l,
or the Bull o' Bashun." From his printing office at Auchinleck, besides
his poetical tales and pasquinades, he issued many curious and
interesting works, chiefly reprints of scarce tracts on different
subjects, preserved in the Auchinleck Library. Of these the most
remarkable was the disputation between John Knox and Quentin Kennedy, at
Maybole, in 1562, of which the only copy then known to exist was
deposited in his paternal library.[98]

Amidst his devotedness to the pursuits of elegant literature, Mr Boswell
bestowed much attention on public affairs. He was M.P. for the county of
Ayr; and though silent in the House of Commons, was otherwise
indefatigable in maintaining his political sentiments. He supported
strict conservative principles, and was not without the apprehension of
civil disturbance through the impetuosity of the advocates of reform. As
Lieutenant-Colonel of the Ayrshire Yeomanry Cavalry, he was painstaking
in the training of his troops; the corps afterwards acknowledging his
services by the presentation of a testimonial. In 1821, his zeal for the
public interest was rewarded by his receiving the honour of a Baronetcy.

One of the most substantial of Sir Alexander's patriotic achievements
was the erection of an elegant monument to Robert Burns on the banks of
the Doon. The mode in which the object was accomplished is sufficiently
interesting. Along with a friend who warmly approved of the design, Sir
Alexander advertised in the public prints that a meeting would be held
at Ayr, on a particular day, to take into consideration the proposal of
rearing a monument to the great national bard. The day and hour arrived,
but, save the projectors, not a single individual attended. Nothing
disheartened, Sir Alexander took the chair, and his friend proceeded to
act as clerk; resolutions were proposed, seconded, and recorded, thanks
were voted to the chairman, and the meeting separated. These resolutions
being printed and circulated, were the means of raising by public
subscription the sum of nearly two thousand pounds for the erection of
the monument. Sir Alexander laid the foundation stone on the 25th of
January 1820.

The literary and patriotic career of Sir Alexander Boswell was brought
to a sudden termination. Prone to indulge a strong natural tendency for
sarcasm, especially against his political opponents, he published, in a
Glasgow newspaper, a severe poetical pasquinade against Mr James Stuart,
younger