LORD RUSSELL OE KILLOWEN.

Otago Witness, Issue 2430, 10 October 1900, Page 63

LORD RUSSELL OE KILLOWEN.

("Jackdaw,' in Leeds Alerciuy.) The sudden death of Lord Ru&sell of Killowen, the Loid Chiei Justice ot England, recently, has attracted a quite unusual amount of attention. The Lord Chiei Justice ol England is an official of lugn rank and great importance ; 'but we have ibetore now had Lord Chiei Justices whose death has not occasioned much popular feeling. The case is difteient witn i_,ord '.Russell of Killowen, and for a very simple reason. Great as was the office that he held, it is no exaggeration to say that the man himself was greater still, and all who knew him feel that a real and living force of no oidinary kind has been lost to the country by his premature and unexpected death.

it Avas my good fortune to knoAv Charles RrUsseli — ior aj that name he at as most familiar to his friends — ior a number oi years, 'and I can bear my personal testimony to the really remari-iab.e qualities of which he was the possessor. Juike many another of our most distinguished men ne rose to eminence and hign place by the sheer force of his own merits. Influence he ihad none when he began his proiessional career, Avhii&t he had against him the tact that ne was an Irishman who never allowed any one to remain ignorant ot the fact that he loved his countiy Avith an almost passionate devotion, and that he felt her AArongs as deaply as any patriotic irishman oi the jjtist nad ever done. Yet, in spite of lack oi influence and of the real disadvantage oi winch I have spoken, he rose Avith meteor-like rapidity to an almost .unique position, not only in his oavu profession, but iv society at large. That, he had spienclid abilities and a dauntless courage everybody Avho kneAV him avLI admit. But his supreme virtue Avas his iorce oi character. Everybody Avho came in contact with him \\d,s constrained to recognise the fact that he was essentially a man, and that he had an indiA'iduality Avhich Avas all his own. At the .Bar he iniprtsscd hirnseli alike 'upon his brethren, the judges, the jury, and the general public. He seemed, as au advocate, to hold the whole court, as it Avere, m his grasp, so that he appeared to be the absolute master of everybody in it, irom the judges downwards. "'J Ins in itself Avas a remarkable testimony to his power. .After his death lately one. of his lei-loAv-judges spoke oi him as the greatest advocate Avho had ever lived, and the praise was not undeserved. As a judge he Avys not less succe&stul than as a banister. Yi'hsn he first became Lord Chief Justice some'o' his friends feared that the old habit of adA'ocacy would be too strong ior him, ■and that lie Avouid continue to be an advocate when sitting on the bench. But thih fear avo& most signally dispelled, and it isnow admitted that in the long und illustrious roll ot our Chief Justice's he stands second to none. His death all admit is a heavy blow to our whole judicial body. His success as a judge \ras due rather to his strong common sense and his passionate love of justice than tn his abilities as a laAvyer. A man who had to appear before him knew that if -his cause a', as a just one he could depend upon Lord Russell to see that justice at as done. Higher praise than this it Avould be impossible to give air* judge.

