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as it is exact and edifying. Few judges have left behind them a reputation more bright and enduring; few have had so favorable an opportunity of conferring lasting benefits upon the jurisprudence of their country; and still fewer have improved it by so large, so various, and important contributions." If he had a conspicuous fault, it was avarice, of which many ludicrous anecdotes are related.*

Northington, so famed for eccentricity. Camden, the noble advocate of liberty, the incorruptible hardy and zealous opponent of "general warrants," the friend of America. Bathurst the jolly old lord, and honest Loughborough, bring us down to the times of

Lord Erskine. One of the most remarkable characters that England ever produced. A great wit, a profound lawyer, an eloquent man, a statesman, there was no sphere in which he did not shine with surprising lustre. Called to preside over the Chancery, from a practice confined exclusively to the courts of Common Law, his great genius was not wanting to itself. The following tribute from an eminent contemporary will evidence this, "his character exalts the character of the English barrister beyond what it had in former times attained, and holds out an illustrious instance of patriotism and independence, united with the highest legal eminence, and crowned, in the worst times, with the most ample success." His speeches are exemplars of excellence, and merit at all hands the most careful study. Mr. Roscoe has perhaps exhibited higher evidences of his own skill in drawing this character, than in drawing any other

in his volumes.

Eldon. He presided in Chancery until 1827. His conspicuous defect was tardiness and delay, which, however, grew out of an over anxiety to be just; business to a vast amount, in consequence, accumulated upon his hands, much of which was of twenty years standing, he would never be content with what the advocates told him, but must needs give the most untiring study to all the particulars of every case before him. On being reproached with this," had I given judgment," said he, "on such statements and information only as I have received from counsel, on both sides, I should have disposed of numerous estates to persons who have no more title to them than I have, and I feel a comfort

* For sketches of Lord Hardwicke, Lord Camden, Lord Thurlow, Lord Rosslyn, Sir Wm. Grant, &c., consult Mr. Chas. Butler's Reminiscences.

in that thought, a comfort which all the observations on my conduct can never rob me."

Let us now pass over to the law courts and hurriedly call to memory some of those by whom they have been distinguished. We begin where the reign of Elizabeth terminates.

Sir Edward Coke. With this great man, who stands so pre-eminent among common lawyers, every one must be familiar. Whatever objections may be raised to his private character, and certain there are many, he was yet one of the most able, high-spirited and independent judges that ever occupied the bench. The author of the Institutes, the Reports and commentary upon Lyttleton, his memory cannot be otherwise than venerated, whilst his sturdy opposition to all the high-handed measures of the crown,-proclamations, prohibitions, etc.,-his bold and unflinching advocacy of liberty, at all hazards, and his devotion to free trade, must endear him to every true patriot. Unfortunately, when we turn from him as a judge, we no longer contemplate the same elevated character; when counsel for the crown, he was violent, overbearing and even tyrannical, as was evidenced on the trial of Sir Walter Raleigh, and much of that nobleness, which had characterized him on the bench, seemed to depart, with all fortitude, when his independence lost him. his seat. As a writer, his style is characterized by quaintness, pedantry and conceit; he could even pride himself, that, in his Institutes, were to be found three hundred quotations from Virgil. His derivations of law terms are sometimes so "far-fetched" as to provoke a smile, and there is so little skill in the distributions of the parts of his subject, such endless division and sub-division, so much subtility and refinement, such an exuberance of Latin and Greek, brought in, as it were, by main force, and withal so much ability and learning displayed, that one is at a loss what to think of the performance, whether to laugh or applaud. Of his contemporary, Bacon, he was no friend or admirer, and the Lord Chancellor's "expostulation," in which he endeavored to hold up Sir Edward's various faults, "as in a glass," for his inspection, will be remembered. It seems that Bacon once presented him with a copy of the Novum Organum, entitled Instauratio Magna, and bearing as a device a ship in full sail, upon which Coke wrote:

Edw. C. ex dono auctoris.

Auctori consilium.

Instaurare paras veterum documenta sophorum,
Instaura leges justiliamque prius.

And over the device,

"It deserveth not to be read in schools,

But to be freighted in the ship of fools."

Sir Matthew Hale. Never has the language of unmingled eulogium been more justly bestowed, than upon this eminently great and good man. The purity of his private life, his piety, his love of justice, his accurate acquaintance with law, are displayed in every page of his biography. The friendship and confidence of Richard Baxter, which he enjoy ed for a long course of years,-the theological works composed and published by him,-the plan of life which he laid out at an early period and adhered to,-all confess the depth and fervor of his piety. We learn the character of his justice from the various anecdotes related of him, among others the anecdote of his paying, in court, for a present of venison sent by a party interested, and returning a donation of sugar loaves. A disposition to side with the poor against the rich and powerful, was his fault, and it once completely entrapped him. A courtier having a cause to be tried, procured a person to go to the chief justice as from the king, and speak in favor of his adversary; he gained his point, "for Sir Matthew could never think very well of any one that came so unduly recommended." The part which he took in the trial of witches, has afforded grounds of exception to his character, but then the fashion of the times ought to be taken into consideration. The "Pleas of the Crown" are the great monument of his learning and ability.

