He rose nevertheless, and 
 moved the following resolutions : 
 
 ' I. That this Company views with great satisfac- 
 tion the exertions now making to introduce into the 
 Scotch burghs a more rational and liberal system of 
 town polity, and considers the sound and enlightened 
 principles displayed in the Set 1 of Montrose, so con- 
 genial to the British Constitution, as reflecting the 
 highest honour on the Lord Advocate of Scotland, 
 and His Majesty's Privy Council, and eminently 
 conducive to the welfare of the community and the 
 respectability of the magistracy. 
 
 ' II. That this Company, being deeply interested 
 in everything connected with the good of the city, 
 
 1 The word ' Set ' is the technical phrase in Scotland for the 
 system of municipal election followed in burghs.
 
 60 MEMOIRS OF [1817. 
 
 and being the only chartered body of merchant- 
 burgesses, consider themselves particularly called 
 upon to use every exertion to procure for the bur- 
 gesses that influence in the administration of their 
 own affairs to which they are entitled, and to promote 
 such improvements in the Set of the city as will be 
 conducive to its prosperity.' 
 
 These resolutions were seconded by Archibald 
 Anderson, of the firm of Brown and Anderson, mer- 
 chants. Anderson was a moderate Liberal, Brown a 
 Tory. James Spittal, afterwards Provost, and Andrew 
 Scott, supported the resolutions. Counter resolutions 
 were proposed by the Master and Assistant Masters 
 of the Company, seconded by Samuel Anderson of 
 Moredun. To the surprise of all, and not least of 
 Adam Black himself, his resolutions were carried by 
 a majority of two to one 176 to 87. When he had 
 to name a committee tocarryout the resolutions, he had 
 great difficulty in making up a list, not being well ac- 
 quainted with many of the members of the Company. 
 
 The question of Burgh Eeforrn was now kept 
 alive with vigour for some time. Frequent meetings 
 were held, and it was finally agreed that an action 
 should be raised in the Court of Session to have it 
 declared that through certain informalities the last 
 election of the Magistrates in Edinburgh was illegal, 
 in which case the ' Set ' of the burgh would have 
 been broken through, and it was expected that a 
 popular election by the burgesses would be ordered.
 
 JET. 33.] ADAM BLACK. 61 
 
 This action, at the instance of the Committee of the 
 Merchant Company and committees of the other 
 incorporations, was commenced on 29th November 
 1817. The pursuers were assured that being a 
 ' summary process ' it would very soon be decided ; 
 but the glorious delays which the ' forms of process ' 
 allowed in those days were taken advantage of to the 
 full extent by the Magistrates, who were defending 
 themselves at the public expense, and the ' summary ' 
 process went on prosperously till 1821, when it was 
 compromised, the defenders paying 1100 of ex- 
 penses to the pursuers. What mainly induced the 
 Eeformers to agree to this was the result of a case 
 similar to theirs in Aberdeen, which took place in 
 the course of their action. In that case the Privy 
 Council, instead of ordering a new election by the 
 burgesses, as they had done in Montrose, restored the 
 old Magistrates ; and if this were to be the result of 
 a judgment finding the Edinburgh election illegal, the 
 reformers would have lost all their pains. Their ex- 
 penses would have amounted to thousands of pounds, 
 if all the eminent counsel on their side, Clerk, Cock- 
 burn, Cranstoun, Jeffrey, Murray, Thomson, 1 etc., had 
 not given their services gratuitously. As it was, the 
 
 1 Lord Cockburn says, ' It is impossible to think of Burgh 
 Reform without remembering Archibald Fletcher, advocate, its 
 stoutest and most indefatigable champion. He gave his whole 
 energies to it in the dawn of its agitation ; and its revival, after a 
 thirty years' slumber, though it found his body old and infirm, 
 found no abatement of his spirit.'
 
 62 MEMOIRS OF [1820. 
 
 1100 were not sufficient. Several years after the 
 action was brought to a close, the agent for the pur- 
 suers presented a bill for a balance of about 500 to 
 Mr. Black. Fortunately, he had, at an earlier stage 
 of the proceedings, got the members of the various 
 committees to sign an obligation each to pay his 
 share of the expenses to be incurred ; and he 
 succeeded, not without trouble, in getting this un- 
 pleasant balance settled. 
 
 In the meantime, to the astonishment of all par- 
 ties, Lord Archibald Hamilton, the earnest and able 
 advocate of reform, carried a motion in the House of 
 Commons for a Committee to inquire into the Scot- 
 tish Burgh System, by a majority of 149 to 144. 
 Adam Black was summoned as a witness, along with 
 James Spittal (afterwards Sir James), Charles Baxter, 
 and Francis Howden, and they arrived in London 
 before the Lord Provost and other witnesses on the 
 municipal side. ' As first comers,' he says, ' besides 
 being in the position of accusers, we assumed some- 
 what of superiority over the Town Council men, who 
 were the parties on their trial. We met in the same 
 room, but on very different terms from those on 
 which we stood to each other in Edinburgh. We 
 were no longer the despised turbulent agitators, who 
 were not thought entitled to receive any satisfactory 
 information from the Magistrates ; while they felt 
 humbled at being obliged to answer any questions 
 put by our friends in the Committee, and to disclose
 
 JET. 37.] ADAM BLACK. 63 
 
 what they fain would have concealed, the bankrupt 
 state of their affairs.' Notwithstanding the proof 
 resulting from the inquiry of the Committee, that 
 three other burghs besides Edinburgh were bank- 
 rupt, and that this was due to municipal abuse and 
 mismanagement, the Government took no further 
 steps in the matter, and the hopes of the reformers 
 were for the present disappointed. The result natur- 
 ally was to intensify the public dissatisfaction, and 
 make the overthrow of the existing system the more 
 complete and ignominious when it came. The general 
 discontent throughout the country and the eager- 
 ness for reform waxed more and more deep and 
 determined as the Government and their supporters 
 showed themselves more resolved to curb and repress. 
 The year 1820 was distinguished by many exciting 
 events, and the tide of Toryism had reached the point 
 where it was inevitable that it should begin to ebb. 
 George III. died on the 29th of January ; but the hopes 
 of change for the better after the accession of George 
 IV. were soon proved to be delusive. Conspiracies 
 and plots were rife, the usual results of reckless 
 despair. London was agitated by the Cato Street 
 conspiracy, Glasgow and the west of Scotland by the 
 Bonnymuir insurrection. The one was essentially 
 truculent and murderous in its intent ; the other had 
 some better elements, and its end, though sad enough, 
 was not without farcical features. The chief osten- 
 sible actors were a few misguided weavers, instigated
 
 64 MEMOIRS OF [1820. 
 
 to what they believed to be heroic efforts by spies of 
 ineffable baseness. Of this period Thomas Carlyle 
 says, in his Reminiscences (i. 52), ' A time of great 
 rages and absurd terrors and expectations, a very 
 fierce Eadical and anti-Kadical time. Edinburgh 
 endlessly agitated by it all around me, not to mention 
 Glasgow in the distance. Gentry people full of zeal 
 and foolish terror and fury, and looking disgustingly 
 busy and important. . . . The mass of the people, not 
 the populace alone, had a quite different feeling, as if 
 the danger from those west country Eadicals was 
 small or imaginary, and their grievances dreadfully 
 real ; which was with emphasis my own private 
 notion of it.' 
 
 A small military force quickly dispersed the poor 
 weavers, who rose in arms at Bonnymuir, and most 
 of them were made prisoners. Several were con- 
 demned to various terms of imprisonment, but three 
 unhappy ringleaders were sentenced to death, and 
 had the honour of being beheaded, after being first 
 hanged, two at Stirling, and one at Glasgow. ' They 
 were all guilty of treason, no doubt,' says Lord Cock- 
 burn, ' as any old woman is who chooses to charge a 
 regiment of cavalry. But to make such a parade 
 about such treason did no good either to the law or 
 to the people.' 
 
 Up to this time the citizens of Edinburgh had 
 found no outlet for their political sentiments beyond 
 the walls of the Merchant Company and the columns
 
 *T. 37.] ADAM BLACK. 65 
 
 of the Scotsman. A public meeting on any political 
 question had never been held in the city. It was 
 determined at last to break this insufferable silence, 
 and the ' Parliament House ' was the natural centre 
 from which the movement originated. The 'Whig 
 clique' did it, that formidable little phalanx of 
 lawyers, so nicknamed by the Tories of the time. 
 The 'Whig clique' of later days, such are the 
 changes that time brings, has been chiefly assailed 
 and denounced by the 'Advanced Liberals' or 'Citi- 
 zen Party' of Edinburgh, to whom a mere old Whig 
 was little better, if not, indeed, more offensive, than 
 a modern Conservative. In 1820 Mr. James Gibson, 
 W.S., was the leader of the ' Advanced Liberals ' of 
 Edinburgh, and he came, as usual, to Adam Black, 
 to ask what he thought of a public meeting to peti- 
 tion the King to dismiss his ministers, and whether 
 he thought the Parliament House Whigs would be 
 fairly supported in such a demonstration by the 
 mercantile community. Black assured him that, from 
 all he knew of the general feeling, they would be well 
 supported. The meeting was accordingly resolved 
 on, and Adam Black was not idle in his part of 
 the arrangements. It took place on 16th December 
 1820 in the Pantheon, the largest covered meeting- 
 place in Edinburgh, built by Stephen Kemble in 1792, 
 which afterwards became ' Corri's Booms,' ' The 
 Pantheon,' the ' Caledonian Theatre,' the ' Adelphi.' 
 It was at that time a circus, and on this occa- 
 
 F
 
 66 MEMOIRS OF [1820. 
 
 sion it was crammed by an enthusiastic audience. 
 Mr. Black, writing fifty years after it, says the en- 
 thusiasm was such as he had 'never since seen 
 equalled it was refreshing and elevating.' The 
 chairman was James Moncreiff, afterwards Lord 
 Moncreiff, father of the present (1885) Lord Mon- 
 creiff, and the other speakers were Jeffrey, Horner 
 (father of Francis and Leonard), Cockburn, Murray 
 (afterwards Lord Murray), Gibson, Clerk, and J. P. 
 Grant of Rothiemurchus, all Parliament House men. 
 The motion to petition for dismissal of the Ministry 
 was opposed by only one dissentient voice, that of 
 a Mr. Aiton, an apothecary, who made an absurd 
 and offensive speech, for which he was obliged to 
 apologise, but for castigation of which the Scotsman, 
 being prosecuted for 'libel/ had afterwards to pay 
 100 of damages. 
 
 The petition, which only adult males were allowed 
 to sign, received 17,363 signatures. Mr. Black had 
 charge of a copy in Mcolson Street, and recollected 
 Cockburn's telling them for any sake to close the 
 petition, or they would get more signatures than there 
 were inhabitants in Edinburgh ! He calculated that 
 there were at that time not more than 20,000 adult 
 males in the city. An opposition petition, got up by 
 the magistrates, received, after the most strenuous 
 efforts, from 1600 to 1700 signatures. ' I date/ says 
 Mr. Black, ' the complete emancipation of the citizens 
 of Edinburgh from political thraldom from the Pan-
 
 AT. 38.] ADAM BLACK. 67 
 
 theon meeting.' 'The unexampled spectacle was 
 exhibited,' says Lord Cockburn, ' of a large Scottish 
 community proclaiming itself as in nearly unanimous 
 hostility, not merely to the existing power, but to the 
 power which had seemingly established itself in pre- 
 scriptive omnipotence. . . . The influence of all this 
 can scarcely be overstated. Old Edinburgh was no 
 more.' 
 
 The Tory party could not venture on a public 
 meeting, but they have always excelled in aristocratic 
 dinners, and they held their annual Pitt Club gather- 
 ing the following month, which was attended by no 
 fewer than 700 champions of the British Constitution. 
 Lord Cockburn says the dinner was held four months 
 in advance of the proper date, Pitt's birthday, in order 
 to have it on the same day with the Fox dinner, the 
 annual Whig gathering, ' that whatever we might do 
 with the rabble, they might contrast us with their 
 gentry.' And so they did, the Whigs mustering only 
 about 500. In point of fact, however, this was the 
 first public dinner the Whigs had ever attempted, 
 their early gatherings having been confined to a few 
 determined Liberals, watched as suspicious persons 
 by Sheriff's officers. ' The lawyers' addresses,' Lord 
 Cockburn adds, ' were of less consequence than those 
 of an order of men who, till about this period, had 
 shrunk from exposure the ordinary trading citizens. 
 Some of them spoke excellently; and the rise of 
 booksellers and haberdashers in this line was very
 
 68 MEMOIRS OF [1822. 
 
 symptomatic.' Among those here referred to was 
 Adam Black, who proposed the health of Jeffrey on 
 this occasion. 
 
 Sir Walter Scott, whose political prejudices 
 warped his powerful mind to a lamentable extent, 
 referring to these dinners in a letter at the time 
 said, ' The Foxites had also a very numerous meeting 
 five hundred at least, but sad scamps.' 
 
 But a new excitement was in store for the citizens 
 of the northern metropolis. This event was the 
 visit of George IV., who landed at Leith on the 15th 
 of August 1822, of which Mr. Black gives the fol- 
 lowing reminiscences : 
 
 ' Bailie Leechman, who held the office of Admiral 
 of Leith in the Town Council of Edinburgh, was 
 appointed to receive the King on his landing, with 
 due ceremony. The Leithers had always chafed 
 under the assumed supremacy of Edinburgh in this 
 matter, and their Magistrates were ready to do their 
 duty on this occasion. While the Edinburgh Bailie 
 was preparing to receive His Majesty in due form on 
 bended knee, as he stepped ashore, Bailie Macfie of 
 Leith brushed past him, and with more cordiality 
 than ceremony seized the King's hand, and, with a 
 hearty shake, congratulated him in the name of the 
 Leith Magistracy on his safe arrival. Near the head 
 of Leith Walk was an extemporised gate, where the 
 Magistrates of Edinburgh presented the keys of the 
 city. The Calton Hill was covered with people, and
 
 /ET. 39.] ADAM BLACK. 69 
 
 the whole scene, as the procession passed by the 
 Calton Hill to Holy rood House, was magnificent and 
 exciting. The great day of the royal visit was that 
 of the procession from the Palace to the Castle. The 
 streets were lined by the public companies and 
 trades, generally dressed in blue coats and white 
 vests and trousers, that being the dress recommended 
 by the King. In various places galleries were erected 
 for the accommodation of different public bodies. 
 At that time I was a Commissioner of Police, and 
 our gallery was close by St. Giles'. I recollect our 
 having some discussion about the dress we were to 
 wear, and deciding in favour of black, although we 
 understood the King disliked it. I well remember 
 the appearance of the cortege as it came up the High 
 Street, the King attended by grandees of both king- 
 doms and Ministers of State, but none so remarkable 
 as Sir Walter Scott, limping on his thick walking- 
 stick beside Sir Eobert Peel, his face beaming with 
 exultation and loyalty. Next day there was a 
 grand banquet, attended by the nobility, the magis- 
 trates, and the dite of the community, at which the 
 King called for a bumper to the Lord Provost, 
 dubbing him a baronet as Sir William Arbuthnot, 
 whence he was called the Royal Baronet. During 
 the eight days of the King's visit there were great 
 demonstrations of loyalty. Many of the Highland 
 Chieftains attended with their "tails"; and the 
 pipers playing their liveliest airs were heard early
 
 70 MEMOIRS OF [1823. 
 
 in the morning, at a distance very pleasant and 
 exciting. 
 
 ' All these demonstrations of loyalty did not pro- 
 ceed, so far as the people were concerned, from any 
 regard for the Government or the King, for they 
 generally disliked the one, and despised the other. 
 But this was the first time for nearly one hundred 
 and fifty years that the capital of Scotland had been 
 graced by the presence of its Sovereign. . . . George 
 IV. was really a noble-looking man, in person every 
 inch a King, and for the moment all his faults were 
 forgotten.' 
 
 This year a bill having been introduced by the 
 Lord Advocate, Sir William Rae, making some slight 
 improvement in the existing system of municipal 
 election, Mr. Black again brought forward and 
 carried, in the Merchant Company, a series of 
 resolutions approving of the Bill so far as it went, 
 but condemning it as quite inadequate. 
 
 The following year Mr. Black removed his shop 
 from 57 South Bridge to 27 North Bridge (formerly 
 the General Post Office), where he continued for the 
 next twenty -eight years, when he finally removed 
 to the other side of the street, to No. 6 North 
 Bridge. His business had gone on gradually increas- 
 ing, and after his removal to the North Bridge 
 he began to be recognised as one of the principal 
 booksellers in Edinburgh. He had also published a 
 good many books of a solid and useful character.
 
 JET. 43.] ADAM BLACK. 71 
 
 It was not, however, till 1827 that he took his place 
 as a publisher of the first class by purchasing the 
 copyright of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, on the 
 disastrous downfall of the great house of Constable 
 and Company. His capital was not yet sufficient to 
 justify his venturing single-handed on this large 
 undertaking, and he had secured as partners Thomas 
 Allan, banker and proprietor of the Caledonian 
 Mercury, and Abram Thomson, bookbinder, with the 
 addition afterwards of Mr. Wight, Allan's partner. 
 Before his bankruptcy Constable had made all the 
 arrangements for publishing a new edition (the 7th) 
 of the Encyclopaedia, and had entered into a contract 
 with Mr. Macvey Napier to edit the work. That 
 contract Mr. Black and his partners adopted in all 
 its terms, including a total salary of 6500 to the 
 editor, to be paid by instalments, as each half volume 
 appeared. Mr. Napier was at that time editor of the 
 Edinburgh Review, Professor of Conveyancing in the 
 University of Edinburgh, and one of the principal 
 clerks of the Court of Session, so that his hands were 
 pretty full. James Browne, LL.D., was engaged as 
 sub -editor, and on him necessarily devolved the 
 burden of the work, for which he was extremely well 
 qualified by his extensive knowledge, great literary 
 faculty, and readiness in its exercise. The publica- 
 tion commenced in March 1830, and was completed 
 in 1842. The outlay on this edition was 108,766, 
 of which 8755 were expended on editing, 13,887
 
 72 MEMOIRS OF [1827. 
 
 on contributions, 13,158 on plates, 29,279 on 
 paper, 19,813 on printing, 3356 on stereotyping, 
 14,305 on binding, and 5354 on advertising. The 
 number of complete copies sold was what might now 
 be reckoned the small one of 4500. 
 
 During the course of the publication Messrs. Allan 
 and Wight became bankrupt, and their shares in the 
 property were bought by Black and Thomson. Thom- 
 son died in 1837, and Mr. Black, having bought his 
 share, became sole proprietor of the Encyclopaedia,, 
 which he was thenceforth able to manage and control 
 with more satisfaction to himself. He exercised a 
 constant personal supervision over the printing, and 
 even took upon himself not seldom to make altera- 
 tions on the proofs without consulting the editor. 
 The corrector of the press was Eobert Fairlie, after- 
 wards partner in the Witness newspaper with Hugh 
 Miller. He was a very capable and trustworthy man, 
 and Mr. Black specially charged him to keep a watch- 
 ful eye over the matter, as well as the typography, 
 and to inform him if he came upon anything that 
 seemed likely to give offence. This was particularly 
 to be apprehended in theological articles ; and in 
 spite of the publisher's caution and liberality of ideas 
 the offence in due time came. Mr. Blanco White was 
 advertised as one of the contributors, having been 
 engaged to write on Spanish subjects, for which he 
 was specially qualified. A broadside was immediately 
 discharged at the Encyclopaedia from the batteries of
 
 ;ET. 43-50.] ADAM BLACK. 73 
 
 the Eoman Catholic Church, to which Blanco White 
 was intensely obnoxious, as an ' apostate priest,' and 
 a powerful exposer of priestly tyranny and abuses in 
 Spain. It was even asserted, with indignation, that 
 he had been employed to write articles on the doctrines 
 of the Eomish Church. So far was this from being 
 true, that Mr. Black, after due consideration, had 
 determined, as the fairest way of presenting contro- 
 versial subjects to the world, that an eminent repre- 
 sentative of each church or denomination should be 
 asked to contribute an account of the body to which 
 he belonged, their principles, and polity. He at once 
 contradicted the allegations in reference to Blanco 
 White, and explained the impartial plan on which 
 the proprietors of the work intended to proceed. But 
 in avoiding Scylla he fell into Charybdis. As soon 
 as it was announced that Eoman Catholics were 
 allowed to expound their own views in the Encyclo- 
 paedia Britannica, the anti-Popery champions fell foul 
 of the publishers not less indignantly than the 
 Catholics had done. It happened also that Dr. 
 Browne was married to a Eoman Catholic lady, 
 which, doubtless, was taken into consideration as an 
 element of suspicion to the ultra-Protestant mind. 
 
 Towards the close of the year 1835 a public 
 meeting was held in the Assembly Eooms, for the 
 purpose of forming an Edinburgh Protestant Associ- 
 ation, at which the Eev. William Cunningham (after- 
 wards Principal of the Free Church College in Edin-
 
 74 MEMOIRS OF [1830. 
 
 burgh) informed the audience ' that the Papists, ever 
 alive to the advancement of their own purposes, sent 
 a communication to the publisher of the Encyclopaedia 
 Britannica, to the effect that unless he would allow 
 them to revise and superintend the articles in the 
 work in connection with, or having reference to 
 Popery, they would use their influence to prevent its 
 circulation, and he believed concessions were made 
 by the proprietors of the work, and he knew there 
 were various plain traces of Popish influence in 
 altering several articles.' 
 
 ' This,' says Mr. Black, ' came like a thunderbolt 
 upon us, and had we not been able to rebut the 
 calumny, it would have been ruinous.' He lost no 
 time in raising an action of damages for libel, con- 
 cluding for 10,000. Dr. Cunningham, who was as 
 honest and straightforward as he was rash and fearless, 
 was satisfied, on making full inquiry, that he had 
 been misinformed and had done wrong, and he made 
 an ample apology, in which he explained that the 
 statement complained of rested on authority which 
 warranted him in believing it at the time. ' The real 
 calumniator,' says Mr. Black, ' was the Eev. Mr. Craig, 1 
 who loaded the blunderbuss, but was afraid to fire it.' 
 
 In 1830 Mr. Black took a tour through Ireland, 
 chiefly for the purpose of introducing the new edition 
 
 1 Episcopal incumbent of St. James's Chapel, and very Evan- 
 gelical.
 
 *T. 46.] ADAM BLACK. 75 
 
 of the Encyclopaedia to the Irish trade. Excepting in 
 Dublin and Cork, there was scarcely found anywhere a 
 bookseller worth calling on ; and in some considerable 
 towns very few books were sold except Roman 
 Catholic prayer-books. He found the people pleasant 
 and hospitable, but thoughtless and fond of display, 
 much more ready to invite one to dinner than to pay 
 an account. At Dublin, though he lived in the 
 principal hotel, Gresham's, he was so plain in his 
 style and dress that the booksellers began to doubt 
 his identity. They expected that the publisher of the 
 Encyclopaedia Britannica would at least have some 
 kind of equipage, and give some genteel entertain- 
 ments. His Dublin agent kept two carriages, had 
 a town and country house, and frequently gave 
 sumptuous dinners, for which his creditors had to 
 suffer in due time.
 
 76 MEMOIRS OF [1831. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 1831-41. 
 
 THE nation was now entering on a great crisis, and 
 the long struggle for a more just representation of 
 the people in the council which made their laws and 
 disposed of the national revenue was at length near- 
 ing victory. Edinburgh had borne its part in the 
 struggle with distinction, and the summer of 1831 
 was a time of high excitement in the city. Earl 
 Grey had been called to the councils of the new 
 King, William IV., and authorised to form a Min- 
 istry on the basis of making Parliamentary Eeform a 
 Cabinet question. The second reading of the Eeform 
 Bill was carried by a majority of one, but on one of 
 the vital clauses the Government was defeated by a 
 majority of eight. This was followed by a dissolu- 
 tion, and the country rang with the cry, ' The Bill, 
 the whole Bill, and nothing but the Bill !' 
 
 Francis Jeffrey, now Lord Advocate, was sure to 
 be elected for the Perth burghs, but the inhabitants 
 of Edinburgh were so desirous to be represented by
 
 JET. 47.] ADAM BLACK. 77 
 
 the man who, with the exception of Sir Walter Scott, 
 had done most to bring renown and honour to his 
 native city, that a petition praying for his election 
 was, between Saturday and Monday afternoon, signed 
 by 1.7,400 men. The election, it has to be remem- 
 bered, was still in the hands of the self-elected Town 
 Council. The other candidate was the many-named 
 Robert Adam Dundas, of the Arniston and Melville 
 family, afterwards Christopher, and finally Nisbet- 
 Hamilton. Mr. Black, who was present, thus de- 
 scribes the election and the sequel : 
 
 ' I contrived to get into the council-room, which 
 was crammed with a highly excited audience. Jeffrey 
 was proposed by Councillor Chambers (not William 
 or Robert), and seconded by Dr. Gairdner. Dundas 
 was proposed by the Provost, William Allan of the 
 Glen, and seconded by Bailie Learmonth, afterwards 
 the last of the self-elected Provosts. There was some 
 hope that Jeffrey might succeed, though there could 
 be no doubt that it was well known to the clique how 
 every vote was to go. Two tried to screen themselves 
 from the odium of voting for the unpopular candidate 
 by moving .and seconding the Provost. These were 
 Treasurer Anderson and Councillor NeilL Had their 
 votes been required, there was little doubt that they 
 would have gone for Dundas. 
 
 ' One of the Councillors proposed that the candi- 
 dates should state their views. This was resisted by 
 the Provost, as contrary to the usage of the burgh,
 
 ;8 MEMOIRS OF [1831. 
 
 with something like an insinuation that it was illegal. 
 After a good deal of altercation, Jeffrey himself 
 making a strong remonstrance, it was agreed that the 
 candidates should be heard. It was an unprecedented 
 circumstance that they should even be present, for 
 before this the farce was all arranged by the Dundas 
 family at Arniston, and it was not considered neces- 
 sary that their nominee should make his appearance 
 at all. If he did appear, he was kept in an adjoining 
 room till the Council had duly belauded the man 
 sent them to elect, and testified their loyalty to 
 the Crown and to the house of Dundas, by unani- 
 mously electing him as the representative of the 
 city of Edinburgh. The door of the room was 
 then opened, and he was introduced to the Council, 
 a full-fledged M.P., and thanked his thirty-three 
 constituents for electing him as their representa- 
 tive. 
 
 ' On this occasion, for the first time in Edinburgh, 
 the candidates appeared before the Council, and 
 stated their views on public matters. This, of course, 
 did not affect the vote, and Mr. Dundas was elected, 
 though, if the citizens had been polled, Jeffrey would 
 have had nineteen out of every twenty in his favour. 
 Of the Town Council, seventeen voted for Dundas, 
 fourteen for Jeffrey, and two for Allan. The Ex- 
 change was filled with a multitude anxiously waiting 
 the result, and large numbers were assembled in the 
 High Street. When the result was announced, their
 
 /ET. 47.] ADAM BLACK. 79 
 
 rage broke out, especially against the Provost. He 
 got tolerably quietly through the Exchange, but when 
 he got out into the High Street, the mob hooted and 
 jostled him all the way down to the North Bridge, 
 where it was actually proposed to throw him over. 
 I am not sure but some attempts were made to carry 
 the threat into execution, but he fortunately escaped 
 uninjured, and worked his way to the head of Leith 
 Street. Here he was assailed with a shower of stones 
 from the newly macadamised street ; and sought re- 
 fuge in a shop, where the shutters were hastily put 
 up on the windows, and the door secured. Seeing 
 the large and increasing mob, I flattered myself that 
 from my popularity as Master of the Merchant Com- 
 pany, I might be able to induce the people to disperse, 
 and, mounting a barrel which stood at the shop door, 
 tried my best oratory, but in vain. Mr. William 
 Gibson-Craig next took my place, and exerted his 
 persuasive powers, but to as little purpose. At length 
 a more effective mob-dispeller appeared in the shape 
 of a troop of cavalry. The mobbing, however, con- 
 tinued in various parts of the town throughout the 
 night and next day. The Lord Advocate addressed 
 the crowd, and entreated them, as they regarded the 
 character of the city, and the cause they professed to 
 support, to disperse quietly to their homes, which 
 they ultimately did. His reception was very different 
 from that of the Provost. The horses were unyoked 
 from his carriage, and he was drawn home in triumph.
 
 8o MEMOIRS OF [1831. 
 
 He was soon after returned to Parliament by the 
 Perth burghs. 
 
 ' Years after this, a clerk in a shipping company, 
 of which I was chairman, fell into great poverty, as 
 the natural consequence of dissipated habits. He 
 came to me repeatedly seeking charity, and when at 
 last I got tired of him and resisted his importunities, 
 he had recourse to what he considered an irresistible 
 claim " It was me that had nearly coupit Provost 
 Allan ower the brig !'" 
 
 The public excitement on the rejection of the 
 Eeform Bill by the House of Lords, and the resigna- 
 tion of the Ministry, was tremendous. A deep and 
 dangerous feeling of indignation pervaded the people 
 at seeing the boon they had so longed for snatched 
 from them when it seemed secure by a small body 
 of hereditary legislators. The public feeling in Edin- 
 burgh found vent in a great meeting in the King's 
 Park on 16th May 1831, attended, it was calculated, 
 by about 50,000 people. The chairman of the gather- 
 ing was Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, and among the 
 speakers were Sir J. A. Murray (afterwards Lord 
 Murray), Sir J. H. Dalrymple (afterwards Earl of Stair,) 
 Sir E. Keith Dick, Messrs. W. Gibson-Craig (after- 
 wards Sir William), James Craufurd (afterwards Lord 
 Ardmillan), James Aytoun, advocates, E. W. Jamie- 
 son, W.S., and Adam Black. The speaking, as became 
 the occasion, was sufficiently energetic. Demonstra- 
 tions of this kind throughout the country made it
 
 JET. 48.] ADAM BLACK. 81 
 
 plain that the great mass of the population was in a 
 mood not to be trifled with, and that the will of the 
 people must prevail against that of the Lords. 
 
 Charles X., ex-king of France, was at this time 
 residing in Holyrood, and could see from the Palace 
 windows the formidable multitudes swarming into 
 the Park, the trades in procession, with their banners 
 displaying threatening devices and mottoes, specially 
 directed at the House of Lords. It must have 
 reminded the exile king with a shudder of the dread- 
 ful scenes he had witnessed in his youth at Paris arid 
 Versailles. He had found an asylum in Holyrood 
 from 1796 to 1815, and now he had come back to 
 Scotland on being driven from his throne after the 
 ' three glorious days ' of July 1830. 
 
 The Eeform Bill finally passed, after several more 
 dangerous crises, on 7th June 1832. Mr. Black lost 
 no time in calling a private meeting of the leading 
 reformers to consider what course they ought to take. 
 At the same time he published a pamphlet on the 
 representation of the city, under the name of 'A 
 Shopkeeper,' naming various public men eligible for 
 the honour, and recommending in conclusion Francis 
 Jeffrey, Lord Advocate, and the Hon. James Aber- 
 cromby. ' To show/ he says, 'how soon public benefits 
 are forgotten, when I mentioned Mr. Abercromby's 
 name, some of our friends asked who he was, though 
 it was only a few years since he, with Lord Archibald 
 Hamilton, had been our principal supporter in Parlia- 
 
 G
 
 82 MEMOIRS OF [1832. 
 
 ment in procuring Burgh Beform.' Lord Cockburn 
 says of him, that ' he had for many years so identified 
 himself with the cause of his countrymen that long 
 before popular election was introduced, he used to be 
 described as the representative, not of the city, but 
 of the citizens !' At a meeting of the Merchant Com- 
 pany soon after this, Mr. Black moved that measures 
 should be taken to secure the return of these gentle- 
 men ' as the first real representatives of the city of 
 Edinburgh,' which, remarkable to say, was unani- 
 mously agreed to. What, it may be asked, had become 
 of the Tory merchants ? A committee was appointed, 
 with Adam Black as convener. This was the first 
 ' Liberal Committee ' in Edinburgh. The total 
 expenses were ludicrously small, in comparison with 
 those of later times, even in uncontested elections. 
 They did not exceed 200, and even of that modest 
 outlay the members were relieved by the con- 
 stituency. 
 
 The first thing to be done was a requisition ad- 
 dressed to each of the desired representatives. That 
 to Jeffrey was signed by 1260, that to Abercromby 
 by 1170 electors. The only way to get the names of 
 the electors was by copying the lists of voters placed 
 on the church doors, and this was voluntarily and 
 gratuitously done by shopkeepers' clerks. 
 
 The theatre in which the Tories had hitherto dis- 
 posed of the representation of Edinburgh was sadly 
 changed from the snug Council-room where thirty-three
 
 MT. 48.] ADAM BLACK. 83 
 
 discreet and well-advised men provided the citizens 
 with that simulacrum of a representative. It was now 
 to be done in the open air at the City Cross, coram 
 populo. But the upsetting Whigs were not to be 
 allowed to walk the course, and the Tories started 
 to oppose them a very estimable country gentleman, 
 Mr. Forbes Hunter Blair, connected with some of the 
 principal men of the city, but scarcely known to the 
 inhabitants generally. 
 
 At the nomination Jeffrey was proposed by Sir 
 James Gibson-Craig, seconded by Convener Wilkie, 
 Abercromby by Adam Black, seconded by Andrew 
 Skene, advocate. Mr. Hunter Blair was proposed by 
 Sir F. Walker Drummond, seconded by Sir John 
 Forbes. The result of a poll was 
 
 Jeffrey. . . . 4056 
 Abercromby . . . 3865 
 Blair .... 1519 
 
 From a collection of squibs and ballads connected 
 with this election it appears that the objection to 
 lawyers and persons connected with the existing 
 Government, which have become stereotyped in and 
 about Edinburgh, were on this occasion urged with 
 great pertinacity and bitterness, though with little 
 success. One might imagine, judging from these 
 not very witty effusions, that the most popular of 
 all the competitors was the fluent and irrepressible 
 ' Jemmy Aytoun,' the most ' promising' of candidates. 
 The constant references to Adam Black, whose name
 
 84 MEMOIRS OF [1832. 
 
 afforded easy scope for the play upon words suited 
 for such occasions, indicate that he was regarded as 
 the moving spirit of the party whom he officially 
 represented as Convener of the Liberal Committee. 
 
 About the same time the election for the county 
 of Midlothian took place, when Sir John Dalrymple, 
 afterwards Earl of Stair, was elected in opposition 
 to the sitting member, Sir George Clerk of Peni- 
 cuik. Sir George's nomination was seconded by 
 William Bertram, farmer, Lawfield, a good old Tory, 
 and uncle of Mrs. Adam . Black. His spirit was 
 much grieved by the revolutionary tendencies of 
 his relatives. ' Thae twa,' he said, ' Willie Tait and 
 Adam Black, they'll disgrace us a' yet.' William 
 Tait was brother of Mrs. Black, and, like his brother- 
 in-law, was of advanced opinions, to which free ex- 
 pression was given in the able and popular magazine 
 of which he was editor and publisher. Tait's Magazine 
 was equally distinguished by literary merit and free- 
 dom from bigotry. One of its most valued contri- 
 butors was Thomas De Quincey, who found no 
 restraint in expressing his Tory sentiments in its 
 pages. Messrs. Cobden and Bright were also occa- 
 sional contributors. 
 
 Mr. Tait, though a member of the Established 
 Church, was one of the most sturdy opponents of 
 the local tax for the benefit of the clergy of the city, 
 of which we shall have to speak by and by. The con- 
 troversy in regard to the Annuity Tax had at this
 
 xx. 49.] ADAM BLACK. 85 
 
 period assumed a formidable aspect, and it continued 
 for thirty years longer to form one of the chief and 
 bitterest motive powers in the politics of Edinburgh. 
 William Tait having refused to pay, was duly in- 
 carcerated in the Calton Jail, and detained there 
 four days, during which he lived comfortably in the 
 house of the governor, was visited daily by his friends, 
 and had quite a jolly time. Having thus lifted up 
 his testimony, he paid the obnoxious tax on the 
 fourth day, was duly discharged, and dismissed in 
 state. At the entrance of that baronial pile he 
 stepped into an open carriage and drove through 
 the streets, escorted by a procession of trades' de- 
 puties bearing banners. He expected his good 
 brother-in-law to bear him company in the car of 
 triumph, but Adam specially disliked show, and 
 declined the honour. At the first election of the 
 reformed Town Council in the following year Tait 
 had the reward of his fellow-citizens' approbation by 
 being placed at the top of the poll in the First Ward. 
 ' Few men,' says Mr. Black drily, ' have acquired the 
 glory of martyrdom at a cheaper rate.' 
 
 At this election, which caused great excitement, 
 Mr. Black was elected in the same ward with Duncan 
 M'Laren, J. F. MacFaiian (bailie), Eobert Thomson 
 (bailie), William Purves, and James Aitken. Among 
 other notable citizens chosen were James Spittal 
 (Lord Provost) ; James Aytoun, advocate ; Ealph 
 Eichardson, merchant ; E, W. Jameson, W.S. ; Gil-
 
 86 MEMOIRS OF [1833. 
 
 lespie Graham, architect ; Dr. Lizars ; T. Grainger, 
 C.E. ; and William Chambers, bookseller. 
 
 Mr. Black was asked by some of the councillors 
 to stand for the provostship, but positively refused, 
 having made up his mind to support Mr. Spittal, who 
 had been one of the few steady friends of reform in 
 the old council. He also declined to be proposed as 
 bailie, having his hands fully occupied in his business, 
 but had no objection to the treasurership, hitherto 
 almost a sinecure, little imagining what he was 
 undertaking. 
 
 On the day following the election of the Town 
 Council, 6th November 1833, a public dinner was 
 given in honour of the newly-elected members for the 
 city, at which Adam Black had the honour of pre- 
 siding. About 400 were present. After the healths 
 of the King, the Queen, Princess Victoria, and the rest 
 of the royal family, had been drunk, the chairman 
 proposed the health of the Duke of Sussex, as one 
 who had ' particularly strong claims on all lovers of 
 constitutional liberty, the best friend of the constitu- 
 tion, the best friend of the people, the best friend of 
 the peerage, and the best friend of the monarchy.' 
 
 In the course of his speech, proposing the health 
 of Mr. Jeffrey, the chairman said : 
 
 ' His patriotism is not of yesterday, but was con- 
 spicuous at a time when to advocate Liberal principles 
 was to stop the road to preferment, and to expose to 
 suspicion and danger.' (Here the chairman produced
 
 MT. 49.] ADAM BLACK. 87 
 
 a proof-sheet of a number of the Edinburgh Review, 
 printed about twenty years before, on which was the 
 following note by the printer, a worthy bailie of 
 Edinburgh : A more than ordinary share of Mr. 
 Jeffrey's sagacious prudence will certainly lie necessary 
 in preparing the above for the public eye : there are 
 certainly such things as Newgate and a Pillory. The 
 production of this document was received with 
 tremendous cheers and laughter.) ' Gentlemen, it is 
 not necessary to revert to these days of darkness ; for 
 now that Liberalism is in vogue I have heard the 
 services of our old tried patriots depreciated by 
 zealous novices in patriotism, who in time of danger 
 suffered that fervid love of liberty to spend itself in 
 silent aspirations, or at most in gentle murmurs.' 
 
 His examination of the city accounts soon led to 
 the unpleasant discovery, hitherto carefully concealed, 
 that the city was hopelessly bankrupt. There was 
 no resource in these circumstances but that usually 
 resorted to by bankrupts the best possible settle- 
 ment with creditors. It appeared from an investi- 
 gation of the municipal' accounts that 400,000 were 
 owing to ordinary creditors, and about 250,000 to 
 the Treasury, for advances on account of Leith Har- 
 bour. The Corporation had been in the habit of 
 borrowing money freely, at five per cent, from all who 
 chose to lend it, which they spent with equal free- 
 dom, regardless even of decency. There was no 
 ' self-denying ordinance ' in those days : a member
 
 88 MEMOIRS OF [1833. 
 
 of the Town Council had a preference when any job 
 was at the disposal of the Council. The Deacons of 
 Trades were ex officio members of the Town Council, 
 and these offices were matters of keen contest and 
 intrigue in the various trade corporations, being in 
 fact worth a good deal of money. The Deacon of 
 the Masons claimed as a right to be employed as 
 builder of any public works, and charged his own 
 prices without check. The Deacon of the Wrights, 
 of the Plumbers, of the Printers, and of all the other 
 trades, did the same, and so the thing went comfort- 
 ably round in the Corporation ring, till the rude 
 blast of reform blew open the Council doors, and 
 revealed the shameful fact, so long concealed by the 
 hypocritical guardians of 'time-honoured institutions,' 
 that the capital of Scotland was hopelessly insolvent. 
 When, ten or twelve years before this, the hateful 
 agitators for Burgh Reform had asked for a state- 
 ment of the affairs of the city, they were assured by 
 the magistrates that the finances were in a flourishing 
 condition. It now appeared that the assets were not 
 equal to one-half of the city debt. Treasurer Black pro- 
 posed as a composition that the creditors should receive 
 annuities of two and a half per cent on their debt, 
 guaranteed by the town. The proposition was repro- 
 bated by the creditors, and by none more loudly than 
 by some of the old councillors and their friends, who 
 had partaken largely of the public spoil in the good 
 old times. Many and disagreeable meetings and dis-
 
 m. 50.] ADAM BLACK. 89 
 
 cussions were held, in which the Treasurer necessarily 
 took the chief part on behalf of the town. In the 
 interests of economy also he had to do several things 
 that seemed pitiful, but were necessary to prove that 
 the public money was not to be wasted on mere dis- 
 play till the city had paid its debts. The salaries of 
 all the city officials were reduced by a half, and 
 superfluous officers were paid off. Among the latter 
 were the two men who carried the sword and mace 
 before the Lord Provost ; but the poor fellows said 
 they would do the duty for nothing rather than that 
 the Chief Magistrate should be so sadly shorn of his 
 dignity. Even the extra gilded lamps which had 
 always burned before the doors of the Provost and 
 Bailies were ordered to be lighted no more, and it 
 seemed as if the glory had departed from the proud 
 city, and that she sat in the shadow of her humilia- 
 tion. The inexorable Treasurer went even farther to 
 convince the inhabitants of Edinburgh that they had 
 been brought low, and that it was not a time for 
 needless hilarity. The ringers of the merry bells of 
 St. Giles were paid off, and their pleasant clanging 
 was no longer heard at one o'clock, to remind the 
 laborious citizens of Auld Eeekie that life is not all 
 a weariness. They were now to be taught, and 
 meditate on the lesson, that honesty is before all 
 things, and that those who cannot pay their debts 
 have no right to be merry. 
 
 The feasts of the Town Council at the public
 
 90 MEMOIRS OF [1834. 
 
 expense were also abolished, and instead of the 
 usual unlimited banquet for the new councillors, 
 there was now a modest dinner at 10s. 6d. per head, 
 for which each man had to pay out of his own pocket, 
 if so inclined, which probably some economical 
 councillors were not. 
 
 The great event of 1834 in Edinburgh was the 
 Earl Grey Banquet, which took place on 15th Sep- 
 tember, on a scale far surpassing anything of the 
 kind hitherto attempted in Scotland. It was a 
 demonstration to celebrate the passing of the Befonr. 
 Bill, and in its magnitude and the quality of the 
 speeches it was worthy of the occasion. The demand 
 for tickets was so great that no room in the city was 
 sufficient to accommodate half the applicants. A 
 temporary pavilion was erected in the yards of the 
 High School, where 1500 sat down to dinner, 300 
 more dining in the hall of the school. The Duke of 
 Hamilton was to have presided, but failed at the last 
 moment, on the ground of ill health, and his place 
 was taken by a more vigorous reformer, the Earl of 
 Eosebery. Many animated speeches were delivered ; 
 those of Lords Brougham and Durham were parti- 
 cularly remarkable. Among the rest Adam Black 
 was honoured with a toast, which he proposed with 
 discreet and pithy brevity. 
 
 In June 1835 he published a pamphlet on the 
 financial affairs of the city, propounding a scheme 
 for a settlement with the creditors. In the preface
 
 ^ET. si-] ADAM BLACK. 91 
 
 he intimated that he solely was responsible for the 
 statements and suggestions offered, which had not 
 been submitted to the Town Council. He proposed 
 that Government should forego a large -part, if not 
 the whole, of the debt due to the Treasury, on certain 
 conditions; that the debt should be consolidated; 
 coupons bearing two and a half per cent interest given 
 to the creditors ; and a sinking fund established, pro- 
 viding for the extinction of the debt in thirty years. 
 Shortly after this, Government sent down Mr. Labou- 
 chere, afterwards Lord Taunton, to examine the state 
 of affairs of the city and report. His report, published 
 in the following year, recommended nearly what Mr. 
 Black had suggested. The creditors, however, were 
 not satisfied. They insisted on getting either seventy- 
 five per cent down, or interest at the rate of three and 
 a half per cent. Numerous meetings and warm dis- 
 cussions, verbal and written, again took place, in 
 which the interests of the creditors were chiefly 
 represented by Colonel Macdonald of Powderhall, 
 and Mr. Christie, accountant, and those of the city 
 by the Treasurer. Various modifications were pro- 
 posed, and at one time they were on the eve of 
 agreeing, on nearly the same terms as were ultimately 
 arranged, when the stout Colonel stood out, and Mr. 
 Black's term of office expired. He had been three 
 years in office, and refused to be re-elected, but 
 before retiring made a full statement to the Council 
 of all that had taken place, and the condition in
 
 92 MEMOIRS OF [1835. 
 
 which the case was left to his successor, Mr. 
 Duncan M'Laren, who had the honour of finally 
 adjusting the difficulty, to the lasting benefit of the 
 city. 
 
 In addition to these harassing conflicts with the 
 city creditors, Mr. Black had to take his place, as a 
 conscientious Independent, in the forefront of the 
 battle which had for some years been raging between 
 the Dissenters and the Established Church, and 
 which is not 'yet done. More grave as the situation 
 now seems for the defenders of the Established 
 Church, the bitterness of the conflict is nothing com- 
 pared to what it was fifty years ago. If the breaches 
 in old ramparts have widened, so also have the 
 thoughts of men. It is interesting to find such a 
 determined and uncompromising opponent of the 
 Established Church as Adam Black was in 1835, 
 writing thus in the quietness of his mellow age : 
 
 ' Of all the public contests in which I have been 
 engaged, I look back on none with so much regret as 
 the violent discussions between Churchmen and Dis- 
 senters. Much of the heat that was struck out 
 between them was unhallowed fire. Although I 
 still adhere to the principles I then professed, ex- 
 perience has shown me that, however correct they 
 may be in theory, Dissenters are no more to be 
 trusted as friends to true liberty than Churchmen. 
 Both sides, when they have the power, are ready to 
 abuse it in their own favour. I have especially to
 
 ^ET. si-] ADAM BLACK. 93 
 
 regret that my zeal for Voluntaryism brought me 
 into conflict with that gr.eat and good man Dr. 
 Chalmers.' 
 
