LORD MANSFIELD. CONTEMPORARY with these two distinguished lawyers, during the latter period of his life, was a legal personage in every respect far more eminent than either, the first Lord Mansfield, than whom few men, not at the head of state affairs, have in any period of our history filled an exalted station for a longer period with more glory to themselves, or with a larger share of influence over the fortunes of their country. He was singularly endowed with the qualities most fitted both to smooth for him the path to professional advancement, to win the admiration of the world at large, and to maintain or even expand the authority of whatever official situation he might be called to occupy. Enjoying all the advantages of finished classical education; adding to this the enlargment of mind derived from foreign travel, undertaken at an age when attentive observation can be accompanied with mature reflection; he entered upon the profession of the law some years after he had reached man's estate; and showed as much patient industry in awaiting, by attendance in the courts, the emoluments and the honours of the gown, as he had evinced diligence in qualifying himself for its labours and its duties. His connexion with Scotland easily introduced him into the practice afforded by the appellate jurisdiction of the House of Lords;* and the accidental indisposition of his leader, a few years afterwards, having given him an opportunity of distinguishing himself before a jury, he speedily rose into extensive practice, not, however, so much in Common-Law courts as in Chancery. * He soon rose to such eminence in this that his biographer, Halliday, has mentioned him as engaged in thirty appeals during one session. A worse piece of biography than Halliday's it may be observed in passing, hardly exists, notwithstanding its having so admirable a subject. Ten years after he entered the profession he was made Solicitor-General and came into parliament, which he had hitherto shunned, observing, with the caution so characteristic of the man and of the nation, "That he had many respected friends on both sides of the House, and did not care to lose the patronage of both parties for the favour of one." If this principle be as great an honour to his public virtue as to his personal discretion, his biographer has done well to record it in proof of the praises which he lavishes upon him; and certainly nothing in the subsequent course of his life can be found which betokens a falling off from the wary circumspection of his outset in life. His powers as an advocate were great, though not first-rate. In manner, which he had studied so much that Pope was found one day superintending him while he practised before a looking-glass-in a sweetness of voice which by nature was almost unequalled-in clearness and skill of statement, which he so greatly labored, that it was said his story was worth other men's argument,-in the wariness and discretion so necessary to one that represents another's interests, as an advocate does his client's,-in knowledge accurate, as far as it went, if not very profound, of the principles of the law: and in an enlarged view of general subjects, whether of jurisprudence or of a more liberal kind-he stood high, either above all his contemporaries, or in their foremost rank. A certain want of vigour, arising from the inroads which his constitutional caution made into the neighbouring dominions of its ally, fear, prevented him from ever filling the first place among advocates; and to anything that deserved the name of genius or of originality he preferred at no time and in no station any claims. Atkins, his staunch admirer, has preserved with extreme eulogy, one of his arguments in a case of great importance; it is learned and able, but far from justifying the preference given to it over those of the other counsel, whose arguments in the same cause are also reported. In the House of Commons it was his fortune to defend the measures of government, when no men of eminence filled the front ranks of the opposition party, excepting Mr. Pitt (Lord Chatham ;) and the perilous task of encountering him always was reserved for the ministerial chief himself. That he was very successful as an elegant and persuasive speaker, is certain; that he was unequal to fill a first place, at a time when the secret had not been discovered of posting second rate men in such positions, is as undeniable; and it is known that he felt this inadequacy; for an arrangement was at one period proposed, by which he was to have taken the lead on the part of the government, and he peremptorily declined it. Indeed, he was both conscious of his power lying in a different direction, and resolved to follow the bent at once of his capacity and his inclination. Accordingly, on the death of Chief Justice Ryder, though much pressed to remain in parliament at a time when the ministry could ill spare him from the Treasury Bench, he distinctly intimated that, if he were not promoted to the place which he considered the Attorney-General's right he should cease to hold any place; and a hint which was easily understood was wisely taken. Over that great court he presided above thirty years; and his administration of its functions during that long period shed a lustre alike upon the tribunal and the judge. Although he had