Oldalképek
PDF
ePub

only to take charge and to dispose of the booty taken, but to decide on the share each individual was entitled to,) was by them, in the name of that army, sent to me, requesting my acceptance of it."

The "Royal Military Calendar" and the "London Gazette" are the principal sources from which the above memoir has been derived.

No. XXII.

SIR JOHN HULLOCK, KNIGHT,

BARON OF THE EXCHEQUER.

THIS distinguished lawyer was born in the year 1764, and was son of Timothy Hullock, Esq., of Barnard Castle, in the county of Durham, who died in 1805, at the age of 73.

In early life Mr. Hullock entered at Gray's Inn, and was in due time called to the Bar, at which he practised upwards of twenty years, with the reputation of being one of the soundest lawyers in Westminster Hall. In his more youthful professional studies, he derived considerable advantage from the friendship of Mr. Lee*, a barrister of some note in his day, who was very much struck with his intelligence and application. Mr. Hullock does not appear, however, to have had much practice, until after the publication of his work on the Law of Costs. This brought him into notice; and he rose by degrees to fill the second place (next to the present Attorney-General, Sir James Scarlett,) amongst the counsel on the Northern Circuit. We do not feel competent to enlarge on his peculiar merits as an advocate: we only know that it was his practice to grasp firmly the strong points of an argument, and rest his case upon them; instead of frittering away his strength, and weakening the impression, by an over-anxiety to anticipate every thing. Of the manliness of his character the following anecdote affords an undeniable proof: ·

Familiarly known as Jack Lee; the gentleman, we believe, of whom Wilkes observed, that no man was so well attended to at the bar of the House of Commons; the reason of which was, that he was continually abusing them. Mr. Lee's country-house was at Staindrop, Durham.

In a cause which he led, he was particularly instructed not to produce a certain deed unless it should be absolutely necessary. Notwithstanding this injunction, he produced it before it was necessary, with the view of deciding the business at once. On examination, it proved to have been forged by his client's attorney, who was seated behind him at the time, and who had warmly remonstrated against the course which he had pursued. Mr. Justice Bayley, who was trying the cause, ordered the deed to be impounded, that it might be made the subject of a prosecution. Before this could be done, however, Mr. Hullock requested leave to inspect it; and on its being handed to him, immediately returned it to his bag. The Judge remonstrated; but in vain. No power on earth, Mr. Hullock replied, should induce him to surrender it: he had incautiously put the life of a fellow-creature in peril; and though he had acted to the best of his discretion, he should never be happy again were a fatal result to ensue. Mr. Justice Bayley, not sorry, perhaps, to have an excuse for assisting the design, continued to insist on the delivery of the deed, but declined taking decisive measures until he had consulted with the associate Judge. The consultation came too late; for the deed was destroyed without delay, and the attorney escaped.

In the year 1816, Mr. Hullock was promoted to the rank of Serjeant at Law. During the few years that he remained Serjeant he was engaged in several important causes. Among others, he was retained by government to assist in conducting some momentous proceedings arising out of the disturbed state of the north. He also presided, with great ability, on the commission of lunacy respecting the Earl of Portsmouth, which sat a few years since.

On the resignation of Mr. Baron Wood, in 1823, Mr. Serjeant Hullock was promoted to the office of one of the Barons of the Court of Exchequer, a situation which he held until the time of his decease, and the duties of which it is allowed, on all hands, he discharged in the most exemplary manner. As a Judge, he was "a man of sound discretion, great candour, temperate but firm, looking upon and expounding the

law more in consonance with plain sense and popular construction, than bewildering the imagination and embarrassing the judgment with technical definitions and contradictory precedents. He read the statute with an unprejudiced eye, and applied its provisions with a liberal and learned spirit; making ample allowance for the infirmity of human nature, while he executed the duties of his office with a mildness which added grace to the decision of his character."

Some few of his judgments may, perhaps, not be universally assented to; but for integrity, sagacity, and knowledge combined, he has not left his superior. "Multis ille flebilis occidit;" but the poor at Barnard Castle, where he generally resided during the summer months, have the greatest cause to remember him, for he was to them a most liberal benefactor.

Mr. Baron Hullock had arrived in Abingdon, as one of the Judges of Assize of the Oxford Circuit, on Saturday, the 25th of July, 1829. On the Sunday he attended divine service at St. Helen's church, Abingdon, in apparently good health; but in the course of that night he experienced a violent attack of cholera morbus; and after a severe illness of five days, he expired on the morning of Friday, the 31st.

As soon as his death was known in the Northern Circuit, Mr. Justice Bayley addressed a letter to his Marshal (Mr. W. H. Walton), expressive of the heartfelt sorrow with which the intelligence had been received, and bearing testimony to the many estimable qualities of the deceased Baron. Mr. Baron Vaughan, in his Charge to the Grand Jury at Worcester, bestowed the following high eulogium on his departed brother:

"I had the happiness of knowing him very long and intimately, and of sitting by his side on the judgment-seat ; and I hope also that I know how to appreciate his worth. As a Judge, he was, in every sense of the word, a loyal, a right, and a good one; a man of the most quick perceptions, of the most sound, accurate, and discriminating judgment; a man whose industry was indefatigable, and who was perfectly

acquainted with those depths and shoals of the law which render the investigation of it so intricate and difficult. As a private man, he was every thing that could be wished; he was generous, humane, and charitable, and of the most stubborn and inflexible integrity."

We have heard that Mr. Baron Hullock kept up his law reading to the last; not merely in reports, but text-books. He published "The Law of Costs," 8vo. 1792; "The Law of Costs in Civil Actions and Criminal Proceedings," 8vo. 1797; and another edition, in two volumes, 1810.

His Lordship had been many years married; and his lady survives him.

Brief as this memoir is, it has been compiled from three publications, the "Law," Gentleman's," and " Monthly " Magazines.

« ElőzőTovább »