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Show 242 ATROCIOUS JUD GES. [.\ . D.lGS5. increa··ed cruelty till the v ery end of Septen1ber. On the 5th of September died Lonl ICeep r Guilford, at \Vroxton, after havinrr been for some week in a .tate of .~ uch debility nnd 0 cxhau tion that, able only to aU nd to hi ~ . pi ritual COlH'Crns, he thourrht no more of dome. tic trca on or foreign levy than b if he had already slept in the grave. For a short time ai'Ler his arrival there, he rallied, by the n ·e of n1ineral water:-;, but he soon had a relapse, and he could with difficulty .. ign his will. lie was peevish and fr 'l ful during hi. iekncs::;, but caln1ly 1net hi. end. '' lie ad ,-j ""ed his friend .... not to mourn for him, yet c01nmended an old n1aid- ervant for her good will that said, 'As long as there is l~fe there is hope.' At length, having strove a little to ri ·e, he . aic1, ' It will not do j' and th en, with patience and re. ignation, lay down for good and all, and expired." lie wa buried in vVroxton Church, in a vault belonging to his wife' · f~unily, the Earl of D own. " lie wn. a crafty a.ncl de, igning tnan," .~ay. Tii ·hop Burnet. '' lie had no 1nind to parL with the great cal, and yet he .·aw he could not hold it without an ent ir , compliance with tltc pleasure of the court. N othing but hi~ sue ·e ~sor m~u1c him Le rmne1nbered with r egret. lie had DJL the y·irtue.~ of his predeces or; but he had part.' far b eyond him. They were turned to craft; so that wherca the fonner (Lord Nottinghnm) seen1cd to mean \Yell even when he dill ill, thi: man wa-- believed to mean ill even when he dicl well.'' I accede to thi " character, with the C/"C( ption of the e~t itnatc of :North's "parts," which I think arc g reatly overrated. lie wa.' · harp and shrewd, but of no in1agination, of no d pth, of no gra P of intellect, any n1ore than gcnero 'ity of s nti1nent. Cnn· ning, industry, and opportunity rnay make such a man at A. D. l685.] FRANCIS NOHTH. 24.3 any time. A Nottinglunn docs not a ri e above once . 1n a century. Guilford had as 1nuch law as he could rontain, but he was incapable of taking an cnlarg ·d and com1nancling view of any subject. In equity, he <lid nothing to rear up the 'ystem of which the foundations lw.<l been . o <ulmirably laid by his predece--sor. Ilis inclu try was conuncnclaule ; ancl I think he may be fairly acquitteJ of corruption, notwi tb ·tanding hi::; indiscreet acceptan · oC a pre cnt of one thou~and pound~ from the six clerlc, when they had a dispute with the 'ixty, on which he was to adjtulicatc. \ Vhcre he was not under the apprehension of personal r cspon · ihility, there was nothing which he would not . ay or <lo to exn lt the prcrogati vc and please hi" patron . I ·hall a<lcl only one in. tance. ~ir Thomas Annstroug was outlawed for high trea 'On while beyond the sea unle:-;s he ·u1Tendered within a year. B eing sent over a pri oner fron1 Ilolbntl within a year, he in..istetl that he was entitled to a writ of error to reverse the outlawry and to be admitted to make hi: defence ; out the lord keeper refused hi1n hi writ of' e rror, iirsi, on the pretence that there was no fiat for it by the attorney o·cneral an<.l th ·n that he n ' ' had no right to reverse llis outlawry, a, he wa ~ present by compulsion. Thu .. the unhappy ,·ictirn was sent to in ... tant execution without trial. So zealous a con crvnth e W:.l6 Uuilford, tlw.t '~he thought the taking away of th e tenures" (i. e. t he abolition of wardship and the other oppre.· ·ivc feudal burdens introduced at the conque t) " a de~p raLe wound to the libertic~ of the people." The court wags 1naJe g reat port of hi1n, the Earl of Sunderland taking the lend, and giving out the --ignal, while |
