he was not acquainted with any person of influence to whom he could apply for assistance in a college career, and he was on the point of giving up the idea in despair. At length a friend of his, who had become a tea merchant in Edinburgh, described Murray's situation to a printer in the city, who at once brought his case before Dr Baird. With a letter of introduction from a friend in his own locality, he went to Edinburgh in November, 1794. The day after he arrived in the city he was examined before Drs Baird, Finlayson, and Moodie. When brought before his examiners he accurately analysed a passage of French, an Ode of Horace, a page of Homer, and a Hebrew psalm. All three examiners were so much pleased with the manner in which he acquitted himself that they at once procured for him the pecuniary help necessary for the carrying out of his studies, and in the course of two years he obtained a bursary from the city. In addition to this, he augmented his small income by giving private lessons and by occasional contributions to some of the periodical publications of the day. By his talents and achievements he soon became known to the brilliant literary circle which at that time adorned the Scots metropolis, among whom were Lord Jeffrey, Lord Brougham, Dr Campbell, Dr Brown, Dr Leyden, and Dugald Stewart. When he had finished his Arts course he applied himself to the study of theology with the diligent application he had hitherto manifested, and soon qualified himself for the Church.

While at

college he acquired a knowledge of all the European languages, besides devoting considerable study to Sanscrit and other abstruse dialects of the East. In 1802 Murray was employed by Constable, the leading publisher in Edinburgh at that time, to edit a new edition of Bruce's Travels in Abyssinia. His knowledge of the principal dialects, as they were actually spoken by the various races of Abyssinia, specially qualified him for the task. This work occupied him for three years, after which he wrote a life of the traveller, which was separately published. The principal reason which made a new edition necessary was

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that Lord Valentia, a subsequent traveller in Abyssinia, brought a number of charges of inaccuracy against Bruce, and, to use Murray's own words, gave many of Bruce's statements the lie direct." It afterwards transpired, however, that some of the inaccuracies with which Bruce had been charged were greatly exaggerated, through jealousy on the part of Lord Valentia, though not altogether without foundation. After a critical comparison and analysis Murray discovered that wrong names had been given to some places, and that Bruce's geographical knowledge was frequently defective. Several of the maps he had drafted required alteration and, in some instances, reconstruction. In spite of these defects, however, the work was not utterly discredited, for Bruce's Travels in Abyssinia has outlived subsequent writers on the subject, and all the editions that have been issued since Murray's day are framed in accordance with his alterations, notes, and comments. Nothing hitherto in Murray's marvellous scholastic attainments did so much to advance his reputation as a philologist as did this work.

Soon after this task was completed Murray, in 1806, was appointed assistant to Dr Muirhead, minister of the Parish Church of Urr, in his native shire of Kirkcudbright; and on the death of Dr Muirhead, two years afterwards, he was appointed his successor. But to revert to Murray's connection with Bruce's travels, and what it further led up to. Henry Salt, a native of Lichfield, Staffordshire, who had been appointed Consul-General in Egypt to the British Government in 1809, was despatched to Abyssinia on a mission of peace, with the view of settling some disputes which then existed between the religious sects of that country, and which had long been a subject of contention. After an absence of two years Salt returned to England, bringing with him a letter written in the Geez dialect, from the Governor of Tygree to King George III.* It was discovered that Alexander Murray was the only person in the

* Salt also brought with him a copy of the mythical Book of Enoch, in Ethiopic.

British dominions who could translate the document. Moreover, Murray's edition of Bruce's Travels proved to be of so much assistance to Salt that he recommended the Marquess Wellesley to forward the letter to Murray, which he did through his secretary. At the end of ten days a literal translation was returned, and was deemed highly satisfactory for all official requirements. This letter is rather a strange document, and threw a great deal of light on the religious sentiments of the people belonging to this section of the Greek Church in that day.

Its translation not only enhanced Murray's reputation as a profound scholar with the officials at the Foreign Office, but was the means of creating a friendly correspondence between Salt and Murray which continued till Murray's death. In the course of the correspondence it was decided that Salt should visit Murray in Scotland, but on account of injuries Salt sustained by falling from his horse the visit had to be postponed, to the great disappointment of both.

