As on the modern stage, there is a return to simplicity of acting.
Naturalness and a constant regard for actuality is the only safe
rule. Simplicity and naturalness, even if studiously affected, usually
prove convincing. The aim is toward consistency and a non-elaborate
manner.

Above all the lawyer remembers that the jury admire the good fighter,
and it is with a certain obvious subtlety that one successful advocate
in New York lets his assistant carry his coat, books, and papers, but
he himself always carries his hat--a derby, by the way, for a high hat
would be over important. The great man knows that the jurors are aware
of the importance of the occasion and that their eyes will follow his
every movement. As he walks up to the counsel table and deposits his
derby it may well become a gage of battle.

The clerk at the side of the judge's desk begins turning a large
hollow wooden wheel; within it are cards on each of which is written
the name of a juror who has been served by the sheriff to attend on
the panel for the trial term of the court. The number summoned
naturally is larger than the twelve needed for any one case. Often
those who have to attend at a term of court sit about with nothing to
do until they are actually drawn on a case, although they receive
their fees for attendance. There is the story of the ignorant workman
who was serving his first time on a panel.

"Why," he said, "I was sitting around all day worryin' about my lost
working day. If I'd known I was getting two dollars for doing nothing
I might have been enjoying myself."