and fittings of natural colored pine and large gothic windows is bright and cheerful; it is also easily ventilated and heated, and pos sesses excellent acoustic properties. The chairs for the judges are placed on a dais raised about three feet from the floor. Be hind the judges the wall is panelled with carved and ornamented pine work to a height of about ten or twelve feet, the panelling being surmounted by the royal coat of arms. In front of each judge is a small desk. The registrar's desk is placed immediately in front, and below the dais upon which the judges sit. There are a chair and a table to the right of the registrar's desk for the use of the sheriff, and to the left of the re gistrar's desk are a chair and desk for the use of the reporter or assistant reporter. On the first day of a session, or when giv ing judgments, the judges are arrayed in scarlet cloth gowns with ermine hoods, capes trimmed with ermine, broad bands of ermine on the sleeves, and a black silk sash round the waist. Sometimes the regulation threecornered hat is used, but no wigs are worn. On ordinary occasions the judges wear black cloth gowns with the ermine hood and er mine-trimmed cape and sleeves. The regis trar and reporter are habited in the official costume and silk gown usually worn by her Majesty's Counsel, and the sheriff is also dressed in official costume, and carries his sword and cocked hat. So far his ser vices have never been required for other purposes than those of ornament, his mere presence being sufficient to enforce order in the court. By statute the sheriffs of the respective counties or divisions into which any province is divided, although provincial officers, are made cx officio officers of the Supreme Court, and perform the duties and functions of sheriffs in connection with the court; but the sheriff of the county of Carleton, the judicial division in which the Su preme Court sits, is the only one who
personally attends all the sittings of the court, in his official capacity. The proceedings in court are dignified and formal. On one occasion their decorum was much upset by a well-known Canadian states man calling out "Hear! hear!" Holding a brief in an important case, he had be come greatly interested in the eloquence of his associated counsel, and forgot his whereabouts and the solemnity of his sur roundings. Counsel must be robed. They occupy benches immediately in front of the registrar's desk, the Queen's counsel sitting in the front row, a short brass rod between this row and the seats behind indicating the superior advantages enjoyed by virtue of this office. Counsel come from all parts of the Dominion, — from the Atlantic coast, from the Pacific coast, and from the north. Once an application was made by a celebrated counsel living in one of the States to the south, for leave to act as counsel in an ap peal before the court, but the court felt obliged to refuse the permission sought. No more than two counsel can be heard on either side, and one counsel in reply. A party cannot appear both in person and by counsel, and if foolish enough to argue his own cause, even if successful cannot tax a counsel fee. Counsel are not limited as to time, and the court listens with the greatest patience and courtesy. During the first eleven years of its exist ence the Supreme Court of the United States disposed of one hundred cases. The Supreme Court of Canada, since its organi zation, has determined about a thousand cases, many involving important questions of constitutional law; and its business has been steadily increasing. It has already a record of which it may be justly proud; and constituted as it is, this great court is well qualified to continue to do its share in pro moting the development of the national life of the Dominion.1
1 The illustrations in this article are from photographs taken by Mr. Topley, of Ottawa.
