"In his long and splendid career at the bar, Mr. Erskine was distinguished, not only by the peculiar brilliancy of his wit, and the gracefulness, ease, and vivacity of his eloquence, but by the still rarer power of keeping those seductive qualities in perfect subordination to his judgment. By their assistance, he could not only make the most repulsive subjects agreeable, but the most abstruse, easy and intelligible. In his profession, indeed, all his wit was argument, and each of his delightful illustrations, a material step in his reasoning. To himself it seemed always as if they were recommended rather for their use than their beauty. And unquestionably they often enabled him to state a fine argument or a nice distinction."

The following tribute is from the pen of a friend :

"The character of Mr. Erskine's eloquence bore a strong resemblance to that of his noble brother, (Lord Erskine) but being much less diffusive, it was better calculated to leave a forcible impression: he had the art of concentrating his ideas, and presenting them at once in so luminous and irresistible a form, as to render his hearers masters of the view he took of his subject; which, however dry or complex in its nature, never failed to become entertaining and instructive in his hands; for, to professional knowledge of the highest order, he united a most extensive acquaintance with history, literature, and science; and a thorough conversancy with human life and moral and political philosophy. The writer of this article has witnessed, with pleasure and astonishment, the widely different emotions excited by the amazing powers of his oratory; fervid and affecting in the extremest degree, when the occasion called. for it; and no less powerful, in opposite circumstances, by the potency of wit and the brilliancy of comic humour, which constantly excited shouts of laughter throughout the precincts of the court, the mirthful glee even extending itself to the. ermined sages, who found too much amusement in the scene to check the fascinating actor of it. He assisted the great powers of his understanding by an indefatigable industry, not commonly annexed to extraordinary genius; and he kept his mind open for the admission of knowledge, by the most unaffected modesty of deportment. The harmony of his

periods, and the accuracy of his expressions, in his most unpremeditated speeches, were not among the least of his oratorical accomplishments.

"In the most rapid of his flights, when his tongue could scarce keep pace with his thoughts, he never failed to seize the choicest words in the treasury of our language. The apt, beautiful, and varied images which constantly decorated his judicial addresses, suggested themselves instantaneously, and appeared, like the soldiers of Cadmus, in complete armour and array to support the cause of their creator, the most remarkable feature of whose eloquence was, that it never made him swerve by one hair-breadth from the minuter details most befitting his purpose; for, with matchless skill, he rendered the most dazzling oratory subservient to the uses of consummate special pleading, so that his prudence and sagacity as an advocate, were as decisive as his speeches were splendid.

"Mr. Erskine's attainments, as we have before observed, were not confined to a mere acquaintance with his professional duties; he was an elegant classical scholar, and an able mathematician; and he also possessed many minor accomplishments in great perfection. His knowledge of music was correct, and his execution on the violoncello most pleasing. In all the various relations of private life, Mr. Erskine's character was truly estimable, and the just appreciation of his virtues extended far beyond the circle of his own family and friends; and it is a well authenticated fact, that a writer (or, as we should say, attorney) in a distant part of Scotland, representing to an oppressed and needy tacksman, who had applied to him for advice, the futility of entering into a lawsuit with a wealthy neighbour, having himself no means of defending his cause, received for answer, "Ye dinna ken what ye say, Maister, there's nae a puir man in Scotland need to want a friend or fear an enemy while Harry Erskine lives!" How much honour does that simple sentence convey to the generous and benevolent object of it! He had, indeed, a claim to the affection and respect of all who were within the knowledge of his extraordinary talents, and more uncommon virtues.

