TYTLER, Patrick Fraser, author of the History of Scotland, was born at his father's house in Prince's Street, Edinburgh, on the 30th August 1791. He was the youngest of seven children, as will be found stated in the foregoing memoir.
The son of Alexander Fraser Tytler, Lord Woodhouselee, and grandson of William Tytler, the defender of Queen Mary, may be said to have inherited a claim to literary celebrity. But his boyhood afforded no signs of the powers which he afterwards displayed, except, indeed, to the partial eyes of his fond father. To him the boy's passion for poetry and romance was a sufficient indication that he would prove a studious man in after-years. In truth, a general taste for whatever is beautiful in literature or in art, combined with a vast amount of humour, high spirit, and lofty principle, might well have satisfied those who watched the boyhood of Peter Tytler, as his intimates ever called him. The influence of his father, whom he idolized, was ever at hand to direct his taste and stimulate his endeavours.
At first he was sent to Miss Stalker's reading-school in Edinburgh. This lady was daughter to the well-known reading-master from whom Walter Scott received his own early instruction. Thence he was removed to the High School, under Professor Christison, and Dr Adams, the rector of the institution. His progress at school was unmarked by any distinction. He kept a respectable place in his class, and took a spirited share in the bickers which then raged between the youthful heroes of the High School and of the University. But it was no mean reputation to have been respected by his schoolfellows for his inflexible truthfulness, as well as beloved for the generosity of his temper and the playfulness of his disposition. At Woodhouselee, under his father's roof, and under the fostering influences already adverted to, he made considerable progress. The Rev. John Black was no common tutor, and Walter Scott was no common friend. Neither were his father's intimates common guests. It was not, however, until Peter Tytler was sent to an English school, at the age of seventeen, that the transition from boyish thoughtlessness to manly gravity took place. His father made choice of a school at Chobham, kept by the Rev. Charles Jerram, a worthy man and good scholar, addicted to the opinions mislaid "evangelical." Tytler remained at Chobham for a year, and then returned finally to the paternal roof. His after-life showed what beautiful results may be obtained even from irregular culture.
Tytler offers a singular illustration of the extent to which the tastes and inclinations of early youth develop themselves in manhood, and become the ruling passions of after-life. His boyish love of fishing and shooting never forsook him. His early passion for music, poetry, and drawing was prolonged to the end of his days. Revelations of singular tenderness and softness of disposition were found in his early papers, as well as proofs of the exceeding piety and purity of his heart. Who that knew him well in after-life was not struck with the same characteristics? The humour of the child was very conspicuous in the man. At a debating-society which he helped to form at Chobham, we find him showing great historical knowledge, and acquiring much credit as the advocate of the favourable effect of the Crusades on Europe. "I had a copious source for materials," he writes to his father, "in your Elements, and Charles V., and only regretted I had not more time to collect them. . . . I shall, whenever I can, propose historical questions
Tyler, Patrick. of this nature. It is impossible, my dearest father, to describe the delight with which I look forward to September. I shall be much obliged to Boyd if he will oil the lock and clean the barrel of the general's gun." To his brother Sandy, in India, he wrote (in 1810):—"At Mr Jerram's I began to understand and like Greek, and to make some progress in Latin versification. But I acquired a high relish for another noble branch of literature, and which I am at present perusing with the greatest pleasure—I mean History. To me it seems the noblest of all studies."
After three years of cloudless sunshine, spent at Woodhouselee in the society of his parents and sisters, in January 1813 Tyler lost his father. He was now little more than twenty-one years of age, and the only remaining unmarried son. On him, therefore, the burthen of grief most heavily fell. This bereavement, though it bowed his spirit and almost broke his heart, served to bring out the manliness of his character, and to touch the secret springs of his inner life. In the following month of July, having passed the public examination with credit, he was admitted into the Faculty of Advocates.
