Gilbert Stuart (1742–1786) was a Scottish journalist and historian.
Early life
He was born in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
, the only surviving son of
George Stuart (1715-1793), professor of the Latin language and Roman antiquities in
Edinburgh University
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted ...
.
Gilbert was educated at the High School in Edinburgh and then studied Classics and Philosophy at
Edinburgh University
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted ...
, followed by a course in
jurisprudence
Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...
there; but he never followed the law as profession.
Journalist
In 1768 Stuart went to London, hoping for preferment through
Lord Mansfield
William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, PC, SL (2 March 170520 March 1793) was a British barrister, politician and judge noted for his reform of English law. Born to Scottish nobility, he was educated in Perth, Scotland, before moving to Lond ...
. In 1769 he lodged with
Thomas Somerville in the house of Murdoch the bookseller, writing for the newspapers and reviews. He worked for the ''
Monthly Review'' from 1768 to 1773. By June 1773 Stuart was back with his father at
Musselburgh, working to launch the ''
Edinburgh Magazine and Review
The ''Edinburgh Magazine and Review'' was a Scottish periodical, published monthly from 1773 to 1776. It was founded by Gilbert Stuart, who pursued an aggressive editorial line that eventually led to the magazine's demise.
History
The first num ...
''. The first number came out about the middle of October 1773, and it was discontinued after the publication of the number for August 1776. In the end, an article by Stuart and Alexander Gillies, written over the protests of
William Smellie, attacked
Lord Monboddo
James Burnett, Lord Monboddo (baptised 25 October 1714; died 26 May 1799) was a Scottish judge, scholar of linguistic evolution, philosopher and deist. He is most famous today as a founder of modern comparative historical linguistics. In 1767 ...
's ''
Origin and Progress of Language'' over several numbers. The magazine was stopped.
Stuart was a critic of the historian
William Robertson, who was the leader of the Moderates in the
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland.
The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Reformation of 1560, when it split from the Catholic Church ...
. In his view, instead of supporting Catholic toleration, Robertson should have been more assertive in defending the interests of the Kirk. In 1778 Stuart was an unsuccessful candidate for the professorship of public law at the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
, and he believed that Robertson was responsible for his failure. Stuart nursed his resentment of Robertson over this supposed intervention.
In 1785 William Robertson, eldest son of the historian, fought a duel with Stuart, which both survived.
In 1782 Stuart settled once more in London, and went back to reviewing. The ''
English Review
''The English Review'' was an English-language literary magazine published in London from 1908 to 1937. At its peak, the journal published some of the leading writers of its day.
History
The magazine was started by 1908 by Ford Madox Hueffer (la ...
'' was established by
John Murray I in January 1783, and Stuart was one of the principal writers on its staff. During 1785–6 he edited, with
William Thomson (1746–1817), twelve numbers of ''The Political Herald and Review''. It opened with a criticism of
Pitt's administration, which was still not finished in the final number, and dealt out severe addresses to
Henry Dundas
Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, PC, FRSE (28 April 1742 – 28 May 1811), styled as Lord Melville from 1802, was the trusted lieutenant of British Prime Minister William Pitt and the most powerful politician in Scotland in the late 18t ...
and several other Pittites. These diatribes may have prompted the suggestion that Stuart
was Junius.
Death
Stuart would spend whole nights drinking in company at the Peacock in
Gray's Inn Lane, London. He died at his father's house at Fisherrow in
Musselburgh on 13 August 1786.
Works
Stuart initially supplied corrections and amendments to the ''Gospel History'' (1765) of the Rev.
Robert Wait. His first independent work was the anonymous ''Historical Dissertation on the Antiquity of the English Constitution'' (1768) in which he traced English institutions to a German source. The second edition, which came out in January 1770, with a dedication to
Lord Mansfield
William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, PC, SL (2 March 170520 March 1793) was a British barrister, politician and judge noted for his reform of English law. Born to Scottish nobility, he was educated in Perth, Scotland, before moving to Lond ...
, bore Stuart's name on the title-page, and it was republished in 1778 and 1790. For this work he received from Edinburgh University on 16 November 1769 the degree of doctor of law.
While based in London Stuart supervised the manuscripts of
Nathaniel Hooke
Nathaniel Hooke (c. 1687 – 19 July 1763) was an English historian.
