ERSKINE, THOMAS, LORD, was the third and youngest son of David, earl of Buchan. lio was born in 1748, end received the rudi ments of his education partly iu the high-school of Edinburgh, and partly at the University of St. Andrews. In 1764 be entered the navy as • midshipman, but not thinking his prospects of promotion in that service sufficiently good, he accepted a commission in the first regiment of foot in 1768. In 1770 he married Frances, daughter of Daniel Moore, 31.1'. for Marlow, and soon after went with his regiment to Minorca. Upon his return to England in 1772, he appears to have become remarkable for the brilliancy of his conversational talents. (Wraxall's ' Memoirs,' vol. i, p. 152, and Boswells ' Life of Johnson,' under April 6, 1772.) In 1775 be commenced the study of the law, and entered himself a student of Lincoln's Inn, and also as a fellow commoner of Trinity College, Cambridge, hut only for the purpose of obtaining a degree, and thereby saving thy additional term of two years. during which his name must otherwise have remained on the books of Lincoln's Inn. He became the pupil of Mr. Buller, and after wards of Mr. Wood, both of whom were subsequently raised to the Bench. In Trinity term 1778 Mr. Erskine was called to the bar, where his success' was as rapid as it was brilliant. In the same term ho was employed as one of the counsel for Captain Baillie, lieutenant governor of Greenwich Hospital, who was prosecuted for an alleged libel on the other officers of that establishment The prosecution was in fact instituted by Lord Saudwich, then at the head of the admi ralty, who, it appeared, had abused the charity by appointing landsmen as pensioners, to serve his own electioneering purposes. Mr. Erskine's eloquent and indignant speed] at once established his reputation ; such indeed was its instantaneous effect that thirty retainers were presented to him before he left the court. Ilia practice and reputa tion increased so rapidly that in 1783, when lie hail been scarcely five years at the bar, he received a patent of precedence at the suggestion of Lord Mansfield, who then presided in the court of Kiug's Bench.
In the same year Mr. Erskine was returned member for Portsmouth, through the interest of Mr. Fox, with the immediate view of support ing that minister's famous India Bill. In the House of Commons however bis success by no means equalled the expectations which his friends bad formed, though his parliamentary speeches would appear to have been far above mediocrity. In the same year also ho was made attorney-general to the Prince of Wales, an appointment which he was called upon to resign in 1792, in consequence of his refusing to abandon the defence of Thomas Paine when he was prosecuted for his publication ' The Rights of Man.' In 1802 he was made chaucellor of the duchy of Cornwall ; and in 1806, on the formation of the Gren ville ministry, he was appointed lord chaucellor, end raised to the peerage by the title of Baron Erskine, of Restormel Castle, in Corn wall. His tenure of office was however brief, for on the dissolution of
the ministry in 1807 he retired from publio life. After this period Lord Erskine seldom appeared in his place in the House of Lords, but in 1820 be took a prominent part on the occasion of the trial of Queen Caroline.
In the later years of his life he was harassed by pecuniary embarrass ments, arising from the loss of bin large professional income, and an unfortunate investment of the fruits of his industry in laud. His first wife died in 1805, and au ill-assorted second marriage increased his domestic disquietudes, injured his reputation, and gave pain to Ida Moods. his later years were marked by eccentricities, which seemed to indicate mental disease. He died November 17th, 1823.
Lord Erskine's talents were peculiarly those of an accomplished and dexterous advocate : his eloquence formed an era at the bar, and his addresses to juries captivated their underatandiugs, their imaginations, end their passions ; they were not marked by beauty of diction, rich ness of ornament, or felicity of illustration, but by strength, vigour, and simplicity, end a perfect freedom from colloquial vulgarians. A remarkable feature in his speeches is an exact and sedulous adherence to some one great principle which he laid down, and to which all his efforts were referrible and subsidiary. As the principle thus proposed was founded on truth and justice, whatever might be his ingenuity in applying it to the particular case, it naturally gave to his address an air of honesty and sincerity which had great infleeneo with the jury.
His extraordinary talent was developed by the times in which he lived ; his indignant eloquence was called forth in defence of those individuals in whose persons the court end the government attacked the liberty of the press and constitutional freedom. The public mind WWI in a state of ferment from the recent events of the French revolu tion ; and the government, in their hatred of the great principles of liberty then being established, forgot that actions, not principles, are the propsr subjects for prosecution. As counsel for the defendants in these political prosecutions, Lord Erskine made his noblest and most successful efforts; fearless and zealous in the cause of his client, ho spoke homo truths without using unnecessary violence or low invective.
Lord Erskine has left few productions in writing; the principal arc the ' Preface to Fox's Speeches,' the political romance called Armata,' and a pamphlet. entitled ' View of the Causes and Consequences of the War with France,' which passed through forty-eight editions. His speeches have been published in 5 vols. 8vo. Lord Erskine is not to bo considered as a literary man ; but with a scanty stock of what is usually called literature, Ito was one of our purest classical speakers and writers. His study was confined to a few of the greatest models, and these he almost knew by heart. Ile greatly admired the writings of Burke, and frequently quoted them in his speeches.