\ 
 
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Roiert C Bell 
 
X'-rATOJi-S.CcS.-y^olA.fiiscr- 
 
 MEMOIR 
 
 OF 
 
 THOMAS THOMSON, 
 
 ADVOCATK 
 
 EDINBURGH.— MDCCCLIV. 
 

 t" ccccet » 
 
 BDIHBVBaH : T. CORSTA,BLB, PRINTXR TO BBR UkjnTT. 
 
PRESEiNTED 
 
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Soon after Mr. Thomson's death, now two years ago, 
 several persons who thought that some memorial should 
 be preserved of the life and labours of one who had 
 rendered so great service to historical literature and record 
 learning, requested me to undertake such a work. Friends 
 of Mr. Thomson at the same time offered me the use of 
 portions of his private correspondence ; and, by the kind- 
 ness of the present Deputy-Clerk Register, I had access to 
 some volumes of his official letters, which he had collected 
 and preserved during the first years of his employment on 
 the National Records. 
 
 With the help of these materials, I have compiled the 
 following Memoii*, and must only regret that accidental 
 circumstances should have delayed it so long as to lose 
 some of the interest derived from the fresh memory of its 
 subject, as well as perhaps to raise expectations of a much 
 more elaborate performance than this slight compilation 
 can satisfy. 
 
To the friends of Mr. Thomson who entrusted me with 
 his letters, or otherwise aided my undertaking, I beg to 
 offer my grateful thanks. Mrs. Thomson placed in my 
 hands a large mass of her husband's family papers and 
 letters, which afforded nearly the whole of my information 
 of his early life, and have been my chief resource through- 
 out this Memoir. Mr. Leonard Horner allowed me the 
 use of some early letters of Thomson's, the more valuable 
 as forming the counterparts to those of his brother Francis 
 Horner, which I regard as the most precious of the con- 
 tents of the present volume. The Earl of Minto, to whom 
 I am personally unknown, was liberal enough to give me 
 the use of all the letters he had preserved from his old 
 friend. To my friends Lord Murray and Professor Pil- 
 lans, I am under similar obligations. The Marquis of 
 Lansdowne was obliging enough to permit me to print his 
 letter communicating to Mr. Thomson his appointment as 
 Clerk of Session in 1828. 
 
 Private friends, to whom I am obliged in many ways, 
 will not doubt my gratitude, though I feel that to 
 enumerate their names would seem to claim for this little 
 work an importance which I am sincerely conscious it does 
 not merit. I cannot, however, omit to mention two, the 
 late lamented Lord Cockburn, who earnestly encouraged 
 me to this undertakinoj, and whose reminiscences of his 
 
XI 
 
 old and loved friend would have been its greatest orna- 
 ment; and Mr. Laing, the Secretary of the Bannatyne 
 Club, the efficient coadjutor of its four successive Presi- 
 dents, who has afforded me zealous assistance in this 
 labour of love. 
 
 Mr. Gibson Craig, whose friendship for its subject first 
 suggested this Memoir, and without whose active assist- 
 ance it could not have been carried through, has borne 
 the whole expense of printing these sheets. 
 
 Mrs. Thomson has contributed the engraving of her 
 husband's portrait. 
 
 C. INNES. 
 
 EdinbiLrgh, 22d November 1854. 
 
3 - a 
 
 MEMOIR 
 
 Thomas Thomson was bom on the lOth of November 
 1768, in the Manse of Dailly ; a parish on the Water of 
 Girvan, in Carrick, of which his father was minister. 
 
 The family did not forget that their forefathers had 
 been lairds. They were proprietors of the small estate of 
 Newton of CoUessie in Fife, which they sold in 1760. 
 The father and uncle of the minister of Dailly were 
 both ministei-s of the Established Church of Scotland, 
 the former at Auchtermuchty, the latter at Elgin. 
 
 Of Thomas Thomson, minister of Dailly, we can now 
 speak only from his letters to his children, and from the 
 impression he made upon some country neighbours. He 
 had been tutor in the family of Kilkerran, and it was 
 through the influence of Sir James Fergusson, better known 
 as Lord Kilkerran, that he obtained the crown living of 
 Dailly, where he was admitted minister on the 3d June 
 
 A 
 
MEMOIR OF 
 
 1756. He was twice married, first to " Miss Peggy Hope, 
 daughter lawftil to tht3 Hon. Sir Alexander Hope of Carse," 
 (IMi. JamJaty 1759,) and, secondly, to "Mary Hay, 
 daughter lawful to Francis Hay, in Lochside, in parish of 
 Dundonald," (5tli January 1768.)"^ By the former he had 
 a daughter, Margaret, who became the wife of her cousin, 
 James Thomson, minister of Girvan, the " Mr. James " of 
 the manse correspondence. By the latter, four sons and 
 four daughters. His second wife had been previously mar- 
 ried to Mr. Lockhart, and a daughter of that mamage. 
 Miss Jean Lockhart, kept house for Thomas Thomson, in 
 Edinburgh, after the death of his mother and all his un- 
 married sisters. 
 
 The value of the living of Dailly, including manse and 
 glebe, amounted at an average to £105 a year. It is not 
 known that the minister or his wife had any private for- 
 tune, yet they lived socially with their neighbours, by the 
 best of whom they were much respected ; exercised some 
 hospitality, and gave their family the best education which 
 the country afforded. The thing is still so common in the 
 manses of Scotland, that it would be impertinent to praise 
 the virtuous economy, the rigid self-denial, that it requires 
 to live like gentle-folks, and educate a family on £105 
 a year. 
 
 The boys received their elementary education at the 
 parish-school, at least if we may judge from some kind mes- 
 sages to the schoolmaster, communicating any step or success 
 
 * Register of the Parish. 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 8 
 
 in after-life. His name was Welsh ; his salary £8, 6s. 8d., 
 and his whole emoluments, including his perquisites as 
 Session-Clerk, did not amount to £30 a year ; for which he 
 taught "English, Latin, French, Writing, Arithmetic, and 
 Book-keeping;" and he did one part of his duty so well, 
 that as the Statistical Keport states, " there was scarcely 
 an individual in the parish who had not been taught to 
 read and write English." 
 
 At fourteen, Thomas, the eldest son, was sent to the 
 University of Glasgow, where he lived with his aunt, Mrs. 
 Traill, the widow of R. Traill, D.D., Professor of Divinity at 
 Glasgow. The first letter that is preserved of his father's, 
 perhaps the first that he had occasion to write to his son, 
 brings us a little acquainted with the character of both. 
 
 The Minister to his Son. 
 
 "Daillj/, ntJi November 1782. 
 
 " I hope, Tammie, you are now heartily engaged, and that 
 you see the necessity and use of diligent application. From 
 the abundance of work you have to do, if you wish to excel, 
 which I believe you do, you will not find much time for 
 amusement. But your studies will soon become your most 
 pleasant entertainment, when your attention is fixed, when 
 exertion is necessary, and when you are conscious of a 
 capacity of overcoming difficulties. I am very well pleased 
 with the particular account you give me of your studies, 
 and how you are commonly employed. Continue to write 
 me in the same manner. Write me in your next what you 
 
4 MEMOIR OF 
 
 are to ' profess.' Let me know if you are often examined; 
 Are you bene — valde bene — optime ? You may tell me of 
 this some times. Let me know also if you have been fined 
 any more. I do not wish to see you morose or sulky, but 
 I am not ill pleased that you have not, as yet, got any 
 new acquaintances. Time and a little observation will dis- 
 cover some that are worthy. But the best and noblest 
 way of having good acquaintances and friends is to excel 
 in good behaviour and to excel in your several exer- 
 cises. The best and worthiest will then wish for your 
 acquaintance. 
 
 " But above all, my dear Tammie, let no hurry, let nothing 
 whatever make you neglect the duties of piety and devo- 
 tion. If you are attentive and serious, which I pray Grod 
 you may always be, these duties will be no task, no burden, 
 but your most delightful employment. It gives me a most 
 sensible pleasure that you are in the company, and under 
 the direction of your aunt and cousin. I hope your atten- 
 tion and dutiful behaviour will shew that you are sensible 
 of this blessing. 
 
 " I wish to hear from you as frequently as you can con- 
 veniently. You can never doubt the anxious concern of 
 your affectionate father, Tpio. TnoMSON.'' 
 
 Glasgow was not merely the nearest university to the 
 Ayrshire manse, and the literary metropolis of the west. 
 It stood already high as a school of letters and philosophy. 
 Adam Smith and Keid had raised the tone of metaphysical 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. O 
 
 study far above any of our other universities. Young and 
 Jardine, then in their vigour, were the most successful of 
 teachers in awakening the youthful mind; and John 
 Millar, nominally Professor of Law, embracal a wide range 
 of speculative philosophy, and in his lectures and his 
 wonderful Platonic conversations, did in some degree for 
 Glasgow and for that generation, what Dugald Stewart 
 did for the students of Edinburgh at a somewhat later 
 period. 
 
 Thomson distinguished himself from his fii*st entry at 
 College. He carried off four prizes in the " young side " 
 of the Greek class, — one of them awarded by the votes of 
 the class, and he had evidently impressed his friends 
 already with the belief of his powers. 
 
 At the end of the next session, on the 10th May 1784, 
 his father writes to him : — " I can congratulate you on your 
 success. Though you have not received a great number of 
 prizes, yet, I think, your first is the best that can be obtained, 
 and your second prize is surely a good one, as the subject 
 of the exercise is nice, and requires some extent and 
 accuracy of knowledge/' 
 
 Before the end of next session, Thomson had communi- 
 cated to his father an essay which he had written as a class 
 exercise, and desired him to criticise it. The answer is too 
 long for full insertion, and the minute criticism, though 
 judicious and excellent, is here omitted. 
 
6 memoir of 
 
 The Minister to his Son. 
 
 ''February 2, 1786. 
 
 " Dear Tom, — I am sorry to hear of your uproar. The 
 worst effect is to embitter the spirits of the people most 
 engaged, and to take off the attention of the students from 
 their proper business.* 
 
 " As to your essay on attention, you say, you know it has 
 many errors. I cannot say I am struck with many, or to 
 speak more properly, with anything that deserves the 
 name of an error ; there are some inaccuracies rather 
 in the manner of placing your thoughts, than in the 
 thoughts themselves 
 
 " After all, your exercise is wonderfully well, considering 
 all circumstances. Despair not, your powers and habits 
 of attention will grow, and I am happy to think that you 
 know and feel the importance of acquiring early and per- 
 fecting that habit of attention and application which you 
 have explained and recommended so well." 
 
 In November 1785, Thomson was presented by the 
 Earl of Dundonald to one of the bursaries founded by his 
 Lordship's ancestor, the first Earl — a preferment so valuable 
 to the minister's son, that to fulfil its conditions, he 
 turned back on part of his studies, and continued a " gown 
 student" for the unusual period of seven years. 
 
 * Alluding to some indecorous disputes among the members of the Uni- 
 versity, one episode of which was an attempt to oust Burke from the office 
 of Rector. 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 7 
 
 At the end of the session 1786-87, a prize was to be 
 given for the first time, which had been founded by Mr. 
 Graham of Gartmore, a late Kector, for the best discourse 
 on " constitutional liberty." It was open for competition 
 to all students, and much excitement prevailed as the 
 time drew near for announcing the successful essay, though 
 it was generally believed that it would be carried off by 
 Samuel Kose, — then considered the most brilliant lad of 
 Glasgow University, afterwards known as the friend and 
 comforter of Cowper. It was even said by the grumblers 
 that the subject was chosen to afford him an opportunity 
 of fresh distinction, and it w^as therefore with surprise 
 that on the decisive day, the 1st of May 1787, Thomas 
 Thomson was declared the successful candidate. 
 
 Although thus distinguished, he is said not to have been 
 very popular among his fellow-students. He was remarked 
 not to join in the rough sports of " the green f to keep 
 rather aloof from the homely hurschen of the University, 
 while he preferred the society which he found in Pro- 
 fessor Millar's house ; and last and least excusable of all, 
 he was more attentive to his dress than was thought at 
 all tolerable by that " fierce democraty."* 
 
 At length Thomson completed his course of literature and 
 philosophy, and took his degree of Master of Arts on 27th 
 April 1789. Hitherto whatever may have been the views 
 of his friends, nothing in his father's letters indicates his 
 
 * Chiefly from the information of the venerable Principal Macfarlane, his 
 contemporary at College, and his friend through life. 
 
8 MEMOIR OF 
 
 being devoted to the paternal profession of his family ; and, 
 now, although he commenced the study of theology, he 
 appears from the first to have shewn some reluctance to 
 make the church his profession. The neighbourhood and 
 friendship of the family of Kilkerran procured him the 
 acquaintance of Lord Hailes,* and the historical pursuits 
 and speculations of the first of Scotch critical inquirers, 
 with the half legal atmosphere in which he lived at Kil- 
 kerran, had undoubtedly a powerful influence upon his 
 views and his future life. His friend and fellow-student 
 of Glasgow — his attached friend through a long life — 
 George Cranstoun,f alludes to this in the earliest letter of 
 his that has been preserved : — 
 
 Cranstoun to Thomson. 
 
 "Ahbei/ Court, Edinburgh, June 5, 1789. 
 
 " Dear Thomson, — Before this time I expected to have 
 seen you here, as you half promised to come to the General 
 Assembly, or at least to use the opportunity of accompany- 
 ing some of your countrymen to visit this little world of 
 wonders. If you had come, I am sure you would have 
 received the greatest satisfaction from the debates, par- 
 ticularly those on the clerkshij), which were maintained 
 with great ingenuity and often eloquence on both sides. 
 I am too well acquainted with your prowess in the fields of 
 argument to doubt that the displays of skill in all the 
 
 * Lord Hailes was married to the daughter of Lord Kilkerran. 
 f Afterwards Lord Corehouse. 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 9 
 
 branches of the orator's art which were then made, would 
 have amused and interested you exceedingly ; bat since 
 I have been disappointed of the pleasure of seeing you 
 entertained, I must console myself with what is next best, 
 the hearing that you are so, which I hope to do soon. You 
 are now enjoying in perfection the otium cum dignitate — 
 otium, walking, fishing, lounging, chattering, lovemaking, 
 eating, and sleeping, — cum dignitate , with a master of arts 
 cap ! What a happy man are you ; what would I give to 
 
 exchange situations ! When we parted, you like 
 
 myself had formed no resolutions about your future schemes 
 in life ; indeed, every profession is to us poor men, beset 
 with so many and so insurmountable difficulties, that it is 
 almost impossible to determine. As for myself, I believe 
 I shall never come to a resolution ; but as you are confined 
 within rather narrower bounds than me, (I mean there are 
 fewer fines w^hich you can have in view,) therefore it will 
 be more easy for you to make a choice. The church is 
 out of the question, for there, like a candle under a bed, 
 your light would be extinguished, or you would set it all 
 on a blaze. A law education is fearfully expensive, and 
 the profession is very much overstocked, so that* 
 only remains ; and physic, to one of your, I wont say abifities 
 but habits, no very efigible line 
 
 " Mu. Thomas Thomson, Jun., 
 Dailly, May bole." 
 
 * A word lost by a tear of the paper. 
 
10 MEMOIR OF 
 
 At the beginning of next session of College, Thomson 
 received a letter from his father beginning in the old affec- 
 tionate way : — 
 
 "Dailli/, 21st November 1789. 
 
 " My dear Tom, — I received yours, enclosing Lady 
 Hailes' letter to you. I value it equally high as you do, and 
 for the same reason I shall preserve it carefully. The friend- 
 ship of one so worthy is indeed a treasure. May God grant 
 that your behaviour through life may be such as to merit and 
 preserve the friendly attention of the best and worthiest." 
 
 In much uncertainty of prospects, and even of wishes, 
 Thomson spent two years, partly attending the theological 
 and law classes at Glasgow, and partly at the manse, where 
 he directed the education of his brothers, and so fixed him- 
 self in their respect, that John used to say half a century 
 afterwards, that he had never quite shaken off the feeling 
 of awe for his elder brother and master. 
 
 His time was not lost, since the delay enabled him to 
 attend the classes of law and political science, then taught 
 by Professor Millar, with so much approbation at Glasgow. 
 We must not judge of the influence of Millar's instructions 
 from his published works, nor even from the large MS. notes 
 of his lectures preserved by several industrious students. 
 His historical works and writings on the philosophy of 
 history, made up of his lectures, are almost forgotten. 
 They were not without merit that should have preserved 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 11 
 
 them : but an intense love of systematizing, a determination 
 to account for all phenomena by the dogmas of his limited 
 philosophy, and a style without life, condemned them to a 
 premature oblivion. The real merit of his instruction was 
 apart from the matter of his lectures. The Professor asked 
 questions, encouraged questions in return, and the freest 
 conversation and argument. There was no knocking down 
 with an authority ; he checked no inquiry ; no speculation 
 was too daring ; he was the companion of his students not 
 only in class, but in their recreation ; he walked with them, 
 sparred with them, received them at his table to supper 
 — stimulated conversation everywhere, always — ^not gossip, 
 but free and vigorous interchange of thought. Jeffrey, 
 who was not allowed to attend his class, used to say 
 that the severest exercises at Glasgow were those supper 
 disputations at Professor Millar's. The acceptance that 
 this system met with is a remarkable thing in the history 
 of Scotch education. Pupils crowded from all parts of 
 Scotland to Glasgow to attend Millar. At a time w^hen 
 Toryism was in the ascendant, even some Tory families 
 ventured to expose their sons to the undisguised Whiggism 
 of his doctrines, and his still more alarming dethroning 
 of the old oracles and substituting reason as the sole 
 arbiter. That could not have been borne after the French 
 revolution had given its heavy blow to freedom. It was 
 the encouragement of such a man that led young Thom- 
 son to plan a flight beyond the narrow limits of the 
 paternal and almost hereditary profession. 
 
12 MEMOIR OF 
 
 At length his wish found words : — 
 
 Thomson to his Father. 
 " My dear Father, — For some time past my thoughts 
 have been almost totally absorbed in reflecting on my 
 present situation and future destination in life. In the 
 many conversations we have had on this subject, perhaps 
 we have both acted with too much reserve. You have 
 never very fully or strongly expressed to me your ideas 
 or your wishes, from a generous apprehension of placing 
 too violent a control on my inclinations. Doubt and in- 
 decision have on the other hand prevented me from form- 
 ing or declaring either a desire or a resolution 
 
 In adopting the clerical profession, I wiU own to you I 
 should have doubts and scruples of a kind not easily to 
 be lulled or conquered, and which my sincere veneration for 
 the order would tend only to heighten and confirm. In 
 other respects, with many recommendations, it presents to 
 me some striking disadvantages. In arriving at the object 
 it holds out, the hazard of disappointment is, I own, smaU ; 
 but on the other hand, even after the gratification of his 
 highest ambition, a clergyman must sit down in hopeless 
 obscurity, with an income which in the present Iwcuriovs 
 and corrupted age, hardly amounts to a competency, and 
 is by no means adequate to the support of that rank in 
 society in which by his profession he is placed. After 
 a liberal and expensive education of many years, and 
 at an age when even the most jihlegmatic temper is in- 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 1 3 
 
 clined to indulge in the alluring prospects of ambition, 
 he is at once, for ever chained down to a little spot, 
 (adscriptus glehcB,) without the possibility of progression, 
 without the opportunity of advancement beyond the point 
 from which he set out, and without the prospect of rising 
 to a situation in which he can be effectually and extensively 
 useful to his friends and connexions. You will easily per- 
 ceive that I speak here only as a man of this world, and 
 leave out of view those sublimer enjoyments which certainly 
 must arise from reflection on a life well spent in the service 
 of religion. On the other hand, the profession of the law, 
 with some alarming disadvantages, exhibits many tempting 
 inducements. The hazard of success is no doubt greater 
 than in the church ; but the object when attained, is also 
 great in proportion. In the lottery of the law, the blanks 
 are more numerous than in that of the church, but the 
 prizes are infinitely higher. At the same time, I can say 
 upon good authority, that the hazard is now less formidable 
 than it was formerly accounted. It is not the man of 
 rank and independent fortune, who is reckoned to have 
 the best chance of rising at the bar. Amidst the various 
 dissipations which wealth and luxury hold out, the law is 
 too dry and too laborious a study for him. It is the man 
 of no fortune, who must solely depend on his own industry 
 and exertions for subsistence, whose early habits of labour 
 protect him from the temptations of idleness, and whose, 
 poverty obstructs the avenues to dissipation — it is a man 
 of this description who is most likely to rise to eminence 
 
14 MEMOIR OF 
 
 at the bar. Unless endowed by nature with an uncommon 
 portion of stupidity, a lawyer in this situation may, in a 
 few years, acquire a tolerable subsistence, and by resolution 
 and steady perseverance may, in no very long time, attain a 
 comfortable independency. This doctrine my friends Pro- 
 fessors Millar and Jardine have frequently preached up to 
 me, and with this have they encouraged me to try my 
 fortune at the bar. After all this, you will be at no loss 
 
 to discover how my inclinations at present lie 
 
 If for a few years at first I should be unable to support 
 myself completely, I hope a moderate additional assistance 
 would be sufficient. Except in the article of dress, no extra- 
 ordinary expense is necessary, as there is no rank to sup- 
 port, and it wUl be very difficult to starve a man who can 
 live on bread and milk. As the court sits only one half of 
 the year, living in Edinburgh will not, in fact, be much 
 more expensive than spending a session in Glasgow, and it 
 will be hard if I cannot gain as much as a Dundonald bur- 
 sary. There is yet one circumstance of difficulty not to be 
 forgotten, and which may probably have already occurred 
 to you. The sum of two hundred pounds must be paid at 
 entry. Here, I am afraid, lies the rub. It must depend 
 on my friends whether they will choose to risk this sum on 
 my life and fortune. I own their generosity would not be 
 altogether without hazard; but hope flatters me that 1 
 should soon be enabled to repay them, and that it might 
 be the means of procuring me an honourable and advan- 
 tageous situation in life. I must conclude this tedious 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 15 
 
 letter, with requesting your thoughts upon it as early as 
 possible. I do not indulge sanguine hope, and on your 
 riper judgment I rely for advice. — I am, dear father, your 
 most dutiful son.— T. T." 
 
 There was no doubt after this how the thing would go ; 
 the minister was no hard-hearted parent. How the " one 
 circumstance of diflSculty" — how the unlucky ^£^200 was 
 provided, does not appear ; but before the end of the year, 
 the young man was working in Edinburgh, preparatory to 
 becoming an advocate. He had read civil law under Millar 
 at Glasgow, for he passed his first or civil law trial on 
 23d November 1792 ; four of his examiners being Mr. 
 Robert Cullen, Mr. Wolfe Murray, Mr. Adam Gillies, and 
 Mr. Alexander Irving, all subsequently Judges. His 
 letters during this time describe him as living much in the 
 society of the family of New-Hailes. The " Lady Hailes " 
 was an old family friend, and the learned lawyer and his- 
 torian must have discovered in the son of the minister of 
 Dailly the qualities which were to elucidate the legal and 
 constitutional antiquities of Scotland. Thomson did not 
 long benefit by his counsels, but he always retained the 
 warm friendship of his family. 
 
 Thomson to his Father. 
 
 " Edinburgh, December 1792. 
 
 "You will with pleasure hear particularly from Sir Adam 
 of Lady Hailes' welfare. She has borne her loss with all 
 
16 MEMOIR OF 
 
 the fortitude and propriety which yonr high idea of her 
 character would lead you to expect. All the rest of the 
 family are well, — as well as can be looked for. I was 
 there yesterday with Mr. Fergusson. We went to church 
 to hear a funeral sermon on Lord Hailes, by Dr. Carlile. 
 At the conclusion of his sermon, he drew a neat and, in 
 some particulars, a striking picture of the character. It 
 bore I believe a strong but unexaggerated resemblance 
 to the original. At the end, he very happily connected 
 with his subject an address to his audience on the pre- 
 sent spirit of political discontent. I need give you no 
 particular account of it at present, as I understand it will 
 probably be published. I may then, perhaps, send you a 
 copy. 
 
 " My Scots law studies go on tolerably well. By this, I 
 allude only to my relish for, not my success in, the study ; 
 for in every branch of science, as well as this, which I have 
 ever made any attempts to acquire, I have always for a 
 considerable time at the beginning, found myself wander- 
 ing and groping in the dark, before I had learned the 
 extent and relative situation and importance of the number- 
 less objects in the landscape. In this, however^ as in many 
 other respects, I enjoy great advantages in Mr. Fergusson's* 
 company and conversation — though, indeed, I have not yet 
 acquired enough, completely to avail myself of the oppor- 
 tunity. I have also another great advantage in the coUec- 
 
 * George Fergusson, afterwards Lord Hermand, the brother of Sir 
 Adam of Kilkerran, and of "Ladj' Hailes." 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 17 
 
 tion of books on Scots law with which Mr. F. has so 
 generously presented me. As Mr. Creech had neglected 
 the commission Mr. F. had given him about them, he has 
 given me liberty to procure them for myself under his 
 inspection. I have already collected copies of most of the 
 Decisions, which are the most expensive part of a law 
 library ; and also a number of other law books most im- 
 mediately necessary. I have still funds for a considerable 
 addition to it. By the bye, Mr. F. told me he had received 
 a very kind letter from you some time ago. He begs his 
 compliments to you, and hopes his being so busy at present, 
 will excuse his not immediately answering it." 
 
 Of Thomson's early professional study, we can judge only 
 from the results. The Scotch student of that period still 
 laid his foundations deep in the noble study of the Eoman 
 law ; and perhaps the study of the common and customary 
 law was pui-sued as advantageously for the learner's mind, 
 while still guided by the system and principles of great insti- 
 tutional writers, founded on the well digested practice of 
 ages, as in these later days when each lawyer must elaborate 
 it for himself from a vast multitude of rashly published 
 decisions, which he has to reconcile to each other and to 
 principle. Thomson early addicted himself to a study to 
 which Lord Haiies or his memory must have introduced 
 him — the feudal law as evidenced by original records and 
 charters — a study then almost unknown among us, but to 
 which he was destined to give shape and character, and to 
 
 B 
 
18 MEMOIR OF 
 
 render it no longer pardonable for a Scotch lawyer to be 
 altogether ignorant of it. 
 
 Next winter, (1793-4,) the student of law was again in 
 Edinburgh, established with his brothers, Adam and John, 
 at "Mr. Shepherd's lodgings, Hamilton's Entry, Bristo 
 Street." 
 
 The minister had obtained a situation for Adam in Sir 
 Wilham Forbes's Bank, through the kind offices of Thomas 
 Kennedy of Dunure, a parishioner and fast friend of the 
 minister's family. John was now the son selected for the 
 church, and he was " entered " at college under Professors 
 Dalzel and Hill. On the 13th of November 1793, Thomas 
 writes to his father of his care for " the boys," and the 
 difficulty to force John to exert his own strength. He con- 
 tinues :— " My Scots law trials come on, on Friday se'n-night, 
 after which, (if I don't stick,) more than a fortnight must 
 elapse before the whole business is concluded. We all 
 walked out to New Hailes on Saturday last. Mr. Fergusson 
 arrived there on Sunday. I returned to town with him in 
 the evening ; the boys on Monday in Lady Hailes' coach. 
 We continue to like our lodgings very well. Shepherd is 
 a civil, handy fellow." 
 
 On the 23d, — " Yesterday, I went through my trials on 
 Scots law, and although everything of the kind must 
 always be somewhat alarming in prospect, yet, in reality, 
 it was as little so as could well be. I think the whole did 
 not last above five and twenty minutes. I am now busy 
 writing my thesis, which indeed I have too long neglected. 
 
THOMAS THOMSON, 19 
 
 It must be printed and distributed by this day se'n-night. 
 On the Saturday following, I have to defend it, in syllogistic 
 form, and on the Tuesday immediately succeeding, I make 
 my Latin harangue to the Lords, and put on my gown." 
 Even the excitement of this event did not prevent him from 
 noticing that " John's Latin lessons begin to be a good deal 
 easier than at first, and the whole now sits lighter on him. 
 I think he will in a short time acquire habits of close 
 application." 
 
 A letter from the minister, (25th November,) crossed 
 that communication. It is tripartite, and gives a scrap to 
 each son. To Thomas, he says he has no doubt his letter 
 is on the way informing of his success, and hopes that it 
 will be particular. To Adam, he enjoins the wearing of his 
 " big coat " in the evening, and not to sit with wet feet. To 
 John, his letter runs thus : — "My dear Jock, I have received 
 accounts of you, and I hope soon to hear from yourself. I 
 have not the smallest doubt that a continued application 
 will make every thing easy to you, and that your success 
 
 will increase your pleasure Your mother wiU 
 
 write you soon, and in the meantime, I send you an 
 extract from your mother's catechism. 1. How are you 
 provided for victuals ? 2. What do you get to your break- 
 fast ? — to your dinner ? Get you any tea in the after- 
 noon ? What do you get to supper ? How do you sleep ? 
 Who sleep together ? Have you clothes enow ? &c. &c. 
 What kirk do you go to ? Do you walk any ? Have you 
 good fire ? Do you take care to change your shoes when 
 
20 MEMOIR OF 
 
 they are wet ? and who helps you to comb your hair as 
 your mother did ? These questions concern you and your 
 brothers." 
 
 The next letter from Edinburgh announced the happy 
 conclusion of all the probationary labours — the supporting 
 of the thesis in the public examination, and the "lesson" 
 to the Lords and Faculty, which took place 7th December 
 1793. Copies of the thesis were of course sent ; the pre- 
 sentation copy, handsomely bound, for " Sir Adam" — " the 
 dedication, the shortest and simplest that was ever used ;" 
 one copy to " Mr. James Thomson, with my best respects," 
 and another " to my old schoolmaster, Mr. Welsh — he is 
 
 one of the few who will not despise the offering." 
 
 Economical reflections then intrude. " The printing of this 
 piece of trash cost me about £9, the other dues at passing 
 about £7 more ; and my gown will, I understand, cost me 
 near £6. When will all these outgoings be compensated ? " 
 
 The next letter, December 14, announced the first fee, — 
 "for which I am indebted to Mr. Crawford, a young 
 man from Ayr. All my business, however, was to utter 
 about half a dozen words at the Lord Ordinary's bar." 
 
 From ms Father, 
 
 " Dailly, 21st December 1793. 
 
 " My dear Son, — You will not doubt of the heartfelt 
 satisfaction of your father and mother and all your friends, 
 that your trial is finished, not only safely, but with ap- 
 probation. May God bless and prosper you, and enable 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 21 
 
 you to act a worthy and honourable part through life. 
 
 Your finances will, I think, from your account 
 
 of unavoidable expenses, need some supply ; acquaint me 
 freely, you know my willingness — my stock is not yet 
 exhausted Mr. Welsh begs respectful compli- 
 ments to you. He said he never was so proud of any 
 present he ever got, and desired Jeanie to put it in the 
 best part of his library." 
 
 From Sir Adam Fergusson. 
 
 '' Kilkerran, December 24, 1793. 
 
 "Dear Sir, — It was only yesterday that I had an 
 opportunity of receiving from your father the copy of your 
 thesis, with your letter which accompanied it. I feel my- 
 self much obliged to you for the honour you have done me 
 in prefixing my name to it. With regard to the work 
 itself, undoubtedly the subject could not have been more 
 unfavourable. At the same time, in that part of it which 
 alone, according to the usual form of that kind of composi- 
 tion, admits of anything like good writing, you have shewn 
 that if the Scottish mode of education does not materially 
 lead to the acquisition of an elegant Latin style, it is at 
 least by no means inconsistent with it. That your success 
 in your profession may answer the just expectation of your 
 friends, is the sincere wish of, dear Sir, your most faith- 
 ful and obedient servant, Ad. Fergusson." * 
 
 * His Thesis on the unlucky title " De re militari," really in irreproach- 
 able Latin, is inscribed — " Viro spectatissimo domino Adamo Fergusson de 
 
22 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Another subject of congratulation soon followed, in the 
 marriage of his kind friend, Mr. Fergusson of Hermand, to 
 Miss Macdowall. 
 
 Thomas Thomson to his Father. 
 
 "JSdinhurgh, December 27, 1793. 
 
 "I wonder how either of us could so long re- 
 frain from writing of Mr. Fergusson's marriage, — an 
 event which gives agreeable surprise to everybody, and 
 most sincere pleasure to all his friends. Nothing of the 
 kind has given me more. I believe he has lived one of the 
 happiest of bachelors ; I am persuaded he will live one of 
 the happiest of husbands. I hear he is to be at KilkeiTan 
 on Monday. I know^ you will not be the least alert in 
 
 paying your respects to the happy couple I 
 
 received a very polite and kind letter from Sir Adam to- 
 day. He insinuates a compliment to the Latinity of my 
 Thesis, which I am sure you must be sensible it little 
 deserves. You have said nothing of it, and I am very 
 glad of it, or rather tolerably indifferent ; for I am sm-e 
 you cannot with a good conscience say any good of it. 
 In truth, I believe, none but one's friends in the country 
 ever take the trouble of turning the first page. 
 
 " John and I have been holding our Christmas at New- 
 
 Kilkerran Equiti baronetto theses hasce juridicas d. d. d. Thomas Thom- 
 son," It is not to be found in the collections of the Advocates' Library, 
 but a copy has been preserved tv xnfi/ikieis by his old and much valued 
 friend. Principal Lee. 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 23 
 
 Hailes This I have already said is our vacation. 
 
 Everybody is employed in feasting and making merry. I 
 believe I shall be 'permitted to spend my holidays very 
 soberly. I am glad of it. I feel more and more every 
 day the necessity of applying hard to my law books." . . . 
 
 The first years of an advocate's life, however bright with 
 hope, are seldom eventful or lucrative. The young lawyer 
 bad already found among his fellow-students friends worthy 
 of him. Mr. Lockhart tells us " that the most intimate of 
 Walter Scott's daily associates from this time and during all 
 his subsequent attendance at the bar, were, the first legal 
 antiquary of our time in Scotland, Mr. Thomas Thomson, 
 and William Erskine, afterwards Lord Kineddar." They 
 read German together, and no doubt compared notes on 
 that discursive reading to which all three were addicted. 
 The little lodging in Bristo Street was not a mere cell 
 of study and penance. Scott found it an agreeable 
 retreat from the dull office in George Square, and liked 
 especially to steal away there to breakfast on Sunday 
 mornings. John Thomson used to speak with delight 
 half a century afterwards of the conversations of Scott and 
 his brother, at which he assisted as a listener, at these gay 
 Sunday breakfasts in Bristo Street. 
 
 Thomson's life passed in the pleasant alternation of 
 study among such associates in Edinburgh in the winter, 
 and the summer spent with the dear friends at the manse. 
 The letters of this period shew chiefly confessions of ex- 
 
24 MEMOIR OF 
 
 hausted exchequer, — vows of strictest economy — ^reluctant 
 demands for money — and scanty remittances made cheer- 
 fully and without grudging. 
 
 * 
 
 Mr. Thomson to his Father. 
 
 "Edinburgh, February 26, 1794. 
 
 " The statistical account of Dailly is just pub- 
 lished. I have glanced it very slightly, and think I 
 perceive a few alterations in the language, but not having 
 the MS. by me, there may be a good many others which 
 have escaped me. I was most surprised to observe that the 
 editor has omitted the tables of the annual births, deaths, 
 and marriages, and given only the short abstract which I 
 added to the end of them. This was the kind of thing I 
 had imagined Sir J. Sinclair was most desirous of having. 
 
 " This is the day of the general fast, and we are just 
 come from hearing Dr. Blair. French pohtics, as you 
 may believe, was his only theme. His discourse, though 
 respectable, fell considerably short of my expectations. 
 
 " Matters go on with us here as usual. We are all in 
 tolerable, I ought to say perfect health. The other day I 
 made a sort of first exhibition in the Inner House. It 
 was no great business — a cessto bonorurrij which I knew 
 nothing of till I went to the Parliament House. However, 
 though fluttered a good deal, which I am sensible no pre- 
 paration would have prevented, I got through it pretty 
 distinctly. This is the second guinea, no less, that I have 
 made by my profession ! I have to thank Mr. Fergusson for 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 25 
 
 it. And this leads me to talk of money matters, — a subject 
 to me of extreme vexation. I flatter myself better days 
 are coming, yet it cannot but be very distressing to think 
 of being felt by one's friends only as a burden. Such, 
 however, must be my situation for some time to come. 
 Whether we have embarked on an undertaking beyond 
 our strength, it is not now time to consider. Of this, how- 
 ever, you may be assured, that I shall feel it as a sacred 
 
 duty to manage as economically as possible." 
 
 His father replies:— (2d March 1794)— "I have sent 
 ten guineas. Though I have entire confidence in you, I 
 shall be glad to see a state of what you call the national 
 debt, chiefly that I may be able to conjecture what may 
 
 be necessary for the service of the year/' And 
 
 a month later, — " I can easily suppose that your money 
 afiairs make you uneasy, but I hope to reheve you from 
 all this distress, and I hope we shall all be so wise as 
 use every decent and prudent precaution of avoiding what 
 may be avoided." 
 
 There is little in this correspondence of public afiairs. 
 One letter alludes to the trial of Skirving, the " Secretary- 
 General for Scotland,'' of the friends of the people ; and 
 many speak of naval victories, expected invasions, and 
 volunteer corps. But evidently more interesting to the 
 three young men in Bristo Street, was the periodical de- 
 spatch of the box by M^Harg the Ayr Carrier, filled with 
 hams and cheeses, and the interstices stufied with shirts 
 
S6 MEMOIR OF 
 
 and stockings. Thomas announces an occasional fee, and 
 describes ingenuously his embarrassment in his first ap- 
 pearances in Court. 
 
 For some years he suffered all the irksomeness of draw- 
 ing his supplies from the slender resources of his father. 
 It seems that young Scotchmen had not yet learnt to eke 
 out the scanty family supply, and the professional earnings 
 indefinitely postponed, with the profits of literary labour. 
 Great sums had indeed been received by Scotch authors 
 for great works ; but it had not occurred to the young 
 barrister — and perhaps it was fortunate for his legal 
 studies — ^that he might turn to account otherwise the forced 
 leisure of the beginning of his professional career. 
 
 But though the delay and hope deferred were frequent 
 topics in the letters discussing ** the national debt," we 
 must not suppose that they threw much gloom over the life 
 lofthe young man, not unconscious of his own powers, and 
 secure in the esteem of good friends. And when he had 
 spent an unprofitable session in Edinburgh, and had even 
 to reproach himself, as who does not, with time and oppor- 
 tunities misapplied, he had the manse ever open, and the 
 kind parents willing to make larger allowance than he 
 could himself for his shortcomings. 
 
 At the end of the summer session 1795, he boasted that 
 his fees amounted to 40 guineas, four times as much as the 
 preceding year; and moreover, he was "retained in the 
 great Bargany cause." 
 
 In 1796 Thomson was threatened with an attack of illness 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 27 
 
 which alarmed his friends, but left no serious effects upon 
 his constitution. In a letter of June 13, he announces 
 that Adam was very busy with his optical operations, and 
 had succeeded astonishingly in polishing a small speculum 
 for a telescope ; and that he himself persevered in his regi- 
 men, drinking nothing but the pure element of water, and 
 was perfectly sensible of its good effects. In July, when 
 the summer vacation was approaching, he had his horse 
 sent up from the manse, and was laying out visits to New- 
 Hailes, to Hermand, and to the family of North Berwick, 
 and " might peradventure be induced to extend his ride a 
 little along the coast.'' '^ It will thus," he writes, " be to- 
 wards the end of July before I return to Dailly. I almost 
 grudge it ; but from that period I shall have at least three 
 months' complete retirement from the great world. I have 
 been inviting my friend Cranstoun to spend a week or two 
 during the vacation at Dailly, and pressing him very much 
 to go along with me. He has not absolutely consented, 
 but I hope he will. I have little skill if you won't be 
 pleased with liim. I am the more anxious to prevail, that 
 he confines himself too much for his health in town, and 
 has at present no very particular inducements to go to the 
 country elsewhere." 
 
 The answer from the manse may be anticipated — 
 "You may be sure that Mr. Cranstoun will always be 
 received in this house with real kindness." And the 
 friends spent a good part of the autumn together at 
 Dailly. The visit is alluded to in the conclusion of a gay 
 
28 MEMOIR OF 
 
 letter from Cranstoun's sister, afterwards the Countess 
 Purgstall. 
 
 From Miss Cranstoun. 
 
 " September 1796. 
 
 " Erskine is reading the Knights of the Swan ; my 
 dear Scott at Kelso, his Ballads in the press. I am just 
 going to F. Tytler's Farewell. Mi's. Thomson has spoilt 
 George sadly ; he cannot get a shirt washed so that he is 
 able to wear it, or anything done as it was at Dailly." 
 
 The rest of the letter is in Mr. Cranstoun's own hand. 
 
 " As it was your desire that my secretary, and not myself, 
 should announce my safe arrival, I have been urging her, 
 ever since my return, to execute this duty, but she is as 
 lazy as a hippopotamus. She has infected me too. The 
 devil an ode have I got since my return. Erskine promises 
 to write. No news. Give me a postscript, to teU me what 
 you have been doing to keep yourself out of languor since 
 my departure. I have been reading novels. God bless 
 you. Love to all nominatim." 
 
 When Thomson returned to Edinburgh, he was again 
 ill. " When I came first to town, I had got a pretty severe 
 cold, had been several times annoyed with asthma, and was 
 looking miserable. This last induced my friends, particu- 
 larly the Cranstouns and Mr. Stewart, to press me to con- 
 sult some more experienced sage in the profession than my 
 physician in ordinary; and Mr. Stewart had the goodness 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 29 
 
 to mention and recommend me to Dr. Black, who has little 
 practice to distract his attention, and has skill equal to any. 
 I have been with him twice. He considers my asthmatic 
 complaint as purely spasmodic — not at all inflammatory ; 
 and though he considers that and my stomach complaint 
 (which are intimately connected) as not likely to give way 
 to any medical applications, yet from great regularity in 
 diet, exercise, &c., he gives me hopes of gradually remov- 
 ing them ; and meanwhile, there is no cause of alarm or 
 symptom of danger. For some time, and particularly since 
 I consulted Black, I have been most methodical and punc- 
 tual in taking exercise ; wet and dry, hot and cold, don't 
 in the smallest interrupt my system ; and already I feel its 
 good effects. My cold is quite gone — no asthma, and not 
 much acidity in the stomach. So much for the bulletin of 
 health." 
 
 Next year the young advocate proposed to have a house 
 for himself and his brothers, instead of the Bristo Street 
 lodging. As before, the expense of furniture was a serious 
 consideration. 
 
 From the Minister. 
 
 " February 7, 1797. 
 
 " My dear Tom, — I wrote a hurried line by Mr. Muir, 
 from which you would see my wish to assist as far as my 
 power could go. I have had a conversation with Mr. 
 James, who desires me to acquaint you that he will contri- 
 bute cheerfully to make up the sum you mention. He is 
 
30 MEMOIR OF 
 
 altogether against your applying to strangers, as you know 
 I am. If you agTee for a house, there will be time to deli- 
 berate upon particulars. Your finding a proper servant 
 seems to be one of the most difficult things. I hope we 
 will see you before you need to buy any furniture. My 
 compliments affectionate to the Adelphi. I am sorry I 
 cannot speak to Jock upon a favourite subject, as I have 
 long wished to do ; causa paiet. 
 
 "In the box you will receive a dozen shirts, viz., six 
 ruffled for Thomas; six for Adam, viz., five plain and 
 one ruffled — all to be known by their names. Johnnie 
 will get some when he comes home. — ^Yours most afiec- 
 tionately, " Tho. Thomson." 
 
