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In the gallery of
Scottish-American men of letters no name stands higher, no personality
was more impressive, no life was more useful, than that of James McCosh,
the gifted President of Princeton College, N. J. He settled in America
in the fullness of his powers, and from the (lay of his arrival gave
himself up wholly to it. He not only strove to place Princeton among the
world's great seats of learning, but lie gave to America a system of
philosophy, based upon the old common-sense school of Scotland, which,
if followed out and studied with the closeness it deserves, will give a
new trend to American thought and scholarship, and to American
metaphysical study an individuality of its own. His administration of
Princeton was a model one. During his tenure of office he reorganized
the whole routine at the college, extended its curriculum, rebuilt most
of its halls, and when he laid down the Presidency it was second in
point of equipment, number of students, standing of Faculty, and moral
tone to no university establishment in America. Considered simply as a
man of letters, Dr. McCosh by his writings did much to advance American
scholarship, and his two volumes on "Realistic Philosophy" and the one
on "First and Fundamental Truths" are probably the most important
contributions yet made to higher American thought. "The time has come
for America to declare her independence in philosophy" formed part of
one of the opening sentences of the former work, and the foundation of
such a system was the purpose of his later writings—the work of all his
closing years. But, full of American fervor as he was, he never lost his
devotion to his native land, and what Scot abroad ever sent back to the
country of his birth a grander memorial of his love than did Dr. McCosh
when he published his invaluable history of "Scottish Philosophy"? As he
well said in its preface: "This work has been with me a labor of love.
The gathering of materials for it and the writing of it, as carrying me
into what I feel to be interesting scenes, have afforded me great
pleasure, which is the only reward I am likely to get. I publish it as
the last, and to inc the only remaining, means of testifying my regard
for my country—loved all the more because I am now far from it—and my
country's philosophy, which has been the means of stimulating thought in
so many of Scotland's sons." To understand Dr. McCosh's life work, too,
it must not be forgotten that he was a zealous and devoted minister of
the Gospel. That fact he himself not only never forgot, but lie placed
its duties above all others. In the preface to his "Gospel Sermons,"
published in 1888, he sufficiently enunciated this when he said:
"Hitherto my published works have been chiefly philosophical. But, all
along, while I was lecturing and writing on philosophy, I was also
preaching. I am anxious that the public should 'know that, much as I
value philosophy, I place the Gospel of Jesus Christ above it."
Dr. McCosh was born in 1811 at Garskcoch,
Ayrshire, and was the son of a farmer. After studying for the ministry
at Glasgow and Edinburgh, lie was licensed to preach in 1834, and soon
after became minister of the Abbey Church, Arbroath. Three years later
he became minister of Brechin, and there he labored until the
Disruption, when he formed one of the noble band who "came out" with
Chalmers, Cunningham, Candlish, and Guthrie. For a time he was an
itinerant preacher, going hither and thither throughout Angus and Mearns,
gathering the people into congregations and explaining the position of
the new Free Church. Finally he settled down as minister of the East
Free Church, Brechin, and gave himself up to study. It was there he
commenced his lifelong inquiry into philosophical matters. One of the
first fruits of that study was a volume on "The Method of Divine
Government, Physical and Moral," and its publication led to his
receiving the appointment of Professor of Logic and Metaphysics in
Queen's College, Belfast. This appointment met with a good deal of
opposition in Ireland.
The new professor speedily showed, however,
that he was an acquisition to Ireland, although his earnest advocacy of
a system of education in that country on national principles met with
the most bitter opposition of the Roman Catholic clergy and laity.
Indeed, his views and those of Mr. Gladstone on this question were
diametrically opposed to each other, but he cordially indorsed, as might
be expected, that statesman's movement for the disestablishment of the
English Church in Ireland. His studies in metaphysics were diligently
prosecuted in Ireland, and the outcome was several works which advanced
his position in the world of letters and thought—notably his volume on
"Intuitions of the Mind." In 1866 Dr. McCosh paid a visit to America,
mainly for the purpose of studying the educational equipnient of the
country. Two years later he was offered the position of President of
Princeton, and accepted it after considerable hesitation. From that time
until the weight of years, in 1888, impelled him to resign the
Presidency, his whole life was devoted to Princeton, and the devotion
had magnificent results. His students loved him, the friends of
Princeton had confidence in him, and he constantly was adding new names
to the long list of the benefactors of the institution. But, wrapped up
as he was in Princeton, Dr. McCosh took a keen interest in passing
events and in the literary movements of his time. He had a profound
contempt for the theory of evolution, and discussed it in print with its
great apostle, Tyndall, and whatever looked like an approach to
materialism found in him an inveterate foe. He had no patience with
anything that paltered with the great truths of life, and if he hated an
infidel he had nothing but contempt for an agnostic, or even for what
might be called a "trimmer." Religion must either be wholly true or
wholly false. There was no middle way, no room for real argument except
on the one side or the other. But he was no believer in the theory that
religion can take care of itself. He regarded it as the duty of all men
who professed religion to advance it and strengthen it at every point.
Hence the interest he took in the movement for the union of the various
branches of the Presbyterian Church—a union he advocated until his
death, in 1894.
National predilection might tempt us to regard Dr. Mc-Cosh's greatest
work as his volume on "Scottish Philosophy," but undoubtedly the book
which has had and will continue to have the greatest influence upon the
thought of this country is that in which he unfolded his scheme of
realistic philosophy—the American school, as he liked to call it. There
can be no doubt that that work has already exerted a very considerable
influence in America, but we believe its influence is only in its
primary stages, and that sooner or later the system laid down by the
grand old man of Princeton will be fully adopted as America's
own—modified, of course, by the inevitable new lights which time and
circumstance will bring to bear upon it. But time and circumstance will
not change the groundwork, and in Dr. McCosh's foundation we see a
system founded on a rock—the rock of truth, for, after all, that is the
keynote of the s stem lie proposed. By it he hoped to make American
Philosophy healthy—different altogether from the vague, unsatisfactory
speculation, the sickly sentimentalism, and the cowardly agnosticism of
so many of the recognized European schools. His system was not
altogether untried, for it is really, as we have already said, a
development of the old Scotch common-sense school, and it squared in
every point with natural and revealed religion. To America the life of
Dr. McCosh was a grand one, and had Scotland contributed no more than
that one life to the agencies which are building tip and developing the
highest and holiest interests of the United States, it would have
deserved the kindliest recognition from American scholarship.
