BARR 
crown with a (landing falary, feems to have been Sir Fran¬ 
cis North, afterwards lord keeper to Charles II. Thefe 
king’s counfel tnuft not be employed in any caufe againft 
the crown without fpecial licence. A ctillom now pre¬ 
vails of granting letters patent of precedence to fitch bar- 
riders as the crown thinks proper to honour with that 
marie of difiinflion, whereby they are entitled to fuch rank 
and pre-audience as are afligned in their refpedtive patents, 
fonretimes next after the king’s attorney general, but ufu- 
ally next after his majefly’s counfel then being. Thefe, 
as well as the queen’s attorney and folicitor general, rank 
proinifcuoufly with the king’s counfel, and together with 
them fit within the bar of the refpeotive courts; but re¬ 
ceive no falaries and are not fworn, and therefore are at 
liberty to be retained in caufes again If the crown. And 
^11 other ferjeants and barrilfers indiferiminately (except 
in the court of Common Pleas, where ferjeants only are 
admitted in term time) may take upon them the protec¬ 
tion and defence of any fuitors whether plaintiff or de¬ 
fendant, 3 Comm. 27, 28. 
A counfel can maintain no atfiion for his fees, which are 
given not as a falary or hire, but as a mere gratuity, which 
a barrifler cannot demand without doing wrong to his re¬ 
putation. Davis, 23. And in order to encourage due free¬ 
dom of fpeech in the lawful defence of their clients, and 
at the fame time to give a check to unfeemly licentiouf- 
nefs, it hath been holden, that a counfel is not anfwerable 
for any matter by him fpoken, relative to the caufe in 
hand, and fuggefted in his client’s inlfruffions ; although 
it fhould refledt upon the reputation of another, and even 
prove abfolutely groundlefs; but if lie mentions an un¬ 
truth of his ow n invention, or even upon infirudtions, if 
it be irrelevant to the caufe in hand, he is then liable to 
an adtion from the party injured. Cro. jfac. 90. And coun¬ 
fel guilty of deceit or collufion, are punifnable by flat. 
Weftni. 1. 3 Edw. I. c. 28, with imprifonment for a year 
and a day, and perpetual filence in the courts; and the 
latter punifliment is dill fometimes inflidted for grofs mif- 
demeanours in pradtice. Raym. 376. 3 Comm. 29. Barriflers 
who conftantly attend the King’s Bench, &c. are to have 
the privilege of being fued in tranfitory adtions in the 
county of Middlel'ex. But the court will not change the 
venue becaufe fonie of the defendants are barriflers. Sir. 
610. All pleas, before they are filed, mufl be figned by 
• barrifler or ferjeant. 
With refpedt to the profeflional charadter of a barrifler, 
it has been much the vogue to load it with reproach, on 
account of their, pleading indiferiminately on either fide 
the quefiion, and of introducing too much of brow-beating 
and quibble, whereby the caufe is often wrefted from the 
fide of Truth. Even the celebrated Junius, in his 68th 
letter, addrelfed to the late lord chief jufiice Mansfield, 
paffes the following fevere cenfure .—“ As a practical pro- 
fellion, the ftudy of the law requires hut a moderate por¬ 
tion of abilities. The learning of a pleader is generally 
upon a level with his integrity. The indifcriminate de¬ 
fence of right and wrong contradls the underfianding, 
while it corrupts the heart. Subtlety is foon miftaken for 
wifdom, and impunity for virtue. If there "be any inftances 
upon record, as fome there undoubtedly are, of genius and 
morality united in a lawyer, they are dillinguiflied by their 
Angularity, and operate as exceptions.”—But however this 
be, it is with confidence we_remark, that the Englifli bar- 
rifters are gentlemen, who maintain a high fpirit of inde¬ 
pendence"; and who, in arduous and important caufes, are 
neither fwayed by the hand of power, nor mifled by pecu¬ 
niary or perfonal ccnfiderations. That a barrifler will 
fometimes appear in an awkward light, from the circum- 
fiance of being obliged to become the advocate both of 
right and wrong, is not to be denied ; but that he may in 
all cafes acquit himfelf as a gentleman, and a man of ho¬ 
nour, has been fatisfadforily proved by Mr. Gifborne, 
in his excellent Treatife on the Duties of Men in Society. 
