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6o 



The Review of Reviews. 



his minister, the Ucv. Dr. William Leitch, of Helens- 

 Inirgh. From that, and from some other personal 

 notes contributed to Dr. NicoU's weekly, we get a 

 pleasant impression of the man whom all Unionists 

 now delight to honour. His father, the Rev. James 

 Law, who greatly admired Dr. Andrew Bonar's " Life 

 of Dr. McCheyne"' — a hook whiclv I remember 

 reading with reverent admiration nearly fifty years 

 -igo — named his son Andrew Bonar as a token of 

 appreciation and gratitude. 



HIS VOU'IH AN'I> EHUCATION. 



He was born in Rextown, New Brunswick, in 1.S58. 

 He was only twelve years old when lie crossed the 

 Atlantic to attend the High School at Glasgow. In 

 1874 he joined the firm of William Kidston and 

 Sons, iron merchants, of (llasgow, of which his uncle 

 was the head, and in 1886 became partner in the 

 house of William Jacks and Co., of the same city. Dr. 

 Leitch says of Mr. Bonar Law : — 



I have known liim nnd preaclied to liiin for more tlian .a 

 quarter of a ccniury. A more devout, attenlive, and appre- 

 ciative hearer I have never niet. He was a young member of 

 Helenslnirgh West Free Church when I was settled there in 

 1882. He was a teacher in the Sabbatli-school, and was 

 greatly beloved by his scholars. He was " apt to teach," and 

 lor some years did good work among the young. 



He lost his parents early in life, and was Drought 

 up by his uncle, William Kidston, " one of the 

 sturdiest and (luaintest figures in the Free Church 

 Assembly," who belonged to the Highland host of 

 Dr. Begg, who opposed union with the United Presby- 

 terians, and gave no quarter to the Higher Criticism. 

 A Tory of the Tories in Church matters, standing on 

 the ancient ways, the Kidston influence did much to 

 mould the mind of his nephew. 



HIS srUliNUOUS YOUTH. 



Andrew Bonar Law came under the iiinucnce of 

 Carlyle, whose doctrine of slrenuousncss ai)[)ealed to 

 his temperament : — 



It was always a family saying that Tonar would do nolliing 

 by halves. " Can'l you p/ay M something, my dear fellow?" 

 laughed a cousin one day. " Whellu'r it is dancing, tennis, 

 golf, or chess, it's the same inlinite capacity for taking prins I " 



The same chronicler who records this observation 

 tells us that the three morning trains to (Glasgow from 

 Helensburgh are locally known as " the Strivers," 

 " the Drivers," and " the Thrivers" respectively. It 

 was characteristic of Mr. Law that he stuck by the 

 first long after he was certainly in the third category. 



When a youth of twenty-one we are told that he 

 was "fair-haired, fair-complexioned, gentle of manner, 

 quiet of voice, with a singularly winning smile. He 

 was possessed of an im[)erturbal)Iy good temper and 

 a strong sense of humour — qualities which have stood 

 him in good stead in later life. There never was 

 anyone more careful of others' pleasure, nor mon- 

 careless of small personal woiries or grievann's. 



" Hi'.'i.L uo. hk'li, go far." 

 Unlike so many clever young men, Mr. Law, while 

 vigorously combating opinions he did not share, 



never forgot the deference due to age and expe 

 rience : — 



Standing in front of the fire, he would sometimes declare, 

 with u whfmsical smile, that he w.i^ " more firmly founded than 

 ever on the Rock of Ignorance." From this favourite vantage- 

 ground, however, he would, not seldom, proceeil to demolish 

 the arguments of an unwary opponent, leaving him floundering 

 in a Serbonian bog of self-contradictions. 



He was neither opinionative nor self-assertive, yet even in 

 those early days his was a personality not to be ignored. Well 

 do I remember the impression he produced upon a kinsman of 

 niv own. a man of great perception of character, to whose house 

 in'Creenock he lia'd come to stay over the night of a dance. 

 After a few minutes' l.alk wilh the young stranger on arrival 

 and a lively dinner-lable argument, I found mine host gleefully 

 ntbliing his hands before' the fire. "lleMI do, that young 

 man! I tell you, he'll go far" — a prediction to be fully 

 verified. 



Dr. Leitch says that from his youth up he lias had 

 a powerful and retentive memory, and is able to 

 commit his "set" speeches verbatim with little 

 effort: — 



His earliest essay was on "Carlyle," given off without the 

 paper. A lecture by him on " .Success," in his early days, 

 called forth great praise-. I remember one idea that he 

 emphasised, and that was the element of luck in the life of the 

 successful man. I happened to be in the chair, and more than 

 one hearer has reminded me that I then predicted for the 

 lecturer a brilliant career and a foremost place among political 

 leaders. My prophecy has liecome fact. Mr. Law has no 

 doubt had many advantages, but he has never trusted to them 

 entirely. 



HIS I'AMILV I.IfE. 



He luarried, in 1891, Miss Annie Robley, the 

 sweet and graceful girl whom he had known from 

 her charmmg childhood. This union was a singularly 

 happy one. The young wife, though naturally 

 retiring and home-loving, possessed a gentle dignity 

 which enabled her to take her rightful jilace in the 

 wider circle to which she found herself called. By 

 her he had six children. Since her death, two years 

 ago, which for a time prostrat^^d him, his sister. Miss 

 Mary ¥^. Law, has kept house for him and his bairns. 

 Dr. Leitch says : — 



Adversity never tpiite daunted him. .Some time after hi^ 

 defeat in Blackfriars, Glasgow, I askoil him when he was going 

 to see the new House of Commons. His reply w.as, " Not lill 1 

 go to take a seat there." He got a seat without delay. On 

 the night of the Glasgow election in igoo, when he Mas 

 returned for the lilnck friars Division, he was in his room in tin: 

 Central Hotel sipping (as a lifelong abstainer) his tumbler ol 

 milk, when a deleated candidate was ushered in, and, looking 

 at his fellow in adversity, exclainipd, "Oh, Law 1 who coulil 

 drink milk on such a niglit as this ? '' 



IN PARLIAMENT. 



Although naturally shy and of a retiring disposition, 

 he soon made his mark in Parliament. A fortune of 

 _^'4o, 000 which came to him left him free to devote 

 his time to politics, although he continued for some 

 time after his election to be Cliairmnii of the Glasgow 

 Iron 'J'rade Association. In 1902 he became Parlia- 

 mentary Secretary of the P>oard of Trade. 



When Mr. Chamberlain started the great apostacy 

 from I'ree Trade he had no more strenuous follower 

 than Mr. Bonar Law. He is probably the only man 



