l on that occasion!"

CHAPTER TWO

THE BARRISTERS OF ENGLAND

"Hark the hour of ten is sounding!
Hearts with anxious fears are bounding;
Hall of Justice crowds surrounding,
Breathing hope and fear.
For to-day in this arena
Summoned by a stern subpoena,
Edwin sued by Angelina
Shortly will appear."

Sir W. S. GILBERT: _Trial by Jury_.

"As your Solicitor, I should have no hesitation in saying:
Chance it----"

Sir W. S. GILBERT: _The Mikado_.

CHAPTER TWO

THE BARRISTERS OF ENGLAND

From the middle of the thirteenth century the senior rank to which a
barrister could attain at the Bar was that of serjeant-at-law, and from
that body, which existed until 1875, the judges were selected. If a
barrister below the rank of serjeant was invited to take a seat on the
Bench he invariably conformed to the recognised custom and "took the
coif"--became a serjeant-at-law--before he was sworn as one of his (or
her) Majesty's judges. This explains the term "brother" applied by
judges when addressing serjeants pleading before them in Court. "Taking
the coif" had a curious origin. It was customary in very early times for
the clergy to add to their clerical duties that of a legal practitioner,
by which considerable fees were obtained, and when the Canon law forbade
them engaging in all secular occupations the remuneration they had
obtained from the law-courts proved too strong a temptation to evade the
new law. They continued therefore to practise in the Courts, and to hide
their clerical identity they concealed the tonsure by covering the upper
part of their heads with a black cap or coif. When ultimately clerical
barristers were driven from the law-courts, the "coif" or black patch on
the crown of a barrister's wig became the symbol of the rank of
serjeant-at-law. That this distinguishing mark has been, in later years,
occasionally misunderstood is illustrated in the story of Serjeant
Allen and Sir Henry Keating, Q.C., who were opposed to one another in a
case before the Assize Court at Stafford. During the hearing of the case
a violent altercation had taken place between them, but when the Court
rose they left the building together, walking amicably to their
lodgings. Two men who had been in Court and had heard their wrangle were
following behind them, when one said to the other: "If you was in
trouble, Bill, which o' them two tip-top 'uns would you ha