ing
for a vacancy.'

Which reminds me that fair play is not always recognised as essential in
these matters, as the following anecdote shows.

There was a faction feud between the Kellehers and Leehys near Sneem.

One of the Leehys had a bad leg, and was therefore bound apprentice to a
shoemaker in Sneem.

On a fair day a solitary Kelleher ventured into the town, and very
speedily the Leehys had half-killed and beaten him as well as their
numbers would allow.

Suddenly there was a shout, and the poor lame Leehy came hobbling down
the street as fast as his wooden leg would permit.

'Boys, for the love of mercy,' says he, 'let a poor cripple have one go
at the black-hearted varmint.'

One of the counsel engaged in the Harenc case was Mr. Murphy, who was a
near relative of Judge Keagh, and he was a man of ready wit into the
bargain.

There was a company promoter from London, who had induced several people
to take shares in a bogus concern, and was consequently defendant in an
action brought against him in Cork.

He thought he would make an impression on the wild Irish by being
overdressed and gorgeously bejewelled.

When Murphy arose to address the jury, he said:--

'Gentlemen of the jury, look at the well-tailored impostor without a rag
of honesty to take the gloss off his new clothes.'

Another counsel in the case was Mr. Byrne. He was always in impecunious
circumstances despite his legal eloquence, but the lack of a balance at
his banker's never troubled him.

Once he took Chief Justice Whiteside to see his new house in Dublin,
which he had furnished in sumptuous style.

'Don't you think I deserve great credit for this?' he asked at length.

'Yes,' retorted Whiteside, 'and you appear to have got it.'

Lord Justice Christian, who had declined to sit on the Appeal, was
considered one of the soundest opinions in Ireland. When he ceased to be
sole Judge of Appeal, he had addressed the Bar after this fashion:--

'As this is the last time I sit as sole Judge of Appeal, it is an
opportune time for me to review my decisions. By a curious coincidence,
I have been thirteen years in this Court, and I have decided thirteen
cases which have been taken to the House of Lords. Eleven of my
decisions were confirmed, one appeal was withdrawn, and the last was a
purely equity case. The two equity lords went with me, the two common
law lords were against me, and when I inform the Bar that my judgment
was reversed on t