,:: ---*; A MEMOIR OF PATRICK FRASER TYTLER, BY THE SAME AUTHOR. A PLAIN COMMENTARY ON THE FOUR HOLY GOSPELS, 7 vols. crown 8vo. NINETY SHORT SERMONS FOR FAMILY READING, 2 vols. crown 8vo. A CENTURY OF VERSES IN MEMORY OF THE PRESIDENT OF MAGDALEN COLLEGE. C6e portrait of a Christian Gentleman, A MEMOIR OF PATRICK FRASER TYTLER, AUTHOR OF THE " HISTORY OF SCOTLAND." BY HIS FRIEND THE REV. JOHN W. BURGON, M.A. FELLOW OF ORIEL COLLEGE, OXFORD. lirati muiiDo rortir. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 1859. LONDON : PRINTED BY WOODFALL AND K1NDEK, ANGEL COURT, SKJNNKR STREET. TO HER MOST SACRED MAJESTY, THE Q^U E E N AN UNSANCTIONED ACT OF HOMAGE. 200O176 CONTENTS. PAGE INTKODUCTORY . . . . . xi CHAPTER I. Family traditions John Tytler William Tytler His defence of Queen Mary Anecdote of David Hume Domestic happiness Alexander Fraser Tytler, Lord Woodhouselee His early education ' Elements of History,' and other works Birth of Patrick Fraser Tytler His eldest sister, Ann Fraser Tytler CHAPTER II. (17911800.) Miss A. Fraser Tytler's MS. Early recollections P. F. Tytler's boyhood The bicker Lord Woodhouselee among his children The " Cot- tagers of Glenburnie" Basil Hall and his sister Sir James Stewart of Allanbank Evenings at Woodhouselee Mr. Black Anecdotes of Sir Walter Scott and his family Dugald and Mrs. Stewart Henry Mackenzie Sydney Smith Sir James Mackintosh The Rev. A. Alison The poet Leyden 16 CHAPTER III. (18001809.) Lord Woodhouselee in illness His literary undertakings P. F. Tytler is sent to school Chobham in 1808 The Rev. Charles Jerram Tytler's progress at school A debating society King George III. in the Chapel at Windsor Tytler returns to Woodhouselee . . .41 vi jj CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV. (18091813.) PAGE Youthful ardour and stndiousness Self -portraiture His piety' The Woodhouselee Masque' Lord Woodhouselee's account of his visit to Carlton House His conversation with the Prince Regent His last illness The closing scene CHAPTER V. (18131814.) P. F. Tytler's grief at the death of his Father Public events Opening of the Continent A visit to Paris, in 1814 The Duke of Wellington Marshal Blucher Louis XVIII. and the Duchesse D'Angouleme at the Theatre A Russian dinner Anecdotes, personal and historical Wellington Platoff Review of Russian and Prussian troops Return to Scotland . . * . ' 81 CHAPTER VI. (18151818.) Reminiscences of boyhood Tytler is appointed Junior Crown Counsel Letter to Rev. Archibald Alison Tytler at Mount Esk His progress at the Bar Private portraiture Studies Early literary efforts Voyage to Norway Bergen Norwegian scenery, travelling, manners Drontheim Entry of King Bernadotte and Prince Oscar Tytler is presented Return to Scotland 117 CHAPTER VII. (18181824.) Tytler's growing passion for letters His lyrics The Bannatyne Club Yeomanry songs 'The Deserter' Great fire in Edinburgh Camp- bell Basil Hall .... .156 CONTENTS. ix CHAPTER VIII. (18231832.) PAGE Tytler at Abbotsford His History of Scotland undertaken His mar- riage Letters to his wife Settles in Edinburgh His History begins to appear His literary pursuits, and domestic happiness A visit to London . . ......, .173 CHAPTER IX. (18321835.) Tytler removes his family to Torquay The journey His literary dili- gence Life of Raleigh Scottish Worthies and History of Scotland Prosecutes his studies at Bute and in London Letters to his wife Death of Mrs. Tytler . . . . . ... . .213 CHAPTER X. (18351837.) Tytler a widower Repairs with his children to Hampstead Campbell the sculptor Removal to Wimpole Street Disappointment Life of Henry VIII. The Persian princes Record Commission The Histo- . rical Society Death of his Mother 229 CHAPTER XI. (18371838.) Visit to Scotland Archbishop Leighton's Library at Dumblane Tytler and his sisters finally establish themselves in London Sydney Smith Miss Tytler's MS. continued Anecdotes of domestic life Tytler in his family, and among his friends . . . . . . .248 CHAPTER XII. (18381839.) Personal recollections 'England under Edward VI. and Queen Mary' Death of Dr. Alison Tour with Tytler in the Highlands His keen- ; CONTENTS. PAGE ness as a sportsman Auchlunkart Tomintoul A night on Ben Muik Dhui Scenery A day at Aviemore Aklourie Moniack Visit to gkye Highland scenery The return to Moniack .... 263 CHAPTER XIII. (18391842.) Tytler proceeds with his History The State Paper Office His Daughter's account of him among his children Letters to them and to myself Second edition of the History Tytler's piety and playfulness . . 285 CHAPTER XIV. (18421843.) Letters descriptive of his pursuits Concluding portion of Miss A. Fraser Tytler's MS. Domestic retrenchment Anecdotes of home Narrow escape from drowning Conclusion of his History ' The Darnley jewel' Letters Tytler with his family in France . . . .308 CHAPTER XV. (18431849.) Tytler waits upon Her Majesty at Windsor Castle Letters from Scot- land Tytler receives a pension Impressions of society His literary plans His second marriage His long illness abroad The cold-water ystem Return to England His death POSTSCRIPT . . 324 INTEODUCTOEY. IT shall be my endeavour in the ensuing pages to draw the portrait of a Christian Gentleman. In the republic of letters indeed, Mr. Tytler occupied a distinguished place ; but I should have hesitated to assume that even a higher degree of literary celebrity forms in itself a sufficient warrant for so detailed a personal Memoir as the present. It seemed however that I should both be : rendering an useful service to society, and paying a not ungraceful tribute to the memory of the man I loved, if I attempted to weave into a connected story the materials which his family placed at my disposal : for I knew that I should set before the world a very bright example, if I could draw the lovely character of which I there found the authentic evidence, and of which my memory supplied the living image. It cannot be necessary to state that the life of a good man is generally more instructive, as well as better deserving of attention, than many a more stirring biographical record. And yet, I am not without hope that the ensuing Memoir will be found of real interest also ; for, besides the private details which are proper to it, and which seem to be defi- cient neither in picturesqueness nor in variety, not a few historical personages here come before the reader, and names which the world holds in honour. With certain passages concerning the loftiest in the land, (be it humbly spoken,) I was much perplexed to know how to act : but I 2 FAMILY TRADITIONS. [CHAP. I. which unhappily resulted in the death of Gray. "After this unlucky accident," proceeds the family record, " being apprehensive of his danger, he withdrew to France, and, concealing.his name of Seaton, adopted that of Tytler;" whether because he was connected with any of that name or not, does not appear. He took up his residence for some time near Paris ; and, having contracted marriage with a French lady of property, he subsequently withdrew to Calais, and became the father of many sons and 'daughters.* Two of these sons attended Queen Mary to Leith in 1561; and, proving faithful adherents to her cause, were engaged in the skirmish which happened at Corrichie, near Aberdeen, between the Earls of Murray and Huntly, where the latter was slain, and his two sons taken prisoners. One of the Tytlers fell on the same occasion. The other retired to a place called Learm'e, near Kincardine Oneille, about sixteen miles west of Aberdeen; where, about the year 15G3, he settled, married, and had several children. From the suryivor of the skirmish of Corrichie was lineally descended John Tytler, whose father died in 1690, aged almost eighty, after having often related on his own father's authority the preceding traditional history. The family point out, in confirmation of it, that the armorial bearings of the Tytlers are those of the Seatons, the blazon being counterchanged, with a lion's head erased for a differ- ence.f Their crest, (the rays of the sun issuing from a cloud,) and motto, ' Occultns non extinctus,' are said to refer to their change of name at a time when the family was, as it were, under a cloud. * One, at least, of these sons returned to the neighbourhood of Paris some of h!s descendants may yet be in existence. There were Tvtlers in those parts as late as the year 1738. t The Tytlers bear gules, between three crescent, or, a lion's head era^d Seatons, or, three crescents yules, within a royal tressurc. CHAP. I.] JOHN, AND WILLIAM TYTLER. John Tytler, merchant in Aberdeen, (at that period the greatest commercial emporium in Scotland,) married Bar- bara, daughter of John Skene, ' of that ilk/ the chief of the family, a very ancient and highly-connected baronial house. Alexander, his son, was the father of William Tytler, the defender of Queen Mary. But this is a name which deserves to be more fully commemorated. I cannot enter on the subject of the present Memoir, until attention has been invited to the life and character of his two im- mediate progenitors, his grandfather and his father. Genius has proved hereditary in this family for more than three generations,* and has thus vindicated for the race a high position, in what may be called the literary aristocracy of their country. William, then, was the only surviving son of Mr. Alex- ander Tytler, writer (that is, solicitor), in Edinburgh ; and was bora in that city, 12th October, 1711, being the eighth of twelve children, of whom four only attained maturity. His mother, Jane Leslie, was the daughter of Mr. William Leslie, merchant in Aberdeen, and grand-daughter of Sir Patrick Leslie, of Iden, provost of the same town, and member for the borough in several Scottish parliaments. An interesting ' Account of the Life and Writings of William Tytler, Esq., of Woodhouselee,' was read before the Royal Society of Edinburgh, by its author, the well-known Henry Mackenzie, in 1796 ; from which, notwithstanding the timid precision which characterizes the style of that period, a lively notion of the character of my friend's grandfather may be obtained. There is almost as much of individuality in the few linca- * Margaret Fraser Tytler, the amiable, accomplished, and lamented daughter of the late Sheriff of Inverness-shire, and, therefore, great granddaughter of the defender of Queen Mary, was the author of many elegant and well-known works of fiction. This lady's literary performances, however graceful and popular, are not to be confounded with the matchless productions of her auut, Miss Ann Fraser Tytler. 4 \ULLIAM TYTLER. [d"*- I- ments of his character which the author of the ' Man of Feeling' has permitted himself to portray, as in his speak- ing likeness by the hand of Raeburn. William Tytler be- came an author simply because he desired to obtain a wider audience for the opinions which he privately advocated, than conversation could supply : while his intense nationality de- cided the subjects on which he should successively bestow his attention. His first work, which appeared when he was forty-eight years of age, (an 'Enquiry, historical and critical, into the Evidence against Mary, Queen of Scots,') was, it is well known, a hearty defence of Mary Stewart, against what Mr. Tytler believed to be the calumnies of Robertson and Hume. This work is declared, by a writer of the time, to have formed an era in the literary history of Britain. It was the first book of a controversial character which had appeared without one trace of personal acrimony : exhibiting the most punctilious courtesy, combined with the most conscientious candour. The ' Enquiry ' was uni- versally read, passed through four editions in the author's lifetime, and was translated into at least one continental language. Dr. Johnson and Dr. Smollett were among its reviewers ; and the Lord Chancellor Hardwicke declared it to be " the best concatenation of circumstantial proofs brought to bear upon one point, that he had ever perused." It pro- cured for its author a great reputation, and is the work for which he will be chiefly remembered. To what extent national prejudice may be thought to have influenced his judgment respecting Queen Mary, it is useless at this time of day to inquire. I prefer to point out that William Tytler's imagination may have been early fascinated with the romantic history of a princess to whose fortunes his own ancestors had attached themselves, and in whose cause they had bled. That enough allowance had never before been made for the barbarous manners of Mary's country, and the Cau-. L] ROBERTSON AND ffCME. 5 lax morality of the age in which she lived, must at least he freely granted. Robertson took William Tytler's criticism in good part. They lived on terms of perfect intimacy and cordiality : and when Mr. Tytler dined at Dr. Robertson's house for the last time, he had the pleasare of seeing there Queen Mary's portrait, supported on one side by the portrait of his entertainer, and on the other, by his own. David Hume was a different kind of person. In a common-place book kept by Lord Woodhouselee, among many valuable personal notices, I find the following passages relative to the (so- called) philosopher, which it is supposed will be read with interest. "David Hume, with all his mildness of manners for which his friends so highly extol him, in cases where his pride was wounded by attacks on his character as a writer, was immeasurably resentful, and carried his antipathies to a most extraordinary height. Of this, the scurrilous re- flections, and bitter invectives he threw out against my father in a note on that part of his history which relates to the conduct of Elizabeth to Mary Queen of Scots, is sufficient proof. His best friends condemned him univer- sally for this instance of departure from his usual plan of making no answer to his literary antagonists.* But he hated my father on another account. He, who made it a rule never to disguise or conceal his opinions on matters which he conceived of real importance, had often with the greatest energy expressed his aversion to those metaphysical opinions of Hume which shook the foundations of our religious and moral sentiments. This, together with the attack on his fair dealing as an historian, in that very " I found by Dr. Warborton's railing, that the books were beginning to be esteemed in good company. However, I had a fixed resolution, which I inflexibly maintained, never to reply to anybody ; and not being very irascible in my temper, I have easily kept myself clear of any literary squabbles." DAVID HUME. [CHAP. I. popular work, the vindication of Mary, (which produced a great revolution in the sentiments of the public upon that question,) blew the passions of David Hume into a flame ; and he determined in his own mind to crash this pre- sumptuous antagonist by a blow which he should never recover. But the consequence was very different from what he expected. His antagonist was only roused to a greater degree of exertion. He attacked him in a supplement to a new edition of his work, with tenfold spirit; supporting every charge that he had formerly made with new and accumulated proofs, so as to leave this doughty champion not a corner to turn himself in, or a loophole for escape. " A strong instance of David Hume's inveterate resentment on this score, I myself was a witness to. One evening my father and I went to drink tea with his old friend Mr. Middleton, of Seaton, and Lady Di, at their house in Nicolson Square. On entering the room, the only stranger there was Mr. Hume ; who, the moment my father appeared, rose abruptly, took his hat and cane, and walked off without saying a word. When he was gone, Mr. Middleton said to my father, ' You have fairly put him to flight, for he came but a few minutes before you, and meant to pass the evening at whist. What a terrible little man you are, that can dis- comfit such a Goliath!' 'Aye/ said my father, 'the Philistine boasted, but I smote him in the forehead.' " Mr. William Tytler produced besides (in 1783) an edition of ' The Poetical Remains of James I., King of Scotland,' in which he vindicated to that monarch, (himself a contem- porary of Chaucer,) two ancient poems of uncertain attribu- tion, namely, The King's Quair,' and ' Christ's Kirk on the Green.' In an essay on Scottish music, subjoined to the Dissertation and Poems, he claimed for James I. the honour of having first introduced into Scotland those lovely CHAP. I.] WILLIAM TYTLEIl DESCRIBED. 7 airs, so pathetic and plaintive in their character, which are known at this day as the national music of the country.* " In music," says Mackenzie, " he was uncommonly skilled ; " and the taste descended in an eminent degree to his son, as well as to his son's son. " It was his favourite amusement; and with natural partiality, he was apt to assign to it a degree of moral importance which some might deem a little whimsical. He used to say that he never knew a good taste in music associated with a malevolent heart ; and being asked what prescription he would recommend for at- taining an old age as healthful and happy as his own, ' My prescription,' said he, ' is simple : short but cheerful meals, music, and a good conscience.' " The writer of a short biographical article in " The Bee" ' was present at the Royal Society of Edinburgh on the 29th day of April, J784, when Dr. Carlisle read Collins' ode on the genius of the High- lands; at which time he could not help contemplating, with a pleasing astonishment, the enthusiastic ardour that animated the whole frame of Mr. Tytler at the recital.' He was then a man of 73. He is described as rather thin, and somewhat below the middle size; with a quick springy walk, and a great affection for those manly exercises of which the refine- ment of modern times had robbed the gentlemen of Scotland. He delighted in the company of the young; and his sin- gularly social disposition retained its buoyancy, and love of harmless frolic, until he had attained the age of fourscore. His spirit had been bowed, not broken, by affliction, of which he had tasted a large share. Of his eight children, * His other works were "Observations on 'the Vision,' a Poem first pub- lished in Ramsay's ' Evergreen,' " in which he, vindicates to Allan Ramsay the poems in question. "An Account of the Fashionable Amusements and Entertainments of Edinburgh in the last Century, with the Plan of a Grand Concert of Music performed thereon St. Cecilia's Day, 1695 :" and a paper in "the Lounger" (No. 16), entitled "Defects of Modern Female Education in teaching the Duties of a Wife," complete the enumeration of William Tytler's works. 8 WILLIAM TYTLER'S WIFE. [CHAP. i. he had successively lost five ; but the death of his wife, Ann, daughter of James Craig, Esq., of Costerton,* was the calamity which touched him most nearly. She had been dead more than two years and a half (November 1785), when the old man wrote as follows on a blank leaf of his Bible: "I thank GOD the anguish of heart, the bitterness of grief, is past. Still, still, however, I deplore her loss, which nothing can now supply. The most pleasant moments in my life, at present, are in calling up in my mind our mutual endearments, and the bliss and do- mestic happiness which we enjoyed together. I say it with truth, that in the above space of time, since our separation, she has never been one hour absent from my mind. She is the first idea that strikes my waking thoughts in the morn- ing, and the last that forsakes me in sleep. On entering my home after a day's absence, my heart, which formerly used to be elated, now shrinks within me while I look in vain for the sweet figure that used to welcome me by flying to my arms. Those sparkling eyes, those ardent looks, I no more behold. That sweet voice, her fond exclamation, ' Well, how is my Willie ? ' still vibrates on my ear ! " . . . Who would imagine that this was written by a man of seventy- five ? He went to his rest on the 12th September, 1792. His eldest son, Alexander, who succeeded to the paternal estate of Woodhouselee, (from which he derived, as Lord of Session, the title by which he became afterwards so famous,) was born at Edinburgh, on the 4th of October, 1747. The son of such parents could hardly fail to be a remarkable person ; but Alexander Tytler had the additional advantage of living from his boyhood in the society of all those who * It was in consequence of this match that the Tytlers, after the death of Sir James Henry Craig, the last male of that family, carried the arms of Craig in their second quarter. The arms of Fraser figure in the third quarter, in con- sequence of Lord Woodhouselee's marriage with the heiress of Fraser of Belnain. CHAP. I.] ALEXANDER FRASER TYTLER. 9 were then most distinguished in Edinburgh for their manners, their talents, or their accomplishments. Nor were these advantages, which the paternal roof so liberally procured him, lost upon the boy. " It was in this domestic school," says Mr. Alison, " that he early acquired that taste, or that sensibility to whatever is graceful or becoming in conduct or in manners, which ever afterwards distinguished him, and which forms, perhaps, the most important advantage which is derived from an early acquaintance with good society." The progress of his education is not unmarked with interest. After passing five years at the High School of Edinburgh, which he left with the highest honours, he was sent, full of boyish ambition, to an academy at Kensington, near London, then under the care of Mr. Elphinstone, a man of worth and learning, and a friend of Dr. Johnson. Here he taught himself Italian and drawing ; and at the age of sixteen produced a copy of Latin verses, which his preceptor, in the pride of his heart, carried to Dr. Jortin, who was at that time Rector of Kensington. Jortin re- warded the youth with praise, and a volume of his own Latin poems containing an appropriate inscription. Dr. Russell, a celebrated physician of Aleppo, who resided in the neighbourhood of Kensington, and to whose notice Mr. William Tytler had especially recommended his son, took him to his house during the holidays, made him his com- panion, and imparted to him a taste for natural history, which never afterwards forsook him. Returning to Edin- burgh at the age of seventeen, he adopted the profession of the Law ; and had the good fortune to be a student in the University at a time when the professorial chair in almost every department of science was occupied by persons of the highest distinction. Among the young men also, with vrhom he became at once associated, are recognized some of the brightest names which adorned the literary annals of 10 EARLY LIFE OF [CHAP. I. the northern metropolis, during the second half of the last century, Henry Mackenzie, Lords Abercrombie, Craig, Meadowbank, and Robertson, Lord Chief Commissioner Adam, Robert Liston, Andrew Dalzel, John Playfair, Dr. Gregory, Dugald Stewart ; and it has been mentioned as "his peculiar happiness, that among those to whom the affections of his youth were given, the course of his mature life was passed, and its final period was closed." At Woodhouselee, the romantic residence of his father, distant about six miles from Edinburgh, where he spent his vacations, the youth soon began to reap the reward of his boyish assiduity. He familiarized himself with the literature of modern Europe, especially of Italy, France, and England; maturing thus early that taste and judg- ment of which he afterwards gave the world so many valuable specimens. He became an excellent draughtsman and musician, learned thoroughly to appreciate whatever is most beautiful in nature, and "in the course of a few years, there were few scenes, either in England or in Scot- land, which he had not visited, that were distinguished either by natural beauty, by poetic celebration, by the residence of eminent men, or by the occurrence of memo- rable transactions." At the age of 23, (in 1770,) he was called to the bar; and six years after, married Anne, eldest daughter, and eventually heiress, of William Fraser, Esq., of Balnain, " an union " (says his biographer) " which accomplished all the hopes he had formed of domestic happiness, and which, after the long period of thirty-five years, almost unclouded by misfortune, closed in more grateful and profound affection than it at first began." The period at which Mr. Tytler entered upon his pro- fessional career has been characterized as the most remark- able, perhaps, that has occurred in the literary history of Scotland. It was a period of singular awakening. The CHAP. I.] ALEXANDER FRASER TYTLER. 11 intellectual energies of that great people were then first beginning to find scope for their exercise and development. Hume and Robertson, Adam Smith, Mr. Erskine, Lord Hailes, and Lord Ivames, had established for themselves a first-rate reputation in many of the gravest departments of letters : and Alexander Tytler possessed the necessary abili- ties and attainments to follow their example. But it was a beautiful feature in his character that he preferred to follow that ' more excellent way ' which should not prove incom- patible with the strictest duties, the largest charities of social life. In his very ambition, there was always some- thing domestic. The only honours to which he aspired were those which he could share with those he loved ; the eyes in which he desired to read ' his history,' were not those of ' a nation,' but those of his family and his friends. He determined accordingly to pursue Law as a science, rather than as a profession ; and resolved to establish his claim to the honours of his calling by engaging in a great work on some legal subject. His choice was decided by the sug- gestion of his friend and patron, Lord Kames, that he should write a supplementary volume to his own ' Dictionary of Decisions,' bringing down that work to the time which, in 1773 or 1774, was called present. To this task Mr. Tytler devoted the next four years of his life. His supple- mentary volume appeared in folio, in 1778, and received the approbation of the great lawyers of the day. At the end of two years, he had associated himself with Mr. Pringle in the professorship of Universal History and Roman Antiqui- ties in the University of Edinburgh ; and he was appointed sole professor in 1780. "From that period, until the year 1800, he devoted himself almost exclusively to the duties of his professorship ; and ten years of assiduous study were employed in the composition and improvement of the course of lectures which he read annually before an immense body of 12 LORD WOODHOUSELEE'S WORKS. [CHAP. i. students." Those lectures have only lately been published, (in Murray's Family Library, 1834,) but with their general scope all are familiar from the little work which their author put forth for the assistance of his pupils, under the title of ' Elements of General History,' * a work which has since found many editors, and has been translated into most of die languages of Europe, and even into Hindoostanee. The lectures themselves, which were exceedingly popular, and attracted general attention, established the fame of their author on a solid basis. Their method was novel ; their arrangement, in the best sense of the word, philosophical ; the reading and thought, of which they afforded evidence, immense. Sir Walter Scott relates that he was himself one of Mr. Tytler's pupils. In 1790,f he read before the Eoyal Society of Edinburgh a series of papers on Translation, which he published shortly afterwards under the modest title of an ' Essay on the Principles of Translation.' This performance attracted great and deserved notice, passed through five editions, and was long regarded as a standard work. In the same year, Mr. Tytler was appointed Judge Advocate of Scotland, an office which he discharged with singular conscientiousness and credit ; and Lord Melville, to whose friendship he owed his advancement, further raised him to the bench of the Court of Session, where he took his seat in the beginning of 1802, with the title of Lord Woodhouselee. He was now free from his academical engagements. The death (in 1792) of his venerable father had placed him in affluent * This work, as it at first appeared in 1772, was far briefer, and bore a different title " Outlines of a Course of Lectures." t A Short Account of the Life and Writings of Dr. John Gregory ; some papers in the "Mirror" and " Lounger," which were found to have been written on the blank leaves of his sketch-book ; an Account of the Origin and History of the Royal Society ; a Memoir of Robert Dundas, Lord President of the Court of Session ; and a paper on the Vitrified Forts of the Highlands, comprise the sum of Mr. Tytler's minor works from 1778 to 1789. CHAP. L] PATRICK FRASER TYTLER. 13 circumstances; and his wife had already succeeded to her paternal estate of Balnain in Invernesshire. For about ten years his great delight had heen to embellish his grounds, to extend his plantations, and to improve the dwellings of his cottagers, "an occupation in which he found himself every day rewarded by seeing the face of nature and of man brightening around him." He enlarged his house in order " to render it more adequate to the purposes of hospi- tality; and in the course of a short period," writes Mr. Alison, "he succeeded in creating a scene of rural and domestic happiness which has seldom been equalled in this country, and which, to the warm-hearted simplicity of Scottish manners, added somewhat of the more refined air of classical elegance. It was here, from this period, that all his hours of enjoyment were passed, that all his works were composed, and that, in the bosom of his family, and amid the scenery and amusements of the country, he found the happiness that was most congenial to his character and disposition." Mention has been already made of Lord Woodhouselee's wife, (the excellent mother of the subject of the ensuing pages) ; but I have not yet noticed the births of his eight children, four sons and four daughters, one of whom, a daughter, died in infancy. Of these, only two, alas ! now survive, James Tytler, Esq., of Woodhouselee ; and Jane, the widow of the late admirable James Baillie Fraser, Esq., of Moniack, in Invernesshire. Miss Ann Fraser Tytler, the celebrated authoress, has left the scene while these pages have been in progress. PATRICK FRASER, (or, as he was invariably called by his family and friends, Peter,} was the youngest of all ; having been born at No. 108 (then numbered 05), Prince's Street, Edinburgh, on the 30th August, 1791. He was named after his uncle, Col. Patrick Tytler, Lord Woodhouselee's only brother, who was alive 14 MATERIALS FURNISHED BY [CHAP. I. until the year 18-19. So hopelessly ill was he at some period of his infancy, (the exact year is unknown to me,) that his father actually selected a spot for his grave. And now I have reached that part of my narrative in which I foresaw from the first that, without assistance, my story must inevitably break down. As often as the present Memoir was discussed with any of the family, I felt that all its earliest pages must of necessity present a blank. My friendship with Mr. Tytler did not begin till the year 1836. He was then five-and-forty. How was I to bridge over the chasm between his infancy and his early manhood ? It was clear, since I had never made a single memorandum on the subject, that some one who knew him intimately in his youth must render help. I explained my difficulty to an elder sister who loved him tenderly, and whom he himself loved with a most entire affection, Miss Ann Fraser Tytler, whose name has been already mentioned: but I speedily discovered that the subject opened up too many channels of aching remembrance ; and, in short, was one which she could not even contemplate writing about without positive pain. Before making this discovery, after explaining my own utter inability to handle the earlier portion of her brother's life, I had once ventured the entreaty that she would commit to paper a few memoranda ; from which notes she might tell me orally what I desired to know. The tears which this request elicited were very distressing. Even biography may be purchased at too dear a price. The assurance that she was in feeble health, and could scarcely see to write, I knew how to encounter with a suitable suggestion : the declaration that she was growing very stupid, I had heard before from herself; and knew how to meet in a way which should compel her to laugh, and reprimand me in exceedingly pure Scotch : but tears were quite un- answerable. That conversation, I instantly assured her, CHAP. L] MISS ANN FRASER TYTLER. 15 should be the last in which anything should ever be said of my difficulty. I foresaw what would be the result. I knew that the ac- complished lady who had already entrusted me with every journal and letter she could obtain of her beloved brother, must inevitably desire to help me ; and, from a few words which she let fall, I perceived that it was only because she fully appreciated the effort which would be required in order to satisfy, not my expectations, but her own desires, if she entered upon the task at all, that she now hung back. To be brief, at the end of a few months, a neatly- written MS. was modestly put into my hands. It was the transcribed result of many patient pencillings, through the long days of summer, when feeble health had kept the writer, for the most part, a prisoner at home. She completed her task in the spring of 1856, and here it is as it was given to me. To have recast what had been put together by so distinguished a pen, would have been absurd ; but having been repeatedly requested to add or omit whatever I pleased, I have done so freely always distinguishing the additional matter by a discontinuance of the inverted commas, or by foot-notes. There exists also, I am well aware, another and a more effectual method of distinguishing between our respective styles than any typographical device could supply. 16 EARLY NOTICES OF [CHAP. II. CHAPTER II. (17911800.) Miss A FraserTytler's MS. Early recollections- P. F. Tytler's boyhood- The bicker-Lord Woodhouselee among his children The " Cottagers of Glen- burnie" Basil Ilall and his sister Sir James Stewart of Allanbank Even- ings at Woodhouselee Mr. Black Anecdotes of Sir Walter Scott and his family Dugald and Mrs. Stewart Henry Mackenzie Sydney Smith Sir James Mackintosh The Rev. A. Alison The poet Leyden. MISS ANN PHASER TYTLER'S MS. " I HAVE been so strongly urged by that kind friend who has long been anxious to give a Memoir of my brother Peter's life to the public, to assist him in some small degree, that I feel I can no longer refuse to make the attempt to furnish him -with a few of such particulars as memory, and some slight memoranda taken down 'at the time, will afford. " My brother was the youngest of a family consisting of four sons and three daughters. His eldest brother, William, married, and left us at the early age of twenty-one. His second brother, James, passed as writer to the Signet, and also married some years after. The third son, Alexander, sailed for India in 1805. Isabella, the second sister, died unmarried in 1841 ; and Jane, the youngest, married, in 1823, her cousin, James Baillie Fraser, of Relig, who was afterwards well known by his various publications. " As a boy, my brother Peter was in no way remarkable, except for the invariable truthfulness, openness, and perfect simplicity of his character. In acquirements, he was for many years below most boys of his age. His love for music and drawing showed itself at a very early period. His blithe songs and his playfulness made him a favourite with CHAP. II.] TYTLER: HIS EARLY TASTES. 17 high and low. When he did sit still, it was generally "with a pencil in his hand; and a scrap of paper was long re- tained in the family, on which -was drawn a very wonderful beast, with a strange variety of legs and an enormous mouth, and under which was printed in large capital letters, The Crater of Mount Vesuvius. "This early love for the fine arts was not accompanied, at that time, with any literary propensities. He attended Miss Stalker's reading-school, who succeeded her father, (the well- known reading master in Edinburgh, from whom Walter Scott received his first early instruction;) but to my brother, this school was a sad weariness of the flesh. It was very near our house in Prince's Street; but, as the hour of at- tendance drew near, he used frequently to be seized with all manner of mysterious indispositions ; and when, at last, he would dart off, it was still with a very rueful countenance. " The following anecdote I give in his brother James* own words : ' He had got hold of a gun of mine, and had contrived to break the main-spring of the lock. Afraid, I presume, to face me on the occasion, he managed to print a little note addressed to me, and containing these words : Jamie, dinna think of guns, for the main-spring of that is broken, and my heart is broken.'" A glance at the original document, in uncials, shows that the author cannot have been more than five years' old when he indited the cramp piece of penmanship alluded to. How strange, by the way, that the first childish effusion of one who in his maturer years proved so very keen a sportsman, should afford evi- dence that the ruling passion of his manhood was already developed ! "At the High School, in his attainments, matters were mending rather. He was there under Mr., afterwards Professor Christison, and Dr. Adams, the Hector of the Institution ; and though often careless and inattentive, and c 18 DESCRIPTION OF [CHAP. II. much addicted to drawing most grotesque figures on his books, he yet always maintained a very respectable place in his class. By his school-fellows he was greatly beloved : his ami- able generous temper, and playful humour, made him a general favourite. In spirit and manliness he was by no means deficient. Who, that had seen the apparently gentle boy, with his mild sweet expression, would have known him again, when, with his face all bruised and streaming with blood, he darted into the room one day, and, addressing his youngest sister, exclaimed: 'Wash my face; quick, quick; put a cold key down my back, and let me out again to the bicker ' ? . . " This bicker lasted three successive days after school- hours. It was the last I remember. The master found it necessary to make a firm stand against so barbarous and dangerous a mode of warfare. The boys of the High School and of the University were jealous of each other, and per- petually quarrelling; and when this spirit now and then proceeded to a height, a bicker was found a necessary, though by no means a safe vent to their fury. They were drawn out in battle array, facing each other ; each party with a mountain of small stones by their side, which they hurled without mercy at the heads of their enemies till one of the parties gave in. "Walter Scott used frequently to mention that those bickers existed in his time, and for a considerable period before. It was not then, as later, between the boys of different schools, but between those of the higher and lower classes, who inhabited different parts of the Town. "The boys in George's Square, where Walter Scott then resided, having formed themselves into a company, were presented by .a lady of rank residing there with a handsome set of colours ; a gift more congenial to the ardour of the CHAP. II.] A BICKER. 19 youthful heroes than judicious, perhaps. The feud between those gentlemen of the Square and the barefooted lads of Bristo Street and the neighbouring suburbs, became daily more fierce. One young lad in particular, who used to be styled the Achilles of the Cross-causeway, was always fore- most in the charge, a slim, blue-eyed, fair-haired youth, about fourteen, but of undaunted courage. Heading one of those charges, he had advanced some paces before his comrades, and was on the point of seizing the highly-prized standard, when a young aristocrat, infuriated by the threat- ened disgrace, aimed a blow with a sharp instrument at the vulnerable head of the youthful Achilles, which deluged his fair hair with blood. " In dismay at a proceeding so unexpected, both parties fled different ways. The unlucky hanger was thrown into one of the meadow ditches, and solemn secrecy was sworn on all sides : but their remorse was great, when they found that the wounded hero had been carried by the watchman to the Infirmary, where he remained several days. "Repeated inquiries, however, failed in inducing him to reveal the name of his assailant, though perfectly well known to him. When he recovered, Walter Scott and his friends opened a treaty of peace with him, through a ginger-bread baker in the neighbourhood, well known to both parties; and a well-filled purse which they had collected was offered to him, and pressed upon his acceptance ; but he declined the gift, saying, that 'no money should ever purchase his Scotch blood.' " My father was the one of the family who seemed to feel the least, indeed, I may say no disappointment at my brother's not particularly distinguishing himself in his class. ' You do not understand the boy,' he would say ; ' I tell you he is a wonderful boy. Look at the eager expression of his countenance when listening to conversation far above his 20 LORD WOODHOUSELEE [CHAP. II. years : be is driuking in every word. You tell me he never opens an improving book : that it must always be an amus- ing story for him. 1 am much mistaken if he does not read grave enough books by and by. I see the spirit of it is in him.' (Little did we think, then, that we should in vain try to repress the ardent and laborious spirit of research, and of deep thought, under which his health ultimately sunk !) ' Then, do you not observe what an eye he has for painting? And what a spirit of drollery there is in him! I do not say he has yet the real wit of his brother James, but still, he is a wonderful boy.' My dear father ! when did he ever find out a fault in any of his children ? We were all perfection with him ; yet we were a wild unruly set : we scrambled into a sort of uncertain education, I scarce know how. There were no female colleges in those days. We never had a governess, and from our masters we learned by fits and starts. My dear mother in vain endeavoured to check my father's unlimited indulgence. ' I do it on principle,' Le would say ; 'I know they are the kind of children with whom it will answer best ;' and my mother seldom contested the point : in fact, she was not herself by any means a strict disciplinarian. Her conscience once satisfied, it seemed equally her wish to show us every indulgence. Ours was indeed a bright and a happy childhood. " On summer evenings we often walked out with my father, and in whatever direction we first bent our steps, we almost always returned by the village, for there the cottagers' wives, with their children, would be seated on the green turf seats before their doors, anxious to catch a few words from my father, who had always something kind for each as he passed along. This village was a constant source f pleasure and occupation to us. We had found it, like Scotch villages in those days, dirty and disorderly, Ufa within and without doors. Now, the cottagers vied CHAP. II.] WITH HIS CHILDREN. 21 with each other -who should have the cleanest house. They whitewashed them regularly once a year, and roses and honeysuckles were covering the walls outside, and clustering round the latticed windows. " When Mrs. Elizabeth Hamilton was on a visit to Woodhouselee, we took her to visit this little village, and she was so pleased and impressed by what might be done with a little care and encouragement, that she soon after sent us a copy of the ' Cottagers of Glenburnie,' saying, at the same time, that our pretty village had given her the first idea of writing this book which afterwards had so wide a . circulation. " My father had himself the keenest sense of the beauties of nature ; he never failed to draw our attention to the picturesque scenes by which we were surrounded. One of his favourite quotations, when giving vent to the gratitude and happiness which filled his heart, was from Cowper, I believe : " Ease and alternate labour, useful life, Progressive virtue aud approaching heaven." " In all this Peter closely resembled him of later years. No passing shade across the landscape was unobserved by my brother. During walking expeditions, where historical incidents or traditional legends were connected with the scene, amid ancient ruins or remains of our forefathers' piety and splendour, his whole soul seemed animated in recounting them again to his children. He also resembled my father in often becoming their playmate, in relaxing his mind, by bringing it down to the level of their merriment. " Frequently, when my mother and aunt retired to discuss some family matter, my father would start up and exclaim, 'Now let us give ourselves up to all manner of licentious- 22 BASIL HALL'S SISTERS. [CHAP. II. ness!' and, darting into the middle of the room, would tie a handkerchief over his eyes, and commence a game at Ger- man hlind man's buff. In this game many of my father's elder friends frequently joined. But never can we forget Basil Hall's keen enjoyment of it, when in one of his visits to Woodhouselee, just after his return from a voyage, he was accompanied hy his two beautiful sisters, Helen and Madeline Hall. Of those joyous three, not one remains. Helen died of consumption at an early age ; and Madeline's slight graceful appearance seemed ill fitted for the exertions she had but a very short time afterwards to make. She married Sir William de Lancey, and accompanied him within one short month to Waterloo : it was her hands that girded an his sword on the eve of the battle. He left her at Brussels, and she never saw him again till she was told he had been carried off the field mortally wounded, and no one knew exactly where he had been taken. It was evening before she made her way through the wagons of the slain and wounded soldiers ; and after a prolonged search, she found him in a cottage near the field of battle. No medical man having been near him, tearing up her own linen, she herself bound up his wounds. Medical aid was procured, but at the end of a week he expired in her arms. "We were all fond of music. Both my sisters were thought to sing well for those days, and my brother James's voice was remarkable ; he also played the violoncello, and my father the flute. Some of my father's friends occasion- ally joined those musical evenings. It was a sad trial of our politeness and forbearance, when an elderly gentleman, whom we used to hear always called Sandy Irvine, would arrive with his violoncello. The wonderful grimaces he made in his efforts to give expression to certain passages are not to be described, and often put us into fits of laughter. CHAP. II.] A MUSICAL ENTHUSIAST. 23 Sir James Stewart of Allanbank was another intimate friend, who used to make one in our grand crashes, as he used to call them. He was a perfect enthusiast in music. One evening when we were performing a piece of Corelli, he started up, exclaiming, 'That note is worth a thousand pounds!' and taking out his pencil, marked the figures above the note. His taking his way to our house in Prince's Street, when the musical fit was strong upon him, became almost a mechanical act. Seeing the postman at the door one evening, he darted past him, rushed up stairs, and finding the drawing-room empty, opened the piano, and was soon lost in his own compositions. Soon after, an elderly lady came into the room ; but he, thinking her a guest on a visit, after a slight bend of the head, took no further notice, but continued his occupation. The lady became restless on her seat, coughed, hemmed, all in vain ; then losing patience entirely, she exclaimed in a stern voice, ' Pray, sir, may I ask to whom I am indebted for the honour of this visit ? ' Sir James cast his eyes on the pictures hanging on the walls, 'In the wrong house, as I shall answer !' and with a vain attempt at some incoherent apologies, he darted from the room, and entered our house convulsed with laughter. " But no audience beyond his own family was necessary for my father's enjoyment of music. Alone with us at Woodhouselee, it was his solace to close the evening in this way, after the labours of the day ; * for he, too, wore out his mind with incessant labour and study, which, joined to his public occupations, undermined a constitution not naturally robust. The first chord being struck on the piano was the signal for my brother's inestimable tutor, Mr. Black, to glide into the room. At this moment he seems to rise up before * In a very pretty poem, entitled "The Cypress Wreath," which Mr. Tytler wrote in the summer of 1815, and which will be found described in a subse- quent page, he has described these evenings very feelingly and well. 24 BEV. JOHN BLACK [CHAP. II. me, with his slender figure and slightly-stooping gait, his black hair hanging carelessly on his neck, and his sallow, Spanish-looking countenance, so full of expression ! His young pupil always left the room- door partly open to fa- cilitate his entrance, and then be would steal in with his frightened look, and sink into a particular chair placed im- mediately behind the door. His shyness was almost un- conquerable ; he never, during the whole time he was with us, attained sufficient courage to walk straight into the room at once. During the evening, we would find some- times that he had migrated from one chair to another, till he had attained a tolerably near proximity to my father, to whom he looked up with the profoundest admiration. But it was when assembled around the supper-table, that Mr. Black forgot his shyness ; and his various stores of infor- mation and amusing anecdote flowed on without restraint. " It was my father's desire to assemble us frequently all around him to a very early supper, that he might enjoy the company also of his younger children before they were dis- missed to bed ; * and at such times he took great pains to draw Mr. .Black out. When tolerably at ease, his powers of conversation were remarkable, and his anecdotes very amusing. He would dart off from some grave subject to something extremely droll; then, looking up timidly into my father's face, he would say, in a half-assured voice, ' My lord, is that good ? ' and, on receiving a nod of approbation, would immediately add: 'Then it's mine.'t . . . Those early * The following playful note, addressed to his wife and children, which has been preserved by one of the family, requires no preface nor explanation : " Lord Woodhouselee presents his best compliments to Mrs. Fraser Tytler and family, and requests the honour of their company to drink tea with him in the library this evening, at 7 o'clock precisely. "Library, Woodhouselee, Saturday, 10th Sept., 1808." t Among the papers which have come into my hands, I find an interesting letter from this accomplished gentleman to his friend and patron, which, CHAP. II.] AT WOODHOUSELEE. 25 suppers were often prolonged by my father insisting on all joining in a catch or glee before dismissing us: himself because it is singularly illustrative of their respective tastes and habits, shall be here inserted. It is dated 28th March, 1804 : ' My Lord Last night, before going to bed, it struck me that it would be some amusement to me, to try to imitate an ode of Horace your lordship mentioned at dinner. Accordingly, upon turning up the book, I stumbled upon Ode vii. Book iv., and wrote the following before going to bed. So that if it has no merit, (and I believe it has very little,) it at least did not occupy much time in its composition : *TO LOKD WOODHOCSELEE. ' The snaw is leaving Pentland hills ; The trees are clad again wi' buds ; Unbound frae crystal chains, the rills Now gaily prattle through the woods. And soon the Graces will be seen Upo' the green at Woodhouselee ; A ne bonnier far than Beauty's Queen, Her sisters fair as fair can be.' [Of the five stanzas which follow, I select the third and fourth.] ' Alas ! whate'er in Nature flows, Repairs its waste and soon revives ; But Man soon sinks in dread repose, And only once on Earth he lives. Soon we, my friend ! in dust must lie, My place unmarked yours with a stone ; For Tully did (and Mansfield) die, Like Robin Hood and Little John. 1 What need ye heap for Pate and James ? Your family will hae enow : Bring out your wine to Phoebus' beams ! 'T is long, my lord, since we 've been fow. What though in Scotia there be nane That can sae sweet a period turn ? Ah, Eloquence will plead in vain To save her darling frae the urn ! ' [At foot, Mr. Black had written the words of the poet :] ' Diffngere nives : redeunt jam gramina campis, Arboribusque conue ; 26 IMITATION OP HORACE. [CHAP. II. always lending, 'Hark the merry Christ-Church bells," 'White sand and grey sand,' and all those well-known catches, which my brother Peter afterwards sang with his own children. Every morning, whilst my father was in town, Mr. Black used to assemble us in his favourite room, his library in the tower at the top of the house.* The back window looked upon a little dell, through which ran the rippling burn, which Leyden, whilst on a visit to Wood- houselee, has addressed in a beautiful sonnet, written with a diamond upon a pane of glass, in the window of his bed- room, immediately below, f The front window of the library decrescentia ripas Flumina prsetereunt : Gratia cum . . . geminisque sororibus. (This last line is well expressed.) * * Damna tamen celeres reparant ccelestia lunse ; Nos, ubi decidimus Quo pius JEneas, quo dives Tullus et Ancus, Pulvis et umbra sumus. * * Cuncta manus avidas fugient hjeredis, amico Quse dederis animo. Quum semel occideris, et de te splendida Minos Fecerit arbitria, Non, Torquate, genus, non tefacundia, non te Restituet pietas. (Something tolerable might be made out of the last four lines of Horace; but I have no time at present, and it does not much signify the thing being entire without it.) ' Since pulled down. See a letter from P. F. Tytler addressed to myself, dated July 16, 1844, which will be found in the latter part of the volume. t Leyden's autograph of the sonnet alluded to by Miss Tytler lies before me. In transcribing it, I venture to punctuate, and to write ' resounds' for ' resound,' in the ninth line : 1 Sweet rivulet ! as in pensive fit reclined Thy lone voice talking to the Night I hear, Now swelling loud and louder on the ear, Now melting in the pauses of the wind, A boding sadness shoots across my mind CHAP, ii.] TYTLER'S BOYHOOD. 27 commanded a most extensive view of the distant country; and in those days, when we knew my father was to be de- tained in town till late in the evening, we always placed a candle in this window. Often did he remark that he never gained sight of this twinkling light through the trees of the avenue, without feeling his heart raised in gratitude to Heaven for the many blessings by which he was surrounded, and the happy home to which he was returning. " In this library, while my father was absent in the morn- ings, Mr. Black (as I mentioned before) used to assemble ns: for there stood the large celestial and terrestrial globes; and every day we had a lecture in geography, astronomy, the nature of the tides, &c., &c. ; in all such subjects Mr. Black being deeply versed. How my brother Peter failed to become a little prodigy of learning with such advantages, I know not : but his time for study had not yet come ; his reading, (for he did read,) consisting chiefly of Percy's ' Keliques of Ancient Poetry,' Spenser's ' Faery Queen/ the ' Arabian Nights' Entertainments,' and de Salis's ' History of the Moors.' This last work took strong hold of his imagination : it was a very old-looking book, a thin quarto, in very large print, which he had poked out from some odd corner in the book-case. There would he lie, stretched all his length on the carpet in the library at Woodhouselee, reading his beloved book for hours together; and if my memory does not deceive me, a history of the To think how oft the whistling gale shall strew O'er thy clear stream thy leaves of sallow hue Before this classic haunt my wanderings find. That lulling harmony resounds again That soothes the slumbering leaves on every tree ; And seems to say, ' Wilt thou remember me, The stream that listened oft to Ramsay's strain ? Tho' Ramsay's pastoral reed be heard no more Yet Taste and Fancy long shall linger on my shore !' 28 LITERARY ATTEMPTS. [CHAP. II. Moors begun, but never finished, was his first attempt in composition. Latterly, he took to Slmkspeare, which he devoured greedily, and could repeat a great part of many of the plays by heart." The youthful essay on the history of the Moors, thus alluded to by Miss Tytler, was in progress in the year 1810, when her brother was nineteen ; and though it may have been begun at an earlier period, it was certainly preceded by n juvenile performance, which he accidentally met with when he was arranging his papers in 1843, and which he showed to his brother-in-law, with an intimation that he should destroy it. It showed a precocious taste for authorship, if Mr. Hog's impression be correct that the MS. alluded to was produced before his kinsman had attained the age of ten years. It consisted of a metrical version of some of the fables of Phsedrus ; each fable being illustrated by a pen- and-ink drawing, framed within a border, in the manner of Bewick. This little work was dedicated to his father. On being presented to the living of Coylton, in Ayrshire, Mr. Black left Lord Woodhouselee's family ; and Peter had for his tutor Mr. Lee, of Edinburgh, who subsequently be- came Dr., Professor, and Principal, and was a person of high ability. " Mr. Tytler never spoke of him to me," writes his brother-in-law, " but with the highest respect and gratitude; and often told me that he owed his spirit of resolution to work hard, to this gentleman's influence." ' If, however, my brother during most of the time Mr. Black remained with us profited but little in these higher branches of study, his acquaintance with fairy lore became most extensive. That he should have escaped beiug super- stitious with Walter Scott's ghost stories, and Mr. Black's fairies, is wonderful. " It was while Mr. Black was with us that he composed and published what we thought that beautiful pastoral, ' The CHAP. II.] SIR WALTER SCOTT. 29 Falls of Clyde ; or the Farewell of the fairies to the Earth.' He used to read the poem to us as it advanced, when seated around the school-room fire, and never had a timid author a more encouraging audience. Mr. Black published after he left us a ' Life of Tasso,' which possessed great interest, and I believe was highly thought of. " I come now to speak of Walter Scott's frequent visits, for many days at a time, to Woodhouselee. It was a beautiful feature in his character that he required no audience of the learned or the great to draw out the charm of his conversation : he seemed in his element equally with old and young. He frequently assembled us around him after breakfast, and proposed a walk ; then, with his joyous look and vigorous step, he would take his way towards what we called the Green hill of Castleawe. It lay to one side of the house. The black hill rose immediately behind. It was rugged of ascent, but the summer wind, as it blew upon . us, came laden with the fragrance of the wild thyme and purple heather, with which it was covered to the very top. " Our guide always halted at one particular spot: it was where the house of Woodhouselee came in view, though still partially hidden by the fine trees which surrounded it. Further in the distance rose Carnathae, the highest of all the Pentlands. In those days it seemed to us towering in the clouds ; and we had shrewd suspicions that Mont Blanc was of much inferior height. Here, seated in the midst of us, he would begin his delightful stories, generally the pro- ductions of his fertile brain at the moment, and continued for more than one day at a time. Sometimes they were legends of the old Covenanters; for at no great distance from where we were seated had been discovered several Covenanters' graves, and a report was current in our village, that in our day a funeral procession by torch-light had been seen slowly wending their way amongst the hills towards 30 A GHOST. [CHAP. II. this ancient burial place, no one knowing whence they came. " To those mornings would succeed the ghost stories of the autumn evenings, when we used to entreat my father not to ring for candles after dinner ; but, drawing round the clear wood fire, we listened with such excited feelings of terror and of awe, that very soon for any of us to have moved to ring a bell would have been impossible. How eould we dare to doubt the truth of every word, having our- selves our own legitimate ghost to be believed in ? and whom Walter Scott himself, in one of his ballads, has celebrated : ' To Auchendenny's hazel shade, And haunted Woodhouselee.' " The tradition was, that the Regent Moray had thrust Lady Anne Bothwell and her child into the woods of Woodhouselee, where she went mad, and perished miserably ; and that when the stones of old Woodhouselee were taken to build the new house, the poor ghost, still clinging to the domestic hearth, had accompanied these stones. " There was one bed-room in the house, which, though of no extraordinary dimensions, was always called ' the big bed-room.' Two sides of the walls of this room were co- vered with very old tapestry, representing subjects from Scripture. Near the head of the bed there was a mysterious- looking small and very old door, which led into a turret fitted up as a dressing-room. From this small door the ghost was wont to issue. No servant would enter ' the big bed- room' after dusk, and even in daylight they went in pairs. " To my aunt's old nurse,* who constantly resided in the Tytler writes (in July, 1812) : "Cecy Low hops about the walks, sews in the sun, and at night we go and sit with her, and hear about grandpapa and Aunty Bell ; and she shows us the corner in the parlour where grandpapa's little wig hung, and tells us where the sideboard stood, and descants upon the braw companies she has seen dining in this room ; and what you, Annie, would CHAP. II.] SCOTT AT LASSWADE. 