lrvlnp\ Da.vidL
tt . e\ >
THE
LIVES
OF THE
SCOT!
WITH
$reiumnat$ Btortattons
ON THE
LITERARY HISTORY OF SCOTLAND,
AND THE
EARLY SCOTISH DRAMA.
BY DAVID IRVINE, L. L. D.
ii
VOLUME II. ^ "
I1
,fc
3
EDINBURGH:
i'CBLISHED BY OLIVER 8c BO YD, NETHERBOW, 1810,
PR
THE
LIFE
GAVIN DOUGLAS.
CORRECTIONS.
P. 137. 1. 19. On reconsulting Lord Hailes's catalogue, I find that Dr Mackenzie has confounded two persons of the name of Henry Balnaves. They were successively distinguished by the title of Hallhill j and may be supposed to have stood in the relation of father and son,
1 60. 2. For Christan read Christen.
280. 19. For any read are.
298. 2. After of insert the.
309. 9. For Crawford-moor read Crawford.
311. 2. For Christiana read Christian.
353* J3* For Bellay read Bellie.
356*' *7» Instead of Camphire, Mr Good ought perhaps to have written Campvere. He has transfi- gured several other proper names ; and I find that I have occasionally followed him without a sufficient degree of circumspection,
356. last. For Wiirzbur read Wiirzburg.
365. i. For at Enzie in Fouchabers read near Foch- abers.
365. 13. For Enzie read Fochabers.
VOL, II. 3
THK
LIFE
OF
GAVIN DOUGLAS.
1 HE life of Bishop Douglas was virtuous and eventful. His political consequence has intro- duced his name ^into the public annals of his native country : and the intrinsic dignity of his private character is commemorated in simple terms by his official Alexander Myln a.
Gavin Douglas was the third son of Archibald Earl of Angus, and of Elizabeth, the daughter of Robert Lord Boyd, a nobleman who for some time held the office of high chamberlain b. He appears to have been born about the year one
a Alexander Myln was Canon and Official of Dunkeld, and afterwards Abbot of Cambuskenneth, and the first President of the College of Jus- tice. His unpublished work entitled Vita: Episcoporum Dunfaldeimum may be found in the Advocates Library. This work is dedicated to Bishop Douglas and the chapter of Dunkeld. . b Crawford's Lives of the Officers of State, p. 315*
VOL. II A
thousand four hundred and seventy-four. His education was undoubtedly suitable to his noble birth, and to the honourable profession for which he was destined ; but the seriiinary in which he completed his studies has not been mentioned by any of his biographers.
Having entered into holy orders, he was ap- pointed Rector of Hawick0. His early residence amid the beautiful scenes of Teviotdale must have tended in an eminent degree to foster in his warm imagination the genuine seeds of original poetry. The dormant energies of the human mind are at first awakened by external objects.
As early at least as the year 1509 he was, on the recommendation of his sovereign, nominated Provost of the Collegiate Church of St Giles in Edinburgh d. This was a situation of no small dignity and emolument : and he appears to have enjoyed it in conjunction with his other benefice.
It was while he filled those less elevated sta- tions that he composed the admirable works which have perpetuated his name. His family was afterwards exposed to many vicissitudes : and the latter part of his life, notwithstanding his eminent piety and learning, was rendered
c Sage, Mackenzie, and Keith, on the alleged authority of Myln, have styled him Rector of Heriot. But on consulting the MS. I find him de- nominated " Rector de Havich."
d Keith's Catalogue of the Bishops of Scotland, p. 57.
unquiet by the pernicious feuds which at that time prevailed.
His father, who is commonly denominated the Great Earl of Angus, followed the standard of his sovereign James the Fourth when he invaded England : but finding his prudent counsels dis- regarded, he excused himself on account of his advanced age, and returned towards his native country c. His two eldest sons, George Master of Angus, and Sir William Douglas of Glen- bervie, with about two hundred gentlemen of the same name, were slain in the fatal battle of Flodden. This calamity to the nation in gene- ral, and to his own family in particular, made so deep an impression on his heart, that having re- tired to St Mains in Galloway, he died there within the space of twelve months f. His title and estates were inherited by Archibald, the son of the late Master of Angus. This young noble- man, whose personal attractions stood unrivalled in the Scotish court, had the fortune to obtain the regard of the widowed queen ; and their nuptials^were solemnized within a shorter period than the rules of decorum require g. The match,
e The Earl of Angus was at. that time provost of Edinburgh. From the Records of the Town Conncil, as quoted by Mr Sibbald, it appears that on the thirtieth of September, 1513, his son Gavin Douglas was chosen a burgess, " pro communi bona villse, gratis." (Chronicle of Scot- tish Poetry, vol. i. p. 423.)
f Hume's Hist, of the House of Douglas, p. 235.
S Buchanan. Rerum Scotic. Hist. p. 255. edit. Ruddiman. A2
4
which had been secretly concluded without the concurrence of the nobles, excited general indig- nation. The queen was no longer willingly ac- knowledged as regent : the preeminence of her husband had rendered him odious in the eyes of the nlore powerful subjects ; and the house of Douglas was involved in the persecutions which his aggrandizement provoked.
Among the warlike churchmen who fell in the battle of Flodden, was the king's natural son Alexander Stewart, Archbishop of St Andrews, and Abbot of Aberbrdthock. In a letter addrest to Pope Leo the Tenth, the queen, after extolling Gavin Douglas as second to none in learning and virtue, earnestly requested that he might be con- firmed in the possession of that abbacy, till his singular merits should be rewarded by some more ample endowment11. After the death of Stewart, William Elphinston, Bishop of Aberdeen, had been nominated to the vacant see of St Andrews : but his modesty or infirmities inducing him to de- cline this splendid station 'l, the queen afterwards presented Douglas to the primacy. Confiding in the royal nomination, the splendour of his fa- mily, and his own virtue and learning, he took possession of the archiepiscopal castle : but the validity ^of his claims was efficaciously disputed
fc Epistolse Regum Scotorum, vol. i. p. 183.
i Boethii Aberdonensium Episcoporum Vitae, f. xxxiii. a. Leslaeus de Rebus Gestis Scotorum, p. 356.
by two powerful rivals. These were John Hep- burn, Prior of St Andrews, and Andrew Forman, Bishop of Murray in Scotland, and Archbishop of Bourges in France. The former having pre- vailed on the canons to elect him to the see, laid siege to the fortress ; and after some resistance, expelled the servants of his competitor j. The Earl of Angus, attended by a party of two hun- dred horse, made an unsuccessful attempt to re- gain the castle k : but it is not apparent that his uncle had instigated him to this measure. In the mean time, Andrew Forman, an unprincipled ecclesiastic of address and influence, who had formerly been employed in many important ser- vices, found means to obtain from the pope a grant of the archbishopric of St Andrews, the abbacies of Dunfermline and Aberbrothock, and the other benefices lately enjoyed by Alexander Stewart l . It was a privilege granted by the so- vereign pontiff, that, within the space of eight months after a vacancy occurred, the kings of Scotland should retain the' power of presenting qualified persons to benefices exceeding a certain annual value m. This right however was often superseded : and in the present instance, his Ho-
j Buchanan. Rerum Scotic. Hist. p. 256. K Pinkerton's Hist, of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 1x4. i Epistolze Regum Scotorum, vol. i. p. 269. & Ibid. vol. i. p. 197.
liness was pleased to invalidate the claim of Doug- las as well as of Hepburn.
Douglas, inspired with the genuine spirit of Christian moderation, immediately resolved to abandon the pursuit of an object which could on- ly be attained by engaging in acts of unbecoming violence. To this exemplary virtue the conduct of his arrvbitious rivals forms a striking contrast. Forman being afraid to proclaim the papal bull, prevailed upon Lord Hume to undertake the sup- port of his cause ; and by the influence of that nobleman, was enabled to march to Edinburgh accompanied by ten thousand men in arms. Having there performed the ceremony, they im- mediately directed their course towards St An- drews in order to secure the possession of his new dignity. Hepburn was not unprepared for his re- ception : surrounded by his friends, tenants, and servants, he had placed the castle in a posture of defence ; and, not satisfied with that precaution, had even converted the metropolitan church into a fortress, ready to withstand the approach of a prelate nominated by the successor of St Peter". Forman being unwilling to hazard an attack, was enabled by the mediation of his friends to draw the contest to a more amicable conclusion. It was stipulated that he should be put in quiet pos- session of the archbishopric of St Andrews, and
n Lindsay's History of Scotland, p. 191.
that his competitor should derive an annual sum from the bishopric of Murray t and should also re- tain the revenues which he had already levied from the former diocese0.
Douglas was thus excluded from a participation of the emoluments : and, to complete the measure of his disappointments, the abbacy of Aberbro- thock, which he had regarded as secure, was transferred to James Beaton, Archbishop of Glas- gow1". By these violent and unjust measures, his hopes of immediate preferment were rendered abortive. The death of George Brown, Bishop of Dunkeld, presented him with new prospects, and exposed him to new mortifications. That pre- late dying in January, 1515, the queen nomi- -nated Douglas to the vacant see ; and, by the in- terposition of her brother Henry the Eighth, ob- tained a papal bull in his favour. In the mean time however Andrew Stewart, through the in- fluence of his brother the Earl of Athole, had been elected postulate bishop by the chapter : and he manifested a determination to retain by force of arms the precarious possession which he had thus acquired in a clandestine manner. The enemies of the queen eagerly embraced an opportunity of exposing to disgrace a man so nearly related to her husband. Douglas was summoned before his pro- per judges, and arraigned for having, contrary to
0 Buchanan. Reruni Scotic. Hist. p. 157.
P Leslseus de Rebus Gestis Scotonun, p, 364.
the laws of the realm, procured bulls from Rome. This practice had indeed been prohibited in se- veral statutes ; but the existing laws were very rarely carried into execution. The hostile faction were however eager to grasp at every opportuni- ty of circumscribing the influence of those who were interested in supporting the Earl of Angus : and as they contemplated the superior talents of his uncle with a jealous eye, the present seemed a favourable occasion for depriving him of the power of exertion. Sentence of banishment was accordingly pronounced against him : but his pu- nishment appears to have been afterwards molli- fied into imprisonment of an indefinite term. He was first committed to the custody of his former rival Hepburn, and confined in the castle of St Andrews. Having remained there for some time, he was removed to the castle of Edinburgh, and afterwards to that of D unbar, whence he was again conducted to Edinburgh.
A reconciliation having at length, taken place between the two leading factions, he was released after a confinement of upwards of twelve months. He was consecrated at Glasgow by Archbishop Beaton ; who defrayed the necessary expences attending the ceremony. Having paid a visit to the metropolitan city of St Andrews, he proceed- ed towards Dunkeld. Here the clergy and laity testified the utmost joy at his arrival, and offered up their thanks to heaven for bestowing upon
9
them a bishop so noble, so learned, and so virtuous. The pope's bull being with the usual solemnities proclaimed at the high altar, he retired to the house of the dean, where he was splendidly en- tertained. The episcopal palace was still occu- pied by the retainers of Andrew Stewart : they declared that they held it in the name of the re- gent, and would not surrender it without orders from their master. The bishop, finding next day that they had also garrisoned the steeple of the cathedral, was under the necessity of performing divine service in the house where he lodged. Here also the customary oaths were administered to his canons. In the afternoon he entered into a con- sultation with the nobility, gentry, and clergy, who attended him : but they were speedily in- terrupted by the intelligence that Stewart was advancing to the support of his adherents. At the same instant a volley of -^fcnnon-shot was dis- charged from the palace and the cathedral. This was received as a signal for more vigorous exer- tion. James Lord Ogilvie, David Master of Craw- ford, Colin Campbell of Glenorchy, Thomas Greig, Prebend of Alyth, with many others of his friends, immediately prepared themselves for action : and messengers being dispatched to Angus and Fife, his party was next day strengthened by the arri- val of a multitude of armed men. Stewart rind- ing his force inadequate to the relief of his re- tainers who were inclosed in the palace and ca- VOL, II, B
10
thedral, retired into the neighbouring woods with- out hazarding an attack. They were now sum- moned to surrender on pain of excommunication. On their refusing to yield, James Carmichael, with a detachment of the bishop's adherents, ob- tained' possession of the cathedral, partly by force and partly by stratagem. Those who defended the palace -being intimidated by this occurrence, demanded that for the space of a few hours a truce might be granted, find the sentence of ex- communication suspended. Having obtained this request, they still persisted in their refusal to surrender : but at length, through the interference of the regent V.Douglas gained possession with- out the effusion of blood1". This circumstance " was certainly very acceptable to the good bishop, who in all the actions of his life discover- ed a gentle and merciful disposition, regulating the warlike and heroic spirit that was natural to his family by the excellent laws of the Christian religion8."
After these events Stewart hastened to court, accompanied by his brother the Earl of Athole. Douglas esteemed it prudent to follow his exam- ple : and their cause was immediately represented to the Duke of Albany and the Lords of the Council. It was at length agreed that Stewart
• 1 Epistolae RegunvScotorum, vol. i. p. 221.
* Myln, Vitas Episcoporum Dunkeldensium ; MS.
* Sage's Life of Bishop Douglas, p. 7.
11
should relinquish his pretensions to the see of Dunkeld, but should retain the revenues which he had already collected, and be confirmed in the possession of the churches of Alyth and C argil, on condition of yielding to the bishop a certain annual contribution of grain r. Such was the mode of establishing prelates in the sixteenth cen- tury !
Although sentence of banishment had been pronounced against Douglas for the crime of re- ceiving bulls from Rome, yet the regent did not scruple to apply to the pope for a ratification of this agreement. In a letter dated September 28, 1516, he entreats his Holiness that all defects of law or deed may be removed, and the contract rendered valid by his sanction11. '
Having thus obtained possession of the office, he was soon called from the discharge of its du- ties. In 1517, an ambassador arriving from the court of France with a proposition for the renew- al of the ancient league, the Duke of Albany, Bishop Douglas, and Patrick Panther, were ap- pointed to visit that country in the same capa- city. The negotiation being brought to a sa- tisfactory issue, Douglas was employed to con- vey the earliest intelligence to Scotland v.
c Myln, Vita: Episcoporum Dunkeldensium ; MS. u Epistolas Regum Scotorum, vol. i. p. aaz. v Leslaeus de Rebus Gestis Scotorum, p. 367. 371. Pipkerton's Hist, of Scotland, vol. ii. p. i6j.
B 2
His pastoral duties seem to have been again in- terrupted during some part of the following year. In the Cotton Library is an original letter signed by the Earl of Angus and others, and recommend- ing him to King Henry as a proper agent for ad- justing certain articles in contemplation w.
Though in this manner exposed to occasional distractions, he yet presided over his diocese with exemplary piety and virtue. The various trou- bles in which he was formerly involved had not only prevented him from accumulating riches, but had even encumbered him with debts : yet his native benevolence of disposition prompted him to perform many acts of charity and muni- ficence.
In the year 1520 he was presented with ano- ther opportunity of exercising his Christian meek- ness. When the regent was about to visit France, he delegated his authority to the Archbishops of St Andrews and Glasgow, and to the Earls of Arran, Angus, Argyle, and Huntley. The power of Angus however excited the apprehensions or the jealousy of his colleagues ; and they resolved with united force to diminish the influence of so dan^ gerous a rival. On the twenty-ninth of April, Arran with many others of the Western nobility assembled at Edinburgh in the house of Arch- bishop Beaton. They formed the immediate re-
w Pinkerton's List of the Scotish Poets, p. xcv«
13
solution of apprehending the Earl of Angus ; whose power, they alleged, was so exorbitant, that while he continued at large, the liberty of his fellow-subjects was insecure. When he was ap- prized of their hostile intentions, he dispatched the Bishop of Dunkeld to endeavour to mitigate their resentment, and persuade them to submit the cause to legal arbitration. But this proposal was addrest to men ferocious from their numbers, confident of victory, and thirsting for revenge Y He first accosted Beaton, whom he found in Black-Friars Church ; and entreated him to per- form his duty by assuming the character of a peace-maker. But the dissembling and turbulent prelate protested that he was at once ignorant of their designs, and unable to prevent them from being carried into execution. And sealing his asseveration with an oath, he made a solemn ap- peal to his conscience : but having too rashly struck his right hand against his breast, he dis- covered to his indignant companion that his cle- rical habit concealed a coat of mail. " My Lord,'* exclaimed Douglas, " I perceive your,, conscience is not good; for I hear it clatter." He next sought Sir Patrick Hamilton, and requested him to interpose with his brother the Earl of Arran. This gentleman seemed inclined to peaceable measures : but the earl's bastard son Sir James, a
* Buchanan. Rerum Scotic, Hist. p. 261.
man of a ferocious disposition, rudely upbraided him with cowardice. " Bastard smaik!" rejoin- ed Sir Patrick, «« thou liest falsely : I shall fight this day where thou dare not be seen." And having drawn his sword, he rushed furiously into the street, where the Earl of Angus and his re- tainers were standing in a posture of defence. Perceiving him advance at a considerable distance before the rest of the assailants, the earl called aloud to his followers to save Sir Patrick Hamil- ton's life : but that gentleman and the Master of Montgomery were immediately slain. A fierce encounter now commenced. The victory at length fell to the Earl of Angus, after seventy- two of his antagonists had perished in the con- test. During the action the pious bishop had re- tired to his chamber, and continued to pour out his soul in fervent prayer to the disposer of hu- man events. But when the enemies of his fami- ly were put to flight, he hastened to prevent the wanton effusion of blood. Beaton, who appears to have been personally engaged, had now taken refuge behind the altar of Black Friars Church ; but the sanctuary was without scruple violated by his enraged pursuers. The rochet was torn from his consecrated shoulders, and he had already be- gun to despair of his life, when Douglas inter- ceded so effectually in his behalf, that they with-
held, though with some reluctance, the medi- tated blowy.
Albany returned to Scotland in 1521, after an absence of upwards of four years. His first step was to reduce the overgrown power of the Douglasses. Angus and his principal adherents, being summoned to answer for the different out- rages which they had committed, fled for refuge to the Kirk of Steyle. Bishop Douglas, aware of the regent's contempt for justice, hastened to find an asylum in England2. He had been cit- ed to appear at Rome ; and, according to his own declaration, he intended to obey the ponti- fical mandate a. At the gorgeous court of Henry the Eighth, where his poetical talents had un- doubtedly procured him many admirers, he expe- rienced a most gracious reception : and his emi- nent merit, which in his native country had only procured him envy, was here rewarded by the grant of a liberal pension5. Various acts of mu- nificence evinced this monarch a patron of lite- rature : and it is with some justice that Erasmus represents his palace as the abode of learning0.
y Lindsay's History of Scotland, p. 188. — Lindsay refers this event to the year 1515; but our other historians, with greater probability, add five years to the number.
z Leslseus de Rebus Gestis Scotorum, p. 378.
a Pinkerton's Hist, of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 194.
b Holinshed's Chronicles, vol. iii. p. 872.
c " O vere splendidam vestra Britannise regiam, sedem et arcem cpt imonim studiorum ac virtutum ! Et vobis, mi Pacee, gratulor talem
16
But the fate of Surrey and of More, had he beerf free from other crimes, would have been sufficient to brand his name with everlasting infamy.
At London Douglas contracted a friendship with Polydore Virgil, who was then engaged in composing a history of England. The publica- tion of Mair's history of Scotland, in which he ventured to expose the Egyptian fables of his predecessors, had excited the indignation of such of his countrymen as delighted to trace their origin to the daughter of Pharaoh. Douglas was studious to warn his new friend against adopt- ing the opinions of this writer ; and presented him with a brief commentary in which he pur- sued the fabulous line of our ancestry from Athens to Scotland d. This tractate, which was
principem, et principi gratulor, cujus regnum tot ingeniorum luminibus illustratur."
ERASMI Epistolx, f. ii. a. Paris. 1525, 8vo.
d u Nuper enim," says Polydore Virgil, " Gavinus Douglas Donchel- densis episcopus, homo Scotus, virque summa nobilitate et virtute, nescio ob quam causam, in Angliam profectus, ubi audivit dedisse me jampridem ad historian! scribendam, nos convenit : amicitiam fecimus : postea summe rogavit, ut ne historiam paulo ante a quodam suo Scoto divulgatam se- querer, in rebus Scoticis explicar.di*; pollicitusque est, se intra paucosdies missurum commentariolum de his neutiquam negligendum, id quod et fecit." (Polydori Virgilii Anglica Historia, p. 52. edit. Basil. 1556, fol.) This writer has inserted the substance of the historical scheme which he received from Douglas. " Ego statim ut ista legi," he subjoins, " visus sum videre ursam parientem, quemadmodum in proverbio est. Post h^ec, ut solebamus, cum animi gratia una essemus, Gavinus sententiam meam rogavit. Respondi, me de origine nihil contendere, &c. Ab hac sen- tentia Gavinus vir sane honestus tarn minime abhorruit, ouam ratio ips* ei visa est cum verhate maxime consentire»"
17
probably written in Latin, seems to have shared the common fate of the writings entrusted to Polydore ; who in order to secure the faults of his work from the danger of detection, is said to have destroyed many invaluable monuments of antiquity6. Vossius affirms that Douglas wrote a history of Scotland consisting of several books f: but Bishop Bale, to whose authority he refers, only mentions a single bookg; and it is evident that the historical composition to which they, as well as Dempster11, allude, is the identical sum- mary quoted by Polydore Virgil.
While he was thus employed in vindicating what he deemed the honour of his native country, a process was in his absence instituted against him, and an unjust sentence of prescription
Polydore Virgil was a learned Italian who came to reside in England for the purpose of collecting the papal revenues. He was appointed Archdeacon of Wells ; and enjoyed his preferment till the accession of Edward the Sixth. Besides his history of England, a work of little esti- mation, he wrote a treatise De Prodigiis, and another De Rerum Inventories,
c Peacham's Compleat Gentleman, p. 51. edit. Lond. 1634, 4to.
Bishop Nicolson remarks that " he is said to have borrowed books out of the publick library at Oxford, without taking any care to restore them : Upon which the university (as they had good reason) declined lending any more, till forced to it by a mandate which he made a sL^ to procure from the king. In other places he likewise pillaged the libraries at his pleasure ; and, at last, sent over a whole ship-load cf manuscripts t« J^ome." (English Historical Library, p. 70.)
f Vossius de Historicis Latinis, p. 636.
S Balei Scriptores Britannix, cent. xiv. p. 218.
h Dempster. Hist. Ecclesiast. Gent. Sector, p. 21 r.
VOL. TT. C
18
issued in the name of the king and the three estates. Its tenor is as follows :
" Whereas Gavin Douglas, Bishop of Dunkeld, not only without the permission and licence of the King's Grace, his tutor the governor of the kingdom, and the three estates of the realm, but even contrary to the express command of the said governor, has entered England with an intention to remain there, and, after the declaration of war against that nation, has devoted himself to the service of the English monarch, for the purpose, as may be conjectured from manifest indications, of betraying this kingdom ; by which conduct he has infringed the parliamentary statutes enacted against the crime of high treason : and in order that no indulgence may be granted to those who by such unwarrantable proceedings render them- selves guilty of rebellion : it is hereby enacted, that a royal mandate be issued to the Vicar General of St Andrews, the metropolitan see being at this time vacant, commanding him, as ordinary of the foresaid bishop, to sequestrate the revenues of the cathedral of Dunkeld ; and that none of the lieges, under pain of being held guilty of trea- son, shffi afford the foresaid bishop pecuniary aid, or maintain with him any correspondence either by letters or messengers. And since the interest of a private individual ought not to be more prevalent with our most holy master the pope and his sacred conclave of cardinals, than
the sincere devotion of the King's Grace, his illus- trious tutor, and the three estates of the realm, it is hereby decreed by the advice of the said estates, that a letter shall be addrest to our most holy master the pope, beseeching him that he will not, contrary to the privileges of this realm formerly granted by the sovereign pontiffs, nomi- nate or recommend the traitor Gavin Douglas to the archbishopric of St Andrews and the abbacy of Dunfermline, or to either of those benefices. And lest that letter should be deemed the mere suggestion of private sentiment, another to the same effect shall be written by the said three estates of the realm, and delivered along with the present proclamation under the great seal of the King's Grace1."
Beaton, being determined at all hazards to secure the archbishopric of St Andrews and the abbacy of Dunfermline, each the most ample en- dowment of its kind, reflected that in Douglas he might experience a powerful competitor : and in order to blast the reputation of the man who had formerly saved his life, he, as chancellor of the realm, addressed a letter to the King of Den- mark, in which he besought him to represent Douglas to the sovereign pontiff as a person alto- gether unworthy of his favour or protection j, The various artifices which were thus employed
i Epistolae Regura Scotorura, vol. i. p. 328. j Ibid. vol. i. p. 333.
20
against him, serve to evince that a very high opi- nion had been formed of his personal character. Whether he had actually presented himself as a candidate for those vacant offices, is not suffici- ently evident ; but it is at least certain that his enemies dreaded the result of an application from such a competitor*
Their ungenerous expedients were however superfluous. In 1522, when he was probably in the forty-eighth year of his agek, he was seized with the plague, and soon fell a victim to its dreadful contagion l. He died in London, and was interred in the Savoy Church on the left side of Thomas Halsay, Bishop of Leighlin in Ireland; whose mo- nument also contained a short inscription of Doug- las's name and addition"1. The character which he left behind him was that of " a man learned, wise, and given to all virtue and goodness"."
To the splendour of his birth and the comeliness of his person, Douglas united every virtue and every accomplishment which could adorn the
k According to Hume's calculation, he had reached the forty-sixth year of his age in 1520. (Hist, of the Hcuse of Douglas, p. 246.) Several writers have placed his death in 1521 : but this disagreement may have arisen from their different modes of computation. At that time, the year commenced on the twenty-fifth day of March. Others have inad- vertently referred his death to the year 1530. (Stillingfleet's Antiquities of the British Cburcues, p. Iv.)
1 Polydori Virgili: Anglica Historia, p. 53. Hume's Hist, of the House of Douglas, p. 220.
1)1 Weever's Ancient Funeral Monuments, p. 446.
n Spotswood's Hist, of the Church of Scotland, p. ior=
21
citizen or the minister of religion. In an age of turbulence and discord, his conduct was uniformly directed by the rules of Christian moderation. He was connected, by the ties of interest as well as of affection, with a powerful and factious fami- ly which had often shaken the unstable throne of the Stewarts : yet instead of cooperating in their unwarrantable designs, he invariably de- ported himself with that meekness which ought always to distinguish the character of the man who devotes himself to the service of the altar, Lesley has inconsiderately charged him with mingling in the tumults of those unhappy times. The only commotion in which he is recorded to have been personally engaged, was that which attended his instalment in the bishopric of Dun- keld ; but it is evident that on his part the con- test was unpremeditated, and arose from the powerful principle of self-defence. Buchanan, with equal incorrectness, affirms that he was re- strained by the languor of old age from interfer- ing in the bloody encounter wfyich took place between the Earls of Arran and Angus. At that time he had only reached the forty-sixth year of his age ; a period of life by no means unfavour- able to the exertion of military prowess. With the fortitude incident to a great mind, he sub- mitted to the numerous disappointments and mortifications which thwarted him in the career of preferment. And when he at length obtained
an accession of power, he never sought to avenge the wrengs to which he had formerly been ex- posed. His character as a politician appears to have commanded the reverence of his country- men : and in the discharge of his duty as a Christian pastor, he exhibited a model of prim- aeval purity. By his exemplary piety and learning, by his public and private acts of charity and munificence, he reflected distin- guished honour on the illustrious family from which he descended, and on the sacred profession to which he had devoted his honourable life.
Of the brightest character however, some stain will always be found to tarnish the lustre. In an evil hour he had infringed the laws of chastity0:
0 Hume informs us that he " had a base daughter, of whom the house of Foulewood ^Semple) is descended." (Hht* of the House of Doughs, p. aao.)
The eulogies which Lesley and Buchanan have pronounced on Douglas are of too much importance to be overlooked by his biographer. " fiic vir," says the learned Bishop of Ross, "si se his tumultibus non immis- cuisset, dignus profecto fuisset propter ingenii acumen acerrimum, ac eru- ditionem singularem, qui omnium literis ac memoria consecraretur. Nos- tram linguam multis eruditionis suze monumentis illustravit ; in quibus illud fuerat ingenii sui signum longe prseclarissimum, quod Virgilii ./Eneidos nostro idiomate donavit ea dexteritate, ut singulis Latinis versibus singuli Scotici respondeant ; eo sententiarum pondere, ut nostrjE linguae si intel- ligas vim occultam mireris ; ea denique felicitate, ut nullam ego antiquo-, rum poetarum lauream cum ejus in hoc genere laude facile comparem : quippe quo videtur nostra lingua asperior, ac ab ea copia qua Latinam commendat, aiienior, e,6 fuit Douglasii laus reliquis Latinis poetis illus- trior, quod in Virgilio vertendo versuum suavitatem, sententiarum pon- dera, verborum significationes, ac singulorum pene apicum vim nostf a lingua plene enudeateque expresserit." (Lesheus De Rebus Gtsfis Scotoruta, p. 37*.)
23
but it is to be supposed that he was not then in- vested with the priestly habit. At the same time let it be remembered that, according to the sentiments of the age, transgressions of this kind were entitled to unbounded indulgence, whether they appeared among the clergy or the laity. Patrick Hepburn, Bishop of Murray, had two sons legitimated in one day, and five daughters in another13.
Of the works of Douglas no impression is known to have been undertaken during his own life. His Police of Honour was printed at Lon- don in 1553 by William Copland; and at Edin- burgh in 1579 by John Ross for Henry Charters. Both these editions are in quarto. It is probable that there are others which have not hitherto been discovered : for the Edinburgh publisher
Buchanan's testimony in favour of a Popish prelate cannot be suspect- ed of partiality. " Is, proximo anno, dum Romam proficiscitur, Londini peste correptus obiit, magno suae virtutis apud bonos desiderio relicto. Prater enim natalium splendorem et corporis dignitatem, erant in eo multae, ut illis temporibus, literae, summa temperantia, et singularis animi moderatio, atque, in rebus turbulentis, inter adversas factiones, perpetua fides et auctoritas. Reliquit et ingenii et doctrinae non vulgaria monu- inenta sermone patrio conscripta." ^Buchanan. Rerum Scoticarum Hittoriat p. 262.)
P In an assembly of the clergy in the year 1558, we find Bishop Hep- burn pleading the cause of impurity. It was moved, says Lindsay, " that no kirk-man should commit whoredom ; or, if he did, for the first fault he should pay great sums of money ; for the second he should lose his benefice. To this act opponed the Bishop of Murray, a great fornicator and adulterer, alleging, that it was as lawful to him to keep his whore a? to the Bishop of St Andrews." ( History of Scotland^ p. 315.)
affirms " the divers impressiones befoir imprinted of this notabill werk to have bene altogidder faultie and corupt, not only that quhilk has bene imprentid at London, but also the copyis set furth of auld amangis our selfis." This work has lately been reprinted in the first volume of Mr Pinkerton's Scotish Poems \ and among the Select Works of Gawin Douglass, published at Perth in the year 1787. To this selection the Rev. Mr Scott has prefixed a life of the author. A quarto impres- sion of Douglas's translation of The Thretene Bukes of Eneados appeared at London in 1553. In the folio edition published at Edinburgh in 1710, the numerous errors of the former are carefully corrected from a MS. belonging to the public library of the university. To this edition, under- taken at the expence of Freebairn and Symson, an excellent glossary was contributed by Mr Ruddiman, and an elaborate life of the translator by the Rev. John Sageq, a man not destitute of ingenuity or of literature. Among the principal favourers of the design, the editor enumerates Bishop Nicolson, Sir Robert Sibbald, Dr Pitcairne, and Mr Urry. Douglas's King Hart was printed for the first time among Mr Pinkerton's Ancient Scotish Poems".
9 Chalmers, Life of Ruddiman, p. 45.
r Douglas is one of the interlocutors in a dialogue prefixed to Mair's Commcntarii in Primum et Secundum Sententiarum. Paris. Ijipjfol. Its title is as follows: "Dialogusde Materia Theologo Tractanda. Dialogu-"
THE works of Douglas exhibit specimens of varied excellence. Of literary perfection how- ever, if such a term may be adopted, our notions are not absolute but relative. This eulogy must therefore be understood to bear reference to a particular scale of merit : and a comparative estimate must be formed of the characters of dif- ferent ages, nations, and languages. Yet after every requisite indulgence is granted, the intrinsic beauty of his compositions will not fail of excit- ing the admiration of those whom a previous knowledge of the Scotish dialect has constituted judges. His writings present us with constant vestiges of a prolific and even exuberant imagi- nation ; and his very faults are those of super- abundance rather than of deficiency. In his descriptive poems, so admirable in many respects, he sometimes distracts the attention by a multi-
inter duos famatos viros, Magistrum Gauuinium Douglaiseum, virum non minus eruditum quam nobilem, Ecclesiaz Beati JEgidii Edinburgensis Prsfectum, et Magistrum Davidem Crenstonem, in Sacra Theosophia Bacculareum, optime meritum."— JVIair's Commentariut in Quartum Senten* liar um is inscribed to Gavin Douglas, and to R.obert Cock burn, Bishop of Ross.
Of David Cranston, who was perhaps related to William Cranston, the author of a Dialectics Compendium , the following quotation contains a brief account : " David Cranstoun, raras probitatis et felicii ' ;:enJ,dura et exercita juventute laboriose bonas artes Lutecia; didicii, ac deinde do- cuit magna fama. later benefactores Collegii Monti^acuti reponiturj quod qusecunque ex honestissimo labore professionis ilii obvenerant, tes-
tamento ejusdem loci pauperibus reliquit. Ab eo vidi publicatas
Parisiis, Orationes, lib. i. Votum ad Kentigernum, lib. i. Epistolas, lib. i.'* (Dempster. Hist. £cclesiast. Gent. Scotor. p. 187.)
VOL, II. D
plicity of objects, and is not sufficiently careful to represent each new circumstance in a definite and appropriate manner. His allegorical sketches are efforts of no common ingenuity : but what chiefly renders his works interesting, is the per- petual occurrence of those picturesque and cha- racteristic touches which can only be produced by a man capable of accurate observation and original thought. He is minute without tedious- ness, and familiar without impertinence. We are delighted with the writer, and become interested in the man. The beauties of external nature he seems to have surveyed with the eyes of a poet ; the various aspects of human life with those of a philosopher. Our attention is alternately attract- ed by picturesque descriptions of material ob- jects, and by pointed observations on the man- ners and pursuits of mankind.
To his inherent qualifications was superadded the necessary aid of scholastic discipline. He was perhaps the most learned of the early Scotish poets. The intimacy of his acquaintance with ancient literature was in that age rarely parallel- ed. His favourites among the heathen poets were apparently Virgil and Ovid : and among the Christian fathers his favourite was St Augustin, whom he denominates the chief of clerks. Of the Latin language his knowledge was undoubt- edly extensive : and as he has informed us that Lord Sinclair requested him to translate Homer.
we m,ay conclude that he was also acquainted with Greek. At present his secular learning is alone remembered; but Myln has informed us that he was likewise eminently skilled in theology and in the canon law.
His style is copious and impetuous : but his diction may be considered as deficient hi purity. In his translation of Virgil he professes to be scrupulous Jn rejecting Anglicisms : and indeed his language is generally remote from that of the English poets. But he has imported many exo- tic terms from another quarter ; his familiarity with the Latin authors betrays itself in almost every page of his writings. His verses, though less smooth and elegant than those of D unbar, are not unskilfully constructed. With regard to the quantity of syllables he has not displayed the same unbounded licentiousness as sometimes ap- pears in the writings of our ancient poets. In many of his lines deficiencies or redundancies may be discovered ; but they are commonly to be imputed to the inaccuracy of transcribers, or to our ignorance of the true mode of pronuncia- tion. What Mr Tyrwhitt has suggested in de- fence of the versification of Chaucer, may with equal propriety be applied to that of Douglas : " The great number of verses, sounding complete even to our ears, which is to be found in all the least corrected copies of his works, authorizes us to conclude, that he was not ignorant of the laws
D 2
28
of metre. Upon this conclusion it is impossible not to ground a strong presumption, that he in- tended to observe the same laws in many other verses which seem to us irregular ; and if this was really his intention, what reason can be assigned sufficient to account for his having failed so gross- ly and repeatedly as is generally supposed, in an operation which every ballad-monger in our days, man, woman, or child, is known to perform with the most unerring exactness, and without any ex- traordinary fatigue3?"
Douglas's King Hart, an allegorical poem of a singular construction, exhibits a most ingenious adumbration of the progress of human life, The heart, being the fountain of vital motion, is per- sonified as man himself, and conducted through a great variety of adventures. At first the mysti- cal king is presented to our view in all the fer- vour of youth, and surrounded by Strength, Warw tonness, and many other gay companions,
King Hart into his cumlie castell strang, Closit about with craft and mcikill ure,
So seimlie wes he set his folk amang, That he no dout had of misaventure *, So proudlie wes he polist, plaine, and pure,
With youtheid and his lustie levis grene j So fair, so fresche, so liklie to endure,
And als so blyth as bird in symmer schene.
s Tyrwhitt's Essay on the Language and Versification of Chaucer,
29
For wes he never yit with schouris schot,
Nor yit our run with ronk or ony rayne j In all his lusty lecam nocht ane spot,
Na never had experience into payne,
But alway into lyking mocht to layne : Onlie to love and verrie gentilnes
He wes inclynit cleinlie to remane, And woun under the wyng of wantownes.
Yit was this wourthy wicht king under ward 5
For wes he nocht at fredom utterlie : Nature had lymmit folk, for thair reward,
This gudlie king to governe and to gy ;
For so thai kest thair tyme to occupy : In welthis for to wyne for thai him teitchit 5
All lustis for to love and underly, So prevelie thai preis him and him preitchit.
These " inwarde ythand servitouris," are Strength, Wantonness, Jealousy, Gentility, Freedom, Pity, and other personages of the same motley deno- mination. In order to defend him against treason, five of his vassals, the senses, are placed at the outer-works of his castle. These however are sometimes guilty of betraying their master.
Honour arrives at the gate, and, on being de- nied admission by these watchmen, forces his pas- sage by means of an engine, and hastily ascends the great tower :
Honour persewit to the kingis yet :
Thir folk said all thai wald not lat him in j
Becaus thai said the lard to feist wes set, With all his lustle servands more and myn.
30
Eot he ane port had enterit with ane gyn, And up he can in haist to the grit toure 5
And said he suld it perall all with syn, And fresche delyt with money florist floure.
So strang this king him thocht his castel stude,
With mony toure and turrat crounit hie : About the wall their ran ane water voud,
Blak, stinkand, sour, and salt as is the sey ;
That on the wallis wiskit, gre be gre, Rolding to ryis the castell to confound :
JBot thai within maid sa grit melodic, That for thair reird thai micht not heir the sound.
At a small distance from the castle of King Hart stands the delightful palace of Plesance, " the quhilk wes parald all about with pryd." This fair queen is constantly attended by a troop of lovely nymphs^ among whom are Beauty, Freedom, Gentleness, Kindness, and Mirth. Hav- ing one day ridden into the fields with all her train, she happens to approach the habitation of the king. Alarmed at the unusual appearance, the day-watches hasten to inform their master. Youth, mounted on innocence, and Delight on benevolence, sally forth in order to reconnoitre ; but are dazzled and confounded by Beauty, the leader of Pleasure's vanguard. Fair-Calling seizes their steeds by the bridle, and, having conducted the two knights to her castle, binds them with the bands of Venus. King Hart, impatient for
31
their return, next dispatches Love, Wantonness, and others, on the same enterprize : but they be- ing also seized and detained, he rises in his wrath, and with all his comely host rushes to the war. Pleasure marshals her troops and stands prepared for the encounter. The forces of King Hart are defeated ; and he himself, being taken captive, is delivered to Beauty, in order to have the wound drest which he has received in battle from the hand of Queen Pleasure. But the more she ap- plies herself to its cure, the more his malady in- creases. The prisoners are now conducted to the palace of the victorious queen.
King Hart his castell levit hes full waist,
And Hevenes maid capitane it to keip. Radour ran hame, full fleyit, and forchaist,
Him for to hyde crap in the dungeoun deip.
Langour he lay upon the walls but sleip, But meit, or drink : the watche home he blew.
Ire was the portour, that full sayr can weip ; And Jelousy ran out j he wes never trew.
Having, under pretext of bringing tidings, fol- lowed his master to the castle of Pleasure, Jea- lousy there perceives Lust in fetters, and Love lying -bound with a block suspended from his neck. Youth walks at large,' and is always roam- ing to and fro. Desire lies in stocks at the door of a dungeon : Honesty possesses the power of preserving him from harm ; but Prodigality con- stantly attends him.
Discretioun wes as then hot young of age :
He sleipit with Lust quhairever he might him fin
And he agane wes crabbit at the page : Ane ladill full of luif, stude him behind, He suakit in his ene, and made him blinde.
The court of Pleasure is crowded with many other allegorical personages whom it would be tedious to enumerate.
Pity having at length released King Hart and his chivalry, they assault the queen and make themselves masters of her fortress. This enchant- ing nymph having cast herself on his courtesy, he is deeply smitten with her charms.
Freschlie to feist thir amouris folk, ar went : Blythnes wes first brocht bodwart to the hall :
Dame Chastetie, that selie innocent, For wo yeid wode, and flaw out owr the wall.
After they have rolled in ease and delight for upwards of twenty years, an event takes place which serves to estrange the affections of Pleasure.
A morrowing tyde, quhen at the sone so schene
Out raschit had his bemis frome the sky, Ane auld gude man befoir the yet was sene
Apone ane steid that raid full easalie.
He rappit at the yet, but curtaslie j Yit at the straik the grit dungeoun can din :
In at the last he schowted fellonlie, And bad thame rys. and said he wald cum in.
Wantonness having hailed him from the battle- ments, this stranger replies that his name is Age ; and that at all events he must enter the castle. Shocked at the intelligence, Wantonness hastens to inform the king ; who begins to murmur at the early arrival of so unwelcome a guest. Youth falls on his knees before him, and craves to be dismissed with his merited reward. King Hart is marvelously grieved at the prospect of being finally separated from his beloved companion :
Sen thow man pas, fair Youtheid, wa is me !
Thow wes my freynd, and maid me gude service. Fra thow be went, never so blyth to be
I mak ane vow, [al] thoch that it be nyce.
Of all blythnes thy bodie beirs the p-ryce. To waresoun I gif the or thow ga,
This fresche visar, was payntit at devyce : My lust alway with the se that thow ta.
Youth now warns his brethren Disport and Wantonness to prepare for their departure. De- lyverance, or Promptitude, starts up and offers his services as a guide. Without taking a form- al adieu of their former master, they rush out at a postern. Age, attended by " fyve hunder scor" of unlovely companions, enters the castle and shocks the delicate feelings of Dame Pleasure. Scarcely has he arrived, when Conscience appears before the walls, and demands how long he is to be kept in a state of exile. Age hearing of his
VOL. IT. K
approach, hastens to admit him. Conscience meets Sin in the court or inclosure, and lays a " felloun rout on his rig-bone ;" but the violence of the blow hurts his own breast. Sadness, one of the train of Age, interposes between these ant- agonists. Folly and A^ice, terrified at the bold- ness of Conscience in thus proceeding to acts of violence in the presence of more than five hun- dred of the king's retainers, skulk away, and con- ceal themselves in a corner ; and their example is speedily followed by several other wicked counsellors. While Conscience is engaged in chiding King Hart, Wisdom and Reason begin to rap very loudly at the gate, and, exclaiming that they had long been suffered to stand unregarded, demand immediate admittance. " In good faith!" exclaims Conscience, " this conduct is wrong: give me the keys, and I shall now act in the ca- pacity of porter." Having at length gained ad- mission, Reason instantly runs to Discretion and removes the thick films which have obscured his sight. A conversation, in which Wisdom and Reason occasionally interfere, now ensues between Conscience and King Hart. After various inci- dents, Pleasure begins to manifest the native in- constancy of her disposition. Wisdom and Rea- son persuade the unfortunate king to return to his own castle. After his arrival, Decrepitude, accompanied by a powerful host, lays siege to the fortress, and after a fierce contest gains complete
possession. The most formidable of his warriors are Palsy, Cough, and Head-ache. Having en- tered the citadel, he inflicts a mortal wound on King Hart ; who immediately prepares for death by framing a very remarkable testament.
This composition may remind the reader of the general plan of Phineas Fletcher's Purple Island; a work which exhibits a striking exam- ple of the misapplication of fine poetical talents. Yet that Douglas and Fletcher should have adopt- ed subjects of this kind, will not appear surpris- ing to those who recollect that in poetical num- bers Serenus attempted to teach the art of physic, Rhemnius to discuss the proportions of weights and measures, Hobbes to unfold the history of the Christian church'.
From the many ungrammatical passages which appear in King Hart, it has been regarded as a ju- venile performance. But the grammar even of the English language remained altogether unfix- ed and imperfect for the space of nearly two cen-
1 Historia Ecclesiastica Carmine Elegiaco conciunata, authore Thoma Jiobbio Malmesburiensi. Opus posthumum. Augustx Trinobantum, 1688, 8vo.
Hobbes is the author of another metrical work equally absurd in its plan, ajnd equally despicable in its execution. It bears the title of Thome Hobbesii Malmesburiensis Vita, authors seifso. Lond. 1679, 4to. This tract is reprinted at the end of Tboma Hobbes Angli Malmesburiensis Pbilosophi Vita. Carolopoli, 1681, 8vo. The prose life was published and chiefly written by Robert Blackburne, M.D. ; who has only presented us with the initials of his name. It has frequently been ascribed to Dr Ralph Bathurst. See Mr Warton's Life of Batbunt, p. 50.
turies posterior to the age of Douglas : and in- deed no successful attempt towards reducing it to a regular and practical system seems to have preceded that of Dr Lowth. For although the learned and acute Dr Wallis, as well as other res- pectable scholars, had investigated the genius of the language with critical nicety, yet their spe- culations did not lend any new precision or cor- rectness to vernacular composition. Even among the writers of the present aera, the rules of Eng- lish grammar seem to be too little understood : in the elaborate pages of Dr Blair many solecisms may be detected. The grammar of die Scotish language was never completely reduced to any standard. Much therefore was always left to the choice or caprice of the writer ; and in general it would be difficult to determine what is gramma- tical, and what the contrary. It would be a super- fluous task to search for any standard of speech, where none was acknowledged even by the best authors. If we refer to the present rules of Eng- lish grammar, we shall find them most grossly violated by Buchanan, Lesley, Winzet, and others of our ancient writers who have discovered an in- timate acquaintance with classical learning.
Nor is it of much importance to aver that King Hart is more ungrammatical than Douglas's translation of Virgil. For we must always recol- lee that the ignorance or presumption of trans- ,cribers often counteracted the author's most
scrupulous attention to correctness : and as dif- ferent compositions of the same writer might be obnoxious to different contingences, some might happen to receive more material injury than others. Douglas was himself aware of the dimi- nution which his reputation might possibly sus- tain from the bold innovations of transcribers :
Ze writaris al, and gentil redans elk, Offendis not my volume, I beseik, Bot rede lele, and tak gude tent in tyme Ze nouthir mangil nor mismeter my ryme, x
The longest of Douglas's original compositions is The Police of Honour, an allegorical production which displays much versatility of fancy, and a ready command of poetical imagery. The laws of congruity may occasionally be violated, and the component parts arranged without due atten- tion to the delicacy of proportion : yet, with all its imperfections, it is evidently the effort of a superior mind.
Early in a morning of May, the poet enters a most delightful garden, where he falls into a swoon, and is presented with a remarkable vi- sion. He fancies himself conveyed into a dreary forest bordering on a hideous flood.
My rauist spreit on that desert terribill Approchit near that uglie flude hprribill, JJke til) Cochyte the river infernal^
With vile water quhilk maid a hiddious trubil,
Rinnand ouir held, blude reid, and impossibill That it had been a riuer natural 5 With brayis bair, raif rochis like to fall,
Quhairon na gers nor herbis wer visibill,
Bot swappis brint with blastis Boriall.
This lahlilie flude rumbland as thonder routit, In quhome the fisch yelland as eluis schoutit j
Thair yelpis wilde my heiring all fordeifit, Thay grym inonstures my spreits abhorrit and doutit Not throw the soyl but muskane treis sproutit
Combust, barrant, unblomit and unleifit,
Auld rottin runtis quhairin na sap was leifit, Moch, all ivaist, widderit, with granis moutit,
A ganand den quhair murtherars men reifit.
When he finds himself in this doleful region, he begins to complain of the cruelty of Fortune ; but his attention is soon attracted by the arrival of a magnificent cavalcade " of ladyis fair and guidlie men.'* After they have past in due order, two catives approach, the one mounted on an ass, the other on a hideous horse. These prove to be the arch-traitors Achitophel and Sinon. The latter informs him that the company which he has now beheld is Minerva with her court ; that the .twelve dames who surround her are Sibyls ; and that she is also attended by Solomon, Pythago- ras, Cicero, and other sages, Jewish, Grecian, and Roman. They are all, says Sinon, faring towards the palace of Honour, and their journey lies through this wilderness. On his enquiring
39
how it happens that such wretches as themselves should be suffered to follow the court of Minerva, Achitophel returns for answer, that they are there permitted to make their appearance, in the same manner as rain, thunder, and earthquakes, are sometimes permitted to deform the face of May.
The poet now betakes himself to a thick co- vert, from which he discovers Actseon pursued by his own dogs, and the court of Diana following at a small distance. The goddess herself is mounted on an elephant, and only attended by the pure votaries of chastity : but the poet archly ex- presses his surprize at the paucity of her follow- ers. Of the fair sex however, notwithstanding this sneer, he seems to have entertained a very fa- vourable opinion : and on every proper occasion he has been sufficiently careful to advance their claims. Into the happy regions of Elysium, his favourite poet Virgil, as Dr Jortin remarks, " seemeth.not to have introduced one female, though the Roman and Grecian history might have furnished him with several who deserved admittance as much as the best of his heroes u."
He is now attracted by the most melodious music. Instead however of solacing himself with these heavenly notes, he immediately enters into l
u Jortin'a Dissertations, p. 390.
4O
a disquisition relative to the conveyance of sound :
Farther by Water folk may soundis heir, Than be the eirth, the quhilk with poris seir
Up drinkis air that mouit is be sound, Quhilk in compact water of ane riuier May nocht enter, but rinnis thair and heir,
Quhill it at last be cant on the ground.
And thocht throw din be experience is found The fische ar causit within the riuier steir,
In with the water the noyis dois not abound.
Violent din the air brekis and deris, Sine greit motiown of the water steiris j
The water steirit, fisches for feirdness flies : Bot out of dout na fische in water heiris, For, as we se, richt few of thame hes eiris :
And eik forsuith bot gif wise clerkis leis,
Thair is na air in with waters nor seis j JBut quhilk na thing may heir, as wise men leiris.
Like as but licht thair is nathing that seis.
When a man, says the poet, is deprest with me- lancholy, pleasure itself is converted into pain : and thus the melody which flowed in so heavenly a strain, only tended to augment my woe. His murmurings however are soon interrupted by the arrival of the court of Venus ; which he describes in very magnificent terms. Venus is seated in a gorgeous car, attended by her son Cupid; who is strangely represented as a man well-formed, and of large limbs. She is accompanied by a band
of musicians, whose divine skill even surpasses that of David, though the sounds of his harp are said to have overcome the evil demon that tor- mented Saul. Mars follows behind, mounted ou a " bardit curser stout and bald :"
Euerie inuasibill wapon on him he bair 5
His luik was grym, his bodie large and squak>
His lymmis weill entailyiet to be strang 5 His neck was greit a span lenth weill or mair, His visage braid, with crisp broun curland hair j
Of stature not ouir greit, nor yet ouir lang.
Behaldand Venus, O ye my lufe ! he sang : And scho agane with dallyance sa fair
Hir knicht him cleipis quhair sa he ryde or gang.
Here also are seen every renowned hero and he- roine of scriptural, classic, and romantic story. On witnessing their disport and parade, he be- gins to exclaim against Venus and all her re- tinue ; but is quickly dragged from his retreat and arraigned at the august tribunal of the god- dess. Her assessors are Mars and Cupid. The accusation is redd by a " clerk cleipit Varius," and the trial proceeds in due form. The prisoner pleads that he is a spiritual man, and ought to be remitted to his judge ordinary. But Venus is enraged at this appeal, and commands Varius to write the sentence of condemnation. In the midst of his consternation, the cou'rt of the VOL. II. F
Muses x makes its appearance, and relieves him from his hopeless situation, when he has already begun to expect immediate transformation.
Yet of my.deith I set not half ane fle, For greit efFeer me thocht na pane to die ;
But sair I dred me for some uther jaip, That Venus suld, throw her subtillitie, Intill sum bysning beist transfigurat me,
As in a beir, a bair, ane oule, ane aip :
I traistit sa for till have bene mischaip, That oft I wald my hand behald, to se
Gif it alterit, and oft my visage graip.
This new court consists of " wise digest eloquent fathers trew, and plesand ladyis of fresche bew~ tie." Some are engaged in rehearsing Greek and Latin histories, others in chanting to the lyre Sapphic and elegiac verse. Homer is the only Greek poet enumerated among the attend- ants of the Muses ; but
x With respect to the genealogy of die Muses, ali the edition* whicfe I have seen contain a very ludicrous error :
Thespis, the mother of Musis nine.
Douglas, undoubtedly wrote Thespia. Thespis is known to every reader of Horace as an Athenian poet ; but Thespia, according to some of the ancients, was the mother of the Muses. " Neque aliud," if we may credit Natalis Comes, " est sane Memnon quam memoria, aut Thespia quam divinatio et divina cognitio : id apertius etiam declarant nomina illarum Musarum quae fuerunt ab Aloci filiabus cultze ; Melete scilicf '. exercitatio, Mneme memoria, Acede cantus." (Mytbd*gia, p. 769.)
Thair was the greit Latine Virgilius, The famous father poeit Ouidius,
Dictes, Dares, and eik the trew Lucane : Thair was Plautus, Poggius, and Persius j Thair was Terence, Donate, and Seruius,
Francis Petrarche, Flaccus Valeriane ;
Thair was Esope, Gato, and Allane j Thair was Galterus and Boetius ;
Thair was also the greit Ouintilliane.
Thair was the satyr poeit Juuenall ; Thair was the mixt and subteill Martiall j
Of Thebes bruyt thair was the poeit Stace : Thair was Faustus, and Laurence of the Vale j Pomponius, quhais fame of late, sans faill,
Is blawn wyde throw euerie realm and place*
Thair was the moral wyse poeit Horace, With mony uther clerk of greit auail :
Thair was Brunnell, Claudius, and Bocchace.
Sa greit ane preis of pepill drew us neir, The hundredth part thair names ar not heir,
Yit saw I thair of Brutus Albion, Geffray Chaucier, as a per sc sans peir Of his vulgare $ and morall John Goweir.
Lydgate the monk raid musing him alone.
Of this natioun I knew also anone Greit Kennedie and Dunbar yit undeid, And Quintine with ane huttock on his heid.
* The first edition of Pomponius Mela was published at Milan ir. tjuarto in the year 1471 ; but his celebrity had afterwards been aug- mented by the edition of Hermolaus Barbarus, who was cotemporary •frith Douglas.
F 2
Some of these names are sufficiently obscure or disfigured. By Flaccus Valeriane, Laurence of the Vale, and Claudius, we are undoubtedly, to understand Valerius Flaccus, Laurentius Valla, and Claudian. The Gualterus whom he has in view is probably Walter Burley, a celebrated English philosopher who was born in the year J275y. In the time of Leland many of Burley 's philosophical works were preserved in manu- script at Oxford and Cambridge z. His treatise De Vitis et Moribus Philosophorum was twice printed at a very early aera. Vossius, who had seen both the editions, represents it as abound- ing with errors which to us appear sufficiently ludicrous. The writer whom Douglas has classed with jEsop and Dionysius Cato, may be Allan of Lynne ; who, among other works, is said to have composed allegorical and moral expositions of the sacred scriptures. He was a Carmelite Friar, and flourished during the reign of Henry the Fifth a. Of this name however there was a more celebrated writer, Alarms de Insulis, a native of Germany, who flourished about the year 1300. The number of his compositions was almost infi-
y Vossius de Historicis Latlnis, p. 515. 2 Leland. de Scriptoribus Britannicis, torn. ii. p. 354. a Balei Scriptores Britannia, cent. iii. p. 253. Pitseus de Illustribus Angli* Scriptoribus, p. 601,
45
niteb: and the extent of his knowledge procured him the appellation of the Universal Doctor c. Faust us, the author of some tracts printed in the Maxima Bibliotheca Veterum Patrum, is suffi- ciently known as a favourer of the Semi-Pelagian doctrines. He died about the year 480 d. Bru- nell, it has been conjectured, was a native of Germany, and flourished about the end of the twelfth, or the beginning of the thirteenth cen- tury. He composed many Latin poems which have never been published : but his Sententia de Ordinibus Religiosis appears in the collection of Martene and Durand e.
The court of the Muses having thus reached the spot where Venus is sitting in judgment,
b Among other works, he wrote a commentary on the prophecies of Merlin. See Prophetia Anglicana et Romana ; hoc est Merlini Ambrosii JBritanni, ex inculo dim, &c. Francofurti, 1608, 8vo.
c Lilii Gyraldi Historia Poetarum, p. 222.
d Cave, Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Historia Literaria, p. 366.
c Veterum Scriptorum et Monumentorum Collectio, torn. vi. — The following extract from Brunell's poem may be acceptable to some read* ers ; as it contains a slight contribution to ecclesiastical history.
Est et adhuc alius nuper novus ordo repertus,
Quern bene, nam bonus est, commemorate decet. Hie apud Anglorum fines exortus, ab ipso
Nomen habet natus quo fuit ipse loco. Symphinigram dictus, de simplicitate vocatus,
Sive per antiphrasim ordo vocatur ita. Canonici missas tantum, reliquumque sorores
Expleut, officii deb ita jura sui. Corpora, non voces, murus disjungit ; in unum
Psallunt directo psalmate et absque mere;
Calliope intercedes so effectually in the poet's behalf, that his crime is pardoned on condition that he shall compose some poem in honour of the goddess whom he has offended. He imme- diately pours forth an unpremeditated lay ; and Venus declares she is satisfied. Her court then departs, and leaves the poet with that of the Muses* Calliope commits him to the charge of " ane sweit nymphe maist faithfull and decoir," and the whole train commences a most miracu- lous journey.
Ane hors I gat maist richelie besene,
Was harneist all with woodbind leuis grene 5
Of the same sute the trappours law doun hang, Ouir him I straid at command of the quene : Tho samin furth we riding all bedene
As swift as thocht, with mony a merie sang,
My nymph alwayis conuoyit me of thrang Amid the Musis, to se quhat thay wald mene,
Quhilks sang and playit, but neuer a wreist yeid wrang.
They now roam through a great variety of re- gions : but the poet's account of their flight savours strongly of the incoherence of a dream, They at length reach the Castalian fountain.
Beside that cristall well sweit and digest, Thame to repois, thair hors refresche and rest,
Alichtit doun thir Musis cleir of hew. The cumpanie all haillelie leist and best Thrang to the well to drink, quhilk ran south
Throw out ane meid quhair alkin flouris grew.
Amang the laif full fast I did persew To drink, bot sa the greit preis me opprest, That of the water I micht not taste a drew,
Quir horsis pasturit in ane plesand plane, Law at the fute of ane fair greene montane,
Amid ane meid schaddowit with ceder treis. Saif fra all heit thair micht we well remain : All kinde of herbis, flouris, frute, and greine,
With eurie growand tre thair men micht cheis.
The beryall streams, rinnand ouir stanerie greis, Made sober noyis : the schaw dinnit agane
For birdis sang, and sounding of the beis.
The ladyis fair on diuers instruments
Went playand, singand, dansand, ouir the bentis :
Full angellik and heuinlie wras their soun. Quhat creature amid his hart imprintis The fresche bewetie, the gudelie representis,
The merrie speiche, fair hauing, hie renown,
Of thame, wald set a wise man half in swoun, Thair womanlines wryithit the elementis,
Stoneist the heuin, and all the eirth adoun.
« The warld may not considder nor descriue
The heuinlie joy the blis I saw belive,
Sa ineffable, abone my witt sa hie. I will na mair thairon my foreheid riue, Bot briefly furth my febill process drive.
Law in the meid an palyeon picht I se,
Maist gudliest and richest that micht be : My governour oftner than times fiue
Unto that hald to pass commandit me,
wa finally straicht to that royall steed In followschip with my leidar I yeid :
We enterit some, the portar was not thra, Thair was na stopping, lang demand, nor pleid. I kneillit law, and unheilded my held 5
And tho I saw our ladyis twa and twa
Sittand on deissis j familiars to and fra Servand thame fast with ypocras and meid,
Delicate meitis, dainteis seir alswa.
The discourse turning on love and valour, Calliope comm'ands Ovid, her Clerk Register, to declare " quha war maist worthie of thair handis." The favoured poet then recapitulates the deeds of an- cient heroes, and also sings of transfigurations, of the art of love, and of its remedy. He is followed by other bards :
Uprais the greit Virgillius anone,
And playit the sportis of Daphnis and Corydone i.
Sine Terence come, and playit the comedy Of Parmeno, Thrason, and wise Gnatone. Juuenall like ane mowar him allone
Stude scornand euerie man as thay yeid by.
Martial was cuik, till roist, seith, farce, and fry, .And Poggius stude with mony girne and grone,
On Laurence Valla spittand, and cryand fy !
With mirthis thus and meitis delicate Thir ladyis feistit according thair estait,
Uprais at last, commandand till tranoynt : Hetreit was blawn loude, and than, God waite, Men micht have sene swift horsis haldin hait,
^chynand for sweit, as they had bene anoynt.
49
Of all that rout was neuer a prick disjoynt, For all our tary 5 and I furth with my mait Mbuntit on horse, raid samin in gude point.
Ouir mony gudlie plane we raid bedene, The vaill of Hebron, the camp Damascene,
Throw Josaphat, and throw the lustie vaill j Ouir waters wan, throw worthie woddis grene ; And swa at last on lifting up our ene,
We se the final end of our trauail,
Amid ane plane a plesand roche to waill j And euerie wicht, fra we that sicht had sene,
Thankand greit God, their heidis law deuaill.
With singing, lauching, merines, and play, Unto this roche we rydand furth the way.
Now mair to write for feir tremblis my pen. The hart may not think nor mannis toung say, The eir nocht heir, nor yit the eye se may,
It may not be imaginit with men,
The heuinlie blis the perfite joy to ken, Quhilk now I saw : the hundredth part all day
I micht not schaw, thocht I had toungis ten.
Thocht all my members toungis war on raw, I war not able the thousand fauld to schaw 5
Quhairfoir I feir ocht farther mair to write : For quhidder I this in saul or bodie saw, That wait I nocht 5 bot he that all dois knaw,
The greit God wait, in euerie thing perfite.
Eik gif I wald this auisicun indite, Jangleris suld it backbite and stand nane aw,
Cry out on dreimis quhilks are not worth ane mtte
VOL. II. G
The poet perceives an immense rock of a very peculiar appearance. It seems of a slippery and hard substance, and, like glass, reflects the rays of the sun. Many paths wind around it, but only one leads to the summit. The Muses and the rest of their train immediately ascend, leaving the poet and his attendant nymph behind. She leads him by the hand, and encourages him to proceed : but when they have nearly gained the pinnacle, he observes their path crost by an abominable ditch, burning like hell, and full of brimstone, pitch, and boiling lead. In this are seen floating many a ghastly wretch ; some al- ready suffocated, others still yelling amid the flames. The nymph informs him that these are such as once professed to be faring towards the palace of Honour, but in the sequel, being allured by pleasure or sloth, have stumbled into this dis- mal lake. She now seizes him by the locks, and conveys him to the summit of the enchanted rock. At her command he casts his eyes from the eminence, and beholds the world tost in a tempest of misery, and many perishing amid the weltering waves. He perceives a goodly barge labouring against the fury of the storm, and at length bulging against a sand-bank. Some of the crew are swallowed by the waves, others reach the shore and begin to ascend the rock.
As we bene on this hie hill sitimt,
Luik down, quod scho, consaue in quhat estait
Thy wretchit warld thow may considder now : At her command with meikill dreid, God wait, Out ouir the hill, sa hiddious hie and strait,
I blent adoun and felt my body grow.
This brukill eird, sa litill till allow, Me thocht I saw birn in ane fireie rage Of stormic sey, quhilk micht na maner swage.
That terribill tempest, hiddeous wallis huge, War maist grislie for to behald or judge,
Quhair nouther rest nor quiet micht appeir : Thair was ane perrelous place, folk for to lodge : Thair was na help, support, nor yit refuge. Innumerabill folk I saw flotterand in feir, Quhilk pereist on the walterand wallis weir : And secundlie I saw a lustie barge Ouirsett with seyis, and mony stormy charge.
This gudelie carvell taiklit traist on raw, With blanschit saill, milk quhite as ony snaw,
Richt souer, ticht, and wonder stranglie beildit, Was on the boldyn wallis quite ouirthraw. Contrariouslie the busterous wind did blaw
In bubbis thick, that na schippis sail micht weild it.
Now sank scho law, now hie to heuin up heildit. At everie part swa sey and windis draif, Quhill on ane sand the schip did burst and claif.
It was a pieteous thing, alaik ! alaik !
To heir the dulefull cry when that scho straik j
Maist lamentabill the pereist folk to se, Sa famist, drowkit, mait, forewrocht, and xvaik, Sum on ane plank of fir tre, and sum of aik,
G 2
Sum hang upon a takill, sum on ane tre, Sum fra thair grip sone waschin with die see j Part drownit, part to the roche fleit or swam On raipis or buirdis, sine up the hill they clarp.
Tho at my nymph breiflie I did enquire, Quhat signifyet that feirfull wonder seir.
Yone multitude, said scho, of pepill drint Ar faithles folk, quhilkis, quhill thay ar heir, Misknawis God and folio wis thair pleseir ,
Quhairfoir thay sail in endlis fire be brint.
Yone lustie schip yow seis pereist and tint, In quhome yon pepill maid ane perrelous race, Scho frecht The Carve// of the State of Grace.
Ye bene all borne the sonnis of ire, I gues, Sine throw baptisme gettis grace and faithfulnes,
Than in yone carvell surelie ye remane, Oft stormested with this warldis brucklenes, Quhill that ye fall in sin and wretchitness }
Than schip broken sail ye drown in endles pane, Except by faith ye find the plank agane, Be Christ working gude warkis I understand : Remane thair with, this sail yow bring to land.
This explication of the Christian system seems to proceed with little propriety from one of the attendants of the Muses. The poet is guilty of several other incongruities equally palpable. He is now presented with a view of the palace of Honour, the splendour and magni- ficence of which surpasses description. With- in the gate he beholds many stately tour-
naments and many lusty% sports. The nymph then conveys him to a garden, where he finds Venus seated on a gorgeous throne.
Bot straicht befoir Venus visage, but let,
Stude emeraut stages twelf, grene precious greis, Quliairon thair grew thre curious goldin treis, Sustentand weill, the goddes face beforne, Ane fair mirrour be thame quently upborne.
This mirror possesses the quality of representing ?' all things gone like as thay war present." Ir* it he beholds an adumbration of every remark- able action recorded in history. Among other personages of a like description, he sees
Greit Gowmacmorne and Fyn Mac Cowl, and how Thay suld be goddis in Ireland, as thay say.
These are evidently Fingal and Gaul the son of Morni, the renowned heroes of Ossian. As early at least as the age in which Douglas flourished, the exploits of Fingal were celebrated in certain popular tales, composed either in the Scotish or Gaelic language g.
S " Conjiciunt quidam in haec tempora Fynnanum filium Coeli, (Fya Mak-Coul, vulgar! vocabulo^ virum, uti ferunt, immani statura (septenum cnim cubitorum hominem fuisse narrant) Scotici sanguinis, venatoria arte insignem, omnibusque insolita corporis mole formidolosum; circularibus fabulis, et iis qux de Arthuro Britonum rege, passim apud nostrates legun- tur, simillimum, magis quam eruditorum testimonio decantatum."
BOETHII Scotorum Historia, f. 128. b<
,54
In this enchanted mirror he also sees diverse tricks of legerdemain performed by Roger Bacon and other necromancers.
The nigromancie thair saw I eik anone Of Benytas, Bongo, and Frier Bacone,
With mony subtill point of juglairie j Of Flanders piis made mony precious stone, Ane greit laid sadill of a siching bone,
Of ane nutmeg thay maid a monk in hy,
Ane paroche kirk of ane penny pye : And Benytas of an mussell maid an aip \ With mony uther subtill mow and jaip.
The nymph* at last informs him that the mirror possest of such wonderful properties, signifies nothing else
Bot the greit bewtie of thir ladyis facis, guhairin louers thinks thay behald all graces.
After he has for some time contemplated these curious spectacles, Venus recognizes her former prisoner, and welcomes him to this region. She presents him with a book, which proves to be Virgil's ./Eneid, and commands him to translate it into his native language ; a task which it is well known he has performed with wonderful felicity.
The nymph now conducts him to a spot where he has an opportunity of observing the multitude that presses for admission into the palace. He
perceives Achitophel and Sinon endeavouring without success to scale the walls. Cataline at- tempts to enter by a window ; but Cicero approaches armed with a book, and repels him with a mighty blow. Many thousands beside are likewise foiled in their endeavours to ascend the lofty walls. A watchman- named Equity appears on the battlements, and with a tremend- ous voice denounces vengeance against covetous- ness, envy, and falsehood. Patience, the portress of King Honour, admits the nymph and her ward into the palace. He enumerates at large the various officers of this august court, and des- cribes the endless winders which present them- selves. He halts in amazement to contemplate the magnificence of the palace-gate, till his guard- ianess upbraids him for such infatuation. Having entered the precincts, he is confounded by the radiance of the surrounding objects.
