| OCR Text |
Show 108 ATROCIOCS JuDGl:S. of r~ondon, with an annu~ll fee pro concilio impcnso et impendendo (for coun cl given and to be given.) lia.ving been ' f . some years an "apprentice," he took the dPgree o , CrJe::mt at law. According to a practice very common in our profe. sion, he had, in the language of Mr. Gurney, the famou. stenographer, ''started in the sedition line," that i , defending per~ons pros~ ecuted for political offences by the go\·ernment. lie was counsel for almo tall the patriots who, in the end of the reign of Jamc' I. anU the beginning of the rei"n of Charlc I., were imprisoned for theie refractory conU.nrt. in the llou e of Commons; and one of the finest argumcnt8 to be found in our books is one delivered by him in Sir Thomas Daencl's case, to pro"l"e that a warrant of commitment by order of the king, without specifyinrr the offence, is ille~al. IIe refu eel a seat in the IIonsc of Conunons, as it uitccl him better to plead for those who were in the T'ower than to be sent thither him. elf. By anu by, the desire of outaining the honors of the profes ·ion waxed ~trong within him, ancl he conveyed an intimation, by a friend, to the lord keeper that it would be 1nuch rnorc a<"Tree.alJle to hin1 to be retained 0 for the government than to be alway:; against it. The o!fer was accepted; he was taken into the counsels of Noy, the attorney general, and he gave his assistance in defending all stretches of prerogative. Promotions were now show~ ered down upon him; he was made chief justice of Ely, attorney general to the queen, king's serjeant, and a knight. Although very zealous for the crown, and really unscrupulous, he was anxious to observe decency of deportment, and to appear never to trungress the line of profes ·ional duty. A. D. 163.J.] JOII~ HHA:'IfPSTO"\f. 10!) Noy ·:~< woulll have b en the wan to be appointcu ehief ju~tice of the ICing'· B ncb to carry through hi, tux by a judicial decision in its f~tvor, buL be had .·udtlenly died 0011 after the ship 1noney writs were i~ .. ued; anu, after hin1, Sir J ohn llramp ... ton was dcCined the fittest pel"On to place at the head of the common law juuges. On the 1 th of April, 1 G33, his in tallation took place, which was, no doubt, very splendid; bnt we haye no acconnt of it except the followinrr lJy Sir G 0 " eorgc Croke : - " .1.C"~ ·J rRt, t l 1e lord keeper n1a<1e u graxe nncllonrr SI)~ech si('J'- (J 0 ' 0 nifying the king' pleasure for his c1wice, and the duties of his place; to which, after he h~ul an~wcrcd at the bar, returning hi-· thank to the king and promising his endeavor of due performance of hi -- duty in his placC', he cmne from the bar into court, and there kn 'elin~, took the oath~ of supremacy nnd allegiance: then Rtnuding he took the oath of jtH1ge: then he was appointed to con1c up to the bench, ancl then his patent (which was only a \\Tit) being rend, the lorcl keeper deliYered it to him. But Sir \Villi:un Jone (the senior puisne judge) sai<l the patent ought to have been rcau before he cmne up to the benclt." t In quiet times, Lonl Chief Justice Brmnpston would haYe * Noy had begun, like I3rampston, n flaming patriot, but, like him and so many other lawyers, had be<>n bought oYer to the side of power by the hope of promotion, and being made attorney aencral h[ld nd,·i::;ed the issue of the writs for ship moneY.- Ed. 0 ' t Cro. Car. 403. These. forms arc no longer used. The chief justice is ~ow sworn in privately before the chancellor; and without any spcechify- 1.ng he enters the court and takes his place on the bench with the oth~r ·~udg:s. But in Scotlnnd they still subject the new judge to trials of his su.ffiClcncy; while these arc going on he is called lord probationer; and he mlght undoubtedly be plucked if the eonrt should think fit. 10 |
