the claimant's witnesses, during which James Crawfurd must have been married, and his children born in Ireland.

The written evidence founded on by the claimant consisted of the documents obtained from the repositories of the Home family, as stated at page 3 of this epitome. [See p. 444 supra.]

Mr. Gavin Riddet, of London, was brought down to prove that he saw these letters in Mrs. Home Buchan's house in 1812. His evidence, and that of John Adie, Esq., R.N., the representative of D. H. Buchan, establishes the fact beyond question.

From the tenor of Lord Glasgow's cross-examination, it appeared that it is a part of his Case to establish that the claimant is descended from James Crawfurd, who was lessee of certain lands called Black Park and Lint Park,

in the district called Broagh, on the Dawson estate. In support of this theory the Right Hon. G. R. Dawson, of Castledawson, produced from the family repositories leases bearing date from 1700 downwards, and also a map of the district on his estate, called Broagh, from which it appears that only one James Crawfurd held lands on this part of the estate during the periods referred to by the witnesses. The leases, which are dated in 1727 and 1730, bear that the James Crawfurd who occupied the land in Broagh pointed out on the map by the witnesses as that which had been occupied by the claimant's ancestor was, in 1727, fifty years of age, and his youngest son, Henry, who is a life in the first of these leases, is stated to have been fifteen years of age at the time. But it is not deemed necessary to burden this epitome with the whole evidence which refers to this head, nor is it meant to prefer any charge against the late claimant, or considered necessary to enter upon the details of the intimacy which is now clearly traced to have existed between him and David Home Buchan. Let it suffice, that the latter was interested in the procurement of the claimant's pardon in 1812, and that he was exerting himself with this view, in conjunction with one Peter Montgomerie, who held a power of attorney from the claimant, when the documents referred to were first produced. Neither will it answer any useful purpose here to condescend upon discreditable facts brought out in examining the private correspondence of parties now "gone to their account." The result of all the examinations which have been made from 1810 until now, and of the whole evidence and bearings of the Case as it presently stands, is comprised in the answers of the parties whose names are subjoined, and to whom the following queries were submitted ::

Queries submitted by the Trustees in the Crawfurd Claims to ANDREW RUTHERFORD, Esq., Solicitor-General for Scotland, and DUNCAN M'NEILL, GEO. Graham Bell, and JOHN WILSON, Esqrs., Advocates, in reference to the preceding Case.

1st. Looking at the facts which have now come to the memorialists' knowledge, both as regards the parole and written evidence, what in counsel's opinion is the conclusion which must be come to as to the claimant's descent from the Hon. James Crawfurd, and as to the authenticity of the Home and Forsyth papers, and of the documents in the Justiciary Office, and in the Crown agent's hands?

2nd. Taking the whole Case as now before counsel, can they suggest any plan by which any farther evidence may be obtained in support of the claimant's Case, or any of the difficulties be removed, or the facts be more favourably or forcibly brought out?

3rd. What measures ought the memorialists to adopt in reference to the trial and final settlement of the claim, considering the position in which they stand and the object they have in view?

OPINION.

I. Looking at the evidence, written and parole, as now communicated to us, we have no doubt that the claimant, R. L. Crawfurd, must fail in making out his case. Indeed, the case appears to us to be now hopeless. The points which were formerly most relied upon by the claimant, and which appeared to us most favourable to his claim, were-First, The supposed defects in the evidence to instruct the burial of the Hon. James Crawfurd in St. Martin'sin-the-Fields;--and, Secondly, The supposed authenticity of the Home and Forsyth correspondence. Both these points are now gone. The evidence to instruct the burial of the Hon. James Crawfurd in London in 1744-5 is complete and irresistible; and the Home and Forsyth correspondence is not only of very questionable authenticity, but appears to us to be actually fabricated. Our opinion on this point is so strong, that we think it proper to say that the claimant should be warned against any attempt to use that correspondence, as the consequences of doing so might be serious.* This opinion is altogether independent of the documents in the Justiciary Office, and in the hands of the Crown agent, which we all along resolved not to use on behalf of the claimant, being satisfied that they were not genuine, and that any attempt to use them would not only be improper in itself, but would be injurious to the case of the claimant.

