to be primate of Scotland, he, to put him off effectually, answered, 'I will never be archbishop of St Andrews, unless the chancellor of Scotland also, as Boine were before me;' which made the great man speak no more to him about that affair." This great man was probably the earl of Glencairn, who had himself been appointed chancellor. Kirkton, another church historian, says that when Mr Douglas became fully aware of Sharp's intention to accept the primacy, he said to him, in parting, " James, I see you will engage. I perceive you are clear, you will be made archbishop of St Andrews. Take it, and the curse of God with it." So saying, he clapped him on the shoulder, and shut the door upon him. In a paper which this divine afterwards wrote respecting the new introduction of prelacy, he made the quaint but true remark, that the little finger of the present bishops was bigger than the loins of their predecessors. After this period, Mr Douglas appears to have resigned his
charge as a minister of Edinburgh, and nothing more is learned respecting him till 1669, when the privy council admitted him as an indulged clergyman to the parish of Pencaitland in East Lothian. The period of his death is unknown; nor is there any certain information respecting his family, except that he had a son, Alexander, who was minister of Logic, and a correspondent of Mr Wodrow.
DRUMMOND, George, provost of Edinburgh, was born on the 27th of June, 1687. He was the son of George Druminond of Newton, a branch of the noble family of Perth; and was educated at the schools of Edinburgh, where he early displayed superior abilities, particularly in the science of calculation, for which he had a natural predilection, and in which he acquired an almost unequalled proficiency. Nor was this attainment long of being called into use, and that on a very momentous occasion; for, when only eighteen years of age, he was requested by the committee of the Scottish parliament, appointed to examine and settle the national accounts, preparatory to the 'legislative union of the two kingdoms, to afford his assistance; and it is generally believed that most of the calculations were made by him. So great was the satisfaction which he gave on that occasion to those at the head of the Scottish affairs, that, on the establishment of the excise in 1707, he was appointed accountant-general, when he was just twenty years of age.
Mr Drummond had early imbibed those political principles which seated the present royal family on the throne; hence he took an active part on the side of government, in the rebellion of 1715. It was to him that ministry owed the first intelligence of the earl of Marr having reached Scotland to raise the standard of insurrection. He fought at the battle of Sheriff-muir, and was the first to apprize the magistrates of Edinburgh of Argyle's victory; which he did by a letter written on horseback, from the field of battle. On the 10th of February, 1715, Mr Drummond had been promoted to a seat at the board of excise; and on the rebellion being extinguished, he returned to Edinburgh, to the active discharge of his duties. On the 27th April, 1717, he was appointed one of the commissioners of the board of customs. In the same year he was elected treasurer of the city, which office he held for two years. In 1722-23, he was dean of guild, and in 1725, he was raised to the dignity of lord provost. In 1727, he was named one of the commissioners and trustees for improving the fisheries and manufactures of Scotland, and on the 15th October, 1737, he was promoted to be one of the commissioners of excise.
No better proof can be given of the high estimation in which Mr Drummond was held by government, than his rapid promotion; although the confidential correspondence which he maintained with Mr Addison, on the affairs of Scotland, was still more honourable to him.
