The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1907-12-19
ONE OF ENGLAND'S
FAMOUS JUR|STS
Lord %6rampton, "Judge Haw.
kins," Sill Vigorous at
Age OF 90 Years.
From the Kansas City Star.

rTom Ine haHSaS lily star.
As vigorous as eve mentally, though
somewhat enfeebled physically, Lord
Brampton, better known to the world
as Sir Henry Hawkins, the most ia
nous of English judges, has just ecele-
brated his Goth birthday. The son of u
country solicitor, he Is one Of the few
instances of a successful man who. at
the very start of his career, struck the
line in which his natural powers best
htted him to excel.
His success, however. was not RAPIDLY
attained. For some years after his call
to the bar his income did not exceed
an average of $500 per annum. But a
few years after he was made a queens
counsel, at the age OF 81, his law prac-
tice was bringing him in $50, 900 a year.
His acceptance OF a Judgeship when he
was 81 involved a great pecuniary sac
r1hce on his part, for his official salary
was only $4,000. AS counsel he fig
ured In most Of the important cases Of
his time. The part he played In the
great Ttchborne case, in which he thor
oughly exposed the fraudulent preten-
sions of h plebeian claimant to a
b~aronetcy, put the finishing touches to
his fame as q lawyer.
What he was III in his cross-exam-
lining prime may be instanced by Potto
browns case, narrated in his own
"Reminiscences" Potto was a miller
from whom corn had been stolen. but
when he should have appeared in the
witness box he was not to be found.
Hawkins was for h defense, and Potto
had heard Hawkins cross-examine I'm
h case before his own. So he drove
on In his trap as fast as his nag could
carry him, leaving behind this parting
message:
II Hawkins wants me he will have
TO nnd me u n fetch me. I'm not
going to be cross-examined by him II
i know II! I'm of. Tell him what I
say, osler."
AS a Judge he had a great reputation
for severity which was not altogether
deserved. He could temper justice with
mercy. In capital cases II was his Gus
tom to postpone sentences until all the
prisoners had been tried. so that he
might look through his notes with a
view to making the most of extenuating
circumstances. Don't pay any atten-
ton to what I am going to read" he
said, in sentencing to death a poor girl
who had killed her child; mo harm will
De done to you. l am sure you did not
know, In your great sorrow and trou-
Die, what you were doing; and I will
take care to make such representations
concerning your case, in the proper
quarters, mat no harm shall befall you
IN the way OF punishment"
1t was to the chronic criminal and
the brutal evil-doer. especially il he
had wronged q woman, that Judge
Hawkins was a terror.
Innumerable stories of his wit ara
told. A prisoner who came before him
Tor trial first pleaded guilty, then with
drew that plea and declared himself to
be innocent. The jury acquitted him.
said the judge: Prisoner, a few min
utes ago you said you were a thief.
NOW the jury say you are a liar Com
sequently you are discharged"
Equally good was his retort to a
olsnop who claimed that the episcopal
'ofhce was superior to the judicial. in
asmuch as the most a Judge could say
to a man was, You be hanged" while
a bishop could say. You be damned"
Yes" replied Lord Brampton, but
when I say to a man, You be hanged
he is hanged"
His is truly a green old age, for he is
still able to take an interest in all his
old pursuits, including sport-he is a
keen lover OF racing and one of the few
judges who have ever been elected to
the Jockey club.