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The Scot in America
Educators


IF a Scot were asked in what direction the influence of his native land was most plainly and characteristically to be seen in America, he would undoubtedly answer in the direction of education. In surveying the entire scholastic field—primary, grammar, and collegiate—in America, we are struck by the fact that the underlying theory of the whole is that promulgated by John Knox when he proposed an ideal system for Scotland, but was defeated by the greed and treachery of the Scottish nobility—including even those who were with him in the struggle against the old Church. In brief, his system called for at least one grammar school in every parish, a burgh or high school and, where possible, a collegiate institution in every town, and a university in the principal cities, beside 'bairn schules' in connection with each kirk. His theory is that the education of the youth was part of the legitimate business of every State, and his wish was that that education should be as liberal as possible. Education, the education of the masses, has always been since Knox's time one of the rifling principles of Scottish life. It was carefully fostered by the Church; the management of the schools long formed part of the most important business of every General Assembly, and their visitation and supervision were regarded as not the least among the duties of the clergy. It was only within a comparatively recent period in Scotland that the State stepped to the front in educational matters, and the Church gradually released its hold, until now the entire management, even of the universities, is professedly secular. This change—this separation of education from religion—it has always appeared to us, is one of the things that the Old Country has learned from America, where scholastic training from the beginning of the national history of the United States has been secular, except where particular religions have founded schools or colleges of their own.

In speaking of the Church having control of the schools in Scotland, however, it must be remembered that that control sprang from a different source from that which actuates most Churches in educational matters. There never was, there never will be, a more perfect system of republican government, a more complete democracy, than that devised for the 1cirk by John Knox and his associates. In that system the basis of everything was the Kirk meeting, in which every one, every head of a family, had a voice and a vote; from that popular meeting came the session, from the session the Presbytery, from the Presbytery the Synod, from the Synod the General Assembly. The last being thoroughly representative in its complexion, was for many generations the real parliament of the nation, and thus it was the voice of the Scottish people acting through their regularly and honestly chosen delegates that inspired the zeal for the cause of education throughout the country and maintained it.

Although the educational system of the United States, the system made compulsory by State laws, is as perfectly secular as can be devised, yet it should be remembered that the earliest American teachers were either the clergy or that the early schools were founded under the auspices of some Church. The Presbyterian, as the representative Scotch denomination, for a long time was as active in establishing schools as churches. Thus, in the early history of the Carolinas, we find that one Synod admonished all the Presbyteries under its control "to establish within their respective bounds one or more grammar schools, except where such schools are already established," and the early Presbyterian records all over the Colonial settlements are full of such references, where the records are found to exist. One of the most famous of the early educational institutions in the Carolinas was the Innis Academy, founded in Wilmington by Col. James Innis, a native of Dunse, who incorporated the school in 1783. He had been an officer in the British Army, and distinguished himself in the expedition against Carthagena, in South America. The University of North Carolina, too, was established in 1795 by the Rev. Joseph Caldwell, an educational pioneer of Scotch and French descent. Before that, however, in 168,,, the Rev. James Blair, a Scotch missionary, founded William and Mary College, in Virginia, the most ancient ot. the American colleges, and which still carries oil its good work to the present day, and we have seen in the course of this work, by the labors at Princeton of Witherspoon and other early Scotch teachers, how active the pioneer Scots in America were in the cause of higher education.

Among the most prominent of the early Scotch teachers, whose life story has been preserved to us mainly because he became as active as a patriot and a legislator as an educator in his adopted country, was Peter Wilson, a native of the little parish of Ordiquhill, Banffshire. He was born there in 1744, and, after attending Aberdeen University for several sessions—long enough to graduate, for in Scotland they used to enter college at an age when the children of the present day are only half way through the grammar schools--he left Scotland and landed in New York, in 1763. Wilson soon received an appointment as a teacher in Hackensack Academy, New Jersey, and served there as Principal for many years. His labors appear to have been interrupted by they Revolutionary War, and the movement for independence found in him one of its most devoted adherents and promoters. From 1777 to 1783 he served in the New Jersey Legislature, and afterward took a prominent and exceedingly useful part in codifying and revising the laws of that State. In 1789 he accepted the professorship of Greek and Latin in Columbia College, and remained there till 1792, when he resigned to become Principal of Erasmus Hall Academy, Flatbush, N. Y. That office he vacated in T797, when he returned to Columbia. College as Professor of Greek and Latin and of (;reek Antiquities, and taught until 1820, when he retired on a pension. He died five years later, at New Barbados, N. J., and was buried in Hackensack Churchyard, where a stone was erected to his memory on which his career was summed up in the words: "A zealous and successful patriot and Christian, and exemplary in all the public, social, and domestic relations which he sustained." Dr. Wilson published several textbooks, each of which bore evidence to his scholarship, but they are now forgotten, for old textbook,, like old almanacs, seem to be neglected and cast aside as soon as they have served their day.

