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Show 238 .ATHOClOUS JUDGES. [A. D. 1685. a ... "' ist him, had held that au equitable e ·tate tail might be created in a tern1 of year~ ; but his succe . or had reversed his decree, and the decree of reversal wa now under appeal. " Lord Chief Justice Jeffreys, by means of some encourngcment he had met with, took upon bim the part of slighting and in ... ultiug his lordship on all occasion.... that proffered. And h ere he had a raro opportunity ; for, in hi ' rude way of talking, and others of a party after hin1, he battered the poor decree; not without the mo ·t iudecent affronts to hi"' lord .... hip that in such an assembly ever were heard." The courtc;:;y now prevailing between law lord ... of opposite political partie::; wa not then known between collengues sitting iu the "arne cabinet ; and the poor lord keeper wa a .... ailed by the coarse. t vituperation, and the mo·t cutting ri<.licule. The second Earl of Nottingham, on of the ehanc llor, " who hated him Lec:au e he had endeavored to detract frOJn his father's memory," likewi c took this opportunity to attack hi1n, and got together many in tances of hi::l ill adn1inistration of jnsticc, and greatly expo ed him. lie was not roused into retaliation or rcsi tance; and he contented hi1uself with a dry legal argument. The decree was reversed ; and when be announced that the contents had ~·t, he n1ust have felt a:-; if he had been oundiug his own death knell. The lay lord ., who voted could hare known nothing of the merits of uch a nice qnc. Lion; and 1nu t have been guided by favor or enmity to the lord keeper or the lord chief justice. \VhaL rendered the defeat and contemptuous usage the more galling was the presence of the king; for James, like his brother, attended in the !louse of Lords when any thing interesting was coming on ; and walked about the house, or ·tood by the fire, or sat in his chair of state or on the woolsack, as suited his fancy. A. D. 1685.] FlLU\UlS 1\0ltTII • 239 "!-laving opened this ... cene," say H,ogcr, " we are not to expect other than opposition, contempt, and brutal u age, of that chief toward hi ... lord~hip while he lived." There were few debate in the !louse of Lords during this short session ; but, even in going through the con1mon fonn.s of the IIouse, Jeffrey found opportunities publicly to testify Lis contempt for the lord keeper ; and in the cauinct, in discus ing the di "'pen. ation to be granted to Catholic oiiicers to serve in the army, and other ubjects, he con ~ tantly laid traps for him, ·with a view of either making hi1n obnoxiou;; to the king, or odious to the public- who con.'idered him the author of every declaration or dispensation which passed the g reat seal. Sunderland and other nlenlbers of the cauinet openly joined in this persecution, and ' he wa li ttle less than derided oy them. BeinO' soon to be laid a ·ide he was not relied U[)On 0 ' in any thing, but was truly a eal-keepcr rather than a min-ister of state, and kept on for despatch of the form ularic~, rather than for advice or tru ·t." "\Vhy <.lid he not r esign? l t is difficult to under ~tancl tl1c r casonin cr of lti~ brother, who 0 thus accounts for his continuinrr to bear ·uch in·ults:-" IIi~ 0 lordship was so ill u ed at court by the Earl of Sunderland, Jeffreys, and their sub-sycophant~, that I mn per:Smulcd if he hud had les~ pride of heart, he had uccn telnptcd to have delivered up the ~eal in full health. But he cared not to gratif)', by that, such di -ingenuous enernies. lie car ecl not to humor these barkers, or to quit his place before he n1igh t do it. with safety to hi dignity. IIe intended to stay till the king would bear hin1 no longer, and then 1nake it hi · maje::sty's own act to ren1ove him." He felt. keenly a sense of the insignificance and disfavor |