520 MEMOIR OF 



philosophy, and occasionally exhibited all the splendors of an- 

 cient eloquence. 



Of the progress or success of Mr Tytler's studies during 

 these years, no record, indeed, remains in the annals of the 

 University. It has been the practice, and perhaps the wisdom 

 of the Professors of that distinguished Seminary, to seek more 

 to gratify the desire of knowledge in the young, by the instruc- 

 tion they convey, than to stimulate it by the distinctions they 

 confer ; and to look for their reward rather in the future emi- 

 nence of those they instruct, than in the display of early and 

 premature exertion. Of the dispositions or attainments of the 

 young, however, there is, at this age, one unfading proof to be 

 found, in £he character of the friends and associates whom they 

 select. The circumstances of the times, and the celebrity of 

 the Professors, had at this period excited in the young men of 

 the University, an unusual spirit of literary ambition, and many 

 of those who have now arisen to the highest distinctions in 

 their country, were at this time laying the foundations of the 

 eminence to which they have attained. It was in this class 

 that Mr Tytler sought for friends, and it was in this class he 

 found them. The vivacity of his temper, the variety of his at- 

 tainments, and the high spirit of honour which distinguished 

 even his earliest years, rendered him acceptable to all the 

 young and spirited of his own age ; while his zeal for know- 

 ledge, and his ambition of distinction, conciliated the regard of 

 those who were older. It was in these years, accordingly, that 

 the great friendships of his life were formed ; and it was his 

 peculiar happiness, that among those to whom the affections 

 of his youth were given, the course of his mature life was 

 passed, and its final period was closed. The list is an ample 

 one, and will not be heard in this Society without emotion ; 

 for it contains the names of Henry Mackenzie, of Alexander 



Abercrombie 



