THE WORLD OF BOOKS.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 14344, 24 October 1910, Page 8

THE WORLD OF BOOKS.

INTO ITS HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS. (By ‘'Wayfarer,”) “When a man loves books lie has in him that which will console him under many sorrows and -strengthen him in various trials.” —J. H. I riswell. HENRY HAWKINS OF HITCHIN, HERTS. (Part II.) Some excuse might perhaps be made for a jury because it did not know which to choose of seven defences put forward. But the action of another jury was so amazing that one cannot wonder that many men who have had experience of the law arc stoutly opposed to the jury system. This is how Hawkins told the story of this jury:—“l don’t think I have mentioned a curious reason that a jury once gave for not finding a prisoner guilty, although he had been tried on a charge of a most terrible murder. The evidence was irresistible to anybody but a jury, and the case was one of inexcusable brutality. The man had been tried for the murder of his father and mother, and, as I said, the evidence was too clear to leave a doubt as to his guilt. The jury retired to consider their verdict, and were away so long that the judge sent for them and asked if there was any point upon which he could enlighten them, '1 hey answered no, and thought they understood the ease perfectly well. Alter a great deal ol further consideration they brought in a verdict of ’ not gniity.’ The judge was apgry at so outrageous a violation of their plain duty, and did what lie ought not to have done—namely, asked the reason they brought in such a verdict, when they knew the culprit was guilty ami ought to have been hanged. ‘That’s just it, my lord, said the foreman of this distinguished body. T assure you wo had no doubt about the prisoner’s guilt, but wo thought there had been deaths enough in the family lately, and so gave him the benefit of the doubt!’ ” . Sometimes, of course, the judge himself is partly responsible for a jury returning a wrong verdict; not all judges can sum up a ease intelligibly to the average layman. Hawkins himself, early in his career, had this brought homo to him emphatically. His story of how this happened runs as follows: “As an illustration of the necessity of giving the jury a clear idea of the evidence in the simplest case, I will state what took place at Exeter. Juries arc unused to evidence, and have very often to be told what is tho hearing of it. In a case of fowl-stealing which I was trying, there was a curious defence raised, which seemed too ridiculous to notice. It was that the fowls had crept into the uose-bag in which they had been found, ami which was in the prisoner’s possession, in order to shelter themselves from tho east wind. Forgetting that possibly I had an unreasoning and ignorant jury lo deal with, I thought they would at once see through so absurd a defence, and did not insult their common-sense by summing up. I merely said, ‘Gentlemen, do you believe in the defence?’ They put their heads together, and kept in that position for some time, and at last, to my utter amazement, said, ‘Wo do, rny lord ; we find the prisoner not guilty.’ It was a verdict for tho prisoner and a lesson for mo.” Moneylenders as a rule have got such a bad name that it is pleasant to learn that there are some really honest and generous men. Of this latter typo was Sam Lewis, of whom Hawkins says: “Ho never was known to take advantage of. a man in difficulties, and ho never did, nor to charge anyone exorbitant interest. I have known him lend to men and allow them to fix their own time of payment, their own rate of interest, and their own security. Ho often lent without any at all. lie knew his men, and was not fool enough to trust a rogue at any amount of interest. Ho was known and respected by all ranks, and never more esteemed than by those who had pecuniary transactions' with him. He was the soul of honour, and his transactions were worldwide ; business passed through his hands Unit would have been entrusted nowhere else, so that he was rich, and no one was more .deservedly so. Here is an incident in Lewis's business life that will show one phase of his chni actor. He held a number of hills, many of which wore suspected by him 10 bo forged—that is to say, that tne figures had boon altered after the signature of tile acceptor had been written. They were all in the name of Lord . One day Lewis met his lordship : n die jr tk, and mentioned his suspicion, at the same time inviting him to call and examine the bills. The noble lord was a little amazed, and proceeded at once to Lewis’s office. Sealing himself on one side of the table with his lordship on the other, Lewis handed to him flic hills one by one and requested him to set aside those that were forged. The separation having been made, it appeared that over twenty thousand pounds’ worth of tho bills were forged! Tho noble lord was a little startled at the discovery, but Ids mind was soon eased by Lewis putting the whole of tho forged hills into the fire. ‘There’s an end to them, my lord,’ said lie. ‘We. want no prosecution, mid 1 do not wish to receive payment from yon. I ought to have examined them with more rare, and you ought not to have left space enough before the first figure to supplement it by another. Tho rogue could not resist the temptation.’ So ended this monetary transaction, creditable alike to the honour and generosity of the moneylender.” The greater port ion of a very interesting chapter of (I awl; i m’:; “Reminiscences” is devoted to Sam Warren, the famous author of “Ten Thousand a Year.” Warren was appointed a master in lunacy, and a part of his duties consisted of visiting lunatic asylums with a view to reporting to the authorities his opinion of the patients’ mental condition. In so doing he met with several curious experiences, but I have space for only one of those quoted by Hawkins. “One of my patients,” said Warren, “told mo be bad married the devil’s daughter, when 1 was asking him about bis relations. ‘Sim was a nice girl enough,’ he said, ‘and although my people thought I had married beneath me, I was satisfied with her rank, seeing she was a prince’s daughter. We wont off on our honeymoon in a chariot of fire, which her father lent ns for the occasion, and had a comfortable time of it at Monlo Clarlo, where all the hotels are under her father’s special patronage.’ ‘I hope,’ said I, ‘your marriage was a happy one.’ ‘Yes,’ said he, with n sigh, ‘hut wo don’t get on well with tho old folks.’ ”

