I 79 3.

Account of the net produce of TAXES from Jan 5. 1786, 36.

POETRY Ode for the new year 37. Lines addreffed to Victory on Marquis Cornwal lis's fuccefs ib. Parodies of Shakespeare 38. The battle of Haftings ib. HISTORICAL AFFAIRS. France 39.-43. -England. City of London grants bounties to feamen 43. Prince of Wales's establishment reduced ib. E. India Co. on thanks to Lord Cornwallis and renewal of the charter ib. Court-mourning for the K. of France ib.

Scotland. J. Tytler fugitated 44. Trial of Morton, Anderson, and Craig ib. W. Stewart fugitated ib. New Theatre of Edinburgh opened ib. Canal between Edinburgh and Glafgow 45. Trials at Dumfries for feditious toafts ib. J. Callender fugitated ib. Magiflrates of Edinburgh vifit the court of feflion ib. Speeches of the Lord Provost and Lord Prefident ib.

LISTS. Marriages, Births, and Deaths 49. Preferments 51. Prices of Grain, Meal, Stocks, &c. 52.

S

IR DAVID DALRYMPLE was born in Edinburgh, on the 28th October N. S. 1726 His father was Sir James Dalrymple, of Hailes, Bart, and his mother Lady Chriftian Hamilton, a daughter of the Earl of Hadinton. His grandfather Sir David Dalrymple was the youngest son of the firft Lord Stair, and is faid to have been the ableft of that family, fo much diftinguished for ability. He was Lord Advocate for Scotland in the reign of George I. and his fon, Sir James, had the auditorship of the Exchequer for life.

Sir David Dalrymple was bred at Eton fchool, where he was diflinguished VOL. LV. January 1793.

as a scholar, and remarkable as a virtu ous and orderly youth; from thence he went to the university of Utrecht, where he remained till after the rebellion in 1746.

He was called to the bar at Edinburgh, 23d February 1748; where he was much admired for the elegant propriety of the cafes he drew. Though he had not attained to the highest rank as a practifing lawyer, his character for found knowledge and probity in the pro feffion was fo great, that he was appoints ed one of the Judges of the Court of Seffion in the room of, Lord Nifbet, March 6h 1766, with the warmest approbation of the public; and in May 1776, one of

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the

the Lords Commiffioners of Jufticiary, in the room of Lord Coalton, who refign ed.

He took his feat on the bench, according to the ufage of the Court of Seffion, by the title of Lord Hailes, the name by which he is generally known among the learned of Europe.

As a judge of the fupreme civil and criminal counts, he acted in the view of his country; from which he merited, and obtained, high confidence and ap probation.

But he was not only confpicuous as an able and upright judge, and a found lawyer; he was alfo eminent as a profound and accurate fcholar; being a thorough mafter of claffical learning, the Belles Let tres, and historical antiquities; particularly of his own country, to the study of which he was led by his profession.

Indefatigable in the profecution of the ftudies he cultivated, his time was fedulorfly devoted to the promotion of useful learning, piety, and virtue. Numerous are the works that have iffued from his pen, all of them diffinguifhed by uncommon accuracy, tafte, and learning.

Befides fome occafional papers, both ferious and humorous, of his compofing, that appeared in the World; and a variety of communications, critical, and biographical, in the Gentleman's Maga zine †, and other publications of like nature; he allotted fome part of his time to the illufration and defence of primitive Chriftianity.

In the year 1771, he compofed a very learned and ingenious paper, or law-cafe, in the difputed peerage of Sutherland. He was one of the Trustees of the Lady Elifabeth, the daughter of the laft Earl; and being then a judge, the names of two eminent lawyers were annexed to it. In that cafe, he difplayed the greatest accuracy of refearch, and the most profound knowledge of the antiquities and rules of defcent in this country; which he managed with fuch dexterity of argument,

Nos 140, 147, 2C4, were written by

Lord Hailes.

as clearly to establish the right of his pu• pil, and to form a precedent, at the fame time, for the decifion of all fuch queftions in future.

In the year 1773, he published a small volume, entitled, "Remarks on the Hiftory of Scotland." Thefe appeared to be the gleanings of the historical refearch which he was making at that time, and discovered his Lordship's turn for minute and accurate inquiry into doubtful points of hiftory, and at the fame time difplayed the candour and libe rality of his judgement.

This publication prepared the public for the favourable reception of the Annals of Scotland, in 2 vols 4to, the first of which appeared in 1776, and the fecond in 1779, and fully answered the expectations which he had raifed. The difficulties attending the fubject, the want of candour, and the fpirit of par ty, had hitherto prevented our having a genuine hiftory of Scotland in times previous to thofe of Queen Mary; which had been lately written, in a masterly manner, by the elegant and judicious Dr Robertfon.

