ad some arbitration cases of some
importance, and he was employed in a patent case in which he took
considerable interest. He found himself better able than he had expected
to take in mechanical principles, and thought that he was at last
getting something out of his Cambridge education. Mr. Chamberlain has
kindly sent me his recollections of this case. 'I first made the
acquaintance of Sir J. F. Stephen' (he writes) 'in connection with a
very important and complicated arbitration in which the firm of
Nettlefold & Chamberlain, of which I was then a partner, was engaged.
Sir James led for us in this case, which lasted nearly twelve months,
and he had as junior the late Lord Bowen. The arbitrator was the present
Baron Pollock, assisted by Mr. Hick, M.P., the head of a great
engineering firm. From the first I was struck with Sir James Stephen's
extraordinary grasp of a most complicated subject, involving as it did
the validity of a patent and comparison of most intricate machinery, as
well as investigation of most elaborate accounts. He insisted on making
himself personally acquainted with all the processes of manufacture, and
his final speech on the case was a most masterly summary of all the
facts and arguments. In dealing with hostile witnesses he was always
firm but courteous, never taking unfair advantage or attempting to
confuse, but solely anxious to arrive at the truth. He was a tremendous
worker, rising very early in the morning, and occupying every spare
moment of his time. I remember frequently seeing him in moments of
leisure at work on the proofs of the articles which he was then writing
for the "Pall Mall Gazette." In private he was a most charming
companion, full of the most varied information and with a keen sense of
humour. Our business relations led to a private friendship, which lasted
until his death.' In 1868 he took silk, for which he had applied
unsuccessfully two years before. In the autumn of the same year he sat
for the first time in the place of one of the judges at Leeds, and had
the pleasure of being 'my Lord,' and trying criminals. 'It appears to
me,' he says, 'to be the very easiest work that ever I did.' The general
election at the end of 1868 brought him some work in the course of the
following year. He was counsel in several election petitions, and found
the work contemptible. 'It would be wearisome,' he says, 'to pass one's
life in a round of such things, even if one were paid 100_l._ a day