flected on the great number of men celebrated both for greatness and goodness that have worn it. It is the same gown in which the venerable Duncan Forbes of Culloden delivered judgment-in which Kaimes, and Hailes, and Braxfield, and Monboddo, and Woodhouselee-and later, perhaps greater than all, in which Blair was clothed. * It struck me, that the Judges in the Outer Court were rather younger men than we commonly see on the Bench in an English Court of Law; but their physiognomies, and the manner in which they seemed to be listening to the pleaders before them, were in general quite as I could have wished to see them. At one end sat Lord G, brother to the excellent Historian of Greece, and Translator of Aristotle's Rhetorick and Ethics. He has at first sight an air of laziness about him, and seems as if he grudged the labour of lifting up his eyes to view the countenance of the person addressing him. But every now and then, he muttered some short question or remark, which showed abundantly that his intellect was awake to all the intricacies of the case; and I could see, that when the Advocates were done, he had no difficulty in separating the essence of the plea from all the adventitious

matter with which their briefs had instructed them to clog and embarrass it. He has a countenance very expressive of acumen, and a pair of the finest black eyes I ever saw, although he commonly keeps them half-shrouded under their lids and I have no doubt, from the mode in which he delivered himself, that he must have been a most-accomplished debater when at the Bar. At the other extremity, the greatest stream of business seemed to rush in the direction of Lord P's tribunal. This Judge has the most delightful expression of suavity and patience in his look and manner, that I ever saw in any Judge, unless it be our own venerable old Chancellor Eldon. The calm conscientious way in which he seemed to listen to every thing that was said, the mild good-tempered smile with which he showed every now and then that he was not to be deceived by any subtilty or quirk, and the clear and distinct manner in which he explained the grounds of his decision, left me at no loss to account for the extraordinary pressure of business with which this excellent Judge appeared to be surrounded. Before these two Lords it was, that all the principal causes of the morning appeared to be argued.

I happened to be standing close beside Lord P's Bar, when a pleading was going on for aliment of a natural child, at the instance of a servant-wench against an Irish student, who had come to Edinburgh to attend the Medical Classes. The native of the Emerald Isle was personally present in rear of his counsel, arrayed in a tarnished green great-coat, and muttering bitterly in his national accent. I heard him say to one near him, that he had been prevented from getting out of the way in proper time, by the harsh procedure of a grocer in Drummond Street, whose account was unpaid, and who had detained him by what he called a "meditatione fugæ warrant." The poor girl's case was set forth with great breadth of colouring and verity of detail by Mr Clerk, (a fine sagacious-looking old gentleman, of whom I shall speak anon,) and the Bar was speedily surrounded by close ranks of listeners. Mr Jeffrey, who was of counsel for the son of Erin, observed that the exceeding rapipidity with which the crowd clustered itself around did not escape my attention, and whispered to me, that cases of this kind are always honoured with an especial allowance of such honour-being regarded as elegant nugæ, or taste

The

ful relaxations from the drier routine of ordinary practice-somewhat like snatches of the BellesLettres in the midst of a course of hard reading. I could perceive, that even the grimmest and most morose-looking Men of Business would, in passing, endeavour to wedge their noses into the crowd, and after catching a few words of the pleading, would turn away grinning like satyrs, with the relish of what they had heard still mantling in their opaque imaginations. Jeffrey also told me, that Irish cases of the sort abovementioned are extremely frequent even in the Scottish courts; and, indeed, the great Philips himself seems never to enjoy the full command and swing of his powers, unless on the subject of a seduction; so that it may be said with truth of this wonderful man, and the gallant nation to which he belongs, that they mutually stand in much need of each other.

"'Tis well that they should sin, so he may shine."

P. M.

35

LETTER XXXI.

TO THE SAME.

DEAR WILLIAMS,

THE walls of this Outer House are in general quite bare; for the few old portraits hung here and there, are insufficient to produce any impression in the general view; but the Hall has lately received one very important ornament→→→ namely, a statue of the late Lord Melville by Chantry, which has been placed on a pedestal of considerable elevation in the centre of the floor. As a piece of art, I cannot say that I consider this statue as at all equal to some others by the same masterly hand, which I have seen elsewhere. I am aware, however, that it is seen to very little advantage in the situation where it is placed; and, moreover, that no statue can be seen to its utmost advantage, when it is quite new from the chisel of the sculptor. It requires some time before the marble can be made to re