Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 8.djvu/70

18 of which he adopted from that of the British and Foreign Bible Society. He had visited London in May, 1809, and being struck with the efficiency of the parent society, and the harmony which it promoted among the various divisions of Christians by whom it was supported, he was anxious to form a similar institution for Scotland, which he happily accomplished in 1819.

Although a minister of the smallest, the latest, and the least influential of all the sects in Scotland, Mr. Anderson was now acquiring note and influence in the religious world, which, however, he valued only as the incentive to further action, and the means of opening a wider sphere of Christian effort. He was, therefore, encouraged to enter a new field—that of authorship, by publishing a "Memorial on behalf of the native Irish, with a view to their improvement in moral and religious knowledge through the medium of their own Language." This work, originally a small pamphlet, the result of his observations during a prolonged tour in Ireland in 1814, afterwards expanded into a duodecimo volume. Another similar effort was in behalf of the Highlands. At the meeting of the Edinburgh Bible Society, on the 22d of March, 1819, he laid upon their table a MS., entitled, a "Memorial respecting the diffusion of the Scriptures, particularly in the Celtic or Iberian Dialects." This statement deservedly elicited the following resolution of the society's committee:—"As the facts contained in these pages are such as should come before the eye of the public, and must be of service for some time to come, in regulating, as well as increasing, the zeal of those who desire the general diffusion of the Word of God throughout our native country; that the manuscript be returned to Mr. Anderson; that he be requested to prepare the same for the press and immediate circulation, and that the first copy of this memorial be transmitted to London, for the committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society." The commission Mr. Anderson gladly fulfilled; and, after the publication of his work on this subject, the diffusion of Irish and Gaelic Bibles from the stores of the British and Foreign Bible Society was beyond all former precedent. Before this, however, he had made every effort that such a boon should not be useless, by having the poor Highlanders taught to read. His tour throughout their country, and especially beyond the Grampians, in 1810, had shown him not only the spiritual, but intellectual destitution of the people, while his benevolent heart was impatient until a fit remedy was applied. Accordingly, as soon as he returned from his tour, he opened a correspondence with Mr. Charles, of Bala, the originator of the "Circulating Day-Schools" in Wales; and having learned from him the educational plan pursued in that principality, and the benefits with which it was attended, he saw its fitness for the Highlands of Scotland, where the population was still more widely scattered. To draw out a benevolent plan, and proceed to execute it, was one and the same act with Mr. Anderson, and accordingly he convened a meeting of the friends of the Highlands, in the Edinburgh Exchange Coffee-house, presented his views and proposals, and was rewarded by seeing them carried into effect by the formation of "The Caledonian Society for the Support of Gaelic Schools," afterwards called "The Gaelic School Society." To this interesting institution his paternal cares were devoted for several years until it was firmly established, by an annual journey through the Highlands, for the inspection of schools, and attending to the applications made for schoolmasters.

The condition of Ireland once more occupied Mr. Anderson's attention, and, in 1814, he again made a missionary tour in that island. On his return, he