Excerpt from Members of Parliament, Scotland: Including the Minor Barons, the Commissioners for the Shires, and the Commissioners for the Burghs, 1357-1882; On the Basis of the Parliamentary Return 1880, With Genealogical and Biographical Notices But while entitled to claim, on these weighty grounds, a lenient judgment on the performance of my task, it is gratifying to add that, with the help of my coadjutors, my efforts have in the main been crowned With success. I have already stated that our subject has a widespread and commanding interest, and that, not only because parliamentary service has been the stepping-stone to power and honour for so many of our noble houses, but also because a seat in the House of Commons is the legitimate aspiration of all classes of men, and specially of those whose energy and ability have raised them in the social scale. These Will here find their names recorded side by side with those of our historic governing families, enrolled alike in the great Walhalla of the Parliaments of the British Empire. Nor will the general public fail to discover in these pages names which appeal to all lovers of their country. Here will be found the hero of Corunna, and Abercromby the hero of Aboukir Bay. Here, too, is the gallant Graham, driven by grief to a martial career Which led to Victory and a peerage, and Simon F raser, the loyal chieftain, who fought and bled for England to atone for the treason of his house. Here, among authors, are Hume and Macaulay; among Premiers, are Melbourne (lamb) and Gladstone. Here is the sorely tried Melville, a scion of Dundas of Arniston; and here is Monmouth's evil genius, the fanatical F letcher of Saltoun. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.