S*" 



580 



List of Patentx. 



[Nov, 



improvements in the construction of cat-head 

 stoppers. — 30th September ; fi months. 



To Thomas Banks, Patricroft, within Barton- 

 upon-Irwell, Lancaster, civil engineer, for his im- 

 jirovements in steam-engines. — 30th September; 

 6 months. 



To Paul Descroizilles, Fenchurcb-street, Lon- 

 don, chemist, for his iniprovempnts in apparatus 

 for removing the down from cotton and certain 

 other fabrics by singeing. — / th October ; 6 months. 



To William Church, esq., Heywood House, near 



Birmingham, Warwick, for his Improvements in 

 machinery for propelling vessels and other ma- 

 chines capable of being propelled by steam, and 

 in boilers applicable to the same, and also to other 

 purposes. — 15th October ;'6 months. 



To William Church, esq., Heywood House, near 

 Birmingham, Warwick, for his improvement? in , 

 on, or upon instrumenfs for sharpeninif knives 

 and other edge-tools, and the machinery or appa- 

 ratus for manufacturing the same. — 15th October ; 

 6 months. 



BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF EMINENT PERSONS. 



THE EAEI. OF BUCHAW. 



David Stewart Erskine, eleventh Earl of 

 Buchan, Lord Auchterhouse, and Lord 

 Cardross, of the county of Stirling, whose 

 death we have to record, was born on the 

 1st of June, 1742. The very ancient Earl- 

 dom of Buchan, created in 14(i9, came into 

 the family of Erskine with Mary Douglas, 

 Countess of Buchan, grand-daughter of the 

 Hon. Robert Douglas, by Christian Stew, 

 art, who married Sir James Erskine, Knt., 

 eldest son, by his second wife, of John, the 

 seventh Earl of Marr. His Lordship suc- 

 ceeded to the family honours on tlie demise 

 of his father, in 17^7; and he married, in 

 I77I; Margaret, daughter of William Era- 

 ser, Esq. of Fraserfield ; but by tliat lady, 

 who died in 1809, he had no issue. At the 

 L^niversity of Glasgow, he applied ardently 

 to study; and, in his hours of relaxation, he 

 devoted himself to tlie arts of drawing, de- 

 singing, etching, and engraving, in the 

 academy of Robert Foulis, a celebrated 

 teacher of his day. As Lord Cardross, he 

 commenced his political career, in the diplo- 

 matic department, under the late Earl of 

 Chatham. On succeeding to his title, know- 

 ing that it was the practice of the minister, 

 on the election of the Scottish peers, to send 

 a list of sixteen to every peer, and to request 

 him to vote for them, he took an early op- 

 portunity of declaring that the Secretary of 

 State who might insult him with such an 

 application, should wash away the affront 

 with his blood. From that time, the offen- 

 sive custom ceased. 



His Lordship, however, seems to have 

 had little taste for the harassing pursuits of 

 public life. He had two promising bro- 

 thers, both younger than himself — Henry, 

 and Thomas, afterwards the celebrated Lord 

 Erskine ; and on their education he be- 

 stowed the utmost care. The fortunes of 

 his family having been greatly impaired, lie 

 determined upon a plan of the most rigid 

 economy; yet he continued to patronize 

 public works and institutions. Amongst the 

 students of the High School of Edinburgh, 

 he bestowed an annual premium upon the 

 successfid competitor, in a trial of skill 

 with the students of the University of Aber- 

 deen , and it may be remarked that the So- 

 ciety of Antiquaries at Edinburgh is great- 



ly indebted to him for its existence. Tytler, 

 the translator of CoUimachus ; Pinkerton, 

 the historian and antiqviarian ; Burns, the 

 poet ; Barry, the painter ; and many other 

 men of genius, were honoured with liis 

 Lordship's patronage and friendship. Lord 

 Buchan also instituted an annual festive com- 

 memoration of Thomson, at Ednam, the 

 scene of that poet's birth. 



Lord Buchan, devoted to the principles of 

 1688, was also an enthusiastic admirer of 

 the French Revolution, until the caase of 

 freedom was sacrificed on the altar of crime. 



Notwithstanding his attachment to lite, 

 rature. Lord Buchan published but little : 

 a Speech, intended to have been spoken at 

 the Meeting of the Peers of Scotland, in 

 I78O — a Life of Napier, of Jlercheston, in 

 1790 — and, in conjunction with Dr. Min- 

 to, an Essay on the Lives and Writings of 

 Fletcher, of Saltoun, and of Thomson, the 

 poet, in 1792, comprise the whole of his 

 Lordship's acknowledged labours. 



Lord Buchan died at his seat of Dry- 

 burgh Abbey, the latter end of April, and 

 was succeeded by his nephew, Henry David, 

 the eldest son of his brotlier, the witty and 

 accomplished Henry Erskine. 



COUNT CURIAL. 



General Count Cuiial was born at St. 

 Pierre d'Albigny, in Savoy, in the year 

 1774. He served under Buonaparte in 

 Egypt; in 1799, was made Chef de Bat- 

 taillon ; and, at the battle of Austerlitz, as 

 Colonel of the 48th regiment, he so distin- 

 guished himself, that Buonaparte presented 

 him with the Cross of the Legion of Ho- 

 nour. After the battle of Eylau, he was 

 made colonel of the foot chasseurs of the 

 guards ; after the battle of Friedland, he 

 v/as advanced to the rank of Brigadier Ge- 

 neral of the same corps, and rewarded with 

 the order of St. Henry of Saxony. In 1809, 

 his reputation was heightened by his con- 

 duct at the battles of Gross Aspern, and 

 Essling ; in 1812, he was engaged in the 

 Russian campaign ; in 1813, he was in the 

 battle of \Fachan, he carried the post of 

 Doelitz, and took twelve hundred prisoners ; 

 and he also contributed greatly to the vic- 

 tory of Hanan. For his latter services, he 



