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 written at a fortunate period. The law of Scotland, already considerably modified in some directions by English influence, had assumed in all its most essential parts its present shape. Even in commercial law the foundation was already laid, though the superstructure was not as yet erected. A treatise more suited to the needs of the time than the philosophical one of Stair or the two slight ‘Institutions’ of Sir George Mackenzie was required. Erskine supplied the want by giving a clear, connected view of the whole law, written in simple and direct language. The book is everywhere practical and to the point. Hence its value for everyday use. ‘His work,’ says Mr. Æneas Mackay, ‘is peculiarly adapted to the tendencies of the Scottish intellect; plain rather than subtle, sure so far as he goes rather than going to the bottom of the subject; he is the lawyer of common sense, less antiquarian, and therefore now more practical, but also less philosophical and less learned than Stair.’

[Works; Anderson's Scottish Nation, ii. 158–9; Chambers's Dict. of Eminent Scotsmen, i. 547–8; Scots Mag. February 1768, p. 111; Mackay's Memoirs of Stair (Edin. 1873), p. 172.] 

ERSKINE, JOHN, D.D. (1721?–1803), theologian, was born at Edinburgh in 1720 or 1721 (his biographer thinks 1721), and educated at the university there. His father, John Erskine of Carnock, a grandson of Henry, first Lord Cardross, was professor of Scots law in the university of Edinburgh and author of a well-known work on the ‘Principles of the Law of Scotland.’ His mother was a daughter of the Hon. James Melvill of Bargarvie. Erskine's friends were most desirous that he should be a lawyer, but his devout and earnest spirit inclined him to the ministry; and his sense of duty becoming very clear, he chose that profession, contrary to the wishes of his family. At the university of Edinburgh he became acquainted with many young men of great ability, and was a member of a club called the Hen Club, along with Principal Robertson, Mr. John Home, and Dr. A. Carlyle. Before being settled in any charge he wrote a pamphlet in 1741, in opposition to certain views published by Dr. Archibald Campbell, professor of church history in the university of St. Andrews, whose strictures on the deistical work, ‘Christianity as Old as the Creation,’ were not deemed satisfactory by the church. Erskine adopted some of the views of Warburton in his ‘Divine Legation of Moses,’ which led to a friendship between the two divines, and to several letters on each side. In 1744 he was ordained minister of Kirkintilloch, near Glasgow, and he devoted himself with great earnestness and assiduity to the spiritual duties of his office. In 1746 he married the Hon. Christian Mackay, daughter of George, third Lord Reay.

While minister of Kirkintilloch, Erskine came into contact with George Whitefield, for whose character and labours he had done battle while a student at the university, Dr. Robertson having taken the opposite side. At Kirkintilloch he invited Whitefield to preach for him. For this it was attempted indirectly to censure him in the synod of Glasgow and Ayr. While warmly befriending Whitefield, Erskine stood in a very different relation to Wesley. He strongly disapproved of his views on predestination, perseverance, and other doctrines. This difference diminished his confidence in Wesley, with whom he never fraternised as he did with Whitefield.

Erskine began at an early period to cultivate relations with other churches and their ministers, especially in the colonies and on the European continent. He was on very intimate terms with many American ministers, and especially with Jonathan Edwards, with whom he had much correspondence, both on the subject of his books and on the remarkable religious awakening which occurred under his ministry at Northampton. Erskine was profoundly grieved when the relations between Britain and her American colonies became strained; and besides using all his influence in more private ways, published several pamphlets, in which he implored both sides to make some concession and avert the horrors of an unnatural war. All such efforts proved in vain, Erskine finding that his appeals for conciliation were simply ignored. He had much intercourse with divines in Holland and Germany, believing that it was for the benefit of his own church and country to be acquainted with the writings and proceedings of other churches. Not knowing any continental language but French, he set himself, when sixty years of age, to study German and Dutch, and with such success that he was very soon able to understand the drift of books in these languages.

In 1753 Erskine was translated to Culross, and in 1758 to the New Greyfriars, Edinburgh. In 1767 he was transferred to the Old Greyfriars, where he became colleague of Principal Robertson, with whom he was associated for six-and-twenty years. The university of Glasgow conferred on him the degree of D.D. in 1766.

Erskine, while most conscientiously devoted to the duties of his pastoral office, was a man of considerable literary activity. The list of his works given by his biographer embraces