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those that encroach upon the rights and liberties of his fellow-subjects. For no man is proper to fit as an English Judge, my Lord, who does not value the rights and liberties of the meanest as intrinsically equal to that of the noblest. An upright Judge will never resemble a jockey, in estimating mankind, as horses, only by their blood. For it is one of the great marks of the goodness of Providence, not to permit rank, family, or fortune, to monopolize human talents. We often observe Lords with the narrow minds of plebeians, and plebeians possessed of virtues and genius that would throw a lustre on Princes.—Judges, therefore, in order to be just, must entertain an equal respect for the rights of all ranks of men; and the lowest peasant, even by birth, is entitled as much to the enjoyment of the laws, as the highest Peer.
These preliminaries being granted, my Lord, let us now come to the point in dispute. Ever since you ascended the bench, your Lordship has taken every opportu-
nity
