Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 51.djvu/20

  and diaries, quoted or paraphrased, and recollections of many friends of his active life. The memoir may be considered trustworthy so long as it speaks of matters that came under Scott's observation, and on which he was competent to form an opinion, but is somewhat discredited by the introduction of positive opinions on points of which he could know nothing, e.g. the formation of the enemy's fleet at Trafalgar (p. 183)—he being below in the cockpit—in direct contradiction of the account given by Collingwood; information from Canon W. Haig Brown.]

 SCOTT, ALEXANDER JOHN (1805–1866), first principal of Owens College, son of Dr. John Scott (d. 1836), minister of the Middle Church, Greenock, by his wife Susanna, daughter of Alexander Fisher of Dychmount (, Fasti, ii. 240), was born at that town on 26 March 1805. He was educated at the local grammar school and at the university of Glasgow, which he entered at the age of fourteen and remained there until he was twenty-one. Having graduated M.A. in 1827, he was about the same time licensed by the presbytery of Paisley to preach in the church of Scotland. He had previously obtained a tutorship in Edinburgh, where he attended medical classes at the university. His first sermon after he was licensed was preached for the Rev. John McLeod Campbell [q. v.], who heard him ‘with very peculiar delight.’ In the following year (1828) he made the acquaintance of Thomas Erskine [q. v.] of Linlathen, afterwards one of his closest friends, and of Edward Irving [q. v.], who invited him to be his assistant in London. He accepted the invitation, without binding himself to Irving's doctrinal views. Soon after his settlement in London his sympathies were excited by the wretchedness and ignorance of the poorer population, and he spent the winter months in preaching and teaching among the poor of Westminster. Towards the close of 1829 he went to preach for McLeod Campbell at Row, and also at Port Glasgow, where his sermons on the Charismata or ‘spiritual gifts’ of 1 Corinthians xii. led to an extraordinary exhibition of ‘speaking with tongues’ and ‘prophesying in the church.’ The movement and the so-called manifestations accompanying it had great influence on Irving, much more than on Scott himself, who never felt the ‘utterances’ to be convincing proofs of any genuine inspiration. The intimate connection between the two divines was shortly afterwards severed, though their friendship continued to the end. In the summer of 1830 Scott received an invitation to the pastorate of the Scottish church at Woolwich. The necessary ordination involved subscription to the Westminster confession of faith. This he could not give, and he thought it his duty to embody his objections in a letter to the moderator of the London presbytery, in which he stated his inability to assent to the doctrine that ‘none are redeemed by Christ but the elect only,’ as well as his conviction that the ‘Sabbath and the Lord's day were not, as stated in the catechism, one ordinance, but two, perfectly distinct, the one Jewish and the other Christian.’ He also avowed his doubts as to the validity of the presbytery's powers in ordination. On 27 May 1831 he was charged with heresy before the presbytery of Paisley, and deprived of his license to preach, a sentence which was confirmed by the general assembly. Notwithstanding, Scott remained at Woolwich until 1846, as minister of a small congregation.

Scott had always been an omnivorous reader and enthusiastic student of literature. In November 1848 he obtained the chair of English language and literature in University College, London, and in 1851 was appointed principal of Owens College, Manchester, then recently established. With this post he held the professorship of logic and mental philosophy, of comparative grammar, and of English language and literature. Soon after his appointment he took part with the Rev. William Gaskell [q. v.] and others in starting the Manchester Working Men's College, an admirable institution, which was afterwards merged in the evening classes at Owens College. The high standard at which the college curriculum was maintained during the institution's early days was due to the influence of Scott and his fellow professors. He resigned the principalship in May 1857, but continued to act as professor until his death.

As a lecturer he was engaging and inspiring, though too philosophic and profound to captivate a popular audience. Dr. W. B. Carpenter ‘never heard any public speaker who could be compared with him in masterly arrangement of materials, lucid method of exposition, freedom from all redundancy, force and vigour of expression, beauty and aptness of illustration.’ His addresses were unwritten, and a few only survive in poor reports. In September and October 1847 he lectured on Dante and other topics at the Manchester Athenæum, and a little later at the Manchester Royal Institution on ‘European Literature from 1450 to 1603.’ Between 1850 and 1860 he delivered thirty-two lectures on historical and literary subjects at the Edinburgh Philosophical Institution.