Litchfield enquirer. [volume] (Litchfield, Conn.) 1829-current, 1849-03-01
LITcHTTELD, (coNH,) THURSDAY MARCH l. la4e

ScHSlOlc IA shame anu IluS JcHFeyS, a
an age which a barrister thinks himsel
fortunate if he is employed to lead an i'm
portant cause, was made Chief Justice O
the Kings BENCH &c.,
His enemies could not deny that he
possessed some of the qualities Of grea!
Judge. His legal knowledge, indeed
was merely such as he had picked up ir
practice Of no very high kind: but he had
one Of THOSE happily constituted intel
lects which, across labyrinths Of sophls-
try and through masses of immaterial
facts, 60 straight to the true point. O.
his intellect, however, he had seldom tn.
full use. Eren in civil causes hi. mAlcvo-
lent and despotic temper perpetually dis
ordered his Judgment. To enter his
court was to enter, ths 7den ofsa wild
beast, which none could tame, and which
was as likely to be reused to rage by ca
resses as by attacks,--He frequently
poured forth on plaintiffs and defendants,
barrlsters and attorneys, witnesses and
jurymen, torrents of frantic abuse, inter-
mixed with oaths and curses. His looks
and tones had inspired terror when he
was merely young advocate struggling
into practice. Now that he was at the
head of the most formidable tribunal in
The realm, there were few indeed who did
not tremble before him. Even when he
was sober, his violence was sufficiently
frightful; but, in general, his reason was
overloaded, and his evil passions stimu-
lated by the fumes of intoxicatior. His
evenings were ordinarily given to revelry.
People who saw him only over his bottle
would have supposed him to be man
gross indeed, scottish, and addicted to
low company and low merriment, but So
cal and good humored. He was con
stantIy surrounded on such occasions by
buffoons, selected for the most part, from
among the vilest pet,ifoggers who pract
sed before him. These men bantered and
abused each other for his entertainment.
He joined in their ribald talk, sang catch
es with them, and. when his head grew
hot, Rugged and kissed them in an costa
cy of drunken fondness. But though
wine at first seemed to soften his heart,
the effect a few hours later was very diff
| ferent. He often came to the judgment
tseat, having kept the court waiting long,
and yet having but half slept off his de-
bauch, his cheeks on fire, his eyes staring
like those of maniac. When he was
in this state, his boon companiors of the
preceding night, if they were wise, kept
out of his way, for the recollection Of the
familiar. ty to which he had admitted them
inhamed his maIignity, and he was sure
70 takeeyess opportunity Of 4yerwbelm.
| ing them with eXccration and lnvcctivc.
Not the least odious Of his many odious
peculiarites was the pleasure which he
took in publicly browbeating and morti-
flying those whom, in his ssof maudlin
tenderness, he had encouraged to pre-
sumo on his favor.
The services which the government had
expected from him were performed, not
merely without flincl'ing, but eagerly and
tnum phantly. His first exploit was the
! tudtciaI murder of AIgenon Sidney
What followed was in perfect harmony
with this beginning Respectable To
rics lamented the disgrace which the bar
barity and ndecency Of SO great func-
tionary brought upon the administration
Of Justice but the excess which filled
such men with horror were titles to the
esteem of James. Jefreys, therefore,
after the death Of Charles, obtained a
seat in the cabinet and peerage. This
last honor was signal mark of royal APP
probation; for, since the judicial system
Of the realm had been remoddled in the
thirteenth century, no Chief Justice had
been a lord of Parliament.