_Literature of Scotland in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries._
SECTION I.
_Historical Literature of the Eighteenth Century._
AFTER the union various external influences began to touch Scottish literature. Ere indicating these, and dealing with the eminent historians of the period, a few of the historical writers who preceded them may be briefly noticed.
Dr. Patrick Abercromby was descended from the Abercrombies of Tullibody in Fife, and was born at Forfar in 1656. He was educated at the University of St. Andrews, and obtained the degree of doctor of medicine in 1685. His family were supporters of the Stuart line, and he was appointed one of the physicians of James VII. After the Revolution of 1688 he lived abroad, but returned to Scotland in the reign of Queen Anne, and directed his attention to the study of national antiquities. The first volume of his work, entitled _The Martial Achievements of the Scots Nation_, was published in 1711, and the second in 1715. This work is interesting, but it has little historical value.
James Anderson, a son of the Rev. Patrick Anderson, was born in 1662. He was educated at the University of Edinburgh, and graduated in 1680; and having subsequently studied Law, in 1691 he became a member of the Society of Writers to the Signet.
When the question of the Union was stirring the feeling of the Scottish people, Mr. Attwood, a lawyer, in 1704 issued a pamphlet, in which all the old claims of Edward I. over Scotland were reasserted. In 1705 Mr. Anderson published an answer to Attwood’s pamphlet, entitled _An Essay, showing that the Crown of Scotland is Imperial and Independent_. This effort was well received in Scotland, while Parliament passed a vote of thanks and a reward to Mr. Anderson, which was presented to him by the Chancellor in presence of the Royal Commissioner. Then Attwood’s pamphlet and others of a similar character were ordered to be burned at the Cross of Edinburgh by the common hangman. The value of Anderson’s essay mainly consisted in the important charters attached to it.
In research connected with his essay, he had collected a number of valuable national documents. He obtained the patronage of the Scottish Parliament to a plan for engraving and publishing a series of facsimiles of royal charters prior to the reign of James I., and of coins and seals from the earliest times to the end of the seventeenth century. In November, 1706, the Scottish Parliament granted him three hundred pounds to promote the work, and he proceeded with it. By the beginning of March, 1707, he had expended this sum and about six hundred pounds of his own on the work. This was reported to Parliament, and a majority of the House recommended that the Queen should grant to him an additional sum of one thousand and fifty pounds. It said, however, that the money voted to Anderson by the expiring Parliament was never paid to him, yet he proceeded with the work. In 1728 he died, leaving his great undertaking unfinished. The year after his death the plates of the work were sold for £530. At last his work, under the title of _Selectus Diplomatum et Numismatum Scotiæ Thesaurus_, appeared, carefully edited by the well-known scholar, Thomas Ruddiman, who contributed an elaborate preface. At that time the work had much historical value as a book of reference. Anderson was also the author of _Collections relating to the History of Mary, Queen of Scotland_, published at Edinburgh in 1727‒8 in four volumes, which contains a great number of original documents touching the Marian controversy.
Dr. John Campbell,1 a son of Campbell of Glenlyon, attained some distinction as an historical writer. His _Military History of the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene_ was published in 1736 in two volumes, and was well received. In 1742‒44 his _Lives of the Admirals_ appeared in four volumes, which, owing to the interest of the subject, was long popular. His work, _The Present State of Europe_, was issued in 1750, and passed through many editions. He wrote a portion of the _Biographia Britannica_, and contributed a number of articles to the _Modern Universal History_. His last work was a _Political Survey of Britain_, published in 1774 in two volumes, which was much admired. He was a candid and well informed man, and an industrious writer.
1 Born at Edinburgh in 1707; died in 1775.
Walter Goodal1 was a native of Banffshire, and was educated at King’s College, Aberdeen. In 1730 he obtained employment in the Advocates’ Library at Edinburgh, and assisted Ruddiman in the compilation of the first Catalogue of the Library, which was printed in 1742. When Hume succeeded Ruddiman, Goodal continued to act as sub-librarian. He was an ardent Jacobite, and an enthusiastic defender of Mary, Queen of Scots. He contemplated writing a life of Mary, but ultimately limited his effort to _An Examination of the Letters said to be written by Queen Mary to James, Earl of Bothwell_, which appeared in 1754. It is an important work. His conclusion is that the famous “Casket Letters” were not written by Queen Mary. The subsequent defenders of the unfortunate Queen, including Skelton, usually refer with confidence to Goodal’s conclusion on the Letters as decisive.
1 Born in 1706; died on the 28th July, 1766.
He published an edition of _Scott of Scotestarvet’s Staggering State of Scots Statesmen, with Notes_; an edition of _Fordun’s Scotichronicon, with a Latin Introduction_; and also contributed to _Keith’s Catalogue of Scottish Bishops_.
Thomas Innes was a native of the Valley of the Dee, Aberdeenshire. He left Scotland when young, completed his education abroad, and became a Roman Catholic priest. He is the author of _A Critical Essay on the Ancient Inhabitants of Scotland_, published in 1729. The preface extends to fifty pages, and the Essay itself is elaborate, and shows evidence of much research. His effort has the merit of being the first that questioned the legendary history of Ireland and Scotland. The value of his work, however, was not recognised till after his death.
