crown lawyers, enjoyed a wide
reputation, even among the Jacobite party, for the moderation and
the fairness with which he conducted the crown cases placed in his
hands. He had less employment than his colleagues, for only cases
in which the evidence of acts of hostility to the crown were
indisputable were committed to him, it having been found that he
was unwilling to be a party to calling doubtful witnesses, or to
using the means that were, in the majority of cases, employed to
obtain convictions.

The lord chief justice's letter to him was as follows:

Dear Mr. Counsellor Fergusson:

I have been requested, by Lord Godolphin, to place the case of the
bearer of this letter in good hands, and cannot better carry out
his request than by asking you to act in the matter. Lord
Godolphin has expressed himself most strongly as to the justness
of his claim. The bearer's father was, he states, James O'Carroll,
a noted rebel who was killed at the siege of Limerick. This alone
would, it might have been thought, have proved a bar to any action
on his part against the present possessor of the property; but he
is the bearer of a document, signed by the queen herself,
reinstating him in all rights he may possess, notwithstanding the
actions of his father or of himself. It is not for me to make any
comment upon the royal document, though I may say that I fear it
may give rise to other suits, and alarm many loyal subjects who
have become possessed of confiscated estates. However, we must
hope that this will not be so, as it is expressly stated that, in
this instance, the pardon and restoration of rights are given in
consideration of services rendered by this young gentleman to Lord
Godolphin himself, and to the Earl of Galway. What the nature of
these services may have been does not concern me.

Gerald carried this letter to the address indicated, and on saying
that he was the bearer of a letter from the lord chief justice, he
was at once shown into the counsellor's room. The latter, a man of
some fifty-five years old, with features that told of his Scottish
extraction, with keen eyes and a kindly face, took the letter
which Gerald presented to him, and begged him to be seated while
he read it. As he glanced through it, a look of surprise came
across his face, and he read the letter carefully, and then looked
at Gerald keenly.

"You are fortunate in having such good friends, Mr. O'Carroll," he
said. "Before I go into the case,