And they have a further advantage in their material. The
facts they deal with are usually dull, but seldom so dull as facts
become through the fancies of the average playwright. It is seldom
that an evening in a theatre can be so pleasantly and profitably spent
as a day in a Chancery court. But it is ever into one or another of
the courts of King's Bench that I betake myself, for choice. Criminal
trials, of which I have seen a few, I now eschew absolutely. I cannot
stomach them. I know that it is necessary for the good of the
community that such persons as infringe that community's laws should
be punished. But, even were the mode of punishment less barbarous than
it is, I should still prefer not to be brought in sight of a prisoner
in the dock. Perhaps because I have not a strongly developed
imagination, I have little or no public spirit. I cannot see the
commonweal. On the other hand, I have plenty of personal feeling. And
I have enough knowledge of men and women to know that very often the
best people are guilty of the worst things. Is the prisoner in the
dock guilty or not guilty of the offence with which he is charged?
That is the question in the mind of the court. What sort of man is he?
That is the question in my own mind. And the answer to the other
question has no bearing whatsoever on the answer to this one.
Pages:
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228