The Sun.
London, England, 1856-11-03 00:00:00

&JUL 1,--0
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f our national liberties, I believe no nenVilAsin
1 raised hell- so enduring as that which h ':liiii in lenes:ittpi..
r
rnory of eetry Scotchmen. If I inight*lre a ' es- 1 r.;)
tin for the benefit of the Wallace co totoe, I a M01d,.,."
8+
say, if you are to put a monument on t is ‘inbbef4tirnig *". •-•',,,,..4/
rk4o
I should not like to see it of sculptured 'tre---eI shouhL • 7
not like to see any great effort of modern arohitecttu-e g
—but I should like to see raised on that posi-
tion, as the fittest symbol of what he was and what
_ he did, some huge and unhewn block of granite, as large
' as the ingenuity of our engineers now-a-days could raise,
there to stand in all its ruggedness and strength, braving
the tempest of heaven like the man whom is is intende.d.
to symbolise—stern, strong, defiant. (Loud cheers.)
I now proceed, however, to make a few remarks on the
national character, position, and hi Cory of Scotland. I
will not inflict any elaborate or detailed account upon
you ; and I hope you do not look forward to anything so
portentous, or to more than a selection from and rapid
sketch of the more salient points in our history,—with
a reasonable pride of its annals, but with the wish to
he open to a recognition of the faults and failings to
which a nation is liable, so that we may go forward
with heart and strength, determined to hold by those
qualities and associations which made our ancestors
great and laid the foundation of our prosperity.
history, as it is generally writtee, is the history of
wars, feuds, and conten tinge of princes. People
write history about chieftains and gemerals and kings ;
but there is one part of it which most historians
almost entirely forget. These warriors and monarchs
are no doubt part of a nation, but they are by no means
the greatest part of it. I should like to see writtea for
Scotland what does not exist at present, a full account
of how our forefathers lived, what they did, how they
spent the day, bow their domestic life went on, what
were their ordinary habits, how they travelled, what were
their means of conveyance—in short, to find out the pro.
cess, to develope the progrese, of the thought and acti.
City and feeling by which we have been gradually moulded
into the community that we are now. What in Scotland
is still to me an interesting question is, now that its his-
ter !presents this remarkable and singular phenomenon,
that you, rarely, up to the Reformation, find thestnallest '
trace of the Commons. All history upto that time consists
of the struggles of priests and kings and nobles ; and at
the moment of the Reformation you find a public opi-
nion instantly starting into A itality and force. You find
the commoners of Scotland strong, intelligent, deter-
mined, resolved, and from that time till now they have
held a foremost place among the communities of Europe.
What were they doing before, in the long interval due-
-1 ing which we have no account of them ? How did this
ereat change come about? Theresre two elements in the
hntory of Scotland to which the historians of Scotland
have not paid as much attention as they deserved. The
fleet is the French alliance. We gained a great deal from
it during the reign of the Stuarts, and we gained, among
other things, much advancement in literatui e, in the fine
arts, in sculpture, and in architecture, which I rather
think we have not improved on since. In learning, for
instance, if we take the period immediately preceding
the Reformation, I doubt if we have been able since to
show scholars like those who then flourished. I find
in a hook which is not very generally read, and which
is written in Latin, but which I will read in English, a
curious and interesting account of Scetlard, as it
was in 15S0, that is before the union of the Crowns
during the reign of James I. The writer says that Scot-
and is very like France, except in regard to the ferti-
lity of the soil. The prominent characteristic of the
people is described as being that they set great stare by
their ancestors ; and much, of course, is said of those
Scotchmen who travelled over Europe, without a penny
in their purse, but boasting of the long line of ancestors
from which they were descended. It was natural enough,
in a country more fertile in men than in food, that many
teen of the most renown should be exceedingly poor.
But, he says, this people, who go over the earth seeking
riches and exciting laughter by trumpeting forth the
praises of their poor gentry, are still noted for their fide-
pity and industry. He goes on to describe our country-
men in much more pleasant terms than when delineating
the mirth of the audiences to whom they descibed their
ancestry. After describing what cannot be passed over,;
the feature of furious feuds and private revenge for in-
sults, he concludes his observation upon Scotland by say-
ing that, to whatever study they incline their minds,
they do so with signal success. Nowhere is there to be
found a greater endurance in the camp or courage in
the field ; nowhere are the Muses more delicately treated ;
and nowhere is ingenuity and industry adapted
with greater readiness to the requirements of
society than among Scotchmen. Even in civil matters
they are greatly in advance. They can adapt their indus-
try to every possible vicissitude of life. Such was the cha-
racter of Scotchmen at that period. The writer from
whom I quote was of Scotch family, however, though he
vas of French parentage and birth. There is another
source from which information may be obtained as to this
period. The writer of a French dictionary, with which no
doubt you are acquainted, mentions the name of one of
Scotland's brightest ornaments, a man too little known
and respected, George Buchanan. In "Bayle's Dictionary'
he is mentioned as one of the greatest men of his time, as
having arrived at a pitch of classical learning which no
man had ever arrived at before. To him 1 think this
country owes a debt which, as I !lave stated, has been
but scantily honoured. He lived:just before the Reforma-
tion ; he was the tutor of James VI., and, if his Royal
pupil had attended more to the lessons which he gave, in
all probability the fate of this country and of that family
would have been more happy. George Buchanan was a
native of Lennox ; he was one of yourselves. He was a
Stirlingehire man, or, at least, wait born on its borders.