31 family, and with her daughter Betty, the dairy-maid, (a rosy- looking damsel,) took charge of the house during the winter, Lady Anne had frequently appeared. Old Catherine was a singularly-interesting looking person in appearance: tall, pale, and thin, and herself like a gentle spirit from the unseen world. We talked to her often of Lady Anne. ' 'Deed,' she said, ' I have seen her times out o' number, but I am in no ways fear'd ; I ken weel she canna gang beyond her commission ; but there's that silly feckless thing, Betty, she met her in the lang passage ae night in the winter time, and she hadnae a drap o' bluid in her face for a fortnight after. She says Lady Anne came sae near her she could see her dress quite weel : it was a Manchester muslin with a wee flower.' Oh ! how Walter Scott used to laugh at this ' wee flower,' and hope that Lady Anne would never change her dress. "For several summers Mrs. Scott and he resided at a pretty cottage near Lasswade, within a walk of Wood- houselee. We used frequently to walk down after breakfast and spend the day. We were generally first received by Camp, his faithful dog, who, to his master's friends, never failed to show his master's hospitality. " It was a poor dilapidated-looking cottage when he first became the tenant, with but one good sitting-room, which was always tastefully arranged by Mrs. Scott. From the garden there was a charming view, and from a mere kitchen- garden it soon became a Paradise of flowers. It was his delight to train his creepers in the most tasteful, elegant manner ; all around had the appearance of taste and culti- like best of all, refreshes our memory with the fairy tales of our infant days. The other night we made her tell us the story of Fair Lady parler Madame. The rhyme is as follows .- Master above all masters, Stretch upon your struntifers, Call upon Jonas tfa Great, Fair Lady parler Madame : Fair A ngeliste hath taken hold of old Carle Gratis, A nd the smoke doth ascend to the top of Montego ; A nd unless there come timely succour from the water of Stron- fuuutes, The Castle of Stromundi icill be burnt to the ground." 32 SIR WALTER SCOTT. [CHAP. II. vation, and every means was taken to convert a very ordi- nary thatched cottage into a most comfortahle-looking and picturesque abode. " On walking down there one morning, we found him mounted on a ladder, nailing together a Gothic sort of arch of willows over the gate at the entrance. He was very proud of this arch, and told us afterwards that Mrs. Scott and he had gone out that first night to admire it in the moonlight, and that the effect was most picturesque.* He was very proud also of a dining-table which he had con- structed with his own hands, for in those days he was in very limited circumstances. " At a later period we used, with a few other intimate friends, to assemble in his house in Castle Street once a week, to tea and supper, and to hear 'Marmion' and the ' Lady of the Lake ' read aloud by him while they were in progress. He stopped one evening at that fearful scene in ' Marmion,' where Constance is built into the convent wall, and we all trembled when he came to that passage : 'An hundred winding steps convey That conclave to the upper day ; But ere they breathed the fresher air, They heard the shriekings of despair And many a stifled groan: With speed their upward way they take, Such speed as age and fear can make ; And crossed themselves for terrors' sake, As hurrying tottering on.' f All got round him, and entreated to know if poor Constance for ever to remain in that fearful niche in the convent * Compare Lockhart's Life of Scott (Lassvade, 1798), vol i p 289 *ms to have communicated fragments of the poem very' freely dunng the whole of its progress," te.-Life of Scott, yol. iL p. ll^k. CHAP. II.] MISS SOPHIA SCOTT. 33 wall? if lie really had doomed her-to such a death? At first he tried to parry the questions, but finding that would not do, he exclaimed, ' I give you my sacred word, ladies, I am myself in the same uncertainty : I have not at this moment the slightest idea of what I am to do with Con- stance.' " Only one other visit to Woodhouselee I shall mention. He was accompanied by Mrs. Scott, and his little daughter Sophia.* We had always taken much interest in the child, a lively gay little thing, and were much struck by the change in her appearance : she was pale and thin, and had at times quite a frightened look, even a silly expression. Her nursery-maid's appearance we did not like : she was a tall masculine-looking woman, with a very unpleasant expression; and we ventured to hint that the little girl might be afraid of her. * No, it was not possible,' Mrs. Scott said ; ' on the contrary, she is often crying to get back to her. Have you not observed that as soon as dessert is over, she always asks to be taken back to her dear Clemmy ? ' We had observed this, and also the trembling frightened look with which the request was accompanied. We watched, and soon heard enough to convince us that the poor little girl was most cruelly tyrannized over : we heard her sobs, and Clemmy's threats that she was not for her very life to enter the drawing-room, but to ask immediately to be taken back to her dear Clemmy. Clemmy was immediately dis- charged. " Walter Scott was a most fond father. To watch his expression of pleasure when Sophia afterwards became his companion, and used to sing to him his favourite old ballads, you would have thought him an enthusiast in music ; but he had little or no ear : it was the words and the singer that inspired him. Sophia was his favourite * Afterwards, Mrs. J. G. Lockhart. D 34 , DUGALD AND MRS. STEWART. [CHAP. II. child, but he was fond and proud of all of them. Taking a letter one 'day from his pocket when on a morning visit to my mother, he said, ' Mrs. Tytler, here is a letter from my son Walter, which I am sure you will like to see.' We asked afterwards if there was anything remarkable in the letter. ' No, nothing whatever. It was only a request for more pocket money.' " Other frequent guests at Woodhouselee were Dugald and Mrs. Stewart. He was of a graver cast, yet he was no deep philosopher to the younger branches of the family. In one of those visits, on some one going into the drawing- room after breakfast, they found him alone with my brother Peter, running round the room, each balancing a peacock's feather on his nose. Sometimes, on our return from walking, Mr. Stewart would compliment us on our blooming complexions. Peter would then never fail to say : ' Now, young ladies, don't be puffed up ; remember Mr. Stewart probably sees your cheeks quite green.' This was ill allusion to a natural optical defect in Mr. Stewart's sight: to him, the cherries and leaves on a tree were the same colour ; and there was no distinction of hue between the red coats of the soldiers marching through a wood and the green trees themselves. "Mr. Stewart had married an intimate friend of my mother's, a sister of Mr. Cranstoun, (afterwards Lord Core- house,) and of the Countess Purgstali, of whom Basil Hall has given such an interesting account. Mrs. Stewart was a very accomplished person also, and with a voice in speaking peculiarly sweet, and musical. They seemed a very happy couple; but my mother would" sometimes remark that this happiness was in some danger of being diminished by the very means they took to increase it. Ley were in constant dread of giving each other pain or auxtety, so that there were perpetual little mysteries and con- CHAP. II.] THE MAN OF FEELING. 35 cealments. As an instance of this, she told us that Mr. Stewart once having made an appointment with Mrs. Stewart to meet him at a bookseller's shop, she, arriving a little before the time, was asked to remain in the back shop, to which there was a glass door. Presently, Mr. Stewart entered ; and giving a glance through the glass door, he seemed in a low voice to enter earnestly into conversation with the bookseller, till suddenly they were interrupted by a scream from the inner shop. They flew in, and found Mi-s. Stewart sinking on the ground. She fancied that their little daughter Maria had fallen into the fire. It was not how- ever of a burning little girl they had been talking, but of a new publication. " With Henry Mackenzie's family we were also on terms of close intimacy. They lived for several years, during summer, at Auchendenny, within two miles of Wood- houselee. Drinking tea there one evening, we waited some time for Mr. Mackenzie's appearance : be came in at last, heated, and excited: ' What a glorious evening I have had!' We thought he spoke of the weather, which was beautiful ; but he went on to detail the intense enjoyment he had had in a cock-fight. Mrs. Mackenzie listened some time in silence ; then, looking up in his face, she exclaimed in her gentle voice, ' Oh Harry, Harry, your feeling is all on paper.' " Yet no one knew better than Mrs. Mackenzie his kind heart, and often did we experience it. His visits to my mother, after my father's death, were unremitting. Indeed, it was then that so many of my father's friends came for- ward to show us kindness. "Dr. Gregory for years, till prevented by his own de- clining health, made it a point to visit us daily; he said it was a rest to his mind after his professional visits to pass u short time in Prince's Street with us. 36 SYDNEY SMITH. [CHAP. II. " Of Sydney Smith's visits to Woodhouselee I need not speak. His straightforward, generous, arid benevolent character, and his sparkling wit, have been lately so ad- mirably well described by his daughter, in the memoir of her. father's life, as to leave me nothing to add." .... But I may be allowed to interrupt the present narrative to remind the reader of a graphic incident which Lady Hol- land describes in her Memoir of the Rev. Sydney Smith, and which she introduces by remarking that her father kept up, with hardly any exception, the friendships which he formed in Scotland: adding, " and I heard an incident the other day which, trifle as it was, showed such affection for my father's memory that it quite touched me. One evening, my father was at his old friend Lord Woodhouselee's country house, near Edinburgh, when a violent storm of wind arose, and shook the windows so as to annoy everybody present, and prevent conversation. ' Why do you not stop them ? ' said my father ; ' give me a knife, a screw, and a bit of wood, and I will cure it in a moment.' He soon effected his purpose, fixed up his little bit of wood, and it was christened Sydney's button. Fifty years after, one of the family, finding Mr. Tytler papering and painting this room, exclaimed, ' Oh ! James, you are surely not touching Sydney's button ? ' but on running to examine the old place at the window, she found Sydney's button was there, pre- served and respected amidst all the changes of masters, time, and taste."* And there, Mr. James Tytler assures me that Sydney's button is still. His sister's MS. proceeds as follows : " One memorable day only I must mention : it was that day when Sir Wal- ter Scott, Sir James Mackintosh, and Sydney Smith, were to dine at Woodhouselee and remain the night. We had many discussions that morning at breakfast as to which of them * Vo 1 . i. p. 22. CHAP. II.] SIR JAMES MACKINTOSH. 37 would lead the conversation. All were of different opinions. The dinner hour came, and for some time after we were seated at table, the ball flew from one to another, but was long retained by none. Before dinner was over, however, Sydney Smith had decidedly gained the day." The foregoing occasion, Miss Tytler assures me, was quite distinct from one which I well remember hearing her brother describe, on my remarking to him that the presence of too many wits at dinner may easily prove fatal to the conversation. Besides Scott, Mackintosh, and Sydney Smith, Lord Woodhouselee had invited to his table several first-rate talkers ; and the usual rivalry ensued. Scott contented himself with telling some delightful stories, and resigning when Mackintosh seemed eager to be heard. Lord Jeffery flashed in with something brilliant, but was in turn outshone by some more fortunate talker. So much impatience was felt to lead the conversation, that no one had leisure to eat. Only Sydney was silent. He was discussing the soup, the fish, and the roast. In short, he partook leisurely of everything at table; until the last act was drawing to a close, and he had com- pletely dined. He then delivered himself of something preposterous, laughed at it immoderately, and infecting every one present with his mirth, at once set the table in a roar. It is needless to add that he never parted with his advantage, but triumphantly led ithe conversation for the remainder of the evening, keeping the other guests con- vulsed with the humour of the only man present who had dined. But to resume. Miss Tytler writes: "Sir James Mackintosh was a cousin of my mother's, and born under his grandmother's roof in the house of Aldourie, on the banks of Loch Ness. After his return from India, he spent some days there with my eldest brother and his family, (who on the death of my mother suc- ceeded to the estate,) and much interest he showed in con- 38 REV. ARCHIBALD ALISON. [CHAP. II. versing with several of the old people about, who remembered him when a boy, and in visiting all the haunts of his child- hood." (I cannot edite this passage without relating that when I was in that neighbourhood in 1830, 1 heard from one who had been with Mackintosh in his dying moments, that the image of the same beautiful scenery, the woods of Aldourie, and the banks of Loch Ness, haunted him to the very last. Every object seemed imprinted indelibly on his memory. He described, and asked about one particular tree, one particular spot at the water's edge.) " Both as an orator and an historian he is well known ; added to which, he was of a most benevolent, generous, and unaffected character; and his conversational powers, though different from those either of Walter Scott or Sydney Smith, were of the highest order. "I have been asked to give any little details I can remember of my father's friends, and fear I may have exceeded on this subject : so much easier is it to talk of them, than of those nearer home ! " Of all those many friends, he that was dearest to us all I have not yet mentioned. I have lingered on Mr. Alison's* name, from the difficulty of expressing what he was to us : his own family seemed scarcely to interest him more. In my brother Peter's success in life, he took the keenest and most affectionate interest. The superior abilities and the high public estimation in which, in their different ways, both his own sons William and Archibald were held, was always associated in his mind with the fair promise which he saw also in my brother's future career; and the young men were in the closest intimacy, even from those early days when the Scotch Dominie whom Mr. Alison had engaged to spend some hours every day with his own boys, used frequently to write in his evening's report, Master * The Rev. Archibald Alison. CHAP. II.] LITERARY DISCERNMENT. 39 Alison, uncommon. Master Archie, rather deficient.' In their future attainments, they seemed also to go hand in hand with each other. While Mr. Alison lived, my brother took no step in life without his counsel and approval. " It were tedious to mention those who were guests at our house. To pass a winter or two in Edinburgh, seemed then to be the finish to a complete education ; a sort of equivalent to making the grand tour ; and most of those English as well as foreign visitors brought letters of introduction to my father. " But it was not by such only as I have described, that his society was sought after. Many was the poor and obscure genius that looked up to him for support, and encouragement. His liberality was great: and it was not money alone he gave ; his praise and his encourage- ment cheered many a failing heart." A singular proof of Lord VVoodhouselee's discernment is supplied by the letter which he addressed to Lord Byron, on the appearance of his ' Hours of Idleness,' and which may be seen in the pages of Moore. The ' Scotch Reviewers/ as all are aware, were very severe upon the youthful poet ; but Lord Woodhouselee confidently predicted that a blaze of glory was to follow, from the first faint pale streak which ushered in the dawn. " I have mentioned Leyden, and his sonnet to the burn at Woodhouselee. It was Walter Scott who was principally the means of making his talents known in society ; but to my father he was also indebted for many acts of kindness. He seems now to have passed away from memory like a falling star ; and few may remember his brightness, or be aware of his obscure origin, or of the difficulties which gave way before his undaunted courage. He was the son of a shepherd in a wild valley in Roxburghshire, and almost self- educated. Being himself a Border man, and an enthu- siastic lover of its legends, he was well calculated to give Walter Scott assistance in his publication of the Border Minstrelsy ; and his rise in society might be dated from that 40 THE POET LEYDEN. [CHAP. II. time. He was first discovered as a daily frequenter of a small bookseller's shop, kept by Archibald Constable, so well known afterwards as an eminent publisher. Here would Leyden pass hour after hour, often perched upon a Ladder in mid air, with some great folio in his hand, forget- ting the scanty meal of bread and water that awaited him on his return to his miserable lodging. But to all this he was indifferent, for access to books seemed the bound of his wishes ; and before he had attained his nineteenth year, he had astonished all the Professors in Edinburgh by his pro- found knowledge of Greek and Latin, and the mass of general information he had acquired. "Having turned his views to India, he some time after got the promise of some literary appointment in the East India Company's service : but this having failed, he was informed that the patronage for that year had been ex- hausted, with the exception of a surgeon's assistant's com- mission ; and that if he accepted this, he must be ready to pass his medical trials in six months. Three years were generally necessary for those trials ; but, nothing daunted, he instantly applied himself to an entirely new line of study, and at the end of the six months took his degree with honour. Having just published his beautiful poem, ' The Scenes of Infancy,' he sailed for India.* We heard of him as the most wonderful of Orientalists, and he seemed des- tined to run a brilliant career ; but he was suddenly cut off by fever, I believe caught by exposure to the sun, and died at an early age." Further instalments of Miss Tytler's MS. shall be offered as the progress of my story will allow. ' His poverty was such,' writes Lady Holland, ' that he was quite unable to accomplish his outfit. Sir Walter Scott and my father, and a few others, were chiefly instrumental in effecting it, the latter contributing 40 out of hia very small means.' Memoir of the Rev. Sydney Smith, vol. i. p. 53. There is an interesting account of Leyden, in Loekhart's Life of Scott vol i p. 322, &c. CHAP. III.] PATRICK FRASER TYTLER. 41 CHAPTER III. (18001809.) Lord Woodhouselee in illness His literary undertakings P. F. Tytler is sent to school Chobham in 1808 The Rev. Charles Jerram Tytler's progress at school A debating society King George III. in the Chapel at Windsor Tytler returns to Woodhouselee. SUCH was the home of my friend's happy boyhood, and such the associations amid which all the earlier years of his life were spent. Many an after-glance at the same delight- ful period is afforded by his subsequent correspondence, which shall not be anticipated. Certainly, if ever a father was idolized by a band of amiable and intelligent children, that man was Lord Woodhouselee. He was the sun and centre round which they moved. To his indulgent eye they looked for approbation, and they coveted no other reward than his smile, or his caress. They admired and revered him as entirely as they loved him. On the 15th of October 1795, he made the following memorandum in the common-place book already quoted. "I have this day* completed my 48th year. The best part of my life is gone. When I look back on what is past, I am humbly grateful to Almighty GOD for the singular bless- ings I have enjoyed. All, indeed, that can render life of value, has been mine : health, and peace of mind, easy and even affluent circumstances, domestic happiness in the best of wives, a promising race of children, kind and affectionate relations, sincere and cordial friends, a good name, and (I trust in GOD) a good conscience. What therefore on earth have I more to desire? Nothing: but, if Almighty GOD so * New Style. In the family Bible, his birth is recorded ' on Sunday, 4th Oct. 1747.' 42 LORD WOODIIOUSELEE [CHAP. III. please, and if it be not presumption in me to pray, a con- tinuation of those blessings ! Should it be otherwise, let me not repine. I bow to His commands who knows what is best for His creatures. His will be done." There was something prophetic in the melancholy fore- boding which this passage expresses. Three weeks after this was written, (5th of November,) on walking in from Wood- houselee to his house in Prince's Street, symptoms of fever showed themselves, and a severe illness ensued. 'Under the anxious care of his friend and physician Dr. Gregory, he recovered from the fever : but in one of the paroxysms of the disease, he had the misfortune to rupture some of the blood-vessels of the bladder, an accident which threatened to degenerate into one of the most painful diseases to which the human frame is subject.' His activity of mind did not however forsake him. " Five months have now run since I was first taken ill," he writes. " Meantime, I beguile my bodily sufferings by the occupations of my mind. I have studied more, and with more profit and improvement, in these last five months, than I usually have done in twice that time." At the close of the year 1796, he gratefully records that his chief occupation during the most painful twelve- month of his life had been the preparing for the press the continuation of the Dictionary of Decisions, from 1770 to 1794. His biographer refers to the same period Lord Wood- houselee's edition of Derham's once celebrated treatise, entitled Physico-Theology, which he did not publish till 1799, but with which he began to amuse himself during the period of languor which follows severe disease; and of which he speaks in the following interesting manner in his note- book : " Of all my literary labours, that which affords me the most pleasure on reflection, is the edition I published of Derham's Physico-Theology. The account of the life and CHAP. III.] IN ILLNESS. 43 writings of Dr. Derham, with the short dissertation on final causes, the translation of the notes of the author, with the additional notes containing an account of those more modern discoveries in the sciences and arts which tend further to the illustration of the subjects of the work, are all the original matter of that edition to which I have any claim ; besides finishing the drawings for the plates which I delineated : BO that the vanity of authorship has a very small share indeed in that pleasure I have mentioned. But, when engaged in that work, I had a constant sense that I was well employed, in contributing, as far as lay in my power, to those great and noble ends which this most worthy man proposed in his labours, the enforcing on the minds of mankind the conviction of an Eternal, Almighty, All-wise, and All- beneficent Author of Nature ; the demonstration, in short, of that Truth on which depends our greatest present happi- ness and our future hopes. " Since the publication of this edition, an excellent work has appeared on the same subject, Dr. Paley's Natural Theology; of which the chief merits are a clear and me- thodical arrangement of his subject, a logical closeness of reasoning, and an application of his argument to every sceptical inference which has been drawn from partial irre- gularity, and partial evil existing in the creation. From this admirable book, many valuable additions may be made to the notes on Derham, if a new edition should be wanted in my lifetime; and I intend accordingly to make those additions, Deo volente" A political pamphlet,* which appeared at Dublin in 1799, from the same prolific pen, and of which 3000 copies were sold on the day of publication, is the only other literary performance which preceded Lord Woodhouselee's elevation * It was entitled, ' Ireland profiting by example ; or the question considered, whether Scotland has gained or lost by the Union.' 44 LITERARY PROJECTS, AND WORKS [CHAP. III. to the Bench of the Court of Session in 1802. From that period, he devoted his time exclusively to business, while the Courts were sitting; repairing to his helovecl Wood- houselee as soon as vacation commenced, and there re- suming his private studies in the hosom of his family, and amid those scenes of retirement which were so congenial to his soul. His academical engagement having at last come to an end, many were the literary projects which presented themselves to his imagination. Of these, a Life of Buchanan, was one : another, was an edition of Camden's Annals, translated into English, with notes. Most important of all would have heen a continuation of Lord Hailes' Annals, down to the union of the two kingdoms. But he undertook, instead, Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Henry Home, LordKames, his earliest friend and patron. " I began my Life of Lord Kames," (he writes,) " on the 1 3th August 1803, having been employed about three months, collecting materials, perusing his writings, taking notes, &c.; and I wrote the last sentence of the work on the 24th Sep. 1806. Almost the whole was written in the vacations at Wood- houselee." For the first edition he received from Creech, the publisher, 500/. His task had been executed with fide- lity and affection ; and the result will be more dearly prized by posterity than it was even by his contemporaries. It was not till the autumn of 1808, that his youngest son, the subject of the present Memoir, was absent from home for any considerable period. His father had resolved that he should commence the study of the Law, after he had completed his eighteenth year. There remained a full twelvemonth until that time, and it was determined to send him to an English school, chiefly for the improvement of his scholarship. Other advantages which such an absence from home would procure to a youth of Patrick's tastes and habits, were also doubtless fully foreseen by the anxious 1808.] OF LORD WOODHOUSELEE. 45 father, who was making no small personal sacrifice in thus depriving himself of the society of his favourite son at the very period when from a promising pupil he was beginning to ripen into a most agreeable companion. " What a de- light it is to me to think that my dear father already rubs his hands, and thinks of my return!" exclaimed the son, on receiving a letter from home dated within a fortnight (!) of the day of his departure from Woodhouselee. He even con- templated for Patrick a residence at the University of Oxford ; but the scheme never seems to have been very seriously entertained ; and when it is considered what was the prevailing tone of manners at the Universities fifty years ago, it can scarcely be a matter of regret that he did not proceed, as a youth, in a direction whither his maturer taste so ardently inclined him. I suspect that, in order the better to decide where he should send his boy, Lord Woodhouselee made the journey to London which he mentions in the following passage of his common-place book: "The Dissertation I wrote on the subject of the Abb6 de Sade's hypothesis of Laura and Petrarch, gave great satisfaction to the Italian Literati, who were much pleased with this vindication of the character of their favourite poet, from the stain which that hypothesis (which makes Laura a married woman) threw upon it. When I was in London in 1808, my friend James Drum- mond introduced me to a Mr. Pietri, a Corsican gentleman, who, he said, was very desirous to see and converse with me ; and I supped with him at Mr. Drummond's house. He was the Deputy sent by the Corsicans to make offer of the sove- reignty of the Island to our King. He said that my exami- nation of the Abb6 de Sade's hypothesis was generally regarded as perfectly conclusive ; and that the Italians con- sidered themselves as greatly indebted to me on that score. He added that, to his knowledge, even the Abbe de Sade's 46 TYTLER IS SENT TO SCHOOL. [CHAP. III. own family treated his hypothesis, which ranked Laura among their progenitors, as a chimeera, and that his brother the Comte de Sade made no scruple to say, that he had employed his labours to little purpose ; using these words, ' Ma foi, 9a valoit bien la peine decrire trois grandes volumes pour prouver qu'il y avoit une putain de plus dans la famille.' Mr. Matthias urged me very strongly to republish the Dissertation in a small volume, as it is buried in the mass of the Royal Society's Transactions, in which alone it has yet appeared, and I think I shall at some leisure time do this." But to proceed. The school which Lord Woodhouselee made choice of for his son rejoiced in the appellation of ' Chobham House.' It was kept by the Rev. Charles Jerram, a man of worth and piety, who at that time held the curacy of Chobham, under the Rev. Richard Cecil, a name which will suffi- ciently suggest the class of religious opinions to which Mr. Jerram was himself attached. He was indeed altoge- ther identified with that section of the clergy which claims the epithet of ' Evangelical.' Let it however be candidly conceded that the period of which we are speaking was a very dark one ; and that the zeal of such men as Simeon, Newton, Cecil, Venn, and Scott, entitles them to our deepest sympathy, however imperfectly we may be able to accept their opinions, or to approve the practices of themselves or their followers. It was on the 30th of October 1808, that young Tytler left the paternal roof, in company with a boy named Alexander Millar, who was about to be placed at the same school with himself. In a letter to his mother, written from Doncaster, (1st November,) he says," I prevailed upon Millar to go by York, neither of us having seen the Cathedral. I shall always rejoice that I did so. I may really say with Falstaff, the first sight of it ' exalted me into the brain,' for it well 1808.] CHOBHAM IN 1808. 47 nigh stupified me. We arrived in London on Friday at 10 o'clock; when, according to the good General's direc- tions, I immediately drove to [48] Upper Charlotte Street, where I was most kindly received." The events of the journey are thus passed over with becoming historical dig- nity ; but to judge from the two specimens which, many years after, Tytler related to his brother, Mr. Thomas Hog, his adventures must have been sufficiently amusing. He had been particularly cautioned by his father against drink- ing too much wine on the road. (The reader will remember that the steculum port-winianum had hardly yet expired.) Accordingly, when he and his companion reached the inn, after laying their heads together for some time, they desired the waiter to bring them half a quarter of a pint of wine. When within their last stage of the metropolis, the intense greenness of the boys became apparent to the landlord ; who, proving a wag, persuaded them that it was quite impossible for young gentlemen of their consideration to enter London with less than four horses. Four horses were ordered out, and Tytler and his friend entered London in grand style. " Chobham," (writes Mr. Jen-am, in what may be termed his autobiography,) " was a place peculiarly eligible for a private establishment like mine. It is within twenty-six miles of London, in a most sequestered valley, retired from the public road, arid the inhabitants of which were at that time so simple in their manners, so plain in their dress, and so antiquated in their appearance, that you might have sup- posed yourself living with persons of a former century, and in a place three hundred miles from the metropolis It was so little known, as to be almost universally confounded with Cobham, in the same county, and through which the great road from London to Portsmouth passes : and fre- quent mistakes were made by persons, meaning to come to Chobham, finding themselves at Cobham, and then having 48 REV. CHARLES JERRAM. [CHAP. III. to cross ten miles over a barren heath to reach the spot of their original destination."* The letters which Tytler despatched periodically from this place to his home circle at Woodhouselee, have been pre- served, and do him honour. A few extracts \vill give a better idea of the school at Chobham, and of the tastes and habits of the subject of these pages, at the age of seven- teen, than could be supplied by any other expedient. " To begin with Mr. Jerram." (I quote his own words.) " He seems an excellent man, and the more I know of him, I daresay I shall like him the more. He is little, and rather corpulent; has small grey eyes, a white face, and his head almost completely bald. He is a most elegant Latin and Greek scholar, and I believe a deep mathematician ; yet his erudition seems to go little farther. I have made many unsuccessful attempts to draw him into conversation upon literary subjects, but have been as often disappointed. In- deed, the other night, when I was speaking of those of our English poets whose genius had appeared at an early age, he honestly confessed that ' he was little conversant with the works of our English Poets' This I thought an avowal which any Englishman would be ashamed of making; nor can I yet discover what his reasons are : probably how- ever they proceed from his strict religious principles. You may easily suppose that my little muse, if not dead, is fast a dying ; yet she has even here made some faint attempts which Mr. Jerram flattered me by praising. In a short time, I hope she may recover. Let not this account of Mr. Jerram in any ways disturb my dear father. He is the very man I should have gone to. Indeed, I am only afraid that Memoirs of tlie Rev. Charles Jerram, M.A., formerly Vicar of Chobkam, and for some time Minister of St. John's Chapel, Bedford Row, and late Rector of Witney, Oxfordshire, edited by the fiev. James Jerram, 12mo, London, 1855 : p. 248. 1308.] CHOBHAM HOUSE. 49 I work too little ; for what should I not do to please such a Father ?" These were among the earliest words he wrote home from Chobham. His thoughts were at first wholly of home. Indeed, as his sister remarks, ' he seems during the whole period of his stay, particularly at the outset, to have had a hard battle to fight with his home feelings.' But he was really a very assiduous student. The established hour for commencing the day's proceedings was half past seven : yet had he the energy to rise two hours earlier; which gave him time for pursuits which did not come within the prescribed routine of the establishment, and which he foresaw would otherwise be neglected. His friend Millar and he had procured a tinder- box, and (in schoolboy style) subscribed for candles. At half past eight the boys breakfasted. Mr. Jerram then read a chapter aloud, offering occasional ' reflections :' the cha- racter of which may be collected from Tytler's complaint that he could find no book in the house proper for reading on Sundays, " but Doddridge's Life of Colonel Gardiner, and other works all of the same stamp, into none of which," he says, " have I cast a single look since I came here. Nothing is more infectious than this way of thinking; of which I have many proofs daily before me." Who can tran- scribe a boy's remarks on such subjects, without a smile ? The chapter was succeeded by prayers, and at half past nine the boys returned to their tasks till half past twelve. From half past two till five was the time of afternoon school. The rest of the day the boys had to themselves ; but it was fully occupied in the case of the majority, by the necessary preparation for the morrow : " Yet I can always save some time for English, and now that my books have arrived, for French reading." At nine, the boys supped. To improve to the utmost in every branch of study, was evidently the one object which young Tytler at this time set E 50 STUDIOUS HABITS. [CHAP. III. before himself. It was, as he himself long afterwards declared, the turning point of his life ; or rather, it was his year of transition from idleness to hahits of real and conscientious work. He was disappointed with the classical attainments of English scholars; (clearly making a bold induction from, the specimens which Chobham House afforded :) and with Mr. Jerram's highest class in Greek he was at once able to keep pace ; but this required extra study. His Father's par- ticular wish had been that he should acquire the art of writing Latin verse ; and this accomplishment became the great object of his ambition. At first, he felt his deficiency keenly ; but in the course of less than three months, he had acquired sufficient confidence to submit, for the inspection of his Father and of bis tutor, a translation of part of Pope's Messiah, and of Shenstone's tenth Elegy.* " I must con- fess nothing gave me more sincere pleasure than that my dear Father and good Mr. Black were pleased with the verses."f To his Father, on the 16th December, he writes : " I have found time to finish the first, and part of the second book of the Odes of Horace, and in the way of my profession have begun Cicero's Orations. Every leisure hour I devote to English reading. I have been delighted with Lord Teign- mouth's Life of Sir W. Jones, which Shore (who is an obliging clever little fellow) lent me. I have finished Pope's Odyssey, and am now engaged with Goldsmith's England, and Baccu's Essays, both of which I shall finish in a few days ; so you see, my dearest Father, that even here I have time for those pursuits in which I should probably have been engaged had I remained at Edinburgh." . ..." I have had time to read by myself the Medea and Electra of Euripides, and am now engaged with the Orestes. I never read a more beautiful or more affecting tragedy than the former of these. * To his Mother, 23rd Jan. 1809. t Tu his sister Isabella, February 23, 1809. 1809.] MALADIE DU PAYS. 51 Indeed, I am now half afraid that I shall get too fond of Greek." These tastes in after life never forsook him. Traces of the maladie du pays abound in all Tytler's letters written at this time : hut it must not he supposed that the young absentee had parted with that buoyancy of temper which characterized him throughout life ; or even that the spirit of fun and frolic, which those who knew him will never he able for an instance to disconnect from his memory, was suffering temporary eclipse. He had reached that period of life when a youth of promise begins to give clear evidence of what will he his future predilections. The tastes and pursuits which are to be the ruling passion of his manhood, already find expression in phraseology which often recalls the language of his riper years : but the softness of boyhood yet remains, although unsuspected even by companions; and the sacred sympathies of home, provided they have never been outraged or stifled, are keenly alive to the least appeal. In the first of many letters to his brother Alexander, then at Calcutta, in the Civil Service, he writes : "Chobham, February 7, 1809. "My dearest dearest Brother, " What delightful accounts have you sent us ! For me to attempt to describe my feelings upon this occasion, is almost impossible. I can only say that I do believe I never shall experience in the whole course of my life, an hour like that in which I read the extracts from your dear and excellent letters. Unless a plentiful flood of tears had come to my relief, I should almost have thought that my heart itself would have burst. How tantalizing is it to me that I must now be contented only with extracts from the letters you have sent us ! My dear Mother will not permit one of them to be out of her sight. ... It is indeed a proud thought for my dearest Father to think that you have solely by your own 52 TYTLER TO HIS BROTHER IN INDIA. [CHAP. III. abilities and exertions procured yourself a situation which I hope, my dearest Sandy, will enable you so much the sooner to return to all that are nearest to your heart. ... I can scarce believe that the same with whom I used to be paddling in the burn at Woodhouselee is now discoursing in three different languages before a Court of Law." "But there is not an atom in your kind heart changed : and although riding in your splendid palanquin by the banks of the Ganges, you and I are still making our fishing expeditions to Glencorse, or climbing the Black hill, or building our kills at the poney's park, or in the shed at the stable, where you are correcting my clumsy attempts at mechanism. Every scene is in my mind as vivid and entire as yes- terday." * " What I feel most of all," (he writes to the same brother in India,) " is some one to practise my jokes upon. Our family wit, you know my dear Sandy, is so totally different from anything that goes in the world by this name, that the attempting any of our Woodhouselee jokes would, I have no doubt, be an immediate apprehension for lunacy. Whenever I feel any of my jokes at my tongue's end, I im- mediately suppress them ; and am in this manner laying up a store for the dear fire-side. You, my dear Sandy, will it is true, need a much larger bag than I shall ; but never fear, my dear fellow ! ... In eight or ten years I behold you re- turning with a moderate gentlemanly income to join our family circle round our canty fireside." f Tytler, as I said just now, had grown neither unhappy nor unentertaining. In one of his letters, after enlarging on the superabundance of animal spirits with which he found himself endowed, he adds, " I treated the school the other night, with a song, (' Last week I took a wife;') which was * To hit brother Alexander, 29th June, 1809. t To his brother Alexander, Feb. 7th, 1809. .1809.] THE HOLIDAYS. 53 relished extremely by tbe saints, who however prefer *LoVe in ber eyes/ " His favourite companion was bis cousin William Grant, a youth "blessed with an intolerable flow of spirits, and by no menus addicted, like some around me, to be over or acrimoniously religious." Such allusions to the religious tone of the society among which he found himself at Obobham, abound in his letters. " Who do you think dined with us the other day ? Kit Idle! whom you will recollect to have been in Edinburgh about three years ago, and often at our house. It seems he has got himself ferreted in among the saints, and has brought his son, (a little chattering, idle, but good-natured ape of fourteen,) to our seminary." * "I feel most happy indeed that my dear Mr. Black has had such a liberal offer for Tasso;f he amply deserves it. All my little puffing shall, I assure you, never be wanting: and if I am introduced into the society of the saints, I will use all my little in- fluence among tbem."J The Easter holidays were spent in London, and Tytler repaired to the house of his kinsman full of magnanimous resolutions. The General sent word to Lord Woodhouselee that his son was 'going on very well and studying very hard.' The first clause Tytler confirmed; substituting 'delightfully' for 'very well': "but as for the latter, I think I may scrape out the very as well as the hard. In- deed I try to study some hours every day ; but London was not made for studying" He soon after addressed his Father as follows from the house of a friend who was living in Buckingham Street, Strand. "We are not twenty yards from the river, of which we have a noble view from the bal- cony. The busy scenes which are going on upon the river, To hit Mother, Jan. 23, 1809. f Mr. Murray gave 500 for the copyright of the first edition. Tu Jui Aunt, March 7, 1809. BUCKINGHAM STREET, STRAND. [CHAP. HI. the innumerable boats of all dimensions -which are gliding backwards and forwards on its surface, the roaring of the watermen and sailors unloading their cargoes, the noisy games of the children on the banks, with the squeaking sounds of a blind fiddler who has this instant struck up under the window, accompanied by the barking of some ladies' lap-dogs which his strains have awakened, and called to the opposite balcony, form a scene which is to me as unusual as it is delightful. Milton has truly said, ' Towers and cities please us then, And the busy hum of men.' There is no thoroughfare through Buckingham Street, the end of which is blocked up by a perfect morceau of archi- tecture, by Inigo Jones. It is a gateway leading to the side of the Thames, and really a bijou of its kind ; but being built of a mouldering kind of stone, Time has and is daily making melancholy inroads upon its beauties. Two lions support the pillars of the gateway, upon whose tongues and palates he has already made a repast." In the course of the summer, he addressed to his Father the following interesting letter from Chobham. " Chobham, July 28, 1809. " My dearest Father, "No one can congratulate you more sincerely than I do upon the Vacation, which brings with it the full enjoyment of all the delights of Woodhouselee ; nor could you possi- bly have hit upon a subject more interesting or delightful, than the account you have given me of your rural occupa- tions. " Your method of repuerasceratinp with your fishing-rod, drawing-book, magnets, &c., as I before said, delighted me ; but it is your last occupation which I feel particularly inte- rested in, your improving, and methodising, and recom- 1809.] A DEBATING SOCIETY. 55 posing your lectures. I think I before mentioned that all the little time I could spare, I devoted to English reading, and particularly History. I am now reading your 'Elements ' of which you gave me a copy. These have given me such a clear and perspicuous idea, and have so entertained and in- terested me in this most important branch of knowledge, that next to the happiness of being amongst you, I look to the leisure which I shall have at Woodhouselee in the vaca- tions, and the opportunity I shall then have of pui"suing under your eye what is already so delightful. The only thing I regretted in reading the 'Elements,' was that which the nature of the work rendered it impossible for you to attain, and which what you have given us only makes us the more desire : I mean, a more full account. What you are now about, will obviate all this. " I do not think I have ever mentioned a little circum- stance which I think will please you. About a month ago, we took it into our heads to form a society at Chobham ; and being in all ten, we make a pretty respectable appear- ance. As disorder at first frequently prevailed, we thought it would be the best way to preserve decorum to request Mr. Jerram to be our president. This scheme he most readily assented to, and is accordingly seated in the chair every second meeting ; that is, every fortnight. By this means, affairs have really assumed a methodical turn, and we all already feel the advantages of it. A subject is regularly appointed, and the member who is to open the debate ; the other members then deliver their opinion, for the most part in extempore speeches. The president (Mr. Jerram) then winds up the debate by expressing his opinion upon the different speeches, and his own ideas upon the subject. Our last subject was a most interesting one, Whether the Crusades were of more advantage or disadvantage to Europe? This I liked extremely, as you could found your 56 THE DEBATE. [CHAP. IH. arguments upon facts, which are certain and undisputed. In speculative questions, you may show more ingenuity, but will probably gain less solid advantage. Well, Langston opened the debate, in a speech against the Crusades, which was well, but rather feeble. Next, some of the puny mem- bers spoke. Then Grant rose, and with a fluent and co- pious diction, delivered his opinion, for their advantages. Cecil then stood up, and spoke strongly and vehemently against them. And lastly, your own codrel arose, and in a harangue of half an hour, in which he had only the heads of his arguments put pretty fully down upon a sheet of paper, spoke as strongly in favour of them. The first thing considered in this last speech was the state of the different kingdoms in Europe previous to the holy wars; next, the influence of these upon the government, religion, commerce, manners, science, and literature of these kingdoms. I had a copious source for materials in your 'Elements,' and Charles Yth, and only regretted I had not more time to col- lect them. Mr. Jerram then, after (not to be read if there is any company) buttering me, by telling me that I had shown great historical knowledge, and acquired great credit to myself, proceeded to speak against me ; and finally de- clared neutrality. I shall, whenever I can, propose histori- cal questions of this nature. It is impossible, my dearest Father, to describe the delight with which I look forward to September. You say that I cannot feel more than you feel, and I say that it is impossible for you to feel more than I do ; and there the matter rests. I shall be much obliged to Boyd if he will oil the locks and clean the barrel of the General's gun. " In London, nothing will make me happier than to trans- act any commissions for any, or the whole of our dear family. Now, (between you and me,) is there no book, or old, or odd manuscript which you would like ? and if it can be raked 1809.] AN EXCURSION TO WINDSOR. 57 out in London, I'd get it ; or anything else whatever. You may be sure, my dear Father, nothing will make me forget again to search for the etching of the ' Resurrection' of Giuseppe Maria Crespi, or for James's Handel. I congra- tulate you on the return of the goldfinch; and although I condole, yet I should have given my vote for the execution of poor Lion. Believe me, your most affectionate son." One long passage, of unusual interest, addressed to his brother, completes the extracts which I shall give from his correspondence at this period. "Chobham House, 14th August 1809. " My dearest James, "I rejoice that there has at last happened one fact which has varied for a little the uniform tenor of our Chobham life, and given me an opportunity of telling you a little news Early on the morning of Monday, (July 31st,) at the hour of five, our conveyances drove up to the door, being two post-chaises and a gig. We set off dressed superbly, and in the highest spirits. Mr. Jerram and Cecil occupied the gig; Grant, Millar, Langston, Frank Douglass and I, one chaise; and the rest of the younkers, the other. " The road from Chobham to Windsor, which is distant about ten miles from Mr. Jerram's house, was truly beautiful in many places : ' Russet lawns and fallows grey Where the nibbling flocks do stray ; Meadows trim and daisies pied, Shallow brooks and rivers wide.' " The time of the morning conspired to render everything still more beautiful. The sun had but just risen, and was shedding 'askance' his dewy beams on tower and tree. The 58 KING GEORGE III. [CHAP. III. labourers were seen trudging, with their day's provisions slung over their shoulder, to their work. The smoke of the little cottages, rising in slow gyration from the trees in which they were embosomed, brought to mind Milton's beau- tiful description of Corydon and Thyrsis; and the whole scene was so truly delightful, that I could almost have ima- gined I was travelling through Scotland. We passed many very handsome gentlemen's seats, particularly one which was built by Mr. Hastings and now belongs to Lord Folkestone. After having proceeded some time through this pastoral kind of country, and having gained the top of a steep hill, a prospect of the most glorious nature at once broke upon our view. It was totally different from the former. Nature was there in her rude and romantic, here, in her cultivated state. The situation where we were placed commanded a view of a great many of the most beautiful and improved counties. All description is here set at defiance : but as you have seen Richmond, that may give you some idea of it. It is only second to this. Well, so far for our journey. "We arrived at Windsor, safe and sound, about eight; had a most jovial breakfast, and proceeded immediately after to the Chapel, to see the King. After sitting for about half an hour in a room, (a kind of an armoury,) which is fitted up instead of the private chapel, (now under repair,) a door which communicates with the private apartments of the Cas- tle was thrown open ; and his Majesty, accompanied by the Princess Mary, Generals Munster and Gath, proceeded to take their seats in the chapel. The appearance of the King was very interesting. He walked without any support, ex- cept a stick, upon which he seemed to lean a good deal. He appeared almost completely blind ; yet, probably from custom, he proceeded easily to his seat in the chapel, groping his way a little by the stick. He had with him a little spaniel ; and was dressed in a plain blue coat, with the regal 1809.] IN THE CHAPEL ROYAL. 59 star upon his breast, a little slouch hat, and boots. But the most pleasing part of the scene was still to come, I mean his devotion. This was truly kingly. He heard the service with the most solemn attention, frequently raising both his hands, and repeating the responses with a fine deep-toned voice. The Princess Mary is a fine woman, but rather fat. As she went out, she bowed very gracefully to the company; and upon the whole her conduct was satisfactory * As to Eton, my dear James, the rest of the description has taken up so much paper that I shall have left no room for what I wish to say to papa." The period of my friend's residence at Chobham now came to a close. Among his lesser accomplishments, he reckoned a considerable advance in politeness, (which he says he used ' to practise upon a Miss Stanger, sister to Miss Jerram ') ; and he rejoiced in having cured himself of a trick of frowning, and stooping as he sat at table. Mr. Jerram, in a letter to his Father on his return to Wood- houselee, bore high testimony to the virtues of his pupil ; and prophesied for him "no common eminence" in after life. * " His whole mind seemed to be occupied, and he made the responses in a most solemn and audible manner, and in a fine deep tone of voice, lifting up his hands. The whole scene was most interesting. The devotion of the Princess Mary was also very pleasing." To his brother Alexander, 8th Aug. 1809. CO THE RETURN TO WOODIIOUSELEE. [CHAP. IV. CHAPTER IV. (1809 1813.) Youthful ardour and studiousness Self-portraiture His piety ' The "Wood- houselee Masque' Lord Woodhouselee's account of his visit to Carlton House His conversation with the Prince Regent His last illness The closing scene. "ABOUT the middle of September," (writes his sister Ann,) "he returned to us again, a joyful day for all; yet, soon after his arrival, we missed his youngest sister from the room, and found her .weeping. ' What, in tears?' we said, ' and our Peter returned to us again ! and is he not delight- ful ?' ' Oh ! yes, yes,' she answered, ' he is delightful, but he speaks English.' 1 am happy to say that he never entirely got rid of this defect. But there were other changes. He was generally the same mirthful joyous creature as formerly, and the family jokes which had been so long repressed seemed to make his absence appear but as yesterday ; yet, at times, there was a touch of seriousness about him, which we had never observed before, and which marked the change from the careless stage of boyhood, to the responsibilities of a riper age. In his acquirements, my Father was more than satisfied. Each day the bond of companionship seemed to be drawn closer between them, and the only fear now was, that he should study too hard. " But although the mornings were spent in preparation for the various classes he attended in College during the day, the evenings resumed all their former interest, and were frequently still further enlivened by the presence of many of his young friends, who assembled around him on 1810.] YOUTHFUL AMBITION. 61 his return. Three happy years passed swiftly away; then all was changed : my Father was seized with severe illness, he lingered for three months, and on the 5th of January, 1813, he was taken from us." I would not disturb the foregoing narrative, even to dis- connect the last mournful passage from its context : but the last three years of Lord Woodhouselee's life may not be dismissed so briefly. These were his son's ] 9th, 20th, and 21st years, which comprehend a period during which we cannot afford to overlook the indications which his letters and journals supply of the growth of his mind, and the development of his character. Under that point of view, the following to his brother in India, which had been only begun by himself, the continuation being by the lively pen of his sister Jeanie, (now Mrs. Baillie Fraser,) deserves to be quoted. "Prince's Street, Jan. 8th, 1810. " This dear boy is prevented finishing his effusion of delight on his return to us all, by an inflammation in his eyes. It is but trivial however, and by a few days' temper- ance, both in respect of bodily and mental food, he will get rid of it. It was entirely brought on by his reading so much by candle-light. He is of a teazingly anxious temper, and grudges every moment that is not employed in study. This I fancy is a singular complaint to be made of a young man, but Peter carries things rather too far. It would have diverted you the other night, to have heard his conversation with our good John Black on his own character. He con- fesses that reputation is his perfect idol, to which he would sacrifice everything. Mr. Black, in laughing at Peter, con- fessed it was the same way with himself at his age ; but that he now takes things in a more tranquil manner. Honest John is just the same old man as you left him, and is always coming in to make us laugh. . . . 62 MRS. J. B. ERASER TO HER BROTHER. [CIIAP. IV. " Papa is busy at present publishing an Essay on tbe Character and Writings of Petrarch.* It is a beautiful little volume, printed by Ballantine. Papa's translation of the best of Petrarch's sonnets is quite a treasure. By the bye, Sandy, you used to say you were determined to make a book. I assure you, your resolution is not forgotten : and whenever the literature of the family is the topic, there is always some one who reminds papa of Sandy's intention; and it never fails to bring the fondest smile on the dear man's face, as he says, 'Yes, and I hope I shall live to read his book, dear fellow ! I am sure it will be an excellent one.' So you see, Sandy, you must be choosing your sub- ject. It is quite delightful to see the activity of papa's mind. Whatever his pursuit is, he sets about it with a boyish keenness which is quite extraordinary. I'm sure the blessed effects of a spotless life is seen in him. No remorse has he ' for time misspent or talents misapplied,' to embitter his closing years ; and he beholds with delight all his sons treading in his own footsteps. James keeps always talking about marrying, but as yet it is only talking. However he is certainly upon the look out; there's not a girl comes about the house, that he does not study with matrimonial circumspection ; but they always want something or other. This nicety, we are selfish enough to rejoice in, for he would make a sad blank to us." It will be perceived from what has thus come before us, that the transition period in Tytler's life had now fully arrived. It was not the sobering influence of a temporary absence from home which had made him for a short time "I published it in 1810," (writes Lord Woodhouselee, in the MS. Book already quoted at p. 41,) " in a handsome edition, with engravings of Petrarch, Laura, Vaucluse, &c. It has been translated into Italian by Zotti, and pub- shed with great encomiums in an elegant edition of the Poems of Petrarch in 3 volumes, printed at London in 1811." 1810.] SELF-PORTRAITURE. 63 studious ; but a fixed principle had been at last developed, which continued to stimulate him even after the temporary incentive was withdrawn. And now, his application gave his family more uneasiness than his boyish repugnance to study had ever given them annoyance. This lasted on from the autumn, which had been spent at Woodhouselee, through the winter, during which he had attended Lectures on Law and the Classics at Edinburgh College. In the spring of the ensuing year, he writes : " Archy Alison and I have started together, and we have both worked pretty though not very hard, at the Institutes of Heineccius during the winter; for, previous to our beginning the study of the Scotch Law, it is necessary that we should be well and accurately grounded in Roman jurisprudence."