A very similar case is that of Dr. Daniel
Wilson of Toronto—Sir Daniel, as he was called in the twilight of his
life. Like Dr. McCosh, he settled in America in the fullness of his
powers, and after he had established his literary reputation, and he
continued at work in his transatlantic. home until the inevitable
summons called him to the majority. Born at Edinburgh in 1816, a nephew
of "Christopher North," he early showed a predilection for literary
work. His education was received mainly at the historic High School of
his native town—the school of Drummond of Hawthornden, Robert Ferguson,
Law of Lauriston, Boswell, the biographer; Henry Mackenzie, the "Man of
Feeling"; Lord Brougham, and a hundred other notables—and at the
university in that city. After graduating, he spent some years in
London, mainly engaged in literary pursuits, and then returned to
Scotland, where he began that thorough study into the archaeology and
antiquities of the country which was destined ultimately to give him a
high place among her historical writers. He became Secretary to the
Royal Antiquarian Society of Scotland and contributed many valuable
papers to its "Transactions." His chief study at that time was the
romantic city in which lie was born and in which he resided, and the
result of his studies—the "Memorials of Edinburgh in the Olden Time,"
published in 1847—established his reputation as a writer and
archaeologist. His greatest contribution to historical literature,
however, was his "Prehistoric Annals of Scotland," a work which not only
directed inquiry on a rational basis into a subject which had previously
been treated as a romance or a series of fables, but continues to be a
standard authority, notwithstanding the researches which have since been
made into the subject. In 1853, through the influence of the Earl of
Elgin, Wilson accepted an invitation to become Professor of English
Literature and History in the -University of Toronto, and thereafter
made his home in Canada. From that "Queen City" he issued, in 1862, his
magnificent volumes on "Prehistoric Man: Researches into the Origin of
Civilization in the Old World and the New," thus grouping his American
as well as his European studies of a theme that was to him of the most
fascinating description. We have not space, however, to mention all of
the literary work which this diligent student performed after his lines
were cast in Canada. If gathered together his contributions to the
Journal of the Canadian Institute and to periodicals of various
descriptions would fill a goodly array of volumes. All his work was
conscientiously done; every line he wrote bore the hall marks of the
scholar. Dr. Wilson was a poet, too, and published a small volume of his
verses under the title of "Spring Flowers" in 1875, but no one can read
his prose works without feeling in them even a deeper poetical sentiment
and insight than in the volume in which he uttered his thoughts in
verse. His was a beautiful old age. Elevated to the Presidency of his
college, honored by his sovereign with knighthood, and enjoying the
respectful admiration of thousands of friends in both Hemispheres, lie
continued in harness to the end, doing good by word, thought, and deed
until the night came that ushered him into the sunlight.
The first literature that is issued in
connection with a new country is generally topographical and
descriptive, and in respect to the New World the ubiquitous Scot is
represented among those who wrote of the American Colonies while even
most of the seaboard was in a state of nature. This advance guard of a
long line of litterateurs of all ranks had an early representative in
John Lawson, a native of Aberdeen. He was born in that city about 1658,
and in 1690 was appointed Surveyor General of North Carolina. He appears
to have begun his work in America a year later, and to have applied
himself to its duties with all the determination and energy so
characteristic of his race. The best evidence of this extant is his
volume, published at London in 1700, entitled "A New Voyage to Carolina,
Containing the Exact Description and Natural History of that Country;
Together with the Present State Thereof; and a Journal of a Thousand
Miles Traveled Through Several Nations of Indians, Giving a Particular
Account of Their Customs, Manners, &c." This work proved so popular, was
recognized as so perfect an authority on its subject that it was
reprinted in 1709, 1714, and in 1718, and it had the honor of being
reproduced, at Raleigh, N. C., as recently as 1860. In 1712, in the
course of one of his surveying trips, Lawson was made prisoner by
Tuscarora Indians and was put to death in a manner that brought into
operation all the fiendish cruelty for which that people were
distinguished. A
better-remembered name is that of George Chalrners, one of the most
prominent literary antiquarians of Scotland. This man, whose wonderful
"Caledonia" remains a storehouse for writers on Scottish historical
matters, was born at Fochabers in 1742, and bred to the legal
profession. In 1763 lie sailed for America with a relative who was
anxious to recover a large tract of land in Maryland, which had been in
the possession of an earlier member of the family. Making his
headquarters in Baltimore, Chalmers studied the legal practice of that
city, and finally determined to settle there and carry on his
profession. There he remained, until the troubles of the Revolution
broke out, and when he saw that separation from the mother country was
inevitable, or that military rule was to be necessary to keep the
country loyal, lie determined to leave it. Settling tip his affairs as
best he could, he crossed over to London and began his career as a man
of letters. It is singular that Chalmers's American experiences proved
unproductive of literary result. He published in 1782 the first volume
of 'An Introduction to the History of the Revolt of the Colonies," but
the volume was quickly suppressed at his instance, and no more appeared
in print. A volume of "Opinions on Interesting Subjects of Public Laws
and Commercial Policy, Arising from American Independence," issued in
1784, and a few tracts, complete his literary connection with the United
States. Scotland, however, was possibly the gainer by his devotion to
themes and studies peculiarly her own, and his editions of her ancient
poets, his "Caledonia," his "Life of Mary, Queen of Scots," and many
other works of like importance give him a high place among the literary
students of the country.
In the case of James Thomas Callender we
have the first instance of a Scot whose entire literary life, almost,
was given up to the United States, and was developed by the influences
at work in the country. He was also one of the pioneers, if not the
pioneer, of that style of American journalism which uses declamation and
denunciation instead of argument, which is distinguished by the
bitterness it displays toward opponents, and seems never happier than
when engaged in sneering at and belittling, if not vilifying, whatever
does not square with the writer's notions or interests, in Church or
State, in religion, manners, or morals. Callender was born at Stirling
in 1758. Of his early life little is known until, in 1792, he published
at Edinburgh a pamphlet entitled "The Political Progress of Britain." It
was a time when the authorities, aroused by the success of the French
Revolution and the feeling of dissatisfaction with political conditions
which generally prevailed, were keenly bent on suppressing anything that
looked like sedition, and Callender's work was judged to fall under that
category, and was seized. A warrant was issued for his arrest, but he
evaded it by escaping to this country.
