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The History of the Discovery and Settlement of America
The History of the Discovery and Settlement of America Author:Dugald Stewart, William Robertson Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: THE LIFE OF DR. VM. ROBERTSON. William Robertson, the eldest son of the Reverend William Robertson, was born on the 8th of September, 1721, at Bprthwick, i... more »n the shire of Mid Lothian, of which parish his father was the minister. By the paternal line he descended from a respectable family in the county of Fife, a branch of that which, for many generations, possessed the estate of Struan, in Perthshire. His mother was the daughter of David Pitcairn, esq. of Dreghorn. He had one brother and six sisters ; all of whom were well settled in life, and most of whom lived to an advanced age. It was at the parochial school of Borlhvvick that Robertson received the initiatory part of his education ; but as soon as he was sufficiently forward to enter on the study of the learned languages, he was removed to the school of Dalkeith. The latter seminary was then under the superintendence of Mr. Leslie, whose eminence as a teacher was such as to attract pupils from all parts of Scotland ; and the father of Robertson was consequently induced to send him to Dalkeith rather than to the Scottish metropolis. When the future historian was twelve years old, his father was transferred from Borthwick to one of the churches of Edinburgh. In the autumn of 1733 he joined his parents; and, in October, he was admitted into the college and university of the northern capital. Whatever were his first attempts at composition, and it is probable they were many, nothing has been preserved to show how early he began to exercise his talents, or with what degree of rapidity those talents were expanded. It is certain, however, that in the pursuit of knowledge he displayed that ardour and perseverance without which nothing great will ever be accomplished. A strong proof of this is afforded by some of his ear...« less