It was a monthly magazine, published in London, for the discussion of literary, social, and philosophical questions.
On resigning his rectorship of Moffat Academy in 1873 Neil settled in Edinburgh, devoting himself to English literature, and especially to Shakespeare.
He founded and was president of the Edinburgh Shakespeare Society, and gave the annual lecture from 1874 till his death.
It noticed, with figures better known at the time, George Boole, Joseph John Murphy, and William Thomson.
[2] Other compiled works of this kind were Elements of Rhetoric (1856), Composition and Elocution (1857; 2nd edit.
A series of Neil's papers from 1860 was reissued in 1861 as Shakespeare: a Critical Biography, which accepted the forgeries of John Payne Collier; it was translated into French and German.
[1] Neil married on 7 April 1848 Christina, youngest daughter of Archibald Gibson of the Royal Navy.