The chiefs of Grant - Electric Scotland

]sS].] Ills DEATH :
T];n;i]TF,.s 'J'o iits mi;mo];y. 491
General AsseniMv, and attendeil tlieir mpetiriL;"s in l-ldinliur^li. Wlien
Lord Derby Avas Prime Minister, liis j^iu'dslii]) made oiler to Lord Seafield
of tlie otliee of Lord Ili;;'li Commissioner to the Genei-al Assemlily, but
Lord Seafield. at the time, did not see liis Avay to acce])t tl:(' honorr.
Th;;tle..
hi 187'.\ Her Majesty invested Lord Sealield with .
he Oi hr of the
AVhcn Lord Seafield was not in London attendiiiL; Paidiament, he
rt'sided at one or other of the thive mansions whieh he maintained on
his extensive estates. Cullen House was the largest of these mansions,
and it received from his Loidshiji a \\'e;dth ol' impi'ovement whieh L;i\'es
it quite a palatial s|ilenduur and appearance. Castle (Jraiit \\'as his
residence in Strathspey, and Balmaeaau is the family residence in Glen
Urquhart. All these mansions have ever been famed in the north of
Scotland for their splendid hosjDitalitics.
Lord Seafield's last illness Avas of con"ij)aratively short din-ation, and
his death took jdace at Cullen House on the evening of the ISth February
1881.
After his decease, his wldo\\ed Coiuitess and the present Earl
received many spontaneous and gratifying proofs of the sympathy of the
whole country with their bereavement. L'pwards of thirty addresses of
condolence voted at public meetings were forwarded to them, and in these
the reference to the late Earl was as the "good Earl," the character of the
grandfather as the "good Sir James" being thus inherited bv, and
attributed to, his grandson. To the noliility of Lord Seafield's character
in every phase of life, testimony has already been borne in the introduction
to this work, and it may sulfice to add here only one or two sentences
which tlie regret for his loss, coupled with the remembi'ance of his many
sterling qualities, drew forth from some who knew his Lordship. '" Rarely,"
says one, "shall we have to lament a man of more true and honest })urpose,
of kinder and more generous heart, more desirous of furthering the best
interests of all over wliom he was placed, or wdiose memory is more
likely to be treasui-ed in after-times, than he whose departure is now so
deeply lamented over so wide and extensive a territory."'
' EJinburgli Ijvtuing Cuurant, February 19, ISSl.