Biography

Thomas Erskine was born on January 10, 1750. Though from childhood he was interested in law, because of difficult financial circumstances, he first embarked on a career in the navy. While a Midshipman, he anonymously published Observations on the Prevailing Abuses in the British Army, which enjoyed considerable popularity. Not long after the publication of the pamphlet, he switched careers and was called to the bar. While a lawyer, he successfully defended Lord George Gordon, Captain Thomas Baillie, John Horne Tooke, and others. He also unsuccessfully defended Thomas Paine from a charge of seditious libel in 1792 and lost his post as Attorney General of Wales as a consequence of his controversial argument. However, Erskine soon after became the Chancellor to the Prince of Wales, and in later life became a member of Parliament and a Peer. His political career, however, was much less noteworthy than his legal one. He died on November 17, 1823.

Role in the Conversation

Thomas Erskine's importance comes mainly from his insistence on the principles of free speech. In his defense of various radical thinkers, he often conceded that he did not agree with their positions but nevertheless believed it to be in the best interest of the English people to hear what they had to say. His defense of both John Horne Tooke (arrested along with Jeremiah Joyce, John Augustus Bonney, Thomas Wardle, Matthew Moore, John Thelwall, John Baxter, Richard Hodgson, John Lovet, William Sharpe, and John Pearson) and Thomas Paine runs along these lines. It is also important to note that though he was never imprisoned or exile like the radicals he defended, Erskine nevertheless lost his prominent job as the Attorney General of Wales as a result of his controversial defense of Thomas Paine.

Summary of the Speech at the Trial of Thomas Paine

Though he defends Thomas Paine, throughout his speech, Erskine makes it clear that he disagrees with the ideas set forth in the Rights of Man, about which he speaks with disgust. Discussing the second part of Rights of Man, Erskine says it "had been printed and reprinted for cheapness even upon whited brown paper, and had crept into the very nurseries of children, as a wrapper for their sweetmeats" (104).

Despite his disapproval of Paine's ideas, Erskine still argues that Paine should be given the liberty to publish them. Uniting his respect of the English constitution and his reverence of free speech, Erskine argues, "I do contend, that it is lawful to address the English nation on these momentous subjects; for had it not been for this unalienable right (thanks be to God and our fathers for establishing it), how should we have had this constitution which we so loudly boast of?" (99).