Callender reached America in 1793, and
settled in Philadelphia. There he published the "Political Register" and
the "American Register," but neither appear to have added much to his
worldly fortune. Removing to Richmoncl, Va., he established the
"Richmond Recorder," which became somewhat of a power in politics.
Callender was bitterly outspoken in his opposition to the
Administrations of Washington and Adams. His beau ideal of a statesman
for a long time was Thomas Jefferson, but toward the end he opposed that
patriot's policy as vehemently as lie did those of the early Presidents.
A man engaged in newspaper work has little time for anything else than
to fulfill its demands, but Callender managed to publish several
volumes—"Sketches of American History" being the most noteworthy—all of
which show him to have been a writer at once forcible and graceful and
possessed of a thorough knowledge of and a keen insight into the passing
affairs of his time. His character, however, was not a lovable one. His
temper was soured—perhaps by his outlawry in early life—and his work in
this country seems really to have been of little passing, and certainly
of no permanent, value. He met his death, by drowning, in the James
River, near Richmond, in 1813.
A much more amiable career, and one still
popularly recalled on both sides of the Atlantic, is that of Alexander
Wilson, "the Paisley poet and American ornithologist," as he has been
described. He was born in Paisley in 1766, educated at the grammar
school there, and in due time was apprenticed to a weaver—the trade of
his father. He did not take kindly to the loons, and after his
apprenticeship was over he sighed for some other employment, which would
give him an opportunity to study nature in all her moods. He early began
to dabble in literature, and, at all events, to have aspirations for
literary work, and one of his many biographers, Dr. Grosart, seems to
regard it as probable that in 1786 he made a pilgrimage to Kilmarnock to
make the acquaintance of Robert Burns, and that he succeeded in his
mission. After several years spent as a journeyman weaver in Paisley,
Queensferry, and other places, during which time his muse was busy, he
determined to see his country thoroughly and at the same time support
himself by "carrying a pack"—that is, by becoming a peddler. In this way
he not only traveled into sections of his native land which otherwise he
might never have seen, but his poetical qualities wonderfully developed,
and such compositions as "The Loss of the Pack" are still recited in
Scotland. His delightful prose style also formed itself about this time,
and the journals of his travels and his letters are to this day
delightful reading. While journeying he secured subscribers for a volume
of his poems, which ultimately appeared in 1790 and gave him a more than
local standing as a poet. The volume is, however, very unequal in its
contents, and shows that the author lacked the services of a critical
adviser when preparing or selecting its contents for the press. The most
popular of all his poems, "Watty and Meg," appeared in 1792 as a penny
chapbook, without any author's name, and was at once attributed to
Burns—the highest compliment which it was possible for the people of
Scotland to pay it.
In 1793, like nearly every young man then in
Paisley, Wilson fell under the ban of being suspected of nursing
seditious sentiments, and, as he avowed the authorship of several poems
thus libeled, he was sent to jail. After his release he made up his mind
to try his fortunes in the young republic over the sea, although the
very idea of parting with Scotland cost him a severe pang, for America
was much further away from Scotland in those days than now.
When Wilson landed in the
New World he was ready to accept a job at anything that presented
itself, and in time he was a helper in a copperplate printing
establishment, a weaver, a peddler, and a schoolmaster. In the
last-named employment he Avon considerable success, and his appointment
as teacher in an institution at Kingess, about four miles from
Philadelphia, seemed to bring him the opportunity for putting into
practice a determination he had formed during his wanderings over the
country, that of making a descriptive and pictorial work about the birds
of America.
Wilson's fame in America rests on his "Ornithology," the first volume of
which was issued in 1808. In his letters and diaries he has given us
wonderfully graphic pictures of his adventures in search of material for
this work, of the hardships he had to endure, of his wanderings through
unknown regions and of his many hairbreadth escapes on land and water.
As he journeyed, he canvassed for subscribers for the work, and he has
told us of his successes as well as his rebuffs in this connection with
a species of humor that is thoroughly national in its alternate modest
and grimness. It was a great work to be undertaken singlehanded by a man
whose sole capital, besides his fitness, was his enthusiasm, but he kept
steadily to his task, overriding all sorts of obstacles, and in fairly
rapid succession saw seven of its goodly volumes on his table and in the
hands of his subscribers. The eighth volume announced his death, and the
sad event was directly brought about through his eagerness to perfect
the work. The story is then told:
While he (Wilson) was sitting in the house
of one of his acquaintances enjoying the pleasures of conversation, he
chanced to see a bird of a rare species, for one of which he had long
been in search. WTith his usual enthusiasm he ran out, followed it,
swain across a river over which it had flown, fired at, killed, and
obtained the object of his eager pursuit, but caught a cold, which ended
in his death." The end came on Aug. 23, 1813, and the poet-ornithologist
was buried in the little God's-acre surrounding the old Swedish Church,
Philadelphia, where the birds still sing over his grave. The spot is
marked by a flat stone appropriately inscribed, and is the foremost
Scottish shrine in the "City of Brotherly Love." Wilson's memory is
still cherished in the land of his birth and the land of his adoption.
Not far from the ancient Abbey of Paisley a splendid bronze statue of
him has been erected, showing him, not as a poet, but as a wanderer in
an American forest in search of illustrations for his great work, and
that work has given hint a place in American literature which is not
only unique but has won for him the title preeminently of "The American
Ornithologist." In
many respects the greatest name in Scottish-American literature is that
of Washington Irving, who was born in New York City in 1783. His father
was a native of Orkney, and traced descent back to the Irvines of Druin.
He settled in New York in 1763, and became a successful merchant, but
had to leave the city during the Revolutionary struggle, having adopted
the Colonial cause. After a couple of years, however, he returned, and
quickly made up his losses. He was a sturdy Presbyterian, a good
citizen, and a stanch admirer of the first President of the country, and
so named his youngest son in his honor.
