The chiefs of Grant - Electric Scotland

470 8li; l.EWI.S-AUEXAXDEIl GRANT, FIFTH !:A1;L OF SKAFIKIJ). [1811-
CJraiii) spoke for an hour, ami ilelivc-rcd a s])eecli siipci'ioi- in nuilter and
stile to anv pronounced wiiliin my recollection in tlie t'ourt. As a first
essay it \vas astonishing-. He displayed a variety "1' classicril learning,
which ^v::.; ;iihnirali1v ap]ilied. .
. . The
speech was re "tc Avith -.trokes of
wit and lanuonr. ... A gentleman t iUdng to me on '''O suhje ; on Satui'-
day, said that .Mr. I )nndas's compliment to Mr. Pitt, ;: /ter he iiad finished
a much a]iplauded ei'atioii in the House of Commons, may he applied to Mr.
(jrant, 'Sir, il'vou kec]) clena- of the dlssijuitlon of the age, you will some
day rule this co\uitry.'
" '
That tluae was, unlia]>])ily, some danger to ^Ir. Crant fnnii the source
mentioned hy Mr. Hondas, the " dissi]iation of the age," may he gathered
from several letters written to Sir James Grant by jMr. Heiny Mackenzie.
In one ejfistle he savs, "Lewis gets on very well, and is concerned in
several causes. His appearance and expectations of him have one incon-
venience, however, that, hv bringing him into i-etpiest, he is too fete,
and is worn down, as well as kept idle, with perpetual engagements, which
he, very natni-allv, has net alwavs fortitude enuugh to resist." Mr. Mac-
kenzie adds that f^ord Findlater had invited ]\lr. (!i-ant tn ("ullen House,
but he himself thought the young man shoidd not go, l)ut I'ather keep on
in the current of business, now that he is in it, and go to London to keep
a term ; besides that he is engaged in a caiise that will proliably come on
to be heard in the House of Lords eai'ly in the spn'ng.- ^Iv. Grant
himself seems to have thought dili'erently on the suliject of this visit north,
for, hi a letter to Lord Findlater a fortnight later than i\h-. ]\Lackenzie's,
he wrote, " Both my reason and inclination induce me to believe that 1
may with propriety go north, and spend a short time witli your Lordship
and my other friends, and afterwards return to Edinburgh, there to con-
remaming in Edinburgh during
tinue the bulk of the vacation. . . . By
the dull season, I shall have perfect time to study law, and what I wish
likewi.se to be acquainted with, the principles of commerce and politics.
Nothing can be more necessary than the knowledge of these articles in the
House of Commons, and I know not when I shall have so good an oppor-
1 Lttt.T, il.iled ilUli JaiiU.ary 17S0. vi.l. ii, of this - Letter, d.Utd lOtli Feljni.iry 17S0, at Castle
work, ji. 50-.'. Grant.