MR SMALL S BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF PROF. ADAM FERGUSON. 657 



more than I knew, and in part witnessed in passing through Flanders. I some- 

 times flatter myself that you will not have waited for accounts of my arrival at 

 Rome, but will have written under care of P. Moir, and Jenkins the banker; if 

 you have not, pour I' amour de Dieu delay it no longer. I could not pass this 

 place, though it is much too modern to be any object to me ; I v/onder at it ; but 

 am not much delighted. Si je rHawis que soixante et dix ans, as Voltaire used 

 to say, I would read its history with great avidity ; but that is for the world to 

 come. I went to the opera last night, and was truly entertained with the audi- 

 ence. — I am, my dear friend, yours most affectionately, 



" Adam Ferguson."* 



From the disturbed state of the Continent at the time, owing to the effects of 

 the French Revolution, Ferguson's stay at Rome was shorter than he anticipated, 

 but he returned to Edinburgh much pleased with his tour. 



After his return he continued to reside at his villa at " the Sciennes," where 

 he enjoyed the society of his literary friends. Principal Robertson dwelt in the 

 neighbourhood, at the Grange House, and Mr Cockburn, father of Lord Cockburn, 

 had his abode in the immediate vicinity, at Hope Park, midway between the 

 houses of the Principal and his late colleague. Lord Cockburn informs us, in the 

 " Memorials of his Time," that he, when a boy, was frequently at the houses both 

 of Robertson and Ferguson. He thus gives us his recollection of Ferguson's 

 appearance : — " Our neighbour on the east was old Adam Ferguson, the historian 

 of Rome, and Stewart's predecessor in our Moral Chair — a singular apparition. 



In his younger years, he was a handsome and resolute man 



Time and illness, however, had been dealing with him, and, when I first knew 

 him, he was a spectacle well worth beholding. His hair was silky and white ; 

 his eyes animated and light-blue ; his cheeks sprinkled with broken red, like 

 autumnal apples, but fresh and healthy ; his lips thin, and the under one curled. 

 A severe paralytic attack had reduced his animal vitality, though it left no ex- 

 - ternal appearance, and he required considerable artificial heat. His raiment, 

 therefore, consisted of half-boots, lined with fur; cloth breeches; along cloth 

 waistcoat, with capacious pockets ; a single-breasted coat ; a cloth greatcoat, also 

 lined with fur ; and a felt hat, commonly tied by a ribbon below the chin. His 

 boots were black, but with this exception, the whole coverings, including the hat, 

 were of a quaker-grey colour, or of a whitish-brown ; and he generally wore the 

 furred greatcoat even within doors. When he walked forth, he used a tall staif, 

 which he commonly held at arm's-length, out towards the right side ; and his 

 two coats, each buttoned by only the upper button, flowed open below, and ex- 

 posed the whole of his curious and venerable figure. His gait and air were 

 noble ; his gesture slow ; his look full of dignity and composed fire. He looked 



* MSS. University, Edinburgh. 



