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dividing into different parts with his hand: being asked jocularly if he intended to preach, and was now choosing a text, he said, "No, I am only wishing to see what the evangelists differ in; for they do not all give the same account of Christ." From the kindly tutelage of his mother he was removed in the seventh year of his age, and placed by his maternal uncle, Captain Smith, in a school at Camberwell, from which in a short time he was transferred to one at Chiswick, where he continued for some years. In these and two other academies he spent the years between seven and fourteen, and acquired a perfect classical education. In 1792 he returned to the maternal roof at Edinburgh, and commenced a course of attendance at the university. At this period of his life he was deeply read in English belles-lettres, and had even collected a considerable library, which, however, was lost at sea in its passage from England to Scotland. Having gone to Liverpool to spend the vacation of 1793 with some friends, he became, boy as he was, the intimate friend of Dr. Currie, the amiable biographer of Burns, who is believed to have been the earliest cause of his directing his mind to metaphysical studies, by placing in his hands the first volumes of Professor Dugald Stewart's Elements of the Philosophy of the Human Mind, then just pub-| lished. The impressions he received from this work were deepened next winter, when he attended its author's prelections in the moral philosophy class at Edinburgh College. Yet, much as he admired Professor Stewart, he did not fail, even at the early age of sixteen, to detect that deficiency of analysis which often lurks under the majestically flowing veil of his language and imagery. According to the late Dr. Welsh, whose very pleasing memoir of Dr. Brown is here followed, the scholar took an early opportunity of presenting to his master a few remarks which he had thrown together in reference to one of his theories. "Those who remember the dignified demeanour of Mr. Stewart in his class, which was calculated to convey the idea of one of those great and gifted men who were seen among the groves of the academy, will duly appreciate the boldness of our young philosopher. With great modesty he read his observations; to which Mr. Stewart, with a candour that was to be expected from a philosopher, but which not the less on that account did him infinite honour, listened patiently, and then, with a smile of wonder and admiration, read to him a letter which he had received from the distinguished M. Prevost of Geneva, containing the same argument which Dr. Brown had stated.' This delightful incident was the commencement of an acquaintance between the master and the pupil, which led to more intimate relations, and only ended with the death of Dr. Brown. The varied and profound acquirements of this extraordinary young man, soon attracted to him the attention and friendship of many other personages, distinguished by academic rank and literary reputation, especially Professors Robison, Playfair, and Black, and Messrs. Horner, Leyden, Reddie, and Erskine. Ere he had completed his twentieth year, he was led, by the spirit of philosophical inquiry, to write Observations upon Dr. Darwin's Zoonomia, in a pamphlet that far surpassed the work which had called it forth. It appeared in 1798, and, while it excited astonishment in those who knew the years of the author, was received in other quarters as the work of a veteran in philosophy. Dr. Welsh justly characterizes it as one of the most remarkable exemplifications of premature intellect which has ever been exhibited, and states that, though unfortunate in its object, and the exposure of an unworthy production, it is found to contain the

Brown's first ideas as to a profession led him to choose the bar, and for a twelvemonth he prosecuted the dry studies of the law. An insurmountable repugnance, however, to this pursuit caused him afterwards to study medicine. He obtained his degree of M.D. in 1803, on which occasion he was honoured with the highest commendations from Dr. Gregory, not only for his proficiency in medical learning, but for the amazingly fluent and elegant style of his Latinity, of which no one could judge better than that learned professor, himself acknowledged to be the best Latinist of his time in Scotland. Previous to this period, namely in 1800, when he was only twenty-two years of age, his friends had, unsuccessfully, endeavoured to obtain for him the chair of rhetoric; but a system by which the clergy of the university seat were almost invariably preferred to the vacant chairs, blasted his hopes on this occasion. This disappointment, with his antipathy to the courtly party of the church, by which it was patronized, seems to have inspired him with a vehement aversion to a system which can only be palliated by a consideration of the narrow stipends then enjoyed by the clergy, and the propriety of enriching, by this oblique means, the prospects which were to induce men of abilities to enter the church. Upon the promotion of Mr. Playfair to the chair of natural philosophy, Mr. Leslie competed for the vacant chair of mathematics with a clergyman whose attainments in that study, though more than respectable, certainly could not be placed on an equality with those of the opposing candidate. The church party, knowing that they could not make out any superior qualifications in their candidate on the score of mathematics, endeavoured to produce the same effect by depreciating Mr. Leslie's qualifications on the score of religion. Their proof lay in a note to Mr. Leslie's essay on heat, containing an expression of approbation respecting Hume's doctrine of causation. The canvas, which lay in the

town-council, was the cause of great excitement in the literary world, and for some time absorbed every other topic of discourse in Edinburgh. Dr. Brown was tempted by his feelings on this subject to come forward with an essay, disproving the inferences which were drawn from Mr. Leslie's note; an essay which, in a subsequent edition, he expanded into a complete treatise on cause and effect. Through the influence of this powerful appeal, and other similar expressions of public feeling, the patrons of the chair were shamed for once out of their usual practice, and Mr. Leslie received the appointment.

