Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 09.pdf/450

 PUBLISHED MONTHLY, AT $4.00 PER ANNUM.

SINGLE NUMBERS, 50 CENTS.

Communications in regard to the contents of the Magazine should be addressed to the Editor, HORACE W. FULLER, 15^ Beacon Street, Boston, Mass.

The Editor will be glad to receive contributions of articles of moderate length upon subjects of inter est to the profession; also anything in the way of legal antiquities or curiosities, facetia, anec dotes, etc. LEGAL ANTIQUITIES.

THE quaint reason, given by Bracton and adopted by Lord Coke, why, by the common law, a father cannot inherit real estate by de scent from his son, is that inheritances are heavy, and descend, as it were, by the laws of gravitation, and cannot reascend. (Co. Litt. n. 2 Bl. Comm. 212.)

FACETIÆ.

LAWYERS feed as they are feed. "How came you here? " said the visitor to a prisoner in the penitentiary. "I was brought here by my convictions," was the firmly spoken reply.

THE COURT (sternly) : " Make that man re move his hat!" Miss FLIP (indignantly) : " I'm no man." THE COURT (sotto voce) : " Then I'm no judge!" UNDER the old county court system in North Carolina a defendant could only be sued in his own county, whereas in the Superior Court he could be sued in either the county where the plaintiff or defendant resided. When the late Maj. A. M. Lewis was a young lawyer he inadver tently brought suit in the county court of Warren against a defendant who resided just over the line in Henderson, a town in Granville County. Mr. William Katon, by plea, took advantage of the defect of venue. Major Lewis to cover his inad vertence stated that he had thought Henderson

was in Warren. A well-known character, " clubfoot Bill " Ransom was in the court room, and re marked, sotto voce, but loud enough to be heard by everyone, " D—n a man who tries to conceal his real ignorance of law by an affected ignorance of geography." CURRAN, the Irish advocate, was one day ex amining a witness and, failing to get an answer, said : " There is no use in asking you questions, for I see the villain in your face." "Do you, sir?" said the man with a smile. "Faix, I never knew before that my face was a looking-glass." On another occasion he was out walking with a friend who was extremely punctilious in his con versation. The latter hearing a person near him say curusity for curiosity, exclaimed : " How that man murders the English language!" "Not so bad as that," replied Curran, " he has onlv knocked an /' out." STRANGE as it may seem, Supreme Court jus tices occasionally unbend, even while on the bench. Some years ago, Judge Stipp of Prince ton was pleading a damage case before the Illi nois Supreme Bench. A short time before the court had decided an almost similar case, in which one of the parties had lost fingers, against the injured man, saying in their decision : " The party being an attorney, his injury does not keep him from ' climbing those heights where fame's proud temple shines afar.' " Mr. Stipp was deep in the point of law when his remarks were inter rupted by the justice who wrote the former deci sion, who said : "Was not this point covered in a decision a short time ago by this court?" "Yes, your Honor," replied the attorney, it was, but my client has lost his toes, and has no claws to ' climb those heights, etc.'" The other justices smiled audibly and the law yer was allowed to finish in peace. 413