CHAPTER II.

BIOGRAPHICAL.

BORN AT FOUNTAINS' HALL-RIPON-EARLY DEVOTION TO

STUDY

OTLEY-EDINBURGH-WELTON-PLAN

OF STUDY

-RETURNED TO EDINBURGH, AND GRADUATED-SETTLED AT HULL-PUBLIC LIFE-TOTAL ABSTINENCE-PRESIDENT OF THE HULL CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY-LECTURES TO THE WORKING CLASSES-PURITY OF HIS MOTIVES AS A POLITICIAN-SACRIFICE OF PROFESSIONAL INTERESTS TO CONVICTIONS-BENEVOLENCE TO THE POOR-CHARACTER AT HOME-ESPECIALLY AS A FATHER-ILLNESS-VISIT TO HARROGATE-TO OTLEY AND FOUNTAINS-TO SCARBOROUGH -RETURN TO HULL-SUFFERINGS-COMPOSURE-DEATH. OBITUARY FROM THE NEWSPAPERS-PUBLIC MEETING FOR "" A PEOPLE'S MONUMENT."

BENEATH the venerable ruins of the far-famed abbey of Fountains, majestic even in decay, surrounded by the loveliest scenery, and embosomed in the luxuriant foliage of stately forest-trees, stands the large ancient mansion called Fountains' Hall, in which the subject of this memoir was born, on the 2nd of August, 1801. His ancestors were all

highly respectable, moving in good society, and many of them distinguished by high literary attainments. The celebrated Daniel de Foe, was remotely connected with the family. From his parents, who were both possessed of very superior intelligence, he early imbibed that love for study which distinguished him through the whole of life.

He acquired the rudiments of learning at the grammar-school of the adjacent city of Ripon, where the amiability of his disposition, combined with his extraordinary mental abilities, commanded the love and respect of his schoolfellows. Very soon after his entrance, he was placed in the first class of the upper school, and being much younger than any of his class-mates, he was obliged to work very hard, in order to maintain his superiority. Though so young a boy, he often would sit up till one or two o'clock in the morning over his books, assisted by his mother in his favourite classical studies, in which he made great proficiency. He was especially distinguished for his elegant Latin verses.

After leaving school, he was articled to a general practitioner at Otley, where his blameless conduct, and his kind interest in the sorrows of those with whom his professional engagements brought him into contact, won for him universal esteem. He was there, as he

continued through life, the friend of the poor. The author can never forget the delight and affection manifested by an humble cottager at Leighley, to whom Dr Gordon with his family paid an unexpected visit, after an absence of twenty-five years from the locality. The unaffected kindness of the youth, and his anxious interest in the affliction of that poor woman, so different from a merely official, hurried, and heartless visitation, had left an impression too deep for time to wear away. Nor was this a solitary instance, the author having ascertained from various quarters, that notwithstanding the changes which occur during so long a period, numerous are the households where his name is yet familiar and dear, and where the memory of his benevolent and lovely demeanour has lost none of its freshness.

His father was a man of a most amiable disposition, and had a great love for scientific pursuits; but as is often the case with such characters, he was improvident, and his fortune suffered a reverse before the subject of this memoir had completed his studies. This, however, did not daunt him in his course. Fearing to be a burden to his parents, but at the same time determined not to lose any part of that liberal education, on which he had set his heart, he borrowed money, and was thus enabled, after studying some time in

:

London, to go to Edinburgh, where it was his intention to graduate as a Physician. He was furnished by various friends, with letters of introduction to some of the first families in that city but only made use of one or two of them, in order that he might not be tempted to interrupt that plan of study which he had marked out for himself. Mr. McLehose, to whom he often referred with gratitude, received him always at his house as one of his family. Here he met with many congenial friends, whose society he much enjoyed, among whom was the Clarinda' of Burns, Mr. McLehose's mother, a person of great intelligence, who, though much advanced in years, retained all her faculties, and would often relate, with the utmost vivacity and humour, the adventures of her earlier years, together with interesting anecdotes of eminent characters with whom she had come in contact. But the pleasures which such society and kind hospitality placed within his reach, were enjoyed only as recreations, never being suffered to divert his mind from the one object for which he had entered the university. So great indeed was his devotion to study, that it was his constant habit to read till the clock struck three, before retiring to rest, and yet he was always in the college by eight.

There is little doubt that these habits, which

were kept up more or less through his life, tended materially to undermine his constitution and shorten his days.

After remaining three years in Edinburgh, Mr. Gordon went to Hull on a visit, and had secured his place in the coach, in order to return, for the purpose of completing the necessary term, and obtaining his diploma. But the day before he was to set off, he met with a medical friend, who strongly advised him to delay taking his degree, and to engage for a few years as a general practitioner: his youth, and very juvenile appearance, being much to his disadvantage as a physician.

Welton, nine miles from Hull, was recommended as possessing the attractions of a beautiful country, a wealthy neighbourhood, and every advantage for a young man under his circumstances. In consequence of this suggestion, he hired a horse, and rode over to view the place. It was a very fine morning in May; and every object looked so lovely and inviting, that he at once resolved to reside there at least for a year, that he might have the opportunity of continuing his studies, even if he did not succeed as he expected in his profession. He took lodgings that very day. His gentlemanly manners and cultivated mind, soon gained him the respect of the whole neighbourhood, together with a large practice.