Edward L. Pierce, Memoir and letters of Charles Sumner: volume 1

To George S. Hillard, Boston.

My dear Hillard,—Yours of June 26 and various dates greeted my arrival in this place after a most delightful ramble in the South and West of England,—first to Guilford, where I met Lord Denman and the Home Circuit, and dined with his Lordship and all the bar; then to Winchester and Salisbury, stopping to view those glories of England, the cathedrals. Old Sarum, and Stonehenge,—that mighty unintelligible relic of the savage Titans of whom history has said nothing; then to Exeter, and down even to Bodmin in Cornwall, where the Assizes of the Western Circuit were held. Serjeant Wilde and Sir William Follett were there, having gone down special, not being regularly of the circuit; and we three formed the guests of the bar. Our healths were drunk, and I was called upon to make a reply, which I did on the spur of the moment. From Bodmin, I went still farther in Cornwall to visit the high-sheriff, and his mines,—the largest that are there; his seat is the palace of the old Cornish kings,—you have doubtless seen pictures of it repeatedly; it is a perfect castle, and has a most romantic situation. I then travelled in the carriage of a friend,— Crowder,¹ one of the Queen's counsel,—through portions of Cornwall, and that most beautiful county, Devon, stopping at Plymouth; being received by the commander of the largest ship in port, a barge placed at my orders to visit any ship I wished, and an officer designated to show me over the dockyard. From Exeter I went up through the green fields of Devon and Somerset to the delicious parsonage of Sydney Smith,² Combe Florey, where I [342] passed a good part of two days, and most reluctantly left in order to go north to Wells, to meet the Western Circuit again; here I dined one day with the bar, and the other with the judges,—Baron Parke and Mr. Justice Coltman. From Wells I passed to Bristol and Cheltenham; and then, by a ride of one hundred and twenty-five miles on the outside of the coach, between six o'clock in the morning and six at night, to Chester, where Mr. Justice Vaughan was holding the Assizes. On my coming into court that evening, his Lordship addressed me from the bench, and called me to his side, where I sat for two hours. In the mean time, orders had been given to have lodgings provided for me in the castle, with the judges. This I firmly declined, but dined with them; and all this after my long ride. From Chester I have come to Liverpool. It so happens that I have not met Baron Alderson,—a most remarkable man, who holds the Assizes here; but I bring introductions, which were entirely unsolicited on my part, from Baron Parke, Mr. Justice Coltman, Mr. Justice Vaughan, Sydney Smith, and Lord Brougham. Brougham's I found at the post-office. I shall not present it, but keep it as an autograph: it is quite odd. Such is a mere skeleton of my progress. It were vain for me to attempt to record all the kindness and hospitality I have received. Sir William Follett has extended the hand of friendship to me in a most generous way. His reputation in the profession is truly colossal, second only to that of Lord Mansfield; in his manners he is simple and amiable as a child: he is truly lovable. My visit to Sydney Smith was delicious. He gave me a book on parting, as he said, to assist in calling to my mind his parsonage. I have written to Felton about this visit. From Liverpool I shall go north to attend the British Association, and shall then visit Lord Brougham at Brougham Hall, where I have been most kindly asked. I am in the way of thoroughly understanding his character; for I know well some of his most intimate friends. The Duke of Wellington says of him, ‘Damned odd fellow,—half mad!’ And Brougham, who is now vexed with the Duke for interfering to save the ministry so often, says ‘Westminster Abbey is yawning for him!’ . . .

I hope I do not repeat myself; but writing as I do, at inns and clubhouses, and with my mind full fraught with what I have seen or heard, I hardly know what I write. You will not count me vain for communicating to you what I have with regard to the kindness extended to me. I pour out my heart to my friends, and I doubt not I shall have their sympathy. I should be glad to have Cleveland, Felton, Cushing, Longfellow, Lawrence, and Greenleaf see my letters, if they care about it. All this, however, I confide to your discretion.

Perhaps you will not hear from me again for a month; for I am going north, and probably shall not write till my return to Liverpool on my [343] embarkation for Ireland. I hope you will write me about all the matters mentioned in my last despatch to you, at length, and in your most closely-written hand. . Would that I could imitate you. Good-by.

As ever, affectionately yours,

To Judge Story.

My dear Judge,—. . . ³ From Chester I passed to the great Northern Circuit at Liverpool, with various letters of introduction to the judges. The first day I was in Liverpool, I dined with the city corporation at a truly aldermanic feast in honor of the judges; the second, with the judges, to meet the bar; the third, with the Mayor at his country seat; the fourth, with the bar; the fifth, with Mr. Cresswell (the leader and old reporter), Sir Gregory Lewin, Watson⁴ (author of a book on Arbitration), the sheriffs, &c., Rushton⁵ (Corporation Commissioner), Wortley, &c., at a private dinner; and to-day, in a few minutes, I dine with Roebuck,⁶ who has just entered upon the Northern Circuit. At the Judges' dinner, Baron Alderson alluded to me, and gave the health of the President of the United States. I made some remarks, which were well received. Mr. Ingham, an M. P. who was present, I observed, was quite attentive, and seemed pleased. At the bar dinner, Adolphus,⁷ the reporter, proposed my health, which drew me out in a speech of considerable length,—the longest I have yet made. I should not fail to say that your health was proposed and drunk, and that you are known very well. I have a thousand things to say to you about the law, circuit life, and the English judges. I have seen more of all than probably ever fell to the lot of a foreigner. I have the friendship and confidence of judges, and of the leaders of the bar. Not a day passes without my being five or six hours in company with men of this stamp. And can you say that this will do me no good,—that I shall be spoiled? My tour is no vulgar holiday affair, merely to spend money and to [344] get the fashions. It is to see men, institutions, and laws; and, if it would not seem vain in me, I would venture to say that I have not discredited my country. I have called the attention of the judges and the profession to the state of the law in our country, and have shown them, by my conversation (I will say this), that I understood their jurisprudence.

I know Roebuck, and I like him much. He is young, ardent, ambitious, and full of great things; accomplished, and republican. He is one of the few men ever called for in the House of Commons in the course of debates. Perhaps you will not hear from me for some time, as I go to