Among other effufions of wit, and leading features of genius, Mr Murray obferved, that the plaintiff, by his counfel, fhewed himself related to William of Wickham, but would have been better intitled to have claimed that alliance, if he had obferved William of Wickham's motto, that morals make the man! the words are manners make the man; but manners are there intended to fignify morals. Again: the plaintiff tells his fervants, that Mr Sloper is a good natured boy; he makes a boy of him. He takes his money, lets him maintain his family, refigns his wife to him, and then comes to a court of justice, and to a jury of gentlemen for reparation in damages !

It devolves on you, gentlemen, to confider the confequences of giving damages in a cafe of this nature. It is of very serious confequence, and would be pregnant with infinite mifchief, if it fhould once come to be understood in the world, that two artful people, being husband and wife, might lay a fnare for the affections of an unwary young gentleman, take a fum of money from him; and, when he could part with no more, then come for a fecond fum to a court of juftice.

"That he defired to be understood as by no means an advocate for the immorality of the action; for this is not a profecution for the public, or to punish immorality; this is only the question, whether the defendant has injured the plaintiff, and certainly the plaintiff cannot be injured, if he has not only confented, but has even taken a price. However, gentlemen of the jury, if it should be thought requifite to find a verdict for the

plaintiff, we have not a denomination of coin fmall enough to be given in damages.'

The jury did not give the smallest piece of coin as damages, but adopted the hint, by giving ten pounds, or a piece of bank paper of the smalleft value at that period in circulas tion.

The familiar friends of Lord Manf field have frequently heard him recur with fingular pleafure to his fuccefs in this caufe, and the confequences which flowed from it. His own perfpicuous manner of introducing it cannot fail to please, and raise emulation in young men of genius.

From this trivial accident he was

accustomed to say: "bufinefs poured in upon me on all fides; and, trom a few hundred pounds a-year, I fortunately found myself, in every fubfequent year, in poffeffion of thoufands."

1740.

In his entrance into public life, when Mr Murray, as the younger fon of a noble family, did not enjoy any landed property, Mr Vernon, a mercer on Ludgate-hill, and a reputed friend to Jacobitifm, gave and devifed an eftate in the counties of Chester and Derby to the honourable William Murray, his heirs and affigns for ever. The devifee took poffeffion of the estate, but the only gratitude he evinced was that of preferving this first-fruits of territorial property in his family, where it yet remains. Mr Murray retained the gift, without imbibing, or adhering to the tainted principles of the donor*.

1746.

thofe

1746.

A fair occafion offered, about this period of time, for Mr Murray to manifeft his love of his profeffion, and an ardent defire to lay a better foundation in one of our univerfities for initiating and training ftudents in fegal knowledge by the foftering hand of an able law-profeffor. The first Duke of Newcastle was the warm friend and patron of Mr Murray. The civil law profefforfhip in the univerfity of Oxford, being then vacant, Mr Murray took the liberty of expoftulating with his grace, who was then chancellor of the univerfity of Cambridge, on the appointment of a fucceffor; and lamented that at Oxford the civil law-lectures, and the opportunities of gaining legal knowledge by that channel, were, when contrafted with thofe of the fifter univerfity, in the most degraded and unworthy fituation. He then expreffed an anxious with, that an able profeffor of civil law might be fought for and invited to fill the vacant feat. Dr Jenner was the perfon thought of by the Duke of Newcaftle; yet he paid Mr Murray the compliment of afking him, if he could recommend any gentleman who would fill it with greater ability. Antecedent to the establishment of the Vinerian profefforfhip, the late Mr juf tice Blackstone, who was then at the bar, and had given proofs that he poffeffed thofe qualifications which early pointed him out as the moft worthy to be promoted on this occafion, was by Mr Murray introduced and warmly reecommended to the Duke of Newcastle, who confidered it as part of his duty to probe a lit

