49 Htfn00 of tbe 1Rot>, IRifle, anfc (Bun 



they got inside before the tipsy driver came out, and sat 

 in solemn silence till he had driven a short distance, 

 when his ears were assailed with unearthly howls and 

 shrieks and songs from the hearse, so that in mortal 

 terror he lashed the horses into a gallop, and they rattled 

 along at a most unholy pace. A steep ascent near Edin- 

 burgh forced the unhappy man to slacken speed, and 

 the boys, relapsing into silence, slid out one after the 

 other, much refreshed by the rest, and helped on their 

 way by the funereal lift. Four good boys arrived at 

 home in proper time, and without a hint on their 

 ingenuous faces of how they had fared thither." 



In due course Thomas Tod Stoddart entered the 

 University, and amongst the professors whose lectures 

 he attended was John Wilson, the immortal " Christopher 

 North," whom the students worshipped as a demi-god. 

 With the Wilson family Stoddart became very intimate, 

 and the Professor's eldest son John was his life-long 

 friend. To have the run of Christopher North's house 

 in those days was in itself a liberal education for 

 a lad. 



"These days of intimacy with the Wilsons," writes 

 Miss Stoddart, " heaped up for him a store of life-long 

 recollections ; and in recalling them, one seems again to 

 touch the * vanished hand' of that brilliant generation 

 whose influence has passed away. At the Professor's 

 table vivacious, sparkling, original conversation was the 

 rule ; guests unable to contribute to it seldom sat there ; 

 sons, daughters, and habitues came primed with fresh 

 and witty comment and story. Eccentricity, reckless- 

 ness, the freest discussion were permitted ; but all must 



