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peood, for teachinf; ftudents tht; lays and conilitutioii of 

 tlieir own country, Mr. Blackllone undertook to fuppi)' this 

 dtfc(5t, and op.-iicd a courfe of public Icdures upon this in- 

 ter(:llin.j fibjccl. Willi fuch reputation and fuccefs did 

 he profccutc I\i3 plan, from Michaelmas term 1753> when his 

 firft courfe of lectures commenced, during a fenes of fuccef- 

 five years, as probably to fugged the idea to Mr. Viner of 

 founding by hii v.ill a very liberal tdablifhmcnt in the uni- 

 vcrlity of Oxford for the ftudy of the common law. As 

 foon as the plan of Mr. Viucr's inilitution could be arranged, 

 Mr. B'.ackilone was vcvy properly elected, in OAober, 175' > 

 the firll Vineiian profefTor ; and he introduced the duties 

 of his new ollicc by a well-written ledure, adapted both to 

 the fiibjexfl and the audience, which was foon afterwards pub- 

 lidiod, and vhich has becQ fince prefixed to tl.e firll volume 

 of his Commentaries. 



With his engagements as a letiurer, Mr. Blackllone 

 combined t'ne occafional exercife of his profeiTion as a pro- 

 vincial baniller ; and, in 1754, he was employed as counfel 

 in the great contelled eleiflion for the county of Oxford. 

 The fobllance of his pleadings on this occafion was publiflied 

 in a pamphlet entitled "ConfiJerationson Copyholders;" with 

 a view to the kgillative dccifion of the point controverted 

 at this dedion. The argument of this treatife is founded 

 oil feudal principles, and excludes copyholders from the right 

 of voting ; this right being, by his reafoning, rellriftcd to 

 thofe w ho have a freehold or permanent intereil in land, 

 which dots not belong to copyholders, whom the feudal 

 fyllem conlidtrs as mere vaffals, and dependent on the will 

 of the lord. But it has been more liberally argued by others, 

 that a feries of Ijgal decifions has given to this tenure all the 

 permanence of freehold property, and that as the reafon of 

 the diftiniflion betwten the two fpccies of tenure has ceafed, 

 the didindion itfelf ought no longer to exill. However, 

 in the parliamentary difcufTion of this qucftion, the technical 

 arguments prevailed ; and a declaratory acl was foon after- 

 wards paffed, in conformity to the principles advanced by 

 the profefTor's treatife, excluding copyholders from the ri;;ht 

 of fuffrage. In 1759, Blackllone publifliid, befidcs two 

 tracts of a local and temporary nature, a new edition of the 

 '■ Great Charter, and Charter of the Fored," introduced by 

 an hillorical preface, which evinced a coiifiJerable know- 

 ledge of antiquities. In the fame year, the reputation 

 gained by his leclures encouraged him to return to the tem- 

 ple, and to refume his attendance at Weftmiiiller ; where he 

 foon acquired profefQonal eminence, and wlure lie was em- 

 plpyed for a confiderable time in almoR all cafes that re- 

 quired great learning and deep refearch. In 1761, he was 

 elefted member of parliament for Hindon, and had a patent 

 of precedence to rank as king's counfel, having before de- 

 clined the office of chief jullicc of Ireland. In 1762, he 

 colkcled and re-publi!hed feveral of his pieces under the 

 title of " Law Trafts," in 2 vols. 8vo. In 1763, he was 

 appointed folicitor-gencral to the queen, in the cllablidiment 

 of her mrjtfly's houfehold, and barrilier of the Middle Tem- 

 ple. Having vacated his fellowiliip by his marriage, in 

 1761^ he was immediately afterwards appointed princinal of 

 N;w Iim-lnil, by lord Wellmoreland, then chancellor of 

 the univcrfm-. But in 1766, he refigned both this office 

 and his \ inerian profefTorfliip^ 



The firll volume of his kaures was publifhed in 1765, 

 under the title of " Commentaries ou the I.aus of England j" 

 a work which fir William Jones has charaatrized .is " the 

 moll correft a-id beautiful outhnethat was ever exhibited of 

 any huirian fcience." In the execution of this undertaking, 

 the author combines the humbler dutv of an expofitor wiUi 

 the higher charader of a philofophical writer on jurifpru- 

 dencc. Under the former charafter he is entitled to the 



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higheft praif^. The flyle is correft, perfpicuouj, and ele- 

 gant ; and the author has admirably contrived to counedt 

 amufement with inftruftion, and to render the fludy of the 

 law as agreeable as it is important and intereiling. Not- 

 withtlanding the immenfe niafs of ijiaterials of which this 

 coaiprehenfive work confift?, few errors have been detedlcd 

 in it, and it has been cited as a book of authority. 



