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Show 46 ATROCIOUS JUDGE • [A. D.l~3. formed to bring Scotland into entire ..:nbjcction. 'l'hcrc being a mcetin()" at N ewca tle of the nobles o t' the two nations, 0 when the feudatory king did homnge to his liege lorcl, com-plaint was made by Roger Bartholom w, a burge. · oC Berwick, that certain Engli ~ h judge had been dt.. . putecl to rxc,rci e juri diction on the north bank of th Tw('e(l. 1~ <l wn.nl re-fetTed the matter to Brabacon and oth r eotntni~ · ioner~, commanding them to do justice according to the la\r. and customs of his kingdom. A petition wa. th n pr rnt u to them on behalf of the IGng of Scotland setting forth Eli ward's promi ~e to ob erve the laws and cu totn~ of tl1at kingLlom, and that pleas of thing done there should not lH Llrawn lo examination elsewhere. Brabn.con is r eported. thus to ha\e answered:- " Thi ~ petition is unnece sary, and not io the purpose ; for it is manife t, and ought to be admitted by all the prelates and baron , and commonalty of Scotland, that the king, our rna ter, has performed all hi promi ~e" to them. 1\: to the conduct of hi judge , lately de put d by hirn H ,' UPE IUOH and DIRECT LORD of that kingdmn, they only r ·pre ·nt his per "on ; he will take C<.u·e that they do not tran ·gr · · his authority, and on appeal to him he will s 'C that right i · done. If the king had made any temporary prmni cs when the Scotti:h throne wa. vacant, in derogation of hi,· ju. t uzerainete, by uch promise· he would not have been re. trained or bound."* Encouraged by this language, l\Iacc1 uff, the Earl of Fife, * Th1' s 1· s the very ground 1 · h · · · ~t"fy h upon w u c 1t 1s nttemptcd now to 1u:s 1 t e repeal of the ~f 8 · 1 ·b· · ' ' ' . . 1 soun pro 11 1t10n of slavery while Brahacon's defence of Enghsh JUdges . S tl d . ' f .:~ . m co an 1s a. counterpart to the justification by our _eEuedra.l Judges of the au th on.t y gi.V en to slave-catchi, ng commissi.O ners. A. D.l307.1 ROGER LE BRAHACON. 47 entered an appeal in the Engli h Ilo u .~ e of Lord .~ again, t the ICing of' Scotland; ~lnd, on the advi~c of BraLacon and the other jndgcs, it wa. resolvecl that the r e. pontlc nt 1nnst stand at the bar :1.. a Y<l." ~~d , ::tnd that, for hi. COn tumacy, three o(' his prin~ipal ca ·tle~ houlJ Le sciz 'U in to the king' · hands. Although hi ·torimr wllo tncntion the.~ e eYent · d ,.· ignate Urabacon a · "grand ju ·ticiary," it is quite certain that, as yet, h' was 1nerely a puisne judge; Lut there wa~ a .. :tro 11g desire to 1·r>ward hitn f<.n· his sen· i~e:-., and, nt la=-'t, ~111 Oj>l JO J'tune vacancy arising, he was created chief ju::;ticc of the ICing' · B e n ~h. Of hi· perfornw.nces in thi · capacity we know nothing, except by the general commendation of chr onicler ; for the Year Book, , g iving a rcgu lar account of jndicial decisions, do not begin till the following r eign. On the accession of Edward II., Brabacon ·wa.~ r cappojnteU. chief justice of tllC J{ing' ., Bench, and he continuccl very c reditably to fill the office for eight years longer. lie was fated to cl plore the fruitlc=-'s re ~ ult, of all hi. efforts to reduce Scotland to the E ngli :·h yoke- P obcrt Bruce b >in rr now the ' indcpcnc1ent soYereign of thnL kingdom, after humbling the priclc of l1.Jn gli~h el1ivalry in the battle of Bannockuurn. * ..At la._ t, the infirmities of age unfitting Brabacon for the di ·charge of judicial duties, he resigned his gown; Lut to do hi1n honor, he wa , worn a n1ember of the PriYy Council and he continued to be treatetl ·with the l1ig he t r e:3pect till his J eath, which h appened about two years afterw:::u·u". * l\I ay the pending attempts of the Southern States, countenanced and supported by the federal judges, to e::;tabli~h a. "superiority" and "direct dominion" over the north, be met and repelled with similar spirit and success ! - Eel. |
