Frederick Niven

The Transplanted Frederick Niven

Robert Wallace was born in Glasgow in the year 1875, youngest son of Alexander Wallace, a civil engineer of that city, and of Margaret Renwick his wife. In his late twenties Robert migrated to Canada. There he was often-and increasingly with the years and their events in which he participated-looked upon as a puzzling person, but a key to his character may be provided by some preliminary concise consideration of his early days at home, for the influences of home (as a famous Canadian prime minister once remarked) are generally the "most potent" in men's lives. Robert was the third son. The eldest, named Alexander after the father, was first a lecturer and later a professor at one of the Scots universities. He was a lean, dry student whose usual remark when anyone propounded a view to him was, "That theory has been exploded," a remark additionally depressing to those who thought it was their own. Once when Robert quoted to him a passage of poetry in which he had found pleasure, Alec commented, "For every good piece of poetry you could discover I could find one better." "But if I found your better piece, what then?" Robert inquired. "In that case I would show you a better one still," Alec replied. Robert was more amused than exasperated. Somebody, he recalled, had said that reading maketh a full man; but reading, it seemed to him, could make an acrid man, and he smiled over that consideration though he did not voice it and said no more.