New-York tribune., 1911-12-08

| Lewis solicitors oleo mere tV-udS' iiV
/ was born In 1883.
voun solicitor. nineteen years old,
studying law in his fathers once ana not
vet advanced TO the dignity OF handling
case sat at his fathers desk while the
older man was at luncheon. woman
rushed into the Office. Wd'ld the gentle
man come at once and defend her son, who
was accused OF robbing the till of public
house? Yes, the gentleman would come az
once. He got into cour', scarcely knowing
| ANYTHING OF the case, cross-eNamined the
| witness and won The mother was waiting
outside. We'll done, young 'un"' she
shouted joyfully. and slapped him hard on
the back Young 'un' was George Lewis,
| destined 10 be one of the greatest OF Engllsh
criminal lawyers, and the smack on the back
was congratuatory upon his winning MS
first case Since that day he won so many
that the bare record of them would fill the
great strong room in Ely Place, Holoorn'
where Sir Georges Offices were situated
True. Sir George never became member
Of the bar according TO English regula-
tions, but merely what Is known In LONDON
as a solicitor. Yet 1t is no exaggeration to
assert that there has been no sensational
case brought into court within the last
forty years in which Sir George has not
figured usually on the winning side, and
as for the cases which he kept out Of court
they arc legion in number. Indeed. 1t may
safely he taken for granted that not more
than onc-third perhaps no: even quarter,
Of the scandals affecting prominent people
in Great Britain ever reached the knovl-
edge Of the public He was populary pe'
leved 10 have in his keeping secrets that II
dvulged would hang half a dozen OF the
biggest men in London and seriously jar
the entire social fabric OF Great Britain.
Sir George. who numbered among his cu-
ents many royal parsonage. was OF jewish
extraction. 2 white haired and white whisk-
cred little man of mast kindly and genlal
manner, whose very appearance invited con-
fidence and inspired trust. His father ana
grandfather were lawyers--tha: is 70 say
solicitors-before him and the late LORD
Chief Justice Russell. Lord Loreburn, the
late Sir Frank Lockwood and several otheT
legal luminaries Of the present day began
their career as young men In the Lewis
Office in Ely Place One Of the features ot
that Office is the strong room. in which all
the great black deed boxes are turned 20
the wall. so that not even their names can
he seen. being distinguished from one an
other by numbers.
Extraordinary as arc the contents OF
these boxes. il is prob bic that secrets OF
an even moro dramatic character were
locked NJ in the archives Of Sir Georges
memory. and TO what extent he depended
upon the latter may be gathered from the
fact that contrary TO 'he practice of the
ma iority of lawyers, he kept no diary. lie
declared that when, thirty-tive years ago,
he found his business becoming so conil-
Dental. 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 condolences of English society
might die with him.
one curious drawback Of the celebrity of
this extraordinary lawyer was the fact that
his presence in court on behalf of q client was
in nine cases out Of ten regarded as an ad-
mission Of tie latters guilt, for Sir George
enioyed 80 much credit for his ability 10 get
his clients out of the most critical situations
that he was certain TO be applied TO for as
sistance whenever a man Of any prominence
found himself in the mire.
one of his first cases after being admit
ted 10 practice, in 1855, was the prosecu'
ton Of the directors of O"erend e. Gurney's
bank. a large number of mercantile and
financial cases followed soon. Then bic
clientele spread TO all classes. Among his
famous cases were those of the notorious
Nine. Rachel. Or. Slade, the medium the
Trsnby Croft baccarat scandal and the
Colin Campbell divorce suit.
Sir George Vas made knight IN 1885
and baronet in 1892 ON January /, 1910,
he retired from active practice.