The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-10-18

ing. The lines were to be kept straight
and II the Kings gualdsman did not
resemble the Kings portrait Of him, the
King corrected the defect by painting the
man to look like the portrait.
After awhile our ancestors began to
grow out of their conditions of semi
barbarsm. and then they began to see
that rules running in straight lines out
of sources that they had long departed
from were entirely unsuited to their con-
Gitions. that had nothing whatever In
common with the sources of the rules,
This brought about our system of equity,
Jurisprudence, which was nothing but a
contrivance for multiplying the operation
Of obsolete rules of law totally unsuited
to the conditions that 1t was sought to
apply them to.
Society made a great advance under
the operation of this new force. But by
degrees 1t grew into a system with fixed
rules and after n while 1t was seen that
even this system failed to modify our old
liked rules of common law to the extent
which still newer conditions demanded.
When this epoch was reached Lord
Mansfield came to preside over the Court
Of Kings Bench. and 1t was at once
seen that the man and the hour had met.
When l approach the scene Of Lord
Mansted's administration of our laws.
! feel that l am treadng on sacred
ground. No civil magistrate has ever
performed the functions of his Office 50
successfully and SO gloriously ms he.
What he did in the way OF modifying
and reforming the straight, barren and
unyielding lines Of the common law and
suIting them to the needs OF an expand
ding and progressive people has t,een
worth ten thousand times as much to the
English speaking people as all the acts
OF Parliament. acts of Congress and acts
of Legislatures put together. l feel Inn
PEELED to pause here molilent to mention
some of the facts OF his great judicial
career He presided In tho Court Of
Kings Bench more than thirty years,
and in all that time there were only
two cases In which his opinion was not
unanimously adopted by his brethren who
sat on that bench with him. though they
included some of the most eminent of
English Judges, Sir William Blackstone
amongst them. OF the many thousand
judgments he pronounced, two only were
reversed. In all his thirty years service
as judge. a bill of exceptions was never
rendered to his direction, tho parties either
accepting, his ruling or being entirely
satisfied for him to state the questions
to the court, and Dunning and Erskine.
who had more practice almost than all
the other lawyers, being opposed to him
even the learned on the Continent OF
Europe. who had hitherto looked upon
English LAWYERS as very contracted in
their views of turisprudence and had
never regarded the decisions of our
courts as settling any International
questions, acknowledged that great
irrist had ar last been raised IN among
nc and tbev nlaced his bust bv the side
~ croti,,s and D,Apnesseau In his
own lifati,na ana after he Ind only a
fa1,, ,.aarc worn bis ern,ino hn acquired
tba 5osign,t;on HI, wbFch he was fer
,,ar6s ltroTyn and Nv which no will he
.co1Iad u,ban fi,,a l,nnared yoora hence
IL. ,r,,,, 10 e,,on., q, Vroetninstar An
i'a,, +hat of .rrtIE CREAT I.ORD
MANSEIEr
Loru Mahsiieii sttucN tle keSiiote ~,