ORIGINAL TRANSLATION FROM THE FRENCH OF FLORIAN. THE PLEASURES OF SOLITUDE. Far from the world, and ruthless strife, Yielding to man a thousand charms; The most is found in nature's arms. And here is all that mortal needs, The Inscious fruit, the crystal stream; Where lies my path?-'mid flow'ry meads, On which, the heavens refulgent beam. What, though anon a fated storm Casts o'er the mind a moment's fear, See yonder floats the misty form, The beautious Iris now shines there. The soul becomes a prey to grief; Above the rock, the rushing foam; Liverpool, ANCIENT RESIDENCES. The ruins of the Castle of the Feudal Baron, a few moss-covered stones famous from being the birth place or the residence of active spirits, who bave either incited us to good by their example, or, "Left a name at which the world turned pale, To paint a moral or adorn a tale." contrary side from the one which the haughty peer at In the BARBICAN, which was originally a Roman "Who 'gainst the houseless stranger shut his door." "A son she had in Germany, Peregrine Bertie called by name, 66 when existing in remote solitudes, are visited with One of his most illustrious victims was John Tipstaff, Earl of Worcester, a nobleman of learning and accomplishments far superior to the age in which it was his misfortune to live. He caught the earliest dawn of that bright light which began to shed its beams upon a darkened world; and was a scholar and an author. He had married the sister of Warwick bat espousing a • Warwick possessed a house in Warwick Lane, which still retains the statue carved in stone in front; he is mentioned here as the most celebrated member of an illustrious house, together with his more erudite and little less distinguished brother, the Earl of Worcester, who lived in Thames Street. to fall upon the intruder, and the King, in considerable jeopardy, was saved by the opportune interference of Charles Brandon. Roused from a melancholy reverie by the scuffle, he ranged himself on the King's side, disarmed one of the assailants, and forced the other to fly. The denouement is perfectly dramatic: Henry discovers bis dignity and rewards his preserver; the lady is unaccountably left out, and Charles Brandon, instead of falling in love with her as in duty bound, gives his despair and his remorse to the winds, follows the the King to court, and afterwards marries Henry's sis ter, the Queen Dowager of France. It is supposed that the attachment of the Princess Cloth of frize be not too bold, Cloth of gold do not despise, Though thou art match'd with cloth of frize. & felicity of idea and expression which displayed spirit without presumption, and humility devoid of meanness. In the court which is now called Bridgewater Square, stood the town-house of the Earls of Bridgewater, a family as ancient as the Conquest. It was celebrated for its orchards, and formed a beautiful retreat in the suburbs of the city. There are few places more replete with romantic associations than the now despised Barbican. To the appointment of John, first Earl of Bridgewater, to be Lord President of Wales, we are indebted for that exquisite dramatic poem of Milton's, "The masque of Comus." Lady Alice. the fair daughter of this nobleman, had been upon a visit with her brothers to the Egerton family, and passing through Heywood Forest on their return, the party were be nighted and lost their way. The vivid imagination of the poet instantly suggested the beautiful imagery with which he has decked the Sylvan scene. The enchanter with his train of Bacchanals-pleasure in its most be witching shape the-gay and beautiful Euphrosyne in the wood, the young people exhibited the Masque of arose-and delighted with the result of their adventure Comus, as one of the festivities of Ludlow Castle, before the Earl their father, and his friends. The heroine, elegantly designated by the author as "The Lady," was performed by Lady Alice, and three of the principal male characters were supported by her brothers, Lord Brackley, the Hon. Thomas Egerton, and Mr. Lawes. In Beech Lane, adjoining the Barbican, are the remains of the house of Prince Rupert: a general who in the most bustling times cherished a love of the fine arts, which unfortunately were not patronized dar ing the licentious freedom of his kinsman's reign, and languished under succeeding monarchs, more intent upon preserving the balance of Europe than cultivating | Science at home." Prince Rupert was the inventor of Inezzo-tinto engraving. A private soldier scraping the rust from his fusil, attracted his attention; a mere military man would have been wholly engrossed with the desire of seeing the masket restored to its pristine brilliance, but the artist was struck with the possibility of torping the discovery to advantage, and subsequent experiments produced a style of engraving which Evelyn and contemporary arteurs beheld with delight. To ordinary minds, a midnight ramble in a wood, and the cleansing of a fusil, would have passed as common Occurrences; but the slightest conceptions are sufficient for the foundations of noble works, when they fall under the observation of spirits gifted with genius. This is the enchanter's wand, the cabalistic word, which when wielded and uttered by a magician, creates out of the meanest materials, wonders and marvels, which charm and dazzle the admiring gaze of man.