Thomas Henderson

“ In June 1696 a charge was preferred against him of having let his mansion of Rockhall for the purpose of coining false money, but it turned out that it had been merely employed in connection with experiments for a method of stamping linen with ornamental patterns. In his latter years Grierson, whose fortunes had been seriously crippled by fines, took up his residence at Rockhall. He was not personally concerned in the rebellion of 1715, but permitted his eldest son, William, and his fourth son, Gilbert, to take part in Kenmure's luckless expedition into England. ”

“ HENDERSON, JOHN (1797–1878) , collector of works of art and archæologist, born in Adelphi Terrace, London, in 1797, was son of John Henderson and Georgiana Jane, only child of George Keate, F.R.S. His father, an amateur artist of great merit, was an early patron of Thomas Girtin and J. M. W. Turner, who frequently worked together in his house, which was next door to that of Dr. Monro [q. v.] John Henderson the younger went at the age of sixteen as a fellow-commoner to Balliol College, Oxford (B.A. 1817 and M.A. 1820) . ”

“ Henderson’s next public opportunity was in the famous Assembly which met in Glasgow on the 21st of November 1638. He was chosen moderator by acclamation, being, as Baillie says, “incomparablie the ablest man of us all for all things.” James Hamilton, 3rd marquess of Hamilton, was the king’s commissioner; and when the Assembly insisted on proceeding with the trial of the bishops, he formally dissolved the meeting under pain of treason. ”

“ The lords had given out that their aim was to set at liberty the king, who was ‘held captive and forced against his mind;’ but the presence of the king against them gave the lie to this statement, and although the royal forces numbered only one thousand the rebels' followers were afraid to attack. In such circumstances Huntly could not risk a battle, although Errol ‘would have foughten’ (Calderwood, v. 55) . They therefore dispersed their forces, many of whom had already deserted. Huntly surrendered while the king was still in the north, and Crawford gave himself up at Edinburgh on 20 May. ”

“ When Henry entered Paris in 1594 Hamilton was apprehended with a halbert in his hand about to join the band of fanatics who gathered to resist the entrance of the king, but though the other ringleaders were executed, he succeeded in making his escape, and retired to Brussels. In his absence he was condemned to be broken on the wheel for the murder of Tardif, and the sentence was executed on his effigy. About 1600 he and Edmond Hay the jesuit [q. v.] returned to Scotland, apparently on a secret proselytising mission. ”

“ The troops had barricaded the town, and the covenanters were easily repulsed. They halted at the position occupied on the previous night, but on Claverhouse advancing towards them retreated to Hamilton. As Claverhouse was too weak to attack them here, they formed a camp, and according to Hamilton numbered within a week five or six thousand men, 'all as one man and of one mind to own the Rugland testimony against all its opposers' (M'Crie, Life of Veitch, p. 456 ; Napier, ii. 222) . ”

“ His ecclesiastical sympathies were with the covenanters, and the son was educated at the school of Haddington under the superintendence of David Forret, afterwards a well-known minister of the kirk. Succeeding his father in March 1641, he was one of the noblemen present at the meeting of the estates in July, and served on various committees. ”

“ The technical accomplishment attains here its most difficult triumphs. In 1898 the two collections of verse were reprinted in a definitive edition, with omissions, additions and changes under the title 'Poems,' with a photograviure of the author's bust by Rodin. A series of drawings of London types by William Nicholson with picturesque quatorzains by Henley appeared in the same year; and in 1900 he published a small volume of verse entitled 'For England's sake: Verses and Songs in Time of War,' voicing his patriotic fervour during the Boer struggle. ”

“ Probably through the protection of Argyll, and no doubt by the connivance of the clansmen, he contrived, by lurking in caves or in the woods, to carry on his depredations against Montrose for several years more. Various other instances, no doubt somewhat embellished by tradition, are given of his hair-breadth escapes (see Millar, History of Rob Roy) . In appendix to Millar's ‘History’ is also an authentic account of the clever escape of Henderson, the laird of Westerton, from his clutches. He was present with a number of his followers at the battle of Glenshiels, 10 June 1719. ”

