Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-11-07
BENCH AND BAR
Amusing Legal Scraps" Between
English Judges and Lawyers.
The LATTER HOLD THEIR own FINELY
Noted Jurists Who Are Famed for
Their Wit and Humor.
INTER ESTING ENCOUNTERS
INTERESTING ENCOUNTERS
From the London Globe.

judges and advocates are not uncommon in
France nd other countries, where the ju-
dietary has little or nothing in common
with the general body of the legal profess
sion: but they are OF rare occurrence in this
country. where the bench Is in intimate
touch with the bar. The late Lord Esther,
whenever he addressed Il gathering of bar
listers. was fond of declaring that his judi
cial rank did not prevent him from being
one Of themselves. This union of interest
and sentiment is recognized by every occ.l-
pant Of the bench. with the result that con-
flicts with tho bar are extremely rare. Now
and again the good feeling that exists be
tween the bench and the bar is disturbed.
but the conflict is never serious. the cause
of the disturbance being usually as petty
as the encounter is brief. II was different
before tic independence Of the bar was so
HInly established as it is at present. A
dispute arose between Erskine and MIR Jus
t1ce Butler in the famous case of the Dean
or ST Nsaph as to recording the word
only as a part Of the verdict Of the jury
i stand here said ETskine. "as an adj
yoCate for Il brother citizen, and | desire
that the word only be recorded" Where
upon Mr. Justice Butler said: Sit down,
sir; remember Your duty, or l shall be
Obliged 10 proceed in another manner" Err
skine rvtoTted: Your Iordship NAV pro-
coed in what manner You think fit [ know
my duty as well as your lordshiD knows
yours shall not alter my conduct The
victory IN this encounter lay with Erskine.
the disputed word being added to the YER
Qlct without any further remark by the
Judge. Lord Campbell has described the
hTm attitude of Frskiue OF this occasion
as noble stand for the independence of
the bar There WAS a time when it was
Dy n" means an uncommon thing for an ad-
Eocate to be threatened by a judge with
punishment for contempt Of court hut
mere Is scarcely an instance Of the threat
being carried on
member of the bar who appeared at
t4e ulai OF the conspiTators ~ the PaDish
plot accused two judge of breaking their
oath ard of running him For this attack
upon the honor Of the bench he was order
cd 10 pay fine Of 400, to be imDrisoned
uhtlI thr fIe was paid, and to provide a
surety for his good behavior for seven
years. Nor was this the whole of the pun
lshment that was inflicted upon him. He
was dlSbarreG. the indignity to which he
was submitted being suggestive IF the deg
radiation Of Dreyfus. His gown. by order
OF the court. was pulled over his ears by
the tlp>iaH- Tn only modern instance of
baTrlSjer being committed for contempt
OF court occurred some ten or twelve
years AGO II was proved TO the satisfan-
ton IF Mr.. Justice Kay that q member Of
the bar had pTactic-d fraud upon rhe
court by using an affidavit which he knew
was false a motion for his committaI was
made. and the learned judge found him
sultlE OF nbSirEctluS the course of Justice
and ordered him to stand committed until
further order. But in neither of these
cases did the punishment fall upon the a1-
NOcate while he was conducting his clients
cause. Probably the Tichborne trial was
marked by more encounters between the
bench and the bar than any other case ever
tried IN the English courts but even Dr.
kenealy'S studied disreSpect did not induce
the Judges to deprive the claimant of the
services Of his counsel though they Sow
eTal times reminded the unruIy advoc;.t,
OF the powers with which they we're armed
Bar Comes Out Ahead
When the bench and the bar do come
INTO conflict the victory lies almost in
yariably with the bar At any rate. the
bench usually loses more than the bar.
since its dignity Is supposed to be greater.
An encounter between Curran. the famous
Irish advocate. and Mr.. Justice Robinson.
a somewhat ih-tempered Irish judge, is
worth recalling in this connection. 'Sir.'
exclaimed the judge, in an angry tone. You
are forgetting the respect that YOU owe to
the dignity of the judicial character Dig
nifty. my iOTGr' retOrted Curran: ''IDnn tina
point i shall cite you case from a book
of some authority with which you are per
maps not unaCQUainted A poor SCOTCH
man. upon his arrival in London thinking
himself insulted by a stranger, and imaeir-
ing that ne was the stronger man. resolved
TO resent the affrpnt and. taking off his
coat. delivered it To a bystander to hold:
but, having lost the battle he turned TO re-
sumo his garment, when he discovered that
he had unfortunately lost that alSo-that
the trustee Of his habiliments had decam7-
ed during the fray So. my lord. when the
person who is invested with the dignity of
the judgment seat lays IL aside for a mo-
ment to enter into q disgraceful personal
contest. 1t is vain, when he has been wor-
sted in the encounter, that h. seeks TO re-
sumo it; it is in vain that he eudeavors to
shelter himself behind an authority which
he has abandoned.
in IL
Ing words cried out IF YOU say another
word. sir. III commit you" Whereupon
Currau made the witty but impertincnt re-
tort: Then, my lord. it will he the best
thing you'll have committed for many a
year The indignant judge did not carry
out his threat to commit the daring advo-
cate, but afterwari sought to get him dis
bsrred-an undertaking in which ne QId no-
succeed The bench i armed with a power
full weapon in its power of committing an
uuruly advocate for contempt of court, bat
the lar possesses a weapon Of equal
strength in it's ability to boycott a Judge
who makes himself obnoxious TO its MEM
bsrs- Only once has this weapon been used.
some twenty-five years ago. After the
passing of the judicature act. the expert
ment was made of sending the chancery
Judges on circuit one of these Judges who
had spent the whole of his professional
life i'll the equity courts. and knew nothing
whatever Of the business of a common law
judge. was guilty or number Of errors
which eventually led TO the experiment be
ing abandoned. Among the mistakes he
committed was that Of passing some stric-
lures upon the conduct of a member of the
circuit which were quite undeserved. The
other members of the circuit duly consid-
cred the matter I'm the evening. and de-
cided not to appear before the learned
judge until an apology was made When
the learned judge took his seat the fol-
lowing morning he was surprised 10 find
that not a single member of the bar was
present in the court. He Immediately sent
an inquiry to the leader of the circuit. and.
upon ascertaining the cause of the absence
of the bar. acknowledged his mistake, with
the result that the offended barristers re-
suned their places in court, and the bust
ness Of the assizes was at once proceeded
with.
Objected to Lawyers Clothes.
A well-known judge. who has ceased to
adorn the bench. was distinguished, among
many other things. for the punctuality with
which he rose at 4 O'Clock in the afternoon,
and for the unpunctuality with which he
took his seat in the morning. Mr. Justice
Bigham. then leading advocate in the
queen bench courts, waited for the learn
ed judge from 1880 till 1875 Having an
other case elsewhere ne left the court for
the purpose of seeing how II was progress
ing. While he was gone the learned iudga
~ ~.