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 lineaments of his character which the author of the 'Man of Feeling' has permitted himself to portray, as in his speaking likeness by the hand of Raeburn. William Tytler became 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 decided 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 universally 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 procured 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

CHAP. I.]

ROBERTSON AND HUME.

5

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 lax morality of the age in which she lived, must at least be 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 pleasure 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 (socalled) 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 reflections, 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 universally 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

"I found by Dr. Warburton'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."Hume's Autobiography.

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 popular work, the vindication of Mary, (which produced 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 crush this presumptuous 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.

66

"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 discomfit 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

CHAP. I.]

WILLIAM TYTLER DESCRIBED.

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 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 attaining 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.' biographical article in "The Bee" Society of Edinburgh on the 29th day of April, 1784, when Dr. Carlisle read Collins' ode on the genius of the Highlands; 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. Three years later, the poet Burns sent him his portrait, and hailed him with the well-known apostrophe, - Revered defender of the beauteous Stuart.'

The writer of a short was present at the Royal

William Tytler is described as rather thin, and somewhat

* His other works were "Observations on 'the Vision,' a poem first published 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 there on 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.”

below the middle size; with a quick springy walk, and a great affection for those manly exercises of which the refinement of modern times had robbed the gentlemen of Scotland. He may be seen in Raeburn's well-known portrait, which has been admirably engraved in mezzotint. He delighted in the company of the young; was ardent and eager in conversation; and his singularly 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, he had 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 domestic 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 morning, 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 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

arms.

* 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. Fraser figures in the third quarter, in consequence of Lord Woodhouselee's marriage with the heiress of Fraser of Belnain.