cipal Barclay is the son of the Rev. James Barclay, minister of
Unst, Shetland, and was born in the year 1792. After having been
educated at King's College, Aberdeen, which he entered in the year 1808,
and where he distinguished himself by carrying off the highest bursary,
young Barclay proceeded to London, pending his appointment to a
ministerial charge in the Church of Scotland. A spirit of adventure and
enterprise induced him to take this step. He could not brook the idea of
spending any of his time in a state of comparative idleness. Through the
influence of some friends, he succeeded shortly after his arrival in the
metropolis in getting an appointment as Parliamentary reporter to the
_Times_, and he continued in the gallery of the House of Commons in that
capacity during the four years commencing with 1818. It is not too much
to say that these four years embraced one of the most eventful and
exciting periods of England's history. The Reform agitation was being
carried on with a bitterness that almost eclipsed all subsequent
attempts to establish the five points of the Charter as the law of the
land. In these years, too, the memorable trial of Queen Caroline took
place, and it is one of Principal Barclay's most interesting
reminiscences that during his connection with the _Times_ he had
occasion to report not only a considerable amount of the evidence taken
in the House of Lords during the Queen's trial, but also the memorable
speech of Lord Brougham in defence of the unfortunate lady--a speech
which has only been eclipsed in point of length by the recent address of
the Attorney-General in the Tichborne trial, and by Burke's speech in
connection with the trial of Warren Hastings. Among his _collaborateurs_
on the _Times_, Principal Barclay can recall the names of Collier, so
well known for his knowledge and criticism of Shakespeare's works;
Barnes, who subsequently distinguished himself as the sub-editor and
leader-writer of the leading journal; and Tyas, who afterwards
introduced that special feature for which the _Times_ has long been
noted--the abridgement of the Parliamentary debates. The routine of a
reporter's duties at that time was pretty much the same as it is at the
present day, the main difference being that the work was, if anything,
more difficult and arduous at a period when shorthand was in its
infancy, and when the staff employed on the daily journals was much less
numerous than it is in our own day.