THE TROFESSOB AND HIS CLASS. 241 



following an old Scottish saying about taking 'the bite with the 

 buffet.' He always called himself Sir Peter. It was said that a 

 man of high title had professed to knight him in a drunken frolic. 

 He wandered about sometimes endeavoring to establish himself as 

 a sponge in country houses. Strangely enough, he thus got the ear 

 of Wordsworth, who showed him attention. He used the Profes- 

 sor's name, and Wordsworth, as I heard, talked of him as a Scotch 

 baronet, eccentric in appearance, but fundamentally one of the most 

 sensible men he ever met with. The Professor remarked that this 

 compliment was no doubt owing to Sir Peter having judiciously 

 preserved silence, and allowed Wordsworth to pour into his ear 

 unceasingly the even tenor of his loquacity. 



" The other of this strange pair was a rather more interesting 

 creature. He was called Dr. Syntax. He had of course another 

 name, but of that the public knew nothing. The Tour of Dr. Syntax 

 in search of the picturesque, with its doggerel rhymes and extrava- 

 gant illustrations, had not then quite lost the great popularity it 

 enjoyed. The representations of the hero were intended to be 

 gross caricatures, but the structure of his namesake was so super- 

 naturally protracted and spidery as closely to approach the propor- 

 tions of the caricature. His costume, probably by no design of his 

 own, completed the likeness. This being, if seen in the street, was 

 always marching along with extreme rapidity, with his portfolio 

 under his arm, as if full of important business, unless, indeed, he 

 had just got a present of a turban, a yeoman's helmet, or some other 

 preposterous decoration, when he would stand exhibiting himself 

 wherever a crowd happened to pass. He honored the various pro- 

 fessors and clergy of Edinburgh with his attendance at their lectures 

 and sermons. He always chose the most conspicuous place he could 

 find. There, with his long, demure, cadaverous face, on .which a 

 stray smile would have been at once frozen, he proceeded to busi- 

 ness and spread out his portfolio. He sometimes took notes of what 

 was said, at others took the portrait of the speaker ; it may be pre- 

 sumed that in church he limited himself to the former function. If 

 it grew dark, he would solemnly draw from his pocket a small taper 

 and strike a light, determined not to be interrupted in his duties, 

 and in the centre of the general gloom a small disk of light would 

 distinguish his countenance, which was as solemn as the grave, yet 

 shed around a degree of restless mirth which spoiled many a lecture, 

 lu* 



