The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-09

a " Wv ~ NpNhlfVNTh''O'
venture. The Offer having been accepted,
George Jerrreys md Sarah Neeshsm were
married in 1867. They had six children,
and there is no doubt they led a happy
existence during the eleven years that
preceded the wife's death. The early and i'm
provideut marriage seems to have acted az a
powerful spur to Jctreys. and probably
had much TO do with his attainment ~ the
Office Of Common S~erjeant az -.
II was IA 1877 that Jsrrsys was to receive
the first OF many honors conferred upon
him by his sovereign. In September OF
that year he was appointed Solicitor General
10 Jsnes. Duke ot York, and received
The honor Of knighthood at Whitehall.
so we'll had things thriven with Sir George.
professionally and otherwise, that he had
been enabled to purchase a house in Buck
inghamshire. at Blu lstrode. whore he sub
sequently acquired tho lordshIp OF the
manor. There. in August, 1878, Mini
Charles H.. accompanied by the Duchess Of
Portsmouth. did Sir George the homo Of
lining with him. This Bulstrode incident
hardly confirms Macaulay's statement thar
Charles II. always regarded Jefreys with
scorn and contempt-unlike the revengeful
and obdurate James H.. who was pleased
to become his patron. In October OF that
wear ,Jefreys was elected over the heads
Of three other candidates TO the Recorder
ship. Earlier in the same twelvemonth
he had married a second wife, Lady Jones,
the brisk young widow" Of a Welsh knight
and daughter OF Alderman Sir Thomas
BIudworth. NJ. p, who had been Mayor Of
London in the Plague ear
Il is as Recorder of London that Jeffreys
falls for the first time under the notice OF
Lord Macaulay. Our author points out
that Naoaulsy gives n long description
of the career and delneanor OF Jeffreys,
and ~iustifies the violence OF his language
hv quoting two instances in which, he says
the innate brutality Of the man 10 strongly
brought out. Macaulay's description OF
Lefireys's personality is taken entirely
from two authorities ~indisputably hostile
10 the man they are describing. The first
is he Life and Death Of George, Lord
Jefreys." preiixed TO a book called The
Bloody Assizes,- the work Of a scurrilous
enemy, one Tutchin, and a low class publ
cation, without any claim 70 trustworthi-
ness. The second is the sketch Of Jenreys
given by Roger North in h life Of his
brother Francis, the Lord Keeper OF the
Great Seal. There were many reasons,
as our author shows, why Roger North's
treatment Of Jetreys was bound to be
unfriendly, TO say the least NJ Il, Ry melt
ing these two exaggerated narratives in
the cruoible OF his own sensational rhetoric.
Maoaulsy has produced a picture OF Jeffreys
which. in our authors opinion. may be not
improperly styled a ~Caricature. or the
two examples of Jeffreys's judicial conduct
quoted by Macaulay 10 justify his indigna-
ton, one he treats without any attempt at a
historical appreciation Of the real circum-
stances Of the case, while the other he
garbles in a manner that is pronounced
indefensible from the point Of view OF an inn
partial citation OF authorities. Mr.. Irving
! compares the printed report of JefreysIs
speech in passing sentence on certain con-
victed prisoners at the close Of the Christ
mas sessions Of 1873. a report extant in the
British Museum, with Macaulayis version
| of the same. 1t is evident that Macsulay
! puts words into Jefreys's mouth which he
never uttered, CONSTITUTES the formal Lam
guage Of the sentence into a violent ex-
hortation TO the hangman to draw blood,
and euphemistically describes an habitual
VI u oN oh ANAN
We are reminded that in the seventeenth
century the idea Of fogginG a woman did
not by any means excite the same abhor-
renee "a it would in the modern mind.
Mscaulay himself describes how gentlemen
used to make up parties to go to Bridewell
and see the women whipped. 0ur author
comedies that il would have been better
| for Jefrreys throughout his career if when
| In ,1,Hap,pa ~ orip ,{pa L. who dAaarytaH onn-
demnation he could have subdued an I'M
fortunate sense Of humor that frequently
betrayed him into expressions of undue
| satisfaction at the opportunity afforded him
Of giving them their deserts. Mr.. Irving
submits, however. that this Is very far from
the "fiendish exultation." the "voluptuous
! Utilization, " the luxurious application" Of
! narrowing details which Macaulay tells us
| the sight OF human tears and human misery
invariably excited in Jeffreys's brutal ma
! ture. We are reminded that in marking
,Jefreys's demeanor on the bench we are
| 20 consider that the general style Of judicial
! language in the seventeenth century APP
pears unnecessarily fervid to a less pas
sionate generation. Even the sedate and
moderate Hale thought nothing Of calling
a man whose ~periuries had excited his
Indignation u ueNH' iho oihotohI tO"o
! adopted by Jefreys toward different pris-
oners as they came before him displayed
an insight into character which he un-
doubtedly possessed. and on one or two
occasions he used his sense Of humor with
wholesome and decent effect.
That Jefreys in 1878 should have joined
the court party in opposition TO the Wing.
or country party, was inevitable in a mar OF
his disposition Of mind. That afterward
he should have acted in the secret service Of
tho Crown was consistent with the air of
mystery that clouds the proceedings OF
court party and country party alike. That,