 The history of the Church of Scotland from 1830 to 
 ] 843 centres round that honoured name. Chalmers 
 had succeeded Dr. Andrew Thomson as the leader of 
 the more lively, earnest, and enthusiastic section of 
 the Church of Scotland ; and in proportion as he was 
 larger in his thoughts, more simple and genial in his 
 character, more irresistible in his eloquence, his influ- 
 ence was the greater. He was honestly possessed with 
 the idea that the Church of Scotland was truly a 
 heaven-born institution, designed for and capable of 
 doing for the good of Scotland what no other human 
 institution could do, if only men believed in it, and 
 worked for it, as he had shown them how to do, and 
 continued to do down to the last day of his busy life. 
 One of the great schemes into which he threw him- 
 self with all his burning energy was that of Church 
 Extension. His idea was to provide a church and 
 minister for every 2000 inhabitants, as the only 
 means for getting hold of the lapsed and lapsing 
 masses of the great towns. In proportion as this 
 scheme was developed and extended, so did the 
 opposition of the Voluntaries, to whom it seemed 
 chiefly a scheme for the extension of the State Church, 
 against the existence of which they were bound to 
 keep up an abiding protest. The new Town Council 
 had not been long in office when a proposal was
 
 94 MEMOIRS OF [1835. 
 
 made to build by subscription a new church in the 
 Cowgate, one of the lowest and most neglected parts 
 of Edinburgh. The proposal was excellent, but the 
 condition that the new church was to be added to 
 the number of the city churches in connection with 
 the Establishment, many of which were half-empty, 
 was fatal. Dr. Chalmers pleaded the case before the 
 Town Council with all his eloquence, but in vain. 
 The majority of the members were Dissenters, and 
 the scheme was rejected. Much of the time of the 
 corporation was wasted on discussions of this kind, 
 which were sometimes conducted with great acrimony, 
 and kept alive in Edinburgh, to a degree unrivalled 
 in any other important city of the empire, an amount 
 of sectarian jealousy and bitterness that has wrought 
 unspeakable evil, and derogated grievously from the 
 claim of Scotland's capital to be the chief representa- 
 tive of her intelligence and education. Mr. Black 
 was one of the most vigorous of the combatants of 
 those days on the Voluntary side, and in 1835 pub- 
 lished an able pamphlet, entitled The Church its Own 
 Enemy. The arrogant pretensions of the Establish- 
 ment, contrasted with some lamentable examples of 
 its shortcomings, afforded sufficient scope for a well 
 directed assault. Foreseeing, with his usual sagacity, 
 that the internal controversy at this time agitating 
 the Church of Scotland could end only in another 
 secession, he took as a motto on his title-page the 
 proverb ' Every wise woman buildeth her house, but
 
 ^ET. 51.] ADAM BLACK. 95 
 
 the foolish plucketh it down with her hands.' On 
 this subject he afterwards says : 
 
 ' With increasing years my views on these subjects 
 were considerably modified, and I felt that my ex- 
 pressions ought to have been more moderate. While 
 I consider that on such an all-important subject as 
 religion we should carefully endeavour to discover 
 the truth, embrace it earnestly, and conscientiously 
 adhere to it, yet I would recommend my children 
 as far as possible to avoid sectarian disputes, especi- 
 ally such as excite bitterness and strife. In the 
 various controversies in which I have been engaged 
 in my public life, I do not recollect anything much 
 to be regretted except in connection with these 
 church disputes.' 
 
 The pamphlet in reference to which he makes 
 these remarks, though very plain-spoken, is quite 
 free from bitterness or intemperance. The same may 
 be said of every speech he made, even on the most 
 exciting questions. 
 
 While a member of the Town Council, Mr. Black 
 took a special interest in business connected with the 
 University of Edinburgh, of which the Council were 
 patrons up to 1859. The greatest name which he 
 assisted in adding to the roll of the University's fame 
 was that of Sir William Hamilton, of whose claims 
 he was the special champion against a party in the 
 Council, who opposed his election on the ground of 
 his deficiency in theological, especially evangelical
 
 96 MEMOIRS OF [1834- 
 
 soundness! 1 Among the first members of the re- 
 formed Council were two doctors, who made it their 
 special business to meddle with the Medical Chairs, 
 in the direction of what they considered 'retrench- 
 ment and reform.' They were generally supported 
 by the extreme Liberals of the Council, especially by 
 ' Jemmy Aytoun.' In 1834 the College Committee 
 recommended a reduction in the fees of the Univer- 
 sity classes, especially the medical ones. In the 
 course of a sharp debate on the subject, Mr. Black 
 made an elaborate speech, showing that the fees at 
 Edinburgh, as compared with other schools, so far 
 from being high, were very moderate, and that the 
 diminution of the emoluments of the Professors 
 would ultimately tend to depreciate the reputation of 
 the University. ' The greatest injury that could be 
 done to the University,' he said, ' was the perpetual 
 intermeddling with its arrangements, unsettling the 
 minds of the students, and disheartening the Pro- 
 fessors.' His motion not to interfere in the matter 
 was carried by 19 to 10. 
 
 Another interference with the monopoly of the 
 Professors, of a more liberal kind, was carried by Mr. 
 Black, to the great advantage of medical education. 
 At that time students qualifying for a medical degree 
 were obliged to attend all the medical classes in the 
 University. No 'extra-mural' teaching, however 
 
 1 See Professor Baynes's ' Sir William Hamilton ' in Edinburgh 
 Essays, p. 272.
 
 xi*. si.] ADAM BLACK. 97 
 
 superior, as it sometimes was, to that of the ' intra- 
 mural' Professors, counted for anything. The stu- 
 dent who acquired and paid for his real knowledge at 
 other classes out of doors was yet obliged to pay his 
 extra guineas and waste his extra time in attendance 
 on a University class, where, perhaps, a superannuated 
 Professor, eminent in his prime, discoursed in dumb 
 show to a crowd of noisy and irreverent students. 
 Mr. Black had the merit of inaugurating a reform in 
 this respect, which has greatly tended to the pros- 
 perity of the University, heightened the standard of 
 its medical education, and promoted that wholesome 
 emulation which is so conducive to intellectual life 
 and the advancement of science. 
 
 One of Aytoun's absurd proposals was, that the 
 College Committee of the Town Council should in- 
 quire into the teaching in all the classes in the 
 University. The Treasurer resisted this proposal, as 
 going quite ultra crepidam, but the Council, in a 
 temporary fit of hallucination, adopted it. The Com- 
 mittee met, with Aytoun as chairman, and he pro- 
 posed that they should commence by examining the 
 syllabus of subjects taught in the Natural Philosophy 
 class. Mr. Black again protested against the absurd- 
 ity of meddling with things they did not understand ; 
 but Aytoun was firm : they had undertaken a public 
 duty and must discharge it. So they went stumbling 
 through the hard phraseology of the syllabus, with 
 some faint idea of the meaning, till they came to 
 
 H
 
 98 MEMOIRS OF [1833. 
 
 Catoptrics and Dioptrics, and there they stuck 
 fast. Even Aytoun's chief ally, K. W. Jamieson, 
 realised the absurdity of the situation, and the 
 inquiry ended there and then in an explosion of 
 laughter. 
 
 Mr. Black was afterwards of some use to the 
 University, though not a member of the Town Council 
 at the time. Being in London in 1838, he was asked 
 by the College bailie, Donaldson, to make some remon- 
 strance to the Government against the shabby treat- 
 ment of the University by the Treasury in regard to 
 the Library. An Act had been recently passed modi- 
 fying tlie privilege enjoyed up to that time by all the 
 great libraries of the United Kingdom, of getting a 
 copy of every book published in the kingdom. In 
 lieu of this burdensome privilege, any of the libraries 
 enjoying it might receive from the Treasury, if they 
 preferred it, an annual grant of money, equal to the 
 average value of the books received during the three 
 years preceding the Act. All the Scottish Universi- 
 ties prudently accepted this alternative, while the 
 British Museum, the Bodleian, the Cambridge, the 
 Advocates', and the Trinity College, Dublin, Libraries 
 retained their privilege. It turned out, however, that 
 the Treasury thought proper to make a considerable 
 deduction from the sum stated as the average value 
 of the books, and Mr. Black was asked to try to get 
 this redressed. This he succeeded in doing, having, 
 on the advice of Mr. Abercromby, gone direct to the
 
 /ET. 54.] ADAM BLACK. 99 
 
 Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, on the subject. 
 He thus describes his interview : 
 
 ' I waited on his lordship at the hour appointed ; 
 the day was cold, and as soon as he came into the 
 room he made me draw in my chair to the fireside, 
 took the other side himself, and said " Now, let us 
 hear all about it." I discussed the matter with the 
 greatest freedom, showing him the injustice of the 
 deduction complained of, and ended by saying I had 
 often heard of the extravagance of the Government, 
 and the large sums paid for the services of their own 
 friends, while they would huckster about a few 
 pounds for the promotion of literature. " Now, my 
 Lord," I said, "I don't like to hear you ill spoken of." 
 He laughed and said, "We must see what can be 
 done." It was no wonder that his Lordship was a 
 universal favourite. There was a kindliness and a 
 bonhomie about him that must have smoothed down 
 many of the difficulties he had to encounter. I am 
 happy to say that the result of this interview was 
 an addition of 150 a year from the Treasury to 
 the Edinburgh College Library, and I suppose to 
 the other Scotch University Libraries.' 
 
 About this time Mr. Black was preparing for 
 publication a collection of Brougham's speeches in 
 four volumes. That wonderful man was as careful 
 of his posthumous fame as Cicero, and was deter- 
 mined that nobody but himself should have a chance 
 of giving the public the benefit of his fiery orations.
 
 ioo MEMOIRS OF [1838. 
 
 He took great pains in revising them, but with his 
 usual impatient rapidity. He classified them accord- 
 ing to the subjects, and prefixed to each section a 
 historico-biographical preface, in which, as occasion 
 offered, he vented his displeasure or grudges at 
 friends and foes. One of those who had mortally 
 offended him was his old friend Abercromby, Speaker 
 of the Reformed Parliament up to 1839. A little 
 before this Brougham had, in his disgust at his Whig 
 friends for their time-serving, and, above all, for 
 their unpardonable slowness to admit his incompar- 
 able merits, marked his sense of their misconduct by 
 lending his support for a time to the Conservatives. 
 Some one had. alluded to this in the House of Com- 
 mons, in terms which galled him, and which he 
 thought it disgraceful on the part of the Speaker not 
 to check. In revenge he took a fling at Abercromby 
 in one of his prefaces. Speaking of the important 
 influence of petitions to Parliament, and speeches in 
 support of them, he went on to say (vol. i. p. 499) : 
 ' The Whig Government have resolved that no peti- 
 tion shall now be discussed that whoever presents 
 it shall merely state its substance, after telling the 
 body and the place it comes from and that no other 
 member shall make it the subject of any observation. 
 To this plan for stifling the people's voice, and giving 
 the ministers of the day and their majority in Par- 
 liament an absolute control over the policy of the 
 empire, disarming the Opposition of their main
 
 XT. 54.] ADAM BLACK. 101 
 
 weapons, and shearing the people of their chief 
 strength, the Speaker, Mr. Abercromby, has unhap- 
 pily lent himself as a willing accomplice, if he was 
 not indeed the hatcher of the plot. It is of little 
 moment to reflect that but for the policy of former 
 and better times, he would now have been in the 
 honourable but cheerless exile of an Edinburgh sine- 
 cure judgeship, as his ministerial coadjutors would 
 have been doomed to exclusion from power on the 
 benches of an eternal Opposition. It is of more 
 importance to remark that unless a speedy end is 
 put to the present course of proceeding, the main- 
 stay of English liberty, the only effectual safeguard 
 against misgovernment and oppression, is taken from 
 the people of these realms.' 
 
 Mr. Black, on reading the proof-sheet in which 
 this passage occurred, could not reconcile it with his 
 regard for Mr. Abercromby to publish a reflection 
 upon him which he believed to be as unjust as it was 
 offensive. He accordingly asked Mr. Napier, editor 
 of the Edinburgh Review, who probably exercised 
 more editorial control over Brougham than any other 
 man had attempted, to write and request him to 
 modify the obnoxious phrases. Mr. Napier, however, 
 declined to interfere. Mr. Black himself accordingly 
 wrote to Brougham, requesting him to reconsider 
 these expressions in reference to Mr. Abercromby, 
 adding : ' I cannot forget his great services to Edin- 
 burgh and the Liberal cause when we had few to
 
 102 MEMOIRS OF [1838. 
 
 speak for us or assist us, and am grieved to hear any 
 of our champions harshly spoken of by our friends. 
 I am persuaded the injustice of writers calling them- 
 selves Liberal to your Lordship yourself has hurt the 
 cause of Eeform most seriously, and given great pain 
 to its genuine friends.' 
 
 To this appeal Brougham replied : 
 
 ' MY DEAR SIK You are so good a Liberal, and 
 so little of a party-jobber, that I have altered the 
 passage into a compliment, which is very, very, very 
 little deserved at my hands. No man ever exposed 
 himself more to the odium of his colleagues for another 
 than I did for him, when they could not endure his 
 name to be mentioned ; and I also carried what is 
 called, unjustly, a job for him by main force. I have 
 been requited by such foul ingratitude as I have 
 hardly experienced from any other man, and all to 
 pay a mean court to ministers, of whom he should 
 be ashamed now to receive any favours. However, 
 I have yielded to old feelings of friendship, awakened 
 by the passage producing in you an effect which I 
 did not expect. Yours, H. B.' 
 
 The corrections made on the proof were, to substi- 
 tute for the words italicised above, the words the support 
 of his authority and author of the scheme. The ' com- 
 pliment ' consisted of the substitution of the words 
 this distinguished and excellent person for the word 
 he. 
 
 The plan for 'stifling the people's voice,' which
 
 xi. 55-] ADAM BLACK. 103 
 
 formed the subject of the above outburst of indigna- 
 tion, was an alteration made on the rules of procedure 
 in the House of Commons. Previously, any member 
 presenting a petition might make a speech on the 
 subject and raise a discussion. Petitions had become 
 so numerous, and speeches upon them so regular and 
 endless, that the business of the House was in danger 
 of being brought to a stand unless something were 
 done to check the nuisance. Hence the 'plot' to 
 save the public time, of which Mr. Abercromby was 
 suspected by Brougham to be the ' hatcher.' What 
 would he have thought of Mr. Gladstone's plot for 
 the same purpose in 1882 ! 
 
 It is pleasant, however, to know that the great 
 ex-chancellor and his ancient friend became quite 
 reconciled after that. 
 
 In 1839 Abercromby was raised to the peerage as 
 Lord Dunfermline, and the citizens of Edinburgh had 
 to find a successor to him and colleague to Sir John 
 Campbell. In May of that year Mr. Black suggested, 
 and was asked by the Liberal Committee to write to 
 Mr. Macaulay, and assure him that if he would allow 
 himself to be nominated there was no doubt of his 
 election. He accepted the invitation frankly, stipu- 
 lating only that the election was not to cost him 
 more than 500 : beyond that he could not afford to 
 go, his income, though sufficient for a man of simple 
 tastes, being small. On 29th May he addressed the 
 electors of Edinburgh in the Music Hall, and capti-
 
 104 MEMOIRS OF [1840. 
 
 vated them, as Mr. Black truly says, by his manly 
 eloquence. He was elected on 4th June, and re- 
 elected in September following on being appointed 
 Secretary at War. He continued member for Edin- 
 burgh till 1847, during which time Mr. Black was 
 naturally the person with whom he most communi- 
 cated on all public matters. The letters that passed 
 between them were few, and almost all on political 
 or local questions; but their friendship was close 
 and uninterrupted, from Macaulay's first appearance 
 in Edinburgh to his death in 1859. 
 
 In the following year, 1840, Mr. Black was the 
 principal actor in a singular performance in honour 
 of the Queen's marriage. It was proposed by the 
 Town Council, of which he was not at this time a 
 member, that the event should be celebrated by a 
 refection in the Parliament House, to be called, a 
 ' banquet,' at the rate of 2s. 6d. per head, to which all 
 comers were eligible who chose to pay that moderate 
 sum. In the good old close Corporation times the 
 feast would have been confined to the Council and 
 their aristocratic friends and patrons ' at a bountiful 
 old rate,' for which the base rabble of outside citizens 
 would have to pay. This time it was resolved, in 
 addition, that the very poor of the city, without dis- 
 tinction, should be invited to a suitable ' banquet,' 
 consisting of a mutton pie, a roll, and a pint of porter, 
 per head. The idea was admirable, but the provision 
 for its realisation was miserable. A Committee of
 
 JET. 56.] ADAM BLACK. 105 
 
 the Council had been appointed to make the arrange- 
 ments, with a few other citizens added, of whom Mr. 
 Black was one. But nobody, it would seem, was 
 charged with any special duty in the matter. The 
 poor people were invited to come at one o'clock to 
 the Green Market, a large area below the North 
 Bridge, now occupied by the station and sheds of 
 the North British Railway. Presently the waggons 
 appeared at the gate with the longed-for viands, and 
 there immediately ensued a rush in that direction, 
 and an utter confusion, baffling all description ; the 
 strong and greedy in front getting more than their 
 share ; the weak and needy in the background help- 
 less. The scene, as witnessed from the parapet of 
 the North Bridge by passers-by, was unparalleled ; 
 the hungry, struggling crowd pressing forward ; the 
 policemen flinging the pies and rolls over their heads 
 to those in the rear ; Mr. Black, with his coat torn 
 from the nape of the neck to the tails, fighting against 
 fearful odds to preserve order and get something like 
 justice done ! The poor, hungry, disappointed people, 
 he said, ' behaved wonderfully well.' 
 
 It was expected that the profit on the 2s. 6d. 
 tickets would have paid for this strange banquet, 
 but it fell far short, and Provost Forrest and Mr. 
 Black had to make up the deficit between them. 1 
 
 1 In a letter which he wrote to the Cakdonian Mercury, defend- 
 ing the Committee to whom the matter was entrusted, and the poor 
 people, from some unjust reproaches that had been cast upon them, 
 he said : ' The scene was one of melancholy interest, and a practical
 
 io6 MEMOIRS OF [1840. 
 
 Before the end of this year these two gentlemen 
 stood in a keenly antagonistic position. The Lord 
 Provost's term of office expired in November, and Mr. 
 Black was prevailed on by his friends to allow him- 
 self to be nominated. His eminent fitness for the 
 office and his public services were undeniable; in 
 these respects the claims of Sir James Forrest were 
 small in comparison. Mr. Black, however, was not 
 only a Dissenter, but a formidable one, while Sir 
 Jarnes was not only a member of the Established 
 Church, but a Non-Intrusionist. On this difference 
 the contest wholly turned, and it proved one of the 
 keenest and bitterest that had set modern Edinburgh 
 by the ears. Mr. Black had no great desire to be 
 Provost, but as soon as it appeared that he was to be 
 opposed to the uttermost, simply on the ground that 
 he was a Dissenter, he threw himself into the fight 
 with all his energy, feeling that not merely his 
 personal rights as a citizen, but those of the whole 
 body of citizens outside of the Established Church, 
 were involved. The general feeling in Edinburgh was 
 rather in his favour ; among those free from ecclesi- 
 astical prejudice it was probably unanimous. But 
 it so happened that the majority of the Council at 
 
 illustration of what had been so feelingly demonstrated by Dr. 
 Alison in his most important publication on the state of the poor ; 
 and if this incident shall assist in directing attention to the adop- 
 tion of means for the amelioration of their condition, it will be a 
 much more creditable result than paltry squabbling about the 
 regularity or irregularity of the proceeding. '
 
 *T. 56.] ADAM BLACK. 107 
 
 the time were Tories and Churchmen, and the cry 
 of ' The Church in danger,' with such men as Dr. 
 Chalmers and Hugh Miller to back it, proved irre- 
 sistible. The Non- Intrusion party, though mostly 
 Liberal in politics, for this time allied themselves 
 with the Tories, on the ' fundamental principle,' to 
 use the words of the Witness, ' that all considerations 
 of secular politics should be rendered subordinate to 
 the cause of the Church.' This seems to have been 
 the first of those unnatural and repulsive alliances 
 of heterogeneous and mutually hostile elements, 
 which afterwards became a distinguishing feature 
 of Edinburgh politics at election times. Mr. 
 Black's chance of election depended on the votes 
 of three new members of Council, two of whom 
 were elected for the express purpose of support- 
 ing him. On the election day these two voted 
 against him, and the result was that Sir James 
 Forrest was re-elected by a majority of three. 
 During the contest he had distinctly professed 
 that he sought re-election in order to prevent 
 the election of a Dissenter. In returning thanks 
 for the honour he declared with unction, ' I dis- 
 claim from the bottom of my heart all hostility to 
 Dissenters !' 
 
 As usual on such occasions, after the election 
 the Lord Provost invited all the Council to dinner. 
 Mr. Black sent the following characteristic reply to 
 the invitation :
 
 io8 MEMOIRS OF [1840. 
 
 'Saturday, December 30, 1840. 
 
 ' MY LORD If I cannot consistently accept your 
 invitation for the 13th, I hope your Lordship will 
 not attribute it to any petty feeling of resentment or 
 disappointment on my part, for had the late contest 
 been merely a struggle between opposite political 
 parties, or rested only on the personal claims of the 
 candidates, as soon as it had terminated I would 
 cordially have joined in social intercourse as well as 
 in public business with my opponent. But I con- 
 sider the grounds on which your Lordship rested 
 your opposition to me so injurious to a large class of 
 the community, and so utterly inconsistent with the 
 professed principles of the political party with which 
 you and I have been acting, and the consequences so 
 mischievous to that party, that I feel as if I should 
 hardly be acting with perfect honesty were I, by par- 
 taking of your Lordship's hospitality, to put on the 
 appearance of either justifying or palliating what 
 I consider wrong. I am, etc.' 
 
 Shortly after the election Mr. Black was enter- 
 tained at a public dinner on a great scale, as a 
 tribute to his public merits, and a special protest on 
 behalf of the Liberal principles which in his person 
 had been so flagrantly outraged. The dinner was 
 held in the Waterloo Rooms on 25th November 
 1840, Lord Dunfermline in the chair, Sir James 
 Gibson- Craig croupier, and was attended by upwards 
 of 700 persons, including many distinguished citizens
 
 /ET. 56.] ADAM BLACK. 109 
 
 and strangers. 1 Lord Dunfermline proposed the toast 
 of the evening in a speech characterised by the 
 hearty frankness and calm judicial power which dis- 
 tinguished him at all times. To revive the recollec- 
 tion of forgotten and local feuds is sometimes wrong ; 
 but this was an occasion of so much importance as a 
 protest on behalf of great principles, and so outstand- 
 ing as an event in the life of Mr. Black, that a little 
 extra space must be given to the speeches delivered. 
 The tribute paid by such a man as Lord Dunferm- 
 line to the merits of Adam Black is too valuable to 
 be omitted. He said : 
 
 ' Gentlemen, in mingling once more, and probably for 
 the last time, in your concerns, I have departed from a rule 
 which I had prescribed for myself, and to which I hoped I 
 should have been able to adhere. But when I was asked to 
 join with you in paying a public tribute of respect to Mr. 
 Black", who has been so ungenerously and unjustly treated 
 (hear, hear, and cheers) ; and to concur with you in giving a 
 pledge that we would assert and maintain, by all due means 
 
 1 The Scotsman, in noticing this banquet next day, said, with 
 its usual independence: 'We regret to find that some of the 
 Whig lawyers whose attendance might have been expected absented 
 themselves. The timorous and fastidious spirit which dictated this 
 conduct does them no honour, and augurs ill for the future pro- 
 spects of the Liberal party. ' It is certainly strange to find that 
 the only Whig lawyers whose names appear in the list of that 
 evening's company are, of advocates Sir William Hamilton, Alex- 
 ander Currie, and A. S. Logan ; of Writers to the Signet J. G. Craig 
 and Rod. Mackenzie. For the ' timorous and fastidious spirit ' 
 shown on this occasion, the Liberal party suffered in no long time, 
 being shamefully sat upon in 1847 by the sectarian influences to 
 which they too much deferred in 1840.
 
 no MEMOIRS OF [1840. 
 
 within our power, this great principle, that no man ought to 
 be affected in his civil rights on account of his religious 
 opinions, I felt that I would be ungrateful to Mr. Black, 
 from whom I have received acts of friendship and of kind- 
 ness, which I am proud thus publicly to acknowledge that 
 I would be ungrateful to you for the confiding support which 
 you gave me when I had the honour to represent you in 
 Parliament ; and that I would be faithless and untrue to 
 the principles I have always professed, and which each 
 succeeding year has only strengthened and confirmed, if I 
 had hesitated to obey your summons. The highest tribute 
 which can be paid to the character of Mr. Black, is to be 
 found in the fact, that during the whole of the late contest, 
 in which the fiercest passions were aroused and called into 
 action, in no one instance has the perfect purity and upright- 
 ness of his conduct been questioned (loud cheers). This is 
 the more remarkable when it is recollected that Mr. Black 
 has passed the whole of his life in this city ; that he has 
 been among the foremost in all your political and local 
 struggles ; that he expressed his opinions, and at times when 
 they were most unpopular, with the most unreserved free- 
 dom and undaunted courage (great applause) ; and farther, 
 that during the late contest he inflicted unsparingly on some 
 that censure which it appeared to him their conduct de- 
 served. Mr. Black could only have passed through this 
 ordeal without a taint or blemish, and secured for himself 
 this proud and noble distinction, by having proved his title 
 to be respected as a man of pure and blameless character 
 (loud cheers). . . . Gentlemen, I have been long enough 
 connected with this city to recollect the first dawn of the 
 revival of Liberalism. It was Mr. Black that watched over 
 its youth. It was he who encouraged and strengthened it 
 by his judicious counsel and manly, efforts ; and when he 
 has seen it flourish and become triumphant, it is indeed a 
 strange fatality, and no honour to some portion of the
 
 /ET. 56.] ADAM BLACK. in 
 
 Liberal party (cheers) that he should be now defeated by 
 the failure on their part to give him that support to which 
 he had such irresistible claims. Those, however, who have 
 successfully opposed Mr. Black, have unconsciously conferred 
 upon him a greater distinction (great applause) they have 
 connected his name with a great principle. In his person 
 an indignity has been offered to the friends of civil and 
 religious liberty ; which they will naturally resent the more 
 keenly on account of the great merit and unimpeachable 
 character of the candidate they supported ' (renewed applause). 
 
 Mr. Black's reply may be taken as a good specimen 
 of his style of speaking, generally plain and unadorned, 
 but sometimes rising, when the occasion moved, into 
 a strain of the best sort of eloquence, the expression 
 of natural and honest feeling warmly and well. 
 
 ' It is not in language to express the sense I feel of the 
 honour you have done me an honour which is enhanced by 
 the circumstance of its being conferred upon me as identified 
 with the principles of civil and religious liberty (cheers). I 
 consider it no detraction from your approbation that it is not 
 bestowed for any personal merits on the humble individual 
 who now stands before you ; but in consequence of his name 
 having been associated with a cause dear to every freeman. 
 And I receive it as a pledge of your approval of the manner 
 in which my friends and I conducted ourselves in the recent 
 struggle, in which the fundamental principles of liberty were 
 assailed (much cheering). If I and my supporters have any 
 merit, it is only that of having gone straight forward. We 
 listened to no compromise of principle for the purpose of 
 attaining our immediate object choosing rather to be com- 
 pletely defeated, with our honour untarnished, than that the 
 principle for which we professed to be contending should be 
 violated in a single instance, or in the smallest degree (cheers).
 
 ii2 MEMOIRS OF [1840. 
 
 If anything could add to the high gratification of this 
 testimony of your approbation, it is the fact of its being 
 communicated by a nobleman who has long allowed me the 
 great privilege and honour of numbering him among my 
 sincerest friends (loud cheering) a patriot who fought in the 
 foremost ranks of the assertors of his country's freedom, when 
 all around was drear and dark who won the confidence of 
 the citizens of Edinburgh by his disinterested devotion to 
 their service, when that entailed only obloquy and reproach 
 who, by his wisdom in council, his unflinching courage in 
 acting, and his undeviating adherence to the principles of 
 civil and religious liberty, has, through a long life, and under 
 the most trying circumstances, maintained unsullied the 
 glory of the name of Abercromby (great cheering). And 
 allow me to say, that it is not one of the least of the grounds 
 of gratification to me that I stand in the midst of my friends 
 and fellow-citizens, who have known my manner of life from 
 my youth up (cheers). It has been said that a prophet is 
 not without honour except in his own country ; but in this 
 instance, even where my foibles, and failings, and faults, 
 must be known, you are willing to overlook them all, and 
 only to notice what you consider commendable ; and to 
 confer upon that a meed of praise far beyond what it deserves. 
 I am proud to claim Edinburgh as my native city (cheers). 
 Here have I spent almost the whole of my life, and here I 
 hope to end my days. When a very young man, I was so 
 imprudent as to take two steps which threatened to obstruct 
 my progress to respectability in life. First, I joined one of 
 the most obscure and uninfluential bodies of Dissenters. 
 Think you, my lord, that a young man, not without the 
 natural aspirings of youth not without the common sense 
 to perceive that the dissevering himself from the respectable, 
 the wealthy, the powerful classes of his fellow-citizens, does 
 not feel the painfulness of the sacrifice does not look about 
 for some apology to conform to received opinions, and secure
 
 /ET. 56.] ADAM SLACK. 113 
 
 the countenance of those who can best promote his views in 
 life. And what is there to hinder him but conviction 
 (cheers) a sense of duty a fear to offend that Being to 
 whom alone he is responsible in matters of religion (cheers). 
 Where this is the case where the man acts on conviction, 
 and professes no opinions dangerous to society is it either 
 in conformity with the dictates of common sense or of true 
 religion, that he should be considered less worthy to be 
 trusted in the management of private affairs or public 
 business 1 (cheers). Shall man take it upon him to say to 
 his fellow-worm I will tolerate you to worship God accord- 
 ing to your conscience, and be thankful for my clemency ; 
 but, if you will not worship in the way that I think best, or 
 in the way that the State directs, you must not presume to 
 aspire to public office ; at least you must be excluded from 
 the higher offices of the State (great cheering). It has been 
 argued that there is no persecution in this ; and in reference 
 to the late contest one of the Edinburgh journals says, " The 
 man is persecuted whom the Civil Magistrate requires to 
 recant his religious opinions ; the Magistrate has in this 
 case overstepped his province, and interferes where divine 
 authority should be paramount ; but the Magistrate and 
 Legislature may righteously exclude from certain functions 
 those who cannot comply with the conditions which grow 
 out of them " or, in other words, we acknowledge that the 
 old fashion of burning at the stake to make a man recant 
 his religious opinions, is persecution, but to attempt the 
 same thing by excluding him from offices, or by branding 
 him as a member of a degraded cause, is a righteous act in 
 the Magistrate, or in the people who resort to such measures. 
 Such doctrines are so monstrous that they only require to be 
 exhibited in their naked deformity to secure the reprobation 
 of every right-hearted man (cheering); and I assure you, my 
 lord, I do not regret the result of the late election, because 
 it has roused the attention of the public more extensively, 
 
 I
 
 ii4 MEMOIRS OF [1840. 
 
 and displayed the evils of intolerance more palpably, and 
 advanced the cause of liberty more surely, than could have 
 been done by a successful competition (great cheering). To 
 my sin of being a Dissenter, it is known to most of you that, 
 at a very early age, I added that of Reformer. To many of 
 my friends my case then appeared desperate, and more than 
 one of them, in the spirit of real kindness, expostulated with 
 me on the folly and danger of my conduct, and tendered to 
 me very prudent advice ; but, being confident that I was 
 right, I persevered in the course I had chosen (cheers). But 
 it may be necessary to remind my younger friends that the 
 word Reformer, although spelt with the same letters, was a 
 very different word in the year 1812 and in the year 1832 
 (laughter and cheers). The man who owned it was a 
 marked man he was shunned or jeered by those who 
 appropriated to themselves all the virtues of loyalty his 
 very bill was not so discountable as another man's and even 
 in 1817, in the vigorous attack upon our corrupt burgh 
 system, which I had the honour to commence, we were 
 obliged to have recourse to a circumlocution in order to 
 avoid the ominous word Reform, lest we should alarm some 
 of the more timid of our adherents, and Burgh Reform was 
 transmogrified into "an improvement in the system of our 
 burgh polity " (cheers). Before this, few, very few, dared to 
 speak out. Nevertheless the sacred fire of liberty had been 
 long smouldering in the hearts of the citizens of Edinburgh, 
 and it only required the small breath of a slight agitation to 
 blow it into a flame. And from that day the citizens of 
 Edinburgh, nobly seconded by our Hon. Chairman, Lord 
 Arch. Hamilton, and a trusty band in the House of Commons, 
 persevered in their exertions, till they cleared out the 
 Augean stable, and marched in the representatives of the Ten 
 Pounders (great cheering). Here it would be unpardonable 
 to omit mentioning the extraordinary, the untiring and 
 persevering assistance rendered by that prince of patriots,
 
 /ET. 56.] ADAM BLACK. 115 
 
 our most excellent croupier, Sir James Gibson-Craig, during 
 the whole of that and of every struggle for the liberty of 
 the subject (the whole company here rose as by one consent, 
 and continued to cheer for several minutes, waving handker- 
 chiefs, etc.) Indeed, it is but justice to say, that in all our 
 exertions the citizens have been nobly seconded by the Whig 
 party, with whom we were glad to co-operate not because 
 they were Whigs not because they were in opposition 
 not because they were in power, but because they coincided 
 with us as friends of civil and religious liberty (cheers). 
 That was the bond of our union ; we acknowledge no other ; 
 and while they adhere to that, we adhere to them ; but 
 should they ever desert the standard of liberty, they will 
 not be followed by the citizens of Edinburgh, who will 
 stand by the old flag while there is a rag of it left flying 
 (immense cheering). In the late election there were some 
 unseemly examples of backsliding, but I have reason to 
 believe that the section who deserted their colours was small 
 and by no means influential. I cannot believe that that 
 great party to whom Britain and the world are indebted for 
 such great advances in liberty will ever as a body tarnish 
 their fair fame by countenancing the endeavours of any who 
 would undermine or overturn the foundations of freedom 
 (cheers). I cannot forget that it is to them we are mainly 
 indebted for the blessings which flowed from the Kevolution 
 of 1688 that fifty years ago Mr. Fox moved the repeal of 
 the Test and Corporation Laws and that although he and 
 his friends were defeated on that and succeeding occasions, 
 the conflict was again and again renewed, till at length the 
 victory was achieved in 1828 on the motion of Lord John 
 Russell (loud cheers). I cannot forget that it was the same 
 party who struggled for many a long year to remove the 
 civil disabilities from the Catholics, and who in 1806 pre- 
 ferred the loss of place and power to the abandonment of 
 the principle of religious liberty, and that they never
 
 ii6 MEMOIRS OF [1840. 
 
 relaxed in their endeavours till the emancipation of the 
 Catholics was accomplished (cheers). I cannot forget that 
 they were the earliest and steadiest advocates for the abolition 
 of slavery, and that it was under their administration that 
 the fetters of the slave were broken off, and Great Britain 
 vindicated from the reproach of this unholy traffic (loud 
 cheering). I cannot believe that those who have for so 
 many years fought manfully and successfully under the 
 banner of civil and religious liberty will ever prove recreant 
 to their principles ; but I trust that the effect of this day's 
 proceedings will be to encourage them to oppose with 
 unflinching courage every attack on the citadel of our 
 liberties, and to support every measure which has a tendency 
 to strengthen its bulwarks. At all events, I trust it will be 
 made apparent that, whatever others do, the citizens of 
 Edinburgh will continue steadfast in their adherence to the 
 great principles which have actuated them in all their 
 struggles for liberty and good government, (loud and long- 
 continued cheers).
 
 MT. 57.] ADAM BLACK. 117 
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 1841-1849. 
 
 THOUGH defeated in the contest for the civic chair, 
 Mr. Black continued a member of the Town Council 
 for the next three years, and took a prominent part 
 in its business. In February 1841 he made a motion 
 to petition Parliament for the abolition of the Corn 
 Laws, and the reduction of the duties on sugar, coffee, 
 and timber. In the course of his speech he gave a 
 calculation showing that the saving to the inhabitants 
 of Edinburgh by the abolition of the Corn Laws, and 
 the equalisation of the Sugar Duties, would amount 
 to about twice the amount of their whole local taxa- 
 tion. The motion was carried by a large majority. 1 
 
 From this time till 1846, when the Corn Laws 
 were repealed, the question of Protection and the 
 abolition of the Corn Laws was one of the chief 
 
 1 An illustration of the iniquitous effect of the Corn Laws is 
 afforded by the prices of wheat in the autumn of that year at home 
 and abroad. The average at Dantzig was 1 : 14 : 1, at Hamburg 
 2 : 10s., at London 4 : 2s.
 
 n8 MEMOIRS OF [1841. 
 
 topics of public discussion throughout the kingdom. 
 Great public meetings were held in Edinburgh on 
 the occasion of a visit from Cobden and Bright, whose 
 clear and powerful speeches earned the conviction 
 and sympathies of the majority of the inhabitants 
 entirely with them. Mr. Duncan M'Laren took a 
 leading part in this agitation, and, chiefly through his 
 exertions, a conference of deputies from all parts of 
 Scotland met and sat for a week in Edinburgh, dis- 
 cussing the subject. 
 
 The members for the city, Macaulay and Gibson- 
 Craig, were hampered by their allegiance to the late 
 Government from going so far as the majority of 
 their constituents. Both were totally opposed to 
 Protection, and in favour of the abolition of the Corn 
 Laws, but they had, with the approval of their con- 
 stituents, supported the proposal of the Liberal Min- 
 istry for a small fixed duty instead of a sliding scale. 
 They now felt bound in honour to support in Oppo- 
 sition the measure they had voted for as members of 
 Government, and they believed also that the demand 
 for total and immediate repeal of the Corn Laws was 
 Quixotic and irritating. Among the few letters of 
 Mr. Black which have been preserved is a long, able, 
 and outspoken appeal to Macaulay on this subject, 
 from which the following is an excerpt : 
 
 ' I understand that you are favourable to the entire 
 removal of all restrictions on the trade in corn, but think 
 the change should be delayed or be brought about gradually.
 
 XT. 57.] ADAM BLACK. 119 
 
 ' If you and your constituents are agreed upon the funda- 
 mental principles, I think you might safely yield this part 
 of the detail to them, for if it is to be of advantage to remove 
 the restrictions, why deprive us for any length of time of 
 this advantage, why subject us for ten, five, or even one 
 year to laws which you allow to be attended with pernicious 
 consequences ? I know you will say that the suddenness of 
 the change will occasion great individual hardship. It must 
 be allowed that this, like all great changes, would occasion 
 considerable individual suffering, for change in itself must 
 be considered as an evil though it may ultimately be 
 attended with good, and that is the reason why I think the 
 repeal should be immediate, because, though the hardship to 
 individuals may be greater at the first, the suffering will not 
 on the whole be so great as a continued succession of suffer- 
 ings occasioned by a continued succession of changes arising 
 from a gradual deduction from the amount of duty.' 
 
 Macaulay replied with equal frankness, declaring 
 himself as much a Free Trader as ever, but express- 
 ing his belief that, with the forces against them in 
 England and Ireland, the masses of ignorance and 
 prejudice, a compromise was the only chance of 
 success. ' You must work,' he said, ' with such tools 
 as you have.' He might hazard his seat in Edin- 
 burgh, but that hazard he was quite resolved to run. 
 ' Of this I am certain, that if, holding the opinions I 
 have expressed, I did not run the hazard, you would 
 despise me heartily.' This unyielding Eoman spirit 
 did not cost him his seat on that question, but it 
 helped in due time to do so. 
 
 Mr. Black mentions in his reminiscences as a
 
 120 MEMOIRS OF [1842. 
 
 curious fact that the only opposition they encountered 
 at any of their Anti-Corn Law meetings was from 
 working men and Radicals. 'I recollect one/ he 
 says, ' in the Waterloo Rooms, where I was one of 
 the speakers, which was broken up by them.' 
 
 The great event of 1842 in Edinburgh was the 
 visit of the Queen and Prince Consort. The visit of 
 George IV. had the advantage of greater novelty, 
 but the enthusiasm of 1822 was hollow compared 
 with that of 1842. The object of the one was the 
 institution represented by that most uninteresting 
 King ; the objects of the other were the persons whose 
 youth and virtues made the institution more worthy 
 of loyal enthusiasm than it had been for centuries. 
 The preparations for the royal reception and the 
 accommodation of the public were made on the most 
 elaborate scale, but the fates decreed that the result 
 should be a ludicrous fiasco. Platforms for specta- 
 tors were erected all along the road from Granton to 
 Inverleith, and three councillors, of whom Mr. Black 
 was one, were deputed to wait at Granton for the 
 first appearance of the royal yacht in the Forth, and 
 communicate instantly with the Magistrates. It was 
 expected that the Queen would arrive about 4 P.M. 
 on 31st August. Mr. Black and the rest waited at 
 Granton till it was dark, and then concluded that 
 even if the Queen should arrive that night she would 
 not land till morning. So they went home, leaving 
 a bailie at Granton Hotel to give timeous notice to
 
 JET. 58.] ADAM BLACK. 121 
 
 the Provost and Magistrates of the appearance of the 
 royal yacht. At that time Mr. Black lived in Fettes 
 Row, the windows of which look towards the road 
 from Granton. He was up early, duly arrayed him- 
 self in courtly garments to appear before the Queen, 
 and took his breakfast peacefully. He had scarcely 
 finished when he heard a gun booming from the 
 Castle. Presently he saw with some alarm a squad 
 of dragoons galloping over Canonmills Bridge. Very 
 soon there came driving up Pitt Street a plain open 
 carriage with a pale lady and a handsome gentleman 
 seated in it, whom he immediately recognised as the 
 Queen and Prince. More carriages followed, and a 
 gathering crowd at some distance. The Eoyal Body- 
 guard of Archers mustered from all quarters, and 
 rushed wildly after the royal carriage, which, 011 
 reaching the top of the hill at Princes Street, drove 
 rapidly on to Dalkeith without ever stopping. The 
 Duke of Buccleuch and Sir Eobert Peel were at 
 Granton to receive the Queen, but Her Grace the 
 Duchess was taken by surprise, like some lesser 
 dignitaries, and was not at home when Her Majesty 
 arrived at Dalkeith Palace. There was no telegraph in 
 those days. When Mr. Black got up to the Council 
 Chambers, he found the whole municipal body as- 
 sembled in full costume, but in no gay humour ; the 
 Provost raging as if he had been hoaxed, a crowd 
 outside raging at him and the other magistrates as 
 if they had been to blame for the public disappoint-
 
 122 MEMOIRS OF [1842. 
 
 inent. Office has its sufferings as well as its joys, 
 and the poor little Provost, though perfectly blame- 
 less in the matter, had to bear the whole brunt of 
 the popular indignation, and never got rid of the 
 unjust suspicion of having been caught napping. 
 The most popular song of the day for some time 
 in Edinburgh was a new version of that familiar 
 favourite, ' Hey, Johnny Cope,' 
 
 ' Hey, Jamie Forrest, are ye waukin' yet ? 
 
 Or are ye sleepin' in yir bed ? 
 Hech, man ! get up, for the drums do beat, 
 To meet the Queen in the morning !' 
 
 In some hosiers' windows night-caps were exposed 
 for sale labelled 'Jamie Forrest night -caps, war- 
 ranted not to waken in ;' and four years after this, 
 when Macaulay and Gibson -Craig were elected 
 members for Edinburgh, great amusement was caused 
 by a night-cap, intended for Sir James, being thrown 
 up to the hustings. It fell at Mr. Macaulay's feet, 
 and he handed it to Lord Provost Black, who politely 
 passed it on to Sir James on the opposite side of the 
 platform. Sir James was at the moment addressing 
 the people under difficulties, and not appreciating the 
 joke, flung it back among them with great indigna- 
 tion, and to the uproarious amusement of the crowd. 
 The cause of this untimely appearance of the Queen 
 was a thick fog down the Forth which detained the 
 yacht. She lay behind Inchkeith all night, and 
 between eight and nine in the morning glided out,
 
 XT. 58.] ADAM BLACK. 123 
 
 and was at Granton pier in a few minutes. The 
 Queen had suffered much from sea-sickness on the 
 voyage, and was more disposed for rest than for a 
 public display ; so she hurried on to Dalkeith. The 
 proof-sheets of Sir Thomas Dick Lauder's history of 
 her visit to Edinburgh were sent for Her Majesty's 
 revision, and over the word ' sea-sick ' she inserted 
 ' very.' 
 
 A few days after this the inhabitants of Edin- 
 burgh were gratified by a royal procession through 
 the city on a scale of fitting grandeur. The reception 
 of the Queen and Prince was most hearty and en- 
 thusiastic. Loyal addresses from the Town Council 
 were presented at Dalkeith Palace. The Queen read 
 her answer, of which Mr. Black says, 'Her voice was 
 sweet and distinct, her pronunciation and intonation 
 perfect; indeed she was the best speaker I ever heard.' 
 
 In 1843 took place the greatest event in the 
 history of Scotland since the Eebellion of 1745, 
 the Disruption of the National Church. Mr. Black 
 being a Dissenter took no personal part in the 
 struggle, but he took a keen interest in it, and 
 judged more accurately of its importance and prob- 
 able results than the Ministry of the day, who were 
 neither capable of appreciating the nature of the 
 contest nor truly and well advised as to its probable 
 issue. There was not in Scotland at the time a man 
 whose opinion on any Scottish subject they were 
 more entitled to rely on than Lord Dunfermline, one
 
 124 MEMOIRS OF [1843. 
 
 of the wisest, shrewdest, most sound-headed of men. 
 But with all his wisdom and knowledge of the world 
 he was unable to appreciate the amount and reality 
 of the old fervid unworldly spirit of the Covenanting 
 days, which still lived in Scotland, with such men as 
 Chalmers and Candlish and Guthrie and Miller to 
 fan it into flame. When the secession of the party 
 led by these men was threatened, he asked Adam 
 Black how many he thought would come out ? ' I 
 said,' writes Mr. Black, * if they are honest, and I 
 believe they are honest, at least one hundred of 
 them will secede. He laughed at me, and emphati- 
 cally maintained that not a dozen would leave the 
 Church.' In fact close on five hundred left. 
 
 The story of the Disruption has often been told, 
 and there is nothing new to tell about it. But the 
 impressions of an eyewitness are always interesting. 
 This is Mr. Black's description of what he saw on 
 the 18th of May 1843 : 'At the meeting of the 
 General Assembly in St. Andrew's Church it was 
 generally expected that it would result in a dis- 
 ruption, but opinions varied very much as to the 
 number that would go. With many others I waited 
 in the neighbourhood to see the end, for I took more 
 interest in it than if the spectacle had been the dis- 
 ruption of Shakespeare's Cliff. At last the Moder- 
 ator, Dr. Welsh, came out at one of the side doors, 
 perspiring at every pore, and wiping his face with 
 his handkerchief. Shortly after, the main door
 
 jet. 59.] ADAM BLACK. 125 
 
 opened, and the seceding members of Assembly 
 poured out, and marched in a long stream down 
 Hanover Street, three abreast, the Provost at their 
 head, down to Tanfield Hall. It was a glorious sight/ 
 Lord Jeffrey, who was also a spectator on that 
 occasion, said it made him proud of his country. 
 
 The Disruption was generally considered a calamity 
 for Scotland, but Mr. Black was far from thinking so. 
 He says : ' Some years after, when talking with Sir 
 James Graham, who had been Home Secretary in 
 1843, he said to me there was nothing in his life he 
 more regretted than the result of the Government 
 decision in that matter. I replied that if he had 
 nothing more than that to trouble his conscience, he 
 might keep himself very easy, as I considered the 
 Disruption had proved a great benefit to Scotland. 
 When the two parties, the Evangelical and the 
 Moderate, formed one ecclesiastical body, they were 
 so powerful that, when the high-flying party had the 
 ruling of the roast, and infused their spirit into the 
 mass, they were quite rampant, and ready to ride 
 rough-shod over the Dissenters. But when they 
 split, their power for mischief was diminished ; they 
 were a check upon each other; and a rivalry in 
 Christian effort commenced. Hundreds of churches 
 were built ; hundreds of schools were opened ; and 
 each vied with the other in schemes of usefulness.' 
 