Early in the eighteenth century indications of a literary revival appeared in Scotland. The awakening influences were mainly native, though external circumstances partly aided it. The energy and genius of the Scots under favourable conditions, soon manifested itself in literature as in other fields of enterprise. The external influence which aided the literary revival came from English literature, at a somewhat later stage and in a slighter degree from French literature. The culture of style became a special object of study, and attempts were made to acquire the idiomatic expression of classic English writers.1
1 One stimulus of the literary revival was the Clubs and Societies which were specially formed for literary conversation and improvement in composition. To promote these objects, in 1716 the Rakenian Club was instituted in Edinburgh, and it continued to meet till 1760. In the roll of its members the names of a number of Scottish literary men appeared, including ♦Maclaurin, the mathematician; Rev. Dr. Robert Wallace; Dr. Young, a distinguished physician; Rev. George Turnbull, author of a work on moral philosophy, and a treatise on Ancient Painting; Alexander Boswell, a Lord of Session, and father of Johnson’s biographer. This Club was pretty successful in disseminating freedom of thought, taste, and attention to composition. At a somewhat later time societies with similar or wider aims were formed in other cities in Scotland. In 1750 the Select Society projected by Allan Ramsay, the painter, was instituted in Edinburgh, for the purposes of literary discussion, philosophical inquiry, and improvement in public speaking. It continued active for seven years, and amongst its members were――Hume, Dr. Robertson, Adam Smith, Adam Ferguson, Lord Kames, Lord Hales, Lord Monboddo, John Home, and other celebrated men. Dugald Stewart says the Society produced――“Debates such as have not often been heard in modern assemblies――debates where the dignity of the speakers was not lowered by the intrigues of policy, or the intemperance of faction, and where the most splendid talents that have ever adorned this country were roused to their best exertions by the liberal and ennobling discussions of literature and philosophy.”――_Life and Writings of Dr. Robertson_, page 15.
♦ “Maclurin” replaced with “Maclaurin”
In the department of history an important change appeared in the eighteenth century. The critical examination of historical evidence began to be recognised and applied, and a clearer conception of the requisites of historical inquiry was shown. Yet it cannot be affirmed that adequate historic conceptions of the human race were attained by the historians of the period.
David Hume avowed that he was actuated by a passionate love of literary fame, which led him to turn aside from philosophical studies and try his skill in historical composition. In 1747 he formed a resolution to write some historical work. As he had also a desire to counteract the prejudice against the Stuart Kings, he resolved to commence his _History of Great Britain_ with the reign of James VI. With the view of facilitating his historic studies, in 1752 he assumed gratuitously the office of Librarian to the Faculty of Advocates in Edinburgh; and in the Advocates’ Library, amid a rich store of books and historical materials, he began to write his history. The first volume, embracing the reigns of James VI. and Charles I., appeared in 1754, the second in 1757, the third and fourth in 1759, and the fifth and sixth in 1762. The first volume was bitterly assailed by the Whigs, and Hume was greatly disappointed by the attacks upon his work, and also on account of its slow sale. In a short time, however, his history became popular, new editions were issued in rapid succession; and at last Hume was placed in the front rank of English historians.
Recognising his great abilities, easy circumstances, and the varied store of historical matter at his command, yet it has to be regretted that his work is not of high historical authority. He did not reach a high standard either in research or the accurate statement of facts; though he was well qualified to estimate every description of evidence, still he fell into many mistakes. On some important religious and political subjects, such as the Covenanting struggle, and the period of persecution in Scotland, Hume was constitutionally disqualified for forming just views of his suffering countrymen. Having made these adverse comments on his history, I will indicate some of its special merits. Looking at the general character of his work, in many points it is much superior to the annals and compilations of previous British historians. His sagacity enabled him to sink much of the offal and draff which encumber the pages of less gifted writers. While he exhibited a lamentable deficiency in appreciating some of the movements of the seventeenth century, yet on other occasions the views of conflicting parties are grasped and estimated with rare fairness, and presented with much effect. He recognises the importance of literature and culture, which is specially treated in certain portions of his history. His narrative is admirable. His style is clear, easy, and polished.
The following on the character of Queen Elizabeth is a fair specimen of his style:――“There are few personages in history who have been more exposed to the calumny of enemies and the adulation of friends than Queen Elizabeth; and yet there is scarcely any whose reputation has been more certainly determined by the unanimous consent of posterity. The unusual length of her administration, and the strong features of her character, were able to overcome all prejudices; and obliging her detractors to abate much of their invectives, and her admirers somewhat of their panegyrics, have at last, in spite of political factions, and what is more, of religious animosities, produced a uniform judgment with regard to her conduct. Her vigour, her constancy, her magnanimity, her penetration, vigilance, and address, are allowed to merit the highest praise, and appear not to have been surpassed by any person that ever filled a throne: a conduct less vigorous, less imperious, more sincere, more indulgent to her people, would have been requisite to form a perfect character. By the force of her mind she controlled all her more active and stronger qualities, and prevented her from running into excess: her heroism was exempt from temerity, her frugality from avarice, her friendship from partiality, her active temper from turbulency and vain ambition: she guarded not herself with equal care or success from lesser infirmities; the rivalship of beauty, the desire of admiration, the jealousy of love, and the sallies of anger.”
Dr. William Robertson1 was a native of the parish of Borthwick, in the county of Edinburgh, where his father was minister. He was educated for the Church, and in 1743, was appointed minister of Gladsmuir in Haddingtonshire; but in 1758, he removed to one of the churches of Edinburgh. He delivered his first speech in the General Assembly in 1751, which at once produced a marked impression, and was subsequently the leader of the moderate party in the Church of Scotland.
1 Born in 1721; died 1793. An interesting account of his life and writings was written by Dugald Stewart.
His works consist of: (1) _The History of Scotland during the Reigns of Queen Mary and James the VI._, which appeared in 1759; (2) _History of the Reign of Charles V._, in three volumes, published in 1769; (3) _History of America_, (1777); and (4) _A Historical Disquisition on Ancient India_, a slight sketch, (1791). For the copyright of his _History of Scotland_, he received £600, and £4500 for his _History of Charles V._
Shortly after the publication of his _History of Scotland_, he was appointed principal of the University of Edinburgh, and historiographer royal for Scotland.
