New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-03-24
SIR CHARLES RUSSELL AS oRoss-ExAMIs-
MG COUNSEL AND OTHERWISE

y - London, March 10.
Il seems an iii time, now that Pgott is in sui
cias's grave at Madrid, to be making sketches OF
hju as he appeared in the wtness-box under cross
examination. II is either too late or too soon
70 forget him is impossible Should he ever again
bsso,neas il ia more. than possible be may-tne
s topic Of the hour. those of US who were In court
win see As plainly az ever that heavy dnshed race
EARNING green beneath its red, the muscles Tying
themselves into knots the eyes injected ana turoo
the mouth relaxed, the chin as II DISCOUNTED tne
whole unhappy person Of this strange base inquire
s1Yferinr physically some Of the mental or perhaps
moral torture which Sir Charles Russell con-
.tvaired him 20 endure The range OF the cross
cxamination. al incomplete as it had TO De ieis
- rot tha least astonishing thing about IL.
s,, cha,les was by turns cool and hot, stern ana
,,avfnl bnriness-lilxe and tragic, now addressing
the witness IN his most colloquial tone. anon
.hrna.r;ne al hin, AZ IL from the judgnent seat
-. x;,s him one moment menecing the next, hfss
,.,vred,po fhen perplexing, then landing his vio-
ti, n the raipable and visible centre OF ms aoy
rinthine maze Of hes.
ei, charles has attitudes of his own as ne cross
examines. The stiff uprightness and Strictly con
,srt.onal derneanor of the Attorney -Uehoi"b
strictly observed through al moods ana phases'
Il NOT for him. He stood erect Tor one minuoe %
The beginning as he put his famous reques. 70
pcots to take piece Of paper, ana pen anu Inn
and write down the words, the fatal woros, whon
he would give him. But he is never efeco ~. -,
1one If he has q choice Of positions ~ - WIN
his riaht foot on the benchI do NOE mean '''e 'u-
;1icial benoh-his right elbow leaning eltncf oa
The knee or ON the shelf In mont, the risno h',0
yaised and holding his gold eyeglass towafu 'he
witness. This might seem uneainiy were ~ NOV
for the lowing robe Of silk which enveiops ms
Azure and softens the angularines u assumes
Robcless, he might seem wanting IN respecsiu
10 the judges in this freedom OF pose. Du' Uno
robe redeems whatever needs redeemlag No" @h"
again he tales snuff and the huge bandann@ ne u,i-
folds at the finish Of this operation is hRe DiOou
red banner OF war. He drinks cary IN 1ue n'O.u-
FIN large tumbier Of some medicai mix'uie ivr
his throat This, too, is red, unlike MI, on'u-
stones which. whether in the House OF Commons
or on tbs platform, is always yellow Inc ~"
,vsolass i. in constant use sometimes for reading
,nors ofteu AZ !. help to the pere,nptory gesture
,yy,.b Il as characteristic of him as anything.
For peren,ptory he is, as have had to shy daily
<or fartn;ebt past. Whether Sir Charles be
cross examining. or whatever he be doing, ne Is
saIam long without coming somehow into COL
,;s;or With somebody. Between him and his cnlet
svsmv Sir Ricahrd Webster, collisions are to De
s,naeted. brt surely Sir Charles might have AVOID
"a come Of those with Mr.. Justice Hammer, winch
wore even more frequent. Lord Rosebery. IN
searcb Of some sufficient compliment Tor MI. Far
re,t,s champion, spoke at the Eighty Club dinner
last week of that court over which had annos0
.a,a Sir Charles Russell pfesdes.' IL Is just as
wei, he did NOT quite say it. Never once mas or
fyharles come of other than second-best IN ms
many raids upon the bench, and Sir James han-
ren,a SUPREMACY in his own court challenger
AGAIN and again, remains complete. He, and ne
Alone urssides he both reigns and governs
IMAGINE Sir Charles would be readiest Of all to
ory, ii when once the glow and Joy Of battle are
over.
Tba witnesses who have successfully stood up
aca;yso him are few indeed. One remember
early in the case-an Irish peasant brought down
"a swear to some outrage of which he had peen
tbs victim. His peasant cunning was perhaps
match for the acnteness of the great lawyer Their
used 70 be little slirnishes Hike this:
Were there any police present when your
house was ATTACHED as
Any policei p.
sYess $3.50
Were they presents
aThas is what ask Of you
Present when ?"
When your house was attacked"
When YVES my house attacked p
And so IL went on until Sir Charles dropped him
d comic despair. The redoubtable Major lie CarOn
was another, or was commonly thought to be. But
an eminent lawyer who sat through that cross-ex-
animation told me that he thought it could not
have been better done Cross-examiuation," he
remarked, learnedly, is but o blunt weapon
against witness who is master Of his subject and
who is telling the truth. lie Caroris story was
nrobably all true in substance: II was the infer
ences to be drawn from It which were so formfd-
able. and those must be dealt with In argument
not by question:
One of Sir Charless arts is to make witness re
xesl his story In such way that the retelng OF IT
shaIl bring out the absurd or incredible or invent
"a characteristics Of # He delights 20 convict
vituesg out Of his own mouth This strategy he
rractssed upon Pigott but Pigots ft must be said,
went TO pieces completely when first confronted
with his own letters 70 Archbishop Walsh, which
he behaved had been returned to him and by him
DESTROYED From that FIRST shock Of guilty sur
nrsse he never recovered. That is one Of many
mysteries which have never been CLEARED mp, and
aow, suppose, never win be- Nothing could be
more adroit than the use Sir Charles made Of the
letters He put the frst into Pigotss hands, tell
ing him to identity but not read It, As have
txeated this point by cable win not go INTO it
again further than 70 give one example Of the
method, and that abridge. The method was simply
70 read to Pigote sentence or part Of d sentence
OF Pigotts own letter, base question pm it, lead
him 10 deny or affirm something, and then read
oat the next sentence which directly contradicted
that the witness had just sworn 70. Thus:
Did you know before the publication Of them
-. sx,-.ya cbavaex ware 20 he made aeaingt Mr.
xhrnell by The Timess'
Nos
You swear thats'
Il eos
No mistake shout that's
Nore.s
& this jour hsssrrs
Yea
The datcas