MR small's biographical SKETCH OF PROF. ADAM FERGUSOI^. 605 



which he was subjected by the Church, while his tragedy was received on the 

 Edinburgh stage with the most enthusiastic applause. Along with Principal 

 Robertson, David Hume, and Dr. Blair, Ferguson had taken a deep interest in 

 the attempts of Home to have his 'Douglas' properly brought before the public, 

 and it has been stated that it was privately rehearsed by these gentlemen, in the 

 lodgings of Mrs Sarah Ward (one of Digges' company), in presence of some of 

 the most distinguished literary men of Scotland.* 



From his friendship with David Hume, and Adam Smith, then Professor of 

 Moral Philosophy in the University of Glasgow, who were well aware of his 

 extraordinary accomplishments, it was now proposed that Ferguson should be 

 promoted to a Chair in one of the Scottish Universities. At this time the in- 

 fluence of Lord MiLTONjf the political agent of Archibald Duke of Argyll, was 

 paramount in the patronage of almost every oflflce of emolument and dignity 

 in Scotland. Even in the exercise of the patronage of the Chairs in the University 

 of Edinburgh, so jealously guarded by the Town Council, the influence of Lord 

 Milton was so strong that Provost Drummond, one of the most meritorious and 

 public-spirited benefactors of the community over which he presided, did not 

 find himself at liberty to promise any preferment at the disposal of the Town 

 Council, without Lord Milton's consent being obtained4 Under such a system, 

 it is not surprising that Professorships might not only become matters of private 

 arrangement, but, as it would appear by the following letters, even attainable by 

 the payment of considerable sums of money. From the terms of these letters, 

 preserved in the Royal Society, § it was accordingly contemplated to transfer 

 Adam Smith to the Chair of the Law of Nature and Nations in the University of 

 Edinburgh, then expected to become vacant by the retirement of Professor Aber- 

 CROMBY, and to appoint Ferguson to the Chair occupied by Smith at Glasgow. 



" Hume to Adam Smith." 



" Sth June 1758. 

 " Dear Smith,— I sit down to write to you, along with Johnstone ;|| and as 

 we have been talking over the matter, it is probable we shall employ the same 

 arguments. As he is the younger lawyer, I leave him to open the case, and 



* The following was the cast of the piece on that occasion : — " Lord Randolph, Dr Robertson 

 (Principal) ; Glenalvon, David Hume (Historian) ; Old Norval, Dr Carlyle (Minister of Mussel- 

 burgh) ; Douglas, John Home (the Author) ; Lady Randolph, Dr Ferguson ; Anna (the Maid), Dr 

 Blair (Minister, High Church)." 



" The audience that day, besides Mr Digges and Mrs Ward, were the Right Hon. Patrick Lord 

 Elibank, Lord Milton, Lord Kames, Lord Monboddo (the two last were then only lawyers), the 

 Rev. John Steele and William Home, ministers." — Edinburgh Weekly Chronicle, 21st January, 

 1829. Dr Carlyle corroborates this statement so far in his Diary, p. 311. 



f It has been stated that in 1742 Ferguson was Secretary to Lord Milton, and lived with 

 him in that capacity for some time, at Brunstain House, near Edinburgh. — Chambers's Journal, 

 No. 60, 1855. J Sommervill's Life and Times, p. 380. 



§ Hume's Life by Burton, vol. ii. p. 45. j| Afterwards Sir William Pulteney. 



