London Legal Letter.
LONDON LEGAL LETTER. London, March 5, 1892. THE Recordership of the City of London has A been conferred upon Sir Charles Hall, Q. C. M. P. In my February letter, as well as in a pre vious one, I indicated ihe likelihood of another selection, and my anticipation was the one which was most in favor at the clubs and other head quarters of authentic gossip; but for one reason or another Sir William Mariott's candidature raised a considerable amount of opposition, and he ulti mately withdrew his name before the election. The annual salary attached to the office has been raided to £4000. This wise step was taken with a view to attract the services of the best lawyers available; the sum formerty paid was £3000. Re corders, although judicial officers, can sit in the House of Commons; and the Aldermen were de termined that their Recorder should be a Member of the Legislature, and able to vindicate the rights and privileges of their ancient corporation when assailed, as they not infrequently are, by the free lances of the Radical party. Sir Charles Hall is a son of the late Vice-Chancellor Hall, and has himself made a mark at the bar, the bulk of his practice consisting mainly of Admiralty work; but what secured for him the unanimous support of all was his unique social position, which, united to his own high merits, stamped him as peculiarly qualified to fulfil the special functions of Recorder of London. He has always been one of the lead ing figures in the selectest circles of society, and an intimate friend of the Prince of Wales, who made him his attorney-general, — a post now de void of the political and general importance it once enjoyed, but which confers no small distinction upon the occupant. The Prince has appointed Sir Henry James, Q. C M. P., to succeed Sir Charles as his Attorney-General. A widespread expression of regret has been occasioned by the death of Lord Justice Cotton, which occurred at the end of February. Ill health constrained him to retire from the bench in No vember, 1890, where he had sat as a Lord Justice of Appeal since 1877; on the occasion of his re tirement Lord Esher, the Master of the Rolls, thus expressed the sentiments of the bench. After stating that Lord Justice Cotton's knowledge of law and equity was almost equally complete, he
proceeded : " Its principles, its practice, its details, as decisions, as application, he had always ready. His powers of exposition and explanation were lucid in the highest degree. As a great lawyer, his predominant virtue was accuracy; as a great judge, his appreciation of law and facts was instanta neous; and patience and justice were his predom inant virtues. His knowledge, quickness, lucidity, and inexhaustible patience made him as great and just a judge as has ever adorned the bench." Henry Cotton was born in 182 1; he received his school education at Eton, from whence he went to Christ Church, Oxford. At the University he gained first-class honors in mathematics. He was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1846, and twenty years later became a Queen's Counsel. In 1872 he was appointed Standing Counsel for the Univer sity of Oxford, and as I have mentioned above, reached the bench in 1877. We have just had a new batch of Queen's Counsel appointed by the Lord Chancellor. One of these is Mr. H. F. Dick ens, a son of the great novelist. Mr. Dickens secured a large and lucrative practice as a junior, and is expected to succeed as a " silk." He is a smart and lively speaker, and has a considerable reputation as a lawyer. In his chambers in the Temple is placed the historic table at which his father wrote most of his novels, — a family relic which the son naturally prizes very highly. The Solicitor-General, Sir Edward Clarke, still further enhanced his reputation as a parliamentary orator the other night in the House of Commons. The occasion was the annual debate on the Dises tablishment of the Church in Wales. The motion was brought forward by a Scotchman who sits for a Welsh constituency, Mr. Samuel Smith. The Government's reply was commenced by Sir Ed ward Clarke, whose speech reached a level of elo quence seldom attained nowadays in the House of Commons, and almost never by a lawyer. The Solicitor-General is on all hands admitted to be the most conspicuous Parliamentarian whom the bar has produced for many years. The career of the most brilliant young man in England has been prematurely cut short. Mr. J. K. Stephen was the second son of that eminent judge, lawyer, and writer, Sir James Fitz-James Stephen, Bart. The son had many of his father's