 He tells an anecdote of one of the Non-Intrusion 
 renegades, who had made the most violent speeches
 
 126 MEMOIRS OF [1843. 
 
 when there was no apparent danger, and when the 
 day of trial came were found wanting : ' A minister 
 belonging to the neighbourhood of Edinburgh had 
 declared that sooner than desert his principles and 
 submit to the decisions of an Erastian Court "he 
 would lay his head on the block." He on second 
 thoughts had thought better of it, however, and kept 
 his head, his status, and his stipend as a minister of 
 the Church of Scotland. On the first Sunday after the 
 Disruption, some wag in the parish laid down a block 
 of wood and an axe at the vestry door, to refresh the 
 memory of the worthy minister as he entered the 
 church.' 
 
 It was due to the Disruption that at the muni- 
 cipal election of 1843 there was no voice raised 
 against the elevation of a Dissenter to the civic chair, 
 and in November of that year Mr. Black was unani- 
 mously elected Provost. He had at the previous 
 Whitsunday removed from Fettes Eow to 38 Drum- 
 mond Place, and in that house he lived during the 
 remainder of his life. 
 
 Some of the Councillors took an early opportunity 
 of throwing down an unpleasant bone of contention 
 in the Town Council. It had been the practice from 
 time immemorial for as many of the Magistrates and 
 Council as chose to attend the High Church in their 
 robes on Sunday forenoon. It was now moved, and 
 carried by a large majority, that the practice should 
 be discontinued. Mr. Black disliked pageantry of
 
 /ET. 60.] ADAM BLACK. 127 
 
 all sorts, and this pompous display of gowns and 
 chains and cocked hats not less than others ; but he 
 was not in favour of altering the old custom, as he 
 doubted the legality of doing so. That opinion was 
 confirmed by a decision of the Court of Session, to 
 which a few of the Established Church councillors 
 appealed. 
 
 Not long after this a movement arose among the 
 industrial classes of the city for the establishment of 
 public baths, and great expectations were held out 
 of the extent to which they would come forward in 
 support of the undertaking. These expectations were 
 not realised. The amount subscribed by working 
 men was a mere trifle, and the money got from the 
 general public was not nearly sufficient. A commit- 
 tee of management was appointed, consisting of equal 
 numbers of working men and honorary contributors ; 
 and money for the erection of the baths was borrowed, 
 for which Lord Dunfermline, Sir J. Gibson-Craig, 
 Mr. Black, and Mr. Duncan M'Laren were securities. 
 A great part of the work fell on Mr. Black, who had 
 many meetings and not a little trouble with the 
 working men. They showed so much jealousy and 
 opposition in carrying out an undertaking entirely 
 for their own benefit, that Mr. Black was thankful 
 when an opportunity arose for placing the baths on a 
 self-supporting system, conducted by a person willing 
 to undertake the responsibility. 
 
 Mr. Black was one of the oldest members of the
 
 128 MEMOIRS OF [1845. 
 
 Independent Congregation meeting in Argyle Square 
 Chapel, and was startled on a Sunday in March 1845 
 by hearing the minister, Dr. Lindsay Alexander, an- 
 nouncing a meeting to be held there to petition 
 Parliament against the grant to Maynooth Catholic 
 College. Mr. Black held the opinion, not common 
 among Dissenters, that so long as any of the public 
 money was bestowed on religious institutions it was 
 unjust to withdraw that particular grant. He was 
 therefore in the disagreeable position of being obliged 
 to oppose his brethren of the church on this question, 
 or of abstaining from doing so, and thereby incurring 
 the suspicion of being afraid to maintain his unpopu- 
 lar principles. Anything rather than the latter he 
 would at any time submit to. He resolved, therefore, 
 to attend the meeting, merely to testify against theanti- 
 Maynooth cry, which was at this time one of the great 
 shibboleths of orthodox bigotry. He had no hope of 
 prevailing, but he came prepared with a series of re- 
 solutions, which he moved as an amendment on the 
 motion to present the petition. To his amazement 
 the amendment was carried ; and the worthy chair- 
 man, who had entered the meeting with no idea of 
 such a result, laden with sheets of paper, pens, and 
 ink for signatures to the petition, had now the 
 mortification of signing, as chairman, the resolutions 
 of the meeting. 1 
 
 1 The resolutions were as follows : 
 
 ' Thati in the opinion of this meeting, all grants of money from
 
 JET. 61.] ADAM BLACK. 129 
 
 The organs of ecclesiastical opinion, Established 
 Church or Dissenting, were unanimous in condemn- 
 ing these resolutions, and the Lord Provost of Edin- 
 burgh was held up to reprobation as little better than 
 the Man of Sin. He and his resolutions were repre- 
 sented as enough 'to make the blood of righteous 
 men run cold/ A quiet but very orthodox paper of 
 
 the public treasury for the support or encouragement of particular 
 theological tenets are unwarranted, either by sound policy or Scrip- 
 ture authority. 
 
 'That, in conformity with this view, the proposed additional 
 grant to the College of Maynooth is objectionable ; at the same 
 time it does not appear to be expedient to petition Parliament at 
 present against it, for the following reasons : 
 
 ' 1st. The most zealous opponents of the grant are the parties 
 who have appropriated to themselves the largest share of the public 
 property which has been devoted to upholding ecclesiastical estab- 
 lishments, and whose object evidently is to Touse the zeal of 
 Dissenters to co-operate with them in maintaining their present 
 ascendency. 
 
 ' 2d. Because we conceive that every man is answerable to God 
 alone for his religious belief, and that the State is not competent 
 to decide what theological tenets ought to be adopted and main- 
 tained ; therefore, if we were to petition against this grant, on the 
 ground that it was for the support of theological dogmas which we 
 consider unscriptural and dangerous, we should thereby imply that 
 the State has a right to judge what creeds are to be countenanced 
 as true and Scriptural, and thus admit a principle subversive of 
 religious liberty. 
 
 ' 3d. It is an ascertained fact that in Ireland the Protestants, 
 who were in 1766 a third part of the population, were in 1834 only 
 a tenth the number of Catholics in 1766 being 1,326,860, and of 
 Protestants 544,865, while in 1834 the numbers were 7,190,968 
 Catholics, and 752,972 Protestants ; and firmly believing as we do 
 that the doctrines of Protestantism are founded on truth and 
 Popery on error, we cannot doubt that but for the baneful influence 
 of Protestant ascendency, and the unfair treatment of the Catholics, 
 
 K
 
 130 MEMOIRS OF [1845. 
 
 that period, called the Scottish Herald, thus pathetic- 
 ally characterised Mr. Black's proceeding : ' We con- 
 fess that we were not prepared for the melancholy 
 exhibition which the Lord Provost of this city made 
 in Argyle Square Chapel on Monday evening last. 
 He moved a string of resolutions which, for childish- 
 ness of feeling, weakness of argument, and abandon- 
 ment of principle, have never been surpassed.' So 
 strong was the feeling in Scotland at this time on the 
 subject, that not more than two Scottish members of 
 
 truth would have prevailed against error, instead of error making 
 conquests from truth. 
 
 ' 4th. The Catholics cannot be expected to understand the dis- 
 tinctions between the different sects of those whom they believe 
 heretics, or the grounds of their opposition to the Catholics receiv- 
 ing back but a small portion of what they conceive themselves to 
 have been defrauded of by the Protestants ; and if they find Pro- 
 testant Dissenters combining with the Orangemen and No-Popery 
 party in this opposition, it will not only excite their hostility to 
 their Dissenting countrymen, but indispose their miuds to the re- 
 ception of the truth when stated by them. 
 
 '5th. Because large grants have been made to colleges exclu- 
 sively Protestant, and extensive revenues have been forcibly taken 
 from Catholics and bestowed on Protestant institutions ; and con- 
 sidering the system which is at present acted on by Government, it 
 does appear partial and unjust that munificent funds should be 
 expended on one class, while a comparative pittance is refused to 
 another. 
 
 ' 6th. While we testify against all grants from the public funds 
 for the promotion of any theological creed, we do not consider that 
 we should be justified in joining in the clamour now raised against 
 a particular sect, and that the sect which has suffered from the 
 domination of a High Church party, who, while they take every 
 opportunity of lording it over Dissenters, are now desirous to use 
 them as tools for the accomplishment of their own purposes. 
 
 'JAMES MACLAREN, Chairman'
 
 JET. 61.] ADAM BLACK. 131 
 
 Parliament dared to vote against Mr. Spooner's annual 
 motion for the abolition of the Maynooth grant. 
 
 This year Mr. Black had the pleasure of present- 
 ing the freedom of the city to Lord John Eussell, Sir 
 Henry Pottinger, and his old schoolfellow Sir Charles 
 Napier. The presentation to Lord John was the first 
 of the kind that had taken place anywhere but in the 
 Council Eoom. The ceremonial was gone through in 
 the Music Hall before a crowded assemblage. 
 
 One of the most romantic and historically interest- 
 ing walks in Scotland is that along the banks of 
 the Esk between Lasswade and Roslin. It had been 
 from time immemorial a favourite haunt of Edinburgh 
 people, and of strangers visiting the Scottish capital. 
 The associations connected with Drummond of Haw- 
 thornden and Ben Jonson added to the interest 
 of that neighbourhood. The proprietor in 1845, Sir 
 Francis Walker Drummond, considering the use of 
 that walk by the public a nuisance, in so far as it 
 interfered materially with the privacy of his grounds, 
 closed the gate, and forbade all entrance without 
 special permission. Mr. Black was in London at the 
 time, and wrote an indignant letter on the subject 
 addressed to the acting chief magistrate, for the 
 benefit of the public. This led to the formation of 
 a society for the protection and vindication of the 
 public right of way on paths that have been used 
 from time immemorial, which did signal service in 
 preventing exclusive landowners from depriving the
 
 132 MEMOIRS OP [1845- 
 
 public of one of their most innocent and wholesome 
 natural rights. Their greatest victory was that over 
 the Duke of Athole, who attempted to stop the 
 public right to pass through Glen Tilt between Blair 
 Athole and Braemar. They were equally successful 
 against Sir Francis Drummond, and against the Earl 
 of Morton, who tried to exclude the public from the 
 lovely walk between Burntisland and Aberdour. 
 The proprietor of Habbie's How had intended to do 
 the same, and tried to persuade Mr. Black that he 
 was entitled to do so. Mr. Black, however, assured 
 him that if he tried it the Society would fight him 
 to the uttermost, and he wisely abandoned the idea. 
 
 In July 1845 Mr. Black enjoyed one of the most 
 pleasant privileges which belonged to him as Lord 
 Provost, a voyage in the steam yacht of the Com- 
 missioners of Northern Lights, of whom he was ex 
 officio one. A few days on board that good ship and 
 an annual dinner are the only recompense allowed 
 to these functionaries for their services to the public, 
 which are by no means nominal. Some time before 
 this a clamour arose against the Board, as inefficient 
 and expensive, and Joseph Hume got a Parliamentary 
 Committee appointed to inquire into its management. 
 The result of the inquiry proved very different from 
 what was expected. The Northern Lighthouses were 
 found to be 'efficiently and economically managed, 
 and the services of the Board constant and valuable.' 
 Mr. Hume asked one of the Commissioners, ' What
 
 XT. 6 1.] ADAM BLACK. 133 
 
 remuneration have you for your services ?' And was 
 answered, 'An annual dinner.' 'I think,' he said, 
 ' you should have two.' 
 
 The trip in the Pharos, though pleasant in any 
 weather to those who enjoy the sea, is really part of 
 the duty of the Commissioners, who delegate a few 
 of their number every summer to visit and inspect a 
 certain number of the lighthouses, and have the 
 privilege of taking a guest or two, so far as the 
 accommodation permits. To this gracious privilege 
 are due Sir Walter Scott's Pirate and a great part of 
 the Lord of the Isles. 
 
 Mr. Black and his companions, of whom he men- 
 tions only Bailie Wilkie and Sheriff Murray, sailed 
 or steamed from the Broomielaw to Ayr, thence to 
 Corsewall Lighthouse, near the mouth of Loch Ryan, 
 the Mull of Galloway, the Little Ross at the mouth 
 of Kirkcudbright Bay, and the Isle of Man. The 
 lights of the Isle of Man ought, in respect of situa- 
 tion, to be under the Trinity House, but when 
 estimates were taken for them, it was found that the 
 Northern Lights Board could construct and maintain 
 them more economically, and at least as well. After 
 visiting Peel Castle, Douglas, and Castleton, they 
 crossed over to Wales, and Mr. Black and the friends 
 above mentioned were dropped at Caernarvon, whence 
 they made a short tour through Wales, by Beddgelert, 
 Llauberis, Capel Curig, Con way, and Bangor to Chester. 
 
 In December of this year Mr. Black presided over
 
 134 MEMOIRS OP [1845. 
 
 one of the most important public meetings ever held 
 in Edinburgh, for the purpose of memorialising her 
 Majesty to direct her ministers to order that the 
 ports of the United Kingdom should be immediately 
 and permanently opened for the admission of foreign 
 grain and provisions free of duty. The principal 
 speakers were Messrs. Macaulay and Gibson-Craig, 
 Lord Advocate Eutherfurd and Sir Charles Napier ; 
 and sympathetic letters from Dr. Chalmers and Lord 
 Dunfermline were read. This meeting probably 
 helped considerably to encourage Sir Robert Peel 
 to adopt the great change of front for which he was 
 preparing, in the face of strong opposition from a 
 majority of his own party, and the virulent attacks 
 of Disraeli. Next year he brought in a bill for the 
 repeal of the Corn Laws, and with the help of Her 
 Majesty's Opposition he carried that ' wise, just, and 
 beneficial' measure. 
 
 One of the excitements of Edinburgh this winter 
 was the crusade of George Thompson, an eloquent 
 Anti- Slavery orator, against the Free Church, for 
 having solicited subscriptions, and received liberal 
 aid from slaveholding churches in the Southern 
 States of America. At numerous and crowded public 
 meetings Thompson denounced this conduct unspar- 
 ingly, and reiterated the cry, ' Send back the money,' 
 till the town was full of it. The children shouted it 
 on the streets, every dead wall was chalked with 
 it, even the pavements were made to cry, 'Send
 
 MT. 62.] ADAM BLACK. 135 
 
 back the money!' But the money was not sent 
 back. 
 
 Mr. Black was of opinion that the Free Church 
 was in a wrong position in regard to this matter, 
 and took the trouble of writing a long and friendly 
 letter to Dr. Chalmers on the subject. He was 
 much annoyed, however, by a motion made in the 
 Town Council, without consulting him, as usage 
 and propriety required, to have the freedom of the 
 city conferred on Thompson. Thompson's merits as 
 an Anti-Slavery orator could not be denied, but the 
 time for conferring this honour upon him in Edin- 
 burgh was inopportune, and seemed to have been 
 chosen as a special mark of rebuke to the Free 
 Church. Mr. Black, in making the presentation, 
 carefully avoided anything that could be so inter- 
 preted. 1 
 
 In the course of the following year, 1846, Mr. 
 Black was engaged on behalf of the town in a 
 contest with the North British Eailway, and achieved 
 a great victory, the ultimate results of which, how- 
 
 1 Mr. Black tells of a very good pun which was made on the 
 orator, who afterwards became member for the Tower Hamlets. 
 He got into a dispute with a fellow-passenger in an omnibus, which 
 from words came to blows. The result was that the eloquent 
 advocate of mercy and benevolence had to appear in the police 
 court, charged with assault. Some time after this, meeting the 
 Rev. Dr. Alexander, he consulted him as to how he should act 
 under some peculiar circumstances. ' Well, Mr. Thompson, ' the 
 Doctor said, ' I would recommend to you, in the words of St. 
 Augustine, moderatio in omnibus.'
 
 136 MEMOIRS OF [1846. 
 
 ever, were very unsatisfactory. The Eailway 
 Company required for their station the ground occu- 
 pied by two venerable buildings, Trinity Hospital 
 and Trinity Church. They first proposed to remove 
 the Hospital, and the Town Council agreed to let 
 them do so, if other arrangements were made for the 
 pensioners of the Hospital, equally convenient and 
 suitable. This was done, and an old house in the 
 Canongate was fitted up for the pensioners. The 
 Company next wished the Church removed, and 
 scheduled it in a bill they were prosecuting before 
 Parliament. Mr. Black tried to make an arrange- 
 ment with them, and proposed that as they wished 
 to deprive one of the city parishes of its church, they 
 should replace it by another, suitable for the parish, 
 to cost from 6000 to 7000. The Company was in 
 the heyday of its power at this time, and declined to 
 do anything more than refer the value of the ground 
 and building to a jury, by which they expected to 
 get it for a small sum. Mr. Black wished the Town 
 Council to oppose the Eailway Company in Parlia- 
 ment, but as the city funds were very low, they did 
 not think it wise to encounter so much expense. 
 Mr. Black accordingly determined to take the contest 
 upon himself, and save all expense to the town by 
 being his own counsel. 1 He received authority from 
 
 1 During all the time that he was Proyost, Mr. Black made no 
 charge for his travelling expenses when sent to London on public 
 business, which was in this instance three times in a year.
 
 /ET. 62.] ADAM BLACK. 137 
 
 the Town Council to act in such manner as he con- 
 sidered best, and to consult the London agents of the 
 Corporation as to matters of form. He was accom- 
 panied by the City Clerk, John Sinclair, an excellent 
 man of business. Before leaving for London, Mr. 
 Black requested an interview with the Railway 
 Directors, and urged them once more to agree to the 
 reasonable proposal of the Town Council. But they 
 were mighty, and would come to no terms, believing 
 probably that the Council would not, in their 
 embarrassing circumstances, risk a Parliamentary 
 contest. Nettled at their obduracy, Mr. Black said, 
 'Well, gentlemen, however inconvenient for me, I 
 will go up to Parliament and meet you there, and I 
 tell you what is more, I will beat you.' And he did. 
 The Committee of the House of Commons, after 
 hearing Mr. Black on the one side and Mr. Hope 
 Scott on the other, passed a clause providing for the 
 substitution by the Railway Company of another 
 church in the style and on the model of the old one, 
 or the payment by them to the Town Council of a 
 sum of money sufficient for that purpose. Under an 
 order from the Sheriff, plans for a new church, after 
 the model of the old one, were prepared by Mr. 
 Rhind, architect, and delay in the execution of the 
 railway works being inevitable, the company offered 
 the alternative added by the Parliamentary Com- 
 mittee. They finally paid between 16,000 and 
 17,000 to the Corporation, as the estimated cost of
 
 138 MEMOIRS OF [1846. 
 
 the church designed by Mr. Khind. Delay having 
 again occurred in the acquisition of a site, the re- 
 building of Trinity Church was postponed till after 
 Mr. Black ceased to be Provost. It then became for 
 several years a stock subject of sectarian contention, 
 and finally of a lawsuit, which ended in the House 
 of Lords by the decision that what remained of the 
 money paid for the church belonged neither to the 
 city nor to the parish, but to the pensioners of 
 Trinity Hospital Mr. Black was naturally disgusted 
 at this result of his vigorous efforts for what he con- 
 sidered the interest and credit of the city. He at- 
 tributed the decision entirely to the spite of Lord 
 Westbury. ' This,' he says, ' I believe the Chancellor 
 did from antipathy to the Court of Session, whose 
 decisions he took pleasure in reversing. I am no 
 lawyer, but it appears to me absurd that the inmates 
 of an hospital should be entitled to sell the church 
 connected with it, and spend the money on their own 
 maintenance. Had this beautiful specimen of Gothic 
 architecture been restored, and placed on the com- 
 manding situation provided for it, it would have been 
 one of the greatest ornaments of Edinburgh, but it 
 fell a victim to spite, stupidity, and sectarianism.' 
 
 On 18th August 1846 the Scott monument was 
 inaugurated with great masonic pomp and splendour. 
 A long procession of civic and other dignitaries, 
 mason lodges, committees, etc., filled the eastern half 
 of Princes Street with music and banners. The
 
 ,ET. 62.] ADAM BLACK. 139 
 
 Grand Master Mason of Scotland, Lord Glenlyon 
 (afterwards Duke of Athole), congratulated the 
 assemblage on the completion of the work, and 
 handed over the monument to the two committees 
 and the Lord Provost and Magistrates of Edinburgh. 
 To this the Lord Provost replied in terms so fitting 
 and even poetical that they are worthy of preserva- 
 tion here : 
 
 ' I congratulate you, the Right Worshipful Grand Master, 
 and I congratulate the countrymen of Sir Walter Scott, on 
 now seeing placed on its pedestal, in this magnificent monu- 
 ment, a statue worthy of its shrine. This tribute of a 
 nation's gratitude to one of the most honoured of her sons 
 adds a new feature of beauty and of grace to his native city, 
 but the halo of his genius sheds a far brighter lustre over 
 the name of Edinburgh and of Scotland. As one burning 
 torch not only illuminates the sphere of its own brightness, 
 but kindles the latent fire in others, so who can tell how 
 many dormant spirits have been roused to arduous and suc- 
 cessful exertion by the honourable example of Scott. Even 
 here we see how the glowing genius of the poet has stirred 
 the soul of the architect, and awakened the talents of the 
 sculptor, whose skilful chisel has moulded the rude block 
 into the all but breathing form and features of Scotland's 
 darling son (cheers). While we lament the untimely fate 
 of the gifted architect, we rejoice in the growing vigour of 
 our own citizen sculptor, who, by this exquisite work of art, 
 has given earnest of future productions that will rival the 
 works of the most celebrated artists of this or other countries. 
 The sister arts of architecture and sculpture here vie with 
 each other in presenting their richest offerings to the genius 
 of poetry, history, and romance ; and they are themselves 
 signally honoured in combining to honour him, who has
 
 140 MEMOIRS OF [1846. 
 
 contributed so largely to the instruction and enjoyment of 
 the human race. This monument and statue, admirable for 
 beauty and durability, I trust, will long adorn our city ; but 
 though they crumble into dust, the author of Waverley has 
 reared for himself monuments of more surpassing beauty, 
 and more lasting endurance, and more extensive celebrity 
 (cheers). The forked lightning may dash these turrets to 
 the ground, the tooth of time will corrode these marble 
 features, but over the monuments of his mental creation the 
 elements have no power ; these will continue to be honoured 
 at home, and under distant and more genial skies (cheers). 
 Continents as yet unexplored will be taught by the wisdom 
 of Scott, and enlivened by his wit ; and rivers unknown to 
 song will resound with the lays of his minstrelsy; but 
 nowhere will his memory be cherished with fonder attach- 
 ment and more enduring delight than in the cities and the 
 hamlets of his beloved Scotland (loud cheers.)' 
 
 The original committee, consisting of noblemen 
 and gentlemen, had raised large subscriptions, but 
 they were not sufficient to complete the monument, 
 and a second committee was formed, consisting of 
 tradesmen, who succeeded in raising among their 
 own class a sufficient sum for the purpose. It had 
 been determined that the proceedings of the day 
 should terminate with a public dinner, of which the 
 convener of the tradesmen's committee, Treasurer 
 Dick, took charge, and which proved a brilliant suc- 
 cess. The Parliament House was again rather con- 
 spicuous by its absence of Whigs or Tories; but 
 Edinburgh was there notwithstanding. The entertain- 
 ment was not so 'select' as high-caste lawyers or land- 
 owners might consider fit for them to patronise, but
 
 SET. 62.] ADAM SLACK. 141 
 
 hearty lovers and admirers of the dearest of all 
 Scottish bards, next to Eobert Burns, were there in 
 good force, and did justice to the occasion. About 
 five hundred gentlemen attended, and the speeches 
 were excellent. Among the speakers were Dr. Eobert 
 Lee, Messrs. Why te- Melville, Eobert Chambers, A. 
 M'Neill, J. T. Gordon, and J. M'Diarmid. The 
 celebrated Scottish vocalist, Wilson, contributed 
 greatly to the success of the entertainment by sing- 
 ing several appropriate songs. 
 
 In November of this year Mr. Black presided at 
 a great public entertainment to celebrate the open- 
 ing of one of the most important and successful 
 institutions yet established in Edinburgh, the Philo- 
 sophical Institution. Seldom have so many distin- 
 guished literary men and orators taken part in any 
 such meeting, or delivered so many speeches worthy 
 of the occasion. Among these were Archbishop 
 Whately, Professor Wilson, Mr. Macaulay, Dr. 
 Guthrie, Dr. Samuel Brown, Dr. Moir (Delta), Dr. 
 Douglas Maclagan, Professor Nichol, Professor 
 Miller. Mr. Black, who was first President of the 
 Institution, and afterwards an Extraordinary 
 Director, made an excellent opening speech, and 
 gave valuable assistance in the management of the 
 Institution. The office of president has since then 
 been held by Wilson, Macaulay, and Carlyle, and is 
 now filled by Mr. Gladstone. 
 
 Shortly after this Mr. Black's term of office as
 
 142 MEMOIRS OP [1846. 
 
 Lord Provost expired, and he was again unanimously 
 elected. 
 
 The same year Mr. Black, who had hitherto been 
 fortunate in avoiding law, was obliged to defend 
 himself in an action brought against him by a son of 
 the illustrious Dugald Stewart, claiming the copy- 
 right of the Dissertation contributed by his father to 
 the supplement to the sixth edition of the Ency- 
 clopcedia Britannica, and 2000 as damages for its 
 publication in a separate form apart from the seventh 
 edition without his permission. The case was tried 
 before Lord Patrick Robertson. The claim at first 
 seemed to Mr. Black ridiculous, but when he found 
 himself in the jury court, with formidable counsel on 
 the other side, he began to feel uneasy, knowing 
 what strange verdicts juries can sometimes give. 
 The pursuer's counsel were Adam Anderson and 
 John Inglis, the defenders' Andrew Eutherfurd and 
 Thomas Maitland. An adverse verdict would have 
 seriously injured the Encyclopedia, the publishers of 
 which had at this time advanced nearly 20,000 
 beyond their returns. After two days' trial (23d and 
 24th December 1846), the jury returned a unanimous 
 verdict for the defenders. 
 
 Mr. Black was all his life a strenuous advocate of 
 unsectarian education. He had in 1832 been a 
 supporter of the national system which Lord Stanley 
 had the honour of conferring upon Ireland, which 
 the Ultra-Protestants of Edinburgh, especially those
 
 JET. 62.] ADAM BLACK. 143 
 
 of the Established Church, considered it their duty 
 to denounce as irreligious. The national system 
 proposed by the Government of 1846 was opposed 
 with equal bitterness, but chiefly by the so-called 
 Voluntaries of England, led by Edward Baines of 
 Leeds. A motion made in the Town Council to 
 petition against that scheme was met by Mr. Black 
 with a series of resolutions, which he supported in 
 an elaborate and able speech, afterwards published as 
 a pamphlet. The purport of the resolutions was 
 that the Council, without approving of the proposed 
 scheme, but sensible of the difficulties the Govern- 
 ment had to encounter in dealing with the subject, 
 w r ere willing to accept it as a boon rather than that 
 the people should be longer left without instruction. 
 In the same spirit Mr. Black took a leading part, 
 along with Lord Dunfermline, Lord Murray, Sir 
 James Gibson -Craig, and many other eminent 
 citizens, in founding the Edinburgh Industrial School, 
 to carry out, on what they considered a more equi- 
 table footing, the benevolent design realised in Dr. 
 Guthrie's Eagged School. The latter professed to 
 be open to all sects, but one of its fundamental rules 
 was that all the children were to attend the religious 
 exercises of the school, in the Protestant form, and 
 to be taught to read the Bible in the authorised 
 version. This practically amounted to the exclusion 
 of the most abject and necessitous of the class to 
 be benefited, the children, viz., of Eoman Catholic
 
 144 MEMOIRS OF [1847- 
 
 parents who acknowledged the authority of their 
 Church. The plan adopted in the United In- 
 dustrial School was to give the religious instruc- 
 tion to the children in separate rooms, under 
 teachers of the respective persuasions to which 
 they belonged, and supported by separate funds, 
 altogether apart from the ordinary revenues of the 
 school. No difficulty has been experienced in 
 conducting the school on this plan, which has, 
 in fact, been so far recognised in the national 
 system now fortunately established in Scotland, 
 as the practical solution of the imaginary ' religious 
 difficulty' that so long obstructed the progress of 
 education. 
 
 'Now came,' says Mr. Black, 'one of the most 
 painful of the public transactions in which I have 
 been engaged the rejection of Mr. Macaulay at the 
 election of 1847.' 
 
 Some indications have been given, in the course of 
 this narrative, of the gradual growth in Edinburgh of 
 disruptive political forces, unknown in the days when 
 there were only two parties, Whigs and Tories. These 
 growing forces were rather too much ignored or de- 
 spised by some who ought to have been fittest to judge 
 of their importance. They had shown their power 
 in 1840, and they showed it still more offensively 
 in 1847. The triumph of bigotry hitherto was 
 interesting only to Edinburgh, its triumph over 
 Thomas Babington Macaulay was felt by the British
 
 JET. 63.] ADAM SLACK. 145 
 
 nation. Mr. Macaulay's Erastiaii support of State 
 Churches, his calm toleration of Dissent in its various 
 forms, down to the zero of belief, and worst of all, 
 his toleration of Popery, were from the first against 
 him in earnest Edinburgh. He had a provoking lack, 
 also, of that accommodating pliability which enables 
 many candidates for parliamentary honours to pledge, 
 or appear to pledge, themselves to anything that 
 seems popular. He was too well informed and 
 fixed in principles to be unprepared or indefinite on 
 any question of importance. He was too honest to 
 conceal any of his opinions, or to abstain from arguing 
 in support of them, instead of listening deferentially 
 to objections, and cautiously saying that he would 
 give them his best consideration. He had no elec- 
 tioneering tact, no political diplomacy, but argued 
 and acted as if all men were as free from prejudice 
 and open to conviction as he was himself. The ob- 
 jections that arose out of all this assumed, in 1846, 
 the form of a decided opposition, when he sought re- 
 election on being appointed Paymaster -General of 
 the Forces. The opposition was chiefly based on 
 anti-Maynooth and so-called religious principles, and 
 was promoted generally by the more bigoted repre- 
 sentatives of the Free Church and Dissent. They 
 wanted a man of ' sound views/ a ' real Christian,' to 
 represent them, however feebly, instead of a brilliant 
 orator and ornament of British literature, who refused 
 to swear by Peden, or even by Chalmers, and dared 
 
 L
 
 146 MEMOIRS OF [1847. 
 
 to uphold the Scarlet Woman with public funds of 
 which her adherents paid their due share, to the ex- 
 tent of 13,000 a year, so as to enable her to board 
 and lodge her bog-trotting students a little more 
 decently at Maynooth, while no voice was raised 
 against spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on 
 a bloated hierarchy, representing a miserable fraction 
 of the Irish population. The man of ' sound views ' 
 and ' real Christianity/ fit to stand in the breach, and 
 represent Scotland's heart and head, against all the 
 powers of darkness, instead of T. B. Macaulay, was 
 found in the person of Sir Culling Eardley Smith, a 
 name before unknown and now as utterly forgotten. 
 At the nomination in July 1846, Lord Provost Black 
 proposed Macaulay in a short, sensible, and as 
 usual, fair and outspoken speech ; seconded by Mr. 
 Moncreiff, now Lord Moncreiff. The new champion 
 of Christianity, who was to uphold the place and 
 principles of Edinburgh, in place of its too secular 
 and brilliant representative, was proposed by Sir 
 James Forrest, who had himself the honour of pro- 
 posing Macaulay in 1839. His reasons for prefer- 
 ring Sir Culling are so amusing that they are worth 
 quoting : 
 
 * We live in very eventful times. No one can tell what 
 events are before us. No one can tell what great convul- 
 sions may be preparing in the moral world. We see at this 
 moment, as it were, the opposing forces of good and evil 
 marshalling themselves for a mighty and eventful conflict ;
 
 ^T. 63.] ADAM BLACK. 147 
 
 and I say that in these circumstances it is our duty it is 
 the duty of our friends here and elsewhere to look around 
 for men alone of high religious principle, Christian men, 
 men of sound views on all those great and important matters, 
 who will carry their Christianity along with them .to the 
 Commons House of Parliament, and who will there vote and 
 act as with the fear of God before their eyes,' etc. etc. ' 
 
 With that awful fear, might it not fairly have 
 been added, fear of the Free Church and other 
 important influences ? Macaulay had no such fear, 
 and on this occasion he was returned triumphantly 
 by 1735 votes to 832. 
 
 The majority was so decisive that the friends of 
 Macaulay and of freedom unwisely despised the 
 enemy, and never imagined that in the course of one 
 year the contemptible minority would be turned into 
 an overwhelming majority. But so it turned out. 
 The Free Church waxed, not only in strength, but in 
 aggressiveness, and she had quite strange and unex- 
 pected allies in 1847. Mr. Macaulay, on the other 
 hand, became no more conciliatory or diplomatic ; on 
 the contrary, he talked contemptuously of ' the bray- 
 ing of Exeter Hall' about Maynooth and other 
 ecclesiastical matters. Unfortunately there were 
 other questions in a sphere less solemn than that 
 of theology on which Macaulay was equally unsound 
 and provokingly argumentative. One of these was 
 the Excise Laws, in regard to which the wine and 
 spirit merchants of Edinburgh had a grievance, to 
 which he listened with far too unsympathetic ears.
 
 148 MEMOIRS OF [1847. 
 
 Arguing, as was his wont, with deputations so as to 
 iind out the weak points in their case, he led their 
 representatives to believe that he was against them, 
 which he really was not, and the consequence was 
 that they resolved to vote ' solid ' against him. This 
 turned the election, which, not for the first or last 
 time in British politics, proved the immense power 
 of combined Bible and Beer. ' The unprincipled 
 nature of the coalition,' says Mr. Black, ' will appear 
 from this, that the sectaries had a constant feud with 
 the publicans, and that the latter have been usually 
 found in opposition to the former. Although I have 
 myself always belonged to one of the strictest sects 
 of Christians, and assisted in all the agencies for the 
 spread of Christianity, both by my personal exertions 
 and money, more than most of the loudest declaimers 
 against publicans and sinners, yet the sectaries have 
 generally been my bitterest opponents in my candida- 
 ture for office, and I have found my steadiest sup- 
 porters among the publicans and Papists. But in this 
 instance the publicans made common cause with men 
 whom they considered enemies, and the " unco guid," 
 as Burns calls them, fraternised with the men whom 
 they considered not only as evil themselves, but the 
 source of all evil in others, for the purpose of aiding 
 in procuring them greater facilities for carrying on 
 a trade which they had always said ought to be pro- 
 hibited. They succeeded in 1847 in depriving Edin- 
 burgh of a representative who conferred dignity on
 
 MT. 64.] ADAM BLACK. 149 
 
 the city, and was admired by the Senate and the 
 country as a statesman, an orator, and an honest 
 man.' 
 
 The wrong done was in due time repented and 
 atoned for, but the blot on the escutcheon of 
 Edinburgh can never be wiped out. 
 
 Mr. Black had intended to retire from office at 
 the close of this year, but a largely signed requisition 
 induced him to continue Provost for another year. 
 The year that followed was distinguished throughout 
 Europe as the year of Eevolutions. The earthquake 
 that shook so many thrones on the other side of the 
 English Channel was felt in Great Britain too, but 
 only in the form of tremors and rumblings. There 
 was much discontent, and much suffering among the 
 working classes, but the discontent took scarcely any 
 form more dangerous than that of great open air 
 meetings and vehement speeches by Chartist orators. 
 Numbers of British workmen had been peremptorily 
 expelled from France by her new masters, without 
 time to take their money out of the Savings Banks, 
 or even to collect their tools. There had not for 
 many years been so many people out of work, and 
 in utter destitution, especially in the great towns. 
 In Edinburgh the powers of the authorities and the 
 liberality of the benevolent were taxed to the utmost 
 to preserve order, and provide the means of existence 
 for thousands of starving and clamorous people. 
 Employment was found for as many as possible in
 
 i5o MEMOIRS OF [1848. 
 
 breaking stones and other work about the Meadows 
 and the Calton Hill, but the cry was still for food or 
 money, and large crowds met at these places, and 
 listened to exciting harangues from sympathetic 
 orators. At one of these meetings on the Calton 
 Hill, said to have been attended by 20,000 people, it 
 was resolved to go in a body to the Lord Provost, 
 and present a memorial to the Town Council, setting 
 forth their grievances. After the meeting broke up, 
 the multitude poured down from the Calton Hill to 
 Drummond Place, which they completely filled. 
 The inhabitants of that quiet square were not a 
 little alarmed at such a formidable demonstration, 
 and closed the shutters of their windows. A deputa- 
 tion, headed by Mr. Eobert Cranston, now a Bailie 
 of Edinburgh, came to No. 38, and informed the 
 Lord Provost that their chairman, being a little man, 
 had been lost in the crowd, but that the memorial, 
 which had been entrusted to him, would be duly 
 presented to the Town Council, and that they hoped 
 his lordship would support it. Mr. Black assured 
 them that their memorial would receive full con- 
 sideration ; that, as he had not seen it, he could say 
 no more, but that he rather suspected he should 
 have to oppose it. The deputation then withdrew, 
 and the crowd quietly dispersed. The memorial was 
 afterwards presented by the lost chairman, and a 
 resolution in support of it, though not going so far 
 as the memorialists desired, was met by the Provost
 
 /ET. 64.] ADAM BLACK. 151 
 
 with an amendment, which was carried by twenty- 
 two to eight. 
 
 Some days after this another great meeting was 
 held on the Carton Hill. Mr. Black, anticipating 
 another visit, repaired to the Council Chambers, and 
 ordered a body of police to be in readiness in case of 
 a disturbance in the streets. As he expected, the 
 mob came up the North Bridge from the meeting, 
 and learning that the Provost was at the Council 
 Booms, marched up the High Street, and filled the 
 Royal Exchange Square. The Provost having sent 
 notice to them that if they had any representation to 
 make they should send a small deputation to the 
 Council room, they did so. Their principal com- 
 plaint was that they were in want of work, and 
 starving. The Provost assured them that the magis- 
 trates were fully alive to their distress, and were 
 doing all they could to alleviate it; that if any 
 attempt were made to disturb the public peace, the 
 authorities were prepared to protect the inhabitants ; 
 but that it was earnestly hoped there would be no 
 occasion to use force. Among other precautions that 
 had been taken, a large body of special constables 
 had been sworn in, who were called out one evening 
 about this time, but fortunately had no occasion to 
 use their batons. The deputation listened respect- 
 fully to the Provost, and reported to their con- 
 stituents in the Square, and the crowd quietly dis- 
 persed. The Provost was generally thought to have
 
 152 MEMOIRS OF [1848. 
 
 managed this matter very well ; but to his astonish- 
 ment he received a letter from the Lord Advocate 
 (Rutherfurd) condemning him for permitting the 
 mob to approach the Council Chamber. 1 
 
 In November of this year Mr. Black retired from 
 the Provostship, after having filled the office with 
 great acceptance for five years. He sat in the Town 
 Council altogether eleven years, as Treasurer from 
 1833 to 1836, as a Councillor from 1840 to 1843, and 
 as Provost from 1843 to 1848. 
 
 The chief addition made during his Provostship to 
 1 On this occasion the Sheriff (Speirs) called out the military, 
 and read the Riot Act. The pensioners met in the square of the 
 Royal Exchange, and afterwards paraded the streets, but the 
 officer in command refused to act unless the Provost accompanied 
 him. In this somewhat unenviable position he marched with them 
 through the streets, and the mob was dispersed without injury. 
 Later in the evening a detachment of dragoons came up from 
 Piershill under orders from the Sheriff, and seeing crowds in the 
 North Bridge and High Street, they charged and galloped up 
 brandishing their swords, one of which cut off a man's nose, who 
 unfortunately was peeping out of a close-head, and paid this penalty 
 for his inquisitiveness. His wife applied to the Provost next day 
 for a solatium, and received half a crown as the price of the nose, 
 which she accepted very thankfully. 
 
 On another somewhat similar occasion Mr. Black showed ready 
 resource in meeting an emergency. After a heavy fall of snow the 
 students at the College took to snowballing the passengers in the 
 street, and proceeding from horseplay to a more serious use of 
 their arms, a dangerous riot commenced. The Provost was advised 
 to call out the military, as the police were powerless. He declined, 
 but at once ordered out the fire engines, and directed them to go 
 round the College and come past it at full gallop. The cry of Fire 
 was soon heard, the mob opened out to let the engines rush by, 
 and instantly followed the brigade in their fruitless search after an 
 imaginary conflagration.
 
 /EX. 64.] ADAM BLACK. 153 
 
 the architecture of Edinburgh was the Corn Exchange, 
 for which the city and all the farmers who do business 
 there are indebted to him. Before that magnificent 
 building was erected, the business for which it was 
 designed was all done in the open air in circum- 
 stances of extreme inconvenience and discomfort. 
 Mr. Black determined to put an end to this ; and as 
 the result of his exertions the dealers in agricultural 
 produce were provided with ample accommodation, 
 and the city with the largest hall hitherto built in 
 it, which has been used since its erection for all the 
 greatest meetings and banquets that have been held 
 in Edinburgh. 
 
 At the last meeting of the Town Council at which 
 he presided, on 2d November 1848, Mr. Black was 
 presented with a full-length portrait of himself in his 
 official robes, painted by the President of the Eoyal 
 Scottish Academy, Sir John Watson Gordon. It 
 was subscribed for by a number of his fellow-citizens, 
 including some of his previous opponents, whom his 
 conduct as Lord Provost had satisfied that the credit 
 and welfare of the city, so far as dependent on the 
 conduct of its affairs by its rulers, had never been 
 more thoroughly upheld and promoted than during 
 his tenure of the office. Lord Cockburn expressed 
 this sentiment when, in writing his lively protest 
 ' on the best ways of spoiling the beauties of Edin- 
 burgh,' he spoke of him as ' one of the very best and 
 most justly respected chief magistrates that Edin-
 
 154 MEMOIRS OF [1848. 
 
 burgh ever saw.' The prime elements of character 
 to which this was due were his plain straightforward- 
 ness and strength of purpose, his freedom from self- 
 regarding motives, and his strict impartiality. He 
 neither sought for power nor craved popularity, 
 neither feared criticism nor hesitated to give it when 
 required. 
 
 As a just recognition of his public services the 
 honour of knighthood was offered to him in the fol- 
 lowing letter from Lord John Eussell, then Prime 
 Minister : 
 ' Private. Eichmond, Nov. 16, 1848. 
 
 'SiR In consequence of the judgment, temper, 
 and ability you have shown in the conduct of the 
 municipal government of Edinburgh during a long 
 period, and the general esteem in which you are 
 held by your fellow-citizens, I shall advise the Queen 
 to confer upon you the honour of knighthood. I 
 wish, however, to ascertain that such a distinction 
 will be acceptable to you before I proceed further. 
 I remain, sir, your faithful servant, J. EUSSELL.' 
 
 The family were sitting at breakfast when this 
 letter came, and Mr. Black, having read it aloud, 
 said he would now put it to the vote whether to 
 reply Yes or No. The Noes carried it unanimously, 
 and Mr. Black replied as follows : 
 
 'Edinburgh, Nov. 21, 1848. 
 
 ' MY LORD I cannot sufficiently express my sense 
 of the honour your lordship has done me in testify-
 
 --ET. 64. ] A DAM BLA CK. 155 
 
 ing your approval of my conduct while Chief Magis- 
 trate of this city, especially as this is accompanied 
 with the kind offer to recommend to Her Majesty to 
 confer on me a distinction which I should gladly 
 accept and highly value, did it comport with my cir- 
 cumstances. But after seriously considering the case 
 I came to the conclusion that, highly gratifying as it 
 is to myself, gratifying as it most probably will be to 
 my fellow-citizens that such distinction has been 
 offered to their Chief Magistrate by your lordship, 
 they will agree with me that it is more appropriate 
 that I should retain the status of an untitled citizen 
 among them. 
 
 ' With sentiments of unfeigned gratitude, I have 
 the honour to be, my lord, etc., A. B. 
 
 ' The Eight Hon. Lord John Eussell.' 
 
 'I have never regretted,' says Mr. Black, 'the 
 decision we came to. To me the title would only 
 have been an encumbrance ; my wife had no desire 
 to be called "My Lady," and it would only have 
 fostered vanity in my children.' 
 
 During his term of office Mr. Black's time was 
 necessarily much occupied by his public duties ; but 
 he was fortunate in having as his partner in business 
 his able and accomplished nephew Charles. He now 
 resumed his old work as before. ' I sat down at my 
 desk,' he says, ' as if I had never left it. The past 
 appeared but as a dream.'
 
 156 MEMOIRS OF [1849. 
 
 CHAPTEE V. 
 
 1849-1856. 
 
 MR. BLACK was now relieved from public business, 
 and had reached an age when men generally are sup- 
 posed to be entitled to a life of comparative leisure. 
 It seemed very unlikely, and no one probably thought 
 so more than himself, that some of the most active 
 years of his life, and in a sphere of public duty he 
 had never aspired to, were still before him, and to 
 begin, after he had fairly passed the ordinary bound 
 of human life. 
 
 For a few years after this he occupied himself 
 mainly with his own business, though continuing to 
 take, as before, an active part in such public matters 
 as had a special claim on his time. In April 1851 
 he made the most important addition to the business 
 of his firm that he had ventured on since he became 
 proprietor of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, by pur- 
 chasing from Robert Cadell's trustees the remaining 
 copyrights of Sir Walter Scott's works. The name 
 of A. and C. Black had stood for a long time on the
 
 VET. 67.] ADAM BLACK. 157 
 
 title-page of the Edinburgh Review (though they 
 never had any share in the property) where that of 
 A. Constable and Co. once stood; so that now the 
 one firm occupied the place of the other, as regarded 
 the three chief undertakings which had so specially 
 done honour and good to Edinburgh as a seat of in- 
 tellectual influence and of printing and publishing 
 business. To be proprietors and publishers of the 
 Encyclopaedia Britannica and the works of Sir Walter 
 Scott might well be considered a sufficient honour 
 and occupation for any firm. 1 
 
 1 Messrs. Black removed in 1851 from No. 27 to No. 6 North 
 Bridge, where they had the advantage of more room, though in a 
 less cheerful situation. No. 27 is the corner shop on the S.W. 
 side of the North Bridge, and commands, from various points, a 
 clear view of the Mound, Princes Street, and the Calton Hill. 
 No. 6 is near the S.E. corner of North Bridge Street, where it 
 abuts on the High Street, and behind it is Halkerston's Wynd, at 
 one time the most disreputable of all the High Street closes, a 
 dangerous passage even in daylight. Mr. Black had for some 
 years been buying up property in this quarter, as opportunity 
 offered, with a view to extending his premises backwards from 
 the North Bridge, and ultimately succeeded in buying up the 
 whole of Halkerston's Wynd. This involved transactions with 
 a great number of proprietors, sometimes difficult to discover, and 
 not less to deal with. After he bought the houses, he did not 
 venture to go and examine them ; as for rent, it would have been 
 dangerous to ask it. When it became necessary at last to com- 
 mence building operations, Mr. Black was at a loss how to get rid 
 of his tenants, most of whom occupied one or two rooms, and were 
 supposed to pay weekly. He knew that formal warning would be 
 useless, unless followed by eviction, and he was unwilling to use 
 harsh measures. He accordingly offered to give each of them 
 half a crown if they would ' flit and remove ' before a certain day. 
 They all took the half-crown, and agreed to remove ; but instead
 
 158 ' MEMOIRS OF [1851. 
 
