Sir Thomas Davenport, a great nisi prius leader, had been intimate with Thurlow, and long flattered himself with the hopes of succeeding to some valuable appointment in the law, but, several good things passing by, he lost his patience and temper along with them. At last he addressed this laconic application to his patron :— "THE CHIEF JUSTICESHIP OF CHESTER IS VACANT; AM I TO HAVE IT?" and received the following laconic answer:-"No! BY GOD! KENYON SHALL HAVE IT!"

Having once got into a dispute with a Bishop respecting a living of which the Great Seal had the alternate presentation, the Bishop's secretary called upon him, and said, "My Lord of sends his compliments to your Lordship, and believes that the next turn to present to belongs to his Lordship." Chancellor: "Give my compliments to his Lordship, and tell him that I will see him d―d first before he shall present. Secretary "This, my Lord, is a very unpleasant message to deliver to a bishop." Chancellor: "You are right, it is so; therefore tell the Bishop that I will be d――d first before he shall present.'

His blustering manner was sometimes assumed, to conceal the uneasiness which preyed upon his mind. His brother, the Bishop, pressing him to give a living to a very poor clergyman with a very numerous family, he said "No." Then followed this dialogue :--Bishop: "To whom do you intend to give it?" Chancellor: "I believe I shall give it to the fellow after all." Bishop: "In that case, why not tell him so?" Chancellor: "Why the devil should I?" Bishop: "Because it would make him so happy to know that he is to have bread for his children." Chancellor: "Dn him! The poor parson with his starved children is already much happier than I am.”

With all his faults, it must ever be remembered to his honour, that, by his own abilities alone, without flattery of the great, or mean compliances with the humours of others, he raised himself from obscurity to the highest dignity in the State;-that no one can ascribe his rise to reputed mediocrity, which is sometimes more acceptable than genius;-and that for a period of forty years he not only preserved an ascendency among distinguished lawyers, statesmen and orators, but that he was regarded with respect and esteem by eminent poets, moralists and divines.

I shall conclude this memoir with sketches of him by some of his contemporaries, which may better enable the reader justly to estimate his merits than any observations of mine. The first is from a volume published in 1777, when he was Attorney General, entitled "Public Characters," in which it is remarkable that his name is spelt "Thurloe,” like that of Cromwell's secretary :-"His voice is harsh, his manner uncouth, his assertions made generally without any great regard to the unities of time, place or probability. His arguments frequently wild, desultory and incoherent. His deductions, when closely pressed, illogical; and his attacks on his adversaries, and their friends, coarse, vulgar and illiberal, though generally humorous, shrewd and pointedly severe.'

"The Chancellor Thurlow," says Bishop Watson, (6 'was an able and upright Judge: but as the Speaker of the House of Lords he was domineering and insincere. It was said of him in the Cabinet, he op

posed every thing, proposed nothing and was ready to support any thing.I remember Lord Camden's saying to me one night, when the Chancellor was speaking contrary, as I thought, to his own conviction, There now I could not do that he is supporting what he does not believe a word of.'* 'Few,' says Colton, have combined more talent with more decision than Lord Thurlow. Nature seems to have given him a head of crystal and nerves of brass.'"+

Sir Nathaniel Wraxall, describing the state of parties in the year 1781, says, "Lord Thurlow, who at this time had held the Great Seal between two and three years, though in point of age the youngest member of the Cabinet, enjoyed in many respects greater consideration than almost any other individual composing it.-Lord North had derived the greatest assistance from his eloquence and ability. His removal to the House of Peers would have left an awful blank on the Treasury bench in the midst of the American war, if his place had not, during the two succeeding years, been ably, perhaps fully, supplied by Wedderburn. As Speaker of the Upper House, Lord Thurlow fulfilled all the expectations previously entertained of him. His very person, figure, voice, and manner, were formed to lend dignity to the woolsack. Of a dark complexion, and harsh but regular features, with a severe and commanding demeanour, which might be sometimes denominated stern, he impressed his auditors with awe before he opened his lips. Energy, acuteness, and prodigious powers of argument, characterised him in debate. His comprehensive mind enabled him to embrace the question under discussion, whatever it might be, in all its bearings and relations. Nor, if we except Lord Camden, who was already far advanced in life, did the Opposition possess any legal talents in the House of Peers that could justly be put in competition with those of Lord Thurlow. These admirable points were, nevertheless, by no means unaccompanied by corresponding defects. As Lord Chancellor, he was accused of procrastination in suffering the causes brought before him in his court to accumulate without end. Perhaps this charge, so frequently made against those who have held the Great Seal, was not more truly as applied to him, than of others who succeeded him in his office. But even in parliament his temper, which was morose, sullen, and untractable, sometimes mastering his reason, prevented him from always exerting the faculties with which Nature had endowed him, or at least clouded and obscured their effect. In the Cabinet, these defects of character, which rendered him often impracticable, were not to be surmounted by any efforts or remonstrances. It can hardly be believed, that at ministerial dinners, where, after the cloth was removed, measures of state were often discussed or agitated, Lord Thurlow would frequently refuse to take any part. He has even more than once left his colleagues to deliberate, whilst he sullenly stretched himself along the chairs, and fell, or appeared to fall, fast asleep. If I had not received this fact from an eye-witness, and a member of the Cabinet, I should not, indeed, venture to report so improbable a circumstance. Notwithstanding the rug"Lacon," i. 45.

