54 HIS TORT of the SOCIETl'. 



* 



Lor'aPrlnLn over w h* c h he prefided, the influence of thefe endeavours ex- 

 Dandas, 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 expreffed his de- 

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

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

 with circumfpection, to guard their conduct with the mod 

 fcrupulous exactnefs, and to dread the flighted 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 faction, give 

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

 eminent man, which is, That from the period of the inftitution 

 of that Court over which he prefided, however confpicuous in 

 particular departments might have been the merit of fome of his 

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

 combined in himfelf fo many of the effential requifites for the 

 difcharge of that important office. 



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

 prefent a faultlefs picture. Nothing, in fact, is of fo little value 

 as indifcriminate panegyric ; nothing fo empty and infignificant 

 as bis praife who (hews that he is blind to imperfections. If 

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

 utmoft extent, the moft effential requifites for the ftation which 

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

 nence of his character, when we acknowledge a deficiency in 

 fome fubordinate qualities. 



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

 wanting to the perfection of his mental accomplifhments, was, 

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



dies 



