Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Bisset, Robert
BISSET, ROBERT, LL.D. (1759–1805), biographer and historian, born in 1709, was master of an academy in Sloane Street, Chelsea. He published, in 1796, a ‘Sketch of Democracy,' 8vo, the aim of which was to show, by a survey of the democratic states of ancient times, that democracy is a vicious form of government. His next work was a ‘Life of Edmund Burke, comprehending an impartial account of his Literary and Poetical Efforts, and a Sketch of the conduct and Character of his most eminent Associates, Coadjutors, and Opponents,' 1798, 8vo. In 1800 he published a, novel, entitled ‘Douglas, or the Highlander,’ 4 vols. 12mo, Another novel, entitled ‘Modern Literature,' 3 vols, 12mo, appeared in 1804; and in the same year he published his ‘History of George III to the Termination of the late War,’ in six volumes, 8vo. He died in 1805, and his death is said to have been caused by ‘chagrin under embarrassed circumstances. An edition of the ‘Spectator,' in eight volumes, was edited by Bisset in 1796. Two anonymous tracts in the library of the British Museum, (1) ‘A Defence of the Slave Trade,' 1804, 8vo, (2) ‘Essays on the Negro Slave Trade,’ 8vo (1805?), are attributed, in manuscript notes on the title-pages, to Bisset.
[Gent. Mag. lxxv. 494; Watt's Bibl. Brit]