The durris and the windois all were breddit
With massie gold, quhairof the fynes scheddit. With birneist euir baith palice and towris
War theikit weill, maist craftilie that cled it ;
For sa the quhitely blanschit bone ouirspred it, Midlit with gold, anamalit all colouris, Importurait of birdis and sweit flowris,
Curious knottis, and monie hie deuise,
Quhilks to behald war perfite paradice.
And to proceed my nymphe and I furth went Straicht to the hall throwout the palice gent,
And ten stages of topas did ascend. Schute was the door : in at a boir I blent^ Ouhair I beheld the glaidest represent
That euer in eirth a wretchit catiue kend.
Breiflie this process to conclude and end, Me thocht the flure was all of amytist •, Bot quhairof war the wallis I not wist.
The multitude of precious stainis seir Thairon sa schone, my febill sicht but weir Micht not behald thair verteous gudlines. For all the ruif, as did to me appeir, Hang full of plesand lowpit sapheiris cleir : Of dyamontis and rubies, as I ges, War all the buirdis maid of maist riches; Of sardanis, of jasp, and smaragdane, Traists, formis, and benkis, war poleist plane.
Baith to and fro amid the hall thay went, Royal princes in plait and armouris quent,
Of birniest gold couchit with precious stanrs. Enthronit sat ane god omnipotent j On quhais glorious visage as I blent In extasie, be his brichtness atanis He smote me doune, and brissit all my banis. Thair lay I still in swoun with colour blaucht, Quhill at the last my nymphe up hes me caught.
Sine with greit pane, with womenting and cair.
In hir armis scho bair me doun the stair, And in the clois full softlie laid me doun :
Upheld my heid to tak the hailsome airj
For of my life scho stude in greit dispair. Me till awalk was still that lady boun, guhilk finallie out of that deidlie swown
57
1 swyith ouircome, and up mine ene did cast : Be merrie man, quod scho, the werst is past.
Get up, scho said j for shame ! be na cowart :
My heid in wed, thow hes ane wyfes hart, That for a plesand sicht was sa mismaid.
Than all in anger upon my feit I start,'
And for hir wordis was sa apirsmart,
Unto the nymphe I maid a busteous braid : Carling, quod I, quhat was yone that thow said ?
Soft yow, said scho, thay are not wyse that stryfis -7
For kirkmen war ay gentill to the wyifis.
His anger being appeased, she informs him that those whom he has observed in the court of Ho- nour, are such as during their lives were con- stantly directed by the laws of equity, valour, and liberality : in battle they were found of most prowess with spear, sword, and dagger ; to their promise they always adhered with the most scru- pulous observance ; they abounded in worth, and were illumined by liberality. Honour in these domains differs very widely from what obtains the same appellation among mankind : there it is only worldly pomp and parade, and conferred with a reference to birth or estate ; here it is never bestowed even on princes and prelates, ex- cept their claims be founded in virtue.
Having descanted on the rewards of virtue and the punishment of vice, she offers to conduct him to a delightful garden, where the Muses are cull- ing the flowers of rhetoric, and where trees bear
VOL. IL H
precious stones instead of fruit. It is surrounded by a deep fnoat, abounding in fish and aquatic birds : and on the trees which adorn its banks, fowls are seen growing in a most remarkable man- ner. The only access to the garden is by a single tree laid across the ditch. The nymph imme- diately passes this slender bridge : but in attempt- ing to follow her, the poet becomes giddy and falls headlong into the pool. The singing of the birds, and the agitation occasioned by this im- mersion, at length awake him from his trance. He composes a lay in praise of honour, and then concludes by inscribing the work to his sovereign James the Fourth.
The following is Mr Sage's criticism on The Police of Honour : " The author's excellent de- sign is, under the similitude of a vision, to repre- sent the vanity and inconstancy of all worldly pomp and glory ; and to shew that a constant and inflexible course of vertue and goodness is the only way to true honour and felicity, which he allegorically describes as a magnificent palace, situate on a very high mountain, of a most diffi- cult access. He illustrates the whole with variety of examples, not only of these noble and heroic souls, whose eminent vertues procured them en- trance into that blessed place, but also of those wretched creatures, whose vicious lives have fa- tally excluded them from it for ever, notwith- standing of all their worldly state and grandeur.
This work is addressed to James IV. on purpose to inspire that brave prince with just sentiments of true honour and greatness, and incite him to tread in the paths of vertue, which alone could conduct him to it. And to make it more agree- able and entertaining, he hath adorned it with several incident adventures ; and throughout the whole discovers a vast and comprehensive genius, an exuberant fancy, and extraordinary learning, for the time he lived in. He seems to have taken the plan of it from the palace of happiness de- scribed in the Picture of Cebes ; and it is not im- probable that his country-man Florentius Volu- senus had it in view, and improv'd his design, in his admirable (but too little known) book De Tranquillitate Animi g."
Between the description however of Cebes and that of Douglas, it will perhaps be difficult to dis- cover any very remarkable affinity. If it can be evinced that a striking resemblance prevails be- tween those two compositions and the work of Florence Wilson, it seems more safe to con- clude that he imitated Cebes rather than Doug- las. Wilson's dialogue De Animi Tranquillitate appeared in 1 543 ; whereas The Palice of Honour was not printed till ten years afterwards. If therefore he ever perused this poem, it must have been previously to its publication.
S Sage's Life of Bishop Douglas, p. 15.
II ?
60
It has also been surmized that the woi Douglas is probably founded on the Sejour neur of St Gelais ; for no other apparent reason than the obvious affinity of their respective titles. If imitation must thus be so zealously inferred, it would perhaps be more proper to fix upon Chau- cer's House of Fame as the exemplar. But till other arguments shall be produced, The Palice of Honour may safely be regarded as an original com- position.
Douglas's spirited translation of the ^Eneid has often been highly commended, though seldom beyond its merits. Without pronouncing it the best version of this poem that ever was or ever will be executed, we may at least venture to af- firm that it is the production of a bold and ener- getic writer, whose knowledge of the language of his original, and prompt command of a copious and variegated phraseology, qualified him for the performance of so arduous a task. And whether we consider the state of British literature at that aera, or the rapidity with which he completed the work, he will be found entitled to a high de- gree of admiration11. In either of the sister Ian- fa Dunkeld, no more the heaven-directed chaunt Within thy sainted wall may sound again :
But thou, as once a poet's favourite haunt, Shalt live in Douglas' pure Virgilian strain ;
While Time devours the castle's towering wall,
And roofless abbies pine, low tottering to their fall.
G, DYER.
61
guages few translations of classical authors had hitherto been attempted ; and the rules of the art were consequently little understood. It has been remarked that even in English no metrical version of a classic had yet appeared ; except of Boethius, who scarcely merits that appellation5. On the destruction of Troy Caxton had publish- ed a kind of prose romance, which he professes to have translated from the French : and the Eng- lish reader was taught to consider this motley composition as a version of the .ZEneid. Douglas bestows severe castigation on Caxton for his pre^ sumptuous deviation from the classical story ; and affirms that his work no more resembles Virgil than the Devil resembles St Austin, He has how- ever fallen into one error which he exposes in his predecessor : proper names are often so disfigured in his translation, that they are not without much difficulty recognized. In many instances he has been guilty of modernizing the notions of his ori- ginal. The Sibyl, for example, is converted into a nun, and admonishes ^Eneas, the Trojan baron, to persist in counting his beads. This plan of reducing every ancient notion to a modern stand- ard has been adopted by much later writers: many preposterous instances occur in the learned Dr Blackwell's Memoirs of the Court of Augustus, Of the general principles of translation how-
i Wartpn's Hist, of English Poetry, vol. ii. p. z8i.
62
ever Douglas appears to have formed no inaccu- rate notion. For the most part his version is neither rashly licentious nor tamely literal. In affirming that he has always rendered one verse by another, Lesley and Dempster have commit- ted a mistake. This regularity of correspondence he either did not attempt or has failed to main- tain. Such a project would indeed have been wild and nugatory. The verses of Virgil and Douglas must commonly differ in length by at least three syllables ; and they may even differ by no fewer than seven.
The merit of such a performance cannot be as- certained by the inspection of a few detached passages. It may however be proper to exhibit a brief specimen ; which the reader, without being previously warned, will find himself disposed to examine with due allowances.
Facilis descensus Averni : Noctes atque dies patet atri janua Ditis 5 Sed revocare gradum, superasque evadere ad auras, ' Hoc opus, hie labor est : pauci, quos aequus amavit Jupiter, aut ardens evexit ad eethera virtus, Dis geniti, potuere. Tenent media crania silvae, Cocytusque sinu labens circumfluit atro.
VIRGIL.
It is richt facill and eith gate, I the tell, For to descend and pas on doun to hell ; The black zettis of Pluto and that dirk way Standis euir opin and patent nycht and day :
Bot therfra to returne a'gane on hicht,
And here aboue recouir this airis licht,
That is difficill werk, thare laboure lyis.
Full few thare bene quhom heich aboue the skyis
Thare ardent vertew has rasit and vpheit,
Or zit quham equale Jupiter deify it.
Thay quhilkis bene gendrit of goddis, may thydder attane.
All the midway is wildernes vnplane,
Or wilsum forrest j and the laithlie flude
Cocytus with his dresy bosum vnrude
Flowis enuiron round about that place.
DOUGLAS.
In his prologues to the different books he exhibits occasional specimens of his talent for criticism. Dr Warburton himself has not ex- tracted deeper mysteries from the description of ^Eneas' s descent to hell.
Beside this noble effort of Douglas, the early- annals of Scotish poetry present us with no other serious attempt at translation. Whether our countrymen have gained or lost by this prede- lection for their own inventions, is a queftion which I shall not presume to decide. By avail- ing themselves of the poetical materials accumu- lated during the lapse of ages, they might un- doubtedly have been enabled to rear a structure more capacious and elegant : but by their confi- dent reliance on native resources, they have per- haps adorned the fabric with ornaments of a more characteristic denomination. Among the poets of modern Europe, no class seems so little indebted
to foreign aid as those of Scotland ; a circum- stance which may partly be ascribed to their lo- cal situation, and partly to the general character of a people impatient of prescription, and de- lighting to pursue the stream of original thought. When we direct our view towards the ancient English poets, we readily discover that their works contain much stolen fire. Warton and Tyrwhrtt have shown that the origin of a very considerable number of Chaucer's compositions may be traced among the writers of Italy and France.
In ,the poems appended to his translation, Douglas has fortunately specified the origin and progress of the undertaking. The work, he there informs us, was begun and finished at the re- quest of his cousin Henry Lord Sinclair ; whom he represents as an accomplished and liberal pa- tron of literature. It was the labour of only six- teen months, and completed on the twenty- second day of July, 1513, about twelve years af- ter he had composed his Police of Honour. This task must be understood to comprehend, not merely a version of the twelve books of Virgil, but also of the supplement of Mapheus Ve- gius j, together with the original prologues and epilogues.
j Mapheus Vegius, a native of Italy, flourished in the year 1448, As a poet he formerly enjoyed a high degree of reputation. Paulus Jo-
65
Hume of Godscroft, who was himself a poet, has remarked that " in his prologues before every book, he sheweth a natural and ample vein of poesy, so pure, pleasant and judicious, that he believes there is none that hath written be- fore or since but cometh short of him. There is not such a piece to be found as is the prologue to the eighth book, at least in our language."
His prologues to the seventh and twelfth books display an admirable vein of descriptive poetry. They have been exhibited in an English dress by Mr Fawkes. The prologue to the twelfth book has also been modernized by Jerom Stone. The prologue to the supplement of Vegius pre- sents us with a poetical description of an evening in June.
These are the only works of Douglas which have descended to our times. In the Conclusion of his Virgilian task, he avows a resolution to devote his future days to the glory of God and the service of the commonwealth. He elsewhere hints a suspicion that he should be considered as negligent of divine studies, and too much capti- vated by secular learning : and, to heighten his apprehensions, the story of St Jerom intrudes it- self upon his mind,
vius observes, in hyperbolical terms, that he excelled almost every poet who had flourished during the space of a thousand years. (JEkgia Vlr i-tirum Literis Illustrliim, p. 196.)
VOL. II. I
66
Quhow he was doung and beft into his slept, For he to Gentilis bukis gaif sic kepe.
For his consolation he might however have recol- lected, that if Jerom was warned in a vision against the perusal of prophane authors, Diony- sius of Alexandria was admonished by a voice from heaven' to study them without restriction1". The earliest of Douglas's performances appears to have been a translation of Ovid De Remedio Amoris, of which no copy is known to be ex- tant. He thus speaks of the work :
Lo thus, followand the floure of poetry, The battellis ai:d the man translate have I, (Juhilk zore ago in myne undantit youth Unfructuous idilnes fleand, as I couth, Of Ovideis Lufe the Remede did translate, syne of hie Honour the Palice wrate.
Bale mentions another of his compositions by the title of Aurea Narrationes1', which Sage sup- poses to be the short commentary noticed in the concluding address to Lord Sinclair :
k Tyrie the Jesuit was also favoured with a divine vision of the same complexion. " Nocte quadam apparuit illi Sanctus P. N. Igna- tius, et graviter increpitum, quod plus litteris quam pietati acquirend.ii $e impenderet, paterne hortatus est, ut litteris quidem operam daret, sed non tanto ardore, ut spiritus exinde maneret oppressus. Quae admoni- tio ita infixa per tptam vitam ejus inhassit memoriae, ut magno ei sem- per stimulo fuerit ad omnem perfectionem." (Sotvelli Bibliotheca Scriftoruvi Sodctatis Jesu, p. 3 90. b. Romac, 1676, fol.)
« Ttylei Scriptores Britannia?, cent. xiv. p. 218,
I haue also ane schorte commend compyld, To expone strange historiis and termes wylde : And gif ocht lakis mare, quhen that is done, At zoure desir it sail be writtin sone.
This comment, it is probable, was merely a brief explication of the classical mythology, intended for the use of his noble friend.
If we may credit Bale and Dempster m, he likewise composed comedies : but those rhapsodi- cal biographers delight in multiplying books as well as authors.
m Dempster. Hist. Ecclesiast, Gent. Sector, p. aai.
THE
LIFE
OF
SIR DAVID LIN D SAT.
THE
LIFE
SIR DAVID LINDSAY.
IT is not unworthy of remark, that the votaries of polite learning have often evinced a warm and efficacious attachment to the cause of religious liberty. The Reformation will be found to have been promoted in every country of Europe by men distinguished for their love of elegant letters. Luther himself, if not eminent as a poet, was at least a passionate admirer of good poetry. Cal- vin's institution of the Christian religion has been extolled, even by Joseph Scaliger, as exhibiting an exquisite specimen of literary composition. Melanchthon was a rhetorician of considerable reputation : and in his introduction to the art %
a Melanchthonis Elementorum Rhetorices libri duo. Paris. 153^, 8vo. — It is not however certain that this is ^he first edition, I have a
he has undoubtedly displayed a more polished taste than many of the early labourers in the same field. Beza, by the publication of his Latin poems, acquired no mean celebrity among the scholars of the age. In the catalogue of the Scotish Re- formers we discover the names of Buchanan and Lindsay : the former has earned a reputation which can only decay with the love of every thing that is elegant in literature ; and the latter, though of far inferior fame, is confessedly enti- tled to a respectable place in the early annals of Scotish poetry.
Sir David Lindsay, the descendant of an an- cient family, was born during the reign of James the Fourth, probably at his paternal seat the Mount near Cupar in Fife. He received, says Dr Mackenzie, his academical education in the University of St Andrews, and afterwards travel- led through England, France, Italy, and Germa- ny5. With the mode in which this biographer discovered the place of his education, I am total- ]y unacquainted : and if Lindsay has, as he al- leges, presented us with such intelligence respect- ing his youthful travels, I am unable to discover the passage in which it is contained. He informs
copy of a curious edition of Melanchthon's rhetoric, accompanied with the explications of Martinus Crusius, Professor of Greek in the Uni- versity of Tubingen. It was printed at Bale in octavo, probably in the year 1564; but the time of its impression is not specified. Melanchthon also published Erotemata Rbetoriccs.
b Mackenzie's Lives of Scots Writers, vol. iii. p. 35.
73
Us in general terms, that he had travelled through diverse countries ; and, in particular, he mentions the appearance of the ladies in Italy : but that he visited any of those countries during his youth, can only be known by conjecture.
In the year 1513 we find him a special servant to James the Fourth ; whom he attended at Linlith- gow when a spectre forewarned the devoted mo- narch of his imminent danger0. Of this singular occurrence, the following simple narrative will probably amuse the reader*
" The king," says Lindsay of Pitscottie, " came to Linlithgow, where he happened to be for the time at the council, very sad and dolorous, mak- ing his devotion to God to send him good chance
c Alexander Barclay, an ancient Scotish poet, has characterized this chivalrous monarch in the following terms. (Skip of Foolet. Lend, fol.)
And, ye Christen princes, whosoever ye be, If ye be destitute of a noble captayne,
Take James of Scotland for his audacitie
And proved manhode, if ye will laude attayne : Let him have the forewarde : have ye no disdayne,
Nor indignation ; for never king was borne
That of ought of warre can shewe the unicorne.
For if that he take once his speare in hande,
Agaynst these Turkes strongly with it to ride, None shall be able his stroke for to withstande,
Nor before his face so hardy to abide.
Yet this his manhode increaseth not his pride $ But ever sheweth he meknes and humilitie In worde or dede to hye and lowe degree.
VOL, II. K
74
and fortune in his voyage. In this mean there came a man clad in a blue gown in at the kirk door, and belted about him with a roll of linnen cloth ; a pair of brotikins on his feet, to the great of his legs, with all other hose and clothes conform thereto ; but he had nothing on his head, but syde red yellow hair behind and on his hailts, which wan down to his shoulders ; but his forehead was bald and bare. He seemed to be a man of two and fifty years, with a great pyke-staff in his hand ; and came first forward among the lords, crying and speiring for the king, saying, * He desired to speak with him ;' while, at the last, he came where the king was sitting in the desk at his prayers : but when he saw the king, he made him little reverence or salutation, but leaned down groflings on the desk before him and said to him on this manner as after follows : ' Sir king ! my mother hath sent me to you, desiring you not to pass, at this time, where thou art pur- posed ; for, if thou does, thou wilt not fare well in thy journey, nor none that passeth with thee. Further, she bade thee mell with no woman, nor use their counsel, nor let them touch thy body, nor thou their's ; for, if thou do it, thou wilt be confounded and brought to shame/
" By this man had spoken thir words unto the King's Grace, the evening song was near done ; and the king paused on thir words, studying to give him an answer : but in the mean time, be-
fore the king's eyes, and in presence of all the lords that were about him for the time, this man vanished away, and could noways be seen nor comprehended, but vanished away as he had been a blink of the sun, or a whip of the whirl- wind, and could no more be seen. I heard say, Sir David Lindsay, Lyon Herald, and John Inglis, the Marshall, who were at that time young men, and special servants to the King's Grace, were standing presently beside the king ; who thought to have laid hands on this man, that they might have speired further tidings at him : but all for nought : they could not touch him ; for he va- nished away betwixt them, and was no more
seend."
This ghostly visiter seems to vie with the Evil Genius of Brutus. Some of the nobles probably had recourse to the agency of an apparition, in order to divert the king from his pernicious project of in- vading England. The figure which thus enter- ed the church must have been composed of some- thing more substantial thai} either a spectre or a phantasm of the brain. When Brutus fancied he saw a hideous apparition, he was sitting alone in his pavillion at the dead of night e, and might easily be deluded by his own sombre imagination : but Jaaies, it is said, was surrounded by his cour- tiers, and the figure visible to others as well as to
A Lindsay's History of Scotland, p. 172. edit. Edinb. 1778, c Plutarchi Opera, vol. v. p. 408. edit. Reiske, |
K 2
76
himself. That such an incident actually happen- ed at Linlithgow, cannot reasonably be disputed : Buchanan has related it on the authority of Sir David Lindsay, whom he extols as a man of un- blemished integrity f .
According to Mackenzie, Sir David " was made one of the Gentlemen of the King's Bed-chamber, and the care of the young prince, King James the Fifth, was committed to him, as a person well seen in all the customs, manners, and languages, of the nations through which he had travelled." But as the evidence for his early travels has been found defective, we must also receive this infor- mation with caution. It is produced without any authority, and therefore entitled to little credit. From the dedication of his Dreme to King James, it would however appear that he had enjoyed some office in the royal household :
Quhen thow was zoung, I bure the in my arme Full tenderlie til thow begouth to gang,
And in thy bed oft happit the full warme ; With lute in hand sine sweitly to the sang : Sum time in dansing feircely I flang,
And sum time playand fairsis on the flure,
And sum time on my office takand cure.
f " In iis fuit David Lindesius Montanus, homo spectatz fidei et prp- bitatis, nee a literarum studiis alienus, et cujus totus vitae tenor longis- sime a mentiendo aberat ; a quo nisi ego hxc, ut tradidi, pro certis ac^ cepissem, ut vulgatam vanis rumoribus fabulam omissurus eram."
B-UCHANAN. Rerum Scoticarum Historia, p. ajx.
77
In The Complaint direct it to the Kingi$ Grace, he again alludes to his faithful services :
How as ane chapman beiris his pack,
I bure thy Grace vpon my back.
And sum times strydlinges on my nek,
Dansand with mony bend and bek.
The first sillabis that thow did mute,
Was Pa, Da Lyn, vpon the lute :
Than playit I twenty springis perqueir
Quhilk was greit * plesure' for to heir.
Fra play thow let me neuer rest,
Bot Gynkertoim thow luifit ay best :
And ay quhen thow come from the scule,
Than I behuiffit to play the fule 5
As I at lenth into my DREME
My sindrie seruice did expreme :
Thocht it bene better, as sayis the wise,
Hap to the court nor gude seruise.
I wait, thow luiffit me better than .
Nor now sum wife dois hir gude-inan :
Than men til vther did record,
Said Lyndesay wald be maid ane lord.
Thow hes maid lordis, Schir, be Sanct Geill !
Df sum that hes nocht seruit sa weill.
Dr Mackenzie supposes that in his dedication of The Drerne the poet insinuates that he had en- joyed the accumulated offices of lyon king of arms, steward of the household, purse-master, treasurer, usher, and gentleman of the bed-cham- ber : " all which places," he adds, " he was de- prived of in the year 1533, saving that of lyon
78
king at arms, which he enjoyed till his death." In support of these assertions, he appeals to two passages in Lindsay's works : but the interpreta- tion of the first evidently is, that the affection of the young prince induced him to employ Lindsay in services of every description ; and the second only contains a general complaint of his unre- quited attendance at court. Mackenzie might have discovered a more appropriate passage :
Bot I, allace ! or euer I wist, Was trampit doun into the dust, With heuy charge withoutin moir 5 Bot I wist neuer zit quhairfoir j And haistely befoir my face Ane vther slippit in my place, Quhilk lichtelie gat his rewaird, And stylit was the ancient laird : That time Lmicht mak na defence, Bot luke perforce in patience 5 Prayand to send them ane mischance That had the court in gouernance 5 The quhilkis aganis me did malign, Contrair the plesure o&^he king : For weill I knew, his Gracis minde Was euer to me treu and kinde? And, contrair thair intentioun, Gart- pay me weill my pensioun : Thocht I ane quhile wantit presence, He leit me haue na indigence.
The only preferment which it is certain that he obtained was the office of lyon king of arms. He
79
was installed in the year I54^g : and he appa- rently retained his situation till the time of his death. The above expressions may therefore be understood as referring to a temporary lapse from the royal favour. Had he been deprived of some office, the emolument would also have been with- drawn.
Of James the Fifth he always speaks in terms of affection : and although it appears from his own works that he experienced occasional morti- fications, yet his attachment continued without diminution. He was one of the few courtiers who were present at the king's premature death1'. The enemies of whom he complains were proba- bly found among the dignified clergy ; whom he has satirized with unparalleled boldness, and whom he sometimes admonished of their duty with a de- gree of freedom which must have excited the keenest resentment. The king being one day surrounded by a numerous train of nobility arid prelates, Lindsay approached him with due reve- rence,, and began to prefer a humble petition that he would instal him in an office which was then vacant. " I have," said he, " servit your Grace lang, and luik to be rewardit as others are : and now your maister taylor, at the plesure of God, is departit ; wherefore I wald desire of your Grace to bestow this little benefits upon me."
% Sir David Lindsay's Blazonings; MS. h Lindsay's History of Scotland, p. 276.
80
The king replied that he was amazed at such request from a man who could neither shape nor sew, " Sir," rejoined the poet, " that maks nae matter ; for you have given bishoprics and bene- fices to mony standing here about you, and yet they can nouther teach nor preach ; and why may not I as weill be your taylor, thocht I can nouther shape nor sew ; seeing teaching and preaching are nae less requisite to their vocation than shaping and sewing to ane taylor ?" James im- mediately perceived the object of his petition, and scrupled not to divert himself at the expence of the enraged ecclesiastics1.
Lindsay's hostility to the church of Rome is generally considered as the principal source of his disappointments. The Reformation was now advancing with gradual steps : and at an early stage of its progress he had boldly avowed his at- tachment. " The Scotch," says a celebrated writ- er, " from that philosophical and speculative cast which characterises their national genius, were more zealous and early friends to a reformation of religion than their neighbours in England. The pomp and elegance of the catholic worship made no impression on a people whose devotion sought only for solid gratification ; and who had no notion that the interposition of the senses could with any propriety be admitted to cooperate in
« H, Charters, Preface to Lindsay's warkii.
81
, an exercise of such a nature, which appealed to reason alone, and seemed to exclude all aids of the imagination V
To the consummation of this glorious under- taking, whose benignant influence we at the present moment feel and acknowledge, the lite- rary compositions and personal consequence of Lindsay seem to have contributed with powerful effect. His writings tended to prepare the public mind for a systematic attempt towards the over- throw of papal superstition, and the establishment of the more rational doctrines and forms of Pro- testantism. The Papists regarded him as an ad- versary not less dangerous than Buchanan and Knoxk. His learning and experience qualified him for regulating the unsteady views of those who possessed zeal without knowledge : and it is probable that he assisted the Reformers in many * of their important deliberations. He is enume- rated among those who in j 547 counselled the ordination of John Knox1; in whom his pene- tration must readily have discovered that energy of mind which qualified him for the arduous task which he was destined to perform. Knox, it is
j Warton's Hist, of English Poetry, vol. ii. p. 321.
k " Knoxii, Lindsayi, Buchanani, Villoxii, aliorum, impia scripta in- cautorum manibus teruntur : opus erat antidote, ne latius venenum ser- peret."
DEMPSTER. Scotia Illustrior, p. 54. Lugd. Bat, l6ao, 8vo.
1 Knox's Historic of the Reformatioun, p. 76,
VOL. II L
true, was not elevated above the frailties incident to humanity ; but he was undoubtedly a man of undaunted fortitude, of undeviating probity, and of fervent piety ; a man who pursued the splendid object in view with an ardour of mind which no opposition could quench, and with a steadiness of perseverance which no danger could diminish. Of the character of an individual who had so con- spicuously distinguished himself at the downfall of a church, whose, unholy priests had long been accustomed to revel amid the precious spoils of a deluded nation, it would have been unreasonable to expect that a disappointed faction should ex- hibit a very favourable representation m : but when in the present age those who aspire to the prosti- tuted title of philosopher, begin to vie with each other in loading a public benefactor with oppro- brious epithets, they evince themselves to be swayed by such prejudices as beset the most ignc- rant of mankind. Let Knox be judged by the maxims of his own age, and his character will be pronounced illustrious.
In the year 1531 Lindsay had the honour to be employed on an embasy to the Emperor Charles the Fifth ; whom he found residing at
m James Laing, a Doctor of the Sorbonne, has drawn the character of Knox with matchless liberality : " Vix excesserat jam ex ephebis, cum patris sui uxorem violarat, sunm novercair. t:.t'arat, et cum ea, cui reve-
rentia potissim. urn adhiber.da f uerat, at " i urn t'ecerat. Rumor
erat impium haereticum nocturne* conventus et clandestina cblloqma cum
Brussels". This important trust affords sufficient grounds for concluding that he was then regarded with a more favourable eye. And in 1537, when Mary of Guise landed in Scotland, he exercised his ingenuity in contriving the pageants which were displayed at St Andrews. " She was re- ceived," says Robert Lindsay, " at the New Abbey-gate ; upon the east side thereof there was made to her a triumphant arch by Sir David Lindsay of the Mount, Lyon Herald, which caused a great cloud come out of the heavens above the gate, and open instantly; and there appeared a fair lady most like an angel, having the keys of Scotland in ,her hands, and delivered them to the queen in sign and token that all the hearts of Scotland were open to receive her
cocodcemone, cui se totum dederat, saepenumero habuisse, ita quod ejus meretrix forte eum interrogaret, quis asset ille niger homo cum quo nocte superior! locutus fuerat ; quod verbum tarn iniquo animo tulit, quod ilia proximo die esset extincta, sed quomodo id acciderat nemo intellexit. Tamen nihiiominus vix datum fuit funus, cum ille taurus quartaj aut quintse meretricis novo inflammatur amore. At impudei>tissimus maxim e- que lascivus caper, cum jam gelidus totus heberet sanguis, satis etiam tardante senecta,, nee non frigerent languid® et effoetse in corpore vires, coepit principum et nob ilium virorum -filias quazrere, cum quibus publice scortari posset." , Laingaeus De Vita tt IVLuribus H<£reticorumy f. 113. b. Paris. 1581, 8vo.'; These observations are too gross to be en- titled to a serious refutation from any writer of the present age. A simi- lar character of Knox has been exhibited by Archibald Hamilton, in his dialogue De Confusione Calvinante Secte afud Scotos, Paris. 15 7 7, 8vo: but the impotent malignity of such writers is zealously exposed by Ptii.cipai Smeton. (Ad Virulentum Hamiltonii Dlalogum Ortbodoxa Respomio* Edinb. 1579, 4to.)
n Pinkerton's Hist, of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 310.
L 2
Grace ; with certain orations and exhortations made by the said Sir David Lindsay to the queen, instructing her to serve her God, ohey her hus- band, and keep her body clean, according to God's will .md commandments0."
When the Earl of Arran was appointed regent, hopes seem to have been entertained that he would approve himself a steady friend to the cause of reformation ; but the facility of his dis- position rendered him too apt to veer from one party to another. Lindsay is enumerated among those who adhered to him while he continued to act in conformity to the principles \yhich they avowedp.
After that period he appears to have lived in a state of dignified retirement. Spotswood in- forms us that he " died in a good age" : but Mac- kenzie, I know not on what authority, affirms that he " died towards the latter end of the year 1553, being very agedq." This statement is pro- bably erroneous. During that year Lindsay was engaged in the composition of his dialogue, or, as it is commonly termed, The Monarchic. Com- puting the probable duration of the world, he reckons, according to the vulgar calculation, live thousand five hundred and fifty-three years from
• Lindsay's History of Scotland, p. 250.
P Spotswood's Hist, of the Church of Scotland, p. 73. 97,
** Mackenzie's Lives of Scots Writers, vol. iii. p. 37.
85
the creation till the period of his writing. He appears to have survived till the year 1567. On the twenty-second day of February, ,1567, Sir William Stewart was inaugurated in the office lyon king of arms'": and Lindsay seems to have retained the situation till the time of his decease. In 15.13 Sir David Lindsay was a special servant to K. James the Fourth ; and at that period must at least have been about twenty years of age. If he survived till the year 1567, he must according to this computation have reached the age of seventy-four.
His character has always been represented as highly respectable. Archbishop Spotswood, speak- ing of the eminent men who adorned this sera of our history, proceeds in the folio wing manner: " Sir David Lindsay of the Mount shall be first named ; a man honorably descended, and greatly favored by K. James the Fifth. Besides his knowledge and deep judgment of heraldry (whereof he was the chief) and in other publick affairs, he was most religiously inclined ; but much hated by the clergy for the liberty he used
r Birrel's Diarey, p. 14. apud Dalyell. — Stewart was undoubtedly the immediate successor of Lindsay. In his collection of blazonings, Lind- say has inserted his own coat of arms : and those of the four succeeding lyon kings of arms have been subjoined by some more recent limner. The catalogue stands thus: Sir David Lindsay of the Mount, 1542, Sir William Stewart, 1567, Sir David Lindsay of Rathellet, 1568, Sir David Lindsay of the Mount, 1.593, and Sir Jeremy Lindsay of Annit- land, 1621.
in condemning the superstition of the time, and rebuking their loose and dissolute lives. Notthe- less, he went unchallenged, and was not brought in question ; which shewed the, good account wherein he was held8." To the testimony of this venerable prelate we may subjoin that of Dr j ohn Johnston :
Melliflui cantus Syren dulcissima, qualem
Scotigenee Aonides et recinunt et amantj
Deliciae regum, tituloque ac nomine regisj Hoc fuerat nato quod fuit ante patri :
£)uam Musis charus, quam diis quoque regibus olim, Tarn vera placuit religione Deo r.
Of the works of Lindsay, various editions have appeared. " The Testament and Complaint of our Souerane Lordis Papingo" was printed at London by John Byddell in the year 1538. His " Dialog of the Miserabill Estait of this Warld betuix Experience and ane Courteour," together with " The Papingo," " The Dreme," " The De- ploratioun of the Deith of Quene Magdalene," and " The Tragedie of the Cardinal," was " im- prentit at the command and expensis of Doctor Macabeus in Copmanhouin" about the year J553- " The place»" sa?s Mr Pinkerton," is false; and the book was in all likelihood printed in London"." That it was however actually printed
5 Spotswood's Hist, of the Church of Scotland, p. 97. 1 Johnston. Heroes Scoti, p. 27. vLudg. Bat. 1603, 4to. u Piukerton's List of the Scotish Poets, p. civ.
at Copenhagen, is by no means improbable. It is at least certain that Dr Macbeth or Macabeus was not a fictitious but a real person ; and that his religious principles were congenial with those of Lindsay. In 1534 the persecution which pre- vailed in Scotland compelled John Macbeth, with Alexander Hales v and other scholars, to fly for refuge to foreign countries w : and he is reported to have obtained a professorship in the University of Copenhagen x. " The Monarchic," " The Papin- go," " The Dreme," and " The Tragedie of the Cardinal," were " imprentit at the command and expensis of Maister Sammuel Jascuy, in Paris" in the year 1558. " How Lindsay's works," says Mr Pinkerton, " so inimical to Rome, could be printed at Paris, it is hard to imagine ; and I sus- pect the true place was Rouen in Normandy, a town where different Hugonot books appeared." In an edition of these three productions, together with " The Complaint of Schir Dauid Lyndesay," printed at Edinburgh by John Scot for Henry
T An account of Hales may be found in Bayle's Dictionnaire Hhtoriqut et Critique, torn, i, p. 1 56. Bayle quotes " Jacobi Thomasii Oratio de Alexandro Alesio," printed, together with several others, at Leipzig in the year 1683.
w Petrie's Hist, of the Catholick Church, cent. xvi. p. 173.
* In the oration of Gilbert Gray, which Dr Mackenzie has prefixed to his lives, he is improperly mentioned by the name of Christian Mac- beth. Mr Petrie informs us that he was chaplain to Christian King of Denmark. — " Sed cum bonarum literarum cultura formatus, suspiciendus posteris vivebat Christianus Macabeus Scotus, Professor Hafniensis, qui scripsit De Vcra et Falsa Ecclesia, &c. Floruit anno partse salutis 1558." GRAY. Orat, de Illustribus Scotiae Scriptoribus, p. xxxi.
Charters in 1568, mention is made of " the im- prentingis of Rowen and London ;" a circumstance which serves to strengthen the above conjecture. Lindsay's works, says another editor; *4 haue bene imprentit in Rowen, bot altogidder sa corrupt and fals, that na man can be abill to atteine the au- thouris minde be them. They are likewise laitlie imprentit in Londoun, with litill better succesy." No collective London edition prior to that of J566 has hitherto been discovered. In this the poems are injudiciously translated into English. Other impressions appeared at Edinburgh in 1574, 1588, 1592, and 1597. An edition of 4< TheTesta- ment and Complaint of the Papingo," was printed by Bassantin of Edinburgh in the year 1574 : and during the following year an Anglicised edition of " The Monarchic" appeared at London. " The Historic of . ane Nobil and Walzeand Squyer, William Meldrum, vmquhyle Laird of Cleische and Bynnis," was inserted in the edition of his works undertaken by Henry Charters in 1592 ; and republished, in a separate form, in 1594 and 1602. This poem is also to be found among Mr Pinkerton's Scotish Poems. The " Satyre of the Thrie Estaits, in Commendatioun of Vertew and Vituperatioun of Vyce," was printed by Robert Charters in the year 1602, and has lately been reedited in the above collection of Mr Pinkerton,
? H. Charters, Preface to Lindsay's Warkis.
89
All these early editions are in quarto. There are many later impressions of little or no value : being intended for the use of the common people, they are generally found devested of the ancient orthography z.
We are informed by Dr Mackenzie that vari- ous works of Lindsay were printed at Edinburgh in the year 1540 : but Mr Pinkerton has affirmed that no Protestant book could be printed at Edinburgh till 1567, the year in which Queen Mary was deposed ; and he is therefore per- suaded that the first genuine Scotish edition of Lindsay's works was that which made its appear- ance in 1568. No impression of an earlier date can indeed be discovered : but the accuracy of these conclusions may perhaps be disputed. Protestant books, however obnoxious to the ex- isting government, might in a clandestine man- ner be printed long before the period which he has specified. Lindsay is known to have satirized the Catholics in a play represented before the court by permission of the king himself* : and the same obnoxious play was afterwards exhi- bited before the queen regent, who was suffi- ciently attached to the old faith5. Such was the
2 Lindsay's poetical works, with the omission of various passages, have however been lately reprinted in a more correct form by Mr Sibbald, in his Chronicle of Scottish Poetry. Edinb, 1802, 4 vols. 8vo.
a See the Dissertation on the Early Scotish Drama, p. 208.
b " Na les ernist and vehement," says H. Charters, " was he agania them in his fairsis and publict playis, quhairin he was verray craftie and
VOL. II. M
power of the Reformers, that even so early as the year 1562 they procured the imprisonment of John Scot, a printer who had undertaken the impression of one of the Catholic treatises of Dr Ninian Winzet0. The compositions of Lindsay, if not printed in Scotland before the year 1568, appear at least to have been circulated with little reserve. In 1558 the convoca- tion passed an act " that Sir David Lindsay's book should be abolished and burnt d."
Bale informs us that Lindsay wrote Acta sui Temporis* ; and the same work is likewise men- tioned by Principal Gray f. As however it is highly probable that such a composition never existed, we may spare ourselves the labour of forming conjectures with regard to its nature. Dr Mackenzie asserts that he was the author of a history of Scotland ; and, for this statement, quotes the authority of Robert Lindsay of Pits- cottieg. The only apparent foundation for such a report is a passage in the preface ; where he remarks that in collecting his materials, he was •" instructed and learned, and lately informed by
excellent. Sic ane spring he gaue them in the play playit beside Edin- burgh in presence of the Quene Regent, and ane greit part of the nobilitie, with ane exceiding greit nowmer of pepill."
c Leslaeus de Rebus Gestis Scotorum, p. 540.
ti Lindsay's History of Scotland, p. 315.
e Balei Scriptores Britannise, cent. xiv. p. 224.
f Gray. Orat. de Illustribus Scotix Scriptoribus, p. xxx.
S Mackenzie's Lives of Scots Writers, vol. iii. p. 37.
91
thir authors as after follow ; to wit, Patrick Lord Lindsay of the Byres, Sir William Scot of Bal- wirie, Knight, Sir Andrew Wood of Largo, Knight, Mr John Major, Doctor of Theology, who wrote his chronicle hereupon, and also Sir David Lindsay of the Mount, Knight, alias Lyon King of Arms, with Andrew Wood of Largo, principal and familiar servant to King James V. Andrew Fernie of that ilk, a nobleman of recent memory, Sir William Bruce of Earlshall, Knight, who hath written, very justly, all the deeds since Floddon field." But it is obvious that of these individuals two only are to be regarded as his^o- rians : and the anecdotes for which he was in- debted to the rest, must have been communicated by verbal intercourse. Dr John Mair and Sir William Bruce are carefully distinguished as authors of historical productions.
In the Advocates Library are two of Lindsay's MSS. on subjects of heraldry. The one is entitled " Collectanea Domini Dauidis Lindesay de Moun- the, Militis, Leonis Armorum Regis ;" the other " Injunctiounis set furth be Sir Dauid Lindsay and his brethrene Herralds to be obseruit be the Officiars of Armes within this Realme." The former, notwithstanding its Latin title, is also written in the Scotish language.
The same library contains a miscellaneous col- lection of blazonings, apparently executed by Lindsay's own hand. The volume has no title-
M 2
page ; but the subsequent inscription ascertains its author : " The Armes of Sr Dauid Lindesay of the Mont, Knycht, alias Lion King of Armes, autor of this present buke." The blazonings are interspersed with a few slight notices ; and are introduced by the following verses, which may be supposed to have been written by Lindsay :
Si spectare cupis preclara insignia regum,
Illustre heroum semideumque genus, Et clarum exardens quos dedit ad sidera virtus,
Et quibus hac vita gloria major erat, s Ut paucis sapias, heec sunt insignia quorum
Defensa invicto Scotia marte fuit : Cum patriee fortes animam effudere superbam,
Talia pro meritis sunt monimenta data, Nobilium ut moneant animos pro ingentibus actis
Premia quas exemplis postera turba colat : Mira arte et miris, ut cernis, picta figuris,
Ordine quaeque suo versa tabella dabit.
At the bottom of the page appears this inscription in a more recent hand : " 1630. Jacobus Balfour- ius, Kynardiae -Miles, Leo Armorum Rex."
A letter from Lindsay to the lord secretary of Scotland, written at Antwerp in the year 1531, has lately been published11. Two portraits of him, copied from the wooden vignettes prefixed to editions of his works'1, are to be found in the first volume of Mr Pinkerton's Scotisb Poems,
h Pinkerton's Scotish Poems, vol. i. p. xviii. i Paris, 1558, 4to. Edinburgh, 1634, 8m
93
Lindsay's gallery in the old church of Moni- mail was distinguished by the following inscrip-r tion, probably written by himself:
Thy hairt prepair, thy God in Chryst ador, Mount up by grace, and then thqu's come to glore.
The word Mount may perhaps be supposed to bear a quibbling allusion to Lindsay's family- seat.
WE are now arrived at an aera of Scotish lite- 'rature which was adorned by the genius of Buchanan, Wilson, Boyce, and Mair, of Dun- bar, Douglas, Lindsay, and Bellenden. In the course of the sixteenth century classical and theological learning had begun to be more gene- rally diffused : many of our countrymen, after having visited the continental universities, had at length returned to disseminate the principles of polite knowledge, as well as the new tenets which characterized this eventful crisis.
Vernacular poetry was most assiduously culti- vated in Scotland at a period when it seems to have been in a great measure neglected in Eng- land. An English critic has remarked that " the interval between the reigns of Henry V. and Jlenry VIII. which comprehends near a century, Although uncommonly rich in Scotch poets of distinguished excellence, does not furnish us with
a single name among the natives of England de- serving of much notice j."
About the period when Lindsay began his poe- tical career, those causes which at length pro- duced a radical change in the national form of worship, were operating with visible efficacy : the secret springs of vigorous action were nearly wound to a sufficient pitch ; and a brave people was about to vindicate those religious rights which can never be alienated without a total depriva- tion of political freedom. Although a bolder spirit of enquiry was thus promoted, yet it can- not be affirmed that poetry derived immediate and obvious advantages from the revolution. The compositions of such of our poets as em- braced the reformed religion, are generally infe- rior to those of their Catholic predecessors. The unostentatious genius of the Presbyterian disci- pline is less congenial to a poetical imagination than the pomp and parade of the Romish super- stition. The one addresses the eternal principle of reason ; the other takes possession of those outer posts of intellection, the senses.
Zeal is often blind and inefficacious. The early poets of the Reformation have exhibited performances which can only obtain the praise due to good intentions.
Of the more splendid beauties of poetry the compositions of Lindsay present but few vestiges.
i Ellis, Hist. Sketch of English Poetry, vol.i. p. 312.
They are however amply replenished with good sense, which Horace justly regards as the found- ation of literary excellence. And to this quality, which does not necessarily imply any unusual powers of execution, he unites a liveliness of fancy that often captivates the mind. His satire is pointed and unrestrained. The freedom with which he exposes vice, even when it attaches it- self to royalty, has stamped his works with the. character of intrepid sincerity. The objection however which has been urged against Juvenal, may with equal propriety be applied to Lindsay: he sometimes exposes vice in the language of the vitious.
Lindsay presents us with many curious pros- pects of society and manners : and although his delineations may in various instances be regarded as somewhat coarse, they are always faithful or picturesque. In this respect his writings are highly valuable, and ought to be accurately in- spected by those who direct their attention more particularly to the civil or ecclesiastical history of Scotland.
In almost every poem which he has composed, we find severe but well-founded reflections on the ignorance and immorality of the Catholic clergy. If therefore the notion be just, that " malevolence to the clergy is seldom at a great distance from irreverence of religion1"," Lindsay
11 Johnson's Lives of English Poets, vol. ii. p. loa.
has perpetually exposed himself to the charge impiety. But this position of Dr Johnson, as it reduces good and evil to the same standard, may safely be controverted. Among the descendants of Abraham only was the order of priesthood sanctioned by divine approbation : but a reli- gious establishment in any other nation, whe^ ther, with Dr Warburton, we regard it as voluntarily allied to the civil power, or, with others, as a mere Appendage or necessary instru- ment of the latter, cannot be unconditionally venerated by the various members of the state. The ministers of religion are subject to the com- mon infirmities of humanity, and are only respect- able in proportion as they are virtuous1.
That Lindsay should have found leisure to ac- quire the varied knowledge which he evidently possessed, cannot but excite our surprise when we reflect that he led the unquiet life of a court- ier. His profound skill in heraldry has often been extolled ; and he appears to have been much conversant in history and theology. His ac- quaintance with Latin authors, ancient as well as modern, was undoubtedly extensive : but to the unpolluted fountains of Grecian literature he
1 Sed nee me oppedere coelo
Crede, nee in divos redivivam attollere Phlegram : Namque ego sum teneris semper veneratus ab annis Pontifices, sanctosque patres, quos Candida virtus Reddidit seterna dignos in secula fama.
BUCHANAN.
97
s.eems never to have approached. When he mentions a Greek writer, he speaks in the unsa- tisfactory accents of ignorance. Overlooking Homer, he has denominated Hesiod the sovereign poet of Greece. His critical judgments of the Latin writers are sometimes vague or fortuitous : to Ennius he unhappily applies the epithet ornate.
His versification is easy and agreeable. His style often approaches towards elegance, but, like that of Douglas, is overloaded with extraneous terms. Prepotent, pulchritude, celsitude, condign, dolent, are words which occur in the compass of one short stanza.
" In the works of Sir David Lindsay," says Mr Ellis, " we do not often find, either the splendid diction of D unbar, or the prolific imagi- nation of Gawin Douglas ; perhaps, indeed, his Dream is the only composition which can be cited as uniformly poetical : but his various learning, his good sense, his perfect knowledge of courts and of the world, the facility of his versi- fication, and, above all, his peculiar talent of adapting himself to readers of all denominations, will continue to secure to him a considerable share of that popularity, for which he was origi- nally indebted to the opinions he professed, no less than to his poetical merit™.
m Ellis, Hist. Sketch of English Poetry,' vol. ii. p. ai.
VOL. II. N
93
1 His Dialog of the Miser abill Estait of this Warld is not, as it has sometimes been represented, a tedious detail of well-known events, but a work replete with various learning, and enlivened by the pointed remarks of a perspicacious mind. It appears to have been composed during his old age, and may therefore be regarded as com- prizing the accumulated maxims of a long life of alternate action and contemplation. It has been unfaithfully characterized as a meagre com- pendium of universal history. The poet's prin- cipal object is not to narrate events, but, by means of the great occurrences recorded in sacred - or prophane history, to illustrate general positions : and although in the prosecution of this design he may occasionally appear somewhat tedious, yet for the most part he is so fortunate as to prevent attention from languishing. His pages present us with contributions to the history of manners, with specimens of the learning which was then cultivated, and with prospects of the deplorable state of a tottering church.
Musing on the wretchedness and instability in- cident to human affairs, the poet early in a sum- mer morning enters a pleasant field, and is there accosted by a venerable old man named Expe- rience. He informs this reverend stranger that he has at length resolved to abandon the court, and to employ the remainder of his life in prepar- ation for death ; and he expresses a wish to be in-
99
structed in the most practicable method of obtain- ing tranquillity. The answer returned by Experi- ence has often been found too true : Earthly happi- ness is a shadow which no man need pursue ; and human life is a state of warfare and tribulation.
This reflection being presented to his mind, he begins to enquire concerning the origin of evil : and the momentous question is discussed in the course of their long conference. But previous to his entering into detail, he offers a sensible apology for writing in his native language ; and thence takes occasion to expose the absurdity of that maxim which prohibits the body of the people from reading the sacred scriptures. Pearls, say the Romanists, must not be cast before swine : children, as well as adults, may experience the benefits of fire and water ; and yet their parents must be careful to guard them against those dan- gerous elements".
Having taken a review of the most remarkable events recorded by Moses, and of the progress of the Assyrian, Persian, Grecian, and Roman em- pires, he next proceeds to treat of the spiritual monarchy of the pope. Against the corruptions of the church of Rome he inveighs with wonder-
n The decrees of popes and the sentiments of eminent Catholic writers, relative to the expediency of permitting the scriptures to be redd in the vulgar tongues, have been collected by Jacobus Laurentius, in his illiberal animadversions on Grotius. (Laurentii Hugo Grotius Pafiizans, p. 194. Amst. 1642, 8vo.)
N 2
10O
ful boldness, and in a spirit of manly indignation. Of the downfal of the papal grandeur we meet with the following prediction :
Appeirandlie it may be kend, Quod he, thair gloir sail haue an end j I raene thair temporall monarchic Sail turne intill humilitie : Throw Goddis word, without debait, Thav sail turne to thair first estaite. As Danielis prophesie appeiris, Thairto sail nocht be mony zeiris.
Towards the conclusion of the poem, he specu- lates on death, judgment, and celestial beatitude, One passage is too remarkable to be overlooked:
To God alone the day bene knawin, Quhilk neuer was to nane angell schawin ; Howbeit, be diuers coniectouris And principal expositouris Of Daniell and his prophecie, And be the sentence of Elie j Quhilkis hes declarit, as they can. How lang it is sen the warld began, And for to schaw hes done thair cure How lang thay traist it sail indure, And als how mony ages bene, As in thair warkis may be sene. Bot till declair thir questiounis, / Thair bene diuers opiniounis. Sum wryteris hes the warld deuydit In ser ages, as bene decydit j
101
Jnto Fasciculus Temporum
And Cronica Cronicorum :
Bot be the sentence of Elie,
The warld deuydit is in thrie, .
As cunning Maister Carioun °
Hes maid plaine expositioun j
How Elie sayis, without weir,
The warld sail stand ser thousand zeir :
Of quhome I follow the sentence,
And lattis other buikis go hence.
From the creation of Adam
Twa thousand zeir till Abraham j
From Abraham, be this narratioun,
To Christis incarnatioun,
Richt sa lies bin twa thousand zeiris :
And be thir prophecyis appeiris,
From Christ, as they mak till us kend,
Twa thousand till the warldis end :
Of quhilkis ar by gone sickerlie
Fyue thousand fiue hundreth thre and fyftie :
And sa remanis to come, but weir,
Four hundreth with seuin and fourtie zeir j
And than the Lord omnipotent
Suld cum untill his greit Judgement p.
0 The Fasciculus Temporum is the production of Wernerus Rolewinck de }Laer, a Carthusian monk of St Barbara at Cologne. He was a native of Westphalia, and died in the year 1502. (Vossius De Historic** Latinis, p. 569.) The Chronica Cbronicorum of Hartmannus Schedelius was printed at Nuremburg in 1493. Trithemius characterizes him as " ingenio prxs- fa,n$ et clarus eloquio." For a particular account of the chronicle of Car- rlo, consult Bayle's Dictionnaire Historique et Critique, torn. ii. p. 56.
P A similar computation may be found in Wedderburn : " I vil arme me vith the croniklis of Master Ihone Carion, quhar he allegis the pro* phesye of Kelie, seyand, that fra the begynnyng of the varld on to the consummatione of it, sal be the space of sex thousand zeir," &c. (Com* flaynt of Scotland, p. 54.)
102
The verity of this prediction cannot yet be as- certained : but that of his countryman Napier has failed of its accomplishment. " The day of God's judgement," says Napier, " appeares to fall betwixt the yeares of Christ 1688 and 1700"."
^ Napier's Plaine Discovery of the Revelation of St John, p. iz. edit. Edinb. 1645, 4to. — This illustrious man seems to have paid some atten- tion to the study of poetry. In his curious treatise he has versified " cer- tain notable prophecies extract out of the books of Sibylla," which with- out any apparent scruple he regards as genuine. His work is prefaced fey the following address to Antichrist :
The book this bill sends to the beast. Craving amendment notu in least.
God first to John in Pathmos me presents, Who sent me syne the seven kirks untill. As forth I foore with the two testaments, God's truth to teach in witnessing his will, Thou, bloody beast ! us cruelly did kill, In sack of schismes syling up our sense : Our corps unkind then stonished lay still, Till seventy years eighteen times passed hence. But now since come is untill audience God's word from heaven, the voyce of verity, Quickening these corps with true intelligence, So long supprest by thy subtility ; I plain proclaime and proove by prophecy, That thou, O Rome ! rais'd up on hills seven, City supream and seate of sodomy, Under whose reign our Lord to death was driven, \ And our martyrs rudely rent and riven, Art heire and eroy to great Babylon ; Whereby her name God hath to thee given. Thou whore ! thou sit'st the bloody beast upon : Thy dayes are done, thy glory now is gone : *
Burnt shalt thou be, and made a den of devils. Flee from her then, my flock ; leave her aloue, Lest that ye be partaker of her evills :
103
To form a copious selection of striking. and poetical passages which occur in the four books of The Monarchic, would be no very difficult task : but when a late writer observes that in many in- stances Lindsay displays a sublimity of concep- tion which Milton probably disdained not to imi- tate, we can only admire the boldness of the cri- tic without acquiescing in his decision. It would be equally rational to affirm that Milton borrow- ed the plan of his great poem from Sir Richard Maitland.
A Latin version of this dialogue was under- taken by David Carnegie of Aberdeen ; but the scheme was defeated by his premature death r.
The next poem in the order of the volume is *s The Testament and Complaint of our Souerane Lordis Papingo King James the Fyft, lyand sair woundit, and may not die till everie man haue hard quhat scho sayis ; quhairfoir, gentill reidaris, haist zow that scho wer out of paine." The ob- ject of this work is to admonish the king and his courtiers, and to satirize the dissolute ecclesiast- ics. The poet undoubtedly discovers much hu- mour and good sense : but most of the strictures might have proceeded from himself with more propriety than from a parrot. The following pas- sage may be quoted as a favourable specimen :
For doth at hand aproach the latter day
When Christ his church shall reign with him for aye.
r Gray. Orat. de Illustribus Scotise Scriptoribus, p. xxxi.
104
Dame Chastitie did steill away for schame, Fra time scho did persaue thair puruiance,
Dame Sensuall a letter gart proclame, And hir exylit Italic and France. In Ingland couth scho get none ordinance.
Than to the king and court of Scotland
Scho markit her withouttin mair demand.
Traisting into that court to get comfort, Scho maid hir humbill supplicatioun.
Schortly thay said scho suld get na support ', But hoisted hir with blasphematioun : — To priestis ga mak zour protestatioun ;
It is, said thay, mohy ane hundreth zeir
Sen Chastitie had ony entres heir.
Tyrit for trauell, scho to the preistis past, And to the rewlaris of religioun.
Of hir presence schortly thay war agast j Sayand thay thocht it hot abusioun Hir to resaue ; sa with conclusioun,
With ane auise, decretit and gaue dome,
Thay wald resset na rebell out of Rome.
The concluding thought seems peculiarly happy. The Dreme has been characterized by Warton and Ellis as the most poetical of Lindsay's com- positions.— After having spent a long winter night without sleep, the poet rises from his bed, and bends his course towards the sea-shore. His description of the faded appearance of the land- scape is finely conceived and elegantly exprest :
105
I met Dame Flora in dule weid disagysit, Ouhilk into May was dulce and delectabill :
With stalwart stormis hir sweitnes was suprisit j Hir heuinly hewis war turnit into sabill, Ouhilkis vmquhill war to lufFaris amiabill.
Fled from the froist, the tender flouris I saw
Under Dame Natures mantill lurking law.
The small fowlis in flockis saw I fle j
To Nature makand lamentatioun, Thay lichtit doun beside me on ane tre j
Of thair complaint I had compassioun j
And with ane piteous exclamatioun Thay said, Blissit be Somer wi% his flouris ! And waryit be thow, Winter, witrrthy schouris !
Allace Aurora ! the sillie lark can cry,
Quhair hes thow left thy balmy liquour sweit,
That vs reiosit, we mounting in the sky ? Thy siluer droppis ar turnit into sleit : Of fair Phebus quhair is thy holsum heit ?
Ouhy tholis thow thy heuinly plesand face
With mystic vapouris to be obscurit allace f
He enters a cave, and purposes " to register in rhyme some merry matter of antiquity;" but finding himself opprest and languid, he wraps himself in his cloak and is overpowered by sleep. He fancies himself accosted by a beautiful female named Remembrance; who conducts him to ma- ny unknown regions. They first descend into hell, and there perceive innumerable shoals of popes, emperors, kings, cardinals, bishops, and ba-
VOL. II. O
106
rons. Lindsay's notions of the infernal domini are not very unlike those of Virgil.
Having surveyed this dreary region, they as- cend towards heaven, but in their passage visij^ the sun and the planets : and the poet thus finds an opportunity of entering into some of the more curious speculations of astronomy. They at length pass through the crystalline heaven, and arrive in the celestial kingdom. This leads to brief disqui- sitions relative to the trinity and the nine orders of angels.
After having contemplated the various divi- sions of the earth, he enquires concerning the terrestrial paradise, and is presented with a view of its delightful boundaries.
This paradise, of all plesour repleit,
Situate I saw to the orient j That glorious garth of euery flouris did fleit,
The lustie lilleis, the rosis redolent,
Fresche hailsum frutes indeficient j Baith herbe and tre thair growis euer grene, Throw vertew of the temperate air serene.
The sweit hailsum aromatike odouris Proceding from the herbis medicinall,
The heuinly hewis of the fragrant flouris, It was ane sicht wonder celestiall. The perfectioun to schaw in speciall
And ioyis of the regioun deuine,
Of mankinde it excedis the mgyne.
107
And als sa hie in situatioun,
Surmounting the mid regioun of the air,
Ouhair na maner of perturbatioun
Of wedder may ascend sa hie as ' thair.' Four rludis flowing from ane fontane fair,
As Tygris, Ganges. Euphrates, and Nyle,
Quhilk in the eist transcurris mony ane myle.
The country closit is about full richt
With wallis hie of hote and birning fyre,
And straitly keipit be ane angell bricht
Sen the departing of Adam our grandschyre, Quhilk throw his cryme incurrit Gocidis ire,
And of that place tynt the pcssessioun
Baith from him self and his successioun.
To compare Lindsay's description of paradise with that of Milton, may be no unpleasing task :
So on he fares, and to the border comes
Of Eden, where delicious Paradise,
NOW nearer, crowns with her inclosure green,
As with a rural mound, the champam head
Of a steep wilderness, whose hairy sides
With thicket overgrown, grotesque and wild,
Access deny'd ; and over head up grew
Insuperable height of loftiest shade,
Cedar, and pine, and fir, and branching palm,
A sylvan scene , and as the ranks ascend
Shade over shade, a woody theatre
Of stateliest view. Yet higher than their tops
The verd'rous wall of Paradise up sprung ;
Which to our general sire gave prospect large
Into this nether empire neighboring round :
108
And higher than that wall a circling row Of goodliest trees, loaden with fairest fruit, Blossoms and fruits at once of golden hue, Appear'd, with gay enamel'd colours mix'd.
The difference between these two passages is al- most beyond calculation ; and yet Lindsay's de- scription is not entirely devoid of poetical merit. The poet is next gratified with a distant view of his native land. He expresses his astonishment that a country possest of such natural advantages, and inhabited by so ingenious a race of men, should still continue in a hopeless state of pover- ty. Wealth, replies his conductress, can never enter where policy is not to be found ; and equi- ty can only reside with peace. A nation must of necessity be unprosperous, when those who ought to administer justice are guilty of slumber- ing in the tribunal. — Their attention is now at- tracted by a very remarkable figure :
And thus as we wer talking to and fro,
We saw ane busteous beirne cum ouir the bent,
But hors, on fute, als fast as he micht go, Ouhais raiment was al raggit reuin and rent. With visage lene as he had fastit Lent ;
And forwart fast his wayis he did auance
With ane richt melancholious countenance 5
With scrip on hip, and pykestaff in his hand,
As he had bin purposit to pas fra hame, Ouod I, Gude-man, I wald fane understand,
at ze plesit, to wit quhat wer zour name.
109
Quod he, My sone, of that I think greit schame i Bot sen thow wald of my name haue ane feil, Forsuith thay call me JGHNE THE COMMOUN-WEILL.
Schir Commoun-weill declares his resolution of abandoning a country where he has only experi- enced neglect or insult from people of every de- nomination. My friends, says he, are all fled. Policy is returned to France. My sister Juftice is no longer able to hold the balance. Wrong is now appointed captain of the ordinance. No Scotishman shall again find favour with me, un- til the realm be governed by a king who shall delight in equity, and bring strong traitors to condign punishment. " Wo to the realme yat hes ouir zoung ane king." Having closed this pa- thetic oration, he departs. Remembrance con- ducts the poet back to the cave on the sea-shore ; and he is speedily roused by a discharge 'of artil- Jery from a vessel which appears under sail.
The Exhortatioun to the Kingis Grace contains several good counsels, delivered with the utmost freedom. The Complaint directit to the Kingis Grace, though unadprned with many poetical or- naments, is a valuable and interesting produc- tion. It exhibits lively sketches of the author's personal fortunes, of the manners of the times, and of the early education and private character of James the Fifth.
The plan of The Tragedie of the Cardinal is similar to that adopted in the Myrrovr for Ma-
110
gistrates*. As the poet, after the hour of prime, is sitting in his oratory and reading Boccace De Ca- sibus Virorum Illustrium, he suddenly perceives a wounded man standing before him with pale visage and deadly cheer. His visiter, who proves to be the ghost of Cardinal Beaton, requests him to com- mit his story to writing, in conformity to the narration which is about to be delivered. To this proposal he readily assents : and the woe- begone cardinal begins a relation of the princi- pal events of his life ; but the tale, though suf- ficiently moral, is not told with much elegance or energy.
In The Deploratloun of the Delth of ®>uene Mag- dalene many feeble passages occur. This work however is not entirely devoid of poetical beau- ties.' The Ansuer to the Kingis Flyting will please such readers as can be pleased with obscenity ; a quality which too frequently predominates in the pages of Lindsay. Candour will be inclined to refer this coarseness to the general character of
8 In the Advocates Library I find an English poem on the same mo- del, inscribed with the name of-Joh.n Woodward. This neglected MS. is entitled The Life and Tragedy of the Her olcall Lady ^ Mary late Queen? f>f Scotts. It begins,
Baldwin awake ! thy pen hath slept to long.
A prose account of Queen Mary's execution is subjoined. The same li- brary contains another .unpublished composition of Woodward's, entit- led Prince Henry his Life, Dtathy and Funeralles. This biographical sketch is in prose.
Ill
the 03 ra at which he flourished ; and he may at least claim an indulgence which must sometimes be granted to poets of the Augustan age.
The Complaint and Publlct Confessioun of the Kingis Add Hound callit Basche is a production of no very remarkable features. In his Supplica- tioun direct to the Kingis Grace in Coniemptioun of Syde Tail/is, he evinces himself a zealous re- former of manners. He seems to have contem- plated side tails and muzzled faces with an unne- cessary degree of alarm : but, like a good Chris- tian, he recollected that a long tail proceeds from pride, and pride from the Devil. In the warmth of his zeal to reform others, he has, like many other satirists, neglected himself : several of his expressions are rank arid gross.
Kitteis Confessioun, " compylit as is beleuit, be S. Dauid Lyndesay," contains several happy strokes of humour. It is a well-directed satire against the absurd practice of auricular confes- sion, and may safely be regarded as the composi- tion of Lindsay. The sanctified lasciviousness of a father confessor is depicted with no unskilful pencil :
Ouhen scho was talkand as scho wist, The curate Kittie wald haue kist } But zit ane countenance be bure Degest, devoit, dane, and demure. - - - Ouhen scho in minde did mair reuolue. Quod he, I can not zou absolue ;
But to my chalmer cum at ewin,
Absoluit for to be and schreuin.
Quod scho, I will pas to ane vther ;
And I met with Sir ' Androwis' brother,
Anci he full clenelie did me schriue ;
Bot he was sum thing talkatiue :
He speirlt monie strange cace j
How that my lufe did me embrace,
Quhat day, how oft, quhat sort, and quhair ? —
Quod he I wald I had bin thair.
He me absoluit for ane plak,
Thocht he with me na price wald mak j
And mekil Latine did he mummill j —
I hard na thing bot hummill bummill.
The Justing betuix James Watsoun and John Barbour, a poem which comprises the only spe- cimen of the heroic couplet that Lindsay has ex- hibited, may be considered as a successful at- tempt at ludicrous composition. The following quotation will perhaps support this decision :
From time thay enterit war into the feild,
Full womanlie they weildit speir and scheild,
And wichtlie waiuit in the wind thair heillis,
Hobland like cadgeris rydand on thair creillis.
Bot ather ran at vther with sic haist,
Yat they culd neuer yair speir get in the raist.
Quhen gentil James trowit best with Johne to meit,
His speir did fall amang the horsis feit.
I am richt sure, gud James had bene vndone,
War not that Johne his mark tuk be the mone.
Ouod Johne, Hor.vbeit thou thinkis my leggis like roks,
My speir is guid : now keip the fra my knoks.
Tary, quod James, ane quhile : for, be my thrift. The feind ane thing I can se hot the lift. Na mair can I, quod Johne j be Goddis breid, I se na thing except the stepill heid. Zit thocht thy branis be like twa barrow trammis, Defend the, man ! Than ran thay to like rammis. At that rude rink, James had bin strikkin doun, War not that Johne for feircsnes fell in swoun : And richt sa James to Johne had done greit deir, War not twixt his hors feit he brak his speir. Quod James to Johne, Yit, ,for our ladeis saikis, Let us togidder strike thre market straikis.
Squyer Mel drum displays a lively vein of de- scription : but although the work comprehends la narrative of considerable extent, it is not con- structed with much attention to the general rules of criticism. The poetical effect is not always secured. With regard to the fate of the Irish lady we are left in a situation of disagreeable suspense. To her the squire pledges his faith when about to rejoin his countrymen :
JLadie ! I say zou in certane, Ze sail have lufe for lufe agane, Trewlie unto my lyfis end.
Yet after his return to Scotland, he meets with a fair paramour in Strathern, and without com- punction abandons his former love. The most satisfactory apology which can be offered for Lindsay's deviation from the rules of poetical justice, is that his invention was circumscribed
VOL. IT P
by the conformity which was due to truth. He" professes to have derived a part of his informa- tion from the hero of his story : and the roman- tic adventures of William Meldrum were yet fresh in the memory of his countrymen u.
That Lindsay wished to render his deceased friend an object of ridicule can hardly be sup- posed : yet several passages of Squyer Meldrum have an appearance of intentional burlesque* The following verses, for example, resemble the style of Butler :
Cupido with his fyerie dart Did peirs him so out throw the hart, Sa all that nicht he did hot raurn it, Sum tyme sat up, and sum tyme turnit, Sichand with monie gant and grane, To fair Venus makand his mane.
But in obsolete poetry, it must be recollected, the serious cannot always be readily distinguished from the ludicrous. Terms may be deprived of their original dignity ; and the notions which they express may at length be viewed in a less favourable light. The revolutions of language and manners it would be impossible to antici- pate.
Like other productions of that nera, Sgvyer Meldrum sometimes offends by its incongruities :
xt Lindsay's History, of Scotland, p. 300.
115
Christian and Pagan theology is strangely blend- ed together ; and we are alternately regaled with the names of Venus and the virgin Mary.
Of the notions of female delicacy which then prevailed, this poem furnishes us with a curious illustration. The squire arrives at a castle in Strathern, and falls in love with its fair owner. Being conducted to his bed-chamber, he conti- nues to meditate on her charms, and at length begins to vent his passion in loud ejaculations. From her adjoining apartment the lady over- hears the soliloquy of her accomplished and he- roic guest, and immediately determines that his love shall be duly rewarded.
This was the mirrie tyme of May 5 Quhen this fair ladie fresche and gay, Start up to take the hailsum air, With pantonis on hir feit ane pair, Airlie into ane cleir morning, Befoir Phoebus uprising, Kirtill alone xvithoutin clok, And saw the squyris dure unlok, Scho slippit in or euer ,he wist, And fenyeitlie past till ane kist, And with her keyis oppinnlt the lokkis, And maid hir to take furth ane boxe.
The rest may be left to the reader's imagina- tion.— To the voluptuousness or indelicacy ot Lindsay's descriptions, abundanqe of parallels may
P 2
be found. When such qualities occur, they must either be referred to the contagion of bad example, to the peculiar complexion of the writ- er's mental associations, or to an unhappy union of both those causes. When an author merely conforms to the general taste of his cotempora- ries, he is by no means guilty of the same impro- priety as must be imputed to him who shocks the moral feelings cherished by a purer age. A religious theist has remarked, that if, on his death-bed, Congreve could without remorse con- template the immoral tendency of his writings, he must have been callous to every virtuous im- pression u.
Xl Kamcf, Elements of Criticism, vol. i. p.
