WILLIAM SMELLIE. 43 



racter, as a husband and parent, is represented 

 to have been peculiarly estimable. 



Like many other learned men, Mr Smellie's 

 opinions in religion and philosophy have occa- 

 sionally been misrepresented by well meaning 

 but somewhat narrow-minded people. In fact, 

 opinions in regard to religious doctrines and 

 forms, on which many good and wise men have 

 disputed almost with rancour, and seldom in the 

 spirit of charity, are manifest to all ; but the 

 following pious sentiment, with which he con- 

 cludes his first volume of the Philosophy of 

 Natural History, we think ought not to be 

 omitted : 



" Let MAN be contented. His station in the 

 universal scale of Nature is fixed by WISDOM. 

 Let him contemplate and admire the works of 

 his CREATOR ; let him Jill up his rank with 

 dignity ) and consider every partial evil as a 

 cause or an effect of general good" 



His works have been for many years extolled 

 both by domestic and foreign authors ; and 

 latterly by Lords Brougham and Althorp, Miss 

 Edgeworth, &c. 



The following picture of Mr Smellie is from 

 the pen of Burns, in a letter, accompanied with 

 a present of a cheese, to the late Mr Peter Hill. 



" DEAR SIR, I know that you are no niggard 

 of your good things among your friends, and 

 some of them are much in need of a slice. There 

 in my eye is our friend Smellie ; a man posi- 



