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APPENDIX.
Mr. George Macintosh, as the fourth son of a Ross-shire tacksman, can-not be supposed to have been in his earlier years in the possession of muchwealth, or of very brilliant prospects ; and we accordingly find, that uponhis removal to Glasgow he was, as a very young man, employed as a clerkin a concern known as the Glasgow Tan Work Company. A branch ofthis company’s business consisted in the manufacture, (from the leatherprepared at their tan work,) of shoes for the most part calculated forexportation to the colonies, in which they employed as many as 300 shoe-makers. In 1773, Mr. Macintosh separated himself from the GlasgowTan Work Company, to whom he soon became a formidable rival, particu-larly in the department of shoemaking ; and, although he had himself nopractical knowledge of the art, he, within a very short time after com-mencing the business, had in Glasgow , and the neighbourhood, nearly500 men constantly in his employment. He was surprisingly indifferentto the sly innuendos not unfrequently hazarded by good-natured friends,in respect to the nature of his adopted profession; and never, like the“ bourgeois gentilhomme of Moliere, ” attempted to make it appear thathe only dealt in shoes for his amusement. The following letter from afriend may be quoted as illustrative of the point:—
“ From John Dunlop , Esq., Collector of Customs, Borrowstoneness,* * to GeorgeMacintosh, Esq., Glasgow .
“Bo’ness, 27th February, 1798.
“ Dear Sir, —I am persuaded you will forgive the trouble, and willgladly execute the commission I now send you, when I inform you thatalthough it is small, it is for a great lady,—no less a personage than thequeen ! It came to me through lady Jane Dundas ; and I have sent it toyou as the most proper person I know, to evince how ready you are inGlasgow to Aye in her majesty’s service ; besides, I thought a commis-sion so highly honourable, would serve to discharge the stain cast upon theancient clan of Macintosh, by the manufacturing genius of one of itscadets.
“ The whole quantity of yarn wanted is,—2 lbs. exactly like the darksample, and 2 do. do. the light, which I beg you will send to me as soon asyou can, by the Bo’ness carrier. I would like it packed in a small neatbox. If it were a gold box, I suppose her majesty would not think a bitthe worse of its contents.—Believe me ever, dear Sir,
“ Yours, truly,
The natural brother, Alexander, was taken and executed, with four others of the gang, atInverness. This ruffian, (Edward Macintosh,) seems to have lived either before or after histime. Had he lived some centuries sooner, he would, it can scarcely be doubted, have madea most admirable feudal baron; had he lived subsequent to 1832, he would most probablyhave adopted the watchwords of “ buy cheap,” and “ sell dear“ a penny saved is a pennygained—had a seat in the reformed House of Commons , and assisted in carrying out theprinciples of Adam Smith and Richard Cobden.—E d.
* John Dunlop , Esq., Collector of Customs at Bo’ness, and afterwards at Port-Glasgow ,was the father of John Dunlop , the author of the “History of Fiction,” and “Memoirs ofSpain, from 1621 to 1700.” His elder brother was himself a great tobacco merchant inGlasgow ; and his nephew, Colin Dunlop, Esq., of Tollcross, was M.P. for Glasgow , in1836 .—Ed.