ERSKINE. 195 ERYNGO. tat inn as a writer. Upturning to London in 1772, his family connections and his personal qualities gained for him easy admission to society, in which lie became a favorite. Iioswell, in record- ing the introduction of Erskine to Johnson, tells us that the young Scotch olliccr "talked with a vivacity, fluency, and precision that attracted particular attention." Although he had been promoted to a Iieu- tenancy, he was led by a chance conversation with Lord Mansfield to make a sec md change in his profession — to give up the army for the bar. lie sold his commission in 1775, entered Lincoln's Inn, became a student in the Chambers of Buller (afterwards Mr. Justice Buller), matricu- lated as a gentleman commoner in Trinity Col- lege, < Cambridge, and was called to the bar in 1778. During this period of study he was very poor; and he declares that he was spurred to the eloquence which gained for him instant fame, in his first case, by the thought that his chil- dren were plucking at his gown, crying to him that now was the time to get them bread. Not only did his remarkable address 'entrance the judges and the audience,' but it brought him many retainers and opened to him a lucrative practice. In 1779 he received from Admiral le)ppel, whose acquittal upon court-martial he had secured, a thousand pounds fee. Five years later his annual income had increased to £3000, and it is said that he made while at the bar E150,000. He was not a great lawyer, but his unfailing courtesy, good humor, high spirits, and great eloquence placed him at the head of the English bar. His most remarkable successes as an advocate were gained in a series of liti- gations connected with the law of libel and treason. His defense of the Dean of Saint Asaph led to the passing of Fox's Libel Act in 1792, whieh affirmed the doctrine for which Ers- kine had contended, that the question whether a particular publication is libelous or not is for the jury and not for the court. By his successful de- fense of Walker, Hardy, Home Tooke, and others, he exploded the theory of constructive treason upon which the prosecutions of these per- sons were based, and rendered invaluable service to the cause of personal liberty. In all these cases, as well as in his defense of Paine on the occasion of the publication of "The Rights of Man," he displayed great moral courage and a lofty conception of professional duty. Erskine entered Parliament in 1783, but his career both in the House of Commons and in the House of Lords was in striking contrast with that at the bar. His maiden speech was a failure owing to his fear of Pitt. On other occasions he actually broke down, and he was never able to address Parliament with the eloquence and power which characterized his forensic efforts. In 180(1 he was made Lord Chancellor and elevated to a peerage with the title of Baron Erskine of Restormel. His reputation was not enhanced by his labors in this office, and after his retirement from the Chancellorship, when the Whigs went out of office in 1807, he sank into comparative insignificance and poverty. Dying in 1823. lie left his second wife and young child in straitened circumstance's. Campbell. I.ircr; r,( tlic Chancel- lors (London. 1S6S) ; High, Speeches of Lord Erskine (Chicago, 1876). ERSKINE, THOMAS, of Linlathen (1788- 1870). A Scottish writer on theology. He born at Edinburgh; studied law at Edinburgh University, and practiced from 1810 until 1816, when he retired from the bar and devoted him to literary work. His theological view-., particu- larly those regarding (he Atonement, were not then considered ort hodox ; but his earnest ness won them favor, and John McLcod Campbell (q.v.) and Frederic Denison Maurice (q.v.) were much indebted to them. It was the public advocacy oi them which led to Campbell's expulsion from the Kirk. Erskine's principal writings are: Re marks on the Internal Evidence of the Truth of Revealed Religion (1820, loth ed. 1878); Thi I nconditional Freeness of the Gospel (1828, new ed. 1873) ; and The Doctrine of Election (1837, 2d ed. 1878). His Letters appealed in 1877, edited by Dr. William Hanna, with contributions by Principal J. C. Shaip and Dean Stanley. ERUPTIVE ROCKS. See Igneous Rocks. ERWIN, er'ven (?-1318). A German archi- tect, born at Steinbach. When the great tower of the Strassburg Cathedral, which had been partly constructed of wood in the reign of Dago- bert I., burned down. Erwin was called up to supply designs for the new towers and a facade to take the place of the original tower. He began the work in 1276, but at his death it was not nearly completed, and his two sons, Johannes ( ?-c.l342) and Erwin, finished it from his draw- ings, which are still at Strassburg. The name Erwin von Steinbach, by which he is generally known, was not applied to him before the sev- enteenth century. ERXLEBEW, grksla-ben, Joiiann Christian (1744-77). A German physician and naturalist. He was born at Quedlinburg, and was a son of the highly gifted Dorothea Christine Erxleben, the first woman who obtained the degree of doctor of medicine in Germany. He was educated at Got tingen, where he occupied the chair of natural philosophy from 1771 until his death. His prin- cipal works are the text-books Anfangsgriinde der Raturgeschichte (4th ed. 1791), and Anfangs- griinde der TSaturlehre (8th ed. 1794). ER'YCT'NA (Lat., relating to Eryx, from Eryx, Gk. *Epuf, a mountain in Sicily). A name of Aphrodite. ER'YMAN'THUS (Lat.., from Gk. 'Epi/iavtof, Erymanthos). The ancient name of a mountain chain in the extreme northwest corner of Arcadia? now called Olonos. The highest peak is 7300 feet. A small river, also called anciently Erymanthus (at present Douana), rises in the mountains and eventually joins the Alpheus on the borders of Elis. This region was the scene of the famous struggle of Heracles with the Erymanthian boar. Being ordered to bring the animal to Mycense alive, Heracles chased it into the deep snow, and. having thus tired it out, caught it in a noose. ERYNGO, e-rin'go (Lat. eryngion, erynge, Gk. ripfryyiov, eryngion, rii>vy-,r), erynge, eryngo) , Eryngium. A genus of plants of the natural or- der Umbelliferffi, which have simple umbels, re- sembling the heads of some composite flowers. The speeics number about 150. and are mostly natives of the warmer temperate parts of the world, with alternate simple or divided leaves, which have marginal spines. One species, tie sea- eryngo or sea-holly [Eryngium maritvmum) ,
