And Baby looked as if she were thinking of He accordingly made his appearance at the heaven, tranquilly and happily. After such child's bedside before the shades of evening beconversations, in which the child stated her feel-gan to descend. As he entered, a lady who ings with so much simplicity, Charles would turn away, and ponder sadly, but hopefully too. He almost began to share Baby Bertie's feelings, and his whole nature felt the salutary influence of the child's purity.

Helen had raised her vail to look at the child, and now as Charles turned toward her their At this time a lady came frequently to see eyes met, and Helen's were full of tears like his Baby, whom she grew to love and look for, as own. Baby was a common link between them, much as for her grandfather or Charles. This and in her presence the old affection of their lady made her delicate dishes and draughts-childhood seemed to revive-the old kindness bathed her brows with cooling liquids, and smoothed her bed and pillow.

Baby talked much with her, and told her all about her friend Mr. Charles-how attentive and kind he had been-what good friends they were, and how he had read to her, and told her stories, and scarcely missed a day in calling to see her.

The lady listened to all this prattle of the child with evident pleasure, and when she related some instance of delicate kindness on the part of her friend, the lady's cheek colored slightly, and she would be more tender than ever to Baby. She only endeavored to find the hours when Mr. Charles was expected, and at these times she never made her appearance.

Christmas drew on thus, and the streets began to be more and more filled with merry wayfarers-the houses of relations began to roar with huge fires, and smell of roasted meats

The child seemed to be looking with her faint, dim eyes for her grandfather. Very soon the old man came in, and a smile, like a beam from heaven, lit up Baby Bertie's countenance. "Please light the tree, grandfather," said she, faintly..

his sad companions brought out from the damp dungeons of the Tribunali at Naples to receive their fate from the hands of the Italian Jeffries, Navarra; but I had never seen and studied the working of the English system of the trial of causes in the country, on the circuits or assizes, and I determined not to lose so good an opportunity of gratifying my inclination.

The old man, with a heavy and foreboding heart, did as she asked, and soon the brilliant tapers threw their light upon the occupants of the room and the bed-lighting up the pale sweet face of the child as with a glory. As the tapers flamed out, Baby seemed to be listening, and soon from the distance came the music of the band-the odd old band-playing as be-dred and fifty miles from London. Four hours fore, "Good news from home."

Baby's thin hand beat time to the music as it approached, and then died away, and her large blue eyes seemed to be fixed upon another land, where there is neither snow, nor cold, nor poverty, nor suffering. Her gaze then returned to the weeping faces round her bed, and slowly made the circuit. She smiled faintly, and her wan lips moved.

"Good news from home!" she murmured, "from my home in heaven! I dreamed that I was-going-Jesus spoke to me—”

And the frail thread parted gently, and Baby Bertie was in heaven. Her Christmas was there, not upon this cold earth; and having made herself the link which bound the hearts of Helen and Charles forever, she passed away, pure and beautiful, in the holy light of the Christmastree, whose leaves are for the healing of the nations.

ENGLISH WIGS AND GOWNS.

BY A BARRISTER WITHOUT WIG OR GOWN.

IT

I

was a dull London morning in July. was sitting in the coffee-room of Morley's Hotel, fronting on Trafalgar Square, now looking toward the National Gallery, that poor casket full of rich jewels, now across the Strand at the gloomy portal of Northumberland House, where "the Percy lion stands in state as in his proud departed days," now gazing upward at the statue of Nelson, wondering what he thought of the French alliance, and revolving in my mind, meanwhile, how I should occupy the next fortnight before I was to meet my friend X- at B—, when in listlessly turning over the Times newspaper, my eye fell among the legal items, on the announcement that "Mr. Justicethe newly-appointed judge of the holding the criminal side of the assizes at the

was

This intelligence speedily determined my plans. I had had the satisfaction of knowing the said "newly-appointed judge" in the United States, and feeling very sure of his kindness and courtesy, I determined to gratify a wish that I had long entertained. I had seen Scarlet and Thesiger at the bar, and Brougham on the bench, in Westminster Hall; I had wandered in the Salle des Pas Perdus at Paris, and followed the various fortunes of the great trial of Marie Capelle Lafarge; I had seen Poerio and

My arrangements were not long in making, and a day or two afterward, after the interchange of a short but very satisfactory correspondence, I found myself spinning along by rail toward the ancient town of Derby, a hun

brought me there. When the Pretender entered it, a hundred years ago, Derby was nearly a week's journey distant from the metropolis.

