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A young barrister in his first case was called upon to defend a couple of deep-dyed villains, for whom there was no chance of escape. He wound up his address to the jury as follows : " Gentlemen, there is in the South of France a small village of two hundred inhabitants. In that village there stands a house; in that house there live an aged couple with their only daughter. The old man is perusing a paper with feverish anxiety, the old lady is shedding tears over her knitting, the young wo man sits at the window gazing wistfully at the sky. They are waiting to hear the result of this trial, which will cause them immense delight or pro found despair, according as my case is won or lost; for that old man is my father, that aged woman is my mother, and the young person is my sister!"

A barrister tormented a poor German witness with so many questions that the -old man declared he was so exhausted that he must have a drink of water before he could say another word. Upon this the judge remarked, " I think, sir, you had better let the witness go now, for you have pumped him dry." A humorous thing occurred a short time since at the trial of a case in a justice court in Minne sota. The assistant prosecuting attorney of the county was called' upon to prosecute parties ar rested for stealing from a pedler. The case was being tried in a small country town, the justice occupying all the positions of honor and trust in the community, together with that of postmaster. Considerable interest was manifested, and a large number were present during the trial. The justice was put to his wit's end by the numerous objections interposed by the defendant's attorney, and ruled uniformly for the State. The case, however, enlisted much more interest than he anticipated, and the second day of the trial the justice thought he was becoming altogether one sided, and upon objection being interposed on the part of the State, he ruled in favor of the defend ants. Whereupon the prosecuting attorney arose to his feet, and exclaimed excitedly, " What! you do not propose to rule against me on that ques tion?" to which the justice honestly replied, that inasmuch as he had ruled in his favor on all questions the preceding day. he thought it not more than right to give the defendants some show,

and he therefore, in the interest of peace and har mony between the attorneys, would rule in favcr of the defendants that day, which he thought would even it up and be about fair.

Said Justice Brown to Mr. Morse, "I 'm sure, sir, that you stole this horse, For, though you have denied the charge, I 'll never let you go at large, Because I have the docket here. And seems to me your case reads queer, And proves you guilty — or, of course, You 'd never docket it ' in re Morse.'" Jean La Rue Burnett.

The following acknowledgment appears upon a deed recorded in the Register's Office, Davidson County, Tenn. : — Personally appeared before me, F. F., a Notary Public, in and for Davidson County, Tenn., the within named Kate Conley, wife of Jas. Conley, deceased, the bargainor, with whom I am personally acquainted, and who acknowledged that she executed the within instrument for the purposes therein contained. And Kate Conley, widow of the said Jas. Conley, de ceased, having appeared before me privately and apart from her husband; the said Jas. Conley, de ceased, acknowledged the execution of said deed to have been done byher freely, voluntarily, and understandingly, without compulsion or constraint from her said husband. Witness my hand and official seal, at Nashville, Tennessee, this iolh day of February, 189 1. F. F., Notary Public.

NOTES. In the leading Iowa case of Bowne & Sleeper v. Bilsland, wherein a railroad company's title un der congressional grant is declared interior to the rights of a settler on the land claiming title under homestead laws, " the squatter " defendant after denying plaintiffs title sets up a denial of the claim for damages for trespass in the following eloquent language: "That the defendants have not tres passed upon the land described in the petition; that they have enhanced the value of said land by tilling the same; for but a short time ago the rank thistle nodded in the wind, and the gopher dug his