Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 03.pdf/618

 Wigs and Gowns.

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WIGS AND GOWNS. IN the life of every man, we are told, thoughts hallow the time-stained wig with one moment stands out pre-eminent in their pathos. Not long ago such a barrister joy. Where is that happiest time in the in his last hours desired to see his wig and career of a barrister? Does it come when gown before he died. They were fetched from Lincoln's Inn, and held before his eyes, and he receives his maiden brief, or when he ob tains the earliest verdict in his favor? On a long-lost smile lit up his face. He asked neither of these occasions, delightful as they in almost lifeless tones to have them put on, are, does the fullest measure of bliss fall. The and anxious not to cross even one of his last precious moment conies when the barrister wishes, his relatives at his bedside did as he dons his wig and gown for the first time. bade them, and gently raising his weary As the crisply curled wig closes round his head from the pillow, they placed the ragged head, an unknown thrill of delight rushes wig upon it, and hung the rusty gown upon through his brain, stirring up visions of mas his shoulders. His head sank back upon the sive trees of legal knowledge bearing upon pillow, and his eyelids closed. Suddenly his their spreading branches golden guineas eyes re-opened, his head was raised, and his galore. At the first touch of the brand-new dry lips moved. " May it please your Lor—" gown his mind becomes a panorama of a As these words fell feebly from his lips, his His successful career at the bar; the paper- weary frame sank back once more. crowded table of the busy junior, the dignified soul was before the Great Judge of all men. appearance of an eminent Q. C. address ing a jury, the comfortable proportions of a We give these instances of the attachment seat on the bench, and the unsurpassable that barristers display towards their wigs and glory of the woolsack, — his thoughts revel gowns in order to remove an impression ex in these delights. How brilliant the prospect isting in certain quarters that Q. C.'s and is! What smiling eyes hope has! Once juniors regard their professional head-gear more he looks into the mirror; he fondly as an inconvenient appendage, and that they shifts his wig to the position on his fore would willingly dispense with it. The selfhead that has commended itself last to his constituted philanthropists who manufacture fancy, and arranges again his beautifully this opinion probably derive their conclu starched bands with devotional care. He sions from observing barristers remove their is happy in the boundless possibilities of wigs from their brows in hot weather. Un his position. doubtedly the temptation to dispense with The magic touch of wig and gown! It the head-gear on an excessively sultry day exists at the end as well as in the beginning. in the summer is a very great one; but the Few know of the reverence with which old advocates of these days are so attached to their wigs that they resist this temptation barristers regard their professional head gear. It is the symbol of their labors, the far more successfully than the last genera cherished relic of their wars of argument in tion of lawyers. In the " Times " for 24th court. As the feeble old man, too weak July, 1868, may be found this interesting and deaf to go into court, opens the tin box paragraph, which amply proves our last in which his wig lies, and holds it fondly statement : — with his shaking hand before his fading eye, "During the last two days the learned he thinks of the days of his vigor, of the judge and the bar have been sitting without time when he argued boldly with judges their wigs; and, in opening a case, Sir Robert and pleaded eloquently with juries, and his i Collier called attention to the innovation, and