The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1908-07-19

IN COur1o Oh Wutcn Tie won tne Nu1ttien
law scholarship, he stayed up at Oxford
taking pupils, and In 1872 he was elected
to . fellowship Of Wadham. Bethel cher
ished no very high respect for the narrow
Oxford curriculum Of his day, but In spite
Of all his prntestations against the ancient
system he could never conquer or disguise
a feeling Of contempt for those who had
missed a classical troining. u owe all my
success In life. be once told a Ballot break
fast. party, TO Aristotle's Rhetoric,
His fellowship enabled Bethel to depart
for London and begin his law studies In
earnest Mt the Middle Temple. by which
society he was called to the bar in Noverh-
Der, 1928, In his first year as a barrister
Bethel made 100 ~guineas. a sum which
loon bade fair to advance In aritbmetical
progression. The story OF his first great
stride to the front has often been told.
Brasenose College had found itself involved
In a lawsuit which threatened a severe
reduction OF it's revenues. 1t retained Bethel
in spite OF his short standing at the bar,
and when the case came on his argument
proved Irresistible. The following years
were an unbroken chronicle Of success.
but they were years Of enormous and OF
sordid labor. All his waking hours In
term time we're given to his profession;
he had no leisure for society, little enough
for the enjoyment OF family life; his dinner
was snatched at his chambers and is said
to have never varied in quantity or quality
one mutton chop. one slice Of stale bread.
and a glass Of water from Lincoln's Inn
pump. In 1870 he applied successfully
for O silk gown. and the rest Of his time
as o private member OF the bar was devoted
almost exclusively to advocacy. the gift
Of which. as exercised before an educated
tribunal. he possessed in a degree which
has never been surpassed. IL indeed 1t
has ever been equalled. Imperturbability,
pertinacity. readiness OF retort and self
possession are qualities which he shared
with some OF his contemporaries. Where
he stood supreme was in the power Of con-
else M lucid exposition. OF marshalhng
his facts and his comments and his law
in an order which was so logical that it
seemed not merely appropriate but inv
evitable. Under his hand doubt vanished,
the obscure became plain. the most tangled
and intricate propositions were resolved
into perfect simplicity. in Bethel's mouth
a sophism or fallaoy. which he would have
torn to rags had 1t been used against him.
was wont to assume the appearance OF
a self -evident truth. A story in told how
on one occasion. through inadvertenoe or
mistake. Bethel had drawn q bill In chancery
against a client for whom he held a standing
retained. At the hearing OF the suit his
were claimed by the defendant.
and it was Bethel's painful duty to dcmolish
his own handiwork. '"Your Honor he
said, af all the cobwebs that were ever
spun in a court Of justice. this is the finn
siest; it will dissolve at a touch.' 1t did.
By way OF reparation and consolation
he whispered, as he went out of court, In
tho ear Of the solicitor who had first in
him, "The bill is as good a bill as
was ever fled"
The incompatible arts and graoes OF
Bethel's forensic oratory were rendered all
the more formidable by a sarcasm and a n |
which he exercised without pity or |
remorse. : II what he said was true he could
not zee why the subject Of his observations
should resent it. and there were few with
whom he was brought in contact who came |
away unscathed The epigrams which |
seemed to come by instinct. his ingenuity
touching the raw spot. the exquisite ap-
propriateness Of the gibe to the victim,
we're allied with an unconcealed contempt
~ NV "ohAN 60 49, hhSA AhAh 1
to any attempts at repartee or inter- |
The calculated insolence, the lisp. |
he studied syllable articulation with which |
he punishment was melted out produced,
IN Ell ecteanalogous to that slow dropping
II water on the tortured skull which was
me Of the refneinents of medisval atroci- |
les. No u was immune. not the Court
tseif, nor the solicitors who had instructed
him, least Of all his juniors. Il
For many years after he donned his silk
gown Bethel's annual income is said by Mr..
Nash, his biogfapher, to nave been nearer
nearly every appeal of Importance which |
House OF Lords. he attached himself per-
.naneutly. to the court of Sir Lancclot Shad-
veil, the last '~vice-Chancellor Of England
over this amiable Judge and oun lawyer,
he necessity of whose nature, according
Lord Selborne, It was to be governed
~ somebody or other. he established an
mastery. n in the exercise thereof !
le not ~inirequently abandoned even the
Of Difference. although in private
ife he was on terms Of the warmest personal
r~iendship with the Vice-Chancellor Rival
Of the Equity bar used angrily to
leClare tnaJ DeloTe suCn u trlDunal er8u-
nent wAs a mere figure of speech; and Shad- ?
veil was facetiously hkened to King Jero-
,oam because he had set up an idol in
In April. 1851. Richard Bethel entered
House of Commons for the first time.
lie was q Peelite. 80 far as he was any,
hing. but having been defeated in his
Irst contest for a seat he presently became
Liberal and was returned for Aylesbury.
before his election for this place
10 had beep appointed ice-C chancellor of
he County Palatine Of Lancaster. but this
he resigned on becoming Solicitor
General in the following year. As a law
ficer Of the Crown he displayed the same
ptitude for business and the same facility
a mastering details which had marked his
rogress at the bar. What was more sur
rising. Bethel. now Sir Richard. displayed
conciliatory N which greatly eased
he wheels of debate. On Cockburn's ap-
ointment to the Chief Justiceship OF the
Pleas In November, 1856. Bethel
ucceeded him as Attomey-General. Hence
orth he continued down to his resignation
I the Great Seal one Of the most dominant
nd picturesque A figures in public life. When
- Ill ri NJ q a