Chapter XXI: Section I: Historical Literature of the Eighteenth Century

AFTER the union various external influences began to touch Scottish literature. Ere indicating these, and dealing with the eminent historians of the period, a few of the historical writers who preceded them may be briefly noticed.

Dr. Patrick Abercromby was descended from the Abercrombies of Tullibody in Fife, and was born at Forfar in 1656. He was educated at the University of St. Andrews, and obtained the degree of doctor of medicine in 1685. His family were supporters of the Stuart line, and he was appointed one of the physicians of James VII. After the Revolution of 1688 he lived abroad, but returned to Scotland in the reign of Queen Anne, and directed his attention to the study of national antiquities. The first volume of his work, entitled _The Martial Achievements of the Scots Nation_, was published in 1711, and the second in 1715. This work is interesting, but it has little historical value.

James Anderson, a son of the Rev. Patrick Anderson, was born in 1662. He was educated at the University of Edinburgh, and graduated in 1680; and having subsequently studied Law, in 1691 he became a member of the Society of Writers to the Signet.

When the question of the Union was stirring the feeling of the Scottish people, Mr. Attwood, a lawyer, in 1704 issued a pamphlet, in which all the old claims of Edward I. over Scotland were reasserted. In 1705 Mr. Anderson published an answer to Attwood’s pamphlet, entitled _An Essay, showing that the Crown of Scotland is Imperial and Independent_. This effort was well received in Scotland, while Parliament passed a vote of thanks and a reward to Mr. Anderson, which was presented to him by the Chancellor in presence of the Royal Commissioner. Then Attwood’s pamphlet and others of a similar character were ordered to be burned at the Cross of Edinburgh by the common hangman. The value of Anderson’s essay mainly consisted in the important charters attached to it.

In research connected with his essay, he had collected a number of valuable national documents. He obtained the patronage of the Scottish Parliament to a plan for engraving and publishing a series of facsimiles of royal charters prior to the reign of James I., and of coins and seals from the earliest times to the end of the seventeenth century. In November, 1706, the Scottish Parliament granted him three hundred pounds to promote the work, and he proceeded with it. By the beginning of March, 1707, he had expended this sum and about six hundred pounds of his own on the work. This was reported to Parliament, and a majority of the House recommended that the Queen should grant to him an additional sum of one thousand and fifty pounds. It said, however, that the money voted to Anderson by the expiring Parliament was never paid to him, yet he proceeded with the work. In 1728 he died, leaving his great undertaking unfinished. The year after his death the plates of the work were sold for £530. At last his work, under the title of _Selectus Diplomatum et Numismatum Scotiæ Thesaurus_, appeared, carefully edited by the well-known scholar, Thomas Ruddiman, who contributed an elaborate preface. At that time the work had much historical value as a book of reference. Anderson was also the author of _Collections relating to the History of Mary, Queen of Scotland_, published at Edinburgh in 1727‒8 in four volumes, which contains a great number of original documents touching the Marian controversy.

Dr. John Campbell,¹ a son of Campbell of Glenlyon, attained some distinction as an historical writer. His _Military History of the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene_ was published in 1736 in two volumes, and was well received. In 1742‒44 his _Lives of the Admirals_ appeared in four volumes, which, owing to the interest of the subject, was long popular. His work, _The Present State of Europe_, was issued in 1750, and passed through many editions. He wrote a portion of the _Biographia Britannica_, and contributed a number of articles to the _Modern Universal History_. His last work was a _Political Survey of Britain_, published in 1774 in two volumes, which was much admired. He was a candid and well informed man, and an industrious writer.

¹ Born at Edinburgh in 1707; died in 1775.

