xxxvi 



MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOK. 



fix upon a character wliicli possessed to so great an extent 

 those qualities, which are more frequently looked for than 

 discovered in the titled or landed aristocracy of this 

 country. Such qualities at once mark the gentleman and 

 dignify the man. 



But it is not alone, or chiefly, in the sunshine of pros- 

 perity that the moral qualities of any individual can be 

 best drawn forth and properly estimated ; the true cha- 

 racter often lies hid beneath the surface, and its worth or 

 its hoUowness are best tested and known in the day of 

 adversity. Happily for man, uninterrupted prosperity is 

 not destined to be always his lot ; and there is nothing so 

 beneficial as occasional affliction to assign its true impress 

 to the character, either to present it in its undisguised 

 features, or to separate all baser alloy from its intrinsic 

 worth. When the clouds of any such human vicissitudes 

 occasionally dimmed Sir Henry's horizon, they served 

 only happily to show with what dignity and consistency a 

 character of so much solid worth was enabled to encoun- 

 ter, endure, and surmount them. Such occasional muta- 

 tions are of inestimable value to impart the last finish to 

 the portrait which is susceptible of their touch ; and all 

 who knew the subject of this Memoir, will admit that he 

 stood the final test to which all more or less are subjected. 



Sir Henry's society was much prized among the gentry 

 of his neighbourhood. Among these, we may mention 

 the late and present Dukes of Hamilton, Lord Corehouse, 

 Lord Belhaven, the late Sir Alexander Cochrane, Lady 

 Ross Baillie, and the late Sir Charles and Lady Mary 

 Ross of Balnagown. Though in his general habits dissi- 

 milar from many of his country neighbours and acquain- 

 tances, he still both attained and secured their friendship 

 and esteem. As a deputy-Heutenant and justice of the 

 peace, he at all times actively exerted himself, as also 



