Figures on a Woolsack II
The concluding article in Steven Watson’s studies of Britain’s Lord Chancellors.
The new violently controversial issues, which arose after 1760, put a strain upon all organs of the constitution. The signs are evident in the courts. Pratt, Lord Camden, won a reputation for taking a “liberal” view of the constitution because he was an ally of Chatham. Lord Mansfield, the greater lawyer, was execrated because his interpretation of the law was believed to show a leaning away from liberty. Wilkes was firmly convinced that Camden was his friend, Mansfield his enemy. Even so, such political inclinations among judges were held in check by the iron corset of a legal tradition that Hardwicke had done much to strengthen. The spirit of the profession was still stronger than the attraction of political groups.
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