“The Rev. Sir Henry Moncreiff Wellwood, Bart, (minister of the parish), at the request of Sir Walter Scott, opened the business of the meeting, by an eloquent and impressive prayer, in which he invoked the blessing of the Almighty on the institution.
“Sir Walter
Scott then rose, and observed, that it had been determined by
the directors, that some account should be given on this occasion of the nature
and meaning of the institution. He wished that some one better qualified had
been appointed for this purpose; but as the duty had been imposed upon him, he
should endeavour to discharge it as briefly as possible. In Scotland, and
before such an assembly, it was unnecessary for him to enlarge on the general
advantages of education. It was that which distinguished man from the lower
animals in the creation—which recorded every fact of history, and transmitted
them in perfect order from one generation to another. Our forefathers had shown
their sense of its importance by their conduct; but they could little have
conceived the length to which discoveries in science and literature had gone in
this age; and those now present could as little anticipate to what extent
posterity might carry them. Future ages might probably speak of the knowledge
of the 18th and 19th centuries, as we now do of that of the 15th and 16th. But
let them remember that the progress of knowledge was gradual; and as their
ancestors had been anxious to secure to them the benefits of education, so let
it be said of the present age, that it paved the way for the improvement of the
generations which were to follow. He need not repeat to Scotsmen, that at an
early period the most anxious solicitude had been shown on this subject. While
Scotland was torn with convulsions, and the battle-brand was yet red, our
forefathers had sat down to devise the means of spreading the blessings of
knowledge among their posterity, as the most effectual means of preventing
those dark and bloody times from recurring. We had but lately sheathed a
triumphant sword, and lived now in a period of profound peace; and long, long
might it be before the sword was again unsheathed! This was therefore a proper
time for improving the institutions of the country, and endeavouring to cause
its literature to keep pace with its high martial achievements. In
| 362 | LIFE OF SIR WALTER SCOTT. |
“The establishment of those excellent
institutions, the Parochial Schools, had early induced the moral and orderly
habits which had so much tended to raise the character of our countrymen.
King James, whatever had been his
failings in other respects, had attended to the education of the youth, and had
founded an institution (the High School), which nourished at this moment, the
pride and boast of our City; but, from the great increase of population, its
size was now found inadequate to the duty originally intended. Since its
establishment, the city had increased to six times the extent it then was; and
the great number of subscribers to the present institution, proved the general
feeling that something must be done to relieve the Metropolitan school. It was
true there were many private seminaries, whose teachers were men of great
talent; but schools of that description were not so well calculated to secure
the education of children as an institution like the present. It was plain to
the most common understanding, that one man could not teach four or five
classes of pupils with the same success that one man could teach one class;
that was quite plain. A jealousy had been entertained that the design of the
present institution was to hurt the more ancient seminary. Look at those who
were the leading members of this society; many of them who had received their
education at the High School, whose fathers and grandfathers had been
instructed there, and who also had their children there: they were not capable
of entertaining a thought to the prejudice of that seminary. The effect of the
present institution would only be to relieve the High School of superfluous
scholars, and thereby leave the hands of its teachers more at liberty to
educate those who were left. He trusted he should hear nothing more of such an
unworthy motive. He was sure there would be no petty jealousies—no rivalry
between the two institutions, but the honourable and fair
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“In appropriating the funds which had so liberally been placed at their disposal, the directors had observed the strictest economy. By the ingenuity of Mr Burn, the Architect, whose plans for, and superintendence of the buildings had been a labour of love, it would be observed, that not much had been lost. If they had not the beauty of lavish ornament, they had at least taste and proportion to boast of—a more important part of architecture than high finishing. The directors had a more difficult and delicate duty to perform than the rearing of stone walls, in choosing the gentlemen who were to carry into execution their plans; a task important beyond the power of language to describe, from the number of certificates produced by men of talent who were willing to abandon their situations in other seminaries, and to venture the credit of their reputation and prospects in life on this experimental project of ours—a task so delicate, that the directors were greatly at a loss whom to choose among seventy or eighty individuals, of almost equal merit, and equally capable of undertaking the task. The one principle which guided the directors in their selection was—who were most likely to give satisfaction to them and to the public? He trusted they had been successful in the performance of this task. The University of Oxford had given them one of its most learned scholars (the Rector), in the flower of his age, with fifteen years’ experience as a teacher, and of whose acquirements, in that gentleman’s presence, he would not speak in the terms he would employ elsewhere. To him the directors trusted as the main pillar of the establishment: he was sure also he would be well supported by the other gentlemen; and that the whole machine would move easily and smoothly.
“But there was still another selection
of no mean difficulty. In the formation of a new, they must lose some of the
advantages of an ancient and venerable institution. One could not lay his hands
on the head of his son, and say, this is the same bench on which I sat; this is
the voice which first instructed me.—They had to identify their children with a
new institution. But they had something to counterbalance these disadvantages.
If they had not the venerable Gothic temple, the long sounding galleries, and
turreted walls—where every association was favourable to learning—they were
also free from the prejudices peculiar to such seminaries,—the ‘rich
windows which exclude the light, and passages that
lead to nothing.’ Something might be gained from novelty. The
attention
| 364 | LIFE OF SIR WALTER SCOTT. |
| NEW EDINBURGH ACADEMY. | 365 |
“In conclusion, Sir Walter addressed a few words to his young friends around him. He observed, that the public could not have given a more interesting mark of their confidence in the managers of the seminary, than they had done, in placing under their direction these young persons, characterised by the Roman matron as her most precious jewels, for every one of whom he was sensible more than one bosom was at present beating, anxious for their future happiness and prosperity. He exhorted them to give their whole souls and minds to their studies, without which it was little that either their teachers or directors could do. If they were destined for any of the learned professions, he begged them to remember that a physician without learning was a mere quack; a lawyer without learning was a pettifogger; and a clergyman without learning was like a soldier without a sword, who had not the means of enforcing the authority of his Divine Master. Next to a conscience void of offence towards God and man, the greatest possession they could have was a well cultivated mind; it was that alone which distinguished them from the beasts that perish. If they went to India or other distant quarters of the globe, it would sweeten their path, and add to their happiness. He trusted that his words, poor as they were, would sink into their hearts, and remain on their memories, long after they had forgotten the speaker. He hoped they would remember the words of their reverend friend, who had just implored the blessing of God upon their studies, for they were the outpourings of the soul of one not young in years, nor void of experience; and when they were come to manhood, they might say to their children, ‘Thus and thus were we taught, and thus and thus we teach you. By attending to these things we rose to honour and distinction.’ Happy (said Sir Walter) will it be if you can say, ‘I have followed that, which I heard. May you do so and live.’”
