ART. IX.-A MEMOIR OF THE LATE RIGHT HON. SIR JOHN BAYLEY, BART. AMONGST the zealous and deserving servants of the public, the late Sir J. Bayley must be considered as holding a distinguished place. Having been raised to the Bench at a then unusually early period of life, he continued his useful and honourable labours for upwards of twenty-five years: nor were they at last interrupted by any wish for retirement or love of ease, but by the pressure (not so much of age as) of infirmities, which rendered that retirement inevitable. About the time of his appointment, a most objectionable practice had prevailed of selecting for judges men who ought rather to have been receiving the reward of past services, than entering upon the performance of them. The late Mr. J. Chambre and Mr. B. Wood, though most eminent for their legal attainments and knowledge, were called to the exercise of their most weighty and responsible duties after the age of sixty: Mr. J. Burrough was appointed at a much later period of life, and the Lord Chief Baron Alexander, when seventy years old, and, moreover, after having been removed from practice in any Court for not less than twelve years. In truth, an opinion seemed to have grown up that the proper time for bringing men into the public service, was, when individuals began to entertain suspicions of decline, and, for that cause, to entrust their business to younger hands. The case of Sir J. Bayley, as has been already observed, and will appear, when we come, in order, to notice the precise date of his elevation, was an exception to this absurd and vicious rule the more obviously absurd, when it is recollected that what Cicero says of an orator is true of a judge — the duties require the possession" laterum et virium." : Sir J. Bayley was of a highly respectable family upon the confines of the counties of Huntingdon and NorthamptonBayley of Elton; his mother (a Kennett) being descended, in a direct line, from Kennett, Bishop of Peterborough. John was the second son; and his position, therefore, pointed him out for a life of employment. His original destination was the Church, and he was placed upon the foundation at Eton, in the hope of being drafted off to King's College, Cambridge. In this hope, however, he failed, and the disappointment extended to after life, not merely from his preference for the Church, but from a belief which he entertained, that his advancement would have been greater in the profession of his choice, than in that which he was driven to pursue. Upon his being superannuated (as it is called) at Eton, he was sent at once to the law, and commenced his career by entering, or, as the phrase is, having the run of the office of Mr. Lyon, an attorney, for a year. He then entered at Gray's Inn, and was two years in the office of Mr. Lamb, a special pleader, who went the northern circuit for many years, and was the friend, and nearly the contemporary of Chambre and Wood. He then, according to the prevalent usage, commenced practice on his own account with considerable success. In Easter Term, 1793, he was called to the Bar with such indications of advancement, that, in Trinity Term, 1799, he, together with the late Mr. Serjeant Lens, took the degree of the Coif. His business then consisted chiefly of legal arguments business which, although not of the most showy, or, as it is called, leading description, is, nevertheless, best calculated to improve the lawyer: and the manner in which he acquitted himself attracted the notice of those whom it concerned; for, in May 1808 (then in his 45th year), he was appointed a Judge of the King's Bench, in which he remained till November, 1830, when he was removed to the Court of Exchequer, and, at the end of Hilary Term, 1834, he resigned having completed the unusually long period of twenty-six years, within three months, of judicial service. Having been created a Privy Councillor and a Baronet, he died in October, 1841, and was succeeded in the title by his eldest son, Sir John Bayley, the present Baronet. The industry which distinguished Sir J. Bayley at the Bar, did not forsake him when he was raised to the Bench. Amidst his various occupations as a Judge, he never failed (as had long been his habit) to abstract and index every reported case. We mention this chiefly as a proof of his labour and pains-taking: It has been said, however, that this "repertory of easy reference" was found of much use,-especially in the latter part of the time of Lord Ellenborough. For himself, although, when composing judgments (in which, it is understood, he had a large share) he might wish to know where every thing was to be found on the subject, it was a common remark that he did best when he trusted most to himself; -- this was, certainly, most true, when he was sitting at Nisi Prius. With respect to his conduct towards his brethren on the Bench it appeared always of that useful and unpretending kind, which exhibits an anxiety to forward the general business of the Court without any affectation of shining or display. As to his deportment, generally, towards the whole Profession, and the opinion entertained of him, all comment is superfluous when we bear in mind the regret with which his departure from the King's Bench to the Exchequer was attended, and the sincere expression of admiration of his many most valuable qualities then conveyed to him; than which it is impossible to conceive a more authentic and honourable testimonial. In points of practice, a very necessary though