held, also, that independent evidence showing that, on the only occasion when the husband visited the place where his wife was residing, he was engaged in collecting evidence with a view to a divorce, would be sufficient to raise a presumption of non-access. In re R's Trusts, Ch., 39 L. J. R. 192. EXECUTOR 1. Assignment in favor of one creditor: breach of trust.-Although an executor may prefer a single creditor to the extent of giving him money or money's worth, he cannot assign the whole of his testator's estate as security to such creditor. Vane v. Rigden, Ch., 39 L. J. R. 143. 2. An executrix assigned all the book-debts, etc., of testator, to the nominal amount of 2,000l., to a creditor to secure a debt of 5341. due to him from testator. The property so assigned amounted substantially to the whole of the assets. Held, in a creditor's administration suit, that the deed must be set aside. Ib. Construction of: continuing guarantee: consideration. — Defendant, who had annually given plaintiff a guarantee expressly limited for a year, by each of which defendant guaranteed the amount "for the time being due" from F. to plaintiff for coals sold to him, gave plaintiff during the currency of the last of these annual guarantees, a guarantee which, after reciting that F. was then indebted to plaintiff in 2,2057. 38. 9d., in addition to his liability upon two acceptances of defendant for 7501, each, indorsed by F. to plaintiff, and that plaintiff was pressing for the immediate payment of the said sum of 2,2051. 38. 9d., was as follows: " Now I do hereby, in consideration of your forbearing to take immediate steps for the recovery of the said sum, guarantee the payment of and agree to become responsible for any sum of money for the time being due from F. to you, whether in addition to the said sum of 2,2051. 38. 9d. or not." Held, that this was a continuing guarantee, and extended to a debt due from F. to plaintiff for goods supplied after the guarantee had been given, and that there was therefore a good consideration for such guarantee. Coles v. Pack, C. P., 39 L. J. R. 63. HUSBAND AND WIFE. Equity to a settlement: ultimate remainder. - Courts of equity only so far interfere with the husband's marital right as is necessary for the purpose of providing for the wife and her children. Therefore, where a fund to which a husband became entitled in right of his wife is being settled by order of the court, the ultimate remainder will, as a rule, be to the husband absolutely, without reference to the question of survivorship. Successive modifications of the practice of the court on this point. Spirett v. Willows, followed. Croxton v. May, Ch., 39 L. J. R. 155. INDICTMENT. Form of: surplusage: false declaration. - An indictment charged the prisoner with the offense of making a false declaration before a justice, that he had lost a pawnbroker's ticket, "whereas in truth and in fact he had not lost the said ticket, but had sold, lent or deposited it, as a security to one S. C.," etc.: Held, that the allegation "but had sold, lent or deposited it," etc., did not render the indictment ambiguous or uncertain, but was pure surplusage, which might be rejected and need not be proved. The Queen v. Richards overruled. Regina v. Parker, M. C., 39 L. J. R. 60. 1. Nuisance: difficulty of removal: expected legislation: form of order. - The corporation of a borough, acting as a local board of health, constructed a sewage system which resulted in a gradually increasing nuisance to plaintiffs and the public generally. It being represented on their behalf that the evil could only be dealt with effectually by a comprehensive scheme, and that no such scheme could prudently be adopted pending a parliamentary inquiry into the whole subject, the court granted an immediate injunction against any extension of the system, and restrained the continuance of the existing nuisance from and after the expiration of one year from the filing of the bill. Form of order in such a case. Attorney-General v. Corporation of Halifax, and The North Staffordshire Rail. Co. v. Tunstall Local Board, Ch., 39 L. J. R. 129, 131. 2. Whether a person who stands by and sees an act done, knowing what the necessary consequences will be, is estopped from afterward complaining of those consequences, quere. 1b. See Copyright; Mining Lease; Staying Proceedings. INTERROGATORIES. Defendants setting up fraud: trover.-In an action of trover for certain barley, the defendants sought to interrogate the plaintiffs on the grounds that the barley was shipped on board the defendants' ship by one H., that S., his agent, sold to D. & G. and on arrival the barley was delivered to S. as had been done on previous occasions without the bill of lading, in order to forward to D. & G., that the plaintiffs' claim was not made till three months after the arrival, just after D. & G. had failed, that the plaintiffs were D. & G.'s bankers, and that there was reason to believe that the plaintiffs intended the barley to be delivered to D. & G., and knew, and had the means of knowing, that it had been delivered before claim made. Held, that it was a proper case for interrogatories. The Derby Commercial Bank (limited) v. Lumsden, C. P., 39 L. J. R. 72. (To be continued.) OBITUARY. JUDGE