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Show 192 ATROCIO"CS JUDGES. [A. D. 1655. thought only of the useful knowledge he was acquiring, and the advantaae to be derived from the countenance of a man 0 so looked up to. Lord Chief Justice I-Iyde generally rode the Norfolk cir-cuit, and o con1pletely had North taken the 1neasure of his foot, that n1y lord called him '' cousin" in open court, " which was a declaration that he would take it for a re 'pect to himself to bring him causes." The biographer to whom we are so n1uch indebted lays it down that there i" no harm in a judge letting it be known "that a particular counsel will be easily heard before him, and that his errors and lapses, when they happen, will not oifencl hi. lord 'hip or hurt the cause." The morality of the bar in those days will be better understood by the following observa.tion~ of sitnplc Roger: " In circuit practice there is need of an exqui ·ile knowledge of the judge' humor, a well ns hi · l earning aud ability to try cause·; and he, North, was a wonderful a~·tbt at watching a ju<lge's tendency, to make it serve his turn, and yet never failed to pay the greatest r egard. au<l deference to his opinion i for so they get credit; becau. ·c the j ~tdge for the most part thinks that person the best lawyer that 'respects 1nost his opinion. I haYe heard his lordship ay, that sometimes he hath been forced to give up a caLL e to the judge' ... opinion when he (the judge) was plainly in the ·wrong, and when more contradiction had bui made him more positive; and, besides, that in so doing he himself had weakened his own credit with the judge, thereby been less able to set him right when he wns inclined to it. A good opinion, o gained often helps at another time to good purpose, and sometime to ill purpose; as I heard it credibly reported of Se1jeant Maynard that, being the leading counsel in a small feed cause, he would give it up to the A. D.lG55.] 1 ~ ) 3 judge's 1nistake, and not contend to ~ et h in1 right, that lw might gain credit to n1i lead hin1 in some other cau. e in w hieh he was well feed." rrhese gentlemen of the lono· robe ouo·ht b tJ to have changed places in court with the highwayn1cn they were retained to prosecute.* There \Vas no non en "e, however a rrant, a . illy juLl<rc • 0 1mght speak in deciding for North, which he would not bad~ . Thus a certain 1\Ir. J u ' tiee Archer, who eem~· to have been the laughing stock of the profes~ion, having, to the amuse ment of the juniors, "not cJ a diifL' r ence bct\veen a rcnuneiaLion of an executorship upon record and1:n pais," ?ilorlh aiel, "Ay, my lord; just so, u1y lord; " upon wbieh his lordship became as £erce as a lion, and would not hear the argument on the othe1• side. But even such a learned and scnsiulc judge as Chief J ustiee Ila.le, North could wiu by an affect ation of modesty, diffidence, and profound veneration. Early in his Career, when he found it ui(ficult tO get to his pl[l.Ce in a very crowded court, Sir ~Iatthew said frotn the bench, '' Go o d people, make way for this little gentleman ; he will soon Inake way for hitnself." IIi· consultations were euonnously long, and he gained va::;t applause at them by his care and dexterity in p robing the cause, starting objection."', invcntinO' r)oints foretelliuO' wlmt 0 ' 0 woulu b e sa1· a b y the opposite coun ·el and by the judge, and showinOb ' ho w the ver(1 1. ct m1. ght be lost or was to be ::;ecured ; out, to Inake security doubly sure, after rna tering the re~ord and perusing the deeds to be given in e vidence, he hintself ~. This sort of t· d prac 1ee on the weakness of juuges, keeping them ia pgol"o hbu mor by fl a. ttc ry and complaisance, may possibly, as the text im· co1Cs, e abandoned in England, but in America it is still suffici<.>ntly mmon. - Ed. 17 |
