From the great strength of his constitution he might have languished several years longer, and even have reached the years of Lord Stowell, had it not been for the setting in of an unusually intense frost, which carried off a great number of aged persons. He had had in his most vigorous days a tendency to cough, which Lady Eldon would tell him was only a trick-when he would smile and answer, "You know, my dear, I have had a cough these fifty years; but I am none the worse for it." He had now some symptoms of pulmonary consumption, although of a mild type-but his disease may be considered a wasting away of the frame by old age. On some subjects he had erroneous impressions, while on others his intellect remained clear and correct, and his pleasantry, though it very visibly waned, sparkled from time to time so as to recall the memory of its former brilliance. His daughter, Lady Frances Bankes, was now living with him; and Lord Encombe, although occupying a house at Shirley, near Croydon, visited him daily. On the 30th of December, being asked how he was, he answered, Very poorly-very poorly: it cannot last long. God's will be done; it is my duty to submit.

66

Till Wednesday the 10th of January, he came down daily to breakfast, at a late hour, but on that day he did not leave his

bed till the evening. When he got up and with assist- [A. D. 1831.] ance he tried to walk, his strength entirely failed him. However, he was carried down stairs to the dining room and placed at table; but he had a shivering fit during dinner, and it was necessary to carry him back to his bed-room. He was immediately placed in bed, which he never again left. His daughter Lady Elizabeth Repton, and his grandson, Lord Encombe, were sent for, and were most assiduous in their attentions to him. Next day he was so far better that he could occasionally enter into conversation with those around him, and he smiled when reminded of the anecdote of King George III. having told his court, "I have what no previous King of England has had-an Archbishop of Canterbury,* and a Lord Chancellor, each of whom ran away with his wife." He was amused likewise by being reminded of the opposite fates of himself and the metropolitan; for, while he himself, destined for the Church, had been driven by poverty into the law, Dr. Howley, who had once a longing for the Bar, had entered the Church because he could not afford the expense of a legal education.†

On the Friday the frost was dreadfully severe, and he was worse. His family therefore were not permitted to be with him, but Mr. Pennington took Lord Encombe into his bed-room to see him a few minutes, and said to him, "It is a cold day, my Lord," to which Lord Eldon replied, in a low and placid voice, "It matters not to me, where I am going, whether the weather here be hot or cold." These appear to be

Dr. Manners Sutton.

†The Chancellor might have made a very good Archbishop; but all must rejoice in the circumstances which drove the Archbishop from the wrangling of the Bar to that high station which he so eminently ornaments by his mild virtues. -1847.

the last words he ever uttered. He languished till a quarter past four o'clock in the afternoon of the following day, Saturday, the 13th of January, 1838, when he expired without a groan, in the eighty-seventh year of his age, and his eyes were closed by his affectionate grandson, the heir of his titles, his estates, and his more amiable qualities.

Although Lord Eldon had sunk a good deal from public notice for several years, his death caused a considerable sensation,-reviving the recollection of what he had been, and of the important part which he had acted with many great men who had been swept away long before him. When his remains lay in state in Hamilton Place, large numbers of all classes went to see the solemn scene; and when the funeral procession, attended by the carriages of the Princes of the blood, many of the peerage, and all the dignitaries of the law, blackened the way,— dense crowds stood uncovered, respectfully gazing at it as it passed. The private carriages having returned to London when a halt was made near Hammersmith, the procession moved on towards Encombe, the present Earl being chief mourner, and the other near relations of the deceased accompanying him. It rested the first night at Bagshot, the next at Winchester, the third at Wimbourne-and the following morning it reached the family mansion in Dorsetshire. The body again lay in state there, and on Friday, the 26th of January, was deposited, according to the directions of the deceased, in the vault which he had constructed in the burying-ground of the chapel at Kingston, by the side of his beloved "Bessy." The appropriate service was read by the clergyman of the parish with great solemnity in the midst of an immense assemblage of rustics from the surrounding country, the younger part of whom, when hoary-headed, will boast to their grandchildren of having been present at the funeral of the great Lord Chancellor Eldon.

