CHARACTER SKETCHES.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XVII, Issue 17, 16 August 1889, Page 11

CHARACTER SKETCHES.

The Parnell Commission Court (says the Pall Mall Gazette. June 6) has sat for the ninetieth time, and the judges have now adjourned until the 18th of June, and there are some hopes that when the court reassembles (he remaining businebS may be gone through before the Recess. May I offer you a few reflections ? To begin. The President has impresed the court thoughout with a sense of perfect impartiality. Whatever Sir James Hannen's personal views may be, be has Mink them. As President of the Parnell Commission Court, he is pre-emi-nently just : he allows no feeling— political, personal, or otherwise —to affect a decision. But it is not to be denied that Sir James has recently exhibited an irritability which I once thought entirely foreign to his character. What was caused this, lam unable to say. He is a martyr to a very painful disease — one which, by the way, tortured a judge even more infamous— perhaps unjustly infamous — thau Sir James Hannen is famous. Great allowances are to be made for a man under such circumstances. Moreover, I have beea assured by a gentleman who certainly ought to know that the President has not seemed the same man since his complimentary note to Sir Charles Russell. I'hat note, it appears, has been absurdly held by many to be an approval and endorsement of Sir Charles Russell,* arguments. This impression, though absurd, has been removed by the President's recent attitude. Out of doors—" off the stage," one is tempted to 8av — tfl e President is a notable figue. In face he much resembles Thackeray, and in costume he carries one back to the fifties. He stoops markedly, and the hat he wears is of a kind now seldom seen in this country. The brim is thin but very wide, and the hat itself is so large that it presses upon his ears. His clothea are cut in present-day fashion, and he has a scholarly stoop. I trust he will pardon the pair of hero worshippers who one day dogged his footsteps up the Strand.

Mr. Justice Day is a sort of version of Justice Stareleigh. He closes his eyes often ; whether to think the more effectiTely or for some darker purpose, Ido not pretend to determine. It ia generally believed that he has not spoken yet during the inquiry ; indeed preßSmen have decided that when he does join in a discussion the fact shall be noted in a large head-line—" Day Breaks" or " The Dawn." Mr. Justice Day had the reputation of being a wag at the Bar ; be has not ceased to afford genuine amusement since he was translated to the bench. Out of doors he is the quaintest figure one can ever meet. He wears a vest cut low enough for a dress waistcoat, and the tails of his frock-coat at once attract attention. But it is bis walk that is most ootewortby, According to physiologists walking is merely the act of falling forward, one foot always being put out to prevent an absolute fall. In the case of Mr. Justice Day, the eaviag clause— or more correctly the saving foot— is always a moment late. He is a kindly man, is very fond of sweet drinks at Sainsbury's ; and iv point of ability a very worthy ornament of the English bench. Of Sir Archibald Smith it.is not so easy to speak. " Rightly or wrongly "—if I may use Sir Charles Russell's phrase— Mr. Justice Smith das conveyed the impression that he holds a " wa'ching brief " for the 'limes. Probably to say so much in so many word sis a gross contempt of court ; und 1 therefore hasteu to qualify the expression. Mr. Justice Smith has shown himself as wide-awake as Mr. Justice Day has sceaud somnolent. He takes few notes— the task of summary-writing is reserved for Sir James Hanucn— but there is scarcely a point ihat escapes him. It is not impossible that his opinion of the case may laid expression m a rider to the Report. In tue street Mr. Justice Smith app-ais as a faultlessly-attired gentleman, He wears the shiniest of top bats, and generally smokes a daintilyheld cheroot

From judges to counsel— judges in embryo some of them are— is but a stdp. In po,nt <>f ability and eloqueace Sir Charles Russell stands easily Hist. As to his eloquence, it is not necessary to say a word ; the bummg sentences of his speecn for the defence Btill ring in our ears. No man who had the rare good fortune to be present can ever forget the noble peroration, and the scene which followed wnea the great advocate sank down upon his seat and burst mto tears that might not be restrained, 'ihere have been several regrettable conllicts between Sir Crnrles Russell and the President. Sir Charles presumes a little upon the strength of the unique position which he has attained at the Bar, and to bir James Hannen, who also is eminent in a still higher gphere, such presumptiou is intolerable. But Sir Charles forgets only for the moment the deference that is due to so distinguished a judge as President Hanntn. Next to Sir Charles Russell comes Sir Henry James. I cannot refrain from expressing my great admiration for the distinguished constitutional lawyer who has thrown in his lot with the Times. Sir Henry James is pre-emi-nently a eGholar and a gentleman. He is a man of culture, and his diction is scholaily ; he never offends against good taste or good manners. If the limes case had been entrusted Bolely to him it would have been much more skilfully conducted — or, perhaps, we might never have heard of it at all.