40 THE LIFE OF JAMES D. FORBES. [CHAP. 



Bees my smallest griefs will give me steadiness to pursue 

 them with advantage and with honour. Be this as it 

 may, in losing my father I have lost my principal aim 

 in the concealment of my name from Dr. Brews ter. But 

 an ambition has come over me, I hope not a criminal 

 one, to be early a member of the Koyal Society, which 

 would be of advantage to my future fame, which I look 

 to principally as the means of acquiring a name in the 

 literary world, of which every one knows the advantage. 

 This is one point. But another use I think of making of 

 my incognito before I part with it is in a lucrative view, 

 as I propose writing letters to the conductors of each of 

 the foreign Reviews, offering to write/ 



The winter duties of this session (1828-9) consisted in 

 attendance on the classes of Natural Philosophy and 

 Civil Law in Edinburgh University. Sir John Leslie 

 still taught the Natural Philosophy class, though now 

 somewhat past his prime. This was the class in which 

 were handled all those subjects on which almost from his 

 tenth year Forbes' thoughts had mostly dwelt. All these 

 years he had clung to them with wonderful pertinacity. 



His meteorological and astronomical journals, as well 

 as other observations, had been carried on almost from 

 childhood with unflagging zeal. 



That a student, entering the class of Natural Philosophy 

 with such a natural genius for the subject, so well pre- 

 pared, and so persevering, should succeed, was a matter of 

 course. Here is his own record of the results : 



1 Regarding my past winter's studies at Civil Law, I 

 have got on better than I expected, nor can it be said to 

 be very repulsive. I expect to pass my trial at the begin- 

 ning of the session in May. At Leslie's class I got on 

 well, and easily got the first prize, for which I believe 

 I shall get a gold medal. I have also attended Jamie- 

 son's very pleasantly.' 



But this session contained one event more important 

 and interesting to the young votary of science than the 

 attendance on any class in College. 