Walter Goodal¹ was a native of Banffshire, and was educated at King’s College, Aberdeen. In 1730 he obtained employment in the Advocates’ Library at Edinburgh, and assisted Ruddiman in the compilation of the first Catalogue of the Library, which was printed in 1742. When Hume succeeded Ruddiman, Goodal continued to act as sub-librarian. He was an ardent Jacobite, and an enthusiastic defender of Mary, Queen of Scots. He contemplated writing a life of Mary, but ultimately limited his effort to _An Examination of the Letters said to be written by Queen Mary to James, Earl of Bothwell_, which appeared in 1754. It is an important work. His conclusion is that the famous “Casket Letters” were not written by Queen Mary. The subsequent defenders of the unfortunate Queen, including Skelton, usually refer with confidence to Goodal’s conclusion on the Letters as decisive.

¹ Born in 1706; died on the 28th July, 1766.

He published an edition of _Scott of Scotestarvet’s Staggering State of Scots Statesmen, with Notes_; an edition of _Fordun’s Scotichronicon, with a Latin Introduction_; and also contributed to _Keith’s Catalogue of Scottish Bishops_.

Thomas Innes was a native of the Valley of the Dee, Aberdeenshire. He left Scotland when young, completed his education abroad, and became a Roman Catholic priest. He is the author of _A Critical Essay on the Ancient Inhabitants of Scotland_, published in 1729. The preface extends to fifty pages, and the Essay itself is elaborate, and shows evidence of much research. His effort has the merit of being the first that questioned the legendary history of Ireland and Scotland. The value of his work, however, was not recognised till after his death.

Early in the eighteenth century indications of a literary revival appeared in Scotland. The awakening influences were mainly native, though external circumstances partly aided it. The energy and genius of the Scots under favourable conditions, soon manifested itself in literature as in other fields of enterprise. The external influence which aided the literary revival came from English literature, at a somewhat later stage and in a slighter degree from French literature. The culture of style became a special object of study, and attempts were made to acquire the idiomatic expression of classic English writers.¹

¹ One stimulus of the literary revival was the Clubs
and Societies which were specially formed for literary
conversation and improvement in composition. To promote
these objects, in 1716 the Rakenian Club was instituted in
Edinburgh, and it continued to meet till 1760. In the roll
of its members the names of a number of Scottish literary
men appeared, including ♦Maclaurin, the mathematician; Rev.
Dr. Robert Wallace; Dr. Young, a distinguished physician;
Rev. George Turnbull, author of a work on moral philosophy,
and a treatise on Ancient Painting; Alexander Boswell, a
Lord of Session, and father of Johnson’s biographer. This
Club was pretty successful in disseminating freedom of
thought, taste, and attention to composition. At a somewhat
later time societies with similar or wider aims were formed
in other cities in Scotland. In 1750 the Select Society
projected by Allan Ramsay, the painter, was instituted
in Edinburgh, for the purposes of literary discussion,
philosophical inquiry, and improvement in public speaking.
It continued active for seven years, and amongst its members
were――Hume, Dr. Robertson, Adam Smith, Adam Ferguson,
Lord Kames, Lord Hales, Lord Monboddo, John Home, and
other celebrated men. Dugald Stewart says the Society
produced――“Debates such as have not often been heard
in modern assemblies――debates where the dignity of the
speakers was not lowered by the intrigues of policy, or the
intemperance of faction, and where the most splendid talents
that have ever adorned this country were roused to their
best exertions by the liberal and ennobling discussions
of literature and philosophy.”――_Life and Writings of Dr.
Robertson_, page 15.

♦ “Maclurin” replaced with “Maclaurin”

In the department of history an important change appeared in the eighteenth century. The critical examination of historical evidence began to be recognised and applied, and a clearer conception of the requisites of historical inquiry was shown. Yet it cannot be affirmed that adequate historic conceptions of the human race were attained by the historians of the period.

David Hume avowed that he was actuated by a passionate love of literary fame, which led him to turn aside from philosophical studies and try his skill in historical composition. In 1747 he formed a resolution to write some historical work. As he had also a desire to counteract the prejudice against the Stuart Kings, he resolved to commence his _History of Great Britain_ with the reign of James VI. With the view of facilitating his historic studies, in 1752 he assumed gratuitously the office of Librarian to the Faculty of Advocates in Edinburgh; and in the Advocates’ Library, amid a rich store of books and historical materials, he began to write his history. The first volume, embracing the reigns of James VI. and Charles I., appeared in 1754, the second in 1757, the third and fourth in 1759, and the fifth and sixth in 1762. The first volume was bitterly assailed by the Whigs, and Hume was greatly disappointed by the attacks upon his work, and also on account of its slow sale. In a short time, however, his history became popular, new editions were issued in rapid succession; and at last Hume was placed in the front rank of English historians.

