,:: ---*; A MEMOIR OF PATRICK FRASER TYTLER, BY THE SAME AUTHOR. A PLAIN COMMENTARY ON THE FOUR HOLY GOSPELS, 7 vols. crown 8vo. NINETY SHORT SERMONS FOR FAMILY READING, 2 vols. crown 8vo. A CENTURY OF VERSES IN MEMORY OF THE PRESIDENT OF MAGDALEN COLLEGE. C6e portrait of a Christian Gentleman, A MEMOIR OF PATRICK FRASER TYTLER, AUTHOR OF THE " HISTORY OF SCOTLAND." BY HIS FRIEND THE REV. JOHN W. BURGON, M.A. FELLOW OF ORIEL COLLEGE, OXFORD. lirati muiiDo rortir. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 1859. LONDON : PRINTED BY WOODFALL AND K1NDEK, ANGEL COURT, SKJNNKR STREET. TO HER MOST SACRED MAJESTY, THE Q^U E E N AN UNSANCTIONED ACT OF HOMAGE. 200O176 CONTENTS. PAGE INTKODUCTORY . xi CHAPTER I. Family traditions John Tytler William Tytler His defence of Queen Mary Anecdote of David Hume Domestic happiness Alexander ' Fraser Tytler, Lord Woodhouselee His early education Elements of History,' and other works Birth of Patrick Fraser Tytler His eldest sister, Ann Fraser Tytler CHAPTER II. (17911800.) Miss A. Fraser Tytler's MS. Early recollections P. F. Tytler's boyhood " The bicker Lord Woodhouselee among his children The Cot- tagers of Glenburnie" Basil Hall and his sister Sir James Stewart of Allanbank Evenings at Woodhouselee Mr. Black Anecdotes of Sir Walter Scott and his family Dugald and Mrs. Stewart Henry Mackenzie Sydney Smith Sir James Mackintosh The Rev. A. Alison The poet Leyden 16 CHAPTER III. (18001809.) Lord Woodhouselee in illness His literary undertakings P. F. Tytler is sent to school Chobham in 1808 The Rev. Charles Jerram Tytler's progress at school A debating society King George III. in the Chapel at Windsor Tytler returns to Woodhouselee . .41 CONTENTS. vijj CHAPTER IV. (18091813.) PAGE His The Youthful ardour and stndiousness Self-portraiture piety' account of his visit to Woodhouselee Masque' Lord Woodhouselee's the Prince His last Carlton House His conversation with Regent illness The closing scene CHAPTER V. (18131814.) the death of his Father Public events Opening P. F. Tytler's grief at Duke of of the Continent A visit to Paris, in 1814 The Wellington Marshal Blucher Louis XVIII. and the Duchesse D'Angouleme at the Theatre A Russian dinner Anecdotes, personal and historical and Prussian Return Wellington Platoff Review of Russian troops ' 81 to Scotland . * . CHAPTER VI. (18151818.) Reminiscences of boyhood Tytler is appointed Junior Crown Counsel Letter to Rev. Archibald Alison Tytler at Mount Esk His progress at the Bar Private portraiture Studies Early literary efforts Voyage to Norway Bergen Norwegian scenery, travelling, manners Drontheim Entry of King Bernadotte and Prince Oscar Tytler is presented Return to Scotland 117 CHAPTER VII. (18181824.) for Tytler's growing passion letters His lyrics The Bannatyne Club Yeomanry songs 'The Deserter' Great fire in Edinburgh Camp- bell Basil Hall .... .156 CONTENTS. ix CHAPTER VIII. (18231832.) PAGE Tytler at Abbotsford His History of Scotland undertaken His mar- riage Letters to his wife Settles in Edinburgh His History begins to appear His literary pursuits, and domestic happiness A visit to London . ......, .173 CHAPTER IX. (18321835.) Tytler removes his family to Torquay The journey His literary dili- gence Life of Raleigh Scottish Worthies and History of Scotland Prosecutes his studies at Bute and in London Letters to his wife Death of Mrs. Tytler . ... .213 CHAPTER X. (18351837.) Tytler a widower Repairs with his children to Hampstead Campbell the sculptor Removal to Wimpole Street Disappointment Life of Henry VIII. The Persian princes Record Commission The Histo- . rical Society Death of his Mother 229 CHAPTER XI. (18371838.) Visit to Scotland Archbishop Leighton's Library at Dumblane Tytler and his sisters finally establish themselves in London Sydney Smith Miss Tytler's MS. continued Anecdotes of domestic life Tytler in his family, and among his friends . .248 CHAPTER XII. (18381839.) Personal recollections 'England under Edward VI. and Queen Mary' Death of Dr. Alison Tour with Tytler in the Highlands His keen- CONTENTS. ; PAGE on Ben Muik ness as a sportsman Auchlunkart Tomintoul A night Moniack Visit to Dhui Scenery A day at Aviemore Aklourie 263 scenery The return to Moniack .... gkye Highland CHAPTER XIII. (18391842.) His Tytler proceeds with his History The State Paper Office Daughter's account of him among his children Letters to them and to myself Second edition of the History Tytler's piety and playfulness . 285 CHAPTER XIV. (18421843.) Letters descriptive of his pursuits Concluding portion of Miss A. Fraser Tytler's MS. Domestic retrenchment Anecdotes of home Narrow ' escape from drowning Conclusion of his History The Darnley jewel' Letters Tytler with his family in France . .308 CHAPTER XV. (18431849.) Tytler waits upon Her Majesty at Windsor Castle Letters from Scot- land receives Tytler a pension Impressions of society His literary plans His second marriage His long illness abroad The cold-water Return to His ystem England death POSTSCRIPT . 