his life you meant to publish and not his works. I am very happy you
entertain the latter intention, for a great deal of historical matter
exists in the manuscript copy of the collection of decisions which has
been omitted by the publishers, whose object was only to collect the law
reports and who appear in the latter volume entirely to have disregarded
all other information. There is also somewhere in the Advocates'
Library, but now mislaid, a very curious letter of Lord Fountainhall on
the Revolution, and so very many other remains of his that I would fain
hope your work will suffer nothing by my anticipation, which I assure
you would never have taken place had I conceived those Notes fell within
your plan. The fact was that the letter on the Revolution was mislaid
and the little Ma[nuscript] having disappeared also, though it was
afterwards recovered, it seemed to me worth while to have it put in a
printed shape for the sake of preservation, and as only one hundred
copies were printed, I hope it will rather excite than gratify curiosity
on the subject of Lord Fountainhall. I expected to see you before I
should have thought of publishing the Letter on the Revolution, and
hoped to whet your almost blunted purpose about doing that and some
other things yourself. I think a selection from the Decisions just on
the contrary principle which was naturally enough adopted by the former
publishers, rejected[12] the law that is and retaining the history,
would be highly interesting. I am sure you are entitled to expect[13] on
all accounts and not interruption from me in a task so honorable, and I
hope you will spare me a day in town to talk the old Judge's affairs
over. The history of the Bass should be a curious one. You are of course
aware of the anecdote of one of your ancestors insisting on having the
"auld craig back again."

'Constable undertook to forward to you a copy of the Notes with my
respects, and it adds to my piggish behaviour that I see he had omitted