THE Emperial Magazine; OR, COMPENDIUM OF RELIGIOUS, MORAL, & PHILOSOPHICAL KNOWLedge. NOV. "THE TORCH OF LITERATURE ILLUMINATES THE PATHS OF WISDOM." MEMOIR OF ROBERT BARON GIFFORD, LATE MASTER OF THE ROLLS, &c. (With a Portrait.) AMONG the various channels leading to preferment in this country, the Law has a decided advantage over every other profession, because it brings men of talent and activity continually into public view, and gives them a wider field for the profitable display of their abilities. The facility of admission to the English bar, without the prerequisite of an academical education, or the necessity of soliciting patronage, is a circumstance extremely favourable to aspiring genius. Besides all this, the student of law derives an essential benefit from the distribution of the practice into separate departments, by which means he is enabled to consult his convenience and inclination in the choice of a court where he may best exercise his faculties. For ultimate success in the profession, much indeed must depend upon acuteness of intellect, integrity of principle, and steadiness of application: but then, the encouragements to diligence are numerous, and the reward is ample. [1826. it is delightful, easy, and without any professor can dive into the depth, burden, so long as he keeps himself in his own proper element." In regard to professional honours and elevated distinctions, the chances of the legal practitioner are also much more numerous and certain than those which commonly fall to the lot of men in the other walks of public life. Ecclesiastics are excluded from the lower house of parliament by a most preposterous and arbitrary statute, made for a particular purpose; and unless some fortunate connexion or casual circumstance shall bring a clergyman into the favour of government, all his virtues and learning may do no more than procure him a bare maintenance, with the entailment of poverty upon his family. The lawyer, on the contrary, has a thousand opportunities of gaining a competence; while, in the midst of his labours, if he seeks rank, he may obtain a seat in the house of commons at an easy rate, and thereby, according to the side he takes, procure an increase of his fortune, together with the object of his ambition. In proof of the position here adIn a nation like this, where an im-vanced, if the list of the house of lords mense mass of property is in a per- be examined, it will be seen that more petual current of employment, it can- titles in that register of honour have not be, but that many circumstances originated in the legal than in any will daily arise to furnish matter for other profession, either civil, military, legal discussion and juridical decision. or ecclesiastical. Many of the foundLet the issues of such conflicts be as ers of those noble houses were the crethey may, the advocates on both sides ators of their own fortune, and sprang are sure to be gainers; and conse- from a state of comparative obscurity, quently, where no risk is incurred, with few or no auguries at the outset the accumulation of riches must in- of their career, to indicate their future crease in proportion to the extent of splendour. Of these luminaries, we practice. On all accounts, therefore, shall here particularly notice two, plathe profession of the law presents the cing them in connexion, on account of surest means of acquiring an inde- the remarkable coincidences in their pendence, to young men of vigorous personal history. minds, who possess sufficient resolution to persevere in overcoming the obstacles to a study, "the beginnings of which (in the language of a great judge) seem difficult; yet, when the 95.-VOL. VIII. 1 Peter King, who became lord chancellor of England, and consequently a peer, by the title of Baron King of Ockham, was the son of a grocer and dry-salter in the city of Exeter. For 3 Q The house in which the lord chancellor King first drew his breath, continued in the same line of business for more than a century; and there, in the year 1778, was born ROBERT GIFFORD, being the youngest of the three sons of Mr. John Gifford, a grocer and general dealer, who afterwards went to reside in the parish of St. Leonard, leaving the concern to his two elder children, Charles and Wearman Gifford, both of whom are still living, but have for some time left off trade. tunately, the wife of this tradesman the ensuing narrative, to which, it was sister to the great Locke; and is conceived, they form an appropri when the latter found that his nephew ate introduction. had at his leisure hours, and by his own application only, acquired a competent knowledge of the learned languages, he succeeded in releasing him from the drudgery of the shop, and sending him for improvement to the university of Leyden. His studies at this seat of learning were directed to the profession of divinity; and this accounts for his publishing, at the age of twenty-two, a work entitled "An Inquiry into the Constitution, Discipline, Unity, and Worship, of the Primitive Church. The book came out anonymously, but the author was soon known, and it procured him considerable credit, especially with the dissenters, among whom he had been educated, and to which class he belonged. As, however, the ministry did not afford a prospect of advantage, and Mr. King's