he be, if he cannot increase, not to diminish, his inherited fame, but to pass it unobscured and unimpaired as a rich legacy to his issue.

Nor is this consideration less important to those who have no forefathers' feet to stand upon. They have at least posterity to look to, and like Napoleon, they may be the founders of an illustrious race. Or like Banquo though no kings themselves, still their children may be kings. The golden round is before them-the power to grasp it is theirs, and if they fail, the curse of failure will be theirs. Nay not upon them only will it fall, but upon those whom they represent, or who may follow them. Remember, the Almighty never created a man whom he did not endow with the ability to sustain himself, and to discharge the obligations imposed upon him. And remember also, in the language of Richelieu, "That in the lexicon of youth, whom fate reserves for a bright manhood, there's no such word as FAIL!"

"All things are ready if the mind be so."

This, as intimated in the prospectus, is the first work of the kind that has been presented to the public in this county. Indeed there has been no publication, so far as known to the author, in any country, that presents Forensic Life so minutely and prominently to the reader. Cicero, Quintillian, Pliny, and other illustrious ancients, have furnished

us with abundant instruction in regard to the moral, intellectual, literary and scientific qualifications of orators and advocates: Le Tellier, Pasquier, and D'Agesseau, of the French Noblesse de la Robe"who were not born to die"-have added largely to the stock of knowledge derived from the theories and practice of antiquity. The Lives of the Chief Justices and Lord Chancellors of England, by Lord Campbell, invite no special attention to the Members of the Bar-their habits, their learning, or their eloquence; yet most, if not all the authors referred to, have omitted those details of professional life and those personal delineations and sketches, which unite the present with the past, and tend more, perhaps, than any thing else, to bring us into companionship with the founders and sages of the law, and thereby enable us to associate those who adorned the earlier systems of Jurisprudence, with their less venerated and distinguished successors.

It must not be understood, however, from these remarks, that it is my purpose to write the biography of those illustrious men to whom attention will be invited. The design is merely to exhibit general, and, it is to be feared, imperfect outlines of their professional character and position.

The peculiarities of men, which are the distinctions between men, are entitled to be noticed; because, without them the portrait is as flat as the

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canvass, and would scarcely be recognized by any one, as a likeness or copy of the original. Those peculiarities are not presented for the imitation of others, but may be adopted, approved or rejected, as taste or judgment shall direct. Plutarch in his Lives, and Baker and Hollingshead in their English Chronicles, did not deem it unworthy of their respective tasks, after a general description of the scenes through which their heroes passed, to bestow some little attention upon their persons, their manners, their habits and comparative merits; and we therefore, may be pardoned for an occasional and humble imitation of the example.

My business is more with men than things. The speeches of any one of those whom I shall describe, would form almost a professional library in themselves, and of course be inconsistent with the limits of this work, but some of the occasions upon which they were made— their character, and the effects produced by them-form interesting and important items in the formation and history of the Bar, which certainly ought not to be disregarded. For they supply the foundation upon which rests the entire structure of our present Forensic Fame, and our future professional Hope.

This work is designed chiefly to exhibit the public lives of the members of the Legal profession,-indeed a Lawyer in full practice can scarcely be said to have any private life. The community seems to form his

family, and amid the cares and distractions and employments of business, he has no leisure but that which is constrained. The members of the Bar are, it is true, admirably qualified for society-they are full of information and anecdote; the whole volume of human nature seems to be open to them-the delights of literature and the charms of science, are at their command; but still it is obvious, that being so perpetually engaged in their arduous professional pursuits, it is difficult for them to throw off their fetters, and display those intellectual treasures which they eminently possess. The intervals of leisure are brief, and brief as they are, always clouded by anticipation of renewed toil, or "sickly'd o'er by the pale cast of thought," or the exhaustion of past labors: So that the sprightliness and buoyancy of the mind are essentially diminished, if not impaired. Yet notwithstanding this, it not unfrequently happens that, like Sampson, they break the withs which bind them, and resume, for a time, all their native activity, freedom and strength.

Our purpose however, is not directed to domestic or social, but to professional Life, and even there, while it is the duty of the historian to depict things as they are, it is equally his duty to avoid any unnecessary encroachment upon the feelings of others. Great caution is required, while noticing the departed, to avoid giving pain to survivors. This however, is less to be apprehended upon this subject, as, though the Bar and

the Bench had some peculiarities, they had very few vices. There were no Tresillians, or Wrights, or Kelynges, or Pophams among them.

But if the delicacy be so great in regard to those who are no longer with us, what must it be, in occasionally noticing our associates-those whom we daily meet in the intercourse of social, or the arena of professional life. Upon that subject all that can be said is, that no animosity or envy shall be infused into these sketches -but upon the contrary, our brethren shall be spoken of, as they would be spoken to, in a spirit of fraternal kindness and conciliation, corresponding with the harmony and friendship by which the intercourse of the Profession has always been characterized. There are no asperities, no jealousies, no rivalries at the Bar; each man is apparently satisfied in his own sphere, and if he does not shine in direct radiance, he at least enjoys collateral light. Towards the Judges-the fathers of the Bar-there is not only habitual respect, but a sort of filial reverence entertained, and if at any time it should be lost sight of, the cause will not be found in the wanton disobedience of the children, but in the severity or despotism of the parents.

Having presented a general view of my design-and its incidental difficulties-I may be permitted in conclusion to say, that my chief motive for engaging in this undertaking, is the desire to furnish some few memorials of the legal profession. If this work be not attempted