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of Edinburgh, Session 1872 - 73 . 
The success of this his first poem seems to have inspired Terrot 
with the ambition to try a more difficult theme. In 1819 he 
published anonymously a poem, with the rather prose-inspiring 
title, “ Common Sense.” In this production the poets and poli- 
ticians of the day were pretty freely criticised by a hand which 
wielded some of the power of the Dunciad and the Rolliad com- 
bined. That the poem was vigorous and pointed no one who 
knew Terrot can for a moment doubt. But it was not the less a 
great mistake in the author to attempt to weigh poets in the 
balance of common sense ; and the attempt accordingly failed. A 
line or two from the first page may be taken as a specimen : — 
“ Time was when bards were few : then might you see 
In Button’s room the whole fraternity. 
But now, like Egypt’s frogs, on every hand 
They spread, and croak, and darken all the land.” 
As a poet, then, it is clear that Terrot would have found himself 
in very unpleasant society. He accordingly renounced the fra- 
ternity, and carried his common sense, of which he had an 
abundant stock, to the regions of theology and mathematics. 
With his theology we have in this place no concern. But a very 
graceful recognition of its merits has appeared in the sketch of 
Terrot’s life from the pen of Dean Ramsay, who has delineated his 
character by a few well-marked and kindly touches. 
Our concern is only with his mathematics. To mathematics, 
when harassed by the cares and vexations incident to his position, 
he had recourse as a retreat from irritating thoughts. His passion 
for this science was strong enough to take possession of his mind, 
and soothing enough to settle it down to repose. Bishop Terrot 
contributed several papers to the Transactions of this Society. 
The subjects treated of were the Properties of Numbers; the 
Square Roots of Negative Quantities as Symbols of Direction ; 
and the Theory of Probabilities. To the papers on the second 
and third of these subjects it may be permitted to make more than 
a passing allusion. 
In January 1847 he read to the Society a paper, entitled, “ An 
Attempt to Elucidate and Apply the Principles of Geometry, as 
published by Mr Warren in his Treatise on the Square Roots of 
Negative Quantities.” The subject here treated of had been 
