Графични страници
PDF файл
ePub

indictment was to be preferred, and resolutely assist Lord Chief Justice Pemberton in perverting the law, by examining the witnesses in open Court, and by trying to intimidate and mislead the Grand Jury; but he was punished by being present at the shout which lasted an hour when "Ignoramus" was returned.*

He next zealously lent himself to the scheme of the Court for upsetting the municipal privileges of the city of London, and of obtaining sheriffs for London and Middlesex, who would return juries at the will of the government. The Lord Mayor having been gained over, and the stratagem devised of creating a sheriff by the Lord Mayor drinking to him, instead of by the election of his fellow-citizens,—the difficulty was to find any freeman of fair character who would incur all the odium and risk of being so introduced to the shrievalty. It so happened that at that time there returned to England a brother of the Chief Justice, Mr. Dudley, afterwards Sir Dudley North, who was free of the city from having been apprenticed there to a merchant, and who had amassed considerable wealth by a long residence in Turkey. It being suggested at Court that this was the very man for their Sheriff †, “the King very much approved of the person, but was very dubious whether the Chief Justice, with his much caution and wisdom, would advise his brother to stand in a litigious post. But yet he resolved to try; and one day he spoke to Sir Fran[A. D. 1682.] cis with a world of tenderness, and desired to know if it would be too much to ask his brother Dudley to hold Sheriff on my Lord Mayor's drinking?" The wily Chief Justice immediately saw the advantage this proposal might bring to the whole family, and returned a favourable answer. "For matter of title," says Roger, "he thought there was more squeak than wool, for whatever people thought was at the bottom, if a citizen be called upon an office by the government of the city and obeys, where is the crime? But then such a terrible fear was artificially raised up in the city as if this service was the greatest hazard in the world." Sir Francis gently broke the matter to his brother, saying, “that there was an opportunity which preferred itself whereby he might make a fortune if he wanted it, and much enlarge what he had, besides great reputation to be gained, which would make him all the days of his life very considerable, laying open the case of the Lord Mayor's right very clear and plain, against which in common sense there was no reply." Dudley, however, made many objections, and talked of the terrible expense to which he should be exposed. The Chief Justice urged that if he served, the obligation was so transcendant, that there could be no employment by commission from the Crown which would not fall to his share," and as for the charge," said he,"here, brother, take 1000l. to help make good your account, and if

* Ante, p. 298.

† It was said, by way of jest, on the other side, that he was only selected by the Court to answer their purposes, as in Turkey he had often been before the Kadi, and he had become well acquainted with the use of the bow string.

you never have an opportunity by pensions or employments to remiburse you and me, I will lose my share; else I shall be content to receive this 10007. out of one half of your pensions when they come in, and otherwise not at all."* The merchant yielded ; and under this pure bargain, proposed by the Judge before whom the validity of the appointment might come to be decided,-when his health was given by the Lord Mayor as Sheriff of London and Middlesex, he agreed to accept the office.

But the old sheriffs insisted on holding a Common Hall for the election of their successors, according to [JUNE 24.] ancient usage, on Midsummer day,-when Lord Chief Justice North had the extreme meanness, at the King's request, to go into the city and take post in a house near Guildhall, belonging to Sir George Jeffreys, "who had no small share in the conduct of this affair, to the end that if any incident required immediate advice, or if the spirits of the Lord Mayor should droop, which in outward appearance were but faint, there might be a ready recourse." It is true, the opposite faction had the Lord Grey de Werke and other leaders from the west end of the town, to advise and countenance them; but this could be no excuse for a Judge so degrading himself. The poll going for the popular candidates, the Lord Mayor, by Chief Justice North's advice under pretence of a riot, attempted to adjourn the election; but the Sheriffs required that the polling should continue, and declared Papillon and Dubois duly elected.†

