and in his firm regular pace, there appeared the marks of habitual temperance. He must have been generally attractive in his early days, and, in his old age, his manners and conversation enhanced the value and interest of every qualification. When he addressed his scholars, when he commended excellence, or when he was seated at his own fireside with a friend on whom he could rely, it was delightful to be near him; and no man could leave his declaring that he loved Dr Adam.” company without ADAM, ROBERT, an eminent architect, was born at Edinburgh in the year 1728. His father, William Adam, of Maryburgh, in the county of Fife, had distinguished himself as an architect, so far as the limited opportunities afforded by his native country would permit: Hopetoun House, and the Royal Infirmary at Edinburgh, are two, the one a splendid, the other, a plain specimen of his abilities. Robert, who was the second son of his father, inherited his taste, and lived in a time more favourable to its development. He was educated in the university of Edinburgh, where he enjoyed the kind attentions of Robertson, Smith, and Ferguson, all of whom were his father's friends. As he advanced in life, he had the happiness to enjoy the friendship and intimacy of Archibald Duke of Argyle, Sir Charles Townshend, and the Earl of Mansfield. About the year 1754, with a view to improve his taste and extend his knowledge of architecture, he travelled to the continent, and resided three years in Italy. Here he surveyed the magnificent specimens of Roman architecture, which have so remarkably survived all else of great and noble in that degenerate land. It was his opinion, that the buildings of the ancients are the proper school of the architectural student, as the works of nature form that of the artist and poet; a conception worthy of a superior mind. While he beheld with much pleasure the remains of the public buildings of the Romans, he regretted to find that hardly a vestige of their private houses or villas was any where to be found-scarcely even their situations known—though in erecting them their masters had lavished the riches and spoils of the world. In tracing the progress of Roman architecture he had remarked that it had declined previous to the age of Dioclesian; but he was also convinced that the liberality and munificence of that emperor had revived during his reign a better taste, and had formed artists who were capable of imitating the more elegant styles of the preceding ages. He had seen this remarkably exemplified in the public baths at Rome, which were erected by Dioclesian; the most entire and noble of the ancient buildings. The interest which he felt in this particular branch of Roman remains, and his anxiety to behold a good specimen of the private buildings of this wonderful people, induced him to undertake a voyage to Spalatro in Dalmatia, to visit and examine the palace of Dioclesian, where that emperor had spent the last nine years of his life, after his resignation of the empire in 305. He sailed from Venice in 1754, accompanied by M. Clerisseau, a French antiquary and artist, besides two experienced draughtsmen. On their arrival at Spalatro, they were mortified to find that the palace had not suffered less from the dilapidations of the inhabitants, to procure materials for building, than from the injuries of time, and that, in many places, the very foundations of the ancient structures were covered with modern houses. When they began their labours, the vigilant jealousy of the government was alarmed, and they were soon interrupted. Suspecting that their object was to view and make plans of the fortifications, the governor issued a peremptory order, commanding them to desist. It was only through the influence and mediation of General Græme, the commander-in-chief of the Venetian forces, (and probably a Scotsman,) that they were at length permitted to proceed. They resumed their labours with double ardour, and in five weeks finished plans and views of the remaining fragments, from which they afterwards executed per C fect designs of the whole building. Mr Adam soon after returned to England, and speedily rose to professional eminence. In 1762, he was appointed architect to their majesties, and in the year following he published, in one volume large folio, "Ruins of the Palace of the emperor Dioclesian at Spalatro, in Dalmatia." This splendid work, which was dedicated to the king, contains seventyone plates, executed in the most masterly manner, besides letter-press descriptions. He had at this time been elected a member of the Royal and Antiquarian Societies, and in 1768 he obtained an honour of a different kind, the representation of Kinross-shire in parliament, which was probably owing to the local influence of his family. A seat in the House of Commons being incompatible with employment under the crown, he now resigned his office as architect to their majesties. He continued, however, to prosecute his professional career