This was the commencement of a fortnight, spent on the different circuits; at Derby, on the Midland Circuit, where Mr. Justice Willes was holding the criminal side and Mr. Justice Coleridge the civil side. Hence I went to Ipswich, on the Norfolk Circuit, where Baron Parke was holding the criminal, and Baron Alderson the civil side. Thence to Croydon, on the Home Circuit, where Mr. Justice Cresswell was holding the criminal, and Mr. Justice Wightman the civil court; and thence finally back to London, where Baron Martin was sitting at Sergeant's Inn, at chambers, hearing motions and making orders in causes pending in all the courts, as in vacation the sitting judge is authorized to do.

There is no harm in giving the names of these gentlemen-they are all well known to fame, and I received from them all, and from the members of the bar generally, a degree of attention and courtesy, not only very gratifying in itself, but a valuable illustration of the increased cordiality which exists between the two countries.

During this fortnight my time was most agreeably, and it is my own fault if it was not usefully, spent. Every courtesy of social life was extended to me; and what I valued even more, every facility for the understanding of the working of their system, so that if the narrative of the result of my experiences be a source of a tithe of the pleasure to my readers which I enjoyed at the time, I shall be quite satisfied.

Twice in the year the judges of Westminster Hall issue from that ancient and august tribunal to dispense justice to the people of England in the provinces. The counties are classified and arranged into eight circuits. The work is distributed among the judges by mutual arrangement, seniority giving certain privileges, and the division of labor being agreed upon, a paper is then published, a copy of which is given on the opposite page.

This was the order for the Summer Assizes of the year 1855. The commission day is that on which the commissions are opened and the assize or circuit begins.

With the judges, or in their suite, go the

Published by A. PATTEN, Porter to the Honorable Society of Sergeants' Inn, Chancery Lane, London, and Sold at the Lodge of the said Inn.

lawyers or barristers of Westminster Hall, for swear in the grand jury, and to prepare for the there is no provincial bar in England. Attor- judges an abstract of the pleadings, or nisi prius neys and solicitors abound in the counties and records (which word, for the benefit of my New provincial towns; but the barristers, the advo-York brethren, is in England pronounced recates, or counsel, as we call them, are all Lon- cord, as they pronounce it in Virginia). They don men. On being called to the bar, the bar-sit at the ends of the judges' dinner-table when rister selects his circuit, according as his interest or inclination dictates, and to the courts of that circuit he remains attached for the remainder of his professional life. One change is, I believe, permitted, but with that exception, the barrister, unless on some particular engagement or retainer, when "he goes down special," does not quit his circuit. The judges change constantly, but the lawyers remain the same.

In the days before railways were known, the judges traveled in their own carriages, and the barristers posted down. Now the leveling railcar conveys judge and counsel, juryman and witness to the common destination.

the county magistrates and the bar are invited. They make tea for them. They write notes to thank the neighboring gentry for haunches of* venison. They are particularly kind and polite to American gentlemen. Several of those whom I saw bore names illustrious in the law, and I shall not soon forget the pleasant day which I spent at Chatsworth with the "judges' marshals."

