which usually prevails in the Court of Chancery, excepting in a deficiency of ease: he is never frivolous in his addresses to the Chancellor, he wastes but little time, but proceeds to the gist of the argument, and in combatting it not unfrequently evinces both readiness and ingenuity. He is a quicker man than his general appearance indicates: his small black eye is sharp and piercing, and it is extremely difficult for any thing to escape its scrutiny. His voice is not inharmonious, but it wants articulation and distinctness: perhaps the attempt to remedy this defect has occasioned the mouthing and too apparent exertion of the muscles of the face to which I have referred.

Of Mr. HORNE I feel competent to say but little, because from various accidents, which it would not perhaps be very easy, and certainly not very necessary to explain, I have seldom had an opportunity of listening to him while he has been employed in addressing either the Chancellor, the Vice-Chancellor, or the Master of the Rolls. All that

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I have heard and seen however has pleased

me, and if I have not heard more it did not arise from the circumstance that he enjoys but little business, for the fact is directly the reverse. He seems a man of a sound understanding and of a clear head, and conducts himself without pretence of any kind. He is esteemed a good Equity Lawyer and his appearance is just the idea of a Chancery Advccate: his countenance is rather thoughtful than bright: some men make their faces mere mirrors reflecting external impressions, operated upon by the cloudyness or clearness of the weather, by the presence of particular individuals, and a thousand other circumstances; but the face of a thoughtful man is always much the same, and he is not particularly excited by what is passing within or without: this is the case with Mr. HORNE, who has gained the character with some on this account of being a heavy man. In his practice I have remarked nothing to warrant this opinion, unless a tranquil sobriety of deportment be mistaken for drowsy dulness.

The tone of his voice is something too deep, and may have a lulling sort of murmur to those who attend the Court for the mere purpose of gratifying useless curiosity. I think his manner at times peculiarly forcible, and he has often, when I have seen him, an earnestness about his delivery that secured my attention.

Against the third gentleman on this list, Mr. HEALD, I can say nothing, but that to a slighter degree he has the defect I noticed in Mr. BELL; viz. a strong northern dialect, but it is by no means of so vulgar and coarse a kind. Yet Mr. HEALD invariably forgets the aspirate where it ought to be sounded, if he do not sometimes insert it where it ought to be omitted. He is a straight-forward speaker, and would most likely as soon think of returning to the North as attempting any thing approaching an oratorical flourish. This may be considered extraordinary by those who knew him in his youth, when I am informed that he devoted himself to the pursuit of the belles lettres, and even pub

lished a poem of considerable humour on a ludicrous dispute between two Scots physicians. His face is of a fine contour, and to look at him one would not suppose that he had degenerated into a mere lawyer. He is a man of very considerable learning in his profession, and his general attainments are highly respectable. He is a very distinct and intelligible stater of a long case, and has a great facility at seizing the leading points, and reducing the whole to as narrow a compass as possible: I do not say that he equals Sir R. Gifford in this particular, for no man equals him; but he is not behind Mr. Hart in this sort of excellence. Mr. HEALD is also a very acute and clear reasoner-he has an eye for nice shades of distinction, and can evolve a subtle fallacy with great shrewdness and dexterity. I have cause to know that his opinions as a chamber-counsel are highly esteemed.

I am sorry that the advancement of Mr. WINGFIELD to the rank of King's Counsel renders it in some degree necessary for me to

make a few observations upon him. Had he continued behind the Bar, I should certainly have avoided saying any thing about him, but he could not well be omitted in an article devoted to Gentlemen who at the same time received the same distinction. Perhaps he would prefer notice at all events to entire exclusion under such circumstances. As it is much more pleasant to advert to a man's good qualities, I will begin by admitting that Mr. WINGFIELD's greatest excellence is his quickness, but like many others destitute of sound judgment, he thinks it is worth a great deal more than its real value, and that the enjoyment of it will amply supply the place even of material deficiences. True it is, that there is a certain class who, like him, prize it highly, and it is equally true that there are certain situations where the possession of mere quickness is of considerable importance: an advocate before a jury, for instance, is lost without it—nothing can compensate for its absence in examining a cunning witness, or in making a reply to a case ingeniously and artfully fabricated: under such circumstances