Early in 1819 Dr. Parr formed the project of a tour through the northern counties of England, and the southern counties of Scotland, from which he anticipated much pleasure; and which proved to him the source of many agreeable reflections, through the remaining years of life. Thus, in arranging his plans, he writes for information to his friend, Mr. Parkes:
“Dear Sir,—If it be practicable, I shall go from
Carlisle into Scotland. Will you favour me with an account of the distances
from Carlisle to Glasgow, and from Glasgow to Edinburgh? Note, if you please,
the intermediate stage; and add the names of the second or third best inns. I
never go to hotels, or grand houses of entertainment. Be so good as to write at
your
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In the following month of July, Dr. Parr left Hatton, accompanied by the Rev. John Lines, afterwards his grandson-in-law, and his friend Thomas Sanctuary, Esq. of Wissenden, in Norfolk, and attended by his old and faithful servant, Samuel Coleman. He travelled by way of Birmingham, Manchester, Lancaster, Kendall; and arrived before the end of the month in the midst of the magnificent scenery, formed by the vast assemblage of lakes and mountains, in Westmoreland and Cumberland. Here he continued for some time, “astonished and enchanted,” as he expressed it, at almost every turn and step, by the view which nature, in this romantic region, exhibits of the grand and the awful, united with the picturesque and the beautiful.
But the powerful fascination, which all experience in viewing these wonders of creation, nowhere did he feel more, he said, than at Keswick—that “vale of Elysium,” as it is termed by his favourite poet, Gray. The sketch which the bard has given, in bold outline, though without the least attempt to add effect by shade and colouring, Dr. Parr found to be as faithfully as it is minutely drawn. But perhaps a more concise, and at the same time exact and impressive description could not easily be given than the following, from the pen of Dr. Brown:—:
“The full perfection of Keswick consists of three
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But though by no means insensible, like Dr. Johnson, to the charms of nature, whether attired in sylvan ease, or arrayed in solemn grandeur; yet social and intellectual enjoyments were those in which Dr. Parr most of all delighted; and of these his northern tour procured for him an ample share. He had the pleasure of visiting Mrs. Watson, widow of the late excellent Bishop of Landaff, on the banks of the Winander Mere, and Mr. Curwen, the member for Cumberland, at Workington Castle. He passed two delightful days at Brougham Hall, the seat of the celebrated barrister; and as many at Netherby, the elegant mansion of his former pupil, Sir James Graham: the possessor of an immense territory, which was converted by the care of his father, Dr. Graham, at a vast expense, from a barren waste into a highly cultivated and beautifully ornamented tract.
From Netherby, Dr. Parr crossed the
borders; and, taking the road through Moffat and Hamilton, arrived, early in the month of
August, at Glasgow.
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Dr. Parr was indebted for many kind attentions to Mr. Buchanan,2 at that time the member for Dumbartonshire, and brother-in-law of his old friend, Mr. Parkes; at whose, seat, Ballock Castle, beautifully situated on the banks of Loch Lomond, he passed four or five pleasant days. In grateful remembrance of the obligations which he then received, this gentleman and some of his family
1 Last Will. 2 “Scott’s Staggering State of the Scot’s Statesman for 100 Years, &c.—In the month of April, 1815, I met Mr. Buchanan at the house of his brother-in-law, John Parkes, Esq., North Gate-street, Warwick; and some how or other I was led to speak of this work, and my own unsuccessful attempts to purchase it. Mr. Buchanan, at the moment, did not seem to take notice of my words; but, on Thursday, June 1, 1815, I, to my great surprise and great joy, received from Mr. Parkes the precious volume; accompanied by a most sensible and polite letter from Mr. Buchanan. Gladly and gratefully do I acknowledge this important act of kindness. S. P.”—Bibl. Parr. p. 418. |
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The state of Glasgow university could not fail to be the object of solicitous inquiry to Dr. Parr; and the opinion he formed of it was favourable. Of Professor Young he thought so highly, as to declare that “if he had to prescribe the best possible plan of a liberal education, an attendance on the Greek lectures of that learned professor should make a part of it.” For the memory of the late Professor Reid, so eminently distinguished by his writings on the philosophy of mind, and for that of Professor Millar, scarcely less distinguished for his publications on the great subjects of law and government, Dr. Parr cherished a profound veneration. The present Professor Milne he admired, he said, “alike for his exemption from affectation and pedantry, and for his distinguished proficiency in useful and ornamental literature.”