THE
LIFE
OF
JOHN BELLENDEN, D.D.
THE
LIFE
OF
JOHN BELLENDEN, D. D,
ALTHOUGH the life of Bellenden lias been written by his ingenious countryman Dr Camp- bell, yet it still remains involved in considerable obscurity ; and the scantiness of our biographical materials will not permit us to hope for much novelty of illustration.
John Bellenden, according to Dr Mackenzie, was a man of knightly rank, and the son of Tho- mas Bellenden of Auchinoul. It is further as- serted that he was appointed Clerk Register du- ring the minority of James the Fifth; that being deprived of his office, it was restored to him in the reign of Queen Mary ; and that during the
I2O
letter period he was also nominated a Senator of the College of Justice a.
But these statements may be suspected of in- accuracy. Dr John Bellenden is never styled a knight by any of our early writers. Sir John Bellenden of Auchinoul was appointed a Lord of Session in I554b; whereas, if we may credit Dempster, Dr Bellenden died in 1550°. But should Dempster's authority be rejected, we may at least admit that as this knight is known to have continued a member of the court for the space of many succeeding years, the probability of their identity is proportionably diminished. » The arguments which Mr Sibbald has advan- ced in corroboration of Dr Mackenzie's account, are very far from being satisfactory. "It ap- pears from the Catalogue published by Lord Hailes," observes this writer, " that in 1587 a Dean of Moray, Lord of Session, r (resigned) and was succeeded by Mr William Melvill, Com- mendatair of Tungland. Also, from the Notes and Appendix to Scotstarvet's History, that Sir John Bellenden of Auchinoul, Archdean of Mo- ray, was (not Clerk Register, but) Justice Clerk from 1547 to 1578. They seem all, there-
a Mackenzie's Lives of Scots Writers, vol. ii. p. 595. & Hailes, Catalogue of the Lords of Session, p. 3. e Dempster. Hist. Ecclesiast. Gent. Scot. p. 107.
121
fore, to be one and the same person d." But, on the contrary, it is evident that this information cannot be combined in such a manner as to ap- ply to the same individual. Dr Bellenden was not Dean but Archdeacon of Murray. The Bel- lenden who occurs in the catalogue of the Lords of Session is neither styled Dean nor Archdea- con of Murray, but Lord Auchinoul. Instead of resigning in 1587, he only continued a member of the court till 1577, the period of his decease. The testimony of Walter Goodall, the editor of Sir John Scot's Staggering State of the Scots Statesmen, is of little importance ; as his prin- cipal information is evidently derived from no better source than the biography of Dr Mac- kenzie, and as his statements are manifestly in- consistent with each other e.
Bellenden's education appears to have been uncommonly liberal f. As he took the degree of Doctor of Divinity in the Sorbonne, it may be supposed that he had pursued a regular course of study in the University of Paris. Dr Campbell
d Sibbald's Chronicle of Scottish Poetry, vol. ii. p. 72.
e See Scot's Staggering State of the Scots Statesmen, p. 129. 183. Edinb. 1754, lamo.
f " Interea Musarum memoriae foeliciter litabat Joannes Balantyn, Archidiaconus Moraviensis, accuratissima sedulitate in literis a puero us- que educatus."
GRAY. Orat. de Illustribus Scotia; Scriptoribus, p. xxx-
VOL. II. C
122
has remarked that his phraseology occasionally savours of a French education.
As a poet he appears to have obtained early distinction : Sir David Lindsay has mentioned him in the following terms :
Bot now of lait is start vp haistely
Ane cunning clark quhilk writis craftely,
Ane plant of poetis callit Ballendyne,
(^uhais ornat warkis my wit can not defync :
Get he into the court authentic,
He will precell Quintin and Kennedie.
His qualifications seem indeed to have attracted the regard of the court ; but he experienced the common fate of those who are capable of ex- citing the envy of courtiers. For this informa- tion we are indebted to his Proheme of the Cosmo- graphe.
And fyrst occurrit to my remembring How that I wes in seruice with the kyng,
Put to his Grace in zeris tenderest, Clerk of his comptiS) youcht I wes inding, With hart and hand and euery othir thing
That mycht hym pleis in ony maner best,
Quhill hie inuy me from his seruice kest, Be thaym that had the court in gouerning,
As bird but plumes heryit of the nest.
We afterwards find him on a confidential foot- ing with James the Fifth. His History of Scot-
123
land, a free translation of the first seventeen books of Hector Boyce, was undertaken at the request of that monarch g ; whose ignorance of the Latin language had probably prevented him from acquiring a competent knowledge of the
£ This we learn from the following notice : " Heir efter followis the History and Croniklis of Scotland compilit and newly correckit be the reuerend and noble clerke Maister Hector Boece, Channon of Aberdene ; translatit laitly be Maister Johne Bellenden, Archdene of Murray, Chan- non of Ros, at the command of the richt hie, richt excellent, and noble prince, James the V. of that name, King of Scottis ; and imprentit in Edinburgh be Thomas Dauidson dwellyng fornens the Frere Wynd."
Thomas Davidson has prefixed an address, consisting of five stanzas, and entitled The Excusatlon of the Prentar. It concludes thus;
And I the prentar that dois considir well Thir sindry myndis of men in thair leuing,
Desiris nocht hot on my laubour leil
That I mycht leif, and of my just wynnyng Mycht first pleis God, and syne our noble kyng j
And that ze reders, bousum and attent,
Wer of my laubour and besynis content.
And in this wark that I haue heir assailzeit
To bring to lycht, maist humely I exhort Zou nobill reders, quhare that I haue failzeit
In letter, sillabe, poyntis lang or schort,
That ze will of zour gentrice it support, And tak the sentence the best wyee ze may : I sail do better (will Godj ane othir day.
Bellenden's work was printed in folio, and in black letter. In the public library of the University of Edinburgh is a copy splendidly printed on vellum. It bears this inscription; " Thomas Willson, mercator, me Bibliothecze Edinburgense dono dedit anno Domini 1 669."
124
transactions of his remote predecessors. Into this publication Bellenden has introduced two poems of considerable length, entitled The Proheme of the Cosmographe, and The Proheme of the History ; and has closed the whole by a prose Epistil di- reckit be ye Translators to the Kingis Grace. From the initial words which they produce, it would appear that this is the only epistle of his composition with which either Bale or Tanner was acquainted : and yet among his other works they have thought proper to enumerate epistles addrest to King James h.
If we may credit Dr Mackenzie, this work was printed in the year 1536 : but his source of in- formation it would be difficult to. discover ; for the title-page and colophons exhibit no date. Mr Herbert, without any apparent founda- tion, mentions the publication of another edi- tion in the year 1541 '.
Bellenden is reported, I know not with what accuracy, to have continued the history of Scot- land for one hundred years succeeding the period at which this narrative closes j . A passage in his Proheme of the History seems to imply that he had at least formed such a project :
,& Balei Scriptores Britannia, cent. xiv. p. 223.
Tanner. Bibliotheca Britannico-Hibernica, p. 66. i Herbert's Typographical Antiquities, vol. iii. p. 1474* \ Balei Scriptores Britannia?, cent. xiv. p, 223.
125
Bring nobyll dedis of mony zeris gone
Als fresche and recent to our memorie As thay war hot in to our dayis done,
That nobyll men may haue baith laud and glorie
For thair excellent brut of victoric. And zit becaus my tyme hcs bene so schort,
I thynk, quhen I haue oportunite, To ring thair bell in to ane pthir sort.
Before this period, as appears from his publica- tion, he had been appointed Archdeacon of Mur- ray, and one of the Canons of Ross.
He likewise translated the first five books of Livy : and a manuscript copy of his version is still preserved in the Advocates Library. From a passage in The Prolong it appears that this work was also undertaken at the suggestion of J£ing James :
And ze, my souerane, be lyne continewall Ay cum of kingis zour progenitouris,
And writis, in ornate stile poeticall,
Quick flowand vers of rethorik cullouris Sa freschlie springand in zoure lusty flouris,
To ye grete comforte of all trew Scottismen,
Be now my Muse, and ledare of my pen ,
That be zoure helpe and fauoure gracius,
I may be able, as ze commandit me, To follow ye prince of storie, Liuius,
Quhais curious ressouns tonlt ar so hie,
And euery sens sa full of maieste, That so he passis vther stories all, As siluer Diane dois ye sternis small.
126
He expresses an intention of executing a complete version of Livy's Roman history ; but this for- midable task, it is probable, was never performed.
After this period Bellenden visited Rome ; where he closed his life in the year 1550". The object of his voyage remains undiscovered. Dr Campbell supposes that he was impelled to abandon his native country by his aversion from the principles of the Reformation. " It may with great probability be conjectured," observes this ingenious biographer, " that the disputes into which he plunged himself on this subject, made him so uneasy, that he chose to quit his native country, to go and reside in a place where that disposition, instead of being a hindrance, would infallibly recommend him." It is certain that he was a strenuous opposer of the Reformers ': but many other reasons might induce him to visit the seat of ecclesiastical honours.
Beside the works which have already been mentioned, Bellenden is said to have composed a treatise on the Pythagoric letter. Dr Mackenzie proposes to correct Dempster by substituting De
k Dempster's words are these : " Obiit Romae anno, ut puto, 1550." It must be remarked that this is spoken with some degree of hesitation. Dempster and Cone have inadvertently named him James instead of John Bellenden.
I " Jacubus Balandenus Moraviensis ecclesias Archidiaconus, in celebri Sorbonae schola magistri laurea donatus, summo studio popularium suo- rum animos heresi laborantes, cum scribendo turn disputando conatus est
liberare."
CONJEU.S de Duplici Statu Religionis apud Scotos, p. 167.
127
Vita, instead of De Liter a, Pythagoras™ \ but this emendation is unnecessary. Bale also mentions the treatise by the same title".
Vossius, whose researches were of so prodigious an extent, that they could not always be con- ducted with extreme accuracy, has committed a mistake in supposing that Bellenden was the author of any original work on cosmography0. His Cosmographia is evidently his translation of Boyce's preliminary description of Scotland.
Dr Campbell informs us that several of his poems were in the possession of Mr Laurence Dundasp, probably the Professor of Humanity in the University of Edinburgh.
OF the compositions of a writer who discovers so fine a vein of poetry, it cannot but be regretted that so inconsiderable a portion has been pre- served. His poems are the effusions of an ex- cursive fancy and a cultivated taste. He has been extolled as a master of every branch of divine and human learning q: and it is at least apparent that his literature was such as his co- temporaries did not very frequently surpass.
m Mackenzie's Lives of Scots Writers, vol. ii. p. 599.
* Balei Scriptores Britanniae, cent. xiv. p. 333.
• Vossius de Scientiis Mathematicis, p. ajz. P Biographia Britannica, vol. i. p. 573.
q Jacobus Ballantyn, S. T. D. Archidiaconus Moraviensis, laboriosa cura et incredibili studio artes onines humanas atque etiam divinas percepit." DEMPSTER. Hist. Ecclesiast. Gent, Sector, p. 107.
128
His attainments have even extorted applause from the zealous Bishop of Ossory, who has so frequently- treated the Papists with unrelenting severity r. " He was unquestionably," says Dr Campbell, " a man of great parts, and one of the finest poets his country had to boast. So many of his works remain as fully prove this ; inasmuch as they are distinguished by that noble enthusiasm which is the very soul of poetry."
The most poetical of his works is The Prohemt of the Cosmographe\ The principal incidents are borrowed from the ancient allegory of the choice of Hercules : but he has imprest his transcript with the characteristic features of an original.
The following quotation, from the speech of Virtue, will scarcely offend a reader whose taste is completely modernized :
As caruell tycht fast tendyng throw the see, Le,uis na prent amang the wallis hie 5
As birdis swift with mony besy plume Peirsis the air and wait nocht quhair thay fie ;
* Bishop Bale has himself been treated by the Papists with equal harshness. Bishop Gardiner classes him with (Ecolampadius, Zuing- lius, and others of the deuils lymmes. See Gardiner's " Detection of the Deuyls Sophistrie wherwith he robbeth the vnlearned people of the true belefe in the moost blessed Sacrament of the aulter," f. Ixxxiiii. b. Lond. 1546, 8vo.
Ramsay has published this poem, under the title of Virtue and Vyce, in the first volume of The Ever-Green. Edinb. 1 724, a vols. i zmo. Botr- the prohemes occur in Sibbald's Chronicle of Scottish Ptxtry, vol. ii,
129
Siclik our lyfe, without actiuite,
Gyffis na frut, howbeit ane schado blume. Quhay dois thair lyfe in to this erd consume
Without virtew, thair fame and memorie Sail vanis soner than the reky fume.
As watter purgis and makis bodyis fair 5 ]
As fire be nature ascendis in the aire, J9
And purifyis with heitis vehement j As floure dois smell j as frute is nurisarej As precius balme reuertis thingis sare,
And makis thaym of rot impacient j
As spice maist swete, as ros maist redolent *? As stern of day be mouing circulare
Chacis the nycht with bemis resplendent 5
Siclik my werk perfitis euery wycht In feruent luf of maist excellent lycht,-
And makis man in to this erd but peir 5 And dois the saule fra all corruptioun dycht With odoure dulce, and makis it more brycht
Than Diane full or zit Appollo cleir j
Syne rasis it vnto the hiest speir, Immortaly to schyne in Goddis sycht
As chosin spous and creature most deir.
The following descant on nobility is extracted from his Proheme of the History :
For nobylnes sum tyme the louyng is,
That cumis be mentis of our eldaris gone,
As Aristotyll writis in his Rethorikis :
Amang nobillis quhay castin thaym repona
VOL. II. R
130
Mon dres thalr life and dedis one be one, To mak thaym worthy to haue memore,
For honour to thair prince or nation, To be in glore to thair posterite.
Ane othir kynd thair is of nobylnes,
That cumis be infusion naturall, And makis ane man sa full of gentylnes,
Sa curtes, plesand, and sa lyberall,
That euery man dois hym ane nobyll call. The lyon is sa nobyll (as men tellis)
He can not rage aganis the bestis small, Bot on thaym quhilkis his maieste rebellis.
The awfull churle is of ane othir strynd.
Thoucht he be borne to vilest seruitude, Thair may na gentrice sink in to his mynd,
To help his freind or nichtbour with his gud.
The bludy wolf is of the samyn stude. He feris gret beistis and ragis on the small,
And leiffis in slouchter tyranny and blud, But ony mercy, quhare he may ouirthrall.
This man is born ane nobyl, thow wyll say,
And geuyn to sleuth and lust immoderat : All that his eldaris wan he puttis away,
And fra thair virtew is degenerat.
The more his eldaris fame is eleuat, The more thair lyfe to honour to approche,
Thair fame and louyng ay interminat, The more is ay vnto his vice reproche.
Amang the oist of Grekis, as we hard, Two knichtis war, Achy lies and Tersete j
That ane maist vailzeand, this othir maist coward. Better to be (sayis Juuinall the poetel
131
Tersetis son, hauand Achylles sprete, With manly force his purpos to fulfyll,
Than to be lord of euery land and strete, And syne maist cowart cumyn of Achill,
Man callit ay maist nobyll creature, Becaus his lyfe maist reason dois assay,
Ay sekand honour with his besy cure, And is na noble quhen honour is away 5 Thairfore he is maist nobyll man, thou say,
Of all estatis, vnder reuerence,
That vailzeantly doith close the latter day,
Of natyue cuntre deand in defence.
The glore of armis and of farcy dcdis, Quhen thay ar worthy to be memoryall,
Na les be wyt than manheid ay procedis. As Plinius wrait in story naturall, Ane herd of hertis is more strong at all,
Hauand ane lyon anganis the houndis soure, Than herd of lyonis arrayit in battall,
Hauand ane hert to be thair gouernoure,
Ouhen fers Achilles was be Paris slane,
Amang the Grekis began ane subtell plede,
Quhay wes maist nobyll and prudent capitane, In to his place and armour to succede, Quhay couth thaym best in euery dangeir lede,
And saif thair honour, as he did afore :
The vailzeand Aiax wan not for his manhede,
Ouhen wise Ulisses bure away the glore.
Manhede but prudence is ane fury blynd,
And bringis ane man to scharce and indegence:
Prudence but manhede cumis oft behynd, Howbeit it haue na les intelligence. R 2
132
Of thingis to cum than gone, be sapience. Thairfore quhen wit and manned: :curre,
Hie honour risis with magnificence : For glore to nobilis is ane groundin spurre.
Sen thow contenis mo vailzeand men and wyse
Than euir was red in ony buke but doubt, Gif ony churle or velane the dispyse,
Byd hence hym, harlot ! he is not of this rout ;
For heir ar kingis and mony nobillis stout, And nane of thaym pertenand to his clan.
Thou art so full of nobylnes per tout, I wald nane red the bot ane nobyll man.
These two poems, as well as the prologue to his translation of Livy, bear internal evidence of hav- ing been composed with a view to the instruction of the young monarch.
Two copies of his unpublished prolusion on the conception of Christ are preserved in the Hyndford MSS. The exordium is as follows :
Quhen goldin Phebus movit fra the ram,
Into ye bull to mak his mansioun, And hornit Diane in ye virgine cam,
With visage paill in hir ascensioun,
Approchand till hir opposicioun 5 Quhen donk Aurora with hir misty schouris,
Fleand of skyis the bricht reflexioun, Hir siluer hewis skalit on ye flour* j
The sesoun quhen the grete Octauian
Baith erd and seis had in governance With diademe as rov Cesn-riane
In maist excellent honor and plesaimce
133
With everye gloie yat mycht his fame avaunce Quhen he ye croun of his tnumphe had worne,
Be ijuhais pece and riall ordinance The furious Mars wes blawin to ye home j
The samyne tyme quhen God omnipotent
Beheld of man the grete calamitie, And thocht ye tyme was than expedient
Man to redeme fra thrall captiuite,
And to reduce him to felicite, With bodye and saull to be glorificate,
Quhilk wes cohdempnit in ye lyrab to be, Fra he wes first in syn prevaricate 5
Befoir the fader Mercye than apperis,
With flude of teris ransnd fra hir ene 5 Said, Man hes bene in hell five thousand zeris,
Sen he was maid in feild of Damascene ; '
And cruell tormentis daylie dois sustene But ony confort, cryand for mercye.
How may yi grace nocht with yi pietie mene Off thy awne werk ye grete infirmitie t ?
r These stanzas are published from a MS. which bears the following inscription; Heir begynis ane Ballat-bnik •u.'rittin 'in the zelr of God 155 8. Several of the poems however are evidently written in a more modern hand. This collection, which extends to the number of fifty-four pages, is to be found in the volume that also contains Bannatyne's MS. A copy of The SongoftLe Redsquare occurs in the same venerable tome.
In Mr Pinkerton's appendix to the Maitland poems, these three trans- cripts are represented as forming the celebrated collection of George Ban- natyne : but Mr Pinkerton's information was " furnished by a friend not versed in such matters." '* Ane most godlie, mirrie, and lustie rapsodie, maide be sundrie learned Scots poets, and written be George Bannatyne in the tyme of his youth," commences at the sixty-first page of the volume.
Another copy of Bellenden's poem on the conception of Christ occurs at the beginning of Bannatyne's MS. His Prolong apoun ye traductioun oj Titus L;<v.:<i hes been inserted in a dissertation prefixed to the late edition of Wedderburn's Comflaynt of Scotland, Ediub. i8oz, 8vo.
INTERMEDIATE SKETCHES.
1 HE religious zeal which about this time per- vaded the nation, naturally operated in directing the poet's attention towards sacred topics. Pious verses were now produced in great abundance : but they are generally of such a character as cannot deeply interest the critic. Such produc- tions as these shall not long detain us from the more agreeable specimens of our early poetry ; though in a work of this nature they are perhaps entitled to some degree of notice.
THE most singular collection of Scotish poems of this description is entitled " Ane Compendiovs Booke of Godly and Spiritvall Songs, collectit out of sundrie partes of the Scripture, with suri- drie of other Ballates changed out of Prophaine Sanges, for avoyding of Sinne and Haiiotrie." This collection was published in the year 1597 ; and reprinted by Andrew Hart in the year 1602 a,
a Herbert's Typographical Antiquities, vol. iii. p. 1519.
135
The last editor informs us that the spiritual songs " have been ascribed to one Wedderburn, of whom we know little. But there were three bro- thers of that name, all endowed with a poetical talent. The eldest, it has been noticed, wrote tragedies and comedies. The second was first a Catholic, and then turned Protestant. Being per- secuted as an heretic by the clergy, he fled to Germany, where he heard Luther and Melanc- thon. He translated many of Luther's principles into Scotish verse, and changed many obscene songs and rhymes into hymns. After the death of James V. he returned to Scotland. But, hav- ing again been accused of heresy, he fled into England, where he probably died about the year 1556. The third brother was vicar of Dundee ; and, in learning, is said to have surpassed the other two. He went to Paris, and there associa- ted with the Reformers \ and, at Cardinal Beaton's death, returned to his native country. 4 He turn- ed the tunes and tenour of many profane ballads into godlie songs and hymnes, which were called the Psalmes of Dundie ; whereby he stirred up the affections of many.' Whether this will be esteemed decisive evidence of the author or not, these poems were probably written merely to serve the present occasion ; and the more litera- ry reformers might have a share in them. In- deed, the very same expressions are frequently to
be found in their other works. Our author ob- serves he is in prison1'."
One of the Wedderburns was most probably the author of The Complaynt of Scotland; a curi- ous specimen of Scotish prose which has lately been rep .biished.
The author of these poems, however laudable his intentions may have been, has certainly ac- quired very little honour by his persevering la- bours. From the preservation of such wretched productions, we are not however authorized to con- clude that the general taste of the age was equal- ly debased with that of Wedderburn. Composi- tions hardly superior in any respect have been published during the eighteenth century : and yet the same period was adorned by such writ- ers as Robertson, Hume, and Ferguson. A spe-. cimen of this work was edited by Lord Hailes in the year 1765 ; and it might have been expected that his selection would satisfy the curiosity of most antiquaries.
HENRY BALNAVES of Hallhill, one of the most distinguished of the Reformers, appears to have been a writer of verse as well as of prose. He was admitted a Senator of the College of Justice in the year 1538°. In 1546 he joined the party
b DalyelTs Remarks on ane Booke of Godly Songs, p. 35. c Hailes, Catalogue of the Lords of Session, p. a,
i37
Which had been concerned in the murder of Car- dinal Beaton ; and when they were besieged in the castle of St Andrews, he was dispatched to the court of England in order to procure a sup- ply of money d. When the fortress at length sur- rendered to the French, he was conducted among others to the castle of Rouen : and during his confinement, he composed what Knox terms " a comfortable treatise of justification0." In 1563 he was nominated among the commissioners for revising The Book of Discipline*. In 1568 Bu- chanan, Balnaves, and others, accompanied the Earl of Murray when he visited England for the purpose of meeting Queen Mary's commissioners. His name is on several other occasions mentioned in the public annals of that age. He is character- ized by Sir James Melvil as " a godly, learned, wise, and long-experimented counsellor g." Ac-^ cording to Dr Mackenzie, he died in 1579.
A poem subscribed Balnaves, and beginning " O gallandis all, I cry and call," has been published in the second volume of Ramsay's collection.
'1 Burnet's History of the Reformation, vol. ii. p. 7.
e " The Confession of Faith, conteining how the troubled man should seeke refuge at his God, therto led by faith ; &c. Compiled by M. Hen- ry Balnaues, of Halhill, and one of the Lords of Session and Counsell of Scotland, being as prisoner within the old pallaice of Roane, in the yeare of our Lord 1548. Direct to his faithfull brethren, being in like trouble or more, and to all true professours and fauourers of the syncere worde of God." Edinb. 1584, 8vo. — This work Dr Mackenzie has evidently split into two. (Lives of Scots Writers, vol. iii. p. 147.)
f Calderwood's Hist, of the Church of Scotland, p. 33.
•5 MelviFs Memoires, p. 17.
VOL. II. S
138
THE Earl of Glencairn, another steady partisan of the Reformation, was also a cultivator of poe- try. One of his productions has been preserved by Knox, under the title of " An Epistle directed from the Holy Hermite of Larites to his brethren the Gray Friers V
JAMES INGLIS, Abbot of Culross, is celebrated by Sir David Lindsay as a writer of miscellaneous poetry :
Quha can say mair than Schir James Inglis sayis In ballattis, farsis, and in plesand playis ? Bot Culros bes his pen maid impotent.
Lindsay here insinuates that his advancement to the abbacy of Culross had withdrawn his atten- tion from poetical studies. Dr Mackenzie, whose life of Inglis is inaccurate even to ridicule, asserts that he was knighted in consequence of his mili- tary distinction : but it is evident that he was styled Sir because he was a dignified ecclesiastic. K. James the Fourth, in a letter addrest to a Mr James Inglis, gratefully acknowledges his polite, ness in offering to furnish him with some rare books of alchemy"1. The abbot was murdered by the laird of Tulliallan in the year
b Knox's Historic of the Reformation!), p. 16. i Epistolae Regum Scotorum, vol. i. p. 118. j Leslseus de Rebus Gestis Scotorum, p. 413.
139
The. poem entitled A General Satyr e is by Mait- land ascribed to Inglis ; but by Bannatyne it is ascribed to Dunbar. To the former of these poets no other composition is attributed in any of the MSS.
JOHN MOFFAT, who was probably another of the pope's knights, is the author of a pious piece of advice To Remembir the End*. In Bannatyne's MS. the name of Moffat is also subjoined, though in a more modern hand, to the humorous and po- pular ballad of The Wife of Auchtcrmuchty.
GEORGE BANNATYNE, by whose pious care the works of so many other poets have been preseived, is here entitled to an affectionate tribute of ap- plause. He was himself a writer of verse ; and several of his compositions occur in the MS. which has so frequently been rrenticned in the preceding pages. Of his personal history no me- morials can perhaps be discovered. Mr Tytler, who styles him " one of the canons of the cathed- ral of Murray1," seems to have confounded him with Dr John Bellenden ; who was Archdeacon of Murray, and Canon of Ross.
His celebrated collection is prefaced by the following address of Tfye Wryttar to the Reidaris:
te Hailes, Ancient Scottish Poems, p. 187.
I Tytler's Dissertation on the Scottish Music, p. 245.
S 2
140
Ze reverend redans, thir worlds revolving richt, Gif ze get crymes correct thame to zour micht,
And curss na clark that cunyngly thame wrait, Bot blame me baldly brocht this buik till licht In tendered tyme quhen knawlege was nocht bricht j
Bot lait begun to lerne and till translait
My copeis auld, mankit, and mvtillait j Quhais trewth as standis zit haif I, sympill wicht,
Tryd furth : thairfoir excuse sumpairt my stait.
Now ze haif heir this ilk buik so provydit, That in fyve pairtis it is dewly devydit.
The first conteynis Gods gloir and ouire saluatioun : The nixt are morale, grave, and als besyd it Grund in gud counsale : the thrid, I will nocht hyd it,
Ar blyith and glaid, maid for ouire consollatioim :
The ferd of luve and thair richt reformatioun : The fyift ar tailis and storeis weill dissydit.
Pend as ze pleis : I neid no moire narratioun.
Another address of The Wryttar to the Redare oc- curs at the close of the volume :
Heir endis this buik, writtin in tyme of pest Ouhen we fra labor was compeld to rest, In to the thre last monethis of this zeir, From oure redimaris birth, to knaw it heir, Ane thousandth fyve hundredth threscore aucht. Off this purpois namair it neiddis be taucht : Swa, till conclude, God grant us all gude end, And eftir deth eternall lyfe us send.
This transcript, completed in the space of three months, extends to more than seven hundred pages in folio.
141
Bannatyne's MS. appears to have been present- ed by one Foulis to the Hon. William Carmichael; and afterwards to have been associated with two others in the same volume. That volume the Earl of Hyndford presented to the Advocates Library in the year 1772. Bannatyne's collection was in the possession of the Foulis family about half a century after it had been completed : at the hun- dred and eleventh page occurs the inscription of " Jacobus Foulis 1623."
ONE of the most persevering and most unsuc- cessful versifiers of this period was Robert Sem- ple; whom a late writer, who amuses himself with perpetual conjectures, ridiculously supposes to have been a Scotish peerm. His different poems were published about the year 1570. If we may credit Dempster, he died in 1595. ^^e eul°giunl which that writer has bestowed on Semple's ge- nius is highly extravagant, and must have been conceived without any previous acquaintance with his writings : he represents him as exhibit- ing the combined excellencies of Propertius, Ti- bullus, Ovid, and Callirnachus11. Some pieces by
m Sibbald's Chronicle of Scottish Poetry, vol. iii. p. 397.
n Dempster's panegyric is too remarkable to be omitted : " Semple claro nomine poeta, cui patrius sermo tantum debet, ut nulli plus debere eruditi fateantur; felix in eo calor, temperatum judicium, rara inventio, dictio pura ac Candida ; quibus dotibus Regi Jacobo charissimus fuit. Scripsit---carmina amatoria, utPropertii sanguinem, Tibullilac, Ovidii meJ, Callimachi sudorem aequasse plerisque doctis videatur."
DEMPSTER. Hist. Ecclesiast. Gent. Sector, p. 601.
142
this poetaster are to be found in The Ever-Green; and Mr Daly ell has lately republished others from the original editions0. They are equally inde- cent and unpoetical. The following epitaph on the Earl of Murray is selected as a specimen of the composition of a writer whom Dempster has not scrupled to rank with the greatest of our poets :
Heir lyis the corps (glide pepill) of a prince,
Quhais saule in heuin is glorifeit : James Regent was murdreitt without offence,
Be ane false tratour, sa knawin and nctifeit,
Quha wes anis bound to naif bene justifeit. He gaif him grace, allace, aganis all ressoun.
O Hammiltoun, it schawis weill thou wes feit Be all that clan for to commit this tressoun.
Quhat mouit tjpe to do this insolence,
And mak that clan sa to be falsifeit, To quhoem, God knawis, he schew his greit clemence,
Thocht thou with tressoun hes him gratifeit ?
With all gude vertewis he wes amplifeit 5 With all foul vice thou hes defylde thair maisoun.
Resetting the, now haif thay varefeit That thay bene weill contentit of this trasoun.
Indeid, I grant that his greit patience
Aganis him self this deid hes testifeit j For had he put zou doun with diligence,
Zour tressoun had not this bene ratifeit.
0 Dalyell's Scotish Poems of the Sixteenth Century. Edinb. 1 801, % vols.
143
Ze wer anis all in his will signifeit At the Langsyde, sensync in euerie sessoun.
Now with greit honour is he magnifeit, And with greit schame ze sail thoil for this tressoun.
This epitaph is the production of a man who, according to Mr Sibbald, " continued to profess the Catholic religion." If Robert Lord Semple was a Papist, he cannot very rationally be con- sidered as the author of the poems which we are now reviewing. The question however is of lit- tle moment ; and may properly be left to those who are fond of antiquarian trifles.
Non equidem hoc studeo, bullatis ut mihi nugis Pagina turgescat, dare pondus idonea fumo.
PERSIUS.
His Legend of the Bischop of St Androis Lyfe is a most gross and illiberal attack upon the charac- ter of Dr Patrick Adamson ; a prelate of inge- nuity and of erudition who has often been scan- dalously traduced. Instead of transcribing from the disgusting pages of Semple, I shall subjoin a specimen of the Latin poetry of the accomplish, ed Adamson. The following is an affecting ad- dress to his departing soul ; an address as much superior to that of Adrian, as Christianity is su- perior to Paganism :
O anima ! assiduis vitae jactata procellis, Exilii pertsesa gravis, mine lubrica tempus
144- ,
Regna tibi, et mundi invisas contemnere sordes : Ouippe parens rerum cseco te corpora clemens Evocat, et verb! crucifixi gratia coeli Pandit iter, patrioque beatam limine sistet. Progenies Jovse, quo te coelestis origo Invitat, foelix perge, seternumque quiesce. Exuviae carnis cognato in pulvere vocem Angelicam expectent, sonitu quo putre cadaver Exiliet redivivum, et totum me tibi reddet. Ecce beata dies ! nos agni dextera ligno Fulgentes crucis, et radiantes sanguine vivo Excipiet : quam firma illic, quam certa capesses Gaudia, foelices inter novus incola cives ! Alme Deus ! Deus alme ! et non effabile numen ! Ad te unum et trinum moribundo pectore anhelo p.
Two poets of the name of Stewart are mention- ed by Sir David Lindsay. Under that signature several pieces occur in the collections of .Lord Hailes, Allan Ramsay, and Mr Sibbald. Gal- breith and Kinloch, two poets mentioned by the same writer, are only known by name. Poems by Fethy, Fleming, and John Blyth, occur in Lord Hailes's collection. The names of Norval and Allan Watson also appear in Bannatyne's MS. A dull poem, entitled The Lament atioun of Lady Scotland, was published at St Andrews in the year 1572 ; and many others of a similar deno- mination were produced about the same period.
P Adamsoni Poemata Sacra, sig. V. 3-b. Lond. 1619, 4to.
THE
LIFE
SIR RICHARD MAITLAND.
THE
LIFE
SIR RICHARD MAITLAND.
SlR Richard Maitland is entitled to the remem- brance of posterity, both as a cultivator and as a preserver of Scotish poetry.
He was the son of William Maitland of Lething- ton, and of Martha the daughter of George Lord Seaton. He was born in the year one thousand four hundred and ninety-six. Having finished his course of literature and philosophy in the University of St Andrews, he visited France in order to prosecute the study of the laws*. After his return to Scotland, he is said to have recom- mended himself to the favour of James the
a Mackenzie's Lives of Scots Writers, voL iii. p. 207- T 2
148
Fifth. In the year 1554 we find him deno- minated an Extraordinary Lord of Session.
Sir John Scot affirms that he was appointed Lord Privy Seal during the regency of Mary of Guise b: and from his own congratulatory poem on her daughter's arrival in Scotland, it would appear that he had at least borne some office :
Madame, I wes trew servand to thy mother j
And in hir favour stud ay thankfullie Of my estait alls well as ony other :
Prayand thy Grace I may resavit be
In siclyk favour with thy Majestic, Inclynand ay to me thy gracious eiris j
And, amang other servands, think on me. — This last request I lernit at the freiris.
Scot's statement is not however corroborated by the authority of any other writer.
As early at least as 1561 Maitland was de- prived of his sight : for in his poem addrest to Queen Mary on her arrival, an event which hap- pened during that year, he thus speaks of his situ- ation :
And thoch that I to serve be nocht sa abil
As I wes wont, becaus I may not see, Yet in my hairt I sail be ferme and stabil.
His misfortune did not however incapacitate him for business. In 1561 he was admitted an Ordinary
b Scot's Staggering State of the Scots Statesmen, p. 108.
149
Lord of Session by the title of Lethington, and in 1562 was also nominated Lord Privy Seal, and a member of the privy council. His office as keeper of the seal he resigned in 1567 in favour of his second son. In 1583 the Lords of Session had " granted him immunity and licence to attend when he pleased, having all commodities as if he were present : yet moved in conscience, lest justice should be retarded by his absence," he in the following year resigned in favour of Sir Lewis Ballenden0. This, says Dr Mackenzie, is the earliest instance of a lord's being permitted to resign in favour of another. Sir Richard died on the twentieth of March, 1586, at the age of ninety. His wife died on the day of his in- terment11.
By this lady, Mary the daughter of Thomas Cranston of Corsby, he had a numerous offspring. An unpublished poem mentions his seven sons : but only three of these seem to have reached the age of maturity, or at least to have rendered themselves in any degree conspicuous. The eldest was Sir William, the famous secretary of Queen Mary ; a man distinguished for the pos- session of uncommon talents. Buchanan has keenly exposed his character under the emblem of a cameleon, " a certane kynd of beist engen- derit in sic countreis as the sone hes mair strenth
c Hailes, Catalogue of the Lords of Session, notes, p. 5. d Pinkerton'i Ancient Scotish Poems, vol. ii. p. 350. 353-
150
in than in this yle of Brettane ; the quhilk albei it be small of corporance, noghttheless it is of ane strange nature, the quhilk makis it to be na less celebrat and spoken of than sum beastis of greittar quantitieV His wavering politics at length pro- cured his ruin : he swallowed a copious doze of poison in order to disappoint the meditated ven- geance of the Earl of Mortonf. His brother Sir John, afterwards Lord Thirlstane, and chancellor of the kingdom, was a man of an amiable charac- ter, and possest of eminent endowments. He is the author of a satire Aganis Sklanderous Toungis published in Mr Pinkerton's Ancient Scotish Poems, and of several epigrams published in the Deliticc Poetarum Scotorum. Thomas Maitland, a younger son of Sir Richard's, is less remembered on account of his Latin poemsg, than as one of the interlo- cutors in the exquisite dialogue of Buchanan Dff Jure Regni apud Scotos.
His daughters were, Helen, married to John Cockburn of Clerkington, Margaret, to James Heriot of Trabroun, Mary, to Alexander Lauder of Hatton, and Isabel, to William Douglas of Whittingham. They all had issue h. Mary wa?
e Buchanani Opera, vol. i. edit. Ruddiman. f Melvil's Memoires, p. 122.
Crawford's- Memoirs of Scotland, p. 304. t Delitise Poetarum Scotorum, torn. ii. fc Crawford's Peerage of Scotland, p. 353.
151
the partner of his studies, and herself a writer of verses.
Sir Richard Maitland is celebrated as a man of learning, talents, and virtue. His compositions breathe the genuine spirit of piety and benevo- lence. The chearfulness of his natural disposition, and his affiance in divine aid, seem to have sup- ported him with singular equanimity under the pressure of blindness and old age. Knox has charged him with consenting, for the sake of a bribe, to the escape of Cardinal Beaton, who for some time had been confined at Seaton'1. But the accusation appears to be without foundation : for we learn from Sir Ralph Sadler's letters that the cardinal was released by order of Arran the regent ; who afterwards charged Lord Seaton with having liberated him frpm considerations of vena- lity.
Cotemporary poets have extolled Maitland as a man adorned by every virtue. The following sonnet on his death was composed by Thomas Hudson :
The slyding tyme so slilie slips away,
It reaves from us remembrance of our state j And quhill we do the cair of tyme delay,
We tyne the tyde, and so lament to late.
Then, to eschew such dangerous debait, Propone for patrene raanlie Maitland knycht :
Leirne be his lyf to leive in sembil raite,
i Knox's Historic of the Reformatioun, p. 37.
With luif to God, religion, law, and rycht. For as he was of vertu lucent lycht,
Of ancient bluid, of nobil spreit and name, Belov'd of God and everie gracious wycht,
So died he auld, deserving worthie fame j A rair exempil set fqr us to sie Ouhat we have bene, now ar, and aucht to be.
His poem On the Creation and Paradyce Li was printed in Allan Ramsay's Ever-Green. A considerable number of his productions are to be found in the valuable collection of Mr Pinker- ton j ; and many more remain unpublished. A MS. containing The Selected Poemes of Sr. Richard, Met ell an was presented by Drummond to the University of Edinburgh : but it seems merely to consist of gleanings from the two volumes de- posited in the library of Magdalen College, Cambridge.
Two of his unpublished works, namely a ge- nealogical history of the family of Seaton, and decisions of the Court of Session from 1550 till 1565, are still preserved in the Advocates Library.
j Ancient Scotish Poems, -never before in print ; but now published from the MS. Collections of Sir Richard Maitland of Lethington, Knight, Lord Privy Seal of Scotland, and a Senator of the College of Justice : comprising pieces written from about 1420 till 1586 : with large Notes and a Glossary. Prefixed are An Essay on the Origin of Scotish Poetry, A List of all the Scotish Poets, with brief Remarks ; and an Appendix is added, containing, among other articles, an account of the contents of the Maitland and Bannatyne MSS, Lond. 1786, j vols. 8ve.
153
Of the former of these works Dr Mackenzie has exhibited an inaccurate abridgement* The first sentence contains an erroneous statement. " Our author observes," says he, " that there was no surname in Scotland before Malcolm Kenmore's timek." But in reality he observes that " it is to be netted and known to every man, that there WQiefew surnames in Scotland" before the pe- riod specified l. The copy which Mackenzie re- ceived from the Earl of Winton might however differ from that in the Advocates Library. This work is inscribed to George Lord Seat on, the fifth of that name ; and the dedication presents Maitland in a very amiable light.
MAITLAND seems to have commenced his poe- tical career at a period of life when that of other writers has more generally closed. It is supposed that before he began to cultivate poetry he had nearly attained the sixtieth year of his age m. In his
k Mackenzie's Lives of Scots Writers, vol. iii. p. 208.
1 The Historicall Genealogie of the Ancient and Noble House of Se- 'ton, written by Sir Richard Maitland of Lethington, one of the Senators of the Colledge of Justice, in the year 1545 ; enlarged by Alexander Viscount of Kingston, in the year 1687 ; MS.
m Menage wrote his Anii-BaiUct at the age of about seventy-eight: and yet that work, as a very competent judge has remarked, ** est plein d'un bout a i'autre d'une Literature exquise." Theophrastus com-
VOL. IL U
works it would therefore be improper to expect the effervescence of a youthful imagination, or the perpetual scintillations of a lively fancy. They are not however incapable of exciting in- terest ; they present us with the thoughts, serious and gay, of an amiable old man habituated to courts, and accurately acquainted with men and manners.
His stanzas entitled Na Kyndnes at Court without Siller shall be selected as a specimen of his poetical taste :
S'umtyme to court I did repair,
Thairm sum errands for to dres, Thinkand I had sum freindis thaif
To help fordwart my beseynes. Bot, not the les,
I fand nathing bot doubilnes. Auld kynnes helpis not ane hair.
To ane grit court-man I did speir,
That I trowit my friend had bene -? Becaus we war of kyn sa rieir,
To him my mater I did menc. Bot with disdene
He fled as I had done him tene, And wald not byd my teill to heir.
posed the most curious of his works after he had reached the venerable age of ninety-nine. The common reading of the passage in which he re- presents himself as having completed that number of years, is sanctioned by all the manuscripts which were inspected by the best of his commen- tators. (Casaubon. Ad Tbeophrasti Charafteres Commentarinst p. 96.^
J wend that he in word and deid
For me his kynsraan sould have wrocht ;
Bot to my spieche he tuke na heid 5 Neirnes of blude he sett at nocht.
Than weill I thocht, Quhan I for sibnes to him socht,
It wes the wrang way that I yeid,
My hand I put into my sleif,
And furthe of it ane pars I drew j ,
And said I brocht it him to geif : Baith gold and silver I him schew.
Than he did rew That he unkindlie me misknew j — ?
And hint the purs fest in his neif,
Fra tyme he gat the purs in hand,
He kyndlie co.usin call it me, And baid me gar him understand
My beseynes all haillalie \ And swair that he
My trevv and faythfull freind suld be In courte as I pies him comand.
For quhilk better it is, I trow,
Into the court to get supple, To have ane purs of fyne gold fow,
Nor to the blast of degre Of kyn to be.
Sa alters our nobilitie, Grit kynrent helpis lytil now.
U 2
156
Thairfoir, my freinds, gif ye will mak All courte-men youris as we wald,
Gude gold and silver with yow tak -7 Than to tak help ye may be bald j
For it is tauld, '< Kyndnes of courte is coft and said:"
Neirnes of kyn na thing thai rak.
THE
LIFE
OF
ALEXANDER SCOT.
THE
LIFE
OF
ALEXANDER SCOT.
t OR the memoirs of the life of Alexander Scot, the only materials which I have been able to dis- cover are a few detached and unsatisfactory hints scattered through his ingenious compositions.
He flourished about the year 1560. If he be the poet specified in the following passage of a sonnet of Montgomery a'ddrest to Robert Hud- son, we may conclude that his life was prolong- ed beyond the ordinary term, and that it was somewhat unfortunate :
Ye knaw ill guyding genders mony gees, And specially in poets : for example
Ye can pen out twa cuple and ye pleis, Yourself and I, auld Scot and Robert Semple*
160
we ar dcid, that all our dayis daffis, Let Christan Lyndesay vnyt our epitaphis.
It appears from his works that he was a lay- man, and a rational friend to the Reformation. The place of his residence, as we may conjecture from his Justing, was probably Dalkeith. One of his odes refers to his wife.
Such are the scanty notices which compose what for the sake of uniformity I have entitled " The Life of Alexander Scot."
A considerable number of his poems may be found in the collections of Lord Hailes, Allan Ramsay, and Mr Sibbald. Bannatyne's MS. con- tains others which have never been printed.
THE productions of Scot may be classed among the most elegant Scotish poems of the sixteenth century. They are generally founded on sub- jects of an amatory kind ; and discover a consi- derable degree of fancy and harmony. His lyric measures are chosen with sufficient skill : and his language, when compared with that of cotempo- rary poets, will be found to possess an uncommon .share of terseness and precision.
He professes to have studied the female cha- racter ; and the result of his enquiries is not very flattering to the vanity of the sex. In his poem Of Wemenkynd the following significant stanzas occur:
161
I muse and mervellis in my mynd,
Ouhat way to xvryt or put in vers The quent consaitis of wemenkynd,
Or half thair havingis to rehers : I fynd thair haill afFectioun So contrair thair complexioun.
For quhy ? no leid unleill thay leit,
Untrewth expressly thay expell ; Yit thay ar planeist and repleit
Of falset and dissait thair sell : So find I thair afFectioun Contrair thair awin complexioun.
Thay favour no wayis fuliche men, . And verry few of thame ar wyiss j All gredy personis thay raisken, And thay ar full of covettyiss : So find I thair afFectioun Contrair thair awin complexioun,
His unfavourable opinion of the sex in general does not however seem to have prevented him from placing his affections on some fair individual. His verses In Prais of the twa fair Ene of his Mistress may be produced as a specimen of his talents for amatory poetry :
Thow well of vertew, floure of womanheid, And patrone unto patiens,
Lady of lawty, baith in word and deid, Rycht sobir, sweit, full meik o/eloquens, Baith gude and fair ; to your magnificens
VOL. II. X
162
I me commend, as I half done befoir, My sempill heart for now and evirmoir.
For evirmoir I sail you service mak : Sen of befoir into ray mynd I made,
Sen first I knew ladyschip, bot lak, Bewtie, youth of womanheid ye had, Withouteii rest my hart couth nocht evade.
Thus am I your is, and ay sensyne haif bene
Commandit by your gudly twa fair ene.
Your twa fair ene makis me oft syis to sing, Your twa fair ene makis me to sych also,
Your twa fair ene makis me grit comforting, Your twa fair ene is wyt of all my wo, Your twa fair ene may no man keip ' him' fro,
Withouttin rest that gets a sicht of thame :
Thus of all vertew weir ye now the name.
Ye beir the name of gentilness of blude, Ye beir the name, that mony for ye deis,
Ye beir the name, ye are baith fair and gude, Ye beir the name that farrer than yow seis, Ye beir the name, fortune and you agreis,
Ye beir the name of lands of lenth and breid,
The well of vertew, floure of womanheid.
-This little poem is marked by a peculiarity to which the reader must have adverted ; every stanza commences with a repetition of some of the concluding words of that by which it is pre- ceded.
The following Rondel of Luve is not devoid of what may properly be termed prettiness :
163
Lo ! quhat it is to lufe
Lerne ye that list to prufe, Be me, I say, that no ways may
The grund of greif remuve, Bot still decay, both nycht and day :
Lo quhat it is to lufe !
Lufe is ane fervent fyre,
Kendillit without desyre j Schort plesour, lang displesour,
Repentance is the hyre j Ane pure tressour without messour :
Lufe is ane fervent fyre.
To lufe and to be wyiss,
To rege with gud advyiss ; Now thus, now than, so gois the g~me,
Incertaine is the dyiss : Thair is no man, I say, that can
Both lufe and to be wyiss.
Fie alwayis frome the snair j
Lerne at me to beware : It is ane pane and dowbill trane
Of endless wo and cair ; For to refrane that denger plane,
Fie alwayis frome the snair.
The address To his Heart is remarkably smooth and elegant :
Returne the hamewart, hairt, agane,
And byde quhair thou was wont to be ;
Thow art ane fule to suffer pane For luve of hir that luvis not the-
Xa
My hairt, lat be sic fantesie : Luve nane hot as thay mak the cause ,
And lat her seik ane hairt for the ; For feind a crum of the scho fawis.
To quhat effect sould thou be thrall But thank, sen thou hes thy fre will ?
My hairt, be nocht sa bestiall,
But knaw quha dois the guid or ill : Remane with me and tarry still,
And se quha playis best their pawis, And lat fillok ga fling her fill j
For feind a crum of the scho fawis.
Thocht scho be fair, I will not fenyie,
Scho is the kind of utheris ma : For quhy ? thair is a fellone menyie
That semis gud and ar not sa.
My hairt, tak nowdir pain nor wa For Meg, for Merjory, or yit Mawis,
Bot be thou glaid, and latt hir ga j For feind a crum of the scho fawis.
Becaus I find scho tuk in ill,
At her departing thow mak na cair j Bot all begyld go quhair scho will,
A schrew the hairt that mane makis mair.
My hairt be mirry lait and air j This is the fynall end and clause ;
And let her fallow ane filly fair j For feind a crum of the scho fawis.
The longest of Scot's productions is Ane New
rift to the £%uene, quben scbo come first bame ;
which is less valuable for its poetry, than for the
165
light that it reflects on an important aera of our national history.
His Justing betwixt William Adamson and Johne Syme is an imitation of Christis Kirk of the Grene ; and although inferior to the admirable original, it is distinguished by many happy strokes of humor- ous description. Instead of attempting to select particular specimens of the poet's humour, I shall content myself with transcribing the initial stan- zas:
The grit debate and turnament,
Of treuth no toung can tell, Was for a lusty lady gent,
Betwix twa frelkis fell, (For Mars the god armipotent
Was not sa ferss himsell, Nor Hercules, that aiks uprent,
And dang the devil of hell)
Up at the Drum that day.
Doutles, was not so duchty deidis
Amangis the Dowsy Peiris j Nor yet no clerk in story reidis
Of sa triumphand weiris 5 To se so stoutly on thair steidis
Tha stalwart knychtis steins, Quhyle bellyes bair for brodding bleidis
With spurs as scherp as breiris,
And kene up at the Drum that day.
Up at the Drum the day was set,
And fixit was the feild, Quhair baith thir noble chiftains met
Enarmit under schield :
166
They wer sae hasty and sae het, That nane of them wad yeild,
But to debait or be doun bet, And in the quarrell keild,
Or slane up at the Drum that day.
There was ane better and ane worss,
I wald that it wer wittin j For William wichtar wes of corss
Nor Sym, and bettir knittin. Sym said, He set nocht by his forss,
But hecht he suld be hittin, And he micht counter Will on horss ;
For Sym was better sittin
Nor Will up at the Drum that day.
Several of the Scotish poets have exercised their satirical powers on subjects of this kind. Scot's Justing is undoubtedly superior to the similar at- tempts of D unbar and Lindsay.
THE
LIFE
ALEXANDER ARBUTHNOT.
1: HE
LIFE
ALEXANDER ARBUTHNOT.
W O apology need be offered for an attempt to illustrate the personal and literary character of a man who has obtained so distinguished a place in the ecclesiastical annals of his native country, and whose name Dr Campbell has thought wor- thy of admission into the great repository of Bri- tish biography. As a Scotish poet Arbuthnot is hitherto but little known ; and the success of the present effort to extend his celebrity must be left to the impartial decision of time.
Alexander Arbuthnot was born in the year one thousand five hundred and thirty-eight. He descended from a respectable family, which was afterwards ennobled by Charles the First. His father was the baron or laird of Arbuthnot
VOL. II. Y
I/O
in the county of Kincardine : and it may be conjectured that he himself was a younger bro- ther.
According to Archbishop Spotswood, he stu- died in the University of St Andrews a: but Dr Mackenzie, whose authority is seldom entitled to much regard, has transferred him to Aber- deen b. He visited France in 1561 ; and for the space of five years prosecuted the study of the laws under the celebrated Cujaciusc. Having taken the degree of licentiate, he returned to Scotland with the view of following the profession of an advocate. This plan he however relin- quished, and afterwards directed his attention to the study of theology. Having received ordina- tion, he was presented to the living of Arbuthnot and Logie-Buchan d.
The period at which he entered into the church was highly - important. The Reformation had been placed on no unsolid basis : but many dis- putes with regard to doctrine and discipline
8 Spots-wood's Hist, of the Church of Scotland, p. 335. b Mackenzie's Lives of Scots Writers, vol. iii. p. 186.
c Moreri informs us that Cujacius was successively professor at Tou- louse, Cahors, Bourges, Valence, Turin, and again at Bourges (Diction- tiaire Historique, torn. iii. p. 524); but he has neglected to specify the va- rious periods of his removal from one university to another. I have also consulted the Elogia of Papirius Masso, but with no better success.
d T. Middleton's Appendix to Spotswood, p. 24.
171
were still agitated ; and the contest between presbytery and episcopacy was proceeding to- wards its highest pitch of violence.
He appears to have sat in the general assembly constituted at Edinburgh on the first of July, 1568. It being reported that Thomas Bassen- den, a printer in that city, had published a bawdy song at the end of the psalm-book, and that he had also published a treatise in which the king was denominated the head of the church, he was commanded by the assembly to expunge the of- fensive song, and to submit the other work to the inspection of Arbuthnot e.
In the year 1569 the principal as well as some other members of King's College, Aberdeen, having been expelled by the ecclesiastical visi- ter, Arbuthnot was promoted to the vacant of- fice. " By his diligent teaching and dexterous government," says Spotswood, " he not only re- vived the study of good letters, but gained many from the superstitions whereunto they were given."
In 1572 his Orationes de Ongine et D'tgnitatc Juris were published at Edinburgh in quarto. This production was honoured with an encomi- astic poem by Thomas Maitland ; who repre- sents Arbuthnot as one of the brightest orna-
e Petrie's Hist, of the Catholick Church, cent. xvi. p. 359. Y 2
172
merits of his country. The concluding verses I shall transcribe :
Nee Cereris laudi, aut Bacchi tua gloria cedet,
Si modo jus potius frugibus atque mero est. Quod si forte tibi sacra, Arbuthnaee, negantur,
Nomine nee niteant templa dicata tuo, At Celebris memori tua fama sacrabitur aevo,
Factaque posteritas grata stupenda canet. Macte igitur juris cultor doctissime, perge,
Coelicolum laudcs aequiparare tuisf.
To enhance the value of this eulogium, it must be recollected that Maitland was a zealous Ca- tholic.
Of the general assembly constituted at Edin- burgh on the sixth of August, 1573, Arbuthnot was chosen moderator g. In that of Edinburgh, March the sixth, 1574, he was nominated among the commissioners who were to summon before them the chapter of Murray, accused of present- ing a testimonial in favour of George Douglas, bishop of that see, " without just trial and due examination of his life, and qualification in li- terature h." This assembly also authorized him, with Dr John Row and others, to draw up a plan of ecclesiastical polity for the future inspection of the members '.
f Delitiae Poetarum Scotorum, torn. ii. p. 153.
£ Calderwood's Hist, of the Church of Scotland, p, 6j.
1» Ibid. p. 64.
5 Ibid. p. 65.
173
At Edinburgh on the firft of April, 1577, ne was again chosen moderator j. During the same year he was appointed, together with Andrew Melvin and George Hay, to attend a council which was expected to meet at Magdeburg for the purpose of establishing the Augsburg Con- fession k. The council however was not con- vened. About this period a copy of The Book of Discipline was presented to the Earl of Morton as regent of the kingdom : and, ior the solution of doubts anji the removal of difficulties, he wus referred to Arbuthnot, Adamson, Melvin, and other nine commissioners of inferior emi- nence !.
The general assembly having met at Edinburgh on the twenty-fourth of April, 1578, it was re- solved that a copy of The Book of Discipline should be presented to the king, and another to his council ; and that, if a conference should be demanded, they on their part would nominate Arbuthnot, Melvin, and other ten delegates, to at- tend at any appointed time m. In the assembly which convened at Stirling on the eleventh of June, Arbuthnot, together with Buchanan, Sir Pe- ter Young, and others, was impowered to confer
j Calderwood, p. 76.
k Petrie's Hist, of the Catholick Church, cent, xvi, p. 392, I Calderwood. p. 79. ra Petrie, p. 394.
174
with several of the nobility, prelates, and gen- try, relative to the polity of the church n.
These and other circumstances which might be adduced, tend to evince the respectability and importance of his character. His probity and moderation seem to have equalled his literary at- tainments : notwithstanding the violence of the times, he has never been found subjected to cen- sure °.
In the year 1583 he received a presentation to one of the churches of St Andrews ; but the king commanded him to remain in his college under pain of horning. When the clergy complained of this arbitrary exertion of the royal prerogative, it was answered that his Majesty had issued the order with a view to promote the general interests of the church p. It is probable however that the real cause of the prohibition was an apprehension lest the removal of Arbuthnot to such a situation might tend to the advancement of the schemes which were then in agitation. Whatever might
n Calderwood's Hist, of the Church of Scotland, p. 83.
0 The Papists themselves seem to have revered his virtues. Nicol Burne, who in his Admonition to the Anticlristian Ministers of the Deformit Kirk of Scotland, written in 1581, has treated the rest of the Protest- ant clergy with the utmost contempt, is unwilling to extenuate the me- rits of Arbuthnot.
Bot yit, gude Lord, quha anis thy name hes kend, May, or thay de, find for thair saulis remeid :
With thy elect Arbuthnot I commend,
Althocht the lave to Geneve haist with speid.
P Petrie's Hist, of the Catholick Church, cent. xvi. p. 438. 441.
175
be his private sentiments with regard to ecclesi- astical polity, he seems to have adhered with suf- ficient steadiness to the Presbyterian party : and his personal influence must at this crisis have ren- dered him an object of suspicion and displeasure to the pusillanimous monarch. Dr Mackenzie con- fidently asserts that he had become obnoxious by printing Buchanan's history of Scotlandq: and other authors have also supposed that he was the identical Alexander Arbuthnot who held the office of king's printer1". It is remarked by Mr Ruddiman that this office was evidently incon- sistent with his duty as principal of a college, situated at the distance of eighty miles from the press3. Mr Chalmers, by referring to the writ of privy seal which denominates the king's printer a burgess of Edinburgh, professes to have deci- sively established the fact that he was a different person from the celebrated principal r. This proof is not however so decisive as the writer seems to suppose : for, as Mr Sibbald has pertinently re- marked, Gavin Douglas, though the son of a powerful nobleman, and himself a dignified eccle- siastic, was also a burgess of Edinburgh". The
* Mackenzie's Lives of Scots Writers, vol. iii. p. 192.
r Man's Censure of Ruddiman's Philological Notes on Buchanan, p. 99. Aberdeen, 1753, *2nio.
s Ruddiman's Anticrisis, p. 26. Edinb. I754> 8vo.
* Chalmers, Life of Ruddiman, p. 72.
u Sibbald's Chronicle of Scottish Poetry, vol. iii. p. 336.
176
situation of a printer was not formerly regarded as incompatible with the dignity of the academic life : the celebrated Adrian Turnebus, while he held the office of king's printer, was also Professor of Greek in the University of Paris.
Arbuthnot was soon placed beyond the reach of kingly restraint. He died at Aberdeen on the tenth of October, 1583, before he had com- pleted the age of forty-five. On the twentieth of the month his remains were interred in the Col- lege Church.
His cotemporary James Melvin represents him as " a man of singular gifts of learning, wisdom, godliness, and sweetness of nature v :" and his character has thus been delineated by the impar- tial hand of Spotswood : " He was greatly loved of all men, hated of none, and in such account for his moderation with the chief men of these parts, that without his advice they could almost do nothing : which put him in a great fashrie, whereof he did oft complain. Pleasant and jocund in conversation, and in all sciences expert; a good poet, mathematician, philosopher, theo- logue, lawyer, and in medicine skilful ; so as in every subject he could promptly discourse, and to good purpose w".
T See extracts from Melvin's manuscript account of his own life, in- serted in Man's Censure of Ruddlman, p. 99. — Melvin, perhaps with some degree of friendly partiality, has pronounced Arbuthnot one of the mo?t learned men of whom Europe could at that time boast.
w Spotswood's Hist, of the Church of Scotland, p.. 335.
177
His death appears to have been regarded as a severe calamity to the national church, and to the national literature. The following elegy was composed by the celebrated Andrew Melvin, Principal of New College, St Andrews :
Flere mihi si fas privata incommoda, si fas
Publica, nee tua mi commoda flere nefas, Flerem ego te, raihi te ereptum, pater Arbuthnete !
Et pater, et patriae lux oculusque tuae ! Flerem ego te, superis carum caput, Arbuthnete !
Et caput, et sacri corque animusque chori. Flerem ego j nee flenti foret aut pudor, aut modus, eheu !
Flerem ego te^ te eheu ! flerem ego perpetuo, Deliciae human! genesis, dulcissime rerum j
Quern Musae et Charites blando aluere sinu j Gujus in ore lepos, sapiens in pectore virtus,
Et Suadae et Sophiae vis bene juncta simul j Cui pietas, cui prisca fides, constantia, candor,
Et pudor, et probitas, non habuere parem j • Sacras et Themidis, medicas et Paeonis artes,
Et potis immensi pandere jura poll j Vis animi, vis ingenii, vis vivida mentis
Et terram, et pontum, et sidera perdomuit. Talis erat hie sevum agitans : nunc aethere summo
Celsior, et summo non procul inde Deo, Perfrueris vera in patria cosloque Deoque
Fcelix : haee tua me commoda flere nefas x.
With respect to ecclesiastical polity Arbuth- hot and Melvin seem to have entertained very different sentiments : Melvin, it is well known,
* Delitise Poetarum Scotorum, torn. ii. p. 120.
VOL. II 7-
178
was a strenuous promoter of the Genevan system of equality; while Arbuthnot is said to have favoured the aristocratical jurisdiction of episco-
pacyy,
THREE poems have lately been published under the name of Alexander Arbuthnot ; and various circumstances have induced me to ascribe them to the excellent man whose life I have now at- tempted £o delineate. That he was a successful cultivator of poetry, is evident from the testimony of Archbishop Spotswood. The poems in question appear to have been written by a clergyman. They were written during the age of Principal Arbuthnot. They breathe the humane and liberal spirit which he is said to have possest.
One circumstance however seems to destroy this hypothesis. In the colophon of 'The Miseries of a Pure Scalar, that poem is said to have been composed in the year 1572: Alexander Arbuth- not was at that time Principal of King's College ; and yet the author represents himself as languish- ing in a state of indigence. This difficulty will be removed if we suppose that some error has been committed in transcription. In Mr Pinker- ton's Ancient Scotisb Poems, this colophon has perhaps been transferred from its proper place, in
J Spotswood, Refutatio Libelli de Regimine Ecclesias Scoticanae, p. 44. Lond. 1620, 8v».
179
order to be appended to the last of Arbuthnot's pieces that occurs in the series.
From the specimens which have been preserved, Arbuthnot may be pronounced an ingenious and pleasing poet. The Praises of Wemen is a gay production which must have recommended him in a very powerful manner to the favour of the softer sex. Of that sex he appears to have enter- tained a higher opinion than a late writer2 : and in blazoning its merits he has displayed no in- considerable portion of friendly zeal. The fol- lowing stanzas are produced as a specimen of the composition :
The wysest thing of wit
That ever Nature wrocht : Quha can fra purpose flit, Bot fickilnes of thocht. Wald ye now wis ane erthlie blis,
Solace gif ye have socht j Ane marchandyce of gritest pryce That ever ony bocht.
The brichtest thing, bot baill,
That ever creat beinj The lustiest and [maist] leil j
The gayest and best gain 5
z " A celebrated author who attained the utmost limits of ecclesiastical dignity, affirms, the Scotish women were amorous; and that kisses were less valued in Scotland than touching the hand in Italy. This might be true. Modesty is an acquired idea : and no female bears the burden ejf chastity, when an opportunity offers to lay it down !"
Z 2,
ISO
The thing fairest, and langest lest 5
From all canker maist clein. The trimmest face, with gudlie grace,
That lichtlie may be sein.
The Miseries of a Pure Scalar, as Mr Pinker ton remarks, " is a most interesting poem, and does great honour to the heart and head of its author." One passage I shall quote, because it contains a contribution to literary history :
In poetrie I preis to pas the tyme,
When cairfull thochts with sorrow sailyes me ;
Bot gif I mell with meter or with ryme, With rascal rymours I sail rakint be : Thay sal me bourdin als with mony lie,
In charging me with that qukilk never I ment.
Quhat marvel is thoch I murne and lament ?
I wald travel ; and ydlenes I hait j
Gif I culd find sum gude vocatioun ; Bot all for nocht : in vain lang may I wait,
Or I get honest occupatioun.
Letters are lichtliet in our natioun : For lernyng now is nother lyf nor rent. Quhat marvel is thoch I murne and lament ?
The Maitland MSS. preserved at Edinburgh and Cambridge, contain several poems of Arbuth- not which have not hitherto been published.
THE
LIFE
iOF
ALEX. MONTGOMERY
THE
LIFE
OF
ALEXANDER MONTGOMERY
JL HAT paucity of materials which we have so frequently had occasion to regret, again awaits us at this step of our progress. Of the life and character of Alexander Montgomery, a poet who has obtained his share of celebrity, no authentic memorials have been transmitted to our times ; and all that remains for his nominal biographer is fruitless research or unsatisfactory conjecture.
If conjecture may be trusted, he was related to the noble family of Eglintoun. His name however does not occur in the peerage of Douglas or of Crawford : and the prevalent opinion has probably originated from Dempster's asserting that Montgomery was of noble extraction.
From his poem entitled The Navigatioun it ap- pears that he was born in Germany :
184.
As for my self, I am ane German borne, Ouha ay this fasion whilk ye se hes worne, Quhilk lenth of tym culd nevir caus me change, Thoght I haiv bene in money cuntrey strange, Thrugh all Europe, Afrik, and Asia, And throu the neu-fund-out America : All thair conditiouns I do understand, Baith of the peple, and also of the land*.
The title-page of his works informs us that he was a captain ; but of what denomination, is not apparent. It seems however probable that he followed the profession of a soldier.
According to Dempster, he was commonly known by the name of Eques Montanus, or the Highland Knight : but there is no evidence of his being legally entitled to such an appellation. Pol wart mentions him as having resided in Argyle. The author of A Facetious Poem seems to repre- sent him as an inhabitant of the district of Baden- yon5. John Wilson, the author of Clyde, a des- criptive poem, has hinted that Montgomery occa- sionally resided at Finlayston in the county of Renfrew :
But Finlayston demands the choicest lays ; A generous Muse's theme in former days,
a Montgomery's Poems, p. 105. MS.
b A Facetious Poem in imitation of the Cherry and Slae, giving ar- oount of the entertainment Love and Despair got in the Highlands of Scotland ; revealed in a dream to one in pursuit of his stoln cows. By- G. G, of S. Edinb. 1701, zamo.
183
When soft MONTGOMERY poured the rural lay :
Whether he sung the vermeil dawn of day,
Or in the mystic wreath, to soothe his woe,
Twin'd the red cherry with the sable s/oe,
Each charming sound resistless love inspir'd,
Soft love resistless every bosom fir'd j
Of love the waters murmur'd in their fall,
And Echo sounds of love returned to all 5
Trembling with love, the beauteous scene imprest
Its amorous image on the firth's fair breast j
The scene ennobled by the lofty dome
Where great Glencairn has fix'd his splendid home j
Whose breast the firm integrity inspires,
And scorn of slavery, that adorn M his sires.
With the writer's sources of information, as well as the poem of which Finlayston is thus men- tioned as the theme, I am totally unacquainted. It appears from his own productions that his poetical talents procured him the patronage of his sovereign James the Sixth : and Dempster has indeed informed us that he stood high in the favour of that learned monarch0. Of the royal bounty he however seems to have sustained at least a temporary deprivation ; his poems insi- nuate that a pension which he had enjoyed was withheld at the secret instigation of his enemies. He also complains of his being involved in a tedi- ous process before the Court of Session, and harassed with misfortunes of every denomination.
One of his poems is entitled " The Poet's Com-
i
c Dempster. Hist. Ecclesiast. Gent. Sector, p. 496.
VOL. II. A a
186
plante aganst the Unkindness of his Companions when he vves in Prisone :" and in the following sonnet he pathetically bewails his accumulated misery :
If lose of guids, if gritest grudge or grief, If povertie, imprisonment, or pane, If for guid-will ingratitude agane,
If languishing in langour, but rtk-if,
If det, if dolour, and to become deif, If travell tint, and labour lost in vane, Do properlie to poets appertane,
Of all that craft my chance is to be chief.
With August Virgill waunted his reward, And Ovid's lote als lukles as the lave j
Quhill Homer liv'd, his hap wes wery hard, Yit, when he died, sevin cities for him stravc.
Thoght I am not lyk one of thame in arte,
I pingle thame [ J perfytlie in that parted.
In one of his sonnets addrest to Robert Hudson, we meet with a passage which also contains bio- graphical hints :
This is no lyfe that I leid up-a-land, On raw rid herring reistit in the reik : Syn I am subject som tyme to be seik,
And day lie deing of my auld diseis : Ait bread, ill aill, and all things ar ane eik ;
This barme and blaidry buists up all my bees,
<1 Montgomery's Poems, sonn. xv, MS.
187
On the friendship of Hudson he seems to have relied with a confidence of which he afterwards found reason to repent. Christian Lindsay thus upbraids Hudson with his treachery :
Oft have I hard, but efter fund it trew,
That courteours kyndnes lasts hot for a quhyle : Fra once your turnes be sped, quhy then adevv !
Your promeist freindship passis in exyle.
Bot, Robene, faith ye did me not beguyle : I hopit ay of you as of the lave.
If thow had wit, thow wald half mony a wyle To mak thy self be knawin for a knaive. Montgomrie, that sik hope did once conceave
Of thy guid-will, now finds all is forgottin : Thocht nocht but kindness he did at the craive,
He finds thy friendship, as it rypis, is rotten. The smeikie smeiths cairs not his passit travel, Bot leivis him lingring deing of the gravel*.
