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BELONGING to the same race of
sturdy borderers which afterwards produced Thomas Carlyle, the illustrious
essayist, Dr Alexander Carlyle was born on the 26th January 1722. Ordained
minister of Inveresk at the age of twenty-six, he there ministered till his
death, which took place on the 25th August 1805 —his parochial incumbency
extending to fifty-eight years. His career was singularly eventful. He
witnessed the public execution at Edinburgh which led to the Porteous mob.
In his youth he met at dinner the vacillating Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat. He
saw Prince Charles Edward enter Edinburgh in September 1745, and from the
church steeple at Prestonpans watched the progress of the battle which was
there fought between the Prince and the royal troops under Sir John Cope.
With the gallant Colonel Gardiner, who fell in the conflict, he dined on the
day which preceded the engagement. Among those with whom in early life he
was brought in contact was the Honourable James Erskine, Lord Grange. An
heritor of Prestonpans parish, Lord Grange had brought thither as its pastor
Carlyle's father, who was previously minister of Cummertrees in his native
Annandale. As a personal friend, Carlyle the elder was with Lord Grange
frequently in the evenings, and they often remained together till late
hours. Dr Carlyle believes that they were frequently occupied in prayer, or
in settling points of Calvinistic doctrine, for Lord Grange was as
remarkable for pious talk as he was notorious for social error. According to
Dr Carlyle, he erred and repented by turns. For a season regular in
attending religious ordinances, he for another would occupy his Sundays in
intemperate pleasures. Days which he dedicated to prayer were followed by
nights spent in debauchery. Partially insane he certainly was, but in a
lesser degree than his wife, Rachel Cheislie, whom Dr Carlyle describes as
in physique realising the notion which in early life he entertained
respecting the aspects of the woman represented in Scripture as embodying
the impurities of Babylon.
Known to Robert Blair, author of "The Grave," Dr
Carlyle enjoyed with John Home, his successor at Athelstaneford, a life-long
intimacy. With several reverend brethren he was subjected to censure for
being present at a theatre in 1756, when Mr Home's tragedy of "Douglas" was
for the first time acted. He attained considerable privileges and honours.
In 1762 he was appointed almoner to the King, in 1770 was elected Moderator
of the General Assembly, and in 1785 was nominated one of the Deans of the
Chapel Royal. Devoted to the interests of his order, he procured for his
brethren an exemption from the window tax. Collins's "Ode on the
Superstitions of the Highlands," long lost, was through his instrumentality
recovered. Possessing a lofty mien and an urbane and gracious manner, he
attracted some by his demeanour—others by his benevolence. A leader of the
Moderate party, he exercised an important influence in ecclesiastical
affairs. At an advanced age he prepared his autobiography, ["Autobiography
of Dr Alexander Carlyle, minister of Inveresk," containing memorials of the
men and events of his times. Edinburgh, 1860. 8vo.] but it was not printed
till many years subsequent to his death. This did not embrace his
correspondence, which, however, he had arranged with a view to publication.
For this purpose it was entrusted by members of his family to his personal
friend, Dr John Lee, latterly Principal of the University of Edinburgh. Dr
Lee was one of the most learned persons of his time, but he lacked the
virtue of application, and what he eagerly undertook and fully intended to
carry out, he generally left untouched. At Dr Lee's death Dr Carlyle's
correspondence was secured by the University of Edinburgh. The more
interesting portions form the substance of the present chapter.
One of Dr Carlyle's earliest friends was George
Dempster, whom he had known in Edinburgh as an advocate. This somewhat
remarkable individual was great-grandson of John Dempster, minister first at
Brechin, afterwards at Monifieth, in the county of Forfar. His grandfather,
a merchant and banker at Dundee, gave loans on mortgage, and by this method
became owner of large estates. To these estates George succeeded early in
life. Born in 1735, he passed advocate at twenty; and in his twenty-second
year sat in the General Assembly as the representative of a burgh, though
holding no office in the Church, and in reality a freethinker. In this
Assembly, which met in May 1757, he took part in the discussion respecting
the tragedy of "Douglas" and the supposed demerits of Dr Carlyle and others
who had witnessed its representation. He seconded the proposal for an Act
forbidding the clergy to countenance the drama. After spending some years in
Edinburgh, he abandoned the life of a lawyer for that of a politician and,
after a contest attended by an expenditure of £10,000, he was in 1762 chosen
Parliamentary representative of the Fife and Forfar burghs. In the same year
was established at Edinburgh, by Dr Carlyle and Professor Adam Ferguson, the
Poker Club, for stirring up popular sentiment in respect of the denial to
Scotland of the privilege of embodying a militia. For, when in 1757 an Act
was passed organising the English militia, it was resolved not to extend the
system to Scotland, on the plea that a people among whore had occurred two
insurrections within a period of thirty years might not safely be entrusted
with arms. In defence of the national claim, both Dr Carlyle and Professor
Ferguson had issued pamphlets; while, on entering Parliament, Mr Dempster
pledged himself to continue the agitation. As he remained silent, Mr
Carlyle, about the year 1768, reminded Lim of a promise which apparently be
had forgotten. To his remonstrance, Mr Dempster, in an undated letter,
replied in these words:—
"REV. Mr ALEXANDER CARLISLE,—I tell you, once
for all, if you come across us politicians with letters of a dozen years
old, and remind us of points to which we have pledged ourselves at that
distance of time, you will be a most dangerous man to correspond with.
However, since I have never once moved a question that I pledged myself to
move every year, I am not much surprised at your being a little uneasy at
the fate of that measure now that it has been moved. The history of the bill
is shortly this: Robinson of the Treasury undertook to prepare it for Lord
Mountstuart, [Afterwards Marquess of Bute.] its mover. A Secretary of the
Treasury is at all times busy; but we patriots alledge, and I hope you
courtiers know, that he is remarkably busy in Parliament time. Much
importunity it cost us to get it out of his fingers. A place of £500 a-year
for life might have been had with more ease and less solicitation; and for a
good reason, that he sometimes has a few of them to dispose of, but the
other was not in existence. Lord Mountstuart moved for the bill, and in a
very spirited manner. If there be a fair, honourable young man upon earth, I
believe he is one, so far as I can judge, from comparing the intercourse I
have had with him upon the subject and that which I had with others, about
the early period you allude to. He is going straitforward; they go round
about. He thinks the influence the Scotch have in his Majesty's councils a
favourable opportunity of doing service to Scotland they thought that it
might exert a jealousy against our country should any favourable disposition
be shown towards it. I offer this as a little apology for having forefeited
my life to you concerning moving for a militia every year. Indeed, I had not
been long in Parliament before I observed that to obtain a beneficial law, a
member must have the patience of a fisher, and he contentedly by the stream
till the water be muddy and the day overcast. Now, if the water be not muddy
enough I leave you to guess. Less, however, would have been insufficient to
have ensured our sport, and I am now in hopes we shall haul out 6000
militiamen at one throw of the line by a very inexperienced fisher."
The augury failed, since the Militia Acts were
not extended to Scotland till 1793, nine years after the Poker Club had
ceased to agitate or even exist. Mr Dempster concludes his communication by
a suggestion which shows that he had contemplated the extension of the franc
rise, long interior to that period of attack upon the close system, which
dates from the Irish Revolution. He proceeds:—
"When the Poker Club has effected its point as
to a militia, may I beg they will turn their attention to the representation
of Scotland, and urge its extension, so as to let the industrious farmers
and manufacturers share at least in a privilege now engrossed by the great
lords, the drunken laird, and the drunkener bailie."
Mr Dempster who had recognised the rising
statesmanship of the first Marquess of Bute, also discovered early in his
career the great capacity and political aptitude of Henry Dundas, afterwards
Viscount Melville. Respecting him, he, on the 9th June 1766, communicated
with Dr Carlyle in these terms:-
"Harry Dundas is a great acquisition as things
now stand. You may judge of his performances, of the extent of his interest,
and also of the high opinion entertained of his talents; and upon my word I
think it is well founded. I never knew him till the last trip, and he
appears to me to have an exceeding good capacity, and a very good heart."