Washington Irving was carefully educated,
although he never attended college, and in due time entered a law
office. He was attentive to his law studies, but literature had a
greater attraction for him, and the business of his life was sadly
interrupted—fortunately for literature—by delicate health. This led to
frequent country journeys, in the course of which he thoroughly explored
the Hudson River, and in 1800 was the cause of his first trip across the
Atlantic. After rambling over the Continent for two years, he returned
to New York, was admitted to the bar in 1806, but did not seem to get
much practice. In fact, with the exception of a short time when he
managed the business which his father had bequeathed to the family
during the illness of his brother Peter, his life was that of a man of
letters. Even the office of Secretary of the American Legation in
London, which he filled from 1829 to 1832, and the post of Minister to
Spain, which he occupied from 1842 to 1846, were really sub-servient to
his many literary studies. His career was an uneventful, and, on the
whole, a happy one. He never married, and the story of the declining
years of his life from 1846 until he was laid at rest in Sleepy Hollow,
in the closing days of 1859, forms one of the pleasantest records of the
sunset of a literary life of which we have knowledge. His fame has
steadily increased year after year since then; and Sunnyside, his home,
is now one of the Meccas of lovers of American literature.
Irving's first literary work—a series of
articles contributed, in his nineteenth year, to the "Morning
Chronicle," a newspaper published by his brother, Peter Irving—showed
cleverness and versatility, and as much may be said for his "Salmagundi"
papers. They were what might be called apprentice-work, the work which
every beginner in literature must struggle with before essaying higher
flights, or adding anything to the real literary wealth of his country
or the world. Irving's first real contribution to literature was his
"History of New York by Diedrich Knickerbocker," which was published in
1809. Taking the outlines of the early and vague history of the city as
a foundation, he filled these outlines up with sketches of real men and
women, and infused into every page such playful humor, and, here and
there, such delightful satire; and, withal, such an appearance of a
determination to present the exact truth in every line, that people at
first did not know what to make of it. The descendants of the old
Knickerbocker families voted it a caricature and denounced it as such;
others accepted it as a veritable history, and a few sat down to enjoy
its perusal purely as a literary treat. It at once became popular, and
has since become a classic, and we have admitted Wilhelmus Kraft, Wouter
Van Twiller and Peter Stuyvesant—Peter the Headstrong—to our gallery of
heroes of romance. But such is the power of genius that Irving's "Knickerbocker,"
without any real pretensions to be a veritable history, has taken its
place among; historical records to such an extent that no one would now
dream of investigating the early history of New York or writing about it
without studying more or less Irving's pages. We could not draw a pen
picture of Gov. Stuyvesant, for instance, without his aid, for it is
Irving's portrait of that one-legged hero that has been accepted as the
true one, and, in the public esteem, whatever does not conform to it
cannot be correct or worthy of consideration. In Scotland it is Sir
Walter Scott's "Jeannie Deans's Duke" that people think of, not the
historical character who figures in the annals of Great Britain as the
second Duke of Argyll.
This work fully established Irving's fame on
both sides of the Atlantic, and, what probably delighted him more, led
to the writer's receiving a warm welcome at Abbotsford, when afterward
on a visit to Scotland. "The Sketch Book," with its inimitable paper on
"Rip Van Winkle," added to the popularity of Irving; but, although
"Brace-bridge Hall" was received kindly, it did not add much to the
prestige of its author. In the "Life of Columbus," published in 1828,
Irving fairly entered the arena of European literature, and that work at
once became recognized as the standard biography of the great
discoverer. Its diligent research, its clear array of facts, its
skillful handling of details, and the beauty of its literary style were
at once recognized as the work of a master, and it has since remained
without a rival in popular favor.
His last work, his "Life of George
Washington," was undoubtedly his greatest and his best, and gives us a
picture of the great American hero which, it is safe to say, will never
he surpassed for truthfulness or power. He gives way to no theories why
Washington did this or did not do that. He indulges in no philosophy,
and follows his hero from the cradle to the grave with a fullness that
leaves no doubt in the mind of the reader as to what kind of a man
Washington really was; and this, it seems to us, is the very highest
form of biographical writing. When the work was passing through the
press Irving began to feel that the night that falls upon all men was
quickly drawing its shadows around him, and it was only a few months
before the clouds closed in that he had the happiness of seeing the
completed work on his table, and of rejoicing in the knowledge that all
united in say-ing it was well done. He died on November 28, 1859, and
three days later was buried in Sleepy Hollow, in the midst of a country
that received from his pen some at least of the halo which Scott threw
over his own beloved Borderland.
Had Washington Irving not written '`Astoria"
it is probable that the recognized authority, the literary genius of
John Jacob Astor's expedition to Oregon would have been Alexander Ross,
who from a pioneer hunter developed in his later years into a writer of
books. His "Adventures of the First Settlers on the Oregon or Columbia
River," "Fur Traders in the Far West," and "Red River Settlement" are
good books of their kind, full of adventure and description, written in
an easy, attractive—sometimes fascinating—style, and eminently truthful
even in the slightest detail. Ross was a native of Nairnshire, and went
to Canada in 1803, when in his twenty-second year. For a time he taught
school in Glengarry and elsewhere, and found the employment fruitful of
usefulness to the children and the community, but barren of results to
himself. In 1810 he joined the Astor expedition to Oregon, and until
1825 was a hunter and fur trader in the Astor Company or that of Hudson
Bay. In 1825 he removed to the Red River Settlement, and became its
Sheriff and a member of the Council of Assiniboine. He survived till his
seventy-third year, in spite of all the hardships and sufferings of his
early life, and died at Winnipeg, beloved and honored, in 1856.
Pleasant memories yet linger in Charleston,
S. C., of the Rev. Dr. George Buist, who settled in that city to take
charge of an academy or college—the words at that time appear to have
been used synonymously—and remained there till his death, in i 8o8. lie
was born in Fifeshire in 1770, was educated at Edinburgh University, and
there called to the ministry. He was one of the earliest Scotch students
of philology, and that subject, ever changing and progressing, and
constantly opening up new fields of thought, remained his favorite study
throughout his long and useful life. He was one of the contributors to
the Encyclopaedia Britannica, abridged Hume's History of England for
schools and ordinary readers; and a volume of his sermons, published
after he had passed away, was prefaced by a brief memoir in which the
example of his beautiful life was fittingly placed before the reader.
The volume is now very scarce.