Many of the poems of Montgomery are written in a querulous strain : but he always speaks like a man conscious of rectitude ; and the recollec- tion of his own virtues, together with the exer- cise of his poetical talents, seems to have been his principal source of consolation under all the calamities to which he was exposed.
The dates of his compositions cannot be ascer- tained. The Fly ting betwixt Montgomrie and 'Polwart must have been written in or before the year 1584; for a passage of it is quoted by King
* Sibbald's Chronicle of Scottish Poetry, vol. iii. p. 504. A a 2
188
James in his Revlis and Cautelis of Scottis Poesie, a work which made its appearance in the course of that year. In 1595 he published his well- known poern The Cherie and the Slae. It was re- printed in 1597, by Robert Waldegrave, " accord- ing to a copie corrected be the author himselfe." Of the edition printed by Andrew Hart in 1615, the title page informs us that the author had re- vised his work a short while before his death. He appears therefore to have died between 1597 and 1615. By referring his death to the year 1591, Dempster has fallen into one of his innu- merable errors.
Many of his compositions are to be found in the collections of Pinkerton, Ramsay, Watson, and Sibbald. The Ylyting was printed at Glas- gow, in octavo, in the year 1665. Editions of his poetical works were published at Glasgow, by Foulis in 1751, and by Urie in 1754 : but these, though sufficiently elegant, are incomplete and unfaithful.
Among the books presented by Drummond to the University of Edinburgh, is a manuscript collection of the poems of Montgomery, consist- ing of odes, sonnets, psalms, and epitaphs. Of these no very considerable number has hitherto met the public eye. Some specimens however occur in Mr Sibbald's Chronicle of Scottish Poetry. The MS. extends to one hundred and fifty- eight pages in quarto, and has been preserved
189
with some degree of care : but by reducing it to the dimensions of the printed tracts together with which it forms a volume, the bookbinder has unfortunately shorn away several words and •syllables.
MONTGOMERY was probably acquainted with the writings of the Italian poets : he has left many sonnets constructed on the Italian model ; and his general taste in composition may perhaps be regarded as exotic. His productions undoubt- edly discover a considerable degree of fancy ; but his fancy is not always sufficiently regulated by the principles of a correct taste.
His fame chiefly rests on the merits of The Cherrie and the Slae ; a poem which, as it still continues to be redd, must certainly be found possest of genuine beauty. A very acute writer who occasionally suffers caprice to usurp the place of judgment, has however censured it in the following terms : " It is a very poor production • and yet, I know not how, it has been frequently printed, while far superior works have been ne- glected. The stanza is good for a song ; but the worst in the world for a long poem. The alle- gory is weak and wire-drawn ; and the whole piece beneath contempt. Let it then sleep f." To sleep it does not however seem to have been
f Pinkerton's List of the Scptish Poets, p. cxviii.
190
destined. A work which has maintained its po- pularity for the space of two hundred years, can- not with much apparent modesty or justice be pronounced contemptible. Popularity is for the most part a safe criterion of literary excellence : the power of diffusing general delight can only reside in a writer of superior endowments.
Lord Hailes has represented Montgomery as a man of genius g: and another of our writers has characterized The Cherrie and the Slae as an alle- gorical poem of no ordinary ingenuity. His warmest admirers must however admit that the allegory is too dark to be readily comprehended. According to one critic, " the object of the poem is to represent the wishes, hopes, reasonings, and attempts of a lover, the mistress of whose passion was, by her rank and her personal excellencies, exalted greatly abuve. his condition :" but, ac- cording to another, " the allegory of this poem is, that moderate pleasures are better than high ones." Both these interpretations cannot be ac^ curate, but they may both be erroneous. The genuine explication of the allegory perhaps is, that the paths of virtue, though of the most dif- ficult access, ought to be strenuously preferred to those of vice, however smooth and inviting the latter may at first appear. The poet perceives the cherry growing upon a tall tree, and that
? Hailes, Ancient Scottish Poems, p. 339.
19!
tree rising from a formidable precipice : but the sloe, a fruit of an inferior species, is seen depend- ing from a less dangerous height, and seems to invite his irresolute hand.
This interpretation is apparently consonant to the tenor of the poem ; and in support oi it, many detached passages might here be adduced. It will be sufficient to quote a part of the con- cluding stanza :
Praise be to God my Lord thairfoir, J)uha did myne helth to me restoir,
Being sae lang tyrne pynd j And blessed be his haly name, Quha did frae deith to lyfe reclaim
Me quha was sae unkynd.
Of Montgomery's poem a Latin paraphrase was published by a writer, who, instead of his name, presents us with the following chain of initials : T.D.S.P.M.B.P.P. This paraphrast was probably no other than the celebrated Tho- mas Dempster. By these initials we are there- fore to understand, Thomas Dempsterus, Scotiae Patricius, Muresk Baro, Professor Parisiensis, or Professor Pisanus, or Pandectarum Professor. Of the poetry of Montgomery he was a profest admirer; and has pronounced him the Scotish Pindar, and a writer inferior to none of the an- cients in elegance of taste or beauty of composi- tion.
192
Dempster's explanation of the allegory corres- ponds to that which has already been submit- ted to the reader. He has entitled his work, " opus poematicum de virtutum et vitiorum pug- na ; sive electio statfts in adolescentia." His prologue, which I shall here transcribe at length, may serve as a comment on Montgomery.
Florens Juventus sseculi splendoribus Illecta, sensus occupat rebus leves Inanibus j florum venustis lumina Coloribus pascens, vclucmm cantibus Infatuat aures ; et virenti permanens Neinore, secus fluenta limpida excubans. Casus futures nesciens, in prosperis Elata mens adversitatem negligit. Cum forte blandus advolat praedam ratus Cupido, pictas in propinquo caespite Deponit alas, ad volandum provocat. Commota mox est fervida Adolescentia : Pennis et arcu Amoris armata avolat, Sed dum repente ludicris telis agit Praedas, Cupidini fit heu prseda ipsamet. Vexat cruentum marte proprio pessimus Juvenem Cupido, vulneratum, saucium : Deridet, oppressum extasi et languoribus : Pennis et armis spoliat, et mcestissimum Linquens, per astra tonitruans abit statim. Plorat cruentus, insequens procul deum, Frustra fatigans caput et aciem luminum. Diris Cupidinem dicat tandem omnibus. Nunc ejulata gemitibusque angustias Lenire conatur j sed intimus dolor Magis magisque crescit atque exuberat. Amoris haec solamina ex armis capit.
193
Inter dolores ac labores fortiter Vexatus, oppressus siti, et febricitans, Petrae appropinquat fluminique ut frigidas Captet per umbras sobrium solatium. Cum forte supra caput, in altitudine Saxi, videt cerasum pulchre mitissimis Fructibus onustam, quos siti putat suse Aptissimos, morboque sanando fore. Modum tamen viamque carpendi videt Nusquam , sed in viciniori conspicit Spina nigrantia pruna plurima. Ambigit Durumne carpens iter, in arduo sham Sequi juvet virtutem, et hanc (cerasus notat) Stat anxius, vel in patentc seeculo (Quod spinus exprimit) frui solatiis Modico quitem tempore afferentibus, In fine luctibus dolisque tristibus Pleno, miserrimam ferentibus necem. Prunum jubet Metus, Periculum quoque ut Carpatj jubetque idem ipsa Desperatio. Spes et Voluntas, altera cum Audacia Pro parte disputant, volunt quoque cerasum. Contentiosis atterunt tempus diu, Verbisque multis expeditum fit nihil. In fine tandem litis, accedunt graves Sapientia, Experientia, et prudens Dea, Peritia ac Ratio simul rebus modum Ponunt. Voluntas exulat, suspenditur Laqueo suo maligna Desperatio. Caetera cohors concordibus votis petunt Cerasa, levamen segro, et optatam parant Prompte medelam j pariter et Prudentia
VOL. II. B b
Praeit, Peritia et Ratio monstrant viam. Juventa desideria sic explet pia : Dicit vale mundo, suisque noxiis Curis, adhaerens regiae pacis viae, Quae ducit in vitam ac beatitudinem h. «
This explanation of the allegory, it must be acknowledged, cannot easily be reconciled with that which Dempster has proposed in one of his avowed productions'. But as authors are not un- der the necessity of retaining every opinion which they have once adopted, we may persist, not- withstanding this inconsistency, in regarding him as the paraphrast of Montgomery's poem.
The amatory effusions of Montgomery are not deficient in fancy and elegance ; but they .often display attempts at luminous beauty which de- viate into affectation and bombast. He thus ce- lebrates the perfections of Lady Margaret Mont- gomery :
The goddes Diana, in hir hevinlie throne,
Evin at the full of all hir majestic, Quhen she belev't that danger was thair none,
Bot in her sphere ascending up maist hie,
ii Cerasum et Sylvestre Prunum, &c. edit: Edinb. 1696, lima.
i "Cerasus et Vaccinium, poema divinum quo amoressuos descripserat ; per cerasum, amicae sublimis dignitatem, per vaccinium, contemnendo? inferioris et fastiditae amasiae amplexus intelligens."
DEMPSTER. Hist. Ecclesiajt. Gent, Sector. p. 496,
195
Upon this nymph fra that scho cast hir ei, Blusching for schame out of her schyne she slippis,
Thinking scho had bene Phebus verilie, At whose depairt scho fell into th' eclippis.
The asters cleir, and torchis of the nicht, Quhilk in the sterrie firmament were fixit,
Fid • hv y persavit Dame Phosbe los hir light, Lyke diamonts with cristall perls mixit, They did discend to schyne this nyrnph annixit,
Upon hir schoulders twinkling everie on : Quhilk to depaint it wald be owr prolixit,
How thay in ordour glister on hir gown.
According to this magnificent description, Lady Margaret in the plenitude of power could de- range the solar system, and, with irresistible at- traction, draw the more remote stars from their orbits. Lady Margaret, when stript of her bor- rowed plumage, had in all probability nothing left to distinguish her from the crowd of courtly beauties : but she happened to occupy an envi« able station in the fertile fancy of an admiring poet ; and his ardent devotion could not be satis- fied with bestowing on its object attributes less than divine.
The following lyric poem, which I have tran- scribed from the Drummond MS. seems to have been written in celebration of the same lady.
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196
Quhy bene ye, Musis ! all so long
On sleep this mony a day ? £»et not your harmony and song
In silence thus decay. Distill by influence Your stremis of eloquence,
That throu your heuinlie liquor sueit My pen in rhetoric may fleit, For till expres The comlines Of my maistres With joy repleit.
To kythe hir cunning Natur wald
Indeu hir with sik grace : My spreit rejosis to behald Hir smyling angels face. Lyk Phrebus in the south, To skorne the rest of youth,
Hir curling loks lyk golden rings About hir hevinly haffats hings 5 Quhilk to decore Hir body more, Quhom I adore Above all things,
Hir brouis ar brent j lyk golden threeds,
Hir siluer-shining brees : The bony blinks my courage feeds
Of hir tua christall ees, Tuinkling illuminous With beamis amorous ;
Quhairin tua naikit boyis resorts,
Ouhais countenance good hope reports \
107
For they appeir With smyling cheir, As thay wald speir At me some sports.
Hir comelie cheeks, of vive colour
Of rid and whyt ymixt, Ar lyk the sangueiie jonet-flour
Into the lillie fixt : Hir mouth mellifluous, Hir breathing savorous,
Hir rosie lippis most eminent, Her teeth lyk pearle of orient, Hir liaise more whyt Nor I can wry t j With that perfyt, And sapient.
Hir vestall breist of ivorie,
Quhairon ar fixit fast Tua twins of clene virginitie,
Lyk boullis of alabast. Out throw hir snauie skin jMaist cleirlie kythes within
Hir saphir veins lyk threids of silk, Or violets in whytest milk : If Natur sheu Hir hevinlie heu Jn whyt and blew, It wes that ilk.
Hir armes ar long, hir shulders braid, Hir middill gent and small :
The mold is lost wharin wes maid This a per se of all.
198
„
The gods ar in debait Concerning hir estait. Diana keeps this Margarit, Bot Hymen bights to mak hir meit ; Deserve let sie Amount from thrie. Go, merie she, That is so sweit.
Quha can both shoot and open loks
As can this only kie ? Persaiv this pithie paradox, And mark it weil in me : Quhais beutie hes my burt ? Quhais beutie healls my hurt ?
Quhais beutie blythnes me bereivis ? Quhais beutie gladnes to me givis ? Quhais beutie, lo ! Dois me undo ? Quhais beutie to My spreit revivis ?
A quotation from Montgomery's Echo may serve as a specimen of a fantastic mode of com- position which formerly prevailed.
Quhat lovers, Echo ! maks sik querimony ? Mony.
Quhat kynd of fyre doth kindle thair curage ? Rage.
Quhat medicine — O Echo ! knowis thow ony On ay.
Is best to stay this Love of his passage ? Age.
Quhat merit thay that cdd our sighs assuage ? Wage.
Ouhat wer we first in this our love profane ? Fain.
Quhair is our joy ? O Echo 1 tell agane. Gane.
199
Poetical echoes are of no modern invention ; ex- amples of this puerile species of composition may be found in the Anthology, in the works of Aris- tophanes, and perhaps in those of other Greek writers. But, in the opinion of Julius Scaliger, it was more happily managed by the Latins1; among whom it would seem to have been indus- triously cultivated during the decline of classical purity. Such laborious triflers have fallen under the scrutiny of Martial :
Ouod nee carmine glorior supine, Nee retro lego Sotaden cinaedum, Nusquam Grsecula quod recantat Echo, Nee dictat mihi luculentus Atys Mollem debilitate galliambon, Non sum, Classice, tam malus poeta*.
Sidonius mentions Lampridius, a rhetorician of Bourdeaux cotemporary with himself, as a writer of echoing elegies1.
j Scaligeri Poetice, lib. ii. cap. xxix.
k Martialis Epigrammata, lib. ii. ep. Ixxxvi. — Of the different species of versification mentioned in this epigram, an account may be found in the ponderous commentary of Raderus. (Ad Martialem Cur<s Tcrtia^ p. 235. Moguntiae, 1627, f°k)
1 Sidonii Opera, p. 236. — Sirmond, the very learned editor, thus ex- plains the text : " Echoicos autem elegos ab Echo dicere videtur eos, quo- rum principii ac finis idem est hemistichium : 's««yr*f £ KM*.*; diceret Hermogenes. Tale est Pentadii de adventu veris integrum epigramma, in eotjue de Echo ipsa hoc distichum:
Per cava saxa sonat pecudum mugitibus Echo, Voxque repulsa jugis per cava saxa sonat.
200
The practice of composing on this model, after it had been for a considerable time discontinued, was perhaps revived by the celebrated Politian ; who informs us that he wrote, in the Italian lan- guage, verses of this description which had been set to music m. Erasmus presents us with a mor- sel of prose adapted to a similar pattern. Echo is the respondent in one of his colloquies, and re- turns sundry laconic and facetious answers.
A specimen of echoing poetry occurs among the works of David Hume of Godscroft". Captain William Mercer's English verses in commenda- tion of Henderson, Rutherford, Baillie, and'Gil- lespie, are written in the same wretched taste0. Montgomery, Hume, and Mercer, are perhaps the only Scotish poets who have fallen into this egregious trifling.
Montgomery and Polwart seem to have been ambitious of rivalling their predecessors Dunbar and Kennedy : they have exhausted almost every term of abuse which the language then afforded p.
Scio in Servii Centimetro echoicum versum definiri cujus ultima syllaba penultimas congruit, ut est hie :
Exercet mentes fraternas gratia rara.
Sed hoc genus ad Sidonium non facit, qui artificia tractat qune in elegis cernuntur." (Note ad SiJomum, p. 90.)
111 Politiani Miscellanea, cap. xxii.
Q Humii Daphn. Amaryllis. Lond. 1605, 4to.
0 Mercer's Angl'ia Speculum^ or England's Looking-Glasse, sig. N. 2. b. Lond. 1646, 4to.
P If we may credit Dempster, the antagonist of Montgomery was Sir Patpick Hume of Polwarth. (Hist. JEcdesiast. Cent. Scotyr* p. 35 8.)
201
Their Flyting, to adopt the words of Lord Hailes, only tends to evince how poor, how very poor, genius appears, when its compositions are debased by the meanest prejudices of the meanest vulgar.
To the religious strains of Montgomery we lis- ten with rrtore satisfaction. Besides composing various poems of a pious tendency, he has versi- fied several of the psalms in a peculiar measure, which was perhaps adapted to the church music. His mind seems at all times to have been imprest with a proper sense of the importance of religious duties.
Montgomery is almost the only Scotish poet who has composed any considerable number of sonnets in his native language* The Drum- mond MS. contains no fewer than seventy poems of this description. As they cannot but be deemed an object of some curiosity, I have se- lected the following six ; which are written on different subjects, and possess different degrees of merit.
High architectur, wondrous vautit rounds.
Huge host of hevin in restless-rolling spheers, Firme-fixt polls whilk all the axtrie beirs,
Concordant discords, suete harmonious sounds,
Boud zodiak, circle belting Phoebus bounds, Celestiall signis, of moneths making yeers, Bright Titan to the tropicks that reteirs,
Quhais fyrie flammis all chaos' face confounds,
VOL. II. C c
Just-balanc'd ball amidst the hevins that hings, Ali creaturs that Natur creat can To ierve the use of most unthankfull man ;
Admire your maker, only king of kings :
Prais him, O man ! his mervels that remarks, Quhais mefcyis far exceids his wondrous warks.
My plesuris past procures my present pain, My present pain expels my plesurs past, My languishing, alace ! is lyk to last,
My grief ay groues, my gladenes wants a grane,
My bygane joyes I can not get agane,
Bot, once imbarkit, I must byde the blast : I can not chuse j my kinsh is not to cast :
To wish it war, my wish wald be bot vane.
Yit whill I sey my senses to dissaive,
To pleis my thoght I think a thousand things, Quhilks to my breist bot boroude blythnes brings.
Anis hope I had, thoght nou dispair I haive, A stratagem, thoght strange, to stay my sturt, By apprehensioun for to heill my hurt.
Suete nichtingale ! in holene grene that han[ts], To sporte thy self} and speciall in the spring,
Thy chivring chirls, whilks [charminglie thou chants], Maks all the roches round about th£ ring 5 Whilk slaiks my sorow so to heir the sing,
And lights my louing langour at the leist. Yit ttioght thou sees not, sillie saikles thing !
The neircing pykis, brods at thy bony breist,
Euin so am I by plesur lykuyis preist,
203
In gritest danger whair I most delyte. Bot since thy song for shoring hes not ceist,
Suld feble I for feir my conqueis quyt ? Na, na j I love the freshest phoenix fair, In beutie, birth, in bountie, but compair.
The hevmlie furie that inspyr'd my spreit
Quhen sacred beughis war wont my brouis to bind, With frostis of fashrie frozen is that heet 5
My garland grene is withrit with the wind.
Ye knau Occasio hes no hair behind : The bravest spreits hes tryde it treu I trou •,
The lang-forspoken proverb true I find, No man is man, and man is no thing now : The cuccou flees befor the turtle-dou j
The pratling pyet matchis with the Musis 5 Pan with Apollo playis I wot not hou j
The attircops Minerva's office usis. These be the grievis that garris Montgomrie gr[udgej. That Mydas, not Mecenas, is our judge.
Excuse me, Plato, if I suld suppone,
That underneth the heuinlie vauted round, Without the world, or in parts profound
By Stix inclos'd, that emptie place is none.
If watrie vauts of air be full echone, .
Then what contenis my teirs, which so abound With sighis and sobbis, which to the hevins I sound
When Love delightis to let me mak my mone ?
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204
Suppose the solid subtilis ay restrantis,
Which is the maist, my maister, ye may mene, Thoght all war void, yit culd they not contene
The half, let be the haill, of my complaintis.
Whair go thay then, the question wald I [craiv], Except for ruth the hevins suld thame [recaiv] ?
So suete ,a kis yistrene fra thee I reft In bouing doun thy body on the bed,
That evin my lyfe within thy lippis I left.
Sensyne from thee my spirit wald neuer shed : To folou thee it from my body fled,
And left my corps als cold as ony kie.
Bot when the danger of my death I dred,
To seik my spreit I sept my harte to thee j
Bot it was so inamored with thyne ee, With thee it myndit lykwryse to remane :
So thou hes keipit captive all the thrie,
More glaid to byd then to returne agane. Except thy breath thare places had suppleit, Euen in thyne armes thair doutles had I deit.
The sonnet, a native of Italy, had been trans-, planted into the garden of English poetry by the Earl of Surrey and Sir Thomas Wyat, writers who adorned the court of Henry the Eighth. This species of composition, wrhich at first seems to have been principally cultivated by men of rank and fashion, soon became a favourite vehicle of amatory and moral sentiment : and the example pf such writers as Shakespeare, Spenser, Daniel,
205
and Watson, tended strongly to recommend it to the poets of Great Britain. But the fa' it. of a legi- timate sonnet, however adapted to the Italian lan- guage, is seldom reared with much propriety in ours, which possessing a greater variety of ter- mination, requires the rhymes to be often changedq. Most of the little poems which, under the appella- tion of sonnets, have lately inundated the readers of English poetry, are by no means entitled to the name which they assume.
9 Johnson's Lives of English Poets, vol. i. p. 236.
THE
LIFE
OF
K. JAMES THE SIXTH.
THE
LIFE
OF
KING JAMES THE SIXTH.
1 HE political character of King James, and the public transactions of his reign, have been detailed by writers of every denomination ; but his literary history, notwithstanding the laudable industry of Pr Harris, has not hitherto been in- vestigated with that degree of accuracy which it seems to demand. This monarch, whatever may be alleged by those who execrate his moral qualities, was undoubtedly possest of no con- temptible share of learning : and he was engaged in controversies, or connected by personal attach- ment, with many distinguished individuals who at that time adorned the republic of letters.
His Scotish poems, though certainly more re- markable for their number than for their excel- lence, are not so despicable as to exclude his name VOL. II. D d
210
from tha present catalogue. In the progress of the subsequent desultory narrative our attention must be directed, almost exclusively, to his cha- racter and conduct as a scholar : and it may per- haps be found a somewhat amusing task to insti- tute a comparison between his real merits, and the hyperbolical encomiums which he received in an age that abounded with literary sycophants.
Charles James Stewart, the son of Henry and Mary Stewart, sovereigns of Scotland, was born in the castle of Edinburgh on the nineteenth of June, one thousand five hundred and sixty-six. His father, the eldest son of Matthew Stewart, Earl of Lennox, had been selected by the queen on account of his superficial attractions ; but his total deficiency in every estimable quality soon alienated the affection which he had so easily ex- cited. Within the space of a few months after their nuptials, they began £0 entertain that mu- tual disgust which at length produced such fatal effects. Henry was murdered in the year 1567': and there are strong reasons for believing that Mary was not unacquainted with the machina- tions which had been formed against his life.
In the course of the same year the queen was imprisoned in the castle of Lochlevin, and com- pelled to make a formal surrender of her king- dom. Her infant son was crowned at Stirling on the twenty-ninth of July : and during his mino- rity the affairs of the nation were successively
211
managed by the Earls of Murray, Lennox, Mar, and Morton. In 1568 she formed and executed the unfortunate resolution of seeking refuge in England ; where she was long subjected to all the indignities and misery which a cruel and un- principled rival could inflict.
James, soon after his birth, had been entrusted to the care of the Earl of Mar, a nobleman of a highly honourable and disinterested character. When he arrived at a proper age, his education was chiefly left to the superintendency of the earl's brother Alexander Erskine. His principal preceptors were George Buchanan and Sir Peter Young ; men who appear to have been admirably qualified for so important an office. Under their direction, he made such a . progress in the study of classical learning as royal pupils have seldom equalled.
From the general state of religious opinions in. the nation, as well as from the known character of Buchanan, the Protestants on the continent seem to have conceived early hopes of finding, in the Scotish king, a powerful accession to their cause. To him, yet in the fourteenth year of his age, the celebrated Theodore Beza inscribed his Icones Virorum Illustrium, in a strain sufficiently calculated for conciliating his affections to the inte- rests of religious liberty*.
a Bezae Icones Virorum Doctrina simul et Pietate Illustrium. Genevae, 1580, 4to..— The dedication is Confronted with a portrait of the king.
J)d 2
212
The regent Morton, after having disgusted nation by his conduct, found it expedient, in 1578, to resume his station as a private man. His dexterity soon enabled him to usurp the authority which he had lately enjoyed : but the renewed attempts of his numerous enemies at length effected his ruin; in the year 1581 he .was publicly executed at Edinburgh.
The young king had now begun to act the part of a royal pageant ; but the management of public affairs was necessarily left to others. One of the earliest propensities which he discovered was an excessive attachment to favourites : and this weakness, which ought to have been aban- doned with the other characteristics of childhood, continued to retain its ascendant during every stage of his life. His early favourites were Esme Stewart, whom he created Duke of Lennox, and James Stewart, whom he created Earl of Arran. His violent partiality for these men irritated the impetuous spirit of the nobility : and in the year 1582 a powerful combination was formed for the purpose of depriving them of their undue in- fluence. In prosecution of their plan, the ad- herents boldly siezed the king's person at the Earl of Cowrie's castle of Ruthven, and retained him in their custody for upwards of ten months. Having at last found an opportunity to escape, he pursued his former system of favouritism.
213
James was now about to commence his career as a man of letters. In 1584, while he was yet in the eighteenth year of his age, he published The Essayes of a Prentlse In the Divine Art of Poesie. This collection was printed in quarto by Vautroullier. His Paraphrase vpon the Revelation of the Apostle S. John, a work of a different complexion, must have been composed about the same period ; for Dr Montague affirms that " it was written by his Majesty before he was twenty years of age."
The melancholy catastrophe of Queen Mary took place on the eighth of February,
b Mary was considered as a martyr to the Popish religion ; and her fate was bewailed by several illustrious poets of the same tenets: A poem on her death occurs among the Poesies dc M. du Perron^ p. 1 1 7. The following verses " De Nece Reginaj Scotise" were written by axiothetf cardinal, who was afterwards elevated to the papal dignity ;
Te quanquam immeritam ferit, O regina, securis,
Regalique tuum funus honore caret ; Sorte tua gaude, mcerens neque Scotia ploret :
En tibi pompa, tuas quse decet exequias. Nam tibi non paries atro velatur amictu,
Sed terras circum nox tenebrosa tegit : Non tibi contextis lucent funalia lignis,
Sed coeli stellae : nasnia tristis abest, Sed canit ad pheretrum superum chorus aliger; et me,
.Coelesti incipiens voce, silere jubet.
Maphxi S. R. E. Card. Barbarini nunc Urbani PP. Vllf. Poemata, p. 213. edit. Antverp. 1634, 4to.
Mary, like her father^ her husband, and her son, was a lover of polite literature. "The kings father," says Dr Montague, " translated Vale- rius Maximus into English ; and the queenc his Maiesties mother wrote
Although James manifested a resolution of aveng- ing the cruelty which had been exercised on his mother, and the insult which had been offered to the Scotish nation, yet he was at length soothed by the artifices of the royal murderer, and re- strained by the consciousness of his own weakness. He was not endowed with any uncommon share of natural affection : and as he had never known his parent in the tender endearments of their mutual relation, his principles of filial piety had more rarely been called into exertion. He must be- sides have been taught to regard her character in no very favourable point of view : several of his courtiers were the creatures of Elizabeth ; and, in cooperation with her plans, endeavoured to in- spire him with sentiments which it did not be- come him as the son of an affectionate mother to entertain. He had been instigated by the Master of Gray to address to her, during her rigor- ous captivity, an undutiful letter which contained a harsh refusal to acknowledge her as Queen of Scotland. This instance of filial ingratitude made a deep impression on the susceptible mind of the ill-fated princess.
a boolte of verses in French of the institution of a prince, all with her owne hand, wrought the couer of it with her needle, and is now of his Maiestie esteemed as a most pretious Jewell." (Preface to K. James's Workes.) Several French poems of Mary's composition may be found in various books. A lyric poem ascribed to Henry occurs among Lord Hailes's Ancient Scottish Poems, puilislcd from tLs MS. of George Bannatynt, p. 220, -Edinb. 1770, I2mo.
215
From the ignominious death of his mother James seems to have experienced no material in- terruption in his usual pursuits ; the year which closed her sufferings was distinguished by several of his literary enterprizes. His poetical and theological studies engaged a pretty equal share of his royal attention : and in the mean time the affairs of the state were managed with no superior degree of political wisdom. He was eager to seize every opportunity of displaying his scho- lastic attainments ; and, if we may credit certain historians, he inspired his subjects with the highest admiration of his erudition and sagacity. Dr James Gordon, a learned Jesuit related to the Earl of Huntley, had been commissioned to re- visit his native country for the purpose of pro- moting the papal interest. King James, as the champion of the Protestant cause, challenged him to a solemn conference in the palace of Holyrood House : and although he was only in the twenty- first year of his age, he acquitted himself with such dexterity, that the clergy and other spec- tators either were or pretended to be filled with astonishment. He discussed the leading topics of controversy between the two churches ; and, after a confutation which completely satisfied his auditory, dismissed in a gracious manner the venerable old man whom all his arguments could not convert from Popery0.
c Johnston! Rerum Britannicarum Historia, p. 125. Amst. 1655, foL
2J6
He now bore the reputation of a learned monarch ; and in process of time acquired the appellation of Solomon the Second. During the same year, he added, probably from solicitation, his contributions to the collection of verses pub- lished by the University of Cambridge on the lamented death of Sir Philip Sidney. The first poem in this collection is a Scotish sonnet by his Majesty ; which is followed by the Latin versions of the author himself and three of his subjects. This specimen of James's Latinity, as it is un- noticed by our literary historians, I shall here transcribe :
Armipotens cui jus in fortia pectora Mavors 5
Tu dea quae cerebrum perrumpere digna tonantis ;
Tuque adeo bijugae proles Latonia rupis
Gloria, deciduce cingunt quatn collibus artes j
Vos etiam hue lachrymas conferte Heliconides, istum
Plangite, quo vestri non observantior alter,
Nee fuerat vestris insignior artibus alter:
Plangite talem inquarn, quern Fata inopina tulere.
Cujus quid memorem, quid carmine persequar altum
Aut genus, aut virides annos, aut quam dederat spem ?
Exuit heu rapida mors illaetabilis ictu,
Quo Mars, quo Pallas, quoque ipsum ornavit Apollo.
Sed venerandus honos cineri superinduit umam ;
Parte etiam meliore sui super tethera vivit.
The same collection also contains a hexastich by the royal poet :
217
Vidit lit exanimem tristis Cytheraea Philippum, Flevit, et hunc Martera credidit esse suum ;
Eripuit digitis geramas, colloque monile,
Marti iterum nunquam ceu placitura foret.
Mortuus humana qui lusit imagine divam, Quid faceret jam, si viveret, ille ? rogo <*.
In 1588 was published " Ane Fruitful Medita- tion, containing ane Plaine and Facile Exposition' of the 7, 8, 9, and 10, verses of the xx. chap, of the Revelation, in forme of ane Sermone \ set down by the maist Christiane king and syncier professour and cheif defender of the faith, James the 6th. King of Scottis." During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, this book of sacred scripture was a favourite subject of speculation : expositions of the Revelation were composed by Napier of Merchiston, Bishop Forbes, Bishop Cowper, Dr Guild, James Durham, and other Scotish authors.
James now began to form schemes of matri- mony* His first proposals were made to the eldest daughter of Frederick the Second, King of Denmark : but as Queen Elizabeth was jealous of his forming any alliance of this kind, she in- duced his venal ministers to conduct the negoci- ation in such a manner as led the Danish king to suspect, that the object of the Scotish court was to deceive himself and to amuse other sove-
d Academiae Cantabrigensls Lachrymse Tumulo Nobilissimi Equitis D. Philippi Sidneii sacratae per Alexandrum Nevillum. Lond. 1587,410,
VOL. IL Ee
218
reigns. In the mean time therefore he bestowed his daughter in marriage orl the Duke of Bruns- wick. This mortification did not prevent James from courting another alliance with the same house : a splendid embassy, with the Earl Maris- chal at its head, was dispatched to Denmark in- vested with ample power to conclude a treaty of marriage with the Princess Anne, the second daughter of Frederick. The articles of marriage were arranged without much difficulty, and his intended bride speedily began her voyage towards Scotland ; but the fleet which conducted her was suddenly compelled to seek shelter under the coast of Norway. James, irritated by this fresh disap- pointment, determined to assume, at least once in his life, the man of gallantry. He prepared a squadron with secrecy and dispatch ; and, accom ' panied by Chancellor Maitland and a numerous train of attendants, took his speedy departure for the Danish dominions. On the twenty-second of October, 1589, he arrived at a small haven in the immediate neighbourhood of Upslo, where the princess was then residing. Their nuptials were solemnized on the twenty-fourth of Novem- ber. They afterwards proceeded to Copenhagen, where they spent the winter and the ensuing spring.
The gaiety which a court is apt to assume on such an occasion as this, did not render James altogether unmindful of his literary character.
219
The celebrated Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe had about this period begun to distinguish him- self as an improver of science. The Scotish king, attended by a train of courtiers, paid him a wel- come visit ; and discoursed with him on various subjects connected with the studies which he had cultivated with such eminent success6. James was so highly gratified with this interview, that he not only presented him with several tokens of his regard, but also celebrated his excellencies in two copies of Latin verses, and granted him a royal diploma or privilege relative to the property of his works within the Scotish dominions. With, respect to the merit of his Majesty's compliment- ary verses the reader shall now be furnished with an opportunity of exercising his own judgment.
./Ethereis bis quinque globis, queis machina mundi Vertitur, ut celso est crustatus fornice Olympus Ignibus, et pictus fulgentibus undique lychnis : Pellucent vitrets domibus, vastisque planetse Orbibus , ut geminant cursus, vi et sponte rotati,' Ut miti, aut torvo adspectu longe ante futura Praemonstnmt, regnisque tonans, quae fata volutet : His tellure cupis, quae vis, quis raotus, et ordo Cernere : sublimem deductumque sethera terrae Tychonis pandunt operse : lege, disce, videbis Mira j domi mundum invenies, caelumque iibello.
Gassendi Vita Tychonis Brahei, p. 122. Paris. 1654, 4to.
E e 2,
220
The other little poem is written in a different measure.
Quam temere est ausus Phaeton, vel praestat Apollo, Qui regit igninomos aethere anhelus equos :
Plus Tycho : cuncta astra regis ; tibi cedit Apollo ; Gharus et Uraniae es hospes, alumnus, amor f .
.
Gassendi has published as the production of Tycho Brahe a poem which bears the inscription, " De Classe Hispaniae ; interpretatio carminis a Serenissimo Rege Scotiae conscripti."
Insano tumidae gentes coiere tumultu,
Ausse, insigne nefas, bello ultro ciere tonantem :
Mars sese accinxit ; metuenda tot agmina nunquam
Visa fuerunt ; properare truces miro ordine turmse,
Nosque mari et terra ssevo clausere duello,
Exitium diraque minantes csede ruinam :
Irrita sed tristi lugent conamine fine.
Nam laceras jecit ventus ludibria puppes,
Et sparsit rapidis turgescens montibus sequor.
Felix communi qui evasit clade supersces,
Dum reliquos misero diglutit abyssus hiatu.
Cui vis tanta cadit ? quis totque stupenda peregit ?
Vanos Jova sacro ponatus risit Olympo6.
f These tvyo poems, as well as the " Privilegium Regis Scotorum,'? which is dated in the year 1593, 1 find in Tycho Brahe's Astronomic In- staurat* Progymnasmata, Uraniburg. 1610, 410. They must have been inserted in some earlier edition. The poems have this colophon : " Jaco- bus Rex f. manuque propria scripsit."
Relative to this celebrated astronomer, several curious particulars, omitted t>y Gassendi, may be found in the excellent Huet's memoirs of his own life. ^Huetii Commentarius de Rebus ad eum pertinentilus, lib. ii.)
5 Gassendi Vita Tychonis Brahei, P. 302.
221
This version of His Male sties owne Sonnet Dr Montague ascribes to Lord Thirlstaneh. Gas- sendi has however exhibited it, and without hesi- tation, as the composition of the celebrated Dane. It appears to have been found among his other papers with the initials of his name affixed. The chancellor, who accompanied James to Denmark, might have received it from Tycho Brahe ; and a copy, in his own hand- writing, might be found among his manuscripts after his decease. But the reverse of this supposition is equally pro- bable.
James was also attentive to objects which in- terested him in his regal capacity ; he appears, as Mr Barrington remarks, to have spent a larger portion of his time in the Danish courts of justice, than in acts of gallantry or politeness towards his consort'. Many of his hours however were pro- bably consumed in a manner somewhat more riotous than became a king or a scholar : one of his letters is dated u from the castell of Crone- burg, quhaire we are drinking and dryuing our in the auld maner,"
The navigation of the northern seas being now sufficiently safe, he determined to conduct his queen to Scotland. They arrived at Leith on the first of May, 1590, and were welcomed by
fi K. James's Workes, p. 89.
t Barrington's Observations upon the Statutes, p. 427.
222
the people with the common expressions of pub
His literary pursuits did not experience any serious interruption. In 1591 he published a quarto volume entitled His Maiesties Poeticall Exercises at Vacant Houres.
' This year was marked by the death of Arch- bishop Adamson, a learned and ingenious man who had once been honoured with various proofs of his sovereign's regard. James however, unmindful of the zeal which the primate had displayed in his service, suffered him to languish out his latter days in extreme poverty. At an earlier period he had composed the following sonnet in commendation of Adamson's poetical paraphrase of the book of Job :
In vandring vealth through burbling brooks and bewis,
Of tripping troups and flocks on fertil ground, In cattell great of syndrie schaips and hewis,
Vith hoifes all haill or in a parted round, In heapes of gold, and riches in all vaies,
As lob exceld all vthers micht be found Of monarchs great or princes in his daies 5 So this translatour merites no les praise
For giftes of spreit nor he for giftes of geir j And God in grace hath giuen such counterpoise
As his translation to the vork is peir j He did in him his giftes so visely mel], Whose heauenlie vealth lobs earthlie vealth doeth tell^.
i Adamsoni Poemata Sacra. Lcmd. 1619, 4to.
223
Lord Thirlstane, " a man of rare parts, and of a deep wit, learned, full of courage, and most faithful to his king," dying in the year 1595, James honoured his memory with the following epitaph :
Thou passenger that spies with gazing eyes This trophic sad of Death's triumphant dart,
Consider when this outward tombe thou sees, How rare a man leaves here his earthly part j His wisdom and his uprightness of heart,
His piety, his practice of our state,
His quick engine so verst in every art,
As equally not all were in debate.
Thus justly hath his death brought forth of late An heavy grief in prince and subjects all
That vertue love, and vice do bear at hate, Though vitious men rejoyces at his fall.
So for himself most happy doth he die,
Though for his prince it most unhappy be fc.
His Damonologie was published in the year 1597. Of the plan and object of this well- known production he presents his readers with the following summary account : " The fearefull abounding at this time in this countrey of these detestable slaues of the Diuel, the witches or en- chaunters, hath mooued mee (beloued reader) to dispatch in post this following treatise of mine, not in any wise (as I protest) to serue for a shew
•
k Spotswood's Hist, of the Church of Scotland, p. 412.
224
of my learning and ingine, but onely (moued of conscience) to preasse threby, so farre as I can, to resolue the doubting hearts of many ; both that such assaults of Satan are most certainely prac- tised, and that the instruments thereof merits most seuerely to be punished : against the dam- nable opinions of two principally in our aage, whereof the one called Scot, an Englishman, is not ashamed in publike print to deny, that there can be such a thing as witch-craft : and so maintaines the old errour of the Sadduces in deny- ing of spirits ; The .other called Wierus, a Ger- man physition, sets out a publike apologie for all these crafts-folkes, whereby, procuring for their impunitie, he plainely bewrayes himselfe to haue bene one of that profession. An for to make this treatise the more pleasant and facill, I haue put it in forme of a dialogue, which I haue diuided into three bookes : The first speaking of magie in generall, and necromancie in speciall: The second, of sorcerie and witch-craft : and the third containes a discourse of all these kinds of spirits and spectres that appeares and troubles persons, together with a conclusion of the whole worke. My intention in this labour is onely to prooue two things, as 1 haue already said : The one, that such diuelish artes haue bene and are : The other, what exact triall and seuere punishment they merit : and therefore reason I, What kinde of things are possible to be performed in these arts,
225
and by what naturall causes they may be, not that I touch euer/ particular thing of the Diuels power, for that were infinite : but onely, to speake scholastickely, (since this cannot be spoken in our language) I reason vpon genus, leauing species and differentia to bee comprehended therein."
The writers whom James has mentioned in such indignant terms are entitled to a grateful tribute of applause : they flourished at a period when the existence of witchcraft was an estab- lished article of belief; and strenuously endea- voured by the force of reason to counteract the inhuman effects which frequently resulted from the false impression. They were the advocates of truth and humanity; James was the abettor of superstition and cruelty. Nor will it be con- sidered as any disparagement to the royal author, to affirm that the learning of Scot and of Wie- rus was at least equal to his own *.
The opinions advanced in this production have however subjected him to an undue degree of contempt ; they were the current opinions of the age in which he lived. To demonstrate the pre- valence of extreme credulity even among men of
i Reginald Scot, Esq. published a learned work with this title : •? The Discovery of Witchcraft ; proving the Compacts and Contracta of Witches with Devils and all Infernal Spirits or Familiars are but Er- roneous Novelties and Imaginary Conceptions," &c. The third edition was published at London in folio in the year 1665. Wierus wrote a- treatise De Lamiis, and [another De Prastigiis D&monttm. (Joannis Wieri •^/t-rrf. Amst. 1660, 4to.)
VOL. II. F f
226
genius and erudition, a thousand examples might be amassed : I shall however content myself with a more moderate number. Julius Caesar Scali- ger, a man of stupendous intellect, persuaded himself and others that he was often visited with prophetic dreams : and his son Joseph, the rival of his fame, has not scrupled to record one of his divinations m. His antagonist Cardan was guilty of more remarkable weakness : he was professedly addicted to the study of judicial astro- logy : his works are replenished with stories of devils and apparitions ; he gravely informs us that his father had intercourse with a daemon"; he pretends that he himself received such inti- mations from a daemon as were granted to Socra- tes and other ancient philosophers0; and, to con- clude the enumeration, he relates a silly story of an omen respecting the future destiny of his eldest sonp. During the sixteenth century, the existence of witches was strenuously maintained by Bodin and other authors. Even in England it was maintained at a later period by writers of no despicable character; by Meric Casaubon, Joseph Glanvil, and Henry More. It was main- tained by a Scotish lawyer who flourished during the latter part of the seventeenth century. Of
m Josephus Justus Scaliger de Vetustate ct Splendore Gentis Scaligeruv et J. C. Scaligeri Vita, p. 48. 53. Lugd. Bat. 1594, 4to. 11 Cardan, de Utilitate ex Adversis Capienda, p. 335. 0 Cardan, de Propria Vita, p. a6i. edit. Naudsi. P Cardan, de Libris Propriisj p. 5.
227
the existence of witchcraft, says Sir George Mac- kenzie, the lawyer cannot entertain any doubt ; " seeing our law ordains it to be punished by deathV This argument is irrefragable ! But, whatever may be its validity, it is well known that many inoffensive and miserable victims were legally murdered by the statute to which it refers. In the year 1643, upwards of thirty supposed witches were committed to the flames in the county of Fife within the space of a few months1".
If James was remotely accessory to such a waste of human blood, he can only be charged with the sin of ignorance : and such ignorance as this will not appear very criminal when we candidly estimate the character of the age in which he lived. That age received his D&monologie with approbation. It is repeatedly quoted by the learned Scipio Gentilis in a manner which indi- cates his respect for the author5.
In 1598 James published "The Trew Law of Free Monarchies ; or the Reciprok and Mvtvall Dvetie betwixt a free King and his naturall Sub- iects." During the following year he committed to the press his " *MI\t*n A«€«- or his Maiesties In-
q Mackenzie's Criminal Law of Scotland, part i. tit. x. r Baillie's Letters, vol. i. p. 379.
s " Sed earn firmat maximus et sapientissimus regum, idemque Magnz Bfitannue primus monarcha Jacobus I. in lib. iii. Dsemonologise."
GENTILIS in Apuleii Apologiam Oommentarius, p. 162. Hanoviae, 1607, 8vo.
F£ 2
228
strvctions to his dearest sonne, Henry the Prince.'7 Of the circumstances attending the publication of this work, Archbishop Spotswood presents us with a particular account : " The same year did the king publish his Dqron Basilicon upon this occasion. Sir James Semple, one of his Majesties servants, (whose hand was used in transcribing that treatise) upon an old familiarity with Mr Andrew Melyill, did give it him to read, who offending with some passages that touched the ministry and present discipline, took copies there- of, and dispersed the same among the ministers : thereupon a libel was formed, and cast in before the synod of St Andrews, wherein the passages at which they excepted being first set down, it was asked, * What censure should be inflicted upon him that had given such instructions to the prince, (for that treatise \yas directed to Prince Henry); and if he could be thought well-affected to religion, that had delivered such precepts of
government.' The rumour by this occasion
dispersed, that the king had left certain directions to his son prejudicial to the church and religion, he took purpose to publish the work ; which being come abroad, and carried to England, it cannot be said how well the same was accepted, and what an admiration it raised in all mens hearts of him, arid of his piety and wisdom1."
* Spotswood's Hist, of the Church of Scotland, p. 457. — James, in the preface to his work, presents us with a different account of its publica- tion ; but I prefer the authority of Spotswood;
229
The mysterious transaction known by the appellation of Cowrie's conspiracy ensued in the year 1600. An account of this conspiracy was published by the king himself : but his state- ments were received with no very explicit credit. Robert Bruce, an eminent preacher, declared that " He would reverence his Majesty's report of that accident, but would not say he was persuaded of the truth of it." For these bold expressions he was banished the king's dominions".
Queen Elizabeth died in the year 1603, after having nominated the Scotish king as her sue- cessor. He departed from Edinburgh on the fifth of April, and by slow journies proceeded to- wards London. The king and queen were so- lemnly crowned at Westminster on the twenty- fifth of July. On this occasion James exhibited a characteristic instance of vanity ; the money intended for distribution among the populace, he ordered to be struck with the inscription of' G&sar Casarum v.
u Spots-wood's History of the Church of Scotland, p. 462. edit. Lond. 1677, fol. — With respect to this mysterious passage of history Mr Pinkerton has lately proposed a new theory See his ingenious disserta- tion, inserted in the first volume of Mr Laing's History of Scotland.
v " Jacques Roy d'Angleterre lors qu'il fut couronne, fit une largesse au peuple commeon fait a la creation de roys, et fit battre une nouvelle monnoye, ou il avoit fait mettre CtesarCtssarum, chose absurde et inoiiye: il tasche de les faire toutes refondre ; j'en ay une piece. Le Roy d'An- gleterre d'aujourd'huy est encore meilleur que O le pauvre roy!"
SCALIGERANA, p. Il6.
230
Among the first of his literary exploits after his arrival, was his engaging in a conference at Hampton Court with a deputation of the Puri- tans. He was supported by several of the bishops : the other party consisted of Dr Reynolds, Dr Sparks, Mr Knewstubbs, Mr Chadderton, and Mr Patrick Galloway. These ministers preferred a request to his Majesty, " that the doctrine of the church might be preserved in purity, accord- ing to God's word ; that good pastors might be planted in all churches to preach the same ; that church government might be sincerely ministered, according to God's word ; and that the book of common prayer might be fitted to more increase of piety w." These propositions are certainly far from being extravagant : yet James, who acted as the oracle of the Episcopalians, immediately rejected them in his double capacity of a king and a scholar. During the conference he seems to have deported himself with much pedantry and little moderation. We are however assured that he " managed this discourse with such power (which they expected not from him, and there- fore more danted at) that Whitgift Archbishop of Canterbury (though a holy, grave, and pious man) highly pleased with it, with a sugred bait (which princes are apt enough to swallow) said,
w Harris's Historical and Critical Account of the Life and Writings of James the First, p. 90. Lond. 1753, 8vo-
231
He was verily persuaded, that the king spake by the spirit of God x."
His accession to the throne of England seems to have excited fresh curiosity with respect to his literary attainments. During this year his B«<rAi*» A«g«» was republished at London ; was translated into French by Villiers Hotman, the son of the well-known civilian y ; and was moreover para- phrased in English and in Latin verse by William Willymat7'. His exposition of the Revelation was also reprinted at London.
Grotius, in his Inauguratio Regis Britanniarum, has not left uncelebrated the royal scholar's early and steady attachment to letters :
QUCE tarn docta fuit, quamvis privata, juventus ? O decus ingenii, 6 pulsae regalibus aulis Doctrinoe super una fides, tibi sacra suppellex Chartarum, quascunque manus scripsere beatae, Pro jaculis arcuque fuit : nee qurerere tantum, Si qua Caledoniis fera palaretur in agris, Quantum Pierios juvit lustrasse recessus.
x Wilson's Hist, of Great Britain, p. 8.
y Colomies, Bibliotheque Choisie, p. 154.
z A Princes Looking Glasse, or a Princes Direction, very requisite and necessarie for a Christian Prince, to view and behold himselfe in, containing sundrie wise, learned, godly, and princely precepts and instructions, ex- cerpted and chosen out of that most Christian and vertuous Btunfaxov Augov, or his Majesties Instructions to his dearest sonne Henrie the Prince, and translated into Latin and English verse, (his Majesties consent and appro- bation beeing first had and obtained thereunto) for the more delight and pleasure of the said Prince now in his young yeares: by William Willy- mat. Cambridge, 1603, 4to.
232
Hinc studiis rcparatus honos, et Scotica nunquam Socraticas tellus animosior ivit in artes y£mula naturae, palrnamque negavit Atlienis a.
In the year 1605, James, accompanied by the queen and Prince Henry, paid a visit to the re- nowned University of Oxford. The academics were highly gratified by this indication of their learned sovereign's regard; and endeavoured, by every possible exertion, to testify their loyal at- tachment, as well as to inspire him with an ex- alted opinion of their scholastic attainments. James on his part received equal pleasure : he acted as moderator of the public disputations, and caught their spirit with as much warmth as was ever displayed by any professor. His ears were soothed by the delectable orations of Dr George Abbot the Vice-Chancellor, and those of other officers of the university : and the students exerted all their skill in the representation of such learned dramas as it was then customary to exhibit in colleges b.
The same year was distinguished by the gun- powder treason ; which afforded James an oppor- tunity of displaying a degree of sagacity which
a Grotii Poemata, p. 64.
b Sir Isaac Wake, at that time Public Orator, published a copious account of the king's visit to Oxford, under the title of " Rex Platonicus ; sive de Potentissimi Principis Jacobi Britanniarum Regis ad Ilhisrrissi- mam Academiam Oxoniensem Adventu, Aug. 27, An, 1605." Oxoiiil-, 1607, 4to.
at least exceeded that of his council. The danger which the king and the parliament had so narrowly escaped, rendered them solicitous to prevent any future machinations of the popish party : an oath of allegiance, by which they dis- owned the power of the pope to dethrone his Majesty, or to alienate any part of his dominions, was tendered to such of the British subjects as professed that religion. This oath was taken by the majority of the Catholics, and, among others, by George Blackwell, Archpriest of England, Paul the Fifth was offended by this general compliance ; and in 1606 issued a breve, in which he announced to the British Catholics that the oath of allegiance could not be taken without detriment to the faith, and to the salvation of their own souls. To such an admonition how- ever they paid little attention ; and were even inclined to treat the writ as a forgery. In the course of the following year, his Holiness issued another breve by way of enforcing obedience to the former : and Cardinal Bellarmin at the same time addressed a private letter to Blackwell, in which he laboured to place before his eyes the glories of martyrdom* James stood forth as the champion of his own cause, and published a work entitled " Triplici Nodo Triplex Cimeus, or an Apologie for the Oath of Allegiance, against the two Breves of Pope Paulus Quintus, and the late Letter of Cardinall Bellarmine to G. Blackwell VOL. IL G g
the Arch-priest." In the composition of this apo- logy, the Catholics represent him as having de- rived very material assistance from John Barclay, who at that time was residing in the British me- tropolis b : but suggestions of this kind are often false and invidious.
This publication was the prelude to a conti versy of no vulgar denomination. The apology was translated into Latin, and being circulated in foreign countries, was speedily answered by writers of almost every description. Cardinal Bellarmin published, in 1608, a quarto volume entitled " Responsio ad Librum cui titulus Tri- plici Nodo Triplex Cuneus." This book, though it appeared under the fictitious name of Matthasus Tortus, was easily recognized as the production of the illustrious Jesuit. James now republished his apology, and added " A Premonition to all most Mightie Monarches, Kings, Free Princes, and States of Christendome." Bellarmin was an- swered by Dr Lancelot Andrews, Dr John Gor- don0, Dean of Salisbury, and by several other writers. In 1610 he published his " Apologia pro Responsione sua ad Librum Jacobi Magnse Britanniae Regis." Bishop Andrews rejoined in the course of the same yeard. During the follow-
b Erythrsei Pinacotheca, torn. iii. p. 77.
c Gordonii Antitortobellarminus. Lond. 1610, 4to. — This work con- sists of an intermixture of prose and verse.
d The first work published by Bishop Andrews on this occasion is en-
235
ing year, Andreas Eudaemon-Johannes published his " Parallel us Torti et Tortoris ejus Lancelot! Cestrensis, sen Responsio ad Torturam Torti, pro Roberto Bellarmino;" which was answered by Dr Samuel Collins, Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge. Dr Collins also published an English book in vindication of Dr Andrews.
James had likewise been assailed by Father Parsons, in a quarto volume published at St Oncers in 1608, under the title of " The Judge- ment of a Catholick Englishman concerning K. James's Apology for the Oath of Allegiance." This Jesuit was answered by Dr William Barlow, afterwards Bishop of Lincoln. In 1610 M. Pel- letier published " La Religion Catholique, &c. centre le livre de Jacques I. Roy d'Angleterre." During the same year Nicolas Coeffetau, after- wards Bishop of Marseilles, published a " Response a PAvertissement, addresse a tous les Princes et Potentates de la Chretiente." This work was an- swered by Peter du Moulin ; whose book was printed in Latin, French, and English. In 1610, King James, as well as Bishop Andrews, was at- tacked by Martinus Becanus. Dr William Took- er, Dean of Litchfield, replied in behalf of the royal author, in his " Ceftamen curn Martino Be-
titled "Tortura Torti; sive, ad Matthau Torti Librum Responsio," Lond.
1609, 4to. ; the second, " Responsio ad Apologiam Cardinalis Bellarmini quarn nuper edidit contra Prefationem Monitoriam Jacobi Regis." Lond.
1 6 10, 4to.
Gg 2
236
cano," printed at London during the following year. To this publication Becanus soon rejoin- ed ; and, about the same time, produced his book against Andrews. His attack on the bishop was repelled by Robert Burhill, and by Richard Har- ris.
James Gretser, the Jesuit, published at Ingolstad in 1610, " Bc«x<*0v A»g«, seu Commentarius Exege- ticus in Jacobi Regis Praefationem Minitoriam, et in ejusdem Apologiam pro Juramento Fidelitatis." During the same year, Leonardus Cocquaeus, a monk of the order of St Augustin, published at Friburg, an " Examen Praefationis Apologias Ja- cobi Regis." In 1611, Leonardus Lessius, the Je- suit, published an octavo volume entitled " De Antichristo et ejus Prsecursoribus Disputatio, qua refutatur Praefatio Monitoria Jacobi Regis." Les- sius was answered by Dr George Downame, after- wards Bishop of Londonderry, in a work publish- ed at London in 1620, under the title of " Papa Anuchristus." Francis Suarez, another Jesuit of eminence, assailed the royal author in a " De- fensio Fidei Catholicae contra Anglicanae Secta? Errores, una cum Responsione ad Jacobi Regis Apologiam," printed at Coimbra in the year 1613. The tenets of Suarez and Bellarmin were expo- sed by Dr Robert Abbot, afterwards Bishop of Salisbury ; who had formerly refuted, in a man- ner so able as to excite the admiration of Joseph
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Scaliger, the cardinal's notions relative to the fertile subject of Antichrist6.
This violent contest was also remarkable for the interference of Isaac Casaubon ; a scholar greatly superior to any of those who have yet been enumerated. After the assassination of Henry the Fourth, which took place in the year 1610, he was invited by James, with whom he had formerly corresponded, to fix his residence within the British dominions. Of this invitation, which was conveyed to him by a letter from Archbishop Abbot, he accordingly availed him- self. He was presented with two prebends, of Canterbury and Westminster, and received other marks of the royal favour ; but was not left to that liberal and uninterrupted pursuit of his private studies which would have rendered his situation agreeable to himself, and honourable to his protector. In the year 1611 he was employ- ed to prepare a refutation of the apology which the Jesuits had published at Paris, in vindication of their order from the charge of having devised the gun-powder plot. He wrote a series of ani- madversions in the form of an epistle to Fronto
c The work to which I here allude is entitled " Antichrist! Demon- stratio, contra Fabulas Pontificias, et ineptara Roberti Bellarmini de An- tichristo Disputationam.-' Lond. 1603, 410. The other production of Dr Abbot was not published till the year after his death. It bears this title : " De Suprema Potestate Regia Exercitationes habitse in Academia Oxoniensi, contra Rob. Bellarminum et Franciscum Suarez." Lond. 1619, 4tQ.
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DuccEus, a learned and estimable member of that society f. This publication produced an ela- borate answer from Erycius Puteanus, Professor of Humanity at Louvaing.
Before the contest was terminated, another re- markable personage sought refuge in Britain. This was Marcus Antonius de Dominis, Arch- bishop of Spalato; an unquiet man of genius, who in his old age deserted the Papists, in the hope of being more amply rewarded by the Pro- testants. After his arrival in London, he publish- ed the first two volumes of his admired work De Republica Ecclesiastic a ; prefixing to each an en- comiastic dedication to his new patron King James. For the further gratification of the monarch, he appended to the second volume a tract entitled Ostensio Errorum Francisci Suarez. His outrage- ous zeal in the Protestant cause was rewarded with the deanry of Windsor and the mastership of the Savoy : but these emoluments his restless spirit did not suffer him long to enjoy. In an evil hour he returned to Rome ; and, after having made a public recantation of his late heresies, was flattered with the delusive hope of returning fa-
f Fronto Ducaeus, or Fronton le Due, is styled by Dr Geddes " the most learned editor of the first Greek and Latin Chrysostome, and one of the best critics of his age." The unblemished character of Ducaeus and Schottus compelled Joseph Scaliger to own that even Jesuits might be honest. ( Scaltgerana^ p IZO.)
£ Puteani in Is. Casauboni ad Front. Ducxum S. J. Theologum, V. C. Epistolam Strictune, Liber Prodromus. Lovanii, i6iz, 4to. — These stric- tures were reprinted among the author's Anuenitatts Humana.
239
vour. He died in prison, opportunely enough : and his body was committed to the flames with every token of pious indignation11.
Bellarmin was undoubtedly an adversary of no despicable character ; but in Caspar Scioppius the royal pedant found another still more formidable. Scioppius was a German by birth, and was edu- cated in the Protestant faith ; but like Wowerus, Holstenius, and others of his learned countrymen, he became a proselyte to Popery. With that in- temperance of zeal which commonly distinguishes converts of a certain description, he engaged in a general and bloody war against the eminent professors of the religion which he had abandon- ed ; and, by the rudeness of his assaults, provoked the vengeance of Scaliger, Casaubon, Heinsius, and Barthius1. It was among the number of those circumstances on which he chiefly felicitated himself, that the death of Scaliger and of Casau- bon was occasioned by the corrosive qualities of his writings. These admirable scholars yielded to the common infirmities incident to human life : but this atrocious boast sufficiently indi- cates the temper and disposition of their adver-
fa Wilson's Hist, of Great Britain, p. 102.
i Caspar Barthius is supposed to be the author of a work entitled Cave Canem : de fita, Moribut) Ruins Gestis, Divinitate, Gasperis Scioppii Apostate. Hanoviae, 1612, 8vo. This work was published under the fictitious name of Tarrseus Hebius. The same volume includes three books of epigrams, entitled Scioppius Excellent: in Laudem ejus et Sociorum pro Josepbo Scaligsro :t omnibus probis.
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sary. Scioppius now selected King James as proper subject for the exercise of his peculiar ta- lent ; and continued his hostilities, with encreas- ing ardour, for the space of several years. But his Majesty, instead of engaging in equal conflict, commanded the obnoxious productions of his an- tagonist to be publicly burnt. When he after- wards visited the University of Cambridge, the students endeavoured to gratify his vindictive pas- sions, by exhibiting a dramatic representation of Scioppius in the most degrading mode which their fancy could suggest k. His vengeance, if we may credit an enemy, was yet unsatiated : Sciop- pius affirms that in the year 1614 he was beset at Madrid by no fewer than eleven assassins, com- missioned by the British ambassador ; and after being pierced with many wounds, was abandon- ed as dead. When they had performed this ex- ploit, he adds, they were heard to exclaim, " Bra- vo ! we have at length murdered this great Pa- pist." The complexion of this tale will be suf- ficient to vindicate James and his ambassador from the heavy charge preferred against them : Scioppius was anxious to advance his own repu- tation, and to recommend himself to the patron- age of his Catholic friends ; nor was he very scru- pulous with regard to the mode of accomplishing his object. He represented himself as the hero
* M. Casauboni Pietas, p. 23.
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of the Romish church. In his enumeration of " the talents of Christ entrusted to Caspar Sciop- pius1," he dwells with singular complacency on his reiterated and formidable attack on the here- tical kingm.
Sir Henry Wotton, by the malevolence of this professional controversialist, had nearly been in- volved in unmerited disgrace. As he proceeded on an embassy to Italy, he happened to make a halt of some days at the city of Augsburg in Ger- many : and being requested, while he was there spending one of his evenings in a convivial man- ner, to insert some sentence in a private album, he wrote the following ludicrous definition of an
l Scioppius de Pxdia Humanafum ac Divinarum Literarum, p. 23.
m The following publications of Scioppius relate to the present sub- ject: " Ecclesiasticus, Auctoritati Serenissimi D. Jacobi Magnse Britannias Regis oppositus." Hartubergae, 1611, 4to. " Collyrium Regium, Jaco- bo Regi Britannia:, graviter ex oculis laboranti, muneri missum." Apud Holofernem JCreigsederium, 1611, 8vo. " Alexipharmacum Regium, Felli Draconum et Veneno Aspidum sub Philippi Mornxi de Plessis nupera Papatus Historia abdito, oppositum , Serenissimo D. Jacobo Mag. Brit. Regi Strense Januarise loco muneri missum." Moguntise, 1612, 4to. " Scorpiacum ; hoc est Novum ac Praesens adversus Protestantium Hsreses Remedium ab ipsismet Protestantibus Scorpionibus petitum, quo adversus Serenis. D. Jacobum Mag. Brit. Regem," &c. Mogunt. 1612, 4to. " Legatus Latro ; hoc est Relatio de Latrocinio quod Regis Anglo- rum adversus Scioppium suscepit." Ingolstadii, 1615, Svo. — Bayle sup- poses Scioppius to be the author of an ironical panegyric on King Tames, entitled Corona Regia, which was artfully produced as a posthumous com- position of Isaac Casaubon.
The private character of Scioppius has been represented in a very un- favourable light by the Protestant writers : but Joseph Castah'o, a learn ed Catholic, pronounces him " eximise docTrinae et pietatis vir." (Obser- •vat'ioncs in Ct'itlcvs^ p. 1 6.)
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ambassador : " An ambassador is an honest man sent abroad to tell lyes for the good of his coun- try"." Scioppius, at the distance of nearly eight years, introduced this sentence into his Ecde- siasticus, and endeavoured to persuade his read- ers that it not only expressed the private senti- ments of Wotton, but was the very essence of the instructions delivered to him by his royal mas- ter. The false impression was eagerly received by the more zealous Papists : and at Venice this sentence was industriously exhibited in several of their windows. When King James was apprized of these circumstances, his anger was kindled against his jocular ambassador : and if Wotton had not appeased his resentment by addressing a letter to him, in vindication of his own innocence, and another to Marcus Velserus, against Sciop- pius0, the consequences might perhaps have prov- ed fatal to his fortunes'1.
The publication of the Apologie for the Oath of Allegiance, and the controversy which it excited, had rendered James and the Catholic states less cordial towards each other. Notwithstanding the uniform tenor of his writings, he had long been suspected of a secret bias towards the Popish re- ligion : and the courts of Rome and France had
n " Legatus est vir bonus peregre missus ad mentiendum reipublicns causa."
0 Wottoni Epittola de Gaspare Scioppio. Amber'g. 1613, 8vn. P Walton's Life of Sir Henry Wotton, sig. C. 5,
243
even formed a project of effecting his complete conversion. In order to compass their design, the pope intended to propose a general Christian league against the Turks ; trusting that by this expedient his emissaries should find a convenient opportunity for conciliating his attachment"1. But the unceremonious manner in which he was ac- costed by many of his literary antagonists, can- not be supposed to have left a very agreeable im- pression on his mind : and he was subjected to the additional mortification of finding his work either rejected or coldly received by the- Catho- lic princes to whom it had been presented by his ambassadors.
The violence of the controversial spirit which now prevailed, suggested a project of a singular nature. It was Dr Richard Bancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury, " that first brought the king," says Arthur Wilson, " to begin a new collegfe by Chelsey, wherein the choice and ablest scholars of the kingdom, and the most pregnant wits in matters of controversies were to be associated un- der a provost, with a fair and ample allowance, not exceeding three thousand pounds a year, whose design was to answer all Popish books, or others that vented their malignant spirit against the Protestant religion, either the heresies of the Papist, or the errors of those that struck at hier-,
Perronlana, p, 283,
Hh 2
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archie, so that they should be two-edged fellow; that would make old cutting and slashing ; am this he forwarded with all industry during hi* time ; and there is yet a formal act of parliament in being for the establishment of it. But aft( his death the king wisely considered that nothing begets more contention than opposition, and sue] fuellers would be apt to inflame rather thai quench the heat which would arise from those em- bers; — and there is only so much building stand- ing by the Thames-side, as to shew, that what he tended to plant, should be wreil watered"."
About this time James sought another oppor- tunity of manifesting his zeal and learning. In, 1609 the professorship of divinity in the Univer- sity of Ley den having become vacant by the death of Arminius, Conrad Vorstius, an honest German divine, was invited to the succession. Before he could take possession of his new office, James, who had examined two of his publications and found them to contain sceptical doctrines, made a formal remonstrance to the States Gene- ral against the admission of so damnable a here- tic. With his request however they were unwil- ling to comply : but his persecution of the harm- less professor, and his insolent interference in the internal regulations of an independent republic,
r The History of Great Britain, being the Life and Reign of King James the First, relating to what passed from his first Accesse to the Crown, till his Death ; by Arthur Wilson, Esq. p. 53. Lond. 1653, fol.
24J
did not terminate without a farther display of his hollow zeal. He commanded the works of Vor- stius to be publicly burnt at London, Oxford, and Cambridge5 ; and renewed his remonstrance with increasing energy. Finding however that his outrageous orthodoxy was not so warmly applaud- ed as he could have wished, he deemed it expe- dient to publish " A Declaration concerning the Proceedings with the States Generall of the Unit- ed Provinces of the Low Covntreys, in the cause of D. Conradus Vorstiys." In this work, besides a recapitulation of his own zeal, he exhibits a ca- talogue of the heretical tenets of Vorstius, with the view of procuring his dismission from the pro- fessorship, to which he had been admitted in the year 1611.
Vorstius, afraid of the. approaching storm, had addrest a conciliatory letter to James, in the hope of appeasing his hot indignation. He addressed another to Archbishop Abbot, and a third to Isaac Casaubon, with whom he had formerly con- tracted an intimacy at Geneva ; entreating them to use their endeavours in moderating the perse- cution which their patron had commenced against him c. All these applications proved ineffectual. Although the States General had manifested no small reluctance in complying with the insolent
s King James's Workes, p. 354.
f Praestantium ac Eruditorum Virorum Epxstolas Ecclesiastics? et Thea- logicx, p. 385, a86, 287, edit. Amst. 1684, fol.
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lan dates of the British monarch, his holy fervour was at length gratified. The synod of Dort sus- pended the professor from his functions : and he was ordered to quit the territories of Holland and West Friesland, and not to return at any future period, under pain of being treated as a dis- turber of the public peace u.
The Declaration, which he chose to write in the French language, was published in the year 1612. For the purpose of more general circula- tion it was translated into Latin, English, and Dutch. With respect to the Latin version a cir- cumstance is recorded which tends to reflect some light on the literary transactions of that period. The following passage occurs in a letter to Dr Usher from Thomas Lydiat, the learned anta- gonist of Joseph Scaliger : " I have sent you the king's book in Latin against Vorstius, yet scant dry from the press ; which Mr Norton, who hath the matter wholly in his own hands, swore to me he would not print, unless he might have money to print it : a sufficient argument to make me content with my manuscript lying still unprinted, unless he equivocated : but see how the world is changed ; time was when the best book-printers and sellers would have been glad to be beholding to the mean- est book-makers. Now, Mr Norton, not long since
^ Gnaltheri de Vita et Obitu Conradi Vorstii Oratio, sig. M. 4. b. Fredericopoli, 1624, 4 to.
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the meanest of many book-printers and sellers, so talks and deals, as if he would make the noble King James, I may well say the best book-maker of this his own, or any kingdom under the sun, be glad to be beholding to him : any marvel therefore, if he think to make such a one as I am, his vassal ? but I had rather betake myself to another occupation v."
In this production, the royal polemic has treated Vorstius and Ar mini us with a total want of Christian moderation. These men were his superiors in every intrinsic quality ; an4, even from a king, were entitled to humanity and res- pect. The character of Vorstius has been repre- sented as free from reproach : and Sir Henry Wotton, who enjoyed the personal acquaintance of Arminius, describes him as " a man of most rare learning, of a most strict life, and of a most meek spirit." Meekness was not the characteristic of James : his sublime conceptions of the divine right of kings, and of the superiority of his own attainments, rendered him arrogant and unfeeling.
