were then so rife in the country. The same modesty is apparent in his
writings in mature life to a tantalising degree. It may not be so
conspicuous in his boyish journal, when he was ready enough to throw down
the gauntlet in a theological discussion; but in the later voluminous MSS.,
when even dry legal disputes are enlivened by graphic and personal touches,
the author himself rarely appears on the scene. We miss the pleasant
details of Clerk of Penicuik's _Memoirs._[19] We learn little of the
author's daily walk and conversation. It does not even appear (so far as I
know) where his house in Edinburgh was. We do not know how often he went to
Fountainhall, or whether he there realised his wish to spend half his time
in the country.[20] We do not know how he occupied himself there, though it
may be gathered that he took much interest in the management of his
property and in country business, and he records with much gratification
his appointment as a justice of the peace. He tells us nothing of his wife,
except how much money she got for housekeeping, and nothing of his
children, except when he records their births or deaths. Nothing of his
personal relations with his distinguished contemporaries at the bar, or
with the men who, as officers of State and Privy Councillors, still
governed Scotland in Edinburgh.

[19] Scottish History Society.

[20] Journal, p. 21.

On the other hand, his opinions on all subjects, on public affairs and
public men, on such questions of speculation or ethical interest as
astrology and witchcraft, often strikingly expressed in language always
racy and sincere, are scattered through the published volumes of his
writings, all printed without note or comment. It may at least be a tribute
to Fountainhall's memory to present a short view of his opinions, and for