I conjectured might cover an arch. Acting on this, I bribed the clerk
with five shillings to allow me to chip away a part of the plaster; and
after two or three attempts, I found the keystone of an arch, on which
were engraved the arms of an ancestor of one of the parties. This
evidence decided the cause. Here was an instance of good-luck,
undoubtedly, but also of great diligence and great sagacity. A negligent
counsel would never have thought of examining the chapel in person; a
dull counsel would never have thought of examining the arch; but it
happens that the sagacious are generally lucky, and that, therefore, the
first quality is sagacity."

Another remarkable case occurred at Durham. On this occasion, Scott,
though a junior counsel, was appointed to lead by his seniors, the case
being relative to collieries, and he being a Newcastle man. When Buller
the judge, who was a coarse man, and fond of saying abrupt things, saw
him, he said, "Sir, you have not a leg to stand upon." Scott answered,
"My lord, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, I should sit down on
hearing the judge so express himself; but so persuaded am I that I have
the right on my side, that I must entreat your lordship to allow me to
reply, and I must also express my expectation of gaining a verdict." He
replied, and the jury, after consulting six or eight hours, gave the
verdict in his favour. When he went to the ball that evening, he was
received with open arms by every one.

When he went to Carlisle, Buller sent for him, and told him that "he had
been thinking over that case on his way from Newcastle, and that he had
come to the conclusion that he was entirely wrong, and that I was right.
He had, therefore, sent for me to tell me this, and to express his
regret for having attempted to stop me in court. This cause," said Lord
Eldon, "raised me aloft."

Yet this man, with all his ability, had already attended the Cumberland
assizes for seven years without receiving a brief. After the celebrity
of this cause, when he next attended, he received seventy guineas in
fees at Carlisle.

So much has been said in parliament, and in the newspapers lately, of
_Gentlemen of the Turf_, and the very dubious nature of that
appellation, that the following case comes curiously in point. A
question arose as to the winner of the stakes in a race--there having
been a condition, that the horses should be ridden by gentlemen; and it
was disputed whether the winning