11 че er ns an aily Tor O in, and ungi, We when Fish and triumph to rs would destroy everything. Insignificant as these little details may appear, they were not thought to be so by a man whose mind was evidently stored with considerable learning, who possessed a cultivated and elegant taste for what is beautiful in nature, and who has left behind him one of the most delightful works in the English language, a work which will be read as long as that language lasts, and which is equally remarkable for its extreme accuracy, its pleasing style, and the agreeable and varied information it contains. JESSE, EDWARD, 1849, ed., The Natural History of Selborne, Biography, pp. xv, xvii. He had a wide range of knowledge, he was the master of a good Latin style, and he knew the literature of his country well, having an extensive acquaintance with it, and a keen perception of its spirit. It is very pleasant when the old naturalist stops to point a reflection with a line from the Latin or the British poets.--NADEL, E. S., 1877, White of Selborne, Scribner's Monthly, vol. XIII, p. 506. Who that lives in this busy, noisy age has not envied the lot of Gilbert White, watching with keen, quiet eyes the little world of Selborne for more than fifty uneventful years? To a mind so tranquil and a spirit so serene the comings and goings of the old domesticated turtle in the garden were more important than the debates in Parliament. The pulse of the world beat slowly in the secluded hamlet, and the roar of change and revolution, beyond the Channel were only faintly echoed across the peaceful hills. The methodical observer had as much leisure as Nature herself, and could wait patiently on the moods of the seasons for those confidences which he always invited, but which he never forced; and there grew up a somewhat platonic but very loyal friendship between him and the beautiful rural world about him. How many days of happy observation were his, and with what a sense of leisure his discoveries were set down in English as devoid of artifice or strain or the fever of haste as the calm movements of the seasons registered there! There was room for enjoyment in a life so quietly ordered; time for meditation and for getting acquainted with one's self. MABIE, HAMILTON WRIGHT, 1894, My Study Fire, Second Series, p. 23. White may be regarded as the founder of a new branch of English literature, and few of those who have followed him have had so much to tell, or have succeeded in conveying so much in so short a space. In the narration of the features of events so as to give a clear idea of the details, as well as of the whole, White, in the natural world, shows skill comparable to that of Cowper in the description of his domestic circle and its incidents. The letters of White are less numerous and briefer than those of Cowper, and of somewhat less literary power, but they have the same kind of merit, and while making clear what the writer saw, unconsciously furnish a portrait of his own mind.-MOORE, NORMAN, 1895, English Prose, ed. Craik, vol. IV, p. 247. Gilbert White strikes us at first only by his homeliness and simplicity, by his lucid and unpretentious narrative, by the sincerity and piety of his unwearied study of nature. But in truth the scholar never forgets his books. The simplicity is the effect of the highest art; his narrative impresses us because it is arranged with the skill of a trained thinker, who never allows his induction to be slovenly or inexact, who knows exactly how to buttress a theory with an unassuming anecdote, and who can bring a scientific reminiscence, or a recondite classification, into the midst of the homely story of some everyday incident.-CRAIK, HENRY, 1895, English Prose, Introduction, vol. IV, p. 8. Books he shall read in hill and tree; The flowers his weather shall portend. The birds his moralists shall be, And everything his friend. -COURTHOPE, W. J., 1900, Gilbert White. Not an aspect or a mood of Nature passed him unnoted, and each, marked by a feature of importance, was stamped with minute particularity upon his retentive memory. There was an incessant gathering of incessant facts which had not before been reported for the benefit of science at large. The gentle curate had no means of measuring the value of his investigations. He was following the bent of his inclinations in single-heartedness and purity of aim. Love set him on to the work, and the honesty of his mind kept him true to the performance of it.HUBBARD, SARA A., 1901, Gilbert White of Selborne, The Dial, vol. 30, p. 304. 