When these words were written, Mr Dundas was
only in his twenty-fifth year. In the same letter Mr Dempster facetiously
proceeds:- "I should
like to see Alexander Carlisle, present minister of Inveresk, transported to
the Tron. You don't know him, but I think he would make a very proper
successor to poor Jardine. If you are not pre-engaged in favour of some
friend whom you prefer to him, I wish you would use your endeavour to bring
this point about. He likes society, and should be the very heart of
Edinburgh." Mr Dempster
concludes "Adieu, my
dear Carlisle. Please remember me to Adam Ferguson."
The vacancy in the Tron Church, Edinburgh, to
which Mr Dempster referred, was caused by the sudden death of the incumbent,
Dr John Jardine, which took place on the 30th May, during a sitting of the
General Assembly. Possessed of much vivacity and a brilliant humour, Dr
Jardine was a cherished associate of that literary coterie to which Dr
Carlyle belonged. Dr Jardine's death, which occurred iii his presence,
deeply affected him; and he has in his "Autobiography" detailed the
circumstances which attended it. The successor of Dr Jardine was Dr John
Drysdale, a warm upholder of the views of Principal Robertson, which his
position as principal clerk of the General Assemby enabled him to subserve.
On Dr Drysdale's death, which took place on the
16th June 1788, Dr Carlyle was induced, in the interests of the Moderate
party, to offer himself as a candidate for the clerkship. The election being
regarded as a trial of strength between the two ecclesiastical parties, Mr
Dalzel, professor of Greek at Edinburgh, was named by the other side. The
rivals made a keen canvass. Nearly a year before the day of election Dr
Carlyle had communicated with Mr Dempster in the hope that he would secure
election by a burgh as a member of the House. To his letter Mr Dempster, on
the 20th July 1788, replied thus:—
When I heard of your stepping forth as a
candidate for the honourable ecclesiastical office of clerk to the General
Assembly, I was mutch disposed to have given you all the opposition in my
power, as I did to the American War, the farming of the public revenue, and
the prosecution of our Eastern saviour, Mr Hastings and that from the
sincere affection and constant and unaltered respect I entertain for you. It
is now twenty years since I found my opposition to any measure—one of the
necessary accompanyments of its success. This is true to a ridiculous
degree. The approbation of the late peace and the Irish commercial
propositions, both failed without another reason being pretended to be
assigned for their miscarriage but that I had voted for them.
I shall do you the further mischief of bidding
Forfar elect rue a ruling elder, and witness your defeat. . . . I find the
doctrine of Faith much more acceptable and popular than that of "Works,"
under which description, perhaps, the good you have done to the Church may
be classed, and in that case you will not be chosen clerk to the General
Assembly. ... Do you remember a little good wine you, Principal Robertson,
and I drank out of pewter pots in Ross's Tavern one night? ...There was
something in that pewter that soldered friendship better than glass bottles.
Mine has held very fast ever since, and will, I hope, for ever.
Mr Dempster's apprehension as to the failure of
projects supported by himself proved true. At the General .Assembly of 1789
the forces of the two competitors were marshalled under powerful leaders.
Henry Dundas led on the part of Carlyle; and it was announced that he had
obtained three votes in excess of his opponent, whereupon he took his seat
at the clerk's table, and expressed his thanks for his election in a speech
in which he referred to his having long sought to abate the progress of
fanaticism. On a scrutiny it was found that he had not been chosen, a
majority of legal votes having been recorded for Mr Dalzel.
Professor Adam Ferguson was one of Carlyle's
most cherished friends. Two years younger, he survived Carlyle eleven years,
and was privileged to compose his epitaph. Writing of Professor Ferguson in
1813, Lord Cockburn remarks that he was "then in his ninetieth year, the
most monumental of living men. A fine countenance, long milk-white hair,
gray eyes, nearly sightless, and a bare, sleep-bullied throat, gave him the
appearance of an antique east of this world; while an unclouded intellect
and a strong spirit savoured powerfully of the next." He died in 1816.
Appointed in 1758 to the chair of natural philosophy in the University of
Edinburgh, Professor Ferguson exchanged that office in 1766 for the chair of
moral philosophy in the same institution. But the importance of securing to
professorial chairs the highest ability and scholarship, by providing ample
inducements, was not yet understood; and when, in 1773, Mr Ferguson was
offered the office of travelling companion to a nephew of Lord Chesterfield,
he readily accepted it. But his chair was kept open, the duties being for
two sessions discharged by his eminent colleague, Professor Dugald Stewart.
Returning to London in 1775, Professor Ferguson
addressed Dr Carlyle in a communication which proceeds thus:—
"BLACKHEATFH, 29th April 1775.
"My DEAR CARLYLE,—In answer to the two or three
letters which you have written to me, I can give you five or six which I had
written in my own mind to you before I had received any of yours. The first
was from Geneva, where, having had the advantage of lodging in Calvin's own
house, and having access to some of his most secret manuscripts. I thought
myself without vanity qualified to give you some light into the more
intricate recesses of our Church. My second was from Ferney, the seat of
that renowned and pious apostle, Voltaire, who saluted me with a compliment
on a gentleman of my family who had civilised the Russians. I owned this
relation, and at this and every successive visit encouraged every attempt at
conversation, even jokes against Moses, Adam, and Eve, and the rest of the
prophets, till I began to be considered as a person who, though true to my
own faith, had no ill humour to the freedom of fancy in others. As my own
compliment had come all the way from Russia, I wished to know how some of my
friends would fare, but I found the old man in a state of perfect
indifference to all authors except two sorts—viz., those who wrote
panegyrics, and those who wrote invectives on himself. There is a third kind
whose names he has been used to repeat fifty or sixty years without knowing
anything of them, such as Locke, Layle, Newton, &c.—I forget his competitors
for fame—of whom he is always either silent or speaks slightly. The fact is,
that he reads little or none; his mind exists by reminiscence, and by doing
over and over and over whit it has been used to do —dictate tales,
dissertations, and tragedies, in the latter with all his elegance, tho' not
with his former force. His conversation is among the pleasantest I have met
with; he lets you forget the superiority which the public opinion gives him,
which is indeed greater than what we conceive in this island. But he is like
to make me forget all the rest of my letters. The third was from the face of
a snowy mountain in Savoye, higher than all the mountains of Scotland piled
upon one another, and containing more eternal ice in its recesses than is to
be found in all Scotland in the hardest winter. The bottom of this ice is
continually melting in the valleys, like the bottom of a roll of butter
placed on end in a frying pan. It is perpetually creeping down from the
mountain, where fresh snows are continually falling. Masses come down from
the mountains sometimes, and shake all the rocks with a force that nothing
but an earthquake can imitate, and drive the air out of the narrow valleys
with the force of a hurricane that roots up trees on the opposite hills. I
wrote you this letter in the full belief that you are a great natural
philosopher, and disposed to believe every word I say. My fourth letter was
written from the innermost parts of Switzerland on a Sunday afternoon, where
I saw the Militia exercise. They have uniform clothes and accoutrements, all
at their own expense, which is not a great hardship, for it is their only
public burden. They appear to me to be a very effective military
establishment; and as they were the only body of men I ever saw under arms
on the true principle for which arms should be carried, I felt much secret
emotion, and could have shed tears. But, to conclude, my fifth and last
letter was from the neighbourhood of this place, where everything from a
pair of snuffers to the Venus of Medicis, and the great Diana of the
Ephesians is better provided than anywhere else; where every one is busy
enjoying, and no one thinks whence it came nor how it is to be kept. I
thought to have finished all my letters here; but as a frank will carry
another sheet, I shall take room at least to sign my name. As I have already
written you five letters, and this new sheet may pass for another, you will
please to observe that you are at least four letters in my debt. I am much
obliged to you for your goodness to my wife and my bairns. If I live to
return to them, we shall not part so easily again. You may believe I was
much surprised at the attempt of the Town Council to shut the door against
me; but am obliged to them for opening it again. I may be a great loser; but
the end for which I am persecuted cannot be gained, while I have it in my
option to return. I have been much obliged to the general voice that was
raised in my favour, as well as to the ardent zeal of particular friends.
Ilay Campbell has given me proofs of friendship which I can never forget.
Pulteney has behaved to me in everything as he would have done at the
beginning of the Poker Club. I have always been an advocate for mankind, and
am a more determined one than ever; the fools and knaves are no more than
necessary to give others something to do. I saw John Home in town yesterday
morning; he goes on as usual. Macpherson is listening to the reports of his
history. I do not live among readers, and am really ignorant of the general
verdict. I have been living here above three weeks. A charming villa in a
magnificent scene; sod quis me sistcct gqelidis in naontibus Pentland; and
this I do not say on account of the hot weather, tho' it has been for three
days the greatest I ever saw in this country.