* His brother Alexander had evi- dently, in one of his letters written about this time, drawn the most accurate picture he was able of his own inward self; and invited Patrick, in return, to a similar act of bro- therly confidence. There is something singularly amiable in the image thus presented of yearning on the part of the absent one to be among his own kindred again; or, since this might not be, at least to bring them as near to himself as the wit of a loving heart could devise. " My answer," (the other returned), " shall be most voluminous and sin- cere, and you shall be let into all the secrets of my heart, as well (to use an excellent phrase of Jackie Gordon's) as if you had 'gucn thro' every neuk o' me wi' a lighted candle.'" " Woodhouselee, June Uth, 1810. " My dearest Sandie, " I promised to delineate, according to your request, as faithful a picture of myself as possible. I now sit down to fulfil my engagement ; and, without imagining that I am a perfect proficient in self-knowledge, I shall at least attempt * To his brotfxr Alexander, in India, Woodhouselee, April llth, 1810. 64 SELF-PORTRAITURE. [CHAP. IV. to conceal no single trait, favourable or unfavourable, with, which I have been hitherto acquainted." After a few grateful words about the religious training both brothers had received from their parents, he proceeds : " And now Sandie, I'm going to let you into one of my most delightful recreations at Chobham. During the week, from breakfast till supper- time, I was almost continually occupied in my studies ; but every Sunday night, I used to take a little walk alone, for the purpose of thinking of our dear family. I used almost to imagine myself in the middle of our dear circle ; and I thought too, that every Sunday brought me nearer to it. I was likewise very fond of imitating our little home cus- toms : and as our family was accustomed every Sunday evening to drink their absent boys' healths, I used at tea, (for at school we had no wine,) to do the same silently to myself. Such were the little circumstances which during the last half year of my stay in England, joined to my studies, rendered me happy and content. But Sandie, during the first months of my residence there, in spite of all my reasoning and philosophy, I was frequently very sad and melancholy. I'm going to tell a little fact from which you may form some judgment of my disposition. For the first two months, I scarcely believed there was a single letter which I received from home over which I did not shed tears. You see I conceal nothing, however unfavourable to myself: and yet, what will you not say against this weakness ? I shall now mention another flaw in my character, from which very disagreeable consequences have ensued, but which I hope may also, if possible, be attended with the most salu- tary effects. I possess a temper which I believe you will best understand by the Scotch word, worreting ; but this expression is too low for it ... Now, were it only upon great misdeeds that this process takes place, it might I think be attended with the happiest consequences; but the 1810.] SELF-PORTRAITURE. 65 mischief is, I possess a conscience so tender, that it takes the alarm upon occasions comparatively trifling. I have, however, now that I am at home, almost got the better of this way, in little things ; but I sincerely hope that in all matters of consequence it will never leave me. " I now come to give you some idea of my studies. When I first went to England, from having always lived in a literary family, where Mr. Black and papa were continually talking upon learned subjects, as well as having read a few books, I had picked up more general knowledge than is commonly to be found amongst the boys at an English school. This made me in some degree looked up to, and balanced my deficiency in classical knowledge. To this last, I applied tooth and nail ; reading by myself, and often getting up in the winter morn- ings to study by candle-light. At last, I began to under- stand and like Greek, and to make some progress in Latin versification. My vein improved amazingly at Chobham. The study of Virgil and Horace, of Milton and Thompson, was to me truly delightful. I often gave exercises in English verse, and Mr. Jerram was sometimes pleased to express his approbation, and to ask for a copy of them. But I acquired a high relish for another noble branch of literature, and which I am at present pursuing with the greatest pleasure : I mean History. I there read Robertson's admirable History of Charles V., and wrote short notes upon it. Since that, I have been reading Machiavel's History of Florence, Wat- son's Philip II., Gibbon's Decline and Fall, Clarendon's noble work on the Rebellion, Sully's Memoirs, Clarendon's Life, Voltaire's Charles XII., Papa's Elements, Chevalier Ramsay's Life of Turenne, Junius' Letters, the Life of Lord Chatham, and I am now engaged with Hume and Rapin's Acta Regia. What do you think of history, my dear Sandie? To me it seems to be the noblest of all studies. To say that it is entertaining, is its least praise. It is the school of F 66 TYTLER'S PIETY. [CHAP. IV. statesmen and warriors; and the pleasure next to living in the times, and being a witness to the actions of these, is that of reading their life and actions. All this panegyric is to prepare you for another piece of news. I myself am en- gaged just now in an historical essay of considerable length upon the history of the European Moors during their govern- ment in Spain. But I have dwelt long enough, my dearest Sandy, upon myself. You must not however accuse me of egotism. I have fulfilled your own request ; and between brothers, there ought to be no restraint. What do you think of me ? Remember, that in your next letter I expect to hear something concerning your projected book upon Indian Police. I always accustom myself to think that it rests upon us two, my dear boy, to keep up in some measure the literary character of the family." But a more faithful record yet of the inmost self of the writer of the foregoing letter at this period, is contained in a few tattered sheets of paper on which he was in the habit of writing at one time memoranda of his progress in read- ing the Bible, at another, short meditations, and prayers. In responding to his brother's challenge, he touched very slightly upon the subject of religion. How deeply he was all the time imbued with the true spirit of piety, is perhaps best shown by that very circumstance, taken in connection with the singular evidence which has survived the destruction of so many of his papers of what was the habitual complexion of his private thoughts. The prevailing notion, (so to call it,) which pervades the fragmentary memoranda thus alluded to, is the compatibility of true inward devotion to GOD'S service, of a sincere surrender of the heart to GOD, with external cheerfulness, and the highest excellence in any particular secular calling. It is striking to find a youth of popular manners, not yet 19 years of age, thus reason- ing with himself while he stands on the threshold of life. 1810.] HIS INNER LIFE. 67 The world has attractions, to which he is by no means insensible : he is formed to shine in society, and he has free access to the best specimens of it. But a tender conscience takes the alarm ; and he desires to ascertain on what terms he may avail himself of the proffered pleasure : to make up his mind, beforehand, what shall be the aim and purpose of his life. "Thursday Night, Nov. 28th [1810.] " I humbly desire of Thee, 'heavenly FATHER, that since there are many men who, although of the purest and most pious intentions, yet by their over austerity and gloominess are more likely to prevent than propagate the belief of thy Holy Gospel, to enable me, (if it be Thy blessed will,) whilst I retain my faith unshaken, to recommend it to the world by an amiable, cheerful, and engaging behaviour. And thus, whilst I keep my heart and conscience clear from every vicious pursuit, I may yet never despise or forsake that innocent enjoyment which even in this world Thou hast so abundantly provided for those that love Thee. Enable me to show to my companions, to every one with whom I am con- cerned, that true Beligion increases, instead of taking away cheerful enjoyment, by assuring us that we are happy under the approving smile of a most benevolent Father." This prayer of his, as every one who knew him will abundantly attest, was granted literally and to the very full. I am not going to give the reader many more passages of the same description ; but the portrait which I have under- taken to draw would be incomplete if I were to make no al- lusion to such memoranda as these. The following thought is of such frequent recurrence, that it must have been a favourite one with him at this time. It occurs in the midst of a long meditation : " May I often meditate on those great and good charac- ters who have joined the most fervent and rational piety to gg SECRET ASPIRATIONS. [CHAP. IV. a rigorous discharge of their professional duties, and a cultivation of everything that is useful, amiable, and ex- cellent; and may the meditation he a spur to my youthful exertions. And I trust, merciful Father, that through Thy divine assistance I shall succeed ; and that my poor efforts will he accepted." The last passage I shall adduce, expresses the fixed wishes of his heart at a period of life when it is to be thought that such desires are not paramount with most men. It occurs in a meditation bearing date 28th, October, 1810 when he was little more than 19. " May I be enabled now, in the days of my youth, to remember always Thee, my Creator! May I begin that glorious struggle against the passions and vices of our imperfect nature, which, through the blessing of GOD, shall end, if I faint not, in perfect victory. May I resist and trample upon every idea which would for a moment diminish or relax my confidence in GOD, and shew by a cheerful, amiable, and uniform deportment that in true Religion there is perfect comfort ; that her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. Enable me with manly and vigorous perseverance to improve by study, and an increase in useful knowledge, those glorious faculties which Thou hast given me: to discharge my duty amiably and conscientiously to my fellow creatures in that situation in life in which GOD has placed me; and, after an useful, pious life, to resign my soul with serene and joyful hope of a glorious immortality into the hands of Him who bestowed it." No remark shall be offered upon these pious passages, the general tone, even the rhythm of which remind me more of Bishop Wilson than of any other writer. It is presumed also that no apology can be required for their insertion ; inasmuch as to omit them would be to conceal, when there can be no longer any motive for concealment, a very espe- 1810.] THE TVOODHOL T SEIerseverance in labouring with his pen when his health no longer permitted him to remain in the East, I cannot but feel deeply my own unprofitable existence. Altho' cut off at so early an age as 27, he had honourably and ably served his country in many situations of deep responsibility; so that his death is stated by the Chairman of the Company to be ' a public loss.' " MS. Jowrnal. 120 WOODHOUSELEE REVISITED. [CHAP. TT. the boughs of the avenue. And our summer evenings, which were so mild and beautiful ! when my Father used to stroll along the side of the burn reading his Epictetus, and the girls with their rakes and spades set off to dress the cottage-garden ; and we, after our evening task was ended, would play with you at shinty on the green before the door. You will smile at my particularising all this ; but I cannot express to you what exquisite delight it gives me to call up to my mind all these minute pictures; and I sometimes think that if we do our duty here, our reward in Heaven will be a return, in the bosom of our Father and our family, to that perfect happiness which we enjoyed in these our younger years on earth. " I have often, (when Mr. G., who has taken Wooclhouselee, was absent,) taken a solitary ramble through the woods and walks ; and although this gentleman has been exceedingly kind and attentive in preserving every thing exactly in the state we left it in, yet it seemed as if I was walking amid the ghosts of our former pleasures. There was some- thing inexpressibly melancholy in the contrast between the beauty and the verdure of every thing around me, and the withered and forlorn state of the heart that felt no joy in them. Every well known tree was as luxuriant as I had known it in my youth ; the banks as green ; the little burn as clear as ever; the gardens which belonged to my Sisters were blooming with the flowers and roses they had planted when they were children ; the rustic chair in the cypress grove, where my Father used to sit and read, was in the same spot, but vacant and unoccupied ; poor Sandy's seat still remained below the old plane tree, and even a wreath of holly and ivy, which, on the day we left Woodhouselee for ever, one of my Sisters* had placed on the funeral Urn in the cypress-grove, was still there, though quite withered. * It was his sister Jeanie. 1816.] TYTLER IS MADE JUNIOR CROWN COUNSEL. 121 " Then, every thing was so still and silent in the house : the rooms so vacant and desolate, but so full of recollections : the easy chair beside the fire, where my Father used always to sit, the corner in the window where I used to draw, the windows in his bedroom ornamented with his paintings on glass ; and on the panes, those little quotations expressive of his happiness and his gratitude : all these it was impos- sible to see without the most vivid and delightful images of infancy rushing back upon the memory ; and, next moment, leaving the desolate conviction, that the sun that brightened this little world of happiness, had indeed set for ever. I have never ventured to go with my Sisters to Woodhouselee. I think it would be too severe upon them." Through the kindness of Alexander Maconochie, Esq., Lord Meadowbank, then Lord Advocate, Mr. Tytler was ap- pointed King's Counsel in Exchequer, in the course of the summer of the same year, when his standing at the Bar was but of three years' duration. In itself, the appointment was of a very honourable nature, and not unattended by emolument. The office of ' Junior Crown Counsel' was worth about 150/. per annum, and was considered as a good introduction to public business ; so that this may be regarded as my friend's first step in public life. Two circumstances contributed to make the favour peculiarly acceptable to him : the one, that it was altogether unsolicited on his part, (as in truth, to all solicitation he had an invincible repugnance;) the other, that it could be ascribed only to the respect entertained for his Father's memory. "Indeed," (he writes,) " since my Father was taken from us, it is impossible for me to say how often I have felt, in the kindness of his friends, and the warm interest which many have, from their respect and ad- miration for him, paid afterwards to me, how much I owe to the remembrance of his virtues, and the impression left by his upright and honourable character." He felt that, in 122 LORD MEADOWBANK'S FUNERAL. [CHAP. VI. accepting this office, he had given a pledge of future industry and professional excellence ; and he warned himself against what he knew to he his chief temptations. " Let me beware of indolence and a love of pleasure. By indolence, so far as it is dangerous to my character, I do not mean idleness : but that exclusive devotion to literary pursuits, that desire of luxuriously indulging in painting and music, that con- stant perusal of poetry or belles lettres, which unfits the mind for the more dry details and severer avocations of our profession. By pleasure, I do not mean low or vicious indulgences ; for I feel that I have strength to resist them, or perhaps rather to despise them ; but a passionate love of society, a too deep admiration for beauty and grace and elegance, and all that constitutes a fascinating manner in women."* What completed the satisfaction he felt at this appointment, was his surprise at being stopped in the street by his patron, and informed of his good fortune by Lord Meadowbank in person. He alludes pleasantly to the cir- cumstance in the following letter to the Kev. Archibald Alison, which will be found to turn chiefly on the subject of that Memoir of Lord Woodhouselee, already so largely quoted, which Mr. Alison was, at this very time, preparing to produce in a more complete form. "Billhead, August llth, 1816. "My dear Mr. Alison. " I have been very long wishing to congratulate you on * Diary, Aug. 2nd, 1816. Under June 19th, in the following year, I find this entry in my friend's Journal. " I attended to-day poor Lord Meadow- bank's funeral. He was buried at Meadowbank in a little grove beside his favourite daughter Elizabeth. It was a beautiful June day. The woods thro' which the funeral procession moved, were luxuriant: a shower had fallen, and the sun broke out and shone upon the melancholy procession : the air was filled with the fragrance of the young birches, and the birds were in full song above our heads. The contrast between the scene itself, and the sad solemnity that was going on, was very striking. All must have felt it." 1816.] LETTER TO REV. A. ALISON. 123 Archy's promotion, which William and I have so heartily rejoiced in. You are not to attribute this delay to any thing but an invincible dislike to letter writing; for your happiness at Rochsoles was often before my eyes, and I believe my heart leaped nearly as high as any of yours when I first heard of it. William has probably told you in his letter of the kindness of the Lord Advocate to me ; so utterly un- expected and unsolicited on my part, that nothing could exceed my surprise when he himself informed me of my Domination, which he did one evening in Queen Street. I never liked your evening walks amongst the beaux and belles who go paveeing about in their summer colours ; but, somehow, since this occurrence, my mind has mollified amazingly, and I consider it as a very bearable sort of pro- menade. So that you see Archy and I are bom to verify Falstaff's observation, and to have * honour thrust upon us.' All that I pray for is, that it may always, as now, divide itself between us. " And now, I must speak of more serious matter. I am anxious to begin immediately, with the assistance of my sisters, the notes which you wished us to draw up regarding the latter part of my Father's life ; and I write this to entreat you will have the goodness to write down a few queries regarding the particular points you would wish us to direct our attention to, which may serve us as an index from which we may draw the character, or give the description you wish. I am not, at present, quite certain whether you re- quire a general account of my Father's domestic character, and of his manner of spending the day with his family; or a particular description of his literary pursuits during the last four or five years of his life. " My Mother and sisters have read over the second part, and I need hardly say with how much delight. They would not wish a single word to be altered. James also has read 124 A DOMESTIC INTERIOR. [CHAP: VI. it, and is quite of the same opinion. Indeed, I do think nothing cnn exceed the truth, the affection, and the delicacy with which the character is given. Such a character, and so written, must 1 think do good. "We are all much pleased with Billhead. The neighbour- hood is delightful, and in a short space gives us a concen- tration of heauties which we could not have soon found elsewhere. Annie has got a garden and shrubbery, where she is constantly working. Aunt Christy has discovered a little closet, off her bedroom, which exactly holds her and her workbox ; (a fly could not come in without crowding ;) and there she sits, the very model of patient happiness. Jeanie instructs and whips the babes. Isabella makes jam and superintends the household; and Mamma, as usual, keeps trotting about, putting everything in order. In addition to this, we have got old Cecy Low out, who bred us all up from children, and who is a great addition to our society ; besides which, she tells fairy tales to the children, and mends my pantaloons. Another new member of our establishment is a donkey which Isabella rides on. I wish you could see her on its back ! she, whipping it on, and the ass braying as he goes forward in the most horrible manner. Her rides in thia manner before breakfast, alarm the neighbourhood ; and we not un frequently hear other, and more distant asses, reply- ing to their friend for miles round. Ever most affection- ately yours," &c. I must now avail myself of a page of the MS. which my friend's sister has so kindly furnished. " The summer of 1817," she writes, " we spent at a beautiful little villa on the banks of the Esk, and became so fond of that part of the country, that in the following summer we purchased it. The neighbourhood was also to us particularly desirable, as being at that time the residence of so many of our inti- mate friends : Lady Seaforth's family, and also the Henry 1816.] RECREATION. 125 Mackenzies were within a mile of us. My uncle, Colonel Tytler, resided at Roslin Castle, and above all we were only three miles from Woodhouselee. Here, at Mount Esk, we passed several summers ; my brother varying the scene by visits in the autumn to different friends. He was frequently, during the shooting season, at Moniack, with his brother-in- law James Baillie Fraser; or at Ardgowan, with his friend Sir Michael Shaw Stewart ; or at Dunmore, with the Hon. Charles Murray. He was much also at Dunglass, our inti- macy with Sir James Hall's family being of long standing." At this last residence, he evidently visited with equal plea- sure and profit to himself: his books and his gun dividing his attention in the fairest manner. Many are the records of the happy weeks he spent with that delightful family, where he had a singular old library to range through, a fine collection of prints at hand, and where he was surrounded by most noble natural scenery. " Since my dear Father's death," (he writes in November 1820, on returning from a visit to the Halls,) " I look back to few periods of my life of more uninterrupted enjoyment than those four weeks at Dunglass." I find a passage in one of his memorandum-books, writ- ten on his return from one of his excursions to Ardgowan, (in August, 1810,) which lets one very much into his inner life. The loveliness of the scenery by which he had been surrounded, the charming society he had left behind, and the luxurious splendour of the establishment where he had evidently been a most welcome guest, (as indeed I believe he was a welcome guest wherever he went,) had so gratified his taste and dazzled his imagination, that on his return, he felt himself compelled to review the fortnight he had been passing away from home with severe self-scrutiny. It was his great dread lest the tone of his mind should become enervated by frequent exposure to such external influences ; and he was 126 SELF- SCRUTINY. [CHAP. VI. curiously on the watch to discover whether he came hack to the drudgery of daily life with impaired vigour or diminished cheerfulness. He had long since made up his mind that there is scarcely any part of self-government on which a man has need to exercise more constant care than the due regu- lation of his pleasures. A very little watchfulness had con- vinced him that a continued course of amusement, even for so short a period as a week, accustoms the mind to a state of indulgence, and an eager appetite for pleasure, which causes it to return with unwillingness and dissatisfaction to a condition in which perseverance, and pain, and lahour are indispensably required. How true a picture does he draw of that condition, to which an ardent and susceptible tempera- ment, especially in early manhood, is prone ; where " Indo- lence, (the true offspring of Pleasure,) begins to substitute morbid feelings for active duties ; teaches a man to he con- tented with the bare approval, instead of the ardent practice of Virtue ; and persuades him to dream away his hours in a world of his own creation, and peopled by the airy shadows of a sickly fancy, rather than to struggle with the actual vices and to cultivate the real duties, to which his situation in this world most truly exposes him ; and which his charac- ter, as a Christian, most imperiously demands ! " A prac- tice from which he had himself derived the greatest benefit, and which he recommends to others similarly constituted, when thrown into any situation where a course of enjoyment, pleasure, or amusement fills up their time, was, " Every day to steal from the busy circle some one hour of serious and solitary reflection, in which they may refresh their minds with the recollection of their higher duties ; may re- mind themselves that pleasure is not the business of life ; and that from the moment when it infringes upon the due execution of those duties, or diminishes our love to GOD, aud our usefulness to Man, so far from being pursued as in- 1816.] A GOOD MAN'S PRIVATE HABITS. 127 nocent, it is to be avoided as sinful. One hour, or even one half hour of such reflection, will prevent any serious injury from the continuance of pleasure." It is very instructive to discover how strict he was with himself in respect of those social qualities which so endeared him to his friends. " It has always been a custom with me, (and I hope it may always continue so,)" he writes in his note-book, while on a visit to the Alisons at Rochsoles, also in August 1816, "after I have been indulging in gaiety and mirthfulness amongst my intimate friends, and giving full play, (perhaps too wide play sometimes,) to those high animal spirits, and that love of humour and hilarity which is natural to my disposition, to think seriously in private over all that has passed : and to take myself severely to task if I have for a moment in the heat of youthful gaiety, shewn a disregard for the feelings or character of others or forgot that self-respect which is due to myself. And I consider this precaution as very necessary for many reasons. The first and greatest is, that even in hours of utmost gaiety it may never be forgotten that one is in the presence of GOD. This will render one's joy innocent. The next is that one may never cease to remember that the exercise of wit, the pleasure of singing, in short all the joys arising from what we term the fine arts, or the more elegant accomplishments of life, are to be used only as a recreation after the discharge of severer duties. So long, and only so long as they are re- garded in this light, are they innocent. The moment they exceed these limits, they become criminal ; the taste and the capacity for them, a real misfortune, instead of a blessing. Lastly, I have to recollect that there are many talents which amuse myself and give pleasure to others, which ought only to be shewn in the company of most intimate friends. No- thing is so truly contemptible as a professed wit, or estab- lished buffoon." 128 TYTLER AT THE BAR. [CHAP. VI. It must not, however, for a moment be imagined that the delights of society formed the chief object of my friend's re- gard at this period of his life. He had chosen the Law for his profession, and it was his Mother's great ambition that he should distinguish himself at the Bar. He had been for two or three years practising on circuit, and had already grown into notice as a promising counsel in criminal cases. A few of his letters written on circuit, addressed chiefly to his Mother, are lying before me ; but it is only for the general impression they convey of their writer in his forensic capacity, that they are alluded to now. Moreover, it happens that they all but one belong to the year 1817, and present little variety, beyond the difference of fatigue experienced respectively at Inverness and at Perth. What is certain, the writer of those letters was very much in earnest when he wrote them ; and if not enamoured with his profession, at least doing his very best to like it. Nor were the encourage- ments of abundant occupation, and the promise of pro- fessional popularity wanting, either. In May 1817, he re- lates how considerably he had been engaged on the northern circuit ; having been for five days uninterruptedly employed in conducting as counsel for the pannels, a variety of crimi- nal trials, to the number of thirteen : and in the September of the same year, he sent word home that, with the exception of three cases, he had had the whole business for the prisoners at Perth. I suppose somewhat similar details would have been supplied by his whole correspondence from 1814 to 1825, had it been preserved; and it would have been inte- resting to see a little more of one whom his friends knew only as the courteous, refined, and delightful companion, or the thoughtful and retiring student, in the capacity of a Scottish advocate; now cross-examining witnesses, now charging the Jury, now reckoning up how many guineas he had made by ' appeals,' whatever that phrase may happen 1816.] LAW AND LITERATURE. 129 to imply. It is certain however, that, like many other of his most eminent literary countrymen, in his inmost heart Mr. Tyder loved the Law only as it is a hranch of Litera- ture. In other words, I feel persuaded that he never really loved the Law, as a profession, at all. He admired its his- torical aspect, doubtless ; and his humanity must have been deeply interested by the commentary which it affords on so- cial progress, on men and manners. But the excitement of a criminal trial cannot fail to have been uncongenial to one of his temperament; while the engrossing nature of a calling which, from its high intellectual nature, will have the whole of a man's attention and the mind's undivided powers, he must soon have discovered to be incompatible with those literary pursuits to which, from a boy, he had been addicted. " Though he could not be said to neglect his law studies," writes his sister, "they had few attractions for him, compared with his love of Literature and historical research :" and of this, the record which the pages of his Diary incidentally supply as to the nature and extent of his reading at this time, is an abundant confirmation. That rcord, as it dates from the year 1816, may be not unaptly prefaced by a memorandum made on the 1 1 th June of the same year, almost the only memorandum which his Diary supplies of his professional pursuits and avocations: "I have to-day succeeded in a law-suit ; in which, as counsel, for nearly three months I have been attempting to procure aliment for an indigent debtor from an obstinate and un- charitable man who has imprisoned him, and had the cruelty to refuse him the common support which even felons receive in jail: so that the debtor, (and this I think a very pleasing feature in the case,) has actually been for a considerable time maintained by the contributions and charity of his fellow-prisoners. I earnestly trust that I may ever be enabled to employ my time and my faculties K 130 THE INNER LIFE. [CHAP. VI. to the good of my fellow-creatures, as my first object ; and that wherever oppression, or cruelty, or injustice has been manifested, GOD may grant me boldness to condemn and talents to refute it." Let me here state, after an attentive perusal of all his private memoranda from 1816 to 1818, inclusive, that his Diary, during his 25th, 26th, and 27th years, exhibits the reflexion of a mind of which Piety was the prevailing cha- racteristic. His many devout prayers, his many humble approaches to the LORD'S Table, his many secret aspira- tions after holiness, it would be alike uncongenial, and abhorrent to good taste, to do more than allude to thus in passing; but even by the most fastidious, this passing allu- sion to them may be allowed. The other entries, even when not strictly of a religious kind, are all impressed with the same serious character. Indeed, it was a sense of duty, not so much to Man as to GOD, which regulated his whole life ; which prescribed his occupations, and limited and controlled his pleasures. The delightful picture is therein exhibited of a soul at peace with itself, and at peace with GOD ; in love with the beauties of Nature, and charmed with all that is purest and of best report among men ; full of .thankfulness for past mercies, and of resignation under trials; curious to discover the way to Happiness, and ever on the look out to discern the Hand of Love in the commonest incidents of daily life. Lei me in the briefest manner establish what I have been saying by a few extracts of the most miscellaneous character, and which cannot be found either tedious or uninteresting. Full of gratitude was he to that good Providence which, he says, " hath cast my lot in such pleasant places, and given me that competence which is better than wealth ; placing me in the paradise of Agur, between poverty and riches." The following petition, (Feb. 20th, 1818,) shows how piously he cherished his Father's memory: " O Almighty 1816.] MEN OF PLEASURE. 131 Creator, if Thou dost ever permit the spirits of good men to revisit the scenes of their mortal life, and to watch over those who are dear to them, grant that though invisible to my mortal eyes, the spirit of my beloved Father may still be present to protect me with his holy influence. Grant me also the grace of Thy sanctifying Spirit, that I may ever strive by a, pure and holy life not only to glorify Thee, but to add to the happiness of that adored Parent, who loved me so fondly, and whose memory is now dearer to me than the society of any other being in this perishable world." While on circuit at Stirling, in September 1816, he was thrown, apparently for the first time in his life, into the society of what are sometimes called 'good fellows' and ' men of pleasure '; men of fashionable connexions and seductive manners, who enjoy the praise of being excellent companions, and whose profligacy not unfrequently earns for them the pitiful reputation of being ' nobody's enemy but their own.' " I had sometimes thought within myself," (he writes,) " that there surely must be something fascinating in the manners and conversation of such men which repaid them for the sacrifice they made of the pleasures of good- ness, the approval of Heaven, the rewards of conscious in- tegrity, and all the charities which sweeten our existence." But he speedily discovered his mistake ; and his abhorrence of the hideous reality, he expresses with all the eloquence which indignation supplied. Their indecency and profaneness he loathed : their lewd merriment and ribald jests, ungraced by one spark of genuine wit, their common converse, un- redeemed by the smallest amount of real talent, he most un- affectedly abhorred and despised. "It occasioned in my mind," he writes, " an intensity of disgust which I cannot find words to express ; and which, in obedience to the common rules of politeness, I found it difficult to conceal." He had half dreaded the temptation to which the society of such comrades 132 THE SOCIETY OF CHILDREN. [CHAP. VI. might expose him ; " but in truth there is no such temptation in their society ; and to any mind which has been formed in intercourse with gentlemen, which has imbibed anything of the spirit of philosophic or literary acquirement, which has been refined by intercourse with elegant or graceful manners, there is caused by such persons an immediate repulsion which nothing can overcome ; which makes their company a real misfortune, and their absence a positive pleasure." He turned from this degrading picture to the recollections which a visit to Ardgowan, in the following October, supplied, with unmingled satisfaction ; and I can- not forbear transcribing words with which I sympathize so entirely. " In recalling the many days of happiness which I have enjoyed, I am not sure but that (next to my own do- mestic circle) the memory rests with the greatest pleasure on the hours I have spent amongst children. Amongst men and women, we are perpetually meeting with all that overcasts the original excellence of our nature; with ambition, interest, pride, vanity ; with the jarring of contending interests and opinions, the false assumption of knowledge, the doublings of affectation, the tediousness of egotism, or the repinings of disappointment. All these are perpetually elbowing us in our intercourse with men. With children, we see Na- ture in its real colours, and happiness unsullied as yet by an acquaintance with the world. Their little life is like the fountain which springs pure and sparkling into the light, and reflects for a while the sunshine and loveliness of Heaven on its bosom. Their absence of all affectation, their ignorance of the arts of the world, their free expression of opinion, their ingenuous confidence, their undissembled love of good- ness and ignorance of vice, the beautiful aptitude with which their minds instantly embrace the doctrine of an over-ruling Providence, and the exquisite simplicity and confidence of their addresses to the Father in Heaven ; that unforced 1816.] KEEPING A JOURNAL. 133 cheerfulness, that ' sunshine of the hreast,' which is only clouded by ' the tear forgot as soon as shed ;' all this is to be found in the character of children, and of children only." The practice of keeping a journal, which he had begun to adopt at the time of his Father's death, my friend adbered to till the latter part of 1818. From that time forward, his practice seems to have varied. His journal, in fact, had originally been a kind of common-place book, a receptacle for his thoughts, and for such general memoranda as he specially desired to preserve. Like most thoughtful men, however, with a real work before them, he found tbe system grow tedious at the end of a few years, and he seems to have felt less and less disposed thus to hold parley with himself. The habit of soliloquy had in the meantime, doubtless, achieved its purpose. His character was now formed, his opinion fixed, his part in life deliberately taken. Hence- forth, except on extraordinary occasions, the very briefest Diary is the only record he ever preserved of his pursuits and occupations. This will explain why so many passages of a private and personal nature are to be met with at the present period of his life ; but which will become hereafter of most rare occurrence. It may be the chief reason moreover why he will seem to disappear from these pages, in his legal capacity, long before he had actually withdrawn from the Bar, or even ceased to regard it as the real business of his life. He continued till long after the year 1818 in the full tide of that stream on which he had embarked in the year 1813 : and yet, the following record of his reading, when he had been three years a barrister, shows plainly enough which way his tastes inclined him, and what were the subjects which were really engrossing his inmost thoughts. In March and April 1816, he relates that he read " Co- rinne. Boileau, nearly all his works. He is in some parts of his writings quite as admirable as Pope. De lAllemagne. 134 A BARRISTER'S [CHAP. vi. Currie's Life of Burns, an excellent piece of biography. All Shakspeare, except five plays. Article on the Fine Arts in the supplement to Encyclopaedia, by a Mr. Hazlitt: an article full of erroneous principles, bad taste, and obstinate prejudice ; but written evidently by a man of talent, and interspersed with some fine passages." In May and June, he read " Symmonds' Life of Milton. Godwin's Life of Chaucer. Todd's Life of Spenser. Wilberforce's View of Christianity, an excellent work. Howe's Meditations, for the second time. Carter's Epictetus. Southey's Kehama, Thalaba, and Madoc. Kogers' Columbus, some noble pas- sages in it; also his lesser poems." In July, " Atala and Rent by Chateaubriand: some very fine thoughts, and beautiful descriptions of scenery ; but a monstrous propor- tion of verbiage. Lay of the Last Minstrel. Leyden's Scenes of Infancy." In August, " Beattie's Minstrel, an exquisite poem, every line of which is now, by frequent reading, familiar to me. Locke's Essay on the Human Understanding, full of sagacious remark, sound judgment, and good writing. Johnson's London, and Vanity of Human Wishes, both fine poems ; but his most beautiful verses are those on Dr. Levett's death. They are perfect poetry in expression, sentiment, and simplicity. Read the two volumes of Quarrels of Authors : better written, I think, than his other works; entertaining and superficial." From August to October in the same year, (1816,) he is found to have read " Sir M. Kale's Advice to his grand- children. Life of Sir T. More. The counsels of a Father by Sir M. Hale. Gibbon's Memoirs of his own Life. Hints for the education of a young Princess, an admira- ble work, the best I have read of Hannah More's writings; full of much historical information, good sense, and deep and fervent piety. Bacon's Moral and Political Essays, a mine of practical sense, shrewd policy, and profound 1817.] MISCELLANEOUS READING. 135 observation of human character. Read again Beattie's Minstrel, and his lesser poems ; of these, Retirement is a beautiful little piece. Tlte Hermit, and an Elegy on the death of a young lady are also very fine. He is a true poet, full of the love of Nature, and of virtue. Every line of the Minstrel breathes the spirit of benevolence, and his romantic pictures of rural scenery are quite exquisite. Beattie's prose works may crumble into oblivion, but his poetry is eternal. Read Specimens of the English Poets from Lord Surrey to Cowper, 4 vols." " Oct. 31st. Fin- ished, for the third time this year, Howe's Meditations. When I finish this excellent little work, I feel as if I had lost a friend. Would to GOD I could always follow his precepts, and be guided by his example !" " Nov. 6th, 1816. Finished Cowper's Poems, which I have read with great delight. The Task is to me a very charming poem : its morality is so noble, its feeling so truly natural, its philanthropy so uni- versal. But perhaps what endears the Task to us more than anything, are its domestic pictures. In this light, The Winter Evening is one of the finest pieces of poetry in any language." In December, he read "Jeremy Taylor's Art of Holy Living, andMassillon's Petit Careme, a noble manual for princes. Dryden's Absalom and Achitophel, Religio Laid, Annas Mirabilis, and lesser poems." In January and February 1817, " Lord Byron's Poetical works, ' not less than Archangel fallen ! ' Denina's Revo- lutions of Literature. Chalmers' Discourses on the ArgU' menU taken from modern Astronomy against Christianity, a most extraordinary work, combining sublimity and eloquence with the utmost strength and accuracy of argument. It is not calculated for the general run of readers ; but if it does not waken the modern scientific advocates of Infidelity, they will sleep till the sound of the last trumpet. Wrote the Historical and Critical Essay on the Life of Crichton, 13G A BARRISTER'S [CHAP, vi my first work ; March, 1 8 1 7." To this same month of March belongs the record which follows : " Reading Jeremiah. Kale's two vols. of Contemplations. Read Essai sur la Literature Espagnole. What a wonderful fund of Spanish Literature is there, of which I had no conception ! This sum- mer, I must revive my Spanish. Read 1st and 2nd Books of Thomas a Kempis De Imitatione Christi. I intend now to finish the memoir of dear Sandy's Life, and then resume my Feudal Law."" April 13th. Read the Life of Buchanan by Irving. There is much laudable research here, yet a miserable poverty in the sentiments and composition. Bu- chanan was certainly one of the greatest men we have ever seen in Scotland, but there are many dark shades in his character. Et decus et dedecus patrise. April 20th. Read for the second time A Fathers advice to his children, and The account of the Good Steward, by Sir Matthew Hale. I wish I had all this little work by heart. Read on the circuit, and at Aldourie, The Acts of the Apostles. Read Memoirs of Viscount Dundee: an Account of the Massa- cre of Glencoe, (wherein I see King William's own order, signed both at the top and bottom, for that infamous trans- action,) and short memoir of Dundee's officers who went to France and served in the King's service after the battle of Killicrankie. Read Eokely : the Vth Canto is very fine poetry. May. Read Life of Porteus by Hodgson, well written. St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans : read also 1st and 2nd Epistles to the Corinthians : also Epistle to the Galatians.June 20th, 1817 : finished all the Epistles of St. Paul, St. John, St. Peter, St. James and St. Jude. Began the Gospel of St. John. Read Hale's Contemplations, the second part." "July 25th, 1817. Finished the New Testament. Read Ecclesiastes and Howe. August. Finished the Wisdom of Solomon. Continued Gerard's Meditations. Continued 1817.] MISCELLANEOUS READING. 137 writing Craig's Life : revising also the Feudal Law : and writing for the Parliament House. Finished Paradise Lost. The Book of Deuteronomy. September. I have read all Milton's poetical works with great attention, and consummate pleasure. Eeading Book of Joshua. Eead Bernard's Comforts of Old Age. Moore's La/la Rookh, with the exception of the Veiled Prophet. The Fire-wor- shippers is a very nohle poem. Read Jeremy Taylor's Life of our Saviour, Part I., a work, like the other writings of this admirable Divine, full of much matter, ardent and sincere piety, and written with a rich and glowing imagination. October, (Aldourie.) Eead Book of Joshua. Howe's Medi- tations for the fourth time. Eeading Mason on Self- Knowledge. Eead Logan's Philosophy of History. Eead Eacine's Letters to his son, full of much piety and sim- plicity. They afford a fine specimen of the domestic habits and warm affections of this great man. Wrote the Parallel between Milton and Shakspeare. Eead Thoughts on the Manners of the great by Miss Hannah More. This must have been among the first of her works. It has too much the air of a witty defence of Eeligion ; but many things in it are excellent. Eeturned from Aldourie, 12th Nov. 1817. Eead Ecclesiastes and the Book of Proverbs. Eeading Ezekiel. Eead the Life of Mrs. Trimmer." Such a course of reading achieved by a young barrister in active practice, within the space of one year and nine months, is extraordinary. His predilection for poetry at this time was evidently excessive. Biography and the Belles Lettres, generally, seem to have occupied the next place in his regard ; while it is remarkable what a deep undercurrent of religious study was going on the whole time. Howe's Meditations, of which he was so fond, had been a favourite manual with his Father. Two or three pages in my friend's common-place book are devoted to an eloquent panegyric of this, now neg- 138 EARLY LITERARY EFFORTS. [CHAP. VI. lected, little work. But what chiefly attracts attention in the foregoing catalogue of books which he had read, (next, per- haps, to one's surprise at finding that none of the hooks were on Law,) is the intimation that he had already begun to be himself an author. It will be recollected that in June 1810, he informed his brother Alexander that he was " engaged just now on an Historical Essay of considerable length upon the History of the European Moors during their government in Spain ;" and his sister has acquainted us with the probable origin of that youthful endeavour, (for he was but 19,) in her Memoir of his early life.* This Essay, together with the two poetical compositions already described,f will have constituted Mr. Tytler's first serious attempts at authorship. In J815, he made his earliest public appearance as an author ; but it was only as a contributor to another man's book. I allude to certain chapters which he contributed to an anonymous work, entitled, ' Travels in France, during the years 1814-15, comprising a residence at Paris during the stay of the Allied Armies, and at Aix, at the period of the landing of Bonaparte.' The Author of these two inter- esting little volumes J was the present Sir Archibald Alison. In July 1816, Tytler speaks of having finished a Paper ' on Gratitude:' and mentions that he had been drawing up a memoir of his brother Alexander, which in March 1817, he announces his intention to finish. Neither of these pieces seem ever to have appeared. The ' parallel between Milton and Shakspeare,' which he wrote in October 1817, if it was ever printed, will probably be found lying perdu where so many interesting literary productions repose in a state of * See above, pp. 27-8. t ' The Woodhouselee Masque,' and ' The Cypress Wreath.' See above, pp. 69, and 117. t Published at Edinburgh, in small 870. For a sight of them, as well as of several of Mr. Tytler's early works, I am indebted to the courtesy of his friend, David Laing, Esq., of the Signet Library. 1817.] LIVES OF CRICHTON AND CRAIG. 139 suspended animation, namely, in the pages of some for- gotten Review or Magazine. A similar conjecture is all I am able to offer concerning the fate of his ' Feudal Law,' which he was revising in 1817: whether an Essay or a Treatise on the subject is intended, does not appear from anything here or elsewhere stated. But the ' Historical and Critical Essay on the Life of Crichton,' which he wrote in January and February 181 7, was destined to appear in a more important shape, and laid the foundation of Mr. Ty tier's literary celebrity. In the month of April 1818, he relates that he was ' correcting and enlarging Crichton :' in May, he was 'preparing Crichton for publication:' but the work did not make its appearance until the following year. It bore the following title : ' Life of James Crichton of Cluny, commonly called the Admirable Crichton : with an appen- dix of original papers.' * A second edition, ' corrected and enlarged,' appeared in 1823. It was dedicated to the me- mory of Lord Woodhouselee. Both impressions were limited to 500 copies. On completing, in 1817, the Historical and Critical Essay on the Life of Crichton which formed the basis of his Bio- graphy, Mr. Tytler took in hand a Memoir of Sir Thomas Craig of Biccarton, the first section of which appeared in Blackwood's Magazine for January 1818, where it occupies nine pages. This memoir was destined, in 1823, to enjoy an independent existence. Slumbering unsuspected in the pages of many a Magazine, lie the early afforts of many an Author who has afterwards become famous. To Blackwood, at the time of its first ap- pearance in April 1817, Mr. Tytler was a considerable con- * It was published in demy or ordinary 8vo., price 12. 50 copies were on larger paper. I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. William Tait of Edin- burgh, the very intelligent publisher of most of Mr. Tytler's works, for the information supplied respecting them in the present memoir. 140 CONTRIBUTIONS TO BLACKWOOfl. [CHAP. VI. tributor. But his brother-in-law is able to guide me to only two other articles by his pen: viz, 'Remarks on Lacunar Strevelinense, a collection of heads, etched and engraved after the carved \vork which formerly decorated the roof of the King's room in Stirling Castle.' This appeared in November 1817, and occupies five pages. In the number of Blackwood for January 1818 appeared also an address in blank verse, ' To my Dog.' This creature deserves com- memorating on account of the following trait of intelligence, 'which' (says Mr. Hog) 'I give verbatim from my diary.' ' Peter tells a delightful anecdote of Cossack, an Isle of Skye terrier, which belonged originally to his brother at Aldourie. It was amazingly fond of his children : one of which, having fallen on the gravel and hurt itself, began to cry out. Cossack tried in vain to comfort it by leaping upon it and licking its face. Finding all its efforts to pacify the child fruitless, he ran off to a mountain-ash tree, and leaping up pulled a branch of red rowan berries and carried it in his mouth to the child' .... A highly fanciful fragment, under the title of a ' Literary Romance,' which appeared in three successive numbers of the same periodical, (July, August, and September 1817,) is the only other piece of his which, as far as I am aware, was published at this time. But the contributions to Blackwood, I believe, were not continued beyond the first two or three years of the existence of that Magazine. A letter from my friend to the publisher lies before me, in which he animadverts severely on the frequent personal attacks of which it was made the vehicle, and declines, in consequence, to be any further connected with it. The letter is undated ; and I abstain from raking up a subject which is no longer of any importance -whatever. The unremitting application with which Mr. Tytler de- voted himself at this period of his career to Law in public, and to Literature during his private hours, may well have 1818.] EXPEDITION TO NORWAY. 141 told upon his personal appearance, or at least contributed to produce that care-worn expression which his friends re- marked upon at the time, and still remember, but which he was himself inclined to attribute to a different cause. In July 1816 he writes, "My friends often tell me that my brow is already wrinkled and marked with furrows ; and that for so young a man 'tis a shame this should be so. . . . The truth is, altho' I have not yet past the period of youth, I have seen such melancholy vicissitude; felt so much happiness, and experienced so much sorrow ; have been nursed up in scenes of such blessed and tranquil enjoy- ment, and then have been torn from them for ever, by so rude a blast, that it is no wonder the marks of the storm are still seen, and that sometimes I appear careworn and thought- ful." * Whatever it may have been which told most on his person, whether it was excessive mental exertion, or grief, a little expedition which he made in the summer of 1818 into Norway, was a well-advised measure for one of his temperament. Starting from Leith, he sailed for Orkney in July, accompanied by his friend Mr. David Anderson of Moreduu ; and addressed the following letter to his Mother while he was yet at sea. "July 15th 1818. Wednesday morning. " H.M.S. Light-House Yacht, at sea, off Montrose. " So far, my dear Mother, we have made a luxurious and delightful voyage. The weather most favourable. Our company, Mr. Erskine, Mr. Stephenson the civil engineer, who built the Bell-rock light-house, Mr. Deuholme a very worthy citizen and Baillie of Edinburgh, and David Ander- son, all pleasant men. Mr. Stephenson in particular, I find most conversible and communicative. The charming day, and the novelty of the scene, the brilliant views we en- * MS. note-book. 142 THE VOYAGE. [CHAP. VI. joyed along the coast, and the fine sea effects of light and shade, all contributed to make me very grateful and happy. The luxuriousness of their style of living on board is wonder- ful. We dine off plate, and eat French dishes with silver forks. Cleopatra's voyage down the Nile to meet Mark Antony was ajoke to us. David and I remained on deck till 12, to enjoy one of the finest moonlight nights I ever beheld. The reflection of the moon on the waters to the very verge of the horizon, and the dark shapes of the vessels which now and then with their sails full set crossed the line of radiance, formed a picture which I never tired of looking upon. Then we had the deep and gradual silence of night-fall, broken only by the constant and regular flow of the world of waters, and the shrill melancholy cry of the sea-fowl. All these were striking incidents to a landsman. " The heat of the cabin and the constant rush or rather ripple of the water at my ear prevented me from sleeping ; so I rose, and was on deck before three, to see the sun rise. I never saw this at sea before, and I dare not attempt to de- scribe it. The morning was clear and fresh and beautiful, the sea nearly calm ; the different tints which for some time preceded him, and which gradually warmed the cold grey clouds that hung upon the horizon, the little line of bright gold which told of his approaching step, and the intense and irresistible radiance with which he at last rose from the waters, all these things must be seen and felt ; for it would need an angel, writing with one of his own beams, to de- scribe them. " July 16th, J past 1 1 in the morning. At sea. Off Kin- naird's head. Yesterday, we had a smart breeze in the morning which made our little ship cut her way most gal- lantly till one, when the heat became excessive, and it soon after fell calm. We read, shot, sketched and chatted on deck, and the whales continued to give us great amusement, 1818.] ARRIVAL AT BERGEN. 143 showing us their great backs above the water, and spouting the water to the height of thirty feet or more, and with their breathing making a sound like the roaring of an ox, but louder. I read the Baron von Buch's Travels in Nor- way, and found the narrative part very interesting. " July 18th, past 11 in the morning. Off the horse of Copinshaw, in Orkney. All yesterday we made very good way. In the evening, we saw the dark mountains of Caith- ness in the horizon, and crossed the Pentland firth. David and I, after the other gentlemen had retired to bed, sat in the little boat which is hung over the stern, and enjoyed a glorious moonlight night. The dark figures of the sailors on the yards, relieved upon the clear blue sky, were very striking ; and the flute heard from the captain's cabin, when the ship was quiet, and all asleep but the sailors on the watch, added wonderfully to the effect. We soon after crept into our cabins, finding ourselves when we awoke in the morning in sight of Orkney." The friends reached Kirkwall in Orkney on the same evening, and proceeded at the end of a few days to Shet- land. I think I cannot do better than simply give the rest of the letters which Tytler sent home while on this expedi- tion ; for unfortunately, the very journal which he kept in Norway has only been in part preserved. "Bergen, August 7th, Saturday, [1818.] " My dearest Mother. " We arrived here the day before yesterday, after a short passage from Lerwick in Shetland. The voyage we made out in 48 hours, and we are now safe and happy in Bergen ; a very beautiful and singular town, unlike anything I ever saw, and amid a most kind set of people ; but, in their per- sons, dress, and manners, utterly dissimilar from all other nations, as far as we can yet judge. Bergen is charmingly situated : more like the pictures of the Swiss towns than those 144 BERGEN DESCRIBED. [CHAP. VI. of any other country. It is placed at the head of a beautiful bav, which is quite enclosed with mountains ; and the ap- proach to it, by sailing up what is called the Fiord, is exceedingly picturesque. Do you recollect the entrance to Loch Katrine, or the higher part of Loch Ness, near Fort Augustus? That is the kind of scenery which it brought to our mind ; with this difference, that the Fiord is studded with innumerable little Islands which close in upon you as you advance up the Fiord, and give it the appearance of a large inland lake. We take as many sketches, both of the people and of the country, as our time permits us ; and I try to keep a journal. " The hills round Bergen are thrown into very noble forms : their heads peaked and rugged, of cold grey stone, like the hills round the Alt More, but higher. One of the moun- tains immediately behind Bergen is, I should think, upwards of 1000 feet high. These mountains are nearly half way up covered with green fields and rich hay meadows, which are inclosed with hedge-rows and lines of trees, chiefly birch and I think ash, in very luxuriant foliage; and in these meadows we see the neatest farm houses, and here and there fine looking chateaux, all pure white with blue and some- times red tiles, entirely built of wood and in very fantastic and sometimes very picturesque forms, like Chinese temples and Turkish Mosques. The interior of the Town is very curious. It is entirely of wood, painted to preserve it, generally pure white ; the doors nicely painted like marble or mahogany; the windows, in the old English and present French style, open in the middle; and within them, on tables, are the prettiest stone-ware flower-pots, with all sorts of myrtle, roses, and green plants in bloom. I often think how much dear Annie would be delighted with the excessive cleanliness and neatness of the town, and the passion for flowers in their windows which seems to extend from the 1818.] NORWEGIAN MANNERS. 