April 30 (1829).—Dr. Johnson enjoins Bozzy to leave out of his diary all notices of the weather as insignificant. It may be so to an inhabitant of Bolt Court, in Fleet Street, who need care little whether it rains or snows, except the shilling which it may cost him for a Jarvie; but when I wake and find a snow shower sweeping along, and destroying hundreds perhaps of young lambs, and famishing their mothers, I must consider it as worth noting. For my own poor share, I am as indifferent as any Grub Streeter of them all—
"—And since 'tis a bad day,
Rise up, rise up, my merry men,
And use it as you may."
From Scott's Journal.
Walter Scott seemed to think of Samuel Johnson often in his journal writings, mentioning him more than a dozen times. In January 1829, Scott wrote a letter to John Wilson Croker to provide material for Croker's edition of Boswell's "Life of Johnson".
WRS
Friday, April 30, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
John Bull
A KEY TO THE LOCK.
"...Since this unhappy division of our nation into parties, it is not to be imagined how many artifices have been made use of by writers to obscure the truth, and cover designs which may be detrimental to the public. In particular, it has been their custom of late to vent their political spleen in allegory and fable. If an honest believing nation is to be made a jest of, we have a story of " John Bull and his wife:" if a treasurer is to be glanced at, an ant with a white straw is introduced; if a treaty of commerce is to be ridiculed, it is immediately metamorphosed into a tale of « Count Tariff."*
* Arbuthnot's History of John Bull is quoted on the one side, and on the other, a paper of Steele's Guardian, in which some political insinuations are couched, under the allegory of a colony of ants. The satire, entitled The Trial of Count Tariff, was written in ridicule of the commercial treaty .with France..."
From The Works of Jonathan Swift, D.D
With Notes and a Life of the Author by Sir Walter Scott
John Arbuthnot seems to have been something of a renaissance man, contributing in several different fields of knowledge; math, medicine, writing. He was born on April 29, 1667. Arbuthnot and Jonathan Swift became close after Swift moved to London, in 1710. The two formed "The Brothers' Club" where they discussed ideas for a publication called the "Tory".
Arbuthnot created the character John Bull, in 1712, to satirize the war between England and France. John Bull grew to represent the prototypical Englishman. Bull had a sister Peg, which represented Scotland.
"...Since this unhappy division of our nation into parties, it is not to be imagined how many artifices have been made use of by writers to obscure the truth, and cover designs which may be detrimental to the public. In particular, it has been their custom of late to vent their political spleen in allegory and fable. If an honest believing nation is to be made a jest of, we have a story of " John Bull and his wife:" if a treasurer is to be glanced at, an ant with a white straw is introduced; if a treaty of commerce is to be ridiculed, it is immediately metamorphosed into a tale of « Count Tariff."*
* Arbuthnot's History of John Bull is quoted on the one side, and on the other, a paper of Steele's Guardian, in which some political insinuations are couched, under the allegory of a colony of ants. The satire, entitled The Trial of Count Tariff, was written in ridicule of the commercial treaty .with France..."
From The Works of Jonathan Swift, D.D
With Notes and a Life of the Author by Sir Walter Scott
John Arbuthnot seems to have been something of a renaissance man, contributing in several different fields of knowledge; math, medicine, writing. He was born on April 29, 1667. Arbuthnot and Jonathan Swift became close after Swift moved to London, in 1710. The two formed "The Brothers' Club" where they discussed ideas for a publication called the "Tory".
Arbuthnot created the character John Bull, in 1712, to satirize the war between England and France. John Bull grew to represent the prototypical Englishman. Bull had a sister Peg, which represented Scotland.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville
PREFACE
TO
THE VISION OF DON RODERICK
by Walter Scott
I am too sensible of the respect due to the Public, especially by one who has already experienced more than ordinary indulgence, to offer any apology for the inferiority of the poetry to the subject it is chiefly designed to commemorate. Yet I think it proper to mention, that while I was hastily executing a work, written for a temporary purpose, and on passing erents, the task was most cruelly interrupted by the successive deaths of Lord President Blair 1, and Lord Viscount Melville. In those distinguished characters, I had not only to regret persons whose lives were most important to Scotland, but also whose notice and patronage honoured my entrance upon active life; and, I may add, with melancholy pride, who permitted my more advanced age to claim no common share in their friendship.
