makes a direct and unqualified answer to the question he leaves an
absolutely erroneous idea upon the minds of the jury, and this is the
explanation of why so many experts have made answers to questions which
have elicited adverse criticism.

In my judgment, after a not very long experience I must admit, but a
sorry one, in some instances, there is but one way in which this matter
of expert evidence should be conducted. The judge should appoint three
experts, one of them at the suggestion of the counsel upon either side,
and the third one at his own discretion. These three appointees should
present their report in writing to the court, and the compensation for
the service should be equally divided between the parties interested. In
that way can expert evidence escape the disrepute now attaching to it,
and the ends of justice be furthered. Now, gentlemen, the hour is
getting late, and I have but one wish to express to you. The medical
profession of the State of New York has an organization very similar to
your own, which has now reached very nearly its ninetieth year, with a
membership of almost 1,000, and with an annual attendance something
double that of your own. I can only hope that your Association may live
on and develop until it reaches as vigorous and flourishing an old age
as that of the medical profession. [Applause.]

CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER

THE RISE OF "THE ATLANTIC"

[Speech of Charles Dudley Warner at the "Whittier Dinner" in
celebration of the poet's seventieth birthday and the twentieth
birthday of "The Atlantic Monthly," given by the publishers,
Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., at Boston, Mass., December 17,
1877.]

MR. CHAIRMAN:--It is impossible to express my gratitude to you
for calling on me. There is but one pleasure in life equal to that of
being called on to make an after-dinner speech, and that is not being
called on. It is such an enjoyment to sit through the courses with this
prospect like a ten-pound weight on your digestive organs! If it were
ever possible to refuse anything in this world, except by the
concurrence of the three branches of government--the executive, the
obstructive, and the destructive, I believe they are called--I should
hope that we might some time have our speeches first, so that we could
eat our dinner without fear or favor.

I suppose, however, that I am called up not to grumble, but to say that
the establishment of "The Atlantic