As Berry and I Were Saying Read Online Free Page A

Spain before mid-day. I mean, that gives you a chance.”

2
    “I knew there was something,” said Jill. “Wigs. Last night you said that the black cap covered the Judge’s wig. I always thought that Judges never wore anything but those very big wigs.”
    “Oh, no, my sweet,” said Berry. “Judges are almost invariably clothed. I suppose it’s a question of dignity.”
    “Boy, you know what I mean.”
    “So does he,” said I. “Never mind. It is a mistake to think that Judges always wear what is called ‘the full-bottomed wig’. Artists often make it – who illustrate tales, I mean. And I’ve seen it made on the screen. There are, in fact, three wigs which are worn by the Bench and the Bar. One is the full-bottomed wig, which is the one you mean. A Judge never wears that in court. He used to wear it in court, when he was charging the Grand Jury: but now the Grand Jury has been done away with. He wears it in Church and on ceremonial occasions. A Queen’s Counsel wears the same wig, but never in court, except on the one occasion when he is making his bow on his appointment. He, too, wears it only on ceremonial occasions. The second wig is the ordinary barrister’s wig, such as I used to wear, with curls upon either side and two little tails behind. The ‘stuff gownsman’ has no other wig: and Queen’s Counsel wear the same wig when they are in court. The third is the Judge’s wig. This is exactly the same shape as the barrister’s wig, and it has two tails behind, but it has no curls.”
    “Usedn’t you to say that a wig always gave you a headache?”
    “So it did,” said I, “if I had to wear it all day. That was because my hair was very thick. It wasn’t the fault of the wig. Hold a wig to the light and it looks like a rather thick web: so the air comes through all right. But if a wig fits as it should, it compresses your hair: so that, if your hair is thick, no air can get to the scalp. If I’d been in court all day and was dining out, I always tried to get to Hill’s to have a shampoo, for my hair was just like tow, for want of air. That’s why so many counsel go bald: it’s worse than a field-service cap.”
    “What about women barristers?”
    “Oblige me,” said Berry, “by not referring to that cult. Women on a jury were bad enough, but a woman barrister…”
    “I’m afraid I agree,” said I. “By the grace of God, I was confronted with neither, for in my time they weren’t allowed. I desire to do no injustice; but I had six years of the law, and nothing will ever convince me that a woman should serve on a jury or go to the Bar. I decline to state my reasons: but, of what experience I had, I know I’m right.”
    “Some may,” said Berry, “have truly legal brains: some may be accomplished advocates: but they are women – not men: as such—”
    “That’ll do,” said Daphne. “I couldn’t agree with you more. But that will do.”
    “Well, I’ve seen them at it,” said I. “Not women barristers, but women defending themselves, examining, cross-examining and addressing the Court. And they were very able.”
    “You mean the ‘suffragettes’?”
    “That’s right. The militant suffragists. The ones I’m thinking of were the Pankhursts. Although repeatedly told, they refused to obey the rules of evidence: and when they addressed the Court, which they did for hours, ten tenths of what they said had nothing to do with the charge: and at the end of this spate of irrelevance they had worked themselves up until they burst into tears. It was a most lamentable exhibition. The authority of the Court flouted, hours of time wasted, latitude invariably abused. That sort of thing sends you mad. And lawyers shouldn’t get mad. But they’re all human. My God, how we hated those women.”
    “They took advantage of their sex?”
    “My sweet, you said it. There are some jobs in which the sexes must not be mixed. And the Law is one of them.”
    “I confess,” said Berry, “that