ade by Mr. Thomas W. Blair, broke in with the remark: "Declaim,
sir! why don't you declaim? Speak to me as if I were a popular
assembly."

In the reign of Queen Anne there was an old Scottish judge--Lord
Dun--who was particularly distinguished for his piety. Thomas Coutts,
the founder of the bank now so well known, used to relate of him that
when a difficult case came before him, as Lord Ordinary, he used to say,
"Eh, Lord, what am I to do? Eh, sirs, I wish you would make it up!" Of
another judge of much the same period, also noted for his strict
observance of religious ordinances; but who, at the same time, did not
allow these to interfere with his social habits, it is related that
every Saturday evening he had with him his niece, who afterwards married
a more famous Scottish judge, Andrew Fletcher, Lord Milton, Charles Ross
who made himself prominent in the "45" Rebellion, and David Reid, his
clerk. The judge had what was, and in some parts of Scotland still is,
known as "the exercise," which consisted of the reading of a chapter
from the Bible, and his form of announcing the evening devotions was:
"Betsy (his niece), ye hae a sweet voice, lift ye up a psalm; Charles,
ye hae a gey strong voice, read the chapter; and David, fire ye the
plate." Firing the plate consisted of a dish of brandy prepared for the
company, of which David took charge, and while the first part of the
proceedings were in progress David lighted the brandy, which when he
thought it burnt to his master's taste he blew out, and this was the
signal for the others to stop, while the whole company partook of the
burnt brandy. This same judge--Lord Forglen--was walking one day with
Lord Newhall, in the latter's grounds. Lord Newhall was a grave and
austere man, while, as may be gathered, Lord Forglen was a medley of
curious elements. As they passed a picturesque bend of a river Lord
Forglen exclaimed: "Now, my lord, this is a fine walk. If ye want to
pray to God, can there be a better place? If ye want to kiss a bonny
lass, can there be a better place?"

[Illustration: SIR DAVID RAE, LORD ESKGROVE.]

Sir David Rae (Lord Eskgrove), Lord Justice-Clerk of Scotland, has been
described as a ludicrous person about whom people seemed to have nothing
else to do but tell stories. Sir Walter Scott imitated perfectly his
slow manner of speech and peculiar pronunciation, which always put an
accent on the last syllable of a word, and the letter "g" when at the
end