Dr. Robertson was a man of great intellectual power and grasp of mind, combined with a singularly clear and sober judgment. Guided and enlightened as his faculties were by a pretty broad and varied culture, the works which he produced were all stamped with enduring qualities, and still remain monuments of his industry and genius. Although his works are not remarkable for exhaustiveness of research, he possessed in a high degree the rarer qualification of seizing the essential features of a subject, and presenting them in a lucid and attractive way. His introductory chapter on Scottish history prior to the birth of Queen Mary, though only a slight retrospective sketch, is remarkable for its grasp and luminous view of the subject. It is true that this period of history is now better understood than it was in his day; yet with the materials within his reach, he drew a wonderfully accurate picture of the subject.
His _History of Scotland_ is intensely interesting; the period itself was a stirring one, full of important, varied, and tragic events; his narrative is masterly, and his style flowing and clear. The first volume of his _History of Charles V._, which describes the state of society in Europe prior to the sixteenth century, is one of the most valuable parts of his works, and exhibits his highest qualifications as a historian to the best advantage. Soon after its appearance the work was translated into French. _His History of America_ is full of deep interest, presenting a clear narrative teeming with picturesque features and touching incidents, accompanied with striking and philosophical reflections, which charmed the literary world. A short extract from his account of the discovery of America may be given. The land had been descried about midnight, and great joy was manifested by the crews of the ships:――
“As soon as the sun arose, all their boats were manned and armed. They rowed towards the island with their colours displayed, with warlike music, and other martial pomp. As they approached the coast, they saw it covered with a multitude of people, whom the novelty of the spectacle had drawn together, whose attitudes and gestures expressed wonder and astonishment at the strange objects which presented themselves to their view. Columbus was the first European who set foot on the new world which he had discovered. He landed in a rich dress, and with a naked sword in his hand. His men followed, and kneeling down, they all kissed the ground which they had so long desired to see. They next erected a crucifix, and prostrating themselves before it, returned thanks to God for conducting their voyage to such a happy issue. They then took solemn possession of the country for the crown of Castile and Leon, with all the formalities which the Portuguese were accustomed to observe in acts of this kind in their new discoveries.
“The Spaniards, while thus employed, were surrounded by many of the natives, who gazed in silent admiration upon actions which they could not comprehend, and of which they did not foresee the consequences. The dress of the Spaniards, the whiteness of their skins, their beards, their arms, appeared strange and surprising. The vast machines in which they had traversed the ocean, that seemed to move upon the waters with wings, and uttered a dreadful sound resembling thunder, accompanied with lightning and smoke, struck them with such terror that they began to respect their new guests as a superior order of beings, and concluded that they were children of the sun, who had descended to visit the earth.
“The Europeans were hardly less amazed at the scene now before them. Every herb and shrub and tree was different from those which flourished in Europe. The soil seemed to be rich, but bore few marks of cultivation. The climate, even to the Spaniards, felt warm, though extremely delightful. The inhabitants appeared in the simple innocence of nature, entirely naked. Their black hair, long and uncurled, floated upon their shoulders, or was bound in tresses on their heads. They had no beards, and every part of their bodies was perfectly smooth. Their complexion was of a dusky copper colour, their features singular rather than disagreeable, their aspect gentle and timid. Though not tall, they were well-shaped and active. Their faces and several parts of their bodies were fantastically painted with glaring colours.... Towards evening Columbus returned to his ships, accompanied by many of the islanders in their boats, which they called canoes; and though rudely formed out of the trunk of a single tree, they rowed them with surprising dexterity. Thus, in the first interview between the inhabitants of the old and new worlds, everything was conducted amicably and to their mutual satisfaction. The former, enlightened and ambitious, formed already vast ideas with respect to the advantages which they might derive from the regions that began to open to their view. The latter, simple and undiscerning, had no foresight of the calamities and desolation which were approaching their country.”
William Guthrie, a son of an episcopal minister, was born at Brechin in 1708. He was educated at King’s College, Aberdeen, and afterwards proceeded to London to push his fortune. He was for some time engaged writing as a supporter of the Government, and received from the Pelham Ministry a pension of £200 per annum. He became a voluminous writer, and was connected with many literary undertakings. He wrote a History of England in three volumes, which begins with the Conquest and closes with the Commonwealth. In 1767 he published a History of Scotland in ten volumes. His _Historical and Geographical Grammar_ was his most successful work. It had reached its twenty-first edition in 1810, and was translated into French. He died on the 9th of March, 1770.
Dr. ♦Smollett, the novelist, wrote a _History of England_, published in 1758, in four large volumes; but it is not of much historical value. It was hastily composed without sufficient preparation and study, and it is full of mistakes and inconsistencies. The portion of this history from 1688 to the death of George II. has often been printed as a continuation to Hume’s history.
♦ “Smollet” replaced with “Smollett”
Mr. William Tytler of Woodhouselee, published in 1759 _An Inquiry into the Evidence against Mary Queen of Scots_, in which he combated the views advanced by Robertson and Hume, touching Queen Mary. Tytler’s work is acute and candid, but not at all conclusive. He also rendered good service to the national literature by his publication of the Poetical Remains of James I., with a dissertation on the life and writings of the royal poet.
Dr. Gilbert Stuart was born at Edinburgh in 1742. He is the author of a _History of Scotland_, a _History of the Reformation_, and a _Dissertation on the British Constitution_. He also wrote many articles for periodicals in which he bitterly attacked the works of some of his contemporaries. His style is florid and flowing, but much affected. He died in 1786.
