Mr. Forbes passed that part of the year which was unoccupied in the south by the duties of parliament, or of his office, at Bunchrew. For this place, which lies close to the sea shore, in a wood of noble trees, and is extremely beautiful and romantic, he ever retained the warmest predilection, having passed much of his youth there. When he succeeded to his brother, he preferred it as a residence to Culloden; and many years after his death, his son wrote to his factor to shew Bunchrew to Dr. Armstrong; adding, "My father always had it shewn to those whom he loved." Although the size of this place did not admit of the largest scale of improvement, still it admitted of enough to form an example; and he was, probably, one of the first persons in the north of Scotland who demonstrated what might be effected by planting, liming, draining, and inclosures; in all of which improvements he was for many years assiduous and successful ". His brother, who became a widower in 1717, was extremely anxious that he should take up his residence at Culloden, and urged many arguments to induce him to give up a separate establishment in the north country. Although few brothers have lived upon terms of such uninterrupted harmony, it is easy to perceive good reasons why this offer was declined: there is something extremely fascinating in independence, however humble; and Mr. Duncan Forbes, probably, saw that the separation of a few miles would add mutual pleasure to the enjoyment of their society, instead of tending any way to cool their friendship. Of the manner in which the two brothers lived, we have a very good idea, from the narrative of an officer, whose letters have been published under the title of "Letters from a Gentleman in the North of Scotland to his Friend in London," &c. This gentleman, though extremely sarcastic, is yet generally very correct in his delineations: his account, most probably, was written a short time previous to the year 1730:

"There lives in our neighbourhood, at a house or castle, called Culloden, a gentleman whose hospitality is almost without bounds. It is the custom of that house, at the first visit, or introduction, to take up your freedom by cracking his nut (as he terms it); that is, a cocoa shell, which holds a pint, filled with champaign, or such other sort of wine as you shall choose. You may guess, by the introduction, at the contents of the volume. Few go away sober at any time; and for the greatest part of his guests, in the conclusion they cannot go at all.

"This he partly brings about by artfully proposing, after the public healths (which always imply bumpers), such private ones as, he knows, will pique the interest

31 It may tend to shew the decline of agriculture in Scotland before this period, to state the fact, that, though Boethius mentions the country around Inverness as fertile in wheat, the author of the Letters from the North of Scotland says, "that a wheat-field would be as great a rarity as a nightingale in any part of Scotland, or a cat-a-mountain in Middlesex." At present, the most luxuriant crops of wheat, as well as of other sorts of corn, are produced around Inverness.

or

or inclination of each particular person of the company whose turn it is to take the lead, to begin it in a brimmer; and he himself being always cheerful, and sometimes saying good things, his guests soon lose their guard, and then-I need say no more."

In another part of the same letter he writes: "This laird keeps a plentiful table, and excellent wines of various sorts and in great quantities; as indeed he ought; for I have often said, that there was as much wine spilt in his hall as ought to content a moderate family."

And in another letter he writes: "I shall now return to the neighbouring country. Here are but two houses of any note within many miles of us, on this side the Murray firth; one is the house of Culloden, which I have mentioned in a former letter.

"This is about two miles off, and is a pretty large fabric, built with stone, and divided into many rooms, among which the hall is very spacious.

"There are good gardens belonging to it, and a noble planted avenue, of great length, that leads to the house; and a plantation of trees about it.

"This house (or castle) was besieged, in the year 1715, by a body of the rebels; and the laird being absent, in parliament, his lady baffled all their attempts with extraordinary courage and presence of mind.

"Near adjoining are the parks; that is, one large tract of ground, surrounded with a low wall of loose stones, and divided into several parts by partitions of the same. The surface of the ground is all over heath, or as they call it heather, without any trees; but some of it has been lately sown with the seed of firs, which are now grown about a foot and half high, but are hardly to be seen for the heath". The other house I spoke of, is not much further distant from the contrary side of the town, and belongs to the younger brother of the gentleman above mentioned. He is Lord Advocate, or Attorney-General for Scotland; it is a good old building, but not so large as the other; and near it there is a most romantic wood, whereof one part consists of great heights and hollows; and the brush-wood at the foot of the trees, with the springs that issue out of the sides of the hills, invite the woodcocks, which, in the season, are generally there in great numbers, and render it the best spot for cock shooting that ever I knew. Neither of these houses are to be seen from any part near the town.

