opened in the market-place, gin was as plentiful as water, every spigot in the town ran beer without intermission, and the greatest exertions were used to induce the electors to vote for their townsman. However, the government was not to be disgraced by the rejection of their law officer, and he was so considerably at the head of the poll, that Sir Simon Taylor signed the indenture of his return. There were good hopes that, on account of the corrupt practices to which his friends had resorted, he would have been thrown out upon a petition; but, according to the notions of election law which then prevailed, the step of acquiescence which his opponent had taken precluded the attempt, and he was allowed quietly to keep his seat. He remained member for Lynn till he was made Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, in January, 1675; but I can hardly find any trace of his ever having spoken in the House of Commons. During two short sessions, in 1673, he was Solicitor General, and things were in such confusion from Lord Shaftesbury being in opposition while he remained Chancellor, that the members of the government were quite at a loss what part to take in the lower House, and the subordinates seem to have remained silent. Shaftesbury was at last turned out, and the Great Seal was given to Sir Heneage Finch, who, being asked by the King to name his successor, said, "who should succeed the [Nov. 12.] Captain but the Lieutenant?" and North became Attorney General.* He had for his colleague as solicitor his old rival, Sir William Jones, who seems to have been a considerable man,-who afterward had the virtue voluntarily to give up office that he might join the popular party,—and who, if not cut off by an early death, would probably have acted the part of Lord Somers at the Revolution, and left a great name in history. The account we have of the demeanour of North and Jones to each other is creditable to them, if not to the general courtesy of the bar in their time: "although in the course of their practice they were often chosen on purpose to resist each other, especially in hot factious causes, yet they never clashed in words, or made any show of private animosity, as commonly in such cases is done with great noise and indecency. But they conversed, visited, and entertained familiarly, though less frequent after the times grew hot, and preferment of the oue made a greater distance between them." † Parliament met in a few weeks after North's promotion. In those good old times when, according to Blackstone, the English [JAN. 7, 1674.] constitution was "theoretically perfect," the appointment to an office of profit under the Crown conciousness of their own increased importance;-and from his worship the Mayor down to the beggar in the street, all expect to derive some gratification from the coming contest. * Or. Jur. 118. + Examen, 514. did not vacate a seat in the House of Commons*,-but a notice was given to question North's right to sit longer as representative for Lynn, on the ground that, as Attorney General, he had a writ of summons to the House of Lords, and was bound to give his attendance there. He diligently prepared to meet this objection, and had got up all the precedents and authorities, but as these were decidedly in his favour the notice was suffered to drop. It is rather unlucky for his parliamentary fame, that the motion against him was not brought forward; for he must have defended himself; he probably would have done it ably; the House had always listened favourably to the answer to a personal attack,and after a successful maiden speech he might have become a distinguished debater. He still remained mute. We are told that little or nothing of the King's business in the House of Commons leaned upon him, because Mr. Secretary Conventry was there who managed for the Court." The skill, readiness, and influence of this leader of the House of Commons seems to have superseded the efforts of all the other members of the government, who were reminded by him of the useful maxim," Least said, is soonest mended." He is celebrated as an ancient member who had the nice step of the House, and withal was wonderfully witty;" and we are assured (which could not be truly said respecting all his successors who may have merited the same panegyric for talent and dexterity), that "he had never said any thing in the House which afterwards proved a lie, and had that credit, that whatever he affirmed, the House believed." North once or twice spoke a few words, "in resolving the fallacies of the country party," but did not venture beyond an opinion upon a point of law which incidentally arose. "He could not attend the House constantly, but took the liberty of pursuing his practice in Westminster Hall." There he was easily the first; and the quantity of business which he got through in Chancery ("his home") and the other Courts where he went special seems to have been enormous. His mode of preparation was (like Lord Erskine's) to have a consultation in the evening before reading his brief, when "he was informed of the history of the cause, and where the pinch was." Next morning at four he was called by a trusty boy, who never failed, winter or summer, to come into his chamber at that hours, and by the sitting * In a note upon this sentence of my work by some laborious editor in a future age, it will be said, "The author here talks very feelingly; for I find that when he himself was promoted from being Solicitor to be Attorney General in the year 1834, he lost his seat for Dudley, and was kept out of parliament nearly a whole session till re-elected for the city of Edinburgh.' † Henry Coventry, youngest son of Lord Chancellor Coventry. Life, i. 176. The hours then kept must have been very inconvenient for lawyers in parliament, as all the Courts and both Houses met at eight in the morning, and sat till noon. § This early rising rendered it necessary for him to take "a short turn in the other world after dinner." of the Court he had gone through his brief, and was ready to do ample justice to his clients. Fees now flowed in upon him so fast that he hardly knew how to dispose of them. He seems to have taken them from his clients with his own hand. At one time he had had a fancy, for his health, to wear a sort of skullcap. He now routed out three of these, which he placed on the table before him, and into these he distributed the cash as it was paid to him. "One had the gold, another the crowns and half-crowns, and another the smaller money." When these vessels were full, they were committed to his brother Roger, who told out the pieces, and put them into bags, which he carried to Child's, the goldsmith, at Temple-Bar.