In 1771, the first volume of Dr. Robert Henry’s1 _History of Great Britain_ appeared, and four others followed at intervals from this date to 1785. In this work special attention was directed to the state of the people and domestic manners; but it only came down to the reign of Henry VIII. The author received for his work £3300; and was rewarded with a pension from the Crown of £100 a year.
1 Born in 1718; died in 1790.
Lord Hailes, a son of Sir James Dalrymple, was born in Edinburgh in 1726. He distinguished himself at the Scottish bar, and was raised to the bench in 1766. He was a man of considerable erudition, an able lawyer and conscientious judge. He was, moreover, a man of wit, and had a strong feeling of the comic and ridiculous in human conduct and character, “which gave a keen edge of irony both to his conversation and writings.... How much he excelled in painting the lighter weaknesses and absurdities of mankind, may be seen from the papers of his composition in the _World and the Mirror_.... In a word, he was an honour to the station which he filled, and to the age in which he lived. He died in his 67th year, on the 29th of November 1792.”1
1 _Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Lord Kames_, by A. F. Tytler, Volume I., pages 182‒183; 1807.
The first part of Lord Hailes’ _Annals of Scotland_ was published in 1776, and the second part, which brought the work down to the death of David II., appeared in 1779. It is a work of very high merit and historical value, and it has been long well known and esteemed by historical students. He was gifted with the critical faculty in a high degree, and the power of discriminating and estimating historical evidence. Lord Hailes was also the author of a number of legal and antiquarian treatises; of the _Remains of Christian Antiquity_, containing translations from the Fathers, etc., and of _An Inquiry into the secondary causes assigned by Gibbon for the rapid spread of Christianity_.
Dr. Adam Ferguson’s _Essay on the History of Civil Society_ appeared in 1766, and his _History of the Progress and Termination of the Roman Republic_ in 1783. In the first named work, he introduced the method of studying mankind in groups, and of tracing the gradual progress of entire societies, or what is now called the science of sociology. As already stated, Ferguson’s views of the progress of mankind and the gradual growth of social institutions, approached nearer to the modern conception of the historical development of the human race than those of any of his predecessors. In his _History of the Roman Republic_ he showed much careful research, skilful arrangement, and just philosophical reflections. But his style, though exceedingly clear and vigorous, is rather compressed and sententious.
Dr. William Russell1 was a native of Selkirkshire, and raised himself to literary distinction in the midst of many difficulties. He was the author of a useful _History of Modern Europe_, of which the first two volumes appeared in 1779, and three others in 1784, bringing it down to 1763. This history was long popular, and continuations have been made to it by Dr. Coote and others.
1 Born in 1741; died 1793.
Dr. Robert Watson,1 professor of rhetoric in the University of St. Andrews, is the author of a History of Philip II. of Spain, which was published in 1776, and was intended as a continuation of Robertson’s History of Charles V. He also left unfinished a History of Philip III., which was completed by Dr. Thomson, and published in 1783.
1 Born in 1730; died 1780.
Dr. John Gillies,1 historiographer for Scotland to His Majesty George III., wrote The _History of Ancient Greece, its Colonies and Conquests_, which appeared in 1784. It is a work which exhibits historic ability and research. The sixth edition of it was issued in four volumes in 1820. He was the author also of a _View of the Reign of Frederic II. of Prussia_; a _History of the World from the Reign of Alexander to Augustus_, which was published in 1807‒10; and produced English Translations of Aristotle’s Ethics, Politics, and Rhetoric.
1 Born in 1747; died 1836.
To his translation of the Rhetoric he prefixed a long introduction in which, after showing its importance as a work of taste and criticism, and its connection with Aristotle’s other writings, he opened an attack on modern philosophy in general, and on the Scottish School in particular. He animadverts adversely on the views of Adam Smith, Reid, Lord Kames, and especially on the writings of Dugald Stewart. Their views he maintained were all wrong, while those of the mighty Stagirite were alone right.
George Chalmers,1 a native of Fochabers, in Morayshire, is the author of a number of works on various subjects. His _History of the United Colonies, from the Settlement to the Peace of 1763_, appeared in 1780; among his other writings may be mentioned, a _Life of Sir David Lindsay_, with an edition of his works, and a _Life of Mary Queen of Scots drawn from the State Papers_. But his greatest work is _Caledonia_, the first volume of which was published in 1807; other two large volumes were issued in his lifetime, but it was left unfinished. This work contains a mass of minute antiquarian details of the early periods of Scottish history, together with topographical and historical accounts of the different counties; it embodies a vast collection of facts and incidents of much value, but there is little method in it, and his style is not attractive. A new edition of it has recently been published by Mr. Gardner, which includes a large quantity of manuscript prepared by Chalmers, but left unprinted when he died, thus completing the work as far as possible.
1 Born 1742; died 1825.
Malcolm Laing1 is the author of a History of Scotland. He was educated for the Scottish bar, and passed advocate in 1785. In 1800 his _History of Scotland, from the Union of the Crowns in 1603 to the Union of the Kingdoms in 1707_, was published. It is an able work, and of very high historical value. He possessed analytic and critical powers which enabled him to estimate evidence at its value; and notwithstanding his strong Whig opinions, and his love of liberty, his historical integrity is unimpeachable. But he attacked Macpherson, the translator of Ossian, with unmerciful severity. Though a clear and vigorous thinker, he was not a great master of historic style.
