ERROR. 193 ERSKINE. errors. The three principal sources from which they may arise are: (1) External or incidental causes, such as fluctuations of weather, which disturb the amount of refraction; changes of temperature, affecting the form and position of instruments, etc. (2) Errors of observation, be- ing such as arise from inexpertness, defective vision, slowness in seizing the exact instant of an occurrence, atmospheric indistinctness, etc.; and such errors as arise from slips in clamping and momentary derangements of the instrument. (3) Instrumental defects, owing to errors in work- manship, and such as arise from the instrument not being properly placed ('errors of adjust- ment'). The first two classes of errors, so far as thej cannot he reduced to known laws, alter the results of observations to their full extent; hut being accidental, they necessarily sometimes di- minish and sometimes increase them. Hence, by taking numerous observations under various cir- cumstances, and by taking the mean, or average, of the results obtained, these errors may be made to counterbalance one another partially, and to that extent they may be rendered harmless. With regard to the third class, it is the peculiarity of astronomical observations to be the ultimate means of detection of all defects of workmanship and adjustment of instruments, which, by their minuteness, elude every other mode of detection, and such errors, when found out, can almost in- variably be removed. It may be mentioned, how- ever, that the method of subduing errors of the first two classes by the law of average is not applicable in all cases. In certain cases, recourse must be had to a system of reduction or calcula- tion, known as the method of least squares. See Least Squares, Method of. ERROR. In Spenser's Faerie Queene, the monster slain by the Red Cross Knight, in his first adventure. Her thousand children drank their mother's blood and burst apart. ERROR, Writ of. A common-law mode of redressing erroneous judgments, which has been superseded to a great extent in England, as well as in most of the United States, by an appeal (q.v. ). A court possessing the power to grant this writ is called a court of error. In some of our States, the court of last resort, whose judg- ments are not subject to revision by another tri- bunal, is called the supreme court of errors. See the article on Court. The proceedings in error at common law are somewhat similar to those in an original action, the defeated party therein becoming the 'plaintiff in error,' and the successful party the 'defendant in error.' The writ re- cites, in a general way, the cause of the defeated party's complaint, while the assignments of error specify the particular mistakes of law alleged to have been made by the lower court. These specifications are denied by the defendant in error, and thus an issue of law is raised for the court of error, the decision of which results either in an affirmance or reversal of the judg- ment of the lower court. See Appeal; Proced- ure; Pleading. ERSCH, ersch. Johann Samuel (1766-1828). A German bibliographer, born at Grossglogau, Silesia. At Halle, whither he was sent to study theology in 1785. he devoted himself to his- torical investigations. After several vicissitudes, he obtained, in 1800, the otliee of librarian al the I niversity of Jena, He was long engaged in miscellaneous bibliographical work for other scholars; but in 1818, along with Gruber, com- menced tin- publication at Leipzig oi the Allg meine Encyhlopiidie der Wissenschaften und Kiinste, a work of immense value. Hi- Band bitch der deutschen Litteratur seii der Iitti des achtzehnten Jahrhunderts bis au 'lt< neueste '/.til (lsiii-14) is a model of completeness, accu racy, and arrangement . ERSE, erse. A name given tec Irish Gaelic unci also applied by the Lowlanders in Scotland to the people of the Highlands, as will be seen in the thirteenth-century laws of the BrettS and Scots (q.v.). Erse is a corruption of the vord Irish, for which the native name is Gaelic. ERSKINE, ers'kln, David Stewart, eleventh Earl of Buchan (1742-1820). A Scottish author and antiquarian. He was educated at the Univer- sity of Glasgow, after having previously received some instruction in mathematics from ( 'olin Maclaurin. In 17S0 he founded the Society of Scottish Antiquaries. Among bis publications may be mentioned: An Account of the Life, Writings and Inventions of Napier of Werchiston (with Dr. Walter Minto, 1787) ; Essays on the Lives of Fletcher Saltoun and the Poet Thomson 117201 : Anonymous and Fugitive Essays. ERSKINE, Ebenezer (1680-1754). A Scottish theologian, the founder of the Secession Church in Scotland. He was the son of the Rev. Henry Erskine, minister of Chirnside, in Berwickshire, and was born at Dryburgh. Berwickshire, June 22, 1680. He studied at Edinburgh, and after acting for some time as tutor and chaplain in the family of the Earl of Rothes, he was licensed to preach the Gospel, by the presbytery of Kirk- caldy, in 1703. In the same year he was appoint- ed minister of Portmoak, in the shire of Kinross. In 1731 he was transferred to Stirling, after hav- ing discharged the pastoral office in Portmoak for 28 years. Previous to this event, however, the religious peculiarities of Erskine had brought him into unpleasant relations with some of his brethren, by the tendency he exhibited in a book called the Marrow of Modern Divinity, marked by its strongly evangelical doctrine and senti- ment: and ultimately he involved himself in such antagonism to the Church of Scotland, or at least to the ruling party in it at the time, that, along with three other clergymen, he was deposed in 1733. (See Presbyterianism.) He was shortly after joined by his brother Ralph and several other ministers. They now virtually formed a distinct sect, but they still continued to occupy their parish churches. The synod in 1734 re- stored them to their legal connection with the Church, but Erskine would not accept its action. In 1736 Erskine and bis friends formally seceded, but still it was not till 1740 that they were eject- ed from their churches. Shortly after this, a quarrel broke out among the seceders in regard to the propriety of taking the civic oath required of burgesses of Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Perth. The result was a division of the sect into two bodies, the Burghers and Antiburghers. Erskine was the leader of the Burghers. He died in Stirlins. June 2. 1754. Consult his life, by J. Ker (London. 18811. ERSKINE, John (1721-1803). A Scottish lawver. He was born in England, a brother of
