507 
of Edinburgh, Session 1877 - 78 . 
pursuits. From this time forward he led the life of a dilettante , in 
the best sense of the word, for he really delighted both in science 
and in the fine arts, and exhibited no mean information in both 
these provinces. The first product of Mr Coventry’s leisure, which 
has been preserved, consists in “ A Letter to the Landed Interest of 
Scotland,” advocating “ the merits of the Association for employing 
an agricultural chemist.” This pamphlet, which appeared in 1843, 
went through two editions. Mr Coventry travelled yearly on the 
Continent, taking great interest both in scenery and works of art ; 
he collected, to a certain extent, both books and pictures, and in 
1851 he had the good fortune to purchase in Westmoreland a very 
beautiful marble bust, which proved to be a genuine antique, and 
was pronounced by Mr Burgon of the British Museum to be the 
bust of Antonia Augusta, daughter of Mark Antony and Octavia, 
and mother of Germanicus and of Claudius. On this discovery 
Mr Coventry read a paper in 1852, being his first contribution to 
this Society. It may be mentioned that the bust itself is now the 
property of his nephew, Colonel Crighton. In 1854 he published 
anonymously a little treatise entitled “The Certainty of Christianity,” 
which he maintained chiefly on historical grounds. In 1856 he 
delivered the “Ulbster Hall Lecture,” on “ Some of the most curious 
Inventions and Discoveries of Decent Times.” This lecture gave 
evidence of very extensive reading and great fulness of knowledge 
as to the results of science, and the facts which it contained were 
set forth in a lively and striking manner. In 1857 Mr Coventry 
delivered the annual address to the students of the School of Design 
under the Board of Manufactures, and in so doing displayed the 
feeling and taste of a connoisseur. He always took a great interest 
in the Association for the Promotion of the Fine Arts ; he was for 
many years a member of their managing committee, and more than 
once presided at their annual meeting. In later life, becoming a 
director of the Commercial Bank of Scotland, he began to devote 
himself to questions of finance, and in 1870 he read before us his 
second paper, which was entitled “A Method for Economizing our 
Currency.” The idea was, that by demonetizing the sovereign and 
substituting for it notes, which should represent gold hoarded in the 
cellars of the Bank of England, a considerable saving might be 
effected in the wear and tear of gold. This idea, though ingeniously 