This causing great consternation at Whitehall, a council was called, to which the Lord Mayor and Aldermen were summoned. Lord Chief Justice North, by the King's command, addressed them, saying, “That the proceedings of the Sheriffs at the Common Hall after the adjournment were not only utterly null and void, but the persons were guilty of an audacious riot and contempt of lawful authority, for which by due course of law they would be severely punished; but in the mean time it was the Lord Mayor's duty, and his Majesty's pleasure, that they should go back to the city and summon the Common Hall, and make election of Sheriffs for the year ensuing." The Lord Mayor, having been told that the courtiers would bamboozle him and leave him in the lurch,-when North had concluded, said, " My Lord, will your Lordship be pleased to give me this under your hand?" The King and all the councillors were much tickled to see the wily Chief Justice thus nailed, "expecting some turn of wit to fetch himself off, and thinking to have sport in seeing how woodenly he would excuse himself." But to their utter astonishment, for once in his life Francis North was bold and straightforward, and cheating them all, he answered, without any hesitation, "Yes, and you shall have it presently." Then seizing a pen, he wrote, "I am of opinion, that it is in the Lord Mayor's power to call, adjourn,

* Life, ii. 16—20.

+ Ibid. 20.

and dissolve the Common Hall at his pleasure, and that all acts done there, as of the Common Hall, during such adjournment, are mere nullities, and have no legal effect.' This he signed, and handed to the Lord Mayor, who then promised obedience.*

Accordingly, another Common Hall was called, at which it was pretended that Sir Dudley North and Rich were elected,

[Nov.] and they were actually installed in the office of Sheriff.

By the contrivance of Lord Chief Justice North, the office of Lord Mayor for the ensuing year was likewise filled by a thorough passive-obedience tool of the Court. Gould, the liberal candidate, had a majority of legal votes on the poll, but under a pretended scrutiny, Pritchard was declared duly elected, and Sir John More, the renegade Mayor, willingly transferred to him the insignia of Chief Magistrate, so that the King had now the city authorities completely at his devotion. Shaftesbury fled to Holland

and it was for the Court to determine when the blow should be struck against the popular leaders who remained.

Such were the services of Lord Chief Justice North, which all plainly saw would ere long be rewarded by higher promotion. The health of Lord Nottingham, the Chancellor, was rapidly declining, and the Court had already designated his successor. Lord Craven, famous for wishing to appear intimate with rising men,-in the circle at Whitehall now seized Lord Chief Justice North by the arm and whispered in his ear;—and the foreign ambassadors so distinctly saw the shadow of the coming event, that they treated him with as great respect as if he had been prime minister, “and when any of them looked towards him and thought he perceived it, they very formally bowed."

We are told, that in many things North acted as "Co-Chancellor" with Nottingham; and for the first time the office of Chancellor seems to have been like that of Sheriff of Middlesex, one in its nature, but filled by two officers of equal authority. It is said, that "the aspirant dealt with all imaginable kindness and candour to the declinant, and that never were predecessor and successor such cordial friends to each other, and in every respect mutually assistant, as those two were."+

Such hopes on an expected vacancy of the Great Seal are sometimes disappointed, but here there were very solid reasons for entertaining them. While the Lord Chancellor was languishing, the Chief Justice being at Windsor, the King plainly intimated to him, that when the fatal event, which must be shortly looked for, had taken place, the Great Seal would be put into his hands. He modestly represented himself to his Majesty as unfit for the place, and affected by all his art and skill to decline it. In truth, he really wished to convey to the King's mind the impression that he did not desire it, although he had been working so foully for it, -as he knew it would be pressed upon him, there being no com

* Life, ii, 23.

† Life, ii. 64, 65.

petitor so knowing and so pliant, and he had an important stipulation to make for a pension before he would accept it. When he came back to London, and confidentially mentioned what had passed between him and the King, he pretended to be annoyed, and said, "that if the Seal were offered to him he was determined to refuse it;" but it is quite clear that he was highly gratified to see himself so near the great object of his ambition, and that his only anxiety now was, that he might drive a good bargain when he should consent to give up the cushion of the Common Pleas."

