100 The Admirable Crichton. 



June, October, and December. The death rate from it was 

 highest in March and April. The other respiratory diseases 

 were at their maximum in February, when 22 persons out of 

 every ten thousand died from this disease. The next highest 

 number occurred in March. Circulatory diseases were at their 

 worst in January and April, and lowest in September. 



22nd Januanh 1009. 



Chairman — Professor Scott-Elliot, President. 



On the motion of the President, it was agreed that the 

 Society express its gratification at the gift by an anonymous 

 donor of £1200 for the restoration of the Midsteeple, Dumfries. 



[Note. — It has since been intimated that the donor was 

 Mr James H. M'Gowan of Ellangowan, and that the donation was 

 increased to £1500 to cover the total expense of the restoration. 

 —Ed.] 



The Admirable Crichton : A Translation of a Latin 

 Oration delivered by him before the Senate of Genoa 

 IN July, 1579, and a Brief Account of his Life. By 

 Douglas Crichton, F. S.A.Scot. 



On the Calends — the First — of July, in the year 1579, James 

 {the Admirable) Crichton delivered before the Senate of Genoa 

 a Latin oration, a translation of which I shall read to you. The 

 occasion was the election of magistrates of the senatorial ordei, 

 and the speech was given by the authority of the Duke and the 

 decree of the Senate of Genoa. The oration, which will be 

 spoken to-night for the first time in English, is fittingly dedicated 

 to the Prince John Baptist Gentili, Duke and Most Wise Ruler of 

 the Republic of Genoa, by whose sweetest courtesy Crichton had 

 been received with unprecedented graciousness and hospitality 

 on his first forlorn arrival, as a shipwrecked man carried by 

 fortune to the shores of Genoa. There are records other than 

 this which go to prove that Crichton arrived in Genoa in a 



