ABSTRACT
The lad o' pairts phenomenon has been an inspirational and controversial motif of Scottish history for better than half a century. Wyllie made significant and lasting contributions to nineteenth-century Hawaii that tied this small kingdom in the Pacific to the Scottish Enlightenment. This chapter seeks to connect some of the particulars of Wyllie's philosophical education to his professional life and accomplishments in the Kingdom of Hawaii. Manley Hopkins, consul general for the Kingdom of Hawaii in London and frequent correspondent of Wyllie's, wrote that, "Mr. Wyllie completed his education at the College in Glasgow by qualifying himself for the surgical profession." The great end of philosophical education, however, is not to be attained by a mere theoretical acquaintance with the mental faculties, as explained in lectures, or even by the ablest writers in this department of knowledge. Wyllie's work as Minister of Foreign Affairs has had a lasting influence both in the Hawaiian Islands and internationally.
