Adam, ALEXANDER, LL.D.

Adam, ALEXANDER, LL.D., was born near Forres, Elginshire, 24th June 1741. The son of a small farmer, he had to struggle through much hardship in the pursuit of learning; but in 1757 he came to Edinburgh University, and in 1761 obtained the head-mastership of Watson's Hospital, and in 1768 the rectorship of the High School. This post he filled for nearly forty years with distinguished ability and success, raising the reputation of the school beyond what it had ever been before. Scott, Horner, and Jeffrey were among his pupils. In some of his reforms he encountered such opposition as now seems almost fabulous. He published a new Latin grammar (1772), written in English; but the town-council prohibited him from teaching it. His Roman Antiquities (1791) was the work which did most to promote his reputation, and for many years was the best manual of the kind in existence. His Summary of Geography and History appeared in 1794, his Classical Biography in 1800, and his Latin Dictionary—an abridgment of a larger work unfinished at his death—in 1805. On 18th December 1809 he died of apoplexy, his last words being: 'But it grows dark, boys; you may go.'