chiefly practised in Chancery and the House of Lords, yet his correct legal understanding, his excellent sense, his familiar acquaintance with the general principles of jurisprudence, easily and speedily supplied any deficiency which he might have in the practice of the Common-Law Courts, and the proceedings at Nisi Prius; while his whole faculties, his temper, and his manners, down to the very defects which he had betrayed as an advocate, were admirably calculated for his more exalted station. His mind and his habits were, indeed, eminently judicial; and it may be doubted if, taking both the externals and the more essential qualities into the account, that go to form a great judge, any one has ever administered the laws in this country, whom we can fairly name as his equal. The greatest clearness of apprehension; quickness sufficient, and not extreme, which, in a judge, is perilous often allied with impatience, and apt to degenerate into hastiness; admirable perspicuity of statement, whether delivering his opinion to the court and the bar, or giving his directions to a jury; consciseness with clearness; these were the contributions which his understanding made towards the formation of his judicial character. Then he had a constant command of himself, never betrayed into anger, or impatience, nor ever showing spleen or any other breach of strict equality and perfect equanimity, either towards parties or their advocates. To those higher qualities, intellectual and moral, he added the graces of a diction classical and elegant; the ornament, and, indeed, the illustration of frequent reference to larger views than the more technical discussion of legal questions requires; and the fascination of a voice singularly flexible and sweet; and he flung over the whole of this fine judicial figure the garb of a manner at once dignified and attractive. They who never had seen Lord Thurlow, might well imagine they had heard him, if they enjoyed access to such excellent imitators as George IV. and Lord Holland. As perfect a substitute for Lord Mansfield's manner was to be found in Lord Erskine, between whom and that celebrated person, there long prevailed a great intimacy founded upon very sincere mutual admiration. The benefits conferred by this accomplished judge upon the Court where he so long presided, and upon its suitors, were manifold and substantial. He began by at once so regulating the distribution of the business, as to remove all uncertainty of the matters which should be taken up each day, and to diminish both the expense and the delay and the confusion of former times. He restored to the whole bar the privelege of moving in turn,instead of confining this to the last day of the term. He almost abolished the tedious and costly practice of having the same case argued several times over, restricting such rehearings to questions of real difficulty and adequate importance. He gave as many hours to the business both of Banc and of sittings as was required for despatching it without unnecessary delay. The ascendant which he gained both over the Bar and the Bench, precluded all needless prolixity of argument, all unseemly wrangling between the Court and the Counsel, all inconvenient differences of opinion among the Judges. The result was that while no time was wasted, great satisfaction was given by the clear and rational grounds upon which the decisions were rested; while the cases were so speedily and so well despatched, that the other Courts of Common Law were drained of their business without the channels of the Court of King's Bench being choked up or overflowing. For nearly thirty years there were not more than half a dozen cases in which the Judges differed; and not so many in which the judgments pronounced were reversed. But during a considerable period Lord Mansfield also presided in the House of Lords, or, as a legal member of that body, directed its decisions upon appeals. Nothing could be more satisfactory than his conduct of this very important department; nor anything less resembling one at least of his most eminent successors, Lord Eldon, in discharging this duty. He was master of each case when it was called on for hearing, and put the counsel to argue the points made on either side in those expensively prepared printed statements, which Lord Eldon used to treat with the attention due to equal masses of waste paper. But he did not prevent any new points from being raised at the bar, any more than he could wish to prevent any new arguments from being urged in support of the points which the printed cases disclosed. He showed too, as great firmness and vigour in forming his judgment, although upon questions of foreign law, as he did in expediting the conduct of the arguments, although in the hands of advocates accustomed to somewhat prolix statements. Where he was clearly convinced that the Scotch Judges had mistaken their own law, he did not scruple to reverse their decisions, and restore the violated purity of the system, although in doing so he assumed to correct those who had made it the study of their lives; even upon heads peculiar to Scottish jurisprudence, to which the English law affords no parallel, and on which he could derive no light at all from his own professional habits. It was he who reversed the decision of the Court of Session upon VOL. I-9 |