University, after receiving all the money that his father judged necessary, Thomas generally followed him to some short distance, under pretence of taking leave, and thus found an opportunity of putting into his hands an additional sum, in order that his mind might be easy in regard to his future means. In adverting to this matter afterwards, in the presence of some of the near relations of the family, he added, that his brother never kept any account of the money thus advanced, considering it to fall under that Scripture rule"Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth.” Through the blessing of God on his patient industry and frugal habits, Thomas Waugh was enabled to purchase a farm of considerable value on the banks of the Tweed, where, in the bosom of his family, he died, 8th August, 1820, in the full assurance of faith that he should have boldness to enter into the holiest of all, by the blood of Jesus. Alexander, who was the youngest of the family, was devoted by his parents, whilst yet a child, to the Christian ministry. With many of the small farmers it was customary, besides educating all their children at the parochial school, to bring up one of their sons to a learned profession. To this honourable parental ambition we are indebted for many of the professors in our different universities, many of our most eminent physicians, and by far the greater part of the clergy, both in and out of the establishment, who flourished in this part of the island during the preceding century. The subject of this memoir continued at the school of his native parish till nearly twelve years of age, occupied in the ordinary exercises of reading, writing, and arithmetic. It deserves to be mentioned, that at every Scottish parochial school a portion of the Bible was then daily read by all the scholars, who were also required to commit accurately to memory the Assembly's Shorter Catechism, often with the quotations from Scripture, or proofs, as they were called, attached to each. question. In this most perspicuous and comprehensive summary of divine truth it was imperative on the master regularly to examine all the children every Saturday. Through the watchful and parental superintendence of the presbyteries of the established church, these beneficial regulations are still enforced in most of the parochial schools, each of which is regularly examined by a committee of presbytery every year. As a preparatory step for the University, Alexander Waugh was removed from Gordon school, at the commencement of 1766, and sent to Earlstoun, a neighbouring parish, the schoolmaster of which had obtained high celebrity as a teacher of Latin and Greek. His parents, for their station of life, were in what might be called easy circumstances; and they expended with cheerful liberality a very considerable sum during the subsequent thirteen years, in giving him a more finished education than most young men intended for the ministry were then accustomed to receive. The village of Earlstoun, where Alexander Waugh prosecuted his education during the greater part of the succeeding five years (the important five years from twelve to seventeen), lies in the very centre of that romantic region so long and justly celebrated as the Arcadia of Scotland. The hill of Cowdenknowes, famed in many a Doric lay, overhangs the village on one side, whilst on another the ruins of the Rhymer's Tower, associated with so much that is interesting both in history and romance, are still to be seen on the “pastoral haughs of Leader." At a short distance, the Tweed, after receiving the subsidiary streams of Ettrick and Galawater, pursues its stately course through a rich and beautiful country, diversified by the picturesque hills of Eildon, and embellished by the monastic ruins of Melrose and Dryburgh. These, and a hundred other scenes of old renown, to be viewed from the Black Hill of Earlstoun or the neighbouring heights, could not fail to make a vivid impression on the heart and fancy of such a youth as Alexander Waugh ; and doubtless contributed, in no ordinary degree, to foster the national enthusiasm which formed so remarkable a trait in his character, as well as to awaken the slumbering powers of that rich poetical imagination which in after-life so often astonished and delighted his auditors, both in his pulpit discourses, and on more familiar occasions. The pleasing account which he has himself left, in his papers, of the scenes of Earlstoun school, will call to the recollection of many of our readers "the incense-breathing morn" of youth, when "The sooty blackbird Mellowed his pipe and softened every note, Of dress." "January 1, 1766, entered the grammar-school of Earlstoun, in the county of Berwick: John Mill, master. The providence of God directed my worthy father to send me thither, by the good character which the schoolmaster bore, and by its nearness to Gordon. Though the progress we made in the Latin language was slower than what is usually made in the grammar-schools of large towns or cities, yet the simple and innocent manners of the place, the regard to the duties of religion, which was universal, and the wild and pleasing scenery of that part of the country, brought advantages to my heart which in many other places were not to be expected. I cannot recollect the manners of that happy village, and the innocent pursuits of former days, especially when I compare them with the far, far other manners which prevail in London, without sighing and longing for the past. Goldsmith has, in his Deserted Village, touched those days with so happy a pencil, that it needs little more but to change the names, to make his poem a