New-York tribune., 1907-11-08


nan monarch might ask. Some time later
, en d sort of reconciliation had been brought
O"t between the Kaiser and the ex-Chancellor
l Couilt "edel was charged by William with the
t,.a go Oh MS life sized portrait in oil 70 Fried
iichsruhe by way nf birthday present to the old
ploe' i Inc latter had in some way or another
atheu not only OF the mission of the count to
,;a- o"t aiso or Ihe explanations which he had
sven tie Austrian ruler of the causes that had
leu 10 the change in the Characteristic and ac-
cLuiaey tne welcome which the count received at
iIeuu u'chsrane was of the most chilly and IN
friendly description.
hhEPER OF ENGLISH soCIETY's SKELETONS
or george Lewis. who has Just been engaged in
prosecuting couple of American syindIers I'm Lon
O'A, nc caught In the act Of making use OF
no'epaper headed with the name and address OF his
lhlh TO extort money from credulous neonIe Is
oy lar the most DISTINGUISHED criminal Iaw-yer oF
l"e present day In Great Britain. True he is not
'el oI the par. but merely what is known m
.1ot4oon as a solicitor. Yet 1t is no exaggeration
10 assert that there has been no sensational case
olought INTO court within the last forty wears in
winch Sir George has not figured usually on the
winning slae and as for the cases which this
Hie"u ana discreet knight has kept out of court
lhey are simply legion in number Indeed # NAV
sateIy be taken for granted that not more than
one-third. perhaps not even a quarter of the scan
udiS aHectlng prominent people in Great Britain
eHeI reach the knowledge of the public, for, with
eI us iaults English society possesses an esprit
water. When any one of its members happens to
wander from the high road of honesty and honor
winch Is very broad and spacious in these modern
tifnes-into the byways of crime. all the members
or his class not alone in his interest but also in
ther oWn' unite in an effort to hush the matter up
ana IN this they almost invariably enjoy the vaua-
ole assistance of Sir George. VINO is popularly be-
heVed to know enough to hang half dozen OF the
biggest men in the city of London and TO possess
sutlcent number of dangerous secrets Of people of
suffice. theV shO no 10
shatter the entire social fabric OF Great Britain
sir George, who numbers among his clients many
royal personage-for they all como TO him when
they are in a scrape-is a white haired and white
"hiskereo little man of most kindly and genial
manner. whose very appearance invites confidence
ana inspires trust in his discretion His father
and grandfather were lawyers, that IS to say So
llctors. before him, and the late Lord Chief Jus
tice Russell, the present Lord High Chancellor
Lord Lorehurn. the late Sir Frank lockwood and
several other legal luminaries of the present day
began their career as young men, in the Lewis
Office, in Ely Place. One Of the features of that
ONCE is the strong room. in which all the great
oiack deed boxes are turned to the WALL that
not even their names be seen, being distin-
guished from one another by numbers.
Startling and eXtra ordinary as are the contents
Of these boxes, 1t is probable that secrets Of an
even more dramatic character locked up in
the archives Of Sir Georges memory and to what
extent he depends upon the latter may be gath
cred from the fact that. contrary to the practice
u N'S H4aJOIiy OF lawyers, he keeps diary.
he declares that when, thirty-fve years ago he
found his business becoming so confidential he
made up his mind that not even for the sake OF
reference would he ever chronicle another thing
so that when he died the conhdences OF English
society might die with him. Under the cIrcum-
stances there are many people Of the highest ran,
VINO VIII breathe more freely when Sir George
passes over to the majority and is succeeded -
his turn by his eldest and namesake repre-
senting the fourth generation OF the famous law
yers of English society.
one curious drawback OF the celebrity of this
extraordinary little Jew is the fact that his pres
ence in court on behalf of a client Is in nine cases
out Of ten regarded an admission Of the latters
guilt for Sir George enjoys so much credit for his
ability to get his clients out of the most critical
situations that he Is certain to be applied for as
sistance whenever man OF any prominence finds
himself in the mire. The worse the case and the
higher the rank OF the persons incriminated the
certain is It that application Will be made to
Ely Place for professional assistance. However
terrible the straits in which his client may have
involved himself, Sir George usually find
means Of issue II his clients guilt Is sufficiently
assured 20 admit of defence or excuse Sir
George generally possesses the knowledge Of some
skeleton in the cupboard of the other side of the
case. and so brings about an abandonment OF the
prosecution.
There few people in society or in business
who are not cursed with skeleton, the exist
ence Of which they eager at all costs to keep
from ever becoming known. Sometimes It affects
fair name of those nearest and dearest to them.
Sir George may be said without any exaggeration
TO possess a more or less extensive acquaintance
with all these grisly relics and, although he has
never been known to make any OF them public vet
the fact that he is aware OF them and that
he may disclose the secrets is in cases suffi-
cient to weaker the backbone Of even the most
stiffnecked enemies of his clients.
CREATOR OF THE AsHBURToN COLLECTION
The famous Ashburton collection Of paintings.
which has Just been purchased by the Agnews in
London for the of s. 900 with view TO it's
disposal in this country and comprising four
score magnificent examples OF Correggio. Rem
brandt Veasquez, Muro. Cuyp Hobbema. etc.
was formed. not by the present Lord Ashburton
(married TO the young American 'Florodora" chorus
girl Frances Belmont). but by Alexander Barring,
first Lord Ashburton the great grandfather OF the
present peer This first Lord Ashburton may be sae
TO have been the real founder OF the fortunes of
the great house of Barring. and certainly tho
first Englishmar OF note to wed an American heir
ess namely the eldest daughter of United States
Senator william Bingham. of Philadelphia whose
dowry. estimated at S5cOOO00 was invested in the
house of Barring in Bishopsgate street. London.
and enabled II branch out hugo scale. In
fact 1t was thanks to this that the house Of Bar
ing was able fifteen sixteen years later to loan
90 10000 francs to the French government for war
payments at the time when France was occupied
bv the allied armies in 1885, and with reference to
this enterprise one of Napoleons marshaIs is said
TO have remarked that there were Six great powers
in Europe namely. England, France Russia, Aus
tria Prussia and the Barring Brothers"
Alexander Barring was. by reason Of his Ameri-
can Affiliations frequently selected by the English
government to represent II in negotiations with the
limited States and concluded az Washington in