where he might meet the oi roλλoí. He must | ceptible of a construction much less conservahave private lodgings, which, however, are not tive than the worthy and reverend gentleman provided for at the county's expense. Accord- gave to it. ingly, at every assize town you find in the inn a list of the counsel on the circuit, with their respective places of temporary abode.

But barristers must dine-English barristers will dine together, and no private lodgings being sufficient for the purpose, the bar mess dines every day, at six or seven o'clock, at the principal inn in the town. Of this pleasant institution more hereafter.

From the church the judges go to the court and enter on their duties. But I must first describe an English court-room, for nothing can be more different in its aspect from ours. The three I saw were a good deal alike. I heard Mr. Justice Cresswell say, in no very dulcet tones, in open court at Croydon, that the one there "was the worst in the kingdom." I am not sure that I saw the best, but the one at Ipswich was a new one, and I think there can be no very great difference between them. The bar is ranged round a large square or

And so you have the picture of a county town where the assizes are being held. The judges installed in their lodgings, the barristers in their private quarters, and the profane rout | oblong table covered with green baize; from of attorneys, witnesses, and jurymen crowding this table the seats rise amphitheatre-wise on the coffee-rooms of the various inns. From three sides; on the fourth overhangs the fortime to time the echo of the bugles announces midable figure of the judge. The first effect is that the judges are going to or from the court; something like that of a cockpit, or a small cirand if, as at Croydon, the court-house is in the cus, where from all sides you look down on the heart of the town, you will see the barristers in performers. The central table varies. I saw full wigs and gowns trotting about the street, no one able to accommodate more than twenty and even entering the precincts of the inns people, and these not comfortably. In fact, themselves. any thing less comfortable than the whole afEach circuit embraces several counties. On fair I never saw. The barristers, all attired in entering each county the judges are met and wigs and gowns, are ranged round this table on received by the sheriff of that county, some-long wooden benches or settles with high recttimes in lace ruffles and breeches, sometimes angular or perpendicular backs; and, if they in the uniform of a Deputy Lord-Lieutenant, desire to go out, they must either crawl along sometimes in plain black. He (the sheriff) on the seat behind their brethren, who lean forbrings with him his retinue, for justice is hon-ward, or else stalk across the table, as I saw ored in England with all sorts of form and frequently done. There is no such thing as a paraphernalia, and outward observance. This chair in the whole arena. Into this delightful retinue used to consist of the sheriff's own ten- Pomarium no one but barristers are allowed antry-they were then wont to be endowed with to enter, save when an attorney or a client is certain saddles and bridles for the purpose-called in for conference or suggestion. and an old statute declares, no doubt to prevent any offensive display of feudal power, that no sheriff, on these occasions, should turn out with more than twenty-four of his vassals.

But, tempora mutantur! the feudal power is on the wane. Pomps and shows are dying out, and saddles and bridles cost money; so that now the tenantry of the sheriff are superseded by a band of pensioners, or outside invalides as they would be termed in France, who, in a uniform of blue coat and pantaloons, scarlet vest and white cravat, and with javelins in their hands -such was the uniform at Derby, elsewhere they wear different trappings-escort the judges to and from their lodgings, wait on them to and from the Court, and preserve order in the tribunal.

The gown of the barrister is stuff or silk. God forbid that I should attempt to state on what terms and conditions the one toga is exchanged for the other, and what privileges are dependent thereon: it is an awful and complex subject. The wig is, I believe, a little more intelligible; that is to say, easier to get through one's hair. A dingy gray peruke, with three horizontal and parallel rows of curls behind, twisted as tight as hot iron can friz them, with a tail dangling below that is always getting under the collar of the gown (one hand of several counsel that I saw, while speaking, being principally occupied in keeping the queue clear of the robe), constitutes the capillary ornament of the English bar. The only distinction, I believe, is that the sergeant's wig bears on its top a With the sheriff comes the sheriff's chaplain; small black patch or coif, which, at a little disand the first act of the performance, in each tance, to a short-sighted person, suggests the assize town, is for the judge to robe himself in idea of some unpleasant disease of the head the official scarlet, and then attend service into such dimensions has shrunk the coiffure the principal church of the place. I was pres-which we see in the old pictures and engravings ent at the opening ceremony in All Saints' of the Cokes and Plowdens of three hundred Church, in Derby, where many of the great years ago! I think the merits of this legal Cavendish family repose, and heard a sermon uniform are easily disposed of. The gown is a preached for the benefit of the excellent Mr.graceful dress, which conceals the angularity Justice Coleridge on the words, "The powers of our modern attire, and gives dignity to the that be are ordained of God." It appeared to speaker. The wig is a detestable disguise and me a double-edged sort of a text, and to be sus- deformity: it gives every face a heavy, wooden

air, and most effectually conceals the play of | for old real actions, etc.; of Nisi Prius, for the the features; though, I suppose, as about every civil business; of Jail Delivery, for the criminal thing, there are two sides to the question. "If business; of Oyer and Terminer. you were to see old- without his wig," said my friend Mr. while I was declaiming against the ugliness of the thing, "you would think the wig was not such a bad head-dress after all."