A representative Scot, whose life story, however, is rather a painful one, was James Hardie, an Aberdonian and a graduate of Marischal College, Aberdeen. He was born in 1750, and after graduation became an inmate of the domestic circle of Prof. James Beattie ("the Poet of Truth," as he has been called,) as secretary, or tutor, or both. Beattie possessed influence enough and heart enough to have advanced his protege's fortunes in a material way, but there were several matters which caused the philosopher and poet to believe that Hardie's interests would he best served by his removal from his associates and accustomed haunts, and by beginning life anew in a far country. He, therefore, advised him to emigrate to America, and the advice was taken. Hardie settled in New York, and from 1787 till 1790 was employed as a tutor in Columbia College. He then lost his employment on account of his dissipated habits, for lie did not "mend his ways" in the new land, and, after drifting aimlessly along in the current of life for several years, picking tip a precarious livelihood one way and another, he obtained a minor position in connection with one of the city departments. His salary was small, barely enough to keep body and soul together, and he eked it out by doing hack work for the publishers when he got the opportunity. In this way he became the author of quite a number of books, the most curious of which are "An Account of the Yellow Fever in New York," (1822,) and a descriptive account of the same city, issued the same year. lie also completed a Biographical Dictionary, which was issued in 1830, and Proved that he could be industrious and Painstaking' when he liked. Hardie died in New York, in 1832, leaving behind him nothing of real value to the world beyond the awful example of a richly endowed life wasted.

We get a much more noble illustration of the Scot abroad in studying the career of another Aberdonian, John Keith. Born at Achlossan, in 1763, he graduated front Aberdeen University in 1781, and soon after, before lie had even attained full legal age, was admitted a member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. In his twentieth year he emigrated, and, after spending a year or two in Virginia, finally settled in New York. He secured employment as a teacher in Columbia College, and soon after became one of the Faculty of that institution by accepting the Chair of Mathematics. In 1795 he was transferred to the Chair of Geography, History, and Chronology, and proved a most devoted teacher. But lie was more than a teacher. He was a public-spirited citizen, and took an active interest in matters far from akin to his profession. For instance, the desirability of a system of internal waterways through the State of Yew York, which was first suggested by the old Scotch Governor, Cadwallader Colden, was a burning question early in the century. The problem of the feasibility of such waterways was keenly debated, and De Witt Clinton, their great and unswerving advocate, found no more logical, determined, or efficient supporter than Prof. John Keith. The latter readily foresaw the immense advantage these waterways would be, not merely to the State, but to the entire continent, for lie believed they could be connected so as to open up communication they with the Mississippi. He advocated their construction as a matter of practical necessity, and his position as a professor in Columbia College gave great weight to his words. In 1810 he visited Lake Erie to examine into the feasibility of the proposed Erie CanaI, and made private surveys and calculations, with the result that he fully demonstrated the entire practicability of the waterway long before any authoritative survey had passed judgment upon the scheme. It is a pity that he was not spared to see the great work fairly entered upon, but he died in 1812, when the whole scheme was in that stage of all great American measures when it was simply a football for politicians.

