the court of King’s-bench for high treafon, November 
1722, gave him an opportunity of difclofing his abilities: 
his reply, in which lie furhmed up late at night the evi¬ 
dence againfl: the prifoner, and anfwered all the-topics 
.of defence, being juftly admired as one of theableft per¬ 
formances of that kind extant. About the fame time, 
he gained much reputation in parliament, by opening 
the bill againfl: Kelly, who had been principally con¬ 
cerned in bifliop Atterbury’s plot, as his fecretary. 
■February 1723-4, he was appointed attorney-general; 
in the execution of which important office, he was re¬ 
markable for his candour and lenity. As an advocate 
in behalf of the crown, he fpoke with the veracity of a 
vvitnefs and a judge : and, though his zeal for juflice 
and the due courje of law was ftrong, yet liis tendernefs 
to the fubjedi,. in the court of exchequer, was fo diflin- 
guilbedjthat upona particularoccafion, in 17,33*.tlie-hdufe 
of commons aflented to it with a general appiaufe. He 
was unmoved, by fear or favour, in wliatever he thought 
right and legal; and often, debated and; voted againfl 
the court, in matters relating to the South-Sea company, 
when he was folicitor; and, in the affair of lord Der- 
wentwater’s eftate, when he was attorney-general. Upon 
the refignation of the great leal by Peter lord King, in 
OClober 1733, fir Philip Yorke was appointed lord chief 
juflice of the king’s-bench. He was foon after raifed to 
the dignity of a baron of this kingdom,'with the. title of 
lord Hardwicke, baron of Hardwicke, in the.-county of 
Gloucefter, and made a member of his majefty’.s privy 
council. The falary of chief juflice of the king’s-bench 
being thought not adequate to the weight and dignity 
of that high office, was raifed, on the advancement of 
lord Hardwicke to it, fro.m ; 20ool. to 4 ooq 1.‘ per anti, to 
the chief juflice and his fucceflbrs; his lordfhip refuflng 
to accept the augmentation of it: and the adjuftment 
of the two .vacancies of tile, chancery and. king’s-bench. 
(which happened at the fame time) between his lordfhip 
and lord Talbot, upon terms honourable and fatisfactory 
to both, was thought to do as much 1 credit to the wif- 
dom of the crown, in thofe days, as the harmony and 
friendfhip, with which they co-operated. in the public 
fervice, did honour to theinfelves. In the rnidfl of the 
general approbation with which he difcharged his office 
there, he was called to that of lord high chancellor, on 
the deceafe of lord Talbot, February 17, 1736. 
The integrity and abilities with,which lord Hardwicke, 
prefided in the court of chancery, .during the fpace of 
'alrnoft twenty years, appears from .this remarkable cir-' 
cumftance, that only three of his decrees were appealed 
from, and even thofe were afterwards affirmed by the 
houfe of lords. After he had executed that-high office 
about feventeen years, in times and circumftances of accu¬ 
mulated difficulty and danger, and had twice been called 
to the exercife of the office of lord high fteward, on the 
trials of peers concerned in the rebellion ; he was, April 
1754, advanced to the rank of an earl of Great Britain,, 
with the titles of vifcountRoyfton, and earl of Hardwicke. 