FIELD, OF NEW JERSEY. The Hon. RICHARD STOCKTON FIELD, late judge of the United States district court of New Jersey, died at his residence in Princeton on Wednesday of last week, of an illness with which he was suddenly attacked a few weeks ago while addressing the grand jury at Trenton. Judge FIELD was born at Princeton in the early part of the present century, and was a nephew of Richard Stockton, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and a cousin of Commodore Stockton. He was educated at Princeton college and afterward studied law under the tuition of John S. Green. He was for some time professor of law in Princeton college, and was attorney-general of the state for several years. On the death of United States Senator Thompson in 1862, he was appointed to fill the unexpired term. In 1863 he was appointed by President Lincoln judge of the United States district court for New Jersey, which position he filled with ability till seized with the illness which terminated his life. ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENCE. Editors LAW JOURNAL: NEWTON, N. C., May 10th, 1870. Will you please answer the following inquiries through your LAW JOURNAL. The homestead law, section two of our new constitution, reads in substance as follows: Every homestead, and the dwelling used therewith, not exceeding in value $1,000, “owned and occupied by any resident of this state shall be exempt from execution," etc. 1. Has the true meaning of the words owned and occupied been fixed by construction by any of the courts of New York? 2. Has it been determined whether the law contemplates an actual occupation or not, at the time of applying for the exemption? If not, what are your views from the language used by the section above referred to. 3. Does the word owned contemplate a legal title in the debtor: to illustrate, where a party has a bond for title, not having paid the purchase money, is he regarded as the owner in the sense employed by the statute? 4. What constitutes a non-resident? Suppose a man owning a house and lot in the city of Albany, which he rents annually, is in some other state or states, at some constant occupation, would he be considered a nonresident? Our new constitution was copied in many, if not in all respects, from that of New York, and I think it probable that the homestead exemption law is the same. ANSWER. J. H. 1. We are not aware that the true meaning of the words owned and occupied has been fixed by construction in this state. 2. The law of this state and of your own state, according to the words quoted above by you—so clearly contemplates an actual occupancy as to need no judicial interpretation. Here the law exempts "the lot and buildings thereon, occupied as a residence, and owned by the debtor, being a householder and having a family," etc. The obvious intent of the law is to provide a home for a debtor's family as well as for himself; and if the debtor could rent the property, or occupy it "constructively," and still preserve the exemption, the object of the law would be frustrated, and he be enabled to practice fraud upon his creditors and the community. 3. The force of the word owned in your statute may depend upon the reading of the whole statute. In this state the "homestead act" provides that "to entitle any property to such exemption, the conveyance of the same shall show that it is designed to be held as a homestead under this act, or if already purchased, or the conveyance does not show such design, a notice that the same is designed to be so held shall be executed," etc. The chapter on “recording of deeds" in the revised statutes of this state provides that the term "conveyance" snall not embrace "executory contracts for the purchase or sale of lands." We conclude, therefore, if your statute is similar to that of this state, that an executory contract does not give such title as is contemplated. 4. To constitute residence there must be both the fact of the abode and the intention of remaining indefinitely. Therefore, in the case you put, if the man is abiding in another state, with the intention of remaining there indefinitely, he would be a resident of that state and a non-resident of this. The fact of his owning property here does not affect the question. - ED. L. J. AUBURN, May, 1870. Dear Sir-Will you please inform me as to the time and place for examinations of students for admission to the bar. I find by the new laws that the terms have been changed, and every thing seems to be in doubt. W. A. W. There will probably be no further examinations of candidates until after the convention of the general term justices, which is to meet in Albany on the first Wednesday in August. The rules of the court will be then so amended as to conform to the new arrangement of the court. - ED. L. J. NEW YORK, May 19, 1870. Sir-Please inform a subscriber of the JOURNAL how to serve a notice of foreclosure of mechanics' lien (on an absent defendant) in the city of New York. Under the general law they can get service by publication; under the New York city lien law there is no provision of this kind. SUBSCRIBER ALBANY LAW JOURNAL. The fourth section of the New York city lien law (Laws 1863) provides for service by publication "as to any of the