When I was at the Hague, I was received with all the affection
of kindred. The present Sommelsdyck has an important charge in the
Republick, and is as worthy a man as lives. He has honoured me with his
correspondence for these twenty years. My great grandfather, the husband
of Countess Veronica, was Alexander, Earl of Kincardine, that eminent
_Royalist_ whose character is given by Burnet in his _History of his own
Times_. From him the blood of _Bruce_ flows in my veins. Of such
ancestry who would not be proud? And, as _Nihil est, nisi hoc sciat
alter_, is peculiarly true of genealogy, who would not be glad to seize
a fair opportunity to let it be known. BOSWELL. Boswell visited Holland
in 1763. _Ante_, i. 473. Burnet says that 'the Earl was both the wisest
and the worthiest man that belonged to his country, and fit for
governing any affairs but his own; which he by a wrong turn, and by his
love for the public, neglected to his ruin. His thoughts went slow and
his words came much slower; but a deep judgment appeared in everything
he said or did. I may be, perhaps, inclined to carry his character too
far; for he was the first man that entered into friendship with me.'
Burnet's _History_, ed. 1818, i. III. 'The ninth Earl succeeded as fifth
Earl of Elgin and thus united the two dignities.' Burke's _Peerage_.
Boswell's quotation is from Persius, _Satires_, i.
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