The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-08-23

most brilliant passages are but common
places exquisitely wrought and curious
ly adapted to his design. Had his mind
been pregnant with greater things. teemins
with beautiful imagery. or. indeed, witt
wisdom, he would have been less fitted ia
shed lussre on the ordinary, feelings and
transactions Of life"
Nearly 1870 pages In the first Of these vol
umes is allotted to Erskine We can find
room only for brief extract from the arg,,-
nent in defence Of John Stockdale, q London
bookseller, who was tried for publishing a
pamphlet in defence of Warren HastinR
which contained severe structures upon the
latters' prosecutors, who included, II will be
remembered, Burke, Fox and Sheridan
The jury, after listening to Erskine's de-
fence and after celebrating for two hours,
returned verdict Of mot guilty" Toward
! the close of his argument, Ersline warned
the jury that they would be told by the
! prosecution that whatever intrinsic merit
parts OF Stockdale's book might be ad-
United to possess. such merit could afford
no justification for certain selected passages
which were indecent anirnahversions on
persons in authority. Anticipating this
assertion. Erskine answered that II the jury
should be firmly persuaded OF the single
ness and purity OF the authors intentions,
they would not be bound to subject him to
infamy because, in the Jealous career of a
just and animated composition, he hap
p ened to have tripped with his pen into an
Incorporate expression in one or two pas
sages of long work. Erskine babe the jury
to consider that II this severe duty were
binding on their oonsciences, the liberty Of
the press would he an empty sound, and no
man could venture to write on any subject.
however pure his purpose, without an at
torney at one elbow and a counsel at the
other.
Erskine proceeded in the following mem
orable words: From minds thus subdued
by the terrors OF punishment there would
issue no works OF genius to expand the en-
pire OF human reason, nor any mastery
compositions on the general nature Of gov
eminent, by the help Of which the great
commemorative OF mankind have founded
their establishments; much less any of
those useful applications of thom to critical
Conjunctures. by which, from time to time
our own Constitution. by the exercise of
patriot citizens, has been brought back TO
it's standard Under such terrors all the
great lights Of civilization must be extin-
guished, for men cannot communicate
their free thoughts to one another with
lash held over their heads. II is the nature
of everything that ia great and useful, both
in the animate and inanimate world, TO be
wild and irregular and we must be- con-
tented TO take them with the alloys which
belong to them or live without them Ge-
Mus breaks from tho letters Of criticism, but
its wanderings are sanctioned by its ma jesty
and wisdom when 1t advances in its path
Subject II 10 the critic and you TAME II into
dulness. Mighty rivers break down their
banks III the winter, sweeping away to
death the a0cks which are fattened on the
soil that they fertilize in the summer A
few may be saved by establishments from
drowning, but the flock az q whole must
perish for hunger, Tempests occasionally
shake our dwellings and dissipate our COM
merce. but they soourge before them the
lazy elements which without them would
stagnate into pestilence, In like manner
Liberty herself, the last and best gift Of
God to his creatures, must be taken just "a
sheis. You might pare her down into bash
full regularity and shape her into perfect
model OF severe, scrupulous law, but she
would then be Liberty no longer, and you
must be content to die under the lash OF
this memorable justice which you had ex-
changed for the bann ers OF Freedom
~.
We have seen that in his Introduction Mr. |
Veeder names the opinions of Lord Bowen
as examples Of the application of ina gina
ton 10 the dry bones Of legal formulas
Four Of Lord Bowens opinions will be found
reproduced In part in the second Of these
volumes. There ia no doubt, as our author
says. that Lord Bowen was a representa-
tive Of the best culture Of his time No
man ever went from Oxford to the bar
with a higher reputation for scholarshin