The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-08-25
IN AN ENGLISH COURT.
IMPRESSIONS or IN AMERICAN
VISITOR IN LONDON.
He Finds an Unexpected Lack of Dignity
and Little Solemnify-The Judges
Questionings.

The visitor to the London courts Will
not be impressed by any splendor Of sur
roundings nor by any great dignity OF
proceedings. Entering the High Courts
| of Justice on the Strand. the stranger
must ascend a steep flight Of circular
| stairs leading 10 long ana dark cofridpf5
which open into small galleries IN me
rear Of the cOurt-rOOms. Ii IS only mo
| these uncomfortable little galleries tnat
! the visitor is allowed TO enter and obtain
| a view Of the proceedings ~ lOohl.s
down upon the crowd of wigs Deneath.
| There is no spacious accommodation lot
| the public as we have in or present
Baltimore courts. in which many OF our
weary fellOw-citiZens dOZe away the
hours from 10 to o'clock.
Perhaps the first thing to attract al
tentiOn IS the smallness OF the court
rooms. Most Of them are about nan tle
| size Of our Court of Common fIeas' Win
high ceiling, often surmOunted win a Gu
/ pom, through the windows OF Whlch, as
well as by side windows, light IS ADMIT
ted. From the very opening OF the spleh-
| ia pile of buildings erected some ten
years ago the insufficient lighting mas
given trouble. Even on bright day the
nght is not the best, and considering lnal
dark or rainy days in London largely Ots-
number those on which the sun shlnts
brightly or at all, IT is EVIDENT that me
difficulty is serious. The Londoner, how
ever, does not seem to object 10 CLOUDY
weather.
Whenever there is a day in which there
IS no actual rain, you may expect 10 near
the remark that IL Is a fine DAY. There
is a story OF an Englishman, returning
home from a more sunny land, VINO OBJ
served 10 his friend while sailing along
the coast IN heavy rain-storm, Ihanh
Goodness, We are ont OF that eVellaS NE
sunshine" But returning 70 the court
rooms, the walls are all dark In color, so
that, with the insufficient lighting, on
cloudy days it is sometimes Impossible
for the court and counsel 10 read the
LEGAL documents. These documents are
almost all i'm handwriting upon unWieidy
sheets of yaper. about half as large as a
page Of the sun. TypeTriting and type
writer paper have not yet IcuLu tnelr
way into legal methods.
The Judge or Judges sit upon an ele-
waited platform, as with us, but 50 iish
from the level of the floor OF the room
that the clerk OF the court, IN ORDER 10
stand upon chair. In front OF the judge
and clerk tie desks for the counsel are
arranged in rows of from SIX 10 WE'VE
each, one beside the other IKE chulreh
Cesks in q school-rOOm, each desk LOOKING
very untidy with its covering OF INK
stains made by drops from the gum pens,
which are almost exclusively used. be
hind these desks the harristers ana soli-i-
tors sit on the wooden seats lAeu upon
the rows Of desks behind.
There IS 10 trial table, as we unueI-
stand the term. The barrister stands AT
his desk and addresses the court or eN-
amines the Witnesses who stand III the
Judge or indeed. sometimes on the
witness-box, almost on a level with the
| Judges platform, and within ten Feet OF
him. The Judge Is addressed by counsei
as "my Lord" but the words as EIo-
uounced seem more like me Lud. TIC
| Judge has a Took in which he takes CO.
pOus notes of the testimony OF the wltnes-
( Cs and as he finishes writing out q sen
1 tence, he may utter d erunt INTENDED 70
| mean ives" or well" as q signal that ne
! has made his note Of the evidence and is
ready for the examination or the VII
| ress IN proeeed There are no Official
! court stcnOgraphers, and there IS, theie-
! fore, no official written record OF tHe
| evidence except the notes OF the Judges
| ana counsel.
Representatives Of press agencies are
! however. generally in attendance, ana
| make stonOgrayhic notes of interesting
| points The London newspapers publish
Verv fun accounts Of all cases Of any I'M
! pOrtancc. especially In divorce and breach
! of promise cases. ] listened 10 the tfial
Of case Of The latter character ~ Wllc1
! the plaintiff sued Tor HOyD damages.
! Her solicitor lad compromised the case
| without her authority for 1900. but she
| refused 10 accept the settlement and ih-
| sisted upon a trial. She had been arrest
| ed for sOme assault growing out Of the
! case. and can into court IT, custody OF
! an officer She had no counsel and con-
| Quoted her own case, with the natural
/ result Of a judgment against her. When
/ the verdict was rendered she ran ior-
| ward, screaming abuse at the counsel
! and defendant and trying 70 attack the
/ latter. and there was a fierce struggle
before she was finally quoted by the
| court officers. While this was going on
the Judge quietly left the room.
IL cannot be said that the proceedings
| IN these courts are conducted with any
1 great tmpressiveness; on the contrary. the
! W. vol 10 of ON ha "a
! cases which | listened 10 were tried by
eminent Queens counsel before the
greatest judges in England. including the
| Lord Chief Justice and others of appellate
rank Yet there We're several occasions
| IN these trials when the judge and the
! opposing counsel were all talking together
! for a me ment end often there We're
tin IS WREN two persons were talking
and the judge WAS not apparently listen
ing TO either.
Perhaps the Jack Of solemnity IS caused
chiefly by the practice OF the judges
constantly to interrupt counsel and Wit
ncses. These interruptions often result
in an exierded dialogue or argument,
J which does not quite agree with our ideas
| of dignity Yet the practice has the adj
vantage OF enabling the judge TO get al
the root of question quickly by cutting
on unnecessary speech. or by putting
/ questions which show the faliacy-tO the
| judges mind-of the arguments Of coup-
! sci. The judge also. by taking n witness
/ III manu- StIOFdllF gers a Ilrt't reply 10
a question more quickly than the counsel
could, as the witness cannot very we'll
| carry on a verbal sparring match with
! the Judge as ne may with the laWye-.
At the same time the practice is some
! what liable TO abuse by interfering with
! the counsol's management Of a case, and
| could not avoid the idea that n GER
| tain petulance Of manner observed in
| some OF the Judges was to be in part at
| trinuted 10 their getting into arguments
! with counsel and witnesses
The ludges themselves are the most in
tresting feature of the English courts
| Behold tie Lord chief Justice OF Eng
land. Sir Charles Russell. with Mr. Bar
| On Pollock, Mr.. Justice Grantham. Mr.
Justice Lawrence, and Mr.. Justice
Wright. sttin, as an Appellate Court
| The Lord Chief Justice wears a dark blue
silk gown, with wide black facing in the
front, and with sleeves trimmed with
gray from the wrist TO the elbow. over
his shoulder and across his breast Is
wound a wide bright red silk scarf, Willie
| from his neck hang two white starche~
ties. On his head is a wig. with a red
| spot IN the crown. all except the crown
being done up in little curls. On his nose
are gold spectacles, and from his -pock-
| ct he draws a large red silk handker-
chief OF brilliant design. and occasionally
he takes a pinch Of snuff Altogether the
Lord Chief Justice is a picturesque specta-
ella The other judges are attired In q