 In the summer of this year Mr. and Mrs. Black 
 visited the Great Exhibition, memorable as the first 
 of its kind, and, to those who saw it, never equalled 
 in interest by any of the greater ones that followed 
 it. Later in the season they spent some time with 
 their family at Ashton, on the Clyde. Their principal 
 amusement consisted in visiting the various interest- 
 ing and delightful places to be seen ' doon the watter.' 
 Among others, they landed one day at Tighnabruaich 
 in the Kyles of Bute, and were so taken by the charms 
 of the situation that they thought no place could be 
 more desirable as a summer retreat. Mr. Black took 
 a feu there of about two acres, on which he built a 
 pretty cottage, which for eight years was a pleasant 
 holiday home for him and his family, and is associated 
 in their minds, and those of friends who visited them, 
 with many happy recollections. 
 
 In the course of this year, also, preparations began 
 to be made for a new edition of the Encyclopaedia 
 Britannica ; but the work was not fairly begun till 
 the following year. Nine years had elapsed since the 
 
 of their doing so, Mr. Black found that on the appointed day the 
 rooms were apparently fuller than before. With the help of the 
 police, he at last got these noisome dens cleared out without 
 violence. One poor man pleaded hard to be allowed to remain till 
 the end of the month, as his wife had just gone to jail for that 
 time, and wouldn't know where to find him when she came out, if 
 he were removed. His request was granted. 
 
 Among the tenements thus acquired and still preserved, was one 
 of literary interest, the house No. 165 High Street, at one time 
 occupied by Allan Ramsay, where he both did business as barber 
 and sold his poems in broadsheets.
 
 VET. 67.] ADAM BLACK. 159 
 
 completion of the seventh edition, and much of the 
 scientific and historical contents had become already 
 antiquated or imperfect. The whole, however, had 
 been stereotyped, and many of the plates, maps, and 
 steel engravings were still available. Paper and 
 printing were also much cheaper than they had been, 
 so that the cost of this edition and its selling price 
 were much reduced. 
 
 The editor chosen for the eighth edition was Dr. 
 Thomas Stewart Traill, Professor of Medical Juris- 
 prudence in the University of Edinburgh, a man of 
 extensive and varied knowledge. His decided Liberal 
 principles, which he professed more publicly than is 
 generally done by academic officials, brought him 
 naturally into intimate relations with Mr. Black, in 
 whose back-shop he was almost a daily visitor on 
 his way to or from the University. He Was also a 
 man of agreeable and obliging disposition, and Mr. 
 Black rightly thought that he could not have a better 
 editor for the Encyclopaedia. Mr. Black reserved to 
 himself this time more of the practical control of the 
 work than he had done with Mr. Napier, and was re- 
 solved, among other things, that the work should be 
 done more economically. This led to a great saving 
 of the stereotype plates, with results, however, not con- 
 ducive to the perfection of the work, and sometimes 
 very trying to the contributors or sub-editors, when 
 they were informed on a proof-sheet that they had 
 ' seventy-nine lines to strike out,' or ' forty-two lines
 
 i6o MEMOIRS OF [1851. 
 
 to fill in,' after having already exercised all their skill 
 in putting the necessary information into the most 
 moderate compass compatible with due proportion 
 and literary art. In this respect the ninth edition 
 of the Encyclopaedia, now in course of publication, is 
 immensely superior to the eighth or any preceding 
 edition. The stereotype plates having been wholly 
 thrown aside : the book, which may be regarded as the 
 most complete repertory of human knowledge ever 
 compiled, is to all intents and purposes a new one. 
 
 In the preparation of the eighth edition Mr. Black, 
 guided by his experience of the seventh edition, 
 thought it well to have several competent hands 
 working on the premises on the bulk of the smaller 
 articles, and he was not disappointed. ' Sometimes,' 
 he says, ' we had three or four working at once in 
 our rooms, and with these young gentlemen we had 
 the publication much more comfortably managed than 
 with a dictatorial editor.' Among the first of these 
 was Mr. Thomas Stewart Traill, son of the Professor, 
 an amiable and accomplished young man, who as- 
 sisted in the work for several years, but died, as his 
 father also did, before the edition was completed. 
 Mr. David Kay, who was specially engaged for the 
 geographical and statistical department of the Ency- 
 clopaedia, worked at it from the beginning to the 
 completion of the edition, with unfailing care and 
 conscientiousness. Among the other assistants or 
 sub-editors who worked on the premises for periods
 
 MT. 67.] ADAM BLACK. 161 
 
 of varying length were the present writer ; Mr. James 
 Carmichael, now of the Edinburgh Academy ; Dr. 
 David Pryde, now Head Master of the Edinburgh 
 Ladies' College ; Mr. Eichard Waterston, now a 
 minister of the Free Church in Dundee ; Mr. Peter 
 Macpherson, M.A. ; Mr. James Candlish, son of the 
 eminent Dr. Candlish, himself now D.D. and a Pro- 
 fessor in the Free Church College, Glasgow; Mr. 
 William H. Chalmers, afterwards Assistant Librarian 
 in the Advocates' Library, and since dead, a man of 
 considerable power and quaint originality. Last, but 
 not least, was John Downes for several years, and 
 especially after Professor Traill's death, the real 
 editor of the Encyclopaedia. A few words of special 
 tribute are due to his memory. A native of Port- 
 patrick in Wigtownshire, of humble birth, he was 
 one of those exemplary specimens of Scottish char- 
 acter and accomplishments, developed under great 
 difficulties, which do honour to their native country. 
 Big in body and in mind, combining strength and 
 sweetness, courage and modesty, great knowledge for 
 his years, and perfect humility, he died at the age of 
 thirty-seven, leaving the sad but proud feeling with 
 those who knew him, that Scotland and the world 
 had lost a man who, if he had lived, would have 
 upheld his country's reputation, and made his own 
 place as a leader in the world of thought. He was 
 specially distinguished as a student in Philosophy, 
 and contributed to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, 
 
 M
 
 162 MEMOIRS OF [1852. 
 
 besides innumerable smaller articles, ' Pantheism,' 
 ' Scepticism/ and ' Spinoza,' which were rightly char- 
 acterised by Dr. John Brown, who valued him much, 
 as 'models of strong, judicious, original, and un- 
 pretending thought.' 
 
 On the dissolution of Parliament in 1852, Sir 
 William Gibson-Craig, who had been one of the re- 
 presentatives of Edinburgh since 1847, refused to be 
 nominated again. The first person whom the Liberal 
 Committee thought of as his successor was Lord John 
 Eussell, and Mr. Black was commissioned to inform 
 him that if he chose to be nominated there could be 
 no doubt of his election. Lord John highly appre- 
 ciated this mark of confidence, and declined the offer 
 only on learning that he was to be nominated as one 
 of the candidates for the City of London, which had 
 a prior claim on his services. It was now suggested 
 that the constituency of Edinburgh should make 
 atonement for the injustice done to Mr. Macaulay in 
 1847 by electing him again, and the first person 
 who expressed this idea to Mr. Black was one of 
 Macaulay's most vigorous opponents on the former 
 occasion, Mr. Peter Howden. Finding the proposal 
 generally acceptable, Mr. Black brought it forward 
 in the Liberal Committee, which heartily adopted it. 
 Mr. Macaulay very naturally declined to appear as a 
 candidate ; but the Committee resolved, notwith- 
 standing, to bring him forward on their own respon- 
 sibility, and to relieve him from all the trouble and
 
 /ET. 68.] ADAM BLACK. 163 
 
 expense of a contest. Six candidates were nomin- 
 ated, and the contest was very keen. The new 
 candidates were Mr. Duncan M'Laren, then Lord 
 Provost of Edinburgh (Liberal); the Hon. T. C. 
 Bruce, brother of the Earl of Elgin (Conservative) ; 
 Mr. Campbell of Monzie (Independent) ; and Pro- 
 fessor Dick, of the Edinburgh Veterinary College 
 (Eadical). Mr. Charles Cowan (Liberal), stood again, 
 and was supported as before by the greater part of 
 the various sections which combined in 1847 to put 
 him in place of Macaulay. Macaulay had the sup- 
 port of the old Whig party, and of a large proportion 
 of the more educated citizens, who wished, irrespec- 
 tively of politics, to wipe off the reproach which the 
 electors had brought on the city by rejecting five 
 years before a man of gifts so brilliant and of honesty 
 so pure. 1 
 
 Mr. Bruce was supported only by the Conservatives, 
 who have never since 1832 been able to win a seat 
 in Edinburgh. On this occasion they made a respect- 
 able appearance on the polling-day. 
 
 Mr. M'Laren had been one of the earliest and 
 most constant advocates of Reform and Free Trade, 
 and had specially distinguished himself in the admin- 
 istration of the affairs of the city by his services as 
 
 1 Among these the most striking and interesting example was 
 given by Professor Wilson, who, though in failing health at this 
 time, living in the country, at some distance from Edinburgh, came 
 in on the polling-day expressly to vote for Macaulay, who greatly 
 appreciated the compliment.
 
 1 64 MEMOIRS OF [1852. 
 
 Treasurer, and by the establishment of the outdoor 
 Heriot Free Schools. He had consequently a large 
 support among his fellow -citizens, especially from 
 those of more advanced views, who afterwards called 
 themselves the Citizen Party. 
 
 Campbell of Monzie came forward as the repre- 
 sentative of true blue Scottish Protestantism and 
 Presbyterianism, and received some support from the 
 more fervid or fanatical portion of the Free Church, 
 who were pleased by his rousing but somewhat ex- 
 travagant eloquence. 
 
 Professor Dick came forward as the representative 
 of genuine Kadicalism, but received so little encour- 
 agement that he did not proceed to the poll. 
 
 Each of the candidates stood by himself, on his 
 own merits, and the ultimate struggle was between 
 M'Laren and Cowan. Had they been each depend- 
 ent on their natural supporters, M'Laren would have 
 been successful. But the Tories thought Cowan the 
 less objectionable of the two, and came to his help 
 about the middle of the election day, raising him 
 from the third to the second place on the poll. Mr. 
 M'Laren afterwards blamed Mr. Black for having 
 caused his defeat, by advising the Eoman Catholics 
 to plump for Macaulay, instead of splitting their 
 votes between Macaulay and him. Mr. Black's ac- 
 count of this, however, is that the Eoman Catholics 
 intended to plump for Macaulay before they came to 
 ask his advice, when solicited to split their votes
 
 JET. 68.] ADAM BLACK. 165 
 
 with M'Laren : and that he, as chairman of Macau- 
 lay's committee, could not afford to risk the chance 
 of his being second on the poll, perhaps even third. He 
 accordingly advised them to adhere to their original 
 intention. 
 
 On the polling day Macaulay took the lead from 
 the first, and at the close the figures were : 
 
 Macaulay ; . . 1872 
 
 Cowan .... 1754 
 
 M'Laren .... 1546 
 
 Bruce .... 1066 
 
 Campbell . . . 626 
 
 Macaulay's expenses amounted to 906, which were 
 paid by his supporters. 
 
 The death of his nephew Charles in 1854 de- 
 prived Mr. Black of a much-beloved and valuable 
 partner, whose intellectual capacity, cultivated taste, 
 and pleasing manners, greatly contributed to the 
 success of the business. Mr. Black's sons were now 
 of an age to take a useful part in the affairs of the 
 firm. In the summer of the same year a proposal 
 was made by some of his friends to do him honour in 
 a form of the most unusual kind, as a tribute to his 
 public and private merits, the erection, viz., of a statue 
 in some suitable public place or building, such as the 
 Corn Exchange. The committee formed to take 
 charge of the matter appointed a deputation to wait 
 on Mr. Black, and in reply to the letter of their
 
 166 MEMOIRS OF [1854. 
 
 secretary, Mr. John Jopp, W.S., Mr. Black made the 
 following characteristic reply : 
 
 'JulylQ, 1854. 
 
 'DEAK SIR I was quite overwhelmed with the 
 extraordinary expression of the kindness of my good 
 friends as conveyed to me in your letter of Saturday. 
 As I read it I really thought it must have been in- 
 tended for some other person, and misdirected to me, 
 for I could not conceive of anything I had done that 
 could merit such mark of approbation. If I have 
 been of any service to the public, I have only done 
 what it was my duty to do, and not more than others, 
 and I have done nothing lately to call for particular 
 notice. It is very gratifying to me to think that my 
 fellow-citizens are generally satisfied with my public 
 conduct, but I not only do not desire anything more 
 than their esteem, which I greatly prize, but any public 
 demonstration, or any substantial mark of it would be 
 really painful to me ; and if my friends will consult 
 my happiness, I most sincerely and earnestly request 
 that they will allow me to pursue the even tenor of 
 my way without any public demonstration whatever. 
 
 ' I consider that a statue ought not to be erected to 
 any man while alive. I might do something very 
 foolish or very wrong, and the statue would then 
 stand as a monument of ridicule or reproach. 
 
 ' As I would object to such a mark of approbation 
 to any other man while alive, I would most decidedly 
 object to it in my own case.' . . .
 
 ^ET. 72.] ADAM BLACK. 167 
 
 The year 1856, in which Mr. Black entered on his 
 seventy-third year, unexpectedly proved the most im- 
 portant of his life, and ushered him into a new and 
 higher sphere of public duty than he had ever 
 dreamed of. Macaulay had written to him in Janu- 
 ary 1855, expressing his desire to retire from Parlia- 
 ment on account of the state of his health, which 
 was so delicate that he could not attend to his duties. 
 It irked him to be ' titular member ' only ; and the 
 question troubled his conscience. In April 1855 he 
 again wrote to the same effect. 'I feel,' he said, 'every 
 day more and more that my public life is over. . . . 
 I see no chance of my being able again to take part 
 in debate. . . . The little that I can do for mankind 
 must be done at my desk.' The Edinburgh Liberal 
 Committee urged him still to retain his seat, as a 
 dissolution was near at hand, and repeated contests 
 and canvassing were very objectionable. Macaulay, 
 in deference to this feeling, held on for some time 
 longer, but at length decided that he must retire, and 
 on 19th January 1856 sent his valedictory address 
 to the electors of Edinburgh. That interesting docu- 
 ment contains the statement, creditable to the con- 
 stituency which had formerly treated him so un- 
 worthily, ' From not one single elector have I ever 
 received a line of reproach or complaint.' The 
 Liberal Committee was now in a difficulty. There 
 was no man of eminence to be got anywhere to fill 
 the place of Macaulay.. Looking at home, they
 
 168 MEMOIRS OF [1856. 
 
 naturally thought of Sir "Wm. Gibson-Craig, who had 
 represented Edinburgh so well before ; but he posi- 
 tively refused to be nominated again, and recom- 
 mended the committee instead to choose their well- 
 known and tried friend Adam Black. To Mr. Black 
 the proposal was naturally startling, and he decidedly 
 declined to offer himself, on very good grounds. He 
 urged that he was too old, and not likely to make 
 any figure in Parliament creditable to Edinburgh ; 
 that it would be injurious to his. business to remove 
 from Edinburgh ; and that it would be very incon- 
 venient and expensive, with or without a contest. 
 These objections, however, were overruled by those 
 who had taken most part in promoting Macaulay 's elec- 
 tion, and they were satisfied that if they were to choose 
 a representative from their own citizens, the man 
 above all others most fit and worthy to fill that place 
 was Adam Black. To them, who knew his unusual 
 vigour of body and mind, his age was no objection 
 whatever. It was just the same as that of the most 
 lively and influential man at that moment in Great 
 Britain, Lord Palmerston. Mr. Black at length 
 consented to stand, if he obtained some reasonable 
 assurance that he would receive sufficient support. 
 That assurance was soon given in the shape of a well 
 and influentially signed requisition. And now Mr. 
 Black's troubles began. There were at that time twelve 
 newspapers published in Edinburgh, and of these 
 only one supported him. Some of the rest reviled
 
 JET. 72.] ADAM BLACK. 169 
 
 him without measure ; others depreciated him with 
 decency; and some gave him the go-by without 
 positive criticism. The one paper that supported 
 him was the Scotsman, then edited by the brightest 
 and ablest of all editors of his time, Alexander 
 Eussel, and more truly representing the best 
 thought of Scotland and its capital than any or all 
 of the other papers. The Tory interest was repre- 
 sented by the Courant, Evening Post, and Advertiser, 
 all opposed to Adam Black, but with respectable 
 moderation, excepting the Post. The Advanced 
 Liberal or Eadical interest was represented chiefly by 
 the Daily Express, Caledonian Mercury, and Edin- 
 burgh News, which, each in their season, poured forth 
 the most unmitigated abuse of the old man, whom they 
 showed, in the clearest manner, to be the very incar- 
 nation of Whig exclusiveness, selfishness, irreligion, 
 and jobbery. One other paper, deserving of special 
 notice, showed no hostility to Mr. Black, but gave 
 him no support. That was the Witness, the organ of 
 the Free Church, edited by one of the few men of 
 genius then to be found in Edinburgh, who knew as 
 well as any man in Scotland the merits of Adam 
 Black, but was bound by the exigencies of his posi- 
 tion as the editor of an ecclesiastical organ to abstain 
 from giving him any help. Hugh Miller, in one of 
 his articles on the subject in the Witness, thus 
 classified the parties at that time existing in Edin- 
 burgh :
 
 i ?o MEMOIRS OF [1856. 
 
 1. The Edinburgh Review Whig party. 
 
 2. The old Anti -Edinburgh Review Conservative party. 
 
 3. The Anti-Forbes-Mackenzie Act party. 
 
 4. The Pro-Forbes-Mackenzie, or Temperance party. 
 
 5. The Anti-Maynooth party. 
 
 6. The Pro-Maynooth (Cowgate Roman Catholic) party. 
 
 7. The John Hope (Roman Catholic Emancipation Act 
 
 Repeal) party. 
 
 8. The Duncan M'Laren party. 
 
 9. The Modified Ecclesiastico - Political Free Church 
 
 party. 
 
 He omitted, it seems, two additional parties the 
 Sabbatarian party, and the Society for Vindication of 
 Scottish Eights. 'My supporters,' says Mr. Black, 
 ' were drawn chiefly from the old Whig party. The 
 Catholics naturally supported me for opposing the 
 Anti-Maynooth party, and I had, I believe, a majority 
 among the publicans ; so that my strength lay among 
 the Whigs, the publicans, and the Koman Catholic 
 sinners. The other six parties combined against me.' 
 From the upholders of the Established Church it was 
 to be expected that Mr. Black should receive only 
 opposition ; but from the Dissenters, of whose prin- 
 ciples he had been a conspicuous champion, he was 
 well entitled to look for friendly support. On the 
 contrary, many of his bitterest opponents were Dis- 
 senters, and, saddest of all, the life and soul of the 
 opposition was his old friend and comrade in every 
 great contest of the past, Duncan M'Laren. Mr. 
 Black had let him know of his intention to offer him-
 
 JET. 72.] ADAM BLACK. 171 
 
 self as a candidate before he announced it publicly, 
 and Mr. M'Laren had informed the chairman of his 
 own former committee, in reply to an inquiry whether 
 he could be induced to come forward again, that the 
 resolution he had formed and communicated to his 
 friends, nearly two years ago, against doing so was 
 still unchanged. Mr. M'Laren, however, had made 
 up his mind that his old friend Adam Black ought 
 not to be member for Edinburgh; that he was too old 
 at any rate, too much of an Old "Whig, not enough of 
 an Advanced Liberal, or Independent Citizen. It was 
 resolved, therefore, that he must be opposed at all 
 hazards, and the old "Whigs the ' Parliament House 
 clique,' the supposed inheritors of the Edinburgh 
 Review principles be made to know that their day 
 was past, and that they must give place to new men 
 and new ideas. With extraordinary industry and 
 tact, Mr. M'Laren succeeded in combining together 
 the most heterogeneous elements of Edinburgh politics 
 in opposition to Mr. Black, and in support of a candi- 
 date little known in comparison, but having some 
 kind of affinity with parties diametrically opposed to 
 one another so far as concerned points which they 
 ordinarily called 'principles.' That candidate was 
 Mr. Brown-Douglas, a member of the Bar, a gentle- 
 man of unexceptionable character, but of very variable 
 politics, of whom it was difficult to say whether he 
 was Tory or Eadical, or both. He had voted with 
 the Tories formerly, but he was a Free Churchman, and
 
 i;2 MEMOIRS OF [1856. 
 
 rather courted Radicalism now. On the Sabbath, 
 Maynooth, and other religious questions, he was as 
 ' sound ' as the most severe Presbyterian Ultramon- 
 tanist could desire. Thus Mr. M'Laren was able to 
 bring together against his ancient comrade, in those 
 strange fellowships for which Edinburgh elections in 
 modern times were becoming notorious, high and dry 
 Churchmen on the one side, blatant Dissenters on the 
 other, fossil Tories, furious Radicals. There was a 
 repetition, with increased bitterness, of the same coali- 
 tion of sects and cliques that combined nine years 
 before to unseat Macaulay. Nevertheless, it was not 
 successful, and at the close of the poll the figures 
 were 
 
 Black . .. . . 2429 
 Brown-Douglas . . 1786 
 
 Edinburgh was thus saved from the discredit of pre- 
 ferring a new and untried man to an old and eminent 
 citizen, whose services to his native town were be- 
 yond dispute, and whose only serious defect, to unpre- 
 judiced eyes, was his age. He had just entered on 
 his seventy -third year, and in ordinary cases it is 
 unreasonable to expect any hard work of a man who 
 has reached that venerable term. His ancient ally 
 thought it right to predict that if he were sent to 
 Parliament at that age, and did his duty in the House 
 and on committees, he could not survive twelve 
 months. ' Old Adam,' however, was made of stronger 
 stuff than even his oldest friends imagined. He not
 
 .CT. 72.] ADAM BLACK. 173 
 
 only did his duty in the House and on committees 
 with marked ability, but for ten years was one of the 
 best attenders in the House, not unfrequently sitting 
 till long past midnight. He was never the worse of 
 it, and he retired in 1865 in good health, at the age 
 of 81. 1 
 
 There had been no other instance before his time 
 of a man past sixty going into Parliament and mak- 
 ing any position there. Lord Palmerston was of the 
 same age, and his vivacity and force continued un- 
 impaired to the end of his long life. But he had 
 entered Parliament young, and was at home there : 
 the atmosphere of St. Stephen's was to him like his 
 native air. How different was it to an old citizen of 
 Edinburgh, whose life had been chiefly spent in quiet 
 business, whose chief arenas for the exercise of his 
 speaking powers had been committee rooms on the 
 North Bridge or High Street, or public meetings in 
 the Council Chamber or Music Hall of Edinburgh. 
 And yet Adam Black, by virtue of his downright 
 manliness and honesty, good sense, fairness, accuracy 
 of information, clearness of statement, made his mark 
 in the House of Commons as a man worth listening 
 to, whose word could be relied on, who never spoke 
 
 1 His daughter writes on one occasion, referring to her father's 
 accustomed morning walks in the park ' notwithstanding his 
 coming in at all hours of the night, ' ' Yesterday about 8 p. m. he 
 returned home in great glee, saying business was finished and his 
 work over for the night. He always reminds me of a schoolboy on 
 such occasions.'
 
 174 MEMOIRS OF [1859. 
 
 of things with which he was not well acquainted, a 
 man, in fact, entitled to reverence as a senator in the 
 true sense of the word. With the solid and prosaic 
 virtues which command respect he combined cheer- 
 fulness and geniality, was pleasant to meet and speak 
 to, ready to help and oblige. He thus became very 
 soon a well-known and popular member of the House, 
 respected alike by Whigs and Tories. 
 
 The unusual honour done to him on his introduc- 
 tion to the Speaker naturally attracted notice at the 
 the time. He was introduced by Lord Palmerston 
 and Mr. Ellice, two of the oldest and most venerated 
 members of the House. No one had ever seen the 
 Prime Minister pay that compliment to any one before. 
 It was a compliment well deserved, and peculiarly 
 appropriate, doing honour to the man and to the city 
 he represented, where the Premier, in his youthful 
 days, got some of his best political education and 
 ideas, to the benefit of the British Empire. 
 
 Mr. Black says, in reference to this incident, ' I 
 don't know how it happened. I suppose some of my 
 friends wished to do me extra honour, and so arranged 
 it ; but although it was, no doubt, an honour, I after- 
 wards rather regretted it, as it had the appearance of 
 giving the minister a claim upon my vote.'
 
 . 73-] ADAM BLACK. 175 
 
 CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 ] 856-1865. 
 
 ON the Sunday after his arrival in London Mr. Black 
 went to the chapel where he used to worship more 
 than fifty years before. He found the chapel enlarged 
 but the congregation diminished, and the minister not 
 to be compared to Dr. Burder. He could not recog- 
 nise one known face : the whole generation he had 
 known there had gone to their fathers. ' I reflected,' 
 he says, 'on all the distinguishing and unmerited 
 goodness the Lord had shown me since those days of 
 humiliation, and though the sermon was much in- 
 ferior to those I used to hear, it was good to meditate 
 on the circumstances of the time and place.' 
 
 At first he lived in Morley's Hotel, and while 
 there he received a good deal of attention from the 
 collectors of subscriptions, who soon find out new 
 Members of Parliament, and sometimes suit their re- 
 presentations to the locality from which the member 
 comes. One day a respectable -looking man came 
 with a subscription list for a poor Scotch widow, said
 
 1 76 MEMOIRS OF [1856. 
 
 to belong to Edinburgh. The list was headed by a 
 vicar, 5 : 5s.; churchwardens and other dignitaries, 
 various sums. ' I was hesitating,' says Mr. Black, 
 ' whether I would get off for 2 : 2s., when my visitor, 
 in order to inflame my generosity, said, " All her re- 
 lations voted for you." I replied to him, " How do 
 you or she know how her relations voted? I see 
 you are an impostor : I will give you nothing," upon 
 which he made a hasty retreat.' 
 
 Shortly after this he moved into private apart- 
 ments in Parliament Street, and early in April he 
 had the pleasure of there receiving his wife, and 
 one of his daughters, who continued with him till 
 the close of the session. 
 
 Mr. Black was not a frequent speaker in the 
 House, and his speeches were generally short. He 
 always confined himself to questions with which he 
 was well acquainted, and in which his constituents 
 took special interest, such as National Education, the 
 Maynooth Grant, the Annuity Tax, and Parliament- 
 ary Eeform. He made his first speech, consisting of 
 a few sentences, on 19th February, in support of Mr. 
 Pagan's motion for the abolition of the Ministers' 
 Money Tax in Ireland. He informed the House that 
 a similar odious tax was levied in Edinburgh and 
 Montrose, under the name of the Annuity Tax, and 
 he trusted that if the Irish one were repealed, the 
 same justice would be extended to Scotland. He 
 spoke again on 12th March in support of the second
 
 ^T. 73.] ADAM BLACK. 177 
 
 reading of the Scottish Keformatory Schools Bill, and 
 referred to the Edinburgh United Industrial School 
 as having completely demonstrated the imaginary 
 character of the supposed ' religious difficulty.' Soon 
 after he spoke in support of two bills brought in by 
 the Lord Advocate (Moncreiff) for the improvement 
 of the parochial school system of Scotland. He ex- 
 pressed his regret, not without reason, that a more 
 comprehensive measure could not be offered, while 
 accepting the proposed measures as steps in the right 
 direction. 
 
 When Mr. Spooner's annual motion for the with- 
 drawal of the Maynooth Grant came on, Mr. Black 
 moved an amendment, in the shape of an addition to 
 the motion, in these words : ' And at the same time 
 to take into consideration the other Parliamentary 
 grants made to religious denominations in Ireland, 
 with a view to their withdrawal.' In the course of 
 his speech he gave a calculation of the amount of 
 public money distributed among the various deno- 
 minations of Christians in Ireland, in proportion to 
 their respective numbers, and showed that each family 
 belonging to the Established Church, embracing 10*75 
 per cent of the population, received annually 5 : 8s. ; 
 each Presbyterian family, representing 8 per cent of 
 the population, 6s. lid.; and each Eoman Catholic 
 family, representing 81 per cent, 8fd. 'I ask,' he 
 said, ' if there is a single gentleman in this House 
 who will say that this is a just and equal apportion-
 
 i;8 MEMOIRS OF [1856. 
 
 ment of money from the common stock ? Don't 
 imagine that I am advocating an equal division of 
 the public money according to the numerical propor- 
 tion of the inhabitants of Ireland. Far from it ; and 
 when the question of the National Church of Ireland 
 comes to be considered, I am quite prepared to deal 
 with it also on the principles of justice, sound policy, 
 and true religion/ 
 
 These views, propounded by Mr. Black on loth 
 April 1856 to very few sympathising ears, were 
 nearly identical with those affirmed in a full House 
 by a large majority in less than eleven years from 
 that date. His amendment was seconded by another 
 wise and respected senator, Edward Ellice, but the 
 resulting vote was a crushing disappointment. Mr. 
 Black and Mr. Ellice had the select following of 21 
 Ayes against 253 Noes. He was very indignant, and 
 much amazed, believing that the mode in which his 
 amendment had been presented and supported was 
 neither weak nor injudicious, and that there were 
 certainly more than 21 honest and equitable men in 
 the House. ' As I was returning to my seat,' he says, 
 ' quite discomfited, Sir James Graham in passing said 
 to me, " Don't be discouraged ; you will be more suc- 
 cessful the next time." ' Sir James, notwithstanding 
 this consoling speech, had not considered it his duty 
 to help the minority; the time had not yet come. 
 ; I never understood,' says Mr. Black, ' why the English 
 Nonconformists and the Scotch Dissenters should all
 
 *r. 73.] ADAM BLACK. 179 
 
 have voted against me ; whether it was because I did 
 not previously consult them, or because I was " too 
 new a member to presume to take up so important a 
 question.'" He gives the names of the faithful few 
 who supported him Ellice, Byng (Hon. G. H.), 
 Craufurd (E. H. J.), Dillwyn, Fergus, Forster (C.), 
 Gardner, Grenfell, Hindley, Jackson (W.), Laing, 
 Martin (P. W.), PhiUimore (J. G.), Pigott, Pilkington, 
 Price (W. P.), Eicardo, ScobeU, Stanley (Hon. W. 0.), 
 Strutt, Whatman, Williams. The only Scotch mem- 
 bers who voted with him were Craufurd, Fergus, and 
 Laing. On the other side were found such eminent 
 Voluntaries as Miall, Hadfield, Crossley, Cheetham, 
 Kershaw, Pellatt ; and of Scottish members, the Lord 
 Advocate and Mr. W. E. Baxter. 
 
 'The vote,' said the Scotsman, 'might until the 
 other day have been deemed not credible, but in 
 things ecclesiastical, people must now learn to be 
 astonished at nothing.' 
 
 Such votes afford an unpleasant illustration of 
 the extent to which considerations of expediency 
 and party policy override mere 'principles' and 
 'beliefs,' or the things that pass for such among 
 politicians. 
 
 Mr. Black spoke several times again in that session, 
 never at any length, but only on questions to which 
 he had given much consideration, and on which he 
 had made up his mind. Of these the two chief were 
 Education and Parliamentary Eeform.
 
 i8o MEMOIRS OF . [1856. 
 
 His views on national education were exemplarily 
 sensible and liberal. He recognised the value and 
 services of the parochial schools ; but he knew how in- 
 adequate they were to meet the wants of the country, 
 how unsatisfactorily they were often taught, how diffi- 
 cult it was to remove an incompetent or ill-behaved 
 man, how hollow and vicious was the provision, in 
 the interests of religion, that the teachers should be 
 members of the Established Church. The supposed 
 ' religious difficulty,' which up to 1872 had constituted 
 the standing obstruction to a system of national edu- 
 cation, had never been recognised by him as anything 
 but an ecclesiastical spectre or ' bogie,' with no sub- 
 stantial reality. As a Sabbath-school teacher he had 
 found no difficulty in communicating religious in- 
 struction to children nominally connected with vari- 
 ous denominations. As a parent he would not have 
 hesitated, he once said to his constituents, in sending 
 his children to a school presided over by the Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury, in preference to one conducted 
 by a Congregational minister, if he thought the edu- 
 cation was better in the Episcopal school. 
 
 On the subject of Parliamentary Reform, Mr. 
 Black's views were those of a good old Whig, who, 
 though he had fought for it in days when to do so 
 was dangerous, had become afraid of further ex- 
 tending the franchise to that portion of the com- 
 munity, which was greatest in numbers, but in his 
 opinion less competent than the better educated to
 
 /ET. 74.] ADAM BLACK. 181 
 
 exercise it wisely. He was also of opinion that a 
 10 rental formed a fair and reasonable criterion of 
 a citizen's stake in the welfare of his country. His 
 views on this great question will be referred to and 
 given in extracts from his speeches further on. 
 
 Parliament was prorogued on 26th July, and Mr. 
 Black's last act of the session was to second Mr. 
 Gladstone's motion for removal of disabilities of the 
 Scottish Episcopal Church. 
 
 The next session was an eventful one. Parlia- 
 ment met on 3d February 1857, and on 3d March, 
 after a debate of four nights, Lord Palmerston was 
 defeated by 265 to 249, on the question whether 
 hostilities commenced in China, without express in- 
 structions from Government, in vindication of the 
 honour of the British flag, were justifiable. The vote 
 of censure was moved by Mr. Cobden, and supported 
 by Lord John Russell, Mr. Gladstone, and Sir James 
 Graham. The majority was made up of 198 Con- 
 servatives, 35 Liberals, 22 Peelites, and 10 Irish. 
 On the other side were 228 Liberals and 21 Conserva- 
 tives. Mr. Black voted with the Government, but 
 did not speak. 
 
 The Government appealed to the country, and 
 Lord Palmerston found himself again supported by a 
 majority. Mr. Black and Mr. Cowan were returned 
 again for Edinburgh without opposition. 
 
 There is no record of his private life during the 
 rest of this year, but two important Parliamentary
 
 182 MEMOIRS OF [1858. 
 
 measures occupied much of his attention during the 
 next session. 
 
 In February 1858 the Palmerston Government 
 was unexpectedly broken up by an adverse vote on 
 the Conspiracy Bill, introduced by Lord Palmerston 
 for the purpose of more effectually suppressing con- 
 spiracies in England against the lives of foreign 
 potentates, and of the French Emperor in particular. 
 The first reading of the Bill was carried, on 9th Feb- 
 ruary, by 299 to 99, against an amendment moved 
 by Mr. Kinglake. An amendment to the same effect, 
 but more dexterously drawn, by Mr. Milner Gibson, 
 was carried against the second reading by 234 to 
 215, and next day, 19th February, the Ministry 
 resigned. 
 
 Mr. Black was much perplexed, like many others, 
 what course to pursue on this question, not having 
 been present at the first debate. It seemed to him 
 reasonable that due protection should be afforded to 
 friendly powers against such atrocious designs as 
 those which gave rise to the proposed amendment of 
 our law. But nothing is more repugnant to the 
 British mind than an alteration of the law of the 
 land in deference to the wishes of a foreign power. 
 The suggestion in this case had corne undisguisedly 
 from Count Walewski, the French ambassador, and 
 the outcry that was raised against what was called 
 cowardly truckling to the ' Man of 2 December ' was 
 thoroughly characteristic of the nation. Mr. Black
 
 MT. 74.] ADAM BLACK. 183 
 
 was moved by the popular feeling, and felt unable to 
 resist it. ' I was desirous/ he says, ' to support Min- 
 isters, but I could not make up my mind to appear 
 to be dictated to by a foreign power, and therefore I 
 did what I hardly ever did before I refrained from 
 voting. I afterwards regretted that I did not support 
 the Ministry ; and next day I met several who had 
 voted against them, and thus were instrumental in 
 breaking up the Government, who, if they had known 
 what was to be the result, would have voted the 
 other way.' 
 
 The two measures previously referred to were, the 
 Scottish Universities Bill, introduced by the new 
 Lord Advocate, Inglis, and the Annuity Tax Bill, in- 
 troduced by Mr. Black. The Universities Bill was 
 framed with great care, and was carried through all 
 its stages with masterly skill and decision. One of 
 the fundamental provisions of the Bill was the entire 
 deprivation of the Town Council of Edinburgh of 
 their ancient right to manage the affairs of the Uni- 
 versity, and exercise the patronage of nearly all its 
 chairs, and against this tremendous change Mr. 
 Black felt bound to fight to the uttermost. He knew 
 by experience what absurdities could be committed 
 by the unnecessary tampering of ignorant persons 
 with academic matters, but he knew also how 
 much the prosperity of the University was due to 
 the judicious and enlightened interest taken in its 
 affairs by the Town Council; what a valuable counter-
 
 1 84 MEMOIRS OF [1858. 
 
 poise it had been to the natural tendency of uncon- 
 trolled academic elements to trades' -unionism and 
 conceited selfishness ; how well, and even nobly, the 
 municipality of Edinburgh had discharged the great 
 trust committed to them by the patriotic founders of 
 the University. But it was difficult for an old Edin- 
 burgh provost to convince English members, in 
 opposition to a skilful advocate, himself an Oxon. 
 M.A., that a Town Council, composed chiefly of 
 tradesmen, could possibly administer the affairs, or 
 with any discretion wield the patronage of an ancient 
 University. He could tell them, without exaggera- 
 tion, that the finances of the University were well 
 and wisely managed, and that the patronage of the 
 Council had, on the whole, been more unexception- 
 ably and successfully exercised than that of the 
 Crown or the Senatus Academicus ; but all in vain. 
 He divided the House on the question again and 
 again, but always with a result as miserable as in the 
 case of Maynooth. There had hitherto been no sug- 
 gestion of compromise, and when the Bill reached the 
 stage when the question of the patronage of the Uni- 
 versity had to be conclusively settled, Mr. Black 
 made a final stand, and adopted one of those parlia- 
 mentary expedients for obstruction which have of 
 late years been so scandalously abused. It was one 
 of those days when the Speaker leaves the chair at 
 6 P.M., whatever may be the business before the House. 
 Mr. Black saw that the hour was approaching, and,
 
 MT. 74.] ADAM BLACK. 185 
 
 contrary to his usual brevity and moderation, went on 
 talking, in the midst of a perfect storm of ' Hear ! hear ! 
 Time ! time ! ' and every kind of disturbing noise, 
 till at last the Speaker stepped down from the chair, 
 the sitting was over, and the question still undecided. 
 
 Before the Bill came again before the House Mr. 
 Black negotiated with the Ministry, through Sir Wil- 
 liam Dunbar, to have the University patronage com- 
 mitted to seven Curators, of whom four should be 
 appointed by the Town Council. Mr. Black agreed 
 to this compromise, as the best he could expect. He 
 said he considered it hard to be deprived of any part 
 of what legitimately belonged to the city, but he felt 
 like the captain of a ship in a storm, in danger of 
 being wrecked, and willing to throw some of the 
 cargo overboard to save the ship. This compromise 
 was considered a fair one, and the Curators of the 
 University of Edinburgh, whose function was assigned 
 in the other three Scottish Universities to the Uni- 
 versity Court, have, since the passing of the Act, dis- 
 charged their duty, on the whole, to the satisfaction 
 of the public. 
 
 The other subject which occupied most of his time 
 and attention this session was the Edinburgh Annuity 
 Tax, which had harassed the city for years before 
 Mr. Black took part in public affairs, and had been a 
 chronic source of strife, irritation, and disturbance. 
 It was originally an impost of six per cent on the 
 rental of all houses within the burgh of Edinburgh,
 
 1 86 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 for behoof of the ministers of the Established Church 
 in the city. A full and distinct history of the tax, 
 now, fortunately, matter of curiosity more than of 
 interest, is given in the speech of Mr. Black on the 
 second reading of his Bill. Eepeated attempts had 
 been made to get rid of this repulsive tax, which 
 became more and more intolerable as the Established 
 Church decreased in popularity and usefulness. Time 
 after time, bills for its abolition or gradual extinction 
 had been brought into Parliament, none of which 
 had hitherto met with any general acceptance. Mr. 
 Black turned his attention seriously to the subject in 
 the course of 1857-58, and devised a plan for the 
 abolition of the tax, upon principles different from 
 those of any of the previous bills. He took especial 
 care to avoid coming on the public funds for any as- 
 sistance, which had been a feature in all the previous 
 bills, and an insuperable obstacle to their success. 
 
 Mr. Black moved the second reading of his Bill on 6th 
 July 1858, in the longest speech he ever made in the 
 House of Commons, which he afterwards published as 
 a pamphlet. He treated the most ' burning question ' 
 of the day in Edinburgh with remarkable fairness and 
 moderation, and was seconded by Mr. Baxter, whose 
 constituents in Montrose laboured under a similar 
 burden. On the same side spoke J. B. Smith, Cowan, 
 Gilpin, and Sir T. E. Colebrooke ; on the other side 
 the Hon. F. Scott, Gumming -Bruce, and the Lord 
 Advocate. The vote was a surprising success, Mr.
 
 >ET. 75.] ADAM BLACK. 187 
 
 Black having 129 ayes on his side, against the bare 
 majority of 130 noes. 
 
 No other approach to success had ever been at- 
 tained on this question, and this vote gave great 
 satisfaction in Edinburgh. The votes in the follow- 
 ing year, when Mr. Black re-introduced his Bill, were 
 more decisive, the numbers being on the second 
 reading, 21 6 in favour of the Bill, 176 against ; and on 
 the third reading, 21st July 1859, 162 ayes, 108 
 noes. The Bill, however, never reached the House of 
 Lords, where it would certainly have been despatched 
 without mercy. 
 
 Among the questions on which Mr. Black held 
 views offensive to many of his constituents was that 
 of marriage with a deceased wife's sister. He uni- 
 formly voted in favour of the legalisation of such 
 marriages, to which most Scotch members have been 
 opposed. 
 
 After a debate of seven nights on the second read- 
 ing of the Derby-Disraeli Reform Bill, the Ministry 
 were defeated on 31st March 1859, by 330 to 291, 
 and appealed to the country. ' Of the Scotch mem- 
 bers,' says Mr. Black, ' there voted in the majority 35, 
 in the minority 18 : none were absent. Of the Irish 
 members there voted for ministers 55, for Lord John 
 Russell's resolutions 40. It thus appears that the 53 
 Scotch members furnished one half of the majority ; 
 but the Scotch Whigs were balanced by the Irish 
 Tories.'
 
 1 88 MEMOIRS OF [.1859. 
 
 About this time, he says elsewhere, ' I dined with 
 Lord John Russell, and met Baron Eothschild, Roe- 
 buck, Byng, Sir E. Perry, Forster, Sir W. Dunbar, 
 Baxter, etc. There was some talk about the Derby- 
 Disraeli Reform Bill, but the conversation was con- 
 strained and dull. Lord John is distant in his manner, 
 and I don't believe he ever perpetrated a joke, unless 
 his reference to the inscription on the stone at Glen- 
 croe can be called one, when he recommended the 
 nation to pause in its progress, to " rest and be thank- 
 ful." Rothschild is stoutish, thoughtful, and quiet 
 one could imagine that he was all the time calculat- 
 ing his per cents, his millions, his loans his appear- 
 ance is the Jew all over. Roebuck is a little snarling 
 creature, walks feebly, and seems to have a bad 
 digestion. Nothing seems to delight him like having 
 a good worry at some one. I have no doubt that in 
 company he is a check on conversation, as one can- 
 not be sure that he will not flare up at something. 
 He is supposed to have a personal antipathy to 
 Palmerston. As a member of Parliament he was 
 useful. His cynical observations only made him be 
 more attentively listened to. His honest denuncia- 
 tion of the atrocities of the trades unions in Sheffield 
 cost him his seat there at the last election.' 
 
 Soon after the dissolution of Parliament Mr. Black 
 returned to Edinburgh, and along with Mr. Moncreiff 
 offered himself for re-election. On 20th April they 
 addressed the constituency in the Music Hall. In
 
 XT. 75.] ADAM BLACK. 189 
 
 the course of an excellent speech Mr. Black made 
 the following sensible remarks on party govern- 
 ment : 
 
 ' It is one of the reproaches brought against the Liberal 
 party, and not unjustly, that they are a rope of sand they 
 have no cohesion. With this they were taunted again and 
 again 'from the Ministerial benches. The fact is, we are too 
 independent ; every man must follow his own individual 
 notions. The Tory party are a compact, well-disciplined 
 army. We are made up of different clans and volunteers, 
 every one thinking he has a right to fight for his own hand, 
 sometimes on one side, sometimes on the other. The conse- 
 quence is, although we are the majority, we are generally 
 beaten, just as a disjointed army, especially if under discord- 
 ant leaders, is sure to be discomfited by well - disciplined 
 troops, under leaders acting in concert. There is often a 
 clamour against party men, but, gentlemen, let me tell you 
 there is a large and a powerful party against you, and unless 
 you can form a party larger and more powerful, you must 
 submit to their rule. It is not the members of Parliament 
 who are alone to blame for this disorderly state of your 
 troops ; the constituencies are not altogether guiltless. They 
 sometimes speak slightingly or reproachfully against a mem- 
 ber because he joins with others of similar sentiments, who 
 are generally acting under the same leaders. They taunt 
 him with being a party man. Gentlemen, I make bold to 
 say that I am as independent as any man in the House of 
 Commons, or any man in this room, but I consider it my 
 duty to act in all great questions with that party who are 
 the supporters of Liberal measures, and I will act under any 
 leader who secures the confidence of that party, and in so 
 doing I am convinced I shall promote the best interests of 
 the country. Do you ask me why there should be any 
 parties at all, and what grounds there are for any contest 1
 
 IQO MEMOIRS OF [1859. 
 
 I apprehend there is something in our natural constitution 
 that will always give cause for party feeling. You see it in 
 all free States, and the freer the State the keener the party 
 feeling.' 
 
 He went on to speak of Toleration : 
 
 ' In the words of one of the greatest philosophers and 
 sincerest Christians that England has produced, John Locke, 
 I entirely agree when he says : " No private person has any 
 right, in any manner, to prejudice another person in his civil 
 enjoyments because he is of another Church or religion. All 
 the rights and franchises that belong to him as a man or as 
 a denizen are inviolably to be preserved to him. ... If we 
 may openly speak the truth, and as becomes one man to 
 another, neither Pagan, nor Mahometan, nor Jew ought to be 
 excluded from the civil rights of the Commonwealth because 
 of his religion. The Gospel commands no such thing. The 
 Church, which judgeth not those that are without, wants it 
 not. And the Commonwealth, which embraces indifferently 
 all men that are honest, peaceable, and industrious, requires 
 it not." In the last conversation I had with that great 
 divine and estimable man, the late Dr. John Brown, on his 
 deathbed, he referred to these expressions of Locke, and his 
 angelic countenance brightened up as he recommended me 
 to maintain them in the House of Commons (applause). 
 Well, then, with John Locke and the late Dr. Brown, I agree 
 that every man who discharges the duties of a good citizen, 
 whether he be Papist or Protestant, Jew or Gentile, Maho- 
 metan or Hindoo, is entitled to the same civil privileges, and 
 the State has no right to give a preference to one man over 
 another, or to lay a burden upon one man rather than 
 another because he thinks differently from you on some reli- 
 gious question.' 
 
