Punch: Punch (33.1857)

July 25, 1857.]

PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.

39

JURY TORTURE.

eeping clear of the folly
which too muck disparages
the proverbial " wisdom of
our ancestors," we must
say we think that in some
of their proceedings—and
more especially perhaps
their legal proceedings-it
cannot be denied they
showed themselves great
fools. We will not in-
stance their creation of
that famous pair of myths,
John Dob and Richard
Roe, for what was once
common law has given way
to common sense, _ and we
have now ejected from our
law courts those twin
heroes of ejectment. Nor
need we speak of their
concoction of such manifest
absurdities as have been
handed down in many of
their legal maxims, such
for instance as the propo-
sition that "a king can do
no wrong;" an assertion which our railway kings, not to mention
higher potentates, are constantly refuting. We would rather cite as
one example of ancestral want of wisdom, the prescribed mode oi
treatment of non-agreeing jurors, to which our notice is directed by a
recent case in point.

What can be more absurd than locking up twelve hungry men until
they think alike, and expecting to elicit a true verdict by starvation ?
Who could give his mind to the merits of a case, and calmly weigh the
evidence in the unbiassed scales of justice, when his Drain is half dis-
tracted by the gnawings of his stomach, and all that he can think of is
the prospect of his dinner ? As for carefully discussing the facts and
probabilities which by witnesses and counsel have just been laid betore
him, he feels only fit for the discussion of a beef-steak and potato. A
verdict so obtained is the result not of conviction, but of physical con-
cession. Agreement of opinion is produced by sheer exhaustion of the
powers of discussion. As confessions were extorted by the pinchings
of the thumbscrew, so are verdicts still extracted by the pinchings of
the appetite. Englishmen cry shame upon King Bomba and his
silence-cap, yet their own law sanctions even now the appliance of a
torture hardly less unbearable. We think with horror of the time
when men were forced to speak by the loading of the chest, but the
same thing still is done by emptying the stomach.

Now we will not waste our wonder on the fact that jury torture has
outlived the application of the thumbscrew on our countrymen.
Although a proved absurdity, and as little in accordance with the
spirit of the age as the wearing of chain armour, or of dress-coats with
bright buttons, we cannot feel surprised that the practice still exists.
The uncertainty of law has passed into a proverb, and in nothing is
the law more capriciously uncertain than in the manner of its bit by
bit amendments. What surprises us, however, is that lawyers do not
take more advantage of the means which jury starving offers to divert
the course of justice. It is obvious that while the lock-up system lasts,
any trial may be made with the jury a mere trial of strength ; and one
robust and well-fed juror might starve eleven others, if in less good
plight, into certain acquiescence with his way of thinking. As a good
case may be lost through a bad constitution, jurors fairly might be
challenged for looking weak or hungry; and clients might insist on
those who try their cause being put in proper training to endure con-
tinued fasting. Means too might be thought of to supply concealed
refreshment, which would ensure still more a favourable^verdict. A
dip into a sandwich tin could hardly pass unnoticed, but in a pinch, a
snuff-box might afford some sustenance. A furtive quid of grated beef
could scarcely be detected, even by the sharpest-eyed or sharpest-
nosed attorney; and nutrition might be taken in a grain or two of
curry powder, which the Duke op Norfolk found so exceedingly
supporting. It would be feasible, moreover, for a juror with a cough
(which, like that of Traviata, might be very easily got up for the
occasion), to carry into Court with him a quantity of jujubes : or he
might even be provided with a pocketful of portable soup, chopped
into little bits so as very readily to pass as being lozenges. In this
way, being hunger-proof, he would easily be able to hold out against
his colleagues, who to escape starvation would eventually of course be
driven to agree with him.

Knowing what we do of legal ingenuity, it surprises us, we own,
that some such hints as these have not long ago been acted on. We

really cannot see that there would be much want of principle in putting
them in practice. " All's fair in love," and in law not less so ; and to
gain the suit in either case all stratagems are sanctioned. Besides, a
verdict now becomes the mere result of chance: depending in great
measure upon how the jury slept the night before the trial, or upon
what sort of a breakfast they have eaten. A strong case may be lost
through the accident of some of them having a weak appetite, and a
bad night's rest must certainly conduce to the pronouncing of an un-
considered verdict. It seems to us, therefore, that what we have
suggested would reduce to a system what is at present chiefly chance :
and moreover, it would have the further merit of mitigating somewhat
the ordeal by famine to which every juror is at present subject. On
which account we cannot but expect by the next post an official inti-
mation from the heads of the Humane Society that they intend forth-
with to invite us to a dinner, and present us with a medal for our
merciful suggestions for the relief from hunger-toiture of all non-
agreeing juries.

BAD CARTRIDGES OE THE CONTINENT.

With superstitious fury fired

By provocation slight,
Our Sepoys mutiny—required

Greased cartridges to bite.

Soldiers' the Pope's detested reign,

The Austrian's hated yoke,
And cruel Bomba, who maintain:

Like cause might you provoke.

That Italy may still lie chained,

And Tyrants govern wrong,
Will you, with brethren's murder stained,

Bite cartridges—how long ?

(The right of translating the above lines is not reserved by the Author.)

WOLE !

Dr. Aldis writes thus to the Times :—

" I venture . . . to call your attentiou to the open state of the King's scholars'
pond sewer near Lupus Street, Pimlico, which is a great public nuisance."

The doctor proceeds to describe the subject of his complaint as
emitting au " intolerable stench." Eor one street in the metropolis,
Lupus Street is appropriately, if not happily, named, because Lupus is
not only Latin for wolf, but is also the nosological term for an affection
of the olfactory organ.

A Very Pretty Sentiment.

(For which we expect no end of 'pretty 'presents.)

Between a Man's Love and a Woman's Love, there is all the difference between
lending and giving. With woman, Love is a gift,—with man it is only a loan. The
loan is for the moment, or for that particular eveuing, or, it may be for six months,
or, perhaps, as long as six years; but with woman, the gift is one that lasts all
her life.

Teaching the Young Idea How to Shoot.

Mr. Henry Drummond, M.P., was never more eccentric than in
his Speech at the Harrow Dinner, ridiculing "neologies, zoologies,
and all such trash from Germany," and advising us Britons to " stick
to our longs and shorts." It is clear Mr. Drummond thinks that the
only mode of mental culture is by Harrow.

a compliment.

One of the Eour-in-Hand Club, who happened to be standing by as
the late Member for Oxford drove away from the House of Commons,
exclaimed with more smartness than we had given him credit for,
" What a Neate turn-out ! "

israel in st. stephen s.

Really, noble Lords ought to consider that if the Jews were
admitted into Parliament, they would be very serviceable, in expedit-
ing public business. They would discount so many bills !

tumid things.

Crinolines appear to have been so generally adopted by ladies with
a view of acquiring the title, hitherto engrossed by dandies of the
stronger sex, of Extensive Swells.