He fays, that, by attending to the nature of the fituation in 
which a barrifier (lands, it will be eafy to difeern what 
Vol. II. No. 161. 
kinds of.arguments lie may confcientJoufly bring forward 
in f'itpport of the caufe which he has undertaken. He is 
avow'edly the advocate of a particular fide of the quefiion. 
The judges, the jury, the parties involved in the difpute, 
the whole audience before whom he pleads, the public 
whole intereft is always concerned in the final flecifio.n, 
contidcr him as aiding in that capacity. They expedl to 
hear from him every adjudged cafe, every fadl, every di¬ 
rect or analogical argument founded on precedent, which 
he is perfuaded ought to have an influence propitious to 
his caufe on the fcale of legal jufiice. They expert more 
from him. They know that it pertains to his character to 
reflect that the court may determine, and rightly deter¬ 
mine, in his favour, on grounds which previoufly to the 
trial lie might regard as not entitling him to fuccefs. They 
expedt him therefore to produce every train of legal rea- 
foning, though to his own mind it may appear inconclu- 
five, which he hopes may yet be declared fatisfadtory by 
an able and impartial tribunal. They expect him to take 
advantage of informalities and errors in the proceedings 
of his adverfaries, as far as he is authorized by law and 
cuflom. They expedl: him to profs, to firengthen, and to 
decorate, his own caufe, and to invalidate the efforts of 
his opponents, by manly and lioneft eloquence. In adopt¬ 
ing a line of condudt correfponding to thefe expedlations, 
he is guiltlefs of injuftice and deceit. The weapons which 
he ufes are recognized by the rules of fair and honourable 
war; and he has a right to handle them as effedtually as 
he is able. But lie has no right to have recourfe to arms 
which integrity would blufh to employ, and which are 
proferibed by theefiablifhed mode of forenfic lioftilities. He 
is not at liberty to alfert any falfe propofition ; nor to urge 
as a fadt, what lie knows never to have taken place ; nor 
to advance as a principle of law, what lie is confcious the 
ftatutes, and legal ufages, contradidf. Practices of this 
kind are of fo fcandalous a nature, that he who fhould in¬ 
dulge himfelf in them would not only prove himfelf de¬ 
void of uprightnefs of heart; but would be held to have 
departed from the profeflional point of honour, and would 
fall into merited and tiniverfal difgrace. 
There are however other deviations from the line of du¬ 
ty which occur not unfrequently at the bar ; and are of too 
indeterminate a kind to be accurately fpecified, and ex- 
prefsly prohibited by general rules. They of courfe efcape, 
except in very flagrant cafes, the open reprehenfion of the 
court, and the public cenfure of the profeflion. Each in¬ 
dividual barrifier is left to fecure himfelf from the dan¬ 
ger, by purity of intention and fenfibility of confcience. 
The following obfervations relate to fome of the practices 
in quefiion. 
As tire barrifier when pleading in court ought to (him 
with the utmoft folicitude the appearance of being urged 
on by malice or perfonal inveteracy ; of being induced to 
engage in the bufinefs, not from a defire to fubflantiate 
right and promote the public good, but from eagernefs to 
hunt down a private enemy ; fo he ought to fecure his 
breaft with unremitting vigilance from the intrufion of bit, 
ternefs and malevolence towards the oppofite party. Whe¬ 
ther therefore the caufe in which he is concerned leads 
him to attackur to defend ; whether lie contends for the 
maintenance of rights enjoyed, or for the recovery of fuch 
as are withheld ; for the vindication of innocence; for the 
reparation of injuries ; or for the punifliment of crimes ; 
let him refolve from the outlet to preferve a temper un¬ 
ruffled by provocations, and to regulate bis thoughts, his 
words, and his whole conduct, by the Chriftian precept of 
doing to others as under fimilar circumfiances he might 
juftly expedl: them to do by him. If adluated. by this prin¬ 
ciple, he will beware of being fo carried away by the ra¬ 
pidity of his own motion, fo heated in adtion, fo thrown 
off his guard, as to lofe his compofure and felf-poffeflion ; 
and to (late fadts, to advance arguments, to p radii fe arts, 
and give way to emotions, which in his cooler and more 
collected moments lie would condemn. He will unifornv 
ly adt with candour towards the client of inis aotagonifts; 
9 G fcs 
