Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/biographicaldict01cham2 hn V ! BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY EMINENT SCOTSMEN KDITED BY EGBERT CHAMBERS, ONE OF THE EDITORS OF "CHAMBERS'S EDINBURGH JOURNAL." NEW EDITION.— REVISED AND CONTINUED TO THE PRESENT TIME. ILLUSTRATED BY EIGHTY AUTHENTIC PORTRAITS, h. The Biographical Dictionary oe Eminent Scotsmen, a New Edition of which is now offered to the public, contains authentic Biographies of all Scotsmen who have attained eminence in the literary, scientific, rehgious, or political world; warriors, statesmen, historians, philoso- phers, poets, theologians, and martyrs, from the days of Malcolm Canmore to the present time ; each treated at a length suited to his particular merit or fame, and the whole arranged for reference in alpha- betical order. Few countries can point to an array of names equally illustrious with those which are enshrined in the annals of Scotland, and numerically so great in proportion to her total population. In the arts of war and of peace, in science, philosophy, history, poetry, and religion, in asserting civil and religious liberty, and in carrying it into practical effect, her sons are equally famous; the names of Wallace, Bruce, Buchanan, Knox, Melville, Guthrie, Smith, Burns, Watt, Scott, and Chahners, are each representatives of a class who have contributed to render her name renowned throughout the world. This important Work, therefore, which conveys, in a succinct and intelligible form, a good and interesting account of the struggles, principles, attainments, and actions, of such men, cannot fail to appeal powerfully to the C ha-r^'Vr- Fvmpadiies not only of natives of Scotland, who may naturally bo expected to feel deeply interested in the history of those of their countrymen whose names have added a fresh lustre to their native land ; but also of all who love and admire the good and great in whatever clime and in whatever land they may have been born; and at the same time it can- not fail to be eminently useful by setting before aspiring minds brilhaivt examples of what has been already accomplished. The Biographical Dictionary op Eminent Scotsmen was edited by Robert Chambers, one of the editors of Chamheris Edinburgh Journal, kc, whose writings are so w^ell and favourably kno\vn, and was higlily appreciated on its first publication ; but many years having elapsed since that time, many eminent persons have been gathered to their fathers in the interval, rendering the Work now, to a certain extent, incomplete. In the New Edition now issued, the original Work has been carefully revised, some Biographies extended, others rendered more succinct and precise; and, in addition, a SUPPLEMENTARY VOLUME has been added, including notices of eminent individuals who have died since the Work was first published, together with such names as had then been omitted. The Scottish Biographical Dictionary will thus coiitinue to be what it has ever been, the most complete and interesting record of the Lives of Eminent Scotsmen that has issued from the Press. CONDITIONS. The revised portion, forming what constituted the original Work, and the Supplementary Volume, will be completed in Nine Divisions, elegantly bound in cloth, at 6s. Qd. each. The whole will be illustrated with MgJitij authentic Portraits, engraved on Steel, in the first style of art ; and Five Engraved Titles, giving views of the principal Seats of learning in Scotland. BLACKIE AND SON: GLASGOW. ED INBUEGH, LONDON, AND NEW YORK, ^':i%f \i % \ ^' (SEiEli^lL IDlFi AiElRC!^®iiY I^.IS, ■.cmE Sc SOB. BiAsaaw. mihetikoh SiiauiDaiT. K'l> ^ ^11' iD ' ! H I II I I O] e> >-^ OF NUMEROUS AUTHENTIC PORTRAITS VOLUME },. "" '.■^-^^::Ml^^'^r^ THtE UWIYERSITY OF GLASGOW, INWER COURT. (o-LilS&OW, EDIRBURG-H fi fl D LORDOR. A BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY EMINENT SCOTSMEN. ■i" EDITED BV ROBERT CHAMBERS, ONE OF THE EDITORS OK " CUAMBKRS'S EDINBUUGU JOUBNAL.' NEW EDITION REVISED AND .CONTINUED TO THE PRESENT TIME. WITH NUMEROUS PORTEAITS. DIVISION I. BLACKIE AND SO:?^ : GLASGOW, EDINBURGH, AND LONDON. ^^ C MDCCCLIIIj, IhZ NEW YO^K PUBx^IC LIBRARY ^STOR, LENOX ANii TILDEN FOUNDATIONS R 1921 L GLASGOW: ■V. O. BLACK (K AND CO., TRINTKB VILLAFIF.LD. : ttenry Rafibtini. FROM THE ORIGINAL IN THE HIGH SCHOOL,, EDI! BI.ACKIE fe SON. GIASGOW: EDIKBUEGH ftlOHOON- En^aveatY E FreemaiL, WOLID^S^ ADC«IM;S^- Sir Joshna BeyndldB . JAMES OP AUCHINLBCK. - Eeiiry RaeburiL J.HogerB. SEPIHl [BILAC PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY. UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW. BLACKIE fc 50H, GLASGOW, EDINBURGH & LONDOK \ • \ r Joataia. EbtdoIAs JARflES BR OF KIHNMKlJ BLACHE & SON, GUASGOW E1)IN1511H(J31 & LONEOlf . FROM TEE OIUGINAL IN POSSBSSIONOF TKE FAMILY. BI.ATKIE fe SON. GJ ,- Joshua Reynolds le to effect in good order ; the British having too few cavalry to pursue. His loss was supposed to ])Q between tliree and four thousand men, including many officers, among whom were general Raize, commander of the cavalry, wlio fell in the field, and two generals who died of their wounds. The loss of the British was also heavy, upwards of seventy officers being killed, wounded, and missing. Among these was the lamented commander-in-chief. Having hastened, on the first alarm, towards the cannonading, Sir Ralph must have ridden straight among the enemy, wlio had already broken the front line and got into its rear. It was not yet day, and, being unable to distinguish friend from foe, he must have been embar- rassed among tlie assailants, but he was extricated by the valour of his troops. To the first soldier that came up to him, he said, " Soldier, if you know nie, don't name me." A French dragoon, at the moment, conjecturing the prize he had lost, rode up to Sir Ralph, and made a cut at him, l)nt not being near enough, only cut tlirough the clothes, and grazed the skin with the point of his sabre. The dragoon's horse wheeling about, brought him again to the charge, and he made a second attempt by a lounge, but the sabre passed between Sir Ralph's side and his right arm. The di-agoon being at the instant shot dead, the sabre remained with the general. About the same time it was discovered that he had been wounded in the thigh, and was entreated to have the wound examined ; but he treated it as a trifle, and would not for a moment leave the field. No sooner, however, had the enemy begun to retreat, and the excitement of feeling under which he had been acting to subside, than he fainted from pain and the loss of blood. His wound was now examined, and a large incision made in order to extract the ball, but it could not be found. He was then put upon a litter, and carried aboard the Foudroyant, where he languished till the 2Sth, when he died. His body was interred in the burial ground of the commandery of the Grand Master, under the walls of the castle of St Elan, near the town of Valetta in Malta.' Of the character of Sir Ralph Abercromby there can be but one opinion Bred to arms almost from his infancy, he appeared to be formed for command. His dispositions were always masterly, and his success certain. He had served in America, in the West Indies, in Ireland, in the Netherlands, in Holland, and in Egypt, and had in all of these countries gained himself great distinction. In the two latter countries, especially, he performed services that were of incalculable advantage to his country. The battle of the 21st of March, or of Alexandria, while it decided the fate of Egypt, left an impression of British skill and of British valour upon the minds of both her friends and her enemies, that materially con- tributed to the splendid results of a contest longer in continuance, and involving interests of greater magnitude, than Britain had ever before been engaged in. The manner in which he repressed the licentiousness of the troops in Ireland, was at once magnanimous and eff^ective ; and he ended a life of dignified exertion by a death worthy of a hero. "We have sustained an irreparable loss," says his suc- cessor, "in the person of our never enough to be lamented commander-in-chief, Sir Ralph Abercromby ; but it is some consolation to those who tenderly loved him, that, as his life was honourable, so was his death glorious. His memory JOHN ABERNETHY. 13 will be recorded in tlie annals of his country, will be sacred to every British soldier, and embalmed in the recollection of a grateful posterity.'" Sir Ralph Abercromby was married to Mary Anne, daughter of John Menzies of Fernton, Perthshire ; by whom he had issue four sons and three daughters, who survived him. On the official account reaching England of the fate of her lamented husband, his widow was elevated to the peerage, May 28, 1801, as Baroness Abercromby of Aboukir and Tullibody, with remainder to the heirs- male of the deceased general; and, on the recommendation of his majesty, the House of Commons, without one dissentient voice, granted an annuity of two thousand pounds to Lady Abercromby, and tlie next two succeeding male heirs of the body of Sir Ralph Abercromby, to whom the title of Baron Abercromby should descend. The House of Commons, farther, sensible of the great merits of this distinguished British commander, voted a monument to his memory, at the public expense, whtch was subsequently erected in St Paul's cathedral. ABERNETHY, John, an eminent writer on physiology. The birth and parentage of this gentleman were so obscure, that it is impossible to say with certainty whether he was a native of Ireland or of Scotland. It is even affirmed that he was himself ignorant of the country of his birth. Upon the supposition that he was born in Scotland, his name is introduced in the present work. The date of his birth is given loosely as 17G.3-64. 11 is parents having brought him in his infancy to London, he commenced his education at a day-school in LothI)ury, where he acquired the elements of classical literature. Having afterwards been bound apprentice to Mr Charles Blick, surgeon to St Bartholomew's Hospital, he had the advantage of attending that noble institution, where he eagerly seized every opportunity of making himself practically acquainted with his profession. He also had the advantage of attending the lectures of Mr John Hunter, at the time when that gentleman was commencing the development of those great discoveries which have made his name so famous. The curiosity which those discoveries excited in the public at large, was felt in an uncommon degree by Mr Abernethy, whose assiduity and ardour as a pupil attracted the notice of the lecturer, and rendered the latter his friend for life. While as yet a very young practitioner, his reputation procured for Mr Abernethy the situation of assistant-surgeon at St Bartholomew's, and he soon after commenced a course of lectures in the hospital, which, though not very successful at first, became in time the most frequented of any in London, so as to lay the foundation of a medical school of the highest reputation in connection with this institution. On the death of Sir Charles Blick, his former master, Mr Abernethy, now considered as the best teacher of anatomy, physiology, and eurgery in the metropolis, was elected surgeon to the hospital. The first publications of Mr Abernethy were a few Physiological Essays, and one on Liimbar Abscess, which, with some additions, formed his first volume, published 1793-97, in Bvo, under the title of "Surgical and Physiological ' The following panegyric upon Sir Ealph in another character, was written before his death: — "As a country gentleman, ever attentive to all within the circle of his movement, he stands high in the estimation of his neighbours and dependents; and when his military glory shall have fallen into oblivion, it will be gratefully remembered that he was the friend of the destitute poor, the patron of useful knowledge, and the promoter of education among the meanest of his cottagers: as an instance it may be mentioned, that in the village of Tullibody, on his paternal estate, a reading school, under his immediate inspection, was established many years back." — CampbelVs Journey through Scotland, 4to, 1802, vol. ii. 14 JOHN ABERNETHY. Essaj's." These were characterized by the same strong sense, and i)lain and forcible illustration, wliich marked everything that flowed from liis tongue anil pen till the end of his life. lu 1004 ap])earcd another volume, entitled, "Sur- gical Observations, containing a classification of tumours, with cases to illustrate the history of each species ; an account of Diseases," &c. ; and, in 1806, "Sur- gical Observations, Part Second, containing an account of Disorders of the Health in general, and of the digestive organs in particular, which accompany local diseases, and obstruct their cure." The fame of these treatises soon spread, not only throughout England, but over the continent of Europe ; and the French surgeons, especially, did homage to the masterly spirit they evinced. Bold and successful operations, practical and lucid descriptions, original and comprehensive views, all combined to enhance the great reputation of the author, and to elevate the character of the national school of which he was so bright an ornament. In 1814, Mr Abernethy received what might be considered as the highest honour which his profession had to bestow, in being appointed anatomical lec- turer to the Royal College of Surgeons. An anecdote illustrative of his sound integrity is told in reference to this era of his life. A fellow of the college having remarked to him, that now they should have something new, Mr Aber- nethy seriously asked him what he meant. " Why," said the other, " of course you will brush up the lectures which you have been so long delivering at St Bartholomew's Hospital, and let us have them in an improved form." "Do you take me for a fool or a knave 1" rejoined Mr Abernethy, "I have always given the students at the Hospital that to which they are entitled — the best produce of my mind. If I could have made my lectures to them better, I would instantly have made them so. I will give the College of Surgeons precisely the same lectures, down to the smallest details." In the year of this honourable appointment, he published, " An Inquiry into the Probability and Rationality of Mr Hunter's Theory of Life ; being the subject of the two first lectures delivered before the Royal College of Surgeons of London." The aim of these lectures was to elucidate the doctrine previously laid down by Mr Hunter, that " life, in general, is some principle of activity added by the will of Omnipotence to organized structure, an immaterial soul being superadded, in man, to the structure and vitality which he possesses in common with other animals." Of this work, it is generally allowed that the intentions are better than the philosophy. Previously to this period, Mr Abernethy had published other treatises besides those already named. One of the most remarkable was, " Surgical Observa-- tions on the Constitutional Origin and Treatment of Local Diseases, and on Aneurism," Bvo, 1809. His memorable cases of tying the iliac artery for aneurism are detailed in this volume ; cases which msiy almost be said to form an era in adventurous surgical experiment. Mr Abernethy also wrote works on " Diseases resembling Syphilis, and on Diseases of the Urethra ;" " On Injuries of the Head, and Miscellaneous Subjects ;" and another volume of Physiological Essays. He was likewise the author of the anatomical and physiological articles in Rees's Cyclopedia, previous to the article " Canal." Among his various accomplishments, must be ranked a considerable acquaintance with chemistry ; and one of his numerous honours is the having, in company with Mr Howard, discovered fulminating mercur3\ Besides his business as a lecturer, Mr Abernethy enjoyed a vast and lucrative JOHN ABERNETHY. 15 practice as a surgeon. His manner in both capacities was marked by many eccentricities, but particularly in the latter. He could not endure the tedious nnd confused narratives which patients are apt to lay before a consulting surgeon, and, in checking these, was not apt to regard much the rules of good-breeding. Considerable risks were thus encountered for the sake of his advice ; but this was generally so excellent, that those who required it were seldom afraid to hazard the slight offence to their feelings with which it was liable to be accom- panied. Many anecdotes of Mr Abernethy's rencounters with his patients are jireserved in the profession. The two following are given in Sir James Eyre's recent work, " The Stomach and its Difficulties :" — " A very talkative lady, who had wearied the temper of Mr Abernethy, which was at all times impatient of gabble, was told by him, the first moment that he could get a chance of speaking, to be good enough to put out her tongue. ' Now, pray, madam,' said lie, playfully, ^keep it out.' The hint was taken. He rarely met with his match, but on one occasion he fairly owned that he had. He was sent for to an innkeeper, who had had a quarrel with his wife, and who had scored his face with her nails, so that the poor man was bleeding, and much disfigured. iMr Abernethy considered tliis an opportunity not to be lost for admonishing tlie offender, and said, 'Madam, are you not ashamed of j'ourself to treat your Imsband thus; the husband, who is the head of all, your head, madam, in fact?' ' Well, doctor,' fiercely retorted the virago, ' and may I not scratch my own head?' Upon this her friendly adviser, after giving directions for the benefit of the patient, turned upon his heel, and confessed himself beaten for once." But abruptness and rudeness were not his only eccentricities. He carried prac- tical benevolence to a pitch as far from the common line as any of his other peculiarities. Where poverty and disease prevented patients from waiting upon liim in his own house, he was frequently known, not only to visit them con- stantly, and at inconvenient distances, without fee or reward, but generously to supply them from his own purse with what their wants required. Perhaps tile most striking, out of the numerous anecdotes which have been related of him, in illustration of his eccentricities, is one descriptive of his courtship, or rather of his no-courtship. " While attending a lady for several weeks, he observed those admirable qualifications in her daughter, which he truly esteemed to be calculated to make the marriage state happy. Accordingly, on a Saturday, when taking leave of his patient, he addressed her to the following purport : — * You are now so well that I need not see you after Monday next, when I shall come and pay you my farewell visit. But, in the meantime, I wish you and your daughter seriously to consider the proposal I am now about to make. It is abrupt and unceremonious, I am aware ; but the excessive occupation of my time, by my professional duties, affords me no leisure to accomplish what I desire by the more ordinary course of attention and solicitation. My annual receipts amount to £ , and I can settle £ on my wife ; my character is generally known to the public, so that you may readily ascertain what it is. I have seen in your daughter a tender and affectionate child, an assiduous and careful nurse, and a gentle and ladylike member of a family ; such a person must be all that a husband could covet, and I offer my hand and fortune for her acceptance. On Monday, when I call, I shall expect your determination ; for I really have not time for the routine of courtship.' In this humour the lady was wooed and won, and the union proved fortunate in every respect. A hap- pier couple never existed." 16 ALEXANDER ADAM. After a life of pre:»t activity, and wliicli proved of iniich iinniodiate and romote service to mankind, the suliject of this memoir exjiired, at lOiifield, on the 20th of April, 1831. ADAM, Alexandlu, an eminent f;;rammarian and writer on Roman antiqui- ties, was born at Coats of Burj^^ie, in the parish of RafFord, and county of Moray, about the month of June, 1741. His father, John Adam, rented one of those small farms which were formerly so common in the north of Scotland. In his earlier years, like many children of his own class, and even of a class higher removed above poverty, he occasionally tended his father's cattle. Being des- tined by his parents, poor as they were, for a learned profession, he was kept at the parish school till he was thought fit to come forward as a bursar, at the university of Aberdeen. He made this attempt, but failed, and was requested by the judges to go back and study for another year at school. This incident only stimulated him to fresh exertions. He was prevented, however, from renewing his attempt at Aberdeen, by the representations of the Rev. Mr Wat- son, a minister at Edinburgh, and a relation of his mother, who induced him to try his fortune in the metropolis, lie removed thither early in the j-ear 1758; but, it appears, without any assured means of supporting himself during the progress of his studies. For a considerable time, while attending the classes at the college, the only means of subsistence he enjoj-ed, consisted of the small sum of one guinea per quarter, which he derived from Mr Alan JIacconochie, (after- wards Lord Meadowbank), for assisting him in the capacity of a tutor. The details of his system of life at this period, as given by his biographer Mr Hen- derson, are painfully interesting. " He lodged in a small room at Restalrig, iu the north-eastern suburbs ; and for this accommodation he paid fourpence a- week. All his meals, except dinner, uniformly consisted of oat-meal made into porridge, together with small beer, of which he only allowed himself half a bottle at a time. When he wished to dine, he purchased a penny loaf at the nearest baker's shop ; and, if the day was fair, he would despatch his meal in a walk to the Meadows or Hope Park, which is adjoining to the southern part of the city; but if the weather was foul, he had recourse to some long and lonely stair, which he would climb, eating his dinner at every step. By this means all expense for cookery was avoided, and he wasted neither coal nor candles ; for, when he was chill, he used to run till his blood began to glow^, and his evening studies were always prosecuted under the roof of some one or other of his companions." There are many instances, we believe, among Scottish students, of the most rigid self-denial, crowned at length by splendid success ; but there is certainly no case known in which the self-denial was so chastened, and the triumph so grand, as that of Dr Adam. In 17G1, when he was exactly twenty, he stood a trial for tlie situation of head teacher in George Watson's Hospital, Edinburgh, and was successful. In this place he is said to have continued about three years ; during which, he was anxiously engaged in cultivating an intimacy with the classics — reading, with great care, and in a critical manner, the works of Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, Cicero, and Livy. His views were now directed towards the church, and he was on the eve of being licensed as a preacher of the gospel, when suddenly a prospect opened before him of becoming assistant, with the hope of being eventually the successor, of Mr Matheson, rector of the High School. This appointment he obtained, and in 1771 the increased infirmities of Mr Matheson threw the whole of this charge into the hands of Mr Adam. ALEXANDER ADAM. 17 The time when he assumed this respectable office was very fortunate. Every department of knowledge in Scotland was at this period adorned by higher names than had ever before graced it ; and hence the office of Master in the principal elementary school of the country presented to a man of superior qualifications a fair opportunity of distinguishing himself. This opportunity was not lost upon Mr Adam. He devoted himself with singular assiduity to liis duties ; and, under his auspices, the school gradually increased in numbers and reputa- tion. Soon after his appointment, he began to compose a series of works to facilitate the study of the Latin language. His Rudiments of Latin and English Grammar were published in 1772, and, though composed in a style which appeared to the generality of teachers as a dreadful schism and heresy, met with the approbation of a discerning few, whose praise was sufficient to overbalance the censure of the multitude. His offence consisted in the novel attempt to teacli the grammatical rules of Latin in English prose, instead of Latin prose or verse, which latter had been the time-honoured fashion of the schools both of England and Scotland, since the days of the Reformation. The daring innovator was assailed with a storm of abuse by numerous individuals, more especially by those of his own profession. Among those who took an active part in condemning hia work, Dr Gilbert Stuart was very conspicuous. This extraordinary litterateur was a relation of Ruddiman; and, as an additional incentive to his hostility, conceived that Adam had gained the rectorship of the High School more by interest than by merit. He accordingly filled the periodical works of the day with ridicule and abuse directed against the unfortunate grammar. Amongst other pasquinades, appeared an account, in Latin, of a Roman funeral, in which that work was personified as the dead body, while the chief mourner was meant to represent Mr Adam, sorrowing for the untimely fate of his best-beloved child. The other persons officiating are introduced under the technical tei-ms in use among the ancient Romans ; and, to heighten the ridicule, and give it aid from local circumstances, the ingenious satirist placed in front of the mourners, a poor lunatic of the name of Duff, well known in Edinburgh at the time for his punctual attendance at the head of all funeral processions. While his work was still the subject of I ensure, the ingenious author was partly compensated for all his sufferings by udegree of LL.D., which was conferred upon him by the College of Edinburgh, in 1780. Some j-ears after, the grammar began gradually to make its way in schools, and finally he had the satisfaction of seeing it adopted in his own seminary. Among the great names which at an early period had sanctioned it with their approbation, are those of Lord Kames, Bishop Lowth, and Dr Vin- cent, Master of St Paul's school. The next work of Dr Adam is entitled, A Summary of Geography and His- toi-y, but the date of the first edition is not mentioned by his biographer. In 1791, he published his excellent compendium of Roman Antiquities, and in 1800 his Classical Biography ; for the copyright of the former he received £600, and for that of the latter £300. Dr Adam's last, and perhaps his most laborious work, was his Latin Dictionary, published in 1805. Towards the beginning, his illustrations are brief, but, as he proceeds, they gradually become more copious. It was his intention to add an English-and-Latin part, and to enlarge the other to a considerable extent. In this favourite plan he had made some progress at the time of his death. On the 13th of December, 1809, Dr Adam was seized in the High School with an alarming indisposition, wliicli liad all the appearance of apojdexy. Having bi?en conducted home, he was put to bed, and enjoyed a sound sleep, which appeared to have arrested the progress of the disease, for he was afterwards able to walk about his room. The apoplectic symptoms, however, returned in a few days, ami he fell into a state of stupor. His last words marked the gradual darkening of tlie ray of life and intellect beneatli tliis mortal disorder. He said, " It grows dark, boys — you may go — " his mind evidently wandering at that moment to the scene where he had spent the better part of his life. This twi- light soon settled down into the night of death : he expired early in the morn- ing of the 18th December, ]809. The death of the amiable and excellent Dr Adam operated, among his numerous friends and admirers, like a shock of elec- tricity. Men of all ages and denominations were loud in lamenting an event which had bereaved them of a common benefactor. The effect of the general feeling was a resolution to honour him with what is a very rare circumstance in Scotland, a public funeral. The life of Dr Adam proves, had any proof been wanting, the possibility o\ rising to distinction in this country from any grade of life, and through what- soever intervening difficulties. In 1758 and 1759 he was a student living at the inconceivably humble rate of four guineas a-year ; in ten years thereafter, he had qualified himself for, and attained, a situation which, in Scotland, is an object of ambition to men of considerable literary rank. The principal features of his character were, unshaken independence and integrity, ardour in the cause of public liberty, the utmost purity of manners and singleness of heart, and a most indefatigable power of application to the severest studies. " His external appear- ance was that of a scholar who dressed neatly for his own sake, but who had never incommoded himself with fashion in the cut of his coat, or in the regula- tion of his gait. Upon the street he often appeared in a studious attitude, and in winter always walked with his hands crossed, and thrust into his sleeves. His features were regular and manly, and he was above the middle size. In his well-formed proportions, and in his firm regular pace, there appeared the marks of habitual temperance. He must have been generally attractive in his early days, and, in his old age, his manners and conversation enhanced the value and interest of every qualification. When he addressed his scholars, when he com- mended excellence, or when he was seated at his own fireside with a friend on whom he could rely, it was delightful to be near him ; and no man could leave his company without declaring that he loved Dr Adam." ADAM, Robert, an eminent architect, was born at Edinburgh in the year 1728. His father, William Adam, of Maryburgh, in the county of Fife, also distinguished himself as an architect ; Hopetoun House, and the Royal Infir- mary at Edinburgh, are specimens of his abilities. Robert, tlie second son, inherited his father's taste, and lived in a time more favourable to its develop- ment. He was educated in the university of Edinburgh, where he enjoyed the kind attentions of Robertson, Smith, and Ferguson; all of whom were his father's friends. As he advanced in life, he was on friendly and intimate terms with Archibald Duke of Argyle, Sir Charles Townshend, and the Earl of Mansfield. About the year 1754, with a view to improve his knowledge of architecture, he travelled on the continent, and resided three years in Italy, where he surveyed the magnificent specimens of Roman architecture : the buildings of the ancients, in his opinion, being the proper school of the architectural student. But while he beheld with much pleasure the remains of the public buildings of the Romans, ROBERT ADAM. 19 lie regretted to perceive that hardly a vestige of their private houses or villas was anywhere to be found. In tracing the progress of Roman architecture, he had remarked that it had declined previous to the age of Dioclesian ; but he was also convinced that the liberality and munificence of that emperor had revived, durin» his reign, a better taste, and had formed artists who were capable of imi- tating the more elegant styles of the preceding ages. He had seen this remark- ably exemplified in the public baths at Rome, which were erected by Dioclesian. The interest which he felt in this particular branch of Roman remains, and his anxiety to behold a good specimen of the private buildings of this wonderful ]i€ople, induced him to undertake a voyage to Spalatro in Dalmatia, to visit and examine the palace of Dioclesian, where, after his resignation of the empire, in SOS, that emperor spent the last nine years of his life. He sailed from Venice in 1754, accompanied by two experienced draughtsmen, and M. Clerisseau, a French antiquary and artist. On their arrival at Spalatro, they found that the ])alace had not suffered less from dilapidations by the inhabitants, to procure materials for building, than from the injuries of time; and that, in many places, the very foundations of the ancient structures were covered with modern houses. When they began their labours, the vigilant jealousy of the government was alarmed, and they were soon interrupted ; for suspecting their object was to view and make plans of the fortifications, the governor issued a peremptory order, commanding them to desist. It was only through the influence and mediation of General Graeme, the commander-in-chief of the Venetian forces (probably a Scotsman', that they were at length permitted to resume their labours; and in five weeks they finished plans and views of the remaining frag- ments, from which they afterwards executed perfect designs of the whole build- ing. Mr Adam soon after returned to England, and speedily rose to professional eminence. In 17G2, he was appointed architect to their majesties, and in the year following he published, in one volume large folio, " Ruins of the Palace of the emperor Dioclesian at Spalatro, in Dalmatia." This splendid work con- tains seventy-one plates, besides letter-press descriptions. He had at this time been elected a member of the Royal and Antiquarian Societies, and in l7Gii he was elected to represent Kinross-shire in Parliament ; which was probably owing to the local influence of his family. A seat in the House of Commons being incompatible with employment under the crown, he now resigned his ofiice as architect to their majesties ; but continued to prosecute his professional career with increasing reputation, being much employed by the English nobility and gentry in constructing new and embellishing ancient mansions. In the year 1773, in conjunction with his brother, James Adam, who also rose to considerable reputation as an architect, he commenced " The Works in Archi- tecture of R. and J. Adam," which before 1776 had reached a fourth number, and was a work of equal splendour with the one above referred to. The four numbers contain, among other productions, Sion House, Caen Wood, Luton Park House, the Gateway of the Admiralty, and the General Register House at Edinburgh ; all of which have been admired for elegant design and correct taste ; though the present age, in its rage for a severe simplicity, might desire the absence of certain minute ornaments, with which the Adams were accustomed to fill up vacant spaces. Before this period, the two brothers had reared in London that splendid monument of their taste, the Adelphi ; which, however, was too extensive a speculation to be profitable. They were obliged, in 1774, to obtain an act of parliament to dispose of the houses by way of lottery. The 20 HENRY ADAM SON. chief Scottish designs of Adam, besides the Register Office, were the new addi- tions to the University of Edinburgh, and the Infirmary of Glasgow. " We liave also seen and admired," says a I)iogra[)her, "elegant designs executed by ]\Ir Adam, which were intended for the South Bridge and South Bridge Street of Edinburgh ; and which, if they had lieen adopted, would have added much to the decoration of that part of the town. But they were considered unsuit- able to the taste or economy of the times, and were therefore rejected. Strange incongruities," continues the same writer, " appear in some buildings which have been erected from designs by Mr Adam. But of these it must be observed, that they have been altered or mutilated in execution, according to the conve- nience or taste of the owner ; and it is well known that a slight deviation changes the character and mars the effect of the general design. A lady of rank was furnished by Mr Adam with the design of a house ; but on examining the build- ing after it was erected, he was astonished to find it out of all proportion. On inquiring the cause, he was informed that the pediment he had designed was too small to admit a piece of new sculpture which represented the arms of the family, and, b}'^ the date which it bore, incontestably pi-oved its antiquity. It was therefore absolutely necessary to enlarge the dimensions of the pediment to receive this ancient badge of family honour, and sacrifice the beauty and pi-oportion of the whole building. We have seen a large public building which was also designed by Mr Adam ; but when it was erected, the length was cur- tailed of the space of two windows, while the other parts remained according to the original plan. It now appears a heavy unsightly pile, instead of exhibiting that elegance of proportion and correctness of style which the faithful execu- tion of Mr Adam's design would have probably given it. To the last period of his life, Mr Adam displayed the same vigour of genius and refinement of taste ; for in the space of one year immediately preceding his death, he designed eight great public works, besides twenty-five private buildings, so various in style, and beautiful in composition, that they have been allowed by the best judges to be sufficient of themselves to establish his fame as an unrivalled artist." Mr Adam died on the 3d of March, 1792, b^-- the bursting of a blood-vessel, in the sixty-fourth year of his age, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. It reniains only to be said that, while his works commanded the admiration of the public, his natural suavity of manners, joined to his excellent moral character, had made a deep impression upon the circle of his own private friends. His brother 0 ames, who has been referred to as associated with him in many of his works, died October 20, 1794. ADAMSON, Henry, a poet of the seventeenth century, and probably a rela- tive of the subject of the following article, was the son of James Adamson, who was dean of guild in Perth, anno 1600, when the Gowrie conspiracy took place in that city. The poet was educated for the pulpit, and appears to have made considerable progress in classical studies, as he wrote Latin poetry above medio- crity. He enjoj^ed the friendship and esteem of a large circle of the eminent men of that age, particularly Drummond of Hawthornden, who induced him, m 1638, to publish a poem entitled, " Mirthful Musings for the death of Mr Gall ;" being in fact a versified history of his native town, full of quaint alle- gorical allusions suitable to the taste of that age. A new edition of this curious poem, which had become exceedingly rare, was published in 1774, with illus- trative notes by Mr James Cant. The ingenious author died in 1639, the year after the publication of his poem. PATRICK ADAMSON. 21 ADAMSON, Patrick, Arc]i1)ishop of St Andrews. This prelate, whose name occupies so remarkable a place in the history of the Scottish Reformation, was born of humble parents, in the town of Perth, in the year 1543. Such is the date assigned ; but we think it may be safely carried two or three years farther back, as we find his name in the roll of the first General Assembly held by the reformed church of Scotland, in 1560, as one of those persons belonging to St Andrews who were fit for ministering and teaching ; while, only two years after, we find him minister of Ceres, in Fifeshire, with a commission to plant churches from Dee to Etiiam. Great as were the emergencies of the infant kirk at this time from the want of ministers, it is scarcely to be thought that it would have appointed to such important charges a youth who had not yet attained the age of twenty. Previous to this period he had studied at the university of St Andrews, where it is likely he was distinguished by those talents and literary acquirements that subsequently brought him into such notice, and, after having gone through the usual course, he graduated as Master of Arts. His name at this period was Patrick Consteane, or Constance, or Constantine, for in all these forms it is written indifferently ; but how it afterwards passed into Adamson we have no means of ascertaining. At the close of his career at college, he opened a school in Fife, and soon obtained the notice and patronage of .Tames M'Gill of Rankeillor, one of the judges of the Court of Session, who possessed considerable political influence. He had not long been minis- ter of Ceres, when we find him impatient to quit his charge ; and accord- ingly, in 1564, he applied to the General Assembly for leave "to pass to other countries for a time, to acquire increase of knowledge," but was inhibited to leave his charge without the Assembly's license. That license, however, he seems at length to have obtained, and probably, also, before the meeting of the Assembly in the following year, when they published such stringent decisions against those ministers who abandon their spiritual charges. Patrick Con- stance, or, as we shall henceforth call him, Adamson, now ajipointed tutor of the son of M'Gill of Rankeillor, passed over with his young charge, who was destined for the study of the civil law, to Paris, at that time the chief school of the distinguished jurisconsults of Europe. Adamson had not been long in Paris when such adventures befel liim as might well make him sigh for the lowly obscurity of Ceres. In the course of events that had occurred in Scotland, during his absence, were the marriage of Queen Mary and Henry Darnley, and the birth of their infant, afterwards James VI. ; and Adamson, who at this time was more of a courtier than a politician, and more of a poet than either, immediately composed a triumphant "carmen" on the event, entitled, Serenissimi et nohilissimi Scotice, Anglice, Francice, et Hibernice Principis, Henrici Stuarti Illustrissimi Herois, ac Marice Reginw amplissimce Filii, Genethliacum. The very title was a startling one, both to France and England, the great political questions of which countries it at once prejudged, by giving them the Scottish queen for their lawful, indisputable sovereign. Had this poem, which was published a few days after the event, I)een produced in England, its author would scarcely have escaped an awkward examination before the Star Chamber ; but as it was, he was within the reach of Catherine de Medicis, to the full as jealous of her authority as Elizabeth herself, and far more merciless in exercising it. Adamson was therefore re- warded for his Latin poetry by a six months' imprisonment, which perhaps would have been succeeded by a worse infliction, had it not been for the media- 22 PATiaCK ADAMSON. tion of Mary herself, hackefl bj-- that of some of her chief nobles. It did not at that time suit the policy of France to break with Scotland, and the poet waa set at liberty. Having thus had a sufficient sojourn in Paris, Adanison repaired with his pupil to Bourges, where both entered themselves as students of law, a science which the Scottish ministers of the day frequently added to that ol theology. Even here, however, he was not long allowed to remain in safety. The massacre of St. Bartholomew — that foul national blot of France, and anomaly of modern history — burst out with the suddenness of a tornado acrosb a tranquil sky ; and, amidst the ruin that followed, no Protestant, over the whole extent of France, could be assured of his life for a single hour. Adamson had his full share of the danger, and narrowly escaped its worst, by finding shelter in a lowly hostelry ; the master of which was afterwards flung from the top of his own house, and killed on the pavement below, for having given shelter to heretics. While immured in this dreary- confinement, that continued for seven months, and which he fitly termed his sepulchre, Adamson appears to have consoled himself with Latin poetry upon themes suited to his gondi- tion ; one attempt of this nature being the tragedy of Herod, and the other a version of the book of Job. We may notice here, that he had not been lost sight of during this protracted residence in France, by his brethren, or the church at home ; and that, in the year previous to the massacre, the General Assembly had once and again desired him to return, and resume his ministry. But to this earnest request he, in the first instance, craved leisure for careful deliberation, and after, sent a full answer, evidently in the negative, as he did not see fit to comply. But the perils in which he was afterwards involved, and the long confinement he endured, had probably brought him to a more submis- sive, or at least a safer mode of thinking ; for, as soon as he was able to emerge, one of the first uses which he made of his liberty was to make preparations for returning home, and resuming those ministerial labours which he had good cause to regret he ever had abandoned. On the return of Patrick Adamson to Scotland, he seems to have been favour- ably received by his brethren, notwithstanding his previous recusancy. His reception, indeed, could scarcely have been otherwise than cordial, as he had so lately been all but a martyr for Protestantism in the midst of a terrible perse- cution. His return was at a critical period; for the archbishopric of St Andrews was at that time vacant, and, notwithstanding the Presbyterian doc- trine of parity, which had been laid down as a fundamental principle of the Scottish church, the chief prelatic offices were still continued, through the overbearing influence of those nobles who now directed the government of the country. But it was from no love of Episcopacy in the abstract that these magnates continued such charges, obnoxious though they were to the church and the people at large, but that they might derive from them a profitable revenue, as lay proprietors of the livings. In this way the Earl of Morton had acquired a claim to the revenues of the archbishopric of St Andrews, and oiily needed some ecclesiastic who could wear the title, and discharge its duties, for a small per-centage of the benefice. It was a degrading position for a church- man, and yet there were too many who were willing to occupy it, either from a vain-glorious love of the empty name, or an ambitious hope of converting it into a substantial reality. Among these aspirants for the primacy of Scotland, Patrick Adamson was suspected to be one ; and it was thought that he expected to succeed through the influence of his patron, M'Gill of Rankeillor. These PATRICK ADAMSON. 