384 Proceedings of the Poyal Society of Edinburgh. [Sess. 
witnesses was always vigorous and effective, if it sometimes lacked finish. 
The same may be said of his style of argument. The sentences were 
sometimes disjointed — the periods were seldom rounded — the words were 
not carefully chosen ; but the substance was there, and received expression 
in simple, terse, and direct language that could not be misunderstood. 
No wonder, then, that Dickson enjoyed the confidence of his clients and 
their immediate advisers, for whether he won or lost they always felt 
that no one could have identified himself more thoroughly with their 
point of view. 
As a senior counsel he did not come quite up to the level of expectation 
derived from his success as a junior. This was noticeable only when he 
appeared in the Divisions or before other appellate Courts. Some of his 
contemporaries outshone him in well-ordered, close, and consecutive reason- 
ing such as the finished presentment of a purely legal argument demands 
if it is to conform to the highest standard. 
He came too late to the Bench and occupied it for too short a time 
to play any conspicuous part in the development of the common law of 
Scotland. His conservative instincts and his deference to authority 
militated against his taking a bold or independent view, however much 
he might be satisfied that it was more in accordance with the underlying 
principles of jurisprudence than previous decisions. No better illustration 
of this tendency can be given than his being a party to a decision which 
affirmed that it was the law of Scotland that no woman, however old, can 
be considered as past child-bearing. There was no prior binding decision 
to this effect, although it had some support from one or two judges of 
former generations who were ignorant of the facts of medical science. 
The truth was that Dickson’s unrivalled acquaintance with case law tended 
to fetter the free use of his intellect when questions of legal principle 
called for decision. The common law of Scotland is based on the experience 
of the race, and is supposed to represent the highest embodiment of the 
commonsense of the community for the time being. It is therefore capable 
of development as human knowledge broadens the outlook, and is thus 
unlike statute law, which, so long as the statute remains unrepealed or not 
in desuetude, must be interpreted strictly in the light of the language in 
which it is embodied. Judged by this standard the law as to the age of 
child-bearing (as it has now been provisionally settled) is in accordance 
neither with human experience nor medical science. 
So far as the public, including especially the pleaders, were concerned, 
Dickson was an ideal judge. He was patient, courteous, attentive in his 
attitude to the Bar, absolutely impartial and painstaking in his judgments. 