One of the most curious characters in all
American literary history—and no literary history is so full of
curiosities—was John Wood, author of a "History- of the Administration
of John Adams," which James Parton, the American biographical writer,
has characterized as a lot of lies. This characterization seems,
unfortunately for Wood's memory, to have been perfectly correct. To sum
up his literary work in the most general and gentle manner, we might say
with truth that he was one of the most unreliable and fact-regardless
writers who ever lived in America. Wood was born in Scotland in 1775,
and emigrated to America in 1800. He engaged in such literary hack work
as he could find, and never really rose above the stage of such
composition. This was due more to the lack of literary opportunity, the
country not then being far enough advanced to foster any of the Higher
arts to any great extent, than to any lack of ability on the part of
Wood, for he seems to have really been a man of superior intellect. For
several years he edited a sheet called "The Western World," in Kentucky.
In 1817 he took up his abode in Washington, and had the editorial charge
of the "Atlantic World." He cultivated the friendship of the most noted
politicians of his time while sojourning in the national capital, but
their friendship did not advance his interests in any material way, and
he died at Richmond, Va., a poor man, in 1822.
We gladly turn from the memory of such a
personage as Wood to the honored name of John Galt, one of the most
distinguished annalists of the Scotch peasantry and one of the most
voluminous and instructive writers of his time. A few years ago he was
named as second only to Scott as a delineator and illustrator of Scotch
humble life, and, although time and the varying moods of public taste
have removed him from that high pedestal, he yet holds a foremost place
among the Scottish novelists who have written of their own people. Such
works as "The Annals of the Parish" and "The Ayrshire Legatees" still
retain their popularity, and are alone sufficient to keep their writer's
memory green in the hearts of his countrymen. Galt was born at Irvine,
Ayrshire, in 1779, and had made his mark in literature before crossing
the Atlantic in 1824. "He came to Canada," writes Mr. H. J. Morgan, to
whose writings we have been greatly indebted for information on many
points, was Commissioner of the Canada Land Company, an association in
which he took great interest and used his best efforts to advance; and
it may be said that to his indefatigable energy and ability may be in
part ascribed the present [1862] high position the company enjoys.
Indeed, we know of hardly any one who did so much for it as Mr. Galt.
During his stay in Canada he took a great interest in the upper province
[Ontario] and in colonizing and settling it; and the country is indebted
to him for sonic of the best improvements, both on land and water, it
possesses. He founded the town of Guelph, in the County of Wellington,
and the town of Galt is named after him. But differences leaving arisen
between him and the company, he resigned in 1829 and returned to Britain
that same year, where shortly afterward he was obliged to take advantage
of the Insolvent Debtors' act. He returned to his literary labors with
renewed zest and energy, and during the remainder of his life he
produced a number of works, principally novels and miscellanies, some of
which range high in the estimation of literary men and belong to what is
called the 'standard' series of English literature." Galt died at
Greenock, in 1839.
Two of Galt's sons went to Canada before his decease, in search of
fortune, and of one of these, the late Sir A. T. Galt, the story of his
public career is really a part of the history of the Dominion. The other
son, Thomas, was long one of the Judges in Canada's Court of Common
Pleas. A pathetic
story of promise, failure, and disappointment, of a blasted life slowly
dragging on to its end and finally going out, alone, in the very depths
of poverty and despair, is furnished by a study of the life of Alexander
Somerville, the once-famous "Whistler at the Plough." He was born at
Springfield, in Oldhamstocks Parish, Haddingtonshire, in 1811. His
parents were poor, and when Alexander went to work as a cowherd at
sixpence a day his father's earnings were only six shillings a week. The
boy got considerable schooling, however, in parish schools, for no
matter how poverty-stricken they may be, Scotch parents invariably
strive to give their children some education, even at the cost of
privation. As he grew to manhood, while earning a scanty income as a
common laborer, Somerville took a deep interest in the political
movements which then 11831-21 agitated Britain, and naturally his entire
sympathies were with his own class. In 1832 he lost his employment on
account of the dullness of trade, and, as nothing' seemed likely to turn
up to give him a livelihood, lie enlisted in the Scots Greys. That
regiment was then arrayed, not against the enemies of Britain, but
against the people of Britain. The men did not like the work. Many of
them sent letters to the War Office stating that they would not use
their weapons to interfere with a public meeting or to hamper the people
in the peaceful prosecution of their rights, and one of these letters
was traced to Somerville. It was determined to make an example of some
one, and he was tried by court-martial for a manufactured offense, found
guilty, and ordered to receive one hundred lashes. The horrors of this
punishment were graphically described long afterward by his own pen. The
flogging, however, had far-reaching results. When Somerville left the
hospital after his stripes had healed he found that the matter had been
a theme of newspaper discussion, and he became a hero in the eyes of his
comrades. lie gave in a letter to a newspaper an account of the real
cause of his flogging, the simple fact that he had dared to give
expression to his thoughts, and this letter, although it disgusted the
authorities, was suffered to pass without notice simply because in the
condition of public opinion they were afraid to repeat the dose they had
formerly administered. Meanwhile a subscription was set on foot,
Somerville's discharge was purchased, and with 1300 in his pocket he
returned to Scotland, helped his parents, started in business—and failed
in six months. He next took service with the Spanish Legion in the
Peninsula, serving two years. Returning to Britain, he helped to warn
the people against foolish revolutionary measures, and in that way did
more service to the working classes than though he had, as many desired,
become one of their aggressive leaders. He commenced his literary career
as a correspondent of the "Manchester Examiner," and published, among
other things, an account of his adventures in Spain. In 1852 his famous
letters, signed by "One Who Has Whistled at the Plough," appeared, and
afforded him an opportunity for utilizing the information he possessed
of political movements, and his views on the betterment of the working
classes, as well as reminiscences of his travels, and comments on all
topics then interesting Britain. These letters created a wide interest,
and the author was more talked about than any other journalistic
contributor for a year or two. His autobiography (issued in 1848) also
enjoyed a wide sale.
In 1858 he went to Canada, and for a time
was editor of the "Canadian Illustrated News." His clear, vigorous
English, the lucidity of his arguments for any measure he advocated, and
his knowledge of the world were visible in everything he wrote. But he
never seemed to "catch hold" in Canada. He wrote in praise of it to many
of the home papers, told of its resources and possibilities in glowing
language, and did, honestly, every-thing that lay in his power to help
to build it up. Yet his career there was a slow but steady descent into
poverty--poverty of the most abject description. He published several
books in Canada, but they yielded no return, and his latter years were
spent in neglect; often, indeed, in actual want. The man outlived his
friends, and, lingering on the stage, had been relegated to the rear,
and was unnoticed and forgotten. The last time the writer saw him, in
the streets of Toronto, his apparel was that of a beggar, a collection
of remnants of clothing that had seen better days, and his conversation
was of the most despondent description. It is difficult to account for
this man's fall. Faults he had, as have all men, but his abilities ought
to have made his life comfortable, should have kept his lines in
pleasant places. His career, even outside of his literary labors, was a
useful one, and he ought to be remembered, if for nothing else, as the
one whose sufferings led to the final abolition of flogging in the
British Army. He died at Toronto, under painful circumstances, in 1885.
Returning to the United States after this
sad record of a Canadian litterateur's career, we take up a beautiful,
lovable Christian life, the life of one who was a man of letters and at
the same time a hard-working and devoted minister of the Gospel. This
was Robert Turnbull, who for twenty--four years was minister of the
First Baptist Church at Hartford, Conn. He was born, in 1809, at
Whitburn, Linlithgowshire, and graduated at Edinburgh University. He
studied theology under Dr. Chalmers, and, becoming convinced of the
truth of the doctrine of immersion, he became a Baptist, and, after
being admitted to preach, he traveled a good deal through Scotland and
England, occupying such pulpits as chance directed. In 1833 he emigrated
to America, and, after brief pastorates in Danbury, Detroit, Hartford,
and Boston, he returned to Hartford and spent there the active years of
his life. For a long period Mr. Turnbull was joint editor of "The
Christian Review." He edited an edition of Sir William Hamilton's
"Discussions in Philosophy," and wrote several works worthy of a better
fate than the neglect which has apparently- overtaken them. In 1851 he
resigned his pastorate and served as Secretary of the Connecticut
Baptist State Convention, filling in his time with literary work, and
preaching in various places as occasion offered. His closing years were
full of peace and hope, a beautiful sunset, and his death at Hartford,
in 1877, was really for him a victory.
This is hardly the place to estimate the
value of Dr. Turnbull's religious writings from a purely theological
point of view, but the statements in all his books that come under that
class are so clearly laid down, their language is so precise, that even
a layman is never at a loss in following his arguments, while their
thoughts are ever impressive and elevated. Of his secular books, we
regard his "Genius of Scotland" as the best, possibly because national
prejudice may affect our judgment, possibly because we really feel that
he threw his whole heart into that particular work. We know no book
which somehow answers the home-cravings of the Scot abroad so well as
this, none that is more enthusiastic in its praise of the old land,
without running at the same time into platitudes of extravagance. There
is not a line in it that is not the result of observation or personal
reminiscence, its sentiments are always pure and exalted, and it not
only recalls the story of the land and describes its scenery and its
personages—historical or noteworthy—but every page seems bathed in that
spirit of poetry which has given to Scotland the title of "Land of
Song." The State of
Massachusetts has, as the historian of its share in the civil war,
William Scoular, a native of Kilbarchan. Born in that once quaint
village in 1814, Scoular settled in America in 1830, and for a time
worked at his trade of a calico printer. From that he drifted into
journalism, and from 1841 to 1847 was editor and pro-proprietor of the
Lowell "Courier." Then, for some five years, he resided in Boston as
editor and part proprietor of the "Daily Atlas." The years from 1853 to
1858 he spent in Ohio, mainly as one of the editorial staff of the
"Cincinnati Gazette." In 1857 he was chosen Adjutant General of Ohio,
and he was placed in the same office in Massachusetts after his return
to the Old Bay State, when he settled in Boston as editor of the "Atlas
and Bee." Four times he was elected to the Massachusetts House of
Representatives, and once was returned to the State Senate, and these
honors may fairly be regarded as indicative of his personal popularity
and of the trust reposed in him by his fellow-citizens. On leaving the
Adjutant General's office in 1866 he occupied himself mainly with the
compilation of his volumes on the "History of Massachusetts in the Civil
War," which were published at Boston in 1868 and 1871. Soon after the
completion of this important work, Mr. Scoular passed away—in 1872—at
Nest Roxbury, Mass.
An enthusiastic, kindly Scot, whose name, we
fear, will soon be barely remembered, was Robert Macfarlane, who for
seventeen years was editor of the "New York Scientific American," and
was the author of a treatise on "Propellers and Steam Navigation," which
was published in 1851 and was reprinted in 1854, and who edited Love's
"Treatise on the Art of Dyeing" for a Philadelphia concern in 1868. Such
works rarely bring a man much posthumous fame, and Mr. Mcfarlane's best
work really was done in the columns of the "Scottish-American Journal,"
to which he was for a long time a steady contributor. To its pages he
contributed a series of paper on the "Scot in America," and one on
"Scotland Revisited,'' which were read with delight wherever that
newspaper circulated. On Scottish history, manners, customs, and family
tradition he had a wonderful store of information, and he freely
communicated it as a cornmentary on anything that occurred to him in the
form of letters and articles, week after week, for many years. For a
long time Mr. Macfarlane carried on business as a dyer in Albany, and
while in that city was a "Scot of the Scots," and took a very active
interest in carrying on the work of its St. Andrew's Society. But the
climate of that good old Dutch town with a good old Scotch name did not
agree with his health, and his closing years were spent in pleasant
retirement in Brooklyn, where he died in 1883. He was born at Rutherglen
in 1812, and always used the name of his birthplace as a nom de plume in
his communications to the press. It seems a pity that a selection, at
least, of his writings has not been published. Such a volume would have
proved acceptable to many readers, and been the best monument that could
be raised to his memory. Peace be to his ashes. He sleeps in the
beautiful Rural Cemetery of Albany, with many a once well-kenned,
leaf-hearted Scot lying at rest around him.
A conspicuous illustration of how the Scot
can press upward from the humblest walks of life is afforded us by a
-lance at the career of the Rev. Prof. James C. Moffat of Princeton, who
died in that academic town on June 7, 1890. His father was a shepherd at
Glencree, and there the future teacher and author was born in 1811. His
first employment was as a shepherd's boy, and his education was scanty.
At sixteen years of age he apprenticed himself to a printer, as much for
the sake of being in a way to get access to books as for the
remuneration, although that, of course, was an important consideration.