* But still Mr. Attorney was dissatisfied with his position. He could not but be mortified by his insignificance in the House of Commons. The country party there was rapidly gaining strength, and although it was not then usual for the Crown to turn out its law officers on a change of ministers, he began to be very much frightened by threats of impeachment uttered against all who were instrumental in executing the measures of the government. Shaftesbury was in furious opposition. While only at the head of a small minority in the House of Lords, the House of Commons was more and more under his influence. North was exceedingly timid, always conjuring up imaginary dangers, and exaggerating such as he had to encounter. He now exceedingly longed to lay his head on the cushion of the Common Pleas," instead of running the risk of its being laid on the block on Tower Hill. Vaughan, the Chief Justice of that Court died, and his wishes were accomplished, — notwithstanding some in[JAN. 25, 1675.] trigues to elevate Sir William Jones or Sir William Montagu. When it came to the pinch, North was rather shocked to think of the sacrifice of profit which he was making, "for the Attorney's place was (with his practice) near 70001. per annum, and the cushion of the Common Pleas not above 40007. But accepting, he accounted himself enfranchised from the Court brigues and attendances at the price of the difference."§ North held the office of Chief Justice of the Common Pleas nearly eight years, which may be divided into two periods :— 1st, From his appointment till the formation of the council of thirty, on the recommendation of Sir William Temple in the year 1679;-2dly, From thence till he received the Great Seal in the end of the year 1682. During the former he mixed little in politics, and devoting himself to his juridical duties, he discharged them creditably. * Life, i. 171. Roger assures us he did not purloin any part of the treasure, for which he takes infinite credit to himself. + Or. Jurid. 118. The official fees seem to have fallen off greatly since Bacon's time, which probably arose from the abolition of the military tenures and the Court of Wards. § Life, i, 183. At this time, and for long after, the emoluments of the Judges in Westminster Hall depended chiefly upon fees, and there was a great competition between the different Courts for business. The King's Bench, originally instituted for criminal proceedings, had, by a dexterous use of their writ of " latitat,” tricked* the Common Pleas of almost all civil actions; and when the new Chief Justice took his seat, he found his Court a desert. There was hardly sufficient business to countenance his coming every day in term to Westminster Hall, while the Serjeants and officers were repining and starving. But he was soon up with the King's Bench, by a new and more dexterous use of the "capias," the ancient writ of that Court-applying it to all personal actions. "After this process came into common use, it is scarce to be conceived how the Court revived and flourished, being, instead of vacation in term, rather term in vacation, so large was the increase of trials by nisi prius out of the Court, as also of motions and pleas in the Court." Hence Anstey sings in the Pleader's Guide,— "If haply John-a-Stile provoke The legal fight 'gainst John-a-Noke, While "CAPIAS" is rejoic'd to seize, And plunder him in Common Pleas."§ [1675-1682.] The The Serjeants were for some time most grateful to the Chief Justice, and hailed him as their deliverer from the usurpation of the King's Bench; but before long he got into very bad odour with them for allowing his brother Roger, not of the order of the Coif, to make certain motions, which they said belonged exclusively to them. To show their resentment, they one day refused to bring forward any business. Chief Justice, in great indignation, adjourned the Court, saying that the following day they would hear common barristers, or attorneys, or the suitors themselves plead in spite of the monopoly of the Serjeants, that there might not be a failure of justice. "This was like thunder to the Serjeants, and they fell to quarrelling one with another about being the cause of this great evil they had brought upon themselves. In the afternoon they attended the Chief and the other Judges of the Court, and in great humility owned their fault and begged pardon, and they would be careful not to give the like offence for the future. The Chief told them that the affront was in public and in the face of the Court, * It was called "Trickum in lege." †The Court of C. P in point of business seems then to have been as badly off as I remember the Exchequer,-when it was said that the Barons "met punctually at half-past eleven, and rose half an hour before twelve " and that if, having a stray motion, you wished to take a shot at them, "they were like a covey of partridges in November, you never find them sitting." § Pl. G. Lect. v. ↑ Life, i. 193. VOL. III. 31 and they must make their recognition there next morning in such manner as the greatness of their offence demanded, and then they should hear what the Court would say to them. Accordingly they did, and the Chief first, and then the rest in order, gave them a formal chiding with acrimony enough,-all which with dejected countenances they were bound to hear. When this discipline was over, the Chief pointed to one to move, which he did more like one crying than speaking; and so ended the comedy, as it was acted in Westminster Hall, called The Dumb Day!' "'* At this time a Judge, when appointed, selected a circuit, to which he steadily adhered, till another, which he preferred, became vacant. Chief Justice North for several years "rode the Western;" and in his charges to Juries, as well as in his conversation with the country gentlemen, he strongly inculcated the most slavish Church-and-King doctrines, insomuch that the Cavaliers called him "Delicia Occidentis," or, "the Darling of the West." Though careful to avoid all fanatics, he was once completely taken in by a Mr. Duke, who had a very handsome house in Devonshire. This gentleman asked the Chief Justice and his brother Judge to pass a night with him, and they, believing him to be perfectly orthodox, accepted the invitation. But instead of getting a priest to read prayers before their Lordships, "he himself got behind the table in his hall and read a chapter, and then gave them a long-winded prayer after the Presbyterian way. The Judges took it very ill, but did not think fit to affront him in his own house. Next day, when they came early in the morning to Exeter, all the news was that the Judges had been at a conventicle, and the Grand Jury intended to present them and all their retinue for it; and much merriment was made upon the subject."† As they were above the allowed number, and not of the family of the master of the house, they were all certainly liable to be prosecuted under "the Conventicle Act," which the High Church party then prized so dearly. The Chief Justice afterwards went the Northern Circuit, attended by his brother Roger, who gives a most entertaining account of his travels, and who seems to have thought the natives of Northumberland and Cumberland as distant, as little known, and as barbarous, as we should now think the Esquimaux or the aborigines of New Zealand. Till the Popish plot broke out, Chief Justice North had no political trials before him; and the only cases which gave him much anxiety were charges of witchcraft. He does not appear, like Chief Justice Hale, to have been a believer in the black art; but, with his characteristic timidity, he was ashamed to combat the popular prejudice, lest the countrymen should cry, "This Judge hath no religion,-he doth not believe witches." Therefore he Life, i. 195–198. Serjeant's case by Manning. † Life, i. 226. |