602 MR small's biographical sketch of prof. ADAM FERGUSON. 



fire, praying with the dying, attending to the wounded, and directing them to be 

 carried to a place of safety. The Colonel further remarks, that Ferguson, " by 

 his fearless zeal, his intrepidity, and his friendship towards the soldiers (several 

 of whom had been his schoolfellows at Diinkeld) ; his amiable and cheerful man- 

 ners, checking with severity when necessary, mixing among them with ease and 

 familiarity, and being as ready as any of them with a poem or a heroic tale, 

 acquired an unbounded ascendancy over them; and while he was chaplain of the 

 corps he held an equal, if not in some respects a greater, influence over the minds 

 of the men than the commanding officer."* 



While he was connected with this regiment, he published a sermon, which 

 was his first contribution to literature. It is entitled — A Sermon preached, in 

 the Ersh Language^ to His Majesty's First Highland Regiment of Foot, commanded 

 hy Lord John Murray, at their Cantonment at CamherweU, on the 18th day of 

 December 1745, being apjyointed as a solemn Fast. Translated into English for 

 the Use of a Lady of Quality in Scotland, at whose desire it is now published ■} 



This sermon, printed at the request of the Duchess Dowager of Athole, with 

 whom Ferguson was a particular favourite, is more remarkable for the vigour of 

 its patriotic exhortations than for the elegance of its language, and contains 

 strong denunciations of the attempt made in the year 1745 to seat Prince 

 Charles on the throne of Britain. 



With this gallant regiment Ferguson served during the whole of the cam- 

 paign in Flanders ; and on the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, he obtained leave of 

 absence, and visited the scenes of his youth, where he spent much of his time in 

 wandering amongst the Perthshire mountains. AVriting to an intimate friend at 

 a subsequent period, he says, "' If I had not been in the Highlands of Scotland. 

 I might be of their mind who think the inhabitants of Paris and Versailles the 

 only polite people in the world It is truly wonderful to see persons of ever}' 

 sex and age, who never travelled beyond the nearest mountain, possess them- 

 selves perfectly, perform acts of kindness with an aspect of dignity, and a perfect 

 discernment of what is proper to oblige. This is seldom to be seen in our cities, 

 or in our capital ; but a person among the mountains, who thinks himself nobly 

 born, considers courtesy as the test of his rank. He never saw a superior, and 

 does not know what it is to be embarrassed. He has an ingenuous deference for 

 those who have seen more of the world than himself; but never saw the neglect 

 of others assumed as a mark of superiority." % 



With a desire to obtain a more permanent and more congenial sphere of use- 

 fulness, Ferguson applied for the living of Caputh, a beautiful parish near Dun- 

 keld, in the patronage of the Duke of Athole. He was not, however, in all 



* Hist, of the Highlanders, vol. i. p. 292. f Lond., 1746. 8vo. + MSS. Univ. of Edin. 



