CHAP. XLIII. Hewitt be an Attorney. how necessary it is to have a vocation early, as it gives business habits and keeps young men out of mischief, the worthy Mayor readily seconded his son's wish to be a James lawyer. The future Irish Chancellor appears to have first resolves to applied himself to the attorney branch of the legal profession; coequal in point of date with that of the Bar. The different orders of practisers enumerated by Fleta are-servientes, narratores, attornati et apprenticii." The choice of a solicitor, in whose office James Hewitt could acquire that professional knowledge and skill which should enable the young attorney to be a safe adviser, competent to discharge his duties to his clients, was soon made. He served as clerk or apprentice to Mr. JaLes Apprentice to Mr. Birch, an Attorney of Coventry, who was Receiver-General Bird. for the county of Warwick. After some time the young clerk resolved to devote himself to study the law in order Changes to become a barrister; but there can be no doubt the pro- Attorney's fessional training he received while in the attorney's office greatly tended to his success when called to the Bar. from the office to study for the Bar. Enters the Middle Called to Marries. He entered the Middle Temple in Michaelmas Term, 1737, and became a barrister in November 1742. He soon Temple got into practice, and did the best thing to secure his in 1737. domestic felicity by selecting a wife. He married a the Bar, daughter of the Reverend Rhys Williams, D.D., Rector of 1742. Stapleford Abbots in Essex, Dean of Worcester; and, induced by the desire of pushing his way to legal preferment through the avenues of the House of Commons, contested Contests the representation of his native city in 1754. In this Coventry, attempt he was unsuccessful, but not disheartened by defeated defeat renewed the contest at the General Election in 1761, and was returned. We can imagine how elated he was as Member for Coventry, on entering the great hall of St. Mary's, grand and stately, with its gorgeous carvings, and tapestry wrought by fingers which have been dust for centuries. He looked with keener interest at those beautiful windows through which the sun streamed in meridian glory, and Reeve's History of English Law, vol. ii. p. 284. but was in 1754. Elected in 1761. СНАР. Serjeantat-Law. saw in the blazon of the Black Prince, and the names of Cressy and Poictiers, incentives to exertion-for he too might win a name. His legal knowledge and practice at the bar had already procured him the dignity of the Coif, for he was King's Serjeant in 1759. He resolved to be no silent Member of the House of Commons. When an attempt was made to get rid of informations, filed ex officio by the Attorney-General, the motion of Mr. Nicholas Calvert was seconded by Serjeant Hewitt. The style of his oratory may be surmised by the anecdote that Charles Townshend, on leaving the House while Serjeant Hewitt Considered was pounding away on some dull legal question, was asked whether the House was up?' 'No,' he replied very gravely, but the Serjeant is.'1 From this we may infer his speeches were regarded as a bore! a tiresome speaker. Lord cellor, When the Earl of Chatham became Prime Minister, Serjeant Hewitt's great friend, Lord Camden, was made Lord Chancellor of England. Lord Camden was, at the moment the news reached him of his appointment as Chancellor, presiding as Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. Having despatched the business pending before him, he Judgeship. left Court to return home, and, when he reached his house sent at once for Serjeant Hewitt, and said as Sir John Eardly Wilmot would succeed him as Lord Chief Justice, the vacant seat on the King's Bench was intended for him. Hewitt hesitated to accept this proffered kindness, observing that a Parliamentary appointment might be more useful for enabling him to provide for his sons, which must be closed by his accepting a Common-Law Judgeship, as its enforced seclusion from political pursuits or connections forbade any family promotion.' He added 'that Bowes, the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, was upwards of seventy years of age, and if his Lordship's friendship guaranteed that office, the place of puisne Judge would be accepted as an intermediate step to the expected elevation.' Hesitates to accept it. Lord Camden Lord Camden acquiesced in this arrangement, and CHAP. XLIII. him the promised him the Irish Chancellorship in the event of its falling vacant while he held the Great Seal of England. Serjeant Hewett was accordingly sworn in as a Judge of guarantees the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, on November 6, 1766. His