The forms are now nearly over. One of the judges takes the cases on the criminal side, and the other the causes on the civil side, and they go to work.

The judge and all present stand while they are read, the judge with his hat on; and when the Queen names in the commission "our trusty and well beloved," the hat is raised in token of the compliment. The judges are the representThe attire of the judges is a still more com-atives of royalty; so, when they receive the plex subject, and I approach it with a profound county magistrates or bar at dinner, they walk sense of my utter incapacity to deal with it. I in before their guests, to preserve their true only know that one day they appear in a scar- vice-regal position. let robe, and one day in a black; that one day they wear a full-bottomed wig, and the next a Ramilies peruke; but the order of these vicissitudes, their symbolical meaning, hidden cause, or practical effect, I confess myself entirely incapable of explaining. I venture, however, to express my opinion, that in England the day of the costumer is past; and that the masculine sense and great practical ability of the English bench could not be better shown than by throw-called over, each present rising and answering ing off these trappings, which, it is true, make the groundlings stare, but which are only infinitely ludicrous to the eye of common sense.

On one side of the four-sided amphitheatre | are the seats for the jury, and on the others the small audience are arranged. The judge occupies a seat by himself; on either side of him are places for the sheriff, chaplain, and county magistrates, and for any casual observer who, like myself, was thought worthy of the honor. At one side of the judge is the witness-box, a little further off is the crier. At the door, and in different parts of the house are stationed the javelin-men to preserve order. Directly under the judge sits the clerk, also in wig or gown, acting under the directions of the presiding officer. It will be borne in mind that there are two court-rooms of this kind at each assize town, the one for the civil, and the other for the criminal business.

On the civil side they plunge at once in medias res; on the criminal side the matter is more laborious.

First, the roll of the county magistrates, the justices of the peace-the Great Unpaid-is

to his name. Then the judge inclines his fullbottomed wig from the bench, and gravely invites the magistrates to do him and his learned brother the honor of dining with them at their lodgings on that day.

Secondly, the grand jury (generally composed of the county magistrates) is sworn in, charged by the judge, and withdraws; for as yet there is no criminal business before the court, unless something stands over from the last circuit: that is to say, on coming to each assize town the judge receives copies of the depositions on which commitments have been made by magistrates during the interval since the last assize; on these depositions his charge to the grand jury is based, and on the charges contained in these depositions the grand jury forthwith deliberate; so that the bills are found and brought in while the court is sitting, and as it is a great object with judge and jurors, counsel and attorneys, to push on the business as rapidly as possible, the grand jury are not permitted to let the grass grow under their heels. At Derby I heard the clerk, in a pause when the court was idle, say to the under-sheriff to tell the grand jury to send in more bills; and to expedite matters, the indictments there were handed over from the gallery of the court-room, which communicated with the grand jury-room, in the end of a long cleft wand, while the round and eminently En

I saw the entry of the judges into Derby. The little inn where I was overlooked the courtyard. Two buglers on horseback preceded the sheriff's carriage. The governor of the jail headed the procession, also mounted. The javelin-men paraded in front of the lodgings; and the sheriff's carriage, with the sheriff and judges in it, drew up. The judges retired to their private apartments, entered the court-room in plain clothes, attended by the sheriff and chaplain, ascended the tribunal, and then the clerkglish face of the honorable Mr. X, foreman opened and read the commissions under which the judges discharge their duties; for they hold these circuits, not as judges of Westminster, but by virtue of commissions regularly made out for every circuit. In these commissions there are frequently, if not usually, joined prominent barristers, sergeants, etc., who may, and often do hold the court. So at Croydon, where the work on the home circuit was very heavy, Mr. Bramwell, Q.C., was sitting, with full judicial powers, to help in clearing off the calendar.

The commissions under which they act are, I think, five: Justices of the Peace; of Assize,

of the jury, peeped round the pillar to see how the work went on. The moment the indictment reaches the hand of the clerk the accused party is arraigned, and the trial proceeds. In some cases he has counsel, in others not, but the trial proceeds instantly.

