ROBERTSON 279 



" I Jjaye now brought my .offers to a conclusion with An.- 

 drew Millar. After viewing the town, and considering the 

 irresistible power of a combination of booksellers, I have 

 agreed to sell him the property for 600. This, you see, is 

 the sum I originally fixed upon as #he full price of my work, 

 and is more than was ever given for any book except David 

 Hume's. You canno ( t imagine how much it has astonished 

 all the London authors, nor how much Andrew Millar was 

 astonished at the encomiums of my book whicji he got from 

 people of rank. I have got some of the best puffers of 

 England .on my .side. Mr. Doddington, Horace Walpole, 

 Lady Hervey, and the Speaker are my sworn friends ; and 

 you will wonder, even in this great place, how I have got Mary 

 Queen of Scots to be a subject of conversation. Every body 

 here approves of the bargain I have made with Millar, and I 

 am fully satisfied of the prudence of my own conduct ; but 

 of this I shall have full leisure to talk with you spon. The 

 exploits which Carlyle and I have performed among the Dis- 

 senters are beyond belief. Poor Dr. Chandler is humbled to 

 the dust, and he feels it as much as other quack doctors feel 

 their mortification. "This day I signed my contract with 

 Andrew Millar, and am, according to your advice, to be 

 a Doctor of Divinity within .six months, so that I shall take 

 place immediately after Dr. Blair, as he taketh place immedi- 

 ately after Dr. Turnstill. What great things have I to say ,of 

 Mr. Pit,* who yesterday brought all the Tories to approve of 

 continental measures as the only thing for the good of old 

 England ! Yesterday I dined with Mr. Garrick, in spite of 

 John Jjlyndmanf and -the Presbytery of Dalkeith. tTo.- 

 morrow I go : to Portsmouth, to wa.it on Admiral 1^ awke and 

 see the Royal George. How much have T to tell yo,u ! I ever 

 am yours, 



" W M . R." 



'The rank of the ' History of Scotland ' stands very 

 high indeed among the most eminent of historical 

 compositions. The philosophical spirit which per- 



<* Sic. $ A leader a^ong the fanatical party in ,the Kirk. 



