an article on Hobbes to the Encyclopædia; and in 1886 a volume on Hobbes appeared as one of the series, entitled Philosophical Classics for English Readers. It is not written on a large scale, yet it is a compact and excellent treatise. He shows a fine historic insight into the social and political conflicts of the period, with reference to their influence upon Hobbes's views and opinions. Robertson's remarkable historic faculty is clearly manifested in this volume. His appreciation and criticism of Hobbes' works, and his influence on subsequent writers, is marked by thoroughness, candour, and accuracy. The treatise is a model of its kind, and is recognised as the best existing monograph on the subject.

To conclude, the preceding account of Scottish Philosophy covers nearly two centuries. The Scottish Philosophers mainly concentrated their efforts on mental philosophy--the explication of the human mind, psychology, moral and political science. Their works present a body of doctrines and reflective thought which are well worth careful study. For the mind alone constitutes the distinctive glory and dignity of man. Insomuch, that it is only by the culture of the mind and the moral sentiments that mankind can hope to attain a more elevated and higher stage of civilisation.

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CHAPTER XL.

Literature of Scotland in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries.

SECTION I.

Historical Literature of the Eighteenth Century.

FTER 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 Scotia 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 Glenly on, 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 Goodal2 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 sublibrarian. 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.

He published an edition of Scott of Scotestarvel'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.3

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

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 Maclurin, the mathemaVOL. IV.

ΙΟ

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.

tician; 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, p. 15.