Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 3.djvu/253

Rh which the orator must have felt to exist at the moment, hetween himself and his audience, this singular effort must have been fatal to the cause it was designed to support; as it was, however, the sensation produced by these words, and the look, voice, gesture, and whole manner of the speaker, were tremendous. The result is well known; but it may not be equally well known that Dr Johnson himself, notwithstanding his hostility to the test laws, was highly gratified by the verdict which was obtained: "I am glad," said he, "that lord George Gordon has escaped, rather than a precedent should be established of hanging a man for constructive treason."

In 1783, Mr Erskine received the honour of a silk gown: his majesty's letter of precedency being conferred upon him at the suggestion of the venerable lord Mansfield. In the same year he was elected member of parliament for Portsmouth.

The defence of John Stockdale, who was tried for publishing a libel against the commons house of parliament, has been pronounced the first in oratorical talent, and is certainly not the last in importance of Mr Erskine's speeches. This trial may be termed the case of libels, and the doctrine maintained and expounded in it by Stockdale's counsel is the foundation of that liberty which the press enjoys in this country. When the house of commons ordered the impeachment of Warren Hastings, the articles were drawn up by Mr Burke, who infused into them all that fervour of thought and expression which ever characterized his compositions. The articles, so prepared, instead of being confined to the records of the house until they were carried up to the lords for trial, were printed and allowed to be sold in every bookseller's shop in the kingdom, before the accused was placed upon his trial; and undoubtedly, from the style and manner of their composition, made a deep and general impression upon the public mind against Mr Hastings. To repel or neutralize the effect of the publication of the charges, Mr Logan, one of the ministers of Leith, wrote a pamphlet, which Stockdale published, containing several severe and unguarded reflections upon the conduct of the managers of the impeachments, which the house of commons deemed highly contemptuous and libellous. The publisher was accordingly tried, on an information filed by the attorney-general. In the speech delivered by Mr Erskine upon this occasion, the very highest efforts of the orator and the rhetorician were united to all the coolness and precision of the nisi prius lawyer. It was this rare faculty of combining the highest genius with the minutest attention to whatever might put his case in the safest position, which rendered Mr Erskine the most consummate advocate of the age. To estimate the mightiness of that effort by which he defeated his powerful antagonists in this case, we must remember the imposing circumstances of Mr Hastings' trial, the "terrible, unceasing, exhaustless artillery of warm zeal, matchless vigour of understanding, consuming and devouring eloquence, united with the highest dignity," to use the orator's own language which was then daily pouring forth upon the man, in whose defence Logan had written and Stockdale published. It was "amidst the blaze of passion and prejudice," that Mr Erskine extorted that verdict, which rescued his client from the punishment which a whole people seemed interested in awarding against the reviler of its collective majesty. And be it remembered, that in defending Stockdale, the advocate by no means identified his cause with a defence of Hastings. He did not attempt to palliate the enormities of the governor-general's administration; he avowed that he was neither his counsel, nor desired to have any thing to do with his guilt or innocence; although in the collateral defence of his client, he was driven to state matters which might be considered by many as hostile to the impeachment. Our gifted countryman never perverted his transcendant talents