154 William Robertson 1721-1793 Born, at Borthwick, Midlothian, 19 Sept., 1721. Early education at Borthwick parish school and at Dalkeith Grammar School. To Edinburgh Univ., 1733. Licensed by Presbytery as preacher, June, 1741. Minister of Gladsmuir, 1743. Served in volunteers against Pretender's army, 1745. Mem. of General Assembly, 1746. Married Mary Nisbet, 1751. Part ed. of "Edinburgh Rev.," 1755. Visit to London, 1758. Minister of Lady Yester's Chapel, Edinburgh, June 1758 to April 1761. Created D. D., Edinburgh, 1758. Chaplain of Stiring Castle, 1759. Minister of Old Greyfriars, Edinburgh, April, 1761. Chaplain to the King, Aug. 1761. Principal of Edinburgh Univ., 1762-92. Moderator of General Assembly, 1763-80. Mem. of Royal Acad. of History, Madrid, Aug. 1777. Mem. of Acad. of Science, Padua, 1781. Mem. of Imperial Acad., St. Petersburg, 1783. Historiographer for Scotland, 6 Aug. 1783. Died at Grange House, near Edinburgh, 11 June, 1793. Works: "The Situation of the World at the time of Christ's Appearance," 1755; "History of Scotland" (2 vols.), 1759; "History of the Reign of the Emperor Charles V." (3 vols.), 1769; "History of America" (2 vols.), 1777; "Historical Disquisition concerning the Knowledge which the Ancients had of India," 1791. Collected Works: in 12 vols., ed. by Dugald Stewart, with memoir, 1817; in 11 vols., ed. by R. A. Davenport, with memoir, 1824.-SHARP, R. FARQUHARSON, 1897, A Dictionary of English Authors, p. 240. PERSONAL His speeches in church courts were admired by those whom they did not convince, and acquired and preserved him an influence over a majority in them, which none before him enjoyed: though his measures were sometimes new, and warmly, and with great strength of argument opposed, both from the press, and in the general assembly. To this influence. many causes contributed: his firm adherence to the general principles of church policy, which he early adopted; his sagacity in forming plans; his steadiness in executing them; his quick discernment of whatever might hinder or promote his designs; his boldness in encountering difficulties; his presence of mind in improving every occasional advantage; the address with which, when he saw it necessary, he could make an honorable retreat; and his skill in stating a vote, and seizing the favorable moment for ending a debate, and urging a decision. He guided and governed others, without seeming to assume any superiority over them. Deliberate in forming his judgment, but, when formed, not easily moved to renounce it, he sometimes viewed the altered plans of others with too suspicious an eye. Hence, there were able and worthy men, of whom he expressed himself less favorably, and whose latter appearances in church judicatories, he censured as inconsistent with principles which they had formerly professed; while they maintained, that the system of managing church affairs was changed, not their opinions or conduct. Still, however, keen and determined opposition to his schemes of ecclesiastical policy, neither extinguished his esteem, nor forfeited his friendly offices, when he saw opposition carried on without rancor, and when he believed that it originated from conscience and principle, not from personal animosity, or envy, or ambition.ERSKINE, JOHN, 1793, Funeral Sermon, Discourses, p. 271. He delighted in good-natured, characteristical anecdotes of his acquaintance, and added powerfully to their effect by his own enjoyment in relating them. He was, in a remarkable degree, susceptible of the ludicrous; but, on no occasion did he forget the dignity of his character, or the decorum of his profession; nor did he even lose sight of that classical taste which adorned his compositions. His turn of expression was correct and pure; sometimes, perhaps, inclining more than is expected in the carelessness of a social hour, to formal and artificial periods; but it was stamped with his own manner no less than his premediated style: it was always the language of a superior and a cultivated mind, and it embellished every subject on which he spoke. In the company of strangers, he increased his exertions to amuse and to inform; and the splendid variety of his conversation was commonly the chief circumstance on which they dwelt in enumerating his talents; and yet, I must acknowledge, for my own part, that, much as I always admired his powers when they were thus called forth, I enjoyed his society less, than when I saw him in the circle of his intimates, or in the bosom of his family. . In point of stature Dr. Robertson was rather above the middle size; and his form though it did not convey the idea of much activity, announced vigor of body and a healthful constitution. His features were regular and manly; and his eye spoke at once. good sense and good humor. He appeared to greatest advantage in his complete clerical dress; and was more remarkable for gravity and dignity in discharging the functions of his public stations, than for ease or grace in private society. STEWART, DUGALD, 1796-1801, Account of the Life and Writings of William Robertson. The history of the author is the history of the individual, excepting as regards his private life and his personal habits: these were in the most perfect degree dignified and pure. Without anything of harshness or fanaticism, he was rationally pious and blamelessly moral. His conduct, both as a christian minister, as a member of society, as a relation, and as a friend, was wholly without a stain. His affections were warm; they were ever under control, and therefore equal and steady. His conversation was cheerful, and it was varied. Vast inVast information, copious anecdote, perfect appositeness of illustration,-narration or description