*Life of Watson, 221.

gedness and asperity which he displayed,-qualities that procured him the nidkname of the tiger,—no man could at times appear more pleasing, affable, and communicative in conversation. I had once or twice seen him on such occasions, which were more highly valued because they were rare or unexpected. Possessed of faculties so transcendent, however mingled with human weakness and infirmity, he must always be considered as one of the most eminent individuals who sat in the councils of George III. at any period of his reign."*

In 1796, Bishop Horsley thus dedicated to Thurlow his "Prosodies of the Greek and Latin Language." Although I wish at present to be concealed, I cannot persuade myself to send this Tract abroad without an acknowledgment, which perhaps may betray me, of how much my mind has been informed, and my opinions upon this subject have been confirmed, by conversations which many things in this Essay will bring to your recollection. Were I to form a wish for my country, it should be that your Lordship might again be called to take part in her councils, where you would display that wisdom, firmness of principle, and integrity, with which you so long adorned one of the highest public stations. A better wish, perhaps, for you may be, that you may enjoy many years of learned leisure."

Next comes the portrait of Thurlow by Dr. Parr, which, although the features be exaggerated, almost to caricature, certainly presents a very striking likeness:- "Minas possumus contemnere vocemque fulmineam Thrasonici istius oratoris τοῦ τὰς ἐφρὺς κυανέας ἐπηρκότος cujus vultum, uti Noviorum istius minoris, ferre posse se negat quadruplatorum genus omne et subscriptorum. Quid enim? truculentus semper incedit, teterque, et terribilis aspectu. De supercilio autem isto quid dicendum est? annon reipublicæ illud quasi pignus quoddam videtur? annon senatus illo, tanquam Atlantum cœlum, innititur ?-Profecto non desunt qui Novium existiment in 'summa feritate esse versutissimum, promtumque ingenio ultra Barbarum. Quod si demseris illi aut opodpórta quanta in Bruto fuit, aut πικρότητα vere Menippeam, aut προσώπου σκυθρότητα propriam et suam, facile ejus vel prudentiæ vel fidei juris nodos legumque ænigmata ad solvendum permiseris.-Fervido quodam et petulanti genere dicendi utitur, eodemque, nec valde nitenti, nec plane horrido. Solutos irridentium cachinnos ita commovet, ut lepores ejus, scurriles et prorsus veteratorios diceres. Omnia loquitur verborum sane bonorum cursu quodam incitato, itemque voce, qua ne subsellia quidem ipsa desiderant pleniorem et grandiorem. In adversariis autem lacerandis ita causidicorum figuras jaculatur, ita callida et malitiosa juris interpretatione utitur, ita furere et bacchari solet, ut sæpe mirere tam alias res agere optimates, ut sit pene insano inter disertos locus.-Fuit ei, perinde atque aliis, fortuna pro virtutibus. Didicit autem a Muciano, satis clarum esse apud timentem, quisquis timeatur. Corpore ipse ingens, animi immodicus, verbus magnificus, et specie inanium magis quam sapientia validus, studia ad se Optimatium illexit, eamque adeptus est auctoritatem, quæ homini novo

* Wraxall's Memoirs, vol. i. p. 527.

pro facundia esse posset. Scilicet, quæ bonis Titio, Seioque turpissima forent, Novium nostrum maxime decent, siquidum e subselliis elapsus de Tribunali nunc pronuntiet, et ex præcone actionum factus sit institor eloquentiæ senatoriæ. Quam igitur in civitate gratiam dicendi facultate Q. Varius consecutus est, vastus homo atque fœdus, eandem Novius intelligit, illa ipsa facultate, quamcunque habet, se esse in Senatum con

secutum

Ellum, confidens, catus:

