The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-03-31 00:00:00

THE LATE SIR GEORGE JESSEL.

Sir George Jessel who was appointed Solicitor
General in 1871, and became Master of the Rolle in
August, 1873, died early on Wednesday morning, the
21st inst., in his fifty•ninth year. He was the first
Jew who was ever made a Judge in this country.
Many of the Judges, upon coming into Court on that
day, spoke of the great loss which the profession and
the public have sustained. —The British Medical,
Journal has the following article on the death of the
late Judge :
The sadden decease of this most eminent judge has
occurred in the prime of life, under circumstances of
the most distressing character.

Sir George Jessel had for some time been in more or
less delicate health, and endured, uncomplainingly, a
good deal of suffering of which he rarely spoke, and
which, indeed, he concealed as far as possible from his
family and friends. A man of remarkable vigour and
firmness of character, entirely devoted to public duties,
and little disposed to consult his own convenience
where the labours of the Bench, or the interests of the
great public institutions with which he was connected,
called for the exercise of his remarkable powers of
judicial investigation. Sir George Jessel has borne
about him for a long time the seeds of disease which,
had he been able to allow himself longer holidays and
to relieve himself from the strain of mental exertion,
might perhaps have been successfully held at bay.
For several months he had shown marked symptoms
of an affection of those organs which is most apt to
occur in men who lead a sedentary life, ancompanied
with severe intellectual labour and insufficiently re-
lieved by outdoor exercise and recreation. The
symptoms with which he was affected were those
connected with disease of the liver and of the kidneys.
The progress of the disease was very insidious and
somewhat masked.

Sir George Jessel had been in the habit of taking
horse exercise, and had derived considerable benefit
from it. At one time it was thought that he would
be unable to continue his labours on the Bench
throughout the session. He continued his heavy
duties, however, under circumstances of so much per-
sonal inconvenience and distress, that he would take
his seat on the Bench even when his weakness was
such that he had to be carried in a ohsir to the
Bench; and such was his extraordinary energy that,
in spite of the advancing ravages of a disease which
above all others saps the physical energy, and de-
presses the powers of life, the Master of the Rolls
continued in his work until Saturday last. His weak-
ness and breathlessness had then' however, reached a
pitch which made it impossible for him to persist,
and he perforce ceased to appear in Court. He how-
ever had only been confined to bed for two days. He
was attended by Dr. Quain and Dr. George Johnson.
He died suddenly on Wednesday morning having
suffered greatly from difficulty of breathing and
abdominal pain during the night. The final symptoms
were those of syncope and collapse.

It is not for us to say how deeply the loss of this
eminent Judge will be felt at the Bar, by his col-
leagues on the Bench, and by the public generally. It
would not, however, be right to omit saying how
deeply the cause of medical education has benefited by
the labours of Sir George Jesse' on the Senate of the
University of London, and how favourable his in-
fluence has always been felt in support of the progress
of research and of science. His services to the T.Tniver-
sity of London, to the medical faculty, have been
great, and especially marked have been his courage,
his judgment, and his interest in the progress of the
Brown Institute, and in the maintenance and protec-
tion of scientific research in connection with that insti-
tution, and with the University of London.
It will be remembered that Sir George Jesse! was one
of the founders of the association formed for the
advancement and protection of physiological research,
which was formed under the auspices of Sir William
Jenner, Sir James Paget, Professor Huxley, and
all the leaders of medicine and biological science,
at the College of Physicians last year. His speech
on that occasion was marked by the sound judgment,
keen common sense, and liberality. of view, which
have throughout been his distinguished intellectual
characteristics.