In the autumn of 1819 two gentlemen of the United States having differed in opinion concerning his incompetence in the Court of Chancery--the one of them maintaining that the greater number of his decrees had been reversed, and the other maintaining that so many of his decisions had not endured reversal--the dispute gave rise to a bet of three dozen of port. With comical bad taste one of the parties to the bet--the one who believed that the Chancellor's judgments had been thus frequently upset--wrote to Erskine for information on the point. Instead of giving the answer which his correspondent desired, Erskine informed him in the following terms that he had lost his wine:-- "Upper Berkley Street, Nov. 13, 1819. "SIR:--I certainly was appointed Chancellor under the administration in which Mr. Fox was Secretary of State, in 1806, and could have been Chancellor under no administration in which he had not a post; nor would have accepted without him any office whatsoever. I believe the administration was said, by all the _Blockheads_, to be made up of all the _Talents_ in the country. "But you have certainly lost your bet on the subject of my decrees. None of them were appealed against, except one, upon a branch of Mr. Thellusson's will--but it was affirmed without a dissentient voice, on the motion of Lord Eldon, then and now Lord Chancellor. If you think I was no lawyer, you may continue to think so. It is plain you are no lawyer yourself; but I wish every man to retain his opinion, though at the cost of three dozen of port. "Your humble servant, "ERSKINE. "To save you from spending your money on bets which you are sure to lose, remember that no man can be a great advocate who is no lawyer. The thing is impossible."