Rather it was the case that the fur trading oligarchy ensconced in the
plains of the West, could not understand the heart of a
philanthropist--of a man who could work for mere humanity. Up till a few
years ago it was the fashion for even historians, being unable to
understand his motive and disposition, to speak of him as a "kind
hearted, but eccentric Scottish nobleman."
Lord Selkirk's active mind led him into various different spheres of
human life. He visited France and studied the problem of the French
Revolution, and while sympathizing with the struggle for liberty, was
alienated as were Wordsworth and hundreds of other British writers and
philanthropists, by the excesses of Robespierre and his French
compatriots. When the Napoleonic wars were at their height, like a true
patriot, Lord Selkirk wrote a small work on the "System of National
Defence," anticipating the Volunteer System of the present day. But his
keen mind sought lines of activity as well as of theory. Seeing his
fellow-countrymen, as well as their Irish neighbors, in distress and
also desiring to keep them under the British flag, he planned at his own
expense to carry out the Colonists to America.
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