ERSKINE, Rev. EBENEZER, the founder of the secession church in Scotland, was the son of the Rev. Henry Erskine, minister of Chirnside, in Berwickshire, a descendant of the noble family of Mar, and was b. June 22, 1680. He studied at Edinburgh, and after acting for some time as tutor and chaplain in the family of the earl of Rothes, he was licensed to preach the gospel by the presbytery of Kirkcaldy in 1702. His abilities and excellent character soon brought him into notice, and in the following year he was. appointed minister of Portmoak in the shire of Kinross. Here he applied himself indefatigably to the study of the Scriptures, and became so deeply convinced that to preach "Christ crucified" was his grand and constant duty as a minister, that after some time the earnestness, unction, and piety which now marked his discourses, became exceedingly attractive to the people accustomed to the chilling "legalism" which then predominated in the Scottish pulpit. E.'s popularity was not confined to the parish of Portmoak; serious Christians from all parts of the country were eager to enjoy occa sionally the benefits of his ministry, and on sacramental occasions, he had frequently attendants from the distance of 60 or 70 miles. In 1731, he was translated to Stirling, after having discharged the pastoral office in Portmoak for 28 years. Previous to this event, however, the religious peculiarities of E. had brought him into unpleasant rela
tions with some of his brethren, by the interest which he exhibited in a book called the Marrow of Modern Divinity, marked by its strong evangelicalism of doctrine and sentiment. After his transference to Stirling, E. distinguished himself by his advocacy of popular rights in the settlement of ministers; and ultimately involved himself in such antagonism to the church of Scotland, or at least to the ruling party in it of the time, that, along with other three clergymen, he was deposed in 1733. (For an account of the circumstances which led to these depositions, see UNITED PRESBYTERIAN Cuuncu). He was shortly after joined by his brother Ralph and several other ministers. They now virtually formed a distinct sect, but they still continued to occupy their parish churches. An effort was made in 1734 to restore them to their legal connection with the church; it was unsuccessful. In 1736, E. and his friends formally seceded, but still it was not till 1740 that they were ejected from their churches. Shortly after this, a. furious, and, as it seems to people now-a-days, a contemptible squabble broke out among the seceders in regard to the propriety of taking the burgess-oath. The result was a division of the sect into two bodies, the Burghers and Antiburghers. See