fined orator; but he understood the law so well,
and preserved the chastity of his character so tenderly, by avoiding
being concerned in any scandalous actions, that he was listened to with
great attention by the bench, at a time when it was filled by the most
eminent lawyers that ever appeared in Scotland."

The abilities of this able and conscientious man soon raised him to the
bench, where he discharged his duties with that high and nice sense of
integrity which can only be described by the word honour. He never mixed
party-spirit with his judgments: he lent himself to no ministerial
purposes. The dignity of the judge was preserved in his manly and
courageous character: and such was his application to business, that his
court was thronged with practitioners when those of other judges were
nearly deserted.

Arthur, his younger brother, possessed not his application, but
displayed much, nevertheless, of the natural ability of his family. "He
was not much acquainted with books; and though he was rich in repartee,
yet he never affected to reason." Such is the remark of a contemporary
writer. Yet who might not envy the clear, undisturbed intellect which
showed him, in a moment of peculiar temptation, the value of plain
dealing, and the inestimable price of a good conscience?

Some members of a family seem fated to suffer for the others. Arthur
Elphinstone was educated in the principles which brought him to the
scaffold: they were those of his father and brother, who were both
fortunate enough to preserve them in their own breasts, and yet not to
encounter trouble on that account. And, during the reign of Queen Anne
the family appear to have been deemed so well affected, as to procure
them promotion, not only in civil but military service. When very young,
Arthur Elphinstone obtained the command of a company of foot in Lord
Shannon's regiment, on the accession of George the First. His real
opinions were, however, manifested by his resignation of his commission;
and by his joining the standard of Lord Mar, under whom he commanded a
company, and served in the battle of Sherriff Muir. By throwing up his
commission, he escaped being punished as a deserter, and was allowed to
retire to the Continent. According to some accounts, he went first to
Denmark; by others it is said, that he entered at once into the French
service. He remained, at all events, twenty years in exile from his
family; but in 1733, an event occurred, which