Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 20.djvu/396

 of the London patent theatres. It contained several dramas of his own, with his translation of two of Goldoni's pieces. One of Galt's plays, published in it, ‘The Witness,’ attracted the favourable notice of Walter Scott's friend, William Erskine, through whose influence it was some years afterwards performed at the Edinburgh Theatre as ‘The Appeal,’ with a prologue ostensibly written by Professor Wilson, but which Galt believed to be the joint product of Lockhart and Captain Hamilton, the author of ‘Cyril Thornton;’ Scott himself, he asserts, composed for it a comic epilogue, but did not acknowledge it. In 1816 appeared anonymously Galt's first known fiction, ‘The Majolo,’ founded on a Sicilian superstition. It had become imperative to write for money. He was introduced to Sir Richard Phillips, to whose magazine he contributed, and for whom he executed sundry compilations. In 1816 appeared part i. of Galt's ‘Life and Studies of Benjamin West … prior to his Arrival in England, compiled from materials furnished by himself.’ Part ii., continued to West's death in 1817, did not appear until 1820. He also published his poem, ‘The Crusade,’ another failure. In 1818 he removed from London to Finnart, near Greenock, to carry out a commercial scheme, on the failure of which he returned to London to aid the passing through parliament of a bill promoted by the Union Canal Company of Scotland. This effected, he issued, as ‘collected by Samuel Prior’ (1820), ‘All the Voyages round the World;’ ‘A Tour of Asia, abridged from the most popular Voyages and Travels, by the Rev. T. Clark’ (1820?), a pseudonym which, on account, he says, of his borrowings in it from his own ‘Letters from the Levant,’ he also used on the title-page of ‘The Wandering Jew, or the Travels and Observations of Harreach the prolonged,’ a conglomerate of history, biography, travel, and descriptive geography; ‘The Earthquake,’ founded on the Messina earthquake of 1783; and ‘Pictures, Historical and Biographical,’ drawn from English, Scottish, and Irish history (1821). In 1822 he edited, with a preface, Alexander Graydon's ‘Memoirs of a Life chiefly passed in Pennsylvania,’ published at Harrisburg, 1811 (see Quarterly Review, xxvi. 364).

In 1820 Blackwood accepted for his new magazine ‘The Ayrshire Legatees,’ Galt's first literary success. It follows the lines of ‘Humphry Clinker.’ A completely original work, ‘The Annals of the Parish,’ was published separately in 1821. It had been begun in 1813, and its completion and publication was prompted by the success of ‘The Ayrshire Legatees.’ It is an admirable picture of rural Scotland, and the shrewdness, simplicity, and piety of the supposed narrator are masterly. Its value as a contribution to the social history of the west of Scotland is considerable. Scott pronounced it to be ‘excellent,’ and it was highly praised by the venerable Henry Mackenzie in ‘Blackwood's Magazine’ and by Jeffrey in the ‘Edinburgh Review.’ John Stuart Mill (Utilitarianism, edition of 1864, p. 9 n.) says that he adopted the word ‘utilitarian’ from Galt's ‘Annals of the Parish’ (ch. xxxvi.) The word had been used by Bentham himself long previously (Works, x. 390). In 1822 Galt published the ‘Steamboat,’ a collection of travellers' tales, and ‘The Provost,’ a picture of Scottish character, in ‘Blackwood,’ and ‘Sir Andrew Wylie,’ the most popular of his novels in England. It includes a portrait of his patron, Lord Blessington, to whom the second edition was inscribed. In 1823 appeared ‘The Gathering of the West,’ a jeu d'esprit on George IV's visit to Scotland, and, separately, ‘The Entail,’ which both Sir Walter Scott and Lord Byron are said to have read thrice. Galt was now so elated by success as to boast (, iii. 59) that his literary resources were superior to those of Scott, with whom he resolved to compete in historical fiction. Three forgotten novels were the result: (1) ‘Ringhan Gilhaize’ (1823), (2) ‘The Spaewife’ (1823), and (3) ‘Rothelan’ (1824). In 1824 appeared his compilation ‘The Bachelor's Wife.’

In 1823 Galt went to reside at Esk Grove, near Musselburgh, where he formed an intimacy with [q. v.] He was appointed agent for the claims of some Canadians for losses incurred during the war of 1814. A scheme for the purchase of crown land in the colony by a company, the proceeds to be applied in satisfying the claims of his clients, was suggested by him. The home government would not consent to the plan, but the Canada Company, as it was ultimately called, resolved to go on with the purchase on its own account, and appointed Galt to the post of secretary. Galt devoted himself exclusively to the interests of his new employers, having done his best, though unsuccessfully, for his former clients. The home government appointed a commission, with Galt as one of its members, to investigate the matter in Upper Canada. On its return discussions took place, during which Galt wrote ‘The Omen’ (1825), praised by Scott in ‘Blackwood's Magazine,’ and the ‘Last of the Lairds’ (1826). Towards the close of 1826 he returned to Canada to organise a system of operations. At the end of