He so well improved his time that in a few years he had attained
considerable mastery over Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French, German, and
other tongues. He had a special fondness for Oriental languages, and
made a particular study of that written and spoken in Persia. In 1833 he
emigrated to America and managed to enter Princeton College, where lie
graduated in 1835. After a year or two's experience as a tutor, Mr.
Moffat, in 1839, was appointed Professor of Classics in Lafayette
College. in 1841 he transferred his services to Miami University, Ohio.
While in that Commonwealth he was licensed to preach. In 1853 he
returned to Princeton as Professor. of Latin and History, and he held
various professorships in the college and Theological Seminary there
until he retired, in 1877.
Dr. Moffat was a poet, and had all the
delicate fancy, grace of language, and brilliancy and originality of
thought which mark the possessor of the essential qualities of a son of
song. His most ambitious essay, "Alwyn, a Romance of Study," is
handicapped by its title and the fact that the current taste does not
favor a serious work—a work extending through seven long cantos. Still,
it is a really meritorious poem, a work deserving of study, and one that
is certain to hold the attention of any reader with the slightest taste
for poetry who fairly enters into its spirit. An earlier poem, "A Rhyme
of the North Countrie," is more of a story, and some of its
passages—notably those descriptive of arctic scenes—are equal to
anything which is to be found in American poetic literature. Some of Dr.
Moffat's shorter pieces, especially those of a religious cast, have been
very popular and been reprinted over and over again in various forms.
But it is as a prose writer that Dr. Moffat
claims attention in this place. In 1853 he published at Cincinnati a
memoir of Dr. Chalmers, a good piece of literary workmanship, inasmuch
as it tells its story completely and evinces a thorough knowledge and
appreciation of the subject's character and of the principles which
governed and directed his career. His lest-known work is his
"Comparative History of Religions," in two volumes. In this he brings to
bear his profound scholarship, his keen logical analytical spirit, and
exemplifies in every page his desire to be just—to maintain his
self-appointed position as a judge—without at the same time sacrificing
one iota of his own convictions. Indeed, the work tends to show the
correctness of these convictions and demonstrate the truth and
inspiration of the faith consecrated at Calvary. As a mere compendium of
the leading points in the various beliefs treated, the work holds a
valuable place in religious literature. Its statements are everywhere to
be relied upon, and the concise and clear form in which they are
presented make the volumes of value not only to the student, but to the
general reader. In 1874 Dr. Moffat published an account of a ramble
through Scotland, a work which was read with much interest by his
countrymen in America. It was another delightful tribute to the
motherland from a Scot abroad, and is to a great extent written in the
manner of Dr. Turnbull's "Genius of Scotland." The spirit which prompted
both books and is felt throughout their pages is certainly the same.
An industrious worker in Scottish
literature, and especially in the field of Burns literature, is John D.
Ross, LL. D., of Brooklyn. Dr. Ross was born at Edinburgh in 1853, and
settled in New York in his twentieth year. his first volume was a
collection of "Celebrated Songs of Scotland," an extensive work,
copiously annotated, and soon after appeared an interesting volume on
"The Scottish Poets in America," to which the present writer has been
under considerable obligation in connection with these pages. A volume
containing a selection of poems by various authors, entitled "Round
Burns's Grave," next attracted attention on both sides of the Atlantic,
and speedily ran through two editions. Since 1892 Dr. Ross has published
an annual volume of "Burnsiana," an invaluable work to lovers of
Scotia's great bard, and he has also issued a number of other books
having the "high priest of Scottish song" as their theme. Besides his
book work, Dr. Ross is a regular contributor to many American
newspapers. Another volume on Scottish poets in America will also appear
soon from his pen, and he seems inclined to make a complete study of the
writers who can come under that head.
Among men of letters, newspaper writers are
surely entitled to a place, even although their work, being mainly
anonymous, passes away with the fleeting hour and be-conies at hest only
a memory, like the impersonation of life and character on the stage. The
American newspaper press owes a great deal to the labors of Scotsmen,
and they are to be found in all ranks, from the case to the sanctum.
They have had a full share of the prizes in the profession, too, and in
the United States and Canada have been numerous enough and prominent
enough to encourage the hope that in the near future some one will make
a special study of their lives and writings and influence.
In this work we cannot
even pretend to do justice to the claims of this vast army, and must
rest contented with adducing a few instances to indicate its extent and
place in the history of the literature of the continent.
The trouble is to know where to draw the
line that Separates the plan. of letters from the newspaper man pure and
simple. In fact, it cannot really be drawn, for the true newspaper mall
is a ubiquitous sort of fellow, and has the knack of bobbing up and
sailing to the front in all sorts of directions.
The late James Lawson of Yonkers is a case
in point. He might, with justice, have been given a place among the
poets or among the business men as in connection with the newspaper
workers, yet his long connection with the press of Yew York would seem
to warrant newspaperdom as being the sphere which really prompted all
his other work and dictated the leading events in his long and honorable
career. Mr. Lawson was born at Glasgow in 1799, and settled in New York
in 1815. In 1827, after a thorough apprenticeship in commercial
pursuits, he turned his thoughts toward literary work, and became one of
the founders of the now long-defunct "Morning Courier " of New York. Two
years later he retired from this publication and joined the forces of
the "Mercantile Advertiser," in which he (lid some of his best work.
After several years, Mr. Lawson re-enlisted in business, and as an agent
for marine insurance became widely known and implicitly trusted by the
merchants of the city. But newspaper work continued his amusement, and
almost till the end of his career, in 1880, he was a constant
contributor of news, criticisms, essays, and poems to the press of New
York. his fugitive poems were gathered together in 1857 in a volume
intended mainly for private circulation, and in 1859 he printed his most
ambitious and important work, a tragedy under the title of "Lidderdale;
or, The Border Chief." So far as we know, it was never acted, and it
seems to us rather a composition to be read than to be placed on the
stage. This is singular, considering that Mr. Lawson made the theatre a
special sturdy for )rears. A play written in early life—"Giordano"—was
placed on the boards of the old Park Theatre in 1832, or thereabout, but
proved a failure, mainly because the poet predominated over the
platy-wright in the composition of the work.
