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himself. "Lord Sandwich is not before the court," observed the chief justice, in a tone of grave reproof. "Not before the court! Then, my lord, I will drag him before the court," replied the intrepid advocate. It has been reported, that when he left the court, he had thirty briefs pressed on him by admiring attornies, who had witnessed his brilliant display.

When his business, though increasing, was small, somebody met him in Westminster Hall, and congratulated him on his good looks and apparent flow of spirits. "Why," said he " I ought to look well; for I have nothing to do but to grow, as Lord Abercorn says of his trees."

"Neither God nor man," says Bishop Shipley, "will consent that true honour and credit shall be obtained by any other expedients than wisdom and integrity."

CHAPTER III.

LEGAL ECCENTRICITY.

Legal Eccentricity compared with Medical Eccentricity-Mr. Serjt. Prime Mr. Serjt. Whitaker-Mr. Serjt. Hill-Lord Chief Justice Willes-Lord Chancellor Northington-Lord Chancellor Thurlow-An Eminent Conveyancer.

THE lawyer has not the opportunity, possessed by the medical man, of displaying the eccentricity of his character. With his clients he is rarely brought in contact, and in court, his duties are of that precise and defined character, which afford but little scope for the manifestation of any peculiarities which may distinguish his temper or disposition.

At the bed-side of his patient, or in consultation with his friends,-in short, in the every-day practice of the profession, the surgeon and the physician is constantly exposed to situations in which his personal character, and all its qualities, necessarily discover

themselves. The medical man again, enjoys, from the circumstances of his pursuits, a wider and more intimate intercourse with society; he is looked on as the friend and counsellor of many to whom he was in the first instance recommended by his professional talents, but who have learnt to repose so much confidence in his character, as to advise with him on their own private affairs, or those of their relations. From these circumstances, greater information as to the personal character of our eminent medical men has been acquired, than the nature of their pursuits could ever enable us to obtain respecting our celebrated lawyers.

The lawyer, however, unlike the medical man, has nothing to gain in assuming eccentricity. Rough, uncourtly, and disagreeable manners, have never been considered a way "of getting on at the bar;" although, as is well known, not a few of the eminent medical practitioners, in either branch of the profession, have derived both fame and profit from insulting every patient whom fortune has thrown in their way. "He is such a rude man, he must be vastly clever”— is a reflection which not uncommonly suggests itself to the minds of the valetudinarians; and hence, the large fortunes which men, whose ferocity of manners has rendered them unworthy of civilized society, have so often acquired. The eccentricities of our lawyers have, therefore, been natural to them, and have, for the most part, arisen from the abstruse nature of the subjects with which their minds have been conversant, rendering them ignorant or neglectful of

the customs of the world, whether as respects conduct, opinions, or manners.

In the list of our eccentric lawyers will be found some, whose high merits would entitle them to notice elsewhere, but we have preferred considering them here, because they serve to illustrate a point in the legal character to which sufficient attention has not, we think, been hitherto paid.

We commence with SERJEANT PRIME, who was a good-natured, but rather dull man, and, as an advocate, wearisome beyond comparison. He was retained on one occasion to argue an ejectment case on circuit. The day was intensely hot, and, as the case excited great interest, the court was crammed full. Prime made a three hours' speech, whose soporific influence, aided by the atmosphere of the court, was most potent. A boy, early in the proceedings, who was anxious to see all that was to be seen, managed to clamber up to the roof of the court, and seated himself on a transverse beam, over the heads of the spectators. The heat, and the serjeant's dullness, soon overcame him; he fell fast asleep, and, losing his balance, came tumbling down among the people below. He fortunately escaped with only a few bruises; but several persons in the court were severely hurt. For this offence the serjeant was tried at the circuit table, found guilty, and sentenced to pay three dozen of wine towards the mess, which he did with the greatest possible good-humour. A counsel once getting up to reply to one of his lengthy orations, which had made the jury very drowsy, began, "Gentlemen, after the

long speech of the learned serjeant-""Sir, I beg your pardon," interrupted Mr. Justice Nares; "you might say, after the long soliloquy, for my brother Prime has been talking an hour to himself!" Of the learned serjeant the following anecdote has been recorded. At the time when making a new serjeant was considered an important event, part of the ceremony was a procession, which set out from the Temple westward, up Surrey Street in the Strand, and then, turning eastward, went up Chancery Lane, to Serjeant's Inn, where those already of the rank of serjeants were assembled in their hall to receive the new serjeant; and on his approach, the intimation was given, "I spy a brother." When Prime was called to the rank of serjeant, some one recollecting that his crest was an owl, with the intention of turning the new brother of the coif into ridicule, got a figure of an owl placed at the first floor window of a house in the Strand, directly facing Surrey Street, with a label round his neck, on which was written, in large characters," I spy a brother."

The circumstances which induced Serjeant Prime to withdraw from the profession have been thus related by Lord Chancellor Thurlow. "I drove Serjeant Prime from the bar, without intending it. I happened to be walking up and down Westminster Hall with him while Dr. Florence Henzey was on his trial in the King's Bench for high treason. Serjeant Prime was at that time the king's prime serjeant; and, as such, had precedence over all lawyers in the king's service. But the ministers of that day, wishing to pay court to Sir Fletcher Norton, though he had at that time no

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