1 Born in 1762; died 1818. There are other historical writers of more or less note, a few of whom I can only briefly mention. Ruddiman, the eminent Latin grammarian, edited an edition of Buchanan’s _History of Scotland_, and published several historical memoirs. Dr. Alexander Adam, rector of the High School of Edinburgh, is the author of _Roman Antiquities_ and _A Summary of Geography and History_, etc. John Pinkerton was a native of Edinburgh, born in 1758, and died at Paris in 1825. He distinguished himself by the vehement controversial tone of his historical writings, and by the obstinacy of his unreasoned notions; still, he was an industrious collector of forgotten fragments of ancient history.
His first historical effort was a _Dissertation on the Origin of the Goths_, in which he enounced the strange theory which he maintained to the end of his days, namely, that the Celts of Ireland, Wales, and Scotland are savages, and have been savages since the world began. He next produced an _Inquiry into the History of Scotland preceding the Reign of Malcolm III._, in which he argued at great length on the history of the Goths, and the conquests which he asserts they achieved over the Celts in their progress through Europe. In 1796, he issued a _History of Scotland during the Reign of the Stuarts_, the most valuable of all his works. He also edited, but very indifferently, a series of Ancient Lives of Scottish Saints under the title _Vitæ Antiquæ Sanctorum Scotiæ_, a revised and enlarged edition of which has recently been issued.
SECTION II.
_Historical Literature of the Nineteenth Century._
The nineteenth century has been remarkable for an increasing interest in all departments of historical literature; for more thorough research, critical examination of evidence, more exhaustive treatment, and withal a perceptible broadening and deepening of historic conceptions. The methods of investigating historical subjects, and social phenomena, have undergone a marked change within the present century; and, as a consequence, the opinions and the convictions of the people have also been greatly modified.
Dr. Thomas M‘Crie1 is best known as the author of the _Life of John Knox_, and the _Life of Andrew Melville_. The first appeared in 1813, and has passed through many editions; the second has not been so popular, though it is an able work. He also wrote _Memoirs of Veitch and Brysson_, two Scottish ministers and supporters of the Covenant. He composed able and valuable Histories of the Reformation in Italy and in Spain, and various other sketches and papers. Dr. M‘Crie was gifted with a vigorous intellect, and all his writings display much varied and careful research, and a masterly literary ability. His style is clear, animated, and easy; and his works are highly esteemed by all students of history.
1 Born 1772; died 1835.
Mr. James Mill attained distinction as a historian as well as a philosopher and a political writer; he was a man of great intellectual power.1 His _History of British India_, which was begun in 1806, was published in 1817‒18, in five volumes, and is probably the ablest work on our Indian Empire which has yet appeared. His analytic powers and grasp of principles enabled him to master social phenomena, which less gifted minds fail to see or to seize.
1 An excellent account of his life and writings, by Dr. Bain, has been published.
John Dunlop, Esquire, a Scottish advocate and sheriff of Renfrewshire, wrote a _History of Fiction_, which appeared in 1814, in three volumes. It is a work of much merit and value. He also wrote a _History of Roman Literature_, from the earliest period to the close of the Augustan age, in three volumes. His latest work was _Memoirs of Spain during the Reigns of Philip IV. and Charles II._, which was published in 1834, in two volumes. He died in 1842.
Patrick F. Tytler1 was the author of a _History of Scotland_, and other works――chiefly of a biographical character. His _History of Scotland_ embraces the period from the accession of Alexander III. to the union of the Crowns of England and Scotland in 1603. The first volume was published in 1828, and the others followed at intervals till the work was completed in nine volumes. It is a work of high historical value. His pages evince the results of much original research and great industry. Many documents and State papers were printed for the first time in the appendices to the volumes. His style is plain and animated, but somewhat diffuse and redundant.
1 Tytler belonged to the family of Woodhouselee, whom I have already mentioned in a preceding section. In the latter years of his life be enjoyed a pension of £200 per annum. He died in December, 1849; and an interesting account of his life has been published by the Rev. John Burgon, M.A., in 1859.
Sir Archibald Alison was a son of the Rev. Archibald Alison, as already incidentally mentioned, and was born in 1792. He was educated in Edinburgh, studied law, and was called to the Scottish bar in 1814. He was appointed sheriff of Lanarkshire in 1832, and was created a baronet in 1852. The idea of his _History of Europe_ was conceived when on a visit to Paris in the eventful year of 1814; and henceforth he devoted much research and study to its preparation.
The work covers the period from the commencement of the French Revolution in 1789 to the restoration of the Bourbons in 1815. Its first instalment appeared in 1833, and the concluding volumes in 1844. It has since gone through nine or ten editions. It contains a vast store of facts and details relating to a very important and memorable period of modern history. In the later years of his active life, he produced a continuation of his _History_ to the accession of Louis Napoleon in 1852, in eight volumes, which appeared at intervals from 1852 to 1859. But the continuation is not equal in accuracy and merit to the earlier history, and some of his peculiar opinions are pushed to greater extremes. In politics he was a firm Conservative, and a strong opponent of Free Trade. Sir Archibald died in May, 1867.
Alison’s _History of Europe_, as might be expected in so wide and great a subject, has merits and defects. His exertions in personal observation of many of the localities of the events and scenes which he described, his industry in collecting available materials, and his patient and careful researches, are great merits, which imparted a freshness to his narrative and an animation to his descriptions rarely met with in any history. His mastery of method and arrangement was also creditable; but on the other hand, his style has often been severely animadverted on――he has been charged with verbosity and excessive pomp, with being careless, turgid, and obscure. On the whole, the work has been exceedingly popular, it has been translated into all European languages; this, however, may be partly accounted for by the intensely absorbing interest of the period and the events of which it treats. Although Alison cannot be called a great historian, still he has produced an interesting work.
