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Proceedings of the Roycd Society 
A shrewd lawyer, an effective speaker for a popular audience, 
keen in his aims, fertile in resources for attaining them, he rapidly 
achieved that local notoriety which some slight change of circumstance 
and a higher ambition might perhaps have developed into fame. But 
he was content with that pre-eminence which he quite irresistibly 
won in his own surroundings, with the admiration of some and the 
respect of all. His busy professional and official life left him little 
leisure to cultivate literature and science, much as he, from a 
popular point of view, was able to appreciate both, though he 
recoiled somewhat from the audacities of modern thought. Many 
years ago he contributed to the eight edition of the Encyclopedia 
Britannica an article on “Master and Servant,” a short treatise, 
clearly and vigorously written, with reliable and sufficient informa- 
tion upon the law of that important subject as it then stood. When- 
ever the cause of morality and religion seemed to invite his services, 
Maurice Lothian stood forth as an energetic and impressive lay 
preacher. In that connection one is apt to picture to one’s self that 
fine head and presence which we all remember. 
For many years he was one of the leading directors of an 
institution which, among other things, aims at popularising some 
of the results of scientific enquiry. As a vice-president of the 
Philosophical Institution, Maurice Lothian will be long remembered. 
We desire that as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh he 
may not be forgotten. 
Mungo Ponton, W.S. 
(. From materials chiefly supplied by Mrs Ponton.) 
Mungo Ponton was born at Balgreen, near Edinburgh, in the year 
1801. He was educated for the legal profession, and, in due course, 
became a Writer to the Signet. He was one of the founders of the 
National Bank of Scotland, and it was in his office that the plans 
were matured for the establishment of that institution. He held the 
office of legal adviser to the Bank, and subsequently that of secre- 
tary. The strain of the double duties thus imposed on him proved 
too much for his strength, and a serious attack of illness compelled 
him to retire from active life while yet comparatively a young man. 
Since that time he continued more or less of an invalid, but . his 
