A.D. 1733.

RECEIVES GREAT SEAL, AND MADE A PEER. 135 can the true solution be, that Yorke, having the first choice, preferred, as others have done, the certainty of tenure to splendour of present enjoyment, for he afterwards willingly resigned for the Great Seal the office which he now accepted. Some have supposed that the arrangement was the result of political intrigue, and that the descendant of the Earls of Shrewsbury by family connection triumphed over the son of the country attorney. But this is a merely gratuitous conjecture, and is at variance with Talbot's open and upright character and the cordial intimacy that now subsisted between these rivals for honourable distinction. The probability is, that Walpole, much as he no doubt valued Sir Philip Yorke, thought that Talbot would be a still more desirable associate in the Cabinet, and would be still more useful to him presiding on the woolsack than in a court of law. In such arrangements political convenience has ever had more weight than nice considerations of judicial fitness. From a very long official career Lord Hardwicke has left a far greater reputation as a judge and as a statesman than Lord Talbot, who was so suddenly cut off when beginning to gather his fame; but, while they were running the race of glory together, the latter seems to have excited most applause, and, if his life had been prolonged, a statue would have been erected to him in the new palace at Westminster, by the side of Lord Somers and Lord Mansfield. The circumstance of their relative rank as law officers of the Crown, when the vacancies occurred, would be of small importance; for although it has always been considered that the Attorney-General may claim as of right any Common Law Judgeship which is vacant, the disposal of the Great Seal in earlier times was the personal act of the Sovereign, and more recently was left to the Prime Minister, who was not guided by any fixed rotation, but considered what would most conduce to the credit and strength of his government. Upon this occasion, the Attorney-General could not consider himself aggrieved with the Chiefship of the King's Bench, a Peerage, and a large addition to his salary; and the two continued cordially to co-operate in the public service without any envious or jealous sentiment arising to disturb their friendship.

The Great Seal having been received from Lord King, it was delivered to Mr. Talbot as Lord Chancellor, by his Majesty George II., at a council held on the 29th of November, 1733. The same day he was sworn a Privy Councillor, and

on the 5th of the following month he was raised to the Peerage by the title of Lord Talbot, Baron Talbot of Hensol, in the county of Glamorgan.

CHAPTER CXXVIII.

A.D. 1733.

CONCLUSION OF THE LIFE OF LORD TALBOT.

An illustration was now given of the excellence of the English practice of selecting for the Bench men of the highest eminence at the bar, who have distinguished themselves as law officers of the Crown,-instead of following the French system of keeping the order of advocates and of judges distinct. If men are appointed Attorney and SolicitorGeneral from family interest, or from considerations of party convenience, without looking forward to their fitness for their judicial destiny, their promotion is a heavy misfortune to the public; but it is only from the long experience in the administration of justice obtained as an advocate that the public could have the advantage of such consummate Judges as Hardwicke and Talbot. Their appointment gave universal satisfaction; and as the latter was the more popular, great delight was expressed that he was placed at the head of his profession, and that the wrong formerly done to him was completely redressed.

A few days after receiving the Great Seal, the new Chancellor sat for the despatch of business in Lincoln's Inn Hall, but he was not formally installed in his office till the 23rd of January following, the first day of Hilary Term,-when, after a most splendid procession to Westminster Hall, he was placed in the marble chair in the Court of Chancery with all the ancient solemnities."

"Anno 7timo Georgii 2di Regis. 29 Nov. 1733. Memorandum, that on Thursday, the 29th of November, 1733, at the request of Peter Lord King, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, his Majesty sent to his Lordship for the Great Seal; and about three in the afternoon of the same day, his Majesty was graciously pleased to deliver the same to

Charles Talbot, Esq., with the title of Lord Chancellor, and his Lordship was sworn in council at the same time; and though he sat at Lincoln's Inn Hall the 4th day of December following, yet his Lordship was not sworn by the Clerk of the Crown till the 23rd of January, being at Westminster Hall the first day of the then next Hilary Term, when his

A.D. 1734.

A grand "Revel" was given in honour of the new Chancellor by the Inner Temple,-being the last royal festivity at an Inn of Court till the visit of Queen Victoria to Lincoln's Inn, more than a century after,-when the Prince Albert, her Consort, vouchsafed to become a member of that Society, and was called to the degree of an utter barrister.

It would require the pen of a Dugdale to do justice to such scenes, but the following not ungraphic account of the "Talbot pageant" has been transmitted to us :

"On the 2nd of February, 1733-4, the Lord Chancellor came into the Inner Temple Hall about two of the clock, preceded by the Master of the Revels, Mr. Wollaston, and followed by the Master of the Temple, Dr. Sherlock, Bishop of Bangor, and by the Judges and Serjeants who had been members of that House. There was a very elegant dinner provided for them and the Lord Chancellor's officers; but the barristers and students of the house had no other dinner provided for them than what is usual on GRAND DAYS; but each mess had a flask of claret besides the common allowance of port and sack. Fourteen students waited at the bench table, among whom was Mr. Talbot, the Chancellor's eldest son, and by their means any sort of provision was easily obtained from the upper table by those at the rest. A large gallery was built over the screen, and was filled with ladies, who came for the most part a considerable time before the dinner began; and the music was played in the little gallery at the upper end of the Hall, and played all dinner time. As soon as dinner was ended the play began, which was'Love for Love,' with the farce of The Devil to Pay.' The actors who performed in them all came from the Haymarket in chairs, ready dressed, and (as it was said) refused any gratuity for their trouble, looking upon the honour of distinguishing themselves on this occasion as sufficient. After the play, the Lord Chancellor, Master of the Temple, Judges and Benchers entered into their parliament chamber, and in about half an hour after came into the Hall again, and a large ring was formed round the fire-place (but no fire or embers were on it). Then the Master of the Revels, who went first, took the Lord Chancellor by the right hand, and he by his left took Mr. Justice Page, who, joined to the other Judges, Serjeants and Benchers present, danced or rather walked 'round about the coal fire,' according to old ceremony, three times, during which they were aided in the figure of the dance by Mr. George Cook the prothonotary, then sixty; and all the time of the dance the ancient song, accompanied with music, was sung by one Toby Aston, dressed in a bar gown, whose father had been formerly Master of

Lordship took the oaths appointed to be taken by the 1st of William and Mary, and the oath of Lord Chancellor, the Master of the Rolls

holding the book, and the Clerk of the Crown giving the oaths."-Roll, 1727-1760.

the Plea Office in the King's Bench. When this was over, the ladies came down from the gallery, went into the parliament-chamber, and stayed about a quarter of an hour, while the Hall was being put in order. Then they went into the Hall, and danced a few minuets. Country dances began at ten, and at twelve a very fine collation was provided for the whole company, from which they returned to dancing, which they continued as long as they pleased, and the whole day's entertainment was generally thought to be very genteelly and liberally conducted. The Prince of Wales honoured the performance with his company part of the time; he came into the music incog. about the middle of the play, and went away as soon as the farce of 'walking round the coal fire was.

A.D. 1733-37. HIS GREAT MERIT AS AN EQUITY JUDGE.

As an Equity Judge, Lord Talbot exceeded all the high expectations which had been formed of him. In my long