Thomas Carlyle was a noted man of genius and a voluminous writer. He was a son of a farmer, and born on the 4th of December, 1795, at the village of Ecclefechan, in Annandale, a beautiful pastoral district, rich in Border traditions, old castles, and historic associations. He was educated at the Grammar School of Annan, and the University of Edinburgh. At the University he was distinguished in mathematics, and subsequently he acted as teacher of mathematics in Annan, and afterwards in Kirkcaldy. In 1818 he went to Edinburgh, where he had the use of the University Library, and he then wrote a number of short biographies and other articles for the _Edinburgh Encyclopædia_. He wrote a _Life of Schiller_, and also commenced to translate German works. In 1824 he translated Goethe’s _Wilhelm Meister_, which was favourably received. He married Miss Jane Welsh in 1825. She was a descendent of John Knox, a daughter of Dr. Welsh, Haddington; and through her Carlyle acquired the small property of Craigenputtoch, in Dumfriesshire, at which he resided for eight years. In this retired residence he wrote articles for the _Foreign Review_, and his _Sartor Resartus_, which first appeared in _Fraser’s Magazine_ in 1833‒34. Carlyle left Craigenputtoch in 1834 and went to London, and finally settled in the famous House, Number 5 Cheyne Row, Chelsea. In 1837 he delivered a series of lectures on German Literature in London, and in the following year another course on the Successive Periods of European Culture. Again in 1839 he delivered a course of lectures on the Revolutions of Modern Europe, and another on Heroes and Hero Worship in 1840. These lectures greatly extended his popularity. The lectures on Heroes and Hero Worship were published in book form, and widely read.
Carlyle wrote on many branches of literature, embracing critical essays, political and satirical pamphlets in various forms, and biography and history. His critical and miscellaneous essays extend to seven volumes, and treat on many subjects. Some of them are exceedingly good, such as those on Burns, Edward Irving, Voltaire, Goethe, and others; and the whole of his essays are characteristic and interesting. His political views were presented in a pamphlet entitled “Chartism,” published in 1839, and in another, “Past and Present,” which appeared in 1843. In these he enunciated some important truths, and made scathing observations against all shams, cant, formulas, and so on; yet he has very little to offer in the form of constructive remedies for the existing evils of society, either political or social. He issued another series of political tracts in 1850, entitled “Latter-day Pamphlets,” and in these he appeared as the vehement and irate Censor, with all the exaggerating peculiarities of his style in greater profusion. He assumed the characteristics of a mere worshipper of force, and an ardent advocate of all coercive measures. Improved prisons and schools for the reform of criminals, poor laws, the churches, the aristocracy, Parliament, and other institutions, as then constituted, were all attacked and ridiculed in a scathing style. On some political points and administrative abuses, however, his bold and stinging satire was quite justifiable.
It was chiefly in biography and history that Carlyle attained distinction and fame as a writer. In 1837 his famous work, _The French Revolution, a History_, was published. It is the best of all Carlyle’s works, and is a very remarkable book. It presents a masterly and vivid panoramic view of the Revolution. He exerted his great powers of description in this work with striking effect.1 As a specimen of his style, I will quote the passage on the death of Marie Antoinette:――
1 A very fair analysis and criticism of Carlyle’s style is given in the late Professor Minto’s _Manual of English Prose Literature_.
“Is there a man’s heart that thinks without pity of those long months and years of slow-wasting ignominy; of thy birth, self-cradled in imperial Schonbrunn, the winds of heaven not to visit thy face too roughly, thy feet to light on softness, thy eye on splendour; and then of thy death, or hundred deaths, to which the guillotine and ♦Fouquier-Tinville’s Judgment-bar was but the merciful end? Look there, O man born of woman! The bloom of that fair face is wasted, the hair is gray with care; the brightness of those eyes are quenched, their lids hang drooping, the face is stony pale, as of one living in death. Mean weeds, which her own hand has mended, attire the Queen of the World. The death-hurdle where thou sittest pale, motionless, which only curses environ, has to stop; a people, drunk with vengeance, will drink it again in full draught, looking at thee there. Far as the eye reaches a multitudinous sea of maniac heads, the air deaf with their triumph yell! The living-dead must shudder with yet one other pang; her startled blood yet again suffuses with the hue of agony that pale face which she hides with her hands! There is there no heart to say, God pity thee! O think not of these; think of Him whom thou worshippest, the crucified――who also treaded the wine-press alone, fronted sorrow still deeper; and triumphed over it and made it holy, and built of it a sanctuary of sorrow for thee and all the wretched! Thy path of thorns is nigh ended, one long last look at the Tuilleries, where thy step was once so light, where thy children shall not dwell. The head is on the block, the axe rushes――dumb lies the world; the wild yelling world and all its madness is behind thee.”
♦ “Forquier” replaced with “Fouquier”
Carlyle’s collection of Oliver Cromwell’s _Letters and Speeches, with Elucidations_, appeared in 1845, in two volumes. It is an excellent work, and a valuable contribution to the historical materials of the seventeenth century. His own additional Elucidations, historic and descriptive, are important, and often very characteristic and interesting.
His _Life of John Stirling_ was published in 1851. It is a warm tribute by Carlyle to the memory of a personal friend. Stirling was an amiable and accomplished man, and his friends were much attached to him. He had written some attractive volumes in prose and verse; and he died in 1844, in his thirty-eighth year.
Carlyle had been long working on his _History of Friedrich the Great of Prussia_, and in 1858 the first and second volumes of it appeared, the third and fourth in 1862, and the fifth and sixth completing the work in 1865. It is a work evincing great research, admirable descriptions of battle-fields and historic scenes, vivid and sage remarks on men and things, and touches of pathos and humour. Yet, viewed according to a recognised standard, it fails to reach the higher and genuine characteristics of history; and in truth, it is rather a personal biography and a glorification of the hero, Friedrich II., enlivened and widely varied by the writer’s rare genius. If Carlyle was not a pure worshipper of mere force and might, he had, at least, an excessive veneration of individual great men――heroism; so he made them the central conception and wove events and movements around them for their special glorification, treating other men with scorn, and ignoring many important historic influences. He scouted the idea of tracing the relation of causes and effects in history, or the gradual development of political institutions. For the sake of the central hero, he sums up an estimate of the eighteenth century thus:――“What little it did, we must call Friedrich; what little it thought, Voltaire.”