labours as a Common-Law Judge did not extend more than three terms, and do not require any special notice from me. Lord Chancellorship Is sworn of Ireland. in a Judge of the Pleas. a Lord cellor. On the death of Lord Chancellor Lord Bowes, the delay Common which took place in appointing his successor gave great Delay in dissatisfaction in Ireland. On a resolution being moved appointing in the House of Lords on November 19, 1767, That an Chanhumble Address be presented to his Majesty, beseeching him of his paternal goodness and regard to the welfare of this kingdom, to appoint a Lord Chancellor, as the vacancy of that high office must obstruct the course of justice in her principal source, and be productive of numberless inconveniences to a loyal, affectionate people,' the previous question having been carried, the following Protest was placed upon the Journals of the House : 'Dissentient.-1. Because we conceive that, on the present occasion, when delay is the grievance of which we complain, the previous question is peculiarly improper, as it is merely a measure of procrastination. venience That delay in an affair of this nature may be attended with the worst consequences, we conceive, because the execution of the office of Lord High Chancellor by Commission, is a defective execution of it, inasmuch as the Commission being executed by the Common-Law Judges of the land, two at a time, taken each from different Courts, in a weekly rotation, is attended with the following inconveniences:- InconFirst, that though the inferior Judges were always of equal of commiteminence with one who should be appointed Chancellor ting the in his own person, yet they are not only not conversant Chancellor with the practice of the Court of Chancery, but habitu- to the ated to a different practice. Secondly, That they cannot rotation. fulfil the duties of another Court but by relinquishing their own. Thirdly, That in taking away one Judge from a Court is in some circumstances an irreparable loss; duties of Judges in CHAP. that, at best, but two can remain; that causes of the This well-reasoned and timely protest, put solemnly upon the Journals of the House of Lords, was not without due weight, and soon Lord Lifford was sworn into office. I may glance briefly at the Bar over whom he, a perfect stranger to this kingdom, was sent to preside. The Irish Bar at this period, 1770, was a curious amalgamation of qualities, good, bad, and indifferent; but the 1 The Court then consisted of a Chief and two Puisne Judges. first had by far the largest share. Here men of all classes, of every rank,-from the son of the Peer to the son of the peasant, who was able to send his boy to the Temple, were united by the professional knot. All were free and accepted in the circle but the Papist. Except for him the Irish Bar had no exclusion, and welcomed the humblestreared, if gifted with talents, as readily as the better-born. "The law,' says Phillips,' 'which in its suitors knows no distinction but that of justice, in its professors acknowledged none except that of merit. In other countries where this glorious profession is degraded into a trade, where cunning supplies the place of intellect, where in Curran's peculiar phrase, "men begin to measure their depth by their darkness, and fancy themselves profound because they feel they are perplexed;" no idea can be formed of that illustrious body, of the learning that informed, the genius that inspired, and the fire that warmed it, of the wit that relieved its wisdom, and the wisdom that dignified its wit, of the generous emulation that cherished while it contended, of the spotless honour that shone no less in the hereditary spirit of the highly-born than in the native integrity of the more humble aspirant; but, above all, in that lofty and unbending patriotism, that at once won the confidence and enforced the imitation of the country.' The habits of the Bar, as was to be expected from their position, and the great influence they exercised over the society of Dublin, were closely akin to the habits of the gentry. A love of pleasure which was indulged in at the moment, without a thought of the future, was the universal custom of the Irish gentry. No fear of days of terrible reckoning disturbed their dream when they were sowing the seeds of petitions which were reaped in the Incumbered Estates Court, and deprived their descendants of every acre they once held. The legal profession had its full share of fun and frolic, duelling and dissipation. Wager of battle was of frequent occurrence, and the 'reports' of the pistol showed familiarity with its practice. 1 Curran and his contemporaries. CHAP. XLIII. The state of the Irish Bar, A.D. 1770. |