parties not residing in this state, or who may have removed therefrom." We are not aware that this provision has been repealed. — ED. L. J. The head note referred to reads as follows: "In the case of a contract drawn technically, in form, and with obvious attention to details, a covenant cannot be implied in the absence of language tending to a conclusion that the convenant sought to be set up was intended. The fact that the non-implication of it makes the contract, in consequence of events happening subsequently to its being made, quite unilateral in its advantages, is not a sufficient ground to imply a covenant which would tend to balance advantages thus preponderating." "This," as poor Artemus Ward used to say, “requires some thought, but will amply repay attention." -- ED. L. J. TINSLAR V. WATERVLIET RAILROAD COMPANY. - Action for damages on account of injury sustained by plaintiff, by the premature starting of the defendants' horse car, as she was stepping off. Defense, that the bell, the signal for starting, was not rung by any of the defendants' employees, but by another passenger, without authority or permission, the strap to which the bell was attached being within reach of the passengers. Judgment for defendants. Supreme court, special term, before INGALLS, J. GENERAL TERM JUSTICES. Governor Hoffman has issued the following paper: STATE OF NEW YORK, EXECUTIVE CHAMBER, ALBANY, N. Y., May 25, 1870. Pursuant to chapter 408 of the Laws of 1870, I this day file in the office of the secretary of state a designation of the presiding and associate justices to compose the general term in each of the four judicial departments. I have found it impossible, as the departments are constituted, and the times for holding the general terms fixed, to make any arrangement mutually satisfactory to the judges and myself, for transferring judges from one department to another, to act as presiding or associate jus tices; and I am constrained to designate for the general term in each department judges who reside within it. Some inconvenience, more particularly in the second department, will necessarily result, but it can be to a great extent remedied by the general term judges continuing, as they may lawfully do, to hold circuits and special terms at their convenience, and by changing the organization of their general term, as occasion may from time to time require, by exchanging with general term judges in other departments, or in such other way as is provided for by law. JOHN T. HOFFMAN. In accordance with the provision of chapter 408 of the Laws of 1870, entitled "An act relating to the supreme court and the election of a judge of the court of common pleas in and for the city of New York," I designate the following as presiding justices and associate justices for each of the judicial departments to compose the general term therein: For the first department, consisting of the first judicial district, Daniel P. Ingraham, presiding justice; Albert Cardozo and George G. Barnard, associate justices. For the second department, consisting of the second judicial district, Joseph F. Barnard, presiding justice; and Jasper W. Gilbert and Abraham B. Tappen, associate justices. For the third department, consisting of the third, fourth, and sixth judicial districts, Theodore Miller, presiding justice; and Platt Potter and John M. Parker, associate justices. For the fourth department, consisting of the fifth, seventh, and eighth judicial districts, Joseph Mullen, presiding justice; and Thomas A. Johnson and John A. Talcott, associate justices. JOHN T. HOFFMAN. By the governor: JOHN D. VAN BUREN, Private Sec'y. TERMS OF THE SUPREME COURT FOR JUNE. 1st Monday, Special Term (Chambers), New York, Barnard. 1st Monday, Circuit and Oyer and Terminer, Kings, Pratt. 1st Monday, Circuit and Oyer and Terminer, Rensselaer, Miller. 1st Monday, Circuit and Oyer and Terminer, Goshen, Barnard. 1st Monday, Special Terms (Motions), Kings, Tappen. 1st Monday, Special Term, Goshen, Barnard. 1st Monday, Circuit and Oyer and Terminer, Greene, Peckham. 1st Monday, Circuit and Oyer and Terminer, Fonda, Rosekrans. 1st Monday, Circuit and Oyer and Terminer, Rome. 1st Monday, General Term, 4th Department, Buffalo, Mullen, Johnson and Talcott. 1st Monday, Circuit and Oyer and Terminer, Erie, Talcott. 1st Tuesday, General Term, 1st Department, New York, Ingraham. Cardozo and Barnard, 1st Tuesday, General Term, 3d Department, Binghamton, Miller, Potter and Parker. 2d Monday, Circuit and Oyer and Terminer, Dutchess, Tappen. 2d Monday, Circuit and Oyer and Terminer, Westchester, Barnard, 2d Monday, Circuit and Oyer and Terminer, Jefferson, Morgan. 2d Monday, Circuit and Oyer and Terminer, Broome, Murray. 2d Monday, Circuit and Oyer and Terminer,Cattaraugus, Marvin. 2d Tuesday, General Term, 2d Department, Poughkeepsie, Joseph F. Barnard, Gilbert and Tappen. 2d Tuesday, Special Term, Schuyler, Boardman. 3d Monday, Circuit and Oyer and Terminer, Putnam, Barnard. 3d Tuesday, Circuit and Oyer and Terminer, Canton, Potter. 3d Tuesday, Special Term, Onondaga, Morgan. 