worldly advancement, (h) by which he may decide un

subject by the servants of the crown is to be sought for from these tribunals, the judges of the land become not unfrequently the arbitrators between the king and the people, on which account they ought to be independent of either; or, what is the same thing, equally dependent upon both: that is, if they be appointed by the one, they should be removeable only by the other. This was the policy which dictated that memorable improvement in our constitution, by which the judges, who before the revolution held their offices during the pleasure of the King can now be deprived of them only by an address from both houses of parliament, as the most regular, solemn, and authentic way by which the dissatisfaction of the people can be expressed.-Paley.

To the community this is of importance. 1. To secure his impartiality. 2. Because not seemly for him to be haggling as hucksters, and labouring for his subsistence.

To make this independency of the judges complete, the public salaries of their office ought not only to be certain both in amount and continuance, but so liberal as to secure their integrity from the temptation of secret bribes; which liberality will answer also the further purpose of preserving their jurisdiction from contempt, and their characters from suspicion, as well as of rendering the office worthy of the ambition of men of eminence in their profession.-Paley.

When the present condition of the judges is compared with that when the crown had a power of dismissing them at pleasure, a great step appears to be gained towards the upright administration of justice. Their places and salaries are now secured for life, except upon an address from both houses of parliament, which nothing but flagrant misconduct on their parts can be supposed to produce, and they may pronounce sentence without any fear of the loss of dignity or emolument.

(h) Hobbs says a judge should have a contempt of unnecessary riches and preferments. Their fortunes should be above temptation, and their spirits above private influence.

He should be incapable of promotion. Sir William Jones, the late judge in India, in one of his letters to Sir James Macpherson respecting some promotion that appears to have been offered to him, expresses himself in the following terms: "If the whole legislature of Britain were to offer me a different station from that which I now fill, I should gratefully and respectfully decline it. The character of an ambitious judge is, in my opinion, very dangerous to public justice; and if I were sole legislator, it should be enacted that every judge as well as every bishop should remain for life in the place which he first accepted."

Lord Teignmouth's Life of Sir W. Jones.

justly; or of fear (i) either of the censure of others, which

(i) He who will faithfully perform his duty, in a station of great trust and power, must needs incur the utter enmity of many, and the high displeasure of more; he must sometimes struggle with the passions and interests, resist the applications, and even punish the vices of men potent in the commonwealth, who will employ their ill influence towards procuring impunity, or extorting undue favours for themselves or their dependents. He must conquer all these difficulties, and remove all these hindrances out of the way that leads to justice; must dare even to break the jaws of the wicked, and to pluck the spoil out of his teeth. He is the guardian of the public quiet; appointed to restrain violence, to quell seditions and tumults, and to preserve that order and peace which preserves the world.-Atterbury. That judge is most loved for his good nature who is feared for his resolution.

When early in the reign of Charles the First, Judge Jenkins imprisoned divers persons in his circuit, or condemned them to die, as being guilty of high treason, this provoked the officers of government; and, the judge being taken prisoner at the capture of Hereford, he was hurried up to London, and committed to the Tower. On being brought to the bar of the court of Chancery, he denied the authority of the commissioners, because their seal was counterfeited, in consequence of which he was sent to Newgate. From thence he was brought to the bar of the House of Commons, and reprimanded by the Speaker for refusing to kneel. He answered, "As long as you had the King's arms engraved on your mace, and acted under his authority, had I come here I would have bowed my body in obedience to that authority." For this speech he was, without trial, voted guilty of high treason, and he was sent back to Newgate. After this the house sent a committee to Newgate, making splendid offers to the judge if he would acknowledge their power to be lawful. To which he answered," Far be it from me to own rebellion to be lawful because it is successful." Upon this they admonished him that he had a wife and nine children. Upon which the old judge said, "Had my wife and children petitioned you in this matter, I would have looked upon her as a whore, and them as bastards." Upon this the committee departed, leaving him in the expectation of being led out to execution. They may lead me," said he, " if so it please them, but I will suffer with the Bible under one arm and Magna Charta under the other."

Rex v. Knollys, 6 Wm. and M. 1 Ld. Raym. 10.-At the conclusion of this case, it is said, Note, that this judgment was very distasteful to some lords; and therefore in Hilary term, 1697, 9 Wm. III. the Lord Chief Justice Holt was summoned to give his reasons of this judgment to the

is cowardice, or of giving pain when it ought to be given, which is improper compassion. (k)—He is just both

House of Peers, and a committee was appointed to hear and report them to the house, of which the Earl of Rochester was chairman. But the Chief Justice Holt refused to give them in so extrajudicial a manner; but he said that if the record was removed before the peers by error, so that it came judicially before them, he would give his reasons very willingly; but if he gave them in this case, it would be of very ill consequence to all judges hereafter in all cases. At which answer some lords were so offended, that they would have committed the Chief Justice to the Tower, but, notwithstanding, all their endeavours vanished in smoke.

Colonel Whaley, who commanded the garrison, came into court, and urged "that a man was killed for disobeying the Protector's order, and that the soldier was but doing his duty, yet the judge (Sir M. Hale) regarded both his reasons and his threatening very little, and therefore pronounced sentence upon him.-Hale's Life.

Two of Sir Matthew Hale's rules are: That popular or court applause or distaste have no influence upon any thing I do, in point of distribution of justice. Not to be solicitous what men will say or think, so long as I keep myself exactly according to the rules of justice.