It was in the society of William and Archibald Alison, and Mr David Anderson of Moreddun, that Tyler visited Paris, in the months of May and June 1814. His imagination was much struck by the many remarkable sights which he witnessed in the French metropolis at that memorable season, and the letters which he sent home are full of graphic and interesting details. Napoleon embarked from Frejus for Elba on the very day when the friends reached York, on their way south. They saw the allied sovereigns, our own Wellington, Platoff, Blücher; together with all the treasures of art which were at that time accumulated at Paris. "Only think," wrote Tyler to his mother, "of seeing the Apollo Belvidere one morning, and the Emperor Alexander the next!" From Dr Crichton, the emperor's physician, the young Scotchman picked up many striking anecdotes of the recent campaign. But Tyler's heart was in his own loved home, and almost in his father's grave. When Lord Meadowbank, then Lord Advocate, soon after his return, appointed him king's counsel in the Exchequer, what made the favour acceptable was the consciousness that it could only be ascribed to respect for his father's memory. He often stole back to revisit Woodhouselee, and nurse his grief amid the sorrowful records of the happy past.
This visit to Paris led to the appearance (in 1815) of two interesting little volumes by Sir Archibald Alison, to which Tyler contributed certain chapters. It constituted his first appearance in print; but both the Travels in France and the contributed chapters were produced anonymously. The interval between 1814 and 1822 (which was diversified by a tour in Norway, taken in company with Mr David Anderson of St Germain, in 1818, and of which his letters and journals preserve a very interesting account) is marked by no striking personal incidents, nor by any literary achievement of moment. Tyler was, during all this time, professionally a barrister; and although by no means a successful practitioner of the Law, yet he wanted not that measure of success which was sufficient to stimulate him to further exertion, had he been able to give up his heart to his profession. But he never loved it. The din of the Courts distressed him; the excitement of a criminal trial he could not endure. Though passionately fond of society, and eminently qualified to shine, the distractions of the Edinburgh season were the reverse of congenial to him. He was not unconscious of possessing many perilous gifts; and his sensitive conscience was for ever taking the alarm. Most happy was he when, in the summer months, he stole away to his cherished friends, the Stuarts of Ardowan, to Basil Hall's family, or to the Alisons. At Ardowan, a well-furnished library supplied him with that occupation for the
mind, and a breezy moor with that relaxation for the body, which his studious disposition needed. He was, in fact, always pursuing a course of private reading—miscellaneous and extensive—whether at home or abroad. More than the intervals of business he gave to such pursuits; and his memorandum-books show that he was already an author. But his first essays were but tentative, and only a few of them, it is probable, ever saw the light. In the pages of Blackwood, and other magazines, he made his first modest appearance as an author.
He was at this time a surprising student, as the list of the books he read in a single year shows. But he is found to have read more of Divinity than of Law; and more of History than of Divinity. Howe's Meditations was never for a day out of his hands. Ever a man of exemplary piety, it may be worth stating that his religious opinions acquired less and less of a sectarian character as he advanced in life. He noted in his memorandum-book, that, on the 1st January 1837, he adopted the practice of reading the Scriptures according to the calendar and not according to the directory.
Tyler's disposition was eminently social; and his talents well qualified him to shine in society. He sung delightfully, and his poetical vein found freest expression in the composition of humorous songs. Many are the playful specimens which survive of his powers. But the most amusing of his compositions of this class are connected with the Mid-Lothian Volunteer Yeomanry Corps, which numbered among its members many a name as distinguished in the aristocracy of talent as of birth, and of which he soon became the most conspicuous member. His delightful manners, his exuberant flow of spirits, his ready wit, rendered him a general favourite; while his beautiful songs made him the very soul of the mess. On one occasion, he stole away from the corps and from the prospect of duty, to enjoy a quiet afternoon with his brother at Woodhouselee; but being missed at head-quarters, a mock-warrant was sent for his seizure, and he was apprehended on his brother's threshold, after having, with much discomfort, concealed himself (as he thought) for a reasonable space in the glen. Led back in triumph to the military encampment at Musselburgh, Tyler threw the adventure into a ballad, called The Deserter, which was long a favourite with the mess. It should be said of his songs that they were written to be sung,—to be sung by himself,—and that he ever wrote them for amusement, not for fame. Hence, as a poet, Tyler was known only to his acquaintances; and but for his contributions to Thomson's Select Melodies of Scotland, published in 1824, he might be said to hold his chance of being remembered by the same tenure as the orator, the vocalist, or the wit.