Life
He was the eldest son of John Hooke, serjeant-at-law, and nephew of Nathaniel Hooke the Jacobite soldier. He is thought by John Kirk to have studied with Alexander Pop ...
. From them he finished the fourth volume of Hooke's ''Roman History''. which was published in 1771. After this Stuart temporarily abandoned review-writing for the study of philosophy and history. He appended in 1776 to the second edition of
Francis Stoughton Sullivan's ''Lectures on the Constitution and Laws of England'' the authorities for the statements and a discourse on the government and laws of our country, and dedicated the volume to
Lord North
Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford (13 April 17325 August 1792), better known by his courtesy title Lord North, which he used from 1752 to 1790, was 12th Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1770 to 1782. He led Great Britain through most o ...
; the whole work was reissued at
Portland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropo ...
, in 1805.
Stuart's major work, ''A View of Society in Europe'', was published in 1778, and reprinted in 1782, 1783, 1792, and 1813, and a French translation by
Antoine-Marie-Henri Boulard, came out in Paris in 1789, in two volumes. Letters from
William Blackstone
Sir William Blackstone (10 July 1723 – 14 February 1780) was an English jurist, judge and Tory politician of the eighteenth century. He is most noted for writing the ''Commentaries on the Laws of England''. Born into a middle-class family ...
and
Alexander Garden
Alexander Gardens (russian: Александровский сад) was one of the first urban public parks in Moscow, Russia. The park comprises three separate gardens, which stretch along all the length of the western Kremlin wall for between ...
were added to the posthumous edition of 1792 by Stuart's father. In this dissertation Stuart followed
Montesquieu
Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (; ; 18 January 168910 February 1755), generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French judge, man of letters, historian, and political philosopher.
He is the princi ...
.
As a contributor to
medievalism
Medievalism is a system of belief and practice inspired by the Middle Ages of Europe, or by devotion to elements of that period, which have been expressed in areas such as architecture, literature, music, art, philosophy, scholarship, and variou ...
he is considered a pioneer, sharing with
Thomas Hinton Burley Oldfield the conception of early Anglo-Saxon society as harbouring democratic habits.
In 1779 Stuart brought out, with a dedication to
Lord Mount Stuart, ''Observations on the Public Law and Constitutional History of Scotland''; and in 1780 he published his ''History of the Establishment of the Reformation in Scotland'' (reissued in 1796 and 1805). It was followed in 1782 by ''The History of Scotland from the Establishment of the Reformation till the Death of Queen Mary'', which had a second edition in 1784, when he added to it his ''Observations on the Public Law of Scotland''. These works were written with a narrative in the "balancing style" adopted from
Samuel Johnson and
Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon (; 8 May 173716 January 1794) was an English historian, writer, and member of parliament. His most important work, '' The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788, is ...
. Stuart trailed his coat for Robertson, whom he openly challenged to reply to his defence of Queen Mary. Robertson retorted with a charge of plagiarism.
The anonymous pamphlet ''Critical Observations Concerning the Scottish Historians Hume, Stuart, and Robertson'' (1782), sometimes attributed to Stuart himself, was at least by a friend or ally. It was slapped down by
William Enfield in the ''
Monthly Review''.
Stuart did have a public ally in
David Erskine, 11th Earl of Buchan
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
, who made a point of praising him in a speech at the founding of the
Society of Antiquaries of Scotland
The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland is the senior antiquarian body of Scotland, with its headquarters in the National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh. The Society's aim is to promote the cultural heritage of Scotland.
The usua ...
, in 1780. Stuart's Whig views were not unacceptable to Buchan. Another historian on the Whig side, whom Stuart found tolerable, was
Sir John Dalrymple of Cousland.
[Emerson, pp. 39–40.]
References
*Roger L. Emerson, ''The Scottish Enlightenment and the End of the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh'', The British Journal for the History of Science Vol. 21, No. 1 (Mar. 1988), pp. 33–66. Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of The British Society for the History of Science. Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/4026861
*
Notes
Further reading
*William Zachs (1992?), ''Without regard to good manners: a biography of Gilbert Stuart 1743–1786'', Edinburgh University Press
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stuart, Gilbert
1742 births
1786 deaths
18th-century Scottish historians
Scottish journalists
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh