SIMSON. 483 



is, by both of the pupils who have written his history, 

 Professor Robison and Dr. Traill, described as singu- 

 larly attractive. His explanations were perfectly clear, 

 and were delivered with great spirit, as well as with 

 the pure taste which presided over all his mathe- 

 matical processes. His elocution was distinct and 

 natural, his whole manner at once easy and impres- 

 sive. He did not confine his tuition to the chair, but 

 encouraged his pupils to propound their difficulties in 

 private, and was always accessible to their demands of 

 assistance and advice. Hence the affectionate zeal with 

 which they followed his teaching and ever cherished 

 his memory. 



Successful, however, as he proved in the chair, his 

 genius was bent to the diligent investigation of truth 

 in the science of which he was so great a master. 

 The ancient geometry, that of the Greeks of which I 

 have spoken, early fixed his attention and occupied his 

 mind by its extraordinary elegance, by the lucid clear- 

 ness with which its investigations are conducted, by 

 the exercise which it affords to the reasoning faculties, 

 and above all, by the absolute rigour of its demon- 

 strations. He never undervalued modern analysis ; it 

 is a great mistake to represent him as either disliking 

 its process, or insensible to its vast importance for the 

 solution of questions which the Greek analysis is 

 wholly incapable of reaching. But he considered it 

 as only to be used in its proper sphere: and that 

 sphere he held to exclude whatever of geometrical 

 investigation can be, with convenience and elegance, 

 carried on by purely geometrical methods. The appli- 

 cation of algebra to geometry, it would be ridiculous 



2 i 2 



