LESSON XIII.

CASE OF LORD MANSFIELD'S WIG, COURT OF REQUESTS,

LONDON.

S

THIS was a case which by the partiesa concerned was considered of no small importance; and which, to the auditors, in the course of its discussion, excited no small merriment. Mr. Williams, who is what is vulgarly called a barber, but in more refined language is termed a perruquier, appeared in this court a few days back, and obtained a summons against the defendant, who is clerk to Reeves, an attorney in Tottenham-court-road, calling upon him to attend on a given day, to shown cause why he should not pay a debt of thirty-nine shillings and elevenpence three farthings.

Mr. Williams, who spoke with a sort of lisping squeak, garrulously addressed the commissioner: "He had (he said) been a hair-dresser, man and boy, for sixty-eight years. He had served his time in the Temple, where he had the honor of making wigs for some of the greatest men as ever lived—of all professions and of all ranks-judges, barristers, and commoners-churchmen as well as laymen-illiterate men as well as literate men, and among the latter he had to rank the immortal Dr. Johnson; but of all the wigs he had ever set comb to, there was none on which he so prided himself, as a full state wig which he had made for Lord Mansfield :h it was one of the earliest proofs of his genius; it had excited the warm commendations of his master, and the envy of his shopmates, but above all, it had pleased, nay even delighted, the noble and learned judge himself." Oh, gemmen!" exclaimed Mr. Williams, "if you had known what joy I felt when I first saw his noble lordship on the bench with that wig on his head!"m_[In an undertone, but rubbing his hands with ecstasylk-"Upon my say-so, I was fuddled for three days after!" The Commissioner. What has the wig to do with the defendant's debt?

b

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Mr. Williams. A great deal; that's the very bone of con

tention.

Com. Doubtless; but you must come to the marrow, if you can, as soon as possible.

Mr. W. I will. Well, as I was sayinge-where did I leave off?-Oh! when I was fuddlede—

Com. I hope you have left off that habit now, my good

man.

Mr. W. Upon my say-so, I have, trust me; but as I was saying, to make a long story short, in course of time I left my master in the temple, set up for myself, and did a great stroke of business.S Ay, I could tell you such a list of customers!

There was

Com. Never mind; we don't want your list: go on.

Mr. W. Well, then, at last I set up in Boswell-court, Queensquare. Lawkm me! what alterations I have seen in that square, surely, in my time! I remember when I used to go to shave old Lorde

-

Com. Come, come to the end of your story.
Mr. W. Well, I will. Where was I?

court

Oh! in Boswell

Com. [Aside.] I wish you were there now.

Mr. W. Well, then you must know, when Lord Mansfield died, his wig-the very, very wig I made-got back to my old master's shop; and he kept it as a pattern for other judges' wigs; and at last who should die but my master himself— aye, it's what we must all come to.

Com. Go on, go on, man, and come to the end of your story.

Mr. W. I will, I will. Well, where was I? Oh! in my poor master's shop.. Well, so when he died, my mistress gave me for she knew, poor soul! how I loved it-this identical wig; and I carried it home with as much delight as it had been one of my children. Ah, poor little things! they are all gone before me.

Com. Come, if you don't cut this matter short, I must, and send you after.

Mr. W. Dearee me!m you put me out. Well, as I was saying, I kept this here wig as the apple of my eye; when, as ill luck would have it, that 'ere Mr. Lawrence came to my shop, and often asked me to lend it him to act with in a play: I think he called it Shycock or Shylock, for he said he was to play the Judge. I long refused; but he over-persuaded me, and on an unlucky day I let him have it, and have never (weeping and wiping his little eyes with his white apron) seen it since.

Com. And so you have summoned him for the price of the wig?

Mr. W. You have just hit the nail on the head.

b

Com. Well, Mr. Lawrence, what have you to say to this? Mr. L. (With great pomposity.) Why, sir,b I have a great deal to say.

Com. Well then, sir, I desire you will say as little as you can, for there are a great many persons waiting here, whose time is very precious.r

Mr. L. Not more precious than mine, I presume, sir. I submit that this case is in the nature of an action of trover, to recover the possession of this wig; and this admitted, sir, I have humbly to contend, that the plaintiff must be nonsuited;" for, sir, you will not find one word of or concerning a wig in his declaration. The plaintiff must not travel out of his record.

Com. What record?

Mr. L. The record in court.

Com. We have no record.

Mr. L. You have a summons on which I attend to defend myself; and that is, to all intents and purposes, de facto as well as de jure, a record similar to, and the essence of, a record in the court above.