44 To the honovr of ovr Lord and Saviovr Jesus Christ, the eternall sonne of the eternall father, the onely $««»%,«••*, mediatovr, and reconciler of mankind, in signe of thankfvlnes, his most hum- ble and most obliged servant, lames, by the grace of God, King of Great Britaine, France, and
7 Usher's Letteri, p. 13.
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[reland, Defender of the Faith, doeth dedicate tnd consecrate this his Declaration." Dedica- ions of this kind were once in frequent use. Hall has inscribed a Passion Sermon, preached in the year 1609, "To the onely honovr and glory of God my deare and blessed Saviovr (which hath done and suffered all these things for my sovle.)"
In the year 1614, his Majesty, willing to de- monstrate his affection for each of the English Universities, paid a long-expected visit to Cam- bridge. Here he was received by a numerous train of graduates ; and, during his stay, was al- ternately entertained with sermons, plays, -ora- tions, poems, and disputations. A Latin comedy entitled Ignoramus, the production of George Ruggle, Fellow of Clare Hall, was twice per- formed by the academics, to the infinite delight of the king and his courtiers w. This drama, as it tended to expose the ignorance and arrogance of the common lawyers, and was supposed to contain particular allusions to Sir Edward Coke, was completely adapted to the royal .palate. From the professors of the common law he en- tertained a hearty aversion ; because if they dis- charged their duty in an intrepid and conscien- tious manner, his wide and unconstitutional encroachments could not be effected with that
w Johnston. Rerum Britannicarum Hist. p. 503.
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facility at which his impetuosity aimed. Sir Edward Coke repeatedly incurred his displeasure ; because he asserted in one of his parliamentary speeches, that " the king's prerogative was a great over-grown monster ;" and because while he pre- sided in the King's Bench, he even had the bold- ness to insinuate that the common law of Eng- land was in imminent danger of being perverted x. James's controversial propensity was again gra- tified, by the appearance of Cardinal Perron's " Harangue faite de la part de la Chambre Eccle- siastique en cette du Tiers Estat, sur Particle du Serment ;" which was published at Paris in the year 1615. The cardinal, who had formerly corresponded with James, transmitted to him a copy of his oration : but this instance of polite- ness did not secure him from his Majesty's con- troversial weapons. In answer to Perron, he speedily composed, in the French language, a re- monstrance for the right of kings, and the inde- pendence of their crowns. This work was soon translated into Latin and English. Perron re- plied in a prodigious volume of nearly one thou- sand pages in folio, entitled " Replique a la Re- sponse du Serenissme Roy de la Grand Bretagne," Peter du Moulin declared himself the champion of the royal author, and in due time published a huge quarto entitled " Response au Livre de M.
x Wilson's Hist, of Great Britain, p. 95. 191,
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le Cardinal du Perron, intitule Replique Response," &c.
Before this period James had been occupied in refuting the learned dignitary on another occa- sion. In the year 1612 Perron had published a Lettre au Sieur Casaubon, in which he discusses some of the topics debated between the Protest- ant and the Romish churches. An answer was speedily published by Casaubon ; who professes merely to have written what \vas dictated by the king.
This employment, for so admirable a scholar, was sufficiently inglorious : yet the scholar who solicits or even accepts of patronage, in its common de- finition, is scarcely entitled to a better fate. This excellent man seems however to have considered himself as generously treated in the country which he had chosen as the asylum of his age. Here he continued to prosecute his studies with- out much diminution of his former vigour : but the works in which he now engaged, proved less acceptable to the lovers of ancient literature than those which he had produced at Geneva and at Paris. It was after his arrival in Britain that he executed a part of his long-meditated plan of correcting the most material errors in the eccle- siastical annals of Baronius. In this laudable attempt he experienced the truth of the common observation, that it is less easy to arrive at excel- lence than to expose the deficiences of others :
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for, in the opinion of competent judges, his own work is replenished with a larger proportion of errors than the stupendous production on which he animadverts. Casaubon had chiefly directed his attention to other studies ; and was therefore in a great measure unprepared to contend with a writer who had spent a long life in ecclesiastical researches. These strictures on Cardinal Baro- nius, which he dedicated to his royal patron, ex- cited against him a myriad of enemies. He was soon attacked in a formal manner by Heribert Rosweyd, Julius Caesar Bullenger, and by other strenuous defenders of the Romish faith: and from this period the writers of that persuasion generally viewed him with no common antipathy or rancour. After his death, which ensued in the year 1614, he was still pursued by the malice of his enemies : productions of a contemptible or invidious nature were published in his name ; and reports levelled at his moral character were circulated with industrious effrontery. His vin- dication was at length undertaken with becom- ing zeal by his son Meric Casaubon ; who after- wards obtained preferment in the English church, and rose to some eminence in the republic of letters y.
y Isaac Casaubon published at London the following works against the Papists : " Ad Frontonem Ducseum S. J. Theologum Epistola, in qua de Apologia'disseritur, communi Jesuitarum nomine ante aliquot menses Lu- tetia Parisiorum edita," 1611, 4to. " ,Ad Epistolain Illustr. et Reve-
I i 2
When James was on the eve of quitting native country, he had publicly pledged himself to return at short intervals ; but many years had now elapsed without the performance of his pro- mise. In 1617 he however paid a final visit to Scotland ; where he was received with demon- strations of joy which had the appearance of being sincere. The men of letters vied with each other in the extravagance of the panegyrical tributes: the Universities of Edinburgh* and St Andrews*, published ample collections of the learned lumber which the loyalty of their mem- bers had accumulated ; and almost every native of Scotland who could write verses in Greek, Latin, English, or Scotish, was willing to sieze so auspicious an occasion. James, attentive to the progress of literature, paid a formal visit to the ancient University of St Andrews. Here he re- sumed his character of moderator in the schools ; and heard several theses impugned and defended
rendiss. Cardinalis Peronii Responsio." 1612, 410. " Ad Mich. Lingel- shemium Epistola de quodam Libello Scioppii." 1612,410. " De Rebus Sacris et Ecclesiasticis Exercitationes xvi. ad Cardinalis Baronii Prolego- piena in Annales et primam eorum partem." 1614, fol.
Meric Casaubon published two works in defence of his father's moral and literary character : " Merici Casauboni Pietas contra Maledicos Patrii Nominis et Religionis Hostes." Lond. 1621, 8vo. " Vindicatio Patris adversus Impostores quosdam." Lond. 1624, 4to-
z Ho?u$nx.' in Jacobi Regis Felicem in Scotiarn Reditum Academiaj Edinburgensis Congratulatio. Edinb. 1617, 4to.
a Antiq. Celeber. Acad. Andreanae X«g<f»?<«* in Adventum Jacobi Primi. Edinb. 1617, 410.
by the learned members. Dr Baron, who at that period was only a beardless youth, disputed with such dexterity and knowledge, that he filled the king and the rest of the auditory with astonish- ment b. James now revived the practice of con- ferring academical degrees, which for some time had been discontinued by the ill-directed zeal of the Puritanical party. On the authority of a mandamus, his chaplain Dr John Young created several Doctors of Divinity ; among whom were William Forbes, afterwards Bishop of Edinburgh, David Lindsay, afterwards successively Bishop ot Brechin and of Edinburgh, and John Strang, afterwards Principal of the University of Glasgow; men who are still remembered as the authors of works connected with their sacred profession0.
The Edinburgh professors were invited to at- tend their sovereign in the castle of Stirling; and, at his request, proceeded to regale him with it choice scholastic disputation. His Majesty, after they concluded, was graciously pleased to com- pliment them severally in a wretched string of puns upon their names. And this quibbling speech was afterwards converted into metre by four of his dutiful subjects. With the learning
b Clementii Praef. ad Barpnii Metaphysicam.
c Vita Gulielmi Forbesii, sig. a. 4. — Dr Forbes and Dr Strang have already been mentioned in the course of the present work. Dr Lindsay published " A Trve Narration of all the Passages of the Proceedings in the Generall Assembly of the Church of Scotland, holden at Perth the 35 of August, Anno Dom. 1618." Lend, 1621, 419.
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of the professors he was so highly satisfied, tl lie signified a desire of the college's being for the future distinguished by his own named. That name it still retains : but I have not been able to discover that the institution was ever enriched by the bounty of its nominal patron. It may how- ever be incidentally mentioned to his honour, that Sir James Ware has celebrated his munifi- cence to the University of Dublin e.
The partiality which he manifestly entertained for episcopacy, rendered his visit less acceptable to many of his subjects. Through the persevering energy of Andrew Melvin and other ecclesiastics of the Genevan school, presbyterianism had been sanctioned by the laws of the country : and, in the year 1590, the king had solemnly promised to adhere with inviolable fidelity to its doctrine and discipline. This promise he soon forgot. But although episcopacy had been reestablished, yet as he had not hitherto found himself able to introduce those ceremonies which he admired in the church of England, his object was only half- accomplished. During the visit which he now paid, he endeavoured, though without mucjh suc- cess, to effect these frivolous innovations.
Although he thus attempted, by no very honour- able method, to violate the ecclesiastical consti-
d Adamson's Muses Welcome to the Kings Majestie, p. 231, Edinli. |6i8,fol. c Warssus de Scriptoribus Hiberuiae, p. 97.
255
tution approved by the majority of the nation, yet some part of his conduct with respect to the church of Scotland is not unworthy of commend- ation. We are informed by Bishop Guthrie, a respectable prelate, that it was " King James's custom, when a bishopric fell void, to appoint the archbishop of St Andrews to convene the rest, and name three or four well qualified, so that there could not be an error in the choice ; and then out of that list the king pitched upon one whom he preferred ; whereby it came to pass, that during his time most able men were ad- vanced, as Mr William Cowper toGallowayf, Mr
f Bishop Cowper is a theologian of considerable learning. The fol- lowing verses " On my Lord of Galloway his learned Commentary on the Revelation," proceeded from the pen of Dmmmond :
To this admir'd discoverer give place,
Ye who first tamed the sea, the winds out-ran, And match 'd the day's bright coachman in your race,
Americus, Columbus, Magellan. It is most true that your ingenious care,
And well-spent pains, another world brought forth. For beasts, birds, trees, for gems, and metals, rare ;
Yet all being earth, was but of earthly worth. He a more precious world to us descries,
Rich in more treasure than both Indes contain ;
Fair in more beauty than man's wit can feign ; Whose sun not sets, whose people never dies.
Earth should your brows deck with still-verdant bays.,
But heav'ns crown his with stars' immortal rays.
See « The Workes of Mr William Cowper, late Bishop of Galloway," p. 816. Lond. 1619, f°l-
A poem of the same length, subscribed W. D. occurs among the epi- taphs annexed to Godefrid vander Hagen's Miscellanea Poemata. Middeib, 1619, 410.
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Adam Baliantine to Dunblain, Patrick Forbes ol Corse to Aberdeen, Mr David Lindsay to Brechin, and Mr John Guthry to Murray." The writer proceeds to contrast this with the conduct of his son and successor : " But King Charles followed another way, and without any consultation had with the bishops, preferred men by moyen at court g."
James bade adieu to Scotland in the course of the same year. On this occasion the poets again presented him with their tributes of fulsome con- ceit, and of more fulsome panegyric. Of the various poems and orations which had been pro- duced in honour of his arrival and departure, a copious collection was formed by John Adamson, afterwards Principal of the University of Edin- burgh h.
£ Guthne's Memoirs, p. 16.
*» This collection is comprehended in a folio volume. The congratu- lations on his Majesty's arrival, and the lamentations for his departure, are arranged in distinct classes. Prefixed are three introductory poenls by Adamson ; the first in English, the second in Greek, and the third in Latin.
The Rev. John Adamson has been commemorated as one of the lite- rary friends of Drummond ; and on that account alone is entitled to our notice. He appears to have been a native of Perth. Mr Scott, the editor of Henry the Minstrel, asserts that he was the brother of Henry Adamson, and the nephew or grandson of Dr Patrick Adamson, Arch- bishop of St Andrews. He was probably educated in the University of St Andrews ; where he afterwards held the office of professor of philoso- phy. (Dempster. Hist.Ecdesiast. Gent. Scotor. p. 64.) One of John Dunbar's epigrams is addrest « Ad Joannem Adamsonum, Theolog. et olim Pre- cept orem."
257
In the year 1616 a collective edition of his prose compositions had been published with the following title : " The Workes of the most High and Mightie Prince, lames by the Grace of God King of Great Britaine, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c. pvblished by lames, Bishop of Winton, and Deane of his Maiesties Chappel Royall." This volume, which was printed at London in folio, includes all his prose works which have already been enumerated, ex- cept the discourse on Cowrie's conspiracy. It likewise contains " A Covnterblaste to Tobacco/'
Adamsone, sacri sector fidissime verbi,
Et sub quo lauri gloria parta mihi ; Te monstrante viam, prisci monumenta Stagiri
Praebuerant animo se manifesta meo ; Tuque mihi placidos forrriasti in pectore mores;
Per te, quicquid idest quod scio, id esse scio.
DUNBARI Epigrammata, p. 72. Lond. 1616, i6td.
In this epigram Dunbar alludes to his having taken his degree under Adamson ; and he elsewhere mentions the University of Edinburgh as the source of his academical honours. Adamson must therefore have taught philosophy at Edinburgh as well as at St Andrews. In 1625 he suc- ceeded Boyd of Trochrig as Principal of the University of Edinburgh ; and was himself succeeded by Dr Leighton in 16.5 3. During the troubles of those unhappy times he attached himself to the Covenanters ; but from Principal Baillie's correspondence it would appear that he did hot stand very high in the confidence of that party. " As for the College of Edinburgh," says Bishop Outline, " there needed no pains to be taken, in regard Mr John Adamson, primer thereof, was furious enough in their cause, albeit many thought it was not from persuasion, but in policy, to eschew their wrath." (Guthrie's Memoirs, p. 63.) Adamson published several works. One of them is entitled " Dioptra Gloria Divinas : seu Enarratio Psalmi xix. et in eundem Meditationes." Edinburgh In Acade» mia Jacobi Regis, excudcbat Georgius Andersonui, 1637? 4tO«
VOL. JL Kk
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" A Discovrse of the Maner of the Discoverie of the Powder-Treason, joyned with the Examin; tion of some of the Prisoners/' and five speech* To tfcis volume an addition of several sheets w made in the year 1620. The supplement coi sists of " A Meditation vpon the Lords Prayer, written by the Kings Maiestie, for the benefit all his subjects, especially of such as follow tl court," and " A Meditation vpon the 27. 28. verses of the xxvii. chapter of Saint Matthew ; or a Paterne for a Kings Inavgvration." The editor, Dr Montague, has dedicated the volume to Prince Charles ; and his epistle dedicatory is followed by a very long and very absurd preface. A collection of his Majesty's works was pub- lished in' Latin in tfie year 1619, under the super- intendence of the same dutiful dean of the chapel royal1. It included all the productions which have now been enumerated as belonging to the English edition, except the " Paterne for a Kings Inavgvration ;" and this was also added at a sub- sequent period. This collection also comprehends a speech delivered in the Scotish parliament in the year 1617. The history of the translation is not accurately known : but the Monitoria Pra-- fatio is the only work which James is said to have written in Latin. This work, according to Dr Montague, was " written both in English and Latine bv his Maiestie." His declaration against
i Jacobi Britannia Regis Opera. Lend, 1619, fol
259
Vorstius, and his defence of the right of kings, were originally composed in French, and with the author's permission translated into English.
He seems to have prosecuted his studies till the time of Jiis death ; but he did not live to pub- lish any other works beside those which have already been mentioned. During his latter years he began a version of the psalms, for the use of his grandson the young prince of Bohemia j. This work, as we learn from his funeral sermon preached by Bishop Williams, he only continued to the thirty-first psalm k. Several years after his death, a complete version was published at Oxford, under the title of " The Psalmes of King David translated by King lames'." Mr Ritson informs us that " in the library of St Margins parish, Westminster, is a MS. volume, containing
j Reliquiae Wottonianse, p. 558.
k " Hee was in hand (when God call'd him to sing psalmes with the angels) with the translation of our church psalmes, which hee intended to haue finished and dedicated withall to the onely saint of his deuotion, the church of Great Britaine, and that of Ireland. This worke was staied in the one and thirty psalme." (Great Britains Salomon ; a Sermon preached at t/je magnificent Fitnerall of the most High and Mighty King laines^ p. 4$. Lond. 1625, 4to.)
1 Th£ Psalmes of King David translated by King lames. Cum Pri- ' Regite Majestatis. Oxford, 1631, ismo. — The title-page, which ex- hibits a fine portrait of the translator, is confronted with the following privilege: " Charles R. Haueing caused this translation of the Psalmes (whereof oure late tk-?. re father was author) to be perused, and it being found to be exactly and truely done, wee doe hereby authorize the same to be impnnted according to the patent graunted therevpon,and doe allow them to be song in all the churches of oure dominiones, recommending fhem to all oure goode subjects for that effect."
Kk 2
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' all the kings short poems that are not printed.' James died on the twenty-seventh of March, 1625, in the fifty-ninth year of his age. His mor- tal disease was a fever, which had been occasion- ed by an ague. His death however was by some of his subjects ascribed to a very different cause ; Dr Eglisham, one of the royal physicians, public- ly charged the Duke of Buckingham with the crime of having effected it by means of poison111. This accusation, which gained very little credit at the time, seems to have originated from the malevolence of the accuser. Dr Eglisham had formerly gratified his illiberal passions by disput- ing with Buchanan the superiority in Latin poe- try, and by representing Vorstius as an atheist and a Mahometan. The charges which he now preferred against the duke were probably suggest- ed by the same intellectual gloom which had be- wildered him on other occasions.
King James was of a middle stature, but pos-
m The Fore-Runner of Revenge: being two Petitions; the cne to the Kings most Excellent Majesty ; the other to the most Honourable House? of Parliament : wherein is expressed divers actions of the late Earle of Buckingham; especially concerning the death of King lames, and the Marquesse Hamelton, supposed by poyson : also may be observed the inconveniences falling a state where the noble disposition of the prince is misled by a favourite. By George Eglisham, Doctor of Physick, and one of the Physicians to King lames of happy memory, for his Majesties per- son above ten yeers space. London, 1642, 4to. — This edition of the pamphlet has an appearance of being the first : but it was " published and printed in divers languages" about the time of the king's death. IVottoniana, p. 554-)
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sest of none of those attractions which arise from external elegance; his shape was without symme- try, his deportment destitute of ease and dignity. As his legs were hardly able to support the weight of his body, he proceeded in his walk by a kind of circular motion : and his hands were in the mean time disposed in no very delicate manner. His eyes, which were remarkably large, he was • accustomed to fix on strangers with a broad un- interrupted stare, which frequently compelled the more bashful to a precipitate retreat from his pre- sence. His skin is said to have been as soft as sarsenet. He was of a ruddy complexion; his hair of a light brown colour, but towards the close of his life, interspersed with white. His beard was thinly scattered on his chin. His tongue exceed- ed the due proportion; a circumstance which caused him to manage his cup in a manner suffi- ciently disgusting. He was somewhat inclined to corpulency ; but more in appearance than in reality : for his extreme timidity induced him constantly to wear a quilted doublet of stilletto- proof. The fashion of his clothes he could not be persuaded to vary : and it was not without some reluctance that he ever laid aside any of his old suits. So little subject to change was his mode of life, that one of his courtiers was wont to declare that if he himself were to awake after a sleep of seven years continuance, he would un- dertake to enumerate the whole of his Majesty's
262
occupations, and every dish which had been placed on his table, during that interval. His natural temperament is said to have disposed him to moderation in eating and drinking : but, dur- ing the last years of his life, his compliance with Buckingham's frolicsome humour frequently im- mersed him in riotous excess; and at an earlier period, he is known to have been engaged in scenes of low dissipation n. During the first visit which his brother-in-law the King of Denmark paid to Britain, the two monarchs continued the banquet with such friendly emulation, that at length they exhibited an unseemly picture of complete ebriety. James was opportunely con- veyed to] his bed-chamber by some of the do- mestics ; but the royal Dane was not prevented from degrading himself by indecent carriage to- wards a lady of high rank. James became im- moderately addicted to drinking; and his beve-' rage was generally the strongest which could be procured. This course of life rendered him at last torpid and unwieldy : and although he still pur- sued the amusement of hunting, of which he was excessively fond, yet when he was trussed on horseback, he maintained his posture like a lump
n James seems to have derived much entertainment from the recital of drunken feats. With Peiresc, who was then residing in London, he once requested an interview for the express purpose of learning the par- ticulars of a drinking match, in which that grave scholar had accidentally been engaged. (Gassendi Vita .?«>«&/, p. 51. ed. Hag. Com. i6j£, 4to.)
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of inanimate matter. When his hat was placed on his head, he suffered it to remain in whatever position it happened to occupy.
These qualities and habits were but ill adapted to impress his subjects with any high degree of respect for his person. His intellectual and moral attainments were also of a motley kind. He was not entirely destitute of sagacity : but as his dis- position was too supine for strenuous exertion, his best notions commonly evaporated in empty spe- culation. His conversation, which was fluent and copious, was better calculated than his actions to excite a favourable opinion of his capacity. It was the frequent expression of some cotemporary observer that King James was the wisest fool in Christendom : he was a wise man in trivial, but a fool in important affairs. The defective con- stitution of his mental powers rendered him an easy prey to a succession of favourites ; few of whom were possest of any share of talents and virtue. On these he lavished his favours with an injudicious and unsparing hand; though in re- warding genuine merit he was sufficiently parsi- monious. Dissimulation was another prominent feature of his character0. He is however repre-
0 Lipsius, in an epistle written in the year 1603, has mentioned James in the following terms ; " Scribunt et legates Batavos jam appulisse, sed animi parum \xtos, nee in rege hoc nimis sperantes. Quid sit in re, nescio: illud bonis auctoribus habeo, ilium artificem simulandi et dissimulandi ease, si quisquam unquam fuit." (Lipsii Efiitolie Select*, cent. v. ep. xxv-X
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sented as a lover of honest men, provided they discovered nothing enterprizing in their, disposi- tion : but such was his native meanness, that no man ever secured his attachment without having previously been indebted to his bounty. To the want of true generosity he added a total want of personal courage ; insomuch that the mere sight of a naked sword inspired him with visible appre- hension. This pusillanimity has been ascribed, and with apparent justice, to a cause antecedent to his birth ; to the violent alarm which his mo- ther experienced on witnessing, during her. preg- nancy, the assassination of David Rizzio. He was prone to sudden and immoderate anger; but was sufficiently prompt in atoning for any out- rage which he might have committed. With the want of clemency he cannot be reproached13; but his clemency was often injudicious, while on the' other hand his severity was equally misap- plied. Few of the good actions which he happen- ed to perform, were the genuine result of virtuous principles : passion, vanity, and prejudice, conti- nually influenced his conduct, and exposed him to the contempt of every ingenuous mind. Al- though he professed the utmost zeal for religion,
P " Le Roy d'Angleterre est clement, horsmis & la chasse qu'il est cruel, et se courrouce ne pouvant attraper la beste. Dieu, dit-il, est courrouce centre moy, si est-ce que je 1'auray : lors qu'il 1'a, il met son bras tout f ntier dans le ventre et les entraillcs de la beste."
SCALIGERANA, p. Jl6
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yet the tenor of his actions exhibited a perpetual aberration from its genuine dictates. In every vice which suited his temperament, he indulged with stupid presumption. His mode of palliating the coarse blasphemy of which he was so frequent- ly guilty, was abundantly absurd ; he expressed his conviction that as it proceeded from passion, God would not impute it to him as an offence. His heart was unsusceptible of the fine emotions of sensibility. He was capable of a violent and childish attachment to such of his courtiers as succeeded most dexterously in ministering to his hyperbolical vanity : but with those qualities which render a man estimable and interesting in the circle of domestic life, he was scantily endow- ed. Of natural affection he seems to have been almost entirely destitute : the misfortunes of his daughter the Queen of Bohemia could never in- duce him to afford any effectual succour to her husband ; and the death of his consort, and that of his eldest son, were apparently regarded as events of little moment. It was indeed a preva- lent opinion that the death of Prince Henry had been occasioned by poison, administered at the command of his father : and the total unconcern which was manifested by the king and his court- iers, seemed to authorize the dreadful suggestion. To James, unfeeling as he certainly was, it is not
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however ray intention to impute so detestable crime p.
The political conduct of this monarch exposed his own character to abundance of ridicule, and rendered Great Britain contemptible in the eyes of other nations q. Divine right perpetually pre- sented itself to his mind, and distorted that share .of judgment which nature had bestowed upon himr. His reign was indeed distinguished by the
P For-tlie more minute particulars detailed in these paragraphs, I am principally indebted to Sir Anthony Weldon's Court and Character of K. "James, 'published at London in the year 1650. The reader may also con- sult a tract ascribed to Dr Heylin ; " Aulicus Coquinaria: or a Vindication in answer to a pamphlet intituled The Court and Character of King James" Lond. 1650, 8vo.
Mr Dalyell has inserted a character of K. James in his Fragments of Scotish History. Edinb. 1798, 4to. This paper, which the editor supposes to have been communicated to Sir James Balfour by one of his friends, is a mere transcript from Weldon.
q Lord Bolingbroke is of opinion, " that this prince hath been the ori- ginal cause of a series of misfortunes to this nation, as deplorable as a last- ing infection of our air, of our water, or our earth, would have been." ( Dissertation upon Parties^ p. 15.)
r Oh (cry'd the goddess) for some pedant reign !
Some gentle James, to bless the land again ;
To stick the doctor's chair into the throne,
Give law to words, or war with words alone,
Senates and courts with Greek and Latin rule,
And turn the council to a grammar-school !
For sure if Dulness sees a grateful day,
Tis in the shade of arbitrary sway.
O ! if my sons may learn one earthly thing,
Teach but that one, sufficient for a king ;
That which my priests, and mine alone, maintain,
Which, as it dies or lives, we fall or reign ; \
May you, my Cam and Isis, preach it long !
" The right divine of kings to govern wrong." Pore.
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preservation of uniform peace with foreign states : but his domestic transactions presented a scene of political guilt, which at length was to be so lament- ably expiated by the blood of his deluded son.
His conduct as a patron of literature was equal- ly ignoble. His treatment of Casaubon was far from being liberal. He suffered Archbishop Adamsori to languish in a state of miserable pe- nury. Sir Walter Raleigh, a man of uncommon talents, he subjected to various indignities, and at length to an ignominious death. Dominicus Baudius, who had supposed him to be possest of generosity, confessed himself miserably disappoint- ed when he visited Britain in the expectation of being paid for the poetical .compliments which he had bestowed on James and Prince Henry5. It may be asserted without much hazard of confu- tation, that his chief attachment to men of letters arose from the selfish little principle of vanity. Beneficial actions however are frequently the re- sult of depraved motives. In various instances the anointed pedant promoted the cause of useful learning. It was he who assigned to Usher the task of unfolding the antiquities of the British churches'; a task which he was so admirably
s " Sed hac fine stetit omnis regia liberalitas, nee teruncio factus sum propensior, ut vel^nieo exemplo liquere possit, magnos terrarum dominos posse perdere, non donare."
BAUDII Epistolse, p. 283.
1 Usserii Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Antiquitates, epist. ded. Dqblin, 4to.
LI 2
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qualified to perform11. According to Isaac Wal- ton, it was for his Majesty's " sake principally ' that' Padre Paulo compiled that eminent history of the remarkable council of Trent; which history was, as fast as it was written, sent in several sheets in letters by Sir Henry Wotton, Mr Bedel, and others, unto King James and the then Bishop of Canterbury, into England, and there first made publick, both in English, and in the universal language v."
King James's habits of life were more truly li- terary than those of any other modern prince.
11 On Archbishop Usher's excellent production Mr Pinkerton has past the following censure : " In his whole work there is a most remarkable defect of understanding. All authorities are quite alike to him. Tacitus and Hector Boethius, Beda and Geofrey of Monmouth ; historians, and fabulists ; writers of the first century, and of the seventeenth ; are all jumbled together in uniform confusion ; are all quoted with equal atten- tion, and confidence." (Enquiry into ths: History of Scotland, vol. i. p. 106.) These observations are indecent. Usher has not only displayed a vast ex- tent and variety of erudition, but has also evinced a solid and judicious vein of criticism, and a degree of candour to which Mr Pinkerton is un- fortunately a stranger. His profest object is to exhibit an ample combi- nation of all the passages in different authors wrhich seem to reflect any light on the ecclesiastical antiquities of Britain and Ireland. If he has occasionally quoted such writers as Geoffrey of Monmouth and Hector Boyce, it is always with a proper degree of cautious scrutiny. Nor is the examination of fabulous historians a mere work of supererogation : it enables us to ascertain how far authors of a later aera have relied on such authorities, and to what extent they have been furnished with authentic materials from sources of a different denomination.
v Walton's Life of Sir Henry Wotton, sig. C\5 — Colomies has ascribed the Latin version of Father Paul's history to Sir Adam Newton, a Scot- ishmanwho was preceptor to Prince Henry. (Melanges ffutoriptet, p, 27.) But the last two books are known to have been translated by Dr Bedell, (Birch's Life of Henry Prince of Wales, p, 15, 373. Lond. 1760, 8vo.)
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With many of the eminent scholars which that age produced, he affected to maintain a friendly intercourse : and some of his letters to Joseph Scaliger, Isaac Casaubon, and other celebrated writers, are still preservedw. His very meals seem to have been seasoned with learning x. But it must also be recollected that the king and the scholar were often transfigurated into a low buf- foon : his relaxations were for the most part of a vulgar kind, and in many instances were utterly despicable. Sir Anthony Weldon, who writes
™ A Latin epistle from K. James to Casaubon is prefixed to the col- lection of Casaubon's Epiitola. Kag. Com. 1638, 4to. This epistle and another addrest to Marcus Antonius de Dominis may also be found in a little book published by Thomas Wykes under the title of " Bxo-tXixa. Aupa,, sive Sylloge Epistolarum, Orationum, et Carminum Regalium, quaa quos Britannise Monarchas Authores, quos etiam Editores antehac habu- erint, inspicienti statim constabit." Lond. 1640, 8vo. James is said to have written several letters to Casaubon. ( ' M. Casauboni Piefas, p. 10.) An- other of his epistles occurs among the " Epistres Francoises des Person- nages Illustres et Doctes a M. Joseph Juste de la Scala ; mises en lumiere par Jaques de Reves." A Harderwyck, 1624, 8vo. He subscribes him- self " vostre tres-affectionne amy." When Scaliger visited Scotland, he probably became acquainted with the king. ,
In the Advocates Library is a folio MS. entitled Missives from Learnid Men and Staitsmen to K. Ja. 6. This curious collection was probably formed by Sir James Balfour, in whose possession it is known to have been. (Sibbaldi Mcmoria JBalfouriana, p. 33.) The volume contains auto- graphs of Charles the First, I. Casaubon, M. Casaubon, W. Barclay, A. Melvin, M. A. de Dominis, and other men of eminence. Besides letters to JC. James, it includes various papers of a miscellaneous kind ; and, among others, a narrative of the death of M. A de Dominis.
x " Mox ut ad Serenissimum Regem accessi, inveni ipsum illam ipsam Apologiam inter epulas legentem."
CASAUEONI Exercitationes ad Baronium, p. 44
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from personal observation, presents us with a cu- rious sketch of the elegant amusements which prevailed at court after Villiers began to eclipse the other favourites : " Then began the king to eat abroad, who formerly used to eat in his bed- chamber, or if by chance supped in his bed- chamber, would come forth to see pastimes and fooleries ; in which Sir Ed. Souch, Sir George Goring, and Sir John Finit, were the chief and master fools, and surely this fooling got them more then any other's wisdom, far above them in desert: Souch his part to sing bawdy songs, and tell bawdy tales ; Finit to compose these songs ; then were a set of fidlers brought up on purpose for this fooling, and Goring was master of the game for fooleries ; sometimes presenting David Droman, and Archer Armstrong, the king's fool, on the back of the other fools, to tilt one at ano- ther, till they fell together by the ears ; some- times antick dances ; but Sir John Millisert, who was never known before, was commended for not- able fooling, and sow as the best extemporary fool of them ally." The king's love of any thing that resembled wit or humour seems to have been excessive. The following anecdote exhibits his character in a more favourable point of view. " Some years since," says Howell, *' there was a very abusive satire in verse brought to our king ;
f Weldon's Court and Character of K. James, p. 91, edit. Lond. 1689, 8vo.
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and as the passages were a reading before him he often said, That if there were no more men in England, the rogue should hang for it : at last being come to the conclusion, which was (after all his railing)
Now God preserve the king, the queen, the peers, And grant the author long may wear his ears 5
this pleased his Majesty so well, that he broke into a laughter, and said, * By my sol ! so thou shalt for me : thou art a bitter, but thou art a witty knave2."
IF the literary attainments of King James are to be estimated from the panegyrics of cotempo- rary writers, he must be regarded as a scholar of the first magnitude. He has been mentioned in terms of the highest applause by authors of al- most every learned nation : and several of his en- comiasts maintained a preeminent rank in the republic of letters ; for among their number we discover the names of Grotius, Bacon a, and Ca- saubon. But the honours which he obtained from his cotemporaries have not been perpetuated by the sanction of impartial posterity : the dead
z Howell's Familiar Letters, p. 73.
a Lord Bacon has past a high encomium on the EatriXtnov Aapav. (Of the Advancement of Learning^ p. 250.) Sir Henry Savile, in his dedication of St Chrysostom to K. James, has extolled the same composition as su- perior to any similar work which had then been produced,
author cannot participate the splendours of the living monarch.; and his character being now deprived of adventitious support, will not be found possest of much intrinsic dignity. His share of acquired knowledge was not however so inconsiderable as it has sometimes been represent- ed : under the tuition of Buchanan and Youngb he undoubtedly imbibed the rudiments of classical learning with sufficient felicity ; and his multifari- ous productions display a pretty extensive acquaint- ance with the favourite authors of that age of pedantry. The style of his prose compositions, if we consider the complexion of the general taste, will not be pronounced contemptible.
The censure which has lately been past on his poetical works may be regarded as too severe. They do not indeed evince any unusual vigour of imagination or elegance of taste : but they are not entirely destitute of fancy ; and the versifi- cation frequently rises above mediocrity. Fine writing however cannot be produced without the aid of good sense.
This department of his works comprehends " The Lepanto," " Phoenix," " The twelf Son- nets of Inuocations to the Goddis," " The Fu- ries," translated from Du Bartas, " The Vranie, or Heavenly Mvse," translated from the same
b An account of the life and character of Sir Peter Young may be found in Dr Thomas Smith's Vltae quorundarh EruJitissimomm et Htm. 7'irorum. Lond. 1707, 4to.
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author, " A Paraphrasticall Translation ovt of the poete Lvcane," a version of several of the psalms, and various little poems of a miscellaneous kind;
The Lepanto is a poem of considerable length, written in celebration of the famous victory gain- ed by the Christians over the Turks. For the be- nefit of foreigners, a Latin translation was pub- lished by Thomas Murray in the year 1604.
The poem entitled Ane Metaphorical! Invention of a Tragedie called Phoenix may perhaps be con- sidered as his most serious effort. This meta- phorical invention I confess myself unable to ex- plain. The allegory has been supposed to exhi- bit an adumbration of the accomplishments and misfortunes of his royal mother : but this notion will not perhaps be found altogether satisfactory. In the Phcenix some traces of a poetical invention may undoubtedly be discovered : and it ought to be recollected that the volume in which it ap- pears was published when the author was only about eighteen years of age. It commences with the following stanzas :
The dyuers falls that Fortune geuis to men By turning ouer her quheil t t cir annoy,
When I do heare them grudge, although they ken That old blind dame delytes to let the ioy Of all, suche is her vse, whic^ dois conuoy
Her quheill by gess, not loo ing to ihe right,
Bot still turnis vp that pairt quhilk is too light.
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274
Thus quhen I hard so many did complaine, Some for the losse of worldly wealth and geir,
Some death of frends, quho can not come againe, Some losse of health, which vnto all is deir, Some losse of fame, which still with it dois beir
Ane greif to them who mereits it indeid :
Yet for all thir appearis there some remeid.
For as to geir, lyke chance as made you want it, Restore you may the same againe or mair.
For death of frends, although the same, I grant it, Can noght returne, yet men are not so rair Bot ye may get the lyke. For seiknes sair
Your health may come : or to ane better place
Ye must. For fame, good deids will mend disgrace.
Then fra I saw, as I already told,
How men complaind for things whilk might amend j
How DAUID LINDSAY did complaine of old His papingo, her death, and sudden end, Ane common foule whose kinde be all is kend j
All these hes moved me presently to tell
Ane tragedie, in griefs thir to cxcell.
For I complaine not of sic common cace, Which diuersly by diuers means dois fall ;
But I lament my phoenix rare, whose race,
Whose kynde, whose kin, whose offspring, they be all In hir alone whome I the phoenix call ;
That fowle which only at onis did liue,
Not Hues, alas ! though I her praise reviue.
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In Arabic cald Foelix was she bredd, This foule excelling Iris farr in hew •,
Whose body whole with purpour was owercledd, Whose taill of coulour was celestiall blew, With skarlat pennis that through it mixed grew *,
Her craig was like the yallowe burnisht gold j
And she her self thre hundreth yeare was old.
This mysterious fowl abandons Arabia Foelix, and at length arrives in Scotland.
Ilk man did maruell at her forme most rare. The winter came and storms cled all the feild j
Which storms the land of fruit and corne made bare : Then did she flie into an housa for beild, Which from the storms might saue her as an sheild.
There in that house she first began to tame :
I came, syne tooke her furth out of the same.
Thus being tamed and thoroughly weill acquent, She toke delyte, as she was wount before,
What tyme that Titan with his beames vpsprent, To take her flight, amongs the skyes to soire. Then came to her of fowlis a woundrous store
Of diuers kinds j some simple fowlis, some ill
And rauening fowlis whilks simple onis did kill.
And euen as they do swarme about their king The hunnie bees, that works into the hyue :
When he delyts furth of the skepps to spring, Then all the leaue will follow him belyue, Syne to be nixt him bisselie they striue :
So all thir fowlis did followe her with beir ;
For loue of her, fowlis rauening did no deir,
Mm?
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Such was the loue and reuerence they her bure, Ilk day whill euen, ay whill they shedd at night
Fra time it darkned, I was euer sure
Of her returne, remaining whill the light, And Phoebus rysing with his garland bright :
Such was her trueth, fra time that she was tame,
She who in brightnes Titans self djd shame.
By vse of this, and hanting it, at last
She made the foules, fra time that I went out,
Aboue my head to flie, and follow fast
Her, who was chief and leader of the rout. When it grew lait, she made them flie, but doubt
Or feare, euen in the closse with her of will j
Syne she her self perkt in my chalmer still.
When as the countreys round about did heare Of this her byding in this countrey cold,
Which not but hills and darknes ay dois beare, And for this cause was Scotia calld of old 5 Her lyking here when it was to them told,
And how she greind not to go backe againe,
The lo«e they bure her, turnd into disdaine.
Lo here the fruicts whilks of Inuy dois breid, To harme them all who vertue dois imbrace :
Lo here the fruicts from her whilks dois proceid, To harme them all that be in better cace Then others be. So followed they the trace
Of proud Inuy thir countreyis lying neir,
That such a foule should lyke to tary heir.— -
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Fra malice thus was rooted be Inuy,
In them as sone the awin effects did shaw ;
Which made them syne vpon ane day to spy And wait till that, as she was wount, she flaw Athort the skyes, syne did they neir her draw
Among the other fowlis of dyuers kynds,
Although they ware farr dissonant in mynds.
For where as they ware wount her to obey,
Their raynde farr contrair then did plaine appeare ;
For then they made her as a commoun prey To them, of whome she looked for no deare 5 They strake at her so bitterly, whill feare
Stayde other fowlis to preis for to defend her
From thir ingrate, whilks, now had clene miskend her.
When she could finde none other saue refuge From these their bitter straiks, she fled at last
To me, as if she wolde wishe me to iudge
The wrong they did her j yet they followed fast Till she betuix my leggs her selfe did cast,
For sauing her from these which her opprest,
Whose hote pursute her suffred not to rest.
Bot yet at all that servd not for remeid, Far noghttheles they spaird her not a haire.
In stede of her, yea whyles they made to bleid My leggs, (so grew their malice mair and mair 5) Which made her both to rage and to dispair ;
First, that but cause they did her such dishort j
Nixt, that she laked help in any^sort.
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Then hauing tane ane dry and wethered stra, In deip dispair and in ane lofty rage
She sprang vp heigh, outfleing euery fa ; Syne to Panchaia came, to change her age Vpon Apollos altar, to asswage
With outward fyre her inward raging fyre j
Which then was all her cheif and whole desyre.
Then being carefull the event to know
Of her who homeward had returnde againe
Where she was bred, where storms dois neuer blow, N(y bitter blasts, nor winter snows, nor raine, But sommer still 5 — that countray doeth so staine
All realmes in fairnes j there in haste I sent,
Of her to know the yssew and event.
The messenger returns and communicates the sequel of her history, but not in very poetical terms. The conclusion, or Uenvoy, instead of unveiling the allegory, only serves to involve it in new obscurity :
Apollo then, who brunt with thy reflex
Thine onely fowle, through loue that thou her bure,
Although thy fowle, (whose name doeth end in X) Thy burning heat on nowayes could indure, But brunt thereby 5 yet will I the procure,
Late foe to phoenix, now her fremd to be,
Reuiuing her by that which made her die.
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Draw farr from heir, mount heigh vp through the air, To gar thy heat and beames be law and neir j
That in this countrey, which is cold and bair, Thy glistring beames als ardent may appeir As they were oft in Arabic : so heir
Let them be now, to mak ane phoenix new
Euen of this worme of phoenix ashe which grew.
This if thow dois, as sure I hope thou shall,
My tragedie a comike end will haue : Thy work thou hath begun, to end it all j
Else made ane worme, to make her out the laue.
This epitaphe then beis on phoenix graue : " Here lyeth whom too euen be her death and end Apollo hath a longer lyfe her send."
James's translation of the Uranie, ou Mwe Celeste, of Du Bartas, entitles him to considerable praise as a versifier : his couplets approach much nearer to the elegance and compression of modern English poetry than could have been expected from a young Scotish writer of the sixteenth cen- tury. Of this respectable version it will be proper to transcribe a brief specimen :
Scarce was I yet in springtyme of my years, When greening great for fame aboue my pears Did make me lose my wonted chere and rest, Essaying learned works with curious brest. But as the pilgrim, who for lack of light, Cumd on the parting of two wayes at night, He stayes assone and in his mynde doeth cast What way to take while moonlight yet doth la»t j
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So I amongst the paths vpon that hill
Where Phoebus crowns all verses euer still
Of endles praise, with laurers always grene,
Did stay confusde, in doubt what way to mene.
I wKyles essaide the Grece in Frenche to praise,
Whyles in that toung I gaue a lusty glaise
For to descryue the Troian kings of olde,
And them that Thebes and Mycens crowns did holde :
And whiles I had the storye of Fraunce elected,
Which to the Muses I should haue directed
My holy furie, with consent of nane,
Made Frenche the Mein, and nowyse Dutche the Sein.
Whiles thought I to set foorth with flattring pen
The praise vntrewe of kings and noble men j
And that I might both golde and honours haue,
With courage basse I made my Muse a slaue.
And whyles I thought to sing the fickle boy
Of Cypris soft, and loues to-swete anoy,
To lofty sprits that any therewith made blynd j
To which discours my nature and age inclynd.
But whill I was in doubt what way to go,
With wind ambitious tossed to and fro,
A holy beuty did to mee appeare,
The thundrers daughter seeming as she weare :
Her porte was angellike, with angels face,
With comely shape, and toung of heauenly grace j
Her nynevoiced mouth resembled into sound
The daunce harmonious making heauen resound.
The subsequent passage may even boast of some- what of the enthusiasm of genuine poetry :
So Hesiod, Line, and he whose lute, they say, Made rocks and forrests come to heare him play,
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.Durst well their heauenly secrets all discloes
In learned verse that softly slydes and goes.
O yfe that wolde your browes with laurel bind,
What larger feild I pray you can you find,
Then is his praise who brydles heauens most cleare,
Maks mountaines tremble, and howest hells to feare ;,
That is a home of plenty well repleat,
That is a storehouse riche, a learning seat ;
An ocean hudge, both lacking shore and ground,
Of heauenly eloquence a spring profound ?
From subjects base a base discours dois spring,
A lofty subiect of it selfe doeth bring
Graue words and weghtie, of it selfe diuine,
And makes the authors holy honour shine.
In this translation he confesses that he has not rigidly adhered to the rules which he has himself proposed in his treatise on Scotish poetry ; and he suggests several apologetic reasons for his deviation : "I must also desire you to bear with it, albeit it be replete with innumerable and intolerable faultes ; sic as ryming in tearmes, and dyuers others whilkis ar forbidden in my owne treatise of the arte of poesie, in the hin- der end of this booke; I must, I say, praye you for to appardone mee for three causes. First, because that translations ar limitat. and restraind in some things more then free inuentions are : therefore reasoun would that it had more liber- tie in others. Secoundlie, because I made noght my treatise of that intention that eyther I or any others behoued astricktly to follow it; but that onely it should shew the perfection of poe'sie,
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whereunto fewe or none can attaine. Thirdlye, because that (as I shewe alreadye) I avowe it not for a iust translation. Besydes that I haue but ten feete in my lyne, where he hath twelue, and yet translates him lyne by lyne."
Two of his Majesty's sonnets have already been quoted. The following is a Sonnet decifring the Perfyte Poete :
Ane rype ingyne, anc quick and walkned witt,
With sommair reasons suddenlie apply it } For euery purpose vsing reasons fitt,
With skilfulnes, where learning may be spy it ;
With pithie wordis, for to expres zow by it His full intention in his proper leid,
The puritie quhairof weill hes he tryit ; With memorie to keip quhat he dois reid ; With skilfulnes and figuris quhilks proceid
From rhetorique -, with euerlasting fame, With vthers woundring, preassing with all speict
For to atteine to merite sic a name j All thir into the perfyte poete be. Goddis grant I may obteine the laurell trie.
The sonnet which he has prefixed to the contains some tolerably sonorous lines :
God giues not kings the stile of gods in vaine, For on his throne h?s scepter doe they swey : And as their subiects ought them to obey, So kings should feare and serue their God againe, If then ye would enioy a happie raigne,
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Observe the statutes of your heauenly king, And from his law make all your lawes to spring : *Since his lieutenant here ye should remaine, Reward the iust, be stedfast, true, and plaine, Represse the proud, maintayning aye the right, Walke alwayes so as euer in his sight Who guardes the godly, plaguing the prophane : And so ye shall in princely vertues shine, Resembling right your mightie king diuine.
It has already been hinted that the genuine- ness of the complete version of the psalms which bears his name, is somewhat doubtful. According to Bishop William's, " this worke was staled in the one and thirty psalme." King James has not executed his task with much felicity : but this is a task in which poets of unquestionable talents have often failed. As a specimen of his version, I shall transcribe the twenty-seventh psalm :
The Lord my light and safety is,
How can I frighted be ? The Lord is of my life the strength,
And who can trouble me ?
When wicked foes, to eat my flesh,
Against me warre did make, They straight did stumble and fell downe,
A prey for me to take.
Though even an hoast against me pitch,
No feare can taint my brest j Though roaring warre against me rise,
In this secure I rest.
N n 2
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This one thing aske I from the Lord,
And earnestly request, That all the dayes I haue to liue,
I in his house may rest 5
There to contemplate and behold
The beauty of the Lord ; And in his temple to enquire,
According to thy word.
For his pavilion mee shall hide When trouble doth molest :
His tents derne part it shall mee hide j He makes a rocke my rest.
He shall aboue my foes about My head with glorie raise :
I in his tabernacle glad
Shall offer, sing, and praise.
Heare me, O Lord, when with my voice
I-otill aloud to thee : Thy gratious favour then extend,
And yeeld thine eare to mee*
When in thy presence to repaire
Thou wilPd mee by thy grace,
My ravish'd heart did answer, Lord, Lord, I will seeke thy face.
Hide not thy face, nor put away Thy servant in thine yre :
Thou hast me help'd, my safeties God ; Doe not from mee retire.
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My father and my mother both
Though th«y doe mee forsake, Yet thou, O Lord, even thou of mee
Wilt the protection take.
Teach thou, O Lord, thy way to mee,
And guide mee by thy grace A straight plaine path j because of foes
That all my steps doe trace.
To satisFie my foes desires,
Doe not deliver mee : False witnesses with malice rise,
And cruelties decree.
I fainted had, but that I hop'd
Thy goodnesse to enjoy, Even in the land of them that Hue
As yet design'd for joy.
Doe thou vpon the Lord attend
With courage alwaies stor'd j For he will fortifie thy heart :
Wait therefore on the Lord.
King James must also be commemorated as the only Scotish author who has published any critical work in his native language. The vo- lume entitled " The Essayes of a Prentise in the Divine Art of Poesie," includes " Ane Schort Treatise, conteining some Revlis and Cautelis to be obseruit and eschewit in Scottis Poesie." This volume was published in the year 1584. The first took of criticism written in the English language
'J86
appeared at a considerably earlier period : The Arte of Rhetorike by Thomas Wilson, LL.D. was published in the year 1553 b. This compo- sition of the royal author, if we consider the no- velty of the attempt, and the juvenile age at which it was produced, must certainly be re- garded as no contemptible performance.
It consists of eight short chapters ; in which he treats of " the reulis of ryming, fete, and flowing, and of the wordis, sentences, and phra- sis necessair for a poete to vse in his verse." The last chapter exhibits specimens of " the kyndis of versis for lang historeis ; for the de- scriptioun of heroique actis, martiall and knightly faittis of armes; for any heich and graue suiectis, specially drawin out of learnit authouris ; for tra- gicall materis, complaintis, or testamentis ; for flyting or inuectiues ; for compendious praysing of any bukes, or the authouris thairof, or ony argumentis of vther historeis quhair sindrie sen- tences and change of purposis are requyrit ; and for materis of loue." Several of these specimens are borrowed from the works of Montgomery ; who about that period appears to have been a fa- vourite court-poet.
The preface is worthy of transcription : " The cause why, docile reader, I haue not dedicat this
b The Arte of Rhetorike, for the vse of all soche as are studious of Eloquence, sette forth in Englishe by Thomas Wilson 1553, and now new lie sette foorthe againe, with a Prologue to the reader. Lond.ij63,4to
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short treatise to any particular personis, as com- mounly worlds vsis to be, is that I esteme all thais quha hes already some beginning of knawledge with ane earnest desyre to atteyne to farther, alyke meit for the reading of this worke, or any vther quhilk may help thame to the atteining to thair foirsaid desyre. Bot as to this work, quhilk is intitulit The Reulis and Cautelis to be obseruit and escbewit in Scottis Poesie, ze may maruell peraventure quhairfore I sonld haue writtin in that mater, sen sa mony learnit men, baith of auld and of late, hes already written thairof in dyuers and sindry languages : I answer that nochtwith- standing, I haue lykewayis writtin of it, for twa caussis. The ane is, as for them that wrait of auld, lyke as the tyme is changeit sensyne, sa is the ordour of poesie changeit. For then they ob~ seruit not flowing, nor eschewit not ryming in termes, besides sindrie vther thingis quhilk now we obserue and eschew, and dois weil in sa doing ; because that now quhen the warld is waxit auld, we haue all their opinionis in writ quhilk were learned before our tyme, besydes our awin ingynis, quhair as they then did it onlie be thair awin ingynis but help of any vther. Thairfore quhat I speik of poesie now, I speik of it as being come to mannis age and perfectioun, quhair as then it was bot m the infancie and chyldheid. The vther cause is, that as for thame that hes written in it of late, there hes neuer
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ane of thame written in our language. For beit sindrie lies written of it in English, quhilk is lykest to our language, zit we differ from thame in sindrie reulis of poesie, as ze will find be ex- perience. I haue lykewayis omittit dyuers figures quhilkis are necessare to be vsit in verse, for twa causis. The ane is, because they are vsit in all languages, and thairfore are spokin of be Du Bellay, and sindrie vtheris quha hes written in this airt. Quhairfore gif I wrait of thame also, it sould seme that I did bot repete that quhilk thay haue written, and zit not sa weil as thay haue done already. The vther cause is that they are figures of rhetorique .and dialectique, quhilkis airtis I professe nocht, and thairfore will apply to my selfe the counsale quhilk Apelles gaue to the shoomaker, quhen he said to him, seing him find fait with the shankis of the image of Venus efter that he had found fait \vith the pantoun, Nc sutor ultra crepidam.
" I will also wish zow, docile reidar, that or ze cummer zow with reiding thir reulis, ze may find in zour self sic a beginning of nature, as ze may put in practise in zour verse many of thir foirsaidis preceptis or euer ze sie them as they are heir set doun. For gif nature be nocht the cheif worker in this airt, • reulis wilbe bot a band to nature, and will mak zow within short space weary of the haill airt ; quhair as gif nature be cheif and bent to it, reulis will be ane help and
289
staff to nature. I will end heir, lest my preface be langer nor my purpose and haill mater fol- lowing ; wishing zow, docile reidar, als gude suc- ces and great prorfeit by reiding this short treatise, as I tuke earnnist and willing panis to blok it, as ze sie, for zour cause. Fare weill."
The following extract exhibits a specimen of his Majesty's critical vein : " Ze man be war like- wayis (except necessitie compell yow) with rym- ing in termis, quhilk is to say, that your first or hinmest \vord in the lyne exceid not twa or thre syllabis at the maist, vsing thrie als seindill as ye can. The cause quhairfore ze sail not place a lang word first in the lyne, is that all lang words hes an syllabe in them sa verie lang, as the lenth thairof eatis vp in the pronouncing euin the vther syllabes quhilks ar placit lang in the same word, and thairfore spillis the flowing of that lyne. As for exemple, in this word, Arabia, the second syllabe (ra) is sa lang that it eatis vp in the pro- nouncing [#] quhilk is the hinmest syllabe of the same word. Quhilk [#] althocht it be in a lang place, zit it kythis not sa, because of the great lenth of the preceding syllabe (ra). As to the cause quhy ze sail not put a lang word hynmest in the lyne, it is because that the lenth of the secound syllabe (ra) eating vp the lenth of the vther lang syllabe [#], makis it to serue hot as a tayle vnto it, together with the short syllabe pre- ceding. And because this tayle nather semis
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for cullour nor fute, as I spak before, it man be thairfore repetit in the nixt lyne ryming vnl it, as it is set doune in the first : quhilk makis, that ze will scarcely get many wordis to ryme vnto it, zea, nane at all will ze finde to ryme to sindrie vther langer wordis. Thairfore cheifly be warre of inserting sic lang wordis hinmest in the lyne, for the cause quhilk I last allegit. Besydis that nather first nor last in the lyne, it keipis na flowing."
An entire transcript of the sixth chapter shall close our specimens of King James's poetry and criticism : " Ze man also be warre with compos- ing ony thing in the same maner as hes bene ower oft vsit of before. As in speciall, gif ze speik of loue, be warre ze descryue zour loues makdome or her fairnes. And siclyke that ze descryue not the morning, and rysing of the sunne, in the preface of zour verse : for thir thingis are sa oft and dyuerslie writtin vpon be poe'tis already, that gif ze do the lyke, it will appeare ze bot imitate, and that it cummis not of zour awin inventioun, quhilk is ane of the cheif properteis of ane poete. Thairfore gif zour subiect be to prayse zour loue, ze sail rather prayse hir vther qualiteis nor her fairnes or hir shaip : or ellis ze sail speik some lytill thing of it, and syne say that zour wittis are sa smal and zour vtterance sa barren, that ze can not discryue any part of hir worthelie ; remitting alwayis to
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the reider to iudge of hir, in respect sho matches or rather excellis Venus, or any woman quhome to it sail please zow to compaire her. Bot gif zour suiect be sic as ze man speik some thing of the morning or sunne rysing, tak heid that quhat name ze giue to the sunne, the mone, or vther starris, the ane tyme, gif ze happin to wryte thairof another tyme, to change thair names. As gif ze call the sunne Titan at a tyme, to call him Phcebus or Apollo the vther tyme, and siclyke the mone and vther planettis."
INTERMEDIATE SKETCHES.
-LOURING the reign of King James appeared a multitude of poets who cultivated the Scotish, English, and Latin languages a. Of those who
a To Mr Pinkerton's catalogue of our English versifiers who appeared in the course of the seventeenth century, many names might be added. I shall here introduce supplementary notices relative to Graham and Fairley.
Simon Graham, the descendant of a respectable family, was born in Edinburgh ; but at what particular period, is uncertain. (Dempster. H^st, Ecclesiast. Gent, Sector, p. 328.) In his dedication of Tic Anatomie of H-v- mors to the Earl of Montrose, he speaks of himself as a soldier and a tra- veller : " My perigrinations enlarged my curiositie, my souldier's estate promised to prelerre me, and the smiles of court stuffed my braines with manie idle suppositions." He was, says Urquhart, " a great traveller and very good scholar, as doth appear by many books of his emission ; but being othenvays too licentious, and given over to all manner of de- bordings, the most of the praise I will give him, will be to excuse him in these terms of Aristotle : ' Nullum magnum ingenium sine mixtura demen- tias." (Urquhart's Jewel, p. 132.) It is probable that he at length be- came more sedate in his deportment ; for Dempster relates that by the instigation of the Holy Spirit, he assumed the habit of Sj;. Francis. The same writer informs us, that, as he was returning towards his native coun- try in 1614, he died at Carpentras. According to Dempster and Urquhart,
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wrote in their native tongue, few have displayed any considerable portion of genius : the most poetical versifier of that period was undoubtedly Montgomery ; who did not however possess ta- lents of the first order.
THOMAS HUDSON may be mentioned as a ver- sifier of some merit. He appears to have culti- vated Scotish poetry ; but his most considerable work is an English translation of Du Bartas's poem on the subject of Judith b. This version,
his publications were numerous ; but I have only been able to trace the fol- lowing : " The Passionate Sparke of a Relenting Minde." Lond. 1604, 4to. " The Anatomie of Hvmors." Edinb. 1609, 4to. The former of these works is a collection of poems ; the latter, which consists of prose interspersed with verse, may possibly have suggested the original hint of Burton's " Anatomy of Melancholy," a well-known production, first printed at Oxford in quarto in the year 1621.
Robert Fairley, who styles himself Scoto-Britannus, published several poetical works of an indifferent character. He is the author of a Latin poem entitled " Naulogia, sive Inventa Navis." Lond. Sine anni indicia, 4to. It is inscribed in prose and verse to Sir Robert Aytoun. He also published " Kalendarlum Humane Fit<s : the Kalender of Mans Life." Lond. 1638, Svo. This work consists of poems on the four seasons. His other publication bears the title of " Lycbnocausia, j/w Moralia Facum Embleinata : Lights Morall Emblems." Lond. 1638, Svo. This vo- lume, as well as the last, exhibits each poem in Latin and in English. The emblem was about that period a favourite species of composition : it had been recommended by the example of Beza and other ingenious •poets; and in Britain it had been attempted by Francis Quarles with u degree of applause which certainly exceeded his intrinsic desert.
k The Historic of ludith, in forme of a Poeme ; penned in French by the noble poet G. Salust, Lord of Barta* : Englished by The, Hud- son. Edinb. 1584, Svo.
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which was published in the year 1584, is gene- rally known as an appendage to that of Joshua Sylvester. From the dedication of his work to King James it appears that Hudson was of the royal household ; that he undertook the transla- tion at his Majesty's request; and that the king corrected it with his own hand. Hudson boasts, like his royal patron, that in the number of his verses he has not exceeded the original composi- tion.
ROBERT HUDSON has already been commemo- rated as a court-poet. To him several of Mont- gomery's sonnets are addrest ; and in one of them he is celebrated in magnificent terms :
Thy Homer's style, thy Petrark's high invent, Sail vanquish Death, and live eternally,
Ouhais boasting bou, thoghfc it be alwayis bent, Sail never hurt the sone of Memorie.
Hudson appears to have been a man of some in- fluence ; for Montgomery requests him to whis- per his misfortunes in the ear of royalty. His works, with the exception of one or two son- nets, have all perished. The following sonnet, in celebration of King James's poetical talents, is by no means despicable :
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The glorious Grekis in stately style do blaise
The lawde the conqurour gaue their Homer olde The verses Caesar song in Maroes praise
The Romanis in remembrance depe haue rolde.
Ye Thespian nymphes, that suppe the nectar colde That from Parnassis forked topp doth fall,
What Alexander or Augustus bolde May sound his fame whose vertewes pass them all ? O Phoebus, for thy help heir might I call,
And on Minerue and Maias learned sonne : But since. I know, none was, none is, nor shall,
Can rightly ring the fame that he hath wonne, Then stay your trauels, lay your pennis adowne, For Caesars works shall iustly Cgesar crowne0.
CHRISTIAN LINDSAY seems to be represented by pne of his cotemporaries as a poet of some dis- tinction : the following lines occur in a sonnet of Montgomery addrest to Robert Hudson :
Ye knaw ill guyding genders mony gees, And specially in poets : for example
Ye can pen out twa cuple and ye pleis, Yourself and I, auld Scot and Robert Semple.
Quhen we ar deid, that all our dayis daffis,
Let Christen Lyndesay wryt our epitaphis.
c K. James's Essayes of a Premise in the Divine Art of Poesie. Edinb. 15 84, 4to. — This sonnet is subscribed R. H. A sonnet by R. Hud- son may be found in Mr Pinkerton's Ancient Scotish Poems, vol. ii. p. 351. and another in a collection entitled Scotish Descriptive Poems, p. 231. A sonnet subscribed T. H. is also prefixed to this work of K. James. Another byT. Hudson is prefixed to Fowler's manuscript translation from Petrarch ; and a third occurs in Mr Pinkertpn's collection, vol. ii, P. 35°.
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The only composition of Lindsay which has been preserved is a spirited sonnet addrest to Hud-
WILLIAM FOWLER flourished about the year 1587. Two manuscript volumes of his poems are among the books presented by Drummond to the University of Edinburgh. In the title-page of one of them he is styled " P. of Hawicke ;" that is Parson or Rector of Ha wick. This vo- lume is entitled The Tarantula of Love ; and comprehends a series of sonnets on the Italian model. The other manuscript is a translation of the triumphs of Petrarch6. Specimens of both these productions may be found in a late injudicious collection f. Their merit is far from being extraordinary. Fowler however may once have been a poet of some note : King James has written a commendatory sonnet on his transla- tion, in return for one which Fowler wrote in praise of The Furies.
JOHN BUREL, burgess of Edinburgh, is the author of two insipid poems published in Wat-
d See the Life of Montgomery, p. 187.
c An English translation of the same work \v;i$ published by Anna Hume. See " The Triumphs of Love, Chastitie, Death ; translated out of Petrarch by Mrs Anna Hume." Edinb. 1644, 8vo.
f Scotish Descriptive Poems. Edinb. 1803, 8vp.
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Son's collection. The one is entitled " The Pas- sage of the Pilgremer ;" the other, " The De- scription of the Queens Majesties maist hono- rable Entry into the Town of Edinburgh upon the ipth day of May, 1590." The last of these poems has been reprinted by Sibbald s.
' JOHN ROLLAND of Dalkeith is the author of two metrical works of a similar character. One of them bears the title of " Ane Treatise callit the Court of Venus , dividit into four buikis h." The other is entitled " The Sevin Seages ; trails^ latit :out of prois into Scottis meiter ; with ane moralitie aftir everie doctour's tale, and siklyke after the emprice tale ; togidder with ane loving and lawd to every doctour aftir his awin tale ; and an exclamatioun and outcrying upon the empe- rour's wyfe aftir hir fals contrused tale '."
ALEXANDER HUME, Rector of Logic, was the second son of Patrick laird of Polwarth, from whom the present family of Marchmont is li- neally descended. From the " Epistle to Maister Gilbert Mont-creif, jMediciner to the King's
S Sibbald's Chronicle of Scottish Poetry, vol. iii* p. 465. h Edinburgh, 1575, 4to. i Edinburgh, 1592, 8vo.
j " Lors que mon frere fut en Escosse," says Joseph Scaliger, " tt n'jr avoit'qu'un medecin,qui estoit medecin de la reyne ; et demon tempe
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Majestie, wherein is set down the Inexperience of Author's Youth," it appears that he was des- tined for the bar, and that being disgusted with the profession of a lawyer, he afterwards endea- voured without success to obtain preferment at court. The following extract from his epistle contains some curious information :
Quhen that I had employd my youth and paine Four years in France, and was returnd againe, I langd tc* learn and curious was to knaw The consuetudes, the custome, and the law, Quhairby our native soil was guide aright, And justice done to everie kind of wight. To that effect three yea res, or near that space, I hanted maist our highest pleading place, And senate, quhair great causes reasoned war ; My breast was bruisit with leaning on the bar j My buttons brist, I partly spitted blood, My gown was traild and trampid quhair I stood ; My ears war deifd with maissars cryes and din, Quhilk procutoris and parties callit in. I daylie learnit, bot could not pleisit -be j I saw sik things as pitie was to see j Ane house owerlaid with process sa misguidit, That sum to late, sum never war decydit j The puir abusit ane hundreth divers wayes, Postpond, differd with shifts and mere delayes, Consumit in gudes, ourset with greif and paine . Your advocate maun be refresht with gaine,
en Angleterre il n'y avoit gueres de medecins. En Escosse un me&ui- sier saignoit, et 11 y avoit des barbiers qui tondoient seulement." gcranat p.
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Or else he faints to speake or to invent Ane gude defence, or weightie argument. Ye spill your cause j — ye truble him to sair, Unless his hand anointed be with mair.
v>
Equally disgusted with the bar and with the court, he at length directed his views towards the church. His poems were printed by Robert Wal- degrave in 1599, under the title of " Hy nines or Sacred Songs, wherein the right use of poesie may be espied : whereunto are dded the experience of the author's youth, and certain precepts serv- ing to the practice of sanctificationk." This col- lection is inscribed to Elizabeth Mel\-Jl ; whom
k Some of the poems of Hume may be found in Mr Sibbald's C/jrpnide of Scottish Poetry, vol. iii. and in a collection entitled Scotisb Descriptive Poems.
1 This female author is by courtesy styled Lady Culross. She publish- ed " Ane Godlie Dream, compylit in Scottish Meter by M[rs] M[elvill] Gentelwoman in Culros." Edinb. 1603,410. There is an edition which bears the following title : " A Godly Dream, by Elizabeth Melvill, Lady Culros, younger. At the request of a speciall friend." Aberd:ne, imprinted by E. Raban, laird of letters. 1644, 8vo.
This lady has repeatedly been mentioned as the mother of Colvil : but as he flourished at the distance of nearly eighty years, their relation may be considered as extremely dubious. Samuel Colvil's Mock Poem, or IVbiggs Supplication, was published at London in duodecimo in the year 1 68 1. By the same writer, or at least by a writer of the same name, a theological work had been published under the title of " The Grand Im- postor Discovered ; or an Historical Dispute of the Papacy and Popish Religion: parti." Edinb. 1673, 4to. S. Colvil is celebrated by Cun- ningham as a strenuous defender of the Protestant religion. (Hist, of Great Britain, vol. i. p. a 7.) Whatever may be his qualifications as a polemic,
Pp 2
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he extols as a most successful cultivator of sacred poetry.
Sir JAMES BALFOUR, Lyon King of Arms, is ce- lebrated as a poet by his cotemporary John Leech : and Sir Robert Sibbald informs us that he had himself inspected a manuscript volume of his Latin and Scotish verses111. The following lines occur in a poem of Leech addrest to' Bal- four :
Hunc tu carminibus constrictum, Jacobe, Latinis, Coge tuis numeris, quos Musa Caledonia aptat, Et natura tibi, nam tu quoque Scotica Siren. PANTHEA nostra tua est, ita cultu loeta Britanno, Et melior mea, si quid queat esse, puella.
Balfour enjoyed considerable celebrity during his lifetime. He lived in habits of intimacy with Drummond, Aytoun, and other men of letters".
his poetical talents are of a, very ordinary character. The Whiggs Suppli- cation is evidently an imitation of Butler ; but it displays no portion of Butler's wit or learning. Its popularity seems to have exceeded its merits: it has been frequently reprinted ; and a neat edition was published at St Andrews so lately as the year 1 796.
m Sibbaldi Memoria Balfouriana, p, 5. Edinb. 1699, 8vo.
n Sir Robert Aytoun has prefixed the following stanzas to his Basia she Strtna Cal. Jan. Lond. 1605, 4to. They are addrest " To the most; worshipful and worthy Sir James Hay, Gentleman of his Majesty's Bed" chamber."
When Janus' keys unlocks the gates above,
And throws more age on our sublunar lands, J sacrifice with flames of fervent love
Thesq hecatomb* of kisses to thy hands.
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THE admirable ballad of Hardyknute was pub- lished at Edinburgh in the year 1719, as a pro- duction of some ancient poet. It is now univer- sally regarded as a modern composition : and it has been conjectured with some plausibility that
Their worth is small, but thy deserts are auch, They'll pass in worth, if once thy shrine they touch.
Laugh but on them, and then they will compare
With all the harvest of th' Arabian fields, With all the pride of that perfumed air
Which winged troops of musked Zephyrs yields, When with their breath they' embalm th' Elysian plain. And makes the flow'rs reflect those scents again.
Yea, they will be more sweet in their conceit
Than Venus' kisses spent on Adon's wounds, Than those wherewith pale Cynthia did entreat
The lovely shepherd of the Latmian bounds, And more than those which Jove's ambrosial mouth Prodigalized upon the Trojan youth. |u
« I know they cannot such acceptance find,
If rigour censure their uncourtly frame ; But thou art courteous, and wilt call to mind
Th' excuse which shields both me and them from blame ; My Muse was but a novice into this, And, being virgin, scarce well taught to kiss.
