The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-01-31

| Sir George Jessel, who had succeeded r..
| as solicitor general-Sir William Bov;is
| chlet justice of the common pleas. dia5
| Sir John Coleridge at once stepped jnt.
ms SHOES ana was raised to the peera,s
| as Lord Coleridge of 0ttery st. Mary r.
1850 he gained the height of his a,nbit;e.
| by becoming lord chief justice of England
| on the death of Sir Alexander Co.
burn. If he had yielded to the tepntatio,
| 10 be master of the rolls he would havs
held that Office still and somebody sl,s
would have been lord chief Justice H.,
he knew how 10 wait and he had the con-
age to trust fortune. OF course. if tIy>
Gladstone ministry had been defeated ba
would have been out in the cold alto'
gether. But he took the chance of tbs,
lie Is commonly considered one of ths
Iuckiest men, but his judgment in seeing
where ms opportunity lay and seizing il II
the right moment had more to do with III,
rapid elevation than mere luck.
1t must be admitted. nevertheless. tina.
LORD Coierldge does not owe his high posi-.
ton TO any very superior abilities sfip
less to any great legal attainments Heis
not nearly as good q lawyer as Sir Georga
Jessel was, nor anything like "a stron "a
judge as Sir Alexander Cockburn. MS
cannot be called one of England's really
great judges, and in some points he In,
lowered rather than raised the dignity ~
the bench. Externally he has no riyalN.
He Is one of the most ornamental JUDGE,
that ever wore ermine. He has not onlv
striklngly handsome face and graceful
figure, but his manners are most courtlv
and his whole bearing is one of polished
ease. He has clear, meliitiuous yoica
and q fine command of language and
everything he says and does has an air az
refinement and nobility about il which i,
very imposing at frst. Any one who sees
and hears the chief Justice often, however
1l rhnp nar MN = hat, -
exquisite polish, and, as far as command
ing the respect of the court goes, many a
plain, bluff man, without any pretensiou
to personal graces, is ten times
more powerful than Lord Coleridee.
1t was a maxim of Lord Bacon
that "a popular judge is hateful thing
and though no one can accuse the chief
Justice of ever having sought popularity
IN the evil sense that Bacon had in hi,
mind, there is in his manner and speech
on the bench q certain tendency to i'm.
press the popular mind, which the great
est judges never show. He has also
brought upon himself undisguised and
well-deserved blame by the practice Of
making his court q sort of fashionable
show and accommodating his aristocratie
friends with seats beside him to hear ex.
citing or scandalous trials. During tina
trial Of the notorious baccarat case law
yer wrote him a most insulting letter
him for his favoritism and demand
ing to know by what right lords
and ladies and members of the chief
Justices family were admitted to the bes.
places in the court, 10 the exclusion OF
Others who. like himself, were interested
in hearing the trial. Lord Coleridge, who
is never deficient in pluck sent this letter
to the Times for publication, and with it al
scathing reply in which he easily estab-1
lished his right to do as he had done, in
his own court. The lawyers letter was
felt on all sides to be an unparionabieF
piece of impertinence, but at the same
time good many people were of
opinion that Lord Coleridge had in a way
laid himself open TO insult. No one ques-
toned his power to make his court va
riety show, hut the propriety of doing SO
was quite another thing.
The general thing ABOUT him is that he
Is too much of a society Judge. As a rule
in England judges keep themselves al
most entirely aloof from society, and the
more they do so, the more they are re-
spected. Lord Coeridge, on the con-
trary, goes everywhere, and is all
thing to all men, and especially
to all women. He is now 20; but very
few years ago he was still quite beau
and was prominent fgure at every fash.
ionable gathering, and even at many en-
tertainments which are rather Bohemian
than fashionable. His gallantries, real or
alleged, were a subject of common gossip;
and the chief justice certainly took nos i
pains to show that he resented the impu-
tation OF being gay boy" On one occa-
sion, by the bye, he did make an amusing
defense of himself against public rumor.
A society journal having published state
ment that Lord Colerldge was engaged 10
be married to Miss Mary Anderson the
actress he wrote to say it was untrue as
tar as he knew, because. in the first place,
he had not the pleasure OF the young
lady's acquaintance, and in the second
place, he had wife his own already |
Here again, a good many people thought /
the very fact of his finding 10 necessary to
make such a reply in public showed he
had laid himself open to criticism. The
English, however are wonderfully indu!-
gent in these matters. Ii they think q
man occupying great position is q good
fellow at heart, they do not want to in
quire too closely into his social life, and
they readily forgive any little lapses from
strict morality which do not imply dis
graceful conduct. There was one affair.
however, which gave a really bad impress
sion of Lord Coleridge, though it did not
affect his relations TO the public at all. 10
was most peculiar lawsuit in which a
gentleman who had gained the affections
of Lord Coleridge's only daughter, sought
protection from what looked like very
cruel persecution. The Hon. Bernard
Colr1dge, the chlef justices only son,
himself a distinguished lawyer, was the
nominal party to the suit; but it came out
that Lord Coleridge was concerned in il
quite as much. The lady was not young,
and there was nothing 10 show that the
gentleman's attachment to her was not
perfectly genuine and disinterested. he
was not rich, but he asked for nothing
with his wife; and his character was good,
yet simply because he was man Of the
middle class, whose alliance with the
Coeridge family could add nothing TO
their grandeur, he vas treated with de-
gree of vindictiveness which is quite out /
of keeping with the spir I of our age.
Moreover, some of the steps taken by the
irate father and brother showed disre-
spect for the laws which they should have
been the first to uphold. Miss Coleridse
naturally sided with the man of he's
choice, and so did court of justice. The
public feeling went strongly the same way
and Lord Coleridge incurred more blame
for his hard-heartedness than he ever did
by peccadilloes which the English regard
as amiable weaknesses.
There are no class of people who live to
so great an age as English judges; and il
will be no miracle if Lord Coleridge occu-
pies his present position for twenty years
longer. This will afford him time .
shake off the frivoiities of his giddy youth
and giddier middle age. and he may yes
leave a record. EDWARD WAKEFIELD.