As these accumulating evidences of the judge's misunderstanding of
their attitude of mind pile up, the jury sink back into their seats.
After all, the charge of the judge is not more understandable than
most of the other parts of the trial. The saving point about it is
that the end is drawing near and they can soon get away and have a
smoke in the jury-room, and afterwards go home.
The judge, while he is charging, understands a little of what has been
going on in the jury's mind. He has seen the gleam of interest which
was in the jury's eyes at the beginning gradually die out. He notices
how they fall into resigned attitudes. He has a glimmering that the
good old legal aphorisms which he has been enunciating with such care
about the burden of proof, the weight of evidence, the credibility of
witnesses and the caution about sympathy and prejudice, are not very
convincing to the jury. But the conventions require that he must go
on.
"Gentlemen," he says, "I must instruct you to eliminate from your
minds any discussion of counsel upon questions of law or rulings of
the court upon the rejections of testimony, or decisions upon motions
to dismiss or direct. They involve matters of law with which you are
not at present concerned.
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