s.

Another of Bell's most intimate friends during these years was James
Hogg, the "Ettrick Shepherd." Along with Wilson and other friends he
paid several visits to Hogg's native place, where they enjoyed pleasant
ramblings by St Mary's Loch, and in the Vale of Yarrow, to which the
Shepherd's muse has imparted quite a classic interest. There was,
however, a species of vulgarity about Hogg, which marred his otherwise
estimable qualities, and his uncouth Johnsonian habits were probably the
means of erecting a barrier between himself and more cultivated friends.
Lockhart, in his life of Scott, speaks of Hogg as a "a true son of
nature and genius," and this he undoubtedly was. One who had taught
himself to write by copyright the letters of a printed book as he lay
watching his flock on the hill side, and whose vivacious imagination, as
his own brother informs us, disqualified him from study or research, was
not likely while alive to make many close friends in the exclusive and
polished circles which formed the _elite_ of Edinburgh. But by Bell and
a few others, who saw the diamond glittering in the rough casket, Hogg
was duly appreciated. To the _Literary Journal_ he was a constant
contributor both of prose and verse, and he took a warm interest in its
success. When the proposal to erect a monument to the Shepherd in
Ettrick Vale took a practical shape, Sheriff Bell was selected to
inaugurate the structure. This he did on the 28th June, 1860. In fitting
terms, his old friend panegyrised the virtues and the genius of The
Shepherd, describing him "as a true poet--not equal to Burns, because no
national poet was ever equal to Burns, because no national poet was ever
equal to him--but justly entitled to take rank in the second place, and
worthily taking up the harp which he found lying on the grave of that
immortal man."

In the year 1830 Mr. Bell relinquished his connection with the _Literary
Journal_, which was conducted for some time afterwards by Mr. William
Weir. The paper had never been a "good property," even in its palmiest
days, and Mr. Weir, after carrying it on for a few months, allowed it to
stop, and came to Glasgow for the purpose of establishing a newspaper,
pure and simple. Mr. Weir was well known in Glasgow from his long
connection with the _Argus_, which he edited with rare tact and ability
until he was called to occupy a similar position on the _Daily News_ in
London. Meantime Mr. Bell was admitted a member