510
he has interwoven his own early feelings and recol-
lections with the description and traditional history
of his native vale of Teviot.
The friends of Leyden began now to be anxious
for his present settlement in life. He had been for
two years in orders, and there was every reason to
hope that he might soon obtain a church through the
numerous friends and powerful interest which he now
possessed. More than one nobleman of high rank
expressed a wish to serve him should any church in
their gift become vacant; and, from the recommenda-
tion of other friends to those possessed of political
interest, he was almost assured of being provided
for by a crown presentation on some early oppor-
tunity. But his eager desire of travelling, and of
extending the bounds of literary and geographical
knowledge, had become, as he expressed himself to
an intimate friend, "his thought by day and his
dream by night, and the discoveries of Mungo Park
haunted his very slumbers." When the risk was
objected to him, he used to answer in a phrase of
Ossian, " Dark Cuchullin will be renowned or dead;"
and it became hopeless to think that this eager and
aspiring spirit could be confined within the narrow
sphere, and limited to the humble though useful
duties, of a country clergyman. It was therefore now
the wish of his friends to turn this irresistible thirst
for discovery into some channel which might at once
gratify the predominant desire of his heart, and be
attended with some prospect of securing his fortune.
It was full time to take such steps; for in 1802 Ley-
den had actually commenced overtures to the African
Society, for undertaking a journey of discovery
through the interior of that continent—an enterprise
which sad examples have shown to be little better
than an act of absolute suicide. To divert his mind
from this desperate project, a representation was
made to the Right Hon. William Dundas, who had
then a seat at the Board of Control, stating the
talents and disposition of Leyden, and it was sug-
gested that such a person might be usefully employed
in investigating the language and learning of the
Indian tribes. Mr. Dundas entered with the most
liberal alacrity into these views; but it happened,
unfortunately as it might seem, that the sole appoint-
ment then at his disposal was that of surgeon's assist-
ant, which could only be held by a person who had
taken a surgical degree, and could sustain an examin-
ation before the medical board at the India House.
It was upon this occasion that Leyden showed, in
their utmost extent, his wonderful powers of applica-
tion and comprehension. He at once intimated his
readiness to accept the appointment under the con-
ditions annexed to it, and availing himself of the
superficial information he had formerly acquired by
a casual attendance upon one or two of the medical
classes, he gave his whole mind to the study of
medicine and surgery, with the purpose of qualifying
himself for his degree in the short space of five or six
months. The labour which he underwent on this
occasion was incredible; but with the powerful assist-
ance of a gentleman of the highest eminence in his
profession (Mr. John Bell of Edinburgh), he suc-
ceeded in acquiring such a knowledge of this com-
plicated and most difficult art, as enabled him to
obtain his diploma as surgeon with credit, even in
the city of Edinburgh, so long famed for its medical
school, and for the wholesome rigour adopted in the
distribution of degrees. Leyden was, however, in-
cautious in boasting of his success after so short a
course of study, and found himself obliged, in con-
sequence of his imprudence, to relinquish his inten-
tion of taking out the degree of M. D. at Edinburgh,
and to have recourse to another Scottish university
for that step in his profession. Meanwhile the sudden
exchange of his profession gave great amusement
to some of his friends, especially when a lady having
fainted in a crowded assembly, Dr. Leyden advanced
to her assistance, and went through the usual routine
of treatment with all the gravity which beseemed his
new faculty. In truth, the immediate object of his
studies was always, in season and out of season, pre-
dominant in Leyden's mind, and just about this time
he went to the evening party of a lady of the highest
rank with the remnants of a human hand in his
pocket, which he had been dissecting in the morning;
and on some question being stirred about the muscu-
lar action, he was with difficulty withheld from pro-
ducing this grisly evidence in support of the argu-
ment which he maintained. The character of Leyden
cannot be understood without mentioning those cir-
cumstances that are allied to oddity; but it is not so
easy to body forth those qualities of energy, appli-
cation, and intelligence, by which he dignified his
extravagancies, and vindicated his assumption of
merit, far less to paint his manly, generous, and
friendly disposition.
In December, 1802, Leyden was summoned to
join the Christmas fleet of Indiamen, in consequence
of his appointment as assistant-surgeon on the Madras
establishment. It was sufficiently understood that
his medical character was only assumed to bring him
within the compass of Mr. Dundas's patronage, and
that his talents should be employed in India with
reference to his literary researches. He was, how-
ever, pro forma, nominated to the Madras Hospital.
While awaiting this call, he bent his whole energies
to the study of the oriental languages, and amused
his hours of leisure by adding to the Scenes of Infancy
many of those passages addressed to his friends, and
bearing particular reference to his own situation on
the eve of departure from Scotland, which, flowing
warm from the heart, constitute the principal charm
of that impressive poem. Mr. James Ballantyne,
an early and intimate friend of Leyden, had just then
established in Edinburgh his press, which afterwards
became so distinguished. To the critical skill of a
valued and learned friend, and to the friendly as
well as professional care of Ballantyne, Leyden
committed this last memorial of his love to his native
land. The last sheets reached him before he left
Britain, no more to return.
About the middle of December John Leyden left
Edinburgh, but not exactly at the time he had pro-
posed. He had taken a solemn farewell of his friends,
and gone to Roxburghshire to bid adieu to his parents,
whom he regarded with the most tender filial affec-
tion, and from thence he intended to have taken his
departure for London without returning to Edin-
burgh. Some accident changed his purpose, and
his unexpected arrival in Edinburgh was picturesque
and somewhat startling. A party of his friends had
met in the evening to talk over his merits, and to
drink, in Scottish phrase, his bonallie. While about
the witching hour they were crowning a solemn
bumper to his health, a figure burst into the room,
muffled in a seaman's cloak and travelling cap, cov-
ered with snow, and distinguishable only by the
sharpness and ardour of the tone with which he ex-
claimed, "Dash it, boys, here I am again!" The
start with which this unexpected apparition was re-
ceived was subject of great mirth at the time, and
the circumstance was subsequently recalled by most
of the party with that mixture of pleasure and melan-
choly which attaches to the particulars of a last
meeting with a beloved and valuable friend.
In London, the kindness of Mr. Heber, his own
reputation, and the recommendation of his Edin-