304 Curious Ring-The late Lord Erskine. county families, attached to the Republican cause, provided themselves with rings emblematick of their sentiments on the triumph of the Commonwealth, and that others, holding different opinions, followed the example at the Restoration; but for the reasons I have stated, I think the Enderby Ring is not one of these, and indeed its dimensions and general character stamp it en militaire. There may be others extant of a similar description, but I have never seen nor heard of any, and I shall be obliged by the assistance of any of your Antiquarian Correspondents in the investigation *. The ring worn in remembrance of King Charles I. (mentioned in vol. XCIII. p. 36) would form a singularly interesting companion to the one lately discovered. It is impossible for the mind to contemplate the different impulses under which these reminiscences were framed, without being insensibly led to a recollection of those eventful times when all that was great and good, sacred and venerable, fell a prey to a spirit of enterprise, fostered indeed in some measure by ideas of mistaken prerogative, but engendered in the restless vigour of ardent and active minds, propelled by the applause of a multitude fond of change, and jealous of monarchy. While the ring of Charles teaches us on the one hand, that there are situations in which a most amiable Man and conscientious Prince may err, and that there are privileges and asser tions of rights, which however valid in the abstract, it would be unwise under peculiar circumstances to insist upon, the ring of Cromwell guards us on the other, against the shoals and quicksands of that popularity which no Booner elevates those who have attained it, than it renders them objects of envy and supicion to the very men who have been the instruments of their advancement. The tree of liberty can alone flourish under the genial influence of a limited monarchy; in other soils it may appear luxuriant for a time, but its luxuriance is ephemeral, I should account myself guilty of great ingratitude, were I not to take this opportunity of returning my sincere thanks to the present representative of the Cromwell family, for his very kind and polite attention to some recent enquiries of mine. [April, and the certain precursor of its decay. Those who ought to watch its growth and trim its branches, are too busily engaged in schemes of personal aggrandizement and influence to regard it, and it eventually fails a prey to the ruling but transitory dominion of some prevalent Faction, the members of which are not unlikely to employ it as materials for the scaffold or the guillotine. No man ever died more thoroughly convinced of the absolute necessity of monarchy than Cromwell; no one had more cause to complain of his early associates; and an attentive examination of the various biographical memoirs of that extraordinary character, and of the times in which he lived, forms, in my humble judgment, one of the most interesting as well as instructive studies, to which an Englishman, anxious to entertain a just estimate of the blessings he now enjoys, can devote himself. J. STOCKDALE HARDY. Mr. URBAN, April 3. N your last volume, p. 553, you gave a good memoir of the public life of that shining meteor at the English bar, the late Lord Erskine. My present communication will have re ference to his private affections. You state correctly that he married March 29, 1770, Frances daughter of Daniel Moore, Esq. M.P. for Great Marlow, by whom he had a numerous family; and go on to say, "The part sustained by the late Mrs. Erskine, before the cloud that overhung their first entrance into life dissipated, is highly honourable to her feelings; she accompanied her husband to Minorca, followed his fortunes with the most cheerful constancy, and while he was engaged in the pursuits of a most laborious profession, never suffered any pleasure or amusement to interrupt her in the assiduous discharge of her domestic duties." The affection between Lord Erskine and this Lady, is strongly marked in his will, which is dated Nov. 15, 1782, and begins in nearly these words: Being, from a sense of honour, and not from any motive of personal resentment or revenge, about to expose my life to great peril, it is a comfort to me that I have so few duties to fulfil previous to an event which may deprive me of every other opportunity of 1824.] The late Lord and Lady Erskine. of so doing." It then proceeds to enumerate certain sums, constituting the amount of the testator's property, which is stated to have been all acquired since his practice at the bar, and to be 9,0001. consols, and about 1,000l. more in bills. It is all left, with the highest expressions of confidence and affection to his wife, for herself and children, they to inherit it after her decease, in equal shares, as they attain twenty-one years of age. But he prɔvided, as on account of her youth she might probably marry again, and as such an event, though by no means deprecated by him, might, be incompatible with the interests of his children, that upon such second marriage the property should be transferred to his sister, Lady Anne Erskine, in trust for them as above-mentioned. A request is left to the testator's brother, the Earl of Buchan, that as his property was not sufficient to enable Mr. Erskine to educate his son David in a manner suitable to his birth, that he would make it such as they both derived from their father, improved by his own talents and experience. He only excepted from the property left as above, the ring and sleeve-buttons set with his wife's hair, in which he desired to be buried, as he usually wore them. The codicil is dated" Carleton Hotell, Pall-mall, 2d Oct. 1786," and was made only for the purpose of confirming the contents of the will, his property since its execution having much accumulated, and for giving his children since born, and those he might in future have, an equal participation with the others in its provisions. From their remote date it is not to be wondered at that the papers are somewhat defaced and mutilated; and it will be considered remarkable that such a lapse of time and change of circumstances, should not have induced a man of legal attainments to have left a more recent declaration of his testamentary intentions. The will was registered in the Prerogative Office on the 2d of January, 1824; letters of administration with the same, and the codicil annexed, having been committed to David now Lord Erskine. The personals were sworn under 10007. 