23 surmises, liis subsequent conduct but too well justified. But Morton had already made his election in favour of John Douglas, who was inducted into the office, notwithstanding the earnest remonstrances of John Knox. The con- duct of Adamson on this occasion was long after remembered when he would have wished it to be forsrot. The week after the induction, and when the greatest concourse of people was expected, he ascended the pulpit and delivered a vehement and sarcastic sermon against the Episcopal office as then exercised in Scotland. " There are three sorts of bishops," he said ; " My lord Bishop, ray lord's Bishop, and the Lord's Bishop. My lord Bishop was in the papistry ; my lord's Bishop is now, when my lord gets the benefice, and the bishop serves for nothing but to make his title sure ; and the Lord's Bishop is the true minister of the gospel." He saw that, for the present at least, he could not be primate of St Andrews, and therefore he turned his attention to the more humble offices of the church. And there, indeed, whatever could satisfy the wishes of a simple presbyter was within his reach ; for he was not only in general esteem among his brethren, but highly and justly valued for his scholarship, in conse- quence of his catechism of Calvin in Latin heroic verse, which he had written in France, and was about to publish in Scotland with the approbation of the General Assembly. He now announced his willingness to resume the duties of the ministry ; but his intimation was coupled with a request that had some- what of a secular and selfish appearance. It was, that a pension which had been granted to him by the late regent out of the teinds of the parsonage of Glasgow, should be secured to him ; and that the procurators of the Assembly should be commissioned to aid him to that effect. His request was granted, and he once more became a minister. The town of Paisley was his sphere of duty, according to the appointment of the Assembly. In addition to this, he was subsequently appointed commissioner of Galloway, an office which resembled that of a bishop as to its duties, but divested of all its pre-eminence and emolu- ment. Some of the best men of the kirk had undertaken this thankless office with alacrity, and discharged its duties with diligence ; but such was not the case with Patrick Adamson ; and when his remissness as a commissioner was complained of to the General Assembly, he acknowledged the justice of the accusation, but pleaded in excuse, that no stipend was attached to the office. Of the labours of Adamson while minister of Paisley, no record has been pre- served. His time there, however, was brief, as a new sphere was opened to his ambition. The great subject of anxiety at this period in the church, was the construction of the Book of Policy, otherwise called the Second Book of Disci- pline, and procuring its ratification by the government ; but the chief obstacle in the way was the Earl of Morton, now regent, whose principal aim, besides enriching himself with the ecclesiastical revenues, was to bring the two churches of England and Scotland into as close a conformity as possible, in order to facili- tate the future union of the two kingdoms under the reign of his young master, James VI. Here it is that we find Adamson busy. He became an active negotiator for the Book of Policy, and while he managed to secure the confi- dence of the leading men in the church, he ingratiated himself into the favour of the regent ; so that when the latter chose him for his chaplain, the brethren seem to have hoped that the accomplishment of their purpose would be facilitated by having such an advocate at court. But never were ecclesiastics more thoroughly disappointed in their hopes from such a quarter. The archbishopric of St Andrews had again become vacant, and Morton nominated Adamson to the 24 PATRICK ADAMSON. see ; who, on receiving the appointment, began even ah-eady to show that he would hold it independently of the authority of the church, by refusing to submit to the usual trial and examination of the Assembly. In this he persisted, and entered office against the acts and ordinances of the Assembly provided for such occasions. "While chaplain to the regent, he had been wont, while preach- ing, and giving his glosses upon texts of Scripture, to say, " The proplict would mean this " — a phrase so usual with him on such occasions, that his hearers could not help noticing it. At length, when he became primate of Scotland, Captain Montgomery, one of the regent's officers, exclaimed, with dry humour, "I never knew what the prophet meant till now!" AsAdamson's entering into the archbishopric was such an act of contravention to the authority of the church, the Assembly, at one of its meetings in 1577, resolved to institute proceedings against the offender. But even this formidable danger he was able to avert for the time with his wonted craft. He professed the utmost humility, and offered to la}' down his office at the feet of the Assembly, and be ordered at their pleasure, but represented how desirable it would be to postpone all such proceedings until the Book of Policy had been finished, and ratified by the regent. The matter was thus reduced to a mere question of time, and hia suggestion prevailed. The great subject now at issue was the Book of Ecclesiastical Policy, the Magna Charta of the Church of Scotland, upon the passing of which its rights and liberties as a national church were at stake. It was, as might have been expected, completely Presb^'terian in its discipline, and subversive of that epis- copal rule which the court was labouring to establish. Among these enact- ments, it was decreed, that no bishop should be designated by his title, but his own name, as a brother, seeing he belonged to a church that has but one Lord, even Christ — that no bisliops should thenceforth be appointed in it ; and that no minister should accept the office on pain of deprivation. Against such con- clusions it is not wonderful that Adamson demurred. But as himself and the bishop of Aberdeen constituted the entire minority in the Assembly, his oppo- sition went no farther than to procrastinate any final conclusion. But the Policy was at length concluded, and ready to be pi-esented to the government, and for this, Adamson had reserved his master stroke. The book was to be subscribed by every member individually, but this form the archbishop opposed. " Nay," he said, " we have an honest man, our clerk, to subscribe for all, and it would derogate from his faithfulness and estimation if we should all severally subscribe." The difference appeared so trivial, that the brethren assented to the proposal, although some of them seem to have entertained a lurking sus- picion that all was not right ; so that Mr Andrew Hay, minister of Renfrew, could not help exclaiming, " Well, if any man comes against this, or denies it hereafter, he is not honest." He soon showed at whom his suspicions pointed, by stepping up to Adamson, and saying to him in the presence of three or four by-standers, "There is my hand, Mr Patrick ; if you come against this here- after, consenting now so thoroughly to it, I will call you a knave, were it never so publicly." The other accepted the challenge, and thus the matter ended for the present. The Book of Policy was to be presented to the Lords of Articles for ratification on the part of the government ; and strangely enough, Adamson was commissioned to present it. ]\Iorton and the lords asked him if he had given his assent to these enactments ; to which he answered that he had not, and that he had refused to subscribe to them. Here was a loop-hole of PATRICK ADAMSON. 25 escape for the council : the Archhishop of St. Andrews had vvithhehi his assent, and they could do no less than follow tlie example. The Book was rejected, and the ministers were left to divine the cause of the refusal. But Andrew Hay, on inquiring of several members of council, who told him the particulars, and laid the whole blame of the refusal on Adamson, soon saw that he had a pledge to redeem ; and on the archbishop passing by at that instant, he griped him by the hand, looked him angrily in the face, and exclaimed, in presence of the others, " O knave, knave, I will crown thee the knave of all knaves I" It is enough to add here, that the Book of Policy, after having been delayed three years longer, was in 1581 thoroughly ratified and ordained in every point, and ordered to be registered in the books of the Assembly. As for Adamson, we find him employed during this interval in preaching in St Andrews, lecturing in the college, and attending the meetings of the General Assembly, but with no greater authority than that of the ordinary brethren. But symptoms even already had occurred to show, that the court favour upon which he was willing to build, was but a sandy foundation, for his powerful patron, the earl of Mor- ton, had been brought to the block. He forthwith prepared himself, therefore, to recognize the authority of the kirk in the doctrine of bishops, to which he had hitherto been opposed, and even gave his subscription to the articles of the Book of Policy, which he had hitherto withheld. This was in St Andrews, before the celebrated Andrew Melville, and a party of his friends, who were assembled with him. But all this was insufficient : he must also secure the countenance of the party in power, whatever for the time it might be ; and for this purpose he passed over to Edinburgh, and took his seat in the Convention of Estates. Here, hoAvever, his reception was so little to his liking, that he found he must side wholly with the kirk. He therefore addressed himself to the ministers of Edinburgh, with professions which his subsequent conduct showed to be downright hypocrisy. He told them that he had come over to the court in the spirit of Balaam, on purpose to curse the kirk, and do evil ; but that God had so wrought with him, that his heart was wholly changed, so that he had advocated and voted in the church's behalf — and that henceforth he would show further and further fruits of his conversion and good meaning. This self-abasing comparison of himself to Balaam must have staggered the unfavourable suspicions of the most sceptical ; at all events, it did so with the apostolic John Durie, who rejoiced over the primate's conversion, and wrote a flattering account of it to James Melville. The latter, in consequence, visited Adamson upon his return, and told him the tidings he had received, for wliich he heartily thanked-God, and offered the archbishop the right hand of Christian fellowship. The other, still continuing his penitent grimace, described the change that had passed upon him at great length, which he attributed to the working of the Spirit within him. Perhaps he overacted his part, for Melville only observed in reply, " Well, that Spirit is an upright, holy, and constant Spirit, and will more and more manifest itself in effects ; but it is a fearful thing to lie against him I" It was indeed full time for the Archbishop of St Andrews not onlj' to recover his lost credit with the kirk, but the community at large. He was generally accused of the vices of intemperance and gluttony; he was noted as an unfaith- ful paymaster, so that he stood upon the score of most of the shopkeepers in the town ; and what was still w-orse, he was accused of consorting with witches, and availing himself of their unlawful power ! We of the nineteenth century 1. D 26 PATRICK APAMSON. can laugh at such a ch,irn;c\ and imau;ine it sufficient not only to disprove itself, but weaken all the other charges bionght against him. But in the sixteenth century it was no such laughing matter ; for there were not only silly women in abundance to proclaim themselves witches, but wise men to believe them Even the pulpits of England as well as Scotland resounded with sermons against witchcraft ; and a learned prelate, while preaching before Elizabeth, assured her Majesty, that the many people who were dying daily, in spite of all the aid of leechcraft, were thus brought to their end by spells and incantations.' While this was the prevalent belief, a person having recourse to such agency was wilfully and deliberately seeking help from the devil, and seeking it where he thought it could best be found. Now, Adamson, among his other offences, had fallen into this most odious and criminal predicament. lie was afflicted with a painful disease, which he called a " fcedity ;" and being unable to obtain relief from the regular practitioners, he had recourse to the witches of Fife, and among others, to a notable woman, who pretended to have learned the ai't of healing from a physician who had appeared to her after he was dead and buried ! This wretched creature, on being apprehended and convicted of sorcery, or what she meant to be such, was sentenced to suffer death, as she would have been in any other country of Europe, and was given in charge to the Archbishop for execution. But the woman made her escape, and this, it was supposed she did, through Adamson's connivance. After this statement, it needs scarcely be won- dered at, that foremost in the accusations both from the pulpit and in church courts, the crime of seeking aid from Satan should have been specially urged against him. The man who will presumptuously attempt " to call spirits from the vasty deep," incurs the guilt of sorcery whether they come or not. While such was the evil plight to which the archbishop was reduced, and out of which he was trying to struggle as he best could, the condition of public affairs was scarcely more promising for his interests. In the Assembly held in April, 1582, he had seen Robert Montgomery, Archbishop of Glasgow, who was his constant ally in every Episcopal movement, arraigned at their bar, reduced to the most humbling confessions, and dismissed with the fear of depo- sition hanging over him. In the same year, the Raid of Ruthven had occurred, by which the royal power was coerced, and presbytery established in greater authority than ever. Dismayed by these ominous symptoms, Adamson with- drew from public notice to his castle of St Andrews, where he kept himself " like a tod in his hole," giving out that his painful " fcedity" was the cause of his retirement. But at length the sky began to brighten, and the primate to venture forth after a whole year of concealment. The king emancipated him- self from his nobles of the Raid, and came to St Andrews, upon which the archbishop, flinging off his sickness like a worn- out cloak, resumed his abandoned pulpit with royalty for an auditor, and preached such sermons as were well ' The preacher was no other than the learned Bishop Jewel. " Witches and sorcerers within these last few years," he said, "are marvellously increased within your Grace'* realm. These eyes have seen most evident and manifest marks of their wickedness. Your Grace's subjects pine away even unto the death : their colour fadeth, their flesh rottetl^, their speech is benumbed, their senses are bereft. Wherefore your poor subjects' most humble petition to your Highness is, that the laws touching such malefactors may be put in due execution. For the shoal of them is great, their doing horrible, their malice into- lerable, their examples most miserable : and I pray God they never practise further than Qpon the subject." PATRICK ADAMSON. 27 litted to ingratiate himself into the favour of the young sovereign. They were iurious declamations against the lords of the Raid, against the ministers of the Ivirk by whom they had been countenanced, and against all their proceedings by which the headlong will of James had been reduced within wholesome limits; and thesj, too, were delivered in such fashion, as, we are informed by James Melvill, "that he who often professed from the pulpit before that lie had not the spirit of application, got the gift of application by inspiration of such a spirit as never spoke in the scriptures of God." Among the other effects of the Raid of Ruthven, was the banishment of the king's unworthy favourites, the Earl of Arran, and the Duke of Lennox, the former from tlie royal presence, and the latter from the country ; and Lennox took his exile so much to heart, that he died soon after Vie had arrived in France, while James continued to bewail his loss. Here then was a favourable theme for the archbishop. The chief offence alleged against Lennox was, that though outwardly a Protestant, he had not only lived, but even died a Papist ; and from this stigma it was Adamson's main effort to clear the memory of the departed. He therefore boldly asserted, in his sermon, that Lennox had died a good Protestant, and in proof of this he exhibited in the pulpit a scroll, which he called the Duke's testament. It happened unluckily for the preacher, however, that an honest merchant womHn, who sat near the pulpit, looked narrowly at this important document, and saw with astonishment that it was an account of her own, which she had sent to the archbishop for a debt of some four or five years' standing, but which, like other reckonings of the kind, he had left unpaid ! Adamson s loyalty was soon rewarded, and in a way that best accorded with his wishes. He was to be employed as ambassador or envoy from the king to the court of London. What was the ostensible object of his mission does not appear ; but its real purport was, the suppression of Presbyterianism in Scot- land, and the establishment of such a form of Episcopacy in its stead, as might make the union of the two countries more complete, when James should become king of both. But in such an office the messenger behoved to go wisely and warily to work, as Elizabeth was apt to take fire at every movement that pointed to a succession in her throne. Another serious difficulty interposed in the very threshold of the archbishop's departure. He had already been charged before the presbytery of St Andrews, as corrupt both in life and docti-ine : the trial was removed to the synod, and was finally remitted to the General Assembly, at whose bar he must justify himself, or be deposed for non-appearance ; and he thus felt himself between the horns of a dilemma in which his compearance or absence might be equally fatal. If, however, he could only get the trial delayed until he had accomplished his mission, he might then brave it, or quash it with impunity. He therefore called sickness to his aid, and pretended that he was going to the wells of Spa, in Germany, for the recovery of his health ; and this was nothing more than reasonable, even though he should take London by the way. Forth therefore he went, unhindered and unsuspected ; and, if there is any truth in " The Legend of the Lymraar's Life," a satirical poem, written by Robert Semple, the archbishop's conduct during this embassy was anything but creditable to his employers. His chief aim, indeed, seems to have been to replenish his extenuated purse ; and, provided this was accomplished, he was by no means scrupulous about the means. Even horses, books, and gowns came into his permanent possession under the name of loans. His approach to the palace for his first, and, as it turned out, his last audience, was equally 28 PATRICK ADAMSON. Tinseeiiily, for he advanced to the hallowed walls of the vir^nn Queen with as little iastidiousness, as it" he had heen about to enter the ding-y liabitation li Pater.ion of Bannockburn, was admitted a member of the society of writers to the signet in Kii)!. In this brancli of the legal profession, the study of written antiquities in some measui-e forces itself upon the practitioner; and it appears that Anderson, though a diligent and able man of b'jsiness, became in time too fond of the accessory employment to care much for the principal A circumstance which occurred in 1701, decided his fate by tempting him into the field of antiquarian controversy. The question of the union of the two countries was then very keenly agitated — on the one side with much jealous assertion of the national independency — and on the other, with not only a contempt for the boasts of the Scots, but a revival of the old claims of England for a superiority or paramouncy over their country. A lawyer named Attwood, in 17(J4, pub- lished a pamphlet in wliich all the exploded pretensions of Edward I. were brought prominently into view, and a dii-ect dominion in the crown of England asserted over that of Scotland For this work, ■Mr Anderson, though altogether unknown to 3Ir Att\vood, was cited as an evidence and eye-witness, to vouch some of the most important original chartei-s and gi-ants by the kings of Scotland, which Attwood maintained were in favoiu- of the point he laboured to establish. 3Ir Anderson, in consequence of such an appeal, thought himself bound in duty to his country, to publish what he knew of the matter, and to vindicate some of the best of the Scottish kings, who were accused by Att^vood of a base and vo- luntary smrender of their sovereignty. Ac<;ordingly, in 1705, he published "An Essay, showing that the crown of Scotland is imperial and independent," Edin- burgh, 8vo. which was so acceptable to his country, that, besides a reward, thanks were voted to him by parliament, to be delivered by the lord Chancellor, in pre- sence of her Majesty's high Commissioner and the Estates; at the same time that Attwood's book, like othei-s of the same natux-e, Avas ordered to be bm-nt at the cross of Edinbm-gh by the hands of tlie common hangman. Mr Anderson's pub- lication is now of little value, except for the chartei-s attached to it in the shape of an appendix. This affair was the crisis of Anderson's fate in life. He had, in the coui-se of his researches for the essay, collected a large mass of national papers; the study of charters was just then beginning to be appreciated by antiquaries; the enthu- siam of the nation was favourable, for the moment, to any undertaking whicli would show the ancient respectability of its separate system of government. Un- der all these circmnstances, Anderson found it easy to secure the patronage of the Scottish estates towards a design for engraving and publishing a series of fac- similes of the royal charters, previous to the reign of James I., and of seals, me- dals, and coins, from the earliest to the pi'esent time. In November, 1706, he had a parliamentary grant of three hundred pounds towards this object He then proceeded vigorously with the work, and in 3Iarch, 1707, had not only expend- ed the tlu'ee hundred pounds granted by parliament, but five hundi-ed and ninety pounds besides, which he had drawn from liis own funds. A committee reported the facts; and the estates, while they approved of his conduct, recommended tft the Queen to bestow upon him an additional contribution of one thousand and fifty pounds sterhng. Another parliamentary act of grace — and one of the very JAMES ANDERSON, D.D. 55 last proceedings of the Scottish estates — was to recommend him to the Queen " as a person meriting her gracious favour, in conferring any office or trust upon In'm, as her Majesty in her royal wisdom, shall think fit." Quite intoxicated Avith this success, Anderson now gave up his profession, and, resolving to devote himself entirely to the national service as an antiquai-y, re- moved to London, in order to superintend the progress of his work. Ihe event only added another pi'oof to what is akeady abundantly clear — that scarcely any prospects in the precai'ious fields of literatui-e, ought to tempt a man altogether to resign a professional means of subsistence, llie money voted by the expiring parliament is said to have never been paid; — the British senate perhaps consider- ing itself not the proper heir of the Scottish estates. Apparently in lieu of money, he was favoured, in 1715, with the appointment of post-master general for Scotland ; but of this he Avas deprived in little more than two years. What progress he now made with his gxeat work is not veiy cle^a-ly known. He is found, in 1718, advertising that those who might wish to encoiu-age it " could see specimens at his house, above the post-office in Edinbui-gh." As the expense of engraving must have borne hard upon his diminished resoiu'ces, he would appear to have digressed for some years into an emplojuient of a kindi-ed nature, at- tended with gi-eater facilities of publication. In 1727, he published the two first volumes of liis well kno\vn " Collections relating to the History of 3Iai-y, Queen of Scotland,'''' Edinbui-gh, 4to, which was speedily completed by the addition of two other volumes. Tliis work contains a large mass of valuable original docu- ments connected Avith the 3Iarian controversy; but George Chalmers, who went over the same ground, insinuates that there is too much reason to suspect his ho- nesty as a transcriber. If the prejudices of the two men are fairly balanced against the reputations which they respectively bear as antiquaries, we must ac- knowledge that the charge may not be altogether groundless. Anderson died in 1728 of a stroke of apoplexy, leaving his great work unfin- ished. The plates were sold, in 1729, by auction, at j£530, and it Avas not till 1737 that the Avork appeared, under the title of " Selectus Diplomatum et Nu- mismatum Scotise Thesaui-us," the Avhole being mider the cai-e of the celebrated Thomas Ruddiman, Avho added a most elaborate preface. ANDERSON, James, D.D. author of a large and useful Avork, entitled, " Royal Genealogies," Avas the brother of Adam Anderson, author of the Coimnercial History. He was for many years minister of the Scots presbyterian church in SwalloAV-street, Piccadilly, and Avas Avell knoAvn among the people of that persua- sion in London, by the nick-name of Bishop Anderson. He Avas a learned but imprudent man, and lost a considerable part of his property from too deep dab- bling in the South-Sea scheme. His great work as an author A\as, " Royal Genealogies, or the Genealogical Tables of Emperoi-s, Kings, and Princes, fi-om Adam(!) to these Times," London, folio, 1732. The compilation of this huge Avork, in Avhich he Avas aided by many eminent personages, Avhose families enter- ed into its plan, cost him, according to his OAvn account, the kibotu- of seven years. It is certainly the completest Avork of the kind in existence, though Avith no pretensions to discrimination. The author says very frankly in his preface, that, " He has avoided aU terms and expressions that may give offence to any nation or family, to any person or party ; having nothing to do A\ith the national con- troversies of historians, nor Avith the ecclesiastical and religious debates of theolo- gians, nor AAdth the politics of statesmen, nor A\ith the private jangles of the cri- tics in a AVork of this kind, but only Avith facts and plain truth : so that he has let evei-y nation enjoy its oxn faith; and if any find fault, he hopes they Avill readily excuse huu, not having designed to offend them, and is AAiUing to make satisfaction, if lie liA'es to publish a second edition." Di- Anderson also A\Tote JAMES ANDERSON. "The Conslitiitioiis of the Free Masons," beiiifj the chaplain of that body in Ix)ndon. The dates of this worthy man's Itirtii any tlie farm, whicli accordiiiijly lie be^an to nianaa^e at the early aufe of fiileeii. It may be supposed tliat he could not liave been intnisted with so important a char;re, if lie liad not already manifested symptoms of superior character and intellect; much less, without such qualifica- tions, could he have discharged it, as he is said to have done, with the approba- tion of all who had occasion to observe his operations. In rcadintr some agri- •ndtin-al works, to qualify himself for his duties, he had observed that it would be of advantage to study chemistry, he accordingly attended the lectures given in the university of Edinburgh by Dr Cidlen, who, although surprised that one so young should have formed this resolution, liad soon reason to admire liis pupil's laudable curiosity and good sense, and liberally aflbrded him every encourage- ment in his power. To chemistry he added the study of certain collateral branches of science ; so that, when he entered upon his farm, he w;is not only able to keep up with his more aged and experienced neighbours, but adopted a number of improvements, suggested by sc;ientific knowledge and native good sense, which were speedily found to be of a most profitable nature. Among hia improvements was the introduction of the small two-horse plough, which, since then, has so completely banished the limibering engine formerly drawn by a string of cattle. Nor did the necessary business of his farm preclude aU advance- ment in knowledge. He still prosecuted his studies with great eagerness, and soon contrived to amass an immense stock of information upon almost all sub- jects. His first attempts in literature appeared in the shape of Essays on Planting, in Ruddiman's Weekly Magazine for 1771. In 1777, having previously removed to a large farm in Aberdeenshire, he published these essays in a separate volume. In 1776, appeared his Essay on Chimneys, in which the principle afterwards acted on in the patent Bath stove was fii-st explained. In the same year with his volume on Planting, appeared various pamphlets connected Avith rural economy, till of which were more or less calculated to gi'atify the increasing desire of his countrymen for scientific knowledge upon such familiar subjects. The fame of these works procured him a very extensive acquaintance with pei*sons of emi- nence, who wished to profit by the remai'ks of so able a practical faiTuer ; and in 1780, the University of Aberdeen acknowledged his merit by conferring upon him the degree of LL.D. Anderson had been married in 17G8; and a desire of educating a very nu- merous fiimily, together \vith certain considerations as to the enjoyment of literary society, induced him, in 1783, to remove to Edinburgh, leaving the management of his farm to persons properly qualified. A tract which he had wTitten on the subject of the Fisheries, though not printed, attracted the attention of the go- vernment, and he was requested in 1784 to undertake a tour of the western coast of Scotland, for the purpose of obtaining information on this important subject He readily acquiesced, and performed the l;isk to the high satisfaction of his employers, who, however, never offered him any remuneration. The result o( his labours appeared in 1785, as " An Account of the present state of the He- brides and Western Coasts of Scotland ; being the substance of a report to the Lords of th3 Treasury." I'assing over some minor worlcs of I)r Anderson, we must make honouiable JAMES ANDERSON. 57 mention cf a liter;u7 and scientific miscellany wliii'Ji lie commenced in 1791, under the title of the Bee. 'I'liis \vork was published in weekly numbers at six- pence, and, by its delightful intermixture of useful information with lighter inattei*s of the belles left res, was eminently calculated for the improvement of the young. It was occasionally embellished with portraits, views, and di-aughts oi scientific objects — in, it is true, a very homely style, but still not much inferior to the taste of the age, and certainly fitted to give the work an increased merit in the eyes of its juvenile purchasers. The work ran from the 2-2nd of December, 1790, to the 21st of January, 1794, when it was at length reluctantly abandoned, as the ingenious editor informs us, not on account of any failui-e in its circula- tion, for that was considerable enough to yield a large apparent profit, but be- cause such a large proportion of the subscribers were remiss in their payments as to induce an absolute loss to the conductor. The cessation of such a meritorious little publication was the more to be regi-etted, as Anderson had only been able, towards its close, to bring the assistance of his numerous and distant coiTCSpon- dents into full play. The numbei-s published form eighteen volumes duodecimo, and throughout the whole of that space, mb believe there does not occui- one line which can be considered reprehensible for its moial ert'ect. Among other papei-s in the Bee was a series of Essays on the Political Progress of Britain. Though only wTitten in ^vhat Avould no\v be considered a liberal strain, they appeared in the ejes of the sherifi'as calculated to have an injurious tendency at that inflamed period ; and the leai-ned Doctor was accordingly sum- moned to give up the name of the author. This Andei-son refused, from peculiar notions as to literaiy secrecy ; he desired to be himself considered as the author. After a second and a third application, he still refused; and when the printeis were sent for, and similarly interrogated, he charged them in the face of the magistrates, to preserve his sec'ret. All this ^vas the more singular, as his own principles were known to be eminently loyaL Respect for his talents and character induced the magistrates to let the matter drop. The real author, a worthless person named Callender, being afterwai'ds about to quit his country for America, \vaited upon the authorities, and insinuated that the papers were ^vl•itten by lord Gardenstone, a man to whom he owed many obligations. Immediately on heai'- ing of this infamous conduct, Andei-son came forward, and refuted the charge by avowing Callander himself to be the real authoi-. The whole of this afiair reflects great credit upon the character of Dr Anderson. About the year 1797, this ingenious person removed with his family to Lon- don, Avhere he undertook various works connected with his favourite study of agriculture. For several years he wrote the articles on this subject in the Monthly Review; and frota 1799 to 1802, he conducted a separate miscellany under the title of " Recreations in Agricultui-e," which was only discontinued on account oi some obstructions incident to such a mode of publication. From the last men- tioned date, he devoted himself almost entirely to the relaxation which advanced years and severe studies had rendered necessai-y, and particularly to the cultiva- tion of his garden, which became a miniatiu-e of all his past labours. In 1801, he maiTied a second wife, who sui-vived him. He died on the 15th of October, 1808, at the age of sixty-nine. In his younger days, Dr Anderson was remai-kably handsome in his person, subject connected with bis favourite pursuit, on wbicb be bas not tin-own new ligbL Ibit bis knowledge was not con- lined to one science. He exbibited, to give only one instance, very «x)nsiderable powei-s of research, when in 1773, he published, in the lii-st edition of the Kncy- cJopedia IJrilaniiic.i, an article under the bead Monsoon. In this he clearly predicted the residt of c^iptain Cook's fii-st voyage; namely, that there did not exist, nor ever would be found, any continent or large island in the southern hemisi»bere except New Holland alone ; and this was completely verified on captain Cook's return seven months afterwards. Upon the whole, though the name of Dr Anderson is associated with no scientific or literai-y triumphs of great splendour, his exertions, by their eminent and uniform use fidn ess, have given him very considerable claims to respect A nunute specification of bis works is to be found in the Scots Magazine for 1809. ANDERSON, .Iorn, IM.A. an eminent Presbyterian clergyman of last century, grandfather of Professor Anderson, the subject of the next article. Of his early history very little is known, except that be received a university education, and took his degree in arts. He was afterwards preceptor to the gi-eat John Duke of j\rgyle, and he mentions in bis letters upon the Overtures concerning Kirk Sessions and Presbyteries, that he bad resided in Edinburgh for twenty-five years in early life. He seems also to have taught a school, and he is upbraided by " Curat Calder." with having been " an old pedantic dominie, teaching hcBc dat a." It was not, how- ever, till after his settlement as minister of Dumbarton, that he became known as author, llie earliest of his productions that h;is been discovered is entitled, "A Dialogue between a Curat and a Countreyman concerning the English Senice, or Conuuon-Pi-ayer Book of England," which was printed in quarto at Glasgow, about 1710. The question relative to the fomi of prayer used in Scotland, im- mediately after the Refonnation, was at this time keenly canvassed by the Scottish Episcopalians and Presbyterians, and the clergy of the former pei*suasion bad very shortly before introduced the liturgy into their church service. (Carstares' State Papei-s.) IMi', afterwards Bishop, Sage endeavoured in his "Fundamental Charter of Presbytery Exanxined,"to show that the English liturgj' had been used in Scot- land for at least seven years after the establishment of the Protestant religion. In this he was opposed by iMr Anderson, who adduced many arguments to prove that it was not the English litui-gy that is spoken of by the Scottish historians, but that used by the English church at Geneva, Soon afterwards Andei-son pubbshed a "Second Dialogue," (dated 1711) in which, says he, "there is hardly any thing of importance Avhich is not said in the vei-y words of the writers of the other side," and in which South, Beveridge, Hammond, and Buinet ai"e the Curates whose sentiments are opposed. " A Letter from a Countrejniian to a Cui-at," followed the dialogues, and received several answers, of which we shall only mention one, ^mtten by Piobert Calder, an Episcopalian clergyman, the friend of Dr Archibald Pitcairn, and printed in bis " Miscellany Numbers relat- ing to the controversies about the Book of Common Prayer," &c. fobo, 171.3. . To this attack Anderson replied in a pamphlet entitled " Curat Calder Whipt." He soon after published " A Sermon preached in the church of Ayr at the open- ing of the Synod, on Tuesday the first of April, 1712," printed at the desire oi the Synod of Glasgow and Ayr, (quarto, price sixpence,) and in 1714, the work by which he is best knowTi appeared- It bas for its title, " A Defence of the Church Government, Faith, Worship, and Spirit of the Presbyterians, in answer to a book entitled an Apology for 3Ir Thomas Rhind," &c 4to, and is dedicated to Archibald Earl of Islay. About the beginning of the year 1717, Anderson informs us, " the people of Glasgow were pleased to move that 1 should be called to be one of the ministers of that place," (Letter to Stewart of Pai'dovan, p. 1.) JOHN ANDERSON, M.A. 59 but the proceedings relative to this transaction strikingly illustrate the truth of Wodrow's remark in a letter to Dr Cotton Mather.^ " We are biting and de- vouring one another," says the venerable historian, " and like to be consumed one of another. In our neiglibouring city of Glasgow, where since the Revolution, unity and harmony, and consequently vital religion flourished, now heat, and strife, and every evil ^vork abound. The university is split and broken. The magistrates and ministers are at present in no good temis." The same author oives us some adtlitional infonnation relative to Mr Anderson's case in a letter to the Rev. James Hart, one of the ministers of Edinburgh in 1 7 1 8.