Dr. Brown had before this period published two volumes of miscellaneous poems, which, though they did not meet with brilliant success, are yet to be admired as the effusions of an ingenious and graceful mind. In 1803, immediately after receiving his diploma, he began to practise as a physician, and he had hitherto met with considerable success. He was now (1806) taken into partnership by Dr. Gregory, and for some time his attention was occupied more exclusively by his profession than was at all agreeable to one disposed like him to give up worldly advantages for the sake of a darling study. The prospect of an occupation more germane to his mind opened up to him in the winter of 1808-9, when the state of Mr. Stewart's health induced him to request the services of Mr. Brown as his temporary substitute. The lectures which he delivered in this capacity attracted much attention, on account of their marvellous display of profound and original thought, of copious reading, of matchless ingenuity, and of the most admirable elocution; this last accomplishment having been acquired by Dr. Brown in the ordinary course of his school studies. "The Moral Philosophy Class at this period presented a very striking aspect. It was not a crowd of youthful students led into transports of admiration by the ignorant enthusiasm of the moment; distinguished members of the bench, of the bar, and of the pulpit, were daily present to witness the powers of this rising philosopher. Some of the most eminent of the professors were to be seen mixing with the students, and Mr. Playfair, in particular, was present at every lecture. The originality, and depth, and eloquence of the lectures, had a very marked effect upon the young men attending the university, in leading them to metaphysical speculations."-(Welsh's Memoir.) The effect of these exhibitions was so great, that when Mr. Stewart, two years after, expressed a wish to have Dr. Brown officially conjoined to him in the chair of moral philosophy, the usual influence in favour of the clergy was overcome with little difficulty. From the commencement of the session of 1810-11, he acted as the substitute of Mr. Stewart, who now retired to the country; and, what is certainly very wonderful, he wrote the whole of his first course of lectures during the evenings which preceded the days on which they were delivered. After the first and most difficult step had been got over, Dr. Brown obtained a little leisure to cultivate that poetical vein which had all along been one of his own favourite exercises of thought; and accordingly, in 1814, he published his largest versified work, entitled The Paradise of Coquettes. As this poem appeared anonymously, its success, which was considerable, must have given him high gratification. He was, therefore, tempted next year to bring forth another under the title of The Wanderer in Norway. The health of Dr. Brown had never been good; and it was now the annual custom of this amiable and gifted being to retire during the summer vacation to some sequestered and beautiful nook of his romantic native land, in order to enjoy the country |

air and exercise. Sometimes he would plant himself in some Swiss-like spot, hanging between Highland and Lowland, such as the village of Logie in Glendevon. At other times he would lose himself in the woody solitudes of Dunkeld. He had all his life a fondness for romantic and rugged scenery, amidst which he would occasionally expose himself to considerable risks. Walking was his favourite exercise, as he was thus able to pause and admire a rock, a wild flower, a brook, or whatever else of the beautiful presented itself. To his gentle and affectionate disposition, one object always appealed with irresistible power-namely, a cottage smoking amidst trees: he never could pass a scene of that kind without pausing to ruminate upon the inexplicable sympathy which it seems to find in almost every breast. Though possessing a heart as open as daylight, the weakly health of Dr. Brown, and the abstraction of his studies, seem to have checked that exuberant feeling which assumes the form called love: it is the impression of one of his surviving friends that he never experienced that sensation, at least to any extent worthy of the name. His affections were devoted to his mother, his sisters, nature, books, studies, literary fame. He seemed to have none for "the sex." In 1817 his feelings sustained a dreadful shock in the death of the former relative, who had been his first instructress, and to whom he bore an affection bordering upon reverence. Her remains were first placed in a vault in Edinburgh; and at the end of the winter-session moved to the family burying-ground in the old churchyard of Kirkmabreck. This romantic and secluded spot Dr. Brown had always viewed with great interest. A few years before, in visiting his father's grave, he had been altogether overcome, and when he saw the earth closing in upon all that remained of a mother that was so dear to him, "and the long grassy mantle cover all," his distress was such as to affect every person who saw him. In 1818 Dr. Brown published a poetical tale, entitled Agnes. But his reputation in this walk of literature was not on the increase. His mind by no means wanted poetical feeling and imagery; but he never could prevent the philosopher from intruding upon his warmest visions, and accordingly there is a decided tameness in all his verses. It may be said, that, if he had not been a great philosopher, he would have been a greater poet; and, on the other hand, if he had not attempted poetry, at least his living reputation as a philosopher would have been somewhat enhanced.

