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MACDONALD,
LIEUTENANT-COLONEL JOHN, F.R S., F.A.S.—This scientific soldier and
voluminous writer possessed, by the mere accident of birth, a distinction
which his productions in authorship, excellent though they were, would
have failed to acquire; for he was the son of Flora Macdonald, that
heroine whose name is so intimately connected with the romantic history of
"the young Chevalier." All know the dangers she underwent, and the address
she exhibited, in procuring his escape from his pursuers in 1746, and the
enthusiasm which her romantic fidelity excited among the Jacobites of the
day, after her exertions had been successful. She was the daughter of Mr.
Macdonald, a tacksman or gentleman farmer of Melton, in South Uist; and in
1746, the period of her adventurous career, she was about twenty-four
years old. After her return from London, whither she was summoned to
answer for her political offence in effecting the escape of such an enemy,
she married; but notwithstanding the rich gifts with which her
generous conduct had been rewarded by the adherents of the Stuart cause in
the great metropolis, she and her husband had become so poor at the time
of Dr. Johnson’s visit to her in 1773, that they had resolved to emigrate
to America. This they afterwards did; but either having not succeeded to
their wish, or finding the love of country too strong for voluntary exile,
they returned to Skye, where Flora died, on the 4th of March, 1790,
leaving behind her a son, John, the subject of the present memoir, and a
daughter, married to a Mr. Macleod, a distant relation to the chief of
that name. "It is remarkable," writes Sir Walter Scott, "that this
distinguished lady signed her name Flory, instead of the more classical
orthography. Her marriage contract, which is in my possession, bears the
name spelled Flory."
At an early period John
Macdonald went to India, and on his way thither had occasion to reside for
a short time in London. This was at a period when the alarm of the
Jacobite war of 1715 and 1745 had ceased to be remembered, and when the
Celtic dress had not as yet become familiar to the English eye. At this
transition period, the Highland costume of our young Scottish adventurer
appears to have excited as much astonishment, and also displeasure, as the
kaross of the Caffre, or the sheep-skin of the Tartar would have done, had
they been paraded upon the pavement of Cheapside. Writing of this event in
the "Gentleman’s Magazine," in 1828, he says, "I well recollect my arrival
in London, about half a century ago, on my way to India, and the
disapprobation expressed in the streets of my tartan dress; but now I see
with satisfaction the variegated Highland manufacture prevalent, as a
favourite and tasteful costume, from the humble cottage to the superb
castle. To Sir Walter Scott’s elegant and fascinating writings we are to
ascribe this wonderful revolution in public sentiment."
As it was to the scientific
departments of the military profession that Macdonald devoted his labours,
his career to the close was that of a studious observer and philosophic
writer, rather than a stirring, adventurous soldier. He passed many years
in the service of the East India Company, and attained the rank of Captain
of Engineers on the Bengal establishment. While thus employed, the
important subject of the diurnal variation of the magnetic needle occupied
much of his attention, and on this he made a series of observations in
1794 and the two following years, at Bencoolen, Sumatra, and St. Helena,
which he communicated in 1798 to the Royal Society, who published them in
their Transactions, and elected him a Fellow in 1800. About the
last-mentioned period he also returned to Britain, and was appointed
lieutenant-colonel of the Royal Clan-Alpine Regiment, and commandant of
the Royal Edinburgh Artillery.
After his arrival, the life
of Colonel Macdonald was one of diligent useful authorship, so that his
history from this period is best comprised in the titles of his works, and
the dates of their publication. Of these we give the following list:—
In 1803 he published "Rules
and Regulations for the Field Exercise and Maneuvres of the French
Infantry, issued August 1, 1791; translated from the French, with
Explanatory Notes and Illustrative References to the British and Prussian
systems of tactics," &c., &c., in two volumes 12mo.
In 1804, when he belonged
to the 1st Battalion of Cinque Ports Volunteers, and when every kind of
military instruction was most needed for our home-bred soldiery, while in
training against the menaced invasion of the country from France, Colonel
Macdonald published another work, in one volume, entitled, "The
Experienced Officer; or, Instructions by the General of Division, Wimpffen,
to his sons, and to all young men intended for the military profession,
being a series of rules laid down by General Wimpffen, to enable officers
of every rank to carry on war in all its branches and descriptions, from
the least important enterprises and expeditions, to the decisive battles
which involve the fate of empires. With Notes and an Introduction."
In 1807, while chief
engineer at Fort Marlborough, he published "Instructions for the Conduct
of Infantry on actual Service." This was also translated from the French,
and published in two volumes, with explanatory notes.
In 1808 appeared his first
work upon a subject which had employed his attention for years. This was
"A Treatise on Telegraphic Communication, Naval, Military, and Political,"
8vo, in which he proposed a different plan from that hitherto adopted.
In 1811, Colonel Macdonald
produced a work in startling contrast to his former subjects, but which
was only one among the studies of a comprehensive philosophic mind, under
the title of "A Treatise, explanatory of the Principles constituting the
Practice and Theory of the Violoncello." This work was published in one
volume folio.
In 1812, reverting to his
military avocations, he published a translation of "The Formations and
Manoeuvres of Infantry, by the Chevalier Duteil," l2mo. This
was the last of his productions in military science, and, as may be
surmised from the date, the last that was needed—for the French science of
warfare was now well understood by our armies, as their hostile
instructors were learning to their cost. This fact, however, shows the
judiciousness of the plan which Macdonald had adopted as an expositor of
warlike science, and indicates in some measure the probable benefit with
which his own individual labours were followed.
In 1816, Colonel Macdonald
returned to the important subject of telegraph communication, by
publishing his "Telegraphic Dictionary," a laborious work, containing
150,000 words, phrases, and sentences. The estimate formed of the value of
this work was shown by the directors of the East India Company, who voted
the sum of £400 to assist in defraying the expense of publication; it was
also highly recommended by the Secretary of the Admiralty, and the
Adjutant-General of the Army.
In addition to these
separate productions, Colonel Macdonald was a contributor to the
"Gentleman’s Magazine" for several years, until the close of his life; but
the subjects of these essays are too numerous to specify. They were
chiefly connected, however, with the philosophical studies which had
occupied his attention from an early period, and were characterized by the
philanthropy that had always animated his pen in seeking to promote the
best interests of society. The same spirit was manifested in his personal
exertions; and during the last twelve or fifteen years of his life, which
were spent in Exeter, the charitable institutions of that city always
found him an active co-operator, as well as liberal contributor. He died
there on the 16th of August, 1831, aged seventy-two, and was buried in
Exeter Cathedral. |