doctrinal sentiments differed widely from those of the establishment, he resolved to follow the law. Accordingly, he became a student in the Inner Temple; and, on being called to the bar, rose very rapidly to the first honours of the profession, being elected recorder of London in 1708; appointed chief justice of the common pleas in 1715; and in 1725 made lord chancellor, which office he resigned a few months before his death, in 1734. Though this great lawyer had been bred a nonconformist, and was well known through life to favour the Arian party, he joined in communion with the church, and censured those persons who separated from its worship. Being once, after he became a judge, in company with William Whiston, who had relinquished the ministry on account of his principles, his lordship reflected rather freely upon him for so doing, saying, that men ought not to give up their usefulness for scruples. Whiston, who was a zealous and plain-dealing man, asked the judge, whether they allowed such instances of duplicity and prevarication in the courts of law? His lordship said, they did not. "Then, (rejoined Whiston,) if the Almighty should prove as strict in his judgment in the other world, as your lordship is in this, where are we then?" The reason for giving these particulars will be sufficiently apparent in the course of The education of Robert, like that of the chancellor his townsman, was very limited, being wholly confined to the academy kept by the late Mr. Bretland, a dissenting minister of the Unitarian class, upon whose ministry the family of Mr. Gifford regularly attended. The tutor, however, was a man of ability, and always spoke in high terms of his pupil, as the pride of his school, and the cleverest boy he ever had under his care. It merits observation here, that the meeting which the family of the Giffords frequented was the same where the learned Peirce and Hallet, both of them intimately connected with lord King, gathered a congregation, when the great controversy broke out in 1719, respecting the doctrine of the Trinity. These two eminent men, it is well known, espoused the Arian tenets, which occasioned such a violent contention among the dissenters of the West, that the oldest friends and nearest relations became estranged from each other on that account only. To return to the subject of the present sketch. Having lost his father at an early age, the care of him devolved upon his two elder brothers, but chiefly Mr. Wearman Gifford, who acted towards him with uncommon tenderness, and, on perceiving his strong inclination for the law, was at the sole expense of placing him, at the age of seventeen, as an articled clerk in the office of Mr. Jones, a respectable solicitor in Exeter. Here he soon displayed very superior powers of comprehension, united to an uncommon readiness in the routine of practice, and an indefatigable spirit of application. These qualifications rendered him a very valuable acquisition to his principal, who had so high an opinion of him, that he offered to take him into partnership, provided his nephew, who was then studying the conveyancing branch in London, did not wish to return to Exeter. Fortunately, however, the young man rather chose to become a partner with his uncle, than to settle in the metropolis on his own account; and thus Mr. Gifford was at liberty to pursue the bent of his inclination, and to exchange the desk for the bar. The superiority of his genius, and the perspicacity of his judgment at this period, could not escape the observation of intelligent men; and many instances of the quickness of his penetration in unravelling legal difficulties, are still fresh in the recollection of his early acquaintance. One day, the late Mr. Baring, member of parliament for the city of Exeter, having some business of importance, which called for legal advice, went to consult Mr. Jones on the subject. That gentleman, though well skilled in his profession, being somewhat perplexed by the difficulties that pressed upon the case, turned to his clerk, and asked his opinion, which he gave with equal readiness, perspicuity, and modesty. Mr. Baring was perfectly satisfied; and, on leaving the house, said to a friend whom he met, that he had just been talking with a young man, who, if he lived, and went on as he did, would certainly be one day lord chancellor. In the spring of 1800, Mr. Gifford quitted Exeter, for the purpose of entering upon a higher course in his profession. Accordingly, he was admitted a student of the Inner Temple, and at the same time applied to special pleading under Mr. Stokes, the present solicitor to the stamp-office. While in this situation, his circumstances were very contracted; but, by observing a strict economy, and avoiding all amusements, he was enabled to keep up a respectable appearance, and to form connexions that proved of infinite service to him in his professional pursuits. His principal friend at this period was the late Sir Vicary Gibbs, à native of Exeter, and not unacquainted with, though not related to, the family of Mr. Gifford. It was, however, the brilliancy of that great man's fame which first excited the ardent wish of his young townsman to adopt the law in preference to any other calling. Sir Vicary marked the progress of Gifford with delight, and assisted him