145 lowest to the highest rank In the evenings, so sweet and warm is the weather, we sit in our green arm-chair before our door till after 10, chatting and smoking, which latter accomplishment I must learn in self-defence. David and I go on delightfully as fellow travellers. We shall pro- ceed from this to Christiania, and thence to Drontheim, where we hope to see the Coronation of the King of Norway, Bernadotte." Tn a little note to his sister Ann, he writes, " We walk thro' the streets gazing at everything, and in our turn gazed at by everybody, as if we had dropt from the clouds." The large flower-pots full of roses and myrtles, displayed at every open window, evidently captivated his fancy. " The people are seen sitting sewing or working at the window, and have an air of comfort and elegance which would please you much. They are a kind, open-hearted race, very hand- some, and with an air of freedom and independence in their manner which is liker the English than any other people we have seen. They are very primitive in their hours ; dine at 12, (the fashionables between one and two,) rise very early, breakfast at 7, sup at 5, smoke till 10, and to bed at 11. They seldom see English travelling for pleasure ; and on this account, as well as from the natural goodness of the Norwe- gians, we enjoy consideration." " Tronringhen. Sunday. August 16th, [1818.] " My dearest Mother, " While our coffee is getting ready, I sit down to write a few lines from this wild place, to tell you that we are in our way to Drontheim, in excellent health, acquiring every day from the heat of the sun, which is often great, a browner and more Norwegian looking tint, and enjoying our journey to the utmost. I can give you no description, and had I time could give you no idea, of the magnificent scenery we have passed through ; but I try to keep a short pencil jour- L 146 TRAVELLING IN NORWAY. [CHAP. VI. nal for your satisfaction when we come home. Last night, we travelled by moonlight thro' one of the most suhlime mountain-passes you can conceive. We have every diiferent character of country, from the bleak, and cold grey moun- tains, without a shrub to cover them, to the wooded hills, the most sweet and grassy meadows where the peasants are employed hay-making, and the cultivated corn-fields in which the harvest is now far advanced. We travel slowly, sometimes on horseback, sometimes in boats, along clear smooth fiords or lakes ; and as the weather has been most charming, it is not easy for me to describe how much beauty, health, good spirits, and contentment we have drunk in. We are now upwards of a hundred miles from Bergen, and travel thro' a most interesting and curious country, both as to manners and scenery. The people are kind and honest, but exceeding slow in their movements, and spend more time in examining us, our gun, fishing-rod, compass, and other travelling companions, than in preparing for our journey. We carry our own provisions along with us, for we can depend on finding little or nothing at the Inns or farm-houses. Sometimes, we can have sweet milk and coffee, and now and then young potatoes. I fish now, as much from necessity as pleasure ; and yesterday, our dinner was 9 trouts which I caught with the fly. David is a de- lightful travelling companion, and of course we go on most pleasantly together. On the high cliffs which we see round us, are to be i'ound bears, wolves, and foxes, capercaleys and ptarmigan, with wild ducks in the marshes, and salmon in the rivers in great abundance; but the good people cannot shoot the one, or catch the other, so that we are little the better for them. As for the wilder animals, you need be under no apprehension, for we have not seen even a wild cat, or the print of a bear's paw. They keep a respectful distance and hold their revels on the tops of the highest and most 1818.] NORWEGIAN SCENERY. 117 distant hills. When the peasants kill one, they get a pre- mium, as was once the case with regard to the wolves in England. " We have already seen some very fine waterfalls. Yester- day, at a little wretched village called Staleim, we came, in descending a steep mountain, upon a scene which was very grand, looking up into a valley like Glencoe, but the moun- tains having a more cold and ghastly appearance; one in particular, which appeared literally like the ghost of a mountain, raising its bare white head amid the wooded hills around it, and on the summit of which the peasants told us there was a bear's den. This scene was before us. On the left hand, within 6 or 800 yards of each other, were two magnificent waterfalls, one as high as Foyers, and the other very little less than it. We passed this in the still of the evening, about 9 o'clock; and nothing could be finer than the roar of the waters amidst the deep silence of the night." Had Tytler's journal been preserved, a more interesting account could have been offered of the route pursued by the travellers : as it is, I content myself with the two following extracts from a memorandum-book which my friend kept on the spot. He seems to have left Bergen on the 12th Au- gust, and on the 14th, is found to have reached Drontheim ; having used, in all, for the 59 stages, " 52 different horses. Our party required 5, making 260 different horses in all ; out of which number only 3 horses came down. Most were good ; almost all sure-footed, though clumsy beasts." " We came into Drontheim about four o'clock on the 2Gth August, and found the city in the midst of prepara- tions for the King's entry and coronation. Indeed, we hud felt the effects of the approach of this ceremony on the road, for we had been preceded in the route we took from Lille- hammer to Drontheim by u party of 21 Swedish gentlemen 1-1-8 DRONTHEIM. [CHAP. VI. belonging to the suite of the King, who travelled with 9 servants and sometimes rode off with all the horses. The great street which is terminated by the cathedral-church where the Coronation is to take place, we found laid with boards, which are probably to be carpeted for kingly soles, A triumphal Arch has been raised in another of the princi- pal streets, thro' which he is to make his entry. It is very handsome, built of wooden boards which are entirely covered with short branches of green spruce-fir, woven or sewed into each other. On one side, at the top, is an oval block of white stone or painted wood, with the device, Priscum restituit Nidarosia decus. Nidarosia is, we hear, the old name for Drontheim. On the other, Regis et Populi Delicice. The town when we entered looked to us, who are accustomed to the crowds and bustle of the towns in our own country, very silent and deserted. We went to the best tavern or lodging- house. There is no great hotel, and we found it exceedingly difficult to procure beds, owing to the crowds of Swedes and Norwegians who are expected to be here during the Coro- nation. We have at last got two little rooms, in the largest of which we dine and breakfast. The excessive stillness of the town is wonderful. Bergen seemed dull ; but it was a bee-hive to what we have here. Externally, the cathedral is a very extensive and somewhat irregular building, a mix- ture of the Saxon and Gothic, with domes and pinnacles which seemed to us oriental rather than Gothic. A great part has been burnt down, and only part of the walls left standing. There is some very fine carving, (niches with figures as large as life in them,) at one end : but they have been sadly mutilated. They are carved in a dark grey soft stone, and exhibit much taste, and elegance, both in the figures and in the foliage round the arches and the pillars. " In walking round the cathedral and thro' the church- yard, we were struck with that beautiful custom of planting 1818.] NORWEGIAN BTJRUL-GROUNDS. 149 flowers and shrubs on the graves, which we had partially seen at Bergen, but found were quite frequent here. The graves are kept with a neat grassy turf above them, open to the sun, and the burial-place is generally enclosed with a low wooden railing. It will be best understood by describing one of them, as well as I can recollect it. The grave was that of a young man of 22. It was enclosed by a wooden railing. At the head of the raised grass-plot, which was neatly kept, and covered the grave, was a monument, a broken pillar on which hung an oval blue board with an inscription in gilt letters, containing the name, birth, and dt'iith of the young man. On the grave was placed a pot of daisies and sweet-william, a pot of fine flourishing roses at the top and one at the bottom, with another of geranium, and balm-of-gilead. Round the burial-place were planted willow-trees ; and the green of these, with the rich colours of the flowers, and the little grass seat which was raised at the bead of the grave, gave an air of smiling cheerfulness which was a wonderful contrast to the gloomy damp and ' cold obstruction' of our English burial-vaults. A wreath of twisted heather, which had probably been hung upon the pillar, lay withered on the turf at the top of the grave. The date of the young man's death was 1814 ; so that it seems the pious duty of the friends to renew the flowers, which were quite fresh when we saw them. I have mentioned that these flowers were in pots ; but in walking thro* the rest of the church- yard, we found that it was more frequent to plant the flowers. Lilacs, roses, carnations, willows, and daisies were the most frequent. I recollect that this beautiful custom is alluded to in ' the Recluse of Norway.' As it was a fine clear day when we walked round the cathedral, it is not easy to describe the effect produced by the Bun shining on the flowery graves which surrounded us. On Sunday morning, 150 NORWEGIAN MANNERS. [CHAP. YL I found a new wreath of green spruce- fir intertwined with roses had heen added on the grave. " August 28th. We have supped at Mr. W. Finne's, (to whom we had a letter of introduction,) and dined at Mr. Knutzen's. The evening was spent by the gentlemen whom we met at Mr. F.'s, in conversation, cards, and smoking. One of the Swedish Officers played pretty well on the piano. We met also a Mr. Liddard, an Englishman. About 9 o'clock, there was brought in what we conceived to be supper, sausages, cheese, and liqueurs. This turned out however to be only a damper, for at some little time after we were called to sit down to a regular supper, which was in all points similar to a dinner. The lady of the house filled exactly the place of servant or waiter to the company. During the first part of the entertainment she never sat down, but ran about placing the dishes, removing the plates, and attending to the arrangement of the table. This struck us as very degrading and disagreeable ; but we were happy to find it not a general practice, and that there was nothing of the same female waitership at Mr. Knutzen's table. The landlord, Mr. Finne, was himself scarcely for two minutes on his chair ; but kept running round the table, clapping his guests on the back, and inciting them to drink, which was quite unnecessary, for never were men disposed to ply their bottles more regularly and potently. I sat next a kind good humoured Norwegian officer, who could not speak a word of English ; but with whom, by means of that universal inter- preter, the bottle, I soon got intimately acquainted. He filled my glass and poked his smiling face very near mine. I bowed till we almost touched noses, and drank it off. This simple vocabulary carried us on to the end of the evening. Many toasts were drunk, and healths given, amongst which was our welcome to Drontheim. The party 1818.] MR. KNUTZEN. NORWEGIAN MILITIA. 151 then shook hands, as is the custom in Bergen, and separated for the night. " Next day, we went to see the Regalia in the cathedral, which I thought rather paltry. The sceptre, which is of plain gold, is of the best workmanship, and really handsome. We then, at la o'clock, went with young Mr. Knutzen to dine at his brother's, where we met a very pleasant and really elegant family, and spent a delightful evening, till about 3. Young Mr. Knutzen has been for two years in Scotland, chiefly in Edinburgh, and is intimately acquainted with many of our friends. He is an uncommonly pleasant, well informed, polished young man ; and took us after dinner to his own house, where we found a capital library of English, French, Italian and German books. All the new publications, Beppo, Rob Roy, with the other novels of the same family. Scott's works, and in short an excel- lent collection of English authors ; the sight of which, with the comfort of the library, the lounging easy chairs, elegant books of prints, busts and pictures, cheered and warmed me exceedingly, and reminded me of dear home, of which every thing I see makes me fonder than ever. We dine at Mr. Knutzen 's again to morrow. After dinner, David and I walked out to see the evolutions of a yeomanry corps com- posed of the Drontheim gentlemen, 24 in all, when all present. " They were not however very au fait in their exercise, and we were much struck by the inferior workmanship of their bridles, saddles, bits, stirrup -irons, and whole appa- ratus. There was a bivouac of the regular cavalry, (the militia, they have no standing army,) near the ground where they exercised. This we also examined, and found the horses sorry nags; the men strong built, but unsoldierly looking fellows ; the manufacture of the saddles rude in the extreme, stirrup-irons of white iron like our hobby-horses, 152 KING BERNADOTTE AND PRINCE OSCAR. [CHAP. VI. bridles of the same ; and in short every thing centuries back, in point of invention, and execution, and comfort. " On Tuesday, at about past 6 in the evening, the King and Prince Oscar made their entry into Drontheim. On coming within a few yards of the Triumphal Arch, they got out of their barouche, which was drawn by 8 horses, (4 abreast, and 2 and 2 in front,) and walked slowly through the line of soldiers, bowing to the different authorities, Bishops, Clergy, Magistrates, Burghers, &c., who stood ready to receive them. The huzzas were very faint indeed. Most of the crowd did not join in them ; many kept on their hats ; all, as far as we could judge, seemed indifferent and dis- satisfied. The King and Prince Oscar bowed gracefully. Bernadotte is a dark man, like Lady Hood, with manly elegant manners. Prince Oscar is an uncommonly fine looking young man, very much the Asiatic countenance, dark hair, and mustachios, and sallow complexion, fine thoughtful expression, large black eyes, and good figure. The King wore at the Iev6e a dark blue uniform, light blue ribbon, and three or four orders ; one of them, the order of the Seraphim. On the other side of the Arch, was a rank- aud-file of the young ladies of the best families in Dron- theim, led and commanded by the Countess Trampe, (a large good-looking lady,) all with baskets of flowers, which they scattered before the King and Prince Oscar, singing some congratulatory stanzas which we could not hear on account of the bustle. There was a singular variety of figures, Clergy, Burghers, Knights, Magistrates, police masters, and gentlemen. "In the evening, we supped as usual at kind Mr.Knutzen's, where we again met the Comte de la Gardie. After supper, young Mr. Knutzen requested him to procure us tickets for the King's Ball. This he promised to do, but said that we must first be presented at Court. Accordingly, we found 1818.] TYTLER IS PRESENTED. 153 that with singular kindness young Knutzen had this morn- ing arranged every thing, and were not a little astonished when he came to us after breakfast at 11, and told us we must dress, as we were to be presented at 12. We dressed, and went with Mr. Nicolai Knutzen, who was likewise to be presented at the palace. There was an immense crowd in the room. We were struck by the singular variety of figures and costume, and the odd appearance of the Clergy- The Comte de la Gardie introduced us to the Baron Wadel Jarlsberg, the Marshal, an uncommonly handsome young man, son of the late Danish Ambassador at London. At about past 2, we were introduced by ourselves, when the audience-room had begun to get thinner. " After making our bows, the King turned to David and said Adieu. This is a phrase, as we heard before, which he uses when he intends to enter into conversation. He then, turning to me, asked how long we had been in Drontheim? For three or four days. From whence had we come ? From Bergen, on a tour of pleasure through Norway. Whether we had come by the Doorefiel ? Yes, by the Fulfiel and the Doorefiel, which we had passed on horseback. Have you been at Christiansound ? No, we propose going from this to Christiania. And to Stockholm ? Yes, we shall probably be afterwards at Stockholm. Well gentlemen, we shall have pleasure in seeing you here. Upon which we made our bows and retired. We had hardly reached the court-yard, when a Norwegian officer came after us, and told us the King expected us to dinner at 5 o'clock, at the palace. " We went accordingly, with Governor Count Trampe. On entering the hall, the rich uniforms, the glitter of the dif- ferent orders, the great variety of colours and of counte- nances, formed a very striking scene, more uniformly brilliant than the audience-chamber in the morning, because 154 THE NORWEGIAN COURT. [CHAP. VI. there were fewer figures of the Clergy and civil authorities ; but not so droll and amusing. We sat at the Marshal's, Baron Wadel Jarlsberg's table : none but those of a certain rank and station sitting with the King. We were particu- larly struck with the number of handsome Swedish officers whom we saw at Court. A Count Brahe, (of the oldest noble family in Sweden, and as we were informed a very intimate friend of the King's,) is one of the finest and most distinguished looking men I ever saw, a charming Vandyke head. The King seems to select the best looking Officers in the Court, to wait about his person. The dinner was uncommonly well served, and every thing elegant, nothing quizzable as is generally the case at all public dinners. My next neighbour spoke no French, but next him was an intelligent young man, a Swedish naval officer, (a Count Home as I had been informed the day before, on seeing him in the procession when the King entered;) and with him, both at dinner and after it, I had a good deal of conver- sation. He is, I believe, a nephew of the well known Home. After the company rose from table, they walked about the apartment adjoining that in which they had dined ; and coffee and tea was handed about, to the King and Prince Oscar, (who remained talking to the different nobility,) by gorgeous lacqueys, clothed in blue and silver, with little caps and magnificent plumes of variegated ostrich feathers; and to the other gentlemen, by common waiters. David and I separated in the room. He took coffee, and went to one side, looking about him and amusing himself by observing the company. I went to the other side for the same pur- pose ; and as I reached the door leading from one room into another, Prince Oscar who was walking round came past me. I bowed, expecting that he would walk on ; but he stopped very graciously, and immediately entered into con- versation. Of course, I felt myself not a little fluttered by 1818.] A FEW WORDS WITH PRINCE OSCAR. 155 this unexpected condescension ; and my face, not accus- tomed to find a Prince's countenance in such close quarters, flushed up exceedingly. ' Are you an Englishman ? ' ' No, I am from Scotland. We are both Scotchmen. Although it is the same nation, there is still a difference between the two people.' ' You travel only for your pleasure ? ' ' Yes, Sire, only.' ' Your name ? ' ' My name is Tytler.' ' And that of your friend?" 'Anderson.' 'How long do you remain? Till after the Coronation?' 'Yes, Sire, we ex- pect great things in seeing the Coronation.' Then followed a question, Whether we had been pleased with our stay in Drontheim ; for I remember I replied that we had met Avith great civilities there. ' Ah yes, they are a good kind of people,' was his answer ; upon which he bowed and passed on to another part of the room. The King remained for a long time in conversation with the Bishop of Drontheim ; after which, without entering into conversation with any of the other nobility or dignitaries, he bowed to the company and retired, Prince Oscar following him." 156 THE RETURN TO MOUNT ESK. [CHAP. TIL CHAPTER VII. (18181824.) Tytler's growing passion for letters His lyrics The Bannatyne Club Yeo- manry songs 'The Deserter' Great fire in Edinburgh Campbell Basil Hall. THE travellers finally took their passage to Scotland from Gottenberg. Whether because detained by contrary winds, or for whatever other reason, I suspect that Tytler did not reach Edinburgh till Saturday, 17th October. He seems to have repaired to his beloved Woodhouselee even before rejoining bis family at Mount Esk. " When I return, after months of absence, to this scene of all my former happiness," (he writes in his pocket book,) " it is no wonder that my mind is full of sorrowful recollections ; and although Religion has poured balm upon this sorrow, and Time has softened down the bitterness of those remembrances, still, the sight of nil the well known walks and shades is apt to bring all that is now past, too freshly before the memory." A further extract from what he wrote on this occasion has been already offered at page 79. One short month was spent at Mount Esk, during which he will have recounted his adventures, and braced up his mind for those arduous professional duties which were already becoming so distasteful to him. On the 12th of November, I find that he was " Again returned to town : to the Par- liament House, and all its business and turmoil. The stir and buzz, the crowd and heat and hum of the legal Babel felt more intolerable to me than ever. But it is idle," he adds, " to give way to this love of seclusion when I know it 1818.] REMARKS ON CHARACTER. 157 is impossible for me at present to attain it." Such were his feelings concerning the Law. The fashionable gaieties of the winter season at Edinburgh, wbich immediately followed, though not in the same sense uncongenial to him, became also a constant source of self-reproach. In truth, when the day has been spent in labour, if the night be spent in dissi- pation, every one knows what is the inevitable result ; what must be the effect produced on the moral, the spiritual, the intellectual life. I forbear to enlarge further on the little hint supplied by a mournful entry in my friend's Diary. Could he have followed the bent of his taste consistent with the dictates of prudence and with his sense of duty, I apprehend that he would have already withdrawn from the Scotch metropolis into the retirement of the country, and devoted himself to Literature. And yet, I shall be conveying an utterly incorrect im- pression of the kind of man Tytler was throughout this period of his life, (I mean from about 1815 to 18<55, that s, speaking generally, from the time he was about four-and- twenty to the time he was about four-and-thirty years of age, a period which embraces the whole of his career as a barrister, as well as the first few years of his literary celebrity,) if I leave it to be inferred from anything that has gone before that there was aught in his manner which at all savoured of methodism or strictness, much less of dis- content or unsociability. We all of us lead two lives, one outward, the other inward; and the extracts from Tytler's Diary,..from his letters to his family, and from the little volumes in which he occasionally wrote down the most secret aspirations of his soul, have let the reader to a great extent into the inmost life of my friend. How blameless this was needs not to be told ; nor am I about to insinuate that his manners and conversation were in the slightest 158 TYTLER'S CHEERFULNESS. [CHAP. VII. decree at variance with the convictions of his conscience. But gaiety is constitutional ; and a good conscience is per- haps the very hest source from which gaiety can proceed. My friend's manners were always most winning, his address most engaging. He had moreover the keenest sense of what is humorous or ridiculous ; a large fund of entertaining sto- ries; and was the pleasantest company in the world. Will it excite surprise that, as a young man especially, he should have been painfully conscious that these are perilous gifts ? Hence, proceeded his severe self-scrutiny when he was alone. There was thus no real inconsistency between his inner and his outer self; and yet the one was very sober, sometimes very sad, while the other was for ever diffusing its own habitual cheerfulness on all around him. It must have been evident to others, by all that he said and did, that he was a religious man, although he was not one to bring forward the topic of religion, or even to say serious things at inopportune moments. Nay, he resigned himself willingly to the cur- rent of the society in which he found himself, and would at all periods of his life have been noticed as an uncommonly lively person, and desired as a most agreeable guest. Many an amusing indication of the truth of what I have been saying is supplied by the memorials of his professional and social life which have fallen into my hands ; some of which evidently belong to the present period. Thus, I find a manuscript song called 'The birth of the Robin/ (air, 'A frog it would a-wooing go,') which must have been written in 1815 or 1816, and which exhibits anything but the pic- ture of a morose young barrister. Three stanzas shall suf- fice. It need only be explained that ' Craigie,' ' Pringle,' and he were fellow-students, and had been friends from boy- hood ; the former, a nephew of Lord Craigie, one of. the Senators of the College of Justice, since dead : the latter, of 1816.] THE BIRTH OF THE ROBIN. 159 Yair, one of the Lords of the Treasury in Sir Robert Peel's government.* 1. ' Some legal gentry met one day, Heigh ho, says Craigie; It's a wearisome thing at the bar to stay, To study by night and to starve by day, With never a fee for your wig to pay : This life is wondrous plaguy. 2. ' As oft in my chamber I sit alone, Heigh ho, says Pringle, O'er Dirleton's Doubts I toil and groan With the zeal of the ant but the speed of the drone, Whilst many a weary wail and moan With all my fancies mingle. 3. ' 'Tis the very same thing with me, says Pat, I never a stiver win, sir. But hark ye, I've thought of a cure for that, Will make a man frisky tho' ever so flat, Turn a lawyer thin to a lawyer fat Tho' his bones had cut his skin, sir.' The proposed cure was nothing more recondite than that the friends should form themselves into a 'Round Robin Club,' and proceed to drink punch at Oman's hotel. I find among his papers the rough draft of another humorous song, called ' The Legal Vow,' describing an See the letter which concludes the present Memoir. 160 THE LEGAL VOW. [CHAP. VII. argument, which issued in a conflict, between Love and Reason, ' Two friends of mine who had not met For years ; but chanced my way to roam, And were shown up by little Bet Although I bawled out, " Not at home !"' The paper on which he wrote this, evidently in some interval of active business, is half inscribed with ludicrous verse, and half with prose of anything but a ludicrous character. Let the reader judge: ' Dear Love, said I, you plead your cause Eight well; but as you speak at random, And may be wrong, I crave a pause And take the case ad acisandum' On the opposite side of the paper is written, ' Having brought before your Lordship those various clauses in the will which either regard the destination of the sums in dis- pute, or which tend to throw light upon the intentions of the testator,' I suspect by the way that this document supplies no bad illustration and comment, as it were, on my friend's legal career. He divided his time between Law and polite litera- ture ; and was too fond of the latter seriously to adopt the former as his profession. ' This summer/ he says in the autumn of .1820, 'I have written and made collections on the Law of Entails ; and I have written a Life of Michael Scott.'* Law, by far too jealous to brook the presence of a rival, ultimately forsook him ; and the parting on his side, * MS. note-book. This Life appeared in the 'Edinburgh Magazine and Literary Miscellany :' the first part of it, in June 1820. Enlarged and cor- rected, it forms the second of the ' Lives of Scottish Worthies,' published in 1831. 1823.] LIFE OF SIR THOMAS CRAIG. 161 when at last it came about, was certainly without a pang. But this is to anticipate. Whether any of these jeux d'esj)rit have been ever printed, I am not able to say. Several I suspect have found their way into ephemeral pub- lications, or may have had an independent ephemeral pub- licity ; but no one would have deprecated their resuscitation at this time of day, more heartily than their author. Such were ' the Barrister's Garland,' and ' Defiance to Cupid,' two of his songs which may yet linger in the memory of some of his surviving northern friends. The song which he sung at a public dinner given in honour of the birth-day of the poet Burns, (29th January, 1824,) when he was requested to propose as a toast the memory of five eminent Scottish poets, Allan Kamsay, James Thompson, Home, Ferguson, and M'Neill, has very probably been printed. But I must turn for a moment from my friend's lively lyrics to his graver works in prose. Of his first serious performance, a second edition of which appeared in 1823, mention has been made already. In the summer of the same year he published, ' An account of the Life and Writings of Sir Thomas Craig of Eiccar- ton : including Biographical sketches of the most eminent legal characters since the institution of the Court of Session by James V. till the period of the union of the Crowns.' Mr. Tait, who was again his publisher, informs me that the impression was again limited to 500 copies. It is super- fluous to add that it was remunerative to none of the parties concerned: but the work, though from its antiquarian character it could never become popular, was interesting to members of the legal profession, and by them was favour- ably received. These literary efforts, whatever reputation they may have procured for Mr. Tytler, we're not conducive to his success at the bar. To have showed so decided a predilection for M THE BANNATYNE CLUB. [CHAP. VII. literature caused him to become a marked man, and his legal career was already virtually at an end. The collateral descendant and representative of Sir Thomas Craig was Mr. James Gibson, (since, Sir James Gibson Craig,) who by failure of the direct line, succeeded to the estate of Riccarton, a venerable country seat, about five miles from Edinburgh. This gentleman was at the head of the society of writers to the Signet; and was equally distinguished for his talents, and for his political influence. By the Whigs, he was looked upon as a leading man ; while his honesty of purpose and uprightness of conduct gave him a degree of consideration which made him feared by the Government as much as he was respected by his own party. Mr. Gibson, who was on the most friendly and even intimate terms with Mr. Tytler, and had given him free access to all his family papers, might, and doubtless would, notwith- standing the difference of their political opinions, (for the Tytlers were all Tories,) have promoted his success in his profession : but it was the doctrine of the period, (says my informant,) that a good author must be a bad lawyer; and from this period, he must have clearly seen that the bar could not possibly continue to be his profession. It ought to be mentioned that, in the meantime, (1822,) had been founded the Bannatyne Club, of which Mr. Tytler was one of the original members.* Together with its acknowledged object, which was the publication of rare works of an antiquarian class, it so far combined the con- vivial element, that the members of the Club annually dined together; when a ballad, luxuriously printed in black-letter for the use of the thirty-one members, was produced after dinner and sung by one of their party. The poetical and ' For the Bannatyne and Maitland Clubs, in 1833, Mr. Tytler, jointly with Hog and Mr. Urquhart, edited 'Memoirs of the War carried on in Scot- land and Ireland, 1689-91, by Major-General Hugh Mackay.' 1823.] THE BANNATYNE GARLANDS. 163 convivial talents of the man who had already so highly dis- tinguished himself by his Yeomanry songs, were forthwith put in requisition : and most of the early ' Bannatyne Gar- lands,' (as they were called,) are found to have been from his pen. The first, ' Quhairin the President speaketh,' was written by Sir Walter Scott, (the founder of the Club,*) and sung by James Ballantyne, at the first dinner of the Ban- natynians, March 9tb, 1823. It ends, ' Finis, quoth the Knight of Abbotsford.' ' Number second,' ' brevit be ane learnit Councitlar in the King's chekar,' was, by the same token, Mr. Tytler's; for, 'Finis quod Maister Patrick.' Indeed he gave it to me many years ago as his own, together with three other of his little poetical pamphlets, (which have doubtless now become very scarce,) all printed in the same style, and bearing date respectively 1824, 1826, and 1829. To criticize such performances would be preposterous. They were only meant to produce a little mirth at the con- vivial meetings of a society, whose works, put forth in sober sadness, were certainly sufficiently remote from what is mirthful or entertaining. It is obvious to remark con- cerning them that they must have owed their chief attraction to the charm of the moment, to the witty address and lively manner with which they were delivered, the local and personal allusions with which they abounded, and above all the recommendation of being delightfully sung, and before so agreeable a society, by the amiable and accomplished man who wrote them. And this may be as fitting a place as any for expressing the mingled feelings with which I review the large amount of poetical com- * See Scott's Prose Works, vol. xxi. pp. 199 and 219. Among my friend's papers I found the following note, dated ' Castle Street, 27 May ' : "My dear Peter. Not seeing you last night, I had no opportunity to say that a meeting of the Bannatynian Committee takes place tomorrow at five o'clock for busi- ness: at 4 past five for a haggis. Avis au lecteur. Yours truly, W. SCOTT." 164 TYTLER'S POETRY. [CHAP. vn. positions \vhich my friend has left behind ; by far the most of -which, I have perused with infinite pleasure and admi- ration, not unmingled with many a pang of sorrowful remembrance. He wrote with sufficient facility to enable him to give frequent vent, in his younger days, to his finer and deeper feelings ; but when he had unburdened his heart, and transcribed his little poem with that beauty of penman- ship which was habitual to him, he was content. The purpose with which he wrote had been fully answered ; for no one was ever less inclined to invite public attention to a matter with which he felt that the public had no concern. His poetical genius, however, chiefly inclined him to lyric com- positions ; and I fully agree with his kinsman, Mr. T. Hog, in the belief that had he cultivated this form of writing with more assiduity and care, he would have contributed to his country's treasury of song, many a specimen which the world would not willingly have let die. There is a nation- ality in his poems of this class, a degree of drollery and racy humour, or again a spirit and a pathos, which makes the perusal of them always interesting, and sometimes delightful. But they were written to be sung, to be sung by himself; and indeed he sang most delightfully. Thus again, he wrote for amusement, not for fame. His songs were gene- rally provoked by some whimsical incident, or written for some festive occasion; they allude to persons passed away and to events forgotten. And thus it happens that, as a poet, Mr. Tytler ' had his claims allowed' only by his acquaintance; and but for his contributions to Thomson's ' Select melodies of Scotland,' published in 1824, he might be said to hold his chance of being remembered in this capacity by the same precarious tenure as the orator, the vocalist, and the wit. Mr. Hog remarks that Peter was the only one of his family who was never regularly instructed to play on some musical instrument. His skill in accompanying himself on 1824.] THE YEOMANRY SONGS. 165 the guitar, he owed to a few lessons he received from his cousin Mr. Donald Gregory, or his brother. (These were twin sons of the famous Dr. Gregory; and were so much alike that nobody ever knew the one without knowing the other also.) Two pieces which he used to sing in this manner, were great favourites: one, a serenade beginning ' Wake, wake ! ' the other, a spirited hunting-song written about the year 1824, 'Hark, through the green-wood ringing.' 'I remember' (writes Mr. Hog,) 'being asked by the late Sir Thomas Lauder Dick, who had heard a few detached lines, to repeat this last song; which so delighted him, that he inserted it in his edition of Gilpin's Forest Scenery.' * Allusion has been made to my friend's Yeomanry songs. About this period was formed the troop of the Mid-Lothian Volunteer Yeomanry Cavalry, a corps which numbered among its members many a name as distinguished in the aristocracy of talent as of birth. Of this society, Tytler soon became the most conspicuous member. His delightful manners, his exuberant flow of spirits, his ready wit, ren- dered him a general favourite; while his beautiful songs made him the very soul of the mess. The presence of so many congenial spirits quickly gave the spur to his poetic talent, and provoked many a playful specimen of original composition. Incidents sufficiently diverting supplied ma- terials for these lyrics. When incidents were wanting, (and how could they be wanting to such men entering on such a profession ?) personal allusions supplied all the point which the poet of the troop required. Sergeant Whigham, we learn, enforces a fine of half-a-crown, ' If you 've that day forgot pipe-clay, Or put your belt ajee.' * Edinburgh: Fraser and Co. 1834, 2 vols. post 8vo. vol. ii. p. 294. 166 THE DESERTER. [CHAP. VII. Equally conspicuous is, ' Brave Sergeant Aitcheson with his nate breeches on Drilling the glorious Car'bineers. But the most amusing of his pieces, (eight of which were afterwards privately printed,*) was founded on an adventure which befell himself in the summer of 1823. He had planned a quiet afternoon under the paternal roof of Wood- houselee, with his brother; and with that view, had stolen away from his companions, and the prospect of duty on Portobello sands. But he was quickly missed at head quarters ; his intended line of march anticipated ; and " a corporal's troop, with a led horse, and a mock warrant for seizure, were despatched to apprehend and bring back the deserter. Tytler, the instant he espied the approach of this band, escaped by a back door, and took shelter in the glen above Woodhouselee. He remained there until he thought the danger must be over, and then ventured to return to the house ; but ill had he calculated on the sharpness of the lawyer- soldiers of the Lothian Yeomanry. He was captured at the very threshold by the ambush which awaited his return, deprived of his arms, mounted on the led horse, and carried off in triumph to the military encampment at Mussel- burgh." The entire pantomime so tickled his fancy, that he turned the incident into a song that same evening, and sang it the next day, (to the air of ' The groves of Blarney,') at the mess-table, amid the applause and laughter of his delighted companions. He confessed how ' Private Tytler, forgetting quite, sir,' the heinousness of desertion, and in defiance of ' That truth, the soul of discipline, Most undutifully, in the month of July, Set out for Woodhouse lee to dine.' * Songs of the Edinburgh Troop, Edinburgh, Printed by James Ballantyne and Company, 1825. 12mo. pp. 25. 1824.] THE DESERTER. 167 The enemy's approach and his own retreat to the glen, he graphically described; as well as the exceeding discomfort to which he had been subjected, as he ' shrouded sat beneath the pine.' ' The cold damp ground it wet his rear; And 'Pat would have sold, sir, ere he was an hour older, His prospects for a pot of beer.' Then came the terrible moment, when, * On the swift brook's margent he was seized by the Sergeant, Who strapped the traitor to his saddle seat. What his final fate's to be, I can't relate to thee ; The court-martial will make that matter clear ; But I'm told by Sergeant Scott, that the villain's to be shot, As a warning to every Carabineer. ' Now listen all ye gallant yeomen, Unto the moral of my pen ; Ne'er leave your quarters, lest you catch such tartars As Sergeant Whigham and his men. But let us sing, boys, GOD save the King, boys; And as for him whose spurs are gone, Let us hope that, as it's bruited, his pains maybe commuted To seven years' transportation.' It must be needless to add that ' The Deserter,' became one of the most popular of Tytler's lyrics. But for too many pages we have been losing sight of him in his private and domestic relation. Let me mention that on the 4th September, 1823, his sister Jane was married, by the Rev. Mr. Alison, to her cousin James Baillie Fraser, Esq., the well known traveller in Persia, and author of so many esteemed works; whereupon, she left the family circle in Prince's Street for her husband's seat, Moniack in Inver- nesshire. And now, I avail myself of Miss Ann Fraser 168 DESCRIPTION OF THE GREAT [CHAP. VII. Tytler's MS., a large portion of which has been already presented to the reader, in a preceding chapter. " The principal event in 1824, connected with my subject, was the great fire in Edinburgh. Extracts from an old jour- nal may give some idea of its extent and duration : Thurs- day, 16th Nov. 1824. Last night, about 10 o'clock, a most alarming fire broke out in the High Street, just below Man- ners and Millar's shop. We were all seated quietly working and reading in the drawing room, when Archy Alison rushed in with the intelligence. From the direction of the wind, Peter's first thought was the danger to the Advocates' Li- brary ; and in a few minutes they had left the house, and were immediately joined by Basil and James Hall, Alexan- der Pringle, Jack Stewart, and many others of the young Advocates. " We ladies betook ourselves to the front windows in the upper part of the house, which commands a view of the old Town opposite. The wind was high, and the whole sky seemed illuminated ; the flames darting high into the air at every fresh gust, and the tall picturesque houses at one mo- ment but partially seen, in the next lighted up like castles of flame. Suddenly, one of the maid-servants rushed into the room where we were. ' Oh ! ladies let me in,' she exclaimed, ' to watch my cushen ; ' and throwing up the sash of the window, she stretched herself out, gazing upwards, and was silent for some minutes. Suddenly there was a loud scream, and exclaiming, ' My cushen is up now,' she covered her eyes with her hands : then slowly raising her head again she continued looking fixedly on the lurid sky, and the frag- ments of burning wood thrown high into the air. Poor girl, she was probably contemplating the destruction of many an airy dream ; for 'a cousin' amongst our maid-servants here, is a very suspicious relationship, and generally means a lover. " All forenoon yesterday the alarm and excitement conti- 1824.] FIRE IN EDINBURGH. 169 nued to increase ; for, by the middle of the day, the ancient steeple of the Tron Church was consumed. The scene was tremendous. Suddenly, a house in the Parliament Square was discovered also to be on fire, and the greatest fears were entertained for the safety of Sir William Forbes' Bank, and the Advocates' Library. Peter remained out the whole of last night assisting in removing the books from the Library. We were unable to go to bed at all, but continued walking about the house the whole night, gazing on the increasing flames, and listening to the howling of the wind, which had risen to a tremendous height. We sent the servant repeat- edly out for intelligence, and once during the night he brought us a couple of lines from Peter; and once Alexander Pringle kindly ran down to our house to assure us of his safety. We all clustered around him in our night-caps and wrappers, for we were already half undressed ; but the scene, every moment becoming more alarming, banished all thoughts of sleep. Mr. Pringle told us it was in fact beyond ull imagi- nation grand. " 17th Nov. Peter returned early in the morning; but no sooner had he got into bed, than he was ordered out with the Yeomanry, as the Military had been on duty for 36 hours. We did not see him again till he returned at 5, to dinner. He gave us such an account of the scene as made us sick with terror. Several men have been killed, by the falling in of the houses. Peter himself saw the gable of one of those high houses vibrating in the wind, as if it had been the branch of a tree, for two hours, before it fell in with a tremendous crash.* "Thursday morning, 18th Nov. Thank Heaven, the fire * Hugh Miller, in a recent volume (My Schools and Schoolmasters,) has described this terrible conflagration, of which he was himself an eye-"witness. See pp. 333-5. It is also briefly described in a letter from Sir Walter Scott to Lord Montagu, published in his Life by Lockhart, vol. v. p. 372. 170 THE GREAT FIRE. [CHAP. VII. is completely extinguished. Peter went, according to orders, to the riding school at 2 in the morning, but Colonel Cock- burn ordered him to return and go immediately to bed. The rest of the Troop remained to watch over the furni- ture in the streets. A subscription should be set on foot immediately for the sufferers, before the impression made by such a scene has time to be weakened. " Friday night, 19th Nov. At 4 in the morning, Peter was sent for again by the Solicitor General. The poor people who were working the engines were so completely worn out, it was with difficulty they could be prevailed upon to con- tinue their labours. The Solicitor sent down to Leith, and ordered up the sailors belonging to his brother's ship, and both the Solicitor himself and Peter assisted them in working the engines till 8 in the morning. He told us that at one time he found himself clasped in the arms of one of those sailors, who exclaimed, ' Well done, my hearty ! your name will be in the newspapers tomorrow morning.' Colonel Cockburn said that all along he had done the work of any four of the other men. He was so cool, and his head so clear, his advice was of the greatest use. It was he who suggested that the roof of the Advocates' Library, should be covered with wet blankets. He assisted in having it done, and his efforts in saving the Library proved perfectly suc- cessful. "24th November. Basil Hall, Jack Stewart, and Archy were with us yesterday evening. The fire was still the prin- cipal subject of discussion. Basil Hall told us, that while they were all rushing to and fro in the midst of the flames, his brother James was quietly seated taking sketches of the ruins ; and that eight drawings done on the spot were to be published to day, for the benefit of the sufferers. " This is so characteristic of James, and reminded us of a sketch he had shewn us of Spanish bandits. While travelling 1824.] CAMPBELL, THE SCULPTOR. 171 in the diligence, it was stopped and plundered ; and while the robbers were busy with the other unfortunate sufferers who were sprawling on the ground alongside of him, he employed himself in a hasty sketch of their picturesque appearance. " To day, the models are to be given in for Lord Hope- toun's monument. We are all very anxious for Campbell's success. If he fails, it will be as great a disappointment to Peter as to Campbell, he has taken so deep an interest in it. He has written all the letters for him to the different gentle- men of the committee, and has been constantly beside him while modelling, cheering him, and giving him advice. We have asked Campbell to dine with us, in hopes of drinking his health. 4 o'clock. We have just had the following note sent us by Peter : ' Oman's Hotel. ' Dear Mother, Campbell has been victorious. All has gone right. The horse is chosen. P. F. TYTLER.' " I was dressing when the door bell rang, but I imme- diately heard the shout. How delightful is the voice of joy! I am most truly glad for Campbell's sake and for Peter's, both will be so very happy. The price to be given for the statue is 6.000/. " My brother's young friends were often with us in the evenings, and we saw a great deal of Basil Hall, whose lively and varied powers of conversation made those hours pass most pleasantly. If my brother had been absent on any little expedition or visit, it was Basil's delight to draw him out on the subject, as he seldom returned to us without something to tell, which in his humorous way of relating it was most amusing ; but unfortunately those little anec- dotes have now too much faded from memory to be repeated, while one of Basil's, which had become a sort of family joke, is still fresh in my memory. 172 THE RADICAL. [CHAP. VII. "Travelling in an old fashioned stage-coach, he found himself opposite to a good humoured jolly Dandie Dinmont looking person, with whom he entered into conversation, and found him most intelligent. Dandie, who was a stanch loyalist as well as a stout yeoman, seemed equally pleased with his companion. ' Troth, Sir,' he said, ' I am weel con- tent to meet wi' a discreet civil spoken gentleman wi' whom I can have a rational conversation, for I hae been sairly put out. You see, Sir, a Radical fellow came into the coach. It was the only time I ever saw a Radical : an' he began abusing everything, saying that this was na a kintra fit to live in. And first he abused the King. Sir, I stood that. And then he abused the constitution. Sir, I stood that. And then, he abused the farmers. Well, Sir, I stood it all. But then he took to abusing the yeomanry. Now, Sir, you ken I could na stand that, for I am a yeoman mysel ; so I was under the necessity of being a wee rude like till him. So I seized him by the cuff of the neck : ' Do you see that window, Sir ? Apologeeze, apologeeze this very minute, or I'll just put your head through the window.' Wi' that he apolo- geezed. ' Now, Sir,' I said, ' you '11 gang out o' the coach.' And wi' that, I opened the door, and shot him out intil the road : and that's all I ever saw o' the Radical.' " My brother was so amused with this anecdote, that it was wonderful with what ingenuity he frequently brought round the conversation, so as to induce Basil to relate it if any fresh person was in company." 1823.] WRITING FOR PERIODICALS. 173 CHAPTER VIII. (18231832.) Tytler at Abbotsford His History of Scotland undertaken His marriage^ Letters to his wife Settles in Edinburgh His History begins to appear His literary pursuits, and domestic happiness A visit to London. THE time had arrived when Mr. Tytler was to exemplify what was with him in after years a favourite literary pre- cept : namely, that an author, instead of frittering away his energies on a multitude of subjects of minor interest, should, as soon as practicable, take up some large inquiry, and then make it the business of his literary life to prose- cute that inquiry with exclusive attention ; making his other studies subsidiary to his one great master study, and reading every book with a constant reference to this one ruling object of his ambition. To periodical literature especially he had a rooted dislike. The systematic contribution to such publications he not only thought derogatory to the dignity of an author, but he regarded it as a most injurious practice. It is fatal, he would say, to the habit of sustained investigation; and diminishes the sense of responsibility. It induces carelessness of statement and a slip-shod style of writing. What is worst of all, if a man has a great pursuit before him, the task of writing on any other subject for one of our great periodicals, (he spoke from experience,) entails a degree of labour to which the proposed remunera- tion must be wholly disproportionate, while it carries a man 174 ORIGIN or TYTLER'S [CHAP. vm. into fields of inquiry alike irrelevant and distracting. If a man is without such a great and engrossing subject, he is confirming himself in those desultory habits which my friend discouraged in others as well as avoided himself. From this time forward, he steadily resisted the many applications which were made to him to contribute papers to literary journals. I am aware of only one article in the Quarterly, and another in the Foreign Quarterly Eeview, which were from his pen. The advantage of recognizing one great object of study, to which other pursuits may be made subsidiary, I have since experienced so sensibly, that it is but right to bear testimony to the value of advice which he so often and so affectionately urged upon me. He told me that he had himself received the precept from the late Sir James Mac- kintosh. Tytler's Law studies had unavoidably introduced him to the history of his country under one of its most instructive, if not one of its most attractive aspects. His biographical works had already accustomed him to patient application and research, as well as given him those habits of minute inquiry which are of paramount importance to the historian. He was ripe for some greater effort, as well as inclined by literary ambition and probably by a deepening conviction that at the Bar he could scarcely any longer hope to attain that eminence, which in some department of enterprize he was vet conscious that he had a right to command. An evening at Abbotsford decided what was to become the great business of his literary life. " I forget the exact year in which the occurrence took place," (writes his old friend Mr. Alexander Pringle of Whytbank, in 1854, on being re- quested by Mr. James Tytler to state the circumstances of that memorable visit ;) " but it must have been not long before Sir Walter Scott first published his Tales of a Grand- father. It was in the month of July, soon after the rising of 1823.] HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 175 the Court of Session, when my late valued friend happened to he on a visit here for some days, that we one day rode down to dine at Abbotsford. We met there a small, but very agreeable party. One circumstance which I particularly remember was that your brother then for the first time made the acquaintance of Sir Adam Ferguson, who met him very cordially, and spoke to him of happy days, which at an early period of his life he had spent at Woodhouselee, when your brother was but a child. He enjoyed much Sir Adam's songs and entertaining anecdotes, especially those of his adventures in the Spanish war ; and one song I remember particularly caught his fancy. It was an old Jacobite one, ' Charlie is my darling,' then little known, but which soon became very popular from its being a favourite at Abbots- ford. " While we were riding home at night, (I remember well the place : it was just after we had forded the Tweed at Bordside,) your brother told me that in the course of that evening, Sir Walter Scott had taken him aside, and sug- gested to him the scheme of writing a History of Scotland. Sir Walter stated that some years before, the booksellers had urged him to undertake such a work, and that he had at one time seriously contemplated it. The subject was very congenial to his tastes; and he thought that by inter- spersing the narrative with romantic anecdotes illustrative of the manners of his countrymen, he could render such a work popular. But he soon found, while engaged in preparing his materials, that something more was wanted than a popu- lar romance ; that a right history of Scotland was yet to be written ; but that there were ample materials for it in the national records, in collections of documents, both private and public, and in Scottish authors whose works had be- come rare, or were seldom perused. The research, however, which would be required for bringing to light, arranging 176 SIR WALTER SCOTT. [CHAP. VIII. and digesting these materials, he soon saw would be far more than he had it in his power to give to the subject ; and it would be a work of tedious and patient labour, which must be pursued, not in Scotland only, but amongst the national collections of records in London, and wherever else such documents may have been preserved. But such a labour, his official duties and other avocations would not allow him to bestow upon it. He had therefore ended in a resolution to confine his undertaking to a collection of his- torical anecdotes, for the amusement of the rising genera- tion ; calculated to impress upon their memories the worthy deeds of Scottish heroes, and inspire them with sentiments of nationality. He also mentioned that the article on the Culloden Papers, published in the January number of the Quarterly Eeview for 1816, which I have always considered as one of the most attractive as well as characteristic of all his writings, had been originally conceived in the form of a portion of an introductory Essay to the contemplated histo- rical work, which was now likely to go no further. " He then proposed to your brother to enter on the un- dertaking; and remarked to him that he knew his tastes and favourite pursuits lay so strongly in the line of history, and the history of his native country must have such pecu- liar interest for him, that the labour could not fail to be con- genial to him : that though the requisite researches would consume a great deal of time and thought, he had the ad- vantage of youth on his side, and might live to complete the work, which, if executed under a deep sense of the im- portance of historical truth, would confer a lasting benefit on his country : and he ended with offering all the aid in his power for obtaining access to the repositories of information, as well as advice in pursuing the necessary investigations. " I asked my friend if the suggestion pleased him ? He replied, that the undertaking appeared very formidable; that 1823.] MR. PRINGLE'S LETTER. 177 I knew he had always been fond of historical pursuits; and though he confessed he had frequently cherished an ambi- tion for becoming an historical author, yet it had never entered into his mind to attempt a history of his own coun- try, as he knew too well the difficulties which he would have to encounter, especially those of attaining accuracy, and realising his own conception of what a history of Scotland ought to be ; but that the suggestion coming from such a quarter, as well as the offered assistance, was not to be dis- regarded. You may be sure that I encouraged him to the best of my power ; for though I knew how much it was likely to withdraw his attention from his professional avoca- tions, yet I also knew how much more congenial a pursuit it would prove, and how much more he was likely to attain to excellence, and establish his reputation in this channel. It was therefore with much satisfaction that I soon afterwards learned from him that he had entered seriously on the un- dertaking."* The 'Tales of a Grandfather' were published in 1827 ; and certainly it was neither in the July of 1826 nor of 1825 that Mr. Tytler was a guest at Abbotsford: for Sir Walter Scott spent the summer of 1825 in Ireland. Tytler, in July of the same year, visited the English lakes, in company with Mr. James Hog and Mr. Coventry. The three friends travelled on foot, with their knapsacks on their back, de- lighted with one another, and with the exquisite scenery of Westmoreland. In 1826, Tytler was very differently occu- pied, as will be seen by and by. So alas! was Sir Walter Scott, for it was the year of his commercial difficulties. In short, it must have been in 1823 that the visit to which Mr. Pringle alludes, took place. Writing in that year to Lord Montagu, Sir Walter Scott made the following observa- tions : " We are still but very indifferently provided with * To James Tytler, L'.iq. Tlie letter is dated, Yair 19th Aug. 1854. N 178 SCOTT ON THE HISTORIANS OF HIS [CHAP. VIII. Scotch histories of a general description. Lord Hailes' Annals are the foundation-stone, and an excellent book, though drily written. Pinkerton, in two very unreadable quartos, which yet abound in information, takes up the thread where Hailes drops it. And then you have Bobert- son, down to the Union of the crowns. But I would be- ware of taskwork, which Pinkerton at least must always be, and would every now and then look at the pages of old Pitscottie, where events are told with so much naivete, and even humour, and such individuality as it were, that it places the actors and scenes before the reader. The whole history of James V. and Queen Mary may be read to great advantage in the elegant Latin of Lesly, Bishop of Eoss, and collated with the account which his opponent, Buchanan, in language still more classical, gives of the same eventful reigns. Laing is but a bad guide through the seventeenth century: yet I hardly know where a combined account of these events is to be had, so far as Scotland is con- cerned."* This is enough to show that the subject of a History of Scotland was before Sir Walter's mind, in a very definite shape, in 1823 : and a few pencil memoranda in a Dote-book of my friend prove that he was on a visit of some days to the author of Waverley, at the close of the same year. The circumstantial detail which Mr. Pringle has so graphically recalled, I have no wish to disturb ; but it may be suggested that having been stimulated to enter upon the great undertaking of a History of his native country at a casual summer visit to Abbotsford, Mr. Tytler returned thither to mature his plan, and to invoke further counsel and assistance, later in the same year. A vast undertaking seldom begins to grow at the very instant of its conception. I am inclined to believe that Mr. Tytler did not begin to make collections towards his great work until some time * Lockhart's Life of Scott, vol. v. pp. 273-4. 1823.] COUNTRY. NOTES OF SIR WALTER'S CONVERSATION. 179 after, and that the first moments he can have given to his History were some of the intervals of business which the years 1824-5 supplied; while it is pretty clear that he did not enter on liis task in good earnest till the summer of 1826, in other words, until he had completed his life of Wickliff. The pencil memoranda above alluded to, and which evidently relate to conversations held with Sir Walter, are just of that suggestive kind which it is impossible to read without interest and a kindled fancy ; while their tantalizing brevity and incompleteness renders them almost unfit for publication. And yet, because everything which relates to the author of Waverley is valuable, and because I discern, here and there, in what follows, traces of just such a con- versation as I have already supposed to have passed between the veteran romance writer and the young aspirant after his- torical renown, I will venture to transcribe what I find, and to crave the reader's indulgence if it shall be pronounced unintelligible, after all : " W. S. Monday. 1. Scotland not comparatively a poor country, till exhausted by Bruce and Balliol wars. 2. W. S. hunting on Newark hill, carrying over W. and then S. across the S trick. 