|
Still on thy banks so
gally green,
May numerous herds and flocks be seen,
And lasses chanting o’er the pail,
And shepherds piping in the dale;
An ancient faith that knows no guile,
As industry embrowned with toil,
And hearts resolved, and hands prepared,
The blessings they enjoy to guard.
-- SMOLLETT.
Hale hearts we hae yet to
bleed in its cause;
Bold hearts we hae yet to sound its applause;
How then can it fade, when sic chiels an’ sic cheer,
And sae mony brave spouts of the thistle are here.
Hurrah for the thistle, &c.
-- ALEXANDER MACLAGAN.
Cold though our seasons,
and dull though our skies,
There’s a might in our arms and a fire in our eyes;
Dauntless and patient to dare and to do –
Our watchword is "Duty," our maxim is "Through;"
Winter and storm only nerve us the more,
And chill not the heart if they creep through the door;
Strong shall we be,
In our isle of the sea,
The home of the brave and the boast of the free!
Firm as the rocks when the storm flashes forth,
We’ll stand in our courage – the Men of the North!
Sunbeams that ripen the
olive and vine,
In the face of the slave and the coward may shine;
Roses may blossom where Freedom decays,
And crime be a growth of the sun’s highest rays.
Scant though the harvest we reap from the soil,
Yet Virtue and Health are the children of Toil,
Proud let us be,
Of our isle of the sea,
The home of the brave and the boast of the free!
Men with true hearts – let our fame echo forth –
Oh, these are the fruit that we grown in the North!
-- CHARLES MACKAY.
In the foregoing chapters
an attempt has been made to glance as briefly as the nature and extent
of the subject admitted, at those peculiar features, physical as well as
historical, which have concurred in moulding the Scottish character.
Without some acquaintance with the antecedents of a people, their
surroundings and the discipline they have undergone through the ages, it
is not only difficult to understand the national bent and
idiosyncrasies, but also to calculate the aptitude for colonization they
are likely to display when transferred to "fresh scenes and
pastures new."
This consideration
applies with peculiar force in the case of the Scot; because, in the
absence of information touching its past history, people are sure to
misunderstand the Scottish nature, and assign to any but its true causes
the wonderful successes Scotsmen have achieved wherever they have set
foot. National pride is no doubt blind; but national jealousy is not
less so; and so it has happened that when men are asked how Scotsmen
have come to get on so well in the world, commanding respect and
confidence, and securing social positions of trust, power and wealth,
the peevish answer is given that they owe it to their craft, their
parsimony, their "clannishness," their irrepressible
assurance, their narrow pride or what not. People are asked to believe
that, in a free country, where all men start on an equal footing, the
Scot has thrown some spell upon the rest of the community and elbowed
everybody else out of his path by some glamour or witchery hanging about
him. That the virtues which have given this little nationality so
prominent a place in the social and industrial world, have at times
degenerated into something akin to fault and failing, no one can deny.
All the noble qualities which have elevated society may be perverted
readily from their normal purpose. Thrift may sink into niggardliness;
patriotism may become narrow, prejudiced and exclusive; astuteness may
grow rank and blossom into cunning; self-respect and self-reliance may
beget selfishness and malevolence; and the religious temper itself lose
its celestial charity and humi1ity in bigotry and intolerance. But that
does not make the good qualities less salutary in their influence on the
individual, the nation or the race; and it is quite certain that neither
the Scots, nor any other people ever rose to any exalted position among
the nations, by a perversion of the virtues but solely by the virtues
themselves.