In spite of his veneration of might, and some unreasoned impulses, he was a great historical biographer. His fine power of description, insight of character, and the power of seizing reality, the faculty of discerning and selecting appropriate facts and incidents, and weaving these into a stirring narrative, enabled him to attain a marked distinction in this branch of literature. He had many readers and admirers, and his influence has been widely felt.
He was elected Lord Rector of the University of Edinburgh, and on the 2nd of April 1866, delivered his installation address. Before he returned home, his wife died at London, on the 21st of April. His subsequent writings mostly consisted of short addresses and articles on the topics of the day; and a _History of the Early Kings of Norway_, published in 1875. He died on the 4th of February, 1881.1
1 His _Reminiscences_, edited by Mr. Froude, were published in 1881, in two volumes.
Dr. John Hill Burton, a native of Aberdeen, was born in 1809; and having studied law, was called to the bar in 1833. He was a hard working student, and at an early period of his life, produced a work on the _Scottish Bankruptcy Law_, and a _Manual of the Law of Scotland_. He was also the author of a small volume, now much sought after, _On Political and Social Economy_, published in 1849. He was an exceedingly industrious writer, chiefly in the field of Scottish history and biography.
In 1846, his _Life and Correspondence of David Hume_ was published in two volumes; and the following year, his _Lives of Lord Lovat_ and _Duncan Forbes of Culloden_ appeared. Both works are valuable contributions to the historic literature of Scotland. In 1864, his work entitled _The Scot Abroad_ appeared in two volumes; it consists of an account of the relations of Scotland and Scotsmen to foreign countries, and contains many interesting sketches and anecdotes.
His longest work is _The History of Scotland, from Agricola’s Invasion to the Revolution of 1688_, which appeared in 1867‒70; he had before written a _History of Scotland from the Revolution to the extinction of the last Jacobite Insurrection_, which was published in 1853. Thus, presumably following the example of Hume, he wrote and published the latest part of his history first.1 This History is much marred by the author’s prejudice against the Celtic people of Scotland. A revised edition of the whole work has been published.
1 One of Hume’s opponents, who had a waggish turn, once said that he had written his history backwards.
Besides the important works mentioned above, Dr. Burton occasionally contributed papers to the _Westminster Review_, _Blackwood’s Magazine_, and other literary journals, and sometimes articles to the _Scotsman_. Moreover, he edited several of the volumes of the _Records of the Scottish Privy Council of the Sixteenth Century_, and wrote a preface to the first volume. He also contributed many articles to biographical dictionaries. His last work was a _History of Britain in the Reign of Queen Anne_, in three volumes, published in 1880. He died in 1881.
The late Robert Blakey was the author of a number of works:――_History of the Philosophy of the Human Mind_, in four volumes, in which a pretty complete account of works on philosophy, especially British works in this department, is given down to about the middle of the present century. His _History of Political Literature_, published in 1855, in two volumes, is a very useful and interesting work, written in a clear, animated, and vigorous style.
Dr. William F. Skene was born on the 7th of June 1809. Having studied for the profession of law, he became a member of the Society of Writers to the Signet in 1831. After the death of Dr. John H. Burton, Dr. Skene was appointed Historiographer Royal for Scotland.
He edited a publication entitled _The Four Ancient Books of Wales_, which appeared in 1868. The work contains an English translation, rendered by two eminent Welsh scholars, of the Cymric poems, tales, and romances connected with the early history of Wales. The translation is from the oldest known Welsh manuscripts, and the work has considerable historical value. Dr. Skene edited another volume under the title of _The Chronicles of the Picts and Scots_, which consists of a number of short pieces, fragments, and some extracts from early Irish chronicles, to which he wrote a long and interesting preface. He also edited and wrote introductions to several of the series of volumes known by the title of _The Historians of Scotland_.
His chief work is the _History of Celtic Scotland_, published in 1876‒81, in three volumes, of which a second edition has been issued. He announced that this work was designed to ascertain all that could be extracted from the early authorities; and it may be granted that when he had written matter to work upon, his conclusions were fairly satisfactory. He was very industrious and painstaking; but his mind was narrow and glimmering. He had no philosophic grasp, and very little of the critical faculty. He shows lamentable defects in the discrimination and estimation of historical evidence, and seemed to be unconscious of the value of circumstantial evidence, and its use for limiting, correcting, or confirming, incomplete and erroneous statements of facts and events. Thus he often placed too much reliance on fragments of writings, old chronicles, and traditions. He introduced into his History a fanciful body, viz., “The Seven Earls of Scotland,” who enjoyed the privilege of controlling the Kings in early times. In truth, his _Celtic Scotland_ has been rather much praised. He died in August, 1892.
In a chapter on Scottish historical literature, it seems requisite to give some account of the Record scholars, and those who have worked in order to place important historical materials within the reach of historical students. The first who claims to be remembered is Mr. Thomas Thomson, the able and careful editor of the _Scots Acts of Parliament_, and other national records. For many years he worked hard in the General Register-house in Edinburgh, and under him others were trained and encouraged by his example in this branch of research. Space would fail to signalise all those who have followed in the footsteps of Mr. Thomson, and have rendered valuable service to their country in the wide field of national records and historical materials.
Mr. Cosmo Innes, a native of the parish of Durris, Kincardineshire, was an eminent Record scholar and an industrious historical student. He edited the first volume of the _Scots Acts of Parliament_, containing all the earliest laws and fragments of legislation of Scotland, several of the _Old Spalding Club_ publications, and a number of the volumes printed by the Clubs in the south, all containing valuable historical materials. He also edited the earlier volumes of the _Facsimiles of the National Manuscripts of Scotland_, a magnificent work, issued under the direction of the Record Commission, as well as the first volume issued by the Burgh Record Society; and spent years of labour in preparing an exhaustive index to the _Scots Acts_. Mr. Innes was also the author of three notable works: _Scotland in the Middle Ages_, 1860; _Sketches of Early Scottish History_, 1861; and _Legal Antiquities_; all these formed valuable contributions to the history of Scotland.
Another notable man of this class was Dr. John Stuart, a native of the parish of Forgue, in Aberdeenshire. He was an advocate in Aberdeen, and for many years acted as the secretary of the Old Spalding Club, of which he was one of the originators; but for a number of years before his death, which happened in the summer of 1877, he was employed in the General Register-house at Edinburgh.
He edited and wrote the prefaces to the well-known work, _The Sculptured Stones of Scotland_. His prefaces and notes to this work are admirable specimens of antiquarian research, clear and well reasoned exposition. To the _Book of Deer_, which he edited, he wrote a long and very valuable preface. He also edited and wrote prefaces to other volumes of the Old Spalding Club, including the _Burgh Records of Aberdeen_.
Joseph Robertson, a native of Aberdeen, born in 1810, also one of the original members of the Old Spalding Club, was a distinguished Record scholar; and edited a number of volumes for the Club. But it is in the work entitled _Statuta Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ_, a collection of the Canons of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland prior to the Reformation, that his Record scholarship is fully manifested. The painstaking labour which he devoted to this work is almost incredible, his research is both accurate and exhaustive to the minutest detail. His preface to the work is a monument of scholarship, sound judgment, and historic elucidation, while the body of notes and illustrations are of deep interest and great historic value. He is also the author of a history of the city of Aberdeen, entitled the _Book of Bon-accord_, which unfortunately he left unfinished. He died in 1866.
The late Dr. David Laing, a gifted and esteemed gentleman, who for long held the office of librarian to the Writers to the Signet, was a large contributor to the historic materials of Scottish history. Laing’s1 efforts were specially directed to the culture and the elucidation of the literary history of Scotland in the early periods, and to the history of art. He published some collections of early poetry, and edited the poems of Hendryson, Dunbar, and Sir David Lindsay; and in many other ways endeavoured to advance the culture of history and art.2
1 I have already noticed his service to the nation by his edition of Knox’s works.――_History of Civilisation in Scotland_, Volume II., page 346.
2 It may be mentioned that Laing, after the death of Dr. David Irving, edited his _History of Scottish Poetry_, which in its first form was published in 1804; but Irving seems to have worked and revised at it almost to the end of his life. Laing published the work in its final form in 1861, with a memoir of the author. Irving was also the author of a series of biographical sketches of eminent Scotsmen.
_The Criminal Trials in Scotland from the end of the Fifteenth Century to 1624_, carefully edited and ably illustrated by Robert Pitcairn, W.S., form a valuable contribution to the history of domestic life and manners. He died in 1855. In this connection, _The Domestic Annals of Scotland_, by Dr. Robert Chambers, are well worthy of notice. Dr. R. Chambers was also the author of an excellent _History of the Rising of 1745_, which has passed through eight editions. It is an interesting and very valuable contribution to our historical literature.
Mr. E. W. Robertson was the author of a work entitled _Scotland under her early Kings_, published in 1862, in two volumes, which presents a history of the kingdom down to the close of the thirteenth century. It shows much research and industry, and commendable exactness of statement in matters of fact. Mr. Robertson also published a volume of historical essays in 1872.
Mr. William Mure, of Caldwell,1 was the author of _A Critical History of the Language and Literature of Ancient Greece_, published in 1850‒53, in four volumes. A fifth volume appeared in 1857, but the work was left incomplete when he died. He devoted a considerable portion of his history to an examination of the Iliad and Odyssey, and the conclusion which he arrived at is, that each of these poems was originally composed substantially as we now possess them. This is a subject which has engaged the attention of many able classical scholars. Mure presented an interesting account of the origin and the early history of Greek prose literature, and a long critical examination of Herodotus.
1 Born in 1799; died 1860.
George Grub, LL.D., was born in Old Aberdeen in 1812. He was educated at King’s College, Aberdeen, and graduated in 1829. Having studied law, he was admitted a member of the Society of Advocates in 1836, and in 1843 he was appointed Lecturer on Scots Law and Conveyancing in Marischal College. At the union of the Colleges in 1860, Dr. Patrick Davidson became Professor of Law, and Dr. Grub was appointed his substitute. On the death of Dr. Davidson in 1881, Dr. Grub succeeded him in the Chair. He retired from the professorship in 1891; and died on the 23rd of September in 1892. He was a very considerate and kindly gentleman.1
1 Robbie’s _History of Aberdeen_, page 490. 1893.
He was one of the original members of the Old Spalding Club, and edited several of the works issued by it. He is the author of _The Ecclesiastical History of Scotland_, published in 1861, in four volumes. It is a work of much merit and research, and remarkable for its candour and impartiality. His style is plain and clear.
In conclusion, though perhaps all the historical writers have not been enumerated that might be named, still enough has been given to show that a considerable amount of effort and talent has been devoted to history during the last and present century, and that the taste for this branch of literature has been steadily spreading amongst the people.