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59.: From LORD ERROLL - Adam Smith, Glasgow Edition of the Works and Correspondence Vol. 6 Correspondence of Adam Smith [1740]

Edition used:

Correspondence of Adam Smith, ed. E. C. Mossner and I. S. Ross, vol. VI of the Glasgow Edition of the Works and Correspondence of Adam Smith (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1987).

Part of: The Glasgow Edition of the Works and Correspondence of Adam Smith, 7 vols.

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59.

From LORD ERROLL1

MS., GUA University MSS. vol. 30. 95 (copy); James Coutts, A History of the University of Glasgow (Glasgow, 1909), 243.

London, 27 Oct. 1761

Dear Sir

I am this moment come from Lord Bute, and he desires me to inform the University that the King’s orders are that you immediately vacate Mr Rouets place de novo,2 and that every thing may be done in a legal way,3 as soon as that is done His Majesty will appoint a Successor.4 There is a Necessity of complying with this else it may be of the worst consequences to the University, I could do no more, I said all that was possible but to no effect. One thing Lord Bute told me is that he is engaged to no body, but that the man who is recommended as the fittest for filling the place properly will be his man. I beg to hear from you soon on this Subject, and I likewise hope our address will be Sent up immediately. With my compliments to all my friends I ever am

most Sincerely Yours

Sic Subs. Erroll

[1 ]James Hay (1726–78), 15th Earl of Erroll and High Constable of Scotland; Lord Rector of Glasgow University, 1760–1.

[2 ]In Sept. 1759, William Rouet deserted his Chair of Church History to act as travelling tutor to Lord Hope, eldest son of the Earl of Hopetoun. The University Meeting of 2 Feb. 1760 declared the Chair vacant but Rouet was not cited beforehand. The minutes of this Meeting and other documents were sent to Erroll for presentation to the Government and this is his reply. He alludes also to a loyal address on the King’s marriage.

[3 ]Erroll’s letter was read at the Meeting of 11 Nov. 1761, which resolved ‘to send Mr Smith and Mr Millar [John Millar, Professor of Civil Law] to Edinburgh to consult two Advocates Viz Mr James Ferguson of Pitfour and Mr James Burnet of [Monboddo] upon the legality of the Sentence of the University meeting of the 2d of February 1760 by which Sentence the Professorship of Ecclesiastical History in this University was declared vacant, particularly upon the following Queries [:] Query 1st Does the want of the formality of a Summons invalidate the Sentence of the University in the particular circumstances of the affair of Mr Rouet? Query 2d Is the Action of deserting his office after leave of absence has been refused relevant to infer the censure that is passed [upon] the conduct of Mr Rouet in the body of the Sentence?’ Smith and Millar gave in the advice of the advocates on 26 Nov. to the effect that want of a citation was a material defect in the proceedings. The decision of 2 Feb. 1760 was reversed and Rouet was cited to appear at Glasgow on 19 Jan. 1762. He did not appear but sent a letter of resignation from Utrecht dated 22 Dec. 1761, holding out for his salary. He finally got a favourable decision about his salary in 1767.

[4 ]William Wight (1730–82), a relation and intimate friend of Dr. Alexander Carlyle, formerly a Presbyterian minister in Dublin, was elected Rouet’s successor; in 1778, he became Professor of Divinity at Glasgow.