Nov. 4. 1854.] 



NOTES AND QUEKIE§. 



357 



LONDON. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 4. 1854. 



fiatti. 



COLLAR OF SS. 



In the earlier Numbers of " N. & Q." there are 

 several ingenious essays on the origin of this 

 much-disputed mark of honour ; it is not my pur- 

 pose to add to the many speculations of the anti- 

 quarian world on this recondite subject 5 but 

 perhaps the following legal jew d esprit may not be 

 unacceptable. I found it among the papers of 

 Sir Robert Heath, the last chief justice of Eng- 

 land during the reign of Charles I. (now in the 

 possession of Lord Willoughby de Broke, a de- 

 scendant of the Heath family, formerly of JBrasted 

 in Kent). It is in the autograph of Sir Robert, 

 anfl was probably written during the last two or 

 three years of his life, which he passed in exile, at 

 Caen in Normandy, where he died in August, 

 1649. 



.*' A Collar of SS., consisting of 24 Links, for the Honour 

 and Ornament of a Judge, who would be carefull and con- 

 scionable in the great and weighty callinge of Judicature. 



" 1. Studiousnes must be the first link of this chaine ; 

 y« propensity of a good disposition and the benefit of 

 natural parts will much further him who intendeth the 

 study of the lawes ; but these will not perfect the work, 

 nor fitt the man who afterwards must undergoe the call- 

 ing of a judge, unless he be studious in the hard study of 

 his profession, for nemo nascitur artifex. To this must be 

 added 



" 2. Setlednes in the way he once undertaketh : an 

 inconstancy in his resolution, sometimes to incline to the 

 undertaking of one profession, and sometimes to another, 

 and many times to no profession at all, will never render 

 him able to attayne to any competent measure of know- 

 ledge sufficient to discharge soe great a dutye ; he may, 

 and it is fitt he should, for ornament, have an insight into 

 other sorts of learning, but the lawe must be his hoc age. 



" 3. Science is a competency of time : not in an instant 

 will this be attayned unto; and that must be had, and 

 not in a superficial or ordinary degree, else how should 

 he be able to judge between man and man, between cause 

 and cause, who is himself but sciolus, a half-witted man ? 

 He must be magister artis indeed, who shall sit at the 

 Sterne and gaide the compass. 



" 4. Sapience is the fourth link of this chaine. Science 

 and knowledge is not enough ; many have read much, 

 and some dispute probably de omni cute; but a wise and 

 an understanding heart is that unum necessarium. The 

 wise King Solomon, who was the wisest of kings and of 

 mere men, knew it, and prayed for it, and by his prayer 

 obteyned it, et ccetera omnia superaddita fuerant. 



" 5. Sagacitie, which is the prudential part of wisdom, 

 is of all things most necessary ; the ability wisely to dis- 

 ceme and distinguish betwene truth and falsehood, and 

 prudently to order publicke affaires, is of great and im- 

 portant necessity in a publike magistrate ; the contem- 

 plative part will go far in a private person, but the 

 practical part must compleate a judge. 



" 6. Solertiousnes must be added to the rest, else it will 

 be too dull to meet with every occurrent, which is of so 

 much vaiietye, that nothing must be news, nothing must 

 be suddeyne, to him that sitteth and moderateth tanquam 

 m cathedra. 



" 7. Subtilitie will be requisite, for his assistance, not to 

 use, but to avoyd those crafts and subtiltys which will 

 else be obtruded uppon him. 



" 8. Stabilitie is an excellent guift for such a callinge ; 

 for as he must not be rash and suddeyne in his resolutions^ 

 soe, having maturely resolved, he must be constant and 

 resolute to put it into a due execution, for virtntis laus 

 accio, and he must go one step further. 



" 9. Strenuousnes must be added, if he find resistance, 

 amongst other virtues which compleate a judge. Courage 

 is one of the chiefest, and as this must be used with 



" 10. Severitie and strictnes, that his just judgements be 

 not neglected nor slighted, soe must he avoyd a rigide 

 or a harsh carriage. 



" 11. Suavitie, or sweetnes of carriage, is a wynning 

 quality, workinge uppon the afi"ections of those with 

 whom he shall have to doe; and where curst and ill 

 language doth alienate the best of y« party drawn before 

 the judge, either in a civill or a criminal cause, a mild 

 and yet a strict disquisition of the fact, and imposing of 

 the punishment, makes the delinquent see it is the hand 

 of justice, not of the judge, which is uppon him ; and to 

 this purpose 



" 12. Suaviloquence, sweetnes of language, is of great 

 power, soe as always to be grave and weighty, not light 

 or uncomely, which in a person of that callinge, and in 

 the place of judicature, must alwayes be avoyded. 



" 13. Seriousnes, therefore, must by all means be af- 

 fected by a judge whilst he is in agitation of serious 

 afiaires, but in his private conversation 



" 14. Socialitie becometh the person of the gravest man,, 

 soe as he neglect not the due consideration of time, place, 

 and persons ; for soe wise men who are lookers-on will 

 easily distinguish betwene the natural and the politike 

 part of a man's actions ; a cheerful conversation is the 

 comfort of a man's life, and being thus moderated may 

 become a Cato ; and in this retired and private way 



"15. Salceditie, quicknes and sharpnes of wit, setteth an 

 edge to him, when he is to return to his more serious af- 

 faires. He may, and thus with advantage, lay by his 

 roab for a time ; as it was wisely and truly sayd, not 

 many years since, by a great and a wise king [James I. ? ], 

 ' Always state is no state.' 



" 16. Sobrietie is a pretious link in this chayne ; noe time, 

 noe place, noe occasion, noe company, may put this virtue 

 off. Bring the person of a magistrate, or suffer him to be 

 brought into an occasion of levitye, and soe into con- 

 tempt ; let him speak like an angel, or otherwise live like 

 a saint, yet he cann not redeem this one error : and be- 

 sides these qualities, to make a judge compleate, there are 

 also requisite 



" 17. Spontaniousties, and readines to helpe those who are 

 in distress or suffer injury. He must not doe the acts of 

 justice unwillingly, but with alacrity and cheerfulness. 

 He must add therunto 



" 18. Sedulitie, for a negligent hand in such cases gives ifl- 

 conragement to those who offend ; whereas diligence and 

 industrye in those who are soe great instruments of peace 

 and quietnes to others, gives life and spirits to the well- 

 disposed, and disheartening to the contrary. 



" 19. Solicitousnes. The often cogitation of those dutys 

 which belong to the place of a judge seriously resolved, 

 will stirr up the cares of a conscionable man, that he doe 

 not soe important a work negligently. 



" 20. Simplicity e of heart must accompany the other vir- 

 tues, for if eather expectation of preferment, applause of 

 the people, hope of wealth or honour, be the mover of the 

 man, and not a simple heart and a sincere conscience to 

 doe good in his callinge, sooner or later it will be dis- 

 covered, and will fayl him who builds uppon such a false 

 foundation. 



