But yet, with all these little flaws, we clearly love thee still, And to thine everlasting health a brimming glass we 'll fill : May thou still cheer us on our path With help that never fails, And wield with equal justice still Thine awful sword and scales! a. a. m. A case was not long ago tried in a provincial court, and in due course the judge summed up dead against the prisoner. The jury retired to consider their verdict, and were an unheard-of time, under the circumstances, making up their minds. The judge's usual dinner-hour came and went, and still the jury agreed not; whereupon his lordship made inquiry, and found that one obsti nate fellow was holding out hard and fast against the other eleven. This was intolerable, in the face of so distinct a charge; so my lord ordered the jury to be brought before him. Then, with ponderous solemnity, he told them that in his summing up he had stated the facts and the law so plainly that their verdict ought to be both prompt and cor dially unanimous, and that the man who persisted in setting his individual opinion against those of eleven thoughtful and sensible men was unfit to discharge the lofty duties of a juryman. At the termination of the judge's forcible remarks, a squeaky voice from the jury-box asked : " Will your lordship allow me to say a word? " The judge having given permission, the still small voice was raised again to the following effect : " May it please your lordship, I am the only man on your lordship's side. Tableau. Mrs. Lardine (of Chicago). " Really, Mr. Bigfee, I think that five hundred dollars for so simple a matter as a divorce is quite exorbitant!" Mr. Bigfee (firmly, but respectfully). "Those are my usual terms, madam." Mrs. Lardine (with hauteur). " Very well, sir, you may write a receipt; but / have never paid so much before, and I never will again." Not long since, a venerable member of the legal profession from the Pine Tree State visited Boston, and while there made a call upon a brother lawyer with whom he had formerly practised in his native State. The conversation naturally turned upon the
law, and the visitor sadly lamented the decadence which had taken place since the " good old times." "Ah, Brother X.," he exclaimed, " the law is n't what it used to be when you and I tried cases together down in Maine. Why, now you may take a witness and coach him every day for two weeks, and then the d fool will go on to the stand and prevaricate .'" A stranger walked into a Massachusetts court one day, and spent some time in watching the pro ceedings. By and by a man was brought up for contempt of court and fined; whereupon the stran ger rose and said, " How much was the fine?" "Five dollars," replied the clerk. "Well," said the stranger, laying down the money, " if that's all. I 'd like to jine in. I 've had a few hours' experience of this court, and no one can feel a greater contempt for it than I do, and I am willing to pay for it." This is not bad. Two judges at General Term having given opposing opinions on a matter of slight importance, the question was settled by Judge 's quietly stating, " I agree with my brother A. for the reasons given by my brother B.!" "I have a number of authorities bearing directly upon this point if your honor would like to hear them," said a young attorney recently, in one of our Massachusetts courts. With a weary smile the judge replied : " I cannot truthfully say that I should like to hear them, but I suppose it is my duty to listen to them." Ik any one will search the old law lexicons, he will find many writs with names unknown to mod ern practitioners. That some of these writs should have been disused and dropped dpes not seem at all strange, but that the days of the Judicature Act and the Consolidated Rules should produce a new writ not known to our forefathers, and one that might be supposed to issue only after the cbject of it had passed away beyond the reach of sheriffs and bailiffs, does seem strange. A sheriff of a neighboring county lately advised the solicitors that he had duly executed the writ of Requiescat in pace placed in his hands. Whether the consequence of the sheriff's action was that another had to "join the majority." deponent sayeth not. — Canada Law yournal.