 Thomson to ms Father. 
 
 " Edinburgh, February 26, 1797. 
 
 . . . " We had good accounts of you by Sir Adam, 
 which made us all very happy. I have received the money, 
 but have not yet paid the Widows' Fund. It shaU be 
 done without delay. The remainder shaU be applied to 
 ^ the national debt.' John has, for the present, relinquished 
 his scheme of buying a fiddle, and has patriotically contri- 
 'buted the money to the exigencies of the state. This, I 
 hope, win save us from making farther demands upon you 
 at present — an object I have been labouring with all my 
 might. I am more and more pleased with the prospect of 
 taking up house. It must be inconceivably more comfort- 
 able as well as respectable One of my greatest 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 31 
 
 fears has been, that the money necessary for furnishing 
 you may find it inconvenient to advance. We are very 
 much obliged to Mr. James for his very kind offer of assist- 
 ance. I entertain no doubt that the sum I first mentioned 
 
 will be amply sufficient 
 
 " I am to be employed to write the appeal case for the 
 House of Lords in the Bargany Cause, and if it must be 
 done before leaving town, I cannot hope to get away sooner 
 than a fortnight after the session. By the bye, it is a great 
 thing for me to have this to do, and you may believe I am 
 anxious to do it all justice. Nothing else would have kept 
 me here, as I am anxious to have a month or two of unin- 
 terrupted labour upon Lord Hailes' Decisions, which have 
 lain so long by me neglected ; and I am hopeful, and in- 
 deed partly nearly resolved, to have a part of them ready 
 for publication next winter. It is a very serious undertak- 
 ing, but must prove of infinite advantage to me if tolerably 
 executed.'' 
 
 Thomson to his Father. 
 
 "JuneW, 1797. 
 
 " My dear Father, — We have got pretty fairly settled 
 in our new abode, and with everything very much to our 
 mind. I have now procured almost everything for which 
 we have any immediate occasion, and I flatter myself that 
 the expense of the whole will not exceed the sum I had 
 originally supposed. I promised my mother a particular 
 account of everything, but it will, I believe, be better re- 
 
n 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 served for our meeting, and brought out in the way of 
 question and answer. In general, everything is neat, and 
 though upon a small scale tolerably genteel. My female 
 friends have been of great assistance to me, and in that 
 number your own Miss Whiteford undoubtedly stands 
 foremost. She has taken a degree of trouble in our affairs, 
 and gone through it with a degree of kindness and assidu- 
 ity that cannot be described, and which I will not under- 
 take to praise. I am, however, almost sorry to say, that her 
 generosity has, I am afraid, cost her pretty dear. Besides 
 the very handsome present of linen, which you already 
 know of, she has, in the course of her purchases for us, 
 made a present of a great number of different articles, 
 which I am afraid must have occasioned a very consider- 
 able expense. But presents made as she makes them 
 cannot well be refused. In one of her notes, she is pleased 
 to say, that any kindness or attention she can shew to 
 any of your family is but an inadequate return for the 
 attention you shewed her at a time when she stood much 
 
 in need of it 
 
 " We are tolerably well pleased with our servant. She 
 seems not a bad sort of body, is tolerably oldish and 
 ugly, and of a sort of timid anxious disposition, but seem- 
 ingly good tempered, cleanly, and extremely attentive, and 
 desirous to please. I take for granted she is thoroughly 
 honest, which will be lucky, as I am always inclined to 
 trust people pretty implicitly. Upon the whole we have 
 made an incredible change in our situation to the better. 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 33 
 
 and I still persuade myself we shall be cheaper upon the 
 whole. I hope you will now come and see us. It will be 
 a pretty little jaunt for mamma and you. We can accom- 
 modate you royally.* 
 
 " It is thought that the Bargany case may come on in 
 July after the rising of our session. The Case is not yet 
 finished, but will be very soon. I have been very much 
 interrupted in it by other little things, not to mention 
 flitting. The fees come in very tolerably. I have a ' hear- 
 ing in presence' next week. I have not yet looked at the 
 papers in it." 
 
 The same to the same. 
 
 "/m72€26, 1797. 
 
 "I must begin by telling you of an event which 
 
 has surprised, pleased, horrified, and delighted me exces- 
 sively, I mean the marriage of my friend Count Purgstall 
 to my friend Miss Cranstoun. It surprised me, for though 
 it was much rumoured in Edinburgh last winter, and 
 though I knew their intimacy, yet I never believed it 
 probable, and his leaving Scotland, as I thought for ever, 
 
 * The first house which Thomson called his own was up a " common stair," 
 then numbered 19, in North Castle Street. In 1799 he had moved to what 
 was then 32, South Castle Street, and about 1804, to a house with a street 
 door, in his time numbered 12, now 61, North Castle Street, which was 
 many years subsequently occupied by his dear friend, Mrs. Malcolm Laing. 
 It is on the same side of the street with Walter Scott's, but a little lower 
 down. His mother, after John's marriage, took a house in South Castle 
 Street ; but afterwards lived with Thomas, and died in his house, 42, Char- 
 lotte Square, in 1822. 
 
34 MEMOIR OF 
 
 completely dispelled all idea of it. However, it had been 
 fixed upon four months ago, and he suddenly returned last 
 week to carry her off. The event horrified me excessively, 
 for she was the soul and delight of our little circle, and the 
 great solace of poor George's existence. It is to him a 
 cruel loss indeed, and absolutely irreparable. They went 
 away on Saturday, on the journey towards Germany, via 
 London and Paris. His estates are on the borders of 
 Stiria and Hungary — almost at the opposite corner of 
 Europe ; and of course the prospect of ever seeing her 
 again is at best remote and uncertain. At the same time, 
 though there is some disparity of age on the wrong side, 
 yet it is certainly a very splendid, and I am confident will 
 always remain a very happy match. He is, without ex- 
 ception, the most amiable and innocent creature I ever 
 knew ; and she has every quality of understanding and 
 heart that can contribute to their mutual comfort and 
 happiness. She has had a cruel parting with her friends, 
 who all doated on her. George's spirits are greatly affected, 
 and her loss he has not yet felt in all its severity. He is 
 
 now quite desolate and alone Love to mamma. 
 
 Bid her send us a new cheese. I long to eat some Dailly 
 curd. The hens, I fear, have given over laying." .... 
 
 The same to the same. 
 
 «/wZy 30, 1797. 
 
 "I believe I mentioned to you formerly that my 
 
 summer fees had considerably exceeded last year's. I think 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 35 
 
 they amounted to little short of £50, besides what I yet 
 expect for my appeal case, which may, perhaps, be £15 or 
 £20, but this inter nos. Things, I hope, will continue on 
 the mending hand. I believe I shall deny myself the 
 pleasure of seeing you at Dailly for a few weeks to come. 
 It is, I think, rather for my advantage to remain here. A 
 fee drops in now and then ; besides I have some papers oq 
 hand which will take up a little time. I don't mean, how- 
 ever, to be stationary altogether. I propose making my 
 visit to North Berwick next week. I have consented to 
 wait tiU then to go along with Sir J. Whiteford. 
 Cranstoun and I made a very pleasant excursion last week 
 into Koxburghshire. We went by Galashiels, a sweet 
 village, but did not stop. The plums not yet ripe. Could 
 hear nothing of that winsome man Mr. Hugh Craig. Much 
 delighted with Melrose, and observed all the beauties I had 
 heard you mention. It is indeed a precious remain of 
 Gothic architecture. Spent two nights at Dryburgh Abbey 
 with Lord Buchan, by much the most singular natural 
 curiosity we met with. Kelso and Jedburgh were the 
 limits of our tour. I was much delighted upon the 
 
 whole 
 
 " My kindest love to all at Dailly. I long to be with you. 
 If you knew and believed how much good a letter from 
 Dailly does my spirits, I rather imagine you would not 
 treat me so rarely with that indulgence." 
 
36 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Cranstoun to Thomson. 
 
 ** BaiUy, March 1798. 
 
 " My dear Cranstoun, — I arrived here a few days ago, 
 and found everybody in good Jieolth and spirits. Our 
 journey from Glasgow was remarkably pleasant. It was 
 a charming spring morning — cloudless shy — genial sun — 
 western breezes — the smiles of nature and of Miss Mac- 
 adam ! Good God ! what delightful subjects for description, 
 and yet have you, Thomas Thomson, remained nearly 
 three weeks in the country, and in contempt of good faith, 
 natural duty, and express stipulation, preserved a wicked 
 and obstinate silence. Would that the peine forte et dure 
 were still part of the law ! never did a criminal better deserve 
 to be pressed to a mummy. You have forced me to begin 
 the coiTespondence, and the devil a thing I have to tell 
 you but one. Nin. has got a son. I had a letter from the 
 Count two days ago in mad spirits. She was taken ill at 
 Kegensperg, but recovered and got safe to Vienna. Some 
 days afterwards, on the 19 th of February, a young gentle- 
 man made his appearance four weeks sooner than he should 
 have done, and therefore of very diminutive size, but stout 
 and well. Nin. was declared five days afterwards to be 
 perfectly recovered ; and since that she has herself written a 
 few lines to Henry. Lady Elizabeth Eden called the day she 
 was brought to bed, and attended her regularly since — a 
 fortunate circumstance, as it forms a sort of intimacy which 
 may be of use to her during her stay at Vienna. I intended 
 to have written this to you the day I got the Count's letter. 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 37 
 
 but my sister and Maia, and plays and balls, &c., have 
 kept me in a ferment till this moment, when the party 
 set out on their way to Lainshaw. I have seen scarcely 
 any of the mountaineers for this week past, but I mean to 
 volunteer a dinner with Erskine to-day. I shall leave this 
 open till my return, to tell you the news, if there be 
 any. 
 
 " Erskine is engaged, but I have seen him and Clerk, and 
 they send you their love. Mrs. May has hired a lass for 
 you — a decent, sober woman, and an excellent cook. She 
 was last with Mr. Cleghom the coachmaker, and had been 
 sixteen years in the family. Wages, £5 per annum, and 
 £1, 10s. for tea. She is veiy anxious that there should be 
 a girl in the house, not to assist her, for she thinks herself 
 up to all the work, but because it is dangerous to live in a 
 house alone with young men! Eight strikes. — Yours 
 for ever.— a C." 
 
 In the summer of 1798, the minister's health had failed. 
 In June he had been desirous of having a settlement pre- 
 pared. His son (7th June 1798) excuses his delay in exe- 
 cuting his father's orders — " but procrastination is, I am 
 afraid, one of my constitutional vices. I now, however, 
 enclose you such a one, which our friend Mr. George Fer- 
 gusson was so kind as to draw up and get copied on the 
 
 proper stamped paper by his own clerk." " Sir 
 
 Adam Fergusson, whom you may have occasion to see 
 about this time, will, I am sure, be so obliging as to 
 
38 MEMOIR OF 
 
 witness your subscription, and fill up the testing clause in 
 the proper form." 
 
 This is the last letter from Thomson to his father, and 
 there are no more letters from the manse preserved. The 
 old man died on the 19th February 1799. He had been 
 struck down by palsy some time before, and the last scene 
 of his life was a period of imbecility ; his parish duty 
 done by an assistant. " May the memory of his virtues 
 (writes Mr. James Thomson, communicating the event) 
 lead us to imitate his example, and then we shall share in 
 his happiness \" 
 
 His eldest son must have visited him in the autumn of 
 1798, and perhaps took the charge of arranging his papers. 
 The following memorandum in Thomson's hand accounts 
 for the preservation of many of the letters which have 
 been used in the previous part of this memoir : — " This 
 collection of my own letters to my father I brought fi'om 
 Dailly, November 1798, with the intention of glancing 
 over them, as containing a sort of diary of our own little 
 trivial occurrences.'' 
 
 The manse was not at once deserted by the family. The 
 minister's youngest son John succeeded him in the church 
 of Dailly, though barely of age to be eligible. He was 
 finally determined to make the church his profession, 
 chiefly through a strong desire to preserve that home for 
 his mother and sisters. The following letter, the first 
 leaf of which is torn off, is in Mr. Cranstoun's hand- writing, 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 39 
 
 and has the post-mark of " Stewarton." It is addressed 
 " Thomas Thomson, Esq., Dailly, Maybole :" — 
 
 " John's appearance pleases me mnch, but does not in the 
 least surprise me. His talents are more than equal to the 
 situation, though I believe scarcely any other young man at 
 his age, and with so little previous study, would have been 
 qualified for so serious a charge. He must preach next 
 Sunday from that text in Luke, — ' Let him that hath no 
 sin among you throw the first stone.' I saw Nelly and 
 Adam the night before I left Edinburgh, they complained 
 much of your silence, and were anxious to hear about 
 your health. With regard to the Greenock expedition, I 
 will give you satisfactory reasons at meeting why I can- 
 not at present undertake it, and convince you that it will 
 be better for us both to spend the time it would require at 
 Lainshaw together. — Yours for ever, Gr. C." 
 
 Thomson had been five years at the bar when his father 
 died. If he had not quite established himself in a practice 
 sufficient for his support, he had at least made a charac- 
 ter for abilities and learning, and secured the esteem 
 and afiection of some of the best men at the bar. Not 
 every age has produced at the Scotch bar such men as 
 were the contemporaries of Thomson. John Clerk had 
 passed eight years before him, Adam GiUies six, William 
 Erskine three, Walter Scott one, George Cranstoun passed 
 the same year with him, and Francis Jeffrey the year 
 
40 MEMOIR OF 
 
 following. All these men were already his associates and 
 fast friends, and continued so for life. In the struggle of 
 their common profession, he was acknowledged their equal ; 
 in some of the rarer departments of learning, he stood 
 above them all ; but in that generous profession, rivalry 
 never mars friendship. He had besides many personal 
 and family friends beyond the limits of his profession, and 
 friends once acquired by him were never lost. 
 
 Soon after the death of Lord Hailes, Thomson, at the 
 request of his widow and daughters, had undertaken to 
 publish a collected edition of his works, with a memoir of 
 his life, and selections from his correspondence. His collec- 
 tions were impeded on every hand. On the 23d of Decem- 
 ber 1802, Miss Christy Dairy mple writes that they had 
 applied to the Bishop of Worcester (Hurd) for any letters of 
 Lord Hailes, " but had not got much satisfaction.'' None 
 of his letters to Lord Orford were found. Dr. Carlile, then 
 a high authority, wrote to Miss Dalrymple — " Your father's 
 publications were very few of them to be called works ; 
 they were chiefly translations and collections, to which he 
 added notes. His Annals of Scotland may merit republi- 
 cation ; and a good edition may be a saleable book to repay 
 the expense ; but I very much question whether the repub- 
 lication of all his other publications would defray the ex- 
 pense.'' Sir Adam Fergusson saw " the diflSculty in Writing 
 his life, namely, a lack of materials." " His conduct as a 
 judge," wrote Sir Adam, " however respectable and respected, 
 does not afford materials for biography, and there are but 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 41 
 
 few circumstances of his life, exclusive of his labours as an 
 author, that are striking. No man was a better correspon- 
 dent than he was, nor was there any one who had more 
 pleasing anecdotes and remarks to enliven conversation ; 
 but these are all gone." Lord Haddington made the same 
 objections, and added a curious story of Lord Hailes having 
 changed his opinion upon the subject of the feudal tenures 
 and the law of succession, upon which he had founded his 
 great pleading in the Sutherland Peerage case ; but Miss 
 Dalrymple adds — " However, I am only a little shaken, but 
 not convinced, since Lord Haddington did not hear it from 
 my father himself ; for I know Lord Haddington is rather 
 against female peerages, and he may have talked with 
 people of his own way of thinking." Bishop Percy wrote 
 to Sir Adam Fergusson — " I had a great regard for my 
 late worthy friend. Lord Hailes, but have not preserved any 
 of the letters he occasionally favoured me with, being only 
 letters of civility and private friendship ;" — and desired to 
 have his own letters to Lord Hailes returned to him. This 
 was sufficiently discouraging, and although Mr. Heber 
 undertook to use all diligence amongst his literary friends 
 in London and Oxford, with many of whom Hailes had 
 corresponded, nothing seems to have come of it. Very 
 little correspondence, if any, was recovered, and Thom- 
 son does not appear to have ever commenced the memoir. 
 One sentence of a letter of Mr. Heber's, written from Hod- 
 net, 1st November 1803, serves to shew in some degree the 
 estimation in which Thomson was held in the society in 
 
42 MEMOIR OF 
 
 which Mr. Heher had lived in Edinburgh — "Permit me 
 to congratulate myself and the public on the prospect of 
 your editing the works and writing the life of your justly 
 celebrated and respected Scottish historian and antiquary — 
 an undertaking which has been for some time a desideratum 
 in British literature, and which no one is so well qualified 
 to supply as yourself. . . . Pray, commend me to 
 Scott, Erskine, and Cranstoun, and believe me, dear Thom- 
 son, very faithfully yours, K. Heber." 
 
 Lord Buchan proposed that Mr. Thomson, instead of 
 writing Memoirs of Hailes, should throw his " Ccmmiercium 
 Epistolicum" into the materials which his Lordship was 
 collecting for a history of the literature of his own age. 
 His letter is dated March 14, 1804, which marks the time 
 of the following undated draft : — 
 
 To THE Earl of Buchan. 
 
 " My Lord, — The plan which your lordship appears to 
 have formed, of a literary history of the age in which you 
 have lived, is one which cannot fail to be highly interesting 
 to men of letters, and I should think myself fortunate in 
 being able in any degree to promote the successful execu- 
 tion of it. At the same time, I am sorry to say that in 
 this view very little indeed can be promised from the 
 quarter to which your lordship alludes in your letter of 
 this morning. The whole of Lord Hailes's correspondence 
 has not been preserved by his family ; and the remains of 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 43* 
 
 it which have been put into my hands relate exclusively to 
 the different literary works in which he was himself from 
 time to time employed. They consist either of sugges- 
 tions and advices relative to the minute parts of the 
 execution of these works, or of mere addresses of compli- 
 ment on their publication. They would serve very little 
 indeed to illustrate the general history of literature during 
 the age in which he flourished, and can be of use cfnly 
 to mark the progress of his own literary pursuits. Even 
 in this view the hghts they afford will, I fear, be very 
 scanty ; and hitherto I have succeeded so very badly in 
 recovering the counterparts of the correspondence, that 
 I have ceased to be very sanguine in my hopes on that 
 subject." 
 
 The only result of Mr. Thomson's projected collection 
 •was an edition by Constable, some years subsequently, of 
 Lord Hailes's Annals and Historical Tracts, in which the 
 publisher was guided by Mr. Thomson's advice.* 
 
 When the Edinburgh Keview came forth to startle the 
 world, Thomson was living in the very heart of the 
 society that gave it birth, and his judgment and taste were 
 much relied on. In that reliance his friends were not dis- 
 appointed ; but for active co-operation in the periodical 
 labour of the Keview, they should have known, and they 
 soon came to know, that he would not be serviceable. He 
 was ever careless of money to a fault, and the pressure of 
 
 * Edinburgh: Constable, 1819. 3 vols. 8vo. 
 
44 MEMOIR OF 
 
 immediate necessity was now over with him, even if the 
 Review had been looked to as a source of emolument more 
 than it was by its first contributors. There were other 
 reasons, in his studies, and in his habits. He had raised 
 for himself a standard of excellence in literary work which 
 it was difl&cult to reach, and which was not always worth 
 the labour. He had cultivated a style, too, somewhat too 
 polished and stately for rough work and every-day use. 
 These were not quahfications for a Reviewer ; but above 
 all, the indolence with which he reproached himself in 
 early life had grown upon him. To pour out his thoughts 
 freely and carelessly upon paper was not very natural to 
 him in any circumstances, but to do work for a task- 
 master, to study the publishing day, to keep the printer 
 regularly in " copy," was to him intolerable. 
 
 His correspondence informs us of two papers only, con- 
 tributed by him to the Review — a critique on Darwin's 
 " Temple of Nature " in the number for July 1803, and 
 on Miss Seward's " Memoirs of the Past," which appeared 
 in April 1804. Lord Cockbum believed that he was also 
 the author of an article on " Grood's Life of Dr. Greddes," 
 published in the number for January 1804; but if so, 
 these were all his actual contributions to a work which in 
 the hands of his friends did so much for literature and 
 freedom. On two different occasions he took charge of 
 editing a number in Jeffrey's absence ; but of the 
 letters preserved by him in connexion with the Review, 
 far the greater number consist of editorial entreaties for 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 45 
 
 help, which was never given, and reproaches, alas ! for not 
 performing what he had undertaken. 
 
 Horner wrote a note to Thomson on the eve of his de- 
 parture for London, 
 
 Horner to Thomson. 
 
 "March 13, 1803. 
 
 " Dear Thomson, — I return you Garnier's little work, 
 and send you at the same time the loose sheets which I 
 formerly got from Bell, of Keid's Life; also Dumont, 3 
 vols., which I expect you above all things to review for 
 the fourth number. 
 
 " I am sure you are a man over whom all pious and 
 benevolent superstitions have a powerful influence ; now 
 I beseech you to obey this as my parting injunction. — I 
 am ever, my dear Thomson, yours most sincerely, 
 
 " Fra^- Horner." 
 
 Thomson to Horner. 
 
 ''Edinburgh, June 16, 1803. 
 
 " My dear Horner, — You would do me a gross injustice 
 if you did not suppose that I had begun to be somewhat 
 disappointed by your long silence ; and I flatter myself I 
 should be guilty of a similar injustice towards you if I 
 were to think that I had altogether escaped your silent 
 reproaches for neglecting so long to thank you for your 
 letter. I cannot, however, dissemble that it tended to 
 remind me somewhat painfully of how much I had lost by 
 
46 MEMOIR OF 
 
 this cruel desertion of yours. Indeed, indeed I have sad 
 missing of you. Though our acquaintance had not been 
 of very long standing, I trust we had not altogether ne- 
 glected the improvement of our time, and there was, I 
 think, between us a certain community of pursuits which 
 I am afraid I shall in vain look for again in another. 
 However, I hope you will continue to do all that you 
 now can for me, and indulge me with hearing from 
 you as often as your more important avocations will per- 
 mit. Some of your correspondents may probably have in- 
 formed you of an association, yet only in its infancy, which 
 has led aU in common to feel and regret your absence. It 
 is a sort of literary club which was projected among some 
 of my oldest friends here, and which is intended to embrace 
 a selection of the best people of that general description 
 whom we can collect together. The plan has been very 
 zealously gone into by a considerable number of your par- 
 ticular friends, by all, indeed, to whom it has been pro- 
 posed, and we flatter ourselves that we are already in 
 respectable force. 
 
 " This is very disgraceful, I must own. In prudence I 
 ought perhaps to have suppressed this sad piece of real 
 evidence against myself, but I leave it to your merciful 
 construction, without further comment. Here I am in 
 town, with three of my acquaintances remaining to 
 
 keep me in countenance. I often think of our intended 
 perambulation of Kent ; I hope it is not destined to be an 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 47 
 
 empty vision. The Stewarts set out next week for the 
 south. You may probably see them in London. I am 
 much pleased with your ' Lord King/ though a little sur- 
 prised at the confidence with which you adopt his leading 
 conclusion. I confess I don't feel the ground under me. 
 This last number of the Keview seems very popular. I 
 have given to it a humbug criticism on Darwin. In the 
 view of trying Dumont, I wish much of your aid. Tell me 
 all about Bentham and his Eedacteur^ that may be useful or 
 curious, and tell me soon. What are you a-doing besides 
 being idle ? I have some curiosity to know how you relish 
 the society of London, — I hope not so well as to forget 
 entirely what you have left behind you. You are very un- 
 grateful if you do. Not a word of Allen for months. His 
 last letters were written before the war broke out. I un- 
 derstand you have heard of our cluh from your other 
 correspondents, so I need not resume my account of it. I 
 shall remain almost constantly here during the vacation, 
 and to hear from you would be a very great, though un- 
 deserved alleviation of my solitude. Have you procured 
 any more of Bentham's Tracts for me, or anything else in 
 my way. Here I can promise no return in kind. I have 
 duplicates of Forbonnais " Kecherches sur les Finances," 
 and Vaughan on Coinage — both at your service. Cran- 
 stoun is gone to the country, but desired me to offer you 
 his best respects. He and my friend Erskine are your 
 warm well-wishers. — Yours faithfully, 
 
 " Tho. Thomson." 
 
48 MEMOIR OF 
 
 On the 2d September, Jeffrey writes, — " Thomson has- 
 done nothing yet to Dumont." 
 
 Mr. Thomson to Mr. Horner. 
 
 ^^ Edinburgh, November 17, 1803. 
 
 " My DEAR Horner, — The long and dreary intervals of 
 our correspondence have given me a more magnificent idea 
 of my own laziness than I ever entertained before. Cer- 
 tainly in neglecting to entitle myself to the pleasure of 
 hearing from you, I forfeit more than I can venture to 
 express, and act in opposition to one of the strongest 
 motives. For this pitiful inconsistency, I have no apology 
 to offer. It may serve to shew how far we are apt to fall 
 short of a rational and genuine epicurism. 
 
 " After making some progress in the study of Dumont, 
 for the purpose of reviewing him in the last number, I was 
 compelled to desist in absolute despair. It is by far the 
 most dismal undertaking I ever set about. I am still urged 
 to renew the attempt, and God grant a speedy deliverance. 
 In the name of pity give me all the aid you can. I should 
 like to say something about Bentham, and the character 
 of his writings. Favour me with some of your ideas, and 
 with any information you may have picked up, of which I 
 can possibly make any use. 
 
 "We are much pleased with the whipping you have so 
 lustily bestowed on Miss Williams. I hear the emigrants 
 in this place consider the letters as not genuine, judging I 
 suppose on the external evidence of the case. Monsieur 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 49 
 
 must be able to say sometliing as to that part of the corre- 
 spondence in which he is directly concerned. Have you 
 heard anything from that quarter ? 
 
 " Have you heard of Lord Lauderdale's intended pubK- 
 cation ? He promises it in the course of two months. I 
 had no opportunity lately of seeing him, and have never 
 learned precisely what it is to embrace ; but I take for 
 granted it will give us all his own leading notions in so far 
 as they differ from Smith. It will fall on you to review 
 him, and the sooner after the publication the better. At 
 second hand I have heard some of his notions about the 
 effects of the sinking fund in annihilating that vast recep- 
 tacle for capital, the stocks ; but I have not been much 
 impressed with any opinion of their sagacity. 
 
 " The Curators of the Advocates' Library are about to 
 complete as far as possible, or as is the least desirable, the 
 collection of books on English law, and in that view I have 
 to request your assistance. I have got Manners to go 
 through WorraFs Catalogue, and mark on the margins all 
 the books which we have not got ; and I propose to send 
 this copy to you for the purpose of pointing out everything 
 which is, in the very least, worth getting, and of giving 
 your advice how to set about the purchase. I should wish 
 to be able to say at an early meeting of the Curators, whether 
 or not you be willing to undertake all this trouble. I have 
 been too long of sending you Forhonnais and R. Vaughan, 
 but will by the first opportunity. Have you picked up 
 anything for^e in the coiu-se of your rambles among the 
 
 r D 
 
50 MEMOIR OF 
 
 book shops ? Any of Bentham's or Turgors pieces ; and if 
 you stumble on Hobbes' * Tripos/ or the pieces of which it 
 is composed, I beg you will secure them. I am endeavour- 
 ing to collect all his works, and have already got a good 
 many of them. I have not seen Stewart since his return 
 from London ; but I hear he spent his time very pleasantly 
 among you. How does he take among the London philo- 
 sophers ? 
 
 " My dear Homer, I have written a very stupid letter ; 
 but accept the will for the deed of something better ; and 
 beheve me, with sincere regard, yours affectionately, 
 
 " Tho. Thomson." 
 
 Horner to Thomson. 
 
 " 23£Z Novemler 1803. 
 
 "My dear Thomson, — As you wish something to be 
 done without delay about the English law books for the 
 Advocates' Library, I can afford you a letter just to say, — 
 that I will give you all the assistance in my power, with 
 the greatest pleasure. As yet, I know nothing myself of 
 that department of Bibliography ; but I have access to 
 some lawyers of good sense as well as learning, from whom 
 I can obtain every information you can require. 
 
 " I have now got a copy of Forbonnais, but not of Rice 
 Vaughan ; the latter I should like to have. It is very 
 difficult to pick up Bentham's Tracts, and altogether im- 
 possible to get those of Turgot which you and I want. I 
 will think of Hobbes for vou. 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 5 1 
 
 " I must give you another letter soon, though you have 
 been so very naughty. Dumont has lately returned from 
 Petersburg : I have not met with him yet ; but our ' king 
 of clubs/ of which he is a member, meets next Saturday, 
 and I expect to hear all his news. You Avill think it 
 almost incredible that 300 copies of his book have been 
 sold in that metropoHs of barbarism ; but there is a rage, I 
 beheve, in that court for schemes of legislation, like the 
 passion among our gentry (a more beneficial one) for 
 cottages and agriculture. The Emperor Alexander has 
 spread invitations all over Europe, some of them (I know) 
 have come to London, for plans of a civil code, &c. What 
 do you think of a chair for lectures on political economy at 
 Vilna in Lithuania ? Such a professor is wanted, and lias 
 been applied for. The person in London, to whom the am- 
 bassador was directed to apply for advice, was requested 
 to have his eyes on Glasgow, and ' surtout sur Edinbourg.' 
 
 " I meant to give you a page, and have almost gossiped 
 out the sheet. But I found your letter when I returned 
 from the House of Commons, where I had the pleasure of 
 beholding Fox's fat figure and honest face, but the disap- 
 pointment of having no debate. Kem ember me to my 
 friends, particularly Cranstoun, whom I just saw enough of 
 before I left you, to make me regret that I did not see 
 more. Farewell, my dear Thomson ; I have not enjoyed 
 society in London so much to my mind as when I was with 
 you, ' et le pretre Schmidt, et le bon Allen.' — Ever yours, 
 
 " Fra. Horner." 
 
52 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Thomson to Horner. 
 
 "Edinburgh, December 24, 1803. 
 
 " My dear Horner, — I have been living in the hope 
 of a letter from you, which I think you fully promised me 
 in your last. I intend to devote these Christmas hoUdays 
 to this cursed review of Bentham, — the most ungrateful 
 task I ever engaged in. I clearly foresee that it will turn 
 out to be a most contemptible article ; but Jeffrey is inex- 
 orable to my prayers and tears, and of a truth hath no 
 bowels of compassion within him. He certainly dashes 
 away himself with marvellous rapidity, though I think, 
 that like the light-footed Camilla, he does not always touch 
 the ground. Pray write me a long letter about Dumont, 
 and Bentham, and all that you can muster for my relief. 
 I am very sorry to find that we are to lose Brougham. It 
 is very wicked of you both. Since you left us, B. has been 
 a most rational being, and in every respect a most agree- 
 able companion, — in every respect better than I ever be- 
 fore knew him — I pray God you may keep him so. I 
 presume your other correspondents have told you of the 
 hostihties meditated by the redoubted Mr. John Thelwall, 
 against Jeffrey and his conclave of literary assassins. 
 Telum imhelle sine tctUj it will be ; but I believe it is yet 
 uncertain if any printer will be mad enough to assist him 
 in making this ejaculation. I hope you are to give us 
 Malthus for next number, or what else. Lord Lauderdale 
 is going rapidly through the press,^a thumping octavo. 
 Stewart says it is better written than any of his former 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 53 
 
 publications, and contains some good ideas, blended with 
 a good many erroneous ones, — it is rich in valuable quota- 
 tions. What a honne bouche for your politico-economical 
 maw. I long to see you munch it^ I suspect you are 
 busy with Appeals ; at least our friend G. Kussell ap- 
 plied to me t'other day for your address, in that view. — 
 Ever yours faithfully, T. Thomson." 
 
 In 1804 Thomson had taken charge of editing the 
 spring number of the Review, and himself contributed an 
 excellent paper on the writings of Dr. Darwin and Miss 
 Seward's memoirs of him ; tracing the peculiar style and 
 even the language of the then popular Darwinian School 
 to an obscure prototype in a poem published anonymously 
 in 1735, entitled " Universal Beauty." 
 
 Jeffrey to Thomson. 
 
 " London, 26th April 1804. 
 
 " Dear Thomson, — I have a thousand apologies to make 
 to you both in my own name and that of my associate ; 
 but I choose rather to begin with offering you my thanks 
 for the eminent and laborious services you have done 
 us 
 
 " Miss Seward is delightful. The revival of ' Universal 
 Beauty ' will fill the Magazines with our name. I shall 
 leave this place early in next week, and be in Edinbiu-gh 
 I think before the 6th. In the meantime, I really have 
 not time to sleep or wash myself, and keep the postman 
 
54 MEMOIR OF 
 
 waiting till I close this. — Believe me always, dear Thomson, 
 very gratefully and sincerely, F. Jeffrey." 
 
 Almost simultaneously with the Review, another work 
 was in progress more suited to Thomson's studies, and 
 which was to be the chief object of his labours for the subse- 
 quent part of his life. 
 
 In 1800, the select Committee of the House of Commons 
 appointed to inquire into the state of the public records 
 of the kingdom, made many important suggestions for the 
 better preserving and publication of records, founded on 
 " the acknowledgment of all times that our general his- 
 tories shew abundant marks of ignorance and incorrectness 
 with regard to the existence and contents of our public 
 records ;" and the " manifest importance of our having the 
 most ready knowledge of the records of the country in the 
 daily concerns of Government, legislation, and jurispru- 
 dence." The Committee further called the attention of the 
 House to the policy of establishing a system of general 
 registration for all records and instruments whatever, or 
 at least for such as affect landed property, similar to what 
 had been tried in some districts of England, throughout 
 Ireland, " and tried for ages upon a still more perfect and 
 extensive plan throughout Scotland, with the most com- 
 plete success and the most salutary consequences." 
 
 The House of Commons passed unnoticed the last sug- 
 gestion, but recommended to the Crown to give directions 
 " for the better preservation, arrangement, and more con- 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 55 
 
 venient use of the public records of this kingdom," and 
 the Koyal Commission was issued accordingly, 19th July 
 1800. It authorized the Commissioners to name a Secre- 
 tary, and appoint paid sub-commissioners to make diligent 
 inquiry, and " to cause such matters to be duly and speedily 
 executed as they should judge fitting and proper to be 
 done." 
 
 The names on that commission were high and noble. 
 It embraced the heads of the Government, the Duke of 
 Portland, Lord Grenville, Mr. Pitt, Henry Dundas ; but 
 not one man who was the least conversant in records, or 
 had hitherto turned his attention to their nature and use. 
 Indeed that kind of learning, and the taste for it, were 
 then almost extinct in England. There were no repre- 
 sentatives of the industry of Prynne and Dugdale or the 
 learning of Selden, nor, till the Kecord Commission had 
 been for some time at work, were the common qualifications 
 which every pupil of the 4cole des chartes possesses, to be 
 met with among our lawyers or record officers. Of the 
 lamentable results of that ignorance it is not here neces- 
 sary to speak, except in so far as it affected the manage- 
 ment and publication of the Kecords of Scotland ; but it 
 may be noticed, that the general mistake was an over 
 eagerness to print and publish. Kather than appear to 
 do nothing — rather than bestow some time in preparing 
 works useful and well considered, the Commission hurried 
 to press any office calendar or index of records, without 
 even taking the trouble to compare it with the original 
 
5G MEMOIR OF 
 
 records, though extant * Fortunately there was but one 
 step of this hasty career taken in Scotland. In answer to 
 the questions of the Committee of the House of Commons, 
 the keepers of the Kecords of Scotland had rashly stated 
 that they had in their custody, among other national 
 records, " the Records of Parliament from the year 1210, 
 to the year 1707." This astounding announcement seems 
 to have produced no wonder nor doubt in the English 
 officials, and on the 19th of December 1800, at a board 
 of the Eoyal Record Commissioners,^ — " it was ordered 
 that his Majesty's printer for Scotland do forthwith print 
 the Parliamentary Records of Scotland ;" and in 1804 a 
 large volume of these " Paiiiamentary Records, from the 
 year 1210," was actually printed at Edinburgh ; with no 
 better authority for the title which it bore, than the 
 lettering which the indiscretion of the bookbinder had 
 
 * The first of these publications that comes to hand happens to be 
 the " Calendar of Patent Rolls." The Rolls themselves are some of the 
 most important records in the kingdom, and are for the most part in good 
 preservation. On the 22d July, three days after the sealing of the Record 
 Commission, the Commissioners ordered " that the Secretary do write to 
 Thomas Astle, Esquire, Keeper of the Records in the Tower of London, to 
 request him to cause the oflSce Calendars and Indexes to the Patent Rolls 
 to be printed." These imperfect and inaccurate calendars were printed 
 accordingly, and published in 1802, and we are not surprised that the 
 editor thought it necessary to prefix the following caution : — " It may be 
 proper to observe, that as this Calendar, though entitled to great merit, 
 is only a selection ; various entries appear in the Patent Rolls which arc 
 not here described ; and therefore, though this work will be found to yield 
 abundant information, no one is to be deterred from an examination of 
 any record, referred to elsewhere as being on the Patent Roll, because it is 
 not discovered here.'" 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 57 
 
 marked on the backs of certain books in the Kegister 
 House. On 7th March 1804, Chief Baron Dundas, one of 
 the Commissioners, called the attention of Lord Frederick 
 Campbell, Lord Register, to this strange volume which 
 was then about to be issued, and suggested that by correc- 
 tion and excision, it might be made somew^hat less objec- 
 tionable. 
 
 On the 20th March 1804, Mr. James Ferrier, himself 
 one of the sub-commissioners, writes to Lord Frederick 
 Campbell, — " I have had several long consultations with 
 the President and Advocate, who both see very clearly 
 the defects and imperfections in the work as it stands, and 
 the necessity of employing a qualified person to correct as 
 far as possible the errors which have been committed, and 
 to superintend the business in its further progress. They 
 join in recommending a barrister of ten years' standing, 
 named Thomas Thomson, who was present yesterday at our 
 last consultation, and is to look a little into the business, 
 and then to say whether he will undertake it. They know 
 him to be a man of ability and industry, and one who has 
 been giving his mind to such things. He began under Lord 
 Hailes, and is possessed of all his papers. I have explained 
 to the Robertsons the necessity there is for the change, and 
 they will be ready to join me in giving up the charge 
 as soon as Mr. Thomson, or some other person, shall be 
 ready to take it up." 
 
58 MEMOIR OP^ 
 
 Mr. Ferrier to Mr. Thomson. 
 
 "London, April 18, 1804. 
 
 " Dear Sir, — I have communicated your favour of the 
 11th to Lord Frederick Campbell, who is much pleased 
 with your agreeing to undertake the office of sub-commis- 
 sioner, and bids me assure you of every encouragement 
 and support from himself and the other Commissioners. 
 Lord Chief Baron Dundas is expected here this day, and it 
 is probable that a meeting of Commissioners will be held 
 before I leave London, which will not be for a week, and I 
 shall soon after, I hope, have an opportunity of speaking 
 to you in person on the subject. — I am, in the meantime, 
 dear Sir, your faithful humble servant, 
 
 " Jas. Ferrier.'* 
 
 Then followed the pressure to print and publish. Lord 
 Frederick writes on May 31, — " I am pressed hard to 
 know what is doing by Mr. Thomson towards making 
 the first volume of Eecords ready for publication. The 
 speaker will allow me no peace till I can give him some 
 satisfaction on this point." But Mr. Thomson was not to be 
 goaded forward blindfold. His very faults here came to his 
 rescue. He explained gently, and at length got the Com- 
 missioners to understand, that the Parliamentary Eecords 
 of an ancient kingdom cannot be found stitched up in any 
 one cover, or even standing on any one shelf, and that it 
 will not do to order the King's printer to print " the Par- 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 59 
 
 liamentary Kecords," as the King's tailor is ordered to make 
 coats and trousers for the army and navy. 
 
 It turned out that the volume in the Kegister House, 
 " marked on the back" with the imposing date of " 1210," 
 and from which had been printed all the earlier part of 
 what was boldly titled " Parliamentary Kecords of Scot- 
 land," had no pretension to be a book of Eecord at all, 
 but was a sort of scrap-book or collection of legal memo- 
 randa of some nameless lawyer. 
 
 Mr. Ferrier to the Lord Clerk Kegister. 
 
 "August 14, 1804. 
 
 " My Lord, — Soon after the rising of last session, I had 
 a meeting with the President, Mr. Thomson, and Mr. 
 Alexander Kobertson, when it was resolved to suppress 
 about 100 pages of the first volume of the Kecords, and 
 that Mr. Thomson should select something more correct." 
 
 This was the first step ; but a full and minute exa- 
 mination of the hastily printed volume, while it proved 
 the perfect honesty and fidelity of the editor, shewed that 
 the sources of parliamentary learning had been mistaken. 
 Parliaments had been misplaced ; dates assumed without 
 testing ; old authorized editions of statutes, the record of 
 which is now lost, had been overlooked ; better manuscripts 
 than those used had been ignored ; nay, in numerous in- 
 stances the original instruments which constituted the 
 Records of Parliament were found to be extant, while 
 
60 MEMOIR OF 
 
 this book was printed from garbled and mistranslated 
 copies. It became at length evident that the whole 
 volume must be suppressed. 
 
 Mr. Thomson's correspondence on this subject, and still 
 more, his personal communications, made a great impression 
 upon the Kecord Commissioners. Lord Glenbervie, during 
 a residence of some months in Edinburgh, became inti- 
 mately acquainted with him, and continued for life an 
 admiring and attached friend. Through his interven- 
 tion, in part, Lord Frederick Campbell, who had been at 
 first startled with Mr. Thomson's new and revolutionary 
 plans of publication, came to place great confidence in 
 him. 
 
 The Lord President to Mr. Thomson. 
 
 " Garseitbe, September 29, 1805. 
 
 " Dear Sir, — I have a letter from Lord Frederick 
 Campbell, requesting, in the Speaker's name and his own, 
 that you should favour them with a meeting in London, 
 as soon as convenient for you, upon the business of the 
 Kegisters. The letter reached me two days ago, but 
 being uncertain how to address for you, and, indeed, 
 expecting every day to see you here, I delayed writing till 
 now, that I take the chance of finding you still at 
 Kilkerran. I am, &c., 
 
 " Ilay Campbell." 
 
 A little scrap of journal memorandum shews us that 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 61 
 
 Mr. Thomson went to London next month, and how he 
 passed his time there. His mornings were filled with 
 meetings with Lord Frederick, "the Speaker," and Mr. 
 Caley, the secretary to the Commission ; in hunting after 
 Scotch parliamentary matter in the London record offices, 
 in examining MSS. in the British Museum. He consulted 
 with George Chalmers, then the only man engaged in pur- 
 suits similar to his own, and took the opinion of Mr. 
 Lemon and Mr. Douce about the age and writing of some 
 of his materials. For his evenings, when allowed to spend 
 them as he would, he had his old friends, Horner and 
 Sidney Smith, and their friends, for the friends of each 
 soon became common property ; and this first introduction 
 to London society, when his mind was full of an engrossing 
 object, and when he was surrounded by friends who valued 
 him, and could sympathize with his pursuits, was long 
 after described by Mr. Thomson as some of the happiest 
 days of his life. 
 
 He was called home by the commencement of the 
 Winter Session, when Horner thus notices his departure :* 
 " I intended to have sent you a letter by Thomson, who 
 left me on Friday evening ; but I found myself disposed, 
 when it came to the last, to lounge away as much of my 
 time as I could with him. There are very few of our 
 friends more to my taste than he ; and as we had become 
 thoroughly accustomed to each other before I left Edin- 
 
 * Letter to J. A. Murray, Esq., 13th November 1804, printed in 
 " Memoirs and Correspondence of Francis Horner," vol. i. p. 268. 
 
