Moray Place.] LORD JEFFREY. 203
Morrison as a suspected person, and you will not
liberate him without a communication with me ;
and you may inform him of these, my orders.
And further, I shall do all I can to prevent him
from receiving any compensation from any part of
his property which may either be destroyed by the
euemy or the King?s troops to prevent it falling
into their hands.?
In the debate that ensued, Fox and Pitt took
animated parts, and Charles Hope ably defended
himself, saying that had Mr. Whitbread made such
an accusation against him in Edinburgh, ?there
would be IOO,OOO tongues ready to repel the
charge, and probably several arms raised against
him who made it.? He described the defenceless
state of the country, and the anomalous
duties thrown upon the Lord Advocate since
the Union, after which the Privy Council, Lord
Chancellor, and Secretary of hate, were illegally
abolished, adding that Momson was influenced by
the Chairman of the ? Society of Friends of Universal
Liberty,? in Portsoy, one of whose favourite
measures was to obstruct and discourage the formation
of volunteer corps to repel the expected
invasion.
Pitt spoke eloquently in his defence, contending
that ?great allowances were to be made for an
active and ardent mind placed in the situation of
Advocate-General.? He voted for the order of the
day, and against the original motion. When the
House divided, 82 were for the latter, and 159
against it ; majority, 77.
On the death of Sir David Rae of Eskgrove, in
1804, he was appointed Lord Justice Clerk, and
ou taking his seat addressed the Bench in a concise
and eloquent speech, which was long one of the
traditions of the Court. During seven years that
he administered justice in the Criminal Court,
his office was conducted with ability, dignity, and
solemnity.
On the death of the Lord President Blair, in
1811, Charles Hope was promoted in his place,
and when taking his seat, made 9 warm and pathetic
panegyric on his gifted predecessor, and
the ability with which he filled his station for a
period of thirty years is still remembered in the College
of Justice. He presided, in 1820, at the special
commission for the trial of the high treason cases
in Glasgow and the West; and sixteen years afterwards,
on the death of James Duke of Montrose,
K.G., by virtue of an act of parliament, he was ap
pointed Lord Justice-General of Scotland, and as
such, having to preside in the Justiciary Court, he
went back there after an absence of twenty-five
years. At the proclamation of Queen Vi<toria he
wore the robes of Lord Justice-General. He died
and was succeeded in office, in 1841, by the Right
Hon. David Boyle of Shewalton; and his son
John, who in that year had been appointed Lord
Justice Clerk, after being Dean of Faculty, also
died at Edinburgh in 1858.
No. 24 Moray Place was fie last and long the town
residence of Lord Jefiey, to whom we have had
often to refer in his early life elsewhere. Here it
was, that those evening reunions (Tuesdays and
Fridays) which brightened the evening of his life,
took place. ?Nothing whatever now exists in
Edinburgh that can convey to a younger generation
any impression of the charms of that circle. If
there happened to be any stranger in Edinburgh
worth seeing you were sure to meet him there.?
The personal appearance of the first recognised
editor of the Edinburgh Review was not remarkable
His complexion was very swarthy; his features were
good and intellectual in cast and expression ; his
forehead high and lips firmly set. He was very
diminutive in stature-a circumstance that called
forth innumerable jokes from his friend Sydney
Smith, who once said, ?? Look at my little friend
JefTrey ; he hasn?t body enough to cover his mind
decently with ; his intellect is indecently exposed.?
On another occasion, Jefiey having arrived unexpectly
at Foston when Smith was from home,
amused himself by joining the children, who were
riding a donkey. After a time, greatly to the delight
of the youngsters, he mounted the animal,
and Smith returning at the time, sang the following
impromptu :-
?Witty as Horatius Flaccus,
Great a Jacobin as Gracchus,
Short, but not as fat as Bacchq
Riding on a little Jackass 1 ?
His fondness for children was remarkable. He
was never so happy as when in their society, and
was a most devoted husband and father.
He was Dean of Faculty, and prior to his elevation
to the Bench, when he came to 24 Moray
Place, had some time previously resided in 92
George Street. Deemed generally only as a crusty
and uncompromising critic, he possessed great goodness
of heart and domestic amiability. In his
latter years, when past the psalmist-appointed term
of life, he grew more than ever tendex-hearted and
amiable, praised nursery songs, patronised mediocrities,
and wrote letters that were childish in their
gentleness of expression. ?? It seemed to be the
natural strain of his character let loose from some
stem responsibility, which made him sharp and
critical through all his former life.?
In their day his critical writings had a brilliant
