1S06.] 



Memoirs of the late Lord Thurlow. 



357 



iteiitorian voice, an undnunted counte- 

 nance, and a certain degree of folernnity 

 that rendered iiis talents confpicuoui, 

 and his aid deiirable, lie upheld the 

 claims of prerogative. The Miniller, 

 driven nearly to defpair by l!ie elcqueiice 

 iiiid arguments ut" a SaviUe, a Burke, antl 

 a Fox, threw himfclt" on the lawyers for 

 protection, and in t! e perfon of Edward 

 Tliurlow found an able and jadicious ad- 

 vocate. 



Such zeal, joined to fucli abilities, 

 could not long pais unrewarded ; and ac- 

 cordingly, on the 2d of June, 1778, he 

 was appoiiited Lord High Chancellor of 

 Great Britain, by virtue of wiiich ottice, 

 he, at a lingle bound, became the i'econd 

 fubject in the kingdom. On the next 

 day he \\ as created a Peer of Great Bri- 

 tain, by the title of Lord Thurlow, Baron 

 of AdiHeld, intlie county of SuiTol-k, with 

 remainder, in cafe of delauit of ili'ue 

 male, to his nephews. 



lie continued to fulfil the duties of his 

 arduous and important iituation for five 

 years, and during that period railed his 

 i'econd brotlier from an humble rectory 

 to the epifcopal dignity. Bitt when Lord 

 North and Mr. Fox united, and formed 

 the coalition adminillration, he was 

 obliged to retire, and on tlie 9th of April, 

 1783, the feals were put in conimihion*. 



This itate of affairs, however, proved 

 Jjut of fliort continuance ; for the new ad- 

 miniltration was not fupported by the 

 voice of the people, and it fo happened, 

 by a coincidence rather unufual, that the 

 king was of the- fame mind. His Ma- 

 jelly was indeed peculiarly averfe to the 

 <;ontinuance of t\\e juntoin utBce, as the 

 project of tlie Ea(l India Bill feemed to 

 be calculated to abriily;L- the royal prero- 

 gative, and create a new power in the 

 coidlitution. 



Mr. Pitt, who had before atted as 

 Chancellor of the Ivichequer under Lord 

 Shelbarne, now became Firft Lord of the 

 Ticafury and Fremitr, on which occallon 

 he feieited Lord Tliurlow f jr the great 

 feal, and that nobleman accordingly rc- 

 fumed his feat on the woolfack, on the 

 23d of December, 17 o3, after a Ihort in- 

 teiTal of eigiit months and a fortnight. 



Prcvioully to this period, it hail been 



• Alexander Lord Loughborough, the Chief 



iuftice of the Common Pleas, and afterwards 

 ord Chancellor, and jEail of Rofslyn, in 

 fucccflion, together with Sir W^illiam Henry 

 Afluirrt, Kniyht, and Sir Heaumont Hotham, 

 Knight, were on this occafion nominated 

 Cooimiflioncrs of the Great Seal. 



the uniform cuftoin of the throne, fmco 

 the Revolution, for the monarch who 

 wore the crown to defer on all great oc- 

 calions to the Houfe of Commons. On 

 that to which wc allude, however, the 

 new Minilier adapted a very different 

 plan, for he kept his feat in the very 

 teeth of the ariliocracy, and in tlie face 

 of a decided majority. Li addition to 

 this, and in puiluance, as it has beea 

 laid, of the opinion of the Lord Chan- 

 cellor, he advilcJ the King to diiiblve the 

 Parliament. That tliefe mcafures weie 

 not tiieoretically conftitntional, has been 

 maintained by many, but that they were 

 both piaciical and expedient the event 

 fully proved ; for the young Premier was 

 thus enabled to grow old in ofncc, and 

 with the exception of a few months, iie 

 governed tiie whole kingdom, during a 

 fpace of twenty-two years, at the cou- 

 ciulion of which period the fceptre of 

 command was wrefted from liiin, not by 

 the liunds of his political opponents, but 

 by death. 



After his refumption of tlic feals. Lord 

 Thurlow^ continued for fonie time to fup- 

 port the adminillration, of w lucii he him- 

 felf conltituicd a confpicuuuo portion. 

 He had novv attained the fuuiuiit of his 

 ambition, for indeed he could climb no 

 higher, and having received > iic reverlion 

 of a tellerlhip, wWch iiion after dropped, 

 he was become perfectly independent, in 

 point of tortune. He did not always ac- 

 cord, however, with tnc Premier; and as 

 neither of tliefe celebrated men was 

 famed for a conciiialory J'pii U, it is not 

 at all furprifing that they lliould have, at 

 length, agreed to feparate. To tiiofe 

 who were perfonally acquainted with 

 them the wonder indeed was, that they 

 Ihould have remained fo long as nine or 

 ten years in the fame cabinet. 



At length, in 1793, Lord Thurlow re- 

 figned the high and important functions 

 of Lord High Chancellor, and was fuc-; 

 ceeded by Lord Lougiiborough, after- 

 wards Earl of llofslyn, who had been 

 perfuaded by the ininienle danger of pub- 

 lic alTairs, the critical iituation of the 

 times, and the caufe of humanity itfelf, 

 to dcfert the oppolition. bench, and ex- 

 change the ermmed robe of Chief Juftice 

 of llie Common Pleas for the iirace, the 

 llaals, the iiijignin, ihe patronage, and 

 the revenue of the keeper of the King's 

 confluence ! 



From iliat period his Lorddiip fre- 

 fjuenlcd the Houfe of Peers but feldom, 

 and his health having Ijecomc very pre- 

 carious, the air of the town was fuppoled 