Lord Thurlow. Although possessed of giant abilities, there is little in his character worthy of admiration; his meanness, vulgarity and duplicity have been severely handled. He rose from the lowest rank to the highest offices in the kingdom. As lord chancellor we have had occasion to mention him in another place.

Sir Samuel Romily. If it be no impiety to mention in the same breath, the companion and friend of Howard, the advocate of freedom and humanity, the strenuous and unyielding reformer of the criminal code, the man of tenderest sensibility and affection. We cannot refrain from introdueing him into this catalogue, although he was never raised to the bench. His life, letters and diary, edited by his sons, have been lately presented to the American public.

Lord Mansfield. We have already had occasion to mention this name more than once, occupying as it does such an

elevated niche in the temple of fame, and winning the glory of so many high achievements. He was the first English Judge that understood, appreciated and applied the determinations of the civil law, to the endless variety of cases arising in Westminster Hall. In this law he was profoundly versed, and perhaps the tincture which his mind received from some of its worst principles, will account for that opposition to juries, and adherence to arbitrary crown measures, which drew down upon his head the denunciations of Junius. For popularity he professed an entire contempt, and displayed it in his trials of Wilkes,*-in his opposition to the American Revolution,-in his little friendship for Pitt and Camden; and reaped the full reward, in the conflagration of his splendid mansion, from the fury of a London mob.

Sir William Jones. We are not following the order of time. As a lawyer, his estimable work upon "Bailments," and his magnificent design of a "Digest of Hindu and Mahomedan Law," will sufficiently speak. As a judge, his administration in India gave universal satisfaction, but it is as a scholar, a linguist, a man of letters, that we are chiefly accustomed to speak of him; and certain it is, that few human beings have ever attained to such proficiency in the critical knowledge and understanding of so many and so great variety of languages. The following plan is by himself:

Resolved to learn no more rudiments of any kind, but to perfect myself in

First: twelve languages, as the means of acquiring accurate knowledge of

I. History.

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N. B. Every species of human knowledge may be reduced to one or other of these divisions. Even Law belongs partly to the history of man, partly as a science to dialectics.

* There is much grandeur of sentiment in the following passage from his judgment in this case. "I wish popularity, but it is that popularity which follows, not that which is run after. I will not do that which my conscience tells me is wrong, upon this occasion, to gain the huzzas of thousands or the daily praise of all the papers which come from the press. I will not avoid doing what I think is right, though it should draw on me the whole artillery of libels, all that falsehood and malice can invent, or the credulity of a deluded populace can swallow. I can say with a great magistrate, upon an occasion and under circumstances not unlike, 'Ego hoc animo, semper fui, ut invidiam virtute partam, gloriam, haud infamiam, putarem!'"

His acquaintance was critical with eight languages: English, Latin, French, Italian, Greek, Arabic, Persian and Sanscrit. Eight were studied less perfectly: Spanish, Portuguese, Runic, German, Hebrew, Bengali, Hindu and Turkish; and upon twelve others he had bestowed considerable attention, Tibetian, Pali, Phalari, Dieri, Russian, Syriac, Ethioptic, Coptic, Welsh, Swedish, Dutch and Chinese. Sir Michael Foster, author of the "Crown Law."

Sir John Holt, the upright judge and accomplished lawyer; in early life he gave himself up to every species of dissipation. When chief justice of England, he was called upon to try and condemn one of the boon companions of his youth. Visiting him in prison to inquire after their quondam associates, "Ah! my Lord," said the criminal, "they are all hanged except your lordship and myself." At the Assizes, he tried an old woman accused of witchcraft; being possessed, as it was said, of a charm for curing, or disseminating, disease amongst cattle. The chief justice desired to see the redoubted charm, and to his amazement discovered that it was the identical scrip with which, on one of his wild excursions forty years before, he had deceived her. The old lady, it seemed, at that time had kept an inn,-Holt was a guest, and having squandered all his resources by dissipation, expected soon to be ejected. Having a ready invention, he saved himself. The landlady's daughter was affected with ague. Holt scribbled upon paper, and carefully bound it on her hand. By a happy coincidence, in a few days the disorder ceased; the old woman looked upon him as a kind of magician, would take no pay, of course, for any thing he had had, but preserved the wonderful paper, with which she was said afterwards to have performed extraordinary works. The chief justice related the anecdote to the court, and the old wretch was at once acquitted.

Lord Kenyon. Though remarkable for a violent, petulant disposition, and extreme parsimony, he was at the same time most severe and rigid in the administration of justice. A hatred of vice, and an aversion to the least appearance of profanity, was constitutional with him; and the utmost goodness of heart was ever evidenced in his conduct. Compelled to sentence a poor woman to death, whom he intended to recommend for mercy, she fainted as he began: "Good woman, good woman," exclaimed the judge, "I don't mean to VOL. VI.-NO. 12.

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