II. We cannot suggest any course by which farther evidence can be obtained in support of the claim, or suggest any plan for removing the difficulties which now attach to the Case. We are of opinion, from the facts now before us, that any farther inquiry is perfectly hopeless and unnecessary. III. The memorialists, having thus before them our opinion on the merits of the claim, must judge for themselves as to the course which they are to follow. They can only deal as regards their own interest as promoters of the suit.

The opinion of

(Signed)

AND. RUTHERFORD.
DUN. M'NEILL.
GEO. GRAHAM Bell.
JOHN WILSON.

Edinburgh, 21st March, 1839.

*The opinion expressed by counsel as to the forgery of the documentary proof has been fully verified by the gentlemen appointed to examine and to compare it with the writing of suspected parties. Alexander Macdonald, Esq., Principal Keeper of the Register of Deeds, &c. &c., in the General Register House, and Mr. Francis Street, engraver, not only pronounce the documents forged, but actually point out the party by whom they were forged.

Those who are at all conversant with the details of this protracted and complicated Case, and even the present claimant himself, must now be perfectly convinced that, whoever his ancestor may have been, he is not descended from the Hon. James Crawfurd, third son of John first Viscount of Garnock, who unquestionably died unmarried in London in March, 1744-5; and although it is to be regretted that the partizans of the late claimant, during the early period of the proceedings in the claim, should have resorted to surreptitious methods of procuring documentary evidence in support of the allegation that he was so descended, yet it cannot but be conceded that his ancestor, who was called James Crawfurd, and resided at Castledawson, stated himself to be the son of Lord John Crawfurd, and that HIS family visited their relatives in Scotland.

These facts are clearly brought out by the strongest possible parole evidence, viz. the united testimony of disinterested and highly credible witnesses, residing in different parts of different kingdoms, who had no communication with, or knowledge of, one another, and many of them totally unacquainted with the claimant, and even ignorant of the object of their evidence. Whether James Crawfurd had been the original name of this individual, or that he had subsequently changed it to elude justice, or whether he was legitimate or otherwise, must, it is feared, remain for ever a mystery.

Edinburgh, March 1839.

No. XLII.-PAGE 283.

Papers relating to Mr. James B. Lindsay, of Dundee.

I.

From Martin Lindsay, Esq., of Dundee, to the Author.

"My dear Lord,

"Dundee, 18 Sept. 1845.

"I have delayed replying to your note of the 10th instant, only from a desire to procure more certain information about our interesting namesake than my usual acquaintance with him enabled me to give, for which purpose I applied to Dr. Moon of this place, who I learned was very intimate with Mr. J. B. Lindsay, and I have this morning been favoured with the note, in reply, which I now enclose. Dr. Moon has kindly added an equally satisfactory testimony to Lindsay's worth, from Mr. Roy, himself an estimable and interesting man, one of the teachers at the Dundee Seminary.

"I have only to add to these documents that the almost only means J. B. Lindsay has for the supply of his bodily and mental wants is 50l. a-year, which he receives for teaching in the Bridewell,-an occupation which Dr. Moon informs me is as injurious to his health as it must be irksome to his mind. Dr. Moon thinks at the same time that any pecuniary assistance would not add much to his personal comforts, as he would be more likely to lay any money he had out on books, &c., than on food and raiment. Some years ago a 2 G

VOL. II.

situation might have been got for him at the British Institution, London, but he was unwilling to leave his aged mother, his only relative then alive, but now dead.

"I shall only add that I am, with much regard,
"Your faithful and obedient servant,

II.

"MARTIN LINDSAY."

"Dear Sir,

From Dr. Moon, of Dundee, to Martin Lindsay, Esq.

"Dundee, 17 Sept. 1845.