Recognising his great abilities, easy circumstances, and the varied store of historical matter at his command, yet it has to be regretted that his work is not of high historical authority. He did not reach a high standard either in research or the accurate statement of facts; though he was well qualified to estimate every description of evidence, still he fell into many mistakes. On some important religious and political subjects, such as the Covenanting struggle, and the period of persecution in Scotland, Hume was constitutionally disqualified for forming just views of his suffering countrymen. Having made these adverse comments on his history, I will indicate some of its special merits. Looking at the general character of his work, in many points it is much superior to the annals and compilations of previous British historians. His sagacity enabled him to sink much of the offal and draff which encumber the pages of less gifted writers. While he exhibited a lamentable deficiency in appreciating some of the movements of the seventeenth century, yet on other occasions the views of conflicting parties are grasped and estimated with rare fairness, and presented with much effect. He recognises the importance of literature and culture, which is specially treated in certain portions of his history. His narrative is admirable. His style is clear, easy, and polished.

The following on the character of Queen Elizabeth is a fair specimen of his style:――“There are few personages in history who have been more exposed to the calumny of enemies and the adulation of friends than Queen Elizabeth; and yet there is scarcely any whose reputation has been more certainly determined by the unanimous consent of posterity. The unusual length of her administration, and the strong features of her character, were able to overcome all prejudices; and obliging her detractors to abate much of their invectives, and her admirers somewhat of their panegyrics, have at last, in spite of political factions, and what is more, of religious animosities, produced a uniform judgment with regard to her conduct. Her vigour, her constancy, her magnanimity, her penetration, vigilance, and address, are allowed to merit the highest praise, and appear not to have been surpassed by any person that ever filled a throne: a conduct less vigorous, less imperious, more sincere, more indulgent to her people, would have been requisite to form a perfect character. By the force of her mind she controlled all her more active and stronger qualities, and prevented her from running into excess: her heroism was exempt from temerity, her frugality from avarice, her friendship from partiality, her active temper from turbulency and vain ambition: she guarded not herself with equal care or success from lesser infirmities; the rivalship of beauty, the desire of admiration, the jealousy of love, and the sallies of anger.”

Dr. William Robertson¹ was a native of the parish of Borthwick, in the county of Edinburgh, where his father was minister. He was educated for the Church, and in 1743, was appointed minister of Gladsmuir in Haddingtonshire; but in 1758, he removed to one of the churches of Edinburgh. He delivered his first speech in the General Assembly in 1751, which at once produced a marked impression, and was subsequently the leader of the moderate party in the Church of Scotland.

¹ Born in 1721; died 1793. An interesting account of his life
and writings was written by Dugald Stewart.

His works consist of: (1) _The History of Scotland during the Reigns of Queen Mary and James the VI._, which appeared in 1759; (2) _History of the Reign of Charles V._, in three volumes, published in 1769; (3) _History of America_, (1777); and (4) _A Historical Disquisition on Ancient India_, a slight sketch, (1791). For the copyright of his _History of Scotland_, he received £600, and £4500 for his _History of Charles V._

Shortly after the publication of his _History of Scotland_, he was appointed principal of the University of Edinburgh, and historiographer royal for Scotland.

Dr. Robertson was a man of great intellectual power and grasp of mind, combined with a singularly clear and sober judgment. Guided and enlightened as his faculties were by a pretty broad and varied culture, the works which he produced were all stamped with enduring qualities, and still remain monuments of his industry and genius. Although his works are not remarkable for exhaustiveness of research, he possessed in a high degree the rarer qualification of seizing the essential features of a subject, and presenting them in a lucid and attractive way. His introductory chapter on Scottish history prior to the birth of Queen Mary, though only a slight retrospective sketch, is remarkable for its grasp and luminous view of the subject. It is true that this period of history is now better understood than it was in his day; yet with the materials within his reach, he drew a wonderfully accurate picture of the subject.

