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 every week, and in the height of the system on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons. One of the professors presided, and all the students were expected to attend and take notes; though this operation usually consisted in copying down verbatim both the briefs, which, in those days of expensive printing, the counsel slowly read aloud from manuscript. The cases were always on agreed facts, often taken from the actual experience of the presiding justice. Twice a year there were regular trials before a jury drawn from the undergraduates, or sometimes (with a delicate humor) from the divinity students. These affairs were made the occasion for a sort of solemn festival, and the courtroom was crowded to its utmost capacity. Many a great name in the history of the bench and the bar won its first recognition in these mimic combats. In point of fact, noisy applause and uproarious expressions of approval rather spoiled the sought-for dignified effect of a real court, and were sometimes excessive.

The law clubs, too, were an important element in the work of the school. They were named for great legal writers—the Fleta, the Marshall, etc. The Coke Club was of immemorial antiquity, and usually contained the most brilliant students. The average number in a club was from fifteen to twenty. They met in some of the smaller rooms in Dane Hall, and argued cases. On any