"With a mind that was superior to fear and incapable of corruption, regulated by undeviating principles of integrity and uniformity, elevated in adversity as in prosperity, neither subdued by pleasure into effeminacy, nor sunk into dejection by distress; in no situation of his life was he ashamed or afraid of discharging his duty, but constant to the God whom he worshipped, he evinced his confidence in the faith he professed, by his actions; to his friends he was faithful, to his enemies generous, ever ready to sacrifice his little private interests and pleasures to what he conceived to be the public welfare, or to the domestic felicity of those around him. In the words of an eloquent writer he was a man to choose for a superior, to trust as a friend, and to love as a brother: the ardency of his efforts to promote the happiness of his fellowcreatures, was a prominent feature in his character; his very faults had their origin in the excessive confidence of too liberal a spirit, the uncircumscribed beneficence of too warm a heart. It has been remarked of a distinguished actor, that he was less to be envied whilst receiving the meed of universal applause, than at the head of his own table: the observation may justly be applied to Mr. Erskine. In no sphere was the lustre of his talents more conspicuous, while the unaffected grace and suavity of his manners, the benevolent smile that illumined his intelligent countenance in the exercise of the hospitalities of the social board, rendered indeed a meeting at his house a feast of reason, and a flow of soul.' In person Mr. Erskine was above the middle size, well proportioned but slender; his features were all character and most strikingly expressive of the rare qualities of his mind. In early life his carriage was remarkably graceful—dignified and impressive as occasion required it; in manner he was gentle, playful, and unassuming, and so persuasive was his address, that he never failed to attract attention, and by the spell of irresistible fascination to fix, and enchain it. His voice was powerful and melodious, his enunciation uncommonly accurate and distinct, and there was a peculiar grace in his utterance which enhanced the value of all he said, and engraved the remembrance of it

indelibly on the minds of his hearers. For many years of his life, Mr. Erskine had been the victim of ill health, but the native sweetness of his temper remained unclouded, and during the painfully protracted sufferings of his last illness, the language of complaint was never heard to escape his lips, nor the shadow of discontent seen to cloud his countenance ! • Nothing in his life became him, like the leaving it,' he looked patiently forward to the termination of his painful existence, and received with mild complacency the intelligence of his danger, while the ease and happiness of those, whose felicity through life had been his primary consideration, were never absent from his thoughts. It is said, that Swift, after having written that celebrated satire on mankind, Gulliver's Travels, exclaimed whilst meditating on the rare virtues of his friend Arbuthnot. "Oh! were there ten Arbuthnots in the world, I would burn my book."It is difficult to contemplate such a character as Mr. Erskine's without a similar sentiment, without feeling, that were there many Erskines, one should learn to think better of mankind. The general voice placed him, while living, high among the illustrious characters of the present age; may the humble memorial the author is giving to the public, preserve his name unblemished by misrepresentation, till some more equal pen shall hand it down to posterity, as a bright example of what great usefulness extraordinary talents may prove to society, when under the direction of sound judgment, incorruptible integrity, and enlarged philanthropy."

It is not a little singular, that it is doubtful at this moment whether a good portrait of Mr. Henry Erskine actually exists; but the chisel of Turnerelli has happily supplied this omission; and it is to be hoped, that as the noble library of the Faculty of Advocates at Edinburgh is to be graced with a bust of Mr. Horner, that a due tribute to the memory of their worthy and lamented dean will not be forgotten.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.

No. XV.

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

GEORGE WILLIAM EVELYN, EARL OF ROTHES.

ONE OF THE SIXTEEN REPRESENTATIVE PEERS OF SCOTLAND, AND COLONEL OF THE SURREY YEOMANRY.

THE Leslies, now nearly at the head of the Earls in the Scottish Peerage, are of a very ancient family and high descent. They were of foreign origin, and the first of that name in Great Britain, was Bartholdus Lesley, one of the Hungarian Magnates, who in the year 1086, attended Margaret Atheling, the wife of King Malcolm Canmore, into Scotland. There his merits, in addition to his services to that princess, were deemed so considerable, that King Malcolm gave him his own sister in marriage: and besides many large possessions, made him Governor of Edinburgh Castle, a place which, under his management, became of the highest consequence to the reigning family; for he is said to have fortified it, for the first time, according to the rules of art which he had learned abroad.

From him descended George Leslie, created Lord Leslie, Earl of Rothes, by James II. in 1457.