The present Earl has raised in Kingston chapel a handsome monument to his memory, with a likeness of him by Sir Francis Chantrey, and an inscription enumerating all the offices which he held, and the honours which were conferred upon him.

The fortune he left behind him, exceeding in amount half a million of money, was all made most honourably. When at the Bar, he was always contented with the honorarium voluntarily offered to him; and on the Bench, although he took some pains to conceal his official income, he never increased it by unfair means. He bought some land, and laid out considerable sums on mortgage, though, like his brother Lord Stowell, he preferred for his accumulations "the elegant simplicity of the three per cents;" but he declared "that his purchases into the stocks, and his sales out of the stocks, were never made (as his bankers could testify) except in the simple and usual course of business-never by way of speculation, or with reference to any particular public event." He disposed of these vast possessions by a will and codicils, in his own handwriting, occupying seventy-four sheets. Being drawn by such a conveyancer, we may hope that they will never give rise to any doubt, although many of the most important points in the law of real property have been settled in suits upon the construction of the wills of eminent

judges. He gave his Dorsetshire estates to Lord Encombe for life, remainder to Lord Encombe's first and every other son successively in tail male; and for default of such issue, they are settled in moieties upon the testator's two daughters, Lady Elizabeth and Lady Frances,-with remainders in tail to sons in succession, and then to daughters as tenants in common in tail,-and cross-remainders in tail between the families of Lady Frances and Lady Elizabeth. The Durham estates, subject to the settlements of them before made on the marriage of Lord Encombe and on other occasions-under which they were settled upon Lord Encombe for life, with remainders to his first and every other son successively in tail male-are given to the same uses, in favour of Lady Elizabeth Repton and Lady Frances Bankes and their families, as the Dorsetshire property. The leasehold house in Hamilton Place is given to Lord Encombe for life, with remainder to his first and other sons successively; and, in default of issue, becomes part of the testator's personal residue. Several large sums of stock are settled upon the testator's two daughters and their issue. To Lady Elizabeth and Lady Frances are left also some specific articles; and life annuities are given to each. After the bequest of Pincher, described as "my favourite dog," to Lady Frances, he continues: "And I direct that I may be buried in the same tomb in Kingston in which my most beloved wife is buried, and as near to her remains as possible; and I desire that the ring which I wear on my finger* may be put with my body into my coffin, and be buried with

me."

He adds various legacies to servants and others. The general residue of his personal estate he directs to be invested in the purchase of lands, to be settled to the same uses as the Dorsetshire estates. A schedule is annexed, enumerating various articles, which the will directs to descend with the estate in the nature of heir-looms, and to which the first codicil makes some additions. These heir-looms are chiefly busts, portraits painted and engraven, letters of the Royal Family, the watch, chain, and seal given to him by King George III., various snuff-boxes, the salvers having the Great Seal set therein, the tankard given to him by George IV., addresses and other testimonials and tributes to his public character, his law books, the robes and lace worn by him as a Judge and as a Peer respectively, and the service of plate which he had on his appointment as Lord Chancellor.

* The mourning-ring for his wife.

CHAPTER CCXIII.

CHARACTER OF LORD ELDON.

I CANNOT conclude this work without attempting to sketch the character of Lord Eldon.

"Extremum hunc, Arethusa, mihi concede laborem."

The task is the most difficult which has yet been imposed upon me. I am relieved from the scruples which I should otherwise have felt in writing freely of one so recently removed from among us, by the consideration that a "Life" of him, minutely describing his whole career, and professing to appreciate all his qualities, as a public man and as a private individual, has been given to the world, with the full sanction of his family.* Thenceforth he became " historical," as much as any of his predecessors who have reposed for centuries in the tomb. As it could not be expected that elaborate encomiums were to be bestowed upon him, without the liberty of pronouncing censure till the present generation had passed away, truth sternly requires that the feelings of his surviving relations and friends should now be entirely disregarded, although it is impossible to suppress regret when pain is inflicted.