Lord Hailes carried his attention to the Scottish hiftory as far back as to the acceffion of Malcolm Canmore, in 1957, and his work contains the annals of fourteen princes, from Malcolm III. to the death of David II. And happy it was that the affairs of Scotland attracted the talents of fo able a writer, who to the learning and skill of a lawyer, joined the induftry and curiofity of an antiquarian; to whom no object appears frivolous or unimportant, that ferves to elucidate his fubje&t.

Lord Hailes has fo well authenticated his work by references to hiftorians of good credit, or deeds and writings of undoubted authority; and has fo happily cleared it from fable, uncertainty, and conjecture, that every Scotfman, fince its appearance, has been able to trace back, with confidence in genuine memoirs, the hiftory of his country for 736 years; and may revere the memory of the refpectable judge, who, with indefatigable induftry, and painful labour,

has removed the rubbish under which the precious remains were concealed.

Lord Hailes, at firft, intended, as appears by an advertisement prefixed to his work, to carry down his Annals to the acceffion of James I. but, to the great difappointment of the public, he

Ropped

flopped short at the death of David II. and a very important period of our his tory ftill remains to be filled up by an able writer.

Lord Hailes's Annals of Scotland, it is believed, ftand unrivalled in the English language, for a purity and fimplicity of ftyle, an elegance, perfpicuity, and concileness of narration, that peculiarly fuit ed the form of his work; and is entire ly void of that falfe ornament, and stately gait, which makes the works of fome other writers appear in gigantic, but fictitious majefty.

In 1786, Lord Hailes came forward with the excellent Dr Watson, and other writers in England, to repel Mr Gibbon's attack on Chriftianity, and published a 4to volume, entitled, " An enquiry into te fecondary caufes which Mr Gibbon h affigned for the rapid progress of Cutianity," in which there is a great difplay of literary acumen, and of zeal for the cause he efpoufes, without the rancour of theological controverfy.

This was the laft work he fent from the prefs; except a few biographical sketches of eminent Scotsmen ; defigned as fpecimens of a Biographia Scotica, which he juftly confidered as a defideratum in our literature; and which, it is much to be regretted, the infirmities of age, increafing falt upon him, did not allow him to fupply; for he was admirably qualified for the undertaking, not only by his fingular diligence and candour, but from the uncommon extent and accuracy of his literary and biographical knowledge; in which, it is believed, he excelled all his contemporaries.

Although his Lordship's conftitution had been long in an enfeebled ftate, he attended his duty on the bench till within three days of his death, which happen ed on the 29th of November 1792, in the 66th year of his age.

His Lordship was twice married. By his first wife, Anne Brown, only daugh ter of Lord Coalfton, he left iffue one daughter, who inherits the family eftate. His fecond marriage (of which also there is iffue one daughter) was to Helen Fergufon, youngest daughter of Lord Kilkerran, who has the affliction to furvive him. Leaving no male iffue, the title of Baronet defcends to his nephew, fon of the late Lord Provost Dalrymple.

Though our church does not encou sage funeral difcourfes in general, becaufe

they are liable to much abuse, a very laudable endeavour was made, in these degenerate times, to render his Lordfhip's pre eminent tal-ats and virtues a theme of inftruction to mankind, in a fermon preached, foon after his death, in the church of Invertsk, by his learned friend, and venerable paftor, Dr Carlyle; from which we fhall tranfcribe a fum. mary view of his character as a judge, a fcholar, a Chriftian, and a citizen.

"His knowledge of the laws was accurate and profound, and he applied it in judgement, with the moft fcrupulous integrity. In his proceedings in the criminal court, the fatisfaction he gave to the public could not be furpaffed. His abhorrence of crimes, his tenderness for the criminals, his refpect for the laws, and his reverential awe of the Omniscient Judge, infpired him on fome occafions with a commanding fublimity of thought, and a feeling folemnity of expreffion, that made condemnation feem juft, as the doom of Providence, to the criminals themselves, and raised a falutary horror of crimes in the breaft of the audience.

"Conscious of the dignity and importance of the high office he held, he ne ver departed from the decorum that becomes that reverend character: which indeed it coft him no effort to fupport, because he acted from principle and fentiment, both public and private. Affectionate to his family and relations, fimple and mild in his manners, pure and conlcientious in his morals, enlightened and entertaining in his converfation; he left fociety only to regret, that, devoted as he was to more important employments, he had fo little time to spare for intercourse with them.

