The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1864-12-30
THE JUDGES OF EbGLAED.

! LII JU UDN LIZ VI hNNLAND,
We arc about to attempt a sketch Of the Judges
of England and we are reluctantly compelled to
begin aJh tbg admission that they do not stand
so high iu the pulr estimate, nor occupy a
position of ,uc same political and social import
ancc, as ia the o'duu time. Yet English justice
was never more specJed, and complaints Of the
administration Of the law are nlmost exclusively
confined 10 is costumes, which the best-inten-
toned law rcformcrs have hitherto proved unable
to restrict within satisfactory limits Are then,
the most conspicuous members Of the judicial
hierarchy, the judges of Westminster Hall, with
whom principally We have TO deal in this place.
deficient in the personal qualities which should
adorn and dignity the bench Do they, although
confesscdly incorrupt and impartial want learn
ing, accomplishment, elOcution, or urDanity
Are they Of lower birth aud breeding, or of
inferior general education, to their predecessors
Such certainly, is the moro obvious conclusion;
but before fastening to it, we must take into con-
sideration sundTy social changes which may have
co-operaled in the production OF the result by
gradually lesseniDg the comparative rank and iu-
nuence of this venerable body, without presup-
posing any positive decline in its constitution or
den crit in its chiefs.
Now, on looking round TO see that not merely
the legal profession but the learned professions
individually and collectively, have suffered in
one sense from the diffusion Of knowledge the
rise OF the commercial and manufacturing classes,
and the mpeaSurabe intellectual advance Of the
landed aristOCracy. IL has been of late difficult,
II not impossible, for lawyers TO keep their van
taPe-gIOund as IL was for the clergy, so long the
mOnOpOlsts of cultivation, 10 prevent the laty
from eventually Oyertakug or surprising them.
The alteration Of manners and habits has Ope-
rated in the same direction; for II would require
an extraordinary degree Of personal emiuenCe to
secure for any set Of dgnitaries when miugling
in the crowd, the same respect which is eNacted
from the mass of mankind by becoming seclusiOn
or excusiyeness. Til after the commencement
OF the century, it was as much a matter OF course
for judge 10 reside in or Gfoout Bloomsbury as
for q DaTTister 70 have chambers in an inn of
court; and James Smith used to say that when
Lord Ellenborough set the present fashion, by
removing from Russell Square TO st. James's,
the circumstance gave general dissatisfaction,
and was prominent topic in the newspapers for
week.
Again, the distinctive dress was not entirely
given up till much later period. Sir James
Allen Park stuck TO the square-cut coat, the
scratch wig, the three cOrnered hat, and the
black breeChcs and stockings, to his dying day
and he might have been shaking his head re-
prOachfully, when told of the appearance OF a
dandified colleague, his equal or superior in
every. other Judicial requisite, in figured waist
coat and carrying crush-hat at q ball. In the
curious work entitled "Armati,' Lord Erskine
grayeiy maintained that the JUDGES should never
be seen in the streets, going returning from the
courts, without their official costume. "lf the
robes Of Justice do not inspire the multitude with
an additional respect for the magistrates, why are
they worn at all and If they have that effect,
why should the Illusion be so abruptly over
thrown, by exhibiting TO the p0puace the very
same men, looking, perhaps, from careless habits,
more meanly than thousands who had but n
moment before behed them with salutary
aver"
Al nrespnt the iudpes are scattered over alI
the most fashionable quarters Of the metropolis;
they frequent clubs; they live, dress, and visit
like other people; and some Of them affect the
manners of men Of the world or even occasion
ally of men Of wit and pleasure about town.
Whether their ermine remains as white TO the
vulgar eye-Whether they do not lose, upon the
whole, by descending to this description of social
rivalry, may fairly be made question. Lord
Mansfield, the silyer-tungued Murray, when
young at the bar, drank champagne with the
wits with impunty; but when Lord LoughbO-
rough (Wedderburne) tried the experiment at a
more advanced period Of his career he failed
signally. Foote asked, What can he mean by
coming amongst us? He is not only dull him
self, but the cause Cf dullness in Others" john
son remarked of him to Reynolds, "rhis man has
now been ten years about town, and has made
nothing Of ii. l never heard anything from him
in company that was at all striking"
Lord GIenYle used to say that he liked dining
in company with lawyers, because tue chances
were some good topic would be nationally dis
cussed and Sir Walter Scott sets down in his
diary, IN 1873 1--WE dtned at Richardson's with
the Chief Barons Of England and Scotland (Sr
William Alexander aud Sir Samuel Shepherd) },
odd enough, the one being a SCotchman and the
Other an Eugiishman-tar the peasantest day
we have had. l suppose l am PARTIAL hut |
think the lawyers beat the bishops, and the
bishops the wits" Both the statesman and the
poet, however, were speaking of tho hest speci-
mtns Of the Old school; and, prior 70 their time,
some causes Of deteTilra' ion were at work. One
is mentOue ed by Blackstone in his first Venerian
lecture, where, arguing in favor of university
education, lac depTecatrs "the custom, by some
so very warmly recommended Of dropping all
liberal education as Of no use to students IN the
law and placing them, in its stead, at the desk
of some sklful Attorney rightly contending
that no general rules can be drawn from the
anomalous success Of "Some geniuses formed 20
overcome all disadvantages"
One such genius was the Chancellor Lord Hard
wick, himself the son of a Dover attorney; he
was placed in the Office Of an eminent London
attorney, who bOlsted Of having had among his
clerks or pupils, and about the same time,
JOCeIyn, afterwards Lord Chancellor lreltni
Parker, who became Chief Baron Of the EX-
chequer; and Strange, who rose 70 be Master OF
the Rolls. Kenyon and Dunning (LOrd Ash
buTOn) received the same training, aud their
mode OF life is described by Horne ToOke, fell
low student at the Temple. Out of term, they
used to dine at an eating-house near Cnancery-
lane, at the charge Of seven pence hafpenny a
head. "DaDning and myself" added ToOke,
''were generous, for we gave the girl who waited
upon us penny apiece but Kenyon, who always
knew the value Of money, sometimes rewarded