THE LATE LORD BRAMPTON.

NZ Truth, Issue 132, 28 December 1907, Page 7

THE LATE LORD BRAMPTON.

"MR. ORKINS "AND THE GRATEFUL BURGLAR. The Great Tichborne Trial — Some Good Stories of the Great Judge.

The death of Lord Brampton—better known, of course, as Sir Henry Hawkins — will be received with deep regret m legal and political ' circles. Six months ago, writes a Scottish exchange under date October 12,_ it may "be remembered, his Lordship had a serious illness, from which it was hardly expected he would recover, but his magnificent constitution pulled him through, and from that time till recently he enjoyed fairly good, health, considering his great age. The great judge passed peacefully away at half-past six on Sunday evening at his residence m Tilney-street, Park Lane, London. To the vast majority of people, the announcement of the death of Baron Brampton would have conveyed more had "it teen made under the title of Sir Henry Hawkins, for it was as Mr Justice Hawkins, and later, on his elevation to the Judicial 1 Bench, as Sir Henry, that the famous lawyer made his name a household word wherever Britons were gathered together. Lord Brampton's life Was a long and busy one, for he was born the year after Waterloo was won, and for over half- a century he practos'ed as advocate and Judge, m the profession which he ornamented. He was the son of Mr John Hawkins, of Hitchin, and was. educated at Bedford Grammar School, the family intention being to make an attorney of him, m - order that he might inherit the offices and emoluments of his uncle, who. had, a snus 1 legal business. But . young Hawkins viewed the prospects of spending his days on the drudgery of a lawyer's office with disfavor, and so made a bid for hi/rher things by setting off to London , on a limited allowance, to qualify as a barrister. THE TIdHBORNE TRIAL. It was m the Tichborne trial that Hawkins made the greatest effort of his life. The trial of the claimant for perjury remains the longest criminal trial on record m this country. It occupied 188 days, and was spread over two years. The claimant had been telling the story since 1867, and it was 1873 befoie he found himself m the dock. Dr. Kencaly— "one of the finest classical scholars of his day," says Sergpant Ballautj ne— now led for the defendant, and Mr Hawkins was the leader for the prosecution. Kenealy insulted the judges and disgusted the jury. "My opponent," wrote Hawkins, "sought day by day some cause of quarrel with me. At times he was most insulting, and grew almost hourly worse, until I was compelled, m order to^stop , his insults, to declare openly that! would never speak to him again 1 on this side of the gr^ve, and I. never, did. I did what I could to shorten the proceedings,", writes Hawkins. "My opening speech was confined to six days, as compared with 28 on the other side; mv reply to nine. But that reply was a labor fearful to look back upon. .Happily for the cause of justice ■:,. I- succeeded." His father, who had opposed his going to tlie bar, was m .court and witnessed his triumph. Soph; afterwards he was offered a brief marked with a fee* of 20,000 .guineas'- t0 ... ;go out to India and defend the GaeTewar of Baroda on the - charge of attem ptii}g to poison; the .British. 'Resident, '-but this offer. was ; declined. ."';' Etis . income 'at this time was pranpely> . .* " . THE BURGLAR'S OFFER. Lord Brampton 'has told' his numerous queer stories. Here is one : — "I was m court one day at Guil-. ford, when a respectably-dressed : man m a velveteen suit of yellow-green color and pearl buttons came up to me. He looked like one of Lord Onslpw's gamekeepers. I knew nothing of him, but seemed to recog-

