Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 15.pdf/387

 346

TIISRE was once an English lawyer (says "E. M." in a sketch of Lord Watson in The Law Times,'), who, after years of tasting the sweets of life, placed them in this order: "I would rather," he said, "go to church than go to the play. I would rather go to the play than go shooting. I would rather argue before Lord Watson than go to church." Lord Watson was once pursuing the Socratic method with counsel in a case in which the question was what constituted "molesting." "I think," said Lord Bramwell, slyly, "the House quite understands now the meaning of molesting a man in his business." It is worth noting, however, that President Grevy regarded it as one of the best attributes of the English Bench that the judges condescended to argue cases with the counsel engaged. French judges never in terrupt, and as a consequence freqeuntly get erroneous impressions. A counsel who knew Lord Watson once ventured to com plain to him, in private, of his too frequent interruptions of counsel: "Eh! mon," said Lord Watson—he retained his broad Scotch to the last—"ye should no complain of that, for I never interrupt a fool." FROM the Pall Mall Gazette: A young man was taking an oath in a county court. "What," said the judge, "was trie last thing the usher said to you?" "Kiss the Book," said the witness. "Then why didn't you?" "I did." "No, sir, you did not; I saw you kiss your thumb." "I beg pardon, my 1 sir, it was an accident." "Young man, if you go about kissing things by accident, you'll get into trouble." A BILL has been introduced in the House of Lords which authorizes the substitution, in the system of land registration in Scot land, of the photo-zincographic method of copying deeds for the present method of transcribing by hand. "The new process of reproducing deeds," says The Law Times, "consists in photographing each writ on a zinc plate which is treated with acid so as to leave in relief the portions intended to be

printed, the zinc plate being then used like an ordinary lithographic stone, and as many copies as my be wanted printed off. Among the merits claimed for the system are that it will yield absolute facsimiles, and not mere transcripts; that it will enable plans annexed to deeds to be reproduced; that it will be possible to furnish each county with a copy of the record applicable to it; that it will ren der unnecessary the laborious work of colla ting; and that it will facilitate the giving of extracts, all at an additional cost of only some £3000 annually. The innovation has a suggestion of modernity which may be dis tasteful to the conservative conveyancer, but, if it be carried out with the requisite precau tions, it should greatly enhance the efficiency of the Scottish system of land registration, whose perfection Sir George MacKenzie, more than two hundred years ago, regarded as a special mark of the divine favor be stowed on Scotland." '•SIGMA, " writing in BLackivood's Magazine for June, tells the following amusing incluent in a visit of Lord Brougham to Harrow on a speech day as one of the guests of the Headmaster. "He passed on to the Head master's house, where, with the elite of the visitors, he was bidden to lunch. There, however, his self-esteem encountered a rude shock, for the policeman stationed at the door to keep off 'loafers' and other undesir able company, sternly asked the dilapidatedlooking old person his business. 'I am in vited here to lunch,' growled out the indig nant guest. 'Gammon!' curtly responded the guardian of the peace. 'I am Lord Brougham!' was the furious rejoinder; 'let me pass!' 'Bah!' contemptuously retorted the bobby, 'yer wants me to believe that, do ver? Move on!' At this critical juncture the old Lord, inarticulate with rage, was fortu nately espied by another eminent guest, who, taking in the situation at a glance, succeeded in allaying the suspicions of the policeman." SIR FREDERICK POLLOCK'S Prefaces to the Revised Reports are always piquant. In the