3. Hunting all day for the well of the Castle. . . . 5. Attend to the traits marking the intercourse of the two countries. 6. Look into the Welsh historians. 7. Tenure of the porter's house at Selkirk, wax taper. 8. Anecdote of Bruce and the spider. 9. Of Crabbe the poet, and the two Highlanders at breakfast 12. Lady Scott and the rats at Ashiestiel. Saw Philiphaugh, Carterhaugh, Newark, the scene of Tamlane, and spot where the Regent Murray was killed. 13. Secretary Murray drinking tea. Mr. Scott breaking the cup. Sticks to learn with in the office. The hand to guard the head. 14. Mungo Park's cottngM. 15. Sandy Park called Powderloupat. Anecdote of his ]gO NOTES OF SIR WALTER [CHAP. VIII. seizing J. Frank. Black Frank. Sir W. intending to do it himself. " Tuesday. 1 . Story of Maida's foot-marks, and the custom of the Border people tracing animals by this .... 2. Of Southey, W. S., and the visit of a gentleman to dinner. Ponies'" and horses' feet behind. 3. Old woman wanting justice a wee sicee'd 5. Ghost at Howard- Castle. 6. Lady Scott's dog. Ugly beast. It's not a beast, Madam. 7. Praise of Macpherson's map. 8. Variorum Classics. 9. Present at Wat's execution, beheading with a loaded pistol in his pocket. " Wednesday. 1. Anecdote of Charles Scott and the old woman at the Inn at the Falls. Pistols found unloaded. 2. Of Mrs. Siddons laughing, ' never saw so young a head upon such old shoulders.' 3. W. S. reading Shylock and Richard the Illrd. Key found at Hermitage Castle. Lord Soulis and bugle-horn, and old horse-bridle bit. 4. Chil- dren compared W. S. to Mr. Bennet in Pride and Prejudice. Excellent novels. We'll all take some gruel. 5. Anecdotes of the gipsies at the fair, and of the murder by Kennedy a gipsey, and of Kennedy's being taken by Irving, another gipsey, whose father K. had murdered. Kennedy's father had been killed by an Irving. Similarity of the old woman (tall gaunt hag in the cottage) to Meg Merrilies reading her Bible. Found two leaves of the can-itch turned upside down. Sordidness of Shylock admirably put, in mixture of revenge with his avarice."* How well, by the way, do these heads * In the pocket of the same memorandum book, I find a loose memorandum which seems to relate to the same visit: "Anecdotes. About Mungo Park's brother striking the dirk thro' the board. 2. About one of the Laidlaws, factor to a West-India Merchant, and the Macra's, firing his house. 3. About the speech, of Sir W.'s Grandfather to his father, who dined with the descen- dant of the Pringle. Ancestors' blood under his nails. 4. Ancestors' dirk . . . the armoury anecdote of the red deer in the pass. 5. Anecdote of warrior Dallas' lassaing an Indian. 6. Of the trial of an Englishman and Scotchman 1823.] SCOTT'S CONVERSATION. 181 of Sir Walter's conversation illustrate some remarks of Basil Hall, who spent the ensuing Christmas at Abbotslbrd ! " Had I a hundred pens, each of which at the same time should separately write down an anecdote, I could not hope to record one half of those which our host, to use Spencer's expression, 'welled out alway.'" . . . . " It is impossible to touch for an instant on any theme, but straightway he has an anecdote to fit it." ... "At breakfast to-day we had, as usual, some 150 stories. He is, in the matter of anecdote, what Hudibras was in figures of speech, ' His mouth he could not ope, but out there flew a trope."' Basil Hall's journal of a Christmas at Abbotsford is worth the reading. It makes you feel as if you had been there. " Yesterday being Hogmanay," he writes, (Jan. 1, 1825,) "there was a constant succession of Guisards i. e. boys dressed up in fantastic caps, with their shirts over their jackets, and with wooden swords in their hands. These players acted a sort of scene before us, of which the hero was one Goloshin, who gets killed in a ' battle for love,' but is presently brought to life again by a doctor of the party. As may be imagined, the taste of our host is to keep up these old ceremonies."* I extract this passage, because I find in my friend's memo- randum-book, (already quoted,) the little drama itself, as he took it down " from the recitation of four little boys at the gate of Abbotsford." The ' Champion's' boast, ' I fought at the battle of Quebec,' is sufficient to show that the com- position has no claim to antiquity. So much for the origin of Tytler's great work, on which he expended about eighteen of the best years of his life. at Carlisle : two packmen. 7. Of the trial in the Caithness family for Witch- craft and poisoning. 8. Of Axlecleugh and the Druidical place of worship, and Lady 8. 9. Of the tradition in the Laidlaw family, as to throwing the ashes of a calf on a running stream. 10. Of the adder stones. 11 " * Lockhart's Life of Scott, voL v. p. 385, &c. 182 TYTLER'S COURTSHIP. [CHAP. VIII. The first volume appeared in 1828, the last in 1843. At the period of which we are speaking, however, this vast undertaking was but looming in the distance. An incident of far deeper interest interposed between the conception and the first instalment of his History, I mean his marriage with Rachel Elizabeth, second daughter of Thomas Hog. Esq., of Newliston. The younger son of this gentleman, to whom Tytler was always exceedingly attached, recals in affectionate language the first occasion on which he was introduced to his future brother-in-law. " It was in the spring of 1825, at a small party at Sir Alex. Maitland Gibson's who at that time re- sided with his family in No. 129 Prince's Street. There were very few persons there. Mr. Tytler was I think the only stranger present. I was much struck by his appearance. He was singularly gay, and his gaiety was accompanied with an ease which was new to me then, and which I have never seen equalled since. He was dressed in the height of the fashion. What struck me most in his appearance was that he seemed so much older than he really was. He was singularly pale and old looking, a circumstance which I have since at- tributed to his elevated forehead, which even at this time gave him the appearance of premature baldness. Twenty years after the time I now speak of, Mr. Tytler appeared more fresh and young than he did when I first met him. He lost the extreme paleness of his countenance, and became to a certain extent ruddy ; at all events, he acquired a healthy complexion. "About this time, (1824-5,) he became an occasional visitor at our house at Lauriston, and subsequently at Newliston, where we had the pleasure of his society occa- sionally for weeks together. Little happened; but there was affection between all parties, and a more experienced eye might have seen a mutual attachment springing up 1826.] LATJRISTON AND NEWLISTON. 183 between my second sister Rachel and himself. Our evenings were passed most delightfully, for we were old-fashioned people with old-fashioned hours. My Father, with the manners of the French Court half a century preceding the notion of Revolution, living in the country among old woods, whose masses of foliage and venerable width of trunk are, as some one has remarked, the best instructors, my Father, I say, as a gentleman of the old, now very old school, lived a regular life according to the fashion of his early days. At all events, he dined at four, (as he breakfasted at ten,) and the consequence was that we had long and enjoyable evenings. "By me, certainly, those evenings were enjoyed ; and Mr. Tytler had no small share in enhancing the enjoyment ; whether by reading aloud, or by suggesting passages for others to read. Right well do I remember the delight I felt in being first introduced to the exquisite music of Milton and Shakspeare, which formed our standard reading. In after years, we had an amicable controversy on this head : I, standing up for the superior music of Milton's verse ; and he, undertaking to produce equally musical specimens of versification from Shakspeare." If what follows had not been sent me by the lady's brother, I should have hesitated to go on transcribing. " January llth, 1826, was the denouement of P. F. T.'s courtship. I remember being a witness, though at a distance ; and I have often laughed since at the thought that the fire of his love must have been hot indeed; for the day and place both required it. The day was bitterly cold, the coldest in the year, and the climax of a severe frost with which the year was ushered in. The place was by the side of a canal or artificial piece of water at Newliston, which had been frozen over for some time. P. F. T. had not long left the ice on which he had been skating, (by the way, he was a most graceful skater,) and no doubt he was warm enough : but it 184 TYTLER'S COURTSHIP [CHAP. VIII. was, I should think, an ill choson moment for a declaration." So far, Mr. Hog. "For nearly two years before," (writes Miss Tytler,) " we had become aware of his attachment to this beautiful Rachel, for beautiful and accomplished she was; and her pursuits, particularly in music and painting, were most congenial to his own. She was 22 at the time of her marriage ; but she had lived almost constantly in retirement, either in the country at Newliston ; or during the winter months in her Father's house at Lauriston, which went by the name of the Convent. We heard of her constantly, but never saw her till she was engaged to my brother. He himself, after being introduced to her, found it very difficult to penetrate those convent walls; but the old gentleman, after he had recovered from the first shock of seeing a young gentleman frequently calling, on what appeared to him very frivolous pretences, became so fond of my brother, that soon no pre- tence whatever was necessary ; his visits appearing to give equal pleasure to all parties." At the end of a week, he wrote as follows to his sister, Mrs. Baillie Fraser, at Moniack. " Prince's Street, Thursday, 19th [Jan.] 1826. " My dearest Jeauie, " I sit down to write to you on so new a subject, that I scarcely know how to begin; but to you, my own Jeanie, I must write, because I know you and James will deeply feel anything which makes me happy. " I am going to be married ; and the object of my whole little plans and wishes, for the last two years, is under the kind providence of GOD, realized. I find myself in posses- sion of the sweetest, kindest, and most faithful heart that ever dwelt in a human bosom ; and this, united to the purest Jeligious principles, to the most solemn feelings of the sacred 1826.] AND MARRIAGE. 185 duties incumbent on a wife, and to manners which, from being formed entirely under the domestic roof, are wholly free from any mixture of worldliness, or vanity, or display. My dear little girl has never been one night away from home ; and I believe altho' she is twenty-one or twenty-two, three or four balls or parties are nearly the extent of her gaiety. The effect of this is, that she is the most timid and diffident, but I think the most attractive creature I ever saw. With excellent taste and talents, and fine accomplishments, she hardly thinks she can do any thing well. I do not know if I, or any of my sisters ever mentioned to you how long and deeply I have been interested in her ; how often I rode out to meet her in her rides; and the great difficulties I had to overcome, in getting into the Castle at Lauriston, which is exactly like a convent, with high walls and locked doors, and an old Father or Governor, aged 84, in command ; who hates company, and keeps his daughters constantly employed in reading to him. But I must not say a syllable against him, for he has behaved nobly and generously beyond measure ; welcoming me into his family with a disinterestedness which is indeed rarely met with : giving to me his daughter, the richest jewel in his domestic crown, and a portion of . You may believe my dear Jeanie, I thought little of money; for had Rachel not a shilling in the world, my affections were, and for ever would have remained, hers. But it is very pleasing, having allowed my heart to be in its choice wholly unoccupied, (as I always was determined it should be,) with money matters, to find that I shall be quite independent ; that having chosen love, I have inadvertently put my hand upon riches too." On the 30th March, 1826, Tytler was united to his beloved and beautiful Rachel, at Newliston, by his old friend the Rev. Dr. Alison ; whence he conveyed his bride to Mount Esk, the sweet little villa near Lasswade, some 186 LIFE OF WICKLIFF. [CHAP. VIII. five miles south of Edinburgh, of which we have heard already as the residence of his Mother and sisters. Keturning in April to Newliston House, they passed the summer and the autumn months there : but Tytler was forced to repair frequently to Edinburgh, partly to attend to his business in the Exchequer Court, and partly to pursue his historical studies. His request to his wife (May, 1826) to send him "a printed preface to Wickliff" which he had left at New- liston, reminds me that his life of the great Eeformer, published anonymously in this same year, (1826,) was his last literary effort before the appearance of the first volume of his History. It was published by Wm. Whyte and Co. of Edinburgh, and fills a small volume of 207 pages, bearing on the title page,' The Life of John Wickliff, with an Appendix and list of his works.' A more thorough specimen of anti-Eomish sentiment, it would be hard to find. The Popes are designated as " that succession of evil spirits in human shapes, who for many dark ages sat in the chair of St. Peter, as they profanely term the Eoman throne : " and the monasteries, we read, " were filled with herds of luxurious drones, devoted servants of their appetites, who frequented the cellar more than the library of the convent; and dearly loved the flesh-pots of Egypt, but cared little for the wisdom of the Egyptians." Tytler must have been engaged on this biography at the time of his marriage. These occasional visits to the capital of course led to many a letter from Tytler to his wife at Newliston ; some of which have been preserved. Were I to give way to the fastidious inclination to pass all these by in silence, how should I be drawing a true picture of my friend ? Here then follows a portion of one, of the earliest date, May 31 1826. " Many, many thanks, my beloved Eachel, for your dear little note. I was the more grateful, as it came to refresh 1826.] TYTLER TO HIS WIFE. 187 me after a long Exchequer trial, which lasted from 1 1 o'clock till past 5, and fatigued me a good deal ; but a short ride which I have taken on Diomed has made all well again. When I pat him on the neck, and think that he is such a favourite of my dearest Rachel, all her love, and all her kindness comes into my mind; and I bound along, and think how many delightful rides you and I shall still enjoy together. Only, dearest love, get you well and stout ! and we shall soon be prancing thro' our old scenes in the Pent- land hills. " I was rejoiced to hear of your being merry, and singing ' Forget-me-not.' I trust at this moment you are at the piano, playing Winter, or Hummel, or 'With plaintive suit,' as usual, giving pleasure to all but your own fastidious self. Would that I could give you a little more of that happy disposition which prompted a certain advocate at our Bar, to inform his friend, that he had just come from making a speech of two hours, * very much to his own satisfaction.' But I despair of this." The next was written from his Mother's residence, in June. " Mount Esk, Wednesday Evening, past 9. " My dearest love, I rode out here to-day, and write to you in a great hurry, as I have still to ride into Town, and put my note in the post. I was delighted to hear you were so well, and so obedient. Go on, my sweetest girl, taking more and more care of yourself in avoiding all fatigue ; but be as much in the open air, and as happy as possible. Banish these wretched nories, which keep you wakeful ; and sleep as sweetly and soundly as I intend to do this night, in obedience to your commands. " I had forgotten that, for ten days, I have been engaged to the Chief Baron's to dinner, tomorrow ; but I intend to have my good Diomed at his door at 9, and ride out to you 188 TYTLER TO HIS WIFE. [CHAP. VIII. in the cool of the evening. Only think, yesterday I went to the wild beasts, and was much gratified by going into Nero (tbe Lion)'s den, and sitting down upon him. He is BO tame that he allowed me to clap his cheek and twist my hand into the hair of his huge mane. He is the most noble and kingly brute that I ever saw. I must take you to see him. "I have got a beautiful little kitten as a present; which I mean, if you like it, to give to you ; but it is not ready yet to leave its mother. When it grows a cat, and gets stupid, we'll give it as a present to some dear friend. . . . GOD bless you, my best and dearest love !" I hear Tytler say that little bit about the cat. . . . The next was evidently written in July or August. " Exchequer Court, Tuesday, 1 o'clock. " My dearest love, I am sitting here in the Exchequer- Court, with one Baron sound asleep, (the effect of the ther- mometer at 80 ;) the others almost dozing ; and the Chief Baron speaking at great length about half a gallon of whis- key, with an energy that might do honour to or Demosthenes. Seriously, nothing can be more trifling or uninteresting ; yet, here must I sit and wait till it is con- cluded. " So far had I written, when the case broke up, and allowed me to come hither (Lauriston) How I envied you to day the cool shady walks under our favourite evergreens, when my unhappy frame was sinking from the proximity to a thousand writers and writers' clerks, or broiling in Prince's Street, where the pavement absolutely bakes the soles of your feet, till they become like barley scones, if I may be per- mitted the expression. But the contrast will only make Newliston more delightful to me ; altho' I need little to make me entirely love the spot where your infancy, my best 1826.] TYTLER SETTLES IN EDINBURGH. 189 beloved, was passed ; to which my heart turns, as the home of the clearest of all objects ; and the trees and fields of which are becoming personal friends to me. " Write a single line to tell me that you continue well ; but do not fatigue or tire yourself. Remember, my dearest of all girls, that on the care you take of yourself, my whole happiness hangs. Forgive this wretched and hurried scrawl, but true love is to be measured neither by wire-wove papei nor well turned sentences. Farewell, my dearest love ! " My friend had in the meantime purchased a house in Edinburgh, (30 Melville Street,) and he was now busy fur- nishing it, with the intention of establishing himself in the metropolis before the winter. He was also actively occupied with the preparation of the first volume of his great work. Writing to his Mother from Newliston in the mouth of August, he gives an interesting picture of his method and resources: " I ara going on finely with my Scottish History. I have got all my books round me, and a nice little room for a study. I take a shower-bath in the morning, and ride or wulk every day. Yesterday, I rode with James to Linlithgow, B an old library left to the Magistrates of that town for the use of themselves and the county, by the late historian of Britain, Dr. Henry. I found it much neglected, altho* full of many curious and valuable volumes, much in my own way. The subscription was a trifle ; so Jamie and I have become subscribers, and a man (and horse) with a large basket is now on his road from Linlithgow, (he has this moment arrived,) with a load of old English historians, which have not been disturbed, I daresay, since the death of the worthy doctor himself. So you see, I am going on in my old way ; and no place can be imagined more admirably fitted for study than this. The quietness and seclusion of the woods, and the complete retirement in which we live, 190 CIIIEFSWOOD. [CHAP. Till. leave you no excuse for idleness, and I hope to do a great deal before we leave it." * Tytler's Mother, when she received this letter, was staying at Chiefswood near Melrose, a cottage which had been the habitual residence of Mr. and Mrs. Lockhart ; and being within a walk of Abbotsford, used to be Scott's favourite house of call. In his Diary at this very time, (August 6th, 1826,) he writes, "Walked to Chiefswood, and saw old Mrs. Tytler, a friend when life was young. Her husband, Lord Woodhouselee, was a kind, amiable, and accomplished man ; and when we lived at Lasswade Cottage, soon after my marriage, we saw a great deal of the family, who were very kind to us as newly entered on the world. How many early stories did the old lady's presence recall ! She might almost be my mother ; yet there we sat, like two people of another generation, talking of things and people the rest knew nothing of. When a certain period of life is over, the differ- ence of years, even when considerable, becomes of much less consequence." f Before the end of November 1826, my friend and his wife had established themselves in their new home, 36 Melville Street. " I have the most pleasing recollection of his study," writes his brother-in-law, " where the greatest part of his History was composed. Most of the Edinburgh houses are constructed on one plan. On the ground-floor there is com- monly a dining-room in front, lobby, butler's pantry, &o. and behind, a handsome square room, reserved as occasion may serve for business, a sleeping-room, or otherwise. This room it was which P. F. T. made his study. It was fitted up with glazed book-cases, a few choice prints, a bit of sculpture, and one or two pieces of china and antiquity. His library table was always covered with choice and favourite books for daily use arranged in rows, not lying confusedly but ready * T U AM Mother, 9th Aug. 1826. f Life of Scott, vol. vi. p. 335. 1826.] TYTLER'S STUDY. 191 for consultation. The prints (which by the way were especial favourites) were 'The Satin Gown' of Wills, Hogarth's famous and rare print of the family of Sir Thomas More, the St. Agnes of Domenichino by Strange, (the chef d'ceuvre of that engraver,) and the Aurora of Guido. The pieces of statuary were one or two of Campbell's earlier models, some designs for the Hopetoun monument, and two little cupids, now nearly forgotten. A vase or two in imitation of china, painted by my sister Rachel, a small bronze or two, a frag- ment of armour, such were the ornaments of his study in those days. I should add that there were invariably on his chimney-piece two small panels of oak, on one of which were painted the Tytler arms ; on the other, a first attempt in oils of Campbell the sculptor, a portrait I think of him- self, taken when very young. While describing the furniture of his study, I must not forget the standing desk. P. F. T. almost invariably wrote standing, surrounded by his authori- ties, and attired in a robe de chambre. It was pleasant to be in the room with him, and to witness the enthusiasm with which he flitted from one book to another." I venture to add a few extracts from two letters written on two successive days in the September of the following year, (1827,) to his wife who was visiting at Smeaion, the resi- dence of Sir John Hepburn. They are both dated from Melville Street. " My dearest love, Another note from your solitary bird ! Indeed I am very solitary, and wish very much I was once more back again ; for, from some cause or other, my Uncle and William have never arrived, and I begin to fear that he or some of them are ill. ... On going up to my dressing-room before dinner, my eyes rested on the little old brown trunk which contains your early letters, when you were a little little dear creature, running about and stuffing your small body 192 TYTLER TO HIS TYIFE. [CHAP. VIIL thro' windows in rabbit-bouses. It bas a strong string round it, and I have the greatest inclination to rummage thro' it, and read everything ; but I do not know whether if you were beside me you would permit it, and this feeling makes me hesitate. By the bye, who should I meet all of a sudden in the street today, but M with her aunt and the Graces. M smiling, and looking very kind and good humoured, and asking all about my dear Rachel; and the Graces modestly retiring behind the skirts of their Aunt's petticoats, so that I only saw the head of one of them. What an at- tractive thing modesty is, after all ! Today, Mungo Brown took me to the elder's seat, where I sat under Mr. Knott (the Precentor )'s nose, and was dreadfully annoyed by his portentous puffing and blowing out the Psalm tunes. What more can I say to my own beloved Rachel, except the old tale with which I am ever tiring her? Care, care, care of her- self. Oh, if she knew how I love her, and how the smallest threatening of illness, or suffering of pain by her, hurts me, she would never risk anything." * " My dearest love, I got your sweet letter, my kind dear Rachel, full of pleasant news. Chattie's coming is delight- ful. What a nice party we shall make up, you and I. and the merry little he, and Johnny, With a row, dow, dow, &c. " I fear that it will be impossible for me to leave town till G on Tuesday morning, which will bring us to Smeaton to breakfast at 10. So beg Sir John not to eat up every thing at table ; and if he is in the way of doing it, then, my darling love, show me a substantial proof of your affection by putting a roll in your pocket ! But setting nonsense aside, my beloved Rachel, I grudge every hour I am absent from you. I feel as if a part of myself was cut away. In * To kw wife, 23rd Sept. 1827. 1827.] BIRTH OF HTS FIRST CHILD. 1J13 short, I cannot well describe my sensations, even when I am not thinking of my beloved; and that is seldom indeed ! . . . " I did not forget your commissions ; and have got some needles for you, so fine that nothing but a string of gos- samer will get thro" the eyes. Adieu, my own dear, dear Jove ! May the hours fly swiftly till we meet, and all good angels watch over you ! " * Letters in the same strain abound ; but it would perhaps tire the reader, to be presented with more. A different con- sideration induces me to withhold the most affectionate of his letters. His correspondence was certainly more im- passioned in 1828, than in the first year of his wedded life ; presenting altogether a rare picture of wedded happiness and the most ardent love. A few days after the birth of his first child, he wrote as follows to his brother-in-law, who was then at Trinity College, Cambridge. ".My dear kind Tommy, We received your affectionate this evening, and I hasten to tell you that all is going on well ; my beloved Rachel slowly recovering, and the little darling baby smiling, and singing to itself the sweetest low little songs you ever heard. At first, I thought it very like Rachel ; and now, it has changed and become like me, the nurse says; but it is fortunate that this second phase is never permanent in such very young things, and that they invari- ably return to their first looks. It is a most sweet-tempered mousey, and very seldom disturbs its Mamma by those in- extinguishable fits of skirling in which some perverse babies indulge themselves. No, no ; our baby is a pear of another tree. ... I sit almost constantly in the room, with my books, and my History about me; but the History advances but slowly, so much delight have I in watching over my two pets, and gazing now on the one and now on the other. I * To hit wife, 24th Sept. 1827- 194- TYTLER TO HIS WIFE. [CHAP. VIII. have already told baby that you mean to bring it a coral, and it smiled as if it perfectly understood what I was say- ing."* The plan of life which had been commenced in the winter of 1826, was continued throughout the three ensuing years. One short note, written early in 1828, however private its tone and domestic its details, may be here inserted, for the sake of the lively juxta-position in which it presents my friend's domestic relations and his official duties. " Advocates' Library. past 1. " My dearest love. It will probably be past four o'clock before I get home. The Trials are going on so tediously, and I have not seen my beloved Rachel to-day yet ! Send for sweet Chattie, and be very kind to yourself, as kind as if I were sitting beside my darling, and bidding her take everything she wished. Remember, take four glasses of Sauterne at the least, and fowl and steak in proportion ; and let the dear little babe lie beside you after dinner ; and send Jemima up-stairs for the best Rankeilour pears ; and do not, () do not fatigue or vex yourself about anything, but let me find my own beloved Rachel, when I come home, well and happy ! " I must run up-stairs again for fear of a scold from the Lord Advocate for deserting the Court. Adieu, my dear, dear love ! Your own PETER." When absent in this manner for two or three days, he sought to divert his wife by relating such minute adventures as had befallen himself, or come to his knowledge, in the * To Thomas Hog, Esq., 19th Nov. 1827. -Writing to Mr. Alison to an- nounce the birth of the same little lady, Tytler says, " Though but a few hours' old, it sleeps charmingly, only waking now and then to smile and crack its fingers.' 1 1823.] TYTLER TO HIS AVIFE. 195 mean season. Sometimes, as may be supposed, he waa sadly at a loss for materials. " I have no news to tell : except that Sir John Hepburn sat next Jem lately at a company dinner, and after taking a huge gulp of water, something went into his wrong throat, and in an instant he spurted out the whole contents of his mouth in Jem's face, giving his victim no warning, and throwing out the volume of water with such force, that Jem says it took away his breath like the shock of a shower-bath. He describes the noise and the cataract, as something very like the fall of Niagara." * At other times, he was able to get up a better chapter of news. " 36 Melville Street, 27th Feb. 18^8. " Wednesday, 2 o'clock. " My own beloved Rachel, I sit down to give you an account of myself since my moonlight flitting on Tuesday morning. But first, let me ask you how you yourself are, my sweetest Rachel ? .... I will not take your two last letters away from my heart, where they now are, till you send me another, a long, long one. And now, for my adventures. " On leaving Rankeilour, it was almost dark. Andrew had been sent on with a fresh horse, by David's kindness ; and away I set, trusting to mount Harmless at New Inn : when, after 5 minutes' riding, to my infinite amusement, I encountered Mr. Andrew, between Ramornie wood and Cross gates, about one mile from Rankeilour! So I mounted Harmless, and away we set, serenaded all the way by the cheerful cry of the partridge coveys, on both sides of the road. They seemed to be practising their singing before breakfast, but they soon ceased; and as light broke, worn * To his wife, 10th March, 1828. 196 TYTLER TO HIS WIFE. [CHAP. VIII. succeeded by the richer melody of the blackbird, who seems to me, with all due submission, to understand music better than the partridge. I had a glorious sun-rise, and saw a noble rainbow ; whereupon I made the following observation, viz. that the lower the sun, the more circular is the rainbow. Certainly, I never saw so large a segment of a circle before. I have illustrated this by a diagram, and we will discuss the principle on Saturday. Well, on I rode, and readied Kirk- aldy a full hour before the coach, having just escaped a com- plete ducking ; for before I had put up the horses, down came the clouds in buckets ; upon which I rejoiced, calcu- lating that my friends the partridges would probably catch cold, and never try such difficult pieces of music, again. By and by, in came Mr. Heriot, holding a basket of greenhouse plants in one hand, and in the other a poor drookit black little gentleman whom he called Mr. Smith. So I gave him David's letter, and then entered into conversation with his sable friend. Do you know, dear Rachel, I'm getting vc TV fond of Mr. Heriot. He said he would give you as many plants from his greenhouse as you chose, if you were fond of flowers ; and that was kind. So that I am of opinion that ' Bob's a very fine boy.' ' We had a nice voyage over, and I got into conversation with a curious sort of a low character with a bundle under his arm, and a stick in his hand, with whom I conversed upon subjects of natural history and chemistry ; but chiefly on wild ducks and the habits "of sea-fowl. You know the long necked black cormorant, I dare say ? He was very great upon them, and called them 'd d black teugh -s.' Strong language, thought I, as I politely bowed, and observed that I had tasted one in soup once. ' Ye'd find it bitter eneuch then,' said he ; to which I assented. But I have no room for his conversation. 1828.] REVIVAL OF GREEK LITERATURE. 197 "Tom 1ms given my book on Greek literature to Dcighton the bookseller, and is to send me word what he will give for it in a short time." The manuscript alluded to was an expansion of a paper which Mr. Tytler had read before the Royal Society of Edinburgh, ten days previous to his marriage; entitled, " An Historical and Critical Introduction to an inquiry into the Revival of Greek Literature in Italy, after the Dark Ages."* This short essay he subsequently enlarged con- siderably. Mr. Hog remembers a MS. extending to about a hundred folio pages, which was offered to Deighton, and declined. It is easy to imagine that a very little discou- ragement would have sufficed at this time to quench any ambition which Mr. Tytler might once have conceived to attain distinction in so difficult a department of literature. I am only surprised at his courage in ever conceiving such an undertaking at all. To the same Mr. Hog, my friend wrote in the Autumn, as follows. " 30 Melville Street, Oct. 3rd, 1828. " My dear Tommy, " We came to town from Mount Esk to-day, Rachel, little Mary, and myself; and are now once more snugly seated at the library fire-side ; Rachel, reading your Black- wood's Magazine, and the light glancing cheerily on the gild- ing of the old folios which have been my constant compa- nions for the last five months. There is a noise of tea-cups setting in the passage, and nursie's song has ceased in the top story, telling plainly that the wee pet is asleep. From this sketch you will understand the precise situation of our affairs. Rachel, altho' still far from strong, is a little better than when she first came from that intolerable hole, Harro- * See Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, vol. x. pp. 389- AM. 198 DOMESTIC DETAILS. [CHAP. VIII. gate. As for myself, I am well, altho' certainly a little fagged, not having had any recreation from the labour of writing, or reading for writing, during the last four or five months. I have now very nearly finished my second volume ; and if I am spared, I hope to be in the printer's hands in November. " I have not fired a shot, and often envied Jem at Tay- mouth, and you in the North. I often think of the phea- sants, and the lamb lair, and long to be shooting with you and Johnny."* The reader has now had sufficient insight into the domes- tic life of Mr. Tytler at this period. A tenderer husband, or one more entirely happy in his union with an amiable, artless, and highly accomplished woman, never lived. The successive births of three children, Mary Stewart born in 1827, Alexander in 1831, and Thomas Patrick in 1833, completed their wedded happiness. Their circumstances were far from affluent. From the very first I find allusions in their letters to economy and the little mysteries of house- keeping, with neither of which subjects there seems to have been much practical acquaintance on either side. But they had enough, and their tastes and desires were the reverse of extravagant. They seem in fact to have led the life almost of recluses in the midst of the gay capital during the winter months, abundantly happy in each other's society; while Rankeilour, (the residence of Mrs. Tytler's married sister Eleanor,) Newliston or Mount Esk, and occasionally a hired cottage, afforded a delightful change in the summer. This was rendered even necessary by the delicate health of Mrs. Tytler, to whom the air of Edin- burgh proved unsuitable. Never a person of robust constitution, this Lady almost from the year of her marriage, showed symptoms of decline. * To Thomas Hoy, Esq., who was the guest of Sir John Hepburn. 1828.] ANXIETY ABOUT HIS WIFE. 199 Of this, the reader will have been made aware by the many anxious allusions in Tytler's letters, whenever he was separated from his Kachel for a few days. Those allusions to a feeble and delicate frame never cease, until that loving correspondence itself comes to a close. " Let me beseech you not to over-exert yourself in any way whatever. Do not walk much about the room : do not lift Mary, or keep her long on your knee : do not overtask your mind by read- ing or writing." * It was always thus ! But affection ever deems its object immortal; and my friend, at first unsus- picious of danger, continually sustained himself with a strong hope that all might yet be well. The contrary anticipation crushed him. " O, dearest Rachel, I sometimes tremble when I think what desolation would fall on me, if anything befell you. If I pine under a separation of even a few days, and feel that even amid my own friends and family I feel solitary, what would become of this poor heart if you were to be torn away from it ? " f His spirits rose and fell with his wife's variable health. Her cheerfulness revived him : her pains unmanned him quite. " When you smile and are happy and seem to be well, 'it is fresh morning with me,' as Shakspeare says somewhere. Every thing looks gay and gilded, and my spirits rise into joy, and move on as lightly as the little green-coloured wherry over our dear pond at Newliston. But all is instantly overcast to me when you are in pain. My spirits sink like lead. I plump down at once into despondency, and cannot be comforted." J In the meantime he was working indefatigably at his His- tory; Love now adding a stimulus where Ambition already supplied a sufficient spur. He was correcting the last proof of his first volume, in March 1828; and before September * To his wife, 15th April, 1830. t 5 Feb. 1828. J To Ma wife, 4th March, 1828. 200 SIR "WALTER SCOTT'S REVIEW OF [CHAP. VIII. in the following year, he had finished writing his third. For the puhlication of his work, he had already secured the good offices of Mr. Tait : his announcement of it in the newspapers, as 'preparing for the press,' in six volumes, having produced no proposals from the publishers either of Edinburgh or of London. The first two volumes of the 'History of Scotland,' (which appeared respectively in 1828 and 1829,) were re- viewed by Sir Walter Scott, in the Quarterly Review for November, 1829. He characterized the work with singular candour; noticing certain blemishes in a performance on which he nevertheless bestowed a very liberal measure of ju- dicious commendation. It would be impossible, in fact, to withhold from this work the praise of having called atten- tion, more perhaps than any which had preceded it, to the wondrous mine of historical information, yet unwrought, which exists in the State Paper Office. Chiefly interesting is Sir Walter's Review as supplying a novice with a general notion of the relation which Mr. Tytler's work bears to the labours of those who had preceded him in the same inquiry; as well as of the precise juncture at which he takes up the thread of his country's story. A wish is also twice expressed that "Mr. Tytler would bestow a portion of the research which he has brought to the later period, upon the dark ages preceding the accession of Alexander [III., 1249 ;] which might be made with advantage the subject of an introductory dissertation or volume. The facts are not, indeed, numerous ; but cleared of the hypotheses which have been formed, and the spleen and virulence with which these have been defended, some account of Scotland from the earliest period, is a chap- ter of importance to the history of mankind." Accordingly, to produce such a volume, was long a favourite project with my friend ; as I shall have occasion to show by and by. Let me, while on this subject, borrow the language of one who 1829.] TYTLER'S HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 01 has given an able and an accurate sketch of his life. It is as follows. "He commenced with the reign of Alexander III., he- cause it is only from this point that our national history can be properly authenticated. Edward I., who made such wild havoc with the Scottish muniments, so that no trace of Scot- laud as an independent kingdom should ever be found, was unable to annihilate the memory of the prosperity he had de- stroyed, the cruelties he had perpetrated, and the gallantry with which his usurpation had been overthrown ; these were burnt in, as with a branding-iron, upon Scottish memory to the end of time ; and Edward, by his work of demolition, only erected himself into a notorious pillar, to form a new starting-point for the national history to commence its glo- rious career. Tytler, however, knew that a stirring and eventful era had gone before, and that the early boyhood and youth of Scotland was not only full of interest, but a subject of intense curiosity ; and doubly difficult though the task would have been, he had resolved, long before the History was ended, to explore this mythic period, and avail himself of such facts and probabilities as it afforded, in the form of a preliminary Dissertation. He had also purposed to termi- nate his History, not at the Union of the two Crowns of England and Scotland under James I., but of the two king- doms under Queen Anne. This, however, he subsequently found would have constituted a task equal in magnitude to all his past labours, and would have required a new life-time for its fulfilment; so that the design was abandoned."* All this, however, is to anticipate.f * From a memoir by the Rev. Thomas Thomson, contributed to the last edition of the Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scottmen, published by Bluikie of Glasgow. f A few details on the subject of Tytler's History of Scotland, viewed rather on its commercial side, may not be unacceptable to some readers. Of the first volume, published in 1828, only 500 copies were at first printed. These sold COMMERCIAL DETAILS. r [CHAP. VIII. But the prosecution of his History, made it indispensable for my friend to obtain access to documents preserved in London. Accordingly, in the Spring of 1830, being de- sirous of consulting some of the MSS. in the State Paper Office, and the British Museum, as well as to pave the way for future works, he tore himself from the society of his be- loved Rachel and his little child, and proceeded to London. He was further desirous of succeeding to the office of His- toriographer of Scotland, whenever it should be vacant by the death of Dr. Gillies, who had already attained the age of 83. Writing to his wife from Ripon, (13th March 1830,) lie says, " Today, I visited Pontefract Castle, during the time that Helen rested, and saw the tower where Richard the Second is reported to have been murdered. I endeavoured to instruct an old gardener who was working amid the ruins, in my story as to his escape and death in Scotland ; and found him not so bigoted as I expected, although he was past 70. But when once planted, these traditions stick to old Castles as tenaciously as the ivy which covers them." It is interest- ing to compare this passage with what Tytler says in the rapidly, and 750 more followed. Of vols. ii. and iii., both issued in 1829, the impression was 1150: of vol. iv., (in 1831,) 1125. The remaining volumes (v. to ix. so much had the author miscalculated the probable extent of his work, which after all he only brought down to the Union of the Crowns,) appeared in 1834, 1837, 1840, 1842, and 1843. As might have been foreseen in the case of so protracted a work, the sale of the latter volumes fell off very considerably. Yet the profit on the first edition was very considerable. A second edition, of 2000 copies, also in nine volumes, at half the price of the first, appeared between 1841 and 1843, and met with a good sale. For this, Mr. Tytler received 70Z. per volume, as the volumes appeared. A third edition, in 7 volumes instead of 9, was published in 1845 ; for which Mr. Tait paid the Historian 5001. Of this impression, however, the sale has proved slow and unsatisfactory. For these particulars, I am indebted to the obliging communications of the rery intelligent publisher of the History. Mr. Tait reminds me that the second edition came out expressly as a cheap edition ; the third as a handsome library edition. 1830.] A VISIT TO LOKDON. 203 third volume of bis History of Scotland on the same sub- ject, p. 94. In London, he found that Campbell had prepared a lodging for him in his house, 28 Leicester Square. Mr. James Hall (Basil Hall's brother) was with the sculptor when Tytler ar- rived ; and at the Athenaeum the two friends introduced him the same evening to Lord Melville, Davies Gilbert, and other persons of eminence to whom Tytler was already known by reputation. The President of the Royal Society used then to give a public breakfast every Thursday in the Society's apartments at Somerset House, as well as a Conversazione on Saturday ; and here, Tytler met many of the most distin- guished persons in literature and science in the metropolis. He also renewed his acquaintance with Mackintosh and Hibbert, and was welcomed by Lady Teignmouth, who had been kind to him when he was in London in 1809. But his heart was in Melville Street ; and his first act on reaching London, was to send his wife a scheme for passing the day, assigning to every hour its occupation. A part of the after- noon was to be devoted to visiting the poor. One of the most valuable of Tytler's London friends was the late J. G. Lockhart, editor of the Quarterly, who intro- duced him to Mr. Murray of Albemarle Street. The result of a few interviews with that enterprising publisher was that Tytler engaged to write for him the Lives of illustrious Scotchmen, to be completed in either -four or six volumes. ' From the calculation I have made as to its extent,' (he writes to his wife,) 'I trust to complete it, if in four vo- lumes, within this year, without materially impeding the pro- gress of my History. This engagement itself is worth coming for Besides, I have almost certainly secured the succession to the office of Historiographer for Scotland.' * * To his icife, from 6 Sackville Street, (where Mr. and Mrs. J. B. Fraser were lodging,) 2 April, 1830. 204- WASHINGTON IRVING. LORD HILL. [CHAP. Till. His letters to his wife were at first so full of her, that she begged him to speak a little more of himself. " I thought I knew hefore," (he says in reply,) " how deeply I loved you; but this last trial has discovered to me still deeper depths of love. No wonder that my letters are full of you ! But since you wish me to say more about myself, I shall obey. " You know I used to be much at Dalmahoy before our marriage ; and on calling with James Hall on Lady Morton and her mother Lady Buller, at their respective mansions, I was very joyously welcomed At Lady Morton's, one evening, I met with Washington Irving. I had heard him described as a very silent man, who was always observing others, but seldom opened his lips. Instead of which, his tongue never lay still ; and he gets out more wee wordies in a minute, than any ordinary converser does in five. But I found him a very intelligent and agreeable man. I put him in mind of his travelling with our dear Tommy. He had at first no recollection ; but I brought it back to his memory by the incident of the little black dog, who always went be- fore the horses in pulling up hill, and pretended to assist them. I put him in mind of his own wit, ' that he won- dered if the doggie mistook himself for a horse ; ' at which he laughed and added, ' Yes, and thought it very hard that he was not nibbed down at the end of the journey.' " On Friday last, I dined at Lord Teignmouth's, where I met Lord Hill, (Sir Rowland Hill that was;) I suppose the best soldier in Europe, after the Duke of Wellington. He fought like a lion all through the Peninsular war, and had the second command after the Duke. I was much asto- nished when I saw him. Instead of a bold-looking soldier, there slipped into the room a short pot-bellied body, with a sweet round facie, and a remarkably mild expression, who seemed afraid of the sound of his own voice ; speaking in a lisp, and creeping about the chairs and tables, as if he had a 1830.] THE HOUSE OF LOEDS. WELLINGTON. 205 great inclination to hide himself under them. I almost laughed outright when I was told this was the famous Lord Hill. So there is no trusting to physiognomy. " Today, I was introduced to Lord Holland, and Lord John Russell, by Mr. Allen, a literary man of some note who lives at Holland House." * He gives his impressions, after hearing a debate in the House of Lords, in the following letter. " The House has nothing very imposing in it. The only striking thing is the old tapestry on the walls, which is much faded, but interesting from the having been put up by Eliza- beth at the time of the defeat of the Spanish Armada, and from its containing the representation of the action. The speaking disappointed me much. Tbere was little or nothing like eloquence, or even energy, and a great deal of bombas- tic trash and drivelling. The speeches of the young lords in particular put me very forcibly in mind of the themes and declamations we used to compose at school. I have heard more real eloquence from Cockburn, in ten minutes, than in the orations of all the noble lords together, although they were at it from 5 o'clock till 1 in the morning. 1 could hardly believe my eyes when the Duke of Wellington was pointed out to me. Instead of the fine-looking fellow whom I recollect seeing in 181-1 in Paris, t there rose up a wee cruppen in shrivelled body ; composed, as it appeared to me, of nothing but bones, and parchment wrapt over them, with silver-white hair, and a nose which was so large as to throw all the other features into the back ground. But his voice was loud and clear, and his speaking, although it had no pretensions to oratory, pleased me better than that of most there. It was plain and much to the point, though a little abrupt and inelegant. You will laugh, 1 dare say, when I * To lit wife, dated 6 Sackville Street, 5th April, 1830. t See above, p. 91. 206 TYTLER IN LONDON. [CHAP. VIII. tell you that in personal appearance, he is a mixture between William Tytler and Sir Eobert Listen. On the whole, I think the best speakers were the Marquis of Lansdowne and Lord Holland, both in opposition."* Tytler's visit to the metropolis must have been as pleasant as it was successful. He found much to his purpose among the manuscript treasures of the British Museum ; and having been introduced at the State Paper Office by Lord Melville, he there beheld the promise of yet more important discoveries awaiting him, when he should reach the reign of King James V. (1513.) But his heart was far away; and neither the delightful acquaintances he was daily making, nor the plea- sure of reviving several ancient friendships, nor even his literary pursuits, could reconcile him to such protracted h/a- nishment from his adored wife. To quote his own char|c- teristic illustration, he " soon began to feel like the old gen- tleman who, when he lost at cards, used to say, 'Baaby, Fm no diverted.'" "Now," (he adds,) "although I have not lost, but gained, in London, still, I'm no diverted; and every day brings with it more ardent longings to be with my love. I dream of her, and of Mary, and feel an irresistible desire to be once more in our quiet home, working at my books, with my sweet Rachel sitting beside me, and dear Mary playing on the floor The greatest pleasure I have had in London, has been in hearing Dr. Jennings and his assistant preach, and in attending the Communion at their Chapel." f His last letter from London, explains what he meant by saying that he had gained, not lost, by his visit to the metro- polis. " In the event of Dr. Gillies' death," (he writes,) "I think, if I am spared, the Historiographership will be mine, which would give us an addition of 300/. a year. This * To his wife, 18th March, 1830. f To his wife, April 8th, 1830. 1830.] THE ACCESSION. 207 morning, I signed the agreement for the 'Lives of illus- trious Scotchmen/ to be at my own option, either in three or four volumes ; and I trust that I shall he ahle, without over- working myself, to complete the work within the twelve months, receiving on the publication of each volume two hundred guineas. " I have promised, after I have completed the Scottish Lives, to write a popular history of the Reformation of Religion, which will extend at least to four volumes : and from what I see is going on in the literary world here, I feel confident that, with moderate care and industry on my part, I may turn my literary pursuits to such good account as to make a permanent addition of no inconsiderable kind to our income; six or seven hundred a-year, at the least."* With such sanguine expectations, Tytler returned to Edinburgh a few days after the date of the foregoing letter, and rejoined his wife at Mount Esk. The following note written to the same lady at the end of six weeks is undated ; but must have been written from Mel- ville Street at the end of June. " My beloved Rachel. Your commissions came on a bad day, for the shops were all shut till near 2 o'clock, in con- sequence of the King's Proclamation ; and ribbon sellers, sago sellers, shoemakers, Justice clerks, and all that tribe of cattle were strutting about, huzzaing with weepers on, looking grave with one half of their faces, for the late King's lamented death ; and merry with the other moiety of their countenances, for the present Monarch's joyful accession. Tom, Jem and I acted our parts on the top of a shed, beside the fountain-well, with great satisfaction to ourselves and the public ; and Sir Patrick Walker, with an old table-cloth round his shoulders, and a cocked hat that seemed to have been purloined from a scare- crow, led the procession, strut- * To fun wife, 2nd May, 1830. TYTLER LOSES HIS OFFICE. [CHAP. VIII. ting before the Justice clerk and Lord Cringelde, who looked very like Noodle and Doodle in the procession in Tom Thumb. " But I am forgetting your commissions. You will re- ceive in a band-box nil the things you mention, except the gauze black ribbon." A whimsical account of the writer's perplexity in the matter of the ribbon, follows. "Dr. M is a very odd man. I met him today, and put him in mind of his promise to show me a sketch of Eobert Bruce's skull. ' No time so good as the present,' said he ; and hauled me away with his large paws, (which never know the luxury of gloves, and scarcely that of water,) into his house. As I was coming in, he turned sharp round and said,' Mr. Tytler, have you any picture of your Wife ? Why, Sir, she is the most beautiful woman I ever saw in the whole course of my life !' I of course bowed, and looked delighted. 'Have you any picture, Sir?' 4 Yes, Doctor, one little picture by Macleay, but it does not please me very much. I don't think it does her justice.' 1 Very likely, Sir,' said he; 'but I'll put you on a plan by which you will get the most perfect likeness in the world. Will you be at home to-night, and allow me to call upon you ? I'll bring the drawing of Bruce along with me, and explain my plan for Mrs. Tytler's picture.' At this moment, a white-faced wretch of a doctor's apprentice put his head into the room ; so I made my bow and walked away." And now, to have recourse again to the friendly manuscript contributed by Miss A. F. Tytler. "In December, 1830, there was a change of Ministry; Brougham being made Lord Chancellor, and Lord Grey Premier. All the Whigs came in. My Brother lost his office, and in consequence was obliged to let his house. It was fortunate he was beginning to gain by his works. He had then just completed in 10 weeks his first volume of the Scottish Worthies. He was 1831.] RIOTS IN EDINBURGH. also going on with his History of Scotland, \vhich was so highly thought of, that he had at that time applications from various quarters to undertake new works. But those were gloomy times; and the disorderly state of the lower ranks was becoming quite alarming. On the 4th April, 1831, shameful riots took place in Edinburgh, and my Brother was in much alarm for the safety of his wife, who had been confined only a few days before. " The second reading of the Bill for Parliamentary Reform having been carried by a majority of only one in the House of Commons, the friends of this measure instigated the people to illuminate. The magistrates at first refused, but afterwards, weakly yielded to the solicitations of the mob ; and the consequence was that the Tories had scarcely a pane of glass left in their windows. Ours were completely smashed. The yelling was tremendous, and the crashing of the windows was so great, that we thought every moment that it was the street-door they were forcing. Then, as they moved on, the shout from a thousand voices of ' Now for the other Tytlers,' carried dismay to our hearts ; and the houses of both my brothers, and also of my uncle, Colonel Tytler, shared the same fate. Such a spirit of disorder was abroad that even the houses of the other party were not respected. Joseph Bell had 102 panes of glass broken. Their fury at all of the name of Dundas was unbounded. Mr. James Dundas, St. Andrew's Square, was dying at the time. His daughters had bark laid before the door, the bell tied up, and even the house illuminated; but all would not do. In vain the man stationed at the door warned the mob, that a dying person was in the bouse. They only shouted the louder, and battered every pane of glass in their fury, even in the sick man's chamber. The same scene was acted in Melville Street also. Mr. William Bonar lay in the same state of danger. With both, the p 210 MOUNT ESK. [CHAP. YIII. agitation was so great as to produce delirium, and both died the following night. Many said we were on the brink of a revolution. 'Nothing was talked, read, or thought of, but those subjects. " My Brother's golden promises were not then realized. Two volumes of the ' Scottish Worthies' were ready for Murray; but Murray being of opinion that there never was a worse time for bringing them out, delayed the publication and consequently the payment." The fourth volume of the History of Scotland however appeared in 1831. In the Spring of 1832, Tytler conveyed his wife, still the same sad invalid as ever, to his Mother's cottage at Mount Esk. " You will see," (he says, writing to his sister Isabella, who was then, together with many other members of the family, in London;) "by this 'sweet date' that we have embraced your kind offer, and removed to Mount Esk for a few weeks. We came out on the 4th, and found everything delightful ; the weather enchanting, and really as warm ns June ; the poplars, larches, and plane trees all out in leaf, and the borders all covered with primroses and daffodillies. I do think that dear Rachel is already the better for the de- lightful air. She walked to day a little on the terrace lean- ing on me; and sitting down on the portable chair, enjoyed the singing of the birds, the warmth of the air, and the beautiful prospect ; dear Mary playing at her feet, and with a complexion which shames the rose. Her delight at com- ing here cannot be described, and little Alexander's eyes sparkle like drops of dew when he sees all the wonders of this brave new world opening upon him ; for he has never, since he could fix his sight on any thing, seen aught before, but stone walls, and smoky chimney tops." * " When we came out here," (he says in another letter,) Dobie received us with open arms." I quote the '* To his sister Isabella, April 6th, 1832. 1832.] HISTORICAL VIEW OF THE PROGRESS, ETC. 211 passage for the sake of the readers of 'Mary and Florence,' a child's story-book, written by his sister, -with matchless skill and humour. He then expatiates on the literary un- dertakings which were at that time engaging his attention. "We have this day been two weeks here, and it really seems but a few days, the time has glided away so happily. I rise pretty early, and having none of the interruptions of town, get through a good deal of work ; so that I think I shall finish the Life of Sir Walter Raleigh, by the end of April. It will make one volume of Oliver and Boyd's Library ; and as the subject is full of variety and interest, will, I hope, be an amusing piece of biography. I have also, I think, succeeded in throwing some new light upon one portion of his history, which has hitherto been very confused and obscure ; and have traced his ruin to its real author, more satisfactorily than has yet been done. My other volume for Oliver and Boyd, (the Historical Dissertation on the pro- gress of Discovery in America,*) is almost all printed, and Murray is pretty well on with the second volume of the Scottish Worthies ; so that in May, if I am spared, and blessed with that same uninterrupted good health which GOD has so long and so graciously given me, I shall have time to complete the 5th and 6th volumes of my History. The idea of getting to this favourite work, and having an intermission from those other labours which are necessary for the support of the family, is very delightful; and yet, I must say, the Life of Raleigh has been a very interesting employment." Mrs. Tytler's health, which had long been a source of in- creasing anxiety to her husband, showed no signs of re- establishment ; and when the Autumn drew on, the doctors * ' Historical View of the progress of Discovery on the more northern coast of America from the earliest period to the present time.' This was published (like the Life of Raleigh,) in Oliver and Boyd's ' Edinburgh Cabinet Library/ in August, 1832. There was a second issue of this work, but only one edition, It has been reprinted in America. 