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Show .ATitOCIO GS J GD G ES. [A. D. 16 3. ". i th ? " It m1. g l1 t l1 ave b een answerecl t Iu tt, LI 1 ough th e king and the courtiers made u e of hin1 for their own end , they bad seen his actions, under tood his eharactcr, and had no great respect for him. Till Jeffreys was a little further aclYanced, they could not run the risk of breaking with him ; but then he was subjected to all sorts of 1nurtificati0n und 1n ~ uHs. On the fh· ~ t day of the :following Ilila.ry tern1 he took his place in the Court of Chancery. By this time he wa in posses ion of his predecessor's hou. c in G reat Quetn Street, Lincoln's Inu Fields, and he had a g rand proces ion from thence to vV estminster II all, attcnd(;d by the D uke of Ormond, the Earl of Craven anJ Rochester, the great officers of state, ancl the judges. Ile took the oaths, the 1na tcr of the rolls holding the book. Ile doe not a ppear to have ueliYererl any inaugural addre ~ s. The attendant lords .. taid and hcanl a motion or two, and then depnrtccJ, leaving the lord keeper in court. They might have been well ainu ·ed if they had remained. For the crooked purpo e. of the government, with a Yicw to th e d1' f rancl 1.1 m. g o f the city of London by the quo warranto defending against it, Pemberton * was thi day to b \ r emo\·ecl fi·om being chief justice of the l{ing'.· B ench to be chief justice of the Comn1on Plea. , and Edmund Saundcr "' was to be at once raised from weari!Jg a st uff gown at the bar to be chief justice of the ICing's Bench. This keen but unscrupulous lawyer was previously to be made a se1jeant, that be might be qualified to be a judge, and, con1ing into the Court * Pemberton had been appointed to succeed Scrogcrs as chief j ustice of the King's Be h b t t b · 5 nc • u no emg found quite serviceable cnouah was now r emove d m· to another court.- Eel. b ' A. D. 1683.] 1• RAN CIS N 0 RTII. 221 of Chancery, he pre entecl the lord k eeper with a ring for himself, and another for the k ing, in ·cribcd with t he courtly motto, " Princz'pi sic placn£t." 'The lord kerper then accoin panied hi1n into court where he ·wa. io pre ·ide, called him to the bench, and made hitn a ·p eech on the duties of hi. office. The ceremonie:s of the day were concluded by his lord -hip afterwards going to his old court, the C01nmon Plea , and there swearing in Pemberton as hi · ·ucccssor, whom he congratulated upon ' the ease with dignity" which he was now to enjoy. Parasites and p refern1ent-hunters crowded the levee of the new lord keeper. IIe was im1nediately waited upon by the courtly Evelyn, who discovered in him a thon and good qualities.* In the mid t of these blandi "hments he applied him elf with laudable diligence to the di. charge of hi , judicial du ties. He declared that he wa shockecl by many abuses in the Court of Chancery, and he found faul t with the 1nanner in which his two predecessor s, Bridgeman ancl Nottingham, had allowed the practice of the court to lead to delay and expense. North's conduct as a law r eforn1er was cx tre1nely characteristic. l i e talked n1uch of is uin cr a new et of " rules and 0 orders" to remedy all aLu e , but he was a fraid " that it would give so great alann to the bar and ofllcers, ·with the solicitors, as would make them confederate and demur, and, by making a tumult and disturbance, endeavor to hinder the * "s·t r F · North bcinO' m~e lord k eeper on the death of the E., ar 1 o r Nottingham, the lord ch~ncellor I went to concrratul::tte him. lie is a. most k . ' 0 nowmg, learneu, and ingenious person ; and, beside's having an excellent p. ers• on ' 0 f an m· genuous and sweet disposi tion, very sk ·t lfu l m· musl·C , pa·m t - mg, the new philosophy, and political studies." -llfem. i. 513. Judge Kane is said to be quite an accomplished person.- Ed. 19 * |
