ABSTRACT This article presents an occasion on which moral judgement can, and should, take place. When the chief justice of the court of king’s bench – William Murray, first earl of Mansfield – was presented with the case of Somerset v Stewart in 1772, he was presented with choices that unveiled aspects of his character. By first establishing the ambiguity of the legal context and the multifarious political pressures that preceded Somerset’s case, this article identifies the extent of Lord Mansfield’s ‘room for manoeuvre’ with respect to three elements of his conduct: the delay and reluctance in making a decision, the choices regarding the substantive decision and the manner of expressing that decision. To what extent did Mansfield have freedom of action, and how did he exercise it? Are those free actions worthy of praise or condemnation? Through an essential questioning of previous historians’ assumptions and omissions, this article sharpens the strokes through which a complex portrait of Mansfield may be rendered.

中文翻译：

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审判法官：重新评估曼斯菲尔德勋爵和萨默塞特案

摘要 本文提出了一个道德判断可以而且应该发生的场合。1772 年，当国王法官席的首席大法官——曼斯菲尔德的第一任伯爵威廉·默里接到萨默塞特诉斯图尔特案时，他面临的选择揭示了他性格的各个方面。通过首先确定萨默塞特案之前法律背景的模糊性和各种各样的政治压力，本文确定了曼斯菲尔德勋爵在其行为的三个要素方面的“回旋余地”的程度：延迟和不愿做出决定，关于实质性决定的选择以及表达该决定的方式。曼斯菲尔德有多大程度的行动自由，他是如何锻炼的？那些自由的行为值得赞扬或谴责吗？通过对先前历史学家的假设和遗漏的基本质疑，本文锐化了描绘曼斯菲尔德复杂肖像的笔触。