The Sun.
London, England, 1847-12-02 00:00:00

S 17 N, DECEMBER 2, 1847.

THE IRISH BAR.
(Continued from the Law Review.)
Despite of many drawbacks, Norbury was a very ex-
,raordinary man. Short and pursy, with grey, laughing
0) es, he had the singular habit of puffing out his cheeks
between his sentences. To a thorough knowledge of
the world, he added, what perhaps that very knowledge
would create, as thorough a contempt for it. The con-
ventional gravity of the judgment-seat was put to flight
by such expressions as,—" Come, Mr. Everard, mur
your demurrer;" and of course his Court adopted its
chief's example. It could not well be otherwise. His
very laugh was infectious. A stranger passing through
the hall, could at any time have distinguished the Com-
mon Pleas by the incessant merriment %Thiel,
from it. portals. Of that Court at nisi prius, par-
ticularly in summer, it is difficult to convey an adequate
description. As a matter of course, it was always
cross ded to the very ceiling, with an atmosphere to
match. In this, above all things, Norbury delighted,
with the exception of the heat. There he was in his
glory, good humour personified, puffing, and punning,
and panting, till his face became a full moon. At last,
grilled beyond endurance, off went the gown, and the
tails of the wig reversed, hung over his forehead. But
suffer as he might, there was about him a blandness
which it was impossible to ruffle. He was often severely
tried. Amongst the many portents which distinguished
his Court, was a poor monomaniac, whose delusion was
that he was the Chief Justice. Long and good-naturedly
was he tolerated, till, when at last ho threatened to de •
pose the impostor from the bench, the tardy mandate
might be heard, Jackson, turn Lord Norbury out of
court." A nonsuit was never heard of in his time. Some
people gave a reason for it ; Norbury gave another,
rather different, but less serious. "As a constitutional
judge he would not take a case from the jury." " I hope,
my Lord, " said counsel (in a case actually commanding
it), "your Lordship will, for once, have the courage to
nonsuit." In a moment the hair-triggers were sum-
moned. " Courage—I tell you what, Mr. Wallace, there
are two kinds of courage—courage to shoot and courage
to non shoot, and I hope I have both—but non-shoot I
certainly will not;" and no possible argument could in-
duce him. He was an inveterate punster, and a first-
rate one, too, if, according to Swift, the worst are the
best. Bitter things, however, at times he said, and
things to be remembered. There was a gentleman of high
rank once tried before him for arson. He was acquitted
—not, however, by the verdict of the mob who, in
defiance of the jury. called his house Moscow." The
first place in which Norbury and he met after trial, was
at a levee. " How do you do, my Lord?" " How do—
how do—glad to meet you here." ''Paying my farewell
visit as a bachelor, my Lord, I'm going to become a
Benedict." " Glad to hear it, Mr. C. Saint Paul says,
you know, better marry than burn."
It is singular enough that, with good humour ever in
his looks, and merriment also ever on his lips, this man's
nature was obdurate and callous. He had no sympathy
for human suffering, no feeling even for himself. Ile
valued not his life at a pin's fee, and it was as dangerons
as it was difficult to provoke him. His friends knew
this, and the fact gave rise to an incident in which his
shrewdness and determination blended humorously.
Towards the close of life, when the failure of his facul-
ties became manifest, the then Viceroy, the Marquis
Wellesley, decided on giving him a hint to resign,
through the well- known Under-Secretary, Mr. Gregory.
Norbury got scent of it, and instantly was his decision
taken. He sent for Gregory, led him to his library,
and, as he turned the key, assumed that fiery scowl with
which Gregory was familiar as portending mischief.
" Gregory, I have long looked on you as my oldest
friend, and severely now am I about to test that friend.
ship The most momentous incident of my life is at
hand; I am about to be publicly and grossly insulted—l,
who never brooked even a saucy look from any one!
