New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-01-17
CRUSHING 1T UP"
-,,r ENGLISH PREJUDICE AGAINST CIV
ING PUBLICITY TO scANDALs-sIR
GEORGE LEWIS AND HIS DAN
rrp01-S KNOWI EDGE
GEROUS KNOWLEDGE.

GEORGE LEWIS AND HIS DAN
GERoUs KNOWLEDGE.
-.cent suit for criminal libel brought by
60, Russell against his mother-in-law. Selma,
S" cco,t which has resulted in her being sem
1000 70 eight months detention in the same
-,.or IN which the Dowager Duchess OF Suther-
v,os confined for a period OF six months. a
". years ago. has served to bring once more
,S.o rrominence Sir George Lewis. who. although
-, q member of the bar. but merely what Is
,,ovn in England as a solicitor, is by far the
.os, distinguished criminal lawyer Of the pres
40, dsv in Great Britain. 1t is no exaggeration
% assert that there has been no sensational case
.rourht into court during the last d-thirty
vears In which Sir George has not figured. usual
~ on the winning side. while as for the cases
rh,ch this shrewd and discreet knight has kept
ont OF court they are simply legion In NUMBER
,.aoad Il NAV safely be taken for granted that
M, more than one-third perhaps not even one
.ar NJ the scandals affecting prominent peo-
y, 10 Great Britain ever reach the knowledge
:. ~, rublic For with all its faults. English
,o,v nossesses an esprit de corps that is not to
10 ,ound in that of NewYork. When any one or
&c members happens TO wander from the high
road Of honesty and honor-which is very broad
ord spacious in these modern times-into the by
ravs Of crime all the members of his class not
alone in his interests. but also in their own. unite
IN an effort TO hush the matter up And in this
,hev invariably enjoy the invaluable assistance
., Sir George Lewis who is popularity declared TO
tnov enough to hang half dozen OF the biggest
mon in the city of London and TO possess sufil-
cient number of dangerous secrets or people or
rank 70 suffice. If they should ever he divuiged'
TO shatteY the entire social fabric OF Great Bit
ain. .
Sir George. who numbers among his clients MS
,,,ure King. often guest at his hospitable house
IN Portland Place the Duke of Orleans and many
another scion of royalty-for they all come 10
him when they are in a scrape-is whit -haireu
and white-whiskered little man of most kindly
ND genial manner. whose very appearance In
r,.es confidence and inspires trust in his discre-
,,on His father and his grandfather were law
vars that is TO say, solicitors. before MIN, the
,,asent Lord Chief Justice. Lord Russell. Sir
Robert Reid. Sir Frank Lockwood and several
nhar legal luminaries Of the present day having
,osun their career as young men in the Lewis
pfice Of Ely Place.
HE KEEPS NO DIARY.
On. q, the features of that office is the strong
NON, in which all the great black deed-boxes are
a 90 tho wall so that not even their names
"a, he soon being only distinguished from one
,no,ber hv cinhers Startling and extraordinary
s arc the contents of these boxes. 1t is propapie
ma, secrets Of an infinitely more important ana
,rarnat,c character are locked up in the archives
,f Sir Georges memory. and to what extent ne
senends upon the latter may be gathered from
the fact that contrary to the practice OF 'he
majority Of lawyers. he keeps no diary. lie ue-
,lares that when quarter Of century ago ne
found his business becoming so conhdentai' ne
made I'D his mind that not even FOR the sake o'
reference would he ever chronicle another 'hlhe'
n thu, when he died the condolences of London
,ociety might die with him. Under the clrcum-
stances. there are many people OF the highes'
-ank who will breathe more freely when Sir
George passes over to the majority ana Is sue
,eeded IN his turn by his eldest son and name
take representing the fourth generation or the
famous lawyers Of London society.
One curious drawback to the celebrity of this
extraordinary little Jew is the fact that his
nrssence in court on behalf Of a client is In nine
cases ont Of ten regarded as kind Of admission
~ the latter's guilt. For Sir George enjoys
such fame for his ability TO get his clients out
NJ the most disgraceful situations that he Is
certain 10 be applied 10 for assistance when
ever a man OF any prominence finds himself In
Tire roire Indeed the worse the case and the
higher the rank OF the parsonage incriminated.
the more certain il is that application will be
made to Ely Place for professional assistance
II Is only fair. however to say that no matter
how terrible the straits in which his client may
have involved himself. Sir George can usually
find means Of issue. If his clients guilt is suf-
hciently assured to admit Of no defence or ex-
cuse, Sir George usually possesses the knowl-
edge Of some skeleton in the cupboard of the
other side of the case. and so brings about an
abandonment of the prosecution. There are few
people either in society or in business who are
not cursed with some skeleton, the existence Of
which they are eager at all costs to keep from
becoming known. Sometimes It affects their
own honor and reputation. sometimes the fair
name of those nearest and dearest TO them Sir
George may be said without any exaggeration
10 possess a more or less extensive acquaint-
ance with nearly all these grisly relics. ana
though he has never been known to make any
OF them public. yet the mere fact that he knows
them, and that he might disclose the secrets.
Is In most cases sufficient 10 weaken the back
bone Of even the most stiff-necked enemies Of
his clients.
THE CASE OF YOUNG Mr.. PALK.
Perhaps no stronger Illustration OF what Is
meant need he cited than the case Of the son
OF Lord Haldon. This youth, who may possibly
one Of these days be called upon TO assume
seat In the House of Lords as hereditary legis-
Iator Of the British Empire. had the misfortune
70 forge the name Of his mother TO some notes,
on which he had obtained money from one
Brandon. loan monger. When the notes be-
came due Brandon called upon Lady Haldon 10
pay, and on her refusal 10 do so brought the
matter into court. whereupon she put Forward
as the reason for not doing so letter from her
son acknowledging that he had forged her name
TO the bill. The was pretty black Tor Lord
Hadon's son. Indeed. 1t Is difficult to conceive
a more sombre outlook than that with when ne
was confronted. especially as the money-ienoer
OF finding the case decided against him. Cd