The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-02-21
ReeoIlectiona Of Lord Chief Justice
A1vrrstORe.

An informal. gpssipy book with trim
mtngs of b mot so,cmn) and au-
thoritative judgments on British JUS
tire is TIE R~rcolLcctious of Bar and
Beach. by the Right Hon. Niscount
A~LyEHsroNE, G.. C. NJ. G.. OLondon,
Edward Arnold: Longmans. Green
and Company. There is wit IN these
"recollertions." and wisdom: and such
frankness as. proffcred in private con-
versation. would make the young law
yer blessed by it al object of envy to
his fellows and. so he had the grace
TO profit by example as well as pre-
cept. a pleader of formidable
ment- Niscount Alverstone, horn De-
| cemher ~. 1912, inherited the law as a
profession; his father. Thomas web
stcr. was a patent lawyer of parts, and
taught his son the fine lesson: Know
what YOU have TO deal with.
The eX-Chief Justice is proud Of his
athletic youth: a picture shows him,
bearded. in running clothes: deep
| in the chest, rather th.ck of flank and
lean of shank, as he IA when in IS he
ran in the varsity sports, and broke
the tape in the half" the mile ,4:36)
and the two miles all in an afternoon,
and beat oxford (Lord Jersey in the
mile n "a. II. Johnson) in the double
nrilc on the same day.
Mr.. Webster was called to the
bar" at Lincoln's Inn in the spring
Of 1868: decided to join the home cir
cult and began practice in the City.
He Vas a hard worker; smarter
than the common run. and had some
49, ..t MI
cardinal principle of his professional
career. thanks TO the wise prcceptor-
ship of his father, was to master every
argument in all its detail, however
technical, of whatever calling.
The book Is full Of stories. one of
the earliest is of a case in which An
thony Tro.lope was "A witness. II was
a post office prosecution: the nov
elist. a pos office official. knew moth
about the particular robbery in cues
ton. but vas called upon to prove the
practice in the post office in handling
the mail. A ~hardworhing barrister
named Codd was defending the pris-
oncr
Codd-Stop = moment. hr. Trollope.
What are you. Mr.. Trollope?
Trollopc-I hsv. already told the cour;
that I am a supervisor IN the pos, once,
Codd-But are you anything else?
Troilope-Yes, I An al author.
Codd-Ah! You are an author, are
YOU? What vas the last book you wrote
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Towers"
Codd-Well, then. was there a word OF
truth In that book from beginning TO end
Trollope-I do not understand what you
mean.
Codd-You can answer a plain question.
Was there a word Of truth in that boob
from beginning to end
Trollope-It was a work Of fiction.
Codd-Fiction or not, was there a word
of truth in II from beginning to end?
Trollope-Wen. n YOU pu, Il that way
there was not.
Codd-Thank Won, MIR. Troilope.
Mr.. C'odd put 1t up to tn" jury,
How can you conviC a man Wher
the principal witness against him con,
fesses he has written a book without
q word of truth in it?" lie lost hi.
case. The law may be an ass, bur
th~ Jury Is not.
Mr.. LAVE. Chancery Registrar, wa,
a ckver chap, Webster defended til,
validity Of telephone patents in nu
merous cases, and in one case he wa,
counsel for Edison in an electric high.
litigation:
The artion involved IN. Validity Of III,
principal patent for an invention the lead
ing features of which ombodieds a glas
globe from which the air was exhausted
platinum leading wires and a hlamcnt 0
carbon.
On the first occasion We succeeded ny
majority Of two to one. LORD Justice Cotton