Let it be once understood
that the sterling characteristics of the Scottish people have come down
to them as an inheritance—the outcome of hardship, penury, conflict,
toil and suffering during many centuries—and there is at once a
rational explanation of their success at home and abroad. These
characteristics, in fact, are so much mental and moral capital stored up
in the race by the accumulated efforts of their forbears in times gone
by. In the chapters preceding, it was seen that the country itself is
for the most part, barren, demanding unflinching industry from man and
making but scanty returns. Toil has always been in Scotland the
inexorable condition of existence. Hence the development of laborious
habits, frugality, thrift, and a hardy, self-reliant nature. The
invasions from Ireland, from the Norse Kingdoms, from the South under
Saxon and Norman made the possession of wealth and life itself,
precarious. The ambition of the Plantagenet Kings of England compelled
the Scots to enter upon a bitter and stubborn conflict for their
national independence under Wallace and Bruce. They triumphed,
gloriously, and emerged from the fiery trial with that pride of
nationality and a stern and haughty independence which are begotten of a
victory achieved by a people’s own strong arm. The Nemo me impune
lacessit, and its terse Scottish rendering "Wha daur meddle wi’
me," are mottoes which speak at once for the Thistle and the
gallant race whose chosen emblem it is. The religious troubles, which
began at the dawn of the Reformation, the ruthless persecutions which
culminated in the brutalities of Lauderdale, Sharp and Claverhouse gave
new vigour to the Scottish people and made them a nation in fact, as
they had hitherto been in form. The commonalty then sprang at once into
vigorous being. The doctrinal and other points of controversy which
split the Kirk up into sects, quickened the national intellect, whilst
the pain and anguish of the times chastened the hearts and purified the
morals of the people. They were made, if not "perfect through
suffering," at least elevated, self-respecting, thoughtful and,
above all, deeply saturated with an over-mastering sense of
responsibility to God for the honest discharge of duty. The moral
backbone of the Scottish character was developed and consolidated during
the time which elapsed from the return of Mary Stuart to the Revolution.
It was then that the foundation of that admirable system of general
education was laid, which, in the future, was to distinguish the Scot as
a man of reading and practical information. England owes much to the
Scottish people; but the discipline of sorrow did not elevate the people
of the south, nor could the reflective turn of mind, which has brought
forth so much fruit in Scotland, be impregnated into the English common
people where the religion, education and adversity which upraised the
peasantry of Scotland, exerted little or no influence. Whatever may be
thought of the dogmatic value of the Presbyterian standards, it is
certain that they deepened the sense of duty, the feeling of manly
independence and the impatience of external restraint in matters of
faith and practice. The burning bush, which the Kirk adopted as its
emblem, was only the thistle transfigured and sanctified, under a
feeling of dependence upon the Divine assistance for guidance and
protection. Nec tamen consumebatur—"yet the bush was not
consumed" (Exod. iii. 2)—adopted as its motto, illustrated at
once the security of the faith and the necessity for God’s hand
interposed on its behalf. It epitomized, in fact, the solemn conviction
of the Psalmist, in the verses so often sung in Scottish worship, at
diverse times and vicissitudes of national fortune: —
"Except the Lord do
build the house,
The builders lose their pain;
Except the Lord the city keep,
The watchmen watch in vain."
But the influence of the
religious upheaval, and the dark days consequent upon it, did not stop
there. It not only quickened faith and spirituality, but stimulated and
trained the intellect, and aroused in Scotland the philosophic,
scientific and inventive spirit for which it is so distinguished.
Paradoxical as it may at first sight appear, David Hume was the
offspring of the Reformation. The inquiring frame of mind, which, at
first, found legitimate scope in theological inquiry, gradually invaded
the territory of mental science, and busied itself about the fundamental
axioms of ethics and economics. Hume, Hutcheson, Brown, Reid, Stewart,
Hamilton, Mill, Bain and others worthy of note, have worked at the
ultimate problems of life and the universe, and Adam Smith laid the
foundation of economical science. He was at once an economist in his Wealth
of Nations, and an intuitional moralist in his Theory of the
Moral Sentiments. The Mills, father and son, were both Scottish, the
one by birth, the other by inherited cast of mind and early training.
