London Legal Letter.
LONDON LEGAL LETTER.
LONDON, December 2, 1899.
THERE is a certain picturesqueness in connection with the formal opening of the High Court at the beginning of the winter term which seems to be more and more appreciated each year, if one may judge by the increasing crowds that assem ble to witness the brief ceremony. Such a display would be impossible in the United States, or, for that matter, anywhere else, for in no other country are the costumes of judges and counsel so varied and effective. It may possibly be questioned whether the time occupied in the ceremony, which prac tically takes up the whole of the first day of the term, might not be better spent in hear ing cases, but I think even those lawyers in the United States who are most careless as to forms and distinctions would be impressed with the dignity of this English function and would be compelled to admit that it tends to enhance the authority of the judges and the position of the members of the bar. The entrance of the judges into the courts on the first day of the term was preceded by two religious services, one in Westminster Abbey and the other in a Roman Catholic chapel near the Law Courts. At the Abbey the scene was rendered most effective by the presence, in their wigs and robes and gowns, of the judges, the law officers of the Crown, and the Queen's Counsel, with the junior members of the bar. These were massed to the number of four or five hundred in the transept, while a large congregation as sembled in other parts of the venerable and historic edifice, attracted by the novelty of the ress,scene. a still While more the striking serviceonewaswasin taking prog- I place in the Roman Catholic Chapel. This was " the Red Mass," and it was attended
by the Lord Chief Justice and Mr. Justice Matthew and Mr. Justice Day, and a score or more of Queen's Counsel and juniors, who are Roman Catholics. The Red Mass is so called because, in accordance with the Roman ritual on such an occasion, the vest ments and the altar surroundings are all red. In Catholic countries it is always celebrated before the sitting of Parliaments, the Law Courts, or before the beginning of any great public function. It had died out in this country, but was revived about ten years ago, in order to give greater solemnity to the opening of the new term. In addition to these religious services, the Lord Chancellor on the opening day, in ac cordance with time-honored custom, received the Lord-Mayor elect of the City of London at the House of Lords, and held a reception of, and gave a breakfast to, Her Majesty's judges. After these functions, which natur ally consumed all the morning and lasted until two o'clock, the judges repaired to the courts, which they entered in formal state. The structure of the building in which the courts are held lends itself to this display, as its main hall is a long gallery, not unlike a church nave. Upon these occasions it is crowded with gaily dressed women, the guests, for the most part, of the younger members of the profession, who, after the ceremony, take their lady friends to their rooms in the various inns of court for tea. The procession is headed by the ushers of the courts, who are arrayed in court dress, with silk stockings and buckled shoes. After them come the Masters in Chancery an.d on the Common Law side, and then appears the Lord Chancellor, who is preceded by an officer bearing the seal of state. Fol lowing him are the Lord Chief Justice, the