His father, a poor farmer, died in very indigent circum-
stances when he was young. George Buchanan was one
of several sons, and
,his mother did the best she could to
educate them. When H years of age he was sent over to
France by an uncle, and there he studied for two years.
He then went to Portugal, and shortly after he returned
to his native laud ; but by that time lie had made himself
the wont accomplished scholar in Europe. He was the
only man in that day, or since, who was able to write
Latin as if he had been a Roman. His talents in otd er
respects were wonderful. Butit was not because Buchanan
had wonderful resources in motley, and was thus able to
turn his attention to literature and study on the continent,
that he became what he was. Two things contributed to
the result. 'There was, first, the strong desire in him for
learning, and in the second place, the communication be-
tee:en this country and France, without which he would
not have obtained such eminence. I have mentioned
the case of George Buchanan because it throws a light
en the social state of Scotland at that time. I think we
have no such scholars now as he was, or his conteinp .
redo,. In the succeeding age Andrew Melville was a
man of the same doss ; and there were others whom I
could mention who were celebrated throughout Earope.
It seems to have contributed largely to the improve-
ment of the Scottish mind, this communication with the
continent, which, whatever effect it had upon politics—
and it had not a good effect—raised Scottish scholars to
a position which they do not now occupy. Its the cen•
tury following that of George Buchanan they were much
totter than they were: before. [Here the Lord-Advocat
referred to the affecting close of Buchanan', career
and to the excessive poverty in which, although th
rrincipal of a College, he died.] But (he continued)
poor as Scotland was, she was not too poor to pre•
duce men of the greatest mental power. Ladies and
gentlemen, there is another circumstance, but per-
haps of less interest to you, which, I think, historians
have never sufficiently explained. We read a
great deal in history of wars and feuds, but whileornint•
questionably feuds prevailed among the greathimch
. of the people, there was still a quarter inetaonw
Fn gins eds probably did not penetrate— the ill. theseo
y ayl
bad, as you know, A Convention..
The 1 awa nyde rpso havewer.
Ix-umuli, the ennals
often wondered how the Scotftitsiblarnt
If they
bli
'c''
ijs'
which
grew
up
silently
into
influence
Flaw grew up.
cet7meention, they will
find that . ‘t
grew up there so edeet s
Convention bad then a
it toad its representatives a b rdodhad
, • it
iarne:
noticed. Tn a lYn that
actua tl i was
,lianieve
tars existence; ,
e 'Tolland, and it poesesse very great
a representative i.
e, merchandise. The time foe hat,
power in the matter ‘ sti,)„. The privileges given t'. f, nyal
however, has eiow gone
3, ; and it was time that such
a man who
boughs Lave /.‘asscd ew - re is great truth iu 11 a
case, forpizthb; . made by
art.:, d for .1. he broadness than the
t hat he could tell a
dellea"''Y o' hi
I its smell. (Le ughter and cheers.)
wsrehnino:al:i morel—b e
cit°dhaieBrtfi'elli g uobu'sneer vati on s ,
1 burgle lay
this country, you find an untidy,
Roya iiing ' wee ' .
If, iii trave.
te,, ), 1 town, of no ;tie-eat extent, you will
decayed, stl" ~ t., it is a royal bteegh. (Laughter.) I
infallubly find ti.
'y
may be their decay
now, there can . ~cause, whatever
that, iu those burghs in the
dap,
of
yo 7,.. nhuerntutrebedtitmboesceaamtuer,o,okindpaexptenindeante,
political effaire o
itt rature about that period,
litlenaell:u°'°findewnue:e.:::, Scutl.u.nd. His lordship then pro
e3e,),(1 to reelew th el state of , ,
tries product%
1 Scotland. He said
(sieuerienigegtileerroe„i,gcnoto,iitt.Fc. rature of both conn
~ ..-0
recce in the dialeeten of England and
encouraeteg, no'
our English friends evi. lizhiabtehtibn,ktlhat there Was la 01,7
F irti. t, w hen I Teak a wnd I
natioeitlity, bet a ra,rr ea
ipec
favour of the Scottish .iiLcountry of the twc
Scotch now. Ecgiena it v that
eCt. But I say is tie,
anti must rule us in th et re, ot much distinction of dig
We cannot speak bros
the larger
reign of Elizabeth ther b way n
e present prenunctatiD
'scab. It dries not apps ' when tt.
In