102 HlSfORT of the SOCIETY. 



brother, greatly encumbered by the debts of thofe who had pof- 

 felled it for fome generations preceding. The mother of Jo- 

 seph Black, and the mother of James Russel, late Profeflbr 

 of Natural Philofophy in the Univerfity of Edinburgh, were lif- 

 ters ; and the mother of Adam Ferguson, Profeflbr of Moral 

 Philofophy, was their aunt ; a circumltance which was the origin, 

 though not the cement, of a friendlhip fublilting between them 

 through life. 



While Mr Black, the father, lived at Bourdeaux, the great 



Montesquieu, being Prelident of the Parliament or Court of 



Jultice in that province, honoured Mr Black with a friendlhip 



■and intimacy, of which his defcendants, to this hour, are juftly 



proud. They preferve letters, or fcraps of correfpondence, that 



palTed between the Prelident Montesquieu and their anceltor, 



as they would titles of honour defcending in their race. On a 



paper wrapped round a bundle of fuch letters, the following 



note is found in the handwriting of Joseph Black. " My fa- 



V ther was honoured with Prelident Montesquieu's friendlhip, 



" on account of his good character and virtues. He had no 



" ambition to be very rich ; but was chearful and contented, 



" benevolent and liberal-minded. He was induftrious and pru- 



<{ dent in bufinefs, of the ftricteft probity and honour, very 



" temperate and regular in his manner of life. He and my 



" mother, who was equally domeltic, educated thirteen of their 



'* children, eight fons and live daughters, who all grew up to 



" men and women, and were fettled in different places. My 



" mother taught her children to read Englilh, there being no 



" fchool for that purpofe at Bourdeaux." 



So much may fuffice for an account of Joseph Black's pa- 

 rentage. No words, added to thofe ufed by his fon, to delineate 

 the father's character, can improve it ; and nothing more is 

 wanting, to account for the regard with which he was honour- 

 ed by the Prelident Montesquieu. This illuftrious perionage, 



together 



