m." Pausing for a few seconds and making an
attentive survey of him, Sir James remarked sententiously, "And a very
fine and well-dressed ham you are, sir."

In a breach of promise case Scarlett appeared for the defendant, who was
supposed to have been cajoled into the engagement by the plaintiff's
mother, a titled lady. The mother, as a witness, completely baffled the
defendant's clever counsel when under his cross-examination; but by one
of his happiest strokes of advocacy, Scarlett turned his failure into
success. "You saw, gentlemen of the jury, that I was but a child in her
hands. _What must my client have been?_"

Sir James was a noted cross-examiner and verdict-getter, but on one
occasion he was beaten. Tom Cooke, a well-known actor and musician in
his day, was a witness in a case in which Sir James had him under
cross-examination.

Scarlett: "Sir, you say that the two melodies are the same, but
different; now what do you mean by that, sir?"

Cooke: "I said that the notes in the two copies are alike, but with a
different accent."

Scarlett: "What is a musical accent?"

Cooke: "My terms are nine guineas a quarter, sir."

Scarlett (ruffled): "Never mind your terms here. I ask you what is a
musical accent? Can you see it?"

Cooke: "No."

Scarlett: "Can you feel it?"

Cooke: "A musician can."

Scarlett (angrily): "Now, sir, don't beat about the bush, but explain to
his lordship and the jury, who are expected to know nothing about music,
the meaning of what you call accent."

Cooke: "Accent in music is a certain stress laid upon a particular note,
in the same manner as you would lay stress upon a given word, for the
purpose of being better understood. For instance, if I were to say, 'You
are an _ass_,' it rests on ass, but if I were to say, '_You_ are an
ass,' it rests on you, Sir James." The judge, with as much gravity as he
could assume, then asked the crestfallen counsel, "Are you satisfied,
Sir James."--"The witness may go down," was the counsel's reply.

* * * * *

Lord Justice Holt, when a young man, was very dissipated, and belonged
to a club, most of whose members took an infamous course of life. When
his lordship was engaged at the Old Baily a man was convicted of highway
robbery, whom the judge remembered to have been one of his early
companions. Moved by curiosity, Holt, thinking the man did not recognise
him, asked what had become of his old associates. The c