 He next went on to refer to Parliamentary Eeform, in
 
 MT. 75.] ADAM BLACK. 191 
 
 the course of which he made some remarks on the 
 extension of the franchise to the working-classes, 
 which gave considerable offence to those of them and 
 their professed friends who prefer to hear nothing 
 but unqualified admiration. Mr. Black's outspoken 
 honesty, on this and other occasions, in telling what 
 he considered to be the truth to a class for whom he 
 had great sympathy and respect, as became the son 
 of a man whose mason's apron was his proper coat of 
 arms, did the greatest honour to his character, and 
 contrasted notably with the style in which it was 
 and is customary for men to speak of them, whose 
 chief aim is popularity. He said : 
 
 ' Nothing can be more certain than that free trade is most 
 advantageous to workman and employer, and to the com- 
 munity at large ; but I have had an opportunity of knowing 
 that in some trades the tyranny and oppression which is 
 exercised in favour of protection of trade is more cruel than 
 what is exercised by throned despots. Gentlemen, I wish it 
 to be understood that I do not mean anything offensive to the 
 operatives ; but I think I have here an opportunity of tell- 
 ing them a truth which I think will be useful ; and I con- 
 sider it to be the duty of men in the position in which I have 
 the honour to be, not merely to say what will please this 
 class or the other class, and if I have an opportunity of giv- 
 ing a good advice to any one I am prepared to do it. In the 
 suicidal strikes which these unions give rise to, the workmen 
 and their families are the great sufferers.' 
 
 In the course of that month, both members addressed 
 the working men at a meeting called specially for the 
 purpose in Brighton Street Chapel. Mr, Black, in
 
 192 MEMOIRS OF [1859. 
 
 the course of his speech, thus gave his ideas on the 
 subject of representative government in general, and 
 the choice of parliamentary candidates : 
 
 ' What distinguishes representative government from des- 
 potism or oligarchy or pure democracy is, when rightly con- 
 structed, that it provides for a fair and proper attention to 
 the interests of all classes and all parties. If any one class 
 has a large preponderating influence, then we may expect 
 that the regulations that should be made for the general 
 benefit impartially will rather be made to favour the prepon- 
 derating class ; hence the advantage of a diversified body of 
 representatives. In the construction of this machine I ac- 
 knowledge no other right but the right to make it as perfect 
 for its purpose as possible, and that purpose is to produce the 
 greatest amount of happiness to the greatest number. If it 
 was to be injured by the admission of persons in my own 
 position, I could have no right to object to being excluded, 
 seeing that my admission would injuriously affect the right 
 working of the system. I consider that it would be 
 dangerous to be frequently making organic changes on our 
 representative system, but it would also be dangerous to re- 
 fuse to make those changes which altered times and altered 
 circumstances call for. The present is one of those times 
 when it is considered prudent that the elective franchise 
 should be lowered and extended. Then comes a very diffi- 
 cult question, how far should this be extended ? always 
 keeping in mind what I have stated to be the great object to 
 be aimed at, the improvement of the representative machine. 
 Now, I have shown that the claim of right cannot be sus- 
 tained. The franchise is a duty imposed on certain indi- 
 viduals which they are bound to discharge faithfully for the 
 good of the whole. It is not a right which they may exercise 
 for their own benefit. ... I don't dislike a man because he 
 differs from me on some subjects and in electing a repre-
 
 JET. 75.] ADAM BLACK. 193 
 
 sentative of a large community in which a great variety of 
 opinions prevail, it is impossible he can coincide with them 
 all and let me tell you if you find a candidate agreeing with 
 everybody, and promising to do ' his best to promote every- 
 thing, and freely swallowing the pledges put to him, you 
 should beware of that man. It is right to ascertain the 
 opinions of candidates on public measures, and on matters in 
 which we take a particular interest, but I consider it un- 
 reasonable to reject a candidate who agrees with you in the 
 main on all great questions, because he differs from you on 
 some isolated point, probably a crotchet. I have received 
 intimation that no candidate should be supported who does 
 not vote for the Maine Liquor Law ; others, unless he will 
 vote for the suppression of the trade in opium ; others, 
 against the grant to Maynooth ; others, for the ballot, and a 
 multitude of other things. Now it is all very well to elicit 
 opinions on these subjects, but I should think it very un- 
 reasonable in you to insist that a candidate should swallow 
 all these pledges, and I should have a poor opinion of the 
 man who did.' 
 
 On 29th April Mr. Black and Mr. Moncreiff were 
 re-elected without opposition. 
 
 Parliament met on 7th June, and after a debate 
 of three nights, ' chiefly distinguished,' says Mr. Black, 
 ' by the quantity of invective, sarcasm, and rancour 
 voided by one member against another, raked out of 
 the volumes of Hansard for the last twenty years,' 
 the Derby-Disraeli Ministry were defeated by 323 to 
 310, and resigned. After an interval of ten days, 
 Parliament reassembled, with Lord Palmerston as 
 Premier, and Mr. Gladstone Chancellor of the Ex- 
 chequer. Nothing remarkable took place during the 
 

 
 194 MEMOIRS OF [1860. 
 
 session, and soon after his return to Edinburgh, early 
 in August, Mr. Black went down as usual for a short 
 holiday to Tighnabruaich. Two letters to his son 
 James while there are the only remaining records of 
 this year. The references to the assessment for the 
 Annuity Tax, payment of which was refused by his in- 
 structions, are amusing. In the first letter he says 
 
 ' I suppose we must let the law take its course. 
 We cannot defend our conduct. The decision will 
 go out ; they will then, I suppose, demand payment 
 under it ; when, I suppose, we should pay. Or per- 
 haps they will poind an Encyclopaedia, which I would 
 let them sell. They cannot put me in jail, but they 
 may confer that honour upon you. 
 
 ' I am improving the wet days by preparing my 
 lecture on Combinations and Strikes.' 
 
 A few days later he wrote 
 
 ' I am sorry you should feel so annoyed about being 
 put in jail. You should have more pluck. What 
 harm would a few hours in jail do you ? You could 
 go the length of the jail door, and then pay, and you 
 would be a martyr for life at small expense. I only 
 wish they would try their hands upon me.' 
 
 On 24th January 1860 Parliament was opened by 
 the Queen in person, and Mr. Black was in his place. 
 On the 30th Lord Advocate Moncreiff introduced a 
 Bill for the abolition of the Annuity Tax, differing 
 considerably from that of Mr. Black, who, though 
 much disappointed by it, agreed to give it fair con-
 
 JET. 76.] ADAM BLACK. 195 
 
 sideration, and recommended his constituents to 
 do so. Without any communication with the Lord 
 Advocate on the subject, he addressed a letter to 
 them, stating with great fairness his objections to the 
 Bill, and his reasons for accepting it, notwithstanding, 
 as a measure capable of improvement, and of leading 
 to a settlement of an exasperating question. His 
 conduct in this matter did him the highest credit. 
 He had attained a success in dealing with it which 
 no one had done before, and he might have regarded 
 the abolition of that odious tax as an achievement to 
 which he had a special right. But no such personal 
 considerations swayed his judgment in public matters, 
 and at the risk of much obloquy and loss of popu- 
 larity among a large section of his constituents, he 
 gave place to his colleague on this question, and gave 
 him such loyal support as he thought right. He 
 concluded his letter thus : 
 
 ' Some will blame me for not adhering to the Bill, 
 which met with so great an amount of favour among 
 my fellow -citizens. I acknowledge I should have 
 been proud of the honour of abolishing the Annuity 
 Tax ; but I cannot allow my private interests and 
 partial affections to stand in the way of the public 
 good. Others will say that I am willing to abandon 
 a Bill which proceeds upon the Voluntary principle 
 for one that is to support an Establishment; but 
 Voluntary as I am, I have no right to permit my 
 denominational views to interfere with the respon-
 
 196 MEMOIRS OF [1860. 
 
 sible situation that I hold as representative of the 
 city of Edinburgh, and not of any class or section. 
 It is my desire, as well as my duty, to seek the peace 
 and prosperity of the whole; and if a reasonable 
 hope of a fair and equitable adjustment is held out, 
 I should be sorry to give cause to any one afterwards 
 to say that in 1860 we had a favourable opportunity 
 for such a settlement, but it was lost through the 
 folly or selfishness of your obedient servant, 
 
 'ADAM BLACK.' 
 
 On 3d February 1860 Mr. Gladstone made his 
 Budget speech. Mr. Black says of it : 
 
 ' The speech of the Chancellor was magnificent, 
 and the interest of the members so intense, that though 
 I went down to the House ten minutes before the 
 hour, I could only get a seat in one of the back 
 benches. Every part was crammed ; the seats below 
 the gallery allotted for the Peers, who were glad to 
 get seated anywhere. Strangers waited from morning 
 in the outer lobby, to secure places in the Strangers' 
 Gallery, and the Speaker's Gallery was an object of 
 intense desire. The wonder was, that a budget of 
 figures could be made a subject of stirring eloquence. 
 No doubt it had this element of pleasure, that it was 
 known that a remission of some taxes was to be pro- 
 posed, and there was great curiosity to know what 
 they were to be. One extensive tea dealer, who had 
 not been able to get a messenger into any part of the 
 house, asked me as a great favour to come to him in
 
 JET. 76.] ADAM BLACK. 197 
 
 the lobby the moment the Chancellor had told what 
 he was to do with tea, which I did. But before I 
 could reach him, he had got his information and was off. 
 
 ' What chiefly interests me was the repeal of the 
 paper duty. I was asked by Sir Eichard Malins, 
 one of the opponents of the budget, how much we 
 would reduce the price of the Encyclopaedia now. 
 " Not one penny," I said. 
 
 ' Another feature of the budget speech, perhaps as 
 interesting as the remission of taxes, was the treaty 
 with France, which gave very general satisfaction. 
 
 ' Mr. Gladstone spoke for four hours. 
 
 'After two nights' debate, on 20th and 21st Feb- 
 ruary, the division was in favour of ministers by a 
 majority of 116 : 339 to 223. Thirty-seven Scotch 
 members voted in the majority, and 8 in the minority. 
 The House rose at 2 '30 A.M., and I did not get to bed 
 till between three and four.' 
 
 Mr. Black was a frequent guest at Lord Palmer- 
 ston's parliamentary dinners, and tells an amusing 
 incident in connection with them. 
 
 ' The last time I dined there I told Lord Palmer- 
 ston that he had brought one of the Irish members 
 into trouble by inviting me, viz. Mr. Blake, M.P. for 
 Waterford. He was Ultra -Irish, and one of the 
 pledges he had given his constituents was, that he 
 would never dine with Lord Palmerston. He came 
 to me one day, and asked if I had dined with Lord 
 Palmerston on Saturday. I said I had had that honour.
 
 1 98 MEMOIRS OF [1860. 
 
 " Well," he said, " I have been roundly abused on 
 your account, for the newspapers, in mentioning the 
 guests, gave my name instead of yours." " What 
 harm," I asked, " is there in dining with Lord Pal- 
 merston ? If he invites you, you will be a fool if you 
 don't accept." He said that, as for himself, he would 
 be glad to dine with his Lordship, but for the abuse 
 he would receive from his constituents. Curiously 
 enough, he came to me a second time, and asked if I 
 had been dining with Lord Palmerston on such a day, 
 for he said, " You have again brought me into trouble 
 with my constituents." 
 
 ' But the most remarkable thing was that I after- 
 wards received a note from him, enclosing a card of 
 invitation from Lord Palmerston for me, which had 
 been left at his lodgings. He said that, after this 
 third affront, he was almost tempted to accept, and 
 go in my place.' 
 
 Mr. Black was also an occasional guest of Mr. 
 Mitchell of Stow, afterwards M.P. for Berwick, at 
 whose house this season he met the historians 
 Buckle and Kinglake. ' I knew Kinglake,' he says, 
 ' from often sitting beside him in the House of 
 Commons. He sometimes spoke on European 
 questions, and was the first who proposed an 
 amendment against the Conspiracy Bill. He seemed 
 to have a grudge against the Emperor of the French 
 and his Government. 
 
 'Lord Macaulay was an engrossing talker, but
 
 ^T. 76.] ADAM BLACK. 199 
 
 Buckle was far worse. It was difficult for any one 
 at the table to get in a word. He seemed to have 
 read everything and forgot nothing. In one of his 
 volumes he says that Spain and Scotland are the two 
 most priest-ridden countries in Europe. I tried to 
 vindicate my native country, but he was not to be 
 convinced.' 
 
 On May 16th, Mr. Black spoke at some length on 
 the Lord Advocate's Annuity Tax Bill, the second 
 reading of which was carried by a decisive majority, 
 the Scottish members being virtually unanimous in 
 its favour. 
 
 ' At the first reading,' Mr. Black says in his diary, 
 ' as already mentioned, I rather opposed it, but with 
 some hesitation, and after giving it a fair and mature 
 consideration, I sent a letter to my constituents on 
 21st February, recommending it, as affording a 
 favourable basis for a settlement of the question, and 
 more likely to pass than my own Bill. I thought 
 my views were so reasonable that they would be 
 generally acceptable, but learned with regret that 
 there was a considerable party dissatisfied, and I 
 proposed to the Advocate that we should go down in 
 the Easter Holidays and meet the constituency on 
 the subject. On 13th April we had a meeting with 
 the Magistrates and Town- Council and inhabitants 
 in Queen Street Hall, the Lord Provost (Brown 
 Douglas) in the chair. The Town-Council had come 
 to an agreement to provide 600 a year of stipend
 
 200 MEMOIRS OF [1860. 
 
 for thirteen ministers, with undoubted security for 
 the payment, and as this was the essence of the Bill, 
 I thought there should be no great difficulty with the 
 details. There was one alteration proposed by them, 
 which I disapproved of. Instead of the assessment 
 being continued at a rate not much under the exist- 
 ing rate for fifteen years, and then terminating, they 
 proposed that it should be at once reduced from 10 Jd. 
 to 3d. or 4d., and made perpetual ; and for the sake 
 of peace I agreed. After a good deal of discussion 
 and wrangling, the proposition of the Town-Council 
 was carried. 
 
 ' When the Lord Advocate moved the second read- 
 ing of his Bill, my friend Hadfield moved as an 
 amendment that it should be read a second time that 
 day six months. I spoke at considerable length in 
 favour of the Bill, though I preferred the principles 
 of my own, and in the course of my speech said, upon 
 duly considering the great responsibility that lies 
 upon me as a representative of the City of Edinburgh, 
 I felt that if, on personal considerations, or on 
 account of my own peculiar denominational views, 
 I were to be accessory to frustrating a measure 
 which would have a tendency to alleviate the burdens 
 of my constituents, which would promote peace, and 
 remove a great scandal from religion, I should be 
 pursuing a most unjustifiable course. 
 
 ' I have the vanity to think that my support tended 
 greatly to smooth the passage of the Bill. Hadfield
 
 XT. 76.] ADAM BLACK. 201 
 
 withdrew his amendment, and the second reading 
 was carried unanimously. It was read a third time 
 and passed on 12th July, 206 voting for it, and 19 
 against it. Thirty-four Scotch members were in the 
 majority, and two, the tellers, Mr. Dunlop and Mr. 
 Crum Ewing, in the minority. Shortly after it 
 passed the Lords.' 
 
 Another important public measure in which Mr. 
 Black took a part this session was the. Government 
 Reform Bill, by which it was proposed to reduce the 
 franchise in burghs to 6. It was brought forward on 
 16th March by Lord John Eussell, and well received 
 by the House, at least by the ministerial side, but 
 obstinately resisted by the Opposition. During several 
 nights the debate dragged its weary length along. 
 
 The second reading was taken on April 26, 1860, 
 when Mr. Black took up an independent position in 
 the discussion. He says, ' Spoke first to-night, and 
 got on without much difficulty, and now that the 
 perilous stuff is off my stomach, feel relieved. I 
 fear, however, I have given great offence to friends 
 whose good opinion I should like to retain. I 
 believe, however, what I said was true.' 
 
 So did many on the same side of the House, who 
 had not the courage to express their thoughts. One 
 sentence from the speech gives the essence of the 
 objection to the Bill which most weighed with him, 
 .and was the expression that gave most offence. 
 ' My chief objection,' he said, ' to the part of the Bill
 
 202 MEMOIRS OF [1860. 
 
 that provides for the admission of occupants of 6 
 houses is, that the infusion of such large numbers 
 into the burgh constituencies will dilute and lower 
 the entire constituencies, and give an undue pre- 
 ponderance to one class, and that the least edu- 
 cated.' 
 
 ' I can see,' he said, 'a principle for Universal Suffrage, but 
 I can see no principle for stopping at 6. The man who pays 
 5 or 4 will have a good right to say, I am as well entitled 
 to the Franchise as the man who pays 20s. of more rent. Don't 
 imagine that you will stop the agitation ; you only give it a 
 shove onwards and downwards, and the downward progress 
 must of necessity be an accelerated one. In twenty years or 
 less you may be obliged to descend to 5 or <4, and in other 
 ten years you will have no standing-ground but on Universal 
 Suffrage. Well, perhaps you think Universal Suffrage the 
 best. If it is, and certainly it has better ground of principle, 
 it would be better to adopt it at once, and thus save all the 
 agitation and fighting that must accompany a downward pro- 
 gress, if downward we must go.' 
 
 He said, in writing on this subject to one of 
 his sons : ' I will give up my intention of writing a 
 letter in justification of my speech, waiting for a 
 seasonable opportunity, when I may show that I have 
 always expressed the same sentiments. It ought to be 
 kept in mind that the circumstances were much 
 changed when I spoke to the operatives. We had 
 come down after the discussion on the Derby Bill, 
 when Disraeli said they were willing to reduce the 
 Burgh Franchise to 6. Lord John Eussell, on the 
 other side, had said he proposed to reduce it to 6.
 
 &T. 76.] ADAM BLACK. 203 
 
 The other Liberals wanted 5. All sides of the House 
 were committed to 6 at least. In these circum- 
 stances I did not see how one could do otherwise 
 than submit to the decision of the House, but even 
 when I said so, I laid down the very principles that 
 I maintained in my speech, and refused always to 
 pledge myself to anything. Even now I don't see 
 how the House can get over the difficulty. The 
 leaders on both sides, without objection from their 
 followers, have committed us to a Eeform, and you 
 cannot keep it dangling before the public as if in 
 mockery. As long as it is unsettled, it will obstruct 
 all business in Parliament, and will be most perni- 
 cious to parties and to candidates. 
 
 ' The Speaker one night beckoned me to speak to 
 him, and complimented me on the speech, saying 
 he had heard it often highly spoken of. If I am 
 abused for it in some quarters, I have, at all events, 
 a few that approve.' 
 
 Parliament sat long this session, but the only 
 date on which anything occurred in which Mr. Black 
 took part was 14th August, when Sir John Pakington 
 moved for an increased grant to Eagged and Indus- 
 trial schools. Mr. Black seconded the motion, and 
 gave some interesting statistics to show how such 
 institutions had diminished crime in Edinburgh. He 
 concluded by saying, ' he thought he had shown that 
 the best policy to diminish criminal expenses was to 
 save classes who were sunk in misery, and on the
 
 204 MEMOIRS OF [1861. 
 
 verge of crime, and to raise them up to be useful and 
 industrious citizens, and that nothing would have a 
 greater effect in accomplishing this great work than 
 a larger expenditure for the education of these poor 
 perishing children.' 
 
 Parliament met again early in February 1861, and 
 Mr. Black was in his place. On 8th March he 
 opposed a Bill introduced by Mr. Sheridan, for the 
 reduction of the Fire Insurance Duty. He thought 
 the tax bad, but necessary. Leave to introduce the 
 Bill was refused. 
 
 On 10th April he voted against the reading of 
 Mr. Baines's Borough Franchise Bill. He spoke 
 briefly, amid cries of ' Divide,' and said, ' There might 
 be defects in the present system of representation, 
 but he thought there was no class whose interests 
 were so much attended to in that House as those 
 who lived by manual labour, whom it was the fashion 
 to designate as "the labouring classes," as if they 
 were the only working bees in this great national 
 hive of industry.' He referred to the recent meeting 
 in Edinburgh, where there was much irritation 
 against himself and the Lord Advocate, but not on 
 the question of the Franchise; though he justified 
 his vote against the 6 clause in the last Govern- 
 ment Bill. There was little interest, he said, in that 
 question it was only the support he gave the Annuity 
 Tax Bill that excited their indignation. 
 
 On 22d April 1861, he spoke on the Paper Duty,
 
 JET. 77.] ADAM SLACK. 205 
 
 in reply to an insinuation by Mr. Long, that members 
 on the Liberal side of the house were not sincere in 
 supporting the Bill for its abolition, any more than 
 they were on the subject of Eeform. He had never 
 shrunk, he said, from giving his sincere opinion on 
 both subjects ; but he thought it a waste of time to 
 go back on what had been said and done five years 
 before. ' Times had changed, and the circumstances 
 under which they acted had changed; it was of 
 little consequence to him .what others had said 
 formerly, and how inconsistently they had acted the 
 question was, what was the proper thing to do now?' 
 The 8th edition of the Encyclopaedia Uritannica 
 was completed in the Spring of this year, and Mr. 
 Black took the earliest convenient opportunity of 
 celebrating the event by a dinner at Greenwich. It 
 came off on 5th June 1861 in the Trafalgar Hotel. 
 All the principal contributors were invited, besides 
 some of Mr. Black's particular friends in London. 
 There were about fifty present. Among the guests 
 were Sir John Herschel, Eobert Chambers, Eobert 
 Carruthers, J. E. M'Culloch, Monckton Milnes, 
 Professor Pillans, Professor Masson, Dr. Doran, Dr. 
 Letheby, Dr. Lankester, Messrs. Dasent, E. S. Poole, 
 John Downes, E. S. Dallas, Hepworth Dixon, General 
 Portlock, the Lord Advocate (Moncreiff), Sir W. 
 Dunbar, Sir J. Ogilvie, Messrs. Ellice, Bazley, Caird, 
 Baxter, Lindsay, Buchanan, T. A. Mitchell, W. Miller, 
 T. Longman, Hansard, Vardon, T. Young. There was
 
 2o6 MEMOIRS OF [1861. 
 
 some good speaking, but unfortunately no reporter 
 present. 
 
 The London correspondent of the Inverness Courier, 
 this time, no doubt, the able editor (Carruthers), 
 thus describes the gathering : 
 
 ' Tom Moore has a playful satire on the booksellers of 
 his day the fathers of the Kow whom he represents as 
 holding a joyous feast over the mangled remains of authors, 
 and drinking wine out of poets' skulls ! We had this vision 
 reversed on Wednesday last on the banks of the Thames, 
 where a gay troop of authors might be seen eating whitebait 
 and drinking champagne and claret supplied in profusion by 
 their publishers. The morning papers will have told you of 
 the banquet given in the Trafalgar at Greenwich, by the 
 Messrs. Black of Edinburgh, on the occasion of the comple- 
 tion of their Encyclopaedia Britannica. Death had removed 
 the greatest of the literary contributors Macaulay but the 
 highest representative of science, Sir John Herschel, was 
 present, and it was deeply interesting to look on his vener- 
 able white head, and hear the tremulous but silvery tones of 
 his voice as he descanted on the beneficent and blessed pro- 
 gress of science and literature. Another contributor, Mr. 
 Monckton Milnes, spoke admirably, and excited some laughter 
 by saying that, as so many Scotchmen were present, the toast 
 of the evening should have been given by Mr. Buckle, the 
 historian of civilisation ! The long-tried integrity and inde- 
 pendent public character of Adam Black were cordially 
 acknowledged Mr. J. R. M'Culloch, the political economist, 
 threw in some racy Scotch sentences the Lord Advocate 
 also spoke briefly ; but there was no formal speechifying and 
 no reporters circumstances which certainly did not detract 
 from the pleasure of the meeting. Lord Brougham's absence 
 was a matter of general regret his physician has prohibited
 
 .ET. 77.] ADAM BLACK. 207 
 
 all symposia, literary or political and also the absence of 
 three M.P. contributors Stirling, Cave, and Ricardo. As 
 mingling a little business with pleasure, Mr. Black told us 
 what sums he had expended on the seventh and eighth editions 
 of his Encyclopedia altogether a total ofl84,425:ll:4 
 a prodigious sum to spend on two editions of one work 
 to say nothing of the final glory and the crowning banquet 
 at the Trafalgar ! How different this state of things between 
 authors and publishers from the old Grub Street days 
 satirised by Swift and Pope, or from the later but scarcely 
 less miserable period of Fielding, Smollett, and Goldsmith !' 
 
 [From Mr. Black's Diary.] 
 
 Saturday, 22d June. Like John Gilpin, on plea- 
 sure bent, with wife and son to Epsom went, but not a 
 race day only to see the place and the race-course. 
 Not much enamoured of the village, and found no nice 
 shady grove where we might recline. . . . When we 
 arrived at the London Bridge station, found the neigh- 
 bourhood in flames, the wharves on the river side one 
 mass of fire, and spreading. Got a cab. Frank and 
 I mounted on the top ; went very slowly along the 
 bridge, which was blocked up with human beings and 
 vehicles. We had a full and leisurely view of the 
 terrific conflagration, some time between nine and 
 ten. About eleven the reflection of the flames in 
 the sky being visible at our lodgings, and seemingly 
 increasing, drove to South wark Bridge, and saw 
 the conflagration at its height, the houses for a long 
 way down the river in flames, and some of the ships 
 which could not get away, it being low water, burn-
 
 2o8 MEMOIRS OF [1862. 
 
 ing with a pure white flame ; the Thames itself seem- 
 ingly on fire, the burning oil floating like stars on the 
 surface. What was most melancholy, heard that Mr. 
 Braidwood and eight of his men had perished.' 
 
 On 28th June 1861 the conduct of public business 
 in the House having been brought under discussion 
 by Lord Palmerston, Mr. Black made some brief but 
 pertinent remarks on the subject. In supporting the 
 motion, he said, ' This very evening fifteen motions 
 stood in the way of the House, while, on the last 
 occasion when Supply stood first, one motion, the 
 discussion of which occupied five mortal hours, but 
 ended like a flash in the pan, intervened to the detri- 
 ment of public business. On the 21st inst. there were 
 twenty-nine motions, of which eleven were in the 
 names of Irish members, a fact which showed how 
 zealous they were in the discharge of their Parlia- 
 mentary duties.' 
 
 ' Obstruction ' at this time had not yet become 
 a recognised form of Parliamentary tactics. Other 
 twenty years passed on before what had for a long 
 time been felt to be an intolerable waste of public 
 time was seriously and definitely dealt with by the 
 House of Commons, chiefly in consequence of the 
 extraordinary zeal displayed by the Irish members 
 in the discharge of what they considered to be their 
 Parliamentary duties. 
 
 ' The Committee of the House on Ragged Schools 
 was nominated on 6th June 1861. Sir Stafford
 
 JET. 78.] ADAM BLACK. 209 
 
 Northcote, chairman. After many meetings, and 
 examining witnesses at great length, we had a report 
 by the chairman, and another by Sir James Graham, 
 and to my great regret the Committee decided by 
 eight to four in favour of Sir James's, recommending 
 that no aid should be given to Eagged Schools. This 
 resulted mainly from the evidence of the teachers of 
 the London Kagged Schools, whom I thought more 
 pious than wise, evidently Dissenters and Volun- 
 taries. From their evidence I should consider their 
 schools undisciplined mobs, exclusively plied with 
 good evangelical doctrine by very religious men, who 
 thought their great duty was to feed the children 
 with the bread of Heaven. When asked if they did 
 not think these schools should share in the Govern- 
 ment aid provided for education, they said, " No ; 
 and that even if offered they would refuse it ; they 
 would not mix poison with their children's bread." 
 This was Voluntaryism run mad. Lord Shaftesbury 
 sent us a letter recommending the London schools 
 and teachers. I got up from Edinburgh Mr. Fergu- 
 son, teacher of the United Industrial School, who 
 astonished the Committee by informing them that he 
 had no difficulty in teaching Eoman Catholic and 
 Protestant children in the same school.' 
 
 The great International Exhibition of 1862 was 
 opened on 1st May, and Mr. Black was appointed 
 chairman of class 8, section D, Printing, etc. He 
 says, ' I was unfortunately very ill at the time with 
 
 P
 
 210 MEMOIRS OF [1862. 
 
 rheumatism, and was hardly able for the labour of 
 going from place to place to examine the specimens. 
 I had two excellent fellow-jurors, however, who did 
 most of the work Mr. Spottiswoode and Mr. 
 Clowes, printers ; and although I had the honour 
 of signing the report as chairman, it was drawn up 
 by Spottiswoode.' 
 
 This attack of rheumatism continuing, Mr. Black, 
 at the Whitsuntide holidays, was induced to visit 
 Buxton for the sake of the baths, and at the close of 
 the session repaired to Wiesbaden with the same 
 object. Eeferring to the gaming-tables which were 
 then established there, he says, ' The Kursaal itself 
 may be called the Gambling Palace, with its large 
 ballroom, its reading-rooms, with all the French, 
 German, and English newspapers and periodicals, 
 and rooms for roulette tables birring all day and every 
 day, Sunday and Saturday, heaps of gold and silver 
 changing hands every minute, but of course the 
 larger proportion swept into the pockets of the bank. 
 There is a kind of fascination in standing among 
 the onlookers and seeing the freaks of fortune and 
 the countenances of the gamblers. I felt disposed 
 to risk a sovereign or a crown, but thought the 
 thing was essentially wrong, and ought not to be 
 touched.' l 
 
 After an absence of a month, Mr. Black returned 
 
 1 He adds, ' I was once going to Frankfort, and seated myself in 
 an empty carriage. Shortly after a rather pretty French lady came
 
 JET. 79.] ADAM BLACK. 211 
 
 to Edinburgh on 13th October, considerably the 
 better of his journey. The only public appearance 
 he made during the winter was at a meeting held 
 on 13th November in the Music Hall, in aid of the 
 sufferers in Lancashire from the effects of the 
 American War, at which he was one of the principal 
 speakers. 
 
 Parliament met again on 5th February 1863, and 
 he went up to London on the 23d, in answer to a 
 peremptory whip. A party division was expected 
 on a motion by Sir John Hay for quickening the 
 promotion of naval officers, but there was no vote, 
 the question being remitted to a committee. 
 
 On the 7th of March the Prince of Wales and his 
 bride made their memorable entrance into London. 
 
 in and took the opposite seat. She made some observation which 
 led to a conversation, in which she was very communicative. She 
 told me she was a widow, and had a chateau in France, and after 
 talking for some time she took out a pretty thick octavo volume, and 
 began to read pages of figures. I thought she was studying mathe- 
 matics or logarithms, and asked her to let me see it. "When I looked 
 at the title-page I saw it was something about tric-trac, and asked 
 her the meaning of it. She said it was instructions for the gaming- 
 table. I asked if she was in the habit of attending the gaming- 
 table. She said she was. " You must lose a great deal of money, 
 then," I said. "No," she replied; "I gain." "How much in 
 the week ?" " About fifteen Napoleons." " Is it through the in- 
 structions of this book?" "Yes." I saw a good many of the 
 lines ticked off with a pencil. I asked if these marked the games 
 she had played, and she said they did. She put some questions to 
 me, and I suspect would hare liked to have had an opportunity of 
 pigeoning me, but the canny Scot was too cautious for her, and 
 she parted from me at the station with " Au revoir." '
 
 212 MEMOIRS OF [1863. 
 
 ' What a spectacle/ Mr. Black says, ' has there been 
 in London to-day ! Such, I believe, was never seen 
 anywhere before. The millions of London and 
 the surrounding country turned out to welcome 
 the bride of the Prince of Wales. The procession of 
 carriages, the magnates with which they were filled, 
 were nothing compared to the welcome of the whole 
 nation to a young Princess, from the confidence they 
 have in her virtues, and the prospect of making the 
 residence of her husband a happy home. I saw her 
 passing not far from Temple Bar, where the crowd 
 was tremendous, and she looked as if rather alarmed.' 
 During the course of this session Mr. Black 
 moved on its third reading the rejection of the 
 Prison Ministers' Bill, which was opposed by the 
 Nonconformists and three -fourths of the Scottish 
 members. The Government, however, succeeded in 
 obtaining a majority. 
 
 ' We should,' he said, ' remember that a jail is not a 
 church nor a school, and that the prisoners cannot be treated 
 as free men. Civil and religious liberty are glorious words, 
 but you cannot have civil and religious liberty in a jail where 
 criminals are kept under restraint and coercion, locked up 
 that they may not commit depredations upon others. That 
 is the primary purpose of a prison. Doubtless it is our duty, 
 as far as we can, to endeavour to promote their amendment, 
 though I fear that for one that is reformed ten are deterior- 
 ated by the contamination of a jail. When these awful 
 portals are once crossed, the opportunity for amendment is 
 all but gone. The time for improvement is when the in-
 
 >ET. 79.] ADAM BLACK. 213 
 
 cipient criminal is young, and before he has come in contact 
 with a jail. When wandering homeless and destitute about 
 our streets, picking up a precarious subsistence, trembling on 
 the very verge of the jail, this of all the classes in the country 
 most urgently demands the care of the State ; but while you 
 are lavishing thousands on those who do not need your aid, 
 and tens of thousands on those who are too hardened to 
 benefit by it, you most preposterously deny all aid to this 
 most necessitous and most dangerous class. In order to 
 superintend the morals and religion of the prison, it is 
 necessary that a competent officer should be appointed, and it is 
 only reasonable that that officer or chaplain should be selected 
 from the religious denomination of the majority of the place 
 where the prison is situated in England, from the Episco- 
 palians ; in Scotland, from the Presbyterians ; and in Ireland, 
 from the Roman Catholics, allowing ministers and benevolent 
 persons, with the sanction and under the regulations of the 
 Board, to visit the prisoners. I am not afraid of proselytism. 
 I should be glad if the priests would convert all the Protestant 
 blackguards into good Catholics. We have heard loud 
 lamentations over the Roman Catholic prisoners on account 
 of their being left without the consolations of religion in 
 England and Scotland, but they are in the same case as the 
 Presbyterian prisoners in England and the Episcopalian 
 prisoners in Scotland. I cannot think so ill of any of these 
 denominations as that, knowing that some of their co- 
 religionists are confined in prison, none among them will be 
 found to visit them unless they are paid for their trouble, 
 and that they will all neglect the lesson that is taught in these 
 words, " I was in prison, and ye visited me.'" 
 On this occasion he expressed indignation at the 
 dictatorial manner in which the Protestant Alliance 
 tried to influence members to support his amend- 
 ment, an interference that did, he said, ' more
 
 214 MEMOIRS OF [1863. 
 
 damage to Protestantism and evangelical religion 
 than all the priests at Maynooth put together.' 
 The questions of closing public-houses in Eng- 
 land, and of allowing Volunteer corps to be em- 
 bodied in Ireland, which also came up for 
 discussion, were both in his eyes matters to be ruled 
 greatly by the wishes of the respective countries. 
 Along with his parliamentary work at this time, Mr. 
 Black did a good deal of social duty among his 
 numerous parliamentary and literary friends. When 
 the guest of Professor Owen at Sheen, he heard 
 two anecdotes which he made a note of. 
 
 ' The professor told us he had been asked from the 
 Chancellor of the Exchequer, Cornwall Lewis, whether there 
 was anything peculiar in the habits of the goose, which occa- 
 sioned the tradition that Rome was saved by its cackling, and 
 raising the alarm on the approach of the enemy. He returned 
 for answer that he had a pond and geese before his door, and 
 had watched their habits. At night they took up the most 
 favourable positions ; and if any danger seemed to approach, 
 the old gander gave the alarm, and they all immediately 
 plunged into the water. If at any time he happened to 
 come home very late, or rather early, the geese gave the 
 alarm before he came near the house, and always before the 
 dog. 
 
 ' Another anecdote he gave us. Some time ago when a 
 dock was being excavated near Newcastle they came upon an 
 ancient forest. The trees were petrified on the outside, with 
 hard black wood within ; but the most remarkable part of 
 the discovery was that one of the trees was cut in the trunk, 
 and evidently cut by an instrument, and by the hand of man, 
 which the engineer said must have been done many thousands
 
 XT. 79. ] ADAM SLA CK. 2 1 5 
 
 of years before the creation of man in Paradise. Owen was 
 sent for, and was much puzzled by it. They went down into 
 the mud, examining all about. He was told that chips 
 had been found too. This he could not credit, for if there 
 had been chips at an early age the sea must have washed 
 them away. This only excited his suspicion, but the engineer 
 insisted that this was a proof of the population of the world 
 long before the time of Adam. On the third day some one 
 spoke of a navvy called Darby Joe, who had been working 
 in that quarter for a railway. Darby was asked if he knew 
 anything about the cutting on that trunk. " Them's ma 
 cuttin'," said he. "And the chips?" "Them's ma cuttin' 
 too." He added that the head of the tree should be there 
 too. Owen offered half-a-crown to the first man who should 
 find it, and it was soon forthcoming.' 
 
 Mr. Black had long desired to visit Italy, and 
 took the opportunity this autumn of carrying out his 
 wish. On 1st September he sailed from Leith to 
 Dunkirk, accompanied by his son Charles, and pro- 
 ceeding by Brussels, Luxembourg, and Cologne, 
 passed leisurely through Switzerland, entering Italy 
 by the St. Gothard route. He visited all the 
 principal cities of North Italy, and sailed from 
 Leghorn to Naples. Here he spent some days in- 
 specting the remains of Pompeii and Herculaneum, 
 and although now in his 80th year, boldly made 
 his way to the summit of Mount Vesuvius. He 
 says : 
 
 ' The ascent of the cone is something terrible, among loose 
 stones, debris of lava and ashes, lying at an angle of fifty 
 degrees. This has to be done on foot, and with the assist- 
 ance of three of the mountaineers I boldly, or rather foolishly,
 
 216 MEMOIRS OF [1863. 
 
 made the attempt. I got up about half way, when I became 
 perfectly exhausted, and felt as if I were going to faint. I 
 had hardly had any breakfast, and before commencing the 
 ascent partook of some villanous wine, blasphemously called 
 Lagrima Christi. As I lay among the stones, with a keen 
 cold wind blowing over me, M. de Launay threw his cloak 
 over me. I felt really ill, but was determined to get to the 
 top, and rather than return decided on being carried up the 
 rest of the way. By the help of our stout but greedy guides 
 I accomplished it, and was carried up like an Indian Rajah.' 
 
 From Naples he proceeded to Rome, the main 
 object of his visit, arriving there on 10th October. 
 He visited all the great sights of the city with un- 
 wearied assiduity, and enjoyed them with the zest 
 of youth. His account of his presentation to the 
 Pope (Pius IX.) is particularly interesting. 
 
 ' Were at the Palace in good time, accompanied by Madame 
 de Launay, 1 and had time to make observations. Many 
 brought articles for the Pope to bless. Madame de Launay 
 had various strings of beads. The ceiling of the anteroom 
 where we waited was gorgeously painted, but the floor was 
 dirty brick, such as no workman with us would have toler- 
 ated. It soiled the ladies' dresses. The chamberlain called 
 us in, group by group, into the audience room. We were 
 last, and I observed through the half-open door the party 
 that preceded us go down on their knees as soon as they 
 entered, then rising and advancing, bowing low as they went, 
 then down on their knees before his Holiness, receiving his 
 blessing on themselves and the things they carried with them. 
 
 1 Wife of M. de Launay, in the Italian diplomatic service, who 
 was of the greatest assistance to Mr. Black in Italy. M. de 
 Launay came afterwards to great distinction as the Italian 
 ambassador at Berlin in 1866.
 
 ^T. 79.] ADAM SLACK. 217 
 
 They then kissed his hand, bowed with their face to the 
 ground, and kissed his toe. When I saw all this, I was 
 horrified at the prospect of being expected either to humble 
 ourselves so, or be guilty of great rudeness. I resolved if 
 this was insisted on to turn on my heel and be off, and I went 
 up to Mr. Talbot and said, " I hope the Pope doesn't expect 
 Protestants to kneel to him 1 " He said, " That is as you 
 please," and I at once followed in. The Pope was sitting in 
 an arm-chair, dressed in white, with red slippers, and sat all 
 the while that the faithful were worshipping him. When we 
 entered, bowing most respectfully, he rose up like a gentle- 
 man, as he obviously is, came forward a little- to receive us, 
 and asked a few commonplace questions. He spoke in 
 French, though he understands English quite well. He 
 asked if we were all Scotch. Madame de Launay said she 
 was Swiss and a Catholic. I said we three were Scotch. 
 He then came forward to me and said, " I understand you 
 are a Member of Parliament." I said I had that honour, on 
 which he asked if I was a member of the Parliament of 
 Scotland or the Parliament of England ? Proud to be able to 
 correct an infallible man, I told him that, since the union of 
 England and Scotland, there was but one Parliament for the 
 United Kingdom, of which I was a member. He then asked 
 Madame de Launay some questions, when she went through 
 all the manoeuvres of a good Catholic. 
 
 ' I was very well pleased with his Holiness, and believe if 
 he had been born a Scotch laird he would have made a very 
 good landlord, or if his lot had fallen among the ministers of 
 the Church of Scotland, he would have been a respectable 
 Moderate.' 
 
 From Eome Mr. Black turned his face homewards, 
 visiting on the way Civita Vecchia, Genoa, Geneva, 
 Dijon, and Paris, arriving at Edinburgh on 2d Novem- 
 ber, ' in good health, thanks to a kind Providence.'
 
 218 MEMOIRS OF [1863. 
 
 The diary kept by him is very minute in its 
 descriptions of the places visited, and shows his usual 
 shrewdness of observation and historical knowledge. 
 Unlike most English travellers, he devoted the 
 Sundays most sedulously to attending the different 
 Protestant chapels to be found on the route, with 
 apparently more satisfaction than is usually ex- 
 perienced.
 
 ALT. 79.] ADAM BLACK. 219 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 1863-1874. 
 
 FROM the beginning of November 1863 to the re- 
 sumption of his parliamentary duties in February 
 1864, Mr. Black was in Edinburgh, with the ex- 
 ception of a night in Glasgow, where he assisted at 
 a social meeting of the Glasgow Congregational Union 
 on 17th December, and delivered an excellent speech, 
 full of good sense, of the spirit of toleration, of liberty, 
 and of true Christianity. Speaking of various de- 
 nominations, Principal Caird had said, ' Whether I 
 travel by the highway of Episcopacy, or by the foot- 
 path of Presbyterianism, or by the open common of 
 Independency, if I reach the presence chamber of 
 my Redeemer it will give me little concern ;' to 
 which Dr. Begg had taken special objection as a re- 
 flection on the authority of Presbyterianism. 
 
 ' To me,' said Mr. Black, ' there seems considerable apt- 
 ness in the parable. In comparing Episcopacy to a highway, 
 he may have alluded to its being the road travelled by the 
 higher classes, but I rather think he must have referred to
 
 220 MEMOIRS OF [1863. 
 
 the wideness of the road as compared with the narrow foot- 
 path of Presbyterianism. In the Church of England, al- 
 though the most discordant doctrines may be taught by her 
 bishops and doctors, yet the highway is sufficiently broad to 
 admit of their all travelling on it without jostling one another. 
 Whether they be High Church, or Low Church, or Broad 
 Church whether Evangelical, Puseyite, or nationalistic 
 there is room and verge enough for them all in the Church 
 of England highway, without any ecclesiastical police being 
 empowered to make them move on in the appointed track, 
 or run the risk of losing their status and stipends. I 
 suspect, however, that it is not so much to the compari- 
 son of Episcopacy to a highway as to the comparison of 
 Presbyterianism to a footpath that the rev. doctor objects, as 
 if it implied contractedness and illiberality when contrasted 
 with the others. But in the very speech which contains 
 his animadversions he gives a strong proof of the pro- 
 priety of the comparison, for he affirms that Dr. Caird 
 and all Presbyterian ministers, instead of publishing such 
 lax or liberal sentiments, are bound by their ordination 
 engagements to the conviction that the Presbyterian Church 
 government and discipline are founded upon the Word 
 of God, and that they are under the strongest obliga- 
 tions to maintain and defend them plainly implying that 
 if a Presbyterian minister should examine the Scriptures for 
 himself to ascertain their teaching on this subject, he is 
 bound to have no conviction contrary to the profession he 
 made at his ordination engagements, and to take care that 
 he does not wander beyond the limits of the footpath, lest 
 he gets rubbed against the wall or torn by the hedges. When 
 Dr. Caird compares the church polity of the Independents to 
 an open common, he appears to me to adopt a happy simile. 
 In travelling over this common, where there is neither 
 highway nor footpath, there is no doubt that some of the 
 pilgrims may take a roundabout way to their Father's
 
 *r. 79.] ADAM SLACK, 221 
 
 house. Nay, some may display rather unseemly gambols in 
 the exercise of their freedom. These will generally be the 
 younger and more exuberant spirits, but age and experience 
 will generally correct this tendency without much harm be- 
 ing done. The great body, however, will travel on in the 
 enjoyment of the free air of heaven the fragrant turf under 
 their feet in the untrammelled exercise of their faculties ; 
 and, guided by the only unerring chart, they will reach the 
 haven of rest not the less surely that they have not trusted 
 to two guides the one fallible and the other infallible 
 that they have not permitted the human standard to over- 
 ride the Divine. Objectors naturally enough say, accord- 
 ing to the Independent system, we can never hope to see 
 removed that which has so long been a scandal and a 
 reproach to Protestants the great diversity of opinions 
 and denominations among them ; and that which has been 
 the object and desire and prayer to so many pious men must 
 thus remain unaccomplished the union of all the flock of 
 Christ in one fold.' 
 
 Parliament met on 4th February 1864, and Mr. 
 Black went up on the 9th. At the close of the pre- 
 vious session he had given notice of his intention to 
 bring in a Bill for the consolidation of the Copyright 
 Acts. The Government having announced that they 
 did not intend to bring in such a Bill, Mr. Black pro- 
 ceeded to prepare one, which he found very laborious 
 ' a much tougher job than I expected,' and which 
 ultimately had to be withdrawn. 
 
 This, though not an important session, was a busy 
 one with him, and he spoke several times. On 18th 
 February he seconded Mr. Buchanan's motion for the 
 rejection of the Caledonian, Scottish Central, and
 
 222 MEMOIRS OF [ 1 864. 
 
 Edinburgh and Glasgow Eailway Companies' Amal- 
 gamation Bill, which was withdrawn. On 6th April 
 he introduced his Copyright Bill. On 27th April he 
 moved the rejection of Sir John Hay's Bank Notes 
 (Scotland) Bill, in which Mr. Dalglish seconded him. 
 The Bill was withdrawn. It provided that ' It shall 
 be lawful for any company carrying on banking 
 business to make an addition to their own bank 
 notes in Scotland.' He also seconded Sir Wm. 
 Heathcote's Bill for removing the disabilities from 
 the Scottish Episcopal clergy. Among the other 
 notable discussions of the session may be mentioned 
 that on the German -Danish War, the Oxford Tests 
 Bill, and Mr. Bass's Street Music Bill the last ex- 
 citing more interest at the time than some more im- 
 portant measures. Garibaldi paid his memorable 
 visit to London this spring, and elicited the greatest 
 amount of enthusiasm. Mr. Black tells how at Mrs. 
 Gladstone's 'At Home' the hero sat between the 
 hostess and Lady Palmerston ' patiently enduring the 
 heat, and the staring, and lionising, evidently feeling 
 it a terrible infliction,' adding that ' he walked a little 
 lame.' 
 
 ' During this session,' he says, ' I was often 
 detained in the House till the small hours in the 
 morning, but at whatever hour I moved off, I left 
 Palmerston sitting on the front ministerial bench, 
 stooping down with his hat over his face, watching 
 the debate. He was often thought to be sleeping,
 
 ^ET. So.] ADAM SLACK. 223 
 
 but sleeping or not, when he rose to reply, he showed 
 that he had marked the whole progress of the debate, 
 and often, in the gray morning, he walked to his 
 house in Piccadilly. When he went to bed I know 
 not, but next morning, by breakfast time, he must 
 have been ready to receive despatches, consult with 
 the whips and secretaries and others, meet with 
 deputations, make arrangements for future proce- 
 dure, study his speeches if he ever did study them 
 then down again to the House by four or five 
 o'clock till midnight or morning again. He and I 
 were born in the same year. When once I men- 
 tioned this to him, adding that I had the advantage 
 in being two or three months older, he remarked he 
 did not see any advantage in that.' 
 
 On 4th October 1864 Mr. Black lost his brother- 
 in-law William Tait, who died in his house in Walker 
 Street, Edinburgh, after a comparatively short ill- 
 ness. 
 
 'He had been,' he says, 'a steady friend of 
 mine through life, and in our house he was always 
 as a member of the family. When I first knew 
 him he was a regular Tory, and I endeavoured 
 to indoctrinate him into the faith of Whiggery, 
 but ultimately found him too apt a scholar, as he 
 soon shot beyond me into the extremes of Demo- 
 cracy, and in the Magazine which he established 
 he advocated opinions to which I could not sub- 
 scribe. Nevertheless, although we differed in our
 
 224 MEMOIRS OF [1865. 
 
 political opinions, that never caused any interruption 
 in our friendship.' 
 
 Priorbank, Mr. Tait's residence at Melrose, was 
 now the property for life of Mr. and Mrs. Black. 
 The house and grounds are contiguous to the old 
 abbey, the orchard, in fact, having been planted by 
 the monks, and gave ample scope to Mr. Black's 
 love of improvement. The situation of the house 
 is a most desirable one, and one in which Mr. 
 Black took great delight, particularly as it was 
 not very far distant from the village of Newstead 
 and Drygrange farm, where he had spent many 
 happy days in boyhood. The following session of 
 Parliament, however, soon withdrew him from this 
 pleasant retreat, and as it was his last, it may 
 best be described by quotations from his diary : 
 
 ' Left Edinburgh for London on 15th February, 
 to attend last session of my parliamentary life. I 
 did not expect or intend to continue my public 
 labours so long. This was my tenth year of service, 
 and I was now eighty-one years of age.' 
 
 ' The session was not so interesting as the previous 
 one. Parliament had lasted six years, and, as a matter 
 of course, members were more taken up with the ap- 
 proaching election.' 
 
 ' Thursday, 23d March. This night the great debate 
 on the defences of Canada. The Ministry proposed to 
 vote 50,000 for fortifying Quebec, the Canadians to 
 fortify Montreal, with the prospect of more to be
 
 XT. 8 1.] ADAM BLACK. 225 
 
 voted in future years. I agreed with those who 
 thought there was no likelihood of Canada being 
 attacked ; that our raising fortifications and sending 
 soldiers would only be a provocation to the Ameri- 
 cans ; and that any soldiers we could send, or fortifi- 
 cations we could raise, would not be a sufficient 
 defence against the force at their disposal ; therefore 
 voted with the minority of 40 against the Ministry, 
 who, however, were supported by 275. 
 
 ' Same night Hadfield's Oaths Bill carried by 130 
 to 56. Kept very late. Two o'clock striking as I 
 came up the Birdcage Walk. 
 
 ' Friday, 24:th March. An unseemly scene in the 
 House. On second reading of an Irish Bill, which, 
 after it had been carried, was found not to be printed, 
 Hennessey insisted that the Clerk should read it, 
 although impossible. The Speaker bothered. 
 
 ' Tuesday, 25th April. Business very dull in the 
 House. Seeing it was about to rise, left at 7. Went 
 to the Alhambra, Leicester Square. Audience almost 
 all men, most with moustaches, large rings, and gold 
 chains, Jewish and dark complexions, as becomes the 
 denizens of Leicester Square. Left early.' x 
 
 Soon after this Mr. Black took an active part in 
 opposing the Burgh Franchise Bill of Mr. Baiues, 
 
 1 Mr. Black was not the only Edinburgh man at the Alhambra 
 that evening, and two younger citizens, sitting in another part of 
 the house, were not a little amused and pleased to see their vener- 
 able member coming in, and evidently enjoying the fun as much as 
 anybody. There are probably few men of his position who would
 
 226 MEMOIRS OF [1865. 
 
 and laid himself open, without any reserve, to the 
 charge of preferring to row in the same boat with 
 Tories, than with Eadicals who were, in his opinion, 
 going forward too fast, and endangering the balance 
 of power in the representative machinery of the 
 British Constitution. He accordingly appeared in 
 the novel position of seconding Lord Elcho in oppo- 
 sition to Mr. Baines's Bill. But he was not the only 
 or most important Whig who supported the amend- 
 ment. The most powerful speech in support of it 
 was delivered by Mr. Lowe. 
 
 ' Wednesday, 3d May. Elcho moved the previous 
 question, to Baines's and Bazley's motion in support 
 of Bill, in a clever effective speech, which I seconded 
 in a very imperfect way. Leatharn replied in a 
 radical speech, and twitted me with making speeches 
 in favour of Lord John Eussell's Bill. He was an- 
 swered by Lowe, in one of the most masterly speeches 
 I ever heard. Then the Lord Advocate (Moncreiff) 
 and Osborne rose together. The Speaker called the 
 Lord Advocate, who stood for some minutes in the 
 midst of a storm of calls for Osborne. The Lord 
 Advocate sat down and Osborne rose, but his speech, 
 which was in favour of the motion, was neither so 
 slashing nor so effective as usual. Gregory moved 
 
 not have been afraid to be seen in such a place, still fewer men of 
 his years who would take any pleasure in such an entertainment. 
 It was characteristic of the man, of his vigorous health of body and 
 mind, his freedom from timid or hypocritical respect for Mrs. 
 Grundy.
 
 /ET. 8 1.] ADAM BLACK. 227 
 
 the adjournment of the debate, and after a tumultu- 
 ous discussion the House adjourned. 
 
 ' Buxton and Sir George Grey refused on the part 
 of the Government to indicate their future policy on 
 Eeform, further than that they were favourable to it, 
 and would vote for Baines's motion, though they did 
 not approve of it altogether. Horsman followed in 
 a very clever speech, and Dizzy wound up the debate. 
 On a division there were 214 in favour of the motion, 
 and 288 for the amendment majority 74. Scotch 
 members for the motion, 26 ; against, 18.' 
 
 Mr. Black's conduct on this occasion naturally 
 subjected him to very adverse criticism on the part 
 of the Advanced Liberals of Edinburgh, and contri- 
 buted materially to his defeat at the next election. 
 
 ' Wednesday, 24^ May. Left London for Melrose 
 at 10 A.M. Eemained at Priorbank till Monday 5th 
 June. Very much perplexed about retiring from 
 Parliament at the approaching election, or leaving it 
 to the Committee to decide. Had a meeting on 5th 
 June with conveners and canvassers, who were de- 
 cided that I ought to stand again, and along with the 
 Lord Advocate. Advertised that we would meet the 
 electors in the Music Hall on Wednesday, 7th June.' 
 
 'This meeting being advertised, our opponents were 
 not idle. Every means was used to prevent our being 
 heard. Placards were posted through the streets, 
 urging the working men to be early at the meeting, 
 and crowd the hall. The Lord Provost (Lawson)
 
 228 MEMOIRS OF [1865. 
 
 was in the chair, but could hardly get a hearing. 
 When the Lord Advocate and I appeared, we were 
 received with yells and tumult, joined in by men 
 apparently respectable, and it was said that even 
 clergymen were not ashamed to help in the disturb- 
 ance. I tried to be heard, and stretched my voice to 
 the utmost, but in vain, and had to speak just to the 
 reporters. By the time the Lord Advocate got up to 
 speak the audience had expended much of their fury, 
 and he, though amidst tumult and interruption, was 
 better listened to.' . 
 
 Some of the reporters on this occasion, finding it 
 impossible to take down two consecutive sentences 
 of Mr. Black's speech, made their way to the plat- 
 form, and took up their seats at the speaker's right 
 hand. The proceedings at this meeting were correctly 
 described in the Scotsman as, 'on the whole, of the 
 most disgraceful and extraordinary character ever 
 witnessed at a public meeting in Edinburgh.' A 
 motion in favour of Mr. Black and the Lord Advo- 
 cate was put and carried, notwithstanding, at the 
 close of the meeting, without any counter motion. 
 
 The session was now drawing to a close, and Mr. 
 Black returned to his duties in Parliament on 13th 
 June. 
 
 'Friday, 16th June. Voted for the ballot with 
 considerable doubts. Motion lost by 118 to 74. 
 
 'Asked by Bright how I was getting on in Edinburgh, 
 and if I was to get all the Tories. Said I hoped so.
 
 /ET. 8 1.] ADAM BLACK. 229 
 
 ' Sunday, 18^ June. At Martin's, 1 possibly for the 
 last time. I shall ever remember the faithful and 
 affectionate discourses of that heavenly-minded man, 
 who must have been a centre of incalculable good in 
 the sphere where he is placed. 
 
 ' Eeading Butler's Analogy in the evening. 
 
 ' Friday, 2,3d June 1865. Sat as a member in the 
 House of Commons for the last time, after having 
 served as a representative for Edinburgh for nearly 
 ten years. Although I cannot boast of any great deed 
 accomplished, my conscience bears me witness that 
 I served my constituents and my country faithfully, 
 and to the best of my ability, without fear or favour. 
 When I first entered Parliament I was seventy-two 
 years of age, and it was predicted that if I attended 
 the late sittings the first session would kill me. 
 Yet by the good providence of God I retired, after 
 ten years' constant attendance, in as good health as 
 when I first entered ; and although I lived very tem- 
 perately, frequently shared in the hospitality of mem- 
 bers of the House and others with whom it was an 
 honour and a pleasure to associate. These parties 
 were a very agreeable relaxation from public business, 
 and had a tendency to keep me active. I lived on 
 friendly terms with a large number of members on the 
 Liberal side of the House, and even with some on 
 the opposite side, and I am happy to think that in 
 
 1 Mr. Black was a regular worshipper at the late Mr. Martin's 
 (Congregational) chapel, Westminster.
 
 230 MEMOIRS OF [1865. 
 
 no instance had I any unpleasant difference with 
 any one. 
 
 'In 1864 I had been appointed one of the Com- 
 missioners to inquire into the state of education in 
 Scotland. Our first meeting was on the 14th Nov- 
 ember 1864, and we had numerous meetings during 
 the next two years, and examined a great number 
 of witnesses. It appeared to me that it was the 
 general desire that we should have a National in- 
 stead of a Denominational and Sectarian system of 
 Education, but the recommendations of the Com- 
 mission appeared to me a lame and unsatisfactory 
 conclusion. 
 
 ' The Bill founded on the Eeport of the Commis- 
 sion was justly thrown out by the Lords. From 
 the first a feeble and decrepit bantling, it died in 
 their hands, after all the nursing and dandling it got. 
 
 'Had the Lord Advocate taken more decided 
 ground, and acted upon his own views, a better Bill 
 might have been carried, or if it had been lost, it 
 would have fallen more gloriously. But he was too 
 desirous to carry a Bill, and had to modify to please 
 one and another, especially the leaders in Church 
 and State. In the Commission we had four Peers, 
 three Lords of Session, two Sheriffs, one Procurator 
 of the Church of Scotland, and no decided school 
 reformers.' 
 
 Referring to the election of 1865, when he failed 
 to secure re-election, Mr. Black goes on to say
 
 JET . 8 1 . ] ADAM BLA CK. 231 
 
 ' At the meeting which the Lord Advocate and I 
 had with the operatives in Brighton Street Church 
 in 1859, I made an unfortunate slip in my speech. 
 I had given my views on the reform of Parliament, 
 and in noticing the variety of plans proposed by 
 others, such as the reducing of the Franchise to a 6, 
 5, 4 rental, or to Universal Suffrage, without 
 meaning that I approved of any of them, and without 
 any consideration but that of choosing among the 
 variety of schemes, I said I would recommend the 
 6 Franchise, although I did not say I would support 
 any such measure, as I had always refused to give 
 any pledge. Indeed it was such a merely cursory 
 observation, that I thought no more of it till it was 
 brought forward by my opponents in 1865 as proof 
 that I had violated a pledge, and a great handle was 
 made of it. This, and my support of the Lord Ad- 
 vocate's Annuity Tax Bill, the old spectre of May- 
 nooth, and the clamour against my age, were the 
 stock charges against me. 
 
 ' All this, however, would not have availed if the 
 adversary had not had the advantage of a preliminary 
 canvass. While we were in London attending to our 
 public duties, an active canvass had been going on, 
 especially in the more obscure districts, where the 
 number of voters had been greatly increased. I was 
 placed at another disadvantage. I had no oppor- 
 tunity of defending myself against the unscrupulous 
 misrepresentations made against me. In the Music
 
 232 MEMOIRS OF [1865. 
 
 Hall I was prevented from being heard by the riot 
 and noise. Then Mr. M'Lareri had a great meeting in 
 Brighton Street Church, where his Anti- Annuity Tax 
 admirers eagerly listened to his charges against us ; 
 while afterwards an opportunity of meeting in the 
 same church, though promised to the Lord Advocate 
 and me, and agreed to by the managers, was after- 
 wards withdrawn, and their doors shut against us. 
 In short, I had no opportunity of vindicating myself 
 from the unjust aspersions which were freely and 
 widely scattered. But I will say no more on this 
 subject.' 
 
 The contest was carried on with intense bitterness 
 for several weeks, and terminated on the 13th of 
 July 1865. The candidates were, on the one hand, 
 Mr. Black and the Lord Advocate (Moncreiff), on 
 the other Mr. Duncan M'Laren and Mr. John 
 Miller, C.E. At the close of the poll they stood as 
 follows : 
 
 M'Laren , 4354 
 
 Moncreiff . . . .4148 
 Black . . . . 3797 
 
 Miller .... 3723 
 
 Of Mr. Black's position the Scotsman said truly, ' He 
 has ended his public life as he began it, fighting for 
 freedom, reason, and justice, and courageously speak- 
 ing the words of truth and soberness against the 
 falsehood of extremes. Whoever shall write our 
 annals true, will, if he hesitate to display the circum-
 
 JET. 8 1.] ADAM BLACK. 233 
 
 stances which closed the career of our best citizen 
 of his own generation, hesitate in tenderness not to 
 the man, but to the City.' 
 
 The Daily News said : ' We cannot exult over 
 the defeat of such a man as Adam Black ; his 
 high character, his long association with the 
 Liberal cause, and his constancy to its fortunes 
 when it cost something to be a Liberal, peremp- 
 torily forbid the indulgence of such a feeling. But 
 we may express a calm satisfaction in the fact 
 that he is replaced in the representation of Edin- 
 burgh by one whose Liberalism is a thing not of 
 memory but of action.' 
 
 Mr. Black's political life was now closed, and he 
 was not sorry for it. So far as he was personally 
 concerned it was a relief to him ; and neither by 
 speech nor by letter did he ever indicate the slightest 
 disappointment, or cherish any grudge in connection 
 with it. His nature was too healthy and magna- 
 nimous for any such weakness. Very seldom are 
 vigorous men, who have been mixed up in municipal 
 or national politics, so perfectly free as he was from 
 vindictiveness. He could not only forgive as a 
 Christian is bound to do but he could also forget, as 
 Christians, unfortunately, cannot always do. 
 
 He had never taken special delight in political or 
 other conflicts, but had been drawn into them, and 
 pushed into positions of prominence which he would
 
 234 MEMOIRS OF [1866-67. 
 
 have preferred to avoid, but had too high a sense of 
 public duty and too little fear of unpopularity to 
 shirk. There can be no doubt that it was his chief 
 delight to work away quietly at the North Bridge or 
 in Drummond Place, especially on the Encyclopaedia 
 Britannica, and that the pleasures of his own family 
 circle, in town or country, were more to him than all 
 the stirring or pompous excitements of public meet- 
 ings and entertainments. As he had done when he 
 retired from the Town- Council, he now went back to 
 his own desk and books, and resumed the even tenor 
 of his home life as if nothing had happened. Even 
 in his parliamentary career, the dignity and ecldt of 
 which he frankly enjoyed, it was very manifest that 
 the occasional company of his wife and children, and 
 the trips which they took together, were more prized 
 by him than all the glories of the House of Commons. 
 His first thought was to do his duty, and when that 
 was done for the day, he was open, at an age when 
 most men are fit only for repose, to enter heartily 
 into any rational amusement. He was ready even to 
 undertake the most fatiguing journeys into foreign 
 countries, for the sake of new information and new 
 sensations. Accordingly, he started in March 1866 on 
 a visit to Spain in company with his son Charles, who, 
 from his long residence in Chili, was a master of the 
 Spanish language. They started on 17th March, and 
 were back in Edinburgh on 13th May, after a run 
 through France, and a more leisurely progress through
 
 ,ET. 82-83.] ADAM BLACK. 235 
 
 Spain, from San Sebastian to Gibraltar ; where the 
 old man, seeing Africa so near, determined to set his 
 foot on that continent, and crossed over to Tangiers 
 in Morocco. ' In Spain,' says Mr. Black, ' we saw 
 a country blessed with a rich soil and a fine climate, 
 abounding in mineral wealth; but cursed by the 
 ignorance, superstition, and tyranny of man, and 
 showing no sign of reformation. May the unex- 
 pected light that has arisen shine brighter and 
 brighter and fill the whole land !' 
 
 This visit he made the subject of an interesting 
 lecture, which he delivered to the Philosophical 
 Institution on 17th March 1868. 
 
 The autumn holidays were spent at Priorbank, 
 the winter in Edinburgh, with the quiet happiness of 
 the ' nations whose annals are dull.' 
 
 In the spring of 1867, being still troubled with 
 rheumatism, his only ailment, Mr. Black paid 
 another visit to Wiesbaden, in company with his 
 son. They had cold and disagreeable weather, but 
 when it permitted, they revisited most of their 
 old haunts. On their return they halted at Frank- 
 fort, Homburg, Baden-Baden, Strasbourg, etc., finally 
 resting for some time at Paris, to see the great 
 Exposition there. 
 
 One of the few clouds that ever darkened Mr. 
 Black's life settled down this year on his house. His 
 bright and amiable wife had gradually been losing 
 her sight, and in 1867 the right eye was quite blind.
 
 236 MEMOIRS OF [1868. 
 
 It was operated on by Dr. Walker, the most eminent 
 oculist in Edinburgh, but inflammation supervening, 
 she suffered extreme pain, and was much reduced in 
 health. She regained her strength, but not her sight, 
 and the left eye gradually became obscured like the 
 other. It was operated on by Dr. Bowman of 
 London, but with no satisfactory result, and after 
 1869 all hope of recovery of sight had passed. The 
 affliction was borne, as a kindly Providence has 
 arranged it should be almost universally, with the 
 most perfect and cheerful resignation. 
 
 The family circle was in 1868 broken by the 
 death, in September of that year, of Mr. James 
 Eichardson, who was married to Mr. Black's second 
 eldest daughter. He was much lamented by his 
 fellow-citizens, having proved himself a very trust- 
 worthy and capable man in the varied public and 
 private duties to which he always devoted himself 
 ungrudgingly. 
 
 Mr. Black had for several years been one of the 
 seven Curators, who, under the new Scottish Uni- 
 versities Act, are patrons of the University of 
 Edinburgh, in place of the Town-Council. This 
 is certainly one of the least pleasant or desirable of 
 all public offices, though in proof of the patriotism 
 of our citizens no man has yet declined it. It is 
 impossible for any man to exercise this function 
 without giving much dissatisfaction to all the 
 candidates for a Professorship except one. The dis-
 
 >ET. 84.] ADAM BLACK. 237 
 
 appointed competitors and their friends will naturally 
 conclude that the men who think proper to prefer A 
 to B, of whose merits they (the competitors and 
 friends) are so perfectly assured, must be very in- 
 capable or very little to be trusted. There was more 
 of this feeling in former times, and with more reason, 
 when the selection of the best man to teach Mathe- 
 matics or Metaphysics was committed to thirty-three 
 persons, the majority of whom knew no more of 
 Mathematics or of Metaphysics than they did of the 
 Eleusinian Mysteries or the Abracadabra. Now 
 that the number of patrons is so select, there is 
 less chance of ignorance and undue influence; but 
 the very smallness of their number makes the vote 
 of each Curator of more consequence, and exposes 
 him to the more severe criticism, if he seem to wise 
 or foolish people to have been unduly influenced by 
 stronger wills or diplomatic considerations. 
 
 Mr. Black was not a man likely to be unduly 
 influenced in these matters by anybody; he was 
 as competent to judge of the qualifications of 
 candidates for Professorships as any intelligent well- 
 educated Scotsman could be, nor was it very easy 
 to find in academic circles or elsewhere any will 
 stronger than his own. 
 
 Nevertheless, he was, on more than one occasion, 
 obliged to defend himself against the charge that 
 he and the majority of his colleagues had not done 
 their duty, or put in the right man.
 
 238 MEMOIRS OF [1868. 
 
 The Chair of Moral Philosophy in the University 
 became vacant in 1868 by the death of Professor 
 M'Dougall, who had succeeded Professor Wilson, 
 very unjustly, as some thought, who considered 
 the claims of Professor Terrier infinitely superior 
 very deservedly, as others thought, who knew Mr. 
 M'Dougall's- great merits. 
 
 The number of candidates in 1868 was not 
 numerous, and some of them were men of decided 
 mark and merit. Two in particular came forward 
 at an early stage, both with the highest claims 
 to consideration Dr. Hutchison Stirling, known in 
 Europe and America as the par excellence, expounder 
 of Fichte ; Professor Flint of St. Andrews, minister 
 of the Established Church, and distinguished Pro- 
 fessor of Moral Philosophy at St. Andrews. The 
 forces seemed equally divided, when late in the day 
 appeared the Rev. H. Calderwood, minister of a 
 U.P. Church in Glasgow, well known as a dis- 
 tinguished Edinburgh student, and author of an 
 essay on the ' Infinite,' in which he had boldly, 
 but respectfully, controverted and attacked his great 
 and revered master, Sir William Hamilton. Up to 
 this point the election was supposed to lie between 
 Dr. Stirling and Professor Flint, neither of whom, 
 unfortunately, satisfied everybody; the one being 
 most unjustly suspected and dreaded as an apostle 
 of German heresy and Pantheism ; the other as 
 unjustly looked on as a representative of Established
 
 ^T. 84.] ADAM BLACK. 239 
 
 Church orthodoxy and exclusiveness. When it 
 came to the vote both were rejected, and Mr. 
 Calderwood was elected by the vote of Mr. Black, 
 to the utter disappointment and indignation of 
 the friends of the other candidates, naturally of 
 the candidates themselves, visibly at least of one of 
 them. 
 
 Mr. Black's conduct was severely criticised in the 
 Scotsman, more bitterly in the Courant, in letters 
 by anonymous, but not therefore contemptible, cor- 
 respondents. He took the trouble to answer in both 
 papers, and defended himself very well, but these 
 letters seem now not of sufficient interest to be given 
 here. 
 
 The election of a Principal of the University in 
 place of Sir David Brewster was a much more trying 
 and agitating question. The contest lay ultimately 
 between Sir James Simpson, the great physician, and 
 Sir Alexander Grant, the able Oxford editor of 
 Aristotle's Ethics, and Director of Education in Bom- 
 bay for several years. ' My predilections,' says Mr. 
 Black, ' were all in favour of my old and valued 
 friend Professor Simpson, and I had told some of my 
 fellow-curators so; but, to my astonishment, the 
 majority of the Professors, over whom it was pro- 
 posed to appoint him as president, resisted his appoint- 
 ment. I saw that I must either vote for my friend, 
 and introduce discord and disorder into the University, 
 for the election was understood to depend upon my
 
 240 MEMOIRS OF [1868-70. 
 
 vote, or I must vote for the stranger, and disappoint 
 and offend my friend and his adherents. I felt that 
 I had no choice ; that it was my duty, as far as 
 possible, to maintain the peace and prosperity of the 
 University. But it was a most painful dilemma.' 
 This was probably the most trying exercise of the 
 kind that Mr. Black ever experienced. But for the 
 determined attitude of the majority of the Professors, 
 he would without any difficulty have voted for the 
 man whom he knew so well ; whom he, with good 
 reason, loved and admired, not only as a personal 
 friend, but as one of the bright particular stars that 
 have made the University of Edinburgh glorious, 
 and still higher claim earned undying remem- 
 brance among the chief benefactors of all mankind. 
 
 Mr. Black was engaged this year in anotker public 
 duty, which he intended to be his last, and which, as 
 before, subjected him to unfriendly, not to say un- 
 founded, censure. He was asked by the Edinburgh 
 Water Company to give evidence as to the agreement 
 made between them and the Town-Council in 1847, 
 when he was Provost, which, he says, ' they were en- 
 titled to have, and I was well disposed to give, as the 
 object of the present Council was to repudiate what 
 we had done, and to appoint a Board to manage the 
 supply of water to Edinburgh, by monopolising all 
 the glory and honour, and all the patronage, to the 
 Town-Council, and displacing the neutral members, 
 which the Council of 1847 had agreed to.'
 
 JET. 84-86.] ADAM BLACK. 241 
 
 Mr. Black in his evidence did not hesitate to 
 express his opinion as to the danger of mismanage- 
 ment and jobbery if the whole thing were left in the 
 hands of the Town -Council. This, of course, gave 
 great offence, and in the report of the Council on the 
 subject, Mr. Black was spoken of in terms which 
 moved him to address a very pithy letter to the Lord 
 Provost, William Chambers. 
 
 ' What I predicted,' says Mr. Black, ' came sooner 
 to pass than I anticipated. Although the new Water 
 Act gave the Town-Council power to introduce into 
 the Trust members from neutral bodies, and the Pro- 
 vost proposed that it should be composed of a certain 
 number of neutral parties, his motion was opposed, 
 and a counter motion was carried against him by the 
 ruling spirits of the Council, who thought it best to 
 act on the old Scotch saying, 
 
 '"Our ain fish-guts to our ain sea-maws."' 
 
 Though now so old, and in every sense ' Emeritus,' 
 Mr. Black still continued to take a hearty interest in 
 everything of importance affecting the interests of the 
 city of Edinburgh. Two subjects involving those soon 
 after this occupied his attention (1) the treatment 
 of boys in the Hospitals under the management of 
 the city ; and (2) the question of a new site for the 
 Eoyal Infirmary. A question came before the Mer- 
 chant Company involving both matters, and Mr. 
 Black made his contribution to the subject. 
 
 11
 
 242 MEMOIRS OF [1868-70, 
 
 It had been resolved to build a new Infirmary, 
 and large subscriptions had been received for the 
 purpose. It had been originally intended to rebuild 
 the infirmary on its old site, but it was afterwards 
 suggested that the grounds of Watson's Hospital 
 would be a far better situation. After thorough 
 discussion in every public organ, the new site was 
 generally approved of, and the managers of the in- 
 firmary offered 43,000 for Watson's Hospital and 
 grounds. That offer was accepted by the governors 
 of Watson's Hospital; but a motion to disapprove 
 of it was made in the Merchant Company, and lost 
 by only one vote. Another meeting of the Merchant 
 Company was called to decide the question more 
 deliberately. 'I was anxious/ says Mr. Black, 'to 
 give my opinion on the whole case, hoping that it 
 might have some influence on the decision. Another 
 inducement I had to appear was, that I thought it 
 probable this might be the last appearance I should 
 make in public affairs, and as it was in the Merchant 
 Company that I made my first public appearance 
 fifty-two years ago, I chose my seat as near as pos- 
 sible to the spot where I sat that day, when one of 
 the respectable old supporters of the powers that 
 were tapped me on the shoulder and reminded me 
 that I was " ower young to speak." ' Mr. Black might 
 now have been considered ' ower auld ' to take part 
 in public business by those who judge of the capacity 
 of other men by their own ; but his speech showed
 
 JET. 84-86.] ADAM BLACK. 243 
 
 no sign of decaying power or fitness to assist his 
 fellow-citizens in matters affecting the whole com- 
 munity. He seconded the motion of the Master of 
 the Company, Mr. Duncan, to approve of the sale of 
 the Hospital and grounds, which was carried by a 
 large majority. 
 
 'On the 20th February 1870,' the diary con- 
 tinues, 'I completed the eighty-sixth year of my 
 age, and may now consider my earthly pilgrimage 
 as finished. There may still remain a few days of 
 grace, but I may say my race is run. I have 
 reached the goal which separates the seen from the 
 unseen world. 
 
 'If I stood on the mountain -top where Moses 
 stood, although I could not see before me what Moses 
 saw, I can look back and mark all the way by which 
 I have been led, and the goodness and mercy which 
 have followed me. 
 
 ' I have enjoyed one of the greatest of earthly 
 blessings health greatly beyond what is usually 
 vouchsafed to the human race. Other temporal 
 blessings I haye been favoured with, not only beyond 
 my deserts, but much beyond what I could have 
 ventured to hope for in my most sanguine moods 
 When first left upon my own resources my position 
 was of the humblest. Without any superior wisdom 
 or powers of my own, Providence has raised me 
 to honours which it would have been presumption 
 and folly in me to aspire to, and increased my
 
 244 MEMOIRS OF [1870-72. 
 
 store till I may say my cup has been made to run 
 over. 
 
 ' He has blessed me with an affectionate wife, a 
 help-meet for me, who has been spared to assist and 
 counsel me through my long life, though He has 
 been pleased to visit her with a sad affliction in 
 the deprivation of sight. 
 
 'I have also had great cause for gratitude for 
 obedient and well-conducted children, four sons and 
 five daughters, and although we have now been 
 married fifty-three years, they are all spared to us 
 till the present day. . . . 
 
 ' In looking back upon all the way that I have 
 been led, I can now perceive that many of those 
 events which were very grievous to me turned out to 
 be blessings in disguise, and in many instances where 
 I was not conscious of danger at the time, I can 
 now see I was in extreme peril, and my feet were 
 brought out of the net by a merciful Providence, 
 unperceived by myself. May we not suppose 
 that it will form one of the most delightful occu- 
 pations of those who reach the realms of bliss, to 
 look back upon all the interpositions of the unseen 
 gracious hand by which they have been led all the 
 way through ? 
 
 'Although I have enjoyed so much peace and 
 prosperity during my earthly pilgrimage, I cannot 
 look back upon my long life without shame, when I 
 see how much of my precious time I permitted to
 
 XT. 88.] ADAM BLACK. 245 
 
 run to waste, and how little I have done for Him to 
 whom I am indebted for all the goodness and mercy 
 I have enjoyed. May my children be more diligent 
 and zealous in His service than I have been, and 
 make up for their father's shortcomings and failures, 
 and may we at last meet in the regions of purity and 
 bliss, a family in Heaven ! ' 
 
 At the close of 1870, Mr. Black, then in his 87th 
 year, formally retired from the business of which he 
 had for sixty-three years been the head, and handed it 
 over to his sons James, Francis, and Adam. This, 
 however, made little alteration in the ordinary tenor of 
 his life. He still continued, without much interrup- 
 tion, to walk daily up to the North Bridge, to attend 
 directors' meetings, and engage in public proceedings, 
 to take an interest and assist in all the business, 
 public or private, which had any claim on him. The 
 strong constitution with which he was blessed by 
 nature, and which his cheerful activity and temperate 
 habits so wisely preserved, held on for nearly ninety 
 years without any serious sign of decay. The 
 rheumatic attacks which made it necessary for him 
 to seek a remedy in foreign parts were sometimes 
 severe, but not invincible. They never laid him up 
 in bed. 
 
 On 2d April 1872 he wrote in his journal: 
 ' I yesterday followed to the grave the earthly re- 
 mains of my old friend Claud Muirhead, who died 
 on Thursday the 28th March in his 90th year. And
 
 246 MEMOIRS OF [1873-74. 
 
 now, of all the 123 boys who entered the class 
 in the High School opened by Mr. Christison in 
 1791, I only am left alone. May He who has 
 watched over me and sustained me thus far never 
 leave me nor forsake me, but unworthy though I 
 be, bring me in His own good time to His kingdom 
 and glory.' 
 
 Here ends Mr. Black's account of his PILGRIMAGE, 
 to which there is little to add. 
 
 On 29th February 1873 he attended a meet- 
 ing of the Chamber of Commerce, and made a short 
 speech in reply to a few words of kindly congratula- 
 tion from the chairman. He attended another meet- 
 ing soon after, which he addressed. These exertions, 
 made at the most inclement and trying time of the 
 year, proved too much for him, and he was soon after 
 laid up with a dangerous attack of congestion of the 
 lungs. This, however, with his constitutional vigour, 
 he shook off, and about the end of March was again 
 out of doors, and following his ordinary course. In 
 summer he went down as usual to Priorbank, where, 
 from the time of his brother-in-law, William Tait's 
 death, he had been in the habit of spending several 
 months every year, taking the greatest interest in 
 everything that could be done to promote the 
 amenity of the place and its neighbourhood. This 
 summer he appeared to be in no way weaker
 
 JET. 90.] ADAM BLACK. 247 
 
 than the year before. One day about the begin- 
 ning of September he walked from Priorbank to 
 Darnick Hydropathic Establishment and back, a dis- 
 tance of three or four miles. The effort, though made 
 without difficulty, hurt him, and brought on aggra- 
 vated symptoms of a weakness common to old men, 
 with which he had latterly been troubled. Soon 
 after this he returned to Edinburgh, and for the next 
 four months he was very much confined to the house. 
 During that period he suffered great bodily pain, 
 but his mind continued bright and active, and up to 
 a week before his death he was able to come into the 
 dining-room. For five days only he was wholly 
 confined to bed, but even then he was still cheerful. 1 
 On the Thursday before his death some psalm tunes 
 were played to him, which gave him great pleasure, 
 and he told his medical attendant, Professor Spence, 
 that he would not exchange his condition for that 
 
 1 The following letter addressed to one of Mr. Black's sons by an 
 old friend (Mr. J. R. Findlay), gives an interesting glimpse of the 
 venerable pair in their latter days : ' Having ascertained from one 
 of your brothers that your father was able to receive a visit, I called 
 at Drummond Place one afternoon, and was most kindly received by 
 him and by your mother, who, though quite blind, was otherwise 
 alert and cheerful. Your father seemed reluctant to move about, 
 apparently from dread of local pain when he rose from his chair ; but 
 otherwise was free from any sign of age or decrepitude, though close 
 on the end of his 90th year. He talked of ordinary matters, and of 
 old friends ; of my grand-uncle Mr. John Ritchie, of Mr. John 
 Ramsay M^Culloch, and others ; but also on graver topics. Your 
 father clearly indicated that he knew his illness to be mortal, and 
 his time brief, looking to the close with philosophic and pious
 
 248 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 of the strongest man in Edinburgh. On that day 
 the pain ceased, and the weakness increased, till 
 early on Saturday morning, 24th January 1874, he 
 peacefully passed away. His last words were, 
 'I feel the tightening of the ropes that draw me 
 up to Heaven.' 
 
 His remains were laid in Warriston Cemetery, 
 where a Gothic monument erected by his family 
 marks his grave. 
 
 A more imposing and remarkable tribute to his 
 memory was before long offered by a number of his 
 fellow-citizens, of all ranks in society, and of all 
 shades of politics. A public meeting was held in 
 the Council Chambers on 24th November 1874, con- 
 calmness. He spoke of his unusually great age very gratefully, of 
 having retained strength of mind and body ; and looked back 
 with quiet satisfaction to the work he had done. "When I con- 
 sider," he said, "my position and opportunities, I do not see that I 
 could have done much better" spoken not boastfully, but firmly 
 and unaffectedly ; and the manly candour of the sentiment seemed 
 to me nobly characteristic of Mr. Black. I observed that his long 
 life had been one of usefulness and honour ; adding, that if he did look 
 back with some complacency, he had better grounds for so doing 
 than the old nobleman, who, when dying, being asked if he wished 
 to clear his conscience, said : " No, I have nothing to express 
 regret about, for, thank God, I never denied myself anything." 
 Your father, after a moment's pause, broke into one of his peculiar 
 hearty laughs, asking Mrs. Black if she had heard the story, and 
 repeating it for her benefit. "What might have become a too sad 
 and trying interviewwas thus lightened up ; and when I rose to leave 
 he thanked me with great cordiality for my visit, and walked to 
 the door of the room with me ; only the firm pressure of his hand 
 implying that he knew we were bidding each other a final fare- 
 well.'
 
 ADAM BLACK. 249 
 
 vened by Lord Provost Falshaw, in compliance with 
 an influential requisition, ' to consider the propriety 
 of inaugurating some memorial to commemorate the 
 long and useful public services of the late Mr. Adam 
 Black.' Among those who took part in the pro- 
 ceedings or were present were, Mr. Duncan M'Laren, 
 M.P., James Cowan, M.P., Principal Sir Alexander 
 Grant, Messrs. Charles and John Cowan, Eev. Dr. 
 Alexander, Eev. Dr. Grant, Eev. Dr. Arnot, Dr. 
 William Smith, Dr. Donaldson of the High School, 
 Messrs. Harrison, Livingston, Archer, Lancaster, J. 
 H. A. Macdonald, Thorns, Colston, etc. A com- 
 mittee was appointed, subscriptions were obtained, 
 and it was ultimately decided that the memorial 
 should take the form of a bronze statue, to be erected 
 in East Princes Street Gardens. The sculptor chosen 
 was Mr. John Hutchison, E.S.A., and on 3d November 
 1877 the statue was unveiled in the presence of 
 a large number of citizens. It stands between the 
 Scott Monument and the statue of Professor Wilson, 
 a striking and dignified likeness of the man as he 
 stood in his robes of office, erect and resolute, a very 
 embodiment of Horace's 
 
 " Justum et tenacem propositi virum." 
 
 The erection of this statue was the first example given 
 in Edinburgh of such a tribute to merits of a purely 
 personal and civic kind. Among many monuments 
 which adorn or disfigure that beautiful city, in
 
 250 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 memory of worthy or unworthy men, this statue is 
 in that respect unique and valuable. The very place 
 in which it stands, between the monuments of two 
 illustrious representatives of Conservative principles, 
 is suggestive of many thoughts, and of the changes 
 that have come since the day in 1817, when the 
 bold young Dissenting bookseller rose in the Mer- 
 chants' Hall to move his obnoxious resolutions in 
 favour of Burgh Keform. Among the men who in 
 the centre of Scottish intelligence worked hardest, 
 most unselfishly, most influentially, to bring about 
 the better government and the better times of 
 Queen Victoria's reign, none deserved more en- 
 during remembrance and gratitude than Adam 
 Black. 
 
 He was eminently a public -spirited man, and 
 possessed the primary qualities requisite for in- 
 fluencing others and achieving success. With the 
 characteristic national quality of sagacity he was 
 largely gifted. He was a first-rate man of business, 
 methodical, punctual, good at planning, and equally 
 good in attending to the execution of details. What- 
 ever he took in hand he did it thoroughly, and 
 could always be relied on absolutely. His outspoken 
 honesty was all the more influential that it was as- 
 sociated with so much shrewdness. His courage was 
 invincible, and always rose with the occasion. It 
 was of the highest kind that which -is founded on a 
 sense of right. To be unpopular, to be misconstrued,
 
 ADAM BLACK. 251 
 
 to be denounced, was to him nothing in comparison 
 with saying and doing what he believed to be the 
 right thing. It might as truly be said of him as of 
 John Knox, that he never feared the face of man. 
 But though thus brave, and for a good part of his 
 life much engaged in conflict, he was naturally very 
 peaceable, and much preferred home quietness and 
 work to public displays and contentions. Even in 
 the midst of the hottest warfare he was good tem- 
 pered, free from bitterness, and ready to forgive. Un- 
 fair or injurious accusations were to him generally 
 a matter of surprise and regret rather than of irrita- 
 tion and reprisal. Without any exaggeration of 
 his merits, he must be allowed to have had in his 
 character some of the chief elements of nobility and 
 greatness which have made Scotland what she is 
 among nations singleness and definiteness of pur- 
 pose, combined with unflinching resolution ; a severe 
 sense of duty and simplicity of tastes, with great 
 toleration for opinions and tastes differing from his 
 own, resulting in well-balanced fairness of judg- 
 ment; a deep-seated and abiding regard to the 
 Divine Will, with perfect contempt for priestly 
 conventions, and perfect freedom from the fear of 
 man. 
 
 Of such men, devoting themselves sincerely to the 
 public service, any nation may be proud ; and Edin- 
 burgh, the centre of the Scottish nation, did well to 
 express in an enduring form for future generations
 
 252 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 her estimate of the character and services of such a 
 man. 
 
 Mr. Black's political opinions for some time, and 
 his ecclesiastial connection for a still longer time, 
 were hindrances rather than helps to his success in 
 life ; but his position as a link between the learned 
 and the mercantile castes of Edinburgh, combined 
 with his personal qualities and opinions, marked him 
 out at an early stage as a man destined to occupy an 
 important and peculiar position in the politics and 
 government of Edinburgh. The Whig party, to 
 which he always belonged, had in that city up to 
 about 1820 very few representatives of any marked 
 ability outside the Parliament House. A few dis- 
 tinguished and ever-to-be-remembered lawyers were 
 its life and soul. Among the mercantile community, 
 the party had been up to that time in a decided 
 minority, so far at least as visible exertions were 
 concerned. Of the few who occupied in that class 
 of the citizens of Edinburgh the honourable position 
 of pioneers of reform, Adam Black was from the first 
 the leading spirit. There may have been more fluent 
 speakers and more demonstrative men, but none 
 could be compared to him for persistent energy and 
 stamina,. 
 
 It was the fashion in those days, as it is still, on 
 the part of those arrogating to themselves an exclu- 
 sive regard for the British Constitution, to call those 
 who sought to amend its imperfections Radicals,
 
 ADAM BLACK. 253 
 
 Eevolutionists, enemies of Church and State. Adam 
 Black was naturally regarded as a peculiarly pro- 
 nounced type of persons of that 'pestilent' sort; 
 having the hardihood to believe, and never hesitating 
 to declare, that the existing method of carrying on 
 the affairs of the nation was shamefully defective 
 and unjust, and that the Church upheld by the 
 nation for the promotion of Christianity not only 
 had no exclusive right to that privilege but had 
 proved in fact to be a failure. 
 
 His political principles did not change, but he 
 lived long enough to find himself in the rear rather 
 than in the front of the Liberal party, and even to 
 be denounced by its most advanced representatives 
 as little better than a Tory, if not worse. In regard 
 to the Franchise, in particular, he exposed himself 
 to great obloquy by his very decided reluctance to 
 lower the figure to what the majority of the Liberal 
 party considered reasonable. He had never regarded 
 the extension of the privilege of voting for a Member 
 of Parliament as the great cure for national ills. He 
 looked on it as a privilege rather than a right, to be 
 conceded only so far as those hitherto excluded from 
 its enjoyment had proved themselves fit to exercise 
 it with freedom and intelligence. Never was his 
 courageous honesty more exhibited than in the posi- 
 tion he assumed in 1859, when he told the working 
 men of Edinburgh to their faces that he had no 
 sympathy with Trades Unions and Strikes, and con-
 
 254 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 sidered it dangerous to the State to throw the balance 
 of power too much into the hands of the class they 
 represented. The tendency to flatter the multitude is 
 one of the greatest vices of modern politics. From 
 that vice Mr. Black was notably free. Not even 
 Coriolanus more proudly disdained to win popularity, 
 by the smallest divergence from the path in which 
 he thought it his duty to walk. He was well 
 entitled to say, in addressing his constituents in 
 1865- 
 
 ' During a long life I have done and suffered 
 much to promote the rational liberty of the country. 
 I have opposed misrule when many dared not cheep, 
 but who, when the danger was over, became extreme 
 Liberals. As I opposed the threatenings of power, 
 I will not bow at the shrine of popularity.' 
 
 To a man by nature a reformer, it is a pleasure to 
 oppose misrule; but for such a man to be out of 
 sympathy with the masses from whom he sprung, 
 and whose good he desires, is very painful. This 
 was, to a considerable degree, the position of Mr. 
 Black in the latter part of his Parliamentary career, 
 and to this, combined with other causes, unpleasant 
 now to dwell on, was due his final defeat in 1865. 
 
 On the subject of Education he was far in ad- 
 vance of his own party and political leaders, even to 
 the last. The interest he took in it was not of sudden 
 growth, from political or ecclesiastical motives, as is 
 often seen. He had, while still a young man, de-
 
 ADAM BLACK. 255 
 
 voted himself practically to teaching, in the only 
 sphere open to him the Sunday School ; and he had 
 early come to the conclusion, which he consistently 
 maintained and acted on through life, that the so- 
 called ' religious difficulty ' did not exist ; that it was 
 as much a creation for the ecclesiastical or supersti- 
 tious mind as any goblin or spectre that ever fright- 
 ened simple peasant or villager. He believed that a 
 system of National Education, as distinguished from 
 Denominational, was not only the right thing, but 
 was perfectly practicable, if people would only lay 
 aside their ecclesiastical pretensions and prejudices. 
 Chiefly on that ground, he, as a member of the 
 Scottish Education Commission of 1864, differed 
 from the rest of the Commissioners, and appended 
 to their report a note of his own, very plain and 
 practical, which, now looked at in the light of Lord 
 Young's Act of 1872, makes one wonder that Adam 
 Black was the only man of that carefully selected 
 body of wise men who hit the nail on the head, 
 and proposed what has since then become law. 
 
 The portrait prefixed to this volume gives a fair 
 idea of what Mr. Black looked like in his eightieth 
 year. He could not be called handsome, but he was 
 distinctly what in Scotland is called a " wiselike " 
 man of goodly stature and breadth, very firm on his 
 feet, which he set down with emphasis ; of good but 
 not regular features, marked by smallpox a broad
 
 256 MEMOIRS OP 
 
 and lofty brow, pleasant blue eyes, firm nose, very 
 firm mouth and jaws ; altogether, the form and face 
 of a strong man, physically and mentally, eminently 
 healthy, capable, trustworthy. 
 
 In society he was always genial, and took great 
 pleasure in conversation. He was not averse to 
 occasional discussion, and liked a well-conducted 
 argument. To the influence of wit and humour he 
 was very open, and like all men of healthy and broad 
 nature, he thoroughly relished a good joke. His 
 own stock of anecdote was large and varied, and this 
 makes it matter of deep regret that he recorded so 
 very few of them in his Pilgrimage. If there had 
 been a painstaking Boswell to perform this duty, 
 this memoir might have been of very great interest 
 in that respect compared with what it really is. 
 Such anecdotes, however, as Mr. Black could tell, 
 related to other people rather than to himself. The 
 little incidents which give the chief charm to 
 biographical narrative seemed to escape his notice, 
 and he seldom could give any circumstantial account 
 of things in which he had taken part. 
 
 In daily life, after business hours, he was never 
 idle. His main relaxation was reading, and his 
 favourite week-day reading to the last was Shakes- 
 peare, of whom he never tired, and history. His 
 Sunday books were, of course, first the Bible, and 
 next some of the good old Puritan and Covenanting 
 divines. But he was not confined to them : Eichard
 
 ADAM BLACK. 257 
 
 Baxter was one of his special favourites, so also was 
 the learned and judicious Macknight. 
 
