CHAP.

CLXXXIX.

should have lived." Proposing to eject the Turks from Europe, he declares that "he would confide the matter to some long-practised diplomatist, with the assistance of a 1821-1823. lawyer to draw up the notice to quit." He does not go on to explain how the writ of habere facias possessionem was to be executed.-But it should be recollected that at this time such sentiments were shared by the most distinguished men. Byron was actually carrying arms in the great enterprise; and Lord Dudley, though a non-combatant, wrote to the Bishop of Llandaff, " I have always considered it the greatest disgrace of Christendom to suffer these hated barbarians, the Turks, to remain encamped upon the finest and most renowned part of Europe for upwards of four centuriesduring at least two of which it has been in our power to drive them out whenever we pleased; let us at least have one civilised and Christian quarter of the globe, although it be the smallest."

In advocating the liberty of the Greeks, Erskine showed that he had become a zealous convert to the abolition of the African slave trade, forgetting even that he had once been deluded by the apparent happiness which he had seen the negroes enjoying in their midnight dances in the West Indies. After giving an affecting description of the horrors of the middle passage, particularly the slaves jumping overboard to be devoured by the sharks, which he says he had frequently beheld, he adds, — " When, after all this, it fell at last to my lot, and through ways as unaccountable as unexampled, to preside in the Lords' House of Parliament, on their deliverance to hold up in my hands the great charter of their freedom, and with my voice to pronounce that it should be law, your Lordship, I am sure, whom I respect and regard as a man of honour and feeling, will rather approve than condemn my retaining the whole subject of slavery in the most. affecting remembrance." *

-

* I am sorry to say that the lawyers were the last in the community to support the rights of their black brethren. Wilberforce, in his Diary, says, That the general bias of the Bar was in favour of an established trade in slaves with Africa, was confirmed by the defence which burst from the

66

CHAP.

Erskine was thus employed during the visit of George IV. CLXXXIX. to the Scottish metropolis. He privately expressed a wish 1821-1823. that he might have been of the party, to point out the beauties of his " own romantic town to the first Brunswick Sovereign who had "kept court in Holyrood," but there was a complete alienation between "Tom" and his old patron, who now hated all liberal men as well as liberal principles, and by-and-by could with great difficulty be persuaded by his Tory Ministers to agree to the emancipation of the Catholics.

His pamphlet

on "Agricultural

Distress "

66

Though no longer attending in Parliament, nor even making speeches at anniversary dinners, our Ex-Chancellor was still desirous of keeping his name before the public, - or I ought, perhaps, rather to say, of rendering service to the country, and in the beginning of the year 1823 he published a pamphlet, which proved to be his last; for though his figure was still juvenile and his eye piercing, his career was near its close. The all-absorbing subject of the day was 'Agricultural Distress," which, notwithstanding the protecting sliding scale of 1815, intended to prevent the price of wheat falling under eighty shillings the quarter, was now said to be dreadful; and certainly Erskine's attempts to raise wheat on land intended by nature only for the production of birch brooms had turned out very disastrous. In his "Letter to the Proprietors and Occupiers of Land, on the Causes and Remedies for the Decline of Agricultural Prosperity," he still harps upon "insufficient protection," and the "burdens He exposes on land;' "* but he makes some good observations on the

the abuses

of the old

abuses of the old Poor Law, which many are so eager to Poor Law. restore. He thus illustrates his objection to the "allowance

system" (i. e. apportioning parish relief according to the

boisterous Thurlow, and for a moment trembled upon the lips of Erskine." “The Bar were all against us upon the question of the African Slave Trade. Fox could scarcely prevent Erskine from making a set speech in favour of the trade."

* "It was well observed by Mr. Holme Sumner, that a successful clamour for cheap bread, by the encouragement of foreign importers, would soon leave the people no bread at all. No schemes for the sustentation of the poor, however judicious, will be attended with any material relief to the country, until we shut our ports by a higher scale than we have adopted."— Lord Erskine's Pamphlet.

CLXXXIX.

number of the family and the price of corn) then prevailing CHAP. over the south of England: "A friend of mine in Sussex had a useful servant, who managed his small farm, and, being 1821-1823. satisfied with his services, gave him higher wages than the common rate, a comfortable house to live in, besides firewood, with some little advantages which occasionally occurred. Nevertheless, this innocent-minded man, in a state of breathless agitation, addressed his master as follows: Master, be I bound to maintain five children?' To which the master said, "Whose children are they?' Why, I believe them to be my own,' was the answer; to which the gentleman replied, "Who else should maintain them?' Why, the parish,' replied the countryman, still more agitated. What can you mean by that?' said the master; have you not sufficient wages to maintain your wife and children comfortably?' Why, to be sure, I have,' said the countryman, thanks to your honour's kindness; my wife is a sober, good woman, so that we lays by a few shillings a week; but why be I to have no money from the parish, when every one else is paid who has children?' The end of this dialogue was, that the man was directed never to think of the parish any more; and he now lives contented in his place."

The public was disposed to applaud what was good, without criticising severely what might be questionable, in the writings or actions of an old favourite. He was now regarded with general fondness. Annually, at a dinner which he was not asked to attend, that his praise might be sounded more freely — given to celebrate the acquittal of Hardy in 1794, his health was drunk with increasing enthusiasm — the company, on account of the tergiversation of his colleague, drinking in solemn silence "The memory of Sir Vicary Gibbs." Ridgway, under his revision, had a few years be- Publicafore published a collection of his speeches at the Bar. To tion of his Speeches. my utter astonishment, it never reached a second edition; but it was now in the hands of all who had any taste for genuine oratory, and it proved that his great fame as an advocate was scarcely equal to his merits. The "Indian Chief" was declaimed by schoolboys, lawyers conned, night and day, his

CHAP. CLXXXIX.

arguments against constructive treason, and his analysis of mental alienation in his defence of Hadfield was studied and 1821-1823. admired by philosophers. He had lived sufficiently both to nature and to glory, and if he had survived much longer, he might have permanently dimmed his reputation by the faults and follies into which he might have fallen. But while it seemed that the strength of his constitution could only be undermined by a long decay, an acute disorder saved him from these perils.

CHAPTER CXC.

CONCLUSION OF THE LIFE OF LORD ERSKINE.

CHAP.

CXC.

tates

Scotland.

DURING his short visit to Scotland in the year 1820, Erskine had been in a perpetual hurry and bustle, and had been constantly subjected to the public gaze. He longed to con- A. D. 1823. template in repose the scenes of his infancy, and to enjoy an He mediaffectionate intercourse with his surviving relatives. His another eldest brother, the Earl of Buchan, was now residing at visit to Dryburgh Abbey, in Berwickshire, and having by long economy repaired the shattered fortunes of his family, was in comparative wealth. Henry, his second brother, had paid the debt of nature, but had left a widow -a lady of superior understanding and most agreeable manners, to whom, as well from her own merits as from a regard to the memory of the deceased, he was warmly attached. He likewise desired to form an acquaintance with the junior branches of his noble house, and for its honour to give them the advantage of his experience in directing their pursuits in life. He therefore resolved, in the autumn of 1823, to revisit his native land and to pass the ensuing winter there. When he intimated his wish to go by sea, he was reminded that the equinoctial gales were to be expected; but, expressing a great dislike of being boxed up in the mail coach, or posting over 400 miles of dusty road, he added: "What is a puff of wind on the German Ocean to an old sailor who has often combated a tornado in the West Indies?" Accordingly he embarked at Wapping in a Leith smack, accompanied by one of his sons.

His reso

lution to

go by sea.

voyage.

At first the weather was propitious, but when they were He is taken abreast of Harwich a violent gale arose from the north-north- ill on the east, accompanied with rain and sleet. The "old sailor" would remain on deck to show his hardihood, -till he found himself seriously indisposed. In a few hours it turned out that he was