estates (during his own absence) to Mr. Forbes, which has probably given rise to the assertion, in some publication, that he acted as factor" for this nobleman; a situation (according to the acceptation of the word in Scotland) totally inconsistent with his views and habits of life, and which, it is probable, no consideration could have induced him to accept; and it is a fact, that the same friendship, which led him at first to give his advice and assistance in the absence of this noble proprietor, induced him to continue his exertions in the same line, and to the same extent, after he had risen to the first legal situations in the kingdom.

To his profession, therefore, he had chiefly to look for the means of his immediate expenditure; for although his brother was both rich and generous, yet a spirit of proper independence made him ever unwilling to be burdensome even to one whose greatest pleasure consisted in sharing his fortune with him; and his patrimony, although it might sound largely when counted in the merks or pounds of Scotland, yet, when reduced to sterling money, did not exceed an inconsiderable sum: the pride or prudence of the Scotch gentry having always strongly biassed them to sacrifice the comfort of the younger branches of their families to the splendour of the heir.

As Mr. Forbes, however, was allowed the first rank for eloquence at the bar, was extensively employed both in his practice before the Court of Session and afterwards before the House of Lords, had a natural turn for expense, and lived in the best company, we may infer that his emoluments were considerable; and we may be certain, that in the successful pursuit of a lucrative profession with unrivalled eclat, he felt the 'most agreeable sensation experienced by men of talents, that of owing little to interest or friends; for even friendship will not go the length of risking much for the sake of conferring the trifling obligation of a short employment; and though interest may elevate a practitioner to the bench, it cannot be supposed to assist him much at the bar. With the means of his livelihood greatly depending on his own exertions, he was not prevented from entering into the matrimonial state: hẹ had been an admirer of the daughter of Hugh Rose, of Kilravock, in his own youth, and almost from her infancy; and the vicinity of the residence of the lady to Culloden must have afforded them frequent opportunities of improving their acquaintance. Though her family was among the most ancient, and the estates of her father ample, it is not probable that she added much to the pecuniary resources of her husband; but we have convincing proofs that she brought beauty and accomplish.

16 The Duke of Argyll proffered to him the management of his estate in Scotland. This Mr. Forbes readily accepted; but declined taking any pension or reward, though he might have made £600 yearly by it. Vide Memoir prefixed to his Works..

ments,

ments, which were all that he desired; with this lady, however, he was not long blessed; for she died young at no distant period after their marriage ".

The death of Queen Anne, in 1714, opened the succession of the crown to the House of Hanover; and George the 1st lost no time in securing the possession of the government. The feeble and tardy efforts of the son of James the 2d created far less sensation than might have been expected, from the fairness of the opportunity, the number of his adherents, and the unpopular severity of some of the recent measures of ministry, both in England and Scotland. The standard of rebellion

17 This Lady, whose name was Mary, left him his son and successor John Forbes. She is much celebrated by a poet called J. Colme, who seems to have gained a livelihood by writing laudatory pieces in English and Latin verse.

Mr. Forbes did not marry after her death.-The present Mrs. Rose, of Kilravock, a lady possessing great literary and musical, as well as the more usual female accomplishments, favoured us with the following information: "His Lordship (the President) was not only an honour to his family, but to the human species; and we venerate, here, even a grey rock in the wood, where he used sometimes to meet his lady, on whom he made the beautiful verses beginning

"Ah, Chloris! could I now but sit

As a specimen of Mr. Forbes's many admirers in Scotland.

As unconcern'd as when

Your infant beauty could beget

No happiness nor pain, &c."

abilities for light versification, we give the rest of this song, which gained

was, however, at last erected; and for some time the affairs of Scotland bore a fluc tuating and dubious appearance. The prince, for whose claim the rebellion was undertaken, made a late effort to reanimate his adherents by his presence, and a rapid and inglorious retreat; leaving his friends to the vengeance of their enemies. The silence of the laws amidst the din of arms has long been proverbial; but at this period they do not seem to have been attended to, even after the return of tranquillity. Many of those Scotchmen accused of joining in the rebellion were hurried off to England, there tried by English laws and juries, and the sentences of many executed with rigour. This epoch formed a very important one in the life of Mr. Duncan Forbes: the activity, the zeal, and courage of both himself and his brother, have been always acknowledged to have conduced much to the speedy suppression of the revolt in Scotland. They were greatly instrumental in securing the town of Inverness and the neighbouring country for government. The castle of Culloden " had been besieged, and was defended by the lady " of the proprietor during his absence in parliament, with a degree of intrepidity seldom equalled, even without considering the sex of the person attacked; and Mr. John Forbes had, moreover, expended £3000. sterling of his own fortune in the service of government, without receiving the smallest repayment. The services of his brother were known, and met with the applause of all the friends of the House of Hanover, as well as the public acknowledgments of feveral corporations. These circumstances, probably, suggested the propriety of proffering the office of Deputy Lord Advocate to him: an appointment which, by at once drawing him forward into public notice and approbation, secured his future elevation in life; it might indeed be called the tide "which, taken at the full, led on to fortune;" and we cannot suppose that Mr. Forbes was insensible of the danger attending the neglect of such an occasion: he possessed feelings, however, which would not allow him to attend to the suggestions of interest, when his conscience was dissatisfied: as

18 Lord Lovat gained great applause and rewards from Government, for his activity and courage in keeping the north country on the part of the houfe of Hanover in 1715-16. But Mr. Shaw informs us, in his History of Moray, that the Jacobite troops were expelled from Inverness by Hugh Rose, of Kilravock, whose brother was slain in the expedition: it was (he says) afterwards garrisoned by Kilravock and Culloden.

