THE HUMAN TOUCH.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20252, 11 May 1929, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE HUMAN TOUCH.

UNPAID LAWYER WINS CASE. OOTJRT STORY FROM PARIS, The other day the chill and dreary atmosphere of a Paris police court was lit by one of those gleams that Dickens or Anatole France would have loved. A shabby, old man stood in the dock, every line of his thin body and colourless face eloquent of despair. The police accused him of begging, and he seemed to say, " What is the use of denying it ? Who would listen to a poor, old fellow like me ? They will send me to prison, and I shall break my heart with shame." He listened with bent head in a kind of hopeless silence. A policeman gave evidence. On a bitter night the old man had coine to a cafe where the proprietor had set a brazier of burning coals on the pavement and a few customers sat at little tables. The old man drew near to the brazier and played his violin. He did not ask for money, but he lingered. That was as bad as begging. The accused did not pluck up courage to speak, and all would have been over for him if a lawyer had not suddenly stood up and addressed the judge. " I am not engaged to plead for the accused," he said; "in fact, I have no right to speak. But if I had the right to speak I should say that it seems to me no crime for a poor, old musician, to linger in the hope of some reward, and I would ask your Worship to have pity on such honest poverty."

The unusual incident caused a little ripple in the court. That dismal place became humanised. For once red tape and police regulations were of no account, and the old fiddler was astonished to find himself discharged. He could only shake his champion's hand in silence, with tears in his eyes.