168 II A 
to have thfe countenance of fuch a man as Hale to his 
courts, never left importuning him, till he accepted the 
place of one of the juftices of the common bench, as it 
was then called ; for which purpofe he was by writ made 
ferjeant at law, January 25' 1653-4. In that ftation he 
adfed with great integrity and independence. He had 
at fit ft great Temples concerning'the authority under 
which Jie was to aft ; and, after having gone two or 
three circuits, he refufed to fit any longeron the fide 
that was tyt> try criminals. He had indeed afted fo con- 
feientioufiy in punifhing every fpecies of cruelty and'op- 
preftion, that the reigning powers oppofed not liis cef- 
farion. Dr. Burnet records the following inftance of his 
.unfttaken juftice, while he thus prefided on the bench. 
A trial was brought before him, upon the circuit at 
Lincoln, concerning the murder of one of the townfmen, 
who had been of the king’s army, and was killed by a 
foldjer of Cromwell’s garrifo.fi there. The culprit was 
found guilty on the cleared evidence; and though co¬ 
lonel Whaley, who commanded the garrifon, came into 
the court, and urged, that the man was*killed only for 
difobeying the proteftor’s order, and that the foldicr 
was but doing his deity; yet the judge regarded both 
his reafohings and' threatening^ a,s an attempt to fubvert 
Juftice ; and. therefore not only-palled fentence upon the 
piifoner, but ordered the execution to be fo immediate, 
that it might not be poffible to procure a reprieve. 
When Croifiwell died, he not only excufed himfelf 
-from accepting the rnotirning. that was fent him, but 
alfo refufed the new commiffion offered him.-by his foil 
Richard; alleging, that “lie could not aft under 
fuch an authority.” He did not fit in Cromwell’s fe- 
cond parliament in 1565 ; -but in Richard’s, which met 
in January 1658-9, 'he was pne of the burgeftes for the 
university of Oxford. In the healing parliament in 1660, 
which called Charles II. to the throne, lie was elected 
one of the knights of the county of Gloucefter ; and 
moved, that a comniittee might be appointed to look into 
the propofitions that had been made, and the concef- 
fions that had been offered by Charles I. during the late 
war, that thence fuch propofitions might be digefted as 
they ftiould think fit to be lent over tp the king at Breda. 
•Charles II. foon after his reftoration, recalled him in 
.June, by writ, tp the degree of ferjeant at law : and, 
upon fettling the courts in Weftminfter-hall, conftituted 
him, in November following, chief baron of the exche¬ 
quer. .When chancellor Clarendon delivered him his 
eommiflion, he told him, that,, “ if the king could have 
found out an hone-fter and fitter man for that important 
office, he would not have advanced him to it; and that 
he had therefore preferred him, becaufe he knew none 
that defeived it fo well.” He prefided eleven years in 
tnatcourt, and very much railed its reputation and prac¬ 
tice by his impartial adminiffration of juftice, as allo'.by 
his generolity, diligence, and great impartiality in trials. 
According to his rule of favouring and relieving thofe 
that were oppreffed, he was very favourable to the n'011- 
coniormifts, and took care to fhield them as much as pof¬ 
fible from the feverities of the law. He thought many 
of them had merited highly in the affair of the king’s 
reftoration, and at-Ieaft deferved that the terms of con¬ 
formity ftiould not have been made llrifter than they 
were before the war. It is univerfally acknowledged 
that no man was ever mote delicate in avoiding every 
luipicion of being influenced in the decifion of a caufe. 
Being vifited in his chamber by a nobleman of the firft 
rank who had a'fuit in his court, he abfolutely refufed 
to hear from him any ftatement of the cafe, faying that 
he never received information upon caules but in the 
open court, where both parties w’ere to be heard alike. 
