Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 8.djvu/549

Rh E E S K I N E 529 Colonel Jolin Erskine, son of Henry, second Lord Cardross, was a noted Whig and zealous Presbyterian, who made himself conspicuous at the Revolution by refusing to take the oath of abjuration notwithstanding his strong attach ment to King William. John Erskine the younger was admitted a member of the faculty of advocates in J719. Although he never enjoyed much practice at the bar, he acquired a high reputation as a sound and learned lawyer. Tn 1737 he was appointed professor of Scots law in the university of Edinburgh a position which he proved to be peculiarly well fitted to adorn. In 1754 he published his Principles of the Law of Scotland. He retired from his chair in 1765 ; and during the remainder of his uneventful life he occupied himself with the preparation of his great work, the Institute of the Law of Scotland, which he did not live to publish. He died at Cardross on the 1st March 1768. Erskine s Institute, although it does not exhibit the grasp of principle which distinguished his great predecessor Lord Stair, is so conspicuous for learning, accuracy, and sound good sense, that it has always been esteemed of the highest authority on the law of Scotland. On one important branch indeed commercial law it is very defective, even when compared with Lord Stair s much earlier work ; but at the time when Erskine wrote com merce had declined in Scotland, while the forfeitures con sequent on the rebellions of 1715 and 1745 had given a great impetus to feudal conveyancing ; and the Institute naturally reflects this state of society. Nor does it pro fess to give a very extended exposition of criminal law ; but on all the other branches of Scottish jurisprudence it is, even at the present day, the most trustworthy guide which the student can find. The Principles, although published first, is substantially an abridgment of the larger work, and is in some respects superior to it. More concise and direct, it gives an admirable exposition of the main principles of the law in a perspicuous and interesting manner. It was designed to supersede Sir George Mackenzie s Institutions as the class text-book ; and it is a conclusive proof of its excellence that it still retains this place in the university. The Institute first appeared in 1773, and has repeatedly been republislied. The best edition is the last (1871), by Mr Badenach Nicolson, who has preserved the valuable and authoritative notes of Lord Ivory s edition (1824-28). The last (15th) edition of the Principles is admirably edited by Mr Guthne (1874). ERSKINE, JOHN, D.D. (1721-1803), son of the above, a minister of the Church of Scotland, was born on the 2d June 1721. It was his early desire to enter the church; and although, in deference to his father s wish, he studied law for a time after completing his course in arts at the university of Edinburgh, he was eventually permitted to follow his own inclination. He was licensed to preach by the presbytery of Dunblane in 1743 ; and in May of the following year he was ordained minister of the important parish of Kirkintilloch, near Glasgow. In 1753 he was translated to Culross, in Fifeshire, from which he was re moved iu 1758 to the New Greyfriars Church in Edin burgh. In 1767 this was exchanged for the collegiate charge of the Old Greyfriars Church, where he became the colleague of Principal Robertson, the historian. Here he remained until his death, which took place on January 19, 1803. His writings consist chiefly of numerous controver sial pamphlets on theological subjects, arid their contents make it a matter of regret that he did not publish something which was the result of more extended labour, He carried on an extensive correspondence with many distinguished men in England, on the Continent, and in America. His sermons are clear, vigorous expositions of a moderate Calvin ism, in which metaphysical argument and practical morality ara happily blended. In church politics he was the leader of the evangelical party ; but his high character and the benignity of his disposition secured for him the esteem of his opponents and the friendship of their leader, his colleague Dr Robertson. There is an excellent Life of Erskine by Sir H. Moncrieff Welwood (Edin. 1818), the appendix to which contains a complete list of his numerous writings. ERSKINE, RALPH (1685-1752), brother of Ebenezer Erskine, was born 18th March 1685. After studying at the university of Edinburgh, he was licensed as a preacher in 1709, and in 1711 was ordained as assistant minister at Dunfermline. He homologated the protests which his brother laid on the table of the Assembly after being re buked for his synod sermon, but he did not formally with draw from the Establishment till 1737. He was also present, though not as a member, at the first meeting of the Associate Presbytery. When the severance took place on account of the oath administered to burgesses, he adhered, along with his brother, to the Burgher section. He died after a short illness on November 6, 1752. His works consist of sermons, poetical paraphrases, and gospel sonnets. The Gospel Sonnets have frequently appeared separately. His Life ami Diary, edited by the Rev. D. Eraser, was published in 1842, ERSKINE, THOMAS, BARON (1750-1823), probably the greatest forensic orator that Britain has produced, was the third and youngest son of Henry David, tenth earl of Buchan, and was born in Edinburgh on the 10th of January 1750. From an early age he showed a strong desire to enter one of the learned professions ; but his father, whose means had barely permitted him to afford the expense of a liberal education for his two elder sons one of whom, afterwards the well-known Harry Erskine, was studying for the Scotch bar was unable to do more than give him a good school education at the High School of Edinburgh and the grammar school of St Andrews. He attended the university of St Andrews for one session, after which it was decided that he should join the navy ; and in the spring of 1764 he left Scotland to serve as a midshipman on board the &quot;Tartar.&quot; His buoyancy of spirit and the opportunity for study which he had on board a man-of-war reconciled him to his new mode of life ; but on finding, when he returned to this country after four years absence in North America and the West Indies, that there was little immediate chance of his rank of acting lieutenant being confirmed, he resolved to quit the service. He entered the army, purchasing a commission in the 1st Royals with the meagre patrimony which had been left to him. But promo tion here was as slow as in the navy ; while in 1770 he had added greatly to his difficulties by marrying the daughter of Mr Daniel Moore, M P for Marlow, an excellent wife, but as poor as himself. In these depressing circumstances he happened to be quartered where the assizes were being held, and lounging into court one day was invited to the bench by his father s old friend Lord Mansfield. He was told that the barristers who were pleading were at the top of their profession, yet he felt that he could do as well, if not better, himself. He confided his plan to Lord Mansfield, who did not discourage him, and to his mother, a woman of re markable determination of character, who strongly advised him to quit the army for the law. Accordingly on the 26th April 1775 he was admitted a student of Lincoln s Inn. He also on the 13th of January following entered himself as a gentleman commoner on the books of Trinity College, Cambridge, but merely that by graduating he might be called two years earlier. He placed himself as a pupil under Mr Buller, and when that eminent lawyer was ele vated to the bench, under Mr (afterwards Baron) Wood, and was called to the bar on the 3d July 1778. His suc cess was immediate and brilliant. An accident was tho VITT. 67