"Remember my blessing to Mrs Carlyle and your
young ones, of whose thriving state I am happy to hear. Tell Edgar when you
see him that I have lately had a letter from Clerk, and shall write to
him—meaning Edgar—soon.—I am, dear Carlyle, yours affectionately, "ADAM
FERGUSON." Through the
influence of Mr Dundas, Professor Ferguson was appointed secretary to the
commissioners who were sent to America early in 1778 to negotiate an
arrangement with the revolted colonies. The unsatisfactory result of that
mission did not lead him to apprehend that the British authority would be
permanently overthrown. The commissioners returned, in December 1778, and in
a letter dated London, 9th February 17 79, the secretary communicated with
Dr Carlyle in these words:-
"It is the fashion to say we have lost America;
so I expect to hear that we have lost Scotland, but in that case I hope to
be reckoned, not among the losers, but the lost. I am in great hope nothing
will be lost, not even the continent of North America. We have 1200 miles of
territory, occupied by about 300,000 people, of which there are about
150,000, with Johnny Witherspoon [Dr John Witherspoon, after ministering at
Leith and latterly at Paisley, accepted in 1768 the office of Principal of
Princeton College, New Jersey. When the dispute arose with Great Britain, he
was elected one of the delegates to the Convention. He was afterwards a
member of Congress. When minister of Paisley, he was a formidable opponent
of Principal Robertson in the General Assembly.] at their head, against
us—and the rest for us. I am not sure that if proper measures were taken,
but we should reduce Johnny Witherspoon to the small support of Franklin,
Adams, and two or three more of the most abandoned villains in the world,
but I tremble at the thought of their cunning and determination opposed to
us." Among the more
remarkable of Dr Carlyle's correspondents was the notable John Wilkes, whose
acquaintance he had formed when they studied together at the University of
Leyden. In his "Autobiography" he refers to his acquaintance with Wilkes in
these terms:— "When we
came to John Wilkes, whose ugly countenance in early youth was very
striking, I asked (the introducer, Mr John Gregory) who he was. His answer
was that he was the son of a London distiller or brewer, who wanted to be a
fine gentleman and man of taste, which he could never be, for God and nature
had been against him. I came to know Wilkes very well afterwards, and I
found him to be a sprightly entertaining fellow—too much so for his years,
as he was but eighteen, for even then he showed something of daring
profligacy, for which he was afterwards notorious."
Owing to his social qualities
Wilkes secured the friendship of persons who reprehended his principles.
Andrew Baxter, who met him at Utrecht, dedicated to him his "Appendix to the
First Part of the Inquiry into the Nature of the Human Soul," and Dr Carlyle
became his correspondent. Writing to Carlyle from Bath on the 26th May 1731,
Professor Ferguson remarks:—
"Excuse my intimacy with Johny Wilkes. If you
should be questioned about your correspondence with him, remember not that
which both into the mouth defileth, but that which cometh out, so keep a
good tounge in your own head and you need not care who writes to you."
With Dr John Douglas, latterly Bishop of
Salisbury, Dr Carlyle maintained a close intimacy. Son of a small trader at
Pittenweem, in Fife, he attained a prominent place both in letters and in
the Church. By Dr Carlyle we are informed that he became acquainted with Dr
Douglas during his visit to London in 1758. A letter which in 1771, he
received from the Bishop supplies some important particulars as to the
mercantile value of works by contemporary writers. Dr Carlyle proceeds:-
"The Dr [Robertson] seems to be the only
historian from Scotland who can treat successfully with our booksellers.
Poor Dr Henry, I believe, met with little or no encouragement from them, and
Sir John Dalrymple, I understand, was offered £750 for his "Memoirs," but,
as he demanded £1500, the work is now published on his own account. I think
there were 500 copies of it sent up from Edinburgh, and in three or four
days (for so long only has it been published), Cadell tells me they are
almost all sold. I read treat part of it in print several months ago, but
though perhaps I have contributed towards the swelling of his table of
errata, his eagerness to publish has brought it out with imperfections that
nobody could correct. I mean he would not wait for the materials promised
from the Secretary's office at Versailles; and he has not, it seems, been
permitted by the fathers of the Scotch College to cite King James's Papers
for many of the anecdotes which he has inserted in his book, and which,
being very unfavourable to the Whigs of the last century, will probably
expose hint to the censures of those of the present time. I find it very
fashionable in Edinburgh to run down Sir John's performance by more than one
letter I have lately seen. But I own I think there is great merit in some
parts of the work, even as to the composition, though far from being free
from affectation and singularity. As to the matter of it, surely there are
many particulars which, if not absolutely new, were not generally known
before; and, upon the whole, if it comes to a second edition, and he will
take pains and regulate his veracity by the advice of his friends, it will
be a very valuable morsel of history."
Early in 1773 Dr Joseph M'Cormick, Carlyle's
clerical neighbour at Prestonpans, had ready for the press "The State Papers
and Letters" of his granduncle, Principal Carstares. That the work might be
introduced to the publishing trade in a manner advantageous to the editor,
Carlyle invited Dr Douglas's interposition. In his reply, dated 20th March
1773, Dr Douglas writes thus:—
"I gave them [Messrs Strahan and Cadell] my own
opinion, that as Principal Carstares was intrusted with the most
confidential affairs in the Scotch Department during the reign of King
William, it was natural to suppose his Papers would throw much light on the
history of that period, and that the public would have an eagerness to
peruse the intended publication. I found them very much inclined to treat
about the matter, but was told that they would first choose to have the MS.
transmitted to London ; and they desired me to say that if the Doctor would
send it up to me, they would, if it answered their expectations, make
proposals to which they hoped he would agree. . . . I told Strahan and
Cadell that if a volume of a genuine cast was not worth £300, it was worth
nothing and, though I have no authority from them to make any offer, yet I
should guess, from the whole of the conversation, that they may be brought
to give this suns." Dr
M`Cormick's work was accepted, and in 1774 appeared in a quarto volume.
In a letter of the 20th March, Dr Douglas refers
to various literary topics. He writes:—
"The success of Mr Home's play' has indeed been
very great, but one would hardly suppose that they have forgot their
animosity against Scotland who reads the loads of abuse, thrown every day
for some time past, on the natives of this part of the island on account of
Sir John Dalrymple's book, which has been the only topic of conversation
ever since it appeared. The first edition of one thousand was sold off in a
few days, and a second edition, which is already published, will, I make no
doubt, be also soon disposed of."
In the same letter James Macpherson's recently
issued translation of Homer is noticed in these terns :-
"I must do that justice to the public in
general, to say that I do not observe there is any such prejudice against Mr
Macpherson as he and some of his friends apprehended there would be on this
occasion. I have met with some good judges who commend the translation much,
but I have scarcely looked into it myself. Do you know that Macpherson is to
turn historian? He has undertaken to write the History of England from the
Revolution to the death of Queen Anne. I have not the least doubt he will
succeed very well in this work of literature, and he has got some very
valuable materials. Mr David Hume will not be sorry to have so able a
continuator of his History."
Macpherson's translation of the Iliad did not
prove a success. In attempting to render Homer's verse into prose after the
manner of Ossian, he failed to grasp the meaning, and represent the spirit
of the elder bard. He was twitted on his failure by Dr Johnson, who, in his
celebrated letter to him, declared that his abilities since the appearance
of his Homer had ceased to be "formidable." For his "History of Great
Britain" he received £3000. Though condemned by Charles Fox, the work
obtained high praise, and on account of its important revelations will
continue to be read.
Shortly after the publication by Professor Adam Ferguson of his "History of
the Roman Republic," Dr Douglas, on the 2nd November 1783, communicated with
Dr Carlyle in these words:-
"I always dreaded the want of a rapid sale for
Dr Ferguson's history, owing to the subject being destitute of novelty, and
to his not having followed Mr Gibbon's plan of making the narrative only a
retreat for attacking the religion of his country. Everybody who has read
his book speaks well of it.
