Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 8.djvu/219

Rh acknowledged this address in a lengthened speech, in which he says, "Although Joseph Foster and himself are members of the Society of Friends, and Michael Gibbs is a member of the Established Church of England, that while neither were desirous of proselytizing to this or that form of religion, they all were most desirous for the spiritual and temporal good of all the workers, and specially that their children be brought up in the fear of God." He, in name of all the London proprietors, avowed their firm belief in Divine revelation, appealing to the moral change which faith in Christ had produced in all ages, and pressing the blessings of religion upon the acceptance of all who heard him. The visit of this deputation was made avowedly to counteract the baneful effects of Owen's principles. He was informed of the object of the visit, was present at all the meetings, heard all that was said in opposition to the pernicious doctrines he was covertly promulgating at New Lanark—but maintained a cautious silence. He, nevertheless, pursued his own course, and the consequence was the retirement from the company of those members who had joined it from philanthropic motives, and the abandonment of their admirably-conceived plan of raising up an intelligent, right-principled, and well-conditioned factory population at New Lanark. Mr. Owen continued in connection with the mills till 1827; but during the greater part of his latter years he was occupied in propagating his visionary schemes of infidelity in England and America, in which he spent a princely fortune, derived from the profits of the business. Mr. Owen of late years has resided chiefly in London, and his children in the United States of America. Mrs. Owen did not adopt the infidel principles of her husband; on the contrary, soon after she had ascertained the nature of his sentiments, she openly avowed her faith in the Lord Jesus, connected herself with the church of which her father had been an elder, and adorned her Christian profession till her death in 1832.

But to return to the subject of our memoir. Mr. Dale, in 1782, built for his family residence the spacious mansion at the south-west corner of Charlotte Street, Glasgow, at a cost of ₤6000, which greatly exceeded his calculations. This tenement, after repeatedly changing owners of late years, and having been occupied as a Roman Catholic nunnery, is now the property of the incorporation of the Eye Infirmary, and is devoted to the purposes of that institution. As a retreat from the bustle of a city life, about the year 1800, when his advancing years required repose, he purchased Rosebank, a small landed property and dwelling-house on the banks of Clyde, about four miles east of Glasgow. He was in his sixty-first year when his connection with the Lanark mills ceased. Having acquired a handsome competency, he resolved on winding up his other business affairs; but the nature of his contracts and copartneries rendered it impossible to free his estate from responsibility till some years after his death. But whilst gradually withdrawing from other business engagements, he most unaccountably, through the influence of Mr. Owen, became a partner in the Stanley Cotton Mill Company, a connection which caused him much uneasiness during the latter years of his life, and is said to have involved him in a loss of ₤60,000. Hitherto his career as a merchant only has been described. It remains to delineate those features of his character upon which his reputation as a Christian philanthropist chiefly rests. Mr. Dale in early life appears to have been of a pious turn of mind, and a regular attendant at church. He sought the company of religious people, and became a member of a fellowship prayer-meeting at Paisley during his apprenticeship. He attached himself to the