His _History of Scotland_ is intensely interesting; the period itself was a stirring one, full of important, varied, and tragic events; his narrative is masterly, and his style flowing and clear. The first volume of his _History of Charles V._, which describes the state of society in Europe prior to the sixteenth century, is one of the most valuable parts of his works, and exhibits his highest qualifications as a historian to the best advantage. Soon after its appearance the work was translated into French. _His History of America_ is full of deep interest, presenting a clear narrative teeming with picturesque features and touching incidents, accompanied with striking and philosophical reflections, which charmed the literary world. A short extract from his account of the discovery of America may be given. The land had been descried about midnight, and great joy was manifested by the crews of the ships:――

“As soon as the sun arose, all their boats were manned and armed. They rowed towards the island with their colours displayed, with warlike music, and other martial pomp. As they approached the coast, they saw it covered with a multitude of people, whom the novelty of the spectacle had drawn together, whose attitudes and gestures expressed wonder and astonishment at the strange objects which presented themselves to their view. Columbus was the first European who set foot on the new world which he had discovered. He landed in a rich dress, and with a naked sword in his hand. His men followed, and kneeling down, they all kissed the ground which they had so long desired to see. They next erected a crucifix, and prostrating themselves before it, returned thanks to God for conducting their voyage to such a happy issue. They then took solemn possession of the country for the crown of Castile and Leon, with all the formalities which the Portuguese were accustomed to observe in acts of this kind in their new discoveries.

“The Spaniards, while thus employed, were surrounded by many of the natives, who gazed in silent admiration upon actions which they could not comprehend, and of which they did not foresee the consequences. The dress of the Spaniards, the whiteness of their skins, their beards, their arms, appeared strange and surprising. The vast machines in which they had traversed the ocean, that seemed to move upon the waters with wings, and uttered a dreadful sound resembling thunder, accompanied with lightning and smoke, struck them with such terror that they began to respect their new guests as a superior order of beings, and concluded that they were children of the sun, who had descended to visit the earth.

“The Europeans were hardly less amazed at the scene now before them. Every herb and shrub and tree was different from those which flourished in Europe. The soil seemed to be rich, but bore few marks of cultivation. The climate, even to the Spaniards, felt warm, though extremely delightful. The inhabitants appeared in the simple innocence of nature, entirely naked. Their black hair, long and uncurled, floated upon their shoulders, or was bound in tresses on their heads. They had no beards, and every part of their bodies was perfectly smooth. Their complexion was of a dusky copper colour, their features singular rather than disagreeable, their aspect gentle and timid. Though not tall, they were well-shaped and active. Their faces and several parts of their bodies were fantastically painted with glaring colours.... Towards evening Columbus returned to his ships, accompanied by many of the islanders in their boats, which they called canoes; and though rudely formed out of the trunk of a single tree, they rowed them with surprising dexterity. Thus, in the first interview between the inhabitants of the old and new worlds, everything was conducted amicably and to their mutual satisfaction. The former, enlightened and ambitious, formed already vast ideas with respect to the advantages which they might derive from the regions that began to open to their view. The latter, simple and undiscerning, had no foresight of the calamities and desolation which were approaching their country.”

William Guthrie, a son of an episcopal minister, was born at Brechin in 1708. He was educated at King’s College, Aberdeen, and afterwards proceeded to London to push his fortune. He was for some time engaged writing as a supporter of the Government, and received from the Pelham Ministry a pension of £200 per annum. He became a voluminous writer, and was connected with many literary undertakings. He wrote a History of England in three volumes, which begins with the Conquest and closes with the Commonwealth. In 1767 he published a History of Scotland in ten volumes. His _Historical and Geographical Grammar_ was his most successful work. It had reached its twenty-first edition in 1810, and was translated into French. He died on the 9th of March, 1770.

Dr. ♦Smollett, the novelist, wrote a _History of England_, published in 1758, in four large volumes; but it is not of much historical value. It was hastily composed without sufficient preparation and study, and it is full of mistakes and inconsistencies. The portion of this history from 1688 to the death of George II. has often been printed as a continuation to Hume’s history.

♦ “Smollet” replaced with “Smollett”

Mr. William Tytler of Woodhouselee, published in 1759 _An Inquiry into the Evidence against Mary Queen of Scots_, in which he combated the views advanced by Robertson and Hume, touching Queen Mary. Tytler’s work is acute and candid, but not at all conclusive. He also rendered good service to the national literature by his publication of the Poetical Remains of James I., with a dissertation on the life and writings of the royal poet.

Dr. Gilbert Stuart was born at Edinburgh in 1742. He is the author of a _History of Scotland_, a _History of the Reformation_, and a _Dissertation on the British Constitution_. He also wrote many articles for periodicals in which he bitterly attacked the works of some of his contemporaries. His style is florid and flowing, but much affected. He died in 1786.

In 1771, the first volume of Dr. Robert Henry’s¹ _History of Great Britain_ appeared, and four others followed at intervals from this date to 1785. In this work special attention was directed to the state of the people and domestic manners; but it only came down to the reign of Henry VIII. The author received for his work £3300; and was rewarded with a pension from the Crown of £100 a year.

¹ Born in 1718; died in 1790.

Lord Hailes, a son of Sir James Dalrymple, was born in Edinburgh in 1726. He distinguished himself at the Scottish bar, and was raised to the bench in 1766. He was a man of considerable erudition, an able lawyer and conscientious judge. He was, moreover, a man of wit, and had a strong feeling of the comic and ridiculous in human conduct and character, “which gave a keen edge of irony both to his conversation and writings.... How much he excelled in painting the lighter weaknesses and absurdities of mankind, may be seen from the papers of his composition in the _World and the Mirror_.... In a word, he was an honour to the station which he filled, and to the age in which he lived. He died in his 67th year, on the 29th of November 1792.”¹

¹ _Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Lord Kames_, by A. F.
Tytler, Volume I., pages 182‒183; 1807.

The first part of Lord Hailes’ _Annals of Scotland_ was published in 1776, and the second part, which brought the work down to the death of David II., appeared in 1779. It is a work of very high merit and historical value, and it has been long well known and esteemed by historical students. He was gifted with the critical faculty in a high degree, and the power of discriminating and estimating historical evidence. Lord Hailes was also the author of a number of legal and antiquarian treatises; of the _Remains of Christian Antiquity_, containing translations from the Fathers, etc., and of _An Inquiry into the secondary causes assigned by Gibbon for the rapid spread of Christianity_.

Dr. Adam Ferguson’s _Essay on the History of Civil Society_ appeared in 1766, and his _History of the Progress and Termination of the Roman Republic_ in 1783. In the first named work, he introduced the method of studying mankind in groups, and of tracing the gradual progress of entire societies, or what is now called the science of sociology. As already stated, Ferguson’s views of the progress of mankind and the gradual growth of social institutions, approached nearer to the modern conception of the historical development of the human race than those of any of his predecessors. In his _History of the Roman Republic_ he showed much careful research, skilful arrangement, and just philosophical reflections. But his style, though exceedingly clear and vigorous, is rather compressed and sententious.

Dr. William Russell¹ was a native of Selkirkshire, and raised himself to literary distinction in the midst of many difficulties. He was the author of a useful _History of Modern Europe_, of which the first two volumes appeared in 1779, and three others in 1784, bringing it down to 1763. This history was long popular, and continuations have been made to it by Dr. Coote and others.

¹ Born in 1741; died 1793.

Dr. Robert Watson,¹ professor of rhetoric in the University of St. Andrews, is the author of a History of Philip II. of Spain, which was published in 1776, and was intended as a continuation of Robertson’s History of Charles V. He also left unfinished a History of Philip III., which was completed by Dr. Thomson, and published in 1783.