It has been objected, however, to thefe Commentaries, 

 excellent as they are in a variety of rcfpefts, that in th.ofe 

 parts of them where the author examines the reafors and 

 principles of law, he does not invelligate them with a truly 

 philofophical fpirit, and that he docs not rife above the or- 

 dinary level of thofe writers whn, in every country and age, 

 have extolled their own m.unicipal inftitution as " the vrif- 

 dom of ages," and " the perfeftion of reafon." In difcuf- 

 fing the propriety of particular laws, it is faid that " his 

 ingenuity is always occupied by the forms of jurifprudence ; 

 and intlcad of referring to public convenience and general 

 utility, the fole ftandard of all rational legiflatiou, he per- 

 petually appeab-io thofe technical arguments which are dig- 

 nified v^ith the title of " legal reafons." He is, in all cales, 

 the advocate and the apologiil of exilliiig inllitiitions ; 

 and it is the conflant tendency of his work to juility 

 whatever has been ellablilhed by antiquity, to dilcredit 

 the improvements of modern times, and to expofe to con- 

 tempt or indignation all propofals for further change. In 

 his political principles he has been charged with being too 

 much the advccate of prerogative ; and his etclcfialtical 

 opinions have been thought to incline towards intolerance. 

 Notwilhllanding the undue deference to authority, with 

 which this writer has been charged, there are many pafiagts 

 in his admirable work, in which he exprefTes a marked dif- 

 approbation of Handing armies and m.ilitary barrack?, and 

 in which he delineates the progrcfs of the influence of the 

 crown, and the probable ttfefls of a further incrcafe of the 

 national debt. Thefe paffages, however, have been attri- 

 buted, by fome of thofe who have animadverted on h:s Com- 

 mentaries, more to the fpirit of the times, than to that of 

 the writer. Several obnoxious paffages in the ecclefiallical 

 part of this work were pointed out by Dr. Furneaux and 

 Dr. Prieftley ; but though the author had not magnanimity 

 enough explicitly to acknowledge his errors, thefe paffages 

 were retrenched in fublequent editions. The pohtical priii- 

 ciples of the Commentaries were fome years afterwards, viz. 

 in 1776, more fcverely noticed in a treatife entitled " A 

 Fragment on Government," by Jeremy Bentham, elq. To 

 the honour of Mr. Blackllone it (hould be mentioned, that, 

 notwithftanding the fcvcrity of this author's criticifm, he 

 afterwards became acquainted with him, and hved with him 

 upon terms of regard and friendfliip. 



Having given his opinion in parliament, on occafion of 

 the debates about the Middlcfex eleftion, that an expelled 

 member was not eligible to the fame parhament, and this 

 opinion appearing to contiadift the language of his Com- 

 mentaries, he was violently attacked for this inconfiftcncy 

 by the celebrated Junius and others; but, though he de- 

 fended himfelf with ingenuity, he inferted the cafe of ex- 

 pulfion in the next edition of his work, of which he had 

 before taken no notice, as one of the difqualifications for a 

 feat in parliament. 



_ His diftinguidied talents and meritorious fervices entitled 

 him, without doubt, to the notice and rccompence of go- 

 vernment. Accordingly, when he declined the offer of 

 being folicitor-gencral, on the refignntion of Mr. Dunning, 

 in 1770, he was appointed immediately afterwards one of 

 the jullices of the common pleas, which office he held, ex- 

 cept for a ftiort interval, during which he accommodated 

 Mr. Juftice Yates by fitting as one of the jullices of the 



king's 



