The Press.
London, England, 1857-11-07 00:00:00

THE PRESS, NOVEMBER 7,1857.

This memoir was written in the lifetime of George, the
second Lord Kenyon, with whom I was in habits of
familiar intercourse. He died 1 Feb. 1855, and was suc-
ceeded by his eldest son Lloyd, the third lord, who I have
heard does credit to the name he bears, but with whom
I have not the honour of any acquaintance.

There is evidence throughout that Lord Camp-
bell has some qualms of conscience about the
tone of accusation and disparagement in
which he has dealt with one of the worthiest
of his predecessors. Lord Kenyon was a great
lawyer, and as a great magistrate he gave high
satisfaction to the profession and to the na•
tion at large. He was strict in his morals,
and of unimpeachable integrity. He was no
political jobber, and no intriguer for place or
title ; and if he loved money, Lord Campbell
ought to know that Lord Kenyon was not sin-
gular in that passion. Such a man deserved
a different style of appreciation from that
accorded to him here ; but we may have more
to say on this point at another time We
think that Lord Campbell might have leant
lighter on the errors of speech and the bad La-
tin of Lord Kenyon; the present Chief Justice
can make mistakes as well as another. Thus
he describes his first sight of the Court of
Queen's Bench :

On the !28:11 of June, 1800, being yet a boy, for the first
time in my life I entered the Court of King's Bench, and
with thepe eyes I behold Lord Kenyon. The scene was by
no means so august as I had imagined to myself. I ex-
pected to see the judges sitting in the great hall, which,
though very differently constructed for magnificence, might
be compared to the Roman Forum. The place where the
trial was going on was a small room inclosed from the
open space at the south-east angle, and here were crowded
together the judges, the jury, the counsel, the attorneys,
and the reporters, with little accommodation for bystanders.
My great curiosity was to see Erskine, and I was amazingly
struck by his noble features and animated aspect. Mitford,
the Attorney-General, seemed dull and heavy ; but Grant,
the Solicitor-General, immediately inspired the notion of
extraordinary sagacity. Law looked logical and sarcastic.
Garrow verified his designation of " the tame tiger." There
were five or six rows of counsel, robed and wigged, sitting
without the bar—but I had never heard the name of any
of them mentioned before. I was surprised to find the four
judges all dressed exactly alike. This not being a saint's
day, the Chief Justice did not wear his collar of SS to dis-
tinguish him from his brethren.

And there is the note, which records a strange
error of Lord Campbell's own :

This was written before I had taken my seat as Chief
Justice; and I had erroneously supposed that the collar of
SS is worn on saint's days, along with tho scarlet and
ermine.

The picture of Lord Ellenborough in this
volume is executed in a better style :

I now come to a Chief Justice with whom I have had
many a personal conflict, and from whom for several years
I experienced very rough treatment, but for whose memory
I entertain the highest respect. He was a man of gigantic
intellect ; h 3 had the advantage of the very best education
which England could bestow ; he was not only a consum-
mate master of his own profession, but well initiated in
mathematical science and one of the best classical scholars
of his day; he had great faults, but they were consistent
with the qualities essentially required to enable him to
fill his high office with applause. Ellenborough was s real
Chief—such as the rising generation of lawyers may read
of and figure to themselves in imagination, but may never
behold to dread or to admire.

Here again we have the egotism of Lord
Campbell peeping out in a most amusing
manner. The biographer " had many a per-
sonal conflict" with this personage of " gigan-
tic " intellect ! Good—very good ! Tho bio-
grapher, having had " personal conflicts" with
this redoubtable personage, wishes to add a
few cubits to his stature: As we said, we do
not think that Lord Ellenborough was a giant,
but he was very tall, and we greatly respect
his memory; and we rejoice at the present
moment that his talents are hereditary.
The inaccuracies and inoleganoes of Lord
Campbell are frequently visible in parts of this
memoir. Of Lord Ellenborough's beautiful
wife it is recorded :

Mrs. Law retained the beauty of Miss Towry; and such
admiration did it continue to excite, that she was not
only followed at balls and assemblies, but strangers used to
collect in Illoomshury-square to gaze at her as she watered
the flowers which stood in her balcony. But no jealousy
was excited in the mind of the husband even when
princes of the blood fluttered round her. For many years
the faithful couple lived together in uninterrupted affec-
tion and harmony, blessed with a numerous progeny,
several of whom united their father's talents with their
mother's comeliness.

Would " comeliness" be enough to excite
" admiration," and make princes of the blood
flutter round a lady ? Lord Kenyon, if he
were alive, might give Lord Campbell some