- " Our Synod last week," says he, "had the Presbyteiy of Glasgow's reference of Mr Anderson's call before them ; the ministers' reasons of dissent and the town's answers were read, and the ministers' answers to them read, viva voce. The advice given at the close of the last Synod when the house ivas thin (to fall fi'om Mr Anderson) \vas disliked by the Synod now when full, and it was agi-eed not to be recorded. The vote came to be stated, — concur ^vith the call, and transmit it to the Presby- tery of Dumbarton, or refer to the Assembly-; and it cari'ied, — concur 63, refer ■il ; whereon the ministers and four or five of the Presbytery appealed to the Assembly, and gave in a complaint verbally against JMr Anderson, which the Synod obliged them to bring in in write, signed, to-moiTOw." Mr Anderson was, however, at length settled in Glasgow in 1720, altliough it appears from M'Ure's History that the North-West Church to which he was appointed Avas not founded till 1721, nor finished for "a year or two thereafter." It would be difficult to explain Anderson's motives in coming to Glasgow, — his colleagues were disgusted at a letter addressed by him to Walter Stewart of Pardovan, which was published in 1717, and contained some severe remarks upon them, and he says, in a strain of bitter irony, " I confess I was under a great temptation of being eager for a settlement in Glasgow, for what minister ^vould not be fond of a lesser stipend and a double charge !"' Nor was he more fortunate in his first appearance in his new parish, for he had, according to M'Ure, a kind of conse- cration sermon, which disgusted " the stricter, or more bigotted sort of the peo- ple." In the same year in wliich he was appointed one of tlie ministers of Glasgow, " Mr Anderson's Letters upon the Overtures concerning Kirk Sessions and Presbji;eries " appeared in 12mo. Of this topic he says, " I must needs con- fess that it is the most melancholy subject I ever wrote upon. There was plea- sure as well as duty in contending ^vith our prelatic advei-saries ; but alas .' In csvil war, to lose or gain 's the same, To gain 's no glory, and to lose a sliame." Tliese letters extend to six, and although now little known, as they refer merely to an ephemeral subject, contain some curious historical information, and not a little satire. Mr Anderson did not long sm-vive his call to Glasgow, — the date of his death has not been ascertained, but his successor was appointed in 1723, His controversial writings are full of valuable historical infonnation, and show him to have been thoroughly versed in theological literatiu-e, but it cannot be too • much regretted that he so far indulged in intemperate language. ^Ve have not alluded to some of his smaller pamphlets, which refer merely to subjects of a temporary or local natui-e. Upon the family tomb-stone, erected by the will of Professor Anderson, over the grave of his grandfather, upon the front of the North-West Church, Glasgow, was inscribed the following memorial of Mr Anderson : — " Near this place ly the remains of the Rev. John Anderson, who was preceptor to the famous John Duke of Ai'gyle and Greenwich, and minister of the gospel in Dumbarton in the J Wodrow's History, new edition, vol. 1. p. xxv. 2 History, vol. 1. p. xxii. 3 Letters on the Overtures. P. 67. go JOHN ANDERSON, F.R.S. beginning of the eighteentli century, anil in tins cluircli in the year 1720. He whb tlie author of '1 ho Defence of tlie ( hurcii-govcrnnitMit, I'ailh, Wm-ship, and Spirit of the Presbyterians,' and ofseveral other ecclesiastical and political tracts. As a pious minister and an eloquent preacher, a defender of civil and reliifious liberty, and a inan of wit and leaniina", he w;is much esteemed ; he lived in the reign of diaries II., James 11., William HI., Anne, and (jieorgc 1. Such times, and such a man, forget not, reader, while thy country, liberty, and religion are dear to thee." AM)l^RSt)N, .loHN, F. K. S. professor of natural philosophy in the university of (ilaso-ow, and founder of the eminently useful institution, bearing his name, in that city, was born in the parish of Uoseneath in Dumbartonshire, in the year 172(i, He was the eldest son of the reverend James Anderson, minister of Roseneath, who was, in his turn, the eldest son of the reverend John Anderson, preceptor to John Duke of. Ai-gyle, afterwards minister of the gospel at Dum- barton, and whose memoir is given in the preceding article. The subject of this memoir, having the misfortune to lose his father in early life, was educated by his aunt Mrs Turner, widow of one of the ministers of the High church of Stirling. While residing at this town, where he received the rudi- ments of learning, he appeared as an oflicer in the biu-gher corps raised in February, 1746, to defend it against the forces of the young Chevalier. His conduct on this occasion was worthy of his distingiushed ancestor, from whose example he appears to have derived that attachment to the j)rinciples of civil and relifious liberty, which marked his character through life. The carabine and other arms which he carried ou the walls of Stirlinj^ are preserved in the niuseunj connected with his institution at Glasgow. lie received the more advanced part of his education at the college of Glasgow, where, in 1756, he was appointed to be professor of oi-iental languages, being then in the thirtieth year of his age. It was not in this sphere that IVIr Andei-son ^vas destined to shine with great- est lustre. His mind had a decided bent towards the exact sciences, and to the illustration of the ails Avith which they are connected. His translation, there- fore, to the chair of natural philosophy, which took place in 17G0, was an even; higlily agreeable to him, and also most fortunate for the world. While he took an early opportunity after this event, to fulfil an important private duty, by re- paying his aunt for the expenses of his education, he entered upon the business of his class with an enthusiastic ardour of application, which we may safely pro- nounce to have been without example in any Scottish university. Not contented with the ordinary duty of delivering a com-se of lectures — though he performed that duly in a manner alone sufficient to obtain distinction — he was indefatig- able in studying and exemplifying the application of science to mechanical practice ; visiting, for this purpose, the workshops of artizans in the town, and receiving, in return for the scientific doctrine which he had to conmiunicate, a full equivalent of experimental knoAvledge. The most estimable characteristic of profes- sor Anderson, was a liberal and diffusive benevolence in regard to the instruction of his race. Under the inspiration of this feeling, which was in that age more rare, and therefore more meritorious than it is at present, he instituted, in ad- ^ dition to his usual class, which was strictly mathematical, one for the working classes, and others whose pui-suits did not enable them to conform to the pre- scribed routine of academical study, illustrating his precepts by experiments, so as to render it in the highest degree attractive. He continued to teach this anti-toga cla.sx, as he called it, twice every week, during the session, to the end of his life ; and it would not be easy to estimate the aggregate of good which he tlius rendered to his fellow-creatuj-es. As an instance of the liberal good sense by which he was governed in his eminently useful scheme, it is related that, a mechanic having complained to his assistant, that he had scarcely time, after leavaig JOHN ANDERSON, F.II.S. 61 his work, to change his di-ess befoi'e coming to the class, and having suggested the propriety of the operatives being allowed to attend without such change, Mr Anderson, being apprized of the wish so expressed, at once acceded to it. His was a mind too strongly bent on mere usefulness, to regard empty form. Vet, as a lecturer, he is allowed to have himself exhibited a surpassing elegance of manner. His style was easy and gTaceful, his command of language unlimit- ed, and the skill and success with which his manifold experiments were perform- ed, could not be surpassed. He excited the interest, and attracted the attention of his pupils, by the numerous and appropriate anecdotes with which he illustrat- ed and enlivened his lectui-es. Enthusiastic in his profession, his whole ambi- tion and happiness consisted in making himself useful to mankind, by the dis- semination of useful knowledge ; and nothing afllbrded him purer pleasure than hearing that any of his pupils had distinguished themselves in the world. The only distinct Avork which he published in connection with his favourite science, •^vas a valuable one, entitled, "Institutes of Physics," which appeared in 1786, and went through five editions during the next ten years. At the commencement of those political changes in France, which ended in such unhappy results, Mr Andei'son, as might have been predicated from his ar- dently liberal and enlightened character, was among those who sympathized most warmly with the proceedings of the emancipated people. Previous to that period, he had prosecuted a taste for the military art, and invented a species of gun, the recoil of which was stopped by the condensation of common air, within the body of the carriage. Having in vain endeavoured to attract the attention of the British government to this invention, he went to Paris, in 1791, carrying with liim a model, which he presented to the national Convention. The govern- ing party in France at once perceived the benefit which would be derived ti'om this invention, and ordered Mr Anderson's model to be hung up in their hall, with the following inscription over it — " The gift of Sciksce to Liberty." Whilst he was in France, he got a six-pounder made from his model, with which he made numerous experiments in the neighbourhood of Paris, at which the famous Paul Jones, amongst others, was present; and who gave his decided approbation of the gun, as likely to prove highly useful in landing troops from boats, or firing from the round tops or poops of ships of war. Mr Anderson, at this period, took a keen interest in the transactions which passed before his eyes. He was present when Louis XVL was brought back from Varennes ; and on the 14th of July, on tlie top of the altar of liberty, and in the presence of half a million of Frenchmen, he sang Te Deum with the bishop of Paris, when the king took the oath to the Constitution, amen being said to the cere- mony by the discharge of five hundred pieces of artillery. As the Emperor of Germany had drawn a military cordon around the frontiers of France, to prevent the introduction of French newspapers into Gei-many, he suggested the expe- dient of making small balloons of paper, varnished with boiled oil, and filled with inflammable air, to which newspapers and manifestoes might be tied. This was accordingly practised, and when the wind was favourable for Gei-many, they were sent off, and descending in that country, were, with their appendages, pick- ed up by the people. They carried a small flag or streamer, of which the fol- lowing is a translation : — O'er hills and dales, and lines of hostile troops, I float majcslic, Bearing the laws of God and Nature to oppressed men, And bidding them with arms tfieir rights maintain." Mr. Anderson died, January 13tb, 1706, in the 70th year of his age, and the ilst year of his professorship, directing, by his will, dated May 7tb, 1795, that the whole 62 ROBERT ANDERSON. M.D. of his effects, of every kind, should be devoted to tlie estHblishmeiit of an educational institution in Glasgow, to be denominated Anderson's Univcrsiln, for the use of the unacadeinical classes; so that, even while he was consigned to the silent dust, be might still, by means of his honourably acquired wealth, prove of service to those whom be had benefited so much, during bis own life, by personal exertion. Ilia will was carried into effect on the 9th of June following, by the magistrates granting a charter of incorporation to the proposed institution. According to the design ol the founder, there were to be four colleges — for arts, medicine, law, and theology — besides an initiatory school. Each college was to consist of nine professors, the senior professor being the president or dean. As the funds, however, were inadequate to the plan, it was at first commenced with only a single course of lectures on natural philosophy and chemistry, by Dr Thomas Garnett, well known for hia luiinerous scientific and medical works, and also for his " Tour through the Highlands and part of the Western Isles of Scotland." This course was attended for the first year by nearly a thousand persons of both sexes. In 1793, a professor of mathe- matics and geography was appointed. The splendid apparatus and library of the founder, which were valued at L.3000, added greatly to the advantages of the infant institution. In 1*799, Dr Garnett, being appointed professor in the Royal Institution at London, was succeeded by the eininent Dr Birbeck, who, in addition to the branches taught by his predecessor, introduced a familiar system of philosophical and mechanical information to five hundred operative mechanics, free of all expense, thus giving rise to Mechanics' Institutions. The Andersonian institution was placed, by the will of the founder, under the inspection and control of the Lord Provost, and many other honourable persons, as ordinary visitors, and under the more immediate superintendence of eighty-one trustees, who are elected by ballot, and remain in oflice for life. Since the first establishment of the University, as it may very pro- perly be called, it has gradually been extended, nearer and nearer to the original design of the founder. There are now [1852] fifteen professors, who deliver lec- tures on surgery, institutes of medicine, chemistry, practical chemistry, midwifery, practice of medicine, anatomy, materia medica, pharmacy, and dietetics, medical jurisprudence and police, mathematics, natural philosophy, botany, logic, geography, modern languages, English literature, drawing, and painting, vells, he was often entertained there, in company with the brother of the proprietor — the celebrated David Hume The convei-sation having turned one day on the successes of Mr Hume as an au- tlior, Anderson said, " I\Ir David, I dare say other people might write books too; but you clever fellows have taken up all the good subjects. \Vhen I look about me, I cannot Jind one unoccupied." Hume, who liked a joke upon an uu- suspecting clergyman, said, " what would you think, Mr Anderson, of a history of Cropsus, king of Lydia ? — that has never yet been written." Mr Anderson was delighted with the idea, and, in short, " upon that hint he wrote.'''' In 1755 was published, " The Histoiy of Croesus, lung of Lydia, in four pai-ts ; contain- ing obsei-vations on the ancient notion of destiny, or dreams, on the origin and credit of the oracles, and the principles upon which their oracles were defended against any attack." What is perhaps the best part of the jest, the work was honoured with the following serio-bui-lesque notice in the Edinburgh Review, then just started by llume, Smith, Carlyle, and other wits — the article being written, we have no doubt, by the very man who incited the unhappy author to his task : — " Crupsus king of Lydia is a prince whom we never expected to have met with, as the hero of a serious histoi-y. Mankind seem at last to feel the neces- sity of conti'acting rather than enlarging that period of history, which ought to be the object of their study and attention. If this sentiment be just, how unfor- tunate and ill-timed is our author's attempt to recall from oblivion the name and adventures of a monarch of such tlistant and dubious fame. He himself seems aware of this objection to his work ; and it is but just to hear what he can plead in his own defence. ' The enthusiastic principles of ages long past, and the artificial devices then used to work upon the passions of men, may appear to some a subject of history not enough interesting in these times. But if the most essential part of knowledge, derived from history^, be that of manldnd, it surely cannot well be learned, \vithout thoroughly considering the various senti- ments and opinions embraced by them in diflerent ages of the world. Our views of human nature must be partial and confined, if they be only directed to some of its late and present appearances. By can-ying our thoughts back into ancient times, v,e may see reason for abating much of the amazement or dislike which is apt to arise in our minds, when we read the religious or political violences marked out in modern history.' " If the reader shall sustain this apology for the subject, (which we by no means require him to do,) we can assure him that he \vill find our author neithei destitute of skill in composition, nor a stranger to propriety and neatness of lan- guage. He has treated his subjects with abundance of erudition, and by his man- ner of relating it, renders an old tale somewhat tolerable. "We cannot, however, imagine our readers to be so much interested in the Lydian monai'ch, as to make it necessaiy for us to enter into any detail of his actions. lYe fipprove of our nutlior's choice of Herodotus rather than Xeno- phon ; * * but at the same time, our author's histoi'y has derived, from He- rodotus, an air and character A\hicli will appear uncouth to a modern reader ; oracles, dreams, prodigies, miraculous interpositions of the gods, and no less miraculous instances of credulity and foUy among men, are the objects perpetu- ally before him. The rage of reading novels, Mhich has spread so wonderfully over Britain, may perhaps have accustomed the public ear to such improbabili- ties. To all true lovers of the marvellous, we therefore recommend our author's hero. His adventures, though related in a better style, are as fai- removed from truth, and very near as much connected with instruction, as most of those which of late years have been so diligently studied by a great part of the nation. " AVe conclude this article with an admonition to the author. In any future performance, we advise him either to venture into the region of pure fiction, or to contine himself within the precincts of real histoi-y. In the former, by his talents for composition, he may become an agreeable writer ; in the latter his industry may render him an instructive one." It happens that the work thus noticed in the second number of the Edinburgh Review, was also the subject of a critique in the second number of the Critical Review, which had then been just started in London by Smollett. The article in the latter work bears such evident marks of the pen of the distinguished editor, and refers to such an extraordinary work, that we shall make no apology for the following extracts. After remarking that the volume has been chiefly compiled from the episodes of Herodotus, that it exhibits a miserable flatness of style, and that .all the facts scattered throughout its two hundred and thirty-five pages might have been related in three or four, the critic proceeds to say — " we are apt to believe that this is the first essay of some young historian, who has been more intent upon forming his style and displaying his learning, than careful in digesting his plan, and combining his jnaterials ; the subject is too meagre to afibrd nourishment to the fancy or understanding ; and one might as well attempt to build a first-rate man of Avar from the Avreck of a fishing-boat, as to compose a regidar history from such a scanty parcel of detached observations. I'he compiler has been aware of this deficiency, and has filled up his blank paper with unnecessary ar- gument, and a legion of eternal truths, by way of illustration. What could be more uiuiecessai-y, for example, than a detail of reasons for doubting the divinity or daemoniacism of the ancient oracles ? who believes, at this time of day, that they were either inspired by the deity, or influenced by the devil? What can be more superfluous than a minute commentary and investigation of the absurdi- ties in the plea of the priestess, when she was taxed with falsehood and equivo- <;ation ? But we beg the author's pardon ; he A\Tote for readers that dwell beyond the Tweed, who have not yet renounced all commerce with those familiar spirits, which are so totally fliscarded from this part of the island. There is still a race of soothsayers in the Highlands, derived, if Ave may believe some curious antiquaries, from the Druids and Bards, that were set apart for the Avor- ship of Apollo. The author of the iiistory now before us, may, for ought Ave knoAV, be one of tliese venerable seers ; though Ave rather take him to be a Presbyterian teachex-, Avho has been used to expound apothegms that need no explanation." The history of Croesus king of Lydia, one of the most ciu'ious productions recognised in the history of literary -mania, is noAv extremely i-ai'e — not by any means from the absorbing appreciation of the public, but rather, apparently, from the vei-y limited extent of its first circulation. The Avorthy author, though perhaps daunted a little by the reception of his first attempt, in time recovered the full tone of his literary ambition ; and he G6 WALTER ANDEKSON, D.D. next alloniptcd a «<»rk of imirli larafor « oiiijkiss, vliicli nppenred in 1769, in two (jiuuto volumes, under tlio title of "'llie Histoi-y of J Vance during the reifrns of Francis II. and ( liarles IX., to which is prefixed a lieview of the (general Uistoi-y of ihc Monarcliy from its oritjin to tliat period." Tlie success «>f this Avork was much like that of its predecessor ; yet in 1776 (he author ])ul>lislied a continuaticin in one roluine, under the title, "The History of Irancx^, from the commencement of the reifjn of Henry III., and tlie rise of the Catholic Leaj-ue, to the pea- you for lliose tah-nts which the worhl prizes, yet they were not tlie foun.lation of my friendship ; tliey were vould have been a great comfort to me, although I should never have seen them : like a sum of money in a bank, from which I should i-eceive at least annual interest, as I do from you, and have done from Lord Bolingbroke.' " The wit, to which S^vift's was only allowed the second place, was accompanied by a guileless heart, and the most perfect simplicity of character. It is related of its possessor, that he used to Amte a humorous account of almost evex-y remarka- ble event which fell under his obseiTation, in a folio book, which lay in his par- lour ; but so careless was he about his writings after he was done with them, that, while he was ^vxiting towards one end of this work, he would pei-mit his childi-en to tear out the leaves from the other, for their paper kites. This carelessness has prevented many of the works of Dr Arbuthnot from being preserved, and no con-ect list has ever been given. A publication in two volumes, 8vo, at Glasgow, in 1751, professing to be his " Miscellaneous Works," was said by his son to con- sist chiefly of the compositions of other people. He was so much in the habit of writing occasional pieces anonymously, that many fugitive articles were erro- neously attributed to him : he was at first supposed to be the author of Robinson Crusoe. He scai'cely ever spoke of his ^vritings, or seemed to take the least in- terest in them. He was also somewhat indolent. Swift said of him, that he seemed at first sight to have no fault, but that he could not walk. In addition to this, he had too much simplicity and worth to profit by the expedients of life : in Swift's words, " He knew his art, but not his trade." Swift also must be considered as insinuating a certain levity of feeling, with all his goodness, when he says, in anticipation of his own death, " Poor Pope will grieve a month, and Gay A week, and Arbuthnot a day!'' though the habitual cheerfulness of his disposition may have been all that the poet iiad in his eye. Tlie only other work ascertained as Arbuthnot's, besides those mentioned, is the celebrated History of John Bidl, a political allegory, which has had many imitations, but no ecjuaL He also attempted poetry, though without any particular effort. A philosophical poem of his composition, entitled, " FNnei 2EATT0N," [Know Yourself] is printed in Dodsley's Miscellanies. He left a son, George, who was an executor in Pope's will, and who died in the enjoyment of a lucrative situation in the Exchequer ofiice towards the end of the last centui-y ; and a daughter, Anne, who was honoured with a legacy by Pope. His second son, Charles, who died before himself, had been educated in Christ church college, Oxford, and entered into holy orders. I. K. 74 JOHN AimSTllOiNG, M.D. A113ISTR0NG, John, M.l). author of the well-known poem, entitled, '• The Art of I'reseiTiiijf Moallh," was born, about 170!), in tlio parish of Cjistleton, Iloxburirlisliire, uhcre his fitli'M- and brother were siu-cessively ministers, lie iniglit almost be styled a pout by ri-^ht of birtii-pl.u;e, for tlio parish of Castleton is simply the rcrofessional piece, styled, " A Synopsis of the History and Cure of the Venereal Disease," Svo., inscribed in an ingenious dedication to Dr Alexander Stuart, as to " a person who had an indisputable right to judge sevei-ely of the perform- ance presented to him." He probably designed the work as an introduction to practice in this branch of the medical profession ; but it was unfortunately followed by his poem, entitled, "The Qiconomy of Love," which, though said to have been designed as merely a burlesque upon certain didactic wxitei's, was justly condemn- ed for its warm and alluring pictures, and its tendency to inflame the passions of youth. It appears by one of the " Cases of Literai-y Property," that Andi-ew Millar, the bookseller, paid fifty pounds for the copy-right of this poem ; a sum ill-gained, for the work greatly diminished the reputation of the author. After at had passed through many editions, he published one, in 1768, in which tiie youthful luxuriances that had given offence to better minds were carefully ^>runed. In 1744, Dr Armstrong made some amends for this indiscretion, by publish- ing " The Art of Preserving Health," a didactic poem in blank verse, extending through four boolvs, each of which contains a pailicular branch of the subject This very meritorious work raised his reputation to a height which his subsequen' efforts scarcely sustained. It is AVi-itten in a taste which Avould not now be con sidered very pure, or elegant ; but yet, when the subject and the age are con- sidered, there is amazingly little to be condemned. Dr Warton has justly remarked the refined tenns in which the poet, at the end of his third book, has described an English plague of the fifteenth centuiy, entitled, " The Sweating Sickness." " There is a classical coirectness and closeness of style in this poem," says Dr Warton, " that are truly admirable, and the subject is raised and adorned by numberless poetical images." Dr Mackenzie, in his History of Health, be- 70 JOHN ARMSTRONG, M.D. slouTil similar jmiises on tliis jMXiiii, uliicli w.is iiulettl evci^j where read .ami niliiiircd. In 1711, Annstronu sdlicilod tli' tenus : " Your correspondent. Sir, is j)leased to appeal to a dead bookseller, I appeal to the living- author, no*v in London, lie desired the poem niiglit be published: it was written for the jtublic eye : ho directed the bookseller to call on I\lr W. tor the copy. The bookseller produced his credentials, under the author's own hand, upon which Mr W. gave him the manuscript of the poem. It was after- wards published in the kindest way for the author's reputation, as a Frayment. I believe he will not choose to restore the passages, which were omitted in the first edition of 17G0. When he docs, the kindness, and perhaps the judgment of the editor will appear, I am told, in a veiy strong and favourable light '1 he ])oem was not published till tlie bookseller had received a second positive order for that pui-pose, from tlie author, after several objections to the publication had been transmitted to him in Germany, and amendments made by himself. It was a favourite child not Avithout merit, although scarcely so much as the fond father imagined. Mr Chui-chill wTOte the four following lines on that poem, which were never forgiven. They are in the Journey. ' Or con the pages of !iis gaping Dat/, Where all his former fame was thrown away, Where all but barren labour was forgot, And the vain stiffness of a letter d Scot.' Truth." A week after, a letter signed '-Nox," in the same tone with that signed " Truth," appeared in the Public Advertiser. It is impossible to doubt that Mr Wilkes was at the bottom of the Avhole plot, and either Avrote the letters himsell or employed his triend Churchill to do so." 2 This more particularly appears from the report of a conversation which took place on the 7th of April, between Dr Armstrong and Mr Wilkes, which appears to have been noted down on the same day by the latter, and was published in the Gentleman's Maga- zine, for 1792, thirteen years after the o'eath of Dr Armstrong. The incensed poet entered his former friend's lodgings, in Prince's Court, and, without the least ceremonial or compliment, commenced the following dialogue — which, as a curious piece of literary history, we have given entire:— Dr Armstrong. Uid you, Sir, write the letters in the Public Advertiser? Mr Wilkes. What letters do you mean. Doctor? There are many letters almost every day in the Public Advertiser. Dr A. Sir, I mean the three letters about me, and Daiy, Daj', Sir. Mr W. You may ask the printer, Mr Woodfall. He has my orders to name ino whenever he thinks it proper, as the author of every thing 1 write in his paper. Dr. A. 1 believe you wrote all those letters. Mr. W. What all three, Doctor ? I am very roughly treated in one of them, in the first signed Dies. Dr. A. I believe you wrote that to bring on the controversy. I am almost sure of it. Mr. IV. 1 hope you are truly informal in other things. I know better than to abuse myself in that manner, and I pity the author of such wretched stuff. Dr A. Did you write the other letters, Sir? Mr W. The proper person to inquire of, is Mr Woodfall. I will not arutver inferrnga- lories. My time would pass in a strange manner, if I waste answer every question wJiich any gentleman chose to put to me about anonymous letters. Dr A. Whoever has abused me. Sir, is a villain ; and your endeavours, Sir, to set Scot- land and England together are very bad. Mr W. The Scots have done that thoroughly, Doctor, by theirconduct here, particularly by their own nationality and the outrages of Lord Bute to so many English families. Whenever you think propei* to call upon me in particular as a gentleman, you will find me most ready to answer the call. Dr A. D n Lord Bute! It had been better for Scotland he had never been bom. He has done iis infinite mischief. Mr W. And us too; but 1 suppose we are not met for a dish of politics? Dr A. No ; but I wish tliere had been no union. 1 am sure England is the gainer b)^ it Mr W. 1 will not make an essay on the advantages and disadvantages of tae union. JOHN ARMSTRONG, M.D, 70 Annsti'ong died at his house in Russel Street, Covent Garden, September 7, 1779, in consequence of an accidental contusion in his thigh, received while getting into a carriage. He was found, to the surprise of the world, to have saved the sum of £ 2000 out of his moderate income, which for many years had consisted of nothing more than his half-pay. Dr Ai'mstrong was nmch beloved and respected by his friends for his gentle and amiable dispositions, as well as his extensive knowledge and abilities ; but a kind of morbid sensibility preyed upon his temper, and a languid listlessness too frequently interrupted his intellectual eflbrts. With Tliomson's Castle of Dr A. I liate politics ; but I have been ill used by you, Dr Wilkes, on the occasion. Mr W . On the contrar}-, Doctor, I was the injured friend. Dr A. I thought you lor many years the most amiable friend in the world, and loved your company the most; but you distinguished yourself by grossly abusing wi^ country men in ilie North Biilon — although I never read much of that paper. Mr W. You passed your time, 1 am satisfied, mudi better, \^■ho told you, Doctor, what particular numbers I wrote? It is droll, but the bitterest of these papers, which was attri- buted to me, was a description of Scotland, first printed in the last century, on Charles I.'s return from thence in 1633. Were you ever. Doctor, personally attacked by me ? Were you not, alfhouith a Scotsman, at the very time of the North Briton, complimented by me, in cimjunction with Churchill, in the best thing I wrote, the mock ' Dedication to Moni- mer ? Dr A. To be praised along with such a writer, I think an abuse. Mr W. The world thinks far otherwise of that wonderful genius Churchill; but you, Doctor, have sacrificed private friendship at the altar of politics. After many years of mu- tual intercourse of good offices, you broke every tie of friendship with me on no pretence hut a suspicion, for you did not ask for proof, of my having abused your country, that coun- tiy I have for ) ears together heard you inveigh against, in the bitterest terms, for nasliness anil iioiionnlili/. Dr A. 1 only did it in joke, Sir ; you did it with bitterness ; but it was my country. Mr W. No man has abused England so much as Shakspeare, or France so mudi as Voltaire; yet they remain the favourites of two great nations, conscious of their own supe- riority. \Vere you, Doctor, attacked by me in any one instance? Was not the most friendly correspondence carried on with you the whole time, till you broke it off by a letter, in 1763, in which you declared to me, that you could not with honour associate with one who had distinguished himself by abusing your country, and that you remained with all due sincenty ? I remember that was the stiange phrase. Dr A. You never answered that letter. Sir. ■ Mr W, What answer could I give you. Doctor? You had put a period to the inter- course between us. I still continued to our common friends to speak of you in terms of respect, while you weie grossly abusing me. You said to Boswell, Millar, and others, " I hope there is a hell, that Wilkes may lie in it." Dr A. In a pasl^ion I might say so. People do not often speak their minds in a passion. Mr W. I thousht they generally did, Doctor ! Dr A. 1 was thoroughlj' provoked, although I still acknowledge my great pecuniary obligations to -(ou— although, 1 dare say, 1 would have got the money elsewhere. Mr W. I was always happy to render a ou every sen ice in my power; and 1 bttle ima- gined a liberal mind, like yours, could have been worked up by designing men to write me such a letter in answer to an alfeetionate one 1 sent you, in the prospect of jour return. Dr A. I was happier with you than any man in the world for a great many years, and complimented you not a little in the Day, and you did not write to me for a year and a half after that. Mr W. Your memoiy does not serve you faithfullj', Doctor. In three or four months at farthest, you had two or three letters from me togetlier,on your return to the head-quar- ters of the army. I am abused in Dies for that publication, and the manner, both of which you approA ed. Dr A. I did so. Mr W. I was abused at first, I am told, in the manuscript o£ Dies, for having sold the copy, and put the mone. in my pocket ; but that charge was suppressed in the printed letter. Dr A. I know nothing of that, and will do you justice. Mr W. Will you call upon Mr D , our common friend, your countryman, and ask him what he thinks of your conduct io me, if it has not been wholly unjustifiable? Dr A. Have I your leave to ask I\Ir Woodfall in your name about ihe letters ? Mr W. I have already told you. Doctor, what directions he has from me. Take four- and-twenty hours to consider what you have to do, and let me know the. n sua. Dr A. 1 am sorry to have taken up so much of your time. Sir. M^- V/. It stands in no need of an apology, Doctor. 1 am glad to see you. Good mor- row N.B. These minutes were taken down the same afternooi;, and sent to a friend. 80 HUGO ARNOT. Indolence lie is appropriately connected, both as a fiji^iire in tlie piec^e and as a contributor to tlie verse. The following is liis portraiture : — With liini was sometimes joined in silent walk, (Pripfciunclly silent — for tliey never spoke) One shyer si ill, who quite detested t;ilk; Oft slung by spleen, at once away lie broke, 'I'o ffroves of i)lne, and broad o'ershadowing (jak, 'I'liere, inly thrilled, he wandered all alone, And on himself his pensive fury wroke : He never uttered word, save, when first shone The glittering star of eve — " Thank heaven ! the day is done ! "' His contributions consist of four stanzas descriptive of the diseases to \\hi<;h liio votaries of indolence finally become martyrs. The rank of Dr Armstrong as a poet is fixed by his Art of Presei-ving Heallli, which is allowed to be among the best didactic poems in the language. It is true, this species of poetry w.ts never considered among the highest, nor has it been able to retain its place among the tasti's of a modern and more refined age. Armstrong, however, in having improved upon a mode of composition fashionable in his own time, must still be allowed considerable praise. " His style," acconl- ing to the judgment of Dr Aikin, " is distinguished by its simplicity — by a free use of words which owe their strength to their plainness — by the rejection of ambitious ornaments, and a near approach to common phraseology. His sen- tences are generally short and easy ; his sense clear and obvious. The full extent of his conceptions is taken in at the fii-st glance ; and there are no lofty mysteries to be unravelled by a repeated perusaL What keeps his language from being prosaic, is the vigour of his sentiments. He thinks boldly, feels strongly, and therefore expresses himself poetically. When the subject sinks, his style sinks ivith it ; but he has for the most part excluded topics incapable either of vivid description, or of the oratory of sentiment. He had from natme a musical ear, ^vhence his lines are scarcely ever harsh, though apparently with- out much study to render them smooth. On the whole, it may not be too nmcli to assert, that no writer in blank verse can be found more free from stifiiiess and affectation, more energetic without harshness, and more dignified without formality." ARNOT, Hugo, a historical and antiquarian winter of the eighteenth century, was the son of a merchant and ship-proprietor at Leith, where he was born, December 8th, 1749. His name originally was Pollock, which he changed in early life for Arnot, on falling heir, through his mother, to the estate of Balcor- mo in Fife. As " Hugo Arnot of Balconuo, Esq.," he is entered as a member of the Facidty of Advocates, December 5, 1772, when just about to complete his twenty-third year. Previous to this period, he had had the misfortune to lose his father. Another evil Avhich befell him in early life was a settled asthma, the result of a severe cold which he caught in his fifteenth year. As this disorder was always aggi-avated by exertion of any Idnd, it became a serious obstruction to his progress at the bar : some of his pleadings, nevertheless, were much ad- mired, and obtained for him the applause of the bench. Perhaps it was this interruption of his professional career which caused him to tmn his attention to literatiu-e. In 1779, appeared his " History of Edinburgh," 1 vol., 4to. a work of much research, and greatly superior in a literary point of view to the gene- rality of local works. The style of the historical part is elegant and epigram- matic, Avith a vein of causticity highly characteristic of the author. From this elaborate work the author is said to have only realized a few pounds of profit ; a piratical impression, at less than half the price, was published almost simiil- HUGO ARNOT. 