The Continental Monthly, Volume 1, Issue 3, March 1862, page 89 by Various Authors
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public mind for extensive reforms in the constitution. Earl Grey, a statesman eminent no less for his eloquence and sagacity than for the worth of his private character, succeeded to the premiership in 1830, being the first Whig who held that office since the cabinet of 'all the talents,' in 1806.
It was at such a juncture that Campbell entered the House of Commons. The sanguine dreams of his youth were dawning into reality; and he was gratified to see his cherished principles fully adopted by the country, and to know that he was a participant in the glories of the great reform.
In 1832, when he had been a member of the House but two years, and a King's Counsel but five years, and in the same year that the reform of Russell and Grey received the royal sign-manual, he was elevated to the dignity of Solicitor General. No one of the long line of his illustrious predecessors brought to the discharge of this eminent trust greater learning and acuteness than Lord Campbell evinced; who, at the same time of this appointment, was honored with the order of Knighthood. In 1834, after serving as solicitor with the marked approbation of the government, he was promoted to the Attorney Generalship.
He now re-entered Parliament as the representative of the capital of his native Scotland, and became a leader in debate and the transaction of the public business. He continued Attorney General through the conservative ministry of Sir Robert Peel, and the subsequent Whig government of Lord Melbourne. In 1841, he held for a brief period the Chancellorship of Ireland; being at the same time elevated to the rank of a peer of England, with the title of John, first Lord Campbell. He retired from office when Sir Robert Peel returned to power in the autumn of 1841, and turned his thoughts to the gentle and graceful pursuit of literature. The first production of his pen was the 'Lives of the Lord Chancellors,' from the earliest times to the close of Lord Eldon's Chancellorship, in 1827. For