 Of Music he had no knowledge, and his taste in 
 that respect appears to have been very little culti- 
 vated. It is a curious fact that two of his most 
 distinguished contemporaries, both men of fervid 
 poetic temperament, had the same defect Dr. 
 Chalmers and Dr. Guthrie. 
 
 ' The moral tone of the man,' one of his sons says, 
 'was of the kind that inspires those around him 
 with reverence, and a desire to imitate him. He 
 endeavoured always to avoid every appearance of 
 evil, and was equally anxious to avoid everything 
 partaking of unscrupulousness or mere policy. His 
 charity in judging others was quite remarkable. 
 He had no pleasure in scandal or idle gossip ; he 
 put them away from him with a gentle disgust. 
 In regard to the Franchise, in particular, he measured 
 other men in this respect by himself, and by the ex- 
 ample of his father before him. Class distinctions 
 were distasteful to him to a degree, and I never 
 knew any one more devoid of snobbery. Many 
 a time I have heard him say that "no working 
 man who desired to have a vote should have any 
 difficulty in advancing himself to the 10 limit, 
 and that the incentive to do so was for the good of 
 the people." ' 
 
 Mr. Black's piety was of the deep undemonstrative 
 kind. He was not the least given to quoting texts
 
 258 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 or using unctuous phrases ; but if he had lived in times 
 when such things were done, he would certainly have 
 chosen to be shot or hanged twenty times over rather 
 than say ' Yes' when he meant ' No.' His love of the 
 Bible, which to the last he regarded from the old 
 orthodox point of view as divinely inspired, and free 
 from all error, from Genesis to Eevelation, was in- 
 tense. He read it daily, morning and evening, with 
 a never-cloying zest. Baxter, and Doddridge, and 
 Howe, were duly read and revered, but Moses and 
 Isaiah and Paul were for him above them as high as 
 the heavens are above the earth. 
 
 Church attendance, as the extracts from his diary 
 show, was an integral part of his life. Nothing short 
 of illness ever prevented him from being found in his 
 place on Sunday. As already mentioned, he was one 
 of the pioneers of Sunday school instruction, and all 
 through life he took a deep interest in such work, 
 and in missionary effort. 
 
 At home he was very strict in religious ob- 
 servances. Family worship was conducted by 
 himself every evening. On Sunday, the day of rest 
 and gladness, it was perhaps a little longer than 
 usual, lasting about an hour each time. After 
 an extempore prayer, one or two chapters were 
 read, on which all the members of the household 
 were catechised ; psalms were sung after the 
 reading, the master of the house raising the tune ; 
 and a long extempore prayer closed the worship.
 
 ADAM BLACK. 259 
 
 During the later years of Mr. Black's life there 
 was some relaxation of the Sunday duties at home, 
 and a more decided freedom in the observance of the 
 day in foreign parts. But the general practice of the 
 household continued the same to the last. 
 
 With all this strictness of religious observance, 
 there was no gloom or sanctimoniousness. A super- 
 ficial observer could hardly have imagined that the 
 religious life of a man of his cheerfulness and gaiety 
 of manner was dominated by such earnest, almost 
 stern severity. 
 
 This remarkable combination of personal strictness 
 and of toleration to others carries one back to the 
 time of Oliver Cromwell, himself the grandest type 
 of the religious opinions held by Adam Black. No 
 other religious sect has more firmly believed in ' the 
 inspiration of the Almighty;' no other has exercised 
 more Christian and philosophical respect for the 
 opinions of other men differing from themselves as far 
 as East is from the West, than the Independent body. 
 Adam Black, while firmly believing in his own Con- 
 fession of Faith, had no desire to impose it on any 
 other man as a symbol of orthodoxy, still less to make 
 it the test of fitness to receive financial aid from the 
 National Exchequer. He was equally ready to 
 recognise the claims of Unitarian or Eoman Catholic, 
 though in personal belief he was diametrically opposed 
 alike to both. 
 
 It was truly said of him by Eussel of the
 
 260 MEMOIRS OF ADAM BLACK. 
 
 Scotsman, that Edinburgh had lost in Adam Black 
 ' one of the noblest citizens she ever possessed.' 
 That is his claim to enduring remembrance, and 
 the reason for the production of this imperfect 
 record of his life; a life which ought to be, to all 
 generations of the youth of Scotland, an inspiring 
 example of the virtues that have made their country 
 respected and great.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 ABERCROMBT, Hon. James, 81, 83, 
 
 100, 103. 
 
 Alton, Rev. Mr., 66. 
 Alexander, Rev. Dr. Lindsay, 128. 
 Allan, Thomas, 71. 
 Allan, William, of the Glen, 77-80. 
 Allan and Wright, Bankruptcy of, 
 
 72. 
 
 Annuity Tax, 183, 185, 194, 199. 
 Arbuthnot, Sir William, 69. 
 Argyle Square Chapel, 128. 
 Aytoun, James, 80, 85, 97. 
 
 BAINES'S Burgh Franchise Bill, 204, 
 225 
 
 Bank Notes (Scotland) Bill, 222. 
 
 Banquet in honour of Queen's mar- 
 riage, 104. 
 
 Baths, public, 127. 
 
 Beacon, publication of the, 54. 
 
 Begg, Rev. Dr. James, 219. 
 
 Berry, Walter, imprisoned for pub- 
 lishing a seditious pamphlet, 45. 
 
 Bertram, William, of Lawfleld, 84. 
 
 Bell and Bradfute, 20, 22. 
 
 Black, Adam birth, 2 ; early educa- 
 tion, 5 ; goes to London, 30 ; 
 joining the church, 36 ; a fort- 
 night's holiday in 1805, 39 ; 
 studying French with a French 
 priest, 40 ; Ogle proposes partner- 
 ship, 42 ; business on his own ac- 
 count, 43 ; loan from Mr. Wanliss, 
 44 ; Sabbath School work, 47 ; 
 Grace's business purchased, 48 ; 
 visit to Paris, Holland, and Bel- 
 gium, 50 ; first appearance in poli- 
 tics, moving two resolutions at 
 a meeting of the Merchant Com- 
 
 pany, 57-59 ; summoned to London 
 as a witness on Burgh System 
 Inquiry, 62 ; condemns Municipal 
 Election Bill as inadequate, 70 ; 
 removal of business premises to 27 
 North Bridge, 70 ; partnership with 
 Allan, Thomson, and Wight, 71 ; 
 tour in Ireland, 74 ; pamphlet on 
 representation of the city, 81 ; 
 asked to stand for provostship, 86 ; 
 elected city treasurer, 86 ; interest 
 in University of Edinburgh, 95 ; 
 nomination as Lord Provost, 106 ; 
 public dinner in his honour, 108 ; 
 elected Lord Provost (1843), 126 ; 
 re-elected Lord Provost (1842), 
 142; retirement from provostship, 
 152 ; presented with portrait, 153 ; 
 offer of knighthood, 154; removal 
 of business premises to 6 North 
 Bridge, 157 ; proposal to erect 
 statue, 165 ; proposed as one of 
 the M.P.'s for Edinburgh, 168 ; re- 
 turned to Parliament, 172 ; intro- 
 duction to the House of Commons, 
 174 ; re-elected (1859), 193 ; re- 
 sidence at Kyles of Bute, 194 ; 
 extract of letter to constituents 
 on Annuity Tax, 195 ; attack of 
 rheumatism, 210 ; visit to Italy, 
 215 ; ascent of Mount Vesuvius 
 at the age of eighty, 215 ; election 
 of 1865, 227 ; sitting for the last 
 time in the House of Commons, 
 229 ; close of political life, 233 ; 
 visit to Spain with his son Charles, 
 
 234 ; visit to Wiesbaden (1867), 
 
 235 ; illness of Mrs. Black, 235 ; 
 a curator of the University, 236 ;
 
 262 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 eightieth birthday, retrospect of 
 life, 243 ; formal retirement from 
 business, 245 ; end of ' Pilgrimage,' 
 246 ; last illness, 247 ; latter days 
 of Mr. and Mrs., 247 ; death, 
 248 ; burial place, 248 ; statue 
 unveiled, 249 ; portrait, 255 ; es- 
 timate of character, 253-257. 
 
 Extracts from House of Commons 
 Speeches Fire Insurance, reduc- 
 tion of duty, 204; Free Trade, 191; 
 Paper duty, 205 ; Party Govern- 
 ment, 189 ; Prison Ministers 
 Bill, 212 ; Ragged and Industrial 
 Schools, 203 ; Reform Bill, 202 ; 
 Representative Government, 192 ; 
 Toleration, 190. 
 
 Other Speeches At Glasgow 
 Congregational Union, 219 ; to 
 constituents (1864), 254. 
 
 Notices of Speeches Annuity 
 Tax, 176, 185, 199 ; conduct of 
 Public Business, 208 ; improve- 
 ment of Parochial School System, 
 177 ; Maynooth Grant, 176 ; 
 Ministers' Money Tax, Ireland, 
 176; National Education, 176, 
 179 ; Parliamentary Reform, 176, 
 179, 180, 190, 201 ; Royal In- 
 firmary site, 242 ; Scottish Epis- 
 copal Church, removal of disabi- 
 lities, 181 ; Scottish Reformatory 
 Schools Bill, 176 ; Universities 
 Bill (Scotland), 183. 
 
 Black, Charles, father of Adam 
 Black, 1. 
 
 Black, Charles, brother of Adam 
 Black, 50. 
 
 Black, Charles, nephew and partner 
 of Adam Black, 155; death of, 
 165. 
 
 Black, Charles, his eldest son, 234. 
 
 Blackwood, William, 54. 
 
 Blackwood's Magazine, 53, 54. 
 
 Blair, Mr. Hunter, 83. 
 
 Bonnymuir insurrection, 63, 64. 
 
 Books, prices in 1799, 28. 
 
 Booksellers' Association, 22. 
 
 Booksellers and bookshops in Edin- 
 burgh, reminiscences of, 21 ; book- 
 
 sellers versus barbers in Edinburgh 
 
 in 1777 and 1867, 27. 
 Brewster, Sir David, 239. 
 Bright, John, 228. 
 Brougham's collected speeches, 99 ; 
 
 his fling at Abercromby, 100-103. 
 Brown, David, 50. 
 Brown, Dr. John, quoted, 162. 
 Brown-Douglas, F., 171. 
 Browne, James, LL.D., 71. 
 Bruce, Hon. T. C., 163. 
 Buckle, the historian, 198. 
 Burder, Rev. Mr., 37. 
 Burgh Franchise, 202 ; Bill, 225. 
 Burgh Reform, 58, 60. 
 
 CADELL'S trustees, purchase of copy- 
 right of Scott's works from, 156. 
 
 Caird, Rev. Principal, 219. 
 
 Calderwood, Professor, 238. 
 
 Caledonian Mercury, 9. 
 
 Campbell of Monzie, 163, 164. 
 
 Canada, debate on its defences, 
 224. 
 
 Candidates for Parliament, nomina- 
 tion, 83. 
 
 Candlish, Professor, 161. 
 
 Carlyle's description of the popular 
 discontent in 1820, 64. 
 
 Carmichael, James, 161. 
 
 Carruthers, Robert, 206. 
 
 Cato Street conspiracy, 63. 
 
 Chalmers, Rev. Dr., 93, 107, 257. 
 
 Chalmers, William H., 161. 
 
 Chambers, William, Lord Provost, 
 86, 241. 
 
 Charles Street, Edinburgh, 2. 
 
 Charles X. of France at Holyrood, 
 81. 
 
 Chartist agitation, 149-152. 
 
 China question, Government defeat 
 on, 181. 
 
 Christison, Professor, 5, 246. 
 
 Church and Dissent, 92. 
 
 'Church in danger,' 107. 
 
 Church its (hen Enemy, a pamphlet 
 by Mr. Black, 94. 
 
 Clerk, Sir George, 84. 
 
 Coaching to Edinburgh in 1806, 
 40.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 263 
 
 Cobbett's Political Register, 45. 
 
 Cockburn, Lord, 46, 66, 82, 153. 
 
 Coke, William, 26. 
 
 Colquhoim, Eev. John, anecdote of, 
 15. 
 
 Congregational Union Meeting in. 
 Glasgow, 219. 
 
 Conspiracy Bill, 198. 
 
 Constable, Archibald, 18, 25, 54. 
 
 Copyright Acts, Bill for their con- 
 solidation, 221, 222. 
 
 Corn Exchange, building of the, 153. 
 
 Corn Law Conference, 118. 
 
 Corn Laws, correspondence with 
 Macaulay on, 118 ; repealed, 134. 
 
 Court of Session, decision declaring 
 the election of magistrates illegal, 
 60. 
 
 Cowan, Charles, 163, 181. 
 
 Cranston, Robert, 150. 
 
 Creech, William, 24. 
 
 Cunningham, Rev. Dr. W., 74, 75. 
 
 Daily News on the election defeat 
 
 (1865), 233. 
 Dalrymple, Sir John, elected for 
 
 Midlothian, 84. 
 Dalziel, Professor, 17, 30. 
 De Quincey, Thomas, 84. 
 Derby -Disraeli Reform Bill, 187; 
 
 Ministry, defeat of, 193. 
 Dick, Professor, 164. 
 Disruption of the National Church 
 
 (1843), 123 ; Mr. Black's view of 
 
 it, 125. 
 
 Downes, John, 161. 
 Drury Lane Theatre, December 6, 
 
 1804, 35. 
 
 Drygrange, 1, 2, 6. 
 Duncan, Admiral, 10. 
 Dundas, Henry, 8, 10, 12. 
 Dundas, Robert Adam, 77. 
 Dunfermline, Lord, 109 (see Aber- 
 
 cromby). 
 
 EDINBURGH : illumination of (1789), 
 3 ; University Foundation, 3 ; 
 political state of, in 1791, 9 ; mobs 
 in, 10 ; meal-mobs, 12 ; old Town 
 Guard, 13 ; Merchant Company, 
 
 57, 61, 70 ; Protestant Associa- 
 tion, 73 ; bankruptcy of the city, 
 90 ; Industrial School, 143 ; classi- 
 fication of political parties, 169 ; 
 Water Company, 240. 
 
 Edinburgh Advertiser, 9. 
 
 Edinburgh Evening Courant, 9. 
 
 Edinburgh Renew, 53, 87, 101. 
 
 Education, unsectarian, Mr. Black a 
 strenuous advocate of, 142. 
 
 Education Commission, Scottish, 
 Mr. Black a member of, 230. 
 
 Election expenses in 1832, 82. 
 
 Ellice, Edward, 174. 
 
 Encyclopaedia, Britannica : purchase 
 of copyright, 71 ; seventh edition, 
 publication of, 71 ; libel, action 
 for damages, Black against the 
 Edinburgh Protestant Association, 
 74 ; copyright of Stewart's Dis- 
 sertation, action for damages, 
 142 ; eighth edition, preparations 
 for publication, 158 ; sub-editors 
 or assistants, 161 ; dinner in cele- 
 bration of its completion, 205. 
 
 Episcopacy, Presbyterianism, and 
 Independency compared, 219. 
 
 Epsom races, extract from diary on, 
 207. 
 
 Established Church, 14, 106, 170. 
 
 Exhibition, Great (1851), 158 ; In- 
 ternational (1862), 209. 
 
 FAIRBAIBN, John, 18-21. 
 
 Fairlie, Robert, 72. 
 
 Fire Insurance Duty Bill, 204. 
 
 Fletcher, Archibald, 61 note. 
 
 Flint, Professor, 238. 
 
 Forrest, Sir James, 105-108, 122, 
 
 146. 
 
 Fox dinner (1820), 67. 
 Franchise, a privilege not a right, 
 
 192. 
 Franchise extension, views on, 180, 
 
 201, 253. 
 Free Church, 135 ; influence of, 147 ; 
 
 Disruption (1843), 123. 
 Freedom of the city to Lord John 
 
 Russell, Sir Henry Pottiuger, 
 
 Sir Charles Napier, 131.
 
 264 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Free trade, 191. 
 
 Friends of the people, 7, 9, 44. 
 
 GAIRDNER, Dr., 77. 
 
 Gaming tables, continental, 210, 211 
 
 note. 
 Garibaldi's visit to London (1864), 
 
 222. 
 
 Gentlemen volunteers, 29. 
 George III., illumination on his 
 
 recovery, 3. 
 George IV., visit to Edinburgh, 
 
 August 1822, 68. 
 Gibson, James, W.S., afterwards Sir 
 
 J. Gibson-Craig, 46, 65, 108, 127, 
 
 143. 
 Gibson -Craig, Sir William, 79, 80, 
 
 162. 
 Gladstone's Budget speech (1860). 
 
 Mr. Black's opinion, 196 ; Bud- 
 get debate (1860), result, 197. 
 Glenlyon, Lord, at Scott Monument 
 
 inauguration, 139. 
 Glenorchy, Lady, and Church, 14, 15. 
 Graham, Sir James, 125, 209. 
 Grant, Sir Alexander, 239. 
 Greenland, bookseller, 33. 
 Greenwich, Encyclopaedia dinner at, 
 
 205. 
 Grey, Earl, Edinburgh banquet in 
 
 honour of, 90. 
 Guthrie, Kev. Dr., 257 ; Ragged 
 
 School, 143. 
 
 HAIRDRESSERS in Edinburgh, 27. 
 Halkerston's Wynd, purchase of, 
 
 and ejection of tenants, 157 note. 
 Hamilton, Lord A., 62. 
 Hamilton, Sir William, 95. 
 High School recollections, 5. 
 Howden, Peter, 162. 
 Hutchison, John, R.S.A., sculptor, 
 
 249. 
 
 INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL, Edinburgh, 143. 
 Infirmary, question of a site for, 
 
 241. 
 
 International Exhibition (1862), 209. 
 Irving, Dr., 46. 
 Italy visited, 215. 
 
 JEFFREY, Lord, 2, 46, 66, 76, 81, 
 
 83, 86. 
 Jones, Rev. Dr., 15, 16. 
 
 KAY, David, 160. 
 Kay's Portraits, 27 note ; 47. 
 Kinglake, the historian, 198. 
 Kyles of Bute, 158. 
 
 LACKINGTON, ALLEN, & Co., 33. 
 
 Laing, David, 50 ; adventure in 
 Paris, 52. 
 
 Laing, William, 86. 
 
 Lauder, Sir Thomas Dick, 80. 
 
 Lawson, Lord Provost, 227. 
 
 Learmonth of Dean, 77. 
 
 Liberal Committee, first in Edin- 
 burgh, 82. 
 
 Lothian, Maurice, 48. 
 
 Loudon, John, 40. 
 
 MACAULAY, Lord, elected, 104 ; re- 
 jected at the election of 1847, 144 ; 
 re-elected in 1852, 165 ; valedic- 
 tory address to electors, 167. 
 
 M'Culloch, John Ramsay, 46, 55, 
 247 note. 
 
 Macfie, Bailie, of Leith, 68. 
 
 Macintyre, Duncan, poet and con- 
 stable, 13. 
 
 M'Laren, Charles, 55. 
 
 M'Laren, Duncan, 127, 163, 170, 
 232. 
 
 Macpherson, Rev. Peter, 161. 
 
 Manners and Miller, 23. 
 
 Martin, Rev. Samuel, of London, 229. 
 
 Maynooth Catholic College Grant, 
 128, 145, 147, 177-179. 
 
 Melbourne, Lord, interview with, 99. 
 
 Merchant Company of Edinburgh, 
 57, 61, 70. 
 
 Merlin, Paris bookseller, 151. 
 
 Miller, Hugh, 72, 107 ; his classifica- 
 tion of political parties in Edin- 
 burgh, 169. 
 
 Mitchell of Stow, 198. 
 
 Mobs, Edinburgh, 10-13. 
 
 Moncreiff, Lord, 66, 146, 193, 194. 
 
 Moore's Almanack, 40. 
 
 Muirhead, Claud, death of, 245.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 265 
 
 Murray, John, 49. 
 Murray, Lord, 66, 80, 143. 
 
 NAPIER, Admiral Sir Charles, 7 ; 
 
 presented with freedom of city, 
 
 131. 
 
 Napier, Macvey, 71. 
 Newspapers in Scotland, 9, 168-170. 
 Newton, Kev. John, 38. 
 Nicol, Adam, 1. 
 
 North Bridge, Edinburgh, 70, 157. 
 North British Railway dispute, 
 
 135. 
 Northern Lighthouses, parliamentary 
 
 inquiry into management of, 132. 
 Noy, Adam Black's first teacher, 
 
 3,4. 
 
 OATHS BILL (Hadfield's), 225. 
 Obstruction in Parliament (1838), 
 
 103 ; (1862), 208. 
 Ogle, bookseller, 34, 42. 
 Owen, Professor, 214. 
 
 PALMERSTON, Lord, 173, 181, 223. 
 
 Pantheon, political meeting in, De- 
 cember 1820, 65. 
 
 Paper Duty Repeal, 197. 
 
 Parliamentary and Burgh Reform, 
 formation of societies for promot- 
 ing, 7. 
 
 Party Government, remarks on, 1 89. 
 
 Peel, Sir Robert, 69. 
 
 Perth Academy, oifer of a situation 
 in, 30. 
 
 Philosophical Institution opened, 
 141 ; lecture by Mr. Black, 235. 
 
 Picardy weavers, 19. 
 
 Pitt Club gathering, 67. 
 
 Politics and religion, their influence 
 on business, 45. 
 
 Pope (Pius IX.), interview with, 
 216. 
 
 Pottiuger, Sir Henry, presented with 
 freedom of city, 131. 
 
 Prince of Wales and his bride's wel- 
 come to London, 7th March 1863, 
 211. 
 
 Priorbank, Melrose, 224. 
 
 Prison Ministers Bill, 212. 
 Pryde, Dr. David, 161. 
 
 Quarterly Review, 49. 
 Queen and Prince Consort's visit to 
 Edinburgh (1842), 120. 
 
 RAGGED AND INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS 
 GRANT, 203, 208. 
 
 Railway Companies Amalgamation 
 Bill, 221. 
 
 Ramsay, Allan, shop of, 28, 158. 
 
 Reform Bill (1832), 76 ; demonstra- 
 tions (1832), 80 ; of 1860, objec- 
 tion to, 201 ; extract from letter 
 on, 202. 
 
 ' Religious difficulty ' in education a 
 ' bogie,' 180. 
 
 Revolution in Prance, effect of, 8. 
 
 Richardson, James, 236 ; Ralph, 85. 
 
 Right of Way cases, 131 ; Society, 
 formation of, 131. 
 
 Ritchie, John, 247 note. 
 
 Ritchie, William (Scotsman), 55. 
 
 Robertson, John, 56. 
 
 Rome, 216. 
 
 Russell, Lord John, 154, 188, 201 ; 
 presented with freedom of city, 
 131. 
 
 Rutherfurd, Andrew, Lord Advocate, 
 134, 152. 
 
 SABBATH SCHOOL SOCIETY, 47. 
 Scotsman, birth of, 53 ; prosecuted 
 
 for libel, 166 ; its support of Mr. 
 
 Black, 260. 
 Scott, Mr. Hope, 137. 
 Scott, Sir Walter, 68, 69. 
 Scott Monument, inauguration of, 
 
 138; Mr. Black's speech, 139. 
 Scott's Lady of the Lake, original 
 
 price, 28 ; Pirate and Lord of the 
 
 Isles, 133 ; Works, purchase of 
 
 the copyrights, 156. 
 Scottish Episcopal Church Clergy 
 
 Bill, 222. 
 
 Scottish Herald, 130. 
 Sentinel, publication of the, 54. 
 Sheraton, Adam Black's employment 
 
 with, 31 ; description of, 32.
 
 266 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Simpson, Sir James, 239. 
 Sinclair, John, city clerk, 137. 
 Speirs, Sheriff, 152. 
 Spittal, Sir James, 60, 85, 86. 
 Stewart, Dugald, copyright action 
 
 by his son, 142. 
 Stirling, Dr. Hutchison, 238. 
 Strikes and unions, 191. 
 Sunday Schools, 47, 255, 258. 
 
 TAIT, James, 56. 
 
 Tait, William, opposes Annuity Tax, 
 
 84 ; incarcerated in Calton Jail, 
 
 85 ; death of, 223 ; Tail's Maga- 
 zine, 84. 
 
 ' Temple of the Muses,' London, 
 
 34. 
 Thompson, George, anti - slavery 
 
 orator, 134, 135. 
 Tighnabruaich, Kyles of Bute, 158, 
 
 194. 
 
 Toleration, remarks on, 190. 
 Traill, Professor, 159, 160. 
 Trinity College Church and Hospital, 
 
 135-138. 
 
 UNDERWOOD, partnership with, 48. 
 
 Underwood and Black's dissolution 
 of partnership, 50. 
 
 University, superintendence of teach- 
 ing in, by Town Council, 97 ; 
 Chair of Moral Philosophy, candi- 
 dates, 238 ; election of a Prin- 
 cipal, 239 ; library, interview with 
 Lord Melbourne regarding, 98. 
 
 VESUVIUS, ascent of (1863), 215, 
 Voluntary controversy, 95. 
 Volunteers, Gentleman, 29. 
 Voyage in the Pliaros, 132. 
 
 WANLISS, David, 41, 42, 44. 
 Waterston, Eev. Richard, 161. 
 Watson-Gordon, Sir John, P.R.S.A., 
 
 portrait of Mr. Black, 153. 
 Westbury, Lord, 138. 
 Wiesbaden, visits to, 210, 235. 
 Whig party, 252. 
 White, Blanco, 72, 73. 
 Wilson, James, naturalist, 50, 51. 
 Wilson, Professor, 165. 
 Witness newspaper, 107, 169.
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST of some of the Principal BOOKS 
 published by ADAM BLACK, and A. AND C. 
 BLACK. 
 
 1819. 
 
 NOTES AS TO THE RIGHTS OF THE BURGESSES OP SCOTLAND 
 ON A LAPSE OF THE BURGH MAGISTRACY ; suggested by 
 the Town's refusal of the usual warrant for a Poll Election 
 in the late case of Aberdeen, with an Appendix of 
 relative Documents. By James Ivory, Esq. (afterwards 
 Lord Ivory). 2s. 6d. 
 
 DOCUMENTS CONNECTED WITH THE QUESTION OF -REFORM IN 
 THE ROYAL BURGHS OF SCOTLAND. 3s. 
 
 CONSTITUTION OF THE ROYAL BURGHS OF SCOTLAND FROM 
 THEIR CHARTERS. 8vo. 5s. 
 
 THE JOURNAL OF A SOLDIER OF THE 7lsi OR GLASGOW 
 REGIMENT, HIGHLAND LIGHT INFANTRY, FROM 1806 TO 
 1815. 12mo. 5s. Containing an interesting Account 
 of the Retreat to Corunna, Principal Actions in the 
 Peninsula, Battle of Waterloo, etc. 
 
 REPORT FROM THE SELECT COMMITTEE, to whom the several 
 Petitions from the Royal Burghs of Scotland were 
 referred. Ordered by the House of Commons to be 
 printed 12th July 1819. 10s. 
 
 1820. 
 
 A MEMOIR CONCERNING THE ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF THE 
 REFORM PROPOSED IN THE INTERNAL GOVERNMENT OF
 
 268 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF BOOKS. 
 
 THE EOTAL BURGHS OF SCOTLAND, which was first 
 brought under public discussion in 1782. By Andrew 
 Fletcher, Esq., Advocate. Demy 8vo. 12s. 
 
 THE EDINBURGH MEDICAL AND SURGICAL JOURNAL. Pub- 
 lished in Numbers, quarterly. 6s. Edited by Dr. 
 Craigie and others. 
 
 THE EDINBURGH NEW PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL, exhibiting 
 a View of the Progressive Discoveries and Improvements 
 in the Sciences and the Arts. Conducted by Robert 
 Jameson, F.R.S. Lond. and Edin., Regius Professor of 
 Natural History, Lecturer on Mineralogy, and Keeper 
 of the Museum of the University of Edinburgh, etc. etc. 
 Published quarterly. 7s. 6d. 
 
 NAVAL TACTICS : A Historical and Systematical Essay in 
 Four Parts. By John Clerk, Esq. of Eldin, F.R.S.E., 
 etc. Third Edition, with Notes by Lord Rodney (and 
 upwards of fifty explanatory Plates). 8vo. l : 5s. 
 
 1822. 
 
 HINTS ON MISSIONS. By James Douglas, Esq. of Cavers. 
 12mo. 2s. 6d. 
 
 Followed afterwards by The Truths of Religion, Errors 
 regarding Religion, etc. 
 
 UNIVERSAL GEOGRAPHY, or a Description of all the Parts of 
 the World on a new Plan, according to the great natural 
 divisions pf the Globe, accompanied with Analytical, 
 Synoptical, and Elementary Tables. By M. Malte Brun. 
 Improved by the addition of the most recent information 
 derived from various sources. In 9 Vols., demy 8vo, 
 with a separate volume of Alphabetical Index. The 
 ninth Vol. and Index were published in 1833. 9. 
 
 1824. 
 
 MEMOIRS OP THE LIFE OF JOHN LAW OF LAURIESTON, in- 
 cluding a Detailed Account of the Rise and Progress of 
 the Mississippi System. Magnis excidit ausis. By John 
 Philip Wood, Esq. 1 2mo. 6s.
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF BOOKS. 269 
 
 BIBLIOTHECA BiBLiCA ; a select List of Books on Sacred 
 Literature, with Notices Biographical, Critical, and 
 Bibliographical. By William Orme, Author of the Life 
 of John Owen, D.D. " Scire ubi aliquid posses in venire 
 magna pars eruditionis est." Demy 8vo. 12s. 
 
 1825. 
 
 THE LAW OF BILLS OF EXCHANGE. By Robert Thomson, 
 Esq., Advocate. Second Edition. 8vo. 24s. 
 
 1826. 
 
 THE PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS OF DAVID HUME, Esq. Four 
 Vols., demy 8vo, with a Portrait. .2 : 8s. Described as 
 the only complete edition. 
 
 THE ADVANCEMENT OF SOCIETY IN KNOWLEDGE AND 
 RELIGION. By James Douglas, Esq. Second Edition. 
 Demy 8vo. 9s. 
 
 THE NATURAL AND AGRICULTURAL HISTORY OF PEAT Moss 
 OR TURF BOG. To which are added corroborative writ- 
 ings, correspondence, and observations on the qualities of 
 peat or fen earth as a soil and manure, and on the methods 
 used in Scotland for converting moss soils into arable 
 and pasture grounds, plantations of trees, etc. By 
 Andrew Steele, Esq., of Crosswoodhill. 8vo. 10s. 6d. 
 
 1827. 
 
 ELEMENTS OF CHEMISTRY. By Andrew Fyfe, M.D., F.R.S.E., 
 Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, Member of the 
 Royal Medical Society, of the Medico-Chirurgical Society, 
 and of the Society of Arts of Edinburgh, and Lecturer 
 on Chemistry and Chemical Pharmacy, Edinburgh. In 
 2 Vols., 8vo. 21s. 
 
 1828. 
 
 THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE ACTIVE AND MORAL POWERS OF 
 MAN. By Dugald Stewart, Esq., F.R.SS. Lond. and 
 Edin., formerly Professor of Moral Philosophy in the 
 University of Edinburgh. In 2 Vols., demy 8vo. 
 1 : 4s.
 
 270 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF BOOKS. 
 
 ESSAY ON COMETS, by David Milne. 
 
 This Essay gained the first of Dr. Fellowes' Prizes. 4to, 
 boards. 10s. 6d. 
 
 " Mr. Milne's elegant Memoir contains the most complete de- 
 scription and history of comets in our language." Edin- 
 burgh Philosophical Journal, No. 10. 
 
 ELEMENTS OF NATURAL HISTORY, adapted to the present state 
 of the Science, containing the generic characters of nearly 
 the whole Animal Kingdom, and descriptions of the 
 principal species. By John Stark, F.E.S.E. In 2 Vols., 
 8vo. l : 12s. 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE ROMANS ; with 
 an Introduction, Paraphrase, and Notes. By C. H. 
 Terrot, A.M., Late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge 
 (afterwards Bishop of Edinburgh). Demy 8vo. 9s. 
 
 PAINTING AND THE FINE ARTS (from the Seventh Edition of 
 the Encyclopaedia Britannica). By Benj. R. Haydon and 
 William Hazlitt. Post 8vo. 6s. 
 
 1829. 
 
 A TREATISE ON POISONS IN RELATION TO MEDICAL JURIS- 
 PRUDENCE, PHYSIOLOGY, AND THE PRACTICE OP PHYSIC. 
 By Robert Christison, M.D., Professor of Materia Medica 
 in the University of Edinburgh (afterwards Sir R. 
 Christison, Bart.) Demy 8vo. \. 
 
 This important work passed through Four Editions, the fourth 
 being published in 1844. 
 
 PRINCIPLES OF ELEMENTARY TEACHING, chiefly in reference 
 to the Parochial Schools of Scotland, in Two Letters to 
 T. F. Kennedy, Esq., M.P. By James PiUans, F.R.S.E., 
 Professor of Humanity in the University of Edinburgh. 
 Second Edition. Fcap. 8vo. 3s. 
 
 DISCOURSES ON SOME IMPORTANT SUBJECTS OF NATURAL AND 
 REVEALED RELIGION, introduced by a short view of the 
 best specimens of pulpit eloquence given to the world in 
 ancient and modern times. By David Scot, M.D., 
 etc., Author of Essays, Key to the Hebrew Pentateuch and 
 Psalter, etc., and Minister of Corstorphine. Second 
 Edition. Demy 8vo.
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF BOOKS. 271 
 
 1830. 
 
 LAW PRACTICE AND STYLES PECULIAR TO CONSISTORIAL 
 ACTIONS, etc. By Maurice Lothian, Solicitor before the 
 Supreme Courts, Edinburgh. Demy 8vo. 7s. 6d. 
 
 THE ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, a Dictionary of Arts, 
 Sciences, and General Literature. Seventh Edition. 
 With Preliminary Dissertations on the History of the 
 Sciences, and other extensive improvements and additions, 
 including the late Supplement, a General Index, and 
 numerous Engravings. In 21 Vols., 4to, and Index. 
 .37 : 16s. This Edition was edited by Macvey Napier, 
 Editor of the Edinburgh Review, and Professor of Con- 
 veyancing in the University of Edinburgh, assisted by 
 James Browne, LL.D., and numerous contributors. It 
 was issued in parts, half-volumes, and volumes, and 
 completed in 1842. The Index, a Herculean work, was 
 compiled by Robert Cox, W.S. 
 
 THE HIGHLAND NOTE-BOOK ; or Sketches and Anecdotes. 
 By R. Carruthers, Inverness. Small 8vo. 4s. 
 
 The first known work of its accomplished author, long Editor of 
 the Inverness Courier, Editor of Pope's Works, and of 
 Boswell's Johnson, etc. 
 
 AN ACCOUNT OF THE GREAT FLOODS OP AUGUST, 1829, IN 
 THE PROVINCE OF MORAY AND ADJOINING DISTRICTS. 
 By Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, Bart., of Fountainhall, 
 F.K.S.E. With 64 Plates, engraved by W. H. Lizars. 
 21s. 
 
 1831. 
 
 THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF FOSSIL VEGETABLES, found in 
 the Carboniferous and Oolite Deposits of Great Britain, 
 described and illustrated, with 16 coloured engravings. 
 By Henry T. M. Witham of Lartington, F.G.S., F.R.S.E., 
 etc.. 4to. 21s. 
 
 ORNITHOLOGICAL BIOGRAPHY ; or, An Account of the Habits 
 of the Birds of the United States of America. By John 
 James Audubon, F.R.SS. L. and C. Illustrated with
 
 272 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF BOOKS. 
 
 Engravings on wood. 5 Vols. Koyal 8vo (1831-9). 
 6 : 5s. 
 
 1832. 
 
 AN ETYMOLOGICAL DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, 
 
 on an entirely new plan, adapted to the modern system 
 
 of tuition. By the Rev. John Oswald, one of the Teachers 
 
 in George Heriot's Hospital, Edinburgh. 18mo. 7s. 6d. 
 
 This work went through Twelve Editions. 
 
 NECESSITY OF POPULAR EDUCATION AS A NATIONAL OBJECT, 
 with Hints on the Treatment of Criminals, etc. By 
 James Simpson, Esq., Advocate. Post 8vo. 7s. 6d. 
 
 1833. 
 
 A SYSTEM OF ARCHITECTURE WITH THE PRACTICE OF 
 BUILDING. From the new Edition of the Encyclopaedia 
 Britannica. By William Hosking, F.S.A., Architect. 
 Quarto. 12s. 
 
 A SYSTEM OF AGRICULTURE. By ' James Cleghorn, Esq. 
 Quarto. 9s. 
 
 A DICTIONARY OF MEDICINE, FOR POPULAR USE ; containing 
 an Account of Diseases and their Treatment, including 
 those most frequent in warm climates, etc. etc. By 
 Alexander Macaulay, M.D., Fellow of the Royal College 
 of Surgeons of Edinburgh, and Physician- Accoucheur to 
 the Edinburgh New Town Dispensary. Demy 8vo. 14s. 
 
 1834. 
 
 FAUST : A Tragedy. Translated from the German of Goethe. 
 By David Syme, Esq., Advocate. Small 8vo. 6s. 
 
 1835. 
 
 SCENES AND LEGENDS OF THE NORTH OF SCOTLAND. By 
 Hugh Miller. Small 8vo. 7s. 6d. 
 
 The First of his Prose Works.
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF BOOKS. 273 
 
 1836. 
 
 A DISSERTATION ON THE PROGRESS OP ETHICAL PHILO- 
 SOPHY. By the Eight Hon. Sir James Mackintosh, 
 LL.D., F.E.S. With Preface by the Rev. W. Whewell, 
 M.A., Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. 8vo. 9s. 
 This Dissertation was written for the Seventh Edition of the 
 Encyclopaedia Britannica. 
 
 AN ESSAY ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH. By George 
 Ramsay, B.M., of Trinity College, Cambridge. 8vo. 1 2s. 
 Also, by same Author, A Disquisition on Government 
 and Political Discourses. 
 
 THE ANATOMIST'S INSTRUCTOR AND MUSEUM COMPANION; 
 being practical directions for the formation and subse- 
 quent management of Anatomical Museums. By Fred- 
 erick John Knox, Surgeon Conservator of the Museum 
 in Old Surgeons' Hall. Fcap. 8vo. 4s. 6d. 
 
 1837. 
 
 HIGHLAND RAMBLES AND LONG LEGENDS TO SHORTEN THE 
 WAY. By Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, Bart. 2 Vols., post 
 8vo, -with Etchings by William Dyce, A.R.S.A. 21s. 
 
 ELEMENTS OF THE PRACTICE OF PHYSIC ; presenting a view 
 of the present state of Special Pathology and Thera- 
 peutics. By David Craigie, M.D., F.R.S.E., F.R.C.P., 
 etc. In 2 Vols., demy 8vo. 24s. 
 
 A GEOMETRICAL TREATISE ON THE CONIC SECTIQNS ; with 
 an Appendix containing formulae for their quadrature, 
 etc. By William Wallace, A.M., F.R.S.E., Professor of 
 Mathematics in the University of Edinburgh. Demy 
 8vo. 6s. 
 
 EUCLID'S ELEMENTS, with Notes and Illustrations. By James 
 Thomson, LL.D., Professor of Mathematics in the Uni- 
 versity of Glasgow. Demy 8vo. 8s. 
 
 MOLLUSCOUS ANIMALS, including Shell Fish. By John 
 Fleming, D.D., etc., Professor of Natural Philosophy, 
 King's College, Aberdeen. 18 Plates, post 8vo. 6s. 
 
 INSTITUTES OF SURGERY. By Sir Charles Bell, K.G.H., etc., 
 Professor of Surgery in the University of Edinburgh, 
 2 Vols., post 8vo. 15s. 
 
 T
 
 274 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF BOOKS. 
 
 WHAT ASYLUMS WERE, ARE, AND OUGHT TO BE. By W. A. 
 F. Browne, Medical Superintendent of the Montrose 
 Eoyal Lunatic Asylum (afterwards one of the Commis- 
 sioners of Lunacy for Scotland). Post 8vo. 5s. 
 
 1838. 
 
 A SKETCH OP THE GEOLOGY OF FIFE AND THE LOTHIANS ; 
 including detailed descriptions of Arthur's Seat and Pent- 
 land Hills. By Charles Maclaren, F.R.S.E., F.G.C. 
 (Editor of The Scotsman, see page 55). Crown 8vo. 7s. 
 6d. A Second Edition was published in 1866. 
 
 A TREATISE ON GEOLOGY ; forming the article under that 
 head in the Seventh Edition of the Encyclopedia Bri- 
 tannica. By John Phillips, F.R.S., G.S., Professor of 
 Geology, King's College, London. Post 8vo. 6s. 
 
 SPEECHES OF HENRY LORD BROUGHAM UPON QUESTIONS 
 RELATING TO PUBLIC RIGHTS, DUTIES, AND INTERESTS ; 
 with Historical Introduction, and a Critical Dissertation 
 upon the Eloquence of the Ancients. In 4 Vols., 8vo. 
 2 : 8s. 
 
 ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS, made at the Royal Observa- 
 tory, Edinburgh. By Thomas Henderson, Professor of 
 Astronomy in the University of Edinburgh and H.M. 
 Astronomer for Scotland. 9 Vols., 4to. 12s. each. 
 1838-50. 
 
 GRANULAR DEGENERATION OF THE KIDNEYS AND ITS CON- 
 NECTION WITH DROPSY, INFLAMMATION, AND OTHER 
 DISEASES. By Robert Christison, M.D., Professor of 
 Materia Medica in the University of Edinburgh. 8vo. 
 8s. 
 
 TALES AND SKETCHES OF THE SCOTTISH PEASANTRY. By 
 Alexander Bethune, Labourer. Fcap. 4s. 
 This man and his brother John were two of the most interesting 
 and noble specimens of literary genius, working under the most 
 trying circumstances, and with the most unflinching sense of 
 duty, that Scotland has ever produced. 
 
 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, from the Seventh Edition of the 
 Encyclopaedia Britannica. By T. S. Traill, M.D., F.R.S.E.,
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF BOOKS. 275 
 
 Professor of Medical Jurisprudence in the University of 
 Edinburgh, etc. Post 8vo. 6s. 
 
 By the same Author, also from the Encyclopedia Bri- 
 tannica, MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE. Post 8vo. 5s. 
 
 TREATISES ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS OF NATURAL AND CHEMI- 
 CAL PHILOSOPHY. By Sir John Leslie, Professor of 
 Natural Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh, 
 with a Biographical Memoir (republished from the Ency- 
 clopaedia Britannica). Post 8vo. 9s. 
 
 AN ESSAY ON THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF MUSICAL 
 COMPOSITION; including the article "Music" in the 
 Seventh Edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, with 
 an Introduction and Appendix. By G. F. Graham, Esq. 
 4to. 9s. 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE WERNERIAN NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY 
 FOR THE YEARS 1831-37. Demy 8vo. .7 : 5s. 
 
 A TREATISE ON MAGNETISM. By Sir David Brewster, LL.D., 
 F.R.S. (reprinted from the Encyclopedia Britannica). 
 Post 8vo. 6s. 
 
 Also, by the same Author, A Treatise on the Microscope. 
 
 PHYSIOLOGY AND PHRENOLOGY, from the Encyclopedia Bri- 
 tannica. By P. M. Roget, M.D., Secretary to the Koyal 
 Society. 2 Vols., post 8vo. 12s. 
 
 1839. 
 
 BLACK'S ECONOMICAL TOURIST OF SCOTLAND. Fcap. 8vo. 
 3s. 6d. 
 
 The precursor of the rmmerous guide books subsequently pub- 
 lished. 
 
 A TREATISE ON PROBABILITY ; forming the article on that 
 head in the Seventh Edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica. 
 By Thomas Galloway, M.A., F.R.S., Secretary of the 
 Royal Astronomical Society. Post 8vo. 6s. 
 
 THE NATURAL AND ECONOMICAL HISTORY OF THE FISHES OF 
 THE RIVER DISTRICT OF THE FIRTH OF FORTH. By 
 Richard Parnell, M.D., F.R.S.E. With 67 illustrative 
 
 Figures, demy 8vo. 8s.
 
 276 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF BOOKS. 
 
 ON THE ENLISTING, DISCHARGING, AND PENSIONING OP 
 SOLDIERS, with the Official Documents on these Branches 
 of Military Duty. By Henry Marshall, F.R.S.E., Deputy- 
 Inspector-General of Army Hospitals. Second Edition, 
 demy 8vo. 7s. 6d. 
 
 LIFE OF JAMES WATT. By M. Arago. Republished from the 
 Edinburgh New Phil. Journal. 8vo. 4s. 6d. 
 
 HISTORY OF ROME (from the Encyclopaedia, Britannica). By 
 Rev. W. M. Hetherington. Post 8vo. 6s. 
 
 THE PRINCIPLES OF PHYSIOLOGY, applied to the Preservation 
 of Health and to the Improvement of Physical and 
 Mental Education. By Andrew Combe, M.D., F.R.C.P. 
 
 7s. 6d. 
 
 THE FRUIT, FLOWER., .AND KITCHEN GARDEN ; forming the 
 article " Horticulture " in the Encyclopaedia Britannica. 
 By Patrick Neill, LL.D., F.R.S.E., Secretary to the 
 Caledonian Horticultural Society. Illustrated with 
 upwards of 60 Woodcuts. Post 8vo. 6s. 
 A fifth edition was published in 1854. 
 
 POLITICAL ECONOMY EXPLAINED AND ENFORCED. By Alex- 
 ander Bethune, Labourer, and John Bethune, a Fifeshire 
 Forester. 1 2mo. 4s. 
 
 1840. 
 
 A SYSTEM OF UNIVERSAL GEOGRAPHY, founded on the works 
 of Malte Brun and Balbi. 
 
 This work (an abridgment of the larger edition) was compiled 
 by James Lawrie of Edinburgh, and was described as having 
 all the advantages of a Gazetteer, with the characteristic fea- 
 tures of a systematic work. It was published in a thick 
 Vol.. of 1090 closely printed pages. 30s. 
 
 BLACK'S PICTURESQUE TOURIST OF SCOTLAND. Fcap. 8vo. 
 8s. 6d. With Map and Charts. This First Edition was 
 edited by the Rev. James Taylor (Editor of the Pictorial 
 History of Scotland). 
 
 DEVELOPMENT AND GROWTH OF SALMON FRY. By John 
 Shaw, Drumlanrig. 4to. 2s. 6d.
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF BOOKS. 277 
 
 1841. 
 
 PICTURESQUE GUIDE TO THE ENGLISH LAKES (of Westmore- 
 land and Cumberland), including an Essay on the 
 Geology of the District. By John Phillips, F.R.S., 
 Professor of Geology, King's College, London, etc, 
 Fcap. 8vo. Illustrated. 5s. Edited by J. Y. Johnson, 
 Esq. 
 
 MEMORIAL OF THE ROYAL PROGRESS THROUGH SCOTLAND. 
 By Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, Bart. Published under 
 the special patronage of Her Majesty and H.R.H. Prince 
 Albert. In 1 Vol., 4to, with numerous Illustrations. 
 2 Guineas ; on Royal Paper, 4 Guineas. 
 
 MANUAL OF VETERINARY SCIENCE. By William Dick, 
 Veterinary Surgeon to the Queen for Scotland, Professor 
 of Veterinary Surgery to the Highland and Agricultural 
 Society. Fcap. 8vo. 3s. A Second Edition in 1862. 
 