81 tnneously at Dublin, and, being shipped over to Scotland in gi-eat quantities, completely threw the author's edition out of the market. A bookseller''s .second edition, as it is called, appeared after the author's death, being simply tlie re- mainder of the former stock, embellished with plates, and enlarged by some additions from the pen of the publisher, Mr Creech. Another edition was pub- lished in 8vo, in 1817. Mi* Arnot seems to have now lived on teniis of literary oquality with those distinguished literary and professional characters who were ids fellow-townsmen and contemporaries. He did not, however, for some yeai-s publish any other considerable or acknowledged work. He devoted his mind chiefly to local subjects, and sent forth numerous pamphlets and newspaper essays, which had a considerable eft'ect in accelerating or promoting the erec- tion of vai-ious public worlds. Tlie exertions of a man of his public spirit and enlarged mind, at a time when the capital of Scotland was undergoing such a thorough renovation and improvement, must have been of material service to the (Community, both of that and of all succeeding ages. Such they were acknow- ledged to be by the magistrates, who bestowed upon him the freedom of the city. We are told that Mr Arnot, by means of his influence in local matters, was able to retard the erection of the South Bridc/e of Edinburgh for ten years — not that he objected to such an obvious improvement on its own account, but only in so far as the magistrates could devise no other method for defraying the ex- pense than by a tax upon carters ; a mode of liquidating it, which Blr Aniot thought grossly oppressive, as it fell in the first place upon the poor. He also was the means of preventing for several years the formation of tlie present splen« did road between Edinburgh and Leith, on account of the proposed plan (which was afterwards unhappily earned into effect,) of defraying the expense by a toll; being convinced, from what he knew of local authorities, that, if such an exac- tion were once established, it would always, on some pretext or other, be kept up. In 17 85, Mr Ai-not published "A Collection of Celebrated Criminal Trials in Scot- land, with Historical and Critical Remarks," 1 vol. 4to.; a Avork of perhaps even gi-eater research than his history of Edinburgh, and written in the same acutely metaphysical and epigrammatic style. In the ft-ont of this volume appears a large list of subscribers, embracing almost all the eminent and considerable per- sons in Scotland, with many of those in England, and testiiying of course to the literaiy and personal respectability of Mr Arnot. This work appeared without a publisher's name, probably for some reason connected with the following cir- cumstance. Owing perhaps to the unwillingness of the author to allow a sufii- cient profit to the booksellers, the \vhole body of that trade in Edinburgh refus- ed to let the subscription papers and prospectuses hang in their shops ; for which reason the author announced, by means of an advertisement in the newspapers, that these articles might be seen in the coffee-houses. Mr Arnot received the sum of six hundi'ed pounds for the copies sold of this Avork, from which he would have to pay the expenses of printing a thin quarto : it thus happened that what was rather the least laborious of his two works, was the most pi-ofitable. Mr Arnot only survived the publication of his Criminal Trials about a twelvemonth. Tlie asthma had ever since his fifteenth year been making rapid advances upon him, and his person was now reduced almost to a shadow. While still young, he carried all the marks of age, and accordingly the traditionary recollections of the historian of Edinburgh always point to a man in the extreme of life. Per- haps nothing could indicate more expressively the miserable state to which Mr Arnot was reduced by this disease, than his own half-ludicrous, half-pathetic ex- clamation, on being annoyed by the bawling of a man selling sand on the streets : " The rascal !" cried the unfortunate invalid, " he spends as nmch breath in a minute as would serve me for a month !" Among the portraits and 82 HUGO A KNOT. ) ancitiiires of the well known John Kay, may be found several faithful, thou<::;h somewlint exag^jeraled. memorials of Ihe emaciatod person of lliijjo Arnot. As a natural constitutional result of this disease, he w;is exceedinijly iiervoua, and liable to be discomposed by the slii^htest annoyances : on the other hand, ho possessed such ardour and intrepidity of mind, that in youth he once rode on a spirited horse to the end of the pier of Leilh, while the w.ives were dasliing over it and evei-y beholder expected to see him washed innnedintely into the sea ! On another occasion, liavlng excited some hostility by a pcditiciil pamphlet, and being summoned by an anonymous foe to appear at a particular hour in a lonely part of the King's I'ark, in order to fight, lie went and waited four hours on the spot, thus perilling his life in what might liave been the amimscade of a deadly enemy. By means of the same fortitude of character, he beheld the gradual approach of death with all the calmness of a Stoic philosopher. The magistrates of Leith had acknowledged some of his public services, by the ominous compli- ment of a piece of ground in their church-yard; and it was the recreation of the last weeks of IMr Ai-not's life to go evei-y day to observe the progi-ess made by the workmen in preparing this place for his own reception. It is related that he even expressed considerable anxiety lest his demise should take place before the melancholy work should be completed. He died, November 20th, 178(i, when on the point of completing his 37th year; that age so fatal to men of genius that it may almost be styled their climacteric. He was interred in the tomb fitted up by hinxself at South Leith. Besides his historical and local works, he had published, in 1777, a fanciful metaphysical treatise, entitled, " Nothing," which was originally a paper read before a well-known debating- club styled the Speculative Society; being probably suggested to him by the poem of the Earl of Rochester on the equally impalpable subject of Silence. If any disagi'eeable reflection can rest on Mr Arnot's niemoi7 for the free scope ho has given to his mind in this little essay — a freedom sanctioned, if not excused, by the taste of the age — he must be held to have made all the amends in his power by the propriety of his deportment in later life; when he entered hear- tily and regularly into the observances of the Scottish episcopal communion, to which he originally belonged. If Mr Ai-not was any thing decidedly in poli- tics, he was a Jacobite, to which party he belonged by descent and by rehgion, and also pex-haps by virtue of his own peculiar turn of mind. In modern poli- tics, he was quite independent, judging all men and all measures by no other standard than their respective merits. In his professional character, he was animated by a chivalrous sentiment of honour worthy of all admiration. He was so little of a casuist, that he would never undei-take a case, unless he were perfectly self-satisfied as to its justice and legaUty. He had often occasion to refuse employment which fell beneath his own standard of honesty, though it might have been profitable, and attended by not the slightest shade of disgrace. On a case being once brought before him, of the merits of wliich he had an ex- ceedingly bad opinion, he said tn the intending litigant, in a serious manner, " Pray, what do you suppose me to bo ?" " Why," answered the client, " I un- dei-stand you to be a lawyer." " I thought, Sir," said Arnot sternly, " you took me for a scoundrel." The litigant, though he perhaps thought that the major in- cluded the minor proposition, withdre^v abashed. Mr xVx-not left eight children, all very young ; and the talent of the family appears to have revived Tn a new genera- tion, viz., in the person of his grandson, Dr David Boswell Reid, whose " Elements of Chemistry " has taken its place amongst the most useful treatises on the science, and who was selected by Government, on account of his practical skill, to plan and super- intend the ventilation of the new houses of parliament, in the prosecution of which object he has for several years been conducting the most costly and prolonged, if not the most successful, experiment of the kind ever made. SIR ROBERT AYTON. 83 AYTON, (Sir) Robert, an eminent poet at the court of James VI., ivas a vouno-er son of Andi-ew Ayton of Kinaldie, in Fife, and was horn in the year 1570. From the Registers of St Andrews University, it appears that he was incorporated or enrolled as a student in St Leonai-d's Colfej^e, Decemher 3, 1581, and took his master's degi-ee, after the usual course cf study, in the year 1588, Subsequently to this, he resided for some time in France; whence, in 1003, he addi-essed an elegant panegyric in Latin verse, to king James, on his accession to the crown of England, which was printed at Paris the same year ; and this panegyric had, no doubt, some infiaence in securing to the author the favour of that monarch, by Avhom he was successively appointed one of the gen- tlemen of the bed-chamber, and private secretary to his queen, Anne of Denmark, besides receiving the honour of knighthood. He was, at a later period of his life, honom-ed with the appointment of secretai-y to Henrietta Blaria, queen of Charles I. It is recorded on Ayton's funeral monument, as a distinction, that he had been sent to (iennany as ambassador to the Emperor, with a work pub- lished by king James, which is supposed to have been his Apology for the Oath of AUeoiance. If this conjecture be cowect, it must have been in 1609, when his majesty acknowledged a work published anonymously three yeai-s before, and inscribed it to all the crowned heads of Europe. During Ayton's residence abroad, as Avell as at the court of England, he lived in intimacy with, and se- cured the esteem of the most eminent persons of his time. " He was acquainted," says Aubrey, "with all the wits of his time in England; he was a great acquain- tance of Mr Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbuiy, whom Mr Hobbes told me he made use of, together with Ben Jonson, for an Aristarchus, Avhen he made his Epistle dedicatoiy, for his translation of Thucydides." To this information, we may add, as a proof of this respect on the part of Ben Jonson, that, in his convei-sa- tions with Drummond of Hawthornden, he said, "Sir Robert Ayton loved him (Jonson) dearly." Sir Robert Ayton died at London, in March, lf)37-8, in the 68th year of his a'«-e. He lies buried in the south aisle of the choir of Westminster Abbey, at the corner of King Henry the Fifth's Chapel, under a handsome monument of black marble, erected by his nephew, David Ayton of Kinaldie ; having his bust in brass gilt, which has been presei-ved, while that of Henry, the hero of Agin- court, (said to have been of a more pi-ecious metal,) has long since disappeared. The following is a copy of the inscription : M. S. Clarissimi omnigenaq. virtute et eruditione, pnEsertim Poesi oniatissimi equitis^ Domini Robert! Aitoni, ex antiqua et illustri gente Aitona, ad Castrum Kmnadinum apud Scotos, oriundi, qui a Serenissimo R. Jacobo in Cubicula Interiora admissus, in Germaniam ad Iniperatorem, Imperiiq. Frincipes cum libello Regio, Regiae au- thoritatis vindice^ Legatus, ac primium Annte, demum Mariae, serenissimis Britannia- rum Reginis ab epistolis, consiliis et libellis supplicibus, nee non Xenodochio S'* Catherinae prtefectus. Anima Creatoris Reddita, hie depositis mortalibus exuviis se- cundum Redemptoris adventum expectat. Carolum linquens, repetit Parentem Et valedicens Marlae revisit Annam et Aiilai decus, alto Olympi Mutat Honore. Obiit Coelebs hi Regio Albania Hoc devoti gratiq. animi Non sine maximo Honore omnium Testimonium optinio PaU-uo Luctu et Mrerore, iEtat. sute LXVIII. Jo. Aitonus M L P. Saint. Humanae M.DCXXXVIIL MUSARUM DKCUS HIC, PaTRIAEQ. AuLAEQ.. DoMlQUE Et Foris exemplar sed non imitabile honesti. 84: SIR ROBERT AYTON. The poems of Sir Robert Ayton, for the fii-st time piiblislicd together in the Miscclany of tlie l^niiiiatyiie ("hib, (from uhich uo derive these particulai-s of tile poet's life,) are few in nuiiiber, but of jjreat Jiieril. He composed no Scottish poems, at leiist none tliat have come down to our times. He wrote in English, and wis, indeed, one of the fii-st of our countrymen who compose*! in (hat lan- guage with any degree of elegance or piurity. It is unfortunate that ihe most of his poems are complimentary verses to the illustrious individuals with whom he was acquainled, and of course characterised only by a strain of conceited and extravagant tlatteVy. Those, however, upon general topics, arc conceived in a refined and tender strain of fancy, that reminds us more of the fairy strains of Herricii than any thing else. John Aubrey remarks, " that Sir IJobert wjfs one of the best poets of his time," and adds tlie more important testimony that " IMr John Drydcn has seen verses of his, some of tlie best of that age, printed with some other verses." According to Dempster, Ayton was also a writer of verses in Greek and French, as well as in English and Latin. Several of his Latin poems are preserved in the work called, " Delitiae Foetarum Scoto- rum," which was printed in his lifetime (1G37) at Amsterdam. One poem by Ayton, entitled, " Inconstancy Reproved," and commencing with the words, " I do confess thou'rt smooth and fair," was esteemed by Burns \vorthy of being paraphrased into the native dialect of the author ; a process cer- tainly of a very curious nature, as it might have rather been expected that tlie poet of the eighteenth should have refined upon the poet of the seventeenth cen- tiu-y. It may be safely avowed that the modern poet has not improved upon his prede<;essor. Perhaps the reader will be less familiar with the following etnially beautiful poems by Sir Robert Ayton, than with " Inconstancy Reproved," — which, after aU, is not ascertained to be his. SONG. What means this strangeness now of late, Since time must truth approve? This distance may consist with state — It cannot stand with love. 'Tis either cunning or distrust, That may such ways allow ; The first is base, the last unjust; Let neither blemish you. For if you mean to draw me on, There needs not half this art ; And if you mean to have me gone. You overact your part. If kindness cross your wshed content. Dismiss me with a frox'^Ti, I'll give you all the love that's spent. The rest shall be my own. ON WOMAN'S INCONSTANCY. I loved thee once, I'll love no more, Thine be the grief as is the blame ; Thou art not what thou wast befoie. What reason I should be the same? He that can love unloved again, Hath better store of love than brain : God send me love my debts to pay. While mithrifts fool their love away. SIR EGBERT AYTON. 85 Nothing could have my love o'erthrowni, If thou hadst still continued mine : Yea, if thou hadst remain'd thy own, 1 might perchance have yet been thino. But thou thy freedom did recall, That if thou might elsewhere enthnil ; And then how could I but disdain A captive's captive to remam ? V/hen new desires had conquered thee. And changed the object of thy will, It had been lethargy in me, Not constancy to love thee still. Yea, it had been a sin to go And prostitute affection so Since we are taught no prayers to sny To such as must to others praj% Yet do thou glory in thy choice. Thy choice of his good forUme boast ; 111 neither grieve nor yet rejoice. To see him gain what I have lost : The height of my disdain shall be. To laugh at him, to blush for thee ; To love thee still, but go no more, A begging to a beggar's door. THE ANSWER, BY THE AUTHOR, AT THE KING'S MAJESTy's COMMAND. Thou that loved once, now loves no more. For fear to show more love than brain ; With heresy unhatch'd before. Apostasy thou dost maintain. Can he have either brain or love That dost inconstancy approve? A choice well made no change admits, All changes argue after-wits. Say that she had not been the same, iShould thou therefore another be ? What thou in her as vice did blame, Can thou take virtue's name in thee? No, thou in this her captive was, And made thee ready by her glass ; Example led revenge astray, When true love should have kept the way. True love has no reflecting end. The object good sets it at rest. And noble breasts will freely lend. Without expecting interest. 'Tis merchants' love, 'tis trade for gain, To barter love for love again : 'Tis usury, yea, worse than this. For self-idolatry it is. Then let her choice be what it will, Let constancy be thy revenge ; If thou retribute good for ill. Both grief and shame shidl check her change^ 86 ROBERT BAILLIB. I'hus miiy'st thou hitiph when thou shall see Jd-mofbe riclaiin \n:r home to (hee; And wliere thrirly, uhivai'rant for conducting him to prison, but he utterly refused to show it, though Mr BaiUie said that, if he saw any wairant against his friend, he would assist in caiTying it into execution. The wTetcli still persisting in saying he had a warrant, but was not bound to show it, Mr Baillie left the place, with Mr Kirk- ton and other friends, having ofl'ered no violence whatever to Carstairs, but only threatened to sue him for unlawful invasion of his brother-in-laiv's person. It might have been expected from even a government so lost to all honour and justice as that which now prevailed in Scotland, that it would have had at least the good sense to overlook this unhappy accident to one of its tools. On tlie contrary, it was resolved to brave the popular feeling of right, by listening to the complaints of Carstairs. Tlurough the influence of Aixhbishop Sharpe, \vlio said that, if Carstairs was not countenanced, no one would be procured to apprehend fanatics afterwards, a majority of the council agi'eed to prosecute Baillie, Kirkton, and the other pei-sons concernetL For this purpose, an ante- dated wari'ant was furnished to Carstairs, signed by nine of the councillors. The Marquis of AthoU told Bishop Burnet, that he had been one of the nine who lent their names to this infamous document The whole case was therefore made out to be a tumult against the government ; Baillie was fined in six thou- sand merks, (j£3I8 sterling)" and his friends in smaller sums, and to be im- prisoned till they should render payment. 1 Burnet. Wodrow's account is slightly different. , * vVodrow says £500 sterling, new edit. v. 2. p. 3i8. „ 90 RUBEKT BAILLIB. This award was so opposite, in ovei^ particular, to tlie ])riiiciples of Inith, honoiu-, and justice, that, even if not directed ap^ainst individuals connected with the popular cause, it could luit hare failed to excite general iridiirnation. It appe.irs that a respectable minority of the council iteelf w.is slronj^iy f)pposed to the decision, and took care to let it lie known at court, 31r IJaillie was there- fore released at the end of lour months, in consideration nynient of one half of his fine to the creature I'ai-stairs. Lord lialton, however, who was at this time a kind of pro-regent under his brother Lauderdale, liad interest to obtain the dismissal of liis opponents from the council, namely, the Duke of Hamilton, the Ivarls of IVIorton, Dumfries, and Kincardine, and the Lords Cochrane and Primrose, whom he branded, /or their conduct on this occasion, as enemies to the church and favourers of conventicles. After this period, nothing is known of Mr Baillie till the year 10 83, when he is found taking a prominent share in a scheme of emigration, agitated by a number of Scottish gentlemen, who saw no refuge but this from the tyxanny of the government, lliese gentlemen entered into a negotiation with the paten- tees of South Carolina, for permission to convey themselves thither, along with their families and dependents. Wliile thus engaged, Mr Baillie was induced, along with several of his friends, to enter into con'espondence and counsel with the heads of the Puritear to have re- jected the proposition. The unfortunate gentleman was so ueaii that he requir- ed to be assisted in mounting the ladder : lie betrayed, however, no &ymj)tom of moral weakness. Just before being consigned to his fate, he said, in the sell- accusing spirit of true excellence, " 3Iy faint zeal for the protestant religion has brought me to this end." His sister-iu-law, with the stern virtue of her family, waited to the last." " Thus," says Bishop Bui-net, " a learned and worthy gentleman, after twenty months' hard usage, was brought to death, in a way so full in all the steps of it of the spirit and practice of the courts of Inquisition, that one is tempted to think that the methods taken in it were suggested by one well studied, if not practised, in them. The only excuse that ever was pretended for this infamous prosecution was, that they were sure he was guilty ; and that the whole secret of the negotiation between the two kingdoms was intrusted to him ; and that, since he would not discover it, all methods might be taken to destroy him. Not con- sidering what a precedent they made on this occasion, by which, if they were once possessed of an ill opinion of a man, they were to spare neither artifice nor violence, but to hunt him down by any means." Dr Owen has testified in a strong manner to the gi-eat abilities of the Scottish Sydney. Writing to a Scottish friend, he said, " You have truly men of great spirits among you ; there is, for a gentleman, Mr Baillie of .lerviswood, a person of the greatest abilities I ever almost met with." iMr BailUe's family was completely ruined by his forfeiture. He left a son, George Baillie, who, after his execution, was obliged to take refuge in Holland, whence he after»vards returned with the Prince of Orange, by whom he was re- stored to his estates, llie wife of this gentleman was Miss (irizel Hume, daugh- ter of Sir Patrick Hume of Polwarth, a fellow-patriot of 3Ir Robert BailUe. The occasion of their meeting was veiy remarkable, flliss Grizel, when a veiy young girl, was sent by her father from the country, to endeavour to convey a letter to iMr Baillie in prison, and bring back what intelligence she coidd. She succeed- ed in this difficult enterprise ; and having at the same time met with Mr Baillie's son, the intimacy and friendship was formed, which was afterwards completed by their mairiage. BAILLIE, ^Iatthew, M.D. a distinguished modern physician and anatomist, was the son of the Rev. James Baillie, D.D. Professor of Divinity in the University of Glasgow. He was born October 27, 17G1, in the manse of Shotts, of which parish his father was then minister. The father of Dr 3Iatthew Baillie was sup- posed to be descended from the family of Baillie of Jerviswood, so noted in the his- tory of Scottish freedom ; his mother was a sister of the two celebrated anatomists, Dr William and Mi- John Hunter ; and one of his t\vo sisters was 3Iiss Joanna 2 « The Lndy Graden, with a more than mascuh'ne courage, attended him on the scaffold till he was quartered, and went with the hangman and saw his quarters sodden, oyled, &c." — FountainlialVs Notes, 117, 118. It is scarcely possible for an individual accustomed ic the feelings of modern society to believe such a statement. MATTHEW BAILLIE, M.D. 93 Baillie, the late well known and amiable authoress of " Plays on the Passions." After receiving the rudinieuts of his education under his father's immediate su- perintendence, he began his academical course in 1773, in the University of Glasgow, where he distinguished himself so highly as to be transferred, in 1778, upon Snell's foundation, to Baliol College, Oxford. Here, when he had attained the proper standing, he took his degrees in arts and physic In 1780, while still keeping his tei-ms at Oxford, he commenced his anatomical studies at Lon- don, under the care of his uncles. He had the great advantage of residing with Dr William Hunter, and, when he became sufficiently advanced in his studies, of being employed to make the necessary preparations for the lectures, to conduct the demonstrations, and to superintend the operations of the students. On the death of Dr Hunter, ilarch 1783, he was found qualified to become the successor of that great man, in conjunction with Mr Cruickshank, who had previously been employed as Dr Hunter's assistant. His uncle appointed him by will to have the use of his splendid collection of anatomical preparations, so long as he should continue an anatomical lecturer, after Avhich it was to be transfeixed to (ilasgow College. Dr Baillie began to lecture in 1784, and soon acquired tlie highest reputation as an anatomical teacher. He was himself indefatigable in the business of fonning preparations, adding, it is said, no fewer than eleven hundred articles to his uncle's museum. He possessed the valuable talent of making an abstruse and difficult subject plain ; his prelections were remarkable for that lucid order and clearness of expression which proceed from a perfect conception of the subject; and he never permitted any vanity of display to turn him from his gi-eat object of conveying information in the simplest and most intelligible way, and so as to become useful to his pupils. The distinctness of his elocution was also much admired, notwithstanding that he never could alto- gether shake ofl'the accent of his native countiy. In 1795, Dr Baillie embodied the knowledge he possessed through his own observations and those of his uncle, in a small but most valuable work, entitled, " The Morbid Anatomy of some of tiie most important parts of the Human Body," which was inuiiediately translated into French and German, and extended his name to every land where medical science was cultivated. The publication of this little treatise was, indeed, an era in the history of medical knowledge in this countiy. It combined all the information foi-merly scattered through the writings of Bonetus, Lieutaud, and jMontagni, besides the immense store of observations made by the ingenious author. The knowledge of the changes produced on the human frame by disease had previously been very imperfect ; but it was now so completely elucidated that, with the assistance of this little volume, any person previously acquainted with morbid symptoms, but unacquainted with the disease, could, upon an exami- nation after death, understand the whole malady. Perhaps no production of the period, ever had so much influence on the study of medicine, or contributed so much to coiTect unfounded speculations upon the nature of disease, to excite a spirit of observation, and to lead the attention of the student to fact and ex- perience. Along Avith all its excellencies, it Avas delightful to observe the extreme modesty and total absence of pretension, with which the author, in the fulness of his inmiense knowledge, ushered it into the world. In 1787, Dr Baillie had been elected physician to St George's Hospital, a situation Avhich affijrded him many of those opportunities of obserA'ation upon Avhich the success of his Avork on Morbid Anatomy Avas founded. In 1789, having taken his degree of M.D. at Oxford, he Avas admitted a candidate at the College of Physicians, and in the folloAving year had the fuU privileges of fel- loAvship confen-ed upon him. About the same time, he Avas elected a felloAV of the Royal Society, to which he had contributed Iavo essays. He sen'ed the 04 MATTHEW BAILLIE, W.IX oflice of censor in tlie Royal College of Thysicians, in 175)2 and 1797, and that < if commissioner iukUt tlie act of parliament for tlie inspection and licensing of mad-lioiises, in 17!)l anil 17!)5. In 17!l'J, Dr Haillie relinvhicli were then first introduced into i^icotland. One of his follow-labouiers in this department was Patrick 3Iurray of Livingston, whom he had initiated into the study of natural history. This youn^; sfentleman, who enjoved an ample fortune, formetl at iiis seat in llie country a botanic gar- den, containinaf one thousand species of plants, which at that period was a vei-y large collection. He traversed the whole of France in quest of the plants of that country ; and on his way to Italy, lie prematurely died of a fever. Soon after his death, l)r Balfour transferred his collection from Livingston to IMin- burgh ; and with it, joined to his own, he had the merit of laying the Inundation of the public botanic garden. The necessary expense of this new institution was at first defrayed by Dr Ualfour, Sir Robert Sibbald, and the Faculty of Ad- vocates. But at length the city allotted a piece of gi'ound near Trinity College Church for a public garden, and out of the revenues of the university, allowed a certain sum for its support. As the fii-st keeper of this garden, Dr Balfour selected Mr James Sutherland; who, in 1G84, published a work, entitled, Hor- ttis Edinburgensis. [See Sutherl.vnd.] The new institution soon became con- siderable : plants and seeds ^vere sent from Morison at Oxford, Watts at London, 3Iai-chant at Paris, Herman at Leyden, and Spottiswood at Tangier. From the last were received many African pLants, which flourished in this country. Such efforts as these, by a native Scotsman, occurring at a time when the at- tention of the country seems to have been almost exclusively devoted to contend- ing systems of church-government, are truly grateful in the contemplation. It is only to be lamented, that the spirit which presided over them, ^vas premature in its appearance; it found no genial field to act upon, and it was soon forgotten in the prevailing distraction of the public mind. Sir Andrew Balfour was the morning-star of science in Scotland, but he might almost be said to have set be- fore the approach of day. He was created a baronet by Charles II., whicli »eems to indicate that, like most men of literary and scientific character in that age, he maintained a senti- ment of loyalty to the existing dynasty and government, which was fast decaying from the public mind at large. His interest with the ministry, and with the municipality of Edinburgh, seems to have always been considerable, and was uni- formly exerted for the public good, and for the encouragement of merit. Upon his settlement in Edinburgh, he had found the medical art taught in a very loose and irregular manner. In order to place it on a more respectable footing, he planned, with Sir Robert Sibbald, the royal college of physicians ; and of that respectable society his brethren elected him the first president. When the college undertook the publication of a Pharmacopceia, the whole ar- rangement of the materia medica was committed to his particular care. For such a task he was eminently qualified by his skill in natural history. This per- formance made its appearance in 16 85 ; and, in the opinion of Dr Cullen, it is superior to any Pharmacopasia of that era. Not Ions before his decease, his desire to promote the science of medicine in his native country, joined to the universal humanity of his disposition, led him to project the foundation of an hospital in Edinburgh. The institution was at first nan-ow and confined, but it survived to be expanded into full shape, as the royal infirmary, under the care of George Drummond. Sir Andrew died in 1694, in the sixty-fourth year of his age, after a severe conflict with the gout and other painful disorders ; which afforded him an opportunity of display- ing upon the approach of death; those virtues and that equanimity, which had SIR JA.MES BALrOUR. -[Qfy disting-uished him during his life. His person, like his mind and mannei-s, was elegant. He wns possessed of a liandsome figure with a pleasing and expressive countenance ; of a graceful elocution ; and, by his natural disposition, as well as ills long intercourse with the higher ranks in society, of a most courteous and polite demeanour. A print of him was executed at Paris ; but no copy is known to exist. His library and museum were the anxious result of fourteen years of travelling, and bet^veen twenty and thirty more of correspondence. For their accommoda tion, he had built an addition to his house when he had nearly arrived at his for- tieth year ; but after the building was completed, he found himself so infirm as to be unable to place them in that order which he intended. After his death, liis libraiy, consisting of about three thousand volumes, besides manuscripts, was sold, we suppose, by public auction. There is a printed catalogue still extant. His museum was deposited in the hall which was, till 1829, occupied as the uni- versity library. There it remained many years, useless and neglected ; some paits of it falling to inevitable decay, and other parts being abstracted. " Yet, even after 1750," says Dr Walker, "it still continued a considerable collection, which I have good reason to remember, as it was the sight of it, about that time, that first inspired me Avith an attachment to natural history. Soon after that period," to pursue a nan-ative so deeply disgraceful to the age and the institu- tion refen-ed to, " it was dislodged from the hall where it had been long kept ; was thrown aside, and exposed as lumber ; was further and fui'ther dilapidated, and at length almost completely demolished. In the year 1782, out of its ruinj and rubbish I extracted many pieces stiU valuable and useful, and placed them here in the best order I could. These, I hope, may remain long, and be consi-< dered as so many precious relics of one of the best and greatest men this country has produced." From the account that has been given of Sir Andrew Balfoui*, evei-y person conversant in natural histoiy or medicine must regi'et that he never appeared as an authoi-. To his friend, Mr MmTay of Livingston, he addi-essed a series of familiar letters, for the direction of his researches while abroad. These letters, forming the only literary relics of Balfour, were subsequently published by his son, in the year 1700. BALFOUR, (Sir') James, an eminent lawyer and public character of the sixteenth centmy, was a son of Balfour of Monquhanny, in Fife, a very ancient family. In youth, being designed for the church, he made considerable proficiency, not only in ordinary literature, but in the study of divinity and law ; w hich Avere aU alike necessary in those times for an ecclesiastic, on account of the mixed character which the age admitted to be assumed by such individuals. Balfour, while still a young man, was so unfortunate as to join with the conspirators who, after assas- sinating Cardinal Beaton, held out the castle of St. Andrews against the governor Arran. He seems, however, not to have been a very cordial partizan of the con- spirators. John Knox, in his own vigorous and plain-spoken manner, styled him the Blasphemous Ba^ovr, on account of his having refused to communicate along with his reforming associates. Balfour shared the fate of his companions in being sent to the French galleys' and was confined in the same vessel along with Knox, from which he escaped in 1550, along with the rest, by the tacit permission of the French government. 3 The following imecdote of Balfour in connexion with Knox is related by Dr IM'Crie. " The galleys returned to Scotland in summer 1548, as near as I ran collect, and continued for a considerable time on the east coast, to watch for English vessels Knoxs health was now greatly impaired by the severity of his confinement, and he was seized with a fever during which his life was despaired of by all in the ship. But even in this state, his fort)- JOG SIR JAMES BALbOUR. Balfour seems to have afterwards joined in tlic proceedings of the Reformers, but only with courtier-like temperance, and without cxliibiting much zeal in the Protestant cause, lie was preferred to tlie ecclesiastical appointment of official of Lothian, and afterwards became rector of Flisk, a parisli in liis native county. Ill 1503, be was appointed by Queen Mary to be a Lord of Session, the court then being composed partly of churchmen, and partly of laics. In 150-1, when the Commissary court was instituted in place of the ecclesiastical tribunal, which had been dissolved at the Reformation, Ralfour became one of tlie four commissaries, with a salary of four hundred merks, while the others had only three hundred. In July, 1505, the Queen extended the further favour of admitting him into her privy council. J3alfour was one of those servants of the state, who, being advanced rather on account of merit tlian birth, used at all times to give gi-eat ollence to the Scottish nobility. It seems to have never been supposed by this haughty class, that there was the least necessity for ingenious or faithful service in the officials employed by majesty ; birth and following were the only qualifications allowed by them to be of any value. Accordingly, it is not surprising to find that the same conspi- racy which overthrew the " kinless " adventurer Rizzio, contemplated the destruc- tion of Balfour. He was so fortunate, however, as to escape, and even derived 6ome advantage from the event, being promoted to the office of clerk-register, in room of Mr James Macgill, who was concerned in the conspiracy. lie was also about this time made a knight, and appointed to be one of the commissioneri tor revising, correcting, and publishing the ancient laws and statutes of the kingdom. In the beginning of the year 1537, Sir James Balfour was appointed gover- nor of Edinburgh castle. In this important situation, he naturally became an object of great solicitude to the confederate lords, who, in the ensuing May, com- menced a successful rebellion against Queen Mary. It would appear that Sir James was not now more loyal than many other persons who had experienced the favour of Mary. He is said to have even been the means of throwing into the hands of the confederates that celebrated box of lettere, upon which they en- deavoured to gi'ound the proof of her guilt. There can be no doubt that he ^vas at this time in the way of receiving high favours from the Earl of MuiTay, who was the chief man opposed to the dethroned queen. He was, in September, 1567, admitted by Murray a lord of his privy council, and made commendator of t!ie priory of Pittenweem ; and in December, a bargain Avas accomplished, by which he agreed to accept a pension of L.500 and the presidency of the Couit of Session, in lieu of the clerk-registry, which IMurray wished to be restored to his friend MacgilL Sir James continued faithful to the party which opposed Queen Mary, till the death of Murray, January, 15(59-70, when he was in somo measm-e compelled to revert to the Queen's side, on account of a charge prefer red against iiim by the succeeding Regent, Lennox, who taxed him with a share in the murder of Darnley. For this accusation no proof >vas ever adduced, but tude of mind remained unsubdued, and he comforted his fellow-prisoners with hopes of re- lease. To tiieir anxious des|Jo)idin£; inquiries, natural to men in their situation, 'If lie thought they would ever obtain their liberty,' his uniform answer was, ' God will deliver us to his glory, even in this life.' While tliey lay on the coast between Dundee and St An- drews, Mr (afterwards .Sir) James Balfour, who was confined in the same ship, desired him to look at the land and see if he knew it. Though at that time very sick, he replied, 'Yes; 1 know it well, for I see the steeple of that place where God first opened my mouth in pub- lic to his glory : and I am fully persuaded, how weak soever 1 now appear, that I shall not depart this life till that my tongue shall glorify his godly minie in the same place.' This sti iking reply Sir James repeated in the presence of many witnesses, a number of years before Knox returned to Scoiland, and when there was very little prospect of his words be- ing: verified." Life of Knox, \st edit. p. bo. SIR JAMES BALFOUR. 10^ even allowing Sir James to have been guilty, it will only add another to the list of great men concerned in the transaction, and show the more clearly how neither learning, rank, official dignity, nor any other ennobling qualification, prevented a man in those days from staining his hands with blood. Balfour outlived Lennox, and was serviceable in bringing about the pacification between the King's and Queen's party, under Morton, in 1 573. He would appear to have been encouraged by Morton in the task of revising the laws of the country, which he at length completed in a style allowed at that time to be most masterly. Mor- ton afterwards thought proper to revive the charge brought by Lennox against Sir James, who was consequently obliged to retire to France, where he lived for some yeai-s. He retui'ned in 1580, and revenged the persecution of Morton, by producing against him, on his trial, a deed to which he had acceded, in com- mon with others of the Scottish nobility, alleging Bothwell's innocence of the King's murder, and recommending him to the Queen as a liusband. Sir James died before the 14th of January, 1583-4. The Practicks of Scots Law, compiled by Sir James Balfour of Pittendreich, president of the Court of Session, continued to be used and consulted in manu- script, both by students and practitioners, till nearly a century after his decease, when it was for the fii-st time supplanted by the Institutes of Lord Stair. Even after that event, it was held as a curious repertoiy of the old practices of Scottisli law, besides fulfilling certain uses not answered by the work of Lord Stair. It was therefore printed in 1754, by the Iluddimans, along with an accurate bio- graphical preface by Walter Goodal. The work was of considerable service to Dr Jamieson in his Dictionary of the Scottish language. BALFOUR, (Sir) James, an eminent antiquary, herald, and annalist, was born about the close of the sixteenth century. He was the eldest son of a small Fife laird, Michael Balfour of Denmylne, who derived his descent from James, son of Sir John Balfour of Balgarvy, a cadet ' of the ancient and honourable house of Balfour of Balfour in Fife. James Balfour, the ancestor of Sir Michael, had obtained the estate of Denmylne li-om James II., in the four- teenth year of his reign, which corresponds with 1 450- 1. Michael Balfour, the father of Sir James, and also of Sir Andrew, whose life has been ah-eady com- memorated, was, in the words of Sir Robert Sibbald, " equally distinguished for military bravei^ and civil prudence." He bore the honourable office of Comp- troller of the Scottish Household, in the reign of Charles I., and in 1630 was knighted, at Holyi-ood house, by George, Viscount Dupplin, Chancellor of Scot- land, under his Majesty's special warrant. This eminent personage was, by Jean Durham, daughter of James Durham of Pitkerrow, the father of five sons, all of whom attained to distinction in public life, besides nine daughters, who all formed honourable alliances, except two, who died unmarried. He lived to see tliree hundred of his own descendants ; a number which his youngest son, Sir Andrew, lived to see doubled. Sir Michael Balfour gave his eldest son an education suitable to the extended capacity which he displayed in his earliest yeai-s. This education, of which the fruits are apparent in his taste and writings, was accompanied by a thorougli initiation into the duties of religion, as then professed on a presbyterian model. The genius of the future antiquary was first exhibited in a turn for poetry, which was a favourite study among the scliolars of that period, even where there was no particular aptitude to excel in its composition, but for which 1 This branch was ennobled in 1697, in the person of Michael Balfour of Balijarvy, who, having served King James in several embassies to the principal courts of Europe, was created Lord Balfour of Burleigh. This peerage was attainted in consequence of the con- cern of its occupant in the civil war of 1715. 108 yill JAMES BALFOUR. Sir James Balfour appears to have haondenco with the most respectable livinij historians, such as Hobert iMaule, Henry 3Iaiile, David Hnchanan, (iordon of Straloch, and, as lias already been siiown, Drummond of Hawthornden, all of whom he regarded throii<^h life with the warmest esteem, anil with the greatest respect for their talents and accomplishments. He endeavoured to elucidate our history (which was then involved in confu- sion) from the examination of ancient medals, coins, rings, bracelets, and other relics of antiquity, of which he formed a separate collection, as an appendage to his library. Observing also from historians, that the Romans had long been settled in Scotland, and had made desperate attempts to expel our ancestors, both Scots and Picts, he collected the inscriptions which they had left on cer- tain stone buildings, and transcribed them among his notes. In compiling the work to which he gave the title of Annals, our author was more anxious to sup- ply the deficiencies of other historians, and to bring to light obscure records, than to exhibit a continued and regular history of Scotland. He therefore care- fully extracted, from old manuscripts, the names, dignities, and offices of dis- tinguished public characters, the dates of remarkable transactions, and every other circumstance of importance, and arranged them in sepai'ate paragraphs. He was actuated by a generous disposition, to rescue from oblivion and the gi'ave, the memory of illustrious men ; for which purpose he visited all the ca- thedi-al, and the principal parish churches of the kingdom, and examined their sepulchres and other monuments, from which he copied the epitaphs and inscrip- tions, carefully preserving them in a volume. He deeply interested himself in some laudable attempts to improve the geography of Scotland. The ingenious Timothy Pont traversed the \vhoIe kingdom, (an attempt which had not been made before) and from personal surveys made plans and descriptions of the different counties and islands, which he was intending to publish, when carried off by a premature death. Sir John Scott of Scotstarvet put these papers into the hands of Straloch, by whom they were published, with corrections and addi- tions, in the descriptions accompanying Bleau's maps. Sir James made also a sur- vey of Fife, his native county, examining particularly ancient monuments, and the genealogies of the principal families. He afterwards compiled a description of tlie whole kingdom, of which the manuscript was so usefid to Bleau, that he dedicated to our author the map of Lome in his Theatrum ScoticB, and embel- lished it with the arms of Balfour. Zealous in the improvement and knowledge of heraldry, he carefully reviewed, not only the public acts and diplomas of nobility, but the contents of ancient edifices, temples, and palaces, shields and sepulchral monuments. When it had become proper, from his years, to allow the Prince of Wales a separate estab- lishment, an inquiry was ordex'ed concerning the revenues of the hereditary princes, as steward or lords marshaU of Scotland, in which Balfour appears to have taken part, as we find among his manuscripts the following; "The true present state of the principality of Scotland, with the means how the same may he most conveniently increased and augmented ; with which is joined ane sur- vey, and brief notes from the public registers of the kingdoms, of certain infeft- ments and confinnations given to princes of Scotland ; and by them to their vassals of diverse baronies and lands of the principalitie, since the fifteenth year of the reign of Robert III." ROBERT BALFOUR. 