" In the exercise of
disinterested beneficence, he was aided and encouraged by his second
wife, formerly Miss Peacock, who sympathised in the lettered tastes of
her husband, and took delight in the society of men of letters. They
together made annual pedestrian excursions into the Highlands, and the
narrative of their adventures proved a source of delightful instruction
to their friends. Mr Gray, after a lengthened period of residence in
Edinburgh, accepted, in the year 1821, the Professorship of Latin in the
Institution at Belfast; he subsequently took orders in the Church of
England, and proceeded to India as a chaplain. In addition to his
chaplaincy, he held the office of preceptor to one of the native princes
of Hindostan. He died at Bhoog, in the kingdom of Cutch, on the 25th of
September 1830; and if we add that he was a man of remarkable learning,
his elegy may be transcribed from the "Queen's Wake:"--
"Alike to him the south and north,
So high he held the minstrel worth;
So high his ardent mind was wrought,
Once of himself he never thought."
As the circle of the poet's friends increased, a scheme was originated
among them, which was especially entertained by the juniors, of
establishing a debating society for mutual improvement. This institution
became known as the Forum; meetings were held weekly in a public hall of
the city, and strangers were admitted to the discussions on the payment
of sixpence a-head.
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