R X 



*477 



RUB 



Roxburgh, and it is expected that early in the next spring the 

 khire. work will be commenced. A liberal subscription has 

 lso been recently opened for extending the line of 

 rail-way from iCfup t>> Melrose, und thence to Mid- 

 Lothian. Hut \ve acknowledge that we see no prospect 

 of the extended line being >|ieeddy accompli-!. 



J'oor r:iie> line Seen long established in this border 

 county. Dr. Douglas states the number of paupers in 

 I 7!>< maintained constantly by assessment to have been 

 979, nn d the amount of the assessment L.2770'. This 

 of course excludes weekly collections at the church 

 doors, &c. It affords at an average the small annual 

 allowance of about L.2, 17s. to each pauper in the list. 

 According to the supplementary report of the com- 

 mittee of the General Assembly in 1820, on the ma- 

 nagement of the poor in Scotland, the average annual 

 amount of the assosincnt during the ten preceding years, 

 was about !..."!) 17. In this estimate is riot included 

 the small proportion of av-e^sment levied on those four 

 parishes which lie partly or chiefly in adjoining coun- 

 ties. The number of persons sent from England under the 

 select vestry act of 1819, which authorises a magistrate 

 to send vagrants to Scotland, natives of that country, 

 who may have been in England half a century more 

 or less, but who have not acquired what is called a 

 settlement there, has been very severely felt. See the 

 article KELSO, Vol. XII. p. 432. We have reason to 

 believe that poor rates have fallen considerably in this 

 county since the above report of the General Assem- 

 bly's committee was made. One great cause of po- 

 verty through the land, is the excessive indulgence in 

 spirituous liquors among the lower classes of Society. 

 Some correction of this evil is loudly called for, espe- 

 cially when the diminished duty on home-made spi- 

 rits, and the qualified permission of their passing to and 

 from England from the 10th January next, will afford 

 new facilities and temptations to this ruinous practice. 



The population of the county according to the go- 

 vernment census of 1821 is as follows : Males 19,408, 

 females 21,484, total 40,892. Increase since the census 

 of 1811 is 3662. 



The county of Roxburgh contains many excellent 

 mansions, the principal of which are Fleurs, the seat 

 of the Duke of Roxburgh ; Mounteviot, the seat of the 

 Marquis of Lothian ; Minto House, the seat of the Earl 

 of M into ; the Pavilion, the seat of Lord Somerville ; 

 Springwood Park, the seat of Sir William Scott Douglas ; 

 Ancrum, the seat of Sir Wm. Scott; Makerston, the seat 

 of Sir Thomas Brisbane Makdougall ; Abbotsford, the 

 seat of Sir Walter Scott ; Stitchel, the seat of Sir John 

 Pringle ; Stobs, the seat of Sir William Elliot ; Edger- 

 ston, the seat of Mr. Rutherfurd ; Drygrange, the seat 

 of Mr. Tod ; Chesters, the seat of Mr. Ogilvie ; Eildon 

 Hall, the seat of Mr. Henderson ; and Riddell House, the 

 seat of Mr. Sprott. The most interesting of these man- 

 sions is Abbotsford, a fine Gothic castle, the internal and 

 external decorations of which characterise it as the resi- 

 dence of the poet and antiquarian of Scotland. But it is 

 not merely in his residence that Sir Walter has evinced 

 his taste and judgment. He has covered his extensive 

 property with the most thriving and judiciously laid out 

 plantations ; and in improving and planting his estate, 

 he has set an example which has grtatly contributed to 

 ornament that beautiful portion of the valley ofthe Tweed. 

 Having already exceeded our ordinary limits, we 

 must refer the reader for various particulars connected 

 with the architectural and historical antiquities and 

 manufactures of the county, as well as for other relative 

 information, to the articles HAWICK, JBDBUBGH, KELSO, 

 MBLROSE, c. 



For biographical notices of ome of the moit d: - 

 tinguihhed characters born in this & unty, we refer 

 to the articlet respecting Sir John Pringle, M. D. and 

 the contemporaneous and celebrated poets and friends 

 James Thomson, the author of the Seatont, and Dr. 

 John Armstrong. Dr. Lcyden wan alto a native of this 

 county, as also at an earlier period Dr. Buchan, the au- 

 thor of the Dometlic Medicine. Sir William Bennet of 

 Gruhet ought likewise to be named, who, himself A lo- 

 ver of literature, and devoted to its pursuits, patronised 

 Allan Ramsay, the author of the tienlle Slirpkerd, and \% 

 said to have assisted him in preparing it for the press. 

 It would be improper to omit the notice of Robert J!;<- 

 caltoun minister of Hohkirk, whose Pott/turnout Theolo- 

 gical Works, in 3 vols. though not generally known, 

 have eome warm admirers, but whose name is better 

 known as the early and steady friend and patron of the 

 poet Thomson. (See THOMSON.) We may aUo men- 

 tion the name of the learned and venerable Dr. Samuel 

 Charters, a native of Fife, and who was for more than 

 half a century n. mister of Wilton, in this county. He 

 died on the 18th day of June 1825, about the 81-th year 

 of his age. His published sermons have been long 

 known and much admired. 



RUBELLITE. See MINERALOGY. Index. 

 RUBENS, SIR PETEK PALL, one of the most dis- 

 tinguished painters of modern times, was born at Co- 

 logne in 1577- His father, who had been a counsellor 

 of state at Antwerp, observing the talents of his son at 

 an early age, cultivated them with peculiar care; and 

 by the diligence with which young Rubens availed 

 himself of the opportunities ,of instruction within his 

 reach, he made great progress in polite and classical 

 learning. In his leisure hours he was always found occu- 

 pied with drawing ; but his father disregarding this 

 indication of his peculiar talent, placed him as a page 

 with the countess of Lalain, a situation by no means 

 suitable to the turn of his mind, or the direction which 

 his studies had now taken. When the death of his 

 father released him from the obligations of filial duty, 

 he obtained permission from his mother to devote him- 

 self to the profession of a painter. 



With this view he became the disciple of Tobias 

 Verhaecht, a landscape painter of some celebrity ; but 

 being more attached to history painting, he went to 

 study that branch of the art under Adam Van Oort. 

 Disgusted, however, with the vulgarity and virulence 

 of that artist, he soon renounced his assistance, and be- 

 came the disciple of Otho Venius, (Octavio Van Veen) 

 whose temper and accomplishments were peculiarly 

 congenial with his own. Under this excellent mas- 

 ter, Rubens was inspired with an ardent passion for 

 his profession. He pursued it with an ardour which 

 knew no bounds ; and such was the proficiency which 

 he had attained, that in his 23d year, Otho acknow- 

 ledged that he could give him no farther assistance, 

 and advised him to seek for the higher accomplishments 

 of his profession in the study of the Italian masters. 

 In obedience to this advice, Rubens set out for Italy, 

 with introductory letters to the duke of Mantua from 

 the archduke Albert, governor of the Netherlands. 



After having examined the productions of art at Ve- 

 nice, he went to Mantua, where he was warmly receiv- 

 ed by the duke, who was so delighted with his general 

 manners and acquirements, that he appointed him one 

 of the gentlemen of his chamber. There he had an 

 opportunity of studying in the palace del T, the fine 

 productions of Julio Romano, in which he took great 

 pleasure ; and after remaining in the residence of the 

 duke for two years, he obtained permission to repair to 



