friendship. To succeed as a political leader, a man must
usually (I do not say invariably, because there are a few remarkable
instances--Mr. Parnell's would appear to be one of them--to the
contrary) at least seem sympathetic; must be able to enter into the
feelings of his followers, and show himself interested in them not
merely as party followers, but as human beings. There must be a
certain glow, a certain effluence of feeling about him, which makes
them care for him and rally to him as a personality. Whether Lord
Cairns wanted warmth of heart, or whether it was that an inner warmth
failed to pierce the cloak of reserve and pride which he habitually
wore, I do not attempt to determine. But the defect told heavily
against him. He never became a familiar figure to the mass of his
party, a person whose features they knew, at whose name they would
cheer; and nowadays all leaders, to whatever party they belong, find a
source of strength in winning this kind of popularity. The quality
which Americans call magnetism is perhaps less essential in England
than in the country which distinguished and named it; but it is
helpful even in England. Cairns, though an Irishman, was wholly
without it.

In the field of law, where passion has no place, and even imagination
must be content to move with clipped wings along the ground, the
merits of Lord Cairns's intellect showed to the best advantage. At the
Chancery bar he was one of a trio who had not been surpassed, if ever
equalled, during the nineteenth century, and whom none of our now
practising advocates rivals. The other two were Mr., afterwards Lord
Justice, Rolt, and Mr. Roundell Palmer, afterwards Lord Chancellor
Selborne. All were admirable lawyers, but, of the three, Rolt excelled
in his spirited presentation of a case and in the lively vigour of his
arguments. Palmer was conspicuous for exhaustless ingenuity, and for a
subtlety which sometimes led him away into reasonings too fine for the
court to follow. Cairns was broad, massive, convincing, with a robust
urgency of logic which seemed to grasp and fix you, so that while he
spoke you could fancy no conclusion possible save that toward which he
moved. His habit was to seize upon what he deemed the central and
vital point of the case, throwing the whole force of his argument upon
that one point, and holding the judge's mind fast to it.

All these famous men were raised to the judicial bench. Rolt remained
there for a few mo