Publications of the Scottish History Society, Vol. 36 | Page 4

now have no

opportunity of perusing it before my departure, as I leave this on
Tuesday the 28th instant I observe, however, with great gratification,
from a quotation in the Magazine from your preface, that you hold out
hopes of a farther publication, and I am consequently anxious to avail
myself of being in Edinburgh to have the honor of an interview with
you, that I may avoid any injudicious interference with your
undertaking, and rather go hand in hand with you in promoting it. As I
shall be detained on the road, I shall not be in Edinburgh until the
evening of Friday the 31st, and my present intention is to remain in
town only Saturday and Sunday, unless unavoidable circumstances
occur to prevent my leaving it on the Monday. If you could make it
convenient to grant me an audience on either of the days I have
mentioned, viz., on Saturday, or Sunday, the 1st or 2nd of June, you
would very much oblige me, and it will be a further favor if you will
have a note lying for me at Mrs. President Blair's, or at my Agent, Mr.
Macbean's, 11 Charlotte Square, stating the precise time when you can
most conveniently receive me, that I may not be so unfortunate as to
call on you unseasonably. With the highest respect, and with very great
regard, I have the honor to be, dear sir, very truly yours,
THOS. DICK LAUDER.'
To this Sir Walter replied:--
'MY DEAR SIR,--I am sorry you could for a moment think that in
printing rather than publishing Lord Fountainhall's Notes or rather Mr.
Milne's, for that honest gentleman had taken the superfluous trouble to
write the whole book anew, I meant to interfere with your valuable and
extensive projected work. I mentioned in the advertisement that you
were engaged in writing the life of Lord Fountainhall, and therefore
declined saying anything on the subject, and I must add that I always
conceived it was his life you meant to publish and not his works. I am
very happy you entertain the latter intention, for a great deal of
historical matter exists in the manuscript copy of the collection of
decisions which has been omitted by the publishers, whose object was
only to collect the law reports and who appear in the latter volume
entirely to have disregarded all other information. There is also
somewhere in the Advocates' Library, but now mislaid, a very curious
letter of Lord Fountainhall on the Revolution, and so very many other
remains of his that I would fain hope your work will suffer nothing by

my anticipation, which I assure you would never have taken place had I
conceived those Notes fell within your plan. The fact was that the letter
on the Revolution was mislaid and the little Ma[nuscript] having
disappeared also, though it was afterwards recovered, it seemed to me
worth while to have it put in a printed shape for the sake of
preservation, and as only one hundred copies were printed, I hope it
will rather excite than gratify curiosity on the subject of Lord
Fountainhall. I expected to see you before I should have thought of
publishing the Letter on the Revolution, and hoped to whet your almost
blunted purpose about doing that and some other things yourself. I
think a selection from the Decisions just on the contrary principle
which was naturally enough adopted by the former publishers,
rejected[12] the law that is and retaining the history, would be highly
interesting. I am sure you are entitled to expect[13] on all accounts and
not interruption from me in a task so honorable, and I hope you will
spare me a day in town to talk the old Judge's affairs over. The history
of the Bass should be a curious one. You are of course aware of the
anecdote of one of your ancestors insisting on having the "auld craig
back again."
'Constable undertook to forward to you a copy of the Notes with my
respects, and it adds to my piggish behaviour that I see he had omitted
it. I will cause him send it by the Ferry Carrier.
'I beg to assure you that I am particularly sensible of the kind and
accomodating view you have taken of this matter, in which I am
sensible I acted very thoughtlessly because it would have been easy to
have written to enquire into your intentions. Indeed I intended to do so,
but the thing had gone out of my head. I leave Edin'r in July, should
you come after the 12 of that month may I hope to see you at
Abbotsford, which would be very agreeable, but if you keep your
purpose of being here in the beginning of June I hope you