wholly free from pedantry or stiffness, but as felicitous and as striking as might be expected from such a master, -great liveliness, and often wit, and often humour, with a full disposition to enjoy the merriment of the hour, but the most scrupulous absence of every thing like coarseness of any description, these formed the staples of his talk. His very decided opinions on all subjects of public interest, civil and religious, never interrupted his friendly and familiar intercourse with those who held different principles. His manner was not graceful in little matters, though his demeanour was dignified on the whole. -BROUGHAM, HENRY LORD, 1845-6, Lives of Men of Letters of the Time of George III. Dr. Robertson was a Christian in character, and therefore a gentleman in his manners; he did not think himself bound to treat an unbeliever, who never insulted his faith, as a profane and graceless enemy of man. Though he was firm, or perhaps we should say because he was firm, in his own conviction, he could look upon one whose opinions were different without the least feeling of hatred and revenge; in which respects he had the advantage of some over-zealous Christians, both in the peace and happiness of his own temper, and in the influence he exerted to bring unbelieving wanderers home. -PEABODY, W. B. O., 1845, Brougham's Lives of Men of Letters and Science, North American Review, vol. 61, p. 405. Principal Robertson and his family were very intimate with the family of my father. . . . He was a pleasantlooking old man; with an eye of great vivacity and intelligence, a large, projecting chin, a small hearing-trumpet fastened by a black ribbon to a buttonhole of his coat, and a rather large wig, powdered and curled. He struck us boys, even from the side-table, as being evidently fond of a good dinner, at which he sat with his chin near his plate, intent upon the real business of the occasion. This appearance, however, must have been produced partly by his deafness; because, when his eye told him that there was something interesting, it was delightful to observe the animation with which he instantly applied his trumpet, when, having caught the scent, he followed it up, and was the leader of the pack.-COCKBURN, HENRY LORD, 1854-56, Memorials of his Time, ch. I On 26 May 1763 he was elected moderator of the general assembly, the administration of which he continued to direct with a firm hand for upwards of sixteen years. As a manager of the business of the general assembly, he acquired an influence greater than any moderator since Andrew Melville. By him were laid the foundations of that system of polity-the independence of the church as opposed to a fluctuating dependence upon the supposed views of the government of the day, the exaction of obedience by the inferior judicatories, and the enforcement of the law of patronage, except in flagrant cases of erroneous doctrine or immoral conduct-by means of which peace and unity were preserved in the ་་ Dr. Robertson lived till he became Principal in a house at the head of the Cowgate, now the most squalid of Edinburgh squalid districts. There he kept boarders, like most city ministers and professors in those impecunious days, for English noblemen were in the habit of sending their sons to Edinburgh for the efficient and sedate college training they could not get at Oxford or Cambridge. In society he was prominent, as befitted his position of importance. Courteous. and pleasing, with his bland and intelligent face and keen eyes, his presence gave an air of propriety to any company, as he sat in his well-fitting garments, his prim clerical bands, his legs crossed, displaying the neatest of silver-buckled shoes. His talk, agreeable but rather too instructive, came forth in strong Scots tongue, with a fluency which at times was too flowing for those who wished to speak as well as he. Friends rather resented his propensity, which increased with years, to lead the talk, and they murmured that whenever the cloth was removed after dinner and the wine appeared on the shining mahogany, the doctor would settle himself with deliberation in his chair, introduce some topic, and discourse thereon till general talk ceased. He would take the opinions and thoughts that his friends uttered yesterday and present them in elegant paraphrase "the greatest plaelegant paraphrase "the greatest plagiary in conversation that I ever knew,' says "Jupiter" Carlyle. His admiring biographer, Dugald Stewart, hints delicately at such colloquial defects, speaking of "his formal and artificial periods, the language of a strong and superior mind, which embellished every subject." -GRAHAM, HENRY GREY, 1901, Scottish Men of Letters in the Eighteenth Century, p. 92. THE SITUATION OF THE WORLD AT THE TIME OF CHRIST'S APPEARANCE 1755 This sermon, the only one he ever published, has been long ranked, in both parts of the Island, among the best models. of pulpit eloquence in our language. It has undergone five editions, and is well known, in some parts of the continent, in the German translation of Mr. Ebeling.STEWART, DUGALD, 1796-1801, Account of the Life and Writings