A few words should be added of his early efforts of a graver character. In June 1820, he was engaged on A Historical Essay upon the European Moors during their Government of Spain. This will have been his earliest prose effort. In 1816, he speaks of a paper On Gratitude; and mentions that he had been drawing up a Memoir of his brother Alexander, a Parallel between Milton and Shakespeare, and an Essay on Feudal Law. Like the other essays mentioned above, these have either never been printed, or they are lying perdu where so many interesting literary productions repose in a state of suspended animation—namely, in the pages of some forgotten review or magazine. But the Historical and Critical Essay on the Life of Crichton, which he wrote in the beginning of 1817, was destined to appear in a more important shape, and laid the foundation of his literary celebrity. It appeared, corrected and enlarged, in 1819, under the following title: Life of James Crichton of Cluny, commonly called the Admirable Crichton; with an Appendix of Original Papers. A second edition was published in 1823.
To Blackwood, at the time of its first appearance in April 1817, Mr Tytler was a considerable contributor. Only two of his contributions are, however, remembered,—Remarks on Lacunar Strevelinense (November 1817), and verses To my Dog (January 1818). A highly fanciful fragment, under the title of A Literary Romance, which appeared in July, August, and September 1817, seems to be the only other piece which he published at this time.
Simultaneously with the biographical sketch of Crichton, Mr Tytler was engaged on a Memoir of Sir Thomas Craig of Riccarton. It appeared in 1823, "including biographical sketches of the more eminent legal characters since the institution of the Court of Session by James V. till the period of the union of the crowns." This work, like the last, was published by Mr Tait, and was limited to a small impression. Together, they showed literary predilections which were deemed at the time incompatible with legal success; and it soon became apparent to the young barrister that he must decide between the Law, which he loved not and which loved not him, and History, which he loved passing well. It would not have been difficult to foresee his decision. The founding of the Bannatyne Club, in 1822, of which he was one of the original members, (and for which, jointly with Mr Hog and Mr Urquhart, he afterwards edited a volume), by drawing him yet more intimately into connexion with the literary antiquaries of that day, may have done somewhat to decide the colour of Mr Tytler's future life. His lively lyrics, sung at the yearly meetings of the society, will not be forgotten while the friends live who heard them. In the mean time, his renewed and increased intimacy with Sir Walter Scott, the president of the club, which led to a visit to Abbotsford in 1823, was productive of memorable consequences.
"It was in the month of July, soon after the rising of the Court of Session," writes Mr Alexander Pringle of Whybank to Mr James Tytler, "when P. F. T. happened to be on a visit here for some days, that we one day went over to dine at Abbotsford . . . While we were riding home at night (I remember well the place; it was just after we had forded the Tweed at Boldside), your brother told me that in the course of that evening, Sir Walter Scott had taken him aside and suggested to him the scheme of writing a history of Scotland. Sir Walter stated that some years before the booksellers had urged him to undertake such a work, and that he had at one time seriously contemplated it. The subject was very congenial to his tastes; and he thought that by interspersing the narrative with romantic anecdotes, illustrative of the manners of his countrymen, he could render such a work popular. But he soon found, while engaged in preparing his materials, that something more was wanted than a popular romance; that a right history of Scotland was yet to be written; but that there were ample materials for it in the national records, in collections of documents, both public and private, and in Scottish authors whose works had become rare, or were seldom perused." Prevented by his other avocations from bestowing the necessary labour on such a work, he had "confined his undertaking to a collection of historical anecdotes for the amusement of the rising generation, calculated to impress upon their memories the worthy deeds of Scottish heroes, and inspire them with sentiments of nationality. He also mentioned that the article on the Culloden Papers, published in the Quarterly Review for January 1816, had been originally conceived in the form of an introductory essay to the contemplated historical work, which was now likely to go no further.—He then proposed to your brother to enter on the undertaking . . . offering all the aid in his power for obtaining access to the repositories of information, as well as advice in pursuing the necessary investigations.—I asked my friend if the suggestion pleased him. He replied that the undertaking appeared very formidable;
. . . but that the suggestion, coming from such a quarter, was not to be disregarded. You may be sure that I encouraged him to the best of my power; for though I knew how much it was likely to withdraw his attention from his professional avocations, I also knew how much more congenial a pursuit it would prove, and how much more likely he was to attain to excellence in this channel."
Before Tytler set his hand in right earnest to his history, an event occurred which altered or influenced the complexion of all his after-life. On the 30th March 1826, he was united to Rachel Elizabeth, the beautiful daughter of Thomas Hog, Esq. of Newliston.
"For nearly two years before," writes Miss A. F. Tytler, "we had become aware of his attachment to this beautiful Rachel, for beautiful and accomplished she was; and her pursuits, particularly in music and painting, were most congenial to his own. She was twenty-two at the time of her marriage; but she had lived constantly in retirement, either in the country at Newliston, or during the winter months in her father's house at Lauriston, which went by the name of the convent. My brother, after being introduced to her, found it very difficult to penetrate those convent walls; but the old gentleman, after he had recovered from the first shock of seeing a young gentleman frequently calling, on what appeared to him very frivolous pretences, became so fond of my brother, that soon no pretence whatever was necessary, his visits appearing to give equal pleasure to all parties."
Immediately before his marriage, besides an Essay on the Revival of Greek Literature in Italy, which he had read before the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Tytler published his Life of Wickliff. It appeared anonymously in 1826, in a small volume of 207 pages. Henceforth, the desire to prosecute the necessary collections for his History of Scotland engaged no small share of his time and attention. But he did not abandon the Law; and while his bride was yet at Newliston, he came into the metropolis daily to attend the Exchequer Court. In the meantime, he purchased a house in Edinburgh (36 Melville Street), and before the winter established himself there. The birth of three children Mary Stewart, Alexander, and Thomas Patrick, completed his wedded happiness. It would be hard indeed to find a more perfect picture of domestic bliss than was presented by his little household.
Tytler now worked indefatigably at his history; love adding a stimulus where ambition already supplied a sufficient spur. In March 1828, he was correcting the last proof of his first volume; and before September 1829, he had finished writing his third. Sir Walter Scott reviewed the first two volumes in the Quarterly. It was impossible, in fact, to withhold from this work the praise of having called attention more than any which had preceded it, to the wondrous mine of historical information, yet unwrought, which exists in the State-Paper-Office; and Scott was liberal, yet discriminating in his praise. He expressed a wish that the historian would bestow an introductory volume on the dark ages preceding the accession of Alexander III. (1249); and to produce such a volume was a favourite project with Mr Tytler to the last. He had also purposed to terminate his history, not at the union of the two crowns of England and Scotland under James I., but of the two kingdoms under Queen Anne. This, however, he subsequently found, would have constituted a task equal in magnitude to all his past labours, and would have required a new lifetime for its fulfilment. The third volume of the Scottish history appeared in 1829, the fourth in 1831; the rest (vols. v.-ix.) appeared respectively in 1834, 1837, 1840, 1842, and 1843.
Very various, however, was the web of Mr Tytler's life during the many years thus indicated. Many, too, were the works in which he engaged while his History was in
Tytler, Patrick. progress. First came the Lives of Illustrious Statesmen, in three volumes, which he wrote for Murray's Family Library; next, a Life of Sir Walter Raleigh; then, a Historical Dissertation on the Progress of Discovery in America; after that, a Life of King Henry VIII. These last three works were published by Messrs Oliver and Boyd in the Edinburgh Cabinet Library.—In the meantime, Mrs Tytler's health gave way. The winter of 1832 was spent at Torquay, that of 1833 at Bute. In the spring of 1835, while in the very pursuit of health, she breathed away her gentle spirit, overflowing with every Christian grace, and leaving her husband overwhelmed with the greatness of his loss.
