The Sun.
London, England, 1862-02-08 00:00:00

ME EDWIN JAMES:

Most people certainly, thought they had got rid
of Mr. Edwin James (still it seems), Q.C., for,
though disbarred, ,the royal patent is still uncan-
celled. The man had gone to America, where he
had been admitted to the New York bar, and set
up a legal partnership. Of course, the conduct of
the New York bar in admitting such a person, after
being disbarred in England, furnished a tempting
subject to.the anti-American writers here; but the
dispassionate observer ought to remark that the
Benchers of the Inner Temple are to some extent
responsible for the conduct of their American
brethren. It is not given to many Englishmen to
understand the precise effect of being disbarred.
Nor would it be correct to say that every cause of
disbarment in this country is sufficient to render a
person unworthy of practising as a lawyer in any
other country. It is true that the leaders of the
New York bar might have written to the Benchers
of the Inner Temple to ascertain the grounds upon
which Mr. Edwin James had been disbarred—but
the necessity for such a step shows conclusively
that the grounds upon which the Benchers act in
disbarring ought to be made public. his to be hoped
that in any future case, either of disbarment or of
reprimand, this course will be followed. In the
meantime an article has appeared in the Law
Magazine and Law Review for the present month,
setting forth all the circurnstancEs connected with
the " disbarment of Edwin J. James, Q.C.," which
must have been communicated by the sanction of
the Benchers. The account is, therefore, probably
authentic, and deserves both for the sake of the
British and for the sake of the American public,
the widest publicity.

Mr. Edwin James was the son of one of the Se-
condaries of tl e city of London. He had never
been to either University. Wild in his youth, he
had originally tried the stage; but to him tragedy
—which, like Mr. Keeley, he considered his forte
—was more a passion than a success. Failing in this
attempt, he was entered of the Inner Temple, and
afterwards called to the bar in 1836. His success was
considerable, and 10 years ago he obtained a silk
gown, and finally was elected for Maryleoone in
February, 1859. It cannot be said that he occupied
any position in society ; but, considering his cha-
racter, it is singular that he should have associated
with men occupying the position of some of his
ostensible friends. Nor, ndeed, did it seem abso-
lutely impossible that he should become Solicitor-
General. It is true that, unlike most of the Queen's
Counsel of his Inn, he was not a Bencher ; and an
attempt had been made by Mr. Craufurd, the mem-
ber for Ayr Burghs, on the occasion of Mr. James
being appointed Recorder of Brighton, to have the
causes of his exclusion from the Inner Temple Bench
investigated by a Committee of the House of Com-
' mons. Mr. Craufurd's motion, however, was not
only negatived, but actually erased from the journals
of the house. The transactons for which Mr. James
was disbarred are long subsequent to 1855, but it
is some satisfaction to Mr. Craufurd to know that
his motion probably deserved a very different re-
ception than that which it obtained ; nor is it unfair
to add that if the Inner Temple Benchers in the
House of Commons had done their duty on that
occasion the career of Mr. James might have been
less disereditable to the country than it has been.
Let us now record the history of this wretched
man's fall. In the spring of last year, a few months
after the member for Marylebone had returned
from his campaign with Garibaldi, and had written
his letter on the writ of habeas corpus to Cavour,
London was surprised by the publication of an
address to his constituents announcing his resig-
nation, and this was speedily followed by his
retirement from Brooks's and the Reform Clubs.
At the same time it became notorious that there
was an execution in his new house in Berkeley-
square, on a judgment for a large debt. Then
rumours came to the ears of the Benchers,
and also one written complaint. It was resolved
that an investigation should tnke place, and Mr.
James, hearing of this, volunteered an expres-
sion of his anxiety to give the fullest infor- i