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OF THE RIGHT HON.

FRANCIS NORTH, BARON GUILFORD,

LORD KEEPER OF THE GREAT SEAL,

UNDER KING CHARLES II. AND KING JAMES II.

THE HON. SIR DUDLEY NORTH,

COMMISSIONER OF THE CUSTOMS,

AND AFTERWARDS OF THE TREASURY, TO KING CHARLES II.

AND

THE HON. AND REV. DR. JOHN NORTH,

MASTER OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE,

AND CLERK OF THE CLOSET TO KING CHARLES II.

BY

THE HON. ROGER NORTH.

A NEW EDITION.

WITH NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS, HITSORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL.

IN THREE VOLUMES.

VOL. II.

LONDON:

HENRY COLBURN, NEW BURLINGTON STREET.

THE LIFE

OF

THE RIGHT HON. FRANCIS NORTH,

LORD GUILFORD;

LORD KEEPER OF THE GREAT SEAL OF ENGLAND.

Norfolk

brother.

fries's ill

AND now I proceed to the other beforemen- Case of the tioned remarkable case decreed by his lordship; Duke of but it ended not so. And it was this. The point and his was of a term of two thousand years, whether it And Jefmay be entailed, or not; but it did not turn upon usage. the common law, for, there, it is clear not, but proved to be a right in equity, being a trust. If this entail stood, Esme Howard, a brother of the Duke of Norfolk, had the equitable right; if not, then the Duke himself. And he was a Protestant, but the other a Papist; and it will appear what influence that had. The Earl of Nottingham heard the original cause, and called to his assistance the three chiefs, Pemberton, of the King's Bench, his lordship, of the Common Pleas, and

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Mountagu, of the Exchequer. And, after the hearing, the Lord Nottingham desired their opinions, which were clearly that the trust ought to follow the law. When they had done, the chancellor did not show them the respect of debating any of their reasons in the least; but, in a formal, and, seemingly, prepared speech, decreed the direct contrary. When his lordship had the seal, and sat there, the cause, upon a rehearing, or review, came again to be heard before him; and he, knowing no rule but his judgment of the law, and conscience in equity, reversed the decree.* Afterwards, Esme Howard preferred an appeal to the House of Lords. It seems Sir George Jeffries was then chief justice of the King's Bench; and he, by means of some encouragement he had met with, took upon him the part of slighting, and insulting his lordship on all occasions that proffered. And here he had a rare opportunity; for, in his rude way of talking, and others of a party after him, he battered the poor decree, not without the most indecent affronts to his lordship that, in such an assembly, ever were heard. His lordship, whose part it was to justify his decree, took not the least notice of any indecency, or reflection,

This case is reported in 3 Chan. Ca. 1, and Pollexfen, 223. See the observations upon it in Mr. Fearne's Essay on Contingent Remainders, p. 469.

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