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XIV.-PAPERS OF THE SOCIETY FOR PROMOT-
ING THE AMENDMENT OF THE LAW :-

I. REPORT FROM THE CRIMINAL LAW COMMITTEE UPON
A PAPER BY MR. FREDERIC HILL, "ON THE
MEANS OF FREEING THE COUNTRY FROM DAN-
GEROUS CRIMINALS

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II.-REPORT OF A SPECIAL COMMITTEE OF THE LAW

AMENDMENT SOCIETY ON THE

TESTAMENTARY

383

JURISDICTION.

SELECTION OF ADJUDGED POINTS:

391

I.-POINTS DETERMINED IN THE COURT OF CHANCERY... 413

II. POINTS DETERMINATION IN THE COURTS OF COMMON

LAW

432

SHORT NOTES OF NEW BOOKS:

decided upon their ConAn Introduction to the

The Common Law Procedure Acts of 1852 and 1854; con-
taining an Abstract of Every Caso
struction to the Present Time, &c.
Principles and Practice of Pleading in Civil Actions in the
Superior Courts of Law at Westminster; embracing an Out-
line of the whole Proceedings in an Action at Law. Lives
of the Lord Chancellors and Keepers of the Great Seal of
England.-4th Edition.

EVENTS OF THE QUARTER..

LIST OF NEW PUBLICATIONS...

447

451

THE

Law Magazine and Law Review:

OR,

QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF JURISPRUDENCE.

No. IV.

ART. I.-RECOLLECTIONS OF THE MUNSTER

BAR.

From the Note-Book of a Member of the Circuit.

No. I.-THE LEADERS.

I

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HAVE frequently thought, on hearing that one of my brethren of the Bar had departed from this world, having run his course, what a source of instruction, mingled with gratification, it would be to those who still fill their allotted places in life, if some record of the sayings and doings of the departed were preserved; that is, if, in his lifetime, he ever said or did any thing worth preserving the recollection of. The career of each distinguished member of the Bar, especially of the Nisi Prius Bar, resembles much that of the actor. You see him on his stage, playing his role struggling for his client with all the energies of his nature; his eloquence fills and delights your ear; his legal arguments are listened to, often adopted by the bench; his cases are in point, and the court rules with him; juries, fascinated by his language and the address with which he presents his case to their minds, give their verdict, and you leave court impressed with the notion of his uncommon talents, as you

VOL. II. NO. IV.

B

leave the theatre satisfied, after listening to a consummate actor. Both once off the stage, and out of their respective places of action, the public lose sight of them; henceforward, they live only for their families and friends. While the critics of the theatre preserve the fame of the actor while his points are remembered, his hits imitated, the personal characteristics of the famous barrister are unchronicled, and, save in the memory of those present when the bon mot is uttered, or brilliant eloquence poured forth, if not reported in the public journals, it is altogether unknown, or speedily and wholly lost. To perpetuate the recollection of those with whom it was my happiness to associate on circuit, their peculiar talents, and such anecdotes as may best illustrate their dispositions, is my present object. I do not profess to observe much order in the arrangement, as my subject would hardly admit of being shackled. I disclaim utterly and entirely any desire of being personal, further than the circumstance of narrating what passed may render me chargeable with, and I shall certainly set down naught in malice. My pages are not to be sullied by anecdotes, which, however amusing to the living, may be prejudicial to the memory of the dead. My object is higher than yielding amusement by a repetition of mere jokes. I seek to compile a record of transactions which will assist in preserving the memorial of those who were, among the leaders of the Munster, indeed I may say, of the Irish Bar. I cannot think this object blameable. The present and the past, the living and the dead, are not so widely separated, that the moral and intellectual, or professional worth of those who have gone from hence is a matter with which we have no concern. On the contrary, their fame is our inheritance. The example of eminent members of our profession is an incentive to the imitation of their virtues. The honourable fame of those who have worthily trod the road in which we ourselves walk, serves as an inducement to us to strive that we may reach the same end by like means. The localities where they won their triumphs deserve mention. Doctor Johnson wisely says-"Far from me and from my friends be such feigned philosophy as may conduct us, indifferent and unmoved, over any ground which has been dignified by wisdom, bravery, or virtue. That man is

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