The want of good grammar-schools, preparatory to its universities, struck
him as the great defect in the system of education in Scotland; and to engage the services
of well-qualified masters, brought up in the public schools of England, he thought would be
the best remedy for it. He held, however, in due estimation the sound learning, taught at
the High-school, Edinburgh, so far as it extends; and spoke always with great respect of
the head-master, Mr. Pillans, and of the second
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Leaving Glasgow, he made an excursion through Kilsyth to Stirling. Here, with a melancholy pleasure, he surveyed the remains of former grandeur in the castle: including within its vast precincts the parliament-house, now almost roofless, and falling fast to decay; and the palace, from a royal residence converted into military barracks. Dr. Parr and his party were well received, he said, by the governor, who resides in spacious apartments, kept in good repair. He often recollected, with much satisfaction, his interview at Stirling with the venerable Bishop Gleig, whom he describes2 as “very orthodox, but very honest, and eminently enlightened.” From Stirling, passing through Linlithgow, where he stopped to view the old palace, famous as the birth place of the unfortunate Queen of Scots, but now a ruin, he arrived
1 Rev. Charles Berry of Leicester. 2Bibl. Parr. p. 603. |
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In viewing the objects of curiosity, which the antiquities of the old and
the splendour of the new town presented, he found much to amuse and interest. But his
greatest enjoyment was derived from the company and the conversation of many of the most
distinguished persons in the city; by all of whom he was received with the kindest and most
respectful attentions. It was ever delightful to him to talk of the days of
“intense intellectual gratification” which he passed at Edinburgh;
and he seemed to entertain a higher opinion, if possible, than before, of the literary men
who so well supported in their time the honour reflected on their country, by the fame of
David Hume, Robertson, Adam Smith, John Home, Black,
Blair, and others. He often spoke with
admiration of their great intellectual powers; or, as he expressed it, “their
confounded strong heads;” and loved to expatiate on the important services
which they have rendered to science, useful learning, and elegant literature. Though
Edinburgh university is most of all renowned as a medical school, yet, as a place of
general education, he thought it entitled to high praise for “the many admirable
lectures, delivered by a succession of the ablest professors, on the greatest subjects
that can interest human curiosity, or exercise human understanding.” He once
mentioned to a friend that, in consequence of reports, much circulated in England, of the
want of care in the northern universities, to inculcate religious principles and feelings,
he had directed
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On this important subject, he had ventured, some years before, to express a favourable opinion, in the following passage in one of his published works;1 and it must have been a peculiar satisfaction to him to find it confirmed by his own observations, during his visit in Scotland:—“From the celebrity of Mr. Hume’s name, the depth of his researches, the acuteness of his reasonings, the felicity of his illustrations, the captivating beauties of his style, and the amiable qualities of his heart, a suspicion has arisen, that his opinions about religion are widely diffused among the more enlightened inhabitants of North Britain. On the contrary,” says Dr. Parr, “they distinguish between the sober advances of theologians, in the broad and beaten road of common sense, and their hasty strides in the obscure and winding by-paths of metaphysics. They separate superstition, which must enfeeble and debase the mind, from religion, which ought to invigorate and exalt it. They assign to them not only the truth of a doctrine, but the energy of a sentiment, and the comprehensiveness of a principle. They admit not only the capacity of the human understanding to infer the existence of a deity from his works, but the propensity of the human heart to view him as the governor and judge, as well as the creator of the world; to do him homage by acts of reverential and grateful adoration; to look upon his will as a
1 Spital Sermon, Notes, p. 159. |
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Among his literary friends at Edinburgh, the first mention is due to the celebrated professor of moral philosophy, “the sagacious, the enlightened, the virtuous Dugald Stewart,” as Dr. Parr designates him: “in whose writings,” as he adds, “are united the perspicuity of Dr. Reid, the acuteness of Adam Smith, and the precision of David Hume.”1 The moral and intellectual sympathies of such men must have rendered their interview delightful. Dr. Parr visited Mr. Stewart at his residence, Kinneil House,2 and saw him several times in various companies. To the merits of this eminent professor he has borne a respectful and affectionate testimony in the following clause of his Last Will:—“A friend endeared to my soul, from the simplicity of his manners, the candour of his spirit, and the purity of his principles; and who, at the same time, commands my admiration by his profound and capacious views, as a metaphysician; and by the correctness, by the perspicuity, and occasionally by the glowing and sublime eloquence which adorn his style.”3
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1 Spital Serm. Notes, p. 112. 2 “Napier’s Remarks on the Writings of Lord Bacon.—This book was given by the author to Dugald Stewart; and by Dugald Stewart it was given to me at Kinneil House, Aug. 25, 1819. S. P.”—Bibl. Parr. p. 447. 3 “Stewart’s Philos. Essays.—The gift of the author, my |
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But neither the partiality of friendship to the man, nor the admiration of excellence in the philosopher and the writer, could induce Dr. Parr to admit or approve the system of mental philosophy, which Professor Stewart, it is well known, has zealously espoused; and which he has supported with all the powers of his vigorous and cultivated mind, and adorned with all the charms of his clear, correct, and elegant composition. This system, first propounded by Dr. Reid, which places the foundation of human knowledge in certain “instinctive principles of truth;” or, as Professor Stewart rather chooses to term them, certain “fundamental laws of human belief,” depends, as it appeared to Dr. Parr, upon far too many gratuitous assumptions; and he agreed in opinion with those, who think that, by multiplying, almost without bounds, the number of original innate principles, this system throws back, instead of carrying forward, the science of mind; and perplexes and obscures the subject, which it attempts to explain.