¹ Born in 1730; died 1780.

Dr. John Gillies,¹ historiographer for Scotland to His Majesty George III., wrote The _History of Ancient Greece, its Colonies and Conquests_, which appeared in 1784. It is a work which exhibits historic ability and research. The sixth edition of it was issued in four volumes in 1820. He was the author also of a _View of the Reign of Frederic II. of Prussia_; a _History of the World from the Reign of Alexander to Augustus_, which was published in 1807‒10; and produced English Translations of Aristotle’s Ethics, Politics, and Rhetoric.

¹ Born in 1747; died 1836.

To his translation of the Rhetoric he prefixed a long introduction in which, after showing its importance as a work of taste and criticism, and its connection with Aristotle’s other writings, he opened an attack on modern philosophy in general, and on the Scottish School in particular. He animadverts adversely on the views of Adam Smith, Reid, Lord Kames, and especially on the writings of Dugald Stewart. Their views he maintained were all wrong, while those of the mighty Stagirite were alone right.

George Chalmers,¹ a native of Fochabers, in Morayshire, is the author of a number of works on various subjects. His _History of the United Colonies, from the Settlement to the Peace of 1763_, appeared in 1780; among his other writings may be mentioned, a _Life of Sir David Lindsay_, with an edition of his works, and a _Life of Mary Queen of Scots drawn from the State Papers_. But his greatest work is _Caledonia_, the first volume of which was published in 1807; other two large volumes were issued in his lifetime, but it was left unfinished. This work contains a mass of minute antiquarian details of the early periods of Scottish history, together with topographical and historical accounts of the different counties; it embodies a vast collection of facts and incidents of much value, but there is little method in it, and his style is not attractive. A new edition of it has recently been published by Mr. Gardner, which includes a large quantity of manuscript prepared by Chalmers, but left unprinted when he died, thus completing the work as far as possible.

¹ Born 1742; died 1825.

Malcolm Laing¹ is the author of a History of Scotland. He was educated for the Scottish bar, and passed advocate in 1785. In 1800 his _History of Scotland, from the Union of the Crowns in 1603 to the Union of the Kingdoms in 1707_, was published. It is an able work, and of very high historical value. He possessed analytic and critical powers which enabled him to estimate evidence at its value; and notwithstanding his strong Whig opinions, and his love of liberty, his historical integrity is unimpeachable. But he attacked Macpherson, the translator of Ossian, with unmerciful severity. Though a clear and vigorous thinker, he was not a great master of historic style.

¹ Born in 1762; died 1818. There are other historical writers
of more or less note, a few of whom I can only briefly
mention. Ruddiman, the eminent Latin grammarian, edited an
edition of Buchanan’s _History of Scotland_, and published
several historical memoirs. Dr. Alexander Adam, rector
of the High School of Edinburgh, is the author of _Roman
Antiquities_ and _A Summary of Geography and History_, etc.
John Pinkerton was a native of Edinburgh, born in 1758,
and died at Paris in 1825. He distinguished himself by the
vehement controversial tone of his historical writings, and
by the obstinacy of his unreasoned notions; still, he was
an industrious collector of forgotten fragments of ancient
history.

His first historical effort was a _Dissertation on the
Origin of the Goths_, in which he enounced the strange
theory which he maintained to the end of his days, namely,
that the Celts of Ireland, Wales, and Scotland are savages,
and have been savages since the world began. He next
produced an _Inquiry into the History of Scotland preceding
the Reign of Malcolm III._, in which he argued at great
length on the history of the Goths, and the conquests which
he asserts they achieved over the Celts in their progress
through Europe. In 1796, he issued a _History of Scotland
during the Reign of the Stuarts_, the most valuable of all
his works. He also edited, but very indifferently, a series
of Ancient Lives of Scottish Saints under the title _Vitæ
Antiquæ Sanctorum Scotiæ_, a revised and enlarged edition of
which has recently been issued.