"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.

* We learn from another source, that Bartholomew de Leslyn, possessed the barony of Leslyn, in Aberdeenshire, so early as 1165; and that his descendant George, was honoured with the earldom alluded to above; but that the precise date is uncertain, being between the years 1455 and 1459. William the third Earl lost his life at the fatal battle of Flodden field; and his eldest son George appears to have been one of those zealous reformers, who, in 1546, seized on the castle of Cardinal Beaton at St. Andrew's, "and," says Robertson, "delivered their country, though by a most unjustifiable action, from an ambitious man, whose pride was insupportable to the nobles, as his cruelty and cunning were the great checks to the Reformation."

The fourth Earl of Rothes attended Queen Mary to France, in order to be espoused by the Dauphin; John, the sixth Earl, joined the Covenanters; but being one of the deputies from Scotland to Charles I., then in captivity, was gained over, according to Burnet, by the hopes of marrying the "Countess of Devonshire, a rich and magnificent lady."

His son John fought for Charles II. at Worcester, and returned with the King after his exile. His favour now became preponderant at court, for he was Lord High Treasurer, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, Lord Chancellor, &c. Dr. Burnet says, "the King loved him, though it was a very extravagant thing to see one man possess so many of the chief places of so poor a kingdom." In 1680, he was created Duke of Rothes, Marquis of Ballinbriech and Cuskieberrie; but as his Grace died without male issue, the patent, in consequence of the limitations, expired with himself.

Margaret, the eldest daughter, having married Charles Hamilton, the fifth Earl of Haddington, their son John became the eighth Earl of Rothes. On the accession of George I, he was appointed Lord High Admiral of Scotland, and died in 1722. John, the ninth Earl, was a Lieutenant-General, and had a regiment of guards, and his only son John, dying,

in 1773, without male issue, was succeeded by his eldest sister.

George William Evelyn Leslie, the eleventh Earl of Rothes was the son of George Raymond Evelyn, Esq., by Jane Elizabeth Countess of Rothes. He was born March 28, 1768, and after receiving, the usual education, settled in England, where he married twice. His first wife was Lady Henrietta Anna Pelham, eldest daughter of Thomas Earl of Chichester; with this lady, to whom he became united May 24, 1789, he had no male issue; there were, however, three daughters, viz. Henrietta-Anne, Amelia *, and Mary. The Countess dying on December 5th, 1797, in August 1798, his lordship espoused Charlotte-Julia, daughter of Colonel John Campbell, of Dunoon, and here again there were no male children, but two females, Elizabeth-Jane, and Georgiana, the latter of whom is since dead.

In 1810, the Earl of Rothes succeeded to the titles, and some estates still vested in the family, among which is the Seignory of Rothes, a lordship on the banks of the Spey, a few miles distant from Elgin in the county of Moray. His lordship, however, never lived in Scotland, having resided for many years in the county of Surrey.

As he possessed but a small patrimony, the Earl was assisted by means of a pension from the crown, which ceased at his demise. He was extremely loyal, and was the first to move addresses of congratulation, &c. His lordship also commanded the yeomanry cavalry in the vicinity of Wimbledon, Wandsworth, &c., for many years.

His eldest daughter, Lady Henrietta, now Countess of Rothes, married a person of the name of Jenkins, who afterwards kept a botanical garden in the New Road, near Paddington, by whom she has several children, and with whom she appears to be happy. Her conduct has been strictly modest, prudent, and exemplary.

Lady Amelia Leslie died at Long-Ditton, soon after the demise of her father the late Earl.