NOTE D D D. 



exceedingly increased ; for either of these provinces brought too much upon the 

 shoulders of any one man (who cordially and conscientiously espouseth the 

 duty required of him), to be easily borne. The greatest pain he endured, 

 moved from a sense he had of the torment the suitors underwent by the ex 

 cessive charges and delays of the court. And the truth is, a court, as that is, 

 with officers and fees proper for a little business, such as the judiciary part 

 anciently was, coming to possess almost all the justice of the nation, must 

 needs appear troubled. The business of his office was too great for one, who 

 thought he was bound to do it all well.&quot; 



Lord Eldon. 



It was my good fortune to practise in the court of Chancery when the vener 

 able Lord Eldon presided in the court. Pie was a man of sound judgment ; 

 he was never diverted from the truth by immediate impression. &quot; I have made 

 a covenant with myself,&quot; was his favourite maxim, &quot; not to decide hastily, 

 when J am powerfully excited.&quot; He decided with unbiassed impartiality, 

 never suffering any passion to interfere with the love of truth and of justice. 

 He was quick in forming his opinions, but slow in deciding. From his exten 

 sive and accurate knowledge of law he appeared to me immediately to see the 

 whole merits of the case ; but, from his anxiety to be just, his habit was, 

 diligently to discover, before he decided, every thing which could be urged 

 against the opinion he had formed. He was not tenacious in retaining any 

 opinion. He was never ashamed of being wiser to-day than he was yesterday. 

 A more analytical and discriminating mind never existed ; but he well knew 

 where to stop : he never suffered himself to wander from the substance of the 

 matter in judgment into useless subtlety and refinement. A more anxious 

 judge never presided on earth. He was &quot; patientissimus veri.&quot; A kinder 

 heart never beat. His habit was the same as Lord Egerton s, and might be 

 described in the same words as are used by Bacon : &quot; For it hath been a 

 manner much used of late in my last lord s time, of whom I learn much to 

 imitate, and somewhat to avoid, that upon the solemn hearing of a cause 

 nothing is pronounced in court, but breviates are required to be made, which I 

 do not dislike in causes perplexed. But yet I find that when such breviates 

 were taken, the cause was sometimes forgotten a term or two, and then set 

 down for a new hearing, three or four terms after. And in the mean time the 

 subject s pulse beats swift, though the Chancery pace be slow.&quot; 



In the year 1826 a commission was appointed to inquire into the delays of 

 the court of Chancery. I was examined before this commission, and thus spoke 

 respecting Lord Eldon : &quot; I cannot but think it most unjust to confound the 

 court with the judge. There is a spirit of improvement now moving upon this 

 country, which ought not, as it appears to me, to be impeded by personality. 

 Permanent defects in a court may perhaps generally be traced to the constitu 

 tion of the court ; that is, not to the judge, but to society. The real causes of 

 these delays, are (I conceive) because the business of the court has increased 

 for centuries, until it has become too extensive. This was assumed by the 

 legislature, when the Vice Chancellor s court was appointed ; but since the 

 appointment of the Vice Chancellor, the Lord Chancellor sits for a less time, 

 and is, unless I am much mistaken, less able, when he does sit, to accelerate 

 business. I consider the fact with respect to the delays in deciding to be 

 indisputable. I am repeatedly urged to ask the Lord Chancellor for judgment, 

 and I do again and again mention petitions to the Lord Chancellor; but, 

 knowing the pressure of business upon him, I confess 1 always do it with con 

 siderable reluctance.&quot; 



instance of which I beg to mention the case of Ex parte Blackburn, which I 

 have stated to have been in the paper last year, relating to transactions so many 

 years back. I argued this case (I think I may say) two or three times, and I 

 certainly never was in my life more satisfied with my own argument than I was 



