travagant, unveiled by their own author, appeared the strangest thing in the world, even in an age when the public ought to be accustomed to intimate and singular confidential communications. more virtue than at Paris; but as there is an infinitely greater number of wits at Paris, she confessed that, for this reason, she tired in Switzerland, though she had there all her relations, a charming estate, and all whom she loved. This woman, born for those simple tastes which virtue inspires, could not endure the country, though surround-scended of the Hays of Rannes, ed by those who were dear to her; she needed a court of literary men. Too reasonable to disdain the occu Character of the late Lord Newton. THE late Lord Newton was de one of the most ancient branches of the family of Hay. He was born in the year 1747, and was call pations of her sex, she could not ap-ed to the bar in 1769. He had so ply to them. The rage of being a belle esprit deprived her of all the natural graces of a woman. She had an inexhaustible craving for learned and witty conversations. She never enjoyed the pleasure of talking about, and amusing herself with, trifles; with an extremely good disposition, she never tasted the pleasure of frank good-humoured conversation; she never, in short, knew the happiness of writing to her friend without pretension, without reflection, whatever struck her fancy: there is not a letter of hers which was not meditated, corrected, rewritten; she kept copies of them all. A woman so Christian, a soul so clevated, should naturally have had - modesty and sincerity; but an unbounded ambition for brilliant celebrity altered too much, in this respect, her taste and her character. To obtain praises, how many has she lavished on works which she did not love, and on men whom she did not esteem. Wishing always, from a very respectable sentiment, to associate M. Necker in her pretensions to glory and renown, we see her incessantly braving all received customs and all decorum, in order to extol him with equal exaggeration and intrepidity. It is true that M. Necker has well returned the kindThese domestic concerts of praise, these secrets of a pride so ex ness. thoroughly studied the principles of the profession on which he now entered, that he used often to say, that he was as good a lawyer at that time as he ever was at any future period. His strong natural abilities, assisted with such preparation for business, could not fail to attract notice, and he became soon distinguished for his acuteness, his learning, and his profound knowledge of law. It was remarkable of him, that he always appeared as much versed in the common and daily practice of the Court, and even in those minute forms that are little known, except to the inferior practitioners, as in the higher branches of legal knowledge, that are only understood by the greatest lawyers. The great simplicity of character, which he carried with him through the whole of his life, was nowhere more conspicuous than in his appearances at the bar. His pleadings exhibited a plain and fair statement of the facts; a profound and accurate exposition of the law, and a very acute and solid reasoning on both; but there was an entire absence of every thing merely ornamental, and especially of those little arts by which a speaker often tries to turn the attention of his auditors on himself. He seemed full of the cause in which he was engaged, and not a word escaped which could lead any one to imagine the thoughts of the the orator were ever turned to his own performance. Though his reputation continued always to increase, he practised at the bar without obtaining any preferment till the beginning of the year 1808, when, on the death of the late Lord Methven, he was appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court, by the Ministry of which Mr Fox was a member, and was the only Judge in the Court of Session appointed while that great statesman was in power, a distinction on which he always professed to set a high value. Lord Newton's talents never appeared to greater advantage than after he took his seat on the Bench. As a lawyer, the opinions he gave were probably never surpassed, for their acuteness, discrimination, and solidity; and, as a Judge, he now shewed that all this was the result of such a rapid and easy application of the principles of law, as appeared more like the effect of intuition than of study and laborious exertion. The clearest and most comprehensive view of every question seemed naturally to present itself; and his opinions, at the same time that they were readily and decisively formed, were considered by professional men as being perhaps less liable to error than those of any other Judge who has appeared in our time. He was unremitting in his exertions; and it is certain that, for his dispatch of business, and the correctness of his judgment, Lord Newton has been rarely excelled.' As to political