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He passed at the Bar in 1811, and was appointed Stewart of 
Kirkcudbright in 1830. This office he resigned upon his election 
as Dean of the Faculty of Advocates on 12th November 1841, 
which honourable position he held but a short time, having, on 21st 
November 1842, been appointed one of the judges of the Supreme 
Court. He became a Fellow of the Eoyal Society of Edinburgh in 
1825. 
His learning and skill as a counsel were universally acknow- 
ledged, and his practice while at the bar was large. On the bench 
he was looked to by the profession and the public as eminently 
combining the wisdom of the judge with the polished courtesy of 
the gentleman. 
For several of the later years of his life his health was delicate, 
and it was only the solicitation of those who knew and estimated 
his high judicial qualifications which induced him to struggle with 
indisposition and continue his services to the public. He retired 
from the bench in January 1862, thus terminating a long and 
honourable professional career. 
But while his duties in his profession and on the bench of course 
occupied him for many years almost exclusively, the short leisure 
he could command was most cheerfully, though unostentatiously, 
given to the public, especially in the cause of education and in the 
encouragement of art. 
His refined and cultivated taste pointed him out as peculiarl}'' 
qualified to promote the advancement of art in Scotland ; and, as 
might be expected, he was many years ago selected as a member of 
the Board of Trustees and Manufactures in Scotland, to whose 
proceedings he gave able co-operation, taking a leading part in the 
remodelling of the School of Design, and acting as the convener 
of their committee for the erection and arrangements of the National 
G-allery and the promotion of its collections. In early life, he 
showed his zeal in the cause of general education, by taking an 
active part in the institution of the Edinburgh Academy. 
Many years ago, the late Sir William Fettes nominated him, 
along with others, including Mr Kutherfurd, afterwards Lord 
Eutherfurd, and Mr Corrie, Manager of the British Linen Company 
— all three fellow-students and intimate friends of his deceased 
son — to be trustees for carrying out the Fettes Endowment for the 