115 In the history of this country, he displayed his uncommon industiy in his numerous collection of manuscripts, in the gxeat assemblage of historical works in his own hbraiy, and in his careful inspection of the various manuscripts dis- persed over the kingdom, from which he generally extracted the substance, if he did not wholly transcribe them, foi-ming a general index to such as were useful in Scottish history. He made several abridgments of the Registers of Scone, Cam- buskenneth, and others, and from the works of Major, Boece, Leslie, and Buchan- an, which, in proper order, formed parts of his chronological works, along with relations of important transactions throughout the world. Besides this, he Avi-ote a remarkably concise yet comprehensive history of the kings of Scotland, from Fergus I. to Charles I. He also intended to have enlarged the annals of the Scottish kings from James I. to the beginning of Charles II., of which he had finished the two first James's, on a more diffuse and extensive scale. In other works, he wTote memoirs ot James III., IV., V., of Queen Maiy, and of James VI., and the ti-ansactions of Charles I., brought down to his death. In natural history, he wTOte an alphabetical list of gems, with descriptions, their names and qualities, and the places Avhere they are produced. Another work upon the same subject, written in Latin, exhibited from various authors, an account 01 ingenious inventions or frauds, practised in counterfeiting and imitating precious stones. Sir James concluded an industi'ious, and, it would appear, a most blameless life, in Februaiy, 1657, when he must have been about sixty years of age. He had been four times mamed ; 1st, to Anna Aiton, by whom he had three sons and six daughters, and who died August 26th, 1644; 2nd, to Jean Durham, daughter of the laird of Pitarrow, his own cousin, >vho died without issue only eleven months subsequent to the date of his first wife's death ; 3d, to Mar- garet Ai-not, only daughter of Sir James Arnot of Fernie, by whom he had three sons and three daughters ; 4th, to Janet Auchinleck, daughter of Sir William Auchinleck of Bahnanno, by whom he had two daughters. Yet his family is now extinct in the male line. The Annals and Short Passages of State, above alluded to, were, after neai-ly two centuries of manuscript obscurity, published, in 1824, in 4 volumes 8vo. by Mr James Haig of the Advocates' Library, in which receptacle nearly the whole of the collections of this gi-eat antiquary have found a secui-e resting-place. BALFOUR, Robert, a distinguished philosopher of the seventeenth century, was principal of Guyenne coUege, Bourdeaux, and is mentioned by Morhof as a celebrated commentator on Aristotle. According to Dempster, he was "the Phoenix of his age ; a philosopher profoundly skilled in the Greek and Latin languages ; a mathematician worthy of being compared with the ancients : and to those qualifications he joined a wonderful suavity of manners, and the utmost warmth of affection towards his countrymen." This eminent personage appears to have been one of that numerous class of Scotsmen, who, having gained all their honours in climes more genial to science than Scotland was a few centu- ries ago, are to this day better known abroad than among their o^vn countrymen. According to the fantastic Urquhart, who vrrote in the reign of Charles I., " Most of the Scottish nation, never having astricted themselves so much to the proprieties of words as to the knowledge of things, where there was one precep- tor of languages amongst them, there were above forty professors of philosophy : nay, to so high a pitch did the glory of the Scottish nation attain over all the parts of France, and for so long a time continue in that obtained height, by vir- tue of an ascendant the French conceived the Scots to have above ail nations, in matter of their subtlety in philosophical disceptations, that there hath not been, till of late, for these several ages together, any lord, gentleman, or other, in all that 116 JOHN BALIOL. coiintry, who being desirous to have his son iiistrucled in the principles of phil- osophy, would intrust liini to llio disf.ipline of any other than a Scottish master; of whom they were no less proud than IMiilip was of Aristotle, or 'liiilius of ( ra- tippus. And if it occm-red (as very often it did,) that a pretender to a place in ■my French university, havin<;, in his tenderer years, heen sibferulary to some other kind of sclioolinij, sliouid enter in cctmpetition with another aimin-^ at tlie same charije and diy;iiity, \\h(ise learnini>' flowed from a Caledonian soun^e, com- monly the lirst w;is rejected and tlie other prefcired." It nevertheless appeai-s that Ixobert iialfour prosecuted the study of philology, as well ;is that of philosophy, with consideraljle success. His edition of Cleomedes, published at J5ourdeaux, in 1()05, "■ Latiiie versa, et perpeluo cotninentario iilustrata,'''' is spoken of in (he highest terms of praise by the erudite liarthins. Uther works by Ualfour are, " (ielasii Gyziceni (vonnuentarius Actorum Nidcni Concilii, lioberto Balloreo in- terprete, ICiOl, folio," — " Connuentarius 11. lialforei in Organum Logicum Aris^ totelis, IGK), 4to," — and, " li. Balforei Scoti Conunentariorum in lib. Arist. do Pliilosophia, tomus secundus, 1620, 4to." BiALlOL, John, king of Scotland, was the son of .Tohn de Baliol, of Bernard's Castle in the county of Durham, a man of great opulence, being possessed of tiiirty knights' fees, (equal to Jt 12,000 of modern money.) and who was a steady adherent of Henry HI., in all liis civil wars. The mother of Baliol was Uevor- gilla, one of the three daughters and co-heiresses of Allan, Lord of •ialloway, by Margai'et, eldest daughter of David, Eai-l of Huntingdon, brother of fllalcolm \\. and William the Lion, kings of Scotland. The fn-st of the English family of Baliol was a Norman noble, proprietor of the manors of Baliol, Harcourt, Dam- pat, and Home in France, and who, coming over with the Conqueror, left a son, Guy, whom William Rufus appointed to be Lord of the forest of Teesdale and Marwood, giving him at the same time the lands of Middleton and Guiseford in Northumberland. Guy was the father of Bernard, who built the strong castle on the Tees, called from him Bernard''s Castle. Eustace, son of this noble, was the father of Hugh, who was the father of John dc Baliol,' the father of the king of Scotland. 1 John (le Baliol has distinguislifd himself in English literary history, by foundins; one of the colleges of Oxfoi'd, which still bears his name. As this instiiulion is connected in more ways than one with Scotland, the following a.count of its foundati'jn, from Chalmers' His- tory of Oxford, may be read with interest. " The wealth and ])olitical consequence of John de Baliol were dignified by a love of learning, and a benevolence of disposition, which, about the year 1263 (or 1268, as Wood thinks,) induced him to maintain certain poor scho- lars of Oxford, in number sixteen, by exhibitions, perhaps with a view to some more per- manent establishment, when he should have leisure to mature a plan for that purpose. On his death, in 1269, which appears from this circumstance lo have been sudden, he could only recommend the objects of his bounty to liis lady and his executors, but left no written deed or aulhoritj' : and as what he had formerly given was froni his personal estate, now in other hands, the farther care of his scholars would in all probability iiave ceased, had not his lady been persuaded to fulfil his intention in the must honourable manner, by taking upon herself the future maintenance of them. * * * » The first step which the Jjady Devorgilla took, in providing for the scholars, was to have a house in Horsemonger Lane, afterwards called Canditch (from Candida Fossa) in St Mary Magdalene's parish, and on the site where the present college stands; and being supporied in his design by her hus- band's executors, continued the provision which he allotted. In 1282, she gave them statutes under her seal, and apjjointed Hugh de Harlipoll and William de Menjle as procurators or governors of her scholars. * * * » In 1284., the Lady Devorgilla purchased a tenement of a citizen of Oxford, called Mary's Hall, as a perpetual settlement for tin principal and scholars of the House of Baliol. This edifice, after receiving suitable repairs and additions, was called New Baliol Hall, and their foinier residence then began to re- ceive the name of Old Baliol Hall. The same year, she made over certain lands in the county of Norihumberland, the greater part of which was afterwards lost. The foundation, however, was about this time confirmed by Oliver, bishop of Lincoln, and by the son of the I'oundLr, who was afterwards king of Scotland, and whose consent in tliis matter seems to entitle him to the veneration of the society. » • • » fj^g revenues of the col- lege were at fwst small, yielding onl}' eight-pence per week to each scholar, or twenty-seven JOHN BALIOL. 117 The circumstances which led to the appearance of John Baliol in Scottish his- tory, may be thus briefly narrated. By the death of Alexander the third, the crown of Scotland devolved on the Maiden of Norway, Margaret, the only child of Alexander's daughter, late Queen of Norway. As she was only three years ot age, and residing in foreign parts, the convention of estates made choice of six noblemen to be regents of the kingdom during her absence or minority ; but dissensions soon arising among them, Eric, Icing of Norway, interposed, and sent plenipotentiaries to treat with Edward king of England, concerning the affairs of the infant Queen and her kingdom. Edward had already formed a scheme for uniting England and Scotland, by the man-iage of his eldest son with Mar- garet, and, accordingly, after holding conferences at Salisbury, he sent an em- bassy to the parliament of Scotland, on the 18th of July, 1290, with full powers to treat of this projected alliance. 'The views of Edward were cheerfully met by the pai-liament of Scotland : a treaty was drawn out honoui-able to both parties, in which — to guard against any danger that might arise from so strict an alli- ance with such a powerful and ambitious neighbour — the freedom and indepen- dency of Scotland were fully acknowledged and secured ; and commissionex's were despatched to Norway to conduct the young Queen into her dominions. But this fau' hope of lasting peace and union was at once overthrown by the death of the princess on her passage to Britain ; and the croAvn of Scotland be- came a bone of contention between vai-ious competitors, the chief of whom were, John Baliol, lord of Galloway, Robert Bruce, lord of Annandale, and John Has- tings, lord of Abergavenny. In order to understand the grounds of their seve- ral claims, it will be necessary to trace briefly their genealogy. On the death of the Maiden of Norway, Alexander's grandchild, the crown of Scotland devolved upon the posterity of David, earl of Huntington, younger bro- ther, as already mentioned, of the kings Blalcolm and William. David left three daughters, Margaret, Isabella, and Ada, JMargaret, the eldest daughter, married Allan, lord of (ialloway, by whom she had an only daughter, Devorgilla, maiTied to John Baliol, by whom she had John Baliol, the subject of this article, who, therefore, was gi-eat-grandson to David Earl of Huntington, by his eldest daugh- ter. Isabella, the second daughter of David, maiTied Robert Bruce, by whom she had Robert Bruce, the competitor — who, therefore, Avas grandson to the Earl of Huntington, by his second daughter. Ada, youngest daughter of David, married John Hastings, by whom she had John Hastings — who, therefore, Avas grandson to David, by his third daughter. Hastings could have no claim to the crown, while the posterity of David's elder daughtei's were in being; but he in- sisted that the kingdom should be divided into three pai-ts, and that he should inherit one of them. As, however, the kingdom was declared indivisible, his pretensions were excluded, and tiie difficulty of the question lay bet iveen the two great competitors Baliol and Bruce, — whether the more remote by one degree, descended from the eldest daughter, or the nearer by one degree, descended from the second daughter, had the better title ? The divided state of the national mind as to the succession presented a fa- vourable opportunity to the ambitious monarch of England for executing a design which he had long cherished against the independence of Scotland, by renewing the unfounded claim of the feudal superiority of England over it. It has been pounds nine shillings and foiirpence for the whole per annum, which was soon found insuf- ficient. A number of benefactors, however, promoted the purposes of the founder, by en- riching the establishment with gifts of land, money, and church-livings.'' Mr Chalmers also mentions, that in 1340 a new set of statutes for the college, received, amonsst olher confirmatory seals, that of '• Edward Baliol, king of Scotland,'' namely, the grandson of the founder. The seal attached by Devorgilla to the original statutes contains a portrait of her. She died in 1289. 118 JOHN BALIOL. generally sii]ii>oso(l. Iliat lie was chosen arbitrator l»y tlio re-fents and states of Scotland in tlu" conipelilion tor the crown; but it appeai-s that liis interference was solicited i)y a few only of the Scottish nobles who were in liis own interest. Assunnni-- this, however, as the call of the nation, and collectin;r an anny to sup- port his inifjiiitoiis pretensions, he requested the nobility and clerc^y of Scotland, and the competitors for the crown, to meet him at Norham within the English territories. There, after many professions of good-will and affection to Scot- land, he claimed a right of Lord Paramount over it, and recjiiired that this right should be innnediately recognized. The Scots were struck with amazement at this unexpected demand ; but, feeling themselves entirely in his power, could only request time for the consideration of his claim. Another meeting was fixed upon ; and during the interval, he employed every method to strengthen his party in Scotland, and by threats and promises to bring as many as possible to acknowledge his superiority. His purpose was greatly forwarded by the mu- tual distrusts and jealousies that existed among the Scots, and by the time-serv- ing ambition of the competitors, who were now multiplied to the number of thir- teen— some, probably, stirred up to perplex the question, and others, perhaps, prompted by vanity. On the day appointed (2d June, 1291) in a plain opposite to the castle of Norham, the superiority of the crown of England over the crown of Scotland was fully acknowledged by all the competitors for the latter, as well as by many barons and prelates ; and thus Edward gained the object on which his heart had been long set, by conduct disgi-aceful to himself as it was to those who had the government and guardianship of Scotland in keeping. All the royal castles and places of strength in the country were put into his hands, under the security that he should make full restitution in two months from the date of his award, and with the ostensible reason that he might have a Idngdom to bestow on the pei-son to whom it should be adjudged. Having thus obtained his wish, he proceeded to take some steps towards determining the claim of the competi- tors. Commissioners were appointed to meet at Berwick ; and after various deliberations, the crown was finally adjudged to John Baliol, on the 19th of November, l"29-2, and next day Baliol swcre fealty to Edward at Norham. Baliol was crowned at Scone shortly after ; but, that he might not forget his dependancy, Edward recalled him into England, immediately after his coronation, and made him renew his homage and fealty at Newcastle. He was soon loaded with fresh indignities. In the coui-se of a year he received no fewer than six citations to appear before Edward in the English parliament, to answer private and unimportant complaints which were preferred against him by his subjects. Although led by an insidious policy, and his own ambition, into the most humiliating concessions, Baliol seems not to have been destitute of spirit, or to have received without resentment the indignities laid upon him. In one of the causes befoi'e the parliament of England, being asked for his defence — " I am king of Scotland," he said, "I dare not make answer Iiere without the. advice of my people." " What means this refusal," said Eduai'd, " you are my liegeman ; you have done hora.age to me ; you are here in consequence of my summons!" Baliol replied with firmness, " In matters which respect my king- dom, I neither dare nor shall answer in this place, without the advice of my people." Edward requested that he would ask a delay for the consideration of the question ; but Baliol, perceiving that his so doing would be construed into an acknowledgment of the jurisdiction of the English parliament, refused. In the meantime, a war breaking out between France and England, Baliol seized upon it as a favourable opportunity for shaking off a yoke that had be- come intolerable. He negotiated a treaty with Philip, the French king, on the 2.3d October, 1295, by Avhich it was agreed to assist one another against their JOHN BALIOL. ' j^g common enemy the king of England, and not to conclude any separate peace. At the same time, Baliol solemnly renounced his allegiance to Edward, and re- ceived Irora the Pope an absolution from the oaths of fealty which he had s^vonl. The grounds of his renunciation were these — That Edward had wantonly and upon slight suggestions summoned him to his courts ; — that he had seized his English estates, his goods, and the goods of his subjects ; — that he had foi-cibly carried off and stiU retained certain natives of Scotland ; — and that, when remon- sti-ances were made, instead of redressing, he had continually aggravated these injuries. Edward is said to have received Baliol's I'enunciation with more con- tempt than anger. " The foolish traitor," he exclaimed, " since he will not come to us, we will go to him." He accordingly raised a large army ; and, sending his brother into France, resolved himself, in person, to make a total con- quest of Scotland. While Edward advanced towards Beruick, a small army of Scots broke into Northumberland and Cumberland, and plundered the country. The castle ol Werk was taken ; and a thousand men, whom Edward sent to preserve it, falling into an ambush, were slain. An English squadron, also, which blocked up Ber- wick by sea, was defeated, and sixteen of their ships sunk. But these partial successes were followed by fatal losses. The king of England was a brave and skilful general ; he conducted a powerful army against a weak and dispirited nation, headed by an unpopular prince, and distracted by party animosities. His eventual success was, therefore, as complete as might have been anticipated. He crossed the Tweed at Coldstream, took Berwick, and put all the garrison and inhabitants to the sword. The castle of Roxburgh was delivered into his hands ; and he hastened Warenne Eai-1 of Surrey forward to besiege Dunbar. Warenne was there met by the Scots army, who, abandoning the advantage or their situation, poured down tumultuously on the English, and were repulsed with terrible slaughter. After this defeat, the castles of Dunbar, Edinburgh, and Stirling, fell into Edward's hands, and he was soon in possession of the whole of the south of Scotland. Baliol, who had retired beyond the i-iver Tay, with the shattered remains of his army, despairing of making any effectual resistance, sent messengers to im- plore the mercy of Edward. The haughty Plantagenet communicated the hard tenus upon which alone he might hope for Avhat he asked ; namely, an unqua- lified aclvnowledgment of his " unjust and wcked rebellion," and an unconditional surrender of himself and his kingdom into the hands of his master. Baliol, whose life presents a strange variety of magnanimous efforts and humiliating self-abasements, consented to these conditions ; and the ceremony of his degi-a- dation accordingly took place, July 2, 1296, in the church-yard of Stracathro, a village near Montrose. Led by force and in fear of his life, into the presence of the Bishop of Durham and the English nobles, mounted on a soiTy horse, he was first commanded to dismount ; and his treason being proclaimed, they pro- ceeded to strip him of his royal ornaments. The crown A\as snatched from his head ; the ennine torn from his mantle, the sceptre wrested from his hand, and eveiy thing removed from him belonging to the state and dignity of a king. Dressed only in his shirt and drawers, and holding a white rod in his hand, after the fashion of penitents, he confessed that, by evil and false counsel, and thi-ough his own simplicity, he had gi-ievously offended his liege lord, recapitu- lated aU the late transactions, and acknowledged himself to be deservedly de- prived of his kingdom. He then absolved his people from their allegiance, and signed a deed resigning his sovereignty over them into tlie hands of king Ed- ward, giving his eldest son as a hostage for his fidelity. The acknowledgment of an English paramountcy has at all times been so dis- 120 JOHN BALIOL. a>Xreeal)le to tlie S<;()ttisli |M>o|)k', mid tlie <'.in',imistaiices of tliis rcnimriation of the kiii^^dom are so cxIrcMiiely liiiiiiiliatinij; to national pride, tliat John lialiol lias been ever sini;c lioid in liatrod and conteinut, and is scarcely allowed a place in tlie ordinary rolU of the Scottish monarchs. It must be said, however, in his defence, that his fust acknowlcdijnient of the pai-amonnti^y was no more than what bis rival Hriice and the i;realcr part of the nobles of the kinn^dom were also efnilty of; while he is certainly entitled to some credit for his etforta to sliake otf the yoke, however inade(|uate his means were for doing- so, or whatever ill fortune he experienced in the attempt. In liis deposition, notwith- standing some equivocal circumstances in his subsequent history, he must bo looked upon as only the victim of an overwhelming force. The history of .Jolin Baliol after his deposition is not in general treated with much minuteness by the Scottish historians, all of whom seem to have Mished to close their eyes as much as possible to the whole affair of the resignation, and endeavoured to forget that the principal personage concerned in it had ever been king of Scotland. This histoi-y, however, is curious. The discrowned monarch and his son were immediately transmitted, along Avith the stone of Scone, the records of the kingdom, and all other memorials of the national in- dependence to London, where the two unfortunate princes were coimnitted to a kind of honourable captivity in tlie Tower. Though the counti-y was reduced by the English army, several insun-ections which broke out in the subsequent year showed that the hearts of the people were as yet unsubdued. These insur- gents invariably rose in the name of the deposed king John, and avowed a resolution to submit to no other authority. It is also worth remarking, as a circumstance favourable to the claims and character of Baliol, that he was still acknowledged by the Pope, the King of France, and other continental princes. When AVallace I'ose to unite all the discontented spirits of the kingdom in one gi-and effort against the English yoke, he avowed himself as only the governor of the kingdom in name of King John, and there is a charter still extant, to which the hero appended the seal of Baliol, which seems, by some chance, to have fallen into his hands. The illustrious knight of Elderslie, throughout the whole of his career, acknowledged no other sovereign than Baliol ; and, what is perhaps more remarkable, the father of Robert Bruce, who had foi-merly asserted a superior title to the crown, and whose son afterwards displaced the Baliol dynasty, appeared in arms against Edward in favour of King John, and in his name concluded several truces with the English officers. There is extant a deed executed on the 13th of November, 1299, by William, Bishop of St Andrews, Robert Bruce, Earl of Can-ick, and John Comyn the younger, styling themselves guardians of the kingdom of Scotland ; in which they petition King Edward for a cessation of hostilities, in order, as they afterwards expressed themselves, that they might live as peaceable subjects under their sovereign King John. There is, however, no reason to suppose, that these proceedings wei'e in ac- cordance with any secret instructions from Baliol, who, if not glad to get quit of his uneasy sovereignty, at the time he resigned it, at least seems to have afterwards entertained no wish for its recoveiy. A considerable time be- fore his insurgent representatives made the above declaration in his behalf, he is found executing a deed of the following tenor: " In the name of God, Amen. In the year 1298, on the 1st of April, in the house of the reverend father, Anthony, Bishop of Durham, without London. The said Bishop discoursing of the state and condition of the kingdom of Scotland, and of the inhabitants of the said kingdom, before the noble lord John Baliol ; the said John, of his own proper motion, in the presence of us, the Notary, and the subscribing witnesses, amoi gst other things, said and delivered in the French tongue to this effect, that EDWAKU iJALlOL. 121 is to sny, that v,hile he, tlie said realm of Scotland, as King and Lord thereof, lield and governed, he had found in the people of the said kingdom so much malice, fraud, treason, and deceit, that, for their malignity, wickedness, treachery, and other detestable facts, and for that, as he had thoroughly understood, they had, while their prince, contrived to poison him, it was his intention never to go or enter into the said kingdom of Scotland for the future, or Avith the said king- dom or its concerns, either by himself or others, to intermeddle, nor for the rea- sons aforesaid, and many others, to have any thing to do with the Scots. At the same time, the said John desired the said Bishop of Durham, that he would acquaint the most magnificent prince, and his Lord, Edward, the most illustrious king of England, with his intention, will, and finn resolution in this respect. This act was signed and sealed by the public notary, in the presence of the Bishop of Durham aforesaid, and of Ralph de Sandwich, constable of the Tower of London, and others, who heard this discourse."' AVe regTCt for the honour of Scotland, that, excepting the date of this shame- ful libel, there is no other reason for supposing it to be dictated in an insincei'e spirit. Baliol now appears to have really entertained no higher wish than to regain his personal liberty, and be permitted to spend the rest of his days in retirement. Accordingly, having at last convinced King Edward of his sinceri- ty, he and his son were delivered, on the 20th of July, 1299, to the Pope's le- gate, the Bishop of Vicenza, by Avhom they were transported to France. The unfortunate Baliol lived there upon his ample estates, till the year 1314, Avhen he died at his seat of Castle Galliard, aged about fifty-five years. Though thus by no means advanced in life, he is said to have been afflicted with many of the infimiities of old age, among which was an entire deprivation of sight. Baliol, Edward. King John Baliol had two sons, Edward and Henry. The former seems entitled to some notice in this work, on account of his vigo- rous, though eventually unsuccessful attempt to regain the crown lost by his fa- ther. When King John entered into the treaty with the King of France, in 1295, it was stipulated in the fii-st article that his son Edward should maiTy the daughter of Charles of Valois, niece to the French monarch, receiving with her twenty-five thousand livres de Tournois cuirent money, and assigning to her, as a dowry, one thousand five hundred pounds sterling of yearly rent, of which ore thousand should be paid out of King John's lands of Baliol, Dampier, Helicourt, and de Hornay, in France, and five hundred out of those of Lanark, Cadiou, Cunningham,- Haddington, and the Castle of Dundee, in Scotland. This young prince accompanied his father in his captivity in the Tower, and was subse- quently carried with him to France. After the death of John Baliol, Edward quietly succeeded to the French family estates, upon which he lived unno- ticed till 1324, when Edward II. conmianded that he should be brought over to England, apparently for the purpose of being held up as a rival to Robert Bruce. Whether he now visited England or not is uncertain ; but it would rather appear that he did not, as, in 1326, he was invited by Edward III. for the same purpose. At this time, the English monarch was endeavouring to secure a peace with the King of Scots, but at the same time held himself pre- pared for war by mustering his barons at Newcastle. He seems to have thought that a threat of taking Baliol under his pati-onage was apt to quicken the de- sires of the Scots for an accommodation. Nevertheless, in the summer of this 1 Prjnne's CoUtctions, iii. 665. 2 " Jehu Baliol is known to have possessed in Cunningham the following lands : Largs, Noddesdale, tsouthannan. Dairy, Giffin, Cumsheuch, Dreghorn, the great barony of Kil- tnarnoek, together with Bondinton and Hart.shaw ; extending in all to about 1,9,900 Scuts of valued rent, or about LIS.OOO real rent at present.''— JRuSer/so/t';. Ji/rshire Families. J 22 EDWARD BALIOL. year, iIk* Scots inatlc !i hold an*! siicccssfiil iiinirsioii into MniilaiKl, under Ran- dolpli and l)ou<>las, and Klwj; I'.dward was oldi.j^«Ml, April l.'J-JS, to consent to the treaty of Norlhanii>ton, >\liich arkno«levho .also issued two diil'erent periodical works, written chieliy by Sir ^^ al- ter Scott, entitled respectively the Visionary and the Sale-room, of wliich the litter had a reference to one branch of 3Ir Ballantyne's trade. It is also wor- thy of notice, that the large edition of the works of Beaumont and Fletcher, which appeared under the name of Mr Henry Weber as editor, and which, we may pre- sume to say, reflects no inconsiderable credit upon the Scottish press, Avas an en- enterprise undertaken at the suggestion and risk of this spirited publisher. 3Ir Ballantyne himself made one incursion into the field of letters : he was the author of a tolerably sprightly novel in two thin duodecimos, styled, " The Widow's Lodgings," which reached a second edition, and by which, as he used to boast in a jocular manner, he made no less a sum than thirty pounds ! . It was not, however, as an author that Mr Ballantyne ciiiefly shone — his forte was story-telling. As a conleiir, lie was allowed to be unrivalled by any known contemporary. Possessing an infinite fund of ludicrous and charac- teristic anecdote, which he could set off with a humoiu* endJess in the variety of its shades and tones, he was entirely one of those beings who seem to have been designed by nature for the task, now abrogated, of enlivening tlie formalities and alleviating the cai'es of a court : he was Yorick revived. After pureuing a la- borious and successful business for several ye\-ith the reign of James 1., is rather a paraphrase than a litei-al translation of Boece, and possesses in several respects the character of an original work. 3Iany of the historical eiToi-s of the latter are corrected — not a few of his redundancies re- trenched— and his more glaring omissions supplied. Several passages in the work are highly elegant, and some descriptions of particular incidents i-each to something nearly akin to the sublime. 3Iany of the works of Ballenden are lost — among others a tract on the Pythagoric letter, and a discourse upon Vir- tue and Pleasure. He also wrote many political pieces, the most of which are lost. Those which have reached us are principally Proems prefixed to his prose works, a species of composition not apt to bring out the better qualities of a poet ; yet they exhibit the workings of a rich and luxuriant fancy, and abound in lively sallies of the imagination. They are generally allegorical, and distin- guished rather by incidental beauties, than by the skilful structure of the fable. The stoiy, indeed, is often dull, the allusions obscui-e, and the general scope of the piece unintelligible. These faults, however, are pretty general characteris- tics of allegorical poets, and they are atoned for, in him, by the sti-iking thoughts and the charming descriptions in which he abounds, and whicli, " like thi-eds of gold, the i-ich arras, beautify his works quite thorow." BALNAVES, Henry, of Halhill, an eminent lay reformer, and also a prose- \vi"iter of some eminence, was born of poor parents in the town of Kirkaldy. After an acadenucal coui-se at St Andrews, he travelled to the continent, and, hearing of a fi"ee school in Cologne, procured admission to it, and received a li beral education, together with instruction in protestant principles. Returning to his native country, he applied himself to the study of la\v, and acted for some time as a procurator at St Andrews. In the year 1538, he was appointed by James V. a senator of the college of Justice, a court only instituted five years be- fore. Notmthstanding the jealousy of the clergy, who hated him on account of his religious sentiments, he was employed on important embassies by James V., and subsequently by the governor Arran, during the first part of whose regency he acted as secretary of state. Having at length made an open profession of the Protestant religion, he was, at the instigation of AiTan's brother, the Abbot of 128 HENRY BALNAVES. Paisley, dismissed from (li;it silnatioii. lie now appears to have entered into llio interests of tlie Jumlisli party a^jainst llio govenutr, and accordingly, with tlia Earl of Hothes and l.onl (iray, w.us thrown into iJiac^kness Castle (November 151..3), where he probably remained till relieved next year, on the appearance o/ the English lleetin the l''irth of I'oitli. There is mn
  • as not early engaged in business. But Jiis supposition seems only to rest on an uiicertaiii inference from a passage in George Bannat3'ne's " Memoriall Buik," where it i.= mentioned that Katharine Taihiefer, at her death in 1570, left behind her eleven children, of ^vhom eight were as yet "unput to protieit.'' On a careful inspection of the family no- tices in this " memoriiill buik," it appears as likely that George himself was one of those already '■ jjut to protieit " as otherwise, more especially considering that he was then twenty- Hve years of age. i. r 130 GEORGE BANNATYNE. tain at what time he ho-raii to he en«jaired in business on his own account, or wlictlier lit' spent liis yoiitli in imsiness or not. Jinl<,'^in5, iiowever, as the world is apt to judjje, we should suppose, from his taste for poetry, and his having been a writer of verses himself, that lie was at least no zealous applicant to any com- mcn^ial piii-siiit. Two poems of his, written before the ajre of twenty-three, are full of ardent ihouirh con(XMtc GEORGE BANNATYNE. 131 " In the reign of James IV. and V., the fine arts, as they awakened in other countries, made some progi'ess in Scotland also. Architecture and music were encouraged by botli of those accomplished sovereigns ; and poetry above all, seems to have been highly valued at the Scottish court. The King of Scotland, who, in point of power, seems to have been little more than the fii'st baron of his Idngdom, held a free and merry court, in which poetry and satire seem to have had unlimited range, even where their shafts glanced on royalty itself. The consequence of this general encouragement was the pi-oduction of much poetry of various kinds, and concerning various persons, which the naiTow exer- tions of the Scottish press could not convey to the public, or which, if printed at all, existed only in limited editions, which soon sunk to the rarity of manu- scripts. There was therefore an ample mine out of which Bannatyne made his compilation, with the intention, doubtless, of putting the Lays of the Makers out of the reach of oblivion, by subjecting the collection to the press. But the bloody wars of Queen Mary's time '' made that no period for literai-y adventure ; and the tendency of the subsequent age to polemical discussion, discouraged lighter and gayer studies. There is, therefore, little doubt, that had Bannatyne lived later than he did, or had he been a man of less taste in selecting his materials, a great proportion of the poetry contained in his volume must have been lost to posterity ; and, if the stock of northern literature had been diminished only by the loss of such of Dunbar's pieces as Bannatyne's Manuscript contains, the da- mage to posterity Avould have been infinite." The pestilence Avhich caused Bannatyne to go into retirement, commenced at Edinbui-gh upon the 8th of September, 1568, being introduced by a merchant of the name of Dalgleish. We have, however, no evidence to prove that Ban- natyne resided at tjiis time in the capital. We know, from his own infoi-ma- tion, that he wrote his manuscript dui-ing the subsequent months of October, November, and December ; which might almost seem to imply that he had lived in some other to^vn, to \vhich the pestilence only extended at the end of the month in which it appeared in Edinburgh. Leaving this in uncei'tainty, it is not perhaps too much to suppose that he might have adopted this means of spending his time of seclusion, from the fictitious example held out by Boccacio, who represents the tales of his Decameron as having been told lor mutual amuse- ment, by a company of persons who had retired to the countiy to escape the plague. A person so eminently acquainted with the poetry of his own counti^y, might well be familiar with the kindi-ed work of that illustrious Italian. The few remaining facts of George Bannatyne's life, which have been gathered up by the industry of Sir Walter Scott, may be briefly related. In 1572, he was provided with a tenement in the town of Leith, by a gift from his father. This would seem to imply that he was henceforward, at least, engaged in busi- ness, and resided either in Edinburgh or at its neighbouring port. It was not, how- ever, till the 27th of October, 1587, that, being then in his forty-third yeai', he was admitted in due and competent form to the privileges of a merchant and guild-brother of the city of Edinburgh. " We have no means of knowing what branch of trafiic George Bannatyne chiefly exercised ; it is probable that, as usual in a Scottish burgh, his connnerce was general and miscellaneous. We pages in the careful and intricate style of ealigraphy then practised, appears a suffidenttask in itself for three months, without supposing that any part of the time was spent in collect- ing miinuscripts. And hence we see the greater reason for supposing that a large part of the aUention of George Bannatyne before his twenty-third year was devoted to Scottish poetry. 3 The accomplished writer should rather have said, the minority of James VL, whose reign had commenced before the manuscript was written. 132 GKOKGE BANNATYNE. fiave reason to know that, it was successful, ns we fiiul him in a few years yua- sessed of a considi'ral)lf c^ipital, the time l)ein;f consiih-red, whidi he emjdoyed to advantaije in various money-lending' transactions. It must iu>t he iori^ol that t!ie penal laws of the C ntholic period pronoiuued all direct takinsj ot interest upon money, to he usurious and illejial. 'i'hcse demnicialions did not decic.'ise the desiix' of the wealthy to derive some prolil from liieir ciipital, or rrect selection from the Bannatyne Manuscript ; and the venerable tome was, JOHN BARBOUR. I33 ill 1772, by the liberality of John, third Earl of Hyiidford, deposited in the Advocates' Library at Edinburgh, where it still remains. We have already alluded to George Bannatyne as a poet ; and it remains to be shown in what degree he was entitled to that designation. To tell the truth, his verses display little, in thought or imagery, that could be expected to interest the present generation ; neither was he perhaps a versifier of great repute, even in his own time. He seems to have belonged to a class very numerous in pri- vate life, who are eminently capable of enjoying poetry, and possess, to appear- ance, all the sensibilities which are necessary to its production ; but, wanting the active or creative power, rarely yield to the temptation of writing verse, without a signal defeat. Such persons, of >vhom George Bannatyne was certainly one, may be said to have negative, but not positive poetry. As it seems but fair, however, that he who has done so much to bring the poetry of others before the world, should not have his own altogether confined to the solitude of manuscript, or the unobvious print of his own bibliographical society, we subjoin a specimen from one of the very few pieces which have come down to our own time. The verses which follo\v are the quaint, but characteristic conclusion of a sonnet to his mistress' eyebrow. It is ludicrous ta observe theology pressed by the ve- nerable rhymester into the service of love. " Na thing of rycht I ask, my Lady fair, Bot of fre will and mercy me to saif ; Your will is your awin, as ressoun wald it ware, Thairfoir of grace, .ind nocht of rycht I craif Of you mercy, as ye wald mercy haif Off God our Lord, quhois iitercyis iafeneit Gois befoire all his workis, we may persaif, To thame quhois handis with raarcy ar repleit. Now to conclude with wordis compendious ; Wald God my tong wald to vn.y will respond, And eik my speich was so facundious, That I was full of rethore termys jocond ! Than suld my lufe at moir length be exponed, Than my cunnying can to you heir declair ; For this my style inornetly compond, Kschangs my pen your eiris to truble mair. Go to my deir with humm'll reverence. Thou bony bill, both rude and imperfej'te ; Go, nocht will forgit flattery to her presence. As is of falset the custome use and ryte ; Gauss me nocht Ban that evir I the indyte. Na tyne my travell, turning all in vane ; Bot with ane faithfall liairt, in word and wryte, Declair my mind and bring me joy agane. My name quha list to knaw, let him tak tent Vnto this littill verse nixt presedent." It only remains to be mentioned that the name of George Bannatyne has been appropriately adopted by a company of Scottish literary antiquaries, interested, like him, in the presei'vation of such curious memorials of the taste of past ages, as well as such monuments of history, as might otherwise run the hazard of total perdition. BARBOUR, John, a name of which Scotland has just occasion to be proud, was jVi'chdeacon of Aberdeen in the later part of the fourteenth century. There 134 JOHN BARBOUR. lias been much idle controversy as to the date of liis birth : uliile all that i.