He now removed from Edinburgh, and took up his residence with his sisters, first at Hampstead, then in Wimpole Street, London, devoting his time to the prosecution of his History, and to the education of his children. He had been disappointed in his hopes of being appointed Historiographer of Scotland, and keeper of the Records in the Chapter-House. But in the prosecution of his favourite studies in the State-Paper-Office, he forgot everything except his domestic grief. In the meanwhile, he was called upon to give his evidence before a Select Committee on the Record Commission, and the report was attended with important consequences.
In London he led a singularly quiet life, gathering round himself a small society of men engaged in kindred pursuits and studies. He was one of the projectors of the English Historical Society, which has since rendered such distinguished service to literature. For the rest of his time he sought his happiness in the bosom of his family; in the summer, to his beloved Newliston, or to Inverness-shire, where his brother William, sheriff of the county, and his sister, Mrs James Baillie Fraser, resided, never repairing for health and relaxation in vain.
One of the most interesting of Tytler's literary labours appeared in 1839, Original Letters Illustrative of the Reigns of Edward VI. and Queen Mary. The documents, which are connected together with a slender link of historical narrative, he met with in the course of his historical researches pursued in the State-Paper-Office. Simultaneously with this work, he wrote the article "Scotland" for the seventh edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. In October 1843, he finished the ninth and last volume of his History of Scotland, after having expended on that work the labour of little less than eighteen years.
It was in the early part of 1843 that he was commanded to examine a singular relic in her Majesty's possession, known as "the Darnley jewel." His Notes were printed; and the historian was honoured by her Majesty's commands to dine at Windsor Castle in the ensuing November. This led to his being intrusted with a collection of royal miniatures, to study and report upon; and finally, in 1844, a royal pension of £200 per annum was bestowed upon him "for literary services to the country." Many were the undertakings which he yet contemplated; of which an introductory volume to his History of Scotland, and a History of the Reformation, were the principal. But a memoir, privately printed in 1845, On the Portraits of Mary Queen of Scots, was the last thing that he was destined ever to see through the press.
In the August of the same year, he contracted a second marriage. The lady of his choice was Anastasia, daughter of Thomson Bonar, Esq. of Camden-Place, Kent, who had long been a friend of his family. Altogether melancholy, however, from this period, was the sudden decline of his health, the singular prostration of his mental powers, and the morbid melancholy into which the cheerful author of other years was seen to sink. True it is, that Tytler had been an excessive student, especially from the time of his first marriage, and that he had overtaxed his powers; but this
does not seem sufficient to account for the sad change which, at the age of fifty-four, overtook him. He submitted to the cold-water system, as it is called; and traversed France and Germany in pursuit of that relief which he was to find only in the grave. He died at Malvern on Christmas Eve, 1849, surrounded by his family, and sustained to the last by a most blessed hope. His remains were laid in the vault of his ancestors, in the Greyfriars Churchyard, Edinburgh.
A memoir of this excellent man appeared in 1859. From his letters, and the various reminiscences of friends there preserved, a better notion will be derived than any mere sketch can convey of the playfulness of his disposition, the piety and solid worth of his character. He was learned without an atom of pedantry; of a social turn without being either frivolous or given to dissipation; religious without moroseness; witty, but never at the expense of others. He was seen to most advantage in the society of his family, surrounded by his children; and was most beloved by those who knew him the most intimately. His passion for letters was genuine; and, in the pursuit of historical truth, he instinctively apprehended whatever was noble, lofty, and good. It was impossible to be much in his society without being the better for it. His biographer endeavoured to express his character in a single sentence, when he styled his life "the portrait of a Christian gentleman." (J. W. B.)