1 he nobleman, highly ofte*ded, complained to the king 
ot the rude ne fs with which he had been treated; but 
Charles bade him be contented, faying, he verily be¬ 
lieved that judge Hale would ufe himfelf no better, 
L £. 
ftiould he attempt to folicit him in a caufe. He was ot 
infinite fervice to the city of London after the great fire, 
by fitting in Cbiftord’s.inn to affift in conipromifing .dif¬ 
ferences between landlord and tenant. In 1668.he drew 
up a bill for the purpofe of forming an uni'on between 
the church and the feparatifts. He was railed to the 
poll of lord chief juftice of England, in 1671 ; in which 
high ftation he acquired the univetfal character of one 
of the ableft and raoft upright judges that ever adorned 
the Engliffi bench. He was feized with an inflamma¬ 
tion of the diaphragm in 1675, and died id February 
1676, Ln his fixty-feventh year. Sir Matthew was twice 
married ; and by his firft wife, daughter of fir Henry Moor 
of Berkfhire, had ten cliildren, of whom fix lived to be 
married', but only two furvived him. The weak fide 
ot the charafter of lord chief juftice Hale, lias been re¬ 
cently drawn with great candour and difeernment, by 
the Rev. T. Thirlwall ; who, after exprefling his un¬ 
feigned regret that he ftiould ever liave ligned the League 
and Covenant, offers the following apology in his 
behalf: “Thofe who are jealous of the reputation of 
Hale, might offer in exculpation of his c.onduft, that 
before,cenfure is paffed upon 'him, it would be proper 
to take a fober and difpaffionate furvey of the times and 
circumftances in which he was called upon to fubferibe 
to the covenant. If he refufed, he was deprived of the 
privilege of exerciling his profeflion, in which lie'was 
.advancing to fortune and celebrity by rapid ftrides. He 
could.not, therefore, be fijp.po.fed to take his meafures, 
without revolvingrin his mind the very feriojus alterna¬ 
tive which was prefented to his choice. He was not un¬ 
willing toiabrjdge the prerogative of the king, and re¬ 
concile it. with the liberties of the people; lie could 
feel no difficulty in joining with parliament to a limited 
extent,; and whilft they ffill proclaimed their allegiance' 
to the kingi and refpeftt for his perfon and authority, lie 
confided hirfifelf with the profpeft. of an amicable ad- 
juftment between the-crown and parliament, and the ef- 
tabjiffinient of a conftitutionj that would balance the. juft 
rights of tire king with the inalienable privileges.of the 
fubjeft. Of this the covenant afforded' a fatisfaftory 
pledge. He faw it in an exprefis acknowledgment of the 
fovereign’s rights, and the elements of natipnal peace' 
and concord. His love for his country, loyalty to the 
king, and attachment to a free.conftitution, would dif- 
pofe hint, to give the mod favourable conftruftion loan in r 
.ftrument which apparently led tofucJiimportant and hap¬ 
py confequences. The mere form and outward ftrufture, 
of the church, always appeared to him an object of a fe- 
condary nature. He affirmed, that a people were left at 
liberty to choofe for tliemfelvcs fuch a model as was 
beft adapted to-their genius, their manners, and their 
temper. Neither the letter nor the fpirit of the cove¬ 
nant forced upon him a fubfeription to unfcriptural ar¬ 
ticles of faith, nor even.profcribed the ufe of the Com¬ 
mon-prayer and the Liturgy of the Church of England. 
Though it was not without a degree of violence to his 
confidence he renounced the jurifdiftion of the biffiop, 
yet he could difeover ingrafted upon the primitive con- 
ftitution, fuperadditions of humane policy, which mode¬ 
rated in a conliderable degree his admiration of its ex¬ 
cellency and purity. But in examining this artieje of 
the covenant more critically, his mind found a further 
relief from obferving, that* ‘the extirpation'of prelacy’ 
was connected with; and'qualified by, a fubfequent fen- 
ten6e, which was eviflently inferted for the purpofe of 
removing the Temples,., and fatisfying the confciences, 
of the moderate churchman. The obligations to re¬ 
nounce only ‘ what was contrary to found doftrine and 
the power of godlinefs,’ allowed him a latitude of con- 
ftruftion, which juftified the mod fatisfaftory conclu- 
ftons in favour of his fubfeription to the folemn league 
and covenant. This public aft inverted him with the 
privilege of attending the affembly of divines, and taking 
i an 