Cum faciem videas, videtur esse quantivis pretî:

Tristis severitas inest in voltu, atque in verbis fides.'"*

After the effort of perusing this somewhat pedantic production, the reader may be relieved by a few characteristic notices of our hero from the pen of Dr. Wolcott, a lively, though scurrilous poet, who, under the title of PETER PINDAR, amused the latter end of the eighteenth century: in his Ode "to the Royal Academicians," on portrait painting, he gives them this caution:

'Copy not Nature's form too closely Whene'er she treats your sitter grossly. As, for example, let us now suppose

Thurlow's black scowl and Pepper Arden's nose."

In another satirical ode, he thus refers to Thurlow's rough manners and habit of swearing:

"How pithy 'twas in Pitt, what great good sense,
Not to give Majesty the least offence!

Whereas the Chancellor, had he been there,
Whose tutor, one would say, had been a bear;
Thinking a Briton to no forms confin'd,
-But born with privilege to speak his mind,
Had answer'd with a thundering tongue,

I think your Majesty d- -n wrong.'

And he is made to go on to swear still more profanely.

In enumerating those who assisted in the public Thanksgiving at St. Paul's, on the King's recovery, this satirist describes

"A great Law Chief, whom God nor demon scares,'
Compell'd to kneel and pray, who swore his prayers;
The devil behind him pleas'd and grinning;

Patting the angry lawyer on the shoulder,
Declaring aught was never bolder,

Admiring such a novel mode of sinning."

By reason of Peter Pindar's violent attacks on Thurlow and other peers, there was a proposal to bring him to the bar of the House for a breach of privilege to which Peter in his "Ode to the Peers" refers :

* Preface to Ballendenus.

"Yes! yes! I hear that you have watch'd my note,
And wish'd to squeeze my tuneful throat:

When Thurlow your designs most wisely scouted,
Swearing the poet should not yet be knouted."

The ex-Chancellor's intimacy with the Prince attracting the attention of the public, was celebrated in an Epistle from Peter Pindar, thus beginning

"Thurlow now is the Carlton House Mentor:

You know him, Nic; bony and big,
With a voice like the voice of a Stentor,
His old phiz in a bushel of wig.
All the pages, and footmen, and maids,
As his Wisdom march'd solemnly in,
(The impudent varlets and jades!)

Gather'd round him with wonder and grin."

In conclusion, there is this softening stanza :—

"Yet this in his praise I will say,

That whether he's sober or mellow,
Though as blunt as a bear in his way,
True genius admires the old fellow."

I have now much pleasure in giving a sketch of him by a surviving kinsman, who knew him well, and was tenderly attached to him:-" His countenance was that of a man of the strongest sense, and his eye most penetrating and commanding. His stature was lofty and full of dignity, and his manners and address highly polished. He could assume the sternest character if necessary, or the sweetest smile I ever beheld. This stern exterior was, I have often thought, put on to cover the most kind and feeling heart, and his real nature was but little known but to those who had the happiness of living in his society. I remember hearing Lord Thurlow read from Shakspeare's play of the Merchant of Venice that beautiful scene of the judgment of Portia. Then must the Jew be merciful.' Shylock: On what compulsion must I? tell me that.' Portia: The quality of mercy is not strained, it droppeth as the gentle dew from Heaven upon the place beneath,' &c.; and perceiving a slight tremulousness in his voice, I looked up and saw the tears in his eyes.When Lord Thurlow had a severe fit of the gout, he used to be wheeled in a Merlin's chair from his sitting-room to his bed-room at an early hour; it was in the summer season, and when the proper minute came, his valet Buissy, without asking any questions, told his master it was time to go to bed, and began to wheel the chair with the ex-Chancellor in it towards the bed-room. 'Let me alone,' said the ex-Chancellor. 'My Lord, it is time to go to bed.' 'I won't go yet, come again.' 'No, my Lord, it is time for your Lordship to go to bed, and you must go.' 'You be d- -d, I will not go.' Away went the ex-Chancellor, threatening and swearing at the man, which I could hear like deep thunder for some time. The ex-Chancellor had succumbed, knowing that his good only was considered by his faithful domestic."

I shall conclude with a metrical effusion from the Rolliad, professing to