See the account of Judge Gascoyne in Henry V.

(k) It is for you, upon reading the information, and by comparing it with the pamphlet, to see whether the sense the Attorney General has affixed is fairly affixed, always being guided by this that where it is truly ambiguous and doubtful, the inclination of your judgment should be on the side of innocence; but if you find you cannot acquit him without distorting sentences, you are to meet this case, and all other cases, as I stated yesterday, with the fortitude of men, feeling that they have a duty upon them superior to all leaning to parties; namely, the administration of justice in the particular cause.-Lord Kenyon, in Stockdale's case.

Gentlemen, let me desire you again and again to consider all the circumstances of this man's case, abstracted from the influence of prejudice and habit; and if ought of passion assumes dominion over you, let it be of that honest, generous nature, that good men must feel when they see an innocent man depending on their verdict for life.

Curran, for Finnerty, p. 222.

One of Sir Matthew Hale's rules is, "That in business capital, though my nature prompt me to pity, yet to consider that there is also a pity due to the country." Another is, "If in criminals it is a measuring cast to incline to mercy and acquittal. In criminals of blood, if the fact be evident, severity is justice."

in private (7) and in public. He without solicitation accepts the office, with a sense of public duty. (m)—He is

(1) After Sir Matthew Hale was made a judge, he would needs pay more for every purchase he made than it was worth; if it had been but a horse he was to buy, he would have outbid the price.-Hale's Life, p. 153.

For such law as man giveth other wight,

He should himself usin the same by right.-Chaucer.

I have somewhere heard that Lord Chancellor Hardwicke, who was extremely fond of money, directed his steward to buy for him an estate which was to be sold in the neighbourhood. The steward returned, and informed his lordship that he was the purchaser of the estate, and had made a good bargain, for that it was worth £8,000 more than the sum which he had given. Lord Hardwicke ordered the fact to be ascertained, and directed the £8,000 to be paid to the person of whom the estate was bought. "The Chancellor of England ought not," he said, “to give less for an estate than it is worth."

(m) When an application was made to General Washington to accept the command of the American army, he said, "Though I am truly sensible of the high honour done me in this appointment, yet I feel great distress from a consciousness that my abilities and military experience may not be equal to the extensive and important trust: however, as the Congress desire it, I will enter into the momentous duty, and exert every power I possess in their service, and for support of the glorious cause; and I beg they will accept my most cordial thanks for this distinguished testimony of their approbation. But, lest some unlucky event should happen unfavourable to my reputation, I beg it may be remembered by every gentleman in the room, that I this day declare, with the utmost sincerity, I do not think myself equal to the command I am honoured with. As to pay, I beg leave to assure the Congress, that as no pecuniary consideration could have tempted me to accept this arduous employment, at the expense of my domestic ease and happiness, I do not wish to make any profit from it. I will keep an exact account of my expenses. These, I doubt not, they will discharge, and that is all I desire."

Barrow, Serm. 20. p. 98. No judge should intrude himself into the office, or assume a judicial power without competent authority; that is, by delegation from superior powers, or by voluntary reference of the parties concerned.

He ought not to buy his place. "Grapes will not be gathered of thorns and thistles. The judge's office ought not to be bought. They that buy justice by wholesale to make themselves savers must sell it by retail.

Fuller.

patient (k) in hearing, in inquiry, and in insult; (7) quick in apprehension, slow in anger. His determination to censure is always painful to him, like Cæsar when he threatened Metellus with instant death, Adolescens, durius est mihi hoc dicere quàm facere.' (m)—He does · not affect the reputation of dispatch, (n) nor forget that

If any sue to be made a judge, for my own part I should suspect him: but if, either directly or indirectly, he should bargain for a place of judicature, let him be rejected with shame; vendere jure potest, emerat ille prius. See ante, p. clxxvi.

(k) It being no grace to a judge, first to find that which he might have heard in due time from the bar; or to show quickness of conceit in cutting off evidence or counsel too short; or to prevent information by questions, though pertinent: an overspeaking judge being no well-tuned cymbal.-Bacon.

(1) Small streams are agitated by the wind: deep streams move on. Scarcely any part of a judge's conduct demands more judgment than the proper mode of acting when insulted, when the generality of men are off their guard.

If any adverse party crossed him, he would patiently reply, "If another punish me, I will not punish myself."-Lloyd's Life of Sir Edw. Coke. He is calm amidst every storm. He is the steady rock amidst unruly

waves.

(m) He behaved himself with that regard to the prisoners which became both the gravity of the judge, and the pity that was due to men whose lives lay at stake, so that nothing of jeering or unreasonable severity ever fell from him. He also examined the witnesses in the softest manner, taking care that they should be put under no confusion, which might disorder their memory; and he summed all the evidence so equally when he charged the jury, that the criminals themselves never complained of him. When it came to him to give sentence, he did it with that composedness and decency, and his speeches to the prisoners directing them to prepare for death, were so weighty, so free of all affectation, and so serious and devout, that many loved to go to the trials when he sate judge, to be edified by his speeches and behaviour in them, and used to say, they heard very few such sermons.-Hale.

The sentence of condemnation he pronounceth with all gravity. "Tis best when steeped in the judge's tears.-Fuller.

(n) He did not affect the reputation of quickness and dispatch, by a hasty and captious hearing of counsel. He would bear with the meanest, and give every