John Playfair

‘…Play fair, though ill, and the day bad, followed poor

Seymour to his grave at Holyrood. But those who saw

him there shook their heads; and in about three monthshe joined his friend. This was an irreparable loss bothto the science and to the society of Edinburgh. Taking the whole man — his science, his heart, his manner, and his taste, I do not see how Playfair could have been improved. Profound, yet cheerful; Social, yet alwaysrespectable; strong in his feelings, but uniformly gentle;a universal favorite, yet never moved from his simplicity; in humble circumstances, but contented and charitable — he realized our ideas of an amiable philosopher.

And is he not the best philosophical writer in the 

English language? I have been told that when 

racked on his death-bed with pain, a relation wished 

to amuse him by reading one of Scott's Novels, of 

which he was very fond, but that he said he would 

rather try the Principia. Nothing can he more just 

than the application made to him, by Stewart, of Mar- 

montel's description of D'Alembert. His friends sub- 

scribed for a bust of him, and a monument. The bust 

has been most happily executed by Chantrey. The 

monument, designed by his nephew, has been placed in 

the Calton Hill, in connection with the Observatory, 

which owes its existence and its early reputation to 

Playfair. 

Lord Henry Cockburn’s entries in “Memorials of his Times” are always

of the most enjoyable kind.  Cockburn credits Playfair’s merit as a philosopher.

Most remember him as a scientist and as a mathematician with an axiom named for

him.  He was also a friend of Walter Scott, and as Cockburn notes,a fan of Scott’s novels.

John Playfair died on July 20, 1819.

Battle of Inverkeithing

‘The devotion of the young chief of Clan Quhele's foster father and foster brethren in the novel is a trait of clannish fidelity, of which Highland story furnishes many examples. In the battle of Inverkeithing, between the Royalists and Oliver Cromwell's troops, a foster father and seven brave sons are known to have thus sacrificed themselves for Sir Hector Maclean of Duart; the old man, whenever one of his boys fell, thrusting forward another to fill his place at the right hand of the beloved chief, with the very words adopted in the novel, "Another for Hector!"…’

The Battle of Inverkeithing was fought on July 20, 1651, with Covenanting forces fighting in support of Charles II, against the Parliamentarian army.  Cromwell’s forces won the day, providing a strategic advantage in the last of the English Civil Wars.  Sir Walter Scott’s observation above is taken from the preface to “The Fair Maid of Perth”.

The Riot Act

ADDRESSED TO MONSIEUR ALEXANDER, THE CELEBRATED VENTRILOQUIST.



Of yore, in old England, it was not thought good
To carry two visages under one hood;
What should folk say to you ? who have faces such
plenty, That from under one hood, you last night show'd us
twenty!
Stand forth, arch-deceiver, and tell us in truth,
Are you handsome or ugly, in age or in youth?
Man, woman, or child—a dog or a mouse'?
Or are you, at once, each live thing in the house ?
Each live thing, did I ask ?—each dead implement,
too,
A workshop in your person,—saw, chisel, and screw!
Above all, are you one individual'! I know
You must be at least Alexandra and Co.
But I think you're a troop— an assemblage—a mob,
And that I, us the Sheriff should take up the job ;
and instead of rehearsing your wonders in verse,
Must read you the Riot-Act, and bid you disperse.


Abbotsford, 23d April.
 
From "The Complete Works of Walter Scott...".  The Riot Act was legislated by the Parliament of Great Britain on July 20, 1712.  Under this act, an assemblage of 12 or more people could be deemed unlawful by any local authority.  Disobedience to this law was punishable by death, and the law enabled sometimes extreme uses of force.  One notorious instance was the Peterloo Massacre of 1819.  At Manchester's St. Peter's Square, a large crowd (60k-80k) was attacked by cavalry.  The crowd had gathered to petition for representation at Parliament.  The Riot Act was rescinded in 1973.