with increasing reputation, being much employed by the English nobility and gentry in constructing new and embellishing ancient mansions. In the year 1773, in conjunction with his brother, James Adam, who also rose to considerable reputation as an architect, he commenced "The Works in Architecture of R. and J. Adam," which before 1776 had reached a fourth number, and was a work of equal splendour with the last. The four numbers contain, among other productions, Sion House, Caen Wood, Luton Park House, the Gateway of the Admiralty, and the General Register House at Edinburgh, all of which have been admired for elegant design and correct taste, though the present age, in its rage for a severe simplicity, might wish that certain minute ornaments, which the Adams were in the habit of giving, in order to fill up void spaces, were away. Before this period, the two brothers had reared that splendid monument of their taste and their names, the Adelphi, which, however, was too extensive a speculation to be profitable. They were obliged, in 1774, to obtain an act of parliament to dispose of the houses by way of lottery. "The edifices which have been more lately erected," says a biographer, "from the designs of Mr Adam, afford additional proof of the unlimited extent of his invention, and the amazing fertility of his genius. Those parts of the new University of Edinburgh, and the Infirmary of Glasgow, need only be mentioned in proof of our remark. The latter edifice we have often beheld, and contemplated with those feelings of admiration, which the rare union of perfect symmetry and elegant disposition of parts, with inexpressible beauty and lightness into one whole, seldom fails to inspire. We have also seen and admired elegant designs executed by Mr Adam, which were intended for the South Bridge and South Bridge Street of Edinburgh; and which, if they had been adopted, would have added much to the decoration of that part of the town. But they were considered unsuitable to the taste or economy of the times, and were therefore rejected. Strange incongruities,” continues the same writer, " appear in some buildings which have been erected from designs by Mr Adam. But of these it must be observed, that they have been altered or mutilated in execution, according to the convenience or taste of the owner; and it is well known that a slight deviation changes the character, and mars the effect of the general design. A lady of rank was furnished by Mr Adam, with the design of a house, which he examined after it was erected, and was astonished to find out of all proportion. On inquiring the cause, he was informed that the pediment he had designed was too small to admit a piece of new sculpture which represented the arms of the family, and, by the date which it bore, incontestably proved its antiquity. It was therefore absolutely necessary to enlarge the dimensions of the pediment to receive this ancient badge of family honour, and sacrifice the beauty and proportion of the whole building. We have seen a large public building which was also designed by Mr Adam; but when it was erected, the length was curtailed of the space of two windows, while the other parts remained according to the original plan. It now appears a heavy unsightly pile, instead of exhibiting that elegance of proportion and correctness of style, which the faithful execution of Mr Adam's design would have probably given it. To the last period of his life, Mr Adam displayed the same vigour of genius and refinement of taste; for in the space of one year immediately preceding his death, he designed eight great public works, besides twenty-five private buildings, so various in style, and beautiful in composition, that they have been allowed by the best judges to be sufficient of themselves to establish his fame as an unrivalled artist. The present improved taste is certainly to be traced in a great measure to the elegant and correct style of Adam. His fertile genius was not confined merely to the external configuration of buildings; it displayed itself with equal effect in the internal arrangement and disposition of the apartments, and in the varied, elegant, and beautiful ornaments of chimney-pieces and ceilings. But not only did he introduce a total change in the architecture of the country; the manufactures, also, which are in any way connected with decoration, were considerably improved by hints thrown out by Mr Adam. Nor were his talents entirely limited to the line of his own profession; his numerous drawings in landscape display a luxuriance of composition, and an effect of light and shade, which have rarely been equalled." Mr Adam died on the 3d of March, 1792, by the bursting of a blood vessel, in the sixty-fourth year of his age, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. It remains only to be said that, while his works commanded the admiration of the public, his natural suavity of manners, joined to his excellent moral character, had made a deep