ERSKINE. CHANCELLOR) (by the ministry of "All the talents") being or. 10 Feb. 1806 BARON EKSKINH OF RESTORMEL CASTLH,( b ) CO. Cornwall. During his brief tenure of office (but 13 months) he presided as Lord High Steward, at the trial of Lord Melville in 1800. He resigned the seals, 7 April 1S07, on the change of Ministry, since which period, till his death some lb' year3 later, he remained in comparative obscurity, tho' by the influence of the Prince Regent he was made K.T., 23 Feb. 1815 ; espousing, however, the popular cause (against him) in 1820, in the matter of the trial of Queen Caroline. He m. firstly (when but 19) 29 March 1770, at Gretna Green, Frances, da. of Daniel Moore, M.P. for Great Marlow. She d. 26 Dec. 1805, at 36 Lincoln's Inn fields, and was bur. at Hampstead, Midi. He nt. secondly "at some time not ascertainable, at Gretna Green, a Miss Mary [Qi/. Sarah ?] Buck, by whom he had a son, Hampden, 6. 5 Dec. 1821. "( c ) He (/. 17 Nov. 1823, aged 73, at Almondell, in West Lothian and was bur. at Uphall, eo Linlithgow. Will pr. 1824. His widow was left " in very Btraitened circumstances/'^) and was living 1829. II. 1823. 2. David Montagu (Erskine), Baron Erskine of Restohmel Castle, 1st s. and fa., bv 1st wife ; b. 1777 ; ed. at Westm. school and at Trin. Coll., Cambridge ; M.A., 1797 ; LL.D., 1S11 ; Barrister (Line. Inn), 1802 ; M.P. for Portsmouth, Feb. to July 1S0G; British Envoy at Washing- ton, 1S06-10 ; at St.utlgardt, 1825-28, and at Munich, 1828-13. He m. firstly, 16 Dec. 1799, Frances, da. of General John Cadwalladkh, of Philadelphia, U.S.A,, one of the leaders of the American revolution. She d. at Genoa 25 March 1813. He m, secondly (four months subsequently) 29 July 1S43, at Brighton, Anne Bond, da. of John Travis, of Lancashire, 1st cousin of her predecessor. She d. at Brighton 18 April 1851. Her will pr. July 1851. He m. thirdly 21 Dec. 1852, at St. Geo. Han. sq., Anna, widow of Thomas Calderwood Dunham, of Largo, da. of William Cu.viNGHAir-GK.U7AM, of Gnrtmore, co. Peebles. He d. 19 March 1855, aged 78, at Butler's Green, Sussex. His widow m. (for her 3d husband and as his 2d wife) 3 April 1856, Veu. John SaNDi'oud, B.D., Archdeacon of Coventry, who d. 22 March 1873. She a!, at 6 Newbold Terrace, Leamington, co. Warwick, 26 March 1886. ( a ) Tho' the seals had been refused by Lord Ellenborough (Ch. Justice of the King's Bench), and by Sir James Mansfield (Ch. Justice of the Common Pleas), Erskine's appointment was "generally condemned." He was ignorant of equity, experienced only as an advocate at jtitt Prius, and in fact was, as Romilly wrote " totally unfit for the situation," (see Stephen's Not, Biogr"). "The 13th vol. of Vesey [Vesey's Reports] is called, after Lord Erskiue, the ajwcri/phal volume, and the decisions which it contains are scarcely alluded to without derision and contempt." See Carpenter's "Peerage" [1819] sub "Brougham." ( b ) This description was a compliment paid to him by the Prince of Wales, with whom he was then in high favour, and whose Chancellor he was, for the Duchy of Cornwall, to which the said Castle of Restorme) is annexed. ( r ) See Professor Harrison's able notice of him in Stephen's " Nat. Biography," where it is truly stated that tho' "his character was amiable and elevated, his distinguishing characteristic was an inordinate vanity, which perpetually made him ridiculous. He was caricatured as COUNSELLOR EGO and as BARON EGO OF EYE, and Cobbett always wrote of him as BARON CLACKMANNAN." He is thus spoken of by Wraxall, ["Memoirs " vol. iii, p. 409, edit. 1884.] His vanity was obstrnsivo and insatiable ; Narcissus was not more enamoured of his person, than Erskine was of his talents, nor contemplated his own image with more complacency, even in the most troubled fountain. His own speeches, actions and importance, which seemed ever present to his mind, continually formed the theme of his discourse." His incurable Egotism rendered him a favourite butt of Canning, who thus happily depicts him, as pointing out that he was indeed "but a very little lower than the angels," in a burlesque of his speech at the Whig Club in the "Anti-Jacobin Papers," and he is also wittily alluded to, as under, in a satirical index to that work. " Erskine, Mr.— His definition of Himself at tho meeting of the Friends of Freedom— clothed with the infirmities of man's nature — in many respects a finite being— disclaims all pretensions to superhuman power— has been both a Soldier and a Sailor— has a son at Winchester school— has been called by special retainers into many parts of tho country, travelling chiefly in post chaises— is of Noble, perhaps Royal blood— has a house at Hampstead." See the 3d edit, of the "Poetry of the Anti-Jacobiu," 1S90, ed. by C. Edmonds.