Com. Sir, we are not guided by the precedents of courts above here." Our jurisdiction and our powers are defined by particular acts of parliament.

Mr. L. Sir, I contend, according to the common law of these realms, that I am right.

Com. I say, according to the rules of common sense, you are wrong.

Mr. L. I have casese

Com. Sir, I desire you will confine yourself to this case. Mr. L. What says Kitty upon the nature of these pleadings?

Com. And pray, who is Kitty?

Mr. L. The most eminent pleader of the present day.

Com. I never heard of a woman being a special pleader. Mr. L. He is not a woman, sir-he is a mán, sire-and a great man, sir-and a man, sir

Com. Do you mean Mr. Chitty?

Mr. L. I mean the gentleman you call Chitty, and most erroneously so call him; for you ought to know that the Ch in

Italian sounds like an English K; and Mr. Kitty, by lineal descent, is an Italian. It is a vulgar error to spell his name with a y final; it ought to be i, and then it would properly sound Kittee.

Com. I would rather take Mr. Chitty's authority for this, than your's.

Mr. L. (In anger.) Sir, do you contradict me?

Did you

Com. Sir, I will bring this case to a short issue. Did borrow this man's wig?

Mr. L. I did.

Com. Do you mean to return it?

Mr. L. It is destroyed.

Com. How destroyed?

Mr. L. It was burnt by accident.
Com. Who burnt it?

Mr. L. I did, in performing the part of the Judge in Shakspeare's inimitable play of the Merchant of Venice. While too intent on the pleadings of Portia, the candle caught the curls, and I with difficulty escaped having my eyes burned

out.

[The plaintiff here uttered an ejaculation of mental suffering, something between a groan and a curse.]k

Com. Well then, sir, I have only to tell you, you are responsible for the property thus intrusted to your care; and, without further comment, I order and adjudge that you pay to the plaintiff the sum of 39s. 11d. which is the sum he is prepared to swear it is worth.

Mr. Williams. Swear! bless you, I'd swear it's worth a Jew's eye! Indeed no money can compensate me for its loss. Com. I cannot order you a Jew's eye, Mr. Williams, unless Mr. Lawrence can persuade his friend Shylock to part with one of his; but I will order you such a sum in moneys numbered, as you will swear this wig was fairly and honestly worth.

A long dispute followed as to the value of the wig, when Mr. Williams ultimately agreed to take 20s. and costs; and the parties were dismissed, mutually grumbling at each other.

No. 1. What can you say of the importance of this case? What did it excite? Who was Mr. Williams? For whom did he say he had made

wigs? What did he say of his business? What became of the wig after Lord Mansfield died? To whom did Mr. Williams allude in his plea? What did Mr. W. say of the fault in pronouncing this name? What did the defendant say for himself? What was the decision of the Commissioner? What did Mr. W. say of the value of the wig? How was the dispute finally settled?

No. 2. Dispute, persuade, prepared, performed, confine, ejaculation, defendant, contradict, lordship, differently.

No. 3. Sar-vent for ser-vant, rared for rear-ed, hash for harsh, cus for cursed, rason for reason.

No. 4. Rec'ord and re'cord, prece'dent and pres ́edent, pres'ent and pre'sent, refu'se and ref'use, con'fine and confi'ne.

No. 7. Very and vary, hum and home, ere and ear.

No. 10. Analyze the last sentence in the lesson.

No. 12. Spell and define all the words in the first verse.

How many different meanings has deal? spoke? stole? stroke? post? peck? pinion? pitch?

LESSON XIV.

OUR COUNTRY.

1. ANDa let the sacred obligations which have devolved on this generation and on us, sink deep into our hearts. Those are daily droppinge from among us, who established our liberty and our government. The great trust now descends to new hands. Let us apply ourselves to that which is presented to us, as our appropriate object. We can win no laurels in a war for independence. Earlier and worthier hands have gathered them all.

2. Nor are there places for us by the side of Solon and Alfred, and other founders of states. Ourf fathers have filled them. But there remains to us a great duty of defense and preservation; and there is opened to us, also, a noble pursuit,g to which the spirit of the times strongly invites us. Our proper business is improvement. Let our age be the age of`improvement. In a day of peace, let us advance the arts of peace and the works of peace.

3. Let us develop the resources of our land, call forth its powers, build up its institutions, promote all its great interests, and see whether we also, in our day and generation, may not perform something worthy to be remembered. Let us cultivate a true spirit of union and harmony. In pursuing the