Memoirs of James Robert Hope Scott, Volume 2 by Robert Ornsby

R >> Robert Ornsby >> Memoirs of James Robert Hope Scott, Volume 2

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22

* * * * *

From his birth and social position, his mixing with the noblest and best
society in the land, and his versatility and quick perceptive powers, Mr.
Hope-Scott is so thoroughly master of the art of pleasing that a committee
cannot fail to be ingratiated by him; and is certainly never offended, as
he is gentlemanly and amiable to a fault. His temper is unruffled, and his
speeches brimful of quick wit and humour; and when a strong-minded
committee has to decide against him, so much has he succeeded in
ingratiating himself with them that it is almost with a feeling of personal
pain the decision is given. I remember seeing the chairman of one of the
committees look distinctly sheepish as he gave his decision against Mr.
Scott, and could not help thinking how much humbug there was in this system
of Parliamentary committees altogether.

* * * * *

Mr. Hope-Scott has had a great deal to do in regard to Dundee and district
business in Parliament. He represented the Harbour Trustees when they
obtained their original Act, and he has had a hand in forwarding or
opposing most of the railways in the district. He was employed by Mr. Kerr
at the formation of the Scottish Midland; and I may mention that he was
also employed in regard to the original Forfar and Laurencekirk line. In
his conduct of the latter case a characteristic incident occurred which
shows the highly honourable nature of the man. It was at the time of the
railway mania, when fancy fees were being given to counsel, and when some
counsel were altogether exorbitant in their demands. Mr. Hope-Scott was to
have replied on behalf of the Forfar and Laurencekirk line, but intimated
that he would not have time to do so, he being engaged on some other case.
It was supposed, as fancy fees were being freely offered to secure
attendance, that Mr. Scott was dissatisfied with his, and accordingly an
extra fee of 150 guineas was sent to him along with a brief and a request
that he would appear and make the reply. Mr. Scott sent back the brief and
the cheque to the agents, with a note stating his regret that they should
have supposed him capable of such a thing, also stating that he feared he
would not have time to make the reply; but requesting that W. Kerr, of
Dundee, should be asked to visit him and prepare him for the case, that he
might be able to plead it if he did find time. This was done; he did find
the time, he pleaded the case, but would not finger the extra fee! How
different this conduct from that of some of the notorious counsel of those
days, who, after being engaged in a case, sometimes stood out for their
1,000-guinea fees being doubled before they would go on with it!'
[Footnote: I have heard of even a stronger case at that period than those
alluded to by this writer--of a brief of 300_l_. being returned by the
counsel and agents backwards and forwards till it reached 3,000_l_.]
('Dundee Advertiser,' July 2, 1866.)

6. _Dublin Trunk Connecting Railway_.--This was a case of some
interest in 1868 or 1869, when schemes were in agitation for the connection
of lines and the construction of one great central station for Dublin.
Seven bills had been proposed, two of which their supporters had great
hopes of carrying: the Dublin Trunk Connecting line few had thought would
pass, when Mr. Hope-Scott went into the committee-room one afternoon,
examined some witnesses, and made a speech which carried all before it;
and, to the astonishment of all, the bill passed. The project, indeed, was
never realised, but all agreed that Mr. Hope-Scott's single speech before
the committee had snatched the affair from the hands of all the other
competing parties.

7. His professional services to his old College of Eton in one important
case (the Public Schools Bill of 1865) have already been more than once
referred to. [Footnote: See vol. i. p. 17, and the present vol. ii. p.
106.]

But he similarly assisted Eton on other occasions also. One of these was a
contest it had with the _Great Western Railway Company_ in 1848, and
which did not terminate in complete success; but his exertions (which were
gratuitous) called forth a most emphatic expression of thanks in an address
to him from the head-master (Dr. Hawtrey) and from the whole body of the
masters. They say:--

It would indeed have been impossible by any such payment to have diminished
our debt. For we feel that you spoke as if you had a common interest in our
cause, and the advocate was lost in the friend. Nothing was wanting in our
defence which the most judicious eloquence, combined with the sincerest
regard for Eton, could supply:--

Si Pergama dextra Defendi possent, etiam hac defensa fuissent.

But if the great object of our wishes could not be obtained against an
opposition so powerful, restrictions have been imposed on the direction of
the Great Western line, which would not have been granted but for the
earnestness of your address to the committee; and whatever alleviations
there may be to the evils which we expected, we shall owe them entirely to
your advocacy.

