wished to be excused; but as he always thought it his duty to do what
the court desired, "Upon my word," said he, "I did not think that there
were four men in the world who could have given such an ill-founded
judgment as you four, my lords, have pronounced." This style, however,
must have been now and then intolerable.

When Baron Hotham was placed in the Exchequer, he gave a dinner, as is
usual on those occasions, at Sergeant's Inn, to the judges and
sergeants. Hotham had been unsuccessful at the bar. Hill, in drinking
his health, called him Baron Botham. Somebody whispered the real name to
him. Hill said aloud, "I beg your pardon, Mr Baron Hotham; but none of
us ever heard your name in the profession before this day." In justice
to the baron, however, Lord Eldon adds the following note:--"The Baron
made an extremely good judge. He had not much legal learning; but he had
an excellent understanding, great discretion, unwearied patience, and
his manners were extremely engaging; and those qualities ensuring to him
in a very large measure the assistance of the bar, he executed his
duties as a judge with great sufficiency."

Shortly after his commencing the profession, Scott reduced himself into
a state of invalidism by excessive study. In 1774, when he and Cookson,
another invalid, were returning to Oxford from Newcastle, where they had
gone to vote at the general election, the good-natured cook of the inn
at Birmingham, where they arrived at eleven at night, insisted on
dressing something hot for them, saying that she was sure neither of
them would live to see her again. A medical friend remonstrated with him
on the severity of his studies. "It is not matter," answered Scott, "I
must either do as I am now doing, or starve." He rose at four in the
morning, observed a careful abstinence at his meals, and, to prevent
drowsiness, read at night with a wet towel round his head. At last it
became necessary, as the time of being called to the bar approached, to
provide a dwelling in London. In his latter days, he pointed out a house
in Cursitor Street. "There," said he, "was my first perch. Many a time
have I run down from that house to Fleet Market, to get sixpennyworth of
sprats for supper." At this period, in mentioning to his brother the
kindness of a great conveyancer, Mr Duane, whom he attended as a
gratuitous pupil, he says--"This conduct of his has taken a great load
of uneasiness off my mind; as, in fact, our professio