were at last so far overcome by his firmness as to offer him the office of Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench; but stoutly made a difficulty about his peerage, in the hope that, not gaining all he desired, he might still change his mind. From the following letter to Lord Hardwicke it appears that there had been a good deal of discussion on this subject: "June 26, 1756. "My Lord,—I don't know whether the way in which I chose to express myself last night, when I said I had always considered the peerage & Ch. J. as going together, sufficiently conveyed that without the one I wished to decline all pretensions to the other. Upon reflexion, as I have no hesitation, & never thought otherwise, I think it the most decent way to speak to be understood; for it wou'd grieve me extreamly to have the King twice troubled in any respect on my account. No possible event can alter my anxiety for his ease or service. "I beg once more to give vent to the sentiments of my heart by saying, that the sense of my obligations to your ld will be as conspicuous as my friendship to the Duke of Newcastle, which can only end with the life of "Y' L most obliged, & obd' humble serv "W. MURRAY." 1 The Duke of Newcastle, pretending that the King was very reluctant to grant the peerage, wrote thus to the Attorney General: 66 'Kensington, July 2, 1756. "Dear Sir,-The King ask'd, whether I had seen Murray. I said, yes. 'Well, what says he?' Extremely sensible, Sir, of your Majesty's great goodness to him, but wishes not to accept the one without the other.' 'Why must I be forced? I will not make him a Peer 'till next session.' Sir, all that Mr. Murray desires is, that they may be defer'd. I apprehend that it would be difficult, tho' perhaps possible, to make the Chief Justice this term.' 'I know, that may be delay'd; or it is not necessary to do it now;'-and here ended the discourse. I hope I have done right. I am sure I intended I Hardwicke MSS., Wimple. it; but it is my misfortune to be distrusted by those from whom I never did deserve it. "I am, dear Sir, "HOLLIS NEWCASTLE."' Murray was evidently aware of the juggle, and declared that without the peerage he would neither accept the Chief Justiceship nor remain Attorney General. If we may trust to the sincerity of the following letter from the Duke of Newcastle to Lord Hardwicke, his Grace had first given way: "Was I singly to consult my own wishes, or perhaps my own interest, your Lordship knows what my thoughts are; but when I consider that the present question is, whether Mr. Attorney General shall remain in the House of Commons, out of the King's service, or be Ch. Justice and a peer, I own I think the first would be attended with great inconveniencies to the King's service, & I should hope that his Majesty would be graciously pleased to grant his request, in consideration of the zeal & ability which he has showed for a considerable number of years, in the employments with which his Majesty has honored him." It was pretty plainly perceived that if Mr. Murray were now refused his just demands, he might be expected to be seen speedily in the House of Commons an Opposition leader; and the King's scruples being easily overcome, the Chancellor wrote to announce that Mr. Attorney was to be Chief Justice and a peer. The following is the cold, stiff, and hypocritical reply: "Sunday night, Oct. 24, 1756. "My Lord, I am just come to town, and found your Lordship's letter. It is impossible to say how much I feel your Lordship's great goodness and attention to me. throughout this whole affair. The business of my life at all times and on all occasions shall be to show the gratitude with which I have the honor to be "Your Lordship's most obliged "and ob' hum: serv "W. MURRAY." 1 Hardwicke MSS., Wimple. On Monday, the 8th day of November, 1756, Murray was sworn in Chief Justice of the King's Bench before Lord Chancellor Hardwicke, and sreated a peer by the title of Baron Mansfield, of Mansfield in the courty of Nottingham. The following day the Administration to which he had belonged was dissolved; but surely he is not to be blamed for the firmness which he exhibited in refusing to remain longer its champion in the House of Commons. No party considerations could require from him a useless sacrifice; and, for the welfare of the state, it was much better to bend to public opinion, and to make way for a new minister who might restore confidence and conduct the war in which England was involved to an honorable issue. Morally speaking, he had as good a right to the office which he demanded, as the eldest son has to the fee-simple lands of which his father died seized. He was by far the fittest man in the profession to fill it, and he had earned it by professional services such as no law officer had ever rendered to any government. The appointment was almost universally praised. A very few illiberal individuals, trying as far as they were able to justify the imputation cast upon the English by Lord Lovat when he said that his "cousin Murray's birth in the north might mar his rise," grumbled because a Scotsman was placed at the head of the administration of justice in Westminster Hall, and tried invidiously to account for his rise by saying that "he had no merit beyond the dogged industry which distinguished his poverty-stricken countrymen;" but all generous spirits 1 1 Thus he was assailed in a letter, addressed to the editor of a