any matter than to use eloquent language". Nevertheless, it is to his writings, including their dedications, that we owe much of our knowledge of the everyday facts of Major's life - for example his "shortness of stature". He was an extremely curious and very observant man, and used his experiences - of earthquakes in Paisley, thunder in Glasgow, storms at sea, eating oatcakes in northern England - to illustrate the more abstract parts of his logical writings.

Life