This is a reproduction of a library book that was digitized by Google as part of an ongoing effort to preserve the information in books and make it universally accessible. https://books.google.com ThelivesofthechiefjusticesEngland BaronJohnCampbell THE INDIANA UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Presented by O > LIVES CHIEF JUSTICES OF ENGLAND. LORD CHIEF JUSTICK HOI.T. Tin: en it-! u 1 : N G LA N r N !•• • • i; K v 1.. : i M K » . VOL. Hi Ni \V-V'.-M\: I A j.i h S C U C K (' 11 ' .< }•' T & ( U JS 7 3 • THE LIVES OF THE CHIEF JUSTICES OF ENGLAND. LORD ^CAMPBELL, lit AUTHOR OP "THE LIVES OF THE LORD CHANCELLORS OF ENGLAND.' IN FOUR VOLUMES. VOL. III. I/ NEW-YORK: JAMES COCKCROFT & CO. 1873. ,da - A 4 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE LORD CHIEF JUSTICE HOLT, .... Frontispiece. LORD CHIEF JUSTICE RAYMOND, .... Sl LORD CHIEF JUSTICE WILLES, . .161 LORD CHIEF JUSTICE MANSFIELD, .... 209 CONTENTS OF THE THIRD VOLUME. CHAPTER XXIII. LIFE OF LORD CHIEF JUSTICE HOLT, FROM HIS BIRTH TILL THE COMMENCEMENT OF HIS CONTESTS WITH THE TWO HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT. Services and Character of SIR JOHN HOLT, l. His Father, 2. His Birth, 2. At School, 3. His Early Excesses, 3. He acts the part of a Wizard, 4. He studies Law at Gray's Inn, 5. He is called to the Bar, 6. His pro fessional Progress, 5. He is a Whig, 7. He is Counsel for the Earl of Danby and the Catholic Peers charged with being concerned in the Popish Plot, 7. He acts as Junior to Jeffreys in a Prosecution for Libel, 8. He is Counsel for Lord Russell, 9. As Counsel at the bar he " goa the whole Hog" 9. His Argument in Earl of Macclesfield v. Starkey, 10. Attempt to seduce him by James II., n. He is appointed Recorder of London, made King's Sergeant, and Knighted, II. He refuses to abet the arbitrary Measures of his King, and is dismissed from the office of Recorder, 12. He is continued in his office of King's Sergeant, 12. Landing of the Prince of Orange, 13. He acts as Assessor 'to the Peers, 13. He is elected a Member of the Convention Parliament, 14. Con ference between the two Houses on "Abdication" and "Desertion," 14. Holt's Speech as a Manager for the Commons, 14. He takes the Oaths to William and Mary, 16. He is appointed Chief Justice of the King's Bench, 17. His Merits as a Judge, 18. He is praised by the Tatler, 19. His Reporters, 20. His celebrated Judgment in Coggs v. Bernard, 21. He lays down the Doctrine that a Slave becomes free by breathing the Air of England, 22. His Construction of the Statute requiring Persons to attend their Parish Churches, 23. He puts an end to the Practice of giving Evidence against a Prisoner of prior Misconduct, and of trying Prisoners in Fetters, 24. Holt's Influence with his Brother Judges, 24. Weight of his Opinion with the Public, 25. His Conduct in presiding at the Trial of State Prosecutions, 21. Trial of Lord Preston for High viii CONTENTS. Treason, 26. Rex v. Charnock, 28. Rex v. Rookwood, 28. Vindication of Holt for the Law laid down by him in Sir John Freind's Case, 29. Liberty of the Press in the Reign of Queen Anne, 31. CHAPTER XXIV. CONTINUATION OK THE LIFE OF LORD CHIEF JUSTICE HOLT TILL THE TERMINATION OF HIS CONTESTS WITH THE TWO HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT. Holt's Contest with the House of Lords in Rex v. Knowllvs, 32. He is summoned before a Committee of Privileges, 34. His Popularity from his Triumph over the House of Lords, 36. The Banker's Case, 37. On the Removal of Lord Somers, Holt refuses to be Lord Chancellor, 39. He is a Lord Commissioner of the Great Seal, 39. Accession of Queen Anne : Holt reappointed Chief Justice, 40. A Majority of Whigs in the House of Lords, and of Tories in the House of Commons, 40. Corrupt Decisions of the House of Commons in Election Cases, 40. The Ayles- bury Case, 41. Qu. whether an Action could be maintained by an Elector against a Returning Officer for refusing his Vote? 41. The three Puisne Judges in the Negative, 41. Holt contra, 42. Judgment of the King's Bench reversed in the House of Lords, 44. Absurd Resolutions of the House of Commons, 43. Counter-Resolutions of the House of Lords, 44. Writs of the Habeas Corpus by the Aylesbury men, 46. Holt's Opinion for discharging them, 46. He is over-ruled by all the other Judges, 49. Qu. whether Writ of Error lies on a Judgment on a Return to a Writ of Habeas Corpus ? 