Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 3.djvu/198

226 eoner for nonconformity. Be the place of his birth as it may, tlie date has been ascertained to have been the 22nd day of June, 1680; and the name Ebenezer, "a stone of assistance," was given him by his pious parents in testimony of their gratitude for that goodness and mercy with which, amidst all their persecutions, they had been unceasingly preserved. Of his early youth nothing particular has been recorded. The elements of literature he received at Chirnside, under the immediate superintendence of his father, after which lie went through a regular course of study at the university of Edinburgh. During the most part of the time that he was a student, he acted as tutor and chaplain to the earl of Rothes, at Leslie-house, within the presbytery of Kirkaldy, by which court he was taken upon trials, and licensed to preach the gospel in the year 1702.

The abilities and the excellent character of Mr Erskine soon brought him into notice; and in the month of May, 1703, he received a unanimous call to the parish of Portmoak, to the pastoral care of which he was ordained in the month of September following. In this pleasantly sequestered situation, devoting himself wholly to the duties of his office, he laid the foundation of that excellence for which, in his after-life, he was so remarkably distinguished. Anxious to attain accurate and extensive views of divine truth, he spent a great proportion of his time in the study of the scriptures, along with some of the most eminent expositors, Turretine, Witsius, Owen, &c.; embracing, besides, every opportunity of conversing on theological subjects with persons of intelligence and piety. By these means he soon came to great clearness both of conception and expression of the leading truths of the gospel, of which, at first, like many other pious ministers of the church of Scotland at that period, his views were clouded with no inconsiderable portion of legalism. During the year succeeding his settlement, he was united in marriage to Alison Turpie, a young woman of more than ordinary talents, and of undoubted piety. To the experience of this excellent woman he was accustomed to acknowledge to his friends, that he was indebted for much of that accuracy of view by which he was so greatly distinguished, and to which much of that success which attended his ministry is, doubtless, to be ascribed ; and, more especially, he used to mention a confidential conversation, on the subject of their religious experiences, between her and his brother Ralph, which he accidentally overheard from the window of his study, which overlooked the bower in the garden, where they were sitting, and unconscious of any person overhearing them. Struck with the simplicity of their views, and the extent of their attainments, as so very superior to his own, he was led to a more close examination of the vital principle of Christianity, which issued in a measure of light and a degree of comfort to which he had previously been a stranger. In the discharge of his ministerial duties, he had always been most exemplary. Besides the usual services of the Sabbath, he had, as was a very general practice in the church of Scotland at that period, a weekly lecture on the Thursdays; but now his diligence seemed to be doubled, and his object much more pointedly to preach Christ in his person, offices, and grace, as at once wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption to all who truly receive and rest upon him. Even in his external manners there appeared, from this time forward, a great and important improvement. In public speaking he had felt considerable embarrassment, and in venturing to change his attitude was in danger of losing his ideas; but now he was at once master of his mind, his voice, and his gestures, and by a manner most dignified and engaging, as well as by the weight and the importance of his matter, com-