‘58 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES;
No. XXVI.
DR. JOHN BROWN,
AUTHOR OF ‘‘ THE BRUNONIAN SYSTEM OF MEDICINE,”
IS represented with the ensign of the Roman Eagle Lodge, which used to be
carried at public processions before the Master, a situation which he long held.
The miniature scene in the background describes what had frequently
happened, namely, the Doctor at a bowl of punch, with Mr. Little of Libberton,
hlr. John Lamont, surgeon, and Lord Bellenden, heir to his Grace the Duke
of Roxburghe, playing on the fiddle-an accomplishment in which he excelledfor
the entertainment of the company. His Lordship, who was remarkable for
his free, generous, and hospitable disposition, in 1787 married Miss Sarah
Cumming of Jamaica, a lady paternally of Scottish, but maternally of Afrimn
descent. The other two gentlemen in conversation at the back of this convivial
group, are Dr. William Cullen and Dr, Alexander Hamilton, Professor of
Midwifery; the gentleman in light clothes, to the left, is Dr. James Graham,
already described in No. XI.
DR. JOHNB ROWNw as born in the parish of Buncle, in the county of Berwick,
of parents more respectable for decency of character than dignity of rank. Discovering
early markq of uncommon talents, his parents were induced, after having
fruitlessly bound him as an apprentice to a weaver, to change his destination.
He was accordingly sent to the grammar-school of Dunse, where, under Mr.
Cruickshanks, an able teacher, he studied with great ardour and success. His
application, indeed, was so intense, that he was seldom without a book in his
hand. It is said that Erown submitted, in his youth, to be a reaper of corn, to
procure for himself the means of improvement. With the price of such labour
he put himself to school, where his abilities attracted the attention of his
master, and procured him the place of assistant. His revolt from the loom,
according to this account, must have been attended with highly honourable
circumstances.
The years of Brown’s grammar education appear to have been, in no common
degree, well spent and happy ; and he continued at school until he had nearly
attained the age of twenty. In the summer of 1775, his reputation as a scholar
procured him the appointment of tutor to a family of some distinction in the
neighbourhood of Dunse, where, however, .he did not long continue an inmate.
Upon relinquishing this situation he repaired to the University of Edinburgh,
where, after going through the iisual course of philosophy, he entered upon his
theological studies : he attended the lectures of the professors, diligently applied
to the study of the authors recommended by them, and proceeded so far as to
