ALABAMA CLAIMS. 87 
made Chief Justice of the Court. of Common Pleas 
in 1856, and of the Queen’s Bench in 1859, which 
place he still fills. 
He presided for sixteen years in the common-law 
courts of England without being raised to the peer- 
age. It is unnecessary to. speculate on the reasons 
for this unusual, if not unprecedented fact. 
His political career dates from his zealous defense 
of Lord Palmerston in the affair of the notorious 
David Pacifico. This person was an adventurer of 
doubtful nationality and of bad character, in whose 
behalf the navy of Great Britain, under Lord Palmer- 
ston’s direction, seized the Pirseus, captured Greek 
merchant-vessels, and threatened Athens. The ground 
of claim was alleged destruction of property by a mob. 
Pacifico claimed, according to the official statement of 
the case by the British Government, £4916 on ac- 
count of furniture and other personal effects, which 
he originally stated at only 5000 francs, and £26,618 
16s. 8d. on account of papers. It is very doubtful 
whether the claim was a proper subject of interna- 
tional reclamation. But, after a three months’ block- 
ade, Greece submitted to pay £5000, of which £4720 
was either falsehood or consequential damages; and 
afterward, on examination of the case in Lisbon, a 
commission awarded the petty sum of £150 in full 
satisfaction of the pretended loss of £26,618, induced 
perhaps by political reasons rather than by conviction 
of any rights of Pacifico. 
The conduct of Lord Palmerston and the British 
Government in this affair nearly involved Great Brit- 
