[55] Baron Bolland1 was taken ill shortly after my arrival, was obliged to give up his circuit, and has just resigned with his pension,—giving the Government a certificate of his being incurably incapacitated for service. This is a generous feature of the English Constitution, allowing a valuable public servant to retire with a pension after fifteen years of hard service, and at any time before, on the registration of a proper certificate of his incapacity. Of course, the bar are busy in speculating who will be the new baron. The place has been offered to Rolfe, the Solicitor-General; but he has declined it. It is supposed that Maule will have it.2 From the judges I pass to the leading members of the bar. In the courts of common law, the Attorney-General, Sir William Follett, and Serjeant Wilde stand first. Charles Austin's practice lies chiefly before committees of Parliament. Sir John Campbell,3 the Attorney-General, is a Scotchman by birth. He is now about fifty-eight. He has been a laborious, plodding man, and has succeeded by dint of industry and strong natural powers, unadorned by any of the graces. He has a marked Scotch accent still. He is a very powerful lawyer; but his manner is harsh and coarse, without delicacy or refinement. I think he is not much liked at the bar; though all bow to his powers. They call him ‘Jack Campbell.’ We pronounce his name wrong in America. All the letters, including the b, are pronounced; thus, Campbell, and not Camell, as we say. He was astonished when I told him that his ‘Reports’ had been republished in America; and I thought he was not a little gratified. He has been quite kind to me, both in town and country. I visited him at Duddingstone House, and have received many civilities from him in London. Sir William Follett4 is truly a lovable person; and one great secret of his early success has been his amiability. He is about forty-two, and is still youthful in manners and conduct. As a speaker he is fluent, clear, and distinct,
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1 William Bolland, 1772-1840. He was called to the bar in 1801, became a judge of the Exchequer in 1829, and resigned in 1839. He was more versed in common law than in other departments. He delighted in old books and coins, and generally in whatever was ancient and rare.
2 Bolland resigned in Jan., 1839; Maule, who was appointed in his place in March, was transferred to the Common Pleas in November.
3 John Campbell, 1781-1861; ante, Vol. I. p. 332. He was called to the bar in 1806, appointed Solicitor-General and knighted in 1832; was Attorney-General, with a brief interval, from 1834 to 1841; a parliamentary leader from 1830 to 1841, when he was made a peer, and Lord Chancellor of Ireland. From 1846 to 1850 he was a member of the Cabinet; became Chief-Justice of the Queen's Bench, succeeding Lord Denman, in 1850, and was Lord Chancellor from 1859 until his death. Beyond his own country he is most widely known as the author of the ‘Lives of the Lord Chancellors,’ and of the ‘Lives of the Chief-Justices.’ Lord Denman, when resigning as Chief-Justice of the Queen's Bench, was much averse to the appointment of Lord Campbell as his successor. ‘Life of Lord Denman,’ Vol. II. pp. 228-231. Some of Lord Campbell's notes, inviting Sumner to be his guest, are preserved; also a note thanking him for information in relation to commitments by Congress and the State Legislatures being questioned in the courts,—probably with reference to the case of Stockdale v. Hansard. Sumner met Lord Campbell in London in 1857, and visited him the same year at his seat, Hartrigge House.
4 Ante, Vol. I. p. 332.
Cambridge, MA. Press of John Wilson and Son. 1877.
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