This dispatch in criminal business strikes one unpleasantly. To be sure the party accused has previously had copies of the depositions on which he is arrested, and he may have employed an attorney, but no time is given him to confer with counsel, and the proceeding is certainly more rapid than we should think necessary for,

first called. This puts, at once, an end to all finessing about the order of testimony. There is no arrangement of witnesses; no putting this one forward because he is more favorable; no keeping that one back because he knows a little too much. The plaintiff or defendant is first called; he states his case. If he breaks down on cross-examination, the case is pretty much upas it ought to be-if not, you corroborate as best you may. The practice undoubtedly simplifies the trial of causes.

that this was a special jury-I had intended to | ways called, and, what is more, they are always say you have no doubt seen your servants make bread." So sensitive are the feelings of caste in England, and so offensive would it be to a special juryman to have it thought that his wife ever made bread. The speech was an excellent one, and capitally illustrated the eccentricities of trial by jury. It was an opening for the defense; not a witness had the counsel called, but the moment the learned sergeant sat down, one of the jurymen rose and said the case seemed to him very clear, and he hoped they need not be troubled by any farther investigation of the plaintiff's demand. So cleverly had the thing been done, the jury actually thought that all that had been stated had been proved.

The leading diversity between the English courts at Nisi Prius and our own is the difference in the dispatch of business; and the difference is greatly in their favor. It is diffiI saw several cases tried illustrating the ap-cult to make any accurate chronological estiplication of the new rule permitting the party mate, but I think they do not consume oneto testify in his own cause. Of six judges with fourth part of the time in the trial of causes whom I conversed on the subject, five told me that we do. This was the point that I had that they were satisfied it was an improvement most in my mind when I first entered their on the old system, and several of them origin-court-rooms, and was that to which my attenally opposed to it, had been converted by see- tion was most directed. The secret is easily ing its operation. explained.

Prius is confined in practice, as it is only in theory with us, to ascertaining the facts of the case; all legal arguments are really and truly reserved for the court above. No argument, or any thing approaching to an argument, is allowed. A question is put and objected to; the judge intimating his opinion sometimes by a nod, sometimes by a grunt, sometimes by a growl, but the decision is made, if considered objectionable, excepted to, and the cause instantly proceeds. There are no elaborate discussions of questions of law which ought to be reserved for the court above; no ingenious offers of testimony, made only as the texts of captivating harangues to the jury, in order to induce them to believe a thing proved that the counsel has no means on earth of establishing.

I saw one cause tried where the plaintiff, a The great reason of the English dispatch of footman, brought his action against the execu-business, is owing to the fact that a trial at Nisi tors of his deceased master to recover a £100 note, which he said his master had put away in his writing-desk in an envelope, and told him (the plaintiff) that he should have it after his death, if he would remain in his service until that time. The plaintiff was put on the stand. The note was found in the envelope, but there was no other corroborating proof, and no third person was present at the interview. The plaintiff told his story on the direct in a plain and intelligible way; he was subjected to a long and severe cross examination, but he stood it so perfectly, that the counsel for the executors, as soon as his examination had closed, withdrew all opposition, and the plaintiff had his verdict.* Another case I saw tried at Ipswich for the value of some turnip or rape seed, and the defense was a failure of consideration in consequence of defect in the seed. The plaintiff and defendent were both called, and swore terribly in each other's teeth; but the jury found, in conformity to the clear opinion of the experienced Alderson.

I am not now to argue the general merits of the question, or whether to arrive at the truth of certain controverted state of facts, it is really wiser to ask, or to refuse to ask those who unquestionably know most about the matter. But one advantage of the English system had not before occurred to me, and when stated will, I think, appear considerable to every practical lawyer.

The permission to call a party becomes a compulsion to do so, because the omission to do it opens the door for a fatal attack, so that in practice the plaintiff and defendant are al

That this is the true theory of our system of jurisprudence seems to me very clear; that our American practice, which permits the judge, jurymen, and witnesses to be kept waiting hours during the elaborate discussion of questions of law, offers of evidence, etc., is a vicious innovation, appears to me susceptible of no serious doubt.

Nor would it be difficult, I think, with us to return to the good old ways. Lawyers are an eminently practical race. They suffer more than any others by the intolerable delay which now takes place in the trial of causes, and they would, I am satisfied, cheerfully submit to the control of an able bench.

I saw the same thing exemplified in their Chamber work. By a very sensible rule, during the vacation one judge is authorized to make orders in causes in all the courts, and Baron Martin, of the Exchequer, who was sitThe counsel was Mr. Hayes, the author of an uncom-ting at Serjeant's Inn this year, very obligingly monly clever jeu d'esprit, called Crogate's Case, in which the venerable system of pleading is very roughly han- gave me every facility for witnessing the operation. The judge, unincumbered by wig or

dled.