Will you believe it, Gregory, our mock-king at the
castle is actually meditating a message to me to resign
my office! Did you ever hear of such audaeity! such
poltroonry too! Of course the fellow won't fight. But
my mind's made up, his ruffian messenger shall have my
life, or never return with his own—no—not though he
was my brother. Gregory, my old and valued friend,
will you stand by me? The hair-triggers are as ready
as in the days of Napper Tandy." That very day the
private closet of the castle saw the horror-stricken Gre-
gory most respectfully declining the confidential mission.
The blow, thus for the time averted, came at last. It
came, however, in writing. All Norbury asked, was a
postponement, till he could consult a friend. The pro-
mise being given—the friend was in India—and—a year
was gained. At last, however, falling asleep en the
bench during a trial for murder, a petition to Parliament
compelled his resignation. His last act was characteristic.
He had for his neighbour an old nobleman who had
been bedridden for years. Hearing from his physician
that, though he himself was in no immediate danger,
still in all probability he would never rise from his bed,
he very deliberately rung the bell for his servant:—
"James, go next door, and tell Lord Erne, with my com-
pliments, that it's now a dead-heat between us." When
he was not on the bench he was on horseback.
Ono of his brethren in the Common Pleas deierves a
passing notice. In truth, Mr. Justice Fletcher was, in
his own way, almost as great an original as his chief.
A good lawyer, for the time in which ho lived, and,
what is good in all times, a very humane judge : but,
bear's skin disguised a kindly nature ; uncouth in
manner, and independent in principle, he cared neither
what he said, nor whom he encountered. The ultra-
liberalism of his celebrated charge to the Wexford grand
jury threw the whole country into a flame, and well nigh
drew down on him the vengeance of Government. By
way of propitiating them, be revised, strengthened, and
published it as a pamphlet. The surliness of his manner
produced a mot from Mr. French, which should not be
forgotten. About five o'clock every day Fletcher
became ravenously hungry ; the peasantry said he had
a wolf in his stomach. Ono day, just on the advent of
the hungry hour, French commenced a long cross-
examination; sundry and wryful were the contortions of
Fletcher, and dogged in proportion the pertinacity of
French. At length the hour of six sounded audibly.
Flesh and blood—at all events, flesh and blood like
Fletcher's—could stand it no longer, the outburst came:

" the great business we transacted together and the
profits you got out of me !" " Profits, profits!"
shrieked the woman in a fury, and, tearing off her
petticoat, she shouted, " Look there, gentlemen ; I
gave him 35 centimes, a metre for this rubbish. Judge
from that of the profits he enabled me to realize!"
The interrogatories of the other prisoners presented
nothing remarkable, neither did the evidence given
against them ; but it may he stated that it transpired
that one of the persons robbed by the gang died from
grief; and that several others were completely ruined.
It also appeared that several of the prisoners suddenly
fell on Dufour, whilst in prison, and nearly killed him
for having made revelations. After hearing speeches
from a great number of advocates for the prisoners,
the President severally asked the accused if they
had anything to add in their defence ? Thibert
merely answered, that all that he had said was the
truth, and he demanded the indulgence of the
court. Dickers said :—" A word, I beg of you.
Permit me to remind you, that in spite of great dan-
gers with which we were threatened in becoming
informers, we have come here and told you the truth.
