sent early to Oxford, where he took his degrees; and was admitted to that of M. D. in 1789. Repairing to London, he was made a member of the College of Physicians about the same period as Dr. Vaughan (now Sir Henry Halford.) These two gentlemen soon came into great practice, and perhaps there is no instance of two men in the medical profession rising so young to so great an eminence. To Dr. Baillie the medical world is indebted for a work of great merit, entitled "The Morbid Anatomy of the Human Body," 1793; to which he added an Appendix in 1798; and which reached the fourth edition in 1807. In 1799 he published "A Series of Engravings to illustrate the Morbid Anatomy," which reached a second edition in 1812. He has likewise published "Anatomical Description of the Gravid Uterus." These works, and the high character he bore in his profession, brought him into great practice, and enabled him to accumulate a good fortune: "a fortune (as his biographer in the Public Characters says) which was gained with much reputation, and to the entire satisfaction of those who employed him." He had been physician to the late king, and, no doubt, he might have been to the present; but Dr. Baillie did not seek honours. He was brother to the celebrated Miss Joanna Baillie. He married, early in life, Miss Denman, daughter of the late Dr. Denman, and sister to the celebrated advocate of that name and Lady Croft. At Almondale, six or seven miles from Edinburgh, of an inflammation of the chest, Thomas Lord Erskine. He had been twice before ill of the complaint which proved fatal to him-(in 1807 and 1819.) His recovery at the latter of these periods was deemed impossible, but his extraordinary stamina bore him out against the expectation of the physicians. Lord Erskine was seventy-five years of age. He was the third son of the late, and youngest brother to the present Earl of Buchan. He was born in Scotland in 1750; and, the contracted means of his family rendering it necessary that he should choose some active profession, was educated for the naval service, and went to sea at a very early age with Sir John Lindsay, nephew of the great Earl of Mansfield. He is said to have attained only the rank of a Lieutenant. On quitting the sea-service, he entered into the army as an Ensign in the Royals. This was in the year 1768, and arose less from inclination, than that his father's small and strictly entailed estate did not admit of his assisting his son with the means requisite for enabling him to pursue one of the learned professions. Mr. Erskine accompanied his regiment to Minorca, where he spent three of the six years during which he continued in the service. On his return to England in 1772, he appears to have acquired considerable reputation for the acuteness and versatility of his conversational talents. Boswell, who met with him about this time, in his Life of Johnson mentions that he was accustomed to talk "with a vivacity, fluency, and precision so uncommon, that he attracted particular attention." Mr. Erskine had married in early life a young lady named Moore, who accom panied him to Minorca, and who was a woman of exemplary virtue. The pay of a subaltern officer affording but few enjoyments beyond those which were consistent with the most rigid economy, Mr. Erskine at length, encouraged by the approbation of his mother, the Countess of Buchan, entered upon the study of the law in 1777, and registered his name as a Fellow Commoner of Trinity College, Cambridge, and a student of Lincoln's Inn. One of his college declamations is still extant, as delivered in Trinity College Chapel. The thesis was the Revolution of 1688. It gained the first prize; which our young lawyer refused to accept, not considering himself a student, but merely as declaiming in conformity to the rules of the College. Indeed his classical education was already complete, and it was simply with the view to obtain a degree (by which he saved two years and a half in his passage to the bar) that he became a member of the University. He was called to the bar in 1778; and was very shortly afterwards presented with an opportunity of displaying his shining oratorical powers. Captain Baillie, who had been deprived of the Directorship of Greenwich Hospital by the late Earl of Sandwich, then first Lord of the Admiralty and one of the Governors of Greenwich Hospital, was charged with having published a libel on that nobleman, and the Attorney-general