slept in our different apartments, and mine had a door of communication with his, so he could not stir without my hearing. He awoke about two o'clock and lighted a wax bougie at his lamp, one of which stood on a dumb waiter, at his bed-side, with his medicines and cordials. He lighted it to take the ethereal spirit; but forgetting to blow it out, it unluckily took fire in the bunch; the smell of which awoke him perhaps in some alarm. He then called to me, who was just in my first sleep, and springing up eagerly in the dark, I stumbled, and struck my head against the door; the blow for a few minutes stunned me and made me reel in coming up to him. I affected to be well that he might not be alarmed. I called to you, my love, lest the smell of fire which the bougie occasioned, might have frightened you. You have paid dear for coming to me by this blow.' Saying so he got up, and calling the women with a firm voice three or four times, they and my niece were all at once with us. I was praying him to return to bed, but he refused until he should get me, from their hands, some sal volatile. He then said, Are you better?" I answered 'O well, well.'-' God be praised,' said he, raising his hands, and with the words in his mouth he fell in our arms without a groan, a sigh, or so much as the rattle in the throat. The spirit was instantly fled and for ever, to the God that gave it. He was taken from my arms, who will ever live in my heart, and I saw him no more." 6 Dr Fordyce's first literary attempt was made as editor of the posthumous work of his brother, Mr David Fordyce, published in 1752, entitled the "Art of Preaching." But he is best known to the world by the ingenious and elegant sermons which he addressed to young women; and his addresses to young men. He was author, however, of several other publications,' and was remarkable for the energy and usefulness of his pulpit instructions. His private character was amiable, his manners those of a gentleman and Christian. He blended great cheerfulness with sincere and ardent piety. He possessed a cultivated understanding, a warm heart, and great liberality of sentiment. He was a steady friend of civil and religious toleration-not from indifference but from a true spirit of Christian philanthropy. FORDYCE, SIR WILLIAM, F.R.S., a distinguished physician, was a younger brother of David and James Fordyce, whose lives have already been recorded, and was born in the year 1724. Like his brethren, he was educated at the 1 The following is a list of Dr Fordyce's works. 1. "The eloquence of the Pulpit, an ordination sermon, to which is added a charge," 12mo, 1752. 2. "An essay on the action proper for the pulpit," 12mo. Both these are published at the end of "Theodorus, a Dialogue concerning the art of preaching, by David Fordyce," 3d edition, 12mo, 1755. 3. "The method of edification by public instruction," an ordination sermon, to which is added a charge, 12mo, 1754. These were delivered at the ordination of Mr John Gibson, minister of St Ninians, May 9th, 1754. 4. "The Temple of Virtue," a dream, 12mo, 1747. 2d edition, much altered, 1755. 5. "The folly, infamy, and misery of unlawful pleasures," a sermon preached before the general assembly of the church of Scotland, 25th May, 1760-8vo, 1760. 6." A Sermon occasioned by the death of the Rev. Dr Samuel Lawrence, who departed this life 1st October, 1760, with an address at his interment," Svo, 1760. 7. "Sermons to young women," 2 vols. 12mo, 1766. 8. "The character and conduct of the female sex, and the advantages to be derived by young men from the society of virtuous young women;" a discourse in three parts, deliv ered in Monkwell Street chapel, 1st January, 1776, 8vo, 1776. 9. "Addresses to young men," 2 vols. 12mo, 1777. 10. "The delusive and persecuting spirit of popery;" a sermon preached in the Monkwell Street chapel on the 10th of February, being the day appointed for the general fast, 8vo, 1779. 11. "Charge delivered in Monkwell Street chapel, at the ordination of the Rev. James Lindsay," 8vo, 1783. Printed with the sermon delivered by Dr Hunter on that occasion. 12. Addresses to the Deity," 12mo. 13. Poems 12mo, 1786. 378 JOHN FORDUN, OR DE FORDUN. Marischal college, of which he died lord rector. At the age of eighteen, he finished his academic studies, in which he had distinguished himself, parti cularly by his proficiency in Greek and mathematics, the most solid as well as the most ornamental parts of academic knowledge. Having studied physic and surgery under a native practitioner, he joined the army as a volunteer, and afterwards served as surgeon to the brigade of guards on the coast of France, and in all the military transactions which took place in Germany. The warm support of his military friends co-operated with his own merit in early recommending him to distinguished practice in London. His publications, particularly his treatise on fevers and ulcerated sore throat, greatly extended his fame; and he was sent for to greater distances, and received larger fees, than almost any physician of his time. The wealth which he thus acquired he liberally expended in benevolent actions, and was thus the means of doing much good, as well as some harm. Having patronized his brother Alexander, who was a banker in London, he enabled that individual to enter upon an unusually extensive series of transactions, which, though sound in themselves, exposed him to a malevolent combination of his brethren in trade, and hence the great bankruptcy of Fordyce and Co., which may be termed one of the most important domestic events in Britain during the latter part of the eighteenth century. Besides the losses which Sir William Fordyce thus incurred, he soon after became engaged for ten thousand pounds more, which was lost by his brother in the project of a manufacture which totally failed; and had it not been for the generosity of the Messrs Drummond, bankers, who advanced him the necessary sum, he must have submitted to a loss of personal liberty. Notwithstanding these severe shocks to his fortune, Sir William continued to maintain two poor families, whom he had taken under his patronage, and who had no other