The county is obliged to find lodging for the judges while on the circuit. At Derby these quarters are permanent, in a building attached to the court-house, or county 'all; at Ipswich and Croydon I found the magistrates establishThe judges are attended by their clerks and ed in private dwelling-houses, which the owners marshals. Each judge has one of these officers. had vacated for the purpose, and I venture to The clerk of an English barrister is a very im- believe, for-a consideration. Here they install portant functionary; he arranges his appoint- themselves, with a retinue of servants, cooks, ments, settles and collects his fees, receives and waiters, etc., and here at every assize town they ushers in his clients-in short, is something remain in the seclusion of a private house, unbetween an aid-de-camp and a gentleman-in-broken except by the entertainments which they waiting. "I can tell you," said my friend, give to the bar and the county magistrates, or Mr. himself a leading barrister, "my by the unfrequent irruption of a vagrant Amerclerk thinks he is a good deal more of a per-ican into their orbit. sonage than I imagine that I am." When the The barristers are differently disposed of; barrister becomes a judge, the clerk retains the the notion of the English system is, that the same confidential position, while, of course, his barrister must be kept distinct and aloof from duties vary. The marshal is a different sort all the other instruments of justice. He is unof character. He is a sort of page of honor, derstood to have no familiar associations with generally a young barrister or special pleader attorneys, and least of all with mortals still (though not necessarily so), who from connec- more profane. He is supposed never to speak tion, friendship, or otherwise, accompanies the to a witness till the cause is heard-never to judge for a year or more on his circuits, to lay eyes on him except in open court. So the familiarize himself with this branch of business. barrister is prohibited from taking up his quarI believe their only official functions are toters on the circuits at any inn or public-house, VOL. XII.-No. 68.-P

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.

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 of attorneys, witnesses, and jurymen crowding the coffee-rooms of the various inns. From time to time the echo of the bugles announces that the judges are going to or from the court; and if, as at Croydon, the court-house is in the heart of the town, you will see the barristers in full wigs and gowns trotting about the street, and even entering the precincts of the inns themselves.

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 oblong table covered with green baize; from this table the seats rise amphitheatre-wise on three sides; on the fourth overhangs the formidable figure of the judge. The first effect is something like that of a cockpit, or a small circus, where from all sides you look down on the performers. The central table varies. I saw no one able to accommodate more than twenty people, and these not comfortably. In fact, any thing less comfortable than the whole affair I never saw. The barristers, all attired in wigs and gowns, are ranged round this table on

angular or perpendicular backs; and, if they desire to go out, they must either crawl along on the seat behind their brethren, who lean forward, or else stalk across the table, as I saw frequently done. There is no such thing as a chair in the whole arena. Into this delightful

Each circuit embraces several counties. On entering each county the judges are met and received by the sheriff of that county, some-long wooden benches or settles with high recttimes in lace ruffles and breeches, sometimes in the uniform of a Deputy Lord-Lieutenant, sometimes in plain black. He (the sheriff) brings with him his retinue, for justice is honored in England with all sorts of form and paraphernalia, and outward observance. This 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 certain saddles and bridles for the purposeand 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.

to enter, save when an attorney or a client is called in for conference or suggestion.

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 small black patch or coif, which, at a little distance, to a short-sighted person, suggests the idea of some unpleasant disease of the head

With the sheriff comes the sheriff's chaplain; and the first act of the performance, in each assize town, is for the judge to robe himself in the official scarlet, and then attend service into such dimensions has shrunk the coiffure the principal church of the place. I was present at the opening ceremony in All Saints' Church, in Derby, where many of the great Cavendish family repose, and heard a sermon preached for the benefit of the excellent Mr. Justice Coleridge on the words, "The powers that be are ordained of God." It appeared to me a double-edged sort of a text, and to be sus

which we see in the old pictures and engravings of the Cokes and Plowdens of three hundred years ago! I think the merits of this legal uniform are easily disposed of. The gown is a graceful dress, which conceals the angularity of our modern attire, and gives dignity to the speaker. The wig is a detestable disguise and deformity: it gives every face a heavy, wooden

air, and most effectually conceals the play of the features; though, I suppose, as about every thing, there are two sides to the question.. "If 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."

| for old real actions, etc.; of Nisi Prius, for the civil business; of Jail Delivery, for the criminal business; of Oyer and Terminer.

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.

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.

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

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 First, the roll of the county magistrates, the sense and great practical ability of the English | justices of the peace-the Great Unpaid-is 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 to his name. Then the judge inclines his fullgroundlings stare, but which are only infinitely bottomed wig from the bench, and gravely inludicrous to the eye of common sense. vites the magistrates to do him and his learned brother the honor of dining with them at their lodgings on that day.

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.

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 clerk 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,

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 English face of the honorable Mr. X————, foreman 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,