Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 4.djvu/129

Rh of Stralloch," and runs as follows:—"Right Honourable, in regard we are called to be here for the time, for talcing course for what may concern the public, &c. these are, therefore, to desire that you will be hera at Aberdeen on Friday next, the 3d of October, 1645, when we shall meet you there. So looking assuredly for your meeting us, as you will testify your affection to the business, and have us to remain your affectionate friends, (signed) ."

Another extract, still more interesting, from one of many letters addressed to Mr Gordon, by lord Gordon, craving his advice and assistance, will not only show the deference which was paid to his candour and judgment; bat will also show how fully they were appreciated by both parties. Lord Gordon, who was afterwards killed at Alford, after earnestly soliciting a meeting for advice, adds, "If I be too far engaged, or be not well advised, my friends and I both may find the prejudice. In conscience this is no draught, but a mere necessity, which I hope you will consider. I do neither envy you in enjoying your furred gown nor the fireside, I promise you, but do earnestly wish to see you."

Besides his other accomplishments, Mr Gordon was a profound classical scholar, and wrote Latin with much readiness and elegance.

GORDON,, founder of the hospital in Aberdeen which bears his name, was born about the year 1665. His father, Arthur Gordon, was the ninth son of the celebrated Robert Gordon of Pitlurpf, (commonly designated of Stralloch,) and rose to some eminence as an advocate in Edinburgh. In the latter part of his life he settled in Aberdeen, where he died 1680, leaving two children,—the subject of this memoir, and a daughter who was married to Sir James Abercromby of Birkenbog, near Cullen.

With regard to the founder of Gordon's hospital, very little is known with certainty. That he was a gentleman by birth is certain, and that he was a man of parts and education, is generally allowed. He is said to have had a patrimony of about £1100; and, according to some accounts, he spent most of this fortune while travelling on the continent with a friend. According to other accounts, he went to Dantzic, and having engaged there in the mercantile line, realized a considerable sum of money. It is probable that he betook himself to business after having acted the prodigal in the earlier part of his life, and therefore both accounts may be in some measure correct It is certain, however, that he resided on the continent for a considerable time, and returned to his native country about the beginning of the last century, taking up his residence in Aberdeen. From all that can be learned, he did not, during the remaining part of his life, engage in any sort of business, and he must therefore have brought home with him money to a considerable amount, otherwise we cannot well account for the large fortune of which he was possessed at the time of his death, even taking into account his extreme parsimony. Whether he set his heart upon accumulating wealth previous to his return from abroad, or afterwards, cannot be clearly ascertained. It is said that a disappointment in love was the primary cause of his forming this resolution, and there are not wanting instances of men, who, when they found the god of love unpropitious, have transferred their devotions to the shrine of Mammon. The same disappointment is also said to have determined him to live and die a bachelor—a determination to which he most faithfully adhered. We find in the library of Marischal college a copy of Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy which had belonged to him, and which he had purchased in London, as appeal's from his own hand-writing upon a blank leaf. Might he not have purchased this book to divert his melancholy, while suffering under the pangs of unrequited love?

During the latter part of his life, he carried his parsimonious habits to the utmost extreme. He is said to have lived in a small apartment, which