EDINBURGH] OLD GREYFRIARS 47 Assembly 23rd May 1754; D.D. (Edin- burgh, 13th March 1759) ; again Moderator 15th May 1760, and one of the deputation appointed by the Commission to congratu- late George III. on his accession ; Dean of the Order of the Thistle 1766 ; died 3rd April 1787. He marr. 31st March 1745, Jean (died 4th April 1804), eldest daugh. of John Hay of Haystoun, and had issue —James, M.D., distinguished Edinburgh physician ; Grizel (marr. Benjamin Bell, surgeon, Edinburgh) ; Gavin ; and others. —[Fdin. Chr. Inst., xxv. ; Tombst.; Kay's Portr., ii. ; Morren's Ann. ; Grant's Univ., ii. ; Somerville's Life, Carlyle's Autob.] GEORGE KAY, M.A. (St Andrews, 7th May 1729) ; licen. by Presb. of Kirkcaldy 7th Nov. 1734; ord. to Collessie 13th Sept. 1739 ; trans, to Minto 23rd Oct. 1741 ; trans, to Dysart 8th Dec. 1743; trans, to St Cuthbert's, Edinburgh, 3rd Sept. 1747 ; trans, to New Greyfriars 26th Oct. 1752 ; trans, and adm. 11th Oct. 1754 ; D.D. (Edinburgh, 13th March 1759) ; Moderator of the General Assembly 24th May following, and chaplain of Stirling- Castle; died 10th April 1766. He marr. 14th Dec. 1747, Charlotte Sherriff, and had issue—David, born 12th July 1749 ; Charles, bora 5th Oct. 1751, died 15th Oct. 1762 ; Margaret, born 2nd March 1757 : (2) 20th Aug. 1761, Ann Forth, who died 10th June 1788.—[Morren's Ann., ii. ; Carlyle's Autob.~\ 1767 JOHN ERSKINE of Carnock, born 2nd June 1721, eldest son of John E. of Carnock, Professor of Scots Law, Edinburgh Univ., and Margaret, daugh. of the Hon. James Melvill of Balgarvie ; educated at Cupar-Fife, and High School and Univ. of Edinburgh ; originally in- tended for the law, but studied divinity and was licen. by Presb. of Dunblane 16th Aug. 1743 ; ord. to Kirkintilloch 31st May 1744; trans, to Culross 21st Feb. 1753; trans, to New Greyfriars 15th June 1758 ; D.D. (Glasgow 1766); trans, and adm. 9th July 1767 ; died 19th Jan. 1803. He was a classical scholar of distinction ; for many years leader of the evangelical party in the General Assembly and a master of the preacher's art. He warmly supported a proposal in favour of foreign missions, which was opposed by Hamilton of Gladsmuir and the moderate party generally. His open- ing words, when replying to Hamilton, became famous in the history of the mission cause. Pointing to a Bible which lay on the table, and of which he intended to make use, and employing an expressive Scottish idiom, he said, " Moderator, rax me that Bible." The best pen-portrait of him is contained in Guy Mannering (chap. 37). He marr. 15th June 1746, the Hon. Christian Mackay (died 20th May 1810), fourth daugh. of George, Lord Keay, and had issue—John, bora 30th Sept. 1747, died June 1776 ; George, born 21st Aug. 1748, died in Bengal in autumn 1770 ; Mary, born 19th Feb. 1750 (marr. 29th Oct. 1773, Charles Stuart of Dunearn), died 15th April 1817 ; Margaret, born 17th Sept. 1751, died 5th Feb. 1795 ; Ann, born 30th Dec. 1752, died 18th May 1820 ; Alexander, born 28th July 1754, died 25th Feb. 1760; Robert, born 4th May 1756, died 9th April 1784; Charles, born 20th Oct. 1757, died 28th June 1782 ; Christian, born 28th June 1759; Hew, born 27th Jan., died 25th Sept. 1763 ; James Bruce, born 8th Sept. 1764, died 11th Oct. 1771 ; Harriet, born 11th Oct. 1766, died 10th Oct. 1771 ; David of Carnock, born 18th April 1770, died 16th March 1838. Publications— Theo- logical Dissertations (Edinburgh, 1765 ; another edition with account of the author by Thomas Davidson, D.D., Edinburgh, 1808) ; Considerations on the Spirit of Popery (Edinburgh, 1778) ; Sketches and Hints of Church History and Theological Controversy, chiefly translated and abridged from Modern Foreign Writers, 2 vols. (Edin- burgh, 1790 and 1797) ; Letters on Loss of Children and Friends : A Sujiplement to Gillies's Historical Collections (Edinburgh, 1796) ; Discourses on Several Occasions, 2 vols. (1798, 1804) ; and others. In addition, he edited at least twenty publications, chiefly the works of Jonathan Edwards (with whom he was on terms of intimacy), and other American divines. See Life by Sir Henry MoncreiffWelhvood, Bart. (Edin-