^ known witli liisloric certainty, may hv related in a single scnteni;e. As he was an ai-chdeacon in l.'}57, and as, by the «:.uion law, no man, without a disjtensa- tion, cm att^iin tliat rank under the aije of twenty-live, he w;is jirobably born be- fore the year 13^2. There is considerable j»rol)ai>ilily that ho was al)ove the aije of twenty-fne in 1.357, for not only is that date not mentioned ;is the year of liis attainhifj the rank of archdeacon, but in the same year he is found exer- cisinj;;' a very import^mt political trust, wliich wa can scarcely suppose to have been contided to a man of slender age, or sc;inty experience. This ^vas the duly of a connnissioner from the Dishop of Aberdeen, to meet with other (;ommissionei-s at Edinburgh, concerning the ransom of David II., who was then a prisoner in England. As to the parentage or bh-th-place of Barbour, \ve have only similar conjec- tures. Besides the probability of his having been a native of the district in which lie afterwards obtained higli cleric.il rank, it can be shown that there were individuals of his name, in and abotit the town of Aberdeen, who might have been his father. Thus, in 130y, Hobert Bruce granted a charter to Robert Bar- bour, " of the lands of Craigie, within the shii-efdom of Forfar, (juhilk sumtyme were Joannis de Baliolo." There is also mention, in the Index of Charters, of a tenement in the Castle-street of Aberdeen, which, at a period remotely antecedent to 1360, belonged to Andrew Barbour. The name, which appears to have been one of that numerous (;lass derived from trades, is also found in per- sons of the same ei'a, who were connected with the southern parts of Scotland. In attempting the biography of an individual who lived four or five centuries ago, and whose life was commemorated by no contemporary, all that can be ex- pected is a few unconnected, and perhaps not very interesting facts. It is abeady established that Bai-bour, in 1357, was Archdeacon of the cathe(b'al of Aberdeen, and fulfilled a high trust imposed upon him by liis bishop. It is equally ascertained that, in tlie same year, he travelled, with three scholars in his company, to Oxford, for purposes connected with study. A safe-conduct granted to him by Edward 111., August 23d, at the request of David 11., conveys this information in the following teniis : " Veniendo, cum tribus scholaribus in coraitiva sua, in regnuni nostrum Anglise, causa studendi in universitate Oxonias et ibidem actus scholasticos exercendo, niorando, exinde in Scotiara ad propria redeundo." It might have been supposed that Barbour only officiated in this expedition as tutor to the three scholars ; but that he was himself bent on study at the univef^ity, is proved by a second safe-conduct, gi-antedby the same mon- arch, November fith, 1364, in the following terms : "To blaster John Barbour, Ai'chdeacon of Aberdeen, \vith foui* knights {equites), coming from Scotland, by land or sea, into England, to study at Oxford, or elsewhere, as he may think proper." j\s also from a third, bearing date November 30th, 1368, "To Master .John Barbour, with two valets and two horses, to come into Eng- land, and travel through the same, to the other dominions of the king, versus Franciam, causa studlendi, and of returning again." It would thus appear that Barbour, even after that he had attained a high ecclesiastical dignity, found it agreeable or necessary to spend several winters at Oxford in study. When we recollect that at this time there Avas no university in Scotland, and that a man of such literary habits as Barbour could not fail to find himself at a loss even for the use of a library in his native couiitiy, Ave are not to wonder at his occasional pilgrimages to the illustrious shrine of learning on the banks of the Isis. Or the 16th of October, 1635, he received another safe-conduct from Edward III., peimitting him '• to come into England and travel throughout that kingdom, cum sex sociis siiis equitibus, usque Sanctum Dionisium :" i. e. with six knights JOHN BARBOUR. I35 in company, to St Denis in France. Such slight notices suggest curious and in- teresting views of the manners of that early time. We are to understand fi-om them, that Barbour always travelled in a very dignified manner, being sometimes attended by four knights and sometimes by no fewer than six, or at least, by two mounted servants. A man accustomed to such state might be the better able to compose a chivalrous epic like " the Bruce." There is no other authentic document regarding Barboui- till the year 1373, when his name appears in the list of Auditors of Exchequer for that year, being then described as " Clericus Probationis domus domini nostri Regis ;" i. e. ap- parently— Auditor of the comptroller's accounts for the royal household. This, however, is too obscure and solitai-y an authority to enable us to conclude that he bore an office under the king. Hume of Godscroft, speaking of " the Bruce's book," says : " As I am infonned, the book was penned by a man of good know- ledge and learning, named Master John Barbour, Ai-chdeacon of Aberdeene, foi which work he had a yearly pension out of the exchequer during his life, which lie gave to the hospitall of that towne, and to which it is allowed and paid still in our dayes."' This fact, that a pension was given him for ^^Titing his book, is authenticated by an unquestionable document. In the Rotuli Ballivorum Bur- gi de Aberdonia for 1471, the enti-y of the discharge for this royal donation bears that it was expressly given " for the compilation of the book of the Deeds of King Robert the First," referring to a prior statement of this circumstance in the more ancient rolls : — " Et Decano et Capitulo Abirdonensi percipient! an- nuatim viginti solidos pro anniversario quondam Magistri Johannis Barberi, pro compilatione libri gestorum Regis Roberti primi, ut patet in antiquis Rotuhs de anno Compoti, xx. s." Tlie first notice we have of Barbour i-eceiving a pension is dated February 1 Sth, 1390; and although this period was only about two months before the death of Robert the Second, it appeai-s from the rolls that to that monarch the poet was indebted for the favour. In the roll for April 26th, 1398, this language occurs: — " Quam recolendie memorie quondam dominus Robertus secundus, rex Scottorum, dedit, concessit, et carta sua confirmavit quon- dam Johanni Barbere archediacono Aberdonensi," &c. — In the roll dated Juno 2d, 1424, the words are these : — " Decano et capitulo ecclesire cathedralis Aber- donensis percipientibus annuatim viginti solidos de firmis dicti burgi pro anni- versario quondam magistri Johannis Barbar pro compilacione libri de gestis Regis Roberti Brwise, ex concessione regis Roberti secundi, in plenam solucionem dicte pensionis," &c. Barbour's pension consisted of j£10 Scots from the cus- toms of Aberdeen, and of 20 shillings from the rents or buiTow-mails of the same city. The first sum Avas limited to " the life of Barbour ;" the other to " his assignees whomsoever, although he should have assigned it in the way of mortification." Hume of Godscroft and others are in a mistake in supposing that he appropriated this sum to an hospital (for it appears from t]ie accounts of the gTeat chamberlain that he left it to the chapter of the cathedral church of Aberdeen, for the express purpose of having mass said for his soul annually after his decease : " That the dean and canons of Aberdeen, for the time being, also the chapter and other ministers officiating at the same time in the said chm'ch, shall annually for ever solemnly celebrate once in the year an anniver- sary for the soul of the said umquhile John." Barbour's anniversaiy, it is supposed continued till the reformation ; and then the sum allowed for it reverted to the crown. All that is further known of Barbcur is, that he died towards the close of 1 395. This appears from the Chartulary of Aberdeen, and it is the last year in which the payment of his pension of jElO stands on the record. ' History of the Douglasses. 156 JOHN BARBOUIl. "The Hi'iice," which Harhour himself iiifoniis us lie wrolc in tlie year 1375. is a mctric;il liistory ot" luihurl llio I'ii-st — his cxerlions and achicveiueiits for tht- recovery of the iiKh-peiuh-iice »»f Scotland, and tiie i»rinc,i[»al transactions of liis reign. As IJarboiir tloiirisiied in the a;rc iMnu(i, 13. ' Article BARbouR, written by Dr Irving, in Encyclopeiiia Britannica, 7th edition. ALEXANDEll BARCLAY. 139 The king has hard a woman cry ; He askyt quhat that wes in hy. " It is the layndar, Schyr," said ane, " That her child-ill rycht now has taiie, " And mon leve now behind ws her; " Tharfor scho makys yone iwill cher." The king said, " Certis it war pite " 'I'hat scho in that poynt left suld be ; *' For certis I trow thar is na man " That be ne will rew a woman than." Hiss ost all thar arestyt he, And gert a tent sone stentit be, And gert hyr gang in haslilj', And othyr wemen to be hyr by, Quliill scho wes delier, he bad, And S3'ne furth on his wayis raid : And how scho furth suld cary it be, Or euir he furth fur, ordanyt he. This wes a full gret curtasy, That swilk a king, and sa mighty, Gert his men duell on this maner Bot for a pouir lauender. No one cnn fail to remark that, while the incident is in the highest degiee hon- ourable to Bruce, sho^ving- that the gentle heart may still be known by gentle deed, so also is Harbour entitled to the credit of humane feelings, from tlie way in which he had detailed and commented upon the transaction. Barbour was the author of another considerable work, whicli has unfortunately perished. 'I'his was a chronicle of Scottish history, probably in the manner of that by Andrew Winton. BARCLAY, Alexander, a distinguished Avriter of the English tongue at the beginning of the sixteentli centuiy, is known to have been a native of Scotland only by very obscure evidence. He spent some of his earliest yeai-s at Croydon, in Surrey, and it is conjectured that lie i-eceived his education at one of the English Universities. In the year 1508, he was a prebendaiy of the collegiate church of St Mary, at Ottei-y, in Devonshii-e. He was after\vards a IHonk, first of the order of St Benedict at Ely, and latterly of the order of St Francis at Canterbury. While in this situation, and having the degree of Doctor of Divi, nily, he published an English translation of the " Mirrour of Good Mannei's," (a treatise ctsmpiled in Latin by Dominyke Alancyn,) for the use of the " juvent of England." After the Reformation, Barciay accepted a ministerial charge under l!ie new religion, as vicar of Much-Badew in Essex. In 1546, he was vicar of Wokey in Somersetshire, and in 1552 he was presented by the Dean and Chap- ter of London to the rectoi-y of iMlhallows in Lombard Street. Having reached an advanced age, he died in June this year, at Croydon in Sun-ey, where lie was biu-ied. Barclay published a great number of books, original and translated, and is allowed by the most intelligent enquirers into early English literature to have done more for the improvement of the language than any of his contemporariis. His chief poetical work is "the Ship of Fooles," which was written in imitation of a German work entitled, "■Das Narrcn Schiff," published in 1494. "The Ship of Fooles," which was first printed in 1509, describes a vessel laden wiili all sorts of absui-d persons, though tiiere seems to have been no end in view but to bring them into one place, so that they might be described, as the beasts were Ivo'vrbt before Adam in orfler to be named. We shall transcribe one pas.s;ige HO JOHN BARCLA.Y, A.JI. from this work, as a s|>ecJnioii of llio l^^l^lish style of Barclay: it is a curious contemporary character of Kiiij^- James IV. of Scotiautl. And, )e Christen priiiecs. whosoever )e he, If ye be destitute of a noble e(ipta)iie, Take James of Scollaiul for liis audacitie And proved nianhode, if ye will laude attainr: Let him have the forwarde : have ye no disda) lit* Nor indignation ; foi- never king was borne That of ought of wauie can shaw the uncorne. For if that once he take the speaie in hand Agaynst these Turkes strongly with it to ride, None sliall be able his stroke for to wilhstande Nor before his face so hardy to abide. Yet this his manhode increaseth nut his pride ; But ever shewetli meeknes and humilitic. In worde or dede to hje and lowe degree. Barclay also made a translation of Sallust's History of the Jii«urthine wai, which was published in 1557, five years after his death, and is one of the earli- est specimens of English translation from the classics. BARCLAY, John, A.M. was the founder of a religious sect in Scotland, gene- rally named Bereans, but sometimes called from the name of this individual, Barclayans. The Ibnucr title derived its origin from the habit of I\Ir JJarclay, in always making an appeal to the Scriptures, in vindication of any doctrine he advanced from the pulpit, or which was contained in his wTitings. The perfec- tion of the Scriptui-es, or of the Book of divine revelation, was the fundamental article of his system; at least this was what he himself publicly declared upon all occasions, and the same sentiments are still entertained by his followers. In the Acts of the Apostles, xvii. 10. the Bereans are thus mentioned, " Tliese were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether tnose things >vere so." These words were frequently quoted by I\Ir Barclay. It ought to be ob- served, however, that originally it was not a name of reproach invented by the malevolent part of the public, with the design of holding up 31r Barclay and his associates to contempt, but was voluntarily assumed by them, to distinguish them from other sects of professed Christians. Mr Barclay was born in 1734. His father, Mr Ludovic Barclay, was a far- mer in the parish of Muthill, in the county of Perth. Being at an early age designed by his parents for the church, he was sent to school, and received the best education whicli that part of the country could afTord. The name of his master is no>v forgotten, but if we are to judge from the eminent proficiency of the pupil, Ave nuist infer, that he ^vas a good scholar and an excellent teacher, and was well aware of the absolute necessity and advantages of being ^vell "rounded in the elements of classical learning. Respectable farmers, such as Mr Barclay's father, had a laudable ambition in aftbrding to their sons an op- portunity of being instructed in the learned languages, and to do the parish schoolmasters justice, many of them were eminently qualified for performing the task which they had undertaken. Young Barclay was sent by his father to St Andrews, and was enrolled as a stu- dent in that University ; ivhere he regularly attended the literary and philosophi- cal classes, and having submitted to the usual examinations, betook the degree of A.M. At the commencement of the subsequent session, he entered the New Divinity, or St Mary's College, a sennnary in which theology alone is taught. Nothing very particular occurred during his attendance at !he Hall, as it is generally JOIJN BARCLAY, A.M. iil called. He was iiiiifornily regular in his private conduct, and though consti- tutionally of very impetuous passions, and a fervid iniag-ination, at no time of liis life was he ever seduced into the practice of wliat was immoral or vicious. The Christian principles, witli which he seems to have been impressed very early in life, adbrded him sufficient protection against the allurements or snares to which he Avas exposed. He prosecuted his studies with the most unremitted in- dustry, and Avith great care prepared the discourses prescribed by the professor, and publicly delivered in the Hall. / Wliile he attended the lectures on divinity, the University of St Andrews, and indeed the Cluircli of Scotland in general, were placed in a very unpleasant si- tuation, by the agitation of a question wliich originated with Dr Archibald Campl>ell, professor of Church History in St Mary's College. He maintained " that the knowledge of the existen<"e of God was derived from Revelation, not fi'om Nature." This was long reckoned one of the errors of Socinus, and no one in Scotland, before Dr Campbell's time, had ever disputed the opinion that was generally cun-ent, and consequently esteemed orthodox. It was well known that tlie Doctor was not a Sociiiian, and did not favour any of the other dog- mas of that sect. The constitutional tendency of his mind was metaphysical, and he certainly was possessed of great acuteness, which enabled him to perceive on what point Ids opponents were most vulnerable, and where they laid them- selves open to attack. He published his sentiments without the least r.- serve, and was equally ready to enter upon a vindication of them. He considered his view of the subject as a foundation necessary to be laid in order to demon- strate the necessity of revelation. A whole host of opponents volunteered their services to strangle in the birth such dangerous sentiments. Innumerable pam- phlets rapidly made their appearance, and the hue and cry was so loud, and cer- tain persons so clamorous, that the ecclesiastical courts thought that they could no longer remain silent. Dr Campbell was publicly prosecuted on account of his here- tical opinions, but after long litigation the matter was compromised, and the only effect if produced was, that the students at St Andrews in general became more zealous defenders of the Doctor's system, though they dui-st not avow it so openly. Among others, Mr Barcl.ay with his accustomed zeal, and with all the enerivies of his juvenile but ardent mind, had warndy espoused Dr Campbell's svstem. liong before he left College he was noted as one of his most open and avo\ved partizans. These principles he never deserted, and in his view of Christianity it formed an important part of the system of revealed truth. It must not be imagined, however, that Mr Barclay slavishly followed, or adopted all Dr Camp- bell's sentiments. Though they were both agreed that a knowledge of the true God was derived from I'evelation and not from natui-e, yet they differed upon almost every other point of systematic divinity. Mr Barclay was early, and continued through life to be a high predestinarian, or what is technically deno- minated a snpi'alapsarian, while Dr Campbell, if one may draw an inference from some of his illustrations, leaned to Arminianism, and doubtless was not a decided Calvinist. Mr Barclay having delivered the prescribed discom-ses with the approbation of the professor of Divinity, he now directed his views to obtain license as a preacher in the establishment, and took the requisite steps. Having delivered the usual series of exei-cises with the entire appi-obation of his judges, he was, on the 27th Sep- tember, 1759, licensed by the presbytery of Auchterarder as a preacher of the gos- pel. He was not long without employment. Mr Jobson, then minister of Errol, near Perth, was advanced in years, in an infirm state of health, and required an assistant. Mr Barclay, from his popularity as a preacher, and the reputJi- tion he enjoyed through a groat part of Perthshire, as well as of Angus and 14:2 JOHN BARCLAY. A.M. Mearns, easily obtained lliis sitiialioii. ller« lie romaincil for three or foiu yeara, until a rupture willi Ills pnii(;ii)al ohli-red him to leave iL Mr .lobsoii was wliiit may be called, of the old school, lie warmly espoused (as a great many clergymen of the Cluirch of Scofliiiul in those days did), tiie system of the 31arrow of . "Modern Divinity, a b(K>k written by iulward Kishcr^ an l'"n;jflish dis- senter, about the middle of the seventeenth century. 'Iliis work had a vast eireidaiion throughout i:>cotiand. The eeleurated 3Ir Thomas Hoston of J'^ttrick, when visiting his parish ministerially, c^isuaily found it in the house of one of his jiarisbioners. lie carried it home, was a warm admirer of the system of divinity it contained, and was at the labour of writing- noics upon it. {Boston's n.inie secured ils success among a numerous class of readers. l'\ir many years this book occ.isioned a most serious conunotion in the ('Imrch of Scotland, which is generally (tailed, " The 31aiTow Conlroversy." It was, indeed, the remote cause of that great division, which has since been styled the Secestruon. But there was another cause for the \videning of this unfortunate breach. 'ITie well known Mr .John (ilass, minister of Tealing, near Dundee, had pub- lished in 17-27, a work entitled, " 'ilie Testimony of the King of Martyrs." With the exception of the (Jameronians, this gentleman was the first dissenter from the ChunJi of Scotland since the iievolution, and it is worthy of remark that tiie foundere of the principal sects were all originally cast out of the church. 31r Glass was an admirer of the writings of the most celebrated English Indepen- dents, (of !Jr John Owen in particular) and of their fonn of chureh government. 3Ir Barclay, who was no independent, heai-tily approved of many of liis senti- ments respecting the doctrines of the Gospel, and as decidedly disapproved of others, as shall be mentioned in the seq'.iel. At no time were disputes earned on with greater violence bet-.vcen Christians of dilierent denominations. Mr Barclay had a system of his own, and agreed with none of the parties; but this, if possible, rendered him more obnoxious to 3Ir Jobson. Much altercation took place bet\\een them in private. 3Ir Barclay publicly declared his sentiments from the pulpit, 3Ir Jobson did the same in defence of himself, so that a nipture became unavoidable. About the time of Mr Barclay's leaving Errol, Mr Anthony Dow, minister of Fettercuirn, in the presbytery of Fordoun, found himself unfit for the t\dl discharge of his duties. He desired his son, the Rev. David Dow, then minister of the parish of Dron, in tlie presbytery of Berth, to use his endeavour to pi'o(;ure him an assistant, I\Ir Dow, who, we believe, Avas a fellow student of Mr Barchiv at St Andrews, was perfectly well acquainted with his talents and character, and the cause of his leaving Errol, immediately made ofi'er to him of being assistant to his father. Tins he accepted, and he commenced his labom-s in the beginning of June, 1763. What wei'e 31r Anthony Dow's pecu- liar theological sentiments we do not know, but tliose of 3Ir David Dow were not very ditfei-ent from 3Ir Barclay's. Hei'e he I'emained for nine years, which he often declared to have been the most happy, and considered to have been the most useful perictd of his life. Mr Barclay was of a fair, and in his youth, of a very florid complexion. He then looked younger than be really was. The people of Fettercaim were at first greatly prejudi(;ed against him on account of his youthful appearance. But this was soon forgotten. His fervid manner, in prayer especially, and at diffe- rent parts of almost every sermon, ri vetted the attention, and impressed the minds of his audience to such a degree, that it was almost impossiide to lose the memory of it. His popularity as a preacher became so gi'eat at Fettercairn, that anything of the like kind is seldom to be met with in the history of the Church of Scotland. Tlie parish clun-(;h being an old fashioned building, had rafters JOHN BARCLAY, A.M. 143 across ; these were crowded with liearers ; — tlie sr.shes of tlie a\ iudo^vs were taken out to acconunodate the muJtitiide who could not gain admittan.^e. Durin"- the wliole period of his settlement at Fettercairn, he had regular hearers who flecked to him tiom ten or twelve of the neighbouring parishes. If an opinion could be formed of what his manner had been in his youth, and at his prime, frcm ^\hat it was a year or two belore he died, it nmst have been veliemant, passion- ate, and impetuous to an uncommon degree. At the time to which we allude, we heard him deliver in his o^vn chapel at Edinburgh, a prayer immediately al"ter tlie sennon, in which he had alluded to some of the corruptions of the Church of Home ; the impression it made upon our nund was of the nuist vivid nature ; and, we ai-e persuaded, Avas alike in every other member of the congre- gation. The following sentence we distinctly remember, " We pray, we plead, we cry, O Lord, that thou wouldst d.ish out of the hand of Antichrist, that cup of abominations, wherewith she hath poisoned the nations, and give unto her, and unto them, the cup of salvation, by drinking whereof they may inherit everlast- ing life." But the words themselves are nothing unless they were pronounced with his own tone and manner. During his residence at Fettercairn lie did not confine his labours to his public ministrations in the pulpit, but visited from house to house, was the friend and adviser of all who were at the head of a family, and entered warmly into Avhatever regarded their interests. He showed the most marked attention to children and to youth ; and ^vhen any of the household were seized with sick- ness or disease, he spared no pains in giving tokens of his sympathy and ten- derness, and administered consolation to the afflicted. He was very assiduous in discharging those necessary and important duties, which he thought were peculiarly incumbent upon a country clergyman. Such long continued and uninterrupted exertions were accompanied with the most happy effects. A taste for religious knowledge, or what is the same, the reading and study of the Bible, began to prevail to a great extent ; the morals of the people were im- proved, and vi<;e and profaneness, as ashamed, were made to hide their heads. Temperance, sobriety, and regulai'ity of behaviour, sensibly discovered them- selves throughout all ranks, Mr Barclay had a most luxuriant fancy, a great liking for poeiry, and possess- ed considerable facility of versification. His taste, however, was far from being correct or chaste, and his imagination was little under the management of a sound judgment. Many of his pieces are exceedingly desultory in their nature, but occasionally discover scintillations of genius. The truth probably is, that he neither corrected nor bestowed pains on any of his productions \n prose or verse. From the ardour of his mind, they were generally the result of a single efibrt. At least this appears particularly the case in his shorter poems. He does not seem to have perceived or known that good writing, whether in prose or verse, is an art, and not to be acquired \vithout much labour and practice, as well as a long and repeated revisal of Avliat may have been written. Mr Bar- clay's compositions in both styles, \vith two or three exceptions, appear to have merely been thrown forth upon the spur of the moment. As soon as written, they were deposited among his manuscripts, and, instead of being attentively examined by him, and with a critical eye, were shortly after submitted to the public. Besides his \vorks in prose, he published a great many thousand verses on religious subjects. He had composed a Paraphrase of the whole book of Psahns, part of ^vhicli was published in 1766. To this was prefixed, " A Dissertation on the best means of interpreting that portion of the canon of Scripture." His vicAvs upon this subject were peculiar. He was of opinion that, in all the Psahns wliich are 144 JOHN BARCLAY, A.M. in tliP first person, flie spealior is Tlirist, and not David nor any oilier mere mnn, .'111(1 that llie oilier I'saliiis descrilic the situation of llie (liiircli ol' (>«iiiine«l to oive him as much annoyance as they possibly could. Even the names of the members of the presbytery of Fordoun are now foruotten. None of them were distinguished for remarkable tnlents of any kind, and they have long Liin mute and inglorious. But at this time they possessed an authority, which they resolv- ed to exercise to the utmost stretch. Having engaged in the invidious and ignoble employment of heresy hunting, they seem to have been aware, that it Avas necessary to proceed with caution. The presbytery have the charge of the spiritual concerns of all the individuals within their bounds. They have a right to inspect the orthodoxy of the doctrine taught, as well as the moral conduct of clergymen and laymen. It is their especial business to examine nnn-owly info the behaviour of the foi-mer class. Ha\-ing pounced upon IMr l!arclay, they made the most they could of his supposed oflence, which at the worst, was only a \enial error. 3Ir Bai-day, who being naturally of a frank, open, and ingenuous disposition, had no idea of concealing his opinions, not only continued to preach the same doc^trines which Avere esteemed heretical by the presbytery, but published them in a small work, entitled, " Rejoice evermore, or Christ All in All." This ob- stinacy, as they considered it, imtated them to a very high degTce. They drew up a warning against the dangerous doctrines that he jn-eached, and ordered it to be read publicly in tlie church of Fettercairn after sermon, and before pro- nouncing the blessing, by one of tlieir own members, expressly appointed for that purpose on a specified day, which was accordingly done. This at- tempt to ruin xMr Barclay's character and usefulness, and deprive him of thf^ means of obtaining daily bread, contained an enumeration of his supposed er- rors, which they were cautioned to avoid, and strictly enjoined not to receive. iMr Bai-clay viewed their conduct with indifference mingled with contempt. Al a former meeting of presbytery, the points of diflerenc^ had been argued in public at gi'eat length, and he is generally allowed to have come ofl' victo- rious. He was, it is confessed, too keen in his temper to listen, with sedate composure, to the arguments of an O2>ponent, Avhen engaged in a private debate. But his talents for controvei-sy wei-e of a superior order. He had a clear understanding, a tenacious memory, and a ready elocution : and at no time of his life did he decline an arg-ument. No effect of any kind resulted from the warning to the people of Fettercairn, who were imanimous in their approbation of Mr Barclay's doctrine. He continued during 3Ir Dow's life-time to instruct the people of his parish, and conducted his Aveekly examinations to the great profit of those who gave attendance. In 1769, he pubhshed one of the largest of his treatises, entitled, " Without Faith without God, or an appeal to God concerning his own existence." This was a defence of similar sentiments respecting the evidence in favour of the ex- istence of God, which were entertained by Dr Campbell already mentioned. Tlio- JOHN BARCLAY, A.M. 145 ilUistrations are entirely Calvinistical. Iliis essay is not very methodical. It contains, however, a great many acute observations, and sarcastic remavlcs upon the systems oi' (hose Avho have adopted the generally current notions respecting \i:Uural i-elig'on. Ilie author repeatedly and solemnly decbi-es, that he attacks d rtrines and not men — tliat he has no quarrel with any man, nor means to liiirt any one. The metaphysical arguments in favour of his side of the question, as well as uhat may not improperly he called the historical proofs, he has left to othei-s, esteeming such land of evidence as of small value in repard to settling the point at issue. His object is to prove from the Scriptures, that the know- ledge of vere ready to admit him into their pidpits, and he gene- rally preached every Lord's day, during tlie subsequent autumn, winter, and spring. Multitudes from all parts of the country cro-.vded to hear him. 1. T 0 146 ' JOHN BARCLAY, A.M. The pulroiiiige of FetttTfiiiin is in the gift of the crown. Tlie parish ahiiost unanimously favoured IMr Barchiy. Tiiey were not, however, permitted to have any choice, and tlie llev. Roliert Foofe, then minister of Eskdale Muir, was presented. At the moderation of the cull, only three signed in favour of Mr Foote. The pjirishioners appi'alcd to the Synod, and from the Synoii to tlie General Assemhly, who ordered Mr Foote to he induct id. The prcshytery carried their hostility against Mr Barcliiy so far, as to refuse him a certificate of character, which is always done, as a matter of course, wlien a preacher leaves their hounds. He ajipealetl to the Synod, and afterwards to the Assemhly, wiio found (though he was in no instance accused of any immorality) that the preshytery were justified in wilhiiolding the certificate. He had no alternative, and therefore left the communion of the Church of Scotland. A great many friends in Edinhutgh, who had adopted his peculiar sentiments, formed themselves into a church, and urged him to become their pastor. The people of Fetteicairn also solicited him to labour in the ministry amongst them; but for the present he declined both invitations. Having hitherto held oidy the status of a probationer or licentiate, he visited Newcastle, and was ordained there October 1-th, 1773. The certificate of ordination is signed by the celebrated James Murray ol Newcastle, the author of the well-known " Sermons to Asses ; " which contain a rich vein of poignant satire, not unworthy of Swift. It was also signed by Robert Somerville of Weardale, and James Somerville of Swalwell, and Robert Green, clerk. His friends at Fettercairn meanwhile erected a place of worship at Sauchyburn, in the immediate neighbourhood, and renewed their application to have him settled amongst them. But Mr Barclay, conceiving that his sphere of usefulness would be more extended were he to reside in Edinburgh, gave the preference to the latter. Mr James M'Rae, having joined Mr Barclay, was ordained minister at Sauchyburn in spring, 1774. The congregation there, at this time, consisted of from one thou- sand to twelve hundred members. Mr Barclay remained in Edinburgh about three years ; and was attended by a numerous congregation, who had adopted his views of religious truth. But having a strong desire to disseminate his opinions, he left the church at Edinburgh under the careof hiselders and deacons, and repaired to London. For nearly two years hepreached there, as well as at Bristol, and other places in England. A church was formed in the capital. He also established there a debating society, which met weekly in the even- ing, for the purpose of disputing with any who might be disposed to call his doctiiiies in question. One of those who went with the design of impugtiing Mr Barclay's opinions was Mr William Nelson, who eventually became a convert. This gentle- man had been educated in the Church of England, but, when Mr Barclay came first to London, had joined the Whitefieldian or Calvinislic Methodists. He afterwards- came to Scotland ; was connected with Mr Barclay ; practised as a surgeon in Edinburgh, and delivered lectures on chemistry there, for about fen years. He was a man of considerable abilities; amiable in private life, and of the most unble- mished character. He was cut off by apoplexy in 1300. At Edinburgh, Mr Barclay published an edition of his wcirks in three volumes, including a pretty large treatise on the sin against the Holy Ghost, which, according to him, is merely unl)elief or discrediting the Scripture. In 1783 he published a small work for the use of the Berean Churches, " The Epistle to the Hebrews Paraphrased," with a collection of jisalms and songs from his other works, accom- panied with " A close examination into the truth of several received principles." Mr Barclay died on the 29th of July, 1798. Being Sabbath, when on his road to preach, he felt himself rather unwell ; he took a circuitous route to the meeting- JOHN BARCLAY, M.U. M7 liouse, but finding liiiriself no better, he called at the house of one of the members of his congregation. In a few minutes after he entered the house, while kneeling in prayer beside a chair, he expired without a groan, in the sixty fourth year of his age, and thirty-ninth of his prolepsional career. His nephew, Dr John Barclay, was immediately sent for, who declared his death to have been occasioned by apoplexy. He was interred in the Calton Old Buryiug-groimd, Edinburgh, where a monument has been erected to his memory. Mr Barclay was a very uncommon character, and made a great impression upon his contemporaries. There are Berean churches in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Crieff, Kirkaldy, Dundee, Arbroath, Montrose, Brechin, Fettercairn, and a few other places. BARCLAY, John, M.D., an eminent lecturer on anatomy, was the nephew of John Barclay, the Berean, after whom he was named. He was born in 1759, or 17C0, at Cairn, near to Drummafjuhance, in Perthshire. His father was a respect- able farmer in that part of tlie country, and was characterized by great natural shrewdness and vivacity. His son, John, was educated at the parish school of Tiluthill, and early distinguished himself by his superior powers of mind, and by his application. Being destined for the church, he, in IT^O, repaired to the university of St Andrews, where he became a successful candidate for a bursary. He made great proficiency in the Greek language, then taught by the late principal George Hill, and also discovered a partiality for the study of mathematics, although he does not appear to have prosecuted this important branch of science. After having attended the usual preliminary classes at the united college of St Salvador aisd St Leonard, Barclay studied divinity in St Mary's, attaching himself to the moderate party in the church. He studied divinity at St Andrews, under the professor, Dr Spence, for two or three sessions, but having engaged to teach a school, he found it more convenient to deliver the prescribed exercises before the professor in Edinburgh. On one of these occasions there took place a very singular occurrence, which the Doctor himself used to relate. Having come to Edinburgh for the express purpose of delivering a discourse in the hall, he waited upon his uncle, who was an excellent scholar. It was what is called " An Exercise and Addition," or a discourse, in which tiie words of the original are criticised — the doctrines they contain illustrated — and it is concluded by a brief paraphrase. He proposed to read it to his uncle before he delivered it — and when he was in the act of doing so, his respected relative objected to a criticism which he had introduced, and endeavoured to show that it was con- trary to several passages in the writings of the apostle Paul. The doctor had prepared the exercise with great care, and had quoted the authority of Xenophon in regard to the meaning of the word. The old man got into a violent passion at his nephew's obstinacy, and seizing a huge folio that lay on the table, hurled it at the recusant's head, which it fortunately missed. Barclay, who really bad a great esteem for bis uncle, related the anecdote to a clergyman a few days after it happened, and laughed very heartily at it. Barclay wrote about this time, " A History of all lleligions," but of this no trace was to be found among his manuscripts. Having delivered with approbation his trial discourses, he obtained license from the Presby- tery of Dunkeld. Meanwhile he acted as tutor to the two sons of Sir James Campbell, of Aberuchill, whose daughter, Eleonora, in 1811, became his wife. In 1789 he accom- panied his pupils to Edinburgh, where he preached occasionally for his friends. The medical school of Edinburgh was then at the height of its reputation. CuUen's bril- liant career was drawing to a close, and he was succeeded by the celebrated Dr Gregory, Dr Black and the second Monro still shed lustre on their respective departments. Barclay was principally attracted to the anatomical class by the luminous prelections of Dr Monro, and appears to have thenceforward devoted himself to a complete course of medical study. In 1796 he took the degree of M.D., choosing as the subject of bis 146 JOHN BARCLAY, M.D. thesis, De /Inima, seu Prlncipio Vit (which, utter his death, were published by his friend, Sir George Ballingall, M.D.) were prejiared svith scrupulous care, lie studied to express himself in plain and perspicuous language, which he justly esteemed to be the chief quality of st\le in lecturing. His illustrations were clear and copious, and not unfrecpiently a»i ap|)osite anecdote li.xed more strongly in the memories of his pupils the particular |)art he was demonstrating; and, at a time when It was 1 v no means fashionable, he never omitted to point out the wisdom of God, as displayed in that most wonderful of all his works, the formation and support of the human body. Barclay's first literary perforniatice was the article Physiology, in the third edition ol the Eiiciiclojxedia Brilunnica. In ISO.'J he published a new anatomical nomencla- ture. Tliis had been long the subject of his meditation, and was a great desideratum in anatomy. The vagueness or indefinite nature of the terms of anatomy has been perceived and regretted by all anatomists. They have produced much ambiguity and confusion in anatomical descriptions, and their influence has been strongly felt, par- ticularly by those who have just entered u|)on the study. Barclay was the first who, fully aware of the obstacles that were thus thrown in the way of students, set about inventing a new nomenclature. The vagueness of the terms princi[)ally referred to those implying position, aspect, and direction. Thus, what is superior in one position of the body, becomes anterior in another, posterior in a third, and even inferior in a fourth. What is external in one position is internal in another, &,c. These terms become much more ambiguous in comparative anatomy. His object was to contrive a nomenclature, in which the same terms should universally apply to the same organ, in all positions of the body, and in all animals. It is the opinion of very candid judges that he has succeeded in his endeavour, and that, were his nomenclature adopted, the greatest advantages would accrue to the study of the science. The proposal is delivered with singular nu desty, and discovers both a most accurate knowledge of anatomy and great ingenuity. In ISOS, a|)peared his woik on the muscular motions of the human body, and, in IS 12, a description ot the arteries of the human body — both of which contain a most complete account of those parts ot the system. These three works were dedicated to the late Dr Thomas Thomson, Professor of Chemistry in the University of Glasgow. The last work which Dr Barclay lived to publish, was an inquiry into the opinions, ancient and modern, conceining life and organization. This, as we have mentioned, formed