THE HONOURABLE ALEXANDER (Lord Abercromby), a judge in the courts of session and judiciary in Scotland, was the youngest son of George Abercromby, of Tullibody, Esq. of a respectable family in Clackmannanshire, and was born on the 15th October 1745. Mr Abercromby was early destined for the profession of the law, and with this view Abercromby was educated at the university of Edinburgh, where he passed through the requisite course of languages, philosophy, and law, and was admitted advocate in the year 1766; but neither during the time of his education, nor for some years after he entered his professional career, did he give much promise of those eminent abilities and that assiduous application which afterwards distinguished him as a pleader and a judge. The vivacity of his disposition, and the sprightliness of his manners, led him to prefer the gayer amusements of life, and the society of men of fashion and pleasure, to the arduous profession of philosophical studies, and to the less inviting and more barren paths of legal disquisitions. When, however, either during his academical course, or the first years of his practice at the bar, occasions required the exertion of his talents, the quickness of his perception, and the acuteness and strength of his understanding, enabled him to display such powers of attention and application to business as are seldom acquired but by regular and uniform habits of industry, and by the force of constant application. But, to attain that distinction and eminence to which he aspired, and to secure that independence which the patrimony of a younger son of a family, more respectable than opulent, could not afford him, he found it necessary to withdraw from those scenes of amusement and pleasure, and to exclude himself from that society which his gaiety and agreeable manners had enlivened and entertained, and to think seriously of applying to the labours of his profession. With much credit to himself, and with undiminished vigour of mind, he threw off the character of the man of fashion, and devoting his time and talents to the toilsome detail of business as a lawyer, by his successful efforts he soon gave solid proofs of the distinguished abilities which he possessed. About this time, he was engaged as counsel in a cause in which public curiosity and opinion were much interested and divided. This cause, which was of a very intricate nature, afforded an opportunity of making a more eminent display of his professional talents. By a speech which he delivered on this occasion, conspicuous for accurate discrimination, strength of argument, and impressive eloquence, he gave a favourable preface of his future celebrity. The marks of approbation which he now received probably taught him to appreciate those talents which had hitherto remained concealed or unemployed, and encouraged him to call them forth into exertion.

In 1780, Mr Abercromby resigned the office of sheriff-depute of Stirlingshire, which he had held for several years, and accepted of that of depute-advocate, with the hope of extending his employment in the line of his profession. In this step he was not disappointed; for his reputation and business rapidly increased, and soon raised him to the first rank of lawyers at the Scotch bar. In the midst of the laborious duties of his profession, Mr Abercromby did not entirely preclude himself from indulging in the elegant amusements of polite literature. He was one of that society who sat on foot two periodical papers, the Mirror and Lounger, published at Edinburgh; the former in 1779, and the latter in 1785. To the Mirror he contributed ten papers, and to the Lounger nine. The names of the authors have been published in the late editions of these works, which renders it unnecessary to point out these papers of which Mr Abercromby was the author.

In May 1792, he was appointed one of the judges of the court of session, and in December following he was called to a seat in the court of justiciary. Lord Abercromby continued to discharge the arduous duties of these important offices till summer 1795, when he was seized with a pectoral complaint, of which he died on the 17th November the same year, at Exmouth in Devonshire, where he had gone for the recovery of his health.

As a lawyer, Lord Abercromby had acquired great reputation. His papers on law-cases were distinguished for precision and perspicuity. His speeches were elegant, animated, and eloquent. With the most pathetic feeling he pled the cause of the unfortunate; while he could assume the severe tone of virtuous indignation in rebuking injustice and oppression. With such qualifications, added to the strictest attention and punctuality, he could not fail to become an able and respectable judge. In this high station, his deportment was grave, dignified, and decided. His elocution was solemn and deliberate; and his opinions, delivered in this manner, had an impressive effect. Avoiding a detail of circumstances, and never arguing the cause as a lawyer, he pronounced with brevity and precision the opinion of a judge drawn from its striking and prominent features. His only writings are the papers in the periodical publications already alluded to. They are marked by an easy turn of expression, manly and virtuous sentiments, and, when the subject required it, by delicate irony or unaffected tenderness. (Phil. Trans. Edin.)

