from the sixteenth century, states that the dead must pass through " a greate lande full of thorns and furzen " before reaching heaven, and, with a view of preserving their feet from any scratch, cut, or other injury on the road, a pair of boots is always laid with them in the grave. The shoes thus buried — the custom prevails in Scotland to this day — are described as " hellshoon; " that is, shoes for passing through hell. A somewhat similar superstition prevails among the Tsiganes of Hungary, and also among the peasants of Tyrol, who moreover believe that the ghosts of persons who have been buried with out "hellshoon," and are therefore unable to get across the thorny tract of country which separates death from life eternal, assume the form of toads. Consequently toads are regarded with pity and sympathy by all good people in Southern Germany and along the banks of the Danube. The poor creatures are supposed to be hopping about, astray and bewildered, striving to find their way to some particular shrine where their future penance will be remitted. At the famous church of St. Michael in Schwatz, on the evening before great festivals, but when no one is present, an immense toad is reported to come crawling before the altar, where it kneels, and weeping bitterly, prays that its period of penance may be brought to an end, and that the omission to put the " hellshoon " in the grave of the human form of its being long ago may be pardoned through the intercession of St. Michael. — N. V. Tribune. England, Germany, and the United States are the only three countries which permit actions for breaches of promise of marriage on grounds of wounded feelings. Neither in Italy, Austria, Hol land, nor France does a mutual promise involve obligation of marriage, and, except in cases where the promise has been followed by betrayal, a de faulting lover is liable only in so far as his or her fault has caused actual pecuniary damage. In Germany an engagement invariably assumes an official form; and should one of the parties thereto withdraw, the other may claim damages to the extent of a fifth of the dower agreed upon. Ger man bridal dowers are proverbially small, and the fractional fifth awarded to the jilted sweetheart by way of solace for wounded feelings falls con siderably short of the average damages which an American or English jury would award.
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General knowledge is unquestionably necessary for the lawyer. Ludicrous mistakes have frequently occurred through the deficiencies of some lawyers in this respect. We have heard of an anecdote of an eminent barrister examining a witness in a trial the subject of which was a ship. He asked, among other questions, where the ship was at a particular time. " Oh," replied the witness, " the ship was then in quarantine." " In Quarantine was she? And pray, sir, where is Quarantine?" This reminds us of an instance given by Mr. Chitty of the value of general knowledge to a lawyer. " A certain eminent judge was so entirely ignorant of insurance causes, that after having been occupied for six hours in trying an action " on a policy of insurance upon goods ( Russia duck i from Russia, he, in his address to the jury, complained that no evidence had been given to show how Russia ducks (mistaking the cloth of that name for the bird) could be damaged by sea water and to what extent."
In Malta the English let the municipality ad minister their own laws, and frequently that means that the affair is referred to the clergy. There is a fine church in process of building just without the wall of Valetta, but it progresses very slowly. It is all the work of a single man's hands. He was a stonemason, and he assas sinated a brother workman in cold blood. The clergy condemned him to build this church alone and with his own money, or suffer the penalty of the criminal courts. One may see the murderer working out his expiation early and late.
Two prominent Albany lawyers — one through whose veins trickles Southern blood, and the other whose ancestors date their residence in Albany back to its early days — drove together out into the country Saturday to appear as opposing counsel in an action of a trivial nature. The Southron fin ished, and the defence opened. The opposing lawyer said that the statements made by the plaintiffs lawyer were false, and intimated that the lawyer had made them knowing that they were not correct. He was proceeding nicely, when whang ' a chair struck him on the side of the head. To tell the jury that his statements were lies was too much for the Southern man, and