tle the political principles of the new candidate, by addreffing Mr Blackftone, "Sir, I can rely on your friend Mr Murray's judgment as to our giving law-lectures in a good style, fo as to benefit the ftudents; and I dare fay, that I might fafely rely on you, whenever any thing in the political hemifphere is agitated in that univerfity, you will, Sir, exert yourfelf in our behalf." The anfwer was, "Your grace may be affured that Į will discharge my duty in giving lawlectures to the best of my poor abilities." "Aye! aye! replied his grace haftily, and your duty in the other branch too." Unfortunately for the new candidate, he only bowed affent; and a few days afterward he had the mortification to hear that Dr Jenner was appointed the civil-law profeffor. Nothing less than the love of science could, under these circumftances, have induced Mr Murray and fome other friends of MrBlackftone,ftrongly to recommend and perfuade him to fit down at Oxford, and to read lawlectures to such students as were dif pofed to attend him. The plan was not only attended with profit and pleafure in the first inftance, but foon afterward happily fuggefted the idea to the mind of Mr Viner to establish a real law profefforfhip in the univerfity of Oxford; and who fo proper to fill it with eclat, and add luftre to the inftitution, as Mr Blackftone, whofe Commentaries on the Laws of England, on their first appearance in the world, drew this high tribute of respect and approbation from Lord Mansfield? On a brother-peer's having afked him, as a friend, what books he would advife

vife his fon to read, who was determined to be a lawyer, the chief juftice replied, "My good Lord, till of late I could never, with any fatisfaction to myself, answer that queftion; but, fince the publication of Mr Blackstone's Commentaries I can never be at a lofs. There your fon will find analytical reafoning diffufed in a pleafing and perfpicuous style. There he may imbibe imperceptibly the first principles on which our excellent laws are founded, and THERE he may become acquainted with an uncouth crabbed author, Coke upon Littleton, who has difappointed and disheartened many a Tyre, but who cannot fail to please in a modern drefs."

Either as an embellishment to the prefent work, which, in its na ture, and in order to be useful, muft in general be grave and ferious, or as a relaxation to the mind from the fatigue of constant attention to one uniform fyftem of dry law, the author is defirous to introduce occafionally a few well-authenticated anecdotes; if an apology for fuch relaxation fhould be deemed neceffary, it is to be hoped that the following argumentum ad hominem will be accepted as fuch. A very able and praifeworthy judge, the late Sir Jofeph Yates, was accustomed to declare, that whenever intenfe application to any legal ftudies became burthenfome or unpleafant, he changed the fcene, read a few pages of Dean Swift's Works, which not only relieved him while he read, but also fent him back to his dry law in perfect good humour. In imitation of a character fo diftinguished and fo pure, and without any defign to depreciate the pre-eminence, I had almoft faid the fovereignty of the Dean of St. Patrick, in the regions of wit and fancy, the following anecdotes are attempted to be placed in their true light of manifefting, that a grave judge may with impunity now and

then introduce the golden rule of Horace, Dulce eft defipere in loco.

An anecdote having appeared in the fummer, 1760, in feveral public prints, purporting, that, early in lord Mansfield's chief jufticeship, a certain diligent book-read advocate had taken up a confiderable portion of the time of the court, in producing feveral black-letter cafes, to prove the genuine conftruction of an old woman's will;

His lordship heard him with great patience for fome time; at last he interrupted and quite broke the ftring of his learning, by asking him, "whether he thought the old woman had ever heard of thefe cafes? and, if not, what common fenfe and juftice muft fay to that matter." He therefore immediately gave judgement in favour of common fenfe against the black-letter-law, to the full fatisfaction of the whole court.

In private life, it may truly be faid, that lord Mansfield had the facility and happy art of embelishing the most trivial circumftances with elegance, of enlivening conversation with eafe and pleasantry, and of fupporting every narration with strist attention to truth.

In his convivial conversation, he was particularly excellent. His general and almoft univerfal knowledge of men and things prefented a conftant and copious fupply of familiar dialogue and difcourfe. His fallies of pleafantry were innocent, and wounded no man; his fentences of obfervation were judicious and folid. His particular friends could eafily illuftrate this part of his character by a thoufand familiar instances; the few which the author begs leave to felect occafionally, as they ferve to illuftrate his character for eafe and pleafantry, were impromptu's, delivered on the fpur of the occafion, and fome of them are well known to his furviv ing friends,

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