DALRYMPLE

DALRYMPLE, Sir David, a Scottish lawyer and judge, was born in Edinburgh on the 28th of October, new style, 1726.² His father was Sir James Dalrymple of Hailes, in the county of Haddington, Bart., auditor-general of the exchequer in Scotland, and his mother Lady Christian Hamilton, a daughter of Thomas, sixth earl of Haddington. His grandfather Sir David Dalrymple, lord advocate from 1709 to 1720, was the youngest son of James, first Viscount Stair, president of the Court of Session, and author of the Institutions of the Law of Scotland; and he is said to have been the ablest of a family of whom several, in their different capacities, civil, military, and judicial, were so eminently distinguished for ability. Sir David Dalrymple received his classical education at Eton, where he was remarkable for his proficiency in classical learning and for exemplary conduct, and where he acquired a marked predilection for English manners and customs, which adhered to him through life. From thence he went to Holland, and studied civil law at the university of Utrecht, being intended for the Scottish bar. On his return to his native country, after passing the ordinary trials, he was admitted advocate on the 24th of February 1748. Although possessing an ample fortune (his father having died on the 24th of February 1751), and attached to the pursuits of elegant literature, he was not seduced from close application to the study of a dry profession. As a barrister, however, his success was not equal to the expectations which had been formed of him; and as he did not attain any high distinction or very extensive practice in his profession, he was still enabled to pursue his favourite literary and antiquarian researches. This want of success at the bar was, it is said, chiefly owing to the circumstance of his being unfitted to shine as a public speaker, by an ill-toned voice, an ungraceful elocution, and a dryness of manner too much in contrast with the eloquence and fluency of some of his more popular brethren. The character, however, which he had secured for sound knowledge, acuteness, unwearied application, and strict probity

in his profession, made up for the want of more imposing Dalrymple attractions, and eminently fitted him for filling a judicial situation. He was elevated to the bench, and took his seat as one of the senators of the college of justice on the 6th of March 1766; and ten years later, on the 3d of May 1776, he was also appointed a lord of justice, having on the former occasion, according to the usage of the court, assumed the title of Lord Hailes, the name by which he is generally known among the learned of Europe.

As a judge of the supreme civil and criminal courts, it is here sufficient to observe, that he merited and obtained high confidence and approbation; and he is particularly remembered for the solemnity of his demeanour when it fell to him to pass sentence upon criminals. We shall therefore proceed to consider his literary character and pursuits, in which, although not ambitious of mere literary fame, he had early in life attained considerable eminence. This led to an extensive and friendly intercourse with many persons of learning and genius in England, and in the number of his correspondents were such men as Bishop Warburton, Lord Hardwicke, Dr. Percy, afterwards bishop of Dromore, T. Warton, Dr. Birch, Dr. Kippis, Bishop Hurd, and Horace Walpole.³ It may also be noticed, that the honorary distinction of doctor of laws was conferred on Sir David Dalrymple by the university of Edinburgh on the 5th of December 1760.⁴ With what assiduity he must have devoted his leisure hours to literary and antiquarian pursuits will appear from the list which is subjoined of his various publications.⁵ From this list it will be evident that the objects of his investigation may almost exclusively be referred to two distinct classes; the one connected with the history and literary antiquities of his own country, and the other with the earlier state of the Christian church; and a few remarks may be made in reference to the most important of his works in each of these classes.

His inquiries regarding Scottish history and antiquities were at first more particularly directed to objects connected with the ancient ecclesiastical and statute laws of the country. In regard to the latter of these subjects, he never carried his intentions into full effect, having left only partial "Specimens," to evince what were his intentions. His "Canons of the Church of Scotland," and "Historical Memoirs concerning the Provincial Councils of the Scottish Clergy," are tracts of great importance. But so little attention did they excite at the time, that of the first he thought proper to state, "for the benefit of those who may be inclined to publish any tracts concerning the Antiquities of Scotland, that twenty-five copies of the Canons were sold." In the disputed case of succession to the Sutherland peerage, Lord Hailes, as one of the guardians of Lady Elizabeth, the infant daughter of the last earl (and the present Duchess of Sutherland), in their name pre-