My embarrassment arises from the political principles and party connexions of the author being so different from those of the subject of this memoir. I have heard it said, that "the most delightful of all employments must be to write the life of an opponent." To me it is most distressing. I have no vengeful propensities to be gratified by warring with the dead, and I am haunted by the apprehension that, in dealing out censure, I may be supposed to be actuated by personal spleen, or by a desire to attack measures and sentiments which I disapprove by disparaging him who was their greatest champion.t

I must proceed, however, according to my own sense of duty, taking care that I do not sacrifice the praise of being just to that of being ge

nerous.

Of course Lord Eldon excites most interest as an Equity Judge. It is very unfortunate for him, that here, where he was so eminent, it is so difficult for the biographer to convey an adequate notion of his merit. Were I to try to analyze the thirteen volumes of Vesey, junior, which record his decisions, with the camel-loads of them furnished by other reporters (Beames, Cooper, Merivale, Swanston, Jacob, Walker, Turner, Russell, Rose, Buck, Glyn, Jameson, Dow, and Bligh,) however well I might succeed in assisting the law student, or facilitating the researches

Twiss's "Life of Lord Eldon," to which the present Earl has not only contributed his grandfather's papers, but many valuable observations of his own.

I fear that I may be accused of imitating Dr. Johnson, who, in talking of his "DEBATES," said, "I always took care that the Whigs should have the worst of it;" or the Whig blacksmith, who, as often as the horse of a Tory was brought to him to be shod, was sure to lame him.

of the Chancery practitioner, or marking the advance of the science of Equity during the first quarter of the nineteenth century,-I should present something which would be, "caviare to the general." Delighted should I be, under favour of the Muses who inspire lawyers,

"Quarum sacra fero ingenti percussus amore,"

to travel chronologically from Easter Term, 41 George III. (1801,) to Hilary Term, 8 George IV. (1827,) and to show how injunctions were granted and refused,-whence sprang the doctrine of illusory appointments, when the scintilla juris is sufficient to feed uses,-what is the effect of trustees to preserve contingent remainders joining in a settlement or sale,—and whether an equitable estate tail is well barred by a fine and recovery. Such lucubrations would be more akin to my pursuits. and would please me far more than detailing parliamentary debates and political intrigues, or narrating personal anecdotes. But, if I were to indulge my legal vein, it is quite certain that my book, instead of being found on the ladies' toilettes, and being fought for at clubs, would experience the usual destination of "learned works," in the shop of the trunk-maker or the grocer, so that the attempt would redound as little to the advantage of my hero as of myself. Renouncing all lofty aspirations, therefore, I must be contented with a few desultory remarks on Lord Eldon's qualifications and performances as occupier of the "marble chair."

I begin with lamenting his defects. But let it be understood at once, that I honour him as a great magistrate, and that, instead of comparing him with excellence which has actually been exhibited, I am considering how near he approaches to an imaginary standard of perfection, or the beau idéal of a Chancellor.

Although endued with wonderful acuteness and subtlety of intellect, with a retentive memory, a logical understanding, and power of unwearied application, he was utterly devoid of imagination, and of all taste for what is elegant or refined. His acquirements, even as a jurist, were very limited. He was familiarly acquainted with every nook of the municipal law of this realm; but all beyond was to him terra incognita. Could he have combined with his own stores of professional learning his brother Lord Stowell's profound knowledge of the Civil and Canon Law, of the Law of Nations, and of the Codes of the Continental States, he would have been the most accomplished judge who ever sat on any British tribunal. But while he was reading Coke upon Littleton over and over again, and becoming thoroughly versed in all the doctrines laid down by Chief Justices and Chancellors in Westminster Hall, we are not told that he ever dipped into the Code, the Pandects, or the Institutes of Justinian; or that he found any pleasure in Puffendorf or Grotius, or that he ever formed the slightest acquaintance with D'Aguesseau or Pothier. Nor, in any of his arguments at the Bar, or judgments from the Bench, does he, as far as I am aware, ever refer to the civil law, or any foreign writer, as authority, or by way of illustration.* Consider

* Sir Edward Sugden, in his very valuable treatise on "The Law of Vendors