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Show 0 II ;\.. P rr E R I X . HOBERT FOSTEH.. AT the restoration of Charles II. it was con. idered neceasary to sweep away the whole of the judges frorn 'y estminster II all, although, generally .. peaking, they \verc very learned and respectable, and they had a<.huinistercd juslice very impartially and satisfactorily.* l1nmense diffwulty wa"' found in replacing them. Clarenuon was sincerely desirous to Melect the fitte t men that could be foun<1, but fron1 his long exile he was him"'clf entirely unacquainted with the .. tate of the legal profession, and, upon 1naking inquirie.:, hardly any could be pointed out, whose political principle3, juridical acquirements, past conduct, and pre:-' en t po:-;it ion entitlcu them to high preferment. The most eminent l>arristcrs on the royalist side ba<l retireLl from prnctil:e when the civil war Legan, an<l tl1e new generation which had sprung up had taken an oath to be faithful to the c01nmonwealth. One individual was discovered- Sir Orlando Brit1gluaJ1- eminent Loth for law and for loyalty. Early distinguished as a rising advocate, he had sacrificed his profit: that he n1ight as. ist the royal cause Ly carrying arms; mHl, refusing to profc s allegiance to tho e whom he considered rebels, he ha<l spent year., in seclusion,Ftill devoting him.~e1 f to profes;:;iona1 .. tu<lies, in which he * Their decisions arc still of as much authority on lcgu.l questions as those of courts sitting under a commission from the crown ; and they were published with the sanction of the chancellor and all the judges in the }'0ig~~ of Charles II. nncl J ameR 11. (132) A. D. 166ll.J P.OTIERT FOSTF.R. 133 took the highest delight. At first, howeYer, it wa~ thought that he could not properly be placed in a higher juclicial oflke than that of chief baron of the Exchequer; and the ch icfships of the ICing's Bench anJ Common l)lcas were allowed to remain vacant orne months, p~tz'snies being ~1ppointetl in each court to carry on the routine bu ·in e. s. At last a chief justil·e of Eng1and was announced- Sir Robert Foster; and his ob curity testified the perplexity into which the government had been thrown in 1naking a <1ecent choice. lie was one of the very few urvivor;; of the old school of lawyers, which had ilouri~hed before the troubles began; he had been called to the degree of -eJ:jcant at law so long ago as the 30th of l\Iay, 1 G.J G, at a tin1e when Charles I., with Strafford for his n1ini ·ter, was ruling with absolute S\\~ay, was in1po 'ing taxes by hi~ own authority, was changing the law by proclamation, alHl hoped 11ever again to Le mole ·t.etl by Parlian1ents. Thi;::; systern wn3 conucmnccl ancl opposctl by the most mninent n1en at tl1c Engli~h Lar, bnt was apphwdeu and. snpporte<.l Ly sornc who conscicntiou:-'ly thought that all popular in titutions were 1ni chievous, and l>y n1ore who thought that court i~tvor gave thmn the LcsL ·lwnce of rising in the world. Foster i:-; ~uppose(l to have defended hip money, the cruel sentences of the Star Chmnbcr, the Lilleting of soldiers to liYe at free quarters, nntl other i1ngrant abuses, as well fr01n a :in cere love of despolisn1 as fr01n a desire to rec01nmend himself to those in power.'~ At the time wlten t)ranny hall reached its cnlminating point, he wns appointed n pnisnP jndge of the Cour t of * It is doubtless a like mixture of motiYcs that pr ompts jn!=lt now the condnct of some of our American lnwycr~.- Ed. . 12 |