A statue of David Hume with a comment he made on race in the 18th century HE is generally reckoned to be Scotland’s greatest philosopher and one of the world’s leading thinkers. But before the rise of Black Lives Matter and the toppling of statues, it is likely that few Scots suspected David Hume was guilty of making racist statements. The author of a A Treatise of Human Nature and An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding was one of the greatest figures of the Scottish Enlightenment, but once wrote a footnote to an essay stating “I am apt to suspect the negroes, and in general all the other species of men … to be naturally inferior to the whites.”
WHAT’S THE STORY? IT was 60 years ago tomorrow that France voted in a referendum to allow the people of Algeria to determine their own future, with the likelihood being that the Algerians would then vote for independence. The referendum was decisive. On a turnout of more than 90% in France, the vote was 75% in favour of self-determination, while in Algeria some 69.5 % voted the same way, though the turnout was less due to a boycott.
WHY A REFERENDUM? THE French people had been used to referendums, though their usage since the Revolution had mainly been under the name of “consultations”. After the Second World War, however, France’s leader General Charles de Gaulle used two referendums to legitimise his Fourth Republic that lasted from 1946 to 1958. In that latter year he had arguably his greatest political triumph when his constitution for the Fifth Republic was overwhelmingly approved in a referendum, gaining 82.6% of the votes on a turnout of 80%.
The Stone of Destiny has sat in Edinburgh Castle since 1996 THE Stone of Destiny is to be moved from Edinburgh Castle to the city of Perth near its original home of Scone, it has been announced by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. After a public consultation exercise showed an overwhelming majority in favour of the move, the Stone of Destiny – stolen by King Edward I of England from Scone in 1296 – will form the centrepiece of the refurbishment of Perth City Hall due for completion in 2024. The move of the Stone to Perth City Hall is a trifle ironic as councillors and officials at Perth and Kinross Council wanted to demolish the Hall some years ago.
AS we saw a fortnight ago, many of Glasgow’s people were vehemently opposed to the Union of 1707 and demonstrated passionately against it. Yet the parcel of rogues got their way and on May 1, 1707, Glaswegians and every other citizen of Scotland faced the reality of the new incarnation of the unitary state that became known as the United Kingdom. The following year, Glasgow joined with Dumbarton, Renfrew and Rutherglen to elect the city’s first Member of Parliament, representing the Clyde or Glasgow Burghs as the seat was known. Elect is probably the wrong word as the franchise was confined to a few leading figures in each burgh, and to nobody’s surprise the Provost of Glasgow, the merchant Robert Rodger, was duly appointed the first MP for Glasgow. That he was the commissioner (returning officer) for the constituency caused no protests about a conflict of interest. After all, as Roger said, he “accepted this commission at the desire of the town – without any vi