22 SHORT ACCOUNT OF THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF DR. ROBERTSON. WILLIAM ROBERTSON, D. D. was born in 1721, at Borthwick, of which parish his father was then minister. He received the early part of his education at the school of Dalkeith; and the removal of his father to Edinburgh afforded him a favourable opportunity for the prosecution of his academical studies. The University of Edinburgh was at that time adorned with teachers who were every way fitted to encourage genius, and to give a proper direction to the habits of the studious. The prelections of Sir John Pringle, who then held the professorship of Moral Philosophy, are said to have been adapted not so much for the display of talents, as to lead his hearers "to acquaintance with the world, and to the knowledge of their own hearts ;"* and under him, it may be, Dr. Robertson cultivated those talents for judging of human affairs, and for scrutinizing the principles of human conduct, which give such a charm to his writings. The manner in which Dr. Stevenson is said to have performed the duties of his office as Professor of Logic, by pointing out the * Erskine's Discourses, vol. i. page 266! beauties of the writers of antiquity, and by illustrating the Poetics of Aristotle and the Treatise of Longinus, could not fail to give a favourable direction to the studies of his pupils; and to these prelections Dr. Robertson considered himself more indebted than to any other circumstance in his academical education. "From this period," says his elegant biographer, "till the year 1759, when by the publication of his Scotish History, he fixed a new era in the literary annals of his country, the habits and occurrences of his life were such as to supply few materials for biography; and the imagination is left to fill up a long interval, spent in the silent pursuit of letters, and enlivened by the secret anticipation of future eminence." Having completed the usual course of study at the University, he was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Dalkeith in 1741; and two years after was ordained minister of Gladsmuir in East Lothian. His appointment to this situation was peculiarly seasonable; as by the death of his father, the charge of six sisters and a younger brother devolved upon him. The li mited income arising from his situation, did not intimidate him from obeying the impulse of nature and of duty; and, with a generosity and tenderness which do as much honour to his heart as his writings give fame to his genius, he devoted his attention to their education nd comfort. While engaged in the faithful discharge of his duties as a pastor and a brother, his attention was roused, and his patriotism called forth, by the breaking out of the rebellion in 1745. He not only exerted himself in inculeating sentiments of loyalty and patriotism among the people committed to his charge, but, when the Capital was in danger of falling into the hands of the rebels, he felt that it was his duty to desert for a time the tranquil habits of his office, and, by joining the volunteers of Edinburgh, to make every active exertion for the security of his country, and the preservation of its liberties and independence. "When, at last, it was determined that the city should be surrendered, he was one of the small band who repaired to Haddington, and offered their services to the Commander of his Majesty's Forces." This active conduct did not interrupt the exercise of the duties of his sacred office: these were punctually and faithfully discharged: his usefulness as a minister was felt and acknowledged by his parishioners, while his merit as an orator was recognized by his brethren, and opened the path to that eminence in the Church which he so deservedly attained. Of his talents as a preacher, he has left to the world only one solitary specimen; but the ability and eloquence which that sermon discovers, together with the applause it has received wherever it has been read, plainly shew, that, had he chosen this walk of literature for the exercise of his powers, his rank as a preacher would not have been inferior to that whch he occupies as a historian. Previous to this, he had taken an active share in the debates of the General Assembly of the Scotish Church. The meetings of the Assembly afford a very favourable opportunity of bringing into notice, talents which might be buried in obscurity, and for the exercise of which the ordinary details of clerical duty afford little scope. The power of extemporaneous elocution, of applying the general principles of ecclesiastical polity to particular cases, and of commanding attention amid the frequent noise of a popular assembly, is a talent that falls not to the lot of ordinary men. In the details of business, and the ardour of debate, Dr. Robert son was fitted to shine; and in this field he gathered laurels, which nothing but the splendour of his genius as a historian could have excelled. With the merits of the question which first employed the eloquence of Dr. Robertson, and of those which, during his administration (as the period in which he was the leader of his party has been called) successively occupied the attention of the church, the writer of this is not sufficiently acquainted to entitle him to enter on the detail of them, and it would extend this memoir to unnecessary length. It may be sufficient to state, that in the first question in which he took an active part, and in which he was most ably supported, he was left in a minority of eleven; but that such was the persevering ardour of his mind, that instead of giving up his opposition, he returned to the deba e with undiminished zeal, and the year following had the satisfaction of standing at the head of a majority. From this period may be dated the commencement of Dr. Robertson's influence in the church, and the origin of those principles of ecclesiastical policy which have since guided her decisions. His speeches in the Assembly are said to have been marked by the same manly and persuasive eloquence which distinguishes his historical compositions; and even his most unpremeditated effusions were not unadorned with those harmonious and seemingly measured periods which we admire so much in his works of labour and reflection. The establishment of the Select Society, opened to Dr. Robertson another field for the display and improvement of his talents. This Society, the object of which was the discussion of literary and philosophical subjects, was instituted in Edinburgh in the year 1754, and numbered among its members some of the first characters of the age. In the debates which occasion |