New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-01-27
LORD JOHN CAMPBELL.
r,,n eronu or. A GREAT CAREER.

PORTER AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS OPINIONS
OF HIMSELF AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES AS Ex-
yorssrp IN HIS DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE.
i,noN the REGULAR CORRESPONDENT or THE TRIBUNE
Ioypoy. Jan 13.-The first and perhaps the
worst thing to be said ahout these
Volumes is that they have no index. Ihe ""h'
IA one which the reviewer writing against tihe Is
thc first to feel. Bnt the most deliberate reauei
will not have gone far before he finds himself WISH
ing to refer backward and forward ON this supjec'
and that, and unable todo 80. The book covers "a
pcriod of eighty-two years; among the most event
ful and crowded In English history. 1t Is tcemlng
with dates and facts and references to vast num-
her of people and things 1t revlves Ola contro'
yersies. 1t throws some new light on seVerai I'M
portant subjects. 1t abounds Ill proper hancs'
with the owners OF which Lord Campbell nVed on
terma of intimacy or of enmity. His personal. his
politicai his professional relations arc here de-
scribed OF length. and with all the vgor and point
characteristic OF q man whose intellectual powers
werc very considerable. aud who mover iorgot nor
often forgave. To O considerable extent. LORD
Cown,,sll was behind the scenes. and his memoirs
are not devoid of some that peculiar interest which
attaches TO those of the late Mr.. Greville. There
neyer was q book Which moro wanted an index,
md neither editor nor publisher can be excused for
the omission to supply one.
The editor is Mrs Hardcastlc. Lord CampbelPs
daughter. On some points she has shown excellent
Judgment Her theory of dealing with the materials
which came into her hands Is good theory. LORD
Campbell left behind him an Autobiography, begun
in 1912 anu continued at intervals till lof|i Il
Journal in which there are entries IRON 1917 uo"n
to his death. though not continuous; ana u series
of letters to his father and brother beginning when
Lord Campbell was eighteen, and persevered IN al
most till his correspondents died. tho father in
1924. the brother in 1856. The last letter comes
down to 1854 Tho Autobiography and Journal
between them cover the whole sketch OF his long
existence, for though the Autobiography was not
begun till he was past sixty, 1t gives copOus &C
count of the eighteen years preceding the earliest
letter. and the Journal is continued to within ten
DAYS of his death. From these very ample sources
Mrs HaIdcastle has endeavored to form complete
narrative using memoirs OF letters or journal rs
each seemed tell the story best. Her chief ann
Guilty, she adds, has been TO make such selections
aud omissions as were necessary to keep tho WORK
within reasonable limits. The limits which seemed
reasonable to Mrs. Hardcastle allow of two rather
closely printed octave volumes making together
OSS pages and there are not many pages which
less deyotedly attached bicgrapher need have
omitted. But Mrs IIardcastle has not thought it
necessary to avail herself of her literary experience
il any she have. The materials, well chosen as u
rule are not skilfully pnt together. In many
place tue reader must piece ont tho narrative NM
SELF or leave it unpeced, rs his interest or Incidence
may suggest. There is. too, q confusion IN the So
ouence Of events Tho notes are neither frequent
nor tull enough for the calculation OF passages
bristling with illusions. Mrs. Hardcastic shows
commendable mOdesty in avoiding remarks or conf
mcnts of her own by way Of praise or blame OF her
father but there is much editorial work lett undohe
which the most fai piety would have permitted
a., ,,o ul,n In
scibcs to us as forming the substance of her book
remain materials to the end. In no literary sense
is this Life of Lord Campbell But it Is ON the
whole much more delightful and valuable book
than if it had been hewed into the usual shape. and
polished and pruned by the most approved methods.
It ia interesting as all books of material are
interesting and it is more valuable than n formal
biography just rs the memoirs, correspondence. and
even speeches and Vate papers OF men who have
figured at great epochs are more valuable than the
historical narratives into which they are condensed
by subsequent writer's
A CHANCELLOR IN EMBRYO
The outlines of Lord Campbells career are well
known; but his Autobiography fills up the earlier
years with details which are full OF piquancy. Ills
ancestors, upon whom he dwells with dino pride.
need not detan us:noI is 1t surprising that one OF
the vancst men OF his time should be able to de-
st1ictlyn from the kings of Scotland. That did not
prevent him from being born i'll obscurty and hav-
ing to struggle against penury and neglect;
though it is not quite clear why he should complain
of neglect Ills father seems to have done as much
for him as he could He did at least give his boys
mind the bent which i'll later years insured his sue
cess awhile / was yet child" writes Lord
Campbell. sequestered from all the world. he used
frequently to excite my curiosity and inilame my
imagination by accounts OF what he had seen and
hoard when visiting the courts OF Westminster
Hall, aud attending in the two houses OF Parlla-
ment" The author OF the being of the future Lord
Chancellor was minister of Cupar. in the County
OF Fife, with stipend of twice $40 year, with
out manse or glcbe; not bad pay for Scotland ut
that day. Ills mother was considered an heiress,
having a fortune of CT 500, and celebrated for
the grace with which she danced minuet;
ouality which she certainly did not transmit to her
son. who at no time of life celebrated for grace
of auy kind. To her. nevertheless, he pays due
tribute rs distn 96shcd for her pety, and certies
that to inculcate the principles and prccepts oil
religion upon her children her chief care in life
and DEATH Lord Lyndhurst and Lord Brouglam,
had thsy lcen spared to read this ilal testimony,
would probably have growled out that Jock Camp
bells gion consisted chiefly in pous obsorN aice
of the precept, Take care of number one.
The boy who in later years was to accomplish
without repining vast amount of resolutc drudg-
cry was sickly in childhood. and took deal of
nursing. lie acknowledges his debt not only to the
tenderness OF his mother but to the care of nurse.
Mary Bruce. "whO was q second mother to US all,
and the recollection of whose fidelity. devoted at
tachment and amiablc qualities now fills nv aged
eyes with tears OF tenderness and gratitude"
Mary Bruce also taught him to lelieve in ghosts
and filled his mind with terror Of the supernatural;
q terror which haunted him to the last, so that at
midnight he is possessed with vague dread, and
when the wainscOt cracks or o mouse stirs, each
particular hair of this tough old lawyer doth stand
ON end, In witches, also. he had firm faith when