This public room--the Music Hall in George
Street--will contain, under severe pressure, from eighteen hundred to
nineteen hundred persons, and tickets to that extent were secured by
the students and members of the General Council. Curious stories are
told of the eagerness on every side manifested to hear Mr. Carlyle.
Country clergymen from beyond Aberdeen came into Edinburgh for the
sole purpose of hearing and seeing. Gentlemen came down from London
by train the night before, and returned to London by train the night
after.
"In a very few minutes after the doors were opened the large hall was
filled in every part, and when up the central passage the Principal,
the Lord Rector, the Members of the Senate, and other gentlemen
advanced towards the platform, the cheering was vociferous and hearty.
The Principal occupied the chair of course, the Lord Rector on his
right, the Lord Provost on his left. Every eye was fixed on the
Rector. To all appearance, as he sat, time and labour had dealt
tenderly with him. His face had not yet lost the country bronze which
he brought up with him from Dumfriesshire as a student fifty-six years
ago.
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