“ He was a half-and-half man—too lazily clever to be quite honest, and too honest to be quite a criminal. Poor Jack Henderson! A good man gone wrong—let that be his epitaph when it comes to setting up his headstone. ”

“ In 1889 he returned to Edinburgh to become editor of a weekly paper, the 'Scots Observer,' the headquarters of which were in 1891 removed to London, the title having been changed to the 'National Observer.' Patriotic imperialism, or anti-Gladstonianism, was the dominating note of the paper's politics; but Henley's main purpose was the promotion of what he deemed the higher interests of literature and art. ”

“ This was answered by the Aberdeen professors in 'Duplyes of the Minsteris and Professoris of Abirdein,' 1638. At the memorable assembly which met at Glasgow in 1638 Alexander Henderson was chosen in preference to Dickson to fill the chair, but Dickson distinguished himself greatly in the deliberations, delivering a speech of great tact when the commissioner threatened to leave the assembly, and in the eleventh session giving a learned discourse on Arminianism (printed in 'Select Biographies,' Wodrow Society, i. 17-27) . ”

“ In the following year he passed an act for the security of the presbyterian form of government, but aroused violent disapprobation by attempting to propose an act for settling the succession to the throne on the house of Hanover. After his dismissal from office he became one of the leaders of the squadrone party, and ultimately along with them strenuously supported the proposal for a union with England. ”

“ He therefore found it necessary in 1663 to resign all his offices (see particulars in Row, Continuation of Blair's Autobiography, p. 440) and to retire from public life. He took up his residence at his estate of Struthers, to ‘enjoy the peace of a good conscience far from court.’ He died there in 1678.
By his wife, Lady Mary Hamilton, second daughter of James, second marquis of Hamilton [q. v.] , he had two sons—William, eighteenth earl of Crawford [q. v.] , and Patrick, ancestor of the Viscounts Garnock—and three daughters: Anne, married to John, duke of Rothes ”

“ But if the enemy’s army, supported by a powerful fleet, were to advance across blue water, the case would be very different. Its movements would be veiled in the most complete secrecy. It would be impossible to do more than guess at its objective. It might strike at any point along hundreds of miles of coast, or it might shift from one point to another, perhaps far distant, in absolute security; it could bewilder the enemy with feints, and cause him to disperse his forces over the whole seaboard. Surprise and freedom of movement are pre-eminently the weapons of the power that commands the sea. ”

“ He was educated at Westminster School, of which he was captain in 1770, and in 1771 he was elected to St. Peter's College, Cambridge. He graduated B.A. in 1775 and M.A. in 1779. Having taken holy orders he became vicar of Kilmacdonough, and rector of Kilcreddan-Garrivoe and Ightermorragh, diocese of Cloyne. In 1788 he published two volumes of ‘Poems,’ dedicated to Lady Shannon, and consisting of a poem in two books, entitled ‘Prospects,’ and a collection of odes and other fugitive pieces. ”

“ In 1871 he published ‘Autobiographical Reminiscences.’ Shortly after this he was attacked by paralysis, and he died on 6 May 1876. His works are not characterised by much literary merit, and are popular rather than scholarly. ”

“ A few active squadrons, and not a man would have escaped ! Only he who had seen men in such circumstances, and observed their bearing, knows the dreadful imprint that their features leave upon the memory. ”

“ Mr. Thomas Finlayson Henderson, LL.D., has died at Kilmacolm in his 70th year. The son of the Rev. Archibald Henderson, and born at Lathones, Fife, Dr Henderson was a fellow-student at St Andrews University with Andrew Lang. ”

“ Never was man more free than Latimer from the taint of fanaticism or less dominated by “vainglory,” but the motives which now inspired his courage not only placed him beyond the influence of fear, but enabled him to taste in dying an ineffable thrill of victorious achievement. ”

