delivery.

In 1799, Sir John Scott was appointed to the chief justiceship of the
Common Pleas, on the resignation of Chief Justice Eyre; and in the
same year he was raised to the peerage by the title of Baron Eldon. In
1801, he was made Lord Chancellor, which high office he retained till
the year 1827, with the exception of the short period during which the
Whigs were in office, in 1806. His lordship was raised to the dignity
of an earl at the coronation of George IV. in 1821.

The high character of the Earl of Eldon as Chancellor is thus lucidly
drawn by Sir Egerton Brydges: "Of all who, in the long lapse of ages,
have filled the sacred seat on which he now (1823) sits, none ever
had purer hands, none ever had a conscientious desire of equity more
ardent and more incessant than Lord Eldon. The amazing expanse of
his views, the inexpressible niceness of his discrimination, his
unrelaxing anxiety to do justice in every individual case, the
kindness of his heart, and the ductility of his ideas, all ensure that
attention to every suitor which must necessarily obtain the unbounded
admiration and attachment of the virtuous and the wise. Lord Eldon's
eloquence," continues Sir Egerton, "is rather adapted to cultivated
and thinking minds than to a popular audience. It generally addresses
the understanding rather than the fancy. It frequently wants fluency,
but occasionally is tinged with a high degree of moral pathos."

We could illustrate the conscientious character alluded to by the
above writer, with anecdotes of the chancellorship of Lord Eldon. As
the following have, we believe, but once appeared in print, they may
not, be familiar to the reader. Sir Richard Phillips relates:[3] "In
conversation with Mr. Butterman, (at Dronfield), I heard two anecdotes