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Show CHA.PTER XIV. EDl\iUND SAUNDER . TrrERE never was a 1nore flagrant abu~e of the prerogn.tive of the crown than the appointment of a chief justice of the ICing's Bench for the undi guise<.l purpo.~e of giving judgment for the de:struction of the charter"' of the cily of London, as a ,'tep to the cstablislnnent of de.~poti:sm over the land. Sir hclmund Saunders accompli ·hed this t:vk efl'cctually, and \Yould, \\'ithout scruple or ren1or~e, have given any other illcgHl jndg1nent r equire(1 of him by a corrupt government. Yet I feel inclined to treat his f~liling-., with lenience, antl tho~e who become acquainted with hi· eharactcr are apt to have a lurking kindne~s i(n· him. Frotn the di ·advantage of his birlh nnd breeding, he lw.d li ttle 1noral di~ci plinu ; and he not only ~howcd ·wonderful talent"', but vel'y amiable social qualities. IIis rise wa. most extraordinary, and he may be con idered as our ler;al TVhittin,r;ton. " lie wa at flr::t," .. n.'T I~oger ... ortb, " no better t11an n poor beagar-boy, if not n. parish foundling, without known parents or relation . . " The re can be no doubt that, when a boy, he was <li ~ covered wandering about the . treels of Lonuon in the most de titute condition- pen niles , friendle.-s, without having 1 ::~arned any trade, withouL having rcceiYed :wy education. Dnt although his parentage wns unknown to the conte1nporaries with whon1 he lived when he had advanced himself i11 the world, recent jnquirie have a. certnincd that he was born in 'the pari~h of Darnwood, close by the city of (218) A. D.lGM.J ED~IUND SA UNDER • 240 Gloucester; antl his father, who was above the lowest rank of life, died when he was an iufant, anJ tl1at hi~ 1nothcr took for her second hu ~lJand a nuu1 of the name of Gregory, lo whom she bore several children. "\V e know nothing more respecting him, with certainty, t ill h} presented hin1.;;;C'lf in the mctro1 olis ; and we are left to inl[tgine that he might lmve been driven to roam abroad for . ub:i~tence, by reason of his mother's cottage Leing levelled to the ground during the siege of Glouce tcr; or that, b )ing hardly used by l1is step-father, he had run away, and had accompanied the broad ·whecled wagon to London, where he had heard that riches and plenty abounded. The little fugitive found halter in Clemc>nL' Inn, where "he lived by obseq uiousne;"'.;:, and courting the atlorney ~' clerks for scrap·." IIc Legan a "' an errand boy, and hi" remarkable diligence and ol>liging dispo.::ition created a ge neral iutcre~t in his f~tvor. Ext)rc. sino- an ca o-cr am bit ion to learn to wri tc, [ 0 b one of t~e attorney~ of the Inn got a board knocked up at a window on the top of a . taircase. Thi~ wa, his desk, anLl, sitting here, he not only lcarne<l the ruJuting hand of the time, but COUrt hand U{ac,~ /{'{{fr, and eugross/Jifj, and made him ' Plf "an expert entering clerk." In wiuter, while at work, he co,·ered his . houldcr · with a blanket, tied lwy Land: round hi legs, an<l n1rrcle the blood circulate through his fingers by ruLuing then1 ,~·hen they grew stiff. I Ii, next ~t p wa: to copy deed and law papers, at o much a folio or pngc, by which he was enalJled to procure for him elf whole ome foo <l and decent clothes. l\Ieanwhile he not only :•ickcd up a knowledge of Nor man } rench and law Latin, bul, by lJorrowing books, acquired a deep in ~ight into the principles of conveyancing and pceial pleading. Ry and by 1he friend:; .. |