not the most attractive part of legal lore and labours, Sir J. Bayley was absolutely unequalled. The clearness and certainty with which he disposed of questions of this sort, was so great that people were half persuaded to believe that there must be something of system and principle in it. The late Mr. B. Bolland, when at the Bar, used to observe, that no man living ever pretended to venture a guess, when "a trial had been lost," except Bayley. As a Judge presiding at Nisi Prius, Sir J. Bayley had many qualities of great importance and value. His knowledge of all the details of business, belonging to both branches of the Profession (thanks, perhaps, to the first part of his legal education) was remarkably extensive and acHis apprehension of the evidence, as it was given, was very clear, and, until his infirmities began to appear, his notes (rapidly taken) full and satisfactory; though, for curate. some cause or other, he chose a little duodecimo volume, in which nobody but himself could have written at all. In one particular, requiring no ordinary grasp and comprehension of mind, he was never surpassed: Written documents, generally, including deeds of any length and complexity, were explained by him, and their peculiar bearings pointed out to the jury in a manner the most luminous and intelligible. For this cause, or, perhaps, from his high estimate of the value of written evidence, he always seemed to feel, and often expressed great satisfaction, when the parties had fixed themselves by indelible black and white. In his management of parol testimony he was not always equally successful, and that, not from any want of apprehension or sagacity, but owing to the goodness of his own disposition, and his too favourable opinion of human nature. Fully sensible of the most pernicious tendency of perjury (as, indeed, who is not?) and the heinousness of the offence, he was, and probably for that reason, somewhat sceptical as to the frequency of its existence, which, from sad experience, we know to be too certain. When contradictions were staring each other in the face, he would sometimes torture his faculties in an attempt to reconcile them; and in so doing, would have recourse to suppositions sufficiently arbitrary and far-fetched, when the simple solution, that one or both of the contending parties were "bearing false witness,” would have been nearer the truth. In the conduct of criminal business, Sir J. Bayley was above all praise. The "suaviter in modo" was never put in practice more uniformly or successfully. If he had studied, (as perhaps he had,) the wise and dignified remarks of Don Quixote to the supposed governor of Barataria, when about to enter upon his office, ever so attentively, he could not have acquitted himself better. The unhappy culprit could not but feel that he was treated, not only with fairness, but indulgence. The story, a thousand times repeated, and as often disbelieved, that the stolen property was found in a ditch by the highway, or in a footpath over a field, was listened to without any symptoms being betrayed of that entire incredulity, with which the narrative was attended. The result, as to conviction and a penal example, was, of course, precisely the same, whilst the effect produced upon those who were witnesses of such demeanour, was to increase and fix their attachment to the laws of their country. Sir J. Bayley, though of a tender and kindly nature, did not shrink, when the occasion required it, from the performance of that stern and awful duty which necessity imposed upon him: it has been said, however, that he would sometimes retire to his chamber; there, by prayer and supplication, to bring himself to a state of due humiliation, when about to exercise the tremendous power entrusted to him over the life of a fellow creature. We have adverted to the beneficial effect which the judicial conduct of Sir J. Bayley was calculated to produce. We consider it, however, as an instance only (though a favourable one undoubtedly) of what is continually going on, in a greater or less degree, from the same cause. In no respect does the working of the constitution appear in so favourable and attractive a shape as in the administration of justice, and especially that part of it which, at certain intervals, circulates throughout the country. In other respects the great body of the people do not see much to approve of or admire. Certain. apartments in Downing Street, and even the occupants of them, of whatever party (for with that we do not meddle) excite little interest or attachment. The periodic time of the tax-gatherer has no charms; and even the pomp and parade with which Majesty is occasionally exhibited, dazzle but for an hour, leaving, perhaps, some sore and halfangry feeling occasioned by the inequality of human condition, which accident and not merit has produced. The very immunities and privileges, which, by those who reflect justly, are recognized as the indicants and accompaniments of good government, are in their nature negative; the absence of vexation and oppression. Men who have been long in the enjoyment of this habitual freedom, no more think of inquiring into the causes of it, than they do of examining the component parts of the air they breathe; they soon fall into the lazy and inconsiderate enjoyment of undisturbed possession. But with the administration of justice it is otherwise. Though recurring at stated and not distant periods there is enough of novelty to create an immediate though temporary |