54 HIS TORT of the SOCIETl'. 



AccoiiMof over which he prefided, the influence of thefe endeavours ex- 



Lord Prefidcnt ^ 



Dundw. tended itfelf to every inferior court of judicature ; as the mo- 



tion oF the heart is felt in the remoteft artery. In reviewing 

 the fentences of inferior judges, he conftantly exprefled his de- 

 fire of fupporting the jull authority of every rank and order of 

 Magiftrates ; but thefe were taught, at the fame time, to walk 

 with circumfpedlion, to guard their condu<fl with the moft 

 fcrupulous exadnefs, and to dread the flightefl; deviation from 

 the narrow path of their duty. 



With thefe endowments of mind, and high fenfe of the 

 duties of his office, it is not furprifing, that amidft all the dif- 

 ferences of fentiment which the jarring interefts of individu- 

 als, or the more powerful influence of political fa6lion, give 

 rife to, there ftiould be but one opinion of the character of this 

 eminent man, which is. That from the period of the inflitution 

 of that Court over which he prefided, however confpicuous in 

 particular departments might have been the merit of fome of his 

 predeceflbrs, no man ever occupied the Prefident's chair, who 

 combined in himfelf fo many of the eflential requifites for the 

 difcharge of that important office. 



But it is not the intention of the writer of this account to 

 prefent a faultlefs pidure. Nothing, in fad, is of fo little value 

 as indifcriminate panegyric ; nothing fo empty and infignificant 

 as his praife who fhews that he is blind to imperfedions. If 

 we allow the merits of this great man, in poflTeffing, in their 

 utmoft extent, the moft eflential requifites for the ftation which 

 he filled, it is but a fmall derogation from the confefled emi- 

 nence of his charader, when we acknowledge a deficiency in 

 fome fubordinate qualities. 



Of thefe, what was chiefly to be regretted, and was alone 

 wanting to the perfedion of his mental accomplifliments, was, 

 that he appeared to give too little weight or value to thofe ftu- 



dies 



