INTRODUCTORY.

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 deficient 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

took the best advice I could get; and venture to hope that I shall incur no censure. One need perhaps hesitate the less when every detail is calculated to inspire reverence and admiration. How far I may be blamed for revealing so much of my friend's inner life, I cannot tell: nor is this altogether the place to discuss the propriety of such disclosures. It shall only be said that between the desire to draw a faithful portrait, and the dread of incurring the charge of indelicacy, a biographer finds himself placed in an awkward dilemma; from which he must be content to extricate himself by the exercise of that instinct which, after all, is perhaps the safest guide in such matters. If a character is not to come abroad,—then is it better to lay down the pen at once: if it is to be drawn,-then must not those more delicate touches be omitted, which give individuality and life to the picture.

Where every member of the family has placed unreserved confidence in me, I know not in what quarter to direct my thanks particularly. The friend who helped me most, the authoress of‘Leila,' has gone to her rest. Ann Fraser Tytler, I am most indebted to

Next to Miss Thomas Hog,

Esq.; and I must not fail to record with gratitude the patient assistance which I have received from James Tytler, Esq., of Woodhouselee.

HOUGHTON CONQUEST,

Christmas 1858.

MEMOIR

OF

PATRICK FRASER TYTLER, ESQ.

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.

́TYTLER,' or 'De Tytloure,' is a Scottish surname of great antiquity; * but it was not borne by any member of the family which has since rendered it illustrious, until a period subsequent to the battle of Flodden field. Their original name was Seaton; and their ancient residence was in the south of Scotland, on a part of the estate of their kinsman the Lord Seaton. They belonged, therefore, to one of the best of Scottish houses. Mention is made of three brothers who accompanied George, Lord Seaton, to the battle of Flodden, in 1513,—where all were slain, except one of the brothers who attended Lord George in the capacity of chaplain; and who, having returned alive from the field, lurked for some time about the English border, and eventually was presented to a border living. It is further related of him, that he made acquaintance with an English gentleman named Gray, who on a certain occasion invited him to a hunting match; when a difference arose between them,

* In the first year of David Bruce (1364) 'John de Tytloure, esquyre,' witnesses a charter of Robert, Earl of Strathern, Steward of Scotland.

B

"After

which unhappily resulted in the death of Gray. 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 Learnie, near Kincardine Oneille, about sixteen miles west of Aberdeen; where, about the year 1563, he settled, married, and had several children.

From the survivor 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 difference. Their crest, (the rays of the sun issuing from a cloud,) and motto, Occultus 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, where some of his descendants may yet be in existence. There were Tytlers in those parts as late as the year 1738.

The Tytlers bear gules, between three crescents or, a lion's head erased argent: the Seatons, or, three crescents gules, within a royal tressure.

John Tytler, merchant in Aberdeen, (at that period the greatest commercial emporium in Scotland,) married Barbara, 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 immediate 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. Alexander Tytler, writer (that is, solicitor), in Edinburgh; and was born 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 linea

* 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 aunt, Miss Ann Fraser Tytler.