I have little to add to what has now been brought together, yet a few
scraps may still interest the reader.

Mr. Hope's first general retainers (as already stated) date in 1844; but by
the time he retired he was standing counsel to nearly every system of
railways in the United Kingdom (not, however, to the Great Western, though
he pleaded for them whenever he could--that is, when not opposed by other
railways for which he was retained). With the London and North-Western he
was an especial favourite. It is believed that on his retirement his
general retainers amounted to nearly one hundred--an extraordinary number;
among which are included those given by the Corporations of London,
Edinburgh, Dublin, Liverpool, and others. There was, in fact, during his
last years, constant wrangling among clients to secure his services. The
cry always was 'Get Hope-Scott.' That there may have been jealousy on the
part of some as to the distribution of time so precious, may easily be
supposed. I find a hint of this in a book of much local interest, but which
probably few of my readers have met with, 'The Larchfield Diary: Extracts
from the Diary of the late Mr. Mewburn, First Railway Solicitor. London:
Simpkin and Marshall [1876].' Under the year 1861 Mr. Mewburn says (adding
a tart comment):--

The London and North-Western Railway Company had, in the session of 1860,
twenty-five bills in Parliament, all which they gave to Mr. Hope-Scott as
their leader, and he was paid fees amounting to 20,000_l_., although
he was rarely in the committee-room during the progress of the bills.--
'Larchfield Diary,' p. 170.

As to this, it must be observed that the companies engaged Mr. Hope-Scott's
services with the perfect knowledge beforehand that the demands on his time
were such as to render it extremely doubtful whether he could afford more
than a very small share of it to the given case. They wished for his name
if nothing else could be had; and, above all, to hinder its appearing on
the opposite side. It was also felt that his powers were such, that a very
little interference or suggestion on his part was very likely to effect all
they wished. People said, 'If he can only give us ten minutes, it will
_direct_ us. We don't want the chief to draw his sword--he will win
the battle with the glance of his eye.' In reference to one case I have
described (No. 6) a client exclaimed, 'Even in ten minutes he put all to
rights. We should have gone to pieces but for those ten minutes.' One is
reminded of the exclamation of the old Highlander who had survived
Killiecrankie: 'O for one hour of Dundee!' With these facts before us, and
the astonishing unanimity of the best informed witnesses, as to Mr. Hope-
Scott's straightforwardness and high sense of honour, I think Mr. Mewburn's
objection is sufficiently answered. A remark, however, may be added, which
I find in an able article in the 'Scotsman' (May 1, 1873): 'Often unable to
attend his examination of minor witnesses, Mr. Hope-Scott nevertheless took
care to possess himself of everything material in their evidence by careful
reading of the short-hand writers' notes, and he always contrived to be at
hand when the examination of an important witness might be expected to
prove the turning-point in his case.'

The same writer goes on to say:--

Mr. Hope-Scott was not classed as a legal scholar, nor did his branch of
the profession, which was the making, not the interpreting of laws, demand
that accomplishment. His power lay, first, in a strong common sense and in
a practical mind; next, in a degree of tact amounting to instinct, by which
he seemed to read the minds of those before whom he was pleading, and
steered his course and pitched his tone accordingly; and lastly, in being
in all respects a thorough gentleman, knowing how to deal with
gentlemen.... Though sincere and zealous in [religious] matters, Mr. Hope-
Scott never, in his intercourse with the world and with men of hostile
beliefs, showed the least drop of bitterness, or fell away in the smallest
degree from that geniality of spirit which marked his whole character, and
that courtesy of manner which made all intercourse with him, even in hard
and anxious matters of business, a pleasure, not only for the moment, but
for memory.

The following anecdote will serve to show that Mr. Hope-Scott was not the
man to abuse the power which of course he well knew that he possessed, of
'making the worse seem the better cause.' Once when engaged in consultation
with a certain great advocate, they both agreed that they had not a leg to
stand upon. ---- said that he would speak, and did deliver a speech which
was anything but law. Mr. Hope-Scott being then called, bowed, and said
that he had nothing to add to the speech of his learned friend. 'How could
you leave me like that?' asked the other. 'You had already said,' replied
Mr. Hope-Scott, 'that you had no case.'

In his latter years Mr. Hope-Scott was thought to have become rather
imperious in his style of pleading before the Parliamentary committees: I
mention this, not to pass over an impression which probably was but
incidental. Of an opposite and very beautiful trait see an example in Mr.
Gladstone's 'Letter' (Appendix III.).

