Sir William's marriage, his comparatively limited circumstances, and the character of his wife, supplied to a nature that would have been contented to spend its mighty energies in work that brought no reward but in the doing of it, and that might never have been made publicly known or available, the practical force and impulse which enabled him to accomplish what he actually did in literature and philosophy.// It was this influence, without doubt, which saved him from utter absorption in his world of rare, noble, and elevated, but everincreasingly unattainable ideals. But for it the serene sea of abstract thought might have held him becalmed for life, and in the absence of all utterance and definite knowledge of his conclusions, the world might have been left to an ignorant and mysterious wondering about the unprofitable scholar. CHAPTER V. CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE EDINBURGH REVIEW: 1829-1836. ON PERIOD AFTER MARRIAGE-FRIENDS-PERSONAL AND SOCIAL CHARACTER- AFTER their marriage Sir William and Lady Hamilton lived for some years in Manor Place-a sunny, pleasant row of houses, then at the extreme west end of Edinburgh, which looked into the grounds of the old manor-house of Coates, and afforded easy access to the country. Sir William's quiet student-life and habits continued as before. The great problem of keeping his books and papers in order, which, as we have seen, he himself had given up in despair, was now grap pled with in a highly practical, energetic fashion, as we may gather from the following: "Before his brother and sister-in-law left town, in 1828," says Lady Hamilton, "they assisted Sir William to remove his library, and settle himself in his house in Manor Place. But the arranging of the books was a matter in which no one could give him much help, and to himself it was a very tedious occupation, both because it required a great effort to set himself to the labour, and because he was very apt, when about to place a book on the shelf, to open it, and, being attracted by something on which his eye lighted, to continue its perusal (frequently standing all the while on the steps of the ladder); and thus the work of putting the library in order, being often interrupted, advanced very slowly. His young friends, Francis and John Russell, who often tried to assist Sir William in putting his books in the shelves, used to describe the progress made, after perhaps several hours had been devoted to the work, as so small as to be altogether without effect in diminishing the confusion-'for either Sir William begins to read, or he tells us about the author, which again leads to his speaking of something else, till it is time for us to leave.' "This being the state of matters with regard to the arrangement of the library, when we arrived at home after our marriage (1829) I found the house in a sad state of disorder (as, indeed, I had been warned would be the case); and for the first week there was nothing for it but to set energetically about the business of reducing the confusion. As soon, however, as some progress became visible, and room after room began to assume a more comfortable appearance, Sir William-who was essentially orderly, and, in particular, liked to have his library well arranged-now relieved from despair, worked diligently at placing the books on the shelves. They were all minutely classified and arranged according to size and subjects. The progress of the work was often retarded by books requiring to be mended, or washed, or varnished. "When we returned to King Street in 1839, the same labour in arranging the library had, of course, to be repeated, and on a larger scale, the books having become much more numerous in the interval. After their removal from the one house to the other had been accomplished, they lay for a long time piled up in confusion while the bookcases were being prepared for their reception. This was a task after Sir William's own heart, and he entered into it con amore. He superintended in general, and planned the arrangement of cases such as would best suit the economy of the library. There were a number of ingenious contrivances in the construction of the shelves, which were of his devising; and all such work as fastening on curtains to protect the books, he executed with his own hand, after a very elaborate fashion. "It may be noticed, generally, that with Sir William every fit of hard study was succeeded by a fit of manual work, both by way of relaxation and in order to provide for the due arrangement of the MSS. which had come into being." As his friends Mr Riddell and Mr Colquhoun resided in the immediate neighbourhood of Manor Place, they were much with him. A walk on Sunday afternoons with Mr Colquhoun was a regular practice for many years. In this they were frequently joined by Mr George Moir and Captain Hamilton, who, both before and after his visit to America in 1830 and 1831, spent a considerable time in Edinburgh, generally living in his brother's house. A walk into the country was frequently with Sir William a means of relief after intense and long-continued study. On these occasions he liked to have a companion, but the conversation was usually rather scanty, at least on his part-the train of thought in which he had been engaged continuing apparently to occupy him. The truth is, it was rather his way when on a walk with the more intimate of his friends, to set them off on their respective hobbies-it might be genealogy or mesmerism-while he himself, though putting in his word now and then, followed the bent of his own thoughts. He would then be seen walking considerably in advance, or on the opposite side of the road from his companion-perhaps repeating aloud to himself some Greek, Latin, or English verses, quite unconscious of what he was sounding forth. Some lady friends who often met Sir William and his companion returning in this fashion from their stroll, would naturally enough ask whether the two had had a quarrel. Sir William's friendship with the late Rev. Dr Welsh commenced when the latter, on his appointment to the Chair of Church History in the University, settled in Edinburgh in 1831, as it happened, close to Manor Place. They had not known each other before this time; and on two of Sir William's strong points-Dr Brown and Phrenology—they were entirely at variance. But the intimacy of Lady Hamilton and Mrs Welsh, and the genial nature and refined intellect of Dr Welsh, soon drew Sir William to him. They became very warm friends, esteeming each other highly, and, with all their differences of opinion, taking constant pleasure in each other's society. Mr Leonard Horner and his family spent some years in Edinburgh, and were a most agreeable addition to the little coterie of friends among whom Sir William and Lady Hamilton found themselves settled in Manor Place. About this time also, Mr J. W. Semple, the translator of Kant's Metaphysic of Ethics,' Mr J. H. Burton, Mr George Moir, and Mr Patrick Fraser Tytler, were frequent visitors at Manor Place. Mr Ferrier, then a young man, was first attracted towards Sir William at this period, and soon came to be very intimate with him. At this period Sir William mixed a good deal in society, in which he took real pleasure when it was not merely formal. He had no pretensions to shine as a talker-in fact, would have despised such a rôle. Whether he spoke much depended on a subject being started in which he felt an interest. Then he became animated and fluent. If a question were asked him and he were in the vein, he would pour forth a stream of information-one thing suggesting another, and |