ead al: ] 
MEMOIRS AND REMAINS 
[ Dec. e 
OF EMINENT PERSONS. 
BIGGRAPIICAL MEMOIRS OF 
JAMES ELPHINSTON, Esa. 
& LIFE spent actively in the cause of 
A religion, of virtue, and of learning, 
extending to within twelve years cf ¢ 
century, and that century the eighteenth, 
cannot fail to be replete witb instruction 
and mterest. Could the life of the man 
whose name stands at the head of this 
memoir be traced in detail; .could his 
actions, his sentiments, his motives, his 
Studies, and avocations, be investigated 
through the various stages of his earthly 
existence, the result would probably 
afford the volumes of biography one 
of their greatest ornaments, as_ it 
would present a complete career of uti- 
lity, wisdom, and innocence; of piety 
mingling with cheerfulness; of glowing 
temporal affections subsiding into resig- 
nation by the influence of eternal hopes; 
of native simplicity in union with great. 
Much as such a memoir- 
ness of mind. 
is to be wished, the author of the present 
tribuie to his memory not only feels 
himself unequal to the task, but has not 
the means of accomplishing it; yet, from 
a long personal knowledge of him, and 
from inaterials supported by concurrent 
testimonies, he willattempt to collect such 
facts, and to record such opinions and 
“sentiments, as may afford a striking re- 
semblance of the venerated friend whose 
memory he wished to have seen. pre- 
served by an abler hand.* 
* The Rev. William Hawtayne, rector of 
Elstree, in Hertfordshire, one of his nsost 
esteemed friends, and who had heen his pupil, 
whose permission, had he not left England, I 
have not a doubt I should have received, to 
throw into a note the following extract of his 
answer to aletter requesting him to compose a 
memoir of Mr. E!phinston: — 
‘¢ It would certainly afford mea sincere 
pleasure to manifest the regard J had for our 
departed friend, as well as to pay every aften- 
tion in my power to his estimable and exem- 
plary widow. ButI feel that neither my ta- 
‘Tents nor habits would enable me to do him 
justice in the way you mention. -A sketch of 
Mr, Elphinston’s life might embrace many 
topics, and might make a reference to his 
works absolutely necessary; at least, very 
desirable. That alone would be a bar to my 
undertaking the office in my present state of 
-exilg. Perhaps the most striking feature in 
his character was his picty, his integrity, and 
his ardent attachment to the religion and the 
jaws of his country. He was the lover of his 
king, and the friend of mankind, And what- 
James Evputnston was born at Edin- 
burgh, on the 6th day of December, 
1721. He was the son of the Rev. Wil- 
ham Elphinston ; his mother’s maiden- 
name was Honeyman; she was daughter 
of the minister of Kincf, and the niece 
of Dr. Honeyman, Bishop of Orkney. 
By the marriage of his sister with the 
late William Strahan, esq. the King’s 
printer, he was uncle to the Rev. Dr. 
George Strahan, vicar of Islington, and 
of Cranham, and prebendary of Roches- 
ter; to the present Andrew Strahan, 
esq. M. P. who succeeded: his father as 
his Majesty’s printer; to the late Mrs. 
Spottiswoode, the wife of John Spottis. 
woode, esq. of Spottiswoode, iw Scot- 
land; and to the late Mrs. Johnston, the 
wife of the late Andrew Johnston,*esq. 
father of the present General Johnston, 
and of the Lady of Sir Alexander Monro, - 
bart. 
Mr. Eiphinston received his education 
at the high school of Edinburgh, which, 
for many generations, has been amotig 
the most celebrated of the British em- 
pire for learning, and the eminent scho- 
lars it has produced. When he -was 
there, Mr, Alexander Findlater was the 
inaster of it, to whom he paid a tribute, 
which deserves to be here recorded, not 
only for the beauty and grateful spirit it 
displays, but for the extraordinary resem © 
blance it bears to the writer of it, who, 
at the time he wrote it, was himself the 
master of a school, and may ke said to 
have drawn his own picture, while he 
thought he was only painting that ef his 
tutor. [tis addressed in a letter to one 
of his school-fellows, and is as follows :— 
“ Nor reflects it common honour on 
our early education, that, at the distance 
of seven and thirty years, one half of so 
ever might have been his foibles, they were 
lost in the counterbalance of his virtues. 
Such indeed was my constant opinion of him, 
and I always felt myself highly gratified, 
when I thought I had obtained his approba- 
tion. It is, perhaps, true that I had seen 
more of him than you, but I do not know 
that that would give me any advantage; for 
those who had knowa*him for a time might 
have known kim always, so simple were his 
manners, and so undeviating his rectitude. 
Though much might he said'on this score, I 
think it would be impossible to pass overa 
mention of his literary merits, and those ge- 
nuine traits of character which he has him. 
self given in his correspondence. 1 am ene 
tirely without assistance of this kind.” 
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