Ohituary Notices. 
XXXI 
professorship of Hebrew at the Free Church College, Aberdeen, by 
the policy then followed, but since modified or abandoned by the 
leaders of the Free Church. 
He had a warm appreciation of the Fine Arts, of which one of his 
grand-uncles had been an early connoisseur, and of classical as well 
as Scottish music, and also of the old and too often forgotten classics 
of the Scottish language. Along with the late Lord Justice-General 
Inglis, he was one of the few lawyers who promoted the Scottish 
Text Society, founded by Dr Gregor of Pitsligo, and supported by 
Professor Masson, both Aberdonians, and he served as a Vice-Presi- 
dent of that Society. He had a curious memory for rare quotations, 
epigrams, and quaint and old stories, both of and outside of his 
profession. It was pleasant to see him preparing to tell one, and 
silently enjoying the smiles or laughter of the listener. He never 
lost the Aberdonian accent, but his voice had a mild intonation of 
its own ; he had less of the ordinary Aberdonian temper and manner. 
By nature and habit he was reserved, and even shy, but always 
courteous, never combative or demonstrative, though firm in his con- 
victions, and ready, when necessary, to maintain them. While his 
character was thoroughly Scotch, his culture was of a kind perhaps 
more common south than north of the Tweed. He was the only 
lawyer of his time who, following a fashion which lingers a little 
longer in the Houses of Parliament than in the Parliament House, 
appeared with a flower — by choice, violets — in his button -hole, 
bringing a breath of fresh air into the dusty purlieus of the law, 
and casting a gleam of sunshine over the musty books and keen 
visages of the daily labourers in the Courts. He was naturally fond 
of the garden, and its flowers were the only ones he cultivated, for 
he never indulged in rhetoric. He held the common opinion 
that most speeches are too long ; and, what was less common, he 
acted on it, and when he spoke in public did so with grace and 
terseness. 
He became a Fellow of the Koyal Society of Edinburgh in 1874, 
and served as Vice-President from November 1883 to October 1886 
and from November 1890 to April 1892. In 1887 he was made a 
Doctor of Laws by the University of Edinburgh, and he was one of 
the few who know something of both the laws of which he was an 
honorary graduate. 