It is obvious that Mr. Hope-Scott's professional emoluments must have been,
as I have already said in general, very great. Notwithstanding his
generosity and forbearance, it was no more possible for him, with his
talents and surroundings, to avoid earning a splendid income than (as
Clarendon says of the Duke of Buckingham) for a healthy man to sit in the
sun and not grow warm. Into the details of his professional success in this
point of view I must refrain from entering. Although, considering the great
historical interest of the era of 'the railway mania,' the question of the
fees earned by a great advocate of that period can hardly be considered one
of merely trivial curiosity, still, the etiquette and let me add the just
etiquette, of the profession would forbid the use of information, without
which no really satisfactory outline of this branch of my subject could be
placed before the reader, least of all by a writer not himself a member of
the profession. The popular notion of it must, I suppose, have appeared not
infrequently in the newspapers of the day--an example may be found at p.
204 of this volume--and but very recently a similar guess appeared in a
literary organ of more permanent character. But to correct or to criticise
such vague statements on more certain knowledge, even if I possessed it, is
what can hardly be here expected. Indeed, I ought rather to ask pardon for
mistakes almost certainly incident to what I have already attempted.

In concluding the present subject I may remark that Mr. Hope-Scott's
professional labours by no means represent the whole work of his life.
Nominally, he was supposed to be free for about half the year, but in
reality this vacant time was almost filled up by other work of a business
nature undertaken out of kindness to friends or relations--precisely what
the old Romans called _officia_. Such was the charge of the great
Norfolk estates, and of the long-contested Shrewsbury property; [Footnote:
Bertram Talbot, last Earl of Shrewsbury of the Catholic branch, had
bequeathed considerable property to Lord Edmund Howard (brother-in-law to
Mr. Hope-Scott), on condition of his assuming the name of Talbot. His right
to make this bequest was disputed by his successor, and a protracted
litigation ensued in 1864 and the next few years, throughout which Mr.
Hope-Scott acted as friend and adviser of the Howards, to whom he was
guardian. The importance of this _cause celebre_ here consists chiefly
in the self-sacrificing labours by which Mr. Hope-Scott succeeded in saving
something for his relative out of the wreck, when to rescue the whole
proved to be hopeless. I am not aware that it need be concealed that he had
a very strong opinion against the justice of the decision.] such was
another trust, on a considerable scale, for connections of his family in
Yorkshire, involving, like the former, a great deal of travelling, for he
was not satisfied with merely looking at things through other people's
eyes. Such, too, his guardianship of his elder brother's eight children
[Footnote: Mr. George W. Hope died on October 18, 1863--a great sorrow to
Mr. Hope-Scott, to whom for years, in the earlier part of his career, his
house had been a home, and who regarded him throughout with deep
affection.] for about ten years before his death. A fourth may be added,
that of the family of Mr. Laing, solicitor at Jedburgh, a convert who died
young, requesting Mr. Hope to protect the interest of his seven children. A
fifth, too--the guardianship of the children of his old legal tutor, Mr.
Plunkett. The four first-mentioned guardianships occupied Mr. Hope till
nearly the end of his life. And, on the top of all this, add a most
voluminous correspondence, in which his advice was required on important
subjects by important persons--and often on subjects which were to them of
importance, by very much humbler persons too.

Of the spirit in which he laboured, the following passage of a letter of
his to Father (now Cardinal) Newman gives an idea. Like some other letters
I have quoted, it almost supplies the absence of a religious diary of the
period. It is an answer to a letter of Dr. Newman's, presently to be given
(p. 143).

_J. R. Hope-Scott, Esq., Q.C. to the Very Rev. Dr. Newman._

Abbotsford: Dec. 30, 1857.

Dear Father Newman,--... And now a word about yourself. I do not like your
croaking. You have done more in your time than most men, and have never
been idle. As to the way in which you have done it I shall say nothing. You
may think you might have done it better. I remember that you once told me
that 'there was nothing we might not have done better'--and this was to
comfort me; and it did, for it brought each particular failure under a
general law of infirmity, and so quieted while it humbled me. And then as
to the future: what is appointed for you to do you will have time for--what
is not, you need have no concern about. There! I have written a sermon.
Very impudent I know it is; but when the mind gets out of joint a child may
sometimes restore it by telling us some simple thing which we perhaps have
taught it. Pat your child then on the head, and bid him go to play, while
you brace yourself up and work on, not as if you must do some particular
work _before_ you die, but as if you must do your best _till_ you
die. 'Alas! alas! how much could I say of my past, were I to compare it
with yours! And my future--how shall I secure it better than you can yours?
But I must not abuse the opportunity you have given me.... With all good
wishes of this and every season,

Yours very affectionately,

JAMES R. HOPE-SCOTT.