This honour was conferred unafked, by his fovereign, 
who treated him through the whole of his.reign with 
particular regard and confidence, and always fpoke of 
him in a manner which Chewed that he let as high a va¬ 
lue on the man as on the minifter. His refignation of 
the great feal, in November 1756, gave- an univerfal 
concern to the nation, however divided at that time in 
politics. But he ftill continued to lerve the public in a 
more private ftation; at council, at the houfe of lords, 
and upon every occafion where the courfe of public 
bufinefs, required it, with the fame affiduity as when he 
filled one of tire higheft offices, in the fiate. 'He always 
felt and exprelled the trueft affeCtion and reverence for 
the laws and conftitution of his country; this rendered 
him as tender of the, juft prerogatives -inverted in the 
crown, for the benefit of the whole, as watchful to pre¬ 
vent the lead: incroachment upon the liberty of the iiib- 
je.ft. The part which he aCted in planning, introducing, 
and fupporting, the ^Bil^for aboliflting the heritable 
■Jurifdifiions in Scotland,” and the fliare which he took, 
beyond what his department required of him, in framing 
and promoting the other bills relating to that country, 
arofe from his zeal to the.proteftant fucceffion, his con¬ 
cern for the general happinefs and improvement of the 
kingdom, and for the prefervation of this equal and li¬ 
mited monarchy ; which were the governing principles 
of his political conduCt through life. And thefe, and 
other bills which might be mentioned, were ftrong proofs 
of his talents as a legiflator. In judicature, his firmnefs 
and dignity were, evidently derived from his conlum-' 
mate knowledge and- talents; and the mildnefs and hu¬ 
manity with which he tempered it, from the beft of 
hearts. He was wonderfully happy in his manner of de¬ 
bating ycaufes upon the. bench. His extraordinary dif. 
patch of me.'bufinefs .of the court'of chancery,, increafed 
as it was in Ins time, beyond what had been known in 
any former, was an advantage to the fuitor, inferior only 
to that arifing from the acknowledged equity, perfpi- 
cuity, and precifion, of his decrees. The manner iR 
which.he prefided in the houfe of lords, added order 
and digriityto that aflembly, and expedition to the 
bufinefsTfanfaCted in it. His talents, as a fpeaker in the 
fenat.e as.well as on the bench, were univerfally admired: 
he fpoke' with a natural and manly eloquence, without 
falfe ornament or .perfonal inveCtive ; and, when he ar¬ 
gued,. his ruafons-were fupported and flrengthened by 
the moft appofite cafes and examples which the fubjeCt 
would .allow.-. His manner was gracefuf and affeCting ; 
modeft, yet commanding; his voice peculiarly clear and 
harmonious; and even loud and ftrong. With thefe ta¬ 
lents for.public fpeaking, the integrity of his character 
gave a luftre to his eloquence, which thofe who oppofed 
him felt in the debate, apd which operated moft power¬ 
fully on the minds of thofe who heard him with a View 
to information and conviction. 
Actuated by the great principles of religion, and fteady 
in his praCtice of the duties of it, he maintained a repu¬ 
tation of virtue, which added dignity to the ftations 
which he filled; and authority to the laws which he ad- 
miniftered. HLs attachment to the national church was 
accompanied with a full conviction, that a tender regard 
to the rights of confcience, and a temper of lenity and 
moderation, are not only right in themlelves, but moft 
conducive in their confequences to the honour and inte- 
reft'bf the. church. The ftrongeft recommendation to 
him of the clergy, to the ecclefiaftical preferments in 
his difpofal, was their fitnefs for the dilcharge of the 
duties of their profeffion. And that refpeCtable body 
owes a particular obligation to his lordfhip, and his pre- 
deceflor lord Talbot, for the oppofition which they gave 
in the houfe.of lords to the “ ACt for the more eafy re¬ 
covery of Tithes, Church-rates, and other ecclefiaftical 
Dues, from the People called Quakers,” which might 
have proved of dangerous confequences to the rights and 
property.of the clergy ; though it had palled the other 
houfe, and was known - to be powerfully fupported. 
Many faCts and.anecdotes which do him honour may be 
recollected and fet down, when refentments, partialities, 
and cpntefts, are forgotten. 
The .amiablenefs of his manners, and his engaging ad- 
drefs, rendered him as much beloved by thofe who had 
acc.efs fo him as friends, as he was admired for his great 
talents by the whole nation. His conftitution, in the 
earlier part of his life, did not feem to promife fo much 
health and vigour as he afterwards enjoyed, for a longer 
period than ufually falls to the fhare of men of more ro- 
buft habit of body. But his care to guard againfl any 
excefies, fecured to him an alrnoft uninterrupted feries 
of health : anti his habitual maftery of his paffions, gave 
bin-fa firmnefs and tranquillity of mind unabated by the 
fatigues and anxieties of bufinefs; from the daily circle 
of which he rofe to the enjoyment of the converfation 
of his family, with the fpirits of a perfon entirely -vacant 