very essentially by his advice and interest, particularly after his young protegé was called to the bar, which event occurred in 1808. At this time his patron, Sir Vicary, was attorney-general, and of course had quitted the western circuit, in which he had been for several years paramount, or the leading counsel. This distinction was now equally divided between the two learned serjeants, Lens and Pell; but Mr. Gifford, through the recommendation of his powerful friend, the force of family connexions, and still more by the energy of his own native talents, made his way good, and in no long time his powers were so fully appreciated, that he became a successful rival of the great cocks of the circuit. There generally happens, in the professional life of a distinguished advocate, some particular circumstance which brings his talents into full play, and draws upon him the notice of the public. This was the case with Mr. Gifford. In the year 1814, Mr. Abbott, the present lord chief justice of the King's Bench, and the late Mr. Dauncy, one of the ablest lawyers and shining orators of his day, were brought to Exeter on special retainers, to conduct a great lunacy question, the consideration of which occupied nine days; and Mr. Gifford was selected, alone, to manage the case on the opposite side. The extraordinary powers shewn by him upon this important, and, as it appeared, very intricate cause, are still fresh in the recollection of every barrister yet remaining on that circuit. The manner in which he conducted the business first brought him into the particular notice of lord Ellenborough, who spoke of him with admiration to sir Vicary Gibbs, who was then at the head of the court of Common Pleas. Both the chiefs recommended Mr. Gifford to the present chancellor, as deserving of a silk gown; but though his lordship, ever slow and wary in conferring distinctions, did not at first attend to the application, he kept his eye upon the person who had been so fortunate as to acquire the esteem of two men, the best qualified to form a correct estimate of his professional merits. But though Mr. Gifford then missed | but mischievous arguments, and dithe flattering distinction which his vine truths; like vices, as they become great friends were solicitous to pro- | familiar to the mind, all respect and cure for him, he was not long suffered veneration for religion and virtue to remain behind the bar. On the would diminish, and consequences too resignation of his friend Sir Vicary, painful to contemplate must accrue. he was chosen by the corporation of There was no intention to prosecute Bristol to be their recorder, an office any man for his religious opinions, which has never been held but by provided those opinions were not propersons of the first degree of legal mulgated in such a way as to produce merit. He was now in the current of positive mischief to the community at preferment; and, in May 1817, ob- large." tained the appointment of solicitorgeneral, with the honour of knighthood. At the same time, he was elected master of the bench by the society of the Inner Temple; and as a seat in parliament had now become indispensable, the borough of Eye in Suffolk was selected for his return. On the 20th of July, 1819, Sir Robert Gifford was gazetted as his majesty's attorney-general; being succeeded in the solicitorship by Mr. Serjeant Copley, who has followed him in two other high situations. It has been said, by some of the historians of the daily press, that the subject of this memoir did not give much satisfaction, either to his friends or the country, by his conduct as the first law officer of the crown. This reflection, however, is very unjust; for no man ever deported himself with more liberality as a public prosecutor. The first information ex-officio filed by him was one that excited an uncommon degree of interest. This was the case of Richard Carlisle, for publishing Paine's Age of Reason. The trial came on before the lord chief justice Abbott and a special jury, at Guildhall, on the 12th of October, 1815, and lasted three days. The attorneygeneral, in a long and very able speech, justified the prosecution, on the principle of duty for the public good, "It was not instituted," he said," for the purpose of oppressing any particular individual, but for the purpose of protecting the lower and illiterate classes of society from having their faith sapped, and their minds diverted from those principles of morality which were so powerfully inculcated by the Christian religion. When such terrible productions as those to which he referred were deliberately put into the hands of the ignorant into the hands of those who, unlike the rich and powerful, were unable to draw distinctions between ingenious Carlisle, though an unlettered man, made a very extraordinary defence, in the course of which he mentioned the recent toleration of the Unitarians, who had published a garbled version of the New Testament, from which they had excluded those passages relative to the incarnation and divinity of Christ. The personality, rather than the argument of this statement, probably it was, that induced the attorney-general to dwell upon the subject in his reply. The statute of the 53d of George III. which extended the toleration in question, he said, cautiously excepted the