resource. It is also to be mentioned, to the honour of this excellent man, that, besides his own losses by Alexander, he repaid those incurred by his brother James, amounting to several thousand pounds. The benevolence of Sir William Fordyce was a kind of enthusiasm. When he heard of a friend being ill, he would run to give him his advice, and take no fee for his trouble. His house was open to all kinds of meritorious persons in distressed circumstances, and he hardly ever wanted company of this kind. He was also indefatigable in his good offices towards young Scotsmen who had come to London in search of employment. His address had much of the courtly suavity of a past age, and his conversation, while unassuming, was replete with elegant anecdote and solid information. His eye beamed gentleness and humanity, ennobled by penetration and spirit. Although originally of a delicate constitution, by temperance and exercise he preserved his health for many years, but suffered at last a long and severe illness, which ended in his death, December 4, 1792. Sir William, who had been knighted about 1787, wrote a treatise on the Venereal Disease, another, as already mentioned, on Fevers, and a third on Ulcerated Sore Throat; besides which, he published, immediately before his death, a pamphlet on the "Great Importance and Proper Method of Cultivating Rhubarb in Britain for medicinal uses.” FORDUN, or DE FORDUN, JOHN, the celebrated author of the "Scotichronicon," was probably born about the middle of the fourteenth century, and at the village of Fordun, in Kincardineshire, from which he seems to have taken his name. Walter Bower, the continuator of his history, speaks of him as a simple man, who never graduated in the schools It would appear, however, that he possess ed sufficient learning to fit him for the profession of a priest, and the composi tion of a Latin history, as these two various kinds of labour were then practised. He was a priest of the diocese of St Andrews, and a canon of the church of Aberdeen, where he is said to have resided at the time when he composed his his tory. This great composition was in progress, as he himself informs us, in the reign of Richard II. of England, which extended between the years 1387, and 1399; and this, vague as it is, is one of the few dates that can be supplied respecting the life of the chronicler. The work produced by Fordun, though de formed by the superstitious and incorrect ideas of the age, is nevertheless a respectable production, fully qualified to bear comparison with the works of the contemporary English historians. The merit of the author is increased in no mean degree by the motive which prompted him to undertake the composition— a desire of supplying the want of those historical monuments which Edward I. carried away to England. To quote the quaint words of a monkish writer1 : "After the loss of these chronicles, a venerable Scottish priest, by name John Fordun, arose, and feeling his heart titillated and effervescent with patriotic zeal, he applied his hand boldly to the work; nor did he desist from the undertaking, until, by the most laborious study and perseverance, traversing England and the adjacent provinces of his own country, he had recovered so much of the lost materials as enabled him to compose five volumes of the delectable gests of the Scots, which he drew up in a sufficiently chronicle-like style, as they are to be found in the great volume entitled, the Scotichronicon.' In this undertaking, it is impossible to refrain from bestowing great praise upon the industry of the author. For, adverting to the fact, that to commit all the records of past ages to the memory, is the attribute of God rather than man; he, upon this consideration travelled on foot, like an unwearied and investigating bee, through the flowery meadows of Britain, and into the oracular recesses of Ireland; taking his way through provinces and towns, through universities and colleges, through churches and monasteries, entering into conversation, and not unfrequently sharing at bed and board with historians and chronologists; turning over their books, debating and disputing with them, and pricking down, or intitulating in his descriptive tablets all that most pleased him; in this manner, and by pursuing indefatigable investigation, he became possessed of the knowledge which was before unknown to him, and collecting it with studious care in the revolving sinuosities of his parchment code, like rich honeycombs in an historical hive, he, as I have already premised, divided them into five books of elegant composition, which brought down the history to the death of the sainted king David.” 6 The result of Fordun's labours is, that we possess an account of several ages of Scottish history, which otherwise would have been in a great measure blank. The two first of the five books into which he divides his work, may be laid aside, as relating only to the fabulous part of the history; the last refers to the period between 1055, and 1153, and is a valuable piece of history. Posterior to the year last mentioned, Fordun has only written detached notes, which, however, are themselves of no small value for the facts which they contain. When the venerable canon found himself too infirm to continue his labours, he committed the materials which he had collected to Walter Bower, who, as noticed elsewhere, became abbot of Inchcolm in 1418, and by whom the work was brought down to the year 1436. The Scotichronicon was afterwards copied in various monasteries, and has accordingly been handed down in several shapes, each slightly different from the other, under the titles of the Book of Scone, the Book of Paisley, and other denominations. Finally, the earlier part formed a substructure for the amplified work of Hector Boece, and the elegant one of Buchanan. The work itself has been twice printed, first at Oxford, by Hearne, in five vols. 8vo. and afterwards at Edinburgh in one volume folio, with a preface by Goodal; but a translation is still a desideratum in Scottish historical literature. 1 As translated by Mr P. F. Tytler, in his "Lives of Scottish Worthies," article Fordun. |