ency of speech, and a readiness of reply. His knowledge, likewise, was probably very uncommon for his years; and this, in conjunction with his other qualities, enabled him to shine in public disputation. But whether his knowledge and learning were accurate or profound may justly be questioned; and it may equally be doubted, whether he would have arisen to any extraordinary degree of eminence in the literary world. It will always be reflected upon with regret, that his early and untimely death prevented this matter from being brought to the test of experiment.
CRUDEN, Alexander, styled by himself, Alexander the Corrector, was born at Aberdeen, on the 31st May, 1700; the son of a respectable merchant and baillie of that city. Having received a good elementary education, he entered Marischal college, with the intention of studying for the church. He there made considerable progress in his studies, and had the degree of Master of Arts conferred upon him, when decided symptoms of insanity appeared. His malady has been absurdly ascribed to the bite of a mad dog, and, with more probability, to a disappointment in love. At all events it is certain, that he became so unreasonably importunate in his addresses to the daughter of one of the clergymen of Aberdeen, that it was found necessary to put him under restraint. This lady, however, it afterwards appeared was unworthy of the devotion he paid her, and there is a very interesting anecdote of his meeting her many years afterwards in London, where she had hid herself after flying from Aberdeen. On his release from confinement, in 1722, he left the scene of his disappointments, and repairing to England, found employment as tutor for many years in a family in Hertfordshire, and afterwards in the Isle of Man. In the year 1732, he settled in London, where he was employed by Mr Watts the printer as corrector of the press; he also engaged in trade as a bookseller, which he carried on in a shop under the Royal Exchange. Having gained the esteem of many of the principal citizens of London, he was, on the recommendation of the lord mayor and aldermen, appointed bookseller to the queen.
Soon after Cruden's arrival in London, he had commenced his elaborate work called the Concordance of the Bible; and having, after inconceivable labour, finished it, he had the honour of dedicating and presenting it to queen Caroline, the consort of George II., who graciously promised to "remember him;" but, unfortunately for him, she died suddenly a few days after. Involved in embarrassments by the expense of publishing his Concordance, and by his neglect of business while he was compiling it, he abandoned his trade, and sunk into a state of melancholy despondency. His former mental disease now returned upon him with increased violence, and he was guilty of so many extravagances, that his friends were obliged to place him in a private lunatic asylum. On his recovery he published a lengthened account of his sufferings, under the title of, "The London Citizen exceedingly injured; giving an account of his severe and long campaign at Bethnal's Green, for nine weeks and six days; the Citizen being sent there in March, 1738, by Robert Wightman, a notoriously conceited whimsical man; where he was chained and handcuffed, strait-waistcoated and imprisoned; with a history of Wightman's blind bench, a sort of court that met at Wightman's room, and unaccountably proceeded to pass decrees in relation to the London Citizen," &c. &c. He also instituted legal proceedings against his physician and this Mr Wightman, the proprietor of
the asylum, for cruelty. He was not able, however, to substantiate his charge, although there is much reason to fear, that, in pursuance of the treatment to which lunatics were at that time subjected, Cruden was harshly dealt with; which seems to have been the less excusable as he appears to have been at all times harmless.