"The gentleman of whose house I have last been speaking, were it not for a valetudinary state of health, and the avocations of his office, would be as highly

32 Seventy years after this letter was written, this wood was worth upwards of £10,000 sterling: some of the trees sold for five guineas.

pleased

pleased to see his friends about him at table, and over a bottle, as his hospitable brother 33"

tour.

34

In 1729, Mr. Forbes was so fortunate as to engage in his service, as tutor to his son, Mr. Patrick Murdoch, who has since been known to the public by his Genesis Curvarum Newtoni per umbras-and other mathematical works, and a life of Mr. James Thomson ; with whom he long lived upon the most intimate terms. With this gentleman young Mr. John Forbes 35 was sent abroad; and, after some residence at Orleans and Montauban, went to Rome, and completed what is usually termed the grand The friendship of the tutor and pupil remained unimpaired through life; and the former having obtained the living of Stradeshall, in Suffolk, through the friendship of Mr. Vernon, whose son he accompanied on his travels, had the satisfaction of receiving for many years the long and frequent visits of his first pupil, and of superintending the early education of his eldest son, Duncan Forbes, in his own vicinity; a youth who gave such a decided promise of eminence, that his premature death, after he had completed his studies at Harrow, was never mentioned by Dr. Sumner, the head master, without tears-Si qua fata aspera rumpas,—tu Marcellus eris.

Some time after Mr. John Forbes's return to England, he received, without solicitation, a commission from the Duke of Argyll in the Royal Regiment of Horse Guards, with which corps he served, with the greatest credit as an honourable and very brave officer, at Dettingen 36 and Fontenoy; at which last battle his horse was shot under him :—he was likewise present at the battle of Culloden.

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Though Mr. Duncan Forbes had hitherto lived in the society of men distinguished for rank and talents; and though the education of his son, and his frequent change of residence, must have been highly expensive; his regular income, independent of his

33 It is certain, that this gentleman did not exaggerate the hospitality of Culloden castle. A hogshead of wine was kept constantly on tap near the hall door for the use of all comers; and it appears, in the account books of President Forbes, that, for nine months' housekeeping in his family, the wine alone cost a sum which, at the present price of that article, would amount to upwards of £2,000 sterling.

34 Thomson, as appears from the sale catalogue of his effects after his death, enjoyed at last a degree of ease and luxury seldom the lot of poets. His house was well provided with furniture, plate, books, and a good collection of prints; and his cellar was stored with burgundy, red port, old hock, mountain, madeira, rhenish, and Edinburgh and Dunbar ale. Some of these lots were, probably, presents: we know one of them to have been a present from the President's son.

35 It appears, that Mr. Murdoch and his pupil rode to London. Mr. Duncan Forbes generally made that journey on horseback, summer and winter; as, indeed, almost all the Scotch members did. It is said, that John Duke of Argyll used to strap up the skirts of his coat round his waist, and dash through on horseback in the worst storms of winter.

36 The Blues certainly did not add to their former high reputation at Dettingen (as they did at Fontenoy), owing to some mistake or surprise; but Mr. John Forbes, who carried one of the standards, was universally allowed by the army to have conducted himself, even in such circumstances, with uncommon courage, and singular coolness and propriety.

10

business,

business, amounted to no large sum: his situation in this respect was improved in the winter of 1734 by the death of his brother, who, after a tedious illness, died of a complaint in his bowels, in Edinburgh. By this event Mr. Forbes lost a most affectionate friend; one who was by all his acquaintances esteemed a truly upright man, of considerable talents and knowledge of the world, and who had on all occasions acquitted himself, both in public and private life, as an enlightened and worthy member of society. As we find him at Brussels upon his travels, and his own master, in 1692, it is probable that he was upwards of 12 years older than his brother. He seems to have pushed his hospitality and conviviality to an excess which must have been sometimes burthensome to one who had to pass much of his life in his society; but, in this respect, the usual propriety of his brother's conduct did not forsake him: for while he, on one hand, shunned every excess unsuitable to his character and official rank; on the other, he avoided making his too rigid abstinence from convivial pleasures a satire upon the opposite mode of living at Culloden: he was, indeed, a friend to a cheerful glass, till near the close of his life, when his health became seriously impaired.

The estates to which he succeeded by this event 37 were ample and improveable; but, though Mr. John Forbes had not disposed of any part of the inheritance 38, he left it somewhat incumbered with debt; and his successor (who was no great economist, and, indeed, had little opportunity to economise) did not render those debts lighter, although he received several legacies.