A panegyrical sonnet by Aytoun occurs among " The Poeticall Essayes cf Alexander Craige, Scotobritane," sig. F. 3. Lond. 1604, 4to. Craig, it may be cursorily mentioned, is also the author of another work which has escaped the researches of Mr Pinkerton : it is entitled " The Poeti- call Recreations £»f Mr Alexander Craig of Rose-Craig, Scoto-Britan." Aberd. 1623, 4to.
I cannot omit this opportunity, such as it is, of detecting a fugitive sonnet by t; •€ Earl of Stirling. It is prefixed, among those of various pther writers, to a work of Dr John Abernethy.
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the real author is Sir John Hope Bruce of Kin- ross. The following extract is from a letter of Bruce to Lord Binning, who was also a writer of verses : " To perform my promise, I send you a true copy of the manuscript I found, some weeks ago, in a vault at Dumferline. It is written on vellum in a fair Gothic character ; but so much defaced by time, as you'll find that the tenth part is not legible." This is evidently a stale ex- pedient. " Sir John Bruce," says Mr Pinkerton, " forgetting his letter to Lord Binning, used Mrs Wardlaw, it would appear, as the midwife of his poetry, and furnished her with the stanza or two she afterward produced ; as he did not wish his name to be used in the story of the vault0."
Of known effects, grounds too precisely sought,
Young naturalists oft atheists old do prove ;
And some who naught, save who first moves, can move, Scorn mediate means, as wonders still were wrought. But temp'ring both, thou dost this difference even,
Divine physician, physical divine ,
Who souls and bodies help'st ; dost here design From earth by reason, and by faith from heaven, With mysteries which few can reach aright,
How heaven and earth are match'd, and work in man ;
Who wise and holy ends and cuuses scan. f
Lo true philosophy, perfection's height !
For this is all that we would wish to gain,
In bodies sound that minds may sound remain.
See " A Christian and Heavenly Treatise, containing Physicke for the Sovle ; very necessary for all that would inioy true soundnesse of minde, and peace of conscience : newly corrected and inlarged by the author, M, J. Abernethy, now Bishop of Cathnes." Lond. 1622, 4to. 0 Pinkerton's List of the Scotish Poets, p. cxxviii.
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It has however been peremptorily asserted by Mr Chalmers, the mightv decider of controver- sies, that Hardyknute was written by Elizabeth Hacket, the wife of Sir Henry Wardlaw, and the sister-in-law of Sir John Bruce. " There is not the least evidence," says this author, " that Sir John Bruce ever wrote any poetry. It is appa- rent, that though Sir John may have told the truth, that he did not tell the whole truth ; that he knew, but did not choose to tell, who was the author ; that having given a promise^he thought himself obliged to say something ; but, he in the meantime consulted his wife's sister, who was the authoress ; and who yet did not think fit to allow him to speak out. On the other hand ; * the late Mr Hepburn of Keith often declared, he was in the house with Lady Wardlaw, when she wrote Hardyknute.' — [Sir Charles Racket's letter, dated the 2d November 1794, to Dr Stenhouse of Dum- fermline.] Miss Elizabeth Menzies, the daughter of James Menzies, Esq. of Woodend, in Perth- shire, by Elizabeth, the daughter of Sir Henry Wardlaw, wrote to Sir Charles Hacket, that her mother, who was sister-in-law to Lady Wardlaw, told her, that Lady Wardlaw was the real author- ess of Hardyknute ; that Mary, the wife of Charles Wedderburn, Esq. of Gosford, told Miss Menzies, that her mother, Lady Wardlaw, wrote Hardyknute : both Sir Charles Hacket, and Miss Elizabeth Menzies, concur in saying, that Lady
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Wardlaw was a woman of elegant accomplish- ments, who wrote other poems, and practised drawing, and cutting paper with her scissars! and who had much wit, and humour, with great sweetness of temper. — [Sir Charles Racket's MS. Account of the Wardlaw Family p.] "
A second part of Hardyknute was published by Mr Pinkerton among his Select Scotish Ballads. He professed to be " indebted for most of the stanzas now recovered, to the memory of a lady in La^rkshire :" but in a subsequent work he acknowledges that this supplement was entire- ly written by himself.
ALEXANDER PENNYCUIK, M.D. was born in 1652 and died in I722q. His father, who bore the same name, and was of the same profession, purchased the estates of New Hall and Romanno. The younger Dr Pennycuik composed some unpoetical rhymes, which are commonly appended to his History of the Shire of Tweedale, printed at Edin- burgh in quarto in, the year 1715. He rmast be carefully distinguished from Alexander Pennycuik, a citizen of Edinburgh, who published Streams from Helicon and other prolusions of a similar cha- racter.
P Chalmers, Life of Allan Ramsay, p. xxxi. 1 Edinburgh Magazine, vol. xvii. p. 257.
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WILLIAM HAMILTON of Gilbertfield is a contri- butor to Watson's Choice Collection of Scots Poems. He was one of the poetical correspondents of Allan Ramsay ; and three of his epistles occur in the common edition of Ramsay's works. His mo- dernized abridgement of Henry the Minstrel's poem was published in the year 1722. This is an injudicious and useless work; but we have Ramsay's decided testimony in favour of his Scot- ish poetry :
When I begoud first to cun verse, And cou'd your Ardry whins rehearse, Where Bonny Heck ran fast and fierce,
It warm'd my breast j Then emulation did me pierce,
Whilk since ne'er ceast.
May I be licket xvi' a bittle,
Gin of your numbers I think little,
Ye're never rugget, shan, nor kittle,
But blyth and gabby j And hit the spirit to a title
Of standart Habby.
Hamilton's elegy on the death of his dog is also celebrated by John Wilson, a more recent poet :
Where late gay Hamilton's facetious lay
In rustic numbers hail'd returning May j
And bade the brakes of Ardrie long resound
The plaintive dirge that graced his favourite hound.
VOL. II.
3O6
He was the son of Hamilton of Lady lands; an early period of life he embraced the profession of a soldier; but a lieutenancy seems to have been the highest preferment which he obtained. During his latter years he resided at Letterick in the county of Lanark; where he died in 1751 at a very advanced age. He has sometimes been confounded with William Hamilton of Bangour, a poet of a more elegant taste.
THE
L I F E
A.LLAN
T H-£
LIFE
OF
ALLAN RAM SAT.
\JY the aspiring characters who among our countrymen have emerged from the lowest sta- •tictis of life, few will be found to have attracted a larger portion of attention than the author of Tl)e Gentle Shepherd.
Allan Ramsay, the son of Robert Ramsay and of Alice Bower, was born on the fifteenth of Octo- ber, one thousand six hundred and eighty-six. The place of his birth was the parish of Crawford- moor in the county of Lanark : and, according to one of his biographers, the ruins of the house in which he first drew breath are still pointed out to the inquisitive traveller. His father was employed in the management of Lord Hopetoun's mines at Leadhill j and his grandfather, Robert
3JO
Ramsay, a writer or attorney in Edinburgh, ha enjoyed the same trust. His great-grandfather, Captain John Ramsay, was the son of Ramsay of Cockpen, and the nephew of Ramsay of Dal- housie. The poet may therefore be regarded as the descendant of what is termed a respectable femily. His maternal grandfather had been in- duced to emigrate from Derbyshire, ia order ta instruct the miners of LeadhilL
For what education he received he was in- debted to the parish-school.. Here however he was not long permitted to remain. His father died in the twenty-fifth year of his age ; and his mother, after a short interval, became the wife- qf a Mr Crichton, the proprietor of a small por- tion of land in Lanarkshire.. Ramsay,, who, had now entered into the fifteenth year of his age,, was thus reduced to the immediate necessity Retaking himself to some mechanical employ- rnent. In the year 1701 lie was accordingly bound apprentice ta a wig-maker in Edinburgh. It has generally been supposed that to this he united the kindred trade of shaving : but these two occupations seem during that period to have been- distinct from each other; nor has any of Ramsay's poetical antagonists reminded him of Ms having "been originally a. barber.
At what time he commenced business, the- most industrious of his biographers has not in- formed, us ; but this circumstance may safely be
placed before the year 1712, when he married Christiana Ross, the daughter of a writer in Edin- burgh, In the course of the following year, his domestic felicity was increased by the birth of a son, who afterwards distinguished himself as a portrait-painter.
Ramsay was not remarkable for a premature ambition of literary distinction. The earliest of his productions which can now be traced is an epistle addrest " To the most happy Members of the Easy Club" in the year 1712, Of this club, which was composed of young men hostile to the union, he is supposed to have been an original member ; but as the poem contains a petition for admittance, this supposition appears erroneous. According to the rules of the institution, each member was to adopt some characteristic name: and Ramsay did not scruple to select that iof Gavin Douglas, It was to the inspection of the Easy Club that he submitted several of his earlier compositions. In 1715 this convivial society chose him for their poet-laureat ; but he did not long en- joy this mark of distinction, for the tumults of the ensuing rebellion put a period to their meetings. One of their last acts was, as appears from the minutes, to declare " that Dr Pitcaime and Cawin Douglas, having behaved themselves three years as good members of this club, were adjudg- ed to be gentlemen."
About this period many of his poems were pub-
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lished in the detached form of pamphlets. The women of Edinburgh, it is said, were accustomed to put a penny into the hands of their children, and to dispatch them for " Allan Ramsay's last piece." He afterwards complained to the ma- gistrates that some of his works were piratically reprinted ; and was so fortunate as to obtain their protection for his literary property a.
Having for a considerable time exercised the trade of a wig-maker, Ramsay at length adopted that of a bookseller. The parish-register styles him a wig-maker in 1716; but his second edition of Christ's Kirk on the Green, published in 1718, was printed for the author, at the Mercury, op- posite to Niddry's Wynd.
His first edition of this poem appeared in 1715. To the original work of King James he first add- ed a second, ^nd afterwards a third canto : but he has ventured upon a total deviation from the primary plan ; and instead of prosecuting the rustic squabble, has introduced the ceremony of a wedding.
He had already published many poems in a se- parate form ; and, in 1721, he collected these in- to a quarto volume, which also included a few others. By this publication, which was encou- raged by a very respectable list of subscribers, he is reported to have acquired four hundred guineas.
a Ramsay's Poems, vol. i. p. 70,
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The volume is dedicated " To the most beautiful of the Scots Ladies," is accompanied with several copies of panegyrical verses, and with a portrait of the author, painted by his friend Smibert. One of his warmest panegyrists is Josiah Burchet, the author of a History of the Navy, who sat in six parliaments, and was for many years secretary to the admiralty. Ramsay acknowledges his obli- gations to this gentleman for " having done him the honour of turning some of his pastoral poems into English, justly and elegantly."
In his preface to the volume, Ramsay hints that he had " been honoured with three or four satires ;" a circumstance which evinces that he was now of sufficient consequence to excite envy. His principal rival was his fellow citizen Alexan- der Penny cuik, a versifier of mean talents.
From attacks of this kind his quiet does not appear to have been very liable to interruption. The volume concludes with The Author's Address to his Book, in imitation of Horace ; a poem in which he speaks of himself with sufficient com- placency.
Awa, sic fears ! gae spread my fame, And fix me an immortal name : Ages to come shall thee revive, And gar thee with new honours live. The future critics, I forsee, Shall have their notes on notes on thee j
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314:
The wits unborn shall beauties find That never enter'd in my mind.
Now when thou tells how I vyas bred But hough enough to a mean trade, To balance that, pray let them ken, My saul to higher pitch could sten : And when ye shaw I'm scarce of gear, Gar a' my virtues shine mair clear : Tell, I the best and fairest please j A little man that lo'es my ease, And never thole these passions lang That rudely mint to do me wrang.
This instance of self-congratulation may perhaps be pardoned on account of its air of jocularity : but what the author introduces in a sportive man- ner, he may be suspected of intending as an ac- curate expression of his deliberate sentiments, Whatever liberties might be authorized among the ancient poets, a modern will commonly find it a hazardous experiment to avow his hopes of immortality : a practice which did not tend to excite disgust in the eotemporaries of Horace and Ovid, might probably be deemed preposterous by those of Allan Ramsay.
The date of his various publications it would not be very easy or very important to trace. His principal literary exertions may be placed be- tween the year 1718 and the year 1730.
The specimens of song-writing which he had presented to the public, seem to have experienced a favourable reception ; for in the year 1724 he
315
was induced to publish the first volume of his well-known collection The Tea-Table Miscellany. A second volume appeared soon afr.e-- the first ; a third in 1727 ; and a fourth after another in- terval. It is uncertain whether the last was e^tod by Ramsay. This work consists .£ English as well as of Scotish songs, partly written by the editor, partly " done by some ingenious young gentlemen, who were so well pleased with his undertaking, that they generously lent him their assistance." Whatever may be the merit of the collection, which underwent twelve impressions in the space of a few years, its real importance would have been greatly enhanced, if, instead of adapting new verses to old tunes, he had content- ed himself with an attempt to rescue from obli- vion the genuine productions of the ancient Scot- ish minstrels. Many beautiful songs, for which it may now be in vain to search, might then per- haps have been retrieved.
In the course of the same year he published M The Ever-Green, being a collection of Scots Poems, wrote by the Ingenious before 1600." These two volumes were " printed by Mr Thomas Ruddiman for the publisher, at his shop near the Cross." A large proportion of his materials is derived from Bannatyne's MS. ; for the use of which he in grateful terms acknowledges his ob- ligations to the Hon. William Carmich'dei, bro- ther to the Earl bf Hyndford. " It was mtend-
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316
ed," he informs us, " that an account 01 authors of the following collection should be given ; but not being furnished with such dis- tinct information as could be wishe.d for that end at present, the design is delayed, until the pub- lishing of a third or fourth succeeding volume wherein the curious shall be satisfied, in as far can be gathered, with relation to their lives and characters, and the time wherein they flourished." No sequel ever made its appearance ; nor is it much to be regretted that the editor should thus have failed in the performance of his promise. To a task of this kind his literature was evidently in- adequate ; and his absurd practice of adding or retrenching according to his own pleasure, ren- dered him the most unfit editor of ancient poetry that could possibly have been found. Nor can his selection be considered as judicious : several of the poems inserted in The Ever -Green are high- ly indecent ; others are not possest of any pror perties which seem to authorize their revival. This publication however was not without its uti- lity ; it tended in some degree to revive among his countrymen a taste for vernacular poetry ; and to direct the attention of more accomplished antiquaries to the most precious collection of which Scotland can boast.
Ramsay's Gentle Shepherd was published in the year 1725. In 1721 he had published a pastoral tinder the title of Patie and Roger, which was
317
followed, in 1723, by a sequel under that of Jenny and Meggy. These specimens were so highly approved by his friends, that he at length proceeded to extend them to the form of a regu- lar drama, which is now regarded as the chief foundation of his celebrity. The Gentle Shepherd is inscribed to Susanna Countess of Eglintoun, a lady who will long be remembered as a patroness of literature. In the dedication, Ramsay again assumes the tone of anticipation : " The bard who fondly hopes for immortality, has a certain praise-worthy pleasure in communicating to pos- terity the fame of distinguished characters." — The epistle dedicatory is followed by a poetical address to the countess, written by Hamilton of Bangour, an ingenious poet who appears to have been among the number of Ramsay's patrons.
A second volume of his poems appeared in 1728 ; and was reprinted in an octavo form dur- ing the ensuing year. His fame had now extend- ed itself beyond the narrow limits of Scotland. An edition of his poetical works was published by the London booksellers in 1731 ; and another ap^ peared at Dublin in 1733. One of his pastorals had been reprinted at London with a commen- datory preface by Dr Sewel.
Ramsay now experienced a felicity reserved for few individuals : by the vigour of mental exer- tion he had gradually raised himself from his original obscurity, and had found himself capable
318
<$f securing the reputation which attached itself to his name ; he enjoyed the protection and friendship of several of the more distinguished of his fellow citizens, and was generally regarded as a man whose genius reflected honour on his native country. He was carest by several of the Scotish nobility ; and lived in habits of fami- liar intercourse with Sir John Clerk. Sir William Bennet, and Sir Alexander Dick. He also appears to have enjoyed the acquaintance of Colonel James Forrester, who was considered as the leader of fashion in the Scotish metropolis b.
His intercourse with cotemporary poets was pretty extensive. Hamilton of Bangour and Hamilton of Gilbertfield were among the number of his friends. He has addrest verses to Pope, Gay, and Somervile, arid to his countrymen Mallet and Mitchell. Somervile, the ingeni- ous author of The Chace, has returned his poetical greetings in two epistles. Meston addressed a copy of verses " To Allan Ramsay, on the Death of Mr Hill," in which he styles the former a " great bard c." Among the Latin poems of Sir
b This gentleman, who has obtained the appellation of Beau Forrester, wrote a tract entitled u The Polite Philosopher ; or an Essay on that Art which makes a Man happy in himself, and agreeable to others." Edinb. 1734. It occurs among Dodsley's Fugitive Pieces. Walpole sup- poses Forrester to have borrowed the original hint of his work from De Callieres De la Science du Monde. (IValpoliana^ vol ii. p. ^^.)
c William Meston, A. M. was born in the parish of Mid-Mar and county of Aberdeen about the year 1688. Having finished his education
319
William Scot of Thirlstane, occurs an inscription with the title of " Effigies Allan i Ramssei, Poetse Scoti, inter caeteras Poetarum Imagines in Tern- plo Apollinis suspensa."
In 1726 Ramsay had removed from his shop opposite to what is at present known by the name of Niddry Street, to another at the east end of the Luckenbooths. Instead of retaining his old friend Mercury, he now ornamented his sign with
at Marischal College, he was chosen one of the masters of the High- School of Aberdeen ; and was afterwards entertained as domestic tutor to the two sons of the Earl MarischaJ. About the year 1714 he was nominated Professor of Philosophy in Marischal College. This office however he did not long enjoy ; for in the ensuing rebellion he followed the fortunes of the noble family of Keith, and was appointed governor of Dunotter-castle. The hopes of his party being annihilated at Sheriff- moor, he continued to skulk among the unfrequented wilds, till his fears were at length calmed by the act of indemnity. In his Jacobitical prin- ciples he still remained unshaken ; and therefore could no longer hope for preferment. By the death of the JLady Marischal, being left without the means of subsistence, he successively opened an academy at Elgin. TurefF, Montrose, and Perth. Soon after his last removal, he was re- ceived in capacity of tutor into the family of Oliphant of Cask, where he continued for several years. He now fell into a languishing state, and retired to Peterhead, for the benefit of the mineral waters. His funds appear to have been exhausted ; for he was supported by the Countess of Errol, who probably admired his poetry. The remainder of his life was spent among his relations at Aberdeen ; where he died in the year 1745-
An edition of " The Poetical Works of the ingenious and learned William Meston, A. M." was published at Edinburgh in 1767, in one volume duodecimo. Though the title-page bears the sixth edition, the writer of the biographical sketch observes that " the whole was never before collected into one volume, nor published in an uniform manner.' Whatever opinion Meston's cotemporaries might form of his ingenuity and learning, a reader of the present day will not derive much pleasure from the perusal of his poetical works.
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the heads of Drummond and Jorison. " Here, says one of his biographers, " he sold and lent books till a late period of his life : here the wits of Edinburgh used to meet for amusement, and for information. From this commodious situation, Gay, a congenial poet, was wont to look out upon the Exchange of Edinburgh, in order to know persons, and to ascertain characters d." Ramsay is said to have been the first who established a circulating library in Scotland.
His collection of thirty fables was published in the year 1730. After this period his literary efforts were almost entirely discontinued. Few authors have perhaps been found possest of the prudence to retreat at a proper season.
A letter of Ramsay, addrest to Smibert the painter, reflects considerable light on this period of his history ; and although it has already been printed in The Gentleman's Magazine and in other publications, it may here be inserted with suf- ficient propriety. It is dated, Edinburgh, May 10, 1736.
" My dear old friend, your health and happi- ness are ever- ane addition to my satisfaction. God make your life easy and pleasant ! Half a century of years have now row'd o'er my pow, that begins now to be lyart ; yet thanks to my author ! I eat, drink, and sleep as sound as I did
d Chalmers, Life of Ramsay, p. xxxix.
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twenty years syne : yes, I laugh heartily too, and find as man s bjects to employ that faculty upon as ever ; fools, fops, and knaves, grow as rank as formerly, yet here and there are to be found good and worthy men, who are ane honour to human life. We have small hopes of seeing you again in our old world ; then let us be vir- tuous, and hope to meet in heaven. My good auld wife is still my bed-fellow. My son Allan has been pursuing your science since he was a dozen years auld ; was with Mr Hyffidg at Lon- don for some time, about two years ago; has been since at home painting here like a Raphael; sets out for the seat of the beast beyond the Alps, within a month hence ; to be away about two years. I'm sweer to part with him, but canna stem the current, which flows from the advice of his patrons and his own inclination. I have three daughters ; one of seventeen, one of sixteen, and one of twelve years old ; and no ae wally dragle amang them ; all fine girls. These six or seven years past, I have not written a line of poetry. I e'en gave over in good time, before the coolness of fancy that attends advanced years, should make me risk the reputation I had acquired.
" Frae txventy-five to five and forty, My Muse was neither sweer nor dorty j My Pegasus wad break his tether, E'en at the shagging of a feather,
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And throw ideas scour like drift, Streaking his wings up to the lift j Then, then, my soul was in a low That gart my numbers safely row : But eild and judgment 'gin to say, Let be your sangs, and learn to pray."
In the year 1736 his enterprising spirit prompt- ed him to build at his own expence the first theatre of which Scotland could boast. The dra- matic representations with which our countrymen had formerly been entertained, were exhibited in the open fields, or in such apartments as could be casually procured : but Ramsay now undertook to raise a regular structure, and to supply it with a proper company of actors. A playhouse was accordingly built in Carrubber?s Close. His new character of a manager he did not however long retain : the act for licensing the stage was past during the ensuing year ; and the magistrates of Edinburgh commanded him to shut the house. As the introduction of the elegant amusements of the theatre had excited a violent clamour among those who were more conspicuous for zeal than for liberality, the downfal of his establish- ment was contemplated by a numerous class with infinite satisfaction. The loss which he thus sus- tained must have been very considerable. Whe- ther he was ever so fortunate as to procure any re- muneration, cannot now be so easily ascertained i but it is certain that he did not fail to complain
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of the damage to which he had been inoffensively exposed.
He is supposed, I know not with what accu- racy, to have relinquished his shop in the year 1755, when he had reached the age of sixty-nine. In the latter part of his life, he had built a house of a whimsical construction on the north side of the Castle Hill. Here he now resided in a state of dignified retirement. The place of his resi- dence is still distinguished by the name of Ramsay Garden. Much of his time was spent in the society of Sir John Clerk of Pennycuik and Sir Alexander Dick of Prestonfield. But his social connections were soon to be dissolved. He had begun to be severely afflicted with a scurvy in his gums ; which, after having deprived him of his teeth, and corroded one of his jaw-bones, at length put a period to his life, when he had completed the age of seventy-one. He died at" Edinburgh on the seventh of January, 1758, and was interred in the Gray-friars churchyard.
His wife, who died in 1743, had borne him several sons and daughters. Allan, the eldest of his children, was regularly educated to the profession of a painter ; and, after having attained to considerable eminence, died in the year 1784. He had been appointed painter to his Majesty ; and was also known as a man of letters, by the publication of some miscellaneous essays under the title of The Investigator. By his second wife,
SS 2
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the eldest daughter of Sir Alexander Lindsay Evelick, he left, besides two daughters, a male- representative of the poet, in the person of Lieutenant-Colonel John Ramsay of the third regiment of foot guards. Janet, one of the daughters of the elder Ramsay, is still alive.
In several of his poems, and particularly in his Epistle to Mr James Arbuckle, Ramsay has fur- nished us with various hints relative to his person and habits. The following quotation will pre- clude the necessity of farther enquiry :
Imprimis then, for tallness, I Am five foot and four inches high ^ A black-a-viced snod dapper fallow, Nor lean, nor over-laid wi' tallow j With phiz of a Morocco cut, Resembling a late man of wit, Auld-gabbet Spec, wha was sae cunning To be a dummie ten years running.
Then, for the fabric of my mind, 'Tis mair to mirth than grief inclin'd : I rather choose to laugh at folly, Than shew dislike by melancholy j Well judging a sour heavy face Is not the truest mark of grace.
I hate a drunkard or a glutton, Yet I'm nae fae to wine and mutton : Great tables ne'er engag'd my wishes, When crowded with o'er mony dishes y A healthfu' stomach sharply set Prefers a black-sey piping het.
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I never could imagine't vicious, Of a fair fame to be ambitious 5 Proud to be thought a comic poet, And let a judge of numbers know it, I court occasion thus to shew it.
Second of thirdly, pray take heed, Ye's get a short swatch of my creed. To follow method negatively, Ye ken, takes place of positively : Well then, I'm nowther Whig nor Tory, Nor credit give to purgatory.
However cautious Ramsay might be in avowing his political sentiments, it is well known that he was at heart a steady Jacobite.
His eulogium has been pronounced in the fol- lowing simple but comprehensive terms, by a writer who enjoyed his personal acquaintance: He was an honest man, and of great pleasantry e.
He was one of the few poets who have been equally successful in literature and in trade. Even at those particular periods of his life when poetry might have been supposed to absorb all his thoughts, a due share of attention was always paid to that unpoetical object the shop. The report of his having died a bankrupt is un- founded : his latter years were spent in ease and in affluence ; in the enjoyment of that dignified repose to which every literary adventurer directs his secret wishes. He has been selected, and
e Tytler's Poeticaf Remains of K, James, p. 189.
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with sufficient propriety, as a more pleasing ex- amplification of The Poet's Fate:
But things may mend, and poets yet may hope, In better times, to charm and thrive like Pope, Or Allan Ramsay, that harmonious Scot : Now to fare ill is but the common lot.
G. DYJ
Ramsay's works have been published in almost every possible form ; but the best edition is that which appeared at London in the year 1800 in two volumes octavo. To this edition a life of the author was contributed by Mr Chalmers, and a critical essay on his writings by Lord Wood- houselee.
IT has been the fortune of Ramsay to be alter- nately the object of hyperbolical praise and of unmerited censure : he has sometimes been repre- sented as a writer of vigorous and original genius, and sometimes as a versifier hardly entitled to rank with those of the mediocre class. Between such extremes of sentiment it is commonly safest to follow a middle course. Such opposite deci- sions must be ascribed to a deficiency of candour on the one hand, and of judgment on the other. A poet whose writings have maintained their popularity during a series of years, must not rashly be excluded from the praise of ingenuity ; and yet this capability of pleasing many readers
327
,does not necessarily presuppose any high degree of original genius.
Ramsay was undoubtedly possest of talents above the ordinary level ; and at the same time was not unconscious of his own strength. He was capable of moving the gentler passions, and of delineating ludicrous objects with no unskilful pencil. But it cannot be concealed that the* sense of propriety has on many occasions deserted him ; that some of his happiest thoughts are de- formed by his predelietion for humour of the lowest species. In physical indelicacy, his works must be allowed to rival those of Swift. His faults are partly to be attributed to the peculiar complexion of his mind, partly to adventitious circumstances : and in a writer of his defective education, much will be pardoned by the humane reader.
His ambition to excel as a Scotish poet, seems to have been excited by such models as are exhibited in Watson's collection : he speaks of Habby Simpson, and Hamilton's Bonny Heck, as his standards. That he has surpast his masters, will not be controverted.
Dryden, Pope, Young, Prior, Swift, and Gay, seem to have been his favourites among the English poets : and from the perusal of their works he undoubtedly derived mach advantage ; J)ut his attempts to write in the language and
328
style of these authors, cannot be pronounce very successful.
The productions of Ramsay exhibit, as might indeed have been expected, many striking in- equalities. His songs, in particular, are of a very motley character ; some of them distinguished by uncommon beauties, others composed in a strain of uninterrupted vulgarity.
The merit of his fables and tales is not very conspicuous. Instead of exercising his own in- vention, he has generally adopted the stories- of other writers ; and those he has not often adorn- ed with new beauties. The Monk and the Miller's Wife is confessedly his most happy effort in this department f. This tale, says Lord Woodhouselee, " would of itself be his passport to immortality, as a comic poet. In this capacity he might enter the lists with Chaucer and Boccacio, with no great risk of discomfiture. Though far their in- ferior in acquired address, his native strength was perhaps not widely disproportionate. Of this admirable tale, I conceive he has the merit of the invention ; as the story is not to be found in any of the older writers, as Sacchetti, Boccacio, or in the Cento Novelle antiche. In a few circum- stances there is indeed a small resemblance to the 73d of the Cent nouvelles Nouvelles, intitled L'Oi-
f Of this tale a translation in Latin rhyme may be found in the Car- mlnum Rariorum Macaronicorum Delectus, fasc. Ji. Edinb. l8oj, 8vo. This version is attributed to Mr Skinner.
329
seau en la Cage, which barely affords a presump- tion, that Ramsay may have read that story ; but in all the material circumstances, his Monk and the Miller's Wife is original. A story of more festive humour could not have been devised. The characters are sustained with consummate pro- priety ; the manners are true to nature ; and poetic justice is most strictly observed in the winding up of the piece." But whatever merit this comic tale may be allowed to possess, the praise of its invention must not so rashly be awarded to Ramsay : for the general plan and all the material incidents are pilfered from The Freirs of Beruuik. The inferiority of the modern poet is too evident to admit of controversy.
As an imitator of Horace, it would be unjust to deny him very considerable merit. The fol- lowing quotation from his Ode to the Ph — in imitation of " Vides ut alta stet nive candidum Soracte," is entitled to unqualified commend- ation :
Be sure ye dinna quat the grip
Of ilka joy when ye are young, Before auld age your vitals nip,
And lay ye twafald o'er a rung.
Sweet youth's a blyth and heartsome time ;
Then, lads and lasses, while it's May, Gae pou the gowan in its prime,
Before it wither and decay.
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330
Watch the saft minutes of delyte,
When Jenny speaks beneath her breath,
And kisses, laying a' the wyte On you, if she kep ony skaith.
" Haith, ye're ill-bred," she'll smiling say : " Ye'll worry me, ye greedy rook j"
Syne frae your arms she'll rin away, And hide hersell in some dark nook.
Her laugh will lead you to the place
Where lies the happiness you want ; And plainly tells you to your face,
Nineteen nay-says are half a grant.
The most poetical composition ascribed to Ramsay is " The Vision ; compylit in Latin be a most lernit Clerk in tyme of our hairship and oppression, anno 1300, and translatit in 1524." This poem was first printed in The Ever-Green ; and no copy has ever been discovered in any ancient manuscript.
That it is the production of Ramsay, has been strenuously maintained by Mr Tytler and by his son Lord Woodhouselee. " Lord Hailes and Dr Beattie," says Mr Tytler, " conjecture, justly, the Vision to have been the composition of some friend to the cause of the house of Stuart, and written about the aera of the rebellion 1715. This was truly the case. I flatter myself that I can now produce the author, wrho was no other than the first editor of the Vision, under the sig-
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nature of A. R. SCOT. z. e. Allan Ramsay S,cotuss." But the simple truth is, that the poem appears under the signature of AR. SCOT. The obvious purport of the letters arranged in this manner, is Archibald, Arthur, or Arnald Scot ; though it is not indeed altogether improbable that Ramsay might adopt such an arrangement, for the pur- pose of disguising his own initials.
The fable of The Eagle and Robin Red-breist appears with the same signature. These two poems, according to Mr Tytler, " were known by the friends of Ramsay's family to be of his com- position, though only tacitly owrned for the above reason. Of this fact I had a positive acknow- ledgment from Miss Ramsay, eldest daughter of the poet now alive, who informed me that her father was the author of both the pieces above- mentioned." Without conveying any personal reflections, it may perhaps be affirmed that this evidence is not altogether satisfactory. As these friends of Ramsay's family are not specified, their testimony is of a somewhat dubious nature. Miss Ramsay's knowledge of her father's literary affairs might originally be very imperfect ; and the lapse of about sixty years cannot be supposed to have improved the accuracy of her recollection. When interrogated with respect to those two poems, some faint and confused notions might
S Transact, of the Society of Antiquaries, vol. i. p. 396. Tt 2
132
present themselves to her mind, and at length begin to acquire the force of conviction. Mr Tytler, the reporter of the evidence, cannot be regarded as a very safe guide : though distin- guished by many estimable qualities, he was en- slaved by prejudices which often bewildered his judgment.
According to Mr Boswell, the fable in question was written by Guthrie, He informed me, says this biographer, " that he was the author of the beautiful little piece, The. Eagle and the Robin Red-breast, in the collection entitled The Union, though it is there said to be written by Archibald Scott, before the year 1600 b." But, subjoins Mr Chalmers, " neither Boswell, nor Guthrie, seem to have adverted that this beautiful poem was first published in The Ever-Green, by the original author of it, when Guthrie must have been a very young man : for he died on the 9th of March 1770'." Although Guthrie died on the ninth of March, 1770, it does not necessarily follow that he was a very young man in the year 1724. He was born in 1701*; and conse- quently when The Ever-Green was first published, he must have been in the twenty-third year of his age. BoswelFs statement of facts however is commonly as inaccurate as his reflections arc
& Boswell YLife of Johnson, vol. i. p. 58, 4tcr.
i Chalmers, Life of Ramsay, p. xxx.
I Biographical Dictionary, vol. vii. p. 259.
333
impertinent. In the present instance it would be unsafe to rely < n his insulated authority : and what tends to increase our suspicion is, that in the third edition of his strange book this passage is silently supprest.
Ramsay's Gentle Shepherd has already been the subject of so much criticism, that it would now be superfluous to enter into a fresh discussion of its merits. Instead therefore of fatiguing the reader with my own remarks, I shall content my- self with collecting " the testimonies of authors."
" Ramsay," says Mr Ritson, " was a man of strong natural parts, and a fine poetical genius, of which his celebrated pastoral The Gentle Shepherd will ever remain a substantial monument; and though some of his songs may be deformed by far-fetched allusions and pitiful conceits, The Lass of Peattie's Mill, The lellouv-hair'd Laddie, Farewell to Lochaber, and some others, must be allowed equal to any, and even superior, in point of pastoral simplicity, to most lyric productions, either in the Scotish or any other language k."
" No attempt to naturalize pastoral poetry," says Dr Aikin, " appears to have succeeded better than Ramsay's Gentle Shepherd: it has a consider- able air of reality, and the descriptive parts, in general, are in the genuine taste of beautiful simplicity. Yet the sentiments and manners are
* Ritson's Hist. Essay on Scotish Song, p. Ixiii,
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far from being entirely proper to the characters, and while some descend so low as to be disgust- ful, others are elevated far beyond nature. The real character of a Scottish or English shepherd is by much too coarse for poetry. I suspect Ramsay gains a great advantage among us by writing in the Scotch dialect : this not being familiar to us, and scarcely understood, softens the harsher parts, and gives a kind of foreign air that eludes the critic's severity *."
" Whether the dialect of Scotland," says Mr Roscoe, " be more favourable to attempts of this nature, or whether we are to seek for the fact in the character of the people, or the peculiar talents of the writers, certain it is, that the idiom of that country has been much more successfully em- ployed in poetical composition, than that of any other part of these kingdoms, and that this prac- tice may there be traced to a very early period. In later times, the beautiful dramatic poem of The Gentle Shepherd has exhibited rusticity with- out vulgarity, and elegant sentiment without affectation m."
" The principal difficulty in pastoral poetry,'1 says Lord Woodhouselee, " when it attempts an actual delineation of nature, (which we have seen is too seldom its object,) lies in the association of delicate and affecting sentiments with the ge-
1 Aikin's Essays on Song- Writing, p. 33.
m Roscoe's Life of Lorenzo de' Medici, vol. i. p. 296.
835
nuine manners of rustic life ; an union so diffi- cult to be accomplished, that the chief pastoral poets, both ancient and modern, have either en- tirely abandoned the attempt, by choosing to paint a fabulous and chimerical state of society ; or have failed in their endeavour, either by in- dulging in such refinement of sentiment as is ut- terly inconsistent with rustic nature, or by en- dowing their characters with such a rudeness and vulgarity of manners as is hostile to every idea of delicacy. It appears to me that Ramsay has most happily avoided these extremes ; and this he could the better do, from the singularly fortunate choice of his subject. The principal persons of the dra- ma, though trained from infancy in the manners of rustic life, are of generous birth; to whom therefore we may allow, from nature and the in- fluence of blood, an elevation of sentiment, and a nobler mode of thinking, than to ordinary pea- sants. To these characters the poet has there- fore, with perfect propriety and knowledge of human nature, given the generous sentiments that accord with their condition, though veiled a little by the manners, and conveyed in the lan- guage which suits their accidental situation. The other characters, who are truly peasants, are painted with fidelity from nature ; but even of these, the situation chosen by the poet was fa- vourable for avoiding that extreme vulgarity and coarseness of manners which would have offend-
336
ed a good taste. The peasantry of the Pentland hills, within six or seven miles of the metropo- lis, with which of course they have frequent com- munication, cannot be supposed to exhibit the same rudeness of manners which distinguishes those of the remote part of the country. As the models, therefore, from which the poet drew were cast in a finer mold than mere provincial rustics, so their copies, as drawn by him, do not offend by their vulgarity, nor is there any great- er degree of rusticity than what merely distin- guishes their mode of life and occupations11."
" I must not," says Dr Blair, " omit the men- tion of another pastoral drama, which will bear being brought into comparison with any compo- sition of this kind, in any language ; that is, Allan Ramsay's Gentle Shepherd. It is a great disadvantage to this beautiful poem, that it is written in the old rustic dialect of Scotland, which, in a short time, will probably be entire- ly obsolete, and not intelligible ; and it is a far- ther disadvantage, that it is so entirely formed on the rural manners of Scotland, that none but a native of that country can thoroughly under- stand or relish it. But, though subject to these local disadvantages, which confine its reputation within narrow limits, it is full of so much natu- ral description, and tender sentiment, as would
n Woodhouselee's Remarks on Ramsay, p.cxlviii.
337
do honour to any poet* The characters are well drawn, the incidents affecting ; the scenery and manners lively and just. It affords a strong proof, both of the power which nature and simplicity possess, to reach the heart in every sort of writ- ing ; and of the variety of pleasing characters and subjects with which pastoral poetry, when properly managed, is capable of being enliven- ed0."
" The sentiments of that piece," says Dr Beat- tie, " are natural, the circumstances interesting ; the characters well drawn, well distinguished, and well contrasted ; and the fable has more pro- bability than any other pastoral drama I am ac- quainted with. To an Englishman who has never conversed With the common people of Scot- land, the language would appear only antiquated, obscure, or unintelligible ; but to a Scotchman ' who thoroughly understands it, and is aware of its vulgarity, it appears ludicrous ; from the con- trast between meanness of phrase and dignity or seriousness of sentiment. This gives a farcical air even to the most affecting part of the poem ; and occasions an impropriety of a peculiar kind, which is very observable in the representation. And accordingly, this play, with all its merit, and with a strong national partiality in its favour, has ilever given general satisfaction upon the stage p."
* Blair's Lectures on Rhetoric, vol. iii. p. 126. t> Beattie's Essays, p. 382.
VOL. II, U u
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But its indifferent success on the stage may perhaps be in a great measure ascribed to a defi- ciency on. the part of the actors. The British actors are almost entirely unacquainted with dra- mas of the pastoral kind : and their mode of pro- nouncing the Scotish dialect is generally distort- ed and preposterous. The number of profession- al comedians furnished by North Britain is very inconsiderable ; and the natives of that country who, for their own amusement, have occasional- ly attempted Ramsay's principal characters, must necessarily be supposed to have laboured under all the disadvantages incident to inexperience.
A periodical writer has remarked, that " it is not the vulgarity of the Gentle Shepherd which disgusts a critical judge so much as the glaring intermixture of some English absurdly put into the mouths of the peasants of Scotland in the middle of the seventeenth century, when the events are supposed to have happened. The author should certainly have restricted himself to the plain and genuine use of his Scotish language, and not have interlarded it with English phrase- ologies, and phraseologies too, occasionally of af- fected elegance and refinement. Thus constitut- ed, it produces the same effect as if a painter were to finish some parts of his subject with the highest touches of miniature, while others were left with the rude stroke of sign-daubing. It is not because it is written in the Scotish dialect.
339
but because it is not written in the Scotish dia- lect, that the language of the Gentle Shepherd becomes an object of critical censure." If how- ever we admit the validity of these sentiments, which seem to have been advanced with a refer- ence to Dr Beattie's decision, the Greek writers who have blended different dialects in the same composition, must be subjected to a censure equally rigid. The same canon of criticism will also prove fatal to the reputation of Burns ; for his most beautiful productions, though professed- ly written in the Scotish dialect, are not only chequered with English phraseologies, but even with English verses. But if it be absolutely ab- surd for a Scotish peasant to be introduced speak- ing the English language, it must have been es- tablished as a general rule that a dramatic per- sonage should always employ the language of the country to which he is supposed to belong. Ac- cording to this hypothesis, Buchanan, Racine, and other poets who have founded their dramas on subjects of the same class, ought to be severe- ly reprehended for having failed to write in He- brew.
THE
LIFE
ALEXANDER ^OSS, A. M.
THE
LIFE
ALEXANDER ROSS, A. M.
1 HE life of Ross, though it extended beyond the ordinary term, seems to have been distin- guished by few events which could afford much scope for biographical narration.
Alexander Ross was born about the year one thousand seven hundred. His father followed the occupation of a farmer in the parish of Kin- cardine Oneil and county of Aberdeen.
He is represented as having attained to some proficiency in the study of the Latin language ; but the school where he imbibed his knowledge has not been particularized. At a proper age he was sent to the University of Aberdeen, and, as the Rev. Mr Perie of Lochlee supposes, was enter- ed a student of Marischal College. As he took
344
the degree of Master of Arts, it may be conclud- ed that his residence amounted to at least four years.
Having quitted the university, he was settled as parochial schoolmaster at Birse in his native county. About the year 1733 he removed to the parish of Lochlee in the county of Forfar or Angus a. Here he spent the rest of his simple and unvariegated life in the proper discharge of his official duties.
Ross's original intention, it may be Conjectured, was to prepare himself for holy orders : in North Britain the ordinary provision of a schoolmaster is so scanty and insufficient, that few individuals who have received a liberal education, can be supposed to regard such a preferment as an honour- able termination of their projects. This scheme, if in reality he ever cherished it, was probably frustrated by the scantiness of his resources. In the exordium of The Fortunate Shepherdess, he exhibits no very splendid picture of his private fortunes :
Come, Spota, thoii tliat anes upon a day
Garr'd Allan Ramsay's hungry heart-strings play
a The passage in Mr Perie's letter to Mr Alexander Campbell is printed thus : " His first settlement was at Birs, where he was admitted" parochial schoolmaster, about the year 1733. He removed to Lochlee, Forfarshire, where," &c. But unless we suppose Ross to have remained unoccupied till he had reached about thirty-three years of age, we ought to read, "About the year 1733, he removed to Lochlee." See Campbell's Introduction to the History of Poetry in Scotland, -p. 285. Edinb. 1798, 4toi
345
The merriest sangs that ever yet were sung j"
Pity anes raair, for I'm outthrow as clung.
'Twas that grim gossip, chandler-chafted want,
With threed-bair claithing and an ambry scant,
Made him cry on thee, to blaw throw his pen
Wi' leed that well might help him to come ben,
And crack amo' the best o' ilka sex,
And shape his houghs to gentle bows and becks.
He wan thy heart, well wordy o't, poor man :
Take yet anither gangrell by the han' :
As gryt's my mister, an' my duds as bare,
And I as sib as he was, ilka hair :
Mak me but half as canny, there's no fear,
Tho' I be auld, but I'll yet gather gear. ,
Part of this description may perhaps be ascribed to poetical exaggeration, though at the same time it cannot be supposed that his comforts were very numerous. In the course of the last fifty years, the salaries of the parish schoolmasters have for the most part dwindled into a pittance inade- quate to supply the wants of a single individual ; and when those of a numerous family are super- added, perpetual misery can hardly fail to ensue.
Ross's pastoral tale entitled Helenore, or the For- tunate Shepherdess, was published at Aberdeen in the year 1768, together with a few Scotish songs. The second edition, which appeared in 1778, he inscribed to the Duchess of Gordon in a strain which seems to acknowledge an antecedent obli- gation. But this obligation, it is more than pro^ bable, was only some instance of condescension :
VOL. II. X x
346
an ingenious poet who was suffered to linger out his life as schoolmaster at Lochlee, cannot be supposed to have received any very substanstial favours.
Sometime after the publication of his poetical works, a commendatory poem, written in the Scotish dialect, was addrest to him in the Aber- deen Journal. This production, which appeared under the name of Oliver Oldstyle, has been con- fidently ascribed to Dr Beattie ; on what found- ation, I know not.
Notwithstanding his advanced age, Ross seems still to have prosecuted his poetical studies. Many of his inedited compositions have, by some acci- dent, fallen into the custody of a bookseller in Edinburgh. They have been represented as un- worthy of the author of The Fortunate Shepherdess. His grandson Mr Thomson informs us that dur- ing " the days of old age and infirmity," he com- posed a poem entitled The Orphan, and signified his intention of committing it to the press toge- ther with others of his productions ; but was prevailed upon by Dr Beattie, one of his best friends, to relinquish a scheme that seemed to endanger the reputation which he had already acquired11. Unless the faults of his dramatic composition, The Shaver, be very numerous, its -publication would certainly gratify the lovers of Scotish poetry.
b Campbell's Introd. to the Hist, of Poetry in Scotland, p. 285.
347
Ross died at Lochlee in the month of May, 1783. Before his removal from Birse, he had en- tered into the matrimonial state. His wife bore him a son and four daughters. Three of his daughters were alive in the year 1798 ; nor have I yet heard of their decease. His grandson the Rev. Alexander Thomson is the present minister of Lentrathan in the county of Forfar.
Ross has been described as a man of simple manners ; of a religious deportment ; assiduous in discharging the duties of his station. And this character, concise as it may appear, will be found to include every essential quality.
THE compositions of Ross exhibit a strange mixture of delicacy and coarseness, of beauty and deformity. Many detached passages are happily written; but to that concentration of powers which produces a finished whole, he seems to have been a total stranger.
His songs are not devoid of merit0 : but his lite- rary character is chiefly to be estimated from an examination of his Fortunate Shepherdess ; a pas- toral tale extending to about one hundred and thirty pages. The story is conducted with very little judgment ; but many of the incidents and
c Some of Ross's pieces have been reprinted in the late Mr Ritson's collection of Scotlsb Songs. Lond. 1794* a vols. iamo,
XX 2
348
descriptions are imprest with the genuine beau- ties of nature. f The general effect is not of the most pleasing kind ; the final separation of the two lovers, and the transference of Helehore to a more wealthy suitor, cannot fail of leaving on the mind a very disagreeable impression. Noy will it be admitted as a sufficient apology for the plan, that such representations are strictly con- formable to real life : in the fields of poetry we are not satisfied with a humiliating repetition of sad realities.
The manners of the poem are neither ancient nor modern, but an incongruous mixture of both. After having taught us to expect a delineation of ancient simplicity, Ross scruples not to intro- duce such descriptive strokes as the following :
And now the priest to join the pair is come, But first is welcomed with — a glass of rum.
Incongruity is his chief and indeed his almost perpetual fault. The very names of his charac- ters, and of the places where he lays the scenes pf his different incidents, are highly exception- able. His happiest thoughts are disfigured by the affectation of a kind of smart and burlesque phraseology.
That such' errors should have been committed by a professional scholar, may be considered as
349
somewhat surprizing. Ross's pastoral tale is how- ever one of those productions which will always continue to delight a numerous class of readers. The celebrated Dr Blacklock, as I have learnt from one of his pupils, regarded it as equal to the pastoral comedy of Ramsay.
THE
LIFE
OF
ALEXANDER G£DDES,LL.D.
THE
LIFE
OF
ALEXANDER GEDDES, LL. D.
1 HE life of Dr Geddes has been written by his learned friend Mr Mason Good, with a copiousness of detail which leaves but little to be supplied, and with an impartiality of sentiment which the enthusiasm of friendship has not very frequently displayed.
Alexander Geddes was born in the year one thousand seven hundred and thirty-seven. His father, who bore the same baptismal name, rented a small farm at Arradowl in the parish of Ruth- ven and county of Banff. . His mother, Janet Mitchell, was a native o£ Nether Dalachy in the. parish of Bellay. His parents, who were of the Romish persuasion, were distinguished by a con- scientious discharge of the duties of their humble
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station. They were Papists without bigotry ; they lived in poverty without being contaminated with meanness. They were animated with that noble ardour of literary ambition which so ho- nourably characterizes the poor people of Scot- land : their darling project was to procure for their son the advantages of a liberal education ; and notwithstanding the discouragements which intervened, their fond anticipations of his future eminence seem to have invested it with many al- lurements.
He was taught to read by a village-schoolmis- tress of the name of Sellar ; whose goodness of heart he was frequently heard to commemorate during the latest years of his life. This worthy tutoress possessed a qualification of the utmost importance in those who undertake the instruc- tion of youth ; namely the power of appreciating the temper and capacity of the pupils : and Dr Geddes, at a more brilliant period of his history, often declared that one of the earliest mental pleasures which he experienced, arose from the marks of distinction with which he had been ho- noured by Dame Sellar.
His love of study discovered itself during his very childhood ; and the first book which excited his eager curiosity was the vulgar English bible. His parents, as he himself informs us, taught him to read it with attention and reverence3. Such
a Geddes's General Answer to Queries, Councils, and Criticisms, p. 2-
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was the ardour of his infant mind, that before he reached the eleventh year of his age, he had com- mitted to memory all the historical parts, " Such," to adopt the language of Dr Johnson, " are the accidents which, sometimes remembered, and perhaps sometimes forgotten, produce that parti- cular designation of mind, and propensity for some certain science or employment, which is commonly called genius. The true genius is a mind of large general powers, accidentally deter- mined to some particular direction. Sir Joshua Reynolds, the great painter of the present age, had the first fondness for his art excited by the perusal of Richardson's treatise5." The future eminence of Dr Geddes as a biblical critic may, without any affectation of superior refinement, be imputed to the trivial circumstance of his fa- ther's scanty library supplying his young and ar- dent curiosity with few books besides the com- mon bible.
From the tuition of Dame Sellar he passed to that of Mr Shearer, a student of Aberdeen, whom the laird of Arradowl had engaged as the domes- tic tutor of his two sons. This gentleman, with a degree of liberality which is not very frequent- ly emulated, admitted young Geddes, as well as other two boys of the same condition, to a gra- tuitous participation of the family discipline.
}> Johnson's Lives of English Poets, vol. i. p. 2.
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One of these pupils was the cousin of the poetr afterwards Dr John Geddes, Bishop of Marroco ; a man who is never mentioned but in terms of respect and approbation0.
At the age of fourteen Alexander Geddes, by the friendly interference of the laird of Arradowl, was admitted into the academy of Scalan, a Ca- tholic seminary in the Highlands intended for the reception of such young men as are afterwards to be qualified for holy orders in some foreign university. In this seminary his studies appear to have been confined to the Latin language.
In the year 1758, when he had reached the age of twenty-one, he was removed to the Uni- versity of Paris. The ship which conveyed him from Aberdeen, was exposed to the imminent hazard of foundering : and on his arrival at Cam- phire he found his strength so much impaired, that he could not safely prosecute his journey without some degree of repose. Arriving at Pa- ris in the month of December, he was admitted into the Scotish college, of which Mr Gordon was at that time principal. To him Geddes was fur- nished with letters of recommendation : but his best recommendation was the strength of his ta- lents.
c A portrait of Bishop Geddes, engraven by Scott, was published at Edinburgh in 1796. — Dr A. Geddes' s brother John, a monk of the order of St Bennet, resides in the Scotish monastery at Wiirzbur
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On several of the courses of lectures delivered in the College of Navarre, which was at that pe, riod in 'high reputation, he was induced to com- mence his immediate attendance. In this semi- nary he entered on the study of rhetoric under Professor Vicaire ; and an excellent capacity joined to unremitting diligence soon placed him at the head of the class. His merit was duly ap- preciated by M. Vicaire, who afterwards honour- ed him with his particular friendship.
Instead of entering, during the second year of his academical course, upon the stcdy of natural philosophy, he was induced by the advice of se- veral friends, as well as by his own predeliction, to apply himself to the immediate study of di- vinity. He attended the theological lectures of M. Bare and M. de Saurent in the College of Navarre, and the prelections of M.T Avocat, Or- leans Professor of Hebrew in the Sorbonne. On the various merits of Professor P Avocat his grateful pupil afterwards bestowed a high eulo- gium. " He had," says Dr Geddes, " a pene- trating genius, an astonishing memory, a cor- rect judgment, and an exquisite taste. He was the most universal scholar, the most pleasant teacher, the most benevolent man, and the most moderate theologian I ever knew d." Their esteem was mutual ; the professor entertained so favourable an opinion of Geddes, that he zea-
d Geddes's Prospectus, p. 120.
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lously endeavoured to persuade him to fix his residence in Paris, and to assist in the public la- bours of the Scotish College. But Geddes had formed, at an early period of his life, the laud- able plan of attempting a new translation of the bible for the use of British Catholics : and for the execution of this plan Paris was not the most convenient situation.
The study of theology did not in the mean time engage his undivided attention. While he remained at the university he is said to have entered deeply into an analysis of the Greek and Latin languages : and it was here that he also commenced his acquaintance with several of the modern tongues. His residence in the French metropolis rendered him perfectly familiar with the language of the country ; and in due time he began to study the Italian, Spanish, German, and Dutch. The mathematical sciences he view- ed with some degree of aversion; but he paid considerable attention to several branches of na- tural and experimental philosophy.
Having continued six years at the university, he returned to Scotland in 1 764. Soon after his arrival in Edinburgh, he was ordered to fix his residence at Dundee in the capacity of an offi- ciating priest. Here however he did not long remain; for in May, 1765, he became the do- mestic chaplain of the Earl of Traquair. " On
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leaving the university," says Geddes, " I was fortunately placed in a nobleman's family, where I had plenty of time and a tolerable library to enable me to continue my favourite study e." His favourite study was biblical criticism ; a study which he pursued during every period of his life with an enthusiastic ardour to which the present age has not afforded many parallels.
Having remained in the hospitable mansion of Lord Traquair for upwards of twelve months, the pleasing tranquillity which he had hitherto enjoyed began to be interrupted by an occurrence of a somewhat remarkable nature. " A female relation of the noble earl," says his learned bio- grapher, " was at this time a coresident in the house, and constituted a part of the family. The merit of Mr Geddes was prominent ; her own charms and the regard she openly professed for him were not less so : too soon he felt himself the prey of an impression which he well knew it was not possible for him to indulge, and Buxtorff wras in danger of being supplanted by Ovid. He turned philosopher : but it was in vain ; self- expostulation was useless ; and the well-meditated resolutions of a day were often put to flight in a moment. But one step remained to be taken : he embraced it ; and, with more hardihood than is often necessary to obtain a victory, sounded a
f- Geddes's General Answer, p. 3.
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retreat. He had made, perhaps too hastily, vow of religious celibacy, and its sanctity was not to be trifled with. Of two evils he had still the consolation to think that he had chosen the least ; and with much reluctance of heart, but an approving and sustaining conscience, he abruptly broke away from the delightful shades and the more delightful conversations of Tweed- dale, in less than two years after his arrival there ; and leaving behind him a beautiful but confi- dential little poem, and as such not to be conu municated in the present narrative, entitled The Confessional, addressed to the fair yet innocent author of his misfortunes, he once more took leave of his native country, and tried to forget himself amidst the greater varieties and volatili- ties of Paris f."
This metropolis had never presented him with many allurements; and the present state of his mind rendered him incapable of fixing his attention on any particular object. This gene- ral dissipation of thought did not however pre- vent him. from renewing his visits to the public libraries, and enriching his portfolio with a va- riety of extracts relative to biblical criticism.
After an absence of eight or nine months, he returned to his native country in the spring of
t Good's Memoirs of the Life and Writings of the Rev. Alexander Geddes, LL.D. p. 29. LoncL 1803, 8vo, .
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1769 ; and was now entrusted with the charge of a congregation at Auchinhalrig in the county of Banff. His new situation was by no means splen- did or attractive. The parsonage-hous£ and the chapel were verging towards a state of absolute ruin ; and the poverty of the congregation did not seem to insure their speedy restitution. The number of the members, as well as their pious zeal, was experiencing a gradual diminution : and the peace of the community was disturbed by the rancour which subsisted between them- selves, and which they displayed towards their Protestant neighbours. Such circumstances as these might have discouraged a man of ordinary resolution ; but they only tended to stimulate the ardent and benevolent mind of Geddes to a pro- per pitch of exertion. At his suggestion the old chapel was demolished, and another erected on the same spot ; and the parsonage-house, not- withstanding its ruinous aspect, was at length converted into a pleasant and commodious resi- dence. He not only undertook the superintendence of the various workmen employed, but even bore a part in their labours. Geddes, although a pro- found scholar and a sagacious critic, was at the same time a skilful gardener arid a dexterous car- penter: and in the execution of the plans in which he was at present engaged, these last qualifications were of no small importance. By his spirited exertions he at length found himself possest of a VOL. II, 7, 7
cottage and garden adequate to his simple and unambitious wishes. His house, if not remark- able for its splendour, was more solidly orna- mented by the hospitality of the owner. The various duties of Christian charity he practised more religiously than most of the saints in the Romish calendar : in judging of the character and conduct of others, he exercised a high de- gree of liberality ; and he was ready on all occa- sions to relieve the indigent according to the ut- most extent of his limited power. The affabi- lity of the man, and the assiduity of the pas- tor, excited sentiments of affectionate regard in every member of his congregation. The repu- tation which he had already acquired for exten- sive learning, not only secured him the unre- served confidence of his own flock, but also re- commended him to the friendship of several in- diduals distinguished by their rank or by their literary eminence. The principal object to which he endeavoured to render his increasing popula- rity subservient, was to banish the unchristian rancour which subsisted among his auditors, as well as between them and their brethren of the Protestant community. Of the gross illiberality of party zeal his enlarged mind was altogether incapable : a candid and attentive study of the scriptures and of ecclesiastical antiquities had enabled him to subdue the powerful prejudices of education ; and he was extremely solicitous to
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communicate the beneficial result of his exten- sive researches to the ignorant Catholics who composed his numerous congregation. The mum- meries of Popery he despised as heartily as any Presbyterian. He exhorted his auditory to study the scriptures, and to exercise the right of pri- vate judgment.
These manly exertions were not altogether in- effectual : but such a tenor of conduct was so far from recommending him to the Popish cler- gy, that it only exposed him to their resentment. His diocesan, one Hay, threatened to suspend him from his clerical functions, unless he should afterwards walk with greater circumspection, and preserve himself uncontaminated by heretical intercourse. The chief delinquency with which he was charged by the titular bishop, wa f'is oc- casional appearance in the church of his Protest- ant friend Mr Crawford, the worthy minister of an adjoining parish. The notification which he thus received, produced an epistolary correspond- ence with Hay ; in which we may readily con- jecture that the advantage lay on the side of the simple priest. The imprudent menaces of the puny dignitary he treated with contempt ; and their execution was deferred till a future occa- sion.
While Geddes was thus employed in the con- scientious discharge of his Christian duties, and was thus reaping the too-common reward of in-
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tcgrity, he was exposed to the additional fication of pecuniary embarrassment. For the different debts contracted in rebuilding the cha- pel and in repairing the parsonage-house, he had become personally responsible : and as he had relied on the liberality of future contributions with a confidence of which he afterwards found reason to repent, he was now involved in diffi- culties from which he could perceive but little probability of being speedily extricated. His sti- pend was far from being ample ; and he was ha- rassed by the perpetual demands of the workmen who had been employed. From these embarrass- ments however he wras happily released by the generosity of the late Duke of Norfolk. This Catholic nobleman, who had been apprized of the learning and zeal of the honest priest, and had exprest a wish to cultivate his personal ac- quaintance, was soon presented with an oppor- tunity, through the friendly intervention of the Earl of Traquair. He was no sooner aware of the speculation in which Geddes had incautious- ly involved himself, than he undertook to relieve him from the difficulties by which it h^d been followed.
The recollection of his late distress inspired him with a temporary gust of wrorldly wisdom ; a principle to which very few of his actions could ever be referred. With the view of increasing Ijis scanty income, he undertook the manage*
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ment of a small farm at Enzie in Fouchabers. Having been enabled to stock it by means of a loan, he began his agricultural operations with his accustomed ardour ; and in the sanguine anti- cipation of his innocent mind he had already be- come a man of opulence. As a mind of this complexion seldom acknowledges any material distinction between expectation and possession, he speedily began to act as if he had realized his golden dream. He erected, almost entirely at his own expence, a neat and commodious chapel in the immediate vicinity of his farm-house : and as the distance between Enzie and Auchinhalrig is not considerable, he himself undertook the charge of both congregations. His agricultural speculation did not however produce all the ad- vantages which he had expected. It was about the year 1775 that he entered on the possession of his farm ; and in the year 1778 he again found himself surrounded by many formidable difficul ties. His harvests had brought him but a scanty increase ; the, arrears of his debts contracted in the erection of his chapel werestili undischarged ; and the interest of the money which he had bor rowed for the purpose of completing his stock, was perpetually accumulating.
Although he might relish an occasional inter- change of study and rural labour, yet it cannot be supposed that a mind so enlightened as his could stqop to the diurnal regulation of a paltry
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farm. Instead of directing his principal atten- tion to the schemes of a plodding agriculturist, he was at this time deeply engaged in philologi- cal researches, and by way of relaxation from his severer studies, was incidentally employed in the cultivation of his poetical talents. By his qualifi- cations as a scholar he endeavoured to supply his deficiencies as a farmer ; and his first experiment was attended with a degree of success which sur- prized no person more than himself. In the year 1779 he published " Select Satires of Horace, translated into English Verse, and, for the most part, adapted to the Present Times and Man- ners." This work was punted at London in a quarto form ; and produced him a profit of nearly one hundred pounds. Several of the satires are addrest to real characters ; one is inscribed to Mr Burke, another to Dr Beattie. They are nine in number, and written in the Hudibrastic mea- sure. Many of his sketches are spritely and en- tertaining ; and although his diction is sometimes deficient in elegance, yet the versification is flow- ing and easy.
The sum of which he thus became possest, he immediately applied to the liquidation of his ar- rears : and the additional aid of some of his zea- lous friends enabled him to restore his affairs to a proper state of arrangement.
About this period the daughter of Count Mur- ray of Melgum had been married to Lord Find-
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later : and Mr Geddes was easily induced to un- dertake the task of instructing her in the English language, with which her foreign education had left her unacquainted. This new connection led him to form an intimate friendship with the Rev. Mr Buchanan, who had formerly been tutor to Lord Findlater, and who was at this time mi- nister of Cullen. Geddes, who found him possest of good sense and liberality, did not hesitate oc- casionally to attend the church in which he offi- ciated : and this departure from the general bi- gotry of his Catholic brethren exposed him to the angry expostulations of Bishop Hay. The acri- monious rebukes and menaces of this zealot he treated with that contempt which they merited : but the threats which had repeatedly been level- led against him, were at length carried into exe- cution ; he was suspended from the exercise of his clerical functions within the limits of Bishop 'Hay's diocese.
This sentence did not occasion much regret in the conscientious priest : for he had already form- ed the resolution of abandoning his present situa- tion for the prospects of a literary adventurer; and had only been prevented from executing his scheme by the warmth of his attachment to his spiritual flock. The measure which he had vo- luntarily projected, he was now compelled to adopt. Towards the close of the year 1779 ^e communicated his intention to each of his con-
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gregations : they received his resignation \v mixed sensations of affliction for the irreparable loss which they were about to sustain, and of indignation against the individual by whose acri- monious zeal it was occasioned. " He took," says Mr Good, " a most affectionate leave of them; and such was the enthusiastic regard with which his courteousness, his kindness, his perpetual atten- tion to the duties of his office, and especially to the instruction of the younger branches of his flock, had inspired them, that, at the sale of his household goods at Enzie, every one pressed for- ward to testify, by an extravagant bidding, his veneration and love, as well as to obtain posses- sion of some monument of a man whose name and character were so justly dear to them. I am told, by a lady who was present upon the occa- sion, that the most insignificant articles of furni- ture, even cups and saucers, though imperfect or broken, were caught at with the utmost avidity ; and that the people appeared to prize the differ- ent lots they were fortunate enough to procure, rather as relics of a patron saint than as memo- rials of a beloved pastor g."
The Catholics of Auchinhalrig and Foucha- bers were not the only individuals who regretted the departure of Geddes from his native country : he had endeared himself in an equal degree to
8 Good's Life of Geddes, p. 54.
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many persons of the Protestant community ; and had already acquired no inconsiderable reputa- tion as a man of learning. He had contracted a friendship with Dr Beattie and many other mem- bers of the University of Aberdeen ; by which he was now honoured, in the beginning of the year 1780, with the degree of Doctor of Laws.
He immediately proceeded to London in com- pany with the Earl of Traquair ; through whose friendly interference he was invited to officiate in the chapel of the imperial ambassador. The recommendatory letters with which he was in- trusted, introduced him to the acquaintance of many literary characters of distinction ; and he also experienced no slight gratification in finding a ready access to several public and private li* braries. He now reverted to his early plan of a new translation of the bible ; and a fortunate incident soon occurred to render this plan more practicable than it had hitherto appeared. The Duchess of Gordon, with whom he had become acquainted in Scotland, sent him an invitation for the express purpose of being introduced to Lord Petre ; a munificent nobleman who had long regretted the want of a proper English ver- sion for the use of his fellow Catholics. Lord Petre was persuaded that in Dr Geddes he had found a scholar capable of executing his favour- ite project ; and with a generosity which ought to be recorded to his perpetual honour, engaged VOL. II, 3 A
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to allow him an annual salary of two hundred pounds, and to defray whatever expences might be incurred in collecting a suitable apparatus of biblical literature. Of this instance of genuine liberality Dr Geddes afterwards expressed him- self in the following manner : " Providence threw me into the arms of such a patron as Origen him- self might have been proud to boast of ; a patron who, for these ten years past, has with a dignity peculiar to himself, afforded me every conveni- ency that my heart could desire towards the car- rying on and completing of my arduous work h."
He immediately began a general survey of his adventurous undertaking ; and before the close of the year 1780, published his " Idea of a New Ver- of the Holy Bible, for the Use of the English Catholics.'* It was his present intention to trans- late from the vulgate, and even to adopt Dr Chaloner's edition of the Douay version as the general basis of his own : but he afterwards found, as he candidly acknowledges, that this was an absurd idea ; and that by patching and piecing what had already been pieced and patched, he should exhibit a composition of a very motley texture.
His connection with the imperial ambassador closed with the present year. The service in the chapel was discontinued at the command of the emperor.
h Geddes's General Answer, p. 4..
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During the ensuing summer he paid a Visit to Scotland ; and before his return, published a poem entitled " Linton, a Tweedale Pastoral." The subject of this pastoral, which was printed at Edinburgh in quarto, is the birth of Lord Tra- quair's eldest son ; an event which took place during the visit which Dr Geddes was now pay- ing to his early patron. Before his return to London, he accompanied the earl and countess in a tour to the south of France.
About this period the fanatical part of the nation was violently alarmed by Sir George Savile's ' celebrated bill in favour of the Roman Catholics : and the members of that community were furiously attacked in many absurd and abusive pamphlets. One John Williams had published " A Full Detection of Popery, and Defence of a Protestant Barrier to be preserved by a more general Association of Protestants ;" which drew from the formidable pen of Dr Geddes a series of " Cursory Remarks on a late Fanatical Publication entitled A Full Detection of Popery, &-c. submitted to the candid perusal of the liberal minded of every denomination." The latter of these tracts was printed at London in 1783.
It was in the course of this year that he be- came acquainted with Dr Kennicott, a scholar
3 A brief sketch of the life and character of this virtuous and disinter- ested politician may be found in Mr Wyvill's Political Pafcrtftol.iv. p. 553.
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whom he has commemorated in terms of grateful remembrance. " I had hardly made known my design," says Geddes, " when he anticipated my wishes to have his advice and assistance towards the execution of it, with a degree of unreserved frankness and friendship which I had never be- fore experienced in a stranger. Not contented with applauding and encouraging me himself, he pushed me forwards from my obscurity to the notice of others : he spoke of me to Barrington ; he in- troduced me to Lowth. The very short time he lived, after my acquaintance with him, and the few opportunities I had of profiting from his conversation, are distressing reflections : but still I count it a happiness to have been acquainted with a man, whose labours I have daily occasion to bless, and whose memory I must ever revere j." Dr Lowth suggested to him the propriety of submitting to public inspection a copious pro- spectus of the plan which he proposed to follow in his translation. A work of this description he immediately undertook; and after it was com- pleted, he communicated his manuscript to the bishop, accompanying it with a request that he would mark with a black theta such passages as might appear exceptionable. The answer which he received was highly gratifying to his feelings as an author : " The Bishop of London presents his compliments to Dr Geddes, and returns, with thanks, his Prospectus, which he has read with some
I Geddes's Prospectus, p. 143.
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care and attention, and with the fullest approba- tion. He finds no room for black thetas : and he doubts not that it will give universal satisfac- tion. He cannot help wishing that Dr Geddes would publish it : it would not only answer his design of introducing his work, but would really be a useful and edifying treatise for young stu- dents in divinity k."
In the year 1786 Dr Geddes visited the Uni- versity of Glasgow ; where he employed himself in collating a valuable and well-preserved Octa- teuch l. In the mean time he was superintending the impression of his " Prospectus of a New Trans- lation of the Holy Bible from Corrected Texts of the Originals, compared with the Ancient Versions : with Various Readings, Explanatory Notes, and Critical Observations." This excellent work was printed at Glasgow in a quarto form ; and met, as the author informs us, " with a reception which could not but be flattering to an obscure indivi- dual, whose name was hardly known in the re- public of letters." It is inscribed to his excellent patron Lord Petre, " as the first fruits of many years of painful labour, in the pleasing hope of being, one day, able to lay before him the whole harvest." Among the eminent characters to whom he takes occasion to acknowledge his obli- gations for the encouragement which they had
k Geddes's Address to the Public, p. 8. l Geddes's Prospectus, p. 39.
