have improved. It is related of him that in an argument upon section seventeen of the statutes of frauds he put to the counsel arguing a case, by way of illustration : "Sup pose, Mr. So-and-So," he said, "that I were to agree to sell you my horse, do you mean to say that I could not recover the price un less," and so on. The illustration was so pointed that there was no way out of it, but to say, "My lord, the section applies only to things of the value of £o" a retort which all who had ever seen the horse thoroughly appreciated. Instances of his astuteness in advocacy were numerous. His mode of winning cases was not by carrying juries with him by a storm of eloquence, or cross-examining wit nesses out of court, but by discovering the weak point in his adversary's case and trip ping him up, or by the nice conduct of such resources as his own case possessed. On one occasion he was retained for the defend ant with Mr., afterwards Mr. Justice, Willes, whom he led at the bar, but who was after wards his senior in the Court of Common Fleas, in a case of some complication tried before Chief Justice Jervis. At the end of the day (Saturday) Mr. Byles submitted that there was no case, and the judge rose to give his decision the next week. In the interval Willes asked Byles why he did not take a particular point which both had agreed in consultation to be fatal to the plaintiff's case. " I left that to the chief justice," said Byles, " I led up to it, and walked round it, so that he cannot miss it, but if I had taken it, he would have decided against us at once." And so it proved, for on Monday morning the chief justice gave an elaborate judgment overruling all the points taken, but nonsuiting the plain tiff on a ground which, he said, he was astonished to find, had not been taken by either of the very learned counsel for the defendant, but which, in his opinion was conclusive. In another case Byles was for the plain
tiff, and Edwin James for the defendant, in an action on a bond tried before Chief Jus tice Tindal. Byles was a long time in open ing his case and examining his witnesses, until the chief justice became restless. Still more restless was Edwin James, who wanted to go elsewhere. Byles, seeing his impa tience, whispered to him. " Give me judg ment for the principal, and I will let you off the interest." Accordingly a verdict was taken for the plaintiff for the amount of the bond without interest. Afterwards Edwin James asked Byles why he had foregone the interest. " You need only have put in the bond," said he, " and you would have had both." "That was just the difficulty," said Byles, " the bond was not in court." In those days adjournments were not so easily granted as now, and in any case the costs of the day would have exceeded the interest. Upon one occasion when defending an im portant action, he asked the judge to exclude from the court all the witnesses for the plain tiff, except the one in the box. Observing that the plaintiff's solicitor, whose name was FTy, was moving in and out of court, and suspecting him of posting the witnesses he began his cross-examination of one of them as follows : " Well, my man, I suppose you have been well Fryed outside? " To which the witness quickly replied : " No, sir! and I don't intend to be Byled inside, either." A reputation for successes like these made Byles a formidable adversary. On one oc casion at Norwich he had for an opponent a counsel whose strong point was advocacy rather than law. Byles, who was for the defendant, went into court before the judge sat, and, in the presence of his opponent, he called to his clerk, " What time does the mid-day train leave for London?" "Halfpast twelve, sir." " Then, mind you have everything ready, and meet me in good time, at my lodgings." " But, serjeant," said the plaintiff's counsel, " this is a long case, it will last at least all day." " A long case!" said Byles: "it will not last long;
