Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 02.pdf/402

Rh In 1781 it was no longer death to take a fal con's egg out of the nest, nor was it longer a hanging matter to be thrice guilty of exporting live sheep. In 1802 upwards of two hundred thousand writs were issued for arrests of debtors in the kingdom, for sums varying from four pence to five hundred pounds and upwards. In 1803 there were in Newgate jail as pris oners 391 children. In 1823 prisoners for assize at one county jail were double ironed on first reception, and thus fettered were at night chained down in the bed, the chain being fixed to the floor of the cell and fastened to the leg fetters of the prisoners. This chain was of sufficient length to enable them to raise themselves in bed. The cell was then locked and the prisoners continued thus chained down from seven in the evening till six the next morning. The double irons for the un tried prisoners varied in weight from ten to fourteen pounds. In 1825 the last person was hanged for forgery, — Mr. Mynard. In the same year women were put on the treadmill. In 1833 sentence of death was passed on a child of nine who had poked a stick through a patched-up pane of glass in a shop window, and thrusting his little hand through the aperture, had stolen fifteen pieces of paint worth two pence The lawyers construed this into " house-break ing," the principal witness being another child of nine who "told " because he had not his share of the paint.

FACETIÆ. A Liverpool woman, to relieve her husband, who was charged with cutting off the end of her nose, swore before the magistrate that she bit it off herself. The following anecdote is told of a lawyer, by the name of Carnes, who lived in South Caro lina. He once brought an action for assault and battery in which the counsel for the defence pleaded molliter mantis imposuit. The proof showed an aggravated assault and battery. When it came Carnes's turn to address the jury, he said : " Gentlemen, you all know I am no Latin scholar, but I think I can translate the gentle man's plea : molliter, he mauled; manus, the man; imposuit, and imposed on him. Now, gentlemen, did you ever hear of such impudence? — to shamefully abuse my client, and then to come into court and brag of it! " The argument was irresistible. "Now, sir, you say you know the plaintiff's reputation, and you know it to be bad?" "I do." "Now tell the jury, on your oath, what reasons you have for making such a statement." "Well, I can say on oath, sir, that I have met this man in places where I would be ashamed to be seen." A barrister was defending a man who was tried on a charge of manslaughter. The accused acknowledged his guilt. "Then there 's an end of the case," said the • judge. "How so, my lord? " inquired the counsel for defence. "The man acknowledges that he is guilty," re plied the judge. "That may be," added the barrister; "but / don't acknowledge anything of the kind."

"What a murderous-looking villain the pris oner is!" whispered an old lady in the court room to her husband. " I 'd be afraid to get near him." "Hush! " warned her husband; " that is n't the prisoner; he has n't been brought in yet." "It isn't? Who is it then?" "It 's the judge." At the Durham Assizes an action was tried which turned out to be brought by one neighbor against another for a trifling matter. The plain tiff was a deaf old lady; and after a little, the judge suggested that the counsel should get his client to compromise it, and to ask her what she would take to settle it. The counsel thereupon shouted out very loudly to his client, " His lord ship wants to know what you will take? " She smilingly replied : " I thank his lordship kindly, and if it's no inconvenience to him, I'll take a little warm ale."