principles, Lord Newton was an ardent and steady Whig. Owing to the great openness and sincerity of his character, and the entire absence of the kast approach to art or duplicity, he passed through a period remarkable for the hostility which political opiaions engendered, with fewer per sonal enemies than any other man, equally unreserved in condemning the measures which he thought wrong, and equally inflexible in supporting those which he thought right. In private life he was extremely amiable, and his social qualities, as well as his great worth, endeared him to his friends. He possessed an extraordinary fund of good humour, a disposition extremely playful, great simplicity of character, with the entire absence of all vanity and affectation. A few peculiarities or little eccentricities, which he possessed, appeared with so good a grace, and in the company of so many estimable qualities, that they only tended to render him more interesting to his friends. Lord Newton appeared to possess two characters that are but rarely united together. Those who saw him only on the Bench were naturally led to think that his whole time and thoughts had, for his whole life, been devoted to the laborious study of the law. Those, on the other hand, who saw him in the circle of his friends, when form and austerity were laid aside, could not easily conceive that he had not passed his life in the intercourse of society.-With great gentleness and kindness of heart, he had a maniy and firm mind; he had hardly any feeling of personal danger; and he seemed to despise pain, to which he was a good deal exposed in the last year of his life. He was a man of great bodily strength, and till the latter years of his life, when he became very corpulent, of great activity. He was never married, and the large fortune which he left is inherited by his only sister, Mrs Hay Mudie, for whom he always entertained the greatest esteem and affection. Table 38 Table exhibiting the present State of Roads, Bridges, and Harbours, carrying on or completed in the Highlands of Scotland [From the last (5th) Report presented to the House of Commons, on Highland Roads and Bridges.] NAME AND DESCRIPTION OF ROADS, BRIDGES, AND HARBOURS. County of Aberdeen, over the river Don, near Alford, three arches District of Cowal, county of Argyll-From Lochgoilhead, by Ardnoe, to Lochfine 6 726 Whitsunday 1808. County of Inverness-From Lochnevish-head, by Glendesserie, and the north side of Locharkeeg to Auchnacharrie 20 10,45 County of Bute: From Lamlash, by Brodick, to Corrie-quarry, along the east coast of Arran 'From Brodick to Blackwater, across the Isle of Arran County of Argyll-From the village of Ballenoch to the harbour of Crinan County of Sutherland-Over the Dornoch Frith, ner Portinleik, one arch Isle of Skye, county of Inverness-From Broadford to the Bay of Ardavaser, a little to the westward of Armadale In the Moray Frith-Shire of Elgin Counties of Elgin and Banff-From Burgh-head southward to Tomintoul - County of Ross-Over the river Conan five arches 150 feet. 15 1,590 39 265 feet. 88 The Report of the Commissioners for Highland Roads and Bridges. NAME AND DESCRIPTION Of roads, briDGES, AND HARBOURS. Crinan Road County of Argyll-From the rock of Craignachonie to Crinan quay the Ord Fort Augustus Road Glenelg, or Glensheill the} 21 880 Martinmas 1809. County of Nairn, east side of the river Findhorn-From near County of Inverness-From Fort Augustus along the north- District of Cowal, county of Argyll-From Cullintrive Ferry, |: 25 Sept. 1808. 565 6 18 1,705 Nov. 1811. Counties of Inverness and Ross-From the bridge of Doe at Kaun-a-Krock, through Glencluny and Glensheill, to Kyle Rhea County of Inverness-From head of Loch-hournto a junction County of Inverness-From Invermorrison up Glenmorrison to the bridge of Doe at Kaun-a-Krock morrison to f 14 469 Martinmas 1811. Glenfalloch Road Glengarry Road 40 The Report of the Commissioners for Highland Roads and Bridges. NAME AND DESCRIPTION OF ROADS, BRIDGES, AND HARBOURS. Length of Roads ; Miles. Yards. County of Sutherland-Over the river Helmsdale two arches Helmsdale Bridge County of Inverness-From near the kirk of Daviot, on the in- Invermorrison Road County of Inverness-From Bonar Ferry along the N. W. side of Lochness to Invermorrison 1,225 1 Aug. 1808. County of Argyll-From Bridge-end to Portnahaven, in the island of Islay 14 1,239 Whitsund. 1807. 12 Feb. 1807. County of Argyll-From the ferry of Feoline to the ferry of 16 157 1 Aug. 1810. Keills Road County of Argyll-From the quay of Keills to junction with 1 528 Martinmas 1806. 30 June 1808. County of Argyll-From Kintraw inn to the church of Melford County of Inverness-From the bridge of Lundie near Fort William, through Glenspean, by the N. W. side of Lochlaggan, to Pitmain in Badenoch 46 1,470 County of Ross-From Kyle-haken ferry to Dingwall: Jean Town-From Strome to Coulachs Luip-From Coulachs to Auchnasheen |