Dalrymple, in 1770, for the House of Lords, the very elaborate memorial entitled "The Additional Case of Elizabeth, claiming the title and dignity of Countess of Sutherland." In this volume, to which is affixed the names of two of her ladyship's counsel (Alexander Wedderburn, afterwards the Lord Chancellor, Earl of Rosslyn, and Sir Adam Fergusson), Lord Hailes has displayed the greatest accuracy of research in regard to the family history of the Scottish nobility, and the rules of descent in this country; while he managed the question at issue with such dexterity of argument, as not only clearly to establish the right of his pupil, but also to form a precedent at the same time for the decision of all such questions of succession in future. About the same time Lord Hailes published, anonymously, selections from George Bannatyne's manuscript collection of early Scottish poetry; a volume which displays great judgment and good taste on the part of the editor, and which is accompanied with illustrative notes not less valuable than interesting. He is somewhat severe upon Allan Ramsay, who, in 1724, had published several of the same poems, for liberties taken with the text. Ramsay's mode of publication was not such as accords with our ideas of editing early remains, as he felt no scruple in omitting or altering what he disliked or did not understand, in improving, as he thought, what required improvement. Still we do not see why, as one of the first persons to call public attention to the works of the older and neglected Scottish poets, his attempts at emendation should be visited with more severe censure than the similar or still greater liberties taken by Dr Percy in publishing his Reliques of Ancient English Poetry.

Three years later, in 1773, appeared Lord Hailes' "Remarks on the History of Scotland," consisting of nineteen chapters, each of them treating of subjects calculated (in the words of Lord Elphinstone in his "Letter" to the author) "to revive that spirit of inquiry into the antiquities of this country, which, to our shame, was almost totally extinguished; and which, if it was possible to abolish, would at once destroy the most powerful incitement to private virtue and public spirit." The "Remarks" might be considered as gleanings of the historical research which he was making at that time, and discovered his lordship's turn for minute and accurate inquiry "into knotty points" of history. This publication, whilst it displayed the candour and liberality of his judgment, prepared the public for the favourable reception of the "Annals of Scotland," the first volume of which appeared in 1776. This is a work so well known, and its value is so justly appreciated, that it would be unnecessary to enlarge upon its merits. The chronological plan adopted was somewhat novel in English history, but was not calculated for a popular work. It was, however, quite suited to the author's peculiar turn of mind; his great object being that of clearing away the fables, unsupported theories, and partial statements, of former historians. Several general histories of the country had recently been published, such as Maitland and Grainger's, and Guthrie's, whilst public attention had been in a more especial manner directed towards the subject by the writings of Robertson and Hume. The period which Lord Hailes intended to treat of began with the accession of Malcolm Canmore, in 1057, "because the History of Scotland, previous to that period, is involved in obscurity and fable;" and because he was enabled to ascertain and establish its subsequent details by the authority either of contemporary writers, or by references to public records and other original documents which had been preserved. Although the "Annals" presented no attractions of style, being devoid of all the graces and amenities of writing, yet the author's patient elaboration of minute facts and dates, his acuteness in detecting error, his strict impar-

tiality, and his scrupulous attachment to truth, excited the admiration of the great English moralist, to whom he had sent the sheets for revision, and whose opinion of the work is worthy of quotation. "It is in our language, I think," says Dr Johnson, "a new mode of history which tells all that is wanted, and, I suppose, all that is known, without laboured splendour of language or affected subtlety of conjecture. The exactness of his [Lord Hailes'] dates raises my wonder. He seems to have the closeness of Henuault without his restraint." This opinion he takes a pleasure in repeating in a subsequent letter to Mr Boswell. "Be so kind," he says, "as to return Lord Hailes my most respectful thanks for his first volume; his accuracy strikes me with wonder; his narrative is far superior to that of Henuault, as I have formerly mentioned." Again, he says, "Lord Hailes' Annals of Scotland have not that painted form which is the taste of this age; but it is a book which will always sell, it has such a stability of dates, such a certainty of facts, and such a punctuality of citation. Never before read Scotch history with certainty." On the appearance of the second volume in 1779, he says, it "lies by my bed-side; a book surely of great labour, and, to every just thinker, of great delight." Johnson, however, was not blind to its cardinal defect, namely, the dispassionate and dry statement of facts; but this he hints with a delicacy, arising no doubt from the high regard he entertained for the author's private character. "Lord Hailes' Annals of Scotland," he says, in a subsequent letter to Mr Boswell, "are very exact; but they contain mere dry particulars. They are to be considered as a dictionary. You know such things are there, and may be looked at when you please. Robertson paints; but the misfortune is, you are sure he does not know the people whom he paints; so you cannot suppose a likeness. Characters should never be given by a historian, unless he knew the people whom he describes, or copies from those who know them."

