Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 08.djvu/384

Campbell 3 Nov. 1800, and maintained himself by reporting in the House of Commons and in the law courts for the 'Morning Chronicle.' The reporting was done without a knowledge of shorthand, which he had no desire to learn, having convinced himself that by rewriting a speech from notes its spoken effect can be more truthfully reproduced than by setting down the exact words. With his dramatic criticism he took great pains. 'I not only read carefully,' he said, 'all the pieces usually acted, but I made myself master of the history of our stage from Shakespeare downwards, and became fairly acquainted with French, German, and Spanish literature.' For a year or two his time was fully occupied with this work, varied by the reading of law and by his experiences as an energetic volunteer during the Bonaparte scare. He did not give himself up seriously to law till the beginning of 1804, when he entered the chambers of Tidd, the great special pleader. He remained with Tidd nearly three years, taking up rather the position of an assistant than of a pupil, and was called to the bar on 15 Nov. 1806. From the first he started with a clear lead. He had by zealous work acquired more than a beginner's knowledge of law; he had a wider store of experience, gathered from variety of occupation and miscellaneous reading, than most men of his years; and he had a sturdy faith in himself, which hardly ever drooped, and a firm belief in his own ultimate success. Immediately after his call he was engaged for several months in preparing the second edition of Watson's 'Treatise on the Law of Partnership,' which he seems to have in great part rewritten (published 1807; his name does not appear in the book). The ample leisure that was now forced upon him made him try a venture of his own. In 1807 he began his reports of cases at nisi prius. 'Although the judgment of the courts in banco,' he says in his 'Autobiography' (i. 214), 'had been regularly reported from the time of Edward II, with the exception of a few rulings of C. J. Holt and C. J. Lee to be found in Lord Raymond and Strange, nisi prius reporting was not attempted till the time of Lord Kenyon, when nisi prius cases were published by Peake and by Espinasse.' The reports of Espinasse were very inaccurate, and as Peake, who was held in higher esteem, had almost given up the work by Campbell's time, the field was practically unoccupied, while the period of the Napoleonic war, with novel commercial questions daily cropping up, was rich in legal interest. Campbell reported Lord Ellenborough's decisions with great care and tact, revising them and publishing only such as he considered sound on authority and principle. 'When I arrived,' he said afterwards, 'at the end of my fourth and last volume, I had a whole drawer full of "bad Ellenborough law."' The reports accordingly have since been treated as of high authority. 'On all occasions,' said Lord Cranworth, 'I have found ... that they really do, in the fewest possible words, lay down the law, very often more distinctly and more accurately than it is to be found in many lengthened reports' (Williams v. Bayley, L. R. 1 H. L. 213). An innovation which attracted attention, criticism, and a recognition of Campbell's shrewdness, and which subsequent reporters have adopted, consisted in appending to the report of each case the names of the attorneys engaged in it, in order that any one who doubted the accuracy of a report might at once know where he could inspect the briefs in the case (see note to first case, i. 4). For some years Campbell's life was that of a struggling barrister who had to make his own way, and whose chief advantages were his power of work and his alertness to push his way through every opening. His reputation, especially in matters of mercantile law, grew very rapidly. In his fourth year he made over 500l., and in his fifth double that sum. In 1816 his business had increased so greatly that he had to give up his reports. In 1819 he was in a position to justify him in applying for a silk gown, though not till 1827, when Copley became chancellor, was the dignity granted to him. In 1821 he married Miss Scarlett, daughter of the future Lord Abinger.

His thoughts had already turned towards parliament, though he showed no great eagerness to enter it. 'It is amazing,' he said, 'how little parliamentary distinction does for a man nowadays at the bar.' He made his first attempt in 1826 at Stafford, a borough of singular corruption even in those corrupt days; and though unsuccessful, he proved so popular a candidate, that at the general election after George IV's death his supporters invited him to stand again, and he was returned in time to take part in the reform debates. At no period in his life did he have politics much at heart, nor were his opinions very decided. He cast in his lot with the liberal party, and on the great questions of catholic emancipation, the repeal of the Test Act, the suppression of slavery, and parliamentary reform he was on the side of freedom; but his strong conservative instincts, and his comparatively slight interest in such matters, prevented him from taking a leading part. The advice which