Towards the end of 1819 the ill health of Dr. Brown began to assume an alarming aspect, and early in the ensuing year he found himself so weak as to be obliged to appoint a substitute to deliver his lectures. This substitute was Mr. John Stewart, another of the devotees of science, and, like himself, destined soon to sink prematurely beneath the weight of intellectual exertion. Of Brown it might truly be said, that an active spirit had worn out the slender and attenuated frame in which it was enshrined. the recommendation of his physicians, he took a voyage to London, and established himself at Brompton, then a healthy village in the vicinity, but now involved in the spreading masses of the great city. Here he gradually grew weaker and weaker, until the 2d of April, when he gently breathed his last.

At

"Dr. Brown," says his reverend biographer, "was in height rather above the middle size, about five feet nine inches; his chest broad and round; his hair brown; his features regular; his forehead large and prominent; his eyes dark gray, well formed, with very long eye-lashes, which gave them a very soft and pleasing expression; his nose might be said to be

THOMAS BROWN

a mixture of the Roman and Grecian, and his mouth and chin bore a striking resemblance to those of the Buonaparte family. The expression of his countenance altogether was that of calm reflection.

His temper was remarkably good; so perfect was the command he had over it, that he was scarcely ever heard to say an unkind word. Whatever provocation he received, he always consulted the dignity of his own character, and never gave way to anger. Yet he never allowed any one to treat him with disrespect; and his pupils must remember the effect of a single look in producing, instantaneously, the most perfect silence in his class. At a very early period, Dr. Brown formed those opinions in regard to government to which he adhered to the end of his life. Though he was not led to take any active part in politics, he felt the liveliest interest in the great questions of the day, and his zeal for the diffusion of knowledge and of liberal opinion, was not greater than his indignation at every attempt to impede it. The most perfect toleration of all liberal opinions, and an unshackled liberty of the press, were the two subjects in which he seemed to take the most interest, and which he seemed to consider as most essential to national happiness and prosperity. In his judgment upon every political question, he was determined solely by its bearings upon the welfare of the human race; and he was very far from uniformly approving of the measures of the party to which he was generally understood to belong. Indeed, he often said that liberty, in Scotland at least, suffered more from the Whigs than the Tories-in allusion to the departure he conceived to be sometimes made from professed principles with a view to present advantage.

He was inti

mately acquainted with the principles of almost all the fine arts, and in many of them showed that practice only was wanting to insure perfection in his powers of execution. His acquaintance with languages was great: French, Italian, and German he read with the same ease as English. He read also Spanish and Portuguese, though not so fluently.

Among the more prominent features of Dr. Brown's character, may be enumerated the greatest gentleness, and kindness, and delicacy of mind, united with the noblest independence of spirit; a generous admiration of everything affectionate or exalted in character; a manly contempt for everything mean; a detestation for everything that even bordered on tyranny and oppression; a truly British love of liberty, and the most ardent desire for the diffusion of knowledge, and happiness, and virtue, among mankind. In private life he was possessed of almost every quality which renders society delightful, and was indeed remarkable for nothing more than for the love of home and the happiness he shed around him there. It was ever his strongest wish to make every one who was with him happy; his exquisite delicacy of perception gave him a quick fore-feeling of whatever might be hurtful to any one; and his wit, his varied information, his classical taste, and, above all, his mild and gentlemanly manners, and his truly philosophic evenness of temper, diffused around him the purest and most refined enjoyment. Of almost universal knowledge, acquired by the most extensive reading, and by wide intercourse with the world, there was no topic of conversation to which he seemed a stranger. In the philosophic love of truth, and in the patient investigation of it, Dr. Brown may be pronounced as at least equal, and in subtlety of intellect and power of analysis, as superior to any metaphysician that ever existed. The predominating quality in his intellectual character was unquestionably his power of analyzing, the

