nced to be a match for his rival, and George
II. became suddenly as attached to the one as he had long hated and
feared the other.

On the 3d of March, 1754, Mr. Pelham, the Prime Minister, died, and, had
Murray's ambition soared in that direction, he might at once have stepped
into the vacant office. He had long been the prop of the Ministry in the
House of Commons, and was by far the most sagacious member of the
Government. Throughout his Parliamentary career, what has happily been
called his "clear, placid, mellow splendor" had suffered no tarnish, and
had not been obscured by a single cloud. Always ready, well informed,
lucid in argument, and convincing in manner, he had virtually assumed the
leadership in the House of Commons, and his elevation would in no way
have altered the aspect or proceedings of that assembly. The nation
respected him, and the monarch regarded him with more than common favor.
Murray, however, coveted not the prize. Mr. Macaulay, referring to this
period in one of his masterly essays, attributes the conduct of the
Solicitor-General to moral infirmity. "The object of Murray's wishes," he
says, "was the judicial bench. The situation of Chief Justice might not
be so splendid as that of First Lord of the Treasury, but it was
dignified, it was quiet, it was secure; and therefore it was the favorite
situation of Murray." Lord Campbell states the case more creditably, and,
as we think, more fairly to Lord Mansfield. "From a high feeling," says
the biographer, "that his destiny called him to reform the jurisprudence
of his country, he sincerely and ardently desired to be placed on the
bench, and the especial object of his ambition was to be Chief Justice of
England." We remember that, whilst a lad, and destined by his parents for
the church. Murray, of his own motion, dedicated himself to the study of
the law, feeling a "calling" for that profession. Why Lord Mansfield had
resisted every temptation in order to secure the eminence for which, it
is not too much to say, he was in all respects better fitted than any who
have won it, became evident enough within a year of his appointment to
the bench. Moral courage he lacked; something nobler than its want led
him to renounce the Premiership.

What Murray rejected the less capable and not over nice Duke of Newcastle
Greedily seized. The Attorney-General, Sir Dudley Ryder, was elevated to
the bench, and Murray, gaining a step in professional rank, was by so