817 



LAW, EDMUND, D.D. 



LAW, JOHN. 



813 



so far have forgotten what was due both to others and himself as 

 have made such a statement as this. It was one of the last acl 

 of Dr. Priestley to publish, however unwillingly, that he first state 

 to Lavoisier himself, at his own table in Paris, in the year 1774, th 

 fact of his having discovered this gas, in the presence of persona whom 

 he names. Nor indeed is this the only instance, to uae a gent] 

 expression, in which Lavoisier exhibited a want of candour unworthy 

 not merely of a philosopher, but of a man. (See the 'Doctrine o 

 Phlogiston established,' by Dr. Prieatley, Northumberland, 1800.) 



In 1778 Lavoisier published a paper in the Memoirs of the Academy 

 entitled ' General Considerations on the Nature of Acids, and on th 

 principles of which they are composed.' In this paper it is attemptet 

 to be proved that all acida owe their properties to the presence o 

 oxygen, and that when bodies were deprived of oxygen they lost thei 

 acidity. This doctrine of the universal acidifying power of oxygen 

 was generally adopted until Davy proved that what had been callec 

 oxymuriatic acid had not been decomposed, and that with hydrogen 

 it formed muriatic acid ; he first however distinctly proved that certain 

 bodies, such as carbon and sulphur, were actually converted into acid 

 by the union with oxygen ; but by a too hasty generalisation he wa, 

 led to adopt principles which the further progress of science has 

 proved to be untrue. 



It is to be observed that Lavoisier did not discover any one of th< 

 elementary gaseous fluids. Mr. Cavendish had clearly described the 

 properties of hydrogen before he began his career ; and oxygen, azote 

 and chlorine were discovered, the two first in Britain and the last in 

 Sweden, after Lavoisier commenced his chemical researches. In on> 

 particular case he indeed denies the existence of a well-known fact, 

 namely, that gunpowder can be fired in vacuo; but then the fact is 

 irreconcileable with his theory. The inquiries of Lavoisier, it must be 

 added, had the principal share in introducing that reform in the 

 nomenclature of cherni. try which ended in the expulsion of the 

 phlogistic theory. " Lavoisier's character," as Brando has truly stated, 

 " has in some measure suffered by the misguided zeul of his admiring 

 commentators, who, not satisfied with allowing him due merit for the 

 logical precision and sagacity of induction which he brought into 

 chemistry, have represented him a? having the experimental activity 

 of Priestley and the laborious diligence of Scheele. But Lavoisier, 

 though a great architect in the science, laboured but little in the 

 quarry ; his materials were chieSy shaped to his hand, and his skill 

 was displayed in their arrangement and combination." 



LAW, EDMUND, D.D., Bishop of Carlisle, was born in 1703. He 

 was the son of a clergyman in the northern part of Lancashire, and 

 passed from the grammar-schools of that part of the kingdom to St. 

 John's College, Cambridge. As soon as he had taken a degree he was 

 elected Fellow of Christ's College, and in 1737 he was presented by 

 the uuiversity to the rectory of Graystock in Cumberland. To this, 

 in 1743, was added the archdeaconry of Carlisle, which brought with 

 it the living of Salkeld, on the pleasant banks of the Eden. In 1756 

 he resigned his archdeaconry and returned to Cambridge, having been 

 elected master of St. Peter's College. 



In this, the first period of Dr. Law's life, he had published those 

 writings which show at once the peculiar turn of his own mind, and 

 have given him a place among the best and wisest instructors of their 

 species. His first work was bis translation of Archbishop King's 

 ' Eway on the Origin of Evil,' with copious notes, in which many of 

 the difficult questions in metaphysical science are considered. This 

 was goon followed by hi ' Enquiry into tho Ideas of Space and Time,' 

 Ac. Both these works were produced before he left Cambridge ; but 

 it was in his retirement at Salkeld that he prepared his 'Considerations 

 on the Theory of Religion,' with ' Reflections on the Life and Character 

 of Christ," a work of singular beauty, not to be read by any person 

 without edification and improvement 



To his Cambridge appointment of Master of Peter House was soon 

 added those of University Librarian and Professor of Casuistry. He 

 was made archdeacon of Stafford, had a prebend given him in the 

 church of Lincoln, and in 17C7 one of the rich prebends in the church 

 of Durham. The next year he was appointed to the bishopric of 

 Carlisle. 



In 1777 he published his edition of the works of Locke, with a life 

 of the author. The peculiar character of Dr. Law's mind appears to 

 hare been acquired in a great measure by a devoted study of the 

 writing* of that philosopher. From him he seems to have derived 

 that value which he set on freedom of inquiry, in relation to theolo- 

 gical as well aa to every other subject, which led him to take part in 

 tho great controversy respecting subscription, and which he freely 

 exercised himielf. The moat striking proof of this is afforded in the 

 edition of his ' Considerations,' printed in the latter part of his life at 

 a press at Carlisle, in which are many important alterations. From 

 Locke also he seems to have derived his notions of the proper mode 

 of studying the Sacred Scriptures in order to come at their true sense. 

 He was in short an eminent master in that school of rational and 

 liberal divines which flourished in England in the last century, and is 

 adorned by the names of Jortin, Blackburne, Powell, Tyrwhitt, 

 Watson, Paley, and many others. Bishop Law died in 1787. He left 

 a large family, of whom two of the sons became bishops, and another 

 was the late Lord Elleuborough, the subject of the following notice. 



This account of Dr. Law is derived for the most part from a notice 

 Bioo. DJV. VOL. in. 



of his life by Archdeacon Paley, inserted in Hutchinson'a ' History of 

 the County of Cumberland.' 



LAW, EDWARD, LORD ELLENBOROUGH, was born Novem- 

 ber 16, 1750, at Great Salkeld, in the county of Cumberland. He was 

 the fourth son of Dr. Edmund Law, bishop of Carlisle. He received 

 his rudimentary education at the residence of hia maternal uncle, tho 

 Rev. Humphrey Christian, who then resided at Docking in Norfolk. 

 He was removed thence in 1762 to the Charter-house School, London, 

 and placed on the foundation. In 176S ho was entered of St. Peter's 

 College, Cambridge. After taking his degree of B.A. he removed to 

 London, and became a student of law at the Inner Temple. Having 

 been called to the bar, and acquired by a short preparatory practice 

 the needful technical knowledge, he soon took hia place among tho 

 chief members of the profession. He was engaged as the leading 

 counsel in the defence of Warren Hastings, 1788 to 1795, aad in this 

 famous trial acquired great distinction both as a lawyer and a 

 speaker. In Westminster Hall he had Erskiue and other able rivals 

 to contend with, and never rose to the first lead as a pleader, but he 

 became the admitted leader of the Northern Circuit. His rise in tho 

 profession was remarkably rapid. In 1801 he was appointed attorney- 

 general and knighted, and in the same year he was elected a member 

 of the House of Commons. In April 1802 Sir Edward Law succeeded 

 Lord Kenyon as lord chief justice of the court of King's Bench, and 

 was created a peer by the title of Baron Ellenborough, of Elleuborough 

 in Cumberland, by patent dated April 10th, 1802. He was afterwards 

 made a privy councillor. In the House of Lords in 1805 he 

 strenuously opposed any concession to the Roman Catholics. On the 

 trial of Lord Melville in 1806 Lord Elleuborough voted against him. 

 lu 1813 he was nominated one of the commissioners to inquire into 

 the conduct of the Princess of Wales. In 1814 he was one of the 

 judges who presided at the trial of Lord Cochrane [DDNDONALD, EAHL 

 OF], and in 1818 on the trial of Hone [HoNE, WILLIAM]. In November 

 of the same year he retired from the bench. He died December 13, 

 1818, at his residence in London. He married in 1782, and was suc- 

 ceeded in the title by his eldest son, who is now Earl of Ellenborough. 

 [ELLENBOKOUQH, EARL OF.] Lord Brougham, in his 'Historical 

 Sketches of Statesmen,' makes the following remarks on his character 

 as a judge : "The Term Reports bear ample testimony to the vigour 

 of this eminent individual's capacity during the eighteen years that he 



filled the first place among the English common-law judges He 



was somewhat irascible, and sometimes even violent. But no one 

 could accuse him of the least partiality. His honest and manly 

 nature ever disdained as much to trample overbearingly on the 



tumble as to crouch meanly before the powerful He despatched 



Business with great celerity, and for the most part with success. But 

 causes were not sifted before him with that closeness of scrutiny, and 

 parties were not suffered to bring forward all they had to state with 

 /hat fulness and freedom, which alone can prevent misdecisiou, and 

 ensure the due administration of justice." 



LAW, JOHN, of Lauriston, was born about IfiSl at Edinburgh, in 

 which city his father exercised the trade of a goldsmith. Hia mother 

 >eing heiress of an estate called Lauriston is the reason why, in con- 

 brmity with the Scottish custom, Law is known by that name or title 

 also. In very early life, in consequence of the reputation of possessing 

 ;reat talents, he was engaged to arrange tho revenue accounts of 

 Scotland, an employment which may have mainly contributed to fix 

 lis mind upon tinancial schemes. About this time he proposed the 

 establishment of a bank which should issue pap^-r-mouey to the 

 amount of tho value of all the lauds in the country, thus confounding 

 credit or security with currency, and imagining that the latter could 

 never be in excess so long as the property which the paper issues 

 were supposed to represent should be in existence. Law lost his 

 ather when he waa little more than of age. He was handsome in 

 lerson and of graceful carriage, fond of society and courted by it. 

 Vinding that his patrimony would not suffice for the supply of his 

 ixtravagauce, he had recourse to the gaming-table. During this 

 jareer he fought a duel, and having killed his antagonist, he fled tho 

 :ountry and visited Italy. Hia course of life must still have been 

 r ery irregular, for it appears that he was banished successively from 

 feuice and from Genoa, after which he wandered from one Italian 

 ity to another practising the arts of a gambler. 



Law at length went to Paris, where he soon succeeded in ingratiating 

 limself with the regent duke of Orleans, and in inoculating him with 

 lis plana of finance. By the persuasion of Law the first public bank of 

 irculation was established by the regent in 1716, and its management 

 vas entrusted to the projector. This bank obtained the privilege for 

 wenty years of issuing notes, which however were to be exchangeable 

 n demand for coin of the established weight and fineness at the plea- 

 ure of tho holder. The public debt of France at that time amounted 

 o 1500 millions of livres, or about 70 millions sterling, and was so 

 epreciated in the public estimation as to be unsaleable, except at 60 

 r 70 per cent discount. Law's bank was projected with the view of 

 aying off this debt, by giving the public creditor the option of sub- 

 cribing for bank shares and paying for the same in the public stock 

 t par. With the view of inducing the public to purchase the bank 

 lares, a patent, giving possession of the country of the Mississippi, 

 nder the name of Louisiana, which had been granted in 1712, to the 

 ieur Crozat, was purchased, and the Mississippi Company waa formed, 



8 a 