the subject of his thesis. He also delivered, during several summers, a course of lectures on comparative anatomy, a branch of study for which he had always shown a marked partiality — not only us an object of scientific research, but as of great practical utility. At one time he proposed to the town council, the patrons of the university of Edinburgh, to be created professor of that department of the science ; how the proposal was received is not known. The writer of the memoir of Dr Barclay, in the Naturalist's Library, furnishes a characteristic illustration of the lively interest he felt in the dissections of uncommon animals which came in his way in the Scottish metropolis. " At one of these we happened to be present. It was the dissection of a Beluga, or White Whale. Never shall we forget the enthusiasm of the Doctor wading to his no BERT BARCLAY. I4 ) knees ainongst the viscera of the great tenant of the deep, alternately cutting away, with his large and dexterous knife, and regaling his nostrils with copious infusions of snuff, while he pointed out, in his usual felicitous manner, the various contrasts or agree- ments of the forms of the viscera witii those of other animals and of man." Barclay was the means of establishing, under the auspices of the Highland Society, a veteri- nary school in Edinburgh. He might be called an enthusiast in his profession : there was no branch of anatomy, wiiether practical or theoretical, that he had not cultivated with the utmost care ; he had studied the works of the ancient and modern, foreign and British anatomists with astonishing diligence. Whatever related to natural science was certain of interesting him. The benevolence and generosity ot liis temper were also unbounded. No teacher was ever more generally beloved by his pupils than Dr Barclay, to which his uniform kindness and affability, and readiness to promote their interest upon every occasion, greatly contributed. Many young men, in straitened circumstances, were permitted to attend his instructions gratuitously; and he has even been known to furnish them with the means of feeing other lecturers. It is a curious circumstance, that Dr Barclay often declared that he had neither the sense of taste nor of smell. His last appearance in theleftiire-room was in 1825, when he dtlivered the intro- ductory lecture. He died 2lst August, 1S26, and was buried at liestalrig, near Edinburgh, the family burying-ground of his father-in-law. Sir James Campbeil. His fiKieral was attended by the Royal College of Surgeons as a body. A bust of Dr Barclay, subscribed for by his pupils, and executed by Joseph, was presented to the College of Surgeons, to which he bequeathed his museum — a valu- *;il)le collection of specimens, particularly in comparative anatomy, and which is to retain his name. His design in this legacy was to prevent it from being broken up and scattered after his death. BARCL.4Y, Robert, the celebrated Apologist for the Quakers, was born on the 2.jr; sii'4^st lliem whicli toiielx.'tl my lie;irl ; and :ls 1 ^aveway niilo it, I fouiul tiie evil \\(>akeiiiii ; an*i so I bec^iiiie (litis iviiit and united unto tlieiii, liiin- !jeiiii(i7, when ' the cross and despising the shame that attended his discijtleship, and re(^ived the jrift of the ministi-y as his greatest honour, ill which he laboured to bring others to (Vid, and his labourwas not in vain in the Lord." The testimony of another of his brethren, Andrew Jaffray, is to the same etli^ct: "Having' occasion, through his worthy father, to be in the meetings of (.Tod's chosen people, who worship him in lli^ own name, spirit, and power, and not in the words of man's wisdom and preparation, iie was, by the virtue and ellica- cious life of this blessed power, sliortly alter reached, and that in a time of si- leiu;e, a mystery to the world, and came so fast to grow therein, through his great love and watchfulness to the inward appearance thereof, that, not long after, he was called out to the public ministry, and declaring ;i'.jroad that his eyes had seen and his hands had handled of the ptu-e wftrd of life. Yea the Lord, who loved him, counted him worthy so early to call him to some weighty and hard services for his truth in our iir.tion, that, a little after his coming out of the age of minority, as it is called, he was made willing, in tlie day of iiod's power, to give up his body as a sign and wonder to this generation, and to deny himself ;'nd all in him as a man so far as to become a fool, for his sake whom he loved, in going in sackcloth and ashes through the chief streets of the city of Aberdeen, liosides some services at several steeple-houses and some sufferings in prison i\jr the truth's sake." The true grounds of Barclay's predilection for the meek principles of the 1 riends, is perhaps to be found in his physical teniperanien!,. On arriving in Scotland, in 1G()4, with a heart open to every generous impulse, his mild nature appears, from one of tlie above extracts of his own ^mtings, to have been shoclv- ed by the mutual hostility which existed between tlie adherents of the establisiicd and the dis-c-tablished chui-ches. While these bodies Jz^cfyerf of each other in the severest spirit, they joined in one point alone — a sense of the propriety of persecuting the new and sti'ange sect called Quakers, from whom both might ra- ther have learned a lesson of forbearance and toleration. Barclay, who, from his French education, was totally free of all prejudices on either side, seems to have deliberately preferred that sect which alone, ol' all others in his native country, professed to regard every denomination of fellow-Christians with an equal feel- ing of kindness. In February, 1609-70, Robert Barclay married C'hrislian 3Iollison, daughter of Gilbert Alollison, merchant in Aberdeen ; and on his mairiage settled at iJry with his father. The issue of this m;u-riage was three sons and four daugh- ters, all of whom survived him, and were living fifty years after his death. In the life of .lohn (iratton, there is an agreeable and instructive account of this excellent mother's solicitude to imbue the tendar minds of her children with pious and good principles. The passage is as follows : " I obsei'ved (lf)!)4, her husband being then d,)ad,) that wiien her children were up in the morning and dii'ssed, she sat down with them, before breakfast, and in a religious manner wailed upon the Lord: which pious caj'e, and motherly instruction of her chij- ROBERT BARCLAY. 158 dren when young, doubtless had its desired effect upon them, for as they grew in years, they also grew in the knowledge of the blessed truth ; and since that time, some of them have become public preachers thereof." Believing it to he her duty to appear a preacher of righteousness, she was very solicitous that her example might, in all respects, correspond with her station. Robert Barclay, after his marriage, lived about sixteen years with his lather ; in which time he wrote most of those works by which his fame has been established. All his time, however, was not passed in endeavouring to serve the cause of religion with his pen. He both acted and suffered for it. His whole existence, indeed, seems to have been henceforth devoted to the interests of that profession of religion which he had adopted. In prosecution of his purpose, he made a number of excur- sions into England, Holland, and particular parts of Germany; teaching, as he went along, the universal and saving light of Christ, sometimes vocally, but as often, we may suppose, by what he seems to have considered the far more powerful maimer, expressive silence. In these peregrinations, the details of which, had they been pre- served, would have been deeply interesting, he was on some occasions accompanied by the famous William Penn, and probably also by others of the brethren. The first of his publications in the order of time was, " Truth cleared of Calumnies, occasioned by a book entitled, A Dialogue between a Quaker and a Stable Christian, written by the Rev. William Mitchell, a minister or preacher in the neighbourhood of Aberdeen." " The Quakers," says a defender of the Scottish church, " were, at this time, only newly risen up ; they were, like every new sect, obtrusively forward ; some of their tenets were of a startling, and some of them of an incomprehensible kind, and to the rigid presbyterians especially, they were exceedingly offensive. Hearing these novel opinions, not as simply stated and held by the Quakers, who were, generally speaking, no great logicians, but in their remote consequences, they regarded them with horror, and in the heat of their zeal, it must be confessed, often lost sight both of charity and truth. They thus gave their generally passive oppo- nents great advantages over them. Barclay, who was a man of great talents, was certainly in this instance successful in refuting many false charges, and rectifying many forced constructions that had been put upon parts of their practice, and, upon the whole, setting the character of his silent brethren in a more favourable light than formerly, though he was far from having demonstrated, as these brethren fondly imagined, 'the soundness and scripture verity of their principles.' " This publica- tion was dated at Ury, the 19th of the second Month, 1G70, and in the eleventh month of the same year, he added to it, by way of appendix, " Some things of weighty concernment proposed in meekness and love, by way of queries, to the serious consideration of the inhabitants of Aberdeen, which also may be of use to such as are of the same mind with them elsewhere in this nation." Tiiese queries, twenty in number, were more particularly directed to Messrs David Lyal, George Meldrum, and John Menzies, the ministers of Aberdeen who had, not only from the pulpit, forbidden their people to read the aforesaid treatise, but had applied to the magistrates of Aberdeen to suppress it. Mitchell wrote a reply to " Truth cleared of calumnies, ' and, on the 24th day of the tenth Month, 1671, Barclay finished a rejoinder at Ury, under the title of " William Mitchell unmasked, or the staggering instability of the pretended stable Christian discovered ; his omissions observed, and weakness unvailed," tion. Much ol" it appears to have been passed in tranquillity, and in the bosom of his family; yet he occasionally undertook journeys to promote his pri- vate conc^erns, to sene liis relations and neighboni*s, or to maintain tlie cause of his broihren in religious profession, lie was in London in 1()H5, and liad fre- quent access to King James II., who had all along evinced a warm friendship towards him. Barclay, on the other hand, thinking James sincere in his faith, and perhaps influenced a little by the flattery of a prince's favour, appears to have c()n«;eived a real regard for this misguided and imprudent monarch. Li- berty of conscience having been conceded to the Friends on the accession of James II., Barclay exerted his influence to procure some parliamentary arrange- ment, by which they might be exempted from the harsh and ruinous prosecu- tions to which they ^vere exposed, in consequence of their peculiar notions as to the exercise of the law. He was again in London, on this business, in lG8(j, on which occasion he visited the seven bishops, then confined in the Tower, for having refused to distribute in their respective dioceses the king's declaration for liberty of conscience, and for having represented to the king the gi'ourids of their objection to the measure. The popular opinion was in favour of the bishops ; yet the former severities of some of the episcopal order against dissen- tei-s, particularly against the Friends, occasioned some reflections on them. This having come to the knowledge of the imprisoned bishops, they declared that, " the Quakers had belied them, by reporting that they had been the death of some." Robert Barclay, being informed of this declaration, went to the Tower, and gave their lordships a well-substantiated account of some persons having been detained in prison till death, by order of bishops, though they had been apprized of the danger by physicians who were not Quakei's. He, however, observed to the bishops, that it was by no means the intention of the Friends to publish such events, ar.d thereby give the king, and their other adversaries, any advantage against them. Barclay was in London, for the last time, in fehe me- morable year 16 88. He visited James II., and being with him near a window, the king looked out, and observed that, " the wind was then fair for the prince of Orange to <;ome over." Robert Barclay replied, " it was hard that no expe- dient could be found to satisfy the people." The king declared, " he would do any thing becoming a gentleman, except parting with liberty of conscience, which he never would whilst he lived." At that time Barclay took a final leave of the unfortunate king, for whose disasters he was much concerned, and with whom he had been several times engaged in serious discourse at that time. Robert Eai'clay " laid down the body," says Andi'ew Jatfray, " in the holy and honourable truth, wherein he had served it about three and twenty yeai-s, upon the 3rd day of the eighth month, 1690, near the forty and second year of his age, at his own house of Urie, in Scotland, and it was laid in his own burial ground there, upon the 6th day of the same month, before many friends and other people." His character has been thus drawn by another of the amicable fraternity to which he belonged : — " " He was distinguished by strong mental poAvers, particularly by great pene- tration, and a sound and accui-ate judgment. His talents were much unproved '■^ A short account of the Life and Writings of Robert Barclay, London, 1802. WILLIAM BARCLAY. I57 by a regular and classical education. It does not, however, appear that his su- perior qualifications produced that elation of mind, which is too often their attendant : he was meek, humble, and ready to allow to others the merit they possessed. All his passions were under the most excellent government. Two of his intimate friends, in their character of him, declare that they never knew hiui to be angry. He had the happiness of early perceiving the infinite supe- riority of religion to every other attainment ; and the Divine grace enabled him to dedicate his life, and all that he possessed, to promote the cause of piety and virtue. For the welfare of his friends he was sincerely and w armly concerned : and he travelled and Avrote much, as well as suilered cheerfully, in support of the society and the principles to wliicli he had conscientiously attached himself. But this was not a blind and bigoted attachme*it. His zeal was tempered with charity ; and he loved and respected goodness wherever he found it. His mi- corrupted integrity and liberality of sentiment, his great abilities and suavity of disposition, gave him much interest \vith persons of rank and influence, and he euiployed it in a manner that marked the benevolence of his heart. He loved peace, and was often instrumental in settling disputes, and in producing recon- ciliations between contending parties. " In support and pursuit of what he believed to be right, he possessed great firmness of mind ; which was early evinced in the pious and dutifid sentiment he expressed to his uncle, who tempted him with great oflers to remain in Fran<.;e, against the desire of his father : ' He is my father,' said he, ' and he must be obeyed.' All the virtues harmonize, and are connected with one another: tliis tirni and resolute spirit in the prosecution of duty, was united with great sympathy and compassion towards persons in affliction and distress. They were consoled by his tenderness, a.ssisted by his advice, and occasionally relieved by his bounty. His spiritual discernment and religious experience, directed by that Divine influence which he valued above all things, eminently qualified him to instruct the ignorant, to reprove the irreligious, to strengthen the feeble- minded, and to animate the advanced Christian to still greater degrees of virtue and holiness. " In private life he was equally amiable. His conversation was cheerful, guarded, and instructive. He was a dutiful son, an atlectionate and faithl'ut husband, a tender and careful father, a kind and considerate master. Without exaggeration, it may be said, that piety and virtue were recommendisd by his example ; and that, though the period of his life was short, he had, by the aid of Divine grace, most wisely and happily improved it. He lived long enough to manifest, in an eminent degree, the temper and conduct of a Christian, and tlie virtues and qualifications of a true minister of the gospel." BARCLAY, William, an eminent civilian, and father of the still more cele- brated author of the Arcjenis, nas descended fi-om one of the best families in Scotland under the rank of nobility, and \vas born in Aberdeenshire, in 1541, He spent his early years in the court of Queen Mary, with whom he was in hii^h favour. After her captivity in England, disgusted with the turbulent state of his native country, which promised no advantage to a man of learning, he removed to France (1573), and began to study the law at Bourges. Having in time qualified himself to teach the civil law, he was appointed by the Duke of Loirain, through the recommendation of his relation Edmund Hay, the Jesuit, to be a pro- fessor of that science in the university of Fontamousson, being at the same time counsellor of state and master of requests to his princely patron. In 15S1, lie married Anne de Maleville, a young lady of Lorrain, by whom he had his son John, the subject of the following article. This youth showed tokens of genius at an early period, and was sought from his fathsr by the Jesuits, that he mig!iL entLT 1,',S JOHN BARCLAY. tlioir society. Tlie fallior, tluiikii£r jiroiu'r to refuse tlic request, becaiiie an ol>- ject ofsiicli wTiitli to that learned and mist rii|>tiloi:s tVateriiiiy, tliat he was com- pelh'tl to abandon all his prefenimnts, and seek refiiijo in Jai^laml. This uas in l(iO.'{, just at the time when his native sovereign had acceded to the throne of l']n<>land. .lames I. otlored him a pension, and a place in his councils, on con- dition that he would eml)race the prolestant faith; hut ihouuli iiuli<;nant at the intrin-ues of the .lesuits, he would not desert their religion. In lliOl, he return- ed to France, and became professor of civil law at Anbt hand ; and there hung about his neclc a great chain of gold, with a medal of gold, with his own picture." Such was, in those days, the pomp and circum- stance of the profession of civil law. He did not long enjoy this situation, dy- ing towards the close of 1005. He is allowed to have been veiy learned, not only in the civil and canon Law, but in the classical languages, and in ecclesias- tical history. But his prejudices were of so violent a natm-e as to obscure both his genius and erudition. He zealously maintained the absolute power of mon- archs, and had an illiberal antipathy to the protestant religion. His works are, 1, a controvci-sial treatise on the royal power, against Buchanan and other king- killers, Paris, KiOO ; 2, a treatise on the power of the Pope, showing that he li;is no right of rule over secular princes, 1609 ; 3, a connnentai-y on the title of the pandects de rebis creditis, &c ; 4, a commentary on Tacitus's Life of AgTicola. All these works, as well as their titles, are in Latin. Barclay, John, son of William Barclay, was born at Pontaniousson in France, January 2S, 1582, and Avas educated under the care of Jesuits. When only nineteen years old, he published notes on the Thebais of Statins. He was, as above stated, the innocent cause of a quaiTel between his father and the Jesuits, in consequence of which the family removed to England, in KiOS. At the beginning of 1604, young Barclay presented a poetical panegyric to the king, under the title of Kalendee Januariee. To this monarch he soon after dedicated the first part of his celebrated Latin satire entitled, Euphonnion. Johi. Barclay, like many young men of genius, was anxious for distinction, quocnnqut modo, and, having an abundant conceit of his own abilities, and looking upon all otlier men as only fit to fiu-nish him with matter of ridicule, he launched at the very first into the dangerous field of general satire. He confesses in the apology which he afterwards published for his Euphonnion, that, " as soon as he left school, a juvenile desire of fame incited him to attack the whole world, rather with a view of promoting his own reputation, than of dishonouring individuals." We must confess that this grievous early fault of Barclay was only the transores- sion of a very spirited character. He says, in his dedication of Euphonnion to King James, Avrilten when he was two-and-t\venty, that he \vas ready, in the ser- vice of his Majesty, to convert his pen into a sword, or his sword into a pen. His prospects at this court were unfortunately blighted, like those of his fa- tlier, by the religious contests of the time; and in 1604 the family returned to France. John, however, appears to have spent the next year chiefly in Eng- land, probably upon some renewal of his prospects at the court of King James. In 1606, after the death of his father, he returned to France, and at Paris nuir- ried Louisa Debonnaire, with whom he soon after settled at London. Here he pub- lished the second part of his Euphonnion, dedicating it to the Earl of Salisbui-y, a minister in whom he could find no fault but his excess of virtue. Lord Hailes remarlis, as a surprising circumstance, that the writer who could discover no faults JOHN BARCLAY. I59 in Salisbury, aime'I the shafts of ridicule at Sully ; but nothing can be less sur- prising in such a person as Barclay. A man who satirized only for the sake of personal eclat, would as easily Hatter in gi-atitude for the least notice. It should also be recollected, that many minds do not, till the approach of middle life, ac- quire the power of judging accurately regarding virtue and vice, or merit and demeiit : all principles, in such minds, are jumbled like the elements of the earth in chaos, and are only at leng:th reduced to order by the overmastering influence of the understanding. In the disposition which seems to have charac- terised Barclay, for flattering those who patronised him, he endeavoured to please King James, in the second p:irt of the Euphormion, by satirizing tobacco and the puritans. In this year he also published an account of the gun-powder plot, a vvoik remarked to be singularly impartial, considering the religion of the writer. During the course of three years' residence in England, Barclay received no toiten of the royal liberality. Sunk in indigence, with an increasing family calling for support, he only wished to be indemnified for his English journeys, and to have his charges defrayed into PYance. At length he was relieved from liis distresses by his patron Salisbury. Of these circumstances, so familiar and so discoui-aging to men of letters, we are informed by some allegorical and ob- scure verses Avritten by Barclay at that sad season. Having removed to France in 1609, he next year published his Apology for the Euphormion. This denotes that he came to see the folly of a general contempt for mankind at the age of twenty-eight. How he supported himself at this time, does not appear; but he is found, in 1614, publishing his Icon Animarum, which is declared by a com- petent critic to be the best, though not the most celebrated of his works. It is a delineation of the genius and manners of the European nations, with remai'ks, moral .and philosophical, on the various tempers of men. It is pleasant to ob- serve that in this work he does justice to the Scottish people. In 1615, Barclay is said to have been invited by Pope Paul V. to Rome. He had previously lashed the holy court in no measured terms ; but so marked a homage from this quarter to his distinction in letters, as usual, softened his feelings, and he now accordingly shifted his family thither, and lived the rest of his life under the protection of the pontifll In 1617, he pubhshed at Rome his " Paraenesis ad Sectarios, Libri Duo ;" a work in which he seems to have aimed at atoning for his former sarcasms at the Pope, by attacking those Avhom his holiness called heretics. Barclay seems to have been honoured Avith many marks of kindness, not only from the Pope, but also from Cardinal Barberini ; yet it does not appear that he obtained much emolument. Incumbered with a ^vife and family, and having a spirit above his fortune, he was left at full leisure to pursue his studies. It was at that time that he composed his Latin romance called Argents. He employed his vacant hours in cultivating a flower garden ; and Rossi relates, in his turgid Italian style, that Barclay cared not for those bulbous roots which pmduce flowers of a sweet scent, but cultivated such as produced flowers void of smell, but having variety of colours. Hence we may conclude that he was among the first of those who were infected with that strange disease, a passion for tulips, which soon after ovei'spread Europe, and is commemorated under the name of the TulipO'Tnania. Barclay might truly have said with Virgil, " Tanhis amorjio- tim!" He had two raastifls placed as sentinels to protect his garden ; and ra- ther than abandon his favourite flowers, chose to continue his residence in an iU- aired and unwholesome situation. This extraordinaiy genius, who seems to have combined the perfervidum in- genium of his father's countiy, Avith the mercurial vivacity of his mother's, died at Rome on the 12th of August, 1 621, in the thirty-ninth year of his age. He left a wife, who had tonnented him much with jealousy, (through the ardour of 100 JAMES BASSANTIN (or BASSANTOUN). iicr alVection, as lie ex|tlaiin>(l it ), Im'skIcs tliroo cliildroii, of uluun two were boys. He also left, in tlio hands of llic printer, liis celebrated Arffenin, and also an un- |>Ml)lislied history of the eon(|iiest of .lenisaieni, and some iraffiiients of a hriiis, and his widow erected a monument to him, with bis bust in marble, at the <-liiM'ch of St Law- rence, on tlie road to Tivoli. A stran<;e circumstance caused the «lestruction of tiiis trophy, ('ardinal Barl)erini chanced to erect a monument, exactly similar, ■it the same place, to his j)recej»tor, Bernnrdus Gnlienus a moiite Sancti Sahini. Wlien the widow of Barclay heard of this, she said, " 31y busi)and was a man of birth, and famous in the literary wi supporter of the Earl of Murray, then struggling for the ascendancy. He died in 156 8. His works are, I, A System of Astronomy, published for the third time in 1593, by .lohn Torncpsius. 2, A Treatise of the Astrolabe, published at Lyons in 1555, and reprinted at Paris in 1617. 3, A Pamphlet on the Calculation of Nativities. 4, A Treatise on Aritlimetic. 5, 3Iusic on the Principles of the Platonists. 6, On Mathematics in general. It is understood that, in the composition of these works, he required considerable literary assistance, being only skilled in his own language, which was never then made the vehicle of scientific discussion. BAS.50L, John, a distinguished disciple of the famous D;nis Scotus, is stated by Mackenzie to have been born in the reign of Alexander III. He studied under Duns at Oxford, and with him, in 1304, removed to Paris, where he resided some time in the University, and, in 1313, entered the order of the Minorites. After this he was sent by the general of his order to Rheims, where he applied himself to the study of medicine, and taught philosophy for seven or eight years. In 1323, he removed to Mechlin in Brabant, and after teach- ing theology in that city for five and twenty years, died in 1347. Bassol's only work was one entitled, " Commentaria Seu Lecturce in Quatuor 102 JOHN BASSOL. Lihros SeiUciitianiin," t(» which woro .ittache*! some miscellaneous papers on l'hih>sophy and 3Icdicine. The book was piihlislied in folio at Taiis, in 1517, Bassol was kn(»wn by the title, Doctor (J^diuaits.'iimii.'i, or the most 3Icthodical Doctor, on account of tiu> clear and accurate method in wiiich he lectured and composed. The fashion of -jivin!;- such titles to the great masters of the schools was then in its prime. Thus, Duns Seotus himself was styled Doctor iSnbtilis, ■)r the Suhtlc Doctor. St Francis of Assis was called the Scrap/tic Doctor; Alexander Hales the Irrefragable Doctor ; 'Ihomas Aquinas the Ancjelical Doc- tor ; llendricus BonicoUius the Solemn Doctor; Kichard Middleton the Solid Doctor; Francis IMayron the Acute Doctor ; Dui'andus a S. I'ortiano i\\G most Uexolutc Doctor ; Thomas i redwnrdin the Profound Doctor ; Joannes Hnys- brokius the Divine Doctor, and so forth ; the title being in every case founded upon some extravagant conception of the merit of the particular individual, adopted by his contemporaries and disciples. In this extraordinary class of literati, John Hassol, as implied by his soubriquet, shines conspicuous for oi-der and method; yet we are told that liis works contain most of the faults which a»-e generally laid to the charge of the schoolmen. The chief of these is an in-ational devotion to the philosophy of Aristotle, as expounded by Thomas Aqui- nas. In the early ages of modern philosophy, this most splendid exertion of the human mind was believed to be irreconcileable to the Christian doctrines ; and at the very time when the Angelical Doctor wrote bis commentaiy, it stood prohibited by a decree of Pope (Tregoi^y IX, The illustrious Thomas not only restored Aristotle to favour, but inspired his followers with an admiration of his precepts, which, as already mentioned, was not rational. Not less was their ad- miration of the " angelical " commentator, to whom it was long the fashion among them to offer an incense little short of blasphemy. A commentator upon an original work of Thomas Aquinas, endeavoui-s, in a prefatory discourse, to prove, in so many chapters, that he wrote his books not without the special in- fusion of the spirit of God Almighty ; that, in writing them, be received many things by revelation ; and, that C hrist had given anticipatoi-y testimony to his wTitings. By way of bringing the works of St Thomas into direct comparison with the Holy Scriptures, the same writer remarks, " that, as in the first General Councils of the church, it was common to have the Bible unfolded upon tho Altar, so, in the last General Council (that of Trent), St Thomas' ' Sum' was placed beside tlie Bible, as an inferior rule of Christian doctrine." Peter Labbe, a learned Jcstiit, with scai'cely less daring flattery, styles St Thonns an angel, and says that, as he learned many things from the angels, so he taught the an gels some things ; that St Thomas had said what St Paul was not permitted to utter ; and that he speaks of God as if he bad seen him, and of Christ as if he had been his voice. One might almost suppose that these learned gentlemen, disregarding the sentiment afterwards embodied by Gray, that flattery soothes not the cold ear of death, endeavoured by their praises to make interest with the " angelical" shade, not doubting that he was able to obtain for them a larger share of paradise than they coidd otherwise hope for. In the words of the au- tlior of the Reflections on Learning, " the sainted Thomas, if capable of hearing these inordinate flatteries, must have blushed to receive thein." Bassol was also characterised, in common with all the rest of the schoolmen, by a ridiculous nicety in starting questions and objections. Overlooking the great moral aim of Avhat tliey were expounding, he and his fellows lost them- selves in minute and subtle inijuiries after physical exactness, started at every straw which lay upon their path, and measured the powers of the mind by grains and scruples. It must be acknowledged, in favour of this singular class of ni'v, that they improved natural reason to a great height, and that much of w^ai ANDHEW BAXTER. 153 is most admired iu modern philosophy is only borrowed from them. At the same time, their curiosity in raising and prosecuting frivolous ohjections to the Christian system is to be regretted as the soui'ce of much scepticism and in-eli- gion. To many of their ax-guments, ridicule only is du3 ; and it would perhaps be impossible for the gravest to restrain a smile at the illustrissimo mentioned by Cardan, one of ^vhose arguments Avas declared to be enough to puzzle aU posterity, and who himself wept in his old age, because he had become unable to understand his own books. The ivorlis of Bassol have been long forgotten, like those of his brethren ; but it is not too much to say regarding this great man of a former day, that the same powei-s of mind ^vhich he spent upon the endless intricacies of the school philosophy, would certainly, in another age and sphere, have tended to the permanent advantage of his fellow creatures. He was so much admired by his illustrious preceptor, that that great man used to say, " If only Joannes Bassio- lis be present, I have a sufficient auditory." BAXTER, Andrew, an ingenious moral and natural philosopher, was the son of a merchant in Old Aberdeen, and of Mrs Elizabeth Eraser, a lady connected ^vith some of the considerable families of that name in the north of Scotland. He was born at Old Aberdeen, in 1G86 or 1G87, and educated at the King's College, in his native city. His employment in early life was that of a preceptor to young gentlemen ; and among others of his pupils Avere Lord Gray, Lord Blantyre, and 31r Hay of Drummelzier. In 1723, while resident at Dunse Castle, as preceptor to the last-mentioned gentleman, he iskno^vn, from letters Avhicii passed between him and Henry Home, afterwards Lord Kaimes, to have been deeply engaged in both physical and metaphysical disquisitions. As Mv Home's paternal scat of Kaimes ^vas situated within a few miles of Dunse Castle, the si- milarity of their pursuits appears to have brought them into an intimate friend- ship and correspondence. This, however, was soon afterwards broken off Mr Home, \vho was a mere novice in physics, contended with Mr Baxter that mo- tion was necessarily the result of a succession of causes. The latter endeavoured, at first with much patien<;e and good temper, to point out the error of this ar- gument ; but, teased at lengtli Avith Avhat he conceived to be sophistry purposely employed by his antagonist to sho\v his ingenuity in throwing doubts on princi- ples to \vhich he himself annexed the greatest importance, and on which he had founded what he believed to be a demonstration of those doctrines most material to the happiness of mankind, he finally interrupted the correspondence, saying, ■' I shall return you all youi* letters; mine, if not already destroyed, you may likewise return ; Ave shall bui-n them and our philosophical heats together." About this time, Mr Baxter married Alice 3Iabane, daughter of a respectable clergyman in Berwickshire. A few years afterwards he published liis gi-eat work, entitled, " Aii Enquiry into the natui-e of the Human Soul, wherein its immateriality is evinced from the principles of Reason and Philosophy." This work was originally without date ; but a second edition appeared in 1737, and a third in 1745. It has been characterised in the highest terms of panegyric by Bishop Warburton. " He who would see," says this eminent prelate, " the justest and precisest notions of God and the soul, may read this book ; one o the most finished of the Icind, in my humble opinion, that the present times, greatly advanced in true philosophy, have produced." The object of the trea- tise is to prove the immateriality, and consequently the immortality of the soul, from the acknowledged principle of the vis inertice of matter. His argument, according to the learned Lord Woodhouselee, is as follows: " There is a resis- tance to any change of its present state, either of rest or motion, essential to matter, which is inconsistent with its possessing any active power. Those, there- IGi ANDREW BAXTEK. lore, uliidi liavc been (■allt'il tlio natiir;:! pouei-s of innttor, as iiravity, attraction, elasticity, rejuilsioii, are not ]to\Ners ini|ilante(l in niatlcr, or possiiile to 1)0 niatie inlicix'nt in it, but ai-e inijmlses or lonx's iniprossfcl upon it ah extra. '1 be consequence ot" tiie want of active po«er in matter is, tbat all tbose eflects com- monly ascribed to its acti>e ]»o\\ers, ini'st be jjrodticetl upon it by an immaterial being-, lience we (lis<;over tbe ne<;essity for tlie agency of a constant and uni- versjil ProvidcMice in tbe material world, wbo is ( iqd ; ami lience we must admit the necessity of an immaterial mover in all spontaneous motions, wbicb is the Soul ; for tliat wbicb cm arbitrarily elfect a change in tbe pix'sent state of matter, cannot be matter ilsell", wbicb resists all change ol' its pr^'sent state: and since this (b.-nge is ejected by willing, tbat thing which wills in us is not mat- ter, but an immaterial suhslance. 