provisions of the statute of king William against general attacks upon the Christian religion. Though, therefore, certain disabilities were removed from Unitarians, yet the substantial provision of the former act was preserved. By that act the fullest latitude of toleration was given to all the followers of Christ; but, at the same time, they were not empowered to scoff and revile religion-to say that the Bible was a fable, and Christianity an imposture. The next great cause in which the attorney-general was employed as a public functionary, was one of a very trying nature, and wholly without precedent. For some time before the death of the late king, a secret inquiry had been carried on respecting the conduct of the princess of Wales during her long residence in Italy. A mass of evidence was collected, sufficient, as it was thought, to form a serious charge against the illustrious personage. But the opinions taken upon the subject varied in the extreme; and though a few were for a prosecution, others recommended silence and a compromise. There can be little doubt that the attorney-general was on the temperate side; but while deliberating, the demise of the venerated monarch took place; and, soon after, the ministry were alarmed by the report, that the queen consort was on her journey to this country. What followed is well known, and, though matter of history, it involves so many things of a delicate nature, that we shall readily be excused for omitting the detail. that sssembly. Accordingly, lord Gifford, who had devoted much attention to the laws of Scotland, was pitched upon as the person best qualified to fill the new office. The arrangement which took place upon this occasion was so well ordered, that public business was despatched quickly, and much to the satisfaction of the parties The prosecution of the queen was interested. The lord chancellor ata painful task, but it did not originate tended the house on Mondays and with the attorney-general. On the Thursdays, to hear writs of error, and contrary, he was generally understood English and Irish appeals; while lord at the time to have disapproved of Gifford presided on Tuesdays, Wedthe mode of proceeding by a bill of nesdays, and Fridays, for the deterpains and penalties. In the manage-mination of appeals from Scotland. ment of that important trust, he betrayed no asperity, nor evinced any eagerness to criminate the royal personage. Throughout the whole trial, he adhered strictly to the pledge which he gave in opening the case. My lords," said he, "upon the nature of this charge, or upon the importance of this investigation, it is quite unnecessary for me to enlarge. Your lordships, and every individual in the country, are fully capable of estimating these topics in their proper light. The only consolation which I derive under the discharge of the duty which I have now to fulfil, is, that it calls not upon me to address myself to your lordships' passions or feelings; and that I shall best discharge it according to your lordships' command, by abstaining from any observation which might tend to aggravate the charge made against so illustrious a person." 66 The ill fate of this unpopular bill did not affect the interests of its principal legal advocate. On the contrary, his progress in preferment was now exceedingly rapid. In Hilary Term of the year 1824 he was appointed chief justice of the court of Common Pleas, on the death of Sir Robert Dallas; and, before three months expired, he succeeded Sir Thomas Plumer as master of the rolls. In the interval, he was created a peer by the title of Baron Gifford, of St. Leonard, in the county of Devon, his patent being dated Jan. 28, 1824, with a limitation of the honours to his issue male. In consequence of the great and increasing arrear of business in the Chancery court, and the large accumulation of Scotch appeals in the house of peers, it was resolved by the cabinet to create a deputy-speaker of The patience of fatigue, diligence of application, and suavity of manner, displayed by the deputy speaker, afforded so much pleasure to the chancellor, that he is said to have fully made up his mind on resigning the great seal in his favour. event proved otherwise, and the venerable chief, instead of dropping the mantle of the highest official dignity upon the shoulders of his associate, was called to discharge the painful duty of holding the pall at his obsequies. The At the beginning of August, lord Gifford and his family went for the season to their villa on the Marine Parade at Dover. His lordship had felt some bilious attacks before he left London; but the change of scene and the salubrity of the sea air, it was hoped, would speedily remove the complaint. The excessive heat of the summer, however, only aggravated the symptoms; a violent attack of cholera morbus came on within a fortnight after his arrival on the coast; and, on the fourth of September, this valuable man breathed his last, to the inconsolable grief of his friends, and the sincere regret of the public at large. The mortal remains of his lordship were brought to town, aud, on the 12th of the same month, were deposited in a vault of the chapel of the Rolls. On the coffin was a brass plate, with the following inscription : Depositum ROBERTI BARONIS GIFFORD, Qui obiit 4to die Septembris, |