THE NEW STATI.STICAL ACCOUNT OF SCOTLAND.
is work is too comprehensive, and at the same time too minute in its details, to be critically analyzed within such space as we could afford. Our occasional notices, however, while it was appearing in numbers, will have stood as specimens, if not as substitutes for a more compre- hensive review; and all that remains for us now is to express our general opinion of its character and merits. It is a work of real utility, affording much pleasant reading. The Statistical Account e. Scotland, it should be remembered, is in a great measure the work of gratuitous labour. The venerable, inde- fatigable, and benevolent projector of the original publication, Sir John Sinclair, conveyed the property of the book, some time before his death, to the Society for the benefit of the Sons and Daughters of the Scottish Clergy. The.Secretary of the. Society, Sir Henry Jardine, proposed that a Hew edition of the work, adapted to the immense changes that had taken place in the circumstances of Scotland since the commencement of the 'first, should he undertaken. The proposal was eagerly adopted : it
was hoped that such a publication would be acceptable, and sufficiently remunerative to enable the Society to extend its exertions for the in- teresting class whose fortunes it makes ins care. A Committee was nominated to superintend the publicationand Mr. John Gordon, a gen- tleman whose industry and accomplisha;ents are only equalled by his unobtrusive modesty, was appointed secretary and editor. In his la- borious undertaking Mr. Gordon has been ably assisted by Sir Henry Jardine, Mr. Tawse, the Treasurer of the Society, and Professor Jameson. The clergy of the Church entered fully into the spirit of the Society, and addressed themselves with zeal to their gratuitous task. It reflects high credit on all parties concerned—among whom the Messrs. Blackwood, whose disinterested services and professional skill have so largely con- tributed to the success of the publication, ought not to be overlooked— that a work extending to fifty-two quarterly numbers, commenced and finished by amateurs, has been carried on without interruption since 1834. Such regularity has rarely been attained except by professional labour.
The Statistical Account was undertaken by friends of the Scottish clergy, with the sanction of their General Assembly, for the benefit of their children. Its materials have been collected and digested by the clergy of Scotland. It will remain an honourable monument to the members of the Scottish Church in the first half of the nineteenth century. In its pages the future student of history will best read their character. It is not only a full and elaborate statistical account of Scotland, but a picture of the contem- porary clergymen of that country, unconsciously drawn by themselves. It was remarked by the Committee charged with the publication, in their Report to the last General Assembly, that the terms on which the con- tributions were both asked and given necessarily limited their privilege, of abridgment and revision. If this has on the one hand given an in- equality both in value of matter and style of execution to different parts of the work, it has on the other hand left to each article much of the impress of the author's individual character : each enables us to estimate the acquirements, the favourite pursuits, even the dispositions, and occasionally the prejudices, of him who compiled it. The book is a standard whereby to judge of the enlightenment of the present generation of Scottish clergymen. As a body, they stand the test well. The poor Kirk of Scotland and its poor Universities have sup- plied the country with a body of men capable of feeling an interest in all the diversified intellectual pursuits of the age, well informed in most branches of literature and science, and though certainly not free from a certain esprit de corps, yet displaying it on the whole in no unamiable temper, but rather with much of the bonhommie of the Vicar of Wakefield. Combined with these characteristics are frequent indications of a lively interest in the parishioners, and intimate and in- telligent acquaintance with their condition and industrial pursuits. It is not without pain that we reflect on the secession of many of the most able and energetic members of this valuable body, which has taken place while the work that presents so lively a portraiture of their character has been in progress. It is true that their Church, more than any other in Europe, has been the spontaneous creation of the social circumstances amid which it grew up ; that its beauty and utility have been owing in no small degree to its peculiar fitness for the community; and that with altered circumstances this institution must alter likewise, to remain useful as before. Still it is not in human nature to look forward without regret to the unknown changes impending in an ecclesiastical constitution which has produced such ministers.
As a statistical book of reference the work is valuable;. more so in our estimation than many works which make a greater parade of scientific forms. Due advantage has been taken of official statistical publications ; the writers possess a fair share of the general knowledge possessed by the educated classes of the age ; and the editor, with the assistance of Professor Jameson and other collaborateurs, has rectified any occasional inaccuracies in points of science. There is a human reality and a verisimilitude in the details supplied by each minister, which are wanting in the reports of special commissioners and the dry bones of tabular statements elaborated in Government-offices. To sum up more specifically—there are no fewer than 876 articles, each furnish- ing a complete monograph of a parish or group of united parishes : the parishes of every county are classed together : to each county a full index of matters, alphabetically arranged, is added ; and to the whole work is appended a general index, compiled on the same principle : there is also an alphabetical index of parishes, giving their population as shown by the last census, and referring to the volume and page where each is described. Thus, 27ae New Statistical Account of Scotland unites with the massive character and readableness of a systematic view of Scot- tish statistics and geography, the utility of a geographical and statistical dictionary of Scotland.
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