In' 1220 a child was crucified in Norwich, England; and another, aged nine, at Lincoln in 1225. In the year 1547 a law was promulgated, by Henry VIII., "that women should not meet to gether to babble and talk, and that all men should keep their wives in their houses."
In the Minster at Beverley is an old stone seat, upon which was this inscription : " Haec sedes Lapidse ' Freed-Stoole ' dicitur — Pacis Cathedra; ad quam refugiendo perveniens omni modom habet securitateni." That is : "This stone seat is called Freed-Stoole, or Chair of Peace; to which if any criminal flee he shall have protection."
FACETIÆ. The late Judge Ranney, of Ohio, was seldom beaten in a lawsuit, and only once did opposing counsel get him cornered. In an important suit, one time, Judge Stevenson Burke was pitted against him. Ranney made his argument, and cited authority after authority to strengthen his position. Then Judge Burke arose, took up the Ohio statutes, and began reading a profound opin ion which entirely upset Ranney's argument. "Who handed down that decision? " thundered Ranney. "One Rufus P. Ranney, Judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio," quietly replied Burke; " and what is more, none of his decisions have ever been reversed." There was a roar of laughter from the court room, and all Judge Ranney could say was that he knew more now than when he made that decision. The magistrates in a cathedral city were re cently hearing applications for renewals of licenses. A solicitor had been retained on behalf of some good people who desired to have the renewal of certain licenses refused. In the course of his argument the solicitor made frequent references to Sharp v. Wakefield, until at last the patience of the worthy but ignorant mayor being exhausted,
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he leaned over and said : " Look 'ere, Mr. Blank, we are local people, and this is a local case; we don't know anything about either Sharp or Wake field. We never heard of either of 'em, and their opinion will have no weight with us. They are not local people, and we intend to decide these cases on local grounds." The solicitor was crushed. — The Jurist. Not long ago a younger member of the bar, conversing with an old veteran in the profession who had passed the fourscore years allotted to man, suggested that a great many changes must have taken place since he began the practice of the law. "Yes, yes," said the old gentleman, " a great many wonderful changes have taken place in my lifetime. Why, the infernal regions have cooled down a great deal since I was born." The young lawyer not long afterward repeated this remark to another veteran member of the same bar who knew the first old gentleman's peculiarities and weaknesses very well. "Did he say that? " asked the second veteran. "He did," said the young man. "Well, now I understand; that 's what he 's been waiting for all these years."
A carpenter having neglected to make a gib bet that had been ordered by the hangman, on the ground that he had not been paid for the last one he had erected, gave so much offence that the next time the Judge came to the circuit he was sent for. "Fellow," said the Judge, in a stern tone, " how came you to neglect making the gibbet that was ordered on my account?" » "I humbly beg your pardon," replied the car penter; " had I known it had been for your lord ship, it would have been done immediately."
Chaquette, who was recently tried at Rutland, Vt., for murder, and defended under an insanity plea, had been a thrifty man, had saved $1,500 or $2,000, and was therefore able to hire a number of lawyers for his trial, including a well-known St. Albans practitioner. When the trial was ended and the bills came in, however, Chaquette ob jected to them with great vigor as exorbitant, and