newspaper, supposed to have been written by a brother lawyer with whom he was on familiar terms of intimacy:-"I should be sorry to see a Scotchman on an English bench of justice, for several reasons; which I hope may occur to the wisdom of the great in power before such judges are appointed, as it may not be very proper for me to mention them. An Englishman ought not to be put under the dominion of a Scot. It would prove an indelible reflection upon us to see a Scot in so high a station, when so many of our own Countrymen are infinitely better qualified and more deserving of preference. I remember an old friend of mine used to tell me of 'a termagant Scot,' as Shakspeare phrases it, that domineered at the bar of one of our courts of justice, in the reign of one of our kings who was second of his name,— probably Charles or James the Second, for it is natural to believe the plaid might meet with encouragement here in these reigns. This Scot emerged frankly admitted his superiority for genius and acquirements, and scornfully repudiated the notion that, after the whole Island of Great Britain had been united under a common legislature, regard was to be had, in filling any office under the Crown, to the birth-place rather than to the qualifications of the candidate. Before following him in the new sphere which he entered, I ought to notice the graceful manner in which he concluded his career at the bar. To comply with ancient forms, it was necessary, as a preliminary step to his becoming a judge, that he should take upon himself the degree of the coif, and be transferred from Lincoln's Inn to Sergeants' Inn. The head of the Society of which leave is taken, on this occasion, in a complimentary speech, addresses the retiring member,-who makes a suitable reply. The Honorable Charles Yorke (afterwards so brilliant in his life, and so unfortunate in his death) was then Treasurer of Lincoln's Inn. In presenting to the new Sergeant the votive offering of a purse of gold, he with good taste as well as warmth referred to the luster he had conferred upon the English bar, and the qualifications he possessed for the high office to which he was appointed by the King with the most auspicious anticipations of the people. The foilowing was the reply,-which, we are told by Mr. Holliday, who was present, was delivered with the greatest grace, ease, and perspicuity:' "I am too sensible, sir, of my being undeserving of the praises which you have so elegantly bestowed upon me, to suffer commendations so delicate as yours to insinuate themselves into my mind; but I have pleasure in that kind of partiality which is the occasion of them. from his native wealds, rocky caverns, and mountainous heights pretty early in life, to fineer over a Scotch education with a little English erudition, and undoubtedly for preferment too. He brought along with him the same principles of government and loyalty as his country and family were remarkable for, and what his brother carried over to Rome, like apples to Alcinous, or coals to Newcastle. One would think such an opportunity might have had some gentle influence on the rugged nature of our emigrant, his pauper pride and native insolence; but it happened otherwise, for the Scot could not alter his nature; and so, in the midst of all the learning of our courts, he continued still a very Scot."-Broadbottom Journal. 1 Holliday, p. 105. To deserve such praises is a worthy object of ambition; and from such a tongue flattery itself is pleasing. "If I have had, in any measure, success in my profession, it is owing to the great man who presided in our highest courts of judicature the whole time I attended the bar. It was impossible to attend him, to sit under him every day, without catching some beams from his light. The disciples of Socrates, whom I will take the liberty to call the great lawyer of antiquity, since the first principles of all law are derived from his philosophy, owe their reputation to their having been the reporters of the sayings of their master. If we can arrogate nothing to ourselves, we can boast the school we were brought up in; the scholar may glory in his master, and we may challenge past ages to show us his equal. "My Lord Bacon had the same extent of thought, and the same strength of language and expression; but his life had a stain. My Lord Clarendon had the same ability and the same zeal for the constitution of his country; but the civil war prevented his laying deep the foundations of law, and the avocations of politics interrupted the business of the Chancellor. "My Lord Somers came the nearest to his character; but his time was short, and envy and faction sullied the luster of his glory. "It is the peculiar felicity of the great man I am speaking of, to have presided very near twenty years, and to have shone with a splendor that has risen superior to faction, and that has subdued envy. "I did not intend to have said, I should not have said so much on this occasion, but that in this situation with all that hear me, what I say must carry the weight of testimony rather than appear the voice of panegyric. "For you, sir, you have given great pledges to your country; and large as the expectations of the pubiic are concerning you, I dare say you will answer them. "For the Society I shall always think myself honored by every mark of their esteem, affection, and friendship, and shall desire the continuance of it no longer than |