I have been requested by a large number of the profession to which
I have the honour to belong, to bring a matter of some personal
importance before the public in an appropriate manner. It seems to
me that I cannot carry out this instruction more judiciously than by
communicating with the Editor of a paper representing by universal
consent the Bench, the Bar, and the Populace. I am assisted in this
task--one of considerable delicacy--by a document that came into my
hands at a time when the scheme, now full grown, was in its infancy.
It is a note from "Mr. Senior," who presided at my mess in Hall some
weeks before the commencement of the present Long Vacation. It speaks
for itself:--
"MY DEAR BRIEFLESS,--In reply to your letter, 'No, I certainly
was not joking.' It is true that we four had got to the third
bottle of our after-dinner port; but in that admission I see
no reason for assuming that our intellectual faculties had
failed us. No; I shall be only too pleased if the proposed
Testimonial should become an accomplished fact. To put it
tersely, if Athletics are to be rewarded, why should Learning
wait? Yours sincerely, ----."
I purposely omit the signature--an influential one--as I have no
desire to bring undue pressure to bear in a cause so purely personal
to myself. I need scarcely say that a Testimonial, even when it takes
the shape preferred by _Mr. Micawber_, is highly gratifying. But when
the matter was first broached, I had serious doubts whether I would
maintain the dignity of the Bar if I became a party to the proceedings
that would bring it to a successful issue. This being so, I have
little hesitation in laying before you this case and opinion. The
first--at request--was prepared by myself; the latter was appended by
a Counsel whose name, if revealed, would carry great weight, not only
with lawyers but the community at large.