Quotes by John Hill Burton

"A great library cannot be constructed; it is the growth of ages."

"Scott saw its ludicrous proportions; and it is likely that posterity will remember the Pictish question in the discussion between Monkbarns and Sir Arthur Wardour after the volumes of Whitaker, Goodall, Pinkerton, Chalmers, Ritter, and Grant have been long entombed in their proper shelves."

"In historical literature, Scotland has taken the lead of every other European country. This makes it not a little remarkable, that no continuous and complete national history has been attempted until very recently. The contributions of Robertson, Pinkerton, Laing, Hume, and we may add to the list, McCrie, Cook, and others, refer chiefly to insulated periods, more or less interesting; and allowing for the prejudices and predelictions of some of the writers, they all form either valuable portions, or amusing fragments of the Scottish annals."