Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 3.djvu/309

Rh he gave his opinion, generally, when asked, upon the modes that ought to be adopted for improving the value of his grace's property, and the comfort of his vassals in the highlands, there can he no doubt; for he continued to do this, not only to the duke, but to his neighbours generally, even after the highest duties of the judge had devolved upon him; and this was probably the utmost extent of his concern with the Argyle estate at any period of his life. That he was in a high degree generous, there cannot be a doubt ; but we see no reason for supposing that he was in the habit of employing his legal talents gratuitously. He was but a younger brother, and is said to have lost the greater part of his little patrimony by an unguarded or an unfortunate speculation; yet it is certain that he lived in a splendid and rather expensive manner, the first wits and the highest' noblemen of the age finding their enjoyments heightened by his company; and it is equally certain that the fruits of his professional toil were all that he could depend upon for supporting a spirit that breathed nothing but honour, and a state that knew nothing but the most stubborn independence. His business, however, rapidly rose with his rising reputation, and his fortune probably kept pace with his fame, and he very soon added to his domestic felicity, by forming a matrimonial connexion with Mary Rose, daughter to the laird of Kilravock, to whom he had been warmly attached almost from her earliest infancy. She was a lady of great beauty, and highly accomplished; but she died not long after their marriage, leaving him an only son, John, who eventually succeeded to the estate of Culloden. The early demise of this lady, for whom Mr Forbes seems to have had more than an ordinary passion, deeply affected him, and he never again entered into the married state.

Domestic calamity, operating upon a keen sensibility, has often withered minds of great promise, and cut off the fairest prospects of future usefulness. Happily, however, Mr Forbes did not resign himself to solitude, and the indulgence of unavailing sorrow. The circumstances of his family, and of his country, in both of which he felt a deep interest, did not, indeed, allow him to do so, had he been willing. The violence of party had been very great ever since the Revolution: it had latterly been heightened by the union, and had reached nearly its acme at this time, when the unexpected death of the queen opened the way for the peaceable accession of the new dynasty.

With a very few exceptions, such as the Grants, the Monroes, and the Rosses, who had been gained over by the Forbeses of Culloden, the Highland clans were engaged to devote their lives and fortunes in behalf of the expatriated house of Stuart; and only waited for an opportunity of asserting the cause of the pretender. The loyal clans, and gentlemen, and particularly Forbes of Culloden, were of course, highly obnoxious to the Jacobite clans; and, for their own preservation, were obliged to be continually on the watch, and frequently saw the brooding of the storm, when others apprehended no danger. This was eminently the case in the year after the accession of the house of Brunswick; and, accordingly, so early as the month of Feb. 1715, we find Monro of Fowlis writing to Culloden: "I find the Jacobites are werie uppish, both in Edinburgh and in England, so that, if ye go to the parliament, as I hope ye will, you will recommend to some trusty, faithful friend, to take care of your house of Culloden, and leave orders with your people at Ferintosh, to receive directions from me, or from your cousin George (my son), as you are pleased to call him, which you may be sure will be calculate to the support of your interest, in subordination to the public cause;" and he adds, in a postscript to the same letter, "The vanity, insolence, arrogance, and madness of the Jacobites,