62 MEMOIR OF 
 
 burgh, this revival of our intimacy seems to have ' breathed 
 a second spring' upon me. His information is very much 
 diversified, and, just like his library, brought together in a 
 desultory way, to be sure, but with excellent judgment, in 
 the selection of the best sorts. Then his temper is so 
 manly and cheerful, and with all his seeming calmness 
 and suspense, has a sufficient portion of that vice of 
 admiration which it is the fashion to quiz, but which I 
 am old-fashioned enough to be very willing to dispense 
 with." 
 
 Thomson to Hoener. 
 
 " Edinburgh, November 14, 1804. 
 
 " My dear Horner, — I need hardly inform you that 
 my journey to Edinburgh was dull in the extreme — as 
 dull as an uninteresting line of road, stupid companions, 
 bad weather, and the jolting of a mail-coach could possibly 
 make it. On arriving at York I determined to bring the 
 business to as speedy a conclusion as possible, and set for- 
 ward accordingly without stopping. Of course I arrived 
 here on Monday morning, and have suffered nothing from 
 the rashness of my proceeding. Yesterday I had the plea- 
 sure of again meeting our common friends at the com- 
 mencement of the Session — all well, and all very dutiful 
 in their inquiries for you. Jeffrey is busy preparing for 
 the discussion in the Justiciary Court about which he wrote 
 you. This is one of his apologies for not having written 
 to you. The frank which incloses this I got from Murray, 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 63 
 
 who meant to have used it himself, but finds himself so 
 busy with Session that he can neither write letters nor come 
 here to-night as I wished him. I have just come from the 
 Stewarts, where I have been gossiping for two or three 
 hours. Mr. Stewart is far advanced in the composition 
 of his intended work. It will extend to two volumes, and 
 will not appear till next year, that is, till next winter or 
 the following spring. I hope soon to give you a more par- 
 ticular account of it. To give himself more leisure, he is 
 not to lecture this winter on Political Economy. He was 
 much delighted with the new edition of the Wealth of 
 Nations for the benefit of the mechanic, the wholesale 
 dealer, and the shopkeeper. If the paper were somewhat 
 coarser, and the print less legible, it might be accounted 
 one of the most brilliant triumphs of modern philosophy. 
 In the Advocates' Library to-day I amused myself turning 
 over two different copies of T. Aquinas ; but on neither 
 have I traced the pencil of Hume. The passage you gave 
 me a note of is extremely curious, and is a very striking 
 coincidence. It has given me a desire to look a little into 
 the writings of the angelical Doctor. Lauderdale lost his 
 election to-day by a majority of thirty- two to twenty. 
 This result was expected, though the numbers on both 
 sides are smaller than was previously talked of. Our law 
 arrangements have not yet taken place. Hope will be the 
 J. C. ; but some embarras seems to have taken place as to 
 the appointment of a Lord Advocate. One report is that 
 Blair will be Advocate ; but I believe it will end as was 
 
64 MEMOIR OF 
 
 at first supposed in the appointment of Sir J. Montgomery. 
 It is all tweedle dum or tiveedle dee. 
 
 " I hope to hear from you soon. I look back, and will 
 always do so, with peculiar complacence, on the happy 
 hours I enjoyed in your society during my late visit to 
 London. I am a wretched correspondent ; but let us do 
 a little to break the horrid interval that must separate us 
 for the greater part of our lives. — ^Yours faithfully, 
 
 " Tho. Thomson." 
 
 / 
 
 " Eemember me with all possible kindness to our excel- 
 lent friends in Doughty Street.'' 
 
 Thomson to Horner. 
 
 " Edinhurgh, December 29, 1804. 
 
 " My dear Horner, — From a wish to write to you at 
 great length, and with due deliberation, I have sufiered 
 myself to procrastinate from day to day for the last month ; 
 and now at last I sit down only to give you a hurried note 
 for the purpose of informing you, that by yesterday's mail- 
 coach I despatched a parcel for you which you would do 
 well to inquire after, if it has not already made its appear- 
 ance. It contains only a copy of the printed volume, of 
 Parliamentary Records which I promised you ; and in the 
 leaves of it you will find the caricatures of Black and 
 Hutton. I have got a copy of the old Justice for you, 
 but could not venture to send it by this conveyance. Did 
 your orders extend to anything further, excepting a copy 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 65 
 
 of the first edition of the Theory of Moral Sentiments, 
 which I shall not forget to pick up for you ? I did not 
 send you Playfair's Euclid, as I supposed you would find 
 it in the Kow ; it contains considerable additions, and will, 
 of course, attract your curiosity. So much of it, in gene- 
 ral, I learned from Playfair himself, for I have not seen it. 
 Indeed I have been nearly lost to all liberal pursuits since 
 the commencement of our Session, and any hours of leisure 
 I have had have been given to desultory preparation for 
 the Record business. The infinite details in which it is in- 
 volved, and the numberless little teasing puzzling difficulties 
 of which no satisfactory solution can well be hoped for, are 
 enough to appal a stouter heart than mine. I shall labour, 
 however, to frame a comprehensive and rational plan, under 
 which all the materials of which I am likely to be pos- 
 sessed may be arranged ; and in which the materials which 
 may be discovered at subsequent periods may find a natural 
 and proper place. The Board of Commissioners, at a late 
 meeting, have resolved to suspend the publication of Mr. 
 Robertson's volume, probably for ever ; and have directed 
 me to prepare a very full and detailed plan of what I pro- 
 pose to substitute in its place, which for their own justifi- 
 cation they wish to see and consider before giving final 
 directions for its execution. All this is, on the whole, 
 rather satisfactory to me, as it must tend to diminish the 
 responsibility I should incur by proceeding without their 
 previous sanction. 
 
 " I have seen little of Stewart this winter, and can give 
 
66 MEMOIR OF 
 
 you no account of his labours. We had a club dinner last 
 Sunday, when he was present ; but I sat at the opposite 
 end of a long table. However, Murray and I had the 
 benefit of Playfair, who was in excellent spirits, and was, 
 as usual, very choice company. I am anxious to hear 
 of Smith. Have you been a hearer ? Tell me about 
 him. I hope for good news also of Mrs. S. They both 
 have my entire good wishes — as indeed they must have 
 of all who have been admitted to any share of their 
 friendship. 
 
 " I have frequently inquired for Mr. Basil Montagu's 
 Ancient Prose, but no copies have come here. I had 
 actually persuaded Cranstoun to undertake such a work — 
 upon a very comprehensive plan — and am curious to see 
 how far we have been anticipated by Mr. Montagu. 
 
 " For God's sake pardon this hurried scrawl, to the effect 
 of holding it as a letter, and of writing me soon. Kemem- 
 ber me to all at Hampstead. My sister joins me in best 
 compliments. — Yours faithfully, 
 
 "Tho. Thomson." 
 
 The correspondence between these two friends again 
 slackened. On the last day of the year 1804, Horner 
 writes, " You will tell me soon, 1 trust, how your own 
 labours proceed, and after how many different ways you 
 are idle." On the occasion of Mrs. Jeffrey's death we have 
 another letter. 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 67 
 
 Horner to Thomson. 
 
 " London, August 14, 1805. 
 
 " My dear Thomson, — I am very anxious to hear of 
 Jeffrey, whose late misfortune will sit very heavily upon 
 him. You will probably have some opportunities of seeing 
 him, and it will be great kindness to let me know how he 
 is, and where he is likely to be during the remainder of 
 the summer. 
 
 " If, after a few weeks are passed, he could be tempted 
 to come into England, I would postpone all other plans in 
 order to join him. This, of course, cannot be proposed for 
 some time ; or, if he shall feel disposed to remain in Edin- 
 burgh, rather than undertake the exertion of travelling, I 
 will arrange matters so as to spend a few weeks among 
 you, and assist you in bringing him gradually back into 
 society. 
 
 " Something, I suppose, must be determined on very 
 soon with regard to the next number of the Review. He 
 will probably need to be relieved of it. In the meantime, 
 the best one can do is to collect as much MS. for it as 
 possible. I hope to produce a good many pages. 
 
 " Pray let me hear from you very soon, and believe me, 
 most truly yours, 
 
 "Fra. Horner." 
 
 The next letter has reference to a proposal soon to be 
 made in form by the Record Commissioners, for inducing 
 
68 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Thomson to accept a permanent office in superintendence 
 of the public Kecords of Scotland. 
 
 Horner to Thomson. 
 
 *' ffampstead, September 23, 1805. 
 
 "Mt dear Thomson, — I began to answer your last letter 
 the same day that I received it. But I soon found the 
 subject on which you asked my opinion attended with more 
 difficulty than I would at first allow myself to discover. I 
 have turned it over and over in my mind since, and have 
 at length, and indeed in every stage of my reflections, 
 found myself unable to give you any other advice than 
 what I should have confidently or even peremptorily de- 
 livered in the first instance. It is the choice which I can 
 perceive you are not perfectly inclined to yourself, but 
 which I must nevertheless tell you seems to me the most 
 prudent in the mean time, and the most likely to satisfy 
 yourself in the end. It is no other but to persist in the 
 drudgery of the bar. 
 
 " I would rather you would profit by this advice, oracu- 
 larly delivered without reasons, than that you should have 
 the advantage of examining such as I can give. I feel my 
 conclusion with great confidence, though I can hardly 
 describe the premises out of which it has grown. 
 
 " I begin, however, with laying quite out of consideration 
 those internal solicitings which you speak of, because I 
 look upon them to mean no more than your taste for that 
 sort of luxury called literary indolence, and your disincli- 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 69' 
 
 nation to tHat sort of labour which you do not like the 
 best. I have likewise suppressed, for the sake of keeping 
 my judgment as clear from selfish partiality as possible, 
 all those little images of seeing you more frequently, and 
 your sojourning here, which I could not help noticing how 
 you threw in with great address. When I keep down 
 these temptations, I have really a most distinct and posi- 
 tive opinion upon the subject. 
 
 " Taking it for granted that a very large independency 
 would be ofiered in compensation for quitting your pro- 
 fession, of the largeness of which, however, you would not 
 be the fittest judge, I have still to ask whether an absolute 
 security can be given, that it shall never be withdrawn or 
 retrenched, under a ministry who cared nothing for EecordSj 
 or among the schemes of economy that may be thought a 
 cure for embarrassed finances. Supposing all this ad- 
 justed (if possible) to our satisfaction, I should next in- 
 quire what degree of freedom would be reserved to you, in 
 the spirit of your contract with the public, for other literary 
 undertakings, besides the arrangement and illustration of 
 the Kecords ? Would you have more than every Scotch 
 lawyer, the best employed, may command in the course of 
 the year ? Would you have so much ? 
 
 " I really cannot consent to give you up for life to Re- 
 cords. We have need of you for higher purposes. A few 
 years occupied on that subject, as you know how to oc- 
 cupy your time, seems a most appropriate discipline for a 
 lawyer ; and, both in reputation, and upon the great 
 
70 MEMOIR OF 
 
 occasions of professional research, will give you an im- 
 mense advantage. A few years will give you the whole 
 of this advantage ; you have already worked into your- 
 self most part of the technical mass of Scotch law, as well 
 as the general principles of theoretical jurisprudence and 
 history. Would it not be an inexcusable waste and extra- 
 vagance to suffer all this stock to lie unproductive, when, 
 by the new resources you are about to combine with it, 
 you may render the whole such a large and active capital ? 
 " Though the drudgery of the Scotch bar requires peculiar 
 resolution for a man who allows himself much literary in- 
 dulgence, yet surely there are prospects in your Court large 
 enough to rouse the ambition of one who has literature 
 enough to conceive them. I speak not of your offices, 
 which in themselves are no object whatever for any feeling 
 that can be called ambition. What I mean is, that in the 
 peculiar present circumstances of your jurisprudence, there 
 is a great opportunity to effect important and lasting 
 benefits, if a set of men well educated to general principles, 
 and entering into the same views, would resolve to effect 
 them. Such opportunities very rarely present themselves 
 to the lawj^ers of any system, considered as having a sort 
 of legislative power, independent of the constitutional 
 legislature. I hardly think there is such a one in any 
 department of the English system at present. The last that 
 was open was seized by Lord Mansfield. In Scotland you 
 have the materials of an admirable system, if you would 
 fix them together and give it stability, by putting in force 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 71 
 
 the right rules of administration. A few reformations, in 
 point of form, may be wanted, but much more would be 
 accomplished by the resolute system of lawyers liberally 
 and learnedly educated to their profession. This seems 
 wandering from you, but I have my eye upon you the 
 whole way, and this is not a sudden excursion of mine, in 
 consequence of your setting me to think about the Scotch 
 bar, but faithfully an account of what I have long consi- 
 dered as in reserve for those whom I knew best in the Par- 
 liament House. Beginning just above your contemporaries 
 in the Faculty, and coming down to the last of mine, there 
 seems just such a class of men as might be brought to 
 co-operate steadily together, if one or two ruling under- 
 standings would labour out the general views for their 
 direction. 
 
 " Independently of this professional scheme, which ap- 
 pears to me as practicable as it would be full of pleasure 
 in the execution, and for which you would have prepared 
 yourself by all the historical and antiquarian erudition you 
 are now amassing, as well as by the general speculations 
 in which you were formerly trained ; but independently of 
 it, why do you look upon practice as wholly incompatible 
 with your historical undertakings ? I think I could quote 
 innumerable instances against you, some of them exactly 
 your case, as you ought to make it. The example alone 
 of Lord Hailes, you are bound to regard as a ruling autho- 
 rity ; and it is therefore unnecessary for me to name 
 those in other countries, by which I am more in the habit 
 
72 MEMOIR OF 
 
 of stimulating myself, when I occasionally despair of being 
 anything but a Chancery draftsman. 
 
 " Such is the way in which I have long looked forward 
 upon your progress at Edinburgh, and that of one or two 
 other friends there. I have reviewed it very carefully 
 upon this occasion, and feel myself more and more con- 
 firmed in it, provided you will do yourselves justice, by 
 working hard, and by thinking high enough of what it is 
 actually in your power to accomplish. 
 
 " I am delighted to think, from what you say in your 
 last letter to Murray, that we shall have the pleasure of 
 meeting in Westmoreland, and travel together to Edin- 
 burgh. We shall not require you to be upon the spot till 
 the 17th, which you may surely accomplish ; and after 
 examining the map, and adjusting all our calculations of 
 time, we beg to have the honour of your company to 
 dinner on Thursday the 17th of October, in Atkinson's 
 Inn at Kendal, at five o'clock. Jeffrey gives us hopes that 
 he will come. He can easily delegate the last sheets to 
 another editor, and you will do him great service by 
 preventing him from travelling alone. Believe me, ever 
 faithfully yours, 
 
 " Fra. Horner. 
 " lUh Septr 
 
 The next letter from this admirable person is on more 
 general matters. He suggests Mr. Pillans for the vacant 
 Latin chair in the University. " He was a great favourite 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 73 
 
 with Adam and Dalzel ;* and he has never lived with any 
 person, or near any person, who will not bear testimony 
 to his worth and high sense of duty. . . . Say who it 
 was that praised Pillans so much at the Archbishop of 
 York's table, when he was at Bishopthorpe. ... If 
 you meet any one whom you can interest in his favour by 
 using my name, — I sat for three years next to him at the 
 High School, and two afterwards at the Greek class, and 
 have ever since retained a strong impression of regard for 
 the integrity of his principles, and the independence of his 
 opinions. . . . Elmsley said a thing at the club yesterday, 
 which moved my indignation a little, about Scott's edition 
 of Dryden. He had been in Ballantyne's office, he said, 
 who was printing the plays from a common octavo copy, so 
 incorrect, that he was forced (he, the printer) to make con- 
 jectural emendations of his own. Surely this is very care- 
 less, and will utterly prevent the sale of the edition, as 
 soon as it is known, as well as injure the reputation of 
 Ballantyne's press. It is inexcusable, too, considering how 
 easy it is to get all the early editions of Dryden. Heber, 
 I suppose, would furnish them with delight. Pray use 
 your influence upon this occasion, in defence of what, I 
 well know, is dear to your heart — the purity of text/' 
 
 * The Rector of the High School, and the Greek Professor in the Univer- 
 sity, both well-known from their writings, and both esteemed by a large 
 generation of Scotch scholars as the ablest teachers of their day. 
 
74 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Thomson to Horner. 
 
 " Edinburgh, December 12, 1805. 
 
 ..." Tell my friend Elmsley, that I wish he would, for 
 the present, spare his prophetic criticisms on Scott's edition 
 of Dryden. The book will have its faults, but your pious 
 indignation at conjectural emendations, or rather corrup- 
 tions, need not rise very high. I know very well the 
 solitary instance of which Elmsley happened to hear. 
 The plays are printed chiefly from Congreve's edition ; 
 but one passage in * The Tempest' happened to strike 
 Ballantyne as unintelligible, and he sent it to me for my 
 advice, as Scott was then in Selkirkshire. I thought the 
 corruption very palpable, and told him what occurred to 
 me. He adopted what certainly was with me a conjecture ; 
 but after all, that conjecture has been exactly verified by 
 the earlier edition. Scott is becoming every day more and 
 more anxious about the purity of the text, and, I trust, 
 will give us a very valuable edition of your favourite. 
 
 " Since you left us we have been living in sober sadness. 
 To-morrow we hold a chapterly meeting of the Club, when 
 we shall have missing of you. D . . . dines to-morrow with 
 Jefirey, and will, I suppose, be with us in the evening. 
 
 " If you want to see a curious passage about sheep-farm- 
 ing in Scotland in the reign of James V., consult Sir 
 Ralph Sadler's Letters, p. 6, and p. 38. I hit on the 
 passage yesterday, and shall give it to Lord Selkirk. Pray 
 &Qt me a good example in writing soon. It is now one 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 75 
 
 o'clock ante meridiem^ so good-night, my dear Horner. 
 Yours most faithfully, 
 
 " Tno. Thomson." 
 
 Thomson to Horner. 
 
 " Edinburgh, February 22, 1806. 
 
 ..." I need hardly tell you how ardently I have been 
 longing to hear from you. I am myself too lazy a letter- 
 writer not to owe very ample allowance to my correspon- 
 dents ; yet I should be a little mortified if you should 
 always forget me. 
 
 " The late political events furnish matter for much re- 
 flection, and I should much desire the edification of an 
 epistolary discourse on the subject from you, did I not 
 indulge the hope of seeing you very soon. The measures, 
 which have been for some time past, and now are going 
 on, relative to a permanent ofiSce of superintendence over 
 the Scottish Records, will, I believe, make it proper for 
 me to be in London about the middle of March. I look 
 forward with impatience to our meeting, and shall count 
 the days till I return to our old haunts. 
 
 " Playfair's pamphlet has made its appearance to-day, 
 and in spite of urgent avocations I have devoured it. By 
 the time you receive this you will probably have committed 
 a similar debauch. I am every way delighted vA\h it. 
 The execution is masterly; the whole tone and spirit 
 perfectly worthy of his erect and ingenuous mind. The 
 argumentative part, throughout which he is quite victo- 
 
76 MEMOIR OF 
 
 rious, is marked by all that firmness of tread and easy- 
 regularity of progressive motion which so much dis- 
 tinguish his scientific writings. All this was to be 
 expected ; but he has disclosed new powers, of which we 
 were not so well aware, — powers of ironical wit, and of 
 smooth, deep, cutting sarcasm, which form a striking con- 
 trast to the dark and dull malignity of his antagonist. 
 Indeed, the controversial talents which have on this occa- 
 sion been called forth so unexpectedly from Mr. Stewart 
 and Mr. Playfair are both of the first order, though 
 marked by many curious characteristical differences. 
 
 " I ought to have said a great deal more to you on many 
 subjects, but it is very very late, and my letter must be 
 despatched in the morning. Kemember me kindly to 
 Brougham, Murray, &c. — Ever most faithfully and affec- 
 tionately yours, 
 
 " Tho. Thomson/^ 
 
 " My kindest compliments to all at Hampstead.'' 
 
 On 14th December 1804, the Commissioners had for- 
 mally resolved that the publication of the printed volume 
 " be for the present suspended," and requested Mr. Thom- 
 son to prepare a detailed report of a plan for printing the 
 Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland in a worthy manner. 
 The report was to describe former editions and their 
 authority, and the " means by which the most complete 
 collection might be made from the most authentic ma- 
 terials, specifying the nature of those materials, the proofs 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 77 
 
 of their authenticity/' &c. ; " such a report," it was added, 
 "as may be produced, if necessary, to Parliament in 
 justification of such an undertaking." 
 
 Once more the Commissioners were in danger of spoiling 
 their work by over-haste. Not knowing, or not reflecting 
 on the topics which such a report must embrace, and the 
 previous investigations on which it was to be founded, 
 they urged Mr. Thomson almost beyond his long-suffering 
 patience, for despatch. Many of his letters of that period 
 deal with detached portions of his subject, and they evi- 
 dently impressed the Commissioners with a high opinion 
 of his powers ; but we must be satisfied with one extract. 
 
 Mr. Thomson to Lord Glenbervie. 
 
 " Edinburgh, December 27, 1805. 
 
 ..." Your Lordship is, I believe, fully aware of the 
 actual state of the work at the time when I was first called 
 upon to take a share in it. One volume had been already 
 printed as a commencement of a series of the Scottish 
 Parliamentary Records ; but the plan of compilation which 
 had been adopted was unfortunately such as could not 
 have failed to render the whole extremely imperfect in 
 almost every important requisite of completeness, accuracy, 
 or arrangement. The suppression of this volume was 
 scarcely a matter of choice ; and, in proceeding to frame 
 and digest a new plan, it was certainly of the utmost 
 advantage to be thus completely disencumbered of the 
 old. :: 
 
78 MEMOIR OF 
 
 " In these circumstances it appeared to me that a for- 
 tunate opportunity yet remained of attempting to supply, 
 as far as may be possible, one of the greatest desiderata 
 in the history and jurisprudence of Scotland. The Acts 
 and proceedings of the Scottish Parliament, in the exercise 
 of its various constitutional powers, must be acknowledged 
 to be of the very highest importance and curiosity ; and, 
 at different periods, the attention of our statesmen and 
 lawyers appears to have been strongly attracted to the 
 formation of some plan for retrieving these great national 
 Kecords from that obscurity and neglect under which they 
 had been suffered to remain. I hope to find another op- 
 portunity of entering at greater length into the history of 
 those projects, of which the greater part would seem to 
 have proved nearly abortive. The only exceptions of any 
 importance are to be met with in the reigns of Mary and 
 of her son James VI. In the year 1566, a Royal Com- 
 mission was given to certain persons in whose ^science 
 and experience in the laws of the realm' her Majesty could 
 confide, with full power and authority *to visie, sycht, 
 and correct the Lawes of this our Eealme, maid be us and 
 our maist nobill progenitouris be the aviso of the thre 
 Estates in Parliament halden be thame, beginnand at the 
 buikes of the Law callit Regiam Majestatem and Quoniam 
 Attachiamenta, and sua consequentlie following the pro- 
 gress of tyme unto the dait of this our Commission.' 
 
 " Although the plan thus committed by Mary to * cer- 
 tane nobill and leamit lordis her traist counsaloures' was 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 79 
 
 expressly limited to the publication of that portion of 
 the proceedings of Parliament, which consists of general 
 Statutes and Ordinances, yet the execution of the whole 
 was soon found to be a task of very serious difficulty. 
 Accordingly, it appears that ^in the undertaking of the 
 charge and work thus committed to them,' the saidis 
 Lordis ^ thocht it maist expedient to begin at the mend- 
 ing and forthsetting of the Actes of Parliamentis halden 
 be King James the first, secund, third, furd, fyft, and 
 be hir Majesties powar havand and hirselfe, and thairefter 
 in all gudlie diligence, to reik and extend thair care to 
 the emendatioun and publicatioun of the precedent and 
 mair ancient lawis,^ the quhilkis, as they are mair difficill 
 to be decernit on, swa they requyre langar tyme to thair 
 dew correctioun.' 
 
 " This account of the labours of the Commissioners is 
 taken from the Preface to that edition of Scottish Statutes 
 commonly called the Black Acts, written by Doctor Ed- 
 ward Henryson, the ostensible editor, who appears to have 
 been chiefly aided in his undertaking by two persons of 
 very great celebrity, John Lesly, Bishop of Koss, and Sir 
 James Balfour. The work has been rendered invaluable 
 by the subsequent loss of some parts of the original Ke- 
 cords from which it was compiled ; but, in itself, it appears 
 to have been compiled in a hasty and slovenly manner, 
 and is even lowered in its intrinsic value by that very dili- 
 gence which has been unhappily bestowed on the ^ mend- 
 ing' of the original texts from which it has been taken. 
 
80 MEMOIR OF 
 
 " Queen Mary's Commissioners were soon afterwards 
 called on to act a busy part in scenes of a very difierent 
 nature, and do not appear to have ever resumed their literary 
 travel, or to have employed their ^ gudlie diligence' upon 
 the more ancient laws of the realm. The object, however, 
 was not altogether lost sight of; and, in the reign of 
 James YI., new Commissions were granted by the author- 
 ity of Parliament, for 'the examination and imprint- 
 ing of the Lawes of this realme/ The person to whom 
 the execution of these new plans was committed was Sir 
 John Skene, Clerk Register, a lawyer of considerable emi- 
 nence, and who enjoyed the reputation of great learning 
 and industry. Like his predecessors in the reign of Mary, 
 he began his labours with a republication of the Acts of 
 Parliament, from the return of James I. in 1424, down- 
 wards to the year 1597, when the work was printed ; and 
 it was not till twelve years afterwards that he at length 
 ventured to publish his celebrated collection of the more 
 ancient law of Scotland. 
 
 " In his dedication of this work to the King, Sir John 
 Skene has given an account of it, which, however hyper- 
 bolical in so far as regards his own labours, is perhaps 
 not greatly exaggerated in so far as regards the real diffi- 
 culties of the undertaking. After having mentioned that 
 he had very early conceived the project of illustrating the 
 ancient municipal law of his country, he proceeds in these 
 words: — * Sed mihi currenti et oestro quodam diligentise 
 percito, multa spem meam et gradum remorantur. Etenim . 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 81 
 
 constitution ibus tuo mandato in lucem editis, quae in 
 publicis regni tui Scotice Comitiis, post Kegera Bobertum 
 ejus nominis tertium promulgatse sunt, (Acta Parlia- 
 menti vulgo vocant) cum in priscas et antiquas leges, 
 paulo . diligentius inquirerera, incidi in Augece stabulum 
 quod ne Herculis quidem labore purgari aut evacuaii 
 potest. Libri enim complures mihi objiciuntur, antiquas 
 quidem fidei sed tinearum et blattarum epulae. In his 
 multa qu£e antiquitatem nobis ignotam et j adiciorum 
 
 formulas olim vsitatas, nunc ab vsu remotas, sapiunt 
 
 In his quoque libris, scriptorum imperitia et negligentia, 
 multa corrupta, divulsa, multa sparsim et confuse digesta, 
 quae sensum corrumpunt, aut nullum reddunt. Yerum- 
 
 tamen ab opere incepto non destiti Vt igitur vrsus 
 
 -informem partum lambendo informat, ita improbo labore 
 fructum aliquem, nescio an satis solidum et maturum, ad 
 communem Keipublicae vsum, producere conatus sum. 
 Quantum enim ipsius rei difficultas timoris attulit, tantum 
 ademit ejusdem rei a nuUo adhuc tractatse nulliusque pede 
 tritae, turn novitas, tum vtilitas/ 
 
 " But I must not fatigue you with the egotism of Sir 
 John Skene. It would have been more judicious and 
 certainly more fortunate if, instead of this idle tirade^ he 
 had given a critical and detailed account of those manu- 
 scripts which he actually consulted, and on the faith of 
 which he has professed to give us an accurate compilation 
 of the more ancient law of Scotland. But his silence on 
 that head may, I am afraid, be traced to no very creditable 
 
 F 
 
82 MEMOIR OF 
 
 motive. There are still preserved many manuscript col- 
 lections of our ancient law of dates long prior to the age 
 of Skene ; and, on examining them, it will be found how 
 very little his skill or industry has either added to or im- 
 proved upon the labours of those earlier compilers. His 
 work was, however, received by his countrymen with un- 
 qualified approbation ; nor was it till a period compara- 
 tively recent, that the accuracy and candour of Skene 
 began to be questioned. The person who first ventured 
 publicly to express a different opinion was, I believe, my 
 venerable friend the late Lord Hailes, who incurred the 
 ignorant censure of his contemporaries, by stating what 
 perhaps nobody at present would have the weakness to 
 deny, that ' Skene was a careless if not an unfaithful pub- 
 lisher.' But the truth of this criticism I must not at 
 present stop to illustrate. 
 
 " Not many years after the publication of Skene's book, 
 a work still more arduous and extensive appears to have 
 been projected. About the beginning of the reign of 
 Charles I., a Commission was granted by the Crown, and 
 afterwards repeatedly confirmed and renewed by Parlia- 
 ment, for authorizing a number of the most distinguished 
 and learned men of the age, * to reid recognosce and 
 consider the haill Lawes, Statuites, and Actes of Parliament 
 of the said Kingdome, alsweill printed as unprinted ; To- 
 gider with the customes and consuetudes of the said King- 
 dome, quhilks ar and have beine observit as Lawes wi thine 
 •the same, aither in the civill or criminall judicatories ; 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. ' 83 
 
 And quhilks have beine receaved in practick by the de- 
 creits of the Lords of Sessione or Justice Generall ; and to 
 that effect to cans be exhibit befor thame be the Clerk of 
 Register and Justice Clerk, and thair deputtes, the haill 
 registers and rolles contening the Lawes and Actes of Par- 
 liament of the said kingdom, alsweiil unprinted as printed, 
 with the Registers of decreitts and interloquutors of the 
 Lords of Sessioun and Justice General, togider with the 
 buikes intitulat Regiam Majestatem, quhilk conteines ane 
 record of the auncient Lawes and customes observit within 
 the said Kingdome ; And eftSr dew consideratioun thairof, 
 To conclude and determine anent the trew sense, meaning, 
 and interpretatione of all such Lawes and Actes of Par- 
 liament quhilks ar wnclear and doiibtsome in the selff 
 and may receave divers interpretationes. And quhilk hes 
 beine drawen in questioun befor the Lords of Sessioun, 
 in respect of the doubtsomnes and wncleirnes thairof : And 
 anent the printing of such Lawes and Statuites as ar not 
 yett printed : And anent the omissioun of such Actos and 
 Statuites as ar abrogat or become in desuetude and out of 
 use : And Siclyk, To collect and set downe the haill cus- 
 tomes and generall consuetudes inviolablie observit in the 
 said Kingdome, alsweiil in the civill as criminall judica- 
 tories, to the Effect the samyne may, be thair allowance 
 ratificatione and approbatione, be registrated in the buikes 
 of Parliament, and be maid notour and knawen to the haill 
 Lieges/ — The unprinted Act of Parliament, (a.d. 1633,) 
 from which I have quoted the preceding sentences, goes 
 
84 ■ MEMOIR OF 
 
 on to declare that ' the Ordinances to be aggried re- 
 solved and concludit upon in the premises/ shall have 
 the force and authority of Law in the meantime, until 
 the whole shall be submitted to the consideration, and 
 shall receive the final sanction of a future meeting of 
 Parliament. 
 
 " Of the proceedings under this Commission I have not 
 discovered any traces, nor can it excite the slightest sur- 
 prise that such a project should have proved completely 
 abortive. It is, however, a very curious fact in the history 
 of Scottish jurisprudence, and may here serve as one 
 additional instance of that eagerness which appears to 
 have been felt, to rescue the ancient records of our law 
 from obscurity and oblivion. No further or more for- 
 tunate effort would seem to have been made; and the 
 pubHcations of Skene continued to be regarded as the 
 standards of the Statute Law of Scotland. In the year 
 1681, permission was granted to Sir Thomas Murray of 
 Glendook, Clerk Kegister, to republish ' the Laws and Acts 
 of Parliaments,' from the reign of James I. downwards ; 
 but although he professed to extract the whole ^ from the 
 Public Records of the Kingdom,' it is obvious, on the 
 slightest examination, that he had contented himself with 
 copying implicitly the text of Skene's edition in 1597. 
 The edition of 1566, although incomparably more accu- 
 rate and authentic, does not appear to have ever been con- 
 sulted by him : yet it is the edition of Sir Thomas Murray 
 that, for more than a century, has been quoted every day 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 85 
 
 in all our Courts of Justice, as a correct and genuine code 
 of the Laws of Scotland. 
 
 "I have been unexpectedly led into this detail, merely 
 from the wish of exhibiting to your Lordship a general 
 view of the difficulties, as well as importance of the various 
 attempts which have been successively made to retrieve 
 the more ancient Eecords of the Law of Scotland from 
 that obscuiity and corniption under which they have un- 
 happily laboured. It must at once be obvious that all of 
 these attempts have had an exclusive reference to foren- 
 sic practice, and have aimed at nothing more than the 
 establishment of an authentic standard for the decision of 
 Coui-ts of Law. This is undoubtedly by far the most 
 important object which such researches can possibly tend 
 to accomplish ; yet there are objects which, in their due 
 subordination, ought not surely to be overlooked or ne- 
 glected ; or which may be rather said, from their compre- 
 hensive nature, to embrace the former as an essential part. 
 Without attempting to analyze very curiously the various 
 considerations and inducements which may here be sup- 
 posed to operate, I believe that all those whose minds 
 have been directed to such pursuits will be prepared very 
 readily to acknowledge the propriety, and even the duty 
 of attempting to recover from the wreck of time every 
 genuine fragment of national history, however minute and 
 broken, — every authentic fact illustrative of national anti- 
 quities, however unimportant it may now at first sight 
 appear to the immediate and practical business of life. 
 
86 MEMOIR OF 
 
 " It was under this more extended view of the capabili- 
 ties of the subject that I was led to state to your Lordship 
 that I considered the publication of the Parliamentary 
 Records of Scotland as calculated to supply one of the 
 greatest desiderata in the history and jurisprudence of the 
 kingdom. The mutilated state of all our national Records, 
 the only genuine sources of law and of history, has long 
 called forth the dismal eloquence of all our antiquaries ; 
 and that the Records of Parliament have sustained their 
 full share of the common fate, has been ascertained with 
 but too great certainty by the printing of the volume 
 already alluded to. It appears that in those volumes of 
 Parliamentary Record which now remain, in the General 
 Register House, not a fragment of original matter is to be 
 found of earlier date than the year 1466 ; that in the 
 succeeding periods, downwards to the union of the Crowns, 
 many long and lamentable blanks are to be met with ; and 
 that to the recent discovery of a manuscript in the Paper 
 Office, (London,) we are indebted for the only fragment 
 supposed to remain of the more ancient Records of the 
 Scottish Parliament. All this is sufficiently discouraging ; 
 but instead of idly bewailing our loss, or sitting down con- 
 tentedly under it, it becomes a sort of bounden duty to 
 attempt somewhat to diminish, if we cannot altogether 
 retrieve the injury that has been thus sustained. But if 
 the Commissioners in the reign of Mary, in attempting to 
 extend their care to the more ancient laws of Scotland, 
 experienced so much difficulty and occasion of delay ; and 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 87 
 
 if, in the time of Skene, the ancient writings from which 
 those laws were to be drawn, were in that state of con- 
 fusion and decay, which he has been so anxious to describe, 
 it is almost needless to state that, in the lapse of two 
 additional centuries, the obstacles to such an undertaking 
 must have greatly accumulated. At the same time, it may 
 perhaps alleviate the weight of this consideration to observe, 
 what an attentive examination has convinced me to be the 
 fact, that, with the exception of some portions of a later 
 date, the original Records of the Parliament of Scotland 
 were not in a more perfect state in the reign of Mary than 
 they are at the present day. The evidence of this asser- 
 tion is involved in minute details which would be here out 
 of place ; and I have now mentioned the fact merely as 
 suggesting new inducements to the vigorous prosecution 
 of those researches which have been so long suspended, 
 but the importance and curiosity of which have not surely 
 been diminished. The ancient Statutes and Ordinances 
 of the Scottish Legislature may, in many instances, have 
 been abrogated, or may have lost their force merely by 
 desuetude ; the judicial proceedings of the Court of Parlia- 
 ment may have ceased to be regarded as affording prece- 
 dents for the guidance of modern Courts of Justice ; and 
 in few, perhaps, of the other solemn acts and proceedings 
 of the great national Council, shall we find anything 
 which bears directly upon the great public rights and 
 interests of the kingdom. But, as parts of the civil, poli- 
 tical, and domestic history of Scotland ;— as facts illus- 
 
88 MEMOIR OF 
 
 trative of the early state and gradual progress of law in 
 all its branches, as links of that unbroken chain which, at 
 almost every point, connects the more refined and com- 
 plicated system of modern policy and modern manners, 
 with the rude institutions and customs of our ancestors,— 
 there are no fragments of Parliamentary Record, however 
 minute and apparently trifling, which do not possess an 
 intrinsic and permanent value, much more than sufficient 
 to reward the toil of a difficult and tedious research. 
 
 " Under these general impressions of the nature and 
 extent of the undertaking in which I was about to embark, 
 I began more than a year ago to bestow upon it whatever 
 leisure I could redeem from my professional engagements. 
 I can have no hesitation in owning, that I entered upon 
 it without any practical knowledge or experience of the 
 difficulties, and that I brought to the task literally almost 
 nothing excepting a very deep rooted attachment to the 
 study of the history and legal antiquities of Scotland. .The 
 natural effects of this inexperience I have already had 
 occasion in many ways to feel. In the first place, in this 
 as in every new pursuit where the objects are not placed 
 distinctly in view, and where the paths which conduct to 
 them are not already trodden, I have unavoidably incurred 
 an enormous waste of labour. Groping in the dark, with- 
 out a guide, I have too often spent the day in wandering 
 after what was not to be found. This, happily, is one of 
 those evils which gradually become their own cure ; and 
 though I am yet very far from being able to flatter myself 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 89 
 
 that I shall escape such difficulties in future, yet what I 
 have now stated may help to account for the slowness and 
 irregularity of my progress hitherto. 
 
 " Other difficulties I have had to encounter, which ought, 
 perhaps, to have been better foreseen, but against w^hich 
 I could scarcely have been able effectually to provide. It 
 is but too well known, that what may be called the consti- 
 tutional antiquities of Scotland, although the subject of 
 many angry controversies, have hitherto received very 
 little real illustration, and the meagre discussions of some 
 of our theoretical writers have little other tendency than 
 to mislead and bewilder their readers. This desideratum 
 in Scottish literature never can be properly supplied with-^ 
 out the aid to be derived from a regular series of the 
 genuine proceedings of Parliament; but, on the other 
 hand, it happens unfortunately that the researches neces- 
 sary for obtaining such a series cannot be conducted with 
 safety or success, without a great deal of that knowledge 
 of the constitution of Parliament which its own proceed- 
 ings can alone supply. Amidst this action and reaction 
 of ignorance, it becomes necessary to proceed with the 
 most timid caution ; to retrace, again and again, those 
 steps which have at first been taken at random, and to 
 borrow all the lights that can be furnished by analogy to 
 the laws and constitution of the neighbouring countries of 
 Europe. In this manner, I have, at every turn, been op- 
 posed by some difficulty which perhaps could not be imme- 
 diately surmounted, — some puzzling question which I could 
 
90 MEMOIR OF 
 
 not hope to solve till I had arrived at a more advanced 
 stage of my progress ; and have experienced the necessity 
 of extending my inquiries into some departments of the 
 legal and constitutional antiquities of England, where a 
 resemblance or analogy to those of Scotland may be sup- 
 posed to exist. The delay which such collateral studies 
 must unavoidably occasion will, I trust, be in the end 
 very sufficiently compensated ; and where the choice has 
 lain between rapidity and accuracy of execution, I presume 
 I shall not be blamed for having given the preference to 
 the latter. 
 
 " Another effect of this inexperience of the route in 
 which I was travelling, has, to me, been still more morti- 
 fying. It has greatly misled me in my calculations of the 
 probable period within which I should be able to accom- 
 plish some parts of my undertaking. Of this I am afraid 
 I need seek for no stronger instance than the delay which 
 has occurred in the preparation of the Keport I have been 
 directed by the Board to make on the proposed collection 
 of the Parliamentary Kecords. In this Report I am de- 
 sirous of giving a detailed exposition of the various mat- 
 ters connected with Scottish Parliaments and parliamentary 
 Records, which can possibly bear on the practical question 
 which the Board may have to consider as to the publica- 
 tion of those Records. In this view, I should wish to offer 
 a sketch of the history, constitution, and progressive changes 
 of the Parliament of Scotland, an account of the nature 
 and different kinds of its written Records ; the fate which 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 91 
 
 they have experienced at different times, and the state in 
 which they now seem to be ; a full and detailed account 
 of the plans and methods which have at different times 
 been adopted for the publication of the statutory part of 
 these Records ; and, in particular, a minute critical ac- 
 count of the various editions which have been successively 
 prepared and published by Royal or Parliamentary author- 
 ity ; and, last of all, a statement of the nature, authenti- 
 city, and extent of those materials which yet remain from 
 which a more ample collection of parliamentary proceed- 
 ings of all kinds may be made than any which has hitherto 
 been published. 
 
 " From the variety of matter which this Report is meant 
 to embrace, and from the long period of time to which it 
 relates, your Lordship will, I trust, be at no loss to find 
 some apology for the delay in its preparation. The truth 
 is, that the greater part of the materials for its compilation 
 have been collected for a considerable time past, and I 
 entertained sanguine hopes many months ago, of being 
 able, without any loss of time, to reduce them into proper 
 shape and arrangement. On a nearer approach, however, 
 the difficulties have always increased in magnitude ; and, 
 on many important points, I own I have not been able to 
 make up my own mind. Further inquiry and more deli- 
 berate consideration have appeared to me to be necessary, 
 and, under the constant interruptions to which I am un- 
 avoidably exposed, and which seldom leave me the master 
 of my own time for a week together, I have insensibly 
 
92 MEMOIR OF 
 
 procrastinated the completion of my work, till I have he- 
 come almost ashamed to think or speak of it. What degree 
 of progress I have actually made in the collection of ori- 
 ginal materials I shall probably take an early opportunity 
 of stating in a letter to the Secretary. In the meantime, 
 I have ventured to trespass so far on your Lordship's 
 patience, from my earnest desire of placing the nature 
 and difficulties of this undertaking, and the consequent 
 reasons of delay in the execution of it, in that light which 
 appears to me to be the fair and true one. 
 
 " Within what time I can now venture to promise the 
 Keport, I should be wrong, after so many unforeseen dis- 
 appointments, to state with confidence ; yet this I may say 
 with truth, that no voluntary delay is likely to occur which 
 the utmost anxiety on my part can possibly prevent. I 
 flatter myself that a few weeks longer will enable me to 
 speak on this head with greater precision." 
 
 Lord Glenbervie to Mr. Thomson. 
 
 " January 8, 1806. 
 
 " My dear Thomson, — I cannot deny myself the 
 pleasure of sending you the enclosed, which I have just 
 received." . . , 
 
 From the Speaker to Lord Glenbervie, (enclosed in the 
 ■ preceding.) 
 
 " Kidbrooke, January 6, 1806. 
 
