the late Professor Playfair. 135 



honour, do we think, to be maintained by placing in his chair 

 an obscure or an ordinary teacher? a man capable of instructing 

 boys in Euclid and algebra, and fit enough to teach mathematics 

 or natural philosophy in a provincial academy, but without 

 knowledge of the higher parts of the science, and without genius 

 to enlarge its boundaries, or to grapple, at least, with their re- 

 sistance ? While there are men of eminence and genius to be 

 found and Scotch bred men, too, of this description, willing and 

 anxious as they are able, to maintain the honour of their country 

 and their school, we trust that no such disgrace will be put on 

 Scotland and Edinburgh on this critical and important occasion. 

 If lower and more selfish considerations were wanting, they, 

 too, all lead to the same conclusion. An ordinary schoolmaster 

 cannot, in fact, teach ordinary schooling so well as a superior 

 person ; but, even if he could, he would never attract the same 

 resort of pupils ; and the celebrity of the teachers, therefore, is 

 a necessary condition of the greatness of the classes, the increase 

 of the emoluments, and the general resort of families for edu- 

 cation—to spend money and pay taxes within the extended 

 royalty. 



Perhaps the patronage of such chairs might have been better 

 placed than in the magistracy of Edinburgh. But we are in- 

 clined to augur well of their conduct on this occasion. For a 

 good while back they have discharged this important part of their 

 duty uprightly and well ; and seem to have a proper sense of the 

 importance of resisting all sinister influence in those interest- 

 ing nominations. At this moment, too, they probably feel 

 that they have not much popularity to spare ; and, upon the 

 whole, we have much more fear of their being misled than of 

 their going voluntary astray. The few considerations we have 

 now thrown out may help, perhaps, to keep them right ; and, 

 indeed, they can scarcely go wrong, if they remember, first, that 

 a person qualified to teach the elements of science, but without 

 a name, or a chance of acquiring a name amongst its votaries, 

 is not fit to be placed at the head of the whole science of Scot- 

 land, by being appointed to the first, or the second, scientific 

 professorship in this metropolitan university ; and secondly, that 