The revelations we have made place an impassable
barrier between us and crime. We have been se
verely treated by the advocates of the other prisoners,
we have been called cowards—infamous ; but we
can bear these reproaches, for God gives strength to
those who desire to lead a new life, and enables them
to bear everything ! No, we are not infamous I What
interest could cause us to make revelations when the
dungeon awaits us ? It was to break with crime for
ever that we acted as we have done I" All this was
said with great apparent humility. The accused
named Roche said that it mattered little to him what
sentence was passed on him, for the condemnations
already heaped on him would not be satisfied until he
should be 70 years of age ; but he made an earnest
appeal on behalf of the woman named Deschamps,
with whom he had lived, because, he said, he had led
her into crime. Hermann cried, "I am the father
of ten children, nine of whom are dependent on me
for their bread. I have a father aged 87, and a
mother aged 86, who also depend on me ; they all
call on me for food—let me earn it for them !" The
others either protested their innocence or made in-
significant observations. The President summed
up the case with great minuteness, and the jury,
after some hours' deliberation, returned with
their verdict. The undermentioned having been
found guilty, had the following sentences passed
on them :—Thibert, 10 years' reclusion ; Dufour
and Dickers, 10 and 8 years' reclusion ' • I'rudhomme,
10 years hard labour at the hulks; Chobeaux and
Roche, 20 years' hard labour at the hulks; Lepreuil
and Hermann, 5 and 2 years' imprisonment; Bar-
thelmey 10, Lefevre 7, the woman Therese Des-
champs, 6, and the woman Pierrot, 5 years' hard
labour at the hulks; Masson, Villette, Roseau, and
Levy, each ten years' reclusion; Lejeune and Pruvot,
8 years; Plumerland and Saunier, 7 years; Laronilly,
Espagne, the woman Espagne, Broquet, Pierrot,
Kauffmann, and a girl named Viollet, to 5 years' re-
clusion ; Gosset, Larzilliere, Langrade, Bombard,
13roquet, and Guerin, to 5 years' imprisonment; a
woman named Masson, Boudet, Banet, and widow
Rich, to 3 years; Forfeit, a girl named Clement,
and Hugo, to 2 years of the same penalty. Nineteen
prisoners were acquitted, viz. :—Feret, Renard,
Rueff, Commun, Bonneville, a girl named Lecomte,
the woman Lecomte, Lefrancois, the woman
Lefrancois, Merot, Gillet, the woman Gillet,
Savatier, Goudon, the woman Goudon, Legros,
Brunswick, Bonnet, and Jacques. The con-
demned Hermann was much affected, and cried—
"Oh my wife! Oh my children !" The woman
Pierrot fainted, and was carried away senseless. The
girl Viollet wept bitterly, but attempted to console
Dickers, with whom she had lived. The prisoners
who were acquitted manifested great joy, and thanked
the jury by expressive gestures.

—" Lord of heaven, Mr. French, do you mean to keep
me here all night, like a bear tied to a stake?" " Oh,
no, my Lord," said French, bowing reverentially, " not
tied to a stake." In allusion to this failing, Bushe used
humorously to describe Fletcher, when previously pa-
cifiLd by substantials, as amusing himself by " playing
on an eel," the process being his taking the head in one
hand and the tail in the other, and then, Pandean
fashion, running the body through his teeth! No two
men could possibly be more dissimilar than these ermined
brethren. Fletcher, humane, learned, and uncourteous,
—Norbury, shallow, good-humoured, and severe. The
one all sincerity, meaning what he said. The other all
surface, meaning nothing at all. The Chief Justice was
the most hospitable man in the most hospitable of coun-
tries,—that is, so far as invitations went. He incited
every one to his country-house, and the duration of tho
visit conferred an obligation in proportion to its length. '
The invitations were all to the country, the town house
being inconveniently near. There was a ludicrous story
rife in those days of a simple old couple who actually
believed that the " When will you kindly spend a week
with me in the country?" meant what it expressed.
Packing up, therefore, the requisites for a week, they in-
nocently presented themselves at the country-house.
The hospitable inviter, but most unintentional host, re-
ceived them with amazement, but with his usual self-
possession. His presence of mind quailed not at the
lady's maid and the bandboxes, and the heavy imperial
and all the manifest indications of a protracted sojourn.
On the contrary, he sprang forward, his whole person
mantled in affability—" My kind friends—my dear old
friends—this is so like you—so very good of you ; now
no excuses, I must positively insist on your—staying to
dinner." When some burglars subsequently paid the
"country-house" a visit, the jest went that it was " by a
general invitation."