h
Deacons' Court with a Bible on occasion of his having cleared them
finally of debt on their buildings. Afterwards his Lordship took me into
the library, where, among other treasures, we found a handsome folio
_Prayer Book_ presented to his ancestor Mr. Maule of Kelly by the
Episcopalian minister of the district, on occasion of his having, by Mr.
Maule's help, been brought out of jail. The coincidence and contrast
were curiously interesting."

For persons to take at various intervals a retrospective view of life,
and of the characters they have met with, seems to be a natural feeling
of human nature; and every one is disposed at times to recall to memory
many circumstances and many individuals which suggest abundant subjects
for reflection. We thus find recollections of scenes in which we have
been joyous and happy. We think of others with which we only associate
thoughts of sorrow and of sadness. Amongst these varied emotions we find
subjects for reminiscences, of which we would bury the feelings in our
own hearts as being too sacred for communication with others. Then,
again, there are many things of the past concerning which we delight to
take counsel with friends and contemporaries. Some persons are disposed
to go beyond these personal communications with friends, and having
through life been accustomed to write down memoranda of their own
feelings, have published them to the world. Many interesting works have
thus been contributed to our literature by writers who have sent forth
volumes in the form of _Memoirs of their Own Times, Personal
Recollections, Remarks upon Past Scenes_, etc. etc. It is not within
the scope of this work to examine these, nor can I specify the many
communications I have from different persons, both at home and in our
colonial possessions; in fact, the references in many cases have been
lost or mislaid. But I must acknowledge, however briefly, my obligations
to Dr. Carruthers, Inverness, and to Dr. Cook, Haddington, who have
favoured me with valuable contributions.

Now, when we come to examine the general question of memoirs connected
with contemporary history, no work is better known in connection with
this department of Scottish literature than the _History of his Own
Times_, by my distinguished relative, Dr. Gilbert Burnett, Bishop of
Salisbury. Bishop Burnett's father, Lord Crimond, was third son of my
father's family, the Burnetts of Leys, in Kincardineshire. There is now
at Crathes