--Museum. 12 South-west. ......... Strong. BREEDING OF LEECHES. 5 13020 M. Noble could not observe the formation of any of VARIETIES. SAINT ANDREW A WIT! The smart answer of St. Andrew deserves mention. The devil, in the shape of a beautiful woman, being answered Saint Andrew, "because thou hast fallen from thence." SINGULAR EXPERIMENT. The Lancet, a medical weekly publication, has last 66 At It then describes the apparatus] "The instrument succeeded very well in the dog, which appeared to be little worse for the experiment. Mr. Reed was in the theatre during the whole of the time, and superintended the use of the instrument; on quitting, he received the unanimous applause of those present. Sir Astley Cooper, just after the experiment had been tried, looking at what had been removed from the stomach, smiled, and said that the instrument would do well for an alderman after a city feast." CONJUGAL AFFECTION. Some few days ago a vessel, in which was embarked the two who clung to each other in the moment of peril, IMPROVEMENT IN BUILDING. At this critical moment the captain announced that the vessel was safe, and the parties were shortly afterAn interesting memoir on this subject has been pub-wards landed. It is as singular as painful to state, that lished by M. Noble, in which he states that these useful animals may be preserved and bred in troughs, with a little care, and a few simple contrivances; the great mortality which occurs among them when crowded into small vessels, being owing to the stronger devouring the weaker for the sake of nourishment. M. Noble constructed a trough seven feet long, three wide, and as many deep, with sloping sides, lined with clay. It had a constant stream of water passing through it, and in one of the corners rushes were planted. It was exposed to the sun, but sheltered from the north wind. In November he placed 200 grey and green leeches in it, where they passed the winter, baried in the mud. Towards the end of the following spring several young ones were seen sticking to the old ones, and swimming Occasionally, as if to try their strength. In August he observed conical holes in the mud, each of which contained a little oval cocoon, as big as that of a silk worm, and porons outwardly. Some of these were perforated at each end and empty, some were filled with a transparent jelly, and the rest contained from nine to twelve young leeches, which in a few days pierced their envelope, and swam vigorously about. 901. Our correspondent, who is highly respectable, THE USEFULNESS OF CROSS-EXAMINATION. In Clarkson's history of the abolition of the Slave Trade we are told of a witness, on his examination before a committee of the House of Commons, deposing as to the excellent treatment of the negroes when on board the slave ships: among other things he states, that " they were fed with pulse dressed after the English fashion, and that the dance was promoted, &c. Now at first this sounds not amiss: for it is well known we English like our peas with butter, salt, and pepper; that we are disposed to consider the condition of a and then nothing promotes the dance like music: so slave while on ship-board as rather to be envied than otherwise but then comes the sequel, which is brought out by cross-examination; the "pulse dressed after the English fashion," turns out simply to be boiled horsebeans; and the whip is much cheaper than music for promoting the dance; which was merely jumping together for exercise as they were chained together round the hold of the vessel; for such was the admission wrung by counsel from this very credible witness. LANGUAGES Captain, afterwards Sir Alexander, Ball, was once stationed off Goree, on the coast of Africa, and had on board his ship a detachment of the 75th regiment, composed chiefly of Welshmen. A party of them had permission to land on the Continent, and commenced a little barter trade for articles of provisions, &c. with some of the natives who had come from the interior. To the surprise of the Cambrians they found that some Welsh words, used among themselves, appeared to be understood by the negroes. They then addressed them in Welsh, and received replies in a language something similar to Welsh, and thereby maintained an intercourse with the natives in a broken but intelligible manner. So extraordinary a circumstance could not fail to become known to the Captain, and he, with his usual sagacity, was determined to ascertain the fact. He accordingly invited some of the natives on board, and deputed a