ncellor is said to have
yielded a reluctant attention to every motion he made; he frequently
stopped him in the middle of a speech, questioned his knowledge of law,
recommended to him more attention to facts, in short, succeeded not only
in crippling all his professional efforts, but actually in leaving him
without a client. Curran, indeed, appeared as usual in the three other
courts [of the "Four Courts" at Dublin]; but he had been already
stripped of his most profitable practice, and as his expenses nearly
kept pace with his gains, he was almost left a beggar, for all hopes of
the wealth and honors of the long-robe were now denied him. The memory
of this persecution embittered the last moments of Curran's existence;
and he could never even allude to it, without evincing a just and
excusable indignation. In a letter which he addressed to a friend,
twenty years after, he says, "I made no compromise with power; I had the
merit of provoking and despising the personal malice of every man in
Ireland who was the known enemy of the country. Without the walls of the
court of justice, my character was pursued with the most persevering
slander; and within those walls, though I was too strong to be beaten
down by any judicial malignity, it was not so with my clients, and my
consequent losses in professional income have never been estimated at
less, as you must have often heard, than L30,000."

HIGH AUTHORITY.

Curran was once engaged in a legal argument; behind him stood his
colleague, a gentleman whose person was remarkably tall and slender, and
who had originally intended to take holy orders. The Judge observing
that the case under discussion involved a question of ecclesiastical
law,--"Then," said Curran, "I can refer your Lordship to a high
authority behind me, who was intended for the church, though in my
opinion he was fitter for the steeple."

USE OF RED TAPE.

Curran, when Master of the Rolls, said to Mr. Grattan, "You would be the
greatest man of your age, Grattan, if you would buy a few yards of red
tape, and tie up your bills and papers."

CURRAN AND THE MASTIFF.

Curran used to relate with infinite humor an adventure between him and a
mastiff, when he was a boy. He had heard somebody say that any person
throwing the skirts of his coat over his head, stooping low, holding out
his arms, and creeping along backwards, might frighten the fiercest dog,
and put him to flight. He accordingly made the attempt on a