“ Lord Cockburn, while taking exception to the narrow and old-fashioned legal prejudices of Corehouse and his somewhat pompous method of legal exposition, characterises him as ‘more of a legal oracle’ than any man of his time. ”

“ Knowing that success is seldom to be won without incurring risks, he is always greatly daring; and by the skill with which he overcomes all obstacles, and even uses them, as Hannibal and Napoleon did the Alps, and as some great captain of the future may use the sea, to further his purpose and surprise his adversary, he shows his superiority to the common herd. ”

“ The stranger pushed me into a brougham that was standing by the pavement opposite the door, and we started off at a smart pace. Once in Regent's Park, however, the driver pulled his horse to a walk, and my companion began to do his talking.
“Five hundred sovereigns would be useful to you these days—eh, Mr. Henderson?” ”

“ This is corroborated by internal evidence, although probably the parson was indebted to his father for much of his information. The author of the 'History of the Gordons' says that he had not been able to recover any of the manuscript of more recent date than September 1640; and Dr. William Gordon, in his 'Life of Gordon of Straloch,' states that, 'receiving no encouragement in a time of general distress, it was soon abandoned.' Not improbably, therefore, it never extended beyond 1640. Dr. ”

“ Although he attached himself to the party of Sunderland, he strenuously opposed the Peerage Bill, resisting with equal firmness the solicitations and menaces of Sunderland, and turning a deaf ear even to the urgent requests of the sovereign. ”

“ Had the British Cabinet of 1807 realized the preponderating strength which even a small army, if rightly used, draws from the command of the sea, the campaign of Eylau would in all probability have been as disastrous to Napoleon as that of Leipzig. The presence of 20,000 men at the great battle would have surely turned the scale in favour of the allies. ”

“ The publishing business was gradually discontinued, but the printing business was in itself a brilliant success. The high perfection to which Ballantyne had brought the art of printing, and his connection with Scott, secured such enormous employment for his press that a large pecuniary profit was almost an inevitable necessity. ”

“ He pleased her by his serious discourse, and she helped him in contriving the escape of the Duke of York by procuring from her tailor a female disguise for the duke. She herself dressed the duke in the disguise at the waterside—and provided him also with a Woodstreet cake—before he entered the barge that conveyed him to the ship at Greenwich. After the escape of the duke she had frequent interviews with Bampfield, who made use of her in the conveyance of letters between him and the king. He persuaded her that his wife was dead, and offered her his hand. ”

“ The public hatred with which Argyll had been regarded in his later years was, says Laing, ‘converted into general commiseration at his death. His attainder was justly imputed to the enmity, his precipitate death to the impatience and the insatiable desire of Middleton to procure a gift of his title and estates; and, as it generally happens whensoever a statesman suffers, whether from natural justice or revenge, his execution served to exalt and to relieve his character from the obloquy which would have continued to attend him had he been permitted to survive’ (History of Scotland) . ”

“ In 1884 he was translated to Hyndland parish church, Glasgow, where he remained till his death on 7 May 1906. In 1878 he married Alice, daughter of Thomas Carlyle of Shawhill, advocate, and left a son, who died in Egypt, and a daughter. ”

“ While their influence was weakened by their mutual antipathy, the real power passed into the hands of Godolphin, who, though his sympathies were in reality Jacobite, and though he occupied only the third place at the board, secured almost from the beginning, by his pre-eminent administrative talents and his skill in intrigue, the chief confidence of the king. ”

“ It is impossible to admire too highly his enthusiastic and ceaseless energy, his remarkable insight into practical details, or his readiness to make the best use he could of the suggestions and proposals of others. The proximity of the residence of Bernard in Bloomsbury Square to the Foundling Hospital led him to take an active interest in that institution, even when he was in full practice in his profession. ”

“ Her desire therefore, according to Melville, was to escape to Dumbarton without giving battle till she had rallied sufficient forces, not merely to render victory more certain, but to protect her against the sinister designs of the Hamiltons. ”