few of the most steady and intelligent men in the regiment, and who had not been on shore, to converse with them. A conference was accordingly held before him and the whole crew, of course occasionally interrupted by words which were strange to each party; but a conversation was held in a language understood by both. The astonishment of the Cambrians is not easily con- . ceived, at finding negroes speaking a language in which they could make themselves understood to Europeans of so peculiar a dialect! Captain Ball asked a sergeant what he thought of it; aud the reply was, that the language was certainly not exactly Welsh, but it was so very much like it, that he understood the natives much better than he did a man in the regiment who spoke Irish. SWALLOWING KNIVES. exhibiting his tricks in a public-house in Botchergate, A few days ago, William Dempster, a juggler, while Carlisle, actually accomplished the sad reality of one of those feats, with the semblance of which only he intended to amuse the audience. Having introduced A Cotton Mill, thirty yards long by ten yards wide, into his throat a common table knife which he was presituated at Goit-Stock, near Bingley, the property of tending to swallow, he slipt his hold, and the knife. Mr. J. G. Horsfall, of that place, has within a fort-passed into the stomach. Surgical aid was procured, night been raised a story, by the application of the Hydraulic Press, without disturbing the roof or disbut the knife had passed beyond the reach of instru- . placing any of the machinery. This operation is perments, and now remains in his stomach. He has since.. formed by placing the pump under the rafters in sucbeen attended by most of the medical gentlemen of the cession, and working the piston, when the roof is seen city; and we anderstand that no very alarming symp-. to rise about eight inches at a time, and stones of the toms have yet appeared. His sufferings at first were. requisite dimensions are introduced in succession, till paratively easy. The knife is 94 inches long, one inch very severe, but he is now, when not in motion, coma course of stone is placed all round the mill: the pump is then again applied in the same manner as before, bone, and may be generally distinctly felt by applying. broad in the blade, round pointed, and the handle of and other stones placed, till at length the story is completed, and the additional room gained without affectthe finger to the man's belly; but occasionally, how. ing the stability of the edifice. The saving of expence A brief notice of the analogous case of John Camever, from change of its situation, it is not perceptible. by this mode of elevating a building is considerable, ming, the American sailor, may not be unacceptable : and in the present case it is estimated at from 80% to -About the year 1799, he, in imitation of some jug esting Iris, and had perused it with considerable satis- glers whose exhibition he had then witnessed, in antom, I purchased a number of your amusing and inter- SOVEREIGN REMEDY. LOVE, like the Scotsman's pills, has wonderful properties. According to the Salopian Editor [not the Shrewsbury Chronicle] IT kept Capt. Parry physically WARM amidst the rigours of an Arctic winter!!! We never knew before that LOVE had this surprizing quality. But, if the writers have not exaggerated its wonderful properties, our youth, whether male or female, have only on the approach of winter, to fall desperately in LOVE, which will render them proof against the season, and they may then safely dispense with the cloaks, &c. with which they have heretofore, in the simplicity of their hearts, endeavoured to keep out the winter's cold. MR. LOGIER'S SYSTEM. It is with great pleasure we announce to our Musical readers the complete success of the Logierian System, in Berlin. An examination of Mr. Logier's Pupils, under the immediate sanction and direction of the King, took place on the 14th and 15th of January last; in consequence of which, Mr. L. received the following document from the Minister:-"Sir, you are herewith informed, that in consequence of the happy result of the examination of your pupils, on the 14th and 15th of January, together with the favourable report of the Committee appointed to investigate your system, his Majesty the King has been pleased to grant the necessary sums for defraying the expenses of introducing your system into the different States; and you are hereby required to declare, whether you are prepared to com. mence your instructions, upon the condition specified by you on the 15th of March; and whether you can finish six professors before the end of December in this year." Academies on the Logierian System have already been opened at Leipsic, Naumburgh, Potsdam, and various other places with the greatest success; and twenty professors (among whom is the celebrated Bach) have adopted it, under the immediate patronage of the King. Mr. Logier received a letter of introduction to Sir G. Rose the British Ambassador, and through him has been introduced into the first society of Berlin. -Mr. L. has received the most pressing invitation from Vienna and St. Petersburgh.-Sure the enemies of Mr. Logier must at length feel ashamed of their virulent and illiberal opposition, to a system which has thas been found worthy the patronage of a Prince and a nation, celebrated throughout Europe for their musical skill and talent. CORRESPONDENCE. THE CAVILLER, TO THE EDITOR, "It is no small matter of astonishment to me, how rational men, can prostitute their talents, to compose for so insignificant a paper as the Iris; here you behold Gimel tugging through three lengthened columns of uninteresting and unnecessary instruction, and seems by his style to consider his readers as having never learned the propositions in composition; but he commands attention and secures admiration by his Hebrician signature, or his writings would hebetate the most persevering.-There Caswin sighs on through unconnected and irregular verse, now presenting images to the eye, and then withdrawing them too hastily to make a lasting impression; bis metrical compositions compel me to judge him some love-lorn SWAIN." My friend thus descanted upon all the originals that presented themselves in your miscellany, but the above are sufficient. In reply, it was observed, that if the Iris was beueath his learned notice, why endeavour by his malignant and incorrect assertions, to poison the minds of his friends, and cause impediments to their receiving that satisfaction which your paper universally gives to our circle. Besides to every unprejudiced mind, the generous efforts of Gimel's labour, must be evident ;-it was an interesting and learned disquisition, and to those who were versed in classic lore, it strengthens and refreshes the memory, of what has been perhaps too long neglected, and to those who have never studied the Latin language, it is an inestimable treasure; the derivatives of many hundred English words, may be discovered in his short letter which is not too verbose, but pithy and amusing. Caswin's verses are irregular, and flighty; now I have made known to you the trouble under which gunt." tune, how grateful to my feelings!-Despair of Spain! Think ye that yon ensanguined cloud Raised by war's breath, hath quenched the orb of day! To-morrow, he renews his golden flood, And warms the nations with redoubled ray. What, would you cast into the dust the laurelled flag of Britain, bright with the glory of conquest, or keep it on your own proud shore of liberty, when liberty pants for its presence elsewhere? For myself every tie of blood however near and however dear should be engaged in the glorious combat. Let not the hands of Britons at home, damp the hearts of Britons abroad, and they will conquer; I say again, NEVER DESPAIR OF SPAIN!" The whole house rose simultaneously, and cheered the manly speech. On another occasion shortly afterwards, as Mr. Canning was pleading the catholic cause, against a most potent opposition, the Chancellor of the Exchequer handed to the Right Honourable Gentleman a memorandum in pencil of news he had just received of a great victory gained by the British in Spain, and as he was reading it, the park and tower guns made the august fabric ring. With that splendid versatility of talent for which the Right Honourable Gentleman is so remarkable, he communicated the news to the bouse in this short sentence Why what an anomaly is this in withholding sup port to the measure? even now the cannon of the metropolis is pealing in honour of victory,-of victory gained by Protestant England fighting for Catholic Spain!" (Eathusiastic cheering) G. The following letter from Stockport we received this morning, and insert it literally.-We are far from complaining that the original matter with which we are favoured, should be thought worthy of transposition, but we are more than displeased when an acknowledgment is not even granted If this were the first time we might have passed it over, but an article headed The Test of Affection, inserted in or Iris of the 23rd March, 1822, was also copied by the Ear pean Magazine verbatim! We are willingly disposed to believe that the Editor of that respectable publication imposed upon. if so, he will only do himself and us faste by holding up to public exposure the individual was ta deceives him.-ED. TO THE EDITOR, SIR. You will, no doubt recollect the very excellent article, entitled "The Half Hangit," which appeared in your valuable publication about twelve months ago. The European Magazine published on the 1st December contains, among its ORIGINAL Papers, the same tale word for word Perhaps the Editor of the European presumes, that because the Manchester Iris is a provin cial paper, its circulation is very limited, but I fancy he is a little mistaken: at all events were I the Editor of the Manchester Iris, I should give him of the European, a plain opinion of his piracy. I am, Sir, "Your's &c. Stockport, Dec. 4th, 1823. TO CORRESPONDENTS. her seal, " A Traveller on the exactions on the road, has been mislaid;- R. W., T. R., and several others are come to hand; they over it! SENATORIAL ORATORY, which having had the pleasure of hearing at the time, I can also testify to the incorrect reports made of them in the public papers-a general and crying evil-the House of Lords was crowded to suffocation-the subject was whether or not Great Britain should persevere in sending out an additional and powerful reinforcement to the peninsula-Earl Grey, in a luminous and forcible harangue, protested against the measure-urged the inutility of it-the hopelessness. "What," said he, "shall we exhaust our blood and treasure in so doubtful a canse, or at so remote a distance wage uncertain war against the colossal power of France? in a country where we are denounced as heretics, where jealousy has already arisen amongst their leaders, and one entire army has surrendered? It would be madness! In this case, and as circumstances present themselves, we may despair of Spain!" Never!" said the Marquis Wellesley, rising instantly as the noble Lord had seated himself, "never! is it characteristic of Englishman to abandon a brave people because the aspect of their affairs now wears a lowering complexion? Were the Spaniards conquerors themselves, where would be our glory? If I contribute to a man whose wealth places him above want it might prove an injury, but if I On Saturday, in conformity with my established cus-dispense it to the needy, and he recovers his misfor-Huddersfield, T. Smart. SIR,-There is not a more abhorrent member of society, nor one who with a malignant and demonian smile, scatters discord and misery, with such an unpli- | ant hand under the most specious and delusive appearances of learning and reasoning, than the hated caviller. This opinion was formed by the painful experience of having a friend, who in all other qualities of the mind, was a sensible and rational man; but possessed of this greatest of evils, which detracts supereminently from his other pleasing qualities, and throws a murky shade of impenetrable nigritude over him, which I can never divest him of, not even with the assistance of sound reason or good sense, for he tenaciously adheres to bis own opinion, thongh convicted of an error in the minds of the auditors, and thus by his obstinacy in captiously cavilling, destroys the social peace and harmonious concordance of our fraternity. " Those subscribers who intend binding the present volume of the Iris, and whose sets are incomplete, are requested to make early application for the deficiencies, as several of the numbers are nearly sold out. Manchester: Printed and Published by HENRY SMITH, Leeds, J. Heaton. Ashton, T. Cunningham. Bolton, Gardner & Co. Macclesfield, J. Coleshill, Wm. Tite. Stockport, T. Claye. A WEEKLY LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY. The extensive circulation of the IRIS, renders it a very desirable medium for ADVERTISEMENTS of a LITERARY and SCIENTIFIC nature, No. 98.-VOL. II. BIOGRAPHY. MEMOIR OF THE RIGHT HONORABLE LORD ERSKINE. FEW individuals holding the rank in society that Lord Erskine did, have passed to the grave with so little notice as this distinguished orator and patriot. It is true that every newspaper has recorded his death, a few have inserted an account of his funeral, and some have given a memoir of his life, but still the country does not seem to have fully appreciated the worth of Lord Erskine, or it would have felt the loss of such a man more severely. It is true also that the noble lord was far advanced in years, that the fire of his genius burnt not with its wonted vigour, and that his eloquence had ceased, as in former time, to sweep away every thing before it; but to the last, listening senates applauded and respected his talents, and few individuals ensured a more respectful attention, or possessed a greater influence in the House of Peers than Lord Erskine, whose manly and honest patriotism secured him the esteem of all parties. But the services of Lord Erskine ought to secure him a dear remembrance in every British bosom. We erect monuments to warriors who have sustained the military glory of their country in a contest, which in itself perhaps, was any thing but honourable; we raise statues to statesmen whose policy has been equivocal, and of the merit of whose services the nation is by no means agreed; we perpetuate the memory of our authors and our artists, and long may they be perpetuated; but what are the services of the soldier, the intrepid seaman, the artist, or the author, compared with those rendered by Lord Erskine to his country? He was the preserver of the liberty of the press-that palladium of all the civil, political, and religious rights of an Buller, then an eminent special pleader; and, on the