 " My dear Lord, — I return you, with many thanks, 
 the first part of Mr. Thomson's letter, dated 27th Decem- 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 93t 
 
 ber, and also the latter part, dated 30th December last. 
 The entire letter appears to contain so much erudition, 
 good sense, and ability for this work, that we cannot but 
 be anxious for the success of every measure which may 
 ensure his superintendence of all the general works which 
 we have projected in Scotland. . . . Believe me ever most 
 truly yours, 
 
 *' Charles Abbot.'' 
 
 We see that Thomson had now established himself on the 
 right footing with the Commissioners, and was appreciated 
 as he deserved. They now knew that he was fit for his 
 work, and they knew in part what sort of work that was. 
 There was no longer a demand for instant printing of the 
 whole " Records of Parliament.'' A petulant secretary, or 
 sub-commissioner new in office, might still harass him 
 now and then with exhortation to despatch ; but with the 
 excellent Speaker Abbot, with his dear friend Lord Glen- 
 bervie, and with Lord Frederick Campbell, the head of the 
 Record department in Scotland, he had established a full 
 and cordial confidence. 
 
 It was no light work that he had undertaken. To 
 publish in becoming shape, the Records of Parliament 
 alone might well have been looked to by most men as 
 sufficient occupation at one time, if not as- full labour for 
 life. Taking as complete the preliminary education, — the 
 thorough appreciation of the objects of the work, there was 
 still to fix the authenticity of each statute and code of 
 
94 MEMOIR OF 
 
 laws, and to test its date by all the canons of charter 
 learning. Next came the settling of the texts by a search 
 and collation of innumerable manuscripts, always in sub- 
 jection to sense. The details of the work were immense ; 
 from corresponding with foreign scholars, and recovering 
 MSS. from libraries abroad,* to the form of the page, 
 and the correcting of typography. The mere cutting of 
 the type matrixes cost Mr. Thomson a world of personal 
 trouble and time; for in Scotland such studies and all 
 record learning were dead, or concentrated in himself. 
 He gradually trained up a set of zealous coadjutors ;f 
 but at the beginning of his work, he actually had not a 
 clerk who could read old hand, and he stood alone and 
 unhelped in all the historical research and record scholar- 
 
 * The two most valuable manuscripts of ancient laws were discovered — 
 one in the Library of Berne in 1814, the other on a book-stall in Ayr in 
 1824. 
 
 f One of these, Mr. A. Macdonald, should not be passed over in com- 
 memorating the labours of Mr. Thomson. He was his clerk from the first 
 employment on the Records, and, although latterly holding the office of 
 Keeper of the Register of Deeds, he was his trusted and useful assistant to 
 the end of his life. Mr. Macdonald's skill in arrangement, innate love of 
 order and regularity, were invaluable in the Register House, and imder a 
 chief like Mr. Thomson. To the consulters of the Public Records for nearly 
 half a century, his almost intuitive knowledge of Records and accurate 
 memory were most valuable, and were never withheld when demanded for 
 any worthy object. His disinterested love of antiquities, his obliging 
 nature and modesty endeared him to all the antiquaries of Scotland. As 
 Mr. Thomson walked with me from the Canongate churchyard, in which 
 we saw him buried, he said he had been connected with him for forty years, 
 and in all that time there had never been a diflference, never an angry 
 word had passed between them. 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 95 
 
 ship, even in the constitutional and antiquarian law, which 
 were necessary for the discharge of his labours. The 
 requisite learning and accomplishments he had already, or 
 Avas rapidly acquiring. His extensive and varied reading 
 was soon brought admirably to bear upon his present 
 pursuits ; but far above all other qualifications, he brought 
 to the work a sound and temperate judgment, never fail- 
 ing sagacity, and a taste critical even to fastidiousness. 
 
 The Scotch members of the Kecord Commission, when 
 once aware of the value of such a servant, were eager to 
 secure his services permanently for reforming the whole 
 system of records in Scotland. At a meeting of the board, 
 31st January 1806, the Commissioners resolved, " that it 
 was expedient that the Lord Clerk-Kegister should be 
 authorized to appoint some person, who should be resident 
 in Edinburgh, and duly qualified by his education, studies, 
 and reputation for learning, and diligent in his profession 
 as an Advocate of respectable standing at the Scotch Bar, 
 with an adequate salary, to be charged on the Civil Esta- 
 blishment of Scotland, to act as a deputy to the said Lord 
 Clerk-Kegister ;" . . . such person " to have the control 
 and direction of, and superiority over all other persons 
 acting as deputies or clerks under the said Lord Clerk- 
 Register, in the execution of the ordinary duties of the 
 said office." 
 
96 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Lord Glenbi:rvie to Mr. Thomson. 
 
 " Uth March 1806. 
 
 " My dear Thomson, — I have just seen Lord Frederick 
 Campbell, who had that moment been with Lord Grey. 
 He had read Lord Frederick's memorial, and the minute 
 of our board ; and he and the other Lords of the Treasury 
 entirely approve of our suggestion, and are to give direc- 
 tions accordingly. You will recollect that neither the 
 salary nor the person were mentioned in the minute, but 
 Lord Frederick mentioned both £500 per annum and you, 
 to Lord Grey to-day, and he entirely approves of both. I 
 have seen the Speaker since. He agrees with me, that as 
 to one or more transcribers, it is much better to leave that 
 for annual incidental bills. I congratulate you on the 
 conclusion of a matter which is so highly honourable, 
 and yet not more than just to you, both in regard to the 
 motives and the means by which it has been brought 
 about. I shall be quite impatient to see you, and am, my 
 dear Thomson, youi-s affectionately, 
 
 " Glenbervie. 
 
 " Lady Glenbervie desires kindest compliments. Pray 
 remember me to all friends. Constable has not sent me 
 Playfair's pamphlet." 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 97 
 
 From Lord Glenbervie. 
 
 " Pheasantry, 1th June 1806. 
 
 " My dear Thomson, — I find by the Speaker, that after 
 conference with Lord Frederick and his concurrence, he 
 has written to you to desire that you will prepare a com- 
 mission, according to the draft we settled, and send it up, 
 when it will be executed immediately by his Lordship, 
 and attested by the Speaker and myself. This was a 
 suggestion of mine, and I now write to urge you to lose no 
 time in the business, as there is no proverb in Solomon 
 more true, than that delays are dangerous. 
 
 " We are to have Playfair, Horner, and all the house of 
 Selkirk to pass the day with us to-day. You will easily 
 believe what an addition you would be to our party. But 
 we hope to see you here in little more than a month. 
 
 Ever, dear Thomson, yours most affectionately, 
 
 " Glenbervie." 
 
 The Commission to Mr. Thomson, to be Deputy Clerk- 
 Kegister, was finally executed on June 30, 1806. 
 
 Before his appointment as Deputy Clerk-Kegister, Mr. 
 Thomson had commenced another work which has proved 
 of infinite utility to the Scotch conveyancer and pedigree 
 lawyer. This was the abridgment of " Retours," or of 
 the returns made to Chancery of the services of heirs under 
 brieves of inquest from the commencement of the record at 
 
 G 
 
98 MEMOIR OF 
 
 the beginning of the seventeenth century — ^a work which, 
 in the words of its author, " exhibits an authentic history 
 of the transmission by inheritance of the greater part of 
 the landed property of Scotland, as well as the descent of 
 the greater number of considerable families during the 
 seventeenth century." One purpose of the publication, 
 much esteemed at the time, was for affording evidence of 
 those valuations of land denominated the Old and New 
 Extents, the former of which furnished a measure of free- 
 hold qualification in the counties of Scotland. But although 
 that purpose has been swept away by the reform of our re- 
 presentation, and though the published book ends where 
 the matter of the record gets most practically useful, enough 
 was given to make the volumes of " Retours" more fre- 
 quently handled by the Scotch conveyancer than any other 
 book of the Record publications. The first volume was 
 issued in 1811, and the work was completed in 1816. 
 
 Nor was this the only work that had engaged the atten- 
 tion of the Sub-Commissioner before he became Deputy- 
 Register. The earlier and more interesting parts of the 
 Record of the Great Seal — the Crown Charters, by which 
 all land is held immediately or through an intermediate 
 person — were in a state of frailty and actual decay. 
 From these rolls and books he compiled the thin volume 
 entitled Begislrum Magni Sigilli, containing all the 
 recorded charters, from the reign of Robert Bruce to 
 the accession of James I. in 1424 — perhaps, on the whole, 
 the most valuable contribution that has yet been made to 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 99 
 
 the Scotch student of history and of legal antiquities. It 
 was printed and published in 1814, — a work so careful and 
 accurate as to have quite superseded the consultation of 
 the original Register. 
 
 While wholly directing and doing much of the actual 
 labour of these great public works, Thomson, up to the 
 time when he became Deputy Clerk-Register, kept his 
 ground among the best men of his profession. The busi- 
 ness of the Bar was very different then from what it is 
 now. There were no juries to be addressed ; no witnesses 
 to be examined. A case dragged its slow length through 
 volumes of printed pleadings — petitions, answers, memo- 
 rials, replies, duplies — ending perhaps at last with a great 
 field-day in full Court, when the counsel having felt their 
 way and marked the assailable points in the previous 
 papers, did at length indulge in a careful oral pleading, 
 dealing only in apicihus juris. For the first part of that 
 routine, for the written pleadings — especially for whatever 
 required deep legal learning or investigation of the sources 
 and progress of law — Mr. Thomson was already in the first 
 rank. His speaking was not impressive. He could not 
 condense his matter ; his ari-angement was unstudied ; 
 neither his voice nor his action were pleasing, and it 
 seemed as if he despised the art and trick of oratory. Yet 
 he spoke easily and always pertinently ; rather as a man 
 of education and legal accomplishment conversing about 
 the case, than like an advocate arguing for a side. The 
 best practice of his day arose from entail questions, and 
 
100 MEMOIR OF 
 
 from questions touchiug the qualifications of county free- 
 holders—both subjects, but especially the latter, giving 
 rise to the finest and subtlest discussions of feudalism. In 
 both these classes, (now, alas ! forgotten, or remembered 
 only for points of law settled incidentally,) Mr. Thomson 
 had his share. In some others, requiring learning of a 
 rarer kind, he stood almost imrivalled. 
 
 " The Craigengillan Case" in 1805-7, sufiSciently impor- 
 tant from the magnitude of the property at stake, involved 
 questions of perhaps as grave moment to society as have 
 ever been settled by a court of law in Scotland. A gentle- 
 man, in perfect possession of his senses, had taken his 
 mistress by the hand- in presence of his assembled servants, 
 and, pointing to her and the children whom she had borne 
 him, said — " Before these witnesses, this is my wife, and 
 these are my lawful children." He then left the room, 
 walked for some hours, in a state of apparent composure, 
 about his estate, returned to his house, went up stairs, put 
 a pistol to his mouth, and shot himself It was questioned 
 whether from these proceedings — without subsequent co- 
 habitation, or any presumption of both parties intending 
 to live afterwards in the state of marriage — could be con- 
 structed such a consent of both parties as is required by 
 the law of Scotland to constitute marriage. The discussion 
 of the case, and especially Mr. Thomson's pleadings, went 
 to the veiy foundations of our marriage law, and of the 
 jurisdiction under wliich questions of status were to be 
 tried. His friend Cranstouii was on his side ; his friends 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 101 
 
 John Clerkj Gillies, Jeffrey, were against him. The 
 decision of a majority of the Court of Session and of the 
 House of Lords adopted Mr. Thomson's view and doctrine ; 
 and, in supporting the validity of the marriage and the 
 legitimacy of the children, maybe said, ,^o: 'Kaive.'at least' 
 settled the law on the points at issue, 'if^'it; has", n<?t- altc^. 
 gether satisfied the minds of later jurists. 
 
 His acceptance of his new office was undoubtedly 
 injurious to his professional advancement. Whatever 
 men of more regular habits of industry might have done, 
 he was but too willing to withdraw from the pressure and 
 punctuality of law work into the comparative retirement and 
 independence and discursive study of the Register House. 
 It was many years after that he told me, with avowed pride 
 and some mixture of regret, that his fee-book was above 
 Cranstoun's when he took the office of Deputy-Eegister. 
 
 By virtue of this office there devolved upon Mr. Thomson 
 the superintendence of all the records of Scotland, as well 
 of their formation as of their custody ; though for a long 
 time the Lord Clerk-Register had not interfered with the 
 former. Scotland was very proud of its record system, 
 which was held by a series of careful checks to preclude 
 the hazard of fraud, and by complete publication to render 
 absolutely secure the whole land tenures and securities 
 of the country. But this just pride had produced an over- 
 confidence in the well devised system, and diverted atten- 
 tion from its defects of working, and the corruptions which 
 may grow up in any system. 
 
102 MEMOIR OF 
 
 There were abundance of evils to be corrected in the 
 foiTnation of Records. The record of decreets, or rather of 
 judicial proceedings, had become enormously bulky and 
 inconvenient, by loading it with volumes of unnecessary 
 matter, 'which orly ser\^ed to bury the essential out of sight, 
 arid to 'pay- the extracting clerks. The well devised record 
 of deeds and of probative writs was in danger of becoming 
 unsearchable from dividing into three rival Registers. The 
 Registers of the Seals, or of Crown charters of lands, though 
 inordinately complicated and expensive, by a defect in 
 their working, actually failed to afford full evidence of the 
 formal completion of the title by the appending of the 
 Great Seal. The custody of all records had got into the 
 hands of sinecurist beneficiaries, who farmed out the work 
 to subordinates, and, content with the profits, took no 
 great care for its execution. The most important Records, 
 including the Record of Seisins, (the foundation of security 
 in land rights,) were either not written up, or lay un- 
 transmitted sometimes for twenty years, for the sake of 
 giving the local custodiers the benefit of fees for search- 
 ing. The interest of the sinecurist was to produce the 
 work cheap, and the effect was that all the records were 
 in bad writing, bad ink, bad vellum, bad paper, bad 
 binding. 
 
 These and a hundred other mischiefs were to be cor- 
 rected in the current Records. A substantial and uniform 
 paper was to be procured, and its materials were to be 
 chosen not only for strength, but with a view to the 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 102 
 
 chemical effect that ink might produce upon its fabric in 
 after ages. Dr. Hope and the chemists were advised with, 
 about a permanent and undeleterious ink, in which inves- 
 tigation the late Sir George Mackenzie engaged, and 
 carried on his experiments and a correspondence there- 
 upon for years. But those physical defects were the least 
 part of the difficulty to be overcome. It was to be ex- 
 pected that the new office should at first be viewed with 
 jealousy and dislike. Wherever a bad practice was to be 
 corrected, up started some champion for the old way. 
 The keepers of the Kegisters, some of whom had bought 
 their offices, and all of whom regarded them as their 
 benefice of freehold, saw no advantage to them in any of 
 the changes, and supported the bad parchment, and tea- 
 paper, and the school-boy hand, as sanctioned by use. 
 The clerks claimed a vested right to make their pages of 
 a larger or smaller size, as best suited them. Where the 
 materials of the Eegister were furnished by themselves, 
 and the registration paid according to the length of the 
 deed, the Kegister was crowded with writing so small as to 
 be " almost illegible to the naked eye.'' Where the pay- 
 ment was by the page of the Eegister, the clerk was the 
 most esteemed whose sprawling hand gave the appearance 
 of a full page with the fewest possible words. No uniform 
 mode prevailed of framing even the important Kegister of 
 Seisins, nor any uniform charge. Each keeper alleged a 
 local or provincial usage as to size of page, as to amount 
 of payment, as to time of transmitting. In too many 
 
104 MEMOIR OF 
 
 cases it was found that no Register was formed at all ; the 
 keeper, at a safe distance, took the fees and granted a 
 certificate of registration, but left the record unmade. 
 Mr. Thomsons way of dealing with these mischiefs and 
 impediments, was to lay the foundation by a careful 
 inquiry into the original institution and successive prac- 
 tice of each record ; for he found that precedent and 
 practice were more efficient arguments than any drawn 
 from expediency, where private rights interfered. From 
 these materials he adjusted a reasonable and just scale of 
 work and pay, and he exacted absolute correctness of 
 writing and transmitting. He gave those whom he coerced 
 no opportunity of personal collision, and by extreme good 
 temper, with abundant firmness, he always carried his 
 point of an effectual reform of each Register to which he 
 turned ; including both its shape, and, in provincial Regis- 
 ters, the manner and period of transmission to the head 
 office. To be sure, he was supported by the cordial ap- 
 probation of the Record Commission, and whenever he 
 required it, he obtained the sanction of the Supreme 
 Court, or, if necessary, an Act of Parliament for enforcing 
 his measures of reform. Opposition relaxed, too, when 
 it began to be understood that Thomson undertook no 
 unmeaning or useless changes, and that he was sure of 
 his ground and of needful support, before he moved. 
 
 While the formation of records was undergoing a great 
 and much wanted revolution, no less attention was re- 
 quired to their custody. The older part of the National 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 105 
 
 Becords, the whole Kecords of Parliament, the Books of 
 Secret Council, and several others, were in a state of 
 decay which made it dangerous to handle them. In a 
 large proportion, the paper was so destroyed by age and 
 damp that it could not bear sewing or binding. It was 
 well for Scotland that the new Deputy-Register did not 
 count it beneath the dignity of his office to look to the 
 binding of books. He let nothing escape him ; no 
 volume or leaf passed without his own inspection. 
 Where the binder could be employed, he directed the 
 arrangement, division, binding, lettering. But in the nicer 
 cases alluded to, an operation called inlaying was used, 
 which, without covering any of the writing, had the 
 effect of fixing the frail leaf, like a picture, within a 
 frame of stout paper, fit for binding. For this work no 
 person in Scotland was at first found qualified ; but after 
 some inefiectual negotiation it was undertaken by an 
 old lady from London, Mrs. Weir, who worked in the 
 Register House for several years, and taught three or 
 four Assistants to perform the operation very satisfactorily. 
 The best proof of the goodness of the work is the state 
 of beautiful preservation in which so many books in 
 the Register House are now found, that must have gone 
 into dust when handled, but for Mrs. Weir's curious art. 
 
 Day after day saw the Records of our country rescued 
 from destruction — Records that had never yet been used 
 for history, but without which history is a delusion. Leaf 
 after leaf, saved from crumbling into dust, grew into 
 
106 MEMOIR OF 
 
 volumes ; and volume after volume was put in a dress of 
 Kussia leather that will endure handling, and promises to 
 last for centuries * 
 
 A no less pleasing duty for Thomson was to reduce the 
 amount of fees, which had come to be exorbitant, under 
 the system of officers benefiting immediately by them 
 instead of having fixed salaries. From the beginning of 
 his control, he gave admission, for literary purposes, with- 
 out fees, a practice which has since his time been further 
 carried out, by the appointment of a searcher of records to 
 assist such literary inquirers. 
 
 From henceforward, for many years, Thomson's exist- 
 «nt» may be said to have been in the Register House. 
 His occupation, reforming the framing and custody of 
 current records — rescuing and repairing old records — and 
 editing a long series of publications of the first consequence 
 for the law and history of the country. 
 
 These works are the best memorial of his life and 
 labours. He kept no journal, nor was he a professed or 
 regular letter- writer, even to his friends ; but his corres- 
 pondence, while it proves his general and almost universal 
 interest in all liberal pursuits, indicates sufficiently the 
 subjects which henceforth commanded his first and con- 
 stant attention. 
 
 * Of nearly 12,000 volumes in the Register House, 6,500 were re bound ; 
 180 volumes (of 30,000 leaves) were inlaid, and a very large proportion of 
 the whole were carefully and effectually repaired in other modes— between 
 the years 1807 and 1816.— Tenth A nnual Report. 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 107 
 
 A few letters were omitted in their order, to avoid inter- 
 rupting the transition of the Sub-Commissioner of Records 
 into the Deputy Clerk-Register. 
 
 In the midst of a kind and zealous correspondence of 
 Scott, having for its object to place his old friend John 
 Thomson in the kirk of Duddingston, one letter breaks 
 into other subjects. 
 
 " AsTiestid, 18th April 1805. 
 
 " Dear Tom, 
 
 " I wish you and Miss T. w^ould make a start our 
 length. You have no idea how delightful the country is ; 
 birds singing, lambs skipping, everything but fohage and 
 verdure, and that fast approaching. 
 
 " I like the epigram on John Leslie vastly — it is quite 
 delicious. I hope our Scoto-Hibernian friend will for once 
 stumble into something like the right, though, if he does, 
 it will be for the first time in his life, and should be hailed 
 as something hardly short of a miracle. 
 
 " Skene is still with me, and will be during my stay here. 
 He is a charming companion, and smokes a social pipe a 
 miracle. He is taking some vignettes for next edition of 
 the Lay. In the meantime we walk, eat, drink, and read 
 nonsense. I fear no good is to be expected from me till 
 this busy time is over. Do pray come to us if you can. 
 Love to Erskine, — he said he would be here, ' but I would 
 never trow him.' 
 
108 MEMOIR OF 
 
 " I will acquaint you with the news from Lord A. the 
 instant I hear them. 
 
 " Anne's face is quite well. Gilnockie and Sophia in 
 high glee. Charlotte sends best love to Miss Thomson 
 and you. — Ever yours, 
 
 " W. S." 
 
 Lord Minto, about to sail for India, writes to Thom- 
 son, — 
 
 " Arlington Street, 12th Jan. 1806. 
 
 " My dear Sir, — Your letter has given me great 
 pleasure, by furnishing me an opportunity of saying, be- 
 fore my departure, how much I regret this, as I should 
 every other interruption in the improvement of an ac- 
 quaintance, and I should wish to say friendship, from 
 which I have already derived so much, and from which 1 
 looked forward to so much more satisfaction and comfort. 
 I recommend myself, however, to your kind recollection, 
 and I hope still to live to make myself amends for the 
 interval of privations on which I am entering. 
 
 " With the most sincere assurances of regard and 
 esteem, believe me ever, my dear Sir, faithfully and affec- 
 tionately yours, 
 
 " MlNTO." 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 109 
 
 From the Same. 
 
 " Dalkeith, 2Uh Jan. 1806. 
 
 . " I must now thank you heartily for all the kindness I 
 have experienced at your hands. It has heen such as, 
 together with the goodness of some other friends, would 
 almost tempt one to be sick and interesting every now and 
 then. As gratitude has two pair of eyes, one that looks 
 back, and the other forward, you must allow mine to be a 
 little prospective too, and to convert your past favours into 
 a title to new ones, by bespeaking the continuance of a 
 friendship, if you consent to call it so, which was begun 
 under the auspices of our common friend Lord Glenbervie, 
 but which I shall endeavour to perpetuate propria marte. 
 Sincerely and affectionately yours, 
 
 " MlNTO." 
 
 \ 
 
 From Lord Glenkkrvie. 
 
 " Pheasantry, Wth January 1806. 
 
 " Dear Thomson, — I am particularly gratified by your 
 very interesting account, and Mr. W. Scott's, of the curious 
 relique of the ancient Douglases found among the ruins of 
 the old castle of Hermitage, [a seal ring.'] Will you have 
 the goodness to return him my hearty thanks for his 
 friendly attention in the communication of this discovery, 
 and his obliging promise to send me also the details and 
 verifications of the circumstances. I shall be curious to 
 be informed of Mr. Scott's reasons for thinking that the 
 
110 MEMOIR OF 
 
 quatrefoil had been assumed for the Earldom of Angus. 
 I find it said in Nisbet that the old Earls of Angus carried 
 ' Gules a cinquefoil or/* &c." 
 
 The rest of the letter, like several of Lord Glen- 
 bervie's, in the beginning of that year, is taken up 
 with anticipations of the coming change in politics, 
 which all parties agreed could make little difference in 
 Record arrangements. The ofiicial members were in- 
 deed changed by the new Commission, (23d May 1806,) 
 but the business of the Board continued to be discharged 
 by the same persons who had conducted it under the Com- 
 mission of 1800. Lord Glenbervie's pleasant letters were 
 not confined, however, to such subjects. He was busy 
 with a project of publishing the poems of Gawin Douglas, 
 on which he took Thomson's advice at every step. His 
 son's education was another subject on which the friends 
 consulted with at least equal interest. Frederick Douglas 
 had already passed a winter in Edinburgh, and had be- 
 come much attached to Mr. Thomson. He was now with 
 the Bishop of Rochester, (Dampier,) at Bromley, and de- 
 scribes his life there, (19th June 1806,) — " This is a most 
 admirable house, with some beautiful grounds about it. 
 Of the Bishop's library you already know everything that 
 I could tell you. The Durandus you got for him occupies 
 one of the most conspicuous places in it. He himself is 
 an admirable scholar, and a most excellent good humoured 
 
 * Heraldry, i. p. 228, last edit. 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. Ill 
 
 man ; eats and drinks in a most bishop-like way, and keeps 
 the best table in the county. . . . We read a great 
 deal of Cicero and Demosthenes, and I take an amble by 
 the side of the Bishop, on the dusty London road, every 
 day. Upon the whole, I am very happy and com- 
 fortable. I suppose you are abusing the decision of the 
 House of Lords. I must say, I think it very glorious that 
 a majority should at any time be found in the House of 
 Peers against the interest of Government," &c. 
 
 From Lord Glenbervie. 
 
 " Pheasantrrj, 18th July 1806. 
 
 " My dear Thomson, — The alarms and objections you 
 hint at, however groundless they may be, were perhaps in 
 some measure to be expected. But towards the malcon- 
 tents, and, in general, in the execution of your office, I am 
 sure you will act suaviter in modo, though, fortiter in re. 
 
 " This being Friday, I calculate that this note will reacli 
 you before the day you had fixed for your departure, even 
 if you keep to it, which I should hope will be the case, 
 though I think I have observed that, like myself, you do 
 not always ride when you saddle — an adage as often veri- 
 fied as any among the chiliads of Erasmus. . . . Lady 
 Glenbervie begs I will take the liberty to give you a jog 
 respecting a commission she troubled you with, — to bring 
 her some layers of clove carnations. ... I have now 
 in my possession the MS. of G. Douglas's Virgil, men- 
 tioned by Urry, and also the copy of the original edition 
 
112 MEMOIR OF 
 
 of 1557 with which he appears to have compared it, both 
 lent me by Lord Bath, from his library at Longleat, where 
 Urry must have seen them. Lord Bath's grandfather's 
 name appears among the subscribers to Euddiman's 
 edition. Can you tell me any particulars concerning Urry ? 
 . . . Many events have happened since you left us, 
 and many are happening to add to the singularity of these 
 times, concerning which I look impatiently for the oppor- 
 tunity of talking at our ease ore tenus. Inter alia, I 
 doubt whether I quite like Lord Minto's appointment, for 
 his own sake, everything considered, and I very much 
 regret it on my own account. We have heard much of a 
 song ascribed to W. Scott, on Lord Melville's acquittal, 
 but though it was in the Newspapers, I have missed seeing 
 it. Pray bring it with you." 
 
 The next letter shews Thomson still in London. It is 
 addressed to " 3, Garden Court, Temple." The allusion 
 to his " brother's scheme" I cannot explain. 
 
 From Hornkr. 
 
 " Rule, Thursday Evening, 
 29th AugvM 1806. 
 
 " My dear Thomson, — You have probably thought me 
 negligent, yet I have not been so, in forming intentions 
 of writing to you. But Jeffrey exhausted the picturesque 
 in his quarto volume of hieroglyphics ; and Murray gave 
 you information of our course, as far as we had determined 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 113 
 
 it. We are just ariived here from Portsmouth ; we shall 
 lounge in the island three days, and mean to reach South- 
 ampton on Monday evening. You had much better come 
 down there, and assist Murray and me in our efforts to 
 seduce Jeffrey from his resolutions of hastening back to 
 London, that he may hasten away to Scotland. I tell 
 you to come to Southampton, though not wholly withoul 
 hopes of your having set off to find us out while we are 
 here. Our stay at Bognor was very agreeable, I believe, 
 to all of us, particularly to me ; for we found four or five 
 of the most pleasing women I have been introduced to 
 since I came to England. We had two days besides of 
 Rogers and Petty, who were more at their ease than in 
 the midst of the business and fastidious terrors of London. 
 We had no politics at all, and the scandal was not more 
 than was very amusing, sixty miles off from all parties 
 concerned, and tinctured with Sam's peculiar humour. 
 
 " I have been thinking of your brother's scheme, but not 
 enough yet to suggest anything farther than my confirmed 
 and most cordial approval. It may be rendered the ground- 
 work of most important improvements in the general system 
 of Scotch education. We ought, all of us, to offer our 
 mite of contribution, and as £Oon as I can fix my notions, 
 you shall hear them. I am most anxious, upon the first 
 sight of the subject, about the classical learning, because 
 it may be the most liable to be slighted, and because I 
 well know and feel every day that it is too much slighted 
 under the present system. A much larger portioij. of it 
 
 n 
 
114 MEMOIR OF 
 
 than can be had at Edinburgh by young men of ordinarj- 
 application is undoubtedly compatible with the more sub- 
 stantial acquisitions of the place. 
 
 " I have not much anxiety about your indisposition, for 
 you seemed determined to take care of yourself ; and care 
 at the first is almost infallible. The worst is that it may 
 have kept you out of society, which it would otherwise 
 have been very pleasant for you to have seen. You had 
 insinuated yourself so much into the favour of Lady Hol- 
 land, that you had secured the means of partaking of all 
 the choice male society that is left in London. 
 
 " Farewell, my dear Thomson, and believe me always 
 faithfully yours, 
 
 " Fra. Horner." 
 
 " Forward the letters to Southampton, and have the 
 goodness to give my laundress [orders] to do so with mine, 
 if any come on Saturday, not afterwards." 
 
 From the Same. 
 
 " TempU, \bth November 180C. 
 
 **' My dear Thomson, — ^We are in strict obseiTance of 
 our old ceremonious silence, but I am tired of it, and 
 become very impatient to hear from you, and to hear of 
 some things you can tell me about better than any one 
 else. And in the very first place, of your judicial refor- 
 mations, which I fear are most sadly and culpably ne- 
 glected. It will be no justification of all this, when it 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 115 
 
 co.mes to be judged of, that John Clerk's time was occupied 
 with electioneering. It ought not to be left to John Clerk 
 alone, not to any single person ; least of all to one who 
 knows the established practicks, but nothing of any other 
 establishment, or of any theory. Tell me, however, what 
 he has done, and what he is trying to do, and whether any 
 of you, younger and more generalizing heads, are employed 
 at all upon the subject. If you are neglecting it, do not 
 flatter yourselves that one of you shall escape the disgrace 
 of letting slip so fair an opportunity of securing great good 
 to the country. I cannot recoUect an instance where the 
 occasion was ever so oi)en for important innovations. 
 Lord Grenville is evidently desirous that his administration 
 should be distinguished by a measure of this high order, 
 and, knowing nothing of the particular subject, he has no 
 prejudices to embarrass him, nor any theory of his own to 
 force upon you. He wishes to do what is best and comes 
 best recommended, and is open to all plans and sugges- 
 tions. I must say, then, that if the work is ill done, or 
 half done, or not done at all, (of which I have some fears,) 
 it will be for ever to the shame of the men who hold such 
 means in their hand, and will not direct them. Every- 
 thing else you can do in your own time is, for reputation, 
 nothing, compared with the introduction of juries into 
 your system, upon wise and practical principles. It is not 
 to be done by saying the word, as Lord Grenville perhaps 
 fancies, but the difficulties cannot be greater than to give 
 honour to the achievement. I say all this in the way of 
 
116 MEMOIR OF 
 
 exhortation, and hope we shall not have to repeat it in the 
 way of reproach. A very short time will shew. 
 
 " Jeremy Bentham is at work upon the subject, to what 
 purpose I do not know yet, but I hope soon to hear. I 
 have sent him, through Whishaw, all the pamphlets that 
 have appeared, and the book called ' Form of Process.' He 
 ought to be exhorted to print. Though his talent is much 
 more to criticise than to build anew, he cannot fail to 
 suggest many useful reflections. I must defer my other 
 inquiries till another time. Most truly yours, 
 
 " F. H." 
 
 A fortnight later Horner was applying in favour of a 
 learned " Scotchman, of the name of Jamieson, who has 
 published a collection of popular ballads — one whose for- 
 tunes had not gone well with him." This was the same 
 unlucky scholar to whom Scott wrote a letter, {16th Dec. 
 1806.) Jamieson was then a tutor in a merchant's family 
 at Riga; — "I wish with all my heart you were safe in 
 Scotland. Mr. Thomson, who has been lately named De- 
 puty of the Lord Register, has great occasion for assistance 
 from some person as well acquainted as you are with Scot- 
 tish antiquities. He is a noble-minded fellow, and would 
 strain a point to make your interim situation comfortable, 
 if you would think of assisting him in his department, 
 which is the publication of the ancient records and di- 
 plomata of Scotland." Poor Jamieson was employed ac- 
 cordingly ; but he was one of the irri table genus — it was 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. H^ 
 
 not in his nature to be content ; and he fretted extremely 
 at the moderate pay and subordinate station. 
 
 A letter of Mr. Horner, (March 15, 1807,) more valu- 
 able at the time, but even now not without value, gives 
 his views on the new Scotch Judicature Act, which he did 
 not greatly admire. " The innovation I am most anxious 
 to see accomplished," he writes, " is the introduction of 
 juries : but I am terrified at the mode in which this bill 
 proposes to force them upon the country." . . . "It 
 is a great point to have more courts than one" sitting at 
 the same time ; " without it, the whole scheme is nuga- 
 tory, either in respect of increased despatch or of the 
 advantages to be derived from a competition of Courts." 
 
 In a* series of letters of this year Homer advocates these 
 views, and tries to unite the law reformers of Scotland, 
 who were spHt into two parties. " There are only two 
 subjects," he writes on January 1, 1808, " which give me 
 any interest in Scotch politics, the improvement of the 
 Courts of Justice, and the reform of the Parliamentary 
 representation : I should like very well to confine the 
 glory of both to my own friends, but I will give my little 
 help to all parties when a step is to be gained towards 
 either of those objects." 
 
 Horner to Thomson* 
 
 "Temple, Jvne 25, 1807. 
 
 . "My dear Thomson,— You are now thinking, I hope, 
 of your- arrangements for coming to the south in, th^ 
 
118 MEMOIR OF 
 
 course of the long vacation. We never seem to have any 
 intercourse except when we meet in the flesh ; and I hope 
 while we can move, we shall continue to hold that com- 
 munication once at least every year. Gout and rheuma- 
 tism will come upon us soon enough, my good Lord 
 Kegister. This year I cannot answer for myself sooner 
 than September; for the circuit and a short excursion 
 after it with Murray will occupy me till then. But all 
 September I shall be in town, and most rejoiced to have 
 you here too ; there "will be no difficulty in getting cham- 
 bers for you : or if you prefer being more to the westward, 
 I shall have no objection to live in Albany, where Lord 
 Webb is so kind as to let me have the use of his set of 
 
 chambers. — Yours ever most truly, 
 
 " Fra. Horner." 
 
 From the Same. 
 
 '' Temple, 6th September i 807. 
 
 " My dear Thomson, 
 
 " I should be glad to know something of your plan 
 for refoiTniug certain branches of the Scottish Kecords ; 
 the outline of your schemes, and what principles you 
 wish to give a new or more free operation to. If we 
 ever consent to reform anything in England, or to do 
 anything new in the law, some system for the regis- 
 tration of deeds will be attempted. There is another 
 respect, in which I feel a peculiar curiosity at present 
 about your Scottish registers ; because the effects of that 
 establishment upon your rules of evidence, and modes of 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 119 
 
 trial, ought to be taken into account in attempting to 
 ingraft the forms of a jury upon your existing institutions. 
 By the way, I have been discussing this subject a good 
 deal lately ; and I am more confirmed in all my original 
 impressions that Lord Grenville and John Clerk were 
 attempting far too much, as well as more convinced than 
 I was till lately of their unskilful innovation in that par- 
 ticular part of their bill which relates to Jury Trial. I 
 have derived a great deal of light, 1 think, from contend- 
 ing in single combat with Murray. I wish you would give 
 me some of your light upon this subject. Tell me also 
 what you are doing. 
 
 " People, who think .they are wise, say this investment of 
 Copenhagen will necessarily last several days, but that 
 the city has no chance of making an effectual resistance. 
 The multitude are in great clamour about the spirited 
 proceedings of the Ministers in this expedition. We 
 Whigs say it is an unjust, most unprincipled measure, 
 full of treachery to the virtuous Danes, and projected for 
 the Cabinet by Lord Wellesley in the great style of Indian 
 morality, in which it is said that expediency does not 
 always coincide with justice. Perhaps it may be one of 
 those violences, with respect to which it would be difficult 
 to adjust the morality, if it should be attended with entire 
 success, wisely and humanely used; but the authors of 
 which must take the chance of being condemned to shame, 
 as well as the certainty of being abandoned by the mob, if 
 they fail. 
 
120 MEMOIR OF 
 
 " Give my best compliments to Miss Thomson, and 
 believe me ever aflfectionately and faithfully yomrs, 
 
 " Fra. Horner." 
 
 On the 18th December 1807, Lord Glenbervie, who had 
 lost his office during the short Whig administration, again 
 writes from the " Office of Woods" — " At a Kecord Board 
 two days ago, the intelligence, importance, and activity of 
 your late proceedings were unanimously applauded, and I 
 tliink all your suggestions ordered, inter alia the purchase 
 of Mr. Hamilton's statutes ; pray what Mr. Hamilton is 
 it ?* Lord Frederick shewed me all your Kecord coitcs- 
 pondence since his return, and is quite pleased with it. 
 His zeal is very amiable,'' &c. 
 
 On 15th June 1808, Homer wishes the opinion of 
 Thomson and his brother curators of the Advocates Lib- 
 rar}', as to a proposal for extending the copyright of 
 authors to 28 years certain, coupled with some provisions 
 for enforcing a more punctual and complete distribution 
 from Stationers' Hall, of the books entered there, to the 
 several public libraries which are entitled to that ad- 
 vantage. 
 
 From Thomson to Lord Glenbervie. 
 
 "Sept. 18, 1808. 
 
 " My dear Lord, — Since I last saw you in the south, I 
 
 ♦ Robert Hamilton, Sheriff of Lanarkshire, known as an antiquarian 
 and pedigree lawyer. His copy of the various prints of the " Black Acts" 
 was purchased for the use of the Record Commission. 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 121 
 
 have never been more than a single day absent from 
 Edinburgh, and dm"ing the last two months of vacation 
 have been employed watching and superintending Record 
 operations. ... In the course of my Parliamentary 
 researches I had occasion to examine very carefully the 
 Records commonly called ' the Bukis of Counsale/ which 
 have been usually supposed to contain only the judicial 
 proceedings of the Supreme Civil Court which preceded 
 the institution of the College of Justice in 1532. I found 
 them, however, to contain much very interesting matter of 
 other sorts ; and when you recollect that the ^ Lords of 
 Counsale' were in fact the same persons who acted as a 
 Privy Council in all matters of State, you w^ill not wonder 
 that their ^ bukis' should contain their proceedings in 
 both characters. The truth is, we have no separate Privy 
 Council Record now extant prior to 1545, and it does not 
 appear to me very probable that in the period prior to 
 1532 any separate Record was kept. This remark is 
 peculiarly applicable to the first ten or fifteen years of the 
 minority of James Y., during which many of the most 
 important State proceedings are found blended with the 
 judicial proceedings of the Lords of Council. In particu- 
 lar, there is much respecting the marriage of the Queen, 
 the intrigues and government of Albany. . . . These 
 State proceedings I consider as making an important 
 addition to the materials of Scottish history, and my clear 
 opinion is, that they ought to be printed by the Commis- 
 sioners without delay. What I am to propose is this, — 
 
122 MEMOIH OF 
 
 that the Kecords of the Scotch Privy Council, from 1545 
 downwards to the Union should be printed, and that, 
 prefixed to these there should be a selection from the 
 books of the Lords of Council of all matters of a public 
 nature, such as would naturally have formed the materials 
 of a State Kecord of Privy Council. To justify the pro- 
 priety of this proposal, I have already made the selection, 
 which occupies four considerable volumes, and would 
 make more than half of a printed folio volume similar to 
 those already published by the Commission. That the 
 whole of the State Kecord of Privy Council ought to be 
 published I am very clear, and till it be so published the 
 history and political state of Scotland must remain com- 
 paratively obscure." 
 
 Speaking of the Kecord of Charters, now well known as 
 the thin volume of " Registrum Magni Sigilli" he says, 
 " I am ambitious of making it the most accurate and 
 characteristic publication of the kind that has 3^et been 
 made." 
 
 To the proposal for publishing the Privy Council Ke- 
 cord and its curious prefix, Lord Glenbervie replied that 
 he thought the whole selection would make a very interest- 
 ing part of our Kecord publications, and that he had 
 written this opinion with his reasons to the Speaker, (17th 
 Dec. 1808 ;) but that was one of the schemes only the 
 outline of which has been preserved to mark the great 
 views of its author. 
 
 Another project of Thomson's, though not directly car- 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 123 
 
 lied into effect, was yet not altogether unproductive. On 
 the 25th of November 1807 he recommended, in an 
 elaborate Keport to the Commissioners, a complete selec- 
 tion of all the entries relative to the affairs of Scotland that 
 occur in the Patent, Close, and other Rolls and Records at 
 the Tower, Chapter House, and British Museum. One part 
 of this collection was to consist of the Scotch Rolls, and he 
 was fortunate enough to see them carried through the 
 press, almost to their conclusion, with admirable care and 
 accuracy, by an editor of his own choice. 
 
 From Lord Glenbervie. 
 
 " Pheasantry, 1th March 1809. 
 
 " My dear Thomson, — We held a Board last Monday 
 of the Record Commissioners, when your proceedings in 
 Scotland were much approved of 
 
 " I flatter myself, if you can show, in your next Report, 
 that the selection from the books of Privy Council can go 
 on, pari passu, with the Parliamentar}^ Records, that the 
 Board will authorize them to be resumed. 
 
 " To-morrow, Lord Frederick, Caley, and I, are going 
 to make a Scotcb survey at the Cotton library. 
 
 " My restricted plan for Gawin Douglas proceeds very 
 leisurely, but it proceeds. 
 
 " Are you a co-patentee of the Edinburgh playhouse ? 
 The manager's wife, Mrs. Heniy Siddons, (7iee Murray,) is 
 one of the most amiable and best, pretty looking, modest 
 creatures that can be, and a very pleasing actress. She 
 
 > 
 
124 MEMOIR OF 
 
 is a model of a wife and a mother, to a worthy husband 
 and two little cherubs of children, both daughters. 
 I hope the respectable company of Edinburgh ladies, as 
 well as gentlemen, will countenance and patronize them. 
 She is worth ten thousand Abingdons, whom they opened 
 their houses and hearts to. Pray write. — Ever affection- 
 ately yours, 
 
 '^ Glenbervie." 
 
 In the spring of this year Thomson went to London, and 
 passed his " Act for better regulating the Public Kecords 
 of Scotland," which remedied many of the evils that had 
 sprung up in the system. It lessened the number of re- 
 cords of probative writs and deeds, sanctioned the fashion 
 of recording only in volumes previously " marked" by the 
 Clerk-Kegister, enforced periodical transmission of Kecords 
 to the Register House every six months, and, above all, 
 established beyond dispute the Clerk-Registers control 
 over all Registers. It abolished the Privy Seal, and at 
 last rendered the Great Seal Register really a proof of the 
 sealing of the writs it contains. 
 
