Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 02.pdf/96

 Sir yonah Barringtoris " Sketches." one decisive sentence could I get him to pro nounce. At length he grew quite tired of me, and I thought to conciliate him by tell ing him that his father had christened me. ' Indeed! ' exclaimed he. ' Oh! I did not know you were a Christian.' At this unex pected repartee, the laugh was so strong against me that I found myself muzzled. My colleagues worked as hard as I; but a seventy horse-power could not have moved the court. It was, however, universally ad mitted that there was but one little point against us out of a hundred which the other side had urged; that point, too, had only three letters in it, yet it upset all our ar guments; that talismanic word ' law ' was more powerful than two speeches of five hours each." Swift was accordingly con victed, and sentenced to twelve months in Newgate, where, by a singular irony of fate, he was soon joined by the Rev. Dr. Bur rows, one of the fellows of the University, who, thinking it a safe proceeding now that poor Swift was in prison, published a libel against him, and was promptly prosecuted and convicted by Sir Jonah in behalf of Swift. This same Theophilus Swift had previously gained notoriety by defending a criminal called the " monster." This brute, a prototype of the recent Whitechapel mur derer, had practised the most horrible and mysterious crime of stabbing women indis criminately in the street, deliberately and without cause. None of the bar would un dertake the defence, until Swift, with Quix otic professional ardor, stepped forward to perform that office. Fortunately, however, the " monster " was promptly convicted and executed. Sir Jonah relates a curious incident where, Lord Clonmell having used violent language to a barrister, the bar, with only one dissen tient vote, passed the extraordinary resolution that no barrister should either take a brief, appear in the King's Bench, or sign any pleadings in that court, until his lordship publicly apologized. Strange as it may ap pear, this was actually done; no case was

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prepared, no counsel appeared, and their lordships had the court to themselves. The next day Lord Cionmell published an apol ogy by advertisement in the newspapers, making it appear, however, as if written on the evening of the offence, and therefore voluntary. Our author was an intimate friend of Curran. His description of the latter's personal appearance, however, is far from flattering. He says : " Curran's person was mean and decrepit, very slight, very shapeless, with nothing of the gentleman about it; on the contrary, displaying spindle limbs, a sham bling gait, one hand imperfect, and a face yellow, furrowed, rather flat, and thoroughly ordinary." He hastens to add, however, "Yet his features were the very reverse of disagreeable; there was something so inde scribably dramatic in his eye and the play of his eyebrow, that his visage seemed the in dex of his mind, and his humor the slave of his will." Curran had ordered a new bar wig, and not liking the cut of it, he jestingly said to the peruke-maker, " Mr. Gahan, this wig will not answer me at all." " How so, sir," said Gahan, "it seems to fit." "Ay," replied Curran, " but it is the very worst speaking wig I ever had. I can scarce utter one word of common law in it; and as for equity, it is totally out of the question." The wig was accordingly sold at a bargain to a less critical barrister. Sir Jonah thus describes Aaron Burr, whom he met in Ireland : " Colonel Burr was not a man of very prepossessing appear ance; rough-featured, and neither dressy nor polished; but a well-informed, sensible man, and though not a particularly agreeable, yet an instructive companion," — a portrait somewhat at variance with popular notion. Duelling flourished during Sir Jonah's career, and he himself was a principal in several of these " little affairs," fortunately escaping any damage. After enumerating a long list of duels fought by distinguished lawyers and judges, our author narvely adds: