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PREFACE
In the following
Reminiscences of Some Nineteenth Century Scotsmen, who have been
distinguished on their country’s record-roll in various ways, I am
mainly a chronicler ab extra; neither critic, nor biographer, nor
literary appraiser; only a recorder.
No attempt is made to give a full account, or complete estimate, of any
one man; but merely to state facts known to myself, or supplied by
trustworthy narrators, along with a few letters from those who are
characterised.
The publication of such records might have been more opportune some
years ago, as many of the friends of those whose deeds and words are
here recorded have themselves now “joined the majority.” But it may not
be too late to collect them.
I include only the men whom I have known personally, and insert only
what has not hitherto been said about them, except in quarters where few
persons are likely to see it.
Since boyhood I have endeavoured to take character-sketches, without
always writing them down. Some of these have of necessity faded away.
When, however, the crypts of memory are explored, reminiscences are
often found lying latent and obscure. Things long forgotten rise clear
on the inner horizon, and subsequently stand out on the threshold of
consciousness. Several of those who are mentioned in these pages have
had their biographies already written, some of them at considerable
length; but many details have of necessity been omitted, and I have
tried to recover — from sources written and oral — both anecdotes and
traits of character, which a near posterity may care to know. I say
“near,” because almost all biographic records are sooner or later doomed
to oblivion; and it is a blessing that whatsoever is irrelevant in
literary work—or useless to posterity —is soon thrown aside with
unerring justice, and impartial exactitude. Whenever it has been
possible I have given extracts from unpublished letters by the deceased.
No living men are included.
Some of those chronicled were, and are, well-known Scotsmen: others were
not recognised beyond a small circle of friends and acquaintances. This
was inevitable, and without wholly endorsing the verdict that
strongest minds are those
Of whom this noisy world hears least,
it may be admitted that
many of the noblest souls are least known to fame, even amongst those
with whom they live.
It should be explained that facts and opinions are recorded of many from
whom I differed widely, as well as of those with whom I was in sympathy.
This has been done from the belief that character-sketches of great men
should be preserved, whatever their opinions may have been. It will be
seen that several are included who were not “Scotsmen” born, but whose
chief work was done in Scotland, and whose career is more distinctively
associated with our northern than with the southern realm; Bishop
Charles Wordsworth, Mr Hamilton of St Ernans, Dr Alexander Potts, Mr
Cranbrook, and Archbishop Eyre are instances in point. For the same
reason I am to include reminiscences of such men as Thomas Carlyle, in a
subsequent volume of English Retrospects, because their chief work was
done in England. The transfer seems reasonable, and it may bring both
works into harmony.
It has fallen to me to write a “Memoir,” or “Life,” or “Obituary Notice”
of several included in these pages; but little, or nothing, of what has
already appeared in print is repeated. In the volume entitled, Principal
Shairp and his Friends, I did not include an address delivered to the
students of St Andrews after his death. It is placed in this book. In
the Memoir of John Nichol I omitted many letters, which now find their
appropriate place. In reference to Professor John Duncan a few
paragraphs are quoted which appeared more than thirty years ago, but
they have been out of print since Colloquia Peripatetica was exhausted;
and in the case of Professor Yeitch I have included, along with much
that has not hitherto seen the light, a few sentences from what I sent
to his Memoir.
The service rendered to posterity by such a work as the “Dictionary of
National Biography”—recording, in briefest compass, the career and
life-work of all the great men and women of our English-speaking
race—cannot be overestimated; but there are many other things, in
reference to our national biographic heritage, stories of the life and
conversations of the “minor men” as well as of the “immortals,” which
may with profit be preserved for posterity; and many a lover of English
literature, and of Scottish character, may be glad to have them.
It has become clear to me, however, while writing this book, that some
of the most remarkable men cannot be characterised, cither by memoir, or
sketch, or by their own letters. Their personality is so magnetic in its
influence, and often so illusive in its outcome, that no one can
reproduce it. It is sometimes,
A moment seen, then gone
from sight,
while it lives to work in
a subterranean sort of way. Occasionally its very charm lies in its
fragmentariness. Most people have known others, unique in special ways,
but whose refined intellectuality, whose moral ascendancy, and even
whose erudition cannot be adequately portrayed. Mirrored with intensity
at the moment of their first realisation, these things cannot be handed
on to posterity because the immediate glamour was too intense. Such were
the late Lord Acton, and Mr Thomas Davidson, some things in reference to
the latter of whom are recorded in this work.
These sketches are necessarily of very different lengths. In cases in
which a man’s biography has been written, and I knew him but slightly—
as in that of Christopher North—little is said: in cases in which no
memoir has been written, or is now likely to appear—as in those of Sir
John Skelton, Patrick Proctor Alexander, Thomas Davidson, etc.,— the
notice is longer. I do not think that I can be charged with revealing
editorial secrets in reference to my “Philosophical Classics for English
Readers,” by including letters from some of the contributors—such as
Professor Croom Robertson— referring not only to their own work, but
also to that of others.
It will be seen that many of the Scotsmen mentioned were Professors at
the University of Edinburgh in Arts, Divinity, or Medicine; that some
were Professors in the New College, or preachers in the metropolis;
others literary men, lawyers, judges, or physicians; that some were
country gentlemen, and a few private friends, little known (as already
indicated) outside their own circle, but men of mark in their way. The
exigences of space have necessitated the omission of many whom I would
fain have included; and I give a list of them, as a later opportunity
may occur for their admission. Bishop Forbes of Brechin, George
Gilfillan, Dr Watson, Dr
Islay Bums (all of Dundee); Drs Norman Macleod, Pulsford, Service (all
of Glasgow); the medical professors James Millar, Hughes Bennett, and
Allman, with Dr Warburton Begbie, and Alexander Smith, (all of
Edinburgh); Dr Macleod Campbell of Row, the late Bishop Ewing (Argyll
and the Isles); Miss Boyd (Pen-hill, Aryshire); Professor Milligan
(Aberdeen); Mr John M. Ross (Edinburgh); The Marquis of Lothian; and
last, but certainly not least, the late Duke of Argyll.
I have to express my cordial thanks to those who have aided me; to Dr
Joseph Bell and Sir William Turner, for their reminiscences of Edinburgh
medical professors; to Alex. Taylor Innes, for his note on Lord
President Inglis; to Archdeacon Aglen, Alyth, for his memorandum as to
Bishop Words worth; to Sheriff Campbell Smith, for his recollections of
Professors Ferrier and Spalding, of Patrick Alexander, and of the
Scottish Judges; to Dr Steele at Florence, for his reminiscences of old
Edinburgh men and days; to Professor Campbell Fraser and Miss Helen
Neaves, for their characterisation of the late Principal Sir Alexander
Grant; to Mr Oliphant Smeaton, for many notes as to the professors in
the New College, Edinburgh; to the Rev. William Henderson, for
recollections of Professors Ferrier and Spalding; to Mr Colin Philip,
for his memories of Professor Baynes ; to Professor Menzies, for his
note on William Mackintosh; and to Mr Andrew Lang, for his kind revision
of the proofs. W. K.
You can download this book here
Memorials of Thomas Davidson
The Wandering Scholar collected and edited by William Knight (1907)
(pdf) |
