Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 22.djvu/470

 446 S T A S T A It is of no value as a theological work, for Stair was no more a theologian than he was a man of science, but it is of interest as showing the serious bent of his thoughts and the genuine piety of his character. It is as a legal writer and a judge that he holds a pre-eminent place amongst many distinguished countrymen belonging to his profession. The full title of his great work, which runs as follows The Institutions of the Law of Scotland, deduced from its Originals, and collated with the Civil, Canon, and Feudal Laws and with the Customs of Neighbouring Nations is fully borne out by the contents, and affords evidence of the advantage Stair had enjoyed from his philosophical training, his foreign travels, and his intercourse with Continental jurists as well as English lawyers. It is no narrow technical treatise, but a comprehensive view of jurisprudence as based on philosophical principles and derived from a Divine Author. But neither does it lose itself in generalities ; for it is the work of a lawyer and judge intimately acquainted with every detail in the practical application of law in his native country. Unfortunately for its permanent fame and use, much of the law elucidated in it has now become antiquated through the decay of the feudal part of Scottish law and the large introduction of English law, especially in the departments of commercial law and equity. But its spirit still animates Scottish law and educates Scottish lawyers, and it may be hoped will continue to do so, saving them from being the slaves of precedent or the victims of the utilitarian philosophy which regards all positive law as conventional and destitute of necessary principles derived from the nature of the world and man. The Physiologia was favourably noticed by Boyle, and is inter- esting as showing the activity of mind of the exiled judge, who returned to the studies of his youth with fresh zest when physical science was approaching its new birth. But he was not able to emancipate himself from formula which had cramped the educa- tion of his generation, and had not caught the light which Newton spread at this very time by the communication of his Prindpia to the Royal Society of London. Stair was fortunate in his descendants. " The family of Dalrymple," observes Sir "Walter Scott, "produced within two centuries as many men of talent, civil and military, of literary, political, and professional eminence, as any house in Scotland." His five sons were all remarkable in their professions. The master of Stair, who became the first earl, was an able lawyer, but still abler politician. Sir James Dalrymple of Borthwick, one of the principal clerks of session, was a very thorough and accurate historical antiquary. Sir Hew Dalrymple of North Berwick suc- ceeded his father as president, and was reckoned one of the best lawyers and speakers of his time. Thomas Dalrymple became physician to Queen Anne. Sir David Dalrymple of Hailes was lord advocate under Anne and George I. Stair's grandson the field- marshal and second earl gained equal credit in war and diplomacy. His great-grandson Sir David Dalrymple, Lord Hailes, also rose to the bench, where he had an honourable character for learning as a civil and humanity as a criminal judge. But his literary exceeded his legal fame. As an honest and impartial historian he laid the foundations of the true narrative of Scottish history, from which all his successors have largely borrowed. For a fuller account of the life of Stair, see Annals of the Viscount and First and Second Earls of Stair, by J. Murray Graham, and Memoir of Sir James Dalrymple, First Viscount Stair, 1875, by JE. J. G. Mackay. (JE. M.) STALYBRIDGE, a municipal and parliamentary bor- ough of England, partly in Lancashire but principally in Cheshire, is situated on the Tame, 1 mile east of Ashton- under-Lyne, and 1 east of Manchester. The Tame is crossed by bridges connecting the counties of Chester and Lancaster. The principal public buildings are the town- hall (1831), the Foresters' hall (1836), the district infir- mary, the mechanics' institute (1861), the people's institute (1864), the market-hall (1866), and the Oddfellows' hall (1878). Stamford park, extending to about 60 acres, and lying between Staly bridge and Ash ton, was opened 12th July 1873. The town is one of the oldest seats of the cotton manufacture, the first cotton mill having been erected in 1776 and the first steam engine in 1795. In addition to extensive cotton mills, it possesses woollen factories, iron and brass foundries, machine works, nail works, and