was instructed to move for leave to file a criminal information against him. It was as counsel for the Captain on this occasion that Mr. Erskine made his first speech in court; and the intrinsic merits of this maiden essay, added to the novelty of a young lawyer's indulging in the most caustic invective against a powerful statesman who held an elevated post in the administration, excited a degree of attention which his most sanguine hopes had scarcely dared to anticipate. Such was the impression created by his eloquent defence of Captain Baillie, that on leaving the Court he is said to have been presented with no less than thirty briefs! A short time afterwards, Mr. Erskine appeared at the bar of the House of Commons as counsel for Carnan, the bookseller, against a bill introduced by Lord North, then Prime Minister, to revest in the Universities the monopoly in almanacks, which Carnan had succeeded in abolishing by legal judgments; and he was fortunate enough to place the noble lord in a considerable minority upon a division. His defence of Admiral Keppel, for which he received a thousand guineas, completely established his fame as an advocate; and from that time business began to press upon him to an extraordinary extent, and he was looked upon as one of the most able counsellors in the Court of King's Bench. He subsequently conducted the defence of Lord George Gordon; and having delivered to the jury the doctrine of hightreason, wound up his address with the following forcible peroration. “1 say by God, that man is a ruffian, who, on such evidence as this, seeks to establish a conclusion of guilt." In the early part of 1783, at the recommendation of the venerable Earl of Mansfield, Mr. Erskine obtained a silk gown, and in the same year was nominated to a seat in the House of Commons Commons as a representative of situation of Attorney-general to the borough of Portsmouth. His professional labours were now considerably augmented; and he was appointed by his present Majesty, then Prince of Wales, to the situation which had been so long occupied by Mr. Dunning, after wards Lord Ashburton, in conducting trials for crim. con. sometimes for the plaintiff, and at others for the defendant. Among the most extraordinary cases of this description in which he was employed, is the remarkable one of Baldwin versus Oliver, tried at York, and that of Sir Henry Vane Tempest, in both of which he acted for the defendants, and succeeded so far that one shilling was the entire sum awarded as damages against them. In trials for libel, the talents of Mr. Erskine were always found most effective on the part of the defence. On the trial of the Dean of St. Asaph, at Shrewsbury, for a libel, Mr. Erskine appeared as counsel for the defendant; when the jury delivered a verdict finding the Dean guilty of only publishing the libel. Mr. Justice Buller, who presided at the trial, desired them to reconsider it, as it could not be recorded in the terms in which they had expressed it. On this occasion, Mr. Erskine insisted that the verdict should be recorded precisely as it was found. This was resisted by the Judge, who, finding unusual opposition, peremptorily desired him to sit down, or he should compel him. "My Lord," returned Mr. Er skine, "I will not sit down. Your Lordship may do your duty, but I will do mine." The Judge was silent. His defence of Paine is said to have cost Mr. Erskine the the Prince of Wales. In 1802, however, he was restored to his situation, and also made Keeper of the Seals to the Duchy of Cornwall. The most brilliant event in his professional life was the part he undertook, in conjunction with Sir Vicary Gibbs, in the state-trials in the year 1794. The trials lasted several days, and ended in the acquittal of the pri soners. In 1806, on the accession of Mr. Fox and his party to power, Mr. Erskine was sworn a member of the Privy Council, created a Baron (Feb. 7, 1806) by the title of Lord Erskine, of Restormel Castle, in Cornwall, and entrusted with the great seal as Lord High Chancellor of England, in which latter capacity he presided at the trial of Lord Melville. On the dissolution of the Whig administration, Lord Erskine retired upon a pension of four thousand pounds a year. Although his Lordship was in opposition to the measures of Government, the Prince Regent, in 1815, invested him with the order of the Thistle, as a high mark of esteem, the other eleven Knights being all Dukes and