Lord Hailes' Annals terminate with the accession of the house of Stuart, in the person of Robert III. in 1370. He intended to have carried them on to the restoration of James I. in 1424; but for "various and invincible reasons," which are not stated, he left this portion to be resumed by some future historian. We have seen it mentioned, that when urged by Dr Carlyle to write the history of the house of Stuart, by continuing the Annals to the period of the union between Scotland and England, he declined such a project, alleging "he had not temper to write the annals of such men." At a later period of life he turned his thoughts to the literary history of his country, and published several sketches of lives as specimens of a Biographia Scotica; a work, he thought, which, if executed "on a large and liberal plan, would deserve approbation;" and he engaged, if others would co-operate, "to assist in the general design." The only person, we believe, who came forward on the occasion was the Earl of Buchan, but, with all his zeal and patriotism, his lordship's habit of mind presented a striking contrast when compared with the extent and accuracy of Lord Hailes' literary and biographical knowledge, in which he probably excelled all his contemporaries: the scheme accordingly was abandoned.

We may now turn to the other class of Lord Hailes' publications, which consists of those relating to the history and antiquities of the Christian church. His attention must have been led to this subject previously to the appearance of the obnoxious chapters in Gibbon's History of the Roman Empire; for no allusion to that work is contained in the notes to his account of the Martyrs of Smyrna, published in the same year, 1776. He may therefore have been the more deeply impressed with a sense of the mistakes and partialities of that splendid writer; and he certainly, in no subsequent work, loses an oppor-

tunity to expose his unfair statements in tracing the progress and establishment of Christianity during the earlier persecutions of the church. In all these publications Lord Hailes was evidently actuated by a fervent and enlightened zeal; and, by the light which he throws upon difficult passages of ancient writers, he vindicates such sentiments and conduct as are conformable to the word of God, against the insinuations of the historian of the Roman empire in its decline, and directly supports the cause of our most holy faith. His continued investigations of the subject at length, in 1786, led to the publication, in a substantive form, of his most elaborate work, entitled "An Inquiry into the secondary Causes which Mr Gibbon has assigned for the rapid Progress of Christianity." This work has too much the character of a collection of detached critical remarks; but, besides the extent of learning which it displays in common with his minor publications, it is both solid and acute in argument, and most satisfactorily establishes "that the things which Mr Gibbon considered as secondary or human causes, efficaciously promoting the Christian religion, either tended to retard its progress, or were the manifest operations of the wisdom and power of God."

His lordship's constitution had been long in an enfeebled state, and being predisposed to corpulence, his habits of studious application, and the want of regular exercise, were unfavourable for the prolongation of life; yet he attended his duty on the bench till within three days of his death, when he was attacked with symptoms of apoplexy on his way from the Court of Session, and was carried off by a second attack on the 29th of November 1792, in the sixty-sixth year of his age. Lord Hailes was twice married. By his first wife, Anne, daughter of the Honourable George Brown, Lord Coalston, he left one daughter, who still inherits the family estate. By his marriage with Helen, daughter of the Honourable Sir James Fergusson, Baronet, Lord Kilkerran, who survived him, he had another daughter, afterwards married to her cousin, the grandson of Lord Kilkerran. As Lord Hailes left no male issue, the title of baronet descended to his nephew John, eldest son of his brother John Dalrymple, formerly Lord Provost of Edinburgh.

A list of the several works of Lord Hailes, as nearly as possible in the order of publication, is here subjoined. Many of them are anonymous, and those marked † were printed merely for private distribution.

1. Sacred Poems, or a collection of translations and paraphrases from the Holy Scriptures. Edin. 1751, 12mo.

2. † Proposals for carrying on a certain Public Work in the City of Edinburgh, 8vo. No date. [1752.] This jeu-d'esprit, dedicated to "the Patron and Pattern of all Castle-builders," was a parody on the "Proposals for carrying certain Public Works," &c. written by Sir Gilbert Elliot of Minto, and circulated under the patronage of the Convention of the Royal Burghs in August 1752, which contained the first proposals for extending and improving the city of Edinburgh, which was still confined within its ancient and narrow limits.