The greatest original thinker, and the man who, whether people recognise
it or not, has influenced this age more strongly than any other except,
perhaps, Coleridge, is a Scot, Thomas Carlyle, the veteran sage, first
of Craigenputtoch, and thence-forward of Chelsea. The same thoughtful
caste of mind is manifest in the region of pure science. It was Black
and Leslie who developed the philosophy of heat and paved the way for
James Watt and the steam-engine. Hutton was the first systematic
geologist, and his name is coupled with the German Werner’s in the
rival Plutonian and Neptunian theories of the earth’s formation. In
surgery and anatomy Hunter has never been surpassed, and in pathology
and the science of medicine, there are few names to compare with those
of Cullen, Brodie, Christison, Simpson, Carpenter, and innumerable
others who might be named.
Mr. Buckle wonders how so
much that is valuable could have been achieved in a country where the
theological spirit was in the ascendant. The obvious response is that it
was the theological spirit which stimulated the intellect, and made free
inquiry in philosophy and science possible in Scotland. And the most
conclusive evidence of that is the insatiable thirst for scientific
research which has seized men in lowly station. As it was the
theological spirit alone which gave the people political being and the
means of culture; so also did it create that keen love of investigation
into the works of nature, because they are the works of God. Nothing is
more remarkable than the conscientious energy with which Scotsmen,
engaged in hard toil to procure their daily bread, have surmounted all
obstacles, not to gain wealth or renown, but to satisfy a burning desire
for knowledge. Three names occur at the moment of men living in
different parts of Scotland—a shoemaker, a weaver and a gardener—all
poor and in lowly station. Mr. Smiles has done good service in recording
the career of Thomas Edward, "the Scottish naturalist," whose
love for the study of zoology began with his school-days, and continues
until now. A humble shoemaker of Banffshire, he has added materially to
the sum of scientific knowledge, under circumstances, and by
self-imposed labours, vigils and dangers almost beyond belief.* In the
April and May (1878), issues of Good Words, Mr. Jolly, H. M.,
Inspector of Schools, sketches the career of John Duncan of Kincardine,
"the Alford Weaver and Botanist," and introduces also Charles
Black, a gardener, who possesses (for he is still living), "high
natural endowments, sterling worth, and great individuality of
character." His home is on the shores of the Solway, within sight
of the English coast and far from where his scientific friend, the
weaver, plodded on, away to the north-east. Black, Mr. Jolly says, is an
excellent botanist, a good geologist, with a splendid collection of
fossils, a capital ornithologist, knowing all the birds "by
plumage, flight, cry and egg, and having an almost perfect collection of
British eggs; and a fair numismatist, with a remarkable collection of
coins, home and foreign, ancient and modern, for a working man. He is an
insatiable reader, especially in natural science and theology; in
short, an ardent lover and student of beasts and birds and insects and
plants, and not less of mankind."
In the higher walks of
life the spirit of philosophical and scientific enquiry, whatever the
upshot of it, may invariably be traced in its inception to the strong
energy infused into the Scottish mind by the national religion. The
forces let loose, during the struggles of the Reformation and the
Covenant may be diverted from the old channel; but there can be no
mistake about the laboratory in which they were first generated.
Whatever men may think of the faith, the works are before them, and
those of us who are not in sympathy with the rigid formulas of the one,
ought not to refuse admiration for the unspeakable value of the other.
In Scotland they have, at all events, until recently, been inseparable;
because intellectual revolt from the creed does not emancipate from the
vigorous impetus due to that creed. Hume, in his Essays, and
Burns in Holy Willie’s Prayer or the Holy Fair, were
just as clearly the offspring of the free spirit engendered by the
religious struggles in Scotland, as Rutherford, Cameron, the two
Erskines, Thomas Chalmers or Edward Irving. It is likely enough that
Knox and Melville would have shrugged their shoulders and left the
consequences to God, and that "Douce Davie Deans," and
"Old Mortality" would have renewed their lament of "a
broken Covenant," had they foreseen even so much of the issue as we
are able to pass in retrospect; yet though they little expected it, it
is now evident enough, that freedom of thought and educated intelligence
cannot be bounded by any human device; they must have free course,
eventually with the best results. Bishop Burnet, in describing a visit
to his native land in 1670, says, "We were indeed amazed to see a
poor commonalty so capable to argue on points of government, and on the
bounds to be set to the power of princes in matters of religion. Upon
all these topics they had texts of Scripture at hand, and were ready
with their answers to anything that was said to them. This measure of
knowledge was spread even amongst the meanest of them, their cottagers
and their servants."** The spirit of enquiry and discussion thus
evoked, could not fail to make itself felt in all departments of human
thought, so soon as the absorbing questions of the day were apparently
set at rest by the Revolution settlement. Logic is a dangerous,
two-edged weapon; when once it has been taken up, will never cease to be
employed upon something—Theology, Philosophy or some other debatable
theme; and the intellectual activity it has aroused, is sure, in the
long run, to find a sphere of action in science, invention, exploration,
or whatever other beneficent outlet may be open to it.
