Bailey presided in the criminal, and Mr. Justice Holroyd in the civil side. The reputation of Mr. Justice Bailey is at this moment higher than that of any other judge on the bench. I have heard that he was disappointed in not being selected as the suċcessor of Ellenborough, and they have certainly promoted an inferior man. But however unjust the dispensers of patronage may have been to Mr. Jus tice Bailey, I am not equally sure that the country has reason to regret this act, to say the least, of most unpardonable omission. Nothing can be more becoming a judge than the physiognomy of Mr. Justice Bailey, mild, expressive, benevolent, yet firm and commanding; and no countenance was ever a truer index of the indwelling mind. Ever attentive to the business in hand, he appears to have constantly before his eyes what is due to Englishmen, and English justice. In the best sense of the word, he is counsel for the accused, and seizing on every fact, circumstance, or principle in law, that can possibly make in their favour, throws it into their side of the balance. Englishmen view this noble quality in a judge with less enthusiasm than I did, accustomed as I had been, in my own country, to hear judges (with very few exceptions) acting invariably as counsel against the prisoner, and instead of attempting to extenuate or mitigate, gathering up, into one fearful cluster of accumulat ed crimination, every aggravating circumstance and incident of the case. I have often wondered if they

took more pleasure in awarding the last sentence of the law, than in hearing the foreman or chancellor pronounce the (to the prisoner) joyful words, "NOT GUILTY." But let that pass. It is refreshing to discover mercy blended with justice, and to witness the tear stealing down the manly cheeks of him whose sense of stern duty and of humanity to the community, compels him sometimes to deliver a fellow creature over to a shameful death. The dignity of the judicial character is not impaired, nor the purity of the ermine sullied, by those precious drops, which prove that, in some happily constituted minds, the dry austerity of legal habits does not eradicate those finer and more elevating affections and sympathies of our nature, which form the greatest and the proudest characteristic of an ennobled humanity. I am certain I am correct in asserting, that no judge ever sat on an English bench who holds so high a place in the affections of the public as Mr. Justice Bailey. His conduct at York, on the trial of Henry Hunt and others, will not soon, if ever, be forgotten. On that memorable occasion, the demeanour of this excellent judge, combined with the gigantic legal knowledge which he displayed, formed altogether a spectacle on which the very gods might have condescended to look with satisfaction. Think only of patience, that no impertinence or irregularity could disturb-of kindness and equanimity, as glowing and as splendid as a summer day without a cloud-of dignity self-con

tained, and therefore revered and respected even by the very man whose pride and boast it would have been to have seen it, in a moment of irritation or forgetfulness, cast aside and of that enormous legal knowledge and experience necessary to meet a caseof such magnitude, novelty, interest, importance, and, I would even add, danger;-in which the very existence of the constitution, and the lives of the lieges, were involved; and on which the eyes of all Britain, and almost all Europe, were fixed;-think of these things, and you will have some notion of the difficulty of the task which was devolved on this admirable judge, and also of the manner in which the task was performed. It is not exaggeration to assert, that on the memorable occasion above alluded to, the sublimest moral spectacle ever exhibited on an English bench, was the WHOLE conduct of MR. JUSTICE BAILEY.

Mr. Justice Holroyd appears to be a mere lawyer, and his countenance lacks that graceful and bewitching expression which dwells in the looks of his brother Bailey. Notwithstanding his age and infirmities, however, he gives an undivided attention to business, possesses a clear head, and sums up with great comprehension, ability, and impartiality. As a man, I have been told that he is distinguished alike for his integrity and independence.

Having said so much of the Bench on this circuit, I shall now proceed to the Bar, and shall begin with the facile princeps of English pleaders,

Mr. Scarlett. We have no Scarlett at the Scot tish Bar; and it is therefore impossible to describe him either by comparison or contrast. He is admitted on all hands to be a most profound lawyer, and an elegant scholar. He quotes authorities and decisions as if they came to him by inspiration, and lays down the profoundest maxims of law as if they were the veriest trifles, rendering them, by a happy art peculiar to himself, intelligible to common minds. Whether addressing judges or jury, he is equally at home. He has the manners of a finished and perfect gentleman, and the air of a man of the world; and contrives to throw around whatever he says or does, the easiest and most graceful character. He ap pears equal to every occasion and subject; and it may be truly said that quicquid tetigit, ornavit. He has the classics at his finger-ends; and if not equal to Jonathan Raine in this respect, he is probably superior to most of his brother barristers. His person is stately and symmetrical, and his physiognomy almost too good for a man. These natural advan↓ tages he has turned to the best possible account, and has secured an empire at the Bar, which must be witnessed to be believed. Yet it must be confessed that he is without eloquence. He is simply profound, or simply elegant; but never rises into that elevated and sublime region, of which Henry Brougham is sole and undisputed master. In every attempt of this kind he has failed. He is as nothing to Brougham in the House of Commons; and has

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no other advantage at the Bar over this great and singular man, but what he has derived from his superior standing, greater experience, and more extensive practice. He is almost exclusively a lawyer. He has obviously never dipt into philosophy, nor accustomed his mind to those extended views, and those vast conceptions, with which Brougham is so familiar. He is at present a better lawyer than Brougham; but this is the only point in which they can possibly be brought into comparison. elegance, clearness, and precision, in stating a case to a jury, are certainly admirable; and it would be very difficult to conceive it possible to excel him in any of these respects, or in general. professional learning. His acquaintance with life and manners is obviously very extensive. Although the habits of his profession appear to have given a turn to his mind, and disinclined him to philosophical specula tions, yet he is no phlegmatist; but, on the contrary, appears to have a lively perception of the graces and beauties of elegant speaking, or fine writing. In his professional career he has had great advantages. He has always been listened to with peculiar atten! tion by the Bench; and such is his winning manner, that in ten minutes he is almost certain to carry along with him any jury. The death of Sir Samuel Romilly, as it threw into his bag a great accession of briefs, so it added greatly to his consequence and authority. Hence he is now regarded rather as la sort of Delphic oracle, than as a lawyer fee'd to