1790' LITERARY INTELLIGENCER. 9 



If the admiffion of Cullen into the Univerfity of 

 Glafgow gave great fpirit to the exertions of the ilu- 

 dents, this was iHll, if poffible, more llrongly felt in 

 Edinburgh. Chemiftrj, which had been till that time 

 of fmall account in that Univerfity, and was attended 

 to by very few of the ftudents, inftantly became a fa- 

 vourite ftudy ; and the lectures upon that fcieuce were 

 more frequented than any others in the Univerfity, 

 anatomy alone excepted. The ftudents, in general, fpoke 

 of Cullen with the raptrous ardour that is natural 

 to youth when they are highly pleafed. Thefe rap- 

 trous eulogiums appeared extravagant to moderate men, 

 and could not fail to prove difgufting to his colleagues. 

 A party was formed among the iludents for oppofing 

 this new favourite of the public ; and thefe ftudents, 

 by mifreprenting thedoftrines of Cullen to others who 

 could not have an opportunity of hearing thefe doc- 

 trines themfelves, made even fome of the moft intel- 

 ligent men in the Univerfity, think it their duty pub- 

 licly to oppole thefe imaginary tenets. The ferment 

 was thus augmented ; and it was fome time before the 

 profeilors difcovered the arts by which they had been 

 impofed upon, and univ^rfal harmony reftored. During 

 this time of public ferment, Cullen went fteadily for- 

 ward, without taking any part himfelf in thefe dif- 

 putes. He never gave ear to any tales refpefting his 

 colleagues, nor took any notice of the doftrines they 

 taught : That fome of their unguarded ftrictures might 

 at times come to his knowledge, is not impofTible ; but 

 if they did, tliey feemed to make no impreflion on his 

 mind : For during three years that the writer of this 

 article attended his public leftures, while this ferment 

 reigned, and for upwards of thirty years that he has 

 been indulged v.'ith his private acquaintance, he can 

 with truth aver, that neither in public nor in private, 

 did he ever hear a fingle expreflion drop from Cullen, 

 that tended, direftly or indireftly, to derogate from 

 the profeflional charadler of any of his colleagues, or 



Vol. I. , ■ i- B 



