JAMES THE SECOND.

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one of the fellows who had lately turned Papist, Robert chap.Cliarnock, a man of parts and spirit, but of a violent and rest- 1637 '~less temper, which impelled him a few years later to anatrocious crime and to a terrible fate. On the thirteenth ofApril the society met in the chapel. Some hope was stillentertained that the King might be moved by the remon-strance which had been addressed to him. The assemblytherefore adjourned till the fifteenth, which was the last dayon which, by the constitution of the college, the electioncould take place.

The fifteenth of April came. Again the Fellows repaired ® f ,c [ ^ onto their chapel. No answer had arrived from* Whitehall. Pre-Two or three of the Seniors, among whom was Smith, were sidl!nt ’inclined to postpone the election once more rather than take astep which might give offence to the King. But the languageof the statutes was clear. Those statutes the members of thefoundation had sworn to observe. The general opinion wasthat there ought to be no further delay. A hot debate fol-lowed. The electors were too much excited to take theirseats; and the whole choir was in a tumult. Those who werefor proceeding appealed to their oaths and to the rules laiddown by the founder whose bread they had eaten. The King,they truly said, had no right to force on them even a qualifiedcandidate. Some expressions unpleasing to Tory ears weredropped in the course of the dispute; and Smith was provokedinto exclaiming that the spirit of Ferguson had possessed hisbrethren. It was at length resolved by a great majority thatit was necessary to proceed immediately to the election.Charnock left the chapel. The other Fellows, having firstreceived the sacrament, proceeded to give their voices. Thechoice fell on John Hough, a man of eminent virtue and pru-dence, who, having borne persecution with fortitude andprosperity with meekness, having risen to high honours andhaving modestly declined honours higher still, died in ex-treme old age, yet in full vigour of mind, more than fifty-sixyears after this eventful day.

The society hastened to acquaint the King with the cir-cumstances which had made it necessary to elect a President

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