212 DOMESTIC PLANS. [CHAP. VIII. were unanimous in recommending that she should make trial of a southern climate. My friend's Mother and sisters were at this time staying at Leamington, on account of the delicate health of Miss Isabella Tytler, and thither it was determined that he should convey his family in the first instance. Accordingly, he made arrangements for a pro- longed absence from Edinburgh ; and on the 7th August, took his departure. "I have now," (he writes on the 1st), " got very near my winding up. The printers' imps are quiet ; the hooks packed up ; our arrangements nearly com- pleted ; and I trust that, on Monday, we shall be able to set out. Eachel, dear lamb, looks forward with pleasure to the journey. Mary has orders to pack up all her little books, and playthings. I have bought a fishing-rod and tackle, for the sole purpose of fishing in old Izaak Walton's river, the Dove near Matlock. We have prepared sketch- books, pencils, &c., and in short all of us, even down to little Alexander, are determined to strain every nerve to be very happily idle. " My plan is to leave Rachel and the bairns with you, and to proceed to London ; as my last sheet of Raleigh is kept for final corrections to be made in the State Paper Office. When I return to Leamington, our plans must be regulated by what Dr. Jephson thinks best for Rachel. For this winter, it is evident the continent is entirely out of the question; and from present appearances, no one can tell how soon both France and Italy may be shut against us by a general continental war. But if all things were quiet, and I could carry my books with me so as to proceed with my works, nothing would give me greater pleasure than to pass a winter at Rome." * * To his sister Ann, 1st August, 1832. 1832.] THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 213 CHAPTER TX. (18321835.) Tytler removes his family to Torquay The journey His literary diligence Life of Raleigh Scottish Worthies and History of Scotland Prosecutes his studies at Bute and in London Letters to his wife Death of Mrs. Tytler. TYTLER'S practice, on undertaking such a journey as this, was to furnish himself with a little memorandum-book, which served the combined purposes of journal, sketch- book, (he was not much of a draughtsman,) and account- book, throughout the expedition. Not unfrequently, extracts from rare historical volumes or MSS. are, in this way, in- terspersed with the most irrelevant and ephemeral notices imaginable. The beginning of his Journal to Leamington is characteristic. " We left Melville Street at 4 o'clock on a lovely day ; and the drive to Fushie Bridge and by Gala water was enchanting. I rose early and cast a line in Gala water, but the trouts would not look at the fly. I caught a minnow, and had a nibble, and was very happy." In the evening, he wrote: "Nothing could be more delightful than our journey today. The weather was highly favourable, a grey morning, which, as the sun got up higher, expanded into a golden harvest day. The country thro' which we travelled by Gala Water, Tweed side, Yair, Hawick, Branksome, Gilnochie, has ever been to me perhaps the most interesting part of all Scotland. It is pastoral, and patriarchal in its simplicity ; full of the sweetest natural beauties ; prodigally stored with historical and poetical asso- ciations. The very words, ' Yarrow braes," ' Gala Water,' 214 ASSOCIATIONS OF THE SCENERY [CHAP. IX. ' Branksome,' ' Tweed/ ' Philipbaugh,' ' Melrose,' liow many interesting and romantic recollections do they not call up ! It is a country which, to a Scotsman, breathes the very soul of legendary poetry. The charming old ballad of ' the Flowers of the Forest,' came fresh upon me. The bloody field of Flodden, the bra' foresters that never came back to their desolate homes ; the gallant bowmen of Selkirk* lying stiff and stark around their king; the voice of lamen- tation ' in ilka green loanin,' all rose like a magic picture, as we threaded the road round the Yair, and climbed the hill towards Selkirk. Awakening from these dreams to the romantic realities of the scenery, certainly nothing could be imagined more beautiful than the country, as it lay in its green expanse before us, with the silver Tweed winding thro' it, and glittering in the sun. It was hay-making time, and the fragrance was full of health and delight. We saw innumerable groups of lads and lasses, all busily employed, cutting or spreading the meadow hay ; whilst the children were sporting amidst the hay- cocks. The fields are ripening to harvest, some cut down already ; and on many of the burn sides, linens were laid out to bleach ; an incident full of much beauty in Nature, tho' a painter with his hands tied up in the fetters of harmonious colouring, would shudder to attempt its introduction. ' The stage from Mosspaul to Langholm, and from Lang- holm to Longton, contains, as is well known, some of the most beautiful scenery in Scotland. We travelled it in the evening, when the landscape was gilded by the setting sun, a stream of hazy and glowing light on hill and river, tower and tree. The spirit of the season was breathing from every- thing ; and we inhaled it in love and gratitude to Him who hath made all < very good.' " Tytler was in fact traversing that very scenery with which Sir Walter Scott has made the whole civilized world familiar; which the great novelist had 1832.] OF THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 215 himself surveyed for the last time ahout a month before ; and in the midst of "which he lay even now a-dying.* Tytler must have been aware of the state of his friend, and felt the contrast between the living beauty of the landscape and the gloom which already hung over Abbotsford; for he has written opposite to the extract from his journal last quoted, " 'T was sad to think that he who sung The border-wars in deathless lays With spirit dark and harp unstrung" The verses, which seem to have come unwillingly, are scored through and through; but the fragment needs no interpreter, and shows of what he was thinking as he wound his way across the Scottish Border, and at last rested at Kendal. On the 16th August, the little party reached Leamington, visiting Warwick Castle with immense satisfaction, the next day. He described to me, many years after, the delight with which he had there surveyed the portrait of Gondomar. In pursuance of the plan announced in his letter to his sister, Tytler repaired to the metropolis early in the ensuing week ; but it was some days before he effected, through Lord Melbourne's kindness, an entrance into the State Paper Office, and sat down to transcribe Sir Walter Kaleigh's * " At a very early hour on the morning of Wednesday the llth, we again placed him in his carriage, and he lay in the same torpid state during the first two stages on the road to Tweedside. But as we descended the vale of the Gala, he began to gaze about him, and by degrees it was obvious that he was recognising the features of that familiar landscape. Presently, he murmured a name or two " Gala Water, surely Buckholm Torwoodlee." As we rounded the hill at Ladhope, and the outline of the Eildons burst on him, he became greatly excited ; and when, turning himself on the couch, his eye caught at length his own towers at the distance of a mile, he sprang up with a cry of delight." Lockhart's Life of Scott, vol. vii. p. 385. Sir Walter Scott expired on the 21st September, ] 832. 216 SHAKSPEARF/S BUST. [CHAP. IX. Journal. " In every corner," he says, " I saw around me bales of old manuscripts; and longed to look at them ; but my order embraces only one paper, and I must be content. Perhaps through the politeness of the clerk, I may obtain a glance at some other papers." It was altogether an author's visit to the metropolis. Murray, finding it necessary to bring to a close his ' Family Library,' for which Tytler had already written two volumes ('Lives of illustrious Scotchmen,') with liberty to write two more, requested that he would restrict himself to a single additional volume. The publisher was further strenuous for the appearance of that concluding volume in November. To both his requests, Tytler acceded. His second volume had left the life of King James I. incom- plete ; and the conclusion of that life, as well as four short additional memoirs, he was determined to achieve, if possible, in the course of the next two months. The only real dif- ficulty in his way was the want of books of reference. Lea- mington could not supply them : and his Rachel was in too feeble a state of health to make her residence in London fea- sible. For the moment, my friend returned to Leamington, and devoted three weeks to the prosecution of this task : after which, in compliance with Dr. Jephson's advice, who recommended for Mrs. Tytler a winter's sojourn at Torquay, on a golden autumn evening, (September 26th,) he set off with his little family for Stratford on Avon. " The bust of Shakspeare," (he writes in his journal,) "is particularly worthy of notice ; and I am persuaded that, rude and some- what stiff as is the sculpture, the likeness is a more faith- ful one than if a far higher artist had been employed. The forehead is noble; the delicate outline of the eye-brows, the nose, and the nostril, are all striking, and indica- tive of genius. The upper lip is long almost to a defect; and the cheeks, mouth, and chin, are fleshy, good-humoured, and somewhat like a jolly friar. Most of the prints which 1832. J OXFORD. 217 I recollect, exaggerated the forehead : making it somewhat higher than in the bust : whereas it is remarkable not so much for its height, as for its fulness and beautiful delicacy of outline. Yet it is high too ; though not like a towering sugar-loaf as some prints make it." * Tytler was obliged to make a hurried journey through Oxford. " We however staid an hour ; and Rachel and I got a peep at the Bodleian Library. A noble place, cer- tainly ! It was but a passing glance; yet delight was mingled with regret ; and if it pleases GOD to spare me, we shall I trust return again. The quiet, ancient, monastic look of the place, the grey tranquillity thrown over all, the noble stores of books and manuscripts, and the great men looking down from the walls, all seem to make this place the very retirement which a student might desire, or rather dream of. And yet, after all, it might rather produce indolent enjoyment of what has been done, than energy to do something oneself! "f Leaving Oxford, the travellers made their way across the bare downs of Berkshire ; inspected Chaucer's Castle, (Don- nington, near Newbury,) and the palace of William of Wykeham at Bishop's Waltham, and reached Southsea on the 29th September. Mrs. Tytler's sister, Eleanor, whose health was so delicate as to render it necessary that she should immediately make trial of the climate of Madeira, (she died there on the 9th January following!) was already at Portsmouth, intending to set sail by the first opportunity. At the end of a month she took her voyage, accompanied by her husband, her sister Charlotte, and three of her children: after which, (27th Oct.) Tytler and his wife set off for Torquay, taking Salisbury in their route, not only in order to visit the cathedral, (so full of historical reminiscences !) * From bis Journal 27th Sept. t From the same. 218 TORQUAY. [CHAP. IX. but especially with a view to visiting Sherborne, the seat of Sir Walter Kaleigh. Torquay supplied to every member of the little party what they most wanted. To Mrs. Tytler's delicate consti- tution, a mild air: to her husband, literary leisure. Mean- time, his eye, ever alive to the picturesque in nature, reposed with delight on the beauty of the scenery by which he was surrounded. Writing to his sister-in-law in Madeira, on the 3rd December, he says : " The view of the bay and the romantic country round it, as I returned from a ride into the neighbourhood this evening, was most exquisite. The sea was one sheet of gold, the heaven full of repose and beauty ; the long onyx-looking streaks of red light upon a sweet blue ground, and the evening-star glittering like a diamond upon the brow of night, all made up a picture, or rather a reality, than which nothing could be imagined more beautiful. I felt grateful to GOD for the loveliness of His Creation." * The late Lord Northampton was at that time staying at Torquay, also on account of the health of the Marchioness, whom Tytler had known as the accomplished Miss Clephane Maclean of Torloisk. This lady's mother, to whom Tytler was extremely attached, was also at Torquay. There was therefore no lack of congenial society. The third and con- cluding volume of 'Lives of Scottish Worthies' had been unavoidably delayed by his recent domestic anxieties: but I find from an Almanack Journal which he kept in 1833, that he worked at it daily, until the 17th January, when it left his hands. He makes a memorandum that, on the next day, he " drew frontispiece to Sir D. Lindsay." This was the last of the twelve Worthies whose lives are contained in the work above alluded to. It is a singular proof of his diligence and persevering * To Miss Charlotte Hog, dated Torquay, 3rd Dec. 1832. 1833.] TYTLER'S LITERARY DILIGENCE. 219 earnestness, that after devoting three days to clearing off arrears of correspondence, he should have at once resumed his History. He has made the following Memorandum against Monday 21st January, " Commenced collecting for 5th volume of my History. Prayed earnestly." Correcting the press of the Scottish Worthies and compiling an ap- pendix to the work, interrupted and occupied him until the 30th ; but, on the very next day, he was " collecting for 5th volume of History" again. He began to write that volume on the 13th February. On the last day of the same month his 'Life of Sir Walter Kaleigh' was published;* (the preface is dated Torquay, 15th Dec. 1832,) and on the 27th March, the concluding volume of the Scottish Worthies appeared. On Easter Monday, (8th April,) theTytlers left Torquay; the season being now sufficiently advanced to render a further residence in that mild climate unnecessary. After a sojourn of about four months in London, or its immediate vicinity, during which time he was almost daily at the State Paper Office or at the British Museum, (a short visit to Castle Ashby, being the only relaxation which he allowed himself,) my friend took his family northward; reaching Edinburgh, after exactly a year's absence. His object was to deposit his wife at Raukeilour, the residence of his brother- in-law, Mr. David Maitland Makgill, who had come back from Madeira about three months previous ; and thence, to make a hasty journey to the metropolis alone, in order to get on with the 5th volume of his History, and return to his wife at the end of a very few weeks. Campbell, ('a * ' Life of Sir Walter Raleigh, founded on authentic and original documents, some of them never before published.' Messrs. Oliver and Boyd, the pub- lishers, inform me that separate impressions of this work, (which appeared in their ' Edinburgh Cabinet Library,') were thrown off in 1840, 1844, 1846, and 1847. It has been reprinted in America. 20 OVER- STUDY. CHAP. IX. friend,' he writes, 'who has never failed to meet me like a brother,') made him again his guest ; and for a fortnight, he toiled at his work incessantly, bestowing upon it at least nine hours a day. Before breakfast, he commonly wrote for two hours : at the State Paper Office, he studied from 1 1 till 4 : and he wrote for two hours more in the evening. Let any one try what it is so to work, under mental anxiety combined with the fatigues of travel, and he will not be surprised to hear that, as soon as the excitement was over, Tytler's health gave way. He returned however to Edin- burgh. His wife presented him with a little boy, (Thomas Patrick, the third and last of his children,) on the last day of September ; and he was assiduously engaged with his His- tory both before and after that event. As might be expected, on the 7th October, he was ' not very well ' ; the next day ' unable to work ' ; the next day, ' laid up, in bed ' ; the next day, ' twelve leeches,' &c. &c. He had, in fact, a sharp attack, which almost entirely disabled him for six weeks. His wife was all the while feeble, feebler than ever; and it became apparent that for her to spend another winter in Edinburgh, was out of the question. The physicians talked of Devonshire for the next three or four years, as her probable fate. " At last," (he writes to his brother-in-law at Rankeilour,) "Drs. Aber- cromby and Beilby have decided that, taking all circum- stances into consideration, Bothesay in Bute will be the best place of residence for this winter." * Accordingly, on the 29th November, my friend conveyed his wife and three children thither. His books accompanied him; and with restored health, came renewed application. He resumed the 5th volume of his History, of which he had written the first words on the 13th February; worked at it every * To David Mainland Makgitt, Esq., of Rankeilour, dated Melville Street, 6th Nov. 1833. 1833.] A STUDENT'S SOJOURN IN BUTE. 221 day ; and had the satisfaction of bringing it to a conclusion on the last day of the year, 31st Dec. 1833. It cost him more trouble, he said, than any of its predecessors. Charming doubtless in summer, the Isle of Bute is not the kind of place one would select for a sojourn in December. His wife, writing to her brother, says, "Peter's lament over the loss of anything like a bookseller's shop is very touching. I think it was the first question he asked Miss Gardner, who told him with great simplicity that he might get writing-paper in Rothesay. He has however attacked his own repository in real earnest ; and forgotten all his promises to the doctors of moderation in study." "Do not credit all that Rachel says about my having forgot my resolution about moderation," (writes Tytler, on the same sheet;) "for I assure you I have not. And indeed, with the constant watching of the weather, and whipping out and in, in the fair blinks and squalls, my time is chiefly occupied in put- ting off and on my hat, a very innocent and moderate kind of life ; is it not ? " * But the most lively picture of a student's winter in Bute is afforded by a letter which he wrote to his sister Ann. " General Sir John Hope and Lady Hope called upon us the other day in a storm of wind and rain, which alarmed us, but seemed to give them no annoyance. Indeed, I do not quite like to see the composure with which the people here walk about in the rain ; and begin to augur that they and it are too sib together. It is a great blessing however to have a comfortable warm house over your head, and to look out upon the waves with their white crests, and the hills with their snowy tops, and the sea-gulls wheeling under our windows, as objects only of the picturesque. " It would have amused you to see how much I was put about to fit up my library and stow away my large books ; * To Thomas Hog, L'tq., 10th Dec. 1833. TYTLER'S CHILDREN. [CHAP. IX. yet, considering my difficulties, I have been wonderfully successful. My best friend was an old flower-pot-stand, wbich, with my gilt-backed and parchment-covered little octavos arranged upon its circular shelves, has been trans- formed into a very elegant and original looking book-case. I have now recommenced my labour on the 5th volume of the History, which I hope will soon be ready for the press ; but I mean to follow Rachel's advice, and take things moderately. As to books, I shall find no want ; for, on passing thro' Glasgow, I discovered that my friend Mr. Kerr had procured for me the uncommon privilege of having books sent me here from the Library of the Uni- versity."* Speaking of his children, (after discussing Thomas Pat- rick's infantine casualties,) he says, " Mary and Alexander are both well; and really, altho' it comes from me, very excellent and amusing children. Sandy is full of odd and droll tricks : warm in his affections, violent in his passions, very ready to forgive an injury, and very ready also with his hands when he thinks he has a good ground of quarrel. Mary is far gentler, less apt to give vent to her feelings, but very tractable and teachable. Indeed, she devours books, and even reads my old Chronicles. Her sense of the ludicrous is very strong, and her laugh so long and hearty, that it does you good to hear it. The two are quite com- panions, not only to each other but to ourselves, altho' sometimes a little too noisy in their mirth." f Early in February, Tytler left his wife and little ones at Eothesay, and repaired for a while to his old haunts in London, the State Paper Office and the British Museum. He desired to superintend the printing of his fifth volume, (it appeared in 1834,) and was already in want of materials * Rothesay, 6th Dec. 1833. t To his sister Ann, dated Rothesay, 28th Jan. 1834. 1834.] TYTLER TO HIS WIFE. 223 for his sixth. The letters which he wrote at this time to his wife are the last which he ever sent her. Eeplete are they, every one, with the same exquisite tenderness as when he first won her love ; as pious, as was everything he wrote when he thought that no eye hut hers would see it. " My first feeling in London has heen this time the same as it always is, a sense of loneliness and desertion ; the misery of bustle, with the consciousness of solitude. This, I seek to relieve in two ways ; the first, (for which I hless GOD,) is to pray often, wherever I may be, and to seek a nearer communion with the source of all Love and Good- ness, in His own way, thro' my Saviour. This calms me, and I am at peace. The second, is to write to my best and dearest love, who is and ever will be more perfectly dear than any mortal thing ; and to whom my thoughts, in absence, constantly revert with a fondness I cannot explain or describe."* His business was now to get on with the works he had in hand ; and allusions to his literary occupations abound in every letter. With these, he ever intermingles, (as his man- ner was,) something playful. " The more I see of the rich and voluminous stores of manuscript which exist in Lon- don," he writes, " the more I am compelled to wonder that so little use has been hitherto made of them. The English historians have been absolutely living in the midst of a Golconda of manuscripts, a mine full of the richest jewels, and have been contented to build their works from Bir- mingham pastes. It is passing strange, and tantalizing to those who cannot have constant access to such treasures; but I shall make the most of my time, and try to copy, as much as I can, not forgetting Henry VIII." f " My printers now that they have begun, keep me exceed- * To his wife, from 15 Great Marlborough Street, llth Feb. 1834. t To his wife, from 11 Taunton Place, Eegent's Park, 18th Feb. 1834. SIR JAMES HILLYER. [CHAP. IX. ingly busy. I have been working also on Henry Vlllth ; and this, with an endeavour to collect materials for my sixth volume, and to examine the various depots of manu- scripts, holds me in constant employment. But I obey your directions, my own dear love, and walk as much as possible; and as the British Museum, the State Paper Office, the Chapter House at Westminster, and the Heralds' College, are at considerable distances, I get through a great deal of exercise as well as literary labour. " I dined yesterday at JEneas Macintosh's. It was quite a small party ; but there was a Sir James Hillyer there, an old navy captain bred by Lord Nelson, whom I took a great fancy to. Lady Hillyer and her daughter, a young unaf- fected girl, gave us in the evening some music in so exquisite a style, that I could not help wishing over and over again that my own Rachel had been sitting beside me. Miss Hillyer played the harp as finely as any professional perfor- mer, besides having a rich full voice, and no airs or trumpery. Her taste was admirable ; but the old Admiral insisted on joining, and sung out as if he had been hailing a French man of war, till his wife stopped him, and sent him away from the piano. It was a very funny scene, but the veteran bore it with perfect good humour." * "I must not forget to tell you about the party at the Duke of Sussex's. As far as splendid rooms, (7 or 8 in a suite.) and brilliant lighting could go, it was grand enough ; but the brilliance was cast upon as odd looking a set of old codgers, as ever my eyes lighted on. Some five or six hundred philosophers and antiquarians, poets, painters, artists of all descriptions, interspersed with some Bishops, prime Ministers, Earls, Marquises, and big wigs. " On the tables were models of machines, maps, mathe- matical instruments ; odd looking clocks, and strange unin- * To his wife, 1st March 1834. 1834.] THE ROYAL SOCIETY. 225 telligible contrivances. In one corner was a little fellow, with a huge head of white hair, and a face scarcely human, lecturing upon the pyramids to a circle of literati, some of them more odd looking than himself. In another part stood the Royal Duke, surrounded by a cluster of savans, talking very loud about the constellations and signs of the zodiac, in a voice like a child's penny trumpet. ... I saw Prince Talleyrand, a most inhuman looking old man, tottering under the weight of years, with long white hair flowing on his shoulders, and a face like a haggard old witch. Could I have had any one to point out to me the various eminent men who I daresay were there, it might have been much more entertaining ; but although I saw some antiquaries and keepers of manuscripts whom I knew, I could not bother them by asking questions, which at all times I detest doing." * At this time, in the prospect of an immediate vacancy in the keepership of the Records in the Chapter House, West- minster, several candidates for that office entered the field ; and Tytler's claims were powerfully urged upon Lord Grey, who was then Premier, and in whose gift the appointment rested. " The salary is 400/. a year," he writes : " the duties, exactly such as I am entitled, from my knowledge and experience, to think I can perform." It was, in fact, exactly the office for which his devotion to history, his en- lightened familiarity with ancient documents, his popular manners, and his energetic and conciliatory disposition, seemed to qualify him. His slender income and his wife's feeble health supplied an additional inducement; and he became very anxious to succeed. " Whichever way it may be decided," he says, " I have to bless GOD that there is impressed on my mind, (and it comes alone from Him!) the most sweet and certain conviction that if success is for To hii ii-lfc, 6th March 1834. Q 226 KEEPERSHIP OF THE RECORDS. [CHAP. IX. my real good, it will most assuredly be given. If I suc- ceed, it will be -with His blessing : if I fail, still it -will be with His blessing. Why then should I for a moment be anxious?" * Anxious, however, he was, as his letters show; and his unremitting exertions to complete his collections for his History, which was the business which had brought him to London, quite wore him out. " Amid my present toil," he writes to his beloved Rachel, " your letters are a most sweet consolation. They quite overcome me when I read them ; and I feel that whatever disappointment may come, to return and repose on such a heart, and be the object of such fond and wakeful love, is enough to work an imme- diate cure." f At the end of a few days, he learnt that the office had been bestowed upon another. " The place has been given to Sir Francis Palgrave : and now that it is all fixed, and my mind out of suspense, I bless GOD that He enables me to feel not only not disap- pointed, but happy, and quite assured that He, in His infinite Wisdom, has ordained all well. Every step I took in the affair, I have since carefully thought over ; and there is none that I would not repeat. I prayed constantly for guidance and direction, and have been enabled to act through- out in such a way, that all that is right, and open, and just has been on our side. . . . But it is a very long story, my beloved Rachel, and I will not attempt to give you the particulars till we meet, which please GOD will not I trust be long now. The affair, although ended as far as concerns the place being given, is not ended as to the consequences. The Record Commission, will I trust be brought before Parlia- ment; and I think it very likely, that it will be knocked on the head. No one has been more active in this matter than both Patrick Stewart, and Hibbert. Sydney Smith too, has * To hit wife, from 15 Gt. Maryborough Street, llth March, 1834. t To Aw vife, 22nd March, 1834. 1835.] MRS. TYTLER'S ILLNESS. 227 acted a very straightforward and friendly part ; and as for my dear Campbell, he absolutely bearded the lion in his den. It ought however to be said, in justice to Lord Grey, that all that he has done has been perfectly honourable and consistent." * When next he wrote, " The disappointment, (I scarcely ought to use so strong a word,) has been let fall so gently on me, that although at one time my hopes were sanguine, and I felt something of the joy of approach- ing independence, I can now say that my mind is perfectly peaceful and happy. I feel that all has been regulated by infinite Love, and perfect Wisdom. "f No further letters from Tytler to his wife remain to be quoted ; and I cannot take leave of his correspondence without declaring that I never before met with such a picture of entire and devoted affection. Many a passage I have thought too sacred for transcription. His love surely deepened as years went by, unchecked in its ardour even by those trials which a wife's protracted illness may be sup- posed to occasion. Solicitude about her health, anxiety about his little children, are the burthen of every letter ; and the rest is a picture of a soul overflowing with humble piety, and a mind which was never inactive. The early morning found him at his desk, and he begrudged every hour which was given to society. Before the end of April, he found himself again at Eothesay, surrounded by all that he loved best on earth. Early in 1885, Mr. Tytler in a letter to his brother-in- law adverted anxiously to his wife's state : but he little knew how ill she really was. " I do not think it at all pro- bable," (he wrote at the end of a week,) " that we shall attempt to pass another winter in Scotland ; and could I make it agree with my plan for finishing the History, To his wife, from 15 Gt. Marlborough Street, April 4th, 1834. f To his wife, April 9th, 1834. 228 DEATH OF MRS. TYTLER. [CHAP. IX. which is not impracticable, I think it would be very delight- ful if we could all settle for some years at Rome." * So unsuspectingly did he reckon on a future for his wife which was never to be realized ! Her disease, affectionately as he had watched its progress, had secretly made a rapid stride ; and it soon became apparent that the climate of Murieston was not nearly warm enough for so delicate a constitution as hers. The visit to London which he had meditated, was abandoned; and from being generally anxious, he became full of most distressing apprehensions. On the 25th of March, by the advice of the physicians, he conveyed his wife to Rothesay. " The weather was so calm," (he says,) " that Rachel lay all the voyage on deck, on her mattress, which we earned with us." She seemed already so much better, that her husband, with that blindness for which love is proverbial, hoped he beheld " the beginning of a perfect recovery." But every distressing symptom which had driven them from Murieston, speedily reappeared : she sunk from day to day; and on the 15th of April, full of pure and humble faith, sustained by a most blessed hope, and over- flowing with sweetest charity, she breathed away her gentle spirit in her husband's arms, murmuring the name of JESUS. * To Thomas Hog, Esq., 15th Jan. 1835. 1835.] TYTLER A WIDOWER. CHAPTER X. (18351837.) Tytler a widower Repairs with his children to Hampstead Campbell the sculptor Removal to Wimpole Street Disappointment Life of Henry VIII. The Persian princes Record Commission The Historical Society Death of his Mother. I WILL not linger over this epoch in Mr. Tytler's life. A certain document to which it would have been a melancholy pleasure to have had access, I do not find among his papers. He alludes more than once to a Diary of his wife's last ill- ness, the perusal of which seems to have afforded him great comfort during the first few months of his desolation. All the earlier pages of his next Diary, (begun at Newliston, May 4th, 1835,) are filled with those passionate yearnings in which grief (always eloquent!) at first spends itself. But I will not transcribe any of them. Every page is a page of tears. I will but say that the perusal of what I find written about this time, conveys a very touching picture of the effect of Religion on a good heart. All his most sacred sym- pathies appear to have become intensely quickened by his recent familiarity with one of the severest forms of sorrow. The language of pious resignation ever swallows up the language of heart-broken grief. There had been so much of blessedness in his wife's departure, that he was never weary of expressing his gratitude. Her lofty piety was to him a constant ' song in the night.' Hence it happened, that his heart was not so much in his wife's grave, as with her in her mysterious bliss : but because it was with her, it was dead to the world. Constant prayer, large daily study 230 TYTLER'S RELIGIOUS VIEWS. CHAP. X. of the Bible, and the religious education of his little children became now his constant occupation, and his only joy. His wife also had left behind her, in writing, some private me- morials on which he now fed incessantly. " Very edifying, altho' deeply affecting," he may well have found " the holy outpourings of that believing heart." I shall perhaps find no better place than the present for alluding to Mr. Tytler's religious views up to this period of his life. He was, as a young man, the disciple of a severe school of devotional sentiment. The doctrines of assurance, and of conscious acceptance with GOD, combined with a very lofty kind of spiritual experience, seem to have been its characteristic features. Let me once for all state that I have withheld, as irrelevant, some score of passages in my friend's letters to that most admirable woman which reflect the views above alluded to. How entirely compatible they are with entire self-abasement, great personal humility, an awful ap- prehension of GOD'S purity, these very letters would be sufficient to demonstrate. And I should be ashamed of my- self were I capable of withholding the further admission that I know of no school of religious opinion, (though I do not hold it to be altogether a true or a healthy one,) which seems to be capable of producing a closer walk with GOD, a loftier apprehension of unseen things, a more unearthly experience. It ought to be sufficient to say, in a word, that it was the school of the incomparable Leighton. My friend's children were now more than ever his com- panions. He delighted in their society to a far greater ex- tent than most parents ; and it was his constant endeavour to form in them those holy habits to which he owed his own purest happiness. His daughter has narrated to me many minute particulars of these early lessons. Thus, he taught them to give their last thoughts at night, their first waking thoughts in the morning, to GOD ; and he used to call this 1835.] HIS TRAINING OF HIS CHILDREN. 231 their ' little prayer.' He seldom failed, when taking a pleasant walk with them through a beautiful country, to lead their thoughts in gratitude up to 'the first Author of Beauty,'* whom he taught them to regard as a loving parent, ever near at hand. " At your happiest moments," (so he counselled them, and his very words at the end of many years have not been forgotten,) "lift up your whole heart to GOD, and thauk Him, as you would a loving Father, for all you enjoy. You can do this without attracting atten- tion, or being seen by others. You know it is (fa heart which GOD sees ! " The earliest thing they can call to mind of their Father was his own habit of constant prayer; the bent head and closed eyes, which, when they were in the fields with him, showed them how he was secretly engaged. Their first notion of reverence for holy places was obtained from observ- ing the intensity of his devotion in church. But there was no austerity, much less gloom in his disposition. With him, Sunday was a festival. " There is but one word," (writes his daughter,) " that can express the whole method and ex- tent of his teaching ; so powerful, so winning, so lovely, to us his children. That word is Lqve" For many years after their bereavement, at short intervals of time, it was his practice to show them their Mother's picture, (which he always kept veiled in his study,) and to discourse to them of her goodness, patience, beauty. " He would often ask us earnestly," (adds his daughter,) " if we remembered her ; and, as we looked at the picture, would lead us on to make any little remarks or criticisms about it, as compared with our ireeollectious of her, which showed that her image was clear in our minds : often recurring to little incidents or details of her last illness, repeating texts or pieces of poetry which she loved, and so connecting them * Wisdom xiii. 3. 232 BEREAVEMENT. [CHAP. X. evermore with her, (now, with him too !) It was seldom, I may say never, without tears that we listened to him. . . . From the very moment of our loss, our first experience of death, he seemed to wish every thing like gloom or dread banished from our thoughts of her. I feel this strongly when I look back upon these days of our first sorrow. Per- haps it was for this reason that we were not taken to look upon our Mother after death, that we might remember her still lovely, as we last saw her ; and dwell on her smile, her blessing, and the sweet spring flowers (auriculas) she gave us on our last visit to her, rather than on the quiet gloom, which is inseparable from the chamber of Death." That greatest sweetener of sorrow, the kindness and sym- pathy of near relatives, before whom the heart may pour out something of its suffocating fulness, my friend enjoyed at this season in no common degree. He passed the month of May at Newliston with his two admirable brothers-in-law, Mr. James and Mr. Thomas Hog : and though " full of thoughts and longings after his beloved Kaohel, contrasting the sweetness of the season and the increasing verdure and beauty of the country with his own blighted and desolate feelings," (to quote the sorrowful language of his Diary,) he was not insensible to the consolation which their congenial natures inspired. But many a pang is in store for those who sorrow as he sorrowed. It was necessary to make arrangements for his approaching departure: very bitter was the separation from Newliston : and the lonely visit to his tenantless house in Melville Street, in order to pack up his books for England, when he found himself surrounded by all the familiar objects which was associated with his former happiness, opened all his wounds afresh, and made him feel, as he says, " most desolate." " After this severe affliction," writes Miss Ann Fraser Tytler, in the MS. already quoted, "my Brother with his 1835.] CAMPBELL, THE SCULPTOR. 233 three children returned to reside with us again. They ar- rived at Milford House, Hampstead,* which we had taken for the summer, on the 13th June, 1835. This situation was particularly well adapted to my Brother's pursuits. He walked in, every day, to the State Paper Office, returning before dinner, and frequently bringing one or more of his friends with him ; and when detained in London for the night, finding a warm welcome at the house of his friend Campbell. " The commencement of his intimacy and interest in Campbell was of long standing. He discovered him when a mere boy in a marble-cutter's shop ; and was struck by some rude attempts he had made in modelling. On further acquaintance, finding he possessed both intelligence and genius, he gave him for a considerable time lessons in French and Italian, having him in his room early every morning before his Parliament House duties began ; and often indeed before he was out of bed, for Campbell's ambi- tion to acquire information quite equalled his master's will- ingness to instruct. My Brother, being unable to advance money himself for sending him to Rome, with the assistance of some others, induced Mr. Innes of Stow, a gentleman of very large fortune, to advance the requisite sum. This money was afterwards repaid by Campbell, with interest. His subsequent career is too well known to require notice. " Our summer at Milford House passed pleasantly away. We had many kind friends, and we were besides a large family party. James Fraser having just returned from his Government Mission in Persia, he and my sister were con- stantly with us. He had innumerable amusing stories and adventures to relate ; and his wonderfully varied powers of conversation, both as a means of interesting and relaxing my Brother's mind, was of infinite use." * In that part of llampstead called DownsLire Hill. 214 SPIRITUAL IMPRESSIONS. [CHAP. X. In the course of the autumn of this year, Mr. Tytler addressed his hrother-in-law, (Mr. Maitland Makgill,) as follows : " Milford House, Sept. 8th 1835. " My dear David, I am much less busy than you give me credit for, and feel little of that vigour and engrossing interest in my literary work, which I once had to (what I believe was) a sinful extent. Sometimes I trust that this is a favourable symptom of spiritual growth, and if I felt an increasing energy in the performance of my Christian duties, then I should be sure that I was really pressing forward on the narrow road, but alas, here I have matter for much humiliation. " I feel indeed the utter vanity of every earthly thing to give happiness, and the utter insufficiency of such dreams as honor or fame or literary distinction to satisfy the desires of an immortal spirit : but I do not feel as I ought, I do not feel intensely and joyfully, the all-sufficiency of GOD ; the perfect blessedness of a union with CHRIST. My mind dwells too constantly on what I have lost, and far too little on the love and mercy and tenderness which were so signally mingled with the cup of my sorrow. " I have often thought that there was no one feature of the Christian character more remarkable in the few last years of my beloved Rachel's life, than her deep sense of sin, her mourning and weeping over her unworthiness, at- tended as it was especially in these last years by a stedfast resting on her SAVIOUR; and I have often thought on my own inferior convictions, and tearless prayers, with sorrow and distrust of my own state. The same thing is very striking in the writings and reflections she has left, and which are a source of great comfort and spiritual edification to me, though I sometimes dare not read them : they shake me so much. 1835.] DEPUTY KEEPERSHIP OP STATE PAPERS. 235 " I know not whether Jem or Tom told you that I was a candidate for the Deputy Keepership of the State Pnper Office, but unsuccessful. My great temptation was to have a complete command of the manuscript stores, which I be- lieve I could have made useful and available as sources of history. As far as I can understand, there was no objection to me except that I did not support the Government." " The following winter," (says Miss Tytler,) " we took a house in Wimpole Street, large enough to contain the whole party; as, from James Fraser being employed in the Foreign Office, he and my sister were detained in London at that time for many months." Thence, he wrote to his favourite brother-in-law, Mr. Thomas Hog, as follows : " Do you get up, as you intended, at 4 ? If so, I admire you more than I can easily express ; for, with all my efforts, 7 or a quarter past, is the highest pitch to which my virtue has yet reached. In my solitary walks thro' London, I miss you very much, and felt melancholy the other day in passing the shops in Wardour Street, where the old carvings and pic- tures that had so often arrested us were looking as curious and seductive as before, but with no Tom beside me to dis- cuss their merits, or conjecture as to the Masters. I try however to see things on the bright side, and to persuade myself that you will not be long absent. I go on now, un- interruptedly at the State Paper Office. I am examining the murder of Rizzio, and daily find new facts. Had I ob- tained the place I wanted, I believe I should not have had such exclusive time to devote to my History ; and could I get permission to work from 10 till 4, instead of from 11 till 3, I think I should be happier than if I were Keeper himself." Mr. Hog relates a characteristic anecdote of his kinsman, which I presume belongs to the present occasion. About ten years before, Tytler had told him of a Highlander on a 236 HISTORIOGRAPHER FOR SCOTLAND. [CHAP. X. visit to Edinburgh from a small toun, where every one knows every thing belonging to his neighbours, man, beast, chair, or stool; who, accordingly, on observing a cat run across the High Street, gravely inquired of his friend, 'Fa's cat's tat ? ' (Whose cat is that ?) " Many years after- wards," says Mr. Hog, " when I first came up to London, and was walking with P. F. T. in the Strand, on seeing a handsome carriage pass, I asked him in my simplicity, (for I then knew every gentleman's equipage in Edinburgh,) whose carriage that was? He whispered me in reply, 'Fa's cat's tat ? ' " " It was on the 15th February of the next year, (1836,)" proceeds Miss Tytler, " that my Brother was informed of the death of Dr. Gillies, Historiographer for Scotland, [at the age of 89.] This event had been looked forward to for some time, and much interest had been made for my Brother. The Chancellor, Lord Holland, and James Aber- cromby, the Speaker, being in his favour ; and a general opinion prevailing amongst both parties, that his Scottish researches made him more eligible than any other person for the situation, we cherished the strongest hopes. Soon after, there is the following notice in his common-place book: 'I was disappointed in my desire to be made Historiographer, to which I thought I had by my labours and writings in Scottish History, a good claim. Politic?, and the Lord Advocate, carried it against me.' Thus mildly does he mention what must have been such a disap- pointment to him. The emolument was nothing; it was the name that would have given him pleasure. " In a conversation he had with Lady Holland soon after, when expressing his regret, she mentioned that his claim to that office had been so fully recognized, that it had been awarded to him, and that for 24 hours he actually was Historiographer; when political interest alone, even then, 1836.] DISAPPOINTMENT. 237 turned the scale, and the post was given to one of the opposite party." "At the very last moment, "(writes one of his friends,) " an official personage stopped it, and procured the appointment of Mr. G. Brodie, Advocate ; a worthy and able man ; yet with claims far inferior to those of Mr. Tytler, to whom the office had been already given" His sister, Mrs. J. Baillie Fraser, in a letter written 14 years afterwards, when application had been unsuccessfully made on behalf of Tytler's eldest son for some subordinate appointment in a Government Office, thus recalls the trans- action : " It has just brought to my remembrance what passed on a similar occasion, (though there, the promise of the post of Historiographer for Scotland had been actually made to his dear Father,) when a change of Ministry, un- looked for, took place. Still, we thought it a settled thing, and were hourly expecting the confirmation. I remember well that day. On our dear one coming in from his walk, Isabella met him in the lobby, and put into his hand the letter which we believed confirmed our hope. He opened it : his face flushed, and the tears started into his eyes. He only said, ' I am not to be Historiographer,' and passed into his room. We knew it was to pray. In a short time, he came up to the drawing-room, his countenance so serene and holy. He kissed dear Isa, who looked so sad, saying ' I was very foolish, very wrong, to desire aught of earthly distinction ; but it is past. All is well. We will think no more of it.' And smiling sweetly, he turned to play with his children. Thus it ever was with our loved one !"* To the state of the political world at this very juncture, my friend has the following allusions in a letter written just before: " You are coming up just at the best time for any one who wishes to hear, the debates in Parliament, and to To Mrs. P. F. Tytler, dated Rome, 20th Feb. [1850.] 238 PARTY FEELING. [CHAP. X. one deeply interested in the political contentions of the present day, the debates will be very attractive. I fear you will think me almost apathetic on the subject. There is so much virulence, personality, and exaggeration on both sides, that I really know not where to find truth, or what to believe. The collision of parties has produced so much rancorous feeling. Even in what we call the religious world, that love and charity and peace, all the blessed fruits which are the evidences of the Gospel having taken possession of the heart, which show that JESUS has been with us, and that \ve are in Him, seem almost to have left the earth. I am sometimes inclined to doubt whether these great Protestant associations, with the excitement of feelings produced by public meetings, the eloquent harangues, the appeals to the passions, and speeches taken from Fox's Martyrology, are calculated to promote the end they have in view, the establishment of the Gospel in the hearts of the people. Yet I know the deceitfulness of my own heart too well to think that this spirit of quietism which I feel so strongly, is all right. Some of it may be, and I fervently trust is, derived from that union with CHRIST, which is the most glorious privilege even of the feeblest believer; but some is from a wish to avoid a crowd, a turmoil, which is painful ; the same kind of instinct that makes a bird which has been Bore wounded creep under banks and sedges. " I slip this shabby little letter into a parcel to Oliver and Boyd. It goes with the last sheet of Henry VHIth who has been very long in making his appearance." * The work thus alluded to had been indeed a long time in hand. In April 1834, the author hoped he should be able to finish it in three or four months. The last sheet, however, as we see, was not sent to the publisher until February 1836 ; * To D^vul Maitiand Malgill, Esq., dated 22 Wimpole St. Feb. 4, 1836. 1836.] PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 239 and, though the preface is dated March 15th 1836, the work itself did not appear until the end of January 1837.* Before resuming Miss Tytler's MS., I may mention that it is from this period that I date my friendship with her brother. We first met at Mr. Rogers', in St. James' Place; but did not become acquainted until I met him (19th De- cember, 1835,) at the Chev. Brondsted's, a learned Danish antiquary and accomplished traveller, who was lodging at Pagliano's in Leicester Square. The party at Broudsted's being small, and my own youthful pursuits being of a kindred nature to Mr. Tytler's, I remember regarding him as a lawful prize, and making the most of the opportunity to discover from him something about the nature and extent of the MS. stores in our great national repositories. Enthu- siastic he certainly found me, and observant, if not learned, in such matters. The first note I ever received from him, (February, 1836,) reminds me that I called his attention to the curious Common-place Book of Lord Burghley's among the Lansdowne MSS., which contained several entries of interest to himself. His affability, and the patience with which, though his years fully doubled mine, he surrendered himself for the whole evening to so unprofitable a conver- sationist, I well remember; as well as the gratification I experienced at forming the acquaintance of one whose tastes and whose manners were so entirely congenial. There was no want of vivacity in his conversation ; but the air of melancholy impressed on his countenance struck me very much. Little indeed did I think, at the time, that at the end of twenty years, I should be so engaged as at this instant I am, with the story of his private life and with the * ' Life of King Henry VIII., founded on authentic and original documents, some of them never before published.' This work also formed a volume of Messrs. Oliverand Ien air till it began to smoke : then all of a sndden it blazed up, and they ran with it, into the hut, where they had plenty of dry fire-wood dug out of the peat moss, and in a few minutes a fire blazed up, clearer and brighter than any I ever saw before. The wood is so dry and full of resin that it gives a charming flame, and emits also, a sweet fragrance." 276 DAY-BREAK ON BEN MUIK DHUI. [CHAP. XIL party, (he said,) were so pelted with large stones in the course of the night, that they were all forced to evacuate their wretched quarters and come abroad. A ' little green woman' also contributed to the terror. "Well might he have deprecated a repetition of the experiment with such inferior odds! . . . The keepers now left us, after helping to pull a pile of heather for our bed, over which we spread our plaids. I took one look at the scene from the door of our hut before lying down, the awful beauty of which I yet remember. The glooming had stolen slowly and softly over every peak and hill, with an effect which is indescribable. Our bothy was pervious to the sky, and we saw the stars keeping bright watch above us, as, packed close together be- neath our plaids, we yielded to the sense of weariness and fell asleep, our Highlanders jabbering all the while over the fire. The first ray of sunshine aroused us. For myself, I awoke with a start, and remembered : ran out of the bothy, and witnessed ' the morning spread upon the mountains,' or rather upon the mountain-ta^s, in such a sort as I could never have imagined. Such a panorama ! such amazing stillness and wildness ! The summit of every mountain, (for we had reached the height of the tops of the surrounding moun- tains,) already kindling in the early sunshine, assumed a thousand tints of indescribable softness and beauty; while a winding wreath of blue mist stretching far away, indicated the sinuosities of the glen along which we had travelled the day before. At about 6, we proceeded across a tract of decomposed granite, where we put up ptarmigan in abundance. One peep at Loch Aune alone would have been worth the whole journey. Its exquisite loveliness is truly indescribable. Imagine a sky of cobalt; cliffs, brown purple and grey, all around ; and a lake of the colour of a greenish turquoise, still as Death, held in a hollow of the mountains ! Its clearness 1839.] VIEW FROM THE SUMMIT. 277 and coldness when we reached the spot, were surprising. Cameron caught some trout. At about 9, we readied the shelter- stone, which a person might easily visit Locli Aune without discovering ; inasmuch as prodigious masses of rock, as if by the sport of giants, are piled about on every side. Indeed, some of them are shelter-stones on a smaller scale. The large stone covers a cavity about twelve feet square ; the space within, varying in height from one to six feet. Every spot here has a Gaelic name, which the guides gave us in English; as ' the brown dog's path,' ' the black burn of Bai- noch,' 'the milk run,' ' the milk burn,' (a common epithet of streams which whiten with foam,) and ' Fingal's ford.' Here we broiled our trout, and on a huge flat stone, well known ia that locality, breakfasted. At 11, we again got under way. The road was difficult We had to follow to its source the small cataract which feeds Loch Aune, and streams down over a face of flat granite, up which we had to climb. On gaining the summit, we beheld glittering in the sunshine (on the 21st of August !) a broad tract of newly fallen snow. The air was intensely cold while we traversed it, being our- selves as hot as on a summer's day, and the view was sur- passing lovely. The mountain called Cairn Gorm stood out bold and clear, and with a glass we descried the eagles soar- ing about it, like motes in -.the sunbeam. Then came the peculiar feature of the locality we had reached, rough rocks confusedly piled one upon another, for miles, all the way tip to the summit of Ben Muik Dhui, which we reached at 2 o'clock. Snow had fallen the day before, and hung in large crystals about the heap of stones which marks the summit of the mountain. Here, a keeper encountered us, to our mutual surprise ; and pointed out the Lomonds in Fife, (15 miles from Edinburgh,) as well as Ben Nevis. The panorama was gorgeous. The sea we saw, of course. Our guides said that they had never witnessed such a day on 278 A DAY AT AVIEMORE. [CHAP. XII. the mountain in nil their time. On beginning to descend, we drank from a spring, (the highest I suppose in Great Britain,) which welled up at our feet, and contributed its clear ice-cold waters to the lake far below. Next we descended a pre- cipitous declivity ; and at length found ourselves patiently plodding our way along the glen of Rothiemurehus, (such a wild place !) where an interminable succession of large rough stones, piled about in heaps, had to be traversed. At 6, we emerged from this wilderness, wound our way through the wood of Rothiemurchus, crossed the water of Glenmore on the backs of our guides, and by nightfall reached the Spey. The river is rapid, and the night was so dark, that instead of attempting the nearest passage, Tytler judged it more prudent that we should cross the river at the usual place, some few miles further down, where a Highland girl ferried us over by moonlight. And thus, at 11 o'clock at night, we reached the Aviemore Inn on the Highland road, having walked between 30 and 40 miles, and feeling completely weary. The next day afforded a singular contrast to its pre- decessor : the aspect of external nature so sweet and grey, or rather purple ! and there, under the shade of those quiet birches, and in the neighbourhood of that bold bluff rock which supplies the Grants with their war-cry, 'Stand fast! Craig Ellachie,' we enjoyed a ramble to which, in after years, we always reverted with pleasure. All was so still and peaceful, so exactly in unison with the tone of mind which commonly follows upon moments of excitement. Tytler spoke to me, for the first time, with entire confidence and freedom, about his adored Rachel and her two angelic sisters ; and with many tears, and more kindness than I can describe, opened his heart to me on many incidents of his life. Such details fade from the memory after many years, if no memo- randum is made of them at the time, (and I made none ;) especially if no single association, beyond your love for the individual speaker, is present to your mind while you listen. 1839.] ALDOURIE. MONTACK. 279 On the other hand, the general impression of the day we passed at the Aviemore Inn together, will never be obliterated from my memory. I remember his showing me his Rachel's portrait, the last object on which he always gazed at night Such a walk does more to ripen friendship than a year of ordinary intercourse in London The mail proved to be full, so at a late hour we posted to Inverness, which we reached at 4 in the morning ; crossing Culloden moor in far too sleepy a state to see the lights or the phantom steeds which the Highlanders declare are visible on the battle-field at night. The morrow found us happily established under the hos- pitable roof of my friend's eldest brother, who was then sheriff of Inverness-shire, William Fraser Tytler, Esq., of Aldourie, on the banks of Loch Ness. His affectionate shout, ' Where is the villain ?' on learning from his daughters that ' Uncle Peter ' had arrived, rings in my ears even now. It seemed quite strange to find ourselves suddenly trans- ported into a scene of so much elegance and refinement, after our recent experiences. The place itself was also exceed- ingly beautiful, and the family truly delightful. After a few bright days, (the brightness of them can never fade away !), we went over to Moniack, the seat of my friend's brother-in- law, James Baillie Fraser, Esq., the well-known traveller and author of so many popular works. Here, a fresh scene of graceful hospitality awaited us, and more kindness than it would be right to dwell upon in this place. Yet is it im- possible to recur to days of such unclouded sunshine, with- out a passing allusion of gratitude and delight, even while the swelling heart aches at the thought that both those kind friends, as well as he to whom I owed the blessing of their friendship, may never more be seen by me on this side of eternity Of the few brief entries in Tytler's pocket- book at this time, I select the following : " 27th August. Took a delightful drive to the Dream and the Falls of Kil- 280 HIGHLAND SCENERY. [CHAP. XII. raorack. Thought much of my beloved Rachel, with whom I had visited this scenery in 1834. I am now left alone, but my dear children are spared ; and oh, how constantly is her image present ! " The Sheriff persuaded Tytler and myself to accompanyhim on an official tour which he was about to make to the Isle of Skye ; and on the 2d of September we started : Bannatyne, the Sheriff's son, (now Colonel Tytler, C.B., a very gal- lant soldier,*) being the only other individual of our party. Down Loch Ness to Fort Augustus and Fort William, we went by steam, stopping to admire the Fall of Foyers in our way. How vain it seemed to sketch the outlines of scenery of such varied loveliness, where colour was everything, and that was changing every quarter of an hour ! The exquisite beauty of the hills quite captivated the imagination; Ben Nevis especially, which we beheld in all its evening gran- deur, wreathed about with clouds, patched with snow, and spiritualized by the twilight, until it became a sentiment. We visited Invergarry Castle and Lochie Castle, the latter a noble ruin of the 13th century, (the walls about 12 feet thick,) and next morning- proceeded from Fort William (where the Sheriff held a court) along the bank of Loch Eil, which was the loveliest sight we had yet witnessed. It was early morning. The air was breathless, the sun bright, and the mist was slowly gathering up like a curtain from the sur- face of the water, which reflected the hills (and such hills !) with wondrous fidelity. Two herons were seen soaring over the breast of the lake. There were also two boats full of fishermen, whose very faces were mirrored in the unruffled * Late Brevet Lieut. Colonel in the Indian Army. He acted as Assistant Quarter-Master-General with General Havelock's Army, during Havelock's arduous and splendid campaign ; in which Bannatyne so greatly distinguished himself, as to be repeatedly mentioned in the highest terms in Haveloek's dispatches. The result was that he was appointed by her Majesty Colonel in the British Army, 'for distinguished services in the Field,' and C.B. 1839.] HIGHLAND SCENERY. 