description of Earlstoun, with this difference, that it is not yet, and I trust never will be, a 'deserted village.' But Goldsmith's minister, schoolmaster, and publican, were the minister, schoolmaster, and publican of Earlstoun, when I first knew it. "The people of Scotland reap important advantages from the establishment of parochial schools in all parts of the nation. This, depending not on the precarious charity of the of the times, but on the authority of Parliament, will continue to be a source of knowledge and instruction for youth, I trust, to late ages. By the care that is taken to make them at school acquainted with the doctrines of the Assembly's Catechism, they are prepared for taking a respectable part in the annual parochial examination, and fitted for understanding the public instructions which, on every Lord's day are given to the people. The cheapness of education also brings it within the reach of the poorest labourer. One shilling a quarter for reading; one shilling and sixpence for reading, writing, and accounts; and half-a-crown for Latin and Greek, were the stated wages. The care which the worthy master took of us, his joy at our proficiency, and his uneasiness at our sloth, were truly parental. I shall reverence his memory while I live.* *This system owes its existence to the Scottish Reformers. The First Book of Discipline, published in 1560, by Knox and his companions, contains the first suggestion: "Seeing that men now-a-days are not miraculously gifted, as in the times of the apostles, for the continuance of knowledge and learning to the generations following, especially for the profit and comfort of Christ's kirk, it is necessary that care be had of the virtuous and godly education of youth. We judge, therefore, that in every parish there should be a schoolmaster; such an one as is able at least to teach the grammar and the Latin tongue, where the town is of any reputation." This suggestion, aided by frequent resolutions, to the same effect, of the General Assemby of the Kirk, sufficed for a beginning; but the scheme did not take sufficient root till 1616, when it was enforced, with some necessary details, by an order of the Scottish council. The order needed a legislative sanction; and this it obtained, in 1633, in a parliament held during one of Charles the First's visits to Scotland, which added some provisions for the support of the schools and the teachers. By these means the wants of the more populous districts were supplied; and, during the fervour of "the covenanted work of reformation" which soon followed, these schools concurred with the zealous labours of the presbyters in spreading among high and low a very fair degree of common knowledge suited to their different ranks, and a degree of religious knowledge which would put the attainments of the present generation, in that respect, to the blush. The gravity of character, the intense regard to duty, the stern zeal of the Scottish people of that age, were primarily owing to religious sentiment; but their susceptibility to this sentiment was owing to the "On one or other of the days of January in 1767 or 1768, it pleased God to visit me with the small-pox. Inoculation was then unknown in that part of the country. My dear father, on being sent for, came himself, and brought me to East Gordon behind him on horseback, in the midst of the snow, which lay a foot deep on the ground. To this circumstance it was probably owing that I had so small a number of pustules,―little more than fifty: they were also of a good kind. I soon recovered, and returned back to school. To thee, the God of my life, and the length of my days, I ascribe praise and glory for my preservation. O that the life saved in thy mercy were ever employed in thy service! early and general culture of their minds. The consequences to the civil and religious liberties of Scotland, where the first heave was felt, and, through sympathy and connexion, to England and to Europe, it would be difficult to over-estimate. The atrocious endeavours of Charles the Second to extirpate presbytery had trodden down the system of education so closely connected with it. Where any schools were left, teachers had intruded who were ignorant and worthless; and after the revolution, it was found necessary, by a Scottish act, passed in 1693 ("for settling the quiet and peace of the church"), to ordain that every parochial teacher should be liable to the Trial-judgment and censure of the presbyteries of the bounds for their sufficiency, qualifications, and deportment in their office; and by an act passed in 1696, the whole system was re-established and remodelled. It required a teacher to be provided in every parish, who was to be appointed by the minister and heritors (landholders) of the parish, with a fixed salary of not less than 100 merks (57. 11s. ld. stg.), nor exceeding 200 merks (117. 2s. 2d.) annually, to be paid by the heritors in proportion to their valued rents, in the same manner as the tiends or stipends of the ministers. The teacher was, besides, to have a house and a garden, and was permitted to exact moderate fees (subject to the control of the minister and heritors) from the scholars. Under this enactment, the parish schools of Scotland flourished for a century. The scholars were taught reading, writing, and arithmetic, and, if they chose, book-keeping, mathematics, Latin, and Greek. The school was opened and closed with prayer. The books principally used for reading were the Bible and catechisms. Each scholar, as soon as he was able, was required, every morning, to repeat a part of the Shorter Catechism, with or without Scripture proofs; and the Saturday |