 Horner's correspondence recommenced on Thomson's 
 return to Edinburgh. He is earnest for information about 
 the sale of judicial offices, indignant at Gifford's attack on 
 Sidney Smith in the Quarterly, zealous for a monument to 
 Locke, and that his Scotch friends should have the privilege 
 " of shewing their respect for that great advocate of civil 
 liberty and toleration." Frederick Douglas introduces 
 
THOifAS THOMSON. 125 
 
 three young Oxonians going to complete their studies at 
 Edinburgh, and " particularly anxious to be acquainted 
 with the (Dugald) Stewarts," Lord Desart, Mr. Fazakerly, 
 and Mr. Hartop ; and Horner, in the end of a letter of 
 ephemeral political gossip, written to cheer Thomson in an 
 illness, begs him to notice " young Henry Webster, Lady 
 Holland's son," who is to pass the winter at Edinburgh ; 
 as two years later he introduces Mr. Kichard Napier of All 
 Souls, Oxford, (son of Lady Sarah,) " going to Edinburgli 
 chiefly to attend Playfair's lectures." 
 
 On the 15th November Lord Glenbervie announces his 
 son's journey to Edinburgh, after taking his degree at 
 Oxford, to attend Playfair's and Stewart's lectures, and to 
 study " as much Scotch law as his time will allow," and 
 begs Thomson's counsel and guidance for the young man. 
 He has heard with envy of Thoni son's being about to 
 make a visit to Minto, and that he had already been there 
 this autumn. His Lordship was suffering from bile, and 
 ends his letter — " Besides my stomach, I am sick of the 
 Junta — of the peace with Austria — of Walcheren — and 
 particularly of Persia and Madras, on account of our Go- 
 vernor-General, to say nothing of our civil war in Covent- 
 Garden playhouse, and the double-refined Wat Tylerism 
 of Cobbett. Is it true that there is to be an interesting 
 review of a French translation of Fox's work in the next 
 Edinburgh Keview ? Believe me, very affectionately yours, 
 
 " Glenbervie." 
 
126 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Poor Frederick had been dangerously ill, soon after his 
 arrival, and his parents for a time, only overflowed with 
 gratitude for Thomson's kindness to him during his sick- 
 ness and convalescence. At last they begin to think of 
 work again : — 
 
 FrOxM Lord Glenbervie. 
 
 " Bath, 7th January 1810. 
 
 " My dear Thomson, — Frederick writes from Pennycuik 
 that he is quite recovered. I hope he is now attending the 
 lectures, and now and then, under your auspices, the courts 
 of law. He never can learn, but in that way, an accurate 
 knowledge of your form of procedure, modes of property, 
 and technical language, which English lawyers and states- 
 men, when they have occasion to speak of them, make sad 
 work of. ... . 
 
 " Pray, my dear Thomson, try to entice (rather than 
 openly persuade) Fred — ^if he is or can be elected of the 
 Speculative Society — to hazard speaking there. He will be 
 nervous at first, but till he has tried and tried often, and 
 had courage to bear failing, and to try again and again, it 
 will never be sure how far he has that most useful of all 
 talents or arts. He has many of the elements of it ; but 
 practice, early, and before many, and those persons who 
 don't care a farthing about him or his success or failure, 
 can alone make a public speaker. Whatever other quali- 
 fications he may have, he is full of gratitude and affection 
 to you." 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 127 
 
 From 1805 downwards, Sir Alexander Boswell of Auch- 
 inleck was a frequent con-espondent of Mr. Thomson's. 
 He consulted liim about the arrangement and completing 
 of his library, and was always ready to communicate 
 whatever of books or MSS. his grandfather old Lord 
 Auchinleck's curious collection afforded. 
 
 From Sir A. Boswell. 
 
 " Aiichinlech, May 14, 1810. 
 
 " Dear Sir, — I sent you under cover to Mr. Kerr of the 
 Post Office, one of the parchments I promised, which I 
 hope you got safe. My copy of Winton wants forty or 
 fifty lines of what is published. I hope the printing of 
 the ' Chronicle' goes on well. I shall send you part of the 
 index of the proceedings of the Privy Council in a day or 
 two. It is evidently a collection made, but contains some 
 curious letters of King James VI. to the Privy Council ; 
 one directing that the noblemen and other Commissioners 
 for the Union should, before taking their journey south, 
 be sworn not to make suit or petition for anything in 
 England, lest the English should say that they came more 
 to heg than for the errand appointed. There are many 
 others which mark the times too well, but I know not if 
 you have already seen them or not. 
 
 " Let me hear whether you received the deed of provi- 
 sion to Margaret or not. — I am, dear Sir, your most 
 obedient and humble ser\^ant, 
 
 " Alexander Boswell." 
 
128 MEMOIR OF 
 
 The "Chronicle" was the "schort raemoriale of the Scottis 
 corniklis/' which Thomson valued as one of the few con- 
 temporary authorities of the reign of James II. It was the 
 first of his publications, and he printed it very carefully, 
 giving first, precisely the matter both in words and in 
 order as it stands in the Auchinleck MS., and, secondly, 
 the events arranged in chronological order, so far as that 
 could be ascertained. In his next letter (June 30) Sir 
 Alexander says, — " I am not sorry that you have conde- 
 scended to print two or three copies of the ' Croniklis' on 
 veUum. It is foppery, but not merely modern foppery, 
 and one for the Advocates Library is desirable. I agree 
 with you in thinking that the ^ Croniklis' alone should be 
 so printed, and am glad you have got a good paper, than 
 which nothing can look more beautiful." 
 
 A letter from Boswell, (23d Dec. 1810,) commences 
 with a collation and disquisition upon the Auchinleck and 
 other copies of the " Black Acts," and concludes thus : — 
 
 " By the way, I have written Clan Alpin's vow on the 
 scene in Balquhidder kirk since I came hither. It ran 
 out in spite of me to nearly five hundred lines. I think 
 some of it is in Walter Scott's loorst manner, and is in the 
 true ballad measure, which gives a wonderful facility to 
 versification. Khymes recur so frequently, that the ear 
 has not patience to stop and quarrel with them, and 
 trisyllables that end in y are uncommonly useful, as they 
 do duty for e and i, and if you are desperately put to it, 
 for ay too. The most prominent fault in this fragment 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 129 
 
 is, that I have made the chief of the Macalpins make a 
 very long speech, which I question if any one of the name 
 had ever temper to do. I laboured under much disadvan- 
 tage, as I was utterly ignorant of the scenery of the 
 country, and had no map to supply me with names, so 
 that all the charms of locality are awanting, and a rhym- 
 ing gazetteer is very captivating. I have, for the sake of 
 variety, and, I think, with more di'amatic truth, made my 
 Macgregor recZ— Scott has him hlach. I would gladly 
 have put in a few Gaelic words, like plums in the 
 pudding ; but on consulting Shaw's Dictionary, I was 
 much amused to find that when I looked in the English 
 for a GaeHc, and then proceeded with my Gaelic word to 
 its own side of the Dictionary, I received a totally different 
 explanation. I should like to see a variorum edition of 
 Ossian. — I am, dear Sir, yours sincerely, 
 
 *^ Alexander Boswell." 
 
 David MTherson, the author of the " Annals of Com- 
 merce," and the accurate editor of Wyntoun, had been 
 selected by Thomson for editing the Rotuli Scotioi, and 
 was at this time regularly transmitting for his approval 
 the proof-sheets of that important record. Occasionally 
 his letters diverge into other matters. 
 
 From Mr. David M'Pherson. 
 " Church Terrace, Pancras, London, 29th December 1810. 
 
 " My dear Sir, .... I have looked into Chal- 
 mers's second volume. He seems more peaceable than in 
 
 I 
 
130 MEMOIR OF 
 
 the first, the only person I find him abusing being Dr. 
 Jamieson, the author of the Dictionary of the Scottish 
 language. But what shall we think of a man who pre- 
 tends to build a history of Scotland upon his knowledge of 
 languages, and is so exceedingly ignorant of even the 
 modern language of Scotland, (of which he has neverthe- 
 less taken upon him to publish a glossary,) as to say that 
 a ' cod' is a pillow-slip, and a ' Dornick buird-claith' is 
 a Damask table-cloth,* and whose Latin quotations are 
 quite full of blunders which a school-boy would not have 
 put out of his hands. 
 
 " Wishing you very many happy returns of the season, 
 I am, with real esteem and regard, my dear Sir, your 
 faithful humble servant, 
 
 " David M'Pherson." 
 
 On the 29th April 1811, he transmits proof-sheets as 
 usual, and says, ^' you will find by them that Lord Hailes 
 has rightly dated the siege of Dunbar, and you will find 
 in the subsequent Eecords that he has antedated the re- 
 covery of Stirling." Two months later he writes, — " I 
 have to acknowledge your favour of 15th May, wherein 
 you are pleased to say, you should like to put yourself to 
 school under me to learn the manufacture of indexes. 
 But I trust you need no schooling, in that or any other 
 branch of knowledge, from me. Some time ago being 
 
 * " I quote these from memory. See also Ins modernizations in note (I.) 
 of p. 44." 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 131 
 
 hindered from going on with the KoUs, I made a begin- 
 ning upon the index, which I wish, if I live to complete 
 it, to make an useful key to the thesaurus of British 
 history and antiquities, which has been buried so many 
 centuries in the Tower. But I find it too heavy a work 
 for me to carry on in concurrence with the KoUs, and 
 must give my undivided attention to it, after they are 
 finished." 
 
 From Professor Dugald Stewart. 
 
 " Wednesday, {Jan. 31, 1811.) 
 
 " Many thanks, my dear Sir, for the trouble you have so 
 kindly taken about the proof. I cannot well conceive how 
 I should have given it out of my hands in such a condi- 
 tion. I have desired Stark to shew it to you once more. 
 If you are not quite satisfied, I beg you may alter it 
 according to your own taste ; 
 
 Fm all submission ; what you'd have it make it. 
 
 " I am highly pleased with Ainslie. He gets on rather 
 slowly, but is by much the most correct transcriber I have 
 ever employed. I am glad matters have turned out no 
 worse at the last election in the K. Society. We are all 
 enchanted to hear of G. Elliott's success in his canvass. — 
 Yours ever most truly, 
 
 " D. S." 
 
 His commission required the Deputy Clerk-Eegister 
 yearly to report his proceedings in the exercise of his 
 
132 MEMOIR OF 
 
 office, and Thomson availed himself of those occasions to 
 preserve the past history of all the Records in Scotland, 
 as well as an account of their present state, their defects, 
 and the proceedings and attempts for their amendment. 
 His Fourth Report (presented July 10, 1811) was the 
 most elaborate, and in it is contained a mass of historical 
 and legal learning bearing on the origin and uses of our 
 Records, — of minute details regarding their state and pre- 
 servation, — of plans for pubHcation of Records, — of regula- 
 tions for their improvement in formation and custody, — 
 that cannot be regarded without admiration and astonish- 
 ment, when it is remembered that the Report was prepared 
 amidst the pressure of professional business, and of many 
 of the details of official duty which are described in it. 
 These valuable Reports were rendered annually till 1820, 
 when a year was allowed to pass without one. The four- 
 teenth was made in 1821 ; and Mr. Thomson unfortunately 
 did not continue the series longer. They are not of mere 
 ephemeral interest, but will always be studied by the 
 historical and legal antiquary of Scotland, as illustrating 
 both the genuine materials of its history, and the admira- 
 ble system of its records of private rights. They record 
 the zealous and sustained labour of a vigorous intellect 
 directed to a worthy object. 
 
 Horner's correspondence now slackens, not through his 
 fault. Yet there are letters of 1811 which it must have 
 been absolute pleasure for Thomson to answer, pouring 
 information out of his abundant store. Horner (Jan. 26, 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. l33 
 
 1811) informs him of a bill brought in by the Solicitor- 
 Oeneral of England, to render the freehold estates of those 
 who die in debt assets for the payment of their simple 
 contract debts, (a measure which did not pass till many 
 years after,) and demands upon what authority Stair and 
 Kaimes had laid it down that real estates in Scotland 
 were only made liable for debt by the statute of Alex. 11. , 
 c. 24, Horner had arrived at the right conclusion that 
 the statute of Alex. II. (if such a law was ever enacted) 
 was merely a declaration of the practice establislied from 
 the earliest period in Scotland, derived indeed from the 
 Koman law ; but when he includes in the same category 
 the famous statute 1469, against distraining of the poor 
 tenant for the lord's debts, it would have been very edify- 
 ing to have Thomson's commentary on that opinion. 
 
 The flagging correspondence was revived on occasion of 
 the marriage of Thomson's sister to Mr. Pillans. Horner 
 concludes a character of his old friend thus : — (Aug. 27, 
 1811,) " He is exactly the same person he was then, (when 
 they were in the same class at school,) and I have hardly 
 known any one of greater simplicity and uniformity of 
 character." 
 
 " I feel very often," writes Horner in the same letter, 
 " a great curiosity to know something of your proceedings 
 and labours, but as you never would write, and by your 
 evil example have made me as bad as yourself, I must 
 despair of knowing anything at all till I see you in large 
 folio. For it is an idle question to ask a man in a note, 
 
134 MEMOIR OF 
 
 shot once a year from the other end of the island, what 
 he has been doing for twelve months past. I hear now 
 and then of your protracted vigils," &c. 
 
 In this year began Thomson's acquaintance and corre- 
 spondence with the late Duke of Hamilton, who did not 
 very long survive him. His letters to Thomson sometimes 
 warm out of his usual very temperate style. He changes 
 his address from " Sir," to " My good Sir," and " My good 
 friend," and sometimes quite forgets the accustomed state - 
 liness. In entreating liim to visit Hamilton, (Oct. 14, 
 1811,) his Grace says, " Our common friend, Mr. Jeffrey, 
 has promised to be of the party, but if he has not a nose for 
 musty parchments, we will not admit him into our sanc- 
 tuary." The Duke acknowledged that it became a general 
 duty to assist Thomson's researches, and on one or two 
 occasions even so far overcame his timidity about per- 
 mitting his books or papers to be handled, as to intrust 
 him with documents from the collections of State papei-s 
 at Hamilton, when their publication happily tended to 
 the public benefit and the honour of his Grace's illus- 
 trious family. 
 
 In 1811 appeared the first volume of the Abridgment 
 of " Ketours," the first published volume of Thomson's 
 labours under the Record Commission. Such a series of 
 inquisitiones post mortem must have been valuable for the 
 local history and statistics of any country ; but in Scotland 
 it was doubly important, because there were not previously 
 accessible any of the materials or appaiatus for the study 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 135 
 
 of genealogy and land history which are found in other 
 countries. There were no books like Dugdale, no collec- 
 tions of ancient charters, no county histories founded on 
 authentic documents. A people not careless of birth and 
 hereditary honour, and taking some interest in the succes- 
 sive occupation of the soil, had hitherto been satisfied with 
 a few peerage writers repeating, one after another, the 
 unproved genealogies of their chief families. Those few 
 who required surer foundations, like Lord Hailes, had to 
 dig for charters in registers and private muniment rooms. 
 It is no wonder that the lawyer and antiquary hailed with 
 joy the publication of a collection like the " Eetours,'' and 
 an entire register of charters, like the Begistrum Magni 
 Sigilli, which speedily followed. 
 
 From Horner. 
 " Tuesday Evening, lUh July [1813, Loytdon."] 
 
 " My dear Thomson, — I am put into a fever by the 
 intelhgence of Lord Craig's death, particularly because I 
 hear it is given out at Edinburgh that the President has 
 said you ought to be his successor. I need not say what 
 satisfaction, on every public as well as private account, I 
 should derive from an appointment which would do much 
 honour to the President, and to the Government in follow- 
 ing his recommendation, and from which I should expect 
 so much advantage to the judicial institutions of Scotland. 
 In such an event, I hope you will be able to make some 
 arrangement for preserving in your own hands the efi'cctivo 
 
136 MEMOIR OF 
 
 superintendence of the Records, at least until your present 
 operations are brought to a close. I see nothing incom- 
 patible, but every thing the contrary, in the union of your 
 present office with that of a judge, unless the proper 
 business of the former engrosses more time than I think 
 you ought to allot to it, under any circumstances. Of 
 all this you are yourself the only competent judge ; but 
 in the hope that you may soon have such a decision to 
 make, I wish to put you in possession of my first impres- 
 sions. 
 
 " I think there is some chance of my being able to leave 
 this vile place on Thursday. — Ever affectionately yours, 
 
 " Fra. Horner." 
 
 From Mr. Pinkerton. 
 
 '' 18th August 1S13. 
 
 " My DEAR Sir, — When I returned from Raith I found 
 you were in London, and I now learn from Mr. Gillies, (at 
 whose house of Balmakuan, by Brechin, I now am,) that 
 you are well, and fixed at Edinburgh. I have passed my 
 summer both pleasantly and profitably at Melville, (many 
 important papers and charters — five of William the Lyon,) 
 Freeland, (curious monuments of the houses of ... . 
 and Gowrie,) Dunnichen, Middleton, Burnside, Spitalfield, 
 &c., &c., everywhere with the greatest kindness and 
 attention. 
 
 " Mr. Maule, with whom I passed some time at Brechin 
 Castle, took me over to Panmure for two days. I examined 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 137 
 
 all the MSS., (of which at meeting,) and brought six to 
 Brechin, of which I take two to Edinburgh by Mr. Maule's 
 permission. Bishop Reid's " Norway, Orkneys and Scot- 
 land," is a mere trifle, a short account of Norway and the 
 Orkneys, with the diploma, 1443, and a little chronicle of 
 Scotland extracted from Fordun, and closing as he does. 
 In the Extracta e Chronicis Scottce, I found some very 
 curious notices concerning Roman and Pikish antiquities 
 in Scotland, by Henry Sinclair, Dean of Glasgow, 1560. 
 There was in his time an inscription over the door of 
 Arthur's Oven, but which unluckily he does not copy. 
 
 " I learned at Brechin Castle, in company with Lord 
 Maitland, the Fergusons, &c., that you are spoken of as 
 the new Judge, in which case I hope you will name me as 
 your successor at the Register Office. Joking apart, my 
 thirst of our antiquities has been revived by this tour, the 
 many MSS., the sight of the carved pillars, &c., and I 
 mean to supplant the old vague histories, which, to my 
 surprise, I still find everywhere, by a general history of 
 Scotland, neither too short nor too long, in two thin vo- 
 lumes quarto, or four in octavo, in a popular manner, like 
 my geography. I hope it will sell like bread, and beg 
 your opinion as to the sum I should ask. This is my real 
 and sole literary intention at present, and any others were 
 merely floating ideas. 
 
 " I shall perhaps pass the winter at Edinburgh, as I 
 have discovered some property belonging to my mother, 
 which I must follow up. Mr. Robert Sym, W.S., George's 
 
138 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Square, has the papers, whom I have begged to send them 
 to my old crony, John Young, W.S., Castle Street. 
 
 " Blackwood and coadjutors have acted most meanly in 
 refusing any trifle on my ^ Enquiry,' till the whole be 
 finished. Am I obliged to go on correcting and enlarging, 
 Avithout any certainty, except his word^ that I shall be 
 paid at the end ? This is the more mean, as I referred 
 the whole at the first to himself. There is no term in the 
 language to express the contempt I feel at the vulgarity of 
 those literary midwives, which is the more apparent from 
 the contrast with the high and polite society in which I 
 move here as in England. The Dodsleys, Dillys and 
 Longmans were gentlemen ; but that race seems unknown 
 on this side the Tweed. 
 
 " Is there anything curious with Lord Arbuthnot ? Do 
 write to me, if so ; or anything else at Panmure ? Excuse 
 the postage, as Mr. Maule, 1 believe, is in the hills a 
 grouse shooting. — I ever am most cordially your own ^ 
 
 " J. PlNKERTON." 
 
 In the autumn of 1813 Jefirey went to America, and 
 left Thomson his vicegerent for the affairs of the Keview. 
 While detained at Liverpool, he writes to Thomson (10th 
 Aug.) — " I entreat you to meditate Keviews both day and 
 night, and to stimulate all the wise and good to lend their 
 aid to that good cause for which I have lived and bled 
 with such exemplary devotion." His next is from on 
 board ship. 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 139 
 
 Fkoxvi Jkffkey. 
 
 " On hoard the Mohert Burns, 
 29<7i August 1813, Sunday, 12 o'doch. 
 
 " My dear Thomson, — Here we are fairly in for it. 
 We expect to weigh anchor in an hour. The wind is 
 fair, and eveiything ready. 
 
 " We have an excellent ship, and no passengers but a 
 lady, and her five children — very fine babies, and the 
 name Scotch. Do not be alarmed about our detention on 
 the other side ; but if any alarm should arise of a more 
 serious nature than I foresee at present — ^for I think the 
 cloud will blow over — I shall reckon upon you and my 
 other friends using all your influence to get some protec- 
 tion and favour for me. At all events, it would be kind 
 to send some letters to persons of consideration at Halifax, 
 to obtain us a passage home, in a ship of war if possible, 
 in the event, which is not improbable, of our coming by 
 that route. Any letters to the Russian ambassador at 
 Washington might be of use to me. But I daresay you 
 will think of all these things. 
 
 " Send to Mackintosh if anything occurs to you. He 
 has been uniformly and actively kind to me, and I feel 
 almost ashamed of the trouble I have occasioned to him 
 and to all of you. 
 
 " God bless you, my dear Thomson, and do not let the 
 poor Review die till I come back, if any human exertions 
 can keep her alive. 
 
140 MEMOIR OF 
 
 " I am thinking to-day a great deal more of what I am 
 leaving than what I am going to, and shall continue to do 
 so, I believe, till I come back to you. I wrote to Murray 
 last night ; kindest remembrances to Mr. Playfair. It 
 would have been a comfort to me to have had one line 
 from him before sailing ; but I shall comfort myself with 
 thinking that I shall be sometimes remembered among you. 
 My lot in this old world has been eminently happy, and 
 chiefly in the kindness and excellence of the friends with 
 whom I have lived. If I die now, I shall be to be envied, 
 and if I live, I hope to live among the scenes and the 
 people whom it overcomes me a little too much to leave. 
 
 " We have plenty of stores and of room, and go di- 
 rectly to New York. If any opportunity occur of writ- 
 ing, either on the way, or before I can return, you may 
 
 depend upon my embracing it I could cry a 
 
 little with great good will this morning, if I could find a 
 quiet hole, but the ship is crowded with visitors, and it is 
 an effort to write this. — Believe me ever, my dear Thom- 
 son, very affectionately yours, 
 
 " F. Jeffrey." 
 
 " Pray tell Mackintosh that I would have written him 
 if we had not been hurried off at last. I could not write 
 to Minto, I had not the heart ; make my apology." 
 
 From Sir J. Mackintosh. 
 
 " Great George Street, 22fZ September 1813. 
 
 " Mt dear Sir, — I received a few days ago your letter 
 
THOMAS THOMSON, 141 
 
 from Minto, and delayed an answer till I could make it 
 definitive. I wrote to Jeffrey to Liverpool, to explain my 
 situation. I had been disabled from doing any important 
 service in the last Number, and I told him that I should 
 either send Burke, Kogers, and M. de StaeFs Germany, or, 
 if ill health absolutely disabled me, that I should give you 
 very early notice of my disability. On this day three weeks 
 I underwent a very severe operation, with the hope of 
 relief. I have not yet relinquished the hope of permanent 
 benefit from it, but, as might naturally be expected, it has 
 rather depressed and disturbed me in its first operation. 
 
 " I have notwithstanding finished Kogers, which is now 
 copying, and will be despatched to you by to-morrow's 
 post. It will, I suppose, occupy about twenty-four pages. 
 The thoughts belong to the time of health, though the 
 style will, I fear, sufficiently indicate indisposition. It is 
 not exactly the article which ought to open the Number. 
 But the progress of my health is so uncertain that I doubt 
 whether I ought to advise you to suspend your printing 
 for Burke. It is a subject which I do not wish to touch 
 till I can do my best. I am very strongly dissuaded by 
 my medical friends from much mental exertion. I go to 
 Cheltenham in a few days, and Parliament, you see, meets 
 for loans and subsidies early in November. All these cir- 
 cumstances make me very doubtful whether I ought to 
 make a painful and probably very unsuccessful effort on so 
 great a subject as Burke, which, if ever I regain my 
 strength, I believe myself better qualified to treat than any 
 
142 MEMOIR OF 
 
 other matter. When you receive Rogers, I should be glad 
 to hear from you your opinion on this point, and the pre- 
 cise time of printing and publishing the Number, which 
 would very much regulate my decision. 
 
 " If I should decide on still delaying Burke, I shall not 
 omit any effort to redeem my pledge to Jeffrey, by trying, 
 at Cheltenham, an article or two of easier execution. I 
 have hitherto sacrificed not a moment to dissipation or 
 indolence. Perhaps I have rather erred on the opposite 
 side, by struggling too much with my weakness. Your 
 London Advertiser is by the bye rather a severe critic on 
 my criticism. He excluded the title of my article alone 
 from the contents advertised in the London papers. 
 
 " Lady Mackintosh joins me in kindest remembrances. 
 — My dear Sir, most truly and respectfully yours, 
 
 " J. Mackintosh." 
 
 " My review of Madame de Stael will probably be a long 
 article. I shall send it within three or four weeks." 
 
 When the vice-editor had brought forth his autumn 
 number, it was not received with perfect complacency. 
 Mackintosh and Allen both complained of incorrect print- 
 ing of their papers. In a letter of November 1813, 
 Horner reviews the Reviewer. He is not pleased with the 
 unqualified praise of Madame de Stael. " I have read only 
 Mackintosh's two articles, which contain many brilliant 
 passages and some original speculations, though they are 
 wonderfully ill composed in point of style. . . . It is 
 
THOMAS THOMSON* 143 
 
 very much to be regi-etted that the Edinburgh Keview, 
 ' that scourge of impostors, the terror of quacks/ has upon 
 this occasion laid by its thunders, when a work [cfe VAlle- 
 magne] was before that tribunal which is calculated to 
 make way for whatever it contains, by the reputation of 
 the author, as well as by the genius with which some 
 parts of it are written, and which contains much that Ls 
 repugnant to good sense and rational morality, as well as 
 vicious in point of feeling. Jefifrey, however, himself set 
 the example in his account of the same author's work 
 upon literature. Much and lasting injury will be done 
 wherever the Edinburgh Keview is read, by the unqualified 
 approbation which it will be understood to have bestowed 
 upon a great deal of nonsense that looks like ^ne writing, 
 and a great deal of paradox, artifice, and exaggeration, that 
 pretend to the character of good feeling." 
 
 The new year found Thomson in correspondence for a 
 new number of the Keview. 
 
 From Sir J. Mackintosh. 
 
 " Great George Street, 12th January 1814. 
 
 " My dear Sir, — I am obliged to pass two days at the 
 end of this week at Lord Grenville's at Dropmore. When 
 I return I shall devote every instant to Burke, and hope 
 to finish it by the time mentioned in Mr. Murray's letter. 
 But I require full time. 
 
 " The articles which appear to me almost the only 
 materials for the next Number are few. Among thern are 
 
144 MEMOIR OF 
 
 ^ Sismondi, Litterature du Midi/ in four vols., including 
 Italy, Spain, and Portugal ; ' Lettres de Jean de Miiller ; 
 Ginguene, Histoire de la Litterature Italienne ;' ' Letters 
 from the Bodleian, with the Aubrey MS. ;' Lord Byron's 
 ' Bride of Abydos,' and ^ Corsair,' now in the press. 
 
 " The first is excellent, but the difficulty is to find a 
 reviewer. To make a learned or a philosophical review of 
 it, requires very rare attainments, besides great power. An 
 amusing article might without much difficulty be made 
 out of it. Either that or Lord Byron, or perhaps both, I 
 might undertake, after Burke, in case of need. I recom- 
 mended Sismondi to Allen, ^:ho declined. The Aubrey 
 MSS. are curious, and might oEuid amusing extracts. So 
 would Miiller. 
 
 " The prodigious success of the Allies is daily causing 
 the tide to set more strongly towards despotism and super- 
 stition. Whether any resistance at this moment be wise 
 is a question that I must leave to you. In the midst of 
 my vexatious and obstinate indisposition, I am indignant 
 and alarmed at the dreadful example and consequences of 
 a king given to France by Cossacks. 
 
 " I passed two days of last week with your friends, the 
 Glenbervies, at Brighton. They are terrible Tories, like 
 everybody else. 
 
 " Most affectionate remembrance to Wilson and his 
 nieces from Lady M. and myself. May I again remind 
 you of a nephew of Lady M.'s at Mr. Playfair s. I am 
 ready for Mr. Stewart's book, if it be sent me by the coach. 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 145 
 
 " Best remembrances to all my Edinburgh friends. — 
 Ever yours, 
 
 " J. Mackintosh.'' 
 
 Jeffrey's return in summer allowed Thomson to give his 
 undivided time once more to the Kegister House and his 
 profession. In autumn his kind old friend Lord Frederick 
 Campbell was with him, engaged in repairs and re- 
 arrangement of the Record Offices, part of which, exceed- 
 ing the funds provided for the purpose, Lord Frederick 
 determined to execute at his own expense. It was the 
 last visit to Edinburgh of the venerable Lord Clerk- 
 Eegister, who had laid the foundation-stone of the present 
 General Register House in 1774, (27th June.) 
 
 From Lord F. Campbell. 
 
 " Qiieen St., 3Iay Fair, Saturday, 
 Nov. 5, 1814. 
 
 " My dear Sir, — You will not be sorry to hear that we 
 arrived here on Tuesday last, weather and roads being 
 most favourable. In our way we passed a complete day 
 at Tyningham, and another at Paxton House; leaving 
 all our friends in perfect health. 
 
 " I hastened on Wednesday to the Secretary of State's 
 office, very impatient to know that the Berne MS. was 
 arrived. No such thing. But all is safe in our Minister s 
 hands, who only waits for a secure conveyance to send it 
 to this country. 
 
 K 
 
146 MEMOIR OF 
 
 " On Thursday a very happy triumvirate dined at my 
 house — Chalmers, Caley, and your humble servant. We 
 were in fact in and about the Register House all day, 
 rejoicing in all you had done, and was to do so soon. 
 Your health of course was drank with three times three, 
 
 " I am making up an express of business to Mr. Ferrier 
 and Mr. Reid ; so this scrap gets to you by the bye. 
 
 " The Speaker tells me he is to be in town this evening. 
 He will be hardly able to hear my agreeable tale, I am 
 afraid, till the business of ParUament is in some train. — 
 With many good wishes, my dear Sir, yours most faith- 
 
 fully, 
 
 " Fred*^- Campbell." 
 
 In spring of 1815, Jeffrey was again preparing to leave 
 the management of the Review in Thomson's hands dur- 
 ing his tour on the Continent. 
 
 From Jeffrey. 
 
 " 92, George Street, 1th March 1815. 
 
 " My dear Thomson, — Pray, do consider that you pro- 
 mised to review Gray for me near ?iYQ months ago, and 
 that I am going to France, only if I can get my affairs set 
 in such order as to make it allowable for me to go. Do 
 not refuse to help me to my passport, by doing what you 
 ought to have done long ago, and will never do with more 
 comfort than in the course of next week. I have begun 
 printing, and reckon on having the conclusion matter 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 147 
 
 read by the 22d, when I expect to get off. You must be 
 conscious that I have spared you to the very last moment, 
 and that my necessity is now extreme. — ^Ever most truly 
 yours, 
 
 " F. Jeffrey." 
 
 From the Marquis op Douglas, (afterwards Duke of 
 Hamilton.) 
 
 " Hamilton Palace, Septerriber 30, 1815. 
 
 " As I suppose, my good friend, that you are to be found 
 through the medium of Edinburgh, I shall send these few 
 lines there as the most secure mode of arresting you. Let 
 me congratulate you this year upon the convenient weather 
 you have enjoyed in that metropolis. I understand water 
 has been so plenty, that neither a dirty face nor an empty 
 tea-pot has been to be discovered through the whole spring 
 and summer. 
 
 " Since my arrival in Scotland I have hardly been at 
 this place until now ; my various plans and projects, par- 
 ticularly those in the Island of Arran, have jaunted me 
 about (upon a small scale) like the sovereigns of Europe 
 in search of the happiness and independence of France. 
 At length I am about to rest myself after my wanderings, 
 and I am anxious that you should know it, in hopes that 
 you will be able to steal away from the charms of Edin- 
 burgh contentions, and pass a few days with me in the 
 Vale of Clyde. I cannot answer for myself fully until the 
 tenth of next month ; but as soon as vou can after tliat 
 
148 MEMOIB OF 
 
 peiiod come over, I shall be most happy to see you, and I 
 need not say, I hope, that the longer you can contrive to 
 remain, the more shall I be satisfied with your visit. 
 
 " Is it true that Jeffrey is setting off for Paris without 
 delay ? Does he mean to succeed Fouche ? I wish he 
 would go and prompt our great men ; for as things are 
 now going on, we may look forward to another volume of 
 the old work, and revieiving it will not remedy the present 
 evil. — Believe, with sentiments of regard and esteem, your 
 most obedient servant, &c. &c. &c., 
 
 " Douglas & Clydesdale." 
 
 From Mackintosh. 
 
 '* Weedon Lodge, near Aylesbury, 
 Id October 1815. 
 
 " Dear Thomson, — Here, after long fluctuation and 
 wearisome search, we are at length well or ill fixed. Our 
 place is very small, rather neat and cheerful, and at a con- 
 venient distance from a good deal. Lady Holland caUs 
 our neighbourhood a cold boggy country infested by Gren- 
 villes. The depth of the soil and the roads is in truth a 
 serious objection to it. When you visit London we hope 
 you will deviate from your direct course to give us a day. 
 How is Wilson ? Remember us to him most kindly. 
 
 " I received a few days ago an anonymous letter, with 
 apparently the Stirling post-mark, containing a series of 
 epigrams on the name of your new bridge. Some of them 
 are so good that I wish I knew the epigi*ammatist. 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 149 
 
 " Jeffrey wrote to me that you were to be his viceroy. 
 I therefore write that I have half written a large article 
 to open the Keview, on Mr. Elphinstone's embassy to 
 Cabul, just coming, and that it will be despatched to you 
 as soon as I receive information from you that you are at 
 Edinburgh and ready to receive it. Whether I ought to 
 notice WraxalFs answer I really do not know. He cannot 
 be lower than he places himself. But I should like to be 
 advised. What do you think ? — Ever yours truly, 
 
 " J. Mackintosh." 
 
 " Kemember me very kindly to Gillies when you see 
 him. Tell him that I have returned to home, but more 
 moderately than thirty years ago." 
 
 Jeffrey's next letter announces his return to England : — 
 
 " Dover, Wednesday, 25th October 1815. 
 
 " My DEAR Thomson, — Once more safe on English 
 ground, after a very wet, windy, and distressful voyage from 
 Calais — and very glad to find myself there, not more from 
 horror of the voyage than love of home. I was quite long 
 enough in France, I think. You have no idea of any 
 country being in such a state ; and I am almost confident 
 that you will hear of an explosion there again before 
 Christmas, or soon after. I should rather say that the 
 Government is in a perilous state : for as to the country, 
 and the city, too, it has an amazingly tranquil aspect ; but 
 whoever has the least access to the considerable people in 
 
150 MEMOIR OF 
 
 either faction — for party is too weak a word — must see 
 that they are irreconcilable, full of deadly hate, fear, and 
 jealousy, and agreeing in nothing but their resolution, or 
 rather their fierce and eager passion, to sacrifice the peace 
 and the prospects of the country to the doubtful chance 
 of being able to glut their vindictive rage against each 
 other. The Courfc, on the whole, I think is most to 
 blame, though its passions are less exalted and less dar- 
 ing ; but it had all the game in its hands, and has thrown 
 it away with the most tremendous and inconceivable 
 folly, of which the most glaring inconsistency is but an 
 insignificant feature. Knowing even the little I did know, 
 it was impossible not to feel that there was not an hour of 
 security in Paris, and that quitting the French shore was 
 an escape from some hazard of life and liberty. I passed 
 my time on the whole tolerably in Paris, having Samuel 
 Kogers to breakfast with every morning, and to dine with 
 whenever I could not do better ; seeing a reasonable deal 
 of the Constitutionalists — who, entre nous, are not very 
 far from Napoleonists and Jacobins — by means of Kin- 
 naird. Constant, De Stael, La Fayette, Humboldt, and the 
 Institute people, and both hearing and seeing a good deal 
 of the Koyalists, through Simon's friend Hauterive and 
 Hyde de Neuville. The sights in the morning, and the 
 spectacles in the evening, I confess rather fatigued me, as 
 you know I am no seer of sights, and not easily diverted 
 with professed diversion ; but I made it a conscience to go 
 to them, and mean to indemnify myself for the ennui I 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 151 
 
 sometimes endured from them by talking of them in the 
 
 most ennuyeux manner all the rest of my life 
 
 " The chief use of going abroad is to make one fonder 
 of home — ^though that was not very necessary for me — and 
 to satisfy scrupulous people that men and things are much 
 the same everywhere. Tell Murray I am decidedly of 
 opinion that French cookery is bad, their fruit poor, and 
 their wine middHng. Tell him, moreover, that I have not 
 ordered any champagne, not, however, for this reason, for 
 I admit there are exceptions to the general rule ; but be- 
 cause I was told that the champagne man had gone from 
 home, &c. ... I am very willing to be tried by a fair club 
 jury for my whole conduct in this affair, and though I am 
 sensible that no charge is so difficult to meet as that of 
 not doing everything that a constant zeal for the service 
 required, I don't despair of an honourable acquittal, or at 
 least of being restored to my rank after a sKght reprimand. 
 Tell the said Murray, moreover, that his friend De Saade 
 was in the country all the time I was in France, that I 
 found Gallois very intelligent and agreeable, and Chevalier 
 exceedingly kind and good humoured, but raving mad 
 with royalism and anti-Jacobinism. The rage against the 
 EngHsh and Wellington is incredible, and pervades all 
 ranks and all parties. The said great lord has certainly 
 behaved foolishly, though not in a way to justify the ab- 
 surd and atrocious clamours that are made everywhere 
 about him in Paris. ... I likewise saw Bobus Smith 
 on his way to Italy, and Komilly on his way from it, and 
 
152 MEMOIR OF 
 
 . . . . , and fifty English besides ; and I exchanged 
 visits with Talma, and submitted to the interroga- 
 tions of old Madame Suard. Tell Mr. Playfair, im- 
 primis, that the women in Paris are not handsome ; and, 
 2dOj that he is at least as well known at the Institute 
 there as at the Koyal Society in Edinburgh. If it be true, 
 as the Duke of Bedford told me the other day, that he has 
 been lounging away all the time of my absence in England, 
 he is never to be forgiven for not coming with us. I hope 
 he is doing something for the Keview, and that Mackintosh 
 has done something, and you, and others. I of course 
 have done nothing, and am more incapable of it than ever ; 
 at all events, write to me to York, and let me come back 
 to my post with some sort of notion of the way in which it 
 is to be maintained. God bless you. — Ever yours, &c., 
 
 " F. Jeffrey." 
 
 The following sentence of a letter from the Secretary of 
 the Kecord Commission, (9th Nov. 1815,) is preserved to 
 show a useful design of Thomson's, which it is not yet too 
 late to fulfil. The stores of our Record OflSces in both 
 countries are very imperfectly known to the general 
 scholar. 
 
 " Your proposed Summary Account of all the Records 
 in the General Register House, to be annexed to your next 
 Annual Report, is highly approved of ; you are earnestly 
 desired not to omit the insertion of it. It is thought it will 
 perpetuate the stock of knowledge, which peculiar circum- 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 153 
 
 stances have given you the power of communicating, more 
 than any Kecord officer of Scotland has ever possessed 
 before yourself." 
 
 In the year 1816 was finally produced the dissertation 
 on " Old Extent," upon which, more than any other 
 single effort, Thomson's character as a profound legal 
 antiquary has been thought to rest. Mr. Gibson's vote for 
 the county of Edinburgh in 1812, having been objected 
 to, the case was litigated for two years, and after a " hear- 
 ing in presence," the Court ordered " mutual memorials" 
 upon the whole cause. That order was pronounced on the 
 10th June 1814, and was renewed by five successive inter- 
 locutors under various penalties, until Thomson's pleading 
 was at length lodged, bearing date 24th February 1816. 
 The precise point in dispute was the right to make up the 
 requisite amount to complete the qualification of a forty- 
 shilling land of old extent, by including lands, originally 
 church lands, but held latterly, immediately of the Crown 
 in feu-ferme. In the face of an undisputed rule — that 
 any retour prior to 1681 was to be held evidence of that 
 particular species of territorial taxation — he had to con- 
 tend that a retour of 1654, setting forth in terms the 
 requisite amount of old extent, gave that name errone- 
 ously to the annual duty of lands held in feu-ferme of a 
 subject superior. The difficulty of the task perhaps ex- 
 cited Thomson. He put forth all his strength, and while 
 he kept his object constantly in view, produced a disserta- 
 tion which investigates the origin of land taxation in 
 
154 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Scotland, enriched witL an amount of record learning and 
 historical inquiry, such as were perhaps never before 
 brought to bear on a question of private right. It was not 
 to be expected that such a subject could be rendered 
 popular or pleasant to the general reader, though John 
 Clerk, who had to answer his pleading, declared that it 
 " exhibited, with the greatest talent, a degree of know- 
 ledge and research perhaps unparalleled in the Court;" 
 and Lord Glenlee, a judge of various and high accom- 
 plishment, declared that to read Thomson's " Old Ex- 
 tent," was to him like reading a lost decade of Livy. 
 It has been truly said (what cannot be said of many law 
 pleadings) that the ancient public history of his country 
 will not be written fitly without careful study of that 
 remarkable paper. 
 
 The case was decided on 16th May 1816, in favour of 
 Mr. Gibson. 
 
 From Horner. 
 
 " London, Monday, 2Qth May 1816. 
 
 " My dear Thomson, — I hear you left my quarters on 
 Saturday evening, and I fear you had a very chilling night 
 for your journey. You must let me hear in what condi- 
 tion you reach the end of it ; but I am not so unreasonable 
 as to ask you to do anything more. 
 
 " I have had an agreeable excursion into a beautiful 
 country, though the sun did not look out upon it till we 
 were about to come away this morning. I made the 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 155 
 
 journey both there and back again, with Grattan ; and had 
 him all to myself. He gave me characters of all the Irish 
 politicians and orators of his time, a sort of conversation 
 which he takes pleasure in, and has great success ; and I 
 got him to-day to narrate all his proceedings in the famous 
 1782, of which he told me many particulars that I knew 
 nothing of before. I urged him much to present these 
 details in a memoir of his own writing, and he did not 
 seem averse to the idea. While we were at Sharp's, his 
 chief conversation was about his favourite poets, the only 
 books, with the exception of Demosthenes and Cicero, 
 that he seems to have much acquaintance with. — My dear 
 Thomson, very truly yours, 
 
 " Fra. Horner." 
 
 To Horner. 
 
 " Edinburgh, May 25, 1816. 
 
 " My dear Horner, — I was much gratified by your 
 note of Monday last. As your excursion could not fail to 
 be a delightful one, I flatter myself it has done you good 
 in all respects. My journey was not delightful, but was 
 abundantly expeditious. I came on without stopping, 
 and arrived here on Tuesday morning, &c 
 
 " Walter Scott has covenanted to write a popular His- 
 tory of Scotland, from the earliest period down to 1745, 
 in four or five volumes 8vo, to be sent to press at next 
 Christmas. It will be a very amusing book, I have no 
 doubt — full of eiTors and mistaken views ; but these he 
 
166 MEMOIR OF 
 
 will gradually weed out in the course of successive edi- 
 tions, and I should not wonder at its becoming a favourite 
 book in this country for ages to come. It will not, how- 
 ever, be a good history ; it will rather be a collection of 
 striking descriptions and characters, with little of true 
 historical connexion. In some of its minute details, he 
 will contrive to make the work extremely amusing. — 
 Yours, my dear Horner, most aflfectionately, 
 
 '' Tho. Thomson.'^ 
 
 From Horner. 
 