But if he disapproved of the leading principles of the new philosophy, he disliked still more the spirit of arrogance and insult, with which it has been too often maintained against those, who have adopted theories different from, or opposed to it. He could never think or speak, without shame and grief, of such expressions as “the quibbles of Locke,”1 “the reveries of Hartley,”2 and other
inestimable friend, and the most enlightened philosopher now living. S. P.”—Bibl. Parr. p. 456. 1 Stewart’s Philos. Essays, 4to. p. 40. 2 Ibid. p. 130. |
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Dr. Parr read, with some care, though with little satisfaction, the writings of another Scotch philosopher, Dr. Gregory, jun., author of “Philosophical and Literary Essays,” one of the most zealous of all Dr. Reid’s disciples: who undertook the mighty task of demonstrating his adopted system mathematically. “Though my mind,” said Dr. Parr, “was vigorously exercised, rather than ultimately convinced, by the elaborate work of Dr. Gregory, on liberty and necessity, yet I feel for him much respect, as a very acute reasoner, and a very instructive moralist.”1 He lamented, however,—and who would not?—that this writer has exceeded all his associates in the severity of his censures, directed against the advocates of the opposing system; since he scruples not to lay on them the heavy charge of mala fides; in avowing and maintaining doctrines secretly disbelieved.
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1 Spital Serm. Notes, p. 159. |
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From his attachment to the theory, opposed to that of Reid and Stewart, Dr. Parr never failed to urge on every youthful inquirer the close and careful study of Locke, in whose work, he thought, the solid foundation of all just knowledge of the human mind is laid; and in addition to it, or, sometimes, in substitution of it, he recommended the treatise of Locke’s admirable expounder, Condillac. “I have advised a friend,” said he, on one of these occasions, “whose fastidious taste is offended by the style of Locke, to read Condillac. There,” continued he, “will be found all the principles of Locke, brought into a small compass, and presented in a clear and intelligible form.”
Of Hartley he entertained an almost enthusiastic reverence; both for the purity, piety and benevolence of his heart, and for the depth, the comprehension, the sagacity, and the eminent success of his researches.1 In such high estimation did he hold the “Observations on Man,” that, probably, he would not have dissented from the opinion of Dr. Priestley, who placed that work, for the instruction he derived from it, next in value to the Scriptures. Dr. Parr read it much; he quoted it largely in his own writings; and, about twenty years ago, he took upon himself to reprint a small Latin treatise, entitled “Conjecturæ quædam de sensu, motu, et idearum generatione.” This treatise, containing the outlines of the theory, he said,
1 “Hartley has investigated the principle of association more deeply, explained it more accurately, and applied it more usefully than even his great and venerable precursor Mr. Locke.”—Dr. Parr’s First Sermon on Education, p. 42. |
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Of the literary productions, sent forth of late years from the northern universities, one, of which Dr. Parr used to speak in terms of high, almost unmeasured praise, was “Lectures on the Philosophy of Mind, 4 vols.” by Dr. Thomas Brown, professor of moral philosophy at Edinburgh; who had previously distinguished himself by an admirable essay on “The Relation of Cause and Effect.” The latter is noted in the Bibliotheca Parriana,1 “as the gift of the excellent and most enlightened author;” and the former is characterised by the single expressive word “inestimable.” Professor Brown was by no means disposed to subscribe to the prevailing doctrines of the Scottish school. He thought and judged for himself; he pushed his inquiries
1 Page 428. |
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Another learned professor, who contributed much to support the high reputation of Edinburgh, though no longer living at the time of Dr. Parr’s visit in that city, was the Greek professor, Mr. Dalzel, author of several elementary volumes,1 to which many a youthful scholar owes much obligation. His works, introductory to the noblest language of antiquity, Dr. Parr considered as of superlative excellence; and on his Latinity he has passed the following encomium: “Among the Latin compositions, which have come forth from the universities of Scotland, since the time of Dr. Hutcheson, I have seen none so distinguished by the best effects of early practice and well-formed taste, so accurate in the choice of phraseology, so easy in the structure of the sentences, and so harmonious in the cadence of the periods, as the writings of Professor Dalzel.”2
