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REVIEW OF REVIEWS. 



December 1. 1913. 



alarmed and sickened by the tenuity of 

 the ropes by which it clings to its posi- 

 tion. There is no party that gets the 

 services of men thrown up by the sheer 

 force of circumstances and the creative 

 convulsions of the times. In the seven- 

 teenth century things were different. 



In those times the parties were served 

 by men like Cromwell, Strafford, or 

 Montrose, and parties that are led by 

 such as these do not require to be led by 

 lawyers. But men of this stamp only 

 appear when a party stands for some 

 cause that a good fraction of the nation 

 views with passionate sympathy. The 

 emotion which makes the great leader 

 has already made the great party. To- 

 day we have neither the one nor the 

 other. 



Nothing is more remarkable, as one 

 looks round the held of politics, than 

 the faintness of the interest which is 

 taken in causes that the newspapers, at 

 least, have brought into great publicity. 

 While the First Lord of the Admiralty 

 is dining with the First Lieutenant of 

 the Opposition, and the Ulster Leader is 

 defending the character of Sir Rufus 

 Isaacs, for due remuneration, theii re- 

 spective followers in the country are 

 totally failing to become infuriated with 

 one another on the score of any topic in 

 politics. 



What on earth should we do with a 

 Cromwell if we had one ? His Ironsides 

 would be seeking a compromise, and the 

 cavaliers of Montrose would be suggest- 

 mg a referendum. It is almost a miracle 

 that the two parties, enfeebled as they 

 are, still manage to preserve the show of 

 fight and get the laughing nation to 

 decide between them at the polls. 



SINCERE BELIEFS. 

 L'nder these circumstances even that 

 most logical of persons, the visitor from 

 another planet, would surely have sug- 

 gested the employment of the lawyers. 

 The lawyers are able, and can under- 

 stand new sets of circumstances. They 

 can take up a department like a brief. 

 The}' can immerse themselves in the 

 facts of new cases. 



He who defended the dupe of C^ippen 

 can also conduct the suit of Chamber- 

 lain's Executors versus Asquith, and 



may to-morrow accept the papers in re 

 the Home Department. 



Mr. McKenna nagged and wrestled 

 like any Trojan on behalf of naval ex- 

 penditure against the bulk of the Cabi- 

 net, having temporarily laid aside the 

 Free Trade case which he had conducted 

 so ably, and to-day he is in Rex v. the 

 Welsh Church. Mr. Lloyd George made 

 quite a name in that case against the 

 dukes. Mr. Birrell, a failure at the Bar, 

 failed also in the case against the Eng- 

 lish Church in 1906. But he is doing 

 better now in Redmond v. the Mayor 

 and Corporation of Belfast. 



So long as the people care to be 

 governed by parties that differ very little 

 in fundamental beliefs but think fit to 

 preserve the appearance of extra- 

 ordinarily bitter hostility whenever they 

 are not dining together, it is well that 

 lawyers should do the job. Lawyers 

 grave and wise, like Mr. Cave ; lawyers 

 bright and dashing, like Mr. Smith ; 

 lawyers acrimonious, like Mr. McKenna ; 

 lawyers comic, like Mr. Birrell ; lawyers 

 majestic, like Mr. Asquith ; lawyers of 

 commanding cleverness and courage like 

 Sir Rufus Isaacs. 



Of course, our lawyers do not always 

 thoroughly believe in every word they 

 have to say. Who does? They ought 

 indeed to be more capable than other 

 men, for that is the essence of the bar- 

 gain, but they are in no way called upon 

 to be more noble-minded or romantically 

 idealistic. The nation that wants a 

 breed of hero-statesmen must first find 

 a heroic cause. 



A STATESMAN — WITH LIMITATIONS. 



Now, with these limitations, severe as 

 they may seem to some exacting critics. 

 Sir Rufus Isaacs is a statesman for 

 whose existence the party and nation 

 may be not a little thankful. If you are 

 to have a lawyer, it is best to have a 

 good one. In Sir Rufus we have one 

 who is very good indeed. The most 

 regrettable feature of his career is that it 

 is likely so soon to close, so far as 

 politics are concerned, by his elevation 

 to the Bench. And then he will make 

 way for some other lawyer-statesman, 

 who will probably be no improvement. 



Not ingenuity, but common sense, is at 

 the root of good law and good lawyers. 