 « London, 30«A May 1816. 
 
 "My dear Thomson, — ... I have seen Playfair, 
 and no more ; but I was glad to find him looking so stout. 
 He seems robust enough for all he is going to undertake. 
 You must take care to make a satisfactory arrangement 
 for him next winter, that he may have it free for Italy. 
 We shall all be the better for it. 
 
 " Scott's facility is wonderful ; his own confidence in it 
 perhaps still more so. But I dare say he will make an 
 amusing history, and provided he writes one that becomes 
 popular, he will do a real service to our countrymen ; for 
 a favourite history with the people must strengthen their 
 attachments to the country. In the early days, while 
 liberty and patriotism were aristocratic distinctions, he will 
 be on their side ; indeed, no historian, especially a poetic 
 one, 430uld fail to be right about Bruce and Wallace. But 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 157 
 
 I fear he will be a mere Jacobite, when he comes down to 
 
 the Kefonnation and the civil war. 
 
 " Kemember me to Mr. Wilson. I hear of him from 
 
 Alexander. — Yours affectionately, 
 
 " Fra. Horner." 
 
 From Thomson. 
 
 " Edinburgh, June 11, 1816. 
 
 " My dear Horner, — Our truly excellent friend Mr. 
 Wilson died this morning. He went to bed last night in 
 his usual health. Adam had sat with him till half-past 
 ten, and though he was a little languid, he was apparently 
 well. His servant found him lifeless at eight this morning. 
 It was probably an apoplectic attack, and had been accom- 
 panied with a slight degree of sickness, in consequence of 
 which he appeared to have raised himself on his elbow, and 
 vomited a little, but there was no appearance of his having 
 suffered any pain. This account I had from young Dr. 
 Alison, who was instantly sent for. I have not yet had 
 time to reflect what a heavy loss we have sustained. Mr. 
 Wilson was of a class which has at all times been a very 
 small one, and of that class the most perfect, perhaps, that 
 
 I have had the good fortune to be acquainted with 
 
 Mr. Wilson was with me about two hours last Friday 
 evening, and though he looked indifferently, I thought his 
 mind uncommonly alert. One of his reasons for calling 
 was to inquire if I had heard anything of Lady Glenbervie, 
 of whom he undei-stood there were very bad accounts in 
 London. 
 
158 MEMOIR OF 
 
 " I have written to nobody but you. Pray inform Mr, 
 Lens and Sir S. Eomilly. 
 
 " This morning's post has brought me the account of 
 poor Lord F. Campbell's death. This I shall feel as a 
 private loss, and probably as a public misfortune. We 
 
 shall get no such Lord Kegister as Lord F 
 
 Yours, my dear Homer, most affectionately, 
 
 " Tho. Thomson." 
 
 From Dr. M^Crie. 
 
 " Nkolsm Street, 1th May 1817. 
 
 " My dear Sir, — If I am not mistaken, the old MS., 
 which I now return to you, will turn out to be of greater 
 curiosity than the two which I returned this morning. I 
 apprehend it to be a copy of the three last hooks of Bishop 
 Lesley's history, as written (I mean composed in Scotch) 
 by himself. I have compared it with the Latin, and find 
 very little difference between the two — not greater than 
 might be expected, upon the supposition that the author 
 afterwards turned it into Latin. In his Dedication to 
 Queen Mary of his three last books, he expressly says, that 
 he had written them first in Scots, (nostra lingua,) that in 
 that form he had presented them to the Queen, and that, 
 since that period, he had translated them into Latin, and 
 added the history of the preceding period. 
 
 '' Bishop Nicolson says that separate copies of the three 
 last Books are in the library at Oxford, but I do not know 
 whether he means to say that they are in Latin or in 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 159 
 
 Engliah. {Scottish Hist. Library, p. Ill, 8vo ed.) You 
 can ascertain this by an examination of the catalogue to 
 which he refers. 
 
 " Lord Leven's MS. wants a leaf or two both at begin- 
 ning and end. 
 
 " As I cannot find leisure to see you, I will take it 
 kindly that you let me know, by a single line, what you 
 think of my conjecture. — Meantime, in great haste I am, 
 my dear Sir, ever yours, 
 
 " Tho. M'Crie." 
 
 From Sir A. Boswell. 
 
 " AmUnleck, October 30, 1817. 
 
 " Dear Sir, — I forwarded the MS. by our carrier. I am 
 sorry to say, that excepting that the handwriting marks an 
 early date, it appears to have no interest 
 
 " I must take this favourable opportunity of thanking 
 you most gratefully for your liberality to me in your dona- 
 tions. All I can offer in return, is the assurance that no 
 one values them more, or will preserve them more care- 
 fully. 
 
 " The objects to which you have given the exertions of 
 an ardent mind and a clear head, are not those which cap- 
 tivate the mob. But you must console yourself with the 
 proud reflection, that you have bestowed an inestimable 
 boon, which all whose opinion you would wish to court 
 must fully appreciate. I have often expressed how fortu- 
 nate a circumstance it has been for your country, that an 
 
160 MEMOIR OF 
 
 individual should have arisen, possessing so much discrimi- 
 nation and sound judgment, so much enthusiasm to bear 
 through so arduous a task, such unconquerable perseve- 
 rance, combined with taste and liberal sentiment. It is 
 rare to find such labours, which are generally abandoned 
 to some dull drudge, performed by a man of genius. Had 
 you not submitted to dogged industry which would have 
 made the dullest man recoil, it were hopeless to have ex- 
 pected such a series of volumes of reference, admirable in 
 the arrangement, and unquestionable in authority. With 
 the deepest conviction of the value of what you have already 
 achieved, I must earnestly urge you to go on. — I am, my 
 dear Sir, yours very faithfully, 
 
 " Alexander Boswell." 
 
 From Dugald Stewart. 
 
 " KinneU House, ^th December 1817. 
 
 " My dear Sir, — I ought to have sent you the enclosed 
 paper long ago, but I had unluckily stuck it into the leaves 
 of a large folio, and only stumbled upon it this morning. 
 I shall be truly glad to hear that Mr. Bowditch is elected, 
 as he is very strongly recommended by some of the first 
 names in America, and as I know that Sir J. Banks has 
 himself recommended him to the Koyal Society of London. 
 
 " Your syllogistic inferences from the consuhstantiality 
 and consequent co-locality of two of Bernier's volumes, 
 were so consolatory to my mind, that I shall l)e disposed 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 161 
 
 henceforth to speak with more tenderness of that mode of 
 reasoning." 
 
 The rest of Stewart's letter is about an edition of Ber- 
 nier's Gassendi, which he hoped through Thomson's means 
 to get, either from the Advocates' Library or Lord Grlen- 
 lee's. The conclusion is by Mrs. Stewart : — 
 
 " The above will show you how much amused the master 
 was with yours. He bid me keep it, for that it might 
 ^ learn me a good lock logic' This he explained by telling 
 me of a fellow-student of his, a Mr. Watson, now minister in 
 Lanarkshire. Mr. S. observed he had been late of coming, 
 as it was now December. ^ Ay,' said he, ' I had to stay 
 till the stacks were theaked, and I maun be hanie afore 
 the oat-seed ; but 111 ha'e gotten a good lock logic or than.' 
 I thought this story would amuse you, my dear child, as it 
 did me. You good people in Edinburgh seem all mad 
 with public meetings, &c., &c., not to speak of pamphlets 
 and magazines. Write to me news and stories — we need 
 them. Our poor fellow has had the fever which has deso- 
 lated Trinidad. He says he is better again, and to sail 
 the end of October, but till we see him, days are like 
 months. 
 
 " I wonder if my brother Henry has taken Kirkmichael, 
 
 (his brother-in-law's house,) &c Adieu, my 
 
 dearest bairn, yours ever." 
 
 In the autumn of 1818, (26th October,) Jeffrey, then 
 detained under the surgeon's hands at Glasgow, writes to 
 Thomson about a proposed visit of Sidney Smith, — '^ I 
 
 L 
 
162 MEMOIR OF 
 
 wrote to him yesterday, but in case he should have left 
 home before my letter could reach him, I think it right to 
 premonish you, as the head of the faithful in Edinburgh, 
 that some other arrangement may be adopted for that 
 apostolic person on his arrival. If Murray cannot house 
 him, perhaps you might take the holy man into a cham- 
 ber in the wall under your roof ; at all events see that he 
 has a cruse of water and a crust somewhere." 
 
 To Lord Minto. 
 
 *' Edinburgh, April 24, 1819. 
 
 " My dear Lord, — Before this time you must have 
 received the sad intelligence of poor Lord Webb's death. 
 It had happened two days before my return to Edinburgh, 
 and though I had, like you, heard of the Duke's sudden 
 journey into Scotland, I was utterly unprepared for so 
 sudden a termination of his life. .... He is to be 
 buried to-day in the chapel of Holyrood House. The per- 
 sons invited are, I understand, the few who lived in some 
 degTee of intimacy with him. 
 
 " There is something altogether sad in Lord Webb's 
 fate. His was a life of preparation for intellectual exer- 
 tions and enterprises, for which the ordinary endurance of 
 human life was quite inadequate, Kemembering what he 
 was fifteen years ago, one could not have anticipated so 
 speedy an exhaustion of a constitution which seemed 
 naturally so sound and vigorous. 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 163 
 
 " May I beg to be remembered to Lady Minto. — Ever 
 yours, my dear Lord, niost affectionately, 
 
 " Tho. Thomson." 
 
 To THE Same. 
 
 « Edirihurgh, July 24, 1819. 
 
 " My dear Lord Minto, — Mr. Playfair's funeral takes 
 place on Monday at two o'clock, and I understand that 
 besides the persons invited as his private friends, it is to 
 be attended by the magistrates of the town, the professors, 
 the members of the Koyal Society and of the Astronomical 
 Institution. I was at Kinneil yesterday, and found that 
 Mr. Stewart was determined to be present — much against 
 
 the remonstrances of his family It is a loss 
 
 to us all, which it is vain to think of expressing by words. 
 
 " Eemember me with ail kindness to Lady Minto, and 
 believe me ever faithfully yours, 
 
 " Tho. Thomson." 
 
 From Sin A. Bos well. 
 
 ''Auckinleck, Augtist 11, 1819. 
 
 " My dear Sir, — Let me begin with your roguish 
 lawyer-like interpretation of my letter, when you say that 
 * I no longer think you deserving of an invitation,** when 
 you well know I only adverted to the hopelessness of the 
 appeal. I meet your waggery with that destruction of all 
 jest, matter of fact, for whatever I may allow you on other 
 points, this is no joke. 
 
164 MEMOIR OF 
 
 " However Bellenden has come to you, I am glad he is 
 found, and as you have so kindly offered your aid, have 
 the goodness to have him plainly bound, and as much of 
 the old copy (although mended) preserved as possible. 
 
 ^' What you are pleased to say of the Auchinleck collec- 
 tion is possible^ but not very probable. If I live I shall 
 certainly endeavour to increase it ; but in that depart- 
 ment, viz., books relating to Scotland, I have unfortu- 
 nately started too late, as they now bear a most exor- 
 bitant price. I gave £8, or guineas, for Phillips's defence 
 of Queen Mary, and all others, of an early date, are in 
 very great request in the south. It is much to be lament- 
 ed that the Advocates did not see tlie value of such a 
 collection long ago. Even now as a national library they 
 ought to direct their attention to such books as relate to 
 the history and progress of the literature of Scotland, for 
 there should not be a book in existence connected with 
 either that is not to be found in that collection. 
 
 " I am now reduced to that situation that I have no more 
 room for books, and must put book-cases in our bed-rooms, 
 and this without having many books. I do not like to 
 remove any of the books on which my worthy grandfather 
 set a value, although I must get rid of some of his copies, 
 having purchased better. I bought Protheroe's copy of 
 Thesaurus Stephani, large paper ^ with all the supplements, 
 and Budaeiis inlaid to correspond, in all eleven volumes, 
 which I believe was once sold for £120. I therefore think 
 myself entitled to dispose of Lord Auchinleck's small paper, 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 165 
 
 without the supplemeuts ; but unless I supply a better, 1 
 keep all my grandfather''s, out of respect to his exertions, 
 which I regret were not greater at so favourable a time. 
 
 " Have you chosen a librarian for the Advocates' Library ? 
 I feel an hereditary interest in that collection, and hope to 
 see it in much better train. 
 
 " You say you are at your dull post. I know you aro 
 not there for nothing, and therefore pity you less, as I 
 look for the result. Auchinleck is in the county of Ayr, 
 thirteen miles from Kilmarnock, through which a coach 
 passes every day on the road to Dumfries, and the said 
 coach passes within one mile and one half of the said 
 Auchinleck, where there is a spare bed, victuals, and 
 drink. — I am, ray dear Sir, yours faithfully, 
 
 " Alexander Boswell." 
 
 I find Thomson during these years in close correspondence 
 with Mr. Dawson Turner and Sir Francis Palgrave, and 
 yet on friendly terms with the rival antiquary. Sir Harris 
 Nicolas, who wanted information about orders of knight- 
 hood and changes of the calendar. Mr. Henry Petrie 
 sometimes consulted him about his great undertaking of 
 the " Materials for the history of Great Britain ;" Sir Cuth- 
 bert Sharp about the " Rising in the North," 15G9 ; Lord 
 Dover about the Gowrie conspiracy ; Mr. Lister about 
 Clarendon. His learning and store of information were 
 useful to book-collectors like Richard Heber, Mr. Thomas 
 Grenville, Dr. Dibdin, and Mr. Beltz of the Heralds' College. 
 
166 MEMOIR OF 
 
 He corresponded with the late Duke of Hamilton, and his 
 brother Lord Archibald, with Lord and Lady Holland, 
 with Mr. Stewart Mackenzie, and other leading Whigs. 
 In the crowd of letters on antiquarian and historical 
 subjects now before me, I only find one correspondent 
 of Thomson who generally rather gave than received 
 information. That was his valued friend the Very 
 Eev. John Lee, now Principal of the University of 
 Edinburgh. His old and attached friend Thomas Ken- 
 nedy of Dunure advised with him about those projects 
 of reform, most of which have now become law. Dr. 
 M^Crie drew upon him for those original historical 
 documents which he knew to turn to such admirable 
 account. Dr. Jamieson consulted him about his Scot- 
 tish Dictionary and his edition of Barbour; General 
 Hutton Avas assisted by him in his painful collec- 
 tion for a " Monasticon Scotise." Mackintosh paid him 
 the compliment of begging for his opinion of the sad 
 story of Glenco, in preference even to documents, — 
 " Remember your promise about Glenco. I value your 
 view of the subject much more than even materials 
 which you might add." — (Letter from Weedon Lodge, 
 cir. 1815.) The late Earl of Minto was one of his 
 earliest friends ; the present Earl honoured him with the 
 most confidential intercourse ; Mr. Whisiiaw is found 
 (1818) introducing to him " Mr. Everett, the Greek 
 professor elect of the American University of Cambridge, 
 well known to Lord Lansdowne and others of your 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 167 
 
 friends -" Allen, and the other friends of Moore, desired 
 his opinion as to the safety of the sanctuary of Holyrood 
 against his creditors and a Crown writ; the late Lord 
 Spencer, among other common pursuits, took his assist- 
 ance for procuring a copy by Raeburn of the Dupplin 
 picture of the poet Spenser ; Mr. Hodgson acknowledged 
 his obligation for help in his Northumbrian history ; 
 Joanna Baillie (March 1, 1822) writes to him, — " I take 
 pride in thinking you have published that interesting 
 narrative (it was Lady Murray's memoirs of her mother, 
 Grissell Baillie) the earlier for what I have said on the 
 subject, and the world is so far obliged to me." 
 
 He had a high reputation as a peerage lawyer, not so 
 much for his memory for pedigrees, as for his extensive 
 knowledge of the principles of law that govern them. 
 Even after he had left the Bar, he was consulted in every 
 important peerage case that occurred. Lord Bute's corres- 
 pondence was about the title-deeds and the conveyancing of 
 his estates, as well as the curious Bute MS. of old laws and 
 styles. Mr. J. P. Wood, the editor of a vastly improved 
 Scotch peerage, in acknowledging the benefit he had derived 
 from his advice, as well as the free access afforded him to the 
 public records, observes of some historical letters in Thom- 
 son's hands, — " No person is better fitted to make a proper 
 use of them than one of whom Dr. Parr said that he was 
 the most accomplished man that he had met with in Scot- 
 land." I do not know on what authority that dictum of the 
 learned Doctor is given ; but he recorded his jrood opinion 
 
168 MEMOIR OF 
 
 by bequeathing in his will a ring to Thomson, — " whose 
 rich and curious stores of information are accompanied by 
 the clearest discernment and most exquisite taste." 
 
 I find numerous proofs of benefits conferred, advice and 
 information afforded to literary friends, and friends not so 
 literary. His time, never sufficient for his own business, 
 was yet never denied to the demands of others. He might 
 not always have the information required, but no man 
 had more of that most valuable learning which consists in 
 knowing where to seek knowledge. To poor scholars and 
 artists he was ready with help of a more vulgar kind. His 
 access to the great and rich was never used for any pur- 
 pose of his own, but he made it available to the unhappy 
 class whose existence depends on patronage. Such works 
 of kindness were easy to him, and cost him no effort, so 
 sure was he of his position in the esteem of his friends. 
 
 Whil^ he was qTiite conscious of the position he took in 
 the world of letters, and valued his success in that more 
 difficult world of English society, these never came be- 
 tween him and his proper duties. They were the parerga 
 of his life His heart was in the Eecord Office and 
 among the friends who had grown up with him and loved 
 him in youth and manhood. 
 
 His friend Cranstoun, now Sheriff of Sutherland, sends a 
 ietter from " Rosehall, by Tain," without date, and without 
 means of exactly fixing one, which concludes with an expres- 
 sion of feeling that became almost habitual with him : — 
 
 ^' I am grieved to think these cursed records tether you 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 169 
 
 in Edinburgh the whole season. You will grow as musty 
 both in mind and body as they. 
 
 " Do pray let me decoy you next year to this sweet 
 Oasis, in the centre of a desert of mosses and moors. You 
 would soon recover the elasticity of spirits and glow of 
 health which we used to enjoy in the glen at Kilkerran, 
 or the bowling-green at Bargeny, when we were getting 
 Horace by heart. Will those delightful days never re- 
 turn ! God bless you." 
 
 The following note without date invites to what must 
 have been a pleasant dinner, and points perhaps to the 
 birth of Quentin Durward. The water-mark of the paper 
 is 1819. 
 
 From Scott. 
 
 " Castle Street, Wednesday. 
 
 " My dear Thomson, — I pray you of all loves to dine 
 with me to-morrow at half-past five, to meet Sir James 
 Mackintosh and Jeffrey. 
 
 '' Can you airt me to any tolerable topographical ac- 
 count of the centra] provinces of France ? — Yours ever, 
 
 *' Walter Scott." 
 
 In the spring of 1821, Thomson was again taking 
 charge of the Review. Jeffrey writes to him from London 
 about its affairs, but passes at the end to other topics. His 
 vn-iting is more than usually illegible, and some words of 
 what follows are almost conjectural. 
 
170 MEMOIR OF 
 
 " We have been very dissipated and idle here, and 
 consequently very happy and penitent. The ladies are 
 ruining us by shopping, and drive about all day to visit 
 and stare ; we do little better ; though I have been rather 
 in the way of receiving visits than of paying them. Then 
 we all dine out every day, and come home and abuse the 
 world over soda-water and lemon by our fireside. 
 
 " Mackintosh is in great beauty and vigour. . . . 
 
 " I dined at Holland House on Sunday, and yesterday, 
 met John Cam Hobhouse, with D. Kinnaird, Lambton, 
 and other Radicals ; very good humoured and facetious. 
 Ward as usual very fat and funny. 
 
 " I was smuggled in under the gallery of the House 
 about three o'clock, and had the felicity of seeing the 
 Catholic Bill passed near four o'clock this morning. That 
 is something to remember. 
 
 " I also heard Peel for the first time — very fluent, mild, 
 and feeble, extremely candid, conciliatory and modest, 
 but washy throughout, and prodigiously silly and absurd 
 in some of the most studied parts. I should have liked 
 excessively to have answered him ; however, it fell to 
 Canning, who did it very well on the whole, but too 
 diffusely, and with too much rhetoric, trifling, and flip- 
 pancy, more flash practice and artifice than I had expected. 
 The heat was dreadful. The roar of the Ayes and Noes 
 on putting the question, absolutely sublime. 
 
 " No saying when the Queensberry cases will come on, 
 I had a consultation with Gifibrd about them, who is the 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 171 
 
 image of our old * Clathie/ with something less of debility. 
 God bless you. Write me next week if the Review is 
 done, and all supplies come in. — Ever most truly yours, 
 
 " F. Jeffrey." 
 
 A letter to Sir James Mackintosh shows how Thomson's 
 failings Avere already obstructing his usefulness, and how 
 he was himself beginning to be aware of them. 
 
 To Mackintosh. 
 
 I 
 
 " Charlotte Square, Edinburgh, 
 March 30, 1821. 
 
 " My dear Sir James, — It was my intention, long 
 before now, to have sent you the remainder of Sir George 
 Mackenzie's Memoirs, which have been all in print for 
 some time, and of which I was most desirous to have your 
 opinion. I have hitherto delayed it, from a wish of also 
 sending yon, at the same time, a sketch of my intended 
 Preface, in which, besides giving an account of the MS., 
 (and its accidental preservation from the hands of a butter 
 merchant,) 1 had a wish to give some account of Mac- 
 kenzie's literary character, and a short view of the value 
 of this contiibution to the history of Scotland in the reign 
 of Charles II. My other avocations have hitherto pre- 
 vented me from doing anything in the execution of this 
 plan ; and I daresay the matter will end in my giving 
 some very short notice as to the manuscript. Another 
 part of my original plan is in a state equally unprosper- 
 ous; I mean the compilation of a series of original docu- 
 
172 MEMOIR OF 
 
 ments and records, illustrative of the Memoirs, to have 
 been printed in an Appendix. But this, I have found, 
 would swell the volume to an improper size, and that 
 after all I should be obliged to omit many things of 
 curiosity and value ; and these considerations, aided by 
 my own laziness, will probably induce me to give the text 
 of Sir George unmixed with any other matters." 
 
 Thomson's old and dear friend Lord Glenbervie, who 
 in 1819 had written on funereal paper, and reproached 
 him for his silence, observing : — " Besides my regard and 
 affection for yourself, which you know to be very sincere, 
 you are connected in my mind with the remembrance of 
 the two dearest friends I ever had — Lord Minto and George 
 Wilson'' — in October 1821, sends him '' a little inedited 
 trifle," his translation of a canto of the Ricciardetto, and 
 uses his daughter-in-law's hand to write him a letter full of 
 an old man's kindness. Thomson replies, (Nov. 8, 1821,) 
 " To me the prose introduction and notes have been very 
 edifying, but I own the metrical part has delighted me 
 still more. Your translation is executed mth an air of 
 marvellous facility, which constitutes one of the great 
 charms of the original," &c. And in another letter ex- 
 presses " the delight it had afforded him, as a proof of that 
 most enviable frame of mind which enabled his Lordship 
 to derive from his love of letters so much occupation and 
 amusement." 
 
 The success of this really pleasing literary exercise — the 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 173 
 
 first publication of a man of 77 — encouraged Lord Glen- 
 bervie to other efforts. In the last letter from the good 
 old man, (1st February 1822,) he announces that he has 
 been " for some time employed in collecting materials for 
 a sort of biography of Lord North. I know it is incedere 
 per ignes — an undertaking of a most difficult and delicate 
 nature, but in me it is a pious one, and I shall try to do 
 my best. It mil do me much good if you and friends like 
 you (alas ! vel duo vel nemo) will condescend to clap me 
 on the back." 
 
 FiiOM Mackintosh. 
 
 "Murdochs, near Ware, Sept. 6, 1821, 
 
 " Dear Thomson, .... How is Stewart ? I do not like 
 the second part of the Discourse quite so much as the first. 
 
 " Ought I to believe that high official men in Scotland 
 are patrons of the ^ Beacon,' and even pecuniary contri- 
 butors to it ? 
 
 " Lord Byron has been tempted by the facility of the 
 Whistlecraft style and metre, to become a mere improv- 
 visatore, and indeed none of the best. The continuation 
 of Don Juan will not do. 
 
 " Darn's History of Venice is one of the best books I 
 have lately seen. It opens a very curious corner of Euro- 
 pean history, and from the possession of the Venetian 
 archives by Napoleon, the historian has had access to the 
 most secret recesses of that tyrannical policy which was 
 so long thought the model of wisdom. 
 
174 . MEMOIR OF 
 
 " Without renewing the fable of the league between 
 Charlemagne and Achaius, I don't see why the ^ Reguli 
 Scotorum/ mentioned by Eginhart, might not have been 
 chiefs of Caledonian as well as of Hibernian Scots. — Ever 
 yours most sincerely, 
 
 " J. Mackintosh." 
 
 The allusion in this letter recalls the lamentable mad- 
 ness of the time, which drove high-minded and honour- 
 able men from their propriety, and terminated in the 
 tragedy of Sir Alexander Boswell's death. Next spring, 
 Mackintosh was consulting with Thomson as to the 
 Scotch law touching duelling where death ensues, and 
 conjecturing whether there might not be "some cause to 
 dread that a Lothian jury might convict, especially where 
 they might expect that execution would not follow." 
 
 In 1822 Thomson was much in London, engaged in 
 some great appeal cases, and in the intervals of such 
 work, arranging record business, and especially a large 
 grant for extending the buildings of the Register House. 
 
 To Al>AM ThOiMSON. 
 
 " Jordan's Hotel, St. James' Street, 
 May 20, 1822. 
 
 " My dear Adam, — I T^ish you would write a few lines 
 to a poor body, and tell me everything about everybody. 
 Have you made any further progress in the Statuta 
 Roherti ? 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 175 
 
 ** Though the two cases I came here for, will certainly 
 not come on for at least ten days, I am in the meantime 
 kept busy. I have another cause, Vans Agneiv against 
 sundry people, on Wednesday and Friday. Then there 
 will be holidays next week for Monday and perhaps 
 Wednesday. 
 
 ^' I have just got scent of another copy of Regiam 
 Majestatem,, formerly in the Yelverton Library, now in 
 the possession of Lord Calthorpe. I hunted for it in 1804 
 without success ; but I fear it is not very ancient. I expect 
 to get it immediately. . . . 
 
 " I hope our dear Nelly (Mrs. Pillans) is better and 
 taking exercise. What is John doing ? Kussell expressed 
 great regret that we had not got him to come up with us. 
 Kennedy is vastly well, but Mrs. K. is much affected by 
 the sudden death of her cousin Miss Davies, at Paris, a girl 
 of nineteen. My love to Janet and all at home. 
 
 " I entertain good hopes of a grant to complete the 
 Eegister House. The Advocate, W. Dundas and others, 
 all think well of my scheme. We shall have a meeting 
 with Vansittart about it very soon. — Ever yours affec- 
 tionately." 
 
 From Cranstoun. 
 
 " Kirkfield, 28th SepUmher 1822. 
 
 " My dear Thomson, — . . . We have been sepa- 
 rated almost entirely for some years. Come to me, and 
 recall the feelings of days that are past. I was in Dailly 
 
176 MEMOIR OF 
 
 church on Sunday, and walked up to the manse. I can- 
 not describe my sensations. On Monday I passed the 
 bowling green at Bargeny, and repeated Odi profanum 
 which we got by heart, there. Some days of leisure and 
 quiet will be of use to you, and make me sincerely happy. 
 — Beheve me ever yours affectionately, 
 
 " Geo. Cranstoun." 
 
 A great part of 1823 was again spent in London. Before 
 the end of the season he was looking anxiously towards 
 home. His chief correspondent was still his brother 
 Adam. 
 
 To Adam Thomson. 
 
 " London, Friday, 28th June 1823. 
 
 " My dear Adam, — This is a sad weary life, and I wi«h 
 it were over. I have had a good deal of appeal work, which 
 has occupied much of my time and thoughts, but the case 
 of Junes, which brought me here, is not likely to come on 
 before next Wednesday, and perhaps not so soon. I have 
 not been able to look at Record work for many days, but 
 you will be glad to hear that the Bill for completing the 
 Register House is going on prosperously, and will probably 
 be passed in ten days or a fortnight. 
 
 " I send you a letter from T. Hay, a very good one, 
 which, of course, you will read to the concern. It will 
 please dear NeUy, of whose health I wish you could give 
 me good accounts. Love to her and to all. I long to be 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 177 
 
 again with you. Mr. Kennedy has come to live in this 
 hotel, and he and I sleep within cry of each other. It is 
 very comfortable for all. — Yours, dear Adam, most aflfec- 
 tionately, 
 
 The following letter is on the occasion of Cranstoun 
 being elected Dean of the Faculty of Advocates. 
 
 From Cranstoun. 
 
 " KirJcfield, Tuesday, November 6, 1823. 
 
 " My dear Thomson, — Yours is come this moment. 
 Many, many thanks to you and Clerk. I owe this promo- 
 tion to you and him. It is very gratifying to me ; but I 
 shall make a woeful Dean, never having attended five 
 Faculty meetings in my life, and not being able even to 
 go through the motions. The Solicitor-General has be- 
 haved very handsomely indeed. So has the Advocate, 
 from whom I had a long and kind letter on Sunday, offer- 
 ing his support. But nothing gives me so much pleasure 
 as the certainty of our excellent and innocent friend 
 Clerk's elevation to the Bench. He was sadly persecuted, 
 and until the Advocate wrote that Peel's letter was actually 
 sent off, I thought he would have been disappointed. 
 
 " The Stewarts are to be here to-morrow. Their situation 
 at present is truly afflicting. I will of course remain with 
 them as long as I can, but expect to see you on Sunday or 
 Monday. All here send love. — Yours ever affectionately, 
 
 " G. C." 
 
 M 
 
178 MEMOIR OF 
 
 In the year 1823 the Bannatyne Club was instituted, of 
 which Scott was the first president, as indeed he was its 
 main promoter or founder ; and Thomson was chosen vice- 
 president though absent, Scott standing sponsor for his 
 accepting the office. The Club was founded in imitation 
 of the Roxburghe, but it very early took a graver character 
 and more historical line of labom- ; and soon, in truth, 
 became an eflScient auxiliary to the Record Commission. 
 The following note is without date. 
 
 From Scott. 
 
 " Castle Street, Tuesday. 
 
 "' Dear Thomas, — The committee of Bannatynians dine 
 here on Friday first, meeting at ^ve for business, and din- 
 ing at half-past five. — Yours truly, 
 
 " W. Scott." 
 
 " Without you we are a tongueless trump." 
 
 To Mr. Palgrave. 
 
 " Charlotte Square, Edhiburgh, 
 May 30, 1825. 
 
 " My dear Sir, — The MS. History of Scotland, as to 
 which you inquire, is the composition of Dr. Patrick 
 Anderson, who, I think, was physician in Scotland to 
 Charles II., and who is still better known as the original 
 compounder of the celebrated Aloetic Pills which still 
 bear his name. The copy of the work which is supposed 
 to be the original, was given to the Advocates' Library by 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 179 
 
 the author's grand-daughter ; and I believe there are 
 several copies of it extant, one of which is, I am told, 
 in the possession of Mr. George Chalmers. The intrinsic 
 value of the work I am not disposed to rate very high ; 
 but my acquaintance with it is, I own, very slender. 
 
 " What you say of the discovery of Melville's Memoirs 
 quite delights me. A genuine text of that most interest- 
 ing and amusing work has been long a great desideratum. 
 It has been anxiously sought after in mg»ny different direc- 
 tions, but till now without success. I earnestly hope that 
 Sir George Rose will not long withhold it from the public ; 
 and were it not that it might appear officious and obtru- 
 sive, I should be most happy to offer my best assistance in 
 the publication of it. The period of Scottish history to 
 which it relates is one that has of late been attracting a 
 good deal of my attention, in consequence of having in 
 my hands a very interesting collection of original docu- 
 ments of the reigns of Queen Mary and King James VI. ; 
 and there are various passages in the contemporaneous 
 Memoirs of Sir J. Melville, which it would be of import- 
 ance to verify or contradict by reference to a more genuine 
 text. 
 
 " My solitary labours on the first volume of the Scottish 
 Parliamentary Collection places me often in the situation 
 you describe, in great need of some one to whom I could 
 state my puzzles, and who could give me a little advice 
 and comfort. I trust that in a few months more I shall 
 have brought it nearly to a conclusion. 
 
180 MEMOIR OF 
 
 " Your silence on the subject leads me to fear that you 
 have not succeeded in extracting anything more from the 
 repositories of the strange gentleman to whom the three 
 papers belonged that you gave me last year. One of 
 these — the Progress of the Eegent Earl of Murray — has 
 been printed in an Historical Miscellany by the Bannatyne 
 Club ; and a copy of it shall be placed at your service. I 
 have printed a little tract for the members of the Club, 
 which shall also be sent you, though not much worth your 
 acceptance." 
 
 From Mr. Allen. 
 
 " 13, St. James' Square, March 29, [1825.] 
 
 " Dear Thomson, — I have written for Jeffrey a review 
 of the early volumes of Lingard's History, and should be 
 much obliged to you if you would take the trouble, as you 
 have done on former occasions, to correct the proof-sheets, 
 which otherwise I am sure will be done very ill. There 
 are some Saxon names, and two or three Latin quotations, 
 besides references, of which I fear the printer will make 
 sad work, unless there is some one to superintend his 
 labours. I wish you would direct him at the same time 
 to throw off one separate copy, to complete Lady Holland's 
 collection of my articles in the Review. 
 
 " I fear, from what Murray tells me, there is little 
 chance of seeing you here in the spring. . . . 
 
 " Cohen (Palgrave) has found in Sir Edward Coke's 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 181 
 
 Library at Holkham an ancient MS. of the Conqueror's 
 laws, published by Gale in his Ingulphus. It is not quite 
 complete, but as far as it goes, much more correct and 
 much more intelligible than the one published by Gale ; 
 and what is wanting in this MS. may be supplied, as far 
 as the sense is concerned, from an ancient Latin version 
 discovered by Petrie in the Museum. 
 
 " The Catholic Bill will be thrown out in the Lords by 
 nearly the same majority as before. But unless some 
 unfavourable breeze springs up in Ireland on this new 
 disappointment of their hopes, I think it bids fair to have 
 a good chance of success next year. The public seem to 
 care very little about the matter, with the exception of 
 the High Church and the Wesleyan Methodists, who are 
 petitioning against it. — Yours sincerely, 
 
 " John Allen." 
 
 A letter to Lord Minto, of 25th October 1825, has a 
 postscript of some general interest : — 
 
 " Your neighbour on the Tweed has, I am told, already 
 compiled a volume on the French Revolution, introduc- 
 tory to his Life of Napoleon. You may gness at his own 
 impression of its success, when I add, that he has sus- 
 pended the further progress of the work, and has, most 
 wisely, begun a new tale, — ' Woodstock, a Tale of the 
 Long Parliament.' N.B. — This is said to be a profound 
 secret." 
 
 It was in the year 1824 that I first became acquainted 
 
182 MEMOIR OF 
 
 with Mr. Thomson. He was just fiaishmg the 11th 
 volume of the Acts of Parliament, which completes the 
 series down to its natural termination in the Union of 
 the Kingdoms, and I was directed to prepare an Index 
 of Matters for the whole work, trusting that the first 
 volume would he speedily ready. The great difficulty 
 attending the more ancient part of such a collection, had 
 rendered it expedient and almost necessary to postpone 
 the publication of that preliminary volume for some time. 
 The delay had now extended over many years, not indeed 
 without some advantage, by the discovery or acquisition of 
 new materials, which afforded an excuse too readily adopt- 
 ed by the fastidious editor, for hesitating to launch the 
 produce of his long labour. But as his knowledge ex- 
 tended, as each canon of criticism was rigidly applied, 
 they seemed to show him only more clearly the defects of 
 his work. His passion for accuracy was shocked at the 
 numerous points still left doubtful. In time, also, the 
 very length of the previous delay made it more alarming 
 to take the last steps. He had reserved the final volume 
 as the vehicle of his ^iews, constitutional and legislative, 
 as well as strictly editorial. It seemed as if he had chal- 
 lenged public attention to its importance, and the re- 
 proaches endured, and the excuses made for its delay, 
 all helped to render its completion a most anxious task. 
 His fastidiousness, too, had unfortunately much increased 
 with the increasing accomplishment of his fine mind, 
 and along with it his besetting sin of procrastination, 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 183 
 
 long before age had diminished his power or physical 
 energy. 
 
 When I first had opportunities of observing him, he 
 was still patient of labour, though somewhat addicted to 
 following an incidental point of interest so far as to forget 
 his way back to the main subject. To correct a proof-sheet 
 was- a favourite occupation of his time ; to spell out a hard 
 passage of old writing an actual enjoyment. In conversa- 
 tion no one was more copious of fine speculation and accu- 
 rate narrative, no one more suggestive of the light direc- 
 tion and channels of study. Like his friend Scott, his 
 great quality was admirable and never-failing common 
 sense, and I think he had it in almost an equal degree. 
 "With a keen appreciation of wit and humour, he never 
 attempted playful writing, and seemed to turn aside to 
 avoid any sparkle. In the details of editorial labour it 
 was very instructive to work beside him. His eyes were not 
 so good indeed as those of some of his assistants. When I 
 have brought him a passage in a record, or a word in an 
 old charter that puzzled me to read, he would put on two 
 pairs of spectacles, and used besides a large broad reading 
 glass, and with these helps he would study and pore over the 
 parchment, turning it in various lights ; then he used to pull 
 down from the shelf dictionary after dictionary, and he 
 rarely spoke till he had made up his mind, and could pro- 
 nounce confidently the right reading. I need not say thai 
 he was generally right. His sagacity supplied the place of 
 youthful eyes. The knowledge of what should be, taught 
 
184 MEMOIR OF 
 
 him what to find ; and for decyphering documents touch- 
 ing civil matters, as well as for extracting their true sense 
 and bearing, he was unrivalled. His mind had not been 
 so much directed to ecclesiastical antiquities. The study 
 of that department had not yet revived among us, and he 
 seemed to me to find little interest in investigating the 
 organization of the ancient church, and still less in ex- 
 tracting the corn out of the chaff of saintly legends and 
 the mythical histories which beset the introduction of a 
 new religion. 
 
 But his grand defect was, a morbid reluctance to commit 
 his opinions to paper. The principles on which he had 
 made his selection for his great work — for the text was 
 nearly completed — were all in his mind, and he conversed 
 quite unreservedly upon the subject ; but when I, or some 
 one more privileged, urged him to note them down, how- 
 ever slightly, he recoiled from the task. He knew not, 
 indeed, how to work slightly. His prefatory matter was 
 to be a series of disquisitions on law and history, each 
 exhausting its subject. He had more excuse for such vast 
 projects than most men. His learning was more extensive, 
 his knowledge more exact on all subjects of constitutional 
 and legal antiquities than any of his countrymen had ever 
 reached. It cannot be said of him, as of Lord Webb Sey- 
 mour, that life was inadequate for the enterprise which he 
 had dared to plan. On the contrary, it seemed to his friends 
 that he had but to sit down in his easy chair, and pour 
 out, through the pen of some ready writer, the accumu- 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 185 
 
 lated cogitations of his life. They never came crude and 
 undigested from his lips. He hazarded no doubtful as- 
 sertions. He knew where to limit his inquiries, and where 
 conjecture must take the place of evidence. But it was 
 not to be. Each succeeding year found him more averse to 
 commit himself to the great undertaking. Even the ex- 
 cellent books which he employed his leisure in preparing 
 for the press — the Accounts of the Lord Chamberlain, the 
 little Auchinleck Chronicle, Sir George Mackenzie's History, 
 Leslie's History, the Pollock Journal, the Kagman Kolls, 
 he allowed to go forth without any worthy preface. Each 
 of these correct, tasteful books he turned out upon the world, 
 with the slenderest introduction. He took no care " to put 
 a staff in the hand or a hat on the head'' of the stranger, 
 as Scott used to say of his own stories. The illustrations 
 which his richly furnished mind could so well have sup- 
 plied, the information which gathers round even a com- 
 mon-place editor in printing a book, and which is so pleasant 
 and profitable to the reader, were lost to the world. He 
 persuaded himself at last that this was the proper plan. 
 He would not add or diminish anything, nor give a 
 colour to a historical document ! But his procrastina- 
 tion was too visible in some of his books. The Gray 
 papers, he acknowledged, did require some historical in- 
 troduction, and he would put together a few pages touch- 
 ing the remarkable figure of the collection, " The Master 
 of Gray." The Morton papers had been a favourite subject 
 of his study, and he had bestowed some earlier labour on 
 
186 MEMOIR OF 
 
 the family of Douglas, from the interest he felt in his 
 friend Lord Glenbervie. Of that, he promised to give the 
 public the benefit, in a disquisition on the early and dis- 
 puted history of the illustrious house. But he could not 
 collect his powers, even for these petty works. The 
 Gray volume, after much delay, was circulated by its con- 
 tributor with an apology instead of a preface ; and the 
 volumes of charters and letters from Dalmahoy, were de- 
 layed from year to year, after the whole text was printed, 
 and were upon his table when he died. An epitaph 
 which he undertook to prepare for Dugald Stewart's 
 monument, is still unfinished. It became at last as 
 difficult for Thomson to compose anything original as it 
 was for Addison to announce the Koyal demise to the 
 successor of royalty. 
 
 He very early admitted me to the society of his house, 
 and from his kind encouragement I soon became so inti- 
 mate with him that I now find it difficult to recall the im- 
 pression he produced upon me at fii-st. Notwithstanding 
 our relative position, and the respect which I felt for his 
 learning, there was little of fear or restraint. He was 
 considerate and even respectful towards any effort of in- 
 dustry or intellect, very tolerant of rational difference of 
 opinion. Nothing could be more agreeable than his man- 
 ner in general society. His tall erect figure suited well 
 the perfect repose of his manner. His features though 
 plain were not commonplace. His large dark eyes shone 
 with intellect, and his mouth expressed great benevolence. 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 187 
 
 Without any diffidence, he was free from assumed dignity 
 or arrogance towards the humblest pei*son present. If he 
 showed particular attention to the small man of the com- 
 pany, it was generously done, and without offensive con- 
 descension. Feeling his own position quite truly, he never 
 found it necessary to assert it, or to take society by storm. 
 Towards women he was always gentle and kind, and won 
 their regard by seeming to admit them, without effort, 
 to an equality in conversation. His great charm was an 
 entire freedom from affectation — a manly simpKcity of 
 manner and language. 
 
 I was too late to observe him in company with the old 
 objects of his respect and veneration. I never saw him 
 with Dugald Stewart and Playfair ; but surrounded, as I 
 have seen him, by a society of whom I may name the 
 dead— surrounded by Jeffrey, Cranstoun, Moncreiff, Fuller- 
 ton, Cockburn, he took his place easily and gracefully as 
 their equal. Indeed I do not know that there ever was 
 a society of men at once so eminent, so agreeable, and 
 living so much together, in which such perfect equality 
 reigned. No jealousy appeared there — scarcely emulation. 
 There was no sententious dictator in that Club. No dicta- 
 tion would have been tolerated. No effort was visible. 
 ^ They met to enjoy each other's society, and to relax from 
 the toil and excitement of life. 
 
