Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 07.pdf/421

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The Green Bag.

when he resigned. In the following month graduated as a wrangler, and was afterwards Lord Justice Knight Bruce died. The typi elected to a fellowship. Joining the bar of cal chancery barrister or judge is supposed Lincoln's Inn in 1821, he read in the cham to be a person of mouldy tastes, black-let bers of Mr. Pepys, afterwards Lord Coffenter knowledge and profound ignorance of ham, and after nineteen years of assiduous human nature and instincts. To this popu and successful work as a junior, became one lar type, however, Knight Bruce at least did of Her Majesty's Queen's Counsel. His not conform. Both at the bar and on the greatest forensic success was as counsel bench he displayed a degree of wit, humor, for Mr. Gorham in the great " baptismal strength of will and judgment, and warm regeneration" case which was the cause of human sympathy which made him a being Manning's secession to the Church of Rome. very different from the " Jones, Queen's After a brief period (1848-51) of Parlia Counsel," whom Punch has made us all mentary life as member for Coventry, he familiar with, as the beau-ideal of an equity was raised to the bench as one of the vicelawyer. Knight Bruce's best judgments are chancellors, and knighted. In 1853 he suc models of classical English as well as good ceeded Lord Cranworth as a Lord Justice law. The curious may consult : Walter v. of Appeal, and sat with Knight Bruce till Selfe (4 de G. & Sm. 315); Prince Al 1866. He died on July 9, 1867. He was bert v. Strange (2 de G. & Sm. 652), where | as skillful a lawyer as his colleague, but the defendant proposed to exhibit in a pub lacked his robustness of character. Taken lic gallery private etchings taken by Queen together they constituted an ideal tribunal. Victoria and the Prince for their own amuse- 1 We must take the remaining members ment and of course without their consent; and of the Court of Appeal who call for notice Thomas v. Roberts (3 D. & Sm. 758), " the very briefly. Sir Edward Fry retired from Agapemone case." In ex-parte Banks (2 the bench about two years ago. The son de G.M.&G. 937), Knight Bruce described of a manufacturer at Bristol, he was born in November, 1827, and educated at Univer a litigation over a plumber's bill in the fol lowing vigorous terms : " Upon a matter sity College, London, where he carried off that if the parties had not good sense enough very high honors in classics and physiology. to settle it for themselves, some respectable Fry was called to the bar of Lincoln's Inn in neighbor would probably, upon application, 1854, and speedily acquired a large chan have adjusted for them in an hour, began cery practice. In 1869 he took silk. In the career of cost and heat and hatred, of 1873 he was made a justice of the chancery reproach, scandal and miser)-, in which they division and knighted. Ten years later, when are now engaged, and which neither this Lord Esher was made Master of the Rolls, day nor this year will, I fear, see the end, he succeeded him as a Lord Justice of Ap peal. Sir Edward Fry is a Quaker. He is and which seems to exemplify an old Eng lish saying that "the mother of mischief is the author of a text-book on Specific Per formance, which is, and deserves to be, a no bigger than a midget's wing." classic, and he was one of the greatest tech nical masters of equity jurisprudence in the present generation. Sir Henry Cotton was LORD JUSTICE TURNER. born in 182 1, educated at Eton and at Oxford, where he defeated the late Lord Coleridge George James Turner, the son of a clergy man, at Great Yarmouth, was born in 1798, in one memorable competition, was called to and was educated at the Charterhouse and at the bar of Lincoln's Inn in 1844, became a Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he j Queen's Counsel twenty years later, and was