305 publicity to the following Letter, writtea by the learned Advocate on his recovery from a dangerous illness, as it is so generally interesting, and represents his Lady in so amiable a point of view, as his constant nurse during his tedious disorder, thus proving herself, as his Lordship afterwards expressed it in her epitaph, "the most faithful and affectionate of women :" "MY DEAR SIR, Tunbridge Wells, Sept. 6*. "YOUR letter has been with me three weeks unanswered, and as you are a good-natured fellow, you will lament to hear my apology. "I received it in bed in the extremity of disease, and this is the first day I have risen from it long enough to be able to give any account of myself. "I was seized with what appeared a common toothache, which swelled my face; an attempt was made next day to draw the affected tooth, but it was not only unsuccessful, but increased the inflammation to a very high degree. Next day three immense abscesses formed near the part, one in the throat, from which I several times, by seasonable operations, narrowly escaped suffocation. The last was, indeed, a near run, for the passage closed in the night suddenly, and after lying on the floor in the agony and sweat of death for many minutes, while the surgeon was coming, I thrust Mrs. Erskine's scissars down my throat and stabbed it, which, with other favourable conjunctures, saved my life. "Ever since, the surgeon has slept in the next room to me; that is now sixteen days ago; and I sent for the famous anatomist and surgeon John Hunter, by express that night, who has been with me here ever since. When the first abscess began to digest away, a new one formed beneath my ear, and after an inflammation such as Í believe was never seen in such a part, opened into the corner of my throat by a small pipe, and has ever since, together with the other, been running into my mouth. Then came a third under my jaw, which after threatening to burst outwardly, broke likewise into my mouth. In this manner 1 have remained lying on one side for twenty *No year mentioned; probably about 1790, or before 1793, in which year John I hope to stand excused for giving Hunter died. five 306 The late Lord Erskine.-Epitaph on the Earl of Buchan. [April, five days, without the possibility of sleeping if nature would have permitted, because I am obliged to be awake to let the matter run out. The pain, however, would have destroyed me long ago, and therefore I take laudanum every three hours, renewing always when the effect goes off, and my nurse prevents my falling asleep. Indeed, poor Mrs. E. has been my nurse the whole time, having sat up with me all through it, to give directions to the strangers about me. "By God's good mercy, and the indefatigable exertions of that most extraordinary being, Hunter, I am out of all danger, and am getting fast well. The abscesses are most spent, and are healing, and Nature putting herself to rights. Although I cannot walk, I am ordered to leave this place to-morrow, Hunter thinking the air hostile to me. I am to go into the hot salt water at Margate and before you come into that neighbourhood, for I am told you are to be near Deal, I hope to be able to give you the meeting. Mrs. E. joins me in best wishes. Adieu, and believe me to be sincerely yours, T. ERSKINE." Lord Erskine had, I may truly say, the misfortune to lose this amiable Lady on the 26th of December 1805. She was interred in a large inclosed vault, on the West side of Hampstead Church, and an elegant monument was soon afterwards erected by Lord Erskine to her memory. The execution of this monument does so much credit to the sculptor, Mr. Bacon, jun. that I request you to lay before your readers a representation of it, copied from Mr. Park's valuable" History of Hampstead." (See Plate 11.) Her epitaph will be seen on the plate. Lord Erskine was for many years a resident at Hampstead. About 35 years ago, he "purchased a house with a garden adjoining to it (connected by a subterranean passage), upon the very top of Hampstead-hill, above Ken Wood. It was at that time a very small place, and though commanding from its elevation a most extensive and splendid prospect, was entirely shut out from it by banks and hedge-row timber, so as to possess no beauty or interest whatsoever. The improvement and decoration of this spot was the amusement of many years, and, though attended with a very considerable expense, by great additions to its extent, and by cultivation and ornament, amply repaid its possessor, by becoming a most delightful retirement, though within an hour's distance of any part of London. It is so entirely shut out from the road between Hampstead and Highgate, by walls and plantations, that no idea can be formed of it by strangers to the place. Lord Erskine having surrounded it with evergreens of different descriptions, gave it the name of Evergreenhill; and it is now in the possession of the widow of the late Wm. Key, Esq. Lord Erskine having ascertained the interment of Lord Buchan at Hampstead, in 1745, erected a marble tablet in the chancel of Hampstead Church, to his memory, upon which is this inscription: "Near this place lies buried LORD AUCHTERHOUSE, &c. &c. died October 14th, O.S. A.D. 1745, This stone was erected to his memory Mr. URBAN, Muirtown, March 27. served a paper regarding the Mosaic account of the Deluge. On this subject you did me the favour to insert a paper ten months ago, in which I endeavoured to shew the certainty that this event was produced by the great Comet of 1680, the perihelion of which took place the very year which all the chronologies of repute give for the universal Deluge. I endeavoured to shew that the book of Genesis very strongly indicates the influence of an external cause, such as a Comet, to have produced that event, and that the future conflagration is predicted as coming from a similar cause, though under different circumstances; and that the earliest Egyptian records regarding the Phoenix, were easily referable to the effects of the same agency; from which our globe is now slowly recovering its old polar position. Every circumstance which has be * Park's Hampstead, p. 319. come |