promotion of this gentleman to the bench, Mr. Erskine entered into the office of the present Baron Wood, where he remained a year. 1st Regiment of Foot, about the year 1768 | in this regiment he served six years, three of which he passed in the Island of Minorca; and, while there, with a versatility and eccentricity which distinguished his character, he read prayers and preached two sermons to his regi-cal meut. From his infancy, he was distinguished by a singular ease, humour, and acuteness in conversation; and Dr. Johnson, who met him in company, while in the army, says, he talked with a vivacity, fluency, and precision so uncommon, that he attracted particular attention.' On the death of his father, the Countess of Buchan, a lady possessing a high degree of mental energy, and intellectual talents of the first order, prevailed on her son to quit the army, for the dry and tedious study of the law; his sword was exchanged for a brief-and his Vauban and Polybius were thrown aside for Bracton, Littleton, and Coke. Mr. Erskine entered as a fellow-commoner of Trinity College, Cambridge, in the year 1777, and, at the same time, inserted his name in the books of Lincoln's-Inn, as a student at law. One of his college declamations is still extant, as it was delivered in Trinity College Chapel. The thesis was the revolution of 1688; and in treating upon that glorious event, Mr. Erskine gave a powerful prognostication of that forensic eloquence, which was afterwards to clothe the dull details of law in an immortal garment of light and beauty. This declamation gained the first prize; but with that delicacy which has always characterised his lordship, he refused to accept it, alledging that, as he had declaimed merely in conformity to the rules of the college, and without being a student resident within its walls, he did not deserve it, and ought not to take it. Shortly afterwards, an ode appeared in the While his days were devoted to the mechani drudgery of his profession, his evenings were frequently spent at Coachmakers' Hall, where a debating society was then held, nor was Mr. Erskine the only orator that was indebted for much of his celebrity, to the practice afforded him by institutions of this nature. After completing the probatory period fixed for attendance in the Inns of Court, Mr. Erskine was called to the bar in Trinity Term, 1778. He did not remain long without a brief, for, on the 24th of November, in that year, we find him astonishing the Court of King's Bench by his courage, and making Westminster Hall ring with his eloquence. His first brief was to defend Capt. Baillie, who, on being removed from the superintendance of Greenwich Hospital, by the Earl of Sandwich, the first Lord of the Admiralty, was charged with having published a libel on that nobleman. It was in the course of this, his first speech at the bar, that Lord Erskine displayed his fearless independence, and laid the foundation of his future greatness. Mr. Erskine attacked, with great severity and with the most pointed sarcasm, the several governors of the hospital, particularly the Earl of Sandwich, and when reminded, by Lord Mansfield, that his lordship was not then before the court, he thus burst forth in the most impassioned elo court; but, for that very reason, I will bring him before the court. He has placed these men in the front of the battle, in hopes to escape under their shelter; but I will not join in battle with them; their vices, though screwed up to the highest pitch of human depravity, are not of dignity enough to vindicate the combat with me. I will drag him to light, who is the that the Earl of has but one road to escape out "I know my lord, that he is not formally before the Englishman; he was the saviour of the trial by Monthly Magazine,' in imitation of Gray's dark mover behind this scene of iniquity. I assert, jury, which, while preserved, is an insuperable barrior against despotism,- -a__rampart which may bid defiance to every assault. Lord Erskine, though the son of a peer, had few of the advantages which nobility is generally supposed to confer; he was poor and almost friendless; he felt a pride in avowing it, and well he might, for by the unaided power of his mind and the untutored graces of his talents he raised himself to the highest honours. Thomas Lord Erskine was the third son of Henry David, Earl of Buchan, and was born about the year 1753. He fixed upon the navy for his profession, went to sea at a very early age, and served under Sir John Lindsay, nephew to the celebrated Earl of Mansfield; under this officer he acted in the capacity of lieutenant, although he had not a commission of that rank; and this circumstance is said to have caused him to quit the navy, as he was unwilling, afterwards, to return to sea in the inferior rank of midship a of this business without pollution and disgrace; and that is, by publicly disavowing the acts of the prosecutors, and restoring