11 North Broadford,
23rd February, 1863.
My Dear Papa,[2]
On Saturday Morning we went as you know on a walk with Professor Nicol.[3] We had a very pleasant forenoon examining the rocks, sea animals and so on.
I was rather amused to see the way in which Nicol extolled one particular vein of feldspar. He said he had taken a German naturalist to see it in the autumn who had told him he had been over all Scotland geologising but had not seen anything so fine. I got a specimen of it and some other minerals. After coming home from our walk we tried a mathematical paper which we got the loan of from Minto[4] some weeks ago but had not had time to look at. It was one of the old five hour papers and I think stiffer than the ones he[5] gives now. We did it all in rather more than 4 hours and a half. There was however one deduction which we knew before having done it for Fuller[6] this winter. Had we not known it I doubt whether we could have managed in the time for it was a rather difficult one.
We got back our Algebra examination papers from Freddy this afternoon and neither had any marks.[7] I think too that we had written as much in the time as any in the class. Has the rumour that Prince Alfred[8] is dead reached you yet? It is said that a telegram to that effect reached Aberdeen today but we are not quite sure if it be true yet. If it be it will be a great victory of Zadkiel’s Almanac which prophesied that the Prince of Wales’ marriage would be put off.[9]
Mary Jane finished her drawing today and is going down to Gifford[10] with it. Isabella[11] today is first in Bible and Geography and second in English.
We are all quite well here and with love to all.
I am,
Your affectionate son,
Wm. Robertson Smith
P.S. The parcel of books arrived on Saturday night.
[1] CUL ADD 7476 M001 TS
[2] This appears to be the first surviving letter from WRS to his parents, although others are quoted in B&C (pp.44ff.) and it may be taken for granted that there was a constant flow of correspondence between parents and children from 1861, when William and his brother George entered King’s College at Aberdeen as “bajans” or first year students. The two boys were accompanied by their elder sister, Mary Jane, who acted as housekeeper in their lodgings at North Broadford, and by the Smiths’ fourth child, Isabella, who attended school in Aberdeen. George Michie (1848–1866) was the second oldest son, who died very shortly after graduating from Aberdeen University. He is said to have equalled his elder brother in intellectual capacity.
[3] Nicol, James [“Jeems”] (1810–1879): was professor of Natural History at Marischal College and then Aberdeen University from 1853 to 1878.
[4] Minto, William (1845–1893): was a fellow-student and close academic rival of WRS. Born at Alford, he graduated from Aberdeen University in 1865, with honours in classics, mathematics and philosophy. After a year at Merton College, Oxford, Minto returned to Aberdeen, becoming assistant to Alexander Bain, professor of Logic and English, and thereafter devoting his life to the study of English literature, literary criticism and logic.
[5] Possibly an error: by “he”, WRS may have meant Fuller.
[6] Fuller, Frederick (known to all as “Freddy”): was professor of mathematics at Aberdeen University. He was later to propose that WRS apply for the mathematics chair at Agra.
[7] By the term “mark” WRS means correction rather than a numerical value. George wrote home about the same matter, saying “I had one score marked in mine which was evidently a mistake for it made nonsense.”
[8] Prince Alfred (1844–1900), son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
[9] The rumour was false since Prince Alfred did not die until 1900, despite suffering several attempts on his life. Smith’s fascination with the distinction between secular prediction and biblical prophecy is already evident here. A further reference to Zadkiel’s Almanac occurs in one of Smith’s Aberdeen F.C. College lectures on prophecy (in L&E, pp.353f.) where, after commenting on the contemporary charges of fraud brought privately against “Dr Slade” the medium, WRS writes: “Though every prediction in Zadkiel’s Almanac for 1877 were fulfilled to the letter, Christianity would remain precisely where it is.” Zadkiel was the pseudonym of Richard James Morrison (1795–1874) a versatile nautical inventor — more famed however for his sixpenny almanac, first published in 1831. In 1863, Morrison brought a charge of libel against Sir Edward Belcher, who had accused him of gulling the nobility with his prognostications [DNB].
[10] Gifford and Sons are recorded in the Aberdeen Directory of the period as “carvers and gilders, print-sellers &c., 187 Union Street”.
[11] Smith, Isabella Giles (1849–1938): was the fourth child in the Smith family and the eldest daughter following the death of Mary Jane in 1864. She remained unmarried throughout her long life. Bella was an excellent if imperious housekeeper but disliked travel and according to her sister Alice (in COTM) was the least academically-minded of the girls. It was Bella who bequeathed the family portraits to Aberdeen Art Gallery. [COTM]