The Very Rev. Dr. Newman, Birmingham.

CHAPTER XXIII.

1847-1858.

Mr. Hope's Engagement to Charlotte Lockhart--Memorial of Charlotte
Lockhart--Their Marriage--Mr. Lockhart's Letter to Mr. J. R. Hope on his
Conversion--Filial Piety of Mr. Hope--Conversion of Lord and Lady Henry
Kerr--Domestic Life at Abbotsford--Visit of Dr. Newman to Abbotsford in
1852--Birth of Mary Monica Hope-Scott--Bishop Grant on Early Education--Mr.
Lockhart's Home Correspondence--Death of Walter Lockhart Scott--Mr. Hope
takes the Name of Hope-Scott--Last Illness and Death of Mr. Lockhart--Death
of Lady Hope--Letter of Lord Dalhousie--Mr. Hope-Scott purchases a Highland
Estate--Death of Mrs. Hope-Scott and her Two Infants--Letters of Mr. Hope-
Scott, in his Affliction, to Dr. Newman and Mr. Gladstone--Verses in 1858--
Letter of Dr. Newman on receiving them.

This biography here reaches the point where the history of Mr. Hope's
marriage may fitly be placed before the reader. It was an event which, as I
have already hinted, may very probably have been connected, like his eager
pursuit of the Bar, with the break-down of his early ideas as to the Church
of England. Yet, viewed merely in its worldly aspects, the step was one
which could have caused no surprise, the time for it having fully arrived,
as he was now thirty-five, in a conspicuous position in society, and making
a splendid income. The lady of his choice was Charlotte Harriet Jane
Lockhart, daughter of John Gibson Lockhart, and granddaughter of Sir Walter
Scott. It was through Lady Davy that Mr. Hope had made Mr. Lockhart's
acquaintance; and thus what appeared a very meaningless episode in his
juvenile years materially affected his destiny in life. In a letter of July
23, 1847, to his sister, Lady Henry Kerr, he speaks as follows of the
important step in life he had decided upon, and of the character of his
betrothed:--

I have for a long time contemplated the possibility of marriage, and had
resolved that, all things considered, it might, under God's blessing, be
the best course which I could pursue. It was not, however, till I had made
acquaintance with Charlotte Lockhart that I was satisfied I should find a
person who in all respects would suit me. This a general knowledge of her
character (which is easily known) convinced me of, and I then proceeded
rapidly, and, as far as I can judge, am not mistaken in my choice.

She is not yet twenty, but has lived much alone; much also with people
older than herself, and people of high mental cultivation. She has also had
the discipline of depending on those habits of her father which are
inseparable from a literary and, in some degree, secluded life. In short,
she has had much to form her, and with great simplicity of character, and
unbounded cheerfulness, she combines far more thought than is usual at her
age. Having no mother and few connections, she is the more likely to become
entirely one of us; which I value, not only on my own account, but for the
sake of my mother, to whom I am sure she will be a very daughter.

I have said more to you about her than I have written to any one else, for
I distrust marriage puffs, and desire that people may judge for
themselves.... You may be assured that I look upon marriage in a very
serious light; and I pray God heartily that it may be to us, whether in joy
or sorrow, the means of mutual improvement, so that, when the account is
rendered, each may show some good work done for the other.

Yours affectionately,

JAMES R. HOPE.