3. The Wisdom of Solomon, Wisdom of Jesus the son of Sirach, or Ecclesiasticus. Edin. 1755, 18vo.

4. Three papers in The World; No. 140, Sept. 4, 1755; No. 147, Oct. 23, 1755; No. 204, Nov. 25, 1756.

5. A Discourse of the unnatural and vile Conspiracy attempted by John Earl of Gowrye, and his brother, against his Majesty's Person, at Saint Johnstoun, upon the 5th of August 1600. No date [1755], 12mo. This tract is the narrative published in 1600 as King James's account of the Earl of Gowrye's Conspiracy, reprinted with explanatory notes, intended to serve as a specimen of historical collections illustrative of that still mysterious

point of Scottish history. This reprint has no date, and Dalrymple is usually assigned to the year 1757; but it is mentioned in the list of new books, in the Scots Magazine for December 1755. There is another edition of the tract reprinted about the same time, but without notes. Sir David Dalrymple afterwards communicated such papers as he had collected, and explained his sentiments regarding the "Conspiracy" to Dr Robertson, which enabled him, in his History of Scotland, "to place that transaction in a light which dispels much of the darkness and confusion in which it has been hitherto involved."

6. † British Songs, sacred to Love and Virtue. Edin. 1756, 12mo.

7. Select Discourses by John Smith, late fellow of Queen's College, Cambridge. Edin. 1756, 12mo.

8. † A Sermon which might have been preached in East Lothian, on the 25th of October 1761. Edin. 1761, 12mo. Occasioned by the country people pillaging the wreck of two vessels cast away on the coast of East Lothian, between Dunbar and North Berwick. This "Sermon" is mentioned in the Scots Magazine, Nov. 1761, p. 614, where the author is styled "a gentleman distinguished no less for humanity and religion, than for politeness and learning." His object in composing this discourse was the restitution of the stolen goods. It was "printed on his own charges, and caused to be distributed in that country, not permitting a single copy to be sold;" and we are told it produced the designed effect. It was reprinted, Edin. 1794, 8vo.

9. Memorials and Letters relating to the History of Britain in the reign of James the First, published from the originals. Glasgow, 1762, 12mo. There is an enlarged edition of this volume, Glasgow, 1766, 8vo.

10. The Works of the ever memorable Mr John Hailes of Eaton, now first collected together. Glasgow, 1765, 3 vols. 12mo. Lord Hailes, in this edition, modernised the language, which Dr Johnson blamed, and blamed justly; for, says he, "An author's language is a characteristical part of his composition, and is also characteristical of the age in which he writes. Besides, sir, when the language is changed, we are not sure that the sense is the same."

11. A specimen of a book intitled Ane compendious Booke of Godly and Spiritual Sangs, &c. Edinburgh, printed by Andrew Hart [1621]. Edin. 1765, 8vo.

12. Memorials and Letters relating to the History of Britain in the Reign of Charles I. published from the originals. Glasgow, 1766, 8vo.

13. An Account of the Preservation of Charles II. after the Battle of Worcester; drawn up by himself: to which are added, his Letters to several Persons. Glasgow, 1766, 8vo. Some copies of the volume have a reprinted title-page, dated Edinburgh, 1801.

14. The Secret Correspondence between Sir Robert Cecil and James VI. Edin. 1766, 12mo.

15. A Catalogue of the Lords of Session from the Institution of the College of Justice in the Year 1532, with Historical Notes. Edin. 1767, 4to. Reprinted with additional notes by an anonymous editor. Edin. 1794, 4to. More recently it has served as the basis of a work entitled "An Historical Account of the Senators of the College of Justice, by George Brunton and David Haig." Edin. 1832, 8vo. The 1794 edition of the Catalogue of the Lords of Session is occasionally to be met with in a volume, along with Nos. 18, 19, 20, and 21 of this list, having a separate title-page: "Tracts relating to the History and Antiquities of Scotland." Edin. 1800.

16. † A Specimen of Notes on the Statute Law of Scotland. Lord Hailes, in the Scots Magazine, May 1768, announced that "for some time past he had been engaged

Dalrymple, in drawing up Notes on the Statute Law of Scotland, from the First Parliament of James I. to the Accession of James VI." requesting "the aid of the learned, and of the lovers of antiquity," and inserted a specimen of the notes. This request being complied with by only one gentleman, he reprinted the "Specimen of Notes" in an enlarged form, without date, but probably in 1768, 8vo, pp. 37, and circulated copies, addressed to such persons as were likely to afford the information and assistance which he wished.