Dr Douglas, now Bishop of Carlisle and Dean of
Windsor, was requested by Principal Robertson to interest himself with the
booksellers on behalf of his friend Dr Somerville of Jedburgh, whose
"History of Political Transactions " was now ready for the Dress. Writing to
Dr Carlyle from Windsor Castle on the 4th April 1791, Dr Douglas proceeds "I
had a letter from Dr Robertson about Dr Somerville, but I was so ill at that
time that I could not undertake to peruse any part of his MS. I understand,
however, that he has sold his work to Cadell for £500, which is a great
price." Dr Somerville's
work appeared in 1792 in a quarto volume.
From the Carlyle correspondence, supplemented by
various documents which form a portion of the Lairig MSS. in the University
of Edinburgh, we become conversant with the personal history of the
ingenious but unfortunate John Logan. Ordained minister of the second charge
of South Leith in 1773, in his twenty-fifth year, he zealously applied
himself to the duties of the pastoral office. His discourses, sound in
doctrine, were pervaded by an earnest tone, and composed in a strain at once
forcible and ornate. While yet under thirty, he was considered the most
effective preacher in the Edinburgh literary circle, which included such
eminent names as Dr Robert Walker, Dr John Erskine, Dr Hugh Blair, and
Principal Robertson. But Mr Logan enjoyed celebrity
not more as a pulpit orator than as a Ulan of
superior culture. In 1779 he became a candidate for the chair of Moral
Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh, but in his canvass he began to
surprise his friends by denouncing his opponents in irreverent and
intemperate speeches. From the minister of Inveresk, to whom lie had with
strong invectives execrated Principal Robertson, he received a letter, dated
21st March 1779, in which occur these words:—
You lately gave me a new view into your
character which I am willing to ascribe to a temporary intoxication or
phrenzy, as you said yourself; provided I never see any more of it. Don't
suffer yourself to be heated in your clubs of rash and undiscerning young
men, against a person who stands justly very high in the republic of
letters. And pray don't, in apprehension of imaginary injuries, or even the
feeling of real ones, suffer your candour to be so far extinguished as to
turn the weaknesses and defects of a fellow-man into the atrocious vices of
a devil." While
uttering intemperate speeches towards those from whom he had experienced
real or fancied wrong, Logan warmly cherished all who had extended to him an
active friendship. Among his attached friends were Professor Ferguson and Dr
Hugh Blair, both of whom, amidst his wayward speeches, continued to regard
him with much affection. Reciproeating their kindness, he evinced his
gratitude by a timely service. When Dr Ferguson had issued his "History of
the Roman Republic," and Dr Blair was about to publish his "Lectures on
Rhetoric," the rancorous Dr Gilbert Stuart held office as editor of the
"English Review." In the interests of his two friends Mr Logan addressed a
letter to Dr Stuart, which, though withheld at their request, strongly
indicates the benevolence of his nature. The letter, which was found among
Logan's papers, is in these terms:—
"LEITH, March 8, 1783.
"DEAR Sir,—The new Review published by Mr Murray
bath not reached this place, so that it bath excited without gratifying our
curiosity. I wish it success, as to every undertaking that tends to the
progress and improvement of literature. This is the season when (if you will
indulge me in a pun) the leaf begins to appear. Dr Ferguson's Roman history
bath been advertised. The Pomp and glitter, the point and antithesis, and
all the tawdry and meretricious ornaments which mark and disgrace some
popular historians, he avoids and disdains. He writes history with the
simplicity and dignity of an old Ronan. The public, however, will discover
that his manly ease of writing is as different from the colloquial cant of
such a vulgar scribbler as Henry, [Dr Robert Henry, the eminent author of
the History of England. As one of the ministers of Edinburgh, he had given
offence to Dr Gilbert Stuart in some of his several attempts at preferment,
and was in consequence pursued by him with a malignant pertinacity which is
without parallel in literary history. Logan's expressed approval of Dr
Stuart's persecution of Dr Henry is much to be deplored.] as the robe of a
rustic dictator is from the barb of an ordinary ploughman. Dr Blair's
'Lectures' are also to be published sometime in spring. I need not tell you
that I am interested in the fate and fame of aII his works. He hath, I
confess, one deplorable fault. From inveterate and incurable habits he is
too much connected with a literary impostor, whom you have completely
stripped of his borrowed plumes, but at his time of life (the great
climacteric) it is hardly worth while to change one's acquaintance. In every
other respect he is very deservedly a favourite of the public. Beside his
literary merit, he bath borne his faculties so meekly in every situation
that lie is entitled to favour as well as candour. He his never with
pedantic authority opposed the cause of other authors, but on the contrary
favoured almost every literary attempt; he has never studied to push himself
immaturely into the notice of the world, but waited the call of the public
for all Isis productions. And now when lie retires from the republic of
letters to the vale of ease, I cannot help wishing success to Fingal in the
last of his efforts. In any work where you are concerned, if you happen to
be employed by greater objects, I shall very gladly write any short article
that you may have occasion for with regard to him. Your influence to give Dr
Blair his Iast passport to the public will be most agreeable to your
admirers, and will be a particular favour (lone to me. It will still enhance
the obligation if you will write me such a letter as I can. show to him to
quiet his fears. Wishing success to your literary undertakings, I am ever,
dear sir, your faithful humble servant,
" J. LOGAN."
In the spring of 1781 Mr Logan proceeded to
London, intent on offering to the booksellers for publication a volume of
poems. From London, in a letter dated 2nd April, lie communicated with Dr
Carlyle in these terns:-
"DEAR SIR,—After a very fatiguing journey I
arrived at London on Saturday night. I dined at Mr Strahan's two days after.
Mr Strahan is not only obliging, but partial to his countrymen. I find that
lie will not be adverse to publish the 'Poems.' I told him that in this
affair I would be directed by persons of sense and taste, and that when I
had them transcribed in a fair hand (as mine is not copperplate) I would
show them to some friends. The best judges of poetry and the patrons of
poets here are the women. Lady Frances Scott 1 was, I think, well pleased
with some poems of mine, that she saw. If you could use the freedom to
desire her to show the manuscript that I shall send her to any of her
acquaintances remarkable for their taste, and show some patronage to a
wandering minstrel, you would do me a very great favour. You may write to
her that I am in great habits with Dr Smitlt. If I can pay the expenses of
my jaunt by this publication, I shall be very well pleased. I have been two
or three times at the playhouse.—Dear sir, yours faithfully and
affectionately, "J Logan."
"P.S.—I beg that you will not let any person
know my intention of publishing poems, as I do not wish anybody in Scotland
to be acquainted with it till I advertise in the newspapers."
In an undated letter to Dr Carlyle, written from
Richmond a few days later, Mr Logan has these words: "Thomson the poet used
to pass a great part of the summer in this neighbourhood as long as Lord
Chancellor Talbot was alive, who had a country seat within a quarter of a
mile of Norbridge, now possessed by the Marchioness of Rockingham. I have
never seen his ghost, but have often felt his gentle spirit in the
nightingale's voice."
In a, letter dated 18th May, Mr Logan requested Dr Carlyle to procure
further supply for his pulpit at South Leith, in order that his London visit
might be prolonged; he remarks that the tragedy of "Douglas" was next day to
be acted "for the benefit of Mr Crawford, who performed the part of
Douglas." To Dr Carlyle he writes on the 24th May:-
"The east wind has blown here with a vengeance
these three weeks, and has given me a sore throat and hoarseness. . . . I am
in the press just now, and what between the printer's devil, and the demon
of the east, I am in a most pitiable plight.. . . I gave my poems early to
those gentry, but never could get them from their hands. But as they did not
'offer me such a price as I expected, I resolved to publish them at my own
expense. [The volume, a thin duodecimo, appeared in 1781, under the title,
"Poems by the Rev. Mr Logan, one of the ministers of Leith." London: Printed
for T. Cadell in the Strand. Price 2s. 6d. A. second edition was called for
during the year of publication.] I saw Douglas' acted lately. Mrs Larry is
divine; [Mrs Barry exerted her powers in impersonating Lady Randolph so
successfully, that in his tragedy of Alonzo Mr Home who had, as he relates,
composed the part of Ormisinda for her special acting, remarked—"She so much
exalted the character that she exceeded all imagination, and reached the
summit of perfection."—"Home's Life and Works." Edin., 1822.] her husband is
a fool. The audience were all in tears. A young lady, very handsome, just
beside inc had very nearly cried me out of my senses, but Iuckily I was
obliged to go away at the end of the tragedy."
