but that very temper raised him to aim at great things, which he effected." (History of King James I. p. 196.) Upon this passage, Dr. Hacket has observed, Quædam videntur et non sunt; so far was his heart from pride, that he never thought himself the finer for the trappings of fortune. Yet, 60 far from baseness, that he knew the bench he sat upon; and would not be made despicable in the eyes of the world, much less to be brought about to serve great men's turns, and stretch the causes of the court, according to the contents of their letters and messages, which were no better, in a rude phrase, than to be a pander to their lust, to let them deflower justice." (Memorial, part i. p. 54.)

*

CHARACTER OF LORD MANSFIELD, BY THE

BISHOP OF WORCESTER.

The Bishop of Worcester, in his Life of Warburton, has given the following character of Lord Mansfield. It is principally curious as the production of a contemporary, who had witnessed his Lordship's conduct in the House of Lords.

"Mr. Murray, afterwards Earl of Mansfield, and Lord Chief Justice of England, was so extra

* This passage furnishes another example of the great prevalency of judicial corruption at that period. (See Ante, vol. i. p. 223.)

ordinary a person, and made so great a figure in the world, that his name must go down to posterity with distinguished honour in the public records of the nation. For his shining talents displayed themselves in every department of the State, as well as in the supreme Court of Justice, his peculiar province, which he filled with a lustre of reputation, equalled, perhaps, certainly not exceeded, by any of his predecessors.

"Of his conduct in the House of Lords, I can speak with the more confidence, because I speak from my own observation. Too good to be the leader, and too able to be the dupe, of any party, he was believed to speak his own sense of public measures, and the authority of his judgment was so high, that in regular times the House was usually decided by it. He was no forward or frequent speaker, but reserved himself (as was fit,) for occasions worthy of him. In debate, he was eloquent as well as wise, or rather, he became eloquent by his wisdom. His countenance and tone of voice imprinted the ideas of penetration, pro.bity, and candour; but what secured your attention and assent to all he said, was his constant good sense, flowing in apt terms, and in the clearest method. He affected no sallies of the imagination, or bursts of passion; much less would he condescend to personal abuse, or to petulant altercation. All was clear candid reason, letting

itself so easily into the minds of his hearers, as to carry information and conviction with it. In a word, his public senatorial character very much resembled that of Messala, of whom Cicero says, addressing himself to Brutus, Do not imagine, Brutus, that for worth, honour, and a warm love of his country, any one is comparable to Messala; so that his eloquence (in which he wonderfully excels,) is almost eclipsed by those virtues; and even in his display of that faculty, his superior good sense shews itself most; with so much care and skill hath he formed himself to the truest manner of speaking! His powers of genius and invention are confessedly of the first size, yet he almost owes less to them than to the diligent and studious cultivation of judgment.'

"In the commerce of private life, Lord Mansfield was easy, friendly, and agreeable; extremely sensible of worth in other men, and ready on all occasions to countenance and patronize it."

THE STATE OF THE LAW IN AMERICA.

The present state of the Law in America, where many important experiments have been made upon the English system of jurisprudence, furnishes much matter for curious speculation. The subjoined observations upon the subject are borrowed from a Tract, intitled, “ A Discourse concerning the Influence of America on the Mind;

being the Annual Oration delivered before the American Philosophical Society, &c. By C. J. Ingersoll. Philadel. 1823." We shall, probably, have occasion, in the course of these volumes, to add some further remarks on this interesting subject.

"Annual Sessions of five-and-twenty Legislatures multiply laws, which produce a numerous bar, in all ages the teeming offspring of freedom. Their number in the United States has been lately computed at six thousand, which is, probably, an under estimate. American Lawyers and Judges adhere, with professional tenacity, to the Laws of the Mother Country. The absolute authority of recent English adjudications is disclaimed; but they are received with respect, too much bordering on submission. British Commercial Law, in many respects inferior to that of the Continent of Europe, is becoming the Law of America. The Prize Law of Great Britain was made that of the United States, by judicial legislation, during flagrant war between the two countries. The ho mage lately paid by the English Prime Minister to the neutral doctrines proclaimed by the American Government in the beginning of the French Revolution, which declares them worthy of the imitation of all neutral nations, may teach us, that the American State Papers contain much better principles of international jurisprudence than the

passionate and time-serving, however brilliant, sophisms of the British Admiralty Courts.* On the other hand, English Jurisprudence, while silently availing itself of that of all Europe, and adopting without owning it, has seldom, if ever, made use of an American Law-book, recommended by the same language, system, and subject-matter. American translations of Foreign Jurists, on subjects in which the legislature of English Law is extremely deficient, appear to be less known in England than translations of the Laws of China. This veneration on our part, and estrangement on theirs, are infirmities characteristic of both. Our professional bigotry has been. counteracted by penal Laws, in some of the States, against the quotation of recent British precedents, as it was once a capital offence, in Spain, to cite the Civil Law, and as the English Common Law has always repelled that excellent code from its tribunals. I cannot think, with the learned Editor of the Law Register, that the English Law-books are a dead expense to the American bar; or that, in his strong phrase, scarcely an important case is furnished by a bale of their Reports. But I de

* The English reader who is acquainted with the admirable decisions, which have, during the present century, emanated from these Courts, will, doubtless, feel inclined to dispute Mr. Ingersoll's position.