The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1884-02-08
Stories of the Bench and Bar.

Ministers enjoy telling anecdotes about
the cloth; doctors-Oliver Wendell
Holmes is a conspicuous example-over-
flow with stories at the expense of their
brethren; and lawyers and judges, when
they get together, make the rafters
ring with inextinguishable laughter. Mr..
Croake James, whose name is a singular
illustration of the old proverb that names
go by contraries, when he retired from
the law after half century's practice,
dedicated to his companions a repertory
of stories which he had been long pre-
pairing, selections from which he had
often read to them in grand divan as
sembled.
Mr.. James first gives Lord Brougham's
definition of lawyer as "a learned gen.
tleman who rescues your estate from your
enemies and keeps it to himself, and then
goes on to recall an old story of Lord
Avonmore, who had fallen into the bad
habit of interrupting counsel. Thus Cur
ran was often stopped short in his argu-
ment by his lordship, who would say:
"Mr. Curran, l know your cleverness,
but it's quite in vain for you to go on;
see the drift of it all, and you are
only giving yourself and me unneces-
sary trouble" One day, Curran, be.
ing too often stopped in this way,
thus addressed the Judge: perhaps,
my lord, l am straying, but you must
impute it to the extreme agitation of
my mind. 1 have just witnessed so
dreadful circumstance that my imagi-
nation has not yet recovered the shock"
The Judge was all attention: go on,
Mr.. Curran." son my way to court, my
lord, as passed by one of the markets,
l observed butcher proceeding to
slaughter calf Just as his hand was
raised, lovely little child approached
him unperceived, and, terrible to relate
i see the life blood gushing out still
the poor child's bosom was under the
butchers hand, when he plunged the
knife into-into-" Into the child
cried out the Judge, with great emotion.
"Your lordship sometimes anticipates
it went right into the neck of the calf"
Judge Wiles once sentenced a boy at
Lancaster to be hanged, with the hope of
reforming him by frightening him, and
he ordered him for execution next morn
ing. The judge awoke in the middle of
the night, and was so affected by the no
ton that he might himself die in the
course of the night, and the boy be
hanged, though he did mean he should
suffer, that he got out of bed and went
to the lodgings of the high sheriff and
left Il reprieve for the boy, or what
was to be considered equivalent to it,
and then, returning to his bed, spent
the rest of the night very comfortably.
When Lord Mansfield once exclaimed
to Mr.. Dunning, as he was laying down
legal point: sob, if that be law, Mr.
Cunning, | may burn my law books y
"Better read them, my lord" was the
ready retort,
In a similar manner an Irish judge
shook his head as Mr., Curran was elabor.
ating one of his points to jury. 81
see," said Mr.. Curran, II see, gentlemen,
the motion of his lordship's head; com
mon observers might imagine that it i'm
piled a difference of opinion, but they
would be mistaken. 1t is merely acct
dental. Believe me, gentlemen, if you
remain here many days, you will your
selves perceive that when his lordship
shakes his head there's nothing in it! "