1824.] Biographical Sketch of the late Thomas Lord Erskine. 
vented him from dining in the College- 
hall. In the moment of disappointment, 
tunger, and impatience, he is sapposed 
4o have poured forth that malediction 
against the whole race of barbers, with a 
denunciation, prophetic of a future 
taste for cropping and- unpowdered 
hair. 
Mr. Erskine did not enter into the 
University fer any academical purpose, 
‘but merely to obtain a degree to which 
he was entitled as the son of a nobleman, 
and by which he saved two years anda 
half in his passageto the bar. His edu- 
eation had been previously completed in 
Scotland. His father, one of. the most 
accomplished mon of his time, had uni- 
formly felt an extraordinary solicitude as 
to the eduéation of his children, and 
removed from his family-estate fer the 
purpose of residing at St. Andrew’s, 
where he continued many years. Dur- 
ing this time be procured for them a 
private tutor, one~of the most elegant 
scholars of that part of the island, to 
assist their studies at the school and 
mniversity. Mr. Erskine. always pur- 
sued the study of the Belles Lettres 
with unremitted ardour, and had the ad- 
vantage of imbibing from the most emi- 
nent persons of the day, that various and 
extended knowledge which can never 
be derived from beoks or solitary ap- 
plication. 
In order to acquire a necessary know- 
Jedge of the mechanical parts of his 
future profession, he was persuaded, by 
the judicious counsels of his friends, to 
enter as a. pupil into the office of Judge 
Buller, then an eminent special pleader 
at the bar. Daring this period of his 
dife, Mr. Erskine was subject to the 
necessities of a very limited- income. 
He had been married about four years, 
and was obliged fo.adhere to. the most 
rigid frugality of expenditare. In 
reviewing the difficuitics he had en- 
countered, and in contrasting them with 
the brilliant prosperity of his subse- 
quent years, he must have felt a peeu- 
liar gratification ; because he must have 
attributed his extraordinary elevation to 
the endowments allotted to him’ by 
nature, rather than to the caprice or 
partialities of fortunc. The part sts. 
fained by Mrs. Erskine, before the 
cloud that overhung their first entrance 
into life was dissipated, is highly honour- 
able to her feelings ; she accompanied 
him to Minorca, followed his fortunes 
with constancy; and, while he was 
engaged in the pursuits of a most labori+ 
ous profession, never suffered any pleas 
» Monruty Mac. No, 390, 
521 
sure or amusement to interrupt the assi- 
duous discharge of her domestic duties. 
While he remained in the office of Mr. 
Buller, he pursued. the business of the 
desk with activity and ardour; .and, on 
Mr. Buller’s promotion, he went into the 
office of Mr. Wood, where he continued 
a year eyen after he had acquired consi- 
derable business at the bar. Special 
pleading, though frequently considered 
as a mechanical part of the profession, 
has lately arrived at a higher dignity 
than lawyers of former times were wil- 
ling to allowit.. The absolute and hourly 
necessity of this law logic is now recog- 
nized by every one who is, conversant 
with the business of our courts of jus- 
tice. It consists in a-sort of analytical 
correctness, and its highest utility is 
derived from the. habits .of artificial 
acuteness which it imparts, and the nice 
and skilful, subtleties om. which it is 
perpetually occupied... . 
Having completed the probationary 
period allotted to the attendance in the 
inns: of court, he was called to the bar 
in the Trinity Term, 1778; and was a 
singular exception to the tardy advance- 
ment of professional merit at the Eng- 
lish bar. By a singular. partiality of 
fortune, he was not tortured by the 
“hope deferred,” and the sickening ex- 
jioriation of a brief in Westminster- 
dall, which so many men of promising 
talents are doomed to underge ; but an 
opportunity was almost immediately 
afforded him of distinguishing himself. - 
Captain Baillic, who had been removed 
from the government in Greenwich Hos- 
pital by the Earl of Sandwich, then 
First Lord of the Admiralty, and one of 
the Governors of Greenwich Hospital, 
had been charged with having published 
a libel against that nobleman, and the 
Attorney-General was instructed to 
move for a criminal information against 
him; and, to reply to this motion, was 
the occasion of Mr, Erskine’s_ first 
speech in court. In opposing the mo- 
tion of the Attorney-General, an oppor- 
tunity preseuted itself of entering into 
the merits of the case in behalf of Capt. 
Baillie. He expatiated upon the ser- 
vices which had been rendered by his 
client, and on the firmness with which 
he resisted the intrigue and artifice to 
which he attributed the prosecution set 
on foot against him. In the course of 
this speech, he attacked the noble earl 
in a tone ef sarcastic and indignant 
invective. Lord Mansfield interrupted 
him more than once, but the advocate 
did not abate of the severity of his ani- 
3X madversions, 