The dismantling of the citadel of Inverness by Charles II. greatly assisted the plans of the rebels, both after the Revolution, and in 1715 and 1745. This was a step which clearly shews the selfish policy of Charles II.; who, provided he gained the good-will of the clans, easily confented to dispense with the authority of the laws (which could not be maintained without force), and to leave the Highlands to anarchy and rapine. In return for this, he counted, no doubt, upon the help of the clans in forwarding his own. plan of government elsewhere. The citadel was a neat small pentagon, constructed by order of Oliver Cromwell: upon the ramparts his standard displayed the word " EMANUEL," in golden letters.

19 This lady was a daughter of Gordon of Gordonstown, Baronet.

the

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the Lord Chancellor Erskine has since so beautifully expressed himself, he made it a rule "always to do what his conscience told him to be his duty, and to leave the consequences to God;" and, like that illustrious nobleman, he found it the road to prosperity. He for a long time refused the office, which was pressed upon him; and at last accepted it only through the earnest intreaties of his friends, and particularly of Lord Ilay. It is, indeed, probable, that his final acceptance of the deputation (12th March 1716) from Sir David Dalrymple, the Lord Advocate, was owing to his finding that the duties were not entirely for the purpose for which it was understood that the office was to be filled; viz. the prosecution of the persons confined on account of the rebellion. It is certain, that he considered the act of sending the accused out of Scotland for trial as highly illegal; and that he contributed largely himself, and used his influence with his friends to obtain money for the use of the Scotch prisoners at Carlisle; considering every man as innocent before conviction; and that it was a disgraceful thing for a Scotchman to behold, without assisting, so many countrymen in poverty and misery, when the defence of their lives, and of the fortunes of their families, required pecuniary aid.

The natural desire of self-preservation has, in every state, made the highest penalties attach to high treason, or the rebellion of the subject against the government. This crime, in point of moral turpitude, is, notwithstanding, of far less deep a dye, than many others for which trivial punishments are appointed. In the case of the rebellion of 1715, many allowances might reasonably be made for the persons who revolted against a government hardly clothed with possession, erected contrary to the expectations of those who were best acquainted with the designs of the former sovereign, and upon principles which would, at no remote period, have subjected the person promulgating them to the pains of high treason ". Though we detest the

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tyranny, and

20 Mr. Erskine, upon some important trial, had been desired by Judge Buller to sit down. This command produced the following answer, which every person entering upon life ought to contemplate :—

My lord, I will not sit down-your lordship may do your duty; but I will do mine. It was the first command and counsel of my youth, always to do what my conscience told me to be my duty, and to leave the consequences to God. I shall carry with me the memory, and, I trust, the practice of this parental lesson to the grave; I have hitherto followed it, and have no reason to complain that my obedience to it has been even a temporal sacrifice; I have found it, on the contrary, the road to prosperity and wealth, and I shall point it out as such to my children."

21 Even at so distant a period as 1718, commissions of Oyer et Terminer were opened at Perth, Dundee, Kelso, and in Fifeshire, to enquire into the treasons of 1715. The grand juries, however, did not forward the views of those instituting these measures (notwithstanding that lawyers were sent from London to support the prosecutions), and shewed a spirit of independence honourable to Scotland, and probably not looked for. In treating of some periods of our history, we might add to such a fact, “incredibile di&tu !”

despise

despise the feeble and unworthy system of the Stuarts, still we cannot accuse of blindness men who could not behold, in the new plans of government, the results of freedom and vigour, which have for a century been enjoyed by these kingdoms,. and elevated them to a state of glory, prosperity, and happiness, unlooked for by the most zealous advocate for the expulsion of the family of Stuart.

The conduct of Mr. Forbes, as might be expected, did not fail to draw upon him, in Scotland, the accusation of being secretly a Jacobite: it is possible, indeed, that a tenor of behaviour so little known before, might baffle even the zeal of most of his friends in his defence; for the invariable examples of nearly two centuries of civil discord, fomented by men without humanity or conscience, could present no action from which to draw a comparison. He likewise ran the risk of greater injury, from being misunderstood and misrepresented at court, where perfect subserviency has been too often marked by sycophants as the test of real zeal. A little time, however, put an end to the outcry; and he had the satisfaction of knowing, that he had to the utmost done his duty to his sovereign, without incurring the blame of any party.

Although for nearly 30 years after the suppression of the rebellion, in 1716, the adherents of the house of Stuart made but a single effort in arms (viz. that in 1719, which terminated with the battle of Glensheal) to disturb the reigning family, still a constant correspondence, and the missions and intrigues of many designing men, kept the vigilance of government continually excited. The situation of Mr. Forbes caused him to be particularly employed in observing and reporting the conduct of the mal-contents; and he had the address to detach many from the dangerous courses into which they were seduced. His influence and persuasion were constantly employed; and he continued to communicate them, through the intervention of friends, in many cases when it would not have been consistent with the office which he held to have appeared personally interested so much more congenial to his nature was it to reclaim, than to punish.

In 1722 he obtained a seat in Parliament for the Inverness district of boroughs, which had been long represented by his brother". The Duke of Argyll had, before this return, offered to procure his election for a district of boroughs under his own. influence: the prospect of the Inverness return, probably, prevented this offer from being accepted. He continued representative for the Inverness district till 1737, when he was made resident of the Court of Session. In 1725, Mr. Forbes was appointed to the office of Lord Advocate; a place to which, at that time, a salary of from £500

22 This election was contested by Gordon of Ardoch, who, owing to some trick or partiality, was returned; but Mr. Forbes obtained redress, and, upon petition to the House of Commons, was declared duly elected.

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