1714.

During the reign of Queen Anne he seems to have abstained from politics, and to have devoted himself entirely to his proA.D. 1707 fession. His success was rapid and steady. He went the Oxford Circuit, where he got into good practice, but he chiefly flourished in the Court of Chancery. He was one of the first who, early in their professional career, confined themselves to the sittings of the Lord Chancellor, which, since the abolition of the Star Chamber, were held, during the seasons of business, every morning, and in the afternoons of Wednesdays and Fridays, and to the sittings of the Master of the Rolls, held in the afternoons of Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. But he had laid a solid foundation of common law, and continued to go the circuit till he was appointed Solicitor-General to the King. An equity draughtsman's office was not thought a sufficient school for Chancellors till a century afterwards.

1715.

On the accession of George I., Talbot's father succeeded the famous Gilbert Burnet as Bishop of Salisbury; and, at the A.D. 1714 general election which soon followed, he was himself returned to the House of Commons as member for Tregony. His name is hardly ever mentioned in the printed debates, but it is quite certain that he spoke frequently and well; and such a position had he established for himself, that although a lawyer, he was selected to second the nomination Oct. 9, of Spencer Compton as Speaker. The seconder seems 1722. to have made the best speech on that occasion. Although the mover was the celebrated Philip Earl of Chesterfield, then Lord Stanhope, he seems to have said little more than, "considering the present circumstances of the times, and the many important affairs that seemed urgent to come before

"At this Parliament, it is ordered that Charles Talbot, Esq', his Majesty's SollicitorGeneral, one of the Masters of the Bench of this Society, be and is hereby unanimously elected Treasurer for the year ensuing."

"At this Parliament, Charles Talbot, Esq., his Majesties Sollicitor-General, Trearer of this Society, is chosen Reader for the next Lent Vacation (in the roome of Richard West, Esq., late Lord Chancellor of Ireland, and one of the Masters of the Bench of this Society, deced.)"

A.D. 1717-26.

APPOINTED SOLICITOR-GENERAL.

131

the House, the House ought, in this first step, to give his Majesty and the whole nation convincing proofs of their firm adherence to our present happy establishment, by choosing for their Speaker a person of unshaken fidelity to his Majesty, and of undoubted zeal for the Protestant succession." But, according to the slight sketch we have of Talbot's oration, after congratulating the House on the numerous attendance, which he hailed as an earnest of public spirit in the new parliament, he said "he hoped every gentleman came there resolved to support the liberty of the subject, the just rights of the Crown, and our present happy establishment in church and state that it would be impossible to give a more striking proof of these laudable feelings than by placing in the chair the honourable person named, who had been ever distinguished for his love of freedom and his unalterable adherence to a government framed for the good of the people. If there be any enemies to our peace who have entertained imaginary hopes that the people of this kingdom are inclined to exchange Protestant for Popish rule, let us show, by the known character of the person we place at our head, what is to be expected from this House of Commons." He then goes on to give the form, which has been followed ever since on such occasions ;-to enumerate all the qualifications of a perfect Speaker, and to assert that they are all concentrated in the individual whom it is proposed to call to the chair."

In 1717 a feather was put into Talbot's cap by appointing him Solicitor-General to the Prince of Wales; but he had been eleven years in parliament before he had any valuable professional advancement. Lord Chancellor Macclesfield entertained a prejudice against him, or, at any rate, sacrificed him to the indulgence of his excessive partiality for a favouritecertainly a very deserving one-Philip Yorke, who was made Solicitor-General while almost a boy. Talbot, having resented this promotion, incurred the decided displeasure of the Lord Chancellor, and was passed over on the next move in the law, which took place on the elevation of Sir Robert Raymond to be Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench.

A.D. 1723.

At last, after the fall of Lord Macclesfield, Lord King, the new Chancellor, expressed himself sensible of the April 23, injustice hitherto done to Mr. Talbot, who had continued to enjoy high distinction both in his profession and in

n 8 Parl. Hist. 22.

1726.

parliament; and on the sudden death of Sir Clement Wearg, although a strong effort was made in favour of Sir John Willes, Mr. Talbot was appointed to succeed him as Solicitor-General to the King. He escaped knighthood, and continued Charles Talbot, Esquire, till made Lord Chancellor and a Peer. He had some time before been returned member of parliament for the city of Durham, where his father was now Prince-Bishop. On his promotion he vacated his seat under the recent act of parliament, but he was re-elected without opposition.°

Notwithstanding former jealousies, a perfect friendship was now established between him and his colleague, and seldom has the Crown of England had such law officers,-Sir Philip Yorke being Attorney-General, while Talbot was Solicitor. They continued to serve together cordially, zealously, and honourably, for above six years. Sir Robert Walpole was sensible of their great value, and on the death of George I., as soon as he found that his own power was to continue, took care that their patents should be renewed.

The members of the Government, for a long while, had easy

• Talbot, remaining a member of the Inner Temple, had for the convenience of occupying chambers in Lincoln's Inn been admitted of that Society, and was now made a bencher and treasurer. The following entries respecting him appear in our books:"London ff. Carolus Talbot de Interiori Templo London Armiger admissus est in Societatem hujus Hospicij tricesimo primo die Januarij anno regni Lui nri Georgij Dei Gra Magne Britanie Frauc et Hibnie Regis quinto. Annoq. Dni 1718. Et solvit ad usum Hospicij p'd. £iij iijs. iijd."

Majesty's Soll' Generall, be invited to the Bench of this Society; and that Mr Willes, and M' Hungerford, do waite upon him and acquaint him therewith."

"At a Council held the 11th day of May,

1726.