1 [The Right Hon. Robert Blair of Avontoun, President of the Court of Session, was the son of the Rev. Robert Blair, author of " The Grave." After long filling the office of Solicitor-General in Scotland with high distinction, he was elevated to the Presidency in 1808. He died very suddenly on the 20th May 1811, in the 70th year of his age; and his intimate friend, Henry Dundas, first Viscount Melville, having gone into Edinburgh on purpose to attend his remains to the grave, was taken ill not less suddenly, and died there the very hour that the funeral took place, on the 28th of the same month.]
The text above references Henry Dundas' death. But on this day (April 28) in 1742, the future Lord Melville was born. The family Dundas took to law. Father Robert Dundas of Arniston served as Lord President of the Court of Sessions, as did Henry's half-brother Robert.
Lord Melville's career was closely tied to that of William Pitt (the Younger), under whom he served as War Secretary (1794-1801), then Treasurer and later First Lord of the Admiralty. Dundas has the dubious distinction of being the last individual to be tried under articles of impeachment in the House of Lords. The charges, for which he was acquitted, arose out of his term as Treasurer of the Admiralty.
At his peak, Melville's power was substantial, earning him the nickname "Harry the Ninth, Uncrowned King of Scotland".
TO
THE VISION OF DON RODERICK
by Walter Scott
I am too sensible of the respect due to the Public, especially by one who has already experienced more than ordinary indulgence, to offer any apology for the inferiority of the poetry to the subject it is chiefly designed to commemorate. Yet I think it proper to mention, that while I was hastily executing a work, written for a temporary purpose, and on passing erents, the task was most cruelly interrupted by the successive deaths of Lord President Blair 1, and Lord Viscount Melville. In those distinguished characters, I had not only to regret persons whose lives were most important to Scotland, but also whose notice and patronage honoured my entrance upon active life; and, I may add, with melancholy pride, who permitted my more advanced age to claim no common share in their friendship.
1 [The Right Hon. Robert Blair of Avontoun, President of the Court of Session, was the son of the Rev. Robert Blair, author of " The Grave." After long filling the office of Solicitor-General in Scotland with high distinction, he was elevated to the Presidency in 1808. He died very suddenly on the 20th May 1811, in the 70th year of his age; and his intimate friend, Henry Dundas, first Viscount Melville, having gone into Edinburgh on purpose to attend his remains to the grave, was taken ill not less suddenly, and died there the very hour that the funeral took place, on the 28th of the same month.]
The text above references Henry Dundas' death. But on this day (April 28) in 1742, the future Lord Melville was born. The family Dundas took to law. Father Robert Dundas of Arniston served as Lord President of the Court of Sessions, as did Henry's half-brother Robert.
Lord Melville's career was closely tied to that of William Pitt (the Younger), under whom he served as War Secretary (1794-1801), then Treasurer and later First Lord of the Admiralty. Dundas has the dubious distinction of being the last individual to be tried under articles of impeachment in the House of Lords. The charges, for which he was acquitted, arose out of his term as Treasurer of the Admiralty.
At his peak, Melville's power was substantial, earning him the nickname "Harry the Ninth, Uncrowned King of Scotland".
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Battle of Dunbar (1296)
Popular report states this battle to have been lost by treachery; and the communication between the earls of Dunbar and Angus and King Edward, as well as the disgraceful flight of the Scottish cavalry without a single blow, corroborates the suspicion. But the great superiority of the English in archery may account for the loss of this as of many another battle on the part of the Scots. The bowmen of Ettrick Forest were faithful; but they could only be few. So nearly had Wallace's scheme for the campaign been successful, that Edward, even after having gained this great battle, returned to England, and deferred reaping the harvest of his conquest till the following season. If he had not been able to bring the Scottish army to action, his retreat must have been made with discredit and loss, and Scotland must have been left in the power of the patriots.
