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THE

LAW MAGAZINE AND REVIEW.

No. CCCV.-AUGUST, 1897.

Obiter Dicta.

HER MAJESTY'S Diamond Jubilee, to celebrate the

sixtieth year of Her glorious reign, was kept on the 22nd day of June. The Inns of Court celebrated the event in various ways. Lincoln's Inn gave a Dinner to the Colonial Premiers on the 5th July; the Inner Temple entertained about 2,000 children at a Garden Party on the 8th July; Gray's Inn did the same on 26th June, besides giving a grand Ball on the 25th June. The Middle Temple probably excelled the three other Inns, by giving a Banquet on the 6th July, a Ball on the 9th July, and a Garden Party to distinguished guests on the 13th July.

The Council of the Incorporated Law Society gave a Jubilee Ball on the 30th June in their Hall in Chancery Lane.

In the case of Bendall v. Lofthouse, tried at the Skipton County Court, Mr. Bompas, Q.C., seems to have negatived the elementary proposition that a solicitor has a lien on papers which he deals with as such. But on appeal to the Divisional Court, Mr. Justice Cave explained that “the plaintiff (a solicitor) has a lien, for preparing the deeds, on the parchment, and writing of the re-conveyance and conveyance," while Mr. Justice Ridley remarked: "I have considerable difficulty in following either of the County Court Judge's reasons why there should be no lien."

A Lawyer's "Farewell" to Themis on leaving Town for the Long Vacation :

Themis thou Goddess most divine

Thou fairest of th' Olympic line,

To thee "Farewell"!-The time must be,
When from this sultry Town I flee;

For Sirius reigns. And who can dare

His scorching influence to bear?
From Town I flee, in hopes to find
Repose for body, rest for mind;

I go to seek umbrageous shade,
Where flow'rets bloom, and never fade,
Within that grove, so calm and fair,
Where Nymphs and Satyrs all repair,
'Mid Phoebe's glances, from on high,
Partaking of divinity!

I leave the Bar, the Courts, the Gown,
Forensic glitter, and renown:

I leave the Common Law in peace,

I wail the Statute book's increase.

Themis "Farewell"! For I must go

While Long Vacation doth allow,
While those Three Sisters will permit

From chambers stern a bright exit.

"Farewell"! "Farewell"! it smites my heart
To think how shortly we must part,
And cease to burn the midnight oil
In deep research or legal toil.
But yet" Farewell"; I go away

To seek repose without delay,
To breathe the balmy air, until
Arrives November, gaunt and chill,
When back again will I return

For Themis' words once more to burn,

Again to eat the Temple fare,

Again the work and toil to share,

Again, with deepest joy to find

The Goddess fair I left behind!

More can I say! such joys in store

To meet thee, Themis, then once more!

B.

The Middle Temple.

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213

I. JOHN WILKES AND THE LIBERTY OF THE PRESS.

IN

THE WILKES CUP.

N the year 1772, on the 24th of January, the Court of Common Council of the City of London voted a Silver Cup* to the celebrated patriot John Wilkes for his defence of the freedom of the Press, and left the design to his own direction. The death of Cæsar in the Roman Senate House was the subject of his choice, being, he said, one of the greatest sacrifices to public liberty recorded in history. The dagger being in the first quarter of the City Arms, furnished the hint of

"The dagger wont to pierce the tyrant's breast."

-POPE.

Julius Cæsar is represented on the Cup as he is described by historians at that important moment, i.e., gracefully covering himself with his toga and falling at the base of the pedestal which supports the statue of Pompey. Brutus, Cassius, and other Romans who conspired on behalf of their country, form a circle around the body of Cæsar. Every eye is fixed on Brutus, who is in the attitude of congratulating Cicero on the recovery of the public liberty, and pointing to the prostrate and expiring man. At the bottom of the Cup is the following inscription, encircled with myrtle and oak leaves :—

May every tyrant feel

The keen deep searchings of a patriot's steel?"

:

-CHURCHIll.

On the reverse of the Cup is the inscription: "The gift of the City of London to Alderman Wilkes 1772."

* Drawn by my daughter Miss Henrietta Sherston Baker, from the original now in my possession. Miss Mary Wilkes (second sister of the above John Wilkes, married to George Hayley, Alderman and M.P. for the City of London) being my ancestress.

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