In one of his letters, addressed to Dr Carlyle
from London, Logan writes thus:—
"There are many reasons for a man taking a jaunt
to London when he can afford it. The chief motive that impelled me was to
get quit of some impressions arising from an incident in private life (which
people conjecture but do not know), which had very nearly unhinged my mind
altogether." When some
time in June Logan returned to Leith, lie found that those formerly attached
to his ministry were unwilling that he should resume the pastoral duties;
for it was generally believed that, while he had formerly committed an
indiscretion unbecoming his office, he had become amenable to another charge
of a similar character. Retirement from the ministry became imperative, but
his people, who deplored his waywardness, were willing that there should be
settled upon him a portion of his stipend to secure him against actual want.
Had the means of estimating the condition of
Logan's mind at this period and subsequently not been derivable from his
letters, his memory would have been open to reproach. Happily for his fame,
evidence is afforded, in missives which lie despatched to Dr Carlyle and
other friends, that his moral vision was, in consequence of cerebral
disease, altogether obscured. Formerly zealous in the cause of liberty he
became the advocate of arbitrary power. On the 12th April 1786 he wrote to
Dr Carlyle in these words:—
"I now wish for absolute government in these
kingdoms. We have had near a hundred years of liberty, which is more than
Greece or Rome experienced, and there is neither public nor private virtue
in the country sufficient to sustain a free government."
Warmly attached to the Church of Scotland, he
sought admission into the English establishment. On the 27th September 1787,
in a letter to Dr Carlyle, he requests that he would recommend him for
preferment to his friend, Bishop Douglas. "You know," he writes, "that you
might expatiate at large on such a subject, about the benefit the Church
would receive from having a man of learning and abilities among then, who
could defend them against these heretical dos, the dissenters." Though a
firm believer in the Christian verities, and an eloquent expounder of the
Gospel system, he accompanied his application for admission into the
Anglican Church by expressions of coarse infidelity. In a future letter to
Dr Carlyle he exhibits a degree of vanity which lunacy only would explain.
The necessity of writing for daily subsistence, he remarked, had kept him
"from studies of more general and permanent importance," which, he added,
"is a great loss to the world, especially to posterity." And only a few
weeks before these words were written lie had, in August 1787, sold to Dr
Rutherford, the master of an academy at Uxbridge, his "View of Ancient
history," which, on a promised payment of £150, he allowed Rutherford to
assume as his own composition. Indeed, so fully had he determined that
Rutherford should be recognised as the actual author, that, writing to Dr
Carlyle on the 20th August, he describes him as a clergyman from Scotland,
who "is now publishing 'A View of Ancient History' by subscription;" then
extolling Carlyle's benevolence, he desires him to interest the family of
Buccleuch on the writer's behalf. "The work," he adds, "will be the best on
the subject." In a
letter to Dr Carlyle in the autumn of 1787, Logan expresses himself as
possessing from his literary earnings £300 a-year. This estimate of his
resources was wholly delusive, for lie only derived a small and precarious
income by writing to the "English Review" and some other serials. The
cerebral weakness under which he laboured was followed by a general
debility. Frequently confined to his sick chamber, he was affectionately
attended by his attached friend and fellow-countryman, Dr Donald Grant,
minister of the Presbyterian Chapel in Fitzroy Square. To Dr Carlyle, on the
4th December 1788, Dr Grant wrote: "Your good friend is in the last stage of
consumption, and is incapable of writing." In his next letter Dr Grant
announces his death. Dated the 6th January 1788, the letter proceeds:—
"Your poor friend is now freed from all his
troubles. He died on Sunday, 28th December, and was decently and genteelly
buried under my direction on Friday, 2nd January. . . . The only money he
has left is £200 3 per cent. consols; I do not yet know the extent of his
debts, but I fancy he does not owe much"
Dr Grant acids that lie and the Rev. Thomas
Robertson, minister of Dalmeny, were named as the executors.
In reference to Logan's affairs, including the
disposal of his MSS., a correspondence between Dr Grant and Dr Carlyle was
conducted at intervals during a period of about fifteen years. The reverend
pretender at Uxbridge School published, as his own, Logan's "View of Ancient
History," in two octavo volumes; lie also paid the bill for £150, which he
had granted for the transference of the authorship. Under the care of Dr
Blair and Mr Robertson of Dalmeny and the celebrated. Henry Mackenzie, were
published, in 1790 and 1791, two volumes of Mr Logan's "Sermons." His
lectures on Roman History, delivered. at Edinburgh, were found in a state
too fragmentary for publication.
Dr Carlyle was informed by Dr Grant that lie had
ascertained, from an examination of Logan's MSS., that in the small volume
which he published in 1770, under the title of "Poems by Michael Bruce," lie
had himself composed "Damon, Menaleas, and Meliboeus: an Eclogue," "Pastoral
Song, to the tune of the `Yellow-hair'd Laddie,'" "Ossian's Hymn to the
Sun," "Ode to a Fountain," two Danish odes, "Chorus of Anacreontic, to a
Wasp," "The Fate of Levina," being 278 lines in the poem of "Lochleven," the
"Ode to Paoli," and the "Ode to the Cuckoo." In connection with this last,
Dr Grant discovered among his friend's HISS. the following supplementary
verse hitherto unprinted:-
Alas, sweet bird! not so my fate,
Dark scowling skies I see;
Fast gathering round and fraught with woe,
And wintry years to me.
It is to be regretted that Dr Grant has not
presented the evidence on which he discriminated between the compositions of
the two poets. That the Ode to the Cuckoo, slightly altered by Logan, was
the composition of Bruce has been proved incontestably. And with respect to
the real authorship of the ten paraphrases -which the General Assembly
received from Logan, and added to their collection, it appears nearly
certain that these were mainly, if not wholly, the work of Bruce.
Irrespective of the strong presumptive evidence adduced on behalf of the
Kinross-shire poet by his two latest editors, we have, from a perusal of
Logan's missives, become wholly satisfied that lie was incapable of morally
discerning as to the real meaning of authorship. As he had introduced verses
of his own into the posthumous issue of Bruce's poems in 1770, willing that
the deceased bard might share his laurels, so we have seen that seventeen
years later he handed over to another his "View of Ancient History," a work
sufficient to obtain for him literary distinction. [It is to be deplored
that in absence of the information which is supplied by his MISS., the two
latest editors of Michael Bruce, Dr Mackelvie and Mr Grosart, should have
visited Logan with so much hostile criticism. Through active cerebral
disease Logan was led into error, but lie did not offend wantonly or with
intent.] Dr Donald Grant, Loan's attached friend and executor, died on the
24th April 1800, bequeathing to the University of Edinburgh for exhibitions
or bursaries a sum which now yields about £100 per annum.
Dr Joseph M'Cormick, minister of Prestonpans and
editor of the Carstares State Papers, was in 1782 appointed Principal of the
United College of St Andrews. About a year subsequent to his entering on the
duties of his new office, Dr M`Cormick communicated with Dr Carlyle in these
terns:— "ST ANDREWS,
3rd, February 1783. I
am just now throng with a rectorial oration when I demit that magnificent
office on the first Monday of March. I think it will be tolerably decent
after Hunter and George Hill have lick'd it up a little, and corrected
grammatical slips to which I am very liable. I could have wished Mrs Carlyle
and you had been here in time enough to see me in my purple and crimson
robes . it would have impressed your minds with a suitable sense, and
repressed those freedoms which I see you are still disposed to use towards
your quondam brother parson."
Though not lacking in scholastic power, Dr
M`Cormick was chiefly remarkable for his humorous sayings, but Dr Carlyle
has described him as " rather a merry-andrew than a wit." Dr George Hill of
St Andrews, then Professor of Greek, was his nephew, and IDr John Hunter,
the other reviser of his "rectorial oration," was then and long afterwards
leader at the college table of the section adverse to those, who
acknowledged Dr Hill as their chief. A good-natured politician, Principal
M'Cormick consulted the leaders of both sections, less for the correction of
his "grammatical slips" than in order to a clue enjoyment of academic
tranquillity. To him, in the spring of 1790, Dr Carlyle applied for a
guardian to a young man of fortune, and in his reply, dated the 30th March,
the Principal recommended to him as eminently suitable, "Mr James Brown,
teacher of mathematics in the University," whom he describes as "a man of
great learning and of a firm and vigorous mind, blended with great patience
and good temper:" he adds, "he is in a few weeks to be ordained minister of
Dunino." To this parochial cure, in the gift of the United College, Mr Brown
was admitted on the 13th May. We shall refer to him again.
With Dr M'Cormick's nephew, Dr George Hill, the
minister of Inveresk had cherished a close intimacy. Under the leadership of
Principal Robertson, they were both prominent debaters on the Moderate side,
while on Dr Robertson's death in June 1793 Dr Hill became leader of the
party. In this capacity Dr Carlyle informed him that he had ventured to
remonstrate with Henry Dundas, then Hoene Secretary, on his dispensing the
patronage of the Crown in favour of persons who cherished other than
"Moderate" opinions. In acknowledging, on the 20th April 1793, Dr Carlyle's
communication, Dr Hill commended his diligence and urged a continuance of
his diplomacy:-- "I
am," he writes, "exceedingly happy that you have given the Secretary your
ideas. . . . If the scheme of equalising court favour goes on, the Moderate
interest will soon vanish from the face of the earth. . . . by all means
keep in the way of writing to Mr D[undas] as long as you have his ear. It
will keel) him out of other people's hands."
In a further communication, Dr Carlyle suggested
to the Home Secretary that the Scottish clergy, not being represented, as
was the English Church, should, in virtue of their livings, be admitted to
the franchise. Forwarding to Dr Hill a copy of his letter, lie received the
following answer:— "ST
ANDREWS, 3rd December 1793.
"I am very much obliged to you for taking the
trouble of sending me a copy of your most interesting letter to Mr Dundas. I
read it with much delight, and with the most entire and cordial approbation;
and I shall lay it up in my safest repository, not without hope that I may
live to see the day when it may be brought forth to your immortal honour.
The ideas stated in it are of such magnitude, and are truths so luminous
that I think they are not unlikely to lay hold of the magnanimous mind of Mr
Dundas. I know that he thinks the representation ought to be improved in
order to adapt it to the present state of the country; and I think it is
possible, even without a convulsion, that when the commotions of the day are
settled, and Europe has leisure to profit by all the lessons, both to rulers
and subjects, which the French Revolution administers, Mr Pitt and he, if
they retain their influence both with the King and people, may digest and
bring forward some great comprehensive scheme, containing in its principles
an antidote against the return of French democratical madness. Such a scheme
will not be complete, if it does not embrace the clergy by giving to some
portion of our order, or to the delegates of the whole body in every
country, a right of voting."
A glimpse at college politics turns up in
connection with Mr James Brown, minister at Dunino. In a letter addressed to
Dr Carlyle, on the 12th April 1796, Dr Hill has the following:—
"I am not up to your postscript about Brown. We
know nothing of the particulars of his canvass; we hear, in general, that he
has a food chance. But being all of us considered as hostile to him we
receive no communication. If Brown goes, Hunter's son, I believe, will get
Dunino" Brown was now
applying for the Professorship of Natural Philosophy in the University of
Glasgow, a candidature in which he was successful. [Owing to a nervous
disorder, Dr James Brown was, after the trial of a single session, unable to
conduct his professorial duties. He died in November 1838. His
conversational powers were of a very high order.] In obtaining his
appointment, he was indebted chiefly to the vigorous recommendation of Dr
John Hunter, and it was not without a sneer that Dr Hill predicted that, in
the event of his success, Dr Hunter's son would obtain the cure at Dunino.
The augury proved correct. On brown's preferment to Glasgow, Dr Hunter's
son, James, was presented to the church living which he had vacated; he was
afterwards, under the same patronage, elected Professor of Logic in the
United College. For nearly thirty years the professorial chairs at St
Andrews, in the gift of the College, were filled by nominees of the one or
other of the two rival parties to whom allusion has been made.
On the 17th June 1799 Dr M'Cormick died, and in
his office of Principal of the United College was succeeded by Dr James
Playfair, minister of Meigle. Without any special reputation as a preacher,
or as a debater in ecclesiastical courts, Dr Playfair was known as a
scientific inquirer, also as a geographical student. Respecting him, Dr Hugh
Blair on the 2nd October 1785 had communicated with Dr Carlyle in connection
with the Moderatorship of the General Assembly. In this letter, after
referring to the unfitness of Dr Somerville and the declinature of Mr
Greenfield, Dr Blair proceeds:—
"Mr Playfair is the only other person whom I
have heard named. I believe him to be a very good man; if he be sufficiently
known in the Church, and if we be sure of his political principles. He was
once, I am told, on the other side, and was made historiographer to the
Prince of Wales. At the same time I am persuaded that whomsoever you and I
and a few other friends adopt, we have strength in the Church to carry him
through." At this time
Dr Playfair's nomination was departed from, but his accession to University
honours and the influence which his new position commanded, again invited
the attention of Moderate leaders. Dr Hill proposed that Dr P]ayfair should
be placed in the chair of the Assembly, and by the members of his party he
was authorised to convey their approval. Of the issue Dr hill informed Dr
Carlyle in the following letter:—
"ST ANDREWS, 2nd December 1800.
"I have met with much kind attention from all my
friends from none more than from Dr Mayfair, who discovers a very sound
understanding in himself, and is really, I believe, a worthy, well
affectioned man. I read your question to him. But he had made a kind of
bargain with me many months ago that we should allow him next year free to
finish his great geographical work, after which he should be at our
command." When the
limit was passed, for which he required dispensation, Dr Playfair was again
approached by his university colleague, who met with an answer evasive as
before. This was embarrassing, since it was fully expected that Dr Playfair
would, by occupying the moderator's chair of the General Assembly of 1802,
permanently unite himself with the Moderate party. By Dr Playfair the
contingency was quite understood, and he sought to avoid indebtedness to
those with whom he might be unable permanently to co-operate. As to the
excuse relating to his "geography," the first of six quarto volumes did not
appear till seven years later. To Dr Carlyle, writing on the 9th February
1802, Dr Hill complained that Dr Playfair had disappointed him, but
expressed his gratification that the office was accepted by Dr Finlayson,
who, he added, "is compleatly one of ourselves." Two years later Principals
Hill and Playfair fell into hot conflict. Commencing in a dispute as to
whether the brother-in-law of one professor, or the near relation of
another, should be appointed to the chair of natural science, the strife was
severe and even fierce. After occupying the attention of the ecclesiastical
courts till the leading combatants were all but exhausted, they parted, as
ancient gladiators met by cordially shaking hands.
Though more of a politician than beseemed a
clergyman or the President of a Theological College, Dr George Hill
possessed a high literary culture. By Professor Dugald Stewart he was
requested to prepare an estimate of Principal Robertson as an ecclesiastical
leader; and the narrative which he supplied was, with a few omissions,
included by the Professor in the Principal's memoirs. But the rejection of a
portion of what he had written was distasteful to hire; consequently, his
entire statement was reproduced in the appendix. On this subject lie
communicated with Dr Carlyle in these terns:-
"There is a good deal of excellent literary
criticism in Mr Stewart's Life of Dr Robertson. But I do not like it as a
life. It does not present to you the man, his friends, his habits, and his
character. I wish you had corrected in the MS. the errors you mention as to
the beginning of his ecclesiastical life. I understood that part was
submitted to you. I have a little reason to complain of my MS. being
altered, as Mr Stewart says, in some places. This was done without any
communication with me, yet the narrative is published with inverted commas
as mine. I do not know the extent of the alterations; they may be merely
verbal. But the acknowledgment that this MS. has been altered takes from me
responsibility as to its contents."
In a footnote to Dr Robertson's memoir, Mr
Stewart commends Dr Hill for his "talents and eloquence;" and the suppressed
portions which are produced in the appendix simply refer to the writer's own
views of ecclesiastical polity.
Sedulously concerned about his literary
reputation, Dr Blair did not excel as a letter writer. Communicating with Dr
Carlyle from London on the 22nd April 1783, lie adds to the date, by way of
evoking humour or exciting commiseration—"17th day of the gout." One of his
letters to the minister of Inveresk conveys a further insight into the
ecclesiastical habits of the period. John, third Earl of Glasgow, held
office as Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly from 1764 to 1772.
His speeches were gracefully composed, but did not owe their adornment to
his lordship's literary skill. This, we learn from the following note,
addressed by Dr Blair to Dr Carlyle:—
EDINBURGH, May 12, 1768.
