indeed, abroad, but enslaved at home, had no prospect but that of a long succession of tyrants wading through slaughter to a throneeven then, I say, when all seemed lost, the unconquerable spirit of English liberty survived in the hearts of English jurors. That spirit is, I trust if any modern tyrant

in God, not extinct; and were, in the drunkenness of his insolence, to hope to overawe an English jury, I trust and I believe that they would tell him: "Our ancestors braved the bayonets of Cromwell; we bid defiance to yours. Contempsi Catilinæ gladiosnon pertimescam tuos !"

What could be such a tyrant's means of overawing a jury? As long as their country exists, they are girt round with impenetrable armor. Till the destruction of their country, no danger can fall upon them for the performance of their duty, and I do trust that there is no Englishman so unworthy of life as to desire to outlive England. But if any of us are condemned to the cruel punishment of surviving our country -if, in the inscrutable counsels of Providence, this favored seat of justice and liberty, this noblest work of human wisdom and virtue, be destined to destruction, which I shall not be charged with national prejudice for saying

would be the most dangerous wound ever inflicted on civilization; at least let us carry with us into our sad exile the consolation that we ourselves have not violated the rights of hospitality to exiles-that we have not torn from the altar the suppliant who claimed protection as the voluntary victim of loyalty and conscience!

Gentlemen, I now leave this unfortunate gentleman in your hands. His character and his situation might interest your humanity; but, on his behalf, I only ask justice from you. I only ask a favorable construction of what can not be said to be more than ambiguous language, and this you will soon be told, from the highest authority, is a part of justice.

Notwithstanding the great impression made by his speech, the charge of Lord Ellenborough made it necessary that the jury should render a verdict of guilty. In his instructions his Lordship said that under the law of England" any publication which tended to degrade, revile, and defame persons in considerable situations of power and dignity, in foreign countries, may be taken and treated as a libel, and particularly where it has a tendency to interrupt the pacific relations of the two countries."

The jury found Peltier guilty; but as war was almost immediately declared, he was not brought up for sentence, but was set free.

LORD ERSKINE.

"As an advocate in the forum, I hold him to be without an equal in ancient or modern times." This is the judgment of the author of "The Lives of the Lord Chancellors," in regard to Thomas, Lord Erskine. But for the modern student, Erskine was not merely the most powerful advocate that ever appealed to a court or a jury, but what is more important, he was, in a very definite sense, so closely identified with the establishment of certain great principles that lie at the foundation of modern social life, that a knowledge, at least, of some of his speeches is of no little importance. The rights of juries, the liberty of the press, and the law of treason were discussed by him not only with a depth of learning and a power of reasoning which were absolutely conclusive, but

at the same time with a warmth and a brilliancy of genius which throw a peculiar charm over the whole of the subjects presented.

Thomas Erskine was the youngest son of the Earl of Buchan, the representative of an old Scotch house, whose ample fortune had wasted away until the family was reduced to actual poverty. Just before the birth of the future Lord Chancellor, the Earl of Buchan abandoned his ancient seat, and with wife and children took up his abode in an upper flat of a lofty house in the old town of Edinburgh. Here Erskine was born on the 10th of January, 1750. The poverty of the family made it impossible for him to acquire the early education he craved. Some years at the schools in Edinburgh, and a few months in the University of St. Andrews, completed his academic days. He gained a very superficial knowledge of Latin, and, if we may believe Lord Campbell, "little of Greek beyond the alphabet." In the rudiments of English literature, however, he was well instructed; and he seems, even while

at the university, to have acquired something of that freedom and nobleness of manner which so much distinguished him in after-life.

The condition of the family, however, made it impossible for him to complete the course of studies at the University; and accordingly, at fourteen, he was placed as a midshipman in the navy. Here he remained four years, during which time he visited different parts of the globe, including the Indies and the English colonies in North America. At the end of his term he determined, like the elder Pitt, to enter the army; and, taking the whole of his small patrimony for the purpose, he bought an ensign's commission in the Royals or First Regiment of Foot. Here he remained from the time he was eighteen till he was twenty-five. At twenty he was married to a lady of respectability, though without fortune. But this step, which, with most persons, would have been the sure precursor of poverty and obscurity, turned out in the case of Erskine to be a means of inspiration and assistance. His mind was bal