"It affords me great pleasure to state that I have been intimately acquainted with Mr. J. B. Lindsay for many years, and that there are few within the sphere of my acquaintance whom I can speak of with less reservation. When at the college of St. Andrews, some twenty years ago, he greatly distinguished himself in the different classes which he attended, but more particularly in the Mathematical and Natural Philosophy classes. The late Dr. Jackson, Professor of Natural Philosophy in that University, was wont to speak of him as possessing an extraordinary genius for mathematical investigations. From the time he finished his studies at college he has been chiefly engaged in compiling a Dictionary embracing fifty languages, the design of which, he says, is to determine the origin and history of man.* I am not able to give any opinion upon the merits of this work, but it appears to me remarkable for the labour bestowed upon it. Mr. Lindsay is allowed, by all who know him, to possess talents of a very high order, conjoined with a great desire for knowledge, and untiring powers of application in the pursuit of it. He is one of the most modest men I ever knew, of great integrity of disposition, and of the kindest and most affectionate feelings. Indeed, from what I know of Mr. Lindsay, there are few, if any, I could more confidently recommend for the same solidity of talent, indefatigable powers of application, or excellence of character and disposition. He is most abstemious in his habits, and the sources of his enjoyments are altogether of a literary nature. "I am, dear Sir,

"Your most obedient servant,

"P.S. I requested my friend Mr. Roy, who has and intimately, to state to me his opinion of him. answer, which I beg to enclose for your perusal."

"ADAM MOON. known Mr. Lindsay long I have just received his

III.

From Andrew Roy, Esq., to Dr. Moon.

"My dear Sir, “Fryan, 15 Sept. 1845. "I write you, agreeably to your request, to state that I have been intimately acquainted with Mr. J. B. Lindsay ever since we entered St.

6

*As an introduction to this work, Mr. Lindsay has lately published a Penteconta glossal Paternoster; or, the Lord's Prayer in Fifty Languages,' &c., "accompanied with verbal translations, and with glossological and historical notes, with dissertations on the time and place of the origin of man," &c. Dundee, 8vo. 1846.

Andrew's College together in 1821. At that time, and for seven or eight years thereafter, he was chiefly devoted to Mathematics and Mathematical Philosophy, which he cultivated with distinguished success, following Lagrange, Laplace, and the other great masters of the French school. Since then, however, he has been almost entirely occupied with the subject of language and the compilation of what he calls his Universal Dictionary, but with what progress to the completion of such a vast undertaking I am unable to say, because I have never given myself systematically and exclusively to the study of Philology, and I am not qualified to form an estimate of any person's attainments in that department of learning. I know, however, that at all times when I call on Mr. Lindsay, he is occupied with his Dictionary, his table covered with vocabularies, grammars, &c. &c., in all the languages on the face of the earth, that his days and even his nights are spent in his favourite pursuit, often to the injury of his health. I knew him in fact make a journey of fifty miles, on foot, to the Advocates' Library in Edinburgh, for the purpose of getting the sound and meaning of a single Chinese character. So devoted is he to his Dictionary, that I do not think anything will have the power to divert him from it. He is an ardent admirer of truth and fond of all knowledge, but the Dictionary is everlastingly uppermost.

"Like most men of books, Mr. Lindsay is almost childlike in the simplicity of his character, with a bluntness and apparent abstractedness in his manner, which, to a stranger, might be taken for weakness. Nevertheless I know that he is a man of very acute intellect and great ingenuity, of the greatest honesty and integrity of character, without the smallest taint of guile or deception. He is in every respect a good man.

"I am, my dear Sir,

"Yours very truly,

"ANDREW ROY."

IV.

Extracts from a Letter of Mr. Lindsay to the Author, 26 Jan. 1847.

"About fifteen years ago I made a great variety of experiments in Electricity, and constructed an apparatus for procuring electric light to be used for illumination instead of gas. About ten or twelve years ago I gave two public lectures on this subject, illustrated by experiments, in Dundee. About fifteen years ago I also perceived the applicability of Electricity as a telegraph, and mentioned it to many persons, but such an idea was generally ridiculed as Utopian. This was long before such an application was hinted at in the public prints, and before Electric Telegraphs were in existence. I also made many experiments on the application of the same science for power instead of steam, but do not claim the merit of being the first that did so. About nine or ten months ago I proposed and described a submarine Telegraph, and, am convinced, was the first that made such a proposal. In reference to this, I made many experiments, and telegraphed through ponds in Dundee. An account of this was then given in the local newspapers. The Lexicon alone has kept me from turning my whole attention to Electricity, but, were it finished, I would once more be free.