Among the names of the early professors in Princeton College none is more highly cherished than that of John Maclean, who became Professor of Chemistry and Natural history in that young institution in 1795, the year after President Witherspoon had passed to the rest he had craved and the reward he had earned, and been succeeded by his son-in-law, President Stanhope Smith. Dr. Maclean was born at Glasgow in 1771, and studied medicine in Edinburgh, London, Glasgow, and Paris. His travels and reading, and his own personal observation of European Governments, had made him become a thorough believer in a republican form of government, and led him, when his studies were completed, to throw in his lot with the United States. He settled in Princeton in 1791, and, with the encouragement of Dr. Witherspoon and the then limited Faculty, commenced lecturing on chemistry before becoming a member of the professorial staff. He continued to fill a chair in Princeton till 1812, when he resigned to accept the Chair of Natural Philosophy and Chemistry in William and Mary College. That post he resigned in the course of a year on account of ill-health, and he died in 1814. His memoir was written by his son, John Maclean, who was born at Princeton, in 1798, and graduated from the college there in 1816. The story of this man's life was bound up with that of the college of New Jersey, and to his enthusiasm and learning, as well as to his industry as a professor and executive ability as its President, it owed much of its renown as a seat of learning. He became President in 1854, and continued to fill the office until 1868, when he resigned the dignity into the hands of Prof. McCosh, but the remaining years during which his life was prolonged (he died in 1886) were devoted to advocating the interests of the college in every way that lay in his power. President Maclean's name is yet one of the most honored on the roll of Princeton's teachers.

Another of the early professors of Princeton of whom mention might be made was Walter Minto, who was born at Coldingham in 1753, and after graduating from Edinburgh 'University became tutor in the family of George Johnstone, once Governor of West Florida, (see Page 80.) and traveled with his charges over the Continent of Europe. When that position could no longer be retained, Minto became a private tutor of mathematics in Edinburgh, but his prospects were not inviting, and he emigrated in 1786, hoping to find some opportunity in the New World. A year later he was appointed to the Chair of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in Princeton, and filled that position with much brilliancy until his death, in 1796. Professor Minto received in 1787 the degree of LL. D. from Aberdeen University, and was the author of several interesting works, the best remembered of which is "An Account of the Life and Writings of John Napier of Merchiston," which was published in 1787, and professed to be written in conjunction with Lord Buchan, a celebrated amateur scientist and would-be patron of learning of the time.

Reference has already been made to the Scotch founder of William and Mary College. But many more Scotch founders of institutions devoted to higher education could readily be named. Dalhousie College, in Halifax, was organized mainly through the exertions of one of the holders of that peerage, and Morrin College, Quebec, was founded by a native of Dumfries-shire, who had long practiced medicine in that historic city. Bishop John McLean of Saskatchewan, a native of Portree, founded Emmanuel College, of which he became War- den, and held that office, as well as its Chair of Divinity, at his death, in 1886.

Judging by results, one of the most noteworthy, if not the most noteworthy, of Scottish college founders was James McGill of Montreal, to whose wise philanthropy that city owes the great scat of learning which bears his name and of which it is so justly proud. McGill was born at Glasgow in 1744. After settling in Canada, he engaged in the fur trade for a time, but afterward made his home in Montreal, where lie entered into business as a merchant, He was successful from the start, and quickly won a large fortune. For several years he represented Montreal in the Parliament of Lover Canada, and became a member of the Legislative and Executive Councils. His. whole life was an example of patriotism, and was devoted to the advancement of the highest interests of the city in which he had his home, and in which lie had risen to the most honorable eminence. Connected by marriage with one of the most aristocratic of the olds French families in the city, he had the social entree to both the English and French speaking circles, and was held in the highest esteem in these exclusive sets, as well as by all classes in the community. His patriotic instincts even induced him to apply himself to military matters. He became an officer in the militia service, and in the War of 1812 rose to the rank of Brigadier General. Throughout his life, Mr. McGill was prominent in Montreal for his charitable gifts. He was noted for his practical ideas in connection with his giving, but the most conspicuous proof of this was given when, after his death, on Dec. 19, 1813, it was found that lie had bequeathed over £30,000 in property and £10,000 in cash for the foundation of a great university in Montreal. The bequest was not at once made available, for litigation—that bane of will-making all over America, and which has so often upset from trivial causes many kindly intentions—interfered, and it was not until 1821 that the obstacles were cleared away and the institution established, with full university powers, by royal charter. The real estate left by Mr. McGill steadily continued to increase in value, and when the magnificent mission of the institution began to become apparent, many of Montreal's citizens liberally contributed to its resources, either by contributions or bequests. Thus, Miss Barbara Scott bequeathed $30,000 for a Chair of Civil Engineering, Major Mills $42,000 for a Chair of Classics, Mr. David Greenshields $40,000 for a Chair of Chemistry, and Mrs. Andrew Stewart $25,000 for a Chair of Law. Writing in 1884, Afr. S. E. Dawson said: " The latest large benefaction which it has received is the Peter Redpath Museum, which was erected by the Scot whose name it bears at a cost of about $120,000, and contains very valuable collections, more especially in geology and mineralogy. The university has four faculties—of Arts, Applied Science, Medicine, and Law. Being non-denominational, it has no theological faculty, but it offers advantageous terms of affiliation to theological colleges, whereby their students can have the benefits of its classes and degrees, and it has already four such colleges, representing four of the leading Protestant denominations. * * * Its buildings are pleasantly situated in grounds laid out in walks and ornamented with trees at the foot of the Montreal Mountain, and, though most of them are unpretending in exterior, they are substantially built of stone and are well adapted for the purposes of education. It has an excellent philosophical apparatus and collections of models in mining and engineering, and also good chemical and physiological laboratories. It has a library of 25,000 volumes, in addition to its medical library, and, though these libraries are not large, they include an unusually choice and valuable selection of books. Though the university has existed since 1821, and its endowment since 1813, its actual history as an important educational institution dates from the amendment of its charter and the reorganization. of its general body in 1852. It is thus a comparatively new institution, and is, perhaps, to be judged rather by indications of vitality and growth which it presents rather than by its past results. It has, however, already more than 1,200 graduates, many of them occupying important public positions in Canada and elsewhere."

