cing ▁the ▁people ▁over ▁k ings ), ▁Church ▁( c oun c ils ▁over ▁Pop es ), ▁and ▁international ▁law ▁( est ab lish ing ▁the ▁human ▁rights ▁of ▁" s av ages " ▁conquer ed ▁by ▁the ▁Spanish ) ▁can ▁be ▁trac ed ▁across ▁the ▁centuries ▁and ▁appear ▁decided ly ▁modern , ▁and ▁it ▁is ▁only ▁in ▁the ▁modern ▁age ▁that ▁he ▁is ▁not ▁rout in ely ▁dismiss ed ▁as ▁a ▁sch ol astic . ▁His ▁Latin ▁style ▁did ▁not ▁help ▁– ▁he ▁thought ▁that ▁" it ▁is ▁of ▁more ▁moment ▁to ▁understand ▁ar ight , ▁and ▁clearly ▁to ▁lay ▁down ▁the ▁truth ▁of ▁any ▁matter ▁than ▁to ▁use ▁el o quent ▁language ". ▁Nevertheless , ▁it ▁is ▁to ▁his ▁writ ings , ▁including ▁their ▁dedic ations , ▁that ▁we ▁o we ▁much ▁of ▁our ▁knowledge ▁of ▁the ▁every day ▁facts ▁of ▁Major ' s ▁life ▁– ▁for ▁example ▁his ▁" short ness ▁of ▁stat ure ". ▁He ▁was ▁an ▁extremely ▁curious ▁and ▁very ▁observ ant ▁man , ▁and ▁used ▁his ▁experiences ▁– ▁of ▁earth qu akes ▁in ▁P ais ley , ▁th under ▁in ▁Glasgow , ▁storm s ▁at ▁sea , ▁e ating ▁o at c akes ▁in ▁northern ▁England ▁– ▁to ▁illustrate ▁the ▁more ▁abstract ▁parts ▁of ▁his ▁logical ▁writ ings . ▁ ▁Life ▁ ▁School ▁John ▁Major ▁( or ▁' M air ') ▁was ▁born ▁about ▁ 1 4 6 7 ▁at ▁G leg horn ie , ▁near ▁North ▁Ber wick ▁where ▁he ▁received ▁his ▁early ▁education . ▁It