His lordship's note

of this af

fair.

This case of Hollis, and other the five members, and his lordship's undertaking to argue for the king, was at a time when his hands were full of business, and he was very much straitened in his preparations; and he came up with the greatest reluctance, and nothing but a right reasoned resolution could have conquered his modesty. But that which gave him most assurance was, that he was satisfied he argued on the right side, and that, upon the face of the record, the law was for the king. The information (among other things) was for a violent holding the speaker in the chair, in breach of the peace. Hollis pleaded the privilege of the commons, that all offences committed in the house by the members, were punishable only by the house itself: and the attorney general demurs, and the court of king's bench gave judgment for the king, and this was the (chief) error. His lordship insisted that, 1. This was an offence against the peace, with the aggravations, for it was so admitted by the plea; and 2. That if the house had punished it, and it had been so pleaded, it had been well; but 3. Their not punishing left the offence at large, which ought to be punished somewhere: and the authorities cited, were clear that privilege did not extend to offences against the peace, and that such might be punished out of parliament, and future parliaments could take no notice of

them. This was the chief point, but there were in the case divers other chicaneries, as would appear in the argument itself, if made public. The Duke of York was pleased to inquire who that young gentleman was, who had argued so well; and Mr. Thomas Gray, who attended as a lord's eldest son, told the duke that he was a younger son of the Lord North, and what hopes he gave of his being a very able lawyer, and what was rare at that time, of loyal principles; and moved his royal highness to prevail with his majesty to encourage him by making him one of his majesty's counsel. And all this was only V. chap. as the occasion offered, without any suit or contrivance on his lordship's part, to bring it about. His lordship feared that the Lord Keeper Bridgman, who by his place superintends the preferments in the law, might take it ill that his lordship did not move by him; therefore he waited upon him, and gave him an account how it succeeded. And the lord keeper having knowledge of the matter beforehand, acquitted his lordship of all blame towards him, and wishing him much joy, gave him all the encouragement that could have been wished for or expected.

pref. vol. 2.

with the

Upon his lordship's being made of the king's A dispute counsel, there happened a dispute in his society benchers of the Middle Temple; which ended favourably Middle to him, and augmented his reputation in West- Temple.

of the

V. chap. pref. vol. 2.

minster-hall. The rulers of the society, called Benchers, refused to call his lordship, after he was king's counsel, up to the bench; alleging that if young men, by favour so preferred, came up straight to the bench, and by their precedence topped the rest of the ancient benchers, it might in time destroy the government of the society. Hereupon his lordship forbore coming into Westminster-hall for some short time, hoping they would be better advised, but they persisting, he waited upon the several chiefs, and with modesty enough acquainted them of the matter, and that, as to himself, he could submit to any thing; but as he had the honour to be his majesty's servant, he thought the slight was upon the king, and he esteemed it his duty to acquaint their lordships with it, and to receive their directions how he ought to behave himself, and that he should act as they were pleased to prescribe. They all wished him to go and mind his business, and leave this matter to them, or to that effect. The very next day in Westminster-hall, when any of the benchers appeared at the courts, they received reprimands from the judges for their insolence, as if a person whom his majesty had thought fit to make one of his counsel extraordinary, was not worthy to come into their company; and so dismissed them unheard, with declaration that until they had done their duty in calling Mr. North to their

bench, they must not expect to be heard as counsel in his majesty's courts. This was English, and that evening they conformed, and so were reinstated.* It is one of the properties of an aristocracy to hate that any persons should come amongst them but of their own choosing. I have heard that, since the revolution, whereby (as they termed it) they were manumised, they have not called any of the king's counsel extraordinary (who are now become numerous) to the bench; which shows the different walks some matters will take in different times.

Jeoffry

conversion

I have already mentioned his lordship's happy Of Sir acquaintance with Mr. Edward Palmer, the attor- Palmer, ney-general's younger son, which was the rise of and the all the favour and approbation Mr. Attorney of his lady showed him; and that, the rise of his lordship's succeeding course of preferments. And how helpful and assistant he was to the attorney in his declension and the repute gained thereby, with the emulation of Sir William Jones, that happened thereupon, hath been already set forth in the Examen. I should here have thought it reasonable to have given some account of that worthy person, on whom his lordship's fortunes so much depended but since I have said so much of him in the Examen, I think there is no need of insist

* The lord keeper was called to the bench of the Middle Temple on the 5th June, 1668. (Books of the Society.)

66

ing any farther upon his character here; and there fore shall only relate the following remarkable story. He had married a lady, who was a Roman Catholic, upon terms not to meddle with each other's religion but each to enjoy their several church professions, without any mention to the contrary; and both kept parole religiously; and yet, by dint of his egregious piety and integrity, without any other arguments or eloquence, he converted her to the communion of the church of England; and it fell out thus. One Sunday morning his lady would rise with him, which she had used not to do, and he told her she need not, for her church began later, and asked, " why she would rise so soon?" She answered, " to go to church with him ;" and so she did, and continued so doing all the rest of her life. And to some of her family she declared, that she found his knowledge so great, and his course of life so truly pious and virtuous, that she concluded that he must needs be in the right, and that she would submit her judgment to his, rather than to any other human authority upon earth. This was the good man that embraced his lordship, as if he had been his child; and, loving his company, received him into familiarity of discourse, conferences, mutual intercourse of affairs, and reciprocal acts of good will and friendship, as if, even before he was king's counsel, he had been a co-attorney-general. And