281 waters. Then we traversed Glen Finnan, full of grand specimens of the original Scotch fir, ' thro* the noblest scenery I ever saw,' writes my friend : ' the old pine-trees colossal in size, and in their forms the most picturesque things in the world.' Loch Sheill next came to view, also like a mirror. It seemed the crowning incident of beauty where everything was surpassingly lovely. All so bright, and still, and exquisite around it ! It was like a dream of fairy land, only one had never dreamed of anything half so fair : 'the combination of beauty and grandeur,' writes Tytler, 'sur- passes anything I have ever seen.' Before us was the pillar which marks the spot where Prince Charles Edward, (for in society, there were still found elderly people who looked grave and displeased when I called him ' the Pretender/) planted his standard on landing in 1745, and where he held his first council of war. How spirit-stirring was it to stand on that spot, at the self-same time of year, and to have the mountain-passes pointed out down which some of the clans came pouring, while gleaming arms and wild pibrochs gave notice of their approach ! The beauty of the scene, looking down the jutting headlands of that lake, was simply unutter- able. But on returning at the end of an hour, the effect was entirely changed. A light breeze had sprung up, and hardly a single tint remained the same. Our route lay through Glen Fillan and round the beautiful Loch Rainachan, the scenery still exquisite. ' I have never seen anything finer anywhere/ writes my friend, who abandoning his fishing- rod more than once came to draw by my side. At sunset we saw the sea, and the Scaur of Eig as it is called, and at last reached Arisaig, which is the extreme point of the main- land. The next day we went on to Skye, and established ourselves at Broadford. Here, our plan was to visit Corriusk and Glen Sliga- ISLE OF SKYE. [CHAP. XII. chan ; which, from the accounts we obtained, must certainly be by far the most remarkable scenery in Scotland ; and thence, next day to go on to Portree, where the sheriff was to have held his court. But illness prevented him from executing his intention, and the weather foiled us. It rained inces- santly. We ordered ponies and guides for the following morning, in hopes of better luck : but the rain was inces- sant, and the guides declined undertaking the expedition. If I remember right, a part of the feat of visiting Corriusk was said to consist in creeping along a narrow pathway on the side of a rock which affords but a precarious foot-hold. It was a great disappointment ; but our obvious alternative was to expend our enthusiasm on some object a little nearer home. Tytler thus writes in his pocket-diary, "Johnny amused himself in an attempt to excavate a Norwegian barrow, hiring Skye labourers, and encouraging them with extraordinary attempts to speak Gaelic, calling them ' calves of his heart,' and giving them plenty of whisky. But the rain fell in torrents, and the rogues struck work, much to Johnny's distress; and mine too, for I would have given a great deal to have seen his success." It was indeed an extraordi- nary cairn, and it stood in a locality of extraordinary interest too. Nothing can be imagined more picturesque than the scene presented by the motley group which assembled in the foreground; while the sea and the grey mountains spread beyond ; and behind us, wreathed about with ribbons of mist, up soared a conical hill, on the summit of which, Haco, King of Norway, is said to have buried his old nurse, in order that her grave at least might be fanned by the winds which blew from her native land. As for the cairn, I discovered nothing in the part which I excavated ; though a singular subterranean chamber at one extremity, which had been revealed by accident, convinced me that there was something 1839.] A HUMOURIST. 283 to discover ; and that if I could have dug a little longer, I should have discovered it.* We left Skye on Saturday, 7th September. The Swift, revenue cutter, wafted us and a most agreeable party of ladies to Balmacarra in Ross-shire, where Mrs. Lillingston received us with infinite kindness ; and we reached Loch Carron at night, having traversed an enchanting country. We stopped at Jeantown, a long straggling village full of children, most picturesquely situated ; and on the next day, Sunday, travelled along the banks of the lake, amid splendid old hills, until we reached Craig Inn. Here the Sheriff read the Service to us ; and thence we repaired by appointment to the shooting quarters of a gentleman whose acquaintance we had made at breakfast, (Mr. William Steuart of Glenor- miston, Peebles) who with his nephew, Mr. Finlay, gave us a hearty welcome to Loch Kosque. It would be impossible indeed to convey the least idea of the original racy humour, and irresistible drollery of our host. At the end of twenty years I remember the effect of his stories, which convulsed us all four with laughter till we fairly cried. After dispatch- ing his grouse, we sat listening to his endless reminiscences for about five hours, weary only of laughing. I have sometimes thought that it would be interesting to classify wits and humourists : but how many individuals would form a class apart ! Quite sui generis, certainly, was our new acquaintance. I see him now, flushed and excited with the fun of the coming story. It is about some famous character, whose voice and manner he can reproduce exactly. He has said enough to relax the muscles of every face, and he hastens to deepen the impression by quick, telling strokes, until he has established the beginning of a contagious laugh. Then he starts up from his seat, raises his voice, and bend- An account of this Cairn appeared in the Gentleman's Magazine for January, 1841. MONIACK. [CHAP. XII. ing over the table, accompanies all that follows with gestures which enforce what he says, and supply what he omits. You rock in your seat with merrinient,but he gives you no quarter. Changing his voice, he reveals, in broader and broader Scotch, some ulterior consequence of the story, so preposterous and unexpected, that fresh shouts of laughter are elicited from the exhausted party. At last he falls back himself, faint at the excess of his own fun, and joins powerfully in the general chorus On your return home, you do your best to reproduce the story : but on your lips it seems to have a marvellous small amount of mirth in it. The spirit has surely evaporated. A faint smile is all that follows. From Loch Rosque we made the best of our way to the Auchanault Inn; and next evening returned home, having passed many lovely lakes, and paid a pleasant visit at Brahan Castle, the seat of the Seaforths. With my friend's brother-in-law and sister at Moniack, we spent a delightful week ; making short excursions into the neighbourhood, and visiting the Lovats at Beaufort Castle, and ' the Princes/ as two gentlemen named Stewart, residing in the romantic Isle of Aigais, and supposed descendants of the Pretender, styled themselves. Here, the royal arms encountered us over the doorway ; and within, were several indications of Koyalty, together with not a few indifferent historical pictures. One portentous piece which represented the landing of the Pretender, Tytler insisted was a repre- sentation of Noah coming out of the Ark. The gentlemen were inoffensive, and seemed good-natured and amiable. The resemblance of the elder brother to the portrait of Charles I. was certainly extraordinary. But I was now reluctantly obliged to bid farewell to the Highlands, and return south. [ have therefore no excuse for continuing my story any further. 1839.] THE HIGHLANDS. 285 CHAPTEK XIII. (18391842.) Tytler proceeds with his History The State Paper Office His Daughter's account of him among his children Letters to them and to myself Second edition of the History Tytler's piety and playfulness. TYTLER lingered behind in the Highlands for another month. On the 27th September, he writes in his pocket- book, "Walked over the hill by Glach Ossian to Antfield: taking leave of dear Jeanie, and sweet Moniack. It was a lovely day, and the view from the hill above Dochfour, en chanting, the whole country bathed in a rich golden air tint, and Loch Ness stretching out in a sheet of silver. I was happy, and very grateful to GOD for my eyes. Benedi- cite omnia opera, came into my mind." A yet earlier entry may be perused with interest : " 20th Sept. Drove into In- verness with Sir J. Me Neill and Mr. Wedderburn and the ladies, and visited Culloden Moor. Mr. Wedderburn's grandfather and father were both in the battle on Prince Charles' side, in Ogilvy's regiment. The grandfather (Sir John Wedderburn of Blackness) was tried and executed on Kennington Common. The father, then a mere youth of 16, escaped from the field and after lurking about, got clear off. The madness of the Prince's troops in fighting, is most extraordinary. There was strong ground too, in the neigh- bourhood." Soon after my return home, Mr. Tytler addressed me as follows : "Moniack, 26th Sept. 1839. " My dear Johnny. I have not yet quite recovered your leaving me, but I comfort myself with the idea that we shall soon, please GOD, meet again; and in the meantime, I con- 286 ALDOCRIE. [CHAP. XIIL verse with Sir Thomas Gresham, with whom as far as I have yet gone, I am much delighted ; hut old Mrs. Fraser pays him such devoted attention that often I cannot get a peep at him. She clings to him as closely as old Lazarus Tucker did to his ducats, and not only by day, hut takes him to her hedroom at night, which is wrong. From all this I augur that the old hoy is a'pleasant companion, and far from so dry a stick as a certain little * used to represent him. " I am in hopes that before leaving this, I shall hear some- thing precise and definite regarding the manuscripts of the Scots' College at Paris, reported to have been brought to the Roman Catholic College near Aberdeen. The other day I plucked up courage and rode to Eskadale, (you remember the beautiful situation of the little Chapel built by Lord Lovat, and the priest's cottage beside it ?) where I was received very hospitably by the Rev. Mr. Mac Swein, and learned from him that he had seen some of the original letters from Mary to her Ambassador ; that Dr. Kyle, the Catholic Bishop, had transcribed some of them; and that the rest were either in his possession, or at the College at Blairs. I hope when we meet again to be able to give you some ac- count of these interesting stores. And yet, after all, they may turn out to be only a portion of the letters of the Scots' College, already published by Keith. Nous verrons. " To-day, I leave this sweet place for Autfield ; whence I shall proceed south. We passed lately a delightful day in the woods of Aldourie, William showing us where he meant to build his new house, and the whole family circle listening to his plans, and suggesting their own emendations. I will not tell the little - what was said about him, or how often his name rose to our lips, lest it should make him more of a - - than he is already." The seventh volume of his History of Scotland provided * One of the many ludicrous names be used playfully to bestow upon myself. 1839.] TYTLER'S VIITH VOLUME. 287 my friend with abundant occupation all the ensuing winter, which he spent in Devonshire Place in the manner most congenial to him, surrounded by his children and his books. He had now, in fact, reached the most picturesque and interesting part of his great subject, that juncture in Scottish History over which the great novelist has flung the splendid mantle of his genius ; causing it to glow with all the gorgeous hues of Romance. But, what is remarkable, when Truth, (ever ' stranger than Fiction,') comes to relate the most striking passages in Queen Mary's fortunes, her escape from Lochleven Castle, for instance, the novelist finds himself surpassed in the strangeness and picturesque- ness of the narrative which History is instructed to deliver. Tytler had been put in possession of many new and import- ant documents; partly, by his diligent examination of the treasures in the State Paper Office, until then wholly unex- plored ; partly, by documents which had been communicated to him by Prince Labanoff. His Vllth volume begins by establishing the implication of John Knox in Eiccio's mur- der, (1565;) and carries on the eventful story of the Scot- tish Queen, down to the year 1574, when her cause became desperate; throwing new light on Darnley's murder, Botb- well's Trial, the Marriage of Mary with Bothwell, and the plots of Queen Elizabeth against the life of the Scottish Queen. The volume, when it appeared in the Autumn of 1840, attracted great attention; but, as might, have been anticipated, the historical proof that the stain of blood rests ou the name of the great Scottish Keformer, was regarded as little short of blasphemy in Scotland, among the Presbyte- rians. A long, severe, and unfair review of the History appeared, in consequence, in the North British .Review a Free-Church and rigid Presbyterian Quarterly. The origin- ality of Tytler's work was impugned : his many discoveries were ignored; and his conscientious conviction of John TYTLER'S vn VOLUME. [CUAP. xm. Knox's guilt denounced with considerable wrath and bitter- ness. Would not John himself rather have gloried in the charge, than been ashamed of it ? While on the subject of this Vllth volume, the esteemed publisher of Mr. Tytler's great work has a fair claim to be heard. " One of the most conspicuous among his good qualities," observes Mr. Tait, " was his conscientiousness. No historian ever studied more earnestly to be impartial. His entire honesty was severely tested by his history of Queen Mary : for never did a man entertain a more affec- tionate reverence for his literary ancestor, than he for his ancestor William Tytler, the defender of Mary's innocence. As the History proceeded, I watched with much interest and considerable anxiety, what line Mr. Tytler would take, when he should come to discuss the conduct of the Scottish Queen. But his impartiality and high moral feeling came out triumphant over all his natural prejudices ; and he arrived at that conclusion which I supposed would settle the question for ever, so overwhelming is the proof of her guilt. Accordingly, when this part of the History appeared, the public acquiesced generally in Mr. Tytler's conclusion. Yet, strange to say, there has been at least one instance of a writer, and a clever one too, maintaining Mary's inno- cence ; after Robertson, Laing, and above all, Tytler." * It was at this juncture, (November 1839,) that he also printed for private circulation, certain letters which had passed between the Home Office, the State Paper Office, and himself, regarding an interdict which had been put upon his researches into English History. f The interdict was speedily removed, and the pamphlet (at the request of Lady Holland) so carefully suppressed, that I suspect not more than two or three copies, at most, are at this time in private * From a letter of Mr. Tait to myself. t The pamphlet was printed by Bentley, pp. 32. 1839.] STATE PAPER OFFICE. 289 hands. No further allusion therefore seems necessary to the subject. " The root of the evil I believe to be," (to adopt, as I cordially may, my friend's words,) " that the State had turned publishers and historians, instead of leaving that task to the activity and enterprise of literary men."* He alludes to the same subject in the following letter to his brother-in-law. " Athenaeum, Nov. 21st, 18:i9. " My dear James, I have been determining to write to you for many days, but I wished to give you some intelli- gence about Bentley and his notions as to your Travels, and your new Eastern Tale In the meantime, as to my own occupations, I am now fairly and uninterruptedly at work again at the State Paper Office with my Vllth volume; but they gave me much annoyance, by refusing me even for Scottish history, t\^e English and Foreign Correspondence; H 's orders being to confine me solely to the Scottish papers. They might just as well shut the door on me at once ; for it is in the English and French letters that I have often found my most valuable information. Against this limited interpretation of Lord John's last order, I pro- tested ; and finding as usual no redress, I wrote to Mr. Phillipps, laying the case before Lord Normanby, and requesting access, as before, to all the Correspondence in the office, for my Scottish History. This he has granted me, tho' not without a strict injunction that I am to use it solely for Scottish purposes ; so that I am once more on my old ground, with my old rights .... " I breakfasted yesterday with Sydney Smith, quite alone, except his son. He is full of jokes and in the highest spirits. It \\as in consequence of a note he wrote me to come and talk de rebus Hob/wit sicis (as he styled it) ; and lie is quite keen for me to make the whole Correspondence public, and I quote from p. 21, of the pamphlet referred to. tl 290 TYTLER \VITH HIS CHILDREN. [CHAP. XIII. petition the House. He says that I could get every thing my own way, my case is so strong. This is also the feeling of Lord Northampton, with whom I had a long conversation this morning, and who expresses himself in the strongest possible terms. " I must not forget to tell you Sydney Smith's last joke. Speaking of his friend Tom Macaulay and his unpopularity at Court, he said,' As for Tom, I always knew he was nothing but a book in breeches.' Sydney told me this had been repeated to .... And now, dear James, as this fills up my paper, I must have done, with kindest love to Jeanie." Throughout the ensuing Spring and Summer, we met frequently. Many a note from himself recalls the memory of pleasant hours when he was a guest at my Father's house, or we spent a long afternoon together. But a far better idea of the man, and of that domestic interior of which he was the sun and centre, will be derived from the following graceful reminiscences of his daughter, who was then a very little girl, than by anything I could myself supply. "Every evening when my brothers and I came into des- sert, we had a little music with our dear Father, and learned some songs from him, chiefly those of the old English masters. But Tommy especially delighted Papa by his quickness in catching any air, from the commonest organ- tune in the street, to the most elaborate Italian song he might hear in the drawing room. I remember the glee excited by his humming ' Duncan Gray ' before he was two years old; so that* as Papa said, 'Tommy could sing, before he could speak.' " Many were the catches which we learned to sing with our dear Father, who used to moderate his tones not to drown our childish voices. His voice always seemed to me so mellow and beautiful. There must have been something 1839.] TYTLER WITH HIS CHILDREN. 291 sad and thrilling in its tones : that indescribable something, which one hears and loves, even though it brings tears ; for always, when he sang to us ' Black eyed Susan,' I used to feel a choking sensation, and had to run quickly away, lest I should cry. "At one time we used to sing with him every evening that beautiful thing of Purcell's, to Shakspeare's words, ' Where the bee sucks, there lurk I.' Also, ' Come unto these yellow sands ;' ending, ' Hark, hark I hear the strain of chanticleer;' and for the strain of chanticleer, Papa generally concluded with such a crow, as would have roused all the cocks in the neighbourhood, had there been any in or about Devonshire Place. " I call to mind an anecdote I have heard related of my dear Father, when a young man. He was returning with some friends into the country, one morning, from a ball, (I fancy all sleepy enough ;) when Papa put his head out of the carriage- window, and gave forth such a ' strain of chan- ticleer,' as roused all the sober cocks in the neighbourhood, and crow followed on crow, till both cocks and company were fairly roused from their slumbers. " Scarcely less was our delight when he sang to us that part of Handel's ' Acis and Galatea,' beginning with the beautiful air, (it always struck me as touchingly beautiful when he sang it,) ' The flocks shall leave the mountains.' We used to picture the cruel giant Polyphemus, (for Papa told us the story,) watching Acis and Galatea from the rock above, and then breaking in upon the soft sweet melody with the lines ending, ' Die, presumptuous Acis, die, die ! ' We liked this bit best of all, for Papa ' did the giant,' and taking up his plate, flourished it above his head for the stone ; then, down would come the plate with a great show of force and fury, till within a hair's breadth of the little heads looking up at him, but touching them like a feather : 292 TYTLER WITH HIS CHILDREN. [CHAP. XIII. which generally elicited the invitation to ' please do it again.' 'Rule Britannia' and ' GOD save the Queen/ were our concluding songs, all present joining in chorus. " This domestic music ended, in the drawing-room, unless he was pressed with business, he used to lie down on the sofa, while I spent a happy hour playing to him. After tea, he would draw something for us in our scrap book, which is full of graceful and humorous little sketches of his. He was always anxious to cultivate a taste for drawing in us, and stopped in whatever he was doing to look at our childish attempts. But it was his comical sketches which we used to enjoy most. There was a fabulous being called Puck, whose education and adventures he used to illustrate for our especial edification and delight. Puck was always repre- sented with pointed ears, and legs like a satyr. There was Puck's nursery, where old Puck was represented with two small pucks, ears and legs to correspond : and Puck's school-room, old Puck inflicting violent castigation on a rebellious little puck, lying across his knee. Old Puck again dosing a sick little puck from ajar beside him label- led ' Gregory's mixture.' Puck's dancing Academy, where old Puck was represented on an elevated seat, playing on a fiddle, and watching with fatherly pride the evolutions of two merry little pucks kicking their heels in the air. Then, last in the series, was Puck's visit to the Foundling; with a bag of small children which he beheld with a leer of elfish triumph, very terrible to behold. " I have never seen any one so full of playful humour, or who entered into any little amusing incident with such a buoyant spirit of delight. He never could resist Punch. If he met him exhibiting in the street, he would always stop with the crowd to see the performance, and tell us in the evening how he had laughed with the little boys and girls, and give us the whole exhibition. 1840.] TYTLER TO HIS DAUGHTER. 293 " His extreme tenderness to us all was very remarkable. I feel how utterly impossible it is to give a true idea of what I mean to those who have not seen or experienced the like. It was both a Mother's and a Father's love." And the writer goes on to specify certain little acts which show, (if proof could be needed,) how deep an impression such things make upon children's minds, as well as how capable they are of appreciating the homage which is generally re- served for riper years. In June, his children were at Newliston, while he prose- cuted his work at the State Paper Office, coming into town from Hampstead daily for that purpose. " It gives me con- stant pleasure to think you are there," (he writes to his sons,) " for Newliston and Woodhouselee are the two places in the world that I love best." Part of one of his playful letters to his little daughter Mary, written at this time, seems to deserve insertion. "Mount Vernon, June JOth, 1840. " My dearest Mary, I have been longing very much in- deed to have a little bit of a letter from you. Cur mihi non scribis ? you dear lazy little puss. Nil opus est scribere epistolam longam, but a line or two only to tell me you are all well, and what you are about. Quid agis mi anicula ? an in horto sa3pe ambulas ? an flores carpis ? an serta et coronas nectis pro parva Nellicula ? "Thursday, 12th. My own dear Mary, you are not a lazy puss, but have sent me a very nice long letter well written, and well expressed. I remember Mrs. Robertson well, and when you see her again give her my kind remem- brances ; and when you go to Gateshead, observe the beau- tiful view from the cottage looking to the Pentland Hills. It is one of the finest views I ever saw. Do you know that the road behind her cottage, which passes the top of Lind- say wood, is so very old a road, that Edward 1st, when he 294 EXTRACTS FROM [CHAP. XIII. advanced from Kirkliston to Falkirk, and fought there with Wallace, marched along it ? Tell Sandy this, and Tommy. " Your cousins here are quite well, and very fine children indeed. Little Roger calls me Unky Peepie, and is not the least shy. His great amusements are squeezing the pup- pies, galloping over the flower horders, and hiding himself behind a large tree near the house, from which he peeps like a little hird out of a bush. " It is very good and funny in Uncle Jem to play the drill-sergeant with you after dinner, and trot you about. He will do far better than the stiff conceited fellow who used to come to Downshire Hill, and make such a fuss; and you know your exercises so well now, that you are able to continue them alone, which I wish you to do. How nice it must be to fish in the pond with Uncle Jem ! but take great care, when you get your own rod, not to tumble in with too much happiness." On the 27th July, having finished the printing of his Vllth volume, which had cost him more labour than any of its predecessors, my friend proceeded to Edinburgh, and joined his children at Newliston. From the residence of his excellent brother-in-law, Mr. James Hog, (which was ever the home of his heart,) he wrote to his sister at Mo- mack, as follows. "Newliston, August 3rd, 1840. "I have this moment come in from fishing with Sandy and Tommy for perch, a recreation they are very fond of. James lay on the bank beside us, reading aloud Waterton's ' Essays on Natural History/ which have delighted me much. The book is full of witty, original re- marks, and I believe every word he writes, however extra- ordinary. There is a freshness and nature about his de- scriptions of animals and rural scenery, which I never met with before. 1840.] TYTLER'S LETTERS. 295 " Annie asks me to tell her all about my new volume and my Russian Prince.* The one is, I think, to come out immediately; and the other, (I mean the Prince,) we may perhaps see in Scotland before our return, as he proposes coming in September. He is a clever enthusiastic man, and as he is to be in London at the State Paper Office all next winter, I shall have the advantage of consulting all the collections he made in France and Italy on the subject of Mary. I have already found in his manuscripts one or two important letters which he copied from the private family papers of the House of Medici, now in the possession of the Grand Duke of Tuscany. They have given me some new facts relating to the murder of the King and the escape of Mary from Lochleven, which are of great service. On the whole, if I can be any judge of my own writing, this new volume is by far the best ; both from the variety of its incidents, and the authenticity of the sources consulted. James Hog is wonderfully kind and indulgent under the proof of John Knox having a chief hand in the murder of Riccio; and although not absolutely convinced, is nearly so. Indeed, on all church matters, and questions ancient and modern, we discuss everything most amicably. I wish all the wild Presbyterians had his moderation and good temper." In a characteristic letter to myself, written shortly after, he describes his subsequent movements. " Moniack, 14 Aug. 1840. " We left Newliston on the 10th, and proceeded to this sweet spot, where I am again domiciled in our snug room, with its window looking into the flower garden, and its two nice beds ; but Johnny is not in one of them, and this is not pleasant. In his place, there reposes on the pillow a double- * Prince Labanoff. 296 EXTRACTS FROM [CHAP. XIII. barrelled gun, for our minds are full of preparations for going to the moors, and I feel most savagely inclined against the old cocks. " Yesterday I walked over the hill with James. The day was beautiful, and the views above the burn, where you remember we spent some happy hours in exploring, were exquisite ; but again there was no Johnny, and my mind wan- dered to him and wished for him beside me ... I hope you have got the Vllth volume of the History which I ordered Mr. Hansard to send to No. 1 1 Brunswick Square. I have had a very kind letter from Lockhart about it, and feel happy that he speaks so warmly in its favour. " Jeanie begs most earnestly that Johnny will let her know how much she is in his debt for the vase. Happily it has arrived with both its handles on, and at a distance the effect is excellent, but from the shaking on the journey down, the pieces once so charmingly joined, have separated, so that on a nearer view, the rupture is apparent. This Jeanie wished to conceal, from a regard to Johnny's feelings, and a desire that he should continue to cock his bonnet, and grow three inches taller : but as I love truth, and think him quite tall enough already, I have refused to be a party to any concealment. And now my manny, I must bid you good bye." Some of his letters to myself here printed, (let me say it once for all,) though occasionally their contents are very trivial, yet remind me, (and will remind others,) of him and of his playful manner, more than any which have been put into my hands. " Moniack, 22nd Sept. 1840. " My dear Johnny,_Tho' I hope to see you soon now, I must thank you right heartily for your letter, which was more than I deserved. It came most opportunely, and showed me that Johnny was uninjured. I will not tell 1840.] TYTLEIl'S LETTERS. 297 him how often he came into my head, on a certain day last week, when Lord Lovat took me with him to shoot deer in his forest up Glen Strath Farrar, near to that Inn of Struey which he knows, or has heard about. Oh, 1 wish he could have seen the interior of that forest : such rocks ! such shaggy old trees ! such torrents ! such colossal heather! so tall and thick, that it reached neck high : such noble peaked mountains with their interminable and unpronounce- able names, (Scour-na-cor-a-glashan,) and the beautiful lake reflecting all in its blue bosom ! and then the deer, (which I did not shoot, but saw,) and the foresters and gillies, with their kilts and plaids glancing through the woods : it was really an exhilarating sight, and would have furnished Johnny with a whole portfolio full of sketches, besides studies of rocks and foregrounds, which for wildness might have madeSalvator Kosa's hair curl But I must put an end to all this nonsense and tell Johnny seriously that we sail from Inver- ness on the 24th, and after being ten or twelve days at New- liston, proceed if we are all spared, to London from which we make our way toHampstead, if before that time we have succeeded in securing a house ; if not, we remain in London till we get it. Here are many ifs ; but in laying plans, poor short sighted man must live upon ifs. " And so, you and Tom are taking a run into Derbyshire, and you won't tell me why ! As if I didn't know you were going to visit an old clergyman, who lives in an old Rectory, and has in his possession an old parish-register from one of the very oldest entries of which you mean to show, but I won't tell you what, till we meet ; and then I'll blow your hypothesis to atoms by showing you, he was not the same man as your man : and that T means ' Timothy,' not * Thomas.' Talking of blowing people to pieces I wonder that trig homunculus, Mr. , has so long allowed me to walk about the Highlands with all my limbs entire. What 298 EXTRACTS FROM [CHAP. XIII. has become of his defence of old Burghley, which was to be so crushing an affair ? Perhaps no bookseller will print it; and yet we know there is a certain old lady who for more than a century has been supported by voluntary con- tributions.* Why does he not go to the tawney-coloured crone ? She would welcome him, and rejoice in another dis- charge of sparrow-hail from that ancient pistol which is fit only to fulfil Bottom's wishes, and kill a red-hipped humble bee on the top of a thistle. " And now, dear Johnny, I have no more nonsense to write to you, but only to send the kind love of all here, little people, and big people, to their old friend, not forgetting to join my own kindest regards to your dear Father and Mother, and your whole circle, down to the little fairy at Houghton. Your affectionate friend." " Moniack, 23rd Sept. 1840. " My dear Johnny, I am utterly ashamed that in my nonsensical scribble of yesterday, I forgot to say a word about the very curious impression from the brass in Moulsey Church, which you and dear Miss Helen have sent me. Anthony Standen I knew as a servant of the unhappy Darnley ; and after the murder, Mary wished to retain him in her service; but he preferred leaving the country, and before he did so, received the present of a horse from Both- well. He is repeatedly mentioned in Randolph's and Drury's letters, as far as I recollect, and I think was examined by Cecil regarding the murder. The impression is beautifully taken off, and I shall preserve it with the greatest care." At Edinburgh, on his return south, he found some MSS. in the Register Office and in the Advocates' Library, which were necessary for his VHIth volume. He therefore lingered in the northern capital, working hard all the time. Writing to Mr. James Hog on the 23rd Oct. he says, * He alludes to The Gentleman's Magazine. 1840.] TYTLER'S LETTERS. 299 " I am distracted by the number of extracts I have to make from MSS., and mobbed by the kindness of old friends who insist on my dining with them. It is pleasant to find one is not forgotten, and yet difficult to manage without seeming cold ; and I was never famous for being able to say ' no.' It will end in my staying, I think, a week longer in Scotland ; but how to satisfy my uncle, and my brother James, and my old friend David Anderson, and my still older and dearer friends the Alisons, is past my com- prehension." It gratified him to find in every quarter an anxious desire to facilitate his researches. " I concluded also with Mr. Tait," (he writes,) " an agreement for a second edition of my history on very fair and just terras; * and had the satisfaction to hear from those best qualified to judge upon the subject, that the History had by degrees esta- blished itself so firmly in public opinion, that the success not only of a second, but of various successive editions, was considered certain. (I bless GOD that He has thus prospered the work of my hands. May His goodness strengthen me yet a little, to bring it to a conclusion !) These two weeks in Scotland, I spent chiefly at Woodville, with my dear old friends, Dr. W. Alison, his dear wife Margaret Alison, and Dora Gerard, (dear Montagu's daughter.) The place was full of the sweetest and tenderest recollections, for since I had been last there, he, the father of the house, who was to me a second father in the affection and interest with which he always regarded me, he had fallen asleep ; and as my dear Margaret and Dora took me through the well-known spots, his room, the garden, the walks, every place seemed hallowed by his memory. Surely if ever a blessing descended on filial love, it is falling daily and hourly on the head of that dear creature, our own Margaret, who nursed him with such constant affection and ever wakeful love ! " f See above, p. 202, note. t From hia MS. Diary. CORBY CASTLE. [CHAP. XIII. Tytler returned to his old haunts and his old habits in the early part of November, taking his friend Mr. Howard of Corby Castle in his way. " The house," (he wrote to his sister,*) "is romantically situated on the Eden; sur- rounded by magnificent oaks ; many of them, I am sure, as old as the Conquest. On the bank opposite the house, is a massy square tower built by William Rufus, and the whole place is redolent of feudal antiquity ; with a fine gallery of old portraits, an old library, and (as you know) a ghost: but I have come away without seeing the radiant boy of Corby. This was very extraordinary ; for I had to walk to my bedroom every night through a long dark gal- lery of which you could not see the termination, with old warriors frowning on me, and the moon streaming in through the Gothic window at the end, circumstances which one would have thought any well-conditioned ghost would have profited by." His children's studies, the preparation of the VIHth volume of his History of Scotland, and the correction of the earlier volumes for a second edition, now took up all his time. But it would be wrong, I think, to omit a single glance at the indications supplied by one of his memoran- dum-books, of the inner life which was going on all the while. Those secret aspirations I am not about to make public ; but it is instructive to find that the man's true life was spent neither in the State Paper Office, nor among his relations and friends. It was a hidden thing. I may men- tion, once for all, that although his brief pocket Diary is generally so meagre that sometimes whole weeks are bracket- ted together, with the single memorandum that he has been busy at the State Paper Office, or at the British Museum, he constantly makes a record of his approaches to the LORD'S Table, and of the peace and joy he experienced in * Carlisle, Nov. 8th, 1840. 1841.] TYTLER'S PIETY. 301 communicating. Such a record lies before me dated, " Sun- day evening, Dec. 6th, 1840. Second Sunday in Advent." He used at this time to attend the ministry of Mr. Scobell, of Vere Street. Soon after, I find his friendship for the Rev. W. Upton Richards leading him by preference to Mar- garet Chapel, where he continued to be a regular attendant. Mr. Richards tells me, that he never approached him to ad- minister the sacred elements, without noticing the tears trickling down his cheeks. 'And you remember,' (he adds,) ' the almost boyish liveliness of his disposition ! ' All his friends will remember it well ; and they will bear me witness that his character afforded a beautiful illustration of the doctrine that Joy is ever a part of true Religion. Let me mention here, (what I gather from his memorandum-book,) that since the 1st January, 1837, my friend had adopted the practice of "reading the Scripture according to the Calen- dar" His habit up to a recent period had been to read the chapters prescribed for every day in the Directory. So excessive was his application at this time, that a slight paralytic seizure which marked the beginning of 1841, warned him of the necessity of relaxing the mental tension to which he had so long habituated himself. To this event he makes allusion in a few lines written on the 4th of January in the following year. "It well becomes me to open this new year with expressions of the deepest gratitude to the Giver of all good things. The year just closed (1841) has been one of great trial, and great support. How can I ever forget this time, or at least about this lime last year, (it was I think on the 28th January,) when 1 was suddenly struck with en illness, which although under the blessing of GOD it soon gave way to the remedies applied, was most serious and alarming at the time ; and for two months, incapacitated me from pursuing my ordinary studies. How merciful was this warning sent me by my heavenly 302 ILLNESS AND [CHAP. XIII. Father that I was overtaxing my mind with my History, and pursuing too intensely nnd exclusively a very minor object ! The blow might have been a far sharper one ; it might have prostrated my bodily and weakened my mental powers, and rendered me a burden to myself and others : but how ten- derly, how gently was it sent me ! How loving was the lesson, how perfect has been the recovery ! and my gracious Father, how imperfect is my gratitude ! If every moment of my life could be spent in praise, it would be yet too little for all that goodness and mercy which has followed me all the days of my life." His attack was indeed a slight one, as his daughter's allu- sion to it which follows, shows : but it might have been attended by the gravest consequences. " He was appa- rently in perfect health in the morning. I was spending the day with a young friend. The maid came to fetch me, and on my way home, told me that Papa had returned, not feel- ing well. I had but a little way to walk, and I asked no further questions, never stopping till I reached his room. He held out his arms to me. One glance at his dear face, words I had none. There was the same loving look that ever met us all, a bright smile as if to reassure me, but his mouth was slightly twisted. I saw it at once, and fell on the pillow beside him in an agony of tears He let me weep for a minute or so, and then gently soothing me, told me he might have been very ill, but he had been cupped, -was much better, and that there was no danger to be apprehended now. He was going to get up in the evening ; and when we came up to the drawing room after dinner, there he was, sitting on the sofa. " I shall never forget his relating to us, in his own playful way, his experiences of cupping, an operation which he had never undergone before. His amusement at little Mr. B (the cupper) 's self importance, who consoled 1841.] RECOVERY. 503 him while smarting under the operation, by telling him ' he might be grateful to have met with such a cupper.' Pre- sently, he got out his guitar, and sang one or two of his favourite songs. The sweet rich tones of his voice, and that look resting on me again as if still further to reassure me, made me nearly break down in very joy; but I would not trouble him again with my tears, nor let one little drop of rain dim the sunshine of such an evening as that was." To the same incident he alludes in the following letter to his brother, Mr. James Hog : " 34 Devonshire Place, 15th March, 1841. " My dear Jem, It will be impossible for me to go to Paris just now, however tempting your offer. I am so far recovered as to be allowed to work for two hours at the old State Paper Office again ; and as I feel myself getting every day better, I trust it will please GOD to give me strength to complete the History within no very distant time. This is so important an object, considering how things are situated, and that the first volume of the new edition will be pub- lished in the first week of April, that everything ought to give way to it. " I have bought a charming horse, and am quite a gentle- man at large, reading light literature and taking my ride in the Park every day; the doctor discouraging me from taking as yet any long expeditions on horseback. I have called my horse King Robert Bruce, and am already much attached to him." The last words of the preceding letter to his brother serve to introduce the following extract from a note which he ad- dressed to Mrs. J. B. Fraser, a few months after. " I take my horse to Mount Vernon ; and mean to ride out and in, every day, to the State Paper Office or the British Museum, so that my VHIth volume will go on as usual. Mr. Tait 3(H HAMPSTEAD. THE ECCALOBEON. [CHAP. XIII. writes to me that from the state of the sale and the conti- nuing demand, this edition of 2000 copies will be all sold before winter, which is encouraging. How very beautiful everything at Rebeg and Moniack must be just now ! Your picture of the loveliness of your nest in the rock, and the tranquillity of your life there, moved me much, and makes me long to be there too. Yet Nature every where at this season is beautiful ; and riding the other day over Hamp- stead heath, and looking towards Harrow at sunset, I thought I never gazed on anything more glorious. The distances seen through a warm purple haze, and the colours of the clouds round the sun, were quite enough to have thrown Claude or Turner into despair." The following amusing letter to his little girl, requires neither introduction nor apology, and shall close this chapter. "34 Devonshire Place, Oct. Gth, 1841. " My dearest Minny, You have written me a. most nice letter, which gave us all here great pleasure. Our little Sandy is Dux to-day in Latin, and the bigger boys are get- ting so impatient that such a smout should take them down, that Latimer threatened to thrash Sandy when they got out of school; but he was too nimble for him, and got home with a whole skin. He is fifth in Greek. " Both the canaries are quite well, and Tommy said this morning with a very important face, that they had both chirped. What they are to do to-morrow, if they chirped to-day, no human being can tell ; but we are all on the qui five, and you shall have the first intelligence. We are very great in the bird line just now; for the boys went today to St. James's Park to see the ducks, and I went to the Ecca- lobeon, and saw innumerable chickens hatched by artificial heat. I think the sight would have driven Kitty Hog mad with astonishment: she used to be so very nearly mad when 1841.J TYTLER'S HUMOUR. 305 she had a hen sitting at Mount Vernon. I saw chickens in all stages, and of all ages : some, in the shell, with only their bill out, having just chipped it; some, a few hours old, eating merrily, and not appearing to have the least idea that they had no mother ; others, a little older, looking very grave, as if they had just found out that their mother was a wooden box full of hot sand ; and others, fat and full grown, pretending to be Dorking cocks and hens. "I was very much amused with all this, and my ideas as to the usefulness of hens were rather shaken; when I sud- denly recollected that there must be eggs for the Eggalo- beon, and hens resumed their importance." It is better that my friend should thus be exhibited de- livering himself occasionally of his playful sayings in per- son; than that I should try to recall any of those pleasant speeches ; or seek to revive the amusing remarks, which always made Tytler so entertaining and agreeable a com- panion. In truth, his wit was of that delicate kind which will scarcely bear repetition ; his bons mots owed their attractive- ness to the quiet humour, and the extreme drollery with which they were delivered, and can scarcely be reproduced. Thus, though he used to make us very merry at home ; and though, when we went into the country for the summer months, he would reside with us for many days together, and had always something playful and pleasant to say; I can recall but a few such passages ; and scarcely one of them seems sufficiently striking to set down. A friend of the poet Cowper, whom I once begged to give me any specimens he could remember of that poet's conversation, expressed himself concerning Cowper in exactly the same terms. Tytler had great vivacity; and when he liked his com- pany, (us I am sure he liked all of us,) he used to talk a great deal, and overflowed with amusing anecdote. He came out delightfully in society also ; the gentlemanly RECOLLECTIONS. [CHAP. XIII. reserve of his manners, and bis extreme urbanity, always conciliating tbe good will of strangers who saw him for the first time. But he was most delightful when we were quite by ourselves. If I try to recall him on such occasions, I commonly see him smiling over a quaint sketch which he is intent on making in one of his own pocket-books. At last he lays it down, as if exhausted with the effort : and proposes, with a submissive insinuating voice, that every one present shall sing a song ; adding (to the relief of the whole party) that he should like to sing first, and earnestly requesting that we will all supply the ludicrous chorus, in which he proceeds to instruct us. Then he begins, in a fine rich strong voice, without a particle of hesitation, 'There were two flies upon a time,' &c. &c. It is needless to add that the song proves full of drollery ; and leads to another, and another : so that, at the end of many years, the incident lingers in the memory ; and the burden of the first song passes into a family proverb. From the commonest incidents of the hour, he knew how to extract the soul of playfulness and humour. At Houghton Conquest, we had once been calling on a friend who possessed a museum of Natural History, and who pressed us to accept of several specimens on our departure. He took a great fancy to Tytler, whom he conducted through all his green-houses. On driving off, I asked Tytler what made him spring so nimbly into the carriage ? ' Johnny,' he exclaimed, with a face drolly expressive of alarm and insecurity ; ' I was so afraid your friend would insist on my putting one of those stuffed bustards into my pocket.' -'But you were pleased with his green-house plants, were not you ? ' asked my sister. ' 0, very much pleased,' he replied ; and paid the plants and their owner every compli- ment she could desire : but he explained that he feared he did not care enough for such objects to bestow upon them 1841.] RECOLLECTIONS. 307 all the attention they need ; adding thoughtfully, ' I don't think I should like sitting up all night with a sick cactus.' We had taken a cottage at Moulsey for the summer; and one day, after dinner, were looking at a cherry-tree on the lawn. Tytler, turning to one of my sisters, modestly inquired the meaning of an empty box of figs and a strip of red bunting, in the middle of the tree ? She explained that she had put it there in order to frighten away the birds. ' O, I assure you, Miss Burgon,' said Tytler very gravely and thoughtfully, ' that's all a mistake. The birds stand upon the box to eat the cherries, and then wipe their beaks on the rag.' When he heard that my brother-in-law was a rural dean, he said he thought it such a pretty title; adding, ' Do you know, I always think a rural dean ought to walk about with a daisy in his bonnet' So trifling, at the end of a few years, are the sayings which linger in the memory ! ,'J08 EXTRACTS FROM [CHAP. XIV. CHAPTER XIV. (18421843.) Letters descriptive of his pursuits Concluding portion of Miss A. Fraser Tytler's MS. Domestic retrenchment Anecdotes of home Narrow escape from drowning Conclusion of his History ' The Damley jewel' Letters Tytler with his family in France. I HAVE already reached the period when I began to see less and less of the dear Friend whose Life I ain writing. The circumstances which about this juncture set me free to follow the dearest wish of my heart, and to proceed to Oxford, would be interesting to no one : but this passing allusion is indispensable. Henceforth, an occasional visit to London was my only chance of seeing one with whom for the last few years I had been on terms of such close intimacy. Accordingly, we communicated oftener than heretofore by letter. One or two agreeable specimens follow. "34 Devonshire Place, March 22nd, 1842. " My dear Johnny, I wish much you would let me know by a single line that you are well, and not over-studying. I was sadly disappointed to miss you and dear Mr. Rose, when you came to see us, before leaving town forHoughton. I had gone to the Graphic Society with James Hall, but saw nothing among all the fine things there to make up for losing you two. As for ourselves here, we jog on pretty much in the old path in which you left us. Annie attacks the income tax, and I defend it, on the broad principle that literature and the Muses flourish only in quiet times, and that we ought to be happy to pay 3 per cent., any day, for 1842.] TYTLER'S LETTERS. 309 a firm government that lays down a principle, and carries it out. Leila has come to tlie 180th page: volume VlJIth to p. 330, and I have sent down part of the Appendix. Did I ever show you, or tell you any thing of the MS. volumes which Sir George Warreuder lent me? I had not examined them thoroughly till the other day, as they chiefly related to the period of my ninth, or last volume : but, to my astonish- ment, I have found in them a little nest of Elizabeth's letters, (in her own hand throughout,) addressed to James, similar to that letter which Mr. Dawson Turner has. Most of them are long and very private : some, contain four pages all written in the good old Lady's own hand. No other col- lection which I know either in England or Scotland has such a treasure. And the strangest thing of all is that Archbishop Spottiswood, and in later times Dr. Robertson had these volumes of Sir G. Warrender's in their possession, and although both were engaged in writing the history of the times, neither of the gentlemen availed themselves of these letters of the Queen ! I suspect, as they are written in her running hand, (not her plain upright hand in which she signs her name,) and excessively difficult to make out, that they had given them up in despair. " And no\v, dear Johnny, I have given you all my little news. Let me hear that you go to bed at 10 o'clock, and are stout and well." " 34 Devonshire Place, June 14th, 1842. " My dear Johnny, It would be very kind in you if you would write me a ' wee bit letter," and tell me how you came on at Oxford, and whether you were happy there. That you were busy, I know: that you will make a figure, I am sure ; but it always pleases me best to hear that my friends are happy ; for when I think of you, or any other dear friend, the conviction of this comes like sunshine in a cloudy day. 310 EXTRACTS FROM [CHAP. XIY. " Our little circle here are well, and I am busy -with my IXth volume. I have been mingling more than I usually do with the gay world, being pushed into it by that ' sweet moralist,' Miss Ann, who now that she has finished Leila thinks that she ought to spend all her remaining energies in poking me out of my hole, and counteracting my ten- dencies towards ' a monastic life.' GOD bless you, my dear Johnny. Give my kindest remembrances to dear Mr. and Mrs. Rose, and the little Rachel,* a name I can- not yet write without feelings of tenderness and love that agitate me ; but not with sorrow, for her memory is the sweetest thing in my life." In August, he started for the Highlands; and on the moors between beautiful Moniack and Aldourie renewed hostilities against the grouse, ' drinking in great gulps of health,' as he expressed it, at every step. More delightful scenery, kinder hearts, or more congenial natures, are nowhere to be found ; and he was perfectly happy, as well as braced into renewed vigour of mind and body by the fresh elastic air of those heath-clad hills. He wrote me one or two affectionate letters, too private, I fear, for insertion in this place; and returned home in November, paying a visit at Castle Ashby in his way. In December, 1 find the following letter from him. "34 Devonshire Place, Dec. 12th, 1842. "My dear Johnny, I hope I shall be in Oxford on Wednesday, 21st December, see Johnny, stay a night at the nearest Inn to Worcester College, and "return to London on Thursday, the 22nd. What is the meaning of this sudden escapade? Shooting is the meaning, Johnny killing hares is the meaning, and pheasants, and perhaps woodcocks. Still all is in the dark ? Well * The intended name of an infant niece. 1842.] TYTLER'S LETTERS. 311 hear, you Greek particle you ! To the State Paper Office came a little while ago, the Hon. and Rev. Mr. Bertie and Lady Georgina Bertie, the gentleman being the lineal descendant of the famous Peregrine Bertie, Lord Wil- loughby, about whom you and I know something. They are busy in the laudable task of writing some account of their family, and were soon over head and ears in the Flanders Correspondence. Peregrine's letters they could read, but the Duchess of Suffolk (the Mother of Peregrine) defied them, as she often did you and me, Johnny, with her fearful scrabbles. Well, I was of some little use, and as the researches still continue, may I hope be of a little more service still ; and Mr. Bertie, a kind and gentlemanly man, hearing, (how I know not,) of my passion for research sometimes taking a sporting, rather than a literary direction, to-day when I was deep in the IXth volume, suddenly fired off an invitation at my head, coming up and presenting the pistol with his own hand. What could I do, Johnny ? To come down to Albury near Woodstock, to shoot on Tues- day, to be driven by Mr. Bertie to Oxford on Wednesday, to see Johnny in his cap and gown, it was too much for me to resist. So I capitulated, accepted, and am to come, all keeping well till the 21st. Ever, dear Johnny, yours." I now proceed with Miss A. F. Ty tier's narrative, of which what follows is the concluding portion. " After having passed some years in Devonshire Place, a friend in whose hands part of our funds* had been placed, (from no fault or imprudence on his part,) suddenly became involved in his circumstances; and our very moderate in- come was so considerably diminished, that the necessity of immediately moving into a smaller house seemed imperative. My Brother himself was the first to propose this measure. This money after several years was repaid. 312 DOMESTIC RETRENCHMENT. [CHAP. XIV. He appeared to feel far more for his friend, than for any de- privations he himself might be exposed to ; and talked with the greatest cheerfulness of how comfortable and happy we still could be in some quiet little corner, where the rent would be trifling in comparison of what we were then pay- ing. But how were the books and book-cases to be got into quiet little corners, or indeed most part of our furniture, which was on a large scale ? and when, after much consulta- tion, we proposed that we should try to remain where we were by reducing our establishment, and making every pos- sible retrenchment, he eagerly caught at the idea. " ' Yes,' he said, ' I am sure you were right. Moving is always a great expense. Reducing our establishment is the thing. We shall have an importation of cheap little girls from the country ; and our excellent William I am sure will undertake the cooking in addition to his other work, with one of the little girls under him. You know he is an excel- lent cook, and so economical !' William was an elderly man of most prepossessing appearance ; had been a soldier, and an officer's servant, and could turn his hand to any thing. He proved indeed a treasure. My Brother continued: ' Then, another great retrenchment will be my allowance. I have been spending too much. There shall be no more books or prints bought: not one. You shall give me a small weekly allowance.' ' Your public charitable subscriptions must of course go on,' we said ; ' but your beggars, how nre they to be ma- naged ? those perpetual shillings and half crowns; and far worse than that, your decayed authors, 51. to one, 10/. to another.' ' Now don't speak of that 10/.,' he answered, ' for it has proved the most economical expenditure I ever made in my life. You know the poor fellow was once rolling in wealth, so I could not well have offered him less ; and since I made him that loan, I have never seen his face again. But 1812.] DRESSING FOR A BALL. 313 all that sort of thing shall be entirely put a stop to. Be- sides, they won't come to me now, for I shall be a poor author myself.' And so he smoothed over every thing, and so successful did our retrenchments prove, that if we had some privations, we had no debts, and remained in our com- fortable house ; our little girls (for we did import three) turning out very well on the whole, though rather trouble- some; and my Brother most cheerfully denying himself many former indulgences as to the books and prints; the only privation he seemed really to feel was the being obliged to give away with a less liberal hand. He did indeed more than any one I ever knew realize that beautiful definition of Charity, he suffered long and was kind ; for though from his own guileless nature he was often deceived, he was never weary of well doing. " Our annual migrations to Hampstead did not prevent my Brother from frequently accepting London invitations, and on one of those occasions a rather amusing incident took place. " He had an invitation to one of the Queen's Balls ; and in the morning he sent in every thing necessary for his toilet, with a message to the old woman who kept the house in Devonshire Place, that he would be there at a certain hour to dress. In vain did old William urge his services. He would not hear of his accompanying him. Next day he returned to us in buoyant spirits. " ' Well,' he exclaimed, ' I have always been convinced that over carefulness is wrong; that all those bolts and bars, and replacing things as you found them, is positively inju- rious to one's comfort. Now mark my words. I went into the back-parlour, when in London the other day, to look for a book : unbarred the shutter, and forgot to replace the bar. What was the fortunate result ? On arriving at our house to dress yesterday evening, I found the old woman out; 314 TYTLER'S LOYALTY. [CHAP. xrv. inquired at our neighbours on each side, they knew no- thing of her. Walked up and down the street for some time, not a trace of the old woman: gave her up as drunk or dead, and gave up the Queen's Ball also with heavy sighs ; when suddenly I remembered the parlour window. I immediately applied next door for the stable- ladder, mounted the wall, found the window still unbarred, entered and made my toilet with the greatest success ; never was better dressed in my life, and the old woman returned in time for me to make my exit in style by the front door, and in a particularly clean cab. The Ball was beautiful ; but I could not help thinking every now and then, that the Queen would have been amused, if she had seen me creeping in at the window to make my royal toilet.' " And here I cannot forbear saying that loyalty was a strong feature in my Brother's character. I remember that when presented at Court, Basil Hall accompanied him home, and his first observation was, ' I wish you could have seen your Brother when he knelt to kiss the Queen's hand ! His expression was so full of devotion, it would have brought tears into your eyes.' " Loyalty to their Queen was a part of the religion he taught his children. From them we learned that on the day of her marriage he had added a few simple words to their morning prayers, invoking blessings on their youthful Sove- reign and the Prince Consort. Her Birthday was always marked to them by a full holiday, a visit to some interesting exhibition in the forenoon, and by their dining at table. On those festal occasions they would all stand up, and join their glasses half filled with wine to drink to the health of Queen Victoria; the whole concluding by ' GOD save the Queen,' sung at the very top of their voices, and with a more than common outburst of loyalty. 