There were two men of eminence at Edinburgh,
1 “Dalzel’s Coll. Græca Maj. 2 vols.—The gift of the learned and worthy professor. Coll. Græca Min.—Viro celeberrimo Samueli Parr, LL.D., hunc libellum, summse observantise causa, misit A. Dalzel, 1802.”—Bibl. Parr. p. 161. 2 Spital Sermon, Notes, p. 159. |
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Among other persons, to whom he was introduced at Edinburgh, it is impossible that he should not have felt animated and delighted by the conversation of the celebrated Mr. Francis Jeffrey; “whose various knowledge,” says Dr. Parr, “whose keen penetration, whose inviolable integrity and ardent patriotism do honour to his country and his age.” It was, no doubt, with strong feelings of esteem and gratitude, intermingled with some painful recollections, that he met Mr. Fletcher, “the humane comforter and the spirited advocate,” as he himself calls him, “of his infatuated but ever to be lamented pupil, Joseph Gerald.” Another gentleman of the Scotch bar, Mr. Murray, he mentions, “as a most eloquent pleader, and a most honourable man:” and of the keeper of the archives, Mr. Thompson, he speaks, “as a man, whose various and curious stores of information are accompanied by the clearest discernment and the most exquisite taste.”
He was, once or twice, in the company of an author of greater and more extended celebrity, perhaps, than any other of his time: whose diversified talents have been displayed in the various departments of poetry, biography, history, criticism, and works of fiction. This, the reader need not be told, is Sir Walter Scott; whose conversation, however, it was noticed, that Dr. Parr rather
1 Bibl. Parr. p. 704. |
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Writing to a friend during his stay at Edinburgh, Dr. Parr remarks, “that the beauties and glories
of this city are correctly though faintly pourtrayed in a ‘Tour through England and Scotland, by Thomas Newte,
Esq.;’ a work replete,” says he, “with profound
research and useful observa-
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“Dear Sir,—You will be glad to hear that I am in good health, and that I have had a most delightful journey. We visited the lakes. Sanctuary and Sam ascended Skiddaw, whilst I was on the Derwent-Water. Skiddaw is the grandest mountain I ever saw in England; but must yield to Ben Lomond. After passing two days with Mr. Brougham, we finished our English travels at the fine seat of Sir James Graham. We are charmed with North Britain. The scenery of nature, and the improvement from art throughout Scotland, far surpass my expectation. No part of my journey has been more pleasant to me than the time I spent at Balloch Castle, the seat of Mr. Buchanan, finely situated on the banks of Loch Lomond. Pray tell Mr. Parkes of the delightful visit I had at his brother-in-law’s. We were well received at Glasgow, Stirling, Linlithgow, and no less so at Edinburgh. To-day I set off for Mr. Dugald Stewart’s, Kinneil House; and shall return on Wednesday. Last Sunday I heard an excellent discourse from Bishop Gleig, primate of the Scotch Episcopal Church; and to-morrow I shall be a hearer of the celebrated Mr. Allison. I shall leave Edinburgh on Saturday next, on my return home. We meet with hospitality, rank, affluence, learning and science, every where; and, after
“Newte’s book was written by Dr. W. Thompson. S. P.”—Bibl. Parr. p. 412. |
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Leaving Edinburgh early in the month of September, and travelling through Berwick, Newcastle, Durham, York, Sheffield, and Nottingham, Dr. Parr reached Hatton, early in the following month of October. On this journey, he was kindly and hospitably entertained, for several days, at Belsay Castle, the seat of Sir Charles Monck,1 the member for Northumberland, and the near relative of his friend and his physician, Dr. Middleton of Leamington; and, afterwards, at Bishop’s Thorpe, the palace of the Archbishop of York.2
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1 “Stewart’s Philosophical Essays.—The gift of the very accomplished, enlightened, and honourable representative for the county of Northumberland, Sir Charles Monck, Bart., when I was visiting his hospitable and most elegant mansion, Belsay Castle, Sept. 5, 1819. S. P.”—Bibl. Parr. p. 456. 2 “Archbishop of York’s Sermon at the Coronation of George IV.—Excellent! S. P.”—Bibl. Parr. p. 572. |
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