"Then follows in the pamphlet the report of the committee on resolutions: their substance is as follows:

"1. Recognizes in this bereavement the hand of Divine Providence.

"2. Avers that the profession are called to mourn the loss of one who had few equals and no superiors as a lawyer and a man, the quality both of his head and heart.

"3. Tenders sympathy to the wife and children of deceased.

"4. That we attend the funeral in a body.

"5. That the proceedings, etc., be published, and copies transmitted, etc.

"I need not say how this little book delighted me. I had been somewhat prejudiced, I blush to confess, against Mr. B., by some malicious reports that had been circulated concerning him by the Bohemian newspaper writer referred to in one of the speeches given above; but upon a perusal of this pamphlet, I am convinced that Mr. B. was as good as the rest of us. I was somewhat puzzled by the name of Tulkinghorn appearing in the remarks of the Hon. Baron who presided, and also by the words, 'the wife and children,' in the third resolution, as it is well known Mr. B. never married; but these errors are very naïvely explained in the 'errata' upon the last page of the report, which I give entire, as it contains some hints which it would be well for the profession in this country to act upon, as much labor might be saved.

"Since the foregoing pages were printed, we have received from the Hon. Baron Traddles a note, explanatory of the appearance in his remarks of the name of Mr. Tupton Tulkinghorn instead of that of Mr. S. Brass. He says, "The mortifying error in my remarks was occasioned by the carelessness of my clerk in filling out the printed blank form of chairman's speech. It seems he was so much impressed with the tragic fate of the late Mr. T., that he inserted his name in the blank left for the purpose instead of that of Mr. Brass ; and at the meeting I was too much overcome by my emotion to observe it."

"Also, in the third resolution, for "the wife and children" read "the beautiful and accomplished sister." The error occurred from the fact that the committee on resolutions were not personally acquainted with the deceased, and neglected to strike out the words "the wife and family" from the printed form.

""REPORTER.'

VII.

CURIOUS IMAGINARY TRIALS.

UNDER this head may be set down Lucian's piece, entitled "Bis Accusatus ; " or, "The Double Indictment." In this the causes of "Drunkenness v. The Academy,” "Stoa v. Pleasure," "Virtue v. Luxury," ""Rhetoric v. A Syrian," and "Dialogue v. The Same," are argued, at the command of Jupiter, before Justice, aided by Mercury as a sort of sheriff, and an Athenian jury. These are causes, which among others, have been accumulating until the king of gods yields to the entreaties of mortals, and despatches his daughter, Justice, much against her will, to earth to dispose of them, with an ultimate appeal to him. Mercury makes proclamation of the court, announcing that the number of the judges will be determined by the importance of the charge in the indictment. "If one or another, having begun his process, shall die before sentence is passed, Æacus has orders to send him immediately back." The effect of this proclamation is described by Pan: "Heavens! what a noise is here! What a clamor ! How they crowd together! With what pre

cipitancy they are clambering up the hill to the Areopagus! How one hangs to the skirts of the other, and every one is resolved to be the first! . . . Speeches at the bar I have had enough to surfeit me, for I hear them

every day on the Areopagus." Justice observes, "The people stand very thick, and make a great noise, humming and buzzing all round the citadel, like so many wasps." She then calls the case of "Drunkenness v. The Academy," saying, "Let Drunkenness open the case. Now? What ails you? Go, Mercury, and ask her what is the matter!"

Mercury. "She says she cannot produce the charges herself, because the wine has tied up her tongue. 'I am afraid they will laugh at me,' she said, 'when they hear what a stammering I make you see that I can scarce stand on my feet.'

Fustice. "Then, let her employ a proper attorney. There are advocates enough at hand, who are ready to split their lungs for three oboli," about fourpence sterling. But in the absence of any who seemed willing to plead the cause of Drunkenness, says Mercury, “The Academy is always ready to speak on both sides, pro and con, and professes to make it equally clear that a thing is black, and that it is white. She can, therefore, she says, first plead for me, and afterward for herself." And so she does, and wins her own cause by every vote but one. "Stoa v. Pleasure" is next taken up; Epicurus speaking for the defendant, who wins unanimously. The plaintiff appeals to Jupiter. "Virtue v. Luxury" is next called; but Justice rules, that as it is identical with the last cause, it must await the decision of Jupiter on the appeal, and directs Mercury not to pay the jury any fees, because there has been no determination. Mercury exclaims, "So, then, these good old chuffs, who have clambered up the hill, are to have their labor for their pains." The Syrian then beats Rhetoric and Dialogue.

In the latter case the judges keep their seats, and receive double fees, on account, I suppose, of the tediousness of the cause. The whole piece is a satire upon the philosophers and rhetoricians of Greece: but it is hard to believe that some of Pan's remarks on them were not intended equally for the lawyers who were so "ready to spilt their lungs" for a trifle; as for instance, the following: "At first, when they converse together, about their trumpery, they are calm and peaceable: but when once they get deeper into dispute, they gradually raise their voices to such a pitch that they can strain them no higher, and scream as if they were singing a war-song ; so that from sheer exertion, and striving to outbawl one another, their faces become red as scarlet, their necks swell, and their veins rise like a trumpeter's. By roaring all together at the same time, they lose sight of the argument, confound the hundredth proposition with the thousandth; and after having insulted one another with all kinds of abuse, they separate, wiping with their fingers the sweat off their foreheads; and he that has bawled the loudest, and dealt out the most opprobrious epithets, is generally looked upon as the conqueror. In the mean time the crowd, composed chiefly of people who have nothing to do, stand round, and take delight in hearing the fellows vie with each other in insolence and clamor. ... Whether the public may receive any benefit from their noise and impudence, or what they themselves can gain by their reasonings and disputations, I do not pretend to know."

The following is the trial of the dog, from Racine's "Les Plaideurs :