know nothing of his friends and companions there, but he kept up a correspondence with one of them, a Mr. Fridge of Baltimore, U.S.A., up to the last.

Isaac Forsyth had of course the usual scrapes of boyhood to go through, and from his ardent temperament he was rather forward in juvenile escapades. One very characteristic anecdote was told in the family. Elgin rejoices in two crosses; the one, the Muckle or Town Cross, which was pulled down by the Town Council in 1785 to save the expense of repairing, and restored in 1888 at the cost and by the public spirit of my brother William Macandrew of Westwood, Little Horkesley, Essex; and the other, the Little or Bishop's Cross, which marked the part of the town formerly in the jurisdiction of the bishop. The Muckle Cross stood then and stands now in the centre of the High Street, the Little Cross stands at the extreme east end of it. There was a rivalry between the Muckle Cross and the Little Cross boys; and, on the king's birthday of a certain year, when Isaac was a boy, each party was to have a bonfire at their Just then the last hangman of Elgin died, and the Town Council pulled down his house as he was to have no successor, and gave the wood of it for the bonfire in honour of

own cross.

His Majesty. Naturally, there was a contest between the Muckle and the Little Cross boys for the spoils of the hangman's house, and Isaac was on his knees at the family prayers at the very moment that his victorious companions were bringing the fruits of victory to be thrown amid shouts of triumph into the fire under the windows of his father's house. Their cheers were too much for him. He rose with a shout and rushed out to join the rest at the bonfire, leaving his astonished family and indignant father on their knees at prayer. For several days after this Isaac dare not come into his father's presence, and it was with some difficulty that his mother got him forgiven.

CHAPTER II.

APPRENTICESHIP.

MR. FORSYTH'S APPRENTICESHIP IN ABERDEEN-BEGINS BUSINESS FOR HIMSELF AS BOOKBINDER, STATIONER, AND BOOKSELLER-GIVES UP THE BOOKBINDING-MODERATE SUCCESS -BUSINESS CHARACTER-PUBLISHES SEVERAL WORKS— THE SURVEY OF MORAY AND ITS AUTHORS-THE PROVINCE OF MORAY-GENERAL WADE'S ROADS AND THEIR EFFECT— GREAT AGE OF THE AUTHORS AND PUBLISHER OF THE SURVEY.

He

IN 1783 it was decided that Mr. Forsyth should be brought up as a bookseller and bookbinder, and he was apprenticed to Messrs. John and Alexander Angus, stationers in Aberdeen. wrought there four years as a bookbinder, and subsequently went to London, where he worked as a journeyman for six or eight months, receiving wages at the rate of 21s. to 24s. a week. While at Aberdeen he made some friendships which lasted through life. One was with Provost Cruden and his family, through whom he became acquainted with Dr. Cruden of Nigg in Ross-shire, who was a dear and honoured friend. His fellow-apprentice was a Mr. Brown, who afterwards became Provost of Aberdeen, and was

a firm friend of Mr. Forsyth's until the Provost's death. Mr. Forsyth has himself left on record his sense of the mistake his friends made in sending him to learn practical beckbinding, instead of placing him in Edinburgh or London where he could have seen bookselling, stationery, and printing trades carried on on a large scale, and acquired an experience which might have stood him in good stead thereafter.

In 1788 Mr. Forsyth began business in Elgin as a stationer and bockbinder. He added bookselling to this, but could not properly attend to it as he soon found, for he had to work himself as a bookbinder, which engrossed his time and attention, while, being a mere mechanical occupation, it was uncongenial to his active mind and social habits. After some years, however, he took his apprentice, John Dunbar, into the binding business as a partner, and this relieved him both from labour and anxiety, as the man turned out well, and he himself was enabled to concentrate his attention on the more lucrative business of bookselling. At that time there was no bookseller between Aberdeen and Inverness, and Mr. Forsyth had a good opportunity as for some years he had the field to himself. He was always of opinion that, had he possessed the requisite knowledge of the trade, he could