17. † A Specimen of similar Notes on the Statute Law of Scotland during the Reign of Mary Queen of Scots. No date, 8vo, pp. 69, probably not printed till some time after No. 16. Lord Hailes appears to have contemplated some publication of the kind, even at a late period of his life. In a letter to Pinkerton, dated Sept. 28, 1790, after observing that he had no view of beginning where he had left off in the History of Scotland, he says, "Any thing that I have [collected] as to the five James's and Queen Mary, will come in properly among my notes on their acts of parliament; a work which has been long under my hands, and which I am unwilling to lose sight of."

18. The Private Correspondence of Dr Francis Atterbury, Bishop of Rochester, and his Friends, in 1725, never before published. [Edin.] 1768, 4to.

19. An Examination of some of the Arguments for the high Antiquity of Regiam Majestatem; and an Inquiry into the Authenticity of the Leges Malcolmi. Edin. 1769, 4to.

20. Canons of the Church of Scotland, drawn up in the Provincial Councils held at Perth A. D. 1242 and A. D. 1269. Edin. 1769, 4to.

21. Historical Memoirs concerning the Provincial Councils of the Scottish Clergy, from the earliest accounts to the era of the Reformation. Edin. 1769, 4to.

22. Ancient Scottish Poems, published from the MS. of George Bannatyne, 1568. Edin. 1770, 12mo.

23. † Specimen of a "Glossary" of the Scottish Language. No date, 8vo.

24. The Additional Case of Elizabeth, claiming the title and dignity of Countess of Sutherland. By her Guardians. No date [Nov. 1770], 4to.

25. Remarks on the History of Scotland. Edin. 1773, 12mo. The same year there appeared a "Letter to Lord Hailes on his Remarks on the History of Scotland," Edin. 1773, 12mo. In reply to this tract, which was written by Patrick Lord Elipbank, the author communicated in MS. to his lordship, some observations, which were first printed in the third edition of his Annals, vol. iii. p. 155, Edin. 1819.

26. Huberti Langueti Epistolæ ad Philippum Sydneum Equitem Anglum. Edin. 1776, 8vo.

27. Annals of Scotland, from the Accession of Malcolm III. surnamed Canmore, to the Accession of Robert I. Edin. 1776, 4to. This volume, along with an appendix containing eight dissertations, has tables shewing the succession of the kings of Scotland during the period embraced in the Annals.

28. Account of the Martyrs of Smyrna and Lyons in the Second Century. Edin. 1776, 12mo. This forms the first volume of the Remains of Christian Antiquity.

29. L. C. F. Lactantii Divinarum Institutionum liber quintus, sive de Justitia. Edin. 1777, 12mo.

30. Remains of Christian Antiquity [Vol. II.], containing the Trials of Justin Martyr, Cyprian, &c. Edin. 1778, 12mo.

31. Eight Papers in the "Mirror," communicated between April 1779 and April 1780, being Nos. 21, 46, 56, 62, 75, 86, 97, and 98.

32. Sermons of that eminent divine Jacobus a Vorigine, Archbishop of Genoa, translated from the originals. Edin. 1779, 12mo.

33. Annals of Scotland [Vol. II.], from the Accession of Robert I. surnamed Bruce, to the Accession of the House of Stuart. Edin. 1779, 4to. The appendix to this volume has nine dissertations. An edition of the Annals, with tracts relating to the history and antiquities of Scotland, was printed Edin. 1797, 3 vols. 8vo. A still more complete edition, comprising Lord Hailes' historical and biographical tracts, was published Edin. 1819, 3 vols. 8vo. It includes Nos. 5, 19, 20, 21, 25, and 40 to 44, of the present list.

34. Remains of Christian Antiquity [Vol. III.], containing the History of the Martyrs of Palestine in the third century, translated from Eusebius. Edin. 1780, 12mo.

35. Octavius, a Dialogue by Marcus Minucius Felix. Edin. 1781, 12mo.

36. Of the Manner in which the Persecutors died, a treatise by L. C. F. Lactantius. Edin. 1782, 12mo.

37. Disquisitions concerning the Antiquities of the Christian Church. Glasgow, 1783, 12mo.

38. Miscellaneous Remarks on The Enquiry into the Evidence against Mary Queen of Scots. Lond. 1784, 8vo. This "Enquiry" is Mr W. Tytler of Woodhouselee's well-known Vindication of Queen Mary. Lord Hailes' tract is anonymous, and was sent to Dr Kippis at London for publication, as the author was evidently not anxious to have it ascribed to him.

