Conjurer

“ The conjurer is bound hand and foot, not as if he were a man going to pry into futurity, but as a criminal, [a] mere, pure devil, and one whom they intend never to loosen, so barricaded and cross-corded is the creature, sometimes all crumpled into a heap. He is tied only with his cloute on him, and thus thrust into the hut underneath by raising the lower covering, his "she-she-quay" or rattler with him. ”

“ Happily there is no connection between conjuring and crime, beyond the fact that they both begin with a C. No conjurer that I know of has ever murdered anybody or been murdered himself, and when a conjurer borrows a half-crown, he always—well, almost always returns it. ”

“ The conjurer counts on this in many cases. He always looks in the direction where he wants the attention of the public, and does everything himself which he wants the public to do. . . . If the trick is in the left hand, the conjurer turns sharply to the person to his right, presuming correctly that the spectators will make the same movement, and will not notice what is going on in the left hand. ”

“ It is true that a skillful conjurer ought always to be able to escape any difficulty that may occur to him; still, this sort of repairs very rarely meets with success, for, after all, it is only a patching together, in which the cracks are only too visible.
I had a mode of escape always at hand in any emergency, but I confess I was much vexed when compelled to have recourse to these secondary means, which, by prolonging the experiment, render it far less striking. ”

“ The slave charged with larceny stands at the foot of the tribunal with his arms tied behind his back. He is a young man and looks frightened at the judges. The accuser, a man of ripe age, contemplates the tribunal confidently. Agreeable to the usage in such instances, six other slaves surround the two men. They are chosen by the accuser and the accused to affirm under oath what they believe to be the truth. They are called conjurators.
"To the trial! To the trial!" cries the count. ”

“ Is it a martyr's scaffold? Will they burn the child of Domrémy a second time? No: it is a tribunal that rises to the clouds. Shall my Lord of Beauvais sit again upon the judgment-seat, and again number the hours for the innocent? Ah no! he is the prisoner at the bar. Already all is waiting: the mighty audience is gathered, the Court is hurrying to their seats, the witnesses are arrayed, the judge is taking his place. My lord, have you no counsel? "Counsel I have none: in heaven above, or on earth beneath, counsellor there is none now that would take a brief from me: all are silent." ”

“ It may here be asked, When a civil suit is depending between a lord and a commoner, how the issue is to be tried, whether by the lords alone, or by commoners only, or by a jury composed of an equal number of each; in the same manner, as, when an alien is tried, it is by a jury half natives, half aliens? The answer is, it shall be tried by a jury of commoners; only, on account of the dignity of the lord, there must be a knight on the jury. ”

“ I am likewise informed by your lordship that all the witnesses requisite for my defence are present in Court, that in the present enlightened age, a judge, in a British Court of Justice, will tell a prisoner arraigned under such circumstances, that the witnesses for his defence are all present by order of the Court, and that too in the presence of a jury empanelled to try him. Is a Chief Justice of a British Court thus to sit upon a bench and pre-judge a case of life and death? ”

“ The poor soldier, being a stranger without means, was unable to obtain counsel to defend him. When the parties appeared before the magistrate, a smart young lawyer, with blue hat and white feathers, unknown in the town, volunteered to defend the soldier, and related the whole story with such effect that the innkeeper in his excitement cried, ‘Devil take me if I have the money!’ Instantly the smart lawyer spread his wings, and, seizing the innkeeper, disappeared with him through the roof of the court-room. ”

“ A Queen's Counsel, like the leader for the Crown, this was an altogether different type of lawyer; a younger man, with a more engaging manner; a more brilliant man, who sought with doubtful wisdom to blind the jury with his brilliance. His method was no innovation at the Old Bailey; it was to hold up every witness in turn to the derision and contempt of the jury and the court. ”

“ The feeling of a suitor in a court of law, who knows that the adverse judgment that ruins him has no root in the facts or the law, but proceeds from the prejudice or whim of the judge, can be nowise different from that of a mother who sees her son stricken down by death, and hears at his grave that he was consumed by the wrath of a god who might have yielded to her prayer, but refused it. ”

“ Thus then it is: you can be allowed counsel to examine your own witnesses, and cross-examine the witnesses for the crown, and speak to points of law, to be started by yourself,—but no further.
He then asked her what gentleman there present he should assign to her for counsel.
Her reply to this inquiry took the whole court by surprise, and made her solicitor, Houseman, very miserable. "None, my Lord," said she. "Half-justice is injustice; and I will lend it no color. I will not set able men to fight for me with their hands tied, against men as able whose hands be free. ”

“ A victim chosen for the slaughter; but you are mistaken if you think to coax or drive me to plead at present; I understand your wishes and my own interests too well.
“Chief Justice—Prisoner at the bar, three weeks have passed since your capture, and you have had sufficient time to prepare your defence. This Court has been convened for the express purpose of trying you, and the Government cannot be put to so much expense for nothing. I have taken care myself that all witnesses which you can possibly require in your defence should be present to-day, and they are here. ”

“ The relations between Judge and Counsel in a properly constituted Court, should be those of mutual reliance and esteem. There should neither be arrogance on the one hand, nor subservience on the other. ”

“ I was to be a lawyer, to defend men and to prosecute them for money, and yet I wondered how that bright young fellow, with the seeming passion of an [187] honest outcry, could stand there and tell the jury that my friend had committed the foulest murder that had ever reddened the criminal annals of his state. Old man Conkwright sat, twirling his thumbs, and occasionally he would nod at the jurymen as if to call their attention to a rank absurdity. ”

“ A titter is heard at the idea of a man going about with a name like that. His Lordship, regarding it as a nuisance rather than a joke, threatens to have the court cleared. A juryman in waiting in the gallery seizes the opportunity to ask, if anyone is to be turned out, might it be himself.
Counsel goes on to mention the case. "A complicated case of false pretences, my Lord——," he begins. But his solicitor plucks at his gown and points out to him that he is confusing his briefs. Counsel apologises to the Court and asks leave to refresh his memory. ”

“ Counsel will be doing injustice to his own position if he assumes that the Court has any other attitude than to finally dispose of these matters according to the law without doing injustice to any person, either to the District Attorney or any person who is unfortunate enough to be involved. ”

“ Foreman.
Just like a father
I wish to be.
(Kissing her.)
Judge (approaching her) .
Or, if you'd rather
Recline on me!
(She jumps on to Bench, sits down by the Judge, and falls sobbing on his breast.)
Counsel.
Oh! fetch some water
From far Cologne!
All.
For this sad slaughter
Atone! atone!
Jury (shaking fists at Defendant) .
Monster, monster, dread our fury,
There's the Judge, and we're the Jury!
Song—Defendant.
Oh, gentlemen, listen, I pray,
⁠Though I own that my heart has been ranging,
Of nature the laws I obey,
⁠For nature is constantly changing. ”

“ There is another provision that in certain cases of murder the accused could not be compelled to undergo the ordeal of the red-hot ploughshares unless the accuser was supported by twelve conjurators, when, if the accused was successful each of the twelve was obliged to pay him three marks, and the same sum to the priest.—Ib. ”

“ Those who are confined in the Conciergerie are the criminals who are to appear before the Cour d'Assises; those convicted by the police correctionnelle of the departments, waiting the result of their appeal to a higher court, and those condemned to death during the three days which the law allows them for their appearance en cassation. ”

“ In the sixteenth century it was necessary for an accused to conduct his own defense, since he was neither allowed to call witnesses in his behalf nor permitted the assistance of counsel. 1 Stephen, History of the Criminal Law of England, p. 350. The criminal trial of this period has been described as 'a long argument between the prisoner and the counsel for the Crown, in which they questioned each other and grappled with each other's arguments with the utmost eagerness and closeness of reasoning.' Stephen, supra, p. ”