A chapter which, besides bciiv? rory amusing, throws a side-light on English elections of the ’sixties, is'that recounting tho story of Hawkins’s candidature for Barnstaple. Hawkins would not descend to bribery and corruption to win tho seat, and so lie lost it. Before be accepted tho candidature of Barn-

staple he had boon told by a friend that tho latter had been making inquiries as to how the little borough of T’otnes could he won, and that the lowest figure required as an instalment to commence with was ;C7(K)O. But the experience at Barnstaple eventually well repaid Hawkins, until ho became a judge, as the following excerpt will show:—“Another class of work which gave me much pleasure and interest was that of election petitions. These came in such abundance that I had to put on, as 1 thought, a prohibitory fee, which in reality increased the volume of my labour. One day Baron Martin asked me if I was coming to such and such an election petition. ‘No.’ 1 answered, ‘no; 1 have put a prohibitory fee on my services; I can’t he bothered with election petitions.’ ‘How much have yon put on?' ‘Five hundred guineas, and two hundred a day..’ The Baron laughed heartily. ‘A prohibitory fee! They must have you, Hawkins — they must have you. Put on what you like; make it high enough, and they’ll have you all the more.’ And I did. It turned out a very lucrative branch of my business, and my electioneering expenses were a good investment. My experience at Barnstaple repaid the outlay, and no feature of an election ever came before me hut I recognised a family likeness.” In those rather “scrappy” notes 1 have been able to touch upon only a few of the many aspects of life of which Hawkins wrote. The book is indeed packed to the brim with matter or with anecdotes that should interest all classes of readers.. From a purely literary point of view it has its defects, amongst which is a lack of continuity, hut those can he forgiven in a man who recalls his life’s history when nearly ninety years old. Severed gaps in Hawkins's Reminiscences have, however, been filled up by Mr. Richard Harris, K.C., at whose instance the book was written,, and who edited it. 1 recommend the hook very heartily to all who are interested in belli hooks and life itself. The edition before mo is that recently issued by Messrs. T. Nelson mid Sons in their shilling library—a wonderfully cheap series, printed in good type oil opaque paper, well-bound, and tastefully “got-up” in every way, even to a gilt top-edge. It is a series that all book lovers should make a point of seeing—buying will follow as a natural sequence. It includes many copyright hooks, and is particularly strong in memoirs, etc. My copy comes from Mr. T. Avery. (Concluded.) In future this column will appear every Thursday, on account of the invariable pressure on our space on Saturdays.