"He was well known to be of high rank in the republic of letters, and his lols will be deeply felt through many of their departments. His labours in illuftration of the hiftory of his country, and many other works of profound erudition, remain as monuments of his accurate and faithful refearch for materials, and his found judgement in the selection of them. Of his unfeigned piety and devotion, you have very often been witnefles where we now are. muft add, however, that his attendance on religious ordinances, was not merely out of respect to the laws, and for the fake of example, (motives which fhould never fal to have influence on perfons of fuperior rank, for the moft obvious reafons) but from prin

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ciple and conviction, and the moft confcientious regard to this duty; for he not only practifed all the virtues and charities in proof of his faith, but he demonftrated the fincerity of his zeal, by the uncommon pains he took to illustrate primitive Chriftianity, and by his elabo rate and able defences of it against its enemies.

"His profound researches into history, and his thorough knowledge of the laws, made him perfectly acquainted with the progrefs of the conftitution of Britain, from the firft dawn of liberty in the common law of the land, and the trial by jury, which precede all written records, and afterwards in the origin and establishment of parliaments through all its viciffitudes and dangers, till at last, by the bleffing of divine Providence, which brought ma ny wonderful events to concur to the fame end, it was renewed, ftrengthened, and finally confirmed by the Revolution.

"It was this goodly and venerable fabric of the British conftitution, which the deceased moft refpectable character contemplated with admiration and delight (of Jate indeed with a mixture of anxiety and fear) as the temple of piety, as the genuine fource of great happiness and freedom, to a larger portion of mankind, than ever flowed from any government upon earth.

Ill indeed can the times bear the lofs of fuch an affectionate patriot, and able guardian of the laws of his country. But we must not murmur at the will of Pro vidence, which in its mercy may have withdraws the good man from the evil to come. In mercy, I fay, to him, whofe righteous fpirit was fo deeply grieved, when he faw the wicked rage, and the people imagine a vain thing *."

Such is the memorial which, in the hour of recent forrow, followed this excellent man to the grave!

The following infcription, which appeared in the public prints, deferves pre. fervation; not for the composition, which is not ftrictly claffical, but as it fhews the high eftimation in which Lord Hailes was held by his countrymen, and as it contains a comprehentive enumeration of his talents and virtues.

* See Sermon on the death of Lord Hailes, by Alexander Carlyle, D.D. F. R. S. Edin. &c. 8vo. 1793.

VIRO HONORABILI

DAVIDI DALRYMPLE, DE HAILES,
EQUITI BARONETTO,
Uni ex Quindecemviris
Litibus judicandis;

nec non

Uni ex Septemviris
Criminibus cognofcendis,
In fupremâ apud nos curiâ,
Hoc facrum efto.

Omnibus hifce dot bus imbutas erat
Quæ judicem conftituere poffunt,
Scientia nempe juris, probitate, modeftia.
Mente femper fibi confciâ recti;
A Collegis merito defletus,
Juris-peritorum Exemplar,
Patria Ornamentum,
Virtutis et Literarum Patronus,
Religionis Chriftianæ Vindex ftrenuus;
In variis ejus operibus,

Quibus tempus femper occupavit,
Quantum Reipublicæ munus finebat,
Nunquam aliquid fcripfit

Cujus eum poftea puderet;
In arte criticâ fummum erat acumen,
Antiquitatum patriæ
Diligentiffimus investigator,
Et antiquos primæ Claffis,
Quos optimè callebat,
Die noctuque manu verfabat.
Obiit 29n0 Novemb. anno ætatis 66to,
Ab omnibus bonis in hâc incredulâ ætate
Defideratus et Defiderandus.

A lift of his Lordship's publications is fubjoined; fome of which are little known, and many of them extremely fcarce. It is not pretended to be complete, but it is believed to be nearly fo. His invaluable manufcript labours, it is earneftly hoped, will be depofited by his family in fome public library, or added to the flock of ufeful publications already in the poffeffion of the public.

Memorials and Letters, relating to the Hiftory of Great Britain, in the reign of James I. 8vo. 1765.

The Secret Correfpondence between Sir Robert Cecil and James VI. 12mo. 1766.

Memorials and Letters relating to the Hiftory of Great Britain in the reign of Charles I. 8vo. 1767.

Account of the Perfecution of Charles II. after the battle of Worcefter. 8vo. 1766.

Canons of the Church of Scotland, drawn up in the Provincial Council held at Perth, 1242. 1269. 4to.

Hiftorical Memorials concerning the

Pro