One of the most
remarkable features in the biography of distinguished Scots is the large
number of them who rose from the humblest positions in life, to honour
and distinction. In most countries the middle class, and especially the
learned professions, supply the men from whom the ranks of the
illustrious thinkers and workers are recruited; but in Scotland, if not
themselves peasants, weavers or mechanics, their fathers have been
something of the sort, before them; and they, themselves, brought up in
lowly life, have struggled to prosperity and fame out of an atmosphere
of poverty. That many noted Scots have descended from great families is,
of course, true; but taking the eminent men produced North of the Tweed,
there can be no question that a large majority sprang from the ranks of
the common people. The absence of large urban populations in early
times, the comparatively narrow range of commerce, and the general
poverty of the country, no doubt stimulated the poorer classes to
enterprising efforts. There was no superincumbent middle class,
pressing, with its solid, inert weight, upon them; they were free to
rise as high as their energy and ability could elevate them, and thus we
find them continually aspiring to eminence in the Church, at the Bar, in
medicine, science, arts, and literature. It speaks volumes for the
native genius of the Scottish people, that they were able to aim high,
make good their footing, step by step, and in the end fulfil measurably
their lofty aspirations. It must not be forgotten that the men who made
the masses what they were – the Reformers and the Covenanters –
whilst they spurred the national intellect, and with it the strong
feeling of independence and self-reliance, also, with wondrous
prescience, provided for their education. No matter how poor a Scot may
have been at the outset, he had at least so much valuable capital to
begin life withal, as a sound plain education could bestow upon him; and
it is this obvious advantage over his neighbours that has given the
stimulus to so many ardent spirits, and lifted them from poverty to
fame. In the army, for instance, during the old time, when, in addition
to the purchase system, promotion for valour and good conduct was so
slow in the British service, the Scot always had the best chance;
because he was decently educated, and had a strong sense of honour and
duty. Major-General William McBean, who died the other day, full Colonel
of the 93rd, in which he entered as a drummer-boy, is only one of the
instances of Scottish energy and steady perseverance onward and upward.
The schoolmaster was abroad in Scotland before the recruit entered
barracks, and the Scot was equipped with the elementary instruction
gained at the parish school; the Englishman and Irishman, in nine cases
out of ten, were not. The great value of the parochial school-system of
Scotland, now that it has been superseded, may be depreciated, perhaps
forgotten; its mark will remain, however, upon the people of Scotland,
and through them, upon the world, to the latest generations.