Many stories have been told about him since his sudden demise. My space docs not alloAV me to add many to the number, though I could easily recount many instances of Ms energy, his courage, his extraordinary force of AA-ill — a force "that sometimes found vent in startling explosions oi language — and his generous 'championship of all whom he regarded as being the victims of injustice. One tale that has never been published relates to his early youth. and is .strikingly illustrative of the practical temperament that tnabled him to do _so much during the conrso of his life. He und his brother, noAV Father Russell, and a village playielloAV Avere booting tcgethei in the lough near his fathei's house one day, Avhen they ran their boat upon a sunken rock, and Avere' in imminent danger of being - drowned. The village phvyf e!loAV gave everything up as lost, and began tc Aveep aloud. The future priest took to his prayers, and loudly called to heaven for mercjr. Charles looked round to see if there were no means by which they could help themselves. Hs saw on the distant shore a man walking. He Avas too far oft to hear any cries for help they might raise. But the future Chief Justice remembered one accomplishment tint he possessed, and instantly turned it to good account. Putting his fingers to his mouth, he bleAv so shrill a blast that he could be heard far •beyond the limits of the human voics. The •whistle even reached the ears of the man ■on the shore, caused him to turn to the direction from Avhich it proceeded, and led to the rescue of ■ the boys. It is pathetic noAv to. recall the fact that the lasfc occasion on which Lord Russell used his strange power of whistling through his fingers Avas when his young son embarked for South Africa a feAv months ago. He had gone doAvn to Southampton to say good-bye to Lieutenant Russell, and stood among the crowd after the troops had embarked, Avatching the unmooring of the vessel. Lieutenant Russell, anxious to exchange a last greeting with his father, eagerly scanned the crowd on the quay, but :ould not distinguish the features of the Lord Chief Justice. Then the latter, forgetting his rank and remembering only his love for his soldier son, put his fingers in his mouth and whistled as of old. The signal Avas instantly recognised, and foi the last time in this life father and son Avere enabled to exchange salutations. The achievement which Avas generally recognised as Russell's greatest Avas his crossexamination of the forger Pigott in the Parnell Commission. It Avas my good fortune to be seated on ths next bench to Russell during the Avhole of that cross-exdmina-tion, and never will I forget the memorable scene. J'iiroU u,^ <^ c lev pi a- he Avas un--scrupalou-. inul in th. h.nnK <>f <i les^ poAVerful man b» myht easily li.iv" defied the hand oi ju-tioe. Hut Ic^-cil, without for a moment louog hi 1 tenij-cr oi resorting to^ayUung in vue iulujo ot Is allying, dreAV

from the reluctant scoundrel admissions Avhich completely destroyed his character, und enabled the judges of the court to form a proper estimate of the \-alue of his testimony ou behalf of the letters of AAhich ho Avas himself the forger. One felt almost inclined to pitr Pigott, as, Avrithing Mid trembling under the terrible ordeal, he admitted one fact after another that proved him to be a liar and a knave. T/htn that day's work Avas done. Pigott and the case of the forged letters in The Times Avere completely disposed of. Pigott — ur-elf lied from. England a few liom- aftei wards, and. as all the Avorld knov, s, bIcAV hisbiains out in Madrid exactly a Aveek from the day Avhen I saw him confronted by Russell in the court at Temple Bar. TJieie Aras one incident of that memorable dny of Arhich I am the only .sun-iving.Avil-ne-s. The cross-examination of Pigott naturally excited the keenest interest. Many of the most distinguished people in England Avere present to Avitness it. The representatives of The Times Avere there in full force, and so Avere the representatives of the Irish Parliamentary Party Avith one notable except'on. Mr P?rnell. the man avlio was chiefly interested in Russell's success, and pilose future careor dependrd upon the Vokiti''-chArn of Picott'r evidence, was not in his place to see that feat accomplished. ]>v; ab'jiit a Quarter of an hour before \he tiim AAh:n Ihe cvvvi fo-- +he day, he quietly strolled in and seated himself next to me, directly in from oi hi*- great counsel. I saw Russell's face light up with anger when he fray Parnell take his seat. He leaned forward his head between mire and Parnell's, and in a fierce Avhieper addiessed the latter as fclloAVS : — "Mr Pornell, A*oiir conduct .is nnpardonble. I hod a right to have the Support of your prrs-encc here to-day. I needed it. and [ ought to have had it. I insi.-i, sir, tlut yon are here Avhen the proceedings open at the next fitting.'' Prrnell, accustomed as lie Avas to the adulation of h's folloAvers, blanched under that fierce rebuke ; he said nothing. But Avljon the court nexL met — •althoii?li Pigotl by tlu't lime h;.d fled — ihe T.-Is-h chiel

Avas sitting meekly in his place. H-\ a» ho i eared no other nvui. v. as cle irly a'ivad of RusFell. Many another tale I could tell, but I must pause, and j?ay a last word of farewell to s. man Avho was not only great, but just and generous beyond most other men.