Captain Baillie to his command. If he does this, then his offence will be no more than the too common one, of having suffered his own per The playfulness of a vivid imagination, and of Bard,' which was attributed to his lordship. laughter-loving disposition, are its principal characteristics; but it connot boast of any very distinguished poetical excellence. The origin of this production was a circumstance of a most humorous nature. The author had been dis-sonal interest to prevail over his public duty, in placing his voters in the hospital. But if, on the contrary, he appointed by his barber, who had neglected to attend him as usual, and, consequently, prevent- continues to protect the prosecutors, in spite of the ed him from dining in the college hall. In the evidence of their guilt, which has excited the abborrence of the numerous audience that crowd this court. moment of disappointment, hunger, and impati--If he keeps this injured man suspended, or dares to ence, he is supposed have poured forth a malediction against the whole tribe of the dressers of hair, with a prophetic denunciation of a future taste for cropped crowns and unpowdered heads. When his lordship became a member of the university, he had no intention of deriving any other benefit from it than merely taking a degree, to which he was entitled as the son of a peer, and by which he saved two years and a half in his progress to the bar. In order to acquire a knowledge of the mechanical part of his profession, Mr. Erskine entered as a pupil in the office of Mr. afterwards Judge turn that suspension into a removal, I shall then not scruple to declare him an accomplice in their guilt—a shameless oppressor-a disgrace to his rank and a traitor to his trust. My Lords, this matter is of the last importance. I speak not as an advocate alone-I speak to you as a man-as a member of a state, whose very existence depends upon her naval strength. If a misgovernment were to fall upon Chelsea Hospital, to the ruin and discouragement of the army, it would be no doubt to be lamented; yet I should not think it fatal: but if our fleets are to be crippled by the baneful influence of elections, we are lost indeed? It the seamaan, who while he exposes his body to fatigues and dangers | looking forward to Greenwich as an asylum for infirmity 398 and old age-sees the gates of it blocked up by corruption, and hears the riot and mirth of luxurious landmen drowning the groans and complaints of the wounded helpless companions of his glory, he will tempt the seas no more. The admiralty may press his body, indeed, at the expense of humanity and the constitution; but they cannot press his mind-they cannot press the heroic ardour of a British sailor; and, instead of a fleet to carry terror all round the globe, the admiralty may not much longer be able to amuse us, with even the peaceable unsubstantial pageant of a review. "Fine and imprisonment!-The man deserves a palace, instead of a prison, who prevents the palace, built by the public bounty of his country, from being converted into a dungeon, and who sacrifices his own security to the interests of humanity and virtue." In the defence of Lord George Gordon, for his share in the riots of 1780, Mr. Erskine commenced his first opposition to the doctrine of constructive treason; he commenced his splendid speech by an ingenious exordium. "I stand," said he, passion than the noble prisoner. He rests secure in conscious innocence, and in the assurance that his inno "much more in need of com cence will suffer no danger in your hands, but I appear before you a young and inexperienced advocate, little conversant with the courts of criminal justice, and sinking under the dreadful consciousness of that inexperience." particularly on the subject. Speaking of the [ his unlettered eloquence. Who is it?' said the jea- liant powers of Lord Erskine's mind were con The political life of Lord Erskine is brief. In the year 1783, he was elected member of parlia ment for Portsmouth, and continued to possess a seat in the house, until called to the House of Peers, and the woolsack at the same time, in Lord Chancellor only during the brief adminis February, 1806. His lordship held his office of has always acted, though he was perhaps one of tration with the whigs, a party with whom he the most liberal of the party, Lord Erskine retired with them, and received the usual pension of 4000l. a-year. honour he did at the bar, though many of his speeches As a senator, Lord Erskine did not shine as his talents, not only procured an acquittal of respectful attention than his lordship. As a lord In the state trials of 1794, Mr. Erskine, by members in either house commanded a more display great eloquence and acuteness, and few all the prisoners, but he expounded and defined chancellor, Lord Erskine's name will not rank the law of treason so clearly, that he may be high, and few of his decisions are likely to form said