The army has been spoken
of; and it seems well here to note a few names renowned in story,
although the list must, necessarily be imperfect. Considering the
relative populations of Scotland and England—the one with its two or
three millions, the other, with from twenty to twenty-two—the amount
of military genius and personal bravery the United Kingdom owes to the
North is amazing.*** There is scarcely a war England has been engaged in
during the last and present centuries in which Scottish military skill
and soldierly valour have not done more than their share. The names of
Sir Ralph Abercromby, General George Elliott, Sir John Moore, Lord Clyde
and a legion of others are well known; but, of all the distinguished
names perhaps, on the whole, that of Napier shines brightest in the
scroll of fame. So distinguished a family has, perhaps, never added
equal lustre upon its country. Those more immediately known to us were
intensely Scottish, albeit on the maternal side they sprang from that
Lady Sarah Lennox, of whom George III was enamoured in his youth. The
hero of Scinde, the historian of the Peninsular War, and the gallant,
bluff old Charlie, the Admiral, were all of that stock. The latest
offshoot is Lord Napier and Ettrick descended of the elder branch, who
has won his honours as a diplomatist. Not to abandon the name, whilst it
is uppermost, mention may be made here first of John Napier, laird of
Merchiston, the inventor of Logarithms, to whom, in Hume’s opinion,
"the title of a great man was more justly due than to any other
whom his country ever produced." A descendant of his house has
filled high office in England and in Ireland, where he was born, and was
created a baronet by Mr. Disraeli in 1867—Sir Joseph Napier. Robert
Napier, though certainly descended from Adam, can boast no noble
genealogy; his father was a blacksmith and the son has made "a new
departure" for the illustrious name, for he was the head of the
great Clyde firm of ship-builders. He was concerned in the early attempt
at trans-atlantic steam navigation on the British Queen and the Sirius.
The steam ironclads constructed of late, beginning with the Black
Prince, are his latest work.
As our notice of the
Napiers has brought us to the sea, the other branch of the service may
be noticed. Neither Scotland nor Ireland has contributed so large a
proportion of eminent men to the navy as to the army. They have no
Drakes, Hawkinses, Frobishers or Raleighs on the roll of their ancestry
and the sea-fighting instinct was not a salient feature with them.
Nevertheless Sir Charles Douglas, a linguist also, and mechanic, the
victor over the French in the West Indies; Lord Keith, the hero of
Aboukir Bay, and Viscount Duncan, of Camperdown, are names not unworthy
to be placed by that of Nelson. Paul Jones, the Captain Semmes of the
American Revolution, was also a Scot. In peaceful exploration to the
frozen north there are the two Rosses, Sir Alexander Mackenzie and a
large number of others. The number of Scottish travellers generally is
extremely large. Africa has been especially their chosen ground. James
Bruce, Mungo Park, Hugh Clapperton, Alexander Gordon Lang, David
Livingstone and Commander Cameron are the best known; and of the
missionaries, pure and simple, Alexander Duff, Robert Moffat and Charles
Fraser Mackenzie. In the last century two travellers deserve
pre-eminence as pioneers—James Baillie Fraser, who traversed Persia
and the Himalayas, and John Bell, who crossed over from the Baltic,
through European Russia and Siberia, to China and explored the Caucasus.
In India, the Scotsman has played almost as prominent a part as in
Africa. It is only necessary to mention Sir David Baird, during Hyder
Ali’s time, Elphinstone, Malcolm, Munro, Dalhousie, Minto, and Elgin.
Passing to locomotion and
the inventive arts, it may be noted that to James Watt, the world owes
the practical application of steam as a motor; to Henry Bell, Britain is
indebted for steam navigation; to John Loudon Macadam, for the roads
which pass by his name, and to William Murdoch the use of coal gas as an
illuminator.+
In natural philosophy,
which along with mathematics is a condition precedent of inventive
skill, Scotland has been peculiarly rich. Of the many names which will
occur to the reader, those of Black, Bryce, Craig, Keith, Leslie,
Maclannin, Playfair, Robison, Sinclair, and Simson, will suggest
themselves. In other branches of science the names of eminent Scots have
grown so numerous during the recent revival, that it is hardly possible
to attempt an enumeration. Of the elders, Hutton, Pringle, Smellie, the
naturalist; Alexander Wilson, the ornithologist; MacGillivray, also a
student of birds; and others have vindicated the claim of Scotland to a
place in the Pantheon of science. Some of the great names in medicine
have already been mentioned, but they are inexhaustible. Most of them
have not merely been practitioners, but discoverers also. There are the
Bells, the Hunters, the Gregorys, William Cullen, George Fordyce,
Alexander Monro, Erasmus Wilson, Sir John Forbes, Brodie, Christison,
Simpson and many others. In the department of Technology, the name of
Dr. George Wilson ought not to be passed over as an instance of Scottish
tenacity in the pursuit of learning, and the faithful discharge of duty
under terrible bodily suffering.++
It was intended to pursue
the Scot in the departments of Literature and Art, but want of space
compels us to pass them over with a cursory reference. The lives of
Robert Burns, Walter Scott, and a host of other great names hardly need
additional eulogy. +++ To theirs might be appended a long roll of
illustrious singers—Skinner, Cowper, Macneill, Nicoll, Hogg, Tannahill,
Cunningham, Rodger, John Wilson, William Thom, Motherwell, Robert
Gilfillan, Imlah, Smibert, Lyle, Aytoun, Riddell, Ainslie, Ballantyne,
Mackay, Blackie, Latto, McColl, McLachlan and Macdonald. Without
attempting a detailed account of these poets, it may be well to note
that, in addition to the wealth of song devoted to the North, England
and Ireland are indebted to two Scottish bards for their noblest lyrics.