of William Robertson. This view of the question may derive confirmation, or at least illustration, from comparing Gibbon's two chapters with Dr. Robertson's "Sermon on the state of the world at the time of the appearance of Christ." The sound and rational observations of the reverend historian on certain facilities afforded to the diffusion of the gospel by the previous state of the public mind, and of public affairs, in the hands of Gibbon, or of any other author more disposed to sneer than to argue candidly on such subjects, would admit of a perversion nearly similar to that given to the accidental causes which he has enu merated; while several of Gibbon's natural causes, changing the offensive language in which they are conveyed, might fairly have been expounded, as perfectly true and efficient, from any pulpit.MACKINTOSH, SIR JAMES, 1805, Journal, April 25; Life, ed. Mackintosh, vol. I, ch. v, note. The subject of the sermon is one peculiarly suited to his habits of inquiry. . The merits of this piece, as a sermon, are very great; and it is admirable as an historical composition, in that department which Voltaire first extended to all the records of past times. It was written and published before the appearance of the "Essai sur les Mours," though as has been already said, detached portions of that work had appeared in a LORD, 1845-6, Lives of Men of Letters of Paris periodical work.-BROUGHAM, HENRY the Time of George III. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 1759 David Hume so far indulged my patience. as to allow me to carry to the country during the holidays the loose sheets which he happened to have by him. In that I have not heard of one who does not praise it warmly. Must fatigue your ears, as much as ours are in this place [London] by endless and repeated and noisy praises of the "History of Scotland." Mallet told me that Lord Mansfield is at a loss whether he shall most esteem the matter or the style. Elliot told me, that being in company with George Grenville, that gentleman was speaking loud in the same key. Lord Lyttelton seems to think that since the time of St. Paul there scarce has been a better writer than Dr. Robertson. Mr. Walpole triumphs in the success of his favourites the Scotch.-HUME, DAVID, 1759, Letter to Robertson. Having finished the first volume, and made a little progress in the second, I cannot stay till I have finished the latter to tell you how exceedingly I admire the work. In short, Sir, I don't know where or what history is written. with more excellences; and when I say this, you may be sure I do not forget your impartiality.-WALPOLE, HORACE, 1759, To Dr. Robertson; Letters, ed. Cunning ham, vol. III, p. 202. Upon my word, I was never more entertained in all my life; and, though I read it aloud to a friend and Mrs. Garrick, I finished the three first books at two sittings. I could not help writing to Millar and congratulating him upon this great acquisition to his literary treasures.GARRICK, DAVID, 1759, Letter to Dr. Robertson. more freedom of the hierarchical principles of the infant church of Scotland.WARBURTON, WILLIAM, 1759, Letter to Mr. Millar. I am very proud of being instrumental in contributing to the translation [by J. B. Suard], of the valuable work you are going to publish. The excellent work you have published already is a sure sign of the reception your "History of Charles V." will meet with in the continent.-D'HOLBACH, BARON, 1768, Letter to Dr. Robertson, May 30. The fourteenth edition of your "Scotland" will be published in the course of the winter, during which it is our intention to advertise all your works strongly in all the papers. And we have the satisfaction of informing you that, if we may judge by the sale of your writings, your literary reputation is daily increasing.STRAHAN, ANDREW, 1792, To Dr. Robertson, Nov. 19. I think the merit of Robertson consists in a certain even and well-supported tenour of good sense and elegance. There is a formality and demureness in his manner, his elegance has a primness, and his dignity a stiffness, which remind one of the politeness of an old maid of quality standing on all her punctilios of propriety and prudery. These peculiarities are most conspicuous in his introductory book. we advance, his singular power of interesting narrative prevails over every defect. His reflections are not uncommon; his views of character and society imply only sound sense. During the trial As of Dustergool, my mind was full of Mary, Queen of Scots, in whose history I had just read, for the thousandth time, efforts more successful than those of the Armenian Mary, by a vicious and beautiful wife, to murder a bad husband. As soon as Mary gets into England, Robertson is tempted, by the interest of his story, into constant partiality to her. Her abilities are exaggerated to make her story more romantic: she was a weak girl of elegant accomplishments.-MACKINTOSH, SIR JAMES, 1811, Journal, July 13 and 16, Life, vol. II, ch. ii. His "History of Scotland" is doubtless, by far, the most popular history extant. -DIBDIN, THOMAS FROGNALL, 1824, The Library Companion, note, p. 271. |