ary mark they have now given me of their approbation and affection has made upon my mind, will be a source of perpetual consolation in my decline of life, under the pressure of bodily infirmities which made it my duty to

retire."

With mental faculties unimpaired, Lord Mansfield lived for nearly five years after his resignation, enjoying the amenities of his country seat at Kenwood, and dividing his time between rural recreations and the cultivation of letters. Lord Campbell quotes a letter written by one of the aged lawyer's grandnephews, which gives a pleasing picture of him in his declining days :—

*

"I first saw Lord Mansfield when I went to Westminster School in 1787, and used occasionally to spend part of my holidays at Kenwood. He was very kind, treating me familiarly as a boy, and always called me schoolfellow. He took a great interest in all that was going on in Westminster School, used to talk of his boyish days, and relate anecdotes of what occurred when he was there. I remember one, of his having made a plum-pudding, and, there being no other apparatus for the purpose, it was boiled in his night-cap; he told this with great glee. He always drank claret, and had a small decanter containing a few glasses placed by him at dinner, which he finished.

"He still took pleasure in ornamenting his grounds. Some cedars in the wood opposite his house were planted by his own hand.

"He was a great admirer of Pope, and occasionally selected passages from his poems which he taught me to recite. His voice and modulation were beautiful.

"He told me he had conversed with a man who was present at the execution of the Blessed Martyr. How wonderful it

* Lord Campbell, "Lives of the Chief-Justices,” ii. 555.

seems that there should be only one person between me and him who saw Charles's head cut off!"

On the 9th of March, 1793, his nephew, Lord Stormont, spent the evening with him, discussing the merits of a cause then before the House of Peers, and observed that his mind was as strong and clear as usual. Next morning, however, he became drowsy at breakfast, and complained of feeling very sleepy. He seemed to suffer no pain, but was put to bed, and his pulse being low, was plied with stimulants and cordials. On Monday, the 11th, he was somewhat better, and on Tuesday, the 12th, expressed a wish to be taken up and carried to his chair. He soon expressed a desire, however, to be carried back to bed, saying, "Let me sleep; let me sleep." These were his last words. He lingered for several days, but did not recover consciousness, and on Wednesday night, the 20th, passed away without a struggle or a sigh, in the eighty-ninth year of his age. O fortunate senex! A long life of honour and prosperity was crowned by a painless death.*

*We shall subjoin in a note the estimates of Lord Mansfield formed by not incompetent authorities. Smollett, the historian, refers to his "keen intuitive spirit of apprehension, that seemed to seize every object at first glance; an innate sagacity, that saved the trouble of intense application; and an irresistible stream of eloquence, that flowed pure and classical, strong and copious, reflecting in the most conspicuous point of view the subjects over which it rolled, and sweeping before it all the slime of formal hesitation and all the entangling weeds of chicanery." Bishop Newton says:— "Lord Mansfield's is a character above all praise; the oracle of law, the standard of eloquence, and pattern of all virtue, both in public and private life. It was happy for the nation, as well as for himself, that at his age there appeared not the least symptom of decay in his bodily or in his mental faculties; but he had all the quickness and vivacity

of youth, tempered with all the knowledge and experience of old age. He had almost an immediate intuition into the merits of every cause or question which came before him; and, comprehending it clearly himself, could readily explain it to others: persuasion flowed from his lips, conviction was wrought in all unprejudiced minds when he concluded; and, for many years, the House of Lords paid greater attention to his authority than to that of any man living." Bishop Hurd says:-"He was so extraordinary a person, and made so great a figure in the world, that his name must go down to posterity with distinguished honour in the public records of the nation; for his shining talents displayed themselves in every department of the State, as well as in the Supreme Court of Justice, his peculiar province, which he filled with lustre of reputation not equalled perhaps, certainly not exceeded, by any of his predecessors. Of his conduct in the House of Lords I can speak with the more confidence, because I speak from my own observation. Too good to be the leader, and too able to be the dupe, of any party, he was believed to speak his own sense of public measures; and the authority of his judgment was so high that, in regular times, the House was usually decided by it. He was no forward or frequent speaker, but reserved himself, as was fit, for occasions worthy of him. In debate he was eloquent as well as wise; or rather, he became eloquent by his wisdom. His countenance and tone of voice imprinted the ideas of penetration, probity, and candour; but what secured your attention and assent to all he said, was his constant good sense, flowing in apt terms and in the clearest method. He affected no sallies of the imagination or bursts of passion; much less would he condescend to personal abuse, or to petulant altercation. All was clear, candid reason, letting itself so candidly into the minds of his hearers as to carry information and conviction with it. In a word, his public oratorical character very much resembled that of Messala, of whom Cicero says, addressing himself to Brutus: 'Do not imagine, Brutus, that for worth, honour, and a warm love of his country, any one is comparable to Messala.' So that his eloquence, in which he wonderfully excels, is almost eclipsed by those virtues, and even in his display of that faculty, his superior good sense shows itself most; with so much care and skill has he formed himself to the truest manner of speaking! His powers of genius and invention are confessedly of the first size; yet he almost owes less to them than to the diligent and studious cultivation of judgment. In the commerce of private life, Lord Mansfield was easy,

On the trial of Lord George Gordon for the share which that mad fanatic had in the outbreak, Erskine, in the eloquent speech he delivered for the defence,

* An allusion to several essays, judicial and historical, which he had prepared for posthumous publication.

alluded very gracefully to the destruction of Lord Mansfield's house, and deduced from it an argument in favour of his client :

"Can any man living believe," he exclaimed, "that Lord George Gordon could possibly have excited the mob to destroy the house of that great and venerable magistrate, who has presided so long in this great and high tribunal that the oldest of us do not remember him with any other impression than the awful form and figure of justice; a magistrate who had always been the friend of the Protestant Dissenters against the ill-timed jealousies of the Establishment;-his countryman, too; and, without adverting to the partiality not unjustly imputed to men of that country, a man of whom any country might be proud? No, gentlemen, it is not credible that a man of noble birth and liberal education (unless agitated by the most implacable personal resentment, which is not imputed to the prisoner) could possibly consent to this burning of the house of Lord Mansfield.” *

During the administrations of the Marquis of Rockingham and Lord Shelbourne, the aged Chief-Justice took no part in political warfare, and gradually ceased to intervene in the debates. When he did speak, his speeches were scarcely worthy of his reputation. Apparently, advancing years increased his constitutional timidity, so that in most of the measures brought before Parliament, his nervous disposition detected the germs of future evil. This was specially apparent in the last speech which he addressed to the House. He was opposed to the administration formed by the younger Pitt, and when a motion was introduced in the Upper Chamber which tended to give it an indirect support, he met it with an uncompromising negative, while enunciating

* Lord Erskine, "Speeches," i. 112.

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