shall take immediate steps for getting the work expedited. The MS. is
still in Mr. Thomson's hands, but we shall see him on the subject
forthwith. It is proposed to print the work in 2 vols. octavo
handsomely, the number 500 copies.--We remain, sir, with much respect,
your most,

ARCH. CONSTABLE & Co.

'Sir Thos. Dick Lauder, Bart.'

'The publication,' as Mr. Laing says in his Preface, 'intended to form two
volumes in octavo, under the title of _Historical Notices of Scottish
Affairs_, had actually proceeded to press to page 304 in 1825, when the
misfortunes of the publisher put a stop to the enterprise. After an
interval of several years the greater portion of Sir Thomas's transcripts
was placed at the disposal of the Bannatyne Club.' The result was the
publication of the _Observes_ and the _Historical Notices_. Mr. Laing adds,
'If at any subsequent time some of his missing MSS. should be discovered,
another volume of Selections, to include his early Journal and extracts
from his smaller notebooks, might not be undeserving the attention of the
Bannatyne Club.' The Journal in France, though never printed, was reviewed
by Mr. Cosmo Innes in 1864 in the _North British Review_, vol. xli. p. 170.

OUTLINE OF FOUNTAINHALL'S LIFE

A short relation of Lord Fountainhall's life is given in Mr. David Laing's
preface to the _Historical Notices_. He was born in 1646. His father was
John Lauder, merchant and bailie of Edinburgh, of the family of Lauder of
that Ilk.[17] He graduated as Master of Arts in the University of Edinburgh
in 1664. He went to France to study in 1665, and returned from abroad in