Among the colleges affiliated with McGill University are Morrin College, of which mention has already been made, and the Presbyterian College of Montreal. This latter institution was founded in 1865 for the training of ministers and missionaries in connection with the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Its origin was very humble, but in 1893 its endowment was valued at $16,000, it owned property worth $225,000, and its annual income was $12,600. "The college," according to Mr. Dawson, has found many generous benefactors. Among them are Mrs. Redpath, who endowed one of the chairs with $20,000, and the late Mr. Edward Mackay, who gave $40,000 to the endowment in his lifetime. The sum of $10,000 was bequeathed by Mr. Joseph Mackay for the same purpose."

It is impossible to estimate the amount of good, not merely in the education of young men, but in the cause of patriotism of the purest sort, that year after year is accomplished by, the single agency begun by the thoughtful bequest of James McGill. Such institutions stand for much more in a community than merely advanced schools or degree-conferring establishments. They foster a national spirit much more potent and far-reaching than a standing army and they develop a sentiment of pride in the present progress toward nationality and hope for its perfect realization in the near future. Without such institutions as McGill University, Toronto University, Knox College, and the other institutions of higher education with which Canada is so plentifully supplied, it would still be in the colonial stage. With them it is a nation in all but in name, and that name will undoubtedly be willingly given to it as soon as its races become a little more blended together, if the sentiment of the nation does not induce it to remain, as now, an integral and honored factor in the British Empire. No one who knows Canada believes it will ever consent to be obliterated by annexation.

While we are across the border and dealing with colleges founded there by Scotch benefactors, it may not be out of place to mention a few representatives of the thousands of teachers which Scotland has given to the Dominion. There is not a college or university in Canada where at least one "son of the heather" is not to be found in some capacity, and the entire educational system of the country, from primary school to university, is more indebted to the Scottish section of the community than to any other. It is the Scotch element, in fact, that has made education become the prime factor in Canadian public life, so important an office in the general and provincial Governments, it is to-day.

Daniel Wilkie was born near Hamilton in 1777. He was the youngest of twelve children and was left an orphan in early life. His education was undertaken at the expense of his elder brothers, who designed him for the ministry, and with this object in view he went to Glasgow University, after passing through the grammar school of Hamilton. In 1797 he entered the Divinity Hall and won the first prize, a medal for an essay on the Socinian controversy—a controversy that then and for more than half a century afterward seriously troubled the Kirk and which still bobs up now and again. In 1807 Wilkie crossed over to Canada, and in the same year was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Montreal. He was sound and orthodox in his pulpit ministrations and might have passed his life in the work of the ministry, or he might have confined himself to literature, for as editor during three years of a Quebec newspaper he won many high encomiums for his work. But teaching was his real mission, his hobby. For over forty years he was engaged in teaching in Quebec, and in that respect was one of the most successful in Canada. Hundreds of pupils passed through his hands each year, and toward the close of his career he could point to his "old boys" occupying positions of distinction or prominence in every walk of life throughout Canada. Probably the happiest day of his life was that on which the High School of Quebec was opened, and thus was realized a dream he had long cherished. This was in 1843, and as rector he hoped to enter upon a new and extended lease of usefulness, but ill-health compelled his retirement within a year and the remainder of his days were spent in privacy, sometimes in gloom, for toward the end his mind gave way. As the night was falling lie forgot everything save the words of Divine truth. When he had forgotten all about the classics he could still read and quote Scripture, and as the end drew nearer every feature of his once varied and aggressive character seemed to disappear excepting that of love. Dr. Wilkie was buried in Mount Hermon Cemetery, Quebec, and his grave was marked by a handsome monument erected by a number of his old pupils.