nise his features as those of one I had seen before. When he came m front of my seat he grinned with immense satisfaction, and said, 'Can I get you anything, Mr Orkins ?' I could not understand the man's meaning. ' No, thank you,' I said. 'What do - you mean ?' 'Don't you recollect, sir, you defended me at Kingston for a burglary charge, and got me, off, Mr Orklris, m flyin' colors,?' I recollected. 'Very well,' I said ; 'I hope you will never want defending again.' 'No, sir ; never.' 'That's right.' 'Would a tea-pot be of any use to you, Mr Orkins V 'A teapot !' 'Yes, sir, or a few silver spoons— anything you like to name, Mr Orkins.' I begged him to leave the court. 'Mr Orkins, I will ; but I am grateful for you gettin' me oft that job, and if a piece o' plate will be any good, I'll guarantee it's good old family stuff as'll fetch) a lot o' money some day.' , I. again refused, and then, disappointed at my not accepting things of greater value, he said, 'Sir, will at sa»ck o* taters be of any service to you ?' " STORY OF A GROSS-EXAMINA-TION. Here is !a deliigjhtM story of a crossexamination, told m Lord Brampton's own words :— lt was man action for nuisance, before Tindal, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, at Croydon Assizes. Thesiger was for the plaintiff, who complained pf a nuisance caused by the bad smells that emanated from a certain tank on the defendant's premises, and called a very respectable but ignorant, laboring man to prove his. case. Platt began his cross-examination of poor Hodge by asking him m his most coaxing manner to describe the character and nature of the various stenches. The witness said, "Some on 'em smells summat like paint." This was quite sufficient for Platt. "Come, now," he said, "that's a very sensible answer. You are aware as a man of undoubted intelligence, that there are various colors of paint. Has the smell any particula' color, think you ?" "Well,. I dunnow, sir."-- "Don't answer hurriedly, take your time. We only want to get- at the truth. Now, what color do you say that smell belongs to? What do you say to yellow ?" "WalJ sir, I.doan't think ur was yaller, mither v ;.N6, sir, not" quite valler ; I thin.lt; it. was moore o' a blue smell.'-' "A blue ! smell. We all know a blue smellvwjbein we see it." The laughter whs going on m peals, much to Platt's delight. Tidal was simply m an ecstacy, but did all he could to siiDprcss his enjoyment of the scene. Than vP'lat-t resumed—" You think it was more of a blue smell like ? Now, i let, me ask you, there are many kinds of blue smells, from the smell of- a Blue Peter, which is salt, to that of the sky, which depends upon the weather. Was it dark or " • ROARS OP LAUGHTER IN COURT. "A kind of blue sky. sir."' . '.'More like your scarf?" Up went Hodge's hand to see if he could feel, the; color. "Yes," said he, "that's more like -—— " '"Zummut like your scarf?" "Yes, sir." Then he was asked as to a variety of solids ■ and liquids, and the man shook his, head, intimating -that he could go a deuce of a way, but that there -were; bounds even to human knowledge. Then Platt questioned him on; less abstruse topics, and to all bis questions, he kept answering,, "Yes, my lord." "Were fish remnants," asked Platt, ."sometimes thrown into this reservoir of filth, such as old cods' heads with goggle eyes ?" "Yes, my , lord." "Rari nantes m gurgite vasto ?" "Yes, my, lord." Thesiger could stand it no. longer. He had been writhing while the court had been roaring with laughter which all the ushers m the universe could not suppress. "My lordj my' lord, there must be some limit even to cross-ex-amination by my friend. Does your lordship think it is fair to suggest a classical quotation to a respectable but illiterate laborer ? " Tindal, who could not keep his countenance — and no man who witnessed the scene could— said, "It all depends, Mr Thesiger, whether this man understands Latin." Whereupon Platt immediately said, "Now, my man, attend. 'Rari nantes m gurgite vasto.' You understand that, do you not?" "Yes, my lord," answered the witness, stroking his chin. Tindal, tiving all he could to suppress his laughter, said, "Mr Thesiegr, the witness says ie understands the quotation, and as you have no evidew d to the contrary, I do not see how I can help. you." IT'S OLD 'AWKINS. Very humorous was an exoerionce of the Judge while travelling to P^psom some years ago to see the Derby. The tVaiir was just leaving the station when a "flash" cardsharper jumped into the carriage. One glance at the other occupant of the apartment, bowever, was enough. "Oh;; Lor' !"' he ejaculated, "it's old 'Awkins 1 !" and m spite of the danger of the manoeuvre, made a flying leap on to the rapidly receding platform. One of the best stories told by the late Lord Brampton, curiousily enough, is due , to a Scotsman. Lord Watson told him at Gray's Inn of a very stupid and very rude Scots Judge, who once, when a celebrated advocate was arguing before him, pointed with one forefinger to one of his ears, and with the other to the opposite one—" You see this, Mr ?" "1 do, my lord," said the advocate, "Well, it just goes m here, and comes out there !" "I do not doubt it. my lord," said the advocate. "What is there to prevent it?" HTS TENDERNESS FOR WOMEN. Some of the Judges of his earlier days were characters. He did not forget them. Justice James, too, the polite Judge, who, m the old days, when prisoners were hanged for trifling offences, and sentenced m hatches, forgot to sentence a prisoner, and apologised to him m the following terms : "Jolrn Robin?, I find ,1 have accidentally omitted your

name m my list of, prisoners doomed to execution. ■It ■vy^.s quite accidental,, I assure you,! and I ask your pardon for my mistake. I am very sorry, and can only add that you will be hanged, with the rest. 1 ? On the Bench it is said that Sir Henry had always a tender corner for a poor woman. He had a great dislike to sentencing women to death who had been recommended to mercy, and would be reprieved. On one such oc- | casion, the sheriff asked if he was not going to put on the black cap. ! "No," I answered, "I am not. I do not intend tke. poor creature to be hanged, and I am not going to frighten her to death." Addressing her by name, I said : "Don't pay any attention to what I am going to read. No harm will be done to you. I am sure you did not know m your great trouble and sorrow what you were doing, and I will take care to represent your case so that nothing will harm you m the way of punishment." I then mumbled over the words of the sentence of death, so tha/t the poor creature did not hear them. , A DEATH SENTENCE SCENE. His common-sense knowledge of the motives and frailties of men and women enabled -h^n always to penetrate a veil of subterfuge or intrigue or falsehood, and his acquaintance with the sordid ways and passionate romances of human nature are almost exceptionable. It may be illustrated by a single anecdote. A prisoner, convicted of murder at the Old Bailey, was asked, according to question, if he had anything to say why sentence of death should not be pass-' ed upon him. In hoarse tones; full of terror, he declared himself innocent of the crime, and ended a brief but passionate harangue with the words, "May God strike me dead if I done it!" Mr Justice Hawkins, who was about to assume the black cap, laid it aside for a moment, and put on an air of expectancy, which made every heart m the court stop beating. After an interval, which seemed endless, he spoke slowly and softly, and said, with dreadful irony : "As the Almighty has not seen fit to answer your prayer, I will now proceed to pass sentence."