49. Commitments of Counsel by the Commons, 49. Fabulous Story of Chief Justice Holt threatening to commit the Speaker of the House of Commons, 50. The Abuse of Privilege by the House of Commons remedied by Public Opinion on a General Election, 51. Holt again refuses the Great Seal, 51. CHAPTER XXV. CONCLUSION OF THE LIFE .OF LORD CHIEF JUSTICE HOLT. Remainder of Holt's Judicial Career, 53. His Death, 53. His Funeral, 53. His Monument, 55. Holt's Want of Literature and Science, 55. He put an End to Trials for Witchcraft, 56. He exposes hypocritical Pretenders to extraordinary Virtue, 58. His Detention of a False Prophet. 59. His Practice of interrogating Prisoners on Trial, 60. His supposed Opinion as to the Illegality of employing the Military to put down Civil Disturbances. 60. His Trial at Bar with the Crown, Trin., 62. Holt as an Author. 62. He was married to a Shrew, 63. Conclusion, 64. CONTENTS. ix CHAPTER XXVI. CHIEF JUSTICES FROM LORD HOLT TILL THE APPOINTMENT OF SIR DUDLEY RYDER. SIR THOMAS PARKER, afterwards Earl of Macclesfield, Chief Justice, 65. His Life already written, 66. Vacancy in the Office of Chief Justice of the King's Bench on his Promotion to be Chancellor, 66. SIR JOHN PRATT, Chief Justice, 67. His Origin and Progress at the Bar, 67. He is made a Puisne Judge, 68. Chief Justice of the King's Bench, 63. His most celebrated Judgment, 68. His Doctrine of Suspension overturned, 69. Chief Justice Pratt's Conduct in Dr. Bentley's Case, 70. He tries Layer for High Treasure, 72. His Opinion respecting the Power of the King in the Marriage and Education of the Royal Family, 74. His Death, 75. LORD RAYMOND, 75. Son of Sir Thomas Raymond, 75. He is called to the Bar, 77. His Eminence as a Reporter, 77. Witchcraft put an end to by the Prosecution of an Impostor, 77. Prosecution of Beau Fielding for Bigamy, 78. Raymond is Counsel for Lindsay the Jacobite, 78. Raymond made Solicitor General by the Tories, 79, Raymond in Opposition, 79. His Speech against the Septennial Bill, 79. He joins the Whigs and is made Attorney General, 81. His Speech for the Crown in Prosecuting Layer, 81. He sinks into a Puisne Judge, 82. He is made Chief Justice of the King's Bench, 83. He is raised to the Peerage, 84. His Doctrine that the Publisher of an obscene Libel may be prosecuted for a Misdemeanor, 85. He settles the Law respecting Murder and Man slaughter, 86. Major Oneby's Case, 86. Liability of Jailer for Murder by Neglect, 91. Lord Raymond on the Law of Libel, 95. Lord Ray mond's Nisi Prius Decisions, 97. Lord Raymond's Abstinence from Politics, 97. His Opposition to the Bill for conducting Law Proceedings in English, 97. His Death, 98. His Monument, 98. His Epitaph, 99. Panegyric upon him, 100. LORD HARDWICKE Chief Justice of the King's Bench, loo. Difficulty in filling up the Office on his Promotion to be Chancellor, 101. SIR WILLIAM LEE Chief Justice of the King's Bench, lot. His Birth, 102. Prophecy as to the Effect of Plodding and Perseverance, 102. His Passion for Special Pleading, 103. His Victory in a great Settlement Case, 104. He is Counsel in Appeal of Murder, 104. His Dislike of the House of Commons, 105. He is made a Puisne Judge, 105. His Intimacy with Lord Hardwicke, 106. He is made Chief Justice of England, 106. His increasing Popularity, 107. His Judgment in favor of the " Rights of Women," 107. Other important Points decided by him, 108. Trial of the Rebels at St. Margaret's Hill, 109. Colonel Townley's Case, 109. An Execution for High Treason, ln. M'Growther's Case, III. The Kinlochs' Case, 112. Sir John Wedderburn's Case, 114. Signal Defeat of Chief Justice Lee in a Trial x CONTENTS. for Libel, 115. Chief Justice I.ee Chancellor of the Exchequer, 117. Death of Chief Justice Lee, 117. His Diary and Almanacs, 117. Chief Justice Lee's Greatness in his own Time, 119. His Elogc by Sir James Burrow, 119. Chief Justice Lee's MSS., 120. CHAPTER XXVII. LIFE OF CHIEF JUSTICE RYDER. SIR DUDLEY RYDER, 121. His Origin, 121. His Education, 122. He is called to the Bar, 123. He is made Solicitor General, 123. Description of Dublin and the Irish Bar in the beginning of 1he 1Sth Century, 124. Irish Judges and Juries, 127. Sir Dudley Ryder is made Attorney General, 128. His Speech for the Bill to. disfranchise the City of Edinburgh, 129. His Speech in support of a Motion in the House of Commons for the summary Punishment of a Libeler, 130. His Speech in Favor of Impressment, 131. His Speech for attainting the Sons of the Pretender, 132. His Speech to prove the Expediency of allowing the Insurance of Enemies' Ships, 136.