SKETCHES FROM THE PARLIAMENT HOUSE. II. THE LORD PRESIDENT. By A. Wood Renton. THE late Lord President Inglis, al though a stanch Conservative, is said to have clung to his office long after both inclination and failing health would have led him to resign it, in the hope that Mr. J. B. Balfour, who has twice held the Lord Advocateship under Mr. Gladstone's regime, and is reputed to be the profoundest and most versatile lawyer at the Scotch Bar, might be his successor. But the Fates ordered otherwise; and when, in August, 1891, Lord Glencorse went over to the ma jority, the Marquis of Salisbury was still in power, and the Right Hon. James Patrick Bannerman Robertson was chief law officer of the Crown for Scotland. As Lord Advo cate, Mr. Robertson had the right of " advis ing" the Queen as to the appointment of a new Lord President. To all intents and purposes the office was in his own gift, and he gave it to himself. The incident might well have provoked adverse criticism. Lord Salisbury has recently been accused of nepo tism in having conferred the First Lordship of the Treasury on his nephew, Mr. Arthur Balfour, the ex-Chief Secretary for Ireland. But Mr. Balfour was a man of tried ability and courage, respected by those who hated and feared him the most; and the Conserva tive party, almost with one voice, called for his promotion. Here, however, one would have thought, was a fair and tempting field for Liberal invective. Mr. Robertson, it might have been said with some semblance of force, was, forensically speaking, a young man. There were others whose claims were stronger than his, and in any event he ought not to have preferred himself before them. Strange to say, none of these criti cisms have been forthcoming. Not a single
Liberal member, candidate, or paper, so far as we are aware, has sought to make politi cal capital out of Mr. Robertson's appoint ment; and he1 has gone to the bench amid a chorus of approval, in which the loudest voices have been those of his old political opponents. Only the gifts and graces of the new Lord President himself can have brought about such a result. The following are the main facts in Lord Robertson's career. He is the younger and only surviving son of the late Rev. R. J. Robertson, of Forteviot, Perthshire. Born in 1845, he was educated at the University of Edinburgh, and joined the Scotch Bar in 1867. His success was both rapid and en during. One has no difficulty in analyzing the mental qualities that achieved it. Mr. Robertson commenced his professional ca reer with a good natural equipment. His appearance was impressive; his manner courteous; his physique — no slight ele ment in forensic success — all that could be desired. He had a clear intellect, a tenacious memory, and great facility of ex pression. Industry and practice did the rest. He soon ceased to draw pleadings or make guinea motions, and was recog nized to be a brilliant and daring yet trust worthy advocate. Then he began to take part in political life. Mr. Gladstone was in power; he had just succeeded in dragging the country into that Egyptian war, com pared with which, in the words of a clever American, the Chinese enterprises of M. Ferry were quite staid and respectable; and General Gordon was supposed to have per ished in the Soudan. Public feeling was in a somewhat electric state; and Mr. Robert son called attention to himself by some fiery