1842.] TYTLER'S VALET. 315 " For several winters my Brother was much engaged in the evenings, more than he himself liked ; but one party led to another, and he became involved in the vortex before he was himself aware of it. It was at this period that our faithful William stepped forward to lessen in some degree the additional expense of those numerous engagements. " It was the fashion then for the gentlemen to wear white stocks of cambric muslin made up with a bow in front. What was it William would not have done for his master ? He was, as I remarked before, an old soldier, and a jack- of- all -trades. Those stocks were now always washed, starched, and made up by him, and each night one was placed upon the toilet. " ' Here comes my prince of valets,' his master exclaimed one evening, as William entered with that look of triumph which he always wore, when the arranging the bow in front had been particularly successful: 'Perfect, quite perfect! It was but last night, William, I saw Lady B 's eyes fixed upon me for some time. I knew she was envying me my laundress.' " There was however rather a distressing want of ar- rangement in old William's multifarious duties, on those mornings when a servant mounted on horseback in the royal livery would arrive with a message from the Palace : * but when the beautiful engravings of the Princess Eoyal and Prince of Wales, with the Queen's autograph, were brought home, the old man's judgment was shaken to its foundation. He never was quite the same man after. There was a sad confusion in the composition of sauces and made dishes, after that event ; and had old William lived in those * " My Brother had then in his possession a collection of miniatures belong- ing to the Queen, which he was endeavouring to authenticate. This led to those frequent messages from the Palace. " NARROW ESCAPE [CHAP. XIV. days when the putting pepper into a cream tart* was con- sidered a capital offence, his life would have been in no small danger. " In 1843, my Brother had a narrow escape from drown- ing, while skating in the Park. The particulars are best given in his own words. " ' 34 Devonshire Place, Feb. 24th, 1843. " ' My dear Jem. Your kind letter was very welcome to me. Tommy and I have indeed the greatest reason to be thankful to GOD for our preservation, and now that I can coolly think over our escape, there seem so many providen- tial things about it, that I alternately wonder, and tremble. The ice-boat being near, and not on the other side" of the water; my having hold of Tommy's hand when the ice broke under us, and its going down gradually, so that there was no sudden plunge ; my being able to keep myself afloat by treading the water, and a slight assistance from leaning part of my hand and arm on the unbroken ledge of the ice ; Tommy's instantly recovering hold of me, so that he could hang by the upper part of my arm, and dear Sandy's being snatched away suddenly by a gentleman, and thus prevented falling in ; all these were so many providential circum- stances, the failure or non-occurrence of one of which might have caused a very different result. Certainly nothing could be better than Tommy's behaviour. I told him when in the water, neither to cry nor struggle, but to hold firm, which the little man implicitly obeyed ; not shedding a tear or uttering a sound, which the people who saw his diminutive size seemed much astonished at, one gentleman calling him a little hero. He was then carried to the tent of the Humane Society : I followed : we were stripped, put into a warm bath, * See 'Arabian Nights entertainments.' 1843.] FROM DROWNING. 317 took a little whisky, and went together into the same bed between warm blankets ; whilst Boyd Alexander, who had seen it all, ran to Devonshire Place to order a change of clothes, and tell Annie and poor Mrs. Alexander Tytlerwho was living with us, that we were safe and well. As to my own feelings, I have tried to analyse them, and they really puzzle me. In the water, I felt no fear, but I spoke quietly to Tommy, told him what to do, and took what I believe was the only method to keep myself afloat. All this was merely mechanical. At one time, when the men were bringing the ice-boat, and I saw this heavy lumbering machine pushed towards us, I felt a momentary fear lest it should cause a great breakage of the ice, and a whirlpool that might endanger us. But this fear did not disorder me ; and as it turned out, the boat came quietly alongside of us, so that I managed with the assistance of the officer to get Tommy in, and follow myself. " ' We were then dragged to shore on a ladder, and it was not till I was lying in the warm blankets with my little boy safe and saved in my bosom, that I began to have some sense of the danger we had escaped. Since then, my heart has indeed I trust been very grateful ; and I have sometimes, in thinking over all that passed, felt a sense of sickness and dread, which, had it seized me in the water, might have taken away all power of exertion or recollection. This surely was very merciful : so that from first to last, all has been provi- dential, and it is sweet to think that what people call pre- sence of mind was truly nothing else than the presence of GOD.'* " I now will close these most imperfect and brief remem- brances, leaving all the higher parts of the subject to his valued friend and biographer. " Though my Brother's life was, from his naturally * To James M. Hog, Esq. CONCLUSION OF THE HISTORY. [CHAP. XIV. buoyant and cheerful disposition, a happy one on the whole, yet had he many disappointments in his literary career, and many domestic sorrows, which I have not touched upon. The death of his sister Isabella, which took place in J841, he felt most deeply. " On the 25th of October, 1843, he finished the IXth and last volume of his History of Scotland. I quote the follow- ing from a memorandum made at the time : '"Yesterday evening, my Brother finished his History of Scotland. At tea, he seemed uncommonly dreamy, and forgot to ask for his third cup. Then, instead of writing beside me as usual, he retired into the Library and stood employed at his high desk for some time. Eeturning into the drawing-room again, he said, ' Annie, if you like, I will read to you the last paragraph of my History:' and he read, " ' It is with feelings of gratitude mingled with regret that the Author now closes this work, the History of his Country, the labour of little less than eighteen years : gratitude, to the Giver of all good, that life and health have been spared to complete, however imperfectly, an arduous undertaking ; regret, that the tranquil pleasures of historical investigation, the happy hours devoted to the pursuit of Truth are at an end, and that he must at last bid farewell to an old and dear companion.' "Thus gracefully does he bid adieu to his interesting task. Most deeply grateful should we all be, that he has been preserved to finish it. I say all, but I alone was there to bear the end. We are all separated now, and some ' are not.' But if blessings have been removed, he still remains to me to gladden life." Such are the concluding words of Miss Tytler's MS. She alludes to the notice which her Majesty was graciously 1843.] 'THE DARNLEY JEWEL.' 319 pleased to bestow upon her Brother : in explanation of which it should be stated that he had been commanded in the early part of the year (1843) to examine a singular relic in her Majesty's possession, known as ' the Darnley jewel,' and to make a report upon it. His notes he trans- mitted in writing to the Palace, where they gave so much satisfaction that he received her Majesty's orders through his friend the Hon. C. A. Murray to cause a few copies to be printed for her Majesty's use ; and by the end of April, twenty-five elegant little quarto volumes were the result. One of these copies was afterwards presented to himself. I remember his telling me that he had scrupulously burnt the sheets which had come to him for correction from Nicol, the printer. In the course of the summer he sent me the following playful epistle. " 34 Devonshire Place, Aug. 12th, 1843. " My dear Johnny, Many, many thanks for your kind letter ; for though I had no right to do it, I had often abused you as an unworthy little rascal, first for flying through town so quick that I could not lay salt on your tail, and then for your wicked silence ; but I had no idea that your stay was so short. As to forgetting you, dear Johnny, there is not the slightest fear of that. You have twined yourself, somehow or other, with very many of my pleasantest and happiest recollections, and I don't know that there is any other friend to whom I can talk so freely and confidentially on everything, as to yourself. " I fear from the account you give me that you are over- working, which I would fain warn you to bewaro of. Hand inexpertus loquor. There is no good in it ; for though you may gallop for a week or a fortnight, you get groggy, (as the grooms and boxers say,) and cast a shoe or break down before the month is out. Now I wish Johnny not only to 320 ' LEILA IN ENGLAND.' [CHAP. XIV. distinguish himself in October, but to be a sinewy broad- shouldered, muscular divine and dialectician, who will live long and do good service to the Catholic Church, in these days when champions are needed and storms seem brewing and the faction of the Puritans is getting more envenomed every hour in their attacks of all that is ancient, holy, and good. " And now, as to our noble selves, I have almost finished my History ; that is to say, I have got through the tangled maze of the Gowrie conspiracy, the last of the qutestiones vexata in Scottish history ; and I have only to kill Eliza- beth, and set good King Jamie fairly on his bottom in the throne of the old lady, and be done with her, and him, and History, for ever : huzza ! And as all this will be done in about 30 pages, I don't much mind about it, but rejoice that after a fifteen years' race, the stand is in view, and I can come in at an easy canter, with neither broken wind, nor broken knees. Deo yratias ! To speak more gravely, clear Johnny, I feel very grateful to GOD that I have had health and strength to conclude a work of much labour, which I have a hope will preserve my name and prove, when Time the only true and fair judge comes to try it, not altogether unworthy of ruy country. " Annie, who sends her kind love to Johnny, has had a note from Mr. Hatchard her publisher as to a new edition of ' Leila in England;' and as we get a treat of ices and cakes at Grange's in Piccadilly for every new edition, we paid a visit there on Saturday, and enjoyed our treat much. There is something very delightful in this mixture of lite- rature and confectionery. We rejoice at the increasing moral influence of Miss Ty tier's celebrated works, and rejoice also in the ices and cakes. Miss Tytler is thus, to use the language of Shakspeare, a soul-curer and a body-curer. " Dear little Tommy has for some time past been rather 1843.] A TRIP TO FRANCE. 321 an invalid, and Iris doctor having prescribed sea- bathing, we are on the wing for Boulogne, where we remain a few weeks. I take my MS. of vol. IXth with me, and propose making a run with Mary and Annie to Paris, and getting a peep at the Scottish letters in the Bibliotheque Royale, before I send it to press, which I shall do in the end of September, if we are all spared so long. We go en masse, as Sandy has got his holidays ; the party being Miss F. T. senior, Miss M. F. T. junior, Miss Mac, Sandy, Tommy, old William, Emily the nursery-maid, and myself: eight precious souls, to be packed into as small a compass as possible, like the small 8vo edition of the History. The children are wild with spirits, and hope, and anticipated no- velty. We speak French now constantly, to bring us in ; and have, as you may believe, a thousand jokes as to the way we are to get on with the Mouuseers. Mary for the last three weeks has been teaching the nurserymaid, who is an apt scholar; but we have sore misgivings as to old Wil- liam, who (like Bottom) is ' slow of study,' and not exactly a heaven-born linguist." To Boulogne the travellers went, and his daughter's remi niseences of Mr. Tytler at this time are all true to the life. " His enjoyment of any little amusement or relaxation was especially remarkable on our two successive visits to Bou- logne. He invariably began to speak French a tort ct a travers (as he expressed it) to everybody whenever he set foot on French ground, douanier, and poissard, soldier, man woman and child; every one in turn was greeted with some little playful remark. And so he was always making friends among high and low, from the librarian at Boulogne (to whom he gave a copy of his History for the library there, as an acknowledgment of the civility shown him during his frequent visits to the Musee,) down to the peasant woman who brought us milk. One evening we went with him, Y 322 BOULOGNE MARKET. [CHAP. XIV. uncle Tom, and our six cousins to sup at the good woman's farm. We were regaled with hot bread, butter, and fresh milk. She was in a high state of delight at the attention Papa paid her, and the praises he bestowed on her farm, her delicious fare, &c. The repast ended, she took us into her garden, and we (the children) dispersed ourselves in all di- rections. After a little time, I came suddenly on Papa and our hostess ; she, listening with a face of mingled awe and delight, while he was enlightening her, and improving his French, on the subject of 'Marie Stuart, Reine d'Ecosse.' He delighted to dwell on the ancient alliance between the Scottish and the French nations ; and it was so amusing to hear him recall the fact in his best French, and with a look full of fun and playfulness, to the woman from whom he was buying flowers or eau de cologne. "One bright morning, Papa and I sallied out before breakfast into the market, a lively scene was that market- place in front of St. Nicolas, crowded with the peasants from the neighbouring country in their dazzlingly white caps and gay petticoats ! and after an animated conversation with some good woman, we returned in triumph with a turkey for the dinner of the family. Alas, when it appeared on table, there was a misgiving look on old William's face, and a certain difficulty in carving it, which prepared us for the extreme toughness of the bird. It was pronounced to be a grandfather. Not all William's skill in cooking could conceal its venerable age. Aunt Annie solemnly charged us never to attempt such an important transaction as buy- ing a turkey again ; and William himself devoutly ' hoped that Master would never buy another ding dong;\\\s nearest approach to correct French." The trip to Paris was also made, and "very delightful impressions 1 have of it" (writes the same lady). "From the time we set off in the interieur of the diligence till we 1843.] PARIS. 323 returned, lie was in such boyish spirit, entering into con- versation with his fellow travellers, and determined to make use of every opportunity for practising the language. In- tensely exasperated was an Anglo-Saxon who sat opposite, and had evidently nothing to say for himself in any lan- guage but his own ; probably little enough in that,. On arriving at Paris, we were greeted by a very officious little official, who took for granted, to our indignation, that we could not speak a word of French, and began in the most patronizing manner settling our affairs for us. We were standing by our belongings, when he cried to a porter, (pointing in our direction,) Otez ces objets. Travel- stained, dusty and tumbled as we were, there was something so peculiarly apposite in this remark, that Papa and I burst into a fit of laughter. Otez ces objets. Pretty greeting on our arrival at the capital ! Papa related the story with in- finite glee to our cousins. It was in vain that they assured him that objets related to the luggage, not to the travellers. The joke was far too good to be spoiled by any considera- tions of idiom." 3;>4 TYTLER AT WINDSOR CASTLE. [CHAP. XT. CHAPTER XV. (18431849.) Tytler waits upon Her Majesty at "Windsor Castle Letters from Scotland Tytler receives a pension Impressions of society His literary plans His second marriage His long illness abroad The cold-water system Return to England His Death POSTSCRIPT. IT was, I presume, in consequence of what had happened in April, that in the ensuing November Mr. Tytler was honoured with her Majesty's commands to dine at Windsor Castle. " You must not look for me to-morrow," he wrote to his sister late at night, " for the Queen has been pleased to command me to remain another day here, that I may see some of the historical curiosities, drawings, pictures, MSS., &c. which they are now arranging." Of the events of that day, to himself so memorable, he wrote down a particular account for the private gratification of the same sister, to whom he well knew how precious every detail would be ; and there seems to be no sufficient reason for withholding the following extracts from a narrative of what was so good and graceful on one side, so honourable and gratifying on the other. He relates that he went to prayers, where her Majesty and Prince Albert with all the servants of the household attended, at 9. After a delightful hour and a half spent in the Library, "Mr. brought me word that a horse with a groom would be ready for me to ride through the Park at 12, and that Mr. Murray had left a route for me on my table. At 12 it rained a little, but at half past 12 it cleared beau- tifully, and 1 went from the Library across the Quadrangle, where I found the horses waiting. I had a delightful horse 1843.] THE ROYAL FAMILY. 325 called ' Liverpool,' which carried me beautifully, and an intelligent young groom who showed me all the best points of view. I went by the Obelisk to Virginia Water, rode round it, enjoyed many noble points of view, and as I was obliged to be at the Castle again by 2 o'clock, rode rapidly there at a hard canter, Liverpool carrying me like the wind. I got to the Castle as 2 o'clock was striking." He had communicated to his friend Mr. Murray his ardent desire to see the Royal children, and his wishes had found their way to her Majesty. Accordingly, " soon after lun- cheon," (he says,) " Mr. came with a message from Mr. Murray to say I must meet him immediately to go and see the Prince of Wales and the Princess Royal, who were coming into the corridor with the Queen. Away I went, joined Mr. Murray, and got to the corridor, where we found some of the gentlemen and ladies of the Household ; and after a short time, the Queen, with the two little children playing round about her, and a maid with the Princess Alice, Prince Albert, the Duke of Cambridge, the Duchess of Kent, Prince Hohenlohe, and some of the Ladies in wait- ing, came up to us ; and her Majesty bowed most graciously, having the Prince of Wales in her hand, trotting on and looking happy and merry. When the Queen came to where I was, she stopped, and on my bowing and looking very delightedly, which I could not help doing, at the little Prince and her, she bowed, and said to the little Boy, ' Make a bow, Sir ! " When the Queen said this, the Duke of Cam- bridge and the rest stood still ; and the little Prince walking straight up to me made a bow, smiling all the time and holding out his hand, which I immediately took, and bowing low kissed it. The Queen seemed much pleased, and smiled affectionately at the gracious way in which the little Prince deported himself; and the Duke of Cambridge, who speaks very loud, called out, ' Well done ! quite right, quite right!'. 3S6 THE PRINCESS ROYAL. [CHAP. XV. It seemed to me as if both the Queen and all felt as if the young Prince was already taking the oath of homage from his subjects. " All then passed on through the corridor; and after an interval of about a quarter of an hour Prince Albert, followed bv a servant bearing two boxes, and having himself a large morocco box, came up to where I was, and told me he had brought the miniatures to show me, of which he had spoken last night. Then, in the sweetest possible way, he opened his treasures and employed more than half an hour in showing me the beautiful ancient miniatures of Holbein, Oliver, Cooper, and others, most exquisite things! embrac- ing a series of original portraits of the Kings, Queens, Princesses, and eminent men of England, and the continent also, from the time of Henry Vllth to the reign of George Illrd. The Prince then gave me the written catalogues, pointed out the different drawers containing many unknown miniatures, and bade me in going over them mark with a pencil on the margin of the catalogue any errors in the catalogue, and any hints as to the unknown portraits. He also asked me whether there was preserved any where any original portrait of Bothwell. I told him that much research had been made for some authentic portrait of Bothwell ; but as yet, so far as I knew, without success. He then left me, and I continued my pleasant work. By and by, little feet came pattering up, and I saw the Princess Eoyal with her French Governess. I bowed to the little Lady as she passed, and she kissed her hand and bowed, trailing a little horse behind her, and having a skipping-rope in her other hand. She played about for a long time whilst I was engaged in examining the miniatures. Presently, the day overcast . . . and a page came with another servant and proposed to carry the miniatures into an adjoining room ; which they did, and placed the boxes and catalogues on the table. Here I 1843.] HER MAJESTY. 327 had continued my examination for nearly an hour more, when the door opened and the Prince came in again, and we had another long conversation and examination of the miniatures. He seems to take a great interest in them, and is very intelligent about them. After he left me, the even- ing was becoming dark, and I could only continue my examination for about half an hour longer I went to my own room, and at 6 o'clock Mr. Murray came to me, as we had appointed, and I read to him the death of Elizabeth and the conclusion of my History. He made some valuable alterations and criticisms. " Then I dressed, and occupied my time till ten minutes before 8, when I went to the drawing-room. In passing through the corridor, I had some pleasant conversation with Mr. Drummond, and some of the Lords and Gentlemen in waiting, till it was time for them to be at their posts, as they said. On coming into the drawing-room, I found myself alone ; but soon after, Charles Murray came, and I learned from him that all the royal and noble guests of yesterday, except Prince Hohenlohe, had taken their departure, and that it would be almost a domestic party, which turned out to be the case. I handed Lady to dinner, and all went on very happily, without any stiffness. I sat be- tween Charles Murray and , a Lady who talked pleasantly but incessantly, and I was afraid she might bring me under condemnation, for I was obliged of course to answer all her many questions, and there was nobody but herself and Prince Hohenlohe between me and the Queen. However, I do not believe I gave any offence ; for her Majesty, when we came into the drawing-room, singled me out after a little time and entered into conversation upon the miniatures. I expressed my high admiration of them, and their great historical value, and praised the Prince for the ardour and knowledge he had shown in bringing them together and rescuing them from 328 THE MINIATURES. [CHAP. XV. neglect. Her Majesty seemed pleased, and questioned me about the portraits of Bothwell. I expressed the doubts I had stated to the Prince, as to there being any authentic picture in existence, but added that I would make myself master of the fact immediately on my return, which she seemed to like. The Band by this time had come into the room and the conversation ended. We had delightful music, the Prince directing the Band himself what to play. In about half an hour after, the Queen retired." I remember well the pains which my friend afterwards took to identify some of the exquisite miniatures above alluded to, as well as his nervous fears about them. " Peter not liking to have his former room at the Palace, now that Charles Murray is gone, asked leave to take the enamels home. The Queen having consented to this, he returned in a cab with a box containing 130 miniatures. I hope no one will come in from the roof of our house !"* His experience of her Majesty's kindness and consideration at this time, as well as of the affability of the Prince, was very striking and touched him very much. But the most interesting feature of all was the perfect equanimity be retained under circum- stances by which most men would have been unduly elated. His friends were not backward in sly congratulations and quaint surmises as to what was to come next ;f but he put the whole matter aside with unaffected modesty. His sister writing to another sister, (Mrs. Baillie Fraser,) says, " How delightful it is to see how little it affects him in any way, but as it ought to do ! On Saturday evening, when the book arrived, [alluding to a copy of his Notes on the Lennox and Darnley jewel,] you may suppose we were * Miss A. F. Tytler to her sister Mrs. Baillie Fraser. + The notice in the ' Court Circular' of 10th Nov. was somewhat pecu- liiw : ' Mr. Patrick Fraser Tytler took his departure to-day. He would have left yesterday, but was invited by special command to remain at the Castle until to-day.' 1844.] TYTLER TO A FRIEND. 329 rather full of it. Next morning he said to me, ' I was reading in a little book last night some notes I had written at the time of my dear father's death, and thanking GOD for the constant mercies which have followed me during this long period.' " * I find the following interesting letter from him to myself, dated in the summer of the ensuing year. As already ex- plained, I had left London in 1842 and come to reside at Oxford, where I was already very hard at work; so that, henceforth, Tytler and I met seldom indeed. " Newliston, July 16th, 1844. " My dear Johnny, How very long it is, since I have written to you, or you to me : and yet, sure I am this does not come from any want of affection on either side, but you dear Johnny have a good excuse. You have been busy, and studious, I am sure to the best purpose. Whilst I have been idle ; not forgetful of my friends who are separated from me, (for I sometimes think I live more in memory now than ever I did before,) but somehow or other, so indisposed to write anything, even a letter, that unless when absolutely forced to it, I never look upon a pen ; and feel squeamish and sick when I see ink. " You will perceive by the date that I am again at this dear place, so full to me of tender recollections ; scarcely now mournful, but solemn and sweet. The image of my be- loved wife is almost ever before me : it was here her infancy was passed : here, after she was mine, that our happiest days were spent ; and although, since I lost her, I believe there have been few, if any days, and certainly no evening that I have not thought of her, yet here, every scene, every view, almost every tree brings her vividly before me " We are now on our route northwards to Moniack, hoping * Nov. 23rd 1843. 330 CHANGES AT WOODIIOrSELEE. [CHAP. XV. to be with dear Jeanie and James Fraser on Wednesday. An- nie, we left at Woodhouselee with brother James, who has made a beautiful addition to his house, with which we were all delighted ; and the rest have come here, with me. We spent a week at Woodhouselee, most happily, visiting all our old haunts which I had not seen for fifteen years before. I forget whether, on your return from the North, and your short visit to Edinburgh, you went to Woodhouselee ? James has completely pulled down one side of the house, which from its great age was becoming dangerous and insecure ; but he has had the good taste to build it up again, exteriorly almost exactly in the shape it was before. The new side falls in with the picturesque feudal outline of the rest of the house. Within, all is different; for instead of the large old haunted bedroom, with its little dressing closet, out of which the ghost of Lady Bothwellhaugh walked, we have a beautiful drawing-room, above which are two new bedrooms, and below it, new servants' apartments. The only improvement to which I was not quite reconciled, is the changing my dear Father's library, which was the room at the top of the Tower, into a bedroom ; and bringing down the books and bookcases, into the old drawing-room, which is now the library. This, to me and my sister, who tra- velled back more than thirty years to the happy days when her girlhood and my boyhood was passed here, was rather a trying change. "My letter, dear Johnny, was interrupted by a sudden trip, first to Newliston, and afterwards to Aberdona, where my venerable uncle Col. Tytler, now in his 86th year, is in a somewhat precarious state We are all now at Moniack, where we arrived yesterday evening. Nothing can be more beautiful than this sweet place at this moment, and you can well conceive the kindness of our reception, after an absence of two years." 1844.] LETTER FROM THE PRIME MINISTER. 331 After some particulars about his two elder children, " As for Master Tommy, he is a clever little fellow in all practical things, such as packing, running messages, &c. and is uncommonly observing and inquisitive; but, like Bottom, he is dreadfully slow in study ; and in Latin lessons, requires his cue to be given him, as often as Snug the joiner. This I trust will mend. As for their papa, about whose occupations Johnny may be inquisitive, he is like the needy knife-grinder, who had no story to tell, hav- ing lived (since the conclusion of his long task) like a gen- tleman at large, or an old horse pronounced past work, and turned out to grass. He is beginning, however, to be visited by some remorseful and better thoughts; and meditates a struggle against idleness, and an escape from a life of vege- tation. And now, dear Johnny, let me send you my kindest love, and that of all those now beside me." Soon after his return from Scotland, my friend was agree- ably surprised by the receipt of the following letter from Sir Robert Peel, then Prime Minister. " Whitehall, Nov. 16th 1844. " Sir, " You probably are aware that Parliament has placed at the disposal of the Crown, a fund (I regret to say very limited in its amount) which is applicable by the Crown to the recognition of public claims on the consideration of the Sovereign, and on the gratitude of the Country. " Among other foundations of such public claims, emi- nent literary merit and services have been specially men- tioned by Parliament. " 1 have great satisfaction in informing you, that having recommended to Her Majesty that your distinguished name should be added to the honourable List of those who upon such grounds have received marks of the Royal Favour, 332 TYTLER ABOUT HIS PENSION. [CHAP. XV. Her Majesty has been pleased graciously to approve of my proposal, and to direct that a Pension of two hundred pounds per annum should be granted to you for life from the Civil List. I have the honour to be," &c. This communication Tytler was not slow to acknowledge with becoming gratitude : but I suspect the reader will be more amused with the less studied language in which the Historian imparted his good fortune to a private friend. "34 Devonshire Place, Nov. 18th, 1844. "My dear Johnny, When any good thing comes to one, next to being grateful to Him from whom all good proceeds, we think of those dear friends whose sympathy makes them part of ourselves. On Saturday, poor Miss Annie's face was very long, almost trailing on the ground, for the water- pipes in my house in Edinburgh had burst, and the repairs, and other little thorns of bills, weighed her down; but, that evening, oame a strange letter to me, with ' Kobert Peel,' and ' private ' on the back ; and, in the inside, some very pleasant lines informing me that in consequence of his re- commendation, the Queen had conferred on me for literary services to the Country, a pension of two hundred pounds per annum. This made Miss Annie skip, and think no more of the water-pipes; and made me think of dear Johnny, and some other kind old friends to whom I have just been writing. "I rejoiced the other day, on calling at Osnaburgh Street, to find your dear Mother and Helen so well. I only had heard two days before from dear Mr. Burgon, whom I met at the British Museum, that you had all come to town. Will you make, Johnny, my apology to Helen for meeting her like a sister, and having the audacity to kiss her, and her Mother too ? I had remorse for it afterwards, for I had forgotten she is now a grown-up young lady ; but I am an 1844.] WIMBLEDON PARK. 333 old man now, and she will forgive it. Write to me a few lines, dear Johnny, and believe me ever," &c. He was at this time more in society than he had ever been before. But he was essentially domestic in his habits ; he had a constitutional aversion to a crowd; and was never happier than when he was with his children by his own fireside. I have repeatedly heard him notice with pleasure the effect of the firelight on the gilded backs of the books in his library.* He was, at the same time, such a very social being, and so well fitted to please, that I cannot feel surprised at the evidence his letters afford that he had become far less of a recluse than when I parted from him two years before. The Duke of Somerset was very fond of him, and persuaded him to be frequently his guest at Wim- bledon Park. One short and highly characteristic letter which he wrote from the mansion of that amiable and accomplished nobleman, deserves to be inserted. " Wimbledon Park, December 5th, 1844. "My dear Annie, As usual, I shall not get back to you as soon as I thought, for there are gay doings going on here; and when the house is full of company, the Duke seems more than ordinarily to love a quiet corner where he can enjoy the literary talk of one with whom he is on no ceremony. - seems very happy about his marriage, though he says it is a grave step for an old bachelor like him to take. His bride was here to dinner on Monday, the day I arrived; and there was not only a large party to dinner, but a ball in the evening. It was dark on Monday before I arrived, and I found myself in the porch, surrounded with myrtles and evergreens, and a grand piano-forte, just arrived too. Amongst the company was your old friend Mrs. See above, p. 187. 334 LADY DUNMORE. [CHAP. XV. , who is still in a dreadful, though happy bustle, with the marriage of her daughter to a gentleman of excellent character and fortune, a Mr. , whom they met with in the ruins of Syracuse, and who seems to have fallen in love with her in a strange ruin, called Dionysius' Ear, into which the whole party crept. He did not propose however in Dionysius' Ear, but waited till they met again in England. She seems very happy about it, and was full of kindness, and old stories. "Yesterday, I walked six miles to call on dear Lady Dunmore, in Eichmond Park. I had heard she was so ill that she saw nobody, but after I had left my name, and was walking away, the servant came running after me, and said his Mistress must see me ; so I went back. She can only speak in a whisper, but happily it is so clear and distinct, that I heard her quite well. She was most kind, and a good deal affected at first seeing me, (you know I used to be very fond of old Lord Dunmore, and much with him long ago.) She insisted on taking me with her in her carriage, and would not hear of my walking back again. The way in which she held my hand as I sat beside her in the carriage, and listened to her sweet little clear low whisper, was more like the tenderness of a mother, or a wife, than any other thing. She said she was so glad I had come that day, for it was the only day for a long time before, that she could have seen me, as she had slept five hours the night before. Alas, how little do we sometimes think of the infinite blessing of health and sleep ! Gladly would I give up three or four hours of my night's rest if they could be added to the sleep of this dear old friend, who is so patient a sufferer. But doubtless, these sufferings will purify her for that long sleep which will be followed by so bright and blessed a wakening. " Yesterday and the day before, we had the Speaker here, 1844.] PORTRAITS OF QUEEN MARI. 335 Mr. Shaw Lefevre, of whom your friends the Miss Aliens spoke so much. All they said was true; for I never was in company with a more agreeable man, full of anecdote, funny, and without the least affectation of any kind. He is a noble looking man too, quite like what the head of the Com- moners of England should be. I was sorry he went away so soon. We had another treat in another way : a Mr. , the son of Lord , who is a magnificent player on the piano-forte. He is very very little, with a small white face like a sixpence, black mustachios, and little eyes, like the tops of a black pin, and very wee hands ; but when this thing sits down to the piano, if you shut your eyes, you would imagine three or four giants were playing. He practices seven hours a day, and wearies and wears his little hands so, that his wrists have large lumps on them, which have to be bandaged down, so that in his quick passages you see nothing flying along the notes, but two black ribbons. He is a perfect delight, and amused me much, both in seeing him, and thinking of him afterwards. Ever, &c. "When Tommy has finished the recapitulation of Anio, let him go over the two next verbs, which he has already got with me." From many a passage in my friend's letters, his love of the Fine Arts, of pictures, and of portraits especially, will have been made apparent. He did not feel at liberty to purchase such objects for himself, though a very interesting portrait of Mary Queen of Scots which he obtained about this time, was a memorable exception to his general rule of self-denial. He drew up a memoir, which was privately printed in 1845, ' On the Portraits of Mary, Queen of Scots, with remarks on an original portrait of that Princess, recently discovered,' in which 1 think he establishes with a high degree of probability that the portrait in question 336 LITERARY PLANS. [CHAP. XV. was the same which Queen Mary sent to Queen Elizabeth, from France, in 1 559-60. As for Literature, of which for a full year he seemed to have taken leave, it was too sincere a passion with him ever to die out, or even long to slumber. He had been for years meditating, as he more than once told me, a great work which, if he had been spared to execute it, would have been a truly valuable contribution to letters; I mean, a, History of the Reformation. We have already met with one allusion to such a projected work.* He was singularly qualified for the undertaking. His churchman- ship, his familiar, and as it were personal acquaintance with the principal actors in that splendid drama, his ma- tured habits of investigation, and his great knowledge of the sources from which the materials for that period of his- tory are to be derived, all pointed him out as the proper man to be entrusted with such a work. But he was destined to write no more : and his literary life cannot, I think, be taken leave of more appropriately, than in the following words from a letter already quoted, of his friend Mr. Pringle of Yair : " I believe that it was his original intention to bring down his History of Scotland to the Union of the Kingdoms ; but he found the materials of the last century so increased in quantity, that the labour of discriminating, selecting, and condensing, appeared to him quite appalling ; and indeed, it would then have been quite beyond his im- paired strength ; for he had so devoted his energies to the perfecting of his work, that I believe his health had been irreparably injured, and his valuable life was shortened by the inroads which incessant labour had made on his con- stitution. " There was however one addition which I should much have liked him to have made. I allude to the earlier por- tion of our History, before the succession wars, the period * See above, p. 207. 1845.] HIS SECOND MARRIAGE. 337 at which he took it up; and on this subject, I have fre- quently conversed with him. He had been deterred from commencing the narrative at an earlier period, on account of the scantiness of the materials, and the difficulty of establishing facts with such a degree of accuracy as would satisfy himself: but I reminded him of the article on the Culloden Papers; and recommended him to follow the example, and write as an introduction to his History, a preliminary Essay, through which the facts might have been interspersed in the way of illustration. The idea seemed to please him ; and the last time that we spoke of it, (which was not long before his work was completed,) he told me that he had some thoughts, after he had obtained the rest from his labours which he then so much required, of resuming the work, and writing an introductory volume in the form which I had suggested; for he was then so familiar with the facts, that to do this would not require much further research, the kind of labour which he most dreaded. But alas ! his literary exertions were then too near their termination. And, with him, there has been lost to his country a fund of historical experience and informa- tion which we cannot expect ever again, in our generation, to see accumulated." * ... Now, to resume the interrupted current of my story. In the following May (1845) he announced to me, by letter, that he contemplated a second marriage. The object of his attachment was Miss Anastasia Bonar, (daughter of the late Thomson Bonar, Esq., of Camden Place, Kent,) a lady who had long been the intimate friend of his own family. She possessed (as I knew, for I had made her acquaintance at Edinburgh in 1839), great personal attractions, fine abilities, and many accomplishments. Devotedly attached to his children, and a person of great piety, in her my friend * To James Tytler, Esq.; dated Yair, 19th Au. 278, 279. Baillie, (Mrs. Agnes,) p. 259, 260. (Mrs. Joanna,) p. 259-261. Balmacarra, p. 283. Balvenie Bridge, p. 272. Bannatyne Club, p. 162, 16*3 : Ste Tytler's Works. Barrow, (Norwegian,) p. 282, 283. Seattle's 'Minstrel,' p. 134, 135. Beilby, (Dr.,) p. 220. Bell, (Joseph,) p. 209. Belleville, p. 104, 105. Belvedere Apollo, p. 92, 93 : 114. Ben Muik Dhui, p. 271-278. Beresford, (Marshal,) p. 92. Bergen, p. 143-145. Bernadotte, (King,) p. 152-4. Bern, (Due de,) p. 90 : 97 : 112. Bertie, (Hon. and Rev. F.,) p. 311. (Lady Georgina,) p. 311. (Peregrine,) p. 311. Bessieres, (Marshal,) p. 108. Bicker, (the,) p. 18, 19. Black, (Rev. John,) described, p. 23, 24 : verses by, p. 25, 26 : no- tices of, p. 26-29 : p. 53 : 61 : letters to, p. 81 : 118. Blackwood's Magazine, p. 139, 140. Blucher, (Marshal,) described, p. 94 : and 107, 108. Bodleian, (the,) p. 217. Bonaparte's system, p. 100 : 114, 115 : his revenue, 109 : notice of him, 102. I'.. ' nar, (William,) Esq., p. 209. (Miss Anastasia,) p. 337. Bonnets d'or, p. 113. Bothwell, p. 326 : 328. Boulogne, p. 321, 322. Boyd, (Mr.,) p. 100: 102, 103. (Alexander,) p. 317. Brahan Castle, p. 284. Brah6, (Count,) p. 154. Branksome, p. 213, 214. Broadford, p. 281. 350 GENERAL INDEX. Brodie, (Mr. G.,) p. 237. Bronsted, (Chev.,) p. 239. Brown, (Mungo,) p. 192. Bruce)i skull, p. 208. Brussels, p. 114. Buchanan, p. 136. Buckingham Street, Strand, p. 53, 54. Buller, (Charles,) Esq., p. 243. Buller, (Lady,) p. 204. Burghley, (Lord,) p. 298. Burgon, (Thomas,) Esq., p. 332. (Mrs.,) p. 332. (T. C.,) p. 332. (Miss,) p. 307. (Miss Helen,) p. 298 : 332. Burial-grounds, p. 149. Bute, p. 220-222. Butts, (Dr.,) p. 267. Byron, Lord, p. 39. Cairn at Skye, p. 282, 283. Cairn Gorm, p. 277. Cambridge, (Duke of,) p. 325. Cameron, p. 273 : 275 : 277. Campbell, the sculptor, p. 171 : 191 : 203: 219-220: 227: 233. Cantley, (Ellen,) p. 272. Carron, (Loch,) p. 283. Castle Ashby, p. 219 : 310. Castlereagh, (Lord,) p. 92. Cathcart, (Lord,) p. 95. Cavalry horses, p. 109. Cecil, (Sir Robert,) p. 267. - (Sir Will.,) p. 264: 266, 267. Chalmers, (Dr.,) p. 135: 248. Champigny, (Countess,) p. 102. Chaucer's Castle, p. 217. Chief swood, p. 190. Children, p. 132, 133. Chobham, p. 46-48. Christison, (Professor,) p. 17. Christy, (Aunt,) p. 124. Cockburn, p. 205. - (Col.,) p. 168. Consort, (H. R, H. The Prince,) p. 324-328. Constantine, (Grand Duke,) p. 90: 112-114. Controversy, p. 248, 249. Cooper, (C. P.,) Esq., p. 245. Corby Castle, p. 300. Corriusk, p. 281, 282. Cossacks, p. 113, 114. Coventry, (Mr.,) p. 177. Cowper, p. 305: his poetry, p. 135. Coxton Tower, p. 270. Craig, (Ann,) p. 8. (Sir James Henry,) K.B., p. 8 : 71, 72, 73. (General,) p. 47. (Sir J. S.,) p. 162. (SirThomas), seeTytler's Works. Craig Ellachie, p. 278. Craigie, p. 158. Crichton, (the Admirable,) Tytler's Works. (Dr. W.,) p. 92, 93 : 98: 100: 105, 106. Cringeltie, (Lord,) p. 208. Crusades, (Debate on,) p. 55. Cullen, p. 74. Culloden, p. 279: 285. Dalmahoy, p. 204. Darnley Jewel, p. 319: 328. Debating Society, p. 55. De Lancey, (Sir William,) p. 22. Denholme, (Mr.,) p. 141. Derham, (Dr.,) p. 42, 43. Deserter,' ('The,) p. 166, 167. Dick, (Colonel,) p. 108. - (Sir T. L.,) p. 165. Dinner, (a Russian,) p. 98-100. Diomed, p. 187. Dionysius' Ear, p. 334. Dobie, (Peggy,) p. 210, 211. Dochfour, p. 285. Dog, (anecdote of a,) p. 140. Donnington, p. 217. Dresden, p. 340. Dress of French ladies, p. 92. Drowning, (escape from,) p. 316,317. Drontheim, p. 147-155. Drummond, (James,) Esq., p. 45. (Mr.,) p. 327. Dumblane, p. 250-252. Dundas, (James,) Esq., p. 209. Dunglass, p. 125. Dunmore, p. 125. (Lady,) p. 334. Duroc, (Marshal,) p. 108. Dyde and Scribe, p. 256, 257. Eccalobeon, p. 304, 305. Eil, (Loch,) p. 280. Elgersburgh, p. 340. Elizabeth, (Queen,) p. 309. Eli'hinstone, (Mr.,) p. 9. Emperor, see Alexander: Austria: Bonaparte. Encyclopaedia Britannica, p. 267. GENERAL INDEX. 351 English Historical Society, p. 246-7. Erskine, (Mr.,) p. 141. (Henry,) p. 74. - (Thomas,) p. 74. Eskadale, p. 286. Espionage (system of) under Bona- parte, p. 101 : 115. Eugene Beauharnois, p. 108. Ferguson, (Sir Adam,) p. 175. Fillan, (Glen,) p. 281. Finlay, (Mr.,) p. 283. (Mr. Kirkman), p. 95. Finnan, (Glen,) p. 281. .Finne, (Mr. W.,) p. 150. Fire in Edinburgh, p. 168-170. Flowers of the Forest, p. 214. Fort Darras, (M. le Comte del,) p. 87. Fort William, p. 280. Foyers, (Fall of,) p. 280. Frampe, (Count and Countess,) p. 152, 153. France under Bonaparte, p. 101. See Paris, French, Bonaparte, Allies, &c. Fraser, (Ann,) of Belnain, wife of Lord Woodhouselee, p. 10. (James Baillie,) p. 13: 125: 167: 203: 233: 235: 240: 279. Letters to, p. 289. (Mrs. J. B.,) p. 13: 120: 203. Letter of, p. 61 : 167 : 237. Letters to, p. 184 : 294 : 303. (Mrs.,) senr., p. 286. Frederick the Great, p. 107. French Dresses, p. 92: Army, 109: horses, 109. Fronde ville, (Marquis and Marquise de,) p. 95: 103: 107: 109. Funeral Service, p. 95, 96. Fushie Bridge, p. 213. Gala Water, p. 213. Gardie, (Comte de la,) p. 152, 153. Gardner, (Miss,) p. 221. Gateshead, p. 293. Gath, (General,) p. 58. Gentleman's Magazine, p. 283 : 298. George III., (King,) p. 69: 69. - IV. , ee Prince Regent. Georgia, (Prince of,) p. 93. Gerard, (Dora,) p. 299. Gibson, (Sir A. M.,) p. 182. - (Mr. James,) p. 162. Gillies, (Dr.,) p. 202: 236. Gilnochie, p. 213. Gilpin's 'Forest Scenery,' p. 165. Glach Ossian, p. 285. Glen Aune, p. 272. Fillan, p. 281. Finnan, p. 281. Sligachan, p. 281. Strath Farrar, p. 297. Glencowe, p. 272. Glenmore, p. 278. Glenormiston, p. 283. ' GOD save the King,' p. 97. Gondomar's portrait, p. 215. Gonsalvez, (Marquis of,) p. 89. Gordon, (Duchess of,) p. 74. Gowrie Conspiracy, p. 320. Grants, (The,) p. 278. Grant, (William,) p. 53. Graphic Society, p. 308. Gregory, (M'Donald,) p. 165. (Dr.,) p. 35 : 42. Grey, (Lord,) p. 225 : 227. Guisards, p. 181. Gully, (Dr.,) p. 341. Haco, (King,) p. 282. Hall, (Sir James,) p. 125. (Basil,) p. 22: 168: 170-3: 181 : 314. Letter to, p. 83. (James,) p. 168-171: 203: 308. Hamilton, (Mrs. Elizabeth,) p. 21. Hampstead, p. 233 : 259-262 : 304. Harrogate, p. 197, 198. Hardy, (T. D.,) Esq., p. 246 : 258. Hawick, p. 213. Hazlitt, (Mr.,) p. 134. Hentzner, (Paul,) p. 267. Hepburn, (Sir John,) p. 190 : 195. Heriot, (Mr.,) p. 196. Hesse-Philipstal, (Prince of,) p. 96. Hibbert, p. 226. Highlands, (Expedition to the,) p. 269-284. Hill, (Lord,) p. 204, 205. Billhead, p. 124. Hillyer, (Sir James,) p. 224. Historical Society, p. 246, 247. Historiographer for Scotland, 236-7. History of Scotland, seeTytler'sWorks. History, (Materials for,) p. 223. Hog, (James,) Esq., of Newliston Park, p. 177 : 196 : 207 : 232 : 294. Letters to, p. 299 : 303. (Thomas,) Esq., p. 47, 48 : 164, 165 : 190 : 197 : 204 : 207 : 322. Letters to, p. 193: 197: 232: 235 : 246 : 270. GENERAL INDEX. Hog, (Eleanor,) see Makgill. (Rachel Elizabeth,) gee Tytler. (Kitty,) p. 304. (Roger,) p. 294. Hogmanay, p. 181. Hohenlohe, (Prince,) p. 325: 327. Holbein, p. 267. Holland in 1814, p. 114, 115. Holland, (Lord,) p. 205, 206 : 236. (Lady,) p. 288. Holmes, (John,) Esq., p. 246: 258. Hood, (Lady,) p. 152. Hope, (General Sir John,) p. 122. |f Hopetoun Monument, p. 171. Horace, (imitation of,) p. 24-26. Home, (Count,) p. 154. Hotel des Invalides, p. 107. Houghton Conquest, p. 298 : 306-8. House of Lords, p. 205. Hout Foul, (M. le Capitaine,) p. 87. Howard, (Mr.,) p. 300. Howe's Meditations, p. 135: 137, 138. Hume, (David,) Anecdote of, p. 5, 6. Humorists, p. 283. Hussars, p. 112. Hydropathy, 339-343. Idle, (Kit,) p. 53. Jennings, (Dr.,) p. 206. Jephson, (Dr.,) p. 212 : 216. Jerram, (Rev. Charles,) p. 46-49 : 59. Inchrury, p. 273. Innes family, p. 270. Innes, (Mr.,) of Stow, p. 233. Invergarry Castle, p. 280. Jones, (Mrs.,) p. 261. Jortin, (Dr.,) p. 9. Josephine, (Empress,) p. 108. Journals, p. 133. Irvine, (Sandy,) p. 22. Irving, (Washington,) p. 204 : 342. Junior Crown Counsel, p. 121. Kames, (Lord,) p. 11. Kent, (Duchess of,) p. 325. Kerr, (Mr.,) p. 222. Kilmorack, (Falls of,) p. 279, 280. King, xee George III. : Louis XVI., XVII., XVIII.; Prussia: Berna- dotte. Kinnoul, (Lord,) p. 95. Knott, (Mr.,) the Precentor, p. 192. Knox, (John,) p. 287, 288 : 295. Knutzen, (Mr.,) p. 150-3. Kyle, (Dr.,) p. 286. Labiinoff, (Prince,) p. 287: 295. Laing, (David,) Esq., p. 138. Langholm, p. 214. Lansdowne, (Marquis of,) p. 2^6. Larobauchiere, (General), p. 108. Lauriston, p. 182 : 184 : 188. Lasswade, p. 31, 32 : 190. Leamington, p. 212 : 216. Lee, (Principal,) p. 28. Leighton, (Abp.,) his Library, p. 250-252. 'Leila,' p. 309, 310: 320. Lescours, (Colonel le Compte,) p. 102. Leslie, (Jane,) p. 3. Letters, (Original,) see Tytler' s Works. Leyden, the poet, p. 26 : 39, 40. Liddiard, (Mr.,) p. 150. Lillingston, (Mrs.,) p. 283. Lindsay wood, p. 293. Linlithgow, p. 189. Listen, (Sir Robert,) p. 206. 'Liverpool,' (horse,) p. 325. Livet, (The,) p. 271. Loch Carron, p. 283. Eil, p. 28(T. Ness, p. 280 : 285. Rainachan, p. 281. Rosque, p. 283. - Sheill, p. 281. Lochie Castle, p. 280. Lochleven, p. 287. Lockhart, (J. G.,) Esq., p. 190 : 203. Longton, p. 214. Louis XVI. and XVII., (Kings,) funeral service for, p. 95. Louis XVI., p. 111. Louis XVIII. at the Opera, p. 96, 97. Lovaine, (Lord), p. 103. Lovat, (Lord,) p. 284 : 286 : 297. Low, (Cecy,) p. 30 : 124. Macaulay, (Tom,) p. 290. McHardy, p. 274. Macintosh, (JEneas,) Esq., p. 224. Macleay, p. 208. Mackenzie, (Henry,) p. 3:35:106: 256, 257. Mackintosh, (Sir James,) p. 36-8 : 203. McNeill, (Sir John,) p. 285. Maconochie, see Meadowbank. McPherson, p. 273 : 275. McSwein, (Rev. Mr.,) p. 286. Maitland Club, p. 162. MakGill, (D. M.,) Esq., p. 195 : 219, 220 : 234 : 248. (-Mrs.,) p. 217. Malmaison, p. 108. GENERAL INDEX. 353 Malvern, p. 341. Manuscripts, p. 223. Margaret Chapel, p. 301. Maria Louisa, (Empress,) p. 108 : 111. Marie Antoinette, funeral service for, p. 95 : her apartments, p. 111. Marmion, p. 32, 33. Mary, (Princess,) p. 58, 59. (Queen,) p. 286-288. Mayow, (Dr.,) p. 339. Meadowbank, (Lord,) p. 121, 122. Melrose, p. 214. Melville, (Lord,) p. 12 : 206. Michael Scott, see Tytler's Works. Middleton, (Mr.,) p. 6. Milaradovich, p. 93 : 112. Milford House, p. 233. Millar, (Alexander,) p. 46 : 49. Miller, (John,) Esq., Q.C., p. 246. Miniatures, p. 315 : 326, 327, 328. Moreau, p. 98. Morton, (Lady,) p. 204. Mos6, (Mrs.,) p. 260, 261. Mosspaul, p. 214. Moulsey, p. 306 : (Church,) p. 298. Mount Esk, p. 156: 185: 187 : 198 : 207: 210. Moniack, p. 13 : 125 : 167 : 304 : 310 : 329, 330. Montagnac, (M. leChev.,)p. 87, 88. Montgomery, (Sir James, ) p. 88. Montmartre, p. 104. Munster, (General,) p. 58. Murieston, p. 228. Murray, (Lord James,) p. 95. (Hon. C. A.,) p. 319: 324-8. (Hon. C.,) p. 125. (John,) Esq., p. 203. Napoleon, gee Bonaparte. Napier, (Mr.,) p. 267. Newliston, p. 182, 183, 184: 186: 198, 199: 232: 249: 293: 329. Ney, p. 112. North British Review, p. 287. Northampton, (Marquis of,) p. 218 : 290. Norway, journey to, p. 141-155. (Edipe a Colon6, p. 96. Oldenburgh, (Prince of,) p. 93. Opera, (scenes at the French, ) p. 89 : 96. Original Letters, see Tytler's Works. Orleans, (Duke of,) p. 112. Orthography of old Letters, p. 266. Oscar, (Prince,) p. 152 : 154, 155. Oxford, p. 217 : 308, 309, 310: 339. Paley, Dr., p. 43. Palgrave, (Sir Francis,) p. 226. Paralysis, p. 301. Paris, visit to in 1814, p. 89-114 : capitulation of, 104, 105 : Opera, 89 : 96 : Od6on, 104: H6tel des Invalides, 107 : St. Germains, and Malmaison, 108 : Versailles, 111 : Trianon, 111 : St. Cloud, 111 : Champs Elys6es, 112. Peel, (Sir Robert,) p. 331. Pentland Hills, p. 187 : 293. Periodicals, (writing for,) p. 173. Persian Princes, p. 240. Perth, p. 128. Phaedrus, p. 28. Philiphaugh, p. 214. Platoff, p. 93: 110: interview with, 110, 111. Pole, (Mr. Wellesley,) p. 103: Mrs., p. 92. Pontefract Castle, p. 202. Portraits, p. 326 : of Q. Mary, p. 335, 336. Portree, p. 282. Potemkin, p. 112. Pretender, (The,) p. 281 : 284, 285. Prince of Wales, (H. R. H. The,) p. 325. See Albert, Hohenlohe, La- banoff, Oldenburgh, Oscar, Prussia, Regent, Saxe-Coburg, Talleyrand, Timour, Wirtemberg. Princess Royal, (The,) p. 325, 326. See Mary. Princes,' ('The,) p. 284. (The Persian,) p. 240-242. Pringle, (Alex.,) Esq. of Yair, p. 158, 159 : 168, 169. Letter of, p. 174 : 336 : 345. (Professor), p. 11. Prio-Brezensky Regiment, p. 113. Prussia, (Henry Prince of,) p. 90: 106 : 112. (the King of,) p. 97 : 103 : 106 : 112. QUEEN, (HER MAJESTT, THE,) p. 313-316 : 318, 319 : 324-328 : 331, 332. Radcliffe, (Mrs.,) novelist, p. 111. A A 354 GENERAL INDEX. Radical, (the,) p. 172. Raleigh, nee Tytler's Works: and Sherborne. Rankeilour, p. 195: 198 : 219: 248. Rebeg, p. 304. Records, (Deputy Keepership of,) p. 225. Commission, p. 242-245. Reformation, (History of the,) p. 207 : 336. Regent, (Prince,) p. 71-76. Review of troops, p. 112-114. Reza Kuli Mirza, (Prince,) p. 240. Richards, (Rev. W. U.,) p. 301. Richmond, p. 338. Riots in Edinburgh, p. 209. Robertson, (Dr.,) p. 5 : 74 : 309. (Mrs.,) p. 293. Rochsoles, p. 127. Rogers, (Sam.,) Esq., p. 239. Rose, (Rev. H. J.,) p. 307, 308: 310. (Mrs.,) p. 306: 310. Rosque, (Loch,) p. 283, 284. Rostopchin, (the young Count,) p. 93 : 109, 110. Rothesay, p. 220-222 : 227, 228. Rothiemurchus, p. 278. Royal Society, p. 224, 225. ' Rule Britannia,' p. 98. Russell, (Lord John,) p. 205. (Dr.,) p. 9. Russian dinner, p. 98-100: troops, p. 112-114. St. Germains, p. 108. Salamanca, p. 107. Sasse, (Baron de,) p. 109. Saxe-Cobourg, (Prince of,) p. 112. Scaur of Eig, p. 281. Scobell, (Rev. Mr.,) p. 301. Scott, (Sir Walter,) p. 12: 18, 19: notices of, p. 29-34: 163: 175, 176, 177, 178, 179-181: 190: 200: 214, 215. (Lady,) p. 31-33. (Sophia,) Mrs. Lockhart, p. 33. Scour-na-cor-a-glashan, p. 297. Seaforth family, p. 284. Seaton family, p. 1, 2. Selkirk, (Lord,) p. 106. Sessi, (Madam,) p. 105. Shaw Lefevre, (Speaker,) p. 335. Simanefky Regiment, p. 113. Shakspeare's bust, p. 216. Sheill, (Loch,) p. 281. Shelter-stone, (The,) p. 273-277. Sherborne, p. 218. Skene, (Barbara,) p. 3. Skye, p. 281-283. Smith, (Rev. Sydney,) p. 36, 37: 226: 252-254: 257: 289, 290. (Mr.,) p. 196. Somerset, (Duke of,) p. 333. Songs, see Tytler's Works. Soult, (Marshal,) p. 109. Speaker, (The,) p. 236: 335. Spence, (Rev. Mr.,) p. 271 : 275. Spey, p. 278. Standen, (Antony,) p. 298. Stanyer, (Miss,) p. 59. State Paper Office, p. 263. State Papers, (Deputy Keepership of,) p. 235. p. 223: 244: 265, 266: 286, 287: 288, 289. Stephenson, (Mr.,) p. 141. Stevenson, (Rev. Joseph,) p. 246, 247: 258. Steuart, (Patrick,) Esq., p. 269. (Andrew,) Esq., p. 270. (William,) Esq., p. 283. Stewart, (Sir Charles,) p. 92. (Dugald and Mrs. , ) p. 34, 35. (Jack,) p. 168: 170. (Sir James,) of AUanbank, p. 23. (SirM. S.,)p. 125. (Patrick,) Esq., p. 226. Stewarts, (The,) p. 284. Stirling, p. 131. Strath Farrar, (Glen,) p. 297. Stratford-on-Avon, p. 216. Struey, p. 297. Strzelecki, (Count,) p. 254. Suffolk, (Duchess of,) p. 311. Sussex, (Duke of,) p. 224, 225. Tait, (Wm.,) Esq., p. 139: 200: 202: 288: 299: 303, 304. Talleyrand, (Prince,) p. 225. Teignmouth, (Lord,) p. 204 : (Lady,) p. 203. Thomson's 'Select Melodies,' p. 164. (Rev. Thomas,) p. 201. Timour, (Prince,) p. 241, 242. Tindal, (Chief Justice,) p. 260, 261. Tomintoul, p. 271, 272. Torquay, p. 218, 219. .GENERAL INDEX. 355 Trianon, p. 111. Tronringhen, p. 145. Turenne, p. 107. Turner, (Dawson,) Esq., p. 309. Tweed-side, p. 213, 214. Tytler, (John,) p. 2, 3. family, p. 1, 2 : arms, ibid. (Alexander,) p. 3. (William,) memoirs of, p. 3-8. (Alexander Fraser) ; see Lord Woodhouselee. (Mrs. Fraser,) (wife of Lord Woodbouselee, ) letters to, p. 87 : 89: 93: 190: 247. (Col. Patrick,) p. 13: 125: 209: 330. (William Fraser,) Esq., Sheriff of Inverness-shire, p. 3: 16: 279, 280-284: 286. (Margaret Fraser,) p. 3. - (Colonel Bannatyne,) C.B., p. 280. (James,) Esq., of Woodhouse- lee, p. 13 : 16, 17:20:22 : 36 : 62 : 71 : 123. Letter to, p. 57. (Alexander Fraser,) Esq., son of Lord Woodhouselee, p. 16 : let- ters to, p. 51 : 63 : notices of, p. 96 : memoirs of, p. 117, 118. (Mrs. A. F.,) wife of the pre- ceding, p. 117 : 317. (Ann Fraser,) the authoress, p. 13, 14, 15: 332 : works, p. 211 : 320 : her Memoir of her Brother, p. 16-40 : 60, 61 : 168-172 : 184 : 208-210 : 232, 233 : 235, 236 : 240-242: 252-262: 311-318. (Isabella,) p. 16 : 124 : 212 : 237 : 318. (Jane,) gee Mrs. J. B. Fraser. (PATRICK FRASER,) Esq., birth, p. 13 : 16 : boyhood at home, p. 19-29 : 119-121 : at school, p. 46-59 : early love of History, p. 56: 65 : self -portraiture, p. 63-66: piety, p. 66-68: 11 5, 116:130-132: 223: 229-230: 300: 301 : religious views, p. 230 : 300, 301 : self-scru- tiny, p. 125-127 : love of children, 132, 133 : diligence, p. 133-137 : 218 : 220 : social cheerfulness, p. 158-167 : 300, 301 : appearance, p. 182 : his study, p. 190, 191 : play- fulness, p. 194 : 321-323: fondness for field sports, p. 213 : 270, 271 : 272:297:310: humour, p. 305-307 : loyalty, p. 314: poetry, p. 163-165: trainingof his children, p. 230-232: love of them, p. 261, 262 : 290-293. His WORKS : (those marked (*) have never been printed) : (^Oftrp), ^Metrical version of some of Phtednuf fables, p. 28. * Woodhouselee Masque, p. 69-71. *Cypres8 Wreath, p. 23 : 117. Verses to his Dog, p. 140. Songs : *' The Birth of the Robin,' p. 158, 159. *rvn QjgpP - fcfcp^ ! M