1 rom these fundamental propositions, the author deduces as conseqiiencos, the necessary immortality of tbe soul, as being a simple uncoiupoiiiuled suljslance, and thence iucapahle of decay, and its capa- city of existing, and being <-onscious when separated from tbe body." In 1741. leaving his family in Herwi(;U, he went abroad with liis pupil IMr I'ay, an«l resided for several years at Utrecht. In the course of various excursions which he made through lloihind, France, and (jermany, be was generally well received by tbe literati, lie retiuned to Scotland in 17 i7, and, till his death in 1750, resided (;onstantly at AVhittingbam in East Lothian, a seat of his pupil IMr Hay. His latter works were, " Matho, sive (Josuiotheoria puerilis, Dialogus," a piece designetl for the use of bis pupil, and, " An Appendix to bis Enquiry into the i nature of tbe human soul," wherein he endeavoured to remove some difliculties, which had been started against his notions of the via inertics of matter by IMaclaurin, in his " Account of Sir Isaac Newton's Philosophical Discoveries " In 1779, the Fev. Dr Duncan of South Warnhorough published, " llie evidence of reason in proof of tbe Immortality of the Soul, independent on the more abstruse enquiry into the nature of matter and spirit — collected from the jMSS. of tbe late Mr Baxter." The learning and abilities of Mr Baxter are sufficiently displayed in his writings, \vhich, however, \vere of more note in the literary w orld diu-ing his o^vn time than now. He was veiy studious, and sometimes sat up whole nights read- ing and writing. His temper was cheerful; he was a friend to innocent merri- ment, and of a disposition truly benevolent. In conversation he was modest, and not apt to make much show of the extensive knowledge be possessed. In the discharge of the several social and relative duties of life, his conduct was exemplary. He had the most reverential sentiments of the Deity, of whose presence and immediate support, he had always a strong impression upon his mind. He paid a strict attention to economy, though he dressed elegantly, and was not parsimonious in his other expenses. It is known also that there were several occasions on which he acted with remarkable disintei-estedness ; and so far was he irom courting prefennent, that he repeatedly declined ofters of that kind that were made to him, on the condition of his taking orders in the Church of England. The French, German, and Dutch languages were spoken by hini with much ease, and the Italian tolerably: and he read and wrote them all, together with die Spanish. His friends and coirespondents were numerous and respectable ; among them arc particularly mentioned, jMr Pointz, preceptor to the Duke of Cumberland, and i^isbop Warburton. While travelling on the Con- tinent, he had formed an intimate friendship with the celebrated John Wilkes ; .and he accordingly dedicated to this gentleman bis Appendix to the Enquiry. After the death of Mr Baxter, IMr Wilkes publisiied a remarkably interesting letter, the last but one which he had received from his friend, exhibiting in a vei-y striking manner the deep impression which the excellent principles of ]M JAMES BAYNE (oit BAINE). iQ^ Baxter had mnde upon his own mind, and %vhicli were only the more deeply and confidently cherished as life approached its close. " As to the state of my dis- ease," says tlie dying philosopher, " unless I would make suppositions contrary to all prohability, I have no reasonable hopes of recovery, the swelling which began at my legs, being now got up to my belly and head. I am a trouble to all about me, especially to my poor wife, who has the life of a slave night and day, helping me to take care of my diseased frame. Yet I may linger on a while, as I can still walk a little through the room, and divert myself now and tiien \vith reading, nay, in wi'iting doun my remarks on what I read. But 1 can with sincerity assure you, my most dear Mr Wilkes, death has nothing ter- rible to me ; or rather I look upon it Avith pleasure. I have long and often considered and wi'itten down the advantages of a separate state. I shall soon know more than all the men I leave behind me ; wonders in material natui'e and the world of spirits, which never entered into the thoughts of philosophers. The end of knowledge then, is not to get a name, or form a new sect, but to adore the power and wisdom of the Deity. This kills pride, but heightens hap- piness and pleasure. All our rational desu-es, because rational, must be satisfied by a being, himself infinitely rational. I have been long aware that nothing can go beyond the gi-ave, but habits of virtue and innocence. There is no dis- tinction in that world, but what proceeds from virtue or vice. Titles and riches are laid oft' when the shroud goes on." [Mr Baxter then goes on to express liis ccmviction that even the punishments which may be awarded in a future state will only be " to correct and make better."] " Besides, what is it to be free from the pains and infirmities of the body — though 1 am satisfied just now, that the weakness of my distressed limba is as much the immediate effect of the same power and goodness, as their gi'owth and strength was sixty years ago ! Dare I add a word witliout being thought vain ? This is owing to my having reasoned honestly on the nature of that dead substance, matter. It is as utterly inert when the tree flourishes, as when the leaf Avithers. And it is the same divine powei*, differently applied, that directs the last parting throb, and the first drawing breath. O the blindness of those who think matter can do any thing of itself, or perform an eii'ect without impulse or direction from superior power!" BAYNE, [or Baine] .Iames, A. M. a divine of some note, was the s n of the Rev. MrBayne, minister of Bonhill in Dumbartonshire, and was born in 1710. His education commenced at tlie parish school, was completed at the university of ^;lasgow, and indue time he became a licensed pre.acher of the establislied church of Scotland. In consequence of the respectability of his father, and his own talents as a preacher, he was presented by the Duke of Montrose to the church of Killearn, the parish adjoining that in which his father had long ministered the gospel, and menioiable as ilie birth-place of Buchanan. In this sequester- ed and tranquil seen ', he spent many years, which he often referred to in after life as the happiest lie had ever kno\vn. He hei-e married Miss Potter, daughtei of Dr Michael Potter, professor of divinity in the Glasgow university, by whom he had a large family. His son, the Rev. James Bayne, was licensed in the Scot- tish establishment, but afterwards received episcopal ordination, and died in tlie exercise of that profession of faith at Alloa. The reputation of Mr Bayne as a preacher soon travelled far beyond the rural bcene to which his ministrations were confined. His people, in allusion to the musical sweetness of his voice, honoured him with the poetical epithet of " the swan of the west." He was appointed to a collegiate charge in the High Church of Paisley, where his partner in duty was the celebrated Mr Wotherspoon, afterwards president of the Nassau Hall College, Princetown, New Jersey. The two colleagues, however, IGl) JAMES BAYNE (oa BALNE). did not co-operate liaiinoiiiously, although both enjoyed a high degrue of popularity. Mr IJayiie dis|)layc(l great public spirit during his coimectioii with the Established church, defending her spiritual liberties and independence in the church courts, and offering a determined opposition to the policy of the moderate or ruling party. The deposition of Mr Tiiomas Gillespie, of Carnock, the founder of the Relief church, made a powei ful impression o:i his mind, and undoubtedly had a strong influence in inducing him to resign his pastoral charge in Paisley. But the immediate cause ot tiiat resolution was a keen dispute which took place in the kirk-session of his parish, respecting the apiointment of a session-clerk. Tlie session contested the right of appointment with the town-council; the whole community took an interest in the dispute; and the case came at last to be litigated in the Court of Session, which decided in favour of the town-council. Unhappily, Mr Bayne and his colleague took opposite sides in this petty contest, and a painful misunderstanding was produced betwixt them, followed by consequences probably afTecting the future destinies of both. Mr Bayne refers to these differences in his letter of resignation, addressed to the Pres- bytery, dated 10th February, 1700 :— " They (the Presbytery) know not how far I am advanced in lile, who see not that a house of worship, so very large as the High Ciiureh, and commonly so crowded too, must be very unequal to my strength; and this burden was made more heavy by denying me a .ession to assist me in the com- mon concerns of the parish, which 1 certainly had a title to. But the load became quite intolerable, when, by a late unhappy process, the just and natural right of the common session was wrested from us, which drove away from acting in it twelve men of excellent character." Mr Bayne joined the Relief churcii, then in its infancy, having, even whilst in the Establishment, held ministerial communion with Mr Simpson, minister of Bellshill congregation, the first Relief church in the west of Scotland. In his letter of resignation, already quoted, Mr Bayne assured his former brethren that the change of his condition, and the charge he had accepted, would make no change in his creed, nor in his principles of Christian and ministerial communion — " Nay (he adds), none in my cordial regard to the constitution and interests of the Cliurch of Scotland, which I solemnly engaged to support some more than thirty years ago, and hope to do so while I live. At the same time I abhor persecution in every form, and that abuse of church power of late, which to me appears inconsistent with humanity, with the civil interests of the nation, and destructive of the ends of our office as ministers of Christ." On the 24th December, Mr Bayne accepted a call to become minister of the College Street Relief Church, Edinburgh, and his induction took place on the loth February, 1766, three dajs after his resignation of his charge in Paisley. As his demission fell to be adjudicated upon by the General Assembly, in May of that year, his name remained for the present upon the roll of the Establishment, and so little did he yet consider himself separated from the communion of that church, that when the half-yearly sacrament of the Lord's Supper came round i;i Edinburgh, soon after his settlement, after preaching in his own church in tlie forenoon, he went over in the afternoon, at the head of his congregation, to the New Greyfriars' church, and joined in the ordinance with the congregation of the Piev. Dr Erskine. At the Assembly in May, Mr Bayne, in obedience to a citation, appeared at the bar, and was declared to be no longer a minister of the Church of Scotland, and all clergymen of that body were prohibited from holding ministerial communion with him. Mr Bayne defended the course he had taken in a review of the proceedings of the Assembly, entitled, "Memoirs of Modern Church Reforma- tion, or the History of the General Assembly, 1766, and occasional reflections upon the proceedings of said Assembly ; with a brief account and vindication of the Presbytery of Relief, by James Bayne, A.M., minister of the gospel at Edinburgh." He denounces, with indignant seventy, the injustice of his having been condemned by CARDINAL BEATON. IC] the Assembly without a libel, merely for having accepted a charge in another church, " in which (says he), I presumed, they could find nothing criminal ; for often had ministers resigned their charge upon different accounts, and justifiable; nav, some liave given it up for the more entertaining and elegant employ of the stage, who were not called in question or found deliiupients. This was a palpable hit at Home, the author of " Douglas,'' who sat in the AssemMy as a ruling elder, to aid Dr Robertson in punishing Bayne. After , tiii;li:i:ussv also uiis icixissriii, kiiii;' JaiuL's set sail fur France, and proceeded to the court, where lie was m(»st cordially w(dconied ; and, unable to «leny iiis s'lit, especially <'is it was exceedingly ag^reeable to JMa^dalene hei-self, Francis consented to their union, wliicli was (xdebrated with great rejoicings on the 1st of January, 1537, On the iJtili of 3Iay following, the royal pair landed in Scotland, being conveyed by a l'ren<:h fleet. iMagdalene was received hy the Scottish nation with the utmost cor- diality ; but she >vas already far gone in a decline, and died on the 7tli of July following, to the inexpressible grief of the whole nation. It was on the death of this queen that mournings were iirst worn in Scotland. James, ho\\- ever, in expectation of this event, had fixed his attention upon 3Iary of (Tuise, widow of the Duke of Longueville ; and IJeaton, who by this time had returned to Scotland, was dispatched immediately to bring her over. On this occasion he was appointed by the king of France bishop of Mirepoix, to which see he w;is consecrated, December 5th, 1537. The following year, he was, at the recommendation of the French king, elev.ated to the cardinalship by the Pope, Avhich was followed by a grant on the part of the French king for services already done and for those whicli lie might afterwai-ds do to his majesty, allowing his heii-s to succeed Iiim to his estate in France, though the said heirs should be born and live within the kingdom of Scotland, and though they should have no particular letter or .act of naturalization in that country. NotAvithstanding of i\u; '.Idigations he was thus laid under by the king of France, he returned to Scot- land with 3Iary of tiuise, and shortly after obtained the entire management of liie diocese and primacy of St Andrews, under his uncle James Beaton, whom he o»'entuaIly suc^^eeded in that office. A severe pei'secution was commenced at this liuio by the cardinal against all who were suspected of favouring the reformed doctrines. Many were forced to recant, and two pei*sons, Nomian Goui'lay and David Straiton, were burnt at the liood of Greenside, near Edinburgh. The pope, as a further mark of his re- epect, and to quicken his zeal, declared Beaton Legatus a latere : and ho, to manifest his gi'atitude, brought to St Andrews the earls of Huntley, Arran, i^Iarischal, and JMontrose, the lords of Fleming, Lindsay, Erskine, and Seaton, fiavin archbishop of Glasgow (chancellor), William bishop of Aberdeen, Henry bishop of Galloway, John bishop of Brechin, and William bishop of Dundjlane, the abbots of Melrose Dunfermline, Lmdores, and Kinloss, with a nudtitude o priors, deans, doctors of divinity, &c. , all of whom being assembled in the cathe- dral church, he harangued them froiu bis chair of state on the dangers that hung over the true catholic church from the proceedings of king Heniy in England, and [KUticulariy from the great incre;ise of hei'esy in Scotland, where it had long been spreading, and found encouragement even in the court of the king. As he pro- ceeded, he denounced Sir John Borthwick, provost of Linlithgow, as one of the most industrious incendiaries, and caused him to be cited before them for maintaining tliiit the Pope had no great-er authority over Christians than any other bishop or prelate — that indulgences granted by the pope were of no force or effect, bui devised to amuse the people and deceive poor ignorant souls — that bishops, priests, and other clergymen, may lawfully mari-y — that the heresies commonly called the heresies of England and their new^ liturgy were to be commended by all good Christians, and to be embraced by them — that the people of ScotIai;d are blinded by their clergy, and profess not the true faith — that ciiurchmeii CARDINAL BEATON. 169 ought not to enjoy any temporalities — that the king ought to convert the super- riiious revenues of the church unto other pious uses — that the church of Scotland might to be reformed after the same manner as that of England Avas — that the Canon laiV was of no force, being contrary to the law of God — that the orders ol" Iriars and monks should be abolished, as had been done in England — that he !iad openly called the pope a Simoniac, because he had sold spiritual things — lliat he had read heretical books and the New Testament in English, Mith treatises written by 3Ieianchthon, (Ecolampadius, and other heretits, and that he not only read them himself but distributed them among others — and lastly, that he openly Jisowued the authority of the Koman see. These articles being read, and Sir Tohn neither appearing himself nor any person for him, he was set down as a confessed heretic, and condemned as an heresiai-ch. His goods were ordered to be confiscated and himself burnt in effigy, if he could not be apprehended, and all manner of persons forbidden to entertain or converse with him, under the pain of excommunication or forfeiture. 'I'his sentence w;is passed against him on the 2Sth of May, and executed the same day so far as was in the power of the court, his effigy being burnt in the market place of St Andi-ews and two days after at Edinburgh. This was supposed by many to be intended as a gratifying spectacle to Mary of Guise, the new cjueen, who had only a short time before arrived from France. Sir John Eorthwick, in the meantime, being informed of these violent proceedings, fled into England, where he was received with open ai'ms by Henry VIII., by whom he was sent on an embassy to the protestant princes of Germany, for the p irpose of forming with them a defensive league against the pope. Johnston, in his Heroes of Scotland, says, that " John Borth- wick, a noble knight, was as much esteemed by king James V. for his exem- plar and amiable qualities, as he was detested by the order of the priesthood on account of his true piety, for his unfeigned profession of which he was con- demned ; and though tabsent, his eftects confiscated, and his effigy, after being subjected to various marks of ignominy, burnt." as we have above related. " This condemnation," Johnston adds, " he answered by a most learned apology, which may yet be seen in the records of the mai'tyi-s, [Fox,] and having survived many years, at last died in peace in a good old age." While these affairs were transacted, Henry, anxious to destroy that inter- est which the French government had so long maintained in Scotland to the prejudice of England, sent into that kingdom the bishop of St Davids Avith some books ^vritten in the vulgar tongue upon the doctrines of Clu-is- tiauity, which he reroiTimeiided to his nephew carefully to peruse, and to weigh well their contents. James, who was more addicted to his amusements, than to the study of the doctrines and duties of Christianity, gave the boolcs to be perused by some of his co'.u'tiers, who, being attached to the clerical order, condemned them as heretical, and congratulated the king upon hav- ing so fortunately escaped the contamination of his royal eyes by such pesti- ferous A\Titings. There were, ho^vever, other matters proposed to the king by this embassy than the books, though it was attempted by the clei-ical faction to persuade the people that the books were all that" was intended ; for. shortly after, the same bisliop, accompanied by William Howai'd, brother of the Duke of Nor- folk, came to the king at Stirling so suddenly, that he was not aware of their coming till they were announced as arrived in the town. This no doubt was planned by Henry to prevent the intriguing of the priests and the French faction beforehand. His offers were of a nature so advantageous, that James acceded to them without any scruple, and readily agreed to meet with his uncle Henry on an appointed day, when they were to settle all matters in dopendence be« 170 CARDINAL BKATON. ween tiieiu for Uie welfare of both kingtloins. Ni tliina; could l>e more terrible to the clergy, of wliicli liialon was now coiifrsscdly flu- head in Scotland, tluto tlie agreement of the two kings; they saw in it notliing short of the loss of all tli.it was dear to them, their altars, (heir revenues, and of coiirs*; llieir iulluence, and they hastenetl to court from all (juarters to uecp over (lieir religion about to be betr.ned by an unholy eouferencc, wliidi, beiniy impious in its purposes, could not fail, they said, to end in the ruin of the kingdonu Having by these represes that had been agreed upon. With respect to the afli-onts complained of, the re- gent apologised, stating them to have been committed without his knowledge, and he promised to make strict enquiry after, and to punish the offenders. With regard to the hostages, however, he was obliged to cor.fess, that, through the in- trigues of the Cardinal, it was impossible for him to fui-nish them. The treats being thus broken off, the noblemen who had been captives only a few months before, ought, according to agi-eement, to have gone back into England bavins left hostages to that effect. Wrought upon, however, by the Cardinal and the clergy, they refused to redeem the faith they had pledged, and abandoned the friends they had left behind them to their fate. The only exception to this base- ness was the Earl of Cassilis, who had left two brothers as hostages. Henry was so much pleased with this solitai-y instance of good faith, that he set him free along with his brothers, and sent him Iiome loaded with gifts. He at the CARDINAL BEATON. 17^ same time seized upon all the Scottish vessels, a great number of which had been lately fitted out, as we have stated, and were at this time in the English harbours and road-steads, confiscated the merchandise, and made the merchants and the mariners prisoners of ^var. This, while it added to the domestic miseries of Scotland, served also to fan the dames of dissension, which burned more fiercely than ever. The faction of the Cardinal and the Queen-dowager, entirely de- voted to France, now sent ambassadors thither to state tlieir case as utterly des- perate, unless they were supported from that country. In particular, they re- quested that 3Iatthew Earl of Lennox might be ordered home, in order that they miglit set him up as a rival to the Hamiltons, who were ah-eady the objects of his hatred, on account of their having waylaid and killed his father at Linlithgow. Arran laboured to strengthen his party in the best manner he could ; and for this end resolved to possess himself of the infant Queen, who had hithei-to re- mained at Linlithgow in the charge of her mother the Queen-dowager. The Cardinal, however, was too wary to be thus circumvented, and assembling his faction, took possession of Linlithgow, \\liere he lived at free quarters upon the inhabitants, on pretence of being a guard to the Queen. Lennox, in the mean- time, arrived from France, and was received by the regent with great kindness, each of them dissembling the hatred he bore to the other, and having informed his friends of the expectations he had been led to form he proceeded to join the Queen at Linlithgow, accompanied by upwards of four thousand men. Arran, who had assembled all his friends in and about Edinburgh for the purpose of breaking through to the Queen, now found himself completely in the back ground, having, by the imbecility of his character, entirely lost the confidence of the people, and being threatened Avith a law-suit by the friends of Lennox to deprive him of his estates, his father having maiTied his mother, Janet Beaton, an aunt of the Cardinal, while his first wife, whom he had divorced, was still alive. He now thought of nothing but making his peace with the Cardinal. To this the Cardinal ^vas not at all averse, as he wished to make Arran his tool ra- ther than to crush him entirely. Delegates of course were appointed by both parties, who met at Kirkliston, a village about midway betvi^eeu Edinburgh and Linlithgow, and agreed that the Queen should be carried to Stirling; the Earl of Montrose, with the Lords Erskine, Lindsay, and Livingstone, being nominated to take the superintendence of her education. Having been put in possession of the iidant Queen, these noblemen proceeded with her direct to Stirling Castle, whore she was solemnly inaugurated with the usual ceremonies on the 9th of Sept, 1513. The I'eeble regent soon followed, and before the Queen-mother and the principal nobility in the church of the Franciscans at Stirling, solemnly abjured the protestant doctrines, by the profession of which alone he had obtained the favour of so large a portion of the nation, and for the protection of which he had been especially called to the i-egency. In this manner the Cardinal, through the cowardice of the regent, and the avarice of his friends, obtained all that he intended by the forged will, and enjoyed all the advantages of ruling, while all the odium that attended it attached to the imbecile Arran, who was now as much hated and despised by his own party as he had fonnerly been venerated by them. There was yet, however, one thing wanting to establish the power of the Cardi- nal— the dismissal of Lennox, who, though he had been greatly useful to them in humbling Arran, was now a serious obstacle in the way of both the Cardinal and the Queen-mother, lliey accordingly wrote to the king of France, entreat- ing that, as Scotland had been restored to tranquillity by his liberality and assis- tance, he would secure his own good work and preserve tlie peace Avhich he had procured, by recalling Lennox, without which it was impossible it could be lasting'. 17-i CARDINAL BEATON. Tlioujjli they were thus seci-ctly labouring to tiiuh'niiinc this nobleman, the t^iicen-iiiother and the ' anlinal siuiuod to study nothing so much as iio>v (hey mijilit j)tit liononr ujxni him Imforc liie jioojde, and in the most etliM'.tive manner contrilintc to his comlort. I'y a constant succession of names and Icstivals, the court juisentod one nnltroken scene of paiely and pleasure. Day after day was sjient in tournaments, and ni;;lit after nii^ht in masijnerades. In lhes{r feslivtics, of ivhich he w.is naturally fond, I.ennox found a keen riv.il in .lames Hepburn, I'.'arl of liothwcll, uho had been banished by .lames V., l.ut had returned aftei his dece.Tse, and was now labouring to obtain the Queen-dowaiicr in marriane by the same ai-ts that Lennox fancied himself to be so successfully emijloyin-j. IJoth these noblemen were remarkable for natural endowments, and in the gills of fortune they were nearly upon a leveL Findin^^ himself inferior, however, in the sportive strife of arms, Hothw ell withdrew from the court in ^•ha^rin, leav- ing- the Held to his rival undisputed. Leiniox, now fancying- tliat lie liad no- lliinsf more to do tlian to reap the harvest of fair promises that had been so liberally held forth to him, pressed his suit upon the Queen, but learned with astonishment that she had no intention of takinj;: hiui for a husl)and, and so far from granting- him the regency, she had agreed with the ( ardinal to preserve it in the possession of his mortal enemy Arran, whom they expected to be a more ]>liant tool to serve their own personal views and purposes. Exasperated to the lii<;liest degi'oe, Lennox swore to be amply reveiu^ed, but uncertain as yet Mbat plan to pursue, departed tor Dunbarton, where he was in the midst of bis vassals and fiiends. Here he received thnty thousand crowns, sent to increase the sinngth of his party by the king of France, who had not yet been iiiiay and without magazines, he was well aware could not be kept for any length of time together. Lennox, finding the war thus protracted, and himself so completely unfurnished for undertaking a siege, at the urgent entreaty of his friends, who for the m ;st part had provided se- cretly for themselves, made an agreement with the regent, and, proceeding to Edinburgh, the two visited backwards and forwards, as if all their ancient ani- mosity had been forgotten, Lennox, ho\vever, being advised of treacheiy, vnth- drew in the night secretly to Glasgow, where he fortified, provisioned, and gan-i- soned the Bishop's castle, but retired himself to Dunbarton, Here he learned CAKDINAL BEATON. 175 (hat the Douglasses had agreed with the Haniiltor.s, and that, through the influ- ence of his enemies, the French king Avas totally estranged from him. Archibald Douglas Earl of Angus, and Robert Maxwell, in the meantime, came to (alasgow with the view of mediating between Lennox and the Kegent, The Regent, however seized them both in a clandestine manner by the Avay, and made them close prisoners in the castle of Cadzow. ^Vhile the two factions were thus harassing one anrther to the ruin of their common country, Henry was demand- inn- by letters satisiaction for the breach of treaties and the insults that had been h-eaped upon him in the person of his late ambassador. No notice being taken of these letters, Fenry ordered a large armament, which he had prepared to send asainst the coast of France, to proceed directly to Leith, and to visit Edinburgh and tlie adjacent country with all the mioencs oi war; and with so much secrecy and celerity did this annament proceed, that the first tidings heard of it in Scot- land was its appeai'ance in Leith roads. Ten thousand men were disembai'ked on the 4th P'lay, 1544, a little above Leith, who took possession of that place with- out the sniallest opposition, the inhabitants being mostly Jibroad in the prosecu- tion of their business. The Regent and the Cardinal were both at the time in Edinbin-gh, and, panic-stricken at the appearance of the enemy, and still more at the hatred of the citizens, fled with the utmost precipitation towards Stirling. The English, in the meantime, having landed their baggage and artillery, march- ed in order of battle towards Edinburgh, which they sacked and set on fire ; then dispersing themselves over tlie neighbouring countiy, they burnt towns, viUages, and gentlemen's seats to the ground, and returning by Edinburgh to Leith, em- barked aboard their ships and set sail with a fair wind, caiTying with them an immense booty, and with the loss on their part of only a few individuals. The Cardinal and his puppet the Regent, in the meantime, raised a small body of forces in the north, with which, finding the English gone, they marched against Lennox in the west, and laid siege to the castle of Glasgow, which they battered with brass cannon for a number of days. A truce was at last concluded for one day, during wliich thegaiTison were tampered with, and, on a promise of safety, surrendered. They were, however, put to death, with the exception of one or two individuals. Lennox, now totally deserted by the French, and unable to cope with the Cardinal, had no resource but to fly into England, where, through the medium of his friends, he had been assured of a cordial reception. Eefore leaving the counti*y, hoAvever, he was determined to inflict signal vengeance upon the Han;iltons. Having communicated with William Earl of Glencaim upon the subject, a day was appointed on which they should assemble with their vassals at (ilasgow, whence th.ey might make an irruption into the territory of the Ham- iltons, A'.hich lay in the inunediate neighbourhood. The Regent, informed ot this design, with the advice of the Cardinal, resolved to pre-occupy Glasgow. Glencairn, however, did not ^\nh the appointed day, but was already in the town, and learning the approach of the Eaniiltons marched out to give them battle, aided by the citizens, who do not appear to have been friendly to the Regent. The battle was stoutly contested, and for some time the Hamiltons seensed to liave the worst of it. In tl;a end, however, they gained a complete victory, the greater part of the Cuninghan.es being slain, and among the rest two of tin Earl's sons. Nor Mas it a bloodless victory to the L'amiltons, several of their chieftains being slain ; but the severest loss fell upon the citizens of Glasgow, whose houses were cruelly plundered, and even their dooi-s and window shutters destroyed. The friends of Lennox refused to risk another engagement, but they insisted that he should keep the impregnable fortress of Dumbarton, where he might in safety await another revolution in the state of parties, which they prog- nosticated would take place in a vei-y short time. Nothing, however, could di- 17G CARDINAL BEATON. verl liiiii iVoiii liis ]>iir|»(isft ; nnd, roniiiiittintr tlie c.Ii.irne of llie cistle of Diimbar- ton to (ieorije Slirliiii;, lie saik'd lor liii^laiMl, ^licrd li(« was lioiiourably eiilel-- tained by kiii^ lieiiry. ulio s(>ttloii iijioii biiii, and ><;:ivv. biin to w'lie liis niece, ^lariiaret l)oUi;las, a juincvss in ibe llouer of her aye, and reiebrated lor every arromplisbnient Itotoniinj; llie leinab! rliaracler. 'i lie tjiieen-dowajjer, aware tlial Ibc laclion Lennox lia- these domestic broils, made a fin-ious inroad into Scotland, burned Jedburgh andKelso, and Laid waste the whole circiinijaceni country. Thence? proceeding to Coldingham, they fortified the church and the churcb tower, in which they placed a garrison on retiring to their own country. This garrison, from the love of plunder as well as to prevent supplies for a. besieging aniiy, wasted the neighbouring district to a wide extent. Turning tbeir attention at last to general interests, the Scottish government, at the head of wliicli was the Car- dinal, the Queen-dowager, and the nominal L'egent Arran, issued a proclamation for the nobles and the more respectable of the connuons to assemble armed, and with provisions for eight days, to attend the Regent. Eigbt thousand men were speed- ily assembled, and though it was the depth of winter, they ])i-oceeded against the church and tower of Coldingham wilhout delay. When they had been be- fore tlie place only one day and one night, the Hegent, informed tliat the Eng- lish were advancing from Berwick, took horse, and Avitli a few attendants galloped in tbe utmost baste to Dunbar. This inexplicable conduct threw the Avhole army into confusion, and, but for tbe bravery of one man, Archi- bald Douglas I'^nrl of Angus, the whole of their tents, baggage, and artillei^y would have been abandoned to the enemy. But aUhough Angus and a few of his friends, at the imminent hazard of their lives, saved the artillery and brought it in safely to Dunbar, the conduct of the army in general, and of the Kegent in particular, was pusillanimous in the extreme. The spirit of the nation sunk ai:d the courage of the enemy rose in proportion. Ralph Ivers, and Brian I.atoun, the English commanders, overran, without meeting with any opposition, the districts of 3Iei-se, Teviotdale, and Lauderdale, and the Forth only seemed to limit their victorious amis. Angus, who alone of all the Scottish nobility at this time gave any indication of public spirit, indignant at the nation's disgrace and deeply af- fected with his own losses, for he had extensive estates both in Merse and Teviot- dale, made a vehement representation to the Regent upon the folly of his conduct in allowing himself to be the dupe of an ambitious but cowardly priest, who, like the rest of his brethren, miwarlike abroad, was seditious at home, and, exempt from danger, wislied only the power of wasting the fruit of olhcr men's labours upon his own voluptuousness. xMways feeble and always vacillating, the Regent was roused by these remonstrances to a momentai-y exertion. An order was issued through the neighbouring counties for all the nobles to attend him, wherever he should be, without loss of time, and in company with Angus, he set out the Very next day for the borders, their whole retinue not exceeding three hundred liorse. An'ived at Melrose, they determined to wait for their reinforcements, having yet been joined only by a few individuals from the Merse. The English, who were at Jedbui'gh, to the immber ot five thousand men, having by their CARDINAX BEATON. 177 scouts ascertained the situation and small nunibei- of their forces, marched on the instant to surprise them, before their expected supplies should come up. The Scots, hoMever, apprized of their intentions, withdrew to the neighbouring hills, •whence, in perfect security, they watched the movements of their enemies, who, disappointed in not iinding them, wandered about during the night in quest of such spoils as a lately ravaged town could supply, and with the returning dawn marched back to Jedburgh. The Scots now joined by Norman Lesly, a youth of great promise, son to the Earl of Rothes, and three hundred men from Fife, with- drew to the hills which overlook the village of Ancrum, where they were joined by the Laird of Balcleuch, an active and experienced connnander, with a few of his vassals, who assured him that the remainder would follow immediately. By the advice of Balcleugh, the troops ^\ere dismounted, and the horses under the care of servants sent to an adjoining hill. The army Avas formed in the hollow in the order of battle. The English, as had been anticipated, seeing the horses going over the hill, supposed the Scots to be in full retreat, and eager to prevent their escape, rushed after them, and ere they Mere aware, fell upon the Scottish spears. Taken by surprise, the English troops, though they fought Avith great bravery, were thro\vn into disorder, and sustained a signal defeat, losing in killed and captured upwards of thirteen hundred men. The loss on the part of the Scots was two men killed and a few wounded. In consequence of this victory, the Scots were freed from the incui-sions of the English for the ensuing summer ; but it was principally improved by the Regent, M-ith the advice of the Cardinal, for drawing closer the cords of connexion with France. An ambassador was inunediately despatched to that country with the tidings — to report in strong terms the treachery of Lennox, and to request re- inforcements of men and money. These could not at this time indeed well be spared, as an immediate descent of the Enghsh was expected ; yet, in the hopes of somewhat distracting the measures of Henry, an auxiliary force of three thou- ■■aiui foot and five hundred hoise was ordered, under the coniniiind of James Mont- gomery of Largo, who was also empowex-ed to inquire into the differences between Lennox and the Regent and Cardinal. Montgomery arrived in Scotland on the 3d day of July, 1545, and having exhibited his commission, and explained the purposes of his master, the king of France, to the Scottish council, they were induced to issue an order for an army of the better class, who might be able to support the expenses of a campaign, to assemble on an early day. This ordei A\as punctually complied Avith, and on the day appointed, fifteen thousand Scots- men assembled at Haddington, who were marched directly to the English bor- der, and encamped in the neighbourhood of Werk castle. From this camp, they carried on their incursions into the neighbouring country for about a day's iourney, carrying off every thing that they could lay hold of. Having wasted in the course of ten days the country that lay within their reach, and being des- titute of artillery for carrying on sieges, the army disbanded, and every man A'.ent to his own home. Montgomery repaired to court, to inquire into the dis- putes with Lennox ; the English, in the meantime, by Avay of reprisals, wasting the Scottish borders in every quarter. IMontgomery, in the beginning of winter, returned home, leaving the Cardinal, though he blamed him as the sole author of the dissentions betAveen Lennox and the Regent, in the full possession of all liis authority. Beaton noAV supposed himself fully established in the civil as well as the ec- clesiastic management of the kingdom, and proceeded on a progi-ess through the different proA'inces for the purpose of quieting the seditions, Avhich, as he alleged, had arisen in various places, but in reality to repress the protestants, Avlio, notwithstanding his having so artfully identified tlie cause of tiie catholic 178 CARDINAL BEATON. roli^jiun with that of n.itionnl tVclinff, Ii.-ul still Itecn rapidly increasiiifj. Carry- ing his piipjK't Arrau aloiisr «itli him, ns also the l-arl of Ar^'\L>, Lord Jiistice- (jeneral, Lonl Uortlnvick, the Hishops of Orkney an»l IJiinhlanc, &(:. lie cane to I'erth, or, as it wns then more commonly called, I't Johnston, \\here several persons were summontd before hiin for disputing upon the sense of the Scriptures, whicli, amonij; all true catholics, was a crime to ho punished hy the jud'je. Four indiappy men, accused of having eaten a goose upon ;i Iriday, «ere condemned to he hanged, which rigorous sentence was put into execution. A woman, Helen iStarii, for having refused to call upon the Virgin for assistance in her lahour, was dKOwned, although again pregnant. A nuiuLer of the burgesses of the city, convicted or suspected (for in those days they were the same thing) of smaller jieccadillocs, were banished from the city. He also deposed the Lord Kuthven from the provostry of the city, for being somewhat attached to the new opinions, and bestowed the olTice upon the Laird of Kinfauns, a relation to the lord Gniy, who was noither supposed to be averse to the new religion, nor friendly to the Cardinal; but he hoj)ed by this arr.ingenient to lay a founda- tion for a quarrel between these noblemen, by which at least one of them would be cut off'. This act of tyranny, by which the citizens were deprived of their privilege of choosing their own governor, was highly resented by them, r.s well as by the Lord Ruthven, whose family had held the place so long that tliey al- most considered it to be liereditary in their family. The new provost Kinfauns was urged by the Cartlinal and his advisers to seize upon the government of the city by force, but the Lord Ruthven, with the assistance of the citizens, put him to the route, and slew sixty of his followers. That Ruthven A\as victorious must have been a little mortifying to the Cardinal ; but as the victims were enemies of the church, the defeat was the less to be lamented. From St Johnston the Cardinal proceeded to Dundee, in order to bring to punish- ment the readers of the New Testament, which about this time began to be taught to them in the original Greek, of which the Scottish priesthood knew so little that they held it forth as a new book written in a new language, invented by 3IaFtin Luther, and of such pernicious qualities that, whoever had tlie misfortune to look into it be- came infallibly tainted with deadly heresy. Here, however, their prc-ceedings were interrupted by the approach of Lord Patrick Gray and the Earl of Rothes. These noblemen being both friendly to the Reformation, the Cardinal durst not admit them with their followers into a town that was notorious for attachment to that cause above all the cities of the kingdom ; he therefore sent the Regent back to Perth, whither he himself also accompanied him. Even in Perth, however, he durst not meet them openly, and the Regent requiring them to enter sep.i- r.itely, they complied, and were both committed to prison. Rothes was soon dismissed, but Gray, whom the Cardinal was chielly afraid of, i-emained in con- finement a considerable time. The Cardinal having gone over as nuich of Angus as he foiuid convenient at the time, returned to St Andrews, carrying along with him a black friar named John Rogers, who had been preaching the reformed doctrine in Angus. This individual he committed to the sea-tower of St Andrews, where, it is alleged, he caused him to be privately murdered and thrown over the wall, giving out that he had attempted to escape over it, and in the attempt fell and broke his neck. He also broJight along with him the Regent xVn-an, of whom, though he held his son as a hostage, he was not Avith- out doubts, especially when he reflected upon the inconstancy of his character, the native fierceness of the nobility, and the number of them that were still un- friendly to his own measures. He therefore entertained him, for twenty davs together, with all manner of shows and splendid entertainments, made him many presents, and, promising him many more, set out with him to Edinburgh, CARDINAL BEATON. 179 where lie convened an assembly of the clergy to devise means for putting a stop to the disorders that were so heavily complained of, and which threatened the total ruin of the church. In this meeting it was proposed to alky the public clamours by taking measures for reforming the open profligacy of the priests, which was the chief source of complaint. Their deliberations, however, Avere cut short by intelligence that George Wishart, the most enunent preacher of the reformed docti-ines of his day, was residing with Cockburn of Ormiston, only about seven miles from Edinburgh. Tliey calculated that, if they could cut off this individual, tliey should perform an action more serviceable to the cause of the ciinrch, and also one of much easier accomplishment, than refoi-ming tlie lives uf the priests. A troop of horse were immediately sent off to secure him ; but Cockburn, refusing to deliver him, the Cardinal himself and the Regent fol- lowed, blocldng up every avenue to the house, so as to render the escape of the reformer impossible. To prevent the effusion of blood, however, the Earl of liothvvell was sent for, who pledged his faith to Cockburn, tliat he would stand by Wishart, and that no harm should befall him ; upon which he was peaceably surrendered. Bothwell, however, wTOught upon by the Cardinal, and especially by the Queen-mother, with whom, Knox observes, " he \vas then in the glan- ders," after some shutHing to save appearances, delivered his prisoner up to the Cardinal, who imprisoned him, first in the Castle of Edinburgh, and soon after can-ied him to St Andrews, Avhere he was brought before tlie ecclesiastical tri- bunal, condemned for heresy, and most cruelly put to death, as the reader will find related in another part of this work, under the article Wishart. Wishart was a man mighty in the Scriptures, and few even of the martyrs have displayed more of the meekness and humihty that ought to characterize the follower of Jesus Christ ; but his knowledge of the Scriptures availed him nothing, and the meek graces of his character, like oil thrown upon flame, only heightened the rage and inflamed the fury of his persecutors. An-an, pressed by his friends, and perliaps by his own conscience, wrote to the Cardinal to stay the proceed- ings till he should have time to inquire into the matter, and threatened him with the guilt of innocent blood. But the warning was in vain, and the innocent victim was only the more rapidly hm-ried to his end for fear of a rescue. This act of tyranny and murder was extolled by the clergy and their dependants as highly glorifying to God and honourable to the actor, who Avas now regarded bv them as one of the prime pillars of heaven, under Avhose auspices the most glorious days mi^ht be expected. The people in general felt far otherwise, and, in-itated i-ather than terrified, regarded the Cardinal as a monster of cruel- ty and lust, whom it would be a meritorious action to destroy. Beaton was not i<>-norant of the hatred and contempt in which he was held, ncr of the devices that were foi-ming against him ; but he supposed his power to be now so firmly establislied as to be beyond ihe reach of faction, and he was determined by the most prompt and decisive measui-es to be before-hand with his enemies. In the uK'an time, he thought it prudent to strengthen his interest, which was already great, by giving his daughter in man-iage to the Master of Crawford. For this purpose he proceeded to Angus, where the mai-riage was celebrated with almost royal splendour, the bride receiving from her father the Cardinal, no less than four thousand marks of doAU'y. From these festivities he was suddenly recalled by intelligence that Henry of England was collecting a gTcat naval force, with which he intended to annoy Scotland, and especially the coast of Fife. To provide against such an exigency, the Cardinal summoned the nobility to attend nim in a tour round the coast, where he ordered fortifications to be made, and garrisons placed in the most advantageous positions. In this tour he was at- tended by the Master of Rothes, Norman Leslie, who had formerly been one of 180 CARDINAL BEATON. his friends, but had of late, from soiiio private i,m>'<1i;<', he(;onie cold towards him. Some ahcicat ion of course ensued, and tliey parted in mortal enmity; tlie Cardinal determined secretly to take o(V, <»r to imprison Norman, with his friends the liairds of (iransre, elder and yoimsfer, hir .lames I.earmont, provost of St Andrews, and the Laird of l{aith, all uhon» he feared, and Norman re- solved to slay the Canliiial, he the consequences what they would. The Cardinal was in the meantime in p-eat liasle to repair and strenj^then his castle, upon which a large nimilier of men were employed almost niirht and day. Tile conspirators havinjj l