Lord Nottingham having died about four o'clock in the afternoon of Monday, the 18th of December, 1682*, the Great Seal was carried next morning, from his house in Great Queen Street, to the King at Windsor. The following day his Majesty brought it with him to Whitehall, and in the evening sent for the Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, to offer it to him. When North arrived he found Lord Rochester, the Treasurer, and several other ministers, closeted with Charles. As yet there was no distinction between the funds to be applied to the King's private expences and to the public service, the Exchequer being now very empty,—and the resolution being taken never more to summon a parliament for supplies,—it was considered an object that the Keeper of the Great Seal should be contented with the fees of his office, without any allowance or pension from the Crown. Charles himself was careless about such matters, but the Treasurer had inculcated upon him the importance of this piece of economy. As soon as North entered, his Majesty offered him the Seal, and the ministers began to congratulate the new Lord Keeper; but, with many acknowledgments for his Majesty's gracious intentions, he begged leave to suggest the necessity, for his Majesty's honour, that a pension should be assigned to him, as it had been to his predecessor, for otherwise the dignity of this high office could not be supported. Rochester interposed, pointing out the necessity, in times like these, for all his Majesty's servants to be ready to make some sacrifices; that the emoluments of the Great Seal were considerable; and that it would be more becoming to trust to his Majesty's bounty than to seek to drive a hard bargain with him. But Sir George Jeffreys being yet only a bustling city officer, who could not with any decency have been put at the head of the law; the Attorney and Solicitor General not being considered men of mark or likelihood; Sir Harbottle Grimston, the Master of the Rolls, being at death's door, and no other commonlaw Judge besides himself being produceable,—the little gentleman was firm, and positively declared that he would not touch the Great Seal without a pension. After much haggling, a compromise took place, by which he was to have 20007. a year instead of the 4000l. a year assigned to his predecessor. The King then lifted up the purse containing the [DEC. 20, 1682.]

* 1 Vernon, 115.

Seal, and, putting it into his hand, said, "Here, my Lord, take it; you will find it heavy." "Thus," says Roger North, "his Majesty acted the prophet as well as the King; for, shortly before his Lordship's death, he declared that, since he had the Seal, he had not enjoyed one easy and contented minute.”*

CHAPTER XCVI

CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF LORD GUILFORD TILL THE DEATH OF CHARLES II.

When the new Lord Keeper came home, at night, from Whitehall to his house in Chancery Lane, bringing the [DEC. 20, 1682.] Great Seal with him, and attended by the officers of the Court of Chancery,-instead of appearing much gratified, as was expected by his brother and his friends, who were waiting to welcome him, he was in a great rage,—disappointed that he had not been able to make a better bargain, and, perhaps, a little mortified that he had only the title of "Lord Keeper" instead of the more sounding one of "Lord Chancellor." Recriminating on those with whom he had been so keenly acting the chapman, he exclaimed, "To be haggled with about a pensiont, as at the purchase of a horse or an ox! After I had declared that I would not accept without a pension, to think I was so frivolous as to insist and desist all in a moment! As if I were to be wheedled and charmed by their insignificant tropes! To think ine worthy of so great a trust, and withal so little and mean as to endure such usage! It is disobliging, inconsistent, and insufferable. What have I done that may give them cause to think of me so poor a spirit as to be thus trifled with?" It might have been answered, that, though the King and the courtiers made use of him for their own ends, they had seen his actions, understood his character, and had no great respect for him. Till Jeffreys was a little further advanced, they could not run the risk of breaking with him;—but then he was subjected to all sorts of mortifications and insults.

The day after his appointment "he kept a private seal for writs at his house in Chancery Lane,"§ and on the first day [DEC. 21.] of the following Hilary term he took his place in the Court of Chancery. By this time he was in possession of his predecessor's house in Great Queen Street, Lin[JAN. 23. 1683.] coln's Inn Fields, and he had a grand procession

* Life, ii. 68, 69. Crown Off. Min, fol. 108.

By this word "pension," I conceive we are to understand salary while the Lord Keeper was in office, and not, as might be supposed, an allowance on his retirement.

+ Life, i. 415.

§ 1 Vernon, 115.

« ПредишнаНапред »