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Show 202 ATltOClOC.; .J(TDG t:::3 . [A. D. 1 C7 ~ . at that hom}~ and by the sitting of the court he ha<l gone through his brief~ and was ready to do ample ju tice to hi ' ('1i ent . Fees now flowed in upon hin1 so fa::,t that he hardly knew h ow to dispose of them. lie seem to have taken them from his clients with his own hanJ. At one time he had hnd n fancy, for hi::; health, to wear a sort of ~kullcap. lie now routed out three of the~ e, which 1 placed on the table before him, anJ into the e he di ~ tril>uteu the ca h as it was paiu to him. "One had the gold, another the crown3 and half crowns, and another the smaller money." \Vhen these r e"sels were full, they were con1mitlcu to his brother Roger, who tolu out the pieces and put them into bags, which he carried to Child's, the goldsmith, at Temple Bar. t Bn t still l\Ir. Attorney \VUS d is.--atisfieJ with his po ·ition. lie could not but be 1nortiilcd Ly his in ' ignificance in the liouse of Commons. The country party there was rapidly gainino- streno-th, and althouo-h it was not then u 'ual for the 0 0 u crown to turn out its law offtcert> on a ehanrre of 1nini 'ters, he 0 began to be very much frightenell br threats of impeachment uttered ao-ain t all who were instrumental in executing the 0 1neasures of the goycrnn1cnt. Shaftesbury wa in furious oppos1t10n. 'Vhile only at the h ca<l of a mall minority in the !louse of Lords, the Ilouse of C01nmons was 1nore and m.ore under his influence. North was exceedingly timid, always conjuring up imaginary dangers, and e.·aggerating such as he had to encounter. lie now exceedingly longed to *· This early rising rendered it necessary for him to take "a short turn in the other world after dinner." t Roger assures us he did not purloin any part of the treasure, for which h0 t::tkes infmite credit to himself. A. D. 1G7 :>.J FHA~ C l :S N OR TH. lay his heaJ on "the cu hion of the Comn10n Plea ~," in tead of running the risk of its being laiJ on the block 011 Tower Hill. Vaughan, the chief justice of that court, died, and North'~ wi -hes were accompli ~hcd, notw iLh tanding some intrigues to elevate Sir William J one ~ or Sir "\Villiau1 1\I outagu. 'Vhen it came to the pinch, North wn. rath er shocked to think of the sacrifice of profit which he was making, " for the attorney':-) place was (with hi ~ practice) ncar seven thousand pounds per annum, and the cu Lion of the Common Pleas not above four thousand. But accepting, he accounted himself enfranchised from the court brigues and attendances at the price of the difference." North held the oilice of chief justice of the Common Pleas nearly eight years, which 1nay be div.iucd into two period~ - 1 t. From his appointment till the formation of the Council of 'rhirty~ on the r eco1nn1e ndation oC Sir "\Villimn T emple, in the year 1 G7D ; 2Jly. Fro1n tlwncc till he recei \·cd the great seu1, in the end of the year 1 G0:2. During the former be mixed little in politic_.;, an(l devoting him:elC to his j urid.icn1 uuties, he discharged them cr editably. At this ti1ne, and for long after , th' emoluments of the juuges in 'V c tminster II all depended chiefly upon fees, and there was a great compe tition between the diHerent court~ for business. The I{ino-'s B ench ori rrinallv in 'Litu teu for crim-b ' 0 ·' jnul proceedings, had, by a dexterous usc of their writ of "lall'tat," tricked the C01n1non Pleas of almost all civil actions; ancl when the new chief i u .. Lice took his seaL, he " found his court a desert. There was hardly sufficient busi-ness to countenance his coming every day in ter1n to 've~ tminster IIall, while the Rrrj eants n.n<l officers were r epining |