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The Freemasons' Magazine, Or General And Complete Library.
The subject of these memoirs was born at Edinburgh , on the 28 th . of July , O . S . 1 742 , and was the son of William Preston , Esq . Writer to the Signet in that city ; a gentleman who had the advantage of a very liberal education , and in time arrived at considerable eminence in his profession . In 1 740 Mr . Preston married Helena Gumming , daughter of Mr . Arthur Gumming of Edinburgh , by whom he had five children four
; of these died in infancy , and William , their second son , alone survived . His professional talents were great , and his intellectual faculties remarkable ; for the writer of this article has heard the present Mr . Preston more than once relate , that he lias known his father walk to and fro in his office , and dictate to different clerks at the same timeeach of whom
, was employed on a different subject . As a Greek and Latin scholar , too , he was eminently distinguished , and his poetical talents were hi ghly spoken of in the circle of his private connexions , to which , indeed , they were for the most part confined . A poem , however , To the Divine Majesty , and some other pieces , have appeared in print , and justify the judgment of his friends . To the education of his
son Mr . Preston paid peculiar attention , for which purpose he sent him to school at a very early age ; and in order to improve his memory ( a faculty which has been of infinite advantage to him through life ) , he taught the boy , when only in his fourth year , some lines of Aimcreon in the original Greek , which , for the entertainment of his friends , he encouraged young William to recite , in their presence . The novelty of this performance was sufficientlypleasing , without requiring that the boy should understand what with wonderful accuracy he uttered .
In 1750 , Mr . "P reston retired to his house at Linlithgow , 12 miles distant ' from Edinburgh , and in the following year died suddenly in a fit of apoplexy while on a visit at the house of his friend , the Rev . Mr . Meklrum , of Mekhum , near Torphichen , where he was afterwards interred . Though this gentleman had succeeded , by the death of his father and sister , to a considerable landed property iti the city
of Edinburgh , yet , through the mismanagement of his guardians , and his own unfortunate attachment to some friends who had espoused , the cause of the Stuart family , after the rebellion in 1 745 , '" business suffered a temporary suspension , which preyed on his spirits , and at once impaired both his health and his fortune . Mr . William Prestonhis sonto whom ourattention will be
hence-, , forth directed , having finished his English education under die tuition of Mr . Stirling , a celebrated teacher in Edinburgh , and before he was six years of age , was enteied at the High School , where , under Messrs . Farquhar , Gibbs , and Lee , he made considerable progress in the Latin tongue . From the Hi gh School he went to college , and was taught the rudiments of the Greek under Professor Hunter .
\ Vhile he was at the university , his habits ofstudy , and attention to literature , recommended him to the . notice of the late celebratedgrammarian , Mr . Thomas Ruddiman , who , from intense application to classical pursuits , and the infirmities of age , had greatly impaired ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Freemasons' Magazine, Or General And Complete Library.
The subject of these memoirs was born at Edinburgh , on the 28 th . of July , O . S . 1 742 , and was the son of William Preston , Esq . Writer to the Signet in that city ; a gentleman who had the advantage of a very liberal education , and in time arrived at considerable eminence in his profession . In 1 740 Mr . Preston married Helena Gumming , daughter of Mr . Arthur Gumming of Edinburgh , by whom he had five children four
; of these died in infancy , and William , their second son , alone survived . His professional talents were great , and his intellectual faculties remarkable ; for the writer of this article has heard the present Mr . Preston more than once relate , that he lias known his father walk to and fro in his office , and dictate to different clerks at the same timeeach of whom
, was employed on a different subject . As a Greek and Latin scholar , too , he was eminently distinguished , and his poetical talents were hi ghly spoken of in the circle of his private connexions , to which , indeed , they were for the most part confined . A poem , however , To the Divine Majesty , and some other pieces , have appeared in print , and justify the judgment of his friends . To the education of his
son Mr . Preston paid peculiar attention , for which purpose he sent him to school at a very early age ; and in order to improve his memory ( a faculty which has been of infinite advantage to him through life ) , he taught the boy , when only in his fourth year , some lines of Aimcreon in the original Greek , which , for the entertainment of his friends , he encouraged young William to recite , in their presence . The novelty of this performance was sufficientlypleasing , without requiring that the boy should understand what with wonderful accuracy he uttered .
In 1750 , Mr . "P reston retired to his house at Linlithgow , 12 miles distant ' from Edinburgh , and in the following year died suddenly in a fit of apoplexy while on a visit at the house of his friend , the Rev . Mr . Meklrum , of Mekhum , near Torphichen , where he was afterwards interred . Though this gentleman had succeeded , by the death of his father and sister , to a considerable landed property iti the city
of Edinburgh , yet , through the mismanagement of his guardians , and his own unfortunate attachment to some friends who had espoused , the cause of the Stuart family , after the rebellion in 1 745 , '" business suffered a temporary suspension , which preyed on his spirits , and at once impaired both his health and his fortune . Mr . William Prestonhis sonto whom ourattention will be
hence-, , forth directed , having finished his English education under die tuition of Mr . Stirling , a celebrated teacher in Edinburgh , and before he was six years of age , was enteied at the High School , where , under Messrs . Farquhar , Gibbs , and Lee , he made considerable progress in the Latin tongue . From the Hi gh School he went to college , and was taught the rudiments of the Greek under Professor Hunter .
\ Vhile he was at the university , his habits ofstudy , and attention to literature , recommended him to the . notice of the late celebratedgrammarian , Mr . Thomas Ruddiman , who , from intense application to classical pursuits , and the infirmities of age , had greatly impaired ,