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Show 162 ATROCIOUS JUDGES. (A. D. lf',fl. '' 3. That the lord chief justice be brought to trial, in order to condign punishment in such 1nanner as the !louse shall judge Inost fit and requi "ite." The matter a suming this . erious aspect, he peti tioncd to be heard at the bar of the IIou e in his own uef'encc. Lord Chief Baron Atkynt:, who was then present, says, ' he did it with that great hun1ility and reverence, that tho"e of hi::; own profes. ion and other·· were ~ o far hi:-; ad vo~ates that the lion e de i ted from any farther pro. ecution." IIi , den1eanor eems now to have been as abject as it had before ueen insolen t, and he e caped punishment only uy the generous intercession of lawyers whom he had been in the habit of browbeating in the ICing's Bench. Ile was abundantly tame for the r c:·t of hi~ dayt:i; but he fell into utter contempt, and the l.msines of the court was done by Twis<len, n. Yery learned j uclge, and 1nuch r espected, although very pa .. sionate. l(elynge's collar of S. S. ceased to have any chann ~ for him; he drooped and langui::;hcd for some ternl'', and on the 9th of I\Iay, 1 G71, he expired, to the great relief of all who had any r egard. for the clue administration of justice. No intere:-;t can be felL re ' pecting the place of hi ' intern1ent, hi::~ marriag !,~ , or hi · de 'cendants. I ought to mention, among hi6 other ya niti<\, that he hatl the arnuition to be an author; and. he cotnpile<l a folio volume of dcci.·ions .in criminal ca. es, which are of no value "·batever except to make u laugh at some of the silly egotisms wi th which they abound.* . * And yet it is upon the authority of these worthless reports that' so~e important American decisions have been based. See 13 JUass. Reports, 3,J6, Commonwealth 'l'. Bowen; also the preceding note. - Eel. OHA_PT E R XII. \VILLIAr.I SCROGGS. IT was po itively as ,erte<l in his lifetitne, and jt has been often repeated since, that Scrogg. 'va:-; the .._on of a butcher, and that he was ::;o crue~ as a judge Lccause he had Lecn him. elf accu tomed to kill calves and Jambs when he " ·a," a boy. Yet it i · quite certain that th.is solution of Scrogg. ':3 taste for blood i a pure fidion, for he wa~ torn and bred a gentleman. Ilis father wa a I quire, or rc ~pc·ctable family and good estate, in Oxford ~ hire. Young ~crogg. · was ·everal years at a grammar ... chool, anu he took a uegree ·w.ith some credit in the University of Oxford, having ·t udieJ first at Oriel, and then at Pmnl>roke College. 1 [e was intended for the church, ancl, in quiet titne~, 1night have died rc ·pected as a painstaking curat , or as Arehbi ·hop of Canterbury. But, the civil war breaking out while he wa · . till under age, l1e enlisted in the kinO''s cause and afterwards coinn1anL1ed n. 0 troop of horse, whieh did good service in several evere "'kir-mishes. Unfortunately, his rnora.l, did not c"'cape the taint ·which distinguished both n1en and o!Tiecrs on the Cnsalier side. The di~solnte habit._· he hall cont racted unfitted him entirely for the ecclesin~t i cal profession and he was ad vised to try hi:::, luck in the law. lie hacl a c1nick conception, a. bold manner, anu an enter pri:ing n1ind; and prophecie were uttered of his gr~at ucce . if he should exehange the cuira. s for the long robe. lie was entered as a student at Gray's Inn, and he . ho'vve<l that he was capabl \' lJy short fit., of (163) |