324 INTEODUCTOEY. IT shall be my endeavour in the ensuing pages to draw the portrait of a Christian Gentleman. In the republic of letters Mr. a indeed, Tytler occupied distinguished place ; but I should have hesitated to assume that even a higher degree of literary celebrity forms in itself a sufficient warrant for so detailed a personal Memoir as the present. It seemed : however that I should both be rendering an useful service to society, and paying a not ungraceful tribute to the memory of the man I loved, if I attempted to weave into a connected story the materials which his family placed at my that disposal : for I knew I should set before the world a very bright example, if I could draw the lovely character of which I there found the authentic evidence, and of which my memory supplied the living image. It cannot be necessary to state that the life of a good man is generally more instructive, as well as better deserving of attention, than many a more stirring biographical record. And yet, I am not without hope that the ensuing Memoir also besides will be found of real interest ; for, the private details which are proper to it, and which seem to be defi- cient neither in picturesqueness nor in variety, not a few historical personages here come before the reader, and names which the world holds in honour. With certain passages concerning the loftiest in the land, (be it humbly spoken,) I was much perplexed to know how to act : but I 2 FAMILY TRADITIONS. [CHAP. I. which resulted in the death of Gray. "After unhappily " this unlucky accident," proceeds the family record, being withdrew to France, and, apprehensive of his danger, he that of concealing.his name of Seaton, adopted Tytler;" whether because he was connected with any of that name or not, does not appear. He took up his residence for some contracted with a time near Paris ; and, having marriage French lady of property, he subsequently withdrew to Calais, and became the father of many sons and 'daughters.* Two of these sons attended Queen Mary to Leith in 1561; and, proving faithful adherents to her cause, were engaged in the skirmish which happened at Corrichie, near Aberdeen, between the Earls of Murray and Huntly, where the latter was slain, and his two sons taken prisoners. One of the Tytlers fell on the same occasion. The other retired to a place called Learm'e, near Kincardine Oneille, about sixteen miles west of Aberdeen; where, about the year 15G3, he settled, married, and had several children. From the suryivor of the skirmish of Corrichie was lineally descended John Tytler, whose father died in 1690, aged almost eighty, after having often related on his own father's the authority preceding traditional history. The family point out, in confirmation of it, that the armorial of the bearings Tytlers are those of the Seatons, the blazon being counterchanged, with a lion's head erased for a differ- ence.f Their of crest, (the rays the sun issuing from a and ' cloud,) motto, Occultns non extinctus,' are said to refer to their of name at a time change when the family was, as it were, under a cloud. * One, at of these sons least, returned to the neighbourhood of Paris some of h!s descendants may yet be in existence. There were Tvtlers in those parts as late as the year 1738. t The Tytlers bear gules, between three crescent, or, a lion's head era^d Seatons, or, three crescents yules, within a royal tressurc. CHAP. I.] JOHN, AND WILLIAM TYTLER. the John Tytler, merchant in Aberdeen, (at that period married Bar- greatest commercial emporium in Scotland,) ' bara, daughter of John Skene, of that ilk/ the chief of the family, a very ancient and highly-connected baronial house. Alexander, his son, was the father of William Tytler, the defender of Queen Mary. But this is a name which deserves to be more fully commemorated. I cannot enter on the subject of the present Memoir, until attention has been invited to the life and character of his two im- mediate progenitors, his grandfather and his father. Genius has proved hereditary in this family for more than three generations,* and has thus vindicated for the race a high position, in what may be called the literary aristocracy of their country. William, then, was the only surviving son of Mr. Alex- writer in ander Tytler, (that is, solicitor), Edinburgh ; and was bora in that city, 12th October, 1711, being the eighth of twelve children, of whom four only attained maturity. His mother, Jane Leslie, was the daughter of Mr. William Leslie, merchant in Aberdeen, and grand-daughter of Sir Patrick Leslie, of Iden, provost of the same town, and member for the borough in several Scottish parliaments.