The Editor's Bag farmer, was invited into the sitting-room, where the lawyers were seated before the huge fire, and introduced to the party by the hotel owner. The man was cold, fairly chilled through from riding, but there was no move on the part of any member of the party to make room for him near the glowing logs in the fireplace, but they were otherwise cordial in their greeting, and evidently thought to have a little sport at the expense of the stranger. One asked the man where he hailed from. "Chicago," was the reply. Then another inquired as to the condition of the roads. "They are horrible," he said, and continuing, remarked that "the roads through the swamps between here and Chicago are the worst I ever saw—worse than hell." The last remark struck Chief Justice Waite as an opening for the fun to begin, so he turned to the stranger and said:— "My dear sir, you speak like one familiar with hell. How are things down there?" To this the stranger replied:— "Oh, it is there just as it is everywhere else, the lawyers are always nearest the fire." The circle opened at once and made room for the shivering stranger. THE INSANITY OF GUITEAU The late C. B. Tillinghast, the Massachu setts State Librarian, distinctly remembered Guiteau, the assassin of Garfield, whose attend ance at the state Library was constant for a period in the spring of 1881, until two weeks before the catastrophe. Whether Guiteau at that time had any idea of slaying Garfield can only be conjectured. He usually wore several days' growth of beard. His hair was cut short and brushed up straight on top. Often during the quiet hours of the day the Librarian would glance up to observe Guiteau running his fingers excitedly through his hair, his eyes fixed on space, his attention ab sorbed with a strange intensity upon some subject that he was revolving in his mind. He sometimes spent the whole day poring over books, not even leaving the room for lunch. He was constantly asking for obscure volumes. During the latter part of the spring of 1881 Guiteau's attendance at the State Library became erratic, and there would be a two- or three-day interval when he would be absent, to show up again with his general appearance more disheveled than ever.
309
Finally in June Guiteau disappeared for good, and about two weeks later the Librarian was startled to learn that the former visitor had become the assassin of President Gar field. Recently the sister of Guiteau, Mrs. Francis M. Norton, a settlement worker in Chicago, made the assertion that her brother was in sane at the time of the murder. She stated that just before Guiteau was born, when his mother was living at Freeport, Ill., the latter was administered, by mistake, a dose of hen bane by the physician attending her. This mistake resulted, Mrs. Norton declared, in brain fever to the mother, and this pre-natal influence brought about the insanity of Guiteau. Mrs. Norton also stated that she tried to testify as to Guiteau's inherited mad ness at the trial but was unable to do so. After a protracted trial Guiteau was hanged for murder, although much discussion arose at the time over the insanity plea urged by his counsel. AN ARKANSAS CLIENT'S VIEWS RE GARDING THE LAW An Arkansas lawyer writes to the Green Bag to relate a humorous incident. Hon. James D. Shaver, of Mena, Ark., he says, is regarded by the bar of his district as one of the ablest chancellors in the state. It hap pens occasionally, however, as with all the chancellors, that his decisions are reversed by the Supreme Court. And in a recent case in which Judge Jesse C. Hart wrote the opinion of that august tribunal, the ruling of Chancellor Shaver was reversed and set aside. A brief statement of the conclusion reached by the court of last resort appeared in the papers, as usual, and fell under the eyes of the losing litigant. This inspired the follow ing letter, which speaks amply for itself:— Alpine, Ark., 4, 28, 1909. Hon. Chancery Judg, Mena, Ark. Dear beloved of the lord:— I am limited in edication, but I hope you will understand what I mean as it is a fact Hon. Judge Hart diverced your decree in my case, and it is a fact that your decree was bast on my decree and my decree was bast on Fagan's decree, and Fagan's decree was bast on the U. S. government, questions are you going to submit to his disision and change your decree, has he got the rite to force you