The funeral discourse that was delivered over the body of the dead teacher was one of the most beautiful of its kind ever heard in Canada. Its speaker was the Rev. Dr. John Cook of Quebec, himself a teacher of note, as well as one of the most influential divines of his time in Canada. He was a native of Dumfries-shire, and had studied at Edinburgh under the great Dr. Chalmers, settling in Canada in 1836. In the divisions which entered the Church in Canada consequent upon the Disruption in Scotland, Dr. Cook took a prominent part, not only counselling adherence on the part of the Canadian Presbyterians to the old Church, but after the schism did take place striving hard to effect a reunion. In the foundation of Queens College, Kingston, he took a deep interest. He was one of the delegation that went to Great Britain to obtain its charter, and afterward became one of its trustees. Urged in 1857 to act as Principal of the college, he agreed to fill the office until the faculty could secure the services of some one else, and he continued as Principal for two years, during which time he taught the divinity class. Then he was succeeded by the Rev. William Leitch, a native of Rothesay, and who was minister of Monimail when he was summoned to Kingston, (where he died in 1864.) If was through Dr. Cook's influence that the Quebec High School was founded in 1843. For years he was the backbone of the institution, and to him more than to any one else was it indebted for triumphing over, its many early difficulties and developing into one of the foremost institutions of its class in Canada. In connection with Morrin College, Dr. Cook's name was also conspicuous.

Another name which stands out prominently in the history of education in Canada is that of the Rev. Dr. Michael Willis, Principal of Knox College. He was born in Greenock, where his father (afterward of Stirling) was for many years a minister. For twenty-five years after leaving college Dr. Willis held pastoral charges in Scotland, in the old Secession Church, and threw in his lot with the Free Church when that denomination sprang into existence. It was by a vote of the Colonial Board of that Church that he was selected to the Chair of Divinity in Knox College, and though the change was stoutly opposed by his congregation in Renfield Street, Glasgow, he felt that duty and conscience called him "over the sea." His long connection with Knox College, as teacher and Principal, was a very valuable one to the Church in Canada, and he not only aided greatly in giving to the students the thorough teaching which made a Knox College graduate so acceptable to the ranks of the ministry, but he infused into every one of his pupils a catholicity of taste and a non-sectarian spirit which led them to place the simple truths of Christ's teaching above all creeds or denominational barriers. He was a determined opponent of any union between Church and State and spoke and wrote against it on all occasions, but so honest were his utterances and so lovable was his character, that his outspokenness raised him no enemies even among those who were as zealous in the opposite direction.

Treating of Knox College recalls a flood of Scotch professors, among whom we will mention only one, Dr. Robert Burns, who from 1856 till 1864 occupied its Chair of Church History and Apologetics. Dr. Burns was born at Bo'ness in 1798 and for some thirty years preached in Paisley, from the same pulpit that had once been occupied by Dr. Witherspoon. At the Disruption he "came out " and, crossing to Canada, became minister of Knox Church, Toronto. and remained there until he entered the faculty of the college. He was a man of great learning and culture and an amiable and thoroughgoing preacher. Outside of the ministry he took a special interest in poor-law matters, and wrote much on that and other subjects. Dr. Burns will, however, be best remembered by his carefully edited edition of '`Woodrow's History of the Sufferings."

Many other names crowd upon us, such as that of Vice Principal Leach of McGill College, Montreal, a native of Berwick on Tweed; Dr. Inglis of Charlottetown, a native of Montrose; Principal McVicar of McGill College, and his brother, Prof. Malcolm McVicar of Toronto. But we must cross the St. Lawrence again, or the rush of Canadian teachers demanding notice would swamp this chapter.