Among the last events which grew into importance while Mr. Forbes filled the place of Lord Advocate, was the execution of Captain Porteous in Edinburgh, 7th September 1736, by a mob of persons, not one of whom could ever be brought to justice. This affair was, in itself, of no great moment; but, when connected with the intrigues and designs of the Jacobites, it drew upon the Government an appearance of contemptible imbecility, to which it was determined not tamely to submit; and in the steps which were taken to vindicate its authority, it must be owned that policy or resentment, rather than justice, seems to have directed the measures of Ministry. A bill in parliament, containing severe penalties against the city of Edinburgh, was the consequence of that determination: this was vigorously opposed by many of the English and all the Scotch members, and at last carried by a majority of only one. Mr. Arnot, in his History of Edinburgh, informs us, that even this

37 Upon succeeding to the estate of Culloden, Mr. Forbes began improvements such as he had before carried on at Bunchrew. Among the rest, he established a manufacturing village of twenty families, and was at the expense of the machinery of each family: this village flourished till after his death.

38 It may be the best mode of giving an idea of the value of these estates, to say, that they consisted of from 3,000 to 4,000 arable acres of good soil, and in a populous country and mild climate; besides the privilege of distilling whisky almost duty-free in Ferintosh, and several mills, salmon-fishings, and pasture grounds of great value.

would

would not have been the case, had not the Lord Chancellor " detained two Scotch members, who were employed in an appeal cause in the House of Lords, and so prevented their voting. This is hardly credible in such a man as Lord Hardwicke ; but, if true, shews to what a height party spirit had arisen. As to the justice of the penalty inflicted upon the city of Edinburgh, perhaps it may be best estimated by asking the question (which was put by Lord Polwarth), whether such severity would have been exercised against any of the principal towns of England for such an affair as that alleged, without any proof of criminality against the magistrates of Edinburgh?

40

This transaction was likewise attended by a disagreeable circumstance to the Scotch judges; three of whom were forced to attend at the bar of the House of Lords in their robes, notwithstanding a very strenuous attempt to obtain for them a seat next to the English judges within the bar.

Sir Hew Dalrymple, of North Berwick, after having presided over the Court of Session for near 40 years, died in 1737 in extreme old age. Mr. Forbes" had been long looked upon as his successor; and (as Lord Hardwicke states in his letter) the voice of

39 How differently Lord Hardwicke generally acted, may be inferred from the quotation of his biographer: "Etiam quos contra statuit, equos et placidos dimisit."

4° Mr. Forbes interested himself with great ardour on behalf of the antient capital of Scotland, and concluded one of his speeches in the following words:

"Shall, then, the metropolis of Scotland, the residence of such an illustrious race of kings, who made it their greatest glory to dignify this noble city, be stript of her most valuable privileges, her guards and gates, for the sake of some unknown offenders; and a Scotchman calmly behold the havoc? I glory, my lords, to withstand so rigorous a procedure, and judge it my greatest honour to stand up in defence of my native country, when it is exposed to loss and infamy." His exertions tended greatly to get the severity originally intended mitigated in the bill which was passed.

41 When Mr. Forbes produced his letter, appointing him Lord President, joy was visible upon every face. The Faculty of Advocates waited upon him in a body, to congratulate him on his advancement, and to thank him for his conduct as Lord Advocate. He is said to have repeated twice, with ardour, the oath of administering justice impartially, so much did his heart go with that part of his engagement; and ever afterwards, he made it a rule, to bring every proper feeling into the breasts of his brethren on the bench, when deciding any cause in which he suspected prejudice, by saying, in the most solemn and impressive manner, "By God's grace, I shall give my thoughts sincerely, and your lordships will judge in this matter as you will be answerable to God."

He likewise had the satisfaction of being able to restore a greater degree of decorum upon the bench than had been usual during the preceding presidency. The warmth with which the judges differed from each other may, indeed, be cited as a proof of the sincerity with which they delivered their opinions; but as these public disputations (for of such they had the appearance) seldom or never created a surrender of the tenets originally held by any party, it is certain that great good did not result from them. A calm delivery of opinions, and the grounds for forming them, instructs the parties concerned, without hurting the decorum so essential to the respectability of any court.

No man could shew greater patience and attention in hearing pleadings than Mr. Forbes did, or greater humanity and feeling; his voice was seldom heard until the period of decision; for he esteemed the maxim,

Vox judicis nimium interloquentis est campana malè sonans.

the