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afforded his design, we find the names of his countrymen Principal Robertson, Dr Reid, and Bishop Douglas. To his amiable cousin Dr John Geddes he has also offered a public tribute of esteem : " Bp. Geddes of Edinburgh will likewise permit me to say, that his early and warm appro- bation of my plan made me undertake it with more alacrity and pursue it with greater ardour. His prudent advices and seasonable encourage- ment have often given a new stimulus to my spirits in the midst of my labours, and sometimes supported me under their almost oppressive load. I trust, from his long uninterrupted friendship, that he will continue the same good offices, until I shall have fairly discharged myself of the heavy burthen ; and I foresee I shall yet stand in need of such good offices1"."
On the first of November, 1785, the Society of the Antiquaries of Scotland had enrolled Dr Geddes among their correspondent members n ; and on this occasion he composed an ingenious Scotish poem of considerable extent. The only volume which the society has hitherto published includes
m Geddes's Prospectus, p. 145.
n Smellie's Historical Account of the Society of the Antiquaries of Scot- land, p. 30. — Mr Good's account of Dr Geddes's connection with this society seems to be completely erroneous. " Dr Geddes," he affirms, " had taken a very active part in the institution, as well by his personal attendance as by his pen." (Life of Geddes, p. 58.) But it appears from Mr Smellie's chronological lists that Dr Geddes never was an ordinary member.
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" Three Scottish Poems, with a previous Disserta- tion on the Scoto-Saxon Dialect ; by the Rev. Alexander Geddes, LL. D." This volume was printed at Edinburgh in 1792.
During the year 1787 he published "A Let- ter to the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of London ; containing Queries, Doubts, and Diffi- culties, relative to a Vernacular Version of the Holy Scriptures : being an Appendix to a Pro- spectus of a New Translation," &c. Before the close of this year he published a " Letter to the Rev. Dr Priestley ; in which the author attempts to prove, by one Prescriptive Argument, that the Divinity of Jesus Christ was a Primitive Tenet of Christianity." His " Letter to a Member of Parliament, on the Case of the Protestant Dissent- ers ; and the Expediency of a General Repeal of all Penal Statutes that. regard Religious Opi- nions," was also printed in the year 1787 : but as he suspected that it might have a tendency to injure the cause of the Dissenters which was at that time impending in parliament, he delayed its publication till the question was finally deter- mined.
The Analytical Review commenced in the year 1788 : and as he had now attained a high degree of celebrity, he was solicited to enlist himself as a stated contributor. This literary journal opens with the first part of a critique on De Rossi's Vari<r
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Lectiones, which was written by Dr Geddes. He also reviewed several other works of importance ; and, among the rest, Dr Campbell's translation of the four gospels, and Mr Wakefield's Sylva Critica. The articles which he is known to have contributed amount to the number of forty-seven : and Mr Good has remarked, that *' Dr Geddes, in his connexion with the Analytical Review, during a period of five years and a half, accom- panied it throughout its best days : and when the reader learns that its success was progressive as long as his assistance was extended to it, and that it gradually declined from the date of his seces- sion, he will surely allow me, without the charge of undue panegyric, to attribute no small portion of its fairest reputation to himself0. To other periodical publications he was an occasional con* tributor. Some of his shorter poems were printed in The Monthly Magazine.
It was during this year that he published " Proposals for Printing by Subscription a New Translation of the Holy Bible, from Corrected Texts of the Originals ; with Various Readings, Explanatory Notes, and Critical Observations."
" Dr Geddes's General Answer to the Queries, Councils, and Criticisms, that hav7e been com- municated to him since the Publication of his Proposals for Printing a New Translation of the
0 Good's Life of Geddes, p. 192. — Mr Good has exhibited a catalogue of the various articles contributed by Dr Geddes.
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Bible," appeared in 1790: and during the same year he published " An Answer to the Bishop of Comana's Pastoral Letter ; by a Protesting Catho- lic ;" " A Letter to the R. R. the Archbishops and Bishops of England ; pointing out the only Sure Means of Preserving the Church from the Dangers that now threaten her : by an Upper- Graduate ;" " Carmen Saeculare pro Gallica Gen- te Tyrannidi Aristocraticae Erepta;" and an " Epistola Macaronica ad Fratrem, de iis qua? gesta sunt in nupero Dissentientium Conventu." This last work is justly regarded as the happiest of his sportive effusions. The wit and humour which it displays have obtained that high degree of applause to which they are entitled. Within a few weeks after its first appearance he pub- lished a second edition of the Epistola Macaronica, accompanied with an English translation, for which he professes to be indebted to some friend. Before the close of this busy year he likewise printed u Carmen Secular e, &c. A Secular Ode on the French Revolution, translated from the original Latin."
In 1791 appeared an " Encyclical Letter of the Bishops of Rama, Acanthos, and Centuria^, to the Faithful Clergy and Laity of their respective Districts ; with a continued Commentary for the Use of the Vulgar." This commentary pro- ceeded from the masterly pen of Dr Geddes ; who, with his accustomed liberality of sentiment.
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bore a conspicuous part in the controversy whic at this time subsisted among the English Catho- lics. The year at which we are now arrived, passed without any other literary exertion. He was siezed with a dangerous fever ; and after he had begun to recover, accepted of a friendly in- vitation to visit Lord Petre's seat in Norfolk. In the country he spent a great part of the summer and autumn. About the beginning of the year 1792 he published "A Norfolk Tale; or, a Journal from London to Norwich : with a Pro- logue and an Epilogue p." This poem betrays evident symptoms of hasty composition ; but it occasionally exhibits the characteristic features of Dr Geddes's mind.
During the same year he produced an ironical " Apology for Slavery; or, Six Cogent Arguments against the Immediate Abolition of the Slave- Trade ;" a poem entitled " L'Avocat du Diable : the Devil's Advocate ; or Satan versus Pictor : tried before the Court of Uncommon Pleas ;" and " The first book of the Iliad of Homer, verbally rendered into English Verse ; being a Specimen
P The publication of this poem Mr Good has inaccurately referred to the year 1794. &y means of the first edition, which is printed in octavo, 1 have been enabled to correct this part of his narrative. The dedica- tion is dated January the first, 1791. For the use of this edition of the Norfolk Tale, and for many other instances of politeness, I am indebted to the Rev. THOMAS JERVIS of Gray's Iffn Square; who enjoyed the personal acquaintance of Dr Geddes, and could appreciate his literary as well as his moral attainments.
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of a New Translation of that Poet : with Critical Annotations." Cowper's translation of Homer had lately made its appearance, without gratify- ing the high expectations which had been ex- cited. Dr Geddes, like many other readers, was completely disgusted q ; and in a fit of undue exasperation, says his biographer, declared that he would himself translate Homer, and convince the world that it was possible to preserve suffi- cient elegance of versification, without relinquish- ing either the order, epithets, or phraseology of the original. This however was a wild attempt: and after having produced the first book of the Iliad as a specimen, he never reverted to his rash project.
The subject of The Devil's Advocate, a poem which displays a considerable share of humour, was a notable action for damages, brought before the court of King's Bench against Dr Wolcott, at the instance of the notorious Lord Lonsdale. The satirist had insinuated in one of his publications,
fc
q Of Cowper's original productions he however entertained a very favourable opinion: and in his elegy on the death of Waken" eld, he has accordingly assigned him an honourable station among the poets :
Illic sublimis spectabilis umbra Lucreti,
Magnifice scriptis jam decorata tuis : Illic Miltonus, Popius, Drydenus, et ille
Naturae potuit qui reserare sinus, Shaksperius ; secus ac Cowperus, fiebilis iste,
Oreo quern ante diem bills acerba dedit.
36 2
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that Mr Fuseli, after having long been in of a human figure which might assist his concep- tions in sketching a picture of the Devil, at length cast his eyes on that of the illustrious peer.
These multifarious excursions into the different provinces of literature did not materially divert his attention from his great plan. It was in the year 1792 that he published the first volume of " The Holy Bible, or the Books accounted Sacred by Jews and Christians ; otherwise called the Books of the Old and New Covenants ; faithfully translated from Corrected Texts of the Originals : with various Readings, Explanatory Notes, and Critical Remarks."
Dr Geddes had hitherto resided in furnished lodgings in different parts of the metropolis : but as his library had now received many large aug- mentations, he found it expedient to remove to a house of his own. About this time he according- ly engaged a house in Allsop's Buildings, New Road, Mary-le-bone : and in preparing the neces- sary accommodations, he vigorously resumed the mechanical labours in which he had formerly ex- erted his skill r. Having provided himself with a large chest of carpenter's tools, and a proper stock of deals and mahogany, his first care was to com-
r Various other scholars have amused themselves with mechanical operations. Dr Whyte of Oxford is the printer of some of his own works ; and Dr Hill of Dublin can boast of many splendid books entirely bound by himself.
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plete the economy of a library ; into which he speedily transformed every apartment of the house, except the kitchen and a chamber for the housekeeper. His drawing-room, parlour, and other, rooms, were adorned with hanging shelves ; and one apartment, intended for a study, was ar- ranged with superior assiduity. The shelves, which he contrived to edge wi ii mahogany, were finished with a considerable degree of elegance. He was possest of a garden before as well as be~ hind his house ; and to its cultivation he devoted his leisure hours after he had completed the ar- rangement of his books. Here he is said to have toiled with all the industry of a labourer, and with all the zeal of a botanist. In the front of his mansion he erected a green-house with his own hands ; and furnished it with exotic plants from the conservatories of his friends. During the winter months his green-house afforded him con- siderable amusement : for the improvement of its internal economy, his fertile fancy was perpetually suggesting new plans ; and their execution drew Jiim into a salutary relaxatiqn from severer pur- suits.
To the endearing intercourse of social life he also devoted a due portion of his time. " No man," says Mr Good, " was fonder of society than himself, and excepting when under the influence of high-wrought irritability, no man was possess- ed of more companionable qualities. His anec-
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dote was always ready, his wit always brilliant : there was an originality of thought, a shrewdnes of remark, an epigrammatic turn of expression in almost every thing which escaped him, that was sure to captivate his companions, and to induce those who had once met him, notwithstanding his habitual infirmity, to wish earnestly to meet him again V
Dr Geddes had contemplated the progress of the French revolution with a degree of anxious anticipation, which a man of his unbounded bene- volence could not fail to experience. In the year 1793 he composed other two secular odes, and printed them with a second edition of the former, under the title of " Carmina Saecularia Tria, pro tribus celeberrimis Libertatis Gallicae Epochis." But such was the political violence of the times, that he was strenuously advised by his friends to defer their publication till a more propitious period. They were accordingly supprest till the close of the late war.
His " Ver-Vert ; or the Parrot of Nevers ; a toem in four books, freely translated from the French of J. B. Cresset/' was published during the same year. The title-page mentions Oxford as the place of publication. He had completed his version before he was aware that the poem had already been translated by John Gilbert Cooper.
$ Good's Life of Geddes, p. 31^.
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Both these translations are undoubtedly executed with considerable dexterity. Cooper has perhaps selected a more suitable measure ; and has com- monly proceeded with greater felicity than his successor.
" Doctor Geddes's Address to the Public, on the Publication of the first Volume of his New Translation of the Bible," also made its appearance in the year 1793. This is a sensible and manly production ; in which he repels the many illiberal attacks that had been made on his personal character.
The most violent animosity which he expe- rienced in the progress of his great work, was manifested by the British Catholics, for whose very benefit it will be recollected that his version was professedly undertaken. Although he had not affixed his name to the pamphlets which he published relative to the late application to par- liament, he was sufficiently known to the bigotted party as their author : and this circumstance could not fail of increasing the malignity with which he had already begun to be viewed. " Even before my Prospectus appeared," says Geddes, " my very intentions were scrutinized and suspected. What- ever impartiality I might profess, they could not but think that I meant to favour the cause of Protestancy, and that my Bible (as they termed it) would turn out to be a Protestant Bible. They knew me to be one whose principles were not sa'ictly orthodox; who lavished praises on
384
heretics and heresiarchs; who associated wit Churchmen, Dissenters, Socinians ; who indulged paradoxes ; who laughed at rosaries, scapulars, agnus Deis, blessed medals, indulgences, obiits, dirges, &c. ; who was an enemy to religious orders, hostile to the pope's prerogatives, disre- spectful of his vicars, and an open abettor of pro- fane innovations ! Thus blending some truth with much falsehood, they worked up a medle of imputations, which could not fail to make deep impression on the minds of their credulous devotees ; who have generally no other criterion to judge of men or books, but the au7»? <.$* of their good directors. Here the directed seem to have taken their lesson well. They siezed on the wholesale cargo,, and carefully retailed it, with some small adulterations, among their friends and familiars : - the mouth of every devotee was con- verted into a trumpet of defamation.
" The publication of my Prospectus seems for a while to have blunted the shafts of slander, and softened the fierceness of the foe. It was not, in- deed, what they had expected ; at least, not what they wished it to be : and, on that occasion, some of them joined or affected to join in the general applause. But the demon of rancour soon re- turned to take possession of his former hold ; and, one would think, brought along with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself. My letters to the Bishop of London and to Dr Priestley, the
n
r •
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few Critical Remarks that accompanied my Pro- posals and specimen, and my General Answer to my correspondents, but especially my known at- tachment to the Catholic committee, and appro- bation of their measures, stirred up the half- smothered embers, and rekindled the latent sparks of enmity into an open and running confla- gration V
In a pastoral letter signed by Walmsley, Gib- son, and Douglass, the respective vicars aposto- lic of the western, northern, and London districts, the use and reception of his translation was for- mally prohibited to the faithful committed to their spiritual jurisdiction. This prohibition was evidently dictated by the malignant spirit of party : and Dr Geddes immediately apprized Bishop Douglass, in whose district he resided, of his resolution to expose the futilities, false reason- ings, and rash assertions, with which the pastoral letter abounds. On this subject he bestows a paragraph in his Address to the Public. He again wrote to the prelate for the purpose of signifying his intentions ; and at the same time communi- cated to him the passage regarding the prohibi- tion. The answer which he received is couched in the following terms :
c Geddes's Address to the Public, p. 9.
VOL. II. 3 C
386
" London, June 27,' 1793. " SIR,
" Since it is evident from your letter to me that you adhere to and maintain the doctrines, which were censured by the Pastoral Letter, to which you allude ; unless you signify to me, in writ- ing, on or before Friday the fifth day of July next, your submission to observe the injunction contain- ed in the 2ist page of the said Pastoral Letter, viz. ' We prohibit our clergy, in particular, from preaching, teaching, maintaining, or supporting any of the aforesaid condemned opinions,' I here- by declare you suspended from the exercise of your orders in the London district.
" JOHN DOUGLASS, Vicar Apostolic."
To this foolish epistle Dr Geddes replied with his usual intrepidity. His letter is too remark- able to be excluded from a place in these pages.
" June 28, 1793. " MY LORD,
" I thank you for having so readi- ly answered my last letter, if that may be called an answer, which you have been pleased to re- turn. It is certainly not the answer I expected : however, as it is an answer, and a prompt answer, I am satisfied : it is probably the best you could make ; and ad impossible nemo tenetur.
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" From your profound silence as to the main object of my letter, I may fairly conclude that my complaints were just, and my suspicions well founded : so I will not press your Lordship fur- ther on that topic. But, my Lord, I must take the liberty to tell you, that you most grievously mistake, when you say, that 4 it is evident, from my letter to you, that I adhere to and maintain the doctrines which were censured in the Pasto- ral Letter.' This, my Lord, is not only not evi- dent, but utterly false. — In my whole letter, I have not said a word about those doctrines, much less have I testified my adherence to them, and still less yet have I maintained them. I have in- deed called Sir John Throckmorton's work an ex- cellent one ; and so I deem it : but has your Lordship yet to learn, that a work may be ex- cellent on the whole, and yet exceptionable in some of its parts ? I think the Annals of Baro- nius on the whole an excellent work, although there are more than twice twelve propositions in it which I highly disapprove. Hume's History of England I take to be the very best work of its kind ; but do I, for that, adhere to or maintain all the principles of Hume ? Truly this may be lo- gic at Rome or Valladolid ; but it will never do in the meridian of London.
" By calling Sir John's book an excellent work, then, I have not expressed my adherence to any one of the propositions which you have censured
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in it — rBut I have said, * You could not answer his book.' — 1 say so again, my Lord ; at least I have yet seen no answer to it : and indeed, if you could have answered it, I hardly think you would have had recourse to censure. My saying then, that you could not answer it, is no evident proof, is no proof at all, that I adhere to the doc- trines which you have censured in it. Whether I really do adhere to those doctrines, or not, is another question ; which has nothing to do with our present correspondence : I may, possibly, let you into the secret on some other occasion : all that I now assert, is, that there is no sort of evi- dence before your Lordship that I adhere to or maintain the foresaid doctrines : consequently, my Lord, your hypothetical declaration is absurd, abusive, and premature.
" But perhaps, my Lord, you wish to have ano- ther occasion of exercising your episcopal autho- rity, and of playing with censures, as children do with a new ball. I wish your Lordship much joy of the bauble : but, beware, my Lord, beware of playing too often with it. — Read St Chrysostom on ecclesiastical censures; and learn from him a little more moderation. Permit an old priest to tell you that it is a very great ornament in a young bishop. — As to myself, my Lord, I am not afraid of your censures, as long as I am conscious that I deserve them not. I will never submit to the injunction contained in the list page of your
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Pastoral Letter, because I deem it a rash, ridicu- lous, and informal injunction. If this you think a sufficient reason for declaring me suspended from the exercise of my orders in the London district, much good may that declaration do you ! The truth is, I exercise no pastoral function in your district : I have neither taught, preached, nor ad- ministered any sacrament in it for many years back : I have not even said prayers in any pub- lic chapel for six years at least. To oblige a friend or two, I have sometimes, not often, said private prayers at their houses : but since you seem to envy me the pleasure of obliging a friend, I forego that too. The chief Bishop of our souls is always accessible ; and, through him, I can at all times have free access to the Father ; who will not reject me but for voluntary unrepented crimes. In the panoply of conscious innocence, the whole thunder of the Vatican would in vain be levelled at my head.
" You see, my Lord, that I have not required even the short time you grant me, to signify my disposition to submit to the injunction in your Pastoral Letter. Such a submission, my Lord, will never be made by
" ALEX. GEDDES, « A Priest of the Catholic Church."
About the beginning of the following year, the
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answer with which he had threatened the prag- matical prelate was published under the title of a " Letter from the Rev. Alexander Geddes, LL. D. to the Right Rev. John Douglass, Bishop of Centu- riae, and Vicar Apostolic in the London District."
Notwithstanding the energy which he display- ed in repelling this illiberal attack, the repeated attempts of his numerous enemies were not com- pletely ineffectual. The unmerited treatment which he experienced did not fail to interrupt the tranquillity of his mind : and about this pe- riod his literary plans were prosecuted with a ma- terial diminution of ardour. The despondency which was superinduced sunk him into a linger- ing illness ; from which he was not without much difficulty retrieved by the persevering assiduity and animating efforts of his anxious friends. It was not till after a considerable interval that he was able to resume his more profound studies : the works which he produced in the mean time, were of a light and fugitive nature.
In 1795 he published an " Ode to the Hon. Thomas Pelham, Esq. occasioned by his Speech in the Irish House of Commons on the Catholic Bill ;" and, in the following year, a burlesque paraphrase of a ridiculous sermon preached by J)t Goulthurst on the anniversary of his Majesty's accession. Dr Geddes's work bears the following title : " A Sermon, preached before the University nf Cambridge, by H. W. C 1, D. D. &c. :
391
published by request : and now, (for the sake of freshmen and the laity,) by request translated into English Metre, by H. W, Hopkins, A. M." This humorous production he is said to have finished in the space of about three days.
In 1797 he published '* The Battle of B — ng— ~ r; or the Church's Triumph; a Comic-Heroic Poem, in nine cantos." The subject of this poem was suggested by the notable contest between Bishop Warren and Mr Grindley. The author professes to regard Boileau and Pope as his models :
The peerless prelate who, with well-aimM thrust, Laid a presumptuous layman in the dust, Chased from the precincts of the sacred fane A registrar rebellious, rash, and vain, Who dared 'gainst heav'n uplift his lawless rod, And bid defiance to the sons of God, I sing. Be present, Muse of Despreaux, And make my numbers like his numbers flow ; Or rather, still more powerful succors bring j A greater hero, mightier deeds I sing. And thou, sweet riymph of a more noble stock, Who taught our bard to sing Belinda's lock, Vouchsafe on these more humble strains to smile, And let them live, at least a little while.
The Battle of Eangor is undoubtedly the most finished of Dr Geddes's English poems. The ge- neral plan is arranged with considerable skill ; and the descriptions and images are often fanci-
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ful and poetical. The diction however is not uni- formly elegant.
During the same year he published the second volume of his translation of the bible. The first volume he had dedicated to his generous patron Lord Petre: this he inscribed " To her Royal Highness the Duchess of Gloucester, an early, spontaneous, and liberal encourager of the work."
In 1798 he published " A New Year's Gift to the Good People of England ; being a Sermon, or something like a Sermon, in Defence of the Present War: preached on the day of Public Thanksgiving, by Polemophilus Brown, Curate of
P n ;" and in 1799, " A Sermon, preached on
the day of General Fast, February 27, 1799, by Polemophilus Brown, formerly Curate, now Vicar of P n." The object of these two publica- tions is to expose the profligate conduct of those profest ministers of peace who, for reasons best known to themselves, are disposed to represent as just and necessary every war in which the nation happens to engage,
In 1800 appeared his " Critical Remarks on the Hebrew Scriptures : corresponding with a New Translation of the Bible : vol. i. containing Remarks on the Pentateuch." At the close of the volume occurs a copy of Latin verses addrest to his friend Dr Disney ; in which he unfolds his theological creed with respect to the inspiration ef Moses^
393
The success of his great work did not complete- ly correspond to his expectations. The freedom with which he delivered even the most unpopu- lar of his -opinions, exposed him to all the acri- mony of illiberal zeal : and his plans were ren- dered less advantageous by his total ignorance of the vulgar arts of forcing a book upon the public attention. In advertising the three volumes of his biblical work it is believed that he did not ex- pend the sum of five pounds. These volumes were printed at his own charge ; and the specu- lation involved him in a series of difficulties from which he saw no probability of extricating him- self. In this extremity however his usual good fortune did not desert him. He at length found himself compelled, however reluctantly, to dis- close his increasing embarrassment to some of his most intimate friends : and the zeal which was manifested on this occasion, affords a strong proof of the estimation in which his character was held. *' It is to the credit of the age in which we live," says Mr Good, " that without any further appli- cation on his own part, persons of every rank and religious persuasion, protestants and catholics, clergy and laity, nobility and gentry, several of whom had never known him but by name, and many of wHom had openly professed a dislike of his favorite tenets, united in one charitable ef- fort to rescue him from anxiety and distress ; nor should it be forgotten that some part, at least, of
VOL. II. 3 D
the amount subscribed proceeded from the right reverend bench itself"." The sum collected and expended on his account from the commence- ment of the year 1798 to the middle of 'the year 1800, amounted to about nine hundred pounds. The subsequent volumes of his version his friends now proposed to publish at their own hazard, and to reserve for the translator such profits as might remain after deducting the necessary expences. His arduous undertaking he did not however live to prosecute. The translation would have extend- ed to six volumes in quarto ; and only two have been published.
The generosity which was thus displayed by his friends, immediately restored him to his wont- ed chearfulness and vivacity. He now began to prepare for publication an elaborate work which he had composed so early as the year 1782, but which the unpropitious aspect of the times had then induced him to suppress. It was printed in 1800 under the title of " A Modest Apology for the Roman Catholics of Great Britain : ad- dressed to all Moderate Protestants, particularly to- the Members of both Houses of Parliament." This work, which appeared without the author's name, excited no ordinary degree of curiosity. It was translated into the French and German lan- guages ; and was regarded even at the Vatican
as a most valuable and elaborate performance-
/
0 Good's Life of Geddes, p. 472.
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The notable encounter between Dr Wolcott and Mr GifFord afforded Dr Geddes a happy sub- ject for the exercise of his satirical powers. Be- fore the close of this year he published " Bardo- machia Poema Macaronico-Latinum ;" and, in a separate form, " Bardomaclria : or the Battle of the Bards ; translated from the original Latin."
But while he was occupied in his multifarious pursuits, he sustained an irreparable loss by the sudden death of his truly noble patron. Lord Petre died on the second of July, 1801, at the age of sixty-eight. By his last will he bequeath- ed to Dr Geddes an annuity of one hundred pounds : and the heir of his virtues, as well as of his civil honours, intimated in a very polite and friendly letter, that to this sum he proposed to add a yearly salary of the same amount. Be- fore Dr Geddes was apprized of this nobleman's generous intention, Mr Timothy Brown of Chis- well Street had very liberally engaged that the deficiency which he was apparently to sustain by the death of his late patron, should be supplied by the voluntary contributions of those friends who had exerted themselves on the recent emer- gency, or, incase of their declining the proposition, by an equivalent salary to be annually paid by himself.
His income was thus left undiminished : but in Lord Petre he had not only lost a munificent patron, but also a warm and zealous friend. Af-
3 D 2
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ter the first torrent of his grief had begun to subT side, he employed himself in composing a Latin elegy on the lamented death of his benefactor.
Dr Geddes had now entered into the sixty-fourth year of his age ; and although he occasionally displayed a large portion of youthful hilarity, yet the native vigour of his constitution was nearly exhausted. The death of Lord Petre had sub- jected him to frequent depressions of spirit ; and he was in the mean time labouring under violent paroxysms of bodily pain, occasioned by a can- cerous affection of the rectum. His energy of mind however was not easily subdued ; he still continued to amuse himself with those studies which had so long exercised his powerful facul- ties. The return of peace, a subject highly de- lightful to his benevolent heart, awakened his poetical talents; and, in 1801; he produced a work entitled " Paci feliciter Keduci Ode Sap- phica." Of this ode an English translation was published by his friend Mr Ring.
Gilbert Wakefield died at a premature age dur- ing the same year : and as Dr Geddes was one of those who deeply sympathized in his fate, he honoured his memory by an affectionate elegy composed in the Latin language v. This elegy he wrote during one of the intervals between his
v The elegies on Wakefield and Lord Petre were printed in Tke Monthly Magazine. Mr Good has inserted them in his memoirs of the author.
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usual paroxysms of excruciating torture, It is supposed to have been the last composition which proceeded from his pen.
It was about the middle of the present year that he observed the earliest symptoms of his dreadful malady. To its progress he at first paid but little attention ; and in consequence of this negligence, it soon increased to an alarming height. The extreme anxiety of his friends induced them to consult almost every emi- nent practitioner of physic in the metropolis : but the aid of medicine was now ineffectual. He expired on the twenty-sixth day of February, 1802, in the sixty-fifth year of his age. The rites of the communion in which he had lived were administered to him by his friend M. St Martin, a Doctor of the Sorbonne, and Professor of Divinity. Qn his death-bed he adhered to the theological creed which he had formerly pro- fest. M. St Martin, anxious to reclaim his friend from his heretical opinions, had on tha present occasion provided himself with a written list of questions ; but as he found Dr Geddes sunk into a lethargic condition, it was impossible to introduce any minute or lengthened investiga- tion. Some questions he did however propose. •" You fully believe," said he, " in the scrip- tures ?" Geddes, rousing himself from his le- thargy, answered, " Certainly." " In the doer trine of the trinity ?" " Certainly ; but not in
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the manner you mean." " In the mediation of Jesus Christ ?" " No, no, no, not as you mean : in Jesus Christ as our Saviour ; but not in the atonement."
These and other particulars, which Mr Good has stated on the respectable authority of M. St Martin himself, furnish us with a complete refu- tation of the silly story relative to Dr Geddes's supposed recantation. Whatever his religious tenets may have been, he cherished them with sincerity, and professed them with intrepidity. They who have invented the kindred tales re- specting the recantation of Geddes and Voltaire, may perhaps felicitate themselves on the purity of their intentions : but such pious frauds as those which they have evidently committed, will always be condemned by the liberal of every denomina- tion w.
The Catholics were sufficiently persuaded that Dr Geddes died in the profession of those tenets which he had formerly avowed : and his malig- nant enemy Bishop Douglass, actuated by the ge- nuine spirit of persecution, expressly prohibited the celebration of public mass for the safety of his departed soul. But this irregular interdict
w That Voltaire, when he once supposed himself at the point of death, had not scrupled to profess his devout adherence to the tenets of thf. Catholic faith, is sufficiently evident from the testimony of his impudent biographer Condorcet . (Vie de Voltaire? p. 164.) But the current tale relative to the mode in which he spent his last moiTients, seejns to h,e completely devoid of authenticity.
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was very far from gratifying the more respectable laymen of that community.
His remains, agreeably to his particular request, were interred in Paddington church-yard. " His funeral," says Mr Good, " was attended by a long procession of carriages, not indecently empty, and sent for the mere purpose of external parade, J3ut filled with friends who were strenuously at- tached to his person, and will long venerate his memory; and who, though divided by different tenets into almost every class of Christian and even political society, here consented to forget every nominal separation, and to unite in taking one common and affectionate farewel of a man who had been an honor to the generation in which he lived." A plain marble tablet, en- graven with an inscription selected from his own writings, has been erected to his memory by Lord Petre.
Mr Good presents us with the following sketch of the general characteristics of his person and disposition : " In his corporeal make he was slen- der, and in the bold and formidable outlines of his countenance not highly prepossessing on a first interview : but never was there a face or a form through which the soul developed itself more completely than through his own. Every feature, and indeed every limb, was in harmony with the entire system, and displayed the restless and indefatigable operations of the interior of the
400
machine. A play of cheerfulness beamed uni- formly from his cheeks, and his animated eyes rather darted than looked benevolence. Yet such was the irritability of his nerves, that a slight de- gree of opposition to his opinions, and especially when advanced by persons whose mental powers did not warrant such opposition, put to flight in a moment the natural character of his counte- nance, and cheerfulness and benevolence werd exchanged for exacerbation and tumult. Of this physical and irresistible impulse in his con- stitution no man was more thoroughly sensible than himself; and if no man ever less succeeded in subduing it, no man ever took more pains to obtain a victory V
The ingenious biographer's account of his first interview with Dr Geddes is too characteristic to be omitted : " I met him accidentally at the house of Miss Hamilton, who has lately acquired a just reputation for her excellent Letters on Education : and I freely confess that at the first interview I was by no means pleased with him. I beheld a man of about five feet five inches high^ in a black dress put on with uncommon negligence, and ap- parently never fitted to his form •: his figure was lank, his face meagre, his hair black, long and loose, without having been sufficiently submitted to the operations of the toilet — and his eyes, though
x Good's Life of Geddes, p. 529-
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quick and vivid, sparkling at that time rather with irritability than benevolence. He was dis- puting with one of the company when I entered, and the rapidity with which at this moment he left his chair, and rushed, with an elevated tone of voice and uncourtly dogmatism of manner, to- wards his opponent, instantaneously persuaded me that the subject upon which the debate turn- ed was of the utmost moment. I listened with all the attention I could command ; and in a few minutes learned, to my astonishment, that it re- lated to nothing more than the distance of his own house in the New Road, Paddington, from the place of our meeting, which was in Guild- ford-street. The debate being at length conclud- ed, or rather worn out, the doctor took possession of the next chair to that in which I was seated, and united with myself and a friend who sat on my other side in discoursing upon the politics of the day. On this topic we proceeded smoothly and accordantly for some time ; till at length dis- agreeing with us upon some point as trivial as the former, he again rose abruptly from his seat, traversed the room in every direction, with as in- determinate a parallax as that of a comet, lotidjy and with increase of voice maintaining his position at every step he took. Not wishing to prolong the dispute, we yielded to him without further inter- ruption ; and in the course of a few minutes after he had closed his harangue, he again approached VOL. II. 3 E
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us, retook possessor! of his chair, and was all play- fulness, good humor, and genuine wit.
" Upon his retirement, I inquired of our ami- able hostess whether this were a specimen of his common disposition, or whether any thing had particularly occurred to excite his irascibility. From her I learned that, with one of the best and most benevolent hearts in the world, he was na- turally very irritable ; but that his irritability was at the present period exacerbated by a slight degree of fever which had for some time affected his spirits, and which had probably been produ- ced by a considerable degree of very unmerited ill usage and disappointment, I instantly regard- ed him in a different light : I sought his friend- ship, and obtained it ; and it was not long be- fore I myself witnessed in his actions a series of benevolence" and charitable exertions, often be- yond what prudence and a regard to his own li- mited income would have dictated, that stamped a higher esteem for him upon my heart than all the general information and profound learning he was universally known to possess, and which gave him more promptitude upon every subject that happened to be started than I ever beheld in any other person y."
Beside the works that have already been enumerated, Dr Geddes composed several poems, which were printed on single sheets, or inserted
y Good's Life of Geddes, p. 300.
403
in periodical publications, or were only commu- nicated in manuscript to his particular friends. He left an unpublished " Epistle to the King," written in English iambics, and consisting of about five hundred lines. It contains many pro- fessions of loyal attachment to his Majesty's per- son, but suggests the urgent expediency of a speedy change of ministry*.
A short while before his death, he had begun to print " A. New Translation of the Psalms, from Corrected Texts of the Original." This incom- plete version, which extends to the hundred and eighteenth psalm, will soon be published.
He had devoted some portion of his time to the study of physiognomy, with the intention of presenting a new system to the public. About the year 1 796 he had perfected his theory ; and was only prevented by the expence of engrav-
*• Dr Geddes, in his ode to peace, has likewise mentioned the king in terms sufficiently loyal:
Nee licet laudes meritas negare Optimo regi, patriseque patri : Cjui simultates proprias reponit
Pacis ad aram.
Proferas vitam, videasque multos Prosperos annos, generose princeps ! Teque regenti, populus perenni
Pace fruatur.
Sperne perversos ammo ministros, Bella queis cordi — rediviva bella ! Sunto sed cari tibi, rex ainande,
Pacis amantes-
3 E 2
404
ings, from committing it to the press. After his death however not a single fragment of the work could be found among his papers.
These literary plans are enumerated by Mr Good ; but Dr Geddes has himself alluded to se- veral others. He professes to have had long in contemplation a comparative dictionary of the principal oriental dialects. " As a proper intro- duction to such a work," says Geddes, " I form- ed many years ago, the plan of a Comparative Grammar of the principal Oriental dialects', which, by way of relaxation from more serious studies, I am now compleating, and preparing for the press3."
THE name of Dr Geddes his countrymen ought always to mention with peculiar respect : few of our eotemporaries have so effectually contributed to support the reputation of Scotish literature. His natural endowments were unquestionably of a superior order : and a course of study which com- menced with his childhood and only terminated with his life, had conducted him through almost every department of erudition. The versatility of his talents cannot be recollected without ad- miration.
His attainments as a biblical scholar I am not qualified, nor is it my present task to estimate. It will be sufficient to remark that they have
a Geddes's Prospectus, p. 73.
405
been applauded by the learned of every country in Europe. The splendour of his reputation pro- cured him the honour of a correspondence with se- veral eminent scholars on the continent ; among whom were Professor Eichhorn of Gottingen, Professor Paulus of Jena, and Professor Timaeus of Liineburg. His death was announced in the foreign journals as an event disastrous to the cause of literature. The following extract Mr Good has translated from Ethinger's Gothaische Gelehrte Tjeitungen : " Theological science in England, and literature in every quarter, sustain- ed a deep, a sensible, and in more than one re- spect an irreparable loss by the death of the learn- ed, honest, and highly meritorious Dr Alexander Geddes, whose labours are well known to have been extensively useful even to foreign countries. He was a man of singular talents, and listened to by the most enlightened, erudite, and sagaci- ous theologians and philosophers in England. The three volumes of his translation of the bible which have already appeared, together with his critical and philological commentary, his numerous little pieces in Latin, English, and French; his fugitive and fanciful publications, which add in no trivial degree to his labours, are the fairest monument of his clear head, of his erudition, of his taste, and of the keen vivaci- ous wit which, in conjunction with a soft bene- volent heart, and an unblemished character, per-
petually endeared him to men of real worth, and especially to all who were intimately acquainted with him."
Some of his works are highly valuable; and all of them are entitled to a perusal. The style of his English prose, though not uniformly elegant, is copious, animated, and attractive.
His poetical effusions are rather to be consi- dered as the relaxations of a severe student, than as the compositions of an author ambitious of poetical distinction. They discover what he might have effected ; but are not sufficiently ela- borated to be classed among finished productions.
The only Scotish poems that appear with his name are those three which occur in the first volume of the " Transactions of the Society of the Anti- quaries of Scotland ;" but it is not improbable that he may have composed other fugitive pieces which he did not think proper to avow. To him the humorous ballad beginning " There was a wee wifiekie," has been attributed by Mr Skinner, one of the correspondents of Burns b.
His " Epistle to the President, Vice-Presidents, and Members of the Scottish Society of Anti- quaries," is alone sufficient to evince that he could have equalled the best of our modern poets. It contains many happy sketches ; and the ver-
*» Burns's Works, vol. ii. p. 129,
407
sift cation is spritely and flowing. The following passage relates to Fergusson :
Whare nou the nimphs that weent to feed
Their flocks upon the banks o' Tweed ;
And sang sa mony a winsom air
About the bus abeun Traquair ?
Wa's me ! sin Ramsay disappeared,
Their tunefu1 voice is na mair hear'd :
Nor ha1 their charms sin syne been shown,
Except to Fergusson alone.
Ill-wierdet wight ! wha wu'd prefeer
A reaming bicker o' Bell's beer
To a' the nectar that distills
Fre Phoebus' munt in sucar't rills j
And loo'd Aid Reikie's boussom lasses
Mair than the maidens o' Parnassus.
Yet he had ilka art to please,
And win the dortiest ev'n of these :
His was the reed sa sweet and shill
That sang The Lass of Patios Mill;
To him belang't the wiel-strung lyre
That temper't Hammy's nati' fire 5
And Forbes' fife, sa feat and trim,
Was left, but ony doubt to him.
But nouther reed, nor lyre, nor fife,
Regarded he, but drank thro' life,
And leugh, until the cald o' death
Chill't his heart-blude, and stapt his breath.
He died, peur saul ! and xvi* him died
The relict Muse o' mither-lied.
Nor must his liberal and discriminative enco- mium on Burns be excluded from our present notice :
408
An' nou the Muse wi' rapture turns
To Coila's glory, self-taught Burns j
Wha mid the constant avocation
Of a laborious occupation,
Finds time to cull si'k transient flours
As bleum on Galovidean moors,
And, at the pleugh or at the team,
Glows with a pure poetic gleam.
Whether in numbers smooth and easy
He sing the dirgie of a deasy,
Or in a strain mair free and frisky
Resoun' the praise of Highland whisky,
Or with a Goldsmith's pencil trace
The virtues o' the cottage race,
G", wieldan' satire's heavy flail,
The cantan' hypocrite assail,
Or mind a patriot of his duty,
Or tune a safter pipe to beuty^
Or in a frolic wanton teen
Describe the fun of Hallow-e'en,
Tho' some few notes be harsh and hard,
Yet still we see the genuine bard.
Hale be thine heart, thou wale o' swain?
That grace the Caledonian plains :
May ilka sort o' bliss thee follow,
That suits the vot'ries of Apollo j
A merry heart, a murkless head j
A conscience pure an' void o' dread j
A weil thak't hut, an ingle clear 3
A fu' pint-stowp of reaming beer j
A daily sark, a Sunday coat j
Thy pocket ne'er without a groat ;
An' for the solace of thy life,
A bonny, braw, belovit wife.
Su'd Fortune, mair outowr, befriend thee.
An' fouth o' gowd an' gear attend thee,
409
Bewar1 of indolence an' pride,
Nor casf*thine aiten reed aside,
Bot trim an' blaw it mair an' mair,
An' court the Muses late and air : ••
Wi' critic skill explore the grain,
An' fan an' fan it owr again,
Till ne'er a bit of caff remain :
So sal thy name be handit down
With uther poets o' renown c.
Dr Geddes's affection for the Scotish nation and language had induced him to form a serious wish, that some future writer would undertake an epic poem which might tend to advance the reputation of both. He thus prosecutes his ad~ dress to Burns :
Thy rare example sal inspire Our rising youth with rival fire ; Wha yet may emulate the lays Of loftiest bards of ancient days. Then may some future Douglas sing A Christian, not a Pagan king ; Scots hirds may Manttfan hirds defy, And Fergus with /Eneas vy.
I" Of all the unoccupied subjects for an epic >oem," he subjoins in a note, " I know none more >roper than the restoration of Fergus II. It is
c Dr Geddes's cousin the titular Bishop of Marroco seems to have been of the patrons of Burns. A respectful and affectionate letter to jp Geddes occurs in Burns's Works, vol. ii. p. 315.
VOL. IT. 3 F
410
sufficiently near our time to afford general facts and dates ; and sufficiently remote to admit a number of circumstantial embellishments. The poem might begin with his leaving the court of Scandinavia ; he might then be sent to Ireland, thence to Ikolmkil, where some holy visionary might tell him the fate of himself and his suc- cessors down to the Union, &-c. &-c. The whole action might be compleated in the course of one year. The Scottish bard who would choose this subject, might, like Homer, avail himself of all the dialects which are used in the different coun- ties ; purifying them as much as possible from vulgarism, and reducing them to one uniform system ofl orthography and grammatical ana- logy."
His other two Scotish poems are translations of the first eclogue of Virgil, and the first idyl of Theocritus. In his translation from Virgil he has chiefly imitated the Edinburgh dialect ; in that from Theocritus he has generally adopted the dialect of Buchan. These two versions, which i he exhibited as illustrations of his speculations re- lative to the Scotish language, are executed with! uncommon felicity. A complete translation of Theocritus by Dr Geddes would have been a va-f luable addition to the aggregate of our vernaculai| poetry.
THE
LIFE
ROBERT FERGUSSON,
THi:I
LIFE
OF
ROBERT FERGUSSON.
little curiosity has hitherto been discovered with regard to the personal history of Fergusson a, the collecting of materials for the following jsketch has been attended with some difficulty. In the performance of this task I have been chiefly aided by the friendly exertions of Dr ROBERT ANDERSON, a gentleman not more distin- guished for his knowledge and ingenuity, than for the amiable benevolence of his mind ; a gentle- man to whom our national literature is more in- debted, than, to the collective body of Scotish nobility.
a This biographical tract, it may be proper to observe, was published in the year 1799. ^ was reprinted in 1800 and in 1801. In the pre- sent edition several puerilities are retrenched
414
Robert Fergusson was born at Edinburgh on the fifth of September, one thousand seven hun- dred and fifty. His father, William Fergusson, who in his youth had discovered some propensity to the study of poetry, maintained a respectable character in the humble station in which he found himself placed. He served an apprentice- ship to a tradesman in Aberdeen, and about the year 1746 came to Edinburgh in order to solicit employment. Having been engaged as a clerk by several masters, and those of various occupa- tions, he at length procured the office of an ac- countant in the British Linen Hall, which he re- tained till the time of his death.
The poet was of a constitution so extremely delicate, that he was incapable of attending school till after he had reached the sixth year of his age. He was then placed under the tuition of a Mr Philp, who taught in Niddry's Wynd ; and within the space of about six months, was transferred to that of Mr Gilchrist, one of the masters of the High School. While he continued at this excellent seminary, the infirm state of his health prevented him from giving the proper at- tendance : yet by means of his superior capacity, aided by a generous spirit of emulation, he ex- celled most of his companions. It was during those intervals in which the delicacy of his frame confined him at home, that he first discovered a relish for books. Having continued four yean
415
the grammar-school of Edinburgh, he was next removed to that of Dundee, where he remained two years longer.
He was originally intended for the church: and his friends were so fortunate as to procure him a bursary in the University of St Andrews; where he entered as a student at the age of thir- teen. Here he soon became distinguished as a ,youth of superior genius, and rendered himself conspicuous as " a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy." His ingenuity recommended him to the favour of Dr Wilkie, who was then professor of natural philosophy in that university. It has been ridiculously asserted that Wilkie fre- quently employed him to read his academical prelections, when sickness or other casual circum- stances prevented him from performing that duty himself. A boy of sixteen or seventeen years of age mounting the professorial rostrum, would afford an exhibition of a singular kind. It is also probable that Fergusson was more distinguished for his poetical genius, than for his talents in in- vestigating subjects connected with natural phi- losophy. Certain it is however that Wilkie ho- noured him with particular marks of distinction. Nor were these bestowed on an ungrateful object : upon the death of his patron, which happened on the tenth of October, 1772, Fergusson offered a tribute of warm affection to his memory.
416
During his residence at St Andrews, he began to direct his attention to the study of poetry ^ and wrote many occasional verses, which attracted the particular notice of the professors, as well as of his fellow-students. Here he also formed the plan of a tragedy on the story of Sir Wil- liam Wallace; but when he had finished the first two acts, he is said to have relinquished the design, because he had seen another dramatic poem on the same subject, and was apprehensive lest his should be regarded as a mere copy b. This seems a very singular reason.
Fergusson appears to have had another thea* trical scheme floating in his mind: some frag- ments of speeches written with his own hand are to be found on the blank leaves of a book which was formerly in his possession c.
Though he was never very remarkable for his application to study, yet he performed, with a sufficient share of applause, the various exercises which the rules of his college prescribed. The calm and even tenor however of an academic life was but ill calculated to afford him much satisfaction or enjoyment. His natural propen- sity to mirth and gaiety often caused him to re-
b Supplement to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, vol. i. p. 647.
c The book is entitled "A Defence of the Church Government, Faith, Worship, and Spirit of the Presbyterians. By John Anderson, M. A." Glasg. 1714, 410. — Fergusson denominates himself Student tf Divinity*
417
lax in his exertions: he bore a^ principal part in a thousand youthful frolics; many of which are still remembered at St Andrews.
One of his exploits involved him in the dis- grace of a temporary expulsion from the univer- sity. On the evening succeeding the distribution of the Earl of KinnouPs prizes, the successful and the disappointed candidates having assembled in two adjoining apartments, a fierce encounter at length ensued between them ; and Fergusson was particularized as one of the most distinguished combatants. The principal aggressors were for- mally expelled ; but in consequence of their pe- nitential submissions, they were within the space of a few days admitted to all the privileges which they had formerly enjoyed. The eloquence of Dr Wilkie was powerfully exerted in behalf of the young poet.
The term of his bursary extended to four years. After the expiration of that time he re- turned to Edinburgh, and abandoned his intention of entering into the church. As his father had died about two years before, his prospects were now sufficiently gloomy. He found himself without any present employment, and without any fixed resolution concerning his future pur- suits ; a situation dangerous beyond all others to a young man of a fervid imagination.
Some of his friends advised him to devote him* self to the study of medicine ; but he declined
VOL, IL 3 G
418
following this advice, because, according to his own account, he fancied himself afflicted with every disease of which he redd the description. A similar anecdote is related of John Bois, one of the translators of the bible.
He had a maternal uncle living near Aberdeen, a Mr John Forbes, who was in pretty affluent circumstances. To him he paid a visit, in the hope of procuring some suitable employment through his influence. Mr Forbes at first treated him with civility ; but instead of exerting himr self to promote his interest, suffered him to re- main six months in his house, and afterwards dis- missed him in a manner which reflects very little honour on his memory. His clothes were be- ginning to assume an obsolete appearance ; and he was therefore deemed an improper guest for his uncle's house. Filled with indignation at the ungenerous treatment which he had received, he retired to a little solitary inn that stood at a small distance ; and addressed a letter to his un- feeling relation, couched in terms of manly re- sentment. After his departure, Mr Forbes seems to have relented : he dispatched a messenger to him with a few shillings to defray his expences on the road. He travelled to Edinburgh on foot; and the fatigues of the journey, added to his de- pression of mind, produced such an effect upon his delicate constitution, that for several days he was afflicted with a severe illness. When he
419
began to recover strength, he endeavoured to con- sole his grief by composing a poem on The Decay of Friendship, and another Against Repining at Fortune.
Soon after this period he obtained an inferior situation in the commissary-clerk's office; but being unable to submit to the tyranny of the deputy, he soon relinquished it. Having again remained for a considerable time without any occupation, he was next received into the office of the sheriff-clerk. Here he continued daring the rest of his life. The report of his having at- tempted the study of law, is devoid of foundation. Between studying law and transcribing law-papers there is certainly a very material distinction.
Before he had reached the twentieth year of his age, many of his little poems made their ap- pearance in Ruddiman's Weekly Magazine. To this publication he was a constant contributor. The proprietor occasionally allowed him some pecuniary compensation ; but he never wrote for anv stipulated reward.
To trace him through the whole of his poetical progress, would be a task productive of much trouble to the writer, and of little entertainment to the reader. His pieces are too multifarious to admit of particular enumeration.
In a poem entitled An Expedition to Fife, he happened to cast some reflections on that district, branding it as " the most unhallowed 'midst the 3G *
420
Scotian plains." This aspersion drew a forma challenge from a Fifeshire gentleman, who ap- pears to have possest in an eminent degree the true Scotish spirit of locality. Instead of accept- ing his antagonist's invitation, Fergusson treated it with derision.
The public immediately began to perceive the merit of his productions ; and from the time of their first appearance in The Weekly Magazine, he was regarded as a poet of no ordinary talents. As the charms of his social qualities were even superior to those of his poetry, it is not surprizing that his company was eagerly solicited by people of every description. To the circles where gaiety and humour prevailed, his conversation recommended itself by every possible allurement ; and where a more grave deportment was neces- sary, he could accommodate his manners to those of the individuals with whom he was casually associated. Such qualities as these, without pro- ducing any beneficial effects, tended to connect him with unprofitable companions, who gradually conducted him through the various stages of vice and dissipation. From the caresses of the mo- ment he could derive no solid advantage. Those who have spent an ecstatic evening in the com- pany of some man of intellectual eminence, are often very indifferent with respect to the mode in which he disposes of himself after the hour of separation: the object for which they solicited
421
his company being obtained, they seldom exert themselves in order to place him in a situation adequate to his merit, and congenial to his wishes.
This censure however must not be received without limitation. Fergusson had contracted an intimacy with a gentleman of the name of Burnet, who afterwards settled in the East Indies. Mr Burnet was so captivated with his ingenuity and amiable manners, that when he had arranged his own affairs, he resolved to provide for his less fortunate friend. In pur- suance of this laudable design, he sent him a cor- dial invitation to visit India, and at the same time remitted a draught of one hundred pounds for defraying the expences of his voyage. But this bounty arrived too late ; for he had then paid the debt of nature. Although Mr Burnet's benevolent intentions were thus frustrated by the stroke of death, it may yet afford him a very pleasing reflection, that of all those who were acquainted with the merits of Fergusson, he was the only person that stretched forth his hand to rescue him from the uncomfortable situation in which he spent the greater part of his life.
His latter years were wasted in perpetual dissipation. The condition to which he had reduced himself, prepared him for grasping at every object which promised a temporary alleviation of his cares : and as his funds were
422
often in an exhausted state, he at length had re- course to mean expedients.
Associates possest of the same taste for letters, and of the same ruinous habits of intemperance, were not wanting d. Men of this seeming incon- gruity of character have always abounded in the northern as well as in the southern metropolis.
When he contemplated the high hopes from which he had fallen, his mind was visited with bitter remorse. But the resolutions of amend- ment which he formed were always of short du- ration. He was soon resubdued by the allure- ments of vice. At one time he evinced a deter- mination to enter upon a more sober and retired course of life, and, in conseqence of this plan, took lodgings at a small distance from town. Here however he continued for a very short season.
From an epigram to be found among his post- humous pieces, it appears that he had conceived the design of abandoning the scene of his follies, and trying his fortune at sea. But this scheme was also relinquished.
Of a spouting club which had been instituted in Edinburgh he is reported to have been a dis- tinguished member. His talents for mimickry were unrivalled : the reputation which he here acquired in exhibiting imitations of the most
d " Qvbiv y«^," says Cebes,
423
eminent actors, inspired him with distant thoughts of mounting the stage. This ended like the rest of his projects : he still found himself incapable of active exertion, and unequal to the task of emancipating himself from the domination of vicious habits.
Notwithstanding the miserable state of dissipa- tion into which he had plunged himself, his poe- tical studies were never totally neglected. In 1773 he published a collection of his poems, con- sisting of such pieces as had been printed in Ruddiman's Weekly Magazine, with the addi- tion of a few others.
Auld Reikie made its appearance in the course of the same year. It is inscribed to Sir Wil- liam Forbes, in terms of sufficient modesty and respect : but that worthy baronet seems to have despised
The poor ovations of a minstrePs praise.
PARK c.
This ingenious poem it v/as his intention to extend at some future period to a much greater length ; but what was originally offered as a first canto, has never received any important additions.
In 1774 his friends prevailed upon him to com- pose an elegiac poem on the death of John Gun-
e Mr Park is the author of a small volume of elegant and agreeable poetry, which, though little known in this part of the kingdom, has ob- tained a considerable degree of popularity in England.
424
ningham. It was published for the benefit of the unfortunate author, who was then verging to- wards that state of insanity in which he at length closed his miserable existence f . As he was in- capable of superintending the press, some of his friends kindly undertook that office.
This was the last of his productions. His body being now emaciated with disease, and his mind totally unhinged, his relations began to ob- serve in his behaviour something of an infantine cast; he talked in an incoherent manner, and frequently manifested an entire vacillation of thought. Of persons in his condition some lead- ing object generally engrosses the attention, to the almost total exclusion of every other; the power of judgment is superseded, and that of imagination usurps its place. Religion presented itself to Fergusson ; and this he made the perpe- tual theme of his discourse.
Such of his manuscripts as were in 'his own possession he committed indiscriminately to the flames, and was heard to declare that he felt some consolation in never having published any work hostile to the interests of religion. Those studies which had formerly been the solace of his cares were now utterly neglected : he laid every other book aside, and made the bible his constant com- panion.
f Anderson's Life of Cunningham,
425
It is frequently alleged that the religious de- sspondency which at first seized him, was unac- companied with any symptoms of irrationality. Of the improbability of this assertion, the follow- ing anecdote may be regarded as a striking proof. Mr Woods of the theatre royal, who had culti- vated his acquaintance before it ceased to be re- putable, chanced one day to meet him passing under the North Bridge in a disordered manner, and regardless of every surrounding object. Upon his friend's accosting him, he affirmed that he had discovered one of the reprobates who crucified our Saviour ; and that in order to bring him to condign punishment, he was making all possible haste to lodge the information with Lord Kames.
Having experienced a temporary relief from his dreadful malady, he again began to visit his friends ; but had one night the misfortune to fall from a stair-case, and receive a violent contusion on the head. When carried home, he seemed completely insensible of the accident which had befallen him. He at length became so outrage- ous, that it was not without some difficulty that the united force of several men could restrain his violence.
As his afflicted mother was not in a condition to command the proper attendance in her own house, she was under the necessity of removing him to the public asylum. Some of his most
VOL. II. 3 H
126
intimate friends having watched a proper oppor- tunity, found means to convey him thither, by decoying him into a chair as if he had been about to pay an evening visit. When they reached the place of their destination, all was wrapt in profound silence. The poor youth entered the dismal mansion. He cast his eyes wildly around, and began to perceive his real situation. The discovery awakened every feeling of his soul. He raised a hideous shout, which being returned by the wretched inhabitants of every cell, echoed along the vaulted roofs, and produced in the minds of his companions sentiments of unspeak- able horror. They stood aghast at the dreadful scene ; the impression which it left was too deep for time ever to efface.
When he was afterwards visited by his mother and elder sister, his phrenzy had almost entirely- subsided. He had at first imagined himself a king or some other great personage, and had adorned his head with a crown of straw. The delusion however was now vanished. Upon their entrance, they found him lying in his cell, to ap- pearance calm and collected. He told them he was sensible of their kindness, and hoped he should soon be in a condition to receive their visits. He also recalled to their memory the pre- ^sentiment which he had so often exprest of his being at length overwhelmed by this most dread- ful of all calamities ; but endeavoured to comfort
427
them with assurances of his being humanely treated in the asylum.
From the tenor of his behaviour upon this oc- casion, his mother was led to entertain hopes of his speedy recovery. A remittance from her elder son Henry having now rendered her more easy in her circumstances, she determined to re- move him to her own house, and immediately began to make the proper arrangements for his reception. But these hopes were only delusive. Within the space of a few days a messenger an- nounced the melancholy tidings that her beloved son had breathed his last. The violent exertions of his mind had gradually ruined the animal system ; and at length he was so much exhaust- ed, that he expired without a groan. He died on the sixteenth of October, 1774, after having continued about two months in bedlam. He had only completed the twenty-fourth year of his age.
His remains were decently interred in the Can- ongate church-yard ; and for a considerable time there was no stone to mark the place of his dust. In a late publication it has been errone- ously asserted that " his friends erected a monu- ment to his memory, which has since been re- moved to make way for a larger and more ele- gant monument by his enthusiastic admirer the late poet Burnsg." His friends were in no con-
£ Supplement to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, vol. i. p. 648.
428
dition to rear sepulchral fabrics ; and this " larger and more elegant monument" is almost as plain a stone as ever graced a country church-yard. Yet the erection even of this frail memorial reilects the highest honour on the sympathetic feelings of Burns h.
Upon one side of the stone he caused the fol- lowing epitaph of his own composition to be en- graven :
No sculptured marble here, nor pompous lay I
No storied urn, nor animated bust ! This simple stone directs pale Scotia's way,
To pour her sorrows o'er her poet's dust.
The other side bears this inscription :
By special grant of the Managers
To ROBERT BURNS, who erected this stone,
This burial place is ever to remain sacred to the memory of
ROBERT FERGUSSON.
Fergusson was of a middle stature, and of $ somewhat slender form. His countenance, which in other respects had a slight tendency towards effeminacy, was rendered highly animated by
& " In relating the incidents of our poet's life in Edinburgh, we ought to have mentioned the sentiments of respect and sympathy with which he traced out the grave of his predecessor Fergusson, over whose ashe s in the Canongate church-yard he'obtained leave to erect an humble monu- ment, which will be viewed by reflecting minds with no common interest , and which will awake in the bosom of kindred genius many a high emo--» tiom"
CVRRIE'S Life of Burns, p. 189.
429
the expression of his large black eyes. In his ad- dress he was genteel, and free from affectation. From the portrait usually prefixed to his works, no idea of his external appearance can be de- rived ; it is entirely supposititious. That which he mentions in his Codicil cannot now be found. It has been asserted that he sat to Runciman for a picture of the prodigal son ; and that the piece in which he made so conspicuous a figure was sold at the exhibition in London.
He has thus been characterized by one of the correspondents of Burns : " While I recollect with pleasure his extraordinary talents and many amiable qualities, it affords me the greatest con- solation, that I am honoured with the corre- spondence of his successor in national simplicity and genius. That Mr Burns has refined in the art of poetry, must readily be admitted; but notwithstanding many favourable representations, J am yet to learn that he inherits his convivial powers.
" There was such a richness of conversation, $uch a plenitude of fancy and attraction in him, that when I call the happy period of our inter- course to my memory, I feel myself in a state of delirium. I was then younger than him by eight or ten years, but his manner was so felicitous, that he enraptured every person around him, and infused into the hearts of the young and old, the
430
spirit and animation which operated on his own mind1."
Gentleness and humanity of disposition he pos- sessed in an eminent degree. The impulse of benevolence frequently prompted him to bestow his last farthing on those who solicited his chan- ty. His surviving relations retain a pleasing re- membrance of his dutiful behaviour towards his parents ; and the tender regard with which his memory is still cherished by his numerous ac- quaintance, fully demonstrates his value as a friend. Till his dissipated manner of life had in a great measure eradicated all sense of delicacy or propriety, he always evinced a manly spirit of independence. Let it be recorded to his honour that he never disgraced his Muse with the ser- vile strain of panegyric ; that he flattered no illi- terate peer, nor sacrificed his [sincerity in order to advance his interest.
OF the sensibility and fancy of a poet, Fer- gusson seems to have inherited a considerable portion. His works however are of very unequal merit ; some of them excellent, some even below mediocrity. It is in the composition of his "Scotish poems that we must expect to find his efforts most successful. To such of his pieces as are written in English very little praise is due : they
« Burns's Works, vol. ii. p. 259,
431
occasionally discover marks of genius ; but the greater part appear deficient in every quality which tends to interest and captivate the mind.
Towards pastoral poetry he betrays the usual partiality of a juvenile writer ; but his attempts in this department are far from being successful. Of his eclogues the numbers are sufficiently smooth, but the sentiments trite and common. Many passages are tautological and childish ; and in general the reader meets with nothing that delights his fancy or interests his feelings.
There is something in the nature of pastoral poetry which seems in a great measure to pre- clude all hopes of succeeding in that species of composition. The life of a shepherd admits of so little variety, and has so frequently afforded materials to the poets of every nation, that the subject is now found to be completely exhausted. Whenever a shepherd is introduced in a modern eclogue, we anticipate the train of his discourse as soon as we are acquainted with his particular situation. Nothing can be more monotonous and insipid than the generality of such produc- tions. f
His Expedition to Fife, Epistle to a Friend, and other poems of the same class, are not entitled to a larger portion of praise. The application of blank verse to trivial or ludicrous subjects has seldom been found to succeed. The Splendid Shil- ling of Philips is almost the only work of this
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description that can afford pleasure in the per- usal. Besides the important advantage of an original design, it possesses a kind of quaint dig- nity peculiar to itself.
Philips was apparently the model which h< proposed to imitate ; but his versification bears a stronger resemblance to that of Trapp or Ros- common. The cadence of his verses is common- ly the same as that of the rhyming couplet. This observation will be verified by the following lines :
From noisy bustle, from contention free, Far from the busy town I careless loll, Not like swain Tityrus or the bards of old, Under a beechen venerable shade, But on a furzy heath where blooming broom And thorny whins the spacious plains adorn. Here health sits smiling on my youthful brow ; For ere the sun, &c.
Nothing can be more fatiguing to the ear than such verses as these : the structure of every line naturally induces us to expect a correspondent rhyme at the close of the next ; but as this ex- pectation is always disappointed, we are filled with langour and disgust.
His Last Will and the Codicil may be ranked among the best of his English poems. Though far from being correct, they are spritely and hu- morous. The Epilogue spoken by Mr Wilson like- wise rises above mediocrity. The assumed cha- racter of an Edinburgh buck is very happily sup- ported.
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In poems professedly English he very fre- quently adopts phraseologies peculiar to the Scotish dialect. But this is an error into which more correct writers have been betrayed ; an error not easily to be avoided by those who have received a genuine Scotish education^
j The hallucinations of those who have undertaken to teach us the art of rejecting Scoticisms, are numerous and glaring. The work even of Dr Beattie is a very unsafe guide : most of the words and phrases which he has particularized, except such as merely belong to familiar discourse, are genuine Anglicisms. The only book that he consulted seems to have been Dr Johnson's dictionary; which is very far from comprehending a complete vocabulary of the English language.
" Angry at him," is one of Dr Beattie's Scoticisms. But this phrase is used by the great lexicographer himself: " He was therefore angry at Swift." (Johnson's Lives of English Poets, vol. iv. p. ill.,
Relevant has been stigmatized by Dr Beattie, and irrelevant by Mr George Mason ; with what justice, the following passage in Dryden may serve to ascertain : " If there happen to be found an irrelevant expression." {Preface to the Fable*.) This word Mr Sheridan has very properly in- serted in his " Complete Dictionary of the English Language."
To notice is another phrase which belongs to Dr Beattie's list of Scoti- cisms. It is however employed by a respectable English grammarian : " Our great lexicographer has not noticed it." Nares, Elements of Or- thoepy, p. 155. Lond. 1784, 8vo.) It is repeatedly used by the elegant Mr Roscoe. If we may credit Mr George Mason, it was " imported into English conversation from Ireland."
To restrict he also explodes as a Scoticism. " The studies at Pisa," says Mr Roscoe, " were chiefly restricted to the Latin language." (Life of Lorenzo de Medici, vol. ii. p. 78.)
At six years old, may be inelegant English, but it ought not to have been inserted in a list of Scoticisms. This phrase is adopted by Lord Orrery : " At six years old, he was sent to school at Kilkenny." (Re- marks on the Life and Writings of S-w':ft, p. 6.)
It is astonishing that Dr Beattie should have inserted the verbs to liberate and to narrate : they occur in such common books as the diction- aries of Bailey and Sheridan.
VOL. II. 3 I
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As a Scotish poet, Fergusson is to be ranke not with Penny cuik and other writers of the same class, but with Ramsay, Ross, Burns, and Mac- neill. Though his mind was less comprehensive than that of Burns, and though he is in some measure a stranger to the delicacy which cha- racterizes the beautiful. productions of Macneill, yet in all the essential qualities which constitute a poet he is equal if not superior to Ramsay and Ross.
The popularity of his Scotish poems is a strong proof of their intrinsic merit. In that part of the island where their beauties are properly under- stood, few productions of a similar description have been so universally admired. They are redd by people of every denomination ; and their na- tive charms are such, that they cannot be redd without delight. They exhibit a spriteliness of thought and a facility of expression which have seldom been surpast. The versification is always smooth, and on some occasions highly melodious.
The following remark of Mr George Mason discovers his usual dex- terity : « Though this verb ft» liltrate) and its derivative noun are now frequent in periodical publications of news, they are too modern to be found in any dictionary." (Supplement to Johnson's English Dictionary. Loud. 1 80 1, 4to. ;
In this supplement the writer has properly inserted the verb to adduce .- but as its legitimacy has been questioned, he ought not to have relied on the authority of Dr Reid, a Scotish author. It is employed by an Eng- lish writer of high reputation ; " Murat<»i, in his treatise on the poetry of Italy, has accordingly adduced several of the sonnets of Lorenzo as ex- amples of elegant composition." (Roscoe's Life of Lorenzo df vol. i. p. 277.)
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In the selection of idioms, the principal Scot- ish poets of modern times seem to have been chiefly regulated by local situation. The language of Burns and Macneill makes the nearest approach towards the purity of English ; from which that of Ross is farest removed. The poems of the lat- ter, as well as those of the ingenious Robert For- besk, are composed in the provincial tongue of Buchan ; which is supposed to exhibit indubita- ble traces of the language of the ancient Picts. In the Scotish pieces of Fergussun the dialect pe- culiar to the inhabitants of Edinburgh and its immediate environs chiefly prevails. His phrase- ology differs from that of Ramsay, who inter- mingles the idiom of the metropolis and of his native province. " It is my opinion," says Dr Geddes, u that those who for almost a century past have written in Scots, Allan Ramsay not ex- cepted, have not duly discriminated the genuine Scottish idiom from its vulgarisms. They seem to have acted a similar part with certain pretended imitators of Spenser and Milton, who fondly hna-
fc See a publication entitled " Ajax his Speech to the Grecian Knabbs ; from Ovid's Metam. lib. xiii. Conscderc Juces, et iiulgi stante corona, &c. at- tempted in broad Buchans by R. F. Gent. To which is added a Journal to Portsmouth, and a Shop-Bill,in the same dialect; with a Key." Edinb. 1765, lamo. If we may credit Mr Chalmers, this pamphlet was first printed in 1754. (Life of Ruddiman, p. 259.) To the edition of 1/65 the Polema-Middinia is subjoined. The Journal to Portsmouth is written in prose. It appears from this publication that Forbes kept a hosier's shop on Tower-hill.
3 I s
436
gine that they are copying from those great mo- dels, when they only mimic their antique mode of spelling, their obsolete terms, and their irregu- lar construction1."
Of his serious compositions several possess dis- tinguished merit. The odes addrest to the bee and to the gowdspink are no contemptible speci- mens of Scotish lyric poetry. They contain a due intermixture of picturesque description and well-turned moral reflection ; and the versification often possesses nuich suavity.
The Farmers Ingle is justly regarded as his most successful effort. Of its manifest beauties Burns seems to have been fully aware ; it undoubt- edly suggested to him the subject of his Cotter's Saturday Night. Each of these poems claims our decided approbation. The merit of an original design rests with Fergusson ; but the praise of exciting the highest degree of interest is due to Burns. The characters of the persons whom he introduces are more strongly marked, and his in- cidents are more varied and striking.
Hallow Fair is a humorous poem of very con- siderable merit. It displays in a happy mariner the scenes of noisy and riotous mirth in which a relaxation from labour is so apt to engage the lower ranks of society.
His poem entitled Leith Races is of the same class, but of superior ingenuity. The initial
l Geddes's Dissertation on the Scoto-Saxon Dialect.
437
stanzas are picturesque and beautiful. He com- mences in the following manner :
In July month, ae bonny morn,
Whan Nature's rokelay green Was spread o'er ilka rigg o' corn
To charm our roving e'en ; Glouring about I saw a quean,
The fairest 'neath the lift j Her een were o' the siller sheen,
Her skin like snawy drift,
Sae white that cTay.
The nymph having addrest him, he thus re- joins :
An' wha are ye, ray winsome dear,
That take the gate ^ae early ? Whare do ye win, gin ane may spear ?
For I right mickle ferly, That sic braw buskit laughing lass
Thir bonny blinks should gie, An' loup like Hebe o'er the grass,
As wanton an<jl as free
Frae dule this day.
This very engaging personage proves to be no other than Mirth ; and in a very cordial manner they agree to proceed to the race-ground. He seems however to have treated the laughing lass with no great politeness : after having thus made her appearance, she is never again presented to our view. Expectation is excited, without being
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gratified. The Holy Fair of Burns is liable to the same objection : and indeed the one pro- duction is evidently an antitype of the other.
The exordium of The Holy Fair is as follows :
•
Upon a simmer Sunday morn,
When Nature's face is fair, I walked forth to view the corn, » An' snuff the caller air.
The rising sun owre Galston muirs
Wi' glorious light was glintin ; The hares were hirplin down the furs, The lav'rocks they were chantin Fu' sweet that day.
