THE WORKS OF PROFESSOR WILSON OF THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH EDITED BY HIS SON-IN-LAW PROFESSOR FERRIER VOL. I. NOCTES AMBROSIANÆ WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS EDINBURGH AND LONDON MDCCCLV 4096 ΧΡΗ ΔΕΝ ΣΥΜΠΟΣΙΩ ΚΥΛΙΚΩΝ ΠΕΡΙΝΙΣΣΟΜΕΝΑΩΝ [This is a distich by wise old Phocylides, An ancient who wrote crabbed Greek in no silly days; Meaning," "TIS RIGHT FOR GOOD WINE-BIBBING PEOPLE, PHOC. ap. Ath. NOT TO LET THE JUG PACE ROUND THE BOARD LIKE A CRIPPLE; An excellent rule of the hearty old cock 'tis― C. N. ap. Ambr. PREFACE. PR5885 A 2 1896 AMONG the various writings of PROFESSOR WILSON, the series of imaginary colloquies entitled "NOCTES AMBROSIANÆ" appears to stand pre-eminent; and accordingly it has been resolved that these celebrated Dialogues shall take the lead in this edition of his collected works. The Noctes Ambrosianæ were contributed to Blackwood's Magazine between the years 1822 and 1835. To many persons it may be a matter of surprise why these articles— the popularity of which, when they originally appeared, was unprecedented in the annals of periodical literature-should never have been reprinted in this country until now. In explanation of this postponement, it is sufficient to say that the Noctes Ambrosiana were the emanations of a great genius, to whom the work of creation was ever more congenial than the task of selection and revision. It was certainly Professor Wilson's intention to have published a corrected edition of these Dialogues. But so long as the fountain of his daily thoughts was a spring fraught with inexhaustible resources, and running over with perpetually new imaginations, this project was indefinitely procrastinated; and at the time of his death no preparation had been made for carrying the contemplated work into execution. α In these circumstances, the Messrs Blackwood, to whom the copyright of the Noctes belongs, did me the honour of proposing that I should edit the work,—an undertaking for which my sole special qualifications are these: that, owing to my relationship to Professor Wilson, I enjoyed his intimacy, not only in his latter years, but during that fervent and prolific period of his life, when, month after month, he electrified the world with the flashes of those glorious "nights;" that I was also personally acquainted with the other dramatis personœ; and that, having, in general, a distinct recollection of the various incidents, public and private, alluded to in their ideal confabulations, I am tolerably competent to supply such explanations as may be needed. It is much to be lamented that this work was not undertaken by Professor Wilson himself, and executed during his lifetime. The greatest pains, however, have been taken to repair the effects of this procrastination, in so far as they are remediable, and to send forth the Noctes Ambrosianæ to the world in the form deemed most in accordance with the mind of their Author, and best calculated to suit the taste of the public. The original series has been carefully revised and sifted. All the contributions to it (songs and quotations being, of course, excepted), which were not written by the Professor, have been excluded from republication, and several of the Dialogues which were his only in part, have been omitted. By means of these retrenchments, it is believed that the Text of the work has been settled as correctly and as conclusively as it was possible for it to be in the circumstances. A few remarks may be offered in explanation of the principles which have guided me. Many of the Noctes Ambrosiane were not written by Professor Wilson. It is obvious, therefore, that these could not, with any propriety, appear in what professes to be a |