A little expedition which ensued on the engagement was long remembered as
affording a very bright passage in their lives. With Lady Davy as kind
chaperon, Mr. Hope and his betrothed visited his brother-in-law and sister,
Lord and Lady Henry Kerr, at the Rectory of Dittisham, near Dartmouth, that
the future sisters might become acquainted. The exquisite beauty of the
scenery about the Dart, the splendour of the weather, and the charm of the
moment, altogether made this a time of happiness not to be forgotten by any
of those who shared in it. To the outline conveyed in Mr. Hope's letter I
shall add a few traits obtained from other sources, and thus complete, as
far as possible, the image they present. Charlotte Lockhart is described as
a very attractive person, with a graceful figure, a sweet and expressive
face, brown eyes of great brilliance, and a beautifully shaped head: the
chin indeed was heavy, but even this added to the interest of the face by
its striking resemblance to the same feature in her great ancestor, Sir
Walter Scott. A dearly cherished portrait of her at Abbotsford shows all
that sweetness we should expect, yet it is at the same time full of
character and decision. Her style of dress was marked by singular
simplicity; and, unless to please her husband, or when society required it,
she rarely wore ornaments. She was of a bright and cheerful nature, at
first sight extremely open, but with that reserve which so often shows
itself, on further acquaintance, in minds of unusual thoughtfulness and
depth. There was something especially interesting in her manner--a mixture
of shyness and diffidence with self-reliance and decisiveness, quite
peculiar to herself. Her look, 'brimful of everything,' seemed to win
sympathy and to command respect. Without marked accomplishments, unless
that of singing most sweetly, with a good taste and natural power that were
always evident, she had a passion for books, about which, however, she was
particularly silent, as she dreaded anything like pretensions to
literature. Her talent and quickness made everything easy to her, and she
seemed to get through all she had to do with great facility. But this was
much assisted by an extraordinary gift of order and method, which enabled
her, without consulting her watch, to fix the instant when the time had
arrived, for example, for prayers, so that her friends would say they felt
sure she carried a clock in her head. Punctual to a minute, she seemed
never to lose a moment. She governed herself by a rule of life, drawn up
for her by Bishop Grant (and afterwards by Cardinal Manning), memoranda of
which were found in her Prayer-book. Notwithstanding ill-health, she almost
always commenced her devotions, even if unable to rise early, at six in the
morning, and observed a perfect system in the round of her daily duties.
She was never idle, and nothing that might be called her recreations was
allowed to be decided by the wish of the moment, but was all settled
beforehand--the time to be allotted, for instance, to a carriage drive, or
to visiting. Mr. Hope-Scott himself said of her, that if she lay down on
the sofa in the afternoon to enjoy a few hours of Dante or Tasso, you might
be sure that every note had been answered, every account set down and
carefully backed up, every domestic matter thoroughly arranged. As Lady
Davy expressed it, 'she was a very busy little housewife, putting order
into every department.'

Of the usual lady's industry of needlework, plain or fancy, she got through
an amazing quantity; but she was also, in her early years, of great use to
her father, whose companion she had been in a literary life of great
loneliness, by relieving him of much of his correspondence. The same
diligent and endearing aid she afterwards rendered to her husband in all
his harassing overwork. Her great love and admiration for him, combined
with her own natural reserve, made her somewhat disinclined to go into
society; and in his compulsory absences, at which she was never heard to
murmur, she could be happy for weeks together, with her child, in a
comparatively solitary life at Abbotsford. Yet she was also quite able to
appreciate society, and is described by her friends as a delightful
companion, hardly ever talking of herself, and always charitable in talking
of others. Though placed in the state of riches, and having unlimited
permission from her husband to spend as much as she pleased, she was
notwithstanding never wasteful, but governed her household expenditure with
the prudence of an upright and well-regulated mind, taking the greatest
pains that all around her should have strict justice. She spent nothing
needlessly upon herself, but gave largely, and in the most self-denying
manner, for charitable purposes, especially the Orphanage under the sisters
at Norwood, which she appears to have constantly endeavoured to follow in
spirit, making her inner life, as far as possible, that of a religious. She
is remembered to have disposed of, for the sake of the Norwood Orphanage, a
precious ornament, given her by her husband, which had belonged to the
Empress Josephine; but a portion was reserved for a Lady altar in the
Church of St. Mary and St. Andrew, Galashiels. When in London, it was her
delight to visit St. George's Hospital, where her attendance was efficient
and regular, so long as she was able to render it.

Mr. Hope and Charlotte Lockhart were married at the parish church of
Marylebone on August 19, 1847, his brother-in-law, Lord Henry Kerr,
officiating; and after the wedding he took his bride to the Duke of
Buccleuch's house at Richmond, which had been lent to them for the
honeymoon. The autumn was spent at Rankeillour, and the winter at Lady
Hope's in Charles Street. In 1848 Mr. Hope rented Abbotsford from his
brother-in-law, Walter Lockhart Scott, and removed thither in August of
that year. On the death of the latter, in 1853, he became its possessor in
right of his wife, and for the remainder of his days made it his principal
residence.

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22