Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1851-07-31

| their lovely and innocent nps 10 utter them
| (which, indeed, custom will hardly allow
US to expect, they had better hand ovei
the passages to the nearest male friend that
happens TO be with them, aud get him to
read or to ianiali-e them instead. As to
ourselves Gor reasons also to be presently
given), we shall write the words at full
length; out Of sheer sense Of their nothing.
ness; only promising. that such was no,
the opinion entertained Of them by this tire.
mendous Lord Chancellor. or by the age in
which we lived; otherwise he would moi
have resorted to them as clenches for his
thunderbol,s, neither would his contempt.
raries have given them to the reading
world under those mitigated and whisper
ing forms Of initials and hyphens. which
have come down TO our own times, and
which are intended to impress their audaci-
ty by intimating their guilt.
"Damas have had their day." says the
m-n in the Rivals" So they have; and
so we would have the reader think, and
treat them accordingly; that is to say, as
| things Of no account, one way or the other.
But such was not the case when the dra-
matist wrote and therefore Lord Thur
| low was renowned as swearer, even IN a
swearing age. 1t was his ambition 10 be
considered swearer. He took to it, as a
lad does, who wishes to show that he has
arrived atman's estate Every thing with
the Judge was damned bad" or damned
good" damned hot or cold, damned stupid,
&c. 1t was his epithet, his adjective, his
purticiple, his sign of positive and superla-
tive, his argument, bis judgment. He
could not have got on without it. To de-
prive Thurlow of his damn would have
been to shave his eyebrows, or to turn his
growl to whisper.
.Lamcn,ing," says Lord Campbell, ''the
great difficulty he had in disposng ofa
high legal situation, he described himself
as long hesitating between the intemper-
ance Of A. and the corruption Of B., but
finally preferring the man Of bad temper,
Afraid lest he should have been supposed
to have admitted the existence Of pure
moral worth, he added, Not but that there
was a id deal of corruption in AS in
temperance Happening to be at the Brit
ish Museum, viewing the Townllcy Mar
bles, when person came inand announced
the death Of Mr.. Pitt, Thurlow was heard
to say, "a id good hand at turning a pc
rioJr and no more.
"The following anecdote CONTINUES his
lordship) was related by Lord Eldon:-
"Aitcr dinner, one day, when nobod y
was present but Lord Kenyon and myself
Lord Thurlow said, 'TaAy,s decided a
cause this morning, and saw from Scots
face he doubted whether | was right
i'hurlow then stated his view Of the case
and Kenyon Instantly said, Your decision
was quite right What say you to thatl
asked the Chancellor | said, Il did no,
presume to form a judgment upon case in
which they both agreed. But think a
fact has not been mentioned, which may
be material Twas about TO state the fact,
and my reasons. Kenyon, however, broke
in upon me, and, with some warmth, stat
ed that | was always SO obstinate, there
was no dealing with me. Nay intcrpos-
ed Thurlow, that's not fair You, Tafy,
are obstinate, and give no reasons; you,
Jack Scott, are obstinate, too; but then you
| give your reasons, and id bad ones they
are!'"
ain Thurlow's time, the habit Of pro-
fame swearing was unhappily so common
that Bishop Horsley, and other right rev.
ercnd prelates, are said not 10 have been
entirely exempt from it; but Thurlow in
dulged in it to degree that admits Of nc
excuse. | have been told by an old gen
tleman, who was standing behind the wool.
sack at the time that Sir Hay Campbell
then Lord Advocate, arguing Scotch ap-
peal to the bar in very tedious manner,
said, i will moo, my lords, proceed to my
servant pownt.' I'll be id if you do,
cried Lord Thurlow, so as to be heard by
all present; this house is adjourned till
Monday next, and off he scampered. Sir
James Mansfield Lord Chef Justice ol
the Common Pleas, used to relate that
while heand several other legal characters
We're dining with Lord Chancellor Thur
low, his lordship happening to swear at his
Swiss valet, when retiring from the room,
the man returned, just put his head in, and
exclaimed, WON'T be d-dfo for you, Milor;'
which caused the noble host and all lis
guests TO burst out into roar Of laughter.
From another valet he received still more
cutting retort. Having scolded this meek
man for some time without receiving any
answer, he concluded by saying, i wish
yon were in hell The terrified valet at
last exclaimed, 4 wish | was, my lord!
wish wasr
"Sir Thomas Davenport, great nisi
pyius leader, had been Intimate with Thur
low, and long Gattered himself with the
hopes of succeeding to some valuable up-
pointmcnt in the law; but, several good
things passing by, be lost his patience and
temper along with them. At last he ad-
dressed this laconic application to his pat
ron: The Chef Justiceship of Chester is
vacant, am to have itl' and received the
following lacouic answer mol by Godl
Kenyon shall haveit'
Having once got into dispute with a
bishop respecting living, of which the
Great Seal had the alternate. presentation,
the bishops secretary called upon him,
and said, my lord of - sends his COM
pliments to your lordship, and believes
that the next turn to present TO - be.
longs to his lordship,' Chanccllor-'Give
my complimens to his lordship, and tell
him that | viii see him id first before
he shall present Secretary.-'This, my
lord, is very unpleasant message to de-
liver to bishop You are right, it is so,
therefore tell the bishop that Twill be damn
ed first before he shall present
Lord Campbell concludes his records Of
the Chancellor's INSPIRATION Gf we may
coin word for precedent SO extraordi-
nary), by frankly extracting into his pages
the whole Of a long damnatory ode, which
was put into the judges mouth by the au-
thors of the once-famous collection Of lbcls
called Criticisms on the Rolliad. and Pro
batioaary Odes for The Lawcateship,-
I