(i2) HlSrORT of the SOCIEfr. 



AttoontofLoid of the impartial, as to imprefs convicftion, as well as to impofe 

 filence, on the cenfured. Lord Abercromby poflefled tliofc 

 virtues and accomplifhments which invefl the ftation of a Judge 

 with an authority the moil venerable and the moft perfuafive. 

 Purity of mind and of charadler, a nice fenfb of honour and 

 decorum, a delicacy of private and a dignity of pubHc deport- 

 ment ; thefe are at all times moft important qualities in a Judge ; 

 at no time perhaps fo much as at the prefent, when they are fo 

 cffential to conciliate the efteem and to command the reverence 

 of the people for the magiftracy and conftitution of their 

 country. 



To the criminal Court thofe qualities are peculiarly appropri- 

 ate. In tliat Court, the Judge is the organ of the offended ma- 

 jefty of the law ; his deportment ought to be fuited to that 

 fundlion, grave, deliberate, decided. Above the atmofphere of 

 the paflions, he may fpeak with feverity, but never with re- 

 fentment ; and his duty is too folemn and too majeftic, to ad" 

 mit of the hght or tlie frivolous, either in manner or expreilion. 

 Yet, amidft the unbending declaration of the law, and the 

 fteady decifion of its minifter, he may, and in fome cafes 

 ought to feel that dignified compaffion for human frailty, that 

 ' tempers the rigour, but does not detracft from the awfulnefs of 

 juftice. Such was the deportment of Lord Abercromby. 

 The firmnefs of his mind, and the dignity of his demeanour, 

 were particularly called forth at that momentous jundlure, when 

 the decifions of the criminal Court of Scotland vindicated the 

 laws, and upheld the conftitution, againft the daring attacks of 

 turbulence and fedition. 



The laft piece of duty which Lord Abercromby performed 

 as a Judge of the Court of Jufticiary, (immediately after the 

 admiihon of his friend Lord Craig as a colleague), was the 

 nortliern circuic in the fpring of the year 1 795. On that jour- 

 ney 