From 'Exploits and Death of William Wallace, the "Hero of Scotland" ' by Sir Walter Scott.
The Battle of Dunbar took place on April 27, 1296. Dunbar followed the Massacre at Berwick in the Wars of Scottish Independence. It was the first and final major confrontation between Scots and English during that calendar year. John Balliol led the field for the Scots in what became a complete rout for the English under Balliol's father-in-law, John de Warenne, the Earl of Surrey. After the short-lived battle was over, King Edward I rode in to Dunbar Castle, which readily surrendered in the face of a much superior force.
From 'Exploits and Death of William Wallace, the "Hero of Scotland" ' by Sir Walter Scott.
The Battle of Dunbar took place on April 27, 1296. Dunbar followed the Massacre at Berwick in the Wars of Scottish Independence. It was the first and final major confrontation between Scots and English during that calendar year. John Balliol led the field for the Scots in what became a complete rout for the English under Balliol's father-in-law, John de Warenne, the Earl of Surrey. After the short-lived battle was over, King Edward I rode in to Dunbar Castle, which readily surrendered in the face of a much superior force.
Monday, April 26, 2010
The Leading Light of the Scottish Enlightenment
David Hume has been described by some as the most important philosopher in the English language. It is probable that most people today have never even heard of him. Born April 26, 1711, as David Home (changed in 1734 so that the English could better understand how to pronounce his name), the "uncommonly wake-minded" Hume attended Edinburgh University by age 11.
Hume has been labeled a British empiricist as a philosopher; i.e. (roughly that) knowledge derives from experience of the senses. This school of thought was founded by John Locke. Hume's major productions include "A Treatise of Human Nature" (1739-1740), the "Enquiries concerning Human Understanding" (1748) and "concerning the Principles of Morals" (1751). Hume also contributed substantially to history and economics, publishing a 6 volume "History of England", and influencing the viewpoint of his friend Adam Smith. More famous in his own day than in current times, Hume participated in political endeavors of the day, including accompanying his cousin, Lieutenant-General James St. Clair on a diplomatic mission to Vienna and Turin (1748).
Walter Scott would have been too young to meet Hume, who died in 1776; five years after Scott's birth. Hume's influence on the Scottish Enlightenment and on the thinking of those like Walter Scott who lived during and after is inescapable. From Scott's Journal:
April 3 (1828) ...Come, I'll write down the whole stanza, which is all that was known to exist of David Hume's poetry, as it was written on a pane of glass in the inn:—
"Here chicks in eggs for breakfast sprawl,
Here godless boys God's glories squall,
Here Scotsmen's heads do guard the wall,
But Corby's walks atone for all."
Hume has been labeled a British empiricist as a philosopher; i.e. (roughly that) knowledge derives from experience of the senses. This school of thought was founded by John Locke. Hume's major productions include "A Treatise of Human Nature" (1739-1740), the "Enquiries concerning Human Understanding" (1748) and "concerning the Principles of Morals" (1751). Hume also contributed substantially to history and economics, publishing a 6 volume "History of England", and influencing the viewpoint of his friend Adam Smith. More famous in his own day than in current times, Hume participated in political endeavors of the day, including accompanying his cousin, Lieutenant-General James St. Clair on a diplomatic mission to Vienna and Turin (1748).
Walter Scott would have been too young to meet Hume, who died in 1776; five years after Scott's birth. Hume's influence on the Scottish Enlightenment and on the thinking of those like Walter Scott who lived during and after is inescapable. From Scott's Journal:
April 3 (1828) ...Come, I'll write down the whole stanza, which is all that was known to exist of David Hume's poetry, as it was written on a pane of glass in the inn:—
"Here chicks in eggs for breakfast sprawl,
Here godless boys God's glories squall,
Here Scotsmen's heads do guard the wall,
But Corby's walks atone for all."