 A TREATISE ON THE NATURE, PROPERTIES, AND APPLICA- 
 TIONS OF STEAM, AND ON STEAM NAVIGATION. By John 
 Scott Russell, M.A., F.R.S.E., Vice-President of the 
 Society of Arts of Scotland. Illustrated with upwards 
 of 80 Engravings on Wood, and 15 Folding Plates on 
 Steel. Post 8vo. 9s. 
 
 By the same Author, 
 
 A TREATISE ON THE STEAM-ENGINE. Illustrated by 248 
 Engravings on Wood, and 15 Folding Plates on Steel. 
 Post 8vo. 9s. 
 
 PRINTING AND TYPE-FOUNDING. Two Treatises by T. C. 
 Hansard (from the Encyclopaedia Britannica). Post 8vo. 
 6s. 
 
 1842. 
 
 CHRISTISON'S DISPENSATORY. A Commentary on the Phar- 
 macopoaias of Great Britain, comprising the Natural 
 History, Description, Chemistry, Pharmacy, Actions, 
 Uses, and Doses of the Articles of the Materia Medica. 
 By Robert Christison, M.D., Professor of Materia Medica 
 in the University of Edinburgh. Demy 8vo. 18s. A
 
 278 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF BOOKS. 
 
 New and improved Edition, with a Supplement, was 
 published in 1848. Demy 8vo. 20s. 
 SPEECHES OF LORD CAMPBELL AT THE BAR AND IN THE 
 HOUSE OF COMMONS, with an Address to the Irish Bar 
 as Lord Chancellor of Ireland. Dedicated to his brother, 
 Sir George Campbell of Edenwood. 1 VoL, 8vo. 12s. 
 A VOYAGE ROUND THE COASTS OF SCOTLAND AND THE ISLES. 
 By James Wilson, F.R.S.E., M.W.S., etc., with 20 
 Etchings on Steel, by Charles H. Wilson, A.R.S.A., from 
 Sketches during the Voyage, by Sir Thomas Dick Lander, 
 Bart. ; and numerous Wood Engravings. In 2 Vols., 
 post 8vo. 21s. 
 
 Mr. Black also published this Author's Treatises on Natural 
 History, contributed to the Seventh Edition of the Ency- 
 clopaedia Britannica, viz. on Birds, Quadrupeds, Fishes, and 
 Insects. 4 Vols. in Quarto ; also his Treatise on Angling. 
 See next page. 
 
 A GENERAL ATLAS OF THE WORLD ; a Collection of Maps 
 accompanied by a General Index. This work contained 
 the Maps which appeared in the Seventh Edition of the 
 Encyclopaedia Britannica, but was amplified by additional 
 Maps. Folio. 2 : 16s. 
 
 1843. 
 
 ANGLO -CATHOLICISM NOT APOSTOLICAL ; being an inquiry 
 into the Scriptural authority of the leading doctrines 
 advocated in the Tracts for the Times, and other publica- 
 tions of the Anglo-Catholic School. By William Lindsay 
 Alexander, M.A. (afterwards D.D., LL.D., etc.) Demy 
 8vo. 8s. 
 
 TRAVELS THROUGH THE ALPS OF SAVOY, and other parts of 
 the Pennine Chain, with observations on the Phenomena 
 of Glaciers. By James D. Forbes, F.R.S., Sec. R.S.E., 
 Corresponding Member of the Royal Institute of France, 
 and Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University of 
 Edinburgh. In Imperial 8vo. Illustrated by a Map of 
 the Mer de Glace of Chamouni, Lithographed Views 
 and Plans, and Engravings on Wood. 28s.; or with 
 the large Map coloured, in a case, 31s. 6d. 
 "This work," says Silliman's American Journal of Science and
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF BOOKS. 279 
 
 Arts, October-December 1843, "contains ample and exact 
 details in topography, many new and valuable engineering 
 observations taken with accurate instruments, and often made 
 in painful or dangerous circumstances among the eternal 
 snows and treacherous ice-cliffs and glaciers of the Alps. It 
 abounds with daring and hazardous adventures, contains 
 notices of occasional catastrophes that have befallen less for- 
 ' tunate explorers, presents interesting discoveries with new 
 deductions, and is clothed in a style and diction entirely in 
 keeping with the beauty and grandeur of the subject. . . . 
 We have perused the work with intense pleasure and large 
 instruction." 
 
 THE SCOTTISH PEASANT'S FIRESIDE ; a Series of Tales and 
 Sketches, illustrating the Character of the Peasantry of 
 Scotland. By Alexander Bethune, Labourer. Small 
 8vo. 4s. 
 
 PICTURESQUE TOURIST AND ROAD BOOK OF ENGLAND AND 
 WALES, with numerous Charts, Plans, etc. Fcap. 8vo. 
 10s. 6d. 
 
 SMITH'S WEALTH OF NATIONS. A new Edition. By J. R. 
 M'Culloch, Professor of Political Economy in the Uni- 
 versity of London (afterwards Comptroller of H.M. 
 Stationery Office). In 4 Vols. 8vo. 2:12:6. The 
 work was afterwards reprinted in 1 Vol.' 
 
 1844. 
 
 THE ROD AND THE GUN ; being Two Treatises on Angling 
 and Shooting (from the Encyclopedia Britannica). By 
 James Wilson, F.R.S.E., and the Author of The Oakleigh 
 Shooting Code. Crown 8vo. 10s. 6d. 
 
 MILITARY SURGERY. By Professor Sir George Ballingall. 
 Third Edition, demy 8vo. A Fourth Edition was pub- 
 lished in 1851, with numerous Illustrations. Demy 
 8vo. 14s. 
 
 THE PRINCIPLES OF SURGERY. By James Miller, F.R.S.E., 
 Professor of Surgery in the University of Edinburgh, 
 etc. etc. Crown 8vo. 9s. A New Edition, Illustrated 
 by 238 Woodcuts. 8vo. 16s., cloth. This work passed 
 through several Editions, and was followed by The 
 Practice of Surgery.
 
 28o CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF BOOKS. 
 
 In 1864 the two works, enlarged, were published in 
 2 Vols., demy 8vo, with numerous Illustrations, under 
 the title of A System of Surgery. 
 
 BLACK'S GUIDE TO WALES. Fcap. 8vo, with numerous 
 Charts and other Illustrations. The First Edition was 
 edited by the Rev. Mr. Coombes. 5s. 
 
 1845. 
 
 SOMNAMBULISM ; seven Lectures translated from the German 
 of Dr. Arnold Wienholt. By J. C. Colquhoun, Esq., 
 Advocate, Author of Isis Revelata. Fcap. 8vo. 4s. 
 
 1846. 
 
 MARINE SURVEYING AND HYDROMETRY ; being a Treatise on 
 their Application to the Practice of Civil Engineering. 
 By David Stevenson, Civil Engineer, Author of A Sketch 
 of the Civil Engineering of America, etc. Illustrated by 
 13 Plates, a Coloured Chart, and numerous Engravings 
 on Wood. ' Royal 8vo. 15s. 
 
 1847. 
 
 ELEMENTS OF GENERAL AND PATHOLOGICAL ANATOMY. By 
 David Craigie, M.D., F.R.S.E., etc. Second Edition, 
 demy 8vo. 20s. 
 
 A SCHOOL ATLAS' OF MODERN GEOGRAPHY. Edited by 
 William Hughes. Quarto. 9s. 
 
 THE HISTORY . OF SCOTLAND. By Patrick Fraser Tytler. 
 Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d. 
 
 OUTLINES OF GEOGRAPHY, principally ancient, with Intro- 
 ductory Observations on the System of the World and 
 on the best manner of teaching Geography. By James 
 Pillans, Professor of Humanity in the University of 
 Edinburgh. 12mo. 4s. 6d. 
 
 1848. 
 
 A CLASS BOOK OF POETRY. By Daniel Scrymgeour, one of 
 the teachers in Circus Place School, Edinburgh. Crown 
 8vo. 4s. 6d.
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF BOOKS. 281 
 
 THE POOR LAW MANUAL FOR SCOTLAND. By Alexander 
 M'Neel Caird, Esq. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 GREEK VERBS, IRREGULAR AND DEFECTIVE ; their Forms, 
 
 Meaning, and Quantity. By the Rev. William Veitch. 
 
 Post 8vo. 6s. A Second Edition was issued in 1860. 
 
 A new Edition was printed at the Clarendon Press, Oxford, in 
 
 1871, and it is now one of the standard manuals of that 
 
 University. This work made the Author for the first time 
 
 known to the world as a great Greek scholar. Before he 
 
 died, at the ripe age of ninety-one, in 1884, he was generally 
 
 recognised as the most learned and accurate Greek scholar, 
 
 not only in Great Britain, but in Europe. He spent most of 
 
 his life as a private teacher of Greek, was never a Professor, 
 
 and received the degree of LL.D. from the University of 
 
 Edinburgh only in 1868. 
 
 ACCOUNT OF SKERRYVORE LIGHTHOUSE, with Notes on the 
 Illumination of Lighthouses. By Alan Stevenson, LL.B., 
 F.R.S.E., M.I.C.E., Engineer to the Northern Lighthouse 
 Board. With 117 Woodcuts and 33 Engravings on Steel. 
 Royal 4to. 3 : 3s. 
 
 THE NATURE AND OFFICE OF THE STATE (Political Union, 
 Physical Force, and Territory, Government, etc.). By 
 Andrew Coventry Dick. Demy 8vo. 7s. 6d. 
 
 1849. 
 
 THE NATURAL HISTOBY OF THE MINERAL KINGDOM, con- 
 taining a General Introduction to the Science and De- 
 scriptions of the several Species, etc. By James Nicol, 
 F.R.S.E., F.G.S., Professor of Natural History, King's 
 College, Aberdeen. Post 8vo. 12s. 
 
 BREWING AND DISTILLATION. By Thomas Thomson, M.D., 
 F.R.S., Professor of Chemistry in the University of 
 Glasgow, with Practical Instruction for Brewing Porter 
 and Ales, according to the English and Scotch Methods, 
 by William Stewart. Post 8vo. 7s. 6d. 
 
 EXERCISES IN ATTIC GREEK, for the Use of Schools and 
 Colleges. By A. R. Carson, LL.D., F.R.S.E., and late 
 Rector of the High School of Edinburgh. 4s. 
 
 LOGARITHMIC TABLES TO SEVEN PLACES OF DECIMALS ; con- 
 taining Logarithmic Sines and Tangents to every Second
 
 282 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF BOOKS. 
 
 of the Circle, etc. etc. By Robert Shortrede, F.E.A.S., 
 etc., Captain H.E.I.C.S., late First Assistant in the great 
 Trigonometrical Survey of India. Fcap. 8vo. 42s. 
 
 FORM AND SOUND. CAN THEIR BEAUTY BE DEPENDENT ON 
 THE SAME PHYSICAL LAWS ? A Critical Inquiry dedi- 
 cated to the President, Council, and Members of the 
 Royal Scottish Society of Arts. By Thomas Purdie, 
 Esq. Demy 8vo. 7s. 6d. 
 
 1850. 
 
 MEMOIR OF DAVID SCOTT, R.S.A., containing " His Journal in 
 Italy," " Notes on Art," and other Papers, with Portrait 
 and six other Illustrations. By William B. Scott. 8vo. 
 10s. 6d. 
 
 1851. 
 
 A CLASS BOOK OF BOTANY, being an Introduction to the 
 Study of the Vegetable Kingdom. By J. H. Balfour, M.D., 
 F.R.S.E., Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden, 
 Edinburgh, and Professor of Medicine and Botany in the 
 University of Edinburgh. Demy 8vo. 31s. 6d. 
 
 A CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE. Edited by John 
 Kitto, D.D., F.S.A., Editor of the Pictorial Bible, etc. 
 Illustrated by numerous Engravings. In 2 Vols., medium 
 8vo. 3. 
 
 A Second Edition, with a few alterations, and edited 
 by the Rev. Dr. Burgess, was published in 1856 ; and a 
 Third, wholly reset, and swelled into three large Vols., in 
 1862. This Third Edition was edited by the Rev. W. 
 Lindsay Alexander, D.D. 
 
 THE IDOL DEMOLISHED BY ITS OWN PRIEST ; an answer to 
 Cardinal Wiseman's Lectures on Transubstantiation. By 
 James Sheridan Knowles, Author of Virginius and other 
 Dramas, and of The Rock of Rome. 12mo. 3s. 
 
 THE WAVERLEY NOVELS ; a new Library Edition in 25 
 Vols., demy 8vo, with engraved Frontispieces and Vignette 
 Titles by Faed, Horsley, Ward, Foster, and other eminent 
 Artists. 12 : 12s. (See page 156 of Memoir?)
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF BOOKS. 283 
 
 A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON RAILWAYS, explaining their con- 
 struction and management, with 100 Illustrations (from 
 the Seventh Edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica). 
 By Lieut. Peter Lecount, R.N., F.E.A.S., C.E., of the 
 London and Birmingham Railway. Post 8vo. 9s. 
 
 POETRY, ROMANCE, AND RHETORIC (from the Encyclopaedia 
 Britannica). By William Spalding, Professor of Rhetoric 
 in the University of Edinburgh, and George Moir, Esq., 
 Advocate. Post 8vo. 6s. 
 
 THOU ART PETER ; a Discourse on Papal Infallibility and 
 the Causes of the late Conversions to Romanism. By 
 Robert Lee, D.D., Minister of Old Greyfriars, and Pro- 
 fessor of Biblical Criticism in the University of Edin- 
 burgh. Fcap. 
 
 LIVES OF SCOTTISH WRITERS. By David Irving, LL.D. In 
 2 Vols., post 8vo. 12s. 
 
 THE BREEDING AND ECONOMY OF LIVE STOCK ; being the 
 Results of Forty Years' Practical Experience in the 
 Management and Disposal of Cattle, Horses, Sheep, and 
 Pigs. By James Dickson. 12mo. 3s. 6d. 
 
 1852. 
 
 LIFE OF LORD JEFFREY, with a Selection from his Corre- 
 spondence. By Lord Cockburn, one of the Judges of the 
 Court of Session in Scotland. With Portrait, in 2 Vols., 
 8vo. 25s. 
 
 A TREATISE ON BIBLICAL CRITICISM, exhibiting a Systematic 
 View of that Science. By Samuel Davidson, D.D. 2 
 Vols., demy 8vo. 28s. 
 
 THE HISTORY OF PALESTINE, from the Patriarchal Age to 
 the Present Time, etc. By John Kitto, D.D., F.S.A., 
 
 with upwards of 200 Illustrations. Post 8vo. 
 
 1853. 
 
 THE ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA. Eighth Edition. Edited 
 by Thomas Stewart Traill, Professor of .Medical Juris- 
 prudence in the University of Edinburgh. This Edition
 
 284 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF BOOKS. 
 
 was, like its predecessor, completed (1860) in 21 Vols., 
 4to. .25 : 12s. The Index was compiled by the Rev. 
 James Duncan, Den-holm (Roxburghshire). .See pages 
 158 and 205 of Memoir. 
 
 The admirable Treatise on the Progress of Mathematical and 
 Physical Science, 'by Professor James D. Forbes, was added 
 and published separately in 1858. 
 
 THE LAW OF FRANCE IN RELATION TO INSOLVENCY AND 
 BANKRUPTCY, PARTNERSHIP, ARBITRATIONS, AND TRI- 
 BUNALS OP COMMERCE. Translated from the Codes 
 Franfais. By Richard Miller, Esq. (Leith). Crown 8vo. 
 3s. 6d. 
 
 THE OLD FIELD OFFICER ; or, The Military and Sporting 
 Adventures of Major Worthington. Edited by J. H. 
 Stocqueler, Author of the Life of the Duke of Wellington, 
 etc. In 2 Vols. Post 8vo. 18s. 
 
 MODERN GREEK GRAMMAR, for the Use of Classical Students. 
 By James Donaldson, M.A., Greek Tutor to the Uni- 
 versity of Edinburgh (now Professor of Humanity in the 
 University of Aberdeen). Crown 8vo. 2s. 
 
 An Illustrated Edition of UNCLE TOM'S CABIN ; or, Life 
 among the Lowly. By Harriet Beecher Stowe. With 
 Frontispiece by John Gilbert, Ornamental Title by Phiz, 
 and 130 Engravings in Wood, by Matthew Urlwin Sears. 
 Printed by R. and R. Clark, Edinburgh. 10s. 6d. 
 
 BLACK'S PICTURESQUE GUIDE TO THE TROSACHS. Edited by 
 John Hill Burton. With Illustrations by Birket Foster. 
 Fcap. 
 
 1854. 
 
 LAY OF THE LAST MINSTREL. By Sir Walter Scott. Illus- 
 trated by 100 Engravings on Wood from Drawings by 
 Birket Foster and John Gilbert. 8vo. 18s. 
 
 A similar Edition of Marmion was published in 1855. 
 
 HUNGARY, PAST AND PRESENT ; embracing its History from 
 the Magyar Conquest to the Present Time. With a 
 Sketch of Hungarian Literature. By Emeric Szabad, 
 late Secretary under the Hungarian National Government 
 of 1849. 5s.
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF BOOKS. 285 
 
 TURKEY, ANCIENT AND MODERN. A History of the Ottoman 
 Empire from the Period of its Establishment to the 
 Present Time. By the Eev. E. W. Eraser, M.A. 6s. 
 
 ELEMENTARY TREATISE ON CHEMISTRY. By William Gregory, 
 Professor of Chemistry in the University of Edinburgh. 
 12mo. 5s. 
 
 1855. 
 
 A MANUAL OF ANCIENT HISTORY. By Leonhard Schmitz, 
 Rector of the High School, Edinburgh. Post 8vo. 
 7s. 6d. Also a Manual of Ancient Geography in 1857. 
 
 1856. 
 
 MEMORIALS OF HIS TIME. By Henry Cockburn (Lord Cock- 
 burn, one of the Judges of the Court of Session). Demy 
 8vo, with Portrait. 14s. 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN EZEKIEL. Illustrated in a Series of Dis- 
 courses by the Rev. Thomas Guthrie, D.D., Author of 
 Pleas for Ragged Schools. Crown 8vo, 1856. 7s. 6d. 
 This Work was dedicated to the Rev. William Hanna, 
 LL.D., and reached a sale of upwards of 40,000 copies. 
 
 It was followed by other similar works, such as Christ 
 and the Inheritance of tlie Saints, which reached a twelfth 
 thousand. 
 
 MEDICAL OBSERVATION AND RESEARCH. By Thomas Lay- 
 cock, M.D., F.R.S.E., F.R.C.P., Professor of the Practice of 
 Medicine in the University of Edinburgh. Crown 8vo. 
 6s. 
 
 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF THE REV. DR. WARDLAW. 
 By William Lindsay Alexander, D.D. Demy 8vo. 12s. 
 
 ADDRESSES TO MEDICAL STUDENTS ; delivered at the instance 
 of the Edinburgh Medical Missionary Society, 1855, 1856. 
 By W. P. Alison, M.D., Emeritus Professor of the Practice 
 of Physic in the University of Edinburgh ; George Wilson, 
 M.D., Professor of Technology in the University of Edin- 
 burgh ; Andrew Wood, M.D., President of the Royal 
 College of Surgeons of Edinburgh ; Benjamin Bell,
 
 286 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF BOOKS. 
 
 F.R.C.S.E. ; and John Coldstream, M.D. Fcap. 8vo. 
 3s. 6d. 
 
 CLINICAL LECTURES ON THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF 
 MEDICINE. By J. Hughes Bennett, M.D., F.R.S.E., Pro- 
 fessor of the Institutes of Medicine, and Senior Professor 
 of Clinical Medicine in the University of Edinburgh. 
 New Edition (the third), pp. 1005, with 500 Illustrations 
 on Wood. 30s. 
 
 By the same Author, 
 
 INTRODUCTION TO CLINICAL MEDICINE. Six Lectures on 
 the Method of examining Patients, and the Means neces- 
 sary for arriving at an exact Diagnosis. Third Edition. 
 12mo. 5s. And 
 
 OUTLINES OF PHYSIOLOGY. In 12mo, profusely illustrated. 
 6s. 
 
 SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY. By Ralph "Wardlaw, D.D. Edited 
 by James R. Campbell, M.A. In 3 Vols., demy 8vo. 36s. 
 
 PHYSICIANS AND PHYSIC. Three Addresses (Duties, Pro- 
 spects, Progress). By James Y. Simpson, M.D., F.R.S.E. 
 (Professor of Midwifery, University of Edinburgh, after- 
 wards Sir J. Y. Simpson, Bart.) 3s. 6d. 
 
 1857. 
 
 THE CITY : ITS SINS AND SORROWS, being a Series of Sermons 
 from Luke" xix. 41. By Thomas Guthrie, D.D. 3s. 
 
 THE RELIGION OF THE HEART, as exemplified in the Life and 
 Writings of John Bowdler, late of Lincoln's Inn, barrister- 
 at-law. Edited by his surviving brother, Charles Bowdler. 
 Fcap. 6s. 
 
 EDINBURGH ESSAYS. By Members of the University, 1856. 
 The contributions to this volume were : Plato by Professor 
 Blackie ; Early English Life in the Drama, by John 
 Skelton, Advocate,- Author of Sea -Side Studies, etc. ; 
 Homoeopathy, by Dr. William T. Gajrdner, now Professor 
 of the Practice of Medicine, University of Glasgow ; 
 Infanti Perduti, by Andrew Wilson, afterwards Author 
 of The Abode of Snow, etc. ; Progress of Britain in the
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF BOOKS. 287 
 
 Mecluinical Arts, by James Sime, M.A. ; Scottish Ballads, 
 by Alexander Smith, Author of A Life Drama, etc. ; Sir 
 William Hamilton, by Thomas Spencer Baynes, LL.B., 
 now Professor of Logic, etc., University of St. Andrews ; 
 and Chemical Final Causes, by Professor George Wilson, 
 M.D. Edited by Alexander Nicolson, M.A., Advocate. 
 Demy 8vo. 7s. 6d. 
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. By Sir Walter Scott, Bart. Illus- 
 trated by numerous Engravings on Wood from Drawings 
 by Birket Foster and John Gilbert. 8vo. 15s. 
 
 A similar Edition of the Lord of the Isles was published 
 the same year. 
 
 NORTH AMERICA : its Agriculture and Climate. By Robert 
 Russell of Kilwhiss. Demy 8vo. 14s. 
 
 DIGEST OF THE BANKRUPTCY (SCOTLAND) ACT, 1856. By 
 William Alexander, W.S. 18s. Also several other Law 
 Books by the same Author. 
 
 THE SHIPWRECK. A Poem by William Falconer, with Life 
 by Robert Carruthers (of Inverness). Illustrated by 
 Birket Foster. 8vo. 12s. 6d. 
 
 1858. 
 
 THE HORSE AND THE HOUND : their various Uses and Treat- 
 ment, including practical instructions in horsemanship 
 and hunting. By Nimrod (Charles Apperley). Crown 
 8vo. 12s. There were Three Editions of this Work. 
 The third was published in 1863. 
 
 THE GRATE. A Poem by Robert Blair, with a Preface by 
 the Rev. F. W. Farrar, M.A. (now Archdeacon Farrar). 
 Illustrated by Birket Foster, J. Tenniel, J. R. Clayton, J. 
 Godwin, T. Dalziel, and J. A. Pasquier. 8vo. 7s. 6d. 
 
 ERIC ; or, Little by Little. By the Rev. F. W. Farrar, M.A. 
 Crown 8vo. 5s. This work was followed by Julian 
 Home and St, Winifred's. 
 
 LIFE IN A RISEN SAVIOUR. Being Discourses on 1 Cor- 
 inthians xv. By Robert S. Candlish, D.D., Principal
 
 288 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF BOOKS. 
 
 of the New College, and Minister of Free St. George's 
 Church, Edinburgh. Fcap. 8vo. 7s. 6d. 
 
 THE STUDENT'S MANUAL OF GEOLOGY. By J. Beete Jukes, 
 M.A., F.R.S., Director of the Geological Survey of 
 Ireland, etc. Crown 8vo. 8s. 6d. 
 
 Other Works of Dr. Candlish's followed : 
 
 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN. A Series of Lectures. 
 
 2 Vols. 12s. 
 
 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 2 Vols. 15s. 
 SCRIPTURE CHARACTERS. 6s. 6d. 
 THE ATONEMENT. 7s. 6d. 
 
 1859. 
 
 NEW EXEGESIS OF SHAKESPEARE. Interpretation of his 
 principal characters and plays on the principle of Races. 
 Crown 8vo. 7s. 6d. 
 
 MARY STUART : her Eventful Life and Tragical Death. By 
 Alphonse de Lamartine. With Portrait. Crown 8vo. 
 5s. 
 
 A TREATISE ON ALGEBRA. By James Bryce, M.A., LL.D. 
 6s. Also Bookkeeping, and Arithmetic of Decimals, by 
 the same Author. 
 
 THE CHURCH. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND, from the commence- 
 ment of the Christian Era to the present century. By 
 Rev. John Cunningham, Minister of Crieff. In 2 Vols., 
 demy 8vo. 21s. 
 
 THE PATHOLOGY AND TREATMENT OF PULMONARY CONSUMP- 
 TION. By John Hughes Bennett, M.D., F.R.S.E., Professor 
 of the Institutes of Medicine in the University of Edin- 
 burgh. Second Edition, with Illustrations. Demy 8vo. 
 7s. 6d. 
 
 OCCASIONAL PAPERS ON THE THEORY OF GLACIERS. Now 
 first collected and chronologically arranged, with a Pre- 
 fatory Note on the recent progress and present aspect of 
 the theory. By James D. Forbes, D.C.L., F.R.S., etc., and 
 Professor of Natural History in the University of Edin- 
 burgh. Demy 8vo. 10s. 6d.
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF BOOKS. 289 
 
 TREATISES AND ESSAYS ON MONEY, EXCHANGE, INTEREST, 
 LETTING OF LAND, ABSENTEEISM, with Accounts of the 
 Lives and Writings of Quesnay, Adam Smith, and 
 Ricardo. By J. R. M'Culloch, Esq. Second Edition. 
 
 1860. 
 
 PALAEONTOLOGY ; or, a Systematic Summary of Extinct Ani- 
 mals and their Geological Relations. By Richard Owen, 
 F.R.S., Superintendent of the Natural History Depart- 
 ments in the British Museum, etc. Demy 8vo, with 
 numerous Illustrations. 16s. A Second Edition was 
 published in 1861. 
 
 A COMPENDIUM OP ENGLISH AND SCOTCH LAW, stating their 
 differences, with a Dictionary of Parallel Terms and 
 Phrases. By James Paterson, Esq., M.A., of the Middle 
 Temple, Barrister-at-Law, etc. Royal 8vo. 28s. A 
 Second Edition in 1865. 
 
 POPULAR MANUAL OP BOTANY ; being a development of the 
 Rudiments of the Botanical Science without technical 
 terms. By Christopher Dresser, Ph.D., F.E.B.S., Pro- 
 fessor of Botany in the Department of Science and Art, 
 etc. etc. With Illustrations by John S. Cuthbert. 
 Fcap. 8vo. 3s. 6d. 
 
 CHRISTIAN THOUGHT AND WORK. A Series of Morning 
 Meditations on Passages of Scripture. By William 
 Lindsay Alexander, D.D., Minister of Augustine Church, 
 Edinburgh. 12mo. 5s. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS ON JURISPRUDENCE AND THE 
 AMENDMENT OP THE LAW ; delivered to the Association 
 for the Promotion of Social Science at Glasgow, Sept. 
 25, 1860. By the Right Hon. James Moncreiff, M.P., 
 Lord Advocate for Scotland, etc. (now Lord Moncreiff). 
 
 THE HEADSHIP OF CHRIST, AND THE RIGHTS OF THE 
 CHRISTIAN PEOPLE. By Hugh Miller. Crown 8vo. 
 7s. 6d. This was followed shortly after by a New 
 Edition of the same Author's work Footprints of the 
 
 U
 
 290 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF BOOKS. 
 
 Creator; or, The Aster olepis of Stromness ; and a cheap 
 edition of his Schools and Schoolmasters. 
 
 METAPHYSICS ; or, The Philosophy of Consciousness, Pheno- 
 menal and Real By Henry Longueville Mansel, B.D., 
 Waynflete Professor of Moral and Metaphysical Philo- 
 sophy, etc. Crown 8vo. 7s. 6d. 
 
 BIOGRAPHIES ; contributed to the Encyclopedia Sritannica. 
 By Lord Macaulay. With a Sketch of his Parliamentary 
 Connection with Edinburgh, and Extracts from his 
 Letters and Speeches. 8vo. 10s. 6d. Edited by Mr. 
 Black. 
 
 ELEMENTS OF ALGEBRA, for the Use of Schools. By Philip 
 Kelland, M. A., Professor of Mathematics in the University 
 of Edinburgh. Crown 8vo. 4s. 
 
 By same Author, 
 
 ALGEBRA ; being a complete and easy Introduction to 
 Analytical Science. Crown 8vo. 7s. 6d. 
 
 BOTANY AND RELIGION ; or, Illustrations of the Works of 
 God in the Structure, Functions, etc., of Plants. By 
 J. H. Balfour, A.M., M.D., Professor of Medicine and 
 Botany in the University of Edinburgh. Fcap. 8vo. 
 6s. 6d. 
 
 1861. 
 
 THE TELESCOPE (from the Encyclopaedia Britannica). By Sir 
 John F. W. Herschel, Bart., K.H., etc. etc. Fcp., 3s. 6d. 
 This was followed by the same Author's treatises on 
 Meteorology and Physical Geography. 
 
 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. By Thomas 
 Anderson, M.D., Professor of Chemistry in the University 
 of Glasgow. Crown 8vo. 6s. 6d. 
 
 AUSTRALIA : its Rise, Progress, and Present Condition. 
 By William Westgarth ; with Map. Fcap. 8vo. 3s. 6d. 
 
 A MANUAL OF HYGIENE, with especial reference to the 
 Practice of Sanitary Science, etc. By H. Letheby, M.B., 
 etc., and Edwin Lankester, M.B.
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF BOOKS. 291 
 
 HISTORY OF THE SIEGE OF DELHI. By an Officer who served 
 there (Dr. Ireland). Crown 8vo. 6s. 6d. 
 
 IRON : its History, Properties, and Processes of Manufacture. 
 By William Fairbairn, C.E. Demy 8vo. 6s. 
 
 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF SHIPBUILDING. By Andrew 
 Murray, Chief Engineer and Inspector of Machinery of 
 H.M. Dockyard, Portsmouth. STEAM SHIPS. By Robert 
 Murray, C.E., Engineer Surveyor to the Board of Trade. 
 
 4 to. 14s. 
 
 THE POLAR REGIONS. By Sir John Richardson, C.B., etc. 
 8vo, with Map. 14s. 
 
 HINTS ON DRILL FOR VOLUNTEERS. By J. H. A. Macdonald, 
 Major, Edinburgh Rifle Volunteers (now Lord Advocate). 
 Fcap. 2s. 
 
 THE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF HARBOURS. By Thomas 
 Stevenson, M.I.C.E., etc. Demy 8vo. 10s. 6d. 
 Afterwards, 1871, 
 
 LIGHTHOUSE ILLUMINATION. A description of the Holo- 
 photal System, etc. (Second Edition.) 7s. 6d. 
 
 1862. 
 
 THE FATHERS OF GREEK PHILOSOPHY (Aristotle, Plato, 
 Socrates, reprinted from the Encyclopaedia Britannica). By 
 R. D. Hampden, D.D., Bishop of Hereford. Demy 8vo. 1 6s. 
 
 CONTRIBUTIONS TO PRACTICAL MEDICINE. By James Begbie, 
 M.D., F.R.S.E., Physician -in -Ordinary to the Queen in 
 Scotland. Demy 8vo. 10s. 6d. 
 
 THE AMBULANCE SURGEON ; or, Practical Observations on 
 Gunshot Wounds. By P. L. Appia, M.D. Edited by 
 T. W. Nunn, Assistant-Surgeon to the Middlesex Hospital, 
 and A. M. Edwards, F.R.S.E., Lecturer on Surgery in 
 the Edinburgh Medical School. Fcap. 8vo. 6s. 
 
 BRITISH FARMING ; a Description of the Mixed Husbandry 
 of Great Britain. By John Wilson, Farmer at Edington 
 Mains, Berwickshire (author of the article Agriculture in 
 the Encyclopaedia Britannica}. With numerous Illustra- 
 tions, demy 8vo. 12s.
 
 292 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF BOOKS. 
 
 1863. 
 
 THE PLAIN OF TROY DESCRIBED, and the Identity of the 
 Ilium of Homer with the new Ilium of Strabo proved by 
 comparing the Poet's Narrative with the present Topo- 
 graphy. By Charles Maclaren, F.R.S.E., Member of the 
 Geological Societies of France, London, and Edinburgh. 
 Demy 8vo, with Plates. 9s. This was a Second Edition, 
 the first having been published by Constable and Co. in 
 1822. 
 
 QUIET RESTING PLACES, and other Sermons. By Alexander 
 Raleigh, D.D., Canonbury, London. Crown 8vo. 7s. 6d. 
 This Work passed into numerous editions. 
 
 THE CHRIST OF REVELATION AND REALITY, of Whose 
 Fulness all we have received. A Series of Discourses. 
 By P. Hately Waddell, Minister of the Gospel, Glasgow. 
 Crown 8vo. 
 
 1864. 
 
 A HISTORY OF THE HEREDITARY SHERIFFS OF GALLOWAY, 
 with contemporary Anecdotes, Traditions, and Genea- 
 logical Notices of old Families of the Sheriffdom, 1330- 
 1747. By Sir Andrew Agnew, Bart, M.P. Demy 8vo, 
 with Illustrations. 18s. 
 
 THE SCHOOLS OF SCULPTURE, ANCIENT AND MODERN. By 
 Richard Westmacott, R.A., F.R.S., Professor of Sculpture 
 in the Royal Academy of Arts. Adapted from the Essay 
 contributed to the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Crown 8vo. 
 7s. 6d. 
 
 PRIMITIVE MARRIAGE ; or, The Form of Capture in Marriage 
 Ceremonies. By J. F. M'Lennan, M.A., Advocate. Crown 
 8vo. 7s. 6d. 
 
 A second edition of this very original work was afterwards 
 published. 
 
 DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF HARBOURS. Reprinted and 
 enlarged from the Eighth Edition of the Encyclopaedia 
 Britannica. By Thomas Stevenson, M.I.C.E., etc. With 
 Plates, demy 8vo. 10s. 6d. 
 
 SOLDIERING IN SUNSHINE AND STORM. By William Douglas, 
 Private 1 Oth Royal Hussars. Crown 8vo. 6s.
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF BOOKS. 293 
 
 ACUPRESSURE ; A new Mode of arresting Surgical Haemor- 
 rhage, and of accelerating the Healing of Wounds. By 
 James Y. Simpson, Professor of Medicine and Midwifery 
 in the University of Edinburgh. Demy 8vo. 12s. 
 Afterwards, by the same Author, in 1868 
 
 Is THE GREAT PYRAMID OF GIZEH A METROLOGICAL MONU- 
 MENT? 
 
 1865. 
 
 THE SECRETS OF ANGLING. By A. S. MofFat, Author of 
 Reminiscences of Otter Hunting, etc. Crown 8vo. 7s. 6d. 
 
 AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF MEDICINE, to which is 
 added a Report on the Homoeopathic Treatment of Acute 
 Disease in Dr. Fleischinann's Hospital, Vienna, during 
 months of May, June, July, 1846. By George William 
 Balfour, M.D., F.R.C.P., etc. Fcap. 8vo. 6s. 
 
 PAUL AT ATHENS. By William Lindsay Alexander, D.D. 
 Dedicated to the Rev. E. B. Ramsay, M.A., LL.D., Dean 
 of the Diocese of Edinburgh. Fcap. 5s. 
 
 THE FATHERHOOD OF GOD ; being the First Course of the 
 Cunningham Lectures, delivered before the New College, 
 Edinburgh, in March 1864. By Robert S. Candlish, 
 D.D. 7s. 6d. The Third Edition (1866) contains a 
 Reply to Professor Crawford's Strictures. 
 
 CONSTITUTIONALISM OF THE FUTURE ; or, Parliament the 
 Mirror of the Nation. By James Lorimer, Regius Pro- 
 fessor of Public Law in the University of Edinburgh. 
 Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d. 
 
 1866. 
 
 THE LIFE OF DAVID ROBERTS, R.A. Compiled from his 
 Journals and other Sources by James Ballantine. Royal 
 4to, with Portrait and numerous Etchings. 2 guineas. 
 Large Paper, 3 guineas. 
 
 FECUNDITY, FERTILITY, STERILITY, AND ALLIED TOPICS. By 
 J. Matthews Duncan, A.M., M.D., etc. etc. 8vo. 15s.
 
 294 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF BOOKS. 
 
 MAEY STUART'S GUILT OR INNOCENCE ; an Inquiry into the 
 Secret History of her Times. By Alexander M'Neel- 
 Caird. 8vo. 10s. 6d. 
 
 FISHING GOSSIP ; or, Stray Leaves from the Note-Books of 
 Several Anglers. Edited by H. Cholmondeley Pennell, 
 Author of the Angler Naturalist, Book of the Pike, etc. 
 Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 THE STORY OP JONAH THE PROPHET. By Alexander Ealeigh, 
 D.D., Canonbury. With Illustrations, crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN, expounded in a Series of 
 Lectures. By Robert S. Candlish, D.D., Principal of the 
 New College, and Minister of Free St. George's Church. 
 8vo. 12s. 
 
 1867. 
 
 TREATISES ON ARCHITECTURE, including the Arts of Con- 
 struction, Building, Stone Masonry, Arch, Carpentry, 
 Roof, Joinery, and Strength of Materials, from the 
 Encyclopaedia Britannica. Edited by Arthur Ashpitel, 
 Esq., F.S.A., F.R.I., B.A., etc. 4to, with numerous 
 Plates. 30s. 
 
 1868. 
 
 THE ANATOMICAL MEMOIRS OF JOHN GOODSIR, F.R.S., late 
 Professor of Anatomy in the University of Edinburgh. 
 Edited by William Turner, M.B. (his successor in the 
 Chair of Anatomy). With a Biographical Memoir by 
 Henry Lonsdale, M.D. 2 Vols., demy 8vo, with Portrait. 
 30s. 
 
 RESEARCHES IN OBSTETRICS. By J. Matthews Duncan, M.D. 
 8vo. 18s. And next year (1869) 
 
 A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON PERIMETRITIS AND PARAMETRITIS. 
 Post 8vo. 6s.
 
 LIST OF AUTHORS. 
 
 AGNEW, Sir Andrew, Bart., 
 
 1864. 
 
 Alexander, William, 1857. 
 Alexander, Rev. Dr. William 
 
 Lindsay, 1843, 1851, 1859, 
 
 1860, 1865. 
 
 Alison, Prof. W. P., 1856. 
 Anderson, Prof. Thomas, 1861. 
 Apperley, Charles, 1858. 
 Appia, Dr. P. L., 1862. 
 Arago, M., 1839. 
 Ashpitel, Arthur, 1867. 
 Audubon, J. J., 1831. 
 
 BALFOUR, Dr. G. W., 1856. 
 Balfour, Prof. J. Hutton, 1851, 
 
 1860. 
 
 Ballantine, James, 1866. 
 Ballingall, Prof. Sir George, 
 
 1844. 
 
 Baynes, Professor, 1857. 
 Begbie, Dr. James, 1862. 
 Bell, Benjamin, 1856. 
 Bell, Sir Charles, 1837. 
 Bennett, Prof. J. Hughes, 1856, 
 
 1859. 
 Bethune, Alexander and John, 
 
 1838, 1839, 1843. 
 Blackie, Prof. J. S., 1857. 
 Bowdler, Charles and John, 1857. 
 Brewster, Sir David, 1838. 
 Brougham, Lord, 1838. 
 Browne, James, LL.D., 1830. 
 Browne, W. A. F., 1837. 
 
 Bryce, Dr. James, 1859. 
 Burgess, Rev. Dr., 1851 (1856). 
 Burton, J. H., 1853. 
 
 CAIRD, Alex. M'Neel, 1848, 1866. 
 Campbell, Lord, 1842. 
 Campbell, James R., 1856. 
 Candlish, Rev. Dr., 1858, 1865, 
 
 1866. 
 
 Carruthers, R., 1830, 1857. 
 Carson, Dr. A. R., 1849. 
 Christison, Sir Robert, 1829, 
 
 1838, 1842, 1861. 
 Cleghorn, James, 1833. 
 Clerk, John (of Eldin), 1820. 
 Cockburn, Lord, 1852, 1856. 
 Coldstream, John, 1856. 
 Colquhoun, J. C., 1845. 
 Combe, Dr. Andrew, 1839. 
 Coombes, Rev. J., 1844. 
 Cox, Robert, 1830. 
 Craigie, Dr. David, 1820, 1837, 
 
 1847. 
 Cunningham, Rev. Dr. John, 
 
 1859. 
 
 DAVIDSON, Rev. Dr. Samuel, 
 
 1852. 
 
 Dick, Andrew Coventry, 1848. 
 Dick, Prof. William, 1841. 
 Dickson, James, 1851. 
 Donaldson, Prof. James, 1853. 
 Douglas, James (of Cavers), 1822, 
 
 1826.
 
 296 
 
 LIST OF A UTHORS. 
 
 Douglas, William, 1864. 
 Dresser, Christopher, 1860. 
 Duncan, Rev. James, 1853. 
 Duncan, Dr. James Matthews, 
 1866, 1868. 
 
 EDWARDS, A. M., 1862. 
 
 FAIRBAIRN, W., 1861. 
 Farrar, Rev. F. W., 1858. 
 Fletcher, Andrew, 1820. 
 Fleming, Prof. John, 1837. 
 Forbes, Prof. Janies D., 1843, 
 
 1853 (1858), 1859. 
 Fraser, Rev. R. W., 1854. 
 Fyfe, Andrew, 1827. 
 
 GAIRDNER, Dr. W. T., 1837. 
 Galloway, Thomas, 1839. 
 Goodsir, Prof. John, 1868. 
 Graham, G. F., 1838. 
 Gregory, Prof. William, 1854. 
 Guthrie, Rev. Dr., 1856, 1857, 
 1858. 
 
 HAMPDEN, Bishop, 1862. 
 Hansard, T. C., 1841. 
 Haydon, B. R., 1828. 
 Hazlitt, William, 1828. 
 Henderson, Prof. Thos., 1838. 
 Herschel, Sir John F. W., Bart., 
 
 1861. 
 
 Hetherington, Rev. W. M., 1839. 
 Hosking, William, 1833. 
 Hughes, William, 1847. 
 
 IRVING, Dr. David, 1851. 
 Ivory, James, 1819. 
 
 JAMESON, Prof. Robert, 1820. 
 Johnson, J. Y., 1841. 
 Jukes, J. Beete, 1858. 
 
 KELLAND, Prof. Philip, 1858, 
 1860. 
 
 Kitto, Dr. John, 1851, 1852. 
 Knowles, James Sheridan, 1851. 
 Knox, Dr. Frederick John, 
 1836. 
 
 LAMARTINE, Alphonse de, 1859. 
 Lankester, Edwin, 1861. 
 Lauder, Sir Thomas Dick, 1830, 
 
 1837, 1841. 
 Lawrie, James, 1840. 
 Laycock, Prof. Thomas, 1856. 
 Lecount, Peter, 1851. 
 Lee, Rev. Dr., 1851. 
 Leslie, Prof. Sir John, 1838. 
 Letheby, H., 1861. 
 Lorimer, Prof. James, 1865. 
 Lothian, Maurice, 1830. 
 
 MACATJLAY, Dr. Alexander, 1849. 
 Macaulay, Lord, 1860. 
 M'Culloch, J. R., 1843, 1859. 
 Macdonald, J. H. A., 1861. 
 Mackintosh, Sir James, 1836. 
 Maclaren, Charles, 1838, 1863. 
 M'Lennan, J. F., 1864. 
 Malte Brun, M., 1822, 1840. 
 Mansel, Prof. H. L., 1860. 
 Marshall, Henry, 1839. 
 Miller, Hugh, 1835, 1860. 
 Miller, Prof. James, 1844. 
 Miller, Richard, 1853. 
 Milne, D., 1828. 
 Moffat, A. S., 1865. 
 Moir, George, 1851. 
 Moncreiff, Lord, 1860. 
 Murray, Andrew and Robert, 
 1861. 
 
 NAPIER, Prof. Macvey, 1830. 
 Nicol, Prof. James, 1849. 
 Kunn, T. W., 1862. 
 
 ORME, William, 1824.
 
 LIST OF A UTHORS. 
 
 297 
 
 Oswald, Rev. John, 1832. 
 Owen, Richard, 1860. 
 
 PARNELL, Dr. Richard, 1839. 
 Paterson, James, 1860. 
 Pennell, H. Cholmondeley, 1866. 
 Phillips, Prof. John, 1838, 1841. 
 Pillans, Prof. James, 1829, 1847. 
 Purdie, Thomas, 1849. 
 
 RALEIGH, Rev. Dr., 1863, 1866. 
 Ramsay, George, 1836. 
 Richardson, Sir John, 1861. 
 Roget, P. M., 1838. 
 Russell, John Scott, 1841. 
 Russell, Robert, 1857. 
 
 SCHMITZ, Dr. L., 1855. 
 Scot, David, 1829. 
 Scott, William B., 1850. 
 Scrymgeour, Daniel, 1848. 
 Shaw, John, 1840. 
 Shortrede, Robert, 1849. 
 Sime, James, 1857. 
 Simpson, James, Advocate, 1832. 
 Simpson, Sir James Y., 1856, 
 
 1864. 
 
 Skelton, John, 1857. 
 Smith, Alexander, 1857. 
 Spalding, Prof. William, 1851. 
 Stark, John, 1828. 
 Steele, Andrew, 1826. 
 Stevenson, Alan, 1848. 
 Stevenson, David, 1846. 
 
 Stevenson, Thomas, 1861, 1864. 
 Stewart, Dugald, 1828. 
 Stewart, William, 1849. 
 Stocqueler, J. H., 1853. 
 Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 1853. 
 Syme, David, 1834. 
 Syme, Prof. James, 1846. 
 Szabad, Emeric, 1854. 
 
 TAYLOR, Rev. Dr., 1840. 
 Terrot, Bishop, 1828. 
 Thomson, Prof. James, 1837. 
 Thomson, Robert, 1824. 
 Thomson, Prof. Thomas, 1849. 
 Traill, Prof. T. S., 1838, 1853. 
 Turner, Prof. William, 1868. 
 Tytler, Patrick Fraser, 1847. 
 
 VEITCH, Rev. William, 1848. 
 
 WADDELL, Rev. P. H., 1863. 
 Wallace, Prof. William, 1837. 
 Wardlaw, Rev. Dr., 1856. 
 Westgarth, William, 1861. 
 Westmacott, Richard, 1864. 
 Whewell, W., 1836. 
 Wilson, Andrew, 1857. 
 Wilson, Prof. George, 1856, 
 
 1857. 
 
 Wilson, James, 1842, 1844. 
 Wilson, John, 1862. 
 Witham, H. T. M., 1831. 
 Wood, Dr. Andrew, 1856. 
 Wood, John Philip, 1824. 
 
 ERRATUM. 
 At page 238, line 14, for Fichte read Hegel. 
 
 Printed by R. & R. CLARK, Edinburgh.

 
 m