to have saved, by anticipation, the lives of precedents, but as a man, his memory will be Mr. Erskine's duty on this trial was to reply trine of constructive treason, against which he conduct, amiable in his manners, and firm in bis hundreds, who must have suffered had the doc-long cherished, for he was honoured in his to the evidence, and in no part of his profession so successfully contended, been established. did he display greater tact than in this branch of it. Having stated the doctrine of high trea- his long and glorious career at the bar, for it But we cannot follow Mr. Erskine through friendships. son, as established by the celebrated act of Ed- would demand from us an account of almost ward III., and as expounded by the best autho- every important trial that occurred during a perities, he made a most dexterous application of riod of nearly thirty years. On all occasions in those rules to the evidence which had been ad, which the liberty of the press or trial by jury duced. Those who study his celebrated speech were to be defended, he was the eloquent and on this occasion, will observe, with admiration, dauntless advocate; nor was he to be deterred the subtleties with which he abates the force of from what he conceived to be his duty by any the testimony he has to encounter, and the art-circumstances of a personal nature. ful eloquence by which he exposes its effects and contradiction, when he abruptly and violently exclaimed "I say, by God, that man is a rudian, who, on such evidence as this, seeks to establish a conclusion of guilt." The sensation produced by this mode of address, which, though not without several examples in Cicero, is not altogether suited to the sober declamation of English eloquence, was extraordinary; and the magic of the voice, the eye, the face, the figure, and the manner in which it was uttered, was quite electrical, and baffled all power of description. The feeling of the moment alone, that sort of sympathy which subsists between an observant speaker and his audience, which communicates to him, as he goes on, their feelings under what he is saying, deciphers the language of their looks, and even teaches him, without regarding what he sees,to adapt his words to the state of their minds, by merely attending to his own,-this intuitive and momentary impulse alone could have prompted a flight, which it alone could sustain; and as its failure would have been fatal, so its eminent success must be allowed to rank it among the most famous feats of oratory. absent from Scotland, when, richer and fame than in wealth, he, about four years Lord Erskine had been nearly half a century ago, visited the land of his birth, and a public dinner was given to him at Edinburgh. It was during a second visit to Scotland that he was seized with an inflammation of his chest of which he died, a fortnight ago, at the house of his late brother, the Honorable Henry Erskine. with the order of the thistle by his present left several children. His Lordship was honored Lord Erskine has been twice married, and bas Majesty, who always considered Lord Erskine as one of the oldest and most faithful of his friends.-Literary Chronicle. to which we have already alluded. On the trial fearlessness with which he contended against Mr. Erskine was always remarkable for the the bench. When on the trial of the Dean of Saint Asaph, for a libel, Judge Buller, his former legal preceptor, interrupted him in his argument, and threatened to compel him to sit sit down. Your lordship may do your duty, down,-Mr. Erskine said, but I will do mine." On another occasion he My lord, I will not acted equally firm towards Lord Kenyon, and, In the defence of Paine, for publishing his appears to have been, as he thus described it in throughout, the whole of his conduct at the bar "Rights of Man," Mr. Erskine delivered a inost powerful address, rich in poetic eloquence. said he, one of his contests with the bench:-" It was," When Mr. Stockdale was prosecuted for a libel youth, always to do what my conscience told "the first command and counsel of my on the managers of Mr. Hasting's impeachment, me to be my duty; and to leave the consehe displayed an eloquence and an ingenuity quences to God. I shall carry with me the mefully equal to any of his preceding efforts. Af- mory, and, I trust, the practice, of this paterter shewing how much the imputed atrocities of nal lesson to the grave. I have hitherto folMr. Hasting's administration were to be attri- lowed it, and have no reason to complain that huted to his instructions, to the policy of Eu- my obedience to it has been even a temporal rope in distant countries, and to the tyranny of sacrifice. I have found it, on the contrary, the civilized man, he introduces a personal adven-road to prosperity and wealth, and I shall point ture of his own in North America, as bearing it out as such to my children." COUNTRY CHURCH-YARD. WHILE silent ages glide away, |