Sunday, April 25, 2010
War of the Spanish Succession
April 25, 1707 saw the Battle of Almanza, which was a victory for Bourbon French forces over the Hapsburg Spanish army. In his "Memoirs of Sir Walter Scott", Lockhart records Scott's preparing a preface for a publication of Carleton's "Memoirs of the War of the Spanish Succession":
"The publisher of this work was John Murray, of London. It was immediately preceded by a reprint of Captain Carleton's Memoirs of the War of the Spanish Succession, to which he gave a lively preface and various notes ; and followed by a similar edition of the Memoirs of Robert Gary Earl of Monmouth, —each of these being a single octavo, printed by Ballantyne and published by Constable.
The republication of Carleton, Johnson's eulogy of which fills a pleasant page in Boswell, had probably been suggested by the lively interest which Scott took in the first outburst of Spanish patriotism consequent on Napoleon's transactions at Bayonne. There is one passage in the preface which I must indulge myself by transcribing. Speaking of the absurd recall of Peterborough, from the command in which he had exhibited such a wonderful combination of patience and prudence with military daring, he says — " One ostensible reason was, that Peterborough's parts were of too lively and mercurial a quality, and that his letters showed more wit than became a General;—a commonplace objection, raked by the dull malignity of commonplace minds, against those whom they see discharging with ease and indifference the tasks which they themselves execute (if at all) with the sweat of their brow and in the heaviness of their hearts..."
"The publisher of this work was John Murray, of London. It was immediately preceded by a reprint of Captain Carleton's Memoirs of the War of the Spanish Succession, to which he gave a lively preface and various notes ; and followed by a similar edition of the Memoirs of Robert Gary Earl of Monmouth, —each of these being a single octavo, printed by Ballantyne and published by Constable.
The republication of Carleton, Johnson's eulogy of which fills a pleasant page in Boswell, had probably been suggested by the lively interest which Scott took in the first outburst of Spanish patriotism consequent on Napoleon's transactions at Bayonne. There is one passage in the preface which I must indulge myself by transcribing. Speaking of the absurd recall of Peterborough, from the command in which he had exhibited such a wonderful combination of patience and prudence with military daring, he says — " One ostensible reason was, that Peterborough's parts were of too lively and mercurial a quality, and that his letters showed more wit than became a General;—a commonplace objection, raked by the dull malignity of commonplace minds, against those whom they see discharging with ease and indifference the tasks which they themselves execute (if at all) with the sweat of their brow and in the heaviness of their hearts..."
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Daniel DeFoe
The author of "Life and Adventures of Robinon Crusoe", and over 500 other works, died on April 24, 1731. The shipwrecked Robinson Crusoe was possibly based on the real life experience of Alexander Selkirk, who spent four years on an island in the archipelago of Juan Fernandez, off Chile. Walter Scott wrote an essay on Defoe that was included in an 1887 printing of Robinson Crusoe by Carleton Publishers:
AN ESSAY ON HIS GENIUS AND WRITINGS
BY SIR WALTER SCOTT.
PERHAPS there exists no work, either of instruction or entertainment, in THE English language, which has been more generally read, nor more universally admired, than the Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe. It is difficult to say in what the charm consists, by which persons of all classes and denominations are thus fascinated; yet the majority of readers will recollect it as among the first works which awakened and interested their youthful attention; and feel, even in advanced life, and in the maturity of their understanding, that there are still associated with Robinson Crusoe, the sentiments peculiar to that period, when all is new, all glittering in prospect, and when those visions are most bright, which the experience of after life tends only to darken and destroy...
AN ESSAY ON HIS GENIUS AND WRITINGS
BY SIR WALTER SCOTT.
PERHAPS there exists no work, either of instruction or entertainment, in THE English language, which has been more generally read, nor more universally admired, than the Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe. It is difficult to say in what the charm consists, by which persons of all classes and denominations are thus fascinated; yet the majority of readers will recollect it as among the first works which awakened and interested their youthful attention; and feel, even in advanced life, and in the maturity of their understanding, that there are still associated with Robinson Crusoe, the sentiments peculiar to that period, when all is new, all glittering in prospect, and when those visions are most bright, which the experience of after life tends only to darken and destroy...
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