paper mills. Stalybridge was created a market- town in 1828, was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1857, and obtained the privilege of returning a mem- ber to parliament in 1867. The municipal borough (area 806 acres) had a population of 21,092 in 1871, and 22,785 in 1881 ; its limits were extended in 1881 to 3120 acres, with a population of 25,977. The population of the parliamentary borough (area 2214 acres) in 1871 was 35,114 and in 1881 it was 39,671. The area added to the municipal borough in 1881 was in 1885 included in the parliamentary borough also, the population of this extended area being 42,863 at the census of 1881. STAMFORD, a municipal borough and market-town, chiefly in Lincolnshire but partly in Northamptonshire, is situated on the river Welland, and on branches of the Midland, the London and North Western, and the Great Northern railway lines, 89 miles north of London and 55 south of Lincoln. The ancient bridge over the Welland was in 1849 superseded by a new structure of stone, erected at a cost of 8500. The town formerly possessed fourteen parish churches, but now has only six, viz., St Mary's, erected at the end of the 13th century, possessing an Early English tower, with Decorated spire, the princi- pal other parts of the building being Perpendicular ; All Saints, also of the 13th century, the steeple being built at the expense of John Brown, merchant of the staple at Calais, in the beginning of the 15th century ; St Michael's, rebuilt in 1836 on the site of one erected in 1269; St George's, Early English, Decorated, and Perpendicular, for the most part rebuilt in 1450 at the expense of William Bruges, first garter king-at-arms ; St John Baptist's, Per- pendicular, erected about 1452; and St Martin's, Perpen- dicular, in which Lord Treasurer Burghley is buried. Formerly there were several religious houses : the Bene- dictine monastery of St Leonard's, founded in the 7th century, of which there are still some remains ; the Car- melite monastery (1291), of which the west gate still stands ; and houses for grey friars (time of Henry III.), Dominicans (1240), Gilbertines (1291), and Augustinians (1316). The principal secular buildings are the town-hall (rebuilt 1776), the corn exchange (1859), 'and the literary and scientific institute (1842), with a library of 6000 volumes. There are a large number of charitable institu- tions, including the Stamford and Rutland infirmary (1828), Browne's hospital, founded in the time of Richard III., Snowden's almshouses (1604), Truesdale's almshouses (1700), and Burghley hospital, founded by Lord Treasurer Burghley (1597). Ratcliffe's and Browne's high school for boys was lately erected at a cost of 7000 on the site of Ratcliffe's free school ; and Brown's school for girls in St Martin's was erected in 1876 at a cost of 5000. The prosperity of the town depends chiefly on its connexion with agriculture. It possesses iron foundries, agricultural implement works, waggon factories, and breweries. There is also some trade in coal, timber, stones, and slates. The population of the municipal borough (area 1766 acres) in 1871 was 7846 and in 1881 it was 8773; that of the parliamentary borough (area 1894 acres) in the same years was 8086 and 8993. The latter was merged in the counties in 1885, giving its name to a parliamentary division of Lincolnshire. The town is of very remote antiquity, and is supposed to have grown into importance after the decay of the Roman village of Bridge Casterton two miles distant. Its name, an early form of which was Staenford, wns derived from a passage at the town across the Welland by stone. It was the scene of the first battle of the Picts and Scots against the Britons and Saxons in 449, and subsequently became one of the five great Danish boroughs. A castle was built early in the 10th century on the south bank of the river opposite the town, but has long disappeared ; and of another on the north-west of the town, fortified by Stephen, only the foundations now remain. The town was at one time enclosed by walls, and there are still traces of gateways on the east and west sides. In the reign of Henry III. the lectures of the Carmelites on divinity and the liberal arts led to the erection of colleges, and Stamford became celebrated as a place of education. When dissen- sions arose among the students of Oxford in the reign of Edward III. many removed thither, and ultimately the universities both of Oxford and Cambridge thought it necessary to pass statutes prohibiting their students from proceeding to other places for any part of their education, Stamford being specially mentioned in the