impression upon the circle of his own private friends. ADAMSON, HENRY, a poet of the seventeenth century, and probably a relative of the subject of the following article, was the son of James Adamson, who was dean of guild in Perth, anno 1600, when the Gowrie conspiracy took place in that city. The poet was educated for the pulpit, and appears to have made considerable progress in classical studies, as he wrote Latin poetry above mediocrity. He enjoyed the friendship and esteem of a large circle of the eminent men of that age, particularly Drummond of Hawthornden, who induced him, in 1638, to publish a poem entitled, "Mirthful Musings for the death of Mr Gall;" being in fact a versified history of his native town, full of quaint allegorical allusions suitable to the taste of that age. A new edition of this curious poem, which had become exceedingly rare, was published in 1774, with illustrative notes by Mr James Cant. The ingenious author died in 1639, the year after the publication of his poem. ADAMSON, PATRICK, a learned prelate and elegant Latin poet, was born at Perth in 1543, of very poor but honest parents, who educated him at the school of his native place, and afterwards transferred him to the university of St Andrews, where he went through a course of philosophy, and attained the degree of Master of Arts. Having taken up a school for his support in Fife, he fell under the attention of M'Gill of Rankeillor, one of the judges of the Court of Session, who selected him as a tutor for his son, about to set out for Paris to study the Civil Law. Soon after he had arrived in that capital, his sovereign, Queen Mary, was delivered of her son, afterwards James VI., (June 19, 1566,) and Adamson, who had already begun to cultivate Latin poetry, celebrated the event in a copy of verses, which he entitled, "Serenissimi et Nobilissimi Scotiæ, Angliæ, Franciæ, et Hiberniæ Principis, Henrici Stuarti Illustrissimi Herois, ac Mariæ Reginæ amplissimæ Filii Genethliacum." As this poem, which was published within six days of the event it celebrated, involved the question of Mary's title to the English and French thrones, it excited the disapprobation of the government, and the unfortunate poet expiated his folly by an imprisonment of six months. He only escaped severer punishment by the intercession of Queen Mary, assisted by some of the principal nobility of Scotland. Having removed with his pupil to Bourges, where both entered students of law, he had nearly fallen a victim to that outburst of Catholic enthusiasm which signalised itself so highly at Paris by the Bartholomew massacre. For no less than seven months he lay concealed in a public house, the master of which was afterwards rewarded for his charity to heretics by being thrown from the top of it, and dashed to pieces on the street. While in this sepulchre, as he styled it, Adamson wrote two excellent Latin poems, one of which, a version of the book of Job, must have been a most appropriate exercise for such a situation, while the other, entitled the tragedy of Herod, was no less applicable to the proceedings of the people out of doors. Afterwards, at the hazard of his life, he published a Latin translation of the Confession of Faith, which obtained very high credit in France and the Netherlands. In 1573, he returned to Scotland, married the daughter of a lawyer, and, entering holy orders, became minister of Paisley. In 1575, he was appointed one of the Commissioners of the General Assembly, to settle the policy and jurisdiction of the church; and in 1576 he was appointed one of the chaplains of the regent Earl of Morton. The Scottish church was at this time in the anomalous condition of being presbyterian in its actual form, while at the same time all the dignities of a Catholic and Episcopal system were nominally kept up, in order that the temporalities might be enjoyed by the powerful men in the state. Thus, Morton, having the temporalities of the archbishopric of St Andrews in his own hands, had to employ a nominal prelate for form's sake, in order that his cupidity might have a legal appearance. On the death of Archbishop Douglas in 1576, Adamson was raised to the empty dignity, which only brought him trouble and uneasiness. Being favourably disposed to a gradation of ecclesiastical dignities, he aimed at making rather more of his prelacy than any of his predecessors. On his refusing to submit to the limitations which the General Assembly were accustomed to enforce upon such officers, he underwent a severe persecution from that body, which he in vain endeavoured to appease, by publishing a very ingenious translation of the Catechism into Latin verse; a work said to have merited and obtained universal approbation. 1578, he submitted himself to the Assembly; which procured him peace short time. But having once excited the suspicion of his brethren by his episcopal predilections, they soon found matter for fresh charges against him, and he was obliged to retire to the castle of St Andrews. While living here, "like a fox in a hole," such is the phrase of the historian Calderwood, he was attacked by a chronic distemper, which defied all regular physicians, and reduced him to great misery. He at length experienced some relief from a simple medicine administered by an old woman named Alison Pearson. brethren seized upon this trivial incident, to form the ground of a most serious charge against him. They accused him of consulting a witch and emissary of the devil for the purpose of saving his life. The poor woman was imprisoned, but, by the archbishop's means, escaped. However, she was soon after taken once more, and burnt as a witch-though probably a desire of fixing the implied guilt of witch-consultation upon the archbishop was the chief motive for such a cruel action. In for a His In 1583, king James came to St Andrews; and the archbishop being much recovered, preached before him, and held a disputation with Mr Andrew Melville, in which he was thought by his own party to have the best of the argument. That he displayed some great power on this occasion is perhaps proved by the fresh persecutions to which he was in consequence subjected. The syllogisms used by persons of all ways of thinking in that age, were sometimes of a remarkably substantial nature. In the attempt which king James made, with the earl of Arran, to establish a modified episcopal church in Scotland, he found a ready, though timid instrument in archbishop Adamson, who composed a declaration in favour of the policy thus pursued, which was published in January, 1585, and obtained great applause for the king in England. Being sent as ambassador to England, he preached such eloquent sermons in behalf of his young master, that queen Elizabeth thought it necessary to forbid his appearance in the pulpit during his stay in her dominions. The re-ascendancy of the purely presbyterian interest in November, 1585, threw him once more at the feet of his brethren, who were now so enraged at his courtier-like conduct, that they passed against him a sentence of excommunication. It was in vain that he exercised his own nominal power to excommunicate their president in return; nor was his appeal to the king, who was now deprived of all real sovereignty, at all availing. By the exertions of the clergy, he at length became so infamous as to be in danger from the mob when he appeared on the streets. A partial reconciliation to the church took place in 1586, but next year he became again obnoxious to censure, from his having permitted himself to be "put to the horn" for debt. He now fell into a state of great necessity, insomuch that his children wanted bread. In 1588, he was summoned before the general assembly for an offence which will excite the surprise of a modern reader-namely, his having married the catholic earl of Huntly to his countess, without first obliging him to renounce his religion, by subscribing the presbyterian Confession of Faith. For this and other alleged crimes, a commission was appointed to try him, by which he was deposed and again excommunicated. In the beginning of 1590, he published the Lamentations of Jeremiah in Latin verse, which he dedicated to the king, complaining of the hard usage he had met with. And in the latter part of the same year, he published a similar translation of the Apocalypse, which was also inscribed to king James. Yet neither these, nor a moving copy of Latin verses written to his majesty in his deep distress, procured him any favour. The latter years of this unfortunate poet were spent in miseries almost beyond description. His body was subject to severe distempers; his mind was agonized by contemplating the perpetual necessities of his family. On one hand he had an array of bitter theological enemies; on the other, was a negligent patron, for whose interests he had partly sacrificed his own comfort. Among all his miseries, that which weighed most heavily on his mind was the sentence of excommunication. He was at length reduced so low by poverty, disease, and the pressure of this sentimental evil, as to apply for relief to the chief of his opponents, the celebrated Andrew Melville. This generous enemy immediately became his protector, supplied him out of his own funds for some months, and afterwards procured for him a further contribution among the rest of the brethren. Softened by these acts of kindness, Adamson consented to purchase a relief from the ban of the church, at the expense of all his former principles, which he now solemnly abjured in writing. His "Recantation" was gladly received by the church as a triumph over the party which supported episcopacy. Adamson died on the 19th of February, 1591-2. The following Latin verses, written by him a short while before he breathed his last, may be given as at once a fair specimen of his abilities as a Latin poet, and a touching account of the condition in which he spent the end of his life: O Anima! assiduis vitæ jactata procellis, |