As lightsomely I glowr'd abroad,
To see a scene sae gay, Three hizzies, early at the road,
Cam skelpin up the way j Twa had manteeles o' dolefu' black,
But ane wi' lyart lining j The third, that gaed a wee a-back,
Was in the fashion shining,
Fu' gay that day.
Fergusson has not, like Montague, Erskine, and Jenner, presented us with a series of poetical essays under the title of Town Eclogues ; but in lively descriptions of a town-life much of his me- rit will be found to consist. Auld Reikie, the longest as well as one of the best of his produc- tions, is a profest delineation of those incidents, customs, and manners, which to a certain extent
439
are introduced into almost all his humorous poems in the Scotish dialect. It exhibits the general characteristics of his more successful efforts. The serious is blended with the gay in such a manner as to render the effect of the whole ex- tremely ludicrous. It displays much acuteness of observation, and the happiest powers of humor- ous description.
" Caller Oysters," " Caller Water," "Braid Claith," " The Daft Days," and " The King's Birth-Day in Edinburgh," are pieces of humour which have always been redd with much pleasure. The last of these poems contains the following risible invocation :
O Muse ! be kind, an' dinna fash us To flee awa beyont Parnassus, Nor seek for Helicon to wash us,
That heath'nish spring 5 Wi' Highland whisky scour, our hawses,
An' gar us sing.
Begin then, dame, ye've drunk your fill ; You woudna hae the tither gill ? You'll trust me, mair would do you ill,
An' ding you doited : Troth, 'twould be sair against my will
To hae the wyte o't.
When we consider the circumstances in which he was placed, it will not appear surprising that his poems exhibit frequent instances of inaccura- cy of thought, and incorrectness of expression.
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Many faults might without difficulty be detect- ed; but his compositions ought always to be treated with a certain degree of lenity. To ap- ply the rigour of criticism to the unpremeditated effusions of such an author, would evince mow zeal than good-nature.
Carminis incompti tenuem lecture libellum,
Pone supercilium. Seria contractis expende poemata rugis :
Nos Thymelen sequimur.
Ausoxius.
Upon a general survey of Fergusson's poetical efforts, it will appear that he possessed quickness of conception and facility of expression. " His compositions are the offspring of fancy rather than of imagination. Though they do not display those high powers of invention which character- ize the works of vigorous genius, they yet exhibit such a spritely vein of poetry as will always re- commend itself to the lovers of gaiety, humour, and Doric simplicity. He inherited from nature' a strong sense of the ridiculous ; his talent for delineating humorous and ludicrous scenes has very rarely been exceeded. In his descriptions of the various objects and occurrences connected with the metropolis of Scotland, he appears to the utmost advantage: many circumstances which a common observer would leave unregarded, he has presented to the mind in a novel and highly manner.
THE
LIFE
OF
ROBERT BURNS.
THE
LIFE
OF
ROJ5ERT BURNS*
AMONG the unfortunate sons of genius whom the present age has beheld descending into an un- timely grave, we cannot hesitate in assigning a preeminent station to Robert Burns; a man whose native vigour of intellect elevated him far above the ordinary standard ; a man whose lamentable deviations from the sober paths of life had almost degraded him to a level with the outcasts of so- ciety* To counterbalance his errors, he was un- questionably possest of noble virtues : and al- though it can never be justifiable to write an apo- logy for vice, it may at least be deemed pardon^ able to offer some palliation for the backslidings of a man so fatally exposed to untoward accidents. Impartiality of judgment it can never be pre-
3K 2
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posterous /to exercise; but rigid and unrelenting scrutiny is not the province of those who are aware of the general lot of humanity, and of their individual breaches of the multifarious duties which religion and morality impose.
Robert Burns was born on the twenty-fifth day of January a, one thousand seven hundred and fif- ty-nine, in a small cottage situated at the distance of about two miles from the town of Ayr. His father, William Burns, Burnes, or Burness, was the son of a farmer in the county of Kincardine. The depression of circumstances into which the family had fallen, compelled William, together with Robert his elder brother, to abandon the place of his nativity, in the hope of experiencing a better fortune in some other part of the island. On the top of a hill in the vicinity of their native hamlet, the two youthful .adventurers separated from each other, in an agony of mind which the uncertainty of their future destiny could not fail to produce. William was then in the nineteenth year of his age, and possest of a degree of strength and skill sufficient to qualify him for the occupa- tion of a gardener. Having for some time fol- lowed this employment at Edinburgh, he remov- ed to the county of Ayr, where he found means to engage himself as gardener to the laird of Fairly. In the service of this gentleman he con-
a This date has been authenticated by the parish-register of Ayr, Da Carrie places his birth on the twenty-ninth of January.
445
tinned for the space of two years ; and was next entertained in the same capacity by Crawford of Doonside. From Dr Campbell, a physician in Ayr, he afterwards took a perpetual lease of seven acres of land ; which he proposed to convert into a public garden and nursery. Here he built with his own hands one of those clay edifices which the wilds of Scotland still present in sufficient abun- dance, and which are frequently constructed with some degree of internal elegance. In the year 1757 he married Agnes Brown, who bore him six children. Before he had reduced his ground to a proper state of cultivation, he was induced to engage himself as overseer and gardener to Mr Ferguson, who had purchased the estate of Doon- holm. It was while he remained in this last si- tuation that he saw himself the father of a son who was to reflect such distinguished lustre on the humble annals of his family.
In the sixth year of his age Robert was sent to a private school at Alloway Mill, situated at the distance of about a mile from his father's cottage. The teacher, whose name was Campbell, having within the space of a few months been appointed master of the work-house at Ayr, John Murdoch was engaged, by William Burns and some other heads of families, to .supply his place. Under his tuition Robert and his younger brother Gilbert learned to read English with some degree of faci- lity and correctness. They were likewise taught
to write, and were instructed in the elements oi grammar. To his subsequent intercourse with Murdoch, Robert was considerably indebted. The preceptor, although his own education had been limited and incomplete, was a man of a liberal spirit. He exerted himself with friendly zeal in cherishing the opening genius of the little pea- sant ; he supplied him with such books as his own library contained, and superintended his studies with unremitting assiduity. The Life of Hannibal, , the first book which Burns perused except those commonly redd in country schools, was kindly furnished by Murdoch.
As he was still a very unskilful penman, his father sent him, when about thirteen years of age, to the parish-school of Dalrymple. Here the two brothers continued their attendance for a week alternately during a summer quarter. In 1772 John Murdoch, being one of five candidates, was appointed master of the English school of Ayr. During the following year Burns went to board and lodge at his house, for the purpose of being further instructed in the principles of gram- mar. Having remained about ten days, he was recalled to assist his father in the labours of the harvest ; for notwithstanding his tender years, he could already perform the part of a man. After a short interval he returned to Ayr, and prose-' cuted his studies for the limited term of a fort-* night. Murdoch, who was himself engaged irt
447
learning the French language, was eager to com- municate his recent knowledge to so interesting a pupil : and when Burns returned home, he per- severed in the scheme with considerable diligence fand success. He was now imboldened to attempt the acquisition of the Latin language without the aid of a master : but fro;n this eriterprize he soon desisted. A summer quarter winch he afterwards spent at the parish-school of Kirkoswald, com- pletes the enumeration of his scholastic educa- tion. In his curious letter to the late Dr Moore he thus describes the effects of his residence at Kirkoswald: " Another circumstance in my life which made some alteration in my mind and manners, was, that I spent my nineteenth summer on a smuggling coast, a good distance from home, at a, noted school, to learn mensuration, surveying, dialling, &c. in which I made a pretty good pro- gress. But I made a greater progress in the knowledge of mankind. The contraband trade was at that time very successful, and it sometimes happened to me to fall in with those who carried it on. Scenes of swaggering riot and roaring dis- sipation were till this time new to me, but I was no enemy to social life. Here, though I learnt to fill my glass, and to mix without fear in a drunken squabble, yet I went on with a high hand with my geometry ; till the sun entered Virgo, a month which is always a carnival in my bosom, when a charming filktte who lived next
448
door to the school, overset my trigonometry, a set me off' at a tangent from the sphere of my studies. —
" I returned home very considerably improved. My reading was enlarged with the very import- ant addition of Thomson's and Shenstone's works ; I had seen human nature in a new phasis ; and I engaged several of my school-fellows to keep up a literary correspondence with me. This improved me in composition. I had met with a collection of letters by the wits of Queen Anne's reign, and I pored over them most devoutly. I kept copies of any of my own letters that pleased me, and a comparison between them and the composition of most of my correspondents, flattered my vanity. I carried this whim so far, that though I had not three farthings worth of business in the world, yet almost every post brought me as many letters as if I had been a broad plodding son of day-book and ledger."
In the year 1766 William Burns had obtained from Mr Ferguson a lease of the farm of Mount Oliphant in the parish of Ayr. To enable him to stock this farm, which consisted of upwards of eighty English acres, his patron generously ad- vanced him a loan of one hundred pounds. He was at liberty to resign his lease at the expiration of every sixth year. Finding, after the first arriv- al of this term, that his farm was inadequate to the support of his family, he made a fruitless at-
449
tempt to form a more advantageous establishment of the same kind. At the end of the twelfth year he removed to Lochlea, a farm in the parish of Tarbolton. After having resided here for the space of several years, a misunderstanding arose between him and his landlord respecting the con- ditions of the lease : and as these had not accord- ing to the legal form been committed to writing, the impendent dispute was referred to arbitra- tors. The decision involved his affairs in ruin, which he however did not live to witness. He died at Lochlea on the thirteenth of February, 1784. His two sons have described him as a man of consummate virtue : and John Murdoch like- wise mentions him in terms of unqualified appro- bation*, " Agnes Brown," he remarks, " had the most thorough esteem for her husband, of any woman I ever knew. I can by no means wonder that she highly esteemed him ; for I myself have always considered William Burns as by far the best of the human race that ever I had the plea- sure of being acquainted with — and many a wor- thy character I have known." The following epi- taph For the Author's Father occurs among the- works of Burns :
O ye whose cheek the tear of pity stains, Draw near with pious rev'rence and attend !
Here lie the loving husband's dear remains, The tender father, and the gen'rous friend )
VOL. II. 3 L
450
The pitying heart that felt for human woe ;
The dauntless heart that fear'd no human pride The friend of man, to vice alone a foe j
" For ev'n his failings leanM to virtue's side."
This estimable member of society had long struggled with the evils of life : and when his sons arrived at the years of reflection, they found themselves surrounded by many formidable dif- ficulties. The situation of their father's affairs rendered it necessary to inure them to habits of hardy industry, in which it would have been for- tunate for the elder if he had always persisted. The family entertained no hired servant, either male or female. At the age of thirteen Robert had begun to assist in the operation of threshing; and two years afterwards he was the principal labourer on the farm. To the hard labour and domestic sorrows of this early period of his life, we may in some measure impute the habitual melancholy to which he at length became sub- ject.
His vigour however was unsubdued by these depressing circumstances : under every disadvan- tage he continued to cultivate the uncommon talents of which he was conscious. Although he still retained the character of a pious and indus- trious young man, he had already begun to dis- play a strong bias towards convivial pleasures. His affections were warm and generous ; and his
451
powers of conception as well as of communica- tion were unrivalled in the circle where he was condemned to move. These qualifications pre- pared him for social enjoyment, and rendered his acquaintance highly acceptable. In the year 1780 he formed a kind of literary institution in the village of Tarbolton, consisting of himself, his brother Gilbert, -and other five young men of the same condition in life. They afterwards admitted additional members ; and, among the rest, David Sillar, who himself published a volume of poems in the Scotish dialect, and who is also known from Burns's two epistles. Some fragments of the book in which the members of the Bachelor's Club re- corded their transactions, have fortunately been preserved : they exhibit sketches characteristic of the unfolding genius of Burns. The last article of their regulations is too remarkable to be omit- ted : " Every man proper for a member of this society, must have a frank honest open heart, above any thing dirty or mean ; and must be a profest lover of one or more of the female sex. No haughty self-conceited person, who looks up- on himself as superior to the rest of the club, and especially no mean-spirited worldly mortal whose only will is to heap up money, shall upon any pretence whatever be admitted. In short, the proper person for this society is a chearful honest- hearted lad ; who, if he has a friend that is true, and a mistress that is kind, and as much wealth
452
as genteely to make both ends meet, is just as happy as this world can make him." The meet- ing of the club took place on the evening of every fourth monday : and the members were presented with an opportunity of exercising their powers of rational disquisition, as well as of in- dulging their social propensities. When Burns afterwards removed to the neighbourhood of Mauchline, he and his brother were requested to assist in the formation of another institution of the same nature. But the Bachelor's Club, when deprived of its most powerful member, was not long preserved from dissolution.
The two brothers had entered into the specula- tion of renting from their father a small plot of ground for the purpose of raising flax : and in or- der to render their plan more profitable, Robert formed the resolution of learning the trade of a flax-dresser. In 1781 he accordingly fixed his residence at Irvine, and carried his scheme into execution : but after he had persevered for about six months, the shop was accidentally set on fire while the flax-dressers were " giving a welcome carousal to the new year." This incident closed his operations as a mechanic.
The death of his father soon afterwards ensued. About this time he and his brother had taken the farm of Mossgiel near Mauchline, at the annual rent of ninety pounds. This spot they proposed to convert into an asylum for the* dejected fami-
453
ly of their father. Each member lent his as* sistance towards the management of the rural pr domestic affairs ; and was allowed a propor- tion of the product in the form of stipulated wages. Robert received the annual sum of seven pounds : and such was his frugality at this peri- od, that he never in a single instance suffered his expences to exceed his income. But his re- sidence at Irvine had not contributed to increase his reverence for virtue : here he began to asso- ciate with companions whose manners were cal- culated to counteract the effects of those pious les- sons which had been instilled into his mind. Among other intimates he numbered a young sailor of an interesting character, but of that laxity of moral pri-nciples which so frequently at- taches itself to the profession. " I had pride be- fore," says Burns, " but he taught it to flow in proper channels. His knowledge of the world was vastly superior to mine, and I was all atten- tion to learn. He was the only man I ever saw who was a greater fool than myself, where wo- man was the presiding star ; but he spoke of il- licit love with the levity of a sailor, which hi-, therto I had regarded with horror. Here his friendship did me a mischief, and the consequence was, that soon after I resumed the plough, I wrote" Rob the Rhymer's Welcome to his Bastard fflild. His father, fortunately for his domestic;
454-
peace, did not live to be acquainted with the deviation to which these expressions refer.
His susceptibility of the tender passion was extreme ; and although occasionally the source of many high raptures, it as frequently exposed him to mortification and anguish. His love however was not of the true poetical cast ; it did not tamely confine itself to one fair object, but ranged with somewhat of licentiousness through the pleasures of variety. It was during his resi- dence at Mossgiel that he formed a connection with Jean Armour, his future wife. In the un- restrained ardour of youthful attachment, their intercourse became more familiar than the laws of religion and of society authorize. The effects of this intercourse were at length apparent. Burns was not in a condition to form a new do- mestic establishment ; but his generous heart rendered him extremely solicitous to afford the only reparation which now remained within his reach. He accordingly presented her with marriage-lines: and proposing to leave her in the mean time to the protection of her parents, he declared his resolution of exiling himself to Ja- maica till he should be enabled to place her in her proper station as his wife. When her parents however were apprized of her real situation, they expressed their strong disapprobation of the con- nection : and in the anguish of her mind she complied with their earnest entreaties to destroy
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the documents of her matrimonial relation to Burns. This circumstance filled his mind with inexpressible agony. He avowed his willingness to remain at home and endeavour to provide for his family, should they prefer that measure to his becoming an adventurer in the West Indies : but even this proposal did not meet with the ap- probation of her circumspect parents ; they still cherished a hope that notwithstanding her im- prudence of conduct, she might afterwards form some more desirable connection. In this decision he was therefore under the necessity of acquiesc- ing ; but the misery occasioned by a separation under such circumstances as these, left him lit- tle relish for the scenes or avocations of his native country. He immediately engaged himself as an assistant overseer on the estate of a Dr Doug- las in the island of Jamaica. He was not how- ever master of a sum of money sufficient to de- fray the expences of the voyage ; and the vessel in which his employer was to procure him a pas- sage, was not ready for sea. While he yet linger- ed in his native land, he was persuaded by Mr Gavin Hamilton of Ayr to publish by subscrip- tion a collection of the poems with which he had already delighted his particular friends. " I weighed my productions," says Burns, " as im- partially as was in my power ; I thought they had merit ; and it was a delicious idea that I should be called a clever fellow, even though it should
456
never reach my ears — a poor negro-driver — or per* haps a victim to that inhospitable clime,- and gong to the world of spirits ! I can truly say, that pauvre inconnu as I then was, I had pretty nearly as high an idea of myself and of my works, as I have at this moment, when the public has decided in their favour* It ever was my opinion that the mistakes and blunders both in a rational and re- ligious point of view, of which we see thousands daily guilty, are owing to their ignorance of them- selves. To know myself has been all along my constant study. I weighed myself alone ; I balanced myself with others ; I watched every means of information, to see how much ground I occupied as a man and as a poet : I studied as- siduously nature's design in my formation; where the lights and shades of my character were in- tended. I was pretty confident my poems would meet with some applause ; but at the worst, the roar of the Atlantic would deafen the voice of censure, and the novelty of .West-Indian scenes make me forget neglect. I threw off six hundred copies, of which I had got subscriptions for about three hundred and fifty. My vanity was highly gratified by the reception I met with from the public ; and besides, I pocketed, all expences de- ducted, nearly twenty pounds. This sum came very seasonably, as I was thinking of indenting myself, for want of money to procure my pas- sage. As soon as I was master of nine guineas.
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the price of wafting me to the torrid fcone, I took a steerage passage in the first ship that was to sail from the Clyde." He describes himself as skulking at this time from covert to covert -un- der all the terrors of a jail ; with which he was threatened unless he should find legal security for the maintenance of his future progeny.
The volume was published at Kilmarnock in the year 1786, under the title of Poems chiefly in the Scottish Dialect. The impression was very speedily disperst ; and the work was instantly recognized as a literary phenomenon. Arnid his agricultural labours, Burns had cultivated his vigorous talents with wonderful assiduity and success : his native fire, unquenched by the chill- ing influence of his situation, had long been cherished in secret, and now began to blaze with a degree of splendour which astonished even the lettered class of his countrymen. The Rev. Dr Lawrie of Loudon had presented a copy of the poems to his friend Dr Blacklock ; who in ac- knowledging the favour, expressed in very strong terms his admiration of the rustic poet : " Many instances have I seen of nature's force and benefi- cence, exerted under numerous and formidable disadvantages ; but none equal to that with which you have been kind enough to present me. There is a pathos and delicacy in his serious poems, a vein of wit and humour in those of a more festive turn, which cannot be too much admired, nor
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too warmly approved : and I think I shall never open the book without feeling my astonishment renewed and increased. It was my wish to have expressed my approbation in verse ; but whether from declining life or a temporary depression of spirits, it is at present out of my power to ac- complish that agreeable to my intention. It
has been told me by a gentleman, to whom I shewed the performances, and who sought a copy With diligence and ardour, that the whole im- pression is already exhausted. It were therefore much to be wished, for the sake of the young man, that a second edition, more numerous than the former, could immediately be printed ; as it appears certain that its intrinsic merit, and the exertion of the author's friends, might give it a more universal circulation than any thing of the kind which has been published within my memory."
When Dr Blacklock's letter was communicat- ed to Burns, it roused his literary ambition to a high pitch : and although he had already taken leave of his friends, yet he immediately aban- doned his scheme of emigration, and proceeded without delay to the Scotish metropolis. Travel- ling on foot, he arrived at Edinburgh in the month of November, 1786, Mr Mackenzie con- tributed to procure him a favourable reception, by publishing in Th,. LA nggf an ace -..it ci this" Ayrshire plowman, with extracts from his poems,
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He had already been introduced to Mr Stewart, and to the Earl of Glencairn. Dr Lawrie had furnished him with a letter of introduction to Dr Blacklock, a man of a cultivated taste, and of the most pure and active benevolence. By the exertions of such friends as these, Burns was speedily introduced into almost every literary or fashionable circle : and the expectations which he had previously excited, were invariably sur- past on personal acquaintance. He experienc- ed a welcome reception from Dr Robertson, Lord Monboddo, Dr Blair, Dr Gregory, Mr Mackenzie, Mr Fraser Tytler, and other men of talents and learning. Of the generous friendship of the Earl of Glencairn he always spcke in en- thusiastic terms. At the suggestion of this noble- man he was patronized by the members of the Caledonian Hunt, and invited to bear a part in their gay carousals. He expressed his sensibility of tbeir friendship by inscribing the enlarged edi- tion of his poems to the association. This edi- tion was printed at Edinburgh in the year 1787; and was circulated with uncommon rapidity.
Burns was now presented with opportunities of surveying human nature in a variety of as- pects ; and the solid and elastic powers of his understanding enabled him to improve every oc- casion which offered. Transported as he was in- to a scene entirely new, he was led to contem- plate every object with all the eagerness of youth-
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ful curiosity : he exerted his deep sagacity in ap- preciating the characters of his associates ; he stored his imagination with a succession of fresh images ; he found ample exercise for the warm and generous affections of his heart. His deport- ment, in whatever company he happened to find himself, was manly and becoming. His unfail- ing good sense supplied the deficiencies of edu- cation, and prevented him from being over- whelmed by the protuberances of artificial polite- ness.
It is remarked by Mr Stewart in his letter to the editor of Burns, that " the attentions he re- ceived during his stay in town from all ranks and descriptions of persons, were such as would have turned any head but his own. I cannot say that I could perceive any unfavourable effect which they left on his mind. He retained the same simplicity of manners and appearance which had struck me so forcibly when I first saw him in the country ; nor did he seem to feel any ad- ditional self-importance from the number and rank of his new acquaintance. His dress was perfectly suited to his station, plain and unpre- tending, with a sufficient attention to neatness. If I recollect right, he always wore boots ; and when on more than usual ceremony, buck-skin breeches."
The profits of his works having now enabled him to gratify his inclinations, he determined to
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.visit some of the pastoral and classic scenes of his native country. He accordingly left Edin- burgh on the sixth of May, and, in company with Mr Ainslie one of his new friends, proceed- ed on horseback towards the banks of the Tweed. During his excursion he was introduced to seve- ral men of literature and fashion ; and among the rest, to Mr Brydone the traveller, and to Dr Somerville of Jedburgh, whom he describes as " a man, and a gentleman, but sadly addicted to punning.77 At Jedburgh he was presented with the freedom of the town. Having proceed- ed as far as Newcastle, he returned homeward by the counties of Cumberland and Dumfries, and rejoined his relations after an absence of six eventful months. After halting a few days, he revisited Edinburgh, whence he immediately proceeded on a tour to the Highlands. Returnr ing to Mossgiel, he spent the month of July in the society of his friends. In August he again visited the metropolis. Accompanied by Mr Adair, now Dr Adair of Harrowgate, he speedily began another excursion to the Highlands. When they reached Dunfermline, Burns hastened to pay his devotions at the tomb of a favourite hero. " In the church-yard," says Dr Adair, " two broad flag-stones mark the grave of Robert Bruce, for whose memory Burns had more than common veneration. He knelt and kissed the stone with sacred fervour, and heartily (suus ut mos eraf) exr
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ecrated the worse than Gothic neglect of the first of Scottish heroes."
His curiosity was yet unsatisfied: in the month of September he again set out from Edinburgh, and returned to visit the romantic scenery of the Highlands. The companion of his journey was William Nicoll, one of the masters of the High School, a man of vigorous intellect and of a strong bias to convivial pleasures, with whom he had contracted an intimacy which was only ter- minated by his death. At Athole-house Burns was hospitably entertained by the noble family. Of his behaviour during this visit, Mr Walker of Perth has exhibited a characteristic delinea- tion : " My curiosity was great to see how he would conduct himself in company so different from what he had been accustomed to. His man- ner was unembarrassed, plain, and firm. He ap- peared to have compleat reliance on his own native good sense for directing his behaviour. He seem- ed at once to perceive and to appreciate what \vas due to the company and to himself, and never to forget a proper respect for the separate species of dignity belonging to each. He did not arrogate conversation, but, when let into it, he spoke with ease, propriety, and manliness. He tried to exert his abilities, because he knew it was ability alone gave him a title to be there. The duke's fine young family attracted much of his admiration ; he drank their healths as honest
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Men and bonnie lassies, an idea which was much applauded by the company."
After a more extended excursion than he had formerly taken, he returned to the Scotish me- tropolis. Here he spent the greater part of the ensuing winter : and the scenes in which he was frequently engaged did not tend to confirm his early habits of temperance. His company was eagerly courted by people of every denomination. In whatever society he mingled, he never failed to leave a deep impression of his powerful talents.
On the last day of December he joined a se- lect party assembled for the purpose of celebrat- ing the birth-day of Charles Edward Stewart, the unfortunate representative of a long series of Scotish kings. The greater part of the mem* bers of which this annual association was then composed, were by no means suspected of disaf- fection to the reigning family : they assembled to gratify their national pride in recounting the hardihood of their forefathers, and to indulge their softer feelings in contemplating the fate of those gallant men who had so strenuously sup- ported a cause which they deemed not inglori- ous. The character of the prince himself was long recollected in Scotland with a degree of af- fection which his adverse fortune had contribut- ed to foster. Whatever might be the political opinions of his present associates, Burns was in reality a hearty Jacobite : and on this occa-
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sion he voluntarily produced a lyric poem, in which his favourite sentiments were not supprest. In the month of February, 1788, he procured a settlement with his bookseller in Edinburgh ; and, after defraying all the expences which he had lately incurred, found himself in possession of nearly five hundred pounds. To his brother Gilbert5, who still retained the farm of Mossgiel, he immediately advanced a loan of two hundred: and with the residue he now proposed to form some permanent establishment for himself. As he still professed to adhere to his original occu- pation, Mr Miller of Dalswintori, ambitious of becoming the landlord of such a tenant, had in- vited him in the spring of 1787 to survey his estate in Nithsdale, for the purpose of selecting a farm adapted to his own taste and circumstan- ces. This gentleman, with due liberality, of- fered him the choice of any of his farms which were not previously attached by leases ; and left the annual rent to be appreciated by Burns and such of his friends as he might consult. After more than usual deliberation, he selected that of Ellisland, situated on the banks of the river Nith, at the distance of six miles from Dumfries. He
b This very intelligent and respectable man is now a farmer in East- Lothian. — " My brother," says the poet, " wanted my hair-brained imagination, as well as my social and amorous madness; but in good sense, an<l every sober qualification, he was far my superior."
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entered on his lease at the term of Whitsunday,
1788.
Burns, it will be recollected, had been pre- vented from marrying Jean Armour by the pru- dential schemes of her parents. The pains of separation he had felt with excessive keenness : and his mind was tormented with bitter reflec- tions till he had accomplished his original inf n- tion. Of the progress of his intercourse he speaks in the following terms : " When she first found herself ' as women wish to be who love their lords ;' as I loved her nearly to distraction, we took steps for a private marriage. Her parents got the hint ; and not only forbade me her com- pany and their house, but on my rumoured West Indian voyage, got a warrant to put me in jail, till 1 should find security in my about-to-be pa^ ternal relation. You know my lucky reverse of fortune. On my eclatant return to Mauchline, I was made very welcome to visit my girl. The usual consequences began to betray her ; and as I was at that time laid up a cripple in Edinburgh, she was turned, literally turned out of doors, and I wrote to a friend to shelter her, till my return, when our marriage was declared, Her happiness or misery were in my hands ; and who could trifle with such a deposit ?
" I can readily fancy a more agreeable compa~ nion for my journey of life, but, upon my honor, I have never seen the individual instance.'*
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He now formed the resolution of abandoning the dissipated mode' of life in which he had lately indulged, and of preparing himself for the stre- nuous discharge of the duties which had devolved upon him. His first undertaking was to rebuild the dwelling house on his farm ; and in the pro- gress of the work he occasionally resumed the occupation of a labourer, without experiencing any diminution of the strength or dexterity by which he had formerly been distinguished. The ardour however which he now displayed, did not long continue to animate his exertions : his mind had in a great measure been devested of its early habits of adaptation ; and, whatever flatter- ing prospects might have presented themselves to his imagination, he soon found that agriculture and happiness are not inseparably connected. The attractions of his wit and social qualities ul- timately effected his ruin. Such of his neighbours as professed to admire that species of excellence of which he could boast, were eager to number him among their associates ; and the various temptations which thus allured him, he was but indifferently prepared to resist. The occupations of a farmer speedily lost their charms ; and the next speculation by which he endeavoured to improve his condition, was still less adapted to the delicate feelings of a poetical mind. In the year 1786 lie had hinted an intention of request- ing employment from the board of excise ; and
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Sir John Whiteford, whom he commemorates as " the first gentleman in the country whose bene- volence and goodness of heart had been interested for him, unsolicited and unknown," had liberally offered his services in promoting the poet's suc- cess in that or any other department. Mr Alex- ander Wood, who attended him at Edinburgh during his confinement in consequence of a frac- ture or dislocation, had made zealous application to the board as soon as he was apprized of his project : and the name of Burns had immediately been enrolled in the list of expectants c. After his removal to Ellisland he solicited employment; and by the intervention of Mr Graham of Fintry, with whom he had become acquainted at Athole- house, he was nominated for the district in which he had fixed his residence. This was the prelude to his subsequent misfortunes. " His farm," says one of his biographers, " was after this, in a great measure abandoned to servants, while he betook himself to the duties of his new appointment. He might indeed still be seen in the spring, directing his plough, a labour in which he ex- celled ; or with a white sheet containing his seed- corn slung across his shoulders, striding with measured steps, along his turned up furrows, and scattering the grain in the earth. But his farm no longer occupied the principal part of his care
c Heron's Memoir of the Life of the late Robert Barns, p. 33. Edinb. 1797, 8vo.
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or his thoughts. It was not at Ellisland that he was now in general to be found. Mounted on horseback, this high-minded poet was pursuing the defaulters of the revenue, among the hills and vales of Nithsdale, his roving eye wandering over the charms of nature, and ' muttering his way- ward fancies' as he moved along."
With the more adventurous part of his duty the lofty spirit of Burns seems to have been suf- ficiently delighted. What feats of valour he per- formed, I know not ; but he seems to have pre- pared him-, Jf fur dangerous exploits. When he exclaims in one of his songs, " I hae a gude braid sword," we are to understand him literally. In the summer of 1791 two gentlemen who came to visit him, found the poetical exciseman in a war- like trim : on his head he wore a cap made of a fox's skin ; and from a belt which served to con- fine the wandering of a loose great-coat, depend- ed an enormous claymore. In this garb he stood on a rock that projects into the Nith, and amused himself with angling.
In the mean time his poetical recreations were not totally abandoned. Several of the* songs which he composed about this period, were in- serted in Johnson's Scots Poetical Museum.
These pursuits had no tendency to improve his fortune. That part of his domestic economy which devolved on Mrs Burns, was conducted with singular prudence ; "but on his side there
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were too many deficiencies. After having re- mained at Ellisland for three years and a half, he found it expedient to resign his farm. It was towards the close of the year 1791 that he re- moved to a small house in Dumfries. His hopes of preferment were still sanguine : and in the mean time he proposed to support himself and his family by his emolument as a simple excise- man ; which had lately been advanced to seventy pounds a year.
Till he fixed his residence in Dumfries, his irregularities, though by no means unfrequent, had not become inveterately habitual: the tempt- ations however to which he was now exposed, proved too powerful for his better impressions ; after various struggles against the stream of dissi- pation which was gradually surrounding him, he at length suffered himself to be rapidly carried along by its fatal current. A large proportion of the more genteel or more idle inhabitants of Dumfries consists of men connected with the pro- fession of law : and in some of these, as well as in other inhabitants of the town arid its vici- nity, Burns found associates from whom it was not to be expected that he should learn sobriety. The fame of his literary character also exposed him to the company of every stranger who pro- fessed a respect for poetry. As their interviews commonly took place in taverns, his familiarity with riotous excess was daily increasing. In the
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midst of such distractions, it must have been im- possible for him to discharge the duties of his office with that regularity which is almost indis- pensible.
His preferment was also retarded by another circumstance. About this period the attention of Europe was ardently roused by those astonish- ing events that had befallen in a country to which Britain has always directed her eyes. The revolution in France had presented new prospects to the friends of humanity and to the lovers of rapine : one class of speculators hoped that the reign of philosophy had already commenced; another was convinced that a glorious scene of action was opening for those who might other- wise have lived and died in villainous obscurity. In Britain the event was eagerly hailed by many benevolent and enlightened men, who predicted the happiest consequences, not only to France in particular, but ultimately to the numerous states of Europe. The extravagance of their first im- pressions they have at length found themselves compelled to moderate : they have found that of all civilized countries, France is the least calculated for realizing any scheme of rational liberty ; that her professions with regard to the disinterested promotion of the general welfare of mankind are hollow, deceitful, and even ridiculous ; and that the levity of the national character is so inveterate as to leave no solid grounds of consolatory or
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pleasing hope with respect to her own internal regulations. They who still persit in contem- plating France as the future parent of European freedom, must certainly have approached the brink of insanity.
Burns' was one of those who openly rejoiced at the apparent emancipation of so large a propor- tion of the human species. His feelings were naturally violent ; and the stimulus of intoxication inevitably increased his imprudence of speech. They who admitted the principles and applauded the exertions of the French politicians, were generally led to entertain extravagant schemes of premature reformation in the constitution of their native country. The flame of innovation was widely kindled ; but its lustre was obscured by a cloud of smoke. In the administration of the British government, Burns perceived or fan- cied he perceived multifarious abuses ; nor did he hesitate to declaim with unbriddled freedom con- cerning the urgent necessity of a radical reform- ation. But at the total overthrow of a political constitution so beautiful in theory, and so toler- able in practice, it cannot be supposed that hi* wildest wishes ever aimed. In his common-place book, which he could not expect to be perused by others till after his decease, he has exprest himself in the following terms: " Whatever migKt be my sentiments of republics, ancient or modern, as to Britain, I ever abjured the idea. A con-
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stitution which in its original principles expe- rience has proved to be every way fitted for our happiness, it would be insanity to abandon for an untried visionary theory." Surmizes however, which he indeed had not been sufficiently careful to prevent, were ungenerously propagated to his disadvantage : and the board of excise deemed it necessary to appoint a superior officer to investi- gate his conduct. In an eloquent letter addrest to one of their number, he exculpated himself with becoming dignity from the charges which had been preferred against him : and the officer who had been commissioned to institute a formal enquiry, could discover no substantial grounds of accusation. Mr Graham of Fintry, in whom he had always found a steady and zealous friend, was ready on the present occasion to secure him from the threatened consequences of his impru- dence. Of imprudence he was undoubtedly guilty : and the board, although they suffered him to retain his present office, sent him an inti- mation that his advancement must now be deter- mined by his future behaviour.
These occurrences did not fail of producing deep mortification : from this period his prospects must have appeared sufficiently gloomy ; and his late conduct was exaggerated with all the deco- rations of malevolent stupidity. It was even re- ported that he had been dismist from his office : and in consequence of this erroneous intelligence.
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some gentleman of great respectability proposed a subscription for the relief of his present neces- sities. This benevolent offer he declined with that native dignity of mind which might have been expected from a man of genius. In the letter which conveyed his acknowledgments, he also took occasion to allude to the reports which had been industriously circulated to his prejudice. " The partiality of my countrymen," says the indignant bard, " has brought me forward as a man of genius, and has given me a character to support. In the poet I have avowed manly and independent sentiments, which I hope have been found in the man. Reasons of no less weight than the support of a wife and children have pointed out my present occupation as the only elegible line of life within my reach. Still my honest fame is my dearest concern, and a thousand times have I trembled at the idea of the degrad- ing epithets that malice or misrepresentation may affix to my name. Often in blasting anticipation have 1 listened to some future hackney scribbler, with the heavy malice of savage stupidity, exult- ingly asserting that Burns, notwithstanding the fanfaronnade of independence to be found in his works, and after having been held up to public view, and to public estimation, as a man of some genius, yet, quite destitute of resources within himself to support his borrowed dignity, dwindled into a paultry exciseman, and slunk out the rest VOL. II. 3 O
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of his insignificant existence in the meanest pur- suits, and among the lowest of mankind.
" In your illustrious hands, Sir, permit me to lodge my strong disavowal of such slanderous falsehoods. Burns was a poor man from his birth, and an exciseman by necessity : but — I will say it, the sterling of his honest worth pover- ty could not debase, and his independent British spirit oppression might bend, but could not subdue."
In 1795 he exhibited public proofs of his loyalty ; be enrolled himself among the Dumfries volunteers, and by his poetical effusions endea- voured to incite them to patriotic exertion.
Notwithstanding his increasing habits of dissi- pation, he still devoted some of his more rational hours to the composition of poetry : but his pro- ductions had now begun to assume a deeper tinge from the altered character of the author. During this year the editor of a London news- paper, by offering him an annual recompense of fifty-two guineas, endeavoured to obtain from him a weekly contribution to the poetical de- partment. But in this proposal' he could not be induced to acquiesce ; though such a supply would have been found no superfluous addition to his scanty provision.
About this period he began to present indica- tions of declining health : and although his appetite was still unimpaired, he seems to have
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been aware of the gradual approach of dissolution. Of the madness of his late career he was deeply sensible, but was now without the power of re- treat. His constitution was deprived of its native energies, and could only be preserved from overwhelming languor by the aid of stimu- lant liquors. In this deplorable state of body as well as of mind, he was eager to avoid the pangs of solitary reflection, and was even incapable of relishing domestic or rational society. He rush- ed into the company of men whom in his purer days he would have despised and shunned ; he de- graded his noble faculties to so mean a level, that many of his earlier friends became half-ashamed of having contracted such an intimacy. From the shelter of his domestic retreat, he was not however expelled by the upbraidings of the still- affectionate object of his youthful attachment : whatever errors he might himself be conscious of having committed, the bitterness of remorse was not augmented by her murmurs or complaints. Often did he acknowledge his numerous breaches of the duties of a husband and a father: and her promptitude to forgive his offences was undiminish- ed by the frequency of their repetition. His pene- tential declarations were accompanied by pro- mises of amendment ; but the task of reformation being still deferred till some future day, his habits gradually became more pernicious.
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From the month of October to that of Janu he was confined to his house by an accidental complaint. He had scarcely begun to venture abroad, when with his usual imprudence he dined at a tavern, and suffered himself to fall into in- toxication. Returning home about three o'clock in the ensuing morning, he found himself siezed with a numbness, which was soon followed by an attack of rheumatism. He now exhibited symp- toms of the most alarming kind : and, contrary to the hope of his friends, the return of summer -produced no favourable change in his sinking constitution. Towards the close of June he was advised to try the influence of country air. His medical biographer, who represents him as im- patient of medical advice, and of every species of controul, informs us that he determined for him- self to have recourse to the simple remedy of sea- bathing d. He accordingly hastened to the village of Brow, situated on the shore of Solway Firth at the distance of about ten miles from Dumfries. His ingenious friend Mrs Riddell was at this time residing in the immediate vicinity. When in- formed of his arrival, she sent him an invitation to dinner, and accompanied it with her own car- riage to convey him over the short tract which lay
fl This assertion is however contradicted by a passage in one of his own letters : " The medical folks tell me that my last and only chance is bathing, and country-quarters, and riding." (Burns's Worhs> vol. il p. 468.)
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between them. Of their interview she soon afterwards communicated a circumstantial ac- count to one of her friends : and an extract from her letter will serve to delineate the real senti- ments of Burns during this melancholy crisis of his life : " We had a long and serious conversation about his present situation, and the approaching termination of all his earthly prospects. He spoke of his death without any of the ostentation of philosophy, but with firmness as well as feel- ing— as an event likely to happen very soon, and which gave him concern chiefly from leaving his four children so young and unprotected, and his wife in so interesting a situation — in hourly ex- pectation of lying in of a fifth. He mentioned, with seeming pride and satisfaction, the promising genius of his eldest son, and the flattering marks of approbation he had received from his teachers, and dwelt particularly on his hopes of that boy's future conduct and merit. His anxiety for his family seemed to hang heavy upon him, and the more perhaps from the reflection that he had not done them all the justice he was so well qualified to do. Passing from this subject, he shewed great concern about the care of his literary fame, and particularly the publication of his posthumous works. He said he was well aware that his death would occasion some noise, and that every scrap of his writing would be revived against him to the injury of his future reputation ; that letters
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and verses written with improper freedom, a which he earnestly wished to have buried in oblivion, would be handed about by idle vanity or malevolence, when no dread of his resentment would restrain them, or prevent the censures of shrill-tongued malice, or the insidious sarcasms of envy, from pouring forth all their venom to blast his fame.
" He lamented that he had written many epi- grams on persons against whom he entertained no enmity, and whose characters he should be sorry to wound ; and many indifferent poetical pieces, which he feared would now, with all their imperfections on their head, be thrust upon the world. On this account he deeply regretted having deferred to put his papers into a state of arrangement, as he was now quite incapable of the exertion."
From sea-bathing Burns derived no permanent relief : it had indeed the effect of alleviating the rheumatical pains which he had felt in his limbs ; but this flattering symptom was immediately fol- lowed by a fresh attack of fever. His misery was increased by the state of his pecuniary affairs ; and the horrors of a jail frequently haunted his distempered imagination. In a letter dated July the twelfth, 1796, he thus addresses himself to Mr George Thomson : " After all my boasted in- dependence, curst necessity compels me to implore you for five pounds. A cruel ***** of a
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haberdasher to whom I owe an account, taking- it into his head that I am dying, has commenced a process, and will infallibly put me into jail. Do, for God's sake, send me that sum, and that by return of post. Forgive me this earnestness, but the horrors of a' jail have made me half dis- tracted. I do not ask all this gratuitously ; for upon returning health, I hereby promise and en- gage to furnish you with five pounds worth of the neatest song genius you have seen." Burns had supplied Mr Thomson with many beautiful songs for the collection which he was then pre- paring to publish. This gentleman was un- willing that his friend should labour without recompense, and on one occasion had ventured to send him a pecuniary present ; but the mode in which it wasi received, had deterred him from renewing a similar offer.
On the eighteenth of July Burns was removed to his own house. His debility was now so much increased, that he was unable to stand upright. He lingered a few days longer in a state of miser- able depression, which was occasionally succeed- ed by phrenzy ; and at length expired on the twenty-first day of the month. He died in the thirty-eighth year of his age.
The glaring follies of the man were now for- gotten, and the premature and melancholy fate of the poet was alone remembered : his death ex- cited the deepest regret in a very numerous class
480
of his countrymen. It only remained to discharge the last debt of affection. The Dumfries volun- teers resolved to inter their lamented companion with all the mournful solemnity of military ho- nours : the Cinque Ports cavalry together with the Angus-shire fencibles also offered their ser- vices on the occasion ; and the principal inhabi- tants of the town and its vicinity determined to join the funeral procession. On the evening of the twenty-fifth of July his remains were convey- ed from his own house, and lodged in the town-hall; and on the ensuing day, were borne to the place of interment amidst a vast concourse of spectators. His hat and sword were placed on the coffin. From the town-hall to the burial-ground, an ex- tent of more than half a mile, the streets were lined by the fencible cavalry and infantry. The procession was commenced by a party of volun- teers selected for performing the military duty at the grave of their companion : around his corpse, which was supported by some of their number, the rest of his fellow soldiers had arranged them- selves with due solemnity ; and the train was closed by a promiscuous crowd of mourners. The party in the front moved onward with their anus reversed ; and the motion of the procession was regulated by the thrilling tones of the dead march. His body being committed to the earth, three vollies were fired over his grave. The unrestrain- ed sorrow of the numerous spectators was a noble*
481
tribute of affectionate regard for the memory of departed genius.
The affliction of his widow may readily be con- ceived. Her situation was rendered more inter* esting by the circumstances in which she was placed at this melancholy crisis : in the morning she had been overtaken by the pains of labour ; and during the solemn service of her husband's funeral, she became the parent of another child. This forlorn little stranger soon followed his fa- ther to the grave.
The second of his surviving sons died in 1803. The eldest, a young man of singular promise, is a student in the University of Glasgow ; the third has been placed in Christ's Hospital ; the young- est is still under the immediate care of his mo- ther. These three are the only legitimate child- ren of Burns who now survive ; but a little im- postor has lately made an attempt to enrol him- self among their number. In the year 1802 a young man, who is reported to be the son of a taylor in Stirlirig, found means to introduce him- self into several of the London circles as the eldest son of the poet.
Burns, as must already have appeared, died in extreme poverty ; but he was so fortunate as to leave his widow unincumbered with debts. The prudence of his wife was exemplary ; and his na- tive independence of mind never deserted him. " Even in the midst of distress," we are informed,
VOL. II. 3 P
482
41 he bore himself loftily to the world, and rec ed with a jealous reluctance every offer of friend- ly assistance." The profit of his works amount- ed to about nine hundred pounds. For the two hundred which he had advanced to his excellent brother, obligations were found at the time of his death. For the benefit of his family, a play was performed at the Edinburgh theatre; and a sub- scription was opened in some of the principal towns of Great Britain. These contributions, added to the sum arising from the final disposal of the copy-right of his poems and letters, have placed them in a state of comparative affluence.
The character of Burns has been drawn with sufficient accuracy by Dr Currie ; from whom I shall borrow what appears most material. " Burns, as has already been mentioned, was nearly five feet ten inches in height, and of a form that in- dicated agility as well as strength. His well-raised forehead shaded with black curling hair, indicated extensive capacity. His eyes were large, dark, full of ardour and intelligence. His face was well formed; and his countenance uncommonly inter- esting and expressive. His mode of dressing, which was often slovenly, and a certain fulness and bend in his shoulders, characteristic of his original profession, disguised in some degree the natural symmetry and elegance of his form. The external appearance of Burns, was most striking- ly indicative of the character of his mind. On a
483
first view, his physiognomy had a certain air of coarseness, mingled however with an expression of deep penetration, and of calm thoughtfulness approaching to melancholy. There appeared in his first manner and address perfect ease and self- possession, but a stern and almost supercilious elevation, not indeed incompatible with openness and affability, which however bespoke a mind conscious of superior talents. Strangers that sup- posed themselves approaching an Ayrshire pea- sant, who could make rhymes, and to whom their notice was an honour, found themselves speedily overawed by the presence of a man who bore himself with dignity, and who possessed a singu- lar power of correcting forwardness and of repel- ling intrusion. But though jealous of the respect due to himself, Burns never enforced it where he saw it was willingly paid ; and though inaccess- ible to the approaches of pride, he was open to every advance of kindness and of benevolence. His dark and haughty countenance easily relaxed into a look of good-will, of pity, or of tenderness; and as the various emotions succeeded each other in his mind, assumed with equal ease the expres- sion of the broadest humour, of the most extra- vagant mirth, or of the most sublime emotion. The tones of his voice happily corresponded with the expression of his features, and with the feel- ings of his mind. When to these endowments were added, a rapid and distinct apprehension, a
3 P 2
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most powerful understanding, and a happy com- mand of language — of strength as well as brillian- cy of expression — we shall be able to account for the extraordinary attractions of his conversation — for the sorcery which in his social parties he seem- ed to exert on all around him. In the company of women this sorcery was more especially appa- rent. Their presence charmed the fiend of me- lancholy in his bosom, and awoke his happiest feelings ; it excited the powers of his fancy as well as the tenderness of his heart ; and by re- straining the vehemence and the exuberance of his language, at times gave to his manners the impression of taste, and even of elegance, which in the company of men they seldom possessed. This influence was doubtless reciprocal. A Scot- tish lady, accustomed to the best society, declared with characteristic naivete, that no man's conver- sation ever carried her so completely off her feet as that of Burns ; and an English lady, familiarly acquainted with several of the most distinguished characters of the present times, assured the editor, that in the happiest of his social hours, there was a charm about Burns which she had never seen equalled. This charm arose not more from the power than the versatility of his genius. No lan- guor could be felt in the society of a man who passed at pleasure from grave to gay, from the ludicrous to the pathetic, from the simple to the sublime ; who wielded ajl his faculties with equal
strength and case, and never failed to impress the offspring of his fancy with the stamp of his understanding.
" This indeed is to represent Burns in his hap- piest phasis. In large and mixed parties, he was often silent and dark, sometimes fierce and over- bearing ; he was jealous of the proud man's scorn, jealous to an extreme of the insolence of wealth, and prone to avenge, even on its innocent pos- sessor, the partiality of fortune. By nature kind, brave, sincere, and in a singular degree compas- sionate, he was on the other hand proud, irascible, and vindictive. His virtues and his failings had their origin in the extraordinary sensibility of his mind, and equally partook of the chills and glows of sentiment. His friendships were liable to in- terruption from jealousy or disgust, and his en- mities died away under the influence of pity or self-accusation. His understanding was equal to the other powers of his mind, and his deliberate opinions were singularly < candid and just; but like other men of great and irregular genius, the opinions which he delivered in conversation were often the offspring of temporary feelings, and widely different from the calm decisions of his judgment. This was not merely true respecting the characters of others, but in regard to some of the most important points of human speculation.
" On no subject did he give a more striking proof of the strength of his understanding, than
480
in the correct estimate he formed of himself. He knew his own failings ; he predicted their conse- quence.; the melancholy foreboding was never long absent from his mind ; yet his passions car- ried him down the stream of error, and swept him over the precipice he saw directly in his course6."
On the death of Burns many poems have been composed, with different degrees of ability. Mr Roscoe, a writer of merited reputation, has among others exerted his poetical talents on this melan- choly occasion.
In the year 1800 an edition of " The Works of Robert Burns" was printed at Liverpool in four volumes octavo. The first volume is occupied by a diffuse life of Burns, written by the editor Dr James Currie, a Scotish physician residing in that town. The correspondence of Burns includes let- ters to or from Dr Moore, Dr Blacklock, Dr Gre- gory, Dr Blair, Mr Stewart, Mr Fraser Tytler, Mr Alison, and Mr Smellie. His own letters are not less remarkable than his poems. His prose however is somewhat deficient in ease and sim- plicity : he is generally too ambitious of brilliant thoughts and expressions.
His suspicions with respect to the fate of his posthumous works have been completely justified; several of his compositions, unworthy of the author, and offensive to decency, have lately been
6 Currie's Life of Burns, p. 333.
487
offered to the public. An octavo collection en- titled " Poems ascribed to Robert Burns, the Ayrshire Bard, not contained in any edition of his Works hitherto published," proceeded from the Glasgow press in the year 1801. In 1802 a small collection of " Letters addressed to Clarinda, by Robert Burns, the Ayrshire Poet," was pub- lished at Glasgow in duodecimo.
BURNS was possest of a versatility and strength of genius which might have conducted him to eminence in any department of science or litera- ture. His senses were acute; his affections warm and generous : his imagination was vivid and ex- cursive ; his judgment prompt and penetrating. His poetry is the effusion of a vigorous and sus- ceptible mind powerfully affected by the objects of its contemplation. The external beauties of nature, the pleasures and disappointments of love, the characteristics of the peasant's fate, the ridi- culous features of hypocrisy and superstition, fur- nish the principal subjects on which he has ex- ercised his bold and original talents. Most of the occasions which awakened his poetical powers were not fictitious but .real ; and his sentiments and language are generally those of a man who obeys the strong impulses of unsophisticated feel- ing. Although he laboured under the disadvan- tages of a very imperfect education, yet some cir> cumstances of his early life were not altogether
488
unfavourable to the nurture of a poetical genius. The peculiarity of his fate tended to impress every sentiment more deeply on his mind, and to fami- liarise him with the habits of profound medita- tion. The lessons which his father taught him, were those of piety, virtue, and independence ; lessons which are scarcely of less importance to the poet than to the man. His early years were indeed consumed in depressing toil: but even while the young peasant was following the plough, his intellectual eye was fixed on immortality. Many of his poems were composed during the hours when he was actually engaged in manual labour : his native energy was unsubdued by illi- beral toil, by perpetual mortification, and by his total seclusion from that intercourse which is most calculated to fan the sparks of generous emulation. " This kind of life," says Burns, " the cheerless gloom of a hermit, with the un- ceasing moil of a galley-slave, brought me to my sixteenth year ; a little before which period I first committed the sin of rhyme." Love, he informs us, was the original source of his poetry : " I never had the least thought or inclination of turn- ing poet till I got once heartily in love ; and then rhyme and song were in a manner the spontane- ous language of my heart."
His principal models of composition were Ramsay and Fergusson. In his letter to Dr Moore, he remarks that he had nearly abandon^
489
fed poetry, when in his twenty-third year having become acquainted with the works of Fergusson, he " strung a-new his wildly-sounding lyre with emulating vigour." Of classical learning he was totally destitute ; and it is not apparent that he was much indebted to his knowledge of the French language. With the best English writers he was however sufficiently conversant : he redd them with avidity, and for the most part with wonderful discernment. Nor was he altogether unacquainted with science : he had at least stu- died Euclid, Locke, and Smith; he redd and un- derstood Mr Alison's Essays on the Principles of Tasted
The most beautiful of his poems are professed- ly written in the Scotish dialect : but in general they are not deeply tinctured with provincial idioms ; many of the stanzas are almost purely English. His verses, though not very polished or melodious, are commonly distinguished by an air of originality which atones for every deficien- cy. His rhymes are often imperfect, and his expressions indelicate ; he passes from ease to negligence, and from simplicity to coarseness. But these peculiarities \ve may ascribe to his early habits of association.
f The compendious euldgiunri which Scipio Gentilis has bestowed on Philippe de Commines, is equally applicable to Burns: " Sine literis doc- tissimus supra ipsos philosophos." (In Apuleii Afokgiam Comment 'aritif, p. 47-;
VOL, II.
4-90
The poems of Burns, though most remarkable for the quality of humour, exhibit various in- stances of the true sublime : the vigour of his imagination, and the soundness of his understand- ing, enabled him to attain a variety of excellence which can only be traced in the productions of original genius. Some of his subjects are suffi- ciently mean ; but he never fails to illumine them with brilliant flashes of intellect. His flights however are sudden and irregular : the strong impulses of his mind were not sufficiently chastened and directed by the wholesome discip- line of the schools. His compositions, however beautiful in detached parts, are very often defec- tive in their general plan.
The most exquisite of his serious poems is The Cotter's Saturday Night. The characters and in- cidents which the poet here describes in so in- teresting a manner, are such as his father's cot- tage presented to his observation ; they are such as may every where be found among the virtu- ous and intelligent peasantry of Scotland. " 1 recollect once he told me," says Professor Stew- art, " when I was admiring a distant prospect in one of our morning walks, that the sight of so many smoking cottages gave a pleasure to his mind, which none could understand who had not witnessed like himself, the happiness and the worth which they contained." With such im- presions as these upon his mind, he has succeed-
491
ed in delineating a charming picture of rural in- nocence and felicity. The incidents are well selected, the characters skilfully distinguished, and the whole composition is remarkable for the propriety and sensibility which it displays. To transcribe every beautiful passage which the poem contains, would be to transcribe almost every stanza : the following may be selected on account of its moral as well as its poetical effect :
But hark ! a rap comes gently to the door !
Jenny, wha kens the meaning o' the same, Tells how a neebor lad cam o'er the moor,
To do some errands, and convoy her hame.
The wily mother sees the conscious flame Sparkle in Jenny's e'e, and flush her cheek j ]
With heart-struck anxious care, enquires his name, While Jenny hafflins is afraid to speak j Weel pleas'd the mother hears, it's nae wild worthless rake.
Wi' kindly welcome Jenny brings him ben :
A strappan youth, he taks the mother's eye j Blythe Jenny sees the visit's no ill ta'en j
The fatjier cracks of horses, pleughs, and kye.
The youngster's artless heart o'erflows wi' joy , But blate and laithfu', scarce can weel behave :
The mother, wi' a woman's wiles can spy What makes the youth sae bashfu' an' sae grave j Weel pleas'd to think her bairn's respected like the lave,
O happy love ! where love like this is found !
O heart-felt raptures ! bless beyond compare 1 I've paced much this weary mortal round,
And sage Experience bids me this declare ;
3 0.2
492
, •' If heaven a draught of heavenly pleasure spare, One cordial in this melancholy vale,
'Tis when a youthful, loving, modest pair, In others' arms breathe out the tender tale, Beneath the milk-white thorn that scents the ev'ning gale."
Is there, in human form, that bears a heart —
A wretch ! a villain ! lost to love and truth ! That can with studied, sly, ensnaring art,
Betray sweet Jenny's unsuspecting youth ?
Curse on his perjur'd arts ! dissembling smooth ! Are honour, virtue, conscience, all exil'd ?
Is there no pity, no relenting ruth, Points to the parents fondling o'er their child ? Then paints the ruin'd maid, and their distraction wild ?
His stanzas " To a Mountain Daisy, on turn- ing one down with the plough," have always been acknowledged as beautiful and interesting. His address " To a Mouse, on turning her up in her nest with the plough," evinces the fertility of his genius, and the unbounded benevolence of his heart. These two poems derive additional interest from the attitude in which the writer is himself presented to our view ; we behold him engaged in the labours of the field, and moving in his humble sphere with all the dignity of honest independence and conscious genius. The exordium of his very poetical production entitled The Vision is also rendered interesting by the same circumstance ; it exhibits Burns in the re- Inrement of his homely cottage :
493
The sun had clos'd the winter day. The curlers quat their roaring play, An' hunger'd maukin ta'en her way
To kail-yards green,. While faithless snaws ilk step betray
Whare she has been.
The thresher.-s weary flingin-tree •The lee-lang day had tired me ; And whan the day had clos'd his e'e
Far i' the west, Ben i' the spence, right pensively,
I gaed to rest.
There lanely by the ingle-cheek, I sat and ey'd the spewing reek, That fill'd wi' hoast-provoking smeek
The auld clay biggin j An' heard the restless rattons squeak
About the riggin.
All in this mottle mistie clime, I backward mus'd on wasted time, How I had spent my youthfu' prime,
An' done nae-thing, But stringin blethers up in rhyme,
For fools to sing.
Others of his serious poems are distinguished by beauties of no vulgar kind. Many passages rise to sublimity : and his moral reflections are often solemn, pathetic, and perspicacious.
But it is perhaps in his humorous and satirical poems that he appears to most advantage, Na-
494
ture had endowed him with an uncommon de- gree of sagacity ; and his perpetual disappoint- ments and mortifications rendered him a more keen observer of the follies of mankind. His sa- tire however, when he refrains from personalities, is seldom unmerciful : his general opinion of hu- man nature was by no means unfavourable ; and he commonly exposes vice and folly with a kind of gay severity.
Halloween exhibits a humorous and masterly description of some of the remarkable supersti- tions of his countrymen. The incidents are se- lected and the characters discriminated with his usual felicity. His Address to the Deil, as well as Death and Dr Hornbook, is distinguished by an original vein of satirical humour. The Holy Fair is entitled to every praise except that of scrupu- lous decency. The subsequent stanzas may serve to discover with what efficacy Burns could wield the shafts of ridicule :
Now a1 the congregation o'er
Is silent expectation ; For ***** speels the holy door,
Wi' tidings o' damnation. Should Hornie, as in ancient days,
'Mang sons o' God present him, The very sight o' * * * * *'s face,
IVs am het hame wad send him
Wi' fright that day,
i
495
Hear how he clears the points o' faith
Wi' rattling an' wi' thumpin ! Now meekly calm, now wild in wrath,
He's stampin an' he's jumpin ! His lengthen'd chin, his turn'd up snout,
His eldritch squeel and gestures, 0 how they fire the heart devout,
Like cantharidian plasters,
On sic a day I
But, hark ! the tent has chang'd its voice
There's peace an' rest nae langer 5 For a' the real judges rise,
They canna sit for anger. ***** opens out his cauld harangues
On practice and on morals 5 An' aff the godly pour in thrangs,
To gee the jars an' barrels
A lift that day.
What signifies his barren shine
Of moral pow'rs and reason ? His English style, an' gestures fine,
Are a' clean out o' season. Like Socrates or Antonine,
Or some auld pagan Heathen, The moral man he does define,
But ne'er a word o' faith in
That's right that day.
In guid time comes an antidote
Against sic poison 'd nostrum j
yor ****** *? frae the water-fit, Ascends the holy rostrum :
496
See, up he's got the word o' God, An' meek an' mim has view'd it,
While Common Sense has ta'en the road, An' aff', an' up the Cowgate,
Fast, fast, that day.
The Ordination is another ecclesiastical satire, remarkable for its wit and humour. The follow- ing verses are pregnant with meaning :
There, try his mettle on the creed, And bind him down wi' caution,
That stipend is a carnal weed He taks but for the fashion.
Holy Willie's Prayer, which is excluded from Dr Currie's edition, and the Address to the Unco Guid, or the Rigidly Righteous, are wholesome satires on hypocrisy ; but the former is reprehen- sible for the extreme indecency which it occa- sionally exhibits. The Twa Dogs, the Dream, and the Dedication to Gavin Hamilton, Esq. may also be classed among his happier efforts.
The tale entitled Tarn o' Shanter displays a rich vein of humorous description, and even high powers of invention. " I have seldom in my life," says Lord Woodhouselee in a letter to Burns, " tasted of higher enjoyment from any work of genius, than I have received from this composition ; and I am much mistaken, if this poem alone, had you never written another syK
497
able, would not have been sufficient to have transmitted your name doWn to posterity with high reputation. In the introductory part where you paint the character of your hero, and exhi- bit him at the alehouse ingle, with his tippling cronies, you have delineated nature with a hu- mour and naivete that would do honour to Mat- thew Prior : but when you describe the unfor- tunate orgies of the witches' sabbath, and the hellish scenery in which they are exhibited, you display a power of Imagination that Shakespeare himself could not have exceeded." One of the most striking passages which the works of Burns contain, is to be found in this production :
The swats sae ream'd in Tammie's noddle,
Fair play, he car'd na deils a boddle j
But Maggie stood right sair astonishM,
Till, by the heel and hand admonish'd,
She ventured forward on the light :
And, vow ! Tarn saw an unco sight !
Warlocks and witches in a dance ',
Nae cotillion brent new frae France,
But hornpipes, jigs, strathspeys, and reels
Put life and mettle in their heels.
A winnock-bunker in the east,
There sat auld Nick, in shape o' beast 5
A towzie tyke, black, grim, and large,
To gie them music was his charge :
He screw'd the pipes and gart them skir],.
Till roof and rafters a' did dirl.
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498
Coffins stood round, like open presses j That shaw'd the dead in their last dresses } And by some devilish cantrip slight, Each in its cauld hand held a light. By this heroic Tam was able To note upon the haly table, A murderer's banes in gibbet aims ; Twa-span-lang, wee, unchristen'd bairns 5 A thief, new-cutted frae a rape j Wi' his last gasp his gab did gape j Five tomahawks, wi' blude red-rusted ; Five scymitars, wi' murder crusted j A garter which a bab had strangled j A knife, a father's throat had mangled, Whom his ain son o' life bereft j The grey hairs yet stack to the heft.
The songs of Burns, which are chiefly of the pastoral and rural kind, are frequently distin- guished by strokes of genuine poetry. The ver- sification indeed is not always sufficiently smooth : but the arch simplicity, the delicacy, pathos, and even sublimity, which they so often display, leave the author nearly without a rival in this depart- ment of literature. The songs which I shall here select as specimens, are written in the military spirit. The first is entitled Robert Bruce* s Address to his Army :
Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled j Scots wham Bruce has aften led j Welcome to your gory bed, Or to glorious victorie.
499
Now's the day, and now's the hour : See the front o' battle lour ; See approach proud Edward's power-— Edward ! chains and slaverie !
Wha' will be a traitor knave ? Wha can fill a coward's grave ? Wha sae base as be a slave ?
Traitor ! coward ! turn and flee !
Wha for Scotland's king and law Freedom's sword will strongly draw, Free-man stand, or free-man fa', Caledonian ! on wi' me !
By oppression^ woes and pains ! By your sons in servile chains ! We will drain our dearest veins,
But they shall be— shall be free 1
Lay the proud usurper low ! Tyrants fall in every foe ! Liberty's in every blow !
Forward ! let us do, or die !
The following song is supposed to be sung by the wounded and dying of a victorious army. It was composed during the late war with Francer
5OO
Farewell, thou fair day, thou green earth, and ye skies Now gay with the bright setting sun j
Farewell, loves and friendships, ye dear tender ties, Our race of existence is run !
Thou grim king of terrors, thou life's gloomy foe,
Go frighten the coward and slave j Go, teach them to tremble, fell tyrant ! but know,
No terror hast thou to the brave !
Thou strik'st the dull peasant, he sinks in the dark, Nor saves e'en the wreck of a name ;
Thou strik'st the young hero, a glorious mark ! He falls in the blaze of his fame 1
In the field of proud honour, our swords in our hands,
' Our king and our country to save, While victory shines on life's last ebbing sands, O ! who would not rest with the brave ?
The last of these specimens is sufficient to evince that Burns could employ the English lan- guage with considerable efficacy : but the advice which he received from Dr Moore can hardly be considered as altogether judicious. " It is evi- dent," says his correspondent, " that you already possess a great variety of expression and com- mand of the English language ; you ought there- fore to deal more sparingly for the future in the provincial dialect : why should you, by using that, limit the number of your admirers to those who understand the Scottish, when you can ex-
501
tend it to all persons of taste who understand the English language." The situation and studies of Burns had prepared him for excelling in Scotish poetry ; but it is far from being evident that he was qualified to contend with the mighty masters of the English lyre. It was therefore with suf- ficient prudence that he chiefly confined himself to a department in which he was without a rival. His superiority to Ramsay and Fergusson is manifest; he possesses in an infinitely higher degree the power of captivating the heart, and of arresting the understanding.
THE END.
INDEX
OF
SCOTISH AUTHORS,
Abernethy, Dr John, ii. 303.
Adam, i. 19.
Adamson, Dr Patrick, i. 74. 102.
103. ii. 143. a»l. Adamson, John, ii. 256. Affleck, James, i. 447. Anderson, Dr Robert, ii. 413. Anderson, Henry, i. 103. Anderson, John, ii. 416. ARBUTHNOT, ii. 169. Arbuthnot, Dr John, i. 161. 165.
407.
Armstrong, i. 162. Aytoun, i. 98. 102. ii. 300.
B
Baillie, i. 119. 143. 145. Balfour, (Balforeus) Robert, i.
118.177.
Balfour, Sir James, ii. 300. Balnaves, ii. 136. Banatyne, ii. 133. 139. BARBOUR, i. 253. Barclay, William, LL. D. i. 86.
Barclay, William, M. D. i. 103. Barclay, Alexander, D. D. i. 179. ii.
73-
Baron, i. 131. 135. 152. ii. 253. J3arry, i. 34. Bassol, i. 29. Beattie, Dr James, i. 163. 175.
ii. 346. 433-
Beattie, James Hay, i. 163. Bell, Thomas, i. in. BELLENDEN, ii. 119. Bellenden, William, i. 6. 104, Blackwell, i. 170. Blackwood, i. 85. Blair, Dr Hugh, i. 174. Blair, Robert, i. 163. Blair, Arnald, i. 360. Blyth, ii. 144. Boswell, ii. 332. Bower, Walter, i. 70. Boyce, (Boetbiui) i. 63. 65. 72. 84. Boyd, (Bodiui) Mark Alexander,
i. 74. 103.
Boyd, Robert, i. 103. 143. Boyd, Zachary, i. 143. Brown, Dr William Laurence,
504
Brown, Walter, i. 447. Bruce, Sir John, ii. 301. Bruce, Sir William, ii. 91. Bruce, Robert, ii. 229. Buchanan, i. 73. 74. 84. 22O. 440. Burel, ii. 296. Burne, ii. 174. Burnet, i. 96. 127. 142. BURNS, ii. 443.
Dickson, i. 146.
Doig, i. 299.
Donaldson, Walter, i. 130.
DOUGLAS, ii. i.
Douglas, Dr John, i. 172.
Drummond, i. 98. 407. ii. 255.
DUNBAR, i. 391.
Dunbar, Dr James, i. 168.
Dunbar, John, ii. 257.
Duncan, Dr Mark, i. 130.
Duns, i. 23.
• Calderwood, i. 127. Callander, i. 298. Cameron, i. 134.
Campbell, Dr George, i. 175. 184. Chalmers, (Camerarius) Dr William,
i. 131-
Chalmers, Dr David, i. 67. Chalmers, George, ii. 326. Clapperton, i. 445. Clerk of Tranent, i. 366. Clerk, John, i. 447. Cockburn, Mrs, i. 221. Colvil, Samuel, ii. 299. Colvil, John, i. 232. Con, i. 361. Cone, (Conaus) i. 112. Cowper, ii. 255. Craig, Sir Thomas, i. 103. 125. Craig, Dr, i. 128. Craig, John, i. 148. Craig, Alexander, ii. 301. Cranston, ii. 25. Crichton, (Crttonlus} James, i. 74-
*I03.
Cricnton, George, i. 103. no. Crichton, Dr Robert, i. n6. Cunningham, i. 161.
Echlin, i. 103.
Eglintoun, Sir Hugh, i. 366. 447. Eglisham, (Eglhemmius] ii. 260. Ettrick, i. 447.
Fairley, (FarUus) -ii. 293. Fenton, i. 268. FERGUSSON, ii. 413. Fergusson, David, i. 156. Fethy, ii. 144. Fleming, ii. 144. Fletcher, i. 160. Forbes, Dr John, i. 136. Forbes, Dr William, i. 13.7. Forbes, Patrick, i. 137. 150. Forbes, Robert, ii. 435. F'ordun, i. 70- Forrest, i. 18. Forrester, ii. 318. Fowler, ii. 296.
Danskin, i. 103. Dempster, i. 27. 100. 103. 176. 221. ii. 191.
107.
G. G. of S. ii. 184. Gaibreith, ii. 144. Garden, Dr George, i. 13 jr. GKDDES, ii. 353. i. 38. 16;.
APR 2
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UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY
PR Irving, David
8561 The lives of the Scotish
18 poets
v.2