I had a letter from Lord Glasgow last post, in
which, among other things, he tells rue he is to be in town on Tuesday the
17th, and begs me to sup with him then, in order to concert something proper
for the opening of the Assembly. I have always been in use to make my Lord's
speeches for him; and I must this year devolve that office upon you. You
know how good and worthy, and, at the same time, indolent and helpless a man
he is about such matters, and I am sure you will not grudge to take this
trouble for him. As I am to set out for London on that very clay, I have
wrote to him that you are the fittest person for hire, and that I would
desire you to come to town that day, and to call for him in the evening to
receive any of his commands relating to the Assembly."
Dr Blair died on the 27th December 1800. In
reference to him Dr Hill communicated with Dr Carlyle in these terms:-
"St ANDREWS, January 29, 1801.
"My situation precluded rue from enjoying much
of Dr Blair's society. But I shall feel a very great blank. I had the
greatest delight in going to him, and have received for a long course of
years much kindness, and many paternal counsels from him. Few men have
enjoyed so happy a mixture as he, of splendid fame and of affectionate
esteem, unpoisoned by envy or any unkindly sentiment, from as large a circle
of friends. The mixture was very much owing to that peculiar character of
his, which you describe so admirably."
Dr Carlyle's estimate of Dr Blair communicated
to Dr Hill is not forthcoming, but it was, doubtless, not inconsistent with
the following narrative which we glean from his autobiography:—
"Blair was timid and unambitious, and withheld
himself from public business of every kind, and seemed to have no wish but
to be admired as a preacher, particularly by the ladies. His con versation
was so infantine that many people thought it impossible, at first sight, he
could be a man of sense or genius. lie was as eager about a new paper to his
wife's drawing-room, or his own new wig, as about a new tragedy or a new
epic poem. Not long before his death I called upon him, when I found him
restless and fidgety. 'What is the matter with you to-day,' says I; `my good
friend, are you well l' 'Oh yes,' says he, `but I must dress myself, for the
Duchess of Leinster has ordered her granddaughters not to leave Scotland
without seeing me.' 'Go and dress yourself, doctor, and I shall read this
novel. I am resolved to see the Duchess of Leinster's grand-daughters, for I
knew their father and grandfather.' This being settled, the young ladies
with their governess arrived at one, and turned out poor little girls of
twelve and thirteen, who could hardly be supposed to carry a well-turned
compliment, which the doctor gave them to carry to their grandmother."
Shortly after the death of David Hume, which
took place on the 26th August 1776, Dr Carlyle was solicited by his literary
friend and neighbour, Mr Ebenezer Marshal, minister of Cockpen, [Whether Mr
Marshal contemplated a memoir of David Hume is uncertain. He published a
"History of the Union," an "Abridgment of the Acts of Parliament relating to
the Church of Scotland," and a "Treatise on the British Constitution."] to
supply his reminiscences of the deceased philosopher. To Mr Marshal he
despatched the following narrative:—
"As to what you mention about his mode of life,
when he lived in the Canongate during the time he wrote his "History," he
was an early riser, and being very laborious in his studies, he had little
time for exercise, and therefore his custom was, early in the morning to
walk round Salisbury Craigs and return to breakfast and his studies. He was
much abroad at dinner, which in those days was at two o'clock, and what was
singular at the time he gave no vales to servants, though he was at invited
dinners four and five times a-week, and what was more singular still, though
he was a great eater, but drank very moderately, he returned to his studies
in the evening with clearness and assiduity. With respect to his not giving
vales, the truth is that in these days he could not afford it, for he had
not £50 per annum, though lie wore fine cloaths. The servants, too, finding
that he was facetious and good company and made their masters and mistresses
very happy, were always as glad to see him as if he had paid them for every
dinner. . . . Mr Hume was obliged to live very frugally, for though lie had
£40 from the Advocates' Library as librarian (he had sought that merely for
the use of the books), he gave the whole salary away in charity. He had a
very small house in Jack's Land in the Canongate, and kept only one
maid-servant, whom he never parted with all her life, and such was the
sweetness of his temper, that even when he became opulent, and his manner of
living rare in proportion to his circumstances, he never put a housekeeper
over her for fear of offending her. When he lived in the Canongate he gave
little suppers now and then to a few select friends, but when he enlarged
his manner of living he entertained much and well, and nobody since his
death has taken the pains he did to bring together in congenial society the
literati of Edinburgh."
To these "reminiscences," found among Dr
Carlyle's papers, may be added an anecdote of Hume, presented in his
"Autobiography." When the Hon. Patrick Boyle, brother of the Earl of
Glasgow, and Mr Hume were lodging together in London, Mr Boyle was informed
that his friend had received tidings of his mother's death. Entering his
chamber he found the philosopher in tears. Having expressed his sympathy, Mr
Boyle added—"You owe this uncommon grief to your leaving thrown off the
principles of religion, for if you had not, you would have been consoled by
the firm belief that the best of mothers, and the most pious of Christians,
was happy in the realms of the just." Mr Hume replied—"Though I threw out my
speculations to entertain and employ the learned and metaphysical world, yet
in other things I do not think so differently from the rest of mankind as
you may imagine."'
Intimate with David Hume, it was Carlyle's privilege also to enjoy the
friendship of Hume's powerful antagonist, Principal Campbell. Zealously
attached to the moderate party, Dr Campbell vigorously insisted on
maintaining the personal purity of the clergy at a period when discipline
had become nearly obsolete. On this subject lie thus communicated with Dr
Carlyle:— ABERDEEN,
November 19, 1785. I
commend your zeal for the Church, but am strongly inclined to suspect that
it is impossible to preserve her longer respectable. The form of process
will no doubt admit several amendments. But the radical fault is not in the
form of process, but in the judges. A popular assembly does very well for a
legislature, but not for a judicatory, especially a criminal judicatory. And
though it might do tolerably while there subsisted any regard to decency and
virtue in the generality of the members, and a zeal for preserving purity of
character in the order, what can we expect nor, when party spirit has almost
swallowed up all other distinctions. I am sorry to say it. I would not
chance to say it to everybody, though I will acknowledge to you that I never
saw a court in which in my opinion there is more flagrant respect of persons
and a less regard to the merits of these causes than in the General
Assembly. Our Church's judicatories begun in excessive rigour (such was the
spirit and power of the times), are likely to end in plenary indulgence,
unless these shall produce, as on the Continent they did, reformation."
'Though in his letter names are not introduced,
Dr Campbell evidently referred to two cases of libel which were then
dragging slowly in the ecclesiastical courts, and which, owing to the
numerous appeals and corresponding references to the General Assembly by the
inferior courts, were likely to prove interminable. Dr William Dryden,
minister of Dalton, had, by the heritors and elders of his parish, been
charged with grossly scandalous behaviour. Proceedings commenced in 1782,
and three years had passed without a decision. Another case slowly moving
from one church court to another was that of Mr Frederick Maclagan, minister
of Melrose. The result in both cases justified Dr Campbell's augury, for
while the grossest immorality in each instance was clearly proved, one
offender was dismissed with a rebuke, and the other was allowed quietly to
retire without being deprived of his ministerial status.
Archibald Alison, [The family of Alison, which
produced the historian of Europe, was descended from a family settled on the
lands of Cupar Abbey, first known as Makallane, next as Allanson, latterly
as Alysone and Alison. John M'Allon, son of Margaret Michell, who had
jointly occupied the shepherd land of Dalvany, received on the 12th April
1558 a lease for nine years of the office of forester at Glenbrauchty, which
John subscribed with his hand at the pen, led by a monk. In 1508 Donald
Alanson received, with others, a lease of lands at Percy (Register of Cupar,
vol. i., 269; ii., 236, 267). Prospering as agriculturists, the family
acquired the lands of Newhall, near Cupar-Angus, where the ruins of a
considerable mansion-house point to opulence. Andrew Alison, a younger son
of Alison of Newhall, engaged in business at Edinburgh and became Lord
Provost of the city. The baptism of of his son, the Rev. Archibald Alison,
is thus recorded in the Edinburgh Parish Register:—"November 1757. Andrew
Alison, merchant, in Lady Yester's parish, and Margaret Hart, his spouse —a
son, named Archibald. Witnesses—Archibald Hart, merchant, in the College
Kirk parish, and Alexander Innes, sen. of Cathlaw. The child was born on the
13th Aug., and baptised by Mr Robert Walker, minister in the New Church."]
father of Sir Archibald Alison, author of the "History of Europe," gave
promise in early life of a vigorous intellect, combined with a taste for
classical and general learning. A native of Edinburgh, he had been known to
Dr Carlyle from early youth. Bred in the Episcopal persuasion, he qualified
himself as a clergyman of the English Church. On his behalf, as an
expectant, Dr Carlyle addressed his friend Henry Dundas, the Home Secretary,
in these terms: "Dr
Carlyle begs leave to recommend Mr Alison to Mr Dundas's best offices, as a
young divine bred in the Church of England, of uncommon merits and
accomplishments. After the usual academical education at Edinburgh, Mr
Alison studied two years at Glasgow, and from thence was sent as an
exhibitioner to Daliol College in Oxford, where he resided nine or ten
years, and where he received ordination."
