FOREIGN PUBLICATIONS.

SKETCHES OF THE IRISH BAR.-NO. 111.

Hall of the Four Courts, &c.

Ir was my intention to have proceeded in the present number with a separate notice of another of our learned neighbours, Mr. Saurin probably, or, a better subject (I mean for a sketch), his great political antagonist, Mr. O'Connell; but I am reminded that a good deal that I shall have to say of these and other individuals may not be perfectly intelligible on this side of the channel, without a short general description of the particular theatre upon which they move, and of certain local peculiarities to which allusions must of necessity be often made. I shall endeavour to prevent, or rather to supply this defect; for I feel that what follows should, in strict order, have been originally prefixed to the entire series.

The law, and the practice of the courts, in Ireland, are, with some trivial exceptions, precisely the same as with us*; but the system of professional life in the sister-island is in some respects different. One of the particulars in which they differ may be made a source of interest and recreation to a stranger in Dublin, at least it was so to me. I allude to the custom, which the Irish Bar have long since adopted, of assembling daily for the transaction of business, or in search of it, if they have it not, in the Hall of the Four Courts. The building itself is a splendid one. Like the other public edifices of Dublin (and I might add, the private ones) it is an effort of Irish pride, exceeding far in magnificence the substantial wealth and civilization of the country. In the centre of the interior, and o'ercanopied by a lofty dome, is a spacious circular hall, into which the several courts of justice open. I was fond of lounging in this place. From the hours of twelve to three it is a busy and a motley scene. When I speak of it as the place of daily resort for the members of the legal profession and their clients, I may be understood to mean that it is the general rendezvous of the whole community; for in Ireland almost every man of any pretensions that you meet, is either a plaintiff or defendant, or on the point of becoming so, and, when in the capital, seldom fails to repair at least once a day to" the Hall," in order to look after his cause, and, by conferences with his lawyers, to keep up his mind to the true litigating temperature. It is here too that the political idlers of the town resort, to drop or pick up the rumours of the day. There is also a plentiful admixture of the lower orders, among whom it is not difficult to distinguish the country-litigant. You know him by his mantle of frieze, his two boots and one spur, by the tattered lease, fit emblem of his tenement, which he unfolds as cautiously as Sir Humphrey Davy would a manuscript of Herculaneum; and, best of all, by his rueful visage, in which you can clearly read that some clause in the last ejectment-act lies heavy on his heart. These form the principal materials of the scene;

*There are no regular Reports of the Irish cases. All the new authorities are imported from England; so that the accident of a fair or foul wind may sometimes affect the decision of a cause. "Are you sure, Mr. Plunket, (said Lord Manners one day) that what you have stated is the law?" "It unquestionably was the law half an hour ago," replied Mr. P. pulling out his watch, "but by this time the packet has probably arrived, and I shall not be positive."

but it is not so easy to enumerate the manifold and ever-shifting combinations into which they are diversified. The rapid succession of so many objects, passing and repassing eternally before you, perplexes and quickly exhausts the eye. It fares still worse with the ear. The din is tremendous. Besides the tumult of some thousand voices in ardent discussion, and the most of them raised to the declamatory pitch, you have ever and anon the stentorian cries of the tipstaffs bawling out "The gentlemen of the Special Jury to the box," or the still more thrilling vociferations of attorneys, or attorneys' clerks, hallooing to a particular counsel that "their case is called on, and all is lost if he delays an instant." Whereupon the counsel, catching up the sound of his name, wafted through the hubbub, breaks precipitately from the circle that engages him, and bustles through the throng, escorted, if he be of any eminence, by a posse of applicants, each claiming to monopolise him, until he reaches the entrance of the court, and plunging in, escapes for that time from their importunate solicitations. The bustle among the members of the Bar is greatly increased by the circumstance of all of them, with very few exceptions, practising in all the courts*. Hence at every moment you see the most eminent darting across the hall, flushed and palpitating from the recent conflict, and, no breathing-time allowed them, advancing with rapid strides and looks of fierce intent, to fling themselves again into the thick of another fight. It daily happens that two cases are to be heard in different courts, and in which the same barrister is the client's main support, are called on at the same hour. On such occasions it is amusing to witness the contest between the respective attornies to secure their champion. Mr. O'Connell for instance, who is, high in every branch of his profession, and peculiarly in request for what is termed "battling a motion," is perpetually to be seen, a conspicuous figure in this scene of clamour and commotion, balancing between two equally pressing calls upon him, and deploring his want of ubiquity. The first time he was pointed out to me, he was in one of these predicaments, suspended like Garrick in the picture between conflicting solicitations. On the one side an able-bodied, boisterous Catholic attorney, from the county of Kerry, had laid his athletic gripe upon "the counsellor," and swearing by some favourite saint, was fairly hauling him along in the direction of the Exchequer-on the other side a more polished town-practitioner, of the established faith, pointed with pathetic look and gesture to the Common Pleas, and in tones of agony implored the learned gentleman to remember " that their case was actually on, and that if he were not at his post, the Court would grant the motion, costs and all, against their client." On such occasions a counsel has a delicate task; but long habit enables him to as

*The custom that prevails in Ireland of counsel dividing themselves among the several courts, produces, particularly in important cases, an inconvenience similar to one that Cicero complains of as peculiar to the Roman forum in his day—the multiplicity of advocates retained upon each trial, and the absence of some of them during parts of the proceedings upon which they have afterwards to comment. "Respondemus iis quos non audivimus; in quo primum sæpe aliter est dictum, aliter ad nos relatum. Deinde magni interest coram videre me, quemadmodum adversarius de quaqua re asseveret, maxime autem quemadmodum quæque res cudiatur."-De Claris Oratoribus.

sume a neutrality, if he has it not. In the instance alluded to, I could not sufficiently admire the intense impartiality manifested by the subject of contention towards each of the competitors for his learned carcase; but the physical force of the man from Kerry, aided perhaps by some local associations, for the counsellor is a "Kerry-man" himself, prevailed over all the moral wooing of his rival, and he carried off the prize.

