who pronounced the decision in Banks v. Goodfellow. Lord Coleridge's judicial reputation is of quite a different order. There is no depart ment of law of which one can truthfully say "the work of his hands is there." But he is not without a judicial eminence of his own. In the first place he brings to the discharge of his duty not only metaphysical insiglitand a sound knowledge of law, but the power of taking a broad philosophic view of the very varied subjects which come before him. Once more, Lord Coleridge possesses, if not Cockburn's power of illuminating the most complex masses of fact, still a faculty of put ting cases in a clear, if not a brilliant light. There is a class of legal text-book originated by Sir James Stephen, and most ably and happily developed by Sir Frederick Pollock. The method which these writers adopt is to analyze a series of cases, extract therefrom a few simple propositions, and then range the cases under their proper headings in this informal code. Now, the judgments of Lord Coleridge abound with terse, accurate, and elegant statements of law, which Sir James Stephen and his disciples might transplant into their works unaltered. This is no mean judicial gift. It subserves the useful purpose of popularizing the law, and makes the work of future codification easy. The Lord ChiefJustice is also a model of judicial deport
ment. His elaborate courtesy shines upon all who enter his court and come within his official cognizance, — upon the rich and poor, upon the learned and unlearned, upon the just and unjust. To the nervous junior who has lost the faculty of articulation and can scarcely see the writing upon his brief, he is peculiarly gentle; and many an unknown man who had fared badly in the struggle at the bar has been surprised to find that the Chief-Justice had unostentatiously discov ered his name, and has gone away with the sunlight in his heart. It is easy enough to laugh at Lord Coleridge's " sentiment," and to harp upon his weaknesses; but after all has been said, he is still one of the most striking figures in the High Court of Jus tice. The English Bench can boast of some judges who are better lawyers than Lord Coleridge : but none of its living members is at once so good a lawyer and so great an administrator; none has attained such high distinction at once in the world of letters, the world of politics, and the schools of law; none is so well fitted to fill the office of those great justiciars who ruled England before the functions of the curia regis had been distributed, or the distinction — now so fa miliar to us all — between legislation, juris diction, and execution had entered into the minds of men. Lex.
A VISIT TO AN ENGLISH POLICE COURT. EVEN the few Americans who have seen an English police court will not all confess it. Indeed, human conditions are so peculiar that I hasten to explain how I came to see one; for police courts are not in the guide-books, and even " slumming" stops at their doors. It was in Birming ham, and I was in search of one of Eng land's most noted specialists; who, it turned out, was a police magistrate, like so very many other rich, cultivated, and famous
Englishmen. Police magistrates are chosen from among the leading men, and not only serve for life and without pay, but esteem it an honor to do so. They need not to know anything about law, and usually do not; but that is almost the only point at which they resemble the typical American police justice. There must be an enormous number of these magistrates in England, for Birmingham has about fifty. Large num bers are needed, as they sit in pairs, each
