New-York tribune., 1894-04-30
LORD BOWEN.
/.
HIS GREATNESS AS A LAWYER AND A.
JUDGE-HIS CONNECTION WITH
JOURNALISM AND HIS VIEW
OF THAT PROFESSION.

"He was so great a lawyer because he WA.
so much else says one of the eulogists Of Iora
Bowen. who dies at ffty-eight years OF aga
That is not the professional view. Most gre.,
lawyers still hold that the law is jeaIou.
mistress Yet Lord Bowen was great lawye,
-, who touched life many other sides II 4.
doubtful whether. on the whole, he had his eoua,
on the Bench. He had. said one OF the ables,
OF his colleagues, vast" knowledge OF IN.
law He had a mind which delighted In IN.
( subt est Determinations and yet capable N
taking broad views, with grasp of principle.
which does not always go with capacity for DE-.
tail Lord Esher Master Of the Rolls, has pro.
nounced his euogy in words which, from man
OF his stamp. mean great deal:
His knowledge OF the whole law was so p,
feet, and was so accurate, and was so entireyu
his command that | myself nave no doubt thai
he had studied every proposition OF law minutely
! accurately, and carefully in order TO learn n
| long before he was called upon 20 bring II nto
practce His reasoning was extremely ar
| curate and so beautifully fine that what he ssN
| sometimes escaped my mind. which Is not A
, finely edged. His mind was 50 beautifully
and finely edged and 50 subtle in its nature that
ne went further and gave us perfect essays IN
! the form OF his judgments. which can be handed
down to our successors as models of absolute
perfection"
Lord Esher is a judge Of remarkable powers
but not as you perceive on reading this extract
with very great power Of that finished ex.
preston which he justly commends in his late
colleague His testimony has. perhaps, all the
more value He HTS himself 10 acknowledge IN
Bowen those particular qualities ana gifts which
are least common 10 the most learned awyers
! The profession think that as a lawyer. he had
not had his equal since Mr.. Justice Wlles died
There Is something pathetic In the mention Of
the name How many Americans, how many
Englishmen. not lawyers. ever heard Of Mr.
Justice Willcs? II Is right that the prizes Of
the Bar and Bench should be splendid In lte
Immortality IS not one OF them. nor that general
fame which seems 10 attend only upon those who
were great lawyers and something more.
/ Lord Rowen's success at the Bar was by no
means instantaneous. lie had 10 wait, as 80
many legal celebrities have had 10 wait. II
was while expecting. and vainly expecting briefs
that he laid the broad and deep foundations Of
/ his knowledge Of the law and began the build.
/ ing up on them that edlficc 70 which the crown.
! ing stone was not fitted ill his death. Then
was. also. that he wrote for the periodical press
/ Of which in a moment His legal career may Be
briefly summed up Il will always be one Of
| Lord Coleridges claims on public gratitude that
he gave Bowen his chance. When the present
]
/ General. in 1870 he appointed Charles Bowen his
| devil The official name of the legal devil
! IS Junior Counsel to the Treasury. II was
! the Ttchhorne period. Into that memorable tria
Bowen threw himself heart and soul; and body
! also \ great part Of the real work was his
| Tough as he was. il nearly killed him. In lsN
he got that promotion TO the Bench 70 which
! devilling for the AttOrney-Gener2l is regular
! preliminary.-or rather sure pathway. though
! there are many others Three years later he be-
| came a Lord Justice OF Appeal. and last year.
upon Lord Hannen's retirement. Law Lord. %
| Lord Ordinary Of Appeal, 10 give him his onelA
designation.
From 1870 TO the end, there never was tine
when his claim to foremost place was disputed
nor ever place which he filled with other taaa
consummate ability. His judicial career nas
partly eclipsed his early successes ~ the Bar oat
! they were many. As the papers refer 10 the
| Birmingham Screw Arbitration. l may. per-
| haps, mention what Bowen once told me OF
that case-G suppose IT 70 he the same case
which has a bearing on an o.i caiumny against
another very distinguished man. Mr Chamber
lain Some Radical journal had just revived 'hs
! story that Mr. Chamberlain's fortune was due 10
or was greatly augmented by. certain seneme
for crushing out the minor manufacturers OF
wood-screws so far is that from the tru'h'
said Bowen that Chamberlain came near losing
a great part Of his fortune in the very trans
| actions for which he was reproachei lie weh'
! into details which I, Is right % oaii II T"
enough 10 say that the matter went % aroius
ton and that ii was largely to Bowen ina' NJ
Chamberlain was indebted for his escape from
the heavy loss which threatened him.
There will be- no doubt an adequate account
from some competent hand OF Lord Bowehs
judicial life and Of his immense services 70 Ehs'
lish Jurisprudence. Here it is Impossible 70 w
more than refer 70 them. and 70 say tha1 Lo'H
Esher expresses no more than the general opih'0a
Of Bar and Bench Lord Bowen has himself eS'
planned the secret of his method. He sald III
public address
THE only reasonable and the only satisfactory
way of dealing with English law. is to BRING I"
bear upon it the historical method Mere esA'
terminoogy may seem dead thing MIX hS'o''
with IT, and it clothes itself with life
Upon this canon he based his decisions. ana 10
treated law and legal history with oFeau'"
and acuteness and with sympathetic grasp
which revivied its driest bones, ana 0'o''
them with the living flesh
We him---l mean To say that we Jou''a'
lists owe hIm-a particular tribute because 10
was time one of US. lie was cohl'iOu'
10 the Spectator" to the Saturday he''e"
and | presume To other journals. / don GUY
pose he had ever the least notion or a'op"'
journalism a profession. If he "aD'
abandoned II. and he had the good sense 10 81
out OF Journalism while ii yet time anu W
fore his life had been thrown away. lie VIZ, VIZ
for the Saturday Review" while that per'ou'N
still had the power and position II mas S'
lost. He left it. as M Prothero has to1u 70
his Life Of Stanley because Of an a''a'A Vs.
Stanley bitter that he felt himself anu y"
friendship to Stanley compromised by IT, he W.
IN no way responsible for the attack he N
nothing to do with the editing of the p'f
But his loyalty to his friends had that s''ovs wv.
lous delicacy which was characteristic oi " -.
in everything. He washed his hands wneH
nh la1lene1'