New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-03-17
JUDAH p. BENJAMIN.
THE ENGLISH LIFE OF THE Ex-CoNFED-
ERATE SECRETARY.
HIS CAREER AS A wYER--REMlNlsCENcEs bf
RARoN POLLOCK.

HIS CAREER AS NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. BY
BARON POLLOCK
The late Baron Pollock. one Of the most cmi-
nent English lawyers of his time. left among MS
papers the fragment OF Renaissance which fo'-
lows He was accustomed in the English fasi-
ion to take pupils at his chambers; and whch
Judah =. BENJAMIN, the Confederate Secretary
Of state escaped TO England at the END OF our
Civil War lie became one of these pupils auu At
lie age Of hfy-ive 70 airs, was called TO the i'"s
nsh bar Baron Pollock says OF him. III 'he
paper printed in The Fortnightiy
,liamn had not been long IN this country
before an old friend told me ina; ne Was iva
s.rous OF being called to the Enshsh par, "', ~.
A. preliminary step would he gao 10 cohiV W
ne as q pupil AT that time my business -
mostly IN court, and had litile opportuili'! ot
set NIX and discussing law with any on. VINO
might he with me, and therefore hau hiii''cu
the number of my pupils to TWO. having IT,
ALcady / simply declined without giving inc
subject much thought. Shortly aherWard Mason
tMho with Slidcli had come TO TINS country a'
envvy from the Confederate Stateo), accom-
panied by Benjamin paid snort WISH 10 III.
iatber, then Lord Chief Baron ~ the Court on
Exchequer, at his country house al fa''oh'
near HounslOW. .a.,o-
one of my sisters has given me an interesting
account Of her meeting With benjamin on ,n.s
occasion and as 1t tells what many others must
have felt when they first saw HIM VIII XIV
a portion of what she remembered. $50
"On February - iSti my father brought u'"h
Mr. Mason and Mr. Benjamin to sleep for a
couple Of nights. and few county ne'Shu13r9
came to meet them | had not seen Ben)amin
and had pictured 10 myself an American 81 uie
jefferson Davis type. To my surpfise When ne
entered the room. saw short, s,9n,' b Eyna
dark eyes and all the pOteness ana hpn"'mi,
of a Frenchman, looking as If he had never hau
a care in his life Next morning was I'M ~,
carly. SO WAS he and gave N" most mttlcflnS
and thrilling details II his perilous escape at tHe
end Of thu war was much struck ny ms gen
erous candor I asked him what the Nor'h'rn-
.rs would have done with him II they rad caught
him and he said probably they would have put
him to death When exclaimed In horror at
such an atrocty he said apoiogetlcaIy; lnat
PARTY feeling ran so high lust then that his SIDE
might have done the same. had Inc cTc"h-
stances been reversed.
The day after this visit my father, seeing me
in court sent down a note. saying, Have you
done wisely in declining to take benjamin as
volr rupn?" gave him my reason. to when
he replied. "Rerjamin has no need to learn ,a Jaw
All he needs is to something of the practlce
Of our courts and To obtain som" introduction
20 the English bar" In this | thought had
been wrong. and fortunately was IN nm no 70
revoke my first decision. and within week Ben
famin was i'm my chambers, Rreedily deVourlng
every raper that came before him. and writing
sound opinions
was counsel TO The Metropolitan Police. who oc-
casiCnallv required odd questions to ne solved
One Of these arrived in the shape Of small
blue paper indorscd, AS TO the searching OF
prisoners" involving the right Of the police tn
search persons in their custody hefor" they
have been convicted Of any crime. for different
purposes as for instance. to fnd dangerous
weapons stolen property. or poSslhT 10 TAX"
from drunken man his watch or other vain
ables for their protection. | was leaving tor
court and threw II across the table 10 Benjamin.
saying Here is a case made for YOU on me
right Of search" abiding 10 the wel-known In
ternational Maritime difficulty which arises In
time Of war. and which had been kcNnly dis
cussed upon the occasion Of CAPTAIN Wilkes on
behalf Of the American Government. overhaul
ing the British malship Trent. and taking from
her Mason and Sdell. who were on their way
10 England as ENJOYS Of the Confederate states.
BENJAMIN took the case, and AT once set TO WORK
10 consider the authorities and deal win the
questions with such purpose that when | re-
turned from court they were oil disposed or
The only fault to be found was that the learn
ing was too great for tho occasion. going TACK
70 first principles IN justification ~ each answer
Many years after was told that the opinion was
held in high respect. and often referred - by
the nolico and at the Home Office.
With reference to the peculiar circumstance in
which Benjamin placed ] thought II In
better taste not 10 ask him questions as 10 MS
rrevious history and the par' he had taken in
the Civil War: hut he spoke freely of these and
other incidents Of the secession in the pupil
room. where the conversation was ofien not only
i~'eresting hut full Of hu1nor BENJAMIN. low
often came 10 dine or IN spend an AFTER
-oor with me at Put3ey and then told MS many
arecdotes connected with the war. always cheer
fully putting forward the amusing side Of things.
The only two injurious acts done 10 him by the
Northerners, IF which he spoke with ANYTHING
Ike bitterness. were tnHf fneN DlrneO ms law
l'hrarv and drank his collar of old Madeira, q
wine much cherished In New-Orleans.
BENJAMIN's READINESS
One Of the frst--if not the very frst-pieccG Of
work which BENJAMIN did we'll illustrated his
great experience and untring energy. An OLD
established ship insurance club DESTROYS Of
having its rules. which were very lengthy, re
modelled The annual meeting Of the club vas
at hand and the time remaining short
that two experienced counsel who had for some
years PAST acted for the club. declined the sob
although some considerable fee marked on
the papers. Benjamins name was mentioned.
and the instructions sent TO him late one
evening Most men would probably have looked
UP the rules of other similar clubs In order to
cOllate them and exhaust every source of i'm
provement. Not so Benjamin. His own knowl-
edge OF the requirements told him what was
wanting; and the very next morning, commcnc-
Ing after an early breakfast and never pausing
for midday meal he worked on steadily and.
shortly before = o'clock, the hour al which he
usually dned, the rules were complete written
out in his own neat hand currente calamo with
scarce an alteration or correction from begin
ming to end as il he had been composing a
poem. I doubt If any draughtsman within the
walls of the two temples could have done this so
efficiently within the same time.
One great and early advantage held by Zen
jamn a LAWYER was this: That he WAS a
ma tive OF. and Educated within. the state of
louisiana which was one OF the French colonies
coded 10 England and therefore the law taught
and administered within It was that which took
its origin in the Code Of Justinian. and vas
afterward adopted by the nations Of Europe
and continued to he the law of France until the
Code Napoleon The principles and practiLo Of
this great system Of law benjamin knew and
appreciate ted thoroughly. and be at all times
ready To point ont its leading features and how
they differed in principle from English law. This
also gave him a distinct position superior to his
brother advocates when arguing. before our
Judicial Committee Of the Privy Council appeals
from those Of the English colonies If French
origin which were coded 10 England before the
Code
His power OF applying the theory Of law 70
daily practice WAS great and IL seemed TO him
a real pleasure 10 explain To Others wha; he
knew and valued so much himself Few works
on English law have been readily accented
and universally used as benjamin on Sa,es e"
which has gone through several editions The
profession and duties Of bsrrster and solicitor