ike to an
academical career in Edinburgh.' The truth is, Lord John wished to
follow his elder brother, Lord Tavistock, to Cambridge; but the Duke
would not hear of the idea, and bluntly declared that nothing at that
time was to be learnt at the English universities.

On his return to England it was decided to send Lord John to continue
his studies at Edinburgh University. The Northern Athens at that time
was full of keen and varied intellectual life, and the young student
could scarcely have set foot in it at a more auspicious moment. Other
cadets of the English aristocracy, such as Lord Webb Seymour and Lord
Henry Petty, were attracted at this period to the Northern university,
partly by the restrictive statutes of Oxford and Cambridge, but still
more by the genius and learning of men like Dugald Stewart and John
Playfair.

The Duke of Bedford placed his son under the roof of the latter, who at
that time held the chair of mathematics in the university, with the
request that he would take a general oversight of his studies. Professor
Playfair was a teacher who quickened to a remarkable extent the powers
of his pupils, and at the same time by his own estimable qualities won
their affection. Looking back in after-years, Lord John declared that
'Professor Playfair was one of the most delightful of men and very
zealous lover of liberty.' He adds that the simplicity of the
distinguished mathematician, as well as the elevation of his sentiments,
was remarkable.

It is interesting to learn from Professor Playfair's own statement that
he was quickly impressed with the ability of Lord John. Ambition was
stirring in the breast of the young Whig, and though he could be idle
enough at times, he seems on the whole to have lent his mind with
increasing earnestness to the tasks of the hour. He also attended the
classes of Professor Dugald Stewart during the three years he spent in
the grey metropolis of the North, and the influence of that remarkable
man was not merely stimulating at the time, but materially helped to
shape his whole philosophy of life. After he had left Edinburgh, Lord
John wrote some glowing lines about Dugald Stewart, which follow--afar
off, it must be admitted--the style of Pope. We have only space to quote
a snatch:

'Twas he gave laws to fancy, grace to thought,
Taught virtue's laws, and practised what he taught.

[Sidenote: LIFE IN EDINBURGH]

Intellectual stimulus came to him through anothe