Sir Ralph, knight of the Bath, and a lieutenant-general in the British army, an elder brother of the preceding, was born in the year 1738. Being destined for the army, he obtained, in May 1756, a cornet's commission in the 2d dragoon guards; and rose, April 24, 1762, to the rank of a captain in the 3d regiment of horse. Ascending through the intermediate gradations of rank, he was appointed, November 3, 1781, to the colonelcy of the 103d infantry. September 28, 1787, he was promoted to the rank of major-general. November 5, 1795, he obtained the command of the 7th regiment of dragoons. Having been nearly 40 years in the army, having served with honour in two wars, and being esteemed one of the ablest, coolest, and most intrepid officers in the whole British forces, he was employed on the continent under his royal highness the duke of York, in the commencement of the present war. In the action on the heights of Cateau, he commanded the advanced guard; and was wounded at Nimeguen. He conducted the march of the guards from Deventer to Olindenaal, in the retreat of the British out of Holland, in the winter of 1794-5. In August 1795, he was appointed to succeed Sir Charles Grey, as commander in chief of the British forces in the West Indies. March 24, 1796, Grenada was suddenly attacked and taken by a detachment of the army under his orders. He afterwards obtained possession of the settlements of Demarara and Isequeibo, in South America. St Lucia was next taken by more difficult exertions, in which the ability of this eminent commander was signally displayed. St Vincent's was, by the middle of June, added to the British conquests. Trinidad, in February 1797, shared the same fate. He returned the same year to Europe, and, in reward for such important services, was invested with the red ribbon, appointed to the command of the regiment of Scots Greys, entrust- ed with the governments of the Isle of Wight, Fort George, and Fort Augustus, and raised to the high military rank of lieutenant-general. He held, for a time, the chief command of the forces in Ireland. In that command, he laboured to maintain the discipline of the army, to suppress the rising rebellion, and to protect the people from military oppression, with a care worthy alike of the great general and the enlightened and benevolent statesman. From that station he was called to the chief command of the forces in Scotland. His conduct in this distinguished appointment gave universal satisfaction. When the great enterprise against Holland was resolved upon, Sir Ralph Abercromby was called again to command, under his royal highnesses the duke of York. The difficulties of the ground, the inclemency of the season, delays, though inconvenient, yet unavoidable, the disorderly movements of the Russians, and the timid duplicity of the Dutch, disappointed our hopes of that expedition. But, by the Dutch, the French, the British, it was confessed, that even victory, the most decisive, could not have more conspicuously proved the talents of this illustrious officer. His country applauded the choice, when he was sent with an army to dispossess the French of Egypt. His experience in Holland and Flanders, and in the climate of the West Indies particularly, fitted him for this new command. He accomplished some of the first duties of a general, in carrying his army in health, in spirits, and with the requisite intelligence and supplies, to the destined scene of action. The landing, the first dispositions, the attacks, and the courage opposed to attack, the spirit with which his army appears to have been by confidence in their leader inspired, the extraordinary superiority which the British infantry under his command evinced to that which was thought the bravest and best disciplined infantry in the world, demonstrate that all the best qualities of the greatest commanders were in Sir Ralph Abercromby united—that they were all summoned forth into activity, in the glorious achievements amid which he fell.—In his private character he was modest, disinterested, benevolent, and honourable. General Lord Hutchinson, who succeeded him in the command, in the dispatches with the account of his death, has given a fine eulogium on his character as a soldier, and strongly expressive of the high estimation in which he was held by the army.—"We have sustained an irreparable loss in the person of our never sufficiently to be lamented commander in chief, Sir Ralph Abercromby, who was mortally wounded in the action, and died on the 28th of March. I believe he was wounded early, but he concealed his situation from those about him, and continued in the field, giving his orders with that coolness and perspicuity which had ever marked his character, till long after the action was over, when he fainted through weakness and loss of blood. Were it permitted for a soldier to regret any one who has fallen in the service of his country, I might be excused for lamenting him more than any other person; but it is some consolation to those who tenderly loved him, that, as his life was honourable, so was his death glorious. His memory will be recorded in the annals of his country—will be sacred to every British folder—and embalmed in the recollection of a grateful posterity." His remains were conveyed on board Admiral Lord Keith's flag ship to Malta, attended by Colonel Sir John Dyer, and were interred in the commandery of the grand master, with the highest military honours.

A monument to his memory, to be erected in St Paul's church, London, at the public expense, was voted by the house of commons. His widow has been created a peeress, and a pension of £2000 a-year for her and three lives settled on the family. (Gent. Mag.)