Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1897-01-30

for a period of six months q few years ago,
has served t bring once more into prom
inence Sir George Lewis, who, although
not a member of the bar, but merely what
Is known in England as a solicitor, is by
far the most distinguished criminal lawyer
Of the present day in Great Britain. 1t is
no exaggeration to assert that there has
been no sensational case brought into
court during the last five and thirty years
in which Sir George has not figured, usual
~ on the winning side, while, as for the
cases which this shrewd and discreet
knight has kept out Of court, they are SIM
ply legion in number.
Indeed it may safely be taken for grant,
ed that not more than one-third, perhaps
not even one-quarter, Of the scandals affect
ing prominent people in Great Britain
ever reach the knowledge of the public, for,
with all its faults, English society pos.
sesses an esprit de corps that is not to be
found in that of New York. When my
one of its members happens to wander
from the highroad Of honesty and honor
which is very broad and spacious in
these modern times-nto the byways 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 they invariably enjoy the
invaluable assistance Of Sir George Lewis,
who is popularity declared to know enough
to hang half a dozen of the biggest men in
the city of London and to possess a suffi-
cient number of dangerous secrets of peo-
pie of rank to suffice, if they should ever
be divulged, to shatter the entire social
fabric of Great Britain.
One curious drawback to the celebrity Of
this extraordinary little Jew is the fact
that his presence in court OF behalf of q
client il in nine cases out of ten regarded
ms a kind of admission of the latter's guilt,
for Sir George enjoys such fame for his
ability to get his clients out of the most
disgraceful situations that he is certain to
be applied to for assistance whenever q
nan of any prominence finds himself in
h miro. Indeed the worse tho case and
the higher the rank of the parsonage in
eliminated the more certain it is that ap-
plication will be made to Ely Place for
professional assistance. 1t is only fair,
however, to say that, no matter how terri
BILE the straits in which his client may
have involved himself, Sir George can
usually find a means of issue. Ifhis clients
guilt is sufficiently assured to admit of no
defense or excuse, Sir George usually DOS
sesses the knowledge of some skeleton in
the cupboard of the other side Of the case,
and 80 brings about an abandonment of
the prosecution. There are few people Ell
ther 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.
When the Duke of Orleans became in
volved in a scandal that threatened to en-
tail his appearance in the divorce court, he
applied for advice to the Prince of Wales,
and h latter at once took him off to Ely
Place, with the result that nothing more
was ever heard Of the matter. The cases
in which Sir George has been employed in
keeping out of court are so numerous that
1t Is difficult to conceive how he can have