>.!^£^LrU;£^±>£. DA 536 !d39A76"'*™">' ''""''^ The original of tliis book is in tlie Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924026422828 LIFE OF LORD DENMAIST -Eng'lyOeo£ Eermc;^T<!w'ii>* JLdDIEB CHIMIF JJUSinKDIE DEMSimSI. JAMES COCKBOFT *lC° : LIFE THOMAS, FIRST LORD DENMAN FORMERLY LORD CHIEF JUSTICE OF ENGLAND SIR JOSEPH ARKOULD LATE JUDGE OF THE HIGH OOORT OF BOMBAY IN TWO VOLUMES VOL. II. BOSTON ESTES & LAURIAT, 143 WASHINGTON STREET. I 8 74- (>1 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXIV. Denman on Norfolk Circuit, Spring Assizes, 1834, i. Raised to the Peer age as Baron Denman of Dovedale, I. Immediate cause of his eleva- tion, I. Correspondence : Lord G ey to Denman, March rg, 1834, 2. Denman to Lord Grey, March 20, 2. Lord Grey's second letter, March 21, 3. Denman's reply, March 22, 3. Correspondence between Brougham and Lady Denman in town, March 22, 4. Denman's letter to his wife from Bury St. Edmunds, March 22, 4. From Norwich, March 23 and 26, 5. Coke of Holkham in his eighty-second year, 5. Denman to his third daughter, " Dear and Honorable Fanny," while waiting to be introduced into the House of Lords, 6. Kindness of his brotnfer judges, 6. Civility of the Peers, 6. Margery Coke at two years, 7. Denman gratified at his peerage, 7. Apprehensions of some of his friends, 7. His want of wealth and of provident habits rendered the step doubtful, 7. His case an argument for life peerages, 8. His health suffered from the additional work of the House of Lords, 8. Removal from Russell Square to Port- land Place, 8. Extract from letter to Mrs. Wright, written in library of House of Lords, 8. Denman's estimate of his own character and career, 9. How " the King's cheese goes in parings," 9. Political changes in 1834, 9. Resignation of Lord Grey, 9. Of Lord Melbourne and all the Whig ministry, 9. Short dictatorship of the Duke of Wellington, 9. Denman holds the seal of the Chancellor of the Exchequer from Novem- ber 28 to December 10, when Sir Robert Peel is appointed to the office, 9. Note from Duke of Wellington of November 27, 1834, explaining this, 10. Denman's second son, Joseph, appointed by Lord Auckland, just be- fore the Whigs go out, to the " Curlew," 10. First reformed Parliament dissolved, December 20, 1834, 10. New Parliament meets, February 19, 183s, 10. Letter from Guildhall to Mrs. Wright, February 26, 10. Heavy entry, 11. Late sittings, 11. Destruction of the monster " Arrear," 11. Sir F. Pollock to the jury, 11. Reception of King and Ministry on Feb- ruary 9, II. Brougham and Lyndhurst in the Lords, II. Unpleasant prospects for Lyndhuist, 12. vi CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXV of Queen's Bench, 13. Sir John Williams in 1834 ; Changes in the Court place of Sir James Parke, 13. Sir John Taylor Coleridge in place of Sir Elias Taunton, 14. Friendship between Denman and Coleridge, 15. Denman on Western Circuit in Summer Assizes of 1834, 15. Letter to Mrs. Baillie, 15. Sydney Smith at Combe Flory, 16. Letter to Lady Denman from Bristol, August ig, 1834, 16. Adventures between Wells and Bristol, l6. Reception at Bristol, ty. Dinner with Sheriff there, 17. Assizes of 18. Letter to Lady 1835 : Oxford Circuit, Summer 1835, Denman from Oxford, July 21, 1855, 18. The Dons and Dr. Buckland, 18. To same from Worcester, 18. Dinner with R. Croft in Exeter Col- lege Hall, 18. Blenheim, 19. To same from Gloucester, August 16. 19. The Wye, Ross, Goodrich Castle, 20. Tintern Abbey, 20. The Wynd- cliSfe, 20. Entry into Gloucester on a market night, 20. " God bless Lord Denman," 20. Reason for inserting such letters as the above, 20. Enforced leisure on circuit, 20. Maccaronic Latin Lines on Tindal, C. J., and the pig, 21. Denman ex-officia Speaker of the House of Lords, 22. Short Speech on Brougham's Education resolutions of May 21, 1835, 22. Exe- cution of Wills Act, 23. Personal discussion between Denman and Lyndhurst as to Lyndhurst's desertion of hi.s old political principles, Au- gust 27, 1835, 23. Sitting of Parliament protracted till September 10, 25. Letter to Mrs. Baillie from Middleton, September 19, 25. Literary and other amusements of the Long Vacation there, 26. Joanna Baillie's dramas, 26. Ben Jonson's "Alchemist," 26. 