The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-02-17
JUDGE MAKES SHOW
OF AMBIDEXTERITY

try this so called cowardice case. which
mas turned on the question or the con-
Edmondson. as experimentation of tho
Imperial Yeomanry during the Boer
Wlar--Edmondson suing l.. G. Amery
for damages. for having published dur
ing the recent general election, in
w olNcrhampton newspaper, q letter i'm
pugning his bravery In the South Afri-
can War--was most inappropriate and
mpolitic. For # there IS an effeminate
Judge on the English bench. and man
incapable OF determining just what is
courage and what cowardice. who. In
one word, is the reverse of everything
that is masculine and viri!e. 1t is Sir
Walter Phillimore. This is ali the more
elaring. since most OF his judicial coll
leagues, headed by the Lord Chief Jus
tice. are former athletes. several Of
them, indeed. having rowcd In the in
ter-univerSty Oxford and Cambridge
boat races.
Sir Walter, perhaps owing to this
tendency TO cffeminacy, pays more at
tcntion than any of his collca CUES. to
the sumptuary adornments Of his of
flee, and some time ago attracted at
tcntion. by his delivery Of an address
subject. According to him, the robes
of English judges were originally
priests garments, the clergy in London
then being the only men Of sufficient
intricate and too difficult for the great
harons TO determine The scarlet gown.
he declared. was nothing more nor less
than a closed cape. The black girdle
or sash which he wore, and the stole.
We're originally the priests cincture
and the deacon's, stole. The wig. he
Charles IT,, when grave men such az
prclates and Judges, wore nIain, pow
Icred wigs, in contradistinction to the
flowing .curls Of the courtiers. And
mas More wore. and which the judges
now only don to meet the Lord Mayor
or London. and when pronouncing SEN
tence Of death is distinctly Of cIert-
cal origin. having been worn by the
clergy prior to the Reformation and
also subsequently thereto. Sir Walter
Phillimore wound UP his lecture to the
girls. by adding his favoritc explana-
ton that the judges robes are not
donned for the purpose Of gratifying
their vanity, or merely for the sake of
dressing up but in order to impress
both the wearer and others with "thc
awe and majesty of>thc law"
! There Is no judge on the English
| bench whose sentences in criminal
cases have been more often reversed
on account of their excessive severity
By the Court of Criminal Appeal, and
prior to that by the Secretary OF state
for the Home Department, acting in
Of Sir Walter Phllimore, whose horror
for everything in the nature Of sin,
especially when II is connected with
either brutality or immortality. mani
ltStS llSell III INC most reIc0tlcSS
harshness and intolcrab1o cruelty
To show the peculiar character Of tho
man. may mention that when, owing
| TO the Illness Of the president Of the
| Divorce Court, he had to take his place
in order to pronounce absolute num-
| her Of decrees ntsi--that is to say, to
complete the last step In the proceed
ings by means Of which marriage is
dissolved---he considered 1t necessary to
proclaim from his seat on he bench in
petulant, supercilious and Irritating
| tone. that "Rcforc taking this step. r
| tian man, how much I regret. on So
| ciaI moral and religious grounds the
! facilities given by Parliament for dis
| solving marriages. But wha t tho lcGis-
| laturo has I'm It's wisdom or 1nwisdom
| dccrccd must he carried out by It's ofli-
: GERS; and rs I have nothing 10 do with
making or unmakinG marriages. OK