Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 51.djvu/51

 Last Illness’ of his brother (n.d.), and died on 20 Nov. 1788. His ‘Diary,’ edited by Richard Phillips, was published, London, 1809, 12mo (2nd edit. 1811; reprinted in Philadelphia, and in vol. ix. of Evans's ‘Friends' Library,’ Philadelphia, 1845). One of his sermons is in ‘Sermons or Declarations,’ York, 1824.



SCOTT, JOHN, (1739–1798), chief justice of the king's bench in Ireland, born on 8 June 1739, was the son of Thomas Scott of Urlings, co. Kilkenny, afterwards of Modeshill and Mohubber, co. Tipperary, and Rachel, eldest daughter of Mark Prim of Johnswell, co. Kilkenny. Another account makes Thomas of Mohubber his elder brother, and gives as his father Michael Scott, and his mother a daughter of Michael Purcell, titular baron of Loughmore (cf., Peerage; , Ireland before the Union, p. 206). Both accounts, however, agree that his grandfather, the founder of the family, was a captain in King William's army and was killed during the wars in Ireland. After receiving an elementary education, probably at Clonmel school, where he contracted a friendship with Hugh Carleton, afterwards Viscount Carleton and chief justice of the common pleas, Scott was enabled through the generosity of Carleton's father, known from his opulence as ‘King of Cork,’ to enter Trinity College, Dublin, on 26 April 1756, and subsequently to pursue his studies at the Middle Temple. He never forgot the kindness thus shown to him, and afterwards, when Carleton's bankruptcy threatened to impair his son's prospects, he repaid his obligations in as generous a fashion as his position allowed. Still it was noticeable that even at this time his unblushing effrontery, coupled with his somewhat bronzed visage, gained for him the sobriquet, which stuck to him through life, of ‘Copper-Faced Jack.’ He was called to the Irish bar in 1765, and his diligence and aptitude for business soon procured him a considerable practice. In 1767 he married the widow of Philip Roe, a daughter of Thomas Mathew of Thomastown, who, in addition to her personal attractions, possessed an annual income of 300l.

At this time the dominant star in the Irish political firmament was that of Dr. [q. v.], and among Lucas's professed followers there was none more devoted than Scott. He is said to have taken a very active part on the popular side at one of the early college elections, and in 1769 he was himself elected M.P. for the borough of Mullingar. His ability and determination to rise attracted the attention of the lord chancellor, Lord Lifford, and, at his suggestion, Lord Townshend threw out to him the bait of office. The bait was swallowed with the cynical remark, ‘My lord, you have spoiled a good patriot.’ In the following year he obtained his silk gown, and in 1772 was appointed to the lucrative post of counsel to the revenue board. So far as government was concerned the bargain was not a bad one. Night after night, with a courage and versatility which none could gainsay, he withstood the attacks on administration of Flood and the ‘patriots’ at a time when those attacks were most violent and pertinacious. His services did not pass unrewarded. In December 1774 he succeeded Godfrey Lill as solicitor-general, and on the death of [q. v.] he became attorney-general on 1 Nov. 1777, and a privy councillor. Shortly after his promotion, it is said that, encountering Flood in front of the House of Commons at the beginning of the session, he addressed him, ‘Well, Flood, I suppose you will be abusing me this session, as usual?’ ‘When I began to abuse you,’ replied Flood, ‘you were a briefless barrister; by abuse I made you counsel to the revenue; by abuse I got you a silk gown; by abuse I made you solicitor-general; by abuse I made you attorney-general, by abuse I may make you chief-justice. No, Scott, I'll praise you.’ Scott, however, had his revenge during the debate on the perpetual mutiny bill in November 1781, and the inimitable way in which he related his parable of ‘Harry Plantagenet’ (Parl. Register, i. 123), while it convulsed the house with laughter, must have wounded Flood deeply. ‘The character,’ wrote William Eden, describing the scene to Lord Loughborough, ‘painted in great detail and mixed with many humorous but coarse and awkward allusions, was that of a malevolent outcast from all social intercourse of life, driven to madness by spleen and vanity, forlorn in reputation, and sunk in abilities’ (Auckland Corresp. i. 322).

Still, it would be unfair to suppose that Scott's acceptance of office blinded him, any