Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 7.djvu/43

Rh cause he was not desirous of an honourable distinction amongst men; but because he had wisely determined to do something- worthy of a lasting reputation, and to do it deliberately, to secure, in short, a firm footing, before he stretched out his hand to seize the golden fruit of popular applause. That he was early imbued with literary ambition, and that of the most ardent kind, is, notwithstanding the long obscurity to which he was content to submit, sufficiently evident from the motto which he was in the habit of prefixing to his commonplace books, while only in the fourteenth or fifteenth year of his age. The motto was, Vita sine literis mors est; a sentiment which adhered to him through life.

Having completed his studies at the university, he was licensed to preach by the presbytery of Dalkeith in 1741, and in 1743 he was presented to the living of Gladsmuir, in East Lothian, by the earl of Hopetoun. This appointment, came opportunely ; for soon after he obtained it, his father and mother died within a few hours of each other, leavhtg a family of six daughters and a younger brother, almost wholly dependent upon him for support. With that generosity of disposition and warmth of affection, which are not deterred by personal considerations from discharging an imperative duty, he instantly invited his father's family to his humble residence at Gladsmuir, where, we are credibly informed, his professional income hardly exceeded £60 a-year. Nor did his benevolence stop here. He undertook the education of his sisters, and on their account delayed a matrimonial union which he had long desired, but which he did not carry into effect until he saw them all respectably settled in the world. This accomplished, he, in 1751, married his cousin, Miss Mary Nisbet, daughter of the reverend Mr Nisbet, one of the ministers of Edinburgh. Previously to this, a remarkable instance of the enthusiasm of his disposition, and of the warmth of his patriotic feelings, occurred. When the capital of Scotland was threatened by the Highland army in 1745, Dr Robertson hastened into the city, and joined the ranks of the volunteers, who had been called up for its defence; and, when it was resolved to surrender the town without resistance, he was one of a small band who proceeded to Haddington, where general Cope then lay, and made offer of their services to that commander. The general, fortunately for Dr Robertson and his party, declined to admit them into his disciplined ranks, alleging that their want of that essential qualification might throw his men into disorder; and they thus escaped the dangers and disgrace which afterwards befell his army at Prestonpans. This rebuff terminated the historian's experience of military life. He returned to the discharge of the sacred duties of his calling, and to the peaceful enjoyment of his literary pursuits. In his parish he was exceedingly beloved. The amenity of his manners, the purity and uprightness of his conduct, had secured him the esteem and veneration of all; while the eloquence and elegant taste which he displayed in his sermons, procured him a high degree of respect from the neighbouring clergy. These qualifications as a preacher, he had been at much pains to acquire, and he had early aimed at introducing a more refined taste, and a more persuasive eloquence, into pulpit oratory, than were then generally to be found. With this view he had, during the last two or three years of his attendance at college, maintained a connexion with a society, whose objects were to cultivate the arts of elocution, and to acquire the habit of extemporary debate. Dr Robertson himself had the principal share in forming this society, and he was fortunate in the selection of its members, the greater part of them having afterwards arrived at distinction in the different walks of life which they pursued.

The first of Dr Robertson's publications was a sermon which he preached in the year 1755, before the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge.