ROBERTSON. 317 



with any woman, adding, " My humble service to you." 

 When in the country he liked to be left entirely to 

 himself in the morning, either to read or to walk or to 

 drive about ; and he said that one of his great enjoy- 

 ments at Lennel was Mr. Brydone and himself doing 

 precisely each as he chose, and being each as if the 

 other were not in the same house. 



To give any notion of the anecdotes, simple, racy, 

 unpretending, which he would introduce when per- 

 fectly apposite to the subject matter, would not be 

 easy. Good nature and good humour prevailed through 

 his conversation, in which there was nothing ambitious 

 or forced, or any thing to show a desire of display. 

 It always seemed as if he merely wished to enjoy him- 

 self, and contribute his share to the enjoyment of 

 others. The late Lord Meadowbank, a kinsman of 

 his, and indeed his ward, when preparing his Lectures 

 on General History, of which he was Professor, asked 

 him if he had ever remarked how very superficial Mr. 

 Hume's Anglo-Saxon period is, more so than the 

 other parts, though the last written, of his 'History?' 

 " Why, yes, I have," said the Principal ; " but the 

 truth is, David (so he always called him) had the 

 most unfortunate thing happen to him that can 'befall 

 an author he was paid for it before he wrote it." 



