The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1891-02-26
HAS WRITTEN HISTORY.

HAS WRITTEN HISTORY.
SHOEMAKER JOHN MAcnNTosH 70
FAMOUS BUT NOT RICH.
EsU he lAbsrs1 while PrsAssaas TIE
Beet HIsssry % sesslasd TAss Hss Hst
ApHsarsa-ovsr Tvessy Ysars On the
WsEk-Ws-ktas ~ HIS FrsAs Alss.
Broad street., Aberdssn, has several
elAims - disstnctisn. Lord Byron when .
boz I'D hls home In Broad strest. and
thRN, zoo, for . number Of yean has lived
John kacktntosh, news agent and suthor
q The History Of Civilization In Scot
laad, IN four hig volumes; Scotland" In
the STORY Of the Nakions' seriss. The
Valley u The Dsveron" and othsr wOrk1-
oas Of tie most Boeahle personalities that
The neFtA country has Of reoent ttrns pro
docsi. Mackint0h VS. born In hunble
eireumetaneas; be b In humble eircnm-
stancss sill He has had hard struggle
many . time 10 earn q living In very
humble way, but, surm0unttng the ain
eulttss Of IN imperfect educatiou, and dis
playtng aa industry which no cream
stances could weary, he's prodnced what
- ben described - one of The most com
plsts histoFies Of Scotland ever written A
rsprBsntativs rscsntly visited Aberdeen
and had The privEleee Of . chat with the
sAae8eksF Historian.
II fO1nd Mr.. Naekirtosh," he writes,
"b1sy n work In his littis shop. Round
IL nkeivsa were ranged copies Of his r.
moas book, while the counter vas covered
with The daily and weekly newspapers.
We were soon engaged In an interesting
coavsraaEiUu, and between the visits Of
castonsrA he conlded 10 me many partic-
uls7 q his Iifs and his msthods Of work.
Hn dialect b . broad and proDouacsd
AbarassnsAiraL
HJohn Maekintosh q noW 81, but he
beara his &c veil. He h q native Of the
parish Of Botriphnia. In BanfEshlrs. Scot
lard han always hesn fortunate In its par
IN schools. and what education Nsekin-
tosA received was obeained at one Of them.
But only q very rudimentary kn0wledge
Of The tkFes Rs must have sufsced in his
GO, for at the ags Of 10 be had 70 turn
30 harm work 10 obtain q living. The con-
ditions Of agricultural labor ARE still very
hard In these northern COUNTIES, with
their uneoaeeniAl climate; they were hsrd-
e. wksn Maekiutosh Wa . boy, but they
add In The development Of those stern
and hardy qualities Of eharaeter which he
has ance displayed.
Anxi0us 20 better bis condition. the fu-
turs historian, afSsr . few years VS. ap-
prsntioed 20 . shosmAker. and, a. be grew
% manhood, worked In the various dis
tricts IN the oOunties Of Abertiesn, Banif
and kincArdina He was always . great
rosdef, and perused Whatever boo6 be
could procure He had an idea that he
might Srits . history Of his eo1ntry some
day, and a. opportunities presented than
selves be extsnded the range Of hin study
and wss constant In his EFFORTS for the g
quirsmont Of knowledge.
ABoUT Nh nAcKTErosa.
"Ar. Aaekintosh sealed In Aberasen in
1884 and opened . small news agents shop,
Rrst In the GallowRate and suhsequently
in Broad street. He was now within reaeh
Of more books than ever before Ths spien-
did library Of the university was eaay q
aoceHs, and be spent many hoars amoag
In treasures. The idea Of his lies work
gradually took definite form, and be vas
finally able 10 cArry Il 10 q successful ter
minstion under conditions which voaId
have daunted most men, bat which ouly
made him STRIVE and work the harder On
nv shop counter be re-.ntly wrote.
amid a. uOi-s Nd bu-tl. Of -. r.irrjnS
ntrsPta. The four yoiurpeu az nv hIstarv
w.rN written ana The proaf she-tS evnrrrc4-S
and revised. an being done wills custor,-
En- were coming IN ard 0olns ont and en-
stantlV irteFruutina M
"T had Iutsaded.' he aid. 70 vrit. n
histcry Of INV eouutrv for a ions tiune -
fors I eommenc.d the tab I thought =,
Ara I would bexin vrith the Rrforr,atIo
n.rIod. and thirtV rear. auo \ rrsd a.
nItslV with that Object IN view. \ beznn
collecting materials for nv gr..t v-ork =.
long 40 a. issO. The form nv boot event
ually took vas decided tverty-foar or
tvpnty-ive years 40. re hIstorT b.4,ns
viii the earliest trScrs of man IN Sootland
and treats Of the development and hIstory
Of civilization down 20 the present. time
"sHov hong WIRE vou ensng,s oo tks
Ara voluaeP "A Ione tirDe. m fart aho1t
ays var An an. n Va poblI.hsd r. isfS
TIA u.rond yoiuma wss nruiuc,a vrrv
mneA mere rapidly. II trests mainly Of
the eixtsenth century. ana rDueh IN the
Informsaion it contains wss drawn frum
oriesSal records. Some sight.en rnontA-
wSSS occupied IN vTitina n and -.-InC a
throuzh tie pross. n spnearcd Al the End
q fs7a
now m woRKKp.
"'rha Ssrensesuth eentury down IA the
extinctiou Of The Jaoohite rebellion 4 de.lt |
with In the third volume. I had pot pFsL
vi01sly ssadisd this period 20 carefully,
sad I va engaged on he voiame alto' |
Esthes some tSrss r.ars. n eost.sns an |
outline Of Europssn philosophy. vhieh
sesk noss cut Of ne than eli slss bezides- |
ru.pss1. u. sasis.s q al 70 write n Sesis |
Win ~ EiEhtssnth sDd NInrse..th -. |
a. nd oootalnS 4 hI.torT ~ $500 |
pAflssopky, subject on which \ ~ Mi
vsnd. Tn faet. for this uorsion al nv
bsok wss specially somplinshbsd b Pre-