lished by etchings of the well-known Duke of Lauderdale and his duchess, who has much the air of what she was, a woman of gallantry, rather too old for the profession; and of Archbishop Sharp, whose countenance neither augurs ambition nor pride, but seems, on the contrary, grave and evangelical: two curious vignettes are also given, one representing an allegorical defence of the candlesticks of the church by two sturdy Whigs: the other a bas-relief on the sumptuous tomb of Sharp, exhibiting the scene of his murder. There is another curious etching from a picture of the battle of Bothwell bridge, preserved at Dalkeith House; the original, however, has not the merit of exhibiting an accurate landscape; for the houses on the right-hand bank of the Clyde, some of which, coeval with the battle, are still standing, are whimsically transferred to the left bank. The reader owes these illustrations to the editor, who is distinguished by his genius and execution as an amateur of the art.

ARTICLE VIII.

LIFE AND WORKS OF JOHN HOME.

[The Life and Works of the Author of Douglas, edited by the venerable HENRY MACKENZIE, appeared in 3 vols. Svo, in 1824; and this article in the Quarterly Review for June, 1827.]

THE memory of Mr Home, as an author, depends, in England, almost entirely upon his celebrated tragedy of Douglas, which not only retains the most indisputable possession of the stage, but produces a stronger effect on the feelings of the audience, when the parts of Douglas and Lady Randolph are well filled, than almost any tragedy since the days of Otway. There may be something of chance in having hit upon a plot of such general interest, and no author has been more fortunate in seeing the creatures of his imagination personified by the first performers which England could produce. But it is certain, that to be a favourite with those whose business it is to please the public, a tragedy must possess, in a peculiar degree, the

means of displaying their powers to advantage; and it is equally clear, that the subject of Douglas, however felicitous in itself, was well suited to the talents of the writer, who treated it so as to enable them to accomplish a powerful effect on the feelings of successive generations of men.

It must be interesting, therefore, to the public, to know the history and character of that rarest of all writers in the present age-a successful tragic author; by which, we understand, one whose piece has not only received ephemeral success, but has established itself on the stage as one of the best acting plays in the language. There is also much of interest about Home himself, as his character is drawn, and his habits described, in the essay prefixed to these volumes, by the venerable author of the Man of Feeling, who, himself very far advanced in life,1 still cherishes the love of letters, and condescends to please at once and instruct those of the present day, who are attached to such pursuits, by placing before them a lively picture of those predecessors at whose feet he was brought up.

Neither is it only to Scotland that these annals are interesting. There were men of literature in Edinburgh before she was renowned for romances, reviews, and magazines

"Vixerunt fortes ante Agamemnona ;"

and a single glance at the authors and men of

1

[Mr Mackenzie died at Edinburgh, 14th January, 1831, in his 86th year.

See ante, vol. iv. pp. 1-19.

A monument,

bearing an appropriate inscription, has since been erected to his memory in the Greyfriars' churchyard of Edinburgh.]

cess.

science who dignified the last generation, will serve to show that, in those days, there were giants in the North. The names of Hume, Robertson, Fergusson, stand high in the list of British historians. Adam Smith was the father of the economical system in Britain, and his standard work will long continue the text-book of that science. Dr Black, as a chemist, opened that path of discovery which has since been prosecuted with such splendid sucOf metaphysicians, Scotland boasted, perhaps, but too many: to Hume and Fergusson we must add Reid, and, though younger, yet of the same school, Mr Dugald Stewart. In natural philosophy, Scotland could present Professor Robison, James Watt whose inventions have led the way to the triumphs of human skill over the elements, and Clerk, of Eldin, who taught the British seaman the road to assured conquest. Others we could mention; but these form a phalanx, whose reputation was neither confined to their narrow, poor, and rugged native country, nor to England and the British dominions, but known and respected wherever learning, philosophy, and science were honoured.

It is to this distinguished circle, or, at least, to the greater part of its members, that Mr Mackenzie introduces his readers; and they must indeed be void of curiosity who do not desire to know something more of such men than can be found in their works, and especially when the communication is made by a contemporary so well entitled to ask, and so well qualified to command, attention.

We will endeavour, in the first place, to give some account of Mr Home's life and times, as we find them detailed by this excellent biographer, and afterwards more briefly advert to his character as an author.

Mr John Home was the son of Mr Alexander Home, town-clerk of Leith. His grandfather was a son of Mr Home, of Floss, a lineal descendant of Sir James Home, of Coldingknowes, ancestor of the present Earl of Home. The poet, as is natural to a man of imagination, was tenacious of being descended from a family of rank, whose representatives were formerly possessed of power scarcely inferior to that of the great Douglasses, and wellnigh as fatal both to the crown and to themselves. We have seen a copy of verses addressed by Home to Lady Kinloch, of Gilmerton, in which he contrasts his actual situation with his ancient descent. They begin nearly thus,-for it must be noticed we quote from memory:

66

Sprung from the ancient nobles of the land,

Upon the ladder's lowest round I stand :"

and the general tone and spirit are those of one who feels himself by birth and spirit placed above a situation of dependence to which for the time he was condemned. The same family pride glances out in our author's History of the Rebellion of 1745, in the following passage:

"At Dunbar the Earl of Home joined Sir John Cope. He was then an officer in the Guards, and thought it a duty to offer his service, when the king's troops were in the field. He came to Dunbar, attended by one or two servants.

There were not

wanting persons upon this occasion to make their remarks, and