39. An Inquiry into the Secondary Causes which Mr Gibbon has assigned for the rapid growth of Christianity. Edin. 1786, 4to. A translation of this work into Dutch was published at Utrecht, 1793, 8vo. The original work was reprinted at Edinburgh, 1808, 12mo, and again in 1810, accompanied with a "Brief Memoir of the Life and Writings of the Author;" by the late Dr Charles Stuart of Duneearn, but whose name is not prefixed to either of these editions.

40. Sketch of the Life of John Barclay, author of Argenis. No date [1786], 4to.

41. Sketch of the Life of John Hamilton, a secular priest. No date [1787], 4to.

42. Sketch of the Life of Sir James Ramsay, a general officer in the armies of Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden. No date [1787], 4to.

43. Life of George Lesley [of Monymusk, a Capuchin friar.] No date [1787], 4to.

44. Sketch of the Life of Mark Alexander Boyd. No date [1787], 4to.

45. † Davidis Humei, Scoti, summi apud suos philosophi, de vita sua acta, liber singularis; nunc primum Latine redditus. [Edin.] 1787, 4to.

46. † Adami Smithi, LL.D. ad Gulielmum Strachanum armigerum, de rebus novissimis Davidis Humei, Epistola, nunc primum Latine reddita. [Edin.] 1788, 4to. This is a translation into Latin verse of Dr Adam Smith's letter to Strachan, giving an account of the behaviour of David Hume during his last illness, which letter is also reprinted in this tract.

47. The Opinions of Sarah Duchess Dowager of Marlborough, published from her original MSS. Edin. 1788, 12mo.

48. The Address of Q. Sept. Tertullian to Scapula Tertullus, proconsul of Africa, translated. Edin. 1790, 12mo.

49. Miscellaneous Communications to Magazines. These being anonymous, cannot be well ascertained; but there are papers by Lord Hailes in the Scots Magazine, the Edinburgh Magazine and Review, the Edinburgh Magazine and Literary Miscellany, the Gentleman's Magazine, and in various other periodical works. In the Gentleman's Magazine, vol. ix. 1790, are a series of remarks on the late edition of the Tatler, with notes, in six volumes; also,

in vol. lxi. two letters on the famous miniature, said to be of Milton, in the possession of Sir Joshua Reynolds. The Edinburgh Magazine and Review for February 1774 contains some remarks on the Latin Poems of Dr Pitcairne, by Lord Hailes. (Life of Hailes, vol. i. p. 6, note.) He was also a contributor to Kippis's edition of the Biographia Britannica.

In addition to these, Lord Hailes printed several minor tracts without titles, some of them being specimen sheets of his published works. "The Little Freeholder," a dramatic entertainment, London, 1790, 12mo, has been usually attributed to him, but, we have heard it asserted, on insufficient grounds.

Some of his letters have been printed in Pinkerton's Literary Correspondence, in Nichols' Illustrations, and in other works.

After this copious list of the publications by Lord Hailes, it is unnecessary to add any thing to what has been already stated in regard to his literary character, which united acuteness of mind and soundness of judgment with extensive learning and assiduous research. Every true lover of his country must rejoice that such a man should have devoted himself so zealously to literary pursuits, while they must revere his memory for his successful attempts to subject to the ordeal of rational criticism so many disputed points of historical research, and more particularly for having illustrated three centuries of our national history with a degree of accuracy and information which it is much easier to admire than to emulate. But as in his writings his attention was uniformly directed to promote the interests of religion and virtue, so in his conduct he was actuated by the purest principles of benevolence and fervent piety; and in the private relations of life he was all that was praiseworthy and honourable. "In a word," says the late Lord Woodhouselee, "he was an honour to the station which he filled, and to the age in which he lived." "That such a man," to use the words of an intelligent writer, "should not yet have found a biographer worthy of his merits, cannot be ascribed either to the obscurity of his character and station, or to the incapacity of his contemporaries. But Lord Hailes was a man of piety of the old stamp, and a strenuous advocate for revealed religion, and therefore did not share, as he would not have been ambitious to share, the celebrity that has been conferred on some of his countrymen of a very opposite character."¹