3d Tuesday, Special Term, Chenango, Balcom. ad Tuesday, Special Term, Erie, Barker, 4th Tuesday, Circuit and Oyer and Terminer, Sandy Hill, Potter. Last Monday, Special Term, Monroe, J. C. Smith. LEGAL NEWS. A woman in Iowa City, Iowa, whose husband has been in the insane asylum for two years, recently applied for divorce on the ground of desertion. The suit was dismissed at plaintiff's cost. A man who killed another at Atlanta, Ga., some time ago, was tried the other day, and when the sentence of three years in the penitentiary was pronounced, he was perfectly delighted. The time was thirty-seven years less than he expected. "To protect home industries," the legislature of Alabama has laid a tax of $40 on non-resident lawyers. The attorneys of Georgia, who enjoy considerable practice from Alabama clients, don't like the law, and will contest its legality. Four men are under arrest at Clinton, Conn., charged with stealing a church organ of small dimensions. They plead in extenuation that the church owes them twenty dollars, and seeing no prospect of ever getting the same, they took the organ as security. Judge Cardozo, of New York, in a recent decision laid it down as a rule that "the only proper course, when a question has been fully considered and disposed of by one judge, is for every other judge of the court to act upon that decision as conclusive evidence of the law until reviewed by an appellate court." At Salt Lake city recently, the Mormon authorities, during a recess of Chief Justice Wilson's court, at noon, closed the house against him and the United States marshal, and refused to allow him to continue his sitting. After a consultation, however, they surrendered the hall to the possession of the court. The attorney-general of the United States has caused to be painted a portrait of Hon. John McPherson Berrien, who was attorney-general under the administration of President Jackson. The portrait is to be placed in the portrait gallery attached to the office of the attorney-general. David Bates, Esq., a prominent lawyer of Cherry Valley, died at his residence in that place on Thursday of last week, aged sixty years; and Hugh McCormick, a prominent member of the Clark county (West Virginia) bar was killed a few days ago by falling from a third story window in the Mansion House, at Alexandria. The members of the Philadelphia bar have presented a portrait of Judge Sharswood to the University of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia. In their letter of presentation the donors say they have felt it due to the eminent legal ability and long judicial services of Judge Sharswood, that they should cause his likeness to be painted for preservation in some public hall, and they have come to the conclusion that the most fitting place for it is the hall of the University of Pennsylvania, where, for fifteen years, Judge Sharswood lectured to the law class, and where many of the members of the Philadelphia bar were prepare 1 for useful service to the public. At the last meeting of the trustees of the university a resolution was passed accepting the portrait, and tendering the thanks of the board to the gentlemen presenting the same. An interesting case (Mayhugh v. Rosenthal) has just been decided by Mr. Justice Storer, of Ohio. Mayhugh, in 1856, deserted his family and went to California; in 1859 he wrote to his wife, sending her a small remittance; he was not heard of again until 1868, when he made his appearance in Cincinnati. Meanwhile, in 1867, more than seven years after he had been last heard from, his wife had exchanged, upon the legal presumption of his death, a house in the city for a farm in the country. Mayhugh brought his action to recover the city property; but Judge Storer, in a very able opinion, held that, after a desertion of seven years, the wife had clearly the right to suppose her husband dead; and as his heir, together with her children, to make such disposition of the estate as she saw fit. The court, therefore, refused to interfere with the conveyance to Rosenthal of the city property, and intimated pretty strongly that the husband's title to the farm taken in exchange was rather dubious. NEW YORK STATUTES AT LARGE.* CHAP. 524. AN ACT further to provide for the payment of certain certificates issued to the militia of the state for services in the war of eighteen hundred and twelve. PASSED April 29, 1870, by a two-third vote. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: SECTION 1. The additional sum of one hundred thousand dollars is hereby appropriated out of any money which shall be in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, to be apportioned, paid out and disbursed, in all respects, as is provided in the act entitled "An act to provide for the payment of certain certificates issued to the militia of this state, for services in the war of eighteen hundred and twelve, and which certificates are now held by residents of this state named therein," passed May first, eighteen hundred and sixty-nine, except as the same may be otherwise herein directed. 22. In making the distribution of the money hereby appropriated among the persons entitled thereto aforesaid, there shall first be apportioned and paid to those first entitled under the act aforesaid, who have not received any moneys under such act, a sum equal to thirtysix dollars and eighty-two and thirty-seven one-hundredth cents, on each one hundred dollars of the principal of their respective certificates, and the residue of the said sum shall be apportioned and paid to those entitled by the terms of the act aforesaid, and in the order there prescribed. 