In the arts of oratory, as a general rule, the English barristers can not boast supremacy. They have nothing of the incredible fluency of our counsel, who are born at ward meetings, live on the stump, and die in the halls of legislation, and who flow on, like shining rivers, with equal ease, whether they have much, little, or nothing to say.

gown, occupies a small, quiet room. Outside ceeds. How superior this is to our system I congregate the attorneys and their clerks, for need not say. most of this work is done by the latter class. The judge's clerk calls on one motion after another as they are respectively disposed of, and the parties engaged enter the judge's room as they are called. This prevents all confusion and disorder. I had the honor of sitting beside Judge Martin for upward of an hour, and saw him dispose of all sorts of applications-motions for time to plead, for commissions, to change the venue, justification of bail, all opposed motions, and I am very sure that, on an average, they did not take over five minutes each. Several of them with us would have taken the whole morning. There is a right to appeal in each case, but I saw none taken, and the decisions appeared satisfactory. There was no superfluous form, and no want of respect or courtesy on either side. The judge was rapid and peremptory, but perfectly tranquil and urbane. It would be difficult to see work of the kind done better.

To be sure the thorough discipline and submission of the English bar we can not expect to have. It grows out of the English character and English social organization. We can not expect our barristers to say without a struggle, "Of course your lordship's right;" "Just as your lordship pleases;" "I'm quite in your lordship's hands." There is a little too much of this at the English bar, and on young and timid men -although the English judges are eminently | accomplished lawyers and courteous gentlemen -I am persuaded that the judicial frown may exercise a chilling if not a blighting influ

ence.

Their style of speech is in general embarrassed and inelegant, and they have neither the Celtic vivacity nor, as I have said, our uninterruptible fluency. Their speech is too often deformed by the perpetual recurrence of common colloquialisms: "Oh, yes, ver-well;" and "You know;” ad nauseam. To this there are, however, very striking exceptions, to which it would be invidious for me to refer nominatim.

One very peculiar and very unsatisfactory feature of the system is the great number of barristers, who do literally nothing but sit round the green table at the bottom of the cockpit, look on, and amuse themselves with cutting paper or drawing caricatures. The bulk of the business goes to the leader of the circuit, as the most prominent counsel is called; a portion of it is divided between some three or four other counsel; and the rest, in the language of the turf, "are nowhere." And this goes on for years: for years these briefless barristers perambulate these country towns; for years they sit round this same everlasting green table; for years they see others doing every thing, and they do nothing till a lucky accident throws business in their way.

I saw but one offensive instance of this kind The work on the circuits is, as I have said, of thing. A Queen's counsel proposed to ask on the whole well done; but I think the tendsome question on cross-examination. The ju- ency is to undue haste. The appointments dicial wig shook horizontally. That is enough are all made before leaving London, and the generally to check the most adventurous bar-great object of the judge is to leave nothing rister; but it did not at once succeed on this

occasion.

"But, my Lord—”

"It's not evidence, Mr. X—.” "But, my Lord, the Counsel on the direct went into this branch of the case, and-"

"Mr. X, I shall not interrupt a gentleman of your rank in the profession, and you may go on if you please; but I tell you, Sir, it's r-r-rubbish!" uttered with an asperity of manner that no pen or paper can convey. I need hardly say that Mr. X- did not pursue his

cross-examination.

But this was the only instance of the kind that I saw in many days of attendance on the courts; and I am quite sure that the causes are, as a general rule, fully tried, fairly tried, satisfactorily tried, with as, I say, certainly not an expense of one-fourth of the time we consume; and that simply owing to the fact that the counsel does not attempt to offer, and the judge will not listen to any argument whatever during the trial of a cause. The question is asked, the point made, the exception taken, the decision given, and the cause instantly pro

behind him. This gives him a strong inducement to press on the business as much as possible, while the counsel have barely time to confer with their attorneys before the cause is called on. On both the criminal and civil side I think, as I say, that the tendency is to too great dispatch.

As a general rule, there are no provincial libraries on these circuits. Of course, the judges and counsel have a few vade mecums with them; but there is really no time for study or consultation: the counsel can hardly have time to read his brief, much less for consultation or conference, before he is called on.

The examination of witnesses is not materially different from ours. But the preparation of a complete narrative of the cause, and a statement of what each witness will swear to, being put into the counsel's hands to examine by, tends to the putting of more leading questions than we are inclined to permit. The rule prohibiting them is the same as with us; but they somehow or other slip in, and are less frequently objected to than they would be here. I can not but think-and I may as well here