The most conspicuous example of the
newspaper man pure and simple in the history of American journalism was
undoubtedly James Gordon Bennett, who was born at New Mill, near Keith,
in 1795. Possibly the life of un American newspaper man has been so
often and so completely told or is more generally known among people who
take an interest in biographical writings. He received his education at
a Roman Catholic institution is Scotland, his parents being of that
faith. In 1819 he began life in the New World at Halifax, N. S., as a
teacher. A few months' trial of this work proved disappointing, and,
proceeding to Poston, Mr. Bennett secured employment as a proofreader,
and also tried to establish a reputation as a poet. After a brief
experience in Charleston as a journalistic writer he settled in New
York, and newspaper work became the business of his life. He became a
typical Bohemian, owning, a short-lived sheet at one time, and at others
picking tip a living as a reporter and space writer, excepting for a
brief experience as an editorial writer. The man, by these changes and
ups and downs, was really serving his apprenticeship, and it was only
completed when, on May 6, 1835, he issued from a cellar in Wall Street
the first number of the "New York Herald." Most of the earlier issues
were written mainly by himself, and he infused his vitality into every
line. The history of that newspaper belongs to the history of American
progress—of American civilization, it may he said. It was from the first
a medium of news, and the enterprise shown in obtaining intelligence of
every description earlier than did any other sheet, the striking
arrangement of the news matter. and the sacrifice of merely literary
style to get a story before the reader without loss of time and in the
most interesting manner possible soon made it the most-talked about
newspaper on the continent. As his means progressed and opportunities
arose, Mr. Bennett seemed to develop in enterprise and liberality and in
the keenness of his foresight for news. He dropped, apparently, all
desire to be recognized as a man of letters, and his ambition was to be
known as the editor of the greatest and most talked of American
newspaper, and that ambition lie fully realized long before his death,
in 1872. Foremost
in the ranks of Canadian journalism was George Brown of Toronto, editor
of the "Globe," and a statesman who occupied a prominent place in the
councils of his party, and for years was a power in the politics of the
Dominion. He inherited most of his journalistic ability from his father,
Peter Brown, of Edinburgh, who was once engaged in business in that city
as a bookseller. Financial reverses induced the latter to leave Scotland
in 1838, and, settling in New York with his family, he became editor of
the "Albion," then and for a long time after the recognized organ of
British thought and interests in America. After four years of this work,
the "Albion" then being the property of Dr. Bartlett, British Consul at
New York, Mr. Brown started an opposition sheet, "The British
Chronicle." The "Albion," however, was too powerful and popular to be
then easily crushed—indeed, it long after died a lingering death of pure
inanition—Mr. Brown had not sufficient capital to sink into his
enterprise to insure its success, and after some eighteen months of
existence it quietly passed away. In 1843 the family moved to Toronto,
and Mr. Brown became editor of a weekly paper called "The Banner," then
started under the auspices of the Free Church Party in Canada. He died
in that city, in 1863.
George Brown was born at Edinburgh in 1821,
went with his father and the rest of the family to Toronto and became
the publisher, and was regarded as proprietor of the "Banner," of which
Mr. Peter Brown was editor. That office did not afford him much scope
for his energies, and his opportunity came in April, 1844, when the
first number of the "Globe" was issued as the organ of the Reform Party
in Canadian politics. Under his direction it became one of the leaders
of public sentiment throughout the country. Mr. Brown aimed to make the
"Globe" a perfect mirror of the world's news, and he accomplished his
aim. As a mere newspaper it soon held a high rank in contemporary
journalism, and its wide circulation showed that its merits as such were
fully appreciated by the public to whose wants it catered. But it is
questionable if it could have attained the influence it long afterward
enjoyed—and still enjoys—had not George Brown personally obtained a
prominent voice in the councils of his party. In that respect his career
really belongs to the history of Canada, and need not be dwelt upon
here, except to state that he was a member of Parliament from 1851 till
1861, and was so much recognized as the leader of his party that he was
asked, in 1858, to form a Ministry, with himself as Premier, and did so,
although his Ministry was a short-lived one—lasting only two days. Mr.
Brown continued to direct the destinies of the "Globe"—"The Scotsman's
Bible," it was often called—until his death in Toronto, in 1880. In that
city a statue has since been erected to his memory.
Another conspicuous example of the intimate
union of journalism and politics in Canada was John Neilson, who was
born at Balmaghie, Kirkcudbrightshire, in 1770, and became editor, in
1797, of the "Quebec Gazette." In 1818 he was elected a member of the
Quebec Assembly, and was at one time Speaker of that body. In 1840 he
sat in the Canadian Parliament, and exerted an active influence in
public affairs until his death, at Quebec, in 1848. A mach less
satisfactory, and far more stormy and disappointing career, was that of
John Lesslie, a Dundee man, who died at Eglinton, Ontario, in 1885. He
settled in Canada in 1820, when only eleven years of age, and for over
ten years prior to 1854 was editor and proprietor of the "Toronto
Examiner," which ultimately was purchased by Mr. George Brown and
incorporated with the "Globe." The quieter, but none the less useful,
aspects of Canadian journalistic lives are well represented by such
careers as those of Mr. George Pirie, editor of the "Guelph Herald," who
was born at Aberdeen, in 1799, and died at Guelph, in 1870, and of
Thomas McQueen, editor of the "Huron Signal," a native of Ayrshire, who
died at Goderich, in 1861, in his fifty-eighth year. Both these men had
poetic tastes, both gave at least one volume of Poetry--poetry of more
than average quality—to add to the wealth of Canadian literature, and
both were distinguished throughout their lives for their enthusiasm on
every matter pertaining to the land of their birth.
But this theme of Scottish-American
journalism, as we contemplate it, seems really inexhaustible, and,
gratifying as it is to our natural pride, we must content ourselves with
closing the record with the few, but representative, names so far
adduced. We would
like to enlarge upon the careers of the two Swintons—William and John—of
New York, of John Dougall of Montreal, of Whitelaw Reid of New York, of
George Dawson of Albany, of Andrew McLean of Brooklyn, of Donald
Morrison, once of Toronto and afterward of New York; of Dr. A. M.
Stewart, editor and owner of the New York "Scottish American," and a
galaxy of other names which are more or less prominent in the history of
American newspapers, past and present, but the subject is too
interesting to form the close of a chapter, and with this brief mention
or acknowledgment we must leave it. Surely, in view of what has been
written, it will be acknowledged that Scotsmen have at least done their
full share in shaping and building up the literature and thought of the
New Hemisphere! |