23. This act shall take effect immediately. CHAP 597. AN ACT to amend an act entitled "An act to vest in the board of supervisors certain legislative powers, and to prescribe their fees for certain services," passed April third, eighteen hundred and fortynine. PASSED May 3, 1870; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: SECTION 1. Section two of an act entitled "An act to vest in the board of supervisors certain legislative powers, and to prescribe their fees for certain services," passed April third, eighteen hundred and forty-nine, is hereby amended so as to read as follows: 2. Whenever any board of supervisors shall form a new town within its respective county from parts of other towns, or town which shall have bonded to aid in the construction of any railroad under any act authorizing the same, and such bonds or any part thereof shall remain unpaid; or when any board of supervisors shall change the line of any town which shall have bonded to aid in the construction of any railroad in this state, and such bonds, or any part thereof, shall remain unpaid, the new town so formed, and the town to which shall be annexed the part taken from another town, shall pay a proportionate share of such bonds as shall remain unpaid, which share shall be ascertained from the assessed valuation of such town or towns as contained in the last equal *These laws have been carefully compared with the originals, and may be relied upon as accurate. We have not thought it necessary to take up space by attaching to each the certificate of the secretary of state which is attached to the copy from which we print. ED. L. J. ized valuation of the assessment roll made prior to the formation of such town or the change of any such town line. § 2. It shall be the duty of the railroad commissioners of a town, any part of whose territory shall have been detached as aforesaid, to render a true statement to the board of supervisors, as now required by the general railroad act, of the amount necessary to pay the proportionate share belonging to the territory detached from their town which may be then coming due, and the board of supervisors shall add such proportionate share to the sums to be collected from the town so formed, or to which shall have been added the territory detached from the other town or towns, to be collected as heretofore provided for by statute. 3. Such proportionate share of moneys so collected shall be paid by the supervisors of the town wherein collected to the railroad commissioners of the town or towns from which such territory shall have been detached, and such commissioners shall use such moneys for the payment of the bonds issued in the same manner they are required to use the moneys raised in their own town. 4. This act shall take effect immediately. CHAP. 529. AN ACT in relation to mechanics' liens. PASSED May 2, 1870. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: SECTION 1. The provisions of the laws relating to mechanics' liens, heretofore passed, shall apply to bridges and trestle work erected for railroads and materials furnished therefor, and labor performed in constructing said bridges, trestle work and other structures connected therewith, and that the time within which said liens may be filed shall be extended to ninety days from the time when the last work shall have been performed on said bridges, trestle work and structures connected therewith, or the time from which said materials shall have been delivered. This act shall apply to all uncompleted work commenced previous to the passage of this act. 2. This act shall take effect immediately. CHAP. 636. AN ACT to provide for the better protection of life and safety of property transported on the several railroads of this state. PASSED May 5, 1870; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: SECTION 1. No person shall be employed as an engineer by any officer or agent acting for or in behalf of either of the railroads of this state, who cannot read the printed time tables and ordinary handwriting. § 2. No person shall run an engine on a regular or special train upon either of the railroads of this state who cannot read printed time tables and ordinary handwriting. 3. Any person offending against the provisions of this act shall, upon conviction thereof, be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and punishable for each offense by a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars, or six months' imprisonment in the county jail, in the discretion of the court having cognizance of the offense. § 4. This act shall take effect immediately. The Albany Law Journal. ALBANY, JUNE 11, 1870. SKETCHES OF EMINENT ENGLISH JUDGES. I. KENYON. The subject of this sketch was a compound of contrary characteristics. He was deeply learned in the law, and profoundly ignorant of every thing outside of it; of the loftiest integrity and scorn of wrong, yet guilty of frequent practical injustice; of unaffected piety, yet sometimes approaching profanity in his coarse license of speech; of despotic and irascible