JUSTICE DARLING

Southland Times, Issue 19223, 19 April 1924, Page 9

JUSTICE DARLING

WIT AND THE BENCH. Justice Charles Darling, whose first name is so rarely mentioned that, although he is one of the best-known men in England, few ever have heard it, has just retired from the Bench—and there is a vacancy in English jurisprudence which will not be filled for a long time. Indeed, it never will be filled precisely, declares the .London correspondent of the San Francisco Chronicle, for this just Judge was severe beyond most when necessary, merciful beyond most when justification could be found for it. It is only a few weeks ago that he rounded out a full quarter of a century upon the Bench, and, as he resigns his high position of Judge of the High Court of Justice, King’s Bench Division, he is in his seventy-fourth year. But no one would dream it to look at him, and to hear his voice one would think him 50. To listen to his words and wit one would think him even younger, and a man who never had known care or responsibility. Yet his judicial career has been so singularly distinguished and successful that very few of his decisions have been criticised, and that fewer still of them have been reversed. No man of contemporary English history has presided over so many famous cases, some of them of an importance which echoed around the world. His eyes are among the kindest ever’ seen in a human countenance on ordinary occasions, but as many have discovered, they Tan become very terrible when his sense of justice is outraged. He has delivered sentences with a force and power of invective which has been as deep a punishment to the offender as tjie sentence imposed; he has announced acquitals and discharged from custody those who have been unjustly accused with a tenderness and regret for evil done which have brought tears to the eyes of the most uninterested listeners; he has almost constantly injected into the dull routine of the procedure of his Court a note of human lightheartedness, which has helped everyone to bear the burden of life a little more easily because of the mere fact that this keen-brained, lighthearted, nimble-witted man had lived and been in a prominent position. NEW USE FOR WIT.

In a recent case growing out of some complications in an engineering matter, orie of the counsel said: “As your lordship sees the valve is worked by a spring, and a spring will not last long.” “No,” retorted Justice Darling instantly, “I have read Ver non semper diet.” Those who could'translate the Latin readily roared with laughter, for the Justice’s phrase in English means “Springtime is short.” Once, when informed that a witness named Little was missing, and could not be found, while nothing could be done without him, he said quickly: “That is serious. The quotation still remains true: ‘We want but Little here below.’”

An interesting characterisation of Justice Darling’s vat once was made by a famous counsel: “Justice Darling,” he said, “uses his wit to concentrate attention upon vital points and eliminate from false importance irrelevancies and minor matters.”

For versatility of knowledge he is almost unparalleled, although he is what might be termed an “uneducated” man, never having attended a university. He repeatedly has taken upon himself the examination of witnesses who could not speak English well, and thus has handled natives of Italy, Spain, France and Germany, in their native tongues. He once, with a smile, expressed the firm belief that if called upon he even might “speak enough American to make himself understood.”

He is one of England’s celebrated huntsmen, which with him means not only riding to hounds but shooting; and he is as good a fisherman as he is a horseman and a shot. When he was almost twenty his ambition was to be a paihter, and it nearly happened. Some pictures he has done indicated that had he clung to his ambition he would have won distinction. Once, lacking brushes through forgetfulness, after he had arrived at the scene in the country, he accomplished a very creditable performance by working with his fingers only. “But,” he says, “that was what discouraged me. The task of getting the paint off my fingers turned me from high art to law.”

He has writen hundreds of startlingly witty poems. As a lawyer, both in office work and before Courts, before he was called to the Bench, he made a fine reputation, and is credited with never having accepted a case wherein he did not think his client surely in the right of it. When asked, once, if there was anything in the world worthwhile he had not done, he answered: “Well, perhaps not anything worth while, but I never have been to a revue.” A COURT IN AR.CADY.

Being one of the most original of men he also is one of the most unconventional. Perhaps the two go together. Once, when he was riding in the New Forest, two lawyers and their clients met him. He learned that they were to bring a case before him. “Why not now,” said he, “and thus save time?” They agreed, and forthwith he held Court under a tree, and there Justice Charles Darling, like the kings of France heard the arguments and delivered judgment. All had agreed to abide by his decision, and, being men of honour, did so. Furthermore, both litigants were satisfied, a state of mind more frequently brought about by Justice Darling after the finish of a case than by almost any other Judge in British history. Having finished this particular hearing, he stayed with the group there under the tree and chatted. Delighted by the outcome of the case they asked him about himself. “I never went to school,” he answered. “I never went to a university. lam not an educated person.” It is interesting to note that one day, when someone spoke to him sneeringly of Henry Ford’s alleged aspirations for the Presidency of the United States, mentioning his lack of schooling as a reason, Sir Charles replied: “I am very anxious to meet Henry Ford. Apparently he seems not to have learned as many wrong things as most people.” Justice Darling’s humour in Court never has been at the expense of the litigants. “They,” he says, “have trouble enough when they are in Court. Most of them never wished to be there and never would have been if counsel had not urged them into it.” His wit always is at the expense of counsel, and while usually goodnatured, it sometimes (when this has been justified) has been very bitter.