stances : " And not only did you murder him, whereby he was bereaved of life, but you did thrust or push or pierce or project or propell the lethall weapon through the belt of his regimental breeches, which were His Majesty's." The same foolish person before administering the oath to a young lady who had come into court to give evidence deeply veiled addressed her as follows : " Young woman! you will now consider yourself as in the presence of Almighty God and of this High Court. Lift up your veil, throw off all modesty, and look me in the face! " A still more amusing story is told of another " orna ment" (?) of the Bench in those days, — Lord Hermand. Two young gentlemen, who were great friends, went together to the theatre in Glasgow, supped at' the lodg ings of one of them, and passed the whole night in the improper but not uncommon amusement of drinking rum. In the morn ing they quarrelled; one was fatally stabbed;
and in due time the other was tried and con victed for manslaughter. The majority of the judges were in favor of a short sentence of imprisonment. But the voice of Her mand was still for transportation. " We are told," he said, " that there was no malice, and that the prisoner must have been in liquor. In liquor! Why, he was drunk! And yet he murdered the very man who had been drinking with him. They had been carousing the whole night, and yet he stabbed him, after drinking a whole bottle of rum with him! My Laards, if he will do this when he 's drunk, what zvill he not do when he's sober f" At the Ayr Assizes in 1780, Lord Karnes tried for murder a man named Matthew Hay, with whom he had been in the habit of playing chess. The jury brought in a verdict of guilty. "That's checkmate to you, Matthew," said his lordship. The author of this brutal jest was the Mansfield of Scotland.
(To be continued.}