 The following, though but a letter of introduction^ 
 seems worth preserving : — 
 
188 MEMOIR OF 
 
 From Mackintosh. 
 
 '* London, 26th Jxdy 1826. 
 
 " Dear Thomson, — I beg, in no ordinary manner, but 
 very earnestly, to recommend to your kindest attention the 
 bearer, M. Paravey, a most ingenious, accomplisherl, and 
 amiable banker, at Paris. Whatever you can do to make 
 his stay at Edinburgh agreeable I shall account a mark of 
 your friendship. He was most respectably recommended 
 to me, but my anxiety for his pleasant journey arises from 
 the impression made on me by his mind and character. 
 Among his other attainments he is a distinguished meta- 
 physician, one of the favourite pupils of M. Cousin, who 
 has been successfully employed in enlarging the views of 
 the Parisian philosophers. M. Cousin, who in some re- 
 spects treads in the footsteps of Mr. Stewart, is desirous 
 that his friend should, if possible, see so great a philo- 
 sopher. I should not have ventured to hint at this 
 wish, if I had not heard with delight of the great improve- 
 ment of Mr. Stewart's health, and I leave you to judge 
 whether it can be proposed to Mr. S. to indulge the wish 
 of M. Cousin, and (may I presume to add) my own. Pray 
 introduce M. Paravey to all my friends at Edinburgh, 
 with my warmest wishes that he should be well received. 
 I also beg you to give and get introductions for the 
 remainder of his tour in Scotland. 
 
 " As I may not have time to write to Jeffrey, shew him 
 this note as meant also for him. May I mention also 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 189 
 
 Murray, Cockburn, Cranstoun, Dr. Thomson, Macculloch, 
 and M. Napier. 
 
 " David Constable sent to me last year, from the Advo- 
 cates' Library, the folio edition of Harris's Life of King 
 William, printed at Dublin, 1749 — a very rare book, which 
 contains more Irish history than any other. I shall need 
 it for some months longer, especially as I have just made 
 the unexpected discovery that it contains much more mat- 
 ter than my edition, in four vols. 12mo, printed at London, 
 1747, though there be no warning of the variations and 
 enlargements in the title-page or introductory parts. Shall 
 you be able to obtain permission for me to keep it ? Write 
 to me on this subject. — Ever yours, 
 
 " J. Mackintosh." 
 
 The following letter announces a discovery of great 
 importance, the volume of ancient Scotch laws now known 
 as " the Ayr MS." It was speedily acquired for the 
 Record Commission. 
 
 From Dr. M'Crie. 
 
 " New)in(jton, 8th November 1826. 
 
 " My dear Sir, — When lately in the West I happened 
 to see the manuscript which accompanies this in the hands 
 of Mr. E. i?homson, of the Ayr Academy, and requested 
 liberty from him to shew it to you. You will see what he 
 says about it in his letter. Mr. Stevenson, to whom he 
 refers, does not leave town until the end of next week, so 
 
190 MEMOIR OF 
 
 that you may perhaps have leisure, before he returns to Ayr, 
 
 to examine the MS., and provided it contain anything for 
 
 your purpose, to have it extracted. 
 
 " I would have seen you in the course of the summer, 
 
 but I have been very ' busy with other men's matters,' 
 
 busier than I am wont to be with my own ; for I am one 
 
 of those people who, like horses, need to be ridden with two 
 
 spurs. — Believe me, my dear Sir, ever yours most faith- 
 
 fully, 
 
 " Thomas M'Crie." 
 
 On the 14th November, Cranstoun formally announced 
 to Thomson, as the vice-Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, 
 his promotion to the Bench as a Judge, on the resignation 
 of Lord Hermand. 
 
 To Lord Minto. 
 
 " Charlotte Square, Nov. 21, 1826. 
 
 " My dear Lord Minto, — I have no apology for having 
 delayed one moment to give you my opinion as to your 
 proposed contribution to the Bannatyne Club. I have not 
 a doubt that the collection of Mr. Baillie's correspondence 
 immediately prior to the Union will be in itself very in- 
 teresting, and will prove the most valuable book we have 
 yet got. Besides being probably the best, it will cer- 
 tainly be the largest of the private works of our members. 
 
 " The printing of Sir James Melville's Memoirs from 
 the original manuscript is in pretty rapid progress. About 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 191 
 
 one- half of the work is now conipleted ; but the whole 
 will not appear before April. It will be, I think, a con- 
 siderable acquisition to the genuine materials of Scottish 
 histoiy. 
 
 " Cranstoun — Lord Corehouse, took his seat on the 
 Bench to-day. This is the most important event for 
 Scotland that has taken place for many years. Even in 
 his mock trials, he has had opportunities of shewing his 
 superior learning and talents that have not surprised, 
 but however have greatly delighted me. 
 
 " Pray what are your plans ? Are you coming to live 
 a while with us this winter before going to town ? 
 
 " Among our domestic casualties^ by far the most won- 
 derful is Murray's marriage. He is quite in the third 
 heaven ; and by all we can learn, his choice is a happy 
 one. I believe the lady is to make her appearance in this 
 region about the middle of December. 
 
 " My friend Pillans is come back in the highest health 
 and spirits— all owing to his dreadful illness at Geneva, 
 without which, I do believe, his bilious depression would 
 have continued. Best respects to Lady M. — Ever truly 
 yours, 
 
 " Tiio. Thomson." 
 
 On the 13th May 1827, Thomson wrote to the Lord 
 Clerk-Register about the extension of the money grant for 
 the Register House buildings from £30,000 to £50,000. 
 " The great record room," he adds, " is advancing to 
 
192 MEMOIR OF 
 
 nearly a finished state. I hope on your return to Scotland 
 your Lordship will find it completed, and I trust we shall 
 be actually in possession of it in July or August. I do 
 not anticipate that it will disappoint your expectations in 
 any respect, and to myself it will be an unspeakable relief 
 to be at last enabled to dispose the public records of Scot- 
 land in a regular and systematic order ; an advantage 
 utterly precluded by the former state of our accommo- 
 dations." 
 
 In July 1827 Lord Minto wished, through Thomson, to 
 ascertain the sentiments of the leading persons among 
 the liberal party, with regard to the individual whom 
 it might be expedient to select as Solicitor-General under 
 the coalition Government, which produced the following 
 letter : — 
 
 To Lord Minto. 
 
 " Charlotte Squnre, August 4, 1827. 
 
 " My dear Lord Minto, — I have delayed writing you, 
 in the hope of meeting some of those persons whose senti- 
 ments you are desirous of ascertaining. Several I have 
 seen ; but Jeffrey is gone into the West, and Cockburn I 
 have not succeeded in catching. However, I believe I am 
 quite safe in stating, it is the prevailing opinion, that in 
 the event you anticipate, Cockburn would be far the most 
 desirable companion for the new Lord- Advocate. If indeed 
 it were thought necessary that the Solicitor-General should 
 go into Parliament, an obstacle might arise to Cockburn's 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 193 
 
 acceptance of office, as his private fortune and the nature 
 of his professional business would with difficulty admit of 
 such an arrangement. However, I feel assured that every 
 one of those whom you could contemplate as fitted for the 
 situation, would be disposed to make every sacrifice for 
 the attainment of what was thought a public object. 
 
 " The situation alluded to would certainly be a delicate 
 one, but I think, for that reason, the frankness and firm- 
 ness of Cockburn's character peculiarly qualify him for 
 conducting the public business, in which both must na- 
 turally be consulted, with the best chances of an amicable 
 as well as a safe result. I should conceive it quite impos- 
 sible, in practice, that the person in the subordinate place 
 could supersede the superior. Both must be consulted in 
 all cases of importance, and must be presumed to hold 
 confidential intercourse with each other ; and soundness of 
 view, directed and maintained by force of character, would 
 probably be decisive of the result." 
 
 Fkom Lord Minto. 
 
 '* Minto, 5th Au^just 1827. 
 
 " My dear Thomson, — Many thanks for your letter, 
 which gives me all the information I wanted. I do not 
 apprehend that it will be thought necessary to have the 
 Solicitor-Greneral in Parliament, and it would not be 
 reasonable to ask Cockburn to make so great a sacrifice, 
 unless the stability of the Government were sufficiently 
 
194 MEMOIR OF 
 
 confirmed to enable it to hold out a prospect of further 
 promotion. I think that Abercromby would be induced 
 to take a leading part in Scotch business in the Commons. 
 I hope that Cockburn continues to keep Abercromby in- 
 formed of all that is worth telling of Scotch matters. — 
 Ever yours most sincerely, 
 
 " MiNTO." 
 
 In the beginning of August 1827 is the first hint that 
 I can trace of a proposal of Thomson's taking the place of 
 a Clerk of Session. From some conversation which had 
 taken place at Corehouse, Lord Minto gathered that he 
 would prefer that situation, in conjunction with his place 
 in the Kegister House, to a seat on the Bench, and asked 
 Thomson to put him right if it was otherwise. Here is 
 the reply, — 
 
 To Lord Minto. 
 
 " Charlotte Square, Augu8t 6, 1827. 
 
 " My dear Lord Minto, — I cannot delay thanking 
 you for your kind letter. It relates to a subject on which 
 I have scarcely ever exchanged two words with anybody, 
 till the other day at Corehouse, and on which, in fact, I 
 never felt the use or the propriety of speaking to any one. 
 
 " The sort of arrangement to which you allude has re- 
 peatedly crossed my own brain in my waking dreams, and 
 I remember to have mentioned it slightly to Kennedy, as 
 one that seemed better suited than perhaps any other to 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 195 
 
 my peculiar habits and circumstances, and even under a 
 different regime from the present, it was one which there 
 might have been some colourable apology on my part 
 for proposing. As to the other ^ I have not only felt ex- 
 tremely diffident of my own qualifications, but I must 
 fairly own I have been impressed with the belief that my 
 best friends fully participated with me in that distrust. 
 You will not suspect me of a silly affectation in saying 
 that my own consciousness of imperfect preparation for the 
 arduous and deeply responsible office of a Judge has gone 
 on increasing every year ; so much so, that were the two 
 situations now placed within my immediate choice, I 
 should not be free from hesitation ; and preferring, as I 
 should do in my own mind, the less responsible and less 
 ostentatious position, I should have no prevailing motive 
 for deciding in favour of the other but a sense of justice to 
 others with whom I am connected, whose interests might 
 require on my part what truly in itself would be somewhat 
 of a sacrifice of that ease and independence which I prize 
 above every other good in life. 
 
 " If Kennedy has written to you on the subject of what 
 passed between us at Corehouse, he \vould probably say 
 that, in my apprehension, there is not at the present mo- 
 ment, any opening for negotiation, on any terms that 
 would not be destructive of the only inducement that 
 could operate on my mind. Indeed, the chances of any 
 opening in either quarter are not very immediate. If any 
 such opportunity should occur, I fully believe that I should 
 
196 MEMOIR OF 
 
 meet with more than strict justice at your hands. At the 
 same time, I do indeed flatter myself that I should be 
 incapable of complaining, or of feeling hurt by any arrange- 
 ments that could be made, on grounds of public utility — 
 of which we have of late seen but few — however unfavour- 
 able they might prove to any petty views and interests of 
 mine. — I ever am, my dear Lord Minto, yours very faithfully, 
 
 " Tho. Thomson." 
 
 To THE Same. 
 
 ** Charlotte Square, Dec. 5, 1827. 
 
 " My dear Lord Minto, — Accept my best thanks for 
 your kindness ; I cannot trust myself to say more ; but 
 whatever becomes of it, I wish you to believe that I am 
 by no means impatient of my present situation ; and that 
 in any change which may ultimately be brought about, I 
 have no object much at heart but that of being rendered as 
 serviceable as means and circumstances will permit. On 
 that head a man is seldom the best judge of what con- 
 cerns himself ; and I should therefore wish to be entirely 
 at the disposal of those who take any interest in the 
 matter. 
 
 " I am very glad indeed to learn that you mean to be 
 here so soon. I wonder if the puzzling circumstances you 
 allude to have at all been connected with a rumoured 
 correspondence between the C. C. and the Home Office, 
 on a project for disposing of the Sheriflfehip of Kinross, in 
 the event of a vacancy. Of this Cockbum has told me a 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 197 
 
 good deal, and may have informed you also. — I am, my 
 dear Lord, very faithfully yours, 
 
 " Tho. Thomson." 
 
 A vacancy occurred at the Clerk's table sooner than any 
 one expected, by the resignation of Mr. Colin Mackenzie ; 
 and the place was immediately offered to Thomson, not- 
 withstanding some imaginary obstacles alluded to in the 
 following letters : — 
 
 From the Marquis of Lansdowne. 
 
 " London, Jan. 18, 1828- 
 
 " My dear Sir, — His Majesty was pleased yesterday by 
 my advice to sign your appointment to the vacant ofiSce 
 of Clerk of Session, perhaps the last exercise of official 
 duty in which I may be engaged. 
 
 " Great as the pleasure is, which I feel in being the 
 instrument of your obtaining an appointment which I 
 have been given to understand would be agreeable to you, 
 on personal grounds, I might not perhaps have felt myself 
 justified in passing by a claim (though not founded, as it 
 appears, in constant practice) of the Writers of the Signet, 
 to have a vacancy occasioned by one of their own body 
 filled up by one of themselves, had I not been fully aware 
 that your character and public services have been such 
 as justly to entitle you to a preference over every other 
 candidate whatever. 
 
 " I think it right to add, that it has been stated to me, 
 
198 MEMOIR OF 
 
 though not from any quarter uninterested in the decision, 
 that the office you now hold is incompatible with that of 
 Clerk of Session. I have no reason to think so ; but 
 should that be the case, you will of course have the option 
 as to which you will retain. — Believe me, very dear Sir, 
 very faithfully and truly yours, 
 
 " Lansdowjse." 
 
 From Lord Minto. 
 
 " Minto, January 19, 1828. 
 
 " My dear Thomson, — Amidst all the public evils of 
 the times, and the destruction of our hopes of good govern- 
 ment and improvement, it is something to have a source 
 of private satisfaction on which one can reflect with com- 
 fort; and I need not tell you how happy I have been 
 made by the intelligence of your appointment, in a man- 
 ner so gratifying to you, and so creditable to Lansdowne. 
 
 "He had, as you knuw, been given to understand that 
 this office might be deemed incompatible with the situa- 
 tion you hold in the Register House. But (encouraged 
 by Abercromby) he resolved, so far as depended upon 
 him, to put it in your power, and to leave it to the new 
 Secretary to make another appointment, if it should be 
 found that the two offices could not be held together. 
 This resolute testimony of his respect and regard for you, 
 greatly enhances the value of the appointment in my 
 estima^iion, as I know it will in yours, and will be a[)- 
 plauded by every one whose good opinion is worth caring 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 199 
 
 for. He must by this time be aware that the representa- 
 tions designed to alarm him were totally unfounded. . . . 
 " By my letters to-day, I find that no progress has been 
 made in forming a government; and that everything 
 remains in the same uncertain state in the hands of the 
 Duke of Wellington. But your accounts will be a day 
 later than any I can give you. — Ever yours most sincerely, 
 
 " MiNTO." 
 
 Thomson had at once satisfied the Lord President and 
 the Lord Clerk-Eegister that there was nothing incom- 
 patible in the duties of these offices conferred on him, and 
 he communicated to Lord Minto that his appointment as 
 Clerk of Session even gave him facilities for some Re- 
 cord reforms which he did not enjoy as Deputy Clerk- 
 Register. 
 
 The offices which Thomson now held seemed to his 
 friends, and still more to himself, peculiarly suited to 
 make the remainder of his life comfortable. His connec- 
 tion with the Records and Record publications was pre- 
 served. The business in Court left him ample leisure for 
 his Register House duties. His salary of £1000 a-year as 
 Clerk of Session, in addition to the £500 as Deputy 
 Clerk-Register, promised him an income sufficient for all 
 his wants. He had never much coveted the high places 
 and honours of his profession, and Scott's example had 
 thrown somewhat of dignity on the seat at the " Clerk's 
 table." 
 
200 MEMOIR OF 
 
 It is true he was not rich, nor even free from some con- 
 siderable and silently accumulating debt. He had all his 
 life despised mere money getting. So far as I can find, he 
 never turned his learning and literary power to profit, except 
 professionally — never made money of the booksellers, save 
 by the two or three papers written for the Review. On the 
 other hand, he did not care for equipage, or the more expen- 
 sive show of life. He loved to have his friends at his 
 table, and the few who survive will not soon forget his 
 dinner parties of seven or eight intimate associates, and his 
 charming little suppers in the library, surrounded by the 
 old books. But after the ancient and approved Scotch 
 practice, he eschewed male domestics ; and assuredly those 
 who had the good fortune to sit at his board as presided 
 over by Miss Lockhart, and attended by two clever, quiet, 
 neatly dressed girls, had no reason to complain of that 
 article of his taste. His only personal extravagance was 
 in books. He had already accumulated a fine library, 
 which his house in Charlotte Square was too small for, 
 and it was a pleasure to witness the enjoyment with 
 which he directed the fitting up of the sumptuous 
 apartment for his books in his new house, 127, George 
 Street, into which he now removed. For all such ex- 
 penses under any prudent regulation his income was 
 sufficient, and it had never occurred to him to doubt that 
 it was so. 
 
 It has been said that he was already in debt. He had 
 several times assisted his poorer relatives with money, and 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 20l 
 
 when money wiis not ready, they found his credit could 
 procure it. He had become surety for one in a heavy 
 bond, and had to pay the whole sum, which could only 
 be done by contracting a considerable loan ; and let it be 
 mentioned that his kindness, even his manner, never 
 changed towards those whose imprudence or misfortune 
 had cost him so dear. Of the loan so raised, he not only 
 delayed to pay the principal, but the interest w^s not re- 
 gularly paid. His agent full of confidence in his re- 
 sources met the yearly demands, and merely added 
 another figure to his account. Unfortunately these 
 things gave him little trouble or thought. He felt 
 secure that he was living within his income, and he 
 never dreamt of accumulating. He did not realize to 
 himself the horrible increase of a debt by all the legiti- 
 mate accumulations of progressive interest — interest upon 
 interest. His habits of business, never very exact, had of 
 late partaken of the dilatoriness which had injured his 
 literary powers. When accounts were laid before him, 
 which he surmised could not show a favourable balance, 
 he threw them aside, and not only put aside the papers, 
 but succeeded in banishing the disagreeable subject from 
 his mind. 
 
 The result of such blameable negligence was fatal in- 
 deed, but for a long time neither he nor others dreamt 
 of it. Though Thomson had not since boyhood felt much 
 of "life's strong hopes and fears," he was not insensible to 
 the advantage of his secure position — a haven of rest for 
 
202 MEMOIR OF 
 
 his age. He continued for some years to live happy in the 
 love and confidence of his friends, discharging his daily but 
 easy duties in the Court and the Kegister House ; assisting 
 in all rational law reforms — taking an active share in 
 negotiating the establishment of the Astronomical Chair 
 and Observatory — affectionately interested in monuments 
 to the memory of his friends, Stewart and Playfair — 
 superintending the production of book after book, of 
 valuable contributions to the Bannatyne Club and to 
 Scotch history, and when not tormented by the idea of 
 his delayed first volume of the Acts of Parliament, enjoy- 
 ing to the full that dignified repose which his early labours 
 had won for him. 
 
 A letter to Mr. Petrie, dated April 18, 1830, discloses 
 some of his feelings, on the subject of his own first 
 volume. 
 
 " You are too busy to write long letters, but I should 
 be gratified by receiving from yourself the assurance that 
 you are proceeding in your noble work (the ' materials 
 for the History of Great Britain') entirely to your own 
 satisfaction. When I see and hear the minor critics and 
 dealers in the small wares of historical literature discourse 
 on the tardiness of such a publication, it reminds me of 
 Burke's ludicrous simile on a like occasion, that as well 
 might the rabbit that litters once a month presume to 
 comprehend the gestation of the elephant." 
 
 The following letter, without date, sufficiently marks its 
 own time : — 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 203 
 
 From Jeffrey, 
 
 " Home of Commons, Monday, 8 o'clock, [14iA March 1831.] 
 
 " My dear Thomas, — ^Wlio the devil can think about 
 infeftments when the crisis of the world is at hand ? To 
 appease your noble rage, however, be it known that Rae is 
 to delay his bill — till after Easter at all events, and, I take 
 it, for a longer time. . . . We are all agreed that the 
 best way is for you to come up as soon as possible, and 
 digest the matter with the few that know or care about 
 it here. If this is not tanti, surely the great scene that is 
 afoot is at all events worth looking at. It may take a 
 decided colour against us before Easter — but that I do not 
 now think likely — and if it does not, it will be a stirring 
 piece of work till the end of the session, however it end — 
 by dissolution, resignation, or natural death. We still 
 think our affairs looking up, and certainly out of doors all 
 the cry is for us. But the enemy is very bitter, active, 
 and desperate. They say Peel will not hold counsel with 
 them ; and it is certain that several leading Tories have 
 asked leave of absence, and gone for ten days to the 
 country, from a reverend regard to their health. They 
 pretend to reckon on a reaction, and are using all means 
 to stimulate the Radicals to say they are dissatisfied, or 
 only value this as a first step to something much beyond. 
 
 ** It is intolerably dull in the House to-night, with Irish 
 first fruits and cotton duties. But they say I must not go 
 home for fear of a division ; so I came to the library to 
 
204 MEMOIR OF 
 
 tell you all the nothings. ... I send you a copy of 
 my speech, not very well corrected, but delivered at least 
 from the mass of vulgar nonsense, which the Caledonian 
 Mercury has added to it, out of its own classical stores. I 
 shall have an ignoble contest with the Scotch party, who 
 I can see already are very bitter and abusive. But I do 
 not care for them. I think I must speak again on the 
 second reading. I took up but half the case last time, 
 and but half argued it. But I think I shall be able to do 
 it shorter next time, though it is melancholy to think how 
 much depends on the humour one is in. God bless you. 
 I shall not send this till to-morrow. The EngHsh bill is 
 brought in to-night without discussion ; the Scotch, I 
 believe, to-morrow, probably with some. You will have 
 them both in print in a day or two. 
 
 " Tuesday, — Kae says now that he will not absolutely 
 delay tiU Easter, but only for a fortnight, which is about 
 the same thing. But if you can come up at all, pray 
 come now, you will find enough of other things to think 
 and talk about, and be of use and comfort to us all. Lord 
 Minto is here, very steady and hopeful. . . . I think 
 our Scotch statements, and the energy and unanimity of 
 the country, evidently disheartened and alarmed the ad- 
 versary. I have little doubt now that we shall get into 
 committee with a majority, probably of forty or fifty, but 
 under many protests against important parts of the 
 measure,— and that we may be left in a minority any one 
 night on points of vital importance. This is our true 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 205 
 
 risk, and our chance of escape is in the voice from around. 
 Do you remember Bacon's interpretation of the old Pytha- 
 gorean enigma, — ' When the wind is high, worship the 
 echo ?' That * nymph unseen' is our goddess now, and 
 we should worship assiduously. — Ever yours, 
 
 " F. Jeffrey." 
 
 From Mr. Stewart Mackenzie. 
 
 " London, Saturday. 
 
 " My dear Thomson, — You will have already heard 
 that the Scotch debate last night, and capital majority, 
 (best of all but the first grand trial,) have quite raised all 
 our spirits here; Jeffrey outdid himself; his speech has 
 quite redeemed him ; and in fact it made all after speak- 
 ing a farce, Charles Grant's was a good speech ; Mackin- 
 tosh's goodish. The debate has gained for the cause, and 
 for Scotland. 
 
 " In the Peers it seems certain that . . . has ratted, 
 and the Bishop of . . . it is said to-day. I do not 
 fear that all will go right yet there. — Yours most truly, 
 
 " J. A. Stewart Mackenzie." 
 
 From Cockburn. 
 
 " London, 24th September 1831. 
 
 " My dear Thomson, — Jeffi-ey's speech last night, in 
 moving our Keform Bill, was admirable, and has set him 
 completely up in the House. I don't mean to say that it was 
 equal to, or the least like, what we have often heard from 
 him ; but his long silence, and his reputation for weak 
 
206 MEMOIR OF 
 
 length, had made his friends begin to fear and his enemies 
 to rejoice ; and it has completely put all this right. He 
 spoke an hour and a half, too long certainly, but gave a 
 most luminous exposition of the principles of the Bill, in- 
 terspersed with his usual richness of vein and curious 
 felicity of language. Nothing could be better than his 
 historical explanations of the causes of our condition and 
 of its political effects ; and he every now and then threw in 
 one of his peculiar and exquisitely done sort of little inci- 
 dental bits. It was a very respectable house, and he was 
 not only loudly, but generally cheered, both at the conclu- 
 sion and throughout ; and the opinion I express was, I 
 found privately, the prevailing one of all sides. Though 
 after all, it has given them but a poor swatch of what we 
 know Jeffrey to be, yet it is enough to give his wares full 
 character in that very precarious market. I do not know 
 anything that has given me more delight or relief. It 
 will cure his cholera, his dyspepsy, his nervousness, his 
 sleeplessness, and all the thousand and one maladies under 
 which his fancy has been assuring him that he labours. 
 
 " With the exception of Althorpe and Hunt, the debate 
 was entirely Scotch, and was better, though it lasted seven 
 hours, than one which I heard t'other night solely by Irish. 
 Charles Grant and Mackintosh were most excellent, chiefly 
 from the plainness and indignation with which they spoke 
 out against the system and its results. They did not treat 
 it or its products in the House for the last hundred years, 
 a whit better than you or I would do over punch at No. 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 207 
 
 127. Sir James declared that the worst form of the worst 
 part of the English system was ' Utopian perfection/ com- 
 pared to the best of the Scotch. It was a pleasing thing to 
 me to feel my knee touching the noble shoulder of his Grace 
 
 of , who was sitting on the bench before me, under 
 
 the gallery, while those truths were telling ; and still more 
 pleasing to observe, (which literally happened,) his brother 
 hater of the Bill, Hunt, come and sit down beside him. 
 
 " The Scotch Bill is in an excellent condition, better 
 than is yet known. So far as I can hear, good hopes are 
 entertained of the Lords. They are fitting up galleries to 
 hold them. Oh ! for my grey jacket and the sound of the 
 burn ! — Ever, 
 
 "H. COCKBURN." 
 
 On the death of Scott, Thomson was elected President 
 of the Bannatyne Club, Jeffrey proposing, and the Chief 
 Commissioner Adam seconding the resolution. He de- 
 voted much of his attention to the affairs of the Club, and 
 it is impossible to speak too highly of the benefits he 
 conferred on it, not by his own contributions and labours 
 alone, but much more by the high tone and historical cha- 
 racter which he promoted and encouraged by his example. 
 He was now seldom induced to leave Edinburgh. The 
 annual gathering at Blair Adam, where he used to meet 
 Scott, and some of his oldest friends, was an established 
 exception, and the arrangement of those parties occasioned 
 much diplomacy. Thrust into one of the venerable Chief 
 
208 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Commissioner Adam's letters, I find the following Parlia- 
 mentary sketch, which, though from an anonymous corre- 
 spondent, at whom' I may only guess, I cannot refuse to 
 give a place to, — 
 
 " 28<A Ji/Zy 1833. 
 
 " Much as we were interested about public affairs in 
 Edinburgh, it was nothing to the interest that is felt here, 
 where facts or reports are constantly coming out and in- 
 fluencing speculations, even between the intervals of the 
 debates in the House, and of the publication of the news- 
 papers. I have seen no Tories either here or on the road, 
 except in the disguise of moderate Whigs, some Kadicals 
 and Theorists, most people well disposed to the Ministry, 
 but all mad about economy. That will be the point on 
 which the Opposition will have an advantage, and they 
 seem well inclined to use it. There was an impression 
 that the Coercive Bill for Ireland would be thought too 
 strong, especially the military tribunal. Even very well 
 informed people were very uneasy yesterday about the re- 
 ception the Bill might meet with in the House of Com- 
 mons. There was a meeting at Lord Althorpe's, the 
 day before yesterday, the discussions at which are said to 
 have discouraged him. If the ministers really entertained 
 a feeling of danger, they took the proper way to avert it, 
 declaring repeatedly and explicitly, that they staked their 
 continuance in office on the success of their measure. I 
 went last night to hear the debate, and got in after from 
 two to three hours' crush in the lobby, or rather in the 
 
THOMAS THOMSOX. 209 
 
 passages to the lobby. When I got in, Attwood was 
 speaking on a previous motion. Cobbet sat where Mr; 
 Fox used to sit, and Peel was thrust up into a corner be- 
 hind the Speaker's elbow. Lord Althorpe opened the de-^ 
 bate in a low voice, and a dull and hesitating manner. 
 He hummed and hawed and hesitated, could seldom find 
 his papers, or read them when found. He read and said 
 everything in the same tone, so that the strongest facts 
 passed off as little noticed as the weakest. Nothing could 
 be less impressive. Then followed Tennyson, who, like 
 all the Opposition, had greatly the advantage over Lord 
 Althorpe in strength of voice and fluency of language. 
 He was listened to with little attention ; but he and all 
 the Opposition speakers were cheered by the Irish mem- 
 bers, who made up for the smallness of their number by 
 the loudness of their ^leeres.' (the long ee and hard r 
 were distinguishable amidst all the vociferation.) Captain 
 Berkeley made some impression by his somewhat prosy 
 account of Kilkenny fox hunting. Sir J. Byng made none. 
 At last Mr. Stanley rose. He is neither actually ill-look- 
 ing, nor in the least unlike a gentleman, but there is no- 
 thing at all aristocratic in his appearance ; and his pale 
 complexion and deep brows, with a nose which, though 
 low, is hooked, make his features, on the whole, far from 
 handsome. His speech was a perfect contrast to every- 
 thing that had gone before. He spoke audibly and clearly, 
 with perfect fluency, confidence and decision, without the 
 least arrogance. He read his statements in such a manner 
 
210 MEMOIR OF 
 
 as to make them as pointed as the best put arguments, 
 and occasionally relieved the tiresomeness of long papers 
 by unexpected comments, or natural bursts of indignation, 
 which were received with loud, long, and enthusiastic 
 cheers from every part of the House. Nothing in his 
 speech seemed studied, and he seized on every incident of 
 the subject to heighten its effect, making O'Connell's cheers 
 the occasion of some of his most destructive attacks. Such 
 was the effect, that I heard a disinterested member saying, 
 as we were leaving the House, that he believed if the ministry 
 were to propose to extend the bill to England, they would 
 have a majority of 300 in this Parliament. During Stan- 
 ley's speech O'Connell promised to explain his having al- 
 luded to the House of Commons as 600 scoundrels. When 
 Stanley had finished, at half-past one. Shell moved an 
 adjournment, but the cry for O'Connell was so persevering, 
 that he was obliged to give way to it and gave the most 
 awkward and lamest explanation, amidst loud laughter 
 from all quarters. In short, he has nothing left but to 
 revile the reformed Parliament to his countrymen, as savage 
 Saxons, more hostile than Cambden or Castlereagh. His 
 appearance and manner are much in his favour ; though 
 coarse in appearance, he looks frank, manly, and good 
 humoured, and speaks in a way to command attention and 
 conciliate good-will. For the other speakers, Attwood's 
 oratory was very " Brummagem." Tennyson's delivery is 
 good, his manner bad, and his matter middhng. Lytton 
 Bulwer's vehemence is rendered ineffective by his lisping 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 211 
 
 speech and unmeaning gesticulations. Grote spoke best 
 of his side, but his sentiments are more of Bentham's 
 school, which he seemed surprised to find were not those 
 of the rest of the world. 
 
 " I have written this long story, though you have so 
 many better channels of information, because, as they say 
 of books of travels, many trifles strike a stranger which 
 escape a well informed inhabitant." 
 
 From the Lord Chief Commissioner Adam. 
 
 " Blmr-Adam, 20th June 1834. 
 
 " My dear T., — I am sorry to learn that your brother 
 is going to England, and that we shan't have him here on 
 the 12th proximo. I meant to have made him, as a re- 
 turn for his very beautiful picture,* an object of most prin- 
 cipal attention at our meeting. 
 
 " You stated to me verbally the history of the Ragman 
 Roll. Being a very deficient antiquary, I have not re- 
 tained it in my memory. It would serve two excellent 
 purposes, if you could find leisure to put it on paper, and 
 send it to me : Is^, it might enable me to revive in Shep- 
 herd's mind, with proper information to him, the nature 
 and extent of our joint concern ; 2dli/, I have it in con- 
 templation to commence a correspondence with Tom 
 Grenville, to get him and Lord Spencer to unite in some 
 
 * This was a picture of the monument which the Chief Commissioner 
 had erected to his father at Blair-Adam, with the adjacent scenery. 
 
212 MEMOIR OF 
 
 such presentation to the Club as Shepherd and I have 
 united in. 
 
 " Do you think that those two Englishmen, or any others 
 with whom I am intimate, could be brought to aid in your 
 suggestion respecting the value of Scotch money ? if so, I 
 will readily undertake the correspondence with them. 
 Perhaps this could be better discussed when you come here 
 in July, and a plan formed for it. — Yours most sincerely, 
 
 " W. Adam." 
 
 From the Same. 
 
 " Blair-Adam, August 28, 1835. 
 
 " I hope you will be able to come here on the 28th of 
 September. I have fixed that day for our meeting, that 
 we may not stop remembrance of an annual occurrence 
 which gave us all so much pleasure. I am sure of Sir 
 Adam, Tyndall Bruce, and George Cheape. The last has 
 earnestly entreated that we should adjourn to Wellfield, 
 visiting Balvaird Castle. I wrote to your brother ten days 
 ago, to come here to meet Mr. Westmacott, but having 
 received no answer, I suppose he is not at Duddingston. 
 If he is, will you give him notice of this meeting on the 
 28th, and tell him I will take no excuse. Will you let 
 me know where Mr. Pillans is ; I want to write to him 
 about a tutor for my grandson, and to inlist him as one of 
 our gang for the 28th.— Yours most truly, 
 
 ^' W. Adam." 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 213 
 
 1837 was the year of Thomson's marriage. Tlie lady 
 was Miss Keed, the daughter of an Irish gentleman, 
 Thomas Keed, Esq., formerly an army agent in Dublin, 
 descended on her mother's side from the family of Drum- 
 mond of Drumawhance, Perthshire, a lady of whose 
 virtues and good qualities it is not allowable to speak, as 
 she still survives. None of Mr. Thomson's friends can 
 forget her zealous devotion to him during the remaining 
 years of his life, the latter part of which would have been 
 gloomy indeed without her assiduous and loving attend- 
 ance. 
 
 To THE Lord Advocate (Murray.) 
 
 " 4, Bennet Street, St. James's. 
 
 "My dear Lord Advocate, — Accept my warmest thanks 
 for your very kind and agreeable letter. The lady — with 
 whom I have been acquainted for several years — appears 
 to me to possess qualities which cannot fail to add to my 
 future happiness, and, regarding her merely as a well 
 informed and well mannered woman, of a naturally very 
 cheerful mind, I flatter myself she will prove acceptable 
 to the friends among whom I have so long been accus- 
 tomed, almost exclusively, to Hve ; and to her, nearly a 
 stranger in the country, the kindness of Mrs. Murray must 
 be of the greatest importance. 
 
 " As the fatal event cannot take place for two or three 
 weeks, during which I shall be very idle, I cannot think 
 of availing myself of j^our most obliging oifer of announ- 
 
214 MEMOIR OF 
 
 cing the matter to our common friends ; but to some of 
 those whom I should not presume to trouble with any- 
 formal communication, I shall feel grateful to you for 
 mentioning it, when any opportunity occurs. I particu- 
 larly allude to the Koseberrys, Count Flahault and Lady 
 Keith, Sir J. Dalrymple, &c. &c. 
 
 " I regretted much leaving Edinburgh on the very eve 
 of your arrival, but was happy to receive from your brother 
 such good accounts of you all. 
 
 " With kindest respects and thanks to Mrs. Murray, I 
 
 remain yours most truly, 
 
 " Tho. Thomson." 
 
 " I go on Friday to Southend, on the Essex coast, for a 
 week or ten days, where Miss Keed is now residing with her 
 father. I left the Pillanses yesterday, he greatly better, and 
 she doing wonderfully in recovery of strength and vigour." 
 
 From Lord Corehouse. 
 
 " Corehouse, Oct. 3, [1837.] 
 
 " My dear Thomson, — The days are short, and our 
 approach long, dark, and narrow. Our nearest neighbours, 
 therefore, who offer or are asked to dine, must perforce 
 stay all night. Tell us, by return of post, whether we are 
 to have the pleasure of seeing you and Mrs. T. on Mon- 
 day, as we expect the Gillieses, and also the Fullartons, 
 about that time, and may find some difficulty in our 
 arrangements in this cottage. 
 
 " When you come, which I trust you will, I will tell 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 215 
 
 you all I felt on my first visit to Dryburgh, since you and 
 I were there I think in 1797. Heavens ! what events 
 have happened since that time, and how many of our 
 friends and intimate acquaintances then, repose within its 
 walls ! — Ever yours, 
 
 " G. C." 
 
 To THE Lord Advocate (Murray.) 
 
 " Edinburgh, May 19, 1838. 
 
 " My dear Lord Advocate, — I should be most happy 
 to assist in bringing your old friend General AinsHe into 
 the Club, but I fear that on this election he has no chance. 
 I make it a rule never to ask votes for any candidate, but 
 not so some of our friends ; and I beheve that Macdonald 
 will be elected by a large majority. He is the same person 
 who was long my clerk, has been a remarkably useful as- 
 sistant in bringing forward various works presented to the 
 Club, and has in that way gained many supporters. E. 
 Stanley is a son-in-law of Lauderdale's. Turnbull is an 
 advocate, and an active member of the Abbotsford Club. 
 I don't know him. 
 
 " I have been able to learn nothing of James Glassford's 
 pamphlets. He has been living at Cheltenham for some 
 months past. 
 
 " It is very gratifying to receive such good accounts of 
 Mrs. Murray and yourself. — With most affectionate re- 
 gards to ber and yourself I ever am yours truly, 
 
 " Tho. Thomson." 
 
216 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Fkom Ai.len. 
 
 " South Street, December 6. 
 
 *' Dear Thomson, — An article in the Quarterly on Lis- 
 ter's Life of Lord Clarendon, in the course of which some 
 animadversions are made on an article of mine, published 
 many years ago, on a book of the late Lord Ashbumham, 
 has directed my attention again to the private negotiations 
 with the Scots, that led to the flight of Charles I. from 
 Oxford to the army before Newark. I find a Sir Eobert 
 Murray was a prime agent in that business, but cannot 
 discover who he was, or what became of him afterwards, 
 and should be obliged to you if you could give some infor- 
 mation about him. Is he the same man who took an 
 active part in the affairs of Scotland during the reign of 
 Charles II., and who is so highly extolled by Burnet in 
 his history ? If so, what was his family in Scotland ? and 
 if a different person, can you tell me anything about him ? 
 
 " I have no thought of re\dewing Lister's book, which, 
 indeed, is bespoke by another person ; but I wish to com- 
 mit to paper what I make out about a transaction where 
 the Scots have, in my opinion, been unjustly treated by 
 the generality of historians. 
 
 " Lord Durham is expected in town to-morrow, and we 
 shall then see what course he means to take concerning 
 his late government of Canada. His progress to London 
 hitherto seems intended as an imitation of Napoleon's 
 march from Cannes to Paris, collecting addresses, as the 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 217 
 
 other did soldiers, on the road, in order to make a tri- 
 umphant entry into the capital. 
 
 " What I am anxious to know about Sir K. Murray is, 
 what was the party he was connected with in Scotland, 
 which sent him to negotiate with and make offers to the 
 Queen at Paris ? 
 
 " Forgive this trouble, and believe me ever yours truly, 
 
 " John Allen." 
 
 " P. S. — Have you been able to procure, at a cheap rate, 
 any of the books of the Bannatyne Club, of which Lady 
 Holland sent you a list .?" 
 
 From Lord Corehouse. 
 
 " 12, Ainslie Place^ Jmfuary 31, 1839. 
 
 " My dear Thomson, — It is impossible for me to 
 express the gratitude I feel for your kindness on this 
 occasion. You have acted as you have always acted, 
 during a friendship of half a century. As I retain, or 
 thiiik I retain^ all my mental faculties, Will you do me the 
 great favour to come and see me now and then when the 
 doctors, as they promise to do soon, indulge me with the 
 pleasure of seeing my nearest and dearest friends. — Ever 
 yours, 
 
 " Geo. K. Kinloch, for Lord Corehouse." 
 
 To THE Lord A.dvocate (Murray.) 
 
 " 127, George Street, February 22, 1839. 
 
 " My dear Lord, — You will receive a packet, sent 
 
218 MEMOIR OF 
 
 under Mr. Maulers cover, containing the Kegister House 
 Report, &c. 
 
 " I am just returned from seeing Lord Corehouse, for 
 the first time since his illness. He is in a most tranquil 
 and contented frame of mind, looking clear and well — his 
 speech a little thick, but his powers of conversing not at 
 all impaired. I do not suppose that the removal of the 
 disease is within the reach of probability, and at all events, 
 what he said to me about resignation makes it evident 
 that he contemplates it very speedily. His determination 
 against returning to his judicial occupations was decidedly 
 expressed. I sat with him more than half an hour. He 
 longs to see his friends again. 
 
 " Mrs. T. joins me in kindest remembrances to Mrs. 
 Murray. — ^Ever yours faithfully, 
 
 " Tho. Thomson." 
 
 To Mr. Allen. 
 
 " 127, George Street, Feb. 23, 1839. 
 
 " Dear Allen, — My foolish over anxiety to procure for 
 you the fullest information as to the political history and 
 character of Sir Robert Moray, has, I am aware, brought 
 me into great disgrace. I had formerly felt a good deal of 
 interest about him, not only from the character given of 
 him by Burnet, in the Preface to his Memoirs, as well as 
 elsewhere, but from the excessive kindness with which he 
 is spoken of by all his contemporaries, with the exception 
 of Clarendon and Montreuil, who seem to have thought 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 219 
 
 him little better than his namesake, William of the Bed- 
 chamber ; and I had actually planned to publish a collec- 
 tion of his letters to Lauderdale and Tweedale, Kincardine, 
 and others, and was turned aside from this project from 
 finding them on the whole very uninstructive and slight, if 
 not trifling, with but a few exceptions. That some parts 
 of his political correspondence must have been highly con- 
 fidential, may be guessed from the anxiety shewn by the 
 King and Lauderdale to take possession of his repositories 
 the moment after his death ; and which his residence in 
 the palace at St. James's gave them an opportunity of 
 doing. To me his reputation among his contemporaries is 
 still a problem I cannot solve. 
 
 " I am now aware that I can add little to the informa- 
 tion you are already in possession of I am not in pos- 
 session of any part of his correspondence prior to the 
 Eestoration, but being aware of that at Hamilton, of 
 which Burnet made use, and having some suspicions of 
 the fidelity and completeness of his extracts, in spite of 
 what he tells us Sir Robert Moray himself thought of his 
 book, I at last appKed to the Duke for copies or extracts 
 of any that would throw light on his concern in the 
 transactions at Newcastle, and only last night received a 
 letter from Mr. Brown, (his factor,) of which I send you a 
 copy. It has not much surprised me, nor altered my 
 former impressions of the writer. 
 