"Upon the report of Mr Willes and Mr Hungerford, two of the Masters of the Bench of this Society, who were by Order of Councill of ye 27th of April last desired to attend Mr Sollicitor Generall with an Invitation to the Bench, That they had attended the said Mr Soll' Generall, who accepted of the said Invitation.'-Ordered, that ye said Mr Sollicitor Generall be called to the Bench of this "At a Council held the 10th day of Decem- Society, and that he be published at the next ber, 1722.

"Upon the nomination in writing of Sr. John Williams and Sr. Edward Gould, Knt, touching a certain chamber situate in Serles Court, Lincolnes Inne, &c. to Charles Talbot, of Lincolnes Inne, aforesaid, Esqre. It is ordered that the said Mr Talbot be admitted to ye said Chamber, he first paying the fine of ten pounds to ye Treasurer of This Society, and the usual ffees to the Officers of ye House, and all arrears due on ye said chamber."

"At a Council held the 27th day of April,

1726.

Exercise in the Hall, first paying all his arrears of duties to this Society."

"At a Council held the 27th day of July,

1726.

"Ordered, that Charles Talbot, Esqre, his Majesties Sollicitor Generall, be Treasurer of this Society for the remaining part of this yeare, in the place of John Browne, Esqre, who hath lately resigned his place of Treasurer."

"At a Council there held the 28th day of Nov", 1726.

"Ordered, that Mr Sollicitor Generall be "Ordered that Charles Talbott, Esqre, his Master of the Library for the year ensuing."

A.D. 1733.

SUPPORTS WALPOLE'S EXCISE SCHEME.

133

work in the House of Commons, for, as yet, there was no organised opposition, and a session would go off with a tame discussion on Spanish intrigues, or a complaint about publishing proceedings in parliament.

P

Sir Robert, at last, brought forward his famous Excise scheme; and although the measure is now allowed to have been highly favourable to free trade, and well calculated to improve the revenue and to lessen the weight of taxation, such was the clamour against it, that it had nearly caused a change of administration. During this crisis, the Minister was nobly supported by the Solicitor-General, who was not a mere equity practitioner, but an enlightened statesman, capable of understanding and discussing any question on which the safety or prosperity of the country might depend. In answer to the Minister's most masterly statement of his plan, Sir John Barnard, Pulteney, and Sir William Wyndham having attacked and misrepresented it, Talbot gallantly rose, and having first shown that instead of being a "General Excise," it was merely an alteration of the mode of levying the tax on tobacco and wine, to facilitate commerce in these commodities, by requiring the tax to be paid when they were to be used, instead of when they were imported; he proved that, by the operation of the bill, infinite frauds would be prevented, the fair dealer would be protected, prices would be reduced, consumption would be doubled, and the revenue would be proportionably improved, so that the land-tax might be entirely remitted. He further argued, that, by the extension of the same system, all the ports in Great Britain might be made free ports, and our trade and our wealth might be infinitely increased.—The legal profession shone much in this debate, for the measure was likewise ably defended by the Attorney-General, and by Sir Joseph Jekyll, the Master of the Rolls. It was carried through the first stage by 266 to 205; but this majority dwindled away on subsequent divisions, and the opposition to it was so tremendous out of doors, that it was abandoned-to the great joy and loss of the nation. The session was as soon as possible closed by a prorogation, and Talbot never again appeared in the House of Commons. Before parliament reassembled, there were very important changes, by which he was removed to another scene of action.

April, 1733.

98 Parl. Hist. 1268-1328; 9 Parl. Hist. 1-48; Coxe's Walp. i. 404.

In the Life of Lord King, I have related how, in his declining days, Talbot and Yorke, who led against each other in the Court of Chancery, amicably settled between them the decrees and orders to be pronounced by the Chancellor, but that in November, 1733, this mode of disposing of the business came to an end. It so happened that a little time before Lord King's resignation, Lord Raymond, the Chief Justice of the King's Bench, suddenly died, and no successor to him being yet appointed, the highest Equity Judgeship and the highest Common Law Judgeship were vacant at the same time. "Although Sir Philip Yorke, then Attorney-General, was considered as such to be entitled to the Seals in preference to Mr. Talbot, yet the latter having confined himself very early to the practice of the Court of Chancery, and not having been much conversant with the practice of the Common Law, he thought himself not sufficiently qualified to preside in the Court of King's Bench; on which account, Sir Philip Yorke being equally competent to preside either in that Court or the Court of Chancery, it was agreed between them that Sir Philip should waive his pretensions in favour of Mr. Talbot; and the King and the Ministry so well approved of it, that it was settled among them that Sir Philip Yorke should have the place of Chief Justice of the King's Bench, and should have 20007. a year added to his salary as Chief Justice,-which, however, Sir Philip, to his honour, refused to accept without its being made permanent to the office of Chief Justice of that Court, by being secured to his successors; and upon these terms the Seals were delivered to Mr. Talbot. In consequence of which Sir Philip was created Lord Hardwicke, and Mr. Talbot Lord Talbot."

I have thought it right to state this transaction in the very words of Bentham, the philosopher of Queen's Square, who had good means of information, and whose sincerity may be depended upon. But I cannot help suspecting that there were other reasons for conferring the higher office upon Talbot besides his supposed want of qualification for the lower. Although for the last eight years he had confined his practice to the Courts of Equity, he had been familiarly acquainted with the Common Law by private study and by going circuits, and he must have been as well prepared to be a Chief Justice as Lord Eldon was, who presided with full as much applause in the Court of Common Pleas as in the Court of Chancery. Nor r Jeremy Bentham's Letter to Cooksey: Cooksey, 61.