Throughout the entire course of Murray's brief career his lot in life was a hard one, for he had to prosecute his studies under most unfavourable circumstances. From early youth a subtle disease was preying upon his vital organism, yet his capacity for work was almost inconceivable.

In the various stages of his career as a shepherd boy, a school boy, a University student, and a parish minister, his facility in the acquisition of languages enabled him to attain in a few months what would have been beyond the reach of ordinary talents and average industry during the course of a long life. This is a virtue which should not be too lightly esteemed. All the great achievements which have been attained in literature, science, philosophy, and mechanical invention has been attained by the specialist. The specialist, by the concentration of thought and penetration, probes the subject to its utmost depths, till it is made to reveal its secret elements, which may have remained hidden for centuries from the ken of the superficial observer.

It is almost incredible that Murray should have mastered in so short a time every language spoken and written by people who made any pretence to civilisation and culture, from Saxon to Sanscrit. In addition, he possessed a large store of that general information which is seldom acquired except by personal experience and contact with the outside world.

It is a time-honoured maxim that salvation is the heritage of the man who has the sense of humour, and it appears to have been one of Murray's possessions, in spite of ill-health, which at times must have been a galling yoke to one who had such an insatiable desire for work and so keen a sense of duty. His patience, his good-nature, his quaint humour so vividly reflect the character of the man, that one feels in reading these writings as if one were in communion with a living voice and a robust spirit.

Although Murray was never out of his native Scotland, and certainly never in Abyssinia, we can imagine what a correct estimate he had formed of the character and condition of those people. In fact, Salt himself, who had nearly two years' experience in their midst, fully recognised the value of Murray's information, for he not only expressed himself to that effect in his letters, but, in the interests of the Foreign Office, he frequently solicited Murray's advice. None of Murray's biographers or eulogists I have read have given much information respecting his correspondence and friendship with Henry Salt. Yet, had it not been for this correspondence, so accidentally brought about, Murray might have probably remained an obscure minister of a country parish. It was through the influence of Salt and Lord Castlereagh that he was recommended as a suitable candidate for one of the vacant Professorships in the University of Edinburgh in June, 1812. After a keen contest, he was elected in the following month by a majority of two votes as Professor of Oriental Languages, and he undertook to teach Sanscrit, Bengalee, Hindostanee, Persic, Arabic, and other dialects. After he was elected to the Professor's chair he resigned his charge as minister

of Urr, which he had held for six years. Up to this time he had written and published a poem on Arthur, General of the Britons, which he had carefully revised since he submitted it to the criticism of Burns; The Life of Bruce, an account of Egyptian Theology; The Coptic Language, and History of Egypt, which formed an appendix to his edition of Bruce's Travels; Outline of Oriental Philology; Philosophical History of European Languages, the latter of which was left unfinished at his death, but which was edited and subsequently published by Dr Scott. Of course, it was not to be expected that one who rose from so obscure a position would find his path to fame a bed of roses at a time when Edinburgh assumed the position of literary autocrat. When this work appeared it was severely criticised by Dr Brown on account of Murray's philological conclusions. In the course of this treatise Murray maintained, as a probable theory, that the languages of Europe may be traced to a single radical dialect, which may analytically be resolved into a few monosyllables, perhaps nine in number. The severity of Dr Brown's criticism is uncalled for, inasmuch as Murray did not dogmatise on the point, neither did he lay it down as an infallible axiom, but only spoke of it as a probable theory. This

we learn from a letter to his friend Salt in May, 1812.

The great work Murray left unfinished at his death contained similar conclusions to those that have been arrived at by subsequent scholars on the subject. Many authors, it is true, have left behind them work of a more mature and lasting character. Nevertheless, by his premature death at the early age of thirty-seven, the literary men of the time acknowledged that the learning of the country suffered a great and incalculable loss. Had this brave and noble character who had so heroically struggled against poverty and disease been spared a little longer, it is probable that his achievements in the science of philology would have been such that no other in the same field could have taken from him an honour and distinction which by right should have been his. After