temper, yet melted to tears by the occasional petulance of others; uncouth in address and clumsy and obscure in rhetoric, but never failing to enforce his points by an overwhelming directness; utterly destititute of wit and imagination, yet keenly appreciating them in his favorite Erskine; it is only for his vigorous impoliteness, his slovenliness, and his parsimony, that I can discover in his character no counterpoise in kind. He was a Welshman, which may account for an irascibility that seems common to that race. The necessity of learning and pronouncing the Welsh language may reasonably be imagined sufficient to stamp an enduring irritability on the character. It is related in the life of Sir Leoline Jenkins, that a French courtier asked him where he was born; he replied that he was a Cambro-Briton. The Frenchman desiring to hear some of the language of the place, the judge complied by quoting the Welsh proverb, "Nid with y bag mae abnabod cyffyldy," which signifies that the goodness of a woodcock is not to be known by the length of his bill; a saying as fully applicable to lawyers as to woodcock. But Kenyon was proud of his country, and sensitive of her geographical honor. He once applied to Dunning for a frank, and the latter directed the letter "North Wales, near Chester," which made Kenyon exceedingly angry. Kenyon was born in 1732. His early educational advantages were small. Not being intended by his father for any thing higher than an attorney, he acquired but little classical knowledge. In this respect he was worse off than Shakespeare, for he had little Latin and no Greek. What little Latin he had was very bad, and his vanity of airing it rendered him constantly ridiculous. He was articled to an attorney, with whom he expected a partnership, but fortunately for him and the world, terms could not be agreed on, and he came to London and the chief justiceship. While he was in the attorney's office he was guilty of some poetry - another singularity in his character. Happily for our amusement a portion of his verses have been preserved. They commence thus: "Whilom as through the distant groves I strayed, He then eulogizes Sir Watkin Wynn, the hero of Welshmen: "There Watkin stood, firm to Britannia's cause, It is evident from these specimens that Kenyon was not an inspired bard, and that if he had allowed poetry to monopolize his attention, his praise would have been troubled by the clanking of the aforesaid "dark oblivion's chain." We read that during his student days he was of a grave and serious deportment, of most correct habits, passionately addicted to the study of the law, and that he despised all amusements, such as dancing, the opera, and the drama. In later life he fell asleep at the first representation of Pizarro, which provoked Sheridan to say, Alas, poor man, he fancies himself on the bench!" His intimate companions were Dunning and Horne Tooke. It is related that when they dined together, as was their constant custom, for seven and one-half pence a head, Dunning and Tooke would give the waiter a penny each, but Kenyon never more than a half-penny, and seldom more than a promise. 66 After being called to the bar in 1761, Kenyon followed the circuit for ten years. In his study and in his waiting for patronage, he acquired a knowledge of law more profound and various than that of any other lawyer of his time. Others excelled in particular departments; his acquirements comprehended all. At the age of 39, and when he had been twelve years in the profession, he married his cousin, with whom he lived long and happily. He left a fortune of £200,000. In 1781 and 1782, the last two years of his practice at the bar, his fees for cases and opinions alone were respectively 2,369 and 3,020 guineas. Court business came more slowly. His first great case was Lord Pigot's, against Stratton, in which he appeared for the prosecution. In that trial were, besides himself, Wedderburne, Wallace, Mansfield, Dunning, Arden, Wilson, and Erskine -a very respectable array of counsel, certainly. A little later he was senior to Erskine in the defense of Lord George Gordon. In 1782 he was appointed attorney-general, and carried confusion to friends as well as foes by his unsophisticated persistence in prosecuting the public accountants, to compel them to pay over to the government the balances which they had been in the habit of retaining, and using long after they should have been paid — a custom which corruption, otherwise called courtesy, had long winked at. In 1784 he was appointed master of the rolls, with a baronetcy. He recommended the prime minister, Pitt, to insist on the famous Westminster scrutiny directed against Fox. This led the latter to flay him in this fashion: "A third person there is whom I might in reason challenge-a person of a sober demeanor, who, with great diligence and exertion in a very respectable and learned profession, has raised himself to considerable eminence; a person who fills one of the first seats of justice in this kingdom, and has long discharged the functions of a judge in an inferior, but very honorable, situation. This person, sir, has to-day professed and paraded much upon the impartiality with which he should discharge his conscience in his judicial |