The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1882-06-16
ODD LEGAL STORIES.
TIE "REMINISCENCES OF AN OLD LONDON
LAWYER.

TIE "REMINISCENCES OF AN OLD LONDON
LAWYER
Sergeant Balanune, who is London born.
began his legal career in the period when oil
lamps dimly lighted the streets OF the great
city when bishops walked about in white
wigs, tbree-cornered hats, long SILK aprons
and knee breeches; when Burke and Hare
by the liberal art Of murder provided sub
ierts for the dissecting table: and when the
Duke Of Wellington was the most adored
and the most talked Of man in the Kingdom.
] The Sergeant does not forget to tell the story
Of the Dukes joining Crockford's. the IA
I nous gambling resort that he might black
ball his sons IL they became candidates. nor
. that other more venerable tale Of his ming
( ling his tears with Butchers over the dead
Of Waterloo. And apropos Of BIucher comes
the old anecdote of his admiration for Lon
don after gorgeous city dinner: "Vvhat a
splendid city &c would be TO sack cried the
+ old Prussian 90 his beaminC hosts. Not the
/ least enga Cinc PORTION Of Ballautine's rpmf-
1 niscences are those Of his early struggle rs q
poor barister his encounters with duns
. his wonderiuCs As 20 whence next day's din
+ ner was coming One of his first briefs was
t given to him by rather shady attorney OF
the Jewish persuasion; and being At that
time without experience, young Bsnautine
1 yielded implicitly 60 his instructions "a
/ young gentleman Of the same faith" he
/ says, ''was called as a witness Nv client
suggested a question. BIindlv 1 put IL. and
( was met by direct negative What lie .
calculated my client, and dictated another
question the same result followed. and a
similar ejaculation By his further iustruc-
tion put third, the answer TO which COM
pletelv knocked rs over Ny client threw
himself back WELL said he he is a liar.
he always was a liar and aIvavs will be a
liar Why. remarked I. you seen 10 know
all about him 'Of course / do svns the re-
ply, 'he IS my own son ~ Among the Ser
F Eeant's recoIlectfous of London magistrates
is one of that 'shTiyelled crab-apple.' Mr..
Lsaing. whom Dickens caricatured 10 "Oliver
Twist as DR.. Fang. a clergyman com
plained Of Laing's irritabilitv TO the Home
Office, and the authorities. not sorry 70 fol
low the lead Of a popular author, dismissed
. him. HIS clerical accuser was shortly after
/ ward convicted Of stealing silver spoon at
q charity dinner at which he presided
Those who have glowed with indignation
over Dickens Fang viii be surprised to
read that he was a thoroughly honorable
gentleman, good lawyer and an accom-
pliShed scholar. Arabin, another Of Barau-
tines legal brethren and quaint little man.
was distinguished for enunciatfng abSurfi-
ties with most perfect Innocence ct asgurs
Z YOU gentlemen. . he said one dav TO a iurv
speaking Of the inhabitants Of provincial
town, they viii steal the very teeth ont Of
your mouth as You walk through the streets.
Ikno11 from experience
/ Among the Sergeant's odd legal stories is
I one concerning the wife Cf n Governor Of
New South Wales who happening 10 be in
. England at time when q fashionable gle7Tsf-
quier was sentenced to transportation for A
grave crime, impi0red the Home Secretary
t. carry out the sentence, as there was not a
decent hair-dresseri in the colony. Oueoft the
I most groteSque figures In the book is that Of
/ a decenty- dressed. quiet-lookinr man WIN
used to present himself after dinner RI fba
/ Judges and counsel on the last davof the Old
Bailey sessions. Upon his appearance be
was always presented with a glass Of wine
and this he drank 70 the health Of his rs
/ irons, expressing "with becoming modast,-
his gratitude for past favors and his homes
for favors to come" It was Calcraft tba
hangmau. OF Justice Parke. a LAWYER of
the old school, Banantine saws that in his
latter days he had acquired ha5ff Of think
ing aloud, which led on one occasion TO n
rather amusing incident Whilst trying an
old woman on the charge Of stealing farrots.
he unconsci0usly calculated: : "Whv. one
iaegot IS as iiEe another faggot rs one erris
like another egg The counsel defending
the csse heard the observation and repeated
it TO the jury. stop said Sir James
stop it is an intervention Of Providence
This was the very thought that passed flro'
my mind Gentlemen addressing the
1ury), 'acluit the prisoner" An auecdote
Of Chief Justice Erie, a man Of great benev-
olence, would ornament q novel He was
presiding in the Civil Court at NORTHAMPTON.
and was Obliged TO direct a fury against
some poor people who had been scandalous-
ly but legally swindled. To them the result
was absolute ruin. On the following morn
ing an elderly gentleman on horseback
made his appearance in the alley where the
sufferers resided. This was Sir William
Erie. He gave them some very good advice,
and with it a sum of money that replaced
them IN their old position.
story OF Sir Ashley Cooper. told by his
nephew 70 Ballautine. has more of the su-
pernsturaI than legal anecdotes are usuaIlv
deck-d with: There had been a murder.
and Sir Ashley was upon the scene when the
man suspected of it was aBprehended, and
Sir Ashley, being greatly interested accom-
panied the officers with their prisoner % the
jail, and be and they and the accused were
an in the cell, locked IN together, when they
noticed a little dog which kept biting at the
skirt of the prisoners coat. This led then,
70 examine the garment. and they found
upon it traces Of blood. which ultimately led
to the conviction Of the man. When they
looked around the dog had disappeared. al
though the door had never been opened. .-
How It got there, or how 10 got away, no
body could tell. When Bransbv Cooper
spoke Of this, he always said that Of course
his uncle bad made a mistake, AMI was con
WINGED of this himself and Bransbv used to
add that no doubt, if the matter had been
investigated, it would have been that there
was mode of accounting for it from nat
ural causes But neither Sir Ashley nor his
nephew, IN their own hearts, discarded en-
tirely the supernatural.
How BE GOT OvER.-In Scotland they
have narrow. open bitches they call sheep
drains. A man was riding donkey one day
across a sheep pasture, and when the donkey
came to a sheep drain he would not 90 over.