|
CRAIG, WILLIAM, a
distinguished senator of the college of Justice, and a large contributor
to the literary paper styled "the Mirror," was the son of Dr
William Craig, one of the ministers of Glasgow; a man of so much eminence,
that the editors of the Biographia Britannica thought proper to admit an
account of him, drawn up by professor Richardson, into their very select
collection. The subject of the present memoir was born in 1745, and
received his education at Glasgow college, where he attended the classes
of Smith in moral philosophy and political economy, and those of Millar in
jurisprudence and civil law. His acquirements were at an early period very
great, especially in the belles lettres, and to a less degree in history
and metaphysics. He entered at the bar in 1768, and was the contemporary
and intimate friend of some of the most distinguished men of the last age.
Robert Blair, afterwards lord president, Alexander Abercromby, afterwards
lord Abercromby, along with Craig and some others, held for some years a
private meeting once every week, for mutual improvement in their legal
studies. It is remarkable that, at the commencement of Mr Pitt’s
administration in 1784, Blair, Abercromby, and Craig were appointed
together to be depute advocates under Sir Hay Campbell, who was at the
same time nominated lord advocate. Mr Craig held this office till 1787,
when he was nominated sheriff of Ayrshire. On the death of lord Hailes in
1792, Mr Craig was appointed to succeed him on the bench, on which
occasion he assumed the designation of lord Craig. In 1795, he succeeded
lord Henderland as a judge of the court of justiciary.
In the concluding number of
"the Mirror," which appeared on the 17th of May 1780, it is
mentioned that "the idea of publishing a periodical paper in
Edinburgh took its rise in a company of gentlemen, whom particular
circumstances of connection brought frequently together. Their discourse
often turned upon subjects of manners, of taste, and of literature. By one
of those accidental resolutions of which the origin cannot easily be
traced, it was determined to put their thoughts in writing, and to read
them for the entertainment of each other. Their essays assumed the form,
and, soon after, some one gave them the name of a periodical publication.
The writers of it were naturally associated; and their meetings increased
the importance, as well as the number of their productions. Cultivating
letters in the midst of business, composition was to them an amusement
only; that amusement was heightened by the audience which this society
afforded; the idea of publication suggested itself as productive of still
higher entertainment. It was not, however, without diffidence that such a
resolution was taken. From that and several circumstances, it was thought
proper to observe the strictest secrecy with regard to the authors; a
purpose in which they have been so successful, that at this moment, the
very publisher of the work knows only one of their number, to whom the
conduct of it was intrusted."
It is now to be mentioned,
upon the credit of the sole survivor of the association above alluded to,
that the first idea of starting this periodical work occurred to Mr Craig,
who, next to Mr Mackenzie, was the most zealous of them all in the
cultivation of the belles lettres. The remaining persons concerned were
Mr. Alexander Abercromby, of whom a memoir has been given in the present
dictionary, Mr. Robert Cullen, afterwards lord Cullen, Mr. Macleod
Bannatyne, afterwards lord Bannatyne, Mr. George Rome, afterwards lord
Wedderburn, and one of the principal clerks of session, Mr. William Gordon
of Newhall, and Mr. George Ogilvy, both also advocates, but of whom the
first died, and the latter fell into bad health, before having made any
contribution to the Mirror. Mr. Mackenzie was the only individual
unconnected with the bar The association was at first termed the Tabernacle;
but when the resolution of publishing was adopted, it assumed the name
of the Mirror Club, from the title of the projected paper.
It was resolved to commit the business of publishing to Mr. Creech, the
well-known bookseller, and the duty of communicating with him, and
of the general superintendence of the work, was devolved on Mr.
Mackenzie. The club used to meet once a-week, sometimes in one tavern,
sometimes in another, in order that their proceedings might be less liable
to the observation of their acquaintance. A list of their haunts will tell
strangely in the ears of those who, thinking of the Mirror as the pink of
elegance in literature, might find that every circumstance connected with
its composition was alike elegant. The club met, for instance, sometimes
in Clerihugh’s, in Writer’s court, sometimes in Somers’s, opposite
the Guardhouse in the High street, sometimes in Stewart’s oyster-house
in the Old Fish-market close, and fully as often, perhaps, in Lucky Dunbar’s,
a moderate and obscure house, situated in an alley leading betwixt
Forrester’s and Libberton’s Wynd. On these occasions, any member who
had written a paper since the last meeting, produced it to be read and
considered. But, as a general invitation had been held out for
contributions from persons not members of the club, and a box placed at Mr
Creech’s shop for receiving them, the papers so contributed, as well as
those produced by the members, were read over and considered, and a
selection made of those proposed to be adopted. Among these occasional
contributors were several individuals of great respectability, of whom we
may mention lord Hailes, professor Richardson of Glasgow, Dr Henry, author
of the History of Great Britain, and Mr David Hume, now one of the barons
of exchequer. Some other papers of no inconsiderable merit were supposed
to be from ladies. The Mirror was commenced on the 23d of January, 1779,
and finished with the 110th number on the 27th of
May, 1780. It appeared in one small folio sheet, which was sold at three
half pence, and though not above four hundred were ever sold of any
particular number, the public approbation was so high as to demand the
immediate republication of the whole in three volumes duodecimo.
Mr Craig’s contributions
to the Mirror, which were the most numerous, next to those of Mr
Mackenzie, are indicated in a later edition of the work: -
To the Lounger, which was
started some years after by the same club, he also contributed many
excellent papers.
Lord Craig, who possessed
originally a very weak constitution, enjoyed so poor a state of health in
his latter years as to be obliged to resign his places on the justiciary
bench. He died on the 8th of July, 1813. The mental
qualifications of this eminent person were of a very high order. Although
his practice at the bar had never been very extensive, he was much
esteemed in his character as a judge, his decisions being remarkable for
their clearness and precision, while his habits were of a singularly
industrious order, considering the state of his health. In private life he
was beloved on account of his gentle, unassuming manners, and his
eminently benevolent and sociable disposition.
|
