BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 23
the task of improving the condition of those who resided upon it. The village of
Laurencekirk, then consisting of only a few houses, was taken under his especial
patronage. He planned a new line of street, offered leases of small farms and
of ground for building on extremely advantageous terms, built a commodious
inn for the reception of travellers, founded a library for the use of the villagers,
and established manufactures of various kinds. By some of his operations he
lost largely, but this did not in the least abate his philanthropy, or for a moment
interrupt the career of his benevolence. The manufacture of a very elegant kind
of snuff-box, the hinges of which are styled “invisible,” such as those made in
Cumnock, Ayrshire, is still carried on in the village to a considerable extent.
His lordship’s labours in this good work were crowned with the success they
merited. His village grew rapidly, and before his death had attained a degree
of importance and prosperity that exceeded his most sanguine expectations. Of
the delight which Lord Gnrdenstone took in this benevolent project, a singularly
pleasing expression occurs in a letter which he addressed to the inhabitants of
Laurencekirk. “I have tried,” he says, “in some measure a variety of the
pleasures which mankind pursue ; but never relished anything so much as the
pleasure arising from the progress of my village.”
In his lordship’s anxiety to do everything in his power to invest his favourite
village of Laurencekirk with attractions for strangers, he erected a handsome
little building adjoining the inn as a museum, and filled it with fossils, rare
shells, minerals, and other curiosities. Considering the facility of access, it is
not surprising that these should from time to time disappear ; not unfrequently
the unsuspecting proprietor was imposed upon, by having his curiosities stolen
and sold over again to himself! In this building there was also kept an album
or commonplace book, in which visitors were invited to record whatever they
thought fit, and, as might be expected, many of the entries were not of the
choicest description. The apartment was likewise adorned by portraits of a
number of the favourite original inhabitants of the village. The inn itself was
kept by a favourite servant of his lordship’s, named “ Cream,” who, as well as
his wife, possessed a large portion of the milk of human kindness.
In the year 1785 his lordship succeeded, by the death of his elder brother,
Alexander Garden of Troup, to the possession of the family estates, which were
considerable. His acquisition of this additional wealth was marked by another
circumstance, which strikingly evinces the natural generosity of his disposition.
He remitted to the tenants all the debts due to him as heir to his brother.
On his succession to the family property, his lordship set out on a tour to the
Continent, where he remained three years, traversing in this time great part of
France, the Netherlands, Germany, and Italy. The results of his observations
during this tour (which was made in part with the view of gratifying curiosity,
but chiefly with that of improving his health, which was much impaired) he gave
to the world in two volumes, entitled, “Travelling Memorandums made in a
Tour upon the Continent of Europe in the year 1792.” A third volume of
this work was published after his death. About the same time he published