One of the most industrious and painstaking of scientific students of whom we have record was Granville Sharp Pattison, who was for many years teacher of anatomy in the University of the City of New York and was engaged in that capacity at the time of his death, in 1851. He was born near Glasgow in 1791, and was for a time lecturer on anatomy in the Andersonian College, in that city. After settling in America he became Professor of Anatomy in the Medical College at Baltimore. After many years' residence in the Monumental City he enjoyed a short vacation in Europe, and then took the Chair of Anatomy in Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia. He was recognized there as one of the ablest men in his profession, a particularly painstaking demonstrator, and won the confidence and respect of the students who attended his lectures. His contributions to medical literature in the shape of pamphlets and papers in transactions were highly praised in their time, but they have long since served their day and generation and been relegated to the honorable condition of scientific curiosities like most medical works after a very brief season of popularity or usefulness.

In the annals of education in the United States no name stands out more boldly not only for his knowledge of the science of pedagogy, but for the manner in which he advocated its highest interests and directed public opinion in its advancement than that of William Russell, who, besides understanding the theory of teaching, was himself a practical and successful instructor. Born in Glasgow in 1798, he settled in Savannah, Ga., in 1819 and took charge of Chatham Academy there. After a few years' experience in Savannah, he removed to New Haven, and taught in the new Township Academy and the Hopkins Grammar School, the latter one of the schools founded by Edward Hopkins, an English trader, who died at London in 1657, and whose gifts to the cause of education in America have done more to keep his memory alive than the important position he held in New England for many years.

All this time, while teaching, Mr. Russell had been studying the entire science of pedagogy, and the fruits of this were seen in the masterly manner in which for some four years, 1826-29, he conducted the "American Journal of Education." Removing in 1830 to Philadelphia he took charge of a ladies' seminary. In 1838 he returned to New England and devoted himself to the teaching of elocution in Boston and Andover, lecturing at frequent intervals to teachers through New England and in New York. In 1849 he organized a teachers' institute in New Haven and removed its headquarters to Lancaster, Mass., where he remained until his death, in 1873. For the last ten years of his life he lectured frequently before teachers' institutes throughout Massachusetts and was recognized as one of the leading and most successful instructors of the day in his own specialty, that of elocution. He was the author of many popular and highly practical schoolbooks, including "The Grammar of Composition," "American Elocutionist," and a dozen others.

One of the best-known educators in New York for many years was Charles Murray Nairne, who from 1857 to 1881 was Professor of -Moral Philosophy in Columbia College. He was born at Perth in i8o8, graduated from St. Andrews in 1832, and afterward extended his studies at Edinburgh University. For a short time he was associated at Glasgow with Dr. Chalmers, but in 1847 he left Scotland, and soon after reaching the United States found a position as teacher at College Hill, Poughkeepsie. Then he opened a private school in New York City, and continued to conduct it with every success that can attend a teacher until he became connected with Columbia. He retired into private life with the dignity and title of an emeritus professor of Columbia in. 1881 and died a year later at Warrenton, Va.

Another noted New York teacher was David Burnet Scott, who (lied in 1894. "He had been connected," said one of the newspapers which recorded his death, "with the public school system of New York City from its beginning, and as a teacher, a successful schoolbook writer, and a public speaker prominently identified with the great political movements of his day, he was a well-known and highly respected man." Prof. Scott was born at Edinburgh in 1822 and educated at the High School with the view of being sent to St. Andrews University. Circumstances, however, compelled his father to emigrate, and the family settled near Hartford, Conn., where young Scott worked for a time with his father as a tailor. He kept up his studies, however, while working "on the board," and in time obtained a position as instructor of classics in Hartford High School. In 1845 he settled in New York, and for many years was connected, as teacher and Principal, with the public schools. In 1870 he became Principal of the introductory department of the College of the City of New York and afterward was transferred to the Chair of English Literature, which he filled till his death. He was the author of three school histories of the United States and other works which enjoyed a wide circulation and were, and still are, eminently useful.

Prominent as he was in connection with his duties as a teacher, Prof. Scott became more widely and popularly known by the force he exerted in public affairs, by the boldness and originality of his views on social economy and by the brilliant manner in which he gave expression to them. He was an ardent and uncompromising Abolitionist and aided in the formation of the Republican Party. Afterward, when he thought that party had fulfilled its mission, he desired to see another movement come into operation, and lie found what he wanted in the single-tax theories of Henry George. In 1886 he threw himself heartily into Mr. George's candidature for the Mayoralty of New York. This movement started in a very half-hearted manner, speedily assumed great proportions, and ended in a magnificent run on the part of Mr. George. That gentleman was defeated, but his large vote surprised even his friends and demonstrated that there was a very large body of citizens who cared little for either of the two predominating parties. To this end, Prof. Scott signally contributed by his voice, his pen, and his example, and thereby earned the thanks of all interested in improving the system of municipal government not only in New York, but throughout the United States.

