jr^d Tdemoh'S of John Cockhni Efq. ^lay 



ftoration, and continued, with fome fhort intervals, till the glo- 

 rious Revolution, abfolutcly interdicted improvements of every 

 kind ; and the fatal expedition to Darien in Kinjj William's reign, 

 (an expedition undertaken with as much zeal as animated the eaft- 

 ern crufaders) beggared the country, and left it a prey to mifery 

 and woe. 



It was at this time, and under fuch unpropitious circimiftances,. 

 that the diilinguiilied perfonage, whofe memoirs we now propofe 

 to give, entered upon public life. To roufe the fpirit of the 

 country, funk and exhauiled as it was by civil" and religious op- 

 prelTion, required the exertions of a ll-rady and perfevering mind. 

 Such w^as happily pofleired by Mr Cockburn j and if the follow- 

 ing paflage, taken from the works of our celebrated Scotilh bard, 

 "U'as ever applicable to any individual, it certainly was to tlie gen- 

 tleman, whofe life now occupies our attention. 



* Oh ! is there not fome patriot, in wliofe power 

 That beii, that godlike luxur)' is plac'd, 

 Of blefiing thoufands, thoufands yet unborn. 

 Thro' late poilerity ? Some, large of foul ! 

 To cheer dejefted induflry ; to give 

 A double harvelt to the pining fwain, 

 And teach the labQuring hand the fvveets of toil ? 

 How, by the fineft' ait, the native robe 

 To weave ; how, white as Hyperborean fnow. 

 To form the lucid lawn ? ' 

 The poet might be anfwercd, * Yes, there were fuch ! — (ihc 

 ' who feemed to exift lolely for tlie benefit of others ; whofe high- 

 eft happinefs lay in advancing their welfare ; whofe large foul,, 

 difdaining the grovelling maxims of {)rivate intereft, exerted it~ 

 felf, on every occafion, to promote the profperity of thofe whom 

 Providence had placed below him. ' 



But to return from this digreftion. At the above eera, the te- 

 nantry of Scotland, thofe of a few fertile fpots excepted, had been 

 nearly ruined by the calamitous feafons wliich prevailed at the end of 

 the feventeenth century. Capital ftock had thereby been wrefted 

 out of their hands \ and the proprietors, generally fpeaking, were; 

 iiill too proud, perhaps too ignorant, to intereft themfelves about 

 the amelioration, even of their own domains. The qualities, 

 fuppofed to compofe the character of a feudal chieftain, are bad- 

 ly calculated for promoting iiitern.ii improvement ; and it deferves 

 attention, that the feudal fyftem has been gradually undermined, 

 in direct proportion as improvements have been made in agricul- 

 ture and manufacture'*. Such fentimcnts feem to have influenced 

 Mr Cockburn ; ior all his words, all his a61:ions, were did ated 

 by a fpirit to increafe the profperity gf the middling ranks. 



I'hi^ 



