and who lived much in the literary circle of Edinburgh, obtained from his friend David Hume, letters of introduction to several of the French philosophers of that day; by means of which Mr Jardine had the advantage of being acquainted with Helvetius and with D'Alembert, who were then in the zenith of their fame, and whose manners he used to describe as presenting a striking contrast,—Helvetius having all the style and appearance of a French nobleman of the first fashion, while D'Alembert preserved a primitive simplicity of dress and manner, at that time quite unusual in Paris. During his residence there, he lived a good deal in the society of Dr Gemm, the uncle of Mr Huskisson, who was then settled as a physician in Paris, and noted not only for his eminence in his profession, but for his talents as a philosopher. Dr Gemm was an ardent friend to liberty, and at that time did not scruple to anticipate, to those with whom he was intimate, the fall of the French monarchy as an event at no great distance.
Soon after his return from France, in July, 1773, a vacancy occurred in the humanity chair of Glasgow, by the death of Mr Muirhead; for which a very keen competition arose between him and Mr Richardson, the result of which was doubtful until the very morning of the election, when, notwithstanding every exertion made in behalf of Mr Jardine, by lord Frederic Campbell, the lord rector, Mr Richardson carried the election by a majority of one vote. Upon this occasion, Mr Clow, the professor of logic, who had always befriended Mr Jardine, though, from a prior engagement, he, on this occasion, felt himself obliged to support the other candidate, told him not to be discouraged, for that there might ere long be an opportunity of his being admitted into their society. The expectations which Mr Clow thus kindly threw out, he very soon realized, for, towards the end of the following session, he intimated to the college, that, from his advanced age, he required to be relieved from the labour of teaching, and expressed a wish that Mr Jardine might be associated with him in the professorship. About this time, too, Dr Moor, professor of Greek, gave in his resignation; and in June, 1774, upon the same day, the faculty of Glasgow college elected Mr Young to the Greek chair, and appointed the subject of this memoir assistant and successor to Mr Clow.
By this arrangement, the charge of the three junior classes of Glasgow college came, at the same time, to devolve upon three men in the vigour of life, who all entered most zealously into the business of their respective departments, in which they soon introduced very material improvements:—in particular, they contrived to infuse a spirit of emulation among their pupils by the institution of prizes publicly distributed at the end of each session, to those who had distinguished themselves during the course—an institution which was gradually extended to other classes at Glasgow, and which has now been generally introduced into the other universities. These prizes have been increased during recent years, by the munificence of several of the Lords Rectors, and the generosity of public-spirited individuals. There are prizes bearing the names of James Watt, Lord Jeffrey, Mr James Ewing, the Marquis of Breadalbane, &c., arising from large sums of money permanently invested for that purpose.
The business of the logic class had hitherto consisted in an explanation of the Dialectics of Aristotle, followed up, towards the end of the course, by an exposition of the most abstruse doctrines of metaphysics and ontology, embracing the general attributes of being, existence, essence, unity, necessity, &c., and other similar abstract conceptions of pure intellect. For the first year or two, the new professor followed the same track; but he soon discovered, from the examination of his students, that by far the greater number of them comprehended very little of the doctrines explained; that a few only of superior abilities could give any account of