The preceding are a few of the constant and ever-acting elements of noise and motion in this busy scene; but an extra sensation is often given to the congregated mass. The detection of a pickpocket (I am not speaking figuratively) causes a sudden and impetuous rush of heads with wigs and without them to the spot where the culprit has been caught in flagranti. At other times the scene is diversified by a group of fine girls from the country, coming, as they all make a point of doing, to see the courts, and shew themselves to the junior bar. A crowd of young and learned gallants instantaneously collects, and follows in their wake: even the arid veteran will start from his legal reverie as they pass along, or, discontinuing the perusal of his deeds and counterparts, betray by a faint leer, that with all his love of parchment, a fine skin glowing with the tints that life and nature give it, has yet a more prevailing charm. Lastly, I must not omit that the Hall is not unfrequently thrown into "Confusion worse confounded," by that particular breach of his majesty's Irish peace, improperly called a horse-whipping." When an insult is to be avenged, this place is often chosen for its publicity as the fittest scene of castigation. Besides this, particular classes in Ireland, who have quarrels on their hands, cherish certain high-minded and chivalrous notions on the subject. The injured feelings of a gentleman, as they view the matter, are to be redressed, not so much by the pain and shame inflicted upon the aggressor, as by a valiant contempt of the laws that would protect the backs of the community from stripes; and hence the point of honour is more completely satisfied by a gentle caning under the very nose of justice, than by a sound cudgelling any where beyond the sacred precincts.

But this scene, though at first view the emblem of inextricable confusion, will yet, when frequently contemplated, assume certain forms approaching to regular combination: thus, after an attendance of a few days, if you perambulate the arena, or stand upon some elevated point from which you can take in the whole, you will recognize, especially among the members of the bar, the same individuals, or classes, occupied or grouped in something like an habitual manner. On the steps outside the entrance to the Court of Chancery, your eye will probably be caught by the imposing figure, and the courteous and manly features of Bushe, waiting there till his turn comes to refute some long-winded argument going on within, and to which, as a piece of forensic finesse, he affects a disdain to listen :-or, near the same spot, you will light upon the less social, but more pregnant and meditative countenance of Plunket, as he paces to and fro alone, resolving some matter of imperial moment, until he is roused from these more congenial musings, and hurries on to Court, at the call of the shrilltongued crier, to simplify, or, embarrass some question of equitable altercation or if it be a Nisi Prius day in any of the law-courts, you

:

66

may observe outside, the delight of Dublin Jurors, Mr. H. D. Grady,* working himself into a jovial humour against the coming statement, and with all the precaution of an experienced combatant, squibbing his Jury-eye," lest it should miss fire when he appears upon the ground. Or, to pass from individuals to groups, you will daily find, and pretty nearly upon the same spot, the same little circles or coteries, composed chiefly of the members of the junior bar, as politics or community of tastes, or family connexions, may bring them together.Among these you will readily distinguish those who by birth or expectations consider themselves to be identified, with the aristocracy of the country you see it in their more fashionable attire and attitudes, their joyous and unworn countenances, and in the lighter topics of discussion on which they can afford to indulge. At a little distance stands a group of quite another stamp ;-pallid, keen-eyed, anxious aspirants for professional employment, and generally to be found in vehement debate over some dark and dreary point of statute or common-law, in the hope that, by violently rubbing their opinions toge ther, a light may be struck at last. A little farther on you will come upon another, a group of learned vetoists and anti-vetoists, where some youthful or veteran theologian is descanting upon the abominations of a schism, with a running accompaniment of original remarks upon the politics of the Vatican, and the character of Cardinal Gonsalvi. Close to these again-but I find that I should never have done, were I to attempt comprising within a single view the endless and complicated details of this panoramic spectacle, or to specify the proportions in which the several subjects discussed here, respectively contribute to form the loud and ceaseless buz that rises and reverberates through the roof.

This daily assemblage of the Irish Bar, in a particular spot, enables you to estimate at a glance the extraordinary numbers of that body, and to perceive what an enormous excess they bear to the professional occupation which the country can by possibility afford. After all the Courts are filled to the brim, there still remains a legal population to Occupy the vast arena without. I was particularly struck by the number of young men (many of them, I was assured, possessed of fine talents, which, if differently applied, must have forced their way) who from term to term, and year to year, submit to "trudge the Hall," waiting till their turn shall come at last, and too often harrassed by forebodings that it may never come. It was not difficult to read their history in their looks: their countenances wore a sickly, pallid, and jaded expression; the symbols of hope deferred, if not extinguished;

* I must, in passing, observe of this gentleman, that as a mere actor of broad humour, he is equal to any I have ever seen upon our stage. His manner, too, has the merit of being all his own; his conceptions are transcendently droll; but, to be appreciated, he must be heard in court, for he conscientiously keeps all his good jokes for the service of his clients.

I have heard several medical men of Dublin speak of the air of the Courts and Hall, as particularly unwholesome. Besides the impurity communicated to the atmosphere by the crowds that collect there, the situation is low and marshy. The building is so close to the river, that fears have been entertained for the safety of the foundation. Formerly, before the present quay was constructed, the water in high tides sometimes made its way into the Hall. The mention of this reminds me of one or two of Curran's jokes:-upon one occasion, not only the Hall, but the subterraneous cellars in which the bar-dresses are kept, were inundated. When the counsel went down to robe, they found their wigs and gowns afloat; Curran,