x Proceedings of Poycd Society of Edinburgh. 
and practice seldom have walked hand in hand. For Themis resents 
the divided allegiance. She is an inexorable mistress ; and unless 
her votary feels that she is all in all to him, rarely bestows her 
favours. In other and plainer words, a man seldom succeeds in 
rising to important practice at the Bar if he has anything else to do. 
A second obstacle — not one to he regretted certainly, but still 
tending in the same direction — interposed itself before long. The 
estate of Kimmerghame, of which I have already spoken, came into 
market in 1846, and was purchased by his aunt, Miss Campbell of 
Blythswood, who, I think, was a sister of his grandmother. Miss 
Campbell had indicated her intention to Campbell Swinton’s father, 
Mr John Swinton, of settling this old family property upon himself 
and his son. She died in 1850, and Mr John Swinton consequently 
succeeded to the estate. This, as I have said, formed another 
obstacle, or distraction at any rate, in the progress of his legal prac- 
tice, for a man cannot he both a country gentleman and a lawyer in 
large practice — at least if he resides on his property and does his 
duty to his people. There are exceptions, of course, to this, hut 
there is no doubt that an independent income from landed estate is 
not in favour of an advocate obtaining a large share of practice at 
the Bar. 
From 1850 to 1860 this estate of Kimmerghame occupied a good 
deal of such opportunities as he had of leaving Edinburgh. Being 
now independent, or with the prospect of independence in his 
circumstances, he began to think of entering Parliament, and in 
1852 he contested the Haddington burghs against Sir Henry 
Ferguson Davie, but without success. In the meantime a new 
house had been planned and was in course of erection on the estate 
of Kimmerghame, and this was a subject of great interest, and 
occupied a considerable portion of his attention. I find that in his 
diary he notes in 1856 that he has spent a great deal of time at 
Kimmerghame in the course of that year. It was unfortunate for 
Swinton himself, and for his reputation as an orator and a politician, 
that the Conservative party were at that time little in favour in the 
Scottish constituencies. For my own part, I have always regretted 
exceedingly that the House of Commons had not had the benefit of 
so energetic, so thoroughly equipped, and so able a member, because 
he added to very large acquirements in point of literature a thorough 