A friend recently sent us the following cutting from an American paper, which is interesting at least for the many brilliant names it contains, apart from the record it gives us of a Scot who devoted the best years of his life to the cause of education in America:

"The Rev. Dr. R. A. Paterson, late President of Binghamton College and founder of the first women's training college in America, has returned (1894) to Edinburgh, Scotland, his native city, to resume the pastorate after forty years' absence in this country. He and Baron Playfair, Prof. P. G. Tait, the first scientist in Edinburgh, and the late Prof. James Clark Maxwell, the foremost scientist and Professor of Experimental Physics in Cambridge, were all boys in Edinburgh together in the forties, and Paterson, Tait, and Maxwell were university classmates under James Forbes, Christopher North, and Sir William Hamilton. Dr. Paterson came to this country in 1852, to be the tutor of the Hon. Charles Ellis and the Hon. Edward Ellis, now proprietors of the Schenectady Locomotive Works."

We have reserved, as a fitting name to close this chapter, the name of William Wood, not only because of his grand services to education, but because his services were in reality typical of the devotion to that cause of thousands of Scotsmen who have no connection with teaching as a profession and devote themselves to promoting it because its advancement is one of the intuitive duties of their race, and because by spreading broadcast the blessings of education they are thereby advancing the best interests of their adopted country. Thousands of Scotsmen in America have served upon boards of education or as regents or trustees of universities or colleges, and thereby performed one of the highest services which patriotism can inspire.

Pre-eminent among such public benefactors must linger the memory of William Wood. He was born in Glasgow in 1808 and belonged to that Dennistoun family which has given its name to one of the sections of the Western Metropolis of Scotland. He was educated at the Universities of Glasgow and St. Andrews, and at the latter place had for one of his teachers Dr. Thomas Chalmers, a fact of which he was very proud and never tired of recalling in his public addresses.

Throughout his long life he remained a diligent student. President Hunter, of the New York Normal College, said of him: "In 1870 he got out of the Board of Education to study up on his Greek because he felt he was a little rusty. his memory for poetry was marvelous, and I have heard him repeat verses by the hour. His favorites were Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Southey."

Mr. Wood came to America in 1828 and begun his commercial career. After several years' American experience he returned to Scotland, remaining there till 1844, when he once more settled in New York as a partner in the firm of Dennistoun, Wood & Co. This partnership continued till 1868, when Mr. Wood retired from business. The first year Mr. Wood saw New York he joined the St. Andrew's Society, believing that to be a duty, and he served it in many capacities—two years as President—and for some time prior to his death was its oldest member. He was a regular attendant at the St. Andrew's Day celebrations, and very frequently responded to toasts, the last occasion being in 1893, some ten months before his death, when, visibly failing, he made a reminiscent speech in response to "The day and a' wha honor it." He spoke of the many similar meetings he had attended, and then, as if conscious that that was to be the last, lie closed by quoting Tennyson's famous "Crossing the Bar":

Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me,
And may there be no moaning of the bar
When I put out to sea.

* * * * *

For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crost the bar."

With these words the old man left the banqueting room and virtually closed his public appearances. These had been many, for Mr. Wood was a magnificent speaker, and a popular man, and when in the hey-day of his strength his services were often in demand at gatherings of all sorts. Possibly the most noted of these occasions was in Central Park, at the unveiling of the Scott statue, on Aug. 15, 1871, when lie delivered an oration which was regarded as the best example of Scotch eloquence ever heard in America. His public career may be said to have commenced in 1869, then he was appointed a Commissioner of Public Instruction. He continued for the rest of his life to have a potent influence on the education board in the city, even in the intervals when lie was not connected with it as its President or as a member. He also served for a time as one of the Dock Commissioners of the city. In 1888 he retired from official life, and was publicly thanked for his services to New York by the then Mayor, A. S. Hewitt. From that time until his death, in 1894, Mr. Wood spent his days in pleasant retirement, taking a keen interest in passing affairs, holding fast to old friends, but seldom going beyond the limits of his own immediate circle.


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