 *' I am, like you, very anxious to vindicate Scotland 
 from the disgrace which has been so gratuitously cast on 
 
220 MEMOIR OF 
 
 the country, in consequence of the transactions at New- 
 castle. On this subject there is a rather remarkable 
 passage in Sir George Mackenzie's History, which I 
 printed some years ago, and which you will find on pp. 
 25, 26 ; and though his authority does not go a great way 
 with me, I regard it as good evidence of the feelings of 
 the country at that time," &c. 
 
 From Allen. 
 
 " South Street, Monday, ISth March. 
 
 " Dear Thomson, — ^Lord Holland has received from the 
 Secretary of the Bannatyne Club a list of candidates for 
 the two vacancies in the Club, and he will be much 
 obliged to you to let him know for whom he had better 
 vote. 
 
 " Palgrave tells me he is about to review the Lanercost 
 and Scala Chronicles. Is it possible for love or money to 
 obtain a copy of the latter ? 
 
 " Langdale is busily employed, with the assistance of 
 Palgrave and others, in getting the Eecords into better 
 order, calendaring and indexing them ; and as he has 
 full authority over all the keepers, he will be able to 
 do what the Eecord Commission were never able to ac- 
 complish. The Kolls Chapel is, and will remain, the chief 
 place of deposit for the more important of the Kecords, 
 till a Kecord Office is built. Lord John will, I hope, apply 
 to the Commons for a grant of £2000 or £3000 for 
 resuming the suspended works of the late Board. Thorpe's 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 221 
 
 Anglo-Saxen laws will be out in the course of the spring. 
 We have applied to the Treasury for the means of publish- 
 ing a second volume, to illustrate, as far as can be known, 
 the working of the Anglo-Saxon system, and its gradual 
 fusion and concurrence into the common law. 
 
 " Jeffrey is arrived ; I have not yet seen him, but he 
 is to dine with us on Wednesday. Have you any thoughts 
 of making us a visit during the vacation ? We expect 
 Napier as soon as his new number is out. 
 
 " I wish Guizot would take the department of Public 
 Instruction in France. His party have so little weight or 
 popularity in France, that he has no right to insist upon 
 the Interior. 
 
 " Lord and Lady Holland are well, and desire to be 
 remembered to you. — Yours truly, 
 
 " J. Allen." 
 
 Thomson's brother John, the minister of Duddingston, 
 the first landscape painter of his country, died in the end 
 of October 1840. The relative position of the brothers 
 had continued almost as when the elder taught the 
 younger his Latin task at the manse of Dailly. But 
 there was unbroken attachment and perfect confidence. 
 Thomas admired his brother's genius, and delighted in 
 his success as an artist. John, throughout his life, looked 
 to the kind elder brother for advice and assistance in all 
 difficulties. 
 
222 MEMOIR OF 
 
 From Lord Corehouse. 
 
 " CoreJiouse, Nov. 3, 1840. 
 
 " My DEAR Thomson, — You have sustained an irre- 
 parable loss, and I sincerely sympathize with you. I had 
 heard of poor John's illness some weeks ago, but was not 
 led to suppose that the smallest danger was apprehended. 
 He has gone prematurely for us, but not for his own 
 fame ; for he will hold one of the highest places among 
 modern artists. They who knew him intimately, as I 
 once did, will long remember his various talents and 
 accomphshments, and the goodness of his heart. 
 
 " We are always at home, and will be delighted to see 
 you and Mrs. Thomson whenever it suits you. All here 
 offer their best respects. — Ever yours, 
 
 " Geo. Cranstoun." 
 
 We now approach the gloomy evening of a bright day. 
 No fiction of the moralist, illustrating the inefiSciency of 
 great talents unaccompanied by prudence and the prosaic 
 duties, could be more instructive than the real events of 
 Thomson's life. 
 
 His procrastination — his morbid fastidiousness — deprived 
 the world in a great measure of the fruits of his long study. 
 His want of regular business habits denied him the crown- 
 ing achievement to which the labour of his life had been 
 directed, and threatened even to degrade him from his 
 high social position. 
 
 One Kecord Commission after another had come to an 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 223 
 
 end, without obtaining the conclusion of Thomson's great 
 work of the " Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland." At 
 length, in 1839, the Home Secretary in a peremptory tone 
 demanded an account of the actual state of the publica- 
 tion, and the reasons of its delay. Two subordinate but 
 very interesting portions of the compilation, the " Acta 
 Auditorum Querelarum," and " Acta Dominorum Con- 
 cilii," the text of which had been long printed, were hastily 
 finished and put forth to meet the urgent demand. But 
 the Preliminary Volume was still delayed. 
 
 Along with a demand for the completion of the work, 
 came a requisition to render an account of the monies 
 expended for several years by Mr. Thomson as Deputy 
 Clerk-Register. The accounts when given in were not 
 considered satisfactory. It was said that they stated 
 against the Exchequer payments formerly charged against 
 the Record Commission, and that on correcting these 
 errors, there appeared a considerable balance against the 
 Lord Clerk-Register, who was the responsible accountant 
 in the matter, though no money passed through his hands. 
 The Lord Clerk-Register was naturally much alarmed at 
 such responsibility, and while he hastened to make good 
 the deficiency as stated by the Exchequer officers, at once 
 removed Mr. Thomson from his office of Deputy. 
 
 It caused universal surprise that such imputations could 
 be cast upon one whose past life had been distinguished for 
 uprightness and honour; and those wondered most who 
 knew how Thomson had sacrificed his prospects, both of 
 
221 MEMOIR OF 
 
 wealth and station, and sunk all private ambition^ in zeal 
 for the Records. He had in truth not thought sufficiently 
 of separating his own interest from that of the Register 
 House; and the one calamity of his life arose from the 
 mixture and confusion of his private accounts with those 
 of his office. 
 
 The sources of his debts were partly from family obliga- 
 tions, which have been already hinted at, partly connected 
 with his Record undertakings. His zeal for the public 
 service had often outrun prudence. Not sufficiently con- 
 sidering the strict rules of all public Boards and Offices, 
 he trusted that what he did bo7ia fide for the public ser- 
 vice, even though not ordered to be done, would ultimately 
 be allowed. Thus he secured the best assistants often 
 without the authority of the Record Commission ; and 
 thus, too, when Mr. Caley officially directed that one set of 
 works (the " Retours," " Great Seal," &c.) should be sus- 
 pended, till another had made a certain progress, Thomson 
 preferred silently to disobey, rather than to throw loose a 
 body of well trained workmen, whom he might not be able 
 to recall ; and these assistants were, at least for the time, to 
 be paid from his own resources. Some Record publica- 
 tions, in like manner, which he conceived to be of clear 
 public utility, he undertook, without waiting for the sanc- 
 tion of the Board, and even carried on, after he was offi- 
 cially admonished that they were not sanctioned. As long 
 as the old friends of Thomson sat at the Record Board, 
 men who knew his zeal and worth, like Lord Glenbervie, 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 225 
 
 Lord Colchester, and Lord Frederick Campbell, things 
 came right in the end, and, without altogether ignoring 
 the ofi&cious secretary, or praising Thomson's patriotic 
 rebelHon, they took care that the public service should 
 not suffer, and that the expense of useful public works 
 should not fall on the public servant who had unguardedly 
 embarked in them. But when such things happened, 
 under the regime of new Commissioners, the Board, acting 
 according to strict official rules, refused to adopt or sanc- 
 tion works undeiiaken without their order; and some 
 very expensive works — for example, the Accounts of the 
 Lord Chamberlain, and Inventories of the Royal Wardrobe 
 and Jewels, were thus finally disallowed, and thrown upon 
 Thomson, to be defrayed out of his private resources. 
 
 He was enabled to meet these responsibilities and claims 
 for many years, by the assistance of the gentleman, since 
 dead, who held the place of factor under the Lord Clerk 
 Register, who took a personal and warm interest in the 
 success of the several works, and besides being in affluent 
 circumstances, had occasionally the command of unex- 
 pended balances of the funds received by hiui for defraying 
 the ordinary expenses of the Register House ; and after 
 his death, a similar system was partially continued, with 
 the aid of money borrowed on Mr. Thomson's credit. In 
 this manner the private afiairs of Mr. Thomson became 
 almost inextricably mixed up with the receipt and expen- 
 diture of public money for the purposes of the Record 
 Commission, and the common expenses of the Register 
 
 p 
 
226 MEMOIR OF 
 
 House. Among such complicated liabilities, it was not 
 easy to distinguish between those of a private and those of 
 a public nature, or to apportion to each its proper amount. 
 Thomson was an indifferent and careless accountant, and 
 in all probability never understood or seriously looked into 
 the state of his accounts. This neglect, so serious in its 
 consequences, is but too consistent with his known habits. 
 
 Before leaving this matter, it is satisfactory to mention, 
 that those who acted for the Crown, in the investigation 
 of a criminal charge laid against Mr. Thomson, in connec- 
 tion with these transactions, after full and minute inquiry, 
 were of opinion that no such charge could be supported. 
 
 There was mortification enough, and degradation, to the 
 high-minded proud man, in the acknowledged inability at 
 once to meet his engagements, but still more in being 
 obliged to confess the confusion of his affairs and accounts, 
 which alone could have rendered an imputation on his 
 honour possible. The astonishment, the consternation of 
 his friends was unbounded. The richer of them proposed 
 to subscribe a sum for his immediate relief ; but some im- 
 patient creditors rendered that scheme impossible, and 
 drove him to the necessity of withdrawing into England to 
 avoid personal arrest. 
 
 To Mr. Macvey Napier. 
 
 " Norwood, Surrey, August 17, 1841. 
 
 " My dear Napier, — Since I received your last com- 
 jnunications on the progi^ess of proceedings against me at 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 227 
 
 Edinburgh, I have had little of either heart or ability to 
 write to you or any one else. Whatever may have been 
 my own feelings or opinions on the subject, I am little 
 disposed to give them utterance, even to you, or to those 
 with whom I have been in more immediate contact. 
 What the subsequent progress of these proceedings may 
 have been I am utterly ignorant, but, in the meantime, I 
 have not felt any disposition to shrink from the purpose I 
 have avowed, of endeavouring to make every sacrifice 
 within my power for the benefit of my creditors, and to 
 
 abide the consequences 
 
 " On the state of my own affairs and plans, in other 
 respects, I have delayed writing for the last fortnight, in 
 hopes of being able to tell you something certain. I have 
 made an application to the Treasury for the usual remu- 
 neration as Sub-Commissioner on Public Records, for the 
 last ten years, on which Mr. Henderson, to whom it was 
 referred, has, I believe, made an approving report, and I 
 am in hourly expectation of the deliverance of the Lords 
 of the Treasur)^ The shape of my claim is for an abate- 
 ment of the alleged Crown debt, so as entirely, or very 
 nearly, to extinguish the whole, and relieve the Lord Re- 
 gister from any proceedings for the balance. And this Mr. 
 Henderson seemed to think was quite within the powers 
 of the Treasury Board, without going to Parliament.'' 
 
 The application to the Treasury for ten years' pay as 
 Sub-Commissioner on the Records, was refused. Thomson 
 
228 MEMOIR OF 
 
 returned to his duty in Court at the beginning of the 
 winter session, and continued to receive his salary as 
 Clerk of Session, and to pay it over to his creditors. 
 Until the Lord Kegister's claim was wholly paid, he 
 touched none of it. After that preferable debt was dis- 
 charged, he divided his salary with his remaining creditors. 
 
 It was intimated to Mr. Thomson that another person 
 was to be employed to complete the first volume of the 
 Acts of Parliament, and in spite of repeated appeals, the 
 Government did not change that determination. 
 
 The remainder of Thomson's existence was severed 
 from the great objects which had occupied his past 
 life. He never again entered the Eegister House ; and 
 though he was generously communicative on every other 
 point where his assistance or advice was desired, he told 
 me, soon after I had been employed to complete the first 
 volume of his great work, that it must be a forbidden sub- 
 ject between us. From henceforward, though he did not 
 altogether avoid the society of his old friends, he lived 
 chiefly a domestic life, devoting himself to his own family 
 and a pretty wide circle of relatives, by whom he was 
 much beloved. He bore his altered position, and even 
 the coldness of some of his former friends, with great 
 fortitude. His feelings of grief and mixed indignation 
 very seldom found vent, and a stranger could not know 
 from his manner or conversation that he was a disap- 
 pointed man. 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 22i> 
 
 To Pkofessor Pillans. 
 
 " Dollar, May 26, 1845. 
 
 " My dear Pillans, — On Saturday we took a fancy for 
 a ramble on the Ochill hills, having to-morrow (Tuesday) 
 for a holiday. Landing at Alloa, we arrived here (at the 
 best inn) to tea, and had a delightful walk towards Castle 
 Campbell, and in the gardens of the Academy. How 
 handsome the building and all about it ! Yesterday, at 
 church ; called between sermons for the Doctor and Mrs. 
 Milne, and had a most hearty and kindly welcome. We 
 went to hear the old boy preach, dined with him, and 
 went under Mrs. M.'s guidance to the Castle. To-day she 
 has shewn us the interior of the Academy, and we have 
 taken leave, quite pleased with her. . . . The weather 
 has been abominably cold and gloomy, and as it gives no 
 promise of improvement, we intend to be off immediately 
 and to sleep at home. 
 
 " We have not quite made up our minds about the 
 future, and have not yet forwarded your letter to Minto; 
 We shall first take a look at Cape Colonna and Denbigh. 
 Nothing of any interest has occurred since you left us. 
 The Assemblies, free and unfree, have no particular charms 
 for us. I presume they will vie with each other in absur- 
 dity on the Maynooth grant. What a noble speech of 
 Lord John s ! (that of last Wednesday.) It is completely 
 to one's heart's content, and what I have been longing for. 
 Peel's position is a very singular one, but to my mind a 
 
230 MEMOIR OF 
 
 proud one, however open it may lay him to the taunts of 
 the shabby and the rage of the bigots. 
 
 " I shall be impatient to hear from you in Dublin, and 
 how you find your friends there, not forgetting the young 
 Dunure. If you find that they retain any recollection of 
 us, pray offer our kindest remembrances. — Ever yours 
 afiectionately." 
 
 To THE Same. 
 
 " Thursday, a rainy, loretehed day. 
 
 " My dear p. — Though I obey your orders in again 
 addressing you in London, I presume there is no chance of 
 its finding you there. Your journals have been a great 
 delight to us — not the less so that they reflect your own 
 image to the life, as one of the happiest of mortals. You 
 may be prepared on your return for much interrogation, 
 to fill up your hasty and tantalizing sketches. 
 
 " We go on as usual, jog trot. . . . We dined 
 yesterday at Murray's, to meet the Flahaults, Craigs, and 
 Maitlands ; very pleasant. F. is as ever very agreeable, 
 but looks not quite so young as he did twenty years ago. 
 
 " We breakfasted at Craigcrook on Monday, and spent 
 the forenoon. Jeffrey was in very good talk. We had 
 besides three Americans, one of them your old acquaint- 
 ance David Colden. 
 
 " You see to what shifts I am driven for materials to 
 fill this little sheet. 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 231 
 
 " I am Sony you don't go to Killarney, as I wish to 
 hear from you if it be worth going to see. ... 
 
 " I have not stirred out of the house to-day, leaving my 
 duties in Court to shift for themselves, and trusting to the 
 dihgence of brother John Russell. At this moment, seven 
 o'clock, P.M., the fog is so thick that I cannot see distinctly 
 twenty yards off. We have already got too much rain, 
 the farmers say, but I must confess the country did look 
 beautiful yesterday, when the sky was splendidly clear." 
 
 The following letter was written on the occasion of the 
 death of Dr. John Thomson, the eminent physician and 
 Professor of Military Surgery, Pathology, &c., at Edin- 
 burgh, (11th October 1846.) His surviving wife was the 
 daughter of Thomson's old friend and master, Professor 
 John Miller of Glasgow. 
 
 To Mrs. Dr. Thomson. 
 " My dear Mrs. Thomson, — I have felt satisfied that 
 from me no expression could be needed to assure you how 
 deeply I must have felt with you on the irreparable loss 
 we have sustained. He was my oldest, truest, and most 
 valued friend, and our mutual and affectionate regard, 
 begun at an early period, continued unbroken and undis- 
 turbed amidst all the chances and vicissitudes of our after 
 lives. In our recollections of him we have all much to 
 gratify and be proud of. If his course in life was not 
 always uniformly smooth and onward, we had always the 
 satisfaction of knowing and feeling that his superior claims 
 
232 MEMOIR OF 
 
 and deserts were in reality the ver}^ cause and provocation 
 of whatever unjust or envious resistance they had to en- 
 counter. But these are matters of history now gone by, 
 though not to be forgotten as instructive incidents in the 
 history of his noble career ; and it is more pleasing to 
 think of that unbroken and beautiful tranquillity in which 
 under your care the later period of his life was passed. 
 This was long your grateful occupation, and now that it is 
 gone, I can well imagine the immediate blank that must 
 be felt But you have still very pleasing and useful duties 
 to call you from even a cherished grief, and which no one 
 can be more admirably qualified to perform. 
 
 " Mrs. Thomson joins me most sincerely in expressing 
 our kindest regards and sympathy for you all ; and believe 
 me ever most truly your faithful friend, 
 
 " Tiio. Thomson." 
 
 To Professor Pillans. 
 
 " Haarlem, Sept. 7, 1847. 
 
 " My dear Pillans, — This is my first attempt to put 
 pen to paper since I left Edinburgh on the 13th of August. 
 We have been up and down through Belgium, up the 
 Rhine as far as Heidelberg, down as far as Amsterdam, 
 and are now waiting to hear the famous organ of this 
 place ; intending to sleep at the Hague, to go on by Rot- 
 terdam to Antwerp and Ostend, and hope to be on Eng- 
 lish ground in three days. We shall stop in London for a 
 few days, and will be most thankful for a few lines, 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 233 
 
 addressed to the care of Mrs. Lauder. We intend going 
 to Winchester to see Colonel Reed, &c., and perhaps make 
 another run to Stratford. In all our wanderings, I have 
 not presumed to enter a siugle school, nor have seen any- 
 thing in the shape of a dominie, except Dr. Schmitz, who 
 will have informed you of us at Bonn. Of course we are 
 completely in the dark about all our friends at home ; and 
 you may believe I am not a little anxious to hear of poor 
 Frank. Have you taken any charge of Shrubhill ? I 
 trust all there is safe. On the whole we have had a 
 pleasant and interesting trip, and in health have both of 
 us improved sensibly. Now the weather has become 
 broken and uncertain ; to-day it rains abominably, and I 
 shall not be sorry to be again on English ground. My 
 travels have not afforded me much to say for the edifica- 
 tion of the public ; but I have gained my main object, of 
 converting many imaginations into realities, without, how- 
 ever, I must confess, gaining much on the exchange. 
 " And now for the organ." 
 
 To THE Same. 
 
 " 22, Castle Street, Regent Street, Apnl 5, 1849. 
 
 " My dear Ptllans, — We have been here above a 
 fortnight, and yet (thanks mainly to the weather) I have 
 seen or done almost nothing. If we don't get on better 
 during the remainder of our stay here, the sooner we take" 
 refuge with you the better. My greatest exploit has been 
 sitting out the debate in the House of Commons on Mon- 
 
234 MEMOIR OF 
 
 day ; tiresome enough ; sensible speaking ; Disraeli clever 
 and impudent. We have been to various operas, and are 
 going to more — that is, Mrs. T., for I shall make myself 
 rather scarce. We have seen the Landers frequently. 
 Isabella is really very well ; we dined with them yester- 
 day, and met the Captain, who is now fully established, 
 after probation, in the station at Poole. He says he likes 
 it, and so does his wife. The Doctor is coming up from 
 Stratford to see us before we go. Lauder has just finished 
 his great picture of Jane Shore ; it is now in the Exhibi- 
 tion — not the Academy — but one of a rival combination 
 of artists near Hyde Park Corner, which is said to be 
 thriving. He has already six others in the same. I shall 
 tell you of their merits hereafter. We dine at the Hur- 
 rays next Monday; with Piazzi's papa and mamma on 
 Tuesday at Chelsea, (formidable) ; Caroline Keed comes 
 to us for some days to-morrow. . . . How long we 
 shall stay in this Babel I do not know ; but I do not 
 believe I shall ever take the trouble of coming back to it. 
 To-morrow, I believe, is yom* break-up. Hurra ! ! Keep 
 the nest warm for us till the middle of May, and then I 
 hope we shall do that duty for ourselves. 
 
 " What a horrid bad scribble ! I am particularly stupid 
 this morning." 
 
 " P.S. — I have just seen Lady Lyell, whose inquiries for 
 you were affectionate." 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 235 
 
 To Mr. James Gibson Craig. 
 
 " Great Castle Street, Cavendish Square, 
 May 18, 1849. 
 
 " My dear Craig, — I am mortally ashamed to return 
 home without having once sent you a single line from this 
 monstrous place. What from bad weather and incurable 
 laziness, I have been in all senses very idle ; have not seen 
 a third of the persons I ought to have seen, nor perhaps a 
 tenth of the things worth seeing. However, I must admit 
 time has not hung hea\7 on our hands, and that I am not 
 sorry for having come up here, though without any im- 
 mense deal of edification. I long, however, to return to 
 my old haunts and our own fireside, and my own best 
 friends, and now intend to indulge in these luxuries 
 without longer delay. It is our purpose to leave to-morrow 
 evening, and we expect to be in Edinburgh on Monday 
 afternoon. Till then, adieu. 
 
 . " With kindest regards to Mrs. Craig. — Ever yours 
 affectionately, 
 
 ** Tho. Thomson. '^ 
 
 To Professor Pillans. 
 '' " Shrubhill, June 18, 1849. 
 
 " My dear Pillans, — I am quite envious of your 
 powers of action and locomotion — such a mortifying con- 
 trast to my own dilatory laziness during my month's 
 sojourn in London. Instead of seeing sights and making 
 
336- MEMOIR OF 
 
 calls, I generally sat all day over the fire reading the 
 Times, or nothing at all, and came away at last nearly as 
 wise as I went. 
 
 " I am sorry you have given up your journalizing habit, 
 as I am in the dark as to your details ; only as to your first 
 day's exploits at Cheyne Walk and Greenwich, of which 
 I have been minutely informed by Piazzi. You say nothing 
 of your Pyrenean plans — do they still hold ? 
 
 " Master Laurie brought me the book of inscriptions, 
 some of which are happy enough. The author's critique 
 on the Stewart inscription I entirely approve of Indeed 
 you know I am quite of the severe school ; and the greater 
 brevity of the inscription (' never to be inscribed,') would 
 be a recommendation in some mechanical views, as the 
 form of the tablet is not suited to more than three or four 
 lines. . . . Playfair is returned from London much 
 better than when he went, and cheered with the prospect 
 of the Mound buildings going on under his auspices. 
 
 " Remember us to the Landers. — Ever yours affec- 
 tionately." 
 
 To THE Same. 
 
 " 54, Welbeck Street, Cavendish Square, 
 April 9, 1851. 
 
 " My dear PiLLANS, — When one has got nothing to do, 
 and relishes his employment, it is hardly possible to find a 
 leisure moment for writing letters to one's friends. This I 
 doubt not you will accept as a complete apology for my 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 237 
 
 silence since I left you. What a violent contrast my life 
 in London to yours ! Every moment, from dawn till bed- 
 time, pre-occupied, and devoted to some weighty duty. 
 Well, chacun ci son gout — we did one thing cleverly — 
 came here in twelve hours of one day, ^vithout fatigue, and 
 are going on prospering and to prosper. 
 
 " We found the Landers all well, Isabella particularly 
 so. He is busy with his exhibition, which opens on Satur- 
 day next. 
 
 " No news going here. I sat with Macaulay yesterday 
 for an hour. No politics, excepting a strong expression of 
 regret, in full harmony with our opinions on the aggres- 
 sion. 
 
 " Mrs. T. sends her love. — Ever yours affectionately, 
 
 u T. T." 
 
 " He is much stronger and better, in every respect, than 
 when he left Shrubhill. 
 
 " A. T." 
 
 To THE Same. 
 
 " 29, Margaret Street, Cavendish Square, 
 May 1, [1851.] 
 
 *' My dear Pillans, — I am here in a pitiable state of 
 indolence and idleness. Sights enough there are to be 
 seen, and some kind relations whom I delight to see ; but 
 the great charm of London, as London, and as the resi- 
 dence of many whom it was the pride of one's life to know, 
 
238 MEMOIR OF 
 
 and whose society it was a precious privilege to participate 
 in, how is it gone for ever ! — So much for the pleasures of 
 longevity ! 
 
 " Isabella and her nice children we see often. Tom's 
 two eldest, and very pretty girls, have been in town, and 
 have gained our affections." 
 
 To THE Same. 
 
 " May 14, 1851. 
 
 " My dear Pillans, — This is, I think, my third attempt 
 to write you, these ^yq or six last days, and how to account 
 for my disgraceful failures is more than I can discover, 
 and must not stop to investigate, in case of another break 
 down. It is in truth new to speak of anything but our 
 return home ; and on Monday 19th we intend to leave by 
 the morning express, and to sleep at Shrubhill, where we 
 may expect to arrive about ten o'clock, and where we have 
 directed a bed to be prepared for us. This is running the 
 thing rather close, but there is now no help for it ; and 
 my health and strength being at present decidedly better 
 than when we came up, I feel quite sanguine of being 
 equal to the journey. The Murrays leave to-morrow, and 
 the Kutherfurds on Friday, and take two days, at least, 
 but they are old bodies ! We shall probably put your kind 
 hospitalities under frequent contribution next week, for 
 which I do now long earnestly. Never did any man spend 
 so useless a life as I have done ever since I came here. I 
 look back to it with shame and confusion of face. I lay 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 239 
 
 my account with your uumitigated contempt, and in that 
 persuasion remain your truly humble servant, 
 
 Thomson had a severe attack of bronchitis in the be- 
 ginning of 1852, which, coming in addition to some pre- 
 vious illness, and the increasing burden of years, unfitted 
 him for his Court duty, and induced him, in the month of 
 February, to resign the ofiSce of Clerk of Session, which 
 he had held for twenty-four years. 
 
 Minute of the Lords of the Treasury. 
 
 " 20th February 1852. 
 
 " My Lords have before them a letter from Secretary 
 Sir George Grey, dated the 20th instant, enclosing the 
 resignation of Thomas Thomson, Esq., of the office of 
 Principal Clerk of the Court of Session in Scotland, which 
 Her Majesty has been pleased to accept. 
 
 " Sir George Grey recommends that an annuity or 
 yearly pension may be awarded to Mr. Thomson. 
 
 " The Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to 
 this communication, brings under the notice of their Lord- 
 ships, that retiring allowances calculated at two-thirds of the 
 salary enjoyed, have been awarded to the four last of Mr. 
 Thomson's predecessors, and adverting to Mr. Thomson's 
 advanced age, viz., 83 years, to the very high character 
 which he bears, to his valuable labours under the Record 
 Commission, the results of which have been shewn by the 
 
240 MEMOIR OF 
 
 publication of the Acts of the Scottish Parliament, and 
 numerous very important public Records, as well as to the 
 great zeal and efficiency with which during the last 24 
 years he has performed the very responsible duties of his 
 office. Sir Charles Wood submits that a pension of two-thirds 
 of the salary of £1000 a-year should be granted to Mr. 
 Thomson, to be provided for by a vote to be submitted to 
 Parliament during the present session, and recommends 
 that in communicating this decision to the Secretary of 
 State, it should be accompanied by the expression of the 
 sense entertained by my Lords of the manner in which he 
 has executed the duties entrusted to him. 
 
 " My Lords concur, and desire that a letter may be 
 written to Mr. Waddington for the information of the 
 Secretary of State accordingly." 
 
 To Professor Pillans. 
 
 " Tulse Hill, July 15, [1852.] 
 
 " My dear Pillans, — The desire of writing you, aided 
 by the hope of hearing from you, has been unabated for 
 the last fortnight ; but what can that avail with the ther- 
 mometer up in the highest regions — between 80 and 90 ? 
 The intense heat has not been favourable to the increase 
 of human vigour and activity, and I cannot boast of much 
 improvement since this infliction began, nor hope for much 
 more till I get cool. If I had not been so lazy, I might 
 have had all this time such nice accounts of the Edin- 
 burgh election. Excepting the result of the poll, I have 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 241 
 
 as yet heard nothing, and there must be much I should 
 like to hear which the Scotsman will not tell me. We 
 intend being at Leamington before long, unless some 
 change in the weather should make our stay in these parts 
 more tolerable. We came here on Monday, with no defi- 
 nite purpose as to our stay, and we shall make out the 
 week. What next I don't know. I have not yet hunted 
 out the Prices, but that shall be done ; nor the Leonard 
 Homers. M'Culloch called for me on Monday, and we 
 must have an evening at the Stationery Office. 
 
 " Dear Pillans, it is poor occupation having nothing to 
 do but the getting of a little more strength, and that 
 coming slowdy. I shall soon get tired of the pursuit, if it 
 does not get on more merrily than at present." 
 
 He returned to Edinburgh, apparently somewhat re- 
 cruited. But symptoms of infirmity recurred in Septem- 
 ber, and after being confined to his room for only a few 
 days, he expired, while sitting in his chair, in the evening 
 of Saturday, the 2d of October 1852. 
 
 Lord Cockbukn to Mk. James Gibson Craig. 
 
 " Bonahf, 4t7i October 1852. 
 
 . " My dear Craig, — I am glad that Thomson has passed 
 so easily away. To die at eighty-four, when time had 
 begun to do its worst, sitting at home beside a wife in an 
 evening, and the dying consisting in merely ceasing to 
 live, is an enviable demission. 
 
242 MEMOIR OF 
 
 " He was, in many respects, an admirable man. His 
 great misfortune was, that throughout life he never realized 
 what he ought to have been and to have done, and this 
 owing solely to a few weak habits. He should, and might 
 very easily, have been a great legal adviser and a great 
 judge, but was not ; and even some valuable points of his 
 peculiar field of the Records were left, not uncultivated, 
 but unreaped. 
 
 " But how bright and how joyous used our many social 
 nights in his harbour of refuge to be ! How many good 
 and eminent friends we met there ! How amiable were 
 his and our profligacies ! And how, over all these scenes, 
 did the genius of Thomas predominate ! All gone ! under 
 the great destiny, at which it is absurd either to wonder 
 or to repine. The duty, or at least the pleasure, of in- 
 creased amity among the survivors, is one of the true 
 morals to be extracted from these events. 
 
 " Stewart's monument must now bear his name. 
 
 *^ And I trust that you and a few others who manage 
 the affairs of the Bannatyne, will find a third good presi- 
 dent. I have heard some profane hints about giving it up. 
 Nonsense ! It should be perpetuated, though with but ten 
 members, at present doing nothing, and paying only five 
 shillings a-year. Never say die ! But a good president, 
 a diminution of the annual tax, some activity, and avoid- 
 ing horrid French publications, will sustain it easily. 
 
 " Love to Mrs. Craig. — Ever, 
 
 " H. COCKBURN." 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 243 
 
 The Same to the Same. 
 
 " Bonaly, 6th October 1852. 
 
 " My dear Craig, — I have sent no answer to the invi- 
 tation to Thomson's funeral, because this is the usual 
 acceptance, and I mean to go if I can. But I have been 
 colded for some days ; and if this shall continue, I do not 
 think it would be right to do so. If I should not appear, 
 you will do me a kindness if you will explain the reason 
 of my absence to his nephew. Poor Mrs. Thomson may 
 naturally be sensitive about the absence of any of her hus- 
 band's old friends, and therefore I shall certainly be there 
 if I can. 
 
 " 1 am glad to see the notice in the Scotsman to-day. 
 If the funeral had been two days later, it would have been 
 on the very day fifty years ago, that the first number of 
 the Review appeared. I dined at Amiston in that month, 
 and remember, as well as if it was yesterday, hearing Pro- 
 fessor Finlayson — indirectly the leader of the Church — 
 demonstrate, to the entire satisfaction of a large party of 
 blazing Tories, that so Jacobinical and scurrilous a work 
 could not possibly reach a third number. — Ever, 
 
 " H. COCKBURN." 
 
244 MEMOIR OF 
 
 In the case of most literary men, their merit and useful- 
 ness are to be estimated solely by their works; and, if 
 Thomson had bestowed on any popular branch of litera- 
 ture or art, the talents and varied accomplishments he 
 devoted to labours which, however useful, are, from their 
 nature, unknown to the world at large, his name would 
 have been preserved in his works, and the present Memoir 
 might have been superfluous. That the memory of the 
 foremost of Record scholars, the learned legal antiquary 
 and constitutional lawyer, the reformer of the Conveyan- 
 cing and of the Registers of Scotland, should not be con- 
 fined to a few surviving friends, the witnesses of his efforts 
 and his influence, it seemed necessary to trace the histoiy 
 of his uneventful life. If the Memoir has answered its 
 purpose, it has shewn that no fair estimate can be formed 
 of Thomson from his publications, important as they are 
 for Scotch history and law. Far more impoi*tant was 
 the total change he introduced in the study and conduct 
 of historical inquiries amongst us. Before his time all 
 our writers in that department, even the most respectable, 
 sought to i^upport a party or maintain a preconceived 
 doctrine, and the facts of history were to be read by a 
 particular light. From Buchanan and Leslie down to 
 Pinkerton and Chalmers, none can be named who wrote 
 of Scotch affaire dispassionately and honestly, except 
 Robertson and Lord Hailes. There was the Whig 
 historian and the Tory — the Celtic antiquary and the 
 Goth ; and, not content with maintaining his own 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 245 
 
 dogma, each writer bestowed his chief earnestness in 
 pulling his antagonist to pieces. All this was reformed 
 by Thomson, with the same tact which had carried 
 him safely through the difficulties of Record reforms. 
 He was on friendly terms with Chalmers. He did 
 not quarrel with Pinkerton. He came into collision 
 with no one. No one could be offended with the great 
 Charter scholar expressing the substance of Records 
 distilled through his acute, clear, unprejudiced mind. 
 His extreme temperance and his very silence were 
 useful. That one so learned should hesitate to ex- 
 press an opinion confidently, was a valuable example, 
 where it had become the fashion to assert everything 
 very strongly, and to condemn difference of opinion as 
 dishonest or absurd. He never turned aside to correct 
 the bad reasoning of others, nor indulged in self-glori- 
 fication at the expense of prior inquirers. He used- 
 what was true and sound in each. He willingly acknow- 
 ledged his obligations to contemporaries, but he never 
 stepped an inch to the right hand or to the left, because 
 others had done so, or had failed before. It was of infinite 
 importance to have a man of this character holding as it 
 were the key of the National Records. The very defects I 
 have noticed in him were in this view almost merits. His 
 unwillingness to commit his thoughts to paper, his scrupu- 
 lousness in putting forth his own speculations, saved him 
 from controvei-sy, and it is owing to this that we have a 
 body of Records published, the foundations of history. 
 
246 MEMOIR OF 
 
 not only correct beyond all former example, but free from 
 all imputation or suspicion of one-sidedness. 
 
 Of bis great work, tbe Acts of tbe Parliaments of Scot- 
 land, it is not enougb to say tbat no voice has been 
 raised against tbe general consent with wbicb it was 
 received as tbe standard edition of tbe national Statutes 
 at Large. Tbat migbt be said of any correct reprint of 
 Acts of Parliament, or of a faitbful publication of an 
 autbentic body of record, existing and recognised as 
 tbe autboritative record of Parliament. But it was in 
 very different circumstances tbat Tbomson bad to lay 
 before tbe world tbe legislation of five centuries. He 
 bas bimself, to some extent, explained bis views and bis 
 difficulties, but be was not tbe person to dilate upon tbe 
 persevering industry of research, tbe careiul examination 
 and comparison of manuscripts, tbe weighing of authorities, 
 tbe judicious selection of materials, their skilful and 
 convenient arrangement, wbicb became tbe editor of such 
 a collection from such sources ; and all this over and 
 above tbe adjustment of tbe text, which is tbe common 
 duty and sufficient labour of every editor. It is hardly 
 enougb known tbat the matter of this great collection 
 is quite different from a mere collection of " Statutes 
 at large." The early part comprehends those ancient 
 codes of laws, which indicate rather the current of cus- 
 tom and customary law than any distinct legislation, 
 and wbicb, in all civilized countries, have obtained the 
 special attention of tbe philosophic historian. The latter 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 247 
 
 portion gives, indeed, the statutes or laws enacted in suc- 
 cessive Parliaments ; but in addition to them it embraces 
 everything which engaged the attention of statesmen, and 
 forms, in truth, a record of the proceedings of the King's 
 High Court ; and, in times when all public business was 
 concentrated there, it serves as a register of the public 
 history of the country. 
 
 Out of that large mass of Parliamentary business there 
 was set apart and printed separately, with excellent judg- 
 ment, the judicial proceedings of the Parliament and of 
 the King's Council, giving the collected law decisions of 
 Scotland from 1466 to 1495, when the law courts were not 
 yet separate from the legislative and administrative bodies 
 of the nation. These volumes are known as the Acta 
 Auditorum — the Acts of the Parliamentary Committee, 
 styled the Lords Auditors of Causes and Complaints ; and 
 the Acta Dominorum ConciUi — the Acts of the Lords of 
 Council in Civil Causes. 
 
 The other Kecord works of Thomson are either correct 
 prints of valuable Kecords, such as the Eegister of the 
 Great Seal and the Chamberlain Kolls, or judicious 
 abridgments like the Abbreviate of Eetours. Of such 
 works, the highest praise that can be given is, that 
 they were required by the historical student, the anti- 
 quary, and the man of business, and that they have 
 answered their purpose — quite superseding reference to 
 the original Records. The books he issued for private 
 circulation, or for the Bannatyne Club, were entiiely his- 
 
248 MEMOIR OF 
 
 torical, at least if we may include under that description 
 Lady Murray's charming little memoir of her mother, 
 Grissell Baillie. Of these numerous publications, whether 
 given for the first time from original MSS., or re-printed 
 from better sources than had been before used, there is 
 not one which does not illustrate some obscure or interest- 
 ing passage of Scotch history. The care and accuracy of 
 the t«xt are everywhere remarkable, and the judgment 
 and good taste displayed in the occasional remarks of the 
 Editor, only leave room to regret that these words of the 
 master are so few. 
 
 The following list of Thomson's works is printed from 
 a notice of the President of the Bannatyne Club, prepared 
 by his much valued friend the Secretary. 
 
 I. — Works published under authority of the Commissioners 
 ox the Public Kecords of the Kingdom. 
 
 Inquisitionura ad Capellam Domini Regis Retornatarum, 
 qufe in Publicis Archivis Scoti^e adhuc servantur, 
 Abbreviatio. 1811, 1816. 3 vols, folio. 
 
 Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum in Archivis 
 Publicis asservatum. MCCCVL—MCCCCXXIV. 
 1814, folio. 
 
 The Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland. 1814 to 
 1824, 11 vols, folio. 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. '249 
 
 The Acts of the Lords Auditors of Causes and Complaints, 
 
 MCCCCLXVI.— MCCCCXCIV. 1839, folio. 
 The Acts of the Lords of Council in Civil Causes. 
 MCCCCLXXVIIL— MCCCCXCV. 1839, folio. 
 In addition to these works so generally known, it is also 
 to be mentioned, that a limited number of copies of the 
 abbreviates of various Registers, for the convenience of 
 easier examination, and for securing greater accuracy, were 
 printed exclusively for the use of the office, according to 
 the plans digested by Mr. Thomson. 
 
 1. A Continuation of the Retours of Services to the 
 Chancery Office, from the Union, A.D. 1707. 
 
 2. An Abbreviate or Digest of the Registers of Sasines, 
 General and Particular, arranged in Counties, with rela- 
 tive Indexes, from the 1st of January 1781. 
 
 3. An Abbreviate of Adjudications, from the same 
 period to 1830. 
 
 4. An Abbreviate of Inhibitions, General and Parti- 
 cular, arranged in Counties, from the same period to 
 1830. 
 
 The Annual Reports of the Deputy-Clerk Register of 
 Scotland, 1807 to 1811, form one volume folio with 
 a General title, and an Index of the Principal Con- 
 tents. The Sixth to the Fourteenth Report, in 1822, 
 (being the latest furnished by Mr. Thomson,) form a 
 similar volume, but without Title or Index. 
 
250 MEMOIR OF 
 
 II. — Miscellaneous, Historical or Antiquarian Works, 
 
 CHIEFLY PRINTED FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION. 
 
 A Compilation of the Forms of Process in the Court of 
 Session during the earlier periods after its establish- 
 ment, with the Variations which they have since 
 undergone, &c. Edinburgh, 1809, 8vo. 
 A Collection of Inventories and other Records of the 
 Royal Wardrobe and Jewelhouse ; and of the Artil- 
 lery and Munition in some of the Royal Castles, 
 1488-1606. Edinburgh, 1815, 4to. 
 Inventory of Worke done for the State, by [Evan Tyler] 
 his Majesties Printer in Scotland, December 1642 — 
 October 1647. Edinburgh, 1815, 4to. 
 Ane Addicioun of Scottis Cornikles and Deidis, — A Short 
 Chronicle of the Reign of James the Second King of 
 Scots. (From Asloane's Manuscript in the Auchin- 
 leck Library.) [Edinburgh, 1819,] small 4to. 
 Memoirs of the Afifairs of Scotland from the Restoration of 
 ' King Charles II., A.D. 1660. By Sir George Mac- 
 kenzie of Rosehaugh, Knight. Edinburgh, 1821, 4to. 
 Memoirs of the Lives and Characters of the Right Hon- 
 ourable George BaiHie of Jerviswood, and of Lady 
 Grissell, by their daughter Lady Murray. Edinburgh, 
 1822, 8vo. Tliis interesting volume was republished 
 for sale, in 1824, small 8vo. 
 Menu de la Maison de la Royne faict par Mens, de Pin- 
 guillon, M.D.LXII. [Edinburgh, 1824,] 4to. 
 
THOMAS THOMSON. 251 
 
 III. — Historical and other Works edited for the 
 Bannatyne Club. 
 
 Alex. Myln, Vitaa Dunkeldensis EcclesiaB Episcoporum. 
 1823, 4to. 
 
 Discours particulier d'Escosse, escrit en 1559. 1824, 4to. 
 
 The Historie and Life of King James the Sext. 1825, 4to. 
 
 Memoirs of his own Life, by Sir James Melville of Hal- 
 hill. 1827, 4to. 
 
 Memoirs of his own Life and Times, by Sir James Turner. 
 
 1829, 4to. 
 
 The History of Scotland, by John Lesley, Bishop of Ross. 
 
 1830, 4to. 
 
 Collection of Ancient Scottish Prophecies, in alliterative 
 verse. 1833, 4to. 
 
 Diurnal of Remarkable Occurrents, from the Pollok MS. 
 1833, 4to. 
 
 The Ragman Rolls, 1291-1296. 1834, 4to. 
 
 The Booke of the Universall Kirk of Scotland, 1560-1618. 
 ^ 1839, 1840, 1845, 3 vols., 4to. 
 
 The Accounts of the Great Chamberlains of Scotland, &c., 
 1326-1406, 2 vols., printed in the year 1817, and cir- 
 culated in 1841. Vol. 3d, 1406-1453. 1845, 4to. 
 
 A Diary of the Public Correspondence of Sir Thomas Hope 
 of Craighall. 1843, 4to. 
 
 Munimenta Yetustiora Comitatus de MortouD, and Origi- 
 nal Letters and Papers in the Archives of the Earls 
 of Morton. 1852, 4to. 
 
EDINBURGH : T. C0X8TABLK, PRINTER TO HER MAJESTY. 
 
72886? 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA UBRARY