Mr Dundas promised that Mr Alison's claims
should not be overlooked, but the promise was forgotten. Dr Carlyle applied
with greater success to his former associate, Mr Pulteney, and through this
venerable gentlemen, Mr Alison vas, in 1.784, presented to the curacy of
Brancepeth, near Durham. Though of a limited endowment, the attainment of
this cure enabled him to unite himself in wedlock to the eldest daughter of
Dr John Gregory, to whom he lead long been attached. To his benefactor AIr
Alison expressed his gratitude in the following letter:—
"LUDLOW, near Thropson, August 9, 1784.
"It was very peculiarly grateful to me that the
first congratulation I received upon the event which has made me so happy
should be from you. If I have so long delayed offering you my warmest thanks
for the kindness of your interest, I assure myself you Will impute it to
everything but Want of gratitude. At the tine, indeed, when I wished to
write you, and when I had so long to look back to the generosity of your
friendship, I felt myself more than ever unequal to the expression of my
acknowledgments ; and even now, when I can no longer deny myself the
satisfaction, it is rather with the hope of telling you that I am grateful,
than of being able to tell you how much I am so. You Will, at least, permit
me to assure you that the honour of your friendship is now more than ever
important to me, and that my acknowledgments receive no small increase when
I recollect your interest in her welfare, from whom I have received all my
happiness. While I thus wish, my dear sir, to assure you how unalterably you
have bound me to you by the strongest tie my heart can feel, suffer me to
offer to Mrs Carlyle every sentiment of the warmest acknowledgment for the
kindness of her wishes and her concern. The confidence you permitted me to
place in you, though it was the best expression. I could give of my
assurance of your regard, has served beyond everything to add to nay sense
of obligational attachment to you both, and I must forget everything before
I forget either the generosity of your concern or the warmth of my own
acknowledgment. May you never know uneasiness or sorrow till I cease to
thank or to love you ! My mother has, I suppose, long before this time
acquainted you with the whole of Mr Pulteney's generosity, and I am sure it
is needless for me to tell you with what sentiments we have received it. The
story, indeed, is so romantic, and so little in the common course of
friendship, that I neither know how to speak nor to think of it."
One of the resident landowners at Inveresk, a
man of eminent accomplishments both as a jurist and an historical writer,
was Sir David Dalrymple, Lord Hailes. His lordship showed some special
characteristics, one of which was his conspicuous regard for the sanctity of
the judicial oath. As a judge lie administered the oath with remarkable
solemnity, expressing the several words in a mariner which might not fail to
impress even the indifferent. To this feature of his lordship's character is
mainly due a correspondence with Dr Carlyle, which otherwise would assign
him no inconspicuous place in the ranks of the eccentric. His lordship wrote
to Dr Carlyle from "Newhailes," on the 25th December 1786, in these terns:-
"REVEREND SIR,-There has been a great deal of
confusion in my family, owing to the following circumstances. My sister
missed two bottles of cordial waters, which she had turned over from the
still. Much enquiry has been made as to the person guilty. But nothing
probative appears. In a matter which concerns myself I do not think myself
at liberty to take the oaths of my servants this might be done before a
Justice of the Peace. But it occurred to me that as this affair is a matter
of scandal, and not intended to be followed out by a criminal prosecution,
the better way would be by some sort of oath of purgation before you as a
minister, in company with some elder. Please let inc know whether this can
be done, and if so what time you can fix for it. The business ought to be
done here, as Lady Hailes wishes to be present when the oaths are
administered. It is impossible to describe how much she is agitated. I pray
God that it may not affect her health too pluck. The bearer will wait for
your answer.—I am, reverend sir, your most obedient, humble servant, "DAV.
DALRYMPLE." The
humorous minister of Inveresk would certainly indulge a smile at the idea of
the health of Lady Hailes (as his lordship designates Lady Dalrymple) being
affected seriously by the disappearance of two bottles of cordial waters.
Nor would he read with entire composure another letter from his lordship,
probably written on the same day as the missive which had preceded it.
rrliis second letter proceeds thus:—
"REVEREND Sir,—An oath before a Justice of Peace
is not in my opinion so efficacious as one in an ecclesiastical court. If
every person clears himself before the kirk-session there is an end of the
matter. I have lived too long in the world, and been too Much engaged in
business, to rely much on oaths taken either way. But Lady Hailes, judging
from her own feelings of right and wrong, and the solemn sanctity of oaths,
expects more than I do. Her theory is right, although guy experience may
contradict it. As I told you before dinner, she is much distressed. In the
situation of a mind perfectly upright, and confounded with reciprocal
charges and suspicions, she has nothing else to resort to but some oath of
purgation, and nothing else can make her easy. I hope that your health will
allow you to go through this disagreeable business sometime to-morrow. Pray
appoint the hour by a message to Lady Hailes. I shaII be engaged in the
Justiciary Court, with so small a quorum as to render my presence
indispensably necessary in Edinburgh both on Tuesday and Wednesday. This is
singularly unfortunate, but there is no help for it; at the same time there
is a necessity of having the oaths taken without delay. All this ought to
have been done ten days ago, but the truth is that I had not a moment to
spare from the business of the two Courts, which has been exceptionally
severe.—I ever am, dear sir, your most obliged humble servant,
"DAV. DALRYMPLE."
How the affair ended does not appear, but it is
hoped that "Lady Hailes" experienced from the prudent counsel of her parish
minister more real satisfaction than in the whimsical gratification of her
resentment. With his
titled neighbour, Charles, seventh Earl of Haddington, a man of easy manners
and powerful wit, Dr Carlyle enjoyed no unprofitable intercourse. Of the
Earl's letters several abound with trite and expressive criticisms. "I have
often," he writes, "been struck with people endeavouring to establish
character in a wide circle, not seeming to know that all character must be
regulated by those who know you intimately in a small one, and that from
that small one alone the larger take their impression, not to mention how
little the great circle care about you one way or other."
Along with a supply of dame to Inveresk manse in
December 1801, Lord Haddington addressed a letter to Mrs Carlyle in these
words:— "DEAR MRS
CARLYLE,—Your husband intends, in order to show his manhood, to insist upon
having currants in his hare soup. I trust you have too great a regard for
the prerogative female ever to suffer such an intrusion as this would be on
your right of ruling the kitchen. You are so thoroughly acquainted with the
world that I need not point out to you, that all friendly hints of this kind
are always well intended, and proceed from warm kindness both to a man and
wife, and tend much to produce that harmony and concord which ought, but
rarely does, subsist between them."
To Dr Carlyle the Earl's counsel is amusingly
opposed to the advice tendered to his helpmate. He writes:--
"At last my gamekeeper has got a couple of
woodcocks which I send in company of a hare, which I hope you will, like a
man of spirit, have male into broth, with currants, after your own taste, in
spite of all Mrs Carlyle may say against it."
General Scott, jun, of Malleny, visited Paris
subsequent to the peace of Amiens. In a letter dated Vrersailles, 7th
November 1802, he describes to Dr Carlyle his presentation to the first
consul in these terms:--
"I have seen with admiration all the fine sights
of Paris, and been presented to Bonaparte, who is a wonderful man. I
contemplated him at my ease for a considerable time; afterwards I stood
close to hill, but could not perceive any trait or appearance in him to lead
one to suppose he was the man of whom we have heard. He has a sallow and
melancholy countenance till lie smiles. He did the honours of the levee with
great propriety." |
