16 same difficulties were opposed to the pur J chase as before, and that no definite period could be named for the termination of them, he came home without effecting the purpose of his expedition, and which, as far as I know, has not been effected to this moment. The time was now fast approaching when the second and concluding Volume of the Catalogue of the Arabic MSS. comprising all those in the four divisions above mentioned, would be ready for publication. At the commencement of the year 1828, it wanted only a few sheets to bring it to a conclusion; and Dr. Nicoll was now busily employed in preparing an Index, by which reference to any part of it might be more readily made. But in the month of April following, soon after I had left Oxford to reside in the country, I received the distressing information that his lectures (with which he never failed to proceed, whatever were his other occupations) were suddenly interrupted by a disorder of the trachea, occasioning hoarseness, and difficulty of speaking; which, though Dr. Nicoll himself did not anticipate any formidable effect from it, excited in his friends, and myself among the rest, a considerable degree of alarm. His appearance, when he was at my house, about three months afterward, tended to confirm my suspicions that his complaint was of a very serious nature. A further detail of circumstances I may well be spared; it is enough to add that it terminated in his death on the 25th of September, in a manner so awfully sudden and unexpected, as to strike those around him with astonishment and dismay. Thus perished in his 36th year a man of extraordinary talents, and almost unequalled diligence; who may fairly be called an honour to the University, and to his native country. From what he has done we may form a reasonable conjecture as to what he might have done, had it pleased the almighty Disposer of 量 events too have granted him a few more years; and as Scotland can boast of eminentmen in almost every department of science and literature; the Gregories, Maclaurin, Hume, Robertson, Playfair, Jameson, Stewart, &c. so it is not altogether improbable she might have seen in Oriental learning (that branch of learning which has perhaps been less cultivated than others in the Scottish Universities) a rival to the great names of Pococke and Hyde in the person of Alexander Nicoll. It remains only that I should add a few words concerning the occasion of publishing the annexed volume of Sermons. Immediately after the funeral of Dr. Nicoll, I received a message from several persons of the first consequence, both for their talents and station, in the University, strongly recommending that some of his Sermons should be published for the benefit of his widow. Two or three in particular were mentioned, "as containing matter highly in teresting, and also as having met with general approbation from those who heard them. At that time I had but just begun to look over and arrange Dr. Nicoll's papers, and was perfectly ignorant whether the Sermons in question were in existence, or in case they should be found, whether we could collect a sufficient number to make a volume. Upon a further search, however, our doubts in this respect were removed, and the following Discourses were selected for publication. |