There is an anecdote told of him which, though it appeared in all the magazines of the period subsequent to his death, and is repeated in Howitt’s ‘Northern Heights,’ as it relates to the Heath, may very well appear here. That good angel to animal existence, the Baroness Burdett-Coutts, had not yet appeared, nor was there a Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, though to Lord Erskine belongs the honour of having first proposed the measure in Parliament which Martin of Galway succeeded in carrying,[137] and which resulted in the founding of the society. Crossing the Heath, he saw one of the donkey-drivers beating a poor brute with more than ordinary cruelty, and hurried up to expostulate with the man, who rudely answered him ‘that he had a right to do what he liked with his own.’ ‘Very well,’ said Erskine, ‘so have I. This stick is my own;’ and he lost no time in practically illustrating the force of the unfortunate argument by giving the fellow a sound thrashing. When Hardy, Horne Tooke, and others, were, through his manly pleading, acquitted of high treason, his name became a household word in England. Tokens, two of which are before me, were struck commemorative of the event, with the portraits and names of the accused gentlemen on the obverse, and the words ‘Tried for high treason, 1794’; and on the reverse, ‘Acquitted by his jury and counsels, Hon. Thos. Erskine and W. Gibbs, Esq.’ The words ‘Trial by Jury’ were painted by way of motto on one of the windows of Erskine House. It is well known that differences in their political feelings and opinions had alienated him from Burke, whom he much admired; but it is pleasant to learn that before the death of the latter their differences were adjusted, and Burke visited him at Hampstead. ‘He came to see me,’ says Lord Erskine, ‘before he died. I then lived at Hampstead Hill. “Come, Erskine,” said he, holding out his hand, “let us forget all. I shall soon quit this stage, and wish to die in peace with everybody, especially you.” I reciprocated the sentiment, and we took a turn round the grounds. Suddenly he stopped; an extensive prospect broke upon him.... He stood wrapped in thought, gazing on the sky as the sun was setting. “Ah, Erskine,” he said, pointing towards it, “you cannot spoil _that_, because you cannot reach it. It would otherwise go. Yes; the firmament itself you and your reformers would tear down.”’ [Illustration: _Lord Erskine._] This is Mr. Rush’s account, but the Right Hon. T. Erskine says: ‘Mr. Rush has quite spoiled Mr. Burke’s sarcasm upon being conducted by my father to his garden through a tunnel under the road that divided the house from the shrubbery. All the beauty of Ken Wood, Lord Mansfield’s, and the distant prospect burst upon him. “Oh,” said Burke, “this is just the place for a reformer. All the beauties are beyond your reach; you cannot destroy them.”’