“ The remonstrance of the cour des aides, probably drawn up by Malesherbes, in February, 1771, indicates these popular pretensions. “The courts are to-day the only protectors of the feeble and the unfortunate: there have existed for a long time no States-General and in the greater part of the kingdom no provincial estates; all the bodies, except the courts, are reduced to a mute and passive obedience. ”

“ If the previous examination of a juror on his voir dire, or the statements of counsel, or any facts brought to the attention of the court had indicated that the juror might, or possibly would, be influenced in giving a verdict by his political surroundings, we would not say that the court could not properly, in its discretion, if it had regarded the circumstances as exceptional, have permitted the inquiry whether the juror's political affiliations or party predilections would bias his judgment as a juror. ”

“ And here also was Chandler, the chief judge of the court, with his plausible manners, affectedly sincere look, and deferential smile, as he exchanged the whisper and meaning glance with his colleague, Judge Sabin, a stern, reserved, and bigoted loyalist, or as he nodded approbation to the remarks, whatever they might be, of those around him. ”

“ The juror agrees to the demand, he accepts the condition, that his word and oath will be relied on, and he in giving his oath at once comes under a covenant obligation to man to speak the truth, and confirms his promise by an appeal to the God of truth. Thus, in a court of justice, or before a church court, a witness makes in reality a compact with the lawful authority that requires his oath, and swears in confirmation of his engagement. ”

“ If it is the right and the duty of the judge thus to decide all questions of law which can be separated from the facts, the argument of counsel, upon such questions, should naturally and properly be addressed to the judge.
But it has been contended, that in a criminal [*1332] case, upon the trial of the general issue, the counsel for the defendant has a right to argue the whole law of the case to the jury ”

“ Underneath his wig was an immensely broad face with glaring yellow eyes.
I said, “It is scandalous. You want to murder me, How should I know what you do in your courts? I say the jury is packed.”
The very old judge closed his eyes, opened them again, then gasped out:
“Silence. We are here to try you. This is a court of law.”
The turnkey pulled my sleeve under cover of the planking. “Treat him civil,” he whispered, “Lord Justice Stowell of the Hadmir’lty. ’Tother’s Baron Garrow of the Common Law; a beast; him as hanged that kid. You can sass him; it doesn’t matter.” ”

“ The ancient writs, in civil suits, as given in Glanville, (within the half century before Magna Carta,) to wit, "Summon twelve free and legal men, (or sometimes twelve knights,) to be in court, prepared upon their oaths to declare whether A or B have the greater right to the land in question," [Pg 111] indicate that the jurors judged of the whole matter on their consciences only. ”

“ I sent a boy to the Industrial School on the charge of ‘needing correction for his own good.’ The boy had made a clean breast of it to me, and we had such a perfect understanding, that boy and I, that he had taken his commitment papers and gone off by himself to Golden. Then appeared Counsel employed by his parents, de- claring that he had been dealt with without due process of law, no jury trial, etc., etc. He (the lawyer) said he would apply for a writ of habeas corpus. ”

“ If, indeed, Counsel were usually accustomed to employ the arts of oratory, and the dodges of dialectics, in order to make the worst appear the better cause in the eyes of twelve men more or less liable to be deceived and deluded, then, indeed, the reticence of a respectable and intelligent Press, in abstaining from any remarks capable of helping a jury to deliver a righteous verdict, would not perhaps be quite so purely advantageous as it is now. ”

“ The man who acted for the prisoner—the solicitor, I think it was—made such a brilliant fight in the police-court that the magistrates hesitated to commit; but the result was that the Crown knew all about the defence, and when the real trial came, the man hadn’t a chance. Always reserve your defence.’
‘Yes; but you forget, the solicitor has got a splendid practice through it,’ was the bitter answer. ‘Few men in the West of England are doing better in that class of business. ”