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most necessary of all qualities to a metaphysician. It is impossible, indeed, to turn to any page in his writings that does not contain some feat of ingenuity. States of mind that had been looked upon for ages as reduced to the last degree of simplicity, and as belonging to those facts in our constitution which the most sceptical could not doubt, and the most subtle could not explain, he brought to the crucible, and evolved from their simpler elements. For the most complicated and puzzling questions that our mysterious and almost inscrutable nature presents, he found a quick and easy solution. The knot that thousands had left in despair, as too complicated for mortal hand to undo, and which others more presumptuous had cut in twain, he unloosed with unrivalled dexterity. The enigmas which a false philosophy had so long propounded, and which, because they were not solved, had made victims of many of the finest and most highly gifted men of our race, he at last succeeded in unriddling." Dr. Brown's lectures were published after his death, in 4 volumes, 8vo, and have deservedly obtained a high reputation. An account of his life and writings has been published in one volume 8vo, by the late Rev. Dr. David Welsh.

BROWN, WILLIAM LAWRENCE, D.D., an eminent theological and miscellaneous writer, was born January 7, 1755, at Utrecht, where his father, the Reverend William Brown, was minister to the English congregation. In 1757 his father removed with his family to St. Andrews, in order to undertake the duties of professor of ecclesiastical history; and the subject of our memoir, having commenced his education under his father's care, was placed successively at the grammar-school and university of that city, entering the latter at the early age of twelve. His native abilities, favoured by the fostering care of his father, enabled him, notwithstanding his immature years, to pass through his academical course with distinction; classical literature, logic, and ethics, being the branches of study to which he chiefly devoted his attention. After studying divinity for two years at St. Andrews, he removed to Utrecht, where he prosecuted the same study, and also that of civil law. In 1778, having previously been licensed by the presbytery of St. Andrews, he succeeded his uncle as minister of the English church at Utrecht; a field of exertion too narrow for his abilities, but which he, nevertheless, cultivated with the same zeal and application which a conscientious clergyman might be expected to bestow upon one more extensive. Such spare time as his duties left to him he employed in attention to a few pupils whom he received into his house. He at the same time enlarged his range of study, and occasionally made excursions into France, Germany, and Switzerland. In 1786 he married his cousin, Anne Elizabeth Brown, by whom he had five sons and four daughters.

The first literary effort of Mr. Brown was an essay on the origin of evil, written for a prize offered by the curators of the Holpian legacy at Utrecht, and which was adjudged the second honour among the essays of twenty-five competitors, that of being published at the expense of the trust. Soon after this, namely, in 1784, the university of St. Andrews conferred upon him the degree of Doctor in Divinity. Dr. Brown was successful in several other prize essays, two of which were published under the titles of An Essay on the Folly of Scepticism, London, 1788; and An Essay on the Natural Equality of Man, Edinburgh, 1793. The latter took a more sober view of the subject than was generally adopted at

the time of its publication; and it accordingly became the means of introducing Dr. Brown to the notice of the British government. Previously to the armed interposition of the Prussians in 1788, Dr. Brown was exposed to so much annoyance on account of his attachment to the dynasty of Nassau, that he found it necessary to proceed to London, in quest of another situation. The event alluded to not only enabled him to retain his former office, but caused his elevation to a professorship, newly erected | in the university of his native city, for moral philosophy and ecclesiastical history. He unfortunately was not allowed sufficient time to prepare the two elaborate courses of lectures required in this new situation; and, by his extraordinary exertions to accomplish what was expected of him, laid the foundation of ailments, from which he never afterwards recovered. His inaugural discourse was published under the title of Oratio de Religionis et Philosophia Societate et Concordia maxime Salutari. Two years afterwards he was nominated rector of the university; and on depositing his temporary dignity, he pronounced an Oratio de Imaginatione in Vita Institutione regenda, which was published in 1790. Though offered the Greek professorship at St. Andrews, he continued in Utrecht till the invasion of Holland by the French, in the beginning of 1795, when he was obliged to leave the country in an open boat, with his wife and five children, besides some other relations. Notwithstanding the severity of the season, the roughness of the weather, and the frail nature of the bark to which so many lives were committed, he reached the English coast in safety. In London, to which he immediately proceeded, he met with a friendly reception from Lord Auckland, to whom he had become known during his lordship's residence as ambassador at the Hague, and who now exerted himself so warmly in his favour, that he was, in the course of a few months, appointed to succeed Dr. Campbell as professor of divinity in the Marischal College, Aberdeen; to which honourable appointment was soon after added that of principal of the same college.

We are informed by the writer of the life of Dr. Brown in the Encyclopædia Britannica, that "this new professorship imposed upon him a very serious task, that of composing a course of theological lectures, extending over five sessions. After a review of the different systems of religion which lay claim to a divine origin, he discussed most amply the evidences and doctrines of natural religion. He then proceeded to the evidences of revealed religion, of which he gave a very full and learned view. The Christian scheme formed the next subject of an inquiry, in which the peculiar doctrines of Christianity were very extensively unfolded. Christian ethics were also explained; and it formed part of his original plan, to treat of all the great controversies that have agitated the religious world. This portion of the course was not, however, completed." Besides attending to the duties of his chair and of his principality, Dr. Brown officiated as one of the ministers of the West Church in Aberdeen. A volume of his sermons appeared in 1803. He also occasionally attended the General Assembly, where his manly eloquence and impressive mode of speaking caused him to be listened to with great respect, though he never arrived at the character of a leader. While discharging every public duty with zeal and efficacy, he did not neglect his favourite pursuits of literature. In 1809 he published Philemon, or the Progress of Virtue, a poem, Edinburgh, 2 vols. octavo; and in 1816 appeared his greatest literary effort, An Essay on the Existence of a Supreme Creator, Aberdeen,

2 vols. octavo. The latter was the successful competing essay, among fifty, for Burnet's first prize of 1250; the second, of 400, being awarded to Dr. Sumner, afterwards Bishop of Chester. Dr. Brown also wrote a few pamphlets upon passing occurrences, political and otherwise; and one or two articles in Latin, relating to formalities in the university over which he presided. His last considerable work was A Comparative View of Christianity, and of the other Forms of Religion which have existed, and still exist, in the World, particularly with regard to their Moral Tendency, Edinburgh, 2 vols. octavo, 1826.

In addition to the preferments already mentioned, Dr. Brown was honoured, in 1800, with the appointment of chaplain in ordinary to the king; and, in 1804, was nominated dean of the chapel-royal, and of the order of the Thistle. He was, last of all, in 1825, appointed to read the Gordon course of lectures on practical religion, in the Marischal College. Though thus bearing such a multiplicity of offices, Dr. Brown was, upon principle, opposed to pluralities, and was, perhaps, only tempted to transgress the rule in his own case, by the want of adequate endowments for his two chief offices, those of divinity professor and of principal.

Dr. Brown died, May 11, 1830, in the seventysixth year of his age. Besides his great talents and acquirements, he was characterized by many excellent personal qualities. His mind was altogether of a manly cast; and, though honoured with the regards of a court, he was incapable of cowering to mere rank and station. With some warmth of temper, he was open, sincere, and generous, and entertained sentiments of unbounded liberality towards his fellowcreatures of all ranks, and of all countries.

BRUCE, JAMES, a celebrated traveller, born on the 14th of December, 1730, at Kinnaird, in the county of Stirling. Bruce was by birth a gentleman, and might even be considered as nobly descended. He was the eldest son of David Bruce, Esq. of Kinnaird, who was in turn the son of David Hay of Woodcockdale in Linlithgowshire (descended from an old and respectable branch of the Hays of Errol), and of Helen Bruce, the heiress of Kinnaird, who traced her pedigree to that noble Norman family, which, in the fourteenth century, gave a king to Scotland. It will thus be observed that the traveller's paternal name had been changed from Hay to Bruce, for the sake of succession to Kinnaird. The traveller was extremely vain of his alliance to the hero of Bannockburn, insomuch as to tell his engraver, on one occasion, that he conceived himself entitled to use royal livery! He took it very ill to be reminded, as he frequently was, that, in reality, he was not a Bruce, but a Hay, and though the heir of line, not the heir male of even that branch of the family which he represented. In truth the real Bruces of Kinnaird, his grandmother's ancestors, were but descended from a cadet of a cadet of the royal family of Bruce, and, as it will be observed, sprung off before the family became royal, though not before it had intermarried with royalty. His mother was the daughter of James Graham, Esq. of Airth, dean of the faculty of advocates, and judge of the high court of admiralty in Scotland-a man dis tinguished by his abilities and respected for his public and private virtues. Unfortunately, the traveller lost his mother at the early age of three years-almost the only worldly loss which cannot be fully compensated. His father marrying a second time, had an additional family of six sons and two daughters.

In his earliest years, instead of the robust frame