1836: Letter from London to Lady Denman, January 19, 1836, 27. Legal Gossip, 27. Lady Strath- eden, 27. Lord Cottenham, Chancellor, 27. Lord Abinger on his daugh- ter's elevation to the peerage, 27. A visit to Jekyll (set. 82), 27. Sir John Campbell and Lady Stratheden at Holland House, 28. " Henriquez " at ' Covent Garden, 28. Acknowledgment of birth-day present from Mrs. Baillie, February 21, 1836, 28. Parliament : Opinion in favor of abolish- ing Courts Palatine, June 10, 29. Last discussion of Prisoner's Counsel Bill, June 23, 29. South Wales Circuit, Summer Assizes of 1836, 29. Letter to Lady Denman, July 29, from Haverford West, 29. Pembroke coast, 29. Milford Haven, 30. "EUigoy Stack," 30. To same, August 7, from Brecon, 30. Reminiscence of walking-tour with Shadwell in 1797. 3°- First letter to Mr. Justice Coleridge, Chester, August 15, 31. Wrong convictions, 31. Need of Prisoner's Counsel Bill, 31. Question as to appointing his third son, Richard, Clerk of Assize for South Wales Circuit, 32. Letter to same from Middleton, August 13, 1836, 32. Ref- erence to Coleridge's severe work on the Northern Circuit, 32. Good advice to a hard-worked judge, 32. " Discard all anxiety," 32. Invita- tion to Middleton, 32. Denman's interest in American jurisprudence, , CONTENTS. vii 33. Letter of July 17, 1836, to Mr. B. Rand, Advocate, Boston (U. S.), 33. Vacation letter to Mrs. Baillie, describing visit to Chatsworth, 34. CHAPTER XXVI. Denman's conflict with the House of CommSns from 1837 to 1840, 36. Case of Stockdale v. Hansard, 36. MS. fragment relating to it, 36. Mode in which the matter will here be dealt with, 36. House of Commons' Reso- lutions as to publishing printed papers, &c., 1835, 37. Prison Inspectors' Report, reflecting on Stockdale, published in 1836, 37. Stockdale's first action for libel against the Messrs. Hansard, commenced November 7, 1836, 37. The defense on the record, 38. Trial before Lord Denman, February 7, 1837, 38. Direction of Lord Denman to the jury on the plea of privilege, as reported in the "Times" of February 8, 1837; as stated by Lord Denman in the MS. fragment ; in his speech in the House of Lords on April 6, 1840, 38. Reasons of Lord Denman's resentment against Lord Campbell as counsel for the defense in Stockdale v. Han- sard, &c., 41. Indignation of the House of Commons against Lord Den- man, 41. Appointment of a committee, 41. Report of committee. May 8, 1837, 41. Resolutions of House, May 31, 1837, 42. Lord Denman's " Observations on the Report of May 8," 42. Stockdale brings a second action, 43. Plea of privilege the only plea put in, 43. Demurrer to the plea, 43. Argument on the demurrer. Trinity Term, 1839, 44. Judg- ment of Lord Denmaii (and the Court of Queen's Bench) on the demur- rer. May 31, 1839, 44. Remarks on Lord Denman's judgment : the prin- ciple and the precedent, 46. He publishes, from a MS. revised by Lord Holt, the great judgment in Ashby v. White, 46. Extract from introduc- tion to this publication, 46. Lord Denman's high estimate of Lord Holt 48. Damages in second action assessed at ;^ioo, 49. Stockdale, in the autumn of 1839, brings a third action, to which there is no plea, and judgment accordingly passes by default, 49. Damages and costs assessed at £i>V^, and levied, 49. Sheriff ruled to pay over the amount to Stock- dale, 49. Parliament meets on January i6, 1840, 49. Stockdale and Sheriffs ordered to be called to the bar, 50. Stockdale committed to Newgate on January 17, 50. Sheriffs to custody of Sergeant-at-Arms on 2 1st, 50. On 24th they sue out their writ of Habeas Corpus, 50. On 25th are brought up in custody before the Court of Queench's Bench, 51. Being, on the face of the return, committed for csntempt, the Court of Queen's Bench can not interfere, and they are remitted to custody, 51. That Court, in the Habeas Corpus case, reaffirms its judgment in Stock- dale V. Hansard, 51. Account from " Annual Register," of the appear- ance of the Sheriffs before the Court of Queen's Bench, 52. Feeling of the public and the Bar in their favor, 52. Their imprisonment, 53. lU viii CONTENTS. and then a duration 53. Stockdale, while in Newgate, brings a fourth and attorney's clerk are fifth action, 53. His attorney, attorney's son, the committed to Newgate, 53. Public feeling strongly excited against Russell brings in the House of Commons, 54. On March 5, Lord John protests "Printed Papers Bill," 54. The Solicitor General (Wilde) against this as a surrender of principle, 54. The Bill, in fact, a compro- Second reading in Lords on . raise, 55. Bill passes the Commons; 55. reading, April 6, 1840, 55. Lord Denman's admirable speech on second receives 55. Duke of Wellington's objections to Bill, 56, It passes and Royal assent on April 10, 56. Release of the prisoners in contempt, 56. Lt)rd Denman's conduct in the question wins him high public esteem, 56. va.