Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 18.pdf/535

 500

THE GREEN BAG

brutal conduct of the defendant, and wound up by declaring: "If it had been my sick wife and my furniture which had been set out in the rain under the circumstances described, I do not think the English vo cabulary contains the language I should wish my counsel to use in addressing the jury." This was received, as is not un common in England, but unheard of in America, with frequent laughter and even subdued applause, and the London Times, in its regular legal column the next day, re ported the opinions, indicating the "laugh ter" and "loud laughter" in brackets. The opinions in the books, after being toned down by the reporter, often bear but faint resemblance to the actual utterances. In the House of Lords appeals are equally informal and colloquial, which impression is heightened by the absence of wigs and gowns, so far as the Bench is concerned, and by the very casual manner in which the half-dozen gentlemen composing the court are seated. The House itself is a large, oblong cham ber with steep tiers of seats upholstered in red leather which rise high up the side walls and upon which the peers sit when legislat ing, but which are, of course, now empty. At the far end is an unoccupied throne, while at the near end, raised above the floor, is a kind of box from which counsel address the court. It is much like the rear platform of one of our street-cars. The counsel, of course, are in wig and gown, and if K. C.'s, in full bottomed wigs, but one may occasion ally see a litigant actually arguing his own case in propria persona. On either side of the counsel's box is a very narrow standing place for reporters and the public. The Court, consisting of the Lord Chan cellor and perhaps of five judges, in ordi nary clothing, do not sit in a row nor be hind any bench or table; on the contrary, while the presiding Lord Chancellor does sit vis-a-vis to the counsel box, the others sit where they please — sometimes on the front row of benches and sometimes on one

of the higher tiers, perhaps with a foot propped up upon the bench in front and their thumbs hitched to the armholes of their waistcoats and necessarily with their sides to the speakers. They often have portable tables in front of them piled with books and papers. During the course of an argument they constantly debate with each other across the House, or walk over to one of their colleagues with some document or a book and talk of the case audibly and perfectly freely. One may hear one of them, in a salt and pepper suit, call across the floor to an other who has interrupted a barrister's argument, "I say, can't you give the man a chance to say what he's got to say?" These little circumstances show that judges and counsel in the Appellate Courts of England behave as natural men without the slightest restraint, formality, or selfconsciousness. Arguments are delivered with surprising rapidity of utterance, in a conversational tone, and with a crispness of articulation altogether delightful to the ear. The drawling style of speech sometimes heard on the stage as typical of a certain kind of Englishman seems to have disap peared in real life — it certainly is not to be found in the Courts. An American steno grapher reporting an English case, would have to increase his accustomed speed at least one-third. MASTERS The numerous motions and interlocutory applications supported by affidavits and urged by argument, which consume so much of an American Court's time, are disposed of in England by Masters, who are competent barristers paid handsome salaries. At a certain hour the Master takes his seat at a desk with a printed list of "Appli cations without counsel" or "Applications with counsel" and nods to the uniformed officer at the door who admits the solicitors and barristers, according to which list may be first, one case at a time.