to Charles the First, that King found occasion to censure his faithful servant at the time of the Treaty of Uxbridge, on a question of religion, 'having,' said his Majesty, 'expected otherwise from the son of a Bishop.' Yet Sir Orlando was a staunch Churchman. Burnet's testimony was merely to his judicial capacity. He said: 'Bridgeman's practice was so entirely in common law that he did not seem to understand what equity was.' Roger North said: 'He was a celebrated lawyer, and sat with high esteem in the place of Chief-Justice of Common Pleas: the moving him then to the Chancery did not contribute to his fame'; while elsewhere we are told 'he carried a chancery in his breast.' 'He grew timorous, which was not mended by age; he laboured to please everybody, and that is a temper of ill consequence in a judge.' On the other hand, Lord Nottingham writes: 'It is due to the memory of so great a man to mention him with reverence and veneration for his learning and integrity.' While Lord Ellenborough extols him as an eminent judge, distinguished by the profundity of his learning and the extent of his industry. At all events, there is no doubt that the name of Sir Orlando Bridgeman, Lord-Keeper of the Great Seal, continues to be honoured, not only in the annals of his own family, but in the learned profession of the Law.
