The sun., 1884-10-12
Law lo Essy Lrssu uus,

LOT tDb HEst time tIlut you uhNo SrN NOmto
works."
Law In Easy Lrsssas.
II is manifest that such manual as Every
Man His Own Lawyer" would be snare TO tho
unwsry. because II does not content itself with
teaching tho reader what to avoid. but pro-
fessos I'd guido him In tho labyrinthlan paths
Of substantive law and technica, procedure.
II Is equally clear. however. that q rudimen-
tnry Acquaintance with the main prlnciplcs OF
Jurisprudence 10 Indispensable 10 those who
purpose 70 mingle In active life at all. and dis
charge tho most familiar duties OF the citizen.
But law books are not inviting TO the general
reador-we may imagine. indeed. that Black
stone has rnther lost than gained In the sstesm
OF his professional brethren By the attempt to
make his commen tarlos IN exception to the
rule tho volumes may bs count
cd on the fingers which arc at once
entertaining and Trustworthy compends
OF legal lore. To the meagre col.
lection OF attractive introduottons to this
subject an addition has recently boon made by
BESJsMIN VAUGHAN ABBOTT In couple OF
brochures. respectively called The Travelling
Lar School and Famous Trials which are pub
lished In ono volume by u. Lathrop h Go. Tho
book Ia ostensibly written for boys. but II may
be heartily CON mn,onded TO adult readers Of both
sexes. 1t Is surprising how much sound law
tho author manages to insinuate In tho guiss
o' interesting incidents and pleusinG anec-
dotes. Evon they who nre sicksnod by the
scent of sheepskin and law calf. and who
would US soon think OF entering on n course OF
Calvinistic theology rs ON u study OF juris-
prudence. will imbibe through the authors
cheerful narrative good many useful notions
OF their legal rights aud dutios Just as children
are persuaded to swallow 0n aperient in the
shape OF prunes or fl2s
n ''T m Truvallinu I SshouJ ho
name inpllcs. tho reader is invited to accom-
pany u party OF young students In n tour
through ssvei7il OF tho Atlantic Statos tho In
ciicnts OF the journey suggesting succinct
accounts Of the main features OF Federal
State. and municipal law. much larger sum
OF information can be thus informally conveyed
in about u hundred raGos than would at frat
sight bc doomed possible: and Notwithstanding
tho suspicion with which lawyers apt 10
regard tho Transmission Of knowledge through
such u pleasant medium We are ublo to vouch
In this instance for its accuracy. We have
been particularly struck by the light which tho
author manages TO throw. In quick. unaffected
way. on tho characteristic features OF the
American Constitution. This he doOs by Illus
trations drawn from tho organic laws OF other
countries possessing parliamentary institu-
Culnriy exact. though he might perhaps have
laid more stress on the contrnlizi ng tendencies
which survive in the executive branch OF the
Tho plan followed Ia Famous Trials" Is to
mistaken identity, or crcumsiantia evidence.
| and 10 Illustrate the points b,st worth ienem-
ShsS hey %ers n.a o
example. in connection wit the subject OF for;
gsry; the author tolls the ST.: ot tho Rowland
| that IL lady na,nod Sylvia Howiahd made u will
giving her money to her niece; Hetty. but that
| after ber death n testament OF lntor date was
produced by which she made quite different
dispossition Of her property l. wa. main;
eovenanted NOT 10. change tho former VIII
In consideration OF the ,nisce on her part
cmbodying such IN agreement In the nieces
handwriting. but purporting TO be signed by
o in ss s sp Is' apceS
ftent on tho ground Of forgery. Before YER
s' Ma ra e st@ppei N but syirvmey me APaf a
| terestuG testimony WAS taken. The suspicious
on ss Th the su1 Ws. iis s
IT. was too perfect. being an. absolute fac-simile
o. tho signa,ars Of .hs T l. seems g have
signs his nam, naIns txieS t,xrieS rreslssly aliks. Mt:
Hen 0' two sns psse. s sane rnssa s
against a window pane. nc SEQ whether @ ono SIG.
nature would exactly ht the other The per
aunt ma me said She hal done It by irasinV"
nnd hHt so had 'hG, Perfect
en gnaiure H4 "s' SS Of ma,h
Gmatics.we boIiccyre il was the late Benjamin
| ha made calculation OF the matter. and that
there was only one chance among two thousand
| six hundred and sixty millions of millions
| Of millions that tho aunt could have written
| her name three times 80 precisely alike as 1t
npreared upon the will and the two copies Of
Among other methods Of detecting forgery.
Mr ABBOTT. OF course, aliudes 70 tho results OBJ
scope; Apropos Of this expedient. he recou4ts
what happened to sea Captnin who aired a
s Sss Sss
wrecked was unable tn restore tho Instrument.
se Sa thu SrEHs for
pay for it. II it should be lost. The rscelpt was
and lo Il contained two 9es writ
CAPTAIN % a ho~eysr s That lines ' we're sGS
aFs% i"' But Be' the ' w,ins @ sins @ passd
that tho top q lot,sr in the sea
Csptans name ran ,,ap up Int the bottom
and that tho inks Of the two letters mad Mingled
while they werc both fresh. forming II sort Of
signed his name while the ink Of the promise
| to pay for the chrono,ncter was still wet Mr..
WRich ,hous % not 2"s s1aety nsw Is good Snou1
| to bear retclinE. some persons who wore plot:
ting to forge deod thought it would bs shIexd
SO. and when they testified about the signing
and acanG they said that the deed thoy saw
signed had sixpenee put under tn. seal
Thoy thought tho LAWYERS would break, tho
everybody would bsiiovc all tho rest OF the
| story. The WAN 10 he sure. was broken. and the
sixrencs found. But tho lawyer who Was
against the deed said Examine the date OF
the siApence" 1t turned out that the sixpence
was dated several years later than the deed
whereby Of course. tho forgery was made un-
| mistakab.e.
The instance OF mistaken identity dos rribed
| by Mr. Abbott ut some length II really much
| ions than the TichhDFup tlpuph
| the affair. having taken place many years ago
| in France. has boon almost totally forgotten.
| The true husband's name WAS Martin fucrre.
a man OF fair social position and some proper
| ty who. after living happily with His wlfa Dor
trando for about q dozen years. disappeared
| suddenly. and othng was heard of him for
eight years. At the end OF that time the same
Martin Guerre. as all tho town nsople sup
| posed came back. recognizing his old nogh-
| bors and friends. and looking Just as he used,
excspt that he hnd grown stonter and sun
rendlly rs did his neighbors. and gave him an
nirsctionate welcome. 10 innumerabe aues-
| tons about occurrences in old times. he re-
| turned satisfactory and explicit answers. To