Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 1.djvu/126

 that for several years he had taken every possible expedient to shift off his duties to the care of younger aspirants. At the last quarterly meeting of the College of Physicians before his death, when there was a full assemblage of members, in the midst of the affairs for the consideration of which they were called together, Dr Baillie entered the room, emaciated, hectic, and with all the symptoms of approaching dissolution. Such was the effect of his sudden and unexpected appearance, that the public business was suspended, and every one present instantly and spontaneously rose, and remained standing until Dr Bailie [sic] had taken his seat; the incident though trivial evinces the effectionate [sic] reverence with which he was regarded. Besides the natural claim he had upon this body, from his unapproached anatomical and medical skill, and the extraordinary benignity and worth of his character, he had entitled himself to its peculiar gratitude by leaving to it the whole of his valuable collection of preparations, together with the sum of six hundred pounds to keep it in order. Dr Baillie died on the 23d of September, 1823.

Dr Bailie [sic] had married, 5th May, 1791, Miss Sophia Denman, second daughter of Dr Denman of London, a distinguished physician, and sister of Mr., subsequently Lord Denman and Lord Chief-Justice of England. By her he left one son, to whom he devoted his estate of Dantisbourne, in Gloucestershire, and one daughter. The sums and effects destined by his will, many of which were given to medical institutions and public charities, were sworn in the Prerogative Court at less than £80,000.

Dr Baillie is thus characterised in the Annual Obituary for 1824. "He seemed to have an innate goodness of heart, a secret sympathy with the virtuous, and to rejoice in their honourable and dignified conduct, as in a thing in which he had a personal interest, and as if he felt that his own character was raised by it, as well as human nature ennobled. He censured warmly what he disapproved, from a strong attachment to what is right, not to display his superiority to others, or to give vent to any asperity of temper; at the same time he was indulgent to failings; his kindness to others leading him on many occasions to overlook what was due to himself; and even in his last illness he paid gratuitous professional visits which were above his strength, and was in danger of suddenly exhausting himself by exertions for others. His liberal disposition was well known to all acquainted with public subscriptions; the great extent to which it showed itself in private benefactions is known only to those who were nearly connected with him, and perhaps was fully known only to himself."  BAIRD, (the Right Honourable, General Sir), a distinguished commander during the wars of the French Revolution, was the second surviving son of William Baird, Esq., heir, by settlement, of his second cousin Sir John Baird, of Newbyth, Bart. He entered the army, December 16, 1772, as an ensign in the 2nd foot, joined the regiment at Gibraltar, April 1773, and returned to Britain in 1776. Having been promoted to a lieutenancy in 1778, he immediately after obtained a company in the 73rd, a regiment then just raised by Lord Macleod, with which he sailed for India, and arrived at Madras, January 1780.

This young regiment was here at once ushered into the trying and hazardous scenes of the war against Hyder Ally, whom the English company had provoked by a shameful breach of faith into a hostility that threatened to overwhelm it. In July 1780, while the company, exclusive of Lord Macleod's regiment, had only about 5,000 men under arms, Hyder burst into the Carnatic with an army of 100,000 men, disciplined and commanded by French officers, and laid siege to Arcot, the capital of the only native prince friendly to the British. Sir Hector Munro, commander-in-chief of the Company's troops, set out to relieve this city on the 25th of August, expecting to be joined on the 30th, by a large detachment then in the northern circars under Colonel Baillie. On learning this