James Thomson wrote "Rule Britannia," and Thomas Campbell was
the author of "The Exile of Erin," "The Battle of the
Baltic," and "Ye Mariners of England."
Into the department of belles
lettres generally there is no room to enter, although the temptation
is strong to do so. In Art also there is a long roll of worthies. Robert
Strange, for example, who came from the Orkneys, was the father of line
engraving in Britain, and George Jameson was the Vandyke of the island—"the
first eminent painter," says Robert Chambers, "produced to
Britain" (born 1585). *+ Of the artists in a higher walk may be
taken at random, Robert Aikman, Sir H. Raeburn, Patrick Gibson, Allan
Ramsay, the poet’s eldest son, David Wilkie, the Faeds, and the lately
deceased President of the Royal Academy, Sir Patrick Grant. Robert Adam,
sepultured in Westminister Abbey, was the great Scottish architect, and
his works dot the island from his native Edinburgh to the English
channel. In the department of engineering, it is only necessary to name
John Rennie, of East Lothian, and Thomas Telford, of Eskdale, who was
the son of a simple herdsman whose wife was left a widow when the
illustrious engineer of the future was but a month old.*++ In other
walks of mental activity, Mr. George Heriot, the merchant goldsmith and
banker, embalmed in the Fortunes of Nigel;*+++ John Law, of
Lauriston, to whom but scant justice has been done; William Paterson,
who failed in the Darien scheme, and yet gave the Bank of England an
existence, and so produced in embryo our wondrous system of national
finance;+* Sir James’ Stewart, the father of political economy;
and Adam Smith, of Kirkaldy, the illustrious author of The Wealth of
Nations and The Moral Sentiments.+** The name of
William Forbes of Pitsligo, the Edinburgh banker, the associate of
Johnson, Burke, Reynolds and Goldsmith, is also noteworthy. In later
times are the well known economists, John Stuart Mill, McCulloch and
Ramsay. In the list of Scottish lawyers and statesmen we have the
historic names of Robert Baillie, of Jerviswoode; Andrew Fletcher, of
Saltoun; Duncan Forbes of Culloden; Alexander Henderson, and Maitland,
of Lethington. After the union, Scotsmen of distinction abound in
England. Of the Lord Chancellors were Wedderburn, Lords Lougborough,
Brougham, Erskine and Campbell. William Murray, Lord Mansfield, stands
almost without a rival at the head of the Common Law bench. At this
moment, the Lord Chief Justiceship is filled by Sir Alexander Cockburn,
and the Archiepiscopal See of Canterbury by another Scot, Dr. Archibald
Tait. Finally, must not be omitted the honoured name of William Ewart
Gladstone, the former and prospective premier of England, the scholar,
the orator and statesman of whom Scotland has just reason to be
proud.+***
There is little room left
to name a few of the prominent clergymen not already noted. Of the old
period, there were the Roman Catholic prelates, Kennedy of the 15th
century, Elphinstone, of Aberdeen, Reed, of Orkney. **+ As scholars also
of the Roman communion, were Leslie, Bishop of Ross, Mary Stuart’s
champion, John Mair or Major; Dr. Alex. Geddes, and Father Innes. Of the
Scottish Episcopal Church may be mentioned Archbishop Adamson, of St.
Andrew’s; Patrick Forbes of Aberdeen; Robert Keith of Fife; the
sainted Archbishop Leighton, of Glasgow; the historian Archbishop
Spottiswoode, and in our time the large-minded Alexander Ewing, Bishop
of Argyle and the Isles. His name reminds of a Presbyterian School
analogous to that founded by Coleridge and Arnold in England, to which
belong such men as John Macleod Campbell, Erskine of Linlather, Norman
Macleod and Principal Tulloch. In the various sections of the
Presbyterian Church, there are two names, for ever memorable, those of
Edward Irving and Thomas Chalmers; one of whom left a moral, the other
an example—both masters, each in his own way, of pulpit eloquence,
exemplary piety and earnest living.
Having thus indicated the
historical elements of the Scottish character, and sketched, in a
cursory and imperfect manner its practical results at home, we may
proceed to sketch his influence abroad.
* The Life of a
Scottish Naturalist: Thomas Edward, Associate of the Linnaean Society.
By Samuel Smiles. New York: 1877. See also The Life of Robert Dick, of
Thurso, Baker and Geologist, by same author.
** History of his Own
Times, Vol. i., page 293.
*** At the beginning of
the century the population of the kingdom stood thus: England and Wales,
9,156,171; Scotland, 1,678,452; Ireland, 5,319,807. In 1841 the
proportion had changed much to the disadvantage of Scotland, the census
enumerating for England, 16,035,198; for Scotland, 2,652,339; for
Ireland, 8,222,604. At the last census (1871) the account stood: England
22,704,108; Scotland, 3,358,613; Ireland, 5,402,759. During the several
decades of the century Scotland lost ground as regards England
especially, until the census of 1857. Roughly the population relatively
to the entire United Kingdom, the Islands included, was in 1801 nearly
one-ninth; in 1831, less than a tenth; and thence-forward between a
ninth and a tenth.
+ He was also the
inventor of a locomotive which was improved by others, and perfected by
Geo. Stephenson.
++ Dr. Wilson was a
brother of our esteemed Toronto professor, Dr. Daniel Wilson, who wrote,
we believe, a memoir of him. See also the biography by his sister
Jessie, and an admirable and touching tribute in Dr. Brown’s Horae
Subsecivae.
+++ See Lockhart’s Scott,
and the admirable little volume by Mr. R. H. Hutton, in Morley’s
series. For Burns, Carlyle’s inimitable monogram of Critical and
Miscellaneous Essays, English Library Edit., Vol ii., p. 5, and
Principal Shairp’s essay – one of the series already referred to.
For poetic tributes consult the Burns
Centenary Poems.
*+ See Dictionary
of Eminent Scotsmen.
*++
See for both of these, The Lives of the Engineers, by Samuel
Smiles, himself a Scot of Haddington. Nothing could show more clearly
the strong and earnest volume of Scottish home affection than Telford’s
intense love for his widowed parent. "She has been a good mother to
me," he quietly wrote with meaning that lies in the words,
"and I will try and be a good son to her," and he kept his
word with a dutiful fidelity which is exquisitely touching.
*+++ See for a full
account of the founder of Heriot’s Hospital, Chambers’ Biographical
Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen. Vol. iii. p. 44.
+* For Law, see Chambers,
Vol. iii. p. 360; and for Paterson, ibid., vol. iv. p. 85.
+** The reader is
referred to Sir James Mackintosh’s Dissertation, sec. vi. and
to Buckle’s History of Civilization, from which we quote a
sentence – "The Wealth of Nations is probably the most
important book that has ever been written, whether we consider the
amount of original thought it contains, or its practical
influence." (Vol. iii p. 311.)
+*** See the right hon.
Gentleman’s own account of his origin, in answer, to an address from
the Edinburgh corporation; also, two letters in the London Spectator
of Dec. 13th and 20th, 1879.
**+ See Lecky’s History,
vol. ii. p. 147.
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