Earls of Great Britain. For several years past his Lordship has been living in retirement. PROMOTIONS in 1823. Sir H. Wellesley as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Emperor of Austria. The Earl of Clanwilliam, as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the King of Prussia. Henry Watkin Williams Wynn, to to be his Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to his Majesty the King of Wurtemberg. Charles Richard Vaughan, Esq. to be his Majesty's Minister Plenipotentiary to the Confederated States of the Swiss Cantons. The Honourable Algernon Percy, to be Secretary to his Majesty's Embassy at Paris, Gibbs Crawford Antrobus, Esq. to be Secretary to his Majesty's Legation at Turin. William John Crosbie, Esq., to be Secretary to his Majesty's Legation to the Confederated States of the Swiss Cantons. The Rev. Charles Richard Sumner, Chaplain in Ordinary to his Majesty. Sir Edward Hyde, Knight, to be a Baronet of the United Kingdom. Mr. Vansittart to be Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and to be Baron Bexley. Lord Beresford to be Lieut.general of the Ordnance. Major-general Sir Edward Barnes, K. C. B. to be Governor and Commander-in-chief of the Island of Ceylon. William George Earl of Erroll to be one of the Lords of his Majesty's Bed-chamber. The Right Hon. Charles Arbuthnot, M. P., William Dacres Adams, and Henry Dawkins, Esqrs. to be Commissioners of His Majesty's Woods, Forests, and Land Revenues. Lieut.-general the Hon. Sir Galbraith Lowry Cole, G. C. B., Governor of the island of Mauritius. His Royal Highness William Henry Duke of Clarence, K. G., K.T., and G.C B., Admiral of the Fleet, to be General of his Majesty's Royal Marine Forces, in the room of the Earl of St. Vincent, deceased. George Romeester, Esq., to be his Majesty's Consul for the island of Sardinia. The Right Hon. W. Huskisson to be President of the Committee of Council, appointed for the consideration of all matters relating to Trade and Foreign Plantations. The Right Hon. C. Grant to be President of the Committee of Council, appointed for the consideration of all matters relating to Trade and Foreign Plantations, in the absence of the Right Hon.. W. Huskisson, or of the President of the Committee. Colonel Sir Henry Hardinge, K.C.B. to be Clerk of the Ordnance of the United Kingdom. The Right Hon. the Earl of Morton, K.T. to be his Majesty's High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. W. Burton, Esq. to be Page of Honour in Ordinary to his Majesty. Mr. Felicio Calvet, to be Consul-general at Gibraltar for his Majesty the King of Portugal, Brasil, and Algarves. Colonel James Russell, to be Gentleman Usher of his Majesty's most Honourable Privy Chamber in Ordinary, H. T. B. Mash, Esq. to be Assistant Master and Marshal of the Ceremonies to his Majesty. Right Hon. William Lord Maryborough to be Master of his Majesty's Buck Hounds. SHERIFFS. SHERIFFS FOR THE YEAR 1823. Bedfordshire.-T. C. Higgins, of Turvey, Esq. Berkshire.-H. P. Sperling, of Park-place, Esq. Buckinghamshire. - William S. Lowndes, of Whaddon-hall, Esq. Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire.-W. Rayner, of Wisbeach, Esq. Cheshire.-J. White, of Sale, Esq. Cumberland.-E. Stanley, of Ponsonby-hall, Esq. Cornwall.-C. Trelawny, of Coldrinick, Esq. Derbyshire.-T. Bateman, of Middleton by Youlgrave, Esq. Devonshire.-T. Bewes, of Beamont-house, Plymouth, Esq. Dorsetshire.-H. C. Sturt, of Moor Critchell, Esq. Essex.-J. J. Tufnell, of Langleys, Esq. Gloucestershire. -J. Smith, of Stapleton, Esq. Herefordshire.-E. B. Pateshall, of Allensmore, Esq. Hertfordshire.-R. Sutton, of Ross Way Northchurch, Esq. Kent.-T. Austen, of Seven Oaks, Esq. Leicestershire.-Sir W. Walker, of Leicester, Knight. Lincolnshire.-Sir W. E. Welby, of Denton, Bart. Monmouthshire.-J. Bailey, of Nanty Glo, Esq. Norfolk. Sir E. K. Lacon, of Ormesby, Bart. Northamptonshire.-T. W. Hunt, of Wadenhoe, Esq. Northumberland.-P. J. Selby, of Twizell-house, Esq. Nottinghamshire.-W. Mason, of East Retford, Esq. Oxfordshire. D. Stuart, of Wykham-park, Esq. Rutland.-T. Thompson, of Tinwell, Esq. Yorkshire. W. Fawkes, of Farnley, Esq. SOUTH WALES. Carmarthen.-J. Phillips, of Crygwan, Esq. Pembroke. O. Lewis, of Trewern, Esq. Cardigan.-G. W. Parry, of Llyduate, Esq. Glamorgan.-J. Edwards, of Rheola, Esq. Brecon.-C. Prichard, of Trewalter, Esq. Radnor.-J. B. Walsh, of Kevenlleece, Esq. NORTH WALES. Anglesey.-J. Panton, of Plas |