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Show 198 ATROCIOlJS .JUDGES. [.\. D. 1070. the circuit, and he set the exmnple, generally followed for one hundred and fifty years, of 1naking the Court of Chancery his principal place of practice, on being promotecl to be a law officer of the crown ; henceforth going to other courts only in ca.,es in which the crown wa · concerned, or w hieh were of very great magnitude. To keep up his law, when he coulll be spared from the Court of Chancery, he stepped. aerO'S the hall and seated himself in the Court of 1\::ing's Bench, ' with hi~ note book in his hand, reporting a~ the students about the court did, and during the whole time of his practice every Christmas he read over Littleton's 'fenures." Ilc had hitherto practised conYeyancing to a con ·iderable extent.; but he now turned. over this bu11iness to Sidcrfin the reporter, whom he appointed. to serve hitn in the caracity of ' devil," a he himself haJ. crvecl Sir J effrey l)almer. lie was on very decent terms with Sir lien no-e Finch who hncl much a ' sisted 0 ' his promotion; but he showed his characteristic cunning by an expedient he adopted to get the la.rgc."'t slw,re of the patent business. Then, as now, a1l patent of dignity belong cxclu~ ively to the attorney general; but the v;rarrants for all other patents might be carried either 1.9 the attorney or .·olicitor. North, with much dexterity, took into hi:::; employment a clerk of Sir Jeffrey Palmer, who wa, reputed to have a mngazine of the best precedents, and who had great interc~t among the attorneys, whereby nutny patents carne to his chambers which otherwise would have gone to the attorney general's. But if he wa eager to get 1noney, he spent it frc~e1y. lie wa' now appointed "autun1n reader" of the l\Iitldlc Temple, nnd though the fc .. tivity was not honored with the pre encc of royalty, like Finch's, in the Inner 'femple, it was conducted sumptuou ly, and cost him above a thousanll pounus. lie took • A. D. 1C70.J FRA~ r:; :\ ORTfi. 199 for his subject" The Statute of Fines," whieh he treated very learnedly, and the arguer."' against him, the be"t lawy"rs cf the society, did their part very stout1y. On the ''Grand Day" all the king's chief rninister.:; attenJ.e<l, an<l the profusion of the best provi ·ions and wine led to sueh debauchery, disorder, tumult, and wa. te, that this was the la:t puLlic reading in the Inns of Court, the lectures being di:continucd and the banqueting commuted tor a finf'. I must not. pas"' over hi=-' love , although they were not very romantic or chivalron ~. lie was de;;irous or bci11g 1narried, among other rea:on., because lte was tired of dining in the hall and. eating "a eostclet and salad at Chnstelin's in tlle evening with a frienu;" and he wishetl to enjoy Lhe plea:,ures of domestic life. One wouhl hnse t110ught that the younger son of a peer, of great r eputation at tlte bar~ solicitor gencrnl at thirty-one, and ri,'ing to the highest ofllccs ]n the law, might have had no difficulty in Jnatchin6 to his 1nincl; Lut he met with various rebuff::; and disappointments. Above all, he required wealth, which it seems was not then en ily lo be obtained without the di ·play of a long rent roll. lie first addres ed the <laughter of an o1cl u"urer in Grny' · Inn, who speedily put an end to the , uit l>y asking hi1n "what c~tate his father intended to settle upon him for present Inaintcnancc, jointure, and provision for chill1ren.'' lie coultl not :ati:..;(y this requisition by an "abstract" of his '' profltaLlc rood of ground in W esttninster II all." Ile then paiu court to a coquettish young witlow ; but aft~..:r .,bowing him some f~tvor, she jilted him for a jolly old knight of good e tate. Tile next proposition wa made by hitn to a city alderman, the father of many daughters, who, it was given out, were to have each a portion of .. ix thon:and pound"'. North dinrd with the |