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* ERSKINE. 194 ERSKINE. Thomas. Lord Erskin - a Whig in poh- .11 1783 on his Ml'. ERSKINE. >,n Ersfcine, of Carm 1721, studied at id in 1743 was li- resbytery of Dunblane. as ordained minister of Kirkintill. '■ where lie remained until presented to the parish in the pit- Dunfermline. In transferred to New Greyfriars dinburgh, and in 17(i7 he was pro- Uegiate charge of Old Greyfriars, he had for hi- colleague Dr. Robi In the General Assembly of the Church of Scot- [i i many years the leader of the popular or evangelical party. He died in Edin- burgh, January 19, 1803. Erskine's writings are lingly numerous. They consist of essays, sermons, dissertations, pamphlets, etc., mainly of a religious character, and exhibit a su- perior degree of ability. For his life, consult Wellwood I Edinburgh, 1818). ERSKINE, John, eighteenth Lord Erskine and eleventh Karl of Mar (1675-1732). A Scot- tish politician. He was born at Alloa, and in 1708 became Secretary for Scotland. He later became one of the principal leaders of the Jacob- rty, and in 171.3 was appointed commander- in-chief of the Pretender's forces in Scotland. ighf an indecisive battle at Sheriffmuir, on November 13. 1715. He afterwards accompanied i to Sa nil i lermain, when' he en- in all suit- of intrigues, and severed his tion with the Stuarts in 1725. He was un scrupulous and corrupt, and utterly devoid of principle in polii he i- -aid in have been a iii. in of ability, and to bs important municipal improvements for Edin- burgh. ERSKINE, John (of Carnock, and aftcr-

eminent 'i jurist and professor of Scots law in the of Edinburgh, lie was the son of the linn. John Erskine of Carnock, third son of Lord Cardross, whose descendants have now bui Mom of Buchan. John Erskine, the father, was a man of impo tance in hi- day, • iint of tin- family to which he d. which even linn had 1 n prolific in sequence of his ■ I qualities and tli n which he held. Having been foi lit Scotland from ibyterian religion, he I'M. in. 1. and became an officer in the t ' he l'i iii..- of I (range. l the R tion h.. accompanied William to England, and as ervices was appointed Lieu- > nor of St ,i . Mini lieutenant- of fool John Erskine, the member of the in 1719, hut did not succeed i in i he death of law, an office 1 n 1754 hi ■ Blaekstone in England and America, became the rite text-book for many successive genera- tion- of law students. On his retirement from the professorship in 1765, Erskine occupied him- self in preparing his more important work, The Institutes of tl" Laws 0/ Scotland, hut it was not published till 1773, five years after hi- death. Erskine was twice married — first to Miss Mel- ville, of the noble family of Leven and Melville, by whom he left the afterwards celebrated clergj man. John Erskine: and, second, to Ann. second daughter of Stirling of Keir, by whom he had four sons and two daughters. As a legal writer Erskine is inferior to none of the Scottish jurist.-, with the single exception of Lord Stair, who had the hem. tit of the more learned and wider judicial training of earlier lawyers who were educated in. a Continental school. Hut of all those depart- ments which constitute the law of Scotland, as developed by the usages and forms of society in the country itself, there is at the present day no clearer, sounder, or more trustworthy expos- itor than Erskine. ERSKINE, John, of Dun ( 1509-91 ). A Scot- tish reformer. He came of a noble family, which lost several distinguished members at Flodden Field. He was educated at a foreign university, and was one of the first followers of Knox, his signature being affixed to the first covenant of the Scottish reformers. He was one of the commis- sioners sent to France to attend the marriage of Queen Mary, and acted as mediator between Knox and the Queen on the occasion of their cele- brated interview. In 1578 he assisted in the compilation of Tin Second Bool; of Discipline. ERSKINE, Ralph (1685-1752). A Scottish clergyman. He was born at Monilaws, in North- umberland; studied at the T'niversity of Edin- burgh; was licensed to preach in 17119. and he- came pastor at Dunfermline in 1711. He sympa- thized with the sentiments of his brother. Eben- ezer Erskine (q.v.), who founded the Scottish Secession Church, and in 1737 formally with- drew from the Church of Scotland. Like his brother, he was a most popular preacher. His Gospel Sonnets (25th ed. 1795) arc well known, and his poem Smoking Spiritualized, often quot- ed, is interesting for its quaint conceit. ERSKINE, THOMAS, Lord (1750-1823). An eminent Scottish lawyer and pleader. He was born in Edinburgh, January 21, 1750, the young- est son of llcnn 1>m id. the tenth Earl of Buchan, and Agnes, second daughter of Sir James Stewart. Bart., of Goodtrees. Because of the straitened . 'i. him tances of his father, his desire for a uni- versity education was not gratified, although he attended classes at Saint Andrews University during 1762 and 1763. At the age of fourteen he entered t lie navy a- midshipman. For some time he was stationed in the West Indie-, where he had ample leisure for indulging his taste for literature and some forms of natural science. Returning to England soon after the death .if his father, he gave up the navy for the army, ex- pending hi- entire share of his father's estate in purchasing a commission in the regiment of which the Duke of Argyll was colonel, in 1770 he married n daughter of Daniel Moore. M.I', for Marlow. During the next two years he was stationed .t Minorca. - his military duties not arduous, he indulged again his literary tastes, reading widely and gaining sonic repu-