HL Deb 11 July 1881 vol 263 cc475-9
THE LORD CHANCELLOR

My Lords, since your Lordships last met the House has been deprived of one of its greatest ornaments and one of its most distinguished and honoured Members. I have some difficulty in endeavouring to do justice to my own sense of the loss which this House has sustained, because I lived on terms of close intimacy for not less, I think, than 40 years with the eminent man who, now in an honoured old ago, has been taken from us—and personal affection makes me sensible of the difficulty of doing justice, in the few words which I shall address to your Lordships, to his admirable qualities—at the same time, I am most desirous not to fail in expressing, in some measure at all events, the feeling which I think all your Lordships must have on the subject of his loss. My Lords, Lord Hatherley was a man who, I believe, from his earliest years lived a life of as much consistency and diligence in doing his duty in every private relation, and in every grade of the professional and public stations which he was called upon to fill—I think he had as much purity and simplicity of character, as much thorough conscientiousness, as much energy and sound judgment as, taking into account the infirmity of man, any of ns could hope to attain. From that intimate knowledge which I had of him, and which, as I have said, lasted for 40 years, I may even go further. There are not a few men of whom one would say that, as far as one may presume to judge from public and outward signs of character, they may be looked upon as examples to be held up for imitation by other men; but of him I would presume even to say that I am sure that judgment cannot be mistaken. Most men, looking back to their earliest life, must ho sensible of many faults and errors, known to themselves if not known to others, Certainly, his modesty never would have permitted him to claim to be more free from faults and errors than other men; and yet I do verily believe that such as he appeared outwardly to others he was from his earliest years inwardly in himself. A man of the most remarkable gentleness and sweetness of character, and at the same time of firmness and decision which never quailed or failed before the performance of any duty, and which enabled him, in all the different posts he was called upon to fill, to discharge their duties to the admiration of all who were able to observe his career. He was as little ambitious of personal distinction as any man so distinguished whom I have ever known. It might be truly said of him that he was not one of those— who stoop, or lie in wait For wealth, for honours, or for wordly state; but was one— Whom they most follow; on whose head must fall, Like showers of manna, if they come at all. Yet come they did; and it is well for this country that such qualities should be appreciated as they deserve. He was called in due time to a distinguished place on the Bench of Justice, first as Vice-Chancellor, afterwards as Lord Justice; and then he was called to shed lustre upon the Office in which, when I think of him, I feel more than ever my own unworthiness to succeed him. He was called to the great Office of Lord Chancellor, and he carried himself so meekly in the discharge of his public duties, so diligently and so zealously supported every measure which, according to his judgment, was for the benefit of the country and for the advancement of liberty and justice, that when from failing health, or rather failing eyesight, after four years' sitting in this place and presiding over your Lordships' deliberations, he was compelled to relinquish that Office, he carried with him into private life, I am sure I may say, as large a share of esteem and respect as ever fell to the lot of any Predecessor of his in that exalted position—as large as any who may be called upon here-after to succeed him can possibly hope to obtain. Nor did he, even when his eyesight was partially destroyed, cease to labour in the Public Service to the public advantage; for still as a Judge he discharged his duties in your Lord-ships' House with that sound, accurate, and extensive knowledge of the law, that calm, equal, and dispassionate judgment, that desire to do justice, incapable of being biassed by any other feeling, which had previously distinguished him throughout his judicial career. And even when suffering under the heaviest calamity which could fall upon him or upon any other of your Lordships who may be blessed with domestic happiness as he had been for a very long time, a calamity which bowed him down with sorrow in his old age, and from which undoubtedly he never re-covered, still as long as strength and health remained he continued to lend aid to the discharge of the duties of your Lordships' House. My Lords, I feel how inadequate are the words I have used to express all the value of such a man to the country to which he belonged, to the House of which he was an ornament, to the Profession in which he laboured and in which he rose, and I will say to the Christian society, to the Church of which he was one of the most faithful members, though he always found it consistent with his attachment to the Church of England and to its principles to be foremost in the application of the great principles of civil and religious liberty upon every occasion on which they could possibly come in question. My Lords, I will only add that I hope your Lordships will pardon the inadequacy of the expression I have endeavoured to give to the feelings which I am sure you share, and believe me that what I have said comes thoroughly from the heart.

EARL CAIRNS

My Lords, all that my noble and learned Friend has said, all that he could say, in praise and admiration of him who has been taken away from us, will, I am sure, in this House find a response from every one of your Lordships. It has been my lot to have had a long acquaintance with Lord Hatherley. I well recollect the kindness which, as a young man, I received from him, and I can bear witness from personal observation to the excellent manner in which for many years as one of the primary Judges of the Court of Chancery he discharged the duties of that important office. His subsequent life has been in the eyes of every one of your Lordships; and it is not too much to say, now that he is gone, that as a Judge, as a Christian, as a gentleman, and as a man, this country has not seen, and probably will not see, anyone who is his superior.

EARL GRANVILLE

My Lords, it is certainly not necessary for me to add anything to the eulogies which have been passed by the two noble and learned Lords upon one who was so great an honour to this House and to the country; but perhaps your Lordships will excuse me if I add one single word of testimony to the worth of one with whom I had the honour of acting for many years. I can conceive no one who in the position of Lord Chancellor could have greater qualities to entitle him to the respect and attachment of his Col-leagues. While the most consistent politician on the lines which he had laid down for himself, he was one of those lawyers—and I am happy to say that they exist in both political Parties of the State—who, when they attain to the highest honours of their Profession, can look back upon a career absolutely un- stained either in public or in private life. One of his most important characteristics was that he not only pointed out difficulties which might